Late Friday, at the end of the weekly news cycle, just as most of America’s premier journalists had sunk their toes into east coast beach sand, Sarah Palin announced that she would resign the office of Alaska Governor effective July, 26, 2009.
Palin’s unexpected announcement sent the few left-wing media denizens not already on vacation into uncontrollable spasms of ecstasy. One radio news report by a guy who sounded to me like Alan Colmes dispensed with any form of journalistic objectivity, gleefully declaring that Governor Palin had simply “quit.” I didn’t pay this much attention. I figured the July 4th holiday weekend constituted enough of a diversion for the media to experience their leg tingles and get their journalistic shit together.
What surprised me was the reaction from the right-wing media, not talk radio, but the bloggers. For example, blogger Ed Morrissey seized on Palin’s “lame duck” rationale for resigning office:
Once I decided not to run for re-election, I also felt that to embrace the conventional ‘Lame Duck’ status in this particular climate would just be another dose of ‘politics as usual,’ something I campaigned against and will always oppose. It is my duty to always protect our great state. With that in mind, my family and I determined that it is best to make a difference this summer, and I am willing to change things, so that this administration, with its positive agenda, its accomplishments and its successful road to an incredible future, can continue without interruption and with great administrative and legislative success.
~Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, July 3, 2009
Morrissey argues that “lame duck” status occurs when an office holder’s successor has already been chosen. Since Palin has no elected successor and won’t for another 16 months, this portion of Palin’s resignation is “incoherent.” Worse, Morrissey asserts this resignation has cost Palin her political credibility:
Palin’s abandoning her post, and at least from her own description, doing it because she doesn’t want to deal with the issues of being a ‘lame duck,’ a status all politicians have to handle at some point… Unless there was a serious illness or a serious scandal, the resignation on the grounds Palin gave is simply incomprehensible. She has destroyed her own credibility in a single day.
~Ed Morrissey, Hot Air
Where Palin’s resignation is concerned, there is certainly no unanimity on the right, but you don’t have to read too long to find that Morrissey’s views resonate across many right-wing blogs.
On Tuesday, Michael Jackson’s memorial service will neutralize any form of political assassination the media mounts on the Sunday morning political shows and Monday’s news cycle, and if recent history is any indication, the attacks will be substantial. Sarah Palin has always acted in direct contradiction to inside-the-Beltway conventional wisdom, which has amounted to both a blessing and a curse. When the dust settles, we’ll find Sarah Palin is still standing somewhere between a wife and mother, and a serious Presidential contender—much to the left’s chagrin.
Palin implodes and OF COURSE it is the media’s fault.
Let’s face it, Mitch, Sara Palin imploded all by herself. She could not take the heat. She was NOT ready.
Deal with it, dude.
Best, Con Man!
Michael,
I’m not blaming the media for anything. I’m just saying the thoughtful analysis is coming from the right.
Cheers,
Mitch,
She is done. The bigger thing that this exposes is the huge schism between Limbaugh/Hannity led factions the fraudulent Christian Republican leadership with their swirling dalliances in Argentina, mens room tangos, the halcyon of hypocracy the Promise Keeper ministering to another man’s wife even though he had his own, the Palinites, the afeard bible totin Christian hate bigots (Identity) and the functional literates — both of whom offer their adoration en masse to the scum they see as “reel Amerkins”. I can safely label them the ‘ignoranti.’
That foul ignorant hateful rank mass, of too old to begin education, regurgitating the Hannity/Limbaugh line is pitted against the thoroughly professional Republicans such as Ed Rollins and Mitt Romney. In the past it was possible for Atwater and Rove to work this mass of avian brained voting simpletons to accept people who at least had coherent visions and themes that might have worked if there had been an emphasis on education no matter what it took.
The problem is that most of the ignoranti now is reaping the rewards of a global economy and ‘free trade’. The Republicans really got the ‘free trade’ issue started and functional around ’82. The ignoranti feel a sense of entitlement in the face of global competition. Over the years I have heard from these types how they don’t need education. Examples that stand out beyond the oft blanket statement were; Who do you think will be chosen by the politburo since Andropov is dead? answer: I don’t need to know that I’m an American. Do you think anything like the Red Brigades will evolve here? : I don’t have to think about that this is America.
