The vote about the Palin family table is telling. Any surprise that vicious mudraking attack and mockery of Trig might have something to do with this? She may be running, she may not be running for President. Still, I do not see an upside poltically for Palin with this decision.
I don't think you do it today if you want to make a splash of any kind. I hope she has just decided to be done with politics. No presidential aspirations. No scandal. Just a big fuck you to the establishment.
That would be noble and poetic. Probably much too much to ask as well.
7-Nachos Short - "I hope she has just decided to be done with politics. No presidential aspirations. No scandal. Just a big fuck you to the establishment."
Love that her excuse was that 2nd term govs are lame ducks, so she didn't want to be one. Uhhh, so she couldn't have been a 2nd term gov and NOT been a lame duck, she couldn't have broken the mold and done it the right way? She's insane. I hope she runs in 2012, wins, and then doesn't seek a 2nd presidential term the same way. Right.
I found this surprising. The governor seems to have enjoyed politics over a number of years, and leaving an elected office can't be helpful to political ambition.
Nothing seems to stop this warrior woman. Maybe the Dems can use Al Franken and Tina Fey to do Townhall Meetings, covered as serious news by their Obamaganda media eunuchs, and try to ridicule and scorn her to an early political death. But if that does not stop her, then what? The tipping point comes when their lies will not stick to her, and they have nothing else to use to stop her.
It can only mean that she has forgotten her joke about community organizers. Remember? She is much more important than a community organizer because she has "actual responsibilities"! You know, the ones she is now bailing on.
"I'll say it again: if she can't hack the governorship, she can't hack the Presidency. Sitting governors run for President all the time."
But here, she wouldn't even have to be a sitting governor. She could just not run for reelection in 2010.
Quitting now to run for POTUS in 3+ years would make no sense. There has to be something else going on.
And the only way that something else isn't a political career ender is if there's something like a recent diagnosis of a serious (but curable) disease.
I can't wait for that, either, Zach. Nor can most Republicans.
I agree that the Cult of Palin is a little odd. What's abnormal and vile, though, is the Cult of Palin Haters, who for whatever bizarre reasons have nothing but hate for this woman. It's really, really sad to see it fester, even today. Get help, you silly drama queens.
As someone with an immediate family member going through a totally unexpected medical crisis, I could see her doing this if she's experiencing something similar. Hope that's not the case though.
I really don't understand how this could be in her interest if she decides to run for President. If her term ends next year, and the next presidential election isn't for three years, why not just not run for re-election?
She says it's because she doesn't want to be a lame duck if she's already said she's not running for re-election, but she's basically saying that she can't govern in an effective way if she's near the end of her administration (or within a year and a half of the end). Why would anyone want her to be President if that's the case, given the term limits?
Medical problems would make the most sense here. Not seeking re-election doesn't cut it when she's bailing, with little notice, on the current term. I hope there's nothing that can't be treated going on.
Seven, hope springs eternal. It's the quiet ones that always surprise people. Maybe he'll resign to join a monastery? That would be in keeping with his personality. Bobby, go on! Enjoy the contemplative life.
Beth...When one battle is all over but the mopping up, then you focus on the next campaign. Senator Obama never set foot inside the Senate in a serious way, and look at his "brilliant Campaign".Serious Sarah is instinctively honest in what she is going to do and she has therefore placed Alaska's day to day politics into safe hands while she goes into a national campaign mode. The remarkable Mr Obama held onto an Illinois Senate seat, when Blago could easily have"sold it on E-Bay Chicago style". The difference is in her confidence level that she will win.
You know it's bizarre but I really think this may be the first time I've ever believed a politician quit for concerns over the well being of his/her family.
I mean there could be some unknown factor, a scandal or something, which caused her to resign; but given the scrutiny she's been subject to the likelihood of something this massive going undetected is minute.
And yes I am discounting a potential run at higher office as this effectively ends that possibility.
Well, that's a very optimistic take on things, tradguy. But I don't know that leaving the office with no campaign in place, and no real explanation, will rest well with most voters. What Obama did was hardly unusual. A lot of senators have entered the presidential primaries in similar fashion. Suddenly announcing one's resignation from the governor's seat is just weird. I don't see the brilliant plan here.
If I were a betting man, I'd wager that Palin's just fed up with being the national media's favorite punching bag with Letterman and Vanity Fair being the last straws.
And, somebody please tell me...just what did Sarah Palin and her family do to deserve the never ending torrent of hatred they've received, anyway?
In my state? Have you looked at the other 49, Seven? We make it high entertainment, true, but there's always Illinois, and Connecticut, and California, and Texas, and New York, and ... well, you get the idea. Politics just naturally appeals to the worst of our population, I think.
you know in art history class, or any history class where you study periods of the greeks, for example, --doric ionic corinthian columns-- and they end one century and start another. then you think how do they know when a period ended.
kinda like when the white house press corp just says this is al shite.
well, now you know america.
happy fourth of july
you are experiencing the definite end of a period of american history in columns
Palin has been built up as this image by both sides. To some on the right, she's this glorious statesman with Reagan's charisma. To a segment of the brittle, goofy left, she is some kind of monster (for reasons that elude me).
The facts are much more mundane. She's a moderately experienced politician with an interesting story (like so many people from those big square states) who was thrust into the spotlight at a very strange time, when our first black president was being coronated.
The right was looking for some epic counter. The left was appalled that something might screw up The Moment. This woman and her family of real human beings were caught in the maelstrom.
I suspect that Palin resigns for reasons that many can't fathom, personal integrity. She can't do all her jobs to the standard she holds herself to, with the added pressure of dealing with the noise coming from the noise factories.
That she chooses to resign, rather than pretend she can keep up her responsibilities as Gov. speaks well of her.
If she's done as a politician, so be it. I hope she's not done as an advocate for a set of values that put individual freedoms and responsibility to the fore.
I'm tempted to donate to SarahPAC, but I'll wait to see what her intentions are, and if there's another shoe to drop in this announcement.
IF she is really getting out of politics (as the rumors are suggesting and the evidence seems to point) and IF that is because of the attacks on her family- to this ambitious woman, that really, really hurts.
I have winced at every one of the outrageous attacks on her. Before 2008, I never thought that my sex would hold me back; now I see what they will do to a woman who steps out of line. And it's sick and scary. If it's enough to keep Ms. Palin down, it's enough to scare away any other woman from even trying.
The NPR reporters right now are saying she has Stunned people. Then they say she is "rambling", and that she is "unhinged". All of this is semantics picked to ridicule her in snooty down the nose nasal whines. The affair is afoot. Sarah is clearly throwing down the gauntlet at Obama at a time that Obama's un-american marxist plans for us are being revealed to the americans everytime Obama favors communist and Islamic dictators and nationalises one industry after another. Her timing could not be better. But expect the Vanity Fair like hits on Sweet Sarah to magnify into a feeding frenzy of trying to stop her. The only person getting more coverage than poor dead Michael Jackson is this traditional Woman from Wasila. Stay tuned.
In case anyone wants to do something effective about all the smears the MSM has engaged in, the way to do it is to discredit the lower-level smearers. By that I mean the MSM reporters who've spread lies about her. And, the best way to do that is through linking their names to their lies. For instance, if you have a site, link Justin Pritchard and Garance Burke of the AP to that post, Dana Milbank to that post, and so on. (It won't work too well here because of how the comments are set up, but it will work on your site).
When someone lies about Palin, write a post calling them a liar, and then try to get your post to appear near the top of search results for their name. If enough people do that, the smears will greatly lessen.
So, for an example, if I had more time I'd try to find out which NPR reporters traditionalguy was referring to. I'd then write a post prominently featuring the names of those reporters and I'd try to get it near the top of search results for those reporters' names. It works better with those who are actually lying, but that does go to their journalistic credibility.
I'm not sure that would work out--take me, for example, I'm a very patriotic fellow (trust me on this) but not nearly enough so to serve as a politician if drafted.
Jeremy...Do you comprehend the difference between front line assault troops and rear area goof offs. Sarah understands. She knows when it is time for her assault on the crooks in a DC that Washington's name needs to be removed from unless someone runs all these WAPO brokered crooks, who are stealing every dollar Obama and Pelossi can sneak thru Congress un-read, out of our town.
