Palin Resigns

[KukriKhan]

I have such a seething hatred for that woman, that if she were to ever become president, I may just skip country for four years.

I've seen this in many places, but never understood it. Can you explain? I promise not to argue; I just wanna know from where comes the "seething hatred"?

[Crazed Rabbit]

Of course, it is possible that she resigned because she was tired of what her family was going through - like ***wipes photoshopping her youngest child's face, or hack comics making jokes about her daughters.

CR

[CountArach]

Of course, it is possible that she resigned because she was tired of what her family was going through - like ***wipes photoshopping her youngest child's face, or hack comics making jokes about her daughters.

CR

Welcome to life in the public eye.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Welcome to life in the public eye.

No, this was different. Worse than even Republicans normally get; you didn't see Bush's daughters being the punchlines of similar jokes.

CR

[Samurai Waki]

I've seen this in many places, but never understood it. Can you explain? I promise not to argue; I just wanna know from where comes the "seething hatred"?

I guess its the almost being a Fundamentalist Nutter that gets me, but aside from that I cannot agree with any one single issue she brings to the table.

[Kurando]

I'm not sure if this has been posted before, but it's pretty choice!

http://www.palinaspresident.us/

[Adrian II]

I'm not sure if this has been posted before, but it's pretty choice!

http://www.palinaspresident.us/

Loved the dinosaur!

[Louis VI the Fat]

Worse than even Republicans normally get; you didn't see Bush's daughters being the punchlines of similar jokes.

Meh, it comes with the territory. One can sit still and remain an anonymous governor of Alaska, or one can aim for the spotlight of centre stage and expect nationwide scrutiny and, sometimes, outright mockery.

Can't have it both ways. Don't light a fire if you can't stand the heat. Or, as Sarah once said: can't have your kayak and heat it too.

[Lemur]

Transcript of her resignation speech. See if you can make sense of it; I cannot.

[Vuk]

Transcript of her resignation speech. See if you can make sense of it; I cannot.

It is the language of honest, hardworking, genuine people. Unfortunately there are not many left who can speak it.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Transcript of her resignation speech. See if you can make sense of it; I cannot.

It says, to all those honest, hardworking, genuine people of Alaska that put their faith in her: 'daisy you. I'm outta here. I've got better things to do than waste my time for you people. You betcha!'


If she wants to run in 2012, there'd be plenty of time from 2010. When her term as governor ends. Quitting halfway through really is simply not on and ought to end her political life.
Which, for all we know, might well be her intention of course.

[Adrian II]

Transcript of her resignation speech. See if you can make sense of it; I cannot.

She's a quitter. She says she won all her fights and now she's walking away. Maybe Hosakawa is right and there is more ethics trouble brewing. Which doesn't make her less of a quitter.

Or maybe she just wants some time off. You know, feed the seals, run with dinosaurs, whatever.

[Lemur]

Well, according to NRO, it's all about positioning for 2016.

She's not looking at 2012; but in eight years by 2016 she will be far more savvy, still young, and far more experienced. It matters not all that the Left writes her off as daffy, since they were going to do that whatever she did; the key is whether she convinces conservatives in eight year of travel and reflection that she's a charismatic Margaret Thatcher type heavyweight.

[Adrian II]

Margaret Thatcher never quit.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Meh, it comes with the territory. One can sit still and remain an anonymous governor of Alaska, or one can aim for the spotlight of centre stage and expect nationwide scrutiny and, sometimes, outright mockery.

Can't have it both ways. Don't light a fire if you can't stand the heat. Or, as Sarah once said: can't have your kayak and heat it too.

Um, my point was that it was unlike the vast majority of attacks thrown at other national figures. And it wasn't just mockery of her, but her family that featured very prominently. Like I said about Bush; he was endlessly mocked and derided. His family was not.

Of course, that's only one possibility.

She's not looking at 2012; but in eight years by 2016 she will be far more savvy, still young, and far more experienced. It matters not all that the Left writes her off as daffy, since they were going to do that whatever she did; the key is whether she convinces conservatives in eight year of travel and reflection that she's a charismatic Margaret Thatcher type heavyweight.

Which is of course ridiculous. As Adrian points out, Thatcher didn't quit. I don't really care how much she learns about specific issues, I'm not impressed by someone who leaves a governorship to go around lecturing. That's not leadership.

CR

[Tribesman]

Margaret Thatcher never quit.

Yeah she got thrown out by her supporters who realised just how detatched from reality she was.

It is the language of honest, hardworking, genuine people.

but there's just no excuse what so ever for the kind of attacks she was recieving.

