It's Her Party: The Brilliance of Sarah Palin

No that's not my title... that came from Joe Klein.

New article from Time shows how Palin has found her niche. But I think it says more about the idiocy of the American electorate than Palin's brilliance or her ability to take on a Reagan-like persona.

UPDATE FROM RIKYRAH:

from a new poll done by WaPo:

most interesting part for me:

Although Palin is a tea party favorite, her potential as a presidential hopeful takes a severe hit in the survey. Fifty-five percent of Americans have unfavorable views of her, while the percentage holding favorable views has dipped to 37, a new low in Post-ABC polling.

There is a growing sense that the former Alaska governor is not qualified to serve as president, with more than seven in 10 Americans now saying she is unqualified, up from 60 percent in a November survey. Even among Republicans, a majority now say Palin lacks the qualifications necessary for the White House.

Palin has lost ground among conservative Republicans, who would be crucial to her hopes if she seeks the party's presidential nomination in 2012. Forty-five percent of conservatives now consider her as qualified for the presidency, down sharply from 66 percent who said so last fall.

Tweety actually being honest about Palin

Sometimes, the truth just has to come out. Watch this clip of Chris Matthews on Sarah Palin. I didn't know that Matthews was capable of this type of honesty.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Nothing is more scary than an empty vessel in power.

She wrote a cheat sheet - ON HER HAND?

Yes, she wrote the cheat sheet on her HAND.

The video:



She had the questions BEFOREHAND, and STILL had to cheat.

I keep on asking the question:

what if a Black PROFESSIONAL politician had done something like this?

Uh huh.


thank you aleth

for Sarah Palin:

Notes on your hand
Notes on your hand
Lookin' like a fool
With the notes on your hand

You got your big speaking fee
Call yourself smart
But you can't answer the man
Without the notes on your hand!

Winkin', smirkin',
Mocking Obama
But your answers are canned
You got the notes on your hand!

Wash your hands!
Get some Purell!
Because you're lookin' like a fool
With the notes on your hand!

Sarah Palin Hired As Fox Analyst - More Proof That Ignorance is Rewarded In America

So if I want to be a political analyst on a major cable outlet, I simply have to show how uninformed I am about the World? That seems to be the standard in this Country. The dumber you are, the more you are rewarded. In most other parts of the World, it is cream that is supposed to rise to the top. But in the USA, Bullshit is often what gets pushed up. Amazing! And people wonder why the U.S. is in the political and social malaise that it's currently in today, unable to function effectively to deal with the problems it faces?

______________

See related commentary by Dr. Marvin King

Why Sarah Palin At Fox News Is Bad News

News that Sarah Palin will become a contributor and part-time columnist at Fox News did not surprise me. Mainly, it represents the further deterioration of two important institutions, the GOP and the American media.

For the GOP, it illustrates how bereft that party is of good ideas that its lodestar is an ideological weakling. And this is the view of Steve Schmidt. The McCain campaign strategist said as much in his 60 Minutes interview where he acknowledged that Palin didn’t even understand who her son would be fighting in Iraq.

Read the rest at The Loop.

McCain Says He "Wouldn’t Know" About The Vetting of Sarah Palin

He Wouldn't Know?

In an interview on the Today Show this week, Senator John McCain emphatically stated that he wouldn’t know whether Palin was checked out or not before he selected her. His comments were in response to pressing questions from Matt Lauer about the new book “Game Change” by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, in which the true level of Palin’s incompetence is revealed…or I should say… confirmed. As many bloggers suspected, McCain knew little about Palin before selecting her as his VP and according to his advisers (who are now talking more freely)….she was chosen before being vetted.



Worse still…. Palin apparently knew little about basic history, or international affairs. We heard bits and pieces about her level of cluelessness during the 2008 General Election campaign, but those stories are finally being told officially by those who were in the McCain/Palin camp.

Palin apparently didn’t understand the Cold War, didn’t know that there were two Koreas or why they were split (What The ....?), didn’t know what the Federal Reserve was, and generally lacked basic knowledge about the World. This is in addition to the fact that she didn't know what the "Bush doctrine" was. The McCain camp had to constantly prepare Palin on general knowledge issues….(foreign policy, general history, etc) before public appearances. And according to Senior McCain advisor Steve Schmidt and others in the McCain camp, there was a belief that Palin was not qualified (ya think?). Some in the McCain camp even believed that she may have been mentally unstable. Wow!

How in the World is She Going to Be a Pundit/Analyst on Fox?

