Armed Polite Society
Main Forums => Politics => Topic started by: Matthew Carberry on July 03, 2009, 03:53:49 PM
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Per the Anchorage Daily News, Channel 2 (NBC affiliate in Anchorage) and CNN, Gov. Palin is scheduled to hold a press conference at her home at 3 pm.
She will not be seeking a second term and is expected to resign more than a year early.
No sign that the Alaska State Defense Force has removed her from the Governor's residence, so it isn't a coup. =D
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http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9975VE04&show_article=1
One line, but they may update it as things come out.
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Sarah Palin To Resign As Alaska Governor
At Hastily Convened Press Conference Says She Will Not Run for 2nd Term, Mum On Future Plans
(CBS) Last Updated 3:44 p.m. ET.
Sarah Palin has announced that she will resign as governor of Alaska and will not seek a second term.
CBS Affiliate KTVA reports that at a press conference this morning Palin said she will resign the governorship within a few weeks.
CBSNews.com producer Scott Conroy, who covered Palin's vice presidential campaign last year, confirmed through a source close to the governor said she is leaving office.
Earlier today, a holiday, Palin sent out an early morning press release indicating that she would be making an announcement from her home in Wasilla.
Joining Palin were her parents, family and state commissioners.
Palin said that power will be transferred to Lt. Governor Sean Parnell, who will be sworn in during the upcoming governor's picnic in Fairbanks.
She did not field questions, and would not give any indications about her future plans.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/07/03/politics/main5131961.shtml
It sure makes one wonder what's up ??
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Unfortunately, I doubt she's in a torrid affair with an Argentine hottie.
Maybe she's taking Jonah Goldberg's latest column to heart.
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Don't think so. It's Alaska; it's a scandal.
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Here come the red and blue lights behind her:
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/posted/archive/2009/07/03/alaska-governor-palin-to-resign-in-weeks.aspx
Maybe the USA will get yet another swing at an Alaskan politician? :police:
Run, Sarah, run! Take your state-issued check and get your passport! =D
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Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has announced that she is stepping down as that state's governor in a matter of weeks.
From Alaska CBC Affiliate KTVA:
At an 11:00 a.m. press conference today, Governor Sarah Palin announced that she would not seek a second term as governor. The governor continued, saying that by the end of the month she would resign from the governorship.
“I’m not seeking re-election,” Palin told a news conference at which she said she would transfer authority to Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell.
Palin ran as John McCain's vice-presidential running mate and is seen by many Republicans as a potential Presidential candidate in 2012. Palin's term as governor, her first, does not end for another year.
“We know we can effect positive change outside government at this moment in time,” she said.
Palin said her decision came after much “prayer and consideration.” She did not want to waste time on “political blood sport” and cited public criticism of her actions and her family since the 2008 campaign.
In recent months Palin has faced numerous scandal allegations and high-profile media scuffles, most notably with talk show host David Letterman over a joke about Palin's daughter.
Vanity Fair's Todd S. Purdum also wrote this massive feature on Palin. Which has this amazing line, among others:
Palin is unlike any other national figure in modern American life—neither Anna Nicole Smith nor Margaret Chase Smith but a phenomenon all her own. The clouds of tabloid conflict and controversy that swirl around her and her extended clan—the surprise pregnancies, the two-bit blood feuds, the tawdry in-laws and common-law kin caught selling drugs or poaching game—give her family a singular status in the rogues’ gallery of political relatives. By comparison, Billy Carter, Donald Nixon, and Roger Clinton seem like avatars of circumspection. Palin’s life has sometimes played out like an unholy amalgam of Desperate Housewives and Northern Exposure.
Talking Points Memo adds their two-cents and highlights this amazing basketball reference from Palin:
And she wholly blamed the national press, saying they were creating national distractions that cost the state money. Palin said: "You are naive if you don't see a full-court press on the national level, picking apart a good point guard."
Politico's Mike Allen is tweeting quotes from Palin's emotional press conference
Pundits have also begun to speculate on Palin's future:
Politico's GOP watcher Ben Smith says that leaving the Alaska Governor's mansion allows Palin to bang the drum more effectively for the Republicans, something that the floundering GOP needs from one of their remaining stars.
Leaving office at the end of next year, the former vice presidential hopeful will be able to travel the country more freely without facing the sort of repeated ethics inquiries she’s been fending off since returning to Alaska earlier this year.
CNN adds a bit more to the speculation:
"She thinks she has accomplished goals she has set forward," one of the sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said. "She sees what a positive influence she has had on people's lives from traveling the country in the last year."
The Post's David Frum argues that getting Palin to help the Republicans would actually be a bad thing for the party:
Palin evokes a devoted response from a large following. In the mysterious soup of motives that sustains her supporters, enthusiasm for effective governance does not seem a very major ingredient. But you'd think they would at least care whether she could campaign competently. Purdum argues intensely that she cannot - that a Palin candidacy would be the greatest self-inflicted disaster since George McGovern or Barry Goldwater
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There are some bloggers up here who hate her, visibly hate her with every fiber of their being.
They've been levying corruption allegations and FOIA requests every time she clears her throat. It is costing the state money and can no longer be said to reflect honest concerns as her rational opponents have even begun to object.
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Perhaps she's just tired of the media sideshow over stepping into every aspect of her life?
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Perhaps she's just tired of the media sideshow over stepping into every aspect of her life?
No, this would be the worst thing she could do to escape scrutiny. The press will dig even harder, convinced that she was dealing cocaine and child sex slaves from the Governor's mansion, under the control of Zionist alien overlords.
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Despite the fact that I like Sarah Palin for a number of reasons, her departure from the Alaska governor's mansion really doesn't matter anywhere except Alaska. She has been so thoroughly destroyed and/or marginalized by the MSM and the beltway GOP that she will have little further influence on the political scene.
Sure, she has an active group of supporters in the conservative wing of the GOP, but that very same wing is discounted, looked down upon, and mostly ignored by those running the party.
This event is the beginning of her slow fade from the political arena.
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Despite the fact that I like Sarah Palin for a number of reasons, her departure from the Alaska governor's mansion really doesn't matter anywhere except Alaska. She has been so thoroughly destroyed and/or marginalized by the MSM and the beltway GOP that she will have little further influence on the political scene.
Sure, she has an active group of supporters in the conservative wing of the GOP, but that very same wing is discounted, looked down upon, and mostly ignored by those running the party.
This event is the beginning of her slow fade from the political arena.
I sincerely hope, and don't think she will fade.
I think she scares the crap out of people on the left, as well as on the right. She challenges the "Good ole boy network" of the GOP, who have been complicit with the left in the attempt to destroy her chances at a run at POTUS in 2012. If they weren't scared of her, they wouldn't be spending so much time trying to trash her.
I think a lot of people are Sick of (as am I) all the trash on both sides.
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Sergeant Bob, I believe you are correct in your analysis, but that is precisely why she will fade. Those that fear her in the GOP (and there are many) have the ability to marginalize her. They will.
Those that fear her on the Left will continue to demonize her until the job is done, in their eyes.
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I think this is a strategic move that has more to do with in-state politics and party manuevering than it does with any presidential ambitions.
I'm not concerned by her leaving as I believe Sean Parnell is more than capable of doing the job.
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I think this is a strategic move that has more to do with in-state politics and party manuevering than it does with any presidential ambitions.
Interesting take, stevelyn. Elaboration, please.
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Despite the fact that I like Sarah Palin for a number of reasons, her departure from the Alaska governor's mansion really doesn't matter anywhere except Alaska. She has been so thoroughly destroyed and/or marginalized by the MSM and the beltway GOP...
I agree with all of that, so I'm not really looking to her as a pres. candidate. My hope is that she will use her popularity with a certain segment of the populace to get out the vote for a conservative Republican majority in 2010, and a conservative presidential candidate in 2012. 'Course, that's if we even have those options. ;/
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Agreed, fistful. She would be good at that, IMO.
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If she were to seriously study the issues for the next couple of years, she'd be a formidable candidate in 2012. What other candidate can you think of in recent years has drawn crowds as large as Obama's? She has an enormous appeal.
Even if she doesn't run, she'll be very useful to the party. The people in the party who don't like her are the very people who are running the party into the ground: the moderates and the country club Republicans who believe that, if candidates don't talk about abortion or guns or religion, Republicans can win. They never learn.
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The people in the party who don't like her are the very people who are running the party into the ground...
QFT
I doubt that will ever change, though, as they are too entrenched.
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"If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen" - and she's done just that. I don't see her coming back to run for anything.
Might be an incoming scandal of major proportions. "Gov. Palin's husband was photographed today clubbing baby seals."
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Maybe she realizes that just as "history" died in 1989, politics died in 2009.
She is just as likely to return as a third-party candidate as a Republican.
Or maybe Rahm Emanuel made her an offer she can't refuse.
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Despite the fact that I like Sarah Palin for a number of reasons, her departure from the Alaska governor's mansion really doesn't matter anywhere except Alaska. She has been so thoroughly destroyed and/or marginalized by the MSM and the beltway GOP that she will have little further influence on the political scene.
Sure, she has an active group of supporters in the conservative wing of the GOP, but that very same wing is discounted, looked down upon, and mostly ignored by those running the party.
This event is the beginning of her slow fade from the political arena.
I think it's more likely that the political arena, as we have known it, is fading. It existed so long as good faith existed, so long as representative government existed, so long as citizenship mattered.
What's coming next in America is what's already come to so many other nations.
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What's coming next in America is what's already come to so many other nations.
I'm afraid you're right again, longeyes.
I have a hunch she's been bushwhacked by the leftist extremists.
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Perhaps her next stop will be verbal thrashing of the left as the newest panelist on "The View". :O
Money, it is always about the money. =|
bob
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Sometimes I think American politicians should learn from the ones in Israel. Here they don't resign until the police come to lead them away from the office in handcuffs, and sometimes not even then.
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Sometimes I think American politicians should learn from the ones in Israel. Here they don't resign until the police come to lead them away from the office in handcuffs, and sometimes not even then.
Sort of like the mayor of the town I used to live in back in Minnesota . . . the guy never actually did resign; on the night he was convicted of felony child molestation, a member of the city council told the media that the moment he was found guilty, he stopped being mayor, as the city charter prohibited convicted felons from holding office.
As for Sarah Palin . . .
. . . she was dealing cocaine and child sex slaves from the Governor's mansion, under the control of Zionist alien overlords.
That's all? They're going to keep a lid on the anthropophagy and her doubts about global warming?
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I think John Galt paid her a visit... =(
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The press will dig even harder, convinced that she was dealing cocaine and child sex slaves from the Governor's mansion, under the control of Zionist alien overlords.
But would they do that to discredit her or make her more acceptable in the political arena?
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Sometimes I think American politicians should learn from the ones in Israel. Here they don't resign until the police come to lead them away from the office in handcuffs, and sometimes not even then.
Um, most American Politicians do that.
Like others, I think Palin's just tired of the *expletive deleted*it that gets thrown on her family by the monkeys of the press. Yes, resigning will not stop that, but the press will eventually get bored and leave.
Sad to see her go, but at least Alaska has a competent Lt. Gov. to take the office, unlike down here in SC...
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Um, most American Politicians do that.
Like others, I think Palin's just tired of the *expletive deleted*it that gets thrown on her family by the monkeys of the press. Yes, resigning will not stop that, but the press will eventually get bored and leave.
Sad to see her go, but at least Alaska has a competent Lt. Gov. to take the office, unlike down here in SC...
If only in had been Andre Bauer in Argentina instead of Sanford, the world would still make sense. But no, we are about to have a perennial daredevil in the Governor's mansion. Nothing like a plane wreck in your record to instill confidence.
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But no, we are about to have a perennial daredevil in the Governor's mansion. Nothing like a plane wreck in your record to instill confidence.
It wasn't just a plane crash...it was an idiotic plane crash. And Andre Bauer wants to remind all LEOs that might pull him over that he will soon be the Governor.
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It wasn't just a plane crash...it was an idiotic plane crash. And Andre Bauer wants to remind all LEOs that might pull him over that he will soon be the Governor.
And his questionable behavior continues albeit undisclosed by our guardian media.
I have to search my memory for a politician much less a potential national politician which both parties abhorred. Democrat side is edging toward derangement all the while warning everyone else of the lady's danger. Meanwhile republican poobah's are sniping her from deep cover. Looks to me the political class embodied in the Them Party deem the lady a threat. Why? What had Palin done or will do that threatens members of Them Party?
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Why? What had Palin done or will do that threatens members of Them Party?
Precedent, dear boy:
(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fthebsreport.files.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F05%2Fmargaret-thatcher1.jpg&hash=9bbbbc44a033b51f704c79f6bbb501ab181e1384)
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Precedent, dear boy:
(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fthebsreport.files.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F05%2Fmargaret-thatcher1.jpg&hash=9bbbbc44a033b51f704c79f6bbb501ab181e1384)
I hear her and Ronald Reagan being compared all the time...what do you think of the comparison?
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I hear her and Ronald Reagan being compared all the time...what do you think of the comparison?
Thatcher was an (IMHO) a far better national leader than Reagan was (given the difficulties she faced and largely overcome during her premiership compared with what Reagan had to deal with), though perhaps neither would have achieved as much had the other not existed - you cant really see her and Carter getting on, after all.
I must admit, up until about three or four years ago I really did have a negative view of her, but given the leaders we have been afflicted with since, her stock has steadily risen in my eyes.
=D
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It's funny that, isn't it? I know that not all past leaders were exemplary, but a fair few of them cetainly do put the more recent ones to shame.
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Thatcher was an (IMHO) a far better national leader than Reagan was (given the difficulties she faced and largely overcome during her premiership compared with what Reagan had to deal with)
Oy, what pap!
Reagan destroyed an Evil Empire that murdered 100 million individuals and kept its population in the poverty of socialism and Maggie only had to reform leadbottom, moronic British bureaucracies and . . . wait a tick, agricola may be right. =D
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As for Palin she is either:
1. a whiny quitter.
2. a crook one step ahead of the USA.
I have no use for her either way.
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but a fair few of them cetainly do put the more recent ones to shame.
I never thought I'd miss Bill Clinton or Gerald Ford.
Palin is a newcomer to the national scene, as well as a newcomer to politics in general. As such, she hasn't worked her way through the party system, hasn't done the requisite work to raise money for other candidates, and in general hasn't become a member of "the club."
If the Republicans start letting people run for president who aren't members of "the club," then who knows what sort of conservative we might get?
