Teenage pregnancies are in the news. Now there’s a villa in Verona that is believed to be the home of the historical Juliet. To one side of the building is, as you might have guessed, a balcony beneath which tourists fancy Romeo Montague waited, borne over the walls by “love’s light wings”. In reality the balcony was built long after the historical Juliet could have lived. And we know nothing of Romeo. No matter. It is Shakespeare’s scenes we are in love with.
Or rather it is the memory of our own young love which we love; in my case largely comic in character. I singed the eyebrows of a lady once, while gallantly trying to light her cigarette. On another occasion I baked a cake from ingredients I had only slightly examined and learned to my cost that cornstarch does not produce the same result as flour. Still it was earnest. If only we were old enough, then they might leave us both alone. The video link from 1971 is slightly less literary than the 16th century text. But the emotions have changed surprisingly little.
Lady, by yonder blessed moon I vow,
That tips with silver all these fruit-tree tops–O, swear not by the moon, th’ inconstant moon,
That monthly changes in her circle orb,
Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.What shall I swear by?
Do not swear at all;
Or if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self,
Which is the god of my idolatry,
And I’ll believe thee.
Tip Jar.
I’ll pass along a quote from my better half’s grandmother, born in 1900 and had 6 children – “First babies can come at any time – all the rest take 9 months.”
Once they needed a teacher to cover a Hygiene class. It was often assigned as a 5th class to an English or Social Studies teacher who did not have a full load. No one was pretending that anyone needed to learn the mechanics or theory of the subject on an academic level. The class was a gut, a vacation for the teacher and the students. Some students came to me and asked if I was going to be assigned to teach that class. I answered that I doubted it because under me it would be a very short class. They asked what I meant by that. So I looked at them smiled and answered, “Everybody understand the definition of Statutory Rape? What part of No don’t you understand?” The kids laughed and said they understood. I did not get assigned to the class.
Now it is clear, for anyone who had not guessed, just what a Trogladyte I am. The only issue regarding Ms Pallin is; did she tell McCain? If she did and if he smiled and said “So?” then I may be to conservative in my prediction that Obama will top out at 180 electoral votes.
Very moving wretch. I shall refrain from
relating any of my own bumbling episodes
trying to master the Grandest Game of All.
How come the distaff side puts up
with us, anyway?
It just continues to astound me how hypocritical the Left can be, how bloodless, how vicious, how purely ideological. Very legimate claims of rape/abuse against Bill Clinton are dismissed — or rather, ignored — as is his folderal with Monica, while the same actions from Republicans would bring down the wrath of Zeus. Imagine, for an instant, if Chelsea Clinton had gotten pregnant and the Republicans said “boo.” Keith Olberman would explode. All the rest would foam at the mouth. How DARE you, they would cry!
But conservatives — men, women, children — are fair game. It’s just disgusting. I don’t even care anymore about the fate of the country. It’s more visceral than that. I want Obama to lose just so I can watch these wretched people squirm in mystified agony.
In the tragedies, the romances end with death.
In the comedies, all subplots and confusions resolve in marriage, usually several.
How do those marriages work out? Shakespeare doesn’t dwell on that.
In our age, who can believe, other than Andrew Sullivan in his paean to gay marriage, in the saving or redemptive power of matrimony? Marriage, children, responsibilty. . . sublunary existence works it’s ill on all.
Gov. Palin is providing us with an interesting drama. Who would have cast John McCain as Prospero?
Shakespeare ends Romeo and Juliet with death. But at least he didn’t end it with an abortion, after which all is happily ever after and Juliet goes to Princeton.
Apropos of nothing, the Sun takes a vacation.
http://www.dailytech.com/Sun+Makes+History+First+Spotless+Month+in+a+Century/article12823.htm
Al Gore should be tarred and feathered. Meanwhile, drill, drill, drill.
> Imagine, for an instant, if Chelsea Clinton had gotten pregnant
> and the Republicans said “boo.”
but it makes perfect sense to them. It’s not about Bristol being pregnant at 17 and out of wedlock. This they can understand and can live with. It’s about Bristol being pregnant while conservative. This is where they see hypocrisy.
Oh, Wretchard, you old rogue. My eyebrows burn for you yet.
Ahh Mark, you hit the focus of the post. Excellent comment.
Peterike, what can we do to help you with your vision?
Being the jaded cynic that I am, I’ve seen too many people that I thought had a synapse that fired in the right order, but when I talk politics with them, I just smile and move away. I make sure they know where I stand on the issues, but this just feeds the frenzy. They get that spittle in the corner of their mouths and a wild look in the eye… And, I’m amazed at how may there are. How have we gotten to this point? Where the shunning of self-destructive politics and generational thought and care has not set a synaptic path.
With Senators McCain’s VP pick, I see a path to restoration and normal order… Just a path, mind you, but a possible restoration to a citizen-led government. A normal person taking the bull by the horn and saying, “I don’t think so!”. As my wife says – ” A Mrs. Smith goes to Washington”.
I have known and worked with many rough men (and some rough women, for that matter). I am always amazed at the golden thread of love for their families and friends that can frequently be seen for a brief moment, shining brightly, then being once more submerged beneath a rough exterior. Men risk life and limb daily to provide some measure of comfort and security for their loved ones. Yet, they do not talk of love or romance. They live it. They work and build for love of family. In some cases, they die for love of family.
I have come to detest the effete snobbery of those who look out at the people farming the land, working in the factories, driving the long haul trucks, defending our way of life and all the other avocations necessary to keep America moving forward, and who see only “great unwashed”, dumb brutes slavishly working for some paltry monetary reward. I do not think that the true progressive can love anything, except perhaps, themselves. I truly pity them, for which, if they knew of it, they would hate me. However, I do not wish them success in their endeavours.
If we hadn’t already had “Juno”, we could have “Juneau”.
Sorry, couldn’t resist.
I wish the Palins well as they are cast into the burning sun of election-year media coverage. At least you can arm yourself against grizzlies.
“It’s about Bristol being pregnant while conservative”
The difference between Bristol and a liberal is that having made a mistake, she is doing the “family values” thing. She is not killing an unborn child, and she is getting married, not giving it a fly as a single mom.
Will it be difficult? you bet. Will it end in divorce and tears? 50-50 chance according to US divorce statistics.
Hypocrisy? No, my friend, she did the deed and will pay the price. If she had taken the liberal way out (aborting, giving up the baby, having mom raise it, etc), that would have been hypocrisy.
Being a conservative is not about being a saint. It is about assuming responsibility for yourself, especially when you mess up.
Headline:
“Bristol charged with PWC”
- – - – - – - – - – - – -
The legendary hypocrisy of the Left ceased being newsworthy many rants ago.
I want to thank all you commenters for keeping Belmont so consistently lively.
@Mark,
Congratulations on the first public use of “sublunary” since the passing of W.F. Buckley.
After Columbine, parents around the country assured the rest of us that no, they absolutely could NOT be held responsible for the stupid things their children did. That they could parent as hard as they possibly could and do all the right things, and still the little darlings would take it in their pointy little heads to go out and murder a bunch of people just because. That how could the parents of those little murderers possibly be held accountable for not knowing that their sons were storing up guns and bullets in their rooms at home, and posting all sorts of trash talk on the internet as well as in their personal paperwork.
Evidently either parenting has changed since Columbine and parents *are* now reponsible for the dumb things their children do, or a coda has been added so that mothers are now responsible for their pregnant daughters while parents en masse are not responsible for their murderous sons.
NahnCee:
No, only liberals are not responsible, conservatives are responsible for all bad things that their offspring do. Actually to liberals, conservatives are responsible for all bad things.
We have a liberal on our blog, name unmentioned, man was he all over this story, first thing out of the box today.
But, slowly over the course of the day, we began pointing out to him this, that, and the other, and we finally ended up posting(thanks to our host) 20 famous illigitimate kids, and one of our commenters mentioned Jesus too, which is correct.
A partial list–
A list of 20 famous illegitimate children including poets, actors, authors, popes, and statesmen whose parents were not married.
20 Illegitimate Children
1. Guillaume Apollinaire. Poet.
2. Sarah Bernhardt. Actress.
3. Giovanni Boccaccio. Author.
4. Cesare Borgia. Catholic cardinal.
5. Aleksandr Borodin. Composer.
6. Pope Clement VII. Spiritual head of the Catholic Church.
7. Leonardo da Vinci. Artist.
8. Josephine de Beauharnais. Napoleon’s wife.
9. Frederick Douglass. Abolitionist.
10. Alexandre Dumas, fils. Novelist and playwright.
11. Desiderius Erasmus. Scholar and author.
12. Alexander Hamilton. U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.
13. Jenny Lind. Singer.
14. Marilyn Monroe. Actress.
15. Bernardo O’Higgins. Dictator.
16. Francisco Pizarro. Conqueror of Peru.
17. James Smithson. Chemist and inceptor of Smithsonian Institution.
18. August Strindberg. Playwright.
19. Richard Wagner. Composer.
20. William the Conqueror. First Norman ruler.
You can add your own pick–I did, Walt Disney, for one.
Shakespeare is a wonderful read on a subject like this, as there is a deep rhythm in Shakespeare, flowing along under the action above.
It is the rhythm of life.
And Shakespeare does not come out and say it, look, you moron, but lets the play make its point as you sit watching or reading.
It is the rhythm of our life, and the seasons, Young Spring pushing out Old Man Winter, and you can’t stop it.
Mr. Count, or whoever, says to his wife, absentmindedly, don’t we have a daughter around this castle somewheres?
And all unknow to him, Juliet is running off with Romeo.
That’s Shakespeare, the incarnation of the ability to write.
the leftist scum that rant on about this might want to check obama’s personal history before spouting off. his mom was pregnant at 17 and gave birth at 18.
Confucious, Eva Peron, TE Lawrence, Thomas Paine
Sullivan has not been right leaning for sometime. In fact he is distinctly leftward learning.
The despicable attempt to trash a woman who dared to accept the Republican VP slot is the lowest of lows. The speculation grew to certainty the supercilious demand of the woman doctor’s records. Violating all concept of doctor patient privacy.
The commenters on Daily Kos who salaciously advanced the slander and libel for political purposes should be ashamed. But they have no decency and are unable to feel shame. They are absolute scum.
Any decent person would be upset and outraged at this rumor mongering whether they are Democrat or Republican.
