Palin=W.?
We are in the middle of Palinmania and it's going to last a while between Oprah, Barbara Walters, the book tour and the sniping between Palin and McCain worlds. Chris Matthews on MSNBC's Hardball last night was astounded that America – or at least the Republican base – seems to love the aw shucks candidates, berating Rep. Judy Biggert, (R-IL) for replying "probably Harvard" when she was asked which U.S. university Khalid Sheikh Mohammed attended. As it relates to Palin, this is an interesting point. When I was up in Alaska in July, a lot of politicians and political aides up there said Palin's not the kind to ask for mountains of briefing books to take home and stay up all night reading (hello, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama). She does, though, have great political instincts and timing. Witness her take down of former Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski, a fellow Republican. And in that regard she reminds me a lot of a certain Texas governor back in 1998-1999 whom no one thought would be THE Bush to follow in his father's footsteps. George W. had a good amount of star power, aw shucks charm and, early on, a similar intimacy with foreign affairs. He also wasn't a fan of briefing books, preferring to operate on instinct, much the way Palin does. Both have a similar mistrust of those outside their inner circles and little tolerance for those who challenge them: they both like to hear, ‘How high?' when they ask you to jump. And platform-wise Palin has similar priorities to those espoused by Bush on the 2000 campaign trail. But what Bush had that Palin lacks right now is Karl Rove. And I don't know if Palin's noticed but Rove seems to be warming up to the former vice presidential nominee – going so far as to flatter her new book. Palin in 2012, compassionate conservatism part deux?
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1
George W. had a good amount of star power, aw shucks charm and, early on, a similar intimacy with foreign affairs.
Intimacy? Is that the word you are looking for?
Aside from the fact that neither of them let their incompetencies stand in the way of their ambitions, I see little in common between Bush and Palin.
Bush went to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed University, remember?
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1.1
I think Jay's use of "intimacy" was ironic. "Understanding" might have made the point more clearly.
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The more Palin has in common with Dubya, the more it becomes necessary that she never win another election. -
1.2
Who cares - I like the word JNS used.
[Some kind of slip?]
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2
I'd like to think the American people have had their fill of strutting, anti-intellectual authoritarians, although our enemies might argue that it only takes one attack to turn us into a bunch of shrieking pants-pissers.
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3
Huh, weird, this sort of thing just came up over at Ta-Nehisi Coates's place. Allow myself to repeat myself...
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George Bush Jr. was like a caricature of the Republican critique of affirmative action and political correctness-- that people promoted for their identity, not their merit, wind up incapable of doing hard work because they are rewarded simply for parroting the "right" opinions.
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Political correctness was never a big deal except on about a dozen college campuses for a few weeks in 1988. And, other than embittering Clarence Thomas, affirmative action hasn't really produced much in the way of massive negative effects. Whereas Bush ran America and the world into the ground.
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Palin's appeal can only be attributed to the deep feeling of cultural grievance, separate from any consideration of merit, on the part of many of the nation's whites. Sarah Palin is the O.J. Simpson of white people. The difference is, a notable contingent of blacks clapped when a possible murderer was acquitted, whereas a sizable contingent of the nation's whites want to give the nuclear launch codes to a talentless, know-nothing, resentment-driven former beauty queen.
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Where is the hand-wringing about the problems of the white community?-
3.1
!
A rapid cognitive overload, if I ever got one.
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4
compassionate conservatism part deux?
There's an old saying in Tennessee - I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee - that says, fool me once, shame on - shame on you. Fool me - you can't get fooled again. - GWB
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4.1
…and we shouldn't have misunderestimated W, either.
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5
Jay Newton-Small:
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Jesus Christ! What is it with you people?
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Enough with the Palin already!
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This person is just not that interesting.-
5.1
Over 60% of people polled don't believe she has what it takes to be president...of the local PTA, let alone the US. Yet she keeps popping up like a bad computer virus. W proved that you don't have to have much intellect to run the nation. But it'll take a lot more than pretty looks for her to be noticed.
"Nice girl but about as sharp as a sack of wet mice." --Foghorn Leghorn
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5.2
With all due apologies to the Almighty.
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5.3
SZ: I enjoy reading your posts and agree with more of them than not, but I love the stories on Palin. She goes beyond interesting. She fascinating on cultural grounds alone. Love her or hate her, she's a major force in the republican party and her status among her admirers goes well into the territory of cult worship that the right claimed Obama supporters were guilty of.
