Look at her, sneering at law professors!
Ha ha. I enjoyed Sarah Palin's contempt there. (And good for her, saying "lectern," instead of, like most lawprofs I've heard, "podium.") She's not contemptuous of law professors, generally. Just law professors out of place.
And that's kind of the way I feel about Sarah Palin. The question is: What is the right place for her? I think she does really well observing national politics, commenting, critiquing, and campaigning. Campaigning for others, though, I think. In office, maybe she's as out of place as a professor of law posing as Commander in Chief.
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1 – 200 of 256 Newer› Newest»That's cute that you think she's only anti-intellectuals who aren't you.
In the end, I think Miss Sarah will chair the RNC, rather than be President, and do a lot of good re-establishing the old ideals of the party, pre-FDR. Her instincts go toward being a reformer and, unlike the breed of Assistant Democrat which has infested the party since the 50s, she is unapologetic in her views.
More to the point, to even consider a run at the top spot, she needs a Cabinet post to show her hand as an administrator. Depending on who the next Republican President is, she might not be offered such a chance.
Give 'em hell, Sarah. You'll be in the White House and all the beautiful perfect people will still be scratching their heads.
In office, maybe she's as out of place as a professor of law posing as Commander in Chief.
Possible, but unlikely.
edutcher has a great read on how to best tap into the talents of Sarah, RNC Chair.
Eventually she would make a good Senator, like a paint thinner applied to the thick vocal varnishments of the current crop of Senators. Quick witted, sharp comments, hardly the stuff of Arlen Specter, Orrin Hatch, John F. Kerry, or Dick Durbin, before he dicks you.
It is amusing this morning to hear and read all the comments on Palin's speech and role in American politics. Clearly most of those seem strangely concerned with someone who is too stupid and out of her league to be taken seriously. And yet, that is what the elitists are doing. If she is so inept she should not be the threat they seem to fear by "protesting too much".
Are the 1968 radical wing of the Democrat party running things now? No not exactly, but they are definitely influencing things. Obama and his administration think they are cool and I suspect there are way too many favors between Obama and Ayers for Ayers to ever end up under the bus.
The change we need is this. Fat chance of that happening with the guys currently running things (heck it would be super hard to get the GOP on board).
As for Sarah, I doubt she will run for major office in the near future. But as a speaker and commentator, she is great. If only to drive Andrew Sullivan even buggier.
I love your post. Just the right tone. Not sure what's next for her, but this from Erick Erickson at RedState rings true:
"Sarah Palin’s history in politics is of not a reformer in general, but of a house cleaner. She has, in every job she has held, rooted out corruption and cleaned up the place."
Women's work is never done.
I can't tell what she's up to. It may be nothing at all.
There are similarities between what she's doing now and what Reagan did in the late 60s and 70s. If she needed to bone up on policy over time to establish her cred to run for office this is probably the right approach.
I'm not at all sure that's what she wants to do though. And part of her appeal, I think this is undeniable, is that she is physically a very attractive woman. That will fade over the next 10 years I guess...though she seems to be one of those women that defy the aging process.
She just flat out defies a lot of conventional wisdom. Everything from her heels to the family to the hunting and her background. It all has some sort of mysterious appeal. I have no doubt that there is some sex appeal going on there but I'm pretty sure there's a good bit more to it than just that.
No matter how much they try to marginalize Sarah Palin, she just keeps comin'.
Now she's got your "hopey-changey" president by the balls -- the C-student, punk lecturer who loves to run his mouth and party on AF-1.
Imus says he personally lost several IQ points listening to her with Chris Wallace.
No, we don't need a "commander in chief." When we are at war, the President is the commander in chief of the military, but only the military; the President is never CoC of the American people.
Ms. Palin and others of her far-right ilk should be happy with Obama as President. He's such a compromiser by temperament, so determined to be middle of the road and bipartisan--such a wimp, in other words--that the Republicans will get most or all of what they want anyway. (What do Republicans want? As far as I can see, more war, financial ruin, authoritarianism, and misery, as that's all they've brought us.)
..."Just law professors out of place"..."And that's kind of the way I feel about Sarah Palin."
Well your feelings about Obama were right on the money. Oh wait they weren't. So everybody do the opposite of what Ann Althouse says.
That was an excellent give-em-hell line.
Looks like the MSM-Democratic Alinsky strategy of Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it has backfired bigtime.
Woopsy.
For a "smart" guy, Obama might be the most naive man to be in the White House, He seems to REALLY believe people will do what he wants, even if it negatively impacts them, because he is so darned awesome.
For her faults, Palin seems to have SOME ability to notice human behavior.
I think she would have made a decent President, and there is no doubt in my mind she would be better than Obama, because she has actually run things (government and private) and made decisions. But that's a pretty low bar for deciding if someone is qualified. We'll probaby never know the answer, because of what the press would do to her in a campaign.
Imus says he personally lost several IQ points listening to her with Chris Wallace.
That sounds dire. It's not like he's got any to spare.
@ Robert Cook, is that parody WRT Obama, or are you actually serious? I honestly can't tell, although your disdain for Republicans comes through loud and clear.
Sorry, I meant about his being a compromiser by temperament and bipartisan by practice.
OT: our brilliant Constitutional law expert-in-chief is trying to claim copyright protection for the photos on their Flickr stream. I'm intrigued as to how a photo taken by a government employee can be copyrighted.
http://themoderatevoice.com/62020/white-house-makes-full-copyright-claim-on-photos/
In fact, it's not about "Sarah Palin," but rather the utterly corrupt politics of congress, aided by Obama.
All Palin has to do is articulate the obvious, and she can write her own ticket. Just like she's doing now.
Meanwhile, the travels of Sarah should prove interesting, and fruitful, beginning with Nevada and radiating outward.
as a representative of the "ilk" Mr Cook talks about, I disagree with his position.l
Oh--and for Beth: looks the Saints "geauxed" Congratulations Ms Beth--they did New Orleans proud!
As a conservative first and Republican second, let me say
how far we have fallen!
She is not dumb, just incredibly shallow.
The thing isthe Court, prompted by attorneys like Katyal who are now in the Administration, refused to seriously consider the long string of precedents on military tribunals
and unlawful enemy combatants that go back to 1975. Now they were under the influence of a public relations camapaign under the direction of Levick andassociates, carrying out in conjunction with major blue chip law firm, with Saudi and Emirati money. This was uncovered by Deborah Burlingame
This was Palin's opening speech of the 2012 campaign.
Palin is a political gadfly. During his defense when on trial for his life, Socrates, according to Plato's writings, pointed out that dissent, like the tiny (relative to the size of a horse) gadfly, was easy to swat, but the cost to society of silencing individuals who were irritating could be very high. "If you kill a man like me, you will injure yourselves more than you will injure me," because his role was that of a gadfly, "to sting people and whip them into a fury, all in the service of truth."
Even as a court jester Palin wields a sharp wit that infuriates and terrifies those with the puffery that characterizes the sniffing, effete elitist.
WV - sularcho or what the blue bloods believe is spanish for Salud.
Obama was not a "law professor" - he was senior lecturer at a law school.
You have to publish and stuff to be a law professor...
"It is the nature, and the advantage, of strong people that they can bring out the crucial questions and form a clear opinion about them. The weak always have to decide between alternatives that are not their own", said Dietrich Bonhoeffer. That quote perfectly describes the strong politician Sarah Palin, compared to the weak politician Barak Obama. That Bonhoeffer guy seems to have lived thru our times. IMO if the strongest point guard turns out to be a woman, than we should let that woman run the offense on the GOP basketball team.
"(What do Republicans want? As far as I can see, more war, financial ruin, authoritarianism, and misery, as that's all they've brought us.)"
You mean I MISSED IT??? I was all ready too -- I had my ax, my Viking helmet, my goblet in which to mix the blood of my enemies with wine... Catch me taking a nap during the day again!
