July 7, 2009

"Palin Blasts Critics, Remains Mum on 2012 Bid."

That's the headline at Fox News, and there are many other stories about whatever Sarah happened to say today.

She's got our attention locked onto her now — plain evidence of the effectiveness of her running-for-President strategy.

158 comments:

AllenS said...

Nonsense.

Fred4Pres said...

I hope she keeps blasting critics and works toward helping candidates she likes.

The most telling thing she said last Friday is she would work to help candidates from either party or no party. Think about that. I do not think she is running yet, but I know she has plans for the future.

Sloanasaurus said...

We need someone like Palin to put forth a new strategy for America. Obama's strategy of crushing debt, crushing taxes, and siding with foreign dictatorships is not working.

Unemployement for anyone graduating from college over the next 5-10 years will be over 25%. They have Obama's debt strategy to thank for that.

The democrats got Palin to resign by bankrupting her with ethichs complaint filings.. I wonder if this will become a national strategy for the dems. Anyway, republicans should fight back. There must be another state that has the same law as Alaska.

Anonymous said...

It is possible to know that step 1 is right, and take it, without knowing exactly what steps 2 or 3 are going to be.

MadisonMan said...

My favorite Palin quote:

Palin said she was surprised by the media storm that followed her announcement to leave office, saying she thought it would not have been "such a darn big deal."

Uh huh.

Sloanasaurus said...

It is possible to know that step 1 is right, and take it, without knowing exactly what steps 2 or 3 are going to be.

That is the difference between planning and a plan.

Liberals have plans, non-liberals do planning. The difference is that planning allows you to change course when your original ideas don't work. Liberals cannot change course. They have a plan, and they stick too it to utter failure, just like Obama is doing now with his strategy of crushing debt, protectionism, and middle class tax increases.

Bart DePalma said...

Hmmm...

That interview hardly sounds as if she is leaving politics, Rather, it appears that the Dems filing false ethics charges against Palin have succeeded in driving her into debt. By resigning, she takes that weapon away from the Dems.

If there is any justice, there must be a special place in hell for those who practice political lawfare.

Anonymous said...

Palin's a bit beyond the "any publicity is good publicity" stage, I should think.

Chase said...

Liberals have plans, non-liberals do planning. The difference is that planning allows you to change course when your original ideas don't work. Liberals cannot change course. They have a plan, and they stick too it to utter failure

Sloan, that is the gospel truth. Who hasn't heard the cry - our schools need more money while they have more than ever before but do a steadily poorer job. Why are there still "true" believers in Castro today?

Your statement above should be on every mirror in America.

I'm Full of Soup said...

I love it when Althouse voices a strong opinion or prediction.

Ladies & gentlemen, place your bets. Is the Professor right or wrong?

goesh said...

She hits the speaking circuit, makes some money, raises money for the GOP, does her book, gets on TV, begins to align herself, gets down to the lower 48, gauges the competition, makes new allies at the national level - smart woman - Cabinet position with the right alingnment if she can't get the brass ring herself in 2012

traditionalguy said...

Stupid is as stupid does. The Sarah Palin is stupid and the Sahah Palin is mentally ill memes are what are looking stupid now. Sarah's Media storms are knocking Obama off the news just like they did that Jackson singer who died. Maybe while he is there Obama will get Putin's KGB to give him advice on handling the rise of political opponents that you cannot destroy with Propaganda Hit Pieces. Sarah needs to get a food taster for the banquet circuit meals she going to be eating soon.

Janis Gore said...

I fault Sarah Palin for having the poor judgment to accept a nomination that would bring young, unwed, pregnant Bristol onto the public stage.

How many times have we heard the term "teenage pregnancy" in the last say, 40 years, as something to be contained?

Now everyone's supposed to say, "Well, that's cool," then pay for her delivery and the support of the child in the Naval Observatory?

Hell, I didn't like the way the Bush girls dressed at the 2004 convention. Some occasions demand some formality, and a nomination to the presidency or vice-presidency is one of them.

But, back to to my topic, you can't break with a social narrative (call it a more, if no longer a taboo) that hard and not expect criticism.

Should that have applied to Trig? Not at all. None of us has control over our genes.

Hoosier Daddy said...

I fault Sarah Palin for having the poor judgment to accept a nomination that would bring young, unwed, pregnant Bristol onto the public stage.

Well considering the MSM has devolved to the level of the Weekly World News in terms of what they cover or fabricate, I would grudgingly agree with you.

Sloanasaurus said...

Dear Mr. Obama,

Where are the jobs you promised.

Sincerely,

American Citizen

garage mahal said...

Look at me! Look at me! I quit! I'm a fighter!

Janis Gore said...

Why do you you grudge, Hoosier Daddy?

Would you have done the same?

Invisible Man said...

Well considering the MSM has devolved to the level of the Weekly World News in terms of what they cover or fabricate, I would grudgingly agree with you.

Your right. Covering celebreality stars like Palin this much should be beneath them. Wake me up when she's hanging out with Spencer and Heidi on I'M A CELBEBRITY GET ME OUT OF HERE!

I'm Full of Soup said...

I heard one of the CNN news readers say "The Lower 48 is what Alaskans call the rest of the country".

How dumb was that statement?

Anonymous said...

In the age of Obama, Alaskans now refer to Outside as "the lower 56".

TitusItisRainingYetAgain said...

Fellow republicans I have gotten over my trauma about the man dieing getting fucked by a horse. I was seriously traumatized for like 3 days.

As far as Palin I normally don't care for victims, like Hilary Clinton and the vast right wing conspiracy, but in this case Sarah is a victim and for that I am outraged.

Thank you.

Robert Cook said...

The problem with Palin is not that she's stupid...I don't think she is...at least not particularly more so than many of her peers in politics. Her problem is that she has no substance and no knowledge. She is ambitious for the spotlight and for the title and power and perks, but she wants it quick and easy. She's like a contestant on a reality show who wants to win big and win quick without putting in the years of hard work that most people do who rise to the top of their fields, and that gains them experience to do their jobs well.

She's self-serving, provincial, incurious, and lazy, like GDubya, but vigorously proud of her know-nothingism, as he also was, and similarly unsuited for high office of any kind.

Anthony said...

The problem with Palin is that she is not serious. She should go away.

TitusItisRainingYetAgain said...

I also pinched a rather satisfying loaf today.

It came out with little effort, had a nice brown hue to it and looked like mashed potatoes.

It required two flushes.

Thank you.

TitusItisRainingYetAgain said...

Intelligence is overrated.

Thank you.

Education is elite.

Thank you.

Big Cities are Unamerican.

Thank you.

Sarah is a victim of her own success.

Hoosier Daddy said...

Why do you you grudge, Hoosier Daddy?

Would you have done the same?


Well I suppose in my less than perfect world, we would have journalists that would focus less on her pregnant daughter or speculate on her policy positions versus her vagina but I suppose that is asking too much.

So when we always wonder why we have the Sanfords, Craigs, Franks, Dodds and has been comedians like Franken being elected to high office it's because no self respecting person would subject themselves much less their family to that kind of abuse.

It certainly doesn't speak well for us as a society or a nation don't you think?

chuck b. said...

The Palin vortex continues to churn.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Robert Cook- how do you know that Palin knows less [on average] than other elected officials know?

I am serious. Is there some database or unoversal test results that we should know about? Or should I just take the word of Katie Couric and other former talkshow hosts in the MSM?

Do you know how much Katie knows? And if so, how do you know?

Sloanasaurus said...

She's self-serving, provincial, incurious, and lazy, like GDubya, but vigorously proud of her know-nothingism, as he also was, and similarly unsuited for high office of any kind.

What is better someone like Palin who has the wisdom to know they know nothing and therefore proposes that government do less or someone like Obama-Chavez who is not wise enough to know he knows nothing.

Wasn't it William F. Buckely who said he would prefer that the first 200 people in the boston phone book be in charge rather than the know-it-alls in Congress today.

Obama wants to force his misguided beliefs in global warming and socialism on all of us.