Feeman, Beth will tell you that THAT is just not so. Everybody is subject to the same scrutiny - especially their children. Of course, she can't really name any convincing examples of such sustained vitriol, but that's unimportant. Andy Sullivan and his friends continue to speculate about amniotic fluid> (Personally, I think Sullivan wants a vial to drink while getting his regular testosterone injections, BWDIK?) This is just standard procedure for a female candidate now. Like the double-standard the press applied to Gerry Ferraro's husband's finances when he ran. No one ever demanded to see the wives of other politician's finances. Even billionaire Heinz Kerry didn't have to disclose her tax returns when hubby John ran for office. Because he was a man.
Considering Palin, women are advised to look to Cheney as a role model for how to handle attacks. Regardless of what people think of his positions or actions, the man does not care one whit what people say about him. He is who he is, and that's that.
Freeman hunt...No one needs to attack Iran, so long as we stand behind our allies in Israel like we been doing for 61 years until B. Hussein Obama announced that he was changing all that. Sarah's rambo moment will be her attack on the crooks in DC. When she wins, the only question will be whether or not Chavez and friends will attack thru Mexico to re-instate his ally Obama to the lifetime term like he and Castro claim they own.
Freeman -- At the end of the day, isn't that for the best? Public life (real public life, not celebrity life) is for the hard, the hardcore, and the unencumbered.
I agree the MSM has been brutal on Palin. The VF piece is a bit over the top. However, it is not like she didn't invite the media to continue to cover her. She has been on the political / media stage a lot since the November elections. Had she hunkered down and got to work in Alaska [with no trips to Washington and no interviews] and the media was still hounding her I would say that the media was to blame. In this case I don't buy that argument.
NPR also has a spot running now on the recorded veterans voices from a 1915 gathering at the place of the Getttysburg/Picketts charge being reenacted by the same men from 1863's charge up to the bloody angle high watermark. It's probably available on NPR's website.
I wonder if she is not through with politics, but just with the Republican Party?
Instapundit mentioned a Tea Party Party, but what about the Libertarians?
3 years to build a party and to get candidates for all represenative districts and all open Senate seats and really make a differnce in Washington while we have a Palin-Paul ticket?
How many other Republicans are ready to jump ship? How many Democrats would be ready to jum ship, if it meant they wouldn't have to become Republicans?
Freeman -- If she has presidential aspirations, it's a stupid move (unless she moves to the U.S. senate).
If she does not, if she is really giving up politics, I am reminded of the speech Ken Kesey gave at the big anti-war protest in the Bay Area. He got up there with his harmonica, no doubt stoned out of his gourd, and said, Fuck it. And on that day he changed the face of the whole enterprise.
Anyway, let's not see all of this through the prism of gender.
When playing the game by the good ole boy rules doesn't work and it is obvious that the same old same old inside the box tactics won't work, a smart person thinks outside the box and makes their own rules.
They have been trying to tie her up politically in Alaska to make her completely ineffectual and also trying destroy her and her family at every turn. So...what do you do? Wimp along? Play by your enemies rules? Or shove them all aside and get getting on.
Good for you Sarah! The gloves are off now. Kick'em in the nut sack.
Sarah is loveable. Only demented leftoids can't or won't see this. Sarah loves America. America loves Sarah. Cold fish B Hussein O'Trotsky is toast in '12.
It seems to me that P.J. O'Rourke's description of politicians and politics, towards the beginning of his recent Reason.tv interview, is pretty close to the mark.
"This decision has been in the works for a while. It comes after a great deal of prayer and deliberation."
She said when she put the decision to her family, the vote was four "yes"es and one 'Hell yeah.' She mentions the family's reaction to the mockery of Trig.
This just makes her look eratic and a little bit more crazy. The late night comics will have a field day with this. With that said I will be extremely disappointed if the Republicans don't make her their candidate in 2012.
Wow, ya take the day off to do a little hiking around the Driftless Area and all hell break loose. Fireworks, and it's not even the 4th, yet. I'm with a couple folks here, I'm thinking it's a family medical reason. We'll see, but some big shoe's gotta drop to explain the urgency of this resignation.
Her choices for building support in the GOP were to a) quit as gov and spend her time in the lower 48 campaigning for GOP candidates and refining her 2012 message (and take the hit for quitting), or b) stay as gov and spend a 16-24 hours round trip in a plane each week to campaign for the same GOP candidates. Of course the outcry that “she is neglecting the state and should step down as governor if she wants to do all of this campaigning” would be deafening.
Remember Richard Nixon, done in both 1960 and 1962? I also remember Bill Moyers on TV in 1974 making a sarcastic remark about something to the effect of "yea and Reagan will be President someday." What a fool Moyers was.
Be careful. All of the derisive writing here can be part of a very public dressing down of the anti-Palins in 2012: "Daddy, why were did you write something so stupid?"
Palin will insured of the nomination if the left and Democrats shoot their wad early on the Palin hating.
But figuring how Obama and the Congress keep prematurely ejaculating with poorly rushed though legislation and slow but steady falling poll numbers, it might not be too early to start practicing the words "President Palin".
K*thy...If you believe Sarah is a quitter, then you are in for a big surprise. If you mean that she can be slandered with that big lie, welcome to the mob that have tried and failed. I wonder how insane O'Sullivan is doing with the news from his nemisis today?
So it is a clear case of damned if you do and damned if you don't
Spend a lot of time campaigning for President while still Governor you get this:
Of course the outcry that “she is neglecting the state and should step down as governor if she wants to do all of this campaigning” would be deafening.
Do the responsible thing and let the next in line take over your office so the State can be effectively managed, which you won't be able to do in a dual role.
Then you get people like Kathy calling her a QUITER.
Damned if you do and damned if you don't. She has probably come to the realization that she can't win if she continues to play the game the MSM and the Republicans and Democrats expect. There was no way she could win in this situation.
So....wadda do? You break the mold. If it doesn't work, at least you gave it a good try instead of just allowing the leeches to bring you to your knees.. If you can't play by their rules, then you play by your own.
She's always struck me as the person with all the charisma and none of the wisdom. I think she would be grossly overwhelmed by the presidency in the same way that Obama so obviously is.
Of course the outcry that “she is neglecting the state and should step down as governor if she wants to do all of this campaigning” would be deafening.
Of course it's that way.
To be a liberal is to agree with the immoral world view that that the ends justify the means (that's also the motto of the American Bar Association and every law school professor).
Therefore, lying is always in the service of being a liberal. Which means that they can argue any side of an argument with passion. It's why morality is like acid when discussed with liberals. Rather than uphold a standard, they will always point out others that fail the standard and then tell us why society shouldn't even have the moral values that they themselves benefit from. it's worldview that really doesn't require anything form th4e holder, but sure wants to take from and control three lives of others.
But the country - according to every reputable poll - is getting tired of the Obama and Democrat COngress promises. And that's a fact that liberals can't spin away.
Corn planting here is doing well. It's knee high by the 4th of July which is a date I'm sure makes you sick to your stomach. I mean all those American flags waving and the smell of gunpowder from those fireworks probably makes the bile in your liver agitated.
Anyway I hope you are having a horrible day watching everyone here enjoying the freedom and liberty that was gained by those who sacrificed the themselves to give you the freedom to be the biggest asshole in the world.
Now go eat your croissant and shut the fuck up.
For everyone else, happy Birthday America, keep it strong and going to piss all the liberals off.
The real but seldom spoken of fact in accepting any new person seeking an authority promotion in any system is that they must first undergo a certain amount of un-fair attacks while keeping a good attitude. These are the required dues that must be paid first. Fraternity pledges' initiations, military basic training, and the new lawyer in front of a Trial Judge for the first time come to mind. After that gauntlet is run successfully, then the new relationship is celebrated by both sides. I watched Sarah Palin get there in her interraction with Letterman's over the top attacks. She is moving into a wide open space with her feet firmly under her now. Hide and watch.
Agreed, Montana. Reality hasn't yet been a barrier for Palin or Obama. Luckily, for us, reality will intercede soon and their gross inexperience and geopolitical and economic ineptitudes will no longer interfere vexaciously with our lives.
Well, of course not you Original Mike. It is a metaphorical image anyway.....(I think). ;-D
The dumb talking heads keep saying I wonder what her reasons are for this move....when she plainly said what her reasons are. Listen up stupids. She told you.
Since you're so adept at interpreting Palin's statements, you tell me what she meant by it, Dumbfuck Machos.
