Quote of the Day (February 28, 2010)

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CentristNet:

"[Frank] Rich gets in a shot at Sarah Palin by concluding that her association with the tea party movement is 'enough to make you wonder who is palling around with terrorists now.' Rich is referencing Sarah Palin’s campaign 2008 comment that Obama is 'palling around with terrorists' based on Obama’s relationship with Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dorn. Ayers and Dorn admitted engaging in terrorist acts in the 1960’s and 1970’s, while there are no tea party terrorists, despite what the NYT and James Carville would have you believe. The smear of Palin as palling around with terrorists because of her speech at the tea party convention is truly over the top, and should have never made it past the NYT’s editors."

- JP

Trib Lib asks, "Will success spoil Sarah Palin?"

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After a year and a half of non-stop from-the-gutter slurs on Sarah Palin, her character and her family, liberals have opened up a new avenue of attack. Not that they intend to abandon their old ways of sliming Sarah. They're just adding a "thoughtful liberal" approach, not unlike the "good cop, bad cop" gambit used by some police departments. Expect to see an increasing number of "thoughtful liberal, deranged liberal" assaults on the former governor of Alaska.

Charles M. Madigan -- who describes himself as "liberal leaning" -- demonstrates the "thoughtful liberal" approach with his op-ed in the Sunday edition of the Chicago Tribune:

She was a very conservative, very compelling and very comfortable option for a lot of people who felt disconnected from politics. You're not going to find many of them lunching at the University Club. You might find lots of them at laundromats in small towns any Monday of the year. They keep the hot roast beef sandwich option alive at family-owned restaurants everywhere.

It's great sport to mock them, and probably wrong to do that.

"Probably" wrong? Even thoughful liberals can't seem to get that Moral Compass they purchased from the Acme catalog to work...

Here's the Palin problem for them.

I suspect most of them could not scrape up $100,000 (the price she was paid, it was reported nearly everywhere, for her speech to the National Tea Party Convention) if their lives depended on it.

How will they feel about Palin when they realize she has become a wealthy woman whose comforts insulate her from their concerns? Her book has undoubtedly yielded a fortune. She is one of the Fox TV talkers, and nobody does that for nothing.

So basically, the "thoughtful liberal" attempt to try to undermine Sarah Palin's support among the everyday Americans she connects with so well is to first try to establish some credibility with Palin supporters by cluck-clucking, "Yes, even though my political philosophy is diametrically opposed to yours, you can trust me because I'm a 'thoughtful liberal' -- not a deranged one like all those MSNBC talkers. But you can't trust Sarah Palin anymore because she's making real money now and has become an elitist herself."

We've already seen unhinged progressives try to lay the groundwork for this maneuver. The literary editor of the New Republic gave it a go recently, but his straw man arguments were shot down at Ace of Spades HQ. And we've seen plenty of evidence that success hasn't changed Sarah Palin. She's still the real deal, as has been testified to by Skip Coryell and others. Also, at the Daytona 500 earlier this month, it was plain for all to see that money and success haven't changed Sarah Palin one bit:

After the [drivers] meeting ended, her handlers tried to shuttle her out of the room quickly, but Palin couldn't help herself and wanted to talk with anybody who wanted to come and say hi.

Liberals, you see, whether they be of the thoughtful or the unhinged variety, can't resist engaging in class warfare. Must have been all that Marx and Engels they read in college.

Madigan's closing argument has a hole in it so big that you could drive Sarah's big blue Going Rogue tour bus right through it and not scrape the sides:

It will be very hard to explain in a campaign that you walked away from the Alaska governor's office halfway through your term so you could become wealthy by monetizing your popularity with a book, a Fox TV commentary job and a career on the speaking circuit.

Unless, of course, you never intended to seek office again at all and were primarily just interested in taking care of business.

Now we know liberals don't like to do any actual research, but it's no secret that Gov. Palin was facing legal bills of well over half a million dollars, and that was one of the main reasons for her decision to resign.

Bottom line: When liberals try to destroy Sarah Palin, whether it be by the unhinged approach or the "thoughtful" one, they cannot bring themselves to tell the truth. Liberals must really think Palin supporters are stupid to try such a Wyle E. Coyote deception. They should save their time and effort because we're Sheepdogs, and we're not going to fall for it. A coyote is a coyote, even when it tries to disguise itself as a lamb. The stench is the same.

- JP

Sarah Palin 's Weekend in Ohio

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When Sarah Palin put her book tour together, she scheduled two Ohio stops -- Cincinnati and Columbus. She's returning to Columbus Friday to keynote a fundraiser for Ohio Right to Life, and, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Michael McIntyre, the 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate will be in the Cleveland area of that key swing state Saturday at the Gates Mills home of insurance executive and Republican donor Umberto Fedeli for a benefit luncheon to raise even more money for the state and Cleveland Right to Life chapters:

Palin and about 100 invitees (most of whom will pay $2,500 apiece) will enjoy a meal in Fedeli's personal trattoria prepared by guest chef Carl Quagliata of Giovani's Ristorante. Palin will share her anti-abortion views and pose for photographs.

[...]

"Anything that helps promote what I feel is the most precious gift, which is that of life, I am happy to do," said Fedeli, who was quick to note he's not quite ready to back a candidate for the 2012 Republican nomination.

"Some people really like her. Some people don't. She's not coming in to be president she is coming in to help the pro-life cause," Fedeli said. "She is extremely charismatic, very charming, warm and personable."

Gov. Palin has also helped raise money for right to life organizations in Indiana and Wisconsin, delivering well-attended keynote speeches at major events in those states.

- JP

Quote of the Day (February 27, 2010)

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Noel Sheppard:

"According to a focus group done by pollster Frank Luntz, folks that voted for Barack Obama liked the recent attack on Sarah Palin done by the cartoon series 'Family Guy.' Amazing. So, the demonizing of a former governor by America's media have made some folks on the Left so hateful of her that they now think it's acceptable to make jokes about her kids. Not only that, they now don't even feel ANY compassion for her handicapped child... Now forgive me, but I have to go wash my hands and disinfect my keyboard; working on this piece has made me ill."

- JP

The Book of Sarah Progress Report, Feb 27, 2010

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We now have over 4,000 links to news stories, press releases, photos, videos, MP3s, PDFs, blog posts and websites about Sarah Palin on our reference website The Book of Sarah. Over 3,700 of these are in the main column, and the rest are sidebar links to Palin and Palin-friendly sites, plus video tributes to Gov. Palin and some miscellaneous links.

We've edited the groupings so that they are now listed by the date of the articles, rather than the date we entered them. This should make it easier to find older items you may be searching for. Just scroll down and look for the "Blog Archive" section in the sidebar.

Atricles dated prior to January, 2009, are grouped by year and month, except for those from 1996 to 2003, which are all in one group. After January 1, 2009, we began breaking articles down into five-day groups. Simply click on the group under the time period nearest to what you are looking for.

We hope these changes will make the site more useful to you.

- JP

More Quote of the Day Honorable Mentions, Part 33

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"Going gangsta" Edition...

Andrew Bolt:

"What continually amazes me is that Leftists such as Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane still pride themselves on their greater moral sense... I thought MacFarlane using his show to brand John McCain and Palin as Nazis was already low... But using a politician’s Down Syndrome child as the butt of your jokes is depraved."

Candance Moore:

"Roland Martin went nuclear on former Governor Sarah Palin in a rant clearly inspired by the 'retard' dustup that devolved into a general screed against everything the CNN contributor could think of. Among the lowlights of the piece, Martin: mocked those in 'real America' for being Palin fans; accused her of giving speeches 'full of falsehoods,' and; claimed she was an empty-headed celebrity who wanted nothing more than money. Perhaps this was what Martin had in mind when he encouraged President Obama to go gangsta on Republicans standing in the way. For someone supposedly concerned about partisan bickering, it was rich of Martin to suddenly drop all pretense of being a nonpartisan commentator."

