Youth for Palin Unveils New Website

"Our mission is to educate and encourage our youth... in the political arena"
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Editor's Note: This is a re-post of one of our articles which was lost in the May 12 Google Blogger outage. Fortunately, we were able to recover it from the Sarah Palin Information Blog, where it had been cross-posted. - JP

There’s a new website in the Palinosphere. A non profit organization, Youth for Palin has unveiled the new site, which is called Mama Grizzly’s Cubs. Here’s the press release:

Youth for Palin unveils new website targeting conservative youth, interested in changing the political landscape

Youth for Palin, a non-profit organization, has launched its new website at Youth4Palin.yolasite.com. The specially designed site embodies Youth for Palin’s forward-thinking vision and commitment to implementing the conservative core values in our future generation, just as former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin has throughout her political career. The new web site features rich content provided by Youth for Palin members, direct access to Sarah Palin’s vision for America, and a way for conservative youth to connect with like-minded peers.

“These are exciting times as 2012 nears and American youth seek to have their voices heard,” says Elizabeth Nedic Hawkes, co-founder of Youth for Palin. “We are developing a number of exciting volunteer projects where all of our youth can get involved utilizing their strengths and it will be fun for all!”

Youth for Palin already has an active Facebook group where motivated youths can engage in political discussions and challenge each other through teamwork to bring about conservative awareness and hands on participation.

“Our online visitors will now experience a more vibrant and seamless view of what Youth for Palin has to offer,” says Hawkes. “In the same way our Facebook group has brought together like-minded peers, the new website creates a new home in cyberspace to promote the groups sole purpose of helping elect Sarah Palin and educating young conservatives.”

About Youth for Palin: Youth for Palin is a non-profit organization striving to implement the conservative core values in our future generation, just as Former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin has throughout her political career. Our mission is to educate and encourage our youth, with an emphasis on ages 15-21, in the political arena, to ensure that America will continue to be the Best in the World.

Welcome, Mama Grizzly’s Cubs, and best of luck with the new site!

- JP

A Freeper No More

Time to move on...
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For six years, your editor has been a Freeper, an association I was once proud of. No more. The site has been going downhill for a long time, and it has finally lowered itself to a level I just can't abide. Some pretty reprehensible things have been posted on Free Republic -- some of it which got FR labeled a "hate site" -- but I simply chalked it up to the usual extremes of opinion one is likely to see on a forum. But then it began to get troublesome.

A small band of anti-Palin activists on FR just about had me ready to bail, but then one of them went too far with a very crude comment, and the site's owner, Jim Robinson, kicked him off. For a short while there, it seemed like the climate at Free Republic was improving. But then other troubling tends indicated things were just getting worse there. One of these is the dominance of the birthers at FR. The place has gone full birther. We've said it many times. Whether Barack Obama was born in Hawaii, Kenya, or on Planet Giedi Prime, the best way to make sure that he doesn't get four more years to destroy our nation is to hit him on pocketbook issues. "It's still the economy, stupid." Tilting at his birth certificate like so many windmills is simply too... well, quixotic, and the Obamunists just love it. That's time spent not holding the president accountable for the financial disaster he's fostering on everyday Americans, and it hands leftists the paintbrush they need to portray all conservatives as loonies.

A second small band (isn't it always a minority who screws things up for everyone else?) of Freepers have become prominent on the site. These people are the anti-bloggers. The anti-bloggers believe that bloggers should cross-post their op-eds in their entirety on FR if they post them there at all. As writers and publishers, our work is subject to the same copyright laws as articles published in other media, such as newspapers. We believe that if we share our work with FR, we should be allowed to publish excerpts. The anti-bloggers call us "blog pimps," even though many of us don't have much of a revenue stream for our sites. This blog has no paid blog ads, and regulars here can testify that I don't hit the readership up for donations often. We usually don't rattle the tip jar unless we have a crisis of some sort, such as when the old laptop died in December. If we're "blog pimps," then we're not very successful ones, as blogging is far from a lucrative undertaking. It's more of a labor of love.

As a rule, bloggers freely link to one another. Although there are a few who don't want to share either credit or readership, most of us don't mind driving traffic to the sites of other bloggers we feel are worthy of it. With our Quote of the Day and QOTD Honorable Mention posts, regular features of this site, we've provided thousands of links to other websites. That doesn't even take into account many more thousands of links in our other posts and in our sidebar. We've always felt that such link love generates a synergy of sorts which is good for bloggers on both ends of the hyperlink transaction. As JFK said, a rising tide lifts all boats. Although he was talking about an economic tide, the principle is the same.

What finally drove home the reality of the sad state of Free Republic was this post by Marc Schenker on Warner Todd Huston's Publius Forum. By way of disclosure, I used to be a contributor there, but I no longer post my articles at Publius'. Warner was an occasional contributor here, but he's apparently kept so busy by all of the other sites he writes for that he no longer posts here. I don't agree with everything Marc has to say in his post. I believe, for example, that he should not have played the victim card. Marc and other bloggers are not the victims of FR's slide down the pipes, but rather it is the cause of conservatism that suffers. We have other issues with his post, but Marc is right that FR sure ain't what it used to be. It has changed, and none for the better. The voice of reason is heard on FR with much less frequency these days than in the past.

It's a shame. Jim Robinson is pro-Palin himself, although he had allowed the Palin bashers free reign in his playground for a long time. Just as he tolerated the Palin-haters, we believed that he was just tolerating the blogger-haters. But Jim showed, by way of a comment on FR, that he shares their opinions of bloggers. Jim, it seems, considers whatever traffic is driven to FR by bloggers to be such small potatoes that bloggers don't deserve to have their copyrighted material treated as such by FR. The website has had copyright issues in the past, and as a result, there are several publications from which FR is prevented from even publishing excerpts. For a conservative website, FR's "what's yours is ours" attitude about copyrights and intellectual property rights is disturbingly "progressive." FR's hostility to bloggers comes right from the top. That's something we can't abide.

I personally do not want to be associated with FR any longer. I never thought the day would come when I didn't want to be a Freeper, but today is that day. I logged off of Free Republic for the last time. Some of the people who have been driven away from FR include Matt Drudge and Lucianne Goldberg. Talk show host Sean Hannity commented about Free Republic, "Everyone I knew basically left because of so much childish immature personal attacks, the propensity there to eat their own." So I figure I'm at least in good company. When it comes to pushing back against the left and its lies, don't Conservatives have enough on our plates to keep us busy without trying to eat our own?

Our policy here at Texas for Sarah Palin, as well our other sites -- The Book of Sarah, Blogs 4 Palin, and Brazos Valley Pundit -- remains unchanged. We will gladly cooperate with other blogs and bloggers if doing so is in our opinion positive for Gov. Palin and for the larger cause of Reagan conservatism as well. That includes the exchange of links, promotion of related worthy causes and events and special projects as well.

- JP

A few good men... and women

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We're looking to expand our staff of contributors here at Texas for Sarah Palin. We're looking for writers who are, first of all, Texans. Our contributors must be pro-Palin and have a good working knowledge of Gov. Palin's story, political philosophy, issue positions, etc.

Were only interested in experienced writers, preferably people who have their own blogs or contribute to established blogs. We allow cross-posting, and we provide links to our contributers' own blogs with each of their posts. Any prior experience as a journalist will be a big factor in your favor. Familiarity with the Blogger editor is a must.

If you're interested in joining the staff of Texas for Sarah Palin, please use the Kontacr button in the sidebar to apply. Please include links to examples of your writing.

- JP

CBS story focuses on Sarah Palin's online community of supporters

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When Scott Conroy, who covers the digital realm for CBS News, contacted us in April to interview us for a story he was working on about Sarah Palin's supporters on the Web, we were more than a little bit hesitant. We know CBS' history of bashing conservatives in general and Gov. Palin in particular, and we asked Scott whether he intended to treat his subject matter fairly. After assuring us that he had no axes to grind, we answered his questions over the telephone for some 20 minutes or so.

Now that his story has been published on the CBS politics page we have to admit that Scott was as good as his word. The thrust of his article is that a passionate and loyal community of Gov. Palin's online supporters has become a potent force and could become an important grassroots component of her 2012 campaign organization, should she decide to run for the White House. Not that we don't have a few nits to pick with the final product of Scott's labors, however.