The Democrats go after her for several reasons, one being that she's like Miss California: an attractive woman with conservative views. Can't have that. Another other reason is that Palin has reached this point without having to be a feminist and play the victim. Of course, she's also a threat because, with the right coaching, she could win. An assertive, attractive, conservative woman in the White House would send all the wrong signals, just like Condi Rice and Clarence Thomas (no, I didn't mean that Clarence Thomas was an attractive woman ;) ).
El Tejon, is there something in the news today giving the reasons why Palin stepped down, or are you making assumptions?
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Palin has realized that to be "one of the boys" in the Republican Party means signing on to America's cultural, economic, and moral dismantling. So long as the GOP prefers to get along and be "polite" rather than show phillosophical clarity and intestinal fortitude it will continue to be a slowly fading non-player on the political scene. I think Palin and her rejection of the "game" is an early harbinger of how the social climate in America is setting itself up for convulsive and and dramatic change. Palin may never run for President but she may still be a great populist leader in an evolving polity where "government" is gradually being viewed as an alien life form inside America.
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Nothing in the news yet. Her cover story at her press conference was laughable. :laugh:
However, while cooking dinner last night, I did hear Mark Levin take on the Palin resignation. If you have an at least neutral stance on the behavior of Alaskan politicians (I think like New Orleans or Chicago that they are all on the take which stems from the culture up there), Levin makes the most sense.
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So Levin's take was what?
(Levin's a brilliant guy, but like so many others he talks like a "brinksman" and then pulls up at the last moment, refusing to fully follow his own instincts where they lead. If he really believes we are living in a "soft tyranny" he needs to offer some practical and concrete counsel on what to do next.)
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Nothing in the news yet. Her cover story at her press conference was laughable. :laugh:
However, while cooking dinner last night, I did hear Mark Levin take on the Palin resignation. If you have an at least neutral stance on the behavior of Alaskan politicians (I think like New Orleans or Chicago that they are all on the take which stems from the culture up there), Levin makes the most sense.
If there is a story behind this, then perhaps there is some merit in Levin's suggestion. However there are some issues with it:
i) she has recently been through one the most thorough background examinations ever in rcent political history. The combination of the Dems and the MSM doing their digging would surely have found something so bad that it would force her to resign;
ii) in addition to the above, she has enough domestic enemies to suggest that if something did exist someone would have leaked it;
iii) there are good enough reasons for her to jump anyway (falling approval ratings, the incredible hostility of large sections of the media to her, the absence of any really prominent Republican leadership, the fact that its very difficult for her to do any more in Alaska than she has already done) irrespective of what she actually chooses to do.
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I don't see any way this can be spun in a positive way. Hell, without thinking hard about it I can already write the Democratic ad copy for 2012
Some grave-voiced political ad guy going "Sarah Palin abandoned the state of Alaska midway through her first term of office. And now she expects us to believe that she has what it takes to lead the country? America doesn't need quitters; America doesn't need Sarah Palin"
Whatever her reasons might be, she's done. Stick a fork in her.
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I suspect others here may have pegged it: Palin could be trying to get out ahead of [reverb]THE HORRIFIC REVELATION.[/reverb] But then I have had way too much fun with the (wholly manufactured) idea that Martin Luther King Jr. himself hired James Earl Ray, choosing martyrdom over an ignominious death from some form of mal-de-hankypanky (the real conspiracy being the quashing of the true autopsy results.) :D
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What "horrific revelation?"
There is nothing that Palin can be accused of that can possibly exceed what Obama has already done and is doing to America.
Too many here are looking at this through traditional political lenses. The venom aimed at Palin by the new media types is unprecedented, verging on the insane. Maybe she is protecting herself. Maybe she is deciding how to navigate a new and evolving American political landscape that has ceased to be about Democrat and Republican or even traditonal elections. Who and what she represents still resonates with many millions of Americans, and barring something vast and atrocious I don't see that changing.
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Oy, what pap!
Reagan destroyed an Evil Empire that murdered 100 million individuals and kept its population in the poverty of socialism and Maggie only had to reform leadbottom, moronic British bureaucracies and . . . wait a tick, agricola may be right. =D
...and don't forget the Faulklands....she brought about the first significant British military victory since WWII....Reagan just had Grenada....
I don't see Palin as either a new Reagan or Thatcher....but she could re-energize the conservative base better than any candidate currently being discussed....question is: will it be for the GOP or will she take them over to one of the third parties (Libertarian, Constitution, etc.)?....
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What's coming next in America is what's already come to so many other nations.
Oh, Jesus. Here we go again. ;/
Revolution, Apocalypse and SHTF/TEOTWAWKI, you've seen it here first on APS, folks...
The orange stains, they do go away, you know.
(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmauser98.com%2Favatar_2961.gif&hash=5b6d085bd1f4aa5f7b71332f5c4a4c4e91391619)
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El Tejon, is there something in the news today giving the reasons why Palin stepped down, or are you making assumptions?
El T, for whatever reason, hates Alaskans the same way he hates Libertarians.
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Maybe Alaskans wear/grow wookie suits? =D
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I'm curious, what could Palin possibly have done that would cause her to be portrayed any worse in the media than she already is? They've been attacking her full-on for a year now, and there's really nothing more they can do. She could get caught strangling babies and they wouldn't be able to harass her any mor than they already are.
I'm with the John Galt theory. She's probably had enough of the crap, enough of the Lettermans joking about raping her daughters and so forth. She doesn't strike me as the type who needs power and prestige to be happy. She's probably content to let the lower 48 implode, secure in the knowledge that her little world up in Alaska is reasonably isolated and self-sufficient.
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I'm curious, what could Palin possibly have done that would cause her to be portrayed any worse in the media than she already is? They've been attacking her full-on for a year now, and there's really nothing more they can do. She could get caught strangling babies and they wouldn't be able to harass her any mor than they already are.
I'm with the John Galt theory. She's probably had enough of the crap, enough of the Lettermans joking about raping her daughters and so forth. She doesn't strike me as the type who needs power and prestige to be happy. She's probably content to let the lower 48 implode, secure in the knowledge that her little world up in Alaska is reasonably isolated and self-sufficient.
He said what now? I heard there was some controversy about a joke, but I never cared enough to look at it.
Also, Alaska is not all that self-sufficient.
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He said what now? I heard there was some controversy about a joke, but I never cared enough to look at it.
Also, Alaska is not all that self-sufficient.
The joke was in one of Letterman's top ten lists one night. Apparently Palin's family was in New York at the time, and their 13 year old daughter went to a Yankees game. Letterman made a crack about A-Rod knocking up the daughter during the 7th inning stretch.
Alaska is far more self-sufficient than most places. If the rest of the world continues on its current heading, Alaska would be a pretty decent place to ride it out. Much better than Kalifornia or New York, say.
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Oh, Jesus. Here we go again. rolleyes
Revolution, Apocalypse and SHTF/TEOTWAWKI, you've seen it here first on APS, folks...
The orange stains, they do go away, you know.
Yes, you are a light of reason in a dark forum. Who could possibly deny that?
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The joke was in one of Letterman's top ten lists one night. Apparently Palin's family was in New York at the time, and their 13 year old daughter went to a Yankees game. Letterman made a crack about A-Rod knocking up the daughter during the 7th inning stretch.
Oh, well that's hardly a 4chanesque "she gonna get raped" thing then, is it? Still crass.
Alaska is far more self-sufficient than most places. If the rest of the world continues on its current heading, Alaska would be a pretty decent place to ride it out. Much better than Kalifornia or New York, say.
"Well, it's better than Kalifornistan" is what you might call damning with faint praise. :D
Why not Alaska?
A year ago, I heard one “expert” on the radio recommend Alaska as a retreat destination because it has the lowest population density of any State, and has low taxes. IMHO, he couldn’t be more wrong! The biggest problem is that from an economic standpoint, Alaska is essentially a big offshore island. Many essential items are shipped or flown in. What happens when the ships and planes stop arriving? It won’t be pretty--at least not in Alaska's cities. (Ironically, although it is the most lightly populated state, Alaska has the second highest crime rate in the country!) Coastal Alaska is also earthquake prone. Further, you may think that because of the North Slope oil that the state will have plentiful fuel. Bzzzzzt! Wrong answer! There is insufficient refinery capacity of meet Alaska’s “domestic” needs, and insufficient transport to get refined fuels where they are needed. (Current transport is geared to distributing fuel and lubricants brought in from the Lower 48--not locally produced fuel and lubricants.) So the little fuel left in Alaska post-TEOTWAWKI will be jealously guarded--doubtless saved for critical tasks like running farm tractors and chain saws. So there will be virtually none available for fishing boats or between-town commerce.
In a long term collapse, the residents of Alaska's densely populated coastal cities will likely starve and/or freeze to death. Meanwhile, those in inland towns, albeit better fed, will be geographically isolated so that commerce with the coast will be difficult if not impossible. Bush pilots will eventually be grounded due to lack of fuel, lubricants and spare parts. The only people I foresee surviving are a few seasoned Sourdoughs and native tribe members that still have well-honed outdoor survival skills and are still capable of reverting to a self-sufficient mode. The best set up for this would be a small settlement on a clear water (non-glacial) stream with an active salmon run and a couple of productive “fish wheel” salmon traps.
Another consideration is that the Alaska Pipeline is vulnerable if the power grid goes down. As of 2007, grid power is needed for the four giant electric pumps used to pressurize the oil pipeline. These replaced the pipeline's original diesel-powered pumps.
My prediction: In the event of TEOTWAWKI, the Al-Can highway will have heavy traffic with heavily-laden pickup trucks carrying beau coup gas cans, going in both directions: Greenhorns from the lower 48 thinking that Alaska is the place to be and Alaskan Citizens who realize that Alaska is not a viable place to stay in a long term Crunch.
A SurvivalBlog Reader in Alaska Adds:
Mr. Rawles,
As a long-time resident of Alaska, I agree in general [with your Retreat Locales page assessment] that it's just not a viable survival location for most people. Someone wanting to move here should carefully consider whether it would work for them. Alaska is huge, with a low population. While 275,000 people live in the Anchorage area, only 400,00 live in the rest of the state, comprised of over 1/2 million square miles. But more than 99% of the land is off limits to settlement, because it's owned by either government or native corporations. Even if land were available, most of it is inaccessible if you can't afford a helicopter or float plane. Much of it is treeless, windblown, and covered with ice and snow more than six months per year. When the ice finally melts, the roads buckle and heave due to the cycle of freezing and thawing. This requires expensive maintenance that would not be sustainable if TSHTF.
The economy of Alaska is driven by oil income and government spending, both of which would cease if the U.S. economy collapsed. There is very little local manufacturing capability. Sadly, even most natives have lost the ability to live off the land, due to income from various government programs and business ventures.
Home heating is a huge expense in Alaska; $6,000 or more per winter for some households. Even if you have a source of wood and cut it yourself, it's going to occupy a lot of your time.
On the plus side, there's unlimited pure air and water. While wildlife isn't as abundant as most people think, there are more than enough fish to keep everyone alive in a survival scenario. There are almost no insects to bother crops, and although the growing season is short, some vegetables do very well in the long daylight hours in summer. Alaska has one of the best concealed-carry laws in the country, and most prisoners are outsourced to other states, so they would not be a problem in a collapse. Alaska has a high concentration of military and former military personnel, who generally have a sound grasp of Constitutional issues.
Alaskans understand survival. Many who live in villages or in the bush have no running water. Some have no electricity. Alaska is a great place to practice survival skills. But you might not want to stay after TSHTF unless you're in extremely good health, you tolerate cold well, and you're prepared to do the hard work it would take to survive in a hostile environment. - K.L. in Alaska
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So, what Reaganesque/"true conservative" politicians are there left that could actually viably run in 2012?
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Maybe it will be Dennis Miller versus Al Franken?
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Levi Johnston is shopping a tell-all Palin book according to dailykos
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/7/4/749987/-BINGO!-Levi-Johnston-is-shopping-a-tell-all-Palin-bookw-POLL
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Oh, well that's hardly a 4chanesque "she gonna get raped" thing then, is it? Still crass.
Some of us consider jokes about sexual abuse of our underage daughters to be a wee little bit worse than "crass".
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So wait. People seriously think Palin is quitting because people called her and her family bad names?
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I want to know why accusing her of a "slutty look" never gets mentioned. That was just as bad, because without foundation. The knocking-up joke at least had a basis in Bristol Palin's past misdeeds. Not that such a joke was excusable either, of course. But since when is it acceptable to accuse a woman of looking "slutty," when we've never seen her wear anything but business attire and casual/sporting attire?
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So wait. People seriously think Palin is quitting because people called her and her family bad names?
Sigh. She has young children, who are hearing all manner of abuse about themselves and their family. Sparing them such talk could be a perfectly good reason to quit the arena. It's not like she was going to be our next Reagan or anything, anyway.
But I still don't know that she quit for that reason, or is retiring from any and all political involvement.
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I noticed a number of negative comments on stories about her at CNN from folks in Alaska. Several of the comments were about Feds digging around in the records of a construction company up there that built a sports complex at about the same time her home was built.
Kickbacks, waived building permits, free materials and labor for her house, et al, were mentioned.
Can any of our Alaskan members add some detail? Will this gain traction? Just more moonbattery?
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I want to know why accusing her of a "slutty look" never gets mentioned. That was just as bad, because without foundation. The knocking-up joke at least had a basis in Bristol Palin's past misdeeds.
Bristol... Palin's... past misdeeds?
Sometimes I have trouble understanding if you're serious or joking.
Bristol Palin, IIRC, had a relationship with a young man, and got pregnant. She was planning to marry the young man, and as far as I know, they were happy together in their monogamous relationship. This is no different from, say, my father's relationship with my Mom (I was born two weeks after their wedding). The only difference I can spot is that Bristol Palin was about two decades younger at the point of engagement than my mother was, and that Mr. Johnson decided to skip on the kid. But that makes him the right bastard, not Ms. Palin.
Two people who enter a monogamous relationship because they love each other and want to have children together is abjectly wholesome, even if they happen to sign the wedding papers after the young lady is pregnant and not before.
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From looking at one of the stories about the alleged construction issues.
Hard to tell, there are a lot of folks up here, like Andrea McCloud a local blogger who single handedly has filed most of those ethics complaints Palin mentioned, who hate her beyond reason. Bush/Obama derangement syndrome type hate. What they say is typically discountable.
They mention Spenard Builders contributing a few grand to her campaign and, coincidentally, being the supplier of lumber and labor for her house and filing a mechanics lien like that means anything. SBS is one of Alaska's oldest and largest local lumberyards. They have one of I think 2 real lumberyards in the valley. They contribute, and always have, to a range of "pro-business" candidates at every level.
