Quote of the Day (June 20, 2009)

It would seem that Texas Gov. Rick Perry's quote about Gov. Palin's endorsement being the stuff of GOP gold would be the logical choice for QOTD today.

If not that one, then Missouri Lt. Gov. Pete Kinder's remark about how the 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate "dragged John McCain across the finish line" in the Show Me State surely would win the honors.

And Jay Valentine' s quip that -- unlike Sarah -- Romney, Huckabee and Newt "couldn't fill up a high school stadium unless they were giving out free beer" was a pretty good contender. It won the humorous category hands down.

But I like Maggie Gallagher's line about what motivated Creepy Dave Letterman to finally offer a real apology to Gov. Palin and her daughters:

"According to news reports, Dave said he got a call from his mother earlier in the day telling him she was siding with Palin."

Fear the mom! No one can help you locate your misplaced sense of shame better than a disappointed parent. Honor thy father and mother, not just on Fathers Day and Mothers Day, but every day.

- JP

Perry brags on his endorsement from Sarah Palin

Texas Gov. Rick Perry told Matt Lewis in a telephone interview today that:

"If there's a bigger endorsement in the Republican universe, I don't know who it is than Sarah."

Perry described his fellow governor as a "close personal friend" who "knows my heart."

More here.

- JP

Gov. Sarah Palin tweets out on events in Iran

From her Twitter page:

"W/deadly Iranian protests let us be thankful for, & supportive of, U.S. Military defending OUR democracy & freedom. God protect the innocent."

Amen.

Update: On Sunday, the governor again tweeted on events in Iran:

"Women worldwide watching Iran protests led by women demanding fair election & equality; their voices loud, strong; they will usher in change."

- JP

Fear of Sarah Palin drives the Left over the edge

Have you ever wondered why the rabid-dog Left, although it will nip at other Republicans, saves its most vicious foaming-at-the-mouth attacks for Sarah Palin? Why aren't they driven to exhibit the same degree of vitriol for other Republicans, including the conservatives, who are being touted as possibilities to contend for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination?

Posting at The Virginian, Jay Valentine offers an explanation:

"The best and the brightest on the left go into politics. The best on the right run their own businesses. So it is no surprise that the left is far more adept, even expert at the art of hardball politics. And they are telling us something profound."

"The left is telling us something many feel, many find as a hunch, that Sarah Palin is the most dangerous threat to the Obama administration with no close second. The left is telling us this by their "over the top" attacks. Not just the Letterman assaults, but the constant barrage of grievances filed against her in Alaska. The attacks every day on Palin for no apparent reason -- except that the left seems to see her quite differently from any Republican candidate. A difference of kind, not of degree."

"They would never do this to Romney, Huckabee or Newt, at least not to this level. There is a clear reason -- these guys couldn't fill up a high school stadium unless they were giving out free beer."

What drives the Left into derangement over Sarah Palin can be boiled down to one word - fear. In 1965, when Frank Herbert authored his great science fiction novel Dune, he spelled out what fear can do to those who fail to successfully conquer it:

"Fear is the mindkiller..."

Indeed.

- JP

Aw jeez! Not THIS again...

Remember the old leftist lie about how Sarah Palin was allegedly charging rape victims in Alaska for rape kits? A rape kit is a collection of items used by medical personnel to collect and preserve physical evidence following a sexual assault. The bogus story, first circulated on nutroots websites with reputations for distortion and outright lies, percolated up into the liberal "mainstream" media, which has a reputation for simply reprinting material from their nutroots cronies without bothering to check for such pesky stuff as validity.

That the Big Liberal Lie has been thoroughly debunked matters little to most "feminist" groups of the deranged Left, who perpetuate the myth, according to House of Erastosthenes:

"They’re bringing up the thoroughly debunked urban legend about Sarah Palin and the rape kits — again. And they’ll do it again and again, anytime Palin’s name is brought back into the news and the general public reaction isn’t already quite as negative and visceral as they’d like it to be."

