Re. Palin: lame is as lame does

The "Palin Resigns" story comes as a shock, and I think the "lame duck avoidance" rationale she has offered is lame. ("Sarah Palin Says She Will Resign as Alaska Governor" - NYTimes.com). From the article:

Ms. Palin said that she had decided not to seek re-election when her term expires at the end of next year and that, given that, she did not think it was fair to her constituents to continue in office.

“As I thought about this announcement that I would not seek re-election,” she said, “I thought about how much fun other governors have as lame ducks. They maybe travel around their state, travel to other states, maybe take their overseas international trade missions.”

“I’m not going to put Alaskans through that,” she said. “I promised efficiencies and effectiveness. That’s not how I’m wired. I’m not wired to operate under the same old politics as usual.”

What? I think that's a load of moose dung. This smells like quitting to me, and I can't see that it will help her in a run for president. Our country would benefit from more, not fewer, elected officials who are serving without devoting half of their attention and resources to being re-elected.



Update: This John Fund report helped to give context to Sarah Palin's decision. For example, I didn't realize that political enemies had filed 150 FOIA requests and various ethics "complaints," resulting in nearly $500k legal expenses, over the past 9 months. That's wrong. And I suspect that my assessment of her decision may well be wrong, too.

Do you hate Palin that much?

I think it is silly to try and defend David Letterman's joke that former GOP VP candidate Sarah Palin's daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez . . . it was obviously a reference to the daughter of Palin (14-year-old Willow) who was in attendance with Sarah Palin at the Yankees game, where she (Willow) might have had a chance to meet the womanizing A-Rod, and--like her older sister, gotten knocked up . . . get it?

Letterman is appropriately being condemned for the attempt at humor.

My roller coaster love affair w/ Sarah Palin . . .

I just stumbled upon a re-broadcast of Greta Van Susteren's post-election interview with Sarah Palin.

The smearing of Palin by the MSM (and some in the McCain campaign) is/was shameful, and Palin's "performance"--coupled with information disclosed--in this interview accentuates the power of the MSM to shape public opinion. (transcripts and video here)

Speaking of hysteria

I just received another email from People for the American Way promoting their "McPalin Haiku Hysteria contest."

"Hysteria" is right? But I prefer "unhinged."

Palin's abuse of power, well . . .

Okay, I'm not sure what to think about the legislative report out of Alaska concerning allegations that Sarah Palin abused her power to have an ex-brother-in-law fired from the Alaska State Trooper's force. I've posted a couple times about how most efforts to impugn Palin have actually been flattering to her. (here, here)

But I just was reading through the official post-investigation report, and a couple of things come to mind.

First, to be clear, I have to admit that this report is not good news for Palin. Yet, as I've said elsewhere, "reformers" inherently cross a lot of people in the act of "reforming," so allegations of sharp elbows etc. are likely to abound in the wake of said reformer.

That being said, the next thing I have to note is that Todd and Sarah Palin remind me of A LOT of persons I've encountered in the practice of law (as a prosecutor and in private practice) who are desperate for "justice" (as they perceive it), and I can't help but think how normal/reasonable the Palins' actions/reactions are under these circumstances. Take for instance this odd tidbit from the report (pp. 38-39).

Governor Palin and Todd Palin had repeatedly (over several years) communicated to Walt Monegan (Commissioner of the Dept. of Public Safety) and his predecessor, that they believed their ex-brother-in-law (Michael Wooten) had not only acted illegally, etc. but he was a poor representative of Alaska State Troopers. With that history in mind, nibble on this incident detailed in the report:

Shortly before the annual celebration of Police Memorial Day on May 15, 2008, Commissioner Monegan had dropped off a color photograph at Governor Palin's Anchorage office with a request that she sign and present it at the ceremony. The photograph was of an Alaska State Trooper who was dressed in a formal uniform, saluting. He was standing in front of the police memorial located in front of the crime lab at AST headquarters in Anchorage, partially obscured by a flagpole. The picture to be signed by the Governor was to be used as a poster to be displayed in various Trooper Detachments around the state.

