Althouse: Sarah Palin's "unstable grip on reality."

February 6, 2009

Sarah Palin's "unstable grip on reality."

Or... oh... never mind... or no...

76 comments:

Michael Haz said...: That boy is obsessed. And delusional. And compulsive.

Maybe he has OCD. Or CDO as it should really be called because all things should be listed in alphabetical order.; 2/6/09, 5:00 PM
Zachary Sire said...: He's crazy, but it still doesn't explain why Sarah Palin is such a weird liar. I mean, you have to be a very special kind of pathological liar to lie about such mundane shit.; 2/6/09, 5:02 PM
Beth said...: I thought it was because she was a big doo-wop fan.; 2/6/09, 5:05 PM
chickelit said...: Care to amend your comment after seeing Sullivan's update ZPS? You have some pretty strange obsessions yourself.; 2/6/09, 5:06 PM
Zachary Sire said...: Oh yes,"chickenlittle." Sarah Palin is no longer a liar, because Andrew Sullivan is an idiot. Duh.; 2/6/09, 5:10 PM
Synova said...: Update: on the other hand, many readers have written to say that Palin was highly unlikely to have known of ESPN in high school. It was only founded in 1979 and became widely known only in 1982.

Yeah, because someone planning to major in sports journalism would NEVER have heard of the bright new all sports all the time television network.

Heck, they probably didn't even HAVE televisions in Alaska at the time.; 2/6/09, 5:10 PM
ricpic said...: Sarah Palin's bristols are pretty perky
All things considered;
A plus which with Andrew Sullivan
Cuts no mustard.; 2/6/09, 5:10 PM
MartyH said...: I can't wait until he posts about Hillary Clinton's "unstable grip on reality" for claiming she was named after Sir Edmund Hillary in honor of his ascent of Mt Everest, despite the fact that it occurred seven years after she was born.

Or, of course, the Tuzla incident.

Or the whole Bill thing. That'd drive anybody around the bend.

But Hillary's only the Secretary of State, so it doesn't matter if she has an "unstable grip on reality"-it's not like she can accidentally start a war or anything.; 2/6/09, 5:12 PM
chickelit said...: Decouple yourself from Sullivan. I meant the last part:

I mean, you have to be a very special kind of pathological liar to lie about such mundane shit.

You swallowed that whole without batting an eyelash. Why?; 2/6/09, 5:13 PM
rcocean said...: Amazing how lazy the MSM is. They constantly read summaries or what someone else (like Media Matters) says people say.

Rush complains about this all the time - and he's right.; 2/6/09, 5:17 PM
rcocean said...: BTW, you can argue Sullivan isn't MSM, just a crazy gay man with a blog.; 2/6/09, 5:17 PM
Zachary Sire said...: You swallowed that whole without batting an eyelash. Why?

I don't know what you're implying ChickenLittle, but I don't swallow and I've never bat my eyelashes. Andrew Sullivan is a liar and Sarah Palin is honest.; 2/6/09, 5:23 PM
Big Mike said...: I still think AIDS has damaged his brain. Fortunately if I'm right we won't have to worry about him much longer.

Prof. Althouse, may I ask a question? Why do you bother with Sullivan? Isn't it a bit like the 19th century British gentry going to visit Bedlam to laugh at the insane?; 2/6/09, 5:26 PM
Wince said...: He is Propellerman, Superhero of Female Desires!; 2/6/09, 5:27 PM
Revenant said...: I like that Sullivan claims Palin was unlikely to have heard of ESPN in high school because "it was only founded in 1979 and became widely known only in 1982". Sarah Palin was a high school freshman in 1979 and a senior in 1982.

Sullivan's insane.; 2/6/09, 5:33 PM
Synova said...: Big Mike... I don't think that "fortunate" is a word to use in that situation. Be better.; 2/6/09, 5:36 PM
chickelit said...: Andrew Sullivan is a liar and Sarah Palin is honest.

That's more like it.