The reaction from conservatives is, "Aw jeez! Not this again." But we shouldn't be surprised. The tactic is right out of Alinsky's Rules for Radicals:

RULE 12: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it. Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions. (This is cruel, but very effective. Direct, personalized criticism and ridicule works.)

But we shouldn't lay all of the blame on the radical feministas. Hey, if it works for Obama...

- JP

It's not just Creepy Dave who's losing advertisers

OneNewsNow reports:

Two companies are expressing embarrassment for advertising their products on the blog of a militant homosexual activist who routinely bashes conservative Christians.

Borden Dairy and Quiznos both say they were unaware they were helping finance a blog that, during the presidential campaign, accused Alaska Governor Sarah Palin of having her first son out of wedlock and falsely claimed she forced rape victims to pay for rape kits.

Borden Cheese and fast-food franchise Quiznos recently purchased banner ads that appeared on Americablog.com, a site operated by homosexual Democratic political consultant John Aravosis, who is currently pressuring the Obama administration to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

Aravosis has frequently made inflammatory remarks about conservatives. He once referred to certain Republican congressmen as "GOP Nazis" and called evangelical Christians "America's Taliban."

How does a company not know where its ads are appearing? Isn't it someone's job to monitor the websites where the company's ads are being placed? If not, then shouldn't it be?

Memo to Quiznos and Borden's: I'm available. I spend a considerable time on the web, and I wouldn't at all mind getting paid for it.

- JP

Partnership brings gas pipeline closer to reality

A KTUU report examines some of the many challenges facing the proposed AGIA pipeline. Bringing ExxonMobil on board moves the project one step closer to reality.


- JP

Sarah Barracuda can teach the GOP how to fight

Examiner.com's George Copeland has some food for thought for the Republican Party. The GOP, he points out, tends to avoid controversy and allows The Left to club it unmercifully. But Sarah Palin marches to the beat of a different drummer than most of her fellow Republicans:

In the view of many of her supporters, not only did Palin excel in her handling of this controversy, she dragged Letterman down by his neck, kicked his butt, and then squashed his head like a tick. Some might wish that somebody had dared to attempt such tactics when Newt Gingrich was being hounded out of the House.

The GOP, at its lowest point since Ronald Reagan left the White House at the end of his second term as president, should pick up the cadence from its 2008 vice presidential candidate:

In today’s era of heavily slanted MSM coverage, of vicious partisan attacks on GOP leaders, and of sniggering and baseless contempt from the left-wing punditry, should the GOP stay true to its shopworn and ineffective tactics? Or, should a new course be charted, one along the lines so ably demonstrated by Sarah Palin?

Copeland concludes by asking what the Republicans have to lose. I honestly think that there are some in the party who have become so accustomed to losing that they are afraid to try to win. As strange as that may sound, it makes a lot more sense than the conspiracy theory which holds that those same people are all Democrat moles seeking to sabotage the Grand Old Party from within.

Sarah Palin is a fighter. For those in the Stupid Party who have forgotten how to fight or have simply lost the nerve to do so, the daughter of two teachers is uniquely qualified to instruct them in the art of political combat and will even help them find their own lost backbones.

- JP

Quote of the Day (June 19, 2009)

Gary Bauer:

"Letterman may not know anyone who would vote for Palin or a family that looks like hers. But his Palin joke backfired in part because scores of millions of Americans are living lives that more closely resemble Palin’s life than Letterman’s. Like Palin, they pray in churches, hunt and fish and raise imperfect families with unconditional love. They are more than uneasy about the culture’s sexualization of children and its infantilization of adults."

- JP

Pipeline companies:Alaskan natural gas is needed

Despite today's low natural gas prices, spokesmen for the two competing Alaskan natgas pipeline projects say that the state's bountiful gas resources will have markets ready to purchase it.

"That's the nature of the gas business - the price goes up and the price goes down," said Tony Palmer, vice president for Alaska development with the Alberta-based company, in a meeting with the Juneau Empire's editorial staff.

Dave MacDowell, a spokesman for the competing Denali project says his company also expects a pipeline to be viable:

"We wouldn't be doing what we're doing if we didn't believe there was a place for Alaska gas in the North American market," he said.

