Thursday, December 31, 2009

Quote of the Day (December 31, 2009)

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Mike McCarville:
"Some folks (Democrats and Republicans) view Sarah Palin as a dummy...lightweight...not too bright. Let's make sure I understand this: She vacated a $125,000 per year job as Alaska governor to work a $5 million book contract. Wish I could be that dumb."
- JP

Palin Blog Awards for 2009

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We present our purely arbitrary Palin Blog Awards, as Texas for Sarah Palin recognizes some of our fellow bloggers for their outstanding work in 2009.

New Media Technology Award: Lisa Graas, editor of Palin Twibe Blog, for incorporating Twitter as a powerful and complimentary tool for blogging.

More Than a Blog Award: Conservatives for Palin - What started out as a blog is now much more than a blog. C4P is also a forum and a social networking site for Palinistas.

Sarah Smile Award: Whitney's The LOTUS (Laptop of the United States), is creative, humorous and very well written.

Keeper of the Faith Award: Adrienne Ross at Motivation Truth, who like Sarah Palin, always practices what she preaches.

Dedicated to Sarah Award: We know of no blogger more dedicated and harder working than Ron Devito at Sarah Palin's Accomplishments. Ron excels at multi-tasking, as anyone who's ever had a phone conversation with him can affirm. ;-)

Hardest Hitting Blog Award: Gary P. Jackson's A Time For Choosing. Gary doesn't pull any punches.

Best New Blog Award: Rachelle Friberg's Conservative Girl With a Voice. Rachelle has a masters degree in journalism, and it shows in her excellent writing.

Best Palin Blog of 2009: That, dear readers, is for you to decide.

Each and every Palin blog is unique and reflects the editor and contributors who make it so. Each and every Palin blog, blogger and contributor deserves an award for helping to get the truth out about Sarah Palin. We wish we had time to recognize each one individually here, but we don't. These blogs are, however, listed in the links sections in the column to your right. Each one is worth your visit.

- JP

Best Palin Tribute Videos of 2009

- by Lisa Graas
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Happy New Year's Eve! Let's have a bit of fun and recap some Palin tribute videos from the previous year!

I admit that I'm not a huge fan of tribute videos even when they are in honor of my favorite politician, Sarah Palin, but these are a means for some to express their feelings of admiration, whether in creating them or viewing them. I "get it", and I rather enjoy some of the Palin Tribute videos that came out in 2009, both as a musician and as a Palin admirer. I've included some of my favorites below.....but first, let's examine a very intriguing one.

'Sarah Palin's Political Odyssey', a photo slideshow set to serious music (Everyday by Carly Comando) offered at YouTube by wnwhite, really made me think. Many of you may not realize that I am a celibate person. Yes, it's true that I'm a mommy of four, but since my divorce I have become far closer to God and I've completely embraced the celibate life. (I'm also a Passionist Oblate Associate.) When I say that I have embraced celibacy, I mean that I love being celibate. Celibacy is a positive, nurturing thing for me in my walk with God and I really and truly do not think in sexual/physical terms at all. I see the Song of Songs far differently than the vast majority of people, for instance. It is, for me, a song of the relationship of God with my soul. I have no earthly spouse, nor do I have the slightest desire for one because all my needs are fulfilled by God. Because of this, it is natural for me to see others just as I would see a brother, a sister, my parents or my children. It's for this reason that I don't understand the sexualization of famous people, particularly politicians like Barack Obama and Sarah Palin who are both very good-looking people, truth be told. It confuses me immeasurably to see the fascination with sexuality in our culture.

I think the first video below highlights Sarah Palin's "sex appeal" too much........but since it is set to serious music, it makes one wonder what the intent is here. Personally, it made me uncomfortable because it seems to be saying, even without using words, that the fact that Sarah Palin is a beautiful woman is something that should concern us. My support for Sarah Palin has nothing whatsoever to do with her appearance, so this video, to be blunt, just confused the hell out of me. I don't know the purpose of it. Perhaps I don't want to know. Is it a positive video, or a negative one? I have no idea. You decide.



Now, let's have some fun. For country music lovers, Stand, by piper4444205



Ready for Conservatism? Palin in 2012 -- a brief but very nice video in the form of a political ad from sepersr



Is it because she's 'just a girl'? This one pokes fun at the media, from purpleporter



Next, a tribute in commentary, from both friend and foe, courtesy of sarahpalinrockon.



I'm not a country music lover, but this song I like -- Days Go By, by 2k5hockey



Remember when Going Rogue became available for pre-order and there was an onslaught of orders? This video, uploaded at YouTube on October 1 by MisPlacedLoyalties was a DELIGHT to me that week........and I still love it.



YouTube user D0VVNT0VVN writes, "I'm only in my twenties but I think I now have an idea what it was like when Reagan first came on to the national stage. I made this video in tribute to Sarah." I'm sharing  D0VVNT0VVN's tribute with you primarily because of the music as it includes the song that was played when she was introduced in Dayton, August, 2008. I think the song has "Sarah Palin" written all over it. I don't know the title, though, and ask for readers to enlighten me.



Finally, my favorite Sarah Palin tribute video of the year -- America, by ifyoucanbenice, but it's important that I explain why. Admittedly, when I first saw this video, it repelled me. Now I count it as the best. Don't get me wrong. I never believed that there was anything inherently wrong with this video. I was disturbed through my own grievous fault. It was my resentment for the way we Catholics are criticized by our protestant brethren for our deep love for the saints that caused me to be repelled.

Catholics understand that God calls ordinary people to do very extraordinary things. We love the saints not for their own sakes, but for their selfless response to the grace that God has poured out to them to become the people He created them to be. We have images of these saints to remind us of this greatness. This video, with its powerful imagery, was sent to me by a protestant who, quite likely, would be critical of the use of such imagery if the subject were a Catholic saint. That is why I was repelled by it initially. Now, I understand that my resentment was not a holy thing.

If you have read Going Rogue, you know that Sarah Palin has been inspired to become the person that God has called her to be, and her story has, in turn, inspired many others to understand that in their own lives. The reason we love Sarah Palin is not for Sarah Palin's sake. Yes, the snow machines are cool and the moose chili is a novelty to us and the high heels are fun........but these things are not what drive our support. We love Sarah Palin for responding to what God has called her to be even when, as with her resignations from the Oil and Gas Commission and from the Governor's Office, it very well might have destroyed her politically. Despite unprecedented criticism, legal complaints and even the burning of her church, Sarah Palin treads onward. There's much more to it than her willingness to do the right thing, though. If it were only that, she would best serve as a motivational speaker or a spiritual minister. No, it is also her love for America.

America is hurting right now. America calls to each one of us passionately, therefore we long for a leader who loves America passionately. Those of us who love Sarah Palin love her primarily because we know she also hears America calling.........loud and clear. We are further emboldened by our confidence that she will answer this call to the very best of her ability. To those of us who know her actual record in Alaska rather than the ugly distortions of her record, her abilities far outshine those of others who profess interest in answering this call of America.

In my view, this video is the best expression of that understanding which those of us who have come to admire Sarah Palin all share.



It's been an interesting year. In 2010, we have the mid-term elections which will be a crucible of preparation for us as we begin our launch into 2012. Let's make the most of it. Let's all commit to remembering that God really is in charge no matter how much others may try to work against Him. He's on everyone's side. Remember that He loves both Barack Obama and Sarah Palin. He loves you and He loves America. Let's pray that all of our leaders will turn to Him for guidance and be the people God has called them to be -- servants to Him, to each other and to America.

I recommend that you check out the YouTube accounts of mikesgirl93 and AdoringPalin for more great videos about Sarah Palin.

- Lisa

Lisa Graas is editor of the Palin Twibe Blog and several other websites. She is a regular contributor to Texas for Sarah Palin.

Sarah Palin Was Right #24: Gary P. Jackson on Energy Security

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Gary P. Jackson, in an op-ed for The Cyrpress Times, says that the Christmas Day attempt to blow an airliner and the three hundred souls aboard to Kingdom Come highlights not only our troubling homeland security issues, but the matter of energy independence (or energy security) as well. This is an issue that Sarah Palin has been trying to warn the nation about for years:
"Of course, Sarah’s message on energy independence isn’t just an economic one. Now it’s true, we send between $700 billion and $1 trillion dollars annually overseas. The problem is many times it’s to nations that not only hate us, but use our own dollars to fund efforts to undermine us as a nation. In other words, they use our dollars to fund terror, worldwide, against the United States, and our allies."
And Jackson points out that the problem of energy security is not limited to just one geographic part of the world:
"There are other nations, such as Venezuela, who are teaming up with bad actors like Iran, and Russia, forming alliances that will further weaken the United States, and her allies. These relationships will also allow Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez to exert power over weaker South American states, thus spreading communism and further destroying what freedoms people in that region have. It will be a disaster."
All of which makes Sarah Palin's advocacy for domestic oil and gas drilling more than just common sense conservatism:
"Back in August the big talk was Petrobas, and the huge deal Obama made with the Brazilian Oil Giant. Obama “loaned” Petrobas $10 billion American tax payer dollars so they could drill offshore, something Obama and his thugs fight tooth and nail against in our own country."

"America is rich in oil, right off our own coast line, but we are told we will literally destroy the world, and all of mankind, plus all of the fishes in the sea, and the polar bears, of course, if we dare to drill for that oil."

"This made me wonder why, if drilling for our oil would be such a disaster, could one drill off the coast of Brazil without such harmful effects..."

"You see literally just days before our most corrupt president in the nation’s history was so generous with our money, his boss, George Soros, became the major stockholder in Petrobas! In fact, it became Soros’ largest holding. Funny how having Soros involved made all of the environmental concerns go away..."
But, as Jackson says, there’s much more, and you can read it all here.

- JP

Conservative Symposium Promotional Video

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Tea Party Support has made a video to promote its National Conservative Symposium, which is scheduled for January 22nd through the 24th in San Antonio. Sarah Palin is one of several featured speakers for the event, but the video leaves no doubt which of the speakers will be the main attraction:



h/t: Jim Hoft

- JP

A Ghostwriter Reviews Sarah Palin's 'Going Rogue'

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Clayton Cramer, an author who has some experience as a professional ghostwriter, has a review of Going Rogue up at Pajamas Media and found, to his surprise, that while Lynn Vincent may have helped her with the memoir, Sarah Palin did indeed write it:
"In a few places, I noticed sentences with 'I' instead of 'me' for the direct object — a mistake that a professional writer wouldn’t make. There is also a bit more use of 'I'... than a professional writer might use, even in an autobiography. There are also quite a few places where her tangents in telling her story mark this as a first book; they don’t show the organization that I would expect from a professional."
Nevertheless, Cramer says, Gov. Palin wrote a good book her, especially for a first effort:
"Going Rogue is well written, and it reads quickly and easily. Unlike some other 'first books'" that I have read (and many books by academics), I almost never found myself going back over a sentence to figure out her meaning. Palin’s B.A. from the University of Idaho is in journalism and she worked as a journalist for a while." 
The reviewer also found some more surprises between the covers of Going Rogue:
"She makes a point of telling you that her administration set a goal of achieving 50% of Alaska’s energy from renewable resources by 2025. Throughout the book, she emphasizes the importance of both developing resources and protecting the environment."
What was behind the McCain campaign's problems was yet another surprise for Cramer as he read the memoir. He had assumed that the issues between the vice presidential candidate and campaign operatives were rooted in ideology. Instead, he concludes that McCain's people were merely incompetent and were worried about their prospects of getting hired to work on future campaigns. There was, however, at least one circumstance where ideology was at work:
"It appears that a left-wing mole had been planted in Palin’s campaign, a friend of Couric’s, who contributed to this disaster."
That would be Nicole Wallace, a friend of Couric's from Wallace's stint at CBS, although Cramer doesn't mention her name.

The reviewer concludes that although Sarah Palin wasn't as well-qualified as he would prefer a presidential or even vice presidential candidate to be, she still had more executive experience in government than Obama, Biden and even McCain. We agree with his point that "many years in Congress are no substitute for executive experience."

Cramer adds that he would prefer a candidate for one of the top two jobs in the federal government who is more of an intellectual than is Palin. However he acknowledges that...
"... the incredibly ignorant goofs by President Obama (there is no 'Austrian' language, Emperor Hirohito did not sign the surrender with General MacArthur, the United States did not invent the automobile) show that this isn’t a job requirement."
Read the complete book review at Pajamas Media.

- JP

Don Surber: Sarah Palin, Man of the Year

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Charleston Daily Mail blogger Don Surber has named Sarah Palin "Man of the Year" for 2009:
There can be only one man of the year — Sarah Palin. In the pantheon of people who stood up this year for that which is right, no one else stood taller or looked better.

She endured the most and came to symbolize the majority of American citizens who are stunned by the attempt to rapidly dismantle this great nation of ours and transform it into another Euro-weenie socialist country that apologizes for trying to save the rest of the world over the years.

[...]

She is genuine. Her beliefs in freedom, in independence and in community service reflect how she was raised. She does not hide who she is. There are no ulterior motives. There is no one underneath her bus.
Read Don Surber's "Man of the Year" post unabridged here.

- JP

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Quote of the Day (December 30, 2009)

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Missouri State Senate candidate Cynthia Davis, on her GOP primary contest against incumbent Scott Rupp:
"I guess the best way to describe this race is I’m more like Sarah Palin and he’s more like John McCain."
- JP

Team Sarah Prayer Vigil for Rush (Updated)

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A short time ago, we recieved this e-mail from Bill Collier of Team Sarah:
A message to all members of Team Sarah

Team,

I come to you this evening with serious news about a great American who needs our prayers.

Rush Limbaugh, champion of values such as life, liberty, and the free market, was rushed to the hospital in Hawaii this evening and, according to reports, may be in "serious" condition.

Appranetly, pramedics were called when Rush complained of chest pains and he has been taken to an area hospital.

Members of Team Sarah in the Rush Limbaugh Fans for Sarah Group are following this and you can visit their group to learn more or to offer your own thoughts.

May God be with Ruish Limbaugh and his friends and family, and at this critical hour when voices such as his are refreshing and badly needed, may God be with his fans and the nation.

The URL for the group is here.

May Rush recover quickly,

Bill Collier
Team Sarah Governace
More on Rush from the Associated Press at Andrew Breitbart's website, and from KITV here.

We join with Team Sarah and have Rush in our thoughts and prayers.

First Update: According to a statement released by Rush's chief of staff Kit Carson, El Rushbo is "resting comfortably":
"Rush was admitted to and is resting comfortably in a Honolulu hospital today after suffering chest pains," the statement said. "Rush appreciates your prayers and well wishes and will keep you updated via rushlimbaugh.com and on his radio program."
Second Update: A YouTube of Rush's Jan 1 press conference is here.

- JP

More awards, titles and nominations for Sarah Palin

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'Tis that time of the year when lists, awards and nominations flourish for "_____ of the Year"  (insert appropriate title in the blank).

Among Gallup's Top 10 Intriguing Poll Findings of the year, the polling organization includes The Rise of Sarah Palin:
"Last year’s vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, has clearly become one of the winningest veep losers. At least among Republicans. Palin is the runaway winner when Republicans were asked by Gallup this month to name the living woman they most admire. Her favorable rating among Republicans is a robust 79%. In one poll in November, Palin was the leader for the 2012 race among Republicans. Her book remains the number one hardcover best seller on The New York Times best seller list."
Earlier this week, MSNBC talk show host Ed Schultz pronounced Governor Palin the big Political Winner of 2009. Given the network's leftist bent, there must have been pandemonium in the halls of NBC over that one.

Over the weekend, Gov. Palin received nominations from each of The McLaughlin Group's panelists. Pat Buchanan named her as his choice for Biggest Winner of 2009. Clarence Page nominated Sarah Palin (and President Obama in a tie) for Most Charismatic person of the year, and he singled out the 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate for Comeback of the year. Finally, the former governor was Eleanor Clift's pick for Capitalist of the year.

And around mid-December on PJTV's "Trifecta" program, Scott Ott picked Sarah Palin for Person of the Decade, even though she has been in the national spotlight for less than two years. Bill Whittle nominated George W. Bush, and Steve Green's choice was Dick Cheney.

Update: Add another "Comeback of the Year" honor to the list of awards given to Sarah Palin at year's end. It's from FOX News as part of its Best and Worst Politics of 2009.

- JP

Sarah Palin Inpresses The Conservative Deist at Book Signing

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Professor Michael Valle, editor of The Conservative Deist, attended a Going Rogue book signing event earlier this month and came away impressed by the "powerful presence" of the former governor.

The good professor is not one of those pushing Sarah Palin to run for president in 2012...
"...but I have tremendous respect for her. Her most important role is that of a life, a meaning, a symbol. She represents and embodies powerful ideas. She is a powerful, independent woman who rose from humble circumstances to achieve greatness. She lives her values and honors tradition. She is a warrior, she could live off of the land during the Zombie Apocalypse, and she embodies the spirit of those who went West in search of adventure."
The full post is here.

- JP

Going Rogue is #3 in SF Bay Area

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Sarah Palin's Going Rogue is the number three bestseller in the very liberal Bay Area. All the more impressive, says Weasel Zippers, because many bookstores in the area refuse to stock it.

Meanwhile, millions of liberals across the nation have purchased Gov. Palin's book. We know this because the book has sold millions of copies, and Joy Behar says that Sarah Palin’s "base doesn’t even read." And "smart" liberals like Joy are never wrong... are they?

- JP

Sarah Palin Was Right: Conservative Brother on Profiling

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Conservative Brother, at Wake up Black America, says "you betcha" to Sarah Palin's "profile away":
Back in November, Sarah drove the appeasers up the wall in an interview conducted by Matt Continetti. Her comments came a few days after the Fort Hood terrorist attack in which the radical Muslim Major Nidal Malik Hasan killed 13 soldiers while wounding 30. These are the comments Sarah Palin made in her interview with Matt Continetti.

Sarah Palin "There were such clear, obvious, massive warning signs that were missed. This terrorist, even having business cards" that identified him as an "SoA" or soldier of Allah." Palin blamed a culture of political correctness and other decisions that "prevented -- I'm going to say it -- profiling" of someone with Hasan's extremist ideology. "I say, profile away". " Such political correctness "could be our downfall." If the upcoming investigations into the attack reveal bad decision-making on the part of senior officials, Palin continued, those officials ought to be fired".

No doubt those on the left considered Palin to be an even further right wing hate monger for her "closed minded remarks", however it appears that Sarah Palin's words have come home to bear fruit.
Read Tyrone's full post here.

- JP

Poll: Hillary and Sarah are the women Americans admire most

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Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin are the two women Americans admire the most, our friend Andrew Malcolm reports:
Are American voters dropping a hint here?

According to a new survey just released by USA Today and the Gallup Poll, the 62-year-old Clinton barely beat out the 45-year-old Palin as the most admired female -- 16% to 15% in a poll of 1,025 adult Americans.

However, since the poll has a margin of error of +/- 4 points, it's statistically a P-C draw. The survey was open-ended, meaning men and women respondents had to provide the names by themselves.

Not that public admiration necessarily translates to votes. But the results have to set off any political spectator's eager imagination about a future presidential ballot match-up between the pair, who are politically polar opposites, both outspoken, both often under-estimated and both beloved by their respective bases.
First Lady Michelle Obama finished back in fourth place, just behind Oprah Winfrey. Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Queen Elizabeth II finished in a tie for fifth.

The list of most admired men, according to the poll, was topped by President Obama, followed by former President George W. Bush, who is enjoying something of a surge in popularity as Americans prove that Joni Mitchell was right -- "You don't know what you got till it's gone." Nelson Mandela was third, Glenn Beck fourth, Pope Benedict XVI fifth and the Rev. Billy Graham sixth.

- JP

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Quote of the Day (December 29, 2009)

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Dennis Ingolfsland, on the Underwear Bomber's warning that there are "hundreds more" just like him simmering in Yemen:
"I don't know about you, but I would feel much more at ease if Sarah Palin and that old guy... were running the country."
- JP

Sarah Palin is Reloading

- by Lisa Graas
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Hats off to Jim Bailey, a columnist with The Herald Bulletin in Anderson, IN, for an insightful overview of Sarah Palin's history on the national stage. In a piece aptly entitled "Sarah Palin is Reloading", Bailey provides a synopsis for Herald Bulletin readers beginning with her resignation and incorporating anecdotes from her book, Going Rogue: An American Life.
"With the McCain-Palin campaign trailing to start with and making little headway as it heated up, it is difficult to imagine how turning a maverick loose could have caused further harm.

"And with the media complying with Barack Obama’s request to leave his family alone, Palin was understandably chagrined at probes and swipes at her own family."
Bailey ends with this good piece of advice.
"Don’t count her out just yet. As her father, Chuck Heath Sr., said, 'Sarah’s not retreating; she’s reloading.'"
- Lisa

Lisa Graas is editor of the Palin Twibe Blog and several other websites. She is a regular contributor to Texas for Sarah Palin.

Sullivan stalks Arctic Fox; comes up empty (again)

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Poor Andrew Sullivan. Having made himself a laughing stock thanks to his obsession with the birth of Sarah Palin's youngest son, Silly Sully decided it was time for a new approach. So the Wyle E. Coyote of the blogosphere took a shot at the former governor on the issue of energy and suffered an FTF (FAILURE To Fire).

The deranged daily disher served up another howler when he tried to tout the "expertise" of his go-to guy on energy:
"Lie after lie after lie after lie. Don't take my word for it. That's the analysis of Richard Fineberg, whose credentials are as follows..."
Oops! Don't take Sully's supposed expert guy's word for it, either. As Dan Riehl points out:
"Fineberg's credentials include being an anti-oil advocate, posting at the utterly ridiculous Mudflats blog, giving $450 to Obama and here he is discussing energy policy with George Soros."
Where did Sully ever find this Fineberg guy anyway -- in the Acme catalog? Sheepdog Riehl wins. Coyote Sullivan gets nuttin'.

- JP

The Alaska HateBloggers™ Fall From Grace

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In which anti-Palin HateBloggers™ -- Shannyn Moore, Jeanne Devon and Linda Kellen Biegel of Alaska -- once the darlings of the Chicago Machine, suffer EPIC FAIL in their attempts to take down The Arctic Fox, fall out of favor, are thrown under the ObamaBus, and are made to appear before a death panel:



h/t: missplacedloyalties

- JP

U.S. Rep. Steve King predicts Palin will seek 2012 GOP nomination

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Congressman Steve King (R-IA) now says he believes that Sarah Palin will throw her hat into the ring for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination. The four-term U.S. Representative also said that former Governor Palin is one of only a few political figures who could win his state's first-in-the-nation Republican caucuses.

Rep. King's statements reflect a change in opinion on his part regarding the 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate:
King said Tuesday he initially thought Palin ended her political career when she resigned as governor last summer. But he said during a taping of an Iowa Public Television show that she's now in a far stronger position to succeed.
The Iowa congressman also said that Gov. Palin's Going Rogue book tour has brought her widespread attention, and he praised her political instincts.

Another one Palinized...

- JP

Pelosi's Hawaii vacation a contrast to Sarah Palin's

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From American Thinker editor and publisher Thomas Lifson:
In stark contrast to Sarah Palin, whose Hawaii vacation was photographed and touted in the press, Speaker Nancy Pelosi is enjoying a very private luxurious time at the Four Seasons Hualalai resort on the Big Island.
One thing the Speaker can't be criticized for is her generosity with the taxpayers' dollars to the Capitiol Hill police, some members of which she took along with her to the American Playground of the Pacific to keep the riffraff (a.k.a. taxpayers) away. Nice work if you can get it... 

- JP

The Circus Comes to Alaska: Two Judges Rule in Custody Case

- By Thomas Lamb
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First to the posting of the custody files on the Anchorage Daily News (ADN)...

The ADN has become nothing more than a hack liberal website that is just one step above the fringe bloggers here in Alaska.

They are going to cover the circus that will take place in the custody battle between Levi Johnston and Bristol Palin.

And there are two judges that have had their hand in this circus that is about to take place...

(More)

Read the rest at Red County.

- Tom

Thomas Lamb is the editor of It's a Kwazy Life and is a contributor to Red County and Texas for Sarah Palin.

Sarah Palin Named a Top Conservative on Hawkins List

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At Townhall.com, John Hawkins pronounces Sarah Palin one of the Top 10 conservatives of 2009:
"Her book tour was a tremendous success, not only in the book-selling department, but in repairing her image. Moreover, she was one of the most effective Republican voices in the health care debate and in an innovative move, she did it from her Facebook page. If Sarah Palin can be as successful in 2010 and 2011 as she was in 2009, we may be calling her President Palin in 2012."
The former governor was #4 on Hawkins' list, after talker Glenn Beck (#3), AcornBusters James O'Keefe & Hannah Giles (#2) and The Tea Party Movement (#1).

Hawkins is well known in conservative circles for his list-making. This one is, of course, just one man's opinion. We have no doubt, for example, that Sarah Palin supporters will agree with us that she should have been ranked higher. And Mark Levin fans have good reason to complain as well. His name is not on the list, despite the fact that his top selling book Liberty and Tyranny was one of the major conservative releases which had a significant impact in 2009. And God bless the courageous Carrie Prejean, but should she really be ranked ahead of Jim Demint, Rush Limbaugh, Marco Rubio and Andrew Breitbart on a list of the top conservatives of the year?

The complete list, with Hawkins' commentary, is here.

- JP

Monday, December 28, 2009

Quote of the Day (December 28, 2009)

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Colony 14:
"Although some criticized her for it, Palin’s resignation was in fact a brilliant move. Any attacks on her now will be instantly identifiable as what they are—personal attacks. If the liberals spend the next three years attacking her personally, Palin will come out the winner. She will receive support for being attacked relentlessly for no apparent reason. But Palin is certainly not defenseless. Those circling around her should know that when you continually jab and pester a barracuda, at some point… without warning… it will spin around and tear your face off."
- JP

Research 2000: Palin will be the 2012 GOP Nominee

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At The Hill's Pundits Blog, Bernie Quigley looks ahead and sees four rising stars outshining all the others. They are the GOP's Sarah Palin, Rick Perry and Mitt Romney, plus the Democrats' William Daley.

Concerning Sarah Palin, Quigley has this to say:
She was seen from the very beginning as a rising star — a cultural awakener similar to Andrew Jackson — bringing a whole new cultural paradigm to the political process; a new heartland spirit of individualism and self reliance as per Emerson and Barry Goldwater. The widespread, deep and immediate hysteria in the MSM was a sure indication that she was a threat to the old temple and would be a vital new force in the rising century. This week the non-partisan Research 2000, which conducts research and focus groups, states simply, “Palin will be the 2012 GOP Nominee.”
Quigley's complete op-ed is here.

- JP

Two New Book Reviews Are In

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We have two new reviews of Sarah Palin's Going Rogue linked up.

First, at Suite 101:
"The book itself is actually well-written and reads like a mystery with a plot that the reader already knows the ending to, but is propelled to keep reading. What’s been missing all this time from the Palin story is the beginning and the middle, the book provides both."
And at Basil and Spice:
"Regardless of one’s political leanings, I whole-heartedly believe every woman (and man) in America should read her book. Simply, she is a leading example of the founding principles of our country and all that we are capable of accomplishing. She demonstrates that faith in God, hard work, strong family values and perseverance are the core ingredients to becoming whatever, and whoever, one believes one can be. Sarah Palin is unabashedly American."
Just follow the links to the full reviews.

- JP

How you can tell that the bloom is off the rose...

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The Left is so angry with the president that even Palin-hating liberal college professors like David Michael Green are saying things like this:
"Like any good progressive, I've gone from admiration to hope to disappointment to anger when it comes to this president. Now I'm fast getting to rage." 

"How much rage? I find myself thinking that the thing I want most from the 2010 elections is for his party to get absolutely clobbered, even if that means a repeat of 1994. And that what I most want from 2012 is for him to be utterly humiliated, even if that means President Palin at the helm. That much rage."
Great job, Barry. Keep up the good work.

h/t: Dissecting Leftism

- JP

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Quote of the Day (December 27, 2009)

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Kevin Dowd (Maureen's smarter brother):
"To Sarah Palin: Keep up the good work. Anyone who annoys Keith Olbermann that much is a friend to all of us."
- JP

Christian Milord: Predictions For Palin in 2010

- By Thomas Lamb
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At Red County, Christian Milord has some predictions for Sarah Palin for 2010.  Here's just a sample of his commentary:
Although we should never expect a politician to solve our problems, or save us from life's challenges, it can't hurt to respect a politician whose values are quite similar to the Founders' principles.

From what we know about Sarah Palin, it looks like her values resonate with conservatives and independents, which make up about 70% to 80% of Americans. She has a faith in God which sustains her in her personal and professional life.

She also possesses an energy and optimism about America, which Ronald Reagan shared...
You can read Christian Milord's complete Red County article here.

- Tom

Thomas Lamb is the editor of It's a Kwazy Life and is a contributor to Red County and Texas for Sarah Palin.

Andrea Mitchell compares Sarah Palin to George Wallace

*
Democrat Party media shill Andrea Mitchell, in an appearance on NBC’s "Meet the Press" Sunday morning, continued her long-running attacks on conservatives in general and Sarah Palin in particular. RedHampshire.com reports:
This morning, Mitchell was asked about Sarah Palin and the conservative movement. Her Response?
“I have not seen this type of anger since my first campaign . . . 1968. . . with George Wallace. . . This anger that is not fact-based – just angry.”
Mitchell overlooks one small fact: Wallace was a Democrat; Sarah Palin is a Republican, and the lady from Alaska doesn't have a racist bone in her body.

Mitchell is getting even more deranged with each passing day. Her race-baiting of conservatives and baseless ad hominem attacks on Sarah Palin are growing tiresome. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reed could take lessons on leftist partisanship and character assassination from this hysterical leftist who masquerades as a journalist.

- JP

Matt Patterson: Palin Rising

*
Matt Patterson, a National Review Institute Washington fellow and author of Union of Hearts: The Abraham Lincoln & Ann Rutledge Story, admits to having been a Palin skeptic in the past. While the author admired the former governor's "considerable" political talent, he had his doubts about how much interest the 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate had in "substantive" policy issues, as well as her understanding of them. Patterson also questioned Sarah Palin's decision to resign as governor of Alaska and assumed that she was making a "potentially career-crippling" decision. In an op-ed published at Big Government, Patterson writes:
But then a funny thing happened: In November, Mrs. Palin debuted her memoir “Going Rogue” with great sales, which was not a surprise, but also with a luminous and successful press tour, which was. The interviews she gave in promotion for her book (at least the ones that I saw) were much improved from those given during the 2008 presidential campaign. Palin seemed to speak about both herself and national issues with greater verve and confidence.

Other stars are aligning for Palin:

Several of her potential rivals for the 2012 Republican nomination find themselves suddenly, perhaps fatally, compromised by recent events.
Now Patterson has an entirely different opinion of Sarah Palin than the one he harbored just a couple of months ago. He believes that she is preparing to make a serious run for the White House. And though the former governor still has work to do, Patterson says, the prospect of Sarah Palin becoming the first woman to be addressed as "Madam President" no longer seems impossible to him.

Sarah Palin continues to accomplish what is perhaps the most difficult task of her political career. She is changing people's minds about her. The full Paterson opinion piece is here.

- JP

Quote of the Day (December 26, 2009)

*
Jim’s Blog:
"If Sarah Palin is so amazingly dumb, how come she gets everything right on a complex issue, and explains it in language that the average voter can understand? Sarah Palin explains climate change, covering every issue, except for the documents directory of the climategate files, in clear, easy to understand language... The ability to make a complex and difficult topic as simple as it can be is the mark of a truly brilliant scientist. The ability to make a complex and difficult topic a little bit simpler than it can be is the mark of a truly brilliant politician."
- JP

Saturday, December 26, 2009

The Palins Pitch In

*
Todd and Sarah Palin and the kids spent a good part of their Christmas Day practicing what their faith preaches -- loving and helping their brothers and sisters. Blogs 4 Palin blogger Tracey Porreca was also lending a hand at the event, the Christmas Friendship Dinner in Wasilla, Alaska. Tracey has a great report from the dinner with lots of pictures at her blog, Finding Myself In Alaska, and it is also cross-posted at Sarah's Web Brigade.

- JP

Friday, December 25, 2009

Quote of the Day (December 25, 2009) - Updated

*
Cathy Horyn:
"I like the way she dresses. The straight skirt and white blouse, the trim jacket with an open neck and three-quarter sleeves — the look is clean, tailored and energetic. It’s businesslike without being boring, smart without being insider. You don’t need to read a fashion magazine to understand it. That was how Ms. Palin dressed on her book tour."
Update: Ms. Horyn, it seems, has stirred up a hornet's nest. How dare she!

- JP

Sarah Palin: Jesus is the Reason

*
From Sarah Palin via Twitter:
"Merry Christmas morning from the Palins! Joy,peace,rest&increased faith for you&your family this season. Jesus is the Reason for the Season!"
- JP

Thursday, December 24, 2009

TX4P: Merry Christmas!

*
From all of us here at Texas for Sarah Palin to you and yours, have a joyous Christmas!



"And, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him." - Matt. 2:9-11

- JP

Sarah Palin: Merry Christmas!

*
Christmas wishes from Sarah Palin via her Facebook Notes page:
Merry Christmas!

Todd and I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! The Palin family is blessed to all be together among family and friends this Holiday – and that is one of the greatest gifts of all. But while this is a beautiful time of the year for families and friends around the world, we recognize that it is a difficult time of the year for so many others – especially this year. May we remember all those who are lonely or in need on this blessed night, and please join us in saying a special prayer for those away from their loved ones in the service of a grateful nation. May God bless you all and continue to bless our great country.

- Sarah Palin

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” (Luke 2:14)
And, from the governor's Twitter page:
Christmas Eve greetings!God bless the holy season;pls pray for troops away from home."Glory to God in the highest...peace on earth"Luke 2:14
- JP

Quote of the Day (December 24, 2009)

*
John McCormack:
"It is perfectly clear that Palin is talking about rationing in general. She specifically made the argument that the government's refusing to pay the cost of health care will lead to rationing care, and she also wrote that her 'baby with Down Syndrome' could be affected by such rationing. How would 'end-of-life counseling' for the elderly cause the death of a disabled baby?"
- JP

Oh, Boo Hoo: Media Whines That Palin is Mean to Them

- by Warner Todd Huston
*
Get the pity party violin music warmed up because Ezra Klein and Dave Weigel are whining that Sarah Palin has forced them, the press, into a "submissive role" because she is so mean to them.

Klein favorably cites the analysis of Weigel who whined that the "Palin problem" has "put the press in a submissive position."
The problem is that Palin has put the political press in a submissive position, one in which the only information it prints about her comes from prepared statements or from Q&As with friendly interviewers. This isn’t something most politicians get away with, or would be allowed to get away with. But Palin has leveraged her celebrity — her ability to get ratings, the ardor of her fans and the bitterness of her critics — to win a truly unique relationship with the press. She is allowed to shape the public debate without actually engaging in it.
Oh, boo hoo. Now we have to feel sorry for the press over the feeling that mean 'ol Sarah Palin has been successful in leading them by the nose?

Of course, this ignores all the hate that the press has spread about Palin, it ignores all the fake "news" they, themselves have spread, stories filled with lies, half-truths and insults posing as news. It ignores the many Trig-isn't-hers stories the press spread, the false story of Palin's book banning, and…. well, I can name a hundred fake stories that the press has spread about Palin. And they have ALL been stories that Palin was in no way controlling or trying to herself spread.

So, right off the top, Klein by way of Weigel is lying by only focusing on her late public persona and not focusing on their culpability for spreading lies for months before she finally had enough of it and began to more carefully control her public utterances.

However, Klein's whining about Palin aside, he does have a good point about the failure of the press to place the news in the greater context of the reality of the world even as he papers over the fact that newspapers are, indeed, working hard to pass lies as news.
For one thing, newspapers work very hard to report things that are true, but they are less concerned with whether the overall impression from their reporting is a true impression. Shark attacks, for instance, happen very rarely. But if you report excitedly on every shark attack that happens, people will think they happen quite a bit.
Klein is wrong that the newspapers "work very hard to report things that are true." The fact is most newspapers work very hard to spin the truth to a left-wing perspective in order to further extremist, left-wing ideas. However, Klein is right that newspapers fail to report the greater context of the facts. They do it on purpose, though, in order for the spin to work better.

For instance, the "news" has been floating the idea that the recent unemployment numbers did not grow and newspapers have marked that as an "unexpected drop" in unemployment as if it's all good news. However, few papers have bothered to mention that this has been a tiny drop in rates during a steady years-long rise in unemployment. The impression is that good news was had, but the facts prove otherwise. Context is ignored in order to make Obama seem a success.

Anyway, it is amusing to see the Old Media crying that Palin is messing with them like this. An unexpected Christmas present if there ever was one.

- WTH

Warner Todd Huston is editor of Publius' Forum and a regular contributor to Texas for Sarah Palin.

Sarah Helps Us Look Forward To Revolution in 2010

- by Ian Ransom
*
As citizens across the nation cringe at the passage of the shady, shameful, and surreptitiously cobbled-together "back-room" health care bill, I have the distinct feeling that Christmas comes with an ominous overtone for true conservatives at the end of this oft-bewildering year.

At this moment, I feel--more than I have ever felt in over a year and a half of steady conservative activism--disenfranchised and appalled at the travesty that is the Obama administration and his attendant Democrat "elves" on Capitol Hill. Earlier this year, I felt a swelling sense of optimism, a sense that great ground-work was indeed being paved for a powerful grassroots shift in the waffling of the Republican Party and the rise of the man-and-woman-on-the-street conservative movement. The wonderful American people who participated in the Tea Parties and Sarah Palin's gritty, unparalleled rise from the ashes of lamestream media abuse to reclaim control of her reputation and authentic voice have been beacons of the aforementioned optimism.

Perhaps like many of you, however, I now feel a genuine sense of fright (combined with anger) at what appears to be such a blatant and horrific betrayal of the Constitution and the future of our country via this damnable series of secretive health care machinations on the part of Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and, of course, Barack Obama. These so-called "leaders" have now, and in no uncertain terms, most brazenly declared to the majority of Americans that they do not care about the well-being of this great nation, they do not care about the loud-and-clear voices of the majority of the American people, and they do not care about the crucial discussion of pivotal issues.

The hubris and wanton arrogance of Capitol Hill, and its perilous plunge toward the absolute ruin of the American identity, is shockingly evident. The dismal mechanics behind the "formation" of the health care bill is an outrage--a galling repudiation of all American people in favor of truly wayward and malevolent liberal partisanship. It is a disgusting scandal. Meanwhile, American people stand on the sidelines, marginalized and ignored by their own public servants, so many of us left only with the disturbing "hope" that enough of us will truly rise-up to "clean house" via 2010 elections.

I am convinced: Obama, Pelosi, Reid, et al. crave the destruction of America as we know it, as it was established by the Founding Fathers. They actively seek to alter the very fabric of our great nation for reasons of their abominably insular ideology and willful ignorance. To say that the American constituency must rise-up in 2010 with the equivalent of a thunderous vote of "No Confidence" is putting things mildly.

In some respects, however, this execrable series of events in D.C. will only strengthen the platform and power of Sarah Palin (and other fine conservative leaders) to blaze at the vanguard of an absolutely necessary revolution in 2010. It is our only hope, for, if we conservatives do not retaliate by utterly brutalizing the baboons on Capitol Hill with our votes in 2010, I fear our nation will truly have approached the brink, the "deep breath before the plunge."

Sarah and her kindred souls across this country are ready to rumble, as it were, and that is a comforting thought for the year to come. But "comforting thoughts" alone will not avail us; we need to work ten times harder next year, taking to the streets in ever-more determined fellowship, to guarantee America's future. Sarah has made it clear, even in the past few days, as she recovers from a draining book tour, that she is going to lead with relentlessness in 2010. Let us follow that lead.

Though we must indeed be mindful of the looming disaster that confronts our way of life, we should also take heart in the friendship and encouragement of our fellow American conservatives--people from all states and walks of life who will not be silenced or brushed aside. For my part, I extend a very enthusiastic 'Merry Christmas' to the readers of Texas for Sarah Palin, to my fellow contributors on this blog, and particularly to the extraordinary and dedicated Josh Painter, who has worked so tirelessly to provide up-to-the-minute news and pointed commentary about Sarah's efforts.

God Bless and get ready to "start your engines" for 2010, good American people!

- Ian

Ian Ransom is the editor of The Ian Ransom Notes and a regular contributor to Texas for Sarah Palin.

Sarah Palin Was Right #23: Dan Calabrese on Death Panels

*
Posting at The North Star National, Dan Calabrese says not only was Sarah Palin right about the death panels, but Harry Reid is attempting to make them permanent:
It’s no cause for celebration, and Sarah Palin’s not the type for schadenfreude, but she was right about the death panels. So right, in fact, that the death panels are receiving some very special and probably unconstitutional protection in the Senate health care bill.

The creation of the so-called Independent Payment Advisory Board – the panel that decides who goes without coverage so costs can be cut – cannot be repealed, according to language Harry Reid has inserted into the bill, without a supermajority vote of two-thirds.

[...]

What Palin said all along was that government-run health care, especially established on the notion that it could somehow cut costs, would inevitably lead to rationing. And she was confident an administration in love with the idea of “experts” designing “systems” would put together some sort of panel to decide how to ration the coverage.

Enter the Independent Payment Advisory Board, so important that Harry Reid seeks to protect its existence forever by requiring a two-thirds supermajority to ever kill it.
The radical liberals in control of the federal government are doing all they can to make this a very scary Christmas and a bankrupt new year. Read the unabridged original Dan Calabrese post here.

- JP

A Very Palin Christmas

*
From Examiner Lori Calabrese:
Sarah Palin shared some of her favorite Christmas traditions with Gretchen Carlson of Fox & Friends during a book signing at The Villages in Florida. Fox & Friends recently aired the short segment titled "Christmas with the Palins" for their Christmas Special.

So how do the Palins spend their Christmas?
AdoringPalin captured the answer on a YouTube video:



- JP

Coffee Clubs for Sarah Palin

*
Hillbuzz passes along an open letter to Sarah Palin from the Mineral City Coffee Club, a group of Hillary Clinton supporters in Ohio. Here are a few excerpts:
Since you ran for Vice President last year, a really funny thing has happened here in Mineral City. The Ladies Guild, which is Republican women, who previously never got along with us (mainly because they hated Hillary Clinton and I was convinced many of them were vampires), started doing different activities with us as we helped try to get you elected. We’ve all found that the lot of us have more in common with each other than the crazy people who are now currently running the government from the far left.

[...]

So, these appear to be very strange times indeed. People who never agreed on anything are agreeing with one another, because we’re looking passed our differences and accusations of vampirism to the fact that we all love this country and don’t want to see it go backwards or descend into socialism. We do not believe the current occupants of the White House are good people and we do not feel they love this country. The current president had a very clear agenda upon coming to Washington, and it was not the “Hope”, “Change”, and unicorns he promised the gullible in his campaign. We believe, and everyone in Mineral City agrees with us, that the Democrats in power now want to tank our economy, take over whatever remains at the end of the day, and deprive all of us of our freedoms.

[...]

If you run for President in 2012, you can count on The Mineral City Coffee Club and the Ladies Guild joining forces to campaign for you. I’ll turn my kitchen into a little campaign office, humming with activity. My son Robby loves you, and all his friends up in Chicago will work hard for you too up there. We’ll all head into Iowa on the ground for you, and will go to as many states as we can in person to canvass. We’ll phone bank like crazy for you, too, you betcha!
Read the entire letter at Hillbuzz.

- JP

Sarah Palin: The Sleeping Giant Will Awaken

*
In a midnight message (Texas Time) on Twitter, Sarah Palin encouraged her followers with words of optimism on the eve of the Senate vote to ram an unpopular and economically devastating health care bill down the throats of the American people:
"c tomrrw's Healthcare Takeover vote=the sleeping giant will awaken&action will b takn by"average"Americans as lite shines on big govt growth"
And lifting high the torch which shines that light will be Sarah Palin. She has two major grassroots activist events scheduled for early 2010 -- the National Conservative Symposium in San Antonio, TX January 24, and the National Tea Party Convention in Nashville, TN February 6.

We will take our country back from the radical Left which is hell-bent on destreoying it. That begins in 2010 and continues through 2012.

- JP

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Quote of the Day (December 23, 2009)

*
Don Surber:
"She took on a corrupt mayor of Wasilla. And won. She took on a corrupt governor of Alaska. And won. Now she takes on a corrupt Speaker of the House, a corrupt Senate Majority Leader and as corrupt president. My money is on Sarah Palin... Give ‘em hell, Sarah. Give ‘em rotten, stinking, bloody hell."
- JP

Dan Riehl on banning the bums

*
It seems Jesse Griffin and others of his ilk are whining about how they have been put on the list of personae non gratae for Sarah Palin events. Dan Riehl has one possible explanation for banning the bums:
"Maybe there were going to be children present?"
Were it left to us, we would not ban them. A big group code red seems more in order. Talk about pigs in a blanket! But Track Palin is serving his country honorably, and we see no need for the young man to have a blemish on his record over the likes of such scum.

And speaking of honor, Jesse says he considers his banning to be "a badge of honor." Griffin and his fellow travellers have been constant bearers of false witness against the former governor and her family, and that's the least of their sins against Clan Palin. These hate-crazed moonbats know about as much about "honor" as Al Gore knows about the interior temperature of the earth.

- JP

Jim Byrd tells us why Sarah Palin gets so much media attention

*
Larisa Alexandrovna's hit piece on Sarah Palin motivated Jim Byrd to write this great op-ed at his blog A Skewed View. Excerpts:
The Left, since the release of Sarah Palin’s book, Going Rogue, and its million plus sales in a matter of weeks, have been wandering the streets in a benighted stupor, tugging at their unkempt hair, and shrieking at whomever will listen with their question of “why”? “Why is she popular, why is she on television, why is she on magazine covers, why, why, why?” “This is Sarah Palin, not Barack Obama, why?”

Despite the equitably challenged mainstream media’s shilling Barack Obama like snake-oil out the back of a mountebank’s wagon, and the very same media’s non-stop offensive on Sarah Palin, the latest Rasmussen poll finds that 51% have a favorable view of Sarah Palin while 43% have an unfavorable view, vis a vis Obama’s 49% favorable and 51% unfavorable. How accurate are these numbers in actuality, when almost the entirety of the media– print and television– dominate their coverage with fawning accolades about Obama, and when Sarah Palin is mentioned, she is an uneducated and unsavory hick? Why are Obama’s numbers dropping like the blood pressure of a Buddhist Monk in meditation, and Palin’s numbers rising faster than Nancy Pelosi’s botoxed eyebrows?
Read the unabridged version and enjoy, at A Skewed View.

- JP

Quote of the Day (December 22, 2009)

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Stacy McCain:
"Sarah Palin is a potential contender for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. That fact should not be turning conservative friends into bitter enemies more than two years ahead of the 2012 Iowa caucus."
- JP

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Sarah Palin: "This is about politics, not health care"

*
Sarah Palin went to her Facebook Notes page to post a scathing indictment of Congressional Democrats and their health care bill:
Midnight Votes, Backroom Deals, and a Death Panel

Last weekend while you were preparing for the holidays with your family, Harry Reid’s Senate was making shady backroom deals to ram through the Democrat health care take-over. The Senate ended debate on this bill without even reading it. That and midnight weekend votes seem to be standard operating procedures in D.C. No one is certain of what’s in the bill, but Senator Jim DeMint spotted one shocking revelation regarding the section in the bill describing the Independent Medicare Advisory Board (now called the Independent Payment Advisory Board), which is a panel of bureaucrats charged with cutting health care costs on the backs of patients – also known as rationing. Apparently Reid and friends have changed the rules of the Senate so that the section of the bill dealing with this board can’t be repealed or amended without a 2/3 supermajority vote. Senator DeMint said:
“This is a rule change. It’s a pretty big deal. We will be passing a new law and at the same time creating a senate rule that makes it out of order to amend or even repeal the law. I’m not even sure that it’s constitutional, but if it is, it most certainly is a senate rule. I don’t see why the majority party wouldn’t put this in every bill. If you like your law, you most certainly would want it to have force for future senates. I mean, we want to bind future congresses. This goes to the fundamental purpose of senate rules: to prevent a tyrannical majority from trampling the rights of the minority or of future congresses.”
In other words, Democrats are protecting this rationing “death panel” from future change with a procedural hurdle. You have to ask why they’re so concerned about protecting this particular provision. Could it be because bureaucratic rationing is one important way Democrats want to “bend the cost curve” and keep health care spending down?

The Congressional Budget Office seems to think that such rationing has something to do with cost. In a letter to Harry Reid last week, CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf noted (with a number of caveats) that the bill’s calculations call for a reduction in Medicare’s spending rate by about 2 percent in the next two decades, but then he writes the kicker:
“It is unclear whether such a reduction in the growth rate could be achieved, and if so, whether it would be accomplished through greater efficiencies in the delivery of health care or would reduce access to care or diminish the quality of care.”
Though Nancy Pelosi and friends have tried to call “death panels” the “lie of the year,” this type of rationing – what the CBO calls “reduc[ed] access to care” and “diminish[ed] quality of care” – is precisely what I meant when I used that metaphor.

This health care bill is one of the most far-reaching and expensive expansions of the role of government into our lives. We’re talking about putting one-seventh of our economy under the government’s thumb. We’re also talking about something as intimate to our personal well-being as medical care.

This bill is so unpopular that people on the right and the left hate it. So why go through with it? The Senate is planning to vote on this on Christmas Eve. Why the rush? Though we will begin paying for this bill immediately, we will see no benefits for years. (That’s the trick that allowed the CBO to state that the bill won’t grow the deficit for the next ten years.)

The administration’s promises of transparency and bipartisanship have been broken one by one. This entire process has been defined by midnight votes on weekends, closed-door meetings with industry lobbyists, and payoffs to politicians willing to sell their principles for sweetheart deals. Is it any wonder that Americans are so disillusioned with their leaders in Washington?

This is about politics, not health care. Americans don’t want this bill. Americans don’t like this bill. Washington has stopped listening to us. But we’re paying attention, and 2010 is coming.

- Sarah Palin
- JP

Big crowd turns out for Sarah Palin's Wasilla book event

*
A crowd of 1,000 turned out at the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center in Sarah Palin's hometown of Wasilla to get their copies of the former Alaska governor's best-selling memoir signed.

Anchorage Daily News reporter Zaz Hollander described the scene at the spacious sports complex as more of a homecoming than a book signing:
Sarah Palin got treated like a homecoming queen when she brought her national book tour to Wasilla today.

[...]

Palin got a rousing welcome from about 750 people waiting below when she strode up the ramp to the second floor of the sports center at 11 a.m., wearing black boots with 4-inch heels and a red jacket covered in raised cloth roses.

The event Tuesday marked the first chance for the general public to attend a Palin book-signing in Alaska. Earlier this month, Palin signed copies at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage and Eielson Air Force Base near Fairbanks, but neither of those events were open to the general public.

Palin signed books on the upper floor of the sports center with her husband, Todd. Fans waited in lines downstairs, and then were ushered upstairs in small groups during the three-hour event.
- JP

Sarah Palin Was Right #22: CATO's Alan Reynolds on Death Panels

by Lisa Graas
*
When the Democrats tell you there are 'no death panels' in their healthcare reform legislation, know this. They are lying to you. Alan Reynolds, writing for the Cato Institute, explained in an article today -- "Death Panels? Sarah Palin Was Right."
How could anyone believe Palin’s sensible comment about rationing was, in reality, a senseless fear of counseling? To say so was no mistake; it was an oft-repeated big lie.
Reynolds explains how they lied and to what extent they lied. He also describes the very real dangers of the Democrats' healthcare agenda succinctly:
Pending health care bills would make......government-mandated scarcity of health care much worse. There would be massive shifting of money away from Medicare toward Medicaid. But the extra Medicaid money would be spread around more thinly. States would cut benefits to the poor in order to accommodate millions of new, less-poor people lured into Medicaid, at least half of whom (7 or 8 million by my estimate) currently have employer-provided health insurance.

The Senate health bill supposedly intends to slash Medicare payment rates for physicians by 21% next year and more in future years, with permanent reductions in payments to other medical services too. It would also establish an Independent Payment Advisory Board which would be empowered to make deeper cuts which Congress could reject only with considerable difficulty. If that’s not quite a “death panel” it would surely not be pro-life in its impact.

The Congressional Budget Office says, “It is unclear whether such a reduction in the growth rate could be achieved, and if so, whether it would . . . reduce access to care or diminish the quality of care.”

Actually, it’s clear enough that the proposed Medicare cuts won’t be achieved, but that efforts in that direction will nonetheless reduce access to care and diminish its quality. The government can’t boost demand and cut prices without creating excess demand. And that, in turn, means rationing by longer waiting lines and by panels (rationing boards) making life-or death decisions for other people.

As Sarah Palin predicted, “Government health care will not reduce the cost; it will simply refuse to pay the cost. And who will suffer the most when they ration care? The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course.”
For the record, I'm in that group Palin calls "the sick" because I am uninsured and have chronic Lyme Disease. My elderly mother is on Medicare and I have two disabled brothers on Medicaid. I've researched this at length as it affects my family in astronomical proportions and I have found that Sarah Palin has this right. Not only are 'death panels' in this legislation, the Democrats want to make them permanent. Yes, 'death panels' can be a scary term, but Palin used hyperbole to call attention to these 'panels' that will decide who lives and who dies. I, for one, appreciate straight talk, particularly on such an incredibly serious issue.

The left doesn't generally deny that there is rationing. They merely object to the term 'death panels' because it's 'scary' and, as Reynolds explained, they aver that it has to do with the end-of-life counseling, not the rationing many of them admit will occur. In regard to this rationing, the only argument the left seems to be able to come up with is that "insurance companies do it, too". This is rather like claiming that gun shops deny my right to own a gun because they charge me for the guns. It exhibits a profound ignorance of, or complacency toward, the rights delineated in our Constitution and how they are preserved. Our Constitution doesn't restrict gun shops and insurance companies. It does restrict our federal government.

Government denial of healthcare is unConstitutional because we have a "right" to it. If we have a "right" to something, does it mean government must provide it? Conservatives say no. Liberals say yes, IF you're talking about healthcare. If you're talking about guns, though, they'll object.....strongly.

Our right to life includes our right to health care, and if government rations care, it violates our right to healthcare. It really is a very simple thing to understand if you take the time to understand the difference between a "right" and an "entitlement". Unfortunately, most people don't have the time or the patience to study the jurisprudence on this, nor the intentions of the Founding Fathers. It's also unfortunate for America that the left doesn't interpret the Constitution with any constraint. They apparently just make it up as they go along based on whatever feels good at the moment and how much money/votes they can get.

America, there's never been a more important time to stand up for life. I urge you to stand with Sarah Palin on this. She's right on target and we are in deep, deep trouble as a nation if this stands.

- Lisa

Lisa Graas is editor of the Palin Twibe Blog

Entertainment Media Won't Stop Bashing Sarah Palin

*
Billy Hallowell at Big Hollywood, on the lowlife entertainment media and its war on Sarah Palin:
The entertainment media’s treatment of Sarah Palin and her family has been abhorrent. Like their biased and unjust hard news media brethren, entertainment outlets have gone out of their way to tarnish Palin’s image. While tabloids, semi-legitimate entertainment programs and celebrities issue incessant praise for President Obama and his leftist policies, Palin is showered with insults and inappropriate slurs. And let’s not forget the ongoing insensitive questioning about the birth of her special needs son, Trig.

[...]

Get over it, Hollywood. Sarah Palin doesn’t share your values. She’s pro-life, pro-capitalism and pro-rationality. Rather than wasting all of your time lambasting her, promoting Levi and attempting to debunk her very existence, why not divert even a portion of your energy towards examining the man you’ve placed America’s very existence in the hands of. We’ve all got personal dirt. Since you’ll never let up, why not shovel a little less of Palin’s and a little more of Obama’s?

A little fair-mindedness is all we’re asking for. Can you deliver?
Sadly, the author is asking too much of the corrupt entertainment media. They hate everything about Sarah Palin, especially her Christian faith. They have made her destruction their mission in life.

- JP

Sarah Palin: Return of the Death Panels?

*
On Twitter, Sarah Palin said Tuesday that the reconciled healthcare bill could contain the death panels she stirred up such a storm by calling attention to last summer:
...merged bill may b unrecognizable from what assumed was a done deal:R death panels back in?what's punishment 4not purchasing mandated HC?

NOW w/the Prez "threatening" &Congress "rushing" is when we MUST pay more attention than ever 2what this HealthCare Takeover is all about...
Via The Hill:
Palin first made her death panel charge about the House bill, writing in a Facebook note that seniors "have to stand in front of Obama's 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society,'" under the healthcare legislation favored by President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats.
But shortly after the former governor's charge, the Senate Finance Committee removed the death panel provisions from its version of the bill. Yet Democrats and their media sycophants continue to claim that such panels were never a part of any proposed legislation and that Gov. Palin's charge was a "lie." They still haven't explained how the Committe removed something froma bill that was never in it. Talk about denial... 

Also on Twitter, former Gov. Palin said she would write a new Facebook note about healthcare reform shortly, though she was occupied at a book signing event in her home town of Wasilla. She took a few moments of time, however to applaud Alabama Congressman Parker Griffith, who announced today that he is switching his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican:
Congratulations Alabama!And all Americans concerned about Capitol Hill's current agenda;Rep Parker Griffith just did the right thing.Welcome
- JP 

Monday, December 21, 2009

Quote of the Day (December 21, 2009)

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Arthur Weinreb:
"The April 15 gala is going ahead and Sarah Palin is still set to speak. But instead of the two Hamilton area hospitals being the beneficiaries of the funds raised, the money will go to The Charity of Hope, a children’s charity. So far none of the children who will benefit from the funds raised by The Charity of Hope have complained about Sarah Palin."
- JP

Sarah Palin Draws Crowds and Impresses Conservatives

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Becky Tescher-Robison, a reporter for the Yellowstone County News, went to the Going Rogue book signing in Billings, MT. Here are a few of her thoughts on the event, courtesy of the Big Sky Business Journal:
Sitting behind a square table was an animated and delightful Sarah Palin. She shook hands with everyone, looked each person in the eye and spoke to them in her now recognizable brogue, signing her signature without watching what she was doing. Sitting beside her, husband Todd shook everyone’s hand also and talked to every kid — as did she.

Todd Palin later milled through the receptive crowd, talking with them and with his father-in-law and mother-in-law.

[...]

Patient but chilled, this crowd wound their way through book shelves and politely waited their turn to shake hands with the former Alaska governor, who took on Big Oil and her own Republican party to correct the wrongs of the fat cats who take advantage of their positions.

Many in the crowd believe this woman can do the same with this nation.
Read the full story here.

- JP

Pawlenty: Palin more qualified than Obama to be president

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In a recent interview with Newsweak, Tim Pawlenty told Howard Fineman that his former Repuiblican Governors Association colleague Sarah Palin is more qualified than President Obama to lead the country:
"She is easily as qualified as Barack Obama. I would argue she's more qualified in terms of leadership, experience, management, and supervision--actually running something. She was a mayor, head of an energy commission, and governor," Pawlenty said.
According to the National Journal's Hotline On Call blog, the Minnesota governor also described the GOP's 2008 vice presidential candidate as a "political rock star" with a platform from which she could run for president:
"We live in a society in which being familiar, being well known, gives you a platform. She certainly has that. The Democrats have all kinds of characters who are interesting, bold, and dramatic. On our side, you guys are obsessed with Palin," Pawlenty said.
Pawlenty said that he considers Sarah Palin and Mitt Romney to be the Republican Party's frontrunners for his party's 2012 nomination for president.

More details here.

- JP