They don’t need to grind away in the classroom trench warfare China, India and just about every other ascendant country has declared against us, for the high ground of comparative advantage. They used to inherit the jobs, now much to the ignoranti’s chagrin they will be faced with having to earn those jobs. The days are ending, if not receding, when the ignoranti with money (fratboy country clubbing golf playing drunk) would be handed a well compensated VP position without having demonstrated worthy abilities.
The ignoranti without an inheritance of wealth, will no longer be handed a factory job and with ignorance as culture, was too dumb to get well paid in a hated union, instead choosing that the additional compensation he would have received go overseas. Angry, resentful, confused, afeard and hateful; the poorer ignoranti represent a dire threat to the well being of this country. For them God Guns and Guts made America (taken from graffiti on a desk in an economics class). No where does education enter the calculus.
Within the Republican party, the clear thinking Rollinses and Romneys with whom intelligent dialog is possible and desirable, will be facing down a Phalanx of fifth column Palinites and the rest of the ignoranti, possibly armed literally and so will America. The Democrats do not have these issues to this degree although there are some. Even though done, Palin will run again — for the oval office, intoxicated by the aggressive militant ignoranti that adore her. She will lose in the general election if she gets that far. The Republican party is in very serious trouble and because of the sheer numbers of their ignoranti, so is America.
It is quite possible that the Republican party will render itself in two. An amalgamation of libertarian, Perot, Green, independant fiscally responsible section may work, leaving the larger rump Ignoranti to the Hannity/Limbaugh axis, which in turn could eventually lead them in a recapitulation of a Thermidorean reactionary revolt with Palin as the Ignoranti Joan of Arc.
I dont think anyone cares about Palin, both parties have sold us out
Palin is just another elite, an ere to the Heath candy bar fortune.
The elite rule, but the gigs up, people are waking up.
http://www.infowars.com/the-two-party-system-has-failed-america/
Ed, you’re on fire. I don’t agree with all of it but it’s clearly one of your best.
And infowars: Sarah Palin as the elite? As a card-carrying member I can tell you she ain’t one of us! Surely you jest. Do you have any proof? No of course, not, just here middle name and a few meandering blogs.. But this means Obama is kin of Saddam Hussein and I myself must be related to the Andrews sisters.
It strikes me that the only people who talk about “the elite” are those who have no direct knowledge or contact. If they did, they would talk less easily about the elite as a bloc. My guess is that at the Aspen Ideas Festival there were many people who came from nothing to reach the top–plus actual members of the not-so-monolithic elite.
If Palin is a member of said elite then everybody is and nobody is. Is this really the best Palin conspiracy you can come up with? I’m a little disappointed because it lacks imagination.
All best, Con Man!
Ok Elite maybe a little strong
elite or e·lites.
A group or class of persons or a member of such a group or class, enjoying superior intellectual, social, or economic status.
Besides Sarah Palin being a beneficiary to the Heath Candy fortune we have these incidents to show, that Sarah is not your average Joe Citizen, but someone who believes she is entitled to this, even has an arrogance of “Im better than you” attitude as she signs off benefits for her and her family.
Sarah Palin took over 150,000 on clothes, shoes and beauty aids from the RNC. This is the attitude of the elites, that they are entitled to these types of things whereas the average person is not so entitled.
She spent three times more on clothes in that month than most familes make in a year. Ask yourself: Is this typical of a middle class American? or of an elitist?
“I told her it was against the law to make such a large expenditure [$50,000 to renovate her office] without the council taking a vote. She said, ‘I’m the mayor, I can do whatever I want until the courts tell me I can’t.” – Nick Carney, former Wasilla council member who mentored Palin
$150,000 shopping spree with disguised campaign funds at New York’s fanciest department stores — Neiman Marcus ($75,062.63), Saks Fifth Avenue ($49,425.74), and Bloomingdales (a mere $5,102.71). That was all spent in TWO WEEKS.