Erick Erickson:

"Governor Palin has gone all in with Sean Duffy and Charlie Cook is now saying David Obey is in trouble. Coincidence? Probably not... The refreshing thing about Governor Palin is her willingness to get into contested primaries."

Lynn Sweet:

"Several Illinois Republican leaders said if Palin is agreeable -- and used in targeted areas -- she could be a help, especially in the governor's race, where either state Sen. Bill Brady or Sen. Kirk Dillard will face Gov. Quinn. Pat Brady, chairman of the Illinois Republican Party, says Palin 'energizes people...' Palin probably wouldn't play well in Cook and DuPage counties, but, in central and southern Illinois, her stardom could get out the vote."

Elizabeth Hasselbeck (to Evan Bayh):

"You sit here and say, 'I'm sick of the partisanship,' yet you throw a cheap Sarah Palin joke in, so I don't really understand or believe you."

Lori Calabrese:

"[Ann] Coulter said that since President Obama was elected, 'For the first time in my life, I’m sometimes not proud of my country...' Another Coulter one-liner that received cheers from the packed crowd was when she joked that former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has created more jobs than Mr. Obama. 'She’s created at least 11 jobs fact-checking at the AP just for the Palin autobiography,' she said."

Eddie Burke:

"Has a Vice-Presidential Candidate's children ever been made fun of and mocked like Sarah Palins have? The answer remains the same: No... Why would they do this? Why is this child a target? Why does this continue? The liberal blogs out there say it's because Sarah has brought 'Trig out on stage.' She has 'exploited Trig.' 'Sarah has used Trig as a political prop.' Are you kidding me? Because a mother is proud of her child and refuses to hide him, they say she's using him? Lets flip the coin and say Sarah never was public with Trig? Then, the 'left' would say Sarah is hiding Trig, and she must be ashamed of him. President Hussein, and his wife march their children out on stage, and people leave them alone. Why? Because conservatives act differently. We are not people who make fun of those who cannot defend themselves."

IOwnTheWorld.com:

"I’ve never seen any of [Joy Behar's] show. I don’t know when it’s on. I don’t know where it’s shown. But I see they follow the classic 'fair and balanced' model. A dumb lib host, 2 dumb lib guests, and a conservative guest. Three against one. Too bad Behar effed up. 3 against one is not a fair fight against [Pamela Geller]. Perhaps if they rounded up 20 or 30 more libs one of them could accidentally stumble on an argument that didn’t amount to just saying over and over again – Palin Dumb."

Judie Brown:

"Palin is a very public figure and she has ticked off a whole lot of people, not only on the far left but in the Republican Party as well. But the question is, does any of that justify using a special needs child as the foundation for unscrupulous personal attacks? No, not in a civilized country anyway. However, this... latest episode involving Trig Palin and his disability could be the emerging signal that American culture is not to be considered civilized in any way. Perhaps the culture — or at least those who frame the attitudes in the culture — has not been so for many years... Such a disposition suggests that attacks on Down syndrome children are really nothing more than another element in the formula for the American culture's dehumanization of the vulnerable."

Don Surber:

"For Peggy Noonan, the health insurance summit was the end of her Obamacrush, but Noonan wrote: 'Speaker Nancy Pelosi was fascinating, though not because of what she said. She has high energy, an air of pleasure in her life, and always looks like a lady, putting in the time and effort it takes for a busy woman to be chic and attractive. She is like someone who walks into politics each day as if she wants to physically adorn it. This I take to be a patriotic act.' Substitute 'Sarah Palin' for 'Speaker Nancy Pelosi' and see if Noonan still agrees. At least the Nooner is no longer puppy-eyed for The Won."

Suzanne Venker:

"During [the] health care summit, vice-president Joe Biden was caught saying, 'It’s easy being vice president — you don’t have to do anything.' So on that note, I have one simple question: Then what was all the hoopla about Sarah Palin for?"

ClarkKent:

"I don’t understand this running gag inside the beltway that Palin is dumb because she’s plain spoken and went to a state university, yet Obama is smart because he went to Harvard, and yet no one has ever seen his grades. Or maybe they have and he ain’t as smart as they say he is. What makes Palin smarter and more aware than Obama is the fact that she openly admits her ups and downs as a college student and how she is willing to learn more as a potential political figure. With Obama, he doesn’t have to learn about anything, he already knows everything."

PrairiePundit:

"Beverley McPhail complains about Sarah Palin's feminist credentials in a Houston Chronicle op-ed. Depite the fact that she is a female success story, McPhail says she is not a feminist success story. This is primarily because McPhail equates feminism to liberalism and her complaints about Sarah Palin is that she is not a liberal... Progressives are the fascist side of liberal control freak government who continually push an anti freedom agenda."

Brent Baker:

"Sarah Palin sends liberals into irrational frenzies of contempt and, in the case of Bill Maher, fits of condescension which drive him to denigrate anyone 'stupid enough' to see anything good in her."

The Right Scoop:

"Even Luntz was aghast. Instead of looking at the situation of a mother defending her child, the democrats saw it as an opportunity to knock the politician: Sarah Palin. I would bet all my life savings the if Sarah Palin were a [D]emocrat, both [D]emocrats and the [R]epublicans would look to Palin’s petition against ‘Family Guy’ approvingly."

- JP

Vote with your remote! (Updated)

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Oh, this is just too sweet:

"Jay Leno made news when he announced that Sarah Palin will be among his high-profile guests when he returns to The Tonight Show next week (aka 'The Jaysurrection'). Now David Letterman's lineup for next week pits Mitt Romney against Sarah Palin on Tuesday night -- and the ratings may well provide clues on which probable GOP presidential contender may be most popular."

Vote with your remote!

Update: Kevin Fobbs says Leno may make Going Rogue fashionable on late night television.

- JP

Christian Democrats want Sarah Palin to come to Australia

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Among the many invitations on Sarah Palin's desk to consider is one from Australia's Christian Democratic Party to pay a visit to our friends Down Under, according to the Sydney Morning Herald blog The Diary:

"Yes, we have had discussions with her and there is some interest," the party's president, the Reverend Fred Nile, told The Diary.

Rev. Nile says the discussions are in the early stages of negotiation. Gov. Palin's strong Christian faith is an attraction for the Christian Democrats, but he admits that the party's coffers aren't exactly stuffed with cash to bring her to Oz.

Considering the difficulty the governor's family had in finding any privacy in Hawaii, if the Aussies could secure a nice, paparazzi-free beach hideaway for for Clan Palin to enjoy while Down Under, the 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate might consider cutting Rev. Nile's party a break on the speaking fee...

h/t: Ron Devito

- JP

Quote of the Day (February 26, 2010)

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Meghan Stapleton:

"[Sarah Palin] is in control of her own message. Her Facebook and Twitter is her own. I find out about Facebook and Twitter when others email me. She does it on her own... I think what some people still haven’t fully embraced is that she is so different than any other politician... and doesn’t want to lose that immediate and direct connection to the people. Reporters and others in the establishment and the elite cannot just grasp it... She thrives on that connection. It’s a great asset."

- JP

Kyle-Anne Shiver: There can only be one

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In an opinion piece on her blog Common Sense Regained, Kyle-Anne Shiver describes the opposing generals in the battle for America's soul:

What we have here are two philosophies fighting to the death for the soul of America, each represented by one phenomenal public figure.

Barack Obama, in keeping with international socialists throughout the last century, has proclaimed himself loudly-and-clearly a “citizen of the world.” He conducted his entire campaign as a lecture to greedy, over-consuming Americans on the necessity of propping up the lagging third world and the inherent goodness of his redistributive plans for government.

[...]

And his first year in the presidency has demonstrated beyond doubt that Barack Obama is indeed anything but an all-American president. From his obsequious bowing, his kumbayah-to-the-world speech at the UN and his magnanimous granting of American civil rights to foreign terrorists, he has demonstrated again and again that America is nothing to him but a member state of the morally superior global community.

Which brings us to Sarah Palin, his arch-foe in the public psyche.

[...]