If that's what politics is coming down to..

Well with McCain they went after the wife and daughter with some really nasty stuff...but that was people in his own party when he was running against Bush

[Lemur]

[T]here's just no excuse what so ever for the kind of attacks she was recieving.

What kinds of attacks was she receiving? Most of the really nasty stuff that I'm aware of was from small-time operators. Some blogger Photoshopped the face of her son. I'm not even clear on which blogger it was. Big whup. You wanna run with the big dogs, you better be able to brush that stuff off.

And the Letterman joke, which would have died a quick and quiet death if Palin had not thrown a snitstorm over it. That was the real problem; she would receive some minor insult and she would run with it. Streisand effect, anyone? Look at her email exchange in the CBS piece. She wants to go to the mattresses every time, with no regard for whether she's being attacked by a major or minuscule media figure, no heed for whether or not her counter-reaction will elevate a non-story into a story.

I agree that going after a person's family is bad politics and bad form. But I think it's lazy to conflate every media source into one big pro-Obama mass and declare them the problem. The National Enquirer is operating under different rules than Daily Kos, which operates under different rules from The Daily Show, which operates under different rules than CBS evening news. These are disparate creatures with divergent agendas.

Again: Letterman's joke would have passed without a ripple if she hadn't made a big deal about it. Likewise the idiot blogger who Photoshopped her son's face. If anything, Palin appears to be eminently distractable, and unable to walk away from a fight, no matter how petty, no matter how pointless.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Come on, Lemur - you know she received nearly constant attacks since she was nominated. On herself, her family, her daughters.

As for small time - I don't think that removes the sting from seeing that happen to your child. Either way, that blog was the official DNC 2008 Alaska state blog.

And the Letterman joke was just one out of many since she was nominated disparaging Palin. In the same night he made the crack about her daughter getting "knocked up" by A-Rod, he made a joke about her shopping for more clothes from the 'Air Stewardess Slut' collection or something.

I don't think it's the main reason she's resigning. But to see your family attacked relentlessly, months after the election, has to depress a person. And I could understand if she saw this as a way to try and stop the attacks. May she have been to strident in the defense? Maybe. But that's hardly a vice when defending your family.

Not to mention, of course, bull**** ethics complaints filed by the same blogger who did the photoshopping. The blogger filed a report because Palin wore a coat with the name of the company that sponsors her husband's snowmobiling. She's had to spend hundreds of thousands to defend herself, and then someone filed a complaint about her legal fund.

CR

[Vuk]

Be honest about it Lemur. You know that she was put through a ridiculous, one-sided, pathetic media barrage of viscious BS. Media hit an all time low in this country with their coverage of Palin.

[Lemur]

Come on, Lemur - you know she received nearly constant attacks since she was nominated. On herself, her family, her daughters.

I'm being entirely honest. I think you are committing the sin of conflation; you're grouping all of the media into a mass and blaming all of them for all of her woes. The big boys did not attack her family. The (frankly unimportant) people who did so would have passed under the radar if she did not react. Time for you to be honest: If Palin had not gone public with her objections to Letterman and Linda Kellen Biegel (found the name of the blogger) would you or I have ever heard about these incidents?

Either way, that blog was the official DNC 2008 Alaska state blog.

I can't find any confirmation for that, and your link ain't opening for me. Here's an article about the incident. No mention is made of the blogger being affiliated in any official capacity with anyone. (I even tried the Google cache of your link; no joy.)

May she have been to strident in the defense? Maybe. But that's hardly a vice when defending your family.

I refer you again to the Streisand Effect. Counter-attacking minor bloggers is about as effective as Democrats passing resolutions condemning Rush Limbaugh. Just drives up the ratings and gives the offense a higher profile.

She's had to spend hundreds of thousands to defend herself, and then someone filed a complaint about her legal fund.

Last I checked the State of Alaska was picking up most of her ethics expenses, the vast majority of which stem from Troopergate, not from Jacketgate. According to CNN the jacket thingie was laughed out of court.

Earlier this month Biegel filed an ethics complaint against Palin for wearing a jacket made by a company that sponsored her husband — a snow mobile racer — to a public event. An investigator ruled Palin had not acted wrongly and the Alaska governor accused Biegel "asinine political grandstanding."

I think a savvier politician would have foregone the "asinine" comment entirely.

[Crazed Rabbit]

I'm being entirely honest. I think you are committing the sin of conflation; you're grouping all of the media into a mass and blaming all of them for all of her woes. The big boys did not attack her family. The (frankly unimportant) people who did so would have passed under the radar if she did not react. Time for you to be honest: If Palin had not gone public with her objections to Letterman and Linda Kellen Biegel (found the name of the blogger) would you or I have ever heard about these incidents?