"Obama was not a "law professor" - he was senior lecturer at a law school."
Details, details.
I agree with Ann. She's qualified for a lot of things, but I would have no confidence in her as POTUS. She comes across like such a hayseed.
hayseed, hillbilly, fallati (WV)
Yeah.
At this point, having had financial ruin and deficits forever created by all those cosmopolitan Harvard grads, I'd take a hayseed any day.
fallatiiiii... fallataaaa...
edutcher's speculation that she would become the head of the RNC makes complete sense. She's the GOP version of Howard Dean.
wv: dopers ... I think Google is on to the Althouse community!
She said lectern instead of podium, because it sounds like 'lecture' and no one wants a president lecturing at them.
Ha! You changed the comment direction, just noticed. Good thing, I commented even though it is uninteresting.
"The change we need is this. "
@Fred For Pres
Fred,
I am about as conservative as you can get, and I'm here to tell you that the Paul Ryan plan is both stupid politically, and also stupid as policy.
It is a roadmap to ensure that Democrats stay in power.
Ryan's plan can be boiled down to this:
1) Raise taxes on the poorest of society (10% tax on incomes up to $100,000).
2) Tax cuts for the rich (only a 25% tax on incomes over $100,000).
3) No taxes at all for the super-rich billionaires like Warren Buffet (no capital gains tax).
4) Tax cuts for corporations, tax increases for poor people (8.5% consumption tax for business.)
5) Cut Social Security (by raising the retirement age to 70.)
That's basically the gist of George Will's column.
So, let me get this straight: Here we are in a time where Democrats are literally committing suicide, and Paul Ryan wants to throw them a lifeline by having Republicans turn themselves into freaking caricatures?
I'm a solid conservative. And this plan sucks. I would never vote for it; and neither will anyone else.
It's piss-poor politics. I could write ads all day long characterizing these policies as heartless gouging of the poor so that the rich can have another yacht.
It will never. ever. work.
yes, the thought of president palin makes me want to move to a france.
i do wish obama would bitch-slap the media the way sarah does though. she's got gaming the media down cold.
@k: Good point. Priests deliver sermons from lecterns. Maybe she was pointing to the whole "Obama as Messiah" thing.
Scott...And how has a hayseed been capable of making all of the right moves that Palin has made in the past year? I for one am glad that she has not come out of the intellecuals that cannot figure out how to lead a Democratic Republic. The necessary executive skills are never taught by Marxist Professorates like the ones that indoctrinated Obama from his childhood.
Or maybe not. Priests deliver sermons from pulpits too. It depends on the church.
wv: exteded ... like "extended" said with a cold ... maybe referencing Scott Brown's victory.
"I think (Palin) would have made a decent President, and there is no doubt in my mind she would be better than Obama, because she has actually run things (government and private) and made decisions."
Yep. She made the decision to quit her as governor halfway through her first term! I guess she felt she'd fixed up everything that needed fixin' so why wear out her welcome?
(More likely, she smelled the money waitin' to be made outside the governor's office.)
How can he, they are his base. The Brennan interview on the MTP is classic in missing the point. They had received information, on up to December 22nd, about underwear bombers, Nigerian in Yemen, et al,
yet they chose not to isolate him, so they could round up the network
and pretend he was an isolated
extremist. Then again, this is probably the way he behaved when he was station chief in Riyadh, so no surprise there
"@ Robert Cook, is that parody WRT Obama, or are you actually serious?"
What is "WRT?" I don't know texting language.
As to what I said in my post, I'm serious, of course. Anyone who could mistake Obama for anything other than a diehard centrist, a guy who'd cut off his own balls to make sure everybody's happy with the deal, (and he'd queer the deal to doubly insure it!) is either not paying attention or is fatally infected with right-wing fever.
i do wish obama would bitch-slap the media the way sarah does though.
Considering the way they fawn over him why would he do something like that?
@traditionalguy: In politics, as in most corporate endeavors, you can buy brains to help you with your strategy. And as for strategy: If she was such a genius, why was she not able to effectively manage the circumstances that forced her to resign as Alaska's governor? More than anything, I think that speaks to her inadequacy as POTUS material.
Yeah, "hayseed" is a matter of style. But she needs to be able to at least fake erudition once in awhile in order to reach a lot of people whose votes she will need in order to govern nationally.
I'm a libertarian, and I love what she says. But I still think she would be a lousy President.
Professor, you and Sissy Willis have perfectly captured the situation.
during the election they were part of his base. if they were still his base, then Obama would be in control of the narrative on healthcare and jobs and the economy (which he is not)...
She was naive, in the sense, that she didn't realize that the ethic
code could be turned on an ethical person, like herself. Interestingly
there has been no ethical complaints
filed against Sen. Begich, who really
left a multi million mess back in Anchorage.
Very good clear speech. I understand everything that she said.
So far, I think the country remains totally in the dark about what Obama thinks, and what he's plotting next.
She did make one funny mistake: she referred to the country as Alaska. She was aware of this, but continued to roll along. She should have stopped and made a joke of it, and a good politician would have done that. But she's not comfortable laughing at herself yet. She can do it, but she's a bit like Obama in that regard.
She has to script the humor part. When that comes naturally, as it did to Bush II, or Reagan, you have an unstoppable politician.
Huckabee has that humorous quality. I still think he might be the right guy for the right.
@Florida --
What's so bad about those proposals from Ryan -- as policy, not politics?
Does the federal government need more than a quarter of any man's income? If it does, aren't they doing a hell of a lot of things that a person who is "about as conservative as you can get" shouldn't approve of?
For my taste, I prefer the rates from the Tax Reform Act of 1986 to Ryan's proposal -- there's a certain elegance to equalizing treatment of all streams of income, and I like the 28% flat tax above $30k. Though its corporate tax rates are a little high.
You can say that it is an ambitious plan -- it is. You can say that it's opening the door to Democratic demagoguery. It probably is. It may help re-elect Democrats who otherwise would be defeated, and that's not good.
But how is it anti-conservative?
No, the media is still selling the "dog food, but the dogs won't eat it"
I guess another pitchman like David Plouffe is in order, It is because
the blogs, facebook, and other such
enterprises have been able to circumvent the kultursmog that he is checkmated
You have to publish and stuff to be a law professor...
But, but, but, he wrote two books! Best Sellers. The "Audacity of Hopium" and "Hopium Dreams of My Daddy".
He is published!!!! Doesn'that count?
wv:remin= Joe Biden: "remin me to git some tings."
@Robin Cook,
Obama is no centrist. Nor is he a leftist. He is an order taker. He always has been. In the Illinois Senate he was ordered to propose legislation. He said yes sir.
Now, when Nancy Pelosi calls he says "What can I do for you Madame President."
When the powers that be say shit, Obama squats and makes grunting noises.
"remin me to git some tings."
That's hayseed talk. Or is it hillbilly talk?
WV: ashieco
My initials plus ieco
Does the federal government need more than a quarter of any man's income?
In order to maintain the quality of our military as well as the enormity of our entitlement and welfare programs, I’d suggest that they need closer to 40-50% of it and the fact that we have to borrow about half of our budget this year proves the point.
If you look at Europe with has emasculated its militaries and generous social programs even they are having problems despite much higher tax rates than we have. If we think we can be the world superpower while having Euro style entitlements we’re kidding ourselves. One or the other has to go and even then, we’ll still need to ramp taxes up just to maintain the programs and pay down the debt.
You have to publish and stuff to be a law professor...
But, but, but, he wrote two books! Best Sellers. The "Audacity of Hopium" and "Hopium Dreams of My Daddy".
He is published!!!! Doesn'that count?
But that is the essence of Obama! Aside from writing two books about his favorite subject - himself, he managed to run the law review without publishing anything, and managed to be on the faculty of a law school without publishing anything.