We've been around this bullshit before. All I did was paraphrase what she said. If I can't even so much as quote someone without hearing you lodge insipid complaints to the effect that I've made what they said incoherent, then you should just shut the fuck up.
Here's the primer on Carter for the self-absorbed who see no reason to look beyond their own navels: Carter was a young, wonky, inexperienced politician just sure that macroeconomic measures from Washington would bring about wealth. He promised transparency and honesty.
His one term is generally regarded as an abject failure.
I guess that's why Her Highness just said that she [sic] Trig more than he needs her.
Think about that statement for a minute.
Yes, let's do. What can you learn from a child who selflessly loves with no awareness of the cruelty and nastiness of people who would make fun of you to injure your mother. A soul that doesn't know hate or seek to harm others but only asks for love and returns that love 10 fold.
That a child who has nothing but pure love in his heart can make your life much richer just by his presence is a completely foreign concept to people like MUL who consider Palin an anomoly because she didn't murder her child and instead accepts the joy and yes the burden of a handicapped child.
How much easier is it to lay down our burdens than to accept them with grace and courage?.
Think about that for a minute MUL if you possibly can pull your head out of your own ass for a few moments.
The news of Sarah Palin’s resignation as governor came during my show this afternoon, where we spent most of an hour discussing it with the chatizens and my co-host Duane Patterson. I’ve had a chance to watch the video of her announcement and read through dozens of Twitter messages back and forth attempting to rationalize this, and still, it simply can’t be rationalized on the basis of what Palin said today. It’s easily the most bizarre resignation I’ve seen, and just about senseless.
This speculation meme is a classic playing dumb act. Anybody who listened to her speech, and is not a brain-bound dunce, heard her announce her run for a national office. The Senate is not available and she already got the VP tee shirt, so this wondering is so horribly hard to do they whine. And that is this ditzy woman's failure too, according to the quick thinking claque. They better get a better arguement than that, or she will smoke them.
Carter is not regarded as a failure. Show me a ranking by historians that indicates otherwise.
Carter took the reigns of the country at a time when people were fed up with the criminality of the opposition - a situation analogous to the current one.
Carter was no superstar. But he ranks nowhere near the bottom of the barrel.
W. was the one for that job.
That you couldn't make a better case for McCain is something you can blame on Bush, McCain, and the GOP.
Look, she runs for Pres and at worst she gets another VP slot to Romney. It really doesn't matter cause unless some miracle happens with the economy Barry is going to lose to anyone who runs.
"Carter is not regarded as a failure. Show me a ranking by historians that indicates otherwise.
Carter took the reigns of the country at a time when people were fed up with the criminality of the opposition - a situation analogous to the current one.
Carter was no superstar. But he ranks nowhere near the bottom of the barrel. "
I don't give a rat's tush what any historian says, Carter was an total failure. I was an adult through those years. He was crap. There is no debate. You want to argue Clinton over Bush be my guest, but Carter? The man was an imbecile.
"Politics just naturally appeals to the worst of our population, "
Well Beth, maybe there is your reason. Palin doesn't belong in politics.
Too bad for all of us, it means quality liberal people don't either.
Do we really want people who want power so bad they would put up with what has been done to her and her family. Such a person would be scary with power.
A person who doesn't understand how you could say that you [something] your child more than your child needs you obviously does not have children and is probably very lonely.
Carter is generally regarded as a failure. Anyone who won't acknowledge this simple truth is silly and not serious.
"Yes, let's do. What can you learn from a child who selflessly loves with no awareness of the cruelty and nastiness of people who would make fun of you to injure your mother. A soul that doesn't know hate or seek to harm others but only asks for love and returns that love 10 fold.
That a child who has nothing but pure love in his heart can make your life much richer just by his presence is a completely foreign concept to people like MUL who consider Palin an anomoly because she didn't murder her child and instead accepts the joy and yes the burden of a handicapped child.
How much easier is it to lay down our burdens than to accept them with grace and courage?.
Think about that for a minute MUL if you possibly can pull your head out of your own ass for a few moments."
I don't consider it a foreign concept that one's life can be made richer by someone with pure love in their heart. I just think it's sad that you believe you could only find such a thing in a child.
Maybe that speaks to the company you keep and to your own craven selfishness.
And to the degree that you project things onto children. Children are neither angels nor demons. They possess the capacity to do (and to desire) both good and bad. Just because they are helpless doesn't make them morally superior beings. But you can think of them that way if it makes you feel more useful (and more loved) as a mother.
Montana Urban Legend pontificates on Carter...blah blah blah blah.
Since you are speaking from the perspective of still shitting yellow at the time, you opinion is just that.
In a way....I kind of hope that your generation gets to have the full deja vu experience of Carter squared through Obama. At least we who have been there already are somewhat more prepared.
MUL... Who has the Hope and Change high ground today? Is it the hard charging honest american from Alaska, or is it the deception artist pushing the destruction of freedom everywhere he can slip something thru with a smile while he says the opposite of what he is doing and his see no evil monkeys in the Press shame themselves daily?
I didn't pontificate on Carter. I left that to the historians. As W. says we should do with him.
If you dumbasses ran more competent candidates to get into the office (i.e. NOT Nixon. Not W.) then maybe the backlash for someone less craven wouldn't be so intense each time.
But I get the script. No one on the right is ever responsible for anything except themselves.
"If she runs for Pres she is not going to get the VP slot to Romney.
She will wax Romney and will the Republican Primary. Iowa, SC, done deal. Romney couldn't even win in NH against Mccain.
She is a Superstar and loved. Romney is not trusted and he is from Massachusetts and he is a major flipflopper. She will nail him for that."
I see Romney's business creditials coming into play considering the mess Barry is making of the economy. But yes Sarah is the popular type so she could beat him. IF she does take time off and bones-up(pun intended)on foreign policy, etc,. and makes herself a more worldly candidate she could take it all. I mean it's not like they haven't done everything they can to her already and she is still standing.
I voted for Carter. Yes, he was terrible and still is. I was there too. Americans felt pathetic under him. Nobody, except for Reagan did more to change me from reliable Dem. to a flaming conservative.
"If you dumbasses ran more competent candidates to get into the office (i.e. NOT Nixon. Not W.) then maybe the backlash for someone less craven wouldn't be so intense each time."
W served two terms so I think he wasn't that bad a candidate.
"I voted for Carter. Yes, he was terrible and still is. I was there too. Americans felt pathetic under him. Nobody, except for Reagan did more to change me from reliable Dem. to a flaming conservative."
All my family voted for Carter. Being Southerners they felt they could do nothing else. I warned them, they did not listen. I voted for Ford.
DBQ is right. Palin is going to do it in a non-traditional way.
I am watching Fox News and the talking heads are asking "where will Palin get her experience" if she is not governor or in Congress?
Yeah right as if our governors and Congress have not already fucked up the country.
The Tea Parties are showing that change will come from outside the political parties. Palin must have taken note of this trend so I bet she is taking that route.
"W served two terms so I think he wasn't that bad a candidate."
Again with the script. Repeat after me: No one on the right is ever responsible for anything but himself/herself. The state of politics in America is the fault of the left, and not of the right-wing Bush toadies who would self-combust at any acknowledgment of the utter destruction and mockery he made of his party.
You call yourself a homo, Titus, and then tell us your hog rises to female bait. Which is it? Or which are you? Or something.
Anyhow you're wrong about Sarah's attributes. It's her hips that are her best feature. True heteros get that. Which proves you're a committed fudge packer.
Sorry, but children most definitely are demons. Doesn't mean we can't love them, But seriously, a child that selflessly loves? Never seen one of those. How many heads to they have?
"Again with the script. Repeat after me: No one on the right is ever responsible for anything but himself/herself. The state of politics in America is the fault of the left, and not of the right-wing Bush toadies who would self-combust at any acknowledgment of the utter destruction and mockery he made of his party."
What script? Fact is that any guy or gal who can get elected as president twice is a good candidate. We are talking politics. Losing is bad, winning is good. This is not rocket science.
NOW, if you want to talk about how he governed that is another thing altogether.
I didn't say Carter was okay. I've heard the anecdotal evidence of how lousy he was too. I have no reason to believe that he was anything other than subpar. He was probably at least below average.
But once again, you guys prove yourselves so damned averse to empirical knowledge as to make this conversation impossible. Why should the opinion of historians not matter at all? Is personal experience the end-all, be-all of human explanations?