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Remember how McCain was spouting all the nonsense about Obama being a celebrity and how he stopped when Sarah moved into that arena? Sarah's here to stay and unless she gets caught doing something truly horrific, she's not going anywhere. -
5.4
I saw her on Oprah yesterday. In a nutshell: Look at me! I am a poor victim of the drive by media/Katie Couric/nefarious forces in the Obama campaign/nefarious forces in the McCain campaign/and people who are just really jealous of me.
Seriously it was one long pity train of how her many eff-ups were the fault of X, Y and Z but not her. After about 10 minutes it just became too flat out annoying to watch. -
5.5
stuart, what sacred said. I'd add though, that for now she is HIGHLY relavant because of the R's situation, and to explain this I do thank YOU: I think the odd R alliance of the fiscal / biz / elitist and social / religious / populist groups is starting to fracture. Tea parties and NY-23 were first shots. One group may push the other out of the R party, or both will literally go their own ways / separate parties. Bye bye R power. Your elitist / populist conservative explanation helped clarify this. *Sarah IS the face and spokeswoman for the s-r-p group.* Unless Huckabee or someone else poaches the s-r-p red meat base from Sarah, she is in control. If she wants to run in '12 (I think so) she has a chance to win the nomination; if not, she will disrupt the process. The s-r-p base is not enough to win '12 WH back, but it's large enough to lose it for the R's. Also, stuart, even if my opinion is irrelevant here, Andrew Sullivan is quite relevant. He keeps after Sarah even now. I'd like to see you two debate this, but I digress. Here's an article for you about Sarah that explains her status. Thoughts? thx
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/max-blumenthal/how-sarah-palin-made-hers_b_358434.html -
5.6
sacredh: I understand your interest in American "unexceptionalism". I listened to Mika B and Andrea M on Morning Joe going on and on with a mixture of envy and cattiness. Then MikaB got on her high horse and asked why everyone was attacking the ex-Governor, because..... I guess the Whingeing Wing of the Republican Party has found its next leader; and the Mika B's are coming to the defence of one of their own. Is no one embarrassed?
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5.7
deconstructiva: Even if Sarah doesn't win the nomination outright, she might decide to hold her delgates from going to another candidate unless she gets what she wants. A convention floor fight in 2012 may be her trump card. I wouldn't put it past her to threaten to turn it into an ugly donnybrook unless her influence is stamped all over the party platform. She's already proven over and over that she's shrewd and ruthless.
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5.8
bitterpill8: In no way am I a supporter of Palin. I'm just as amazed as most other people that someone like her could rise to the top of a major party. I want Sarah to get the nomination because I believe she would be the easiest to defeat and I feel that she's also the person most likjely to split the party. I root for her because of her ability to wreck havoc.
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5.9
Actually I tend to think that her game plan is to make herself into a type of political pundit. I keep waiting for her to pop up in her own Fox News show. I don't think she plans on running for office again herself though.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/16/AR2009111602630.html
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5.10
queencersi: I have serious doubts that Sarah could do well for more than a couple of weeks with her own show. Any serious opposition would serve up her ass on a platter. It wouldn't surpise me if she stayed on the sidelines for a bit and then gives in to her supporters pleas that she enter the race. Even though she isn't that bright, she plays her base like a fiddle.
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5.11
I see what you are saying sacredh, but I have the opposite opinion. I think her political goose is cooked. At least outside of Alaska. But I have to wonder if she wants to run for any office. It is so much more fun to run around, make iinflammatory statements on twitter and collect money from speaking engagements. Holding public office implies that at some point she would have to settle down and do a job. A job that would require her to be accountable for her actions and words, at least on some level. No, I think her game plan is to keep doing what she is doing and laugh all the way to the bank.
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5.12
sacred – yes, Sarah's ruthless nature is brazen even in today's R party. (why do we have a “ruthless” but NOT a “ruthfull”?) Reading her real history (from Alaskan blogs like mudflats and Shannyn Moore + Palin-specific blogs like palingates and others) is entertaining / bewildering. Raw ambition and the willingness to run over others IS enough to carry her this far. Brains, talent, rhetoric? meh.
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5.13
...make that ARE enough. Reading too much Sarah will screw up anyone's English (what's that?). We'll need lovely Jay or someone here to translate Palinish to English for us (let alone listen to Palin's own reading on her book on CD).
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5.14
Thanks so much for all of your responses, everyone...I have some thoughts on why this is good "the odd R alliance of the fiscal / biz / elitist and social / religious / populist groups is starting to fracture" for liberals...unless we fall into the centrist trap of condemning populism.