The blogger incident? Probably not. Letterman, yes. I did find out about it before she issued any statement. Now, don't a couple million people watch him every weekday night?

I can't find any confirmation for that, and your link ain't opening for me. Here's an article about the incident. No mention is made of the blogger being affiliated in any official capacity with anyone. (I even tried the Google cache of your link; no joy.)

Hmm, I checked again and it worked... anyways: http://www.demconvention.com/announc...blogger-corps/

Oh, and I checked the Idaho state blog just to see what democrats in Idaho would say. And the top story features a photoshopped version of Palin's family.

I refer you again to the Streisand Effect. Counter-attacking minor bloggers is about as effective as Democrats passing resolutions condemning Rush Limbaugh. Just drives up the ratings and gives the offense a higher profile.

I was trying to explain how she might be driven to defense. I'm not saying it's effective.

Last I checked the State of Alaska was picking up most of her ethics expenses, the vast majority of which stem from Troopergate, not from Jacketgate. According to CNN the jacket thingie was laughed out of court.

Earlier this month Biegel filed an ethics complaint against Palin for wearing a jacket made by a company that sponsored her husband — a snow mobile racer — to a public event. An investigator ruled Palin had not acted wrongly and the Alaska governor accused Biegel "asinine political grandstanding."

Laughed out of court? It said an investigator made a ruling, not that it was dismissed.

I think a savvier politician would have foregone the "asinine" comment entirely.

Perhaps.

CR

[Lemur]

I finally got the link to work. Bad form and bad politics for the Dems to be selecting blogs like that, and rather stupid on their part, since it's unlikely they can exert real editorial control. And the Idaho pic is nasty, just nasty, completely worthy of condemnation. Yeah, it seems that some on the left have decided that the entire Palin family is fair game, which brings discredit and shame on said bloggers. No excuse for that sort of behavior.

You make a good point about Letterman, but here's the thing; millions more people heard the joke because of the counter-punch. This was not a serious political rival trying to spread a false story; this was a late-night comic making a tasteless joke. I really think that her reactions drove a lot of the real and perceived media frenzy.

Just imagine, for a moment, that Obama used a press conference in the '08 election to complain about the Obama Antichrist web site. Imagine how many hits that site would get, how much free publicity it would generate. I'm sorry, but I think Palin's handling of fringe media has been amateur hour.

I think another part of the problem is that her family was made part of her narrative, to a degree rarely seen in a politician. Her daughter's pregnancy, engagement, un-engagement, feuding talk show appearances, statement that abstinence is "not realistic" just prior to becoming an abstinence spokeswoman ... I dunno, it might be inhumane to ask comedians not to take a bite out of that. There's so much soap opera going on, and seemingly all of it played out in public ...

[Devastatin Dave]

I'm being entirely honest. I think you are committing the sin of conflation; you're grouping all of the media into a mass and blaming all of them for all of her woes.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/200...politico/15103
Of course it is entirely impossible for you to ever say that your wrong but I thought I might try to give you some idea as to the unbelievable amount of blindness you're exibiting here. You're an honest man Lemur, just turn off your hatred of this woman for 2 minutes and really think about what your friends in the media have done to this woman and her family.

I haven't heard too many jokes (if any) about the Obama's kids or his wife.

http://www.nowpublic.com/environment...ma-white-house
I can think of about 5 jokes I can make out of this, do you think SNL will make any? Or any comedians? I wonder if it will even be on any of the major networks. I remember when Palin was video taped at a farm and the media went nuts over it because in the background there was a turkey being slaughtered. What about all the Biden gaffes?

Well, as my liberal next door neighbor said to me before the election that if I voted for Palin, this country woulld have an idiot as vice president. He was right.

[Vuk]

I finally got the link to work. Bad form and bad politics for the Dems to be selecting blogs like that, and rather stupid on their part, since it's unlikely they can exert real editorial control. And the Idaho pic is nasty, just nasty, completely worthy of condemnation. Yeah, it seems that some on the left have decided that the entire Palin family is fair game, which brings discredit and shame on said bloggers. No excuse for that sort of behavior.

You make a good point about Letterman, but here's the thing; millions more people heard the joke because of the counter-punch. This was not a serious political rival trying to spread a false story; this was a late-night comic making a tasteless joke. I really think that her reactions drove a lot of the real and perceived media frenzy.

