Althouse: Sarah Palin plays the class card.

November 24, 2010

Sarah Palin plays the class card.

Calls the Bushes "blue bloods" for wanting her to stay in Alaska.

61 comments:

BJM said...: That's a fair enough assessment of the senior Bushes and why GHWB lost to Bubba.; 11/24/10, 7:13 PM
Opus One Media said...: I want her to stay in Alaska and my blood is red as can be.

Sarah's cards however are mostly dealt from a deck of jokers and queens of spades....oh...and more oft than not, dealt from the bottom.; 11/24/10, 7:14 PM
garage mahal said...: She just never shuts the hell up does she?; 11/24/10, 7:18 PM
Anonymous said...: Memo to Sarah Palin:

Please run. Please. We are begging you.

Run, already.

Just run, baby!; 11/24/10, 7:18 PM
DADvocate said...: I won't and don't support Palin for president but I love how she sticks to the elites.; 11/24/10, 7:18 PM
Opus One Media said...: and by the way..."class card"

omg...class and card in the same sentence with Palin.

class......omg

ya'betcha.; 11/24/10, 7:18 PM
rcocean said...: As a typical Republican I resent these criticisms of Bush I and Bush II and "bluebloods".

The Bushes are responsible for the great success the USA is today i.e. the greatest, richest country in the world. And why? Mostly due to the wise leadership of Clinton, Bush I, Bush II, and Obama. I mean, look at where we were in 1988 and where we are today.

Did Palin go to Yale or Harvard?; 11/24/10, 7:20 PM
DADvocate said...: She just never shuts the hell up does she?

Did she ask Barbara Bush to critique her?

I also love the left's obsession with Palin. If they didn't get so frazzled and riled up Palin probably would go away and shut up. But you just can't control yourself, can you?; 11/24/10, 7:21 PM
Unknown said...: There's some truth here. It's one of the reasons why the Bushes, pere et fils, never fought back when attacked. That Miss Sarah isn't going to be told to go back to the tundra by anybody is certainly one in her favor.

The bigger problem is that the RINOs aren't going any more gently into that good night (NOW they decide to fight back) and we'll see more fights like this. Better now, however, than in 2 years.

PS Can't say BJM's second assertion is right. Willie got in because 41 let George Mitchell, a lying weasel if there ever was one, talk him into a tax on the rich, which promptly sent the country into recession. Supposedly, HW was being treated with some heavy medication for whatever malady laid him low in Dai Nippon and was blissfully unaware of most of what went on in '92.

PPS The Bush pedigree is certainly blue enough, although Barabra Pierce Bush's is even more interesting. One of her forbears is President Franklin Pierce who was a notorious 'dough face' - someone who let the Southern Democrats have anything they wanted in the pre-Civil War days. A Whig In Name Only (WINO?), if you will. So maybe some of it comes naturally.; 11/24/10, 7:23 PM
Photog714 said...: The Bushes are blue-bloods. Another name for it is "silk-stocking Republicans." That is precisely the political class that the Tea Parties are gunning for.

There's a difference between noting classes that exist, and "playing the class card" -- just as there is a difference between noting the existence of races (black/white) and "playing the race card."

You'd think a law professor would appreciate the distinction. Perhaps not one from the People's Republic of Wisconsin, home of "The Wisconsin Idea."; 11/24/10, 7:25 PM
Unknown said...: garage mahal said...

She just never shuts the hell up does she?

She was asked a question. She answered it.

Freedom of speech, you know.

HDHouse said...

I want her to stay in Alaska and my blood is red as can be.

Actually, it's more of a rose gray.

But, then, HD is afraid of what would happen to the Demos if she did run.

and by the way..."class card"

omg...class and card in the same sentence with Palin.

class......omg

ya'betcha.

And yet she still has more class than HD and his ceaseless snobbery and faux intellectualism.

YA BETCHA!!; 11/24/10, 7:28 PM
coketown said...: Blue blood Bushes
Blue blood Bushes
Boo blood Blushes
Boo bud blooshes

Quite the tongue twister! Ahh hahahaha. Delightful.