At present, with a “post-American” president at the helm, Sarah Palin carries the torch of liberty and American exceptionalism in the palm of her lovely hand. She is the surviving embodiment of the spirit of 1776 and the Reagan reformation.

She is at once the American phoenix and the shining city on the hill, captured in the imaginations of a people still yearning to be free and determined to strive for greatness, even if the rest of the world prefers to drown in mediocrity, corruption and defeatist socialist uniformity.

At this crossroads in the struggle for the soul of a nation, Shiver says that, as in the "Highlander" series of fantasy films, "there can only be one" victor. Pray God the American voters choose their legacy of liberty over a socialist state.

Read the original Kyle-Anne Shiver op-ed in its entirety here.

- JP

Calvin Freiburger: The Ever-Expanding Scope of PDS

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Posting on David Horowitz's NewsReal blog, Calvin Freiburger notes the Left's hysteria over Sarah Palin aide Meghan Stapleton's resignation this week. Freiburger makes the observation that the hysteria is on full display over everything Gov. Palin says and does, from the newsworthy to the more mundane:

"Meghan Stapleton, advisor and spokeswoman to Governor Sarah Palin, resigned yesterday to spend more time with her family, and we all know what that means: another media feeding frenzy. A recent Daily Beast interview with Stapleton suggests her departure is an essentially unremarkable development over the normal course of a political career, but that won’t stop the buzzards of the Left from swooping in for the kill."

[...]

"There’s something unseemly about the obsession to either gleefully mock or infer sinister undertones to every mundane event related to Sarah Palin, and it’s indicative of the Left’s pettiness and utter lack of restraint in the face of opposition. While we here at NewsReal may have been critical of the governor lately, there’s no doubt that the Left still fears her—and not entirely without cause."

Calvin Freiburger's full NewsReal post is here.

- JP

Sarah Palin: "How arrogant of our president..."

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On Sean Hannity's radio program Friday, Sarah Palin said, "How arrogant of our president" to diss John McCain during Thursday's health care summit in Washington, D.C. She also said that if the Democrats use the reconciliation process to push through a big-government health care bill, it will be their "downfall" in the November mid-term elections. The 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate said that people in the Tea Party movement "will find ourselves in a world of hurt" if they try to form a third political party. She said that Ronald Reagan's model and the House GOP's 1994 Contract with America were "proven successes to getting our country back on the right track."

The former Alaska governor and Hannity had a good laugh about how liberals got "all wee-wee'd up" over the words she wrote on her hand the night of her Tea party Convention speech in Nashville. Gov. Palin told Hannity that she was looking forward to an April 7 event in Minnesota for Rep. Michele Bachmann, where both she and the talk radio host will appear. She included her children and husband Todd among the blessings from God that allow her to keep perspective in the midst of the continuing personal attacks made against her by her detractors.





h/t: brk861

- JP

Van Flein: Bristol Palin pleased with court ruling in child support case

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A judge in Palmer, Alaska Thursday granted child support for Bristol Palin, set a trial date for further deliberations, and urged her and Levi Johnston to try to resolve their differences on their own:

Judge Kari C. Kristiansen encouraged Palin and Levi Johnston, both 19, to work with a judge who specializes in such matters in a settlement conference and not go to trial. She set a court date for Sept. 23-24.

Kristiansen approved child support for Palin retroactive to the day the child was born.

TMZ has reported that the judge ruled that Johnston must pay $1,688.42 a month in support, retroactive to their son Tripp's birth in December of 2008. Bristol had been seeking nearly $1,700 a month. Her lawyer, Thomas Van Flein, said:

"Bristol is pleased with the court rulings today and looks forward to resolving the remaining issues with Levi."

The hearing, which Bristol attended but Levi did not, lasted about 20 minutes. Judge Kristiansen told Rex Butler, Johnston's lawyer, that it would have been better if his client had participated.

- JP

Sarah Palin: Fact-checking Obamacare Summit

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On her Facebook Notes page, Sarah Palin hammered the Democrats again for their statist approach to health care reform and linked to a GOP web page which fact-checks the top five prevarications made by the Dems at Thursday's health care summit:

Fact-checking Obamacare Summit

We should be thankful for yesterday’s 7-hour health care summit – it was helpful in that it allowed Americans to hear the fundamental differences in approaches to meeting health care challenges. On one side, commonsense conservatives laid out fiscally-sound, free market-based, patient-centered solutions; and on the left’s side we heard about the Democrat’s belief that growing government is the only way to meet challenges.

As the saying goes, “Everyone is entitled to his opinion, but not his own facts.” When these “facts” concern one-sixth of our economy and something as important to our personal wellbeing as health care, we’d better make sure they are the real deal.

Please take a look at the compilation below from GOP.com correcting the top five falsehoods from yesterday’s summit. I appreciate their research and revelations compiled here.

- Sarah Palin


TOP FIVE FALSEHOODS

If Democrats Would Start Listening To The American People, They’d Stop Telling Falsehoods


NO ONE’S TALKING ABOUT RECONCILIATION?

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) Claims “No One Has Talked About Reconciliation.” “No one has said -- I read what the President has online -- no one has talked about reconciliation but that's what you folks have talked about ever since that came out, as if it's something that has never been done before.” (“Transcript: White House Health Summit, Morning Session,” Kaiser Health News, 2/25/10)

But Reid Himself Is Talking About Reconciliation. “Harry Reid’s got a gift for hyperbole – and it keeps on giving. The Senate majority leader’s latest gem came in response to hints that Democrats might try to use the fast-track budget ‘reconciliation’ to bypass a Republican filibuster of President Obama’s health care plan. After advising Republicans on Tuesday to ‘stop crying over reconciliation as if it’s never been done before,’ he ticked off a list of legislative feats he contends were accomplished through the filibuster-busting process: ‘Contract [with] America was done with reconciliation. Tax cuts, done with reconciliation. Medicare, done with reconciliation.’” (Jonathan Allen, “Hyperbolic Harry,” Politico’s “Live Pulse” Blog, 2/24/10)

“For Some Bizarre Reason, During His Initial Presentation, Sen. Reid Said That ‘No One Has Talked About Reconciliation,’ … But That's Obviously Not True. Everybody's Talking About It. And A Lot Of Dems Would Be Pretty Upset If They Weren't Talking About It.” (Josh Marshall, Talking Points Memo’s “Editors Blog” Blog, 2/25/10)

“A Number Of Democratic Senators Have Signed A Letter Urging Reid To Use Reconciliation To Pass The Public Option.” (Eric Zimmermann, “Reid: 'No One Has Talked About Reconciliation,’” The Hill’s “Briefing Room” Blog, 2/25/10)

Obama Health Reform Advisor Says The Door Is Open For Reconciliation. “Linda Douglass, the communications director of the White House Office of Health Reform, left reconciliation on the table as an option for passing a health care bill if Democrats and Republicans don't reach consensus during Thursday's summit. … ‘Certainly if that were not to be the case, he would be asking for a simple up or down majority vote and would certainly hope that the Republicans would not try to block that simple up or down majority vote.’” (Carol Lee & Patrick O’Connor, “Douglass Open To Reconciliation,” Politico’s “44” Blog, 2/25/10)


THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AREN’T INTERESTED IN RECONCILIATION?

Obama Claims Americans Don’t Care About Reconciliation. “You know, this issue of reconciliation has been brought up. Again I think the American people aren't always all that interested in procedures inside the Senate. I do think they want a vote on how we’re going to move this forward.” (President Obama, Health Care Summit, Washington, DC, 2/25/10)

But 52% Of Americans Don’t Want The Democrats To Use Reconciliation To Pass Their Government-Run Health Care Experiment. “In the survey, Americans by 52%-39% oppose Senate Democrats using the procedure, which allows a bill to pass with a 51-vote majority rather than the 60 votes needed to end debate.” (Susan Page, “Poll: Expectations Low On Health Summit,” USA Today, 2/25/10)


DEM PROPOSALS WILL LOWER PREMIUMS?

