From the Politico: Sarah Palin on hot mic: Obama will 'weaken' U.S.
Sarah Palin is warning that President Barack Obama is out to “weaken” the United States if he’s reelected in November, as she sounded off on her Facebook page Monday about a hot mic moment between the Obama and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev that quickly went viral.
“Whoever chooses to merely dismiss the significance of today’s exchange between our President and Russia’s President should have their intelligence and patriotism questioned,” the former Alaska governor wrote. “Let this exchange be a warning to voters: President Obama will have ‘more flexibility’ to weaken us if he’s re-elected in November.”
Palin was referring to an conversation between the two leaders in Seoul, South Korea, the audio of which was caught picked up by camera mics. In the brief back-and-forth, Obama told Medvedev that he needed incoming Russian President Vladimir Putin to give him “space” on the issue of missile defense. “This is my last election,” Obama was heard saying. “After my election, I have more flexibility.”
Accusing Obama of having “repeatedly conceded to foreign demands and backed down on missile defense,” Palin said in her statement Monday that the candid comments were just one more sign that four more years under the president would only weaken the country’s national security.
“We can’t know for certain what this newly revealed ‘flexibility’ means, but considering President Obama’s past actions, be sure it won’t involve a position of strength for America and our allies,” she wrote. “Russia has been thwarting us on one issue after another, including the rushed-through New START Treaty that many of us questioned after Obama insisted America ratify it first, then allow Russia to sit on it – unratified on their end – until it suited that foreign power’s needs.”
She added, “He has consistently taken a position of weakness and naïve trust in Putin’s Russia. … Now consider the state of our national defense under a President who whispers to a foreign power that he needs even ‘more flexibility’ to weaken us further.”
Mitt Romney — along with other critics of the president — quickly seized on the hot mic remarks, calling them “alarming and troubling.”
“This is no time for our president to be pulling his punches with the American people,” Romney said at a campaign stop in San Diego. “And not telling us what he’s intending to do with regards to our missile defense system, with regards to our military might and with regards to our commitment to Israel and with regard to our absolute conviction that Iran must have a nuclear weapon.”
Monday, March 26, 2012
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Palin, Axelrod weigh in on health care
From CNN Politics, Political Ticker: Palin, Axelrod weigh in on health care
CNN) – The vice president called it a "BFD," so why no celebration of the health reform law's two year anniversary, Sarah Palin asked President Barack Obama in a Friday post to her Facebook account.
"Mr. President, you're conspicuously absent from the 2-year anniversary of your 'greatest accomplishment' (described by your VP as "a big f***ing deal")," the former Alaska governor wrote.
– Follow the Ticker on Twitter: @PoliticalTicker
She acknowledged conservative protests of the law and Supreme Court oral arguments on the law's constitutionality, which begin on Monday. Palin joins several GOP presidential hopefuls and the Republican National Committee in using the anniversary as a venue to criticize the president.
In contrast, however, the White House held no commemorative event, and the president's only appearance was for an unrelated event - announcing his nominee to lead the World Bank.
A top White House domestic policy adviser said on CNN's "The Situation Room" that the administration marked the event by publishing a "report celebrating what has happened and explaining to people what has happened so they can understand the benefits and actually get them."
"The president is focused on so many issues right now," Melody Barnes told CNN's "Wolf Blitzer," and won't publicly celebrate it.
Obama's re-election effort, however, sent an email to supporters asking for solidarity in favor of the law: "today, stand with me in saying, 'Hell yeah, I'm for Obamacare'."
And as for the "BFD" comment? When the president signed the law, Vice President Joe Biden turned to him and said, "This is a big f***king deal." The Obama campaign turned the quip into a slogan for t-shirts, and then-White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs tweeted "And yes Mr. Vice President, you're right…."
CNN) – The vice president called it a "BFD," so why no celebration of the health reform law's two year anniversary, Sarah Palin asked President Barack Obama in a Friday post to her Facebook account.
"Mr. President, you're conspicuously absent from the 2-year anniversary of your 'greatest accomplishment' (described by your VP as "a big f***ing deal")," the former Alaska governor wrote.
– Follow the Ticker on Twitter: @PoliticalTicker
She acknowledged conservative protests of the law and Supreme Court oral arguments on the law's constitutionality, which begin on Monday. Palin joins several GOP presidential hopefuls and the Republican National Committee in using the anniversary as a venue to criticize the president.
In contrast, however, the White House held no commemorative event, and the president's only appearance was for an unrelated event - announcing his nominee to lead the World Bank.
A top White House domestic policy adviser said on CNN's "The Situation Room" that the administration marked the event by publishing a "report celebrating what has happened and explaining to people what has happened so they can understand the benefits and actually get them."
"The president is focused on so many issues right now," Melody Barnes told CNN's "Wolf Blitzer," and won't publicly celebrate it.
Obama's re-election effort, however, sent an email to supporters asking for solidarity in favor of the law: "today, stand with me in saying, 'Hell yeah, I'm for Obamacare'."
And as for the "BFD" comment? When the president signed the law, Vice President Joe Biden turned to him and said, "This is a big f***king deal." The Obama campaign turned the quip into a slogan for t-shirts, and then-White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs tweeted "And yes Mr. Vice President, you're right…."
Monday, March 19, 2012
Opinion Piece: After Palin, real female leaders
From New York Daily News: After Palin, real female leaders
by Stanley Crouch
We usually learn more about the inner workings of human nature from the arts than we do from politics. Writers have long told us that evil, fraud and corruption move freely, with no interest in religion, politics or ideology.
That is why women were very lucky that the film “Game Change” — the story of Sarah Palin, John McCain and the 2008 race for President — came out recently on HBO and was spoken of incessantly.
What “Game Change” did was make it clear that while women becoming candidates is obviously very, very important, that alone will not necessarily cut it.
