The American Spectator

jd| 2.10.10 @ 6:26AM

LOVE Reagan, like Palin, used to like her more. I don't know what it is, however, but even though I like her policy stances and common sense, lately she has started to annoy me. I'd still vote for her if she were on the ticket, however, I think I'd rather see someone else on the top of the Republican ticket.

Alan Brooks| 2.10.10 @ 8:16AM

Palin probably will be president someday; but two questions:
When will that be?
and
Will she modify her positions out of recognition?
The first question is a wild card.
The answer to the second question is Yes. Everybody thinks their family is deserving, and other families aren't. So Palin makes sense as rightwing feminism, but not as to shrinking govt-- certainly not with our aging population.

RJ| 2.10.10 @ 9:41AM

Drop the "feminism" label...time for that tattoo is long past in valid meanings.

Think in terms of "Frontier Mom" or perhaps "The Arctic Fox" if you want something more accurate and in tune with present reality.

Alan Brooks| 2.10.10 @ 10:47AM

No, RJ, that is PC ;)

cnewman| 2.10.10 @ 4:41PM

If you were right she would never be elected.
Can't shrink government with an aging population? Hey Seniors, this guy thinks you are totally dependant on Government! I say most of you became Seniors because you accepted responsibility.

JD Will| 2.10.10 @ 8:19AM

Ditto

John| 2.10.10 @ 8:43AM

@JD

Yes, I like Palin. She's a good, decent person who has it right on many issues. However, perhaps the thing you find annoying is her insistence now on military adventurism.

That's my one problem with her. America has no money - it's 12 trillion in debt - and for ANYONE to be thinking that these wars are sustainable is wrong.

The same goes for the liberal socialist nutjobs who think that all these welfare programs are sustainable.

America needs to end the welfare/warfare state and get back to the Constitution.

Alan Brooks| 2.10.10 @ 8:57AM

"America needs to end the welfare/warfare state and get back to the Constitution."

People confuse material progress with social progress. Social progress is finished. That means no more 'back to the Constitution', no more progress in education, etc.

Alan Brooks| 2.10.10 @ 9:04AM

Brave New World (stagnant) + great progress techno-scientifically = 21st century.

You might not believe so now-- but you will later.

John| 2.10.10 @ 1:38PM

Alan, I'm not quite sure what you mean by social and material progress, or indeed progress in education. "Progress" is a very subjective word.

To me, material progress would be improving the means of production, such that innovators and businesses can increase the quality and quantity of goods and services, at a cheaper price for the consumer. The Constitution allowed this - socialism does not.

To me, social progress is a moral society, belief in God and the rights of the individual. Natural law is the guiding principle by which society should live - again, this was what the Constitution was all about - inalienable rights and natural law.

To me, education progress is dumping nonsense like sociology and teaching kids logic, Austrian economics, real history, the Constitution, the Bible, philosophy, maths, science and always making sure the kids are challenging the teacher. Again, this is what the Founders had in mind - an educated and aware people.

So in conclusion, the Constitution is very much what needs to be restored!

whoneedssense| 2.11.10 @ 3:44AM

Me tell you you need to get back to your morals and values, don't mean you are adhering to your moral and values. My assertion is not an affirmation on your behavior. Exactly what and who is breaking the constitution and how, you mean the Patriot Act, you mean indefinite detensions, or how about some water boarding. YOU TELL ME

John| 2.11.10 @ 4:01AM

LOL What? Your sentence-construction and confusing language make it somewhat unclear as to what your question is...

But to attempt to answer what I think is your question, a lot needs to be overturned, including the Patriot Act. Clearly unconstitutional. Who is breaking the constitution? The federal government, of course!

George F| 2.10.10 @ 2:21PM

I disagree with your assessment. Socialism is regressive because it's a repeat, although in a gentler form, of what the world has had since kings began to rule over people and to look out for them.

Ken (Old Texican)| 2.10.10 @ 8:44AM

Mr. Goldstein, thank you for that delightful column....and insight.
I do hope you will peek at my comment below.
Highest regards

RJ| 2.10.10 @ 9:46AM

She is starting to add more words to her sentences and verbal responses...kinda like filling up a larger glass when perhaps a smaller cup might be just what is needed. Note the attention to the hand writing, or the "how's that hopey changey thing..." comment.

Pressure to expound on every question 'cause you're being paid to speak and appear is causing her energies to be watered down somewhat, in my opinion.

Alan Brooks| 2.10.10 @ 10:50AM

What do our opinions matter, RJ?
It's what plays in Peoria-- and neither of us live there.

Ted| 2.10.10 @ 3:44PM

Obama plays in Peoria. He was its senator.

gr29az| 2.10.10 @ 2:47PM

great point rj

Alan Brooks| 2.11.10 @ 12:58AM

WAS senator.
past tense.

Alan Brooks| 2.11.10 @ 12:59AM

"Obama plays in Peoria. He was its senator."

"plays"= present tense.

arhooley| 2.10.10 @ 12:09PM

I think I may know why she's "annoying" these days. She's spending a lot of time answering questions that reflect her questioners' interests, not hers. Bill O'Reilly entices her to say something about the scandal of the nanosecond, Harry Reid's "negro" remarks; I wish she would have just demurred on that and said to leave it to Democrats to address it. Glenn Beck had another tortured confessional near-breakdown right before her widening eyes, and she gave some sort of sympathetic but not entirely empathetic response. His type of confessionalism contaminates anyone who has to answer with restraint.

Everyone has advice for Palin. Mine is for her to go rogue again and talk about things that interest HER, not the ratings-mongers of celebrity journalism.

Heidi| 2.10.10 @ 2:02PM

JD...I agree with you. It would be great to see Ms. Rice on a podium with her to see the contrast of what we seek.

jd| 2.10.10 @ 3:19PM

You get my point, Heidi. I'd love Condi to be the first woman president.

Some people on this blog label anybody who does not want Palin in 2012 a leftist, liberal troll or a non-conservative. Trolls do exist on this blog but I am not one of them. I'm a conservative woman with many similarities to Palin. I appreciate her honesty and commen sense. I do not fear her or have a mother issue with her. I think she has great qualities that could be used more effectively in a role other then the POTUS, and I hate the analogy that she's another Reagan. Reagan was my hero, but she's no Reagan.

wwwexler| 2.11.10 @ 12:50PM

Neither is Condi.

Blackwatch| 2.11.10 @ 9:28PM

NO ONE could ever be Mr. Reagan. He was truly a gift from god and we will be hard put to replace him.

But let's give Mrs. Palin a chance to grow, and reflect, and write position papers, and give speeches even if she writes notes on her hand. Then we will see the measure of her intellect and find out if she is a quick study. We will also get a chance to see her leadership style and skills in action. We know she is comfortable in her own skin--unlike the annointed one who loathes his white half.

Another Reagan? No. But maybe she'll be a "Palin" and my yet to be born grandkids will learn what a strong dynamic leader we had to rescue us from St. Barry, the clueless sock puppet president.

Mike| 2.10.10 @ 4:09PM

I liked her as well when she first spoke after receiving McCain's nomination. Since then, her intellectual footsteps haven't carried a hard enough 'thud' for my liking, and her speeches have sounded like they were written for a 4th grade audience. She may be bright, but it doesn't come across in her speeches. Put it this way, could you picture Palin being in that 1940's photograph of Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin? Or sitting across the negotiating table from Putin? I don't think she'd last a minute on the Chris Matthews show. Give her a few more years of polishing and maybe I'd vote for her.

cnewman| 2.10.10 @ 4:53PM

Mike, if she sounds like she's addressing forth graders, then I have been overestimating the grade level target of the main stream media. I thought it was second grade stuff, but with your enlightenment I am revising my opinion. It has to be pre-school stuff.

cnewman| 2.10.10 @ 4:56PM

fourth that is, sorry!

Immanuel Goldstein| 2.10.10 @ 9:03PM

If Sarah Palin can sit in negotiations with the world's largest corporation, EXXON, and bend it to her will, I don't think that she will have much trouble with Putin. That tough negotiator is the side of Palin that we've never seen publicly.

jojo| 2.14.10 @ 7:50AM

God save us from philosopher kings. Haven't we had enough of these jumped up jackanapes ?

Appleby| 2.10.10 @ 6:33AM

TheKids hate Mrs. Palin because she reminds them of their Mom, and because they are trapped in their Sophomore year at university, they are still struggling to prove that Mom Is Not The Boss Of Them.

I cant wait for the day when one of TheKids gets carried away and refers to Mrs. Palin as The Old Lady.

RustyG| 2.10.10 @ 7:36AM

I guess that makes me Oedipus.

wwwexler| 2.11.10 @ 12:52PM

Hahaha! Devil.

blackwatch| 2.11.10 @ 9:30PM

I'll I have to say to that comment is---get in line!

Mike McMack| 2.10.10 @ 3:28PM

No. We hate her because she's as crooked as Obama and George W, but waves the flag hoping no one will notice.
Red

countryslim| 2.10.10 @ 4:15PM

We?.. you have a frog in your pocket? Liberal hate = Raw Fear.. and I'm Happy about that..

Obama scares me and I'm and old well armed East Texan..

countryslim| 2.10.10 @ 4:20PM

Oh yeah, and I voted for Bush Sr. twice and four times for G W Bush. Palin gives me Hope again.

cnewman| 2.10.10 @ 4:58PM

Mike McMack:
Based on what evidence, the fact that you disagree with her?

wwwexler| 2.11.10 @ 12:54PM

No evidence needed for libs--their word is enough, right?

Bill Hussien O'Stalin| 2.10.10 @ 6:47AM

Let's face it, as far as hand holding, Obama had the Reverend Wright, an anti-white American hater, Bill Ayers, an anarchist and bomb thrower, and Franklin Marshall Davis, an avowed commie to hold his hand.

Wm. Paterson| 2.10.10 @ 6:54AM

Perhaps Gibbs wrote on his left hand yesterday because whenever he closes his eyes and thinks of Sarah, he's using his right.

LiberalSwill| 2.10.10 @ 2:55PM

Ok that's funny. And I'm a woman.

Petronius| 2.11.10 @ 1:32AM

Just what was he reaching for?

wwwexler| 2.11.10 @ 12:55PM

Couldn't have been much!

Craig K| 2.10.10 @ 6:57AM

I'm not sure Sarah can get elected President, but she has time to get more polished. What I think the most infuriating thing to liberals and mainstream media about her is her authenticity. They are too skeptical to recognize authenticity when they see it.

MikeD| 2.10.10 @ 7:53AM

The reason that obama and the media hate Sarah Palin is simple: She scares the hell out of them! They know that she has the potential to be the next Margaret Thatcher. Just for chuckles and grins, search back to the late 70's when Lady Thatcher was just beginning to get attention; the media was not kind, and the Laborites crucified her with regularity. The Dems and the 'Muttering Morons of the Media have every reason to "Be afraid, be very afraid."

Sarah connects with average people because they see themselves in her; and they mostly agree with her. They certainly don't see themselves in the Liberal elitists!

Obama and his 'ilk' project the smug superiority that tells the voters how smart they think they are every time they open their mouths. With every speech, obama alienates more voters, even in his own party; and especially among independents. It follows naturally that, as obama and his friends project their self considered superiority, they also project their distain for their intellectual inferiors. The fact that obama is such a narcissist that he can't resist making himself the show and leaping on TV as often as possible just reinforces his negative traits nearly every day.

On the other hand, people just can't get enough of Sarah Palin. The best example of the situation is how the National Organization of Women went bonkers about the Tim Tebow commercial. Their bleating and whining made that commercial absolutely irresistable! They then compounded their error by issuing one of the stupidest comments in the history of television when they tried to turn the whole thing into a rant on violence against women.

The media and obama do the same thing nearly every day when they can't keep their collective mouths shut. Keep it up, gang!

John W.| 2.10.10 @ 10:13AM

MikeD,

You have part of it, but I don’t think all of it.

There is also a lot of outright envy. For “ ‘Reeni” Dowd and her friends at the Eugene Debs High School Freshperson Cool Girls Lunch Club, Sarah is the straight A cheerleader who dates the star quarterback. To Thomas Friedman and his buddies in the Norman Mattoon Thomas Poetry and Sensitivity Club, she’s the cheerleader who doesn’t notice their sensitive existence.

However, beyond the pubescent angst of the adolescent punditocracy, there’s a deeper problem. Leftists, because of their adopted, or indoctrinated, world view are incapable of conceptualizing any position but their own. They consistently reveal this across the board on every issue they address. Disapprove of abortion? It’s not because you value life, it’s because you “want to force women to have babies.’ Consider AGW unproven? It’s not because you understand and adhere to the principles of science, it’s because Big Oil is sending you a check. (Been waiting for mine for almost 20 years.)

The result is that Mrs. Palin, and Mr. Reagan before her, never behave in a manner that matches Leftist expectations. When actual events fail to match expectations, adults take a look at the premises they brought to the evaluation. We look for things we hadn’t considered. We learn and reevaluate. Leftists don’t do that because they can’t – not “won’t,” “can’t.” And so, their only possible response is rage.

What you see out of the Left is nothing more than the expression of anger a toddler feels when the world doesn’t match expectation. The only significant difference is that the toddler will grow up.

Flatwoodsflash| 2.10.10 @ 7:45PM

JohnW...Bless yo heart, bud! You just nailed it. Thanks for a GREAT post.

Roy| 2.10.10 @ 9:58PM

"Straight A cheerleader"?

Deborah| 2.11.10 @ 1:06AM

I really enjoyed your post. Thanks for sharing. Very well said!

blackwatch| 2.11.10 @ 9:35PM

JohnW,

so it's a potty-training trauma thing for liberals?

yes it is a mental disorder.

Lucy| 2.10.10 @ 3:17PM

Please, drop the Thatcher similes. I grew up during the Thatcher administration in Britain, dyed in the wool conservative, now dyed in the wool Republican. Palin is no Thatcher. I see her role as the warm-up act for the real candidate we need. She's not Matthew's "empty vessel" but she is not the woman of substance that Thatcher was. Thatcher was not a great intellect either--you don't have to be, perhaps should not be. But she had the other necessaries that cannot be taught and Mrs Palin surely cannot learn.

I think there is a certain desparation in articles like this one. We are trying so hard to convince ourselves that she is the real deal because there is no one else. That is a mistake. When it comes down to casting a ballot, people will baulk at pulling the handle, punching the chad, for Palin.

The reason the Left can't get a handle on her is because she can't get a handle on herself and neither can the Republicans. Every argument we make to try and categorize her just does not stand up. So then we say, great, she is beyond categorization, she's (ugh) a "breath of fresh air." We usually say this about people who don't have a clear grasp on issues or a real coherent vision of the future.

Much as Mrs Palin is a media darling and a crowd pleaser, and in that sense only a populist, she is not Presidential material.

MikeD| 2.10.10 @ 6:11PM

I was also there in her early days. Don't make the mistake of comparing Thatcher at her prime with what she was in her youth. Regardless, my dog would make a better president than obama...at least my dog couldn't cause as much damage! I'm not sure that experience is all that important, either. No person ever entered the White House with as strong a resume' as Bush 1. He was snookered by the Dems and failed miserably in the first gulf war when he just stopped. Because of his failure, we had a second war. The problem with both Bush presidents was Barbara Bush. Her husband handed her his 'stones' when he caved to the Dems on taxes, and Junior did the same thing when he broke the bank with his prescription drug plan. Don't tell anybody, but Barbara Bush is the most liberal member of the family, and she wielded way too much power. I apologize for the digression, but I'm old! I'm allowed.

darcy| 2.10.10 @ 6:11PM

"The warm-up act." That's the way I see her, too.

She has fairly good conservative instincts; but had they been better, she would NEVER have allowed herself to be used by that despicable McCain RINO, who still tries to control her and use her by calling in his chit and having her campaign for him here in AZ.

If she can't distance herself from the biggest sell-out to conservativism that ever burnished the RINOs' trophy case, then she's all smoke and mirrors and not to be trusted.

In the Senate since 1987, McCain amassed great power among the establishment, using it to take this country on the slow road to despotism.

Sad to see Palin taken in by it all.

SouthernBelle| 2.11.10 @ 11:49AM

obama isn't Predidential material, either. At least Sarah loves America. And she IS an American. You all can laugh and make fun of her all you want, but she could be just what America needs. obama is certainly NOT what we need.

PALIN FOR PRESIDENT!! 2012| 2.11.10 @ 1:01PM

Whine all you want about Palin's 'supposed inferiority' but she cleans her competitors' clocks!

Sarah is going to laugh all the way to the White House!

Dean from Ohio| 2.10.10 @ 2:34PM

There's also the issue of the conscience. When people who have made a wrong choices see someone who has not, even against long odds, they feel guilty. Seeing Sarah Palin and her Down-syndrome son Trig bring on a visceral emotional reaction mixed from hate, fear and anger. Why else would David Brooks describe Sarah Palin as a "cancer" on the Republican Party? In Biblical terms, people who live in darkness always lash out at the light.

Before readers jump to their own visceral reactions, hear me: Sarah Palin is not perfect, and like me and the rest of us, has no doubt made her share of mistakes. But her words and her life pretty consistently contradict the moral choices of many in this country carry, and they hate her for it.

SouthernBelle| 2.11.10 @ 11:54AM

Amen!!

cnewman| 2.10.10 @ 5:02PM

Craig:
They recognize it and it scares them silly!

Kitty| 2.10.10 @ 7:05AM

Shaw asked, "...or did I miss something? "

Now there's the understatement of the century.

This morning, the blonde on Fox News speculated that Palin purposely wrote those words on her palm. (I love her response to the left's mouth-foaming outrage.) I've got to hand it to Sarah, she knows how to yank their chains. I like her moxie and would have no problem voting for her.
...

BOB| 2.10.10 @ 1:26PM

TOOOOOT! ALL BOW BEFORE ME! I AM BOB "THE KEEPER OF ALL KNOWLEDGE" BUTINSKY!, BOB "CUSTODIAN OF THE GRAPHS" EGOSAURUS! BOB "THE CHARTMAN" TOOTER, BOB "MEGABRAIN!" McBLOWHARD!

SILIENCE!, YOU BUMBLING BAGS OF BILLOWING BILDGE! YOU RUBES! DO NOT STARE AT THE FUNNEL ATOP MY HEAD THAT BLOWS STEAM AND TOOTS! TOOOOOOT!

YOU FOOLS! SARAH PALIN IS AS STUPID AS YOU ARE, YOU UNEDUCATED DOCTORS, PILOTS AND MBAS FROM STATE UNIVERSITIES! YOU POOR FOOLS OF THE FAKE "KNOWELDGE"! YOU ARE NOT IVY LEAGUERS, LIKE ME AND THAT GORGEOUS MAN, DAVID BROOKS OR THAT LITHE BEAUTY, KIETH "THE DREAM" OLBERMANN! THEY DON'T WRITE REMINDERS ON THEIR HANDS, LIKE THAT PITIFUL PALIN GIRL! TOOOOOOT! NOR DOES THAT OTHER MEGA-BRAIN, OBAMA! THEY REMEMBER ALL WITH JUST THEIR BEAUTIFUL BRAINS! TOOOOTY TOOOT TOOT!

WHAT? WHY ARE YOU LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT? JUST BECAUSE I UNDERSTAND WHAT MANLY BEAUTY IS DOESN'T MEAN I'M GAY, YOU HOMOPHOBIC HATE HUCKSTERS! JUST LOOK AT THAT DEWY EYED, DEER-FACED OLBERMANN! TELL ME HE ISN'T A BEAUTIFUL MAN! WHAT? YOU ARE JUST JEALOUS! I FLUTTER MY DRESS AT YOU! FLUTTER, FLUTTER! THAT'S RIGHT, A DRESS! SO WHAT? WHAT I WEAR IS MY OWN BUSINESS! TOOOTY TOOOTY TOO! I AM COMFORTABLE WITH MY MANHOOD! WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT? MY STOCKINGS? MY BEST FRIEND IN NAM WORE STOCKINGS AND HE SAVED THE WHOLE PLATOON AND WAS AWARDED 12 CONGRESSIONAL MEDALS OF HONOR! ! PATTON WORE STOCKINGS! YOU ARE JUST TRYING TO GET ME OFF TRACK! WELL, I REMEMBER WHO WE WERE TALKING ABOUT! PALIN! THAT HAND JOTTER!

SHE IS STUPID AND JUST A BUMBLING HOI POLLOI JUST LIKE YOU UNSOPHISTICATED, PATHETIC PLEBEIANS! TOOOOWEET! RABBLE ROUSING RUFFIANS WHO THINK THAT THEY KNOW HOW BUSINESS REALLY RUNS! WELL, I, BOB THE SUPER CEO OF 237 FORTUNE 238 COMPANIES KNOW THAT TAXES MEAN NOTHING AND OBAMA'S PLANS ARE SUPERIOR TO ANYTHING YOUR PIDDLY BRAIN CAN DREAM UP! MANDATES? I EAT MANDATES FOR BREAKFAST! TOOWEETY TWEET! NOW YOU'VE DONE IT! YOU HAVE GOTTEN ME SO MAD, MY FUNNEL IS TWEETING INSTEAD OF TOOTING! TWEEETY! SEE? I HATE YOU! I WILL NOT BLESS YOU WITH MY INSIGHT ANY LONGER! TWEEEEEET!

LiberalSwill| 2.10.10 @ 3:01PM

OMG that's funny.

jd| 2.10.10 @ 3:24PM

Go take your meds you moron.

cnewman| 2.10.10 @ 5:18PM

jd
another example of a previous writers point. You don't get it because you can't.

countryslim| 2.10.10 @ 5:47PM

Well... uh.. Bob, I must admit that you have raised some serious issues with your post and I do hope your head gear has a new flex capacitor with molded cushions.. My first one failed when Oh-bam-me-inabutt and MSN ran amok, got his pedigree by defaulted means, plus my local tinfoil supply dude dropped the warranty because of design flaws..it seems I formed it wrong and now my ears whistle when the progressive wind blows ...

SouthernBelle| 2.11.10 @ 11:56AM

Some people should not be allowed access to a computer.

Bob| 2.10.10 @ 7:23AM

Goldstein -- You have proven that you are as dimwitted as Sarah. The reason Democrats, RINO's and the media (except for Fox News) give Palin so much attention is that it is like a train wreck. In other words, how can someone so obviously incapable get the attention of other idiots? She is just a Paris Hilton in political clothing (which the McCain campaign paid for, of course).

She is nothing like Reagan (who used the teleprompter more than any other previous President). Reagan loved this country and studied the issues for years before he ran for President. No, he was not the brightest bulb on the planet, but made up for that with significant effort. If Palin loved this country, she would do the same.

She was trying to hide the notes on her hand (but was not competent enough to do that). However, she wanted to make that teleprompter joke in her written speech (which is the same, by the way as a teleprompter), so she wanted to seem like she didn't have any notes.

We don't hate Sarah Palin -- you can't make fun of retarded quitters....

Walter Siuda| 2.10.10 @ 7:43AM

You're an idiot.

