Sarah Palin's Elite Apologists

posted by Eyal Press on 07/10/2009 @ 3:23pm

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I like Ross Douthat, as I've said here before, but earlier this week he wrote a justly panned column in which he claimed, absurdly, that Sarah Palin had been done in by media elites who "mocked and misrepresented" her because she didn't graduate from Columbia or Harvard. Douthat's editorial was infused with the very thing he was objecting to – classism, the condescending assumption that a woman without an Ivy League pedigree shouldn't be criticized by uppity reporters for appearing utterly clueless about, say, foreign policy, the economy, the Supreme Court etc.

The best rejoinder to Douthat's column has come from a fellow conservative, Peggy Noonan, who, in today's Wall Street Journal, points out that the elites who supposedly revile Palin actually created her (see William Kristol), and that she failed because she couldn't articulate her positions or convince anybody she was qualified to be on the national ticket of any party. Noonan also corrects the unexamined assumption at the core of Douthat's column:

She is not working class, never was, and even she, avid claimer of advantage that she is, never claimed to be and just lets others say it. Her father was a teacher and school track coach, her mother the school secretary. They were middle-class figures of respect, stability and local status. I think intellectuals call her working-class because they see the makeup, the hair, the heels and the sleds and think they're working class "tropes." Because, you know, that's what they teach in "Ways of the Working Class" at Yale and Dartmouth.

Read her invaluable deconstruction of this and other Palin myths here.

Comments (152)

Peggy Noonan & David Brooks are the equivalents of O. Snow, S. Collins and A. Specter.......Both of which are no longer must-reads as part of that big slobbering blob know as MSM!

Posted by Happy at 07/10/2009 @ 3:47pm
Amazing Happy how the left takes those people seriously, but then I guess everyone has their useful favored stooges.

Apparently leftist hatemongerers and their lap dogs, the national liberal biased media, just can't contain themselves from continually denegrating Palin.

Fear and self loathing is a sad thing to watch destroy itself while they try to drag everyone into the slime with them. Some of these bottomfeeders will even go to Alaska and intrude while someone is salmon fishing in thier attempts!

Posted by BigPasture at 07/10/2009 @ 4:15pm
Posted by BigPasture at 07/10/2009 @ 4:15pm

One could say the exact same things about some on the right, and about the corporate media. The myth that is the liberal media is propagated by their corporate masters. What may appear to be liberal bias is really a smokescreen so the media can avoid reporting on real issues.

Palin is just too easy a target. She is wacky, does and says wacky things. If you can understand what she is saying. She has been doing everything in her power to stay in the national spotlight, and loves playing the role of so-called victim. Only those on the far right actually fall for it because it fits to their ideological beliefs.

My mother who is a moderate republican and votes republican at least 80% of the time could not stand Palin. She thought Palin was an insult to intelligent women. I know she was not alone. What is it about speaking as if you dropped out of 8th grade that makes the right fall in love? Is it a hatred or fear of intelligence? If Bush was not the sharpest knife in the drawer, Palin is a spoon.

Posted by Extraneous at 07/10/2009 @ 4:28pm
She would actually have some credibility if she took a little remedial english.

Listening to her talk is like watching a drivers training car.

She starts out OK, then she stops the car, turns around and drives to WalMart. Then, back to the original topic while she proceeds to drive through a red light with her right turn signal blinking. At the next light she stops and then professes that she meant to do that, she's just misunderstood. Then, while parallel parking, she gives up and goes back on to the road with her foot on the brake all the time.

You shouldn't follow this vehicle... you'll never get to the original destination anytime today. Don't pass, either. Just let her get w-a-a-a-y out in front, then change course and take a back road.

I wish her great happiness, because everyone deserves that. But I am not going to let her drive my car.

Posted by ficheye at 07/10/2009 @ 4:45pm
If Bush was not the sharpest knife in the drawer, Palin is a spoon.

Posted by Extraneous at 07/10/2009 @ 4:28pm | ignore this person | warn this person

What is even funnier is they BOTH "outscore "Gore, Kerry, Kennedy etc. achademically and intellectually and many other Demoncrat politicians! The problem is they speak from a christian morality base which so offends the elitists of the left!

Posted by BigPasture at 07/10/2009 @ 4:53pm
"Amazing Happy how the left takes those people seriously, but then I guess everyone has their useful favored stooges. "-propaganda-eaterBP

Let's look at this for a moment:

"The left" takes Peggy Noonan seriously? But "the right" doesn't?

Who is Peggy Noonan?

From her website:

"Peggy Noonan is a columnist for The Wall Street Journa"-

Wall Street Journal, Liberal MSM?

"Noonan is a member of the board of the Manhattan Institute. "

The MI is a conservative market oriented think tank.

"

Her most recent book, "John Paul the Great: Remembering a Spiritual Father," was published by Viking in November, 2005. Her collection of post-9/11 columns, "A Heart, a Cross and a Flag: America Today," was published by Free Press in June, 2003. "When Character Was King: A Story of Ronald Reagan," published by Viking in November, 2001, was a New York Times bestseller. "

Pope John Paul and Reagan are "lefties" ?

"Noonan was a special assistant to President Ronald Reagan from 1984 to 1986. In 1988 she was chief speechwriter for George Bush when he ran for the presidency. "

Reagan (again) and GB are lefties?

Of course from the bizzaro world where people that quit their jobs are not "quitters", I guess BP's comments make sense. If you squint and pretend.

Posted by crabwalk at 07/10/2009 @ 4:59pm
How about what some more "lefties" say about Palin?

From The Hill.com

"GOP Rep. Lee Terry (Neb.), who squeaked out a victory despite his district's overwhelming turnout for Obama, said he'd rather have House colleagues campaign for him than Palin.

Rep. Frank Wolf, a Republican from Northern Virginia, offered caution when asked whether he'd welcome a Palin fundraiser.

An unnamed GOP lawmaker representing a district that Obama carried in 2008 told The Hill that if Palin came into his district, his opponent would "probably be doing a dance of joy.

Centrist Republican Rep. Mike Castle (Del.) said that Palin's polarizing views, coupled with her surprise decision to resign with 18 months left in her term, would make it difficult to ask for her help."

And how about this myth that democrats are "afraid of Sarah Palin?

"The head of the House Democrats' campaign arm said he'd welcome Palin's involvement in the 2010 campaign.

"We hope that she will be part of the future debate on the direction of the country," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen (Md.), chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC)."

Up is down, down is up. It must be true, because they keep saying it.

Posted by crabwalk at 07/10/2009 @ 5:05pm
Posted by BigPasture at 07/10/2009 @ 4:15pm

"Apparently leftist hatemongerers and their lap dogs, the national liberal biased media, just can't contain themselves from continually denegrating Palin."

Not to denigrate you but you mispelled denigrating

Posted by vaguelyinterested at 07/10/2009 @ 5:09pm
BigPasture says that Palin and Baby Doc Bush outscore Gore, Kerry, and Kennedy academically and intellectually.

Bush was a cheerleader and Palin barely got out of community college.

I'm not sure what to make of his original statement in that context.

Anybody here think that he's correct?

Or is this just more corn dust from Oklahoma? They do have corn there, don't they?

Posted by ficheye at 07/10/2009 @ 5:12pm
HAPPY left out David Frum and Kathleen Parker.

Getting to be a pretty small tent.

and these clowns talk about other people "drinking kool-aid"!! If one does not kow-tow to their exacting fantasies of "real conservatism" they get the boot.

------

More "lefties" against Palin

As a Republican who believed in the GOP when it really represented conservative values, I am stunned and ashamed that John McCain decided to run a campaign with a person who has been caught in lie after lie from the beginning, ones that he himself has repeated. It is unbelievable to me that someone of so little consequence could actually represent intelligent people. I think the Republican Party must have been so desperate for someone exciting that they didn't look any farther than her face. And they're complaining about unfair treatment for Sara Palin? I guess they forgot about their own treatment of Hillary Clinton. Ms. Palin jumped in the water with the sharks, so she can expect to get bitten. -Marti R. from a Red State

As a Republican, I was cautiously optimistic until Sarah Palin's selection. As a single mother, former Army sergeant, but foremost as an American, my whole-hearted support will now go to Obama/Biden as the best course for my country. Sarah Palin's political views represent the absolute worst and most dangerous course this country could take. That she navigated some political waters in the past with a modicum of success has failed to keep her from becoming the Republican Party's next puppet and McCain (her puppet master) couldn't be more of a disappointment once again. -Elizabeth C.

Posted by crabwalk at 07/10/2009 @ 5:18pm
I read Peggy Noonan's article and I must say that conservatives need to take it more seriously.

I may not completely agree with it, although I find myself agreeming with it's overall theme.

I have been a critic of much of what brands itself as conservativism today and I regret the dearth of serious intellect by those who get the most media attention. I've noted frequently that I dislike Hannity precisely because he operates as a simpleton who does not have any true intellectual curiosity. Why should he? He is able to build a successful business simply by appealing to the lowest common denominator. That works in radio, but does little to advance a political movement.

Unfortunately, I have to admit that liberals are not without justification when they lambast many of those who attempt to carry the conservative mantle of leadership for their lack of serious intellectual argument.

Posted by antisocialist at 07/10/2009 @ 5:19pm
Not to denigrate you but you mispelled denigrating

Posted by vaguelyinterested at 07/10/2009 @ 5:09pm

That's aCHAdemic to an "independent" like BigRIOKORESH

Posted by crabwalk at 07/10/2009 @ 5:21pm
"You needed the Jaws of Life to pry a coherent sentence out," moaned one Republican operative.

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

"He is able to build a successful business simply by appealing to the lowest common denominator. That works in radio, but does little to advance a political movement." -Posted by antisocialist at 07/10/2009 @ 5:19pm

I don't think you understand your own party, if you actually believe what you write. The top rated talk shows on radio and TV are exactly what you are complaining about, and they turn out The Base. Of course, with the top rated shows on the airwaves, it is still the "liberal Media"

What I really want to read is HAPPY/BIG P calling ANtisocialist out on his obvious misogyny. I guess it is easier to attack liberals than debate amongst yourselves.

"I read Peggy Noonan's article and I must say that conservatives need to take it more seriously. " do you think BP or HAPPY even read the opinion? Or, is it more likely that their knees jerked in an automatic response? Something like you saying that "Only the left thinks someone is coming to get them" as right wing pundits and heroes call to arms the nation against Obama "coming to get them" and as gun sales and "safety room" sales jump?

Posted by crabwalk at 07/10/2009 @ 5:34pm
They do have corn there, don't they?

Posted by ficheye at 07/10/2009 @ 5:12pm | ignore this person | warn this person

Wheat, cattle, less cotton now, some corn but chiefly it was in gardens for eating and now more is grown to feed the economically senseless heavily gov. subsidised ethanol pollution industry!

