“There is someone who has recently taken far more and much worse than Perry has yet to endure. And she's still standing... and having an impact, even if she's not in the race, as some folks recently seemed intent on reminding us of to the point of childish obsession.”- JP
“The Daily Caller, as you may know, is a website in desperate need of new investors. It's run by Tucker Carlson. It apparently wants to appeal to Meghan McCain conservatives, which means it's really all about screwing over non-establishment Republicans.”- JP
“For some twisted reason, Tucker Carlson's pathetic Daily Caller with the help of Jeff Poor found a radio interview with Mike Tyson talking about Sarah Palin important enough to make their website. What is it with these sad little Beltway bois?”- JP
“What I don’t understand is why other reporters aren’t seeing this as I do, namely as a tiny yet tangible clue that Palin is seriously considering a 2012 run.”- JP
“Whatever Palin is doing by way of preparation for a run is not what one is accustomed to seeing. Stacy is looking for the expected, not seeing it and concluding it's too late for her. I'm looking at what I know and don't know, while leaving a little room for what I don't know I don't know and concluding she's running.”- JP
Once I put aside any notion of a mostly plastic, glad-handing politician and contemplated how I myself might actually react in this, or that, situation Palin has faced, a clearer image of her as an every man politician began to take shape. There’s a good chance I’d have handled a good deal of the criticism precisely as has she in this, a new media age. And she is far more in touch with the concept of new media, than is almost any other American politician – hence the reliance on Facebook and Twitter to get her message out.We can testify that it's much better to have Dan Riehl on our side than to be crossing swords with him. He makes a compelling case for the governor.“The mainstream press is becoming less and less relevant,” she said, adding that she would have no hesitation in shunning media outlets she does not trust.As The Undefeated makes clear (my earlier review here), she’s not in politics because her daddy held office, or won, or was denied a Presidential nomination, or election. She entered politics as an individual because she cared about the relationship between government and the people and wanted to make a difference. Sarah Palin was not schooled by some mostly Eastern U.S. Preparatory and Secondary school system one might think is the only acceptable schooling for serious American political leadership today. In fact, in many ways, that monopoly has all but driven America off a cliff - including under the current administration.
Of course, Ronald Reagan wasn’t a product of it, either, as a matter of fact.
Still, even some of her biggest fans may have a mistaken notion of the kind of politician Sarah Palin actually is. True, she’s a Conservative … but she’s also a common sense pragmatist, not an uncompromising ideologue, as portions of the media would have one believe. As wonderful as conservative ideals are, rigid thinking can not always solve every problem. As her tenure in Alaska demonstrated, first and foremost, Sarah Palin is a problem solver.
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At this point thirty-years ago, Reagan was thought to be both unelectable and unacceptable, even as a nominee. Not only did he go on to win the nomination and Presidency in 1980, his landslide re-election in 1984 remains as a testament to the success of common sense, mostly conservative-based politics capable of reaching across, if not erasing, party lines in America.
I wouldn’t want to have to assign odds as to the likelihood that Sarah Palin could repeat such a hallmark record of achievement in American politics. However, if one thinks it impossible at this point, then one may not know, or understand, Sarah Palin and her appeal, or the American people, at all. After all, both are extraordinary and have proven themselves capable of accomplishing rather exceptional things before.
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Unfortunately, Redstate editor Erick Erickson made a woefully misguided post in defense of John Ziegler after Ziegler posted yet another one of his manifestos, this one aimed at the Palins and published by the Daily Caller. I'm assuming the Stalker Weekly rejected it first and DC picked it up. They're always trolling for a negative Palin story to drum up traffic. From Ziegler's pre-criticism rebuttal, I suspect we learn his true motivations. There's a documented history of his turning on people while claiming he isn't whenever he has been met with rejection.By way of disclaimer, your editor has crossed swords with both Dan Riehl and John Ziegler in the past, ironically bother on matters related to CPAC, but for different reasons. On the other hand I had a good working relationship with Erick while a front page contributor at RedState a couple of years back and left on good terms.(Ziegler) -- I sent them an e-mail saying that I no longer thought me working for them was a good idea. I did make a proposal of various things I could do for them in late 2009 (including a new movie similar to the one about to be released) but I am not even 100% sure they got that and after she later decided to work for Fox News those options were no longer viable or interesting to me.Ironic that this comes out just as "The Undefeated" is released, wouldn't you say?