@EDH: that is hysterical!; 2/6/09, 5:36 PM
Roberto said...: rcocean said..."Amazing how lazy the MSM is. They constantly read summaries or what someone else (like Media Matters) says people say. Rush complains about this all the time - and he's right."

Rush is part of the MSM.

Unless of course, you don't consider radio, television or OP-ED's in newspapers to be part of the MSM; 2/6/09, 5:38 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Ok Beth now I can't stop sing The Bristol Stomp.; 2/6/09, 5:38 PM
Roberto said...: Big Mike said..."I still think AIDS has damaged his brain. Fortunately if I'm right we won't have to worry about him much longer."

Prick.; 2/6/09, 5:39 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: should read .."I can't stop singing that song The Bristol Stomp"; 2/6/09, 5:39 PM
Jim Hu said...: I see Beth and AJ beat me to it:

The kids in Bristol are sharp as a pistol
When they do the Bristol Stomp
Really somethin when the joint is jumpin
When they do the Bristol Stomp; 2/6/09, 5:40 PM
mariner said...: Andrew Sullivan?

Writing of ANYONE else's "unstable grip on reality"?!!

I'm glad I didn't have a sip of coffee as I read that.; 2/6/09, 6:16 PM
Beth said...: AJ, then my work here is done.

I'll move on to solving the mystery of who put the bomp in the bomp-a-bomp-a-bomp.; 2/6/09, 6:18 PM
Laura(southernxyl) said...: Of course, when Bill Clinton lied under oath, to exonerate himself in Paula Jones' harassment lawsuit, that was trivial because it was "just about sex".

Funny how Andrew updates to admit that she didn't lie about Bristol's name (and what a profound subject that is, and what a sinister coverup it looked to be before he read the damn article) but has to pick out something else she PROBABLY lied about so he can keep his "Palin lies" theme going. Jerk.; 2/6/09, 6:20 PM
Joe M. said...: Zachary:

He's crazy, but it still doesn't explain why Sarah Palin is such a weird liar.

Sullivan is crazy (and a jerk), no doubt about it. This obsession is nothing but unhealthy.

But to answer the implied question: intellectual capability--she lacks it. She's a disgrace to the Republican party. I do hope she'll disappear quietly some time in the next 4 years lest we have to suffer her candidacy in 2012.; 2/6/09, 6:28 PM
Revenant said...: Is "Bristol Stomp" a doo-wop song? I'd always thought a song had to include nonsense syllables in the lyrics in order to qualify as doo-wop.

But thanks to Beth for reminding me of it. And Amazon has it for $0.99!; 2/6/09, 6:31 PM
Palladian said...: At what point do you think Andrew Sullivan will start reading "The Catcher in the Rye" while sitting in his car outside of Sarah Palin's house?; 2/6/09, 6:31 PM
Revenant said...: I mean, you have to be a very special kind of pathological liar to lie about such mundane shit.

Um, Zachary... didn't you notice the updates? Sullivan admits the "lie" he spotted, wasn't.

In the article, Palin cites multiple sources for Bristol's name. Bristol Inn, where she worked; Bristol Bay, where her husband is from; and Bristol, Connecticut, where ESPN is based.

Sullivan only read the ESPN part, remembered her mentioning the Bristol Bay part earlier, and promptly wet his panties rushing to post his latest expose on Palin. He then had to backpedal, and is now stuck arguing that Palin wouldn't have heard of ESPN in 1982, despite being a sports fan and despite it being the first 24/7 sports network.

So tell me, Zachary... what's the "mundane shit" you're accusing her of lying about? Or is this just the usual scenario where you bleat first and ask questions later?; 2/6/09, 6:39 PM
Cedarford said...: Althouse - I echo Big Mike's comments:

Prof. Althouse, may I ask a question? Why do you bother with Sullivan? Isn't it a bit like the 19th century British gentry going to visit Bedlam to laugh at the insane?

