May 30, 2011

"This isn’t a campaign bus. This is a bus to be able to express to America..."

"... how much we appreciate our foundation and to invite more people to be interested in all that is good about America and to remind ourselves we don’t need to fundamentally transform America, we need to restore what’s good about America."

Oh! So that's what kind of a bus it is.

Palinspeak. It's apt to drive the media mad.

195 comments:

kent said...

It's apt to drive the media mad.

"That's not a drive; it's a putt."

rhhardin said...

Willie Nelson's bus already expresses America.

Big Mike said...

I think kent won this thread with the very first comment. Well played, sir! Very well played.

chickelit said...

Once upon time there were plans for a big Althouse bus tour of the States with "Meade" Cassady behind the wheel. The quest was a meet-up with Bissage. link.

Those were the days my friends.

Bob_R said...

I agree that the most likely explanation is she wants to be next Pres. Close second is that she wants to be the next Oprah.

Kensington said...

See, now that sounds like the kind of bus I'd want to ride.

Anonymous said...

"This isn't a campaign bus ..."

If it was a campaign bus, then Obama's Federal Election Commission would demand inside campaign information it would then use to try to destroy Palin and hunt down and destroy her campaign donors.

So, naturally, it isn't a campaign bus.

She's not running a campaign.

She's just riding around in a bus.

She's free to do that as an American.

Right?

FEC OUT OF OUR VAGINAS.

Er, buses!

Anonymous said...

The Palin Family theme song:

Come on down and meet everybody ... and hear us voting!

There's nothing better than bein' together ... when we're voting!

All of us, and Mom working all day! We knew we could help her if our votes could make the day!

Come on down and meet everybody ... and hear us VOTING!

And hear us VOTING!

When we're voting!

When we're voting!

Go Sarah Go! Drill baby drill! Vote baby vote!

Obligatory: http://youtu.be/LOiKa51ll-k

Sprezzatura said...

That is the dumbest thing eva, everybody knows that you're supposed to use clothes for that, not a bus!

Sheesh.

Sprezzatura said...

"the clothes will have things written all through the inside of them to remind you to go back and be who you were supposed to be....I'm going do for clothing was [Paul] Newman did for salad dressing."

mccullough said...

The Great Society and New Deal fundamentally changed the US, along with Reagan's policies of strong economic growth through high deficits. High spending and high deficits form the bedrock of the US.

Must be nice to have the money and time to hop on a bus to tour the country. FURTHUR

chickelit said...

Palinspeak. It's apt to drive the media mad.

Having been around Althouse since the first round of Palin mania, I'm sure the second will be even better.

Althouse needs to find away to bottle and sell the comedy gold that gets gassed out here in the comment section.

Irene said...

Maybe Palin "employs the intellectual stammer."

Fred4Pres said...

Ride Sarah Ride. Drive them insane.

deborah said...

lol Irene

edutcher said...

She bends everything to promote her agenda.

As I say, tell me again how dumb she is.

rhhardin said...

Willie Nelson's bus already expresses America.

Not the part that's clean, sober, and paid up with the IRS.

deborah said...

Maybe Sarah has the balls to let 'er rip. lolol

Saint Croix said...

I would have said something like this: "Get that fucking microphone out of my fucking face, you fuckwit. Don't you know I'm circling around you pompous bastards and tweeting directly to the American people? Who invited you fuckwits anyway."

This is why I'm not running for anything.

AllenS said...

“This isn’t a campaign bus,” Palin said, according to reports. “This is a bus to be able to express to America how much we appreciate our foundation and to invite more people to be interested in all that is good about America and to remind ourselves we don’t need to fundamentally transform America, we need to restore what’s good about America.”

Quit the elipsis, Professor. Let the sentence finish. Let Palin complete her thought. Post her sentence.

Roy Lofquist said...

I've seen all of them since Harry Truman. She is a political genius.

mariner said...

nevadabob,
She's not running a campaign.

She's just riding around in a bus.

She's free to do that as an American.

Right?

So far. But Obama has almost two more years.

Anonymous said...

Don't underestimate Palin. She knows how to tap into people, shall I say it, how Reagan knew how to tap into people. Dumb my ass.

Robert J. said...

> I've seen all of them since Harry Truman. She is a political genius.

More and more I'm coming to think this is really true. I don't know if she's running or not, but watching her play the media is like watching someone dangle a pingpong ball over the head of a cat, and the cat is crashing into walls, falling off tables, and spinning upside down trying to grab it. And if anyone deserves to have some fun sticking it to the media it's Palin.

Just posted on her SarahPAC site: "I’ve said before that George Washington is my favorite Founding Father because he was reluctant to serve, and yet he rose to the great challenges before him."

Does that mean....?? Zing! She really is very good at the game.

Pastafarian said...

You know, I love the Althouse blog for the great writing, photography, and analysis of a wide, wide range of topics.

But I do not come here to find cogent analysis of the phenomenon that is Sarah Palin.

According to Althouse, Palin is stupid. She said this, in these very words, in a headline. And it wasn't quoting anyone else -- it was Althouse's opinion, without any lawerly wiggleroom: "Oh no, Palin is stupid," or something very close to that, was the exact quote.

At the same time, Althouse thinks Palin is a conniving Svengali who drives the media mad with her crafty Palin-speak, whose very posture in a private photo ("...I love the way she's slouching as if she's not thinking about her looks at all...") is politically calculated.

So Palin, according to Althouse, is both stupid and an (evil) genius.

For me, the interesting thing is this: What is it about Palin that drives Althouse mad? She's not logically inconsistent like this on very many topics. For her, Palin touches a nerve.

Ricardo said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Steve Koch said...

From the linked story:

"Van Susteren is traveling with Palin on Monday and is to conduct an interview inside the One Nation tour bus. Coale, who set up Palin’s political action committee in 2009 and serves as an informal adviser, was spotted with the Palin family at Mount Vernon.

But even Van Susteren doesn’t seem to know what Palin’s up to next. "My producer, who talked to someone who works with her in order to set up the interview, told me last night that he would not tell her,” Van Susteren posted on her blog Monday. “We were told to check their website for any information they are releasing. He said they don’t want the media following them, and that includes us.”"
----end of linked story-----

Did not realize that Van Susteren is married to the guy who set up Palin's PAC and who acts as an informal advisor for Palin.

Palin is not lying when she says the bus is not being used as a campaign bus (at least not in the traditional sense of campaign). When Palin says that she can be effective politically for the USA without holding elective office, she is not obfuscating.

Palin is explicitly trying to avoid the media. That seems like it will be an impossible task but should be interesting to see how well Palin can control media access so that it happens on her own terms. Palin realizes that the media are mostly enemies to her and that there is no reason for her to treat them 'fairly" (since they will not treat her fairly).

traditionalguy said...

Sarah has demonstrated a remarkable talent with words to capture the moment. That can be a great leadership skill because such words make their way around the filters of the media narrative by being so creative that the media quotes them. We all know what her words mean while the media is still thinking something else and to accuse her of saying new words without their permission.

David Smith said...

As I've said before, anyone who can make the "elites" of both parties sh*t themselves, and at the same time drive the "media" mad deserves at the very least our admiration and thanks. Only possibly support and votes, but absolutely admiration and thanks.

Go for it, Sarah!

Conserve Liberty said...

Won't the irony be sublime if it really is just a bus? What if she really is just a cheerleader for ordinary Americans' exceptionalism?

MamaM said...

"That's not a drive; it's a putt."

Maybe even a hole in One?

If not, a serious dent, a clop, a ding, a blow, a slap, a shout of "Fore"!!!

The smell of the emissions coming from this bus will be a perfume to some, a stench to others.

Meanwhile the horn on the bus goes "Beep, beep, beep" while the wheels roll round and round, all through the town.

Head's up America.

deborah said...

Please replace your divot, Mama :)

traditionalguy said...

Random Thoughts: Palin is gutsy as you can get. Her trip is without advance organizers. She just shows up and a crowd erupts. The last time we saw such guts in Georgia was when Sherman and his Army of the West decided to leave Atlanta and all supplies and communications with Washington, giving no plan or schedule but emerged well fed and happy 40 days later in Savannah. That made Sherman many enemies because he humiliated the South. Let's see if Palin can humiliate the Rove wing of the GOP.

Anonymous said...

Note that the first paragraph of the article demands to know what Palin is "up to."

Who told them she owed that to them?

chickelit said...

For me, the interesting thing is this: What is it about Palin that drives Althouse mad? She's not logically inconsistent like this on very many topics. For her, Palin touches a nerve.

I hadn't noticed that as finely as you have Pasta. I thought she was pretty even handed in the last Palin election.

chickelit said...

@Pasta That being said, I think Althouse would have little choice but to cast her vote for Palin were she to run in 2012. I don't believe for a second all the Cedarfordian analysis she posits for why she voted for Obama and I suspect that it really was that she just had to be on board for the first black POTUS.

