Sarah Palin, continued.

[corianderstem]

Are you kidding?

I haven't seen it myself (since that would require me to read about DWTS and/or sites where Palin supporters would be posting), but have seen mentions about it.

 

[BVS]

Oh I know, I was just around...

But yeah there are folks that are convinced that we somehow care about why Bristol is still on DWTS. They are the same crowd that thinks anytime someone pokes fun of Palin that it really means we're scared of her... It's this backwards logic that makes the whole tea party thing entertaining.

 

[deep]

Bristol Palin Apologizes For Facebook Drama -

"Willow and I shouldn't have reacted to negative comments about our family. We apologize," read a message posted on her page Wednesday.
"On a nicer note, thank you for supporting the great competition in 'Dancing With the Stars.' "

 

[corianderstem]

Yeah, darling girls, guess what? People weren't outraged about you reacting to negative comments.

People were outraged because you thought it was okay to react to negative comments by calling someone "gay" and "faggot."

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

if the former half-term governor of Alaska somehow wins the GOP nomination & (God forbid) the 2012 election, we're all fucked.

Yes we are

There are bizarre portions of her upcoming book (perfect holiday gift!!) leaking. Talking about American Idol and Bristol being a better role model than Murphy Brown.

I just don't get it

I'd vote for Trump over her any day and I can't stand Trump

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

The "vulgarity" of DWTS, well that's rather extreme. It can get pretty raunchy sometimes, and Bristol has been raunchy in spite of her statements that she wouldn't do that and that she would dress conservatively too. She doesn't show cleavage or belly, that's true. That "Mamma told me not to come" was, um, interesting. I must admit it made me laugh.


Why Sarah Palin Shouldn't Run - Mona Charen - Townhall Conservative

By telling Barbara Walters that she thinks she can defeat President Obama, Sarah Palin has dimmed hopes cherished by sensible Republicans that she might decide against a run for the White House in 2012. Here are just some of the reasons she should not run.

The Republican nominee should be someone with vast and impressive experience in government and the private sector -- and a proven record. Voters chose a novice with plenty of star power in 2008 and will be inclined to swing strongly in the other direction in 2012. Americans will be looking for sober competence, managerial skill, and maturity, not sizzle and flash.

After the 2008 campaign revealed her weaknesses on substance, Palin was advised by those who admire her natural gifts to bone up on policy and devote herself to governing Alaska successfully. Instead, she quit her job as governor after two and a half years, published a book (another is due next week), and seemed to chase money and empty celebrity. Now, rather than being able to highlight the accomplishments of Sarah Palin's Alaska, we get "Sarah Palin's Alaska," another cheesy entrant in the reality show genre. She'd so much rather be out dog sledding than in some "dull political office," she tells the audience. File that.

She is wildly popular with a swath of the Republican electorate, it's true. And, as a conservative woman politician told me, the consultants (who get paid the big bucks win or lose) will doubtless descend upon her with game plans showing how she can win in Iowa and then cruise to the nomination. Maybe. But the general election would be a problem, since 53 percent of independent voters view Palin unfavorably, according to a recent Gallup poll, along with 81 percent of Democrats.

There is no denying that Sarah Palin has been harshly, sometimes even brutally treated by the press and the news/entertainment gaggle. But any prominent Republican must expect some of that and be able to transcend it. She compares herself to Reagan. But Reagan didn't mud wrestle with the press. Palin seems consumed and obsessed by it, as her rapid Twitter finger attests, and thus encourages the sniping. She should be presiding over meetings on oil and gas leases in the North Slope, or devising alternatives to Obamacare. Every public spat with Dave Letterman or Politico, or the "lamestream media," or God help us, Levi Johnston, diminishes her.

Speaking of television, sorry, this must be mentioned. Have you watched "Dancing With the Stars"? Cheesy would be several steps up for this one. Perhaps the former governor should not be blamed for the decisions of her adult daughter. Yet there in the audience we see Sarah and Todd Palin, mugging for the camera and cheering on their unwed-mother daughter as she bumps and grinds to the tune of "Mamma Told Me (Not to Come)." Her parents had advised her, the 20-year-old Bristol told an interviewer, that she had to stay "in character" if she expected to win. Being "in character" apparently meant descending to the vulgarity that "DWTS" peddles on a weekly basis. The momma grizzly was apparently unfazed by -- or, equally disturbing, unaware of -- the indignity. And this is supposed to be a conservative culture warrior?