During Sarah Palin’s debate with Joseph Biden, she will almost certainly be asked about her opinion of the Alaska Independence Party. Rumor has it that she was a member of that secessionist group back in the 1990′s and attended its state convention in Wasilla in 1994.
This story gets more interesting by the minute. Here, Sarah Palin addresses the AIP in 2008. Although Palin’s address should not be construed to be an endorsement of actual Alaskan independence, one should expect members of the press to ask Sarah Palin to explain some of the idiosyncrasies of Alaskan politics. Given how Alaskan politics will be put under the media microscope, we may find out more about Alaska than we really want to know.
Whatever else one thinks about Sarah Palin, she is certainly one of the most colorful characters in modern American national politics. She directly challenges feminist orthodoxy. It is noteworthy that one feminist goes so far to make sarcastic references about the Lifetime Channel while scoffing at Sarah Palin’s resume. The problem with such scoffing is that it will likely boomerang on the Left; implying that McCain voters have the collective IQ of a Tampax only reinforces the resentments of women who are accustomed to having their intelligence questioned. In the past it was the men; now the leftist feminists act just as patronizing as male chauvinists. Besides, Lifetime movies are popular with women for a reason.
Sarah Palin appeals to important American ideals, particularly a worldview that perceives an ability to shoot a moose as more important than a degree in international relations. She didn’t go to a preparatory school or a prestigious college; she majored in Journalism at the University of Idaho. When one calculates the valences of class resentment, the fact that she went through the public school system should not be underestimated.
“Apropos of nothing, the Sun takes a vacation.”
It had to happen eventually. We’ve ignored the Kyoto Protocols at our peril. Global warming has gotten so severe, that mankind has wiped out the sun spots. It’s all Bush’s fault!
Dave,
Because no one including them would be here to wonder about that if they didn’t “put up” with us.
The Euro-weenies have forgotten about all that resulting in a demographic death spiral. That’s All, Folks!
I keep thinking, “..how can one lady have this kind of internal fortitude?”
Think about this:
Mother of five (two nearly did my wife in, and had me in self-defense, locking up edged instruments throughout the house).
Recent mother of a Downs Syndrome baby
Alaskan woman (they have to be hardy up there)
Her older daughter’s recent private dilemma (God Bless her daughter and the young man; the Democrats just squeezed any “oxygen”, i.e. room to breath, out of their personal lives.)
Her victorious assault on the political establishment in Alaska, first within her own party, and then during the statewide election.
Aside from her other noteworthy accomplishments, interests, personal faith, the road she’s walked over the last 2-3 years proves that she has SOME kind of moxy and inner strength. I don’t know if “a woman” could live up to the demands of the U.S. Presidency (must less a man such as myself), but I’m pretty certain THIS woman could.
I did not know much about Palin before her nomination. I hope I like her politics, certainly more than John McCain, who I think leans “self-aggrandizing opportunist” as much “maverick and public servant”. (But then again, McCain has monk-like piety compared to “THE ONE”.) Palin’s certainly a very, very interesting pick.
@Peterike:
@Mark:
@Lifeofthemind:
Well, sublunary or not, I simply wish to congratulate Old Sol on his spotless month. Well done, Solly!
Cool! Er, cooling?
OMG, a month without a spot! Could Old Sol be PWC???
@bobal: Bristol and Levi’s child will not be illegitimate.
To do that, Old Sol would have to be monoecious –like the earthworm –fitting, in that Palin may mean the earth Worm has Turned.
…OK, now get this [!]…. Ol’ Sollie is really Ol’ Sallie, a stellar transoecious-ite. Not being a bi-nary star, and not Old, neither, after all, Sallie has been failing to abstain. Ya follow me?
Inter-stellar hanky-panky! That’s where the worm holes come in.
…AND THUS, globbal worming is now exposed for what it is, the ravings of a jilted earth, “Heaven hath no fury, like a wormin’ spawned!”
… and to think, all this without resorting to the God hypotheezis AND never gone ta Burning Man even once. Musings on international military-strategical-political-cultural events may be amusing, but this thread is positively Star-Studded.
Am I dismissed?
… not sure how the estimable Sarah Palin fits into all that…
… neither Romeo nor Juliette…
Juliette of ham, as it were. Ok, me ham too, behold pome writ nearby:
And what did Delaware
(she oh-so-Joe aware)?
For which a baldy scare
sold him that brand new hair?
Oh! No Cabbage Patch despair
in plastic surgery mirror’d lair
where a dollar lets you stare
into the abyss of aware
that you look like an affair
between Chia Pet and bear.
Bum-a-Shave!
Sarah Palin
went a-sailin’
into storms of human failin’
politicians money balin’
she an Ahab comin’ whalin’
hanging catch for justice scalin’
pack ‘em off for bailin’ jailin’
a fishin’ sea, not Bidenflailin’
Idaho not Harvard Yalein’
followed by Alaska hailin’
for the nation cure what’s ailin’
yessirree that’s Sarah Palin!
Damn good job Buddy Larsen!
Ya gotta beat box that burma, Buddy?
Sarah Heath (Palin) was the point guard for the underdog Wasilla girls’ basketball team. Forget that she hit critical free throws to seal the win in the state title game. Being a point guard requires critical thinking skills in real time, in a chaotic environment (as does flying combat aircraft). She was tested at the tender age of 18 as many will never experience.
As a volunteer coach, I was always looking for that rare player that could make good decisions while playing real time. These are the team leaders; the quarterbacks, defensive captains and point-guards. In the ‘microcosm of life’ that sports afford, they can hone their decision-making skills and ready themselves for the real leadership challenges.
She’s ready. I hope her family can withstand the storm.
P. S. I saw clips of G. W. Bush in Texas last night. The constant sniping and villification that he has endured have clearly taken their toll. Criminal.
How come the distaff side puts up
with us, anyway?
As best I can tell, we actually are cute and we provide them with endless hours of fascination. The reverse is also true, except, they are beautiful.
How come the distaff side puts up
with us, anyway?
A hope for security and a guarantee of entertainment.
Just saw a question in a comment section somewhere:
You all think the Secret Service will let her carry her own piece?
Just askin’….
dmitry:
It’s about Bristol being pregnant while conservative. This is where they see hypocrisy.
Dimitry,
Do you know Bristol’s politics? It’s Sarah Palin who is the conservative. The left is blaming the actions of the daughter on the mother. The spirit of Sarah Palin’s ammouncement was that she respected her daughter’s decision to have the child. In Alaska like most states Bristol could get an abortion if wanted. Sarah is just stating that she is happy her daughter isn’t.
And here’s the fundamental reason underlying all the rage on one side and amusement on the other over Sarah Palin: it’s all about … female fertility.
Human beings have extremely strong emotions on the topic of fertility. It’s an obsession — look at the celebrity gossip columns these days. The who is sleeping with whom stuff bores people now compared to the pregnancy news. Thus, celebrities auction off rights to pictures of their new babies for millions, even though all newborns look alike. The top breeding stock parents — Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt — were looking to snag something like $6 million for the exclusive rights to the first photos of their twins.
Now, the Breeding Wars have moved into the political arena. Barack Obama launched his Presidential run at the 2004 Democratic convention by devoting the first 380 words of his speech to describing in great detail the two stocks from which he was crossbred. His message is that by uniting in his DNA the two races, he will end the racial conflict that has long plagued this land. (Noah should take a look at Henry VII’s speech ending Shakespeare’s “Richard III” for the classic expression of the logic of dynastic merger, in this case between the Lancasters and the Yorks.) Obama left out the part about his mom being 17 when she got pregnant and his father already being married with a kid and another on the way.
Palin has horned in on all that subliminal symbolism with her own. She’s had five kids while shooting caribou (a picture of her and a daughter standing over a huge beast she shot is the LA Times most emailed article of the day even though it’s not an article, just a picture) and throwing the crooks out, and now she has a 17-year-old daughter who is pregnant and will marry a handsome hockey player.
The Blue Whites are alarmed and outraged to be reminded that the Red Whites can afford to outbreed them and are outbreeding them. Modern people tell themselves they don’t care about stuff like that, but they do, oh, they do.
http://isteve.blogspot.com/
Dr. James C. Dobson of Focus on the Family issued the following statement:
“In the 32-year history of Focus on the Family, we have offered prayer, counseling and resource assistance to tens of thousands of parents and children in the same situation the Palins are now facing. We have always encouraged the parents to love and support their children and always advised the girls to see their pregnancies through, even though there will of course be challenges along the way. That is what the Palins are doing, and they should be commended once again for not just talking about their pro-life and pro-family values, but living them out even in the midst of trying circumstances.
“Being a Christian does not mean you’re perfect. Nor does it mean your children are perfect. But it does mean there is forgiveness and restoration when we confess our imperfections to the Lord. I’ve been the beneficiary of that forgiveness and restoration in my own life countless times, as I’m sure the Palins have.
“The media are already trying to spin this as evidence Gov. Palin is a ‘hypocrite,’ but all it really means is that she and her family are human. They are in my prayers and those of millions of Americans.”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2072811/posts
Just as an aside, I have been browsing some links to MSM articles by died in the wool leftist Dem journalists. Goodness gracious, they are being handed their heads back to them by some very spirited commenters who are obviously fired up. I think the lunatic left fringe has overplayed their hand big time. I am probably overly optimistic (every group needs a team optimist), but I feel a sea change in the conservative, republican mindset, at least in cyberspace. May it continue to swell and help sweep back the tide of darkness.
Heck, I probably should have thrown in a “Go team” or two in my previous post.
I believe that the media assualt on Sarah Palin and her family will blow back on Obama big time. Mrs. Palin is just to darn likeable – and the contrast between her self-reliance and accomplishments and Obama’s vapid lack of same will grow with each assualt.
Palin is the center of interst because both sides see her as the foundation of a Republican makeover that can beat back not only the Democrat party, but the whole cultural slide to the Left.
programmer
I must have been writing when your comment posted. Glad to see that I’m not the only one picking up that a “change” has occurred, and it’s not what the Left was looking for.
One more reminder that McCain has stolen Obama’s “change” message. The One selected an old party hack. McCain selected Palin. Now we see that Palin has a real life, with a real teenager. Love it. She’s a true Washington outsider. Who’s for change? Obama based on words. McCain based on actions. If Shakespear were alive today he would generate a couple of scripts off of this.
