Ambinder: Palin Calls Huntsman Out (Updated)

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The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder takes notice of Gov. Palin's tweet today:

Sarah Palin has today called out Amb. Huntsman in a Tweet, which marks the first time, I believe, that Palin has referenced a fellow Republican and potential presidential aspirant in a provocative way. She's referring to reports that Assistant Sec. of State Michael Posner intended to admit to China that the United States's human rights record wasn't always exemplary, citing the Arizona immigration law is an example.

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Comparing China's regular and brutal and unapologetic detention of political dissidents to the temporary detention of citizens caught without papers is ... a tough case to make. Here's Palin's Tweet:

"AZ's pro-border security law invokes apology to China(w/its human rights violations)by U.S. State Dept;Surely Ambassador Huntsman disagrees?"

She's just asking a question, and we reckon many Americans would like to know the answer.

When Huntsman agreed to be Obama's man in Bejing, we doubt he saw anything like this coming. It probably seemed like a good plan at the time to kick back in China with a plush embassy job and no controversies for eight years, return to the states for an RNC coronation by the squish GOP establishment and cruise to the White House in 2016.

But Obama's neosocialist policies made him an unpopular president in just a matter of months, those pesky grassroots Tea Partiers kept raising hell with Washington, and now that woman! is putting him on the spot.

And it really did seem like such a good plan... at the time.

Update: Even Allahpundit gets it:

What she can potentially do that no other righty can do, Limbaugh and Beck included, is push stuff onto the media’s radar that they’d otherwise ignore...

Presumably a Facebook post about it is in the works; if it isn’t, it should be. The idea of State voluntarily introducing Arizona’s law into a discussion of human rights abuses with China may well be the single lowest moment on foreign policy that the administration’s had since The One was sworn in...

Evidently there are elements at State that consider this law a transgression so ominous that they actually feel compelled to apologize to a totalitarian regime for it...

That imbecile Posner should be fired immediately and both Hillary and Huntsman should be asked to explain, in exquisite detail, why a law that’s not even being enforced yet should be offered as some sort of diplomatic sacrifice to the Orwellian heroes in Beijing. Exit question: Seriously, what have they done on foreign policy that’s more loathsome than this? Honduras, maybe?

- JP

Rahm Apologizes in the Wake of Sarah's Criticism

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Sarah Palin has forced an apology out of President Obam'a foul-mouthed chief White House goon, Rahm Emanuel. Jeff Zeleny at the NY Times' "The Caucus" blog has the story:

Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, apologized for using the word “retarded” to describe liberals at a closed-door meeting last year.

Mr. Emanuel expressed his regret to Tim Shriver, the chief executive officer of the Special Olympics, last week after the remark was reported in an article by The Wall Street Journal about growing liberal angst at the chief of staff.

The apology comes as former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin called on President Obama to fire Mr. Emanuel. In a statement on her Facebook page, Ms. Palin described the comments as a “sick and offensive tactic.”

Sarah 1, Rahm Zero.

- JP

The Misogynist Channel Apologizes to Sarah Palin

Only after sparking angry reactions from NewsBusters.com, The New Agenda, IOwnTheWold.com, Examiner and a host of other new media outlets, has MSNBC apologized to Sarah Palin for the sexist stunt it pulled Friday:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

h/t: Friends Of Ours

So RATigan apologizes for using the photshops. Who will apologize for the snarky comments that surrounded them?

- JP

What is an apology from David Letterman worth?

So what is an apology from David Letterman worth? NewsBusters.org Associate Editor Noel Sheppard's appraisal:

Within days of David Letterman's high-profile apology to Sarah Palin, the CBS "Late Show" host went back to bashing the former Alaska governor.

I guess all those who felt his October 5 mea culpa -- which also included apologies to his wife and the staffers he had an affair with -- was all a gag were quite right.

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I guess we now all know what an apology from David Letterman is worth.

It has about the same value as the strength of his character, which is Dollar Store stuff.

- JP

News-Miner editor apologizes to Sarah Palin

In an editorial published in Wednesday's edition of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, editor Rod Boyce apologized to former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin:

Today I must apologize to Mrs. Palin personally and on behalf of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner for the choice of words used on the bottom of Wednesday’s front page regarding her speaking engagement in Hong Kong this week to a group of global investors.