This should never be allowed to happen. Yes, McCain put the Country in peril…. We dodged a bullet for sure. But there should be a structure in place for this very scenario… where a Presidential candidate makes a ridiculous VP choice or where the number one person on the ticket is himself/herself incompetent. When Federal judges and Attorney Generals are nominated… they are rated by the American Bar Association as qualified, well qualified, etc. When top medical professionals are nominated for key positions, they are rated. Why is there no rating system for the most important position in the World? I mean, for any BS job that I apply for, there are several hurdles that I have to leap - interviews, tests, follow-up interviews, more tests…and that’s before I get anywhere close to getting a foot in the door. But a grossly unqualified person can get the most important job on the planet, with access to nukes, national secrets, and all sorts of other levers or power? That’s insane. Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates should be tested when they declare their intent to run. They should get a test with 100 questions…of mostly general knowledge material… (multiple choice, True/False, fill in the blank, and 1 essay) that would measure their basic aptitude in current events, civics & government, history, geography, and foreign affairs. Completed exams should be graded by an impartial panel of political scholars or by an international affairs organization or magazine…and the candidate should be given a grade (A- well qualified, B - qualified, C - qualified but questionable, etc). If such a system were in place, we would not have to worry about candidates like Sarah Palin or George W. Bush…. They would never be accepted as legitimate candidates. Neither would have done well on such a test…. Even a basic test with information that a Middle School or High School student should know, or information that might be found on a citizenship exam.

What is scarier still…. Is the fact that most Americans don’t care about this stuff. Most voters are just as uninformed about the World and the issues as someone like Palin…and would therefore have no problem voting for such a candidate. This is what bothers me the most. When you have a citizenry that is largely clueless, how will they be able to tell the difference between a Sarah Palin and an Olympia Snowe? They can’t. Many won’t know when she is saying something completely idiotic. I’m afraid this is only a big deal to political junkies who have a clue about what is going on…. The general public doesn’t care…they are much more concerned with what is happening on American Idol, or with the hot celebrity couple. That’s one of the reasons why the U.S. is screwed.

Caribou Barbie's Farewell Address

thank you mudflats:

What an absolutely beautiful day it is, and it is my honor to speak to all Alaskans, to our Alaskan family this last time as your governor. And it is always great to be in Fairbanks. The rugged rugged hardy people that live up here and some of the most patriotic people whom you will ever know live here, and one thing that you are known for is your steadfast support of our military community up here and I thank you for that and thank you United States military for protecting the greatest nation on Earth. Together we stand.

And getting up here I say it is the best road trip in America soaring through nature’s finest show. Denali, the great one, soaring under the midnight sun. And then the extremes. In the winter time it’s the frozen road that is competing with the view of ice fogged frigid beauty, the cold though, doesn’t it split the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs? And then in the summertime such extreme summertime about a hundred and fifty degrees hotter than just some months ago, than just some months from now, with fireweed blooming along the frost heaves and merciless rivers that are rushing and carving and reminding us that here, Mother Nature wins. It is as throughout all Alaska that big wild good life teeming along the road that is north to the future. That is what we get to see every day. Now what the rest of America gets to see along with us is in this last frontier there is hope and opportunity and there is country pride.

And it is our men and women in uniform securing it, and we are facing tough challenges in America with some seeming to just be Hell bent maybe on tearing down our nation, perpetuating some pessimism, and suggesting American apologetics, suggesting perhaps that our best days were yesterdays. But as other people have asked, “How can that pessimism be, when proof of our greatness, our pride today is that we produce the great proud volunteers who sacrifice everything for country?” Now this week alone, Sean Parnell and I we’re on the, um, on Ft. Rich the base there, the army chapel, and we heard the last roll call, and the sounding of Taps for three very brave, very young Alaskan soldiers who just gave their all for all of us. Together we do stand with gratitude for our troops who protect all of our cherished freedoms, including our freedom of speech which, par for the course, I’m going to exercise.



And first, some straight talk for some, just some in the media because another right protected for all of us is freedom of the press, and you all have such important jobs reporting facts and informing the electorate, and exerting power to influence. You represent what could and should be a respected honest profession that could and should be the cornerstone of our democracy. Democracy depends on you, and that is why, that’s why our troops are willing to die for you. So, how ’bout in honor of the American soldier, ya quite makin’ things up. And don’t underestimate the wisdom of the people, and one other thing for the media, our new governor has a very nice family too, so leave his kids alone.

OK, today is a beautiful day and today as we swear in Sean Parnell, no one will be happier than I to witness by God’s grace Alaskans with strength of character advancing our beloved state. Sean has that. Craig Campbell has that. I remember on that December day, we took the oath to uphold our state constitution, and it was written right here in Fairbanks by very wise pioneers. We shared the vision for government that they ground in that document. Our founders wrote “all political power is inherent in the people. All government originates with the people. It’s founded upon their will only and it’s instituted for the good of the people as a whole.” Their remarkably succinct words guided us in all of our efforts in serving you and putting you first, and we have done our best to fulfill promises that I made on Alaska Day, 2005, when I first asked for the honor of serving you.

Remember then, our state so desired and so deserved ethics reform. We promised it, and now it is the law. Ironically, it needs additional reform to stop blatant abuse from partisan operatives, and I hope the lawmakers will continue that reform. We promised that you would finally see a fair return on your Alaskan owned natural resources so we build a new oil and gas appraisal system, an is an equitable formula to usher in a new era of competition and transparency and protection for Alaskans and the producers. ACES incentivizes new exploration and it’s the exploration that is our future. It opens up oil basins and it ensures that the people will never be taken advantage of again. Don’t forget Alaskans you are the resource owners per our constitution and that’s why for instance last year when oil prices soared and state coffers swelled, but you were smacked with high energy prices, we sent you the energy rebate. See, it’s your money and I’ve always believed that you know how to better spend it than government can spend it.