Once, as part of a birthday package for my girlfriend, I misspelled her name on a baloon. She thought it was sweet. I was devestated with embarassment.
Since the appearance of “sublunary” in these comments, I have been unable to log into Merriam-Webster online. I wonder if there are so many folks, like me, that are looking the word up that the poor online dictionary is unable to handle all the queries. Words like “monoecious” and “transoecious” may also be contributing to the logjam.
Peter Boston said:
“I believe that the media assualt on Sarah Palin and her family will blow back on Obama big time…. Palin is the center of interst because both sides see her as the foundation of a Republican makeover that can beat back not only the Democrat party, but the whole cultural slide to the Left.”
I’m convinced that Sarah Palin was a cunning trap set for the MSM. McCain and his campaign managers knew about Palin’s daughter before she was selected. McCain’s people also know that the MSM are a bunch of hyenas. Any media expert would immediately recognize that Bristol Palin’s story would catch the media’s undivided attention. Now instead of the usual MSM accolades about Hussein’s messianic mission, the focus has shifted to Palin’s daughter and the problems of raising a family in the modern world. The story of Palin’s daughter does not diminish Palin’s compentence for being a VP but has distracted the limelight from the Chosen One. The MSM has fallen into the trap and Hussein has lost control of the narrative.
Spengler over at (atimes.com) has pronounced the Doom of the Democrats. During O’s speech “Melancholy hung like think smog over the reserved seats where I sat with Democratic Party staffers.” Uh-oh for them. It’s an interesting read.
There are those like Fatimah Ali who say, “If McCain wins, look for a full-fledged race and class war…”
Those who threaten “race war” if Obama doesn’t get elected effectively rip at the threads that bind us together as a society. Even if Obama were a beacon of hope, what kind of hope is it to gain elected office through threats of violence? The very legitimacy of liberal democracy is based upon a very basic respect for elections. The losing side respects the outcome of the election and the winning side respects the liberties of the minority; that is our social contract.
Are Obama supporters really inclined to shred the legitimacy of any election victory Obama achieves by threatening violence if their hero doesn’t get elected? If the Obama campaign is truly interested in “CHANGE”, it could tell its supporters that the Obama campaign is about more than running for the Presidency, and that even in election defeat they have accomplished something remarkable.
Meanwhile, the meme of Sarah Palin as an insult is gaining steam in the press. Susan Reimer writes, “Palin’s personal story is very compelling, but it reads more like a movie pitch than a resume for national leadership.” Exactly — being the wife of a sitting American President isn’t usually the kind of story one expects in a Lifetime movie.
If leftists were careful, there would be more than enough evidence from Sarah Palin’s political track record to rip her reputation to shreds, but John McCain is almost certainly banking on their incompetence. Instead of asking why she sacked a librarian in Wasilla, they will sneer at the insignificance of her village. Instead of asking about her temperament, they will sneer at her inexperience and her public school education. Instead of asking about why she would address the Alaska Independence Party, they will scream, “She is an insult to all women”, at the top of their lungs.
If the leftists could ever bother to take Sarah Palin seriously, they could make a strong and sober critique of her candidacy for Vice President. But, as usual, organs of the Left are letting themselves get carried away with their emotions and launching into tirades against rural people, people who go through the public school system, working class people, and those women who watch the Lifetime Channel. It’s easy to get drunk in the House of the Rising Sun, but if the Left seriously wants to oppose Sarah Palin, it must get out of its drunken stupor, sober up, and start taking her seriously.
Obama: no decision-maker; no courage; less experience:
Sarah Palin has government executive experience. She has lots of experience actually making decisions – as Mayor, Commissioner, and then Governor. She’s been in elective office since 1992.
Barack Obama has been in elective office just since 1997 – and always as a legislator. he’s never had to make executive decisions in a government administration like Gov. Palin.
So Sarah Palin has five (5) more years of experience in elective office than Barack Obama.
And Obama often could not muster the courage to make even a legislative decision – he frequently voted “present.”
See here
http://www.time-blog.com/swampland/2008/01/obama_campaign_defends_present.html
Hdgreene said:
“Spengler over at (atimes.com) has pronounced the Doom of the Democrats…. Uh-oh for them. It’s an interesting read.”
Spengler is unquestionably brilliant. I agree with most of his article. However Spengler was wrong when he said:
“McCain doesn’t have a tenth of Obama’s synaptic fire-power..”
McCain likes to come across as a “good old boy” but it’s an act. I once heard a lecture given by McCain to some European academics. McCain’s lecture was extremely erudite. McCain only shows his intelligence when he sees it to his advantage. That’s a big difference between him and the “Chosen One”. A demagogue’s greatest weakness is he must always appear to have the answers and be in control. The moment the demagogue shows weakness or indecision then his hypnotic power breaks.
According to Mycroft Holmes (IV);
“Sublunary Is A Harsh Mistress”.
What is this about?
Twice in an AP snark piece about the RNC convention they mentioned “Revelations that the surprise female running mate had retained an attorney to deal with a scandal.”
GOP convention script goes straight to re-write. Note the URL title is the even snarkier “measure of a nation ad libbing it.” Time for AP to fire people, again?
Unfortunately, it seems that whatever effect Palin was hoped to have on the disposition of voters, has not materialized so far. If anything, the opposite is happening. While Obama’s bump in polls can be explained by DNC convention, what about McCain’s slight decline?
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/charts.html
Eggplant,
Everyone who knew Reagan has commented about how scholarly the private man was.
Mike Rucker (elsewither):you have to ask yourself: what’s really happening here? for what exactly is she being hired?
Palin creates a mirror image of Dem ticket, making a stark contrast this November: a rookie who mostly voted “present” in the Senate and a 35 year insider against a seasoned war hero and an outsider/corruption fighter. If McCain picked Lieberman (like I predicted) it would not have created a clear choice. Palin weaks the Entitlement Feminists who think they should be given everything from the Patriarchy rather than actually, you know, accomplishing everything. Palin garners 20% of Hillary’s voters right away, just for being female. Palin garners another 20% of Hillary’s voters as an opportunity for them to poke Obama in the eye for dissing them and Hil. Palin shores up McCain’s support on the evangelical/Catholic right. And how! Palin sucked all the air out of Obama’s post-convention bounce, which went splat. Even CNN polls show a dead heat. Palin gets OJT for a Palin/Jindal ticket in 2016 or even 2012 if something bad happens to McCain.
Rush was really on re Palin during the first 30 mins – I’ll have to go back and reread it tonight, but suffice it to say, he’s even more pro-Palin today than he was Friday, if that’s possible.
As for me, I find nothing in this story that offends my evangelical sensibilities. As Ricardo noted above:
“Being a conservative is not about being a saint. It is about assuming responsibility for yourself, especially when you mess up.”
My sentiments exactly.
Comments of interest at No Quarters:
http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2008/09/01/the-sad-state-of-the-democratic-partys-presidential-ticket/
More Hillary supporters indicating their intent to support McCain/Palin.
rush is in love, and has assumed the role of righteous protector. touching in it’s way.
the msm has discredited itself mightily in this matter. not surprising given the bubble they all inhabit.
neolex, you’re harping on weekend polling with a hurricane coming, etc. Notoriously unreliable.
Feel the fire, neolex. This woman is the real deal and polling is not going to quite capture it. And rely on polls all you want — that really helped out in 2000 and 2004 didn’t it? Add in the Tom Bradley effect and this is going to be a landslide in favor of McCain-Palin.
you can bet money that Bristol is going to get a tv show out of this
i bet she and her fiancee become very popular with American teens, and real families.
knocking obama off the screen is like starving a fire of oxygen, and is going to cause him to do impulsive things to get the attention back.
Saul Alinsky’s son: “Obama learned his lesson well” Obama has not admitted that he is a communist as Saul’s son promises that he is. I don’t recall that Obama told us that his father was a bigamist and as such he is a bastard. Guess that he was afraid that we would call him a communist bastard.
Rattlergator said:
“neolex, you’re harping on weekend polling with a hurricane coming, etc. Notoriously unreliable.”
Wait until after the Republican convention concludes. McCain should gain a modest lead (if not then he’s in trouble). McCain will then have to decide whether he wants a simple victory or a landslide. McCain might gain a landslide if he brings out all of Hussein’s dirty laundry. However there is political risk in doing that.
mccain will build slowly, and will maintain the lead once it is achieved. few will expect the blowout but that is what i see happening. it will be interesting to see what percentage of the hispanic vote mccain gets.
what’s really interesting is how predictable and unexciting obama is now, and how unpredictable mccain is. he really has captured everyone’s imagination, even the gut worms on the left.
“Being a conservative is not about being a saint. It is about assuming responsibility for yourself, especially when you mess up.”
OK, Bush isn’t a conservative then. Successes? All his. Failures? All someone else’s fault. I recall the famous phrase, made famous by Harry Truman (incidentally a Democrat and therefore presumably not supposed to be a conservative) “The Buck Stops Here.”
Bush’s underlings made mistakes? Perhaps they did. Were they bad ones? Yes. Whose ultimate responsibility was it? His. Did he admit it (either the mistakes or his responsibility)? No.
Actually, that doesn’t make Bush a liberal. What it does make him is, if I may use a British term, a prat. What does that say for the people who elected him (assuming they did) ?
Dear Sirs,
“Rush is in love”
I believe I posted here yesterday or the day before: “Sarah is going to be America’s sweetheart – everybody’s kid sister – everybody’s daughter”. I’ve asked my lawyer to look into adopting her.
Shakespeare
As a young man I ignored Shakespeare. Math and physics were my game. Now that I have retired I am discovering things that I foolishly ignored. Dumb shit!
This from Dr. Mercury at Maggie’s Farm:
Born on a mountain by the Yukon Sea
Oiliest state in the land of the free
Raised with a gun so she knew philosophy
And kilt a caribou when she was only three.
Sarah, Sarah Palin! Queen of the wild frontier!
She fought single-handed in the beauty pageant war
Till the blondes was whipped and big hair restored
And while she was handling this ‘permanent’ chore
She made herself a brunette forevermore.
Sarah, Sarah Palin! Dressin’ for com-pa-ny!
When her child had Downs, her grief was gall
The Dems said Sarah, just abort it all
And lose yourself in the glacier tall
But she answered instead the motherhood’s call.
Sarah, Sarah Palin! Spirit of democracy!