That doesn’t include her styling — $4,716.49 on hair and makeup in September alone. Palin’s travelling makeup lady, who made $22,000 just in the first two weeks of October. AND that doesn’t count Ms. Palin’s travelling hair stylist, Angela Lew, who made another $10,000 in those same two weeks
None of this is new. Back in Alaska, Palin pocketed $17,000 in government travel expense payments for food and lodging for the 312 nights she slept in her own house. $55 bucks a night, government reimbursement, for sleeping at home.
She also took over $40,000 in travel allowances for both her and her husband Todd, who is not a government employee, got him a state-paid Blackberry, and took her daughter to stay in a $700/night New York hotel on the state’s dime. Her excuse? She didn’t take as much travel money as her predecessor Frank Murkowski.
Even as Wasilla mayor, one of her first acts was getting the city to buy a white Suburban for her, which locals called the “mayor-mobile.” She used her clout to get special treatment including a zoning waiver on her house (despite not keeping her promise to remove a fire hazard), and lots of free merchandise and services from businesses affected by city decisions (including what she called “an awesome facial”, fresh salmon and “absolutely gorgeous flowers.”) — Sources
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Gov. Sarah Palin charged the state for her children to travel with her, including to events where they were not invited, and later amended expense reports to specify that they were on official business.
The charges included costs for hotel and commercial flights for three daughters to join Palin to watch their father in a snowmobile race, and a trip to New York, where the governor attended a five-hour conference and stayed with 17-year-old Bristol for five days and four nights in a luxury hotel.
In all, Palin has charged the state $21,012 for her three daughters’ 64 one-way and 12 round-trip commercial flights since she took office in December 2006. In some other cases, she has charged the state for hotel rooms for the girls.
Is she Elite? Is she just your average soccer mom? Is she gonna run in 2012.
the bottom line is WHO CARES
The biggest fake out by this criminal government, and their spinners is to keep the peoples eyes of the ball and on to idiocy.
move along, nothing to see here.
Ed,
You wrote:
[Even though done, Palin will run again—for the oval office, intoxicated by the aggressive militant ignoranti that adore her. She will lose in the general election if she gets that far. The Republican party is in very serious trouble and because of the sheer numbers of their ignoranti, so is America.]
I’m not going to stipulate your views on the demographic you call “the ignoranti.” Rather, I’ll concede that the uninformed voter exists; not all of them are Republican, and of those that are, not all like Palin. In fact, I contend some like Obama. But this is subject for another discussion.
Where Palin is concerned, I think Charles Krauthammer summed it up quite nicely the other day:
Krauthammer touches on the attacks on the Palin children, a reality I find far too quickly dismissed. The children of Politicians have long been protected by an unwritten courtesy that has been dutifully extended to every politician in U.S. history until Sarah Palin entered the national spotlight.
It may be that Sarah’s pissed about finding her family the subject of the kinds of personal attacks no self-respecting parent would tolerate, not to mention finding her family financially drained by refuting seventeen frivolous ethics charges so far. Maybe she’s looking for the kind of payback she can’t get while observing the political correctness and decorum required by the Office of Governor of Alaska.
In general, American families are child-centric. To American parents, regardless of political leaning, media attacks on the Palin children, especially Trig, make the media as much a bellwether of the times we live in as pack of rabid dogs in a Leper colony. From this standpoint, Palin is in a unique position to do real damage to the left in the coming years. Frankly, I think she can, and I for one will be grinning widely if she does.
Cheers,
Michael,
It’s good to see you admit you’re “a card carrying member” of the elite.
Cheers,
Hard not to admit it, Mitch. I consider myself lucky to have the advantages. And I don’t consider “elite” to be a dirty word if it is somehow earned.
The elite, like the liberal media, are the pinata for the wet-diaper conservatives. I’ve been a “card-carrying” member of both and I can tell you from the inside that most of the complaints are a load of hooey.
Best, Con Man!
Elite isn’t a dirty word, but elitist is. Palin is not part of the elite, if anything she’s an elitist: believing that she’s superior to others and therefore deserves more than others.