With extremely fine acting, the film showed how unintentionally vile a woman — like anybody else! — can be if she is incompetent. It was a dangerous blunder for McCain to so quickly choose to have Palin on the ticket in order to create a surprising moment, a maverick full moon.
At the same time — and this is crucial — Palin was not shown as a villain. She was shown as a woman sophisticated and ambitious enough for the governorship of Alaska, but unprepared to be McCain’s running mate. She remains embittered by her limitations.
The film’s arrival coincided with Rush Limbaugh stepping into a big pile of it as he tried for three days to transform a young woman into an irresponsible libertine but instead created unforseen blowback.
Women need not be political targets and ought not be political pawns. They can, instead, be top-shelf leaders.
The likes of Sens. Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins and Kirsten Gillibrand make it perfectly evident how well women can set the pace for the doing of good things for themselves — as well as for the entire nation.
To do this, they must beat back the hustlers and hucksters in their midst. Even Ann Coulter — a woman not expected to provide insights and facts — sees this point clearly.
At a Republican Party dinner in Florida, this is what Coulter said, in reference to a conversation about Palin and others like her:
“I think our party and particularly our movement, the conservative movement, does have more of a problem with con men and charlatans than the Democratic Party. The incentives seem to be set up to allow people, as long as you have a band of a few million fanatical followers, you can make money. The Democrats have figured out how not to do that.”
She went on: “All the Republican nominees for President, I want them to sign a pledge saying, ‘If I lose the nomination, I pledge I will not take a gig with Fox News or write a book.’ ”
Women have shown that they are and can be leaders in all fields — not to be defined or dominated by their sex, but to be judged by what they say and do.
Case in point: In the arena of public education, Danielle Lee Moss of the highly successful Harlem Educational Activities Fund and Eva Moskowitz, head of the Success Academy charter schools, have proven how exceedingly well things can be done to get students learning at the highest levels.
Yet Randi Weingarten, of the American Federation of Teachers, and Hazel Dukes, of New York’s NAACP, are willing to protect incompetent teachers instead of facing the need to remove them in the interest of bettering public education.
No matter the group, one must make sure to not be hustled by a greasy pig in a poke eager to run a game, as Tawana Brawley did.
If women, on the move as a group, actually figure that out with the necessary clarity, they will have done far better than any “special interest group” I know of, or have ever seen.
by Stanley Crouch
We usually learn more about the inner workings of human nature from the arts than we do from politics. Writers have long told us that evil, fraud and corruption move freely, with no interest in religion, politics or ideology.
That is why women were very lucky that the film “Game Change” — the story of Sarah Palin, John McCain and the 2008 race for President — came out recently on HBO and was spoken of incessantly.
What “Game Change” did was make it clear that while women becoming candidates is obviously very, very important, that alone will not necessarily cut it.
With extremely fine acting, the film showed how unintentionally vile a woman — like anybody else! — can be if she is incompetent. It was a dangerous blunder for McCain to so quickly choose to have Palin on the ticket in order to create a surprising moment, a maverick full moon.
At the same time — and this is crucial — Palin was not shown as a villain. She was shown as a woman sophisticated and ambitious enough for the governorship of Alaska, but unprepared to be McCain’s running mate. She remains embittered by her limitations.
The film’s arrival coincided with Rush Limbaugh stepping into a big pile of it as he tried for three days to transform a young woman into an irresponsible libertine but instead created unforseen blowback.
Women need not be political targets and ought not be political pawns. They can, instead, be top-shelf leaders.
The likes of Sens. Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins and Kirsten Gillibrand make it perfectly evident how well women can set the pace for the doing of good things for themselves — as well as for the entire nation.
To do this, they must beat back the hustlers and hucksters in their midst. Even Ann Coulter — a woman not expected to provide insights and facts — sees this point clearly.
At a Republican Party dinner in Florida, this is what Coulter said, in reference to a conversation about Palin and others like her:
“I think our party and particularly our movement, the conservative movement, does have more of a problem with con men and charlatans than the Democratic Party. The incentives seem to be set up to allow people, as long as you have a band of a few million fanatical followers, you can make money. The Democrats have figured out how not to do that.”
She went on: “All the Republican nominees for President, I want them to sign a pledge saying, ‘If I lose the nomination, I pledge I will not take a gig with Fox News or write a book.’ ”
Women have shown that they are and can be leaders in all fields — not to be defined or dominated by their sex, but to be judged by what they say and do.
Case in point: In the arena of public education, Danielle Lee Moss of the highly successful Harlem Educational Activities Fund and Eva Moskowitz, head of the Success Academy charter schools, have proven how exceedingly well things can be done to get students learning at the highest levels.
Yet Randi Weingarten, of the American Federation of Teachers, and Hazel Dukes, of New York’s NAACP, are willing to protect incompetent teachers instead of facing the need to remove them in the interest of bettering public education.
No matter the group, one must make sure to not be hustled by a greasy pig in a poke eager to run a game, as Tawana Brawley did.
If women, on the move as a group, actually figure that out with the necessary clarity, they will have done far better than any “special interest group” I know of, or have ever seen.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Bill Maher: Me calling Sarah Palin a ‘c---’ is totally different than Limbaugh calling Sandra Fluke a ‘slut’
From Daily News: Bill Maher: Me calling Sarah Palin a ‘c---’ is totally different than Limbaugh calling Sandra Fluke a ‘slut’
In other words, his audience are neanderthals, too.
Bll Maher wants the world to know that he’s no Rush Limbaugh.
The liberal comedian, who has been ripped by the right for previously calling Sarah Palin a “c---” is arguing his name calling is completely different from Limbaugh, who branded Georgetown student Sandra Fluke a “slut.”
Maher told ABC News’ Jake Tapper on Thursday that Limbaugh’s insult wasn’t fair game because Fluke is a private citizen.
Limbaugh “went after a civilian about very specific behavior, that was a lie, speaking for a party that has systematically gone after women’s rights all year, on the public airwaves,” the HBO host argued.