Palin wants to force nothing on us.

Janis Gore said...

I agree.

But we live where we are.

MadisonMan said...

The Palin vortex continues to churn.

Really. It's interesting to watch. But nothing new gets said.

Including, I suppose, this comment :)

If I were to advise Sarah Palin, I would tell her to stop talking. *IF* she does run for National Office again -- or even state wide office -- she will see herself in those phony "issue" ads that no one likes. Her own words will damn her.

Triangle Man said...

@AJLynch

How dumb was that statement?

People in Hawaii refer to the rest of the county as "the mainland".

Triangle Man said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
I'm Full of Soup said...

Triangle:

My point is "The Lower 48" is used almost everywhere when referring to the 48 states excepting HI & AK.

The CNN genyous news reader was incorrect.

hombre said...

Wasn't it William F. Buckely who said he would prefer that the first 200 people in the boston phone book be in charge rather than the know-it-alls in Congress today.

I think he said "rather than the faculty at Harvard," which is even more apropos.

traditionalguy said...

The Palin advisors need to study Robert Cook @10:30. He lists all of the next generation attack memes coming out this week. They say that she is still an uneducated novice, but on top of that she wants to win as a gift without ever working for a career in politics and merely wants fame and wealth. That is a technique that the Nazi's first developed in the 1930's and called it the Big Lie. The secret to that technique is its sheer repetition of something that is absurd on its face, until everyone accepts it as part of the debate. Michelle Goldberg re-used the old Big Lie memes on Palin during her recent Bloggingheads. But she is outdated now, and the next set of Big Lie memes is ready for launch. This is more and more like watching Dodgeball. Stay tuned.

sg said...

You know Sarah Palin's media strategy is effective because Andrew Sullivan is now posting about her as frequently as he was about Iran just a few days ago.

Jeremy said...

"She's got our attention locked onto her now — plain evidence of the effectiveness of her running-for-President strategy."

Good lord...the only thing people are focused on is how ridiculous this woman really is.

The fact that she's being covered via the MSM is no different than Michael Jackson's coverage or the serial killer in S.C.

They HAVE to have something to air, and her "quitting" routine fits the bill perfectly.

Anybody who thinks this will be the GOP's candidate in 2012 is brain dead.

Just ask Newt and the other white guys who run the show.

hombre said...

Madison Man wrote: "If I were to advise Sarah Palin, I would tell her to stop talking."

That would be among the best pieces of advice she's had.

It is obvious from his performance that Obama is an inexperienced lightweight. It was not as obvious from his campaign rhetoric.

Palin's history suggests she is at least his equal as an executive and leader. She is simply not a polished speaker.

Anonymous said...

It's incredible watching you people slather over this woman – do you even remember why you support her? Democracy is an illusion, where people flock to leaders like the monarchs of yore and defend them even when they are clearly mentally unstable, which, by the way, was an ongoing problem because of the inbreeding in royal families.

Justin said...

Ladies & gentlemen, place your bets. Is the Professor right or wrong?

Whether right or wrong, I think that Ann's affection for Palin, demonstrated by this statement and coverage of Palin generally on this blog, is just Ann being an iconoclast. Contrarian for the sake of being contrarian.

As a bit of an aside: people, please quit it with the "meme" business. It's an annoying buzzword. Disagreement with a statement does not make it a "meme." If you disagree with a statement, try responding substantively, instead of just labeling it a "meme." It's a dismissive, unproductive response.

Hoosier Daddy said...

It's incredible watching you people slather over this woman

This is especially funny when one recalls Chris Matthews talking about his tingly leg when Obama speaks.

I mean you guys almost write the skits with those comments.

hombre said...

thesconz wrote: It's incredible watching you people slather over this woman ....

Really? Do you think it rivals the idolatry that put an inexperienced Chicago ward heeler in the Senate and the White House?
--------------
@Justin: A meme is a meme whether one agrees with it or not. It may be dismissive, but is is also useful.

KCFleming said...

Palin may be the first high profile example of the American diaspora of the 21st century.

Once the land where huddled masses yearned to breathe free, it's on the brink of economic collapse. The rich and productive have already left California, or are leaving. Now they must consider abandoning the US entirely, for embracing a program that has emptied its coffers in a matter of months. Bankrupt, it will try to squeeze those who remain.

And the nation's elite relentlessly roots out dissent as heresy to the liberal orthodoxy. Palin was hounded out of office, a victory to the left.

But she may leave America to its own devices. I would. I may. My drunken fighting ignorant unemployed forebears left Ireland in the 1840s for economic reasons, and now I soberly contemplate evacuation of a ruined land for the same reason.

I invite Palin along; maybe to Texas, the first state to secede.

Justin said...

A meme is a meme whether one agrees with it or not.

I agree - the term shouldn't always have a negative connotation, but on this blog, it invariably does.

It may be dismissive, but is is also useful.

This I disagree with - I don't think it's a useful label. Pretty much every "viral" cultural statement is a meme. Religion could be described as collection of memes. It's a broadly applicable, ultimately unhelpful term.

Joseph said...

Palin's history suggests she is at least [Obama's] equal as an executive and leader. She is simply not a polished speaker.

I completely disagree. The fact that little-known upstart Obama was able to steal the nomination away from Clinton demonstrates an amazing feat of leadership. Not to mention the much-mocked loyalty of his supporters and team. Palin has done nothing of the kind. She proved divisive within the campaign and in Alaska politics. And she just very prematurely quit her sole serious endeavor in executive leadership halfway into her first term.

I would argue that Palin's strength is in fact her prepared speaking performance. She's a great populist speaker. She just falls apart when she has to talk about substantive issues on the fly. I think one can learn how to be a better public speaker (see, e.g., Hillary), but I think at this point learning to offer thoughtful and consistent remarks about substantive issues is going to be much harder (though not impossible). Its hard for me to imagine her coming off as a credible nominee after a series of head-to-head competitive debate with Gingrich or Romney.

Invisible Man said...

Palin's history suggests she is at least his equal as an executive and leader. She is simply not a polished speaker.

So true, leaders usually quit theri troops for speaking tours, non of the messy governing stuff and tv show appearances. She is wonderful example for all public servants.

Hoosier Daddy said...

The fact that little-known upstart Obama was able to steal the nomination away from Clinton demonstrates an amazing feat of leadership.

Oh please. It had a lot more to do with Hillary's complete unlikeability and catering to a whole bunch of white guilt.

Votes present half the time in the senate and blames his staff for campaign erros. Leadership my ass.

Justin said...

Its hard for me to imagine her coming off as a credible nominee after a series of head-to-head competitive debate with Gingrich or Romney.

This will be her undoing. When it comes to the issues, with a few exceptions, she's uninformed, and doesn't seem to be very interested in learning. She may win the populists in Iowa, and the religious right in South Carolina, but I think (and hope) that Romney is going to otherwise smoke her in the primaries. Can you imagine Republicans in NY or CA voting for her over Romney? I think not.

hdhouse said...

I'm sure she is sorry that Faux Noise isn't all channels all the time...next time Katie asks her a tough constitutionally related question (aside from where do you find the bill or rights), just shoot her.

As to this new edition of the republican gift from heaven to the democrats...the proverbial gift that keeps on giving...refer he to the thread topic and implore her not to keep mum for any reason. A talking Palin is a caribou barbie with a voice box.

Hoosier Daddy said...

She is wonderful example for all public servants.

Actually I think the best thing for the nation would if the entire Congress and current administration followed her lead.

traditionalguy said...

Justin... A "meme" is used to describe a slogan that seems to repeat itself over time until it describes a developed point of view shared by many on a given subject. "Remember Pearl Harbor" was a meme. No one had the time to parse every angle of the true meanings of the word "Pearl" and the word "Harbor" to have permission to use them.

hdhouse said...

Sloanasaurus said...
We need someone like Palin to put forth a new strategy for America...."

Ohmygod hold my sides they are splitting. You get something of an intellectual peewee, coupled with a sense self that rivals who knows what, and who hasn't done a damn thing as governor of Alaska except quit on the job she took an oath to carry out.