Something about using a friend's construction company to build their house? Not sure how that is unusual.
There's also something about the contract award for the Sports Complex to that company. That process might have been iffy I guess but I have no knowledge of it. The thing is, it occured 3+ years ago prior to her running for Gov. The press and much of both parties up here aren't exactly friendly to her. If there was any "there, there" I find it really hard to believe it took this long to get brought up locally.
I think the "corruption" angle is mostly supposition by those who don't understand politics or business realities in small towns.
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The knocking-up joke at least had a basis in Bristol Palin's past misdeeds. Not that such a joke was excusable either, of course.
Except the joke involved 14-year old Willow Palin, who was the one at the game that Letterman was referring to.
Letterman later backpedaled and claimed he "meant" Bristol Palin when he said:
"One awkward moment for Sarah Palin at the Yankee game, during the seventh inning, her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez," he quipped.
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But would they do that to discredit her or make her more acceptable in the political arena?
It would have to be to discredit her, unless she's running as a Democrat.
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Well, I'm glad there is a place to have an intelligent discussion about this.
In SF, where I am now, people just hate her, they can't find Alaska on a map, confuse the
SNL lady (whatshername?) with Sarah...& have an incredible level of hate.
If the same level of hate was directed at Pelosi by "us", we would be labeled fascist.
I have to say I was really surprised and my first thought was that she was forced out by someone
who had proof of some kind of scandal, ( dirty pictures always hound beauty contestants for instance )
At the same time I'm fed up with the rino party, just disgusted with it.
She could pull a "Perot" and get most conservatives to vote for her, could she get the women vote that always goes dem is the next question. If she could somehow pull the "values" crowd of blacks and latino that always vote dem in spite of being socially conservative perhaps she can be the first third party candidate to win.
I love her, we need a President that can ask the reporters why don't they know the difference between semi and full.
And Ted hasn't expressed any interest...I wish Ted Nugent was running
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Palin/Nugent 2012? =D
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I wonder how many of you felt the same way when people picked on Chelsea Clinton. People never cease to amaze me.
Cue the "No conservative EVER picked on Chelsea Clinton" in Five... Four... Three... Two...
(Yes, its just as wrong for Letterman as it was for Hannity and Limbaugh, et al)
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Eh. Note I am expressing no Righteous Anger except maybe anger at Palin for quitting.
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I wonder how many of you felt the same way when people picked on Chelsea Clinton. People never cease to amaze me.
Cue the "No conservative EVER picked on Chelsea Clinton" in Five... Four... Three... Two...
(Yes, its just as wrong for Letterman as it was for Hannity and Limbaugh, et al)
I felt the same way.
Granted that the worst said about Chelsea was saying she wasn't good looking, no rape jokes there....and even that wasn't nearly as mainstream as David Letterman.
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I wonder how many of you felt the same way when people picked on Chelsea Clinton. People never cease to amaze me.
Cue the "No conservative EVER picked on Chelsea Clinton" in Five... Four... Three... Two...
(Yes, its just as wrong for Letterman as it was for Hannity and Limbaugh, et al)
I really hated the Chelsea jokes, as much as I hated the libs for talking about how much make up Kathleen Harris was wearing
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For the sake of the Republican Party, I hope Palin's political career is over. The woman displayed very little substance during the campaign. The winking during the debate did it for me.
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Oh, I thought he had been referring to the 17 y/o who was pregnant, not the 14 y/o. Bad either way, but one is definitely worse.
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Palin links resignation to 'higher calling'
JUNEAU, Alaska – Outgoing Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Saturday laid the groundwork to take on a larger, national role after leaving state government, citing a "higher calling" with the aim of uniting the country along conservative lines.
A day after surprising even her closest friends by announcing she would step down as Alaska governor more than a year before her term was up, the controversial hockey mom was still keeping details of her future plans under wrap. But in a statement posted on Palin's Facebook account, she suggested that she had bigger plans and a national agenda she planned to push after she resigns at the end of the month.
"I am now looking ahead and how we can advance this country together with our values of less government intervention, greater energy independence, stronger national security, and much-needed fiscal restraint," she said.
Palin also cast herself as a victim and blasted the media, calling the response to her announcement "predictable" and out of touch.
"How sad that Washington and the media will never understand; it's about country," the statement said. "And though it's honorable for countless others to leave their positions for a higher calling and without finishing a term, of course we know by now, for some reason a different standard applies for the decisions I make."
Palin's personal spokeswoman, Meghan Stapleton, confirmed to The Associated Press that the Facebook posting was written by the governor.
The abruptness of her announcement and the mystery surrounding her plans has fed widespread speculation. But Palin attorney Thomas Van Flein on Saturday warned legal action may be taken against bloggers and publications that reprint what he calls fraudulent claims.
"To the extent several websites, most notably liberal Alaska blogger Shannyn Moore, are now claiming as 'fact' that Governor Palin resigned because she is 'under federal investigation' for embezzlement or other criminal wrongdoing, we will be exploring legal options this week to address such defamation," Van Flein said in a statement. "This is to provide notice to Ms. Moore, and those who re-publish the defamation, such as Huffington Post, MSNBC, the New York Times and The Washington Post, that the Palins will not allow them to propagate defamatory material without answering to this in a court of law."
Palin has kept a low profile since her abrupt announcement Friday at a hastily called news conference at her home in suburban Wasilla, outside Anchorage. All of her public communication since then has been on the social networking sites Facebook and Twitter, or through statements released by her office.
At the same time, Palin informed Murrow early Saturday that someone using the name "exgovsarahpalin" on Twitter was spreading a false rumor that there was to be a party at her suburban home in Wasilla, outside Anchorage. Palin was afraid her home would be mobbed, and security was dispatched, Murrow said.
With only a few weeks before she steps down on July 26, and Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell takes her place, the governor spent the Fourth of July weekend in the state capital, Juneau, but was only spotted briefly on the sidelines of the city's parade.
She had been invited to ride in a convertible, as she did last year, but never told organizers whether she would attend.
Juneau parade director Jean Sztuk said officials drew up banners in case Palin showed and was willing to take part.
As the last of the parade's clowns and marching bands headed past her, Sztuk gave up on Palin. "What governor wants to be at the end of the parade?" she asked.
Her low-profile and vague Internet messages left mounting questions about her plans for the future shrouded in mystery. Will she lay the groundwork for a 2012 presidential bid? Will she find a high-profile place in the private sector, maybe on the speech circuit? Will she drop out of the limelight and focus on her five children?
Her constituents, for one, wanted to know, especially in Juneau, where she has struggled to win over residents.
"I think she owes it to Alaskans to tell us why," said state Sen. Dennis Egan, D-Juneau, the son of Alaska's first governor, Bill Egan.
Egan, hosting a 50th anniversary statehood ceremony, said he was disappointed Palin decided not to finish out her term, which was scheduled to end in 2010.
"It's sad she abandoned us at this critical time," said Egan, who was appointed by Palin to an open seat on the last day of the legislative session in April, after a protracted battle with Senate Democrats.
Palin's departure can't come soon enough for Laurel Carlton, a waitress at the Capital Cafe in the Baranof Hotel, where the city's political movers and shakers meet every morning before walking a few blocks to the Capitol.
"I think she has a game plan that's not Alaska, and hasn't been for awhile," Carlton said.
She noted Palin has a book deal, and seems headed for the national stage.
"If you're really not going to stay and do your job every day, you should leave anyway, and so the sooner the better so somebody can step in and actually do the job," Carlton said.
And as far as Carlton is concerned, Palin doesn't need to explain why she's leaving.
"We don't care. We just want her gone," she said.
Palin, whose popularity in Alaska has waned amid ongoing ethics investigations, gave many reasons for stepping down: She didn't want to be a lame-duck governor; she was tired of the tasteless jokes aimed at her five children, including her son Trig, who has Down syndrome; she felt she could do more in another, still-to-be-defined role.
McCain didn't rule out a return to politics for his former running mate, saying Saturday he believes "she will continue to play an important leadership role in the Republican Party and our nation." He gave no other details.
Even Parnell, who plans to run for re-election after finishing out Palin's term, said he was shocked at first when he learned of his boss' decision.
"But then as she began to articulate her reasons, I began to understand better," he said. "And nobody — unless they've been in her position and understood what she has gone through and dealt with and who she is as a person — really understands."
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Oh, I thought he had been referring to the 17 y/o who was pregnant, not the 14 y/o. Bad either way, but one is definitely worse.
He most likely thought he was talking about Bristol. Then it turned out the 14 year old was there and the 17 year old was not. Whoops.
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Don't know what her plans are....but I'd sure be happy if she decided to run for governor of Texas....she'd be a lot better than the losers campaigning now... :mad:
Palin/Nugent 2012? =D
That is instant WIN! =D =D =D
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Sarah Palin not under FBI investigation, agency spokesman says
The former GOP vice presidential candidate's surprise resignation as Alaska governor had set off speculation, including rumors of a pending federal corruption probe or charges.
By Josh Meyer
July 5, 2009
Reporting from Washington -- A day after Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin resigned, a federal official in her home state dismissed one potential explanation for her sudden and unexpected resignation: a rumored FBI investigation into the former Wasilla mayor on public corruption charges.
Despite rumors of a looming controversy after the Republican governor's surprise announcement Friday that she would leave office this month, some of them published in the blogosphere, the FBI's Alaska spokesman said the bureau had no investigation into Palin for her activities as governor, as mayor or in any other capacity.
* Sarah Palin is resigning as governor
Video: Sarah Palin is resigning...
"There is absolutely no truth to those rumors that we're investigating her or getting ready to indict her," Special Agent Eric Gonzalez said in a phone interview Saturday. "It's just not true." He added that there was "no wiggle room" in his comments for any kind of inquiry.
The FBI has been active in mounting corruption investigations in Alaska, some to see whether local, state and federal lawmakers illegally received favors, money or free construction work from businesses or people seeking favors.
The most high-profile case was against former Republican Sen. Ted Stevens, whose conviction last year on charges of lying on Senate ethics forms stemmed from charges that a politically connected developer had done work on his house illegally.
The Obama administration Justice Department threw out the charges in April, saying prosecutors had failed to turn over potentially helpful information to Stevens' defense team. Some bloggers have speculated that such an FBI investigation was underway on Palin, who still had 18 months left in her term.
Also Saturday, the former GOP vice presidential nominee posted a statement on her Facebook page, not offering specifics but indicating that she had broad goals after she leaves the governor's office.
She did not say whether she planned to run for president in 2012, but criticized media coverage of her announcement:
"How sad that Washington and the media will never understand; it's about country. And though it's honorable for countless others to leave their positions for a higher calling and without finishing a term, of course we know by now, for some reason a different standard applies for the decisions I make."
josh.meyer@latimes.com
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"To the extent several websites, most notably liberal Alaska blogger Shannyn Moore, are now claiming as 'fact' that Governor Palin resigned because she is 'under federal investigation' for embezzlement or other criminal wrongdoing, we will be exploring legal options this week to address such defamation," Van Flein said in a statement. "This is to provide notice to Ms. Moore, and those who re-publish the defamation, such as Huffington Post, MSNBC, the New York Times and The Washington Post, that the Palins will not allow them to propagate defamatory material without answering to this in a court of law."
My first reaction was that this was a bad policy, but the more I think about it, the better I like it. If the press fudges the truth about her, there's not much that can be done, but at least outright lies can be stopped. It's about time.
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Palin understands that reclaiming this nation will not happen under the banner of either D or R because D & R, as constituted, got us here. The McCain people did us a great favor by discovering her, even if they didn't understand or appreciate her. I suspect she also got fed up with the currents of the culture that produces the likes of David Letterman and Levi Johnson. The next political movement will be about much more than party politics and policies, it will also be about the core of the culture and what it means to be an American.
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My first reaction was that this was a bad policy, but the more I think about it, the better I like it. If the press fudges the truth about her, there's not much that can be done, but at least outright lies can be stopped. It's about time.
Well yes - unless that LA Times story is completely wrong (given how definitive its answer is), its fairly clear that none of the outlets mentioned could have actually spoken to the FBI regarding the story - which is absolutely unforgiveable given that the FBI indictment is the story.
She absolutely should sue them, if for no other reason than having a demonstrable, checkable, quoteable, unarguable example of the MSM blatantly lying would be beneficial further on down the road.
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John Ziegler's video, Media Malpractice, amply documents how Palin was torpedoed, deliberately, by the MSM.
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Michael Savage blazed a new trail when he decided to take the fight right to his enemies' kitchen. Problem is Savage is independently wealthy while Palin ain't. I hope she continues with her threats of legal action in cases of demonstrable falsehoods.
Palin has probably figured out she has to separate herself from the republican establishment if she is to have any future in the republican party. A third party bid is a non-starter due to all the games played with local eligibility rules for election. I think she can build a base inside the party but it will have to be done over the opposition of the northeastern republican elites.
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I can't sympathize with her.
If there is a grand jury investigating Palin, the FBI wouldn't be legally able to confirm that, would they? If there is an internal FBI investigation that hasn't progressed to the courts, the FBI would be under no obligation to confirm that either, would they?
I'm also wondering if she has histrionic personality disorder.
If she wanted to avoid wild speculation, maybe she shouldn't have decided to quit as Governor for no apparent reason.
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Bristol... Palin's... past misdeeds?
Sometimes I have trouble understanding if you're serious or joking.
Right back at ya', kid. Yeah, sexin' when you're single and not even growed up yet is a misdeed. Hence the embarrassment to her mother's political ambitions.
The woman displayed very little substance during the campaign. The winking during the debate did it for me.
How many points do we award for Most Unintentionally Ironic Post?
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I can't sympathize with her.
If there is a grand jury investigating Palin, the FBI wouldn't be legally able to confirm that, would they? If there is an internal FBI investigation that hasn't progressed to the courts, the FBI would be under no obligation to confirm that either, would they?
I'm also wondering if she has histrionic personality disorder.
If she wanted to avoid wild speculation, maybe she shouldn't have decided to quit as Governor for no apparent reason.
You're forgetting the short attention span of the American public. This will probably be her last big media event for a while. If she remained in office, everything she did would be under the spotlight, even stuff with her family. This, while a big event, will give way to whatever happens next week, and they will have their peace. Perhaps she is angling to become another big name in conservative politics, but outside the GOP. But she may also be simply trying to shield her family. I don't see why this is so hard to fathom. She has very young children. I can't think of a better reason to get out of politics than to prevent one's family from being a target for the Libs every day and every night. She may be going out with a bag, but the key is she may be going out period. And if it's for her family, I can't fault her. Let's see how big of a deal this is in two weeks. Let's see what big story is in the news in two weeks, and if it has anything to fo with Palin.