Just imagine, for a moment, that Obama used a press conference in the '08 election to complain about the Obama Antichrist web site. Imagine how many hits that site would get, how much free publicity it would generate. I'm sorry, but I think Palin's handling of fringe media has been amateur hour.

I think another part of the problem is that her family was made part of her narrative, to a degree rarely seen in a politician. Her daughter's pregnancy, engagement, un-engagement, feuding talk show appearances, statement that abstinence is "not realistic" just prior to becoming an abstinence spokeswoman ... I dunno, it might be inhumane to ask comedians not to take a bite out of that. There's so much soap opera going on, and seemingly all of it played out in public ...

There is a big difference Lemur. I highly doubt that Palin would have given any more attention to an antichrist Palin site made about her than Obama did about him. You will remember that when his family was mentioned Obama got quite angry and said to leave them out of it (and I think that was a good thing he did). If they had said the same things about his family as they did about Palins, I garuntee you that you would have had a much stronger reaction. There are somethings that are just to far, to low, and to sick. The comment about raping her daughter was one of them, and definately deserved strong condemnation. And trust me, if one of Obama's daughters (assuming that she was a little older) was pregnant and not married, and the media made the same fuss about it, I would be the first to condemn it. (just as I called foul on the press bashing Obama for not wanting Ketchup on a burger) If Letterman had made the same rape joke about Obama's daughter, I would be just as disgusted and infuriated. Things like that go way beyond regular political BS and enter the realm of sick and evil.

[Lemur]

Nice to see you around, DD. As for "hating" Palin, all I can say is that hate takes a lot of commitment and energy, and I've never bothered that much with a politician in my adult life. I will admit, however, that when I was a little kid I really, really didn't like Jimmy Carter. He gave me the creeps.

Dave, let's get some perspective here. Let's go ahead and assume that the "study by the Culture and Media Institute, a conservative media watchdog group" which you reference is correct, and Palin was singled out unfairly by all branches of the media.

So. What.

Why does that explain or excuse her abdicating her governorship, which was due to end in 2010, less than eighteen months from now? What possible logic can you ascribe to this action?

(And I wonder how many of those articles found to be negative by a conservative media watchdog group came after her epic fail in the Katie Couric interviews?)

P.S.: If you want to find a comic media outlet that's effectively making fun of Obama, check out The Onion.

[Devastatin Dave]

Dave, let's get some perspective here. Let's go ahead and assume that the "study by the Culture and Media Institute, a conservative media watchdog group" which you reference is correct, and Palin was singled out unfairly by all branches of the media.

Go google "Negative Coverage of Sara Palin" if you don't think what I posted is worth the text. Like I said, its pointless to try to point out your obvious need to turn a blind eye to this appearant double standard. Have a happy 4th.

[Lemur]

I had a rocking 4th, thanks for asking. Now would you care to answer the question I posed?

Why does that explain or excuse her abdicating her governorship, which was due to end in 2010, less than eighteen months from now? What possible logic can you ascribe to this action?

-edit-

Like I said, its pointless to try to point out your obvious need to turn a blind eye to this appearant double standard.

Double standard? For realz? Can you imagine the field day the press would have had if Obama's daughter had an out-of-wedlock baby with a local athlete? If said athlete's mom was arrested for drugs? If Obama bought his family in excess of $150,000 of clothes on the DNC's ticket? I mean, get real, brutha! They would have eaten him alive, and come back to the buffet for more. I'm sorry, but I just don't buy this narrative you're building where Palin is Jesus and the media are the Romans. It's ridiculous. The media are lazy in general, and if you don't feed them chum they won't frenzy.

I happily agree that family should be off-limits, but does the person chucking buckets of bloody chum in the water bear some responsibility for the number of sharks circling?

[Devastatin Dave]

I feel like I'm argueing with Robert Gibbs. G-nite...

[Husar]

Margaret Thatcher never quit.

Monkey traps also work because the monkeys never quit, don't they?

I'm a bit on the conservative side here, almost everything I ever heard about Palin was what a stupid woman she is etc. Of course I'm not from the US but I really got the impression that the press and many people were completely unwilling to find even one positive aspect about her (though in the beginning her relatively good looks were a topic that was relatively quickly discarded).

[Adrian II]

If anything, Palin appears to be eminently distractable, and unable to walk away from a fight, no matter how petty, no matter how pointless.

On the mark again, Lemur.

There always was something instinctively wrong with this woman, something deeply unbalanced. It showed through in her idiotic religion, in other extremist views she holds. But you just put the finger on it. The woman is obsessive. She would represent a true danger to the nation if she were ever to occupy the White House.