Judgment, above all, is what voters prize in a presidential candidate. Some of Sarah Palin's 2010 endorsements were sound and arguably helpful. Others betrayed flightiness and recklessness. Tom Tancredo, Palin's choice for governor of Colorado, has ridden his anti-immigration hobbyhorse in a style perfectly suited to alienate Hispanic voters (describing Miami, for example, as a "Third World" city). The endorsement of Christine O'Donnell was irresponsible and damaging, losing a seat that would certainly have been a Republican pickup absent Palin's intrusion into the race. It goes without saying that O'Donnell received an absurdly disproportionate amount of ink and attention during the race (the liberal press naturally seizes upon any opportunity to make conservatives look kooky), but again, Palin should have anticipated that. Besides, this one cannot be laid at the feet of the biased media. O'Donnell was a thoroughly unqualified candidate.

Palin has many strengths. I admire her fortitude and her commitment to principle. Her capacity to connect with a crowd is something most politicians can only dream of. I will always remember her 2008 convention speech as a rollicking star turn. She would be terrific as a talk-show host -- the new Oprah.

But as a presidential candidate? Someone to convince critical independent voters that Republicans can govern successfully? Absolutely not.

 

[kramwest1]

I will go on-record here and say that I am not mocking Palin for her North Korea slip.
Honestly, I'm not.
I misspeak often, which is why I prefer to write.

She's still an annoying moron, but I'm not counting that one against her.

 

[PhilsFan]

I'm much more offended by her simply thinking this is a "What's Obama going to do to fix it?" issue, that simply will come down to a black-and-white partisan politics.

 

[kramwest1]

I'm much more offended by her simply thinking this is a "What's Obama going to do to fix it?" issue, that simply will come down to a black-and-white partisan politics.

Yup, Obama is no W.

Bush would have invaded Burma by now over this North Korea situation.
He had cajones.

 

[BVS]

If Palin was president it sounds like we would already have been in two new additional wars...

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

She'll be very happy about this. They should do a show together-that would be all kinds of awesome. I'm sure the congratulatory tweet is coming.



Dr. Laura Schlessinger will debut a new, three-hour daily radio show on Sirius XM in January, according to an Associated Press report.

In the wake of her N-word rant earlier this year, Schlessinger announced she would sign off from her current radio show on December 31. At the time, she claimed the move was designed to "regain [her] First Amendment rights."

The AP report, which appears to have been published prematurely, says Schlessinger will begin on Sirius XM on January 3, just three days after signing off from terrestrial radio.

Schlessinger ignited controversy in August after using the N-word eleven times in five minutes with a black female caller. Following a firestorm, and an apology, Schlessinger announced on "Larry King Live" that she would end her radio show, citing a desire to free herself from concerns about affiliate radio stations and sponsors.

Much like Howard Stern before her, Schlessinger says that freedom of speech is what drew her to satellite radio.

"The first and most important thing that appealed to me was the freedom to speak my mind without advertisers and affiliates being attacked by activist groups that just love to censor anything they don't agree with," she told the Associated Press. "That just about made my heart and head explode."

The terms of Schlessinger's multi-year Sirius XM deal were not disclosed.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

OMG, if this is true..

How did Bristol Palin end up on 'Dancing With the Stars'? Sarah once said that the show's producers' first choice was Todd but they took Bristol instead--and now Bristol's fellow contestant Margaret Cho says Sarah forced her daughter to do the show as payback for her ill-timed pregnancy.

Margaret writes on her blog:

I heard from someone who really should know (really should seriously know the dirt really really) that the only reason Bristol was on the show was because Sarah Palin forced her to do it. Sarah supposedly blames Bristol harshly and openly (in the circles that I heard it from) for not winning the election, and so she told Bristol she "owed" it to her to do DWTS so that "America would fall in love with her again" and make it possible for Sarah Palin to run in 2012 with America behind her all the way. Instead of being supposedly "handicapped" by the presence of her teen mom daughter, now Bristol is going to be an "asset" - a celebrity beloved for her dancing. I am sure the show wasn't in on this (but who knows anything really).