“I used a rude word about a public figure who gives as good as she gets, who’s called people ‘terrorist’ and ‘unAmerican’... The First Amendment was specifically designed for citizens to insult politicians. Libel laws were written to protect law students speaking out on political issues from getting called whores by Oxycontin addicts,” he added.
Limbaugh came under fire earlier this month after he called Fluke a “prostitute” and “slut” for speaking to Congress about the need to expand birth control coverage. He has since apologized, although several advertisers pulled their commercials from his show.
In the aftermath of the Fluke controversy, critics pointed to Maher and said there was a double standard for liberals using derogatory language against conservative women.
Maher called Palin a “c---” and a “dumb twat” during a stand-up show last year.
Palin told CNN during the Fluke controversy that liberals calling for Limbaugh to apologize was the “definition of hypocrisy” adding the same rules did not apply to “leftist radicals who say such horrible things about the handicapped, about women, about the defenseless.”
Limbaugh, on his show, has argued President Obama should return the $1 million Maher gave to his Super PAC due to the vulgar things the comedian has said about Palin.
Maher also argued to Tapper that, unlike Limbaugh, it’s his job to be a comedian. When asked how he knows if he takes his jokes to far, he said, “I let the audience be the guide.”
“The bit I did about Palin using the word c--- was one of the biggest laughs in my act, I did it all over the country, not one person ever registered disapproval, and believe me, audiences are not afraid to let you know. Because it was a routine where that word came in at just the right moment. Context is very important,” he said.
In other words, his audience are neanderthals, too.
Sarah Palin pens farewell to Andrew Breitbart
From the Politico: Sarah Palin pens farewell to Andrew Breitbart
Weeks after the sudden death of conservative journalist Andrew Breitbart, Sarah Palin has penned an article encouraging his supporters to continue living out the late publisher’s mission — “the belated vetting of Barack Obama.”
“With the death of Breitbart, the conservative movement didn’t just lose a General — we lost an entire Special Forces Division,” Palin wrote in a piece published on Big Government late Thursday. “But he didn’t leave us without the tools and the knowledge we need to fight. This website — Breitbart 2.0 — is the culmination of his study of the technology and aesthetics of new media.”
Under the guidance of Steve Bannon, Larry Solov and Joel Pollak, Breitbart’s most urgent goal can continue to live, the former Alaska governor said.
“Breitbart’s most immediate mission was the belated vetting of Barack Obama. This obviously is an issue very near and dear to my heart,” she said, accusing the media of having reported “breathlessly” about her tanning bed while they “couldn’t be bothered” to properly investigate President Barack Obama’s past record.
“You would think the media — those watchdogs of the public trust — would be interested in this. But they refused to vet Barack Obama. With tingles up their legs, they shielded him,” she wrote. “So, as Breitbart declared in his last CPAC speech, we — the everyday patriotic citizens of the United States — will do the vetting the media refused to do.”
In his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February, Breitbart told the audience that he had damaging videos of the president that he was planning to unveil as the 2012 campaign progressed.
“We are going to vet him from his college days to show you why racial division and class warfare are central to what hope and change was sold in 2008,” he had said, just weeks before dying unexpectedly at the age of 43.
The video shows a clip of 30-year-old Obama during his time at Harvard University Law School, introducing professor Derrick Bell at an outdoor event.
Weeks after the sudden death of conservative journalist Andrew Breitbart, Sarah Palin has penned an article encouraging his supporters to continue living out the late publisher’s mission — “the belated vetting of Barack Obama.”
“With the death of Breitbart, the conservative movement didn’t just lose a General — we lost an entire Special Forces Division,” Palin wrote in a piece published on Big Government late Thursday. “But he didn’t leave us without the tools and the knowledge we need to fight. This website — Breitbart 2.0 — is the culmination of his study of the technology and aesthetics of new media.”
Under the guidance of Steve Bannon, Larry Solov and Joel Pollak, Breitbart’s most urgent goal can continue to live, the former Alaska governor said.
“Breitbart’s most immediate mission was the belated vetting of Barack Obama. This obviously is an issue very near and dear to my heart,” she said, accusing the media of having reported “breathlessly” about her tanning bed while they “couldn’t be bothered” to properly investigate President Barack Obama’s past record.
“You would think the media — those watchdogs of the public trust — would be interested in this. But they refused to vet Barack Obama. With tingles up their legs, they shielded him,” she wrote. “So, as Breitbart declared in his last CPAC speech, we — the everyday patriotic citizens of the United States — will do the vetting the media refused to do.”
In his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February, Breitbart told the audience that he had damaging videos of the president that he was planning to unveil as the 2012 campaign progressed.
“We are going to vet him from his college days to show you why racial division and class warfare are central to what hope and change was sold in 2008,” he had said, just weeks before dying unexpectedly at the age of 43.
The video shows a clip of 30-year-old Obama during his time at Harvard University Law School, introducing professor Derrick Bell at an outdoor event.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Quitting on your constituents: Jay Inslee does a Sarah Palin
"Doing a Sarah Palin" seems to have found its way into the lexicon.
From The Seattle Post Intelligencer: Quitting on your constituents: Jay Inslee does a Sarah Palin
The U.S. House of Representatives is due to spend just 109 days doing the public's business in Washington, D.C. this year. But even a schedule drawn up to grease reelection campaigns and Speaker John Boehner's golf game proved too onerous for Jay Inslee's political ambitions.
Inslee is quitting Congress in a week's time: The Democratic gubernatorial candidate is going out as Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin did in 2009, seeking greener pastures and leaving an important office entrusted to him by the voters.
Of course, there are differences. Inslee is seeking higher office while Palin was cashing in on a high profile. But Palin was able to hand over the reins to Alaska's Lt. Governor Sean Parnell. By dint of Inslee's timing, 600,000 people will for months have no representation in the "Peoples' House" of Congress.
