While I’m not a person who scares easily, I’ll be brutally honest and say this woman scares me more than any politician I’ve known in any country. She scares me far more than the chillingly cheerful Russian leaders we were taught were our enemies when we were children. She scares me more than Franco, and I spent a fair amount of time in Spain when Franco was enjoying the last wind in his sails before his ultimate fall. She certainly scares me more than Maggie Thatcher or Ronald Reagan ever managed to do; and whilst I viewed the emergence of George Bush the Younger on the political scene in 2000 with the sort of horror reserved for observing an impossibly drunk fraternity boy opening his flies on a wintery evening to write his name in piss on the snow, I viewed Palin’s debut on the political stage with abject fright.
Just as I’d had Bush pegged as the rich frat guy you enjoyed hanging out with until he got drunk and puked on your shoes, from the minute I saw Palin, she oozed the mean girl gene. And I mean “mean.”
But what alarmed me even more, as the campaign season swung forward, was her abject ignorance. The interview with Charlie Gibson, where she had no idea what a particular foreign policy initiative was and tried to blag her way through the question (“In what respect, Charlie?” Smile sweetly, bat the eyelids.), impressed upon me the image of a woman who’d used her looks to progress as far as she had. She really was the Homecoming Queen who’d stepped up to the plate to become Queen of the Prom, and this was it. Then came the Katie Couric interview, where her answer to what newspapers she read (“some of’em, all of’em”) was a frantic clutching at straws and where her total ignorance of any Supreme Court decision was almost comical (“I’ll get back to ya on that one.”)
Then came the subtle hate speeches, where she intimated that Candidate Obama wasn’t exactly like any other candidate who’d run before, if he were, at all, like any American. After all, he “palled around” with terrorists.
In all honesty, I’m not certain whether Palin, herself, frightens me or whether what she and her followers radiate as a whole, frightens me more. It’s not just the cult of anti-elitism, it’s the ingrained idea that anyone who obtains a university degree from a quality institution, much less someone who attains a professional degree from a law school or a graduate degree is something pejorative. It’s the whole idea that they’ve almost been chosen by a cruel Christian god whom they’ve appropriated to impart their message of entitlement to take this country back to a time in which they fervently believe, but which actually never existed.
The Founding Fathers whose memories she verbally fondles in her speeches were the most elite members of society of their time. They were Deists, and some were even atheists. They were cultural products of the Age of Reason. If Thomas Jefferson or James Madison came back today, Palin would sneeringly label them “Democrats.” If Jesus Christ appeared, he’d be denounced as a Progressive and castigated. Again.
Palin’s made racism fashionable again. I guess you could say that racism is the new black this season, all because there’s an intelligent, articulate and compassionate black man in the White House. But it’s not that sort of racism. It’s the sort which leads people to make campaign adverts showing distinctly dark men hovering around a suspicious gate, intimating that Latinos are suspected of being here illegally; it’s the sort of ignorance borne of that sort of racism which leads a candidate for the United States Senate to remark condescendingly to a room of Latino students that some of them “looked Asian.” It’s a plea to “peaceful Muslims” to “refudiate” their inalienable right to worship as they please where they please. It’s pointing out in the worst possible and most tactless way that the First Lady of the United States is not “one of us,” whatever that means.
What frightens me even more is the attention this woman garners. Honestly, the late Princess of Wales didn’t garner this much hype at her peak. MSNBC gives her as much attention as Fox, and Fox employs her. Almost every morning, Joe Scarborough and his lackeys sit around their table and plot various ways by which this woman not only can secure the Republican Presidential nomination, they plot her course to the White House. Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann certainly talk about her as much as they ever did Hillary, but without the venom; and their criticisms are such that one is left with the definite impression that if they got the opportunity and she gave them the chance, they’d fuck her. On his latest Sunday program, Matthews even compared her favourably to Bill Clinton in political acumen.
The press are obsessing about her viability as a Presidential candidate. I wish they’d stop. Because the more they obsess, the more concrete the possibility becomes, and then I’m forced to remember that this is the country who deemed Richard Nixon dead in the water, after he went down in defeat to Pat Brown in the 1962 California gubernatorial race, and Nixon stormed back in 1968 to win, not one, but two terms as President. His second Administration not only left us with the legacy of Watergate, it also left us with Roger Ailes and Karl Rove, who cut their teeth either working on media strategy for the Republican party or ratfucking the Democrats in the name of Nixon.