I promised that we would protect this beautiful environment while safely and ethically developing resources, and we did. We built the Petroleum Oversight Office and a sub-cabinet to study climate conditions. And I promised I’d govern with fiscal restraint, so to not immorally burden futre generations. And we did…we slowed the rate of government growth and I vetoed hundreds of millions of dollars of excess and wtih lawmakers we saved billions for the future.

I promsed that we’d lead the charge to forward funding education, and hold schools accountable, and improve opportunities for special needs students and elevate vo-tech training and we paid down pension debt.

I promised that we would manage our fish and wildlife for abundance, and that we would defend the constitution, and we have, though outside special interest groups they still just don’t get it on this one. Let me tell you, Alaskans really need to stick together on this with new leadership in this area especially, encouraging new leadership… got to stiffen your spine to do what’s right for Alaska when the pressure mounts, because you’re going to see anti-hunting, anti-second amendment circuses from Hollywood and here’s how they do it. They use these delicate, tiny, very talented celebrity starlets, they use Alaska as a fundraising tool for their anti-second amendment causes. Stand strong, and remind them patriots will protect our guaranteed, individual right to bear arms, and by the way, Hollywood needs to know, we eat, therefore we hunt.

I promised energy solutions and we have, we have a plan calling for 50% of our electricity generated by renewable resources and we can now insist that those who hold the leases to develop our resources that they do so now on Alaska’s terms. So now finally after decades of just talk, finally we’re seeing oil and gas drilling up there at Point Thompson. And I promised that we would get a natural gas pipeline underway and we did. Since I was a little kid growing up here, I remember the discussions, especially the political discussions just talking about and hoping for and dreaming of commercializing our clean, abundant, needed natural gas.

Our gas line inducement act, AGIA, that was the game-changer and this is thanks to our outstanding gas line team, and the legislature adopting this law, 58-1. They knew, they know AGIA is the vehicle to drive this monumental energy project and bring everyone to the table, this bipartisan victory, it came from Alaskans working together with free market private sector principles, and now we are on the road to the largest private-sector energy project in the history of America. It is for Alaska’s future, it is for America’s energy independence and it will make us a more peaceful, prosperous and secure nation.

What I promised, we accomplished. “We” meaning state staff, amazing commissioners, great staff assisting them, and conscientious Alaskans outside the bureaucracy - Tom Van Flein, and Meg Stapleton and Kristan Cole, so many others, many volunteers who just stepped up to the challenge as good Alaskans, but nothing, nothing could have succeeded without my right-hand man Kris Perry. She is the sharpest, boldest, hardest-working partner. Kris is my right-hand man and much success is due to Kris.

So much success, and Alaska there is much good in store further down the road, but to reach it we must value and live the optimistic pioneering spirit that made this state proud and free, and we can resist enslavement to big central government that crushes hope and opportunity. Be wary of accepting government largess. It doesn’t come free and often, accepting it takes away everything that is free, melting into Washington’s powerful “care-taking” arms will just suck incentive to work hard and chart our own course right out of us, and that not only contributes to an unstable economy and dizzying national debt, but it does make us less free.

I resisted the stimulus package. I resisted the stimulus package and we have championed earmark reform, slashing earmark requests by 85% to break the cycle of dependency on a stifling, unsustainable federal agenda, and other states should follow this for their and for America’s stability. We don’t have to feel that we must beg an allowance from Washington, except to beg the allowance to be self-determined. See, to be self-sufficient, Alaska must be allowed to develop - to drill and build and climb, to fulfill statehood’s promise. At statehood we knew this. At statehood we knew this, that we are responsible for ourselves and our families and our future, and fifty years later, please let’s not start believing that government is the answer. It can’t make you happy or healthy or wealthy or wise. What can? It is the wisdom of the people and our families and our small businesses, and industrious individuals, and it is God’s grace, helping those who help themselves, and then this allows that very generous voluntary hand up that we’re known for, enthusiastically providing those who need it.

Alaskans will remember that years ago, remember we sported the old bumper sticker that said, “Alaska. We Don’t Give a Darn How They Do It Outside?” Do you remember that? I remember that, and remember it was because we would be different. We’d roll up our sleeves, and we would diligently sow and reap, and we can still do this to carve wealth out of the wilderness and make our living on the water, with strong hands and innovative minds, now with smarter technology. It is what our first people and our parents did. It worked, because they worked. We must be prudent and persistent and press for the people’s right to responsibly develop God-given resources for the maximum benefit of the people.

And we have come so far in just 50 years. We’re no longer a frontier outpost on the periphery of the world’s greatest nation. Now, as a contributor and a securer of America, we can attain our destiny in the promise of our motto “North to the Future.” See, the pressing issue of our time, it’s energy independence, because there is an inherent link between energy and security, and energy and prosperity. Alaska will lead with energy, we will prove you can be both pro-development and pro-environment, because no one loves their clean air and their land and their wildlife and their water more than an Alaskan. We will protect it.

Yes, America must look north to the future for security, for energy independence, for our strategic location on the globe. Alaska is the gate-keeper of the continent.