I run into a lot of people at 7-11 who can fill that bill.

traditionalguy said...

Justin...The California Republicans voted for Reagan, and the New york Republicans want to win don't they.

Janis Gore said...

Given what we have Hoosier, were you given Gov. Palin's gifts, would you have done the same?

Hoosier Daddy said...

ext time Katie asks her a tough constitutionally related question (aside from where do you find the bill or rights), just shoot her.

HAHAHAHAHAAH!!

Oh hdhouse you have to stop with the humor. I mean really. Hey newsflash depends boy, your own VP didn't even know the scope of the position he was running for. Oh and the part about the Executive being defined in Article I was a better side splitter.

Hey hdhouse, you think Biden talked about his three state solution when he was in Iraq or do you think Obama told him to stick with simple things like architecture?

Hoosier Daddy said...

Given what we have Hoosier, were you given Gov. Palin's gifts, would you have done the same?

Not on a bet.

Justin said...

A "meme" is used to describe a slogan that seems to repeat itself over time until it describes a developed point of view shared by many on a given subject.

I understand the definition. If you read my posts more carefully,my argument is that on this blog, the term is applied primarily, if not exclusively, to statements of opinion (whether representing a developed point of view or not) in a dismissive way: "It's just an attack meme, unworthy of response." It's used, quite often, to avoid a substantive response. I think you'd be hard-pressed to argue that the term is not overused (and misused) by this blog's commentariat.

The California Republicans voted for Reagan

He didn't play himself up as a social conservative in California and New York. Palin's already backed herself into that corner. Also, Reagan had a consistent, developed message on taxing and spending. He embraced supply-side economics, and could speak articulately about what that means. Do you really think Palin will be able to do the same (on any issues other than, say, abortion and gay marriage) in 2012 if she continues on the same path?

Cedarford said...

traditionalguy said...
Stupid is as stupid does. The Sarah Palin is stupid and the Sahah Palin is mentally ill memes are what are looking stupid now. Sarah's Media storms are knocking Obama off the news just like they did that Jackson singer who died.


To wit that what Palin did was as intelligent as Michael Jackson killing himself to knock rivals like Iran and Farah Fawcett off the news.

==================
traditionalguy - " That is a technique that the Nazi's first developed in the 1930's and called it the Big Lie. The secret to that technique is its sheer repetition of something that is absurd on its face, until everyone accepts it as part of the debate."

Nah. The Nazis just picked up the Big Lie from the Jewish Bolsheviks, along with their perfecting of the instruments of State Terror and the slave labor camp system. Like Stalin when he seized power from the Jews, and kept everything in place - the Nazis knew a good thing when they saw it.
And in fairness to the Bolsheviks, they had the inspiration of the Jacobins and a long cultural tradition of witnessing Muslim terror and lies encompassed in a comprehensive ruling system - to draw their own creation from.

Nazi admirers patterned the Gestapo after the Cheka and NKVD, and adopted Bolshevik tools of mass persuasion. Lies and distortion repeated again and again where any questioning of the Lies was punished, sometimes most extremely as "deviationism". And did the Bolsheviks one better - radio was not common in the Soviet Union. They made do with Bolshevik state rallies, pamphlets, mass rallies, visual posters and movies - and especially Soviets - where people were forced to attend such "worker councils" and propagandized and New Rules promulgated by an educated Party official.
The Nazis took to radio as a great new vehicle to lie to millions simultaneously.
=================
"My point is "The Lower 48" is used almost everywhere when referring to the 48 states excepting HI & AK."

Considering Hawaii's position on a map, calling 48 states "lower" and exempting Hawaii makes it a dumb Alaskan phrase.

----------------

elHombre - It is obvious from his performance that Obama is an inexperienced lightweight. It was not as obvious from his campaign rhetoric.

Palin's history suggests she is at least his equal as an executive and leader. She is simply not a polished speaker.


What you are really saying then, if Palin is Obama's equal except not as polished...
Is that she is an inexperienced lightweight who cannot articulate herself well.

Jim said...

Joseph -

"She just falls apart when she has to talk about substantive issues on the fly. "

From Time's interview with Sarah Palin this weekend:

What do you think is particularly wrong with what Obama is doing now?
President Obama is growing government outrageously, and it's immoral and it's uneconomic, his plan that he tries to sell America. His plan to "put America on the right track" economically, incurring the debt that our nation is incurring, trillions of dollars that we're passing on to our kids, expecting them to pay off for us, is immoral and doesn't even make economic sense. So his growth of government agenda needs to be ratcheted back, and it's going to take good people who have the guts to stand up to him, stand up to him and debate policy, not personalities, not partisan politics, but policy to effect the change that we need there. And allow free enterprise and the industrious Americans who run our small businesses and want to raise a family, allowing our families to grow and prosper and thrive, Americans who still believe in those ideals to get in there and effect change. I want to work for people who believe in that.
(See highlights from a debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin.)

Two of his big platform issues now are universal health care and your favorite issue, energy, his global-warming plan. What do you think of his positions on both?
His cap-and-trade agenda is a cap-and-tax agenda, and it's going to drive the cost of consumer goods and the cost of energy so extremely high that our nation is going to start exporting even more jobs to China and to other countries that do not have the corporate tax or the equivalent of the corporate tax that the cap-and-trade — I call it cap-and-tax — agenda is going to usher in. What he needs to be understanding is, we have the domestic supplies of energy in America. It's conventional sources — oil, gas, coal, it's nuclear — and we have the renewable sources here in America. But if we're not allowed to drill and develop those conventional sources in this transition period between now and when we can rely more on alternative sources, we're going to become more and more reliant on foreign sources of energy and importing more and more goods because they're going to be cheaper over there to produce, and our country is going to be in a world of hurt. And that, of course, has so much to do with his economic policy in thinking that it's O.K. to borrow money from other countries to fund this government largesse that he's believing in. It doesn't make any sense. We need to develop responsibly our natural resources of energy here. This will provide the jobs here, the true economic stimulus is developing our domestic, safe supplies of energy here, and Alaska is the place to look to contribute.

Jim said...

contd.

And health care?
And health care too. I remember certainly on the campaign trail, John McCain and his ideas — basically, bottom line, allowing businesses to afford to pay for health care, to provide health care and to give employees options, and Obama scoffed at that. His campaign thought that that was ridiculous. It's funny now to hear him kind of go to some of John McCain's ideas. John McCain had some good ideas about bolstering the economy through businesses so that families could afford to pay for health care and making sure that no one was falling through the cracks and not receiving health care. One way you do that is to reduce the corporate tax on our small businesses especially in America. You're going to see Obama increase those taxes on small businesses — whether he admits it today or not, he's going to. One thing reporters aren't asking the Administration is — it's such a simple question and people around here in the real world, outside of Washington, D.C., want reporters to ask — President Obama, how are you going to pay for this $1 [trillion] or $2 [trillion] or $3 trillion health-care plan? How are you going to pay off the stimulus package, those borrowed dollars? How are you going to pay for so many things that you are proposing and you are implementing? Americans deserve to know what the plan is to fund these things, health care included.


Sounds far more articulate "on the fly" than Obama does....

Methadras said...

Sloanasaurus said...

Anyway, republicans should fight back. There must be another state that has the same law as Alaska.


They won't because frankly they are partisan pussies caring more for their backsides, next re-election bids, perks, and goodies, than they are actually making a difference. They are more willing to role over for the democrats with a capitulating, go along to get along strategy than they are about fighting those putrid morons. They care more about keeping their chairs on committees than they are about trying to hunt down those 8 extra votes to have killed cap and trade on the house floor and give Obama a Fuck You Sandwich.

Kirk Parker said...

elHombre,

"It is obvious from his performance that Obama is an inexperienced lightweight. It was not as obvious from his campaign rhetoric. [emphasis added]"

Ummm, speak for yourself.

Bob From Ohio said...

"Can you imagine Republicans in NY or CA voting for her over Romney?"