President Obama Claimed CBO Determined His Plan Would Lower Premiums. PRESIDENT OBAMA: “It's not factually accurate. Here's what the Congressional Budget Office says. The costs for families for the same type of coverage that they're currently receiving would go down 14 percent to 20 percent.” SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER (R-TN): “The Congressional Budget Office report says that premiums will rise in the individual market as a result of the Senate bill.” PRESIDENT OBAMA: “No, no, no, no. Let me -- and this is an example of where we've got to get our facts straight.” ALEXANDER: “That's my point.” OBAMA: “Well, exactly, so let me -- let me respond to what you just said, Lamar, because it's not factually accurate. Here's what the Congressional Budget Office says. The costs for families for the same type of coverage that they're currently receiving would go down 14 percent to 20 percent.” (President Obama, Health Care Summit, Washington, DC, 2/25/10)

But Actually, CBO Determined The Bill Would Raise Premiums For Americans Purchasing Insurance Individually. “CBO and JCT estimate that the average premium per person covered (including dependents) for new nongroup policies would be about 10 percent to 13 percent higher in 2016 than the average premium for nongroup coverage in that same year under current law.” (Douglas W. Elmendorf, Letter To Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN), 11/30/09)


INCREMENTAL PLANS ARE UNACCEPTABLE?

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA): “[I]naction And Incrementalism Are Simply Unacceptable.” (Mike Allen, “Will Dr. Obama Go For Plan B-1, Or Plan B-2? -- Dems' Post-Summit Message: POTUS Was 'Thoughtful, Comprehensive,' Rs 'Insulted The Summit' -- New NYT Expose May Finish Gov. Paterson,” Politico’s “Playbook,” 2/25/10)

But 56.4 Percent Of Americans Prefer An Incremental Approach. “Moreover, 56.4 percent of people indicated they would prefer Congress to tackle healthcare reform on a step-by-step basis, not take the comprehensive approach as embodied in the legislation that passed the House and Senate last year but has stalled for the past month.” (Jeffrey Young, “Poll: Most Americans Think Congress Should Start Over On Healthcare,” The Hill’s “Briefing Room” Blog, 2/16/10)


PUBLIC FUNDS WOULDN’T GO TO ABORTION?

Pelosi Said Abortion Wouldn’t Be Funded Under The Plan. “The law of the land is there is no public funding of abortion and there is no public funding of abortion in these bills and I don't want our listeners or viewers to get the wrong impression from what you said.” (Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Health Care Summit, Washington, DC, 2/25/10)

But The Bill Allows Federally Funded Abortions. “Under the new abortion provisions, states can opt out of allowing plans to cover abortion in the insurance exchanges the bill would set up. The exchanges are designed to serve individuals who lack coverage through their jobs, with most receiving federal subsidies to buy insurance. Enrollees in plans that cover abortion procedures would pay with separate checks -- one for abortion, one for any other health-care services.” (Paul Kane, “To Sway Nelson, A Hard-Won Compromise On Abortion Issue,” The Washington Post, 12/20/09)

Pro-Life Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) Calls Obama’s Abortion Language “Unacceptable.” “Unfortunately, the president’s proposal encompasses the senate language allowing public funding of abortion. The senate language is a significant departure from current law and is unacceptable.” (Ben Smith,” Stupak: “Unacceptable,” Politico’s “Live Pulse” Blog, 2/23/10)

Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) Says 15 To 20 House Dems Who Can’t Support Obama’s Proposal. “Rep. Bart Stupak, the Michigan Democrat who led efforts to tighten abortion language in the House health care bill, said Wednesday morning there are 15 to 20 House Democrats who cannot support President Barack Obama’s effort to bridge the gap between the House and Senate health plans. … He said well over a dozen House members will likely balk, not just on abortion but on the residual tax on so-called Cadillac health plans, which he said the House had already rejected.” (“Stupak: 15-20 Dems Can’t Back Obama Health Plan,” The Wall Street Journal’s “Washington Wire” Blog, 2/24/10)

- JP

Gov. Palin will hold joint fundraiser for Rep. Bachmann and MN GOP April 7

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When Sarah Palin visits Minnesota in April, she will do more than just stump for GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann. Minnesota GOP Chairman Tony Sutton says the 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate will also raise money for the state party:

FEC reports show that a committee dubbed Minnesota - Bachmann Victory Committee was formed to raise money for Bachmann's congressional campaign and the MNGOP. When asked about the committee, Sutton said it was formed because Palin, the former governor of Alaska and John McCain's running mate in 2008, will hold a joint fundraiser for the MNGOP and Bachmann on April 7th.

These types of committees are typically organized so big name fundraisers can hold events for more than one group, candidate, or combination of the two.

- JP

Gene Schwimmer: Powerless Against Palin

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In a commentary for American Thinker, Gene Schwimmer believes he has found the pathogen responsible for Palin Derangement Syndrome (PDS), a malady that mostly afflicts those on the political Left (although the symptoms of PDS are also seen in some in the GOP establishement):

What could possibly account for this borderline deranged venting of hellfire, this spewing of enough bile to float a battleship, enough gnashing of teeth to pay the college tuition -- all four years -- of the children of a whole battalion of cosmetic dentists? After all, it's not like Sarah Palin could actually be elected President of the United States or anything.

Or could she?

Of course, she could, or at least the people attacking her think so.

[...]

The Plan A dog (to reelect Obama) won't hunt in 2012, which leaves liberals with Plan B: dissuade the Republicans from nominating Palin in the first place. Throw everything, including the kitchen sink, at her. Blast her with every crack, every criticism, every accusation, no matter how absurd, how hysterical, how rabid and irrational, and hope something sticks. Sully her good name; taint her so badly in the public's eyes that Republicans won't dare nominate her.

Either that, or turn on the TV at noon, January 20, 2013 to see Barack Obama, out after one soon-to-be-forgotten term, standing on a platform in front of the White House -- and the entire world puts her left hand on the Bible, raises her right, and repeating after Chief Justice Roberts (or reading from her palm) says:

I, Sarah Louise Palin, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of the President of the United States...

Gene Schwimmer's full opinion piece is here.

- JP

Jedediah Bila: Sarah Palin is not a fake

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Political commentator Jedediah Bila, in an op-ed published Friday by The Daily Caller, answers a question she says her readers have written her to ask about Sarah Palin -- "Do you think she’s just like the rest of them?" Her answer is no:

"In my gut, I don’t think Sarah Palin is 'just like the rest of them.' I can’t predict the future and I don’t know her personally. But I’ve listened to her speeches and her commentary. I’ve researched her record. And I’ve read her book. I spent hours interviewing many of her fans who were lined up outside her Rochester book signing. I hoped to get a sense of the Sarah Palin they believed made a night of sleeping in portable tents on concrete worthwhile. I also had the chance to speak with Palin briefly and tell her why I was there. I saw the gratitude in her eyes for what I had done. I could tell right away that those people who slept outside were valuable to her. Not because they could likely add up to future votes or hefty PAC donations, but because they believe in her. I have no doubt that she believes in them." 

"I grew up in New York City. I’ve spent most of my adult days in Manhattan, including graduate school in my early 20s at Columbia University. It’s a great place to discover yourself, but let’s just say I’m no stranger to fancy discourse, intellectual doublespeak, overpriced anything and everything, and people trying to talk you into this or that on an hourly basis. I don’t quite have the naiveté that I often admire so much in others. What I have instead is a profound appreciation for what’s real. My gut and my research tell me Palin’s not a fake."

Jedediah Bila's full commentary is here.

- JP

Quote of the Day (February 25, 2010)

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Morgan Freeberg:

"This is the saddest part of modern day liberalism, IMO. It’s the part that compels otherwise-decent and otherwise-thoughtful people to reject simple, straightforward, wise courses of action, and accept simple, crooked, fraudulent, stupid ones. They get distracted by the question of who else is decent. And choosing just the right double standard to make Bill-n-Hillary look like saints, and cast such a contemptuous darklight on Levi-Bristol that hopefully some of it bounces up and hits Sarah Palin, consumes all the brain cycles they have."