Hasn't the "Bareback Brit" exceeded his little window of celebrity opportunity as people who once took him seriously, see him degenerating into a joke?; 2/6/09, 6:40 PM
blake said...: Update: on the other hand, many readers have written to say that Palin was highly unlikely to have known of ESPN in high school. It was only founded in 1979 and became widely known only in 1982.

Not a sports fan at all, then or now, younger than Palin, and knew about ESPN before '82. (Cable was disappointing precisely because there were all these new channels I didn't want to watch.); 2/6/09, 6:45 PM
Beth said...: Revenant, you're right - but "doo wop" had the sound I wanted for that comment.

I'd call it pop music, or dance music - there are other "stomps" out there. So I guess it belongs with the twist and the pony and the mashed potato and all those things that sound so cool and make me wish I had been born a little earlier (or had a time machine.) My generation has the Bus Stop and the Electric Slide. Oh joy.; 2/6/09, 6:46 PM
Revenant said...: I'm pretty sure all generations have the electric slide. It doesn't seem to want to go away.; 2/6/09, 7:07 PM
jayne_cobb said...: We were required to learn it in junior high along with "cotton eye joe".; 2/6/09, 7:45 PM
BlackPundit said...: I think Sullivan's comment about Palin's knowledge of ESPN in high school is his way of insinuating that she gave birth to Bristol when SHE was a High School student. She may or may not have heard of ESPN in 1982 but by the time her daughter was born in 1991, she probably had.

Sullivan is a prick.; 2/6/09, 7:51 PM
Frodo Potter said...: I'm not a fan of Palin, but both Blake and Revenant nail it. Palin was in high school between 1979 and 1982. Therefore, as an athlete and future sports anchor, it is not only plausible, but QUITE LIKELY that Palin knew about ESPN. It's sad, but I think Sullivan's losing it.

Having said that, Big Mike, that remark about Sullivan dying was uncalled for. Not cool.; 2/6/09, 7:53 PM
Big Mike said...: Michael, Frodo, and Synova, I'm not at all repentant. Sullivan's known to have solicited unprotected anal sex. Should anyone feel sorry for him? No more, I think, than for somebody who drives a loud snowmobile into an avalanche zone. Or a guy who goes into a biker bar and picks a fight. Dying because you did something unbelievably dumb, is, well, unbelievably dumb.; 2/6/09, 7:56 PM
theobromophile said...: If we point to all of the lies, distortions, and misstatements of politicians, this one - even if Palin hadn't told the truth - would barely rank up there.

Isn't Sullivan inadvertently proving that Gov. Palin is a squeaky clean politician? After all, if she weren't, surely, he would post on something more substantial than her daughter's name.; 2/6/09, 8:08 PM
Palladian said...: "Michael, Frodo, and Synova, I'm not at all repentant. Sullivan's known to have solicited unprotected anal sex. Should anyone feel sorry for him?"

Sullivan's (publicized) ad for "unprotected anal sex" was from well after he revealed that he was HIV positive. So you don't actually know when and how he contracted the virus. It could have been through unprotected anal sex, but it also could have been through other means. I don't presume to know Sullivan's medical history, nor do I want to guess at it in the way he's decided to guess at Palin and her family's medical history. I used to defend Sullivan because I thought it was inexcusable that the loathsome Michelangelo Signorile violated Sullivan's privacy by publicizing that "power glutes" personal ad. This was before Sullivan became a completely deranged sack of shit. After his behavior toward Sarah Palin and her family, I find him not only offensive but viscerally repulsive. I now gleefully mention the "power glutes" ad whenever I get the chance. But there is plenty of public information to justify my ill feelings toward Sullivan without speculating about his medical history. I'll leave that kind of sleaze to him and his kind.; 2/6/09, 8:10 PM
chickelit said...: Sullivan's known to have solicited unprotected anal sex. Should anyone feel sorry for him?