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Despite what the FBI has said, I just can't shake a nagging feeling that the other shoe is about to drop.
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possible but she was under the microscope pretty thoroughly
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I'm still going with the cocaine/prostitution/aliens/Zionists theory.
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I'm still going with the cocaine/prostitution/aliens/Zionists theory.
What about the zombies? Wasn't she involved with zombies somehow?
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Perhaps she is angling to become another big name in conservative politics, but outside the GOP. But she may also be simply trying to shield her family. I don't see why this is so hard to fathom. She has very young children.
This shows catastrophically poor judgment on her part. Politicians are supposed to weigh family vs politics before they run, not after. First she wants to be VP, then she decides she can't handle 18 more months of being Alaska's governor, for no other reason than she wants to spend time with her family? Quitting her job in this abrupt and bizarre way won't get the media to back off; it'll make them even more determined to find a story.
What the bloody hell would she have done if McCain had won the election?
It's nearly unheard of for someone to quit as governor in the middle of a term just because the spotlight is too bright.
Something is just not right with her. I'm betting on a personality disorder or a criminal investigation.
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What about the zombies? Wasn't she involved with zombies somehow?
Nazi zombies, no less.....
;/
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This shows catastrophically poor judgment on her part. Politicians are supposed to weigh family vs politics before they run, not after. First she wants to be VP, then she decides she can't handle 18 more months of being Alaska's governor, for no other reason than she wants to spend time with her family? Quitting her job in this abrupt and bizarre way won't get the media to back off; it'll make them even more determined to find a story.
Ah. A reasonable response.
I would add that a person who enters politics has certain obligations - in terms of honor and decency if nothing else - to people who invest themselves in supporting him, emotionally or in terms of money and volunteering. People in the political arena have certain duties to their country, their state, and the people who supported them. They have voluntarily accepted these duties.
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I can't sympathize with her.
If there is a grand jury investigating Palin, the FBI wouldn't be legally able to confirm that, would they? If there is an internal FBI investigation that hasn't progressed to the courts, the FBI would be under no obligation to confirm that either, would they?
I'm also wondering if she has histrionic personality disorder.
If she wanted to avoid wild speculation, maybe she shouldn't have decided to quit as Governor for no apparent reason.
No, but the FBI would be unlikely to absolutely deny its existence as they did.
As for her reasons, personally (and admittedly when viewing from a distance across the pond) I think she has more than a few good ones to walk away, not the least of which is the almost unprecedented abuse aimed at her and her family from large sections of the press and the more idiotic elements of society which has not stopped since the election.
Yes, she should have realised that there is a balance between family and politics but I cant think of an occasion when it appeared to be fair game for the media to go - at various times - after her, her husband, her parents, her sister, two of her three daughters and her youngest son. One imagines they only left the eldest lad alone because they realised he was about to become heavily armed. Even with your media one would think that they would show some bloody restraint, but there was no sign of that - and indeed there has been no sign of them stopping doing it either.
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Analyzing Palin and her critics in terms of previous media feeding frenzies is destined to be fruitless.
This is something new. What's new about it is the polarization of the people and the media and the extreme partisanship of a large and influential chunk of the opinion-forging stratum. Extreme partisanship is a nice way of saying that a lot of people in the MSM are exuberantly irrational on a wide array of topics. Palin is hated because she's a) a Christian b) a mother c) conservative and patriotic d) a gun-owner and e) anti-abortion. She is a living rebuke of everything that the Left has consacrated its lives to. Ergo Palin delenda est.
My belief is that the attacks on Palin will backfire, and to say that will be an understatement.
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My belief is that the attacks on Palin will backfire, and to say that will be an understatement.
One would hope. If this does come to pass, it will certainly be entertaining.
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This shows catastrophically poor judgment on her part. Politicians are supposed to weigh family vs politics before they run, not after. First she wants to be VP, then she decides she can't handle 18 more months of being Alaska's governor, for no other reason than she wants to spend time with her family? Quitting her job in this abrupt and bizarre way won't get the media to back off; it'll make them even more determined to find a story.
What the bloody hell would she have done if McCain had won the election?
It's nearly unheard of for someone to quit as governor in the middle of a term just because the spotlight is too bright.
Something is just not right with her. I'm betting on a personality disorder or a criminal investigation.
The amount of vitriol against her and even her family is unprecedented. I imagine Palin and her family were prepared for the usual bit of personal attacks and prying, but not for the extra heavy dose of it that they actually received.
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The next political movement will be about much more than party politics and policies, it will also be about the core of the culture and what it means to be an American.
I'm afraid you're right; I'm also afraid it's underway, and we're on the receiving rather than giving end of it.
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tyme,
Did she say she was resigning because of the media attention? I thought her stated reason was her interest in national politics. But maybe I missed something.
Also, the media feeding frenzy came after she accepted the VP slot, not before. I don't know where you get the idea that she was supposed to know what that kind of attention would be like before she, um, knew what that kind of attention was going to be like. Or how was she supposed to predict that she would become the new Dick Cheney-style media punching bag?
That said, I would agree that her resignation does not bode well, if she's planning to run for high office.
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Can't remember where but saw a report that the now estranged baby daddy was touting a book. Apparently there are things to be told.
Underneath there was a poll asking what we thought the revelation was going to be. I voted 'It was all a lie, you can't see Russia from her house'.
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Oh, Jesus. Here we go again. ;/
Revolution, Apocalypse and SHTF/TEOTWAWKI, you've seen it here first on APS, folks...
The orange stains, they do go away, you know.
If you aren't worried to some extent you aren't paying attention.
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fistful, she made some vague comments about remaining politically active, but she also explicitly said that she had polled her family and they all said they'd prefer her quitting her job.
Also, what MicroBalrog said.
If you treat an elected position as a job you can just quit mid-term when you want to spend more time with your family, or because you're the subject of personal attacks (note that she did not explicitly cite personal attacks as a reason for quitting), then you're in politics for the wrong reasons.
If she can't handle this, she would have had a complete meltdown as VP. That speaks poorly of her in accepting the nomination, poorly of McCain for choosing her, and poorly of the GOP and everyone who rallied around her, IMO.
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... One imagines they only left the eldest lad alone because they realised he was about to become heavily armed. Even with your media one would think that they would show some bloody restraint, but there was no sign of that - and indeed there has been no sign of them stopping doing it either.
Actually there was even speculation that he joined the army because he was running away from fathering Bristol's baby.
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Ooooh. So you not only expect Palin to have known ahead of time that she would become the especial target of wrath for the establishment press, but you also expect those who "rallied around her" to have known all along that she would be resigning early.
I guess I should sign up for that whole vast right-wing conspiracy thing, just so I can get the secret memos.
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If she can't handle this, she would have had a complete meltdown as VP. That speaks poorly of her in accepting the nomination, poorly of McCain for choosing her, and poorly of the GOP and everyone who rallied around her, IMO.
You are missing the point.
I cannot think of any politician, in any part of "the West" that has been attacked, and has seen her family attacked, as savagely as Palin was, and is being still. The media does not usually go after the entirely blameless teenaged children of political figures, does not suggest that their children might not be their own, does not trowel on half-truth followed by half-truth, mix it with a load of false rumour from the internet and claim it as fact. We now see the media - at least over here - chanting as a mantra that it was she who cost McCain the election, which of course convinently ignores McCain's own antics, the incredible bias shown by the media during the campaign, the Bush effect. In short, the treatment of Palin by the media during that campaign was an utter disgrace - and if anything the fact that she did handle it tends to suggest she would have been a better VP than Biden is (though admittedly that is not setting the bar that high off the ground).
What politican, what person, would be able to handle having the world's media declaring open season on them? Would Obama be able to handle his kids being treated in the same way?
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Sometimes you just have to knock the pieces off the chessboard and leave the game. Palin realizes that this game is being played far underground, not in exchanges of ideas or even verbal dust-ups. She embodies the liberals' worst existential nightmare and if they don't destroy her they will go up in smoke like a pack of wicked witches. She's saying "No thanks, I'm outta here, I don't need your lunacy." What she's doing may not work but her instinct to change the rules isn't just some flighty impulse, it's deep and accurate.
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What politican, what person, would be able to handle having the world's media declaring open season on them?
There is always open season on politicians.
Palin is being attacked so aggressively because she continually acts like a nutjob, and perhaps also because there's an instinctive sense that, unlike most politicians, she's predisposed to crack under pressure... which she has done, in spectacular fashion.
The media does not usually go after the entirely blameless teenaged children of political figures
Bristol? If she wanted to be left alone, she should have memorized the phrase "no comment" rather than appearing (repeatedly) on TV. Bristol seems to like being in the news.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eixcsj7FI6I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=banUnW8CA68
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Palin is being attacked so aggressively because she continually acts like a nutjob, and perhaps also because there's an instinctive sense that, unlike most politicians, she's predisposed to crack under pressure... which she has done, in spectacular fashion.
You must be in some alternate universe from this time-functions-as-linear one the rest of us inhabit, as the attacks started on her immediately after she accepted McCain's offer, before she said anything to the press. She had no opportunity to act nutty for public consumption between that and the Republican convention.
This includes the speculation of Trig's parentage and a baker's dozen of other sordid stories later shown to be exercises in fiction.
We all get that you don't like her. I can think of a few reasons not to like her my own self. No need to cook up fiction to bolster your dislike or repeat the text from Huffpo's latest two minute hate.
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That said, I would agree that her resignation does not bode well, if she's planning to run for high office.
Wouldn't that be "higher office"?
I mean, really, governor of a state is pretty damned high in the food chain...
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Bristol? If she wanted to be left alone, she should have memorized the phrase "no comment" rather than appearing (repeatedly) on TV. Bristol seems to like being in the news.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eixcsj7FI6I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=banUnW8CA68
You do know that those interviews both took place a considerable amount of time after all the stuff had been written about her, yes?
As jfruser says - and the fact that he and I agree must be a first - the attacks on Palin began the moment she was put on the ticket. The attacks are in the main not (as they usually are with politicians) about policies or past political positions, they are about her being stupid / white trash / a bad mother / mad / egotistical.
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Palin is being attacked so aggressively because she continually acts like a nutjob,
Nutjob, err?
Don't see any of that from her.
I also highly doubt she would have a meltdown as VP. If Biden and Al Gore can handle the job, anybody can. Hell, I could, easily.
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As jfruser says - and the fact that he and I agree must be a first
Broken clocks & all.
Expect more wit and wisdom from me in eleven hours, forty-five minutes...
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You are missing the point.
I cannot think of any politician, in any part of "the West" that has been attacked, and has seen her family attacked, as savagely as Palin was, and is being still. The media does not usually go after the entirely blameless teenaged children of political figures, does not suggest that their children might not be their own, does not trowel on half-truth followed by half-truth, mix it with a load of false rumour from the internet and claim it as fact. We now see the media - at least over here - chanting as a mantra that it was she who cost McCain the election, which of course convinently ignores McCain's own antics, the incredible bias shown by the media during the campaign, the Bush effect. In short, the treatment of Palin by the media during that campaign was an utter disgrace - and if anything the fact that she did handle it tends to suggest she would have been a better VP than Biden is (though admittedly that is not setting the bar that high off the ground).
What politican, what person, would be able to handle having the world's media declaring open season on them? Would Obama be able to handle his kids being treated in the same way?
+1
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While the attacks on her and her family were brutal and unfair, quitting just tells the media that if they're cruel enough for long enough they can get rid of any politician they don't like. If our self proclaimed pit bull can't stand up to the MSM who can? =(
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Sometimes you just have to knock the pieces off the chessboard and leave the game.
Yea when your five.
This shows catastrophically poor judgment on her part. Politicians are supposed to weigh family vs politics before they run, not after. First she wants to be VP, then she decides she can't handle 18 more months of being Alaska's governor, for no other reason than she wants to spend time with her family?
What the bloody hell would she have done if McCain had won the election?
It's nearly unheard of for someone to quit as governor in the middle of a term just because the spotlight is too bright.
Something is just not right with her. I'm betting on a personality disorder or a criminal investigation.
+1 QFT
I dont get why its off limits to talk about her daughters pregnancy when she has said she would ban abortion, she's talking about restricting what your daughter can do but you can't talk about her's and her pregnancy, especially when asked about the pregnancy and what would happen she said it would be Bristol's "choice".
What she's capable of making the right choice, but no other females in this country are?
(This statement was not about Dave Letterman's joke, it was a crass joke and most likely intended for Bristol not ther 14 year old daughter. I also dont know how it turned into a "rape joke" once it made its was to APS forum, havn't heard that claim ANYWHERE else in the media, yea including Rush, and Sean. It was a crass, bad joke that wasn't even researched well, but not a rape joke.)
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+1 QFT
I dont get why its off limits to talk about her daughters pregnancy when she has said she would ban abortion, she's talking about restricting what your daughter can do but you can't talk about her's and her pregnancy, especially when asked about the pregnancy and what would happen she said it would be Bristol's "choice".
What she's capable of making the right choice, but no other females in this country are?
(This statement was not about Dave Letterman's joke, it was a crass joke and most likely intended for Bristol not ther 14 year old daughter. I also dont know how it turned into a "rape joke" once it made its was to APS forum, havn't heard that claim ANYWHERE else in the media, yea including Rush, and Sean. It was a crass, bad joke that wasn't even researched well, but not a rape joke.)
:rolleyes: Ignorant post is ignorant.
Also, a grown man having sex with a 14 is statutory rape.
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Sometimes you just have to knock the pieces off the chessboard and leave the game.
Yea when your five.
Or maybe some years later...when you realize the game is rigged?
It WAS a rape joke...or maybe you think it was just about A-Rod being above the law?
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I dont get why its off limits to talk about her daughters pregnancy when she has said she would ban abortion, she's talking about restricting what your daughter can do but you can't talk about her's and her pregnancy, especially when asked about the pregnancy and what would happen she said it would be Bristol's "choice".
What she's capable of making the right choice, but no other females in this country are?
Ironically, this piece of nonsense is quite a good example of the Palin effect in the media.
Sarah Palin has an opinion on abortion. She has honestly expressed that opinion, an opinion which is shared by a large number of other people and the vast majority of churches (and indeed religions as a whole), and which she has (remarkably enough for a politician nowadays) lived her life in accordance with, despite having a clear choice to make regarding it herself.
