Stop Trashing Palin
This McCain orchestrated trashing of Sarah Palin is sickening.
Her campaign was horrible. She knows nothing about he issues. She was, almost surely, the worst VP candidate in history.
But the she did not pick herself. That hero of hero, that American of Americans, that warrior of warriors, John McCain, chose her in an act of utter and reckless disregard for the country he claims to love.
He's the villain of the piece. Not Sarah, not Tod, not Trig, not Track, not Travis. (I"m not sure there is a Travis. There should be).
But the media, as always, is uncomfortable criticizing the great McCain. The media guys admire him, even love him.
So, instead of admitting that the guy they adore is a fraud, they turn on Palin.
Now hitting her hard was one thing when she was a candidate. But now it is nothing more than a device to keep America from noticing what a despicable campaign John McCain ran.
What will the McCain admirers do next, attack Joe The Plumber for having debased the campaign. He's no different than Palin, part and parcel of the John McCain candidacy.They are his legacy, along with all the hatred and incitement they inspired in his name.
One more thing. The McCain people would not be scapegoating their VP candidate if she was not a woman. Remember Dan Quayle? The first Bush's choice of Quayle was the original VP travesty. In 1992, he turned the Republican ticket into a laughing stock with his various gaffes -- most notably his dust-up with a fictional tv character named Murphy Brown.
But guess what? No one in 1992 blamed Bush's loss on Quayle. No one much suggested he mattered at all. He gaffed, they lost, and he disappeared.
But the McCain folks won't let Palin do that. They need to keep deriding her to the media to keep our attention off John McCain. The shame of 2008 was John McCain, not the woman he used and then tossed aside and finally maligned when she became his very inconvenient woman. .
I'd almost like to see her in the Senate if Alaska ends up with another Republican after Stevens. Let McCain have to see her every time he goes down to the Senate floor. He is so accustomed to everyone kissing his butt that the now angry Sarah would scare the pants off him. I'd enjoy seeing that.
My take: cocktail republican swamis believe the Evangelical Right has lost it's power and see Palin as a complete wild-card. I don't think they'll want to lose the Evangelical vote, of course, but they'll want to morph the conservative message into something more attractive to the "new demographics" that can also appeal to the Evangelicals.
In other words, "trashing Sarah" is more about eliminating a real political threat post-haste than it is about CYA blame mantras.
The first shots across the bow in the coming Republican civil war.
November 8, 2008 2:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
well, bush won with quayle before he lost with him, so i'm not gonna bite on the 'they wouldn't be doing this if she weren't a woman' stuff. i'd also say the mccain camp's beef with palin might well have more to do with her supposedly going 'rogue' as it has to do with her being so terrible for the ticket. her being an embarrassment for the ticket is one thing, her deliberately working her own interests against the ticket would be another.
but to the larger point, i wholeheartedly agree. mccain's terrible choice for VP was mccain's fault, not palin's. (still, the wing of the republican party that is not the religious right, dinosaur-riding cavemen wing of the party has a definite interest in knocking down the darling of the religious right, dinosaur-riding caveman wing of the party - they need the votes of the whack-jobs, but they don't want the whack-jobs calling the shots.)
November 8, 2008 2:53 AM | Reply | Permalink
I see it a little differently. Palin is a ruthless operator who campaigned hard to become the Republican VP candidate, and has made it clear that she intends to be a future Republican presidential candidate. After seeing what a weak candidate she is, and seeing how poorly her abysmally weak knowledge base and character deficiencies played with the public, it is only natural that loyal Republicans would try to cripple her attempts to run in the future. She has been given a huge boost in name recognition, and will be hard to stop. Yet any thinking Republican who cared about chances for future victory for their party would likely do whatever is required to take her out. From their point of view, it is a matter of survival.
November 8, 2008 3:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
This is no surprise.
The Republican Party, uses and then abuses those who were fooled into supporting they’re ascension to Power.
Telling the people one thing before the election, then with the support of the gullible that give them the reigns.
George Bush convinced the electorate, he was a “uniter not a divider” instead he divided the nation with the meme “You’re either with us or your against us” He must of thought War would unite our Nation?
