Barack Obama is Not a Liberal and Sarah Palin is Not a Conservative
Scott Horton interviews Roger D. Hodge regarding his book The Mendacity of Hope: Barack Obama and the Betrayal of American Liberalism for Harper’s:
1. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs recently derided liberal critics of the Obama Administration as the “professional left.” Was he talking about you? What do you make of this line of attack?
I’m not sure Gibbs has a coherent idea of what he means by the “left,” but if opposition to permanent war, extrajudicial assassination of American citizens, boundless state secrecy, and unlimited corporate bailouts constitutes “leftism,” then so be it. True to their Clintonian principles, President Obama and his advisors have spurned the Democratic Party’s liberal base and have sought to govern by appropriating the policies of the Republican right. Just as Bill Clinton enacted NAFTA and destroyed welfare, Barack Obama has pushed through a health-care program that was inspired by the Heritage Foundation and largely written by the…
Spitzer Urges Obama To Fire Geithner
On the debut of his new CNN show with Kathleen Parker, disgraced New York Governor Eliot Spitzer says Obama must fire Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. Bonus footage: Parker’s take on Sarah Palin.
The Fox News Party’s Lineup For The Primaries
How much longer will Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes pretend that their Fox News Channel is anything other than the Republican Party’s TV megaphone? This Politico story demonstrates that the conjugal relationship between GOP and FNC is clear for all to see, and yet they continue to deny sharing the same bed:
With Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee all making moves indicating they may run for president, their common employer is facing a question that hasn’t been asked before: How does a news organization cover White House hopefuls when so many are on the payroll?
The answer is a complicated one for Fox News.
As Fox’s popularity grows among conservatives, the presence of four potentially serious Republican candidates as paid contributors is beginning to frustrate competitors of the network, figures within its own news division and rivals of what some GOP insiders have begun calling “the Fox candidates.”
With the exception…
Fire From The Heartland: Rise Of The Mama Grizzlies
Fire From The Heartland is a new DVD about the “rise of the conservative woman.” The most scary thing about this trailer is that it exemplifies the trend/movement/meme of Sarah Palin-types identifying themselves as “mama grizzlies”.
Don’t Underestimate The Power Of Palin
Mark Halperin issues a warning memo, in TIME:
FROM: Mark Halperin
TO: Coastal Elites, the Media and Establishment Politicians of Both Parties
RE: Sarah Heath PalinDon’t underestimate Sarah Palin. Yes, she is hyper-polarizing: she sends her fans into rapture and drives her detractors stark raving mad. But she can dominate the news cycle with a single tweet and generate three days of coverage with a single speech (as she did this past Friday in Iowa). Her name recognition is universal.
You are right to complain that she is not offering specific policy proposals and that her inaccessibility to media outlets other than the one that pays her — Fox News — puts her beyond the kind of scrutiny and accountability we have come to expect for our leaders.
But the mistake you are making is to assume that Palin needs or wants to play by the standard rules of American politics. Or that it even…
Glenn Beck & Sarah Palin’s 9/11 Event
I fear the worst. The Week speculates on what they may be planning:
Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin are appearing together at the Dena’ina Center in Anchorage on Sept. 11, and nobody’s sure why. Beck, on his radio show, confirmed the event but would say only, “I’m gonna give a speech up there, and Sarah’s gonna give a speech, too, but that’s it.” Beck’s coyness, along with Palin’s silence and the provocative date, have only amped up the speculation about this “mysterious” event. (Watch a Russia Today discussion about the pair of leaders.) Here’s five theories on what Palin and Beck are up to on 9/11:
1. This is the launch of Palin-Beck 2012
“The symbolic date of 9/11 invests this event with the inescapable possibility that he and Palin plan to announce their Presidential candidacy for 2012,” says Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times. Such a ticket is “not exactly unexpected,” but launching it…
Sarah Palin: The Sound and the Fury
As much as I hate to admit it, Sarah Palin is not going away any time soon and I feel forced to try to understand her appeal. Michael Joseph Gross gives her an in depth profile in Vanity Fair that comes as close as anything to describing the human car crash that is the Palin debacle in progress:
Backstage in the arena, a little girl in Mary Janes pushes her brother in a baby carriage, stopping a few yards shy of a heavy, 100-foot-long black curtain. The curtain splits the arena in two, shielding the children from an audience of 4,000 people clapping their hands in time to “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” The music accompanies a video “Salute to Military Heroes” that plays above the stage where, in a few moments, the children’s mother will appear.