She went to the capital and served a spell
Pluggin’ up the pork and corruption as well
Took over Juneau so we hear tell
And told the Bridge To Nowhere to go to hell!
Sarah, Sarah Palin! Servin’ her country well!
John McCain called and said you ain’t done
This here election has just begun
So she packed up her laptop and her virtual gun
And lit out a’smilin’ for Washington.
Sarah, Sarah Palin! Leadin’ the blogoneers!
Her land is biggest, and her land is best
From grassy plains to the mountain crest
She’s ahead of us all in meetin’ the test
We’re followin’ her legend right out of the West.
Sarah, Sarah Palin! Queen of the wild frontier!
Regards,
Roy
I have never been particularly impressed with poll numbers for national elections. In general (my opinion,of course), people who have time to answer pollsters are not conservative. The secret to winning elections for the Republicans is to get the quiet people, the workers, the doers, exercised enough to vote. And they do not show up in opinion polls. The only polls they show up at are the election polls.
Fletcher,
Row, row your boat. Gently down the stream,
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, Obama was just a dream.
Oh, and Fletcher, I will use up my allotted bandwidth on this post for the observation that you are absolutely spot on. President Bush will not be re-elected.
fletcher is working hard to keep bush from a 3rd term. don’t tell him bush isn’t running, it will get him all confused.
cjm writes:
“you can bet money that Bristol is going to get a tv show out of this i bet she and her fiancee become very popular with American teens, and real families.”
Shakespeare leaves children out of his dramas (aside from those dispatched by political villians). But the culture does not forget children. Quite the opposite. The central event of the central narrative of the culture is precisely about a mother and a child:
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.” (Lk 1, 38)
As the fall turns towards winter, just around election time, thoughts and already turning a little bit towards Christmas. Perhaps people will remember January sermons, from the pulpits of Catholic churches especially, on the lament of the nation for its children, lost to Herod.
“Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
‘A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.’”
As the meme turns, perhaps it will begin to contrast a ‘messiah’ who would not punish his daughter with a child to a young girl who, in some profound way, echoes the crucial words: “May it be to me as you have said.”
Baby Trig and sister Bristol will bring out the best of America, and the worst. which is how it should be; reveal the left as the sewer it is.
cjm, that’s not fair to sewers. sewers do good work.
good point buddy. they are more akin to a level of hell opening up, than a sewer. where would Dante have placed them?
If the Left were sober and inclined to take Sarah Palin seriously, they would be able to make devastating critiques of her track record. However, the leftist media has gotten so drunk on moonshine from the House of the Rising Sun that they go for knee-jerk reaction instead of cool commentary.
Sarah Palin’s “inexperience” will be perceived as a slam against rural voters, her “lack of credentials” will be perceived as a slam against public schools, and any implication that women who vote for her would have “the collective IQ of a Tampax” will be perceived as proof that feminist orthodoxy is every bit as misogynist as old-fashioned patriarchy. Attacking Sarah Palin is like stepping through a minefield; she can be defeated but it helps to know where the mines are buried before stepping in. That hasn’t kept the leftist press from stepping on one mine after another with reckless abandon.
I don’t get it. Intelligent discussion all around about Georgia, Russia, Iran, election politics, etc. However, as soon as Bush is brought up in a negative light, everyone suddenly comes down with a bad case of stupid. To me, Fletcher’s statement seemed perfectly reasonable. Granted, I agree with it. But I could understand such a reaction to something that was outlandish, not merely disagreeable. I don’t Fletcher’s other positions as I’m new at BC, but they seem irrelevant to me, unless you’re trying for a strawman. Has Bush at any time admitted to any mistakes that were made (not necessarily by him personally) during his administration? If not, do you then suggest that no mistakes were made and that Bush’s administration was flawless in its decision-making? Please, name one instance in which Bush reacted to criticism in a responsible manner. It’s always easy to make cheap shots at people, how about addressing the substance? What is then the difference, between the left’s cult of personality of Obama and the right thinking that their president is Pope and is, therefore, infallible?
bush isn’t running; any energy spent attacking or defending him is wasted. i don’t talk about him one way or the other because he is in my rear view mirror. feltcher has BSD and it shows.
@programmer
I agree that polls are not very reliable. People on the left are more likely to be demogogues and not follow through their opinion with action, hence there is usually an inherent skew in left’s favor in terms of poll numbers. However, what I was calling attention to, was not poll numbers, but trends, which are less susceptible to being skewed.
“The hope, apparently, is that they will chase Sarah Palin away. They’d better hope they do not succeed. Because every thinking woman in America will have seen what they did, and how they did it, by attacking womanhood and motherhood and the private and career decisions of a gifted woman. And those women will look at their own lives and their daughters, and they will not sit there and take it.” The Anchoress
The Culture Wars are heating up. It won’t happen in a day but the Army of the Great Unwashed has stirred.
We can start improving this country immediately by never electing to public office ever again any person, of any gender, who has graduated from Harvard, Yale or Princeton.
palin won’t quit and mccain can’t drop her. he’s all in on this one. just look at his eyes, the man is fired up! “today is a good day for victory”
neolex writes:
“Please, name one instance in which Bush reacted to criticism in a responsible manner.”
Welcome aboard, and enjoy the discussion!
I just did a google on ‘Bush apologizes’ and got 6,370,000 items. The first page of ites reminded me of some controversial apologies, most of which his base didn’t even want him to make.
Pres. Bush is the kind of man he said he was going to be: a compassionate conservative.
Interesting discussion, as always. Thanks, Wretchard, for a trip back through my own memories, so comic now, so painful then, of romantic misadventures as I read yours. Fortune’s fools, indeed.
Two points I have not seen made here or elsewhere (though I may not have looked hard enough). First, this idea that Sen McCain’s choice of Gov Palin for VP may (or may not) result in disgruntled Hillary Clinton supporting females switching their vote to the GOP ticket. Perhaps the more relevant result will be that a GOP base and independents that might otherwise have stayed home are now energized – those are the votes that may have been more problematic for Republicans than angry Clinton PUMAs.
The other thought is that because of the source of the attacks against Gov Palin and her family, the resulting outrage may (quite unintentionally) accrue to Sen Obama as much as Sen McCain. Obama needed the netroots and all its lunatic fringe to win the nomination. As has been noted elsewhere, he must now move to the center, despite the risk that he will be seen as leaving them behind. His campaign can now spin that the attacks are so egregious and offensive to him, that Kos and DU and all the rest have “left him”. Fundraising for him has moved far beyond the netroots, and Gov Palin’s presence won’t help McCain in that arena as he is locked into public financing now.
Okay NeoLex,
I made a mistake. I’m not done using up bandwidth on this thread.
I defend Bush because I like him. I have come to a time in my life when I admire (and in business, look for) people who try to succeed. I am tired of people who line up host deep to give all the reasons something won’t work or how someone who is trying made mistakes. Give me one man or woman willing to do what it takes to make things work, falling down, getting back up, moving forward. Screw the rest of them.
“I don’t get it. Intelligent discussion all around about Georgia, Russia, Iran, election politics, etc. However, as soon as Bush is brought up in a negative light, everyone suddenly comes down with a bad case of stupid…..What is then the difference, between the left’s cult of personality of Obama and the right thinking that their president is Pope and is, therefore, infallible?”- neolex
That’s a fairly reasonable question. Answer: Bush has accomplished something, before and during his Presidency. Bush has earned his acclaim, and has not deserved the trashing he has received in the press and otherwise since he took office in 2000. He has acted with honor. He has stood on principle, and he did it when everyone else told him he was nuts. A guy like Clinton couldn’t have held up to the hurricane of incessant, nasty, demeaning criticism – not from moonbat BLOGers, but from national figures. The sheer volume of character assassination by men and women who couldn’t hold his shoes let along walk his walk, was abominable.
“bush isn’t running; any energy spent attacking or defending him is wasted.” – cjm
Understandable sentiment. However, I sharply disagree. To ignore Bush, to hide him, to remain silent when the political left makes vile accusations, is to agree with them. The Bush Administration has done outstanding work. It’s also made some major mistakes – par for the course in any administration. Bush is has been a hell of a good leader, and has faithfully acted in the best interest of America.
I disagree with Bush about many things, and he frustrates me to no end. I never saw the viability of “nation building” in enemy territory, when the war was not yet over. He’s made some terrible appointments, including Bremmer in Iraq, and allowing the State Department to have any influence at all in post-invasion Iraq. We should have kept going all the way through Syria. We would have found the missing WMD’s, and the Iranian mullah’s would have climbed into their prayer holes long ago. Leaving open fronts along 4 axis and starting a “nation building” effort was unwise.
However, there were few politicians in America who would have the courage to put “boots on the ground” in Afghanistan 30 days after 9/11. There were even fewer who would have committed the USA to anything other than air strikes against empty tents post 9/11. Iraq was the correct place to take the second phase of the battle, but we stalled after ousting Saddam. We didn’t have the courage to move beyond that point, and at that point, the Democrats were ginning up their 2004 Presidential campaign, and were already openly sabotaging the nation’s war effort.
I disagree with Bush about most political things domestic. I understand that part of the reason he let bloated, fat-filled budgets become law year after year was that he was buying off legislators to sustain support for the war. He also had the slightly aristocratic leanings of his father, in effect, that America “should do” certain social programs.
On the other hand, I fully understand the cause of visceral hate for Bush by the political left and every Democrat. They were certain that after Clinton, that the Democrats had a dynasty building. They felt that 1994 was an aberration, a sly trick of the GOP, that the Democrats deserved to be in power. They felt that Al Gore was entitled to be President. They were so close, they won the popular vote, they should have had the election in a cake walk, and Gore even had a viable plan to count Florida ballots in such a way as to achieve what they felt they deserved. The problem was that counting ballots in one certain way in three Democrat-majority Florida counties, with Democrat party operatives acting as arbitrators, to decide the entire election for Florida and the US nation, violated equal protection clauses of the US Constitution. A person’s vote in three Florida counties was not entitled to mean more than every other voter in the US. A voter in these three counties should have at least meant nothing more than the rest of the counties. As certified by three major media investigations, a Constitutional full Florida recount would have resulted in the election of President Bush, with or without the hanging chads. Gore attempted an end-run around the US Constitution, failed, lost in court, and lost the election.