Gov. Sarah Palin told CNN's Wolf Blitzer in an interview last week:

"Demand for natural gas is increasing. In fact, by 2030 we'll probably see about a 40 percent increase in demand for natural gas."

TransCanada's Palmer explains that as prices plummeted due to the global economic recession, gas exploration companies quit drilling for new reserves. North America is using its gas reserves faster than they are being replaced, which is likely to increase prices in the future.

- JP

The Book of Sarah Progress Report (June 19, 2009)

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Since the last update on May 21, 250 new links to news stories, press releases, photos, videos, MP3s, PDFs and blog posts have been added to The Book of Sarah, a website which chronicles the career of Gov. Palin. There are now over 700 items in the catalog, including the first entries for April, May and June of 2009.

Many older links for the time period prior to 2008 have been added also, including a large number of items from 2007. Among the many articles, you'll find useful ammo to use against Palin critics on both the right and the left who distort the facts. For example, there's a report from July, 2008 which disproves charges made by the old boy network ever since Gov. Palin pushed through ACES that Big Oil's profits would fall so drastically that they would pull out of Alaska. Actually, oil company profits rose after Aces, and they didn't suffer until the recession hit and worldwide oil prices went through the floor. Even though the recession continues, oil prices have recovered, and the companies are increasing exploration again.

Work continues on the site, and we will report back in after we have the first 1,000 items posted.

- JP

Quote of the Day (June 18, 2009)

Dr. Laura:

"David Letterman wanted to shoot insults at Palin simply because she’s Republican, and he aimed his gun at her child. That’s disgusting. How many of you would stand for that happening to your child?"

- JP

AK legislators predict that Sullivan will be confirmed

Key members of the Alaska legislature are saying that Attorney General Dan Sullivan, recently appointed by Gov. Sarah Palin, will be confirmed:

"My sense is that he will be confirmed," said Sen. Hollis French, D-Anchorage, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Sullivan will be confirmed "with accolades," said House Judiciary Committee Chair Jay Ramras, R-Fairbanks, to the Anchorage Daily News.

[...]

Sen. Lesil McGuire, R-Anchorage, vice chair of Judiciary, called Sullivan "incredibly accomplished and professional."

Senate Minority Leader Gene Therriault, R-Anchorage, also a member of the Judiciary Committee, said Sullivan's pre-Alaska bar experience shouldn't be discounted.

- JP

Did Olive Garden pull ads from Letterman's show?

Andy Barr reports via Politico:

In an email to a Letterman critic obtained by POLITICO, a spokeswoman for the Italian restaurant chain wrote that “there will be no more Olive Garden ads scheduled for ‘The Late Show’ with David Letterman in this year's broadcast schedule,” citing the talk show host’s “inappropriate comments.”

“We apologize that Mr. Letterman’s mistake, which was not consistent with our standards and values, left you with a bad impression of Olive Garden,” wrote Sherri Bruen, the company’s guest relations manager.

Bruen said the company “screens network television programs whenever possible,” but explained that “telecasts, such as ‘The Late Show’ with David Letterman, are taped on a daily basis, preventing advertisers from reviewing the content prior to airing.”

A spokesman for the company confirmed Thursday that for now it has cancelled all its remaining scheduled ads on the CBS program for the rest of the year.

Although Gov. Sarah Palin accepted Letterman's apology earlier this week, the fallout from the late night comic's crude jokes about the governor and her daughter(s) still appears to be highly radioactive.

Olive Garden is the first major Letterman sponsor to cancel its advertising for CBS' "Late Nite" show, although Embassy Suites and Hellman's last week removed their ads from the network's web site.

Update: Now an Olive Garden spokesperson is disputing Barr's report.

So which is it, Olive Garden? You can't have it both ways. Or perhaps it can.

- JP

Quote of the Day (June 17, 2009)

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John Hawkins:

"Given her charisma, popularity, and the enthusiasm she generates among conservatives, Sarah Palin is the candidate most likely to be Barack Obama’s most dangerous foe in the next presidential election."