GOP voters in California are very conservative. They generally nominate the most conservative choice in the primary who then gets smoked in the general.

So, yes, she could do quite nicely in Caifornia.

Jim said...

Hoosier -

"Hey hdhouse, you think Biden talked about his three state solution when he was in Iraq or do you think Obama told him to stick with simple things like architecture?"

Actually, the Iraqis were offended that Obama sent Biden over there in light of his previous proposal to divide their country into 3. They told the Obama administration to keep their nose out of Iraqi affairs. Just more of that "smart diplomacy" we've come to expect.

hombre said...

Joseph wrote: The fact that little-known upstart Obama was able to steal the nomination away from Clinton demonstrates an amazing feat of leadership.

Successful political campaigns at this level are run by professionals, not candidates. This Obama talking point is, and always has been, invalid.

Its hard for me to imagine her coming off as a credible nominee after a series of head-to-head competitive debate with Gingrich or Romney.

If presidential debates involved speaking "on the fly," Obama would have been a bust. After a few introductory remarks, substantive answers are scripted. The McCain team simply sucked at this type of preparation. With better scripting and -- back to Madison Man's point -- self-restraint, she can do fine.

traditionalguy said...

Justin...Attack memes need a quick response of truth, but identifying them as memes helps target the truth antidote that is needed for their remedy. Trying to argue whether the attack meme is all true, or half true, or not true at all just repeats it and leaves the impression that intelligent people can believe them or not. Try harder. The 1980 Reagan campaign began the Republican's alliance with the evangelical Christians on social issues. Try harder.

hombre said...

Ummm, speak for yourself.

Surely, Kirk, you can't mean that his campaign rhetoric exposed that he would be this bad.

Jim said...

Jim -

The big benefit that Sarah Palin has contra Obama is that she can legitimately say "I told you so."

Every thing that Palin said on the campaign trail for which she has been mocked, has actually come true. So when critics like our Leftist friends here repeatedly say how "stupid" she is, all she has to do is ask them why she knew in 2008 what they still haven't figured out (or at least are too dishonest to admit).

The American people that are waking up to what a socialist nightmare Obama is just need a reminder that is was Palin who said he was a socialist - even before it was the popular thing to believe. She said he was a tax and spend liberal - even when Obama denied it. She said it was naiive to believe you could negotiate with Iran - and that was well before they started shooting their own people in the street.

So who are the people who are stupid? The ones who were able to see the Obama trainwreck coming way down the track or the ones who are still trying to direct traffic long after the crash has already happened?

There's a whole lot of projection going on from the Leftists here: Palin made you look stupid. She got it right. You got it wrong. And the American people aren't quite as dumb as you think they are. Guess how credible your claims of her stupidity are going to be when the tapes play from her 2008 stump speeches where she can prove that she knew what the supposedly "smart" people still can't figure out?

Yeah...you're not nearly as smart as you seem to think you are.

Jim said...

elHombre -

"Successful political campaigns at this level are run by professionals, not candidates."

Exactly. Obama beat Hillary because of Hillary's massive strategic blunder in not paying more attention to the caucuses. Her people got outmaneuvered, and literally outmuscled at the caucuses and Obama built up an insurmountable lead as a result.

It wasn't leadership. It wasn't his oratory. It was plain old politic gamesmanship. If there's one thing Chicago Democrats excel at, it's political gamesmanship. But all you have to do is look at the sorry state of Chicago to figure out that they haven't the first clue about actually governing once they've won.

This whole "leadership" meme that his sycophants throw around is an illusion built on a lie and wrapped up with a ribbon of untruth.

hombre said...

Cedarford wrote: What you are really saying then, if Palin is Obama's equal except not as polished... Is that she is an inexperienced lightweight who cannot articulate herself well.

What I really said was that "she is at least his equal as an executive and leader. She is simply not a polished speaker.

Your version is an uncharitable extrapolation. Obviously.

JAL said...

Like Kirk said.

I could never figure out the appeal of Obama's campaign rhetoric because I could never really hear him say anything substantial.

"We are the ones we have been waiting for"?

What the hey was that supposed to mean (except weirdness incarnate).

And people swooned. Remember? Literally and figuratively. Why was that? What did he say? Beats me.

I do remember him saying he was going to redistribute other people's wealth, and that the Constitution failed to address those issues.

That's pretty stunning. But not to many people paid attention. Too busy projecting their desires on his white board.

(And I knew we were in trouble.)

Synova said...

"I would argue that Palin's strength is in fact her prepared speaking performance. She's a great populist speaker. She just falls apart when she has to talk about substantive issues on the fly."

Her accent is a problem and she needs to slow down but I think that she does far better on substantive issues than trivial ones. It's the empty questions that she stumbles over. "What newspapers do chill-billy hicks like you read in Alaska?"

JAL said...

RC writes: She's self-serving, provincial, incurious, and lazy, like GDubya, but vigorously proud of her know-nothingism, as he also was, and similarly unsuited for high office of any kind.

Fascinating.

There are a lot of words I've seen slung at Governor Palin, but LAZY is one I think clearly reveals the depth of ad hominem of the left.

You're kidding, right?

We have the media bragging on how the Russians love Michelle because she gets "works with her hands" in a state owned veggy garden from time to time, while Palin has regularly worked on a fishing boat, shoots and dresses game, and lives in a climate that makes some people flip out, and she is "lazy" and "provincial."

And you have to throw George W. Bush in here too. I believe he actually had a better GPA than Gore or Kerry -- and then there's that MBA. And he's also self-serving (care to do a word count on the number of "Is" in Obama versus Bush speeches?), provincial (provincial? I thought he was an elite stuck up Ivy Leaguer who grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth-- oh wait -- that was JFK). Damned if you do and damned if you don't. Not to mention "incurious" (wonder who decided to make the Crawford ranch green?) and "vigorously proud of [his] know-nothingism."

Wow.

BDS and PDS.

Even with time there is no cure.

Invisible Man said...

What I really said was that "she is at least his equal as an executive and leader. She is simply not a polished speaker.

How? Don't tell me that you think that governing Alaska, a place with a population smaller than Obama's state Senate district is some great shakes. And as a leader, whatever you thought of her last week abandoning your post to go fishing with the husband for the near future ain't really leadership. Build up this myth if you'd like, but not even her own Republicans in Alaska seemed to want to follow.

Hoosier Daddy said...

It's the empty questions that she stumbles over. "What newspapers do chill-billy hicks like you read in Alaska?"

Well my answer would have been 'Are any still in business?'

But I suppose that would have been a strikeout too.

theobromophile said...

As a conservative woman, I've had a lot of people say about me the exact same things that are said about Gov. Palin: f-ing stupid, too dumb to function, crazy, lacking in all mental faculties, etc.

As a conservative woman with rather respectable educational and professional credentials, I still cannot get my opponents to acknowledge that there is nothing wrong with my mind.

Let's be honest: the "uneducated rube" criticisms about Palin have nothing to do with her actual mental capabilities and everything to do with finding a personal attack that looks like it will stick. It actually has nothing to do with her educational credentials or behaviour - again, those same attacks are used against women with the sterling educational credentials that should supposedly immunise them against this b.s..

Hoosier Daddy said...

I'm sorry but to call Palin stupid when your side has Joe Biden is the height of hypocrisy.

I mean there is no further discussion.

Kirk Parker said...

elHombre,

"Surely, Kirk, you can't mean that his campaign rhetoric exposed that he would be this bad."

Of course it did--empty platitudinous nonsense, "we're the ones we've been waiting for", the amazing set at the DNC... of course I deduced that his actions in office would be as empty of connection to reality. In fact, in many ways he's performed better than his rhetoric would have suggested (Gitmo, anyone?)

Alex said...

For once I have to agree with Jeremy, Palin is ridiculous and we should stop paying any attention to her.

mccullough said...

Pogo,

Biden isn't dumb. He's the one who said there was a 30% chance the stimulus wouldn't work and now he says the administration "misread" the economy.

He also said Obama would be tested in foreign policy.

