So – it’s two days later and everything just feels so relaxed. Whatever damage the Palin family can continue to inflict on the rest of America has, at least for the moment, slowed to a snail’s crawl. It feels good to be back at my desk in my jammies instead of having to don armour before going out on the web. For the first time in a very, very long time, I don’t know what the Palins are up to and… I don’t especially care
So this morning, basking in my newfound comfy mode, I’m leisurely browsing through my favourite Alaska blogs. Gryphen finds the best video treasures: William Shatner made me laugh. Carl Bernstein made me giggle out loud. Jon stewart makes me pee my chair. (The Immoral Minority link is over there –>)
Celtic Diva’s inspired people to write letters to the wimp editors at the ADN, letting them know how disappointed they (we all) are in the papers biased and erroneous coverage of the Palin Administration. (Blue Oasis link is over there –>)
Phillip Munger has put the final chapter on his coverage of Palin, a series he called Saradise Lost. It was one of the first writings I found a year ago when trying as an outsider to figure out what Sarah Palin was all about, and I became a faithful follower. (Progressive Alaska link is over there –>)
Finally, AKMuckraker & her mudpuppies have taken well, just the best photos of all the quitter-governor’s quitter-picnics. In fact, I realized, looking at a photo of Sean Parnell (newly-dubbed Governor of Alaska) that in this entire year of Palin’s Reign of Error, this was the first photo I’d seen of the man. Nice looking. Seems genuinely happy to be serving hot dogs to the public. (The Mudflats link is over there –>)
But there’s something familiar about Parnell’s face. I couldn’t put my finger on it at first – then I remembered Shannyn Moore had referred to him as Captain Zero (Shannyn Moore’s link is over there –>) and it hit me! I spit coffee on my monitor. I’VE SEEN THAT SMILE BEFORE!
So quite discretely and without permission I pinched the photo from The Mudflats, dug through some very old archives, fiddled with photoshop and voilla! Are these two related?? You decide
I’m sure the resemblance is pure coincidence – but – someone in Alaska really should present him with a gi-normous fishing hook, an old-fashioned alarm clock and a purply-plumed hat
To comment on this post, scroll back to the title: 26 July 2009 – The End of an Error and click the word comments just beneath. Thanks – OzMud
Just two hours before Sarah Palin gave her farewell speech in Fairbanks Alaska, I was writing a post. If the doorbell hadn’t rung, if my father-in-law hadn’t been looking for a misplaced spool of twisty ties, if the Heart Association hadn’t called seeking volunteers for their September doorknock appeal, I might’ve had time to finish my thoughts.
But then suddenly, Sarah was on television, live-streaming on Fox News so I clicked the [draft] button and sat down to watch. At the end all I could do was shake my head, holler what was I thinking!!! and shudder at the realization I almost wrote something sympathetic about this woman who no matter how many chances she’s given to fix things – always and only elects to make things worse.
I’d come this close (peering through a tiny space between scrunched fingers) to publishing the following:
Watching snips and pics of Sarah Palin’s final three days as Governor of Alaska on other blogs (The Mudflats, Celtic Diva’s Blue Oasis, Progressive Alaska, The Immoral Minority to name a few) I was struck with an odd sense of nostalgia. So I went digging and sure enough, the single movie scene which most reminds me of the whole Sarah Palin phenomenom was right there on youtube:
I ‘m in no way suggesting that Sarah Palin embodies the same Sunny Davies values that made this scene in Protocol so moving, but I do believe, in my heart, that somewhere along the way, people who knew better sold Sarah the idea that she could be a star in politics without ever having to do the work.
And I believe this because when you step back and look at the picture as a whole, you can clearly see that what Sarah was good at, from the very beginning, was running for office. Period. But sadly, once in office, she’s had to hire other people to actually perform her job duties from as far back as her first term as mayor of Wasilla.
To use a beauty pageant analogy, Sarah was best-suited for that walk down the runway. She was was poised, beautiful, gracious, self-confident.
But no one gets to see what beauty contestants are like in the dressing room, backstage, off-camera. And while this may be okay for pageant professionals, it’s not at all how ordinary citizens should have to select their government representatives. And in the case of Sarah Palin, VP candidate 2009, no one in the audience got to see she didn’t actually know anything about running her state, much less an entire country.
But the people around her knew. The ones who purported to be her friends and advisors. They knew. And they all kept quiet because they each had their own agenda.
So it’s the educated people who have, this past year, plucked Sarah from the runway of obscurity to shove her headfirst into a national spotlight because a pretty face made them look good, who failed all of us. Because in cuccooning Sarah from real scrutiny, in teaching her how to hide her flaws rather than embracing and learning from them, they ultimately failed Sarah.
John McCain and his campaign staff should be ashamed of themselves. There are reasons candidates are carefully vetted and interviewed before adding them to a national ticket. Reasons, for which, Sarah Palin is now a glaring example.
And that’s where my thoughts ended and Iran out of time. Then came the speech and I was sucked straight back to reality. Sarah Palin is a nasty piece of work.