From The Seattle Post Intelligencer: Quitting on your constituents: Jay Inslee does a Sarah Palin
The U.S. House of Representatives is due to spend just 109 days doing the public's business in Washington, D.C. this year. But even a schedule drawn up to grease reelection campaigns and Speaker John Boehner's golf game proved too onerous for Jay Inslee's political ambitions.
Inslee is quitting Congress in a week's time: The Democratic gubernatorial candidate is going out as Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin did in 2009, seeking greener pastures and leaving an important office entrusted to him by the voters.
Of course, there are differences. Inslee is seeking higher office while Palin was cashing in on a high profile. But Palin was able to hand over the reins to Alaska's Lt. Governor Sean Parnell. By dint of Inslee's timing, 600,000 people will for months have no representation in the "Peoples' House" of Congress.
Read Palin’s Brutal Takedown of Obama ...
From FoxNation: Read Palin’s Brutal Takedown of Obama ...
Let’s Talk About the Real Issues, Mr. President
Let’s Talk About the Real Issues, Mr. President
By Sarah Palin
Monday, March 12, 2012 at 6:41pm ·
The far Left continues to believe American voters are not smart enough to grasp the diversionary tactics it employs to distract us from the issues our President just doesn’t want to talk about – issues that affect us all every day and must be addressed.
Exhibit A in these diversionary tactics is an absurd new attack ad President Obama has released taking my comments out of context. I’m not running for any office, but I’m more than happy to accept the dubious honor of being Barack Obama’s “enemy of the week” if that includes the opportunity to debate him on the issues Americans are actually concerned about. (Remember when I said you don’t need a title to make a difference?)
Just off the top of my head, a few of these concerning issues include: a debt crisis that has us hurtling towards a Greek-style collapse, entitlement programs going bankrupt, a credit downgrade for the first time in our history, a government takeover of the health care industry that makes care more expensive and puts a rationing panel of faceless bureaucrats between you and your doctor (aka a “death panel”), $4 and $5 gas at the pump exacerbated by an anti-drilling agenda that rejects good paying energy sector jobs and makes us more dependent on dangerous foreign regimes, a war in Afghanistan that seems unfocused and unending, a global presidential apology tour that’s made us look feeble and ridiculous, a housing market in the tank, the longest streak of high unemployment since World War II, private-sector job creators and industry strangled by burdensome regulations and an out-of-control Obama EPA, an attack on the Constitutional protection of religious liberty, an attack on private industry in right-to-work states, crony capitalism run amok in an administration in bed with their favored cronies to the detriment of genuine free market capitalism, green energy pay-to-play kickbacks to Obama campaign donors, and a Justice Department still stonewalling on a bungled operation that armed violent Mexican drug lords and led to the deaths of hundreds of innocent people.
I’m sure I missed a few things, but the list is just for starters. Along with millions of others, I’m willing and free to discuss these issues with the President anywhere, anytime; and I’m sure any of the four patriots currently running for the GOP nomination would also welcome the opportunity to talk about the problems everyday Americans face due to the abject failure of our current administration’s policies. The President will dismiss all of these problems by saying, “Well, uh, ‘change isn’t easy.’” But considering that candidate Obama promised to turn back the waters and heal the planet, the American people had at least a reasonable expectation that, at the bare minimum, he wouldn’t bankrupt our country.
This latest ad is quite odd, but also quite telling. It shows that our President sure seems fearful of discussing the economy, energy prices, and all the other problems people need addressed. And intended or not, now that his ad opens up the discussion of Barack Obama’s radical past associations and the radical philosophy that shaped his ideas about his promised “fundamental transformation” of our country, I welcome the media to join ordinary Americans in finally vetting Barack Obama. The media failed to do so in 2008 to the detriment of us all. Maybe this time around they can do their job.
Sarah Palin: Barack Obama ad edited my remarks
From Politico: Sarah Palin: Barack Obama ad edited my remarks
Sarah Palin is charging that President Barack Obama’s just-released campaign commercial is an “absurd new attack ad” in which her comments have been heavily edited and taken out of context.
“The far Left continues to believe American voters are not smart enough to grasp the diversionary tactics it employs to distract us from the issues our President just doesn’t want to talk about – issues that affect us all every day and must be addressed,” Palin wrote on her Facebook page late Monday. “Exhibit A in these diversionary tactics is an absurd new attack ad President Obama has released taking my comments out of context.”
In the one-minute spot Palin is referring to, she is shown in a Fox News interview with Sean Hannity saying, “Barack Obama has never been … seen in the conventional, traditional way of we who would describe a man of valor.”
In the edited clip, Palin goes on to accuse the president of harboring a “philosophy of radicalism” and of wanting to bring the country back to “days before the Civil War … before those days when we were in different classes, based on income, based on color of skin.”
The text of the ad calls Palin’s comments “wrong and dangerous” before asking viewers to donate to Obama’s “two term fund.”
Palin said Monday on her Facebook page, “I’m not running for any office, but I’m more than happy to accept the dubious honor of being Barack Obama’s ‘enemy of the week’ if that includes the opportunity to debate him on the issues Americans are actually concerned about.”
The new “heavily edited” ad is “quite odd,” the former Alaska governor continued.
“It shows that our President sure seems fearful of discussing the economy, energy prices, and all the other problems people need addressed,” she said.
Here are the full comments from Palin’s March 8 interview with Hannity:
“Granted Barack Obama has never been, I think, seen in the conventional, traditional way of we who would describe a man of valor, so it shouldn’t surprise us that Barack Obama would accept that dirty money and try to get reelected with it. But I think it does not bode well for our president’s character to not speak out against that dirty money. …
“People must be aware of his radical past, his radical associations. Even today, look at who he has chosen to be his czars. He has chosen the most radical of the radicals in certain areas of expertise, Sean. … He has chosen these people because what went into his thinking through those college years, through years probably before his college years and his profession as a community organizer, what went into his thinking was this philosophy of radicalism, based on the people whom he chose to be around. …
“He is bringing us back, Sean, to days — you can hearken back to days before the Civil War, when unfortunately too many Americans mistakenly believed that not all men were created equal.”