How could she resist Palin in 2012?

Hagar said...

Miaoow!

Saint Croix said...

Any other politician or would-be politician would go to Washington D.C. to meet with other politicians. "See? I'm important. I'm meeting with important people and doing important things."

Sarah Palin goes to Washington D.C. and she specifically takes on the role of a tourist.

She's brilliant.

In simple strokes she establishes herself as an outsider candidate. She's just like the people she wants to represent.

And at the same time she pays heed to our founders and our framers. Which is what ordinary Americans do when they go to Washington D.C.

She pays her respects to the giants who established our republic.

And she derides, by ignoring them, the assholes currently in power.

Absolutely brilliant.

Robert Cook said...

Palinspeak is apt to drive mad anyone who has a low tolerance for banal homilies that say nothing with a side of hot steaming horseshit served on a plate.

"Palin is explicitly trying to avoid the media."

Hahahahahaha!

Well, I guess that's accurate if you mean she's trying to avoid speaking to the media, but she's trying her damned hardest to attract media attention.

Americans are nothing if not consistent: we're always eager suckers for the next obvious tawdry fraud to come along.

Shouting Thomas said...

Palinspeak is apt to drive mad anyone who has a low tolerance for banal homilies that say nothing with a side of hot steaming horseshit served on a plate.

Bizarre lack of self-awareness from our resident commie, Kookie.

Kookie, you really don't know that you are a standard Stalinist stooge, do you? You don't have any idea how deeply, infinitely stupid you are, do you?

It's amazing how you remain in the dark about this.

Fen said...

Must be nice to have the money and time to hop on a bus to tour the country

I think its nice that she's not using my tax dollars to do it.

Unlike some pols...

Rose said...

LOL. Ride, Sarah, ride. And, then, RUN, Sarah, Run!

Clinton and Gore ran with an implied wonderful new partnership of Pres and VP; they not only failed to deliver, it became apparent that they didn't really even like each other, and Gore chose not to have Clinton campaign with him.

Bush Cheney not only delivered on that promise, they did like and respect each other. As Bush also love his wife. As compared to Clinton who brought semen stains on a blue dress to the morning news shows, and every press conference, even in front of foreign leaders. Thus began our decline.

Sarah Palin not only brings incredible promise, she will deliver.

As for the synergy with a great VP - we hope for a Herman Cain or an Allen West. Honest people, without that Clintonian fatal flaw, who truly love the country, and will, finally restore the image that was destroyed by a philandering, self indulgent President, and further destroyed by a vicious assault by leftists with BDR.

There is HOPE yet.

Fen said...

Robert Cook: Palinspeak is apt to drive mad anyone who has a low tolerance for banal homilies

Coming from the guy who parrots how "we've always been at war with EastAsia"....

Fen said...

"Hope and Change!"

Heh.

Robert Cook said...

"It's amazing how you remain in the dark about this."

Especially so, considering how often you hasten to enlighten me.

Shouting Thomas said...

Palin doesn't speak the normal BS, despite out resident Stalinist's comment to the contrary.

She has spoken the truth as directly as it can be spoken:

Drill, baby, drill!!

I love that smell of the emissions!

This woman speaks the truth bluntly.

Saint Croix said...

she's trying her damned hardest to attract media attention.

Yeah, cause she's calling a press conference and giving speeches and...wait a second.

I think all she has done is blogged a little. A facebook post here, a tweet there, announce on her website that she's going to D.C.

She's been completely low key and offhand about this. We're the ones going crazy, dummy.

I don't know what more absurd, when Robert Cook suggests that Sarah Palin is desperately trying to drum up publicity (oh yeah, that's a struggle) or when Seven Nachos says that he doesn't know where Sarah stands on the issues.

Yeah yeah, Sarah Palin, the blank slate. (Maybe she's secretly a liberal!).

MadisonMan said...

“This isn’t a campaign bus,” Palin said, according to reports.

Why is the phrase according to reports in that sentence?

Either she said it or she didn't.

Robert Cook said...

"Drill, baby, drill!!

"I love that smell of the emissions!"


Shouty Tommy, is it polite of you to repeat Palin's bedroom talk out of turn?

Shouting Thomas said...

Shouty Tommy, is it polite of you to repeat Palin's bedroom talk out of turn?

At least, you have a sense of humor.

All is not lost.... yet.

hombre said...

Stop the tour! The mediaswine are confused! LOL

exhelodrvr1 said...

She has set a trap, the media and the haters have walked right into it, and all the while she has left her options open. Very shrewd.

Winding down said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Penny said...

Palin is demonstrating tremendous love for America.

I like that. A lot.

mariner said...

MamaM,
Meanwhile the horn on the bus goes "Beep, beep, beep" ...

Or, "Beep,Beep! Beep,Beep!"

The Wiley E. Coyotes (Super Geniuses) of the media aren't catching her.

Fen said...

Palin is demonstrating tremendous love for America. I like that. A lot.

Her love for America wouldn't resonate with so many if Obama had any.

Fen said...

January 20th, 2013

The day the MSM rediscovers "speaking truth to power"

Fuck them.

mariner said...

mccollough,
Must be nice to have the money and time to hop on a bus to tour the country.

Must be even nicer to have Air Force One and unlimited taxpayer dollars to tour the world campaigning.

During Obama's first year in office Air Force One flew 180 days. That's almost every other day.

Now tell us again how much Palin's bus tour hurts you.

Winding down said...

I do not know about sp's intentions..?but she sounds a damn cite/sight/site better than what we have!!! Go Sarah!!

creeper said...

Palin to van Susteren today: "I don't owe the mainstream media anything."

Dog, I love this woman!

Fen said...

MadisonMan: Why is the phrase according to reports in that sentence?

Careful now. You continue down this path and the MSM will lose another 10% share.

virgil xenophon said...

If Hillery can get away with calling an upstate tour of New York prior to officially launching her Senatorial campaign a "listening" tour rather than a series of campaign stops, then Sara can call her tour any damn thing she wants--running for Presidency or no..

Synova said...

"Palinspeak is apt to drive mad anyone who has a low tolerance for banal homilies that say nothing with a side of hot steaming horseshit served on a plate."

Ah, but the skill is in knowing which banal homilies are the right banal homilies.

Jon said...

This is a bus to help Mitt Romney win the nomination by sucking all the attention away from the conservative alternatives to Romney who are actually running.

Lincolntf said...

When Palin speaks, she tells the truth. Might as well be speaking Martian, nobody in DC speaks that either.

Synova said...

And Palinspeak does drive the media and her detractors mad. I particularly like the "OMG I can't parse her meaning!" It's not that hard. Her sentences do run on, particularly when transcribed from speech, but the meaning isn't obscure.

In a different person with a North East upperclass accent instead of a midwest accent the story would be that she sees the complexity of issues.

It could be that Palinspeak is why no one has pointed out that the quote up there is a direct attack on Obama and his campaign memes.

chickelit said...

Fen said: Her love for America wouldn't resonate with so many if Obama had any.

Well said.

Seeing Red said...

Americans are nothing if not consistent: we're always eager suckers for the next obvious tawdry fraud to come along

And he still has an approval level I can't comprehend.

Saint Croix said...

Why is the phrase "according to reports" in that sentence?

Either she said it or she didn't.


For the same reason the New York times reporter did not know that Sarah's daughter was driving the motorcycle.

She's not talking to them.

They are reporting in the dark, forced to get their information second-hand.

Right now the New York Times, Washington Post, etc. are desperately trying to get an interview with Sarah Palin. And she's refusing to talk to them.

Synova said...

For what it's worth, I think it's a campaign bus.

But I think she's right not to declare at this point (and why is the media reporting the Republican "field" as slow to get going when it's only the beginning of 2011?) And I think she'll keep the door open behind her to not run for as long as she possibly can.

And no, I do not want Allan West or Paul Ryan to run this cycle.

mccullough said...

How many regular Americans buy million dollar second homes in Arizona and have time to fuck around like this in the summer? If Sarah Palin is just like you, you must be doing pretty well.

Lucius said...

I'm amused to ponder the difference between Palin's mostly extemporized, with index cards for reference, Tea Party convention speech, versus Obama's toast to the queen. One person off the teleprompter managed to mostly sail away for an hour (she had the occasional rough break to collect a new direction of thought, but these were relatively few and none embarassing), while Obama managed to flub everything while trying to cite a quote from a Shakespeare play which, I'll wager, he's never read.

Anonymous said...

palin has really put a weed up althouse's ass

most of the commenters too

john said...

"How many regular Americans buy million dollar second homes in Arizona and have time to fuck around like this in the summer?"