Bob| 2.10.10 @ 7:52AM

With a comment devoid of any mental acuity, you must be a Palin lover. I guess it's true -- love is blind....

Kitty| 2.10.10 @ 7:53AM

And a troll. Just ignore.
...

Kitty| 2.10.10 @ 8:09AM

Just to clarify, the troll is Bob.

loulou| 2.10.10 @ 10:31AM

Agree. Bob is a troll. Ignore.

ds80| 2.10.10 @ 12:37PM

Ditto. Not only a troll, but an idiot. But a useful idiot: quite amusing to read and thereupon chuckle at. Guffaw even.

wwwexler| 2.11.10 @ 1:03PM

Look out! Look out! Bob's got his charts and graphs with him and he's not afraid to use them!

Doorgunner| 2.10.10 @ 7:56AM

Beckel, calm down before you spill your latte. And quit calling women retards and ho's before actual man punches you.

Bob| 2.10.10 @ 7:58AM

Like Palin said about Rush, this was just satire. Don't you agree with Sarah that using the word "retard" in satire is just fine? I only used it once -- Rush used it 14 times!!!!!

And by the way, if that is a macho threat, I'll get my wife to punch you back....

Doorgunner| 2.10.10 @ 8:06AM

Any 'man' who uses an exclamation point in the manner of Tiffany of the seventh grade needs a woman to defend him. Could I recommend Mrs. Palin?

sangredulce| 2.10.10 @ 12:00PM

Bob, keep dreaming. Your "wife" maybe be recognized in Sweden, but here, he is till your roomate.

ds80| 2.10.10 @ 12:40PM

"Bob" backpedaling furiously: by his own admission trying to imitate Rush.

ggoblue| 2.10.10 @ 7:59AM

are you sure your name isnt kneel and bob?

we love sarah because she is the one with the biggest balls. when every republican in this country was running scared she spoke out. she is the leader because she is out front of the others.

she would be a great energy secretary for someone but there really is no one else.

PTParks| 2.10.10 @ 8:46AM

Bob, yours is a typical progressive response. Since you can't make any points by actually presenting facts, you resort to name-calling and denegrating others. Please come back when you actually have something constructive to add to the conversation.

What?| 2.10.10 @ 9:38AM

Where are the facts that have been presented here, either in the article (which is nothing more than an opinion piece) or in the ensuing thread. I see nothing but a Palin fan page here.

countryslim| 2.10.10 @ 7:20PM

Palin fan page... it kinda rolls off the stamp lick-it tool, yep! thus fact thingy thing tho, is a problem.. why require from others what is foreign to you?

You say you see, but your form of seeing seems assiduously hampered by non-factual utterances to whit you speak of , not to mention I feel your eyes have their own pompous attitude far removed from actual sight and thus you are groping for a lock with no key, but you'll use it anyway.

kdell| 2.10.10 @ 10:39AM

you so typify the ignorant, holier-than-thou paltroons of the left. you cannot attack ideas, you can only come after people you don't approve of with personal attacks. you are so disgusting to most Americans.

phyl| 2.10.10 @ 10:43AM

Bob
Four words on the hand as reminders of topics to cover is in no way the same as a teleprompter. Obama reads every word of his speeches but his brain is dis-engaged.

Stephanie| 2.10.10 @ 11:40AM

Hey Bob, she was not hiding her notes. She was looking at them through out her speech Saturday night. I would prefer she had used a telepromter so we could see her lovely face more.
You lefties are so afraid of her because she stands a good chance of taking the "lecturn" away from the "law prof" in 2012.
She's real, we like her and she will be a force for the dems to reckon with.

Dai Alanye| 2.10.10 @ 12:10PM

Whenever Bob comments we must remind ourselves that this is a man who voted for Obama because of the anointed one's great intelligence.

It seems fitting that Sarah can speak for the better part of an hour from a few brief notes, while Barrack [hyperbole warning!] needs a teleprompter to thank the guests at his daughter's birthday party. Yet Bob still worships at the foot of the Kenyan clown.

Teleprompter?| 2.11.10 @ 12:54AM

Anyone who saw Obama's Q&A meeting with the Republicans saw someone who is knowledgeable, well spoken and fast on his feet. There was no teleprompter that I saw. Hate the guy all you want but try not to be delusional about his skills. Something tells me the Kenyan clown would like nothing better than to run against Sara Palin in 2012. I have no doubt that if the democrats could pick their opponent, they'd choose the most right wing candidate they could find

wwwexler| 2.11.10 @ 1:15PM

If Obonehead is so smart why did he say 'corpseman' THREE times last week? Especially since he had said it in a speech last October.

I'm not impressed by the the 'Won's' mental acumen.

Bring it on! Americans want a real CONSERVATIVE, as opposed to the MARXIST now in office.

wwwexler| 3.2.10 @ 2:57PM

Pardon my ignorant comment above. I don't even know what Marxism is.
Whatever is against my self-righteass point of view I like to call it Marxism. Really, I'm just a foolish idiot.

Bob's Mom| 2.10.10 @ 3:51PM

Bob drools and dribbles when he thinks of Obeymao. He fantasizes about Obeymao reading from his teleprompters and finds Obeymao's pronunciation of "Corpse-man" unbearably titillating.
.

Eric Bystrom| 2.10.10 @ 6:37PM

What a bunch of smug nonsense, cleverly disguised as what you may believe is sarcastic wit. I'll bet you could go on MSNBC with Olbermann or Maddow, and have twice as many people not watch you as don't watch them.

Immanuel Goldstein| 2.10.10 @ 10:16PM

Okay, Bob, let's pose a thought experiment. Suppose you were occupying a public office, but the terms of holding that office meant that you were going to be subjected to personal bankruptcy. Just how long would YOU hang onto that office?

SouthernBelle| 2.11.10 @ 11:58AM

This one is pitiful. Bless his heart.

Siegfried X| 2.10.10 @ 7:29AM

"so long as Sarah Palin keeps a firm grip on that hand she will be able to reach out and be received"

That's the problem, that a lot of Republicans are ignoring her faults because of her religion, that she wears her fundamentalist Christianity on her sleeve.

It's the same kind of mistake that has been made for years with John McCain, ignoring all his liberal votes because he was a POW.

No one has a clue what Palin would do as president. Blindly voting for her because she's a fundamentalist would be as stupid as someone voting for Obama just because he promised hopey change.

Copyleft| 2.10.10 @ 8:12AM

Actually, her fundamentalism would be a reason to vote AGAINST her, since a true fundamentalist would be unable to uphold the Constitution first and foremost.

Doorgunner| 2.10.10 @ 8:24AM

How so?

Copyleft| 2.10.10 @ 9:17AM

A true Christian fundamentalist has the primary mission of promoting Christianity as their chief purpose in life. No other duty can supersede it.

A fundamentalist President, for example, would have to work toward turning this into a Christian nation, which requires trashing the Constitution and ending freedom. Since the presidency involves swearing to UPHOLD the Constitution, that's not an option.

John| 2.10.10 @ 9:40AM

Copyleft - you might try reading what Jesus said and what the New Testament teaches before you make dumb comments. "Give unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's." - this is what Jesus said. A fundamentalist believes that is exactly what Jesus said and meant and so would not be "trashing the constitution." Try to get a clue or buy a vowel before you write on what you don't know!

Conservativity| 2.10.10 @ 9:58AM

When asked what was the greatest commandment, Jesus answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all yourheart, and all your soul, and all your mind and all your strength," and "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

As a Christian, it is IMPOSSIBLE to follow our Lord's command while simultaneously "trashing the Constitution and ending freedom."

"God is Spirit, let us worship Him in Spirit and Truth." Forcing people to follow Christian doctrines with the sword of government does not produce any true believers. Our job is to tell the people about Jesus. The Holy Spirit takes it from there.

Sarah Palin, as governor of Alaska, did nothing to restrict freedoms in that state. In fact, she's been criticized by some for her loving and accepting stance toward gay people. Sounds like she's practicing the greatest commandment and not the despotism of which you falsely accuse her.

Ryan| 2.10.10 @ 10:04AM

What are the contradictions?

dd| 2.10.10 @ 10:13AM

Copyleft,

To add to what John wrote, that quote from Jesus is what provides the intellectual basis for the notion that we do not have a state religion, though some attempted to create them for some of the states, particularly early on. As a Christian I think this is prudent and acknowledges the 'higher imperative' that the state must respect the freewill of its citizens - within the law.

The problem here is that the state has been steadily expanding beyond its proper borders and inserting its will into inappropriate places. In other words, the law also needs to be reasonable.

Islam and the current state religion of Humanism has no such internal restraints built in and we see the results in both. Islam is the state. Humanism is the state. These folks actually believe they have a moral obligation to make 'correct' decisions and that we're all too dumb to do so for ourselves.

A fundamentalist, like all other holders of the office, would be obligated to keep their oath. However, it is those who have a worldview that obliges them to actually keep their oath (and I'd submit a sincere believing Christian would be a good candidate here) and their word who have a greater chance of actually doing so.

Voting for a Christian who believes they are bound to keep their word seems to me to be a far better choice than some socialist or humanist who has no moral imperative. Ms Palin's faith, and her obvious insistence on not allowing others to strip it away cause me to have GREATER confidence in her character rather than less.

I'd also point out that this is exactly what the secular press has missed. To the extent that they are materialists they actually CANNOT comprehend those who have a spiritual life.

Copyleft| 2.10.10 @ 11:18AM

DD: Where do you get your curious (and false) assumption that "socialists and humanists" have no morality and no incentive to keep their word?

You're not one of those folks who think all morals and ethics come from religion, are you? Centuries of philosophers would be disappointed to see such nonsense still being promulgated.

KDell: Denounce Muslim fundamentalism? Gladly. ALL versions of fundamentalism are dangerously anti-human and a threat to civilization. Muslim extremists demonstrated that on 9/11. Christian fundamentalists demonstrate it with numerous acts of domestic terrorism.

Fanatical belief in imaginary beings is a warning sign of a dangerously unstable mentality. Muslim zealots, Christian zealots, Jewish zealots... they're all bad news and should never be given any power or authority.

dd| 2.10.10 @ 12:04PM

Copyleft,

Read the post a little more closely. I did not say that Muslims and humanists 'have no morality'. I said that their worldviews contain no internal constraints for their morality - within the context of the state v the individual and the exercise of freewill. These two worldviews most assuredly DO allow for the state to impose its will upon the individual. Islamists convert at the end of a sword and Humanists often do so with the bureaucratic pen. Or, in the case of Hitler, Stalin or Pol Pot the bayonet. With respect to Muslims specifically, I admire their desire for moral purity and I agree many times with their assertion that we (the US) has degenerated morally. I just do not agree with their approach to resolving the issue. That they want a moral land I would wholeheartedly agree with. What and how would remain though.

Our system, which has deep roots in the Judeo-Christian (among others) worldview, also allows for the state to impose its will upon individuals but ONLY within the context that our leaders are supposed to be representatives of our will AND within a then-commonly held set of moral values which also reflected the worldview they held, even if they were not professing Christians. Most were.

Islamists and Humanists both have no such internal constraints within their worldviews. Christianity EXPLICITLY asserts that the state's 'sphere' is a separate 'sphere' from that of the individual and that the two are separate. The others have no such internal constraint. When the state intrudes into the 'sphere' of the individual it is inviolation of our basic principles.

Now, just so you don't have a stroke *g* I DO believe Islamists and Humanists have a moral system but it is different than that which flows from the Judeo-Christian worldview. Whether any given individual may or may not hold a position consistent than that which flows from Christianity may or may not be a matter of coincidence.

Years back there was a popular statement that said, "You cannot legislate morality." This is absolutely false as EVERY law is an expression of what some group or another deems as 'good' or 'right'.

The real issue is where we get our moral codes and why. Christianity asserts that the state's laws must be observed whether the individual agrees with them or not - up the point where the state demands they abandon their faith. We just happen to be fortunate to live in a system devised by men heavily influenced by Christian thought and morals who managed to get a lot of that worldview incorporated into the fundamental structure of our system.

It is that combination that has caused us to have our freedoms - something one does NOT see in governmental systems driven by the Islamic or Humanist worldview.

Fascist| 3.2.10 @ 2:58PM

Some words from Hitler:

"Hence today I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator: by defending myself against the *Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord."

* You may replace it with: leftist thoughts.

sangredulce| 2.10.10 @ 12:06PM

Umm,maybe from the socialist/humanist support of and promulgation homosexual acts, infanticide, dumbed down public schools, and all other manner of immorality. Perhaps DD doesn't listen to what humanists say, but what they do.

dd| 2.10.10 @ 1:56PM

sangredulce (sweet blood? *s*),

I do indeed listen to what they do, not what they say.

Margaret Sanger (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Sanger) was a humanist and eugenicist was also the head of Planned Parenthood and her stated goals were to wipe out minorities.

Humanism is places man at the center of the philosophical universe. It always brings death, not life. Look at the facts on the ground.

Eric Bystrom| 2.10.10 @ 5:11PM

"Fanatical belief in imaginary beings is a warning sign of a dangerously unstable mentality. Muslim zealots, Christian zealots, Jewish zealots... they're all bad news and should never be given any power or authority."

Aside from the fact that your analysis of people who have fundamentalist religious views is wrong, partly because you can't accept that God exists, and apparently think that everyone who does is a nut case and dangerous to society, you want to negate one of the fundamental freedoms protected by the Bill of Rights.

Your statement that "Christian fundamentalists demonstrate it with numerous acts of domestic terrorism" is completely false, and you can't back it up with facts.

The First Amendment not only protects freedom of religious worship, it also protects you and other atheists from the state imposing a religion on you. You should be glad for that, but instead you want to try to twist it to mean that Christians shouldn't be allowed to serve in public office.

Your desire to impose your anti-religious views on religious believers is just as bad as any "religious fanatics" trying to impose their religious beliefs on you. Both are antithetical to the Constitution, and to honesty, morality, ethics and fair play. Can't you see that?

Copyleft| 2.11.10 @ 8:53AM

I never said that Christians shouldn't be allowed to serve in public office. You'll note that I specifically mentioned "fundamentalists," not "all Christians."

Fundamentalists are simply one subset of Christians... the dangerously stupid and irrational one.

wwwexler| 2.11.10 @ 1:18PM

Copyleft = Liberal Reader = stupid troll.

Ignore the Obama knee-pad wearing twit.

kdell| 2.10.10 @ 10:43AM

that's a bunch of crap. love to hear what you've had to say about Muslim fundamentalists. Nuthin. I know that already. Besides, it woud be impossible for anyone to shred the Constitution more than hopey-changey boy. YOu jerks need to stop hiding behind the Constitution, you don't believe in it and continually seek to destroy it. Destruction of the Constitution is the ESSENCE of Progressivism. So close the pie-hole on that score pal.

Stephanie| 2.10.10 @ 11:43AM

She does and WILL stand for the Constitution.
The Lord guides Sarah Palin and if she runs and wins, she will do what is right for our country, according to the Constitution.

Bilwick| 2.10.10 @ 2:19PM

What about Obama? He's a fundamentalist. He's a true-believin' member of the Cult of the State (Jew-hatin' anti-American Rev. Wright division).
Would he have problems with the Constitution. I suspect so.

onegunfu| 2.10.10 @ 2:29PM

I was under the impression that the constitution was written mainly by fundamentalists. It seems that only those with a socialist bent have an issue with upholding that oath..

dd| 2.10.10 @ 3:33PM

onegunfu,

Not really. Although most of the Founding Fathers were either Christian or heavily influenced by Christian thought and values. Asserting the values and actually keeping them are two separate issues.

Unfortunately it isn't only socialists who may have trouble keeping their oath. I'd also say that just because one holds a socialist worldview in no way automatically proves they will not keep their oath. That's just bad logic. Equally bad is to assert that just because one holds the Christian world view (I do) is no guarantee whatsoever that they will always tell the truth.

Having said that, socialism is fundamentally wrong as it presumes a small group of individuals are smarter than a large group of individuals. For a really good read on this check out Thomas Sowell’s book, ’The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation as a Basis for Social Policy’

darcy| 2.10.10 @ 6:59PM

dd: Thomas Sowell's works are well worth the time and effort -- and cast considerable light on the mindset of liberals.

Another worthwhile read is Eric Voegelin's, Science, Politics, and Gnosticism, in which he explores the influences of Thomas More, Hobbes, and Marx in shaping the intellectual milieu of a worldview -- under which the West now groans --that has proven so conducive to totalitarianism.

Now if we could just get Sarah Palin to tackle politics seriously, to gain some depth and breadth in her understanding of the landscape, we might well surface on the other side with a formidable political challenger to statists of all stripes, red and blue. I recommend she get those kids raised first, devoting her leisure time to intellectual pursuits: Sowell, Voegelin, Churchill, Montesqieue, de Tocqueville, and the Founders and those who influenced them. Then she'll be ready for prime time, because she certainly has the guts!

kwinterkorn| 2.10.10 @ 7:38PM

word is (cf Palin's interview on Fox News Sunday) that she is getting daily emails on current events from various sources. She commented during the interview that as Gov of Alaska she focused on the parochial interests of Alaska, but that now she is broadening her focus to national and world affairs. I read her as a highly competitive, proud kind of person undaunted by hard work. She will become sharper on national and world affairs in both breadth and depth and will surprise her doubters. I betcha' she will.

KW

dd| 2.10.10 @ 10:33PM

Darcy,

Thanks for the tip. I also very much enjoy reading works by the late Dr. Francis A Schaeffer, who also has a good work on the evolution of philosopy, the arts, thought and so forth and their effect on civilization.

Petronius| 2.11.10 @ 1:46AM

Most fundies don't care about your beliefs. They want to control your behavior because they don't want to be taxed for the detrimental effect of it on the quality of their lives.

blackwatch| 2.11.10 @ 9:48PM

copyleft,
this is a Christian nation. Not sure how you missed it. And yes we do allow Jews, pagans, Mormons, wiccans, buddists, hindu's and Islamists to exercise their religions in peace. Because that is what Americans do.

cnewman| 2.10.10 @ 5:32PM

Siegfried X:
The only time she has commented on her religion is when she is asked about it. She doesn't hide it because she is not ashamed of it, nor does she prefer your admiration or vote to being honest about it.

Shamus| 2.10.10 @ 7:30AM

Obama (and for that matter Bush) provide good examples of how unqualified people can become president. Reagan was a true hero in my opinion. He showed courage, determination, and wisdom in his enduring battle against Communism.

Bob| 2.10.10 @ 7:56AM

Reagan had a mixed presidency. His battle against the Soviet Union was truly inspired. However, he created more debt than all the previous Presidents combined and didn't grow the economy any faster.

That said, he was FAR BETTER than the alternative.

Old Joe| 2.10.10 @ 10:28AM

BOB,

You truly are clueless. A president has no power to create debt, only the House of Representatives can do that. "The president proposes and the House disposes" a little ditty you should learn. Take a civics class and a history class.

By the way, every budget Reagan proposed was rejected by the House (Democrat controlled) and then increased significantly by them. Reagan was faced with signing off on the House budget or allowing the government to shut down. I wish he had not signed.

Indiana Alex| 2.10.10 @ 10:29AM

Every budget Reagan sent to congress was dead on arrival. Just as Clinton shut down the government because the Reps didn't spend enough, Reagan wanted to shut down the government becuase the Dems wanted to spend too much.

Reagan's economic record remains remarkable, and the increases in standard of living unprecidented.

Now, Bob, if you really like deficit reduction you should be a huge fan of GHW Bush, who raised taxes and increased regulation (ADA, etc.) which you lefties love.

Of course, his economic record wasn't that great now was it?

Hmmmm, one struggles to wonder why?

Perhaps an Obama voter can tell us?

martin j smith| 2.10.10 @ 7:54AM

Lefties hate Palin because: she is a relatively young good looking female who has been able to vocalize the feelings and ideas of many Americans who do not like the government they are being ruled by at this time. And, because the Tea Party Movement--( which Palin Spoke before as Key Note Speaker ) is a real threat to their power. That is my view.

Now: Why do lefties behave as they do ? It would be refreshing if instead of using ad hominens ,inuendos and smears they would actually verbalize those issues which they disagree with. Most of us are grown up enough to understand the difference between the truth and propaganda.
So,Obama himself set an example and, instrad of demonizing the opposition, actually did what he promised in his campaign, he would be a better president,a better human being and better for the country. Plus, perhaps show those on his side that they are better off arguing with respect that with the other garbage they throw out. All I have to say is this: Let the voters decide. But in the meantime, the more Obama acts like the current version the Tea Party folks, the Sara Plain's etc etc will benefit enourmously. So for that Obama I thank you !!!!!!!

Bob| 2.10.10 @ 8:01AM

You can't disagree with any Palin issues, she doesn't have any detailed positions on anything. So you think it is acceptable to start a war against Iran while our troops are overworked and we face a debt crisis? You must be as incapable as her...

LQQKY| 2.10.10 @ 8:25AM

And the messiah does? Sorry Bob, you but you make twits look like intellectuals. BTW -- do you think that Emmanuel might have been referring to you?

canuck6474| 2.10.10 @ 8:34AM

Like a typical leftie, you put your spin on everything to suit your opinion. Better read the interview again because Sarah Palin never said that she advocated war with Iran. She was talking IF Obama declared war on Iran. That is what she said. Obama, not herself.

And she also didn't state whether war with Iran was a good or bad idea. Read the transcript.

Bob| 2.10.10 @ 8:49AM

I think you need to re-read the transcript. She implied that going to war with Iran was the right thing to do.

canuck6474| 2.10.10 @ 9:06AM

WALLACE: I know that three years is an eternity in politics. But how hard do you think President Obama will be to defeat in 2012?

PALIN: It depends on a few things. Say he played, and I got this from Buchanan, reading one of his columns the other day. Say he played the war card. Say he decided to declare war on Iran, OR decided to really come out and do whatever he could to support Israel, which I would like him to do. But that changes the dynamics in what we can assume is going to happen between now and three years. Because I think if the election were today, I do not think Obama would be re-elected. But three years from now things could change if on the national security threat --

WALLACE: You're not suggesting that he would cynically play the war card.

PALIN: I'm not suggesting that. I'm saying, if he did, things would dramatically change if he decided to toughen up and do all that he can to secure our nation and our allies. I think people would perhaps shift their thinking a little bit and decide, well, maybe he's tougher than we think he is today. And there wouldn't be as much passion to make sure that he doesn't serve another four years --

She said OR, not AND. That is a huge difference in meaning.

Nicole| 2.10.10 @ 1:11PM

Palin supports Israel. That's what she would like Obama to do, not declare war on Iran.

The haters are really scraping the bottom of the barrell with this. If they'd bother to research any of her interviews or speeches, she has said that war is the absolutely last option and she prefers that we actually pursue tough sanctions on Iran, including refined gasoline restrictions.

But that's not a detailed policy according to the brilliant ones. Guess who also advocated Palin's tough sanction idea today? Bejamin Netanyahu ... I guess he's just a crazy fundamentalist Christmas war-monger, too ... Oh wait!

countryslim| 2.10.10 @ 7:50PM

No Bob, Palin insinuated that Obama could possibly save his anus politically if he "Started a War with Iran, not that SHE would do it.. She did say he was wrong for being mute on backing the opposition to the fruitcakes who hobble Iran.

