sarah palin

No this isn't an endorsement of the "wink, wink" half-term Governor from Alaska. Instead it's an attempt to highlight that Sarah Palin is nothing more than a politician that engages in her "do as I say not as I do" form of leadership:

Sarah Palin attempted to relaunch her political career and her political action committee, SarahPAC, on Thursday with a Web video called “Loaded for Bear,” which presented the former Alaska governor as the new kingmaker for conservative populists in the GOP.

The video riffed off her speech at CPAC, in which Palin railed against “the big consultants, the big money men, and the big bad media.” But there’s an irony alert ahead: the current stated purpose of SarahPAC is to raise money ahead of the 2014 election—most of which will be spent on conservative consultants.

Palin is telling conservatives not to pay for consultants. Now that's a good idea in theory, but even Palin knows it is failed logic in our current state of democracy, so she goes out and hires consultants. And how much does she pay for these people?

But the real news comes when you look at how donors’ money was actually doled out: just $298,500 to candidates. The bulk of the rest of it, more than $4.8 million, went to—you guessed it—consultants.

Consultants have become a huge cancer on our political process, driving up the costs of running for office exponentially. The problem with Palin though is that she wants to act like the good guy in all this, but that's just an act. Instead she is still an enabler for the political consultant and those numbers are proof.

In 2008 Sarah Palin was picked as a materialistic candidate. She had no real experience to become vice-President and the voters quickly saw that. But that didn't stop the right-wing pundits from trying to sell her to us with such qualifications as "she's hot" and "a great attack dog".

Fast-forward to 2012 and we are seeing a repeat. For example, here's a story that Matt Drudge is pushing:

Now back to 2008. That was a time when we heard the right got after Barack Obama for being "skinny", despite his body fat being estimated close to double that of Ryan's. Are appearences really what our Presidential selection process has come down to? Well Politico seems to think so:

Overlooked, understandably, in Saturday’s analysis and news that Rep. Paul Ryan will be Mitt Romney’s vice presidential nominee was one mostly — but not entirely — unimportant aspect: Paul Ryan is kind of hot.

Upon hearing the news of Ryan’s nomination, TMZ was quick to declare Ryan “the hottest vice presidential candidate ever.”

But looks shouldn't matter when it comes to President or vice-President. Instead the focus should be on experience and plans. The right seems to ignore this.

A new poll, this time out of New Hampshire:

When PPP polled New Hampshire in April Michele Bachmann was stuck at 4%. She's gained 14 points over the last three months and now finds herself within single digits of Mitt Romney. Romney continues to lead the way in the state with 25% to 18% for Bachmann, 11% for Sarah Palin, 9% for Ron Paul, 7% for Rick Perry and Herman Cain, 6% for Jon Huntsman and Tim Pawlenty, and 4% for Newt Gingrich.

Ironically I still see a lot of people on the left, laughing off Bachmann as some sort of joke. I really hope they stop it soon.

The first major debate of the 2012 Republican Presidential primaries took place last night and the big news came from Michele Bachmann:

Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, an outspoken Republican with close ties to the tea party, announced Monday that she is running for president, a candidacy that could further shake up a volatile fight for the GOP nomination.

The first female contender to enter the 2012 race, Bachmann announced her bid during a Republican presidential debate in New Hampshire. The third-term Minnesota congresswoman has been leaning heavily toward a run over the past few months, visiting early primary states, raising money and railing against President Barack Obama.

After watching the debate, I must say Bachmann came off really well. Sure she is still a major right-wing loon that scares the living hell out of me, but she came off as a right-wing Presidential loon, which is something I could never say about Sarah Palin.

Bachmann attacked every question thrown at her. She didn't play the wink and smile game, but rather held herself in a way that should make most women proud. She didn't resort to little winks and one-liners. She tackled the issues, and while I might not agree with her positions, she did do a good job at selling them. She was coming off as the anti-Palin.

Given her performance, that means Bachmann must not be underestimated. We need to remember that while Bachmann is a well known name to those of us who follow politics, she is still relatively unknown to the larger populace. That means she has time to refine the image and do damage control on her past statements.