Sarah Palin is charging that President Barack Obama’s just-released campaign commercial is an “absurd new attack ad” in which her comments have been heavily edited and taken out of context.
“The far Left continues to believe American voters are not smart enough to grasp the diversionary tactics it employs to distract us from the issues our President just doesn’t want to talk about – issues that affect us all every day and must be addressed,” Palin wrote on her Facebook page late Monday. “Exhibit A in these diversionary tactics is an absurd new attack ad President Obama has released taking my comments out of context.”
In the one-minute spot Palin is referring to, she is shown in a Fox News interview with Sean Hannity saying, “Barack Obama has never been … seen in the conventional, traditional way of we who would describe a man of valor.”
In the edited clip, Palin goes on to accuse the president of harboring a “philosophy of radicalism” and of wanting to bring the country back to “days before the Civil War … before those days when we were in different classes, based on income, based on color of skin.”
The text of the ad calls Palin’s comments “wrong and dangerous” before asking viewers to donate to Obama’s “two term fund.”
Palin said Monday on her Facebook page, “I’m not running for any office, but I’m more than happy to accept the dubious honor of being Barack Obama’s ‘enemy of the week’ if that includes the opportunity to debate him on the issues Americans are actually concerned about.”
The new “heavily edited” ad is “quite odd,” the former Alaska governor continued.
“It shows that our President sure seems fearful of discussing the economy, energy prices, and all the other problems people need addressed,” she said.
Here are the full comments from Palin’s March 8 interview with Hannity:
“Granted Barack Obama has never been, I think, seen in the conventional, traditional way of we who would describe a man of valor, so it shouldn’t surprise us that Barack Obama would accept that dirty money and try to get reelected with it. But I think it does not bode well for our president’s character to not speak out against that dirty money. …
“People must be aware of his radical past, his radical associations. Even today, look at who he has chosen to be his czars. He has chosen the most radical of the radicals in certain areas of expertise, Sean. … He has chosen these people because what went into his thinking through those college years, through years probably before his college years and his profession as a community organizer, what went into his thinking was this philosophy of radicalism, based on the people whom he chose to be around. …
“He is bringing us back, Sean, to days — you can hearken back to days before the Civil War, when unfortunately too many Americans mistakenly believed that not all men were created equal.”
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Palin’s wrong-headed defense of Limbaugh: Attack Maher
From Video MSNBC: Palin’s wrong-headed defense of Limbaugh: Attack Maher
Except what Rush was saying was simply, why should we, the taxpayer, have to pay for this woman - or any woman's contraception. Let her pay for it herself. And if she can't afford it...then don't have sex until she can!
That's not the same as these officious religious folks who get jobs as pharmacists and then refuse to do their jobs - fulfilling a woman's contraceptive prescription - because it violates their religious beliefs. In cases of that nature - they shouldn't take that job in the first place. That's not the same as someone who is not religious going to school at a religious institution and expecting them to honor her wishes. In that case, I'd have to side with the institution. If she doesn't want to live by their rules, she shouldn't go to that school.
Analysts Karen Finney, Jonathan Capehart and Julian Epstein discuss Sarah Palin’s false equivalency of Rush Limbaugh’s “slut” remarks with Bill Maher’s Palin jokes and why the Derrick Bell attacks fail to hold water.
>>> yes, it is friday in the deep south and the republican candidates are rehearsing their grits and gravy act for voters in mississippi and alabama. we'll get to that in just a moment. we must begin with sarah palin 's latest and perhaps greatest performance of diversion, make believe and victimhood on fox news. while she wasn't there to promote "game change" a wither account of her vice presidential candidate . she suggested the president conspires with radical, hates america and wasn't properly vetted. miss palin , it's all yours.
>> thank you gentlemen who are running on the gop ticket staying in there, allowing yourselves to be vetted by the media because they didn't do it when barack obama ran.
>> some speculate that reverend wright is turning off white voters. he's unquestionably worrying super delegates about obama's electability.
>> someone has clipped an abc news report on that tape. it's journalism by white house correspondent from april of 2008 when senator obama was running. a report that came on the heels of another report that focused on the fiery rhetoric of jeremiah wright . the mainstream media did no vetting whatsoever. perhaps ms. palin didn't see those and the hundreds of other reports done by abc, cbs, msnbc, and even fox news. strike one for ms. palin . onto the other reason. the line trotted out by ms. palin is this. bill maher is a horrible man. here is how it works. rush limbaugh characterizes a student as a slut and a prostitute for daring to stand up for a sick friend. there's no condemnation for that attack, no krift schism for rush. there's a defense and it's this, bill maher once called ms. palin a very nasty name.
>> i don't know anyone can sit in the audience and laugh. i think it's disgusting and it's dirty money that he's provided barack obama 's campaign. i don't know how barack obama can sleep at night and if he thinks about his daughters and the treatment of some women today how he can accept that dirty money .
>> for the record, mr. maher does say outrageous things on his late night show. i've been on it. he's a comedian. he's better read than ms. palin . he's never run for office. he knows about domestic and foreign policy , but he's not looking for a cabinet post and he does make donations to political campaigns, but he has no influence and seeks no basic s access and did use a four letter word. why is there such a long line of republicans who keep apairing on his show. people like darrell issa who's very committee deemed her unqualified to speak on the matter. she's a regular guest. i'm beginning to wonder if the only conspiracy here is that of certain congressmen at a timers flailing about trying to find a coherent line of attack. they went for the culture wars in contraception. that didn't work. they love to focus on the economy, but that's improving. they went for gas prices , but people are not stupid and they understand that the administration has very little control over the cost of a gallon. in the absence of creative thought or evidence they went back to the tried and the trusted, insult the president.
>> barack obama has never been, i think seen in the conventional, traditional way of we who describe man of valor.