Bush talked about how he was a Compassionate Conservative. Bush and Cheney convincing the Veteran voters “help is on the way” Katrina and the Walter Reed Hospital, lack of body armor, you know “you go with the army you got”
Those incidents were proof they lied.
Had it not been for the unfortunate timing of the collapse of the financial system, (lets say after the election,) it’s possible the gullible, believing the Fundamentals are Strong LIE would have reinstalled, these crooks.
Telling the people one thing before the election. Palin is ready.
Palin is now receiving, what the majority of the Nation has discovered about the Republican Party.
After they come to power, unless they can use you, they’ll THROW YOU UNDER THE BUS.
Maybe with Palin being so discredited now, Big oil in Alaska can run a candidate who might reduce the burden of regulations and taxes, the oil companies now bear in Alaska.
November 8, 2008 8:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
i wonder what evidence there is that palin campaigned hard to become the VP pick...
i know her name got tossed around a bit (a very little bit) before the pick, but what evidence is there to suggest that she and her surrogates were out there taking an active role in advocating for her to get the nod?
November 8, 2008 10:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
Read the Jane Mayer piece in the New Yorker. Apparently the neocon "intellectuals" like Bill Kristol and Rich Lowry got hardons when they met Palin on conservative-themed cruises in Alaska. McCain couldn't pick Lieberman like he wanted to, so he listened to the advice of Kristol, et al. as well as his Rovian operatives like Steve Schmidt. These arrogant pricks thought they could play Professor Higgins to Palin's Eliza Doolittle, fire up the base, and have one of their own in the White House.
What MJ says stands, though. The continued trashing of Palin is just one more despicable example of a campaign divorced from any notion of morality or integrity. Even more troubling, the fact that the media is gleefully running with this story shows the Republicans can still play them like a drum.
November 9, 2008 8:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
I find this latest rash of pleas/demands from the media (columnists, pundits, anchors, et al.) to 'leave Sarah alone now', sad! Amd such a perfect example that we so lack credible and thorough investigative journalism.
There is precious little accountability and follow thru by most print and broadcast media.
The Palin story is a good example. Since when is it trashing anyone if the truth is what is being 'reported'? If it's not truth, then prove otherwise.
It seems to me that if media reports are accurate and there is an elected public official (and VP candidate) who has not filed factual IRS tax reports; has participated in violating FEC laws; has falsified government expense forms in an attempt to have taxpayers monies pay for family expenses not due her and derived benefits from awarding public contracts (as asserted about home renovations in Wasilla) then the media has a responsibility to either complete the story or print retractions.
Other important issues:
Did the secret service (as reported) ever speak with Palin or McCain campaign about their findings regarding the ramifications of parts of their campaigning rhetoric? If not, why not and if so, what was the response and follow up?
The point is this: In too many instances, the media strikes the match to light the fires of outrage and once they no longer need the heat of the flames, leaves the smoldering mess for someone else to attempt to clean up.
We want the truth. All of it. No innuendos or unnamed sources. Facts. Bring it to resolution. The whole story.
While McCain and his crack team did a poor job in vetting, it's not because no one wants to not hold him responsible for his own 'sins' in this mess, but he is not responsible for any of those cited above. If factual, SHE violated the laws. If not, again - let us know.
It's up to the media to complete their stories. It's up to us to hold the media accountable and demand they finish the job they started.
This isn't just about Palin.
November 8, 2008 3:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
Responsibility and accountability: hear, hear!
November 8, 2008 7:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
Excellent points, and I would also add that never before has a VP candidate gotten away without being accountable through pressers, Sunday morning interview programs, etc. And she DID get away with it. The speeches she gave were covered word for word, by all the networks showing the fawning fans, screaming "terrorist" and god-knows-what else -- all filmed, and all unchallenged by the networks.
Yeah, she had two sit-down's (Charlie and Katie), both of which exposed her lack of basic knowledge, and embarrassed her, so after that, only fawning Foxes.
And now she is "granting" interviews to complain about her treatment, and of course the interviews are aired.