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Also, with respect to:
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even if my opinion is irrelevant here, Andrew Sullivan is quite relevant
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I disagree with deconstructiva.
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I think that deconstructiva's opinions are more relevant than Sullivan's, precisely because Sullivan doesn't comment here. -
5.15
Thanks, stuart.
Sullivan, alas, doesn't engage readers anywhere as much as the swampbloggers do here. Then again, he's ripping Sarah to pieces today.
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6
One can hope it will run it's course, soon.
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7
Thanks, Jay. Will you be "officially" reviewing Palin's book, or is there a team effort? Will you interview Sarah again, perhaps on the road during her book tour? (and when will you and KT write your books? please! we need solid good stories to read to balance hers) thx
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8
The way I see it is, the more people see Palin, the more of them will turn away.So keep the coverage coming. Sure, the R base will keep cheering, but they're what, 20% of the country? The more this lunatic is put front and center, the worse her odds of ever winning a national election become.
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8.1
I don't want Palin to win a national election, but there's no way in hell I won't be sending her money for the primary. She's got a good shot of getting that. The die-hards vote in the primaries and she's very popular with the base. Huckabee and Romney might have the support of the rank and file, but the door knockers like Sarah.
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8.2
"but the door knockers like Sarah"
Must be because of her knockers. It is the only reasonable explanation I can think of.
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9
Sarah, what do you want to be when you grow up?
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10
Jay's next post: Cheney = Cheney?
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11
I, for one, am not in the middle of Palinmania. Sorry.
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12
I will preface my comment by first saying that I do not believe that Sarah Palin can be a viable Republican candidate for the Presidency in 2012, and challenge Barack Obama. She is too polarizing a candidate. I also do not believe she has the life experiences to yet become President of the US of A.
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With that said, she does command a large audience, especially the far right of the Republican Party. Her appeal in my opinion is that she is not from the moderate or middle of the road crowd. She most certainly is not from the Progressive wings of either party. She is simply a down to earth individual who is charismatic, and does appeal to the average American.
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Because she is very polarizing, she reminds me a lot of what Hillary represented in the last election. I do believe that she would bring a lot of admiration from the right, as well as a great deal of criticism from the left (as witnessed on this very thread).
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But what I find not only amusing, but also hypocritical is Obama's own lack of self awareness, lack of judgment and experience. The same lack of experience, etc that Obama has proven to be thus far, yet, those on the left are not able to see those faults of his. Palin actually has much more experience than Obama, even at this point in time with her Governor's experience to back her up. Obama's experience to date is totally a learn on the job. And, I might add he has done poorly at that.
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Perhaps it is simply a situation of "as long as they spout out my ideals and beliefs, then they are ok. If not, then I am totally against them for any political office they might seek to hold".
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What I do find interesting is the bias that is so evident by women, in particular liberal women. It is indeed an amazing world we live in.-
12.1
Rust: You forget that Hillary is SMART. People hate her in part out of jealousy, not because she's deficient intellectually. Ya girl hasn't proved that she has a grasp on issues.
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12.2
Ah Rusty, we have heard this argument before.
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12.3
rusty, and W. was not a polarizing figure??
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12.4
What has Hillary ever done that was smart? Get dumped on by her husband? Butcher heatlhcare reform in 1993? Declare she doesn't do milk and cookies in the 1st campaign and get a sock stuck in her mouth? Go to Africa ad berate a student for asking about Bill? Appear on Israel national TV to give BiBi the spotlight to do his Gandhi imitation while Hillary enrages the Islamic world by praising Nertanyahu's unprecidented off NOT to stop settlement construction?
As Joe point out in his mixed-bag review she's a gaffe machine who looks good only when she stands next to Joe biden.
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12.5
RustyDog,
Thank you for a very good, thoughtful post.
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However, I have to take issue with one of your assertions:
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graf1:"She is too polarizing a candidate."
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graf2: "She...and does appeal to the average American."
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I agree with statement 1, the truth of which is affirmed because statement #2 is false. She is polarizing precisely because she does not appeal to the average voter.
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Palin appeals to a segment of the American electorate that likes to think of itself as "average", but is firmly on the RHS of the equation.
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Will she be a player? Probably.