Posted by BigPasture at 07/10/2009 @ 5:47pm
.....I have to admit that liberals are not without justification when they lambast many of those who attempt to carry the conservative mantle of leadership for their lack of serious intellectual argument.

Posted by antisocialist at 07/10/2009 @ 5:19pm

Since some dolt challenged you to show disagreement w/me and Rio.....let me help out the `cause', over and above your rather mild `disagreement' above.

Those of us that pay enough attention to politics, to the extent of blogging here, aren't your typical voters, and neither are `pundits' like Ms. Noonan. We are NOT the mainstream simply because we know far too much.

American politics today, has been dumbed down, and much, much more so since 2006 and most especially, since the Nov. election that brought us Magic whose whose whole deal is "Hopey and Changey". A majority didn't care about the (lack of) substance of the man.

On Palin, lots of us Cons can support her even if she was not as polished as a Hillary....but she will catch up. Comparing her to a Biden, she wins hands down. We don't need a mouth-loose VP of any party!

Palin is a Conservative where it matters the most-small gov't and personal freedom, something dear to Alaskans-and I don't count anti-abortion!

I pegged McCain as our Nominee, and even with his baggage, he gave Magic a hell of a run. And if the financial crisis held off another 3 months, he would have won.

It's possible that Palin, if she chooses to, CAN become the GOP Nominee....it would be highly entertaining for me personally, to see the MSM go on the warpath against a much more polished and knowledgeable Sarah Palin. For what it's worth, if she runs, I will, for the first time ever, sign up & volunteer to work for her campaign....I'd like to actively help elect the first FEMALE POTUS!!!!

Posted by Happy at 07/10/2009 @ 5:50pm
Posted by antisocialist at 07/10/2009 @ 5:19pm

Extremely well-written and insightful. Reflects the thinking of many.

Posted by freiheit1 at 07/10/2009 @ 6:01pm
Extremely well-written and insightful. Reflects the thinking of many.

Posted by freiheit1 at 07/10/2009 @ 6:01pm

This is part of the Right's problem.....we've strayed far from the general principle of `thou shall not attack another Republican' . To be a Conservative automatically carry more intellectual `burden/weight' and generally means we have the backbone to withstand the populist rhetorics and emotional heart-tugging that will always be used by the Left. No matter which prominent GOP, the MSM will do its best to take them down a few notches....we should then, just stay silent except discuss policy differences among Repubs and via our Primary votes. Personal attacks should be left to the Left and the media.

It's way too early to write off any Repub of note, much less the first credible female Conservative who is a politician.

My (female) favorites would be someone like Carly Fiorina or a Meg Whitman....but w/out having held political office, thay will remain my private wet dream. Whitman, after a stint as Cali Gov., who knows?

Posted by Happy at 07/10/2009 @ 6:15pm
Sarah who ????

Posted by bleedingheart at 07/10/2009 @ 6:27pm
I'd like to actively help elect the first FEMALE POTUS!!!!

Posted by Happy at 07/10/2009 @ 5:50pm | ignore this person | warn this person

Gotta admit, Hap, I agree with you fully on this one.

I hope, sincerely, Ms. Palin IS the Republican nominee.

Posted by schnellerheinz at 07/10/2009 @ 6:49pm
Hell, I might donate to her war chest!

LOL

Posted by schnellerheinz at 07/10/2009 @ 6:51pm
But seeing as the neocon crowd swoons over Sarah like high school boys jilted at the junior prom, there might not be room for me.

Posted by schnellerheinz at 07/10/2009 @ 6:53pm
Why even have an election?

Sarah Palin = the loss of all hope for the Executive.

she would be the Ahmedinejad of America, a country her backers evidently want to sieze and inbue with their monumental ignorance, arrogance, and polemics.

Just tell the SC to order the elected incumbent out, hold a snap election (and I mean *snap*) declare Palin president for life. Or Peggy Noonan if you prefer.

Posted by A_Pax_On_Your_Houses at 07/10/2009 @ 6:55pm
To dear NYC's peggy 's credit I doubt she would have any of it. What I ... this lib... suggested hardy har

Posted by A_Pax_On_Your_Houses at 07/10/2009 @ 7:46pm
...now more is grown to feed the economically senseless heavily gov. subsidised ethanol pollution industry! Posted by BigPasture at 07/10/2009 @ 5:47pm

I can't disagree with that, big.

It takes so much water to produce ethanol, both to water the corn and to finish the distillation process, that it's just plain crazy.

And you can't even eat the corn.

Posted by ficheye at 07/10/2009 @ 7:48pm
Palin does a marvellous job of unwittingly denigrating herself.

Once indicted, she'll see that the GOP drum beaters will drop her. Murdoch will withdraw book & reality show offers.

And she'll be pretty much on her lonesome.

Buh-bye.

Posted by sloper at 07/10/2009 @ 7:52pm
Come on ... Sarah Palin..??

A quitter... Husband a secessionist.. Christian Family Values..?? Intelligence..???

Are you guys for real..?? Thats where you are putting your hopes..?? Is that REALLY the best of the republican party ..??? My god.. You go girl...

Ill give a BZ to LL(anti) on this one... Why can't other rep/cons just see any hint of truth in Noonans/Brooks' words...?? Where is this bizzaro land that BP and Happy reside...?? My god...

Shouldn't the GOP be looking for someone else... ? Don't they want to have at least a chance ..??

Posted by Vvf1969 at 07/10/2009 @ 8:02pm
Read the first two comments, Happy's brilliant equivalence, and his sidekick. They did not offer comments about the thesis of this post, or even about Palin or Noonan. They changed the subject to talk comparatively, and in generalizations, about political columnists. Happy, a wingnut, loves to comment here at the Nation. Keep and eye on him; he's dumb as a post.

Posted by NeilSagan at 07/10/2009 @ 9:42pm
Unfortunately, I have to admit that liberals are not without justification when they lambast many of those who attempt to carry the conservative mantle of leadership for their lack of serious intellectual argument.

Posted by antisocialist at 07/10/2009 @ 5:19pm

Can't agree more. Truly intelligent Republicans need to gain a louder voice in order to shut up the people who right now are considered the representatives of the party.

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/10/2009 @ 10:01pm
"This is part of the Right's problem.....we've strayed far from the general principle of `thou shall not attack another Republican' ."

Did no one catch this? Is this the motto of the Republican party? You know how people accuse the right of only having one message. Of everyone getting their message from Rush or whatever. THIS is indicative of that kind of argument. He is basically saying you should all trumpet the same call. Don't voice a dissenting opinion. This kind of rhetoric is the stuff of totalitarianism, not of Democracy.

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/10/2009 @ 10:03pm
"Ill give a BZ to LL(anti) on this one... Why can't other rep/cons just see any hint of truth in Noonans/Brooks' words...?? Where is this bizzaro land that BP and Happy reside...?? My god..."

Happy said it already. It's not a bizzaro land. It's that they put their opinions on the back burner for the good of the party. Everyone needs to stick together and stay on message instead of voicing a real opinion of their own. This is supposed to be the party of independence and do-it-yourself. I'm glad I know Happy is only indicative of the lowest dregs of conservativism and not representative of the party as a whole.

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/10/2009 @ 10:06pm
That type of comment should immediately vault Happy into the realm of complete irrelevance.

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/10/2009 @ 10:18pm
...a chance ..??

Posted by Vvf1969 at 07/10/2009 @ 8:02pm

As things stand, Palin today, has a better `draw' than your Messiah at a similar point in time, July 2005!

Look who you voted in.....on track to be the worst POTUS in everybody lifetime. He alone, will saddle each and every American, with $20k+ of national debt, PLUS literally infinite debt service on that $20k; that's if he serves just one term! No one can do worse, not Palin, not McCain, not Bush, not even Jimminy Peanut!

Don't get me wrong, I am NOT head over heels over Palin (like another Con on this board) or any Repub, at this early phase.....but I can easily get behind her IF AND WHEN she emerges after the Primaries!

Most folks are jumping way too far ahead and just being mean and nasty to a woman pol....mostly just sexist!

Posted by Happy at 07/10/2009 @ 10:36pm
What is even funnier is they BOTH "outscore "Gore, Kerry, Kennedy etc. achademically and intellectually and many other Demoncrat politicians! The problem is they speak from a christian morality base which so offends the elitists of the left!

Posted by BigPasture at 07/10/2009 @ 4:53pm

Please tell us how W and Palin outscore Gore, Kerry and Kennedy intellectually. Let's see, W was a C student in business which any idiot can pass. Kerry has a law degree from, I'd love to see W make it through law school without daddy buying his way through it. He wouldn't make it past 2 semesters.

Then there's Palin who evidently can't read well enough to answer a question about what she reads. So, if that's your example of the intellect of the GOP, your party is in bigger trouble than you know.

Take your phony Christianity and cram it north. Being a phony bible thumper is not a prerequisit for holding public office in the U.S.

Posted by Wolfgang1 at 07/10/2009 @ 10:39pm
Eyal, With all due respect, Palin was hardly raised with a silver spoon in hand. Her family was better off than the family I grew up in, but compared to many, they weren't rolling in the dough.

You basically pointed out that her dad held two jobs and her mom worked as a secretary. Sounds like a working class family to me.

"Her father was a teacher and school track coach, her mother the school secretary. They were middle-class figures of respect, stability and local status. "

I'm not a big Sarah Palin fan, but give me a break. There's bigger fish to fry than going on about how rich a working class family is! LOL

Posted by Wolfgang1 at 07/10/2009 @ 10:57pm
Whoops, didn't finish that off.

Kerry has a law degree from Boston College and was an assistant D.A. He also ran a successful law firm. Hardly an idiot and he's a decorated Vietnam war veteran despite the right wing propaganda lies about the "swift boat" veterans on the GOP pay roll.

For all of your religious inuendos you certainly back a lot of people who bare false witness against their neighbors RIO and through a few slanderous statements out there yourself.

Posted by Wolfgang1 at 07/10/2009 @ 11:11pm
now more is grown to feed the economically senseless heavily gov. subsidised ethanol pollution industry! Posted by BigPasture at 07/10/2009 @ 5:47pm

Brought to you by Agribusiness, BP. Not, as you would like to believe, environmentalists.

"Everything about ethanol is good, good, good."- Sen Chuck Grassley.

Which party does he belong to ? The Demoncrat/eviro-nazi party? I wonder if you even know, BIGP.

Look here BP, a CIA director, Army Captain and former staff member of the National Security Council says: "American farmers, by making the commitment to grow more corn for ethanol, are at the top of the spear on the war against terrorism.". I know you want to fight terrorism, from home, and we know from you that fighting terrorism has no upper cost limit. It SHOULD be subsidized, so you have taught us.