Being vastly incurious about those circumstances, I still can't believe he willed HIV upon himself. I also don't think he's looking for sympathy about his condition--just dignity. That being said, he's an unrepentant jerk about Palin. That, IMO, is self destructive behavior, at least professionally.; 2/6/09, 8:14 PM
Anonymous said...: What bugs me about Sullivan is the relentless, facile ignorance he evinces.

To wit:

His point about ESPN not being well known in the late 70s and therefore unlikely to be a reason that Sarah would want to name her daughter "Bristol"

Well, let’s think about that shall we?

ESPN started out as a satellite station. The founder discovered it was cheaper to buy satellite time rather than blocks of cable-access time, so ESPN started out as a national show on satellite.

Wasilla, Alaska was pretty effing far removed from most cable-access stations in the late 1970s.

My *hunch* is that somebody in Wasilla - possibly Sarah's family - had a big-ass satellite dish and that Sarah probably watched the ESPN Broadcast - all the way from Bristol Connecticut - because, face it, it’s Alaska. The local news doesn’t change much day-in/day-out.

Also, Sarah was a star athlete at the time and interested in sports journalism. She'd be an early adopter of a new channel like ESPN. Unlike Sullivan, who's 30 years late.

I’d also guess that, while she couldn’t name two Supreme Court decisions with which she disagreed, Sarah could likely name three Mexican Midget Wrestlers from the late 70s, tell you what color jacket ARF referees wear, and the viscosity of the grease you needed keep the tracking gear on a C-channel satellite from freezing in winter.

Just sayin’ - Andrew Sullivan, not particularly “reality-based”

-; 2/6/09, 8:36 PM
dick said...: Palladian,

For your comment about the loathesome Michaelangelo Signorile you just became my hero. I think he is lower than dirt and a total scuzzball. I remember when he wrote the article about how Dick Cheney's daughter owed it to the gay community to denounce her father because she was gay and the gay community made it possible for her to be open about it and get a good job. The fact that she earned her own way did not enter into it. The fact that her parents supported her in her gayness did not enter into it. Also his support for that miserable group Act-Out just puts the icing on the cake of his total loathesomeness.; 2/6/09, 8:39 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Althouse linking to Sullivan ... her bad.; 2/6/09, 8:44 PM
Big Mike said...: Palladian. Ouch. I have been rebuked by someone I whose comments I respect.

Still, Sullivan solicited unprotected sex after he knew he was HIV positive. As you say, "repulsive."

chickenlittle, I don't think anybody wills HIV on themselves, anymore than two late-night drag racers will their deaths in a fiery car crash on themselves. You do something dangerous, no tears if something bad happens.

But if Sullivan is looking for dignity, then acting like a buffoon is not his best strategy.; 2/6/09, 8:45 PM
MayBee said...: I think Sullivan's comment about Palin's knowledge of ESPN in high school is his way of insinuating that she gave birth to Bristol when SHE was a High School student. She may or may not have heard of ESPN in 1982 but by the time her daughter was born in 1991, she probably had.

Exactly.
Plus...Palin even knows enough about ESPN to say it was "just kicking off, just getting off the ground" when she wanted to be a Sportscaster.

Did she just throw in that tidbit to throw Sullivan and his emailers off the scent?; 2/6/09, 8:50 PM
Palladian said...: Oh! I didn't mean it as a rebuke, more of a reproach :)

"What bugs me about Sullivan is the relentless, facile ignorance he evinces."

I don't think it's ignorance as much as it is dishonesty. He's smart enough that he knows what he's doing.; 2/6/09, 8:54 PM
Zachary Sire said...: So tell me, Zachary... what's the "mundane shit" you're accusing her of lying about? Or is this just the usual scenario where you bleat first and ask questions later?

Um, Revenant, did you read the comments in this thread? Or is this just the usual scenario where you act smug and realize you're just being a dick later?