- JP

Are we ever relieved THIS is settled! [/sarc]

You can't believe anything the Palin-hatin' zeta gals and beta guys who write gossip columns say about Sarah. The way one such website told it, the governor was on the phone with Jon Gosselin (whoever the heck he is) three times a week counseling the fellow and trying to bring him to Jesus.

Palin's spokesperson, Meghan Stapleton, however, says no way:

"For many months now, false and misleading stories and entire fabrications about the Governor's record and the Palin family have made it into mainstream publications," she tells Usmagazine.com in a statement. 

"There have been many falsehoods and distortions regarding a range of topics, from the status of Alaska's natural gas pipeline and the Governor's restructuring of the state's oil taxes to sick and disgusting personal insinuations about Trig's identity, alleged fake sex videos, doctored photos, and even contrived stories about conversations with members of the Gosselin family," she continues. "It is all so very unfortunate. We can do better. We can and should focus on real issues, not fabricated issues."

What next will the snarky rattlers tattlers say about Gov. Palin? An abduction by UFO? She's really the offspring of Liz Taylor and Elvis? I don't know what they're smoking out there in Hollyweird, but we now have ample evidence that it destroys brain cells.

- JP

O'Malley sort of gets it; Carlson doesn't

Gov. Sarah Palin accepted Creepy David Letterman's apology and moved on, but the story hasn't gone away. That's because people on both sides of the debate won't let it die. Unlike the governor, they're not quite ready to move on.

On one side there were the protesters who showed for the "Fire David Letterman" rally Monday in New York. Their numbers were not impressive - estimates have ranged anywhere from 50 to 100 people - so they didn't make up much of a "crowd." Some of the protesters had some valid points to make. Even Letterman's second apology came with excuses. He didn't know that he was demeaning the wrong daughter. His joke was "misunderstood." Yadda yadda. But Letterman and his ilk aren't going to be transformed overnight into responsible adult males who respect women and don't make them the target of their crude jokes. They simply won't be doing so on alphabet network television anytime soon. On cable outlets like HBO, human detritus such as Bill Maher will continue to do it. But Maher and his ilk are marginal. When they make news, many more people read about it than actually watch them on television. Sarah Palin understands this. That's why she accepted the apology for her daughter and young girls everywhere and returned to getting her message out on energy, fiscal responsibility, national security and other issues. She chooses her battles carefully, and she knows when to declare victory and move on. The protesters' time would have perhaps been better spent canvassing for donations to Gov. Palin;s legal defense fund.

With her victory over Creepy Dave , the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee has made fools of many of her serial detractors. A prime example is columnist Margaret Carlson, who doesn't care one whit about young girls being sexualized by misogynists on television or any other women's issues. If she did, she would have shown more self-respect than to pursue a man whose heart had clearly been won by another woman. Carlson has been one of Gov. Palin's harshest critics, and just a few short days ago, she declared on her Daily Beast blog, "Palin Can't Outsmart Letterman." Oh, but she did, Margaret. But don't fret about it, Ms Know-It-All. We will file that away with "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers," from IBM's fomer president in 1943 and "Aeroplanes are poorly suited for any combat role other than observation" by most of the nation's military brass early in the last century. Just like Letterman is a sexist and will always be, Carlson is a Palin-hater and will always be. But this week in history, both have discovered that Sarah Barracuda has sharp teeth, and she isn't afraid to use them.

One good thing to come out of the Letterman imbroglio is that at least some of Gov. Palin's critics have managed to muster up a degree of intellectual honesty. I'm speaking of the National Organization for Women, who finally stood up for some women other than just the liberal ones after years of showing outrage only when women on the left were unfairly attacked. As Julia O'Malley, columnist for the Anchorage Daily News, grudgingly admitted:

"Sure, some of us don’t like Palin’s politics, but we should pay attention to what else is going on. I laughed a little when I watched Letterman’s jokes. It wasn’t because they were funny. It was because they were mean. And somehow watching someone be mean to America’s Hottest Governor felt good. And, that wasn’t feminist at all."