Obama's life skills seem to consist of:
1) showing up
2) convincing a significant fraction of the people he met that he was going to be President of the United States someday
As Robert Moses noted about John Lindsay (who?): "Elect a Matinee Idol & you’ll get a Musical comedy administration".
When you elect a President who thinks that the world is Moot Court you get a Moot President presiding over a Moot Administration.
Scott...Your reply reminded me of Racquetball that is played from the center of the court effortlessly by master players. Yes, Erudition is a shot that Palin still needs to master and use. But she is already ahead 20 to 2 without using that shot. Obama and his media cronies can't seem to return her serve or figure out her right wing drop shot. In fact the Alaskan/upper Mid-west twang in her voice plays well in her preferred Andy Jackson like shot. But she may have to leave winning Massachusetts to the other Scott.
@Robin Cook,
Obama is no centrist.
Well when your political leanings are somewhere left of Lenin then I suppose Obama looks like a centrist.
Ha ha - Althouse watches Fox News..
I think she's one of those kids who was called stupid by a few smart professors and never got over it. Stupid is as stupid does.
@Andrea:
"'(What do Republicans want? As far as I can see, more war, financial ruin, authoritarianism, and misery, as that's all they've brought us.)'?
"You mean I MISSED IT??? I was all ready too -- I had my ax, my Viking helmet, my goblet in which to mix the blood of my enemies with wine... Catch me taking a nap during the day again!"
A nap? More like an eight year coma.
Or perhaps I was the one in a coma, and contrary to my coma hallucinations, the Bush years were marked by unparalleled peace, prosperity, and a strengthening of our Constitutional protections and civil liberties. My visions of America waging wars based on lies; of Americans torturing prisoners and other Americans cheering them on; of the Financial Industry, freed from any fear of government oversight or checks on their greed, swindling people into buying worthless financial instruments that they had self-graded as A+; of people dying for lack of affordable medical care, of people losing their worthless, overpriced homes, of jobs draining from our land like shit down a toilet...it was all just a horrible fever-dream! In truth, America was a paradise, and in the 13 months of Obama's communist dictatorship, he has destroyed what was Eden!
Well...somebody's hallucinating...and it isn't me. Everything bad Obama is doing is merely a continuation of Bush policies; everything good he's doing is...is...well, he hasn't done anything good, so even in that respect he's just like Bush.
What's not to love, Righties?
I think that a lot of the people so enamored of Obama liked him so much for president precisely because they thought a president who was just like he is was a good idea. All nuanced and stuff. All erudite. Thoughtful.
But while people, and congress and everything else don't need a commander, they do need a leader. The Presidency is an executive position. It just is.
Obama said he'd do a lot of things that many people realized that he simply couldn't do, that wouldn't work. Others seemed to think it refreshing that finally someone was going to do what they felt ought to be done, but never realized that the reason it hadn't been done before was because it just doesn't work that way.
And the result is all of Althouse's "Obama is like Bush" tags.
He's not really like Bush at all, but he ran into the realities that Bush was dealing with and the realities are the same for either of them. The result is that Obama can't do what he promised to do... what he promised to do without knowing what he didn't know.
And he does lecture. He scolds.
I can't see Palin leaving Alaska for anything short of the VP or top slot. If she were truly politically ambitious I think she would move to DC... but she won't. There are too many other things she can do.
Look at her, sneering at law professors!
Who started it?
"In office, maybe she's as out of place as a professor of law posing as Commander in Chief."
Was she out of place as a Mayor, a Governor?
That out of place thing is exactly her appeal.
In Cook's mind, anyone who doesn't declare a dictatorship of the prolitariate, nationalize all property, and lock up all with the wrong political conscience in camps, is a centrist. America has no idea how moderate its leftists really are.
@traditionalguy: If a master raquetball player finds a shot that his opponent can't return effectively, he will make him chase that shot for the rest of the game.
But this game of politics isn't over in 20 minutes. And if the opponent keeps returning the same shot long enough, he will learn how to do it correctly.
Palin isn't showing any ability to flex her style. She's got to project that behind her "aw, shucks" attitude, she is a serious heavyweight player in the political arena. Her quitting as governor of Alaska makes her look like a lightweight; a Ross Perot type who talks a hell of a good game but who ditches leadership roles when it gets too difficult. In my opinion that makes her unelectable as a POTUS candidate, whatever other virtues she may have.
Folks who say "podium" when they mean "lectern" are pedophiles.
You mean, "podophiles". That other word is for people who ride bicycles.
Obama as their leader, along with the wild overreactions to the Tebow ad (especially since it hadn't even aired yet!) and to the "notes on the hand" crisis clearly demonstrates the lack of seriousness on the left. Unfortunately, there are enough of them that they may drag the country down with them.
A word "means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less." Humpty Dumpty in Alice in Wonderland
Some words originally mean one thing and then the people decide it means something else. So it is with podium. Podium now also means what lectern means.
You can complain all you want, but that's the way it goes.
Oh, good. I have a doppelganger.
Check out "Pastafarian" at 7:25.
Other commenters, please take note -- I guess there are two of us now.
How is it possible that blogger would allow two people with identically the same screen name?
As soon as someone refers to SP as a "quitter" I ignore anything they have to say about her because it is obvious they don't get her at all. It's a cheap and hollow bit of spin that demonstrates either one's lack of perception and/or honesty.
It is only people who are already predisposed not to like her who jump on this poor excuse of an argument.
I think we are seeing what kind of "quitter" this woman is. She's a quitter just like she is stupid, and irrelevant.
I bet that speech was so worth $500 to see.
@skyler: Well, yeah, but words are like wall paint. The color can make all the difference.
"I think she's one of those kids who was called stupid by a few smart professors and never got over it."
This is what the chattering classes don't get: Sarah Palin is not a product of the school experience. She has lived a life. One where she learned, acted, overcame and led, not one of just listening and posturing.
These different experiences produce vastly different people.
I actually agree with your point Scott. Palin needs a speech coach for appearances. JFK worked with one for 8 years and then blew Nixon away in an early TV "style" contest. That old grinch Newt Gingrich has always worked diligently with speech coaches on smiling some for many years. Sarah hasn't got Newt's problems. Andy Griffith was really a smart man, but Sheriff Andy from Mayberry could only have won in the Red States, and Sheriff Sarah needs to win her share of the Blue States.
"As soon as someone refers to SP as a 'quitter' I ignore anything they have to say about her because it is obvious they don't get her at all. It's a cheap and hollow bit of spin that demonstrates either one's lack of perception and/or honesty."
And yet, she "quit" her governorship before completing even one term. Funny, that, her not being a "quitter" and all.
@Paul: You can't have your own facts. She did what she did. And if you want to go sit in a corner and plug your ears and shout "I can't hear you!" then go right ahead.
(Man, I can't describe the creepy ugly feeling I get from agreeing with Robert Cook.)
You can't have your own facts. She did what she did. And if you want to go sit in a corner and plug your ears and shout "I can't hear you!" then go right ahead.
I think if I was being subjected to a daily barrage of 'ethics complaints' none of which had any merit at all and was facing financial ruin over it, I think I'd probably jump ship too. I'd have to say that is a clear defect of Alaska politics.
I think if I was being subjected to a daily barrage of 'ethics complaints' none of which had any merit at all and was facing financial ruin over it, I think I'd probably jump ship too. I'd have to say that is a clear defect of Alaska politics.
Well then, you would be a quitter too. As much as I dislike W, I think having to deal with 9/11 is far worse than some ethics claims. Hell, even Mark Sanford took a shit of deserved abuse but stuck it out. The current President gets 3x the death threats of our previous President and he's managed to not run under his bed.
This notion that ethics complaints are the worst thing any politician has had to endure are just silly tripe from excuse makers. She quit school about 4 times when she was matriculating, and little has changed about her since.
Palin said she quit for the people of Alaska. Hard to argue that.