- JP

Video: Sarah Palin discusses health summit, third parties on Hannity

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Sarah Palin appeared on Fox News'"Hannity" program Thursday to discuss the day's health care summit. Hannity also asked her about the Tea Party movement and third parties:





h/t: Adoring Palin

- JP

CNN: Sarah Palin to Address NRA in May

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According to CNN's Political Ticker blog, Sarah Palin will address the National Rifle Association's annual meeting in Charlotte, NC May 14:

Gov. Palin, a hunter and gun rights advocate, will be among some of her staunchest supporters when she makes the appearance at the Charlotte Convention Center:

"Governor Palin is one of the most requested speakers in America today," Wayne LaPierre, the NRA's executive director, told CNN in a statement. "She's an outdoorsman, hunter and a steadfast supporter of our Second Amendment freedom. We are pleased to have a fellow NRA member speak at our 139th annual meeting in Charlotte this May."

If the former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee is indeed considering a White House bid in 2012, then the visit will also come with a not insignificant perk: the Charlotte media market spills over into heavily-Republican parts of South Carolina, a crucial early primary state.

Lodging and travel information is here. The NRA-ILA press release is here.

Related: Read Ron Devito's article here on two unique rifles which were custom built for Sarah Palin.

- JP

Jeb, we hardly knew ye...

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Conservative Lite^TM Jeb Bush, who has been silent for a good long while, finally opened his mouth and shortly thereafter put his foot in it. In a Newsmax interview, he dissed Reagan conservative Sarah Palin and praised Vichy Republican Charlie Crist. Some reaction from the Web:

sisu:

"Northeast Corridor Conservative Jeb Bush gratuitously dissed Sarah Palin and thereby all her fans in a Newsmax interview this afta. As far as we're concerned, he's toast."

The Lonely Conservative: 

"Sarah Palin hasn’t announced any intention to run in 2012. Other than her support for John McCain, she’s doing some good things for the conservative movement. There’s no need to bash her. Crist, on the other hand, is a RINO who not only supported, but embraced, Obama’s dreadful stimulus package, and he wants to be a United States Senator. Jeb ought to save his criticism for those truly deserving of it. Instead he opened his mouth and joined the ranks of the elitists that are annoying to the rest of us."

American Conservative Values:

"Perhaps Jeb has forgotten what they said about his brother George W. Bush and what they also said about President Reagan. Perhaps, just perhaps if Jeb had a brain he’d keep his mouth shut!"

Classic Liberal:

"Find the most popular figure among the conservative base, then lambaste her as stoopid. Yeah, I admit it. I love seeing the Establishment fall apart! Moron. Then again, he is a Bush. Btw, a 'depth of understanding of the complexity of life we're living in today' is another way of saying 'we need more progressives!'"

Allahpundit, displaying his usual mind-numbing political instincts, wonders whether Jeb is thinking thinking about a 2012 run. Riiight, Allah. Presidential candidates always launch their campaigns by dissing their potential opponents and getting their supporters fightin' mad. Sheesh!

- JP

Sarah Palin guests on Hannity tonight

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Tonight at 8:00PM CST Sarah Palin and Sean Hannity will discuss the president's proposal for health care reform and the ensuing debate over it in the nation's capitol. The program will repeat at 11:00PM on many cable systems.

- JP

Dismissal of Royal-Chatman lawsuit will stand

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A federal judge this week denied a motion by plaintiffs Gregory Charles Royal of Washington, D.C., and Kim Chatman of Eagle River, Alaska to reconsider his dismissal of their lawsuit.

Plaintiffs' suit had alleged that former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin violated their constitutional rights by not issuing a proclamation in 2007 to recognize a celebration in some states which commemorated the freeing of U.S. slaves.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Burgess issued the ruling to dismiss the motion Royal and Chatman had made in January, arguing they had only learned that the Juneteenth proclamation was issued retroactively just before Sarah Palin resigned as governor in July.

- JP

"Family Guy" cast member stands with Sarah

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At least one member of the "Family Guy" cast agrees with Sarah Palin. From the Washington Post's TV Column:

Not everyone who works on the Fox animated sitcom "Family Guy" is standing in solidarity with its Valentine's Day episode's Sarah Palin joke.

Cast member Patrick Warburton told TV critics Wednesday he objected to the flippant reference to Palin as the parent of a child with Down syndrome.

"I know it's satire but, personally, that [joke] bothered me, too," Warburton said on a conference call to promote his other prime-time show, the CBS sitcom "Rules of Engagement," which returns for a fourth season on March 1. (On "Family Guy," Warburton does the voice of Joe, a police officer who uses a wheelchair.)

"I know that you have to be an 'equal-opportunity offender,' but there are some things that I just don't think are funny," Warburton said.

Somehow we don't think this will get the same media play as cast member Andrea Fay Friedman's defense of the show's lamestream attempt at humor.

- JP

Quote of the Day (February 24, 2010)

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Joshua Alston:

"While both Palin and MacFarlane seem to benefit from the controversy they're generating, there is a loser in this fight, and it's MacFarlane. Why? Because the joke wasn't funny. Simply restating a fact in a different context, like the fact that Palin has a child with Down syndrome, isn't funny, even if you dislike Palin or disagree with her politics... But if MacFarlane is going to climb into Palin's sandbox, he's going to have to equip himself with much sharper material."

- JP

James Lewis: Sarah Palin is America’s anti-Obama

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In a Pajamas Media opinion piece, James Lewis argues that Sarah Palin must be on the GOP national ticket in 2012 "because people recognize her as one of us":

America will need a headliner to counter Obama’s famous brand of demagogy.

Sarah Palin can do it.

But why Palin and not any of the other candidates? Because Sarah Palin appeals in a more-than-rational way to all of us. You can make policy arguments for Palin as a GOP president. She is a solid, substantive, conservative thinker. She is open-minded about facts, unlike the current president — who just blocks out any evidence that doesn’t fit his mental party line. The Democrats will never have an original thought. They can only switch from one demagogic cliche to another one.

But like Ronald Reagan, Palin adds something rare and special to a substantive understanding of life and politics.

[...]

Personally I like Palin for her ideas, but then I’m a policy wonk. The left fears her for her looks, charm, and eloquence. She leaves them sputtering in helpless rage. You can watch it happen. It’s sort of fun if you can handle the sight of real, unvarnished hatred. It’s easier to laugh at it if you keep in mind that she can handle a shotgun.

Sarah Palin is America’s anti-Obama is so many ways, and the libs feel this emotionally long before their brains get into gear. We have a new crop of promising conservative candidates, but we don’t seem to have any other charismatic conservatives today. They tend to come along only once in a generation.

Read Lewis' op-ed unabridged here.

- JP

Sarah Palin: Obama's health plan doesn’t pass the smell test

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In a new op-ed on her Facebook Notes page, Sarah Palin slammed President Obama's latest health care proposal, saying that it is even worse than the Senate bill:

More of the Same, Only More Expensive

The President has wrestled control of the health care debate away from Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid by finally introducing his own plan. Unfortunately, the White House’s proposal includes everything we found untenable about the old Senate bill – only this one is even more expensive! This is what you might call putting “perfume on a pig.”

What’s in this “new” proposal? It has the unpopular (and arguably unconstitutional) individual mandate that forces people and employers to purchase health insurance – only this time with much harsher fines on employers who choose not to go along with another expensive government mandate. It has provisions that will make employers think twice before expanding their workforce. It has cuts to Medicare Advantage, a popular program which allows seniors to pay a little more money out of pocket for better coverage. And, of course, it still has sweetheart deals – only this time they’ve been extended even more.

We don’t know what the final long-term cost of this will be because the Congressional Budget Office hasn’t had a chance to calculate costs. We do know that the White House recognizes that its proposal will cost tens of billions more over the next ten years than the already-expensive $2.5 trillion Senate bill. The President promised last July that he won’t sign a health care bill if it “adds even one dime to our deficit over the next decade.” But he’s now proposing a health care bill with uncertain fiscal repercussions that could lead to endless deficits.