Somehow, that view has been twisted to "Sarah Palin wants to take away your right to an abortion", despite her never actually having done so, or having voted or tried to do so, and wil her having made repeated statements - of which you helpfully provide one - to the contrary. The parallels with that californian beauty queen who was attacked for daring to hold an opinion not approved of by the mainstream should be obvious.
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This includes the speculation of Trig's parentage and a baker's dozen of other sordid stories later shown to be exercises in fiction.
You're right. It was completely responsible of 44-year-old Sarah to fly from Texas to Alaska leaking amniotic fluid, and anyone looking for a reason, however speculative, for why she might not have treated her baby with such casual disregard is obviously just part of the liberal attack machine. :rolleyes:
Her bizarre behavior didn't start the media attention, but it has sustained it since the election.
Ooooh. So you not only expect Palin to have known ahead of time that she would become the especial target of wrath for the establishment press, but you also expect those who "rallied around her" to have known all along that she would be resigning early.
What? It speaks to her ability to cope with politics, which is a quality that should have been properly vetted before supporting her as a candidate for the second highest executive office in the country. Do I need to remind you of all the mudslinging at Obama (I'm no fan of his, either) because of his lack of experience? Does this resignation not prove beyond any doubt that Palin did not have the executive experience necessary to be a good VP candidate? 2.5 years of state-level executive experience and she just quits one day because she wants to spend more time with her family and avoid media attention? If Obama flaked out, Republicans would be shouting "We told you so!" from the rooftops, regardless of how much media criticism or congressional gridlock he'd endured. But Palin?
I also highly doubt she would have a meltdown as VP. If Biden and Al Gore can handle the job, anybody can. Hell, I could, easily.
You really think being Governor of Alaska is more demanding than being VP?
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Agricola speaks true.
That's a big stretch from her simply stating her opinion to banning abortion.
Hyperbole is best used in moderation. ;)
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You're right. It was completely responsible of 44-year-old Sarah to fly from Texas to Alaska leaking amniotic fluid, and anyone looking for a reason, however speculative, for why she might not have treated her baby with such casual disregard is obviously just part of the liberal attack machine. :rolleyes:
Nah, just stone-ignorant of obstetrics and looking for something, anything, to beat her over the head with.
Heck, just from going to the obstetrician with my wife during her (uneventful) pregnancies, one learns that some babies are deliberately delivered weeks after the water breaks. It is an issue and cause for concern, but not some sort of "Great Scot! Get that woman a fainting couch! You! Go boil some water and tear up the nearest set of sheets...And YOU! Set your hair on fire and run around in circles..."
Here's a clue: Not every pregnancy is a textbook case, and not every issue that pops up is cause to place the mother on bed rest and restrict her from movement or travel.
I would bet dollars to donuts that she called her obstetrician about the issue.
Well, well, here we go. Googling "palin flight amniotic fluid" should put to rest the speculation by budding obstetricians such as Dr. Andrew Sullivan and Dr. tyme.
Both Palin (who had already carried four other children to term) and her obstetrician thought her good-to-go. Not only that, she was induced when she arrived home, indicating she was no where near labor.
Story of Palin's Fifth Child, Trig
By LISA DEMER, Anchorage Daily News
Published: April 22nd, 2008 01:11 AM
Last Modified: April 22nd, 2008 12:05 PM
Gov. Sarah Palin was back at work Monday in Anchorage [trig was born 6:30 am Friday], holding a meeting on the proposed natural gas pipeline three days after giving birth to her fifth child.
....
Palin was in Texas last week for an energy conference of the National Governors Association when she experienced signs of early labor. She wasn't due for another month.
Early Thursday -- she thinks it was around 4 a.m. Texas time -- she consulted with her doctor, family physician Cathy Baldwin-Johnson, who is based in the Valley and has delivered lots of babies, including Piper, Palin's 7-year-old.
Palin said she felt fine but had leaked amniotic fluid and also felt some contractions that seemed different from the false labor she had been having for months.
"I said I am going to stay for the day. I have a speech I was determined to give," Palin said. She gave the luncheon keynote address for the energy conference.
Palin kept in close contact with Baldwin-Johnson. The contractions slowed to one or two an hour, "which is not active labor," the doctor said.
"Things were already settling down when she talked to me," Baldwin-Johnson said. Palin did not ask for a medical OK to fly, the doctor said.
"I don't think it was unreasonable for her to continue to travel back," Baldwin-Johnson said.
So the Palins flew on Alaska Airlines from Dallas to Anchorage, stopping in Seattle and checking with the doctor along the way.
"I am not a glutton for pain and punishment. I would have never wanted to travel had I been fully engaged in labor," Palin said. After four kids, the governor said, she knew what labor felt like, and she wasn't in labor.
Still, a Sacramento, Calif., obstetrician who is active in the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said when a pregnant woman's water breaks, she should go right to the hospital because of the risk of infection. That's true even if the amniotic fluid simply leaks out, said Dr. Laurie Gregg.
"To us, leaking and broken, we are talking the same thing. We are talking doctor-speak," Gregg said.
Some airlines have policies against pregnant women onboard during the last four weeks of pregnancy, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists advises against flying after 36 weeks.
This was going to be Palin's last flight anyway, her doctor said.
Alaska Airlines has no such rule and leaves the decision to the woman and her doctor, said spokeswoman Caroline Boren. Palin was very pleasant to the gate agents and flight attendants, as always, Boren said.
"The stage of her pregnancy was not apparent by observation. She did not show any signs of distress," Boren said.
Palin never got big with this pregnancy. She said she didn't try to hide it but didn't feel a need to alert the airline, either.
They landed in Anchorage around 10:30 p.m. Thursday and an hour later were at the Mat-Su Regional Medical Center in Wasilla.
Baldwin-Johnson said she had to induce labor, and the baby didn't come until 6:30 a.m. Friday.
"It was smooth. It was relatively easy," Palin said. "In fact it was the easiest of all," probably because Trig was small, at 6 pounds, 2 ounces.
Palin said she wanted him born in Alaska but wouldn't have risked anyone's health to make that happen.
"You can't have a fish picker from Texas," said Todd.
Palin says she felt safe flying to Alaska to have baby
By Rebecca George
Originally published Tuesday, April 22, 2008 at 12:07 a.m.
Updated Tuesday, April 22, 2008 at 2:25 p.m.
Governor Sara Palin and her husband, Todd, present their fifth child, a boy named Trig Paxson Van Palin, who was born April 18, 2008. The Palin's confirmed that Trig, their second son, has Down Syndrome.
Anchorage Daily News
Gov. Sarah Palin’s decision to make the eight-hour flight from Dallas to Anchorage has some people wondering about the possible safety hazards of flying while in the late stages of pregnancy.
The governor, eight months into her pregnancy, noticed amniotic fluid Thursday morning prior to giving a keynote luncheon address at the Republican Governor’s Energy Conference in Texas. After wrapping up the speech, Palin and her husband consulted with her physician about possibly flying home on an earlier flight. After being granted permission from her doctor, she and her husband proceeded with the trek home.
At that point, Palin was only having minor contractions and was not showing signs of active labor, Sharon Leighow, the governor’s spokeswoman, said on Monday.
After the baby was born, Palin told her staff members that her experiences from four previous pregnancies made her comfortable with the signs of active labor. She felt that neither she nor her baby were in any danger, and so she flew home as scheduled.
Most airlines have specific policies concerning air travel during pregnancy, especially during the final months. For women traveling in the final month of pregnancy, a “permission-to-travel” letter is required by her primary physician. However, most restrictions rely on an honor policy that leaves the decision to notify the airline in the hands of the passenger.
The governor did not feel the need to inform the airline of her condition, Leighow said.
Alaska Airlines is one of the few airlines that does not have a policy regarding flight during pregnancy.
“We leave the decision to fly up to our customers and their medical advisers,” according to Alaska Airlines representative Caroline Boren.
Palin told her staff that she would not have boarded the plane had she thought she or her baby were in danger.
Had Palin needed medical assistance during the flight, ground agents and flight attendants for the airline are highly trained to look for signs of distress or other concerns with a passenger’s condition, Boren said.
“Governor Palin was extremely pleasant to flight attendants and her stage of pregnancy was not apparent by observation as she didn’t show any signs of distress,” Boren said.
Flight crew members are not specifically trained to assist in labor during a flight. But had Palin gone into active labor while en route to Anchorage, the crew would have been prepared to offer medical assistance through a system known as Med Link, a medical advisory service that allows crew members to radio for medical help during the flight.
The flight would not have needed to land, barring any emergency with the delivery.
No medical assistance was necessary for Palin during the flight.
Palin’s flight landed at 10:30 p.m. Thursday. She and her husband drove to the Mat-Su Valley Regional Medical Center, and she checked in with her doctor an hour later.
Trig Paxson Van Palin was born seven hours later.
The governor confirmed Monday that early testing showed that Trig was born with Down syndrome. The syndrome is a chromosomal disorder caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 21st chromosome.
Trig is the governor’s fifth child. She told her staff members that Trig was the easiest delivery of all her children.
Truly, I don't expect mere fact to quell the obstetric speculation and Palin Derangement Syndrome, but one ought to try to help disabuse the ill-informed of "what they know that ain't so."
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Do I need to remind you of all the mudslinging at Obama (I'm no fan of his, either) because of his lack of experience? Does this resignation not prove beyond any doubt that Palin did not have the executive experience necessary to be a good VP candidate?
Hang on - to abuse Palin and her family over issues utterly unconnected with policy is somehow to be expected in modern politics, and yet to point out that Obama lacks experience is mudslinging?
;/
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Palin a nut job, who has "melted down"? Pure myth.
I did "rally around" Palin, both figuratively and literally.* But you'll have to forgive me. There was no way to vet her, an accomplished politician, to see if she could handle running for VP when she'd never done it before. Mainly, I liked how she was a beacon of sense, humanity and enlightened liberalism in an age when the cruel, viciously stupid politics of an Obama are more fashionable.
*I attended the post-debate rally in Saint Louis, where she spoke "in the round" to throngs of adoring, screaming supporters. Lost the race for McCain, indeed. ;/
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What does Palin's resignation have to do with lack of experience? You mean if she were experienced she'd have stayed on? Is that what it says in the oh so successful Republican playbook?
Obama's problem isn't lack of experience, it's lack of the right kind of intelligence. He can write an autobiography but he appears to prefer ideology over empirical evidence, and if you don't care what the world teaches you, "experience" doesn't mean much.
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jfuser its entirely uncalled for and unfair to invoke facts in this kinda discussion
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Maybe what we should be worrying about is that our next election, if it occurs, will be a dust-up between two candidates--Obama and Palin--neither of whom is anywhere near "fully there." If Obama is a Marxist technocrat with dictatorial impulses Palin--and I like her--may be a not fully-formed EveryWoman writ large. Both of these people appeal to our emotions but don't satisfy the hard mind. I think deficiencies in our culture have brought us to where we are, and until those are plumbed honestly we will thrash about rather ingloriously.
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A few random thoughts in no particular order
--It takes substantial personal wealth to run for president something Palin ain't got now.
--She is a hot media personage now.
--She bailed out on her term now as opposed to beginning the term then commence a run for another office.
--Unless you are a resources commodities mogul Alaska is not a great base to accrue substantial personal wealth.
--If she wants a chance to improve her personal wealth situation it will have to be done in the lower 55 states.
--The media is rough on her as it was rough on Dan Quayle. Both candidates blindsided the media with their selection. Media couldn't go to its files and pull up information so it had to actually do some work. Not the thing to do in an era of horse race journalism.
--Something is afoot out in flyover country as exemplified by the TEA Party movement. It is happening in spite of national politicians best efforts. It appears to be spontaneous and grass roots. The fact that Big Media had a news blackout on recent rallies tells me the power elites don't really know how to deal with it.
--Palin understands she will get nothing but indigestion and a twitchy eye from beltway republicans. So why not abandon the road map provided by northeastern elites and strike out cross country.
--TEA Parties will not go away any time soon. They provide a useful vent for the Joe and Martha Sixpack (aka "taxpayers") as they watch an absolute orgy of taxation and spending spill out of DC.
--A traditional way for "poor" politicians to begin the process of building personal wealth is a book deal. Substantial cash up front which is used to seed guided investments. Promotional tours provide the excuse for face time with Joe and Martha without a political pall being cast. Membership in think tanks is also a traditional way legitimately funneling cash to the "poor" politician while gaining some control over them. I kinda sorta doubt it will work with Palin.
It will be interesting to see how our political Betters from both parties deal with her and her effect. What democrats have done thus far hasn't worked. Look to the republican establishment to figure some way of marginalizing her.
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Palin quit her first term as Governor before it was over.
If she were to run for president, she will be eaten for breakfast by the media, just for that.
She's done. Probably make some money speaking and raising money for (R) candidates.
Otherwise, get the butter, cause that toast is done.
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While I like a number of things about her, I think leaving the way she has is going to be very bad for her career.
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Palin quit her first term as Governor before it was over.
If she were to run for president, she will be eaten for breakfast by the media, just for that.
She's done. Probably make some money speaking and raising money for (R) candidates.
Otherwise, get the butter, cause that toast is done.
The media has been feeding on her for almost a year now, so I'm not sure what difference it will make. But if this keeps her from serious consideration as a pres. candidate, all the better.
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Palin quit her first term as Governor before it was over.
If she were to run for president, she will be eaten for breakfast by the media, just for that.
She's done. Probably make some money speaking and raising money for (R) candidates.
Otherwise, get the butter, cause that toast is done.
i) she is on the breakfast menu whatever happens, and that includes retiring from politics absolutely and staying at home;
ii) if she has genuinely decided to run in 2012 and work totally towards that end, it is a rare example of honesty that she quits now in order to focus on it;
iii) as Waitone says, it is taxation and what govt is doing with the money that looks like being the issue for the short and medium term - indeed, it is even the issue over here (as the spectacular non-response to the Tory "gaffe" that they would cut spending by 10% in most departments over here showed).
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This includes the speculation of Trig's parentage and a baker's dozen of other sordid stories later shown to be exercises in fiction.
You're right. It was completely responsible of 44-year-old Sarah to fly from Texas to Alaska leaking amniotic fluid, and anyone looking for a reason, however speculative, for why she might not have treated her baby with such casual disregard is obviously just part of the liberal attack machine.
Her bizarre behavior didn't start the media attention, but it has sustained it since the election.
Funny hearing the strident "pro-choice" side all of a sudden becoming champions vis-a-vi "prenatal responsibiity"
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And Obama walked away from his first Senatorial job... So?