"The fact is, even with the pumps and the winking, she didn’t deserve it. Maybe Palin is an opportunist, maybe she’s a drama queen, maybe she’s using a feminist argument to make political hay, but in this case her underlying point is right on. Letterman was gross and out of line, no matter which daughter he was talking about. Making Letterman apologize was a win for her and for women everywhere."

Well, it may be more like wading across the creek than crossing the Rubicon, but download that in your Microsoft Word and process it, Margaret Carlson. Ah, she's probably an Apple person, but I digress...

One last Letterman item, before we file the subject away for future reference. It comes courtesy of commenter TommyReport here. You don't need to call on Captain Obvious to see the implications there.

- JP

Jeri Thompson on "playground politics" of the Left

Fred Thompson Show co-host Jeri Thompson appeared on Hannity this week to discuss the Letterman flap and how Democrats and the political Left enjoy a double standard which allows them to freely engage in attacks on conservatives.


Find more videos like this on Liberal Madness

- JP

Quote of the Day (June 16, 2009)

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Tuesday's QOTD comes from Bob Chochola in Fort Worth:

"Simply put, Sarah Palin is the single greatest threat to democratic control of Washington DC since Ronald Reagan left office."

- JP

Real Palin story of the week lost by the media

The real Sarah Palin story of last week was not that she made David Letterman back down and apologize for his crude attempt at raunchy humor, nor was it her tour de force in New York State, where she made many new friends, was warmly received by enthusiastic crowds and raised a lot of money for charitable causes. The dateline for the big Palin story was not New York City nor New York State, but right here in Texas.

In an article published by Digital Journal, Gary Jackson reminds us that Sarah Palin's announcement from Dallas last week that ExxonMobil had joined with TransCanada to cooperate on the governor's signature AGIA natural gas pipeline project was nothing short of historic:

Alaskans have tried for over 30 years to build a natural gas pipeline from Alaska to the lower 48. Previous Governors have tried to make this happen, and Alaskans have went back and forth on how it should be done.

Governor Palin made this a centerpiece of her administration. Within weeks of taking office, the wheels were set in motion to get this done. The AGIA legislation was passed 57-1 through Alaska’s legislature.

Of course, there were plenty of critics, this was a big undertaking. At $126 billion, the 1712 mile pipeline is the largest infrastructure project in history.

Many thought that Governor Palin had just bit off more than she, or anyone else could chew. There were worries about the market for natural gas. But the demand for the fuel is expected to rise as much as 40 percent by the year 2030.

Obama administration officials who had nothing to do with this, like Energy Secretary Ken Salazar, rushed to claim credit for all of this. A pretty good endorsement of Governor Palin’s efforts.

Though her political enemies have criticized the massive pipeline project, her efforts have won acclaim from those in the energy industry and those who follow it closely.

The government-run media, however, managed to drown out the real story of a genuine achievement by the 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate with the loud noise surrounding the nastiness of a late night comic. Don't get us wrong -- cultural matters are important, and it is of no small consequence that Sarah Palin took a stand against sexism and the demeaning of young girls. And she no doubt won a lot of respect and admiration from many who had previously dismissed her out of hand. But the governor's latest achievement on the gas pipeline is a major accomplishment and one which could likely be critical to the nation's energy security. Without energy a country cannot move, and its economy could be brought to a complete standstill. Without energy, a nation cannot defend itself, as military aircraft, non-nuclear-powered ships and ground transportation would be uselessly stranded.

Jackson's op-ed provides much good information about natural gas and its many uses (including as a motor fuel), and we highly recommend it for a full read. Alaska has been blessed with massive deposits of the clean-burning and relatively inexpensive energy resource, and no one has talked it up more than Gov. Palin. She understands what a huge role natgas could and should play in our country's future:

Governor Palin has again lived up to her billing as an authority on energy. The Governor who previously was chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, as well as the chair of the National Governor’s Association Natural Resources Committee, and the Chairman of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, is uniquely qualified to lead on energy independence. And she is most certainly using her industry experience to move America in that direction.

The author praises Sarah Palin's progress on the AGIA pipeline project as a grand slam home run which will make America stronger, and we fully agree.

- JP