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But, then, many of us thought that Dean, Gulliani, Hart, and Thompson were players before they flamed out... -
12.6
Rusty, explain to me how EVEN NOW, you say Palin has more experience than Obama. That makes absolutely no sense. Prior to the election, one could argue – and many did - that her almost 2 years as governor outweighed Obama's almost 4 years as a US senator because she had executive experience. I didn't buy that and I still think that was mostly spin, but it was at least reasonable spin. But to say that NOW, after Obama has been president/president-elect for over a year, he STILL has less experience than Palin, who quit the only relevant political position she's ever held, is ridiculous.
You say Obama's experience is “learn on the job.” Well that's true for every other new president (at least those not named Grover Cleveland). I doubt any position, for any length of time, can totally prepare someone for what a US President faces. You don't get a practice country to try things out on.
And as a liberal, I am certainly able to find faults with Obama. Overall I think he's doing a good job, sure, but I have numerous complaints about his handling of various issues. But I'm wondering where, as you say, he's proven his lack of experience? Specifically where would more experience have caused him to do things better, keeping in mind that he's a liberal, and you're going to be against almost everything he does anyways.
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13
Right. And neither of them is too familiar with the King's English, though both can give very fine speeches if somebody else writes them.
And they like guns. And red meat. And the real America.
And neither has the slightest idea that the presidency is best served by a competent, intellectually curious individual.
If this country hasn't learned its lesson after 8 years of a disastrous President, I guess it deserves another one. President Obama had better quit talking about "looking forward" & start reminding folks what we have to look back on.
The Constant Weader at http://www.RealityChex.com
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13.1
Guns!
Red meat!
Real America!Now we're talkin'!
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14
Yeah, I would agree that Palin = W. on a competence...make that incompetence level. When he left office, I think the world was hip to the havoc he wrought. What scares me is that people have short memories, and that according to nflfoghorn above, only 60% recognizes her incompetence. I would guess that this figure is similiar to that for W. before the supremes awarded him the first election, and he won the second without outside intervention.
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15
Sarah's biggest problem is her problem with the simple truth not that this isn't a problem for all politicians. However, Sarah seems compulsive about it. Then there is the issue that it is never ever her fault someone else is always to blame. At some point this flies in the face of reality, not everything in life is the fault of others.
For all the rights mantra about personal responsibility this woman flies in the face of it. She takes none.
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16
Gotta check the link, sacredh. It's a clearly ironic statement.
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She does, though, have great political instincts and timing.
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Umm...yeah. Like this?
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJd_vm9VhpU&hl=en_US&fs=1&]
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...Rove seems to be warming up to the former vice presidential nominee...
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No wonder; Palin's easily manipulated, as was Dubya.-
16.1
Cool video. Another picture of real America.
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16.2
…and Sarah did her educational duties with that interview. She showed city girls that turkeys do NOT come from the supermarket. Now will her next video show where babies really come from? (given some anti-Sarah blogs' questions about her pregnancy with Trig, this could be highly amusing)
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16.3
That's one of my favorite videos. I can't speak for what would happen in other parts of the country, but here in eastern Ohio, Sarah would win the republican nomination hands down. All but one of the guys at work that voted for McCain would vote for Sarah in a heartbeat (Romney gets the other vote). If anything, they're more enthusiastic about Sarah. I live within minutes of West Virginia and Pennsylvania and the republicans I know there would vote for her also.
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17
Palin ≠ W.
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Palin = Parody of W.
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W. = Parody of Reagan
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Gop = self-parody
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Reagan at least knew that when his massive tax cuts caused massive deficits he had to turn around and raise taxes—massively. No such encounter with the real-world consequences of his governing decisions were ever allowed to get within spitting distance of W. Palin and her disciples seem to have only one answer when their glib slogans fail to produce the hoped for result: more slogans! -
18
Actually, I don't think so. Palin rose to her staggering levels of ignorance, immaturity and self-absorption without the benefit of a rich, connected, patrician family. So no suing your way to the White House with the help of your Daddy's "conservative" buddies, Missy.
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19
It seems impossible conceptually, but I believe J N-S has managed to demean two people by comparing them to one another.
Nice work. Next up, Liz Cheney=Elizabeth Hasselbeck?
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20
How many weeks on the NYTs and Amazon nestseller lists do you expect? For someone so inept she's done pretty well for herself. She's going to make > $10M in 2009 and 2010 and you rhink she's the dope?
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20.1
Paris Hilton will make more than that this year too.
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20.2
Funny how some people confuse how much money someone has with their worth as a person.
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By that standard, Mother Teresa was a complete loser. -
20.3
"For someone so inept she's done pretty well for herself."
