Friday, September 12, 2008 - Posts
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Sarah Palin’s interview last night with Charlie Gibson on ABC (video here) has prompted a furious debate about the definition of the “Bush Doctrine.” (See, for example, here. Or here. Or here.) Some of the most ferocious back-and-forth, as usual, could be found on Wikipedia, which is written and edited (and abused) by its users. After the interview aired, an edit war broke out over the online encyclopedia’s entry on the “Bush Doctrine.” Since her interview aired, the entry has been changed hundreds of times. Here are a few highlights:
- Editors bicker over the difference between “preventive” and “preemptive” war in the Bush Doctrine. They agree that “preventive” is more accurate. Typical liberal wiki-media.
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The first Palin addition: “As of 10 September 2008, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska had no idea that such a doctrine was ever articulated by the Bush Administration.” Nine minutes later, another user deletes the sentence, citing “
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A user tries again: “In an interview with ABC's Charlie Gibson, GOP Vice-Presidential pick Sarah Palin (Governor of Alaska) was unable to define the Bush Doctrine for the nation, despite the fact that her son shipped out to Iraq on the same day of the interview.” Four minutes later, another user adds that her son is “ostensibly one more serviceman deploying because of our government's adherence to the Bush Doctrine. Irony, thy name is Palin.”
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A user deletes a line that cites the Huffington Post. Among his reasons: “
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A fight breaks out between “Jere7my” and “EHSFFL2010.” The latter objects to any Palin references. “
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User “Sun Dang” calls the Bush Doctrine “a misnomer. It does not exist. There is no such doctrine if we stick to the real definition of ‘doctrine’ like the Christian Doctrines that are on paper not imagined.” He argues that Gibson got it wrong and “should have read wikipedia first.”
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Both campaigns promised a truce yesterday for the
anniversary of 9/11. But they went a step further, backpedaling from previous attacks—on
community organizers, in John McCain’s case, and on small-town mayors, in Barack Obama’s.
At last night’s forum on service at Columbia University,
McCain praised community organizers after Sarah Palin and Rudy Giuliani mocked them in their
convention speeches last week. “Of course I respect community organizers,”
McCain said.
“Of course I respect people who serve their communities. Senator Obama’s
service in that area is outstanding.”
Meanwhile, Obama went out of his way to praise small-town
mayors, after dinging the town of Wasilla
for having “I think, 50 employees.” “We had an awful lot of small-town mayors
at the Democratic convention, I assure you,” Obama said
on Thursday. “The mayors have some of the toughest jobs in the country because
that's where the rubber hits the road. We yak-yak-yak in the Senate. They
actually have to fill potholes and trim trees and make sure the garbage is
taken away.”
To some, that might sound like damning with faint praise. Tough job, there, taking out the trash. But
presumably Obama meant well. At least this time he didn’t call her home town “Wasilly.”
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