We don't like the term "Palin-Heads." It's a bit of a sore spot for us. We didn't much care for the "Fredhead" label, either, back when we were supporting Fred Thompson in the 2008 GOP presidential preliminaries. Our personal preference was "Frederalist" -- a pun to be sure, but it beat the heck out of the alternatives. Scott took "Palin-Heads" from our colleague Nicole Coulter's comparison of members of the Palin blogging community to the "Deadheads" who were fans of the Grateful Dead more years ago than we care to remember, as we enjoyed the Dead's music when they were at their best. Unfortunately, the band was not always at its best, and the music was at times awful. "Wake of the Flood" is our all-time fave Dead album, but we digress... Not all Sarah Palin's supporters are cultists, but the writer seized on Nicole's comments to portray us as such, which we believe undermines the seriousness of our support for Gov. Palin and the extensive research many of us conducted into all facets of the governor before we made the decision to support her.

We're sure that most of what Nicole had to say to Scott went unused in the final edited version of his story, and we're not criticizing her. She merely made an innocent comment, but Scott picked up on it to create what may not actually be an accurate impression. Only one quote from the entire 20-minutes of our own conversation with him survived the editing process, and this has generally been our experience when being interviewed by reporters. Standing alone and as out of context as a fish out of water, the quotes as published rarely convey their original meaning. This was certainly the case with what we said to Scott. Our point to Scott was that we didn't make Gov. Palin an object of worship, as many of the Obama cultists did with "The One," but rather we appreciated her all the more for being a down-to-earth real person who many ordinary Americans can relate to. We told him that she's a woman, not a goddess or diva, but she is nevertheless an exceptional woman. Our point was unfortunately lost in a CBS word processor. We were on the other side of the process for some 20 years when we worked in radio station newsrooms, however, so we understand how stories get cut for length, and it's often not done by the reporter, but rather by his or her managing editor. Sadly, editing for length often deprives a piece of meaning and continuity. By that time, a news story or feature is often out of the hands of the writer, however. It's something akin to a horse being designed by a committee and turning out to be a jackass. Or like any government project, but again we digress...

Besides Nicole Coulter and yours truly, Scott also talked to Adrienne Ross (whom we were only too happy to steer him to), O.P. Ditch, Sapwolf and Hillbuzz guy Kevin DuJan. Overall, it's a good and mostly positive piece (read it here) -- much better than we expected from CBS -- and for that, we can all be thankful. We should all get together, however, and come up with a descriptive term for the Paliniste which will be a better fit and not wince-inducing, as is "Palin-Heads."

Update: Scott talks to liberal CBS talking head Bob Schieffer here.

- JP

Sarah Palin and the Bloggers

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Matt Lewis has his pajamas all knotted up because bloggers just don't get no respect. And in Lewis' view, Sarah Palin deserves a large share of the blame for that sad state of affairs:

While defending South Carolina gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley from accusations she had an affair with a prominent South Carolina blogger, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said: "Nikki categorically denies the accusation that was spewed out there by a political blogger who has the gall to throw the stone, but then quickly duck and hide and proclaim he would not comment further on the issue. Quite convenient."

It's no surprise that Palin would defend Haley -- she recently endorsed her. And I have no idea whether the allegations are true or fabricated. What caught my attention was Palin's use of the term "political blogger" as a pejorative -- as if that, in itself, discredits the critic.

This seems to be a trend with Palin, who now mocks bloggers with regularity. During an interview on Fox News, she criticized the media for taking cues from "some blogger probably sitting there in their parents' basement, wearing their pajamas, blogging some kind of gossip or -- or a lie."

She ought to know better. The "pajamas" reference was famously employed as a dismissive insult against conservatives by former CBS News executive Jonathan Klein, who ridiculed bloggers questioning Dan Rather's bogus Air National Guard memos, saying: "You couldn't have a starker contrast between the multiple layers of check and balances [at '60 Minutes'] and a guy sitting in his living room in his pajamas writing."

In that instance, the mainstream media finally did take their cues from bloggers, and in so doing finally got the story right. The blogosphere was hardly intimidated. Out of that episode grew a conservative online outlet, Pajamas Media, run by Roger L. Simon, and Klein himself is now president of CNN, which recently hired Erickson to provide commentary.

On yet another occasion, Palin referenced "bored, anonymous, pathetic bloggers who lie to annoy me."

In fairness to the former vice presidential candidate, she has every right to be angry with some bloggers. She and her family have endured scurrilous attacks, including one from a liberal blogger who "broke" the bogus story of her divorce. Worse yet, right after her nomination as John McCain's running mate, Andrew Sullivan of The Atlantic invented a new type of "birtherism" when he went on a bizarre and misguided quest to prove Trig was not really Palin's baby. Sullivan went so far as to demand a paternity test.

On the other hand, it was blogger Adam Brickley (my former intern) who began the "Draft Sarah Palin" blog -- and was widely credited with helping to bring her, then an obscure governor from a distant state, to the attention of the McCain campaign. One could argue that Palin owes her fame to a blogger.

One could also add that Sarah Palin has hired bloggers to be trusted members of her team, as Dan Riehl points out here. One could also say that the governor, when she criticizes the legacy media, doesn't digress to the point of mentioning that there are still some reporters and media outlets (though most of them are local, not national) that are fair and balanced, though they are largely a disappearing breed.

Lewis would prefer that Gov. Palin perhaps explain the difference between "good" bloggers and "bad" bloggers every time she mentions those who blog. She of course has neither the time nor the inclination to point out the distinctions between the good, the bad and the just plain ugly of the blogging genre when she is trying to make a larger point. Besides, what convenient terminology exists to succinctly mark those distinctions?

The governor could break it down by political ideology and only criticize "liberal" bloggers or "leftist" bloggers, but not all conservative bloggers are "good" and not all liberal bloggers are "bad." She has been roundly criticized, remember, by some of the leading bloggers on the right for simply choosing not to attend the CPAC convention and for her choice of candidates to support. We do frequent blog searches in our research efforts at TX4P, and we have found that perhaps the best way to break down the blogosphere is into responsible bloggers and irresponsible bloggers. While bloggers on the right generally tend to be more responsible than their counterparts on the left, there are without question some irresponsible bloggers who lean to the right. Anyone can become a blogger, and there's nothing apart from their own sense of ethics which compels them to at least make an effort to confirm facts or to back up the allegations they make. Again, while the practice of making things up and distorting the rest is more widespread in the leftosphere than in the rightosphere, there are bloggers of all persuasions who play fast and loose with the truth. One can start a blog in a matter of minutes and immediately publish on the web some of the most vile slurs, bizarre conspiracy theories and bald faced lies, and do so without offering a shred of proof or risking penalty of law. Some even get paid for doing so, and we introduce Andrew Sullivan into evidence as Exhibit A. But he unfortunately has plenty of company. A tool and his money are soon parted.

And where are bloggers to find inspiration for doing the right thing? Certainly not in the corrupt and disgraced legacy media, which has undergone a devolution back to the bad old days of yellow journalism at its worst. The old reporting standard of finding multiple independent sources to confirm facts has been thrown under the press bus. The public doesn't trust the legacy media, and they have the good sense not to believe everything they read on blogs as well. When Sarah Palin criticizes "blogs" and "bloggers" her intended audience knows exactly who she is talking about. Too bad that Lewis doesn't yet feel that the common folk are capable of that level of sophistication, but we have high hopes that he will eventually come around.

- JP

Meet blogger Liberty Belle

The Liberty Pen is a blog which features interviews of other bloggers, and the interview with the Liberty Belle caught our attention. Here are a couple of Sarah Palin-related excerpts from the interview:

LP: There seems to be a surge in personal blogs that center around political thought, how would you differentiate your blog from other blogs?

LB: When I write I like to make sure my writing isn't just generic political vomit. I know there are thousands of political blogs out there, and thousands of conservatives all talking about the most recent political outrage, so I like to bring my unique point of view, my unique experiences and share those. Especially since I'm young, I think it's more interesting for the older readers to see conservatism from a young point of view. I'm also an Alaskan, so the Sarah Palin controversy is very close to home. It's one of the issues that first sparked me to come out as a conservative. Let me tell you, Palin-bashing was my liberal college friend's favorite activity last year.

[...]

LP: Who is your favorite political leader and why?

LB: Of all time, I would have to say George Washington. Having learned about the man and his hand in our nation's birth, I am very awed to live in a country with such incredible Founders. I would be thrilled to meet any of the Founders, but it is certainly a special place to have occupied the first presidency of this great nation.

Of more recent times, I am of course a fan of Ronald Reagan. I think right now Sarah Palin is my favorite political leader. She understands corruption that occurs in government and is unafraid to remove it at the root. She says what she believes, doesn't coat it in syrupy rhetoric, and loves this country (which is more than I think I can say about some political leaders...). I am glad that she doesn't do things the conventional way. The conventional way is straight corruption.