Shortly after he returned to his office from dropping off the photograph, he received a call from Kris Perry, Governor Palin's Director of her Anchorage office who asked [according to Walt Monegan's testimony] "Why did you send a poster over here that has a picture of Mike Wooten on it?"[] Until that moment, Commissioner Monegan never realized it was indeed a photograph of Trooper Wooten. Governor Palin cancelled her appearance and sent Lieutenant Governor Parnell in her place.

I don't care who you are, that's funny.

Oh, and one other thing . . . I trust Libs will remember First Lady Hillary Clinton when tempted to deride the Palins in relation to Todd Palin's level of involvement in the Palin adminstration.

Unless being black means being Marxist . . .

Some black Democrats are accusing Sarah Palin of racism because she's saying "Obama is different." ("Black Congressmen Declare Racism In Palin’s Rhetoric" | The New York Observer):

“They are trying to throw out these codes,” said Representative Gregory Meeks, a Democrat from New York.

“He’s ‘not one of us?’” Mr. Meeks said, referring to a comment Sarah Palin made at a campaign rally on Oct. 6 in Floridahttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.quote.gif. “That’s racial. That’s fear. They know they can’t win on the issues, so the last resort they have is race and fear.”
. . . .

[State Rep. Yvette] Clarke [(NY)] also found a racial subtext in Ms. Palin’s repeated appeals to “Joe Six-Pack” and “hockey moms.”

“Who exactly is Joe Six-Pack and who are these hockey moms? That’s what I’d like to know,” she said. “Is that supposed to be terminology that is of common ground to all Americans? I don’t find that. It leaves a lot of people out.”

Since when is it "code" to call someone with a high-Marxism tolerance (as manifested in Obama's church and "community organizing" ties) "not one of us"? And since when is it "code" to point out that the core of Obama's ideology--which is socialism, is "different" than the ideology that made America great. Give me a break. Even CNN acknowledges that Obama is disingenuously claiming there was no significant relationship between Obama and unrepentant domestic terrorist Bill Ayers.

Sarah Palin's affair . . . or not

I posted previously about the over-the-top sensationalism of reporting on Sarah Palin. And I have been intrigued at the enormous number of google hits I receive on a daily basis for "sarah palin affair."

But I almost laughed out loud when I saw a report today concerning the "source" relied upon by the National Enquirer in claiming that Sarah Palin had an affair in the mid '90s. The "report" is based on what a "family member" of the alleged adulterous man says he heard (aka "hearsay") about the situation, and I have to believe that even Enquirer writers blushed a little when writing about the "relationship" of the source (Jim Burdett) with Palin's alleged affair-mate (Brad Hanson):

[Jim] Burdett is a former brother-in-law of Hanson’s estranged wife Carolyn's brother, Craig Batton, and still speaks with many family members

I know it is difficult to follow, but read it again slowly (heck, you might be better off trying to diagram the relationship).

The fact that Lefties and Democrats have fostered this story is evidence of how UNHINGED they are about Sarah Palin. And to think that if they had just waited for her to do the Couric interview they wouldn't have had to cook up such lame crap to throw at her . . .

There's a difference between winning an election and deserving to win an election.

The best summation of the VP debate I've read

Mark Steyn's humorous and accurate assessment of the VP debate. From the article:

The problem was that [Biden's performance] sounded drearily senatorial. Mention any global crisis — civil war in Bosnia, genocide in Darfur, Russian aggression in Georgia, the lack of five-star restaurants in Wales — and Biden has been there, usually within the last two weeks, and always at public expense. What the American taxpayer gets for the Emir of Delaware’s frequent-flyer miles is harder to discern. Biden was doing his best to turn in a decent karaoke version of Lloyd Bentsen, but, unfortunately, Governor Palin declined to play Dan Quayle. That left Joe sounding like an ancient pol being generically vice-presidential. Sarah, at her best, sounded like the citizen-politician this country’s Founders intended. She hasn’t voted 397 times against this or that in the U.S. Senate, because she’s been running a state, and a town, and a commercial fishing operation. She’s a doer, not a talker, which is why so many of my fellow professional talkers disdain her.

