Once the initial defensiveness re: Palin dies down... - Page 17

Because practically anything can happen in an election, I don't think it's ever a good idea to wish for the ascent of someone you think is going to be easy to defeat. I'd rather face a harder fight against a tougher opponent who wouldn't be a total disaster if my guy loses.

Imagine, for instance, that John Edwards won the Democratic nomination this time around instead of Obama. And then the story of his marital infidelity broke. I personally think it's ridiculous that a personal matter like that could swing an election, but in the US it would. We'd be talking about President-elect McCain and Vice President-elect Palin right now -- and all of the issues about the economy and Iraq and health care wouldn't have mattered.

If Palin becomes the Republican nominee in 2012 I'd be very worried. Not because I think she's a tough opponent -- far from it. There is always, always the possibility, however, that some scandal, real or imagined, could torpedo the 2012 Democratic nominee (presumably Obama in the likely event he decides to run for a second term), and I don't want to face ANY chance that Palin could win, no matter how tempting it might be to enjoy the likely scenario of easily defeating her.

The return of the Ottoman Empire?

Excellent post, and that's the way I feel as well... this woman is scary and we need to be prepared.

Did you read about some elements of the GOP directly blaming her for the failure of McCain's campaign?

She might try next time but I don't think it'll go very far.

I didn't mean she would be an easy opponent.

She's more of a lightning rod, attracting those in the party with less brain cells.

This is a good thing as it'll keep the republicans from getting their shit together and find a coherent future for the party.

From the article,

I understand the result you're hoping for, and I can see how things could very well work out that way if Republicans rally around Palin. I'm merely saying you're giving insufficient consideration to the downside risks here.

Besides, I prefer that the Republicans do get their shit together, at least if they do so by reforming as a more pragmatic center-right party.

While I believe that we need strong Democratic control right now to fix the mess created by the Republicans over the last eight years, there's little doubt that an entrenched Democratic majority will become corrupt over time -- maybe not as amazing fast as and as far as the Republicans went downhill, but it would happen.

Democrats will do better while in power if they're opposed by a strong, pragmatic Republican party, and when the Democrats are inevitably, eventually defeated, the country will be better off if the Republicans who come back into power aren't the kind who would rally around Palin as their champion.

I should have said in the near future.

First term majorities to get important legislation passed quickly, such as health care reform.

You can't possibly hope that control of congress returns to the Republicans in 2 years.

You're right... I can't and don't hope for that! I think the Republican party needs a good 6-8 years in the woods before it has a chance to come back as anything useful in a healthy political process.

Good lord, apparently there's something in the water up there in Alaska. Here's Palin's communications director, Kate Morgan, on the coming state agenda:


Again, that would be Palin's communications director.

I can't tell if she's being coy and pretending to forget the word "endangered", or what, but she manages that same jumble of ideas just sort of milling around aimlessly in one another's vicinity that Palin is so good at. Honestly, it comes off as bordering on brain damage, like there's a problem with the ability to limn cause and effect so they're obliged to toss concepts out in no particular order and hope the listener can do the organizational work for you. There.

Hey, maybe they're all meth addled. I understand Wasilla is the meth capital of Alaska, so it would actually kinda make sense.

I think the word she was struggling for was "threatened", which she was trying (and failing magnificently) to throw in along with "endangered".

Oh, right, I misread that.

Still, given that it's a hot button issue, you'd think the communications director might bother to have a grasp of the relevant language-- unless it's a deliberate effort to demean the entire subject by pretending the designation isn't worth knowing.

It can be hard to think in the cold. Unless you're Canadian.

What's going to happen to the cold adapted Canadian mind as the earth continues to warm? I'm picturing a once proud peoples reduced to long pauses and vague slurring sounds, as they struggle to form a coherent thought within their baking brains.

And hockey games on slush? Wait, that'll be fantastic. Like mud wrestling but with more punches thrown.

Just a hockey-mom?

Didn't know they made up to $7 million!

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle5162538.ece

The title will likely be, "You Betcha!".

Will there be an English translation?

Smart businessmen/women, betting on the stupidity of born again rednecks.