However, if you would lend me your eyewear maybe I would walk to the left also..

kwinterkorn| 2.10.10 @ 7:42PM

There is much we can do short of all out war to punish Iran. Our Army and the Marines are tied up in Iraq and Afghanistan for now, but the Air Force and Navy have much capacity. A set of air strikes over a few weeks at every aspect of their nuclear program plus a blockade of Iran's key ports would be entirely feasible and crushing for Iran's leaders.

KW

blackwatch| 2.11.10 @ 10:05PM

No. Why waste resources on ruining their limited infrastructure? The problem is their leadership not what they are up to. Just greenlight some IED's and plant them along the roads and blast the ruling elites like they did to our troops in Iraq. We could topple that teetering regime for a couple of hundred grand in hardware. IED's are cheap. Have the Israeli's smuggle the "goods" to the Kurds and then forward them to the Iranians who want to live in freedom. Every Ayatollah and every military person above the rank of major should have an IED visit them and their love ones the next time they hit the road. Ugly medieval warfare--intentionally killing civilians and the families of their leaders. Yes that is what it is.

Klabautermann| 2.10.10 @ 7:59AM

Bob,
I was an avid Palin supporter until I read your comments on Goldstein's article. Your criticisms were so incisive; "you can't make fun of retarded quitters." Boy, it must be hell for people like you and President Obama to live in a country with so many stupid people. Continue using your hard hitting criticism. It is so effective.

Bob| 2.10.10 @ 8:03AM

Well, Klabautermann, I guess I'm going to have to dumb down my remarks for you Palin supporter. It seems as if you don't understand satire. So it was fine for Rush to use the term 14 times?

Conservativity| 2.10.10 @ 10:03AM

I heard Rush Limbaugh use the term 14 times. I also heard the CONTEXT, and I heard the SATIRE. When someone says, in essence, "Listen to me say the word a bunch of times and watch the media misquote me," and it comes true precisely exactly as he said it would, that's satire.

wwwexler| 2.11.10 @ 1:21PM

Chickensh!t Bob is the 'RINO' who voted for Obama and claims to be a 'real' republican.

Dr. Jim Garrow| 2.10.10 @ 8:02AM

The simple faith being expressed by Sarah Palin and her own grasp of the immensity of the task of running this great nation, gives me a measure of confidence in her level headedness. If it were all about her ego and her own inate abilities I would suggest that all she is another Obama. Her balance of family and politics, religion and career, provide us with an ideal leadership potential. You have my undivided attention Gov Palin. I am strongly aware of how much like Ronald Reagan you are and am hopeful that you will prove to be a person dipping into the fount of all knowledge as the great leaders of our country have.

Bob| 2.10.10 @ 8:11AM

"...and her own grasp of the immensity of the task of running this great nation..."

Thanks... I needed some humor this morning...

I assume you are a doctor? Imagine doing your job without some knowledge of the human body. Perhaps people should overlook your lack of knowledge because you have a "balance" of family, politics, religion, and career. Perhaps you should quit a surgery in the middle. Isn't that what she did as governor?

I thought it took an education to become a doctor. I guess I was wrong.

Indiana Alex| 2.10.10 @ 10:38AM

Of course Bob is a Doctor, and insurance actuary, an economist, an aviator, a veteran, an architect, a baker, a candle stick maker, and an expert on whatever else is needed at any particular time.

Of course the fact that he voted for Obama is pretty much all you need to know.

Indiana Alex| 2.10.10 @ 10:38AM

Of course Bob is a Doctor, and insurance actuary, an economist, an aviator, a veteran, an architect, a baker, a candle stick maker, and an expert on whatever else is needed at any particular time.

Of course the fact that he voted for Obama is pretty much all you need to know.

Stephanie| 2.10.10 @ 12:34PM

Hey Bob, she explained in detail MANY times why she left the governorship of Alaska. Did you not hear her or did you just choose to act as if she didn't. Or perhaps you couldn't understand someone doing something selfless. Something for the good of someone or something else, which is what she did. Thanks to Obamas' hechmen.

P. Aaron| 2.10.10 @ 8:11AM

What is also enjoyable & likeable about Sarah Palin is that she does and says it all with a smile on her face. The ranters on the left are an unhappy and blameful lot...accusing everyone but themselves for poor ideas and results.

Copyleft| 2.10.10 @ 8:13AM

Sarah Palin: Simple Answers for Simple Minds.

No wonder she's popular. We've got a lot of very, very stupid Americans who identify with her brand of cheery cluelessness.

Doorgunner| 2.10.10 @ 8:22AM

"Sarah Palin: Simple Answers for Simple Minds."

Wow. That would be a really, really super-awesome bumpersticker for your Prius.

Crusader| 2.10.10 @ 8:55AM

I guess I'm not smart enough to figure out how more spending will get us out of debt. Please explain.

What?| 2.10.10 @ 9:48AM

Read up on how deficit spending actually works, and the differences between the short-term and long-term effects of spending. Start with how the US utilized deficit spending to overcome the Great Depression, and go forward from there. Economics is a complex subject, and can't really be boiled down to saying, "if we're in debt, we can't spend". That line of thinking is rational for a family of four, but it will bring a country of 300 million to a screeching halt.

Doorgunner| 2.10.10 @ 10:16AM

And you might try not rewriting history. Deficit spending did not reverse the depression in the thirties, and it's not working now.

However, cutting taxes has been clearly proven to increase tax revenues overall... which could be used to pay down debt... instead of distributed in a vote-buying scheme called "stimulus".

Crusader| 2.10.10 @ 10:21AM

Deficit spending got the USA out of the Great Depression? Bwahhahahahahaha! Is that what your libtard leftie History prof told you? This is EXACTLY the type of "nuanced" eggheadedness I am talking about.

Deficit spending doesn't work for a family of four, but it DOES work for a country of 300,000,000. That is pure effing GENIUS my friends.

Please explain it to me. Please tell me how spending more than we have and raising our spending limits and borrowing from our good friends the Chinese will get us out of debt.

So cutting spending will bring the country to a screeching halt but having a debt that is damn near equal to our GDP won't?

How about this oh wise one. Say we stopped the welfare checks and cut taxes on small businesses. Would that work? What part of the country would grind to a halt if we did that?

God bless it it boggles the mind the stuff libtards believe.

Johnny Galt| 2.10.10 @ 11:31AM

"So cutting spending will bring the country to a screeching halt but having a debt that is damn near equal to our GDP won't? "

Beautiful.

MikeD| 2.10.10 @ 10:21AM

What got us out of the Great Depression was world War Two. Period. Nothing that the government did, no matter how well intentioned, worked in a large way. The war caused us to essentially mobilize to full employment and serious debt financing; but mostly to our own people through war bonds. Our huge debt has changed it's composition so that we owe so much to foreign countries that our own soveriegnty and independent foreigh policy is in doubt. What will happen when we get into a situation where the U.S. and China have opposing interests in a particular circumstance; say one involving Taiwan. What do we do when the Chinese assert their influence because they hold so much of our dabt?

SARGE| 2.10.10 @ 12:17PM

I had forgotten about war bonds, and how most people felt it their patriotic duty to buy them. What if this were revived - get people to invest in saving their country? Of course, back then we trusted our government - so maybe we wouldn't by bonds from the government (yes, I know you can buy government bonds - this is about a special bond program, targeted to regenerate our manufacturing base) - but is there another way?

Just a thought from out here in the hinterland.

SARGE| 2.10.10 @ 1:14PM

https://www.policyarchive.org/bitstream/handle/10207/4253/RS22305_20051020.pdf

apparently this was thought about vis-a-vis Katrina

Emmausman| 2.10.10 @ 10:24AM

Debt used for building productive capacity (infrastructure, factories, etc) is generally good debt if used in moderation. The return on the investment will pay for the debt in the future. Debt used for consumption (living expenses) is generally never good (other than for very short periods of time) and will lead to bankruptcy. Living beyond one's means, whether it be a family, a company or a country, will require repudiation of the debt in the future. That will be either through default or high inflation.

Indiana Alex| 2.10.10 @ 10:41AM

Actually, I can provide a chart that will show that increases in government spending have a definitively negative effect on the economy.

But most don't need to see it becuase they realize that in order to spend money the government must borrow it from somewhere so it is in effect displacing the money from the private productive economy and spending it on pet projects that people who have never held a job determine is best.

Of course this doesn't need explanation for most.

Johnny Galt| 2.10.10 @ 11:27AM

Keynesian policy of using inflation to jump start the economy DOES NOT WORK! One big reason: Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD). With the US government borrowing almost $0.40 of every dollar it's spending, people are getting worried; When people are scared or worried they don't spend money, business don't expand, and benefits don't go up. But when facing tough times here in America, we are told that increasing entitlement and education spending creates economic recovery. Really, are you serious? Ask Japan if government spending is the answer to economic success.

Hitler & Hirohito ended the great depression. Our wartime spending in respect to GDP from 1939 - 1945 is unprecedented, and when the wars over we were the only industrialized nation that wasn't bombed into rumble that could produce the goods and services the world demanded.

If you can teach me anything, explain to me how what we are going to do WHEN the annual interest payments on our debt reaches $770 Billion (yr 2019).

countryslim| 2.10.10 @ 8:02PM

300 million should be worried about owing Trillions for any family of four to pay back.. Like WHERE is the money going to come from to pay Intrest, not to mention the principle finacially or the Principle? Whish seems to mean little to dreamers void of Family, unlike Palin.

Roscoe| 2.10.10 @ 12:55PM

Obama: Simple Answers for Simple Minds.

No wonder he's popular. We've got a lot of very, very stupid Americans who identify with his brand of cheery cluelessness.

Yep; now it reads right.

Babino| 2.10.10 @ 8:20AM

I see what the day's talking point is- "Rush said 'retard' 14 times!"

JohnR22| 2.10.10 @ 8:33AM

A key stat in determining a pols electability to national office is their "negative rating". How many voters have a negative view of them...and the intensity of that view. Gingrich has high negatives; Hillary has high negatives; Palin has very high negatives. Although the Base loves her, Palin CANNOT be elected president. If she runs, the Reps lose in 45 States. So...by all means, trot her out for fund raising, to energize the Base, to spur voter turnout...but for god's sake, keep her OFF the ticket.

David Williams| 2.10.10 @ 9:23AM

Dead right. And I really like her, just not on the ticket.

wwwexler| 2.11.10 @ 1:24PM

Good luck with that dumbtards. Sarah's running for POTUS! Get used to it.

I'm tired of pasty old white guys as our nominee--bring in some new blood!

GO SARAH!

Bilwick| 2.10.10 @ 8:33AM

Yesterday at Huffpo, Deepak Chopra, New Age guru to the stars, denounced her as retrogressive and praised our beloved leader, "Il Dufe," as the torchbearer or enlightenment. According to "Deepak Toohey," Americans need to "grow up," which if your brains are sufficiently addled by drinking twig tea and inhaling incense, apparently is a synonym for "submit." His followers wrote in praising his "brilliant" insights. Given that this crowd tends to be economic ignoramuses, maybe they all get together and chant and play drums to repeal the Law of Supply and Demand.

And people question Palin's intelligence.

blackwatch| 2.12.10 @ 2:28AM

Bilwick---"Il Dufe??"

Man thats f***ing funny!! I just hope the partisans get him before the country collapses.

Bilwick| 2.10.10 @ 8:36AM

"No wonder she's popular. We've got a lot of very, very stupid Americans who identify with her brand of cheery cluelessness. "

"Cheery cluelessness"=opposition to statism.

"stupid"=refusal to ask "How wide?" when Obama says "Bend 'em and spread 'em."

Ken (Old Texican)| 2.10.10 @ 8:37AM

Great thoughts, guys. Thanks.

I think I may have a handle on the "problem" with Sarah.
She speaks a foreign language, only.

I am very serious. She speaks only "truth" as best she can understand it, courageously, and without ambiguity.
Her detractors simply cannot comprehend that language. They cannot.
It is literally beyond them.
They are so wrapped in deception, and "self deception", that it is like they must stick their fingers in their ears and hum, so as not to have all their self deceptions come crashing down around their ears.
Perhaps even more important, the lady knows...what she does not know, and is pretty straightforward about it, without a bunch of mea culpas at all.
Each of you: think about your own life experience. There were times you were put "on the spot", without a clue as to the answer. One of the hardest things in the world is to look your "questioner" in the eye and reply..." I haven't a clue!"

(A good furtherance of that action is to say something to the effect... "But I will find out the answer if it is important for us moving forward.")

Does anyone here have a problem with any "policy statement" Sarah has made? I honestly can't think of one... heh, since she "went rogue".

Heh, some people simply cannot comprehend a "policy statement" in that foreign language.

Copyleft| 2.10.10 @ 8:54AM

Pretty hard to oppose any "policy statements" from Sarah when she hasn't actually made any....

Can anyone point to an actual policy statement from Sarah, on any issue? Not feel-good slogans about how wonderful it is to be an American, but an actual proposal to resolve an actual issue?

MikeBee| 2.10.10 @ 9:56AM

Jeez, it's so difficult to continue to hold the hands of you liberals. What's even more difficult, though, is to listen to your rants when you don't even spend the time to read or listen to someone with whom you disagree.....

I'll keep it simple: Drill, baby! Drill! This was a very simple policy statement made by Sarah, saying that what the U.S. needs to do today to make ourselves less dependent on foreign oil is to drill for oil in our own country, especially in places where there are vast oil resources waiting to be accessed. Her policy statement includes using wind power, solar power, renewables, and nuclear power wherever we can, in addition to drilling in our own country for oil. It also includes continuing to attempt to convert vehicles from gasoline-consuming entities to some other type of energy (she called it "all of the above). Her policy, which is also the policy of the Republican Party today, makes a lot of sense. It is the left today which stands in the way of drilling for oil in the U.S., building more nuclear plants, and doing what we really need to rid ourselves of dependence on foreign oil. The left keeps coming up with very bad ideas which simply won't work, like Gov. Jennifer Granhom's idea in Michigan to completely replace conventional electrical energy sources with wind power. Wind power is incapable of completely replacing conventional sources, and of being the sole energy supply source. Wind is never constant, anywhere on this planet. I've kept it simple, but I'm sure that you won't read the entire comment, anyway.

Gamber Gadfly| 2.10.10 @ 6:37PM

Palin hasn't made a policy statement? Do you mean something more specific than "Hope" or "Change", those nebulous buzzwords which the starry-eyed transmorgified into whatever they thought it meant? We now know what Obama meant and that's why his approval ratings are at an all-time low for any president since polling on the subject was instituted.

countryslim| 2.10.10 @ 8:23PM

Obviously you have access to the Web, so denial is your ticket to secure your Knowledge?

Good for you, But I ain't in lockstep or "Programed" Face it, Palin's efforts and Intentions are WAY over your ..uh.. uh.. ability to embrace logic, plus your compulsion to sink your teeth into Facts..

You handily forget whom and What you your words attempt to enable, the "Proposals, Promises and Change" of the current Pretender-in-Chief" while nitpicking the capabilities of Palin?

If you were my child I'd castrate myself..

Ted Yates| 2.10.10 @ 10:18AM

Ken,
I would feel better if Sarah had answered "I haven't a clue" on a number of occasions. Unfortunately, she chose to answer the question, and proved she hadn't a clue. As for "policy statements" Sarah has made since going "rogue", I'm not very fond of her bomb Iran statement. McCain made this a nice ditty, but I don't think we're in a position to continue policing the Middle East.

CTObserver| 2.10.10 @ 12:49PM

I have a problem with one "policy statement" she made, in her interview with Charles Gibson - she advocated full NATO membership for Georgia, including going to war to protect Georgia's territorial integrity (which was already compromised). I think this was (and is) bad policy, with no support from our NATO allies, and was a bad idea even to articulate, since its failure highlighted to the Russians that the Georgians were on their own.

Ran / Si Vis Pacem| 2.10.10 @ 8:45AM

"Goldstein -- You have proven that you are as dimwitted as Sarah." - Bob.

Since Bob loves to begin an argument with ad-hominem dissimulation, let us counter with ad-hominem facts. Bob has quite the résumeé around AmSpec Blog as an inveterate and admonished liar.

Bob entertained us, here in these pages, with this:
"MRB -- I am familiar with the Pope's Regensburg speech. I studied religion when I was young and translated the original five books of Moses from the original Aramaic when I was 10." (sic!)

What Bob failed to check before he lied was that although the Wellhausen Theory points to at least four distinct styles comprising the Five Books (the Pentateuch), all of them are entirely in classical Biblical Hebrew. Aramaic, a regional dialect, shows-up in Talmudic writing centuries later. (Please check the links, scroll down.)

Beyond dissimulation, it has been quite the auto-hagiographical circus under Bob's busy palms.

I'm beginning to think that Bob deserves his own Blogspot website... a comprehensive collection of Bob's deliberate lies and unwittingly humorous porkies, accreted dimwitted BS about the great Bob's life experiences - all in his own words...

Bob| 2.10.10 @ 8:57AM

I encourage people to read the links you posted and come to their own conclusions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_Aramaic

You must have failed in your studies of the Talmud to utilize personal attacks rather than discuss the issues. And by the way, I still think that Quin Hillyer is a bigot and racist. I was not "banned" from posting on his blogs, I agreed not to post because he asked me not to. I could post there at any time. He just has a very thin skin.

Quin| 2.10.10 @ 6:28PM

Bob,
Huh? What do I have to do with ANY of this discussion? And where do you possibly get off calling me a racist? Them's fighting words. Look, you cheap-shot artist, I have a longer history, on multiple fronts, of working, writing, speaking, and nearly bleeding for black Americans, specifically, than you could possibly have. And multiple, multiple witnesses, readers, activists, etc. to vouch for me on that claim. So find your rock and go crawl back under it. Oh, and PS, I am not thin-skinned. I often thank people, publicly, who offer constructive criticism. I just react strongly against cheap shots that question my motives or my character.

SoCon| 2.11.10 @ 1:30PM

Bob, you're the biggest thin-skinned ass around; you offend AmSpec readers AND writers. Must be some kind of record.

Seriously, you need therapy.

Troll Watch| 2.10.10 @ 9:10AM

Recently Bob has written of his "family" and his "military" experience. It was quite a hoot. He was saving gays, being saved by gays, baring children, referring to his children as progeny, taking credit for every bit of his children's good features even though he was in Vietnam, attending Harvard, and leading giant corporate conglomerates. The theoretical Mrs. Bob has to be one unhappy woman. He is irritating with only 1 minutes of contact. Could you imagine this blow heart for even a couple of hours a day. He would need to live in a state with very strong gun laws. Since you can get a gun anywhere he must be theoretically impossible or Mrs. Bob is a Stepford wife. I was unaware of translating the five books of Moses when he was ten but it makes sense when you are a total fraud. Why not throw in a medical degree or something. He is our most stupid troll. We deserve better.

loulou| 2.10.10 @ 10:35AM

Bob has no military experience. He probably doesn't even have a job.

Bob is an Ellie Light.

Craves attention. The way to hurt him is to ignore him.

Indiana Alex| 2.10.10 @ 10:44AM

I'm starting to think that "Bob" is actually Al Gore.

Bob| 2.10.10 @ 3:57PM

You can question my conclusions, but I take strong exception to my military experience. I served in II Field Force G2 in Vietnam under General Ewell. I enlisted when most guys were drafted and fought against communism. My guess is that YOU have never served. I'm proud of my service and proud of the military in this country. If you fools actually served, you probably would pay more attention to the truth.

Thom| 2.10.10 @ 5:23PM

Bob, if you served under Ewell I doubt this statement, “I enlisted when most guys were drafted and fought against communism.” stands up to the smell test. Of the nearly 3.6 million who served there and during the time you say you served, peak force had already occurred and a draw down was taking place during Ewell’s command. I’m sure the people that were “drafted” and served with honor like being diminished by an arrogant SOB like yourself but get a clue here, you aren’t the only person to ever enlist (I did) and serve (I did). I have a lot more respect for the people who went into the Ia Drang in 65 then people like you who whine all the time like somebody owes you something special for your service. Get over it, you aren’t any more special than John Kerry and he got the medals to prove his bravery I hear.

Nick | 2.10.10 @ 7:01PM

Thom,

As a fellow vet ('88-'92), I second everthing you wrote.

As you perfectly noted, strange for Viet Nam vet, as 3/5 Bob claims to be, to be ignorant of the fact that most vets VOLUNTEERED TO SERVE this great country.

Thom| 2.10.10 @ 7:34PM

Nick, I knew in 68 that the war was “lost” in political terms. My father served in both WWII and Korea so I had some insight before my time came to judge what was required vs. what was actually taking place. Given how few actually served on a population basis compared to the same in WWII it is even more of an insult to those that both enlisted and got drafted to draw a distinction between the two. The simple truth is we put minimum forces there, made no offensive efforts to destroy the enemy and their ability to make war, tied one or both arms behind our back at times and then declared “victory with honor” and came home leaving 58,000 dead with nothing to show for our efforts other than a “black wall” in Washington DC with all their names on it. The sad part among many is that the “Harvards” knew after Ia Drang we couldn’t win a war of attrition on the ground with the force structure and self imposed limitations on our capability. In my mind that is criminal but just my two cents on the matter. We seem bound to repeat history on a smaller scale this time.

Nick| 2.10.10 @ 8:55PM

Thom,

As someone who was at the Gathering of Eagles rally in '07, may I say, "Welcome home and thank you for your service."

I've heard two views on the war.
One claims that Vietnamization was working, after Gen. Abrams took over. ARVN forces beat back the Easter campaign of '72. And if the democrats hadn't cut off military aid, they would've done the same in '75.

The other view was from Col. David Hackworth, which basically claimed only a 12 to 1 force (troops to insurgents) could've won the war.

Where do you come down on these two views?

Angel| 2.11.10 @ 1:37PM

Nothing like "The Blob" to bring out all my old-time faves! Hi, you guys.

Nick| 2.11.10 @ 7:22PM

Angel,

Hi there! How've you been?

Angel| 2.11.10 @ 9:57PM

A little rain-soaked but okay. How are you--lots of snow where you are?

Conservativity| 2.10.10 @ 10:06AM

I must be stupid or something, but I thought the "original five books of Moses" were written in HEBREW.

Ran / Si Vis Pacem| 2.10.10 @ 10:28AM

Conservativity... or something.
Indeed they are, entirely in Hebrew. There is not so much as even one sentence in them that is in Aramaic.

There are many commentary passages in the Talmud in Aramaic - but those are Torah commentaries, not the Torah itself.

dd| 2.10.10 @ 3:46PM

Ran / Si Vis pacem,

Not 100% correct. Quoting from 'How We Got the Bible' by Neil R. Lightfoot, 3rd printing, page 28 he says, "Aramaic sections of the Old Testament include two words as a place name in Genesis 31:47; one verse in Jeremiah 10:11; about six chapters in the Book of Daniel (2:4b-7:28); and several chapters in Ezra (4:8-6:18; 7:12-26). If someone looks at a copy of the Hebrew Bible. these sections in Aramaic will appear no different from other parts of the Old testament. This is true because the Aramaic characters are like those of the Hebrew, or, to be more exact, the square-shaped Hebrew letters are actually borrowed from the Aramaic. So there is no difference in appearance between Hebrew and Aramaic, but the two are distint languages."