>> diversion, make believe, victimhood and insults. they think bill maher is a bad guy . joining me now is karen finney, jonathan capehart and julian epstein. good day to all of you. karen , just so that we can understand her argument, ms. palin says that rush limbaugh is a good guy because she was called a four-letter word by bill maher and the president pals around with terrorists and radicals, right?
>> apparently that's her argument. i'm hearing this from women let's not get distracted. this is not just about a couple of words that rush used about sandra fluke. it's about the whole picture he painted of her as a slut/whore/make a vitd owe. it was far more disgusting than just two words. he is a public person . sandra fluke isn't. you can make the argument whether you like what bill maher says you do put yourself out there in a way a private person testifying in congress should not expect to be attacked.
>> yesterday fox news had this conspiracy involving derrick bell . he's passed away and has been raised from the dead by fox news and every aspect of his personal achievement working from difficult circumstances working himself up is completely rubbished. we're supposed to refer to him as a radical, is that right?
>> apparently so. we're talking about derrick bell and the victimhood of sarah palin . we're talking about all of these other issues. the main things the republicans have been running on since 2009 is the economy. the economy is by all measures doing better and could be doing much better three, four months from now and maybe at least the administration is hoping by november. they have to do something, talk about something to gin up some kind of questions in the mind of voters before they go to the polls.
>> they scrape the bottom of the barrel?
>> of course. of course, they do.
>> julian, is anyone thinking clearly about what it means to rally around and protect rush limbaugh ?
>> i think until the republican leadership repudiates, they have to stand for the grand old philistines. let's understand why the analogy to bill maher doesn't make sense. she's not the spiritual leader of the democratic party as rush limbaugh is of the republican party . secondly, many democrats have said that when bill maher has used some of the offensive words that he has crossed the line. third of all, comparing what bill maher 's rift on sarah palin is she is an empty suit when it comes to public policy , and that i think is true and factually based, comparing that to calling a woman a slut because she advocates to contraception policy is like comparing bernie madoff to a shoplifter. the point is that the republican leadership is still yet to repudiate what has to be the number one most disgusting comment made in politics in 2012 .
>> guys, i've got to step up here for the women . it's not just about the comments. it's about this man saying if i'm going to pay for your sex, i want you to video tape it and put it on the web. women feel this very deeply. it's more than just those two words.
>> it was dressing.
>> everybody agrees on that.
>> the most insulting manner.
>> everybody agrees on that.
>> i notice everybody keeps saying the to words.
>> i didn't say anything about this.
>> that's true. karen , this conspiracy theory which is being proposed by several come men at a timers that she was planted by the white house , are they going to say the reason rush limbaugh had a massive assist on his backside is because he was infected by democrats?
>> here is be problem.
>> answer the question. is that cyst caused by democrats?
>> sure. here is the problem republicans are having. women aren't that stupid. they were counting on women being really stupid. this has brought up a whole host of issues that have been going on in this war on women in the last year. it's about the measures that the state legislature that are basically telling women you're idiots and you're too stupid to make any decisions about your own body. the government has to tell you when you've been raped. has to make sure you're not so frivolous with your sexuality that you won't use rape to get an abortion. this kind of conversation coming from rush limbaugh . republicans know, to me this says we're winning this argument. they are trying to change the suggest on two things that are not parallel. this is supposed to be the party of smaller government yet they want to get all up in our uterus uteruses.
Except what Rush was saying was simply, why should we, the taxpayer, have to pay for this woman - or any woman's contraception. Let her pay for it herself. And if she can't afford it...then don't have sex until she can!
That's not the same as these officious religious folks who get jobs as pharmacists and then refuse to do their jobs - fulfilling a woman's contraceptive prescription - because it violates their religious beliefs. In cases of that nature - they shouldn't take that job in the first place. That's not the same as someone who is not religious going to school at a religious institution and expecting them to honor her wishes. In that case, I'd have to side with the institution. If she doesn't want to live by their rules, she shouldn't go to that school.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Sarah Palin: Obama Is Bringing Back Discrimination From 'Days Before The Civil War'
From the Huffington Post: Sarah Palin: Obama Is Bringing Back Discrimination From 'Days Before The Civil War'
Sarah Palin weighed in Thursday on a video of Barack Obama embracing the late Professor Derrick Bell, stating during an interview that the clip revealed that the president is "bringing us back...to days before the Civil War" when racial discrimination was prevalent.
In an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity, Palin discussed Obama's affiliation with Bell, a former Harvard professor who passed away last year. A video released earlier this week showed Obama, then a student at Harvard Law School, praising Bell at a rally in support of the university hiring more minority faculty.
"He is bringing us back...to days before the Civil War, when unfortunately too many Americans mistakenly belived that not all men were created equal," she said. "What Barack Obama seems to want to do is go back to before those days when we were in different classes based on income, based on color of skin."
Earlier in the show, Palin accused Obama of "trying to divide" the country, "based along lines of gender, of religion, of income, even of race," citing the president's association with Bell.
"Look at his embracing of Derrick Bell, the radical college racist professor whom he...embraced literally and figuratively asking others to open their hearts and minds to the radical agenda of a racist like Derrick Bell who believed that white men oppress blacks and minorities," she said. "And Barack Obama, evidently at least at the time, believed what Derrick Bell believed."
The 1991 footage in question was touted as game-changing by conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart at CPAC, weeks before he unexpectedly passed away. However, the clip was also included in a 2008 PBS special, and has made few waves outside of conservative circles.
At the time of the video, Bell had announced he would take an unpaid leave from Harvard until the school brought a woman of color onto the law school's tenured faculty. Bell was also a strong advocate of critical race theory, which posits that racist beliefs underly many of the country's legal foundations.
Palin and Hannity also discussed the Rush Limbaugh-Sandra Fluke controversy, as well as President Obama's phone call to Fluke after the conservative radio host called her a "slut" on air. According to Palin, it was hypocritical for Obama's super PAC to accept money from comedian Bill Maher, who has made inflammatory comments about the former Alaska governor.