The rising cost of care has driven the entire health care reform debate. So how does the President’s proposal address this central issue? Price controls. That’s right: Washington, D.C. wants to give a panel of bureaucrats the power to cap insurance premiums and prices. As Michael Cannon of the Cato Institute notes, “artificially limiting premium growth allows the government to curtail spending while leaving the dirty work of withholding medical care to private insurers.” This leads to rationing. Any economist worth his salt – including the White House’s own Larry Summers – will tell you that price controls lead to all sorts of negative unintended consequences. It’s another step towards government controlled health care and away from the real solution: free market, patient-centered reform.

With a government-growing proposal this bad, it’s no wonder the President wants bipartisan cover for it in an election year. Thursday’s health care summit is already being revealed as little more than a photo-op. The Obama administration still denies the existence of the House Republicans’ health care plan that offers alternative solutions to health care challenges – even though the White House website links right to it.

The President’s proposal doesn’t include pro-free market ideas like allowing people to buy insurance across state lines, giving individual buyers the same tax benefits as those who get insurance through their employers, or instituting real medical liability reform. Despite the “kumbaya” rhetoric, Democrats are making plans to ram this bill through the Senate using a partisan procedural maneuver that will bypass the normal bipartisan debate process.

In the meantime, the White House will continue to ignore Republican reform ideas and cast the GOP as the party of no. That’s a hard sell considering that Democrats still hold the majority in the House and Senate. The only real “gridlock” preventing Democrats from doing what they want is the very real threat of America's voice being heard at the ballot box.

The public is clearly opposed to the Democrats’ health care bills. Americans want to scrap these big-government plans and start over with common-sense, incremental reform. Some on the left have urged Democrats to vote for Obamacare because it’s a foot in the door for universal health care. They understand what’s at stake; so should the rest of us.

The President can perfume this proposal however he wants, but it still doesn’t pass the smell test. Washington should listen to Americans now, or Washington will hear us in November.

- Sarah Palin

- JP

Political War Game: Palin and Patriots defeat Obama

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A new political war game called '2011 Obama's Coup Fails' is set in the period after the 2010 mid-term elections. According to the game's scenario:

"Americans, thoroughly disgusted with the socialistic programs that have been thrust upon them over the last few years, voted out seventeen of the nineteen Democrats in the Senate and 178 in Congress that were up for reelection in November 2010." 

[...]

"Mark Lloyd and the FCC, on Obama's orders, cracked down on all dissent in broadcasting." 

[...]

"Private Ownership of firearms has been outlawed, and Obama has promised a new era of equality and peace. Unfortunately for Obama, Americans would not act like the sheep he had taken them for."

The goal of the 2011 Obama's Coup Fails site, according to its creators, is:

"...to educate people as quickly as possible as to what is taking place in America. Within the context of the game, members are shown the methods by which the United States is being fundamentally transformed into a Socialist or Marxist nation."

More information here.

- JP

Michael Moriarty: President Sarah Palin

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Actor Michael Moriarty, in a Big Hollywood commentary, opines that Sarah Palin is the essence of American identity:

Don’t mess with Sarah!

That’s the message we wish to send to Red Islam, that disgusting combination of World Communism and Islamic Jihads.

[...]

English-speaking freedom, ladies and gentlemen, endures no dictatorships of any kind, and the American hybrid of that, Abraham Lincoln’s United States, is in a virtual Civil War with the new version of Red Islam called Progressivism.

Progressives are those pro-abortionists who wrap the veil of women’s rights around legalized murder.

[...]

Since they’ve been getting away with that act for the 36 years of Roe v. Wade, it was obviously time for President Barack Obama of Harvard to show up with his very Kissingeresque long term plans for a Communist Jihadist’s version of a New World Order.

Our only complete and infinitely enduring antidote would be President Sarah Palin.

You can read Moriaty's editorial in its entireity here.

- JP

J.T. Young: The Left's problem with Palin

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In a Washington Times op-ed, J.T. Young ponders the Left's fixation on Sarah Palin:

The left's cultivation of victims makes it a grouping of extremes - a Marx and Engels phenomenon. On one hand, its victimizing message appeals to those who see themselves as disenfranchised from mainstream society - like the impoverished and embittered Marx. On the other, it resonates a guilt in those at the top - like the wealthy capitalist Engels. The latter condition is particularly common in those who themselves did not earn the wealth they enjoy. It is no coincidence that so many leaders of the left are in fact extraordinarily rich themselves.

Mrs. Palin is doubly menacing here. As a woman, her conservative stance is particularly threatening. Women rank high in the left's pantheon of victims. That Mrs. Palin has proved very successful without the left's embrace and its offer of special assistance endangers the resonance of its message.

Mrs. Palin is also solidly middle class, and the middle class has always terrified the left.The middle class is not disenfranchised from society, and it does not possess a guilt about the wealth they themselves have earned. This makes the middle class largely impenetrable to the left. For the left, Mrs. Palin inhabits the middle, not their two extremes, so to them she is truly "not one of us."

In sum, Sarah Palin, by who she is, where she comes from, the values she holds, and the life choices she has made, is a living rebuke of the left.

Young advises conservatives, no matter their opinions of her as a potential leader, to embrace who Sarah Palin is and what she stands for. Conservatives, he reminds us, still have plenty of time to make up their minds about her, should she pursue national office. And that, he says, she has every right to do, "not the least of which being the left's insistence that it be denied to her."

Read the full J.T. Young opinion piece here.

- JP

Politico: Meghan Stapleton has resigned

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POLITICO reports that Meghan Stapleton, senior adviser, spokeswoman and confidante to Sarah Palin has resigned:

Stapleton has been a Palin confidant since December 2006 and one of the governor’s most trusted aides since she was vaulted onto the national political scene by being picked as GOP presidential nominee John McCain’s running mate.

Stapleton said she resigned to spend more time with her husband and 2-year-old daughter, Isabella.

“While it has been an honor to help Governor Palin and her family over the last few years, I am also honored to have this incredible opportunity to stay home with my precious miracle, Isabella,” Stapleton told POLITICO. “At two years old, I have missed significant moments in her life but I look forward with great happiness to celebrating milestones as well as mundane moments with her as I refocus my priorities. I also look forward to seeing my saint-of-a-husband again, too!”

Since the end of the presidential campaign, Stapleton has been one of only a handful of aides and trusted contacts maintained by Palin through her transition from governor, to national political figure, to author, to Fox News contributor and one of the unofficial leaders of the tea party movement.

Read the full scoop by POLITICO's Andy Barr here.

Updates:

Meg - "I'm going to go play more now." 

The Fix  -  A look at the Palin inner circle.

- JP

Showdown in Searchlight - The Web Page

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Bryan Shroyer emailed us with a reminder that Tea Party Express has created a web page here with helpful information on the organization's "Showdown in Searchligh"t event. The page has dates, times, directions, maps and information on accommodations as well as travel by air and ground.

The Noon rally Saturday, March 27, which will feature Sarah Palin as keynote speaker, is the kickoff event for TPE's "Tea Party Express III: Just Vote Them Out" tour.



Shroyer's email also said,

*If you want to ride aboard a chartered bus that is heading to Searchlight (and spare yourself the driving) just email us at: charterbus.tpx@gmail.com

*If you own an RV and need/want more information contact us at: RVs.tpx@gmail.com

- JP

Kentucky GOP voters prefer Palin, Paul and Tea Parties

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Louisville-based Magellan Strategies has released the results of a survey of 560 likely Republican primary voters that was conducted February 18 in Kentucky:

Sarah Palin leads Mike Huckabee 28% to 24% in a presidential primary ballot test. Mitt Romney is third with 16%, followed by Newt Gingrich with 12%, Ron Paul with 4%, Tim Pawlenty with 2%, and 14% are undecided. Younger voters (18‐34) prefer Palin by a significant margin with 43% support, and among senior citizens the ticket tightens up with Romney, Palin and Huckabee in a dead heat.