Biden's been spot on. He's the only one in the administration who tells the truth.

Salamandyr said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
I'm Full of Soup said...

McCullough:
It was just a week or two ago that Biden stumbled around and said "I am not one to ask about economics issues, foreign policy is where I have my expertise" when he was asked how the Obama admin counted those 150,000 jobs they claimed to save OR create.

Biden then proceeded to stumble around some more and and claimed "no economics expert has yet challenged the reasonableness of the 150,000 jobs claim."

I'm Full of Soup said...

IBM = Irish Big Mouth = Joe Biden.

Bruce Hayden said...

Biden may not be dumb, but he does seem to operate in a reality separate from the rest of us. Yes, he was right about the "stimulus" bill, and right about Obama being tested, but he also "misspeaks" routinely.

Michelle yesterday was convinced that Biden won the VP debates last year against Palin. But what she didn't take into account was that many of those facts that Biden had at his fingertips that made him look so smart - well, they just ain't so.

But, I am not surprised. Michelle to be a liberal has to be operating almost entirely on emotion, and is unlikely to let the fact (or in Biden's case, unfacts) get in the way.

KCFleming said...

Biden's only spot on when he lifts it from someone else; all his best stuff is stolen. The rest is made up BS, pure horsehockey, said with confidence.



His boss is too vain and stupid even to steal good ideas, but remains mired in that Krugman-marxist utopia where one dollar multiplies into three just by throwing down the federal sinkhole.

Hoosier Daddy said...

Michelle yesterday was convinced that Biden won the VP debates last year against Palin

Well that's a shocker. Michele is a bona fide partisan liberal and will simply ignore when he makes blatant erros. Oh never happened. It's like a die hard football fan that will deny his side committed a facemask even though their guy is standing there with the dude's helment in his paw.

Like I said, Palin is no intellectual giant and I don't think ever claimed she was. But to point at her and call her dumb when your side had Biden is simply laughable.

Hoosier Daddy said...

One other thing Bruce, Biden's call on the stimulus bill and the President being 'tested' were pretty much a given weren't they?

I'm Full of Soup said...

I would not give credit to Biden for the stimulus second-guess. Cause it is nothing but Monday Morning QBing. It would be like Cheyney trying to say "we sorta kinda knew Saddam did not have WMD. Hell, everyone sorta kinda knew".

Invisible Man said...

Michelle yesterday was convinced that Biden won the VP debates last year against Palin

Don't let a little thing like facts get in the way.

KCFleming said...

"Don't let a little thing like facts get in the way."

Quite right; that's always been Biden's approach.
And now he's Veep.

Jim said...

Invisible Man -

"Don't let a little thing like facts get in the way."

Biden sure didn't.

Honestly. Why would you post those polls when you couldn't possibly have been so clueless as to think that it wouldn't be immediately rebutted by how many lies Biden told and how many mistakes he made.

Just because the MSM refused to point them out and the general public reached an erroneous conclusion as a result only proves what a horrible job the MSM did in the run-up to the election.

(It's only a 'horrible job,' of course, if you assume that the media's job is to inform rather than to propagandize instead. If that's not true, then the media did an absolute bang-up job.)

Chase said...

I would not trust anyone with positions of authority who says such damnable things about Sarah Palin.

The country is seeing now how unreliable the children in charge right now.

Seriously. While I tell my employees upfront that their personal politics are irrelevant to their job performance, we still keep an eye and ear towards the person's character in everything they speak. And while there is a lot of talk about Sarah Palin, the employee who is indiscreet enough to say such things as Sarah Palin is an "idiot" and "stupid" and complain about her family and supposed hypocrisy about her children is someone we do not promote - ever again. Because the remarks show the person saying them is too easily swayed by political and other propaganda and we just can't afford that character flaw in our business.

And yes, we are doing quite well in this economy, thank you.

Invisible Man said...

Quite right; that's always been Biden's approach.
And now he's Veep.


Hilarious! You guys can't even admit that your making shit up when I point right to facts that directly show that.. your making shit up. You just move on to some other criticism to attempt to "WIN" the point. This is like arguing with a 9th grader.

KCFleming said...

Oh, he won the debate all right.

But he was lying during the debate, too. Repeatedly.

Whatever works.

Invisible Man said...

But he was lying during the debate, too. Repeatedly.

Oh, why am I doing this to myself. Here we go. And I'll just mention a few at the VP debate:

HEALTH CARE. Palin says taxes wouldn’t go up under the McCain health care plan, a fact even his own campaign has acknowledged isn’t true.

PARTISAN APPOINTMENTS: Palin said “You do what I did as governor. And you appoint people regardless of party affiliation. Democrats, independents, Republicans, you walk the walk, don't just talk the talk” when she repeatedly appointed friends and supporters to positions for which they weren’t qualified.

DARFUR DIVESTMENT: Palin claimed that “when I and others” found out that the state had money invested in Sudan that “we called for divestment,” when the reality is that Palin’s appointees worked to kill a Darfur divestment plan.

Let's be real, whoppers get said on all sides under the kleig lights in debates. But let's not act like Sarah was on some uneven playing field. She lost fair and square, by all of the legitimate polling (Don't even bring some crappy website poll). I'm guessing that you blame the refs every time your favorite team loses as well.

Jeremy said...

Sloanasaurus said..."We need someone like Palin to put forth a new strategy for America...."

And a brand new LAW!!

Princess Sarah and THE DEPARTMENT OF LAW...DUH.

(Rachel Weiner 7/7/09):

The Princess on her pending Ethics Complaints: "I'm not going to let Alaskans go through a year of stymied, paralyzed administration and not getting anything done."

Skeptical observers have wondered how Palin would handle being president if some ethics complaints are enough to make her unable to run a state. Palin's answer: if she was president, the Department of Law would protect her.

Palin said there is a difference between the White House and what she has experienced in Alaska. If she were in the White House the "DEPARTMENT OF LAW" would protect her from baseless ethical allegations.

"I think on a national level your DEPARTMENT OF LAW there in the White House would look at some of the things that we've been charged with and automatically throw them out," she said.

There is no DEPARTMENT OF LAW at the White House.

*And people here think this idiot should be President???

Salamandyr said...

IM,

You're right, a certain amount of exaggeration and "whoppers" get told by all sides in the Presidential debates.

Even stipulating the instances you mentioned are exactly as you described them, those are pretty standard run of the mill political jive, for which Barack "Present" Obama is known, among others.

They really can't compare to Joe "the US and France teamed up to kick Syria out of Lebanon" Biden. That's not a run of the mill whopper, that's flat out delusion!

Jeremy said...

And all the little wingnuts gather together to...

Bitch & Whine, Bitch & Whine, Bitch & Whine, Bitch & Whine, Bitch & Whine, Bitch & Whine, Bitch & Whine, Bitch & Whine, Bitch & Whine, Bitch & Whine, Bitch & Whine, Bitch & Whine, Bitch & Whine, Bitch & Whine, Bitch & Whine, Bitch & Whine...

Poor, poor babies...

KCFleming said...

Meanwhile, another 100,000 jobs is lost and $1Billion spent per hour, all thanks to the efforts of our leaders, Goofus and Gallant.

Invisible Man said...

They really can't compare to Joe "the US and France teamed up to kick Syria out of Lebanon" Biden. That's not a run of the mill whopper, that's flat out delusion!

You mean that the Darfur instance isn't delusion. Or that keeping your head down and doing your job is the easy way out. Or that quitters do their job while fighters quit. I'm not sure you want to bring up delusion around a person who gets her latest political advice from Cheney and Guiliani.

Jim said...

Alpha -

"your making shit up"

Not at all like you completely ignoring the link to all the errors that Biden committed.

Projection...look it up...

Jeremy said...

ED ROLLINS: "I think yesterday was a disaster, Friday was a disaster for her both in the sense that she was very incoherent in articulating why she was quitting and what she wanted to do with it.

