The Resurrection

Well, the last few months have been enjoyable. No more daily delights from Gov. Palin.

However, it's looking increasingly likely that Governor Palin truly wants to run in 2012, and moreover, that she is the new darling of the social-conservative right wing.

So, with great pain and much regret, I hereby resurrect Stop Sarah Palin...

I don't really feel like getting down to details at the moment. So I summarize: Gov. Palin is a political extremist - but once was a pragmatist. She coddles the right as they coddle her. She mimics George Bush's reluctance to think or learn. Her faux-folksiness is her only means of appealing to voters who seem unable to realize that we should elect a President who we'd like to have safeguarding our future, rather than one with whom we'd like to drink a beer.

Sarah Palin is an empty suit, completely devoid of talent, ability, conviction, intelligence, or an ability to lead.

Arrgh.

This make sad.

We did it!

For anyone who actually read this...

We did it.

We stopped Gov. Palin.


Thanks everyone - I really appreciate everything that everyone has done...

Is Sarah Palin inciting violence?

Not directly, of course - she is in fact far too talented a politician to do that.

Gov. Palin is borrowing heavily from the Republican Right's playbook: sow doubt, create fear of the opponent, ignore facts.

While I find the last tactic quite disturbing, it's the middle - create fear - that is most scary at this time.

We know that Senator Obama has received threats against his life since an early stage of the campaign - that's why the Secret Service gave him an official protection detail earlier than any other candidate in US history. Given that knowledge, when a candidate's supporters start being quoted as saying "Kill Him!" or "Off with his head!" perhaps that candidate should take pause and reflect on the strategy. Indeed, I doubt that Gov. Palin actually heard the comments in real time, but why not come out after the fact to set the record straight?

It's no surprise that there is a temporal correlation between the rise in racist and violent sentiment at Palin rallies and the beginning of a new campaign strategy to make Americans fear Barack Obama. Just listen to the statements of McCain supporters and you'll see that the talking points are taking hold - he's Muslim, this is a Christian nation, he hates whites, the blacks will take over, he's friends with terrorists...

Facts, and G. Gordon Liddy aside, as soon as the campaign started hearing this nonsense it should have made a full frontal assault against the misguided supporters. I commend Sen. McCain for speaking out against some very public smears against Sen. Obama, but it appeared half-hearted at best. This is especially true as the bile spouted by Gov. Palin is far worse, and far more dangerous, and has yet to yield a public comment urging restraint from the Governor.

Gov. Palin seems quite content that she has succeeded in making some misinformed Americans afraid of her ticket's opponent. I sincerely hope that this does not end with a violent attack against Senator Obama, at the hands of one so-inspired "Real American."

It's official.

So despite the fact that most of the media are consumed by discussing the (obviously important) economic woes of the world, and the fact that the McCain campaign is dismissing the report, the Alaska Legislature's investigation gives no doubt that Sarah Palin abused her power as Governor of the state.

But, Palin supporters say, the report specifically said that Gov. Palin acted within her powers when firing Walt Monegan.

Indeed, but this has nothing to do with her abuse of power. There are two separate issues:

1) Gov. Palin tried to have Trooper Wooten fired, and exerted pressure, directly and indirectly through her office.

2) Gov. Palin fired Walt Monegan when he refused to fire Trooper Wooten.

On the second issue, the Legislature found that while the refusal of Walt Monegan to fire Trooper Wooten certainly contributed to his dismissal, there was nothing illegal about the manner in which he was dismissed.

On the first issue, however, the legislature clearly found that Gov. Palin inappropriately used her office and her official power as Governor to settle a personal dispute. She also permitted her husband to act inappropriately through the Governor's office. This action is a violation of Alaska state ethics law.

GOV PALIN BROKE THE LAW.

Not by firing Walt Monegan, but by inappropriately attempting to have Trooper Wooten fired. While the McCain campaign is focusing on the first point, it is ignoring the second.


And I am deeply disturbed that the media have allowed this news to be put out with the trash, to use a West Wing phrase, by having the news announced late on a Friday evening, and subsequently ignoring it. It's time for the media to step up and talk about the fact that a running VP candidate was just found to have violated ethics law in her home state. Come on people!

The Debate...

Well, Gov. Palin managed not to fall down on stage or call Joe Biden "Satan."

Overall she performed as I expected, but probably much better than most Americans expected, given recent interviews. She was certainly folksy and chipper, but she also evidently lacked substance and was perhaps too folksy. The "shout-out" to the 3rd grade class in AK was a bit ridiculous - this is a debate about being VP of the US, not the PTA.

What I noticed most was just how obnoxious Gov. Palin was. She certainly had a few good zingers (which I can appreciate from a gamesmanship perspective), but her delivery was so snarky and rude. Wow. I almost felt dirty watching her and I was forced to cringe a few times.

I also wanted to cry. That's because Gov. Palin answered exactly zero questions. Zero. Zero. Zero. None. Zero. Not one.

Zero.

It was truly amazing, if not terribly surprising. I know all politicians do it, but she has made it a fine art. I wonder if she even knows how good she is at this one thing...

Wow...

Spiritual advice for Sarah Palin from her Pastor...

Is the McCain campaign shooting itself in the foot?

We've all heard about the culture wars. We know from a variety of opinion and exit polls during the last few election cycles that Americans without a college degree lean towards the Republican party while those with a college education or more lean Democratic. For the Republican party of late, this seems to have become a sense of pride.

"Yay, the undereducated voters love us!"

"They're the REAL Americans!"

"F*** you, elitists!" (of course an elitist is defined as someone with: consciousness of or pride in belonging to a select or favored group - so aren't the Republicans being elitist by knocking Democratic elitists?)


Ok, maybe those aren't direct quotes, but I think they capture the mood of the election. I'll ask only briefly why this is acceptable in a country where we advocate so strongly for the opportunity to access higher education - shouldn't we trust the people who seek more knowledge? Anyway...

The Palin selection has solidified the McCain campaign's standing with undereducated voters. A recent Post/ABC poll puts the margin among white voters without a college education at 17% for McCain. The McCain campaign couldn't be happier about this.

But aside from asking if this is good for the nation (it obviously isn't), one has to ask if it is good for Republicans. George Will's recent skewering of Sen. McCain suggests that perhaps it isn't. Indeed, Palin's selection as a running mate has energized the conservative christian wing of the Republican party. But the intellectual side of the party seems truly dismayed. I commented recently on negative feelings about Palin's isolation, anti-intellectualism, and lack of experience, but it seems there may in fact be a stronger backlash among the "elites" of the Conservative movement.

Excitement about the Republican ticket has waned in the past few weeks. Assuming that the Christian Conservatives who vote pretty much only on abortion and other cultural issues haven't shifted allegiance or excitement, that really leaves the more intellectual conservatives as the group losing faith in the ticket.

At the end of the day, the Republican party is catering not just to anti-intellectual sentiments, but also anti-education and anti-thought. Decisions are to be made with your gut, as per Colbert. While I strongly disagree with many conservative intellectuals, I think it is helpful for them to be strong actors in their party - at least they're thinking about tough issues. The more the Republicans slip towards mocking the educated, the less likely these players will be involved.

Thanks Sarah Palin.