That day, the “stolen election” myth was born. That day, the “no holds barred-Bush-will-serve-but-never-govern damn-the-country-anyway-cause-its-the-nations-fault” Democrat opposition was born. From the moment Bush took office, the Democrats were committed to ensure Bush was a “failed President”, and would be unable to govern. The Democrat held Senate obstructed and opposed nearly EVERY Bush nominee, such that on 9/11/2001, Bush did not yet have a full National Security team, FBI Director, Justice department, and other key offices filled – NINE MONTHS after Bush was sworn in. 9/11/2001 briefly interrupted the Democrats plan, but only long enough to let Bush commit troops to ground. As early as spring 2002, Kerry was already at it, and Democrats were already moving against the war. By summer 2002, Democrats were repudiating the war, and by 2003, there were already calls for Bush’s impeachment. All of this self-serving, opportunistic, politically inspired action by the Democrats came as a response to the 2000 election. Nothing Bush did other than resigning and handing the office to Gore would have changed any Democrat action. In fact, it’s arguable that the Democrats saw the war as an obstacle to their original plan to bring Bush down, i.e. they saw the main problem not as 9/11, or the war, or the lives lost, but the cost in political opportunity.
Bush is not my favorite conservative, but he was one hell of a principled leader, a man among political pygmies, when considering him versus Clinton, Obama, the US Congress, or the Senate.
I won’t back down from defending him, precisely because that’s gone so far out of fashion. Honor never goes out of fashion.
As for Fletcher, he’s wrong on so many things, his world view is so twisted, and he’s filled with such derision, why bother entertaining the discussion.
old salt: i like bush too, but he won’t defend himself or his supporters, so i stopped talking about him. his refusal to fight back has consequences to the country.
@cjm “…akin to a level of hell opening up” –that’s Milton’s Hell in “Paradise Lost” –where every time you reach the bottom, the ground yawns open yet again and down you fall still deeper. (paraphrased poorly)
You seriously violated the rule about long ass responses, OldSalt, but you did it well.
Unlike you, I agree with Dubya on most things and, like you, I acknowledge the political realities he simply HAD to deal with.
I especially love the fact that he refused to apologize for nonsense the press and Democrats *demanded* that he apologize for.
To hell with all of those sap suckers.
@oldsalt@1:15 –well said, and true, all of it. i hope for the sake of comity we never learn how many soldiers we lost to a constantly-reinvigorated enemy, studying what was happening to Bush and applying it to the Vietnam model. BDS in peacetime would still have been atrocious, but in wartime it’s been a sin and a very serious one.
Such destruction, endless fraudulent legal attacks –relentless –i’d list ‘em but I get sick and retch –i’ll meet some o them sonzabitches in Hell someday –and settle my own score with ‘em.
that energy is better spent elsewhere. just sayin’
I read Spengler’s article and agreed with a lot of it. But I do not believe that Obama is very intelligent. I deal with very intellegent and creative people all the time including my graduate and many of my undergraduate students.
I do know a Chilean conservative that took one of Obama’s courses at the University of Chicago. He told me that while he disagreed with Obama he found him charismatic. I agree with Spengler that O has the characteristics of an abandoned child. Since I was an abandoned infant I know the traits. I can appear to be charismatic to people whom I despise.
My post on Alaskans did not get in yesterday. It is a tough place to live during the winter and those who live and work there and do not become drunkards are very interesting people. Many who move there leave becasue they can not stand the long dark winters.
The National Organization for Women, I hear on the radio, is against Palin.
This figures.
What keeps that group still functioning? Federal money?
Palin is just too much woman for them.
They could at least have shown a little class by saying we admire Sarah Palin, but our policy is to urge our members to vote their own views.
NOW–not a class act at all, whatever it might have been in the past.
Talking about Alaska, and dark winters, our high school class had a guy, one of our brightest, son of a college prof here, who was into meditation and things Eastern, early on.
After high school graduation, he seemed to have kind of disappeared, not going to some college or other like most of us.
After a couple or three years, he was seen again, bearded, in absolutely great physical shape.
He was talked with to. What you been doing?
Meditating in a hut in Alaska.
Damn it’s cold, freeze your balls off, but when you get it with meditation, it’s beautiful, he said.
Meant it too, as he has taught with that Transcendental Meditation Society all the rest of his life.
Just another Alaskan story.
“Seward’s Folly” said the bright MSM of the day.
1.9 cents per acre, in 1867.
Buy when land is cheap, Buddy, and get in the way of progress:)
Russia was in a difficult financial position and feared losing the Alaskan territory without compensation in some future conflict, especially to their rivals the British, who could easily have captured the hard-to-defend region. Therefore Emperor Alexander II decided to sell the territory to the US and instructed Russian minister to the United States, Louis Baydalal, to enter into negotiations with Seward in the beginning of March 1867.
Check for $7.2 Million
The Russians and the British both lost that hand of the ‘great game’.
Jack London (1876 – 1916) – US adventurer, author, & sailor
Jack London was one of the most widely acclaimed American authors of the late 19th century, who wrote THE CALL OF THE WORLD and over 50 other such masterpieces. Essentially self educated, he was pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction who made a huge financial success from writing.
Quotes and Quotations written by Jack london are :
Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but sometimes, playing a poor hand well.
Jack London
Affluence means influence.
Jack London
Darn the wheel of the world! Why must it continually turn over? Where is the reverse gear?
Jack London
There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life, and beyond which life cannot rise. And such is the paradox of living, this ecstasy comes when one is most alive, and it comes as a complete forgetfulness that one is alive.
Jack London
I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.
Jack London
A bone to the dog is not charity. Charity is the bone shared with the dog, when you are just as hungry as the dog.
Jack London
You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.
Jack London
If cash comes with fame, come fame; if cash comes without fame, come cash.
Jack London
One cannot violate the promptings of one’s nature without having that nature recoil upon itself.
Jack London
The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
Jack London
http://www.best-quotes-poems.com/Jack-London.html
Wow! Youtube has Princess Sarah wishing the Alaska Independent Party a good convention this year. ABC has proof that she was a recent member. What a patriot!
I have see apologism go to a new low since the VP announcement. Shut up and face it: Palin is NOT going to be on the ticket. McGovern dumped Sen. Eagleton after the convention, after he found out that the Senator had been hospitalized for depression. Precedents speak. She is GONZO!
Fletcher, you just don’t get it about Yanks. The alternative to Bush was Kerry who was torpedoed by his own service buddies who, honorable men, told the truth about Kerry in Vietnam.
It was Kerry who chose the theme “Reporting for duty”. He tried to wield the sword and died by it.
And did I mention his ambulance chasing lawyer mate Edwards?
We don’t take kindly to elitists in the US, or we would still be part of the UK or at least the Commonwealth.
Agree that Old Salt did a great job telling neolex exactly why so many of us would vote for Bush again if he were able to job.
Disagree with cjm that it’s not worth the fight standing up to the knuckle-draggers to defend Dubya. As has been quoted elsewhere, the line from “Liberty Valence” is, “When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”
If we allow the Neolexes of the world the freedom to continue their unending self-pitying whine of “it’s all Bush’s fault”, then that *will* become the fact that people remember.
I don’t think the Progressive/Liberals should be allowed to rewrite history simply because they can’t admit that they’re a bunch of losers who, frequently, don’t know what the fuck they’re talking about, but because they’re loud and noisy in their ignorance think everyone should agree with them or be shouted down.
American Patriot is a nice Orwellian name. You will be gone before Governor Palin.
The Alaska Independence Party is a 3rd party in the great tradition of Alaskan self-reliance which wants federal government power drastically reduced in their state.
Alaska Independence Party
… and Sarah Palin
It turns out that Sarah Palin was NOT a member in 1996 for a brief time with her husband Todd, about the same time Barack Obama was community organizing in Chicago for freebies from the federal government. Earlier reports about her switching parties that year to run for mayor were false.
Regardless, what liberals are belittling as a “fringe” party problem for her is something that middle America and libertarian-minded voters would have cheered had she been a member. Most rural states are fed up with Washington DC.
Politically the GOP was once the standard-bearer for the great conservative philosophical principles of self-determination and self-reliance. One suspects that Palin may steer the GOP back on their traditional political course.
it’s worth it to stand up to the liars and evil ones in the world, just not for bush. he has some deep seated masochistic streak, or some other personality defect, that prevents him from fighting back when personally attacked. he (and the miscreants in congress) damaged the gop and he hurt the country as well.
i admire his tenacity in fighting the WOT and think he is a good person, but he lacks essential leadership qualities. i just want his time to be over and for someone else — like johnny mac — to take over the reigns. good on you guys though, for being so generous with him, he deserves some kindness.
American Patriot:
Wow! Youtube has Princess Sarah wishing the Alaska Independent Party a good convention this year. ABC has proof that she was a recent member. What a patriot!
I have see apologism go to a new low since the VP announcement. Shut up and face it: Palin is NOT going to be on the ticket. McGovern dumped Sen. Eagleton after the convention, after he found out that the Senator had been hospitalized for depression. Precedents speak. She is GONZO!
Sep 2, 2008 – 3:37 pm
———————————–
Democrats,Libertarians, and Independents who are going to cross party lines to vote for Sarah Palin don’t care about party affiliations. And you are expecting Republicans to not like a Sarah Palin who is more conservative than John McCain?
Sarah Palin has many apologists. Check the feedback on the articles that are trying to drag her daughter through the mud. Even in my completely Democratic town (Daily newspaper didn’t even mention her nomination!) she has numerous defenders on the public forums.
I think we ought to thank our lucky stars that Bush ins’t as mean spirited as his attackers. It would soon drive me nuts living in that environment day by day.
McCain’s Campaign claims:
Bumiller
Writes Her Own Story
excerpt:
And Bumiller writes that Governor Palin “was a member for two years in the 1990s of the Alaska Independence Party.” Not true, and unsourced. Governor Palin has been a registered Republican since 1982.
Ms. Bumiller, if you’d like to try reporting instead of writing fiction, here’s a link to our press line.
Are Moonbats super- or sublunary… or is they just looney?
As for the videos in which Palin “endorses” Ron Paul, er, somebody doesn’t understand graciousness. A gracious person can agree with someone to the maximum extent possible while making clear the edge of disagreement without stating it explicitly.
We call this trait various other names, “diplomatic”, “gentlemanly”, “ladylike”, for example.
Look at the video greeting the Alaskan Independence Party convention. Warm, friendly, and tough as nails on the US and Alaskan constitutions. Not an endorsement at all; that was the riot act being read to any the leftover WingNuts still in the group.