So, we are here today at a changing of the guard. Now, people who know me, and they know how much I love this state, some still are choosing not to hear why I made the decision to chart a new course to advance the state. And it should be so obvious to you. (indicating heckler) It is because I love Alaska this much, sir (at heckler) that I feel it is my duty to avoid the unproductive, typical, politics as usual, lame duck session in one’s last year in office. How does that benefit you? No, with this decision now, I will be able to fight even harder for you, for what is right, for truth. And I have never felt like you need a title to do that.

So, as we all move forward together, let’s vow to keep championing Alaska, to advocate responsible development, and smaller government, and freedom, and when I took the oath to serve you, I promised…remember I promised to steadfastly and doggedly guard the interests of this great state like that grizzly guards her cubs, as a mother naturally guards her own. And I will keep that vow wherever the road may lead. Todd and I, and Track, Bristol, Tripp, Willow, Piper, Trig…I think I got ‘em all. We will forever be so grateful for the honor of our lifetime to have served you. Our whole big diverse full and fun family, we all thank you and I am very very blessed to have had their support all along, for Todd’s support. I am thankful too. I have been blessed to have been raised in this last frontier. Thank you for our home, Mom and Dad, because in Alaska it is not an easy living, but it is a good living, and here it is impossible to lose your way. Wherever the road may lead you, we have that steadying great north star to guide us home.

So let’s all enjoy the ride, and I thank you Alaska, and God bless Alaska and God bless America.

- Sarah Palin

OK, I DARE YOU to make sense of that.

What The Right Means When They Say "America"

Ta-Nehisi Coates has done a superb reply to the Ross Douthat column on Sarah Palin in the NYTimes.

A few prime quotes from the Douthat column:

Either way, though, her 10 months on the national stage have been a dispiriting period for American democracy.

If Palin were exactly what her critics believe she is — the distillation of every right-wing pathology, from anti-intellectualism to apocalyptic Christianity — then she wouldn’t be a terribly interesting figure. But this caricature has always missed the point of the Alaska governor’s appeal — one that extends well outside the Republican Party’s shrinking base.

In a recent Pew poll, 44 percent of Americans regarded Palin unfavorably. But slightly more had a favorable impression of her. That number included 46 percent of independents, and 48 percent of Americans without a college education.

That last statistic is a crucial one. Palin’s popularity has as much to do with class as it does with ideology. In this sense, she really is the perfect foil for Barack Obama. Our president represents the meritocratic ideal — that anyone, from any background, can grow up to attend Columbia and Harvard Law School and become a great American success story. But Sarah Palin represents the democratic ideal — that anyone can grow up to be a great success story without graduating from Columbia and Harvard.

This ideal has had a tough 10 months. It’s been tarnished by Palin herself, obviously. With her missteps, scandals, dreadful interviews and self-pitying monologues, she’s botched an essential democratic role — the ordinary citizen who takes on the elites, the up-by-your-bootstraps role embodied by politicians from Andrew Jackson down to Harry Truman.

But it’s also been tarnished by the elites themselves, in the way that the media and political establishments have treated her.

Think about that for a minute.

Here is part of Ta-Nehisi's wonderful column:

What The Right Means When They Say "America"
06 Jul 2009 12:35 pm

UPDATE: Several posters have pointed out the distinction between the meritocratic and democratic ideal. I have conflated the two, and thus portions of this are wrong. Having thought on that fact though, I still can't bring myself to see Palin is one or Obama as the other. Perhaps this is my color barrier, but the promise of more "democratic" America never meant, to me, black people, their actual knowledge of the world be damned. It meant a fair shot.

That said, Ross is owed an apology--conflating the two changes the meaning. There is more here. But I want to think on it some more.
............................................

There is in this critique, a kind of Al Sharpton analysis--Sarah Palin as a stand-in for all of her social class. Ross contends that her failures are not her own, but somehow the failures that would afflict anyone else presumably from her "social class." But this only works if you think that most of working class America is as fucking inept as Sarah Palin.

There is more to be said about that, but I'd like to move to something more important--that being Ross's definition of "Anyone."

In the last ten months, we've seen the son of a single mother, son of an immigrant, roots in Kansas, roots in the quintessentially American South Side of Chicago, standing for the "traditional values" of family, and the lesson we take from this is is that American meritocracy is broken.

Conservative condescension toward working class America, works in tandem with racial blindness. I have tried, through a few re-readings, to avoid seeing that in Ross's column. But it's very difficult to process the notion that Sarah Palin is a better model of the all-American meritocratic ideal than Barack Obama, without believing that that judgment hinges on race.


My black readers are laughing at me. Again.

The entire column is at the link above.

This is my reply to Coates:

Coates, this is superb, and yes, for a minute, I laughed at you.

Douthat just takes over from where his fellow conservative pointed out a month or so ago: you know, if you ignore Black folks, then Obama's popularity ratings aren't that high at all.

we go back to that 'REAL ' America ' meme'.

it is because you're Black, Coates. Coming from a people that, in their history, were KILLED because they tried to learn how to READ, despite 'White folks stereotypes', you and I both know about the importance of education to the general Black community (excluding the Underclass).

being from a population with no inherited wealth, the only way Black folks knew how to ' pull themselves up by their bootstraps', was to get themselves a pair of boots, which has always meant EDUCATION, for those of us who knew we'd never make it in entertainment or sports.