It's doubly unfortunate that Erick felt the need to attack many honest conservatives in his weak and poorly thought out defense of Ziegler, compounded by some Tweets. Intelligent and insightful observers always knew the day would come when Ziegler turned: it's his MO. Erick sure has some strange friends given the title of his post.On John Ziegler: How Easy We Trash Our FriendsHeavens! "We should be better than that" given the facts? Actually, Erick should have been better than that and did some thinking, and, or his homework, before posting. This is the second time in a week he's demonstrated a lack of one or the other, if not both...
I’m ... titling this post over the angst of those coming in via twitter and email about John Ziegler’s work. We should be better than that and ... maybe consider his sincerity instead of descending with lefty like(sic) relish directly into attacks on his motives. The reaction to his work has way too much a resemblance to how the Soviets treated the Trotsky supporters. I’m sure some are busy in their basements tonight digitally photoshopping Ziegler out of their photos.
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From my first viewing of a rough cut of “The Undefeated” over a week ago, to re-visiting the opening four times now, as an individual deeply passionate about conservative politics – even if often expressed confrontationally, I’ve not been able to get through it once without checking back tears born of a mix of emotions - from sadness and anger, to frustration and deep concern. I’m not ashamed to say, on more than one occasion, said checking failed.- JP
However, the tears are not for, or about, Sarah Palin. I consider myself a fan, certainly, but am not so naive as to entrust my entire politics and beliefs in any one person, or political figure – not even Ronald Reagan. It’s the painful realization of a broader truth for America and America’s current politics that grabbed me up and invested me so deeply in Bannon’s film. Besides, why cry for Sarah Palin, she is and remains “The Undefeated,” in the grand scheme? At no time does the film take on what would have been an unfortunate tone, that of making her appear a victim, somehow. Palin is a fighter and a survivor, as the film makes abundantly clear.
Beginning with the very end of Senator John McCain’s introduction of then Vice Presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, at the 2008 GOP convention, one sees, first the Palin children and family, then a glowing Palin take center-stage – cutting away before she utters a single word. But what might, or should, that moment have meant to earnest conservatives of a more populist strain looking in at the time?
Here was a woman hardly known, at least nationally, thrust into the limelight, a woman, potentially - it was thought - capable of giving significant hope and inspiration to grassroots conservatives not as excited with the McCain nomination, as they might have been, ideally. The expectations upon her that night were all but surreal.
Like many, I had no idea if she would deliver, or crash and burn in just one more bit of political miscalculation by the McCain campaign. Yet, instead, she soared! Sarah Palin delivered what many a sincere conservative wanted and needed to become excited about the 2008 race. And she went right on doing it throughout the Fall – and continues to do it, even now, in many ways.
And for that and that alone, what did she get? Cut to the next three minutes of the opening of Bannon’s “The Undefeated,” as the likes of Matt Damon, Rosie O’Donnell, David Letterman, Bill Maher, and so many others, hurl insult and slander one after another at her: slutty, idiot, retard - with a retarded child, moron, c*nt, cartoon, hockey mom, tw*t, a nice looking parrot, dumb, get out of our face, stupid bitch … and on it goes – until this day, to a degree. But that’s only because Palin’s still standing, true to form and film, she remains “The Undefeated” even now after all of that.
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She may prove herself to be the best man of the bunchMany people think the DC GOP establishment fears and constantly attacks Sarah Palin because they're afraid she could become president. But that can't really be true, can it? If they believe she's everything they think and say she is, or isn't, along with being so utterly unqualified, she doesn't have a prayer of becoming president. Right? And don't kid yourself that they think differently about her than they increasingly openly claim. I'm just not sure they even understand why they do; it's more instinctual, than anything, embedded within their instinct to survive.- JP
But, ironically, that's the key to why they really hate her and what she does without seemingly trying. And she does it even as they attack her. In the first place, they do fear she might become president, or at least win the nomination. So, what does that say as regards how they really think about you, or "we the people," as it were. Well, obviously, they think you're stupid because they can't trust you to not elect someone they perceive as so dumb, and/or unfit.
Yet, as an aside, these same people, even ones who officially campaigned against Obama, never claimed Obama was fundamentally unfit, now did they? Yet, time has proven precisely that. So, just how smart are these people?