We used offensive language — “A broad in Asia” — above a small photograph of the former governor to direct readers inside the newspaper to a full story of her Hong Kong appearance.

There can be no argument that our use of the word “broad” is anything but offensive. To use this word to describe someone of the stature of the former governor — who is also the former vice presidential nominee of the Republican Party — only adds to the anger that many people appropriately feel.

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I will say it clearly again now: We made a terrible mistake.

Mrs. Palin, please accept this apology from the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

And please accept it from me.

It is refreshing to see a newspaper offer an apology in an age when very few editors will own up to the lies their papers print. We have every confidence that Sarah Palin will accept Mr. Boyce's apology. After all, she forgave David Letterman for much worse.

- JP

Dan Fagan's "Come To Jesus" Moment

Dan Fagan has apologized to former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for making personal attacks on her character in his tirades against her.

While the temptation is strong to brush off Fagan's mea culpa with a snarky "too little, too late" comment and just move on, we won't do that. We are all sinners in the eyes of the Lord, and He chooses His own time and place to bless us with the transforming grace of the Holy Spirit, lifting us up out of the low place into which we have fallen.

So rather than cast another "too little, too late" stone, we choose to rejoice in "better late than never" instead. If a lost sheep has indeed been found, then it is surely cause for rejoicing, as Christ teaches us. Good Christian woman that she is, Sarah Palin will, we are confident, accept Dan Fagan's apology and add her voice to the rejoicing chorus.

But should Dan Fagan slide back into his "old ways" of attacking Gov. Palin,we'll be the first to call for a "tough love" intervention. Ronald Reagan found "trust, but verify" to be a prudent policy for dealing with the soviets. Wecan see other situations in which Reagan's advice can be useful, this one included.

- JP

Gov. Sarah Palin accepts Letterman apology

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin issued a statement early this morning after the broadcast of CBS' "Late Show" with David Letterman program, saying that she accepted the talk show host's apology:

"Of course it's accepted on behalf of young women, like my daughters, who hope men who 'joke' about public displays of sexual exploitation of girls will soon evolve," she said.

"Letterman certainly has the right to 'joke' about whatever he wants to, and thankfully we have the right to express our reaction," Palin said. "This is all thanks to our U.S. Military women and men putting their lives on the line for us to secure America's Right to Free Speech - in this case, may that right be used to promote equality and respect."

Moe Lane has more on this here.

- JP

Dave caves; actually apologizes this time

New York Times media columnist Bill Carter reports:

David Letterman directly apologized to Gov. Sarah Palin and her daughters on his program Monday night, saying he took responsibility for a joke that had offended Ms. Palin, her family, and her supporters.

Mr. Letterman opened the desk portion of his show with the apology in which he said he wanted to say he was sorry to “to the two daughters involved, Bristol and Willow, and also to the governor and her family and everybody else who was outraged by the joke.” Two weeks ago on his “Late Show” program on CBS, he had joked about Governor Palin attending a Yankee game with her daughter.

Up against a planned Tuesday rally calling for his firing and a boycott of Letterman's sponsors by Sarah Palin supporters and others, the late night talk show host apparently decided that he had gotten himself into a war he could not win.

Embassy Suites had yanked its advertising from CBS' website, as company spokeswoman Kendra Walker explained:

"We received lots of e-mails from concerned guests and we assessed that the statement that he made was offensive enough to our guests and prospective guests that we elected to take the ads down,"

CBS suits, meanwhile, insist that they put no pressure on Letterman to apologize and that there has been no real impact on advertisers from the protests. And if you believe that, they have some slightly used Letterman jokes they would like to sell you.

More here, including a full transcript of the apology.

Update: John Ziegler says the "Fire David Letterman" rally will go on as scheduled. We think this is a hasty decision. Ziegler should wait and see what Gov. Palin says. If she is the person we think she is, the governor will accept the apology, declare victory and move on. There's nothing to be gained from taking this further. Sarah stood up to Letterman, and he backed down. We win, they lose. There's too many other important things to be accomplished to dwell on this.

- JP