With the news that the Obama administration won’t release the images of a dead Osama bin Laden, Sarah Palin once again takes to the Twitter to prove she is totally wrong on national security:

So why is this the wrong thing to do? Well let’s ask the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Mike Rogers:

"The risks of release outweigh the benefits," Rogers said. "Conspiracy theorists around the world will just claim the photos are doctored anyway, and there is a real risk that releasing the photos will only serve to inflame public opinion in the Middle East."

"Imagine how the American people would react if Al Qaeda killed one of our troops or military leaders, and put photos of the body on the Internet," Rogers continued. "Osama bin Laden is not a trophy - he is dead and let's now focus on continuing the fight until Al Qaeda has been eliminated."

Spot on! The images would turn into propaganda that in turn will help make Osama more of a martyr to the extremists. How does trying to build unity amongst al Qaeda and other terrorists help our cause? It doesn’t, but for Sarah Palin, that just doesn’t make sense.

Just a few weeks after the shooting in Arizona, we still have moronic Republicans out there using gun metaphors:

A state senator in Alabama said Monday his call for Republicans to "empty the clip" on the issue of illegal immigration was taken out of context.

At a Republican breakfast in Cullman County, Alabama, last weekend, State Sen. Scott Beason reportedly urged his fellow Republicans to "empty the clip and do what has to be done" to enact stricter immigration laws, the Cullman Times reported.

Beason has since been flooded with angry calls denouncing the remark, which came in the wake of the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson last month. That tragedy saw 19 people shot and six killed, including a nine-year-old girl, sparking a debate about the use of violent metaphors in American politics.

And here’s the problem:

Beason on Monday told the media the comment was taken out of context, and he did not mean to suggest violence against illegal immigrants.

Republicans have a serious inability to take responsibility. There is nothing there to take out of context, just like Sarah Palin’s map with gun sights and using the phrase “locked and loaded” in connection with it was a very clear statement. Either these people are trying to make excuses, or they are they have a serious problem with communication, in the most basic sense.

But why aren’t these people being held to the same standard as you and me? If I went out and started saying someone should “empty the clip” in Beason, I would be visited by the police, and rightfully so. Yet politicians and even the big talkers like Rush Limbaugh get away with it all the time.

Way before Sarah Palin ever put out her “locked and loaded” ads, her rhetoric helped increase violence. Here’s a reminder in an article from November 8, 2008:

The Republican vice presidential candidate attracted criticism for accusing Mr Obama of "palling around with terrorists", citing his association with the sixties radical William Ayers.

The attacks provoked a near lynch mob atmosphere at her rallies, with supporters yelling "terrorist" and "kill him" until the McCain campaign ordered her to tone down the rhetoric.

But it has now emerged that her demagogic tone may have unintentionally encouraged white supremacists to go even further.

The Secret Service warned the Obama family in mid October that they had seen a dramatic increase in the number of threats against the Democratic candidate, coinciding with Mrs Palin's attacks.

Michelle Obama, the future First Lady, was so upset that she turned to her friend and campaign adviser Valerie Jarrett and said: "Why would they try to make people hate us?"

This report came out when George Bush was still President, so it wasn’t “Obama’s Secret Service”, but rather the findings of the Secret Service under the former President. It really is troubling that a person who aspires to be a leader of this nation refuses to take any responsibility for the effects of her rhetoric. Palin is quick to claim her first amendment rights, but with those rights come responsibility. You can’t yell fire in a crowded theater without legal repercussion just the same way you can’t insinuate violence should be taken against our leaders or any other person. Sarah Palin needs to quickly realize that or she needs to get off the national stage.

Horrible news out of Tucson today:

Gabrielle Giffords, a congresswoman from Arizona, was shot in the head on Saturday at a public event held at a grocery store in Tucson, her spokesman, C. J. Karamargin, said. Others at the event, including members of her staff, were among the injured.

The gunman is in custody and described as a male in his early 20’s. There are also mixed reports on other injuries. I have seen numbers as high as 12, with six dead, including a 12 year old child and federal judge.

Giffords as one of the “targeted” Democrats in Sarah Palin’s now infamous map:

Interesting enough Palin’s people did pull this map down shortly after the news broke, however it still remains on Palin’s Facebook page.

UPDATE:

Here is the statement from Speaker Boehner:

Boehner Condemns Attack on Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords

Washington (Jan 8)

Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) issued the following statement condemning the attack on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) and members of her staff today in Tucson, AZ: