Pity poor Pragmatic Pundit as he ponders Palin pwning the president:
"Obama has utterly failed to step up and make the case. It's embarrassing to watch the best orator in 50 years lose a debate to Chuck Grassley and Sarah Palin."- JP
Monday, August 31, 2009
Quote of the Day (August 31, 2009)
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Pity poor Pragmatic Pundit as he ponders Palin pwning the president:
Pity poor Pragmatic Pundit as he ponders Palin pwning the president:
SarahPAC also donates to Bachmann, Blackburn, McDonnell
Friday, we reported that SarahPAC had made contributions to the campaigns of Lindsey Graham, Orrin Hatch and Rob Portman, based on a CQ Politics post by Jonathan Allen. Today it was revealed that former Governor Palin's PAC also donated to the campaigns of more conservative Republicans Michele Bachmann, Marsha Blackburn and Bob McDonnell, according to a Politico report by Kenneth Vogel.
Bravo Zulu, Sarah Palin.
- JP
Bravo Zulu, Sarah Palin.
- JP
WSJ's John Fund: Speakers Bureau a big plus for Palin
The Wall Street Journal's John Fund says that Sarah Palin is getting the reputation of being a "no-show." We don't think that's entirely fair, but it has become the media narrative. Sarah Palin has few aides, and their plates are more than full. They simply don't have the time or resources to get on top of every story that is being pushed by the state-controlled media and every promoter who wants to use the former governor's image and her name to sell tickets to their events.
If what Politico is reporting is true, Fund says, all that is about to change:
- JP
If what Politico is reporting is true, Fund says, all that is about to change:
"Last week, organizers for an Alaska initiative that would require that parents be notified before any child got an abortion reported that Ms. Palin had agreed to appear at their kickoff event but now wouldn't show. Ms. Palin's staff insists she wasn't invited, and that she was out of the state."Signing with the Speakers Bureau is a smart move by the 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate, and it doesn't come a day too soon, in our opinion.
"Normally, such incidents can be put down to a 'she-said, they said' kind of dispute. But the Alaska no-show marked the fourth time in recent months that an anticipated Palin speech had fallen through because her staff insisted she had never confirmed it. Here's hoping Washington Speakers Bureau, which apparently already is booking events for her... will now be able to minimize the crossed signals."
- JP
No respect for the dead
Posted by Liliana Segura on AlterNet, the following quickly went viral on other nutroots leftist sites:
Those examples above were not from Facebook. They were from Twitter. And they were not from Sarah Palin fans; they were made by leftists. Finally, they were not made last week in reaction to Ted Kennedy's death, but actually the week before on the passing of a conservative journalist.
Our former colleague Caleb Howe collected the quotes for a RedState.com diary today:
Segura cherry picked a few nasty comments from Sarah Palin's Facebook page, where there are nearly 850,000 people following the former governor, and not all of them are Palin fans. Even though she gave Palin credit for the former governor's kind and thoughtful expression of sympathy, Segura's point was obviously to try to taint Sarah Palin with the negative remarks made by some of her Facebook followers, not all of whom, again, are Palin supporters.
As Caleb reminds us, when a polarizing figure dies, criticism, even on the day of his or her passing, should be expected as surely as we expect night to follow day. Still, just because one side gets really ugly in its criticism it is no excuse for the other to follow suit. And:
Late last night, to her credit, Sarah Palin posted the following statement on her Facebook page on the passing of Ted Kennedy:Here are some examples:"I would like to extend our sympathies to the Kennedy family as we hear word about the passing of Senator Ted Kennedy. He believed in our country and fought passionately for his convictions."Several of her Facebook pals lauded her "classy" move.
Others? Not so much...
[...]
Stay classy, Palin fans!
"...dead of dvine retributionbrain cancer, at least 6 years to late." (sic)Sad to see Sarah Palin's Facebook followers being so nasty on the occasion of Ted Kennedy's passing. Oh, wait...
"...i thought the world seemed a little brighter today"
"...Cancer got him, poor guy. I guess professional courtesy ain't what it used to be."
"...Good riddance..."
Those examples above were not from Facebook. They were from Twitter. And they were not from Sarah Palin fans; they were made by leftists. Finally, they were not made last week in reaction to Ted Kennedy's death, but actually the week before on the passing of a conservative journalist.
Our former colleague Caleb Howe collected the quotes for a RedState.com diary today:
"Robert Novak was a conservative and a journalist. He never sent anyone to war (in fact, he opposed the Iraq war), robbed a bank, or committed manslaughter at a lake; yet apparently the crime of being a conservative is justification enough for celebrating his death."Caleb was just making a point:
"Yes, there was some nastiness from the right regarding Ted Kennedy on the day he died. Just as there was some even-handed and respectful commentary from the left, including from Markos Moulitsas himself, regarding Robert Novak on the day of his passing. But that’s just the point, isn’t it? The din of outraged objection from the left over negative Kennedy commentary rings all too hollow in the face of the arguably more sinister, arguably less justified nastiness from the left... when another man of the same age died of the same disease from our side of the aisle."And it wasn't just done to Novak. We saw the same ugliness from liberals when Ronald Reagan died. In fact, whenever an icon of either the left or right passes away, there will be crass comments from the opposition. We see it every time. The difference is that there is always a greater volume of it from leftists, and it always represents a larger percentage of all the comments made on a given werbsite. And the Left is always filled with moral outrage when the other side does it.
Segura cherry picked a few nasty comments from Sarah Palin's Facebook page, where there are nearly 850,000 people following the former governor, and not all of them are Palin fans. Even though she gave Palin credit for the former governor's kind and thoughtful expression of sympathy, Segura's point was obviously to try to taint Sarah Palin with the negative remarks made by some of her Facebook followers, not all of whom, again, are Palin supporters.
As Caleb reminds us, when a polarizing figure dies, criticism, even on the day of his or her passing, should be expected as surely as we expect night to follow day. Still, just because one side gets really ugly in its criticism it is no excuse for the other to follow suit. And:
"As for the increasingly morally indignant objectors on the left, do let’s try and remember two weeks ago. Hmm?"- JP
In Demand: Former Governor Sarah Palin
Politico's Mike Allen is reporting that since resigning as governor July 26, Sarah Palin has received over 1,070 requests to deliver paid speeches and make political appearances:
- JP
More than 950 requests for speeches have poured in for Palin, and over 120 candidates for office have asked her to appear, including folks running for Senate, House and state legislature, aides said.Allen says the 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate has signed with Washington Speakers Bureau after getting offers from 20 similar agencies to represent her. The Politico pundit also has a progress report on the former governor's work on writing her memoir:
Palin will be doing both paid speeches, which are expected to go for six figures apiece, and unpaid speeches for political and charitable causes, including Christian organizations, groups that support families with special-needs children, and military families.
She’s about 85 percent finished with her book, due out this spring from HarperCollins. Then she’ll begin looking through the inch-and-a-half-thick file her lawyer, Robert Barnett, has built of offers for network and cable pundit gigs, documentaries and business opportunities.Meanwhile, the moonbat mantra from the liberals is that Sarah Palin is "irrelevant." They should tell that to the people who are making six-figure offers for a few hours of former Governor Palin's time.
- JP
AP says Sarah Palin to travel to Asia next month
The Associated Press is reporting that former governor Sarah Palin will journey to Asia in September:
Businessweek quotes another CLSA spokeswoman, however, who gave assurances:
Meanwhile, the CLSA corporate website is here.
Related: Posting on Marc Ambinder's Atlantic blog, Chris Good wonders what she will say.
- JP
The former Alaska governor will visit Hong Kong to address the CLSA Investors Forum, a well-known annual conference of global investment managers, the host announced Monday.A statement from CLSA spokeswoman Simone Wheeler read, in part:
Bill Clinton, Al Gore and Alan Greenspan have spoken at the event, hosted by brokerage and investment group CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets.
"We just felt it would be a fabulous opportunity for CLSA clients to hear from Mrs. Palin," Wheeler said, adding that CLSA approached Palin with the offer.Excuse us, AP, but we will have to wait for confirmation from Gov. Palin or someone authorized to speak for her before we take this one to the bank. You know how optimistic some event organizers can be.
She said the conference aimed to present investors "a diversity of views that potentially influence decision-makers who help shape the markets."
The Sept. 23 address will mark Palin's first commercial speaking engagement, according to CLSA. Her speaking fees were not disclosed.
It will be closed to the media, and the topic has not yet been confirmed.
Businessweek quotes another CLSA spokeswoman, however, who gave assurances:
"It’s confirmed. She will be a speaker at our forum."Still, we will have to wait for Sarah's people to confirm or deny, which they tend to do only when contacted and asked directly about a specific event. "Getting out front" on a story doesn't appear to be a high priority for the Palin organization. As they say, watch this space...
Meanwhile, the CLSA corporate website is here.
Related: Posting on Marc Ambinder's Atlantic blog, Chris Good wonders what she will say.
- JP
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Quote of the Day (August 30, 2009)
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Mike Devine:
Mike Devine:
"MSNBC's Morning Joe Scarborough suggested that Sarah Palin needed to 'read more books,' so upset was the network’s token 'conservative' at her 'death panel' attack against ObamaCare. Maybe Joe needs to read the bills Congress writes. Palin nailed the Achilles heel of the House bill in a politically brilliant way just before the revelation about the 'Death Book' that Obama’s Veteran’s Administration revived."- JP
Jesse Griffin aka Sigmund Freud is Doing Some Kwazy Analyzing
Words of advice for Jesse Griffin. Stick to your schtick in your headline.
Example: The Immoral Minority.. Don't give out moral advice or take the moral high ground when you label yourself immoral.
Also leave the analyzing of behavioral problems to the blogs that can analyze the Kwazy stuff.
Like when Geoffrey Dunn had Cognitive Interruptus
And he had a Temper Tantrum
And one of the best analysis (Sigmund Freud would be proud) on Dunn: Geoffrey Plays Bristol's Daddy
The Rorschach test produced an interesting comment:
Is there a psychiatrist in this asylum? Calling Dr. Google....
It seems Dr. Google has come up with a diagnoses of Geoffrey Dunn projecting his own traits onto Sarah Palin.
Moreover, from his Mommy Dearest moment, Dunn had this to say:
I've written more than two dozen pieces on Palin since she was picked to ride shotgun with John McCain.
- Tom
Example: The Immoral Minority.. Don't give out moral advice or take the moral high ground when you label yourself immoral.
Also leave the analyzing of behavioral problems to the blogs that can analyze the Kwazy stuff.
Like when Geoffrey Dunn had Cognitive Interruptus
And he had a Temper Tantrum
And one of the best analysis (Sigmund Freud would be proud) on Dunn: Geoffrey Plays Bristol's Daddy
The Rorschach test produced an interesting comment:
Calypso Dreams said...And (third and last and) Jesse Griffin aka Sigmund Freud points to Geoffrey pointing to Palin's obsession of Obama?
"I don't know what type of crystal meth you're on, but this has got to be the biggest distortion of anything I've ever written in my life. But let me just make two points and then you can go oil up your shotgun: 1) In the Fox interview with Bristol, the Governor comes in and AGREES with her daughter about abstinence. There's your 'Mommy Dearest' moment.I don't make this stuff up. 2) I just saw the Ann Coulter interview where she says that Bristol should put her child 'UP FOR ADOPTION.' Where's the Governor's response to THAT? Where's your response to THAT? Dude, the silence is deafening. I have three beautiful children so I certainly don't need anymore. Stay on the road with that new truck of yours. I don't think you can handle the off-the-road terrain."
Is there a psychiatrist in this asylum? Calling Dr. Google....
It seems Dr. Google has come up with a diagnoses of Geoffrey Dunn projecting his own traits onto Sarah Palin.
Moreover, from his Mommy Dearest moment, Dunn had this to say:
I've written more than two dozen pieces on Palin since she was picked to ride shotgun with John McCain.
pro·jec·tionIt seems according to the Huffington Post's standard on obsessive behavior, Dunn has gone from overly obsessive to being madly in love with Sarah Palin.
Pronunciation: \prə-ˈjek-shən\
Function: noun
a. Psychology - the tendency to ascribe to another person feelings, thoughts, or attitudes present in oneself, or to regard external reality as embodying such feelings, thoughts, etc., in some way.
b. Psychoanalysis - such an ascription relieving the ego of a sense of guilt or other intolerable feeling.
- Tom
Club uses Sarah Palin to promote event; hasn't even invited her
The Economic Club of Southwest Michigan is using Sarah Palin's name to promote an event to which it hasn't yet even invited her to attend. But what can we expect from an outfit that considers left-wing columnist Tom Friedman to be a "world-renown leader"?
From The Herald-Palladium:
"Will invite"?
"If she accepts"?
"Would probably speak"?
This has to set the all-time low water mark in event promotion.
- JP
From The Herald-Palladium:
In announcing its 2009-10 speakers lineup Friday, the club offered the teaser that former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin might speak to the club."Might speak"?
Palin, who recently resigned as Alaska's governor, has not begun accepting speaking invitations. But when she does the club will invite her, said Club President Michael Cook. If she accepts, she would probably speak in May.
"Will invite"?
"If she accepts"?
"Would probably speak"?
This has to set the all-time low water mark in event promotion.
- JP
Why Conservatives Outnumber Libs in All 50 States
A recent (August 17) Gallup poll found that in every one of the 50 states, there are more conservatives than liberals. Gallup's astoundingly significant findings were virtually ignored by the liberal media, which has been reduced to nothing more than a giant public relations network for the leftist Democrat Party.
Even Gallup itself couldn't admit the truth of its own survey results, headlining its report "Political Ideology: 'Conservative' Label Prevails in the South." The South? When did all 50 states become part of the South? South of what -- the moon? You have to read the sub-head to see that there are actually more conservatives than liberals in every state of the Union -- yes, even in the Democrat bastions of Massachusetts and Vermont. To try to save a little face for the libs, Gallup incorrectly labels Washington, D.C. a "state" in order to have some place on its charts where it can say that there are more liberals than conservatives.
Even more intriguing to us than the "what" of Gallup's results is the "why" -- why are Americans increasingly self-identifying as conservatives? The overreaching by president Obama and the Democrats is one possible answer. Americans in greater numbers are recoiling from the Left's attempt to change the Republic of the founders into a socialist nightmare. Liberals themselves have become the most effective recruiters for the conservative cause.
Consider the following from nutroots website Washington Politics and Affairs:
Having played the race card, the author plays another all-too-familiar card the Left keeps up its collective sleeve -- the Nazi card -- saying "they" need to "stop reading Mein Kampf and try reading the Federalist Papers or the Constitution." We submit that if this author has indeed read the Constitution, then he or she has a severe reading comprehension deficit. I challenge the author to cite the section of the constitution which declares that not only is health care a "right" but that it is the duty of the federal government to provide it. Playing the Nazi card is another stupid liberal trick which may play well with those way out there on the leftist fringe, but, like playing the race card, it pushes the thoughtful moderate independents and even Democrats away from the Left.
The more liberals try to paint Sarah Palin and other conservatives as the racists and Nazis that they clearly are not, the more Sarah's message will resonate with ordinary Americans of all colors and creeds, and the conservative majority will continue to grow. Playing the race card, the class card and the Nazi card are poor substitutes for presenting an argument on the merits of an issue. The Left has gone to their dried-up well too many times, and the majority of Americans are no longer deceived by tired liberal tactics.
- JP
Even Gallup itself couldn't admit the truth of its own survey results, headlining its report "Political Ideology: 'Conservative' Label Prevails in the South." The South? When did all 50 states become part of the South? South of what -- the moon? You have to read the sub-head to see that there are actually more conservatives than liberals in every state of the Union -- yes, even in the Democrat bastions of Massachusetts and Vermont. To try to save a little face for the libs, Gallup incorrectly labels Washington, D.C. a "state" in order to have some place on its charts where it can say that there are more liberals than conservatives.
Even more intriguing to us than the "what" of Gallup's results is the "why" -- why are Americans increasingly self-identifying as conservatives? The overreaching by president Obama and the Democrats is one possible answer. Americans in greater numbers are recoiling from the Left's attempt to change the Republic of the founders into a socialist nightmare. Liberals themselves have become the most effective recruiters for the conservative cause.
Consider the following from nutroots website Washington Politics and Affairs:
"Why doesn't Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin and the rest of them come and say the real reason they are opposed to health care reform is because they cannot stand the idea that the President of the United States does not look like them or fit the stereotype of the American Aryan they envision as the normal American. Barack Obama is Black and they cannot stand it. They are racist morons who want to return this country to the days before the Civil War when this country was divided into classes. Their opposition to health care reform is about class, money and power. They need to stop reading Mein Kamf and try reading the Federalist Papers or the Constitution."It is amazing how much stupidity, ignorance and hate can be packed into one paragraph. Notice how the race card is played right off the bat by the moonbat author, whose thesis is that Sarah Palin opposes Obama care because she allegedly is a racist. Adrienne Ross debunks that foul liberal lie here. Adrienne, who just happens to be a young conservative woman of color, looks a lot like Sarah Palin to us. When we look at the photo on Adrienne's blog of the two women together, we see two beautiful children of God who practice what Dr. Martin Luther King preached -- that it is by the content of a person's character that he or she should be judged, not by the color of their skin. As Adrienne explained in another post:
"And while the Left continues to race bait, while they call white conservatives like Sarah Palin 'racist' and Black conservatives like me 'sell-out,' I know Dr. King got it, even forty six years ago, and what's more important, I get it.Americans have grown weary of liberals -- especially white liberals -- playing the race card and calling conservatives "racist" for their stands on issues that have nothing whatsoever to do with race. It is a major turn-off, and it is increasingly making conservatives out of thoughtful moderates... and independents out of Democrats. Who's are the real "racist morons" now, Washington Politics and Affairs?
Having played the race card, the author plays another all-too-familiar card the Left keeps up its collective sleeve -- the Nazi card -- saying "they" need to "stop reading Mein Kampf and try reading the Federalist Papers or the Constitution." We submit that if this author has indeed read the Constitution, then he or she has a severe reading comprehension deficit. I challenge the author to cite the section of the constitution which declares that not only is health care a "right" but that it is the duty of the federal government to provide it. Playing the Nazi card is another stupid liberal trick which may play well with those way out there on the leftist fringe, but, like playing the race card, it pushes the thoughtful moderate independents and even Democrats away from the Left.
The more liberals try to paint Sarah Palin and other conservatives as the racists and Nazis that they clearly are not, the more Sarah's message will resonate with ordinary Americans of all colors and creeds, and the conservative majority will continue to grow. Playing the race card, the class card and the Nazi card are poor substitutes for presenting an argument on the merits of an issue. The Left has gone to their dried-up well too many times, and the majority of Americans are no longer deceived by tired liberal tactics.
- JP
Note to General Shannyn Moore et al: It's Hard for Palin to Write a Book When She is Having a Nervous Breakdown
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Just in case you haven't heard, Sarah Palin is writing a book.
Contrary to what the left nut roots want to throw out there via innuendo and rumor via the Star/Globe/Shannyn Moore network.
Me thinks a nice place along the East Coast near ghost writers is the proper location.
Mrs. Devon, keep playing the mooosey pictures of Who's Bob Poe over and over again, they make nice pictures for campaign literature for a 2010 governor candidate.
How about a nice Howard Dean scream?
A picture of Shannyn Moore:
Caption this: Shannyn Moore's look when she finds out that her saving Private Griffin moment comes back to haunt (CAN YOU SAY BIRTHERS X 2) their group during the 2010 governor's race in Alaska.
Shannyn, target aquired, bombs away... Direct hit...
As they say, politics is local...
- Tom
Just in case you haven't heard, Sarah Palin is writing a book.
Contrary to what the left nut roots want to throw out there via innuendo and rumor via the Star/Globe/Shannyn Moore network.
Me thinks a nice place along the East Coast near ghost writers is the proper location.
Mrs. Devon, keep playing the mooosey pictures of Who's Bob Poe over and over again, they make nice pictures for campaign literature for a 2010 governor candidate.
How about a nice Howard Dean scream?
A picture of Shannyn Moore:
Caption this: Shannyn Moore's look when she finds out that her saving Private Griffin moment comes back to haunt (CAN YOU SAY BIRTHERS X 2) their group during the 2010 governor's race in Alaska.
Shannyn, target aquired, bombs away... Direct hit...
As they say, politics is local...
- Tom
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Quote of the Day (August 29, 2009)
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Edisto Joe:
Edisto Joe:
"Not only does this administration want to change our Constitution and drive us toward socialism, now we have White House advisers demanding that we rewrite the Hippocratic Oath to fit into their current health care proposal. What Dr. Emanuel and others like him fail to understand is that the American public is pretty good at reading between the lines. Sarah Palin nailed it right on the head when she used the term 'Death Panels.' You don't have to be a highly educated PhD to understand that."- JP
August 29th: Other Bloggers Remember
Editor's note: Having heard from this blog's contributors and some of our fellow blogroll members, we conclude our day-long special series of posts with some excerpts from posts by some other bloggers on this, the first anniversary of Sarah Palin going, as the ZZ Top song says, "nationwide."
John Ziegler at Big Hollywood:
John Ziegler at Big Hollywood:
"The last twelve months of Sarah Palin’s life truly bring new meaning to the phrase 'what a difference a year makes.' I strongly believe that no public figure in modern America has ever endured more stress, pressure and unfair scrutiny in a more dignified fashion than she has over the past year (though what George W. Bush tolerated over the last three years of his presidency probably comes in a close second)."Fay at Sarah's Web Brigade:
"Sarah Palin's resignation as governor was not an end in itself but the launch of a greater role in the affairs of our country. She has stepped forward as a voice of opposition to efforts to dismantle our government and take away our freedoms. Sarah Palin is here to stay, and Sarah Palin supporters all over cannot wait to call her Madame President!"Pamela Geller at Atlas Shrugs:
"What a year it has been for her and us. Looking back in hindsight, could the differences between Palin and Barack be more stark? Obama is all artifice. Palin is all real, all that. Obama is all style. Palin is all substance. Obama is anti-American. Palin is all-American. Obama holds the US military in contempt. Palin reveres the military. The military loves Palin. The military is on to Obama. The corrupt activist media loves Obama. The corrupt activist media loathes and libels Palin."Adrienne (the Texan, not the New Yorker) at Sarah Palin 2012:
"It was definitely one of the best days ever and it changed my life. For me it sparked a desire to really get behind the conservative movement, and try to elect the most conservative, everyday Americans we can. It changed my views on the Republican party. But most of all as a woman, that day definitely inspired me that I could have it all - the career, family, everything - just like Palin. And she is someone who I agree with politically on nearly everything. I could relate to her and I was supremely impressed by her servant's heart."azaeroprof at RedState.com:
"Sarah Palin’s ascension changed the conservative nation overnight. Millions of people who had zero (or even negative) enthusiasm about politics and the 2008 campaign suddenly showed up at Republican Headquarters around the country. The volunteer ranks exploded overnight, and suddenly there were McCain-Palin signs everywhere where previously there were only Obama and “Change We Can Believe In” signs. The conservative movement had received a transfusion of energy, enthusiasm, and optimism that we had lacked for a long, long time."Jackie at SarahNET:
"On August 29, 2008 Sarah Palin was introduced to the nation. Not only did she give hope to the Republican Party but she inspired thousands, if not millions of young girls. I am one of them. Up until then really the only prominent female in politics (on a national level) was Hilary Clinton. I grew to admire Sarah Palin during the election. And after her RNC speech I was hooked. She had faith in God and seemed to have a good head on her shoulders. She stood firm on issues that Conservatives hold dear. She was an attractive woman with an attractive family. Her outgoing personality and love for sports helped her appeal to the younger woman. She could relate to everyday moms, female athletes and the young girls who now hope to follow in her footsteps."Midknight Review:
"We at Midknight Review, have no idea who we will support for President in 2012. One thing for certain, Sarah Palin has the ability to pull GOP conservatives together and seems to be the only national conservative politician willing to take the time and energy to do so at this moment.Brianus Berkleianus (via Doug Brady) at C4P:
She is Miss Middle America, rising up from mopping floors and raising kids to national prominence and we give her great credit for her success and continued effort. Others may come along, but right now, we see no one else to whom we can turn for leadership."
"John McCain made his selection official in Dayton, Ohio, a name and town that will always evoke and stir in me sentiments of grace and gratitude. Then Sarah walked in. Even before she uttered a word, even before I got a clear view of her incomparable, diaphanous eyes, mirrors of and witnesses to her soul's depth and power, that confident, fearless, straight, beautiful stride of hers, as she and her daughter Piper proceeded into the arena of battle to the stirring strains of the "Rudy" theme, awoke in my breast sentiments of hope, of devotion, of courage...of love."K. Carpenter at Stepping Right Up:
"If you watch this again, everything she said an Obama administration would bring us has taken place, only 8 months after he took office."- JP
August 29th: Bloggers for Sarah Palin Remember
Editor's Note: Our special day-long series of posts on the first anniversary of Sarah Palin's arrival on the national political stage continues. Each of our Texas for Sarah Palin contributors have been heard from. Now we offer up this sampling of how eleven of our fellow Blogs for Sarah Palin blogroll members marked the occasion.
At Christians for Sarah Palin, this quote from Team Sarah member Charlene Spaulding is featured just below the blog's title header:
At Christians for Sarah Palin, this quote from Team Sarah member Charlene Spaulding is featured just below the blog's title header:
"Sarah - The night Senator John McCain introduced you to the United States of America you've left goose bumps, tears of pride, heart felt strength, your precious Gifts from God, your intellect, your spunk, a true American Woman, a true maverick for women, young girls and generations upcoming. Sarah, don't give up on us as we are all standing beside you and looking forward to the announcement "Sarah Palin President Elect 2012"Rachelle at Conservative Girl with a Voice wrote a letter to former Governor Palin:
"I first heard about you from my dad. He is a big fan of yours- particularly for the no-nonsense way in which you cleaned up the corruption in AK and remained fiscally conservative throughout your time as governor. When you were announced as the VP choice, I immediately saw what my dad had already known: You were, indeed, a true reformer and inspirational woman at that. As I watched the event in which you were announced on that beautiful summer day of August 29th, I was immediately energized and inspired like I had been at no other time in terms of wanting to do and be more involved politically. You are a role model to me and countless other women who one day wish to run for political office."At Governor Palin for President 2012, the remembrance started a few days early with Bill's August 26th post:
"The best thing that McCain ever did was to introduce the country to Sarah Palin. It is unfortunate that he didn't do an adequate job of defending her or letting her define herself on the trail. Palin, however, inspired a whole new generation of grassroots conservatives into action."Kristina at Inspiration Sarah recalls how she has been inspired by the 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate"
"I will never forget the excitement of that day watching her speech in Ohio. I knew that I was seeing a future President of the United States in action. For the first time since Reagan left the scene, I had a national politician who seemed to actually believe conservatism."
"Sarah is an inspiration! I have changed as a person in a good way because of her. I am no longer afraid to stand up for what I believe in. I am no longer afraid to express how I feel; to speak up. I am no longer afraid to be me and I believe that I have found the person that I want to be through supporting Sarah Palin--She never tries to be anybody else to make an impression and she never lets anyone mold her into something other than herself."At Moms for Sarah Palin, it's a matter of pride for Tiffany:
"I would have dragged myself down to vote for McCain but Palin gave me a reason to proudly cast my vote. I hope that I get that chance again, only it will be for Palin to be POTUS."Adrienne Ross at Motivation: Truth sums it up nicely:
"In the course of a year, I have studied Sarah Palin, admired her record, met her and her family, visited her state, and fell in love with her hometown. My mind has not changed about her. I still respect her, still believe God has called her for this time, and still know she will continue to lead with great integrity."Ron Devito remembers at Sarah Palin's Accomplishments:
"I turned on the radio, and I heard a woman’s voice. I thought. 'He put a woman on the ticket! Freaking awesome!'"Also a remembrance from Snowed In:
"I listened as I exited the lot. No sooner did I leave the lot and go about two blocks, I had to pull over to the side of the road. I couldn’t drive anymore. I hung on to her every word. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. In her voice was something familiar, something soothing, and something comforting – I had not heard anything like this, since – since – 1980?"
"Her accent and expression indicated a small town background. My mind again harkened back to 1980. I tried to dismiss it as just over-enthusiasm. 'Naw,' I thought… 'Come on…this is not a resurrection of Reagan. Curb your enthusiasm, dude!' But, I couldn’t help it. She spoke about lowering taxes; about winning our wars; fighting evil where we find it; about profiles in courage; about the timing of her pick with women being given the right to vote; about using our own resources. It wasn’t just what she said. She sounded like a friend. She wasn’t talking down to us. She was having a conversation with us. I sat transfixed for the 20 minutes her speech took, and for several minutes thereafter."
"I knew of Sarah Palin before August 29, 2008. And I wanted her to get the VP nod from John McCain. (I certainly didn't want her to deal with the inordinate amount of vitriol, hatred, and flat-out lying directed at her, but, silly me, I did not anticipate that happening when I was sitting at my desk one year ago today. But that's a subject for a different post.) So one year ago today, I was excited, for the first time in a while, about the future of conservatism."Here's part of a recollection from the memory banks of Sarah Palin's laptop computer at The Lotus:
"I call Senator McCain, John McAnonymous. Madame is a lot more gracious than I am. She calls him Senator. When I was out on the campaign trail with Madame, there were all of these people working for the Senator who seemed to want to be referred to as 'Anonymous'. I don't know how the Senator kept track of them all. Did he number them? But, I digress. I was backstage when Madame gave her speech in Ohio. I was a bit jetlagged--that four hour time difference always seems to get to me--but it was a great speech. I shouldn't be surprised though; I've gotten to be the first one to read most of her speeches as she types them up, but it isn't quite the same as hearing them from her!"At The Palination, there are several posts on the occasion from that blog's contributors. Here's just one sample:
"For the first time in my life I understood what Democrats meant when they talk about the impact that JFK and RFK had on them. It was exciting to have a nominee that we had fought so hard for, but the greatest impact by far was how I felt as a father with daughters. I can't describe it, but it felt like for the first time they could truly achieve anything, even the presidency if they so desired."And Rob Harrison at The Spyglass recalls:
"One year ago today, I was going bonkers, and so was my blog traffic, as the whole political world was going mad at John McCain's selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. After the truly awe-inspiring disinformation campaign Sen. McCain and his staffers ran to keep his pick a secret, and the wondrous overnight thread on Adam Brickley's site, with Drew (who turned out to be a staffer with the McCain campaign in Dayton) dropping hints that Gov. Palin would be the pick, to have the news come out and be confirmed was the greatest joy I've ever had in politics (not that there are many competitors for that particular honor)."- JP
"One year later, I don't take any of that back."
August 29th: The Accomplished Sarah Palin
Author's note: The following was posted a year ago today in basically this same form on several websites, including RightNation.US. It is being re-posted here today as part of a series of diaries to celebrate the first anniversary of Sarah Palin's introduction to the nation by John McCain as he announced her as his running mate in Dayton, Ohio, August 29th, 2008.
That Thursday night and Friday morning, on the eve of John McCain's announcement of who his running mate would be, was an all-nighter for this scribe. Although very tired and sleepy, I just couldn't make myself go to bed. Instead, I was following this thread of comments on the Draft Sarah Palin For Vice President website and also the "McCain Veep Watch" thread on FRee Republic. Adam Brickley, who created the Draft Palin site in February of 2007, had faithfully and tirelessly promoted Gov. Palin for the vice presidency ever since. My own meager efforts in support of Palin at the time had consisted of a few journal entries, two of which are here and here.
It was fascinating to jump back and forth between the threads as the suspenseful drama unfolded. The commenters tried to separate solid clues from rumor as each new reaction was posted. Pawlenty was in Ohio. No, he wasn't; he was staying in Minnesota for the state fair. Palin was in Alaska at her state's fair. No, wait, she might be in Ohio. What really intrigued me were the reports taken from a site which tracked aircraft flights. There was a lot of activity with chartered bizjets, one which flew from Alaska to Arizona and then on to Dayton, and another which made its way from Alaska directly to Ohio. The dates and times were just too convenient to be coincidence, and it seemed like a troublesome and expensive way to misdirect attention away from any other potential nominee. The flights of those two jets would turn out to be the keys to the story.
As the first light of morning began to illuminate the view through my computer room window, my tired old bones could take no more. I racked out for a couple of hours of badly needed sleep. I awoke in time to hear Fox News report that all of the signs were pointing to Sarah Palin. The news which followed was so good, I could hardly believe I was hearing it. But there was little time to bask in the glow of victory. The opposition had tossed aside their thick oppo books on Romney and Pawlenty. Sarah Palin was barely halfway through her introductory speech in Ohio when the brickbats began to fly.
Strangely, the bulk of the criticism the Democrats were directing at Gov. Palin, and at John McCain for asking her to join his ticket, centered around what they insisted was her "thin" resume. I didn't think they would want to go there, considering that their presidential nominee, Barack Obama, hardly had an extensive portfolio of his own to boast of. But go there they did, inviting comparisons between the GOP's Number Two candidate and the Democrats' Number One here and here.
But the length of a resume is but one dimension. It is the depth of a candidate's experience which reveals the value of his or her accomplishments. The nature of Palin's experience, whether in the public sector or the private was executive experience, while that of Biden and Obama was legislative. Getting right to the point, one of my writing heroes, Mark Steyn, summed it up:
There is no government closer to the people than at the municipal level. Palin spent eight years in city government, winning a seat on the Wasilla City Council in 1992 mostly thanks to her opposition to tax increases. She went on to serve two council terms from 1992 to 1996. She was elected mayor of the fast-growing Anchorage suburb in 1996 and again in 1999. Mayor Palin had a record of reducing property tax levels, increasing municipal services and attracting new industry to her town. During her tenure in Wassilla, she was elected chair of Alaska’s conference of mayors.
Next for Sarah Palin was service as chair of the Alaska Conservation Committee, a board which regulates the state's oil and gas industry. In this appointive position she began to gain what would become extensive and valuable knowedge and experience in the area of one of America's most pressing issues - energy. It was in this job where Palin first really demonstrated the toughness, political courage and maverick spirit that would years later so impress presidential candidate John McCain.
According to Fred Barnes:
In 2006, Palin ran for governor and was elected in a landslide. Barnes continued:
She stood up to some of Alaska's most entrenched interests, including three big oil companies (BP, ConocoPhilips, and ExxonMobil) who hold the lease rights to much of Alaska’s oil and gas wealth:
She has proven herself to be a fierce, knowledgeable, and articulate advocate of responsible development of Alaskan resources to benefit not only its own residents — who actually pay among the nation’s highest gasoline prices and have the least access to affordable and clean natural gas — but also the lower 48. Palin recognizes that this is not just a matter of economic necessity, but ultimately of national security.
Lest one start thinking that Governor Palin is some sort of green-tinged liberal, she has spoken out and brought suit to prevent radical environmentalists from exploiting the issue of naming the polar bear as an endangered species. She's a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association, and she has proven, by both word and deed, to be one of the fiercest defenders of human life. Palin is the most popular governor in the United States, and she achieved that honor by making good on her campaign promises.
Some other Palin accomplishments include supporting and signing an ethics bill passed by the Alaska legislature and creating the Alaska Health Strategies Planning Council to find innovative solutions to effectively provide access to, and help reduce the costs of, healthcare.
As governor, Palin is commander of her state's National Guard. Not content to merely sit on the title, she travelled to Kuwait to learn about her troops' mission there. On the return trip to Alaska, she stopped in Germany to to visit wounded soldiers in the hospital, an activity that Barack Obama did not see fit to engage in during his own overseas venture, blaming the Pentagon for his snubbing of the wounded.
More accomplishments: Gov. Palin signed a resolution in opposition to the FAA's plan to increase taxes on aviation fuel, impose user fees and slash airport funding. And speaking of general aviation, before Palin became governor, her predecessor Frank Murkowski had purchsed a Westwind Two business jet for the governor's use at a $2.5 million price tag, despite the objections from the state legislature and the public. Her first order of business after taking office was to put the jet up for sale.
Palin did keep the governor's state-owned Chevy Suburban, but she reassigned the driver, saying it was wasteful for the state to pay someone to chauffeur her around, since she was perfectly capable of driving herself. The governor's gourmet chef also got changed from a full-time to a seasonal-only basis because Palin considered it a luxury she didn’t think Alaskans should be paying for. Her political enemies called all this "superficial pandering."
Alaska is the only one of America's 57... er, make that 50 states which borders on two foreign countries. Sarah Palin is chief executive of our most important energy state, one which lies only a few miles from Russian territory. She has negotiated sensitive agreements on fishing rights and other matters to keep the peace up there. She's also worked on important trade deals with other countries. She has received foreign heads of state and had discussions with them. Her counterpart on the Democrat ticket, Joe Biden, is touted as something of a foreign policy expert, but he has advocated such radical and bizarre notions as partitioning Iraq by religion and sending a no-strings-attached $200 million check to Iran. Palin may not have the long resume of the Senator from Delaware, but neither has she ever advanced such foreign policy foolishness.
There are many benefits to having Governor Sarah Palin on the GOP presidential ticket. They all rest on a rock-solid base of achievement. She is one very accomplished administrator.
- JP
That Thursday night and Friday morning, on the eve of John McCain's announcement of who his running mate would be, was an all-nighter for this scribe. Although very tired and sleepy, I just couldn't make myself go to bed. Instead, I was following this thread of comments on the Draft Sarah Palin For Vice President website and also the "McCain Veep Watch" thread on FRee Republic. Adam Brickley, who created the Draft Palin site in February of 2007, had faithfully and tirelessly promoted Gov. Palin for the vice presidency ever since. My own meager efforts in support of Palin at the time had consisted of a few journal entries, two of which are here and here.
It was fascinating to jump back and forth between the threads as the suspenseful drama unfolded. The commenters tried to separate solid clues from rumor as each new reaction was posted. Pawlenty was in Ohio. No, he wasn't; he was staying in Minnesota for the state fair. Palin was in Alaska at her state's fair. No, wait, she might be in Ohio. What really intrigued me were the reports taken from a site which tracked aircraft flights. There was a lot of activity with chartered bizjets, one which flew from Alaska to Arizona and then on to Dayton, and another which made its way from Alaska directly to Ohio. The dates and times were just too convenient to be coincidence, and it seemed like a troublesome and expensive way to misdirect attention away from any other potential nominee. The flights of those two jets would turn out to be the keys to the story.
As the first light of morning began to illuminate the view through my computer room window, my tired old bones could take no more. I racked out for a couple of hours of badly needed sleep. I awoke in time to hear Fox News report that all of the signs were pointing to Sarah Palin. The news which followed was so good, I could hardly believe I was hearing it. But there was little time to bask in the glow of victory. The opposition had tossed aside their thick oppo books on Romney and Pawlenty. Sarah Palin was barely halfway through her introductory speech in Ohio when the brickbats began to fly.
Strangely, the bulk of the criticism the Democrats were directing at Gov. Palin, and at John McCain for asking her to join his ticket, centered around what they insisted was her "thin" resume. I didn't think they would want to go there, considering that their presidential nominee, Barack Obama, hardly had an extensive portfolio of his own to boast of. But go there they did, inviting comparisons between the GOP's Number Two candidate and the Democrats' Number One here and here.
But the length of a resume is but one dimension. It is the depth of a candidate's experience which reveals the value of his or her accomplishments. The nature of Palin's experience, whether in the public sector or the private was executive experience, while that of Biden and Obama was legislative. Getting right to the point, one of my writing heroes, Mark Steyn, summed it up:
Sarah Palin and Barack Obama are more or less the same age, but Governor Palin has run a state and a town and a commercial fishing operation, whereas (to reprise a famous line on the Rev Jackson) Senator Obama ain't run nothin' but his mouth.In the same vein, blogger foutsc observed that:
Sarah Palin has actually run a business and a state government. Mr. Obama hasn’t even run so much as a hot dog stand.So let's take a look at what Sarah Palin has done in government. What are her accomplishments?
There is no government closer to the people than at the municipal level. Palin spent eight years in city government, winning a seat on the Wasilla City Council in 1992 mostly thanks to her opposition to tax increases. She went on to serve two council terms from 1992 to 1996. She was elected mayor of the fast-growing Anchorage suburb in 1996 and again in 1999. Mayor Palin had a record of reducing property tax levels, increasing municipal services and attracting new industry to her town. During her tenure in Wassilla, she was elected chair of Alaska’s conference of mayors.
Next for Sarah Palin was service as chair of the Alaska Conservation Committee, a board which regulates the state's oil and gas industry. In this appointive position she began to gain what would become extensive and valuable knowedge and experience in the area of one of America's most pressing issues - energy. It was in this job where Palin first really demonstrated the toughness, political courage and maverick spirit that would years later so impress presidential candidate John McCain.
According to Fred Barnes:
She resigned in January 2004 as head of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission after complaining to the office of Governor Frank Murkowski and to state Attorney General Gregg Renkes about ethical violations by another commissioner, Randy Ruedrich, who was also Republican state chairman.By standing up to the corruption in her own party, as Barack Obama failed to do in Chicago, Palin showed McCain that he had a kindred spirit up north in America's "57th" state.
State law barred Palin from speaking out publicly about ethical violations and corruption. But she was vindicated later in 2004 when Ruedrich, who'd been reconfirmed as state chairman, agreed to pay a $12,000 fine for breaking state ethics laws. She became a hero in the eyes of the public and the press, and the bane of Republican leaders.
In 2005, she continued to take on the Republican establishment by joining Eric Croft, a Democrat, in lodging an ethics complaint against Renkes, who was not only attorney general but also a long-time adviser and campaign manager for Murkowski. The governor reprimanded Renkes and said the case was closed. It wasn't. Renkes resigned a few weeks later, and Palin was again hailed as a hero.
In 2006, Palin ran for governor and was elected in a landslide. Barnes continued:
With her emphasis on ethics and openness in government, "it turned out Palin caught the temper of the times perfectly," wrote Tom Kizzia of the Anchorage Daily News. She was also lucky. News broke of an FBI investigation of corruption by legislators between the primary and general elections. So far, three legislators have been indicted.As governor, Sarah Palin's list of accomplishments lengthened rapidly. She used her line-item veto to cut $268 million from Alaska's state budget.
In the roughly three years since she quit as the state's chief regulator of the oil industry, Palin has crushed the Republican hierarchy (virtually all male) and nearly every other foe or critic. Political analysts in Alaska refer to the "body count" of Palin's rivals.
"The landscape is littered with the bodies of those who crossed Sarah," says pollster Dave Dittman, who worked for her gubernatorial campaign. It includes Ruedrich, Renkes, Murkowski, gubernatorial contenders John Binkley and Andrew Halcro, the three big oil companies in Alaska, and a section of the Daily News called "Voice of the Times," which was highly critical of Palin and is now defunct.
She stood up to some of Alaska's most entrenched interests, including three big oil companies (BP, ConocoPhilips, and ExxonMobil) who hold the lease rights to much of Alaska’s oil and gas wealth:
Once in office, Palin took an aggressive stance toward the oil companies. Her nickname from high-school basketball, "Sarah Barracuda," was resurrected in the press. Early in her term, she shocked oil lobbyists when she was so bold as to not show up when Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson came to Juneau to meet with her. Palin, after scrapping Murkowski's deal, would not give Big Oil the terms they wanted, yet insisted that the companies still had an obligation under their lease to deliver gas to whatever pipeline Alaska built. She invited the oil companies to place open bids to build a pipeline, but they refused. A bid by TransCanada, North America's largest pipeline builder, was approved by the legislature in August.Fearlessly battling corrupt Alaskan politicians is one thing, but not allowing Big Oil to push her over is quite another. There's little wonder McCain was so impressed with this young but highly accomplished governor.
Palin also raised taxes on oil companies after Murkowski's previous tax regime produced falling revenues in 2007, despite skyrocketing oil prices. Alaska now has some of the highest resource taxes in the world. Alaska's oil tax revenues are expected to be about $10 billion in 2008, twice those of previous year. BP says about half its oil revenues now go to taxes, when royalty payments to the state are included. Earlier this week, Palin approved gas tax relief for Alaskans, and paid every resident $1,200 to help ease their fuel-price burden.
To be sure, it would be an overstatement to brand Palin as an enemy of Big Oil. Her husband works as a production supervisor for BP. And her support for drilling in the Alaska Natural Wildlife Reserve, as well as exploiting Alaska's natural gas resources, certainly won't endear her to environmentalists. "Personally, I have respect for the industry," she said in an interview with Fortune last year, "for the contributions it's made to our state ... and great respect for what their CEOs are doing. We know their mission, to take as much as possible and leave as little behind."
But it does take a special person to go from small-town mayor and hockey mom to standing up to the world's biggest corporations. Despite a stint as chairman of the state's Oil and Gas Commission, she'd never done business on a remotely similar stage. When Fortune last year asked Palin if she was intimidated, she said simply, "No. Being reasonable commercial operations, I expected the Big Three will act responsibly."
In that same interview, she said she intended to change Alaska's relationship with "the lower 48." She saw part of her responsibility as delivering her state's natural gas to those hungry markets. "We're still too reliant on the federal government," she said. She canceled Alaska's support for the "Bridge to Nowhere," a proposed $320 million bridge to sparsely populated Gravina Island, that Senator Ted Stevens, now under indictment for public corruption, famously included in the federal budget.
Palin was also critical of Washington's attitude towards the pipeline project. She said last year she had written a letter to Vice President Dick Cheney asking for help with the pipeline, but didn't receive a response. President Bush did send an envoy to Alaska to help get the project going, but Palin still felt the approval process was unwieldy. "So many federal agencies and permitting processes," she told Fortune. "It's mind-boggling."
She has proven herself to be a fierce, knowledgeable, and articulate advocate of responsible development of Alaskan resources to benefit not only its own residents — who actually pay among the nation’s highest gasoline prices and have the least access to affordable and clean natural gas — but also the lower 48. Palin recognizes that this is not just a matter of economic necessity, but ultimately of national security.
Lest one start thinking that Governor Palin is some sort of green-tinged liberal, she has spoken out and brought suit to prevent radical environmentalists from exploiting the issue of naming the polar bear as an endangered species. She's a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association, and she has proven, by both word and deed, to be one of the fiercest defenders of human life. Palin is the most popular governor in the United States, and she achieved that honor by making good on her campaign promises.
Some other Palin accomplishments include supporting and signing an ethics bill passed by the Alaska legislature and creating the Alaska Health Strategies Planning Council to find innovative solutions to effectively provide access to, and help reduce the costs of, healthcare.
As governor, Palin is commander of her state's National Guard. Not content to merely sit on the title, she travelled to Kuwait to learn about her troops' mission there. On the return trip to Alaska, she stopped in Germany to to visit wounded soldiers in the hospital, an activity that Barack Obama did not see fit to engage in during his own overseas venture, blaming the Pentagon for his snubbing of the wounded.
More accomplishments: Gov. Palin signed a resolution in opposition to the FAA's plan to increase taxes on aviation fuel, impose user fees and slash airport funding. And speaking of general aviation, before Palin became governor, her predecessor Frank Murkowski had purchsed a Westwind Two business jet for the governor's use at a $2.5 million price tag, despite the objections from the state legislature and the public. Her first order of business after taking office was to put the jet up for sale.
Palin did keep the governor's state-owned Chevy Suburban, but she reassigned the driver, saying it was wasteful for the state to pay someone to chauffeur her around, since she was perfectly capable of driving herself. The governor's gourmet chef also got changed from a full-time to a seasonal-only basis because Palin considered it a luxury she didn’t think Alaskans should be paying for. Her political enemies called all this "superficial pandering."
Alaska is the only one of America's 57... er, make that 50 states which borders on two foreign countries. Sarah Palin is chief executive of our most important energy state, one which lies only a few miles from Russian territory. She has negotiated sensitive agreements on fishing rights and other matters to keep the peace up there. She's also worked on important trade deals with other countries. She has received foreign heads of state and had discussions with them. Her counterpart on the Democrat ticket, Joe Biden, is touted as something of a foreign policy expert, but he has advocated such radical and bizarre notions as partitioning Iraq by religion and sending a no-strings-attached $200 million check to Iran. Palin may not have the long resume of the Senator from Delaware, but neither has she ever advanced such foreign policy foolishness.
There are many benefits to having Governor Sarah Palin on the GOP presidential ticket. They all rest on a rock-solid base of achievement. She is one very accomplished administrator.
- JP
August 29th: The dark side
Editor's note: As we celebrate the first anniversary of Sarah Palin as a national figure, we must remember that day one year ago was not without a nasty component. The ugliness came, as usual, from the political Left. Within just hours of John McCain's introduction of Sarah Palin to the world at large from Dayton, Ohio, bottom-feeding liberals, caught by surprise, were fanatically digging for dirt on the Alaska governor. Nutroots website Daily Kos was sure it had struck gold, and published a post titled "Sarah Palin Is NOT The Mother" which started the Trig Troofer movement. Without a shred of actual evidence to support their sick theories, many moonbats -- led by bat-in-chief Andrew Sullivan -- continue to push that liberal lie to this very day.
TX4P contributor Tom Lamb shined a light on the Kos kockroaches on his blog It's a Kwazy Life here. Notice that if you follow the link to DKos in Tom's original post, you are redirected to a page which says, "Sorry. I can't seem to find that story." That's because DKos scrubbed the page after another DKos poster pronounced it debunked in a subsequent post, linked to by Wake Up America here. The good folks at Wizbang took a screenshot of the original DKos post, and it is preserved for history here. At least DKos, to their credit, belatedly came to realize that there was no substance to the Trig Troofer lunacy. But Silly Sully and a host of Palin-hatin' Alaskan bloggers want it to be true so badly that they just can't let it go. A big tip of the TX4P Stetson to Tom and other conservative bloggers for debunking the moonbat madness.
Tom's original post follows, complete with a still-working link which debunks the big leftist lie. - JP
Note to the Daily Kos: It's Called Motherhood
The Kos has gone over to the darker side of the darker side along with other nutjobs.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/29/15323/1433/634/579066
Here is an eye witness to seeing Sarah pregnant:
http://www.polartrec.com/node/3944
TX4P contributor Tom Lamb shined a light on the Kos kockroaches on his blog It's a Kwazy Life here. Notice that if you follow the link to DKos in Tom's original post, you are redirected to a page which says, "Sorry. I can't seem to find that story." That's because DKos scrubbed the page after another DKos poster pronounced it debunked in a subsequent post, linked to by Wake Up America here. The good folks at Wizbang took a screenshot of the original DKos post, and it is preserved for history here. At least DKos, to their credit, belatedly came to realize that there was no substance to the Trig Troofer lunacy. But Silly Sully and a host of Palin-hatin' Alaskan bloggers want it to be true so badly that they just can't let it go. A big tip of the TX4P Stetson to Tom and other conservative bloggers for debunking the moonbat madness.
Tom's original post follows, complete with a still-working link which debunks the big leftist lie. - JP
Note to the Daily Kos: It's Called Motherhood
The Kos has gone over to the darker side of the darker side along with other nutjobs.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/29/15323/1433/634/579066
Here is an eye witness to seeing Sarah pregnant:
http://www.polartrec.com/node/3944
There were several of us PolarTRECers waiting in the Fairbanks, AK airport to catch our planes home. We were chatting about all we had learned when Kristen Timm, ARCUS administrator said “Look, there is the Hottest Governor in the United States” as she has been publicly deemed by media and fans.- Tom
Of course I had to check out the “Hottest Governor in the US” and quickly turned to see her pregnant (she has since had her baby) with bags and daughter in tote. Then it struck me as odd. Why is the Governor of Alaska in the airport and preparing to get onto my commercial flight?
I questioned PolarTRECer Craig Kasemodel an Alaskan resident. He let me know that Governor Palin sold the corporate jet after securing her official Governor position.
August 29th: McCain’s VP Pick - Sarah Palin!!
Editor's Note: This journal entry was originally two consecutive posts by Warner on Publius' Forum here and here August 29, 2008, just after Sarah Palin had been introduced by Sen. McCain in Dayton. - JP
- By Warner Todd Huston
Well, this is a great choice. Sarah Palin current Gov. of Alaska, corruption fighter, pro-life, anti-gay marriage… she even hunts and fishes.
This is a very good pick!
- By Warner Todd Huston
Well, this is a great choice. Sarah Palin current Gov. of Alaska, corruption fighter, pro-life, anti-gay marriage… she even hunts and fishes.
This is a very good pick!
For Immediate Release- WTH
John McCain Selects Alaska Governor Sarah Palin As Vice Presidential Running Mate
ARLINGTON, VA — U.S. Senator John McCain today announced that he has selected Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate and to serve as his vice president.
Governor Palin is a tough executive who has demonstrated during her time in office that she is ready to be president. She has brought Republicans and Democrats together within her Administration and has a record of delivering on the change and reform that we need in Washington.
Governor Palin has challenged the influence of the big oil companies while fighting for the development of new energy resources. She leads a state that matters to every one of us — Alaska has significant energy resources and she has been a leader in the fight to make America energy independent.
In Alaska, Governor Palin challenged a corrupt system and passed a landmark ethics reform bill. She has actually used her veto and cut budgetary spending. She put a stop to the “bridge to nowhere” that would have cost taxpayers $400 million dollars.
As the head of Alaska’s National Guard and as the mother of a soldier herself, Governor Palin understands what it takes to lead our nation and she understands the importance of supporting our troops.
Governor Palin has the record of reform and bipartisanship that others can only speak of. Her experience in shaking up the status quo is exactly what is needed in Washington today.
August 29th: The glass ceiling fell the day Sarah walked on the Stage.
The day when Sarah Palin was introduced to the World, was for me a very interesting day.
I had been talking about her around the blogosphere for months. I and another commenter on HotAir.com were the first to point Allahpundit in her direction. In which Allahpundit asked, “Who is Sarah Palin”?
Who is Sarah Palin?
She is a Mom, an American and a Christian with God in her heart and Alaska in her soul. She loves her state and her country. She is one who doesn’t back down but also listens. She is an average citizen who "Served with a Servant’s Heart” to all those who elected her into office. Any office, be it School Board, Mayor, or Governor, Sarah always made sure to keep the interest of those who had elected her into these positions ahead of any other needs. She didn’t stop looking into those who were corrupt and straight against the many who tried to throw her under the bus. Sarah also stuck to her Christian morals even though she never pushed Christianity. Sarah was very much a model for what other States around the Union should expect.
Stepping out on stage, giving the speech that could be heard across the Nation then holding a disabled child obviously loved, was and has been in many case the pinnacle of a leader for not just the United States, but the World.
Those who say that Sarah is not worthy are the same people that can not find the light in themselves or their life. Jealousy, self importance and animosity are some such feelings that hold all of us back from what can make us as a person, better and greater people. When the people who can step back from those emotions and feeling, are the type of people who can move ahead and for the good of all, including themselves, be better in general to others. Sarah has shown this.
When you think of this day, think about how you felt. The touching emotion, the excitement in the air, the crackling aspiration of someone who understood, and the appreciation from an “Average Citizen” to all of us in the Nation who are also normal and average, but can show their lights to others.
Thank you Sarah Palin for waking up the Nation and a Happy Anniversary to you and Todd and may you have many more happy anniversary’s to come. And a Happy Birthday and special Thanks goes out to Senator McCain, who brought Sarah Palin to the forefront of a movement that needed to happen, even though I don’t think it was intentional on McCain's part. The glass ceiling fell the day Sarah walked on the Stage.
And a Thank You to all who support Sarah. Without you who help Sarah and support her against those that try to keep her down and show what is right. You are the “Average Citizens” Sarah is fighting for.
- upinak
Cross-posted at The Palination
I had been talking about her around the blogosphere for months. I and another commenter on HotAir.com were the first to point Allahpundit in her direction. In which Allahpundit asked, “Who is Sarah Palin”?
Who is Sarah Palin?
She is a Mom, an American and a Christian with God in her heart and Alaska in her soul. She loves her state and her country. She is one who doesn’t back down but also listens. She is an average citizen who "Served with a Servant’s Heart” to all those who elected her into office. Any office, be it School Board, Mayor, or Governor, Sarah always made sure to keep the interest of those who had elected her into these positions ahead of any other needs. She didn’t stop looking into those who were corrupt and straight against the many who tried to throw her under the bus. Sarah also stuck to her Christian morals even though she never pushed Christianity. Sarah was very much a model for what other States around the Union should expect.
Stepping out on stage, giving the speech that could be heard across the Nation then holding a disabled child obviously loved, was and has been in many case the pinnacle of a leader for not just the United States, but the World.
Those who say that Sarah is not worthy are the same people that can not find the light in themselves or their life. Jealousy, self importance and animosity are some such feelings that hold all of us back from what can make us as a person, better and greater people. When the people who can step back from those emotions and feeling, are the type of people who can move ahead and for the good of all, including themselves, be better in general to others. Sarah has shown this.
When you think of this day, think about how you felt. The touching emotion, the excitement in the air, the crackling aspiration of someone who understood, and the appreciation from an “Average Citizen” to all of us in the Nation who are also normal and average, but can show their lights to others.
Thank you Sarah Palin for waking up the Nation and a Happy Anniversary to you and Todd and may you have many more happy anniversary’s to come. And a Happy Birthday and special Thanks goes out to Senator McCain, who brought Sarah Palin to the forefront of a movement that needed to happen, even though I don’t think it was intentional on McCain's part. The glass ceiling fell the day Sarah walked on the Stage.
And a Thank You to all who support Sarah. Without you who help Sarah and support her against those that try to keep her down and show what is right. You are the “Average Citizens” Sarah is fighting for.
- upinak
Cross-posted at The Palination
August 29th: The America I Know
I am honored to have been invited to be a contributor at Texas For Palin although I am a native Kentuckian. As I pondered whether or not it is appropriate for a Kentuckian to write for a Texas-based blog, I recalled the goosebumps I still get every year on Derby Day when folks from around the nation join in singing My Old Kentucky Home. On Derby Day, everyone is a Kentuckian. As Texas stands tall with a deep history of being home to heroes who are true defenders of freedom, in these trying times I believe there is a little bit of Texas in each of us. I hope, for our country's sake, that I am right about that.
As we celebrate the first anniversary of the announcement that Sarah Palin was chosen by Senator John McCain to be his running mate, my compatriots in the blogosphere have made various suggestions about what might be an appropriate tribute, but as I consider for my first entry here those deep and abiding truths which unite Texans and Kentuckians, being determined to also honor in my own insubstantial way the very substantial impact Sarah Palin has had on the country, my thoughts have brought me to a different place.
On the left and on the right, the question continues to be asked repeatedly, "What is it about Sarah Palin that makes her appeal to so many?" As a Kentuckian writing on a Texan blog, I must consider my own identity as well as yours, so today I ask instead what it is about us that caused us to be so inspired by Sarah Palin beginning from the moment she was introduced on that stage in Dayton one year ago. You see, it is not merely because of who Sarah Palin is that I was inspired by her. It is also because of who I am. In order to know who I am, you have to understand the things that have shaped me into the American I have always been and the American I remain today.
Kentucky is known for taking a "neutral" role in the Civil War. I confess that this served as a source of shame for me when I was first taught this as a child because even as a little girl I believed that taking a stand against injustice, though it may require opposing domestic enemies, should inspire one's sense of duty to serve. Whether the North or the South represented the side of justice, it seemed to me that Kentucky should not have stood by in neutrality. My confusion and shame came about primarily because I wasn't given enough information. History teachers really only hit the high points and the bottom line was always that the South was wrong and the North was right. Perhaps my teachers and the writers of my textbooks thought Kentucky could save face in the eyes of posterity by having the label "neutral" but for me it was shameful. In time, I've come to understand that even this singular point -- Kentucky's "neutrality" -- is far more complex than can be completely understood in a lifetime, but there are several facts that shed light.
Kentucky is the birthplace of both President Abraham Lincoln of the Union and President Jefferson Davis of the Confederacy. This, coupled with the fact that Kentucky was a border state where many bloody battles were waged, epitomized in the harshest way that familiar term "brother against brother". Kentucky was not "neutral" during the Civil War. She lived up to her name "Dark and Bloody Ground".
While history's teachers have branded Kentucky as the "neutral" state, her heart and soul were in the fray more than any other. To characterize Kentucky as "neutral" is even more obscene than it would be to characterize America today as complacent about the issues of the day.
That same sense of justice that I've always known, a gift that God gives to each one of us -- albeit in varying portions -- also demands a sense of shame in me that in my beloved Kentucky, not only are there great monuments to her favorite son, Abraham Lincoln, but also to Jefferson Davis. Several generations of Kentuckians as well as other Americans have been taught, whether overtly or covertly, to be ashamed of Davis. He will only ever really be remembered for his sins while Lincoln will forever be remembered for his greatness. Given the choice between taking his children to the obelisk honoring Jefferson Davis or to Lincoln's Birthplace, no parent in his right mind would neglect Lincoln for Davis, and rightly so.
I have been blessed, perhaps, with more opportunities than most parents. I have taken my two sons and two daughters to Lincoln's Birthplace and to the Jefferson Davis Memorial. We have gone as a family to Lincoln's boyhood home. My children have stood at the grave of Lincoln's mother. At the Presidential Library of Jefferson Davis on his estate, Beauvoir, they've seen the caisson that carried his remains for burial. We've been to the Lincoln Memorial, a Confederate graveyard and a cotton field where I made them pick cotton to see what it's like. On our trip to the site of the Battleground at Gettysburg, we could not complete the tour because I was so overwhelmed with grief that I wept for the loss of Americans who fought for what they deemed to be true and just, no matter which flag they had pledged allegiance to.
Countless students are required to memorize Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, so it is indeed ironic that Lincoln said:
It was not purely under the leadership of the first Republican president that America was able to achieve her "new birth of freedom". It was also not merely through the blood of her patriots under separate flags that this new birth would come. These things would be nothing apart from the continued devotion of all Americans to the ever "unfinished work" of freedom.
The America I know is one that is not and shall not ever be destroyed through division no matter how urgently or violently we may disagree with one another. The America I know is under the hand of One Almighty Father and it is only with His help and our commitment that freedom can reign.
The America I know is not characterized by a government that struggles in class and race warfare dictated by the state no matter how many laws our leaders may pass saying otherwise. The America I know is one in which families seek justice together, in truth and freedom, at all times, with the aid of or in spite of the institutions we make for ourselves.
This is the America I know. This is who I am and it is because of who I am that I was inspired that day in Dayton one year ago.
- LG
As we celebrate the first anniversary of the announcement that Sarah Palin was chosen by Senator John McCain to be his running mate, my compatriots in the blogosphere have made various suggestions about what might be an appropriate tribute, but as I consider for my first entry here those deep and abiding truths which unite Texans and Kentuckians, being determined to also honor in my own insubstantial way the very substantial impact Sarah Palin has had on the country, my thoughts have brought me to a different place.
On the left and on the right, the question continues to be asked repeatedly, "What is it about Sarah Palin that makes her appeal to so many?" As a Kentuckian writing on a Texan blog, I must consider my own identity as well as yours, so today I ask instead what it is about us that caused us to be so inspired by Sarah Palin beginning from the moment she was introduced on that stage in Dayton one year ago. You see, it is not merely because of who Sarah Palin is that I was inspired by her. It is also because of who I am. In order to know who I am, you have to understand the things that have shaped me into the American I have always been and the American I remain today.
Kentucky is known for taking a "neutral" role in the Civil War. I confess that this served as a source of shame for me when I was first taught this as a child because even as a little girl I believed that taking a stand against injustice, though it may require opposing domestic enemies, should inspire one's sense of duty to serve. Whether the North or the South represented the side of justice, it seemed to me that Kentucky should not have stood by in neutrality. My confusion and shame came about primarily because I wasn't given enough information. History teachers really only hit the high points and the bottom line was always that the South was wrong and the North was right. Perhaps my teachers and the writers of my textbooks thought Kentucky could save face in the eyes of posterity by having the label "neutral" but for me it was shameful. In time, I've come to understand that even this singular point -- Kentucky's "neutrality" -- is far more complex than can be completely understood in a lifetime, but there are several facts that shed light.
Kentucky is the birthplace of both President Abraham Lincoln of the Union and President Jefferson Davis of the Confederacy. This, coupled with the fact that Kentucky was a border state where many bloody battles were waged, epitomized in the harshest way that familiar term "brother against brother". Kentucky was not "neutral" during the Civil War. She lived up to her name "Dark and Bloody Ground".
While history's teachers have branded Kentucky as the "neutral" state, her heart and soul were in the fray more than any other. To characterize Kentucky as "neutral" is even more obscene than it would be to characterize America today as complacent about the issues of the day.
That same sense of justice that I've always known, a gift that God gives to each one of us -- albeit in varying portions -- also demands a sense of shame in me that in my beloved Kentucky, not only are there great monuments to her favorite son, Abraham Lincoln, but also to Jefferson Davis. Several generations of Kentuckians as well as other Americans have been taught, whether overtly or covertly, to be ashamed of Davis. He will only ever really be remembered for his sins while Lincoln will forever be remembered for his greatness. Given the choice between taking his children to the obelisk honoring Jefferson Davis or to Lincoln's Birthplace, no parent in his right mind would neglect Lincoln for Davis, and rightly so.
I have been blessed, perhaps, with more opportunities than most parents. I have taken my two sons and two daughters to Lincoln's Birthplace and to the Jefferson Davis Memorial. We have gone as a family to Lincoln's boyhood home. My children have stood at the grave of Lincoln's mother. At the Presidential Library of Jefferson Davis on his estate, Beauvoir, they've seen the caisson that carried his remains for burial. We've been to the Lincoln Memorial, a Confederate graveyard and a cotton field where I made them pick cotton to see what it's like. On our trip to the site of the Battleground at Gettysburg, we could not complete the tour because I was so overwhelmed with grief that I wept for the loss of Americans who fought for what they deemed to be true and just, no matter which flag they had pledged allegiance to.
Countless students are required to memorize Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, so it is indeed ironic that Lincoln said:
"The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here..."It took a trip to Gettysburg for me to understand more clearly the depth of Lincoln's subsequent words:
"....but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."Lincoln's famous words were not to honor the Union dead. His words were to honor all the dead, both Union and Confederate. We had reached the bloodiest point of American domestic strife. Never before or since had it been so. The nation had broken apart, but it was still one nation "under God".
It was not purely under the leadership of the first Republican president that America was able to achieve her "new birth of freedom". It was also not merely through the blood of her patriots under separate flags that this new birth would come. These things would be nothing apart from the continued devotion of all Americans to the ever "unfinished work" of freedom.
The America I know is one that is not and shall not ever be destroyed through division no matter how urgently or violently we may disagree with one another. The America I know is under the hand of One Almighty Father and it is only with His help and our commitment that freedom can reign.
The America I know is not characterized by a government that struggles in class and race warfare dictated by the state no matter how many laws our leaders may pass saying otherwise. The America I know is one in which families seek justice together, in truth and freedom, at all times, with the aid of or in spite of the institutions we make for ourselves.
This is the America I know. This is who I am and it is because of who I am that I was inspired that day in Dayton one year ago.
- LG
August 29th: A Celebration
Today is the first anniversary of the day Sarah Palin stepped onto the stage of national politics and was introduced to the American people by the presidential candidate who had chosen her to be his running mate.
At that point in time, it was realized that even if Senator John McCain and the successful young governor of the state of Alaska did not win the election of 2008, they had already made history. In just a few days time at the RNC convention, Sarah Heath Palin would become the first woman to be the vice presidential nominee of the Republican Party.
Texas for Sarah Palin will publish a series of posts by our contributors, as well as links to commemorative posts on other websites, throughout the day today to mark this significant historical event.
- JP
At that point in time, it was realized that even if Senator John McCain and the successful young governor of the state of Alaska did not win the election of 2008, they had already made history. In just a few days time at the RNC convention, Sarah Heath Palin would become the first woman to be the vice presidential nominee of the Republican Party.
Texas for Sarah Palin will publish a series of posts by our contributors, as well as links to commemorative posts on other websites, throughout the day today to mark this significant historical event.
- JP
Friday, August 28, 2009
Group which hacked Palin's e-mail now targeting other Christians
From the Sydney Morning Herald:
If you think what these cybergoons do isn't that big of a deal, consider this:
- JP
A malicious hacking attack on a Christian dating site has been used to break into Facebook accounts and post obscene and racist comments.So what kind of web mayhem has 4chan been engaged in lately? A few examples:
The online group called 4chan - which hacked former Alaskan governor Sarah Palin's email account and spread hoax news about a spate of celebrity deaths - is now targeting Christians on Facebook.
The hackers stole login details and passwords from an unnamed Christian dating site and used them to break into Facebook accounts.
Posing as one devout Christian woman who had committed to no sex before marriage, they published a status update on her page thanking “Michael” for sex the night before.How uplifting! This is the kind of scum David Kernell, the son of Tennessee Democrat state Rep. Mike Kernell of Memphis, was trying to impress when he hacked into Sarah Palin's e-mail account.
To make it more believable, they then posted an update that it was actually intended to be a private message and had been published by mistake.
Status updates posted on other hacked Christians' Facebook profiles included racist hate messages and messages pretending that the poster had contemplated suicide or had accidentally killed a homeless person.
The hackers also caused trouble between the users and their friends, writing on one user's photo that their baby was “ugly” and on another woman's photo that her teeth matched her skin.
If you think what these cybergoons do isn't that big of a deal, consider this:
In October last year, Apple's share price tanked after 4chan users spread a false report claiming chief executive office Steve Jobs had suffered a major heart attack.Pretty big deal if you own Apple stock.
- JP
SarahPAC Donates to Portman, Graham, Hatch
From Jonathan Allen's Notepad at CQ Politics:
Word on Scuttlebutt Street is that both Graham and Hatch had donated to SarahPAC when it was first rolled out, so the political favors have now been returned. It is also a fact of political life that Sarah Palin cannot realistically hope to capture the Republican presidential nomination -- if she wants it -- without the support of such insiders as Graham and Hatch. It's simply a case of paying the political piper.
While some conservatives are sure to be disappointed by the donations to two pols they consider to be Vichy Republicans, the relative few who will be genuinely outraged probably weren't that firmly entrenched in the Palin camp to begin with. On the other side of the coin, the donations will quite likely sit well with moderates and independents, two demographic groups which Sarah Palin knows she must improve her standing with in order to win a general election.
- JP
"Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's SarahPAC has donated money to the campaigns of Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Orrin Hatch of Utah, as well as to Republican Ohio Senate candidate Rob Portman, according to a Friday filing with the Federal Election Commission."It had already been widely reported that SarahPAC contributed to Senators John McCain and Lisa Murkowski. Former Governor Palin's PAC recently had to reduce its donations to each those campaigns from $5,000 each to $4,800 each in order to qualify as a "multi-candidate" political action committee, but the technicality has now been satisfied:
"The exact amounts of the contributions were not reported, but Palin had to list the names of candidates she had financially supported to make SarahPAC a bona fide political action committee."
"According to the report SarahPAC filed on Friday, she crossed the five-candidate threshold on Aug. 12 with a donation to Portman. SarahPAC gave to Graham and Hatch on July 14."Portman is a fairly solid conservative, but SarahPAC's contributions to the campaigns of Graham and Hatch are certain to raise some conservative eyebrows. We can think of a couple of plausible explanations for those donations.
Word on Scuttlebutt Street is that both Graham and Hatch had donated to SarahPAC when it was first rolled out, so the political favors have now been returned. It is also a fact of political life that Sarah Palin cannot realistically hope to capture the Republican presidential nomination -- if she wants it -- without the support of such insiders as Graham and Hatch. It's simply a case of paying the political piper.
While some conservatives are sure to be disappointed by the donations to two pols they consider to be Vichy Republicans, the relative few who will be genuinely outraged probably weren't that firmly entrenched in the Palin camp to begin with. On the other side of the coin, the donations will quite likely sit well with moderates and independents, two demographic groups which Sarah Palin knows she must improve her standing with in order to win a general election.
- JP
Quote of the Day (August 28, 2009)
*
Rev. Paul at Way Up North:
Rev. Paul at Way Up North:
"Gov. Palin is a conservative first, and a Republican second. She's not trying to resurrect the Republican party per se, except insofar as it's the best current candidate for a party that at least used to represent what she is."- JP
Sarah helps Glenn Beck expose Obama's corruptocracy
A post by Gary P. Jackson at Houston-based TheCypressTimes reminds us:
Related: The editors at Family Security Matters:
- JP
"Sarah warned us about the dangers of electing Barack Obama, but unfortunately, 52 percent of the nation chose not to listen. Now 100 percent of the nation is suffering because of this severe error in judgment."The post praises Glenn Beck for exposing the radicalism of Obama and the unprecedented number of "Czars" the president has appointed:
"Glenn Beck has been doing a series of discussions on the various Czars all this week, to record ratings, on his afternoon Fox News show."The problem with these czars (actually they are more like commissars),aside from their radicalism, is that they are constrained by no sytem of checks and balances:
"For her part, earlier in the week, Sarah Palin urged her nearly 900,000 Facebook members to tune in to Beck's popular and essential show"
"So what Obama has done is set up an illegal shadow government, made up of unelected and unapproved advisers who are answerable only to Barack Obama. They have no accountability to the American people whatsoever. No allegiance to America, or the Constitution, just Obama."Indeed such anti-Federalists as Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, George Mason, Richard Henry Lee and Thomas Jefferson would be horrified by Obama is trying to do here. We believe even those proponents of a strong national government such as Alexander Hamilton and John Adams would be very troubled by it as well.
"This is NOT what the framers of our Constitution had in mind."
Related: The editors at Family Security Matters:
"We can guarantee this is not the change most Americans wished for…far from it. Let’s just hope there is something we can recognize in our country by the time Mr.Obama and his 'czars' are out of office and power."But at the Chicago Tribune, "The Swamp" blogger Mark Silva saw it differently, according to Newsbusters.org:
"America: continue to let your elected representatives hear your voices. Engage. Participate. Re-read the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Know your rights. Your country needs you like never before."
And according to Silva - Palin's endorsement of Beck was jut like "palin' around with terrorists," since in Silva's view, the Fox News host is the equivalent of some sort of terrorist.To the statist media, exposing the shadow Marxist government which will help Obama stamp out liberty is an act of "domestic terrorism," while Bill Ayers is just a respected educator. Talk about dangerously foolish notions...
"Talk about ‘palin' around with terrorists,' Silva concluded.
- JP
Ron Rosenbaum: Sarahcuda rope-a-doped liberals
Liberal blogger Ron Rosenbaum scolds his fellow libs for being "rope-a-doped" by Sarah Palin on ObamaCare:
As a liberal myself, I was amazed by the obtuseness of the liberal reaction to Sarah Palin’s “death panels” quote. They fell into a trap because all too many were blinded by their class-conscious, snobbish disdain for Palin, who, whatever else you think of her, is one cagey operator.Will the Left pay attention to what Rosenbaum says here and stop underestimating and demeaning her?
[...]
They couldn’t believe that Sarah Palin was capable of something as canny as that deadly “death panels” phrase. They couldn’t see that it was a metaphoric shorthand for something real. Instead they thought she was too dumb, that she meant it literally (to have seen the potential for rationed end-of-life care in the bill), and instead indulged in an orgy of disdain for her “crazy,” “ignorant” “lies” and malicious misrepresentation.
No! “Death panels” was a Lenny Bruce black-humored kind of line and she proved herself far hipper than the terminally square liberals who didn’t get it. And who started an ill-conceived war on the phrase which most of the country, when the facts came out, saw as meretricious or ignorant on the liberals’ part — with good reason.
[...]
But liberals and, shamefully, liberal oriented media — most of them — made the mistake they keep making about Sarah Palin: because she didn’t go to Princeton she’s incapable of seeing or cutting to the heart of the matter so shrewdly.
Not a chance. They can't help themselves. They fell into the same trap with Ronald Reagan, who played them like Itzhak Perlman's 1714-vintage Stradivarius. And our liberal friends have never been able to understand Santayana's Law.
Reaction: D.B. Light at Light Seeking Light comments:
"Ron Rosenbaum finally realizes something that a lot of us have known for some time -- that Sarah Palin is smarter..., make that a lot smarter, than her liberal critics."- JP
Welcome, Lisa
We're pleased to welcome Lisa Graas to Texas for Sarah Palin as a regular contributor. Her post here as a special contributor prompted us to offer her a position on our staff of contributors, which, we are happy to announce, she has accepted.
Lisa joins Warner, uppy and Tom as contributors that any editor would be proud to work with as a team. We're all looking forward to her future contributions.
- JP
Lisa joins Warner, uppy and Tom as contributors that any editor would be proud to work with as a team. We're all looking forward to her future contributions.
- JP
Palin Detractors: Are They Fighting Sarah Palin or a Mythical Creature?
- By Special Guest Blogger Lisa Graas
There are some conservative pundits out there who don't particularly care for Sarah Palin. They know who they are and so do Sarah Palin's supporters. It's time for straight talk on why these pundits, some of whom are popular bloggers, have the aversion to Sarah Palin that they do.
The slams against Sarah Palin remind me greatly of the kinds of slams against the Catholic Faith which I am also all too familiar with as a faithful Catholic convert. There's a quote from the late Archbishop Fulton Sheen that Catholics are familiar with that exposes the same kind of animosity that people have for the Catholic Church that Palin's detractors have toward her. Sheen said:
Those who demean and attempt to derail Sarah Palin really have no idea who Sarah Palin is. None whatsoever. If they did know who she is, they could make an informed choice about whether or not she is the person we need to get behind to pull this country out of the mess it's in. As it is, there are four points that I firmly believe the vast majority of people are missing either in whole or in part, even sometimes among her own supporters... and they are huge points. Further, it is my belief that if you don’t get all four, you have no business doing political analysis regarding Sarah Palin. I ask your consideration as I offer a brief summary of these four points and then some rather blunt elaboration on each of them.
I don’t share Sarah Palin’s theology on many levels because I’m a diehard and unapologetic Catholic... but I am a Christian and I know a Christian when I see one. Now, before you go off thinking I’m hailing Sarah as a saint, let me assure you, as a Catholic, I know good and well what a saint is and Sarah isn’t one (not under the Catholic definition anyway), as far as I can tell. But a FAITHFUL Christian she is. She believes strongly in the tenets of her faith and they generally rule her life, although we all fall a little short now and then. You have to know how Christians think in order to understand what Sarah’s plan is just as you have to know how Catholics think if you want to understand who Saint Joan of Arc was. You also have to understand what her character is beyond the Christian aspect in order to understand what her plan is. Third, you have to actually listen to what the woman says in order to understand what her plan is. Finally, you have to understand what her views about political power are in order to understand what her plan is.
As far as I can see, the reason there is a huge disconnect between those doubting Sarah Palin’s political aptitude and/or viability as a candidate for President and those of us pulling for her is that the former know NOTHING of these four things and may know only slightly more than nothing about the current political climate of the country, namely the degree of viability of the Republican and Democratic parties today.
1) The Christian factor — Like it or not, Sarah Palin is a Christian. It’s not what Sarah Palin wants but what she believes God is calling her to do that Sarah Palin will end up doing in life. Agree or disagree with whether or not there actually is a God or whether or not He’ll reveal that to her in some way (before you go off the deep end, I'm merely referring to what we call an "epiphany"), that’s who Sarah Palin is. Deal with it. Don’t like Christians in government? Don’t get behind her. But at least do us all the favor of reporting accurately who the woman is.
2) The character factor — Palin says some things repeatedly. "Ramping up oil production", "hungry American markets" and "culture of life", to name a few. Perhaps the thing she says most often is “politically, if I die, I die”. News flash, folks. It’s really no skin off her nose if she doesn’t end up in the White House. Remember the Christian thing? It's consistent with that. Various belief systems, be they Christian, Muslim, Jewish or even atheism, have some sort of thread of consistency that holds one's beliefs on individual topics all together whether tightly or loosely. Palin's thread of consistency is so tightly ingrained and woven together in her individual tapestry of character, criticisms about her not having a Beltway staff are rightly described as being utterly devoid of thoughtful political analysis.
3) The communication factor — Forget about analyzing her beyond the things she actually says. Guess what. She really did step down from the governor’s office because she’s fundamentally opposed to the waste of taxpayer money on frivolous charges that will now go away with her gone. It’s your own idiotic fantasies that she did it to run for the White House that is the garbage upon which you build your theories such as what kind of staff she needs to get there. I openly laugh about these arguments because they are based in the same kind of uninformed "reasoning" I hear out of my kids when they try to second-guess the things I do. It’s that immature. Really.
4) The "servant's heart" factor (her philosophy on power) — Again, detractors totally ignore what she herself said about how she can, at least in this moment in time, bring about change more readily without a title. Government, in Palin's mind, is about SERVICE, not power. It’s about getting results, not about getting titles and accolades, because the intent is to serve the interest of the people (something else she's said over and over and over again). She is the Anti-Obama when it comes to what is necessary to bring change to America. The power is with the people, not Washington, hence she stepped down and became a private citizen to (gasp) become MORE powerful. Chew on that one for a while, folks. Imagine that concept of becoming a private citizen to gain power. You don’t get much more conservative and freedom-loving than that.
That’s who Sarah Palin is as an individual and it is why she has such adoring fans. I personally don’t care one way or the other if Sarah Palin personally is ever president or not. If someone else comes along with these qualities and the policy positions I also share with her, that person could very well have my support... but the country is in a sorry condition right now and neither party is helping matters any. It’s up to citizens to work together and fight to end corruption whether it is in Washington, the workplace, or in some leftist group trying to infiltrate your parish.
I don't see anyone else who comes remotely close to providing the kind of leadership through personal service and sacrifice that Sarah Palin has shown since she began running for office. While I do not think Palin is a saint, I have no doubt whatsoever in my mind about her being a Godsend. She's not only got what it takes to be president. She's got what it takes to put the country back on track as a solid Democratic Republic.
Disagree? Fine. But at least know who you’re talking about before you start analyzing. Disagree with who the woman really is. Lay out all of your disagreements with her policy positions and her public record in the open.
Just make sure that what you are disagreeing with is something that actually exists in reality. Otherwise, you aren't fighting Sarah Palin at all. You are fighting the myth you have created for yourselves.
- LG
Lisa Graas blogs at Mommy. She also created the Palin Twibe Twitter group and the Palin Twibe Blog, where this diary is cross-posted.
- JP
There are some conservative pundits out there who don't particularly care for Sarah Palin. They know who they are and so do Sarah Palin's supporters. It's time for straight talk on why these pundits, some of whom are popular bloggers, have the aversion to Sarah Palin that they do.
The slams against Sarah Palin remind me greatly of the kinds of slams against the Catholic Faith which I am also all too familiar with as a faithful Catholic convert. There's a quote from the late Archbishop Fulton Sheen that Catholics are familiar with that exposes the same kind of animosity that people have for the Catholic Church that Palin's detractors have toward her. Sheen said:
"There are not over a hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions, however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church, which is of course, quite a different thing."Although statistically speaking the numbers may vary somewhat, substitute "Sarah Palin" for where it says "Catholic Church" and you'll have the same reality.
Those who demean and attempt to derail Sarah Palin really have no idea who Sarah Palin is. None whatsoever. If they did know who she is, they could make an informed choice about whether or not she is the person we need to get behind to pull this country out of the mess it's in. As it is, there are four points that I firmly believe the vast majority of people are missing either in whole or in part, even sometimes among her own supporters... and they are huge points. Further, it is my belief that if you don’t get all four, you have no business doing political analysis regarding Sarah Palin. I ask your consideration as I offer a brief summary of these four points and then some rather blunt elaboration on each of them.
I don’t share Sarah Palin’s theology on many levels because I’m a diehard and unapologetic Catholic... but I am a Christian and I know a Christian when I see one. Now, before you go off thinking I’m hailing Sarah as a saint, let me assure you, as a Catholic, I know good and well what a saint is and Sarah isn’t one (not under the Catholic definition anyway), as far as I can tell. But a FAITHFUL Christian she is. She believes strongly in the tenets of her faith and they generally rule her life, although we all fall a little short now and then. You have to know how Christians think in order to understand what Sarah’s plan is just as you have to know how Catholics think if you want to understand who Saint Joan of Arc was. You also have to understand what her character is beyond the Christian aspect in order to understand what her plan is. Third, you have to actually listen to what the woman says in order to understand what her plan is. Finally, you have to understand what her views about political power are in order to understand what her plan is.
As far as I can see, the reason there is a huge disconnect between those doubting Sarah Palin’s political aptitude and/or viability as a candidate for President and those of us pulling for her is that the former know NOTHING of these four things and may know only slightly more than nothing about the current political climate of the country, namely the degree of viability of the Republican and Democratic parties today.
1) The Christian factor — Like it or not, Sarah Palin is a Christian. It’s not what Sarah Palin wants but what she believes God is calling her to do that Sarah Palin will end up doing in life. Agree or disagree with whether or not there actually is a God or whether or not He’ll reveal that to her in some way (before you go off the deep end, I'm merely referring to what we call an "epiphany"), that’s who Sarah Palin is. Deal with it. Don’t like Christians in government? Don’t get behind her. But at least do us all the favor of reporting accurately who the woman is.
2) The character factor — Palin says some things repeatedly. "Ramping up oil production", "hungry American markets" and "culture of life", to name a few. Perhaps the thing she says most often is “politically, if I die, I die”. News flash, folks. It’s really no skin off her nose if she doesn’t end up in the White House. Remember the Christian thing? It's consistent with that. Various belief systems, be they Christian, Muslim, Jewish or even atheism, have some sort of thread of consistency that holds one's beliefs on individual topics all together whether tightly or loosely. Palin's thread of consistency is so tightly ingrained and woven together in her individual tapestry of character, criticisms about her not having a Beltway staff are rightly described as being utterly devoid of thoughtful political analysis.
3) The communication factor — Forget about analyzing her beyond the things she actually says. Guess what. She really did step down from the governor’s office because she’s fundamentally opposed to the waste of taxpayer money on frivolous charges that will now go away with her gone. It’s your own idiotic fantasies that she did it to run for the White House that is the garbage upon which you build your theories such as what kind of staff she needs to get there. I openly laugh about these arguments because they are based in the same kind of uninformed "reasoning" I hear out of my kids when they try to second-guess the things I do. It’s that immature. Really.
4) The "servant's heart" factor (her philosophy on power) — Again, detractors totally ignore what she herself said about how she can, at least in this moment in time, bring about change more readily without a title. Government, in Palin's mind, is about SERVICE, not power. It’s about getting results, not about getting titles and accolades, because the intent is to serve the interest of the people (something else she's said over and over and over again). She is the Anti-Obama when it comes to what is necessary to bring change to America. The power is with the people, not Washington, hence she stepped down and became a private citizen to (gasp) become MORE powerful. Chew on that one for a while, folks. Imagine that concept of becoming a private citizen to gain power. You don’t get much more conservative and freedom-loving than that.
That’s who Sarah Palin is as an individual and it is why she has such adoring fans. I personally don’t care one way or the other if Sarah Palin personally is ever president or not. If someone else comes along with these qualities and the policy positions I also share with her, that person could very well have my support... but the country is in a sorry condition right now and neither party is helping matters any. It’s up to citizens to work together and fight to end corruption whether it is in Washington, the workplace, or in some leftist group trying to infiltrate your parish.
I don't see anyone else who comes remotely close to providing the kind of leadership through personal service and sacrifice that Sarah Palin has shown since she began running for office. While I do not think Palin is a saint, I have no doubt whatsoever in my mind about her being a Godsend. She's not only got what it takes to be president. She's got what it takes to put the country back on track as a solid Democratic Republic.
Disagree? Fine. But at least know who you’re talking about before you start analyzing. Disagree with who the woman really is. Lay out all of your disagreements with her policy positions and her public record in the open.
Just make sure that what you are disagreeing with is something that actually exists in reality. Otherwise, you aren't fighting Sarah Palin at all. You are fighting the myth you have created for yourselves.
- LG
Lisa Graas blogs at Mommy. She also created the Palin Twibe Twitter group and the Palin Twibe Blog, where this diary is cross-posted.
- JP