40 months til the next presidential election. I reckon she has just about enough time to go get a masters in economics and do some gladhanding during school breaks. That's what I'd do in her shoes.
In other news and a "I told you so", Powell expresses doubt about Obama's agenda.
Colin Powell, one of President Obama's most prominent Republican supporters, expressed concern Friday that the president's ambitious blitz of costly initiatives may be enlarging the size of government and the federal debt too much.
"NOW, if you want to talk about how he governed that is another thing altogether."
I am talking about he governed. (Although if he was better as a candidate I think his win percentages would have been at least a little better. These things aren't completely separate).
So when I said "competent candidate", I wasn't just talking about how competent he was as a candidate. A candidate can be a competent or incompetent politician, or elected official - and Bush/Rove's destruction of their party attests to that.
Bush/Rove cared about one thing: Winning at all costs. This is not the stuff of quality candidates or of quality elected officials once those candidates gain office.
Whoa, the nut from Alaska did something nutty again? Shocking.
Somehow, the Palin-worshipping right-wingers will try and spin her strange resignation as making her even more fit to be Prez of the USA. Well, whatever. I can't wait to hear the real reasons she quit.
Is SNL in reruns (as usual) or will there be a new show tomorrow? (So we can see Tina Fey mock this shit.) (I think Letterman's in reruns tonight, no?)
The claim that this "ends" her political career is silly, though. She's 45. Nixon was 49 when his political career "ended" in the loss of the 1962 California governor's race. Given how long politicians stick around these days she could take fifteen years off to raise Trig and still serve four or five terms in the Senate. :)
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276 comments:
1 – 200 of 276 Newer› Newest»An explantion of sorts at The Campaign Spot.
The vote about the Palin family table is telling. Any surprise that vicious mudraking attack and mockery of Trig might have something to do with this? She may be running, she may not be running for President. Still, I do not see an upside poltically for Palin with this decision.
I don't think you do it today if you want to make a splash of any kind. I hope she has just decided to be done with politics. No presidential aspirations. No scandal. Just a big fuck you to the establishment.
That would be noble and poetic. Probably much too much to ask as well.
"That can only mean one thing..."
Incompetence?
Ethics investigations?
A lack of intellect?
Another baby on the way?
Seceding from the union?
Oh, and rumors of an "iceberg scandal" have been circulating.
She's toast.
7-Nachos Short - "I hope she has just decided to be done with politics. No presidential aspirations. No scandal. Just a big fuck you to the establishment."
Yeah, sure...that's probably it.
Duh.
"The vote about the Palin family table is telling"
What are you referring to? I could not find anything related to this in either article.
Love that her excuse was that 2nd term govs are lame ducks, so she didn't want to be one. Uhhh, so she couldn't have been a 2nd term gov and NOT been a lame duck, she couldn't have broken the mold and done it the right way? She's insane. I hope she runs in 2012, wins, and then doesn't seek a 2nd presidential term the same way. Right.
http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/
I found this surprising. The governor seems to have enjoyed politics over a number of years, and leaving an elected office can't be helpful to political ambition.
What if she doesn't run, Zach? Will you feel like a raving bitch, or just appear to be one?
Nothing seems to stop this warrior woman. Maybe the Dems can use Al Franken and Tina Fey to do Townhall Meetings, covered as serious news by their Obamaganda media eunuchs, and try to ridicule and scorn her to an early political death. But if that does not stop her, then what? The tipping point comes when their lies will not stick to her, and they have nothing else to use to stop her.
So, she'll be running for President without even a single governor's term under her belt. Can't wait to see Romney annihilate her.
I'll say it again: if she can't hack the governorship, she can't hack the Presidency. Sitting governors run for President all the time.
"that can only mean one thing?":
...about 200+ comments I bet!
And a happy and safe 4th to you all!
It can only mean that she has forgotten her joke about community organizers. Remember? She is much more important than a community organizer because she has "actual responsibilities"! You know, the ones she is now bailing on.
Turns out your girl is a quitter, Annie.
Nothing seems to stop this warrior woman.
How is leaving office with her first term unfinished not stopping? This is really, really weird.
BTW I predict Palin chooses the think tank route which gives her more freedom and she can make more money.
I say good for her and I hope, like Seven Machos, she can say fuck it to all organized politics for a while.
Maybe start her own think tank. Call it Warrior Women- kinda catchy.
"I'll say it again: if she can't hack the governorship, she can't hack the Presidency. Sitting governors run for President all the time."
But here, she wouldn't even have to be a sitting governor. She could just not run for reelection in 2010.
Quitting now to run for POTUS in 3+ years would make no sense. There has to be something else going on.
And the only way that something else isn't a political career ender is if there's something like a recent diagnosis of a serious (but curable) disease.
Obama hadn't completed a term either, albeit in a different universe but this will be difficult to turn into an advantage for a presidential run.
Very odd. Huckabee must be awfully excited.
At least this works in the direction of clearing the way for Romney.
I don't get it...why quit now? Perhaps she's having an affair with Mark Sanford?
I can't wait for that, either, Zach. Nor can most Republicans.
I agree that the Cult of Palin is a little odd. What's abnormal and vile, though, is the Cult of Palin Haters, who for whatever bizarre reasons have nothing but hate for this woman. It's really, really sad to see it fester, even today. Get help, you silly drama queens.
Why can't any of these governor meltdowns happen to Jindal? I'm jealous.
This time it actually may be "to spend more time with the family"
Her family has taken extraordinary abuse from the press, acting as agents of the DNC
As someone with an immediate family member going through a totally unexpected medical crisis, I could see her doing this if she's experiencing something similar. Hope that's not the case though.
Beth -- Jindal isn't hot and he'd never make it with a sexy Argentinian. You are stuck with your unlovable wonk.
Well, that can only mean one thing, right?
There's not just 1 clown. There are 100.
I doubt she'll let the Dems drive her out of politics for good, but will it diminish her star power in the lower 48? Does she care?
I really don't understand how this could be in her interest if she decides to run for President. If her term ends next year, and the next presidential election isn't for three years, why not just not run for re-election?
She says it's because she doesn't want to be a lame duck if she's already said she's not running for re-election, but she's basically saying that she can't govern in an effective way if she's near the end of her administration (or within a year and a half of the end). Why would anyone want her to be President if that's the case, given the term limits?
Medical problems would make the most sense here. Not seeking re-election doesn't cut it when she's bailing, with little notice, on the current term. I hope there's nothing that can't be treated going on.
Seven, hope springs eternal. It's the quiet ones that always surprise people. Maybe he'll resign to join a monastery? That would be in keeping with his personality. Bobby, go on! Enjoy the contemplative life.
There's news going around Twitter that sources close to her say she's "out of politics for good."
I wouldn't mind if All the politicians resigned, and we had to draft people to take their jobs.
Beth...When one battle is all over but the mopping up, then you focus on the next campaign. Senator Obama never set foot inside the Senate in a serious way, and look at his "brilliant Campaign".Serious Sarah is instinctively honest in what she is going to do and she has therefore placed Alaska's day to day politics into safe hands while she goes into a national campaign mode. The remarkable Mr Obama held onto an Illinois Senate seat, when Blago could easily have"sold it on E-Bay Chicago style". The difference is in her confidence level that she will win.
there really was no affair for sanford either. he [robably didn't wnt to be president either so they made the whole thing up .
there are people who would like to be president of what america was, but no one wants to be president of what it is.
you only have to look at all the people on this blog who argue non stop left/right left right. and think it's waht america is about.
hahahahaha
and guess what... who the hell wants to be in the middle of that like a fly on a table with a fly swatter over his head.
or obamas hand.
You're right, Freeman. Huckabee & Romney are smiling today. The modern GOP almost always nominates someone who has run for the office before.
Beth -- Don't give up. In your state, corruption and scandal and God knows what else is always just around the corner.
There is fundamentally no way that Huckabee will be the nominee in 2012.
You know it's bizarre but I really think this may be the first time I've ever believed a politician quit for concerns over the well being of his/her family.
I mean there could be some unknown factor, a scandal or something, which caused her to resign; but given the scrutiny she's been subject to the likelihood of something this massive going undetected is minute.
And yes I am discounting a potential run at higher office as this effectively ends that possibility.