But, don't let facts keep you from hating. You wouldn't be you.

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

"To be a Conservative automatically carry more intellectual `burden/weight' and generally means we have the backbone to withstand the populist rhetorics and emotional heart-tugging that will always be used by the Left.-HAPPY 6:15

Simply by being "conservative" they are more intelligent! Who knew? And, they are as humble as they come.

And, we can see Palins backbone...the liberal media drove her to quit, except she ain't a quitter. Of course, Sarah NEVER tugged on emotions. Or god and guns.

You too can buy the button that says "Palin For VP: God, Guns, Glory" ...http://tinyurl.com/lso88o

But never, never accuse right wing evangelicals of clinging to god and guns. It simply isn't true.

Posted by crabwalk at 07/10/2009 @ 11:18pm
I want to read more about how having a pregnant teen in the VP's office was going to teach family values to the children of the United States.

Oops, my bad. the Teaching Moment is a core value of the New GOP:

"Do as we say, not as we do. "

cuz what they do is sleep with prostitutes, have sex with gay men with drug addictions, become drug addicts, sleep with women other than their betrothed (what gOd has brought together let no man sunder!!!), ask young men if they have their boxers on, take bribes from Jack Abramoff (sometimes the bribe IS a prostitute), enrich themselves and family members at the expense of soldiers, accept prostitutes from communist governments..

all the while singing the praises for the Ten Commandments and condemning those that are not as devout as Rev Jim Baker.

Posted by crabwalk at 07/10/2009 @ 11:28pm
Heres one for the "Obama's recession" crowd, from an unimpeachable source, Newsmax. Why is it that core value types are able to flip flop their logic so easily?

" Charles R. Smith Wednesday, March 21, 2001

Despite the media effort to pin the 2001 recession on President Bush, the fact remains that he had little to do with the last eight years of economic policy from the White House.The infamous miracle bubble of Bill Clinton's economy burst last summer when OPEC oil price increases rocked the world economy.

In February 1999, Energy Secretary Bill Richardson visited Saudi Arabia when prices were at their lowest. Richardson reportedly pressed Saudi Oil Minister Ali Naimi on the "oversupplied market" and expressed concern about "extreme price volatility."

Former Saudi minister Sheik Ahmed Zaki Yamani told a Houston oil conference that Richardson had "saved the oil industry" during that visit because his "intervention" had "persuaded" the Saudis to change policy by raising prices.

After Richardson's visit, Petroleum Intelligence Weekly, an industry newsletter, quoted Saudi officials as wanting "a price of $18 to $20 as soon as possible."

....The move is also now seen as a major blunder that triggered the 2001 recession."

---------

What was the average price of oil in 2008?

$99.57/barrel

So, Clintons economic policies, and his "forcing" of OPEC to raise prices to a whopping $20/barrel led to the recession of 2001.

But, Bush's policies, and his connections to Haus Saud and the oil industry had NOTHING to do with oil hitting over $120/barrel and NOTHING to do with the major recession of 2008/9.

It is almost all the fault of Barak Obama, who has been in office less than 7 months.

Got it?

Posted by crabwalk at 07/10/2009 @ 11:42pm
If Bush was not the sharpest knife in the drawer, Palin is a spoon.

Posted by Extraneous at 07/10/2009 @ 4:28pm

spork......

Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2009 @ 12:17am
Look who you voted in.....on track to be the worst POTUS in everybody lifetime. He alone, will saddle each and every American, with $20k+ of national debt, PLUS literally infinite debt service on that $20k; that's if he serves just one term! No one can do worse, not Palin, not McCain, not Bush, not even Jimminy Peanut! Posted by Happy at 07/10/2009

LOL.. How many times did you vote for the compassionate conservative..?? Twice no doubt... But from your perspective, you think Obama is the worst in a lifetime..?? God...

You and your kind stood by Dubya and his follies... Privatize Social Security (how would that have played out????)... MEDICADE Reform (disaster) (What did that do to the budget long term.??) 2 wars of CHOICE at the cost of 2-3 trillion... (but how do you put a price tag on security..lol)..

So dont give me the Obama admin bankrupted the USA Bullshite... Your BOY took us from the green to the red.... PERIOD. WHAT A DISASTER. THE MOST CORRUPT ADMINISTRATION IN THE HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY.

Spending 2-3 Trillion outside CONUS good... Inside CONUS Bad... Once again Bush apologists see up as down , black is white... TRULY AMAZING... There is no middle ground with you dittoheads..... none.

Posted by Vvf1969 at 07/11/2009 @ 12:20am
Hell, I might donate to her war chest! LOL

Posted by schnellerheinz at 07/10/2009 @ 6:51pm

careful what you wish for, neighbour.

remember, dan quayle was vice-president once upon a time.

Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2009 @ 12:22am
And you can't even eat the corn.

Posted by ficheye at 07/10/2009 @ 7:48pm

no, but you can drink the ethanol....

Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2009 @ 12:24am
Sarah palin is a joke. Plain and simple. The only people who can take someone like that seriously are the same Happys who so unabashedly would rather suck off their leaders than speak some truth.

It is the very reason you have completely turned off anybody who is a moderate thinking conservative. It is all hyperbole all the time with you people. It makes me sick.

Posted by TexasFlood at 07/11/2009 @ 12:48am
I'm new here. Who's this BP/ RIO guy? Is he gonna be ghostwriting Joe the P's book? Or Sarah's? Or both?

Posted by vaguelyinterested at 07/11/2009 @ 01:14am
Sarah Palin is hot, nothing else. Why isn't she doing porn, which she was intended for?

Posted by Tiger2Lover at 07/11/2009 @ 02:26am
Quayle was awsome.

Dubya was propped up as a simple speaking rancher-type but was in reality just a spoiled, dumb, rich kid who was prone to embarassing public speech. He moved to a Dallas mansion after he left office. The Ranch in Crawford was just window dressing.

Palin is probably not as dumb as some people think she is, nor is she as smart as some people say she is...

Yet, she sure looked like a middle shcool student trying to fake her way through an answer in social studies more than a couple of times.

Some of the interview questions Palin muffed could be attributed to nerves or maybe she was thinking of something else. But, when she said she would run the Senate as VP, she was faking her way through a child's question and blew it.

Considering her performance, there's a certain amount of denial required to accept Palin as credible for the Presidency.

Posted by koroviev at 07/11/2009 @ 02:44am
Gah, Happy proves more and more every day what a partisan and bigoted idiot he is.

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/11/2009 @ 04:40am
And you can't even eat the corn.

Posted by ficheye at 07/10/2009 @ 7:48pm

Well..... You can. Just wouldn't feel so good on it's way out.

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/11/2009 @ 04:46am
ficheye - Wolfgang1,

With regard to President Bush and John F. Kerry -

When Kerry finally released his military records they showed that President Bush got higher grades than Kerry at Yale.

Who is smarter, Kerry or Bush? WASHINGTON (USATODAY.com) http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion /columnist/benedetto/ 2005-06-10-benedetto_x.htm

(link may contain extra spaces that need to be removed after pasting into your browser)

(since my post infers a negative thought about John F. Kerry it means I have committed an act of Swiftboating - I plead guilty)

Posted by sjchermak at 07/11/2009 @ 04:56am
Cccomfo1,

From what I see Republicans do not speak with a unified voice.

It was Conservatives who forced President Bush to withdraw his nomination of Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court.

There is the element of the GOP that seems eager to seek accommodation with Democrats, people such as John McCain.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, I read a book by former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough whose theme was a criticism of massive government spending, and 3/4 of the book were complaints against Republicans, not Democrats. Complaints about people in Mr. Scarborough's own party, including criticism of Newt Gingrich for what he believed was giving up on the Contract with America.

People make postings here saying that the GOP seems to speak with one voice and I don't know why they conclude that to be the case. It doesn't appear to me that it is.

Posted by sjchermak at 07/11/2009 @ 05:02am
Context typo,

up above I said, "There is the element ....."

I should have said "Then there is the element....." to indicate that I was switching from talk about the Conservative wing of the GOP to a more moderate wing with McCain. In the 3rd paragraph I switched back again.

Posted by sjchermak at 07/11/2009 @ 05:05am
I kind of have to believe that Happy is just a troll. Posting things to be intentionally inflammatory that he doesn't actually believe. Because to think that someone can be so staggeringly stupid as to believe the things he claims to believe is just not on my scale of possibilities.

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/11/2009 @ 05:11am
Okay, so according to HAPP and RIO/Big Posture....

Not only Peggy Noonan....but LARRY/antisoc and FREIHEIT are "RINOs"?!??!???!?

Wowsers. Once the GOP is fully "purified"....who's going to be left??? Rush? Sean? Sarah? And him and RIO?

heheh

Posted by Mask at 07/11/2009 @ 06:54am
Why isn't she doing porn, which she was intended for? Posted by Tiger2Lover at 07/11/2009 @ 02:26am

isn't politics the same thing?

Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2009 @ 08:18am
Well MASK, SJ tried to explain away the comments of those like RIO and HAPPY, but the actions and words of the mainstream repubs bely his assertions. The very term RINO belies his assertions. If you don't hold to the "core values", you are not a republican. No room in the small tent for gays and lesbians (except for Cheneys daughter, whom they almost refuse to acknowledge exists), no room for freedom of choice, no room for fiscal responsibility (even though that is supposed to be a core value).

As we have seen in the last two elections, and in polling data, those that consider themselves "real republicans" make up a small minority of their own party, and a smaller minority of the electorate. The more they push their agenda, the more they alienate independents, and many of their own (whom they eat), like Colin Powell, Lincoln Chaffee, Arlen Specter, John McCain.

There is no room in the tent for those that paved the way for the current American Taliban wing of the GOP, people like Jack Kemp, Carl Pursell, Gerald Ford.

Of course from the viewpoint of our resident neo-cons, it is not the Party that has gone too far, it is the people that helped make the party that have turned bad. Because up is down and Sarah Palin is not a quitter.

I can only hope that they continue to purify the party. The more they do, the more general elections they will continue to lose. As pointed out above, adherence to Party over all else is a totalitarian/communist trait. We saw during Chimpco's reign of error that they WANT Big Brother, they want a strong Father figure, they want authoritarian rule with little oversight. But now they scream about losing "freedoms", AFTER they gave them away.

Posted by crabwalk at 07/11/2009 @ 08:38am
Back in the summer of 2008 a few months before the convention whining leftist feminists were going on CNN and even Fox News bitterly complaining that Hillary Clinton lost the Democratic nomination because of sexism. Their heads were in the clouds because they could not see thru the fog that the reason Clinton lost was because she ran a horribly inept campaign.

Obama won far and square and his campaignwas never sexist or condescending in any way to Clinton. The Feminists, in their own way, were as inept as the McCain people were in choosing Palin.