As I said, Andrew Sullivan is a liar and Sarah Palin has always been honest, about everything.; 2/6/09, 8:57 PM
Palladian said...: Apparently someone's spleen didn't get vented enough the other week :); 2/6/09, 9:01 PM
Methadras said...: If I kicked Little Miss Sullivan in the head, would she start to complain about her premenstrual cramps afterward?; 2/6/09, 9:20 PM
Zachary Sire said...: It's humiliating enough that I posted something on my own blog linking to Sullivan's blog about this name shit, thinking it was funny and, let's all be honest here, characteristic of something Palin would do (she's lied about everything from the bridge to the RNC clothes), but then to find out Sullivan was wrong...well, it doesn't get any worse than that. I felt stupid, and chickenlittle called me out on here in this thread, and I answered for it.

Revenant, if you had gotten in sooner you could have been the one to make me feel like a jackass, but instead you're just a lazy comment reader.; 2/6/09, 9:22 PM
MadisonMan said...: Sometimes it's hard to read all the comments.; 2/6/09, 9:35 PM
lowercase said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/6/09, 9:36 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: I assumed she was named for Harvey's Bristol Cream, or for the kind of paper used for pop-up cards.; 2/6/09, 9:40 PM
Simon said...: Zachary Paul Sire said...
"Andrew Sullivan is a liar and Sarah Palin is honest."

Finally you get something right!

I know Sullivan is a prick, but look on the bright side: cancer.; 2/6/09, 9:52 PM
Revenant said...: As I said, Andrew Sullivan is a liar and Sarah Palin has always been honest, about everything.

Uh huh.

So rather than admit that you were dippy enough to accept Sullivan's latest nutty theory at face value, you decided to pretend you believed some straw-man scenario where Palin is always honest about everything?

Cripes, no wonder you can't find a real job.; 2/6/09, 10:19 PM
Zachary Sire said...: Wrong again, Rev. Sorry. You do know you're just making a fool out of yourself now.; 2/6/09, 11:34 PM
Revenant said...: Wrong again, Rev. Sorry.

Either you're serious about the "Palin never lies" thing (in which case you're an idiot) or you're saying it because you're too much of a pussy to admit that your partisan bias let you get suckered by Sullivan (in which case you're a *dishonest* idiot). Either way, Zach, you're pretty much an idiot.

In either case, I await your description of the "mundane shit" Palin supposedly lies about.; 2/7/09, 12:02 AM
DaLawGiver said...: My money is on the dishonest idiot label.; 2/7/09, 1:00 AM
Deo said...: E: Sullivan, I guess it SEEMS obsessive, having to count and prove so many Palin LIES...but truth is truth, he prints what Palin SAID. Yeah, really, ALOT of lies and inaccuracies.

Did Palin tell NEW YORK DAILY NEWS in Aug 2007 Bristol was named for a bay in Alaska? Yes.
Did Palin JUST tell ESQUIRE that she was named for Bristol, Connecticut? YES.
They can´t BOTH be true.

I guess ONE of them is a lie. CONNECTICUT OR ALASKA, Palin named BOTH.

Important, well, NOOOO, none of many lies are IMPORTANT, except that Palin just keeps doing it and you take her words, which I´m sorry often are NOT TRUE, as gospel.
How is it Andrew Sullivan´s fault. He has a file of non important facts, LIES. ALSO TOO; some ARE important.

If my teenager did this re: compulsive lying, he would be getting counseling NOW!; 2/7/09, 2:15 AM
blake said...: The PDS squad is out in full force!

I know a guy who named his son Pascal. After the mathematician and the programming language.

I know a girl named Sarah (imagine that!), who was named after five or six different Sarahs, famous and not, all of whom the mother liked, any one of whom she might name when asked, or she might just say, "I liked the name."

You guys are barking mad.; 2/7/09, 3:49 AM
Revenant said...: Did Palin JUST tell ESQUIRE that she was named for Bristol, Connecticut? YES.

Well actually she told Esquire that Britol was named after several "Bristols", Bristol Bay and Bristol Connecticut among them.

They can´t BOTH be true.

Obviously they can both be true. My nephew is named after my father, my maternal grandfather, and one of his paternal great-uncles.