I dunno, but maybe she's emulating another regular American (6 months fucking around on Air Force 1). Of course, we don't know yet if she also got a sweet deal from some organized crime figure on her new house.

Sprezzatura said...

"Drill, baby, drill!!"


Steelespeak.

Fen said...

/via Powerline

"I'm not sure why nearly all pundits are convinced that Palin isn't running for president, but I hope they are right. She is never going to win over the fringe voters that will be decisive in 2012. But that's OK. Sarah Palin has a unique ability to communicate with and motivate a significant chunk of the electorate that is critical to the GOP's hopes in the next couple of election cycles. She will do a great service for her country if she devotes her efforts to tying the left up in frustrated knots, while helping to deliver for conservative candidates the voters with whom she has a unique relationship. Which, at this point, seems to be exactly what she has in mind"

mccullough said...

John and Mariner,

Thank you for making the point: Palin is just like Obama. So maybe we should choose door number 3.

Roux said...

What if she is really out there to get people fired up to defeat the left and not run for POTUS?

It would be historic and heroic and necessary.

ricpic said...

What is it about Palin that drives Althouse mad??

Palin is unabashadly and unashamedly lower-middle class in outlook, or to put it more poetically, she is a true daughter of the people. This is the sticking point for all those striving professional women whose very self-definition is invested in having liberated themselves from all that square stuff. It's even worse than that, Althouse can't believe that Palin is sincerely square, it has to be an act.

mariner said...

mccollough,

If you really believe that what I wrote means that Palin is just like Obama -- there's no chance for intelligent conversation with you.

My point was exactly the opposite. Palin is using her own money and a bus. Obama uses OUR money and Air Force One.

Palin is not taking time away from work to tour; Obama was.

1775OGG said...

Palin's bus tour will drive the MSM crazy over whether she's running for president or merely driving around.

Meanwhile, Obama's still trying to figure whether he will win in 2012 or whether he needs to draw back the curtains now and expose his real plans for his total make-over of America.

Obama's problems include the fact that some Democrat Congress critters are trying to figure out how they could win reelection in 2012, Of course, part of Obama's big plan is that they wouldn't need to be reelected once his plan kicks in.

Another problem for Obama is that SEIU doesn't yet have its cohorts well organized into street brigades of Purple Shirts yet. Once the Purple Shirts are ready to roll, it's all "Hail to the Won" time. One minor issue in Obama's plans is that the Madison test roll-out didn't really go well at all and his minions are still working on how to speed it up, to get all the police on his side, and to fix that annoying issue with piss-poor drummers being out of sync with everyone else.

A last really tough problem to fix is that the nation's military isn't really too excited about President Obama yet. Yeah, Obama's the CinC and all that, but will the military really toe the line if he tells them to do Posse Comitatus type stuff? That plus the other issue of all those pistols, rifles, shotguns, and other dangerous items that many bitter clingers insist on keeping; the Brady Bill would really help Obama here.

So, the real issue is that Obama sees his chance at keeping the presidency slowly slipping away; seriously; the MSM needs to step up its campaign of telling the world that Palin doesn't stand a chance, a cold Alaskan chance in hell, to make it to the big White House.

Saint Croix said...

How many regular Americans buy million dollar second homes in Arizona and have time to fuck around like this in the summer? If Sarah Palin is just like you, you must be doing pretty well.

Mccullough, she's rich now, she wasn't rich a couple of years ago.

It's entirely possible that a rich person is ordinary. Sam Walton used to drive around in a pick-up truck. Warren Buffett barely spends his money.

Sarah Palin has been poor, too, and she remembers what that is like.

You're not going to convince any Republican with Marxist arguments, and it's kinda retarded to try.

Seeing Red said...

"How many regular Americans buy million dollar second homes in Arizona and have time to fuck around like this in the summer?"



A qualifier, nice.

However, if we removed "million dollar 2nd homes" and put in say married teachers with combined pensions of $125K ++ / yr who can afford to buy 2nd homes in FITB -

Would they be "regular Americans" or rich Americans?

My mom has a friend who is friends w/married teachers - combined income of $150K/yr pension.

Not bad, eh?

Under the old rules that would get about 1/2 mill house. Now? probably even more for less.

Carol_Herman said...

The MSM is dying! They had no idea, beforehand, that this story would capture anyone's imagination! Now, look.

Across America, people know there's a bus with ONE NATION painted on its sides.

Remember, in Madison, when the union painted up the sides of a few buses?

Elites don't travel by bus.

Seeing Red said...

Maybe mccullough should read, "The Millionaire Next Door?"

Carol_Herman said...

Today, there was a funny line from Bibi Netanyahu. He said "The UN, in September, can declare a palestinian state. And, they can also declare that the world is flat."

Now, here, Sarah Palin's bus went behind enemy lines.

The MSM doesn't know this. But the world's not flat. And, you can reach millions with a well crafted-line. It's the best self-defense out there.

edutcher said...

mccullough said...

How many regular Americans buy million dollar second homes in Arizona and have time to fuck around like this in the summer? If Sarah Palin is just like you, you must be doing pretty well.

One more foot soldier in the FUD brigade.

A lot of Americans have the time, thanks to Little Zero and his coterie of intellectuals. Unemployment is north of 20% these days.

As for the home, she write a best-selling book. That doesn't mean she forgets where she came from, any more than Herman Cain or Michelle Bachmann.

I'm sure Mitch Daniels, had he found the gumption to run, would live in a hovel by the railroad tracks and not spent a day away from the job.

Skippy said...

So, Seeing Red, your MOM has a FRIEND who has FRIENDS who are teachers and who have a combined pension of $150K. Yes, that MUST be accurate, first-hand, primary source reporting. In what state? In California, the average classroom teacher gets $3300 a month after 27 years, having contributed 8 percent of his/her salary with matching from the school district and 2 percent from the state. And beloved President Reagan passed a law that prevents teachers (70 percent of whom are women) from getting a spouse's Social Security -- not a penny, even if the spouse has put in the maximum amount -- after that spouse's death. And if you're a second career teacher, having put in many years into Social Security, you will find that cut, as well, by hundreds of dollars. So, again, where and who are these fat-cat "teachers" buying $500K homes?

Shanna said...

Maybe mccullough should read, "The Millionaire Next Door?"

Heh. That is a great book.

Sarah Palin has made some money. Good for her. It's not like there are ever truly poor Presidential candidates so I'm not sure what that matters (although I still don't think she's running and don't want her to "let herself get drafted" or some such thing.)

Lincolntf said...

Teachers and school employees routinely buy vacation homes. I come from a family of educators, and the combination of good pay, no risk of losing one's job and a quarter of the year off make them very reasonable investments. Most of the Teachers I know make in the 60 -100K range, put two of those together and you're relatively "rich".

Anonymous said...

This is how you get America to like you. The media don't matter; neither does the established Republican organization. You just carry on playing your character by being yourself, promoting your message directly to the eager audience, and not letting anyone know what's going to happen in the next episode.

It's reality as a reality show... and it's brillient.

Joanna said...

I love -- LOVE -- that Palin is making the media chase her around. Not only does this mean they have time to either find where she is OR dig up dirt (but not both), but I'm sure it feels good to finally be Jerry to their Tom.

It's reality as a reality show... and it's brillient.
Agreed.

Ned said...

She's doing the things Americans love and liberals hate

Lucius said...

Is there a setting here anywhere between 'turkey' and 'five stars'?

Palin is a terrific communicator with a knack for asymmetric campaigning-- or exploring the options, as it may be.

Very likely she also makes David Gregory shit his drawers. Or Jonathan Chait, or whoever. Certainly Michelle Goldberg, that cutie!

All the same, this doesn't make this whole ride-a-bus/ talk-to-the-people gig Hannibal at Cannae-level brilliant.

People have campaigned by bus before. Politicians have paid deferrence at national monuments before.

And extoling, or just vibing with, lower middle-class values does not automatically make you Margaret Thatcher. Palin is, let us remind ourselves, a former governor and a rather rich and celebrated American.

Don't her executive skills have something to do with why some people want her to run for President? It's not all Whitmanian mysticism about The Common People, is it?

Skippy said...

Lincolntf, you are probably right about that -- two salaries together and one's relatively "rich." However, to say that a couple of average classroom teachers are pulling down $150K in pensions is ridiculous. It's part of the "pension reform" chatter that attacks teachers specifically. Funny how the firefighters and police -- male-dominated professions -- didn't get hurt by Reagan's law. Fellow teacher will get 60 percent of her firefighter husband's pension if he dies before her. Me? Not a penny of my husband's Social Security and he has contributed the maximum amount for 30 years. Fair?

Lincolntf said...

Who is worth more money, an American Private First Class in combat or a Pre-school Teacher's Assistant in Madison?
Here's a clue, the T.A. gets paid double.

Methadras said...