The McCain staff must have watched these women and thought they could get a leg up on Obama by choosing a woman as his running mate. The problem was not that there are no qualified Republican women McCain could have chosen. The problem was that they were all pro-choice which would have caused a walkout at their convention, so McCain's inept staff chose the most unqualified, inexperienced bimbo they could find in Sarah Palin who became a deserved mockery nationwide. If the Republican party chooses this bimbo to oppose Obama in 2012 Obama will become the first President to ever win with seventy percent of the vote.

In a time of war in Iraq and Afganistan, the economy tanking, and Iran rushing to build a nuclear weapon, choosing Palin was a disgrace and an extremely stupid and dangerous thing to do. The people who chose her made what could have turned out to be a catastrophic disaster for our country. Thank God Obama won and spared us all from Sarah Palin.

Posted by mjkoch at 07/11/2009 @ 08:41am
Speaking as a former Republican who left the party in the mid 80's due to the element that had taken it over. What passes for conservative these days is in all reality not conservative (I am conservative) but fascist. They claim to be for smaller government and keeping government out of people's lives while they are some of the biggest spenders and the biggest intruders into people's personal lives on the planet. They have become a party of hate mongers and nasty vicious people who thrive on venom and tearing people apart. They aren't interested in the American worker anymore and trying to keep the American dream alive. They are only interested in destroying it (that they have been very successful at). They know literally nothing about running the government. After 8 years it's a shambles it always winds up a mess after they leave office. It's going to take more than intelligence for me to ever vote for one of them again. Sarah Palin is a victim of a country who has grown tired of Republicanism. She is one of the major problems with the party. These days the Republican Party is run by Christian extremists for Christian extremists and that does not appeal to most of us. The only qualification George Bush had for office was he was a Fundamentalist Christian and nothing more. When that becomes a litmus test for candidates the party is in big trouble.

Posted by ganddw42 at 07/11/2009 @ 08:46am
"In Reagan's big tent, the likes of Arlen Specter would always have been welcomed, so long as they were willing to go along with Reagan"-Mark Joseph

Basically what they are saying is "You can be a republican, as long as you DO AS WE SAY!"

How's that for freedom?

Posted by crabwalk at 07/11/2009 @ 08:47am
Actually, BigPasture, a lot of us leftists are over flinging mud at Palin now that the election is over. And some of us do think conservatives like Ross Douthat are on to something. I read and largely agreed with "Grand New Party." But it's not our fault Sarah Palin came across as someone who drinks wine (or something that purports to be wine) out of a jelly jar. She's callow in exactly the same way Bush is callow. My six-year-old daughter could have told her Nicolas Sarkozy doesn't speak English. While she was at it, she could have told her what country Sarkozy presides over. Apparently, Palin couldn't hire people capable of doing either, which is to say, she couldn't vet someone throroughly enough to tell her something she ought to have known if she wanted to be a melanoma outbreak away from the presidency. This isn't classist snobbery any more than rumors that Bush is dyslexic are discrimination against the handicapped.

Posted by DP in TC at 07/11/2009 @ 09:56am
I can sense that there is no Repub the Left fear more than.....Sarah Palin! You are mortified to attack her, if she ever gets to the top of the ticket....yummy!

Posted by Happy at 07/11/2009 @ 10:55am
July 11, 2009

The Road to Economic Demoralization -- Washington Is Going the Wrong Way

By Larry Kudlow

There's no question that current government policies for taxes, spending and regulation are causing the United States to lose competitiveness in the global race for capital, prosperity and growth.

Of course, China has been moving in the direction of free-market capitalism for years....

But what's particularly galling about Obamanomics is that we may well be losing our competitive edge with Europe. While Europe is ever so slightly moving toward Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, the United States is shifting toward an overtaxed and overregulated model that smacks of Francois Mitterrand. That's something no one should want to tolerate.

Heavy government controls at home, along with an income-leveling social policy couched in economic-recovery terms,...the United States has become a less hospitable destination for global capital. That should worry everybody....

Fortune magazine recently reported that the number of U.S. companies in the world's top 500 fell to the lowest level ever, while more Chinese firms than ever made the list....

And China has no capital-gains tax. It only has a 15 to 20 percent corporate tax. The United States, on the other hand, is raising its cap-gains tax rate to 20 percent. It's also increasing its top personal tax rates.

In fact, the scheduled income-tax hike along with a much-discussed 4 percent health-care surtax will balloon the top U.S. tax rate all the way to 51 percent. And there's more....Democrats are now talking about raising the tax rate on capital gains and dividends by another 1.5 percent, while installing a value-added tax (VAT) that would begin at 1.5 percent...

Posted by Happy at 07/11/2009 @ 11:10am
Larry Kudlow continued:

So top tax rates in the United States may edge into the mid-50 percent range. Compare that to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) average of only 42 percent...

Incidentally, our 40 percent corporate tax rate is already almost 15 percentage points higher than the corporate rates in most of Europe.

Washington's enormous expansion of the state-, local- and federal-government spending share of gross domestic product to over 40 percent -- including Bailout Nation, TARP and takeovers in numerous industries -- is eerily reminiscent of Old Europe's old policies. And in an ironic twist, Europe seems to be moving toward a lower tax-spend-and-regulate, Reagan-type approach, while the United States is regressing to the failed socialist model of Old Europe. This makes no sense.

Higher tax rates undermine the incentive model of growth...On top of this, Obama's regulatory moves toward greater government control of the economy will further drown animal spirits in a sea of red tape born of bureaucratic officialdom....

Here's the clincher: Year-to-date, Dow Jones stocks are off 8 percent, while China stocks are up 71 percent. The world index is up 4 percent. Emerging markets are up 25 percent. They're all beating us. None of this is good.

We're going the wrong way....

============================

Hopey and Changey, Have it Your Way!

Posted by Happy at 07/11/2009 @ 11:14am
for eating and now more is grown to feed the economically senseless heavily gov. subsidised ethanol pollution industry!

Posted by BigPasture at 07/10/2009 @ 5:47pm

Don't forget the high fructose corn syrup industry which is in large part responsible for making America obese, diabetic and cardiac imperiled. Thanks to high fructose corn syrup, 12 year old kids are now at high risk for stroke and cardiopulmonary disease.

And all the estrogens in our water and food supply (mainly beef and unabsorbed elements in bith control pills)) are responsible for male children not dropping testicles and young girls developing a rack and having periods as young as 7 or 8. So much for deregulation.

Posted by chaoszen at 07/11/2009 @ 11:20am
Palin and her supporters claim to care about the unborn,but it is a fact that she risked her unborn childs life by flying around the country just to have the baby in Alaska like a baby would care what state it is born in.It seems that a baby would rather be born alive in one state rather than dead in another.While she and her supporters can talk concern for the unborn her actions and their support for her prove that they do not care about the unborn making their words meaningless.It is rather amusing that one poster on here described her as having Christian morality.Risking your childs life is defined as moral?What we need is for her supporters to stop thinking with their penis and vagina and use the other brain.

Posted by i'm nobody at 07/11/2009 @ 11:24am
What is even funnier is they BOTH "outscore "Gore, Kerry, Kennedy etc. achademically and intellectually and many other Demoncrat politicians! The problem is they speak from a christian morality base which so offends the elitists of the left! Posted by BigPasture at 07/10/2009 @ 4:53pm |

Holy crap...you're even starting to sound like St. Moron of the Tundra...is it communicable?

I'd really love to see what method you use to keep 'score'. Perhaps uninformed statements per second...or feet in mouth per idiotically-staged press conference?

And can you explain why even moderate christians find her abhorrent? Are they in need of an `exorcism'?

Posted by snowball777 at 07/11/2009 @ 11:29am
Posted by Happy at 07/10/2009 @ 5:50pm |

Translation: "We don't care if she's dumb as a stump, as long as she's white and will cut the top tax rate for us."

Posted by snowball777 at 07/11/2009 @ 11:33am
Posted by Happy at 07/11/2009 @ 11:14am |

Right problem, wrong cause, even more wrong solution, but thanks for playing the Kooky Kudlow Kool-aid theme again.

If and when you can come to grips with the fact that having 10% tax rate on a hedge fund manager's take, tax-free repatriation of foreign profits, a distribution of income that makes the roaring 20s look boring, Goldman-Sachs paying < 1% effective tax rate, financial scandals coming out of the woodwork, then maybe you'll be on your way to figuring out that you and Kudlow are merely worshiping the neoliberal capitalist wet-dream that got us into this mess in the first place and failing to diagnose that the policies you espouse have resulted in the current state of affairs.

We on the left invite you and Larry K to move to Beijing, if a totalitarian slave regime is your idea of a fun place to live.

Posted by snowball777 at 07/11/2009 @ 11:45am
Translation: "We don't care if she's dumb as a stump, as long as she's white and will cut the top tax rate for us."

Posted by snowball777 at 07/11/2009 @ 11:33am

I think it would be great if the right would totally embrace Palin. It's a no brainer. She is unelectable. So even if the Democrats dick around and f*ck everything up. Which is likely. We would still be insured that no totally insane folks will be elected in 2012.

She has recently been hanging around on a Gun rights radio station hosted by Michael Dukes and Ted "psychopath" Nugent.

This is a good thing!

Posted by chaoszen at 07/11/2009 @ 11:47am
I think it's rather amusing watching conservatives scrape the bottom of the barrel for arguments to defend their gimme-gimme more-more sickness. It's over; our consumption crazed, steal from the workers casino economy scam driven by media manipulators and neocon-zionist thugs, that is. These are desperate times for the 'elite' and that Douhat and Co. have to resort to calling daytime nighttime and vice versa is really quite encouraging. Noonan is right; Palin IS the creation of the neocons, like all their other Christian puppets who believe whatever they're told to believe, especially if it says so in the Pentateuch.

Posted by DejaVu at 07/11/2009 @ 12:13pm
I can sense that there is no Repub the Left fear more than.....Sarah Palin! You are mortified to attack her, if she ever gets to the top of the ticket....yummy! Posted by Happy at 07/11/2009 @ 10:55am |

Or less, for that matter, but only for lack of viable alternatives.

We don't need to attack her...we can just wait until some `gotcha' question sends her packing again.

Posted by snowball777 at 07/11/2009 @ 12:29pm
Posted by chaoszen at 07/11/2009 @ 11:47am |

Palin / Nugent; the American Militia Party ticket.

Posted by snowball777 at 07/11/2009 @ 12:32pm
Ted Nugent.

Isn't he a celebrity entertainer?

I guess if a person swings onto stage with leopard skin leotard and a gun, BIG PASTURE and HAPPY get woodies. Then when Nugent comes onstage after Palin they swoon like a governor with his paramour.

Posted by crabwalk at 07/11/2009 @ 12:43pm
I can sense that there is no Repub the Left fear more than.....Sarah Palin! You are mortified to attack her, if she ever gets to the top of the ticket....yummy! Posted by Happy at 07/11/2009 @ 10:55am |

Again, quick examination of reality:

I have posted quotes from a DCCC head that WANTS Palin to run.

Many posts here are from people that are "lefties" but will actually donate to her campaign if she runs.

We lefties, George Will, Peggy Noonan, David Brooks and Kathleen Parker, call her out on her lack of experience and knowledge, and the fact that she is often incoherent ...

And HAPPY sees fear??!!!!

up is down. Sarah is not a quitter....

HAPPY, do you know who "the left" feared in 2007? John McCain. He, at one time, was a respected moderate and had an excellent chance at continuing the republican presence in the White House via support from independents. Then he picked Sarah Palin and he lost in a landslide.

Yep, we fear Sarah.

Sarah, don't quit quitting until you have finally quit.

Posted by crabwalk at 07/11/2009 @ 12:51pm
Posted by sjchermak at 07/11/2009 @ 04:56am

Who is smarter? I didn't go read the article, but I am dubious of that statement. George Bush, with his family connections, could purchase whatever edumahcation that money could buy, as well as being AWOL from the military with no repercussions. His usage of the english language also pointed to a deep resistance to learning at the higher levels.

I'm sure that USA today had it all figured out, but it's the utilization of this education that would make him a better statesman in the long run. Which he wasn't. He's a dork who is hiding in a Dallas mansion after living in a photo-op ranch setting during his 'presidency'.

Republicans are wishing for time to go by faster and faster as the specter of GW fades into the distance, but the damage he did to our country and our world image may be irreparable.

Posted by ficheye at 07/11/2009 @ 1:07pm
Of course..."requested document not found"

Posted by ficheye at 07/11/2009 @ 1:09pm
Al Gore, achieved scores of 133 and 134 on intelligence tests taken at the beginning of his high school freshman and senior years, no IQ data are available for George W. Bush. But we do know that the young Bush registered a score of 1206 on the SAT, the most widely used test of college aptitude. (The more cerebral Al Gore obtained 1355.)

Posted by !immutable at 07/11/2009 @ 1:21pm
Posted by !immutable at 07/11/2009 @ 1:21pm

Oops, forgot to source.

By Aubrey Immelman Times columnist

Posted by !immutable at 07/11/2009 @ 1:23pm
The sun is rising from the West/Left Coast! From WSJ Online:

Democrats For a Flat Tax?

Some California legislators realize revenue from the rich is too volatile.

By JOE MATHEWS

Los Angeles

Karen Bass is an unlikely tax cutter. She's the Democratic speaker of the California State Assembly...

But as California faces a budget crisis that defies efforts to resolve it, there is a woman-bites-dog story developing with Ms. Bass at its center. By the end of the month, a commission she pushed to create is expected to recommend that the state adopt a flat (or at least flatter) personal income tax and cut or repeal corporate and sales taxes.

Normally, such proposals would be dead on arrival in Sacramento. But now many Democrats, including the speaker, are realizing that...they need a tax base that doesn't count on a large slice of revenue from taxes on a relatively small number of wealthy residents who can flee the state or who are themselves vulnerable to losing a substantial portion of income in a recession.

No one understands the political dynamics of volatile state revenues better than Ms. Bass. She's a progressive...

If that happens, the debate to watch...will be among Democrats as they hash out whether taxes are too progressive to accomplish progressive political goals.

In a public meeting last month, a majority of the commission's 14 members...seemed to favor replacing the state's six income-tax brackets with a single 6% rate. The plan they mentioned would also eliminate corporate and sales taxes and replace them with a business net receipt tax.

"You have to admit," commissioner member Fred Keeley, a Democrat who is the treasurer of Santa Cruz County, said after the meeting, "that the package is a game changer."

Posted by Happy at 07/11/2009 @ 1:24pm
Everything I can find on Sarah seems too low. I think they are bogus. I did read somewhere she was an honor student so I would think it would be above average.

Posted by !immutable at 07/11/2009 @ 1:26pm
Happy, I'm glad to hear you and Larry Kudlow think turning our country into China is such a great idea - a communist dictatorship that supports slave labor, brutally supresses minority rights, and is becoming a world leader in generating pollution. You know, this democracy stuff is so damned annoying. Why, a rich fella just can barely keep a decent private jet running any more! I think Sarah Palin is HOT! Just the right thing to throw at the rubes while we steal their stupid retirements and meet over coke and bong hits at my private island. Whadaya say, pal - the jet leaves in 5 minutes!

Posted by Dwight Wall at 07/11/2009 @ 1:27pm
WSJ Online, continued:

In recent days, Mr. Keeley and other Bass appointees, have countered liberal objections with other proposals. But each adopts the logic of simpler taxation....

It remains unclear how much Ms. Bass will fight for the commission's recommendations....But she also said she worried about the state's heavy reliance on about 144,000 wealthy people to pay half of all income taxes for a state with a population of 38 million. "It's a crazy statistic," she said....

Other Democrats have made similar points. U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein recently explained her state's problems to the New York Times by saying that 55% of state tax revenues come from income tax and 45% of that comes from the top brackets.

Susan Kennedy, a Democrat who serves as Mr. Schwarzenegger's chief of staff and who is the most important unelected official in the Capitol, was recently asked at a business event what the state tax system needed. "Flatness," she replied. "Our revenue stream is way too progressive."

But as the commission gets close to making recommendations, opposition is forming on the left....Public employee unions are demanding in blunt terms that Democrats make the tax code more progressive. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees recently asked legislators to sign statements supporting some $44 billion in new taxes, much of them on the wealthy and industry...

Robert Cruickshank, a contributing editor at the progressive blog Calitics, says...: "Most progressives are not going to support these kind of regressive solutions. You would see a fight if the Democratic legislature made a move to do this."...

Mr. Mathews, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation,...

Posted by Happy at 07/11/2009 @ 1:30pm
Posted by Happy at 07/11/2009 @ 1:24pm |

Wow...sales taxes are dependent on sales which are less stable than salaries...so what?

Some choice words from Ms. Bass about the budget crisis...

"This was totally unnecessary," Bass said. "The Assembly passed three bipartisan bills with $4 billion in cuts and other cash solutions that could have avoided IOUs. If the Governor had just sent the signal to Senate Republicans the bills would have passed. It's especially frustrating that it was the governor's own proposals he kept bottled up until it was too late."

Speaker Bass also pointed out that the package of budget solutions the Legislature sent to the Governor solved the entire $19.5 billion deficit, and established a reserve but DID NOT INCLUDE TAXES. Bass said the Governor rejected those measures and made last minute demands for major policy reforms, unrelated to the budget.

Lay the blame where it belongs: with the Guh-va-nay-tuh.

Posted by snowball777 at 07/11/2009 @ 1:41pm
The sun is indeed rising from the Left; now from the NYT:

The Human Equation

By BOB HERBERT

Published: July 10, 2009

Vice President Joe Biden told us this week that the Obama administration "misread how bad the economy was" in the immediate aftermath of the inauguration.

Puh-leeze. Mr. Biden and President Obama won the election because the economy was cratering so badly there were fears we might be entering another depression. No one understood that better than the two of them. Mr. Obama tried to clean up the vice president's remarks by saying his team hadn't misread what was happening, but rather "we had incomplete information."

That doesn't hold water, either....They've got more than enough data....But they're not coming up with the right answers because they're missing the same thing that McNamara and his fellow technocrats were missing back in the 1960s: the human equation.

The crisis staring America in its face and threatening to bring it to its knees is unemployment. Joblessness. Why it is taking so long -- seemingly forever -- for our government officials to recognize the scope of this crisis and confront it directly is beyond me.

There are now five unemployed workers for every job opening in the U.S. The official unemployment rate is 9.5 percent, but that doesn't begin to tell the true story of the economic suffering....

At the present rate, upwards of seven million homes can be expected to fall into foreclosure this year and next. Welfare rolls are rising, according to a survey by The Wall Street Journal. The National Employment Law Project has pointed out that hundreds of thousands of unemployed workers will begin losing their jobless benefits...by the end of the summer....

Posted by Happy at 07/11/2009 @ 1:42pm
Happy-It is understandable that you would be putting effort into changing the subject.

Posted by i'm nobody at 07/11/2009 @ 1:48pm
Tranlation key to "conservative" thought processes: As a power elite, always play the victim. Blame the true victims. Change the subject. Decontextualize the data into a new narrative that: Plays the victim, blames the true victims, changes the subject, decontextualizes the data into a new narrative that: Plays the victim, blames the true victims, changes the subject, decontextualize the data into a new narrative that etc...etc...

Posted by Dwight Wall at 07/11/2009 @ 1:59pm
And of course the reason "conservatives" have to do this round about is because, if we paused to look at what happened - for example - prior to last January 20, the whole house of cards would collapse. That's why conservatives like Newt Gingrich - a "so called historian" hate history so much, unless it glorifies power elites and an idealized little people fawning under their leadership.

Sarah Palin talks the way she does because she is the embodiment of this continual process of de-contextualization of "facts" to carry forth what is at its core a bald faced philosophy designed to serve only the interests of a power elite. It has to continue re-inventing "fact" to support the lies at the core of what is in essence a totalitarian mindset.

Posted by Dwight Wall at 07/11/2009 @ 2:08pm
When this narrative pattern is poorly done - It takes some skill to do this on the fly - it becomes nonsense. Sarah Palin is following the "conservative" narrative pattern, but she can't connect her brain fast enough to the "facts" to decontextualize them in such a way that moves the desired narrative forward. Its like she's trying to do what Happy and others do, but off the top of her head, and without a continual connection to on-line search engines. The process of decontextualization is lagging behind her ability to articulate the narrative, thats why it comes across as nonsense.

However, the elements of elite victimhood, blaming true victims, changing the subject, and moving to new decontextualized "facts" are all in place. They have just been scrambled in a way that comes across as nonsense.

Posted by Dwight Wall at 07/11/2009 @ 2:18pm
I'm using the term "conservative" in quotes, because I don't actually believe this has anything to do with true conservativism. It is, however, another indicator of a totalitarian mindset to protect what Hannah Arendt identified as the "lies" at the core of such philosophies. You can see the same narrative patterns play out in the writings of Joseph Goebbels or North Korean propaganda.

Posted by Dwight Wall at 07/11/2009 @ 2:25pm
Posted by IlyaKuryakin at 07/11/2009 @ 09:06am

profanity is like hot sauce: if you put it on everything it no longer is picante.

would you like some habanero with your fucking coffee, sir?

Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2009 @ 2:58pm
The reason this pattern is such an effective form of propaganda, particularly in the age of the internet, is because it stiffles critical thought. Finding and stating "facts" is easy; verifying that they are being used in their proper context is much harder. Providing a link gives them "varacity" to those who aren't going to bother checking every single "fact". Consequently both the element of speed and of changing the subject. Just when people begin to check the context of the so called facts, the subject is changed to another narrative and a new set of "facts" taken out of context, but presented to support the overall narrative of elite victimhood.

Posted by Dwight Wall at 07/11/2009 @ 2:58pm
Back on-subject......if she does what's quoted here in a Washington Times "Exclusive", power to her! Her way of mimicking McCain in reaching across the aisle! Conservative Dems are valuable to Conservatism, arguable more so than liberal Repubs....unless the balance of power in Congress and the Senate hang in the balance!

EXCLUSIVE: Palin to stump for conservative Democrats

By Ralph Z. Hallow (Contact) | Sunday, July 12, 2009

ANCHORAGE, Alaska | Brushing aside the criticisms of pundits and politicos, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said she plans to jump immediately back into the national political fray -- stumping for conservative issues and even Democrats -- after she prematurely vacates her elected post at month's end.

The former Republican vice-presidential nominee and heroine to much of the GOP's base said in an interview she views the electorate as embattled and fatigued by nonstop partisanship, and she is eager to campaign for Republicans, independents and even Democrats who share her values on limited government, strong defense and "energy independence."

"I will go around the country on behalf of candidates who believe in the right things, regardless of their party label or affiliation," she said over lunch in her downtown office, 40 miles from her now-famous hometown of Wasilla -- population 7,000 -- where she began her political career.....

Posted by Happy at 07/11/2009 @ 3:00pm
OK - Sarah Palin, who was the most devisive partisan of any of the Democratic or Republican participants in the last election is going to fight against the vary partisonship that she contributed to by supporting candidates that believe in her philosphy, some of whom are Democrats.

Your point is?

Good way to change the subject, by the way.

Posted by Dwight Wall at 07/11/2009 @ 3:09pm
happy,

palin's a dolt.

if i weren't so tired, i'd find the article where several republicans say they don't want her anywhere near their campaigns.

Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2009 @ 3:12pm
"I am a non-partison as long as you agree with everything I say" - generally spoken by the losing side. Like, losers that link to the Washington Times and quote Larry Kudlow.

Posted by Dwight Wall at 07/11/2009 @ 3:14pm
Posted by Happy at 07/11/2009 @ 3:00pm |

Semantic content:

Sarah Palin accepts Evan Bayh as a 'real American'.

Posted by snowball777 at 07/11/2009 @ 3:29pm
Why dio we allow Happy to push the conversation wherever he wants? He always just changes the topic. Happy wants a Texas model. However he doesn't even realize that the Texas model doesn't truly work. w

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/11/2009 @ 3:57pm
Wowsers. Once the GOP is fully "purified"....who's going to be left??? Rush? Sean? Sarah? And him and RIO?

heheh

Posted by Mask at 07/11/2009 @ 06:54am

Barry 25

Posted by schnellerheinz at 07/11/2009 @ 4:30pm
happy,

palin's a dolt.

Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2009 @ 3:12pm

You're entitled to your opinion! No problem, Mr. Canadian!

You DO think we have plenty of "dolts" in our Gubberment, no? Try the #1s in the House, the Senate, the WH, Treasury, Energy, Labor, even Nominee for the SC....that's who the Left always elect/choose! Look at the Hero of the Left, Al Gore....global goverance, yep, that's what us Americans want!

Posted by Happy at 07/11/2009 @ 4:49pm
happy,

palin isn't in your government.

she quit.

Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2009 @ 6:42pm
You DO think we have plenty of "dolts" in our Gubberment, no?

•• just YOUR government?

Try the #1s in the House,

•• pelosi is not a dolt -- venal.

the Senate,

•• reid -- dolt.

the WH,

•• obama is anything but a dolt.

Treasury,

•• geithner knows EXACTLY what he's doing.

Energy,

•• megatron? well, he's better than cheney.

Labor,

•• you forgot the "u".

even Nominee for the SC....

•• ustedes necesitan alguien como ella.

that's who the Left always elect/choose!

•• how many times did you vote for wush?

Look at the Hero of the Left, Al Gore....

•• the baconator? por favor.

global goverance, yep, that's what us Americans want!

•• need.

•• actually, hasn't that been the policy since manyfist destiny?

Posted by Happy at 07/11/2009 @ 4:49pm

Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2009 @ 6:50pm
Posted by Happy at 07/11/2009 @ 4:49pm |

sure, but the highest concentration can be found in the minority of both houses of congress.

Inhofe, Bachmann, and Pete Sessions?

How can we compete with a deep bench of stupid like that?

Posted by snowball777 at 07/11/2009 @ 7:35pm
But she is a ponder-free zone.

WSJ PEGGY NOONAN

~ And therefore, Palin, would be perfect for more Cheneyism:

Thomas Kean and his fellow panelists cited a "failure of imagination" that they said kept U.S. officials from understanding the al Qaeda threat before the attacks on New York and Washington that killed nearly 3,000.

Inside Politics CNN

~ As a non-imaginative, concrete thinker, there are real Americans and bad / fake ones. Moose are from God, designed to be shot, as are brown people who hate us and plan to kill us residing in sin in axis of evil nations.

Posted by winyahn at 07/11/2009 @ 8:01pm
Since when do grades in high school and college imply intelligence. Doesn't it depend on the classes at the very least?

I never went o college but when I think back to my high school years, I remember some absolute dolts making the honor roll and plenty of imbeciles with high GPAs.

Anybody trying to argue the merits of George w bush's intelligence obviously suffer from a few inferiority issues.

Posted by TexasFlood at 07/11/2009 @ 8:03pm
if i weren't so tired, i'd find the article where several republicans say they don't want her anywhere near their campaigns.

Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2009 @ 3:12pm

Posted above.

Reality confuses HAP and BP, so they perform the three ring circus so eloquently described by DWIGHT.

Again, dems will pay Sarahs way. All but the most divisive, far right wing republicans keep her at 10 ft pole range. But, somehow that shows fear from the left.

It's all so confusing to him, so he repeats what he hears, which is "We need more independent thinkers"..."dittos to that Rush"

Posted by crabwalk at 07/11/2009 @ 8:46pm
<i>Posted by TexasFlood at 07/11/2009 @ 8:03pm </i>

Though I myself have been far from impressed with much of his decision-making process, I will say this: a number of the people who have met with him were impressed with the questions he asked and the concerns he expressed...and they weren't Bush Republicans. In fact, I'm certain at least one of them was not a big fan of his administration. I think that should at least be factored in. I don't think he was a complete idiot...though not being able to speak in public certainly could convey that impression.

Posted by Thrawn at 07/11/2009 @ 9:32pm
i have a fabulous idea, let's all pitch in and buy happy a life! what'ya say? this poor person deserves to do something more than howl at the moon...

Posted by dorkus54 at 07/11/2009 @ 10:20pm
though not being able to speak in public certainly could convey that impression.

Posted by Thrawn at 07/11/2009 @ 9:32pm

mr. bush is far from dumb.

if only he were (had been) chauncey gardiner....

but his (type of) intelligence (and most unfortunately, moral judgement) was not suited for the office he held.

most unfortunate.

Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2009 @ 10:51pm
wells fargo sues itself!

http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/al-lewis-wells-fargo-bank-sues/

gotta make the taxpayer real proud.

Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2009 @ 11:09pm
I think Happy is not so much interested in the POTUS as he is in the COITUS.

The politics of resentment are impervious to facts. - Frank Rich

Posted by A_Pax_On_Your_Houses at 07/12/2009 @ 01:17am
It's a gas, a hoot, and a howl to witness the primitive un-evolved Repugs as they repeat in unison (albeit, off-key and with the stray slurred syllable) that Libs are "afraid" of Saint Sarah Barraquitta. That is the partly line that has been funnelled into their musty skulls, as if with a primitive device like a garden hose, by the "thought leaders maximus" of their cultish community.

In the most trivial and obvious sense, the claim has its germ of truth. Assuming that you are not BIG-P/RIO-KORESH and Warren Jeffs showed up at your door and said, "I am the baby sitter whom you called", you would fear for your children and slam the door in Jeff's face. So it was when Saint Sarah Barraquitta shows up at the door and says, "I am a candidate for office" regardless of how inconsequential the office may be as the Wasalla librarian can attest for her brushes with Saint Sarah's 200-proof big-titted Stalinism.

However, Saint Sarah Barraquitta is a bimbo and a born loser with the vindictiveness, histrionic need for attention, and deeply seated self-hatred that will end up carrying water for us normal people. What America needs is for Saint Sarah Barraquitta to wage a few third party insurgencies in '12, '16, '20...and on & on. Liberals could even covertly orchestrate a movement to draft her as a third party sideshow as it would be that earth-shaking good for our interests in making America strong again. Saint Sarah could soak up the retard self-hating American 10% of the vote and easily disable the rest of the Repugnant party. It wouild be like a 10 point lead for the Dems in each election! And the most rapid and zombified segment of the right, with the paranoid's fixation on the purity of their "essense", would need decades to figure out "Hey, what just happened???"!!!

Posted by PhilMcCrevice at 07/12/2009 @ 07:16am
So now the battlefield scene is set for 2012. We have the current President who has to read his speeches regardless of how short from a teleprompter and on the other hand we have a woman from the wilds of Alaska who rambles, but, it seems gets her points across to the people.

1. Smaller national government instead of a larger government trying to control every aspect of our lives. 2. Fiscal responsibility instead of a government spending and borrowing more and more money to influence voters to keep them in office. Handouts pure and simple as the stimulus has only been political payback where they supported the Democrats. 3. Energy policy to benefit the people instead of a policy designed to bring America to it's collective knees with higher and ever higher taxes on the people and increased prices for everything. 4. Strong national defense instead of caving in to the removal of missile defense shields to protect the people

Posted by Gene44 at 07/12/2009 @ 07:55am
Posted by Gene44 at 07/12/2009 @ 07:55am

and you think ms. palin will deliver that?

hahahahahahhhahhahahahahhaha!

Posted by frosty zoom at 07/12/2009 @ 08:01am
ON PALIN'S DANCE WITH TRUTH

Palin says she is not a quitter. She quit anyway! She says she is not "wired" that way; only Palin knows what is really in that scrambled brain of hers. She is one of the most loudly "patriotic" Americans; yet she could not see the contradiction in her hushand belonging to a separatist movement. She says that she quit to save Alaska money; she lied because no money was saved since the lawyers in the Department of Law in Alaska receive their pay no matter what. She says her motive for resigning was purely noble; but she actually resigned to make more money elsewhere and her son in law confirms it. She says the media is rotten and biased; yet she seeks out the media for self-promotion. She says she resigned because of baseless ethics charges against her; but she came to office by taking advantage of ethics charges against her immediate predecessor and had filed one herself--and in one of the ethics charges against her, a committee of Alaska Parliament found she had abused her power. She says she does not not want to stay in office to "milk" the government; she did just that as Governor--remember the endless per diems, the unnecessary travels with her kids, her expensive tastes on other people's money. She says she only has Alaska's best interest in mind; but Palin was only looking out for number one--herself! This woman is a phony and needs help!