Yea, the "Palin is a quitter" thing is pretty lame. No doubt that she quit in a high profile way as governor, but I think for good and honorable reasons: it was going to bankrupt her family and she would be ineffective in the job.
But, it's pretty disingenuous in the extreme to look at her life and tough choices she has made and determine her a "quitter". It was the right decision. A quitter is someone who usually gives up on challenges, and that's just not her, and it's obvious.
@Hoosier Daddy: Yes, one could say it is a defect of Alaska politics. And a politician who enters that arena should be able to deal with the politics, or change the politics--or go down trying.
That's what politicians do. It's a characteristic of their profession. It's called leadership. And what did Sarah Palin do?
One thing that Palin said that impressed me. She said that she was willing to die for her country. I wish someone had asked Obama that before he was elected.
The thing everyone misses is - she was a GOVERNOR. Which means she is perfectly in place holding office. Why the reluctance to give HER the next step? How many male governors have made it, and how many of them started out woefully out of their depth?
She's far more honest than Clinton, more savvy than Bush, she is clear about her priorities, knows right from wrong and isn't afraid to take a stand.
She may choose not to run for President - but she's be a thousand times better than the activist-in-chief we have in there now - who sends out his stormtroopers to attack his own citizens, whose answer to everything is the perpetual campaign, and who is unable to set aside partisan politicking to actually govern.
As soon as the media starts FINALLY looking at Obama's real record, you will wonder how he EVER even made it to Senator, much less Pres.
What is the right place for her?
Her "place" is to be a stepping-stone. She's filling in for the leaders that the American Right should have. Instead of inspiring and intelligent leaders who can speak with conviction and force while demonstrating their political principles (like Margaret Thatcher!), the Right has... ... ...Anyone? Anyone?
Looks like the Right has a whole bunch of same-old same-old-- just like Senator Richard Shelby.
While the so-called "leaders" on the Right act like a bunch of fucking retards, the people on the Right still need a banner to get behind. So they get behind Palin.
She'll never win the Pres or VP office. No matter how much the Right say she's the real thing, in their heart of hearts they quietly long for someone with the caliber of Thatcher (or even Reagan) to come along and save the day for them, their political movement, and the country.
The people on the Left look into their heart of hearts and see, in Palin, a very easy opponent-- the easiest that there could possibly be! The fact that the Right is beginning to be so invested in her just makes the Left lick its chops, and will make the inevitable defeat even more tragic. She's fresh meat, easily digested.
The current President gets 3x the death threats of our previous President and he's managed to not run under his bed.
Really? You mean the Secret Service is publishing the running tab of threats to Bambi?
This notion that ethics complaints are the worst thing any politician has had to endure are just silly tripe from excuse makers.
Never said it was the worse thing they have to face. Try sticking words up someone ele's ass.
She's got to project that behind her "aw, shucks" attitude, she is a serious heavyweight player in the political arena. Her quitting as governor of Alaska makes her look like a lightweight
As to having our own facts, it is true she DID resign as Governor. However, you can't put your own interpretation on it that is counter to what she has actually said IS the reason she had resigned. Talk about putting your fingers in your ears and going "la la la I can't hear you"
Palin has stated clearly and repeatedly the reason that she resigned from her position as Governor of Alaska. The fact that you refuse to hear or refuse to believe is YOUR PROBLEM.
Resigning was clearly a masterful move that was beneficial to the People of Alaska, by no longer having their Governor and government tied in knots and stalled by multitudes of frivolous ethics complaints. It was beneficial to Palin because she is now free to move onto a much larger stage and a more influential role in American politics.
The elitists would have been much smarter to ignore Palin after the election and leave her ensconced in remote Alaska and off of the national political scene. By poking at the hornets nest, they have released a powerful enemy who might have been just as happy to remain in her position as Governor. Foolish... and hopefully they will get stung into oblivion by what they have wreaked.
The 'aw shucks' attitude that you don't like is one that is natural to the majority of the country. Self deprecating, humorous and pokes fun at the snobby elites who have decided that they are our self appointed superiors and masters. The fact that you find it objectionable tells us much about you, Scott.
Too bad you can't see all the facts Scott. The reason for leaving the governorship had nothing to do with weakness or inability to withstand pressure. It was an obvious and strategic move to put an end to the lib's ability to hamstring her and her staff with frivolous lawsuits that were a waste of valuable time and money. It's only hard to see if you're willfully stupid.
She handed the state's business off to her successor who is implementing her policies, and she is free to do whatever she can to help galvanize the Tea Party movement. If she was a "quitter" she would have retired and collected her fat royalty checks and disappeared from public life.
Running marathons, working on commercial fishing boats, and standing up to and pwning the most vicious media spin machine we've ever seen....yup, sounds like a quitter to me.
Robert Cook - don't you have some Chomsky to re read? Quit wasting our time.
Anyone who would insist on staying in a job that they would be ineffective at and that would bankrupt their family just so they could "stand their ground" and not be "quitter" is uniquely unqualified for office. But, it seems that such a self-destructive narcissist is exactly what some would prefer.
One thing that Palin said that impressed me. She said that she was willing to die for her country. I wish someone had asked Obama that before he was elected.
Ha!
Yes she's willing to die for her country. But deal with ethics complaints? I mean, a girl has to draw the line somewhere.
Shorter version of what DBQ just said.
If you want to get really, really rich, buy a bunch of the liberal, Ivy-educated elites for what they're really worth, then sell them for what they think they're worth.
@DBQ: You know squat about me, other than what you project.
Politicians say lots of things. What they do is what matters.
Sarah Palin quit before the end of her term. Spin it all you want, but that fact will always remain.
"@DBQ: You know squat about me, other than what you project."
@ Scott. True. All I know about is is what YOU project.
"@DBQ: You know squat about me, other than what you project."
And other than from your statements, which prove a willful stupidity.
But hey, at least you're not alone. You have Cookie, Invisible Douche, and garage for company........
Invis: This notion that ethics complaints are the worst thing any politician has had to endure are just silly tripe from excuse makers. ?
Hey Invis, give us your name and employer's info so we can all call in fake complaints and file frivolous lawsuits on you. We'll see how long you last.
There's something very wrong with the Left today - their party abuses the law to drive an oppopnent from office, and they damn her for not taking the abuse.
Just another reason why you are hated.
"Sarah Palin quit before the end of her term. Spin it all you want, but that fact will always remain."
Obama lied about: Gitmo, Iraq, Taking public campaign funds, raising taxes, well just about everything. That fact will remain.
See how telling part of story is just like lying.
Scott, sometimes you have brocolli on the brain.
Instead of inspiring and intelligent leaders who can speak with conviction and force while demonstrating their political principles (like Margaret Thatcher!), the Right has... ... ...Anyone? Anyone?
And the Left has........ta daaaaaaa
Joe Biden. The epitome of mental retardation.
Of noted: NO comments from Lefties here criticizing the fraudulent use of lawsuits to hamstring a politician.
So don't whine when we use your Alinsky against Obama.
If they're so frivolous, why couldn't the Warrior Mother dispatch them? Didn't she expose all the corruption in Alaska? If she can't deal with a few pesky lawsuits, how could she possibly deal with Ahmadinejad?
The various "Hitler is angry in the April 1945 Berlin Bunker" videos on U-tube could run one where George Soros is screaming to Rahm and Axelrod about Eisenhower's Army quitting the USA, and then quitting England, and then quitting France and then quitting Belgium, it being all so unfair for quitters to be getting the glory above ground in Berlin.
Scott,
Given what was going on with the frivolous ethics suits, and the amount of Palin's time that those were taking, do you think the people of Alaska would have been better served if Palin had stayed as governor?
The "quitter" thing is the Lefty attempt to Alinskyize Mrs. Palin. Since she ignores it, it doesn't work - which is how you beat Alinsky and his followers. The Alinsky rules work on the old newspaper adage that it doesn't matter if it's true, just get him/her/them to deny it.
