-
The Religion of Peace Strikes London Again
May 22, 2013 | 1 comment
-
Carney Goes Birther on Major Garrett
May 22, 2013 | 7 comments
-
Ray Manzarek, R.I.P.
May 20, 2013 | 1 comment
-
Thoughts on The Tornado in Moore, Oklahoma
May 20, 2013 | 1 comment
-
Alan O’Day, R.I.P.
May 20, 2013 | 3 comments
The Spectacle Blog
As far as liberal bloggers go, Baltimore Sun TV critic David Zurawik is one of the better ones out there.
Zurawik sometimes goes against the grain as he did when he criticized the Obama Administration’s war on the Fox News Channel in October 2009. In the run up to the mid-term elections, Zurawik took both President Obama and the Democratic National Committee to task for their attacks against the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
With this in mind, I wish Zurawik would take a more fair and balanced approach to Sarah Palin. When I say fair and balanced, I am not expecting Zurawik to concur with Palin’s philosophy, policies or even her personal conduct. But I do expect a pretense of objectivity.
Which brings me to Sarah Palin’s Alaska. Suffice it to say, Zurawik is not a fan of the show:
But here’s what matters about her lowering herself to the freak show level of a reality TV star on TLC.
When the carnival comes to town — and TV and the Internet are our electronic midways — we all at one time or another let the carnival barkers lead us to one of the back tents to look at the fish with six heads or the woman with so many tattoos she has not one inch of flesh colored skin. We pay our money, we look, we shake our heads and then we go back to our real lives. We do not invite the woman with the grotesque tattoos home for dinner.
And while we might tune into the reality-TV show characters and even follow them on sleazy celebrity gossip websites, we don’t vote for them as presidents.
So Sarah Palin is “the woman with the grotesque tatoos” we should not invite to the dinner table nor elect President? Well, whether Sarah Palin is invited to the dinner table or elected President is up to the American people, not David Zurawik.
One of Zurawik’s chief objections to Sarah Palin’s Alaska is her involvement in hunting and commercial fishing. Or as Zurawik puts it, “Palin bludgeoning fish to death and shooting caribou.” O.K, fine, Zurawik doesn’t like hunting or commercial fishing. Yet his objections beg several questions.
How does Zurawik think meat and fish come to market? Does he think caribou and halibut walk into the local supermarket and declare they are ready to eat?
Does Zurawik think hunting and commercial fishing should be banned? Should Americans be prohibited from purchasing and consuming meat and fish?
After all, Sarah Palin is hardly the only American, let alone Alaskan, who engages in hunting and commercial fishing. Indeed, Palin was out hunting with her father and a family friend. Or does Zurawik also consider Chuck Heath and Steve Becker to be nothing more than reality-TV show characters? If he does then that tells me that Zurawik sees Palin, her family and her friends as less than human beings.
After reading Zurawik’s column I can only come to one conclusion. David Zurawik hates Sarah Palin. Sadly, he isn’t the only one. But surely Zurawik can do better than that.
View all comments (40) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Aaron Goldstein
http://spectator.org/blog/2010/12/10/zurawik-hates-sarah-palin
Follow us:
ADVERTISEMENT
SPONSORED LINKS
FLASHBACK TO: 1995
-
Pope Culture
A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
-
Why the GOP Does Not, Like, Totally Suck
Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
-
Dames at Sea
-
In the Absence of Guns
In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
-
The Metaphysical Martini
-
Counting the Costs of Clintonism
The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
-
Chuck McHagel
It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
-
The Legacy of Old John and Mother Fresh-Roasted
-
It’s the Best Time of the Year
The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
-
The Bush Crack-Up
Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy?
Clip of the Day
ADVERTISEMENT
nobama2010| 12.10.10 @ 1:17PM
What Most of America would say? Who the f--k is David Zurawik? and Who gives a sh-t what he thinks?
Eric Cartman| 12.10.10 @ 8:34PM
WOW! That is sooooo freaky! I was thinking the exact same thing! You must be psychic, nobama!