Sarah’s farewell speech was nasty. It was filled with criticism to and of the media, the lower 48, fellow Alaskans, all politicians and mankind in general. She snapped at reporters, accusing them of not knowing how to do their jobs. She snapped at the lower 48 for not recognizing that Alaska is the only state in the union with natural resources which benefit with the rest of the country. She snapped at Alaskans for not recognizing that they are living on the only piece of real estate on the planet with natural resources and yelled at everyone. Alaskans andlower 48′ers alike to shun any help which might be offered to them from the federal government because only the private citizens of Alaska know what’s good for them, for their state, for the whole darn country!
Blah blah blah…
Sarah Palin’s nastiness is surpassed only by her overly-elevated sense of importance. I’m happy she’s no longer in office. I hope the good people of Alaska, especially the ones who have suffered hunger, sickness and great personal loss at her neglect in rallying to provide for them during times of crisis can one day forgive her incredibly uncaring decisions to refuse federal aid.
And most importantly, I hope people all across the country will one day soon figure out that government, in a democracy, is made up of ordinary citizens. It’s made up of ‘us’. Some of us are assholes, sure, but most are not. This constant Republican Party battlecry which infers the federal government is a separate, foreign entity that needs to be stopped in it’s tracks – is worse than ignorance personified. It’s Madison Avenue hype deliberately injected into politics so you’ll buy their brand. It’s just wrong.
The federal gvernment is not your enemy. If you don’t like the way it’s being run – vote to change who’s running it. But for God’s sake, stop letting people like Sarah Palin point a gun at Washington, screaming shoot!
You can’t fix something without understanding how it works. Armed only with this psychological adage I’ve spent much of the past 48 hours with my head tucked into websites like Conservative New Media, Tammy Bruce and Michelle Malkin. (Google them if you want links.)
I’d rather not do it again.
It occurred to me, though, after publishing my last post, that it’s becoming increasingly important to put a face to the person who supports Sarah, believing every word she utters and willing to follow her down any road, even if that road leads to and over the edge of a cliff.
I realized youtube would probably provide the most diverse, if not the most accurate barometer by which we can measure Sarah’s public appeal. Typing Sarah Palin supporters in the youtube search engine netted hundreds of hits. A few clicks later and I can now offer you a glimpse into the mindset of those citizens who are working to put Sarah Palin in the White House.
Don’t dismiss them easily. Word on the CNM site has it that Sarah is laying the groundwork for the creation of a new political party, based on the belief that the White House is currently run by elitist terrorists.
And withhout the discipline of the Republican Party, Sarah Palin will be allowed to prey on the minds of men who believe she was sent to them by God himself to protect them and their families from the muslim terrorist whom they perceive currently sits in the Oval Office.
Ignorance with a shot of charisma makes a lethal cocktail.
For the sake of expedience and as I do not expect any of you to actually watch these clips in their entirety, I’ve noted the clip highlights by time so you can skip directly to the most pertinent data. If you can endure each clip in toto though, it’s quite an education.
Individually, we can forgive some of these people as folks emotionally caught up in the heat of campaigning for their candidate in a very animated Presidential campaign. The gentleman in the first clip strikes me as someone who doesn’t believe a word he’s saying, but has simply recognized a way to make a name for himself – much like the snake oil salesman who touted the bible to separate a believer from his money. Regardless, he is out there and according to his youtube hits people are listening to his lectures whether he’s talking from his heart or out of his ass.
More might be dismissed as a prime example of basic humanity which says that any group has a fringe. But note the hundreds of campaign videos which have been left on youtube for close to a year with thousands upon thousands of people exposed to the message Sarah Palin is the new messiah, President Obama is the anti-Christ and it’s up to YOU to clean up the mess – and you begin to get a much clearer picture of the danger that lies ahead.
Again, I do not expect any of you to sit through these lengthy diatribes of hatred and intolerance. Except for the last one. The last one is a must sit through in order to experience the full impact of the Sarah Palin for President phenomenon. Thankfully, though, it’s only two and a half minutes in length.
watch 5:30 – 7:30
CNM has a youtube library of 241 videos – most of which are just like this one.
watch 1:50 – 2:30
RawVegasDotTV has a youtube library of 132 videos – most of which are just like this one
watch 1:00 – 3:35
AdoringPalin has a youtube library of 185 videos – mostly FoxNews clips
watch 0:00 – 2:29 drinkingwithbob has a youtube library of 576 videos – most of which praise Palin while slamming President Obama
Don’t be complacent. The number of these unhappy, angry-at-life people are growing with every new economic bombshell that drops - and the possibility of this mindset gaining control of the US government is the real train wreck on the horizon.
To comment on this post scroll back to the title: The Face ofSarah Supporters and click the word comments just beneath – Thanks, OzMud
I don’t twitter. But if I did, the first thing I’d twit would be just that. Future ex-Governor Sarah doesn’t seem to know when to just shut up. We’ve all touched on this before. Knowing when to keep quiet is an essential communication skill. It mark’s maturity. It’s smart.
Just under a year ago Sarah Palin was launched into all of our lives. John McCain proffered her as the Darling of the Republican Party. Smart. Witty. Progressive. Hard-working. Dedicated. A small part of the population embraced her straight away. It only took a bare few weeks for the rest of us to realize we were watching the birth of a train wreck.