Ignore them and they're rendered impotent.
If they're not already.
The Vast Left Wing Conspiracy is alive, well, and at work in America. Every time some one steps out into the limelight, the VLWC goes into high gear to destroy, rape, pillage, plunder, and salt the earth behind them.
Today it is Palin, tomorrow it will be someone else. Their mighty Wurlitzer just keeps on playing.
@Peter V. Bella-
Dude, the Left won. Won the Presidency, won a super-majority in the Senate (now lost due pretty much solely to the bona fide leadership of one Mr. Scott Brown), and won domination of the house.
The fact that the Left was able to do this with such a clown car of leaders demonstrates, more than anything, how weak the leadership on the Right is.
Actually, Obama & Hillary are not clowns. The rest are. The Right will do well to treat Obama and Hillary with absolute seriousness as highly skilled opponents.
Dude, the Left won. Won the Presidency, won a super-majority in the Senate (now lost due pretty much solely to the bona fide leadership of one Mr. Scott Brown), and won domination of the house.
Yes and how is that working out for you guys?
Pesky?
She was dealing with them garage... one at a time. Every single one was frivolous but one. And that *one* was that she couldn't set up a legal defense fund to pay for defending herself against the others.
Pesky?
When she was prevented from taking donations from anyone at all for legal fees, but there was nothing preventing never ending baseless complaints?
Oh, I bet they thought they got her good!
garage: If they're so frivolous, why couldn't the Warrior Mother dispatch them
Are you really this stupid?
Like invis, give us your name and employer. We'll demonstrate how frivolous lawsuits can ruin you and your family.
Step up bitch.
It must really hurt when you think you've got your enemy trapped with no escape and instead of self-destructing she shrugs and changes the game.
That has got to sting like the dickens.
If they're so frivolous, why couldn't the Warrior Mother dispatch them?
She did.
And now they cannot continue to file stupid ethics complaints, such as the one where she wore some winter clothing that had a manufacturer's logo on it.
How many ethics complaints have the same people, who were dedicated to harassing Palin, filed against the current Governor of Alaska?
Actually, Obama & Hillary are not clowns.
No they are not. Clowns are entertainers of some accomplishment. Being a clown takes years of hard work, practice and experience. One cannot be an empty suit- costume- to be a clown.
Cook, try [urban: wrt]
"If she can't deal with a few pesky lawsuits, how could she possibly deal with Ahmadinejad?"
Laser targeting?
PISS POOR PLUMBING. ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THE DEMOCRAT CIRCUS. KEEP TAKING THE HOPIUM.
Given what was going on with the frivolous ethics suits, and the amount of Palin's time that those were taking, do you think the people of Alaska would have been better served if Palin had stayed as governor?
And I'm still waiting for a Lefty on this board to denounce this tactic.
Preferably one who has complained about Congressional Republicans using procedural tactics to sabotage Obamacare.
Hey, at least you wont be a hypocrite. Thats a start.
Sorry Pastafarian, I won't post under that name again. You were here first. But since that's my "name" everywhere else...
"Sarah Palin quit before the end of her term. Spin it all you want, but that fact will always remain."
Yeah, she should have been like Clinton, who put the nation through embarrassment after embarrassment. Whose international press conferences devolved into question about semen on a dress and phone sex - while leaders of foreign countries had to sit there.
Ooops - no, Palin's travails would not have been salacious like that, just sheer drudgery, expensive and unrelenting attacks by the leftist Soros machine that would make it impossible for any state business to be conducted. She chose to spare her state that grief.
The media sent teams of people to go through her garbage cans - yet have still not examined Obama's record - with the Chicago Annenberg Challenge for example - where he out more value on programs to encourage you to celebrate "Juneteenth" than on improving algebra scores - with his dealings with Tony Rezko and countless others - the record is there, and it will come out, and it is already too late.
Considering all she owuld have to do is be better than Clinton, and yes, Obama - it's a walk in the park for her.
If they're so frivolous, why couldn't the Warrior Mother dispatch them?
Actually I think she did just that and simply got tired of paying ever mounting legal fees to do so. Then she took a cue from none other than Bill Clinton and is making a nice buck on the lecture and speech circuit.
She's hardly ready or able to assume the office IMHO, but she has found a knack for setting the left into fits which is good enough for me :-)
"If she can't deal with a few pesky lawsuits, how could she possibly deal with Ahmadinejad?"
Actually... to take this back to a professor of law standing at a lectern...
Palin would probably have a better handle on Ahmadinejad than Obama seems to. She at least seems to understand people better, and the consequences of projecting indecision. Obama seems to think that remote control bombing of Pakistani villages will give him tough-guy gravitas without having to alter his law prof persona.
Fen hits the problem on the nose: there hasn't been a single complaint from Invisible, garage or any other Leftist here about the egregious abuse of ethic complaint system - a system which was designed to give average citizens a way to seek redress against government abuse.
You know that same government abuse which they claim to be soooooo very outraged against. But it turns out that if there's a loophole which can be exploited in order to attack someone across the aisle, then THAT should be what we're talking about instead.
Sorry, the reality is that people like garage, Invisible, et al, are the real problem: people who claim to want transparency and good government but when push comes to shove actually only want to use government to push other people around.
The totalitarian impulses which Leftists so gleefully display are more of an indictment against them than anything a political opponent could possibly say about them. All that needs to be done is to expose those impulses to the light of day and the public revulsion of their tactics will serve as a powerful disinfectant against their particular infection.
You want to know why Obama is failing and why the Democratic congress can't accomplish anything? Because every time they open their mouths, they can't help but put those very same totalitarian impulses on display. The American public is speaking back every chance they get - Virginia....New Jersey....Massachussetts...
It's no wonder that garage, et al, want to change the subject from the utter failure that is the Obama presidency....If I were them I'd try to change the subject too.
@ Rose 11:29.
Way to go Rose.. Nicely done.
@exhelodrvr1: If the political context of the bogus ethics complaints was the problem, then she should have worked to change that. She didn't -- she just got the hell out of there.
Holding the highest constitutional office of a state means that your primary responsibility is to the citizens of that state. Leaving the fight because it is becoming too inconvenient, or because it interferes with higher personal political ambitions, is not the mark of a leader. (Was Lyndon Johnson a leader?) Palin as POTUS would create the kind of leadership vacuum we are seeing now with Obama. Perhaps even more so.
Yes, the left is using the "Palin is a quitter" argument. They're using it because it's good. Just because they're your opponent doesn't discredit everything they say.
As for those who are directing ad hominem arguments at me: Whatever.
Ok people. Seriously consider this:
How different would our political landscape be today if the "super smart" Democrat operatives had just left Palin alone and ignored her after the election?
If they hadn't filed multiple frivolous ethics complaints?
If they didn't make jokes about raping her children?
If they didn't attack her Down's Syndrome child?
If they hadn't used her daughter's child and teenage non-marriage as fodder for late night television and turned her future son in law into a tool and budding porn star?
If they didn't continually make fun of her personally in every aspect of her life?
If they didn't insult every word she uttered?
If they didn't stalk her, her family and disrupt the ability to govern the State?
If they had just left her alone to finish out her term as a Governor of a remote State?
Palin would probably have retreated in the public eye as an interesting footnote in Presidential politics, finished her term as Governor and retired to private life.
Instead....these people who think they are the smartest people in the room, in the country, much smarter than the rubes in the fly over States......they poured gasoline on the fire.
Good JOB!!
:-D
Jim: Sorry, the reality is that people like garage, Invisible, et al, are the real problem: people who claim to want transparency and good government but when push comes to shove actually only want to use government to push other people around.
Fen's Law: The Left doesn't really believe in the things they lecture us about.
Instead....these people who think they are the smartest people in the room, in the country, much smarter than the rubes in the fly over States......they poured gasoline on the fire.
The Left is very afraid of Palin.