Occam's Tool| 12.10.10 @ 9:36PM
Eric:
you keep tabs on the Liberal Press like you monitor your kitchen for ants and cockroaches---to make sure the hygeine's maintained. This guy is no more or less important than an individual cockroach.
By the way, have a lovely Christmas.
Eric Cartman| 12.10.10 @ 11:14PM
Will do, Occam. I have my can of raid at the ready ;-) And thank you. And may you and yours have a wonderful Hanukkah ! I used to love my girlfriends mother's latkes. She also made jelly donuts which were great! ( it was the only time she would make them. Guess they were hard to make lol.)
Alan Brooks| 12.11.10 @ 12:08AM
They don't hate Pali, they just don't LOVE her.
What, is Palin the Second Coming?
CSLewisKnewUs| 12.11.10 @ 2:26AM
Sarah Palin makes people feel guilty by example. Darkness hates the light. Oh, they hate her alright.
Alan Brooks| 12.11.10 @ 2:43AM
But they want to see her nude all the same.
So they have MIXED FEELINGS.
solidground| 12.10.10 @ 1:21PM
Generally, people who "hate" other people hate them because they are afraid of them. In this case, this Zurawik fellow must be incredibly frightened of Sarah Palin. I'm no Palin fan, but I suspect that what she does and what she says, and how she does it and says it, has Zurawik clenching his thighs together lest she snatch away his vestiges of manhood. The poor putz.
stephanie| 12.10.10 @ 1:36PM
Solidground, you hit the nail on the head. The left, and especially the way foaming at the mouth left, are scared to death of Ms. Palin. Cracks me up, that a 105lb gal from Wasilla Alaska can scare t he pants of off the oh-so lofty, we know better than you, libs. I say, run Sarah, run!
Jake| 12.10.10 @ 1:36PM
Zurawik has always been a pretty fair media commentator . Hate is always unfairly slung by the defenders of Palin
towards anyone who criticizes her.
Palin's raison d'etre is apparently to tweak liberals instead of promoting Alaskan tourism, which was how the show was originally billed.
My wife watches TLC and while they apparently have some odd programs, they have a lot of positive G rated shows about bridal gowns and families dealing with disabilities,
like the Little People series.
She said that she has never seen politics injected into any of the TLC shows before this -Palin in her second episode said at the shooting range that she liked to drive liberals crazy.
I hate it when politics intrude on leisure activities.
I cancelled my subscription to Sports Illustrated and Tennis magazine because they were always slipping in digs at conservatives and President Bush in their articles.
My wife has abandoned the series ( and Palin )
because it is so obviously all about Palin and not Palin making it all about Alaska.
The parts of the hunting episode were more appropriate for the Outdoor Channel or Versus.
Palin could have used the episode to show responsible hunting and gun safety , but, instead decided to mug for the camera
and act euphoric and giddy ,
validating the left's stereotype of hunters as cartoonish and blood thirsty maniacs.
Again, she wanted to drive the left crazy rather than make the episode a teachable moment.
Palin has transformed herself into a frothy and self promoting bubblehead celebrity instead of the serious and delightful conservative VP candidate we vigorously supported in 2008.
That's what I hate.
solidground| 12.10.10 @ 4:26PM
Jake, I agree with most of your comment. Two things, though:
1. Driving liberals crazy is a noble pursuit, no matter who does it or how they do it.
2. "Teachable moment" is one of those Obama catch phrases that manages to be both gratuitous and condescending. Personally, I'd prefer that conservatives and independents united against Obama megalomania avoid his 1984-ish vocabulary.
dr vicki| 12.10.10 @ 8:36PM
Your take on her show amazes me. Several people have said to me after watching the show how beautiful they saw Alaska and how much they would like to visit. I would like for the show to have been more documentary in format, but since none of the shows on TLC are, so be it. As far as I can tell, all of their shows zero in on the people and you just get a little sprinkling of information. "Learning" is a loose description, no doubt.
Jim| 12.11.10 @ 12:12AM
Jake, an experienced hunter ( Nick Seifert ) reached a different conclusion:
"“Technically, it wasn’t perfect, but to me it seemed honest. Unlike a lot of shows that cut everything out, that was a fairly honest hunt,” said Seifert.