MikeBee| 2.10.10 @ 4:59PM

DD,
Except for the two words which you list as being in the book of Genesis, none of the remainder of your listings are included in the Torah, considered the first five books of the Bible. All of the rest of your listings are in the books of various prophets, written considerably after the Torah. Ran/Si Vis Pacem is commenting about the Torah.

dd| 2.10.10 @ 10:36PM

Shhh.. :)

MikeBee| 2.11.10 @ 11:28AM

:)

The Nurse| 2.10.10 @ 8:48AM

What scares anyone with half a brain about this lady is she makes GWB look like a brain surgeon. She is authentic alright, an authentic self centered moron that is unapologetic for her lack of knowledge or experience. She is devisive and usses subtle racism. She can't answer a simple question honestly with any substance. She is nothing but talking points and populist drivel. A narccisist with god on her side so she does not have to second guess any decision she makes because being guided by god makes her always right. Her being president would be the BIGGEST disaster in American history.

LiveFreeOrDie| 2.10.10 @ 12:17PM

Perfect analysis, couldn't agree more! You are talking about Obama, correct?

Stephanie| 2.10.10 @ 12:46PM

Perfect! An exact discription of Obamby! WOW Nurse, you are good!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey Nurse give us some of those racist statments from Sarah. Oh I know, she didn't get her "education" from Haavaad or Princeton. She's got to be dumb.
THIS IS WHAT WE NEED AND WANT. NO IVY LEAGUE-ERS FOR PRESIDENT!!!!!
WE WANT REAL PEOPLE WHO DON'T STICK THEIR STINKING NOSES IN THE AIR ALL THE TIME. LITERALLY!!

Alessandra| 2.10.10 @ 3:05PM

I agree with some of your description of Palin, except that it would be big disaster. True, she is not that bright, and she doesn't know much. She seems to be like a mild politician, and even more so, she comes across as being refreshing and quite authentic. If she is ever authoritative, I've never seen it in public (even though I'm not ruling it out). But she doesn't come across as some butch female sargent, snapping at everyone like the detestable Hillary. Not that women have to have this "niceness" about them to be personable in politics, what's-her-name in Germany seems a lot more serious and in command than Palin, and at the same time, she is not a perverse and perverted ogress like Hillary.

And then Sarah has the number one quality par excellence that any presidential candidate must have: she scores very high in the personable department.

A lot of much brighter and knowledgeable people would never get more than a 1000 votes because they simply aren't personable. The position of presidential candidate in America demands that first and foremost. Sarah has it. The good looks only help even more in that way. (I wish I could get these almost invisible looking glasses she has). By the little I know, she is decent, as someone said, she is also a good mother and spouse. Good in the role model department.

That's a lot more than many other candidates.

Then, for many other string pullers, she is ideal. They call the shots in the backroom, she calls the smiles. Couldn't ask for more. Maybe the future of presidential politics.

Then again, I could see her getting sunk in even a simple debate. It's true she needs to work on her public speaking skills as well. The latter will be much easier than the former.

wwwexler| 2.11.10 @ 9:55PM

For a 'mild politician' Palin sure kicks the crap out of you libs. LOL!

Nelson H.| 2.10.10 @ 8:50AM

I'm an avid Sarah supporter, but I have to confess that the two principal reasons I support her are (1) she has obvious right-wing ideological instincts, and (2) she riles up the Left more than anyone else. This latter reason, that she has all the right enemies, is the stronger of the two.

I believe she has the capacity to be an excellent president because she is so well-grounded and understands the limits of government. But anyone who compares her to Reagan is kidding themselves. Reagan could go toe-to-toe with Bill Buckley in a debate and give as good as he got; he debated Bobby Kennedy and trounced him. Reagan could speak fluently off the cuff on a vast range of issues, merging sophisticated philosophical principles with amusing and telling anecdotes. Reagan spoke with poetry and authority, he brought relevant life experiences dating back to his youth in Hollywood spanning over 40 years, and he spent decades honing his speaking skills and reading about policy. No amiable dunce he: he was a very learned man, and he regularly thought outside the box, witness his brilliant foreign policy, which put puffed-up eminentoes of both parties and the media to shame.

Palin cannot be Reagan because no two people are alike. She brings her own strengths and weaknesses. We will have to deal with her weaknesses, which we can only hope will diminish as she develops as a candidate. But 'hope' is a word we should embrace with great caution. I would argue that what you see is what you get, and it means we will have to be unusually loyal if she gets into jams on policy issues or matters of style. Again, he instincts are sound. But her execution may at times make us want to duck and cover.

Ret. Marine| 2.10.10 @ 8:53AM

Having read a few of these post , it's pretty clear many have their skivies out of this world already and someone needs to grab them before the wedgie becomes the only mark they will leave in this life.
Good grief, get a hold of yourself man. The mere mention of Palin sends the cockroaches wildly running for cover at the nearest political intersection. It could be said of Pali that she'e a new comer to the stage, and that would be correct, however this site should rely upon facts not frightened hissy foot in the mouth derangements. She is afterall, the one who took on her own party and put a few of these good ol'e boys in residence of the cross-bar motel for a time out, she did relieve her state of the financial liabilities related to the many feet in the mouths of the liberal's only avenue to counter, lawsuits that wnet no where, she was selected to run for the position of VP, not dogcatcher and her speaking engagements are filled with the voices of those who have had no voice in the political theatre for some time now. So it is no wonder the foaming at the mouth of the great decievers is what is expected and true to their colours they are giving us, yet again, the real reason for their gnashing of the teeth episode. They fear her like they do that of the Word of God.
TO the troll wanderers, where's your counterpart to this gnashing of the teeth? It is a good day when We the People of the Patriotic brand see our natural enemies scurry about with mere opinions, not facts, yes a good day indeed.

Copyleft| 2.10.10 @ 8:56AM

It certainly is! I love seeing how deranged the fringe right has become over Obama.

It always brings a chuckle to the real American patriots among us: the liberals.

Doorgunner| 2.10.10 @ 10:23AM

Which is actually funny:

Conservative "fringe' fulminating over a person actually in a position of great power and perceived to be engaged in malfeasance

-or-

the Liberal mainstream completely losing it over a woman who -holding no office, having no actual power power- merely remarks upon the overt idiocies they perpetuate?

Louis Jenkins| 2.10.10 @ 12:05PM

That's what's so strange about the media/liberal feeding frenzy. Palin is not a candidate for anything, although she admits she stayed in a Holliday Inn Express during her campaign for Gov. She is living in a political purgatory for now, but mention her name and they go crazy! Chasing their tails, barking at the moon, and meaninglessly digging in the dirt for a mystery mole. Next they'll start sniffing each other's back sides. If Palin is so powerless, so insignificant, and so ignorant that she needs to write notes on one hand as they say, why are they in such an uproar? I can only point to one answer: They are afraid!! It fits their mode of operation (Saul Alinsky). If she ever decides to fish instead of cutting bait, they'll have us believe the end of the world is in sight.

BobDin| 2.10.10 @ 8:56AM

It amazes me that Palin drives liberal crazy. She is articulate in plain language, which connects with the average American. She ran Alaska more efficiently than most states. Liberals will pick on her for the most trivial things they can resist it. I think they are scared to death of being beaten by a woman. The thought of it drives them bonkers. they can't handle a woman who makes sense and might be that next President. If any of them just read what I just wrote they are already drinking bottles of Mylanta.

MikeD| 2.10.10 @ 9:00AM

TO 'THE NURSE'

Since you sound like a Lib/demoncrap as evinced by your complete lack of any quantitative statements; I guess you might remember the two ABSOLUTE WORST presidents: Jimmah Carta and the 'enlightened one' fraudulently occupying the White House now, thanks to ACORN, SEIU, and the usual, assorted demoncrap vote theft. (See Alfrankendork.)

I wonder if you really ARE a nurse, which would connote some sort of education. GWB had an MBA and an undergraduate degree. Sarah Palin is a college graduate. We can't really comment on the 'Messiah's' educational credentials since he continues to refuse the release of any of his credentials and history. Didja ever wonder why?

Louis Jenkins| 2.10.10 @ 12:07PM

At least we know what country and state Palin was born in.

Jack Carlson| 2.10.10 @ 9:11AM

Hey Nurse, we are currently witnessing the BIGGEST disaster in American history since the Civil War. The worst POTUS ever was US Grant, followed by one James Earl Carter. But, BHO appears likely to surpass both.....easily.

Mattled| 2.10.10 @ 9:26AM

Jack,
What do you mean about to?
He already has. Don't believe the polls.
Zogby? He called Marsha Chokely for MA (LOL).
ABC, NBC? They're in the tank.

Rasmussen? A couple of weeks ago the WH threatened him, Chicago style.

Whatever you read, -----take off 8-10 points. He's in the 30's and staying for a while. Twenties by Nov easily.

Crusader| 2.10.10 @ 9:35AM

Actually I would argue the worst pres was Lincoln. He is The One's ideological great-grandfather. There is a direct line from Lincoln to Wilson to FDR to Obama. Lincoln the Whig began the practice of ignoring the Constitution, consolidating power in the Exec branch, demonizing opposition (although so far Obama hasn't jailed anyone like Lincoln did), and turning THESE United States of America into THIS United States.

You want to answer the question where Big Govt started? Look no further than with Lincoln's election in 1860.

Nelson H.| 2.10.10 @ 10:33AM

Aw, come on. Grant wasn't so bad. Read his memoirs.

Mattled| 2.10.10 @ 9:21AM

Ken, Kitty, Doorgunner,

The Libturds posting here amount to a bird feeding its young.

They eat up what they can ( worms from DailyKos, DUmmies, etc.), throw it up and try to feed everyone else.

Yummy!

Until AmSpec starts some kind of moderating, just ignore.

They love going back and reading their own tripe as much as they love smelling their own methane gases (that's farts to the Libturds). It's what insane people do. (1,2,3--YEAH? You should know blah, blah blah....insert name calling ____here---that's all they know).

Markos is paying them WAYYYY too much.

***YAWN***

Crusader| 2.10.10 @ 9:29AM

Let's see, for a century or more the fed govt has been led by Ivy League egg-head "wizards of smart" (as Rush calls them and here we are with trillions in debt, a massive federal empire, 10% unemployment, a shrinking dollar, a divided populace, bankrupt states, 30,000,000 illegals, massive welfare, terrorist attacks, etc etc etc.

Hmmm. Maybe, just maybe, we need practical, dare I say "simple" solutions to problems and not the Ivy League, "nuanced," ahem, "solutions" to things like debt. I dunno, but for me, its hard to understand how spending more will get the country out of debt, or how extending unemployment benefits will lower unemployment. Maybe the people are finally saying to the egg heads that your time is over. Its time to run the government on the KISS method. We don't want "nuance" we want RESULTS. Us "little people" know that in order to get out of debt you have to pay your bills, not incur more bills. Maybe its time to bring that kind of practical thinking to DC? Could it be any worse that 100+ years of Ivy League egg-headedness?

Allyson| 2.10.10 @ 9:33AM

Sarah Palin doesn't even make sense. How can anyone love her or hate her? She is a demagogue.

wwwexler| 2.11.10 @ 9:53PM

Do you know what that big word means, libtard?

owyheewine| 2.10.10 @ 9:34AM

If anyone wants to understand the lefty postings to this article, see Dr. Tom Sowell's latest book, "Intellectuals and Society". They are just empty heads who all read the same 30 books in college, have a worthless degree and think anyone without that pedigree is mindless riffraff.

Robert Pinkerton| 2.10.10 @ 1:12PM

Thank you for the referral. I shall order that book from the Public Library this afternoon. Dr. Sowell -- his Ph.D. is worthy of respect -- always gives a worthwhile read.

Ethan Allen| 2.10.10 @ 9:34AM

I have spent many days reading all of the stuff on Palin and have come to several conclusions. But also with many questions. As a parent and a teacher I am slightly concerned with Palin and her lack of knowledge on the issues, but I know that many people getting into national politics will be forced to learn the issues while on the job. But as I watch Sarah Palin, she seems to be dismissive of intellectuals. As a high school teacher one of the biggest challenges is working with more and more students who lack "intellectual curiosity". We need to continue to push the need for people to become educated on the issues and not count on the talking heads of the media or our politicians to explain things for us. But we also need to know that our politicians are aware of the issues that our country faces.

blackwatch| 2.12.10 @ 2:50AM

As a parent of child who has teachers I am glad she is not in your classroom.

equating lack of "intellectual curiosity" with being "dismissive of intellectuals" is a straw man argument at best. at worst it's laziness on your part. like me and punctuation. i give me self a c

perhaps Mrs. Palin has no respect for effete snob liberal intellectuals like You and Barry Sotero. Besides she's busy running a state and a household and she doesn't take 15 weeks a year off and then complain about how small her paycheck is compared to people who work 50 hours a week 50 weeks a year.

Ken (Old Texican)| 2.10.10 @ 9:37AM

Hi Mattled.
I hope Am SPec keeps allowing pretty much free of monitoring discussion.

See, I joined moveon.org and sent them $10 just to keep up on what the leftists are up to.
Heh... they have spent hundreds of dollars trying to get me to donate more.

I truly like the idiots and covert ops guys from the whitehouse here.
See, they draw idiocy with very clear lines, or they draw the current communist, (pardon the shorthand), spin with very clear lines.

THANKS AM SPEC!

Sesara| 2.10.10 @ 9:40AM

Liberals are scared of Sarah Palin.

Bwahaaahahahahaha!

Please, run her as your candidate. I'm begging you. I'd love to see Obama walk into his 2nd term the way Reagan did his.

wwwexler| 2.11.10 @ 9:52PM

What's really hilarious is that you'd dare to compare Obonehead to Reagan. I'm gonna be sick.

Anthony| 2.10.10 @ 9:48AM

Gov. Palin, as did Ronald Reagan before her, puts the lie to liberal elitism. She exposes these over educated frauds for the clueless academic hacks that they are.
Her plain spoken observation of the world as it IS, not as leftists wish it to be, coupled with her common sense approach to solutions is what drives them crazy.
As Reagan did before her, her good natured swat at these fools, without breaking a sweat, drives them to the brink of insanity; witness the White House's vicious attack on her, after she dismembered Obama at the Tea Party Convention. How can common folk, sans an elite education, absent obtuse nuiance, have solutions to problems, they ponder? Well, it's simple, this country was build on plain common sense and hard work, something the left distains. The principle of Occam's Razor is lost on wordy meandering academics. The fact that she has more governmental experience than the empty suit community-organizer-in-chief, also sticks in their craw.
Gov. Palin is hated by the left because she will single-handedly bring down the ruling elite class that has taken over America. She is an army of one, but we stand behind her. The era of Elitism has met its destroyer.

section9| 2.10.10 @ 9:54AM

Understand something: Liberals are frightened of Palin not because of who she is but because of the Reaganite Conservatism she stands for. They realize that their guy is running the country into the ground and that that is being rejected by the electorate. So all they know how to do is to throw underwear against the tent wall.

At some point, it stops working with the voters, who look at unemployment and at America's reduced standing in the world with their two eyes and come to the same conclusions that Palin comes to.

That's what scares liberals: the loss of power because of the malfeasance in power of liberal leaders.

Mattled| 2.10.10 @ 9:57AM

Ken,
Yes, I see your point. As long as they are on here they are less likely to:

Kill someone
(Mary Jo Kopechne)

Rape anyone :
(Juanita Broaddrick (AR)- rape
Eileen Wellstone (Oxford) - rape
Elizabeth Ward Gracen - rape - quid pro quo)

Start a Gay Brothel and bankrupt Fannie and Freddie.
Embezzle millions for Harlem Projects and skip paying taxes.
Run into D.C. barricades strung out on Ambien.
Commit rape in WP Beach.
Commit murder (Skakel)

Cheat on their cancer-stricken wife, have an o-o-w baby and promise a Dave Mathews concert to the Ho.

Sorry---so much material, so little time.

Mattled| 2.10.10 @ 9:58AM

Redneck
Hick
State school education
Hair obsessed beauty queen
Out of wedlock baby fiasco
No experience
Dumb
Self-Serving

Sarah Palin?

No.

John Edwards.

Mattled| 2.10.10 @ 10:03AM

Darn---forgot some:

Failed VP candidate.
Failed Presidential candidate.
Failed Presidential Candidate II.
Failed parent.
Failed Spouse.
Couldn't get re-elected in home state.
Lost own state on VP ticket.
Made a Paris Hilton-style sex tape.

Yeah, that Palin---what a failure and rube.

Louis Jenkins| 2.10.10 @ 12:14PM

Ready made job at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Virgil| 2.10.10 @ 10:09AM

Liberals are scared of Palin plain and simple because what she said in her speech is what the majority of Americans feel at this time. The results of the elections of Massachussetts should have knocked sense in to the liberals but, their arrogance knows no bounds. Sarah Palin is only the messenger and liberals can bash her as many times as they wish----the issues of high unemployment, terrorist trials, healthcare fiasco are there for all to see. Special interests like union leaders visiting the White House are there for everyone to see! Not all the demagougery is going to change one thing! Liberals are toast come 2010 mid term elections and majority of Americans will rejoice when liberals again are in the minority. I voted for Obama because McCain would have been just as bad and all the bad policies McCain would have enacted would have been blamed on the conservatives when he is a RINO. Now it is time to clean house and not all the Palin bashing is going to prevent the liberals from being the minority once again!

Bilwick| 2.10.10 @ 10:11AM

"It always brings a chuckle to the real American patriots among us: the liberals. "

Another translation from the "Liberal" (State-shtupper) BS to English dictionary:

"real American patriots"=State-worshippers who want to turn America into Venezuela del Norte.

Bilwick| 2.10.10 @ 10:16AM

"Sarah Palin doesn't even make sense. How can anyone love her or hate her? She is a demagogue. "

Traditionally demagoguery has consisted of (to use Mencken's description of FDR's campaign rhetoric) "promising to turn A loose in B's cornfield." (Sounds like Obama's campaign rhetoric, too.) Palin's alleged "demagoguery" consists of saying to the forces of legalized plunder: "Stay out of our cornfield." That's certainly an odd new form of demagoguery.

Of course, to the Tories of yore, Samuel Adams was a demagogue, too.

"Liberals"(i.e., State-fellators): the New Tories.

Bilwick| 2.10.10 @ 10:19AM

"The Nurse" writes:

"What scares anyone with half a brain about this lady is she makes GWB look like a brain surgeon. She is authentic alright, an authentic self centered moron that is unapologetic for her lack of knowledge or experience. She is devisive and usses subtle racism. She can't answer a simple question honestly with any substance. She is nothing but talking points and populist drivel. A narccisist with god on her side so she does not have to second guess any decision she makes because being guided by god makes her always right. Her being president would be the BIGGEST disaster in American history. "

Translation: Palin's pro-liberty, and opposes Il Dufe..

Kara West| 2.10.10 @ 10:26AM

The problem with Sarah Palin is that she never says anything intelligent. Ronald Reagan was humble but brilliant. Sarah is the opposite--an empty-headed egomaniac. As an active Republican, I'd love for her to have some ideas to go with her charm, but unfortunately, she's intellectually lazy. I actively campaigned against Barack Obama, but I will vote for him and campaign for him if he ever goes against Sarah--which thankfully is very unlikely unless we all lose our minds.

Nelson H.| 2.10.10 @ 10:40AM

The key point in your post is that you are an active "Republican". Which means: you identify with a party label and are not an ideologue. Which means: you don't understand or fear the principles of conservatism and limited government. This being the case, of course you would support Obama.

Bilwick| 2.10.10 @ 11:10AM

Nelson, you may be right about Ms. West's philsophical emptiness, but my usually infallible built-in "liberal BS detector" tells me Kara West is an "active Republican" who "actively campaigned against Barack Obama" the way I'm Hugh Hefner.

Nelson H.| 2.10.10 @ 12:47PM

And how do I know you're not Hugh Hefner?

You're right, of course.

Christa| 2.10.10 @ 11:23AM

Oh, an "active Republican", huh? And you would vote for Obama? Why do I think that this sounds like the latest Axelrod astroturf?

Perhaps because I have seen several references and variations on "intellectually lazy", without any proof of such a trait in Governor Palin. How interesting, and quite a coincidence!

Palin seemed to have enough "intellectual curiosity" to get the gas pipeline deal completed, and enough "intellectual curiosity" to root out the corruption in Juneau.

Personally, I think she says quite a few intelligent things. Just because she doesn't use 5-dollar words doesn't mean they are unintelligent. "We need a commander in-chief and not a law professor behind a podium" made a lot of sense to me. Translation for liberals: "We need to treat the war on terror as a WAR and not an demonstration of our court system."

loulou| 2.10.10 @ 9:22PM

You're a liar--you're not an active Republican. AND you're a moron if you would vote for Hussein Obama.

Mattled| 2.10.10 @ 10:29AM

From the Liberal Echo Chamber:
"Run Sarah run---Please, run her as your candidate. I'm begging you. I'd love to see Obama walk into his 2nd term the way Reagan did his".

Now we have this:
Atlantic Magazine Writers Speculate About Possibility of John Edwards Comeback

Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/p.....z0f9ASILXv

RUN JOHN RUN!!

You are THE poster boy for liberalism!!

Kara West-The New Ellie Light| 2.10.10 @ 10:30AM

Astro-Turf.

Very bad 70's astro-turf.

martin j smith| 2.10.10 @ 10:31AM

I have two theories of the LEFTY reaction to Palin. One is that they just hate people who vehemently disagree with them and challenge their world view. The other theory is the notion that do not really care about republican/Conservatives at all but use Palin as the new Bush. The scapegoat du jour so to speak.
But whatever it is, If Palin is no threat than: what is the big deal for Lefties ? I do not know who the Republican/Conservative Presidential candidate will be. But--If the current version of Obama and his merry bunch continue on their current road, an articulate,gutsy, candidate willing to go toe to toe against the Lefties ( NOt MaC or Bush or anyone like them ) would have a good to excellent chance of defeating Obama.

Rocky| 2.10.10 @ 10:33AM

Wow, what a great article. Not because it sings praises to Sarah Palin, but because it sees through to some bedrock truths that many of us here in "fly over country" hold close to our hearts. It is clear to many of us that Ms. Palin is one of us. and as One Of Us, she'll fight for us.

martin j smith| 2.10.10 @ 10:35AM

One more thing: Two related questions in the end will decide the coming elections: Do you feel more or less well off than you did last year ? The other is : do you feel more or less safe than you did last year. These two questions will be the bottom line.

benita canova| 2.10.10 @ 10:39AM

I don't like Palin being compared to Reagan. So far she has shown remarkable integrity. Reagan on the other hand was responsible for the sale of weapons to our enemies and then used the money to illegally fund revolutionaries who could not respect the wishes of the voters in their country. And then he lied about it.