Americans are curious as to why.
Scott,
"Holding the highest constitutional office of a state means that your primary responsibility is to the citizens of that state."
You're absolutely correct with that. Unfortunately, you clearly have absolutely no idea what that entails.
"You're absolutely correct with that. Unfortunately, you clearly have absolutely no idea what that entails."
Okay then, bring it on. If you're not a bullshitter, try to make your case.
The Left is very afraid of Palin.
Well consider that there hasn't been a conservative that has really fired up the base since Reagan (this isn't to compare the two because Palin is no Reagan) and I think that bothers them.
I also believe much of the hatred toward her is typical of how liberals view the sterotypical 'oppresed' person (non-white, female) who 'idiotically' embraces a conservative viewpoint. Had Palin instead been an average looking white guy, the vitriol would have probably been considerably less hysterical.
The quitter argument was a good one at first.
Palin left being a governor. Okay, that's a questionable tactic. American's don't like quitters, so the tendency is to question the act and be watchful about what comes next.
People quit jobs all the time. If a person quits a job then sits on the couch, eats cheetos, watches Oprah, then that person is considered a loser.
If a person quits a job, then writes a bestseller, or moves on to a much better job, or decides they prioritize their children, we say that's a worthwhile gesture.
To quit to move on to other, better things is part of the inherent nature of Americans. Our forebears quit the Old World to live in the new. Our more recent ancestors quit the East to live in the West. California was founded by all manner of quitters who became gold miners, some of whom found a fortune, most of whom stayed around and built up a new state far in advance of the general westward flow.
Folks quit so they could take advantage of the Homestead act.
Someone quits, we are right to ask, what happened next.
Palin has shown that she's not retreating from the national spotlight, but rather has jumped ahead of every other presumptive 2012 Republican candidate in driving the national debate. She has taken on a national leadership role--one that confounds even the most powerful men in the world who hold official office.
If someone is showing leadership, in continually pushing and provoking and responding to national conversations, then its hard to say she is a quitter. She's taking the attacks head on, advancing in the face of the enemy, shrugging off their attempts to demean her.
Would that many of those who do still hold elective office show such leadership.
Fen...The Progressives are afraid of Palin because Palin is not afraid to poke a holes in their crafty propaganda campaigns. She brings a a light into a dark room so that we can see how false and dangerous the best laid Progressive plans for us really are. The rest of the GOP has easily been like Shepherd boy David's brothers cowering in fear before the darkside of the Goliath Media-Poltical Complex. Sarah, like David being cursed by the Goliath of the Networks, sees another corrupt lion that wants to eat her sheep, and she charges and kills it. What indeed are they going to do about Sarah?
Scott,
It's very simple - when it became obvious that the lawsuits were going to be an ongoing issue, and that they would be a significant, longterm impediment to her being able to perform her duties, she opted to leave office. And that was the right decision for the people of Alaska. I don't see how that is so hard to comprehend.
As Easy Rawlins once said, "A man once told me that you step out of your door in the morning, and you are already in trouble. The only question is are you on top of that trouble or not?"
Why get mixed up with the petty distractions who file cowardly ethics attacks--flies and mosquitoes. Palin decided to mix it up at the top. Go straight to the leaders of the opposition, not their minions. That's leadership.
"The rest of the GOP has easily been like Shepherd boy David's brothers cowering in fear before the darkside of the Goliath Media-Poltical Complex."
They go out to buy an Audi. Palin keeps driving the truck.
Given that it was the Obama campaign that dumped their opposition research on Andrew Sullivan and sicced him on Palin in exchange for letting him stay in the country after being caught with marijuana and that they directed the "independent" smear campaign being run by the Alaska bloggers, it's gratifying to know that the biggest thorn in their side is Sarah Palin.
Given the political environment in the fall of 2008, they likely would have won anyway. But, they decided that wasn't good enough. They were going to "Alinsky-ize" her.
So they used Axelrod's patented AstroTurf methods and distributed their attacks to supposedly independent sources like Sullivan and the Alaskan bloggers whose every mindthought was dutifully regurgitated by Obama's allies in the MSM.
As DBQ pointed out, now that attempt has backfired in the biggest way possible. Their Alinsky methods of ridiculing and freezing their opponents have been turned back on their originators and Obama's sycophants are left grasping at last year's news or being suckered into the fool's game of analyzing what was written on her hand at a speech.
(A speech, BTW, for which she would never have been invited, nor made $100K for giving, had it not been for the Axelrod's ham-handed attack machine. She really should send him a thank you note or something.)
I notice that the Leftists here have failed to mention what Palin had written on her hand at her appearance with Rick Perry on Sunday:
"Hi Mom"
So, yeah, keep f-ing that chicken, guys. She's really not the one looking like the fool here.
You are.
What I don't understand is, why aren't Alaskan tea-partiers busy concocting frivilous ethics complaints against the Democrats who were using this weapon against Palin?
Payback can be fun sometimes.
PVB @11:22 AM
I used to work under a guy who always said when a crisis occurred: "Why wasn't I told about this before now?"
If I don't read Blogs, particularly this one (suck up), I'm in his position!
Thanks for calling to our attention the things you do. I'm gonna have to make it my business to add your blog to my list (or to be au courant, to bookmark it)!
Let me, in response to your great post here, add the following quote attributed to several people:
“The society which scorns excellence in plumbing as a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy; neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water.”
Okay then, bring it on. If you're not a bullshitter, try to make your case.
Don't waste our time. You are not in the least bit serious about hearing "our case" since we have detailed the reasoning and "the case" multiple times.
You are too busy sticking your fingers in your ears and closing your eyes and your mind.
"People quit jobs all the time. If a person quits a job then sits on the couch, eats cheetos, watches Oprah, then that person is considered a loser."
The governorship of Alaska is not a job. It's a constitutional office. There is no time clock. Like any public office held by a non-corrupt politician, it is an act of charitable service to your countrymen.
People rightly criticize Obama for being a narcissist; that he's more into himself than he is into his constitutional role. One could make the same argument about Palin with respect to her role as Governor of Alaska. Prime evidence is her resignation. You can bravely assert that she has done all sorts of wonderful things for the conservative movement; but she didn't have the stamina to to stay in Alaska politics, to rectify the problems that ultimately made her turn tail and ditch her office. Fine, that's her choice. She does good things, she says nice words. She's pretty and she has an interesting family. But she is not qualified to be POTUS any more than Obama is.
"If someone is showing leadership, in continually pushing and provoking and responding to national conversations, then its hard to say she is a quitter. She's taking the attacks head on, advancing in the face of the enemy, shrugging off their attempts to demean her."
In that regard, her political paradigm would be Newt Gingrich; a man who has accomplished more in his career and has demonstrated much greater political stamina. But I don't think Newt would be a good POTUS either.
Never try to reason with a vegetable.
"Fen's Law: The Left doesn't really believe in the things they lecture us about."
Of course not. They are means to an end. They are tools by which the left morally hectors their political enemies while having no morals themselves....pure Alinskyite tactics as has been pointed out before. Since they are used to using these these tactics but unused to being the target of them they are like the bully who collapses choking and sobbing when someone stands up to him and whips his butt. It's delicious to watch.
The only things that the left really value are power and status, and those are the psychological hallmarks of the weak and envious.
PVB
Or to borrow from a Military rubric: "prior proper philosophy & plumbing precepts prevent piss-poor performance".
DBQ:
You are too busy sticking your fingers in your ears and closing your eyes and your mind.
Point of order: It's kinda hard to do that when one has his head up his ass.
Okay then, bring it on. If you're not a bullshitter, try to make your case.
Scott, I wasn't the poster, but in case he's busy, I'll make the case.