Look at her comment about Ron Paul–just one of many pols who had called her prior to “Super Tuesday” (and got the same earful she described on that tape). When asked about Mr. Paul she used words like “He’s cool!” and “right on” specifically with regard to the pol’s agreement with her particular concerns. Ummm, if someone finds a little point of agreement with me and dashes off “You’re cool! Right on!”, would you advise me to take that as a general endorsement, or was it just a gracious dismissal?
Evidence mounts that Sarah Palin, on top of her other manifest talents, is a natural diplomat who knows well how to say “This is the deal, bub.” while making it sound like a happy family reunion.
Perhaps los moonbattie don’t have happy family reunions.
McCain’s Campaign claims:
From Johnmccain (dot) com (slash) findityourdamnself:
“Bumiller Writes Her Own Story ”
excerpt:
And Bumiller writes that Governor Palin “was a member for two years in the 1990s of the Alaska Independence Party.” Not true, and unsourced. Governor Palin has been a registered Republican since 1982.
Ms. Bumiller, if you’d like to try reporting instead of writing fiction, here’s a link to our press line.
Currently linked at Drudge for the exceptionally lazy.
it’s not impossible for a happy family to produce a moonbat, but it is pretty unlikely for a moonbat to come from one. everything is personal with those savages — “my mom and dad were bad, therefore families in general are bad therefore the state should take over from families”.
And, you know, a little graciousness goes a long way. Governor Palin’s gracious recognition of Susan Anthony, Geraldine Ferraro, and Hillary Clinton doesn’t sound in the least smarmie-fake to me.
I think she meant it. Republican women just found an opening they have been wanting for a long time, and John McCain just set it smack dab in the middle of the table.
This is as much an instant revolution within the “Evangelicals” as it is about women’s roles elsewhere. Welcome to the new century guys, we all have a little adjusting coming right up.
Welcome to the new century guys, we all have a little adjusting coming right up.
Yup, it might not be too long before it will be abnormal if a woman is not on the ticket.
Sarah Palin’s Experience « Sigmund, Carl and Alfred
Frank Gaffney
Listening to her critics, one might think that John McCain’s chosen running-mate is a complete ignoramus when it comes to matters of national security. In fact, Sarah Palin’s background in Alaska, including most recently her service as that state’s governor, suggests that the judgment of the Republicans’ candidate for Vice President with respect to this portfolio is likely to be substantially better than that of either Barak Obama or Joe Biden. Consider the following factors:
Gov. Palin has spent much of her adult life dealing with matters long central to the Alaskan experience and now of surpassing importance to the nation as a whole – namely, energy security and how we can provide for it. Having managed her state’s department responsible for oil and gas exploration and exploitation, having negotiated a long-delayed natural gas pipeline through Canada to the Lower 48 and having been married for nearly two decades to a blue-collar worker in Alaska’s North Slope oil fields, she knows more about the subject than all three of the others on the two parties’ tickets put together.
Speaking of geography, Alaskan territory is also along the trajectory of ballistic missiles launched eastward out of Stalinist North Korea. For that reason, among others, Alaska’s Fort Greely was selected as the site for the principal U.S. ground-based defense against such missiles.
As that state’s governor, Sarah Palin would know more by osmosis – if nothing else – about the necessity for U.S. anti-missile systems than either Messrs. Obama or Biden. In fact, the Democrats have reflexively opposed such defenses and promise to starve them of funds if elected. Opinion polls suggest that the support missile defense enjoys among Gov. Palin’s Alaskans is shared by strong majorities of their countrymen elsewhere. Her judgment versus Sen. Biden’s on the question of whether America should be protected against present and growing missile-delivered threats will be one of the highlights of the vice presidential nominees’ debate.
In short, America is only beginning to get to know Sarah Palin. As we do, she will have plenty of opportunities to illuminate her views on national security. One thing is already clear, though: By virtue of her home state and its unique role in America’s energy, defense and power-projection and thanks to her own public sector service and that of her offspring in the U.S. Army, it is not only wrong but foolish to portray her as totally unprepared to contend with the epochal foreign and defense policy issues we are confronting.
Bobal: Yup, it might not be too long before it will be abnormal if a woman is not on the ticket.
The way things are going with college enrollments by gender these days, the only qualified politicians (ie lawyers) will be female.
Election Records show Palin to have always been a registered Republican since 1982, fwiw.
Ahhh, as mother nature intended it:
a female in the White House
a male as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
and a mixed bag on the Supreme Court
Watch the savages in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia try to play macho *then*. Might even throw a hitch in Ivan’s bully plans, when there’s no one to play “who can piss further” with.
“You seriously violated the rule about long ass responses, OldSalt,”
LOL.. mea culpa.
I lived in Alaska for eight years. I helped develop telecommunications networks for the State government and common carriers. I worked for the State of Alaska DOT/PF…Department of Transportation and Public Facilities based out of Juneau (the state capitol) and got an immersion course in Alaska’s hardball politics. The Governor when I lived there, was Jay Hammond, he was one of Pappy Boyingtons WWII “Black Sheep” who flew F4U’s “popping” Nippon Zekes and Kates out of southern Pacific skies…anyway Hammond was a way cool character and a Bristol Bay fisherman married to a very fine native Alaskan woman. He was the model Republican with a very libertarian populace. Life in Alaska was as free as I’ll ever be…and I miss it.
As the chief executive officer of Alaska, Palin oversee’s the capital and operating funds, liaison with Federal funding, the planning and development of program budgets for the state’s railroads, airstrips,ocean going passenger ferry’s, highways, satellite and fiber optic telecommunications networks, state police, state salmon hatcheries, prisons, national guard and a lot more. Plus there’s the management of the state’s Permanent Fund (the multi-billion dollar )investment fund sourced by the state’s oil tax revenues)which pays annual dividends(in good years) to all Alaskan’s. Alaska’s has vast oil and natural gas deposits, huge fisheries, minerals (gold, silver etc)…the list is big, that are managed from Juneau and Anchorage. Most difficult is managing the lease holders of north slope O&G who are getting very rich exploiting the leases awarded to them by the state. Add in native Alaskan corporations, Canadian and Russian trade and a myriad of federal bureaucracies, the governor of Alaska has responsibilities that are quite similar to POTUS.
This 08′ campaign stump is going to look like an extended “moose hunt” to Palin, and with “Unkie John” at the controls, you can count on them bagging a couple of ZERO’s just like old Governor Jay did back in the day.
@Mark
I googled ‘tits’ and got 85,300,000 results. Your point?
@NahnCee Lol, your inability to confront me on substance and thus having to resort to a personal attack is quite amusing. It
@OldSalt
I appreciate your answer and I hope when it comes to topics that are contentious to conservatives other BC posters will follow your example. I like a lot of things that Bush did, like pulling out of SALT-II, sticking up for Israel, promoting Yucca mountain (though I think he could’ve done more), extending NATO, refusing to agree to Kyoto, appointing Bolton as rep in UN (it is really unfortunate that lefties refused to confirm him). However, saying that Bush had to deal with political realities that were against him is simply not accurate. Republicans had 50/50 in the senate with tie-breaking vote by Cheney and 221/214 majority in the house. The Supreme Court was 5/4 Republican. You cannot honestly argue that he was in any way “constrained” by political situation. 9-11 was an eye-opener for most people, aside from rabid extreme lefties who blamed US Govt and Joos. This gave Bush a carte-blanche in his actions. There was a huge sentiment to hit back and so there was nothing brave about putting “boots on the ground” in 30 days. In fact, to not do it would cause a fallout. Democrats, being spineless as usual, voted for anything presented to them, lest they be called unpatriotic. US taking over Iraq, if done correctly, would have been extremely geo-politically advantageous. Our foreign oil supplies would be secure under a friendly government that would simultaneously counter-balance OPEC and Iran. Syria and other nations would try to steer clear of any US interests. Unfortunately, that did not come to pass.
The initial mistake was to frame the war under a weak pretext of WMD. They might have been in Iraq and been destroyed prior to US invasion, or they might have been moved to Syria or Russia. Either of those even seems likely. Whatever, evidence US presented before the war, was discredited afterwards. However, WMDs was not the reason US went to Iraq and everyone knew it. It still puzzles me why Bush used WMD reason rather than painting a grand future of Middle East that would be remodeled to empower their people so that they no longer pose a threat to the West because their tyrants need to direct public anger outside their borders. Europeans reacted predictably with most opposing the war, with France taking the most outrageous stance due to their contracts with Saddam and investment into Iraq. I would call France a prostitute, but I hold prostitutes in much higher regard. Russia had to be placated by letting it do whatever it wants in Chechnya and curtail democratic institutions in the country. This was another mistake that is coming back to haunt US in Georgia. Putin essentially got a pass from Bush in exchange for Russia’s mild stance on Iraq. Rather than opposing US politically, Russia simply supplied arabs with IEDs. What has US won?
This is where our opinions converge. Appointing incompetent people into various positions due merely to their affiliation with RNC or being “trustworthy” is the very definition of corruption. This is what brought down Bush administration into the approval ratings it has now and put US in its current position in international politics. Way back in the 90s, Pentagon had a plan prepared for invasion of Iraq that envisioned using between 300,000 – 500,000 troops to control the country post-occupation. Rumsfeld did not have that many troops at his disposal. Rather than figuring out a way to find them or researching strategies that would allow to minimize use of US forces during occupation, he simply ordered a new plan made that completely discounted whatever happened after Iraqi army was destroyed. Enter Bremmer, who is the single individual who deserves to be hated and reviled by everyone. His incompetent job in conducting the occupation has cost US thousands of lifes and hundreds of billions of dollars. It took 5 years and removal of Rumsfeld and Bremmer to get the things on the right course. Meanwhile, the support that existed for the war in America has eroded not so much because of casualties (they were low compared to previous US engagements in Vietnam and N. Korea), but because Bush did not speak honestly about the war and refused to acknowledge mistakes. Even resignation of Rumsfeld and Bremmer occured after there was political pressure from Democrats and some Republicans. I won’t even get into discussion of the domestic aspects, as this is getting long, and I’ll receive enough flame from the likes of Nahncee for what I’ve said so far.
The ironic thing is that had Bush’s campaign not used smears against McCain in 2000 S. Carolina primary, we might have had 2 terms of McCain presidency and things would have been very very different.