November 9, 2008 7:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
McCain is a mixed bag. If Reverend Wright didn't show up much in the campaign, we probably owe that to McCain, if there was no follow up on Michelle, we probably owe that to McCain... and as to Palin, if Wall Street hadn't melted down during the campaign, who knows, she might be vice-president elect today... even without knowing anything about Africa.
It would be foolish to write off Sarah Palin as it is to write off anyone with her natural political talent with universal name recognition and a strong voter base. If Obama doesn't manage to turn the economy around in time, the honeymoon will soon be over and Americans will start fishing around for another Hail Mary pass. Sarah Palin?
November 8, 2008 3:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
Sarah Palin is a serious joke, and she needs to pay the public -- if not legal --costs of being a Welfare Queen.
As for national political propects for Palin: give it up. Ain't gonna happen. Her "base" is statistically insignificant, and couldn't find their ways to the polls in broad daylight with maps, compass, and a gaggle of guides. Take your uninformed pro-Palin/Republican comments to wherever there are fools who'll believe it.
November 8, 2008 4:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
Personally, I hope she runs in 2012.
November 8, 2008 7:29 AM | Reply | Permalink
And....the media is just reporting this Republican effort to save their party from Sarah Palin. The media pretty much has to cover it. It's news.
November 8, 2008 3:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
but the media is reporting it mostly with a straight face. which isn't their job. the story isn't the gossip, the story is the motive for spreading the gossip. not that the gossip isn't itself relevant, but by relaying it so breathlessly the media is allowing itself to be used as a tool by certain republican operatives, which is a disservice to the american public.
(of course, once there is evidence to back up the gossip... once there is anyone of any significance willing to go on the record to back up the gossip... THEN the substance of the allegations should become the story.)
November 8, 2008 10:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
While McCain was reckless in selecting Palin, Palin has to take responsibility for accepting his proposal. It is a wise "man" who know his limitations, she is either clueless or doesn't care. The result is the same.
November 8, 2008 3:31 AM | Reply | Permalink
Who's more foolish - the fool or the fool who follows him?
November 8, 2008 8:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
MJ,
Great analysis, but I have one minor quibble. You use the term "yellow dog Democrat" to describe Jewish voters, but I think that that's an unintentional slur. The original term referred to Southern conservative Democrats, still bitter over the Civil War and Reconstruction, who would rather vote for a yellow dog than a member of "the party of Lincoln". Jewish voters have always been the most reliably liberal members of the Democratic coalition, even when it was not fashionable to be so. To reward that loyalty to liberalism by calling them with the name used by segregationists seems a bit unfair.
Just my $0.02.
DD
November 8, 2008 3:31 AM | Reply | Permalink
I deleted the phrase, but it's on the other post. Thanks.
November 8, 2008 9:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
About all the Republican have to pick up the pieces now are Sarah Palin and Bobby Jindal. I think some of the old line Republican hacks are trying to destroy Palin before she and other "young lions" like her sweep them away.
November 8, 2008 3:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
stop making fun of princess pandora ???
YOU MUST BE FUCKING JOKING
I intend to ridicule this ignorant piece of snake shit until it crawls away in shame
and since this piece of snake shit ain't smart enough to experience shame, this is gonna take a while
I plan on ridiculing repuglitards as long as they are worthy of ridicule
November 8, 2008 4:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
Free Patriot has got it right. The lady is Joe McCarthy in drag. Yes, a narcissistic moron named her as his running mate, but we have an odd duty to mock and ridicule her relentlessly in order that she does not rise again to inflict her ignorance on us.
November 8, 2008 6:53 AM | Reply | Permalink
I totally agree.
By rights, she should disappear to AK never to be heard from again... at least not until she pops up as the answer on a Trivial Pursuit question.
But she is shameless, so reminding people who she was will continue to be our God given duty and yes, "this is gonna take a while" :-)
November 8, 2008 8:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm sorry, but I'm not hearing McCain trash Palin and I doubt he'll say one cross word, when he does his first post-election with Jay Leno, next week.