I'm also falling increasingly out of love with Sarah Palin. Shut up for a moment, dahling. If this keeps up, within a month I'll have as much animosity against her as most progressive liberals. You know, "That bitch Palin is so inconsequential and of zero importance, so I'll just keep talking about her without the slightest provocation."; 11/24/10, 7:29 PM
traditionalguy said...: Saracuda went for the Bush's weakness here and hit a half court 3 pointer. Texas also has its blue bloods who measure themselves clib membership in the billions of dollars that they and the other Texas Brahmins control. Palin is a big problem to that GOP system, and she had better stay on the attack for the next 18 months. Any weakness real or imagined will be cause to dump her for not measuring up to the high standards required for all non-Brahmins.; 11/24/10, 7:30 PM
rcocean said...: That's why -like Babs Bush - I'm a Romney man. We can't get Jeb Bush in office, so who else is there besides Romney in 2012? Just a bunch of riff-raff.

The Ivy-league is what made us great. Wilson, Ford, Bush, Bush II, Clinton, Taft, Obama.

Sadly, the rednecks can vote and someone like Palin might get nominated, and there goes the country.; 11/24/10, 7:30 PM
ricpic said...: Barbara Bush can go fuck herself for that snide comment.; 11/24/10, 7:32 PM
rcocean said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11/24/10, 7:32 PM
Robert J. said...: Hmm, this has me wondering what makes one a blue blood. Is it blood? Barbara Bush is a descendant of three of the passengers on the Mayflower. Is that the kind of thing it means?

(Oops, but it looks like Sarah Palin is a descendant of six of the passengers on the Mayflower. Hmm.)

wv: comendbl. Yes, they bth are comendbl.; 11/24/10, 7:33 PM
BJM said...: @Garage,

What part of a talk radio interview don't you get?

I've been irritated with Barbara Bush since she went all coy about abortion. She snipes from behind her husband's status, which is an old school upper-class ploy to disavow anything unpleasant lest it upset the lunching ladies & country clubbers.

I prefer Palin's head-on approach, at least she has the balls to own what she says.; 11/24/10, 7:33 PM
rcocean said...: We survived Reagan, but I don't think we can survive another middle American.

That's why I'm for Mitch. He'll to for bat for VAT; 11/24/10, 7:36 PM
MadisonMan said...: How are Republicans supposed to win anything if all they do is squabble among each other?; 11/24/10, 7:40 PM
Hagar said...: That was a stupid thing for Barabara Bush to say, and I do not think Ms. Sarah should have responded.
That kind of thing is best answered by letting them fall to the floor and lie there.; 11/24/10, 7:50 PM
jamielandes said...: So people who call her a low class chillbilly, they aren't playing the class card?; 11/24/10, 7:51 PM
BJM said...: @rcocean

I donated to his primary exploratory campaign, but Romney has a snowball's chance in hell.

The media-political-elite axis despise Mormons and will eviscerate him. Look how they pilloried the Mormons for the passage of Prop 8 when it was the black and Hispanic community that provided the numbers for passage.

It's a pity as Mitt has the business acumen and executive experience we need.; 11/24/10, 7:57 PM
rcocean said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11/24/10, 7:57 PM
Paul said...: She responded because she was pressed to respond by the interviewer and she answered candidly. Some people like her because she's real and some people dislike her because she's not a lying suckup pol playing by "the rules".

Always remember when a homely woman attacks her...Cinderella...wicked step sister. Tales like that resonate and are trans-cultural for a reason.; 11/24/10, 7:58 PM
rcocean said...: I agree MadisonMan. We need to stop squabbling, fall-in line and support the only man who can win in 2012.

Mitt.

Look, I know he's no Arlen Specter or Jeb Bush, but he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Bush II in endorsing Amnesty, TARP, and John McCain. Plus, he practically invented Obamacare. If we can't have Obama to run it, Mitch has more experience than anyone in designing and approving big quasi-socialist medical programs.

Plus he's both pro-choice and pro-life -that means 100 percent of the electorate!