Well, that's a very optimistic take on things, tradguy. But I don't know that leaving the office with no campaign in place, and no real explanation, will rest well with most voters. What Obama did was hardly unusual. A lot of senators have entered the presidential primaries in similar fashion. Suddenly announcing one's resignation from the governor's seat is just weird. I don't see the brilliant plan here.
If I were a betting man, I'd wager that Palin's just fed up with being the national media's favorite punching bag with Letterman and Vanity Fair being the last straws.
And, somebody please tell me...just what did Sarah Palin and her family do to deserve the never ending torrent of hatred they've received, anyway?
Could you imagine!?
LOL
In my state? Have you looked at the other 49, Seven? We make it high entertainment, true, but there's always Illinois, and Connecticut, and California, and Texas, and New York, and ... well, you get the idea. Politics just naturally appeals to the worst of our population, I think.
you know in art history class, or any history class where you study periods of the greeks, for example, --doric ionic corinthian columns-- and they end one century and start another. then you think how do they know when a period ended.
kinda like when the white house press corp just says this is al shite.
well, now you know america.
happy fourth of july
you are experiencing the definite end of a period of american history in columns
long and tall pillars
They don't deserve it, Charlie, but Palin's hardly alone in being a target for the media. She can't run for president if she can't deal with that.
Zachary, I saw that and thought "what an ass!" about Sanchez. Jesus.
Palin has been built up as this image by both sides. To some on the right, she's this glorious statesman with Reagan's charisma. To a segment of the brittle, goofy left, she is some kind of monster (for reasons that elude me).
The facts are much more mundane. She's a moderately experienced politician with an interesting story (like so many people from those big square states) who was thrust into the spotlight at a very strange time, when our first black president was being coronated.
The right was looking for some epic counter. The left was appalled that something might screw up The Moment. This woman and her family of real human beings were caught in the maelstrom.
I wouldn't mind if All the politicians resigned, and we had to draft people to take their jobs.
Freeman Hunt, Don't forget, having them live in heavily surveilled domiciles and tracking them like paroled felons...
I suspect that Palin resigns for reasons that many can't fathom, personal integrity. She can't do all her jobs to the standard she holds herself to, with the added pressure of dealing with the noise coming from the noise factories.
That she chooses to resign, rather than pretend she can keep up her responsibilities as Gov. speaks well of her.
If she's done as a politician, so be it. I hope she's not done as an advocate for a set of values that put individual freedoms and responsibility to the fore.
I'm tempted to donate to SarahPAC, but I'll wait to see what her intentions are, and if there's another shoe to drop in this announcement.
OT, but this pretty much captures my cynical view of politics.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxLNKnLaDG8
Seven Machos - well said!
Time, or Greta Van Susteren, will tell us about the reasoning behind this decision.
IF she is really getting out of politics (as the rumors are suggesting and the evidence seems to point) and IF that is because of the attacks on her family- to this ambitious woman, that really, really hurts.
I have winced at every one of the outrageous attacks on her. Before 2008, I never thought that my sex would hold me back; now I see what they will do to a woman who steps out of line. And it's sick and scary. If it's enough to keep Ms. Palin down, it's enough to scare away any other woman from even trying.
I heard Willow is pregnant.
ON a larger scale:
next era:
let's hand this baby over to the canadians or the mexicans now
GO CANADA it's your turn now after saying you were always in the background
You know she won't be sticking around Alaska.
Huckabee off Fox, Palin on Fox.
I am watching Return From Witch Mountain with Bette Davis.
Princess Sarah will be working for Fox within 3 months.
traditionalguy said..."Nothing seems to stop this warrior woman."
Did you miss the part about her quitting?
The NPR reporters right now are saying she has Stunned people. Then they say she is "rambling", and that she is "unhinged". All of this is semantics picked to ridicule her in snooty down the nose nasal whines. The affair is afoot. Sarah is clearly throwing down the gauntlet at Obama at a time that Obama's un-american marxist plans for us are being revealed to the americans everytime Obama favors communist and Islamic dictators and nationalises one industry after another. Her timing could not be better. But expect the Vanity Fair like hits on Sweet Sarah to magnify into a feeding frenzy of trying to stop her. The only person getting more coverage than poor dead Michael Jackson is this traditional Woman from Wasila. Stay tuned.
Before 2008, I never thought that my sex would hold me back; now I see what they will do to a woman who steps out of line.
Amen to that.
TitusHello,Happy4th said..."I heard Willow is pregnant."
Baseball player?
Obama's mind-control at work again.
it should be enough from any father from trying either.
unmarried homosexuals from mexico or canada, your turn to take over.
see how much easier it will be for you and what a better country you can make us.
I doubt Palin will be working for Fox. She'll probably invest in a cable network instead. Like Al Gore.
In case anyone wants to do something effective about all the smears the MSM has engaged in, the way to do it is to discredit the lower-level smearers. By that I mean the MSM reporters who've spread lies about her. And, the best way to do that is through linking their names to their lies. For instance, if you have a site, link Justin Pritchard and Garance Burke of the AP to that post, Dana Milbank to that post, and so on. (It won't work too well here because of how the comments are set up, but it will work on your site).
When someone lies about Palin, write a post calling them a liar, and then try to get your post to appear near the top of search results for their name. If enough people do that, the smears will greatly lessen.
So, for an example, if I had more time I'd try to find out which NPR reporters traditionalguy was referring to. I'd then write a post prominently featuring the names of those reporters and I'd try to get it near the top of search results for those reporters' names. It works better with those who are actually lying, but that does go to their journalistic credibility.
She's going in, Rambo style, to liberate Iran.
Freeman,
I'm not sure that would work out--take me, for example, I'm a very patriotic fellow (trust me on this) but not nearly enough so to serve as a politician if drafted.
Jeremy...Do you comprehend the difference between front line assault troops and rear area goof offs. Sarah understands. She knows when it is time for her assault on the crooks in a DC that Washington's name needs to be removed from unless someone runs all these WAPO brokered crooks, who are stealing every dollar Obama and Pelossi can sneak thru Congress un-read, out of our town.
And I'madinnerjacket is going to fall into a cave with a rope attached to him and explode.
I don't remember exactly how that worked in one of the Rambo movies, but it did.
Feeman, Beth will tell you that THAT is just not so. Everybody is subject to the same scrutiny - especially their children. Of course, she can't really name any convincing examples of such sustained vitriol, but that's unimportant. Andy Sullivan and his friends continue to speculate about amniotic fluid> (Personally, I think Sullivan wants a vial to drink while getting his regular testosterone injections, BWDIK?) This is just standard procedure for a female candidate now. Like the double-standard the press applied to Gerry Ferraro's husband's finances when he ran. No one ever demanded to see the wives of other politician's finances. Even billionaire Heinz Kerry didn't have to disclose her tax returns when hubby John ran for office. Because he was a man.
Freeman -- I think you are wrong. My guess is a stop in Honduras first. Then Iran.
If Palin offers any lesson to non-leftist women, it is this:
Do not enter political life until your children have grown up.
That's the reality.
And, of course, you'd better have the skin of a rhinoceros.
Considering Palin, women are advised to look to Cheney as a role model for how to handle attacks. Regardless of what people think of his positions or actions, the man does not care one whit what people say about him. He is who he is, and that's that.
Freeman hunt...No one needs to attack Iran, so long as we stand behind our allies in Israel like we been doing for 61 years until B. Hussein Obama announced that he was changing all that. Sarah's rambo moment will be her attack on the crooks in DC. When she wins, the only question will be whether or not Chavez and friends will attack thru Mexico to re-instate his ally Obama to the lifetime term like he and Castro claim they own.
Freeman -- At the end of the day, isn't that for the best? Public life (real public life, not celebrity life) is for the hard, the hardcore, and the unencumbered.
Wow, that's quite a resignation announcement.
It goes on and on and on.
I would do her.
7M, must be right. Palin is a case study.
And here I thought the turd was on vacation, given the no show on the WaPo threads.
titus why dont you get the dirty dick talk out of your mouth and put it on the line.
perverted silly humor for president. i can do this country better.
you're an ass, but you are afraid of me, aren't you, like you said.
I agree the MSM has been brutal on Palin. The VF piece is a bit over the top. However, it is not like she didn't invite the media to continue to cover her. She has been on the political / media stage a lot since the November elections. Had she hunkered down and got to work in Alaska [with no trips to Washington and no interviews] and the media was still hounding her I would say that the media was to blame. In this case I don't buy that argument.