Interesting concept at The Liberty Pen, and the Liberty Belle is an interesting blogger. Read the full interview here.

- JP

Palin's leadership lights up the conservasphere

Former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP presidential candidate Sarah Palin is pushing back against the slippery socialist slope that President Obama and the Democrats are determined to toss the nation down, and conservative bloggers are responding positively. Here are some of the latest comments from the conservasphere:

American Thinker Blog's Ethel Fenig:

"Former Alaskan governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin (R) responded graciously, but factually, to President Barack Obama's (D) health care speech with his post partisan gratuitous swipe at her. As she puts it 'so much for civility.'"

Doug Ross:

"Obama specifically called politicians like Sarah Palin, talk show hosts like Sean Hannity and radio pundits like Mark Levin liars... have the American people ever experienced a President who is this divisive, this bitterly partisan before? Spun so many painfully obviously lies in a major speech before?"

Gary P. Jackson at Cypress Times:

"Besides costing her personally... Obama surrogates had cost the Alaska taxpayers millions and were on track to cost them more, with their continual filing of those bogus ethics complaints. My guess is about now Obama is wishing he had left her alone to govern Alaska in peace!"

David Horowitz's Newsreal blog:

"Palin’s image of 'death panels' to capture what is the undeniable truth about the Democrats‘ plans... was a politically brilliant stroke. In singling her out and defaming her... the president made her the symbol of the opposition to the steamroller he is driving. And that’s the fight she wants..."

Clifton B at Another Black Conservative:

"Sarah Palin is forcing Obama to stay on the 'death panel' issue. She knows that without a way to ration care, government run health care is impossible, therefore Obama and the Democrats will have to address rationing or lose the very cost cutting component to the program."

Ted Belman, Israpundit:

"In less than six weeks she has taken over from all the elected Republicans, the role of government watchdog. She has assumed the role of a government in waiting and all Republicans are riding her coat tails."

Drew M. at AOSHQ:

"So Obama calls Palin a liar (not by name but everyone knows who he's talking about) but we are supposed to get our panties in a bunch because Wilson yelled it out?"

Sharp Right Turn:

"Of course, Sarah Palin is correct. Some unaccountable board will be making these decisions for seniors if this... becomes law."

Ziva Sahl at Babalú Blog:

"Say what you will about her, like Reagan, she embodies the American spirit and connects with main street U.S.A. If she's on the ticket 2012, she has my vote."

Gateway Pundit:

"Sarah Palin sure knows how to work him like cookie-dough. It really isn't even fair. And, all she's doing is speaking the truth."

Carl at The Freedom Medium:

"Liberals by and large breathed a sigh of relief when Sarah Palin stepped down from her position as governor. They had the mistaken notion that her voice would be silenced... And as her response to the President’s pep rally last night proves, she is a voice to be reckoned with."

James 4 America:

"I, for one, would like to see Sarah Palin and Barack Obama debate the healthcare reform issue. He would, of course, have a few problems, without TOTUS."

Yukio Ngaby at Critical Narrative:

"Again, Palin has hit the nail on the head. And that's probably why the Left hate her with such venom."

Doug Powers:

"Palin’s response is a good read and full of so much common sense that the left won’t be able to comprehend it, so they’ll simply dismiss both the article and the author as 'stupid.'"

Sue at J's Cafe Nette:

"Obviously she has the democrats worried. Their idea of debate in order to silence critics is to attack, and Ms. Palin has shown repeatedly she has no fear of their tactics."

Washington’s Wake:

"Conservatives who allow wishywashy assumptions to stand, such as the official response’s 'we agree Americans want...' allow the administration to get away with defining the wants of Americans in the ways that most benefit their arguments. Mrs. Palin breaks that convention and in doing so champions the fundamental cause of freedom that underlies the entire debate."

Gary Gross at True North:

"Sarah Palin has gotten under President Obama's skin. She keeps exposing his empty rhetoric and he keeps getting irritated by her rebuttals."

Mike's America:

"She sounds more presidential than he does!"

Robin at Chickenhawk Express:

"No matter what the Left claims to think about Sarah Palin... they are scared to death of her."

John Lewandowski, PAWaterCooler.com:

"Of course Nancy Pelosi stood and applauded Obama calling Palin a liar, but was OUTRAGED when Obama’s words were called a lie."

Token Conservative:

"While other Republican politicos have ranged from worthless to slightly better than worthless (Senator Jim DeMint excepted—he’s been good), Palin has been fighting back."

Scott Michaels at Entitlement Syndrome:

"Sarah Palin, becoming ever more cagey and savvy, still has the advantage of being the attacker, and it continues to look like Barack Obama is on the defensive, striking out blindly and calling on various labor unions to do his fighting for him."

William Kristol, posting on TWS's The Blog:

"Sarah Palin is right: Obama’s 'offhand applause line' was an insult to those who have fought and sacrificed, and to those who are now fighting and sacrificing, on our behalf."

L.E. Ikenga, American Thinker:

"Former Governor Palin understands many things that Obama does not. Here are the two most important: our government must be strong enough to protect the rights of the people, but restrained enough so as not to infringe upon them, and the elites are destroying America. In some way or other, Palin will eventually defeat Obama."

- JP

More on the Vanity Fair/Levi FAIL

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Reaction from the blogs...

Althouse:

"...if you want to talk crazy, how crazy is it to want so badly to paint Sarah Palin as crazy? She is your political opponent, Andrew, and you don't think she's good enough for high office. It's not so dramatic. It's utterly banal. Ironically, Palin draws energy from your overheated hatred. Have you heard she's about to make $100 million?"

Colleen O'Conner:

"Even worse, Levi says, is the fact that Sarah Palin kept bugging him to adopt his yet unborn child."

[...]

"We both kept telling her we were definitely not going to let her adopt the baby. I think Sarah wanted to make Bristol look good, and she didn’t want people to know that her 17-year-old daughter was going to have a kid."

"An equally plausible explanation might be that Sarah and Todd Palin clearly saw what their daughter did not—Levi Johnston’s less than sterling character."

[...]

"Putting up with a cad like Johnston just might make her 'Mother of the Year.'"

Adam Shaw:

"Levi Johnston (the father of Bristol Palin's child) has appeared in Vanity Fair, slagging her off as a bad parent. Yet the 'previews' VF give us aren't exactly groundbreaking or interesting and makes one wonder why VF spent such a huge amount of time and coverage on what really is a non-news story, amounting to nothing but the irresponsible bitching of a whiny teenager about his child's grandmother."

[...]

"How this counts as a serious scoop is beyond me."

[...]

"Again, it goes back to the left's determination to throw as much crap at Palin as they can, in the hope that some of it will stick. However, while it worked to an extent in the election, I think as more and more people hear Palin speak and read what she writes, and see this increasingly desperate smear campaign by the left for what it is, then Palin's standing will only increase."

MomLogic:

"The only thing telling about Levi Johnston's tell-all interview in the latest issue of Vanity Fair is that he obviously doesn't care one whit about his one-year-old son, Tripp. If he did, he wouldn't be ripping the family of his son's mother apart for all the world to read."

[...]

"Who knows whether any of the slanderous muck is actually true..."

[...]

"I spoke with psychologist Dr. Michelle Golland to find out what effect Levi's choice to drag the grandparents of his only child through the mud would have on the family."

"It will make it harder to have smooth transitions of custody," predicts Golland. "Placing our anger and resentment in full view is difficult for children to have to bear."

"Are you listening, Levi?! It's not about YOU anymore and your need to get back at the Palin camp. You're a dad now. Stop acting like a big sleazy baby."

ChristWire:

"Levi Johnston has hopped aboard the train of shame again this week, this time by joining in with closet socialists to derail the respected character and ethics of Former Governor Sarah Palin."

[...]

"Johnston allegedly claims that Sarah Palin wanted her and the “First Dude” to secretly adopt Tripp (Bristol and Levi’s out of wedlock child), so no one would know Bristol had been pregnant."

"This is of course a bag of lies. Sarah Palin honestly confessed that her daughter had fallen into premarital sins, but would still be giving birth. She did not hide behind the abysmal curtains of abortion or adoption like Obama liberals always force their daughters to do."

Melissa Clouthier:

"It’s no surprise that Vanity Fair, the least fair of glossy liberal publications, would give a nice splashy spread to useful idiot Levi Johnston."

[...]

"Levi Johnston says far more about the sorry state of modern media than he says about the Palin family. Levi Johnston says more about the American Idol culture than he says about the Palin marriage. Levi Johnston reminds all of us why many feel shame at weddings and family reunions. There’s one in every family."