Other findings from the Magellan poll in Kentucky indicate that Tea Parties are viewed very positively:

Among likely Republican primary voters, 67% have a favorable opinion of the Tea Party movement and 9% have an unfavorable opinion. When voters were asked if
they agree with the movement’s core values of fiscal responsibility, constitutionally
limited government and free markets, 73% agreed and only 7% disagreed.

And in the race for the U.S.Senate, Kentucky's Republican voters prefer Rand Paul over Trey Grayson by a 21-point margin, 44 percent to 23 percent, with 33 percent of voters undecided. Gov. Palin endorsed Rand Paul Feb. 1.

The Magellan survey has a margin of error of 4.14% at the 95% confidence interval.

h/t: M. Joseph Sheppard

- JP

Quote of the Day (February 23, 2010)

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Patrick S. Adams:

"The sing-song, happy go lucky girl who believed she could fly regardless of what the people thought has evolved into a polished woman who commands hundreds of thousands of dollars a speech, has written a best selling book and has access now through her position at Fox News to a media that once tried to destroy her. If I was a liberal, that would scare the crap out of me... Word is she also brought the house down at her speech in Arkansas."

- JP

Paul Greenberg: Sarah Palin dares to say what so many are feeling

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Pulitzer Prize-winner Paul Greenberg, editorial page editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, was at the Sarah Palin fundraiser for the Arkansas Republican Party last week, and he shared some of his thoughts about the event in his Townhall.com column:

Oh, yes, Sarah Palin also spoke. After she'd been presented with a souvenir of Arkansas -- a .44 magnum. Welcome, Miss Sarah, to another part of the country where folks hold on to their religion and their guns. The former mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, should have been right at home, and certainly acted like it.

The lady not only knew where she was but, more important, like Rose in the movie "Moonstruck," knows who she is. And makes no apologies for it. That's something else her oh-so-superior critics can't stand. Other politicians are so sophisticated, flexible, plastic, nuanced ... that they seem to have no backbone at all. Sarah Palin is always Sarah Palin.

If she weren't an Alaskan, she'd make a heckuvan Arkansan.

Greenberg describes Gov. Palin as "a combination of Aimee Semple McPherson and Ronald Reagan." McPherson, who was known as Sister Aimee, was an evangelist in the 1920s and 1930s. She has been credited as a pioneer in the use of modern (for her times) media, especially radio. Greenberg also refers to Sarah Palin as "the Molly Pitcher of our time."

- JP

Ana Marie Cox admits Palin fans "weren’t all angry"

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In a recent interview, lefty blogger Ana Marie Cox -- the original "Wonkette" -- was surprisingly candid in revealing what she saw -- but didn't write about -- at a number of Sarah Palin’s 2008 campaign rallies. Here's her reply when she was asked, "As a journalist, do your politics sometimes get in the way of your reporting?":

"While I go out with a set of ideas, I try not to let that set of ideas interfere with how I see the world. I went to a fair number of Sarah Palin rallies during the campaign, and my friends would say, 'Man, the pitchfork-wavers are really out there today.' I thought that, too, but then I started to talk to people, and they weren’t all angry. That’s just lazy. The story that should’ve gotten written, that was really interesting to me, was how at every rally there were families with children with Down syndrome. They weren’t there to support Sarah Palin politically. They were really happy that there was someone in the national spotlight doing what they have to do every day. When you think about what it takes to take a child with Down syndrome to a political rally, I found that really moving."

Danny Glover comments:

"Why didn’t Cox tell the story back then? Why didn’t her media colleagues? Lazy is part of the equation, as Cox admitted. But it was also more politically useful to promote the caricature of Palin fans as crazy, redneck racists than to portray them as loving, committed parents."

- JP

Living on Tulsa Time: Sarah Palin Will Be in Green Country March 13

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Sarah Palin will appear at a Taking Our Country Back Tour event in Tulsa March 13:

Former governor of Alaska and vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin will be in Tulsa next month as part of a concert featuring conservative talk show host Glenn Beck.

It will be Palin's first official trip to Tulsa. Her most recent high-profile speech was earlier this month in Nashville at the national Tea Party Convention.

The March 13 concert will also include appearances by country musicians John Rich and Gretchen Wilson. Tickets are available now for $45 to $125 plus fees. Author and commentator Dick Morris was originally scheduled to appear, but he will not be able to do so.

About half of the 6,500 seats have already been sold, said Tony Holden, the event's organizer.

Holden expects Gov. Palin's speech to begin at the Tulsa Convention Center about 1:30 p.m. The concert begins at noon and Beck's speech will be about 30 minutes later. He says national television networks have expressed interest in airing the governor's address, but no broadcast arrangements have been made. Holden also said at a news conference that Sarah Palin will receive a speaking fee, but it is "nothing major." 

All the proceeds from the concert will go to a yet-to-be determined veterans' organization. Palin and Beck will be having one-on-one session with a few select people that offer charitable donations to the cause, Holden said.

The concert space will have large video screens to broadcast the show, and Palin may spend some of her time answering questions from the audience, he said.

Tickets can be purchased online here or by telephone at 1-866-7-BOKCTR.

- JP

Olbermann hits a new low, even for him and creepy MSNBC

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Newsbuster Noel Sheppard reports that MSNBC loose screw Keith Olbermann used a remark by a little-known Virginia state Delegate to suggest thar Sarah Palin had an abortion:

In his "Worst Person in the World" segment, the "Countdown" host recognized Bob Marshall (R-Va.) for his comments about abortion increasing the likelihood of handicaps in children born after the procedure was performed on their mother.

Much as the notorious "Family Guy" episode did recently, this reference to handicapped children disgustingly led Olbermann to bring Palin into the equation:

"Marshall`s statement is trouble for two politicians: Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, who like Marshall wants to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood in the state, and of course little Ms. Umbrage herself, Sarah Palin, who Marshall apparently thinks is being punished for something. I mean, he seems to imply maybe she had an abortion. Your move, Mrs. Palin."

So, is it now acceptable to invoke Sarah Palin ANY TIME a reference is made to a handicapped child?

Leftists, especially the not-ready-for-prime-time flock of loons at MSNBC, have demonstrated time and again, that they aren't above using Gov. Palin's Down baby Trig to attack her in the most vile manner. But then again, Leftists aren't above anything, including the domain of Hades.

- JP

Ziegler reflects on the year since "Media Malpractice" release

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A year ago John Ziegler released his documentary film “Media Malpractice… How Obama Got Elected and Palin Was Targeted.” Tuesday in an opinion piece for The Daily Caller, he reflects on the events which have transpired over the past year:

While I am not nearly delusional enough to think that the film or my efforts are primarily responsible, there is no doubt that there has been a substantial (and for conservatives, rare) victory in this realm. The evidence, both scientific and anecdotal, is now overwhelming that the majority of Americans rightly now believe that the media coverage of Obama has been far too favorable and downright unfair to Palin.

As for Palin, while she was bizarrely attacked from all sides for having the gall to do an interview for the film which boldly and accurately corrected the record about a Presidential election, it is my belief that this story ended up helping her by far more than simply providing the sometimes vastly overrated value of telling the truth. Weirdly, since it was her first interview after returning to “normal life” in Alaska, the coverage of that episode set the precedent that any time Palin speaks it is considered a media event. This phenomenon became so ingrained in the media matrix that still today even sometimes rather innocuous postings on her Facebook page often make major news.

In a bit of poetic justice, the wrongly crucified Palin has benefited greatly from the right’s understandable and nearly primal instinct to intuitively gravitate to whichever conservative the news media attacks the most. She has become a master at riding this wind at her back to defy all predictions of her inevitable political irrelevance to become by far the most powerful and exciting force in Republican politics.

While my view of her politically is far more nuanced than perceived by the public and the media, it is by the most satisfying result of the last year that Palin has not only survived but personally prospered through all of this (for the record, she “endorsed” the film and I am still occasionally in touch with her, but, for many reasons, I have no official role in anything she does).

While Sarah Palin’s life and career appear to be much better off than they were a year ago, Ziegler laments that the same can not be said for him. Read his full op-ed at The DC.