Leftards hate America. It's plain as day. They clearly wish it would lose it's exceptional luster in the world and join the mediocrity of other mediocre nations. Palin, while I don't want to see her run for president, jabs her fingers, stooges style, into leftard eyeballs.

Hagar said...

Skippy,
I don't quite know what this is about, but wish to point out that Presidents do not get to "pass" laws, they only get to choose whether to sign or not on statutes passed by Congress.

This particular bill, was that passed while Reagan had a Republican majority in the Senate?
What else was it attached to?

mariner said...

Doug Wright,
Yeah, Obama's the CinC and all that, but will the military really toe the line if he tells them to do Posse Comitatus type stuff?

It won't matter. Obama negotiated and agreement with Canada to use Canadian forces on U.S. soil in case of "civil unrest".

If the Canadians don't like that, American troops will pacify them.

ken in tx said...

If she is campaigning, it is sort of like Andrew Jackson's campaign. Except she hasn't shot anybody yet. Jackson had no program, no proposals, nothing except hostility toward intrenched interests. His supporters went from town to town planting a hickory stick at the edge of town to point out that this town had supporters of 'Old Hickory' in it. It worked.

kk said...

Go watch this clip from the first Pirates of the Caribbean - Sarah's playing Jack Sparrow and the media are the two soldiers. Even if she came out and said exactly what she's doing, they wouldn't believe her. It's brilliant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGWYNgjvddc&feature=related

mariner said...

Hagar,
I don't quite know what this is about, but wish to point out that Presidents do not get to "pass" laws, they only get to choose whether to sign or not on statutes passed by Congress.

Obama has done quite a bit legislating from the Oval Office.

For example, he repealed Federal bankruptcy law in the case of GM.

There isn't a chance in hell Congress will pass further restrictions on Americans' 2A rights, so Obama has announced he's working on gun control "under the radar".

chickelit said...

Saint Croix wrote: Right now the New York Times, Washington Post, etc. are desperately trying to get an interview with Sarah Palin. And she's refusing to talk to them.

I don't recall reading any previous print articles on her in the NYT or the WaPo. Can somebody link to an old one?

I do recall an awful lot of biased TV interview: Couric and the guy who literally looked down his nose.

Maybe a print story would work eventually. Just keep the editorial staff away because they've proven their journalistic bias already.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

His supporters went from town to town planting a hickory stick at the edge of town to point out that this town had supporters of 'Old Hickory' in it. It worked.


Maybe Palin supporters could release a live mama grizzly bear in each town.

Carol_Herman said...

If Sarah Palin wins the presidency, what if she then picks Christine O'Connell to handle the press? You remember the woman. The one the media labeled "a witch" when she ran against Biden.

Heck, imagine how Obama would handle the transition! Would he deny the cameras access to the Mall? Would he say the ceremony goes indoors, and to the basement of the Capitol?

What if he only sends his teleprompter?

Watching the MSM being driven mad is a pure delight.

Skippy said...

Hagar, it's the Social Security Administration's Windfall Elimination Provision. Correct, it was signed by Reagan, rather than passed. Lots of stuff available online about it.

Lincolntf: What are your numbers on that assistant's job? Who provided them? A couple of minutes of research and this is what I found: Department of Labor says this, online: "Preschool teachers, except special education (Occupation [OCC] code: 25-2011) in Madison, WI (BLS Area code: 31540 ) earned an average wage of $11.58 per hour and an average annual salary of $24,080."
The Army says a private E1 (no experience and the preschool teacher needs two years of education at least) is $17,611 and adds that this does not include benefits, bonuses or other allowances. The army, in highlighted font, says that the basic salary is only part of the active duty soldier's compensation.

Seems like those reports of teacher's assistants making twice as much as an army private are hyperbole. Who is the source of these numbers that people toss around as facts? What's their purpose? To screw teacher's assistants who make about the same amount as a cashier assistant at Costco ($11.57)?

Seeing Red said...

The Peoples' Republic of Illinois.

48th in the country according to Executive Mag to do biz.

California is 50.

Depending on the stats, worst state to retire in.

I think about $75 billion in debt?

Gotta lurve the Combine.

Boeing, Cat, Jimmy John's & Sears have all threatened to leave.

They cut a deal w/Cat already.

Some idiot state critter floated the idea to raise the minimum wage to $10/hr to put more money in peoples' pockets.

Not the brightest bulb in the box, is she.

And they're still as dumb as a post. Yesterday, a girl had to use a calculator to give me change from a $20, the bill was $14.50.

Via Teacher World . com

With Illinois teacher salaries more than $6,000 over the national average in 2009-2010, you might be thinking seriously about becoming a teacher in Illinois. But while $62,077 is certainly an appealing number, it's not the whole story. Breaking down the Illinois teacher salary numbers in more detail can be very revealing—and perhaps even more encouraging to future educators.

It's clear that Illinois places a high value on public education by offering generous compensation to its teachers. But besides attractive Illinois teacher salaries, most school districts in the state offer a wide range of benefits. Like other districts in the state, Chicago Public Schools offers health and dental coverage, but if you teach in Chicago, you'll also be eligible for student loan forgiveness, home ownership incentives, and various other perks.(1)

Not only are the fringe benefits excellent, but teachers in Illinois may receive additional boosts in salary as they get more full-time classroom experience and higher-level college degrees. Just five years of teaching experience will grant bachelor's degree holders an additional $1,000 above their starting salaries, while master's degree holders will earn at least $1,250 more.(2)

Illinois teacher salaries also differ depending on where teachers are employed and what age kids they teach. Secondary school salaries, for instance, are the second highest in the nation at $67,960, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Take a look at average secondary school teacher salaries in five major metropolitan areas:(3)
•Champaign/Urbana: $49,580
•Chicago/Naperville/Joliet: $74,530
•Peoria: $52,070
•Rockford: $56,630
•Springfield: $48,210

elamp - e lights the darkness, use the search engine.

Gary Rosen said...

Sarah Palin, the human Rorschach test.

Gary Rosen said...

I don't have a crystal ball so I won't pretend to know what the future holds in store for Sarah Palin. But you know all those smart guys who said she was through when she resigned as governor? It sure looks a lot like they were dead wrong.

Seeing Red said...

The 100 highest-paid school administrators in Illinois in 2006 had salaries ranging from $205,590 to $380,227. Here are the 17 who made more than a quarter million dollars for the year: .

Trooper York said...

The most dangerous part about this bus trip is when they reach the rest stop and Terrye and Seven Machos throw rocks at it.

That's kind of scary.

deborah said...

Low blow, Troop.

Mark said...

How many regular Americans buy million dollar second homes in Arizona and have time to fuck around like this in the summer? If Sarah Palin is just like you, you must be doing pretty well.

What you knee-jerks on the Left don't realize is that red state Americans don't begrudge those who succeed their rewards. That we should resent the Palins' new home is classic class warfare thinking, and it just doesn't work very well here (as opposed to Europe, where, well, it doesn't work either).

Palin could buy, cash up front, I'd guess, a huge sprawl in Arizona. And she can ride the hogs with the rednecks and look like she was loving it. That we can respect.

John Kerry crawling on his belly to shoot deer? Dude, what we hate is the condescension.

So maybe it is class warfare, in a sense. Palin has class. The nomenclatura has standing. I'll stand with class over standing every time.

Spartan79 said...

Sorry, Skippy. Current info from BLS at O*Net shows a Madison teacher assistant earns $25,700. This is for a 5 1/2 hour 180 day year, as opposed to a PFC's 24/7/365 day a year a job. So I'd say the teacher assistant earns about 20 times the hourly wage of the PFC - and for a decidely less arduous and risky worklife.

Anonymous said...

There's really no question that Palin is more the political equivalent of Andrew Jackson than anything else.

I wonder if it's purposeful?

AST said...

If it's not a campaign bus, why is SarahPAC paying for it? There's got to be a loophole in the campaign finance laws big enough to drive a bus through.

AST said...

Pastafarian,

You're just the sort Palin loves doing this to.

John said...

Palin is the closest thing to Andrew Jackson as I have seen in my lifetime. If she were a man, I would put her odds of being President well past 75%. The problem is that she is a woman. And women are nasty to one another. There is a certain breed of upper middle and upper class woman who will never vote for her. The look at their own beta male husbands, dishwasher sized asses and compare it to Palin and they hate her for it. I think that jealousy and neurosis explains why Palin is more hated than your typical conservative politician. If she were a man she would still be hated by the Left and the media but it wouldn't be the same. And a few of those soccer moms who have gone insane in Palin hatred would secretly vote Palin and just not tell anyone. But as a woman that won't happen.

Anonymous said...

The issue is not gender. It's simply that Palin doesn't have nearly the experience that Jackson had. She is not politically qualified to be president, just like Obama. However, an average voter might reasonably conclude that Obama is now more qualified, having held the job for four years.