I vowed to not even mention this broad again, but this is comedy gold and utter stupidity on her part.

After Sarah Palin pardons turkey, others are being slaughtered, on camera, behind her...

Sarah Palin is the gift of WTF that just keeps on giving.

It's such a beautiful allegorical image. Palin represents the GOP at the front trying to distract with a mindless rant, the farmer is the system working hard till the day he drops dead, and the turkeys are the American people being drained of their wealth (lifeblood) by the farmer.

Such realistic symbolism in this video.

It's a set-up by MSNBC, the guy doing the killing was slipped a few bucks, MSM will do anything to make her look like a whacko, etc., etc.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2135738/posts

Only a few there thought that doing the interview in front of the blood soaked slaughter area while a turkey had it's throat slit and bled out, was a bad idea.

But, when it was pointed out what was happening behind her, she said not to worry.
http://www.inquisitr.com/9153/sarah-palin-turkey/

How easily she is led to the slaughter.

What in the world were they doing to that turkey? Drowning it? You couldn't tell from the video.

I mean, it doesn't take that long to kill a Turkey.

When I was a kid we got a live Turkey from a friend of my dad's every year and it was my job to hold the feet while my dad wielded the hatchet.

The trick is to let go of the feet the instant the hatchet comes down and get the hell out of the way, because there's about a minute of reflex-arc thrashing post head-chopping.

Edit: I guess screener is right and they were slitting the throat and letting it bleed out.

LOL

http://www.break.com/index/sarah-pal...pe-leaked.html

Saturday morning as a kid I was entertained by cartoons. These days, it's the Palin family!

Bristol Palin (yeah, the one Sara used to prove that Trig was her baby) is due to have her baby tomorrow... and to celebrate, her mother-in-law-to-be got arrested on drug charges.

http://features.csmonitor.com/politi...-drug-charges/

There's more. Sara has a favorite shop in Alaska where she goes shopping all the time (she told us so on the stump). Thing is, she hasn't been to the shop since returning to Alaska. Guess she's too first class now.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/1..._n_152446.html

Merry Christmas

I'm just curious: has anyone seen anything about a plan for Bristol to marry her baby daddy?

I don't know about Bristol's wedding or the in-law mother's drug problems. I'm sure I'll find out tomorrow on "Days of Our Lives."

Isn't it great that we have a "balanced" media that will let Obama duck questions about the selling of his Senate seat yet can find the time to investigate whether Sarah Palin's dog groomer steals pens from her job? I've also heard that her hair stylist forgets to put the combs back in that blue liquid as well. The horror!!!!

You are correct. Obama has faced no questions about Blago and the senate seat. In fact, I don't think he's been asked a single question about it by anyone. In fact, the only place I've even heard about it is here on PO. DAMN YOU LIBRUL MEDIA! IN THE TANK!

And you are also correct that there is really no difference between multiple drug charges and stealing office supplies.

Well he almost faced one but he reminded the reporter not to waste their question and also that they should remain kneeling with head bowed when asking a question.

I'm more than willing to entertain thoughts about why the mother of the boyfriend of the daughter of an elected official is national news.

BTW, we also know that Palin hasn't shopped at her favorite consignment shop since the election. Dammit the people have a right to know!

Rahm talking with the holder of his former seat about the former seat of Obama, please don't waste your questions....go get the real news, did Sarah buy used clothes this week!

It seems to be SOP for the pres-elect to have a staff member discuss things with regards to a vacated seat. That that happened is not unusual.

Team Obama has been ordered not to discuss the issue by the prosecuting attorney, so they cannot discuss it, and the press is fully aware of that, is are all of the Borg out there who clamor about Obama not talking as if it's his fault.

This thread happens to be about the joyous wonder whom God himself blessed the planet with, Sara Palin.

I am still sickened that the GOP would even have put her on a very long list of potential candidates, much less have actually chosen her as candidate for VP. This level of stupidity needs to be discussed so that we can avoid ever repeating it again.