When Sarah Palin, at a public rally, called for John Q. Public to get behind McCain and the Republican Party, claiming Barack Obama to be anti_American and that he palled around with terrorists, we have on video the ignorant response of ‘kill him’ coming from the crowd. A normal person would have taken a mental step back and reworded her next sentence to quell the building hostility. Sarah Palin instead lowered her head, smirked, then raised her head and loudly repeated her unsubstantiated, racist cries, deliberately fuelling a dangerous fire.
When Katie Couric asked Sarah Palin questions she could not immediately answer, (hard questions like ‘what newspapers do you read?’) a mature person would have just named any paper, made a quick blonde joke out of not being able to recall a title off the top and let the subject naturally change. Sarah Palin, on the other hand, dismissed the question as unfair, then ridiculed, belittled and besmirched Ms. Couric for months after, accusing her of conducting unethical journalistic practices, and sabotaging her campaign. To this day, almost a year and a hundred other reporters later, Ms.Couric continues to be the lead target in Sarah Palin’s war on the media.
When Andre McCleod lodged the first ethics complaint against the Alaska governor, instead of just giving her the documents requested – documents which, according to statements made by the Governor herself would completely exonerate her office of any wrong-doing – and letting the complaint run it’s course, Sarah Palin hemmed and hawed, demanding one continuation after another making various public statements discrediting the former employee. Another politician would have bent over backwards to handle the affair as quickly and quietly as possible.
I could write twelve more pages of examples without stopping to think and still have stacks more in the bin, but for the moment I’ve had enough. Her Facebook letter explaining her actions on Friday last has made front page news here in Australia and it sickens me that the only version going to print is her own personal fairy-tale, not the actual events as they occurred or any version even close to the truth.
Shannyn Moore, an Alaskan blogger, radio talk-show host and frequent guest on television news shows like MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann, is the governor’s newest stepping stone on her path to the White House using the strategy of who do I need to make wrong to make me look right. Through her top-gun solicitor, Mr. Something Van Flein, Sarah Palin made the erroneous claim that Ms. Moore, over the weekend, on a televised news program and in her personal blog presented local speculation as to the reasons behind the Governor’s recent resignation as ‘fact’. She’s sicked her over-paid, under-informed legal team on Ms. Moore in an effort to silence the political journo. (Click on any blog link to the right for full details.)
Shannyn Moore, along with dozens of other citizens both in Alaska and the lower 48, spent much of the 24 hours following Sarah Palin’s resignation announcement talking with each other in a quest to make sense of what appears to be the weirdest move of Palin’s political career. Rumours flew in every direction. Alaskan bloggers email boxes were packed with inquiries. Servers crashed over at The Mudflats from the sudden and intense amount of traffic. Everyone outside Alaska assumed that anyone inside Alaska would have a better persepctive and a clue.
The problem the legal team of Palin Hollers & I Jump is going to have, though, is really rather fatal to rising star attorneys. Their call to cease and desist is based upon an erroneous claim that, well, to be blunt… is erroneous. And they’re making these preliminary accusations at the top of their lungs so there won’t be any wiggle room for do-overs or claims of misunderstanding.
Oops.
Shannyn Moore has written and video-taped proof positive (along with many thousands of eye-witnesses) that she never claimed her report of local rumours and conjecture was anything but – a report on local rumours and conjecture. Oh and she added her own personal opinion. Which, by the way, was clearly prefaced with “and this is my opinion…”
So it would seem the same First Amendment Right which has allowed Sarah Palin to entertain us all with her unique brand of truth-twisting nonsensical gibberish about her life and how the greatest nation on the planet should operate… is not extended by the Palin Party to Shannyn Moore because… why again? Oh yes I remember. Shannyn didn’t embrace her Governor’s latest public display of mega-amentia.
Were a twitterer, Sarah’d be getting this from me right about now -
Sarah Palin: Shut The Fuck Up
To comment on this post please scroll back to the above title SP: STFU and click the word comments just beneath - Thanks, OzMud
This is the link to Sarah Palin’s resignation speech. Trust me when I say that having graduated from high school in the mid 1960’s I was exposed to many people who imbibed and did my share of listening to stoners ramble – stoners who now it appears - made more sense than this video clip.
My gut says our queen of misdirection is hiding something. Something so big she’s willing to sacrifice her tiara. I mean title. (No, really, I mean tiara.) Perhaps there’s an ethics complaint that can’t be spirited away as easily as the first 13. Or perhaps the truth about her bizarre delivery last April is about to step into the light. Well whatever it is, I’m certain it has nothing to do with the gibberish in this video.
One thing bothers me above all else in the ludicrous diatribe above – when folks photo-shopped the shot of her holding a bub, replacing the bub’s face with photos of David Letterman or George Bush – I can’t think of a single person who was ridiculing baby Trig, can you? I didn’t think so. Her self-righteous claim of people disrespecting her child are as absurd as she.
Pretty much, everyone I know who played with that photo was ridiculing her.