- JP

Sarah Palin to Speak at Two North Carolina Events in June

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Blue Ridge Educational Resource Group has booked Sarah Palin for two events in North Carolina in June. One will be in Charlotte, and the other will take place in Wilkesboro.

The first event, An Evening With Sarah Palin, will follow a silent auction and a dinner in the Ballroom of the Charlotte Convention Center June the 4th. Tickets are $300 each, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Victory Junction Gang. Her speech should start around 8:00 PM EST. 

The following day, Gov. Palin will join Laura Bush for Women's Expo on the campus of Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro. The former first lady will be speaking at 1PM EST. Sarah Palin will speak at 4:00PM EST, and she will sign books for the first 75 autograph requests afterwards. Half of the proceeds will be divided among a number of national and local charities.

Both events are sponsored by the Blue Ridge Educational Resource Group, and tickets for both are available here.

- JP

Bristol Palin to Appear in ABC Family Network Series

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The ABC Family network announced Tuesday that Bristol Palin will become a member of the cast of the series "The Secret Life of the American Teenager." Both Bristol and the network say they are "thrilled"by the arrangement:

"I am thrilled to be on this show and to be part of a program that educates teens and young adults about the consequences of teen pregnancy," Palin said in a statement.

Bristol Palin, daughter of former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, will play herself as a friend to the show's protagonist, Amy, at a music program for teen mothers. "Secret Life" focuses heavily on how Amy's family and friends deal with her own unexpected pregnancy.

"We're thrilled to have [Bristol] join us, and I think she will bring additional attention to the issues facing teen parents that we've been exploring for a couple seasons now," "Secret Life" executive producer Brenda Hampton said in a statement.

Although the ABC News story did not elaborate, Cristina Kinon of the NY Daily News reports that Ms. Palin will "guest star on an upcoming episode," implying that her role is not planned to be a recurring one, although that can change:

The episode will shoot in Los Angeles and air this summer as part of the series' third season.

"The Secret Life of the American Teenager" is cablecast on Mondays at 7 PM Texas Time.

- JP

Skip Coryell: The Real Sarah Palin

*
Skip Coryell, founder of the Second Amendment March, had written Sarah to ask her to speak at one of his organization's events. He received a reply from the former governor last week and writes about it at Human Events:

So I opened this letter expecting a plea for much-needed funds... But Sarah from Wasilla surprised me. It was a personal letter. It said:

“Dear Skip, Thank you so much for the copies of your books and for your generosity. Todd and I were happy to receive your encouraging message and we appreciate your thoughtfulness for taking the time to write. God bless you. Thank you again and all the best to you and your family. Sincerely, Sarah Palin”

[...]

Every two weeks I meet with my Second Amendment March State Coordinators via teleconference and we plan and talk about the April 19th event. A few weeks ago we were talking about the possibility of Sarah speaking at our march and I asked Len Betts, our Alaska Coordinator, if he’d seen her. The conversation went something like this:

Skip: “Len, have you seen Sarah Palin lately?”
Len: “Sure, saw her at the grocery store just yesterday.”
Skip: “What! You’re kidding me! Sarah Palin buys her own groceries!”
Len: “Of course. Sarah hasn’t changed. She’s still just like the rest of us. She’s not all snooty and she still talks to people just like she always did.”

[...]

I believe that Sarah Palin is real. But the million-dollar question is: can she stay that way? For now, I’m filled with faith and hope. But then, I also believe in duty and honor and the strong serving the weak.

There are thousands of Sarah stories just like Skip Coryell's, and they don't lie. She is the real deal. She has a servant's heart, and that is why those with corrupt hearts hate her so. ButSarah Palin's faith in Almighty God is her shield against those who are doing everything they can to destroy her.

- JP

VDH on Hypocrisy in Service to Revolution on the Left

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In an analysis of the Left's philosophy of hypocrisy, Victor Davis Hanson's first example is the Palin/Edwards dichotomy:

John McCain was damned for picking Sarah Palin who had not finished her first term as governor, and had previously only been elected to local political offices and served on a state commission.

Her middle American ‘you betcha’ twang, NASCAR persona, good looks, and occasional deer-in-the-headlines interviews with hostile anchor people, coupled with the kids, conservative creed, Christianity, and 19th century husband, sickened—there is no other word for it— the DC-New York punditocracy. Yes, they concluded, she really was from Wasilla. Yuk.

So we got everything in the media from the maverick McCain suddenly as cynical sell-out who settled for third-best, to Palin, the clueless Alaskan yokel.

In contrast, to this day, there is no in-depth analysis of Kerry’s disastrous pick of the first-term, uninformed Senator Edwards as his VP choice in 2004. And it took the National Inquirer to inform us of his later conspiratorial lying and bribery involving his illegitimate child—sordid facts apparently well known to—and hushed up by—the mainstream media. Remember, later presidential candidate Edwards was not just inexperienced, but as a confessed wonk, did not open a book. He was the owner of a mansion who preached about “two-nations” inequality, and he alternately used and humiliated his alternately heroic and conniving cancer-stricken spouse.

Hanson asks what explains the treatment of an Edwards versus Palin, and concludes that "hypocrisy vanishes, and revolutionary pigs walk on two legs in the farmhouse":

An Edwards is mellifluous, puts his energy on behalf of those in the “other nation”, and is devoted to promoting a society where we are all about as wealthy as John Edwards, who uses his wealth for proper contemplation and preparation for further good deeds, and thus needs a castle of compassion. Given that, who cares that he is a congenial liar, lives one way, lectures another, helped destroy the practice of obstetrics in his home state, and took a great deal of money for doing very little? The former considerations alone count, the later are mere right wing talking points.

Read this VDH essay unabridged at his Pajamas Media web journal Works and Days.

- JP

Quote of the Day (February 22, 2010)

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Stacy Drake:

"I thought Shannyn Moore and her keyboard pecking lefty hoard would be able to understand the difference between a benefit and mandate, but I was wrong. They see the word “health” and start chucking kitchen sinks at Sarah Palin and family. Not even stopping for a second to realize that Bristol, not Sarah enrolled young Tripp into a program which happens to be his birthright... This is just another episode in which Shannyn Moore beclowns herself in an attempt to hurt Governor Palin. She failed tremendously as she always does. Normally I would type here that she should take a step back and try to realize that using small children is vile and evil but why bother. These people have proven over an[d] over again that they have no morals and no decency. The depths in which they are willing to sink to trash Governor Palin knows no bounds."

- JP

Sarah Palin congratulates USA women's hockey team

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Sarah Palin tweeted her congratulations to the USA women's hockey team and defenseman Kerry Weiland of Palmer, AK:

"Congrats USA Women's Hockey team! 9-1 victory over Sweden today; Mat-Su Valley's own Kerry Weiland scored goal in the win. Alaska is proud"

The American women are now guaranteed no worse than a silver medal.

- JP

Todd Palin and Scott Davis drop out of Iron Dog race

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The team of Todd Palin and Scott Davis have dropped out of the Iron Dog endurance snowmobile race after Davis was injured on the course, ADN reports:

A back injury to Scott Davis of Soldotna, the most experienced driver in the 27th Iron Dog snowmachine race, has forced him and partner Todd Palin to scratch at Puntilla Lake in the Alaska Range.

Iron Dog development director Heidi Griffin said the injury happened about 30 miles past the checkpoint at Rainy Pass on Sunday night, and the two returned to the checkpoint.

She did not know the nature of Davis' injury and expected further updates later Monday.

Warmer temperatures than normal in Alaska have resulted in less than ideal trail conditions, with stretches of dirt where the snow has melted on some stretches of the trail.

Update: Gov. Palin tweeted:

"Rough&tough trail,Team#22 made gallant effort;broken parts have 'em now cheering on rest of IronDoggers still in race!Great job,great sports"

She didn't specify if the broken parts were mechanical, human or both, but the tone of her tweet implies that Scott Davis' injury may not be as bad as some of us had feared.

- JP