John said...

"However, an average voter might reasonably conclude that Obama is now more qualified, having held the job for four years."

I don't see how four years of disastrous failure makes you qualified. The fact is that sometimes inexperienced people do a great job. If they have it, they have it. At most you could say is that you don't know if Palin would be a good President. But you do know that Obama is an historically bad President and likely to get even worse in a second term since even really good Presidents (Eisenhower, Reagan, Clinton) had worse second terms than first.

I take issue with the whole idea that you have to have "political experience" to be President. Maybe 50 years ago when our political class still functioned. But today with the worst political class in American history and perhaps one of the worst in civilized history? No. Not being connected with this craven bunch of ignorant perverts is a feature not a bug.

John said...

"an average voter might reasonably conclude that Obama is now more qualified, having held the job for four years."

That is just insane. No reasonable person could conclude that a man who is too dim to give a speech without a teleprompter, too arrogant to learn the proper protocol when overseas, and too disinterested in the job to do much other than play golf is "qualified" to be President.

Anonymous said...

John -- The obvious flaw in your argument is that Obama has already won once, with less experience. I agree that Obama has been a terrible president. I hope he loses. I hope Republicans get a huge mandate for cutting government and ending deficit spending.

However, putting up a charismatic but inexperienced, untested politician who has no apparent policies against Obama is not wise.

John said...

"However, putting up a charismatic but inexperienced, untested politician who has no apparent policies against Obama is not wise."

I think she is very tested. No politician since Nixon has endured so much scrutiny and criticism. And she does have policies, small government.

More importantly, she is direct and confrontational. Obama cannot take that. Look how Netanuahu humiliated him. Obama is the master of the cheap shot against someone who can't fight back (see his shot against the Supreme Court during the State of the Union for an example of this). He has spent his entire career around people who either agreed with him or were guilty white people afraid to confront a black man head on. He cannot take direct confrontation. He loses his cool. He gets mad and the real nature of his character comes out. Palin would destroy him in a debate. That is one place where her being a woman would help. If a man does to Obama what needs to be done, the media will play it out as an angry white man belittling and humiliating a black man. If a woman does it, they won't be able to do that. He will just look like the weak petty person he is.

Anonymous said...

John -- Obama already beat a woman in debates: Hillary Clinton.

Palin has all of Obama's weaknesses as a candidate and she is more inexperienced than the inexperienced Obama. She will be rightly labeled a quitter with no significant experience.

Note also that Alaska is the most federally subsidized state per capita.

John said...

"Obama already beat a woman in debates: Hillary Clinton."

Hillary never went after him. And you completely misunderstand what elections are about. They are always a mandate on the incumbent. The country decides whether they want to keep the person in the job and then if not talks themselves into voting for the challenger, see Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter as examples of this. You can't run on experience when that experience is complete failure. 2012 will about Obama's record. And that as they say is not good.

John said...

"Note also that Alaska is the most federally subsidized state per capita."

That is one of the dumbest statistics known to man. No one lives in Alaska. If it got any money at all it would be one of the most federally subsidized states. Those statistics by necessity always skew against unpopulated states and thus are meaningless.

come on, you have think a little better than that. That is the kind of stupid a liberal would post.

Anonymous said...

And you completely misunderstand what elections are about. They are always a mandate on the incumbent.

This simply is not true. If it were true, Al Gore would have been president because the country liked the immensely likable and popular Bill Clinton and the country seemed to be in great shape. If it were true, George W. Bush would have lost. Make no mistake; he was a weak candidate (as much as I, personally liked and like him) and he barely squeaked by the immensely unlikable John Kerry.

Moreover, if Obama is so unpopular, it doesn't matter who the Republicans nominate. Anyone respectable with a pulse will do. Why is it so necessary to nominate Palin, who has no positions other than vague proclamations and who is inexperienced, a quitter, and a lightning rod for criticism?

In my opinion, Palin is Goldwater or McGovern. She is among the few people being discussed for president who could actually lose to Obama.

Anonymous said...

States Receiving Most in Federal Spending Per Dollar of Federal Taxes Paid:

1. D.C. ($6.17)
2. North Dakota ($2.03)
3. New Mexico ($1.89)
4. Mississippi ($1.84)
5. Alaska ($1.82)

It's hard to argue that you are a libertarian when the state you governed before you quit was in the top five of sucking at the federal teat.

viator said...

Pollutico, one of the major ant-Palin websites, and home to JourNolisters, has not been invited to the bus so they're confused. Any inside information re Palin is going to RCP (Real Clear Politics).

John said...

Steven,

Read your own list. All of those states you list are states with small populations. You just proved my point. And moreover, Palin was governor not Senator. What did she ever do to create those subsidies and how was she as governor supposed to end them? You gripe is with Dan Young and company not with her, who oh by the way she kicked out of the State Capitol.

You are hitting liberal levels of stupidity. Are you just a liberal troll pretending to be a conservative?

And Bush barely won despite being a weak candidate because of Clinton's ethical lapses. Yes, 2000 was a mandate on the incumbent and the Democrats lost because they couldn't separate themselves from Clinton's ethical problems. Again it proves my point.

And I don't know that it is necessary to nominate Palin. But I do know that she is not a sure loser against Obama the way people like to believe.

Anonymous said...

You are hitting liberal levels of stupidity.

I'm a conservative. If you hung around here any length of time, that would be indisputable. I'm getting kind of sick of people telling me I must not be when I argue that Palin is not electable.

And Bush barely won despite being a weak candidate because of Clinton's ethical lapses.

Bush won because he faced two incredibly crappy candidates. No Republican was going to beat any Democrat in 2008 after the Great Recession hit. The fact that Obama was grossly inexperienced, ostensibly charismatic candidate who everybody hilariously thought was going to change everything with his charismatic awesomeness is an irony that is strangely lost on you and many others.

Palin is Obama, only much less experienced in presidential politics.

viator said...

Before you shoot your mouth off Seven Machos do a little research and educate yourself.

http://palintv.com/category/policy

Anonymous said...

Viator -- So I am supposed to glean Palin's policies from snippets of her interviews? Really?

I find that hilarious.

John said...

Palin is Obama except that she is not a leftist nitwit who believes in failed policies. That is the difference. Obama isn't failing because he is inexperienced. He is failing because he believes foolish things. Palin doesn't. And that makes her a lot different than Obama.

John said...

I find it hilarious Steven that you think that the next President must be a member of the most dysfunctional political class in American history. You just don't get it. The next President needs to be someone not associated with Washington. Experience is something to be frowned upon. Anyone associated with the current mess in Washington is unfit for office, period.

Anonymous said...

John -- I have concluded that Palin supporters believe that Palin is going to waltz into the White House and enact policies (which ones it is not clear) that will bring about massive changes in American government.

It's laughable, really. Things do not work this way. Whatever their many policy faults, Democrats are as smart as you and I, and as crafty. They aren't going to roll over, just like Republicans didn't roll over when Obama was elected.

The next president needs to be someone who can effectively negotiate long-term solutions to some very pressing problems. Negotiate is the key word.

Anonymous said...

Experience is something to be frowned upon.

This is truly absurd and scary. Do you even understand how American law is crafted?

John said...

"This is truly absurd and scary. Do you even understand how American law is crafted?"

Yes, I work in Washington at a general counsel's office for an agency level headquarters. I know first hand what mediocrities we have put in positions of power in this country. What is scary is people like you who buy into the sad credentialism fed to you by the establishment.

Unless you have some experience that is not immediately obvious, I would say I have forgotten more about how law and regulations are crafted than you know. And trust me, the law is not being written or enforced by geniuses.

And no one thinks that Palin will enact her policies magically anymore than Pawlenty or Romeny or anyone else. You are just projecting that on Palin supporters because you have nothing of substance to object to.

John said...

"The next president needs to be someone who can effectively negotiate long-term solutions to some very pressing problems. Negotiate is the key word."

LOL. Yes Steven. That statement would make you a member of the David Brooks school of slow surrender and resignation to a managed decline of America. Do you even bother to read people like Garage and Cook and the other liberals on this site? There is no negotiating with them. They have lost their minds. All negotiating will do is give them slow the decline not reverse it. And Cook and Garage are actually two of the smarter liberals out there. It only gets worse as you meet more of them.

You are living in a fantasy land. In your mind if the Republicans can just nominate the right slimball politician who is agreeable to the right kinds of people, those people will agree to something reasonable. Fat chance. We are either going to have a radical transformation of government on our own terms or we are going to go broke and have that transformation forced upon us by reality. Math is a brutal thing.

The days of people like you are over.

John said...

And Steven, yes you are a liberal troll. I don't think you believe in anything approaching small government or you wouldn't be talking about negotiation and having wet dreams about RINOs working with Dems. No one believes that crap anymore. Take it elsewhere.