I hope she does better than that.

Nelson H.| 2.10.10 @ 10:43AM

Nicely done. Three anti-Reagan lies in one paragraph. Your understanding of Iran-Contra is totally deficient. And your lack of understanding of all the good things Reagan did is likewise.

ethan allen| 2.10.10 @ 11:19AM

please explain iran contra for us

dd| 2.10.10 @ 3:50PM

We win, they lose.

Bilwick| 2.10.10 @ 10:37AM

"The problem with Sarah Palin is that she never says anything intelligent. Ronald Reagan was humble but brilliant. Sarah is the opposite--an empty-headed egomaniac. As an active Republican, I'd love for her to have some ideas to go with her charm, but unfortunately, she's intellectually lazy. I actively campaigned against Barack Obama, but I will vote for him and campaign for him if he ever goes against Sarah. . ."

So you'd vote for socialist over a Sarah, because Obama is allegedly smarter? You're the last one who should be casting aspersions on other people's intelligence, lady.

You ever notice how people who depict Palin as dumb are always touting "liberal" doofuses like Obama and Kerry as some kind of Brain Trust? If you voted against Palin in the last election because you preferred as vice-president the towering intellect of Joe Biden . . .well, what can one say?

Happy| 2.10.10 @ 11:14AM

As a Democrat, I welcome the prospect of a Palin presidential run. Liberals definitely don't hate her, as the overly emotional right-wingers have foolishly convinced themselves. We think she's the exemplar of ignorant right-wing populism and would be the easiest possible candidate for Obama to beat. She holds no appeal for moderates and independents, her only fans being the most extreme right-wing types as we see here. But you guys do whatever you want to do. It's your party. Just be clear that we liberals do not hate her -- we think she's hilarious.

Anthony| 2.10.10 @ 12:04PM

Dear Happy, Thanks for making my point about you leftists. Who the hell do you think you're kidding with your adolescent chide?
As to who might be a bit over emotional these days, you are obviously grumpy today, perhaps the blizzard has kept your from attending church at the temple of AGW.
So Happy, how's that left-wing populism working out for ya, huh? Not to worry, you can still make a pledge to Algore, he'll be happy to fleece you fools any day of the week. I'm sure Algore is open for business, unlike to snowed -in U.N.
Might I suggest you calm yourself, perhaps take the advice of poster Wm. Paterson and when you think of Gov. Palin, try and use your right hand, if you can find something to use it on. Now that, Happy, should really be hilarious.

Old Joe| 2.10.10 @ 11:19AM

Kara West,

I just love it when you liberal Democrats write in claiming to be Republicans who voted against Obama but would rather have him instead of Palin. As a real Republican conservative, I would rather have a bowery bum then Obama because the bum won’t be working day and night to destroy our country with communist policies.
Let’s look at the resumes of Palin and Obama
• Palin has an undergraduate degree and you can find her transcripts. Obama has an undergraduate degree and a law degree but his records are sealed. Why is that? Could he have been just another affirmative action graduate?
• Palin ran a fishing and seafood business. Obama has never run a business. Instead, Obama was a part time lecturer and community organizer living off donations and government checks.
• Palin was a city council member. Obama was a member of the Illinois legislature where he voted “present” more times than the combined total of his “yeas” and “nays”
• Palin was a mayor of the fastest growing city in her state. Obama was elected to the US Senate where he amassed the most liberal voting record in the Senate the few times he actually showed up. Campaigning for President eats up a lot of time
• Palin was a governor and she took on the corruption in her own party and sent many of her party members to jail. Obama became a member of the corrupt group that runs Illinois and the US Senate
• As governor Palin negotiated the largest pipeline deal in North America. Obama negotiated a property deal for his home with a convicted criminal

I have hired and fired many people and I will take the under educated individual with common sense instead of the over educated idiot any day of the week.

Andrea| 2.10.10 @ 11:22AM

Palin doesn't feed the liberals' need for validation. In fact, she starves them where they are neediest:

She doesn't feed their need to feel intelligent and "bright".

She doesn't feed their need to be "right".

She doesn't feed their need to feel superior and more knowledgeable, enlightened, etc.

In denying them, she taps into their feelings of inferiority and insignificance and that rattles them.

She is, in fact, stabbing their egos with a dagger, which explains their vehement reaction to her.

Mikero| 2.10.10 @ 11:25AM

One of the things I liked about Palin as Governor was she broke the habit of Alaska legislators calling press conferences to voice their opposition to one of her policies. One would talk to the press, and then she would promptly have a press conference herself and say basically that if so and so doesn't like this they need to come see me tomorrow at 2 o'clock and we can talk about it. After about the 3rd time time this happened they stopped doing it. And more importantly, some sort of concensus was usually reached on whatever the disagreement was about. One of my pet peaves is I want to be talked to, not about. If a neighbor has a problem with me then talk to me about it, doesn't do either of us any good to talk to another neighbor (just an example). Apparently Ms. Palin feels the same way.

Ray| 2.10.10 @ 11:33AM

It's amusing at how many new avenues of attack the Palin haters have used in their continual attacks against her, and just how LAME those attacks have become lately. This latest "crib note" attack is the lamest yet.

According to her opponents, Sarah is an "idiot" because she had "crib notes" written on her hand and "peek" at them during a 20 minute Q&A, correct?

Well, Palin Haters, explain to me how she can be so "dumb" that she only needed to "peek" at those "notes" just ONCE during a 20 minute Q&A. If she were as stupid as you like to claim, wouldn't she need took "peek" at "notes" for EVERY QUESTION instead of "peeking" JUST ONCE when giving a multi-part answer to just ONE question?

Ethan Allen| 2.10.10 @ 11:48AM

I agree that the Palin "crib notes" are over blown and I don't care that she wrote some things down. But the issue is that she attacks the President for using a teleprompter and then is forced to also use "notes". I also think that it is pretty juvenile to be writin on her hand. Just bring up some notecards. But for the most part the writing on the hand just makes for good news and a way for the opposition to attack Palin. Ray what would you be saying today if it was the President who had written some things on his hand?

Ray| 2.10.10 @ 12:03PM

How interesting. After Sarah gives a live 20 minute Q&Q, the only "issue" you can find is her supposed hypocrisy in that she claimed that Obama is far too reliant upon his teleprompter, which we see every time he appears on TV, while she referred to "crib notes" once during her TV appearance?

Juts how is that an important "issue" to anyone other than her opposition?

Ray| 2.10.10 @ 12:04PM

That should be "Q&A."

Ethan Allen| 2.10.10 @ 12:17PM

Ray, I agree that the whole issue with the "crib notes" was way overblown. I only tried to try and explain how the issue could be brought up by her comments on the need to use the teleprompter. I also think that this whole issue is politics today. Something Palin says is hurting America. I agree with her there and then wonder why then go after the President about the teleprompter? That is typical politics as well. Again I ask you what would you be writing online today if Obama had been shown with notes scribbled in his palm? Unfortunately I think we can agree that this is politics du jour in America

Ray| 2.10.10 @ 12:22PM

"Unfortunately I think we can agree that this is politics du jour in America "

I would disagree. This is "politics du jour" amongst the media and the image obsessed. To everyone else, this is nothing more than pettiness from the image obsessed.

We all know about Obama and his teleprompters, We knew about it before his election. The American people didn't seem to care much as, despite this "politics du jour" attack, he was elected President. What does this tell you? It tells me that Americans in general are not as petty as the image obsessed believe.

Ethan Allen| 2.10.10 @ 12:30PM

So it is okay for Palin to go after the PResident for using a teleprompter? But it is not fair for Palin to be called out for writing some notes on her hand?
Ray once again I ask you: What if Obama had scribbled some notes on his hand?

Ray| 2.10.10 @ 12:43PM

To answer your question, if the PRESIDENT refereed to "scribble" note on his hand during a press conference, I believe that people would question his ability to govern.

Sarah, on the other hand, is NOT in any position to govern, nor is she seeking any public office, so those "notes" are nothing more than an amusing curiosity to people who are not obsessed with image..

vtdeadhead1@yahoo.com| 2.10.10 @ 1:22PM

i agree with you there. i could care less about ehr policy issues. i just thought it would benefit her to outline those issues.

Anthony| 2.10.10 @ 12:41PM

Good point Ray. The left forgets how the "idiot" Sarah Palin took the 30+ year Washington hack, "jobs is a 3 letter word" Biden to the woodshed during their debate.

james| 2.10.10 @ 11:34AM

Know what you mean, JD. I love Palin, but it's time we see the next phase, like three or four strategic policy positions. This is what Reagan did: lower taxes, kill the Soviet Union, restore America. We need to hear something like this from Palin. I know they're in there, she just needs to burp them up. How about: De-unionize government workers, kill Islam, repeal the 16th and 17th Amendments? Heh heh heh.

Ray| 2.10.10 @ 11:40AM

James, perhaps we should wait until Sarah actually announced her candidacy before we ask her to shows us her "strategic policy positions."

I mean, really, Reagan didn't offer his policy positions until AFTER he announced his candidacy for President, correct? That's the way I remember it. So, why should Sarah offer her "strategic policy positions" when she's not even running for any political office?

Ethan Allen| 2.10.10 @ 11:51AM

Wow those ideas seem fairly radical. But I do agree. It would help her tremendously to begin to formulate some opolicy positions for her own benefit. Without them she gets caught just speaking off the cuff. This leads to legitimate questions from the other side, her idea about attacking Iran for poltical gain seems pretty extreme.

Ray| 2.10.10 @ 12:10PM

Once again, WHY should Sarah need to define policy positions when she's not even running for office?

Sarah is being held to a higher standard than everyone else. People expect her to define and defend political policy position when she's not even a candidate for office. No one demanded this of Reagan prior to his announced candidacy. No one demanded this of Obama prior to his announced candidacy. No one even demanded this if Mrs. Clinton prior to her announced candidacy.

Why is Sarah being held to a higher standard than anyone else. Why are so many people suggesting, and even demanding, that she define and defend policy positions when she's not even running for ANY public office? Would you care to explain this to me?

Ethan Allen| 2.10.10 @ 12:26PM

This is because Sarah Palin has already been a candidate. She went through an entire national election in which many Americans were unwilling to vote for the McCain ticket because they were not so sure about Palin as the VP. We can't just pretend that she is just another political talking head. Many conservatives and republican see her as the future leader of the party. Therfore I only think it is helpful for her to have some positions frtom which to judge her. This questioning of her views only allows for more shots at her words and actions. Did you not find her comments about attacking Iran to change the political climate a bit odd? If she had positions on topic she would have a base from which to work.

Ray| 2.10.10 @ 12:37PM

This may have escaped your attention,. but Sarah explained her VP policy position during that campaign. By your own argument, why should she need to explain them yet again? They're already out there for public perusal.

Sarah is NOT, I repeat NOT, running for office. Her opinions are hers, and hers alone. She has no more need to "explain" or "defend" her private opinions as you or I do. Stop demanding that she be held to a higher standard than everyone else.

Nelson H.| 2.10.10 @ 12:57PM

Ray, we're on the same side, OK? I agree with your points. But...wouldn't it be reassuring if we knew that Sarah had philosophical and policy chops over a broad range of issues? It's not required that she define herself in detail for the reasons you state. But, if she were asked a challenging question, think how great it would be if she batted it out of the park with an erudite and well-reasoned reply that would make the Left tremble with fear and hated. Think how Maggie used to do just that in the roiling cut-and-thrust of Parliament. The fact is that this sort of thing is not her strength. She is a common-sense woman with rock-solid principles; it remains to be seen if she can sustain a political brawl for over a year in the glare of the MSM, which doggedly tries to destroy her by measuring her against an ever-changing yardstick.

Ray| 2.10.10 @ 1:25PM

"But...wouldn't it be reassuring if we knew that Sarah had philosophical and policy chops over a broad range of issues?"

It would be just as reassuring if we knew the same about any public figure, would it not? But here's the thing: She's not running for office so what possible difference does it make what her particular positions are on the "issues" a candidate faces during an election?

You may as well wonder what positions a motivational speaker holds on the "issues" of physics. Since a motivational speaker isn't a physicist, their "position" on physics doesn't really matter, does it?

Personally, I don't care what "positions" a person holds on political issues until that person announces their desire to actually MAKE and ENFORCE political policy via candidacy to office.

Sarah can hold any "position" she wants. At this point it is immaterial.

Nelson H.| 2.10.10 @ 3:15PM

Acknowledging your point, but she is a famous political figure who is continually being talked about for a 2012 run. For such talk to have credibility her advocates ought to be able so say she has both a comprehensive world-outlook and the ability to articulate her views forcefully, so as to galvanize the Right as well as the legion of independents who are disgusted with the Dems and looking for viable alternatives. If we can't say Palin throws heavyweight political leather then we need to take a step back, take a deep breath, and look for someone who can. Bear in mind I am pro-Sarah merely on the basis that she's better than the incumbents by default and I love how the Left goes ape-shit at the sight of her. As president, we can all rest easy that she would never dream of imposing a socialist or fascist dystopia. That would be an improvement, no?

LiveFreeOrDie| 2.10.10 @ 12:36PM

Defining policy positions would only help her critics. Nothing good would come of it.

Nelson H.| 2.10.10 @ 1:02PM

Read what you're saying. You're advocating that we use the same strategy that got Obama elected. Too cynical! I think she ought to define her policies early and mash them in the Left's face. I think the public would respond very favorably if she just talked sensibly and directly about the serious problems facing the nation. The Left would scream that she was a radical and her policies were "risky", but that's what they always do. She has to be persuasive. Think how Reagan had his radio broadcasts before he took office, addressing one issue after another, writing the scripts himself.

LiveFreeOrDie| 2.10.10 @ 7:12PM

She has nothing to gain right NOW, for the time being. Too much detail too early provides ammunition to the enemy, so to speak. When/if she runs for office then of course I'd agree with you. For now she needs to keep doing exactly whatever it is she's doing because she's doing it well!

Nelson H.| 2.10.10 @ 9:54PM

Yeah, but just THINK how much ammunition the Left and the Obama administration is handing over to us right now. Whole depots and manufacturing plants of munitions and high explosives! We might as well start using it very liberally because we have them totally outgunned in ideas, the obvious facts on the ground, and the total, screaming incompetence of their leaders. I'm saying we should mix things up with them and pulverize them while they are so weak and feckless, mostly due to self-inflicted wounds.

Gus Malanga| 2.10.10 @ 11:51AM

If Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) can fantasize about President Barack Obama being “light skinned” and “with no Negro dialect”, why can’t the average male fantasize about a beautiful woman who likes sex with her man, does not kill her children and likes to catch, dress and eat meat? But that’s also you why someone like Sarah Palin scares liberals! Imagine if those views became fashionable. May be a permanent majority of voters!

Drew| 2.10.10 @ 11:58AM

In point of fact, it is conservatives who ought to fear Sarah Palin far more than liberals do. Just look at the widely divergent views expressed in this thread of comments.

Even among self-identified Republicans, far less than half of them think Palin is even vaguely qualified to be President.

Most progressive/liberal people would be absolutely thrilled to see Sister Sarah as the Republican nominee in 2012. But even better would be Palin at the top of a third-party "Tea Party" ticket; essentially splitting the neanderthal/American fascist vote with whatever chump (Pawlenty, Romney, Jindal) survives victorious from the mudfight of the primary process. Ah!! Sweet dreams are made of this....

Ray| 2.10.10 @ 12:24PM

Oh, there's the "spoiler vote" argument! I haven't seen that argument since 2000 when the Democrats were worried that Nader would be the spoiler for Gore.

Drew| 2.10.10 @ 12:35PM

And your point is?

Nader's votes in 2000 in Florida alone accounted for far more than the difference between Gore and Bush. And you'd have to be truly delusional to think that Nader didn't take far more votes from Gore than he did from Bush.

Thanks for providing a perfect proof of my point. Conservatives (really do) have more to fear from Palin than liberals do.

rock on, Sarah!

Ray| 2.10.10 @ 12:51PM

My point is that the only people "afraid" of a "spoiler vote" are Democrats. Republicans, by far and large, are not afraid of those "spoiler votes" because they judge people based on that person's actions and abilities, not on some elses abilities and actions. That's one of the difference between democrats and Republicans. Democrats believe that other people are at fault, that all behaivors are ciommunail, as are the results of that behavior, while Republicans believe that individuals are responsible for their own behavior and that other people have very little effect on the results of persona, individual behavior.

In the case of Democrats: Gore lost because of Nader.

In the case of Republicans: Bush lost because of Bush.

Ray| 2.10.10 @ 12:52PM

Opps, that should read "communal" and not "ciommunail." My bad!

Drew| 2.10.10 @ 1:08PM

If conservatives aren't afraid of the spoiler vote, then indeed they ought to be.

Look at what is happening, right now, in Ron Paul's district. Ron Paul, the very sort of loony right-wing idealogue who spawned the whole Tea Party mess, is being challenged by Tea Party libertarians.

Its hard for me to say much of anything positive about Michelle Bachman, but at least I give her credit for backing out of the Tea Party convention. She (rightly, in this case) had issues with the whole scammy Tea Party model. But Sister Sarah Palin doesn't seem to have any problems with either the ~$700/ticket cost of the Convention/Speech.

I have not the slightest doubt that there is a solid 20% of the country that thinks Palin's brand of wink-and-a-jiggle faux populism is just what we need. But its going to take something far more dramatic than a 10% unemployment rate to make that palatable to the rest of the country.

Ray| 2.10.10 @ 1:14PM

There it is again,spoiler vote" argument. You do realize, don't you, that most people vote for a candidate based upon that candidate's ability to garner support. If a candidate fails to garner enough support to win an election, the only person to blame is themselves. By insisting that someone else "stole " votes away from a candidate, that candidate is absolved of all personal responsibility. That's nothing kore than an an attempt to sooth injured pride.

Gore lost because he was unable to convince people he was the best candidate. That's Gore's fault, and Gore's alone.

Drew| 2.10.10 @ 1:21PM

Just because you don't agree with the "spoiler" vote argument, doesn't mean it isn't real.

Look at what happened in NY-29. A squabble between the establishment Republican candidate and the Tea Party idealogues resulted in a solidly conservative district going to a Democrat.

You are right: Gore didn't do a very good job of convincing people he was the best candidate. But that is PRECISELY the problem Sarah Palin is going to face should she mount a run for President. And if she doesn't believe that she is going to win the Republican nomination, and runs as a Tea Party candidate - who, exactly, do you think she is going to take votes away from?

Ray| 2.10.10 @ 1:28PM

There's no such thing as a "spoiler vote." There never has and there never will be. If people don't vote for a particular candidate, how is that the fault of another candidate, other than the fact that the other candidate was able to garner support for THEIR OWN candidacy?

Ray| 2.10.10 @ 1:46PM

You do understand why the "spoiler vote" argument is false, don't you? The argument is based on an assumption. The particular assumption being that one candidate (Gore) would have received the majorly of vote that were cast for another (Nader) if that other candidate had not run. That assumption can only work if there are only TWO candidates from which to choose.

Since ether were more than two candidates running for President in 2000, it is impossible to claim that any one of the remaining candidates would have received the majority of the votes that was cast for the "spoiler" candidate had the candidate not run.

In the case of Election 2000. there's NO WAY to determine just how Nader supporters would have voted had he not run for office. It is therefor impossible to claim that Nader "spoiled" the votes for Gore.

Ray| 2.10.10 @ 2:10PM

"who, exactly, do you think she is going to take votes away from? "
That's the main reason the "spoiler vote
argument is, to be honest, moronic in it's position. You see, people don't "take away" votes in a democratic election. People WIN VOTES in a democratic election. You can no more claim that Sarah would "take away " votes for another person than you can claim that another person would "take away" votes from Sarah.

The entire argument is nothing more than an attempt to LIMIT the availability of candidates in an election. It is a means to REDUCE competition amongst candidates. That competition is healthy, there's nothing wrong with it. It is actually beneficial as it tends to lead to BETTER REPRESENTATION of large constituencies. The moire choices people have in who will represent them, the better chance they'll have of finding someone that best represents them.

LiveFreeOrDie| 2.10.10 @ 12:52PM

"Even among self-identified Republicans, far less than half of them think Palin is even vaguely qualified to be President."

I think you're wrong but I don't know for sure and either do you, right? Did you take a poll?

"Most progressive/liberal people would be absolutely thrilled..."

Good for them. It doesn't mean they're right. And again, how do you know what "most" libs think?

My opinion is the opposite. I believe she is very electable. This is why the left is so terrified. People in this country are tired of crooked, elitist, career politicians. Sarah connects with regular people. She connects with me. I would vote for her.

Nelson H.| 2.10.10 @ 10:02PM

In 1980 they said the same thing: they wanted to face Reagan because they felt he would be too old, too conservative, too divisive, too much a war-monger, and he would be easier to defeat than Bush. Result: he won 44 states. Looking back, the six that went to Carter ought to be ashamed.

Right now we probably ought to concede that Palin is divisive and a lot of otherwise sensible women don't like her for reasons that totally elude me. But like you I think she is still electable, and the sheer delight imagining her victory celebration in 2012, and the wretched dismay and visible anger of the MSM reporters...it's just too delicious. I'd get a Chris Matthews-type thrill watching that for sure.

wwwexler| 2.11.10 @ 9:48PM

Drew, save your crocodile tears for yourself this year--after bagging two governorships and teddy's senate seat, we're okay with the future.

YOU--not so much. lol

bluecollarbytes| 2.10.10 @ 11:59AM

I think PopMedia knows why Palin has grabbed the imagination of average Americans, but refuses to acknowledge it just like they're refusing to acknowledge the building outrage over Obamagenda- It Ain't about 'process'. It's about the substance.

Fred Barnes is convinced that Palin doesn't have a chance at the nomination. I imagine this would be called 'conventional wisdom' since Barnes does focus on the itty bitty details and institutionalized procedures & attitudes of the established players. I'm not sure he is fully tuned in to what's going on out here outside of DC. Daily up/down ticks in the polls do not tell the story either. Voters are moving beyond knee-jerk reactions to this or that headline, into full blown opposition to an ideology. Palin, so far, is the Only person in a position to take full advantage of this. Palin threw down before anyone else and hasn't looked back. I, just like many I'm sure, still allow for the possibility she could crash & burn. Others expect it. It could happen. If I had to place a bet though it's that Palin will continue to surprise the doubters and detractors.

Nicole| 2.10.10 @ 1:31PM

"Sarah Palin doesn't have a prayer."

Sarah hears this phrase a lot:
- before she became mayor
- after she quit the oil & gas commission to protest her own party's corruption
- before she took out a sitting GOP governor
- before she defeated a popular former Democratic governor
- before she enacted sweeping ethics' reforms
- before she passed a $40 billion natural gas pipeline
- before she sold 3 million copies of her memoir (second only to Bill Clinton in this genre)
- before she became the sentimental favorite of the largest grassroots political movement since the Vietnam anti-war movement.

Yeah, with the track record of people who bet against Palin, I'll take Palin. EVERY.DAMN.DAY.OF.THE.WEEK.