During the 60′s, some little sawed off troll named AJ Leibling used to go through bob Dylan’s garbage. I believe it was outside the Chelsea Hotel in Manhattan. Leibling was trying to unlock the code in Dylan’s cryptic lyrics. In the end he just came off as a borderline delusional sociopath.
Deja vu all over again. The great unwashed at KOS and Democratic Underground, the tattooed, ear guaged freakocracy in cohorts with Sir Andrew the Fudgepacker Sullivan and Alan the human Praying Mantis Colmes are digging through the Great Frozen Tundra trying to unearth mastodon bones of scandal in Palin’s past.
In the world of the new media though, two can play that game. There ain’t no Messiahs born in Chi-town, only Al Capones.
The media attack on Palin has been monstrous and non-stop. Already, they are creating a “she must go” buzz. Damaged goods, dontcha know! (Bad mother! Racist! Anti-semite! Corrupt! Religious fanatic!) (And good lord, her husband had a DUI like 25 years ago!) Not surprisingly at all, the MSM has probably already put in more hours researching Palin in a week than they put in researching zerO for almost two years.
I think McCain is a hard nut to crack and he’s probably getting his dander up about the whole thing. I don’t think he’ll cut her. But man, a lot hinges on her speech. She has a hurricane of distortion to blast through.
I can’t decide if the media blitzkrieg on Palin will have a boomerang effect or not. I think it will anger some, but many will simply accept the smears as fact. I’ve already heard from people “she wants to teach creationism in schools,” a meme that took about forty seconds for the MSM to pump into the body politic.
I think if ever I run into a MSM “celebrity” I’m going to spit in their disgusting face.
@neolex, I agree with much you just wrote. But I’ll quibble on this one.
The Supreme Court was 5/4 Republican.
Never. Anthony “It’s all up to me” Kennedy was never a strong Conservative, and his Leftward drift (“ooh, me likey my picture in the paper!”) was predictably on-time and will continue. In a few more years he will be a completely reliable Liberal vote.
I for one welcome the change wrought by the nomination of Governor Palin. She is the right choice for so many reasons it is easy to see why only one meeting was needed for the deciding. As life (and the campaign) goes on it will be interesting to see how the Governor responds to the daily grind of the Daily Kos and the daily fish wrap. Having a glimpse of it in the executive position in Alaska is nothing compared to paparazzi peepers 24/7. And the adulation of the regular folks can become a weight as well.
I wish her well, America needs someone of her stature, to be an example, to inspire and to nurture the hopes and dreams of real folks. I especially wish the young lady and her beau the strength to endure, patience, calm, and grace. She will need these in abundance mainly because our nation needs it too. She has accepted the challenge I think because she believes in her mom, as does her father, as does John McCain.
The attention on her will wane and dissipate the intensity will wane. Life goes on.
@RattlerGator
I’ll take a long post by OldSalt over a long post by Benj any day.
I also don’t think that Bush should have apologized for things. It is humiliating for a POTUS and serves no purpose, besides liberal lefties who enjoy insincere apologies can go screw themselves. I think he shouldn’t have apologized for US soldier shooting a Quran What I think is that he should’ve acknowledged mistakes and have been more responsible about his role as the president in overseeing his appointees.
You have a point, but I was talking more about 2000 rather than today. Kennedy has voted in favor of Bush in the Florida recount matter. Regardless of whether it was a political decision or he thought that fact’s were in Bush’s favor, Bush could rely on Kennedy to rule in his favor if the facts supported it and not be svayed by liberal bias.
Kennedy’s not so much liberal as he has moved to consider international law when interpreting US constitution is disturbing and makes no sense to me.
Neolex,
From all that I have read, from all that I have heard, the narrative you give so filled with should have been’s in crucial parts, is just not so. People in the pentagon and in the DOS, tasked with certain jobs, did not perform. People in the government tasked with making connections and laying the ground work did not get the job done. Careerists in the departments, whether because they opposed the Bush administration or opposed the idea of armed conflict, did not perform the tasks assigned to them, all with the buzz buzz of seeming effort.
Thus the intelligence on Iraqi persons, the intelligence on movements of armaments and treasure and information, the intelligence needed for a successful post Saddam Iraqi turnaround was woefully inadequate to the tasks to the point of being completely missing.
The confidence in our army was not misplaced, the confidence in our diplomats was, and to a great degree still is. What was required was a joint effort, what we and the Iraqi’s got was a turf battle. It is shameful. That is one place where change, long overdue, has got to come. It is a place where I am convinced much of the administrations energy was sapped in the attempt to keep treacherous actions from compromising the efforts of our troops.
It is not by any means the whole story, but I believe it is most of it.
”
I have see apologism go to a new low since the VP announcement. Shut up and face it: Palin is NOT going to be on the ticket. McGovern dumped Sen. Eagleton after the convention, after he found out that the Senator had been hospitalized for depression. Precedents speak. She is GONZO!”
Interesting, the same meme produced by the CBC tonight, almost word for word…
Lol @ JAK
And afterwards McGovern proceeded to win the election in a landslide… Right. Palin is here to stay.
Some commenters at Daily Kos:
“If health insurance for all, an end to the Iraq War, an end to torture and illegal wiretapping, and a sane energy policy can be obtained at the price of destroying one teenage girl, her family, and the surrendering our self-respect I see that as a cheap trade.”
And:
“Are you telling me that you would not use character-destroying lies to ensure a war against Iran does not occur? . . . What choice do we have? When faced with monsters, we have to be monstrous ourselves.”
And:
Are you telling me you would not destroy the love a family holds for one another, even if it meant letting someone who would destroy the constitution become president?
re: Trang’s quotes
Monsters (such as the Kos BLOGERS, can “justify” anything, anytime. That’s how psychopaths can live with themselves. They redefine “conscience” in relative moral terms. If it’s important enough for them, then it justifies anything they do.
yuk –what delusional fascist zealots.
The first and third quote seem facetious to me, because if they aren’t it is really scary. I think if reposted on conservative forum with a link, it will flood DailyKos with enough posters to drown these creeps. Let me try posting on hillaryclintonforum.net, they are big on defending Palin over there.
Can’t register, they disabled registration to stave off ObamaBot invasion. If anyone has an account there, please repost.
I got the quotes from a post by Jonah Goldberg at the Corner. Kos won’t let dissident voices on will they?
Reading it, I found minority reports eerily absent. I dont think 2 of the above quotes were meant to be taken at face value, at least by people other than ObamaBots. It is a known strategy, where dissent is not allowed, to logically extend the oppressor’s accepted way of thinking into absurdity. 1st and 3rd quotes might just be examples of that. 2nd one definately isn’t, as it uses moral equivalency, a known affliction of the left. What is scary is that 1st and 3rd quote were allowed through, hence moderators did not see an issue with their “members” expressing such an opinion.
What is it about such comments?
The old boy at 1:30 and 2:15 had the only sane reaction in the clip. Just wants to be left alone with his beer.
Yep –he’s been there before. That link is actually pretty crappy –doesn’t identify the movie –”Cabaret”, set in the Weimar Republic. This one is better –includes the protagonist & friend leaving the cafe, one of ‘em asking the other “Still think you can control them?” I have a sinking feeling this is happening –surely less blatantly, but still –in Russia today.
<a href=”http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MGYzNzcwNTU2MWYzNDFjMjc3NjdlYjA1MDU4ZmJkZDA=A short comment on Palin, from Victor Davis Hanson
try again
programmer & cjm,
The suggestion that I don’t know Bush is ineleigible and the reason why is somewhat laughable. It might be interesting to consider, however, one of the reasons why that is the case; the fact of FDR’s death in office (at a rather critical time incidentally). FDR died at 63; McCain is 72. Statistically, Palin is quite likely to assume office sometime before 2012, which makes the fact of her selection quite important; and her being a fundie nutcase who supports “creation science” in schools and evidently doesn’t support the notion of responsibility re. population control either makes some outsiders (and probably some Americans as well) rather nervous. Admittedly, fundamentalist insanity is rather common in the USA. Maybe that’s why she is in the frame in the first place; she’ll appeal to the fundies. (This is not a factor in any democratic country other than the USA; that particular brand of psychosis is rather uncommon everywhere else.)
Admittedly, she is a better prospect than either of the Democrat candidates, but that isn’t saying much.
The main point I was making in my first post is still there; something is wrong, deeply wrong, with a system that has put Nixon, both Bushes, Clinton and Carter into power in the last 50 years. What is it?
The main point I was making in my first post is still there; something is wrong, deeply wrong, with a system that has put Nixon, both Bushes, Clinton and Carter into power in the last 50 years. What is it?
What’s mostly wrong is a deeply partisan media. They coverup for and favorably spin Democrats, so you get feckless jackasses (Carter) or disreputable cretins (Clinton). On the Republican side, anyone of any value is attacked mercilessly, so you tend to get blander types like the Bushes surviving the primary process. It takes people of huge stature like Reagan (let’s not forget how they demonized him as well) to break through. Or it takes the Democrats to choose someone as hopeless as Kerry to lose after they had beaten Bush to a pulp.
Also, the level of partisanship continues to increase, to the point now where there isn’t even a pretense of objectivity. Obama, with all his skeletons, gets zero vetting from the press for months on end. With Palin, every tiny little imperfection in her life is broadcast 24 hours a day. I’ve never seen anything like it. How far will it go? Will they tell us that once in fourth grade she got caught passing notes in class?
Had Obama been given that scrutiny he’d probably be in jail by now.
The thing I find striking about the KosKids quIotes is that I just don’t think they’re in it for health care and saving America, as much as they are for attaining personal power. I think in most cases, progressive liberals are young and untested — like Obama — and feel entitled to more respect, money and power –like Obama.
It’s that sense of entitlement that makes it so easy for them to become monstrous, plus the lynch-mob mentality that makes them so willing to use the power of the mob to further their efforts. The thing about being a part of a lynch mob, though, is that if you personally have the temporary power to destroy someone, it’s almost guaranteed that the mob sooner or later will also turn on you, and then you’ll be a dead little moonbat — still unemployed, still powerless, and still alone. With no universal health care.
Fletcher Christian:
I rather imagine our “fundie nutcase” has read
an informative tome you have missed. I refer
to Thomas Cahill’s “How The Irish Saved Civilization”. It was one of the most influential books of the 1990s.