Posted by drsam8 at 07/12/2009 @ 08:48am
I can sense that there is no Repub the Left fear more than.....Sarah Palin! You are mortified to attack her, if she ever gets to the top of the ticket....yummy!

Posted by Happy at 07/11/2009 @ 10:55am

And what do you find so appealing "politically speaking" about Sarah Palin? Are you a bible thumping idiot to Happy? I thought all you cared about was maximizing your bottom line in the stock trade and to hell with anyone who gets in the way of YOUR profits including your fellow countrymen.

Sarah Palin is more of a threat to the Republican party than to the dem party. Sarah's own mouth and stupidity were her downfall, not dems and the media going after her.

What the dems need to learn from the rethugs is to get people to run for office who appear to be tough. Ronald Reagan, Bush, Cheney, Rummy appear to be these militant types that are tough but in actaullity it's furthest from the truth. All of them are arm chair warrriors full of wind and smoke to quote a line from the movie Das Boat.

Arnold, Clint Eastwood and Ronald Reagan all actors and all republican office holders. Coincidence? Nope.

Posted by Wolfgang1 at 07/12/2009 @ 09:00am
Posted by PhilMcCrevice at 07/12/2009 @ 07:16am |

I'm liking the cut of your gibberish, Phil...a permanent parade of Perotista pity parties (tea not included).

But will she be enough to offset the always inimitable, of late inimical, Darth Nader?

Posted by snowball777 at 07/12/2009 @ 09:31am
Posted by Gene44 at 07/12/2009 @ 07:55am |

"So now the battlefield scene is set for 2012."

Sorry, she has to get through the primaries first.

"We have the current President who has to read his speeches regardless of how short from a teleprompter and on the other hand we have a woman from the wilds of Alaska who rambles, but, it seems gets her points across to the people."

I failed to understand her linguistic flailing even once; Trig could debate her and win.

"1. Smaller national government instead of a larger government trying to control every aspect of our lives."

By employing midgets in key cabinet posts?

You think the woman who strong-armed a LIBRARIAN is going to try to control less of our lives? Please.

"2. Fiscal responsibility instead of a government spending and borrowing more and more money..."

So she'll limit the spending sprees to herself and her closest friends? How big of her; very 'Duke' Cunningham.

"3. Energy policy to benefit the people instead of a policy designed to bring America to it's collective knees..."

If by, "the people", you mean petro executives, then perhaps, but we've yet to hear a cogent plan for `energy independence' beyond "drill, idiot, drill".

"4. Strong national defense instead of caving in to the removal of missile defense shields..."

Conflating "national defense" with a 'shield' that succeeds only in provoking a certain recently visited petro-state is Palin-class dumb.

We'd be better off putting "photovoltaic missile defense shields" on every home in the US. They wouldn't work any better or worse but would provide 'power to the people'.

Posted by snowball777 at 07/12/2009 @ 09:46am
grrrrrrrrrrr

if i hear another politician say "energy independence"!!!!!!!!!!

grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Posted by frosty zoom at 07/12/2009 @ 10:15am
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/12/2009 @ 10:15am |

Dead men burn no gas...deep conservation.

Posted by snowball777 at 07/12/2009 @ 10:41am
We'd be better off putting "photovoltaic missile defense shields" on every home in the US. They wouldn't work any better or worse but would provide 'power to the people'. Posted by snowball777 at 07/12/2009 @ 09:46am

They'd still manufacture a beef with Reykjavic over some ideological talking point even if the world could be supplied with all the energy it thought it needed. But I would vote for snow's proposal any day! I thought I did, actually.

Posted by A_Pax_On_Your_Houses at 07/12/2009 @ 11:16am
An excellent skewering of the MSM, from a journo whose political leaning isn't clear (to me) from his lengthy recap of everything Palin:

Carl M. Cannon

Senior Washington Correspondent

Sarah 'Barracuda' Palin and the Piranhas of the Press Posted:

07/8/09 Filed Under:Joe Biden, Sarah Palin 1498 Comments +

Sarah Palin's rambling abdication speech was hard to follow, let alone acclaim, but in her abrupt announcement that she is withdrawing from public office, the Republican governor of Alaska was hardly the only player in a 10-month drama who demonstrated a lack of self-awareness. Democrats scoffed at her "politics of personal destruction" line, but it's a maxim they originally popularized, and one they will undoubtedly trot out again the next time it happens to one of their own. But the true villains in this political morality play may have been the press.

The mainstream media is undergoing its demise, drip by drip, day by day, and its practitioners, which include most of my friends in life, are under considerable pressure. In my opinion, however, these pressures do not excuse the treatment accorded Sarah Palin. On the contrary, to me the entire Sarah saga revealed that it wasn't only the traditional media's business model that is broken. Our journalism model is busted, too. In the 2008 election, we took sides, straight and simple, particularly with regard to the vice presidential race. I don't know that we played a decisive role in that campaign, and I'm not saying the better side lost. What I am saying is that we simply didn't hold Joe Biden to the same standard as Sarah Palin, and for me, the real loser in this sordid tale is my chosen profession.

* * * * *

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/07/08/

sarah-barracuda-palin-and-the-piranhas-of-the-press/

Posted by Happy at 07/12/2009 @ 11:50am
From the LA Times, Hopey and Changey need not apply:

Editorial

Ambassadorships for sale

Fifteen of Obama's 62 ambassador nominees were campaign money 'bundlers.' Appointments should be based on merit, not fundraising.

July 12, 2009

When candidate Barack Obama spoke of change, we thought he meant a new way of doing business, but apparently he also meant coinage. Because President Obama has kept the unsavory tradition of doling out some of the cushiest ambassadorial posts to fundraisers who brought in some of the biggest chunks of change to his campaign. Fifteen of the 62 ambassadors nominated so far were money "bundlers" for the campaign, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, among them Pittsburgh Steelers owner Daniel M. Rooney, retired Chicago investment banker Louis B. Susman and Los Angeles entertainment executive Charles H. Rivkin....

Posted by Happy at 07/12/2009 @ 11:56am
and mr. mccain would have done ¿what?

happy, hypocrisy is very karma-heavy...

Posted by frosty zoom at 07/12/2009 @ 12:09pm
<i>Posted by Wolfgang1 at 07/12/2009 @ 09:00am </i>

Clint Eastwood holds office? Seriously? That's simultaneously hysterical and terrifying.

Posted by Thrawn at 07/12/2009 @ 12:19pm
Recently, after an attempt to reconnect with relatives, I criticized a point my cousin raised in a FaceBook posting of an outrageous set-piece in the LA Times. The subject was Israeli usage of Palestinian property in the West Bank.

Rather than argue the issues, I was attacked as (paraphrasing) an "intolerant liberal. You'll have to forgive him"

Mr. or Mrs. BigPasture seems to have the similar habit of calling criticism intolerance. I was not intolerant, I was merely critical, pointing out a view I considered more balanced. That led to more condemnation and the enlistment of further relatives. I was treated like a wasp in a beehive. Therefore I retreated.

Sarah Palin is supported by those who support Biblical Literalism and its attendant withcrafts and demon-chasing.

Come on. She's patently not the brightest bulb in the socket.

Posted by delonix at 07/12/2009 @ 1:13pm
...the Wasalla librarian can attest for her brushes with Saint Sarah's 200-proof big-titted Stalinism.

Posted by PhilMcCrevice at 07/12/2009 @ 07:16am

Absolutely priceless! I can see this becoming a graphic novel.....

Posted by Dwight Wall at 07/12/2009 @ 1:50pm
RIO, Sarah may campaign for...

"Demoncrats"?!!??!?!?!?....

WASHINGTON -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said she's not only staying involved in national politics, but she plans to jump back into the national scrum when she leaves office at the end of the month.

The former Republican vice presidential nominee said she plans to write a book, campaign for political candidates from coast to coast _ even Democrats who share her views on limited government, national defense and energy independence _ and build a right-of-center coalition.

"I will go around the country on behalf of candidates who believe in the right things, regardless of their party label or affiliation," she said during an interview published Sunday in The Washington Times."

LOL

Posted by Mask at 07/12/2009 @ 3:19pm
"Absolutely priceless! I can see this becoming a graphic novel....."

Posted by Dwight Wall at 07/12/2009 @ 1:50pm

Word, Dwight. But one cannot invent these things better than the Palins just fart them out as the natural exhaust of their inferiority.

Think of it: Nazis and The Kremlin and Religious Fundementalists have tried in their various ways across the past century to divide Americans against each other.

But, as Rove protegee Steven Schmidt has already said with great agitation, Ayatollah Todd Palin is willing to see all that anti-Americanism and then raise the Nazis-Kremlin-Fundies hugely by going all activist and insisting that Alaska should exit the union! He hates America that fucking mush. And Saint Sarah Barrquitta SUPPORTS ALL THAT, in her very own words, although she has proven better at quitting positions in which she is demonstrably over her head than in getting Alaska to quit USA.

It tells normal red-blooded Americans what Saint Sarah Barraquitta's self-hating (de-)base really believes about our nation.

Posted by PhilMcCrevice at 07/12/2009 @ 5:15pm
"What is even funnier is they BOTH "outscore "Gore, Kerry, Kennedy etc. achademically and intellectually and many other Demoncrat politicians! The problem is they speak from a christian morality base which so offends the elitists of the left!

Posted by BigPasture at 07/10/2009 @ 4:53pm | ignore this person | warn this person "

Seriously? In what world?

Posted by pizzmoe at 07/12/2009 @ 5:41pm
Seriously? In what world?

Posted by pizzmoe at 07/12/2009 @ 5:41pm

Out in the big pasture, apparently. With all the other bullshit.

Posted by Malcontent at 07/12/2009 @ 7:16pm
ilyakuryakin-You seem to be the laughing stock of the planet.Your posts are nothing more than juvenile and quite pointless nonsense filled with mindless anger as you throw one tantrum after another..Rather than doing nothing,but whining and complaining why don't you run for something and show us how easy it is to make life perfect for all.Every country that has elections elects the same types of people so the rest of the planet needs to clean up it's own back yard and then get back to us.In the mean time may I recommend anger management classes..You should get together with barry25.You two are quite compatible.

Posted by i'm nobody at 07/12/2009 @ 9:40pm
Clint Eastwood holds office? Seriously? That's simultaneously hysterical and terrifying.

Posted by Thrawn at 07/12/2009 @ 12:19pm

kinda like st. ronnie.