Margaret goes on to criticize people for making fun of Bristol's weight and praise Bristol's dance moves. Read her whole post here.

Pistol Whipped � Margaret Cho

'Dancing' producers are reportedly trying once again to get Todd Palin to sign on for next season, which may coincide with the 2012 presidential campaign.

 

[BVS]

Sarah has definitely come off as very calculative over the past few years, most of which not in a very smart manner, but this seems to be a bit of a stretch... Who knows?

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

Well, there was that article from a few pages back about Sarah and how even her family are fed up with her manipulative ways, using them for political fodder and such. Judging from what I observed of the interaction between Sarah and Bristol on the show, though, I don't see it being that likely. Course, then again, Bristol often times looked like she didn't want to be there, like she wanted to just go home. Who knows?

If that is true, though, then it clearly backfired, 'cause Bristol didn't win and there's been a slight bit of backlash against her and Sarah and the Palin family in general. Bit of an overload of media saturation, and all that.

'Dancing' producers are reportedly trying once again to get Todd Palin to sign on for next season, which may coincide with the 2012 presidential campaign.

Please, please, no. No more Palins. No.

I heard a rumor Levi was considered, too. And my response to that is the same for the rumor of Todd. Does the phrase "go away" mean nothing to any of these people?

Angela

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

So has anybody actually sat down and watched the show? Like it, don't like it?

Out of boredom and curiosity, I watched one and a half episodes of it tonight, and I gotta say I was entertained. I am (sometimes) easily entertained, though. I disagree with the large majority of her political stances but, hell, I noticed that it was on, didn't feel like watching the Steelers vs. Ravens, and checked it out.

1. She's almost surely running for President in 2012. Yeah, a lot of the show is staged, and it's basically a weekly hour long campaign advertisement for her run for the POTUS, but have we ever gotten such an extended, "inside" look at the family life of a high profile politician before? Not saying the quality of the show is great, but it's kinda groundbreaking, no? What's next, the Real Housewives of Supreme Court Justices? "Sarah Palin's Alaska" is a smart idea. Millions are watching and, even if a lot of what's happening on the show is bullshit, when Palin runs in 2012, the American public will probably be more familiar with Sarah Palin than they've ever been with a Presidential nominee. Yikes.

2. The episode tonight was Palin and her dad out hunting caribou. I find big game hunting to be pretty despicable, but that's a different story for a different day.

3. Willow Palin is cute and I'll probably ask her out on a date in three or four years.

 

[BEAL]

I've seen bits and pieces of the show, but i just can't watch. She's annoying, and extremely stupid.

I think the show hurts her more than it helps. I do like your theory of the public knowing her though, that is a positive. But she really comes off as a bigger dumbbass, and not quite so "rouge" as she led us all to believe. I get the impression she's never actually hunted before.

Willow is very cute, but she's gonna be knocked up soon enough.

 

[Irvine511]

SPA is, at it's core, about branding and marketing Sarah's snow-white American-ness, what with all the huntin' and fishin' and talkin' and forced folksiness, thusly setting her up as the perfect white foil to black/Muslim/other Obama.

and when she guts a halibut or guns down a caribou for fun you realize that this ill-informed yet attractive woman, who supposedly reinforces the best of what "regular, non-elite" white America likes thinks of itself, is actually the terrifying epitome of it's absolute worst qualities -- proudly ignorant, aggressively provincial, and possessed with an inexplicable lust for blood letting.

 

[financeguy]

34 pages of posts in this thread, more, far more, than Dick Cheney or Don Rumsfeld ever got and they actually did bad stuff.

 

[Bad Ronald]

thankfully it's the open minded progressives (liberals) posting these comments

otherwise i'd think these remarks both sexist and racist...but i know it's just another link in the long chain of diversity of ideas

 

[Irvine511]

otherwise i'd think these remarks both sexist and racist...but i know it's just another link in the long chain of diversity of ideas

plus, we're always making fun of her retarded baby.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Willow is very cute, but she's gonna be knocked up soon enough.