[...]

"American youths are immersed in the fame-seeking culture. Children are rewarded for participation rather than achievement. They grow up singing karaoke and making stage characters on “Rock Band” for Wii. Is it any wonder that when a young man such as Levi Johnston gets on an actual stage, he thinks he’s a rock star?"

Dodo Can Spell:

"This low-life Johnston has been spreading the vilest of rumours about Palin and her family and the Left has been grooming and pampering him just like they did with Cindy Sheehan."

[...]

"The wacko is being manipulated by the Left and whatever "pearls" of lies that fall out of his mouth that can possibl[y] vilify Palin are quickly caught in the palms of Palin haters and swiftly strung into the most expensive of Pearl Necklaces."

Death By 1000 Papercuts:

"Nasty cynics claimed Palin used Trig. Nasty cynics, most likely, facing the same situation, would have aborted him, and thus, cannot comprehend Palin’s love for baby Trig."

[...]

"What’s truly been interesting is the amount of vitriol still leveled at Palin. During the election, intrepid journalists descended upon Palin’s tiny Wasilla, Alaska, in droves to dig through her trash and they’re still trying to trash Palin, with Levi Johnston, a 'witting' pawn."

[...]

"Liberals couldn’t attack Palin on her record but they could use the same tactics as the writer of the Reagan script, the producers, and CBS. Tactics such as depicting Palin as 'cartoonish', 'inept', 'shallow', 'intolerable', to name a few, and using Levi Johnston, who was probably paid a 'handsome' sum in his 'eyes'."

Dan Riehl:

"You might recall VF's last most famous couple, Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson. They didn't last too long after VF [for not Very Fair to Republicans] feted them."

"Now it appears as if Levi Johnston's fifteen minutes of fame might be just about up, as well."

- JP

August 29th: Other Bloggers Remember

Editor's note: Having heard from this blog's contributors and some of our fellow blogroll members, we conclude our day-long special series of posts with some excerpts from posts by some other bloggers on this, the first anniversary of Sarah Palin going, as the ZZ Top song says, "nationwide."

John Ziegler at Big Hollywood:

"The last twelve months of Sarah Palin’s life truly bring new meaning to the phrase 'what a difference a year makes.' I strongly believe that no public figure in modern America has ever endured more stress, pressure and unfair scrutiny in a more dignified fashion than she has over the past year (though what George W. Bush tolerated over the last three years of his presidency probably comes in a close second)."

Fay at Sarah's Web Brigade:

"Sarah Palin's resignation as governor was not an end in itself but the launch of a greater role in the affairs of our country. She has stepped forward as a voice of opposition to efforts to dismantle our government and take away our freedoms. Sarah Palin is here to stay, and Sarah Palin supporters all over cannot wait to call her Madame President!"

Pamela Geller at Atlas Shrugs:

"What a year it has been for her and us. Looking back in hindsight, could the differences between Palin and Barack be more stark? Obama is all artifice. Palin is all real, all that. Obama is all style. Palin is all substance. Obama is anti-American. Palin is all-American. Obama holds the US military in contempt. Palin reveres the military. The military loves Palin. The military is on to Obama. The corrupt activist media loves Obama. The corrupt activist media loathes and libels Palin."

Adrienne (the Texan, not the New Yorker) at Sarah Palin 2012:

"It was definitely one of the best days ever and it changed my life. For me it sparked a desire to really get behind the conservative movement, and try to elect the most conservative, everyday Americans we can. It changed my views on the Republican party. But most of all as a woman, that day definitely inspired me that I could have it all - the career, family, everything - just like Palin. And she is someone who I agree with politically on nearly everything. I could relate to her and I was supremely impressed by her servant's heart."

azaeroprof at RedState.com:

"Sarah Palin’s ascension changed the conservative nation overnight. Millions of people who had zero (or even negative) enthusiasm about politics and the 2008 campaign suddenly showed up at Republican Headquarters around the country. The volunteer ranks exploded overnight, and suddenly there were McCain-Palin signs everywhere where previously there were only Obama and “Change We Can Believe In” signs. The conservative movement had received a transfusion of energy, enthusiasm, and optimism that we had lacked for a long, long time."

Jackie at SarahNET:

"On August 29, 2008 Sarah Palin was introduced to the nation. Not only did she give hope to the Republican Party but she inspired thousands, if not millions of young girls. I am one of them. Up until then really the only prominent female in politics (on a national level) was Hilary Clinton. I grew to admire Sarah Palin during the election. And after her RNC speech I was hooked. She had faith in God and seemed to have a good head on her shoulders. She stood firm on issues that Conservatives hold dear. She was an attractive woman with an attractive family. Her outgoing personality and love for sports helped her appeal to the younger woman. She could relate to everyday moms, female athletes and the young girls who now hope to follow in her footsteps."

Midknight Review:

"We at Midknight Review, have no idea who we will support for President in 2012. One thing for certain, Sarah Palin has the ability to pull GOP conservatives together and seems to be the only national conservative politician willing to take the time and energy to do so at this moment.

She is Miss Middle America, rising up from mopping floors and raising kids to national prominence and we give her great credit for her success and continued effort. Others may come along, but right now, we see no one else to whom we can turn for leadership."

Brianus Berkleianus (via Doug Brady) at C4P:

"John McCain made his selection official in Dayton, Ohio, a name and town that will always evoke and stir in me sentiments of grace and gratitude. Then Sarah walked in. Even before she uttered a word, even before I got a clear view of her incomparable, diaphanous eyes, mirrors of and witnesses to her soul's depth and power, that confident, fearless, straight, beautiful stride of hers, as she and her daughter Piper proceeded into the arena of battle to the stirring strains of the "Rudy" theme, awoke in my breast sentiments of hope, of devotion, of courage...of love."

K. Carpenter at Stepping Right Up:

"If you watch this again, everything she said an Obama administration would bring us has taken place, only 8 months after he took office."

- JP

More bloggers standing with Sarah against Obamacare

As the Obamunist lapdog media continues to push the leftist narrative that Sarah Palin's warning about health care rationing was "debunked," the new media -- or at least that part of it that isn't in the tank for the faltering president -- is speaking out in support of her Paul Revere ride on Facebook:

The Provocateur:

"As for Palin, it's now clear she is going to continue to contribute to the health care debate. She appears to want to use Facebook. Contributing substantively to the national debate of the day is the best way for Palin to make her presence felt on the national stage and that's exactly what she's doing."

Stepping Right Up:

"Hey, Sarah...you are right. Obama does believe that he has a right to join with God and make decisions over people's life and death. But,but,but...there are no death panels, right, Mr. President?"

AmSpecBlog:

"Now, you can be for this or against this, but it is disingenuous to argue that Palin was completely wrong in warning about this cost-based rationing. What kind of democratic process is it that asks the American people to accept this approach, while pretending this is not what the administration is trying to do?"

Eye of Polyphemus:

"If Palin was mistaken in referring to this innocuous panel as a death panel instead of, say an advisory board on selecting the most effective treatment option, answer these three questions:

1. Why was this provision never publicized?
2. Why was it removed in such a hurry?
3. Why does John McCain sound so defensive the provision ever existed?

The answers add up to a lot of nasty things being hidden in the ObamaCare bill."

The Reaganite Republican:

"I 'm sure a huge fan of Charles Krauthammer's column, haven't missed it in years- but I sure would like to have a better grasp of what his real issue with Sarah Palin is- as well as why he's so blind to the deft political skills she's put on display so impressively this week."

Patrick S. Adams: 

"Ronald Reagan must be looking down from Heaven with a smile holding the LP record he recorded in early 1961 on Socialized Medicine. That was the first time the "death panel maneuver" was used to circumvent the press and go directly to the people on the issue of health care reform. Sarah Palin knows Ronald Reagan. She carries his presence and his philosophy in her servant's heart. And the liberals hate it."

- JP

Yet Even More blogger reaction to Sarah Palin on ObamaCare

America's Right:

Palin has proven herself to be an American everywoman, a politician as truly removed from the trappings of Beltway power as Barack Obama convinced everyone he was. In fact, she was so much an everywoman--what governor cooks for her own children?--that a threatened left-leaning media abandoned every remaining shred of objectivity and professionalism and worked full-time to derail not only her candidacy, but her personal life.

[...]

That the mainstream press is attacking, personally, a woman who no longer holds a job in the public eye, is evidence in itself of exactly how much of a win Palin has orchestrated here.

[...]

Attacking Sarah Palin, you see, is merely an effort by the left to distract America from the tanking public opinion toward their proposals, their party, and their president.