I see that a lot of people here think Palin's resignation makes her a quitter. Somehow I really doubt most Americans care or will care about that when and if she's running for President (if she does) against someone who will be perceived as an American autocrat bent on stripping away our last freedoms. What will matter is what she projects in terms of values and potential solutions to a republic in the throes of self-evisceration.
The days of predictable politics, with terms defined by the "elite," are over. We are up against it, and the issue now is survival, not political business as usual. I may be wrong; we'll see. But I think Palin's popularity will not be substantially changed by her resignation; those who didn't like her before will find new reasons not to, that's all.
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While I like a number of things about her, I think leaving the way she has is going to be very bad for her career.
It may well prove bad for her career, but I'm not sure it was the wrong thing to do. The media *expletive deleted*it storm she engenders was probably getting in the way of her doing her job as governor. A true leader puts the job ahead of himself (herself), and it sounds like that's what Palin decided to do by resigning. The media will no doubt try to ignore this fact, but she did a very selfless thing by standing down.
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And if the Lt. Governer is competent, as stated earlier in this thread, then the state is not getting shortchanged.
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Both Palin (who had already carried four other children to term) and her obstetrician thought her good-to-go. Not only that, she was induced when she arrived home, indicating she was no where near labor.
Not quite. There's more to it than what you found in a few minutes of googling. The doctor she called (Cathy Baldwin-Johnson, who also ended up delivering the baby) was her GP, not an obstetrician. That was part of the reason the rumor grew wings. Once Palin landed in Anchorage, which had a NICU, she drove 45 minutes to this place (http://www.matsuregional.com), which doesn't, because she was more comfortable having her GP deliver the baby (she'd also delivered one of Palin's previous babies).
Palin was 44. That's well into high-risk territory. Combined with the Down syndrome diagnosis, the fact that she had leaked amniotic fluid and felt contractions (Palin differentiated them from fake contractions she'd been experiencing previously), do you really think you can find an obstetrician who recommends getting on a plane in that situation? It seems to me like her GP was in over her head, and let Palin do whatever she wanted.
The fact that her labor was induced only seems to confirm that whatever happened in Texas was medically significant. Palin was just under 8 months pregnant. Why would they induce labor that early without a good reason?
Funny hearing the strident "pro-choice" side all of a sudden becoming champions vis-a-vi (sic) "prenatal responsibiity"
How is that relevant? If you decide to have a baby, you should do everything possible to protect it.
Palin had the right to handle her pregnancy and delivery any way she wanted, but for someone so determined to bring a Down syndrome baby into the world, I would think she would be a little (okay, a lot) more cautious. I wouldn't want a Vice President who was known to take risks like that with her own baby. Would you? It almost seems like she wanted to tempt fate.
What does Palin's resignation have to do with lack of experience? You mean if she were experienced she'd have stayed on? Is that what it says in the oh so successful Republican playbook?
If she had the political experience necessary to be a viable VP, she wouldn't be quitting halfway through a stint as Governor because of media attention and some unfounded (or so she claims) accusations of corruption. Part of political experience is learning to deal with increased scrutiny. I would expect a VP candidate to be able to weather this kind of storm. Suppose McCain/Palin had won and McCain died after two years. In that situation, media inquiry into every facet of Palin's life would be much worse than it is now. What would she do? Quit? I'm sure Nancy Pelosi would make a wonderful president. :cool:
A candidate without enough political experience means there's no way to predict how they'll react under intense pressure and media attention. Evidently 2 years as Governor was not enough to weed her out.
So, I ask: since some of you are so infatuated with her (as a political candidate), do you still think she would have been a good VP choice, and if not, how do you propose to catch future politicians like Palin who seem to be a bright and fresh face but can't really hack it? Since you don't like my gut instinct that she's got psychological problems, what hard evidence would you look for to avoid supporting someone like Palin on a presidential ticket in the future?
I've started looking through lists of governors from a few states, and I've found two that resigned for reasons other than health, scandals, or moving to D.C.: one was broke and the job wasn't paying enough (Thomas Drew - AR - 1849), and the other was from Alaska back before it became a state, and didn't like the job and wasn't likely to be re-elected (Benjamin Heintzleman - 1957). They both faded into political obscurity.
So if she wanted to resign like this, there's at least some precedent for it, but there's no precedent I've found yet for quitting while remaining politically active. Not to mention that none of those other quitters will have run for Vice President.
And Obama walked away from his first Senatorial job... So?
Quitting in order to move up in politics is completely different than saying "screw this" and walking away.
Carl Rove was on TV tonight saying this. Quitting her job as Governor in this manner is close to political suicide. The first question anyone's going to ask her if she starts a national campaign is, "How are you cut out for federal office when you couldn't even serve a full term as governor of Alaska?"
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Thread drift alert!!!
Something is afoot out in flyover country as exemplified by the TEA Party movement. It is happening in spite of national politicians best efforts. It appears to be spontaneous and grass roots. The fact that Big Media had a news blackout on recent rallies tells me the power elites don't really know how to deal with it.
--<snip>
--TEA Parties will not go away any time soon.
Wrong on both counts.
--The Tea Party phenomenon was not covered this last time because far fewer of them occurred. Those that did occur had fewer attendees.
--By this time next year, the Tea Parties will be forgotten.
Sorry. I now take you back to your regularly scheduled Palin thread.
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Not quite. There's more to it than what you found in a few minutes of googling. The doctor she called (Cathy Baldwin-Johnson, who also ended up delivering the baby) was her GP, not an obstetrician. That was part of the reason the rumor grew wings. Once Palin landed in Anchorage, which had a NICU, she drove 45 minutes to this place (http://www.matsuregional.com), which doesn't, because she was more comfortable having her GP deliver the baby (she'd also delivered one of Palin's previous babies).
Palin was 44. That's well into high-risk territory. Combined with the Down syndrome diagnosis, the fact that she had leaked amniotic fluid and felt contractions (Palin differentiated them from fake contractions she'd been experiencing previously), do you really think you can find an obstetrician who recommends getting on a plane in that situation? It seems to me like her GP was in over her head, and let Palin do whatever she wanted.
The fact that her labor was induced only seems to confirm that whatever happened in Texas was medically significant. Palin was just under 8 months pregnant. Why would they induce labor that early without a good reason?
How is that relevant? If you decide to have a baby, you should do everything possible to protect it.
Palin had the right to handle her pregnancy and delivery any way she wanted, but for someone so determined to bring a Down syndrome baby into the world, I would think she would be a little (okay, a lot) more cautious. I wouldn't want a Vice President who was known to take risks like that with her own baby. Would you? It almost seems like she wanted to tempt fate...
False premise based upon your entirely uninformed knowledge of Obstetrics and of Palin's personal medical condition. Yeah, I know, reading the smear machine lefty blogs qualifies you to judge Palin's ethics about her own pregnancy.
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I have mixed feelings on Palin, but the problem here, in my opinion, is not Palin's excessive vulnerability to media pressure but the fact that the pressure was cruel and unusual and that it was focused specifically on her because of what she is.
The awful irony is that Barack Obama had NO SCRUTINY, and I'm willing to bet that if he'd had one-tenth the drubbing Palin got he'd have quit before primary season.
This isn't really about Palin, it's about how the political game has changed and how the media pimp and whore for liberals and leftists in ways never before seen in America. If Palin can be driven out of politics ANY conservative can be, and you can damn well bet that if conservatives come up with a viable candidate that candidate is going to be ruthlessly and systematically targeted for destruction. If the Right wants to stop this they are going to have to make not only liberals but the media pay a price for their behavior.
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I wouldn't want a Vice President who was known to take risks like that with her own baby. Would you? It almost seems like she wanted to tempt fate.
And some of us are not okay with a President who takes wild risks with his country, almost seeming to tempt fate by his policies...
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I have mixed feelings on Palin, but the problem here, in my opinion, is not Palin's excessive vulnerability to media pressure but the fact that the pressure was cruel and unusual and that it was focused specifically on her because of what she is.
The awful irony is that Barack Obama had NO SCRUTINY, and I'm willing to bet that if he'd had one-tenth the drubbing Palin got he'd have quit before primary season.
This isn't really about Palin, it's about how the political game has changed and how the media pimps and whores for liberals and leftists in ways never before seen in America. If Palin can be driven out of politics ANY conservative can be, and you can damn well bet that if conservatives come up with a viable candidate that candidate is going to be ruthlessly and systematically targeted for destruction. If the Right wants to stop this they are going to have to make not only liberals but the media pay a price for their behavior.
This is one of the occasions I agree with longeyes wholeheartedly.
Also, the conspiracy theory Palin hate amazes me as much as the conspiracy theory Bush hate. Well, not really; it's the same people in both cases.
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Longeyes called it pretty well in his last post. It is a different game now.
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I think it really shows how the MSM perceive conservatives.
Liberal with a retarded/Downs child? Hero struggling against the odds.
Conservative with a retarded/Downs child? Monster who probably caused it, either through marrying a sibling or being negligent.
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If you decide to have a baby, you should do everything possible to protect it.
And that quite neatly guts the pro-abortion point of view, yes.
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"a Palin candidacy would be the greatest self-inflicted disaster since George McGovern or Barry Goldwater"
He missed the whopper: John McCain! Lamest Republican candidate in a very, very long time.
On a tangent - Goldwater was a great man. The "conservatism" he stood for back then would be called ultra-right, these days.
--If she wants a chance to improve her personal wealth situation it will have to be done in the lower 55 states.
I do hope this is a reference to Obama's 57-state Union... :D
It almost seems like she wanted to tempt fate.
Now why does that line sound familiar?
Leon Panetta on Dick Cheney: "he's wishing that this country would be attacked again". Give me a break.
Quitting in order to move up in politics is completely different than saying "screw this" and walking away.
I think what longeyes meant(and could certainly be wrong, but this is what I took from it), in saying that Obama walked away from his Senate position, was that Obama truly did just walk away from it; never seemed to participate in any governance. He was elected by the people of his state to do a job, and decided that he'd rather skip that part and go straight to the big house on the hill. As I said, that was just my take... but please don't tell me that you believe Obama ever took his Senate post seriously. If you need to use a counterexample, find someone else... someone who actually did his job.
Palin, to me, is unproven, but she talks a good conservative game. I wouldn't mind seeing her get a real shot at the primaries. I don't believe for a second that there's anything improper going on now, or in her past, that we haven't already been made aware of(and I'm fairly OK with what we know of so far). Truthfully, the biggest problem I have with her is the "bridge to nowhere" bit. I expect that the idea for the "thanks but no thanks" bit came from the McCain side of things, him being anti-pork as he is, and it really disgusted me that they repeatedly tried to spin it, in clear conflict with the truth.
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And Obama walked away from his first Senatorial job... So?
I see that a lot of people here think Palin's resignation makes her a quitter. Somehow I really doubt most Americans care or will care about that when and if she's running for President (if she does) against someone who will be perceived as an American autocrat bent on stripping away our last freedoms. What will matter is what she projects in terms of values and potential solutions to a republic in the throes of self-evisceration.
The days of predictable politics, with terms defined by the "elite," are over. We are up against it, and the issue now is survival, not political business as usual. I may be wrong; we'll see. But I think Palin's popularity will not be substantially changed by her resignation; those who didn't like her before will find new reasons not to, that's all.
Obama got a free ride: Palin did/will not. Also, Obama only quit his seat once elected.
I don't think she has the fortitude for the national spotlight, nor the scrutiny a real conservative candidate will receive. "Quitter" is what the pundits are already calling her, which makes it pretty clear what their line of attack will be should she run further.
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I think it really shows how the MSM perceive conservatives.
Liberal with a retarded/Downs child? Hero struggling against the odds.
Conservative with a retarded/Downs child? Monster who probably caused it, either through marrying a sibling or being negligent.
You know something, for once on issues of the press I agree. They had it in for her. I can't say I'm a fan of hers, but this particular angle of attack was abhorrent.
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Man, when even our English friends think the coverage is harsh you know it's bad. :)
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Iain, Ross Douthat (link via instapundit), thinks the treatment of Palin was an attack on / exposed the myth of the idea that anyone with ability and determination can grow up to be POTUS.
If Palin were exactly what her critics believe she is — the distillation of every right-wing pathology, from anti-intellectualism to apocalyptic Christianity — then she wouldn’t be a terribly interesting figure. But this caricature has always missed the point of the Alaska governor’s appeal — one that extends well outside the Republican Party’s shrinking base.
In a recent Pew poll, 44 percent of Americans regarded Palin unfavorably. But slightly more had a favorable impression of her. That number included 46 percent of independents, and 48 percent of Americans without a college education.
That last statistic is a crucial one. Palin’s popularity has as much to do with class as it does with ideology. In this sense, she really is the perfect foil for Barack Obama. Our president represents the meritocratic ideal — that anyone, from any background, can grow up to attend Columbia and Harvard Law School and become a great American success story. But Sarah Palin represents the democratic ideal — that anyone can grow up to be a great success story without graduating from Columbia and Harvard. . . .
Here are lessons of the Sarah Palin experience, for any aspiring politician who shares her background and her sex. Your children will go through the tabloid wringer. Your religion will be mocked and misrepresented. Your political record will be distorted, to better parody your family and your faith. (And no, gentle reader, Palin did not insist on abstinence-only sex education, slash funds for special-needs children or inject creationism into public schools.)
Male commentators will attack you for parading your children. Female commentators will attack you for not staying home with them. You’ll be sneered at for how you talk and how many colleges you attended. You’ll endure gibes about your “slutty” looks and your “white trash concupiscence,” while a prominent female academic declares that your “greatest hypocrisy” is the “pretense” that you’re a woman. And eight months after the election, the professionals who pressed you into the service of a gimmicky, dreary, idea-free campaign will still be blaming you for their defeat.
All of this had something to do with ordinary partisan politics. But it had everything to do with Palin’s gender and her social class.
Sarah Palin is beloved by millions because her rise suggested, however temporarily, that the old American aphorism about how anyone can grow up to be president might actually be true.
But her unhappy sojourn on the national stage has had a different moral: Don’t even think about it.