Hey, be careful when messing with Willow Palin on the internet. Sharp tongue on that one. NSFW.

Spoiler

 

[yolland]

SPA is, at it's core, about branding and marketing Sarah's snow-white American-ness, what with all the huntin' and fishin' and talkin' and forced folksiness, thusly setting her up as the perfect white foil to black/Muslim/other Obama.

and when she guts a halibut or guns down a caribou for fun you realize that this ill-informed yet attractive woman, who supposedly reinforces the best of what "regular, non-elite" white America likes thinks of itself, is actually the terrifying epitome of it's absolute worst qualities -- proudly ignorant, aggressively provincial, and possessed with an inexplicable lust for blood letting.

I think the show is meant to fetishize as much as normalize. Remember Camille Paglia's starry-eyed slobbering over Palin's "can-do, no-excuses, moose-hunting feminism"? It's a novelty. I'm more bothered by her spiteful-petty tendencies than her "blood lust"--so she likes to kill it 'n' grill it, so what, so do millions of other Americans, some of them standup people, some not. "Provincialism," yes, that's bad when it's crude xenophobia masquerading as community-mindedness, although, many people who spend their lives moving from one suburban 'community' or gentrifying 'neighborhood' to another have more in common with that agenda in practice than they'd like to admit. Can't disagree on the obvious ill-preparedness, though I still think that's more to do with the age-old American question of whether the President should be equal parts bureaucrat and visionary, or a totemistic Clan MPatriarch, than with whether being well-spoken makes you an "Other" per se. Bill Clinton was a Rhodes scholar, that's not why people liked him.

The fake folksiness is just bait, and Obama shouldn't take it. In reality, it's pretty damned insulting to suggest rural Americans are incapable of "relating to" or evaluating a Honolulu-bred President who bodysurfs and shoots hoops rather than hunting and fishing; we all have our own regional inflections and perspectives, that's a strength not a weakness. He should point that out and move on undeterred, not play into their hands with snotty-sounding invocations of dumb-redneck stereotypes.

 

[Irvine511]

The fake folksiness is just bait, and Obama shouldn't take it. In reality, it's pretty damned insulting to suggest rural Americans are incapable of "relating to" or evaluating a Honolulu-bred President who bodysurfs and shoots hoops rather than hunting and fishing; we all have our own regional inflections and perspectives, that's a strength not a weakness. He should point that out and move on undeterred, not play into their hands with snotty-sounding invocations of dumb-redneck stereotypes.

i'm not terribly concerned about sounding snooty given the shocking amount of americans who believe the President is a Muslim. just for starters.

Poll shows more Americans think Obama is a Muslim

i'm not feeling especially forgiving towards those who buy into her blatant attempts at mythmaking, nor those who are swayed by her clearly racially-charged attempts at making clear, almost point-by-point cultural distinctions between herself as down-home and authentic, right down to her using the immense 49th state to showcase it's difference from the lower 48th, and most especially our 50th. there's a celebration of ignorance that Palin represents, and her gleeful fabulism and vicious victimhood at the hands of "elites" is hardly lapped up by those who vote for Democrats. in fact, her appeal is hardly lapped up by most mainstream Republicans, which is why many are deathly terrified of her 2012 campaign. there's no way to attack her, because she's quite deftly into any attack upon her as an attack upon not just her children but all rural women, everywhere. one only has to work through the leading GOP blogs to find numerous instances where Our Sarah has been wronged.

is it wrong to paint all of rural America with such a brush? of course, but this is more akin to most-men-aren't-rapists-but-most-rapists-are-men type of thinking -- most-rural-americans-wont-fall-for-her-bullshit-but-most-who-fall-for-her-bullshit-are-rural-americans, and there's enough of them to make the GOP primary hers to lose.

SPA is setting the stage for her candidacy, one that will run on pure cultural id and what will amount to racial self-identification against the other in the oval office.

 

[Irvine511]

Hey, be careful when messing with Willow Palin on the internet. Sharp tongue on that one. NSFW.

Spoiler

while the above is a parody, there was some Facebook back and forth where Willow called someone a "faggot" and "gay" and "fat" because they said the show sucked. someone who, btw, has Crones Disease and has to take steroids every day and that causes him to gain weight.

http://tmz.vo.llnwd.net/o28/newsdesk/tmz_documents/1116_palin.pdf

and you know that Sarah spun this as someone was saying mean things about Trigg.

for real.

People probably think that my greatest frustration is the lies that are told in the tabloids and on hateful blogs full of anonymous sources about my family … and there are constant everyday lies that we have to read that are out there in the public. But my family and I…thick skin…we can take it, you know…we can take what the haters say despite the fact that there’s injustice in the situation.

I mean, look at the other day. Willow, finally, my 16 year old, she had had it up to here with somebody saying very, very hateful things about the family and saying mean things about her little brother Trig, and Willow finally responded and she used a bad word when she responded in defense of her family. And her response became national news, even hard news copy it turned into, so that’s ridiculous and I had to explain to her, “Willow, there is no justice here but you have to just zip your lip and let’s move forward.”

please, click on the link and show me, where on Facebook did someone make fun of Trigg?

 

[yolland]

i'm not terribly concerned about sounding snooty given the shocking amount of americans who believe the President is a Muslim.
........
is it wrong to paint all of rural America with such a brush? of course, but this is more akin to most-men-aren't-rapists-but-most-rapists-are-men type of thinking -- most-rural-americans-wont-fall-for-her-bullshit-but-most-who-fall-for-her-bullshit-are-rural-americans, and there's enough of them to make the GOP primary hers to lose.

You aren't running for President. I was thinking of Obama's "they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them...to explain their frustrations" gaffe, not anything you said. It doesn't matter what you or I think about what exactly Palin's up to, or who exactly is gung-ho for her and why. Although, if enough of a blogosphere mantra gets going that everyone looking for an alternative to Obama is a pinheaded troglodyte enslaved by primitive racial fears, then he will pay the price, whatever it is. I don't understand not being concerned about that. You are trusting that rank-and-file Republicans and conservative-leaning independents will "see through" her? Fine, then let her crash and burn by exposing her own phoniness to those the SPA persona means to appeal to; don't feed the sense of shared victimhood if you really believe it's there.

 

[Irvine511]

I don't understand not being concerned about that. You are trusting that rank-and-file Republicans and conservative-leaning independents will "see through" her? Fine, then let her crash and burn by exposing her own phoniness to those the SPA persona means to appeal to; don't feed the sense of shared victimhood if you really believe it's there.

and this is what strikes fear in the heart of the rank-and-file -- literally, *any* criticism of her is a criticism of Trig (metaphorically). she's proven herself, so far, to be fairly adept at this kind of media judo. remember how (O')Biden didn't make eye contact or address her in the VP debate? that's really the only way to deal with her politically, but how do you get through the primaries with it's myriad debates by ignoring her? it's impossible to do, which is why the nomination may likely be hers to lose at this point, in a crowded field that will be dominated by a Republican Base who's more and more willing to eat up anything that affirms their cultural identification.

you're right in that what Obama absolutely needs to do is ignore her for as long as possible, though given the exposure i've had to rural America via de facto in-laws, Obama's marks, while absolutely politically silly, aren't all that far off the mark. there's an enormous amount of insecurity, and it's not just about jobs, and Palin presents an aspirational fantasy, like any good celebrity.

as for the troglodyte ... there are worse memes out there, i suppose, and in the end, my hunch is that the independents (who, as always, will determine the election) will find her gleeful ignorance repugnant enough, and her supporters too embarrassing, that Obama himself will be just fine. and the GOP knows this very well.

 

[anitram]

Although, if enough of a blogosphere mantra gets going that everyone looking for an alternative to Obama is a pinheaded troglodyte enslaved by primitive racial fears, then he will pay the price, whatever it is. I don't understand not being concerned about that. You are trusting that rank-and-file Republicans and conservative-leaning independents will "see through" her?