1775OGG said...

@mariner: Tell us more about Obama's super secret pact with our Canadian Cousins to trade citizen suppression acts between them and us. It sounds like it might be real. However, it also seems doubtful since our great and highly vaunted MSM would have spilled the secret by now if they found out about it. And, where's all the wikileaks stuff about it too.

But, seriously, do tell us more.

Fen said...

You are living in a fantasy land. In your mind if the Republicans can just nominate the right slimball politician who is agreeable to the right kinds of people, those people will agree to something reasonable. Fat chance.

Hey, lets nominate a Moderate "Maverick" again! Because that worked so well last time...

viator said...

Again, Seven Machos, you shot your mouth off and showed your ignorance.
The website I linked has hundreds of pages of transcripts of interviews, speeches and essays written by Palin on a wide range of policy. Those entries by Palin are also rich with hot links and references to other materials written by a wide range authors which she finds valuable.

There is even a provision where you could go and make comments on her policy prescriptions.

Palin Policy

Paul said...

"What is scary is people like you who buy into the sad credentialism fed to you by the establishment."

In a nutshell. John nails it.

There is a lot of Republican and Rino deadwood to be cleared but dire circumstances and the awakening of the tea party types will force them into the Darwinian trash bin where they belong.

Shanna said...

Palin is Goldwater

This is what I'm thinking a bit too...

I wish some of Palin's supporters would just admit that she has flaws that a reasonable person might not want to vote for. I like her, but I'd like her better with "2 term gov" tacked onto the end of her resume. She'd be a much better candidate then, which is why I still don't think she's running. I'm giving her credit for knowing that.

Shanna said...

"credentialism" = having an actual resume? I mean, come on folks. Are you going to reject everyone who has anything longer than 2 years on their resume, because that makes them "establishment" and therefore bad? That is ridiculous!

This new trend of calling long-time conservative posters heretics because they aren't as sure about Palin as you are is insane.

Seeing Red said...

Who needs negotiation w/executive orders & autopen?

So let it be written, so let it be done.

John said...

"Are you going to reject everyone who has anything longer than 2 years on their resume, because that makes them "establishment" and therefore bad?"

Not necessarily. But I think anyone who was in Washington and compromised and voted their perks and helped create this problem is disqualified. I have no problem with electing a governor who has shown some competence.

But I do reject the idea that being President or being put into high office is some kind of special caste requiring only those trained into the priesthood to be eligible. Bullshit! What matters is someone's ideas and values and their ability to convince the country. Get those right and everything else falls into place. If those things are wrong, no amount of "experience" stealing from the taxpayer will make any difference.

As I said above, Obama is not a disaster because he lacked experience. He is a disaster because he is a fool who believes foolish things.

Shanna said...

What matters is someone's ideas and values and their ability to convince the country.

They have to work with congress. And they have to get elected. Having actual experience helps with both of these things.

Most of the field we have been talking about are Governor's, not Senators, and have more experience than Palin.

John said...

"Having actual experience helps with both of these things."

It helps but it is not essential. And further the more someone is involved with the current government the more invested they will be in the status quo and the more likely they are to sell out. So it is a tough trade off.

John said...

"Most of the field we have been talking about are Governor's, not Senators, and have more experience than Palin."

So what? Since when should the most experienced candidate automatically win? Romney has more experience. But that experience consists mostly of ruining the healthcare in Massachusetts. Why do you automatically equate experience with success?

deborah said...

John, please name one likely scenario where Palin would be more likely than another Republican to get something done as president.

Joe said...

(The Crypto Jew)
I like her, but I'd like her better with "2 term gov" tacked onto the end of her resume.

Yeah all she had to do was to become PERSONALLY BANKRUPT, and she could have fulfilled your dream Shanna…Hey are YOU a Federal Legislator…because your policy prescriptions sound eerily familiar, “Let’s bankrupt the nation, to fulfill my personal dream.”

Joe said...

(The Crypto Jew)


Meanwhile Seven is off doing the Standard GOP/Economist Thing, “Let us ASSUME, that Palin is unelectable and that T-PAW IS POTUS, ergo we must….” Thinking too far ahead, dood/doodette.

John’s got your number Seven…the next POTUS must “Negotiate”, sure every POTUS does, to include FDR…BUT, if the next POTUS is T-Paw or Palin AND the Senate is still Democratic, THEN I want Palin….

Shanna said...

Yeah all she had to do was to become PERSONALLY BANKRUPT, and she could have fulfilled your dream Shanna

Her dream, not mine, that is if her dream is to become president (although I'm not sure if the laws in Alaska would have prohibited her from writing a book while Governor-that might have been an option).

Also, she has time. She's in what, her forties? She can get another job, maybe that's what she's going to do in Arizona. She doesn't have to run right now, she could wait, build her resume and run later as an elder statesman type and maybe win. If she runs now, I think she will lose. She hasn't done anything yet that will win over the independents.

Joe said...

(The Crypto Jew)
John, please name one likely scenario where Palin would be more likely than another Republican to get something done as president.


RomneyCare…Mitt Romney LOVES RomneyCare, and if HE’S POTUS, don’t expect ObamaCare to go “Bye-Bye” expect better, more expert “management” and reform….

Romney and Pawlenty, being “reasonable folk” will agree that it is NECESSARY to raise taxes, THIS year, in exchange for unspecified spending restraint, some year…a year that will NEVER come.

I think the list goes on and on…Pawlenty is a “nice Republican” meaning when savaged by the Press and Left for being a Mean-Spitited Extremist (as ALL Republicans are) he will demonstrate his “niceness” by compromising…it won’t stop NOW and Katrina Van Denheuval and Krugman et. al. claiming he’s in thrall to out-dated economic policies of the Past and a captive of the Religious Right, but it will get them some of what THEY want….

Romney looks like a technocratic number cruncher…look at his defense of RomneyCare, “We crunched the numbers and this was the best solution…” AS IF the “numbers” can be crunched only in one way…please note he chose a Keynesian, government-managed solution, that’s what his “numbers” said was optimal….really no vouchers, not HSA’s no reducing the barriers to the sale of insurance in MA? Really RomneyCare was the optimal solution? Pretty much says all that needs to be said about Romney…

plus he’s fer the gheys, unless he’s a’gin the gheys, and he’s fer abortion, unless the audience is a’gin it and then he agrees…and Ethanol he LUV’s him some ethanol subsidies….cuz a man has got to be ELECTED….an’ if’n that means I has to agree with everything the voters like, even if they are bad policy or contradictory, I’m a’gree’n D@MNIT! ‘Cept on RomneyCare, you kin bad mouf it all you wantz, but Ah ain’t ev—uh a’chang’n may mind on that!

Seeing Red said...

So that lets Christie out as well since the standards r becoming very rigorous.




extermer - we can only hope.

Joe said...

(The Crypto Jew)
Also, she has time. She's in what, her forties? She can get another job, maybe that's what she's going to do in Arizona. She doesn't have to run right now, she could wait, build her resume and run later as an elder statesman type and maybe win. If she runs now, I think she will lose. She hasn't done anything yet that will win over the independents.


You’re not an NBA agent are you I pray not…
“Don’t worry John Wall you can always get into the NBA NEXT year.” Sure she COULD wait 8 more years, so folks like you could say “Sarah WHO? She should have run when her name recognition was at its highest.”
As to the “Independents”…you mean the ones who voted TEA Party this year? But OF COURSE, they won’t be voting for Palin…and let’s talk “Independents” They are SECOND to CONSERVATIVES in voter numbers…So, IF Palin can get a majority of CONSERVATIVES and a plurality of “Independents” she can win….

Shanna said...

By "independents" I suppose I mean the huge chunk of the public who thinks she is either an idiot, unqualified or a reality show junkie and who do not automatically vote republican. She has to win over a big chunk of those people. Maybe she can, I just don't know if bus tours are going to do it.

You are saying don't wait until she's a better candidate because...lots of people know her name right now. Yes. But lots of those people can't stand her. She has to flip them.

Joe said...

(The Crypto Jew)


1) Red nails it, IF you like Christie, tell him to wait too.
2) As Palin couldn’t even establish a Legal Defense Fund-that too being litigated, I don’t think she had a lot of options besides bankruptcy or resignation….
Of course, I agree she could spend several years living in AZ, trying to overcome the “Carpet-Bagger” Image and then run for the Senate when Mr. Crankypants retires….Of course she’d be unknown, or a carpet-bagger or just a Senator or just the Governor of a small state…and STILL not up to Shanna’s standards.

Let’s cut to the chase, YOU DON’T LIKE PALIN…..because you aren’t saying “This policy is Bad” or “THAT policy is bad.” No it’s all nebulous cr@p, basically your “Feelings” about Palin…things she “ought” to do to be more “Appealing”…nothing about how Drill Here, Drill Now is a foolish policy, or her Libya pronouncement really is no better than Obama’s…or that her support for the Ryan Roadmap is going to cause a double-dip recession…no, you argue against because, some how, Palin disturbs you.