And as I always say, you call press conferences to answer questions, not to basically raise questions. I think the serious thing here is 311 days ago, very few people in America, very few Republicans outside of Alaska knew who this woman was. She had a tremendous first few weeks as a campaigner, but she got super imposed on top of the Republican establishment. It's sort of like taking a helicopter and putting her on top of Mt. Everest, which John McCain was flying it.

Everybody else climbed up that ladder, and all of the sudden she's on top of the mountain. She didn't like it -- or she did like the top of the mountain. What she didn't like was coming back to Earth, flying back to Alaska to her job as governor.

I think the reality here is her biggest mistake is walking away from the job as governor. She would have at least had a record to run on. She is going to have a partial record today that's going to be very incomplete. I found her very insulting to other governors. We have 22 other Republican governors, 19 of whom are basically going to be out of this office after running in two years. Nine are term limited and many others have to run. And she basically said in the last year you run around and do all kinds of things, and I would predict to you every single Republican governor like most Democratic governors are at their desk trying to figure out how to get through the economic crisis. I think she insulted them. I think to a certain extent it showed a naivete and I think she basically left a big, big void in her resume."

hdhouse said...

JAL said...
"...while Palin has regularly worked on a fishing boat, shoots and dresses game, and lives in a climate that makes some people flip out, and she is "lazy" and "provincial."

Well let's look at what you wrote shall we?

"worked on fishing boat":
on her husband's boat doing no one knows what. google 'palin, fishing boat" and lo and behold, nothing comes up.

"shoots and dresses game"...in skirts? or boots?

"lives in a climate that makes some people flip out" ....and?

she is lazy and provincial: again..and?

If you have a point to make, then try again, otherwise stop teeing up the beachballs

hombre said...

Invisible Man wrote: Don't tell me that you think that governing Alaska, a place with a population smaller than Obama's state Senate district is some great shakes.

Obama had no meaningful executive or leadership history. Zero! Zip! Nada!

What I said was: "Palin's history suggests she is at least his equal as an executive and leader."

My statement would have been true if she had stopped as Mayor of Wasilla.

The campaign is now over. Obtuseness is no longer attributable to political necessity. You might want to consider trading in the talking points for critical thinking.

Invisible Man said...

Obama had no meaningful executive or leadership history.

You should have mentioned that before he became the most meaningful executive in the country. Too late!

Jim said...

elHombre -

"You might want to consider trading in the talking points for critical thinking."

If critical thinking were seriously a possibility for him, he never would have repeated the ridiculous talking points in the first place. It's a lost cause.

Synova said...

"Obama had no meaningful executive or leadership history."

"You should have mentioned that before he became the most meaningful executive in the country. Too late!"

We *did* mention it. In fact, when he was asked about his executive experience directly *he* answered that he managed his campaign staff!

No one cared that he presented his run for president as sufficient experience to be president.

Jeremy said...

FUNNY!!!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/07/letterman-takes-on-palin_n_226854.html

Jeremy said...

Ed Rollins - "I found her very insulting to other governors."

And to Alaskans.

KCFleming said...

Critics blast Palin.

Meanwhile, the economy hemorrhages jobs at an horrific pace, and Congress is spending the nation into penury.

But yes, let's blast Palin.

KCFleming said...

And the Dow is back down to its level in April, the dead cat bounce being over.

Prepare for the long haul, people. We have FDR to lead us into socialist oblivion.

Jeremy said...

David Brooks / 7/7/09:

"Americans still admire dignity. But the word has become unmoored from any larger set of rules or ethical system.

But it’s not right to end on a note of cultural pessimism because there is the fact of President Obama. Whatever policy differences people may have with him, we can all agree that he exemplifies reticence, dispassion and the other traits associated with dignity.

The cultural effects of his presidency are not yet clear, but they may surpass his policy impact. He may revitalize the concept of dignity for a new generation and embody a new set of rules for self-mastery."

KCFleming said...

Slack-jawed drooling indifference has the same appearance, when one isn't licking boots.

Jeremy said...

Pogo said..."Meanwhile, the economy hemorrhages jobs at an horrific pace, and Congress is spending the nation into penury."

What difference does it make to you?

You don't have a job now, and didn't have a job when Obama was elected.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Regarding FOIA requests, Palin could have taken a cue from Governor Rendell.

Fat Eddie hired a high profile attorney for a new state position as Information Officer, he got great press for it but when she started doing her job by asking the Governor for FOIA data, he just stonewalled her and did not give her the info.

Jeremy said...

Pogo - "And the Dow is back down to its level in April..."

It's at 8,160 today...but you fail to mention the Dow was at 6,500 in March.

Invisible Man said...

We *did* mention it. In fact, when he was asked about his executive experience directly *he* answered that he managed his campaign staff!

Aargh, what do I have to do, put a sarcasm tag on for you guys. C'mon look alive.

Like any evaluation, basing everything on one criteria especially one as vague as "executive experience" is just narrow minded. Ulysses Grant came in to his Presidency with more "executive" decision making experience than almost any of our Presidents and he was a failure. Leadership is way more important when eveluating someone than some lose experience. History is replete with young men/woman with minimal at best exec experience but proved their worth as leaders. I'm probably not going to convince people who still believe that Sarah won the debate that Obama has outstanding leadership experience and qualities, but I'd put his record as a natural leader up against most.

I'm Full of Soup said...

IM:

Could you please give us about six examples of these inexperienced but great leaders?

Try to limit your six to recent American history.

Thanks in advance, you are the best.

DaLawGiver said...

It's at 8,160 today...but you fail to mention the Dow was at 6,500 in March.

I'm sure that is a great comfort to the 10% of Americans who are unemployed.

hombre said...

IM wrote: I'm probably not going to convince people who still believe that Sarah won the debate that Obama has outstanding leadership experience and qualities, but I'd put his record as a natural leader up against most.

I don't think she won the debate. Even so, your comments about his "experience" and "record" are indefensible.

You'd "put his record... up against most?" Most what?

So do it! We're waiting.

KCFleming said...

"the Dow was at 6,500 in March."

Well, Obama is certainly trying his damnedest to get us there.

Major banks are refusing California's IOUs.

More losses are expected on US mortgages.

Congress is spending $B an hour, and just voted for the largest tax increase in US history.

The Global Economic Forum calls the US a "Fiscal Train Wreck".


Heck of a job, Barry!

Salamandyr said...

You mean that the Darfur instance isn't delusion. Or that keeping your head down and doing your job is the easy way out. Or that quitters do their job while fighters quit. I'm not sure you want to bring up delusion around a person who gets her latest political advice from Cheney and Guiliani.

No, no, no, & no (I may have lost count there). I said stipulating that you were right, I didn't say I agree with you. I have a feeling that the Darfur issue is more complicated than you let on. Keeping your head down and doing your job is the easy way out if someone needs to stand up and declare that things aren't right. The last part is your uncharitable characterization of standard political bullshit.

No, I don't think any of that compares to just making shit up. This wasn't braggadocio, this wasn't trying to make yourself look better--we all do that, and especially politicians. Biden out and out made shit up. That's a whole different level of crazy.

traditionalguy said...

Jeremy...It was nice to see Ed Rollins, who is a Republican like Benedict Arnold is a Patriot, came thru with the next same generation memes the Robert Cook used @12:32. You guys are good at message control. Rollins "analysis" is that it is shameful for a politician, who is a dunce woman,to try to win a higher office thereby insulting all other decent politicians, and was done for venal reasons, unlike Mr Rollins who is 100% a hired on camera Republican Impersonator.

Invisible Man said...

Try to limit your six to recent American history.

Bill Gates - Microsoft (college dropout)
Jeff Bezos - Amazon
Jeffery Sachs - professor now global leader on poverty
Lance Armstrong - bike rider now leads efforts for cancer
Muhammad Yunus - Microfinance
US Junior Officers - built cities from scratch in Iraq
David Petreus - younger than most but was honed a bit
Tom Brady - barely started in college
Mike Tomlin - led men to SuperBowl at 34 after only a couple of years as an assistant


Some of these I got from an easy to find article by David Gergen, some were my own. You asked for recent, so I was a bit constricted and I can add more if this does not please you!