Pirate's Cove:

And, now, Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark)

I can tell you, I’ve laid down my set of principles, so I will not force government-run health care on anyone. If there ever is government-run health care, the first ones to sign up should be the president and every member of Congress, including myself. You should be able to keep the insurance you’ve got today, if you like it, and always choose your own doctor. No federal funding for illegal immigrants or for abortion, and no rationing of health care. I will never vote for a bill to kill old people, period. [emphasis added]

Palin wins again!

Right Squared:

I’m not seeing the brain-dead, uninformed Sarah Palin the Democrats portrayed her to be during last year’s Presidential campaign; and they aren’t either. Her recent articles against government controlled health care present factual, compelling arguments that can’t be refuted by the Obama administration.

This is the Democrat’s worst nightmare.

[...]

Sarah Palin has hit the ground running since becoming a private citizen and has taken her spot as a powerful advocate for conservative principles, smaller government, and common sense.

[...]

Sarah Palin has been demonized and on the receiving end of unending left wing vitriol and vile personal attacks for the past year. Her crime; she’s a conservative, pro-life, pro-Constitution woman. And her liberal attackers still haven’t figured out that these continuous attacks only weaken them and strengthen Sarah Palin.

JoshuaPundit:

The Nazis has a term for it, 'unwürdig des Lebens' (unworthy of life) and used this as policy for their own version of government run healthcare to euthanize thousands of people who were mentally ill, suffering from terminal illness,or were disabled in various degrees.

Governor Sarah Palin was one of the first national figures to pick up on this, and she had a damned good personal reason to do so - she's the mother of a Down's Syndrome baby. She pointed out that there was nothing in Obamacare whatsoever to stop 'death panels' from making binding decisions on who would receive care and who wouldn't, based on age, physical condition or disability.

She was roundly ridiculed for it, especially by Democrats and the dinosaur media.No less than the New York Timesdubbed the talk about death panels 'stubborn and false'.

Except, guess what? Governor Palin was entirely correct, once again.

No Smoke Blown:

Now we know what Sarah plans to do for the next year or so. She will just pick her spot and lob in her grenade. The Left hates her so much, they will overreact. The media can’t shut her out like they do the tea parties. They hate her more than the far left. The elitist female freaks think she’s trailer trash because she didn’t go to Radcliffe and live with another woman. African Americans hate her because she’s against handouts, special minority benefits, and social programs. Disguised repatriations.

Paybacks are hell and she’s going to pay Obama back for everything his party, his friends, and his media put her and her family through in the past 18 months. She will lob a few more grenades into the health care reforms in the next month or so. She will absolutely trash cap and tax since she is more knowledgeable than anyone in Washington about energy. She will remind Obama of his campaign pledge to drill offshore.

[...]

Each step of this plan to move to a socialist country will now be hit with a grenade. A Palin shot. It will get coverage. The media thinks it is still trashing Palin. But, the media, like Obama, misreads the majority of Americans who don’t live where the media lives and don’t watch the mouthpiece media.

The Politicizer:

Sarah Palin has accomplished more in influencing the American people as a private citizen in two weeks than Democrats in Congress have since the 111th session began. Palin gained credibility as one of the leaders in countering provision 1233. She succeeded in getting it removed from the bill by informing the public of the dangers that the provision contained by giving too much unrestricted power to the federal government.

[...]

In addition to her Facebook note, Sarah Palin has also posted videos and articles countering Obamacare on her page. In one video, a woman poses a question to Obama about her elderly mother’s love of life, and her overcoming of near-death health issues. He responded by first addressing waste in the healthcare industry, then adding that under his plan, she would sit down with her doctor in these crucial situations. Her doctor would then pressure her by suggesting that she might be better off just “taking the pain killer” rather than getting such a costly surgery.

[...]

Isn’t it funny that this "backwoods", "incompetent", "irrelevant", "illiterate" former governor can create such havoc for the Democrats in Congress? Again, Democrats underestimate Sarah Palin at their own risk.

WatchBlog:

For those liberals who maintain that former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is less than intelligent or a non-factor in 2012 (or both), they should consider what just occurred over the past two weeks regarding the debate over ObamaCare.

Palin not only hijacked the debate over health care, she practically forced the Democrats to reconsider the very foundation of their bill with a silkiness that would make Ronald Reagan proud. She also earned a legislative victory over Obama despite being an unelected official who some pundits have written off as irrelevant.

[...]

This woman clearly has the charisma many politicians wish they could buy. She rejuvenated Senator John McCain’s campaign, and many conservative voters believe she significantly helped the ticket. Yet who would have thought she could have such a dramatic effect on American politics without an official pulpit from which to lead?

[...]

These past two weeks, Palin demonstrated a keen understanding of how to communicate an effective message that alerts and persuades the American people. If she can do this with any regularity (and if Obama continues to attempt to ram socialist policies down our collective throats), she can take the country by storm in 2012. Whether liberals think she is stupid or irrelevant, they had better take notes. Palin is more relevant today than she was when McCain selected her as his running mate.

Oh, and given what happened the past two weeks, liberals might want to try a different strategy because ad hominem attacks like calling her "stupid" clearly haven't worked.

- JP

Bloggers Skewer National Reviewer

In an earlier post today, we noted Andy McCarthy's minority opinion in a dissent from an NRO editorial which complained about "hysteria" surrounding former Governor Sarah Palin's characterization of "death panels" in proposed health care reform legislation. The Conservasphere is beginning to erupt over the editorial also, and National Review editor Rich Lowry has to be feeling the heat . Here are five prime examples...

Robert Stacy McCain:

National Review contributes more evidence for the prosecution in the continuing case of Why Rich Lowry Should Have Been Fired No Later Than 2001.

[...]

Lowry's stayed too long at the dance, and people are getting sick of NR being the official Mitt/Jeb 2012 campaign journal, repeatedly slagging Palin and the grassroots.

The Conservative Comeback:

Andy McCarthy's point about Reagan using the Evil Empire phrase is valid. How would todays National Review have treated that comment? No doubt they'd have scolded him for his "hysteria."

[...]

In one week Sarah Palin had a portion of the bill tossed out and along with the help of townhall protesters has put ObamaCare on life support. Can anyone point me to a National Review article that has made headlines to damage this bill?

Ace:

I'm with McCarthy on this.

I don't see what makes her formulation particularly egregious when the White House is engaging in daily demonizations. "Death panels" is particularly evocative, and maybe a bit under-subtle. So what? We are talking style points at this point, and I hardly think that style is the most important concern.

Further, what Obama envisioned is a "death panel."

Dan Riehl:

I suppose the boy Editor will eventually argue, "Well, it was only her words, you see". As if the childish looking dupe could ever pull off a decent Buckley imitation.

What is it going to take for conservatives to finally accept that William F. is dead, the heirs to the throne, with too few exceptions, are a bunch of 2nd and 3rd generation elitist brats who belong to the Inside the Beltway set? They are not a part of the conservative movement that must re-define American politics, just as Reagan did, if there is to be anything like conservatism going forward in the nation's political discourse.

The Sundries Shack:

Andy McCarthy demolished the editorial all by himself, which is a testament to how poorly it was put together. If one man can take apart the work of the entire National Review editorial staff, it’s safe to say they didn’t do their best work.

And they really didn’t. What I got from the editorial is that they don’t like it when conservatives play rough and use hyperbolic language, even if its only a little bit hyperbolic, but they never quite summoned the courage to say that. Instead, they tried to explain that what Palin wrote wasn’t merely hyperbolic but incorrect. Their argument would have been a lot stronger had they not admitted right at the very beginning that she was correct, even if they didn’t do so explicitly.

Update 1: Lowry has finally replied to McCarthy on The Corner. We would have phrased that as "finally answered" instead of "finally replied" had Lowry provided an actual answer to the McCarthy dissent. Instead, the editor sidesteps substance and says, "Hey, we're not that far apart." Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? -- Over.

Update 2: McCarthy fires back, "There's no reason to characterize what "in other words" I must be saying. In my response to the editorial, I said exactly what I meant..."

Update 3: Mark Steyn comes down on the side of the good guys:

I'm with Andy. I think Sarah Palin's "death panel" coinage clarified the stakes and resonated in a way that "rationing" and other lingo never quite did. She launched it, and she made it stick. So it was politically effective.

But I'm also with Mrs Palin on the substance. NR's editorial defines "death panel" too narrowly. What matters is the concept of a government "panel".

[...]

