The mockery of Palin’s resignation speech continues, as William Shatner took a beat poet slant on the speech last night on the Tonight Show. Yesterday I posted a link to Vanity Fair’s copy edited version of the Palin speech, which was very colorful.
Too funny, although Conan was right — the speech was meant to be poetry. Shatner killed it:
Tags: palin, resignation speech, shatner, she has to be kidding right?, video
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I think Palin did us all a favor by quitting and effectively giving up on a national political career:
I think on a national level, your department of law there in the White House would look at some of the things that we’ve been charged with and automatically throw them out.
Tags: palin, quote
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I’ve been critical of Palin in the past, so I wanted to write something about her recent (surprise) resignation. However, I came across a pretty darn good post of the subject on, of all places, a conservative blog: Michelle Malkin’s Hot Air. Ed Morrissey nails pretty much everything on the Palin resignation.
The nonsensical lame duck excuse:
Bear in mind that the election isn’t next month but about 16 months from now, in November 2010. Using this logic, Palin should never have run for the first term unless she was willing to run for the second, and not run for either if she wasn’t willing (or legally able) to run for a third. Politicians don’t enter lame-duck status until their successor has already been elected and they’re running out the rest of the term. And all politicians become lame ducks at some point — and none of them quit just to avoid it.
And the miscellaneous other reasons:
I’ve seen a myriad of excuses on Twitter and e-mail for this bizarre resignation: her legal bills are too high, she’s putting her family first, she doesn’t want to distract Alaskans because of cheap-shot ethics complaints that are distracting everyone. None of those make any sense. If the spotlight was too much, then she shouldn’t have run for office in the first place. If she’s quitting because people are taking potshots at her, then she’s not the kind of political fighter we thought she was. The legal bills might be a rational reason, but thoroughly insufficient for betraying the people who put her in charge of Alaska — and her memoirs would have paid for her legal bills many times over, had she completed her term.
The funny thing is, she says these things in one breath, then hints toward running for President in another. She can’t handle being the governor of Alaska? No way she can handle being president. What she sees is just the tip of the iceberg. And what did she expect as a governor of small-time state thrust into the limelight as a major VP candidate? No one was going to pay attention to her? Ask questions about her background? Make charges (bogus or not)? Give me a break. I just can’t see any way she lives down this move if she is expecting to continue running for public office, much less the White House.
Pit bull? Nah. Quitter is all she’ll live up to from here on out. See you on Fox News, Sarah! (Just what we need — another wacky talking head. Her and Glenn Beck would make a great team.)
Tags: palin, resignation
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Is there anything she won’t exaggerate or lie about?
Today in Ohio while introducing Joe the Plumber:
“He’s a fellow Alaska[n], and he’s a fellow military man who has served our country proudly. I’d like you to meet him.”
The problem is, he isn’t either. But I guess we his name isn’t really Joe, nor a plumber, I guess these details become trivial.
Like I said before, the McCain campaign has repeatedly shown that the details are trivial for almost everything they do or say, from exaggerating or lying about their own records or Obama/Biden’s to stupid stuff like this… which scares me. The details DO matter and if you are the leader of the best/most powerful/leading country in the world, you need to pay attention to details. We’ve seen what 8 years of that kind of approach can do already.
Update: Apparently he lived in Alaska for 4 years, which to Palin makes him an Alaskan. So I guess that makes me from Washington state since I lived there for 5 years.
Tags: election, joe the plumber, palin, Politics
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Palin at a rally in Wisconsin yesterday:
“Are Americans having an opportunity to ask all the questions and are we receiving straight answers from our opponent?”
Tags: election, irony, palin, Politics, sham
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This one is a little shorter than my previous post!
Just wanted to point out that I am glad someone in the media finally called Joe Six Pack what it really is…
George Packer in the New Yorker:
No one with a sharp, clear image in her head of a hard-pressed American would use a term like “Joe Six Pack,” an insulting cliché on the order of “the little people.”
Couldn’t agree more. Every time I hear Joe Six Pack, I wince. It’s sad that Palin actually thinks it is in the same ballpark as Hockey or Soccer Mom. Sorry, but insinuating that all average folks have to live for is a six pack is derogatory and ignorant. But it seems as if the whole Republican ticket is out of touch with the middle class. Not only does McCain not mention the term ‘middle class’, but he’s said a good definition of rich is $5 million and that Americans wouldn’t pick lettuce for $50 an hour.
Update: And that isn’t even mentioning that Palin is no where near an ‘average joe”. The Palin household is worth at least $1.2 million dollars and they routinely pulled down six figure incomes, even before she was governor. And remember, this is ALASKA. She’s well off, face it.
The estimate includes 5 properties, a few planes, some boats, and don’t forget, the very non-elitist gubernatorial salary of $125K/year, but it doesn’t include the $11K the family receives every year in state oil dividends that help enable Alaskans to be so anti-tax.
Tags: economy, joe six pack, mcbush, mccain, mcsame, middle class, palin, Politics
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No, I am not making predictions (now that McCain is participating), it’s an online ad running on the Wall Street Journal site… already. From the Washington Post:
Although the fate of tonight’s presidential debate in Mississippi remains very much up in the air, John McCain has apparently already won it — if you believe an Internet ad an astute reader spotted next to this piece in the online edition of the Wall Street Journal this morning.
“McCain Wins Debate!” declares the ad which features a headshot of a smiling McCain with an American flag background. Another ad spotted by our eagle-eyed observer featured a quote from McCain campaign manager Rick Davis declaring: “McCain won the debate– hands down.”
Mission Accomplished for McCain?!
Speaking of debates, also came across this quote from radio-host Ed Schultz on the Indecision 2008 blog:
Capitol Hill sources are telling me that senior McCain people are more than concerned about Palin. The campaign has held a mock debate and a mock press conference; both are being described as “disastrous.”
One senior McCain aide was quoted as saying, “What are we going to do?”
The McCain people want to move this first debate to some later, undetermined date, possibly never. People on the inside are saying the Alaska Governor is “clueless.”
(which has become blatantly obvious, btw)
Nice selection, McCain! You’ve really been showing off your wise, thoughtful leadership skills lately, haven’t you?
Tags: debate, election, mccain, mcsame, palin, Politics
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So the first presidential debate is tonight and McCain is threatening to not show up, in order to work on the financial crisis. He’s even “suspended his campaign” (or not.)
First off, I have to agree with Obama on this one: Presidents should be able to handle more than one major task at one AND what better time to hear from the two candidates than now? I think American deservcs and neeeds to hear from both of them on this issue (and many others). The debates need to happen.
Secondly, from all the reports I’ve read McCain really hasn’t done much to help the process so far. The big meeting he called for with Bush, Obama and top leaders? McCain sat quietly for most of the meeting. And:
spoke only at the end to raise doubts about the rough compromise that the White House and congressional leaders were nearing.
So, not sure it is because he doesn’t understand the economy or the crisis or maybe he’s using this entire thing as a political stunt. Either to look “presidential” (by calling the meeting and ‘suspending’ his campaign to focus on the issue – even though Obama contacted him first suggesting they work together) or maybe he’s keeping quiet so a proposal is agreed upon that he can later vote against and say wasn’t the right plan (too much socialism, not enough ‘whatever’) so he can distance himself from Bush and the Republican Congress? I’d think probably the latter, since that is McCain’s biggest issue right now. He’s tied too closely to Bush and the Republicans who have pretty much destroyed our country (or at the very least gave us a major setback) through the war and handling of the economy.
What else does he have to gain by pushing back the debate? The McCain camp suggested the new date be in place of the VP debate (which would also need to be pushed back or as even suggested, canceled!), meaning Palin either gets more time to be brainwashed (which isn’t working so well – see my previous post) or even off the hook. Given her poor performances in softball-type interviews, I can’t imagine she’s too excited to take part in a debate. So, with a delayed debate the McCain camp wins either way.
Word is, Obama will make it a townhall type event if McCain doesn’t show up, which I can’t imagine the McCain camp would be too thrilled about – so I am betting McCain shows up and debates.
Speaking of Palin, I’ve seen a lot of buzz centered around McCain replacing Palin. (Even at the conservative National Review ) If that does happen, I just wanted to make sure McCain knows I am still available.
Update: Apparently, McCain wasn’t all that familiar with the House Republican plan he briefly and vaguely mentioned at the White House, either. You know, the one that caused all the negotiation and work to fall apart? Thanks McCain!
Tags: debates, economy, mccain, mcsame, obama, palin
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If McCain wins, I’m scared. Palin is the most unqualified VP candidate ever. She can’t believe the stuff that comes out of her mouth, can she? I think a 5th grader could see through her statements.
<embed src=’http://www.cbs.com/thunder/swf30can10cbsnews/rcpHolderCbs-3-4×3.swf’ FlashVars=’link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ecbsnews%2Ecom%2Fvideo%2Fwatch%2F%3Fid%3D4478156n&partner=cbssports&vert=News&autoPlayVid=false&releaseURL=http://release.theplatform.com/content.select?pid=hdkxamTi8l_uCAJ2ORKSzF3marEPn7Ul&name=cbsPlayer&allowScriptAccess=always&wmode=transparent&embedded=y&scale=noscale&rv=n&salign=tl’ allowFullScreen=’true’ width=’425′ height=’324′ type=’application/x-shockwave-flash’ pluginspage=’http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer’></embed><br/><a href=’http://www.cbs.com’>Watch CBS Videos Online</a>
McCain Rearin’ Heads ad from Boing Boing
Tags: election, interview, mccain, mcsame, palin, Politics, putin
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Maybe McCain thinks so:
McCAIN: Energy. She knows more about energy than probably anyone else in the United States of America. …. And we all know that energy is a critical and vital national security issue.
So I am sure Palin thinks so, but the facts might think otherwise. She certainly doesn’t know how much energy Alaska contributes to the United States.
PALIN: Let me speak specifically about a credential that I do bring to this table, Charlie, and that’s with the energy independence that I’ve been working on for these years as the governor of this state that produces nearly 20 percent of the U.S. domestic supply of energy, that I worked on as chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, overseeing the oil and gas development in our state to produce more for the United States.
Unfortunately, according to FactCheck.org, it’s more like 3.5% of our domestic energy production. Think Progress points out she would have been closer if she said oil production (14.3%), but even then she would have been exaggerating, rather that just lying.
Seems like the Repubs are sticking with the “tell a lie enough times and it becomes true” strategy that helped the Bushies so often. After all, Palin still thinks Iraq planned and executed the 9/11 attacks.
Tags: election, lies, mccain, palin
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