And this is also the country which enabled the Supreme Court to annoint George W Bush as 43rd President of the United States, and then elected him to a second term out of sheer fear, they guy with whom you’d want to share a beer. This is the country who elected a black man to clean up the mess left by the trust fund frat boy, but who somehow can’t seem to accept the fact that this President speaks to us and treats us as though we’re children.
And the big fright is that there’s just about enough of us Oedipal enough to want to throw caution and reason to the wind, conjuring up age-old images of dark bogeymen, creatures from the black lagoon and things that go bump in the night, to seek solace in the bosom of a Mama Grizzly.
Palin is a pathetic self serving idiot who has been convinced by viagra laden wrinklies that she has what it takes to be President. I truly want to believe that the majority of US citizens will make sure this dangerous and stupid women gets nowhere near the White House.
Quite frankly, if I can get away with saying this here, Sarah is where she is today because McCain wanted to fuck her.
Kurt Vonnegut and Sarah Palin
http://palingates.blogspot.com/2010/12/kurt-vonnegut-man-without-country-and.html
From Russia with Love….
“Foreign Press says what America won’t Sarah Palin is a Traitor”
http://www.politicususa.com/en/foreign-sarah-palin-traitor
http://english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/30-11-2010/115998-spankin_sarah-0/
The words of Barbara Bush
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TNVB3SgyX8
Ed Rollins in a message to Sarah Palin
I will whistle a happy tune if I feel afraid
Quite the scathing article, Patsy. Very good.
But then this was funny.
😆 😆 😆
Bito You know how people ask, “Is there something in my teeth?”
Then they show you their teeth as if you want to really look in their mouth.
Our press can’t see themselves in the mirror.
Vampires?
Patsy, we have to fair and have both sides heard. 🙂 They called it out in that article, plan and simple, she offers nothing but snipes and snark at a third graders level. Those were both good articles.
Just like you noticed the other day on Hardball, she’s a money maker.
Wait isn’t that shorthand for a street walker? “Shake that money maker?”
Let me entertain you,
let me make you smile.
Let me do some new tricks
some old and then some blue tricks
I’m very versatile….
OK and the press -Vampires!
you can’t see their reflection in the mirror!
Thinking about Palin, which is painful to say the least, and having linked to her recent “verbal” diarrhea on MB just because she seems to be becoming that more crazy with each statement, I think we should all put our hands together and thank the person who brought her into our lives.
Thank you John McCain for letting out this “evil” genie out of the bottle that was your desperate last (we hope so anyway) try for the presidential bid of 08′. We thank your campaign staff, and of course you yourself for accepting her, your staff for their excellent job of vetting her, and getting her ready for your losing debates. Without your help, Ms. Wasilliness would still be in Alaska, where quite frankly she belongs.
Thanks John boy, you certainly know how to pick em.
OK, I’ll say it.
Her followers scare me more than she does.
The idea that somehow educamacation is “bad” scares me more than she does.
Willful ignorance. Fear it. “Stupid and damn proud of it!”
In terms of ruthlessness and ambition, she’s Nixon. But she doesn’t have anywhere near his drive, nothing like his work ethic, his obsession with details, anywhere near his intelligence. Plus, the age we live in is different now. Nixon became president when it was still possible for a “maverick” who wasn’t particularly liked by party elders to bully and scrap his way to the Prize.
These days, candidates get hand picked by elitists who like to keep their names out of the paper, and then forced on the public through their (the backroom guys) media connections. No doubt, some of those types are confident they can mold her into a president, but there seems to be a huge amount of disagreement about her in the smoke filled rooms. It was easy for them to anoint Dubya. He came from their class, he would do their bidding, he pleased both the money crowd and the fundie crowd. Palin has the fundies, but not much else. I just don’t see her getting the nomination. In fact, I see her flaming out long before then.
I would actually argue that Palin is not a puppet, she is a “rogue” ego-mad loon and has used her platform of lunacy to gain greater and greater publicity and followers.
However, this is a sword that cuts both ways. Her extremism and anti-intellectualism may bring fervent supporters but it alienates the great majority from her. With these dynamics, the only way for her to be a player with power in the GOP is to be someone offensive to most voters.
Any move to the middle would damage her support by her followers and would not move people who already have cemented their impression of her as ignorant. I mean, you can’t “move” from ignorant anyway.
She will be more of a minefield for the GOP and a boon to energizing Dems. During the election this year, she was one of the most powerful fund raising tools for Dems! Raising the spectre of she and her cronies having power in Congress made many races far closer than predicted.