And finally I don't think this is any time for NR to be joining the Frumsters and deploring the halfwit vulgarity of déclassé immoderates like Palin. This is a big-stakes battle: If we cross this bridge, there's no going back. Being "moderate" is not a good strategy. It risks delivering the nation to the usual reach-across-the-aisle compromise that will get Democrats far enough across the bridge that the Big Government ratchet effect will do the rest.

Update 4: Jonah Goldberg sides with the good guys also:

"If Obama, Pelosi, Waxman et al get their way, the relationship between the citizen and the state is profoundly, and perhaps permanently, altered and down that path lurks death panels. Oh, they won't be called death panels, but that function will lurk like the ghost in the machine of the federal bureaucracy."

Update 5: The Underground Conservative opines:

There is an absolute fear and hysteria — yes, we will use their word on them — among the elitists in the GOP, some of whom pass themselves off as conservative, when it comes to Sarah Palin, the same type of fear and hysteria that encircled Ronald Reagan and still does to this day.

- JP

More blogger reaction to Sarah Palin on ObamaCare

Stepping Right Up:

"I tell you what, for a Republican, that according to the liberals and the media is so irrelevant, the liberals cannot stop talking about her. Worse yet, they are even answering to her criticism. Why would anyone do that if they really thought she was that irrelevant?"

Clifton B:

"Sarah Palin is keenly aware of the media’s dislike of her. She knew that by using sharp words in a shocking statement would set the media off on a new onslaught against her. In doing so, the media inadvertently focus the entire nation on the end-of-life provision within HR3200. Once the nation started looking at the concept of government involved in end-of-life decisions, a new image emerged of what government run health care would mean, and the people liked it even less."

Jacksonian Lawyer's Blog:

"Sarah Palin remains firmly on-point in her assessment of Obamacare. Her latest Facebook entry is a true delight to read and is replete with information/footnotes. She has obviously done her homework and the socialists in charge are trying everything they can to silence and/or discredit her..."

FireAndrea Mitchell.com:

"After all the whining from the left wing loons about Sarah Palin’s “death panel” comment, it looks like she might not have been so wrong after all. Obama’s crumbling, the bill is crumbling, the congress is crumbling, so they had to do something. If they think this is going to end the outrage over government controlled healthcare, they are sorely mistaken."

Althouse:

"Why didn't the congressional Democrats defend their own bill? If it was so terribly wrong to say "death panels" — and what indignation was expressed! — then why wasn't it easy to crush stupid, crazy Sarah for what she so outrageously said? By backing down and removing the language she leveraged, they not only seem to admit she had a point, they sacrifice credibility that they need to promote what's left of the bill."

The Stiletto Blog:

"The Stiletto seems to recall pundits across the political spectrum writing Palin off as irrelevant after she voluntarily stepped down from public office in July. Guess they were … what is the word? … wrong."

Politik Ditto:

"If Sarah Palin is an idiot who goes around just making stuff up, then why jettison the 'death panel' language?"

Wake up Black America:

"Did Sarah Palin upstage and overpower Barack Obama? It kind of looks that way. Sarah Palin has become a major player in the health care debate. As Obama's popularity and approval ratings continue to decline, it could spell very bad news for Obama and his loyal flock if Palin sets herself up as the 'Anti Obama'."

Nicholas Contompasis:

"Now I'm starting to understand the power of this women."

Rosita the Prole:

"It is weird that Sarah Palin has gone from Republican governor and a vice-presidential candidate to backwoods freedom fighter.

It is also weird that the same modes of transmission that the Young Iranians have been using to voice dissent against the Iranian regime are being used by our American backwoods freedom fighter. Twitter and Facebook.

Or maybe it is not so weird."

- JP

Right-Of-Center Bloggers Solidly Support Sarah

John Hawkins of Right Wing News reports that in a recent survey of right-of-center bloggers asking them to name the people they considered to be the most influential on the right, Sarah Palin finished second only to Rush Limbaugh. Not only that, but the former Alaska governor received only four fewer votes than did El Rushbo, and she was ranked ahead of such luminaries of the right as Thomas Sowell, Mark Levin and Victor Davis Hanson.

Other right-of-center figures whose names have been bandied about as possible presidential contenders each received less than half the number of votes garnered by Palin. Jim DeMint was ranked ninth, Newt Gingrich tenth, Bobby Jindal in a six-way tie for sixteenth and Mitt Romney in a four-way tie at the bottom of the list. The full list ranked in order is posted at RWN.

Also at Right Wing News, contributor Dr. Melissa Clouthier commented on the Palin popularity among conservative bloggers:

As a note on John's survey of bloggers where Sarah Palin came in #2 of most favored conservatives, it's interesting how the grizzled blogger-corp remains impressed with her. Most political bloggers are, ironically, less emotionally attached to any politician -- they know the beast too well to "believe in" a candidate. Sarah Palin's plain-spoken, common-sense takes on big ideas like health care, energy, etc. are winning her respect.

On health care, right-of-center bloggers continue to rally to Sarah Palin's side to support her recent comments on the hot button issue. Dr. Clouthier was chief among them with a Pajamas Media essay titled "Sarah Palin Defines the Health Care Debate":

Sarah Palin rightly sees the debate in philosophical terms. The American people do, too. People are arguing over this and that provision, but the reason there is a depth of feeling on this issue is because people perceive that health care legislation would be a fundamental shift in the nature of what it means to be an American.

[...]

Americans are quite sensibly rejecting a vast new entitlement program. Sarah Palin clearly reflects this sentiment. In fact, she is one of the few voices brave enough to stand with the will of the majority. Too many other Republicans are afraid to be viewed as obstructionist to recognize that they sound out of touch with their own grassroots constituents on the right.

The Democrats don’t like the answers the American people are giving and thus have upped the rhetoric and resorted to name calling. In the last week, opponents of government-run health care have been compared to Nazis by the speaker of the House. They have also been called "un-American," "terrorists," "the mob," and more. That’s a sign Democrats have lost the philosophical debate.

Instead of calling out Sarah Palin, critics need to realize she’s defining the health care debate philosophically.

At the American Thinker blog, contributor Ethel C. Fenig provided a chilling real-world example in Oregon of a state-level death panel's decision not to provide Barbara Wagner with healing cancer medication, but to offer instead drugs designed for physician-assisted death. Fenig concluded:

So Sarah Palin's "death panels" aren't as quite off the mark as those afflicted by Palin Derangement Syndrome and mocking her seem to think. Apparently they're called Centers for Bioethics and people are sincerely grappling with these issues. The issues are deep, the problems are complex. And alas there are no easy answers. But let's keep the Barbara Wagners in mind. For one day, a loved one may be in the same predicament. Or you.

At The Travis Monitor, the father of a downs child says that Sarah Palin comments on the health care debate are like words from his own heart:

So the main problem I see with Obamacare (now isn't that an oxymoron?) is the focus on a utilitarian view of human life, rather than the idea that life is sacred. Do I want the President to fail in getting Obamacare passed. You bet I do. I hope he and all his leftist friends fail to castrate the heath care system in this great country through the imposition of Obamacare or any other Statist approach to health care that takes the care out of "health care" and treats people as statistics to be rationed to death for the sake of the collective.

Blogger michaelinmi says, "Sorry, Palin-haters, She is RIGHT About Obama’s Deathcare":

All anyone has to do to realize that Sarah Palin is spot-on correct about Obama’s ideology with regards to "healthcare" is read Dr Ezekiel Emanuel (yes, Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel’s brother), Obama’s prime health care advisor: Principles for Allocation of Scarce Medical Interventions.

William Hughes says that Sarah Palin was right about the death panels:

Sarah Palin set off quite the outrage among liberal elites. Is there any other public official willing to take so bold a stand against socialized medicine? There are some leaders in the GOP who are standing up against this socialist usurpation of one seventh of the nation's economy, but most do so in hushed tones and in the apologetic manner of a school child about to face the fury of the local bully.

The Rude News is somewhat more... well, rude in its assessment:

All of these squish moderate republicans and liberals are assailing Sarah Palin over her "Death Panel" comment.

Well she is right on, you fools.

[...]

"Mandatory End of Life Counseling" – WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

Hmm, that stupid "Hah-vard" study was all about saving pennies by kicking Grandma off a week early. It’s mostly is complaint about how expensive these old people are at the end. So if we convince them to give up, or withhold treatment, Granny only loses a week but we the people will save thousands.

Sounds like a Death Panel to me.

And to us as well.