So sit down like a good girl and the MSM will play nice? If you don't, you're asking for it and anything's fair game? Hmmm.
NPR also has a spot running now on the recorded veterans voices from a 1915 gathering at the place of the Getttysburg/Picketts charge being reenacted by the same men from 1863's charge up to the bloody angle high watermark. It's probably available on NPR's website.
I wonder if she is not through with politics, but just with the Republican Party?
Instapundit mentioned a Tea Party Party, but what about the Libertarians?
3 years to build a party and to get candidates for all represenative districts and all open Senate seats and really make a differnce in Washington while we have a Palin-Paul ticket?
How many other Republicans are ready to jump ship? How many Democrats would be ready to jum ship, if it meant they wouldn't have to become Republicans?
Her rack looked amazing in the presser, natch.
how bout no tickets. first and second place go to pres and vice pres...
isn't it the way the founding mothers wanted it?
Freeman -- If she has presidential aspirations, it's a stupid move (unless she moves to the U.S. senate).
If she does not, if she is really giving up politics, I am reminded of the speech Ken Kesey gave at the big anti-war protest in the Bay Area. He got up there with his harmonica, no doubt stoned out of his gourd, and said, Fuck it. And on that day he changed the face of the whole enterprise.
Anyway, let's not see all of this through the prism of gender.
Nansea -- You are asking for assassination that way.
When playing the game by the good ole boy rules doesn't work and it is obvious that the same old same old inside the box tactics won't work, a smart person thinks outside the box and makes their own rules.
They have been trying to tie her up politically in Alaska to make her completely ineffectual and also trying destroy her and her family at every turn. So...what do you do? Wimp along? Play by your enemies rules? Or shove them all aside and get getting on.
Good for you Sarah! The gloves are off now. Kick'em in the nut sack.
Sarah is loveable. Only demented leftoids can't or won't see this. Sarah loves America. America loves Sarah. Cold fish B Hussein O'Trotsky is toast in '12.
wait...
and electing a black guy as president wasn't asking for assasination?
It seems to me that P.J. O'Rourke's description of politicians and politics, towards the beginning of his recent Reason.tv interview, is pretty close to the mark.
"This decision has been in the works for a while. It comes after a great deal of prayer and deliberation."
She said when she put the decision to her family, the vote was four "yes"es and one 'Hell yeah.' She mentions the family's reaction to the mockery of Trig.
http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MzQyNGI0NGY1M2NlMTliOWJjM2MxZjk4YWFiYzk5MTc=
That seems like a vote to tell the media to f-off.
Nansea -- I don't think so. If you think so, though, perhaps it would be unwise to institutionalize the electing of black guys.
This just makes her look eratic and a little bit more crazy. The late night comics will have a field day with this.
With that said I will be extremely disappointed if the Republicans don't make her their candidate in 2012.
Wow, ya take the day off to do a little hiking around the Driftless Area and all hell break loose. Fireworks, and it's not even the 4th, yet. I'm with a couple folks here, I'm thinking it's a family medical reason. We'll see, but some big shoe's gotta drop to explain the urgency of this resignation.
L.E. -- Have you ever been prescient here? Ever?
Her choices for building support in the GOP were to a) quit as gov and spend her time in the lower 48 campaigning for GOP candidates and refining her 2012 message (and take the hit for quitting), or b) stay as gov and spend a 16-24 hours round trip in a plane each week to campaign for the same GOP candidates. Of course the outcry that “she is neglecting the state and should step down as governor if she wants to do all of this campaigning” would be deafening.
if we run our elections on fear of what might happen it is no wonder we get a country like we have today.
it's why i don't vote and won't until something big changes the system
ripic...LOL.
Nansea -- That was brilliant sarcasm, right?
And if it's not something like a medical reason, she's going to be labeled a quitter - and that WILL stick.
The incorrect transcription makes Palin sound silly. "Effect", not "affect". Maybe Andrew Hinkelman, Lori Tipton and Jason Lamb don't know that verb.
nope, i don't think so, but it may turn out that way.
nothing what i say stays unkinectic for very long.
She is going to become a very rich person.
Btw, I am starting a new group called Democrats For Sarah. We need you Sarah!
L.E. -- Add lack of comic ability to your lack of prescience.
Titus -- I hope it's Playboy and not some boring books and speeches.
2012 is 2 political lifetimes away.
Remember Richard Nixon, done in both 1960 and 1962? I also remember Bill Moyers on TV in 1974 making a sarcastic remark about something to the effect of "yea and Reagan will be President someday." What a fool Moyers was.
Be careful. All of the derisive writing here can be part of a very public dressing down of the anti-Palins in 2012: "Daddy, why were did you write something so stupid?"
Palin will insured of the nomination if the left and Democrats shoot their wad early on the Palin hating.
But figuring how Obama and the Congress keep prematurely ejaculating with poorly rushed though legislation and slow but steady falling poll numbers, it might not be too early to start practicing the words "President Palin".
If she's quitting to run for Pres, wouldn't it be best to be up front and say so? I'm leaning medical reason.
I also hope Republicans don't rule out Mark Sanford. He's a good man.
What a fool Moyers was..
Wrong tense, Chase. Moyers is still alive.
Don't stop zinging now, L.E. What other wit is there in your arsenal?
K*thy...If you believe Sarah is a quitter, then you are in for a big surprise. If you mean that she can be slandered with that big lie, welcome to the mob that have tried and failed. I wonder how insane O'Sullivan is doing with the news from his nemisis today?
I really hope the reason isn't medical. That would be horrible.
Three more years of Obamanightmare and his only constituency will be blacks and college professors. Sarah will massacrate him.
By the way, I welcome our new Mormon overlord.
So it is a clear case of damned if you do and damned if you don't
Spend a lot of time campaigning for President while still Governor you get this:
Of course the outcry that “she is neglecting the state and should step down as governor if she wants to do all of this campaigning” would be deafening.
Do the responsible thing and let the next in line take over your office so the State can be effectively managed, which you won't be able to do in a dual role.
Then you get people like Kathy calling her a QUITER.
Damned if you do and damned if you don't. She has probably come to the realization that she can't win if she continues to play the game the MSM and the Republicans and Democrats expect. There was no way she could win in this situation.
So....wadda do? You break the mold. If it doesn't work, at least you gave it a good try instead of just allowing the leeches to bring you to your knees.. If you can't play by their rules, then you play by your own.
Kick'em in the nutsack.
Her Twitter feed says it is good news. Anyone wondering if she is pregnant again? I know if I were Todd I would be hitting that nightly.
Past that I really hope she is running in 2012. She scares libs to death and that alone is worth her running.
Where is the link?
She doesn't need Playboy, Seven although that would be amazing.
It is kind of weird she did do this on a Friday of a holiday weekend.
I certainly hope there is no medical reason. I actually do like her. Cute as button. And come on who amongst us wouldn't do her?
Me too, Freeman. Makes the most sense to me, but I hope I'm wrong.
Senator Palin has a nice ring to it.
She's always struck me as the person with all the charisma and none of the wisdom. I think she would be grossly overwhelmed by the presidency in the same way that Obama so obviously is.
"Her Twitter feed says it is good news. Anyone wondering if she is pregnant again? I know if I were Todd I would be hitting that nightly."
You are a pig TRO.
Kick'em in the nutsack.
Stop saying that!
"You are a pig, TRO."
Here's a quarter, go out and buy yourself a sense of humor.
And if I were Todd I would be hitting her at lunch too . . . in the Governor's office.
Of course the outcry that “she is neglecting the state and should step down as governor if she wants to do all of this campaigning” would be deafening.
Of course it's that way.
To be a liberal is to agree with the immoral world view that that the ends justify the means (that's also the motto of the American Bar Association and every law school professor).
Therefore, lying is always in the service of being a liberal. Which means that they can argue any side of an argument with passion. It's why morality is like acid when discussed with liberals. Rather than uphold a standard, they will always point out others that fail the standard and then tell us why society shouldn't even have the moral values that they themselves benefit from. it's worldview that really doesn't require anything form th4e holder, but sure wants to take from and control three lives of others.
But the country - according to every reputable poll - is getting tired of the Obama and Democrat COngress promises. And that's a fact that liberals can't spin away.