THAT is why Palin's ignorance is so offensive to you, Coates. She stands against what your father taught you.

For my grandmother and her daughters, an education meant that the only children they'd have to take care of were THEIR OWN.

For my father, it meant no sharecropping.

My family isn't odd or extraordinary, it's what millions of Black folks saw as their path in America.
Because you know your history, and you know Black folks' history, Palin's ignorance punches you in the gut, and anyone pushing forth this woman as someone to admire, you have to give the side eye.

Caribou Barbie Resigns!

Gov. Sarah Palin will resign her office in a few weeks, she said during a news conference at her Wasilla home Friday morning. Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell will be inaugurated at the Governor's Picnic at Pioneer Park in Fairbanks on Saturday, July 25, Palin said. There was no immediate word as to why she will resign, though speculation has been rampant that the former vice presidential candidate is gearing up for a run at the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

Muflats has crashed...so many people trying to get to the site..LOL

UPDATE:Mudflats is up at her old site.... 'back-up.'

Old Mudflats site

Former Evangelical Slams the GOP

Former Evangelical Frank Schaeffer smacks down the crazies running the GOP during an appearance in the DL Hugley show:



_________________________

Related Post

The Christian Right In America (sorry, some links are dead).

Keith Olbermann on the Palin Turkey Fiasco

Brutal.

Sometimes Reality Is Stranger Than Fiction

God please make it stop!

SNL couldn't come close to this. This video has been viewed almost 2.5 million times on youtube within the span of about 4 days.

Funny in a strange sort of way....but even more disturbing. This has to be one of the most disturbing, and scary women in politics. She's a walking Horror Show to me. She is surpassed only by Hillary Clinton on the Horror Scale.

I can only hope that she doesn't enter National politics again. Although it appears as though she is developing a cult following... many are the leftover Clinton supporters (no surprise that Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton in many cases share the same supporters. Two apples from the same poison tree...of which we will all be taking our dosage real soon). Charles Manson had a cult following too....

I was hoping that after November 4th, I wouldn't have to mention this woman's name anymore.... But the media doesn't seem to want to let the Horror Show end. How clueless can these Republicans get? Does it bottom out at some point....or do we just continue this downward spiral? I just read yesterday...that an RNC Chair was part of an all-white social/golfing club. This is in light of the obvious and well reported racial disparities within the Republican Party over the past several months. So the first thing they do after the election to pick up the pieces is to go even further in the wrong direction. It's this kind of foolishness that makes me want to take Michael Steele, Clarence Thomas, Ward Connerly, and all the rest of the Black Repubs...and line them up side by side.... to do one giant slap (reaching back as far as possible w/ my right).....and then asking them to reconcile their support for the GOP.

Anyway... i'm floating off in a direction that I didn't even intend to go in.... (this is what they do to me).

Caught this video over at the Culture Kitchen, thanks to Liza Sabater. See her comments.

Caribou Barbie's Rehabilitation Tour

She ran for Vice-President, but couldn't find the time to sit down seriously with journalists, and NEVER HAD A SINGLE PRESS CONFERENCE, but now that it's all done, she won't leave my tv screen.

I don't believe in kicking someone when they're down, but in her case, I'll make an exception.

The exception will be made because it needs repeating - THIS WOMAN HAD NO BUSINESS BEING PLACED IN NOMINATION.

That's why the whole ' rehabilitation' thing with John McCain is utter BS.

This man, put in place, this woman, who was patently unqualified -to be a heartbeat away from The Presidency of the United States of America.

THAT is how little regard he had for this country.

Andrew Sullivan has ALWAYS gotten it where Caribou Barbie is concerned. And spells it out today:

12 Nov 2008 12:49 pm
Why Palin Still Matters

Some readers think my continuing attempt to expose all the lies and flim-flam and bizarre behavior of Sarah Palin is now moot. She's history - they argue. Move on. I think she probably is history. Even Bill Kristol and his minions in the McCain-Palin campaign may not be able to resuscitate her political viability now. But even if she is history, she is history that matters.

Let's be real in a way the national media seems incapable of: this person should never have been placed on a national ticket in a mature democracy.

She was incapable of running a town in Alaska competently. The impulsive, unvetted selection of a total unknown, with no knowledge of or interest in the wider world, as a replacement president remains one of the most disturbing events in modern American history.

That the press felt required to maintain a facade of normalcy for two months - and not to declare the whole thing a farce from start to finish - is a sign of their total loss of nerve.

That the Palin absurdity should follow the two-term presidency of another individual utterly out of his depth in national government is particularly troubling. 46 percent of Americans voted for the possibility of this blank slate as president because she somehow echoed their own sense of religious or cultural "identity". Until we figure out how this happened, we will not be able to prevent it from happening again. And we have to find a way to prevent this from recurring.

It happened because John McCain is an incompetent and a cynic and reckless beyond measure. To have picked someone he'd only met once before, without any serious vetting procedure, revealed McCain as an utterly unserious character, a man whose devotion to the shallowest form of political gamesmanship trumped concern for his country's or his party's interest.