When the girl, Piper Palin, turns around, she sees her parents thronged by admirers, and…
Glenn Beck: The New Messiah? Palin Running Mate? Or What?
You have to hand it to him — Glenn Beck has come a long way from his humble cable TV and radio origins, taking Washington by storm today. What should we make of him? Is he a racist? Does he want to be President? What’s his relationship with Sarah Palin about? The Mormon thing?
American Politics Gets Weirder Than Ever: Levi Johnston Runs For Mayor
Just when you thought American politics couldn’t get any more ridiculous! People Magazine (where else?!?) has the story:
Some people will do anything for attention – including running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska.
The latest hopeful to toss his hat into the ring? None other than reality-star wannabe Levi Johnston, who hopes his campaign will attract viewers to his proposed TV reality show.
Johnston, 20, has paired with the veteran reality firm Stone and Co., already responsible for TLC’s Extreme Food Sculpting, to pitch a Loving Levi: The Road to the Mayor’s Office pilot, the production company confirms to The Hollywood Reporter.
Those will memory loss may need to be reminded that Johnston’s almost mother-in-law, Sarah Palin, was mayor of the small town (pop. 10,000) from 1992-2002, before becoming governor of the state…
The Sarah Palin Facebook Translator
disinformation author Marty Beckerman (Dumbocracy) has landed himself a prime gig as Esquire’s online features editor. He’s already written a number of posts for Esquire. Here’s the latest:
“Refudiate,” we have taught the ex-governor by now, is not a word. Not even on Twitter, where she took to defending her vocabulary this week. But it’s on Facebook where Sarah Palin takes to pushing her policy, her endorsements, and her general paranoia. Because if you can’t hold office for that whole final year, what better way to talk to two-million constituents at a time than through a thousand whole words on the “Notes” section?! And even if you take her postings seriously, they’re still pretty difficult to understand. Since Palin is sort of running for president but not really, we combed through her oeuvre with fine-toothed erudiation.
Example A (Posted July 20, 2010)
Subject: “An Intolerable Mistake on Hallowed Ground”
What She Said: “To build a mosque at Ground Zero is a stab…
Ron Paul And Sarah Palin Discuss Legalization Of Marijuana
Judge Andrew Napolitano on the debut of Freedom Watch on the Fox Business Network discusses the similarities/differences between the social conservatives (Palin) and the constitutional libertarians (Paul) within the Tea Party/Freedom Movement. They discuss marijuana laws at about 6:28 minutes in. Perhaps not what you’d expect from Palin.
The Diseased Mind of Sarah Palin
Stacie Adams writing for The Smirking Chimp:
Perhaps you’ve heard about the writer who moved in next door to Sarah Palin? Apparently he is in the midst of some kind of scandalous tell all book about her and has taken up residence in her hometown in pursuit of stories.
Resorting to her characteristic histrionics, Palin immediately took to her Facebook page, that stalwart of serious journalism, to opine just what the writer intended on doing next door. She went on to make some sinister lamentations about him possibly peaking into her youngest child’s bedroom or surveying their ’swimming hole.’ The writer shot back that her comments were, in his words, revolting. Actually, what they are is libel, and the worst kind of libel, insinuating that this guy, who is of course attempting to dig up dirt on the former governor, is some kind of dangerous pervert.
Palin frequently resorts to the pervert card…
Palin Says Obama’s An ‘Opium Addict’
By Polly Davis Doig for Newser:
If only what happens in Vegas really did stay in Vegas: Sarah Palin brought her act to a retail Realtors’ convention this weekend, but instead of giving a leadership speech, she delivered her stump speech, slammed Obama as an “opium addict” (Other People’s Money, get it?), and stuck in an awkward reference about being able to replace lost luggage at an Idaho mall. “What would our communities be without our shopping centers?” the Las Vegas Sun quotes her as saying. “Meeting our needs is what it is that you do.”