First, again you are absolutely welcome to show how knowing how often Palin shops at a consignment store helps avoid choosing her or anyone you would consider to be similar to her to considered for national office. I guess you'll also explain how knowing the potential mother-in-law got arrested changes anything as well. Of course this is the media that can report on Joe the Plumbers tax liens in a day, but ignore something like Wright or the Edwards affair for a year. Maybe you should go burn down some churches just to make sure the Bible-thumpers have no place to plot and plan since that seems to make about as much sense as the reasoning above.

As for being sickened, I'm sure just the fact the GOP exists sickens you with no additional action necessary.

I can see your paranoia is set to 11 too.

Anchorage Daily News - December 15th, 2008


Only you can prevent tweakers from setting fires...

If only you could take this advice from one of your own...


Now if you could only do this for the Blago investigation...


Sickened as much as myself for anyone even supporting or defending this woman or the current, floundering GOP.

Huh. I think I'm finally starting to understand the "liberal media" thing.

Unless the mainstream press comports itself like a winger blog, it's in the tank for Obama. That simple.

Thus, WHY WON'T THE LIBERAL PRESS RUN HEADLINES DECLARING THAT THE CHURCH BURNING IS OBVIOUSLY THE RESULT OF UNHINGED LIBERAL HATRED THAT IS EXACTLY LIKE UNHINGED HATING LIBERALS BECAUSE THIS KIND OF THING HAPPENS ALL THE TIME EVEN THOUGH WE, THE LIBERAL PRESS, TRY TO KEEP IT SECRET!!!!?????

And, WHY WON'T THE LIBERAL PRESS JUST COME OUT AND SAY THAT OBAMA IS TOTALLY CORRUPT BECAUSE HE LIVES IN THE SAME STATE AS A CORRUPT POLITICIAN FROM HIS PARTY???!! EVERY MOMENT THAT THEY FAIL TO MAKE THAT CLEAR IS MORE PROOF THAT THEY ARE TOTALLY IN THE TANK FOR OBAMA.

The great thing about this is that the standards for being judged "the liberal media" are entirely in the hands of a bunch of bitter lunatics, and there is literally nothing that the national media could ever do that would ever satisfy the standard of WHY DON'T YOU MAKE MORE OF THE UGLY SPECULATION THAT WE HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO PROOF OF BEYOND WHAT SOME NUT IN HIS BASEMENT IS PRETTY SURE THE CASE!!!???, i.e., to the extent the media fails to talk every day about the fact that Obama's birth certificate is a forgery, they are very obviously liberal.

An an even better thing about this is that, when the "liberal media" meme was concocted, the people doing the concocting knew full well it was nonsense, as did a lot of its subsequent purveyors. It would appear that fewer and fewer people on the right remember that truth, however, and have come to rally around its tattered husk like a cargo cult round a rusting refrigerator. Or maybe it's the desiccated corpse of Reagan, propped up against a rock and decorated with tree sap and brightly colored pepples. Hard to say.

It would also seem that even the most cynical agents of teh liberal media talk are having a hard time coming up with anything that makes a damn bit of sense. I guess the target market is people who never watch anything but Fox, listen to anything but Rush, or read anything but winger blogs, so there's little chance they'll actually cross reference accusations to see if they hold any water.

Right, Nick?

You are correct. The press is required at all times to genuflect before Obama.


No idea. I was just curious about the Bristol Palin wedding.

I'll tell you what Artman, the fact that we don't have concrete evidence that the people burning the church were trying to harm Palin still doesn't make one paranoid about these facts.


This is just an example of the media bias though. The point is they were trying to kill, harm or intimidate someone period. The media fixates of the fact that we can't prove 100% it was her instead of noting that it certainly must be someone. I guess those nice drive-by shootings can't be proven to be directed at a particular target since there were so many bystanders. Why they probably really aren't even violence at all.


I ran that through the rant-o-meter but it only gave a partial translation. From what it told me I can reply that the media spent a good part of the election cycle pondering whether Palin and McCain were inciting violence in those attending their speeches because someone was alleged to have yelled "kill him" at a campaign event.