11/24/10 7:57 PM; 11/24/10, 8:02 PM
BJM said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11/24/10, 8:06 PM
BJM said...: @rc

LOL!

*Hook in mouth*

You got me. The "Mitch" spelling should have been a clue.

Good one.; 11/24/10, 8:08 PM
traditionalguy said...: The definition of Good Leader is a person who can connect to followers so as to release a strong emotional drive to accomplish a clearly stated goal. By that definition, Obama is a zero and Palin is a perfect 10. What Palin must overcome is a belief that female leaders are "just not up to the job". It will be a horse race to a photo finish...to geet nominated...the election will turn out Obama for whomever the GOP bestows its seal of approval upon. Sarah will need to play every card twice in this fight to political death against Rove leading the charge for Jebbie.; 11/24/10, 8:11 PM
iftheshoefits said...: "Parrr Garrrge. He can't hep it - he was barrn with a silver foot in his mouth!"

Wasn't that long ago, railing against the "blue bloods" was something you would only (and regularly) hear from a partisan Democrat. Times have sure changed.

I think Palin's act is getting more than a little old. But she's dead nuts on the money on this one.

This was precisely how we got Dubya. It's going to be fun watching certain people come to his defense if a certain Republican ex-governor runs against the powers that be.

Sarah Palin - doing the work that democrats refuse to do!; 11/24/10, 8:21 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: DADvocate,

I love the left's obsession with Palin. If they didn't get so frazzled and riled up Palin probably would go away and shut up. But you just can't control yourself, can you?

They don't get it, DAD:

They've created these people.; 11/24/10, 9:10 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: BJM,

Mitt has the business acumen and executive experience we need.

Yea, but none of the intangibles, and most conservatives can see that.

Give him Bernanke's job, but not President.; 11/24/10, 9:17 PM
Cedarford said...: garage mahal said...
She just never shuts the hell up does she?

=============
Patience, Garage. We thought the same thing about Jesse Jackson.

For a few years run, Jesse was everywhere, and spouting on any subject. And liberal worshippers of The Next MLK and media gave him constant attention..and his own TV and radio shows as a President Presumptive.

A couple of years later, every progressive Jewish comedian and black barbershop had a couple dozen Jesse Jackson jokes ready to deliver.

Patience.; 11/24/10, 9:24 PM
Anonymous said...: I want her to stay in Alaska and my blood is red as can be.

You ain't got nothing, HenHouse.

Nada.

Duly noted.

She just never shuts the hell up does she?

I'm glad she pisses you off, garage. That's an endorsement in my book.; 11/24/10, 9:25 PM
somefeller said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11/24/10, 9:39 PM
somefeller said...: Remember comrades, there is no war but the class war!

--Sarah Palin, GOP Presidential nomination acceptance speech, 2012; 11/24/10, 9:40 PM
bgates said...: the Bushes, pere et fils, never fought back when attacked

Not when attacked by the right sort of people.

The Ivy-league is what made us great.

Pish-tosh, old fellow. You say that, but then you list gentlemen whose place in history depended on the whim of the electorate. Look at the unelected figures. Franklin Raines. David Frum. Bob Shrum. Alger Hiss and Sandy Berger. Alberto Gonzalez and Janet Reno.

Whether it's helping to make the housing market what it is today, explaining why Republicans couldn't win in 2010, or why Kerry couldn't lose in 2004, getting national security secrets into the hands of the Soviets or keeping them out of the hands of the Americans, or ensuring the executive branch promotes respect for the law, Ivy Leaguers are truly in a league of their own. And that's just Harvard Law grads!; 11/24/10, 9:46 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Lately Palin has mostly been counter punching back at people who swung at her first. It should be hard for a fair person to find fault with her for doing that.

It seems an awful lot of these talk show hosts are eager to ask their guests what they think about Palin running for president. I am hoping one will answer "well when compared to Kerry, Gore, Howeird Dean, Edwards, Huckabee,Kucinich,Barber, Nader etc I think Palin looks way better".; 11/24/10, 9:49 PM
AllenS said...: Palin is correct. There are enough Republicans that are just as much at fault for our current economic mess as the Democrats.; 11/24/10, 9:53 PM
jamboree said...: Babs Bush was somewhat interesting when I was a kid because she followed after Nancy Reagan.