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Buried in the philosophical debate about meritocratic versus democratic ideals is this: Harvard and Yale et al. stopped representing the meritocracy some time ago just as they are no longer bastions of open and free inquiry. In the humanities and social sciences they have largely become arms of leftist ideology, euphemized and sugar-coated, spear-carriers for vogueish radical views that permit no disagreement. The view of many of this super-elite are, in essence, no different from those of the people in ACORN or La Raza or the ACLU or Morris Dees' organization. Harvard- and Yale-trained economists and MBAs have played a major role in our financial imbroglio. Harvard- and Yale-trained law professors are in the vanguard in chipping away at the Constitution. For personal reasons it gives me no pleasure to say this, but there it is. I can think of more than one graduate of these schools--one who comes to mine is a former Marine ('Nam service) who was an undergrad at Yale and got a law degree at Harvard--who has sworn to not give his alma maters a bloody cent until they "get it right again."
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One thing the election of Barack Obama proves is that anyone can still become President in America--if you have George Soros, the King of Saudi Arabia, and the NY media establishment behind you.
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Barack Obama won the election because he was black, and would never have even made it through the Iowa caucuses if he were white. Even given that advantage, a good Republican candidate could have taken him out, regardless of Soros and the media. I don't think the Republicans expected anyone to win last year, so they didn't field a good candidate.
Palin is one of those people the media and the elites will ridicule and dismiss as a lightweight, only to be checkmated later on. She has a natural ability to connect with people that even Obama would love to have. Given the right coaching, I think she could be a serious contender. If that were not true, the media wouldn't still be working her over now.
Nor would she be the first person to disappear from the national stage, only to come roaring back. Nixon comes to mind immediately.
I doubt very much she's through with politics. She said as much in interviews this morning:
Sarah Palin says she's not a quitter, she's a fighter, but adds that, politically speaking, "if I die, I die. So be it."
The Alaska governor spoke in taped interviews on ABC, NBC and CNN broadcast Tuesday morning.
She told CNN that "all options are on the table" for her future.
But told ABC's "Good Morning America" that she recognizes she might not have political staying power after her surprise resignation Friday, which came just as she had been expected to elevate her national profile ahead of a possible 2012 GOP presidential run.
"I said before ... 'You know, politically speaking, if I die, I die. So be it,'" she said.
Speaking in fishing waders from the town of Dillingham, Palin said her administration has been paralyzed by fending off frivolous lawsuits.
"I'm not going to take the comfortable path. I'm going to take the right path for the state," she said of her resignation, which she characterized as a matter of progressing in an unconventional way.
"That caught people off guard. ... It's out of the box and unconventional. That's what we are as Alaskans and certainly how I am as a public servant."
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Barack Obama won the election because he was black, and would never have even made it through the Iowa caucuses if he were white. Even given that advantage, a good Republican candidate could have taken him out, regardless of Soros and the media. I don't think the Republicans expected anyone to win last year, so they didn't field a good candidate.
I disagree. Obama won because he had the support of the people who have the ability to make him win (as mentioned above, but I would also add Murdoch and nearly every other media baron to the list), not because he was black. If Ron Paul, Al Franken or the clone of Benedict Arnold dressed in a red coat recieved similar support then they would probably have won as well.
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Of course race was a huge factor, but "race" is a cultural predicate that has to be promoted and that takes "presentation." Presentation costs money and requires ardent supporters. There was big money behind BHO and true believers willing to outright lie, hide, and distort. Money + lying often equal success.
I'm not sure, in this climate, that the Republicans had a candidate who could have beaten Obama last November. Who would that have been? Romney? Jindal? There were reasons McCain got the nod, and some of those can be ascribed to the Republican bosses and some to a confused Republican electorate.
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I think a major factor in Obama's win was that a great majority of Americans--especially the younger crowd--lack critical thinking skills. Interesting now to see media reports of so many Americans getting "more conservative."
TC
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McCain had a slight lead right up until the economy collapsed. Given how weak McCain was, Obama should have been much further ahead. Obama wasn't closing the deal.
If a white US senator from Chicago who was only recently elected, who had run for state office in 1994 as a socialist, who worked and was friends with a domestic terrorist, who attended a church where the pastor regularly spewed racist hatred, who had refused to wear a flag lapel pin after 9/11 and whose wife had made disparaging remarks about the US, who advocated leaving infants to die after they had emerged from the womb following botched abortions, who talked about "redistributing the wealth," who promised to run the coal industry out of business...if that candidate had been on the ballot, he wouldn't have gotten near the general election. No amount of money could have propped him up, and no media fawning would have kept the public from seeing the candidate for who he was.
Barack Obama was elected because: a) the people wanted someone other than Bush; and b) they wanted to elect a black man to make history.
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Well, one thing's undeniable: that 54 per cent certainly made history.
Or did they unmake history?
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I think Leatherneck is correct: we have a critical mass of people with suffrage who can't reason and lack the curiosity and will to inform themselves. The critical words in that sentence are "with suffrage;" citizens in a viable republic can't be empty-headed and expect to hang on to their freedoms. Something needs to be done about voter requirements (I can dream, can't I?) Of course we also now have elected representatives who apparently have no trouble voting on major legislation without reading it. Doesn't bode well.
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Interesting take, stevelyn. Elaboration, please.
One of the major criticisms about Palin's political qualifications outside the state has been her lack of of experience at the national level. Don Young, our lone congressman is getting long in the tooth and is reportedly starting to have health issues. He just recently filed his candidacy for his 22nd term in the HoR.
However, it is possible that he could withdraw his candidacy if the right replacement were found to take his place. Sarah Palin would be a perfect choice as she is young enough to start building the seniority that's needed as a lone representitve for Alaska and her popularity would likely make her a shoo-in for Don Young's seat. That way she could build up a resume' at the national level for later ambitions while being an effective representive of Alaska.
The other side of this is that as a collateral effect, the Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell can finish out the next 18 months of Palin's term and still run for two terms.
There has been some speculation that she may be eyeing Lisa Murkowski's Senate seat. But I think most Alaskans have been pretty satisfied with her performance and she isn't in any danger of getting voted out.
Maybe Alaskans wear/grow wookie suits?
Never seen any wookie suits for sale up here, but I've seen plety of crusty fishermen, miners and trappers that attempt to grow them.
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McCain had a slight lead right up until the economy collapsed. Given how weak McCain was, Obama should have been much further ahead. Obama wasn't closing the deal.
McCain also had a lead for the week or two following the convention. Coincidentally, that was just the time Palin was front and center as the newly-chosen veep nominee.
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Yeah. And before the media decided to help savage her.
TC
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I remember McCain's slide beginning right after he voted in favor the bank bailouts despite having dissed the idea.
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I remember McCain's slide beginning right after he voted in favor the bank bailouts despite having dissed the idea.
And all that weird campaign-suspension thing.
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Picking Palin for a running mate probably rivals the economy in terms of reasons for the McCain loss. She did not interview well and the word salad she'd get whenever a tough policy question came her way was bound to sink that ticket.
The latest twist in the Palin story follows the same course: it is obviously a political disaster, but some people have to imagine ways that it might be clever. "Maybe she's doing this, maybe she's doing that..." if you have to keep guessing to find a good reason for some event, that event was not a good political move.
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Because the other guy's VP interviewed excellently.
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Because the other guy's VP interviewed excellently.
In comparison, Joe Biden might as well have been Ronald Reagan. Those early interviews with Palin were more like something you'd expect from a high school student union rep.
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Because the other guy's VP interviewed excellently.
Palin wasn't ready, she wasn't versed in McCain's policies and platform, and she wasn't prepared for the exposure to the national media.
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Those early Palin interviews had more in common with a Michael Moore movie or Borat skit than journalism. Granted, she did poorly on some questions, but she did very well on some too. Guess which ones got left on the cutting room floor?
I'm not personally a Palin fanboi; I too think she lacks the thick layer of slime and ninja-like question dodging skills a serious poli-critter apparently needs these days. But the media's treatment of her is simply abhorrent.
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Go watch John Ziegler's video Media Malpractice and see for yourself how the media stacked the deck in the last election.
EVERYTHING that is happening right now is a "political disaster" because honesty and good faith and rationality are increasingly missing from the entire process. As I said above, Obama versus Palin in 2012 will not be the answer to what's gone wrong with this nation. We are watching a political Godzilla movie, not dealing with the root causes of the coming-apart.
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In comparison, Joe Biden might as well have been Ronald Reagan. Those early interviews with Palin were more like something you'd expect from a high school student union rep.
Palin's error wasn't that she interviewed at poorly, it was that she tried to interview at all. Anyone can be made to look foolish given a biased or hostile interviewer and a willingness to edit the interview to bring out the worst.
Maybe she should have known that they had it in for her and acted better to protect herself. I duno. But anyone who thinks the walking gaffe machine would have looked any better in the same circumstances hasn't been paying attention.
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Biden is BHO's life insurance.
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Biden is BHO's life insurance.
I think of Biden more like Obama's dead man's switch. Same idea though. :P
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I think it's been pretty well documented that Katie Couric asked "gotcha" questions during the interview, that the interviews were edited, and that the McCain campaign handlers had Palin on such a short leash that she wasn't able to come across as herself.
We can replay the campaign all we want, but the results remain the same. I just don't like having Palin continue to be ripped for faults that are miniscule when compared to BHO or Biden, neither of whom was asked a serious question during the entire campaign, and both of whom were given free rides when they really messed up.
What burns me even more is having the likes of Kathleen Parker sniping at Palin. Or this snippet from today's Cal Thomas column:
Lastly, she needs a hair, makeup and wardrobe makeover. She is a beautiful woman, but appearance should not be the first thing one reacts to when people look at her.
So, she's supposed to "ugly up" to be taken seriously? Do we really want another candidate who looks like Hillary?
With friends like this...
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Again, go watch Ziegler's doc. Palin was deliberately sabotaged, just as Obama was wrapped in gold.
Women in politics with "stuff" in America are still an anomaly, and Palin carries that burden. She is strong but womanly, and it's clear that many people in this country don't have a clue how to deal with that.
My view of modern liberalism is that it is mainly about repressing our deepest instincts and lying about the ones that aren't repressed. Is it any wonder that what is left to release often turns out to be tinged with viciousness? We are able to discern "sexual rage" in Islamic extremists but not in our own intellectual elites.
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So, she's supposed to "ugly up" to be taken seriously?
Wasn't that the purpose of the glasses/hairdo? And FWIW, I've never understood the "OMG HOTTTT" reception of Palin. It just seemed ridiculously over-the-top. She was decent-looking for her age, sure. Nothing spectacular.
She was taken very seriously, thus the constant railing against her. The railing against her was of a personal note because her political positions are pretty good ones. It's also easier to appear to be unbiased when you're not talking about what an idiot someone is for holding this position or that, and just focus on the fact that they peed in the lobby fountain of a Marriott in 1981, and are thus insane.
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Why didnt I get a Fistful name? Is "Fistful Bach" already taken?
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Wasn't that the purpose of the glasses/hairdo? And FWIW, I've never understood the "OMG HOTTTT" reception of Palin. It just seemed ridiculously over-the-top. She was decent-looking for her age, sure. Nothing spectacular.
After looking at Hillary, Michelle Obama, Madeline Albright, Dianne Feinstein, Carolyn McCarthy, Nancy Pelosi, and the other Washington madams, Palin was like a Playboy centerfold.
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In comparison, Joe Biden might as well have been Ronald Reagan. Those early interviews with Palin were more like something you'd expect from a high school student union rep.
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/07/08/sarah-barracuda-palin-and-the-piranhas-of-the-press/
"The good senator from Delaware warmed up slowly, erroneously claiming that McCain voted with Obama on a budget resolution, and asserting wrongly that Obama wanted to return to the Reagan-era marginal income tax rates. He also embarked on an appallingly wrongheaded monologue about the constitutional history of the vice presidency. But when the talk turned to national security, presumably Biden's purported area of expertise, he went completely off the grid.
• "John McCain voted against a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty that every Republican has supported," Biden stated. (Actually, in a 1999 vote in Congress, McCain sided with 50 other Republicans to kill the treaty. Only four joined the Democrats.)
• "Pakistan already has deployed nuclear weapons," Biden said. "Pakistan's weapons can already hit Israel and the Mediterranean." (Pakistan has no known intercontinental missiles. The range of its weapons is thought to be 1,000 miles – halfway to Israel.)
• "When we kicked--along with France--we kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon, I said and Barack said, 'Move NATO forces in there. Fill the vacuum, because if you don't...Hezbollah will control it.'" Biden recalled. "Now what's happened? Hezbollah is a legitimate part of the government in the country immediately to the north of Israel." (Except that the U.S. never kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon or anywhere else. They've been entrenched in Lebanon since 1982. Actually, Hezbollah, insofar as it was responsible for the 1983 suicide bombing at the Marine barracks that killed 241 U.S. servicemen, kicked America out of Lebanon, not the other way around.)
• "The president...insisted on elections on the West Bank, when I said, and others said, and Barack Obama said, 'Big mistake. Hamas will win. You'll legitimize them.' What happened? Hamas won," Biden said. (Only the last two words of Biden's strange soliloquy are true. The rest are false. For one thing, Fatah controls the West Bank. Biden was thinking of Gaza. Secondly, neither Biden nor Obama predicted the 2006 victory for Hamas in Gaza's legislative elections. Third, McCain and Obama – but not Biden -- signed a letter urging the president to pressure Palestinians to require that candidates adhere to democratic principles before being allowed to run for office. Fourth, Biden served as an election observer and later wrote an article expressing high praise for Bush's actions. To sum up: One factual error and three fibs in only 31 words. Pretty impressive, in its way.)
• "With Afghanistan, facts matter...we spend more money in three weeks on combat in Iraq than we spend on the entirety of the last seven years that we have been in Afghanistan. Let me say that again..." (He did say it again, but that didn't make it true. It's wildly and weirdly off the mark. Yes, facts matter. The facts here were that at the time Biden was speaking, the U.S. had spent $172 billion in Afghanistan. The Iraq War consumes between $7 billion and $8 billion every three weeks. Biden's math was off by 2,000 percent.)
• "Can I clarify this? This is simply not true about Barack Obama. He did not say (he'd) sit down with Ahmadinejad." (He most certainly did. And among those who criticized him at the time for it was Joe Biden, who told Byron York of National Review that the idea of a president meeting with the likes of the Iranian president or Hugo Chavez was "naïve.")
Those were alarming mistakes. To me Biden's most discordant claims concerned his Animal House-like history lecture about the office of the vice president. It came while Biden was dressing down Dick Cheney, who was not present, for supposedly being unfamiliar with the Constitution. "The idea (that) he doesn't realize that Article I of the Constitution defines the role of the vice president of the United States – that's the executive branch – he works in the executive branch," Biden said. "He should understand that. Everyone should understand that. And the primary role of the vice president of the United States is to support the president of the United States of America, give that president his or her best judgment when sought, and, as vice president, to preside over the Senate, only in a time when in fact there's a tie vote. The Constitution is explicit....He has no authority relative to the Congress. The idea he's part of the legislative branch is a bizarre notion invented by Cheney to aggrandize the power of a unitary executive, and look where it has gotten us."