- JP

Please welcome Tom to Texas for Sarah Palin

Please welcome Tom to Texas for Sarah Palin. Tom's personal blog is It's a Kwazy Life, and we are fortunate to have him as a contributor here. Tom brings balance to our small TX4P staff in the sense that he and fellow contributor upinak are based in Sarah Palin's Alaska, while Warner Todd Huston (Illinois) and yours truly (Texas) make up the "lower 48" contingent.

The added Alaskan perspective Tom brings to this blog will help us to report more authoritatively on news of former governor Palin from her home state, an effort we began when upinak joined our staff. We've always admired Tom's writing and his blog is one of our daily "must-read" sites. It's great to have Tom aboard!

His first post for Texas for Sarah Palin follows this one.

- JP

The Blogs: A Quick Friday Tour

Here are some CudaBytes we are reading on just some of the many Palin and Palin-friendly blogs to be found in the Conservasphere early this Friday morning:

Be afraid, MSNBC -- Be very afraid, at Motivaton: Truth.

The one-of-a-kind X-BOX Sarah Palin Edition, at The Sarah Palin Blog.

Should Sarahcuda run against the press? The Tree of Mamre says, "You Betcha."

Take a good look, and you'll see that The Divisive One is Obama, not Palin, at Conservatives for Palin.

Why did Sarah Palin address that gun collectors banquet in Anchorage? At Amorian, Scott explains just how important the NRA is to a Palin political future.

At Sarah Palin Blog, Jackie says we value Sarah Palin because she values our freedoms.

Morgan at My Two Cents Worth welcomes the two newest members of Bloggers for Sarah Palin.

Sarah's Web Brigade gives five reasons why Sarah Palin will be the next president.

Shane has a lesson and a warning for leftist bloggers who think they can destroy Sarah Palin at Caffeinated Thoughts.

And at The Knights of Palin, there's an appeal to conservative bloggers not to give in to the kind of hate that the liberal bloggers that try to kneecap Sarah Palin with their leftist lies have done.

Speaking of which, Tim analyzes the mindset of a Palin-hater at C-POL.

Pastor Rob further explores what he calls the disease of political hatred at The Spyglass.

At Moms for Sarah Palin, Tiffany has posted a Facebook list of 2012 Draft Sarah Committee groups by state.

Jerry explains the difference between real martyrs and those who just play the part on the internet at Goldfish And Clowns.

In Virginia, a state which went for Obama by 53 to 46 in last year’s election, voters would now rather see Sarah Plain come to the state to campaign than the president. Read all about it at Sarah Palin 2012.

House of Eratosthenes has posted an e-mail from fellow blogger TAMI explaining why Palin supporters are Palin supporters.

Ask anyone who has spent a lot of time around Todd and Sarah Palin, and they will tell you that the "Splitville" rumors started and spread by lying hate bloggers are just that -- lies. Kristina is one of those who knows the Palins and has spent some time with them. Her testimony to their deep and abiding love for each other is posted at Inspiration Sarah.

The Conservative Comeback has researched how Politico handled smear-fighting by the Obama campaign and also by the Palin team and found that the old media double standard still rules the beast.

In SarahNET news, Wolf Blitzer has been caught red-handed cracking jokes about Sarah Palin during his appearance on Craig Ferguson's show. There's nothing like unbiased jounalists, and those at CNN continue to demonstrate that they are nothing like unbiased.

Being a Sarah Palin supporter isn't made any easier because the liberals and their trained media hounds condemn her no matter what she does. Tracey blogs about how she deals with the frustration at Finding Myself In Alaska.

The Palination looks at Dan Fagan's recent apology and hopes he is sincere because "The power of the written and spoken word is tremendous."

At Republican Catholics you'll find a link to an inspirational video about Sarah Palin with music by Sarah Evans. It's a very good tribute.

Bill tells why "Sarah Palin speaks for me" at Governor Palin for President 2012.

At Isn't It Rich, Rich gives reason #908 why he loves Sarah Palin.

More on the Sarahcuda and the Second Amendment at Sarah Palin's Accomplishments.

At Pundit & Pundette, Pundette proposes that bloggers make up rumors about Sarah Palin, post them, and then claim each other as "sources." Oh, wait. It's already been done.

Don't believe liberals when they say only bloggers, not the MSM, pushed the bogus "Splitsville" rumors. Midknight Review says two of the usual suspects -- See-BS and MSDNC -- got their hands dirty on the non-story.

Finally, DraftPalin2012 links to Pam Geller's hilarious post on Sarah Palin's invitation to Obama and Biden to come on up to Alaska.

- JP

The pwning of Peggy Noonan

We doubt that Peggy Noonan saw it coming. Her Wall Street Journal column published July 11 was just another of her many attacks on Gov. Sarah Palin. She's been cranking out the Sarah smears since John McCain named Palin as his running mate, passing over Mitt Romney, Noonan's favorite for the VP nomination. Noonan has been taking her grief and anger out on Gov. Palin for more than ten months now. But her latest venomous anti-Sarah rant provoked a number of bloggers to send the Vichy Republican a message.

GOP Nation fired back:

"It’s about time that those that claim to be Republicans stop throwing water into their own boats and concentrate on defeating the Democrats. Until then, we will remain in the wilderness."

At American Thinker, George Joyce wrote:

"Instead of recognizing that Palin might have been motivated to help save her beloved country from Obama's socialist revolution, Noonan drifts off into pop sociology."

In Hot Air's Green Room, Doctor Zero eviscerated poor Peggy:

"Hey, Peg, that 'admission of bankruptcy' you’re quivering about? That’s coming because your boy Obama crashed the economy, looted the treasury of the future to serve the ultimate pork dinner to his faithful allies, and appointed fools and frauds to supervise his programs. He’s trying to pass a ludicrous energy plan that will cost each American family thousands of dollars, and guarantee a recession for decades to come. If America doesn’t rally to stop him in 2010, he’ll bury what’s left of the moribund economy under the bloodless husk of a nationalized health-care industry. If McCain had won in 2008, then immediately resigned for health reasons and left Palin in the White House, would she have cost us less than a trillion dollars? If so, she’d be a bargain compared to the nightmare Peggy Noonan helped to unleash."

At Axis of Right, Sal, a Noonan fan until the onetime Reagan-Bush speechwriter went around the bend, offers the columnist some advice:

"This nasty column is unbecoming of Ms. Noonan, and cements in my mind that she is an elitist snob... Noonan is forgetting that Conservatism and democracy envisions that normal people run our government, not an elitist, governing class. To quote the late, great, William F. Buckley, Jr. (hardly a lightweight in the intellectual sphere), 'I would rather be governed by the first 2000 people in the Boston phone book than the entire faculty of Harvard.' Peggy would do well to learn this lesson, and realize that she is insulting the vast majority of hard-working Americans who see Palin as someone who can return the American form of government to 'government of the people, by the people, and for the people.'"

The Vichy Republican elites must be scared out of their minds right now. All the Peggy Noonans and Colin Powells who argued for a more moderate GOP presidential candidate got it in John McCain, yet they deserted their party anyway to support and vote for Barack Obama, who seems to be intent on breaking Jimmy Carter's misery index record before the first year of his administration is over. They screwed up big time, and they know it deep down inside. Of course, they will never admit that they were wrong. They'll just keep on taking it out on Sarah Palin. And the more they do that, the more the grassroots will circle around the woman that the elites hate so much.

Update: Stuart Schwartz joins in the pwning of poor Peggy.

- JP

Sarahcuda resignation fires up the palinosphere

With her announcement that she will resign the govenrorship of Alaska this month, there has been a significant increase in legacy media coverage of Sarah Palin. There has been a corresponding boost in Palin-related new media activity, especially on right of center websites. We have long urged our fellow conservative bloggers to turn up the volume and the frequency of their Palin posts, and the governor's July 3 announcement has sparked them into action. For the first time since her RNC acceptance speech, the palinosphere is drowning out the negative left end's well coordinated Palin-bashing with positive and encouraging coverage of the Republican Party's superstar. Here's a sampling:

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A Time For Choosing:

"Sarah is at a unique point in history and knows it. She is at the cusp of a real movement in America."

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's Accomplishments:

"We want Palin... We need her. She knows it. She is heeding our call."

City on a Hill Political Observer:

"She can begin to harness this grassroots movement that has started with the tea parties and build it into a real wave of change in a way that Romney's pizza parlors full of 100 or so people can't do."

Sarah Palin 2012:

"At what point would her judgment be questioned by not quitting? I wonder, did they think Palin should just fight all these complaints endlessly until they literally bankrupted her family?"

It's a Kwazy Life:

"Who needs to quote the movie Field of Dreams' character, Ray Kinsella telling his wife 'It's okay honey, I ... I was just talking to the cornfield' when you had a cornfield being cut down with Palin's figure. You want life imitating art? You have it."