An allegation of word use is good enough for the media to spend several cycles pondering exactly how violent Republican supports happen to be. Burning an actual church to the ground isn't conclusive proof the violence was directed at Palin and so no one should be paranoid. They shouldn't be interested either, except for in where she shops.


They take the administration at their word and do not check sources. That is genuflecting in action. There is no desire to do more. Even if Obama cannot comment on it, they can go bang on aides, people familiar with the past who might have some past dirt on both. There is plenty of history there and this act clearly is just the tip of an iceberg that no one cares to lift a finger to look into. In 2006 Blagojevich was indicted along with TONY REZKO, yet another link to Obama and completely unrelated to this event on which Obama cannot comment.

Would the press like to investigate why the same names keep turning up in ever new and interesting combinations, all illegal. No, they don't want to waste their one question and they are all just fine with that as well. I mean there is still that consignment store in Wasilla to go look into.


Your curiousity is fine, but doesn't explain why the press can chase it down, but can't ask about the past with regard to Democrats.

I mean we are talking about a press that buys that this was just smoking a "cigarette."



Hey, no skepticism here. We take him at his word or would if we even wanted to ask him about it which btw, we don't.

So, as examples of "the liberal media", we are given...... HuffPo?



The phrase "positively unhinged" comes to mind somehow.....

Give it a better read. It is linking to the coverage it got on MSNBC and of course it is providing cover for our Pres Elect.


BTW, have you looked at all the photos? I'm not saying he is a terrible person for having done pot. The real point though is the photos show him stoned out of his mind and there is no media curiousity except to help provide cover. We aren't even treated to a nice possible Clinton "AstroTurf in the El Camino" moment because they are too intellectually lazy and compliant in their cheerleading to ask the question.

Yes, when I look at that picture, I see "stoned out of his mind" and I wonder why the liberal media isn't making a very big deal out of it indeed.

That is certainly compelling evidence of just how liberal the media is. Failing to think like right wing blogs, and all.

That has been our press for the last 8 years. Why on earth would you expect it to change just because there's a democrat in office?


Sun Times, ABC, Salon, WND, Newsmax, HuffPo. Fingers have been lifted and icebergs looked into.


It is very odd that the NY Times has not run front page stories about how two major Chicago politicians have many people in common. I would also like to see the NY Times just give up reporting and do stories about Six Degrees of Separation from Obama.


I would posit that you do not know what they want and what they don't want without making enormous suppositions about political motives or laziness or whatever. And the number of stories about the consignment store in Anchorage is just stunning.


I know. I know. How dare they have the temerity to put such an important story in the "quickly noted" section of the news.


Again, I think that you are right that it is incredibly important that the press ask Obama about the drug use he's already admitted to.

I noticed that too. "Stoned out of his mind" is the first thing I think of whenever I see Obama (or any Democrat) squint.

Good work Sherlock. Missed one other fact...


That is a large building. Whomever set the accelerates knew that to set the building ablaze, they had to set them all around the areas of the building to get it to set. But it didn't seem to be enough and luckily, the people inside evacuated unharmed.

Theory: I don't believe this was set to harm Palin, mainly because she has distanced herself from this church. But whoever did set it was a sick person, a sick, liberal, squinting and dope smoking one? I doubt it. But we'll see.

You are making up shit while you go along with this. Much like the Internet is right now with the death of Michael Connell last night of self inflicted aircraft wounds.

Yes, this is the fella who was a key witness in the Ohio election fraud case.


So go ahead make shit up, I can too...

<tinfoil>Clearly eliminated by a Bilderburger, in conscious conspiracy with members of the Trilateral Commission, The Masons, Skull and Bones, The Mafia, a motorcycle gang or two, and a few disgruntled gay boy scouts...of course financed by the Jews.</tinfoil>

But nobody in the MSM is making any stink about this incident either. I don't trust the media. Just for other reasons. The last eight years come to mind.

Or as you say it's just because...


We can't prove yet whether Karl Rove sent out a hit for Mike Connell either, he could certainly have the motivation for it, but let's keep making up shit as we go along. And let's not think that the MSM is on either side, just their own.