Don't wring your silk stockings

A friend (one a little politically squishy, I'd say) lamented/announced to me this morning that Palin had really messed up in her interview with Katie Couric and blahblahblah. Yes blahblahblah, even when National Review writers like Kathleen Parker (a bit squishy, though certainly more politically conversant than my friend) are urging McCain to pull Palin off the field. ("Palin Problem" by Kathleen Parker on National Review Online).

Why this reaction? I've mentioned the squishyness factor(common among those I affectionately refer to as "Silk-stocking Republicans"), but a second reason for my indifference to such criticism is the fact that what follows is Parker's best evidence of Palin's incompetence:

When Couric pointed to polls showing that the financial crisis had boosted Obama’s numbers, Palin blustered wordily: “I’m not looking at poll numbers. What I think Americans at the end of the day are going to be able to go back and look at track records and see who’s more apt to be talking about solutions and wishing for and hoping for solutions for some opportunity to change, and who’s actually done it?”

Though that answer may have been worded more succinctly, what exactly would Ms. Parker propose as an answer to that question? Maybe something predictable (even if accurate) like accusing Democrats and their PR ops in the MSM of class warfare and vacuous "change" rhetoric?

Praising Palin with faint damnation--Part II

Here's another example of an article intended to reflect poorly on Sarah Palin which actually bolsters her image. By the way, all of the scandal-ish allusions in the article are teased up like beehive hairdos . . . feel free to challenge me on that assertion.

Who's "lying" about the "bridge to nowhere"?

I know that Liberals/"Progressives" have a different standard for "lying," but I think this issue is a wash (see here and here)--voters can judge for themselves which campaign is over-reaching in their characterization of how the "bridge to nowhere" reflects on Palin's political character.

Sarah Palin's affair

While standing in the grocery store checkout line this evening, I saw a National Enquirer hit piece on Sarah Palin touting "the affair that almost ruined her career." As Byron York had discovered, though, there's no "there" there:

Concerning the allegations in the new National Enquirer of an extramarital affair involving Sarah Palin, I called the tabloid this afternoon and asked for a copy of the new story. They obliged, and here is the portion of the story dealing with the alleged affair:

Another incredible allegation emerging from the family war is that Palin, a mother of five, had an affair with a former business associate of her fisherman husband, Todd.

“Todd discovered the affair and quickly dissolved his friendship and his business associations with the guy,” charges an enemy. “Many people in Alaska are talking about the rumor and say Todd swept it under the rug.”

And that's it, as far as the affair is concerned. In the brief cover story, the Enquirer also says this:

The ugly family feud stems from a three-year battle between the 44-year-old governor and her former brother-in-law, state trooper Mike Wooten.

“Sarah has many enemies in her hometown – but a lot of them are in her own extended family,” a source close to the Palin family told The Enquirer.

Family members loyal to Wooten are now waging a campaign to drag Palin’s reputation through the mud.

This, on the heels of the now notorious US Magazine hit piece.

I guess if they similarly smear Democrats, I could believe that it is just a way to sell papers, but . . .

Praising Palin with faint damnation

This Politico article ("Palin’s cold shoulder - Kenneth P. Vogel") actually enhances Gov. Sarah Palin's maverick reputation, in my estimation, but you need to read the entire article. I especially like the verbiage pulled out of a "wrongful termination" complaint/pleading, which was ultimately dismissed (the only pleading you could expect to be more borderline defamatory would be a divorce petition . . . GET PALIN %&$@%#^*&+!!!!)

From the article:

While Sarah Palin’s supporters tout her personal warmth and openness, the newly minted Republican vice presidential nominee can be brusque to allies, advisers and employees who fall from her favor.