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melllyn, just a bit of fair warning: don't confuse Shootinstudent with the truth. ;)
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Who said Joe Biden was a great interviewee? Of course he screws up - all the time. But even then he still makes Palin look like a high school student union rep.
Palin's interviews were so bad that Saturday night live was running them as the script for its routines - unedited. I saw said skits and had no idea at the time that they were genuine; I thought the comedians had written them to lampoon Palin.
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Who said Joe Biden was a great interviewee? Of course he screws up - all the time. But even then he still makes Palin look like a high school student union rep.
Palin's interviews were so bad that Saturday night live was running them as the script for its routines - unedited. I saw said skits and had no idea at the time that they were genuine; I thought the comedians had written them to lampoon Palin.
And often when he's lying, he sounds like he's telling the truth. Biden, that is. :laugh:
Palin often sounds like she's dazed and confused. Sound bites count in this country.
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The funny thing about Biden is that it's when he's screwing up that you sometimes hear the truth, as with his admission the other day that they had no idea the economy was as bad as it was.
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If they actually aired Biden and Obama's screw ups it'd be less of an issue. But demanding perpetual perfection from your candidate (lest their sound bites be spread far and wide) while the opposition gets a complete free pass is not realistic.
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Who says Palin is the antidote to Obama-Biden? Many of us agree with much of what she believes in, but that doesn't make her by any means ideal for the task ahead. Her rousing acceptance by the Right has been largely because she is a refreshing reminder of basic values in a time when we have come to accept the near universality of misinformation and outright disinformation by the politically powerful class. But we will need more than just a simple recitation of basic values to stop the insanity and get America back on track. It is clear that any candidate "on the Right" will become a target of merciless leftist forces. If we are smart we will begin to adopt tactics better suited to the realities of the situation and stop telling ourselves we are "above all that."
As for Palin's interviews, it might help to see the stuff that was cut. Again, check out Ziegler's Media Malpractice for a deeper view of how Couric et al. played fast and loose with the truth.
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Longeyes is right in that Palin is not the be all end all of the conservative movement. A damn sight better than our current R party leaders tho.
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There are no ideal candidates. Frankly, I'd prefer an uncharismatic, or even downright stupid candidate who can figure out the issues and agrees with me philosophically to one that doesn't. I realize that he/she/it will be working with advisors anyway.
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There are no ideal candidates. Frankly, I'd prefer an uncharismatic, or even downright stupid candidate who can figure out the issues and agrees with me philosophically to one that doesn't. I realize that he/she/it will be working with advisors anyway.
I'd be happy to vote for and elect a presidential candidate who was paraplegic and had no hands at all.
At least none of these asinine bills coming from Congress would be signed into law then.
I guess Palin would fit that ideal if we whacked her hands off at the wrists.
Aside from that grotesque and unrealistic scenario, I can't think of a decent person today fit to hold the office of President.
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Perhaps what we need is a moratorium on all legislative flapdoodle, along with the rescission of much of the legislation of the last some years. Instead of a nuclear build-down we need a legislative build-down. As for the executive we need someone who can handle the existential military threats facing this country. Internally, we need less government and more self-control. This country's getting more and more top-heavy; beware of strong winds.
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Our minds are being clouded by omnipresent "entertainment."
As I said elsewhere, this is not a Godzilla movie, with EveryWoman confronting some 100-foot scaly fire-snorter. This isn't mythology. It's politics. Practical stuff. Just as the Left has infused Obama with mythic dimensions, we are trying to infuse Palin with mythic dimensions.
There are real problems out there, both here and abroad, and it doesn't take the proverbial rocket science to figure out what a strong foreign policy built around core American virtues would look like any more than it does to figure out what the building blocks of a strong economy are. All of this is familiar territory, but for some reason we are throwing away our common sense and knowledge of history and belief in ourselves. That "some reason" is a deliberate, concerted, and massive attack on everything that has made America great by people in the "idea class"--academia, media, entertainment--over forty years. We can start there.
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Perhaps what we need is a moratorium on all legislative flapdoodle, along with the rescission of much of the legislation of the last some years. Instead of a nuclear build-down we need a legislative build-down. As for the executive we need someone who can handle the existential military threats facing this country. Internally, we need less government and more self-control. This country's getting more and more top-heavy; beware of strong winds.
All you have to do is get one legislator to piggy back it into some really good sounding legislation: You know they don't read anything they pass, anyway!
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Aside from that grotesque and unrealistic scenario, I can't think of a decent person today fit to hold the office of President.
I can name ten, off-hand. Here: You, JamisJockey, Mike Irwin, longeyes, Gewehr98, shootinstudent, Balog, Manedwolf, LadySmith, AJDual.
Any decent person with the correct views would do, if he were backed by a dedicated political movement ready to support him through the struggle.
And let's face it:
If such a person were to be elected, he would have to face a struggle of abjectly mythical proportions. I disagree with longeyes here - the evil we face has been polluting Western Civilization with its presence since at least the 1930's. It's been known as Progressivism, Statism, Socialism, whichever you may call it. We cannot face it through the lens of politics as usual. We need to see ourselves as the heroes of old - as the Civil Rights marchers perharps, or perhaps as the abolitionists.
The struggle of 'fringe' men like Wayne Fincher or Steve Kubby needs to be backed - morally, politically, financially - by major political bodies. We must assert the moral differences between liberty and the state, and we must assert this publicly and loudly, by repudiating the statist platform on each and every front.
To borrow the Star Wars metaphor, we are now at the edge of the Sarlacc pit.
Which only means that Jabba is really, really screwed.
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I myself couldn't do it.
There are politicians out there who could do it, and do a great job of restoring liberty and freedom to our country. Ron Paul for one.
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I myself couldn't do it.
There are politicians out there who could do it, and do a great job of restoring liberty and freedom to our country. Ron Paul for one.
There is no Ron Paul.
Ron Paul is a lie concocted by the vast wookie-suited conspiracy.
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I don't think any of us could be effective politicians. We don't have the skill set necessary to succeed in modern politics (well, maybe SS could, he's good at twisting words). It seems that Palin didn't have enough of the skill set, either. She was too trusting, honest, and direct.
Now, if there was nothing more to the job than administering the government then we might do reasonably well.
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I'd make a good Emperator. First order of business: constructing the Golden Throne of Terra and having a little chat with my boy Horus...
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I'd make a good Emperator. First order of business: constructing the Golden Throne of Terra and having a little chat with my boy Horus...
You... do realize the Golden Throne is a life-support device?
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You... do realize the Golden Throne is a life-support device?
In case the chat with Horus didn't go so well. :P
And technically it's a stasis field, not really life support.
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Yeah, I'd rather be emperor, not president.
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I'd be a kick-ass "Benevolent Despot" in the Socratic fashion.
Anyone want to kneel before my magnanimous presence? :angel:
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I myself couldn't do it.
There are politicians out there who could do it, and do a great job of restoring liberty and freedom to our country. Ron Paul for one.
Then I wish he'd get started.
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I'd make a good Emperator. First order of business: constructing the Golden Throne of Terra and having a little chat with my boy Horus...
He the God-Emperor of Mankind... show some respect! Bloody Yanks.
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He the God-Emperor of Mankind... show some respect! Bloody Yanks.
Hey, if I'm taking over the gig I get to decide my title. You can feel free to call me that though, bloody Limey. :P
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Well, if you're going to be like the EoM, we get to ignore most of your teachings once you get on the Throne. :D
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Hey, if I'm taking over the gig I get to decide my title. You can feel free to call me that though, bloody Limey. :P
To imitate Him is heresy!
(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffc01.deviantart.com%2Ffs19%2Fi%2F2007%2F294%2F5%2F1%2FEisenhorn_Wallpaper_by_TehAardvark.png&hash=c6ddac7534aaf0e9e2b19f1c9de39bbc37953f42)
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Who is that drag queen?
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eisenhorn#Gregor_Eisenhorn
http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Eisenhorn
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Well, if you're going to be like the EoM, we get to ignore most of your teachings once you get on the Throne. :D
The Black Ships will be along shortly, heretic.
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If such a person were to be elected, he would have to face a struggle of abjectly mythical proportions. I disagree with longeyes here - the evil we face has been polluting Western Civilization with its presence since at least the 1930's. It's been known as Progressivism, Statism, Socialism, whichever you may call it. We cannot face it through the lens of politics as usual. We need to see ourselves as the heroes of old - as the Civil Rights marchers perharps, or perhaps as the abolitionists.
Thanks, but I'm not running, and President Longeyes has an odd ring to it... :)
I actually agree with you about this, especially about the need for the equivalent of a massive civll rights movement to deal with our common foe.
What I meant was that Obama and Palin have been absorbed and co-opted by the pop myth culture, and this makes winning this thing more, not less, difficult. Palin is not Joan of Arc, and Obama is not the Whore of Babylon... Well, wait a minute, now that I think about it...
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The Black Ships will be along shortly, heretic.
I would need to be a psyker to qualify for this.
[It is a little-known fact that the Emperor was a militant atheist and prohibited worship of himself. After he got strapped into the throne, the Imperial Cult became part of the works for propaganda reasons.]
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WoW, this is wandering way off the reservation. Politics, please.
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When I'm God-Emperor of Mankind I promise a chicken in every pot and death to the Xenos scum! No, wait, probably not the sort of politics you meant...
In any case, I'm interested in how this has been playing out in Alaska. Any updates from Carebear or Stevelyn?
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Your questions answered; here's why she stepped down.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_kSUNn5rgE&feature=player_embedded
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Your questions answered; here's why she stepped down.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_kSUNn5rgE&feature=player_embedded
Hokay...(RocketMan scratches head, wanders off in complete befuddlement.)
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>And technically it's a stasis field, not really life support.<
Ummm... it's original purpose was as an amplifier, to give astrogators a beacon to navigate by.
Hey... wait a sec...
Is there some way we can convince the TOTUS that this would be a good idea?
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Your questions answered; here's why she stepped down.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_kSUNn5rgE&feature=player_embedded
Poor Al. The smaller your audience, the crazier your callers. :laugh:
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That was actually crazier than the WH40K discussion we're having. Heck, that's stranger than ANYTHING I've seen here on APS yet!
I want some of whatever she's smoking!
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Your questions answered; here's why she stepped down.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_kSUNn5rgE&feature=player_embedded
Meh. That's not crazy.
This is crazy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-BFqsb1hC8
Cynthia Mckinney. (D), GA.
Anyhow, she's stated at this point that she stepped down to get out of the way, that lawsuits against her and her administration were hampering her ability to run the state. I'm curious, anyone know what these lawsuits were?
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Even more piling on
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090710/ap_on_re_us/us_palin_resignation
By MARY PEMBERTON, Associated Press Writer Mary Pemberton, Associated Press Writer – 20 mins ago
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The former fiance of Gov. Sarah Palin's 18-year-old daughter says he thinks he knows why the Alaska governor is resigning — concerns over money.
Levi Johnston, 19, whose wedding to Bristol Palin was called off earlier this year, says he believes the governor is resigning over personal finances.
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Meh. That's not crazy.
This is crazy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-BFqsb1hC8
Cynthia Mckinney. (D), GA.
Anyhow, she's stated at this point that she stepped down to get out of the way, that lawsuits against her and her administration were hampering her ability to run the state. I'm curious, anyone know what these lawsuits were?
Isn't she being held by the Israelis right now for trying to run a blockade?
;/ :lol:
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Levi Johnston, 19, whose wedding to Bristol Palin was called off earlier this year, says he believes the governor is resigning over personal finances.
First the little bastard leaves, then he tries to hawk a tell-all book, and now he's making statements based purely on assumptions.
If Palin were like our governor here in WI, that kid would be at the bottom of Lake Michigan.
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First the little bastard leaves, then he tries to hawk a tell-all book, and now he's making statements based purely on assumptions.
If Palin were like our governor here in WI, that kid would be at the bottom of Lake Michigan.
In the article is says Palin has stated they've got over half a mil in legal fees. Putting the article together in a linear fashion, and ignoring the little punk's agenda.....I'd probably do the same thing.
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The reality of Palin's situation aside, Levi Johnson strikes me as a poster-boy for exactly what is wrong with the YouTube generation. He has already had far more than the 15 minutes of fame (or infamy) he is entitled to and is way overdrawn on his moral account.
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Yup, ol' Levy comes across as a guy who doesn't want to let his 15 minutes end. Sadly, if he pays his cards right he could have an eager audience of
deranged Palin smearers reputable media outlets hanging on his every word.
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Meh. That's not crazy.
This is crazy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-BFqsb1hC8
Cynthia Mckinney. (D), GA.
Anyhow, she's stated at this point that she stepped down to get out of the way, that lawsuits against her and her administration were hampering her ability to run the state. I'm curious, anyone know what these lawsuits were?
They aren't lawsuits. Thye're drive-by ethics complaints generated mostly as Carebear stated, singlehandedly by a leftist blogger without a life or job.
Each and everyone of have been without merit and slapped down upon examination of the facts, but regardless, it still costs money to have them investigated and defended against.
The reality of Palin's situation aside, Levi Johnson strikes me as a poster-boy for exactly what is wrong with the YouTube generation piece of white trash that'll never amount to anything more than what he is now without screwing someone else over in order to attain it. He has already had far more than the 15 minutes of fame (or infamy) he is entitled to and is way overdrawn on his moral account.
There.......... I fixed it for you.
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There.......... I fixed it for you.
Would I get banned if I suggested you removed the word "over" in your emboldened text? It is perhaps more accurate in this instance.
=D
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Would I get banned if I suggested you removed the word "over" in your emboldened text? It is perhaps more accurate in this instance.
=D
Maybe they're both accurate?
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Maybe they're both accurate?
Well...at least we know Levi's singular talent.... :laugh:
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There are politicians out there who could...do a great job of restoring liberty and freedom to our country. Ron Paul for one.
Again, if he is one of those people, it's about time he got started. In a republic, it's not enough to have the right ideas (if Paul has them.) You can't just dictate policy. You have to convince enough people to elect you, and you have to get Congress behind you. When Ron Paul figures out how to do that, he'll be restoring liberty and freedom.
Or, he could put his efforts into building a movement (not necessarily a formal political party) that will do that. Yeah, I know; Campaign for Liberty - time will tell.