All didn't come to their heights like say Reagan or Jack Welch through years of honing their craft working up the ladder, but neverthless were great leaders in all industries. My view is that leadership comes in all types of places.

KCFleming said...

And Invisible, Barry is leading straight into a double dip Recession, 10% unemployment and the biggest tax increase in US history.

That's leadership, man.

mccullough said...

Invisible Man,

Tom Brady started 2 years at Michigan, compiling a 20-5 record with two bowl victories.

hombre said...

You'd "put [Obama's] record... up against most?" Most what?

So do it! We're waiting.

What do Bill Gates and Lance Armstrong have to do with Obama?

We're still waiting.

Jeremy said...

Lawgiver said..."...that is a great comfort to the 10% of Americans who are unemployed."

I'm sure it isn't, except for the fact that so many 401K's and pension funds are tied to Mutual Funds.

Did you even know that??

And by the way, my comment was directed at Little Pogo who was whining about the market.

Jeremy said...

Pogo said..."And Invisible, Barry is leading straight into a double dip Recession, 10% unemployment and the biggest tax increase in US history."

Where was the economy when he took over, numbnut?

It's not like he took over an exploding economy and it took a dive.

You really need to read more and talk less because you sound like a fool.

Jeremy said...

traditionalguy said..."Jeremy...It was nice to see Ed Rollins, who is a Republican like Benedict Arnold is a Patriot..."

So suddenly, because he's critical of Princess Sarah, he's no longer a leqader of the Republican Party??

He was involved in campaigns from 1984 through 2008 and now, because he says something you disagree with, he's considered a traitor to the party?

This is why you idiots (especially the local wingnuts) won't see the White House or a majority in Congress for decades. You just can't stand to hear any view other than your own.

Fred4Pres said...

As Andrew Sullivan said about Palin today: "I sure hope her family recovers from what she has done to them." Given all the mud he has flung, Sully deserves to burn in hell for that comment.

Well in the words of Fight Club: Her name was Sarah Palin.

Murtha, any ethics problems? Reid, ethics issues? Bawney Frank, ethically challenged? Old Sod Dodd, ethic issues? Payback is a bitch.

mccullough said...

Jeremy,

Obama said his stimulus (not W.'s) would keep unemployment at 8%. It didn't. Not even close.

How is this W.'s fault?

KCFleming said...

Far worse, Obama took over a recession and made it into a Depression. That takes skilz.

China is so afraid of what Obama is doing, it wants to drop the dollar as a reserve currency.

Mortgage applications have fallen to a seven-month low.

To “make homes affordable” to an even wider range of deadbeat borrowers, Obama has manipulated refinance rates so that homeowners with mortgages worth more than 125% of their home’s value qualify. Previously, that limit had been 105%, an error that itself helped fuel the massive bubble that burst.

Fitch Ratings chopped California’s credit rating to BBB this morning, whose economy is run by the same liberal ideas now foisted on the rest of us.

A record 14.7 million people are now unemployed. That makes for a 9.5% unemployment rate, a 26-year high.

Heckuva job, Barry!

DaLawGiver said...

Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Jeffery Sachs are natural leaders? I guess it depends on your definition of what a leader really is. I define leadership based on my military experience. Leadership is the art of influencing and directing people to accomplish a task or mission. Leaders motivate, develop and inspire. Managers administer, maintain, and control. The above is pretty much verbatim out of the AF Professional Development Guide. I'll agree Obama has some leadership qualities, but most of the people on your list seem more like managers to me. Palin seems to be a natural born leader also.

Hoosier Daddy said...

Like any evaluation, basing everything on one criteria especially one as vague as "executive experience" is just narrow minded.

Oh for Christ's sake Invisible. Biden doesn't even know the power of his own damn office and can't even get correct where the powers of the executive are in the Constitution and the guy is a fucking lawyer.

So please, spare me the bullshit. You have an empty suit playing President and a plagirizing moron as the bumbling veep. We have the Norks and the Iranians going full steam on nukes and Obama is cutting an arms deal with a country that stopped being a threat to us 20 frigging years ago.

It would be funny if it wasn't so tragic.

Hoosier Daddy said...

China is so afraid of what Obama is doing, it wants to drop the dollar as a reserve currency.


Well as Jeremy is always fond of saying. Bush blew his surplus and doubled the debt and that is bad. Which in his tortured mind means that Obama spending even more and generating even more suffocating debt is a good thing and will fix all.

DaLawGiver said...

I'm sure it isn't, except for the fact that so many 401K's and pension funds are tied to Mutual Funds.

If you don't have a job your 401K will evaporate faster that Joe Biden can stick his foot in his mouth. It's about the whole economy stupid, not just the markets.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

And the DJIA was at 7286 in Oct 2003 and 14198 in Oct 2007. Doubled under Bush's terrible economy. ;-P

The DOW and other American markets began to decline when I was evident to the insiders and brokers that there was something terribly wrong with the mortgage markets. I quit offering FnMAE or FMAC at the mid point of 07 when they began coming out with all kinds of tricky notes and bonds with step ups and other unnecessary bells and whistles for a debt instrument that was supposed to be rock solid. Somthing didn't smell right. And unless my clients had a rock solid 7 to 8% coupon with a death put...we sold.

The DJIA began to drop like a stone when it became apparent that Obama would be the candidate and really began to drop in earnest when he actually got the nomination. So under Obama's supercalifragilistic economic plan we are almost back to 2003.

Dead cat bounce done for now. Can't wait to see what happens when we start getting into double digit interest rates and inflation that would make Carter proud.

hombre said...

Recession is when your neighbor loses his job.

Depression is when you lose yours.

Recovery is when Obama loses his.

Methadras said...

Hey awesome. I get to see Gene vomit more of his lies. How are the new lies coming out these days Gene? Has the DNC faxed you their talking points for you spin into a new tale of woe yet Gene?

Seen Palin's new poll numbers yet, Gene?

jr565 said...

Hey just wait till our utility bills (and transportation costs and food costs and taxes, and higher prices for goods and jobs lost ) "necessarily skyrocket because of Obamas' Tax and Trade proposal.
You aint seen nothing yet! And for his next trick....

TitusItisRainingYetAgain said...

People are being mean to Sarah, waaahhhh.

Maureen Dowd called her Caribou Barbie, waaaaahhh.

Our pit bull is really a poodle, waaah.

She is a quitter, wah.


She is a victim, wah wah wah.

Get over it.

She will be on Fox soon enough and you can buy her books and attend her hate pep rallies where she compares real american places against no american places. You can still jerk off over her. She will still go off on San Francisco and NYC and everywhere else. You'll get your meat.

Don't worry she has a future. She is a celebrity. We usually hate them but in her case we jerk off over them.

TitusItisRainingYetAgain said...

She aint no fucking pit bull though and she didn't Spring to The Finish Line.

As the divine Miss Dowd said she skipped out at halftime. So true.

Now suck it up republicans.

Bruce Hayden said...

The DJIA began to drop like a stone when it became apparent that Obama would be the candidate and really began to drop in earnest when he actually got the nomination. So under Obama's supercalifragilistic economic plan we are almost back to 2003.

You are closer to it than I am, but I didn't think that it went into free fall until Obama pulled ahead in the polls in October, and, of course, as his lead expanded, the market continued to drop.

But that was apparently Bush's fault.

Hoosier Daddy said...

Titus stick to fecal analysis and fashion. Your political commentary really sucks.

Invisible Man said...

Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Jeffery Sachs are natural leaders? I guess it depends on your definition of what a leader really is. I define leadership based on my military experience. Leadership is the art of influencing and directing people to accomplish a task or mission.

I might bend a bit on Bezos, but Gates has inspired and led a company to unfathomable heights through inspiration and yes managerial excellence. And who gets the world's best investor to hand over billions of dollars to his foundation. I don't know how you could call him just a manager.

Cedarford said...

