as much as I disagree with their agenda, I can not help but to admire the republican party's ability to effectively disseminate their message no matter how obviously manufactured and it may be. "She didn't quit! She changed priorities!" And in no time at all, every politician/talk show host will say it and miraculously, the definition of resigned is the opposite of what it has meant for centuries.
democrats talk shit all the time too, but they can never collectively get their story straight. Oh, if only air america hadn't crumbled into dust.
Cajun, your paragraph #3 will be the historical legacy. Palin is an opportunist. She tried to ride the coat tails of an American Hero and she killed his dream. No one in her party wants to admit a misjudgment. So be it. But for anyone to keep defending her, why why why! She is a parasite. Conservatives - keep looking. There have got to be some big thinkers out there. She isn't one of them. She is a cul-de-sac of hope.
@Pinekatz: AND, she's a quitter. Oy. She either quit because it was hard or she quit for personal gain. Either way, it was terrible. I'd rather see someone I disagree with try hard to do what they believe is right in our American political world than quit when it gets hard. I can't even do that. To quit for money? That's unthinkable.
@Pinekatz: Good point -- how many republicans are really willing to have her as a running mate after seeing how decisively she aided in McCain's destruction? I mean, I know that the GOP won't publicly say anything doubting her, but how seriously does anyone think she'll be 2nd on the top ticket? Or at the top of a ticket?
I have the feeling that the GOP keeps her around for the same reason they keep Limbaugh -- it riles up the base. The base that probably accepts her byzantine reasons for stepping down as pure gospel. But I can't see the actual leaders of the GOP (ahem, assuming there are any, at this point) seeing her move as anything but bizarre and erratic, and I don't think they'll be taking the chance again of having her on their top ticket.
But, again, that's assuming there's actually someone at the top orchestrating all the Orwellian double-speak. Maybe no one's driving the cart anymore, and the horses are just running how they've been trained.
I was certain that the cloud to the silver lining of Sarah Palin's announcement that she was resigning as Alaska's governor would be John McCain face time during the inevitable interviews as to the McCain take on the resignation of the Gubernatorial Goober.
Even so, I'd much rather John McCain be obliviously defending his running mate choice than anywhere near the button as President. Anybody remember that this swaggering buffoon actually led Obama in the RCP national average polls going into mid-September 2008?
@Dagrolord: That was just the post-convention bounce, though.
There is no silver lining. Sarah Palin is not leaving politics -- which actually confuses me, because I thought one of the points teased out of her incoherent speech was that she was leaving politics. Ah, it must be that mean-ol' media lying to me again.
BTW, this is an entertaining read. Lock up your pets when Sarah's around, folks, and not because she'll shoot them from the air, either!
@Claire Buoyant: Eh, she may try to re-enter politics, but she's hamstrung herself. If there had been any possibility of her being taken seriously as a national candidate in the future, it's gone now.
I'm adoring this inability to course correct on the part of Republicans. They're waist deep in the Big Muddy, and the big fools keep pushing on.
@Claire Buoyant: Heh. The term "word salad" is indeed a clinical term and is often applied to people in the earliest stages of a stroke. I can see why Palin is so paranoid of bloggers, et.al. It probably does cause a "stroke" of sorts to have these folks air her dirty laundry so abundantly, filled with big words and mashups, lacking in sports analogies.
I hate to make this point. As much as I support the Republican agenda and loathe the social engineering that I currently see occurring, this confirms for me that the Republicans chose an embarrassingly weak ticket. Admit that you made a mistake, Senator McCain.
@ChillbearLatrigue: Absolutely. There is no shame in admitting a mistake. However, there is plenty in continuing to deny something so blatantly obvious.
"historical legacy looked upon with almost universal esteem by future generations, destroyed by one horrendously God-awful decision."
hm.. I dunno, I think there was a lot more shit about him beyond his Palin pick that made his chances an uphill battle. Him being an olde, Bush royally fucking up the image of the Republican party, and the general awesomeness that was Obama are all pretty campaign-crumbling contributors.
@lobstr: Yah, McCain's legacy was I think derailed back in 2000 when Karl Rove, W. Bush, etc. screwed him over during his first bid for the Republican nomination.
@lobstr: I see your point, and I knew this assertion would be challenged by some commenters. Let me elaborate further...Before he ran for president in 2008, McCain had successfully washed away some of the stains that had been embedded into the tapestry of his career. He was liked and respected by people on both sides of the aisle. Perhaps most importantly, the press, the very people who write history, LOVED him. I really think he shot that all to shit with Palin and doesn't have enough time left to make up for it, if that's even possible. So there. Just my worthless point of view.