As for what was technically off, Seifert said Palin “shot a lot of times, it’s hard to say what kind of shot she is.” But Seifert noted that Palin “had a good rest, she was calm and she squeezed the trigger.”
“That’s the hardest part,” he said, “to calm yourself down when you are going to kill a big game animal. She did a good job there.”
[...]
Palin also took heat for the questions she asked her father about the gun kicking and when to shoot, but Seifert said that he has heard experienced hunters ask similar questions. “You don’t want to injure the animal,” he said.
[...]
Seifert’s conclusion? “It seemed realistic to me, and I’m a pretty harsh critic of that because I see a lot of unrealistic stuff out there on hunting channels. I thought it was an honest hunt and I thought there are a lot of people out there who would like to have that kind of time with their dad.”
http://www.politico.com/click/....._shot.html
Amanda| 12.11.10 @ 8:04PM
Palin is trying to reach a certain segment of the population who believe the lies the media have told about her; I think she is attempting to show these nitwits that she is not what the lamestream media say about her. She is not trying to reach those persons who have researched her record and deemed her capable. You did research her record didn't you?
Lullabys, Legends and Lies| 12.10.10 @ 5:20PM
I love the show, I've watched every episode so far, and will continue to do so until it's over. So I guess I'm one of those tattooed freaks he's talking about then? Umm No, I'm not, and thinking that's who's supporting her show, proves that this guy's an elitist (yeah, what a shock!!). I don't have a single tattoo, nor do I expect to ever get one either. Alright, here's the truth, my Mom told me she'd never talk to me again if I did get one (and I don't want to piss off Mom, I love her lasagna too much).
It would be a curious question to add to the public opinion polls though, to see who has more tattoos, Democrats or Republicans? I'd be willing to bet, that a higher percentage of self described Democrats have tattoos (not that there's anything wrong with that, although my Mom thinks there is), than do Republicans. Now I can't prove this, but I take the bet straight out. Any takers? Hey Rasmussen, help me out here!!
solidground| 12.10.10 @ 5:54PM
You wouldn't get a tattoo? Not even a little itty bitty one in a discreet place your mum would never see?
I'm going by anecdotal evidence and my own experience, but actually, I'm fairly certain that a much higher percentage of Democrats (or self-described "progressives") than Republicans ("conservatives") have tattoos. And to add to that, I'm also quite certain that you can divine the degree of the tattooed Democrat's liberal rabidness and/or delusional impulses by the number of tats visible on his or her body on any average day. I'll bet money on it.
Expel "The Ruling Class"!| 12.10.10 @ 6:26PM
A Sarah Palin Presidency is very desirable if only for one reason: To watch the heads of her detractors explode simultaneouly once she is sworn in. The job market would increase immediately with the need for people to clean up the mess left by all those exploded heads. Who is David Zurawik & who care what he thinks?
Sapwolf| 12.10.10 @ 8:19PM
If she runs, she'll win. I'm in Ohio. There is no way Ohio will vote for Obama again after he broke all his promises and proved to Ohioans that he is a far left Marxist/Socialist. The bumper stickers came off in huge numbers by the 6-month mark of his administration.
Everybody I talk to here who is GOP or Independent says that although she may not be their choice in the primary, they'd vote for her over Obama in the general election if she won the primary.
She doesn't even need one vote in New York or California.
She'll win the following states in addition to the McCain states: IN, OH, VA, NC, FL + one of the following of NH, WI, IA, CO, NV, NM.
BOOM! A Reaganite/TPM common-sense constitutional conservative in the White House.
dr vicki| 12.10.10 @ 8:38PM
I agree Sapwolf. Without a major shift in the economy, Gov Palin can win the electoral college. The purple states are blushing red these days.
Ira Goldman | 12.10.10 @ 11:07PM
I will raise $2 million dollars for a Palin presidential run. Any questions?
Amanda| 12.11.10 @ 8:08PM
Bless you! I was thinking that if each person
that was a facebook follower of Palin gave $100.00 she would have a nice campaign chest to
enter the primary. I am in; I would go "to the mat"
for this honest, ethical woman who fights corruption. And Washington needs reform.
handbagboots | 12.11.10 @ 1:09AM
Thanks for sharing your article. I really enjoyed it.