Dust Bunny Queen said...
And the DJIA was at 7286 in Oct 2003 and 14198 in Oct 2007. Doubled under Bush's terrible economy. ;-P

Unfortunately, there is the "rest of the story", which is that we woke up to find our economic future and possibly our future as a major power poisoned, in the last year of Bush II. And now realize the poisoning was done by the full endorsement of Bush for the machinations of economic elites.

Machinations also endorsed by Clinton, and by the cancerous seeds emplanted even earlier under Reagan. Reaganomics, supply side, mindless deficits, Bretton Woods II.

Germany had a great run for most of Hitlers leadership. It was just the last two years of his time that really sucked for the Germans.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

And now realize the poisoning was done by the full endorsement of Bush for the machinations of economic elites.


I won't argue with that at all, however I will argue that a free market with low taxes is an effective combatant to the economic cesspool that we are in now.

The parallels between early Hitler years and what is happening now sociologically are eerie. Don't misunderstand me, I am in no way referencing Jews or any other super secret cabal.

I do see some distinct purposeful political moves on the part of the Obama administration that are meant to throw us into a situation similar to that of pre 1930's Germany and make us ripe for a Socialist take over. Something Obama has prepared for his entire life.

Jeremy said...

mccullough said...Jeremy, Obama said his stimulus (not W.'s) would keep unemployment at 8%. It didn't. Not even close."

Explain why ANY forecast of whatever is anything more than a hopeful wish.

Reagan reduced taxes so much, anticipating a massive growth in in the economy, yet went back and raised taxes 4 times to compensate for his miscalculation in what he anticipated as the revenues expected.

Bush issued similar forecasts that were proven to be false, and not only relating to the economy. (Remember the Iraqi forecasts????)

We're in a worldwide economic struggle and bitching about each and every decision is a waste of time.

Of, course you already know that, but you and other just LOVE whining about anything Obama.

As if Bush had everything under control??

Give the new President a chance before making yourself into a fool.

Jeremy said...

Dust Idiot - "The parallels between early Hitler years and what is happening now sociologically are eerie."

You're a fucking moron.

You're comparing the Obama administration to the Hitler movement?

You're disgusting.

Jeremy said...

Can I assume most here are not entirely familiar with the Bush administration, and what they left for Obama to handle?

You act as if Obama came into office, inheriting a massive and positive economy...and somehow, over the course of 6 months ruined it for everybody??

You're like little whining and bitching babies who know nothing about the realities of the world.

KCFleming said...

The reality is that Obama has screwed the economic pooch.

Whether by accident or design, he has lashed the US citizens to 100 years of debt servitude.

It's un-American.
It's anti-American.

The Dude said...

Obama is un-American.
Obama is anti-American.

JAL said...

hd being dense: "worked on fishing boat":
on her husband's boat doing no one knows what. google 'palin, fishing boat" and lo and behold, nothing comes up.


And that means what?

That you're a lousy googler?

Funny. Last September I remember reading the Palin family financial filing for AK. It clearly indicated income for commerical fishing.

I can google too.

From 2007 there was this:

April 1, 2007
Come early July, don't look for Alaska's new governor, Sarah Palin, in the halls of the capitol in Juneau, where she faces a mountain of work building a new administration. No, she'll be in rubber boots picking sockeye at the family's Bristol Bay commercial setnet sites.

"It's kind of my sanity being out there" she says. "I'm certainly going to need that during this first year in office."

Like the bay's prodigious sockeye runs, Palin was an unstoppable force last fall. She trounced incumbent Frank Murkowski in the Republican primary and then cruised past Democrat Tony Knowles, a former governor, to win the state's top political post.

She's the first woman to be governor of Alaska in the state's 48-year history. She's the youngest, too.

One thing she can't claim, however, is being the first governor with a commercial fishing background. At least one other, Jay Hammond, among the state's most revered governors, also was a Bristol Bay setnetter.

Palin, 43, came into office Dec. 4 with a desk immediately stacked high. In Alaska, oil and gas production--not commercial fishing--is the most important industry, paying for most of state government.

Much of her time will be spent trying to persuade major energy companies to build a $20 billion pipeline to carry the state's enormous but stranded natural gas reserves to market. It's an economic development prize Alaskans are demanding, but also one that's defeated many former governors.
{snip}
For many gillnetters, the Palins included, the fishery is a sideline, not a profession.

Most of the money can be made in only a couple of weeks around the Fourth of July, when the sockeye run is thickest. Compared to the combat out on the bay, where drift boats brawl along boundary lines for the best shot at onrushing fish, working a gillnet along the beach is a genteel affair.

"It's great for these kids to learn," Palin says. She used to hold the state permit for one of the family's setnet sites, but the permit has since passed down to her 17-year-old son, Track. She figures daughter Bristol will be the next to get a permit. {snip}


Yeah what the hey. She obviously doesn't know squat about salmon fishing. She couldn't possibly know a damn thing about anything because she's Sarah Palin.

"Lazy" isn't a descriptor for Sarah Palin. Stop being lazy yourself and be concrete about the issues.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Invisible Man:
Sorry for the delay in responding to your examples.

I asked you to give me examples of "inexperienced" people who became great leaders.

You gave me two CEO's of enormous public companies and one 4 star general?? How are they inexperienced? Did Petreaus go straight from enlisted man to general?

Gates and Bezos started companies from scratch and worked hard til they succeeded.

I may give you Mike Tomlin but give me a break on the others! You are talking nonsense.

jr565 said...

Jeremy wrote:
Can I assume most here are not entirely familiar with the Bush administration, and what they left for Obama to handle?

You act as if Obama came into office, inheriting a massive and positive economy...and somehow, over the course of 6 months ruined it for everybody??

You're like little whining and bitching babies who know nothing about the realities of the world.


Of course Bush was hit with the failing of the real estate market, much of which was caused in fact by largely democratic policies in Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac and on this Bush was actually one of the sane ones. But that is neither her nor there.
But that is neither here nor there. Bush and congress (which holds the purse strings) and has been in democrat control for the past 2 years spent too much. Obama and the democrats, after bitching incessentantly about overspending seem to think that a solution to that is to increase spending at an exponentially higher rate. Bad deficits under Bush. Well clearly we need to increase the natural debt even further. Instapundit has a nice illustrative chart he keeps showing which displays debts under Bush and under Obama and, my god, how can you with a straight face ever complain about Bush's profligate spending ever again after going along with Obama's fiscal policies.
And we haven't even gotten to health care, cap and tax and stimulus part II. The fact of the matter is Obama is not even trying to pass policies that promote growth. (Jeremy, please explain how cap and trade promotes growth). He even declared prior to the election that his cap and trade policies will "necessarily" drive up energy prices.
And to top it off, they keep passing bills that they don't let anyone even read! No one knows what's in them including the people passing them because the administration keeps scaring the populace with the need to do SOMETHING NOW or we all will die!You call this competent governance?

jr565 said...

Also, Biden recently said that they misread how bad the economy was. How is that possible when Obama ran on the Bush economy being the worst economy since the Great depression?
And if they already recognized it was the worst economy since the great depression how could they suggest policies that would raise taxes, drive up energy prices, slow growth etc, in the midst of the worst economy since the great depression?

Back during the debates when asked what they would do, Mccain suggested a one year spending freeze to at least address the issue.that's not all he'd do but at least he recognized a fundamental truism, and that is if you find yourself in a big hole the first thing to do is stop digging. Obama hooed and haaed about his response and offered his usual platitudes. Yet here he is spending not like a drunken sailor but a fleet of drunken sailors despite knowing ahead of time that we are in the midst of a recession, despite the media saying that the economy might put a damper on Mcain or Obama's plans. But does plain facts and common sense dictate how Obama handles an economic downturn? Does economic principles guide his decisions. Hell no.
The funniest thing of all about liberals is how they are so contemptuous of Sarah Palin for being so retarded and then offer up Barack Obama as a paragon of intelligence. Yet Sarah Palin, would NEVER be so foolish as to think anti growth policies would promote growth in the economy. Obama driven by ideology is not really out to grow the economy but rather achieve "fairness" and is out to promote growth of govt.