@dontread: Yeah but that wasn't his doing and all the shit they threw at him didn't stick over the long haul, even though it did stick long enough to derail him back then.
@The Cajun Boy: I think part of the reason he was so well-liked in the press was his "maverick" status - going against the Bush administration on items such as campaign finance, and being able to tell it like it is to a quote-hungry press corps. I think that was shot to hell during the campaign before he even picked Palin, as he essentially co-opted the Bush policy handbook because he so badly wanted GOP support in the 2008 election (a stance which eventually led TO the Palin pick).
I guess what I'm trying to say is it wasn't the Palin pick itself that doomed him, it was his wholesale drinking of the Bill Kristol Kool-Aid that led to the pick that doomed him.
@The Cajun Boy: what u said. exactly. josh marshall at talkingpointsmemo.com was ruthless and correct in talking about how much the old mainstream press hacks loved mccain and his bbq shindigs; even wonkette traded her integrity for a mess of wings (she kind of got it back). and then mccain revealed more and more of his pettyness, meanness, total lack of a clue with each passing day of the campaign and then made it grandly undeniable to all when he picked his running mate. there was a deep allegory in there on his character: the instability, grandiosity, and also on his intellect: weak weak weak. a spoiled little boy wanting his next toy.
@DennyCrane: a mavericjy mavericky maverick maverick. except it was mostly smoke and lies. he called himself one, and the press quoted him calling himself one, and that was about all there was to it. let's not forget the keating five, when he pretty much led the bamboozling and the lying and the stealing and the coverup
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keating_Five
he U.S. Savings and Loan crisis of the 1980s and early 1990s was the failure of 747 savings and loan associations (S&Ls) in the United States. The ultimate cost of the crisis is estimated to have totaled around $160.1 billion, about $124.6 billion of which was directly paid for by the U.S. taxpayer.[1] The accompanying slowdown in the finance industry and the real estate market may have been a contributing cause of the 1990-1991 economic recession. Between 1986 and 1991, the number of new homes constructed per year dropped from 1.8 million to 1 million, the lowest rate since World War II.[2]
The Keating Five scandal was prompted by the activities of one particular savings and loan: Lincoln Savings and Loan Association of Irvine, California. Lincoln's chairman was Charles Keating, who ultimately served five years in prison for his corrupt mismanagement of Lincoln.[3] In the four years after Keating's American Continental Corporation (ACC) had purchased Lincoln in 1984, Lincoln's assets had increased from $1.1 billion to $5.5 billion.[4] Such savings and loan associations had been deregulated in the early 1980s, allowing them to make highly risky investments with their depositors' money. Keating and other savings and loan operators took advantage of this deregulation.[4][5] Savings and loans established connections to many members of Congress, by supplying them with needed funds for campaigns through legal donations.[5] Lincoln's particular investments took the form of buying land, taking equity positions in real estate development projects, and buying high-yield junk bonds.[6
.... On April 9, 1987, a two-hour meeting[4] with three members of the FHLBB San Francisco branch was held, again in DeConcini's office, to discuss the government's investigation of Lincoln.[7][11] Present were Cranston, DeConcini, Glenn, McCain, and additionally Riegle.[7] The regulators felt that the meeting was very unusual and that they were being pressured by a united front, as the senators presented their reasons for having the meeting.[7] DeConcini began the meeting by saying, "We wanted to meet with you because we have determined that potential actions of yours could injure a constituent."[13] McCain said, "One of our jobs as elected officials is to help constituents in a proper fashion. ACC [American Continental Corporation] is a big employer and important to the local economy. I wouldn't want any special favors for them.... I don't want any part of our conversation to be improper." Glenn said, "To be blunt, you should charge them or get off their backs," while DeConcini said, "What's wrong with this if they're willing to clean up their act? ... It's very unusual for us to have a company that could be put out of business by its regulators."[7] The regulators then revealed that Lincoln was under criminal investigation on a variety of serious charges, at which point McCain severed all relations with Keating.[7]
@The Cajun Boy: Yes, agree. Plus this last time he really chose to compromise his beliefs rather than being the victim of an outside smear.
By the way, I don't think I've yet mentioned that it's a pleasure to see you back. I know you've been back for a few weeks now, but it's nice to see Olde Gawker crew around again.