The point is, attacking her while believing she's totally unfit to become president makes little sense and is a profound waste of their supposedly so valuable time - unless it exposes them in terms of what they think about the average Republican voter and American in general.
It's precisely because Palin so often does this, exposes them for what they actually are, that whether she ever runs for president, or not, they feel compelled to destroy her. They don't simply not want her to run for president; if they could, they would remove her entirely from the national stage because she's such a threat.
If it fears anything, the Beltway establishment, both Left and Right, fears being exposed as chiefly a game of self-professed, elitist, political power-sharing ping pong playing individuals who are absolutely convinced that they, and not the American people, are capable of steering America's course. They also believe that only they are entitled to do it, hence the attacks on almost any genuine citizen, or Tea Party-aligned candidate - along with dressing up some typical GOP hacks as Tea Party-aligned to win. Some of them are now being exposed by their votes.
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"The evidence of a Politico agenda is overwhelming"Sarah Palin tweets a shout-out for my Washington Examiner column.Next up, Mark Levin, in a Facebook Note:
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Sarah Palin is right. The MSM remains awestruck, and for the obvious reason: The president is one of them --glib as they define it, credentialed with that which they value, and unburdened by any set of skills they don't have and thus find threatening (for example, successful business experience.)
Having foisted the president on us in 2008, the elite media will be working overtime to keep him propped up on the theory that a second term couldn't be any worse and might even get better.
The country couldn't afford that.
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Governor Palin is herself under one of the periodic attacks ginned up by her permanent opposition --nested among the MSM that isn't doing its job covering the president's whoppers. The MSM Presidential Praetorian Guard is quick to strike out at any critic of the president's --Michele Bachmann, for example, is also getting the treatment for a gaffe far less significant than the never-mentioned 57 states pratfall or similar Obama slips.
Incredibly, Politico.com did not dissect the president's press conference on Friday, but is leading this week's coverage with a relentlessly negative story on Palin.
The president is presiding like Chance the gardener over a Middle East in flames, refusing to do anything about skyrocketing deficits and a debt time bomb, is disconnected from the reality of why gas prices are soaring, all while his signature "achievement" has been declared unconstitutional, and the first news day after an eye-rolling White House presser and in the middle of a horrific disaster, the big feet of Politico are doing what? Blasting Sarah Palin?
The MSM is arrayed around the president, ready to defend him from any critics. That's the lay of the 2012 land. Get used to it.
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The corporate hate for Sarah Palin at Politico is obvious. The latest is here.Our third batter is Dan Riehl, in this post at Riehl World View:
But if you google Politico and Palin, the evidence of a Politico agenda is overwhelming. And the manner in which Politico's editors pursue their hate-Palin agenda is to cherry-pick the individuals they quote to make the point they want made.
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I certainly do not begrudge, but in fact encourage, liberals becoming conservatives or Democrats becoming Republicans. Reagan was a Democrat who famously changed parties. But I do not believe that individuals [George Will and Charles Krauthammer] touted by a left-wing "news" site as two of the leading conservative intellectuals, who stunningly opposed Reagan's candidacy while both were of mature age and mind, are necessarily reliable barometers in this regard.
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It is apparent that several of President George W. Bush's former senior staffers are hostile to Sarah Palin, including Karl Rove, David Frum, and Pete Wehner, to name only three. Pete is a good friend and a very smart guy. That said, Bush's record, at best, is marginally conservative, and depending on the issue, worse. In fact, the Tea Party movement is, in part, a negative reaction to Bush's profligate spending (including his expansion of a bankrupt Medicare program to include prescription drugs). And while Bush's spending comes nowhere near Barack Obama's, that is not the standard.
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Most of these Politico stories are little more than excuses to attack Palin, intended to damage her early on in case she should decide to run. This has been going on for some time now. If she is as weak as some think, why the obsession? Why the contempt? Moreover, Palin has used social media and other outlets to comment substantively on a wide range of issues and policies. In fact, she has spoken on a wider array of issues than Youtube governor Chris Christie, popular among most of these folks, and her positions have, for the most part, been solidly conservative. (Christie's positions on numerous issues important to conservatives are all but ignored by some of those complaining about Palin; indeed, the same could be said of potential presidential contenders Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani, and Mitch Daniels, among others.) My purpose in mentioning Christie here is to juxtapose the demands by "the intellectuals" on one politician versus another. Their inquisitiveness seems influenced by their political bias. That's not unusual, but it requires underscoring lest their opinions be viewed or promoted as objective.