........................................................................................

She cannot keep even the most trivial story straight; she repeats untruths with a ferocity and calm that is reserved only to the clinically unhinged; she has the educational level of a high school drop-out; and regards ignorance as some kind of achievement. It is excruciating to watch her - but more excruciating to watch those who feel obliged to defend her.

Her candidacy, in short, was indefensible. It remains indefensible. Until the mainstream media, the GOP establishment, and the conservative intelligentsia acknowledge the depth of their error, this blog will keep demanding basic accountability.

People ask why she hasn't been called on the carpet for her obvious lack of qualification. My answer to that is, if the MSM were to do ITS FUCKING JOB NOW, the the question would HAVE TO BE ASKED:

WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU TELL US THIS DURING THE CAMPAIGN?

Why the hell didn't you give Sarah Palin the same rectal exam that Barack Obama was subjected to for 2 years? Why didn't, when faced with the obvious:
1. The repeated lies about that Bridge
2. The non-release of the medical records
3. The LIES about her time as Mayor
4. The neon signs saying ' ABUSE OF POWER' going back to Wasilla days
5. The preacher who said truly Anti-Semitic things
6. An actual WITCH HUNTER for a preacher
7. The whole, " I have foreign policy experience because Alaska is near Russia' defense
8. The cesspool that is Alaska Republican politics

DIDN'T YOU DO YOUR DAMN JOB?

See, it's BECAUSE they didn't do their job, you have idiots like Mika B. (MSNBC) trying to justify this woman's existence, because they know damn well that she should have been run out of town, and John McCain bitchslapped for subjecting this country to that woman.

There were some unsung heroes during this farce, with Andrew Sullivan leading the pack. Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric must be counted among them too. In retrospect, their non-hostile questioning is what exposed Caribou Barbie for the fraud that she always was. Mudflats is a hero, because he, along with the Anchorage Daily News, were blunt and honest in telling the lower 48 about McCain's Choice.

And, that's what she always will be: MCCAIN'S CHOICE.

His choice to betray this country. His choice to put this country at risk.

Thank goodness for female intuition, cause it was the women that sunk her.

Hear a Great Public Radio Program - Looking Back At the Past Week

On The Media takes a look at the past weeks events, focusing on the election, the future of the Republican Party, and how the media covered the stories.

Topics include: The Obama victory, Studs Terkel's work, Lee Atwater and the Southern Strategy...and how Karl Rove & The Republican Party carried on the Atwater tradition, The civil war in the Republican Party, and other interesting topics. I was going to post just one or two segments, but realized how much I liked the entire show this week. Listen to the program below.


Mp3 link

See all the topics from this week from the On the Media website.

Parting Thoughts On Palin - And Save Links From Sidebar While They're Still Up

If you want to save any of the sidebar postings of John McCain, Sarah Palin, or any of the links for the political sites.... including Dave Leip....then make note of them while you can. They will all be removed within a couple of days.

We did over 50 Sarah Palin posts, and dozens more that were Palin related. McCain should pay Bloggers and Journalists for the free vetting service that he got (*evil grin*). In a roundabout way... he asked for it (by not doing it himself), and he got what he asked for. Now he has to live with the result. In the end though, Palin and McCain did themselves in. Bloggers and Journalists by themselves don't have quite that much influence...I know bloggers don't. But by hiding Palin from the media, the McCain campaign allowed speculation to run wild (much of it true), and allowed the Press and the blogosphere to take command of Palin's image. Once they relinquished this control & responsibility, and once it was clear that their VP choice had not been vetted, the McCain campaign was never able to regain control of the situation, despite their sad & clumsy efforts at the end, stumbling to shape or reshape her image. Sorry.... it was too little, too late. In fact, the situation turned into quicksand for them at that point.... the more they panicked and tried to react... the worst it got for Palin...and by extension, the worst it got for McCain. In the end, the entire fiasco played a key role in dragging down the McCain campaign, although the Financial crisis would have decided the election anyway. However, I can't help but think -and I thought this the whole time- how much more competitive McCain might have been if he would have made a more sensible choice for his running mate. Even if he wanted to choose a woman, there were much better options than Palin. McCain/Lieberman, McCain/Hagel, McCain/Romney, McCain/Snowe, McCain/K. B. Hutchinson, or McCain and any moderate might have played out better.... or if he wanted to satisfy the Conservative base, McCain/Huckabee made a Hell of a lot more sense.

Now Conservatives are saying that Palin represents the future for the Republican Party? They really are lost in the wilderness. Although I still believe that the U.S. electorate is still largely Center-Right and lost, I don't think the Republicans will regain their political position with Sarah Palin.

Hopefully Palin will stay in Alaska where she belongs. I'm tired of hearing that horrible (fingernails on a chalkboard) voice, among other annoyances.

Lilly The Baby Wiz Vs. Sarah Palin In Geography

I would put my money on the toddler. LOL

See Lilly the Baby Wiz.

Also see video from the Rachael Ray Show.