Moms for Sarah Palin:

"Sarah Palin putting her own future at risk to fight for our whole country is more admirable to me than any governor's term she didn't finish."

Conservative Cupcake:

"Gov. Palin... You did the right thing to protect your children from the harm that could result from the attacks by the rabid democrats. You did the right thing to say NO MORE wasting taxpayer money to deal with frivolous ethics complaints. You said no more intrusion into Alaska by liberal media vultures descending for the sole purpose of destroying your credibility and political future. I donated to SarahPAC today to honor you and your integrity."

Sarah's Web Brigade:

"Even as the left gleefully pronounces the death of Palin's political career and the GOP, conservative grassroots activists continue to network, train, plan, and build for campaigns from the school board to the White House. Now Palin is in the game, ready to lead a new full-court press in 2010 and beyond."

The Spyglass:

"Leaving office may well have been the best political move Gov. Palin could have made—and a necessary precursor to a 2012 presidential run, if she wants to make one—and if so, then far better to do so now... It may also be the wisest financial move she could make. Not only does this preclude further attempts to bankrupt her via frivolous prosecution, it also gives her a much wider field to raise funds and earn money."

Moms 4 Sarah Palin:

"I could care less what her next move is. It won't change my opinion of her. I respect her as a brilliant politician, I admire her stand for God and her stand for life. I agree with her conservative principles. As long as those things don't change, I'll remain steadfast in my support of her, no matter what path she chooses next."

The Pajama Underground:

"You want the new face of conservatism? You want to get serious about fundraising? Palin is your girl, people. She‘s a rock star in a movement full of aging big band leaders. Who else is there that can simultaneously fire up the base and command the media‘s attention simply by walking on to a stage?"

Governor Palin for President 2012:

"The bottom line is that Governor Palin is doing what the entire party should be doing. She is defending her family, her honor, and her convictions. In so doing, she is swimming against the tide in her own party where political chameleons like Romney are lauded and other leaders abandon their families for mistresses despite their "convictions" of faith and family."

Pundit & Pundette:

"Sarah Palin is easiest to understand when taken at face value. Imputing her with Machiavellian motives adds lots of intrigue but doesn't offer any answers that make more sense than the ones she's given."

Conservatives 4 Palin:

"What do we Ordinary Americans hear in Sarah Palin? We hear a person who doesn't make wild promises. She doesn't promise to give everyone a pet unicorn and an eco-friendly magic carpet. She promises to protect our interests by reining in the growth of this selfish beast that eats our tax dollars and finds new ways to bring our country to the brink of disaster. She promises to responsibly lead us in completing missions in distant countries where we never wanted to go and hope never to have to return. She doesn't promise that the wars will be over tomorrow, but she does promise that we will listen to our generals from now on so that we won't be seeing dozens of flag-draped coffins every month. She doesn't promise that the whole world will love us again (if they ever did), but she promises that we will stay strong enough to deter those who don't like us, and we will become self-sufficient in the one area most crucial to our long term security and peace -- energy."

The Freedom Post:

Stapleton called Palin's resignation a "fighting move."

"This is a move that says, 'Enough, I'm not going to keep hitting my head against this wall. I'm not playing politics as usual. You go play that game. I'll go play it another way and at another court,' so she can get something done and make a difference with the issues and values that are important to her," Stapleton told FOX News.

Another court? Just what court is Ms. Stapleton speaking of? The national court perhaps?

The Sarah Palin Blog:

"Why is Sarah Palin stepping down as Governor of Alaska? Rick Sanchez, the anchor dolt on CNN, wonders if she is pregnant again... It was a dumb, sexist comment. Why is she resigning? Must be pregnant. That is like saying 'must be that time of the month' when a woman is angry."

Caffeinated Thoughts:

"Now Senator Grassley is certainly entitled to his opinion... what I take umbrage with is the phrase, 'just being a private citizen.' This has become a meme the last few days... This is ludicrous, and it is a meme that needs to get stomped down in the GOP right away."

[i heart] sarah palin[tology]:

"While many speculate that there is something deeper going on behind the scenes, those who follow Sarah know that this is classically Sarah - the Sarah Brand of doing things unconventionally but with a servant’s heart."

Republican Catholics:

"Sarah Palin was made for such a time as this. Like Esther from Biblical days she appears in 2009 and will conquer 2012. Independent and strong, our Emma Peel, Bionic Woman and Wonder Woman rolled into one."

Inspiration Sarah:

"This is only the beginning for Sarah! God has great plans in mind for her and she will embrace every opportunity that God throws her way! So to all who are absent from this fight--join us!"

Manley's Republic:

"I urge Mrs. Palin: Tread carefully, madam. Study the landscape in detail before you venture forth to preach your evangel, for there are snakes everywhere and the most deadly among them dwell in our own midst."

Why Mommy is a Palin Supporter:

"The GOP Beltway types are counting out Libertarian support for people like Sarah Palin, as well as people who've been disillusioned and stopped voting years ago because they lost faith in their government -- people like my own mother who never voted for a Republican in her life and whose last vote was for Carter when he opposed Ford. She lost faith in government until Sarah Palin was announced in Dayton. The next day, she registered to vote as an Independent and in November she voted the GOP ticket..,because of Sarah Palin."

South Texian:

"If you think experience might be a potential problem vis-à-vis a potential Palin candidacy in 2012, consider that in 1912, Woodrow Wilson was elected President of the United States after having had only two years of elective political experience as the Governor of New Jersey."

Palin Drone:

"If you insist on using the word "quit" to describe her perfectly rational (yet still emotionally gut-wrenching) decision to resign her office, then I think you need to do some serious thinking - and not through the politicial prism that some would-be prognosticators of the '12 presidential race have done, but through the eyes of the person in the eye of the storm."

Stepping right UP!:

"Tired of President Obama yet? Donate to SarahPAC."

Select Sarah Palin:

"She will continue to fight against the corruption and greediness which led this great nation to a deep recession/depresssion, and the uncertainty still continues. With the great support of all her increasing true supporters, we all are determined that Sarah Palin will soon lead the country..."

Conservatism for a Millennial:

"All I know is that Sarah Palin believes in what I believe in. And like Reagan, she ignites people and gives them an outlet for their voices to be heard. She loves her country and state more than anything. Which is why she resigned."

Sarah Sarah:

"The liberal left is scared to death of Sarah Palin. Why else would she still be the target of such ugliness 8 months AFTER the election is over?"

Hillbilly White Trash:

"Sarah Palin is the most dangerous person in the world to the political left. They realize that unless they destroy her she could attain the Oval Office with the kind of popular mandate that would allow her to undo vast amounts what the left has managed to accomplish in their goal to ruin and destroy the nation."

sarahpalinvpwoman:

"Do NOT underestimate her. She is a very smart woman. She KNOWS what she is doing. And she has Obama's number. Not only does she know and agree with those of us who realize Obama is RUINING OUR COUNTRY, she also knows how devious he is. She says several times that these Ethics Complaints are stemming from the White House."

The Pink Flamingo:

"Funny how there were never any ethics complaints until Palin started appearing on the national scene, say July of last year. It’s all about teaching her a lesson – and teaching one to the rest of us. Don’t mess with Barack Obama or he and his minions will destroy us all. They plan to do that anyway, so why not take a few out with us?"

Why Sarah Palin Is So Freaking Awesome:

"I sincerely hope her first order of business is filing slander suits against anyone and everyone who filed those false accusations and trumped-up charges at her, all of which have proven to be nothing more than unnecessary taxpayer expense. Bankrupt them, Sarah."

Motivation: Truth:

"There is no diva in Sarah. Instead, Sarah Palin has served the state of Alaska with a servant's heart. I have never heard anyone talk and act with such love for a state as she does. I have never seen a leader who is constantly praising her state, talking about its wonders and beauties, and inviting people to 'come on up.' And I have never seen such a selfless act as was displayed on July 3, 2009."

DraftPalin2012:

"What the chattering class can't figure out is why anyone would give up power without being forced to because of illegality or some type of scandal. To the elites, title and power are everything, being a private citizen is nothing, and why would anyone want to become a nobody."

The Brickyard:

"Something tells me this is only the beginning for Sarah, and I for one am more than ready for the next stage of this journey."

Christians for Governor Sarah Palin 2012:

"Whether she runs for president or doesn't (and whether she wins or she doesn't) there is one thing I know for sure: Sarah Palin will make a significant, positive, lasting impact in our country & our world."

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Well said, one and all.

- JP