"Nothing seems to stop this warrior woman."
Including reality.
I was kidding TRO.
I would be hitting her morning, noon and night.
Every position, everywhere.
Hi Jeremy how's the dog fucking business going?
Corn planting here is doing well. It's knee high by the 4th of July which is a date I'm sure makes you sick to your stomach. I mean all those American flags waving and the smell of gunpowder from those fireworks probably makes the bile in your liver agitated.
Anyway I hope you are having a horrible day watching everyone here enjoying the freedom and liberty that was gained by those who sacrificed the themselves to give you the freedom to be the biggest asshole in the world.
Now go eat your croissant and shut the fuck up.
For everyone else, happy Birthday America, keep it strong and going to piss all the liberals off.
"Including reality."
Eh, reality didn't stop all you mopes from electing the worst president since Carter.
"I was kidding TRO.
I would be hitting her morning, noon and night.
Every position, everywhere."
Ahh, sorry I missed it . . . I am sure I would have caught it in a bar, drinking a brew, and talking about hitting Sarah.
“It’s wrong to speculate, but Palin is forcing speculation.”
The Anchoress
Man, I hope she runs for president and gets elected. It will be the first time I can think happy thoughts of sex in the Oval Office.
The real but seldom spoken of fact in accepting any new person seeking an authority promotion in any system is that they must first undergo a certain amount of un-fair attacks while keeping a good attitude. These are the required dues that must be paid first. Fraternity pledges' initiations, military basic training, and the new lawyer in front of a Trial Judge for the first time come to mind. After that gauntlet is run successfully, then the new relationship is celebrated by both sides. I watched Sarah Palin get there in her interraction with Letterman's over the top attacks. She is moving into a wide open space with her feet firmly under her now. Hide and watch.
Agreed, Montana. Reality hasn't yet been a barrier for Palin or Obama. Luckily, for us, reality will intercede soon and their gross inexperience and geopolitical and economic ineptitudes will no longer interfere vexaciously with our lives.
Kick'em in the nutsack.
Stop saying that!
Well, of course not you Original Mike. It is a metaphorical image anyway.....(I think). ;-D
The dumb talking heads keep saying I wonder what her reasons are for this move....when she plainly said what her reasons are. Listen up stupids. She told you.
The video is unwatchable.
Never assume the audience cares what you feel, anyway if there are guys in it.
That crossed eyed black guy Ron Christie is the worst to speak for republicans.
It is a metaphorical image.
It's a painful image. ;-)
"If Palin offers any lesson to non-leftist women, it is this:
Do not enter political life until your children have grown up."
I guess that's why Her Highness just said that she Trig more than he needs her.
Think about that statement for a minute.
Montana -- Please try to write coherently. Only then, once you have written something coherent, suggest that others think about statements.
Could someone hamper down the groupthink for just a minute?
I was all of two years old when Jimmy Carter was elected.
This view of politics as tribalism is really inane and, at the same time, revealing.
I bet she waxes her beave.
I'm listening to her statement. She's listing her accomplishments and making references like "from Maine to Alaska ...". Now I think she's running.
Since you're so adept at interpreting Palin's statements, you tell me what she meant by it, Dumbfuck Machos.
We've been around this bullshit before. All I did was paraphrase what she said. If I can't even so much as quote someone without hearing you lodge insipid complaints to the effect that I've made what they said incoherent, then you should just shut the fuck up.
Seriously.
I love Sarah Palin.
I was all of two years old when Jimmy Carter was elected..
Consider yourself lucky.
I do believe this is the East Coast Liberal Elites fault though.
I wish more politicians would quit rather than the opposite where they never quit no matter what. Servants quit, kings don't. I want public servants.
I think it is a positive whether she runs later or not.
If she does not run, her life gets better. If she does run her life gets better till then, and a lot of silly crap can blow over in the meantime.
"I was all of two years old when Jimmy Carter was elected."
Just see where Obama is taking us and you get an idea of what Carter was like.
History begins in 1978, people.
Here's the primer on Carter for the self-absorbed who see no reason to look beyond their own navels: Carter was a young, wonky, inexperienced politician just sure that macroeconomic measures from Washington would bring about wealth. He promised transparency and honesty.
His one term is generally regarded as an abject failure.
I guess that's why Her Highness just said that she [sic] Trig more than he needs her.
Think about that statement for a minute.
Yes, let's do. What can you learn from a child who selflessly loves with no awareness of the cruelty and nastiness of people who would make fun of you to injure your mother. A soul that doesn't know hate or seek to harm others but only asks for love and returns that love 10 fold.
That a child who has nothing but pure love in his heart can make your life much richer just by his presence is a completely foreign concept to people like MUL who consider Palin an anomoly because she didn't murder her child and instead accepts the joy and yes the burden of a handicapped child.
How much easier is it to lay down our burdens than to accept them with grace and courage?.
Think about that for a minute MUL if you possibly can pull your head out of your own ass for a few moments.
"I bet she waxes her beave."
Oh I hope so. I would vote for her twice if I knew that.
The news of Sarah Palin’s resignation as governor came during my show this afternoon, where we spent most of an hour discussing it with the chatizens and my co-host Duane Patterson. I’ve had a chance to watch the video of her announcement and read through dozens of Twitter messages back and forth attempting to rationalize this, and still, it simply can’t be rationalized on the basis of what Palin said today. It’s easily the most bizarre resignation I’ve seen, and just about senseless.
Capt. Ed is a bit harsh, I would have expected this type of post from Allah.
This speculation meme is a classic playing dumb act. Anybody who listened to her speech, and is not a brain-bound dunce, heard her announce her run for a national office. The Senate is not available and she already got the VP tee shirt, so this wondering is so horribly hard to do they whine. And that is this ditzy woman's failure too, according to the quick thinking claque. They better get a better arguement than that, or she will smoke them.
Carter is not regarded as a failure. Show me a ranking by historians that indicates otherwise.
Carter took the reigns of the country at a time when people were fed up with the criminality of the opposition - a situation analogous to the current one.
Carter was no superstar. But he ranks nowhere near the bottom of the barrel.
W. was the one for that job.
That you couldn't make a better case for McCain is something you can blame on Bush, McCain, and the GOP.
And yourselves.
Look, she runs for Pres and at worst she gets another VP slot to Romney. It really doesn't matter cause unless some miracle happens with the economy Barry is going to lose to anyone who runs.
We are at 155+ comment thread in 2 hours. Does that mean that the crazy Palin woman is sinking her ship or is she just getting up to cruise speed?
"Carter is not regarded as a failure. Show me a ranking by historians that indicates otherwise.
Carter took the reigns of the country at a time when people were fed up with the criminality of the opposition - a situation analogous to the current one.
Carter was no superstar. But he ranks nowhere near the bottom of the barrel. "
I don't give a rat's tush what any historian says, Carter was an total failure. I was an adult through those years. He was crap. There is no debate. You want to argue Clinton over Bush be my guest, but Carter? The man was an imbecile.
"Politics just naturally appeals to the worst of our population, "
Well Beth, maybe there is your reason. Palin doesn't belong in politics.
Too bad for all of us, it means quality liberal people don't either.
Do we really want people who want power so bad they would put up with what has been done to her and her family. Such a person would be scary with power.
This is our loss, no matter which side your on.
A person who doesn't understand how you could say that you [something] your child more than your child needs you obviously does not have children and is probably very lonely.
Carter is generally regarded as a failure. Anyone who won't acknowledge this simple truth is silly and not serious.
If she runs for Pres she is not going to get the VP slot to Romney.
She will wax Romney and will the Republican Primary. Iowa, SC, done deal. Romney couldn't even win in NH against Mccain.
She is a Superstar and loved. Romney is not trusted and he is from Massachusetts and he is a major flipflopper. She will nail him for that.
All the pundits say that this clears the way for Romney. A few mention Huckabee.
Tim Pawlenty was heard to say, "Who do I have to fuck to get attention around here?"
And she has a great bod, face and amazing legs. Nuff said.
I would tap her. I bet she is good on top too.
"Yes, let's do. What can you learn from a child who selflessly loves with no awareness of the cruelty and nastiness of people who would make fun of you to injure your mother. A soul that doesn't know hate or seek to harm others but only asks for love and returns that love 10 fold.