Posted by frosty zoom at 07/12/2009 @ 10:20pm
ilyakuryakin-You mean that the rest of the world is too stupid to figure out what democracy is all by themselves?I've met many people from other countries and they did not seem to be that stupid.Maybe it's just you and the people you know.Hang out with a more intelligent crowd.

Posted by i'm nobody at 07/12/2009 @ 10:33pm
Clint Eastwood? He couldn't carry St. Ronnie's drivel cup!

Posted by koroviev at 07/12/2009 @ 10:43pm
What is dumb about being famous?

The fame-makers, that's what. There's a huge MSM market to be tapped. Journalists competing for her attention.

I don't blame Palin at all for going for it, nor do I blame Paris Hilton. Good for them. It's got to be a huge, addictive rush.

It's the MSM folks.

Posted by winyahn at 07/12/2009 @ 11:58pm
Who would want to carry RRs drivel cup? It runneth over, surely. That man was totally full of it.

Posted by A_Pax_On_Your_Houses at 07/13/2009 @ 12:24am
Sarah announces her my endorsement is For Sale career ...

"I will go around the country on behalf of candidates who believe in the right things, regardless of their party label or affiliation," she said over lunch in her downtown office, 40 miles from her now-famous hometown of Wasilla -- population 7,000 -- where she began her political career.

"People are so tired of the partisan stuff -- even my own son is not a Republican," said Mrs. Palin ..."

Big Bucks candidates will undoubtedly be weighing her value.

Posted by sloper at 07/13/2009 @ 03:01am
ilyakuryakin-Whining and ranting on here is your dream and is worthwhile?Venezuela values humanity.You are hysterical.

Posted by i'm nobody at 07/13/2009 @ 2:53pm
Posted by IlyaKuryakin at 07/13/2009 @ 2:34pm

So basically you're just here kibitzing the game?

Posted by Mask at 07/13/2009 @ 2:54pm
ilya-No country values humanity.

Posted by i'm nobody at 07/13/2009 @ 3:37pm
CSM views the biased prejudiced liberal fueled media for what it is and has been concerning Palin;

'Let's call it what it is: sexism in the media. No matter your political stripe, pundits are skewering Sarah Palin. Again. Back in the media spotlight for announcing her resignation as governor July 3, she's become easy fodder for misogynistic bashing.

During the presidential campaign, the press bombarded her with stereotypes that already plague us as a gender – airhead, stupid, not qualified. And no, the media weren't picking on her just because she was a former beauty contestant. If Governor Palin was crucified, Hillary Rodham Clinton was slaughtered. Here, a woman of substance, education, and strength was portrayed as weepy, dowdy, and shrewish.

In a commentary this past week on the Huffington Post, Peter Daou qualifies the reasons for such bashing: "Unlike Clinton, Palin didn't have time to develop the layers of thick skin required to handle the withering glare of the national celeb/politico spotlight, a glare that for some reason shines much more harshly on women like Palin and Clinton."

Some reason? Please. Read the word "women" above and know the truth of it. While it may be true that Palin wasn't "seasoned" enough to bear the spotlight, that "withering glare" shines on all women, no matter who they are. Even the venerable New York Times stooped to this superficial level when Condoleezza Rice was chosen by President Bush as national security adviser. A front-page story featured her clothing selection – that she preferred comfortable pumps and conservative jewelry.

Posted by BigPasture at 07/13/2009 @ 4:22pm
My point is that women, no matter their political leanings, can't seem to get a fair – or balanced – shake from the press. It's the damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't scenario, especially for female politicians. This treatment of women in politics, however, is representative of a greater problem: the rampant sexist portrayal of women and girls in general. Whether it's the derisive terms and demeaning depictions in rap and hip-hop music and videos, or the barely dressed women adorning the stages of game shows, sexist ideas and imagery abound in the mass media."

Funny how leftist are sexist, racist, biased, and continually prejudiced but just don't take of the blinders to see what hypocrits they really are!

Posted by BigPasture at 07/13/2009 @ 4:24pm
bigpasture-Words like racist and sexist no longer have meaning because people like yourself use them improperly and are nothing more than meaningless name calling.

Posted by i'm nobody at 07/13/2009 @ 4:28pm
bigpasture-What has been said about Palin is no different than what you say about Hillary and Obama.Does that make you a racist/sexist?

Posted by i'm nobody at 07/13/2009 @ 4:31pm
FACT: Sarah is hot! Did I just say that?! But what a bitch!

Posted by Tiger2Lover at 07/14/2009 @ 04:02am
People make postings here saying that the GOP seems to speak with one voice and I don't know why they conclude that to be the case. It doesn't appear to me that it is.

Posted by sjchermak at 07/11/2009 @ 05:02am

Hey, I didn't make that statement. Happy did. Happy said that you should never criticize another Republican. Take it up with him.

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/14/2009 @ 04:30am
Hypothetical question:

Suppose I was standing around with a bunch of my neighbors and one of them mentions that the couple across the street just took in a black teenage boy as a foster child.

Suppose again that upon hearing this I said, "Well you better start locking everything you got because he's obviously a theif."

And also suppose that a month later, he is arrested for theft.

Does his arrest mean that I'm not an ignorant biggot? No, it does not. A person who thinks they can tell a thief by looking at the color of his skin is an ignorant bigot.

From the moment Palin was announced, the collective voices of the mainstream media bashed her as stupid. "Six years to get through college?" "A communications degree?" Katie Couric's mission to "expose" her. She doesn't read the paper. She's a hunter?!?!? etc.

After several months in the spotlight, we got a clearer picture and it turned out she wasn't the same caliber as most Washington politicians.

Does that mean the MSM isn't littered with ignorant bigots? No it does not.

In my experience the biggest difference between Liberals and Conservatives is intellectual arrogance. I know that Liberals hold different political opinions from me because they have different values and because they have different life experiences that give them a different perception of reality.

Generally, Liberals know that people hold Conservative opinions because they are stupid and evil.

The MSM didn't report on Palin; they looked for proof of stupidity and like all self-fulfiling prophecies, the managed to find what they were looking for.

Palin wasn't the next Regan. That doesn't mean the MSM is fair. On the contrary, they are incredibly biased and blind to their own bigotry.

Posted by Darin_the_Big_Fat_Troll at 07/14/2009 @ 11:22am
And I still defend McCain's choosing Palin as a smart strategy.

Malcolm Gladwell is the author of "The Tipping Point" and most recently "Outliers". He wrote this in the New Yorker a while back:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/ 2009/05/11/090511fa_fact_gladwell

How David Beats Goliath: When underdogs break the rules. by Malcolm Gladwell

This is a story of a real shitty twelve-year old girls' basketball team. Every team they played had more experence, talent, and althletic ability than them. But they ended up making it to the championship game by running a full court press on every play. They probably would have won the championship, but the ref decided he'd had enough and called fouls on every in-bound pass until the coach called off the press and they lost.

McCain was a mega-underdog in this race. he had nothing to lose by picking the woman with the most executive experience he could find because he was certain to lose with any conventional VP pick. The two female republican governors were AK and CT. He went with AK. And he lost, but he would have lost with Ridge, Sanford, Pawlenty, Lieberman, Huckabee, Romney, Keyes, etc.

Yeah, he fell short, but at least he went down swinging.

Posted by Darin_the_Big_Fat_Troll at 07/14/2009 @ 11:41am
One quick point: Gladwell's subtitle should be, "When underdogs break established conventions." The things Gladwell is talking about aren't really "rules" in that rules are enforceable and conventions are not.

Posted by Darin_the_Big_Fat_Troll at 07/14/2009 @ 12:04pm
"Generally, Liberals know that people hold Conservative opinions because they are stupid and evil."

Darin, give me a break. This is tripe. You are above this. Happy just made a post IN THIS THREAD, that said that conservatives are essentially supposed to all be smarter than liberals. Looks like you aren't all fair minded. Some of you are just ignorant bigots like the rest. You paint with a very broad brush which never works. Just like your perceptions about all Californians, this is just equally as wrong. I can point to many conservatives who think all liberals are stupid.

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/14/2009 @ 4:45pm
"Generally, Liberals know that people hold Conservative opinions because they are stupid and evil."

Darin, give me a break. This is tripe. You are above this. Happy just made a post IN THIS THREAD, that said that conservatives are essentially supposed to all be smarter than liberals. Looks like you aren't all fair minded. Some of you are just ignorant bigots like the rest. You paint with a very broad brush which never works. Just like your perceptions about all Californians, this is just equally as wrong. I can point to many conservatives who think all liberals are stupid.

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/14/2009 @ 4:46pm
McCain was a mega-underdog in this race. he had nothing to lose by picking the woman with the most executive experience he could find because he was certain to lose with any conventional VP pick. The two female republican governors were AK and CT. He went with AK. And he lost, but he would have lost with Ridge, Sanford, Pawlenty, Lieberman, Huckabee, Romney, Keyes, etc.

Yeah, he fell short, but at least he went down swinging.

Posted by Darin_the_Big_Fat_Troll at 07/14/2009 @ 11:41am

This right here, is proof that not all conservatives think so highly of everyone else. You basically just said he picked a woman because he thought women were dumb enough to vote for him just because he had a woman on the ticket. Sounds like he really respects his constituents.

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/14/2009 @ 4:49pm
Wise up folks. Sarah was "picked" by the Council for National Policy at a secret meeting in Minneapolis while the Democratic Convention was going on in Denver. Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention takes credit for the "choice" of Palin.

Posted by burlofski at 07/16/2009 @ 12:09am

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Sarah Palin's Elite Apologists

posted by Eyal Press on 07/10/2009 @ 3:23pm

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Eyal Press (Posts | Bio)

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Leslie Savan (Posts | Bio)

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Sarah Palin's Elite Apologists

posted by Eyal Press on 07/10/2009 @ 3:23pm

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About the Authors

Adam Howard (Posts | Bio)

Ari Melber (Posts | Bio)

Ari Berman (Posts | Bio)

Betsy Reed (Posts | Bio)

Christopher Hayes (Posts | Bio)

Dave Zirin (Posts | Bio)

D.D. Guttenplan (Posts | Bio)

Emily Douglas (Posts | Bio)

Esther Kaplan (Posts | Bio)

Eyal Press (Posts | Bio)

Jon Wiener (Posts | Bio)

Laura Flanders (Posts | Bio)

Leslie Savan (Posts | Bio)

Maria Margaronis (Posts | Bio)

Melissa Harris-Lacewell (Posts | Bio)

Richard Kim (Posts | Bio)

Roane Carey (Posts | Bio)

Zephyr Teachout (Posts | Bio)

Archives

» The Beat

» The Notion

» Altercation

» Editor's Cut

» The Dreyfuss Report

» Act Now!