Were you to absorb its lessons, perhaps you would cease and desist from wearing a red coat and marching in a straight line.
Noonan on Palin.
—————-
Because she jumbles up so many cultural categories, because she is a feminist not in the Yale Gender Studies sense but the How Do I Reload This Thang way, because she is a woman who in style, history, moxie and femininity is exactly like a normal American feminist and not an Abstract Theory feminist; because she wears makeup and heels and eats mooseburgers and is Alaska Tough, as Time magazine put it; because she is conservative, and pro-2nd Amendment and pro-life; and because conservatives can smell this sort of thing — who is really one of them and who is not — and will fight to the death for one of their beleaguered own; because of all of this she is a real and present danger to the American left, and to the Obama candidacy.
She could become a transformative political presence.
So they are going to have to kill her, and kill her quick.
And it’s going to be brutal. It’s already getting there.
Re Kos – a few days ago (pre-Palin) one Clubber argued ya’ll should “Let the rumors fly!” re OBama. Some posters here loved his notion. I asked Wretcb is he was down with that. He responed but slipped the question. Old Salt came through with a No in thunder. But I didn’t see a lot of OUTRAGE registered here about the creeps on these threads…
Sorry you don’t like my posts Neo – I think yours are pretty good. Though you’re probably being a little hard on Bremer and not hard enough on the Iraqis themselves (as per Kanan Makiya’s analysis of the “shit” the Baath left behind).
Wade – do hope you get to Bing West’s book. Think it will be help you get your warm & fuzzy feeling for Rummy (and Bush) Nobody on either side of the Iraq War debate looks golden right now…Hmmm – Seems like this pudding acquired a theme.
.Re Kos – a few days ago (pre-Palin) one Clubber argued ya’ll should “Let the rumors fly!” re OBama. Some posters here loved his notion. I asked Wretcb is he was down with that. He responed but slipped the question. Old Salt came through with a No in thunder. But I didn’t see a lot of OUTRAGE registered here about the creeps on these threads…
Benj, in fairness to the clubbers who might be sympathetic to letting rumors fly, you have to factor in that the MSM has put a padlock on the TRUTH of Obama, much less the rumors. Yet they gush with every little tidbit about Palin. And this behavior has gone on for decades and decades. We’ve seen many good people ruined by these vermin. Is it surprising some on the Right might say to hell with propriety? It’s hardly a fair battle out there, and one is easily tempted to fight filth with filth. Though we’re talking about a dumptruck of filth vs. a thimble.
Interesting threads on the Hillary Clinton forum. There are a number of women there that are raging at the sexist tone in the media and Dem circles. Keep it up libs.
RE: “let the rumors fly”, it’s always seemed to me that one thing most posters on Belmont Club enjoy above all else is the opportunity to demonstrate expertise. If someone is stupid enough to post a particularly Kos-like rumor, there will immediately be five different posters debunking and fisking it, showing why it isn’t, couldn’t be, never was, and that the person who posted it is a maroon.
Unlike the MSM, Belmont Club isn’t afraid of flying rumors because there are smart people here to disprove them (i.e., no smart people in MSM). It’s only in the media and with progressive liberals that flying rumors take on an everlasting life of their own, so that panties placed on someone’s head becomes torture, Katrina was all Bush’s fault, and fire doesn’t melt steel.
Peter – Another angle to consider? From my pov – I watch cable news – Fox = anti-O MSN = pro-O CNN = mix – Won’t say “fair” because the reporting is too shallow to earn that value word…I’ve now seen the story how re O kicked Alice Palmer off the ballot a half-dozen times on CNN. Nobody got it quite right yet…My guess re biases – Blitzer (nobody’s home) Cooper (plays it straight – no joke) Campbell Brown (Mac until Palin) Gergen (Whoever he believes is winning) Borger (tabula rasa to which nothing sticks) Dana Bash (Mac fan but not sure now) Her husband John the map guy (plays it pretty straight) Toobin – played it down the middle during Hill/O – definitely rolling with O now…I think that does it for “objective” voices. I think everyone else – from Carville to Bennett – is clearly defined as being on one side or the other – And I think CNN tries to do tit for tat….So what am I NOT seeing re CNN?
Teenage mom Jamie Lynn Spears has sent a gift to Bristol Palin, the pregnant 17-year-old daughter of John McCain’s vice presidential pick Sarah Palin, a source close to the Beverly Hills baby store Petit Tresor told CelebTV.com. An insider told the Web site it was actually Lynne Spears, Jamie Lynn’s mother, who called about the gift, and requested the gift come from her daughter. (Snip) They spent $60 on pink burp cloths,” the source said.
hdgreene: “Spengler over at (atimes.com) has pronounced the Doom of the Democrats. During O’s speech “Melancholy hung like think smog over the reserved seats where I sat with Democratic Party staffers.” Uh-oh for them. It’s an interesting read.”
********
I hunted down the article, to see these thoughts fleshed out. They were, and Spengler thinks Obama is likely to lose by a landslide. OTOH, however, Spengler practically salivates over Obama’s intellect, gifts of oratory, etc:
“Obama is the most talented and persuasive politician of his generation, the intellectual superior of all his competitors, but a fatally insecure personality.” – Spengler
*****
Rubbish, say I. Affirmative action “elephant in the room”. If he correctly add 2 plus 3, everybody is supposed to swoon? P.T. Barnum knew all about this guy.
Or, rather, P.T. Barnum knew all about this clown.
Whose grandiose intellect solves the energy crisis by pumping tires. Whose intellectual “paygrade” is nonplussed by partial birth atrocity and 4th trimester infanticide.
Or, rather, said Circus Magnate knew all about this clown.
Whose grandiose intellect solves the energy crisis by pumping tires. Whose intellectual “paygrade” is nonplussed by partial birth atrocity and 4th trimester infanticide.
Oops, mea culpa, “duplicate comment” at first blocked the submission so I changed the wording a bit, and ended up with three.
Anyway, I’ve got more to unload. The furor and debauchery of the MSM and the leftists over Sarah Palin’s nomination convinces me she is destined to play a salient and outstanding role to play in America’s future.
I wouldn’t be surprised if tomorrow night, McCain announces he supports drilling in ANWAR, and guess what breaks loose amongst the already panic-stricken Obamaphreaks?
Drill drill drill!
Hiya Benj. You noted:
Won’t say “fair” because the reporting is too shallow to earn that value word.
I think that’s a great comment. Props for that.
I’ve now seen the story how re O kicked Alice Palmer off the ballot a half-dozen times on CNN… So what am I NOT seeing re CNN?
So that’s it? They’ve brought up one questionable moment? What about how he got that Ryan guy (was that his name?) to drop out of the Senate race? Oh and a million others. C’mon, there’s a rat’s maze of stories about O that beg exploring and they ain’t touching.
Anyway, beyond that I never watch CNN so I couldn’t tell ya. I never watch TV news in general. My sense of the media is largely via the Internet and the presence of the old guard flooding the zone: AP, NYT, Time, Newsweek, etc.
“Wade – do hope you get to Bing West’s book. Think it will be help you get your warm & fuzzy feeling for Rummy (and Bush) Nobody on either side of the Iraq War debate looks golden right now…Hmmm – Seems like this pudding acquired a theme.”
With the single exception of McCain on the GOP Ledger, and Brian Baird on the Dem side. I don’t look at the review of what went on as a means of seeking someone to blame, but rather as a means for figuring out what went wrong. While not yet in the middle of revitalizing our military force doing the hard work that was put off doing by President Clinton, and restructuring and rearming in a way that made sense to the mission, the manner and method of taking Afghanistan down was probably a god send. What was happening in Iraq, which I recognize as accurate in Bing West Book, had a number of causes, sojme were honest mistakes others were failures of humans to just suck it up and do their job. I think the critiques evident and very well sourced in the undersecretary for Defence in policy, shows that process in the CIA, State and in DoD which should have been working cooperatively and sharing information, were outright lying to one another, about what had and had not been accomplished and tried. The info on WMD is IMO only a small sampling of the garbage the leaders of government were being fed by careerists. How can you lead with such nonsense ongoing from administration to administration. From the group that was supposed to be ready to assist with identifying and organizing local leaders and local government, a state operation that was in effect never started, to contacting Kurds about the stance and likely reaction of other Iraqi leaders, a task which CIA and FBI both bear some responsibility for never having conducted thoroughly nor reviewed beyond the author of the reports individual preconceived bias.
The actions of folks in defying what amounts to a direct order is to my mind incredibly reckless, and cost more lives than the leaks this same vile sort of soul let go to news and other sources just to undermine a policy decision of which they did not approve.
Most of this was before Gardner or Bremmer has the opportunity to put their own mark on the mess. Escalation of the SNAFU occured once decisions made based on flawed intel were put into operation. That much I think is very obvious. Committee hearings that are worth a damn would have hung the miscreant Members of State and CIA by their thumbs. Instead we got Falluja I and II. There will be no “three”.
PEter – justt a quickie – Cited the Alice Palmer not because it was only bit of the past they brought up – but because they did it over and over w/o getting the story right. BTW -I’ve read so much on O’s past now – and (I’ll admit!) there’s not THAT much there, I figure he’s over-exposed and under-comprehended. And not because he’s a closest communist or Islamist. He’s something even more exotic – a genuine liberal…That’s the real story but the mainline media is pretty clueless there.
PS Re your NYC comment on the other thread – You’re probably right re NYC don’t count. But – might think a bit re your vision of the city. I know something re creepy NYC sense of superiority. But – look – I ran into a father with a deaf kid at the playground yesterday. He was goodness & patience personified. Felt like piker as a pop compared to him…And he was a New Yorker. The jerks here are particularly obnoxious but I doubt there’s more of em here than anywhere else…
Nahncee – Hurts to admit it but I think you got a point. It’s a little different to say “Let the rumors fly” at the Club OR at Kos than in a media enterprise that makes a pretence of objectivity…Still, I don’t think it’s a good way to go for either the left or right. And I think WRetch should’ve weighed in on that front.
In that piece by George Trow on Rather that I invoked – he makes a point of how Dano once showed up on Imus and listened as the host promoted Pierre Salinger’s conspiracy theories about that KLM plane that went down…DAn Didn’t sign on. But he didn’t distance himself either. That sort of stance toward rumors/stories won’t do – whether it’s from Dano, the Cat or Kos…