That a child who has nothing but pure love in his heart can make your life much richer just by his presence is a completely foreign concept to people like MUL who consider Palin an anomoly because she didn't murder her child and instead accepts the joy and yes the burden of a handicapped child.
How much easier is it to lay down our burdens than to accept them with grace and courage?.
Think about that for a minute MUL if you possibly can pull your head out of your own ass for a few moments."
I don't consider it a foreign concept that one's life can be made richer by someone with pure love in their heart. I just think it's sad that you believe you could only find such a thing in a child.
Maybe that speaks to the company you keep and to your own craven selfishness.
And to the degree that you project things onto children. Children are neither angels nor demons. They possess the capacity to do (and to desire) both good and bad. Just because they are helpless doesn't make them morally superior beings. But you can think of them that way if it makes you feel more useful (and more loved) as a mother.
Montana Urban Legend pontificates on Carter...blah blah blah blah.
Since you are speaking from the perspective of still shitting yellow at the time, you opinion is just that.
In a way....I kind of hope that your generation gets to have the full deja vu experience of Carter squared through Obama. At least we who have been there already are somewhat more prepared.
Have fun.
The only person who will wax Palin in 2012 is her personal traveling masseuse. Perhaps daily.
And I shouldn't have just mentioned craven selfishness. I should have emphasized the quality of being jaded. That plays into such thinking as well.
I just think it's sad that you believe you could only find such a thing in a child.
Who said only?
MUL... Who has the Hope and Change high ground today? Is it the hard charging honest american from Alaska, or is it the deception artist pushing the destruction of freedom everywhere he can slip something thru with a smile while he says the opposite of what he is doing and his see no evil monkeys in the Press shame themselves daily?
I just think it's sad that you believe you could only find such a thing in a child.
Where is the only part suggested?
Perhaps, Montana, if you could read better or write better, people might take you more seriously and not laugh at you so much.
I didn't pontificate on Carter. I left that to the historians. As W. says we should do with him.
If you dumbasses ran more competent candidates to get into the office (i.e. NOT Nixon. Not W.) then maybe the backlash for someone less craven wouldn't be so intense each time.
But I get the script. No one on the right is ever responsible for anything except themselves.
"If she runs for Pres she is not going to get the VP slot to Romney.
She will wax Romney and will the Republican Primary. Iowa, SC, done deal. Romney couldn't even win in NH against Mccain.
She is a Superstar and loved. Romney is not trusted and he is from Massachusetts and he is a major flipflopper. She will nail him for that."
I see Romney's business creditials coming into play considering the mess Barry is making of the economy. But yes Sarah is the popular type so she could beat him. IF she does take time off and bones-up(pun intended)on foreign policy, etc,. and makes herself a more worldly candidate she could take it all. I mean it's not like they haven't done everything they can to her already and she is still standing.
I would love to be her personal traveling masseuse.
I would be so gentle and caring.
The really really great thing is that Palin's announcement has totally fucked up a bunch of political operative's 4th of July weekend.
Yay. Good timing.
I voted for Carter. Yes, he was terrible and still is. I was there too. Americans felt pathetic under him. Nobody, except for Reagan did more to change me from reliable Dem. to a flaming conservative.
"If you dumbasses ran more competent candidates to get into the office (i.e. NOT Nixon. Not W.) then maybe the backlash for someone less craven wouldn't be so intense each time."
W served two terms so I think he wasn't that bad a candidate.
"I voted for Carter. Yes, he was terrible and still is. I was there too. Americans felt pathetic under him. Nobody, except for Reagan did more to change me from reliable Dem. to a flaming conservative."
All my family voted for Carter. Being Southerners they felt they could do nothing else. I warned them, they did not listen. I voted for Ford.
I still remind them of it every time I see them.
DBQ is right. Palin is going to do it in a non-traditional way.
I am watching Fox News and the talking heads are asking "where will Palin get her experience" if she is not governor or in Congress?
Yeah right as if our governors and Congress have not already fucked up the country.
The Tea Parties are showing that change will come from outside the political parties. Palin must have taken note of this trend so I bet she is taking that route.
"W served two terms so I think he wasn't that bad a candidate."
Again with the script. Repeat after me: No one on the right is ever responsible for anything but himself/herself. The state of politics in America is the fault of the left, and not of the right-wing Bush toadies who would self-combust at any acknowledgment of the utter destruction and mockery he made of his party.
You call yourself a homo, Titus, and then tell us your hog rises to female bait. Which is it? Or which are you? Or something.
Anyhow you're wrong about Sarah's attributes. It's her hips that are her best feature. True heteros get that. Which proves you're a committed fudge packer.
Before I go, I give you Montana's argument, distilled:
1. Palin bad.
2. George W. Bush bad.
3. I was born in 1978 and therefore know nothing about Carter.
4. I know that Carter was a pretty okay president.
5. George W. Bush bad.
6. Palin bad.
I won't go into the brazen assumptions and conclusory innuendo about childbearing.
I kind of feel sorry for Montana, in the way that I feel sorry for the Unabomber.
Sorry, but children most definitely are demons. Doesn't mean we can't love them, But seriously, a child that selflessly loves? Never seen one of those. How many heads to they have?
"Again with the script. Repeat after me: No one on the right is ever responsible for anything but himself/herself. The state of politics in America is the fault of the left, and not of the right-wing Bush toadies who would self-combust at any acknowledgment of the utter destruction and mockery he made of his party."
What script? Fact is that any guy or gal who can get elected as president twice is a good candidate. We are talking politics. Losing is bad, winning is good. This is not rocket science.
NOW, if you want to talk about how he governed that is another thing altogether.
I didn't say Carter was okay. I've heard the anecdotal evidence of how lousy he was too. I have no reason to believe that he was anything other than subpar. He was probably at least below average.
But once again, you guys prove yourselves so damned averse to empirical knowledge as to make this conversation impossible. Why should the opinion of historians not matter at all? Is personal experience the end-all, be-all of human explanations?
"You call yourself a homo, Titus, and then tell us your hog rises to female bait. Which is it? Or which are you? Or something."
Sarah is so hot even gay guys want her. Considering how Barry is treating gays now that is a plus come 2012.
40 months til the next presidential election. I reckon she has just about enough time to go get a masters in economics and do some gladhanding during school breaks. That's what I'd do in her shoes.
In other news and a "I told you so", Powell expresses doubt about Obama's agenda.
Colin Powell, one of President Obama's most prominent Republican supporters, expressed concern Friday that the president's ambitious blitz of costly initiatives may be enlarging the size of government and the federal debt too much.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul/03/powell-airs-doubts-on-obama-agenda/
Hey, didn't we warned this about Obama ...Ann????
"NOW, if you want to talk about how he governed that is another thing altogether."
I am talking about he governed. (Although if he was better as a candidate I think his win percentages would have been at least a little better. These things aren't completely separate).
So when I said "competent candidate", I wasn't just talking about how competent he was as a candidate. A candidate can be a competent or incompetent politician, or elected official - and Bush/Rove's destruction of their party attests to that.
Bush/Rove cared about one thing: Winning at all costs. This is not the stuff of quality candidates or of quality elected officials once those candidates gain office.
Whoa, the nut from Alaska did something nutty again? Shocking.
Somehow, the Palin-worshipping right-wingers will try and spin her strange resignation as making her even more fit to be Prez of the USA. Well, whatever. I can't wait to hear the real reasons she quit.
Is SNL in reruns (as usual) or will there be a new show tomorrow? (So we can see Tina Fey mock this shit.) (I think Letterman's in reruns tonight, no?)
Never forgive and never forget. What they did to Sarah Palin they will try on the next conservative candidate.
Was Steve Schmidt right? No. Steve Schmidt is just wrong.
But Schmidt shows you have to be on guard for the internal shiv attack too.
We probably need a new thread for this, as it's hitting 200....
Shocking to admit, but I have to agree with LaughingOaf @ 6:08!
Yes, she picked a holiday weekend to quit because she knows she's doing something nutty. Most of the comedy shows are in reruns.
I was all of two years old when Jimmy Carter was elected.
Well that explains your lack of perspective when discussing current events.
Interesting move on Mrs. Palin's part.
The claim that this "ends" her political career is silly, though. She's 45. Nixon was 49 when his political career "ended" in the loss of the 1962 California governor's race. Given how long politicians stick around these days she could take fifteen years off to raise Trig and still serve four or five terms in the Senate. :)
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