I think she has a prayer.

S.L. Toddard| 2.10.10 @ 8:05PM

- before she bailed out on her home state, quit her job and abandoned her fellow Alaskans in order to become a full-time celebrity on Fox "News"

lukeliberty| 2.10.10 @ 12:18PM

I was thrilled when SP was nominated for VP... then discouraged, then horrified, then infuriated as I saw her perform on the national stage during and after the election. She is the republican's own version of barack obama, an appealing person at some level but NOT qualified, NOT CLOSE to being qualified, to serve as chief executive. She is a diversion, she is divisive, she uses the same tactics of ridicule and condescension that Obama uses, and she is intellectually lazy. I thought her best chance was to do her homework and be serious about governance. Right now she is the last thing the country needs, and most of the country can see right through her - which makes her Barack Obama's favorite Republican, so long as she stays on the front pages.

Count me as one who started out thrilled but now is horrified. I am a conservative who will fight tooth and nail against this divisive, snide, conceited, power-hungry and unqualified person becoming the Republican nominee.

Ray| 2.10.10 @ 12:33PM

Ahh, just how many times in American History has the VP become the President? People keep using that same argument, but fail to realize just what it takes for the VP to become President. Do you realize that the President receive the best security and the best medical care America can provide? Sarah had as much chance of becoming President via the 20th Amendment than Joe Biden does today.

50 Inches of Snow| 2.10.10 @ 12:22PM

The D's and leftist (oberbite) do get worked up. And for a new year's resolution, I decided to confront the leftist when they "go there". Already had a 52 yr old (lib) man crying after he tried to say / imply all conservatives are racist (I'm sick and tired of that). They will stand by, or be torn down, by their man (as he tears down this great country with his out of control spending that is doing nothing for the economy). Yes, he misprounced "corpsman" twice (probably after a big "UUUUUHHHH" because he didn't know what one was). And need a telepromter infront of 6th graders. Sarah does get them worked up. They would rather talk about her and her family than address something that will benefit the USA.

Steve Slatten| 2.10.10 @ 12:27PM

I'm still not quite sure why Republicans are so obsessed with finding "the next Reagan." Are your current choices for president so secretly awful to you that you have to reach back to a man who was elected 30 years ago? Please, let the man rest in peace.

I'm a political independent, liberal on some issues and conservative on others. (Contrary to what both parties say, we do exist.) Anyway, I am totally perplexed by the way the GOP has become convinced that they need to look backward for their glory days. I vote for the person with the best plan, and I'm sorry, but warmed-over Reagananomics from 1983 is not going to get my vote in this lifetime.

Anyway, as to Palin, I think she is mildly entertaining, but she takes herself way too seriously. The only people she excites are ultra far-right conservatives, so it's understandable why I'll probably be flamed for my criticism of her.

She is very self-absorbed, preachy, and she seems just a little borderline bats**t crazy. As an Independent, she will NEVER get my vote.

I think the best comparison of Sarah Palin is that she is the modern-day version of Huey Long. She appeals to the worst in us and she comes across as slightly loopy to those of us in the middle. That being said, please nominate her in 2012. I'd love to watch the show.

Louis Jenkins| 2.10.10 @ 12:30PM

Palin worked in the family business cleaning fish to sell on the market. Hmmm...now you fishermen out there know that cleaning a fish ain't too bad when you've caught your limit, but cleaning a boat load of them? For some reason, it evades me for now, I just can't see Biden, Pelosi, Reid, or the Pretender n Chief doing that. At least Palin got her hands soiled with fish guts, fish poop, fish blood, etc. Oh yeah- pansies. That's the reason. That's why the statist/liberal/communists cannot connect with her. They don't like getting their hands dirty to earn a living.

Bilwick| 2.10.10 @ 12:33PM

"That being said, please nominate her in 2012. I'd love to watch the show. "

Not very original, Steve. There's already been about a dozen variations on that theme already. Also popular: "I'm an independent , but when it comes to Palin. . ." or "I'm a Republican, but when it comes to Palin. . . " Is there some website where you guys go to get the Party Line Du Jour before trolling the pro-freedom blogs? Just wondering.

Steve Slatten| 2.10.10 @ 12:36PM

I wasn't writing to be original, I was writing to state my opinion. If you want to get technical, none of the pro-Palin comments on here are all that original either. Anyway, thanks for the criticism of my opinion.

Bilwick| 2.10.10 @ 12:39PM

I welcome Obama running for president again, so the elctorate can say, "Go organize someone else's community, comrade."

wwwexler| 2.11.10 @ 9:45PM

The pro-Palin comments are true and that's all that matters, troll.

Bilwick| 2.10.10 @ 12:37PM

"I think the best comparison of Sarah Palin is that she is the modern-day version of Huey Long."

Read a book, Aristiotle. Huey Long inflamed the masses promoting a cornpone brand of collectivism.

Steve Slatten| 2.10.10 @ 12:58PM

I didn't say that their politics are the same, um... Socrates. I mean that their styles are the same. They're both populists who tell people that someone else is to blame for their problems.

lanahi| 2.12.10 @ 7:13AM

That's all Obama has been doing all along...blaming everything on someone else. Gosh, there's a lot of projection here!

RUKIDDING| 2.10.10 @ 1:05PM

I am an independent as well and obviously one that lacks originality since I cannot wait to see the show either.

One question to all you Sarah Palin's disciples, please tell me one, just one, policy detail that she has articulated ”spoken about, for those hard core disciples” to move this country forward. Please do not insult your intelligence by saying cutting taxes, cutting the deficit or be energy independent those are policy titles not details. Again just one policy detail that she has expressed……. I am waiting.
One more point, given that I would like to keep this short. One can tell someone’s beliefs and future actions by the way they answer questions. I am sure that everyone here saw the interview with Chris Wallace, when asked if Obama will get re-elected she replied, “It depends how he plays the war card” who thinks like that but politically expedient politicians.
One more I promise. People like to compare her to Ronald Reagan, please President Reagan finished his governorship even though he was a lame duck, again if you missed it watch the Chris Wallace interview.

Nicole| 2.10.10 @ 1:21PM

Just ONE policy? Oh, that's not fair ... There's too many.

- Pro-Drilling for oil in ANWR, and offshore in U.S.
- Facilitated $40 billion natural gas pipeline from AK to lower 48
- Won a Supreme Court case against the EPA for its abuse of the Endangered Species Act (polar bear population actually increasing)
- Pro-streamlining regulatory structure for approving nuclear power development
- Pro-Tough gasoline sanctions against Iran
- Pro-payroll tax cuts
- Pro-Killing the Death Tax
- Pro-Not Mirandizing terrorists (or "enemy combatants" for you hard-core independents)
- Pro-Tort reform to bring down healthcare costs (like they've done in Texas)
- Pro-Interstate insurance market
- Pro-Tax deduction for purchase of individual policies
- Pro-privatizing Medicare (she supports vouchers to allow people more control over their health decisions)

And I could go on and on ... but you could find these Palin Prescriptions if you bothered to read her memoir, or her Facebook pages, or listen to any of her interviews.

RUKIDDING| 2.10.10 @ 1:27PM

Again,
Policy details not titles
Example: How much revenue will be generated from the pro-payroll tax cuts and how will that revune be applied in order to decrease our deficit.

I am still waiting

RUKIDDING| 2.10.10 @ 1:28PM

I also can go on and on and I have listen to her speak that is what scares me.

RUKIDDING| 2.10.10 @ 1:35PM

By the way the 40 billion dollar pipeline is not only endangered of not being built but it is not scheduled to begin until 2019.

Stop repeating things you hear and do some research.

I have a very nice bridge to sell interested it goes nowhere!

Nicole| 2.10.10 @ 2:13PM

Um, you've been spending too much time on Huff-Po.

The bridge is to be completed by 2019-2020, about the time Sarah is wrapping up her second-term as president.

Jan. 31, 2010 Anchorage Daily News
TransCanada files open-season plan for proposed gas line
Gov. Sean Parnell, the Alaska congressional delegation and several state legislators said Friday morning they are pleased that the pipeline project is progressing.

"This marks the first time Alaska has seen a major producer come together to solicit binding commitments for the transport and delivery of gas to markets in the Lower 48," said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-AK.

http://www.adn.com/oil/story/1116269.html

Nicole| 2.10.10 @ 2:15PM

bridge = gas pipline

* sorry my bad ... this has nothing to do with bridges.

Missy| 2.11.10 @ 9:11PM

BRAVO NICOLE!! Way to slap the little Mythbot down.

Massachusetts' RomneyCare disaster--need I say more to totally discredit the Myth clown?

Nicole | 2.10.10 @ 2:02PM

Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were a Mitt Romney supporter. How's that hunky-wonky thing working out for you?

Sarah gives plenty of details, and no doubt she'll come out with her own policy book later this year. If you Google any of her state-of-the-state addresses she was totally wonkish on Alaska issues, especially energy and environmental policy.

But she's NOT angling herself to run as walking anesthesia. She knows that a leader must lay out the strategic vision and fill in the details later.

But that doesn't mean she doesn't have details. You want DETAILS? Knock yourself out by studying her WRITTEN ideas:

Washington Post Op-Ed on the Politicization of the Climate Change Meeting

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....03402.html

Drill, Baby, Drill - Even Offshore Drilling
http://www.facebook.com/sarahpalin#!/note.php?note_id=191630728434

Roy| 2.10.10 @ 10:01PM

"Mitt Romney supporter"? Wow.

Ken (Old Texican)| 2.10.10 @ 1:08PM

I LOVE THIS THREAD!

Some help me with my spelling...whew too long since college Latin. Q.E.D.

Let me tell each and every one of you...the communists, (pardon the shorthand), are terrified of this woman. Unless she stumbles horribly...SARAH WILL DECIDE WHO THE NEXT PRESIDENT WILL BE.

It is in the cards, folks. If one of the "good" guys throws his hat in the ring, steps up, and get's her enthusiastic help and endorsement...he is a "shoo-in" failing a coup de'etat in the mean-time.

Mr. Goldstein, again, thanks for the QED.

Copyleft| 2.11.10 @ 9:02AM

So, you're saying Sarah Palin is Oprah?

wwwexler| 2.11.10 @ 9:43PM

That fat ass? Oh, hell no!

Nicole| 2.10.10 @ 1:12PM

Christmas = Christian

* my bad

todji| 2.10.10 @ 1:37PM

You all are th e biggest bunch of pathetic maroons. You are completely beyond all reason and live in a fantasy land.

This article is a ridiculous piece of tripe. No one is criticizing Palin for using notes- its expected and every politician does. They're making fun of her because she's not clever enough to use actual index cards or a teleprompter, and for her blatant hypocrisy of condemning Obama for using a teleprompter while using crib notes like a junior highschooler.

Hopefully the health care bill will pass and all you conservative numnuts will be able to get the psychiatric care you so desperately need.

Palin for President| 2.10.10 @ 1:50PM

Todji, I'll make it simpler for you because you can't understand the two-syllable words I used.
Are you nuts? Palin isn't "clever enough to use
a teleprompter"? She's a master with a teleprompter but she doesn't need one like the tongue-tied President you love so much. I thought even a liberal can understand that
ad-libbing (have someone explain that to you) for 45 minutes is 20 trillion times (like Obama's deficits) more difficult than reading a speech off a teleprompter as Obama has to.

So we are "pathetic maroons"? Is that you attempt at color-coding or how you spell baboons? What's even funnier is that can't even spell "numbnuts" correctly although you should be an expert on that word.

Bob| 2.10.10 @ 4:05PM

So why would you need a teleprompter if you never say anything or provide any details? She did read her speech from notes. How is that different from using a teleprompter? Besides, Reagan was the best teleprompter reader around, far better than Obama, and was almost never without one. Do you think less of Reagan because he used the teleprompter more than any previous President?

MikeBee| 2.10.10 @ 5:16PM

Bob,
Reagan was able to, and often did NOT use any teleprompter. He was completely versed in the ideas that he promoted, as he had spent years giving talks to various groups on his ideas even before he first ran for office. Obama, on the other hand, is completely tongue-tied without one. For Christ's sake, he was using a teleprompter when speaking to grade school children. One often wonders whose puppet he is.
Like all good politicians, when giving a speech, Palin will use notes or a teleprompter. But she is able to speak very clearly about her ideas mostly without any notes. Obama simply cannot do this; when he tries, garbage spews from his mouth, making him look and sound completely foolish.

Eric Bystrom| 2.10.10 @ 6:17PM

"Hopefully the health care bill will pass and all you conservative numnuts will be able to get the psychiatric care you so desperately need."

I'm glad you're willing to pay for my psychiatric care. Can I just send you the bill direct? If we cut out the government middleman, it'll be cheaper for you.

loulou| 2.10.10 @ 9:19PM

You're not that lefty who makes those pro-illegal alien propaganda films, are you?

Petronius| 2.11.10 @ 2:21AM

If obamacare becomes law there won't be many M.D.s left to attend anybody. When they can't make any money after training for 15 years and enduring them on fixed incomes, they will surrender their licences and leave the medical Profession.

Palin for President| 2.10.10 @ 1:39PM

A good and fair article, Aaron. The liberals and alleged independents who fear Palin's qualities so much that they lie with every breath are self-proclaimed dunces. She scribbled on her palm
"energy, budget, cut taxes, lift America's spirits."
That's not a script, not an outline, not a list of headings, not even a note. Just a few broad concepts that were more doodles than guides since she spoke extemporaneously for 45 minutes and obviously didn't need reminders
about topics she talks about all day, every day.
She spent the most time on one of many topics she covered that was not in her palm--national security and the War on Terror. Yet liberal/marxist propagandists continue grinding out their childish insults on behalf of a President
who talks about a Navy Corpseman, thinks there are 57 states in the union, says Austrians speak Austrian. thinks Canada has a president, and needs a teleprompter to open his mouth and get beyond "er, um and ah" even when speaking to a class of six-year-old schoolchildren.

But the biggest fabrication is that Palin has no "plan" or "vision" for America. She lays it out almost every time she opens her mouth (and doesn't need a teleprompter). Every patriotic American is familiar with her vision. It's the vision established by the Founding Fathers in the Declaration of Independence and the Constution of the United States, and it's as valid and vital today as it was when this great nation was established, and it should never change...especially not for the putrid Marxism of misery and oppression favored by Palin's opponents.

RUKIDDING| 2.10.10 @ 1:47PM

When Glen Beck asked she could not recall who those founding fathers were.

You hear what you want to hear, not what she is articulating. Sooner or later if her political ambition are great enough she will need to have a serious debate with individuals from opposing point of view with the capability to think. She will not be able to just keep to friendly inetrviews, facebook and twitter.

Palin for President| 2.10.10 @ 1:56PM

No, I'm not kidding. She was asked which was her
FAVORITE Founding Father--there is no such official group of course or didn't you know that, and at first she said all of them, as I would. That's why we call them Founding Fathers not FATHER
because it was a group effort of many outstanding patriots, and then after a few seconds she selected Washington as her favorite. as I do, because he was the greatest. Not like your favorites, Obama, Karl Marx, and Revernd Wright.

RYKIDDING| 2.10.10 @ 2:06PM

Making excuses are you, it seems that all of them is her favourite answer.

It's an oldie but a goodie - What newspapers does she read " all of them"

Please, try just try to be somewhat objective in your thinking in college the course is called Critical Thinking. She probably quit that course like she did her governorship.

Nicole| 2.10.10 @ 2:22PM

RYKIDDING is confounded by someone who doesn't bow down to Katie Couric or share Glenn Beck's obsession about the Founding Fathers. Dude(Dudette), most normal people don't have a favorite Founding Father!! Dang, they were all good. Sarah says she likes Washington because he stepped down voluntarily after two terms and didn't seek to be a monarch. I think that's a DAMN fine answer. Think of how our country would be different if Washington had the pampered entitlement attitude of the inhabitants of his namesake city today? If Washington had been like Barney Frank and Nancy Pelosi, we'd have been screwed from day ONE.

Missy| 2.11.10 @ 9:13PM

RYKIDDING can't think or type. lol

Anthony| 2.10.10 @ 3:33PM

I think she did, moron. I seem to recall she kicked Joe Biden's ass during their one debate, and she didn't have to break a sweat to do it either. Of course, Plugs ain't much of a challenge, still, that's the best the D's could put up against her.It's not Sarah's fault it was a no-contest.
BTW, friendly interviews are the speciality of the MSM, it's how liberals survive.
RU, please put your tin foil hat on the right way, will ya, you're getting distorted feedback.

Bob| 2.10.10 @ 4:07PM

According to the polls after the Biden debate, Biden won by 68%. Where do you get your data????

wwwexler| 2.11.10 @ 9:14PM

What polls? Yours?

lanahi| 2.12.10 @ 7:22AM

She said her favorite founding father was George Washington, who was definitely a founding father.

Dustoff| 2.10.10 @ 1:45PM

Wow some fool shows up here and types in CAPS.
And I should believe what he says. (Bob)

Ahhhhhhh no!

Drew| 2.10.10 @ 1:50PM

Really? I say MORE Marxist misery and oppression. Bring back COMINTERN! Quit singing The Star spangled Banner - I'd love to hear Lady Gaga's version of the Internationale at next year's All Star game. Let us start, today, to build socialism in one country.

But, do this commited Marxist a favor: Explain to me how whisking people away to secret prisons whre they can be tortured is compatible with your understanding of the "Constution" of the United States.

Palin for President. I haven't laughed so much in a long time. With supporters like you - Who needs enemies?

Palin for President| 2.10.10 @ 2:17PM

Say, Drew, have fun with all that Marxist misery and oppression you say you crave because it's already here, in the White House, for more more than a year although like all misery it feels like a century..
Palin isn't for whisking "people" away to secret prisons to be tortured, and neither was Bush, even if waterboarding was torture, which it isn't.
And yes, I'd go for real torture of mass-murdering scum if it saved thousands of American lives including those who deliberately jumped from
skyscrapers 100 stories up rather than be burned to ashes. Great choice that was, huh?

People like you and Obama don't even like
non-secret, luxury detention camps like the Club Med at Guantanamo for terrorist maniacs. You want taxpayers to put them up in resorts in the USA while American kids are sleeping in cars and eating out of dumpsters in Obama's great economy where jobs have disappeared faster than liberals during the Star Spangled Banner.

And please do me a favor and explain to this committed, freedom-loving American how whisking American citizens away to concentration camps and stealing their homes, businesses and lives as FDR did to Japanese Americans during World War II is compatible with your understanding of the
ConstITution of the United States. (If only
your ideology and its practitioners were mere typographical errors!)

Dustoff| 2.10.10 @ 1:54PM

Drew
Palin for President. I haven't laughed so much in a long time. With supporters like you - Who needs enemies?
++++++++++++++++++++++
Yeah O-bummer has done such a bang up job. Heck I'll say one thing for Palin. She ran a state. O-bummer has run what?

OK, ok... His mouth doesn't count!

Nicole| 2.10.10 @ 2:03PM

More Palin policy details...

Good Intentions Aren't Enough With Healthcare Reform
http://www.facebook.com/sarahpalin#!/notes.php?id=24718773587&start=80&hash=c9731c22c8ca7c31bd4063c52303d3f0

National Review Op-Ed on Importance of Petroleum Products in Economy
http://article.nationalreview......arah-palin

Nicole| 2.10.10 @ 2:03PM

More Palin Doctrine ...

Commentary on Falling Dollar, Further Need for Energy Independence
http://www.facebook.com/note.p.....8659543434

Wall Street Journal Op-Ed
Obama and the Bureaucratization of Health Care
http://online.wsj.com/article/.....86024.html

RUKIDDING| 2.10.10 @ 2:12PM

You just don't get it, everything you gave here is either on facebook or as an article that she wrote.

Now do you really believe that anything that is on facebook or in an article submitted is not reviewed and corrected and edited. I am familiar with all of these but not once has she had an interview where she detailed any of those policies. Please, please show me the slightest evidence that she detailed those policies in an interview.

Nicole| 2.10.10 @ 2:28PM

RUKIDDING ... Why don't you show me an example of some other politician doing exactly what you want Palin to do in interviews, ok? C'mon, I know you've got you-tube links to Obama in 2005 before his presidential run detailing how he's going to save 492.3 trillion with his Comparative Research "Death Panels" or Mitt Romney explaining in an interview in 2006 EXACTLY how to combat our obscene national debt, you know where he lays out how many government workers will have to be laid off, the plan to privatize the SEIU, NASA, the VA ... you know, DETAILS, my friend. Show us some details -- two years before anyone's running for any freaking office.

RUKIDDING| 2.10.10 @ 2:43PM

Newt Gingrich
Tim Pawlenty
to name just two so please

RUKIDDING| 2.10.10 @ 2:46PM

Let me know if you would like some more

Nicole| 2.10.10 @ 6:28PM

Links please ... be consistent.

And then try to convince yourself that either Newt Gingrich or Tim Pawlenty could motivate anyone to man a phone bank, walk neighborhoods and show up at massive rallies.

Missy| 2.12.10 @ 10:36PM

.....crickets.....

Good job, Nicole.

truzak| 2.10.10 @ 2:05PM

"Getting" Palin is very simple. She is genuine. As Jesus said of one of his disciples, there is no guile in her. And regular, honest people get it.

Ironically, Palin is exactly what Obama presented himself to be - a different kind of politician: honest, beholding to the people. But Obama is a fraud. He has been disingenuous from his campaign. He repeatedly says and promises one thing, then does another. Even his gullible supporters on the Left who trusted him unconditionally are frustrated and disappointed.

I agree with Mr. Goldstein that Sarah has put her hand in the hand of God. I believe she was tested with Trig's birth and she passed the test. As all those who have been tested by God, beginning with Abraham, I believe she is destined for greatness. And despite everything the Left and their propaganda media have and will do to her, if she stays faithful to God, she will be successful. As Jesus said, "They hated me, they will hate you." She represents everything the Progressives hate about America, beginning with our belief and dependence on God.

Keep praying America! We have no power, no possibility of overcoming the White House and both houses of Congress, the media and the universities that turn our children against their country. But we will prevail if we continue to pray for America. As our faith teaches: Fear nothing. Pray about everything. Amen!

Ric| 2.10.10 @ 2:10PM

The reason why people hate Palin is because she is an arrogant liar who has no problems lying straight to people's faces. She lied about the bridge to nowhere, she lied about hiring lobbyists as mayor of Wasilla, she lied about all the pork and federal largess she solicited as governor of Alaska, she lied about serving the People (she quit halfway through her first term), she lied about all the clothes and gifts she received from the RNC, she lied about what newspapers she read, she lied about the bailout (she supported it before the TeaBaggers turned against it, as did she), she lied about the effect of the Stimulus, she lied about death panels, and she continued to lie, day after day, about almost everything she discusses. She has a fundamental inability to tell the truth.

Indiana Alex| 2.10.10 @ 2:15PM

And if you like your insurance plan you can keep it.

Andrea | 2.10.10 @ 5:06PM

And "my [health care] plan" will reduce costs ...

And line-by-line budget checks...