Picking a baby name that has multiple meanings is normal. Not that Andy Sullivan would know anything about being a normal parent.; 2/7/09, 4:04 AM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/7/09, 5:20 AM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/7/09, 5:30 AM
AllenS said...: On the other hand, if you named your son Sue there would be only one reason for it.; 2/7/09, 6:33 AM
dbp said...: I think BumperStickerist is on to it.

I am two years older than Gov Palin and have solid memories of helping my dad install those giant satellite dishes. It was crazy: The dishes were 12 feet in diameter and nothing was scrambled--free everything!

I have never been a sports fan, but I was well aware of ESPN before I graduated from HS in 1981. So, a kid who was into sports and graduated a year or two after me would have to have lived on the dark side of the moon to have not heard of ESPN. I can believe that a bookish, gay Brit would be oblivious to ESPN though.; 2/7/09, 8:39 AM
DaLawGiver said...: but truth is truth, he prints what Palin SAID. Yeah, really, ALOT of lies and inaccuracies.

Yeah, I know what you mean. It's like yesterday when Obama said, "The situation could not be more serious." I mean come on, the situation couldn't be more serious? Well I think if the unemployment rate was 10% vice 7.9% it would be more serious. Sheesh, how can that guy continue to lie and get away with it?; 2/7/09, 8:46 AM
Deo said...: How can Obama continue to LIE??HUH?m WHAT?

LOL, he´sd been there in the whitehouse fior all of 5 minutes,,,,
so lovely you are paying attention NOW, too bad you are so oblivious to the last 8 years...oh you guys are hilarious.

Sarah Palin-Tonya Harding 2012!

TA!; 2/7/09, 10:19 AM
DaLawGiver said...: I doubt you have a teenager or you would recognize sarcasm when you see it. I''m looking forward to more of your posts. Keep those LOLs and CAPS coming, that's what this blog site is all about, don't stop---please.; 2/7/09, 11:58 AM
Alex said...: PDS are barking mad. They better have more solid arguments against Palin. So far she does have some weaknesses:

* perceived lack of intellectual curiosity about issues

* not Mother of the year despite conservatives pushing that image on her

* has yet to take a firm stand on the Creationist bullshit; 2/8/09, 5:18 AM
Alex said...: Actually Sarah Palin supports teaching of Creationism in schools:

http://www.adn.com/sarah-palin/background/story/217111.html

This is just unacceptable and dooms her along with Jindal to the pure wingnuttery class. Romney is the only non-wingnut we have.; 2/8/09, 5:23 AM
Laura(southernxyl) said...: "I don't think there should be a prohibition against debate if it comes up in class. It doesn't have to be part of the curriculum."

She added that, if elected, she would not push the state Board of Education to add such creation-based alternatives to the state's required curriculum.

Members of the state school board, which sets minimum requirements, are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Legislature.

"I won't have religion as a litmus test, or anybody's personal opinion on evolution or creationism," Palin said.

Palin has occasionally discussed her lifelong Christian faith during the governor's race but said teaching creationism is nothing she has campaigned about or even given much thought to.

You have a problem with this? Really? If Suzy brings up creationism in biology class the teacher can't even discuss it but has to tell her to shut up? Dang.; 2/8/09, 10:53 AM
Alex said...: Laura - if a student brings up Creationism in a science class, then the teacher should kindly tell the student to keep that to their Bible class, because "we don't discuss religion in science class, period.".; 2/8/09, 3:08 PM
JSF said...: DEO is Andrew Sullivan.

How?

Deo is freaking that nobody belives Andrew Sullivan anymore. But that is to be expected by an anti-isreali blogger.; 2/8/09, 3:39 PM
blake said...: And we need a law for that, Alex?; 2/8/09, 4:02 PM
jeff said...: "LOL, he´sd been there in the whitehouse fior all of 5 minutes,,,,"

Deo why do you lie like that? Its been a couple of weeks, not 5 minutes.; 2/8/09, 6:43 PM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/8/09, 7:10 PM