Instead, what I'm hearing is that a lot of paid operatives are trying to distract from their poor performance by blaming a scapegoat and they're peddling these stories because the media and the public might buy them, they've taken the focus entirely off of their campaign failures and they might even get some facetime on CNN as a result, sometime down the road.
John McCain didn't lose because Sarah Palin answered the door in a towel. The Obama campaign outperformed them and McCain's handlers were idiots, but right now, there's nobody questioning the McCain management because a lot of people are too busy helping them blame Sarah.
November 8, 2008 4:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think Magister is reading it correctly.
November 8, 2008 5:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
Which is doubly fascinating since it was their job to vet, and appears to be them who pushed her on him.
November 8, 2008 7:31 AM | Reply | Permalink
Trashing Palin is also a way of avoiding trashing the religious nutters who foisted her on McCain. Because the people doing the trashing will need that welfare money soon.
November 8, 2008 8:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
"The Alaska state trooper who was the subject of harsh allegations by Gov. Sarah Palin was taken off patrols recently for his own safety, after her comments allegedly prompted a series of threatening phone calls, KIMO-TV in Anchorage reported Friday."
Yeah, just leave Sarah alone ! ! !
November 8, 2008 8:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
Sarah palin has one talent, rabble rousing.
She has a gift for exploiting lower-middle class resentment, envy, and bigotry for her own political purposes. Knowing how easily led some are, she offered overly simplistic, mindless banalities in a complicated world. She's no different than the Limbaughs, Hannitys, Ronald Reagans and ensuing Republican leaders over the years, selling snake oil to a politically unsophisticated public. I define her as a Judas Goat, leading people to build the gallows she and her cohort will use to hang them.
Many people say George Bush is dumb. Bush isn't dumb, he simply cares little about the consequences people outside his social class suffer as he pushes his Ideology.
Sarah Palin is Bush reincarnated, and if she runs for President in 2012 she may just pick, or should I say, "be forced to pick", a Newt Gingrich type as her running mate, and you will then have Bush/Cheney reincarnated.
November 8, 2008 10:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's like what the little Scottish girl said, when she saw the photo of a naked baby on a bearskin rug, "Ach, Edinburgh people are different from Glasgow people!". The people who like Palin are different from the people who read this forum, but there are a lot of them out there and a Japanese style slump will multiply their numbers.
November 8, 2008 10:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
David Seton said:
David, then they do so at their own peril.
November 8, 2008 11:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
At whose peril?
They are a threat to democracy and in bad times they multiply.
November 8, 2008 1:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
David,
they multiply in bad times? I'm not sure.
They missed the train this time. I think many wake up in bad times. They met their peril by being easily led for too long and look what its got them. However, there will always be the fanatics.
The Republicans are supposed to be regrouping, trying to find a message to get them back in people's better graces. What can they possibly say
after what's happend to people lo these past 8 years?
"Democrats are gonna raise your taxes"? "Democrats are Marxists, Socialists?"
"The Republican Party stands for traditional values?" "He's the most Liberal blah blah blah?"
FDR was elected 4 times after Hoover and the Depression. Things will get better under Obama and the Dems if only due to the natural progression of things.
November 8, 2008 2:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Great post John. I agree. She adds the sexual element too, which is a huge piece of her appeal.
Im not sure we ever had a female demagogue in America before.
November 8, 2008 10:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
Bush may not be "dumb" but he certainly is inarticulate which leads to his being perceived as stupid. Sarah Palin has the same fault when she speaks and has been more accurately labeled as "unschooled". Bush on the other hand went to the finest schools as a legacy student and whilst he may have learned more than Palin it is not exactly apparent. Both of them would fit the role of puppet well in my opinion.
November 8, 2008 4:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Could we be vigilant against Sarah Palin and what she represents, and analyze the schism in the Republican Party quietly, on the side and perhaps even later, instead of nattering away about it now like a bunch of chipmunks?
I mean, it's interesting and all, but we have a housing crisis to fix. I'd really like to see the brainpower on this site focused on getting ideas and feedback to the Pres-Elect and his team. Time's a wastin', and any appropriate action we can take, possibly even before Obama officially takes office, will really help people who need it.