And transparency...

wwwexler| 2.11.10 @ 9:16PM

C-Span! Don't forget about Obonehead's multiple promises to show ObamaCare details on C-Span. Liar.

RUKIDDING| 2.10.10 @ 2:18PM

Ric,
I do not think that she lies on purpose, I think that she gets cornered and feels she needs to give a some what inteligent answer and because she does not have the inclination or the interest in the details "conviction of belief" she then makes up answers. She really believes she can "wing it" so to speak, someone on the blog here said it best she is intelectually lazy.

Indiana Alex| 2.10.10 @ 2:22PM

And your teleprompter's excuse?

RUKIDDING| 2.10.10 @ 2:28PM

I am no fan of Obama, and yes he has lied and made mistakes, but like Bill O'Rieley likes to say you should not point to bad behavior to justify other bad behavior. So Ales get with the program.

Indiana Alex| 2.10.10 @ 2:59PM

I'll agree with you there, I just can't stand the double standard. Biden goes on national tv and talks about FDR going on television in 1929, and Katie Curuic sits there and nods her head, and the rest of the MSM talks about how Palin is dumb.

Obama says small businesses are trying to get loans to expand payroll and the talking heads nod once again, and make fun of Palin.

I am not a huge fan, but compared to these blithering idiots, she seems pretty smart.

wwwexler| 2.11.10 @ 9:17PM

Corpseman!!!

Indiana Alex| 2.10.10 @ 2:20PM

And we will broadcast negotiations on CSPAN, and it's not like I've been out making backroom deals in the dead of night, and we'll put all bills on the internet for five days before all votes.

Nicole| 2.10.10 @ 2:46PM

RUKIDDING? Seriously ...

lied about the bridge to nowhere = then why did AK Democrats in 2007 give her credit for killing the bridge? She stood up to her own Congressional delegation and re-prioritized the transportation dollars that were coming to her state anyway. GOP hated her for this because the bridge was a pet project.

hiring lobbyists as mayor of Wasilla = so Wasillans don't pay federal tax dollars and don't have any right to get some of their taxes returned to them? She never denied this lobbyist effort, and it's not a criminal offense. She didn't abuse the process and fought for things that weren't behind-closed-doors deals.

lied about all the pork and federal largess she solicited as governor of Alaska = Um, she cut earmarks in her state by 85% from her predecessor and warned incessantly about reliance on federal gov't. She wants projects that can stand on their own, not backroom deals.

lied about serving the People (she quit halfway through her first term) = no, 32 months out 48, more than halfway, and she saved them millions in wasteful frivolous claims, wasted administrative time, while stepping up now to become a national advocate for AK issues.

lied about all the clothes and gifts she received from the RNC = She didn't ask for the clothes, didn't see the price tags, and she didn't keep them. Even the NY Times cleared her on this by interviewing the designer who purchased the clothes. She said it was HER, not Sarah, who bought the clothes. McCain people didn't like Sarah's "normal" wardrobe of consignment dress suits.

lied about what newspapers she read = Or maybe she reads the Drudge Report, you know, the Internet where people can literally read "all of the" stupid newspapers

lied about the bailout (she supported it before the TeaBaggers turned against it, as did she) = She obviously believed what Bush/Bernacke/Paulson told the American people, despite reservations, then realized the bailout became a slush fund. Also, even if she had private reservations, she couldn't have openly disputed McCain's position since she was on his ticket. Get a clue.

lied about the effect of the Stimulus = ???? The stimulus boondoggle is funding state programs that states won't be able to maintain... she called it exactly right. She rejected most of the money offered. Her legislature overrode her veto; they're the porkers. And we still had unemployment in the double digits.

she lied about death panels = She used a metaphor for rationing and pointed to the dangers of gov't bureaucrats controlling costs (see breast cancer screening reductions and the euthanasia issue in Oregon where state is paying for peole to end their lives, but not treatment). Other conservatives have made similar arguments.

she continued to lie, day after day, about almost everything she discusses. She has a fundamental inability to tell the truth.

I think YOU have a fundamental inability to tell the truth, RUKIDDING. Your name is appropriate.

RUKIDDING| 2.10.10 @ 2:56PM

Nicole,

I sense you are getting fustrated, please calm down and try to think about objectively and like I said do some research. Knowledge is power that is why Sara will never be president.

wwwexler| 2.11.10 @ 9:19PM

If a Marxist street organizer and street thug can become President, Sarah will be a shoo-in.

Palin for President| 2.10.10 @ 2:28PM

Aw come on, Ric, every word you just wrote is a lie but we still like you. Same as the way you like Obama although every word out of his mouth for his entire life is a lie. By the way, the death panels exist. Try to stay away from them, whatever Obama calls them. Something like "Medical Councils for Cost Evaluation and Control."
They're run by Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, who is the brother of Rahm Emanuel, and the reincarnation of Dr. Joseph Mengele, Hitler's concentration camp "death panel" chief.

Bilwick| 2.10.10 @ 3:40PM

"She has a fundamental inability to tell the truth. "

So she's not that different from Obama, is that what you're saying?

Indiana Alex| 2.10.10 @ 2:14PM

If Joe Biden is your idea of someone with the "smarts" to be President, much less Obama, consider yourself exposed.

ATLmedia| 2.10.10 @ 2:28PM

It's questionable whether Palins' ever changing positions make her worse than other politicians.
Most Pols however, could probably remember their core principles, without writing them on their hands ...

wwwexler| 2.11.10 @ 9:21PM

I get whiplash watching Obama's head move back and forth trying to read his teleprompter.

TOTUS.

wtpct| 2.10.10 @ 2:29PM

Sarah has turned the media into "Palm Readers" who will be reading "Tea Leaves" come 11-2-10

Bilwick| 2.10.10 @ 2:31PM

Wow, this discussion has gone on for long. Of course, half of the message seem to be coached trolls operating out of playbook ( "I'm a Republican, but . . ." ) Let's just bottom-line it and get some honesty. For example.

"Suzy State-Fellator/2.10.09 2:20 PM:

"I like forcing people to live and spend their money the way I want them to. I also like the idea of legally stealing from people and giving their money to other people. I like Obama because he likes the same things I like. I hate Palin because she stands in his way. She's also a doo-doo head because she doesn't recognize socialism is the bomb!"

Kudos to Suzy for bringing a little honesty to the discussion. She pretty much sums it up, doesn't she?

"Liberal" trolls, no need for any more writing! You can go back to not studying history and economics, or whatever the heck you do with your time.

Ric| 2.10.10 @ 2:31PM

I disagree with "intellectual lazy." She is an arrogant narcassist who does everything to further her own self-image. She'll say anything she can to get ahead. Just look at the latest battle over the word "retard." She took Rahm Emmanuel to ask for using the word in private (c'mon we all do), and then heaped praise on fattie Rush Limbaugh when he used it repeatedly on his show as a name to call liberals. The only retard here is "Palin" herself. Look how she used her "son-in-law" Levi who knocked up her daughter. She trumped him around like he was a Joe Family Values, then dumped him like a cheap suit the second the election was over. The teabaggers must be feeling a little buyers remorse for paying $100k for such a phony to address a convention with 600 people. my high school basketball games had more attendees.

RUKIDDING| 2.10.10 @ 2:40PM

To define her as arrogant and narcisstic does not disqualify her from political office, 90 % of politicians have those traits. My problem with her is that she does not have the the intelectual capacity to make critical decisions.

Nick| 2.10.10 @ 2:49PM

"To define her as arrogant and narcisstic [sic] does not disqualify her from political office, 90 % of politicians have those traits. My problem with her is that she does not have the the intelectual [sic] capacity to make critical decisions."

Please, tell us more about your ability to judge someone's "intelectual [sic] capacity", Einstein.

RUKIDDING| 2.10.10 @ 3:00PM

Actually you can judge and define intelectual capacity. But I see where your problem lies you believe it requires an Einstein to do it, now I understand your attraction to Sarah

Nick| 2.10.10 @ 3:06PM

So, you can judge it, you just can't spell it, huh?

Nick| 2.10.10 @ 3:18PM

Did I stump you with that one, brainiac?

RUKIDDING| 2.10.10 @ 4:52PM

Yes you right I can't spell it sometimes that does happen when English is your fourth language but I would more than be happy to continue the debate in either Italian, French or Spanish

espece d'imbecile
sei proprio uno stracha culo
I am sure EVEN you can understan some spanish

and Yes I am a brainiac, genius

Nick| 2.10.10 @ 6:31PM

Yes, me right! Ha-ha!

Mussolini was also multi-lingual. So was Lucky Luciano. What's your point?

Also, I make it a point NOT to "understan [sic]" Spanish.

wwwexler| 2.11.10 @ 9:22PM

Hahahahaha!!

Good troll sniffing, Nick!

Publik Skool Edycasion strikes again.

Raymond| 2.10.10 @ 4:10PM

I am sorry for you! Your mind is out of place that needs to be aligned. You are brainwashed by libs and right pundits and you lack intellectual broadness to accept what are the real facts. Just go home and help your poor mom wash the dishes.
Rahm, as a professional civil servant must avoid using those F and R words. As an educated person, you need to be Human!! I hope you can read between the lines! U A2SHL!!!

Ric| 2.10.10 @ 4:54PM

Raymond -- You're right, Rahm should never have used the word "retard" to describe liberal democrats, rather, he should have used the word to describe you. Your post was utterly devoid of any logic or argument, and I feel truly dumber for having read it. Thank you. God Bless America! More dollars for education.

Nick| 2.10.10 @ 2:36PM

Sarah Palin killed ObamaCare with one Facebook post!

She is running circles around you bleeding heart liberals. How's that Hopey Changey thing workin' for 'ya?

RUKIDDING| 2.10.10 @ 2:45PM

Nick I guess you still believe in the Tooth Fairy and that Pigs Fly and all that good stuff.

Nick| 2.10.10 @ 2:57PM

ObamaCare is D-E-A-D. Thanks to Mrs. Palin's "death panel" post!

Plus,
President Dither has escalated the war in Afghanistan.
He hasn't closed Gitmo.
He hasn't prosecuted Halliburton or Blackwater.
He still has President Bush's Secretary of Defense.

How's that Hopey Changey stuff workin' out for 'ya?

RUKIDDING| 2.10.10 @ 3:02PM

I guess you have been listening to john Gibson today. Do you ever have a thought of your own.

Nick| 2.10.10 @ 3:08PM

Sorry, don't get Mr. Gibson in Detroit. I was listening to Rush.

President Dither also can't get Cap 'n Tax through!

Angelo| 2.10.10 @ 4:18PM

Nick,
I am with you. Do not waste your time with these idiot liberals who think themselves as intellectual elites. They are a2shls. They are very analytical and they will know the formula applies to them. Just remember: Rome was not destroyed from the outside until it was destroyed from within. You know who destroyed Rome from within?? The liberal elite members of the senate that embraces extravagance, corruption and same sex affairs.

Nick| 2.10.10 @ 6:33PM

Be careful, Angelo.

You don't want to confuse bleeding heart liberals with actual facts from history, do you?

Andrea | 2.10.10 @ 5:09PM

Well, to be fair, Obama helped Palin kill it with his touting of outcomes-based medicine and mentioning end-of-life care.

wwwexler| 2.11.10 @ 9:24PM

Yeah but Palin WANTED to kill it, Obonehead just screwed up. haha!

Bilwick| 2.10.10 @ 2:38PM

Ric says of Palin: "she is an aroogant narcissist. . ." Totally unlike the guy you probably voted for in teh presidential election, right?

Sarah| 2.10.10 @ 2:46PM

Oh guys. What're u worried about when it comes to the lame stream media, I mean jeez everyone nose it's just a club for elitists who like to get together and you know compare "college degrees" and stuff like that, because what Americans need is to get back on track. Ronald Reagan, and Obama should declare war on Iran like his military advisors say, tax cuts and grow the economy. Because u need leadership and the willingness to walk through that door with your eyes open, so I'm not going to close that door if it might be opened up for me. So how's that standard English working out for ya?

Bilwick| 2.10.10 @ 2:50PM

Don't be fooled by "Sarah's" post. This isn't Palin. It's clearly a clever trick by Joe Biden, posing as Sarah. And with Biden, he didn't even have to pretend to be stupid.

Joe Biden| 2.10.10 @ 3:06PM

Hey, I look good in a wig!

Nicole| 2.10.10 @ 2:52PM

Well, then you guys really shouldn't be wasting all your time bashing Sarah Palin. I mean if what you say is true, she probably couldn't attract crowds like Obama to rallies.

Oh, wait ...

Mattled| 2.10.10 @ 4:27PM

Nicole,
Way to duke it out!!
Facts are anathema to a liberal.

They take both sides of an argument, claim ownership of both, then cut off debate

Obama needs a Tele 24/7=Smart.
Palin uses notes=dumb.

Record hot temperatures= Global Warming
Record cold temperatures=Global Warming

Voila----Nuance!

yay!| 2.10.10 @ 2:58PM

i

yay!| 2.10.10 @ 3:01PM

I heart sarah! I want my kids to be like sarah when they grow up. i realize now, that i wasted my life trying to get into a good college. 21st century America doesn't need scientists or doctors! we just need people with the smarts to use facebook, and hunt caribou.

Bilwick| 2.10.10 @ 3:13PM

What America needs is fewer socialists.

Raymond| 2.10.10 @ 3:56PM

College degree guys who do not have common sense and guts are considered failures. As what Alexander and Caesar had both said, "Great kings and Great leaders are not born to become one. They are made to become one, not only by education but by forcing them to experience toughness, defeats and glory." A Westpoint graduate general who never experience bloody war is just nothing but a lameduck soldier. The only way a leader can have courage to decide wisely is when such leader had experience pain before glory. Sarah Palin has been through with this.

jann| 2.10.10 @ 3:03PM

WE LOVE YOU SARAH!!!!!!!!!!!! NOMEETINGNOBILL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

jann| 2.10.10 @ 3:05PM

OH YAY THAT'S SO SILLY THERE'S ROOM FOR EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!! WE LOVE YOU SARAH!!!!

dickbackus| 2.10.10 @ 3:21PM

Sarah Palin stands for what most conservatives want, pro life, 2nd. amendment supporter, close our borders, strong defense, lower taxes, small government, no czars, kill terroists, win war.

Gene Carr| 2.10.10 @ 3:23PM

If Sarah Palin ever becomes PONTUS, it will be as a real woman. Hillary Clinton, Margaret Thatcher and Angelo Merkel became leaders as are 'honorary members of the 'ole boys club'. Palin will achieve it as a wife, a mother as a thoroughly feminine person--more like the Empress Maria Therease, or Isallela of Castile who had lots of children, ruled empires and led armies into war. Run, Sarah, run!

Ken (Old Texican)| 2.10.10 @ 3:24PM

I say again, heh.

I LOVE THIS THREAD!

Someone help me with my spelling...whew too long since college Latin.... Q.E.D. ?

(It means the facts speak for themselves)

Let me tell each and every one of you...the communists, (pardon the shorthand), are terrified of this woman. Unless she stumbles horribly...SARAH WILL DECIDE WHO THE NEXT PRESIDENT WILL BE.

It is in the cards, folks. If one of the "good" guys throws his hat in the ring, steps up, and get's her enthusiastic help and endorsement...he is a "shoo-in" failing a coup de'etat in the mean-time.

Mr. Goldstein, again, thanks for the QED.

Ken (Old Texican)| 2.10.10 @ 3:31PM

OKOK I looked it up. QED

""Q.E.D. is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase quod erat demonstrandum, which literally means "which was to be demonstrated". The phrase is written in its abbreviated form at the end of a mathematical proof or philosophical argument to signify that the last statement deduced was the one to be demonstrated; the abbreviation thus signals the completion of the proof.""

Petronius| 2.11.10 @ 2:37AM

Right on ole Tex. Cognimus magna.

Bilwick| 2.10.10 @ 3:30PM

Let's face it, if Sarah Palin were a Rhodes Scholar, the State-shtuppers would still hate her., because she opposes "Il Dufe" and Darth Soros, and has taken her stand with people who DON'T want to be tax serfs.

The question of how smart she is or isn't (and people who are dumb enough to buy into statism shouldn't be throwing stones) is merely a diversionary tactic.

West| 2.10.10 @ 3:32PM

Once I considered her to be a breath of fresh air, but her quitting the governorship of Alaska in conjunction with that nonsensical resignation speech, I feel that she has now become quite stale.

Bilwick| 2.10.10 @ 3:38PM

Who would you prefer?

West| 2.10.10 @ 4:03PM

Though he has generally been under the MSM radar, my hope is that Huckabee regains some of the populist momentum from the 2008 primaries for a 2012 run.

Bilwick| 2.10.10 @ 4:09PM

Too Bible belt creepy for me, but my bottom line is: who's most pro-freedom? Is Huckabee more pro-market, anti-tax, pro-Second Amendment than Palin?

West| 2.10.10 @ 4:38PM

Huckabee is strongly pro-Second Amendment and I favored his flat tax platform. But yes, practically all his primary wins were in the Bible belt so it does become a question of his breaking out into the rest of America. Of the two, Huckabee or Palin, I do prefer Huckabee's stance on the issues.

Ric| 2.10.10 @ 4:56PM

No one can be "pro-freedom" without being pro-choice. How about them apples, biatch?

MiaMia| 2.10.10 @ 5:19PM

Ric,
So you equate abortion with freedom. That's rotten apples Ric.

Ric| 2.10.10 @ 6:06PM

The ability to choose without having government make my decision for me. Why yes, that's the very definition of freedom. Thank you very much.

MiaMia| 2.10.10 @ 6:38PM

Alas, only thinking of yourself in the abortion decision.

Nick| 2.10.10 @ 6:38PM

Ric,

May I choose to kill you?

Nick| 2.10.10 @ 6:44PM

Also, that is not "freedom", it is LICENSE.

"When liberty becomes license, dictatorship is near" (Will Durant). (Source: Dictionary.com)

stephanie| 2.10.10 @ 10:04PM

But Ric, the government gave you the "freedom" to kill your unborn.
Not much freedom for the babies though, heh?

wwwexler| 2.11.10 @ 9:28PM

Libs don't care about the babies, silly conservatives--babies can't vote, you know.

Leo| 2.10.10 @ 3:39PM

Hmm many concerned out there I see. I am concerned our sitting Pres. Obama cannot pronounce Corpsman...twice while reading his speech from a teleprompter! What a buffoon and more so because he surrounds himself with buffoons. That's why in us peons like to call you all elites "living in your own mind" , he is just to smart to reevaluate, or in his case evaluate at all.

Ken (Old Texican)| 2.10.10 @ 3:40PM

Bilwick,
Welcome to the conversations here. I hope to see more of your thought as time goes by.
Nick,
You crack me up. Hang around more.

Bilwick| 2.10.10 @ 3:58PM

Thanks, Ken. I'm enjoying myself. All pro-freedom blogs draw their share of statist trolls, but for some reason--at least with this article--this one seems to draw the dumbest of them, and I have a sadistic streak that enjoys making fun of them.

Angelo| 2.10.10 @ 3:41PM

Difference between Libs and Conservatives:
1. Liberal spend too much/Conservatives thrifty
2. Liberal lacks common sense/conservative has common sense
3. Liberal women are for past times while conservative women are marrying types.
4. Most of countries run by liberals are in chaos like in Africa, In South America

Ric| 2.10.10 @ 5:00PM

Angelo -- Lets answer your moronic post.
1) George W took a $300bln surplus and turned it into a $1.2tr deficeit. How's that for thrify?
2) Conservatives led by Cheney and W invaded Iraq, a county with no WMD and no connection to 9/11. How's that for "common sense."
3) Bristol Palin, enough said...
4) "Most of the countries run by liberals are in chaos like in Africa, In South America" -- what does that even mean? Can you even write? Did you go to school?

Nobama| 2.11.10 @ 9:34PM

Clinton gave us 9/11 because of his dereliction of duty in the 1990s----and the two wars that followed.

$1.2tr deficit is a lie--more like 500bi. A lot of that was a TARP loan that's since been repaid by the banks. Obama's spending is far worse than George W's.

Sarah| 2.10.10 @ 3:42PM

Oh sounds like some people have a case of the sillies! u can't have economic growth if u don't solve the jobs crisis. America's strength comes from her strength, and I want America to go on being strong! How do you like those apples? See, when u trust the American people with their money, they grow the economy. Our shores need to be protected. Only quitters go down stream.

Bilwick| 2.10.10 @ 3:48PM

Hey, look, it's Biden in a wig again, posing as Palin! How funny! You do get it the joke, right? Because when Joe wries, "when u trust the American people with their money, they grow the economy" he's being ironic. What he actually means is "if you trust geniuses like me an Obama with your money. . . ." See how clever he is? And "our shores need to protected"!? What a howler! Because, you know, only a goofball would actually WANT to protect our shores. Obama and Biden will stand for none of that silliness.

Mattled| 2.10.10 @ 4:16PM

Looks like Bob The "Blogger" (LOL) has split up his personalities. Or is it Roberta?

Anyhow--Look at the title again---There's Something About Sarah.

After reading thru the bird regurgitation's, she really does bring out the meow in the Libturds, doesn't she?

jim rice| 2.10.10 @ 4:23PM

heh. Sarah Palin is funny. :)

John Edwards for Prez| 2.10.10 @ 4:33PM

John's New Slogan(s):

'Cause if we're gonna run on stupid, I can't be beat!

Three America's:
Mine, Elizabeth's and Rielle's.

" MY boy's can swim---I still got it and will take it to the WH".

"I'll throw a Dave Matthews Concert on top of the Trump Tower every day until every veteran sleeping under a bridge has heard him."

Stique F.| 2.10.10 @ 5:00PM

"Liberals Can't Put Their Finger on Palin" - No one can! She's so moronic and inconsistent it's a mystery why anyone is still paying attention to her... She basically cost the Republicans the 2008 election and now they worship her like a goddess! My guess is slow news cycles and a wealth of idiots who don't know anything... that can relate to someone who's as empty headed as Miss Palin is.

Ken (Old Texican)| 2.10.10 @ 5:19PM

I LOVE watching the lefties' heads explode. heh. When we take the country back...the dummies are going to have to get a job...other than being professionally stupid.
I love it.
Worse...heh heh... the dumbunnies won't even see it coming.
Seriously, fellow grown-ups, read the posts above and ROFL.
Not one of them can spell... or write a declarative sentence.
...I wonder if they can gut fish to keep from starving.

Richard Baker| 2.10.10 @ 5:43PM

Maybe after the mess that the "Harvards", as LBJ called them, have made of everything a next door neighbor President who uses Common Sense instead of advanced degrees is worth a try. After all, she could hardly do worse than the "Educated Elite." The Kenyan and all the other Harvards aren't doing much to make graduate level work look like much of a good thing, are they?