As a Reaganite pre-dating Reagan's 1976 candidacy, the contempt for Palin does, in fact, remind me of the contempt some had for Reagan, especially from the media and Republican establishment, although no comparison is exact. I've not settled on a favorite would-be presidential candidate, but I also know media hit-jobs when I see them. I am hopeful more conservatives will begin to speak out about this or, before we know it, we will wonder why we are holding our noses and voting for another Republican endorsed by "the intellectuals" but opposed by a majority of the people.
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Matt Labash ... must make good coffee as I see he's been with the Weakly Standard for a while.Three batters up. Three home runs against Politico's prejudiced pitching. The leftist website should just drop all pretense and change its name to Politiburo.
The name floats by on Twitter occasionally, if anything, causing me to wonder, who the hell is that guy, when it does. Frankly, I've never bothered to find out ... before now. So his beyond sophomoric to pitifully stupid and inaccurate shot at Sarah Palin is priceless, if insignificant. I wonder if Kristol will give him an extra fifteen minutes for lunch for a week, given that he provided the headline for Palin-obsessed Jonathan Martin's latest hit piece on her.
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He obviously strained to be clever, but is it even remotely accurate - even assuming you think the worst of Palin? No, of course it isn't, not in the least if you actually know anything, or pause to think, about who Sharpton and Palin are as personalities.
You see, the substance didn't matter at all to Labash. He knows the Beltway establishment and his bosses don't approve of her and she's been treated as fair game. Rather than say anything genuinely insightful, even if critical, he simply went for what might get him the most chuckles and pats on the back at some watercooler in Washington. That's not an action representative of someone considered to be a serious conservative voice. It's a wannabe, or, more accurately, a never will be. Really, now, how weak, how pathetic is such a misguided comparison? Frankly, using it is a tactic of someone with a genuine character flaw and over-riding need for approval and acceptance within the circles he calls home.The criticism is so over the top, it would be beneath a serious person. It really is that pathetic, as well as wrong. Palin doesn't rush in to localities. She doesn't take up individuals as causes, file lawsuits, or promote herself outrageously like Sharpton. There simply is no comparison at all. It was purely a mechanism for Labash to flatter himself and try to impress ... friends, not say anything at all relevant to Sarah Palin.
And let's please dispense with this whole "influential conservative" meme, not only for Labash, but for most of the rest of the all too often foolish, self-congratulatory and self-professed elitists at TWS and many of our other Beltway publications.
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As I recently pointed out, combined, Limbaugh, Hannity and Levin reach upwards of 40 million people a week. Those people vote, a fact sometimes lost on the Beltway set - until they want the exposure each of them can offer. Then suddenly, it's all good! But no way would I characterize any of the popular talkers who actually are influential across the population as near fully in line with much of what one reads at our Beltway pubs like TWS and others
When you boil it all down, Labash and company talk to the inside the Beltway set and a relatively small number of individuals who give certain campaigns money.
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The vast majority of America doesn't even know who these people are.
But they do know who Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh and Al Sharpton are, not to mention that even Sharpton's income probably dwarfs that of a Labash, or some other Beltway hack. Ah, but they're important ... they're influential. Yeah, right. We know that because Jonathan Martin at the Politico told us so. Now that, ... that's a joke. When was the last time any serious conservative took that Palin-obsessed lightweight at his word?
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"Mama Grizzly Renee Ellmers needs our help securing an honest and fair recount. Please donate here: http://is.gd/gIZAv"Dan Riehl says he's been in touch with the RNC, and they are chipping in but not the NRCC:
"SarahPAC help is on the way for @Renee4Congress recount fund. Will other PACs join us? How about Beltway GOP? http://is.gd/gIZKN"
"Renee Ellmers rightfully slammed the NRCC for lack of support today - via Politico. I've just gotten word from the RNC, they are supporting her recount effort with $10,000. How many balls does the NRCC have to drop before we realize they aren't bad jugglers, they're a bunch of clowns! They didn't spend a dime to get her elected, blowing it on losing causes in NC. Maybe she didn't hire the right consultants? Filed under Corrupt Bastards Club."Come on, Pete Sessions, get with the program!