Each of us is hired to do a job. Every once in a while, often through no fault of our own, the biggest impediment to doing our job is ourselves. At that point, being able to step out of the way, so the job gets done, is a mark of intelligence, and class. For instance, if terrorists kidnapped the President's daughters, he would be obligated to step down because of the conflict of interest. Judges often recuse themselves in cases where their interests might come into play, or something from their personal life could interfere with the smooth functioning of justice.
Sarah Palin had reached that point. It wasn't her fault. She was not the one filing trivial ethics complaints over and over again, each one costing thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours of the states time. But she had become a target for incoming fire, and the collateral damage was affecting her state, as well as her family. As soon as it became clear that she could not effectively govern her state, regardless of the reason then the best thing she could do, the best thing for her state, was to step aside and let someone else take over.
Hanging on, not being a "quitter", would actually have been worse.
"What I don't understand is, why aren't Alaskan tea-partiers busy concocting frivilous ethics complaints against the Democrats who were using this weapon against Palin?
Payback can be fun sometimes."
But is it worth your soul?
I'm taking the demands for garage and whomever else it was to reveal their real names and employers as a thought experiment lesson and not a serious suggestion that someone *ought* to do a job on their livelihoods.
"to rectify the problems that ultimately made her turn tail and ditch her office"
I disagree. I think she entirely perceived and responded to the problems that she was encountering. They were not problems being raised by governing Alaska. They were problems that came about because she became a polarizing figure in a national election, thus targeted by national political operatives seeking to undermine her and through her, the governing of Alaska.
She saw she was being attacked personally in this way, and rather than submitting the state of Alaska to such personal animus, she stepped aside, took the personal attacks outside the range of state government, and decided to face them square on.
Seeing problems for what they are, then attacking the problems at the source, even if this means a temporary loss of face (hand?), is good leadership response.
If you think that facing problems as they are is a sign of leadership then you have to respect Palin's frontal attack against the national political scene as a sign of strength.
She identified the problem from its source. She took stock of what it would take to address the problem at the source. Then has made the source of the problem her primary target, without having to put any distractions in the way. She did what her detractors were too cowardly to do. She is not hiding behind procedural or bureaucratic paperwork, or sniping at insulting distractions. She is addressing core policies at a level which broadly resonates, and in doing that strengthens the positions of other politicians who can now hide behind her cover and make strong conservative arguments.
She's taking the attacks, absorbing the fury, and giving space for a renewal of conservative voices. That's pretty much the opposite of running and hiding and quitting. That's pretty much the opposite of avoiding her responsibilities. And in doing this she is helping Alaska both by taking away the drain of resources through frivolous attacks, and working for the state on a higher national stage.
This is the Gingrich model, to be sure, but Palin is significantly more effective in her rhetoric, significantly more appealing in her presentation, and making a significant more impact because of it.
Whether she is ready to be President in 2013 isn't as much the issue, and she'll have to prove that point later on by showing an advanced mastery of global and domestic issues.
Fen's Law: The Left doesn't really believe in the things they lecture us about.
The Right is the new, improved Left.
The tea-tards are actually out-Lefting, the left.
Well let's strip it down to brass tacs...
Obama he speaks like a lawyer-he can argue any and all sides-and sometimes he does that in the same speech. If you don't listen closely you can get the wrong meaning.
On top of all that in almost every sentence he covers what he said with an escape clause just in case the future turns out differently.
The rest of the world outside of politicians and lawyers really does not talk that way.
It's a "specialty" and most of the country has learned that lawyers lie.
You connect that to the Florida University speech that you linked to the other day-and it's almost sad that someone has felt he has to get out there, hit the road and remedy-the reputation.
It's in direct contrast to Obama-it's like political physics in action-the tale of two Americans.
Scott...We cannot wait much longer for this charade to be guessed. Tell us who in your eyes would make that good POTUS coming from the Repubbies side? You are right about Newt. And I don't think you would approve of Huckabee on style points. Wait, Wait, don't tell me... do you suggest a white man whose name is Romney? That is another set of problems waiting to happen that really could lead to Obama getting another term.
All else being equal (which it certainly wasn't) the better plan for Palin if she intended to run again for national office was to remain governor for two terms.
Even with the ethics complaints. Politicians weather those and they get old and people don't pay as much attention anymore after a while.
Palin didn't "quit" until she found out that Alaskan law prevented her from doing what all those other politicians, clean *or* dirty, do... which was set up a legal defense fund to pay for it all.
Changing the game at that point was smart of her, and responsible of her. It removed her disruptive presence from Alaskan state government, and it freed her to respond to attacks on herself and her family.
Now, maybe that woman filing complaints that Palin wore a jacket with a logo or took a picture with a fish or answered a reporter's question in her office was working all on her own. Maybe she was. But she was certainly part of a larger and pretty vile series of attacks on Palin and on her family.
And that can't be allowed to stand.
Redefining the battlefield on her terms was a brilliant move on Palin's part. It might not be as good as the original plan, but it's got an excellent chance of pulling out a win. That she's got the influence she has now is evidence of that, even if she never runs again. She probably has more influence now and more prominence than if she had actually become Vice President last year.
What focusing on the abandonment of the *best* plan that was no longer possible does, and what a whole lot of the "concern troll" stuff I see about how she's become "tainted" by the unfair and hateful criticisms and attacks on her family does is give the people responsible for that the victory.
That would be bad.
Not just because I like Palin, but for everyone. What works gets repeated and what was done to her can not be allowed to *work*.
Scott...We cannot wait much longer for this charade to be guessed. Tell us who in your eyes would make that good POTUS coming from the Repubbies side?
Ding ding ding. Give the man a cigar.
This is what the entire Palin vendetta is all about. The left and the media want to pick the Republican candidate, just like they did in the previous election with McCain.
They knew that McCain was a loser and would not inspire the base. So by a concerted effort on the part of the lap dog media, they pushed out other candidates. Currently they are pushing Romney (who I actually like but doesn't have a snowball's chance in Hell) and Huckabee (who is a fundamentalist religious type that they can go to town on in destruction politics).
They are afraid of Palin. Whether she is capable of being POTUS or not.....they are afraid of her momentum and thus they want to crush her. If they can get Palin out of the running or even out her influential position, they will have a clear field to shove yet another Democrat Lite candidate down the throats of the idiotic Republican RNC.
There is disention in the ranks of the RNC and the Republican party. Plus, the rise of Conservatives and Independents is a frightening thought to the Democrat/Leftists. They are losing control of the message and Palin is the reason.
They must try to destroy her and everything she stands for in order to control the medium and the message again.
They never should have poked the hornet's nest.
Please participate in our community of commenters.
We need a blogger, not a professor of law.. ;)
If, by "out of place" you mean untrustworthy, duplicitous, arrogant, condescending, immoral, anti-American among perhaps some other negative traits, you are right.
When she served as governor of the State of Alaska, she enjoyed an approval rating of 80%.
How's that hope and change workin' for ya, Althouse?
Now she's got your "hopey-changey" president by the balls
How many divisions does Sarah Palin have?
The Right is the new, improved Left.
The tea-tards are actually out-Lefting, the left.
We are, “we” being the “tea-tards”…excellent choice of words, there me old son…any way, we’re out Lefting the Left…can’t remember the Giant Papier-mâché puppets in the streets, but Ok, or for that matter the occupation of any school administration buildings, or the throwing of bags of foeces at the forces of law and order, or the creation of the SDDS or the Weather Underground, but if you say we’re out-lefting the left, well that’s good enough for me.
Having lived thru the latter part of the “Days of Rage” and the like, I DO see that things could go that way….certainly I do see the example of the Hippies and their Long-March Thru the Institutions of Society….and the need for an equivalent march for the Right.
He won his first seat in the state legislature by disqualifying all the signatures of the competing candidates. He mismanaged the Annenberg funds while he was on the board with Ayers. Through Axelrod, he forced the papers to unseal the divorce records of his primary opponents, leaving him with token opposition. This is all application of Alinsky's rules, 4. 5. & 12. Very little actual effort was required to get him to where he ended up. Now I imagine many people either didn't know this or didn't care, I don't know which
was worse.