Palin has unceremoniously ended relationships with an aide who was dating a family friend’s soon-to-be ex-wife, a campaign adviser whose mother-in-law fought Palin’s legislative agenda, a local political mentor who she felt represented the “old boys' network,” a police chief who she said tried to intimidate her with “stern look[s]” and a state commissioner who refused to fire her sister’s ex-husband.

I was discussing this weekend with a close relative the uneasy feeling I get when an opposing party's attorney begins to demonstrate a willingness to throw his client under the bus in the interest of a quick resolution of a lawsuit. Unlike Palin (it seems), such attorneys forget who they work for.

Community Organizer in Chief

I think the best line from Sarah Palin's acceptance speech was her response to Obama's denigration of her time as Mayor of Wasilla:

I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a ‘community organizer,’ except that you have actual responsibilities.

(Though the line about having authored two books but no reform legislation either in the U.S. or Illinois senate was a good one).

Mark Hemingway of NationalReviewOnline
details how the "community organizer" line has the Left indignant and Michelle Malkin provides more background on the kind of organizing Obama has done.

The wrong kind of strong woman

Victor Davis Hanson explains why Palin Derangement Syndrome is "surreal":

In short, Sarah Palin is the emblem of what feminism was supposed to be all about: an unafraid, independent, audacious woman, who soared on her own merits without the aid of a patriarchal jumpstart, high-brow matrimonial tutelage and capital, and old-boy liaisons and networking.

Instead this entire sorry episode of personal invective against, and jealousy toward, Sarah Palin is surreal. Given the rising backlash, Palin Derangement Syndrome may prove to be the one thing, fairly or not, that sinks Barack Obama.

Palin: Miss Congenial Warrior

After reading this blog post from Andy McCarthy at NRO I remembered a draft post from last weekend about a great NPR story from 2006 on Sarah Palin in which you can see a glimpse of the "happy warrior"--like Ronald Reagan.

I think she showed that same winsome toughness last evening.

Ann Coulter on Palin

Perhaps one reason Glen Dean is keen on Sarah: ("The Best Man Turned Out To Be A Woman"):

John McCain's choice of Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska, as his running mate finally gave Republicans a reason to vote for him -- a reason, that is, other than B. Hussein Obama.

Otherwise, this is an op/ed that sums up my views on Palin.

Identity politics and Sarah Palin

As they say, "great trains . . ." Glen has posted a response (at TennesseeFree) to Newscoma's "Girl Politics" post, so I thought I'd post my Friday night draft on the subject. I have a little different take on it, but . . .

Newscoma raises the issue of identity politics in regard to McCain running mate Sarah Palin. It's a fair-minded and lucid post on the subject, but it highlights how most Democrats/Liberals are exaggerating (for effect) one purported consideration of McCain in making this choice: the potential for peeling off some of the likely Hillary Clinton voter demographic.

As Newscoma concedes, Palin is right on most issues important to the GOP base; she's talented and winsome; she's a rising political star with more than winning political campaigns to her credit (especially campaigns against inveterate, carpet-bagging, firebrand opponents). Actually, Newscoma didn't concede the parenthetical comment . . .

The Hillary Clinton voter that McCain has in mind is not this variety, which makes up a very small portion of the American population. As Rich at ShotsAcrosstheBow asserts, it is the "uncommitted moderate female vote" he was after.

Which raises, for me, another issue that ACK touched on yesterday. I think the Left, especially in the area of "social issues," doesn't realize how out of touch it is with the average voter, much less "traditionalists."

"Average voter" doesn't mean the 15-20% on each end of the political spectrum, mind you. And given that the diehards of each party/movement often drive the political debate, the key in winning a presidential election is how much a party's respective diehards overlap--in values, with the average, middling, non-partisan voter.

I think Democrats are misunderestimating Palin's strength in this area.

The process of picking Palin

Here's an interesting report on how McCain settled on Sarah Palin ("How Palin Got Picked"). But I especially liked this quote from the article:

Many political observers are astonished the secret held. The McCain campaign is not. 'The key to keeping secrets is not telling people,' says Matt McDonald, a McCain adviser, who was one of only a handful to learn about the pick Thursday night.