You don't have to trust that the voters, no matter how stupid, will see through anything.

The US is a plutocracy and anyone who fails to see that isn't paying attention. Day after day we are shown that the rich, the financial industry, and so on, own this country and essentially run it to the detriment of everyone else. And if there is one certainty about this voting bloc it's that they will never and I mean NEVER let a loose cannon like Sarah into their midst. They have all the power and for all the wrong they have wrought, they will do us a favour on this one thing.

Sarah's presidential aspirations are DOA.

 

[Irvine511]

Sarah's presidential aspirations are DOA.

not if she can marshall enough sans-culottes spellbound by her awesomeness and enraged at how the lamestream media keeps making fun of Trig.

Bush could talk to the evangelicals as well as those who just want to be rich and dig for oil, though he needed to start a war to keep them distracted. can anyone else?

 

[yolland]

she's proven herself, so far, to be fairly adept at this kind of media judo. remember how (O')Biden didn't make eye contact or address her in the VP debate? that's really the only way to deal with her politically, but how do you get through the primaries with it's myriad debates by ignoring her?

I bet Huck's not afraid to look her in the eye. Don't know if he'll run though, and unlike her he's never had any foothold beyond hardcore evangelical conservatives (not fiscally conservative enough, for starters).

I tend to agree with anitram that the 'Establishment' GOP is too powerful for "media judo" alone (great phrase, BTW) to carry Palin through the primaries--assuming she runs. However, they'd need to get enough Republican primary voters lined up behind someone else to force her out, and it's not clear at this point who that would be. Romney has the most total funds at this point (though Palin's PAC haul dwarfs his), but the Tea Partiers loathe him.

you're right in that what Obama absolutely needs to do is ignore her for as long as possible, though given the exposure i've had to rural America via de facto in-laws, Obama's marks, while absolutely politically silly, aren't all that far off the mark. there's an enormous amount of insecurity, and it's not just about jobs, and Palin presents an aspirational fantasy, like any good celebrity.

Rural voters are usually around 9-10% of the GOP vote in the general election; anyone who appeals only to them would be doomed, even in the primaries. But they've always been a tempting canvas for national politicians to project their visions of "Main Street America" onto, and this can be a coded way of invoking "fantasies" one couldn't state otherwise, like effective re-segregation for example (that is, if you overlook that a fifth and counting of rural Americans are nonwhite). Although, to be fair to Palin, that particular potential subtext couldn't possibly mean to her quite what it does to your "de facto in-laws"--which isn't to say she wouldn't knowingly exploit it anyway. Point being, by figuratively patting your DFILs on the head, she's also sending (multiple) messages to people in the 'burbs and the cities who share some of their "insecurities," but can't be called out as such directly.

 

[Irvine511]

boiled down to a simple choice, which is all an election is anyway, the Palin narrative is going to be Real America vs. The Elites. upon all that can be placed any number of projections that can be as specific to one's particular locale as one would like.

however, the added bonus of Palin -- for her supporters -- she's made her politics personal. in fact, there are no politics. at all. for all the screaming about how her family is under attack from themedia, no other politician has as ruthlessly exploited her children as she has. name me another politician who has publicly feuded with the teenage father of her grandson, waved a baby with Down Syndrome around at book signings, put one on "Dancing With the Stars" (and concocted some crazy story about how she and Todd, like, jumped in the campervan and drove to L.A.), and then constructed and entire reality series around her family.

what Palin presents is a total absence of any knowledge beyond cultural identification and, because they're all really beautiful and now very wealthy, a strange female fantasy of a Red State MILF who multitasks better than you ever could while rocking a pair of leather boots. she's, at her core, a character better suited for The Real Housewives of Anchorage, and she lives in a world of predetermined story lines, imposed drama, and storyboarded character arcs that she's edited as skillfully as any editor for any reality TV show.

it's not so much that she's phony but that she's a media creation, someone impossible to imagine before the wild popularity of Survivor and the ascent of reality TV. (hell, her complaints are no different than, say, offed Housewive Danielle Staub -- "it's the editing! *they* make me look bad! that's not what really happened!")

we might as well vote for Teresa Giudice.