A six month restraining order was issued today by Judge Suzanne Cole to protect Sarah Palin and Kristan Cole from Shawn Christy. It's my understanding that the court had to find that the crime of "stalking in the second degree" was committed in order to issue the two orders in pdf below.Christy is the Pennsylvania man who made death threats against both women. Temporary (20 day) restraining orders were granted to Gov. Palin and Ms. Cole September 27 by Anchorage Magistrate Colleen Ray, but both women had requested longer-term protective orders, which were granted Monday.Download 10-11-10 6 month Protective Order S. Palin 10-11-10
"Christine O'Donnell deserves to have the voters decide her fate, not a bunch of calculating Republican hacks who think they own a Senate seat, or state. I think Sarah Palin decided to do what's right, to do the principled thing, even if it potentially comes with a cost to her. That's called integrity... Sarah Palin did the right thing, not the easy thing. How long have people talked about wanting to see more people in politics who do just that?"- JP
Anyone who doubts Sarah Palin’s celebrity need only talk to Lyn Carden.Dan Riehl comments:
As head of Wasilla, Alaska’s chamber of commerce, Carden tends to be the frontline for tourists wanting to see Palin, perhaps even grab a cup of coffee at her house. And she’s heard it all.
When Palin makes news, or carries a snazzy purse women want to buy, Carden invariably gets a call, or flurry of calls. Some callers have left credit card information, hoping to get that purse. Others send fan mail, or money for Palin’s political action committee.
There are those, too, that just stop in, off a train and hoping for directions to her house — which they do not get — or eager to learn as much as they can about Wasilla’s most famous resident. Many snap a photo of themselves with Palin’s cardboard cutout.
“Of course, every single question is about her and where she is and where she gets her hair done and what she eats and what she’s doing,” Carden said.
A year after Palin’s abrupt resignation as governor, interest in her and the small Alaska town she put on the map hasn’t gone away. While it’s not at the fever pitch it reached during Palin’s run for vice president, there remains a steady stream of pilgrims.
"They [AP] and the rest of the media have done everything they could to marginalize Palin, yet she still has clout... Actually, even this is mostly an attempt at marginalization. The focus is on her as a celebrity, not a politically influential person."- JP
"Oops: Macondo Driling Plan Was Submitted, Approved Under Obama Administration"QOTD Runner up...
"Hammond Eve, who did environmental impact studies of offshore drilling for the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service (MMS), said the federal agency never planned for response to an oil spill of this size. 'We never imagined that it would happen because the safety measures were supposed to work and prevent it from happening,' he said."So libs, enough with the "Lake Palin" cracks. Actually, it's the Gulf of Obama.
*"Lie after lie after lie after lie. Don't take my word for it. That's the analysis of Richard Fineberg, whose credentials are as follows..."Oops! Don't take Sully's supposed expert guy's word for it, either. As Dan Riehl points out:
"Fineberg's credentials include being an anti-oil advocate, posting at the utterly ridiculous Mudflats blog, giving $450 to Obama and here he is discussing energy policy with George Soros."Where did Sully ever find this Fineberg guy anyway -- in the Acme catalog? Sheepdog Riehl wins. Coyote Sullivan gets nuttin'.
"Maybe there were going to be children present?"Were it left to us, we would not ban them. A big group code red seems more in order. Talk about pigs in a blanket! But Track Palin is serving his country honorably, and we see no need for the young man to have a blemish on his record over the likes of such scum.
Reagan didn't fight with the media. The usual descriptor for what he did is, he went over the media's head directly to the American people. Is Sarah Palin really doing anything different, except for having Facebook, blogs and a great many other New Media resources today to which Reagan didn't have access? Just imagine how even more effective his communication strategy would have been if he had?We have noticed that people who buy ink by the barrel are laying off employees, losing subscribers, and having a tougher time selling ads to fill up their pages. We agree with the Riehl World View on this one. Sarah Palin is going through the media like Patton's Third Army went through France.
Because of media advances made in the last several years, Sarah Palin doesn't have to go over the media's head. She can go right through them. It appears to me that's precisely what she intends to do. Don't be surprised if it works, even as the media and some old-line politicos point how what a bad idea it is. If those folks had truly good ideas, most of the country wouldn't be so upset with them right now. But that's just another thing old media and large portions of the political class seem to be missing.