"It's dirty money that he has now provided Barack Obama's campaign," Palin said in reference to the $1 million Maher donated to Priorities USA, the Obama-supporting PAC. "I don't know how Barack Obama can sleep at night if he really thinks about Sasha and Malia and the treatment of some women today, how he can accept that dirty money."
Palin added that it "shouldn't surprise us" that Obama's group would take Maher's money, stating that he has "never" been "who we would describe [as] a man of valor."
Sarah Palin weighed in Thursday on a video of Barack Obama embracing the late Professor Derrick Bell, stating during an interview that the clip revealed that the president is "bringing us back...to days before the Civil War" when racial discrimination was prevalent.
In an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity, Palin discussed Obama's affiliation with Bell, a former Harvard professor who passed away last year. A video released earlier this week showed Obama, then a student at Harvard Law School, praising Bell at a rally in support of the university hiring more minority faculty.
"He is bringing us back...to days before the Civil War, when unfortunately too many Americans mistakenly belived that not all men were created equal," she said. "What Barack Obama seems to want to do is go back to before those days when we were in different classes based on income, based on color of skin."
Earlier in the show, Palin accused Obama of "trying to divide" the country, "based along lines of gender, of religion, of income, even of race," citing the president's association with Bell.
"Look at his embracing of Derrick Bell, the radical college racist professor whom he...embraced literally and figuratively asking others to open their hearts and minds to the radical agenda of a racist like Derrick Bell who believed that white men oppress blacks and minorities," she said. "And Barack Obama, evidently at least at the time, believed what Derrick Bell believed."
The 1991 footage in question was touted as game-changing by conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart at CPAC, weeks before he unexpectedly passed away. However, the clip was also included in a 2008 PBS special, and has made few waves outside of conservative circles.
At the time of the video, Bell had announced he would take an unpaid leave from Harvard until the school brought a woman of color onto the law school's tenured faculty. Bell was also a strong advocate of critical race theory, which posits that racist beliefs underly many of the country's legal foundations.
Palin and Hannity also discussed the Rush Limbaugh-Sandra Fluke controversy, as well as President Obama's phone call to Fluke after the conservative radio host called her a "slut" on air. According to Palin, it was hypocritical for Obama's super PAC to accept money from comedian Bill Maher, who has made inflammatory comments about the former Alaska governor.
"It's dirty money that he has now provided Barack Obama's campaign," Palin said in reference to the $1 million Maher donated to Priorities USA, the Obama-supporting PAC. "I don't know how Barack Obama can sleep at night if he really thinks about Sasha and Malia and the treatment of some women today, how he can accept that dirty money."
Palin added that it "shouldn't surprise us" that Obama's group would take Maher's money, stating that he has "never" been "who we would describe [as] a man of valor."
Friday, March 9, 2012
Director: 'Game Change' humanizes Palin, McCain
From CNN: Director: 'Game Change' humanizes Palin, McCain
(CNN) -- HBO's new political docudrama "Game Change" isn't just any made-for-TV movie inspired by reality.
The film explores the behind-the-scenes decision-making process that guided the 2008 McCain/Palin presidential ticket, and the human qualities of both candidates. Director Jay Roach ("Austin Powers," "Meet the Parents") didn't want to just rehash the story lines that dominated the news that fall.
In addition to some of the widely publicized stories -- from the vetting process to the Katie Couric interview and the "Saturday Night Live" sketches -- "Game Change" shows how the campaign staffers, particularly Steve Schmidt (played by Woody Harrelson), tried to control the candidates' perceptions of themselves and counter Barack Obama's platform.
"It's interesting that politicians are forced to study perpetually their own media depictions as well as focus on the issues and what they actually care about," Roach told CNN. "I'm fascinated by the spin doctors. That whole culture of behind-the-scenes, occasionally dark art, or message management and campaign strategy is just fascinating. I hope this film could tap into (it), and raises questions about it."
"Game Change," which premieres Saturday at 9 p.m., stars Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin and Ed Harris as John McCain.
Here's what Roach told CNN about the film:
CNN: Palin and McCain associates have labeled the film as an inaccurate attack. Why would they say this?
Jay Roach on 'Game Change' criticisms
Jay Roach: No, that's the big question. It's tough to even respond when you hear people criticize something they haven't seen. Obviously they've seen the trailer and read the book, so it's not a huge surprise that they'd take issue with it. I wish they'd see the film because it has a very evenhanded tone to it, in trying to get the story right and allow anybody with any prejudices against the main characters to go past the media iconography and see them as human beings. They are human beings who are trying to do what they think is right. They have strengths and they have weaknesses.
Julianne Moore talks playing Sarah Palin
One of the things that makes McCain more relatable is the fact that he curses a lot.
'Game Change' dir. on production process
I thought so. Even when I was reading the book I had that reaction. You don't get to see behind the scenes. I've been around enough people in politics that it's not that uncommon. But it is jarring when you see a senator for decades go off like that. I asked ("Game Change" authors) Heilemann and Halperin if that was for real and were they just spicing up their book. They said, "No, no. We might be under-representing it." Keep in mind, he's a fighter pilot. He grew up in a military family. I agree with you, it did make him seem more human.
The film presents the idea that politicians are constructed by mass media and that's what makes or breaks them.
We're all in a culture where we all are increasingly putting out a media version of ourselves, whether on Facebook or our tweets. It is unique in politics how much it's become about managing an avatar version of the candidate in the public. You have to be fascinated by what the contrast is to that: the iconic version of that person versus what they're dealing with as human beings. In certain ways, they're even more transparent because they're being followed 24 hours a day. But in another way, they're much less transparent because their guard is so much up and the image makers are so busy adjusting it. That's what hooked me so much to this film.
Tina Fey famously spoofed Palin during the election cycle. Did you and Julianne consult with her at all about playing Palin?