I said it before and I will say it until Nov 2012, Palin is not electable in a GE and she will end up harming the GOP far more than the Dems in the run up to the GE.
I think she’s very much a narcissist very similar to Bush Jr., only more so.
A stupid narcissist who is too narcissistic to realize just how stupid she really is.
I agree with you, Adlib. I see her more in the Nixon mold, i.e., NOT a puppet. But I think there are those among the Christian elitists who would very much like to MAKE her a puppet.
Marion,
Tonight on Hardball Chris Matthews and David Corn were finishing up a bit on SP
with their sidekick Pat Buchanan.
It was David Corn that slipped it in at the end,”She is good for Business”,
and Matthews added with total zest, “SHE SURE IS”.
I took that as, their own business of hype.
They love this banter.
Just why did Chris Matthews put a image of Palin on his intro?
I am not afraid of this woman but would urge everyone to school up on her
and have plenty facts at the ready.
Including the New Testament.
JC would totally toss her out of the Temple!
Great info on this American Experience/Frontline PBS special
If anyone hasn’t seen it check it out.
View all the episodes on line.
http://www.pbs.org/godinamerica/view/
I caught that too, Patsy. Even though we all know that the MSM is a whore to whatever gets them more viewership, what’s stunning is how openly they admitted it. They confirm publicly now that they are indeed addicted to promoting a lunatic’s ravings as newsworthy even though doing so poisons the country and makes progress on serious issues more difficult.
Not exactly what Jefferson and Co. had in mind with the 1st Amendment.
No shame at all!
Just think about how they talk in the dressing rooms.
How about Wikileaks do some work on them?
Especially that Fox group.
Darnit I just got here and already have to leave. You all have a good night.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wbOjfax9mA&feature=player_embedded
Thank you Sarah for knowing where true wisdom and strength is found, and for being willing to share it!
…if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)
~ A commenter on YouTube
I have a joke about Bush the Lesser. He is the guy that after a few drinks at the bar, you yuck it up with him. At the end of the night you all swear to keep in touch and when you wake up the next morning you wonder what in the fuck was wrong with you and hoping he lost your number.
A nightmare would be you wake up the next morning and he’s beside you.
OMG you would never see someone jump out of bed so fast. The picture just made me throw up in my mouth a bit.
I aim to nauseate 😉
Q – must you be SO successful????
Coyote Ugly? 😆
Honestly, I really thought that that’s where that was gonna go.
Marion
You have it right. She is the coming Manchurian Candidate. People over at HP dismiss her as irrelevant, at their own peril. She is the ONE that the dominionists are putting forward to lead this nation in a godly manner. If people don’t start paying close attention to this freak show, they are going to wake up on Nov 4 or 5 2012 and wonder what the hell hit them.
Like you say, the media is putting her out there and desperately fawning over the bitch. We will see if she can hold up to the debates and media access she won’t be able to avoid but I sincerely believe it is either her or Gingrich. He is also cozying up to the Dominionists.
This is his website and if you look around enough he is now surrounded by New Apostolic Reformation(dominionists).
http://www.torenewamerica.com/index.php
Here is a website that Choice Lady passed on to me that tracks what the religious right is doing. She gets down and dirty
http://godsownparty.com/blog/tag/christians/
Hi SueinCA! Godsownparty is Leah Burton’s web site. She’s the author of the forthcoming book, “Palin’s America: God, Guns, and Greed”. She has a regular radio show appearance (can you “appear” on radio? Well, you know what I mean) in the northwest every couple of weeks, and hits a North Carolina NATIONAL broadcast about once a month. The calls just FLOOD in. People are beginning to grasp how rotten to the core the New Apostolic Reformation – aka Dominists – beliefs are.
Every time we can, we need to point out on every blog we visit that the Tea party, Newt, et al. are Dominionists or surround themselves with same. To my knowledge, outside of the C Street people, the only politico to out himself as believing in the End Times and all it means is good ol’ Tom Delay. You cannot imagine my pleasure that he just got convicted of money laundering. He is certainly into the “Greed” part of the GGG equation. God? Not so much.
Thanks for adding Leah’s link. It’s a good site, very insightful.
I know I left you a comment below. Did you get my vm?
Hi- Indeed. Will call soon, down with some creepy flu thing but will try to call tomorrow or even later today. Thank you!
Sorry to hear that CL, get some rest and feel better!