Yep, saying I'll release my self-investigation to you next week where I conveniently find no wrong doing by me after I investigated me is all good. Anyone who would think that process a bit dubious is just a right wing blogger. Why Blagojevich declared himself innocent as well and anyone who would question that self assessment is just a right wing blogger as well.


Public perceptions and studies on negative, positive and neutral coverage say different. In instances like the Washington Post Ombudsman, they just give up and admit it and try some cheap rationales.


I would call that campaign talking point reprinted.


How about just the one degree of separation all these instances happen to be?


I'm sure word play may yield a different result but either way, it isn't newsworthy except for the desire of the media to play out their biases. How is the frequency of consignment store shopping newsworthy in any fashion?


My mail carrier could be arrested for drugs tomorrow and I know I wouldn't be hearing about it on the evening news nor reading about it online. The point is clearly to tie it to Palin which is sort of humorous because you joke about degrees of separation stories above and the media won't look into one degree of separation for Obama but will find someone three degrees away from Palin and report on and dig into their lives.


Since he has admitted to it, why the ridiculous claims about it being a cigarette?


You need to look at the rest of the photos. They clearly have the heavy-lidded and glassy eyed expressions that make the point.


Will we see though? The media doesn't care to look into it and apply any pressure. Hell they are too busy fantasizing she was inside burning to death.


The media has alleged and repeated all manner of assertions regarding Bush and Republicans. This is especially true with regard to voter fraud which seemed endemic whenever Republican were winning but all mysteriously disappear and needed next to no coverage when Democrats were winning.

Citations on that last claim please.


This kind of reminds me of your rationalization on torture.

Go be your own Google slave in you don't want to admit the sky is blue. Any and every study of media coverage showed Palin received ridiculously negative coverage and was scrutinized in every possible manner while Biden and his continual gaffes were ignored.


Here' something batshit crazy to ponder. How much coverage do you think there would be of this matter if someone had tried burning down the church Obama attended, Trinity United Church of Christ? If there were accelerant around the exterior and at the entrances there would be none of this bullshit about not being able to draw conclusions about the intent of the arsonist.

The media would be absolutely hysterical.

You can continue to atttempt to caricature my views instead of addressing them but anyone who isn't wearing blinders can ask themselves about that example above and know that it honestly would be handled quite different. Study after study show that people can see the bias. The can see that one button being hit over and over again to stifle disagreement, and soon that one button is going to stop being effective.

Claiming one or two groups who disagree with you must be hate driven might be plausible. Claiming everyone who disagrees with you is a hateful bigot gets tiresome and clearly is meant to jerk the knee and deactivate the brain. Much like how a picture or joke is funny the first time and just sad the twentieth time it is posted.

Hate is like a flame though in that it keeps burning even after some have declared its purpose to be done. With Warren and Obama, perhaps we will see liberals starting to burn their own with that intolerance which ironically enough they claim to practice in the name of tolerance.

Well, many people say and studies have been conducted that reveal otherwise. See my devastating evidence?


You claim that no one is covering this story. I pointed out a bunch of coverage of it from a wide range or mainstream and non-mainstream outlets. Just because you don't like the way they covered it doesn't mean it wasn't covered.


How about we just make wild insinuations? It's the same thing, right? No one is looking into the possibility that Obama killed his grandmother to cover up his forged birth certificate, his secret Musliminity, and his lack of US citizenship. No one is looking into the Obama death list, either.


Whether or not Palin has returned to her favorite consignment shop is not newsworthy. But I'd imagine that whether or not people are buy and selling increased amounts of used clothing (rather than buying new) is an economic indicator of some sort.


What digging? Where? This was tossed off as a "quickly noted" in most newspapers. Even Olbermann just did a short bit on it. And that's it.


I have no idea. Why do you care if Obama smoked a joint in the 70s? Or is the hat that you don't like?


Maybe he was sleepy. I don't know why you care. Obama smoked pot. These seem to be pictures of him smoking something that looks like it could possibly be a joint. Or a hand-rolled cigarette. This is hardly breaking news. Or news at all, since, again, Obama admitted he smoked pot.


Where? Where are they fantasizing about this?