I can tell you why I don’t support Mitt or Huckabee, or Huntsman, why I find Pawlenty nice but don’t think he can win…based on FACTS. Not on “gee I’d like them BUT, they otter have been Governor longer. Their rĂ©sumĂ© is weak.”

Joe said...

(The Crypto Jew)



The “huge” chunk that is less in size than CONSERVATIVES, right Shanna? IIRC, and I freely admit, I could be wrong here, but “Conservative” was the LARGEST self-identified voter bloc, followed by “Independent”, so this “huge” group may not be so HUGE, again carry the base, get a plurality of Independents, you can win…plus Obama still has ~1.5 years to work his economic magic…

If real unemployment is north of 15%, and measured unemployment is greater than 8%, and incomes are stagnant or falling (either due to gas prices or inflation) Obama isn’t going to be able to say, “Don’t vote that Chillbilly Illiterate! Vote for me.” Because I don’t think that’s going to fly.

Shanna said...

YOU DON’T LIKE PALIN

Ok, damn conflicting edits, because I had a response to this already but the jist was that you are wigging out on me. Calm down. I like Palin. There are lots of people I like who don't have a prayer in hell of winning the Presidency. I think she's one of them, at least with her current resume. You disagree. Fine. But it doesn't warrant this over the top lashing out on the part of her supports towards anyone who voices any doubts.

Shanna said...

Supporters! Again, damn conflicting edits!!

viator said...

Shanna, you are doing a great job of hitting all the troll talking points.

Shanna, would you feel better if Barack Obama hadn't quit the US Senate after only one third of one term? Talk about inexperience.

Palin, of course, has had twenty years experience in politics in many different offices, in including mayor (2 Terms), governor, councilperson (2 terms), President of Alaska Conference of Mayors, Alaska Oil and gas Commissioner and director of a 527 group training Alaska women for politics. Recently she has become the defacto "Shadow President".

"Sarah Palin served, unofficially, as the “Leader of the Opposition”–a powerful position in many parliamentary democracies, even enjoying constitutional status in some of them."
Joel B. Pollak

Steve Koch said...

Palin most likely holds off as long as possible before deciding on whether to run for president. Having run for VP in 2008, she has more experience in a national presidential campaign than any other current GOP rival. She knows from experience what running will cost her in terms of energy, pain, family, and money.

Palin will run for president in 2012 only if she has a good chance at winning. She definitely will not do a quixotic campaign.

Palin, Romney, or Pawlenty would all be orders of magnitude better than Obama so it comes down (for me) to which of those three is most electable. The GOP nominee must be able win independents' votes while still energizing the base. Palin should do fine with the GOP base, the key question is can she raise her ratings with independents.

There will be plenty of time and money for the GOP to conduct lots of quality polls to determine who is the most electable GOP nominee. If one candidate turns out to be significantly more electable than the other GOP candidates, go with that person. If it is a wash, go with the candidate who appeals most to the base.

Joe said...

(The Crypto Jew)


When, as I said, tells me all the things wrong with Palin, but none of them are anything you can touch…but are instead, “aesthetics” I’m forced to conclude, YOU DON’T LIKE PALIN.

I can tell you Huckabee is wrong and has huge number of skeletons in his closet and it’s good he’s not running. I can tell you why the Truce was a bad idea, and why it’s good Daniels isn’t running. I can trash Mitt Romney on RomneyCare and his flip-flops…and oddly how RomneyCare is the one thing he WON’T “flip” on. Now you could dispute my facts or my conclusions, and though you’d be wrong, you’d be arguing.

But we aren’t “arguing” you’re telling me you don’t like Palin’s rĂ©sumĂ©, and that she ought to be a two-term Governor…or she ought to wait…those are simply conclusions/assertions/judgments….It’s fine, I don’t like rhubarb…and NOTHING you will say will make me change my mind, but it doesn’t make my distaste for rhubarb, though real to me, any less IRRATIONAL. And yours seems to be an irrational distaste, it’s real, it’s valid to not LIKE Palin or rhubarb, but it’s not something that can be argued. If you are telling yourself that this is about ISSUES, well you’re fooling yourself.

Finally as to electability, it’s akin to sexiness…It can be guessed at, but it can never be known, until after the fact. You COULD be right about Palin’s chance of success, I don’t agree. If all we’re going to hear is that Palin or Candidate X or Candidate Y is or is NOT “Electable” we’re wasting our time. Because ONLY ELECTIONS demonstrate who is or is not electable….I think we’d be better served discussing ISSUES and polling data, rather than the nebulous term of “electability.”

viator said...

Shanna, you just met Palin's army. Actually, we aren't the main body of the army, we're just pickets. The Army is behind us. After we finish chewing you up we are moving on to the the RINOs and Progressives. Why don't you join us?

Joe said...

(The Crypto Jew)


And now Yhwh Commands that I go forth and do “Crypto-Jewish” Things that will advance the cause of Judaism, most certainly at the expense of Atheists and quite possibly Catholics…I bid you Fond Farewell.

viator said...

"She is really good. I watched her with wonder ever since she won the nomination. She went out there in Minnesota, put on the best show next to Obama at least, certainly the best speech. Everybody is watching, she did pretty well against Biden in that debate. She certainly didn’t get hurt by it and probably won it on points in terms of how people reacted to it. She’s fantastic on a stage. When she walks out on that stage there’s something kinetic happens. She looks great. Look at her she’s alive, she’s smiling, she’s doing stuff. She’s moving around you can’t take your eyes off of what she’s doing."

Chris Matthews, PMSNBC
May 26, 2011

roesch-voltaire said...

Eventually Palin will be thrown under the bus by Republicans who want to get elected, but his tour is anotherexample of keeping the brand name before the public. As reported by those who know her, she has little stomach for public duty, but big eyes for media exposure.

Shanna said...

Shanna, would you feel better if Barack Obama hadn't quit the US Senate after only one third of one term?

Yes, that would be awesome because he wouldn’t be president.

When, as I said, tells me all the things wrong with Palin, but none of them are anything you can touch…but are nstead, “aesthetics” I’m forced to conclude, YOU DON’T LIKE PALIN.

Aesthetics would be “I don’t like her hair”. Her resume is something she is directly responsible for. It is every bit as relevant as her policies.

Why don't you join us?

Because you are coming off as jerks, looking for heretics rather than converts. Because I think you might lose us an election that is eminently winnable and I can only hope that Sarah herself is much smarter than you.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

I'm a conservative. If you hung around here any length of time, that would be indisputable. I'm getting kind of sick of people telling me I must not be when I argue that Palin is not electable.

He wasn't saying anything about your conservative 'creds'. He was remarking that your level of argument and discourse has descended into "Libtard Stupid"
depths by continually trotting out the tired and retarded canned leftist talking points that have nothing whatsoever to do with Palin's ability or non ability to run for and BE President.

The numbers of people in the State of Alaska (which is over 80% owned by the State, the Feds and the Indians) versus the money they receive from subsidies. Who cares!! What does that have to do with the topic at hand.

When 100% of the people are relegated to being able to use and produce on 20% of the lands, I say they DESERVE to get something back. Either that or have the Feds butt the hell out. Ask the people in Nevada and other western states how they feel about that.

If you want to be taken seriously and seriously debate about Palin vs whomever, I suggest you knock off the illogical liberal canned talking points.

Whenever you start that crap, all I can think is blah blah blah blah...Seven M has nothing to say.

Thorley Winston said...

Why I probably won’t support Sarah Palin in the primary


1) She ran on a national ticket and lost. There is an unfortunate tendency in the GOP to nominate candidates who (a) ran on a losing presidential ticket or (b) lost in the last president primary who then proceed to go on . . . and lose again. For the same reason, I likely won’t be voting for Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson or Rudy Giuliani.


2) She lost to Joe Biden in the VP debate. If she couldn’t beat Biden, why on Earth would anyone believe that she’d beat Obama in a one-on-one debate?


3) She quit halfway through her first term as governor (part 1) and that gives her a significant experience gap between her and several two-term governors and successful businesspeople. Whoever we pick as our standard bearer in 2012 is going to be running in part on competency and having to make the case that (a) Obama is doing a bad job as President and (b) why s/he would do a better job instead. Having a track record of accomplishments and setbacks (and what you’ve learned from them) gives a candidate something substantive to run on. Otherwise we’re stuck running against “Hope and Change 2.0” with . . . what exactly?