Mike W| 12.11.10 @ 9:03AM
Nobody with an IQ above 50 would like that piece of crap called Sarah Palin's Alaska. The show fits in nicely with the other TLC shows such as "I Didnt Know I Was Pregnant" or the Duggar Family or the Child Porn Kiddy Beauty Pageant show.
The Palin freaks howl and howl when people point out that their lady is a total dumbass.
I'm a Republican by the way. I'm not a RINO either. I am just quite certain that the knee jerk support of Palin will give us 4 more years of Obama.
CalMark| 12.11.10 @ 6:48PM
Yep, stay home and don't vote for Palin and get 4 more years of Obama. MUCH better option, you noble, intellectually-rigorous, morally-superior, know-it-all "Republican."
Your kind of Republican constantly beats conservatives over the head with Reagan's 11th Commandment during primaries, to vote for RINOs and other Establishment types. Somehow, though, you never see fit to apply it to conservatives you squishes hate--even in general elections, when it's all on the line.
OK, I'm going to stand back now. Just in case the hate inside you makes you explode.
deo| 12.11.10 @ 10:27AM
The woman is an idiot.
CalMark| 12.11.10 @ 6:48PM
Brilliant!
No doubt you won the NCAA debating tournament in college!
james wilson| 12.11.10 @ 11:54AM
It is all well and good to like a person hated by the left, but to find ourselves promoting Palin beyond her abilities for that reason is to be controlled by the left.
As a voter, Sarah Palin could be considered well-informed and knowledgeable; as a leader, she is lazy and completely unequal to the task. Most Republican politicians are unequal to the task. If we do not expect more than Palin we will not get more.
Yosemeti Sam| 12.11.10 @ 12:10PM
Um, straight up - Leftoids:
Baloney propaganda against Palin is getting MONOTONOUS!
Lee| 12.11.10 @ 5:01PM
Sarah Palin is great!!! She is a bigger than life walking, talking & breathing thought provoker just being who she is and what she represents. She is one of those rare human being that the haters would wish her to trip and fall flat on her face, stand on the sideline, laugh with self satisfaction & gleefulness without knowing why except that the very existence of Sarah Palin arouse in their consciousness an emotion that doesn't sit well in their inner psychic. She is their "Reality nightmare"!!!
!
wodiej| 12.11.10 @ 7:18PM
the darkness does not like the light. Palin is the light so that should tell you which side you are on.
Dee| 12.11.10 @ 9:30PM
The only fear Palin holds for me is if she became president. It would be like having a WalMart greeter doing neurosurgery. I don't get why folks think anyone is afraid of her. She seems nice, just ignorant.
Amanda| 12.12.10 @ 9:53AM
Read her record and get back to us
Dee| 12.13.10 @ 9:08AM
Her record is an easy read - 1/2 term governor of a state that takes more federal money per resident than any other. Her speeches are not so easy, mixing quasi-Christian sentiments with a kind of contempt and easy way with the facts that is anything but Christian. I don't think she has the fortitude to take on the hard work of governing - it doesn't have the same ROI as book-selling and other for-profit self-promotion schemes. No real responsibility in what she is doing now, just money.
Osamas Pajamas| 12.12.10 @ 2:18AM
Palin couldn't possibly be any worse that the freak now occupying the White House. As well, she isn't anti-American. Only by a perverse inversion of reality can OhBummer be considered even a wee bit better President than Palin would be. The Demos and other bloodsxckers are just terrified that Sarah Palin will become America's Maggie Thatcher in 2012 or 2016.
Osamas Pajamas| 12.12.10 @ 2:25AM
The Demos have spent so much time pissing on Sarah Palin that she may not be electable. This was a campaign of character assassination, through and through. Some other Republicans stand to gain from the shredding of Palin --- they know she's been a target of cheap liars, corrupt bastards and propagandists, but rather than rally to her side, they stand aside, thinking to profit from the damage that is done to her. These are the Republican opportunists to boycott and ignore --- the Republicans to not vote for.