See A News Report

Sarah The Nitwit Palin Thinks She's Talking To French President Sarkozy

If this is not both the ultimate irony and the ultimate confirmation that she's not qualified, I don't know what is. It was an obvious prank call... lol.

Even I know that this isn't Mr. Sarkozy's voice. Perhaps if she had talked to the actual Nicolas Sarkozy before, she would have known that this wasn't the French President on the line.

What an embarrassment for the McCain Campaign. Wasn't it one of McCain's people who called her a whack job a few days ago? lol

And tomorrow, the official final verdict will be handed down.

Hear audio from the Huffington Post.

Why I'm Voting In This Election

Why I'm Voting In This Election

First some background

I am 35 and I have never voted or even registered to vote before now, although I have followed politics closely for at least the past 17 years. Why? For several reasons, but there are two main reasons why I have observed from the sidelines.

Reason #1. There has never been a candidate who I believe deserved my vote. There has never been a candidate who was really concerned about the issues that have concerned me most. As an independent, I generally don’t ascribe to the philosophy of the Democratic or Republican Parties…but I do consider myself to be more of a Progressive. I will give consideration to whichever candidate has the best ideas.

With the 2-party system, there are a significant number of Americans (approximately 25%-30% of the electorate) who are left with the choice of picking the lesser of two evils. This is the game every 4 years. If there was a viable Progressive Party at the national level, or perhaps a viable Green Party, I would probably identify more with that platform, but I don’t have that option.

Reason #2. I have no faith in the American electoral system. None whatsoever. The structure of the American political system as a whole is too problematic. The 2 party system is inadequate for a Country with 300 million people. Also, the U.S. system of voting and campaigning is fundamentally unfair. Even a former U.S. President has stated that the U.S. election system did not meet basic international standards. Basically, I have never viewed the American political system, particularly the monopoly of the 2 main Parties and the way that it handles elections, as being representative of Democracy. It falls way short. So I have consciously chosen not to take part in such a flawed system. I have always vowed that I would never take part. In fact, I always believed that taking part in it would just add to the charade of making the election system appear legitimate. But this is why I consider my vote tomorrow as largely symbolic.

Why now?

I had a hard time supporting Barack Obama. There are quite a few areas where I disagree with the Senator from Illinois. His approach to foreign policy- though better than the Cowboy approach of the Bush Administration- is still too aggressive, too expansionist, and too confrontational for my taste. This Country needs a clean break from the old Cold War Truman Doctrine. Unfortunately the Country is still stuck in that time warp and Obama is probably not the candidate who will radically change the Country’s foreign policy for the better. Foreign policy is one area where there is little difference between Republicans and Democrats.

Another part of Obama’s platform that bothers me is his fixation with the Middle Class, as if this is the only socio-economic class that exists in America. Are the rest of the people invisible to him? I have seldom heard him speak about what he plans to do to help lift up the Nations poor. He has a poverty agenda, but he has never made it a prominent part of his campaign. I’m sure a strong poverty agenda could be a liability for him, but sweeping the issue under the rug is a problem for me. At least John Edwards was brave enough to put this issue front and center - I don’t care about the man’s personal problems. I still believe that he had the potential to be a great President. He could have had as many mistresses as he wanted… The problem for Edwards is that his message didn’t resonate. There is a hatred for the poor in this Country… The nation despises the “least of these”. Obama was able to choose the right language and the right Mantra early on - The “Middle Class” and “Change”. “Poverty” and “Change” just didn’t catch on. But Edwards was the only candidate who put poverty at the top of his agenda and wasn’t afraid of the consequences that came with it.

My first trip to the polls will be more about voting against John McCain and Sarah Palin than voting for Obama. And I don’t mean to take anything away from Obama…he has run a pretty good campaign. It’s a symbolic vote to repudiate McCain and Republican politics of division, extremism, hate, and religious/moral hypocrisy. The John Wayne foreign policy must also be put back in the grave where it belongs. I want to be a part of making sure that the extreme McCain/Palin ticket does not get into the White House where they could do unimaginable damage. I just couldn’t sit out this time. I still believe that Obama is by far the better choice…. And there are a lot of reasons to vote FOR him than to vote against McCain. But I am more motivated to vote against McCain than for Obama.

Much of my motivation came from the introduction of Sarah Palin. The idea that the Country could be put in the hands of someone so clueless and unqualified is troubling. It’s mind boggling how the nation doesn’t have a system in place that would have prevented her from even becoming a viable choice for VP. I believe that there should be minimum standards in place. But it was her comments at the Republican Convention that got under my skin… especially her remarks about community organizers. Her behavior since has stirred up more racial hatred and fear than I have ever seen in my life. The string of reports that have surfaced over the last few months are the worst since the 1960’s era. When John Lewis stated that their behavior reminded him of the nations ugly Jim Crow period, he was speaking from the heart. And she is supposed to be a unifier? McCain is going to be a uniter? Give me a break.