Now the Alaska situation rises out
of interesting confluence of events, a prominent businessman
William Allen, over time managed
to induce the cooperation of broad
swaths of the political establishment in Alaska, including
Senator Stevens. Now Palin, as the
outsider, since her resignation
from the oil commission, rode that atmosphere of distrust into the Governor's office, And working
with Democrats, proceeded to construct an ethics code, to prevent this from happening again.
In theory it was narrow enough that only the guilty need worry, but it left certain loopholes that
made it prone to abuse by her enemies, which they proceeded to do, just shortly because she was
selected for VP
O/T Just heard John Murtha died.
Althouse:
In office, maybe she's as out of place as a professor of law posing as Commander in Chief.
So give her the same chance you gave Obama -- vote for her in 2012.
Then we'll see.
Imus says he personally lost several IQ points listening to her with Chris Wallace.
Imus better stop listening, before his IQ declines to what he thinks Palin's is.
danielle:
yes, the thought of president palin makes me want to move to a france.
Please, DO IT!
Don't let us stop you.
Imus says he personally lost several IQ points listening to her with Chris Wallace.
That's kinda funny coming from a an old white guy who thought referring to the Rutgers girls as 'nappy headed ho's' was supposed to be cool.
I thought Imus was dead?
I thought Imus was dead?
He just looks that way.
Congressman Murtha is dead.
Murtha, the EX-Marine that falsely accused Marines of war crimes? That asshole? Good riddance.
I hope the Coyotes run off with his remains.
danielle: the thought of president palin makes me want to move to a france.
Thank you for choosing France - I now know exactly what type of libtard you are.
Sarah Palin has really gained a lot of my respect over the last 6 months or so. There is a dearth of people in public life who aren't essentially central casting avatars for some "focus group approved" demographic. Not her.
In fact I think much of the bald hatred and bitterness from the Left is because a conservative Republican female Governor of Alaska running for Vice President just doesn't compute with their "box checking" mentality. She is different, real, and doesn't feign flawlessness like virtually everybody else in the political realm.
She has a lot more credibility than most of her critics, that's for sure.
If she is so inept she should not be the threat they seem to fear by "protesting too much".
No, we're simply ridiculing the blithering idiot. I hope they make her the face of the GOP - makes a Dem victory so much easier!
BTW - Princess Sarah is not off the hook for ethics violations as Governor just because she quit. She's gonna have to ANSWER for her crimes!
"Congressman Murtha is dead."
Seriously?
I'm a nice person and was sort of hoping him a long retirement in senility.
Yeah, Alex, we know. It's de facto illegal to run against Chicago Jesus. Hopefully her punishment will be sure and swift.
It's a scientific fact that men beat their wives right after Peyton Manning threw the game-killing INT.
I'm a nice person and was sort of hoping him a long retirement in senility.
The guy was 77. Most folks that age who haven't assumed room temperature ARE retired or are welcoming you at the entrance of Walmart.
It's a scientific fact that men beat their wives right after Peyton Manning threw the game-killing INT.
I doan thin that whord means what you tink eeet means....
Now Alex you reveal yourself...a parodist of the first order...in an era where parody is almost impossible, because no matter how outré one's statement some pundit has already spoken it in deadly earnest.
My problem with Palin is pretty much my problem with most politicians. Demagoguery and self interest. I know it is pretty silly to expect true public interest in politicians and I know you need to be hard headed and cynical to win elections but I still have some childish notions pinging around in my noggin.
Chris - hear, hear! Let's praise out intellectual superiority above the dumb sheeple and pass the bong!
Note that Ann "Tits" Althouse hasn't returned to defend her idiotic sexualization of a child last Friday.
Nice work, Tits. Keep blogging fast. Scroll that fucker down.
Maybe the Dean won't hear about it.
I still have some childish notions pinging around in my noggin.
"When I was a child I spoke as a child I understood as a child I thought as a child; but when I became a man I put away childish things." I Cor. xiii. 11. Time to grow up…
Word Verification: prerec a class you need before this or, alternatively a sort of car for bad drivers, one that has been Pre-Rec’d.
Hayseeds:
Abraham Lincoln
Harry Truman
Ronald Reagan
The AP article Drudge has linked doesn't have much of anything good to say, and that's even with totally ignoring the fact that the Haditha Marines were found not-guilty despite Murtha's global declaration that they were cold blooded murderers.
In any case, now his district is going to have to go with someone who doesn't have the political clout to ear-mark and pork their way to yet another victory.
It will be interesting to see how that goes.
(Wishing the guy retired and senile (okay, so the senile was a given) instead of dead is as far as I'll go to finding something nice to say about him.)
"I know it is pretty silly to expect true public interest in politicians..."
Serious question.
How would a politician prove that to you in a way you would accept?
Thank you for choosing France - I now know exactly what type of libtard you are.
In defense of France, at least it's not Belgium.
I think that ethan is engaging in guilt transference for having dirty thoughts from looking at a picture of an underage girl.
France did something or other laudatory lately... oh, yeah... they called on Chavez to stop suppressing free speech and the press/media. Chavez had a hissy fit and told them to mind their own business.
I realize that statements of disapproval don't really accomplish anything, but it's more than Obama has done.
danielle,
Are you sure you are not married to Jeremy?
"We need a Commander in Chief, not a professor of law standing at the lectern."
Scott Brown is the best of both worlds: a lawyer with considerable military experience. 30 years in the National Guard, half before he got his JD and trensferred to the JAG. In fact even when he was trying to launch an acting/modeling career, he went back for that "one weekend a month" -- a sharp contrast to you-know-who. And even though he's from Boston, his voice does not grate on the ears like Palin's does.
our brilliant Constitutional law expert-in-chief is trying to claim copyright protection for the photos on their Flickr stream.
Obama's claiming his right of publicity, not copyright in these photos. Denying others the right to use your image for commercial gain goes back to Spiro Agnew.
Synova -
Don't forget that Sarkosy hasn't had much nice to say about Obama either...It's almost enough to make me want to book a flight to Paris for having more cajones than the entirety of the MSM-DNC industrial complex here in the US.
(Not to stay, of course. But the wife spent a year there in college and has been wanting a vacation. Unlike Obama, I like to reward allies by engaging in free trade.)
fls -
"Obama's claiming his right of publicity, not copyright in these photos."
Yeah...let him assert that "right of publicity" as President of the United States. The laughter from the bench will last long and be loud.
He can ASK people not to use pictures in the public domain, but they can tell him to go take a flying leap. And he knows it. As an elected official his "right of publicity" is so limited as to be practically non-existent.
He just can't stop making a joke out of his supposed "constitutional law" credentials. At what point do even Democrats look at him and start asking "WTF? Really?"
There seems to be an awful lot of chicken f-ing going on by the Left today. Is it some sort of National Chicken Abuse Day?
Alex: No, we're simply ridiculing the blithering idiot.
Just like you did in the highschool cafeteria? Poking the "retard" with a stick? My my, you've come a long way baby.
As for "idiot", you're the one who swallowed the Hopey Change bullshit. Hope you enjoy the flavour, because there is more to come.
Browan's message was the same as Sarah's on the constitutional right of terrorists, they have none, and deserve less. It took Ft. Hood and the Christmas bomber to bring that into sharp relief.
It took a generation, but the self interested Chirac was dsildoged from high office, he had been Iraq's client in the councils of state, here was nothing idealistic abut his opposition to he Iraq War
....something nice to say about the Dead....hmmm... oh:
"At least he didn't drive his intern off a bridge and leave her for dead, or suffocating in an air pocket for hours waiting for help that never came"
Yah, thats about it.
Man, you Democrats and the things you do to your women. No wonder you hate Palin so much. Even Hillary got a dose of it during her campaign.
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