But now? Is a bitchy comment from a housewife, no matter how rich and dominating still works through her men, about a woman who is a principal and out there taking flack herself, really that interesting?

Barbara Bush (yawn) can fuck off as well.; 11/24/10, 10:06 PM
Anonymous said...: The elder Bushes are blue-blooded, country club Republicans. What's wrong with saying so?

I'm sure that there will be more news from Sarah Palin while she's on her book tour. After that, I hope that she'll keep a lower profile.; 11/24/10, 10:27 PM
opfor311 said...: Mrs. Bush needs to remember the words of Will Smith from 'Men in Black': "don't start nothing,
won't be nothing."; 11/24/10, 10:34 PM
William said...: I liked the Larry King interview with the Bush family, and everyone appeared to their best advantage. It was all very autumnal and mellow. Larry is soon to be cancelled, and who knows if George will be around to make that promised parachute jump on his ninetieth birthday. Larry, in his low key way, tried to get them to say something controversial. I suppose he succeeded, but mostly what shone through in the interview was the fondness that the Bush couple felt for each other and their children and grandchildren. Bush has lived a life in full in just about every dimension. You can call them "blue bloods", but high class is equally descriptive.; 11/24/10, 10:41 PM
Alex said...: Enough about Palin, professor. Enough.; 11/25/10, 1:21 AM
reader_iam said...: More backpedaling by former Palin-for-president cheerleaders, is what I see (or, at least, those who've spent a lot of time doing the whole let's-just-assume-if-you're-not-for-her-you're-against-her routine). Day by day, here on this blog, on other blogs and on Twitter and more, there's this retrenching. I get that it's not supposed to be noticeable, but in truth it strikes me as rather stark (despite the often-enough clumsy nature of the turning, no doubt because it's rather awkward, given the rather large elephant in the room).; 11/25/10, 1:42 AM
reader_iam said...: It's been a very long couple-so years, is all I'm saying, and the next few months are gonna be even longer than that, I can tell already.

; ); 11/25/10, 1:51 AM
DaveW said...: I'm a big fan of the elder Bush's. They're a fixture down here and they do a lot of good work in the area.

But Barbara sometimes has an acid tongue. This struck me as a case where "if you don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything at all".

I've seen speculation that this was intended to help Jeb, but I don't think this sort of thing helps anyone. It comes through as deliberately nasty and that doesn't have a lot of appeal.; 11/25/10, 7:46 AM
Bartender Cabbie said...: Palin is a loon. Pure and simple.; 11/25/10, 8:40 AM
roesch-voltaire said...: So Palin realizes that it is the few elites against the many middle class folks and the elites are winning, to paraphrase Warren Buffet? Must be that liberal Marxist training she received in journalism school.; 11/25/10, 9:10 AM
CrankyProfessor said...: Barbara Bush is 85, quite embittered, and utterly irrelevant. I've never understood paying much attention to First Ladies anyway.

The only reasonable interpretation is that she's shilling for Jeb, whose only chance at election is a name change.; 11/25/10, 9:35 AM
Revenant said...: So Palin realizes that it is the few elites against the many middle class folks and the elites are winning, to paraphrase Warren Buffet?

Warren Buffet is a member of the elite working to prevent other Americans from climbing up to join him.; 11/25/10, 10:45 AM
Terrye said...: I am not sure why it is, but I am getting tired of Palin. I loved it when McCain picked her...I was moved by her speech at the convention and I was sympathetic when she quit her job as Governor...

but...

I am getting tired of Palin and some of her more dedicated supporters feeling the need to snipe at anyone and everyone who does not worship her.

I mean really..blue bloods? What is next? Power to the people? Stand up to the capitalist overlords? This is demagoguery plain and simple and it is coming from someone who is making lots and lots of money and living a very privileged existence. Please.