November 8, 2008 11:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
After 8 years of Raygun/DaddyBush and 8 years of Cheney/Bush Junior I cant take anything at face value anymore.
The bashing of Palin by the McCain campaign ops and the response by the MSM of running all the gossip and then having the talking heads defend her, clouds the original reasons why she is a terrible candidate for a national office. Instead of getting the truth about her actual record in Alaska, we are going to get all this BS. Which Palin will use to cloud the facts. Instead of talking about how she behaved on the stump, they are playing the "oh poor Sarah" game. I hate the f**&&&&& MSM.
November 8, 2008 11:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
- It accomplishes nothing at this point to criticize McCain.
- On the other hand, it's very important to criticize Palin.
It's crucial that the GOP constituents be made to realize that she's dumb as a doornail.
As a visual: when a dog shits on the carpet, you put their nose in it, to train them not to do it again. We need to put their nose in the pile of shit that is Palin.
Because there's just too many people talking about "Palin 2012". The words "Palin 2012" should only exist as a punchline to a joke. (I know, I know, 2012 is not a word.)
To paraphrase Monty Python: She has a small piece of brain lodged in her thick skull.
Michael Palin 2012!! (There's your punchline ;)
November 8, 2008 11:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
Rub their noses in Palin? How about impeaching Bush and Cheney for war crimes?
November 8, 2008 1:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Please, guys. No more Sarah Palin. The sooner we stop mentioning her, the sooner she fades from public notice. Remember that neoNazi, David Duke? He was a big deal until the MSM lost interest in him and then he disappeared within a week. If we stop mentioning what's her face, she will disappear, too.
November 8, 2008 1:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sarah who?
November 8, 2008 4:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
She deserves everything she gets.
From the moment she opened her mouth at her shitty convention speech to the last legs of the campaign, she did nothing but trash.
She called Obama a socialist and a terrorist sympathizer, trashed community organizers, liberals and Democrats in general. She spoke with condescension and derision in waging culture war against folks she doesn't consider "real Americans".
She did not posses the decency not to trash all of us. She didn't just represent the worst of the anti-intellectual, regressive populist wing of the GOP. She showed animosity toward anyone not like her in spewing her hateful venom.
Sure it's McCain's fault for picking her, but she is reaping the ill will she's sown herself. There are good reasons she isn't finding much sympathy.
November 8, 2008 7:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Any evidence that Palin lobbied to be V.P. pick?"
The Following link to New Yorker article discussing Palin's lobbying efforts. A former chief adviser says that "Palin had Washington on her mind", and courted Washington insiders prior to the selection.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/10/27/081027fa_fact_mayer?printable=true
November 9, 2008 5:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
Considering the amount of lies Palin said about Obama on the campaign trail, and her constant whipping up of hate from the crowd, I can't imagine a smaller violin I could play for the bashing she's now receiving.
And considering the resounding loss the Republicans have received -- what good is Palin to the party?
She played very well to a large part of that party, but was a failure beyond. Run her for President in 2012? How, exactly, could she possibly win? 66% of voters under 30 voted Democratic. Hello! -- there's the future. What -- she'll be MORE appealing running for President? Joe the Plumber as her VP? Hoo boy.
She's a loser, and the election has proved it.
The voters on the national stage have spoken. Her soccer mom, McCarthy pit bull routine can only attract so many votes. As far as a majority -- fish ain't biting.
November 9, 2008 10:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
Sarah Palin was on national stage for 2 months with no real preparation. Her debut was stunning for a neophyte. That it tripped up is no big surprise, but I don't think I saw any insurmountable gaffes. (The "country of Africa" bit will be dismissed as the nonsense it is, certainly a misstatement like everyone does). She came across the fighter that wanted to contest the tough states, McCain as too old to keep on pushing.
My prediction? When Stevens is forced to resign, Sarah will appoint herself Senator for a 6-year term in Washington. You will get to hear her name, and you will come to fear her despite your ridicule and air of superiority.
November 10, 2008 9:03 AM | Reply | Permalink