You must be mistaking this country for some sort of meritocracy. You must also have been asleep for the past eight years. Wake up and look around you. David Gregory runs Meet the Press, Chuck Todd is NBCs political analyst and CNN hosts "the best political team on television" (oh, and George W Bush was president for a while). Failing upwards is a modern Washington pastime (that's how we got to where we are today).
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20.4
rdw, you are absolutely correct. The real dopes are the fools who buy her book under the dilusion that she has anything worth saying. And you know what? Those dopes will also believe the dilusion.
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20.5
@shepherdwong: Don't forget: "Heckuva job" Brownie. The past 8 years have been the "Peter Principle" in action...
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20.6
Sarah has done a brilliant job positioning and marketing herself in a country that is the closest thing to a meritocracy on the planet. She is already wealthy and is a rock star among politicians attracting crowds as large as Obama. Niether Clinton nor Gore nor GWB were able to attract crowds as large as hers,
She has a very appealing biography and is holding 4 aces in terms of the GOP candidacy in either 2012 or 2016 or 2020. She can take her time and choose. If she doesn't run she'll have a bright future as a political personality. If she runs she'll ow the largest votng block in the country, conservatives.
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20.7
formerlyjames,
It's worse than you think. Those dopes do more than buy book. They vote.
Why do you think we were so honored to have GWB for 8 years?
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21
[...] 17, 2009 · Leave a Comment jay newton-small: When I was up in Alaska in July, a lot of politicians and political aides up there said [...]
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22
Another picture of real America.
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Actually, open-air shambles are pretty common all over the (third) world. 'Real American' slaughterhouses have more oversight and regulation, at least more than when Sinclair's [The Jungle] was written. -
23
A fatal flaw in the movement conservative psyche is an inability to objectively analyze the political landscape. For these wingnuts, if they share the views and values of a "conservative"/Republican then that person must be good, smart, honest, etc. Likewise, if they disagree with someone, that person must be a stupid, America-hating, communist. It is comical to watch, really.
A liberal might criticize Bush, Palin, Cheney, Rove, Lieberman, Huckabee, Romney, Gingrich, Steele, Jindal, Boehner, Cantor, or McCain, but the criticisms are not going to be identical. Liberals may hate Cheney and Rove, but I never heard anybody call them dumb.
The irony of all this is that Obama has totally exposed himself as a tool for the financial industry. A Perot-Ron Paul-esque Republican could probably give Obama a run for his money in '12. But the Palin-Malkin-Beck wing of the party is actually doing Obama a tremendous favor. Their clownish attacks on the administration as "Maoist" are not only self-discrediting but they insulate Obama from charges of being too close to the banksters.
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23.1
Do you know how to count? 7 of the last 11 elections were won by Republicans.
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24
I certainly HOPE Sarah Palin runs for the office of President of the united States. She would be the best thing to happen to American politics in ages.
She would be the last nail that finally seals the lid on the coffin of the Republican Party.
I'm HOPING the Democrats run an opponent who is as far left as Palin is far right. That will prove once and for all that the ultra-liberal left is as incompetent to run the country as the ultra-conservative right.
If we can get that dichotomy of candidates wide enough apart, we may be able to find a candidate who speaks to the majority of the country who, like me, are at the center. To the left, I'm a right-wing con. To the right, I'm a limp-wristed liberal. To my fellow Americans, I'm Joe Average who's tired of partisan politics, tired of the us versus them mentality that was started by Rove and perpetuated by both parties, tired of not being able to get anything meaningful done in this country without catering to the businesses and special interests who finance how they want things to be.
I do not want business as usual any more.
I want campaign finance reform. I want lobbyists outlawed (or corralled under a microscope where their every move is watched). I want the American people to decide who should rule this country and not two committees offering cookie-cutter candidates whose views differ only in delivery and not content.
Most of all, I want a new party who listens to and represents the majority of Americans who are moderate in viewpoint. I'm tired of the elitist libs and the religious cons messing up my country. It's time for both sides to take a time out, reflect on the error of their ways and let a new party of mature, rational and reasonable people be in charge for once. Send the bickering kids to separate corners and let the adults run things for a change.
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24.1
"Republicans would run him for President and crow about their diversity"
Dream on airhead. Since Nixon in 72 there have been 7 terms for Republicans and this is the 4th for a Democrat and his polls have caved the fastest of them all.