I don’t think there is anything wrong with admitting to having had the advantage of an education or money, but remember, with great privilege comes great responsibility.
That goes for elite radio show hosts, more than anyone.
I’d have to say after listening to Con Games today that I agree with Nick from Aspen and Nathan. Michael admits that no one knows why she really quit, yet he insists that it was political suicide. That depends on a lot of things, none of which will become apparant until probably years from now.
In lieu of giving her the benefit of the doubt that she really knew what she was doing by quitting (based on her true motives, which again: nobody knows), Conniff engages in the same sort of baseless speculation, character degradation and mocking cynicism that he perpetually accuses the right of, thereby abdicating his responsibility as an elite journalist and putting him in the realm of the sensationalist tabloid media.
Too bad. I used to really enjoy listening to Con Games. Now I can’t tell the difference between it and Rush Limbaugh’s show.
I must admit I haven’t listened to Con Games but on rare occasions for over a year now. Not by choice, but due to a really crappy KNFO signal in downtown Glenwood Springs. Last time I listened, Jimmy from Woody Creek had just declared a Con Games moratorium…
I like Sarah Palin because, in addition to making Democrats sweat, she’s the one Republican in recent memory unlikely to develop an uncontrollable zipper problem… That said, Sue’s right. To me, there are two clear realities in this story: none of us will know exactly why Palin quit until she tells us, and Democrats aren’t staking much hope in the idea that she might just go away.
Cheers,
she’s the one Republican in recent memory unlikely to develop an uncontrollable zipper problem
– I don’t really think this is as big a problem for the ignoranti, but it is a huge problem for the GOP Intellegentsia, independents and swing voters
I’m not going to stipulate your views on the demographic you call “the ignoranti.” Rather, I’ll concede that the uninformed voter exists; not all of them are Republican, and of those that are, not all like Palin. In fact, I contend some like Obama. But this is subject for another discussion.
–That is why I wrote this too;
Within the Republican party, the clear thinking Rollinses and Romneys with whom intelligent dialog is possible and desirable, will be facing down a Phalanx of fifth column Palinites and the rest of the ignoranti, possibly armed literally and so will America. The Democrats do not have these issues to this degree although there are some.
–While running for office in DC in the DC Statehood Green party, I was faced with something beyond yellow dog democrats the dumb dog democrats I called “Dummycrats.” I faced hoodlums, gangs, crackheads, argued with NOI members and all sorts of party loyalists. Some of these “citizens” seemed to have Swiss cheese instead of head cheese between the ears, but I could have discussions about issues with the rest. Apathy about voting isn’t always uniformed about issues. Those African Americans without argument would sink towards the White man did it to us, with El Salvadorans helping. El Salvadorans blamed Whites and African Americans and the Whites blamed — well I am sure you see the circular firing squad, all in the Democratic party. I am saying this definitively, having been involved with more than 20 candidates’ elections there are fewer dummycrats than ignoranti. Anecdotal? Sure. In the tens of thousands of doors (at least) I have knocked on, the Ignoranti were also far more bigoted and considerably less able to engage in dialog.
The point I am making is that Palin can win the GOP mantle with nothing more than her looks (which to me are mediocre) bubbly personality, trailer park morality ethics gravitas and “Chistianity,” without the stereotyped trailer park accent. I think she is the apparition of horror to ANY of the thinking Republicans.
The palinites, christianites and Hannity/Limbaugh axis used to be a simple source of vote mining. Cheap easy access to raw numbers, gave the GOP many election victories. Now this group actually has the temerity to believe they can mine ignorance, to find leadership in the oval office. There may be many stupid Americans, but more of us are smarter than that.
I would go so far as to say that Romney, Rollins and Will would be Democrats, before identifying with the Ignoranti demographic candidate. They know that would be the end of America. Her candidacy, with no more gaffes, would result in a 70-30 win for the Democrats, maybe even a little more, but certainly not much more. The GOP by numbers probably has a 60/40 split in favor of the Ignoranti. Supporting Palin is like a democrat in the eighties supporting Lyndon LaRouche. The Republican party has to be better than that to help America.