Watch out for Sam Brownback. He is Opus Dei and still goes to an evangelical church although he converted to Catholicism back in 02 or sometime near then. Also Huckabee. He may sound SoBaptist but his covenent marriage thing is starting to float with the GOP. I heard somewhere(and now I cannot remember) where some in congress were looking at it to strengthen DOMA. I think it was Talk To Action. Another good site. You might be interested in this piece.
http://www.talk2action.org/story/2010/1/20/131544/037
OMG it sounds positively Da Vinci Code.
It’s a religious mafia!
Someone should write a screenplay.
Hey Sue, nice to see ya!
Let me toss out the opposite perspective here.
How might the nomination of Palin end up energizing the Dems like never before?
When you think about it, even now, the GOP is greatly divided and sparring over Palin right now. Might not their primary, with the GOP fighting brutally for and against Palin, Tea Partiers being militant and uncompromising in their extremism, corporate Repubs transparently masquerading as Tea Partiers…turn out to gut the GOP?
My proposition is that with such an extremist loon as Palin being the “center” of the GOP Primary, might not the campaign itself cause candidates to move so far to the extreme right that they and the GOP become unelectable to anyone not wearing a Captain America costume made from tea bags?
Right now, that’s my prediction. The GOP primary will become a freak show for a majority of Americans and imagine what will be contained in the GOP platform to suit the Baggers and Palin?
I am absolutely fine with Palin being their nominee but once that happens, let’s use the huge amount of energy that will give to the Dem Party to get that vote out and win bigger than 2012!
What AdLib said. 😉
Just this once I hadn’t thought of it from that particular angle just yet though. But, I was bound to, dammit.
We should be “concerned” about Sarah Palin because insecure people are the most dangerous. Sarah is a nervous girl even though she doesn’t appear to be. She always has too much on the line to not be nervous.
I agree with Kalima when she says SP wants to win a pageant. Or be in the process of winning. For some reason I think Sarah is more interested in the process than the goal. You can tell that with the way she speaks. There is no goal. She’s a QVC presentation without any merchandise. That’s why she doesn’t know anything because in order to know something you need to have finished learning something. She’s always on the way to becoming. Like the guy in the Silence of the Lambs who says “put the lotion in the basket” while he sews flesh dresses.
But therein lies the rub. She’s a fomenter. I’m more concerned about the damage she does during her process of sinking the emotions of this country into a binary tailspin.
You summed her up perfectly Questina!
I’d still avoid her in the lady’s room…I think something she has done to completion is kill!
I would not want to be a moose.
LOVE that – a QVC presentation! But let’s get this linked properly – she’s the HSN gal. HSN is part of their empire while QVC is merely commercial. So far. To my infinite amusement, HSN kept people shopping ALL Christmas Day while QVC, the secular one, went off air for the holiday. Now who has better taste and standards regarding the “sanctity” of Christmas, mmmmmm?
Sarah is just that – the one who wants to be seen. That doesn’t make her NOT dangerous, but it DOES mean there are others we need to watch more intently.
I saw HSN yesterday for the first time and not as a fly-over. I was AMAZED at how these two women could sell this junk jewelry and go on and on effortlessly while their skin looked like it was encaustically perfect. Figurines, really. The NAILS! If I was presenting on that program my nails would look like Shrek.
The GOP is really the same way, along with the TP. They are chiefly about winning positions of power…then figuring out what to do with it.
Palin is more vacant than the GOP though, she doesn’t even have the sole issue of supporting further class warfare on behalf of the wealthy.
I mean, what specific foreign policies does Palin or the GOP have? What specific programs for job growth (aside from the vague magic of trickle-down)?
This is why it’s harder for Dems than Repubs to win elections. Dems design and support complex programs. Repubs just add amendments that will kill their work by forcing a vote on outlawing Sharia law or Viagra for Sex Offenders.
It’s always easier to win based on painting opponents as wanting to give child molesters Viagra than having a specific and achievable agenda.
You mean figure out what to do with it like this? To use a tortoise metaphor ( or a Mitch McConnell one)
The thing is, Repub voters think they’re the tortoise when they’re really the Croc.
Ha! But they DO rather like it…
So should we keep Mitch away from crocks?
Impossible when he’s full of crock!
I haven’t read all the comments, but this is a great article.
It’s not Sarah, it’s her followers. That is well established.
So now what? Do we continue to elaborate on why she’s a monster and a freak of John McCain (Rove)? Or do we actually activate and move this horrific knowlegde into something that will actually change the status quo?