4) She quit halfway through her first term as governor (part 2) – yes, those of us who live, eat and breath politics (a distinct minority) know the reasons why (her political enemies were literally bankrupting her family with frivolous lawsuits about her actions as governor that under Alaska law she had to pay out of pocket to defend) like it or not, she’s going to have to spend a great deal of time and effort “educating” the American people about her reasons for quitting. That’s a huge hurdle to overcome (and one that gets harder the longer she waits) and 2012 is going to be enough of an uphill battle without creating an additional obstacle.

viator said...

Thorley Winston, you hit all the anti-Palin talking points. It wouldn't be because of this would it?

Thorley Winston

as for #2, let's go back and review what Chris Matthews, PMSNBC, said the other day which was previously posted here:

"Everybody is watching, she did pretty well against Biden in that debate. She certainly didn’t get hurt by it and probably won it on points in terms of how people reacted to it."

Seeing Red said...

Another Plus in Palin's column -

She's NOT A LAWYER!


Too many lawyers mucking up the works.

Seeing Red said...

As reported by those who know her, she has little stomach for public duty...

So that's why she spent 20 years performing public duty?

Getting out there, running & winning?


Could you flesh out that comment some because I'm confused.

Thanks.

Seeing Red said...

Sarah's not a "successful" business person?

She looks like she's doing ok?

Seeing Red said...

Having a track record of accomplishments and setbacks (and what you’ve learned from them) gives a candidate something substantive to run on. Otherwise we’re stuck running against “Hope and Change 2.0” with . . . what exactly?

Who has taken that much abuse in so short a time?


Setbacks - 3 years of the MSM attacking her trying to obliterate her?



Being hounded out of office might be considered a setback, do you think she's learned from that?

John said...

Anyone who supports Romeny for President is either not a serious person or not a conservative. No serious conservative could ever vote for that idiot son for dog catcher. I will vote third party or stay home if Romney wins the nomination. I doubt I am alone in that.

John said...

"Because you are coming off as jerks, looking for heretics rather than converts. Because I think you might lose us an election that is eminently winnable and I can only hope that Sarah herself is much smarter than you."

If you want to lose and election run a principleless clown like Romeney. The only thing worse than watching him lose and Obama win would be watching him win and then sell the party and country out to the Democrats in the name of being a "statesman".

Shanna said...

If you want to lose and election run a principleless clown like Romeney.

Those are not our only choices.

Thorley Winston said...

Thorley Winston, you hit all the anti-Palin talking points. It wouldn't be because of this would it?

Not really, I’ve been pretty open about the fact that I supported Mitt Romney in 2008 (which is when that and the Minnesotans for McCain blog were created) and just as open about the fact that I likely wouldn’t support him again in 2012 because (a) he already lost before (in fact I kind of mentioned that in my previous post) and (b) he’s going to have a tough time repealing Obamacare because its similarities to Commonwealth Care.


FTR: I’m leaning towards Tim Pawlenty in 2012.


As I said before – the GOP hasn’t done very well sending in candidates who already lost a national race because it’s “their turn.” I think that’s especially true in a rematch situation when Palin’s already seen as having lost to Biden. The fact that she quit halfway through her first term as governor is going to highlight her lack of executive experience compared to stronger contenders which IMO is going to be one of the Republican’s strongest points in arguing why their candidate is better than Obama. Also, even though I understand her reasons for quitting, she has to convince a public that doesn’t live, breath and eat politics and that’s a job that gets harder to do the longer she waits.

viator said...

Palin: Eliminate All Energy Subsidies

"DILLSBURG, Pa. -- Asked Tuesday whether she supports the federal subsidy of ethanol, an always critical issue in the presidential nominating cycle, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin went one step further and called for the elimination of all energy subsidies."

Palin talks things over in Dillsburg, PA today

Thorley Winston said...

If you want to lose and election run a principleless clown like Romeney.

Those are not our only choices.


Agreed, I’m leaning towards my own State’s former governor Tim Pawlenty although I’ve liked Gary Johnson for quite a while as well. He’s more libertarian-leaning but his immigration position may be a deal-breaker for a lot of the GOP base as it was for McCain in 2008.

Former senator Rick Santorum and House Speaker Newt Gingrich also have pretty strong national profiles but (a) no executive experience and (b) pretty high negatives and (c) the notoriety of having lost their last races (or in Gingrich’s case having been deposed by his own Party).

John said...

Pawlenty lost me when he came out for ethenol subsidies. Screw him. He is just another big government stooge. I might go for Johnson, but he is a bit of a peacenik for my taste.

Anonymous said...

DBQ -- Two times in this thread, this fellow has accused me of being a liberal troll.

To many of you, why are you taking all this so personally? Nobody is criticizing Paling. She's great. What I and a few others are pointing out is that she has serious flaws as a presidential candidate in a general election.

Finally, I think it's time to amp down the rhetoric generally. You suburban generals sitting behind your keyboards act like there's going to be radical changes in government if a single person is elected to a four-year office, or that you are ready to take up arms against your oppressor. Get over yourselves. Neither will or should happen. Conservatism is about slow and orderly change first and foremost.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Nobody is criticizing Paling. She's great. What I and a few others are pointing out is that she has serious flaws as a presidential candidate in a general election.

Nobody?

I have stated that I don't even know if she is running for President. In fact in some other threads I have expressed my doubts about her ability to be electable due to the extreme negative publicity and the sheer stupidity of the majority of people in this country, who eat the tripe that the MSM dishes up, without any critical thinking skills.

I assumed you were not one of those, however your constant repetition of the tripe talking points with no critical, individual thinking, has challenged my assumption.

Right now, I see Palin as a rainmaker, a force that is driving the debate into areas that neither the MSM, the Democrats and the GOP/RINOs want it to go.

However, should she be the candidate I see no reason that she couldn't be an effective President. We certainly have had worse and have had less experienced Presidents. In fact, the less experience right now may be a good thing since we can see what the good ole boy, same old same old methods have brought us. A big heaping pile of DOOM.

Conservatism is about slow and orderly change first and foremost.

That's your opinion. Slow and orderly hasn't been working so well lately, has it. In fact, the slow and orderly has just allowed the Democrats and the Progressive/Lefists to walk all over us and sneak their agenda into the fabric of society.

Maybe it is time to screw, slow and orderly.

Anonymous said...

Maybe it is time to screw, slow and orderly.

That's worked so well every time it's been tried throughout history. This time will be different.

Thorley Winston said...

To many of you, why are you taking all this so personally? Nobody is criticizing Paling. She's great. What I and a few others are pointing out is that she has serious flaws as a presidential candidate in a general election.

I think you kind of answered your own question there. Ask yourself why you felt the need to write that “[n]obody is criticizing Palin” after asking someone other than Sarah Palin why they are taking it personally.

IMO some Palin supporters are starting to act like some Obama supporters were in 2008 by projecting a lot of their ideals onto a political candidate (albeit one cast more in the role of martyr than messiah).

Skippy said...

Spartan79 said...
Sorry, Skippy. Current info from BLS at O*Net shows a Madison teacher assistant earns $25,700. This is for a 5 1/2 hour 180 day year, as opposed to a PFC's 24/7/365 day a year a job. So I'd say the teacher assistant earns about 20 times the hourly wage of the PFC - and for a decidely less arduous and risky worklife.

Spartan, it's apples and oranges. Count up the signing bonuses (my nephew got $10K for re-upping just with the reserves) and the lifelong health care, plus housing and food, the GI bill for education, etc., paid to 18-year-old kids out of high school with few skills who WANT the job they're signing up for, precisely for the bennies, precisely for the job security the military affords. Why aren't they staying here and working as teacher's assistants, if it's such a great, cushy life?

And really, what's the point? Should these teaching assistants get paid the wages of a untrained fast-food worker? That's it? That's who you want in a child's classroom? Why aren't you complaining about the overpaid administrators? The overpaid CEOs? The bankers who aren't in jail?

Peter Hoh said...

Skippy, the original mention was of a preschool teacher's assistant.

I have a friend who is a preschool teacher, and earns about $26,000. She works year round -- 250 days a year, not 180.

Peter Hoh said...

oops, that was meant for Spartan.

Skippy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
JAL said...

@ Pasta, way up --"Oh no, Palin is stupid," or something very close to that, was the exact quote.

What I love about Pasta.

JAL said...

What I liked was she went to the National Archives.

Who goes to the National Archives? People interested in the founding documents of this exceptional, and wonderful, experiment, the United States of America.

1775OGG said...

@mariner: All is forgiven; here's 2 links to info on that Devil's pact with Canada:
1: http://tiny.cc/m4uvn
2: http://tiny.cc/8erlh

So, there's something there but how much or what exactly or what's it is is not clear.

Regardless, all thanks to @mariner.

Still, because I do not trust Obama, I'm willing to think bad thoughts about his intentions and goals. Heck, he's even more dubious and slick than either Clinton and more sinister than Nixon, who was merely corrupt in my view.