No, we didn't. We made a deliberate choice to separate what Julianne was going to do from what Tina had done. What (Fey) did was powerful and kind of brilliant. Often using Sarah Palin's own words, she was able to point out that Palin wasn't prepared well and she didn't have time really to get properly schooled, if you will. We were also constantly aware of people's perception that we may go somewhere towards the Tina Fey version.
Some people were very critical of Palin. Was it important to you to understand those people who did connect with her?
Many members of my close family are Sarah Palin fans. In fact, I got e-mails from them when it was announced and they said, "Don't pick on Sarah." So I had access to a number of people who were not just admirers, but fully committed, devoted people. (Palin) spoke to people's disenchantment with politicians in general, how things work in government and feeling, to some extent, cut off from being able to do anything about it. That's understandable. There were things about her in 2008 that were impressive.
She had 80% popularity. She did take on oil interests in Alaska and raised taxes on the oil companies and was able to give checks back to people in Alaska. She really was a maverick, a charismatic mother of five, and was sending her son off to Iraq. She really was a person who started her political career fighting for local issues she cared about. There were a lot of things that drew people to her immediately. And once you're hooked on that, then it was completely understandable that people became followers.
(CNN) -- HBO's new political docudrama "Game Change" isn't just any made-for-TV movie inspired by reality.
The film explores the behind-the-scenes decision-making process that guided the 2008 McCain/Palin presidential ticket, and the human qualities of both candidates. Director Jay Roach ("Austin Powers," "Meet the Parents") didn't want to just rehash the story lines that dominated the news that fall.
In addition to some of the widely publicized stories -- from the vetting process to the Katie Couric interview and the "Saturday Night Live" sketches -- "Game Change" shows how the campaign staffers, particularly Steve Schmidt (played by Woody Harrelson), tried to control the candidates' perceptions of themselves and counter Barack Obama's platform.
"It's interesting that politicians are forced to study perpetually their own media depictions as well as focus on the issues and what they actually care about," Roach told CNN. "I'm fascinated by the spin doctors. That whole culture of behind-the-scenes, occasionally dark art, or message management and campaign strategy is just fascinating. I hope this film could tap into (it), and raises questions about it."
"Game Change," which premieres Saturday at 9 p.m., stars Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin and Ed Harris as John McCain.
Here's what Roach told CNN about the film:
CNN: Palin and McCain associates have labeled the film as an inaccurate attack. Why would they say this?
Jay Roach on 'Game Change' criticisms
Jay Roach: No, that's the big question. It's tough to even respond when you hear people criticize something they haven't seen. Obviously they've seen the trailer and read the book, so it's not a huge surprise that they'd take issue with it. I wish they'd see the film because it has a very evenhanded tone to it, in trying to get the story right and allow anybody with any prejudices against the main characters to go past the media iconography and see them as human beings. They are human beings who are trying to do what they think is right. They have strengths and they have weaknesses.
Julianne Moore talks playing Sarah Palin
One of the things that makes McCain more relatable is the fact that he curses a lot.
'Game Change' dir. on production process
I thought so. Even when I was reading the book I had that reaction. You don't get to see behind the scenes. I've been around enough people in politics that it's not that uncommon. But it is jarring when you see a senator for decades go off like that. I asked ("Game Change" authors) Heilemann and Halperin if that was for real and were they just spicing up their book. They said, "No, no. We might be under-representing it." Keep in mind, he's a fighter pilot. He grew up in a military family. I agree with you, it did make him seem more human.
The film presents the idea that politicians are constructed by mass media and that's what makes or breaks them.
We're all in a culture where we all are increasingly putting out a media version of ourselves, whether on Facebook or our tweets. It is unique in politics how much it's become about managing an avatar version of the candidate in the public. You have to be fascinated by what the contrast is to that: the iconic version of that person versus what they're dealing with as human beings. In certain ways, they're even more transparent because they're being followed 24 hours a day. But in another way, they're much less transparent because their guard is so much up and the image makers are so busy adjusting it. That's what hooked me so much to this film.
Tina Fey famously spoofed Palin during the election cycle. Did you and Julianne consult with her at all about playing Palin?
No, we didn't. We made a deliberate choice to separate what Julianne was going to do from what Tina had done. What (Fey) did was powerful and kind of brilliant. Often using Sarah Palin's own words, she was able to point out that Palin wasn't prepared well and she didn't have time really to get properly schooled, if you will. We were also constantly aware of people's perception that we may go somewhere towards the Tina Fey version.
Some people were very critical of Palin. Was it important to you to understand those people who did connect with her?
Many members of my close family are Sarah Palin fans. In fact, I got e-mails from them when it was announced and they said, "Don't pick on Sarah." So I had access to a number of people who were not just admirers, but fully committed, devoted people. (Palin) spoke to people's disenchantment with politicians in general, how things work in government and feeling, to some extent, cut off from being able to do anything about it. That's understandable. There were things about her in 2008 that were impressive.
She had 80% popularity. She did take on oil interests in Alaska and raised taxes on the oil companies and was able to give checks back to people in Alaska. She really was a maverick, a charismatic mother of five, and was sending her son off to Iraq. She really was a person who started her political career fighting for local issues she cared about. There were a lot of things that drew people to her immediately. And once you're hooked on that, then it was completely understandable that people became followers.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Wednesday
I know I keep promising that I'm going to get back to a daily schedule of posts, and I know that weeks have gone by and there's been nothing regular about my schedule!
And I apologize! Stuff happens, abetted, I admit, by procrastination. There was a helluva lot of scanning of material I needed to do which I never did, and now I've got to get all that material back where it came from, so I've got 2 days of probably 12 hours a day spending my time scanning, and double checking to make sure I havne't missed any pages, etc.
So I'm going to spend the next 2 days doing that, will be all caught up on Wednesday, and will resume daily posts here.
And will finally have learned my lesson about procrastination - don't do it!
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