I think the Repubs are going to chew her up and spit her out once she decides to make a run for the candidacy. It’s all about power with them. AND, Sarah works pretty much alone politically. She thinks she’s the second coming, and she won’t adhere to any organized or structured process. Other than her own.
So good to see you on the Planet, jillsond.
I think you’re right that Palin won’t adhere to the Repub structure or organization. When she says “Going Rogue,” she’s not kidding.
For quite a while now, I’ve wondered if she was considering a presidential run via a third party. (Most likely Tea Party.) That would really give her free rein.
I’m almost hoping that’s the route she takes, for the obvious reason that it would split the conservative vote. Do you think she’d go that route?
I can’t think of a Republican would could beat her at this point.
Kesarn. I don’t think she’ll run on the Teabag ticket. They are still too scattered and unorganized, and some have spoken out against the Christian Right. Not Palin’s cup of tea. Haha.
I don’t think she’ll run on the GOP ticket. When push comes to shove, the cronies would never support a woman, and the majority know she’s batshit crazy. They just won’t admit it YET since she’s capable of raising money.
Welcome, jillsond, Once/if she declares she may find her easy road getting a bit rougher. Will she be able to just campaign on twitter or facebook or will she wilt in an actual debate?
Hi, Bitohistory
I see Palin running on any ticket she wants and refusing to debate, citing lamestream media as unfair, or something equally asinine. And her base would eat it up and will happily agree that she is a victim of elitism.
After all, just because she doesn’t have an Ivy League education, doesn’t mean she cain’t represent the people…don’tcha know?
Nice to see you jillsond!
I think we need to work on the affirmative side, supporting and energizing the Dems and Pres. Obama, being constructive about working towards a better America and specifically how we would get there.
Meanwhile, we should let Palin and the GOP blare their hatred, racism and insanity until it turns off more and more people.
As it is, people still think the GOP is nuts and as the poll I posted shows, only 22% have a favorable opinion of Palin. She doesn’t have any levers to pull that will change that drastically. No matter how frustrated people may be with Obama, his favorable ratings are still double hers.
I truly believe, she can’t win the Presidency, she just can’t win it. However, she COULD win the GOP primary which would give us another 180 degree turn for the electorate to the Dems.
Damn. I posted a reply, that didn’t seem to make it.
Hi Adlib, good to be here. I don’t think Palin could win the presidency in the conventional sense. She could win by default. Meaning, Progressives don’t show up in droves, make some noise, support Obama again if no other viable candidate runs.
Stranger things have happened. But there has to be a very strong movement on the Progressive front. I just don’t see such a front yet.
I don’t see it right now either but as 2012 approaches, after 2 years of Issa launching witch hunts against Obama, the GOP House going psycho and with Palin running as the GOP candidate, I just can’t envision Dems being as unmotivated as they were this year.
Long time no see.
Oh, and yes, her cult is what frightens me the most.
But yes, the GOP establishment will mow her down as soon as she starts being more a problem than an asset.
I have mixed feelings about Palin’s viability as a candidate. To me, it’s obvious that she’s about as qualified to be president as the mayor of my little suburban town that nobody has heard of. It’s screamingly clear that she’s ignorant and immature and prone to embarrassing hissy fits. It’s also apparent that she’s not really interested in the real issues — she just thinks God has chosen her to be queen of the universe. She is Gidget’s evil doppelganger.
On the other hand, stranger things have happened. Look at some of the wacky world leaders. Look at GWB! How did he ever get elected? He’s not much more articulate than she. My conservative brother told me that he hopes she doesn’t get the republican nomination, but if she does, he is going to vote for her. Why? Because she’s “better than that socialist, Obama.”
There you have it, e’cat. That last sentence sums it up.
Last Sunday, a British commentator on one of the Sunday a.m. shows (apparently not familiar with how American talking heads dance around the issues) bluntly said that governmental gridlock exists because “there are people whose hatred of Obama is stronger than their love of country.”
I’m not saying that your brother hates his country, of course, but maybe he’s been programmed to think that Obama does. And that voting against him (even if it’s for a horrible candidate) is patriotic.
This is how baaaad things happen. When paranoia trumps reason.
My brother has always seemed like a reasonable person to me and he’s a good debater. I think what has gone haywire in his case is that he now comes home from work and watches Fox News all evening (according to my sister in law). He’s addicted to Fox News. I was stunned that he said he would vote for Palin.
I know someone exactly like that, too, e’cat. Actually a reasonably intelligent, genial guy — but absolutely hooked on FOX and Limbaugh.
I’m sure he, too, would vote for Palin if she were the Repub nominee.