The Palin choice didn’t surprise me. I have known McCain to be irrational and one of the biggest warmongers in Congress. He’s dangerous. But his choice of Palin did remind me of just how reckless he could be if he actually became President. McCain is not someone you want in office in a standoff with North Korea, China or Russia or during any other volatile situation. He’s a military option first, sanctions second, and diplomacy third type of thinker. That’s the narrow sphere that his brain operates in and it always has. He knows little about economics, little about the Constitution and the rule of law, little about the complex social/cultural fabric of his own Country and the great diversity we have here, nor does he understand education, the problems surrounding healthcare, and the major problems that the Country faces in the years to come and the fundamental changes necessary to deal with these problems.

In order to motivate his base, McCain chose to appeal to the worst of America…not only by choosing Palin, but by dividing the nation into little parts… by pitting one socio-economic group against another, one culture against another, one region against another, one race against another…..etc. Yes, these divisions would exist even without being highlighted by McCain/Palin, but a candidate for President shouldn’t exploit these conditions for political gain….whipping up fear and hate….even to the point of creating an environment where the opponent has to worry about someone harming him or his family because of the fanning of these old flames.

I also didn’t like the idea of Sarah Palin telling me how Un-American and Unpatriotic I was…. Or that there are pro-American regions of the Country and Anti-American regions…and suggesting that anyone who wasn’t white or who didn’t live in rural America was somehow unpatriotic. Both of my Parents are war veterans, as well as a brother, and a long list of uncles. I lived all over the Country and the World as a youngster, because my Parents went where they had to go to defend the Country….it wasn’t all that great spending my teen years overseas. It wasn’t all that great wondering if a Parent or brother would return from Gulf War I alive. And for that little twit to tell me that I was Un-American… because I wasn’t privileged enough to be White…that was the last straw…even for me. This woman has no idea what the military family culture is like… she doesn’t have the slightest clue….although they always try to play the role of pretending to empathize… pretending that they are really pro-military. I’m tired of these people and their phony patriotism. Why did it take reporters to uncover the conditions at Walter Reed Hospital and other facilities…and to uncover the problems with Healthcare in the military? That’s just one of many examples of their phony patriotism and their hypocrisy.

This will be a symbolic vote against all of the Republican nonsense over the last 14 years. I just hope the rest of the electorate gets it right this time.

Does this symbolic vote mean that I will vote in the future? Probably not. Because the fundamental problems with America’s voting system and political structure will remain the same. No candidate is even proposing changing it. That’s why this is a symbolic vote only….not something that I put much stock in. The vote in this Country will continue to be pretty empty without a system to adequately protect it…without real choices for voters, as long as we have a lack of voter education (leading to a situation where voters don’t make informed decisions), without media reform as it relates to elections, as long as we have a 2 party monopoly that controls everything, and without new campaign finance rules that will fundamentally change how candidates are elected…. Nothing will really change. The U.S. political system will continue to be the same corrupt, depraved system that it has been throughout much of its history. I still hold the belief (and will always believe) that taking part in such a system in any meaningful way is simply adding to the charade. I’d simply become just another zombie adding legitimacy to a broken system. But there comes a time when things get so bad that you have to put your faith in something. Even when you don’t believe in the political system, you have to believe that perhaps the will of the masses is so strong that evil won’t be able to prevail this one time.

So no, my fundamental outlook on American politics has not changed. But the sense of urgency is so high this time that even I have to step out on Faith. The fact that i’m even voting is pretty amazing.

McCain's Choice Throws McCain Under the Bus

Under the ' you can't make this shyt up' file:

From DailyKos:

Palin Throws McCain Under The Bus. Updated x2.
by RenaRF [Subscribe]
Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 03:11:02 PM PDT

This is EFFING HILARIOUS. Sarah Palin is now OPENLY talking about 2012 in the event she and John McCain lose next Tuesday.

Transcription (live from CNN) over the fold.

Via CNN:

Blitzer: Republican VP Candidate Sarah Palin now speaking out openly about her intentions in 2012 if - if - she and John McCain were to lose this contest next Tuesday. In an interview with ABC News, Sarah Palin is now saying she would be interested in remaining a serious national political figure going ahead to 2012. She was asked, what happens in 2012 if you lose on Tuesday - do you simply go back to Alaska - Elizabeth Vargas of ABC News asked her - and Palin said this, and I'll read it to you verbatim according to an ABC transcript:

Absolutely not. I think that if I were to give up and wave a white flag of surrender, I think that some of the political shots that we've taken - that that would bring this whole - and I'm not doing this for naught."

And that's a direct quote from Sarah Palin.

I'm posting this and then updating, because there's more... stay tuned.

Dana Bash follows up with a Republican official's reaction:

Blitzer: Any reaction yet, Dana, from this blunt statement that she would in fact be interested in leading the Republican Party going forward after Tuesday if they lose?

Bash: I just got off the phone, Wolf, with a senior McCain adviser and I read this person the quote and I think it's fair to say that this person was speechless. There was a long pause and I just heard a "huh" on the other end of the phone. I mean, this is certainly not a surprise to anybody who has watched Sarah Palin that she is interested in potentially a future national run. Certainly she is being urged to be a lot of people inside the Republican Party if they do lose, but it is an if, and people inside the McCain campaign - they do not want ANY discussion that has in "if" in front of it six days before the election.

Here's the video:



I find it hilarious. Downright hilarious. She couldn't wait until November 5th?

" His Choice"