Barbara Bush is 85 years old and it is just silly to go after her for such an off the cuff remark. She has had to listen to people say a lot worse about her husband and her sons over the years.

Palin would be better off she rose above a lot of this stuff.; 11/25/10, 12:31 PM
Terrye said...: Cranky Professor:

Maybe someone asked Barbara Bush a question and she answered in her usual blunt way. If she is so old and embittered why even respond to what she said? Just let her be. The idea that she is shilling for Jeb or anyone else just because she said something that might imply she is not madly in love with Sarah Palin is in and of itself nitpicky and anal.; 11/25/10, 12:35 PM
Terrye said...: jamboree:

That is classy. Telling an old lady to fuck off. Yeah, that will win friends and influence people.; 11/25/10, 12:37 PM
Terrye said...: As for all the snide snotty little comments about Blue Bloods, etc...let's remember when Bush picked Harriet Miers for a Supreme Court nomination and conservatives had a cow because she went to a state university...and had not taught law or attended some school like Harvard or Yale or Princeton...in fact I remember Ann Coulter, an honest to God blue blood herself writing some snotty little oped in defense of the Ivy League. I think she was the one who referred to Harriet Miers as a char woman.

And Bush did put people in his administration who were not elites and did come from a working class background, such as the VP Dick Cheney.; 11/25/10, 12:41 PM
Republican said...: The Palinista-3rd party pundits invented blue blood conservatism with their snooty attitudes. Anyone remember Coulter saying this about Miers nomination:

While Bush was still boozing it up in the early '80s, Ed Meese, Antonin Scalia, Robert Bork and all the founders of the Federalist Society began creating a farm team of massive legal talent on the right....

Conservatives from elite schools have already been subjected to liberal blandishments and haven't blinked. These are right-wingers who have fought off the best and the brightest the blue states have to offer.

It never occurred to us that he'd nominate, as you say, the cleaning lady! We thought this was clear!

--
We, indeed.; 11/25/10, 5:25 PM
Blair said...: The proof of the pudding is always in the eating. Let's see Sarah Palin run a primary campaign and see how it works out for her. Kind of sad that Christie is criticising her though - means he is either running himself or he is just being nasty for the hell of it. Stick to the New Jersey teachers, buddy.; 11/25/10, 6:09 PM
Saint Croix said...: If Sarah Palin was pro-choice, Barbara would be on Sarah's side. All the women in the media would be on her side. It would make all the difference in the world. It's her pro-life views that causes so much of the rage and the upset.

When a woman goes off the deep end about Sarah Palin, it makes me wonder what the hell is really going on. It's abortion, I think. And guilt, and anger.

What's interesting about this is that we know the Republican nominee is going to be pro-life. The nominee is always pro-life (or lying about it). If Sarah Palin, and 2010, tells us anything, it's that a pro-life woman upsets people in a way a pro-life man never does.

Barbara Bush is not unhinged about Sarah Palin. She will no doubt vote for her over Obama, as almost any Republican would. But she dislikes pro-life women. That's all this is.

The media is 99% pro-choice. Elite opinions is similar. Ordinary people are much more divided. This is why ordinary Americans love Palin and media types hate her so much. She speaks for people who have no voice.; 11/25/10, 8:37 PM
Blair said...: Just saw the Christie clip. I take back what I said - he was not being nasty. I thought he was, if anything, pretty neutral about Palin. And very straight up about not running for higher office. Almost a shame, because he is without doubt a star.; 11/25/10, 9:44 PM
Robert Cook said...: "There are enough Republicans that are just as much at fault for our current economic mess as the Democrats."

Gee...d'ya think?; 11/26/10, 8:37 AM
Anonymous said...: "[L]et's remember when Bush picked Harriet Miers for a Supreme Court nomination and conservatives had a cow because she went to a state university..."

Miers went to Southern Methodist University, undergrad and law school. Although she was the first woman to head the State Bar of Texas and she served on the Dallas City Council, she never was a judge.; 11/26/10, 9:53 AM