The whole routine went over like a lead balloon, reports Joe Weisenthal at Business Insider…
Champions Of Their Checkbooks
Aaron Cynic writes at Diatribe Media:
I’m left wondering how the right purport to speak for the financial interests of Joe Six Pack. According to varied statistics, the “average” American household makes somewhere around $50,000. How is it then, that the talking heads of the right can accurately describe life on main street, when they’re really living on easy street? By boiling public blood over taxes that go to pay for schools, roads, care for the elderly, the military, infrastructure, etc they’ve successfully been able to make fast cash:
Sarah Palin took in around $166,000 in 2007. Since she quit her job as governor, she’s raked in $12 million between her book and speaking engagements.
Glenn Beck made an estimated $23 million in 2008.
In the time it took to type and hyperlink this sentence, Rush Limbaugh earned more money than many Americans make in a day. He makes $33 million a year.
Michele Bachmann $174,000, a sum modest in comparison.…
Sarah Palin Admits To Sneaking Into Canada For Health Care
Speaking before a sold-out crowd in Calgary this month, Sarah Palin reveals how her family got medical care when she was growing up: by sneaking into Canada. And, yes, she sees the irony, the Globe and Mail reports:
The vocal opponent of health-care reform in the U.S. steered largely clear of the topic except to reveal a tidbit about her life growing up not far from Whitehorse.
“We used to hustle over the border for health care we received in Canada,” she said. “And I think now, isn’t that ironic?”
The Two Most Hated People In America (Video)
The Wrap led us to this one, noting that:
Sarah Palin stopped by “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” Tuesday.
One wonk on Twitter said it was a meeting of the two most hated people in America. We think that’s unfair to Jay; as for Palin, no comment…
Court Documents Reveal Palin’s Grandson Uses Socialized Medicine
From The Raw Story:
For someone who once generated a national hysteria by claiming socialized medicine would bring about government-run “death panels” that would kill the elderly and children with mental defects, Sarah Palin seems remarkably calm, what with her grandson now facing the very same allegedly tyrannical construct, that is.Yes, that’s right: Sarah Palin, Alaska’s former governor and a millionaire thanks to sales of her book, has a grandson whose health care is paid for by the federal government, according to newly released court documents.
The revelation was made in court documents filed Feb. 16, relating to the child support battle between Bristol Palin and Levi Jonson, available here [PDF link] courtesy of E! Online.
“The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s ‘death panel’ so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment…
‘Family Guy’ Actress with Down Syndrome Tells Sarah Palin to Lighten Up
Following up on this this story, I am wondering what the disinfo.com audience thinks of this:
Sarah Palin Criticizes TV’s ‘Family Guy’
Becky Bohrer for Yahoo News/AP:
JUNEAU, Alaska — Sarah Palin is lashing out at the portrayal of a character with Down syndrome on the Fox animated comedy Family Guy:
In a Facebook posting headlined “Fox Hollywood — What a Disappointment,” the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee and current Fox News contributor said Sunday night’s episode felt like “another kick in the gut.” Palin’s youngest son, Trig, has Down syndrome.
The episode features the character Chris falling for a girl with Down syndrome. On a date, he asks what her parents do.
She replies: “My dad’s an accountant, and my mom is the former governor of Alaska.”
Palin resigned as Alaska governor last summer. Palin’s oldest daughter, Bristol, also was quoted on her mother’s Facebook page, calling the show’s writers “heartless jerks.”…
Chris Matthews on Sarah Palin: ‘An Empty Vessel Ready to be Filled by Ideology She Doesn’t Understand’
I wish more of the talking heads called out those in positions of influence for what they are, an “empty vessel” is an apt description. We need more honest brokers of information. I completely agree, this line of thinking is truly “frightening” (via Hardball with Chris Matthews):
She’s frightening. Mark, that is frightening stuff. Frightening. First of all, president don’t declare war. Anybody knows that in high school. Congress has to declare war. To declare war on Iran, I don’t think the most far right, Middle East hawk will talk about declaring war on Iran, a country with 70-some million people, with an advanced air force. … Why does she talk like that? Is Michael Ledeen, a real hawk, writing this stuff for her? I don’t know anyone as far right as that, besides him.