Amanda| 12.12.10 @ 9:54AM
And you think they are not going to "piss"
on whoever the repub nominee is? You are naive.
nohype| 12.13.10 @ 8:25AM
Perceptions are both important in politics and often totally wrong. Gerald Ford, the most athletic president we have ever had, was perceived to be an uncoordinated klutz because of the way he was portrayed on Saturday Night Live and he could not shake that perception. George W Bush, an avid reader, was perceived to be someone who never read. As strange as these misperceptions were, the misperception that Sarah Palin is ignorant and uniformed is even stranger. It is based on nothing other than repetition and her high-pitched voice and is completely inconsistent with her record. For her critics her record does not seem to count--they often dismiss it by asserting that the words that appear with her byline are not written by her. How do they know this? Because they know that she is ignorant, and hence it is not possible that the insightful things she writes can come from her.
Those who push the meme that Palin is ignorant tell us nothing about Palin but a great deal about themselves.
As for the show, it is Palin's way of avoiding the gatekeepers of the media, who will not treat her fairly, much less sympathetically. It is not a reality show, it is part of Palin's ongoing campaign for president. Maybe Alaskans get Russian TV, because she is portraying herself as a female Putin.
Finally, always remember that those who are so critical of Palin are largely the same people who were convinced that Obama was going to be the greatest president since Lincoln. If they could not see the obvious about Obama, that he was and is totally unqualified to be president, why should we pay any attention to their views about anything else?
DVD drive Burner | 11.8.11 @ 4:10AM
How to Burn an AVCHD File to DVD
AVCHD is a new high definition standard created by Sony, and used in many of their HD Camcorders. The resulting AVCHD disc is then able to be played in many consumer Blu-Ray players, the Sony Playstation 3, as well as the camcorders themselves. These are capable of producing 1080p and 720p video.
Instructions
1
If you have not done so already, plug in your camcorder to your PC. If an autoplay box does not appear, locate the camcorder's files on your PC. Two folders are needed in order to properly burn an AVCHD onto DVD, and they are BDMV and Certificate. Once they are located, copy and paste these two files onto your desktop. This could take anywhere from 2 to 10 minutes.
2
Once they are transferred to your desktop, go to the following web address and download the software:
http://www.imgburn.com/index.php?act=download
Once downloaded, install the software by double-clicking the downloaded file and follow on-screen instructions.
3
Right click the AVCHD folder that you just transferred to your desktop and click on "Properties." On the General tab, locate the size of the file in order to specify how big of a DVD is needed to burn the files. Sizes up to 4.3GB will fit onto single layer DVD's. If the size exceeds 4.3 GB, a dual-layer DVD is needed. Once you figure out which DVD is needed, insert it into your PC's DVD-RW drive.
4
Imgburn Software
Open the ImgBurn program that was just installed. Click the option that reads "Write files/folders to disc." The next screen is where you need to click some options. The image provided locates the options that need to be checked and unchecked. Make sure the "Auto" box is checked and the "Verify" box unchecked. After this is done, add the 2 folders (BDMV and Certificate) into the large open space. This can be done by either clicking on the magnifying glass and adding them, or by simply dragging and dropping them into the program.
5
Once the files are loaded into the program, the settings will verify you want to change to UDF 2.5 burning mode. Click "Yes" when prompted. Next, simply click on the large icon located near the bottom. You will be greeted by a few pop-ups verifying your disc burning session and allowing you to name the disc. Click "OK" and your burning will start.
6
Once the burning is complete, remove the disc and insert into appropriate Blu-Ray players or Sony Playstation 3. If all went well, you will be enjoying your home movies in amazing quality, also allowing you to start a library of HD home movies, instead of storing them on a hard drive
Tips & Warnings
Memorex and Verbatim DVD's have the best success rate. Verbatim Dual Layer DVD's are the best to use when needed. Be patient, burning might take a couple tries.
Depending on your PC's DVD drive and Blank disc, you may go through a few DVD's until one works perfectly. AVCHD does not work on all Blu-Ray players, so check with the manufacturer first. Do not pirate copyrighted material.