Gallup is polling conservatives at 40% of the population and liberals at 21%. Rignt now the GOP has an almost 6% genric ballot lead and is leading is a number of key states including Ohio and PA. There will be another census realignment that will transfer8 to 12 house seats and electoral votes from Blue to Red in 2012. Ca and NY could lose 4 to Texas.
Worse for Democrats is the fact that blue state economies are in the toilet. Corzine lost because the highly taxed NJ economy is in the toilet. NY, MI, Ca and OR to name just 4 are worse off.
CA is a liberal disaster. The eco-freaks have it so you can't build an electric plant of any type. Even if you wanted to build a solar plant you can't build the transmission lines to distribute the power. You can't drill for OIl so as the oild fields dry up CA will import ALL of it's gasoline from Texas and Louisanna. How cool the enlightened citizens of the Golden State are paying Texas and Louisanna enough in gas taxes these states don't need an income tax.
If Intel were ever to expand again in the USA, very unlikely under high tax Obama, it absolutely won't be in California. It will be in Texas. Don't know if you watch Fox but Kia and another foreign auto maker are building 3 plants in GA, SC and TN. They have power and low taxes. Michigan didn't want thsoe jobs.
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25
She makes Bush look like Einstein.
The biggest difference between Bush and Palin is that Bush knew he wasn't smart and he would repeat back what his handlers (Rove and company) would tell him to say.
Palin, on the other hand, relishes blathering on (about nothing, generally), proving over and over just what a clueless dolt she is.
She may have been able to smirk her way into the governor's mansion in Alaska, but I think she has an awfully long way to go to shed her "complete moron" persona among the vast majority of Americans.
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25.1
GWB was smarter than Gore and Kerry and Obama. His test scores and marks prove it.
One of the funniest aspects of the SBV debacle os Kerry had to refuse to release his military records. Bush had done so immediately. Kerry knew if he released his records they would show Bush did better on his service aptitude tests.
It's 2009 more than 5 years after the SBV debacle and John still hasn't made good on his promise to release his records.
You have to admit the SBVs were great theatre in a summer full of it. Dan Rather almost destroyed CBS news with his comically inept fraud on GWBs National Guard duty.
It's something that Bush was no Einstein but he might as well have been compared to his liberal opposition.
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25.2
Bush was smarter than Obama and his test scores prove it? I don't think so.
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25.3
Look it up. Don't you remember the press touting Obama's scores and marks?
No? Hmmmmm? Why do you think that is?
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25.4
Obama taught constitutional law. Bush was a cheerleader. There's a difference.
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25.5
rdw, Bush drove every business he ever touched into the ground. Not only was he unintelligent, but he was exceptionally lazy, always bailed out by his daddy's friends.
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That said, he was an excellent puppet. Rove, Cheney et. al. knew he was lazy and fed him just about everything he ever said. He was the perfect foil -- stupid and lazy. -
25.6
Bush was a Harvard MBA not an affirmative action over-ride. There is a difference. You didn't answer the question.
What were Obama's marks? Why don't we know? The MSM reported GWBs marks as well as Kerry and Gore.
So why didn't they report on Obama? Hmmmmmmm. Gee, I wonder.
Actually I don't. He's an affirmative action override. That's why. He got in because he's black. He got out because he's black.
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25.7
"That said, he was an excellent puppet"
So what was your favorite piece of puppetry? Afghanistan? Iraq? Tax cuts?
My favorite was his unwavering support for Israel. You might remember when the infatada reached his peak Sharon decided it was time to start killing terrorists but not the mules. He went to the top. He killed their top leader and after a week of outrage from the UN Sharon killed his replacement. GWB supported both killings. Hamas bought a clue and stopped announcing their leaders. But Sharon killed another dozen and started building the fence. Arafat was at the time locked in his compound with 160 of his best buddies. Sharon destroyed his two copters and the landing area and for 3 years kept his water off. 160 men, all the food you can eat. No toilets. That had to be fun.
GWB supported all this althought I am not sure who was acting as puppet master. GWB went on to copy Sharon in Afghanistan and Iraq. The focus was on killing the leadership. NO repeat of the niceties of Desert Storm and arny v army. You might remember the shock and awe that started the invasion. GWB went after Saddam 1st. Huge difference in US policy. Does that make Sharon his puppet master? To take it a step further, consider Uribe in Colombia. He's devastated FARC. By going after the top 1st. Of course the CIA was close by. Does that make GWB Uribe's puppet master or is it Sharon? It doesn't seem like being a puppet is the worst thing.
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