(Which is not meant as a slight to the new bunch, btw)
@The Cajun Boy: In other news, the new Gawker commenting system favors loose flattery. Hopefully, this will not ruin our beloved Acadian Lad, the Noblest and Deftest of Contributing Editors, and one of the most handsome and intelligent adventurers to ever use a keyboard and mouse.
@The Cajun Boy: Naw, you right about all that -- but while some of the neutral press LOVED McCain, most of the press JIZZED WATER-TANKS-FULL-of-IRIDESCENT-ECSTASY... for Obama. Head-to-head despite the VP pick, it was to be no fucking contest.
Plus, I think people started to tire of the standard out-of-touch Olde sittin' there with his typewriter and slide-rule running a country full of people who use electronic communication just to say "good morning" to their spouses :[]
I love how conservatives keep bringing up Obama's stated opposition to calling civil unions gay marriage in order to keep the heads of evangelicals from exploding as if that proves anything--anything--except that liberals (most liberal senator in the US, remember?)--don't watch in lockstep the way that conservatives are now required to. Go suck Limbaugh's dick, bitches, that's all you're good for anymore.
Let's face it. Today's US American Christians like feeling persecuted because it is the only thing linking them to the early Christians, who practiced non-violence, communism and something called "turning the other cheek" (whatever the fuck that is supposed to mean.
Of course, whereas persecution for early Christians meant being tortured, crucified and devoured by animals, for modern American evangelicals it means having your face (and fake tits and big hair) overexposed on the media until your hypocrisy starts to show and everyone gets bored with you.
All these fuckwits need to know about Jesus and gay marriage is that Jesus would have been the guy at they gay wedding dancing on the tables and turning party favors into poppers well into the morning.
But yeah, fine, Carrie. You're being persecuted. Now spell it.
thanks for summing this up so succinctly and accurately, but honestly I am sick to death of this story..and I am one of the gays..
Separately..the clip of Elisabeth Hassleback on Jezebel..honestly, why does anyone ask her opinion on anything anymore? She is hypocritical, shrill and lacking in intelligent thought. PLEASE... get rid of her.
@Heywoodjablome: Actually, she serves a purpose. So long as Hassleback is on the View, it's one more argument against a monolithic liberal media. No one takes her seriously (did they ever?), and she serves a useful purpose, to wit, occupying a niche that might otherwise be filled by someone more trenchant.
When you linked "dumb skinny blondes who espouse half-baked conservative talking points" I thought for shizznit you were going to link to Ann Coulter. Alas, it was Hasselbeck for whom you decided.
I predict she'll spend five years at Fox's Tucson affiliate, gradually increasing guest spots on O'Reilly and Hannity, and then it is a permanent spot on the couch next to future Steve Doocy.
07/13/09
democrats talk shit all the time too, but they can never collectively get their story straight. Oh, if only air america hadn't crumbled into dust.
07/13/09
07/13/09
07/13/09
I have the feeling that the GOP keeps her around for the same reason they keep Limbaugh -- it riles up the base. The base that probably accepts her byzantine reasons for stepping down as pure gospel. But I can't see the actual leaders of the GOP (ahem, assuming there are any, at this point) seeing her move as anything but bizarre and erratic, and I don't think they'll be taking the chance again of having her on their top ticket.
But, again, that's assuming there's actually someone at the top orchestrating all the Orwellian double-speak. Maybe no one's driving the cart anymore, and the horses are just running how they've been trained.
07/13/09
Glad that worked out for him.
07/14/09
07/13/09
Even so, I'd much rather John McCain be obliviously defending his running mate choice than anywhere near the button as President. Anybody remember that this swaggering buffoon actually led Obama in the RCP national average polls going into mid-September 2008?
07/13/09
There is no silver lining. Sarah Palin is not leaving politics -- which actually confuses me, because I thought one of the points teased out of her incoherent speech was that she was leaving politics. Ah, it must be that mean-ol' media lying to me again.
BTW, this is an entertaining read. Lock up your pets when Sarah's around, folks, and not because she'll shoot them from the air, either!
07/13/09
I'm adoring this inability to course correct on the part of Republicans. They're waist deep in the Big Muddy, and the big fools keep pushing on.
07/13/09
07/12/09
07/13/09
07/12/09
hm.. I dunno, I think there was a lot more shit about him beyond his Palin pick that made his chances an uphill battle. Him being an olde, Bush royally fucking up the image of the Republican party, and the general awesomeness that was Obama are all pretty campaign-crumbling contributors.