Thom| 2.10.10 @ 6:25PM

Hey Richard, I run across this mindset more and more in my profession. What used to be called MBAs and mean Masters in Business Administration is now simply Management By Arseholes. Such people typically have nothing but “book” knowledge and think they are qualified to be “Generals” right out of college. They typically never learn the “business” and hop from one management job to another every so many years leaving a wake of destruction in their wake. Sound familiar? The “Harvards” of LBJs time were certainly cut from that mold. I still remember McNamara’s requirement to shrink the airframes between the Air Force and the Navy to one common fighter which resulted in putting the 68,000 lb F-111B bomber on Carriers as an air defense fighter in place of what was a purpose built F-14 for that role. An ounce of common sense would have shot down that idea but as demonstrated time and time again, common sense is not an attribute you find with “Harvards”.

kwc57| 2.10.10 @ 5:53PM

Palin actually offered squat in the way of substantial policy differences that conservatives could offer as an alternative. Her whole speech was little more than bumper sticker cliches and platitudes. Is that really waht we conservatives need or want?

Ken (Old Texican)| 2.10.10 @ 6:09PM

Hi KW57
I'm screwing off, so I will play again.

WRITE THIS ON THE PALM OF YOUR HAND:

"I am ignorant"
"My communist bosses will lose"
" I need to get a better job, like being a telephone solicitor"
heh.

Born in 1947| 2.10.10 @ 6:42PM

I have to like Palin. She is intelligent. she has at least one and posibly two college degrees. Her demeanor and presentation before the public tells me she learned something from her journalism / communications degree. That may or may not make her the most intelligent women in the world.

But then again, the absolute highest IQ doesn't prove anything. Goebells, and others in Hitler's inner circle had very high IQ's. They were also monsters.

I would settle for an intelligent women, which she is, and a moral compass that doesn't swing with the wind

My suggestion: how does she relate to her husband, and how does she relate or take care of her family? I am not talking about perfection, or should I bring up Mark Sanford, or Edwards from North Carolina? I suggest the former idea as a clue to judging her.

Sarah | 2.10.10 @ 7:33PM

Oh guys please. You're missing my point. I want to speak for the Joe the Plumbers out there, not some elitists with the college diplomas. Gee whiz, I mean. Ronald Reagan. Our founding fathers. The Constitution? We need to drill for our future. Cut budgets and lift the spirits of the American spirit, because I'm not a quitter. Health care.

wwwexler| 2.11.10 @ 9:37PM

You mean 'death panels'?

Dana White| 2.10.10 @ 8:00PM

The fact that the MSM and liberals hate her so much makes me appreciate her. But let's not get carried away. There are far, far more substantive people on the right. Every time I hear Palin talk, I cringe. Hearing her on Fox News after Newt Gingrich or Karl Rove makes you understand how little substance she brings to the role.

Glenn Beck asked Palin who her favorite founder was. She looked blank for a moment and said "All of them. The founders came together in diversity and collectivism . . ." This is quintessential Palin. Don't know an answer to the question? Just blurt out whatever random thoughts come in to your head.

We conservatives can do better than this.

loulou| 2.10.10 @ 9:30PM

Newt may be brilliant but he is a train wreck in the judgement department. Conservatives will not support him for Pres so he had better not try.

Rove is a RINO who advised a RINO president. I'll stick with Sarah.

loulou| 2.10.10 @ 9:32PM

Who is YOUR favorite founder?
Who is the leader of Uzbekistan?
How do you pronounce "corpsman"?

Jeff| 2.11.10 @ 12:09AM

You're a liar. She gave a perfect answer, that mentally unstable glen beck interrupted, but that she continued answering. She explained that all of the founders were impressive and diverse, then she chose Washington, because he convinced them to allow him to serve as president and not king. And she mentioned how he chose to serve only two terms instead of a third, returning to his farm at Mt. Vernon. And her answer is "all on tape", just as her impressive Q and A in Nashville is despite the unhinged Andrea Mitchells and Chris Matthews of the world.

Gary Marchinke| 2.10.10 @ 8:08PM

The liberals ALWAYS underestimated Reagan. But Reagan was the best President of my lifetime. These people do not underestimate Palin, They FEAR Her - Big time!!!!!!!

Reagan Rider| 2.10.10 @ 9:11PM

Despite the fact she was on the bottom half of a losing ticket and hasn't held public office in more than half a year...

Don't remember why? She's a quitter. Why? Because she can make more money as a pundit than she can as a governor.

lanahi| 2.12.10 @ 7:55AM

She wasn't rich enough to keep paying for more frivolous suits. $500,000 a year...how long could YOU keep it up? Their plan was to bankrupt her, and they would have. And they would have kept it up, costing both her and the state money and time they couldn't afford. It worked against the harpies in a way they didn't intend when she quit, because now she is free to help our nation in the way only she can. God is good.

loulou| 2.10.10 @ 9:28PM

At least Sarah didn't attend college as a foreign (Indonesian) student as Obama did.

jumpstart| 2.10.10 @ 10:41PM

I have scrolled through Palin Posting Hell to share my Palin Campaign Song with you.

I had an epiphany this mornng . Before that I was opposed to the notion of Palin for President. Now I am as in the tank as the blindest, most insane believer that she has the chance of a snowball in hell in 2012.

Some c'mon, Sarah, let's Gitter done! Put on an extra layer of eye-liner for the road....

I can shoot a moose,
field-dress him,
And fry him in a pan -
Can catch a salmon
fillet and bone it,
And put it in a can.
"Cause I'm a Wo-man
W-O-M-A-N
Let me say it again
And again
And again...

Don't need a teleprompter -
Just keep workin' on my tan
"Cause ev'ry thought I ever had
Is in the palm of my hand
Yes, I'm a Wo-man
W-O-M-A-N

I sang it for my brother, a Palin lover, and he is suing for some kind of sibling divorce.

Odd, he liked my parody last week of Obama's
"Someone's Rockin' My DreamBoat"

Levity is no laughing matter with some people.

So.Con, do you recognize the style? Just nod if you do.

SoCon| 2.12.10 @ 10:46PM

What?

wankel| 2.10.10 @ 10:47PM

I don't dislike her but I am afraid we may tie our wagon to her.

wankel| 2.10.10 @ 10:47PM

I don't dislike her but I am afraid we may tie our wagon to her.

Andrew| 2.10.10 @ 11:29PM

Aaron, he mispronounced it THREE times, and he also mispronounced it back in October, which suggests that no one in his administration is smart enough to even KNOW that he mispronounced it in October, 'cuz otherwise they would've corrected him. Which speaks volumes about his, and their, complete disconnect from our military. Oh, and in the same sentence last week he called the c0rpsman "Christian" and "Christopher."

Greg in Houston| 2.10.10 @ 11:38PM

I don't like her as much as I used to. She supports people like McCain and Rick Perry, Gov of Texas. She is just another establishment Republican. I left the Republican Party two years ago. I am a conservative first.

Soljerblue| 2.11.10 @ 1:31AM

I plan to live to see MizSarah sworn in as POTUS, so I can die laughing at the whiny leftist brats throwing a a fit for the ages.

American Girl| 2.11.10 @ 5:16AM

THANK YOU...for an article that speaks well and true of this American leader. God bless her...and you, too.

aware| 2.11.10 @ 6:20AM

Neo cons are co-opting the Tea Party/ Freedom movement just like they did the Reagan revolution in 1988(or before). They don't any more believe in limited government now than they did then. Statists of the right are as bad as statists of the left. But that will be the usual "choice" come 2012 if we still have a choice at all.

Louis Jenkins| 2.11.10 @ 8:20AM

Some say Abe Lincoln was the best president and others say the worst. But wasn't his Gettysburg address written on an envelope? A short speech that left the crowd dumbfounded-what a horrible short speech!! We expected better from our President!! The other guy who spoke at the event talked on and on, for over an hour. What a great speaker they thought. So if we take Palin's method of recording notes and compare it to Abe's there's not much difference. An envelope? Honestly, I don't know which of the Gettysburg speechs were better, but I do know which one is in the history books. Beware, the statist news media is out to shape history and ensure that all manner of detraction is employed when it comes to anyone who is not with them. Writing notes on one's hand is juvenile, but using a teleprompter for every spoken word ain't much better. Get over it folks.

Sarah | 2.11.10 @ 1:59PM

Yes. The brevity of Palin's remarks proves she is as wise, eloquent, learned, and noble as Abe Lincoln. The logic of this post is flawless. Why don't the liberals get it?

Louis Jenkins| 2.11.10 @ 4:21PM

Yikes!! Everyone knows that Lincoln never used folksy stories involving squirrels, steamboats, dogs, or farmers. He never spoke in layman's terms about ministers, politicians, or other issues. He was always stately, wise, eloquent, and noble. He never pardoned the toy soldiers his two son's sentenced to death for sleeping on guard duty (on official Whitehouse stationary). Nope, he never used his country wit and humor one iota. When he arrived on the Presidential stage he forsook all that he was, where he came from, and his childhood.

Louis Jenkins| 2.11.10 @ 8:14PM

Oh yeah! President Lincoln never, ever, ever, said one nasty thing about anyone. He was so noble and wise.

“Negro equality? Fudge!” — Abraham Lincoln, Fragments: Notes for Speeches, Sept. 1859 (Vol. III)

“If I could save The Union without freeing any slaves, I would do it” — Abraham Lincoln, in a letter to Horace Greeley

“I am a little uneasy about the abolishment of slavery in this District [of Columbia].” — Abraham Lincoln, 1862

“The whole nation is interested that the best use shall be made of these [new] territories. We want them for the homes of free white people.” — Abraham Lincoln, October 16, 1854

“I have no purpose to introduce political and social equality between the white and black races. There is a physical difference between the two, which, in my judgment, will probably forever forbid their living together upon the footing of perfect equality; and inasmuch as it becomes a necessity that there must be a difference, I, as well as Judge Douglas, am in the favor of the race to which I belong having the superior position. I have never said anything to the contrary.” — Abraham Lincoln, “Lincoln’s Reply to Douglas, Ottawa, Illinois, August 21, 1858,” in “Abraham Lincoln: His Speeches and Writings, ed. Roy P. Basler (New York: Da Capo Press, 1990), p. 445

So Palin is dumb, nasty, and says distasteful things, particularly as compared to Lincoln. Don't get me wrong, I am not a Lincoln hater. He was a man who did what he felt needed doing. But he should never be held up as an examplar President, even compared to "maybe maybe not" candidate Palin and her remarks.

Bilwick| 2.11.10 @ 8:26AM

All politicians disappoint eventually; but I can't help like Palin for the way that the State-shtuppers hate and fear her. Look at how the statist scumls have charged out of the woodwork to mock and deride her here. It's hard to imagine anyone strongly pro-freedom they wouldn't traduce. The playbook is that people who are pro-liberty are either villains or dopes. They've selected Palin to be this year's dope. If she were an Ivy Leaguer, perhaps attached to the Cato Institute or some other pro-freedom think-tank, she'd be a villain. Ho hum SOS. But I've got to figure anyone these bottom-feeders oppose so strongly has to be good for America. Certainly better than the dopes (Carter, Biden, Obama) and villains (Ted Kennedy, Soros, Obama) who are invariably in their front ranks.

Yosemeti Sam| 2.11.10 @ 8:41AM

" ... Yet for all their disdain for the former Alaska governor, liberals still can't quite put their finger on her ...."

Well, of course - they're all thumbs when it comes to disparaging her.

How many of her detractors - from any liberal LBSM PEN1/political scum pond - have been a
successful elected mayor or elected governor?
Surely, they're credentials/elemental bona fides to entering the arena of supra-politics; either with sincere intent or in contrast to the wont of liberals who play-act with highbrowed cynicism: ya-stupids-you-don't-know-whats'-good-for-you spiel.

Consider this allegorical truism:

" ... Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgement, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel...."
St Matthew ch. 23, v. 23

The LBSM PEN1 strain at Gov Sarah Palin yet
swallow whole the tripe of socialist spin-offs of syrupy hemlock flavored Marxist ideologies.

Richard Baker| 2.11.10 @ 1:26PM

Thom:
My Algebra professor, Leroy Heath, at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 1980 in Daytona Beach, was a Navy test pilot at Pax River and he flew part of the test series on the F-111B. He said it was a slug and overweight for carrier use and that it was totally unfit for the Navy. Eventually, even McNamara had to agree. The F-111 (once referred to as the TFX) was not the new common fighter such as the F-4 Phantom II that was eventually used by the USAF, Navy, and USMC. Until the test series was completed, no one could convince His Majesty that this wasn't going to happen. Arrogance in spades. Remember his BIG triumph at Ford was the Falcon.

canuckistani| 2.11.10 @ 2:25PM

Guys,
Don't you get it? There is nothing a left or right prez can do to stem the hemorrhage of the American manifesto. It has to start with the individual making rational decisions.
50-plus republicans are not pounding the table to end medicare and social security. Why not? (Because they know all 50-plusers, of all stripes, love sucking at the government teet).
Does Palin want to end these entitlements? Nope. What about corn subsidies that are raising gas prices and fattening our kids? Nope.
Pulling back from dozens of forward military bases in long-dormant war zones? Nope.
If you want a tea-party movement to support you, try formulating policy around these issues of entitlement and excess that can be excised from the federal budget in one year. I think you'll find entrenched interests from ALL sides want these and many more to stay exactly the way they are.

Bilwick| 2.11.10 @ 2:34PM

So what do recommend as an alternative?

canuckistani| 2.11.10 @ 3:22PM

I suggest endorsing candidates that are willing to separate social issues from fiscal issues. Blurring them only leads to misdirection and an energizing of the lunatic fringe on all sides - one which enables nimble operators to profit while the rest of the populace is distracted.
I believe the federal government should be participating in only a few areas of our life:a level and well-regulated commercial system - where there are penalties for incompetence and rewards for ingenuity. Penalties for hoarding and rewards for investing in people and infrastructure. An elimination of subsidies for dead industries like corn, oil and coal, and re-investment in competitive-edge producing sectors we can drive with employment and education right here.
End to federal programs like Medicare and Social Security - unless the programs are proven to be self-sustaining without dipping into the general revenue trough.
Externally, the US has been spectacular in its failure to "manage" the world. We are xenophobes, want to be left alone, and we will not take the time to understand the cesspools we continue to send our diplomats and soldiers into without a) a goal b) an exit and c) a point. If the average American cannot find Iraq or Afghanistan on a map, then do not go there. We are just not good at it. We're much better at making deals, profiting by them and moving on. That's the alternative I want.
I do not want my government promoting anything abroad other than US-made products and services. The rest is elitist pap that other empires have attempted to do for thousands of years. The Chinese don't do it, and they're supposed to be commie thugs, the red menace, lacing our drinking water....not any more, they're impartial profiteers. That's what I want for our foreign policy. If a culture or state cannot survive on its own, then too bad, time to evolve or perish.
The federal government should be in the business of defending the constitution for all Americans. Life: #37 best healthcare.
Liberty: #1 incarceration rate, Patriot Act, constant surveillance.
Pursuit of happiness: think the whole gay portfolio. Who are we to deny another American their dream? I have dislikes, but my ancestors got here looking for a change too.
But do it with incentives, not more unfunded mandates. Penalties for abuse, rewards for improvement to the issues above.
Now in all of this bitching, there really is no alternative to what we have, except for a recognition by the voting public that we must change our perspective on government and how we spend our money.
For every "conservative", there's a "progressive" looking to adjust the bar. We are at an impasse until a bloc can unite with a shelf-life of one or two terms to enact major changes to the way we do business in Washington. Agreeing to table social issues for 10 years is a start.
That's my verbal diarrhea for the day.

Nick| 2.11.10 @ 7:29PM

Ken (Old Texican),

Thanks for the compliment from yesterday.
Just saw it!

Always glad to make people laugh.

MTB| 2.12.10 @ 6:48PM

I like Palin and would like to see her at least run for office; don't know if she'll get the nomination or not, but whoever gets it and runs against the Liar-in-Chief can win with a simple slogan, "Anyone But Obama!"

jumpstart| 2.12.10 @ 11:40PM

So.Con. Whaddya mean,"What?" - I said I'd change my name - and now you don't recognize me from SF....

Just having a little fun with our shining star who may be Palin' into Insignificance by 2112 -

ds

SoCon| 2.13.10 @ 1:31AM

Give the North Star a chance--I happen to like her eyeliner!!

You and Sarah have a lot in common; you're both country girls. Even though you moved to the city by the bay, you're still a country-girl at heart, right?

I'm not in the tank for anyone on this earth. Sarah will rise or fall on her own merits: I'm just willing to give the Arctic Fox a fair shot.

Besides, she drives the opposition nuts--which makes me laugh--and I don't see anyone better, do you?

I like the way your brother thinks--those Texas boys are real smart!

Bruce from AP| 2.13.10 @ 9:03PM

I think that Sara's comment about liking all of the Founder's was very intelligent. Lincon, Hamilton, Jefferson - all smart men, all deverse - all came together to found our nation!

jumpstara/In Stitches/Diane| 2.14.10 @ 4:00AM

Country girl? Born in Dallas. Closest I ever got to the country was three country clubs and a week-end at a dude ranch in Decatur TX once. When I lived in So. Cal. I went to San Diego and LA quite often - they never seemed as metropolitan as Dallas. When we first moved to Bay Area, I was impressed with SF. But it has become a freak show run by a Board of Supervisors who ought to be in straightjacketcs. Streets littered by the dregs of humanity now. Oh, and to top it off, SF is a Sanctuary City. And run by a Mayor who defies description in a lot of ways.

Dallas seems bigger than anything I have ever seen in California. Dallas has lots bigger land, bigger houses, bigger money . Our former president chose to live there - at least in the neighborhoood - Highland Park, which is where I lived, too.

Married, moved to California - first time I saw a bunch/flock/herd - of cattle in a field in Escondido - exclaimed "Just look at all those cows, sitting down out there!" Informed by California dudes, in a withering tone, cows don't "sit down". That's the kind of a country girl I am.

SoCon| 2.14.10 @ 8:30PM

Oh, an upper-crust girl; did you shop at Neiman Marcus when you lived in Dallas? It's my favorite.

No matter, geographical location isn't important; it's what's in a person's heart that counts.

You're right about SF: It used to be a gorgeous city now it stinks literally and figuratively. It never fails when liberal run things.

What a tragedy.

I love the opera and ballet, but other than the ready availability of the arts, I have little use for big cities.

One special thing about California is the Pacific Ocean--and for me, a native SoCal girl who grew up on our sunny beaches, that means a lot.

jumpstart & co., inc.| 2.16.10 @ 6:06PM

For the record, I don't live in San Francisco. I live in South San Francisco - flying in to SFO you will see a tacky sign on a small mountain that says '"SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO THE INDUSTRIAL CITY" which I guess is better than what it was at the turn-of-the-century. I believe it was known as Butcher Town. At any rate, it was mostly meat-packing and brothels. When we moved from SF to SSF in 1954 to a modest little tract house in the suburbs there were still remnants of old. If the wind was wrong, there was an overwhelming stench from a pig farm. Our house was about two blocks from a turkey farm. Odd, we didn't notice all that when we were looking at the models!

Before that we lived in Santa Barbara in the absolutely best "trailer park" college students could afford. We felt very upper crust.

"Upper Crust" - that's a quaint put-down. Yes, I did shop at NM. It was my birthright. When they finally came to California, they came first to Newport Beach about 28 years ago and we would fly to John Wayne for the day to shop and lunch there. In case that sounds "upper crust" to you - I flew on passes. When they came to Union Square in SF, on Opening Day they had a Major Domo offering charge card applications at the door. I said thanks, I have one - and showed him mine, which was vintage NM at the time. In Texas it is not considered upper crust to shop at NM.

Sadly, when Mr. Stanley died, the Neiman Marcus that was, died with him. Helen Corbitt, who founded the Zodiac Room Restaurant in Dallas (and wrote many cookbooks) would puke if she had to eat at the one at Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto.

I "grew up on" California sunny beaches, too - but it was after I married. Oceanside, San Onofre (good waves), Laguna, Balboa - actually I did a little growing up in a bar called Christian's Hut on Balboa Island, East Beach in Santa Barbara, the one at the end of Butterfly Lane in Montecito.

If there is a lower-crust, you will be glad to know that is my "final resting place". I swim at the municpal pool - 10 swims for $16!

SoCon| 2.16.10 @ 9:01PM

Upper crust is a put-down? I had no idea and wouldn't have said it if I'd known you'd take it as an insult. I meant no disrespect.

I thought it was a compliment--I certainly don't have a problem with people who work hard and do well; my parents worked their buns off to make a better life for their children.

Upper crust is more of a sensibility to me--of those who enjoy the arts and appreciate beauty. It's not about income as much as it's about the pursuit of refinement. I'm just tired of our crude culture--I'm sick to death of it, really

I lived at Stanford for five years and have shopped at the shopping center there, though I'm not familiar with the restaurant you mentioned.

Stanford will always have a special place in my heart along with the dear friends I made there.

jumptart,etc.| 2.17.10 @ 5:50PM

Stanford is what got us headed north, upon my husband's graduation from UCSB. He was awarded a scholarship to do his master's there.

The restaurant is just the one that all NMs have. They were all once a real treat in the shopping day. They all have their signature popover and a cup of lovely chicken consomme while youeruse the menu. But those two delights are where the elegance of old ends!. I had an open face lobster sandwich there not long ago and I think the lobster died of old age, washed up on a deserted beach and was discovered weeks later by the chef on his day off. He put the lobster in the trunk of his car, forgot about it for two weeks, and then served it to me....

Stanford is dear to my heart, too. My son was married in the cathedral/chapel the month it reopenedafter being closed for several years following extensive earth quake damage of Loma Prieta - I believe that was '89. We have so many, it's had to date them. my house is built astride the San Andreas fault, which is an occasionally jarring experience. The campus bookstore is also a haunt of mine.

I think I should not get off the subject of whatever the subject is in these blogs.

SoCon| 2.17.10 @ 8:57PM

Well, Stanford is a lovely way to end our conversation; fond memories of my years there still fill me with happiness.
I left a part of my heart there.

jumpstart vote-counting| 2.18.10 @ 5:19PM

I think it all comes down to numbers with me. Long ago there were a series of books called the Peter Principle - wherein the author posited the notion of what happens when a really good worker at one level is promoted to the level of his incompetence, thus bollixing up the works.

Sarah Palin was Mayor of Wasilla - population 10,256

She progressed to Governor of Alaska - population 663,661 - 663 thousand

The population of Los Angeles, CA is 3,833,995 - 3 million, 884 thousand

The population of South San Francisco is around 62,000. I have never seen a mayor of our town who could get elected governor of CA. And 62,000 is considerably more that the population of Wasilla.

There are only 300 million in the whole United States - how hard could that be if you have already run Wasilla?

We all gotta start somewhere, though. Wasilla (pop. 10,000) is as good a place as any to train for being President of the United States. Oh, no - I forgot the tenure as governor where she stood down the Exxon suits..

To me it is like going from managing a McDonald's to running a 5-Star restaurant.

SoCon| 2.19.10 @ 4:43AM

At least Sarah held executive positions, the buck stopped with her.

Obama doesn't even have that experience--and that's not considering his extreme 'political' views. I can't believe the fools in this country elected him.

I'm not a Romney fan: He's got all the charisma of a cardboard cutout.

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