07/12/09
07/12/09
07/12/09
07/12/09
I guess what I'm trying to say is it wasn't the Palin pick itself that doomed him, it was his wholesale drinking of the Bill Kristol Kool-Aid that led to the pick that doomed him.
07/13/09
07/13/09
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keating_Five
he U.S. Savings and Loan crisis of the 1980s and early 1990s was the failure of 747 savings and loan associations (S&Ls) in the United States. The ultimate cost of the crisis is estimated to have totaled around $160.1 billion, about $124.6 billion of which was directly paid for by the U.S. taxpayer.[1] The accompanying slowdown in the finance industry and the real estate market may have been a contributing cause of the 1990-1991 economic recession. Between 1986 and 1991, the number of new homes constructed per year dropped from 1.8 million to 1 million, the lowest rate since World War II.[2]
The Keating Five scandal was prompted by the activities of one particular savings and loan: Lincoln Savings and Loan Association of Irvine, California. Lincoln's chairman was Charles Keating, who ultimately served five years in prison for his corrupt mismanagement of Lincoln.[3] In the four years after Keating's American Continental Corporation (ACC) had purchased Lincoln in 1984, Lincoln's assets had increased from $1.1 billion to $5.5 billion.[4] Such savings and loan associations had been deregulated in the early 1980s, allowing them to make highly risky investments with their depositors' money. Keating and other savings and loan operators took advantage of this deregulation.[4][5] Savings and loans established connections to many members of Congress, by supplying them with needed funds for campaigns through legal donations.[5] Lincoln's particular investments took the form of buying land, taking equity positions in real estate development projects, and buying high-yield junk bonds.[6
.... On April 9, 1987, a two-hour meeting[4] with three members of the FHLBB San Francisco branch was held, again in DeConcini's office, to discuss the government's investigation of Lincoln.[7][11] Present were Cranston, DeConcini, Glenn, McCain, and additionally Riegle.[7] The regulators felt that the meeting was very unusual and that they were being pressured by a united front, as the senators presented their reasons for having the meeting.[7] DeConcini began the meeting by saying, "We wanted to meet with you because we have determined that potential actions of yours could injure a constituent."[13] McCain said, "One of our jobs as elected officials is to help constituents in a proper fashion. ACC [American Continental Corporation] is a big employer and important to the local economy. I wouldn't want any special favors for them.... I don't want any part of our conversation to be improper." Glenn said, "To be blunt, you should charge them or get off their backs," while DeConcini said, "What's wrong with this if they're willing to clean up their act? ... It's very unusual for us to have a company that could be put out of business by its regulators."[7] The regulators then revealed that Lincoln was under criminal investigation on a variety of serious charges, at which point McCain severed all relations with Keating.[7]
07/13/09
By the way, I don't think I've yet mentioned that it's a pleasure to see you back. I know you've been back for a few weeks now, but it's nice to see Olde Gawker crew around again.
(Which is not meant as a slight to the new bunch, btw)
07/13/09
07/13/09
07/13/09
07/13/09
Plus, I think people started to tire of the standard out-of-touch Olde sittin' there with his typewriter and slide-rule running a country full of people who use electronic communication just to say "good morning" to their spouses :[]
05/07/09
05/07/09
05/07/09
Wait, before you respond...I view anyone who gives any inch to any political party traitors and collaborators.
Now, knowing that - try and convince me that I need to listen to the bullshit Obama spews about political expediency.
Do this without once mentioning Republicans or Bush. Fuck Obama and his watered down "I need to get elected" bullshit.
I've heard just about enough of that from Arlen (soon to be former Senator) Specter, thank you very much.
05/07/09
05/07/09
Of course, whereas persecution for early Christians meant being tortured, crucified and devoured by animals, for modern American evangelicals it means having your face (and fake tits and big hair) overexposed on the media until your hypocrisy starts to show and everyone gets bored with you.
All these fuckwits need to know about Jesus and gay marriage is that Jesus would have been the guy at they gay wedding dancing on the tables and turning party favors into poppers well into the morning.
But yeah, fine, Carrie. You're being persecuted. Now spell it.
05/07/09
05/07/09
05/07/09
05/07/09
05/07/09
05/07/09
Separately..the clip of Elisabeth Hassleback on Jezebel..honestly, why does anyone ask her opinion on anything anymore? She is hypocritical, shrill and lacking in intelligent thought. PLEASE... get rid of her.
05/07/09
05/07/09
05/07/09
05/07/09
05/07/09
05/07/09
05/07/09
05/07/09
05/07/09