An interesting article

[Vuk]

What do you all think about it?
I personally think that it is refreshing to hear someone speak the truth about Palin for once.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

I notice "Palin is a moron" isn't listed as a myth

[Strike For The South]

Palin leaves much to be disired and can basically thank a well put together face and figure for her accomplishments

[Furunculus]

good article.

palin herself may be a pretty face, but she has good instincts for the gop electoral meme.

[Strike For The South]

good article.

palin herself may be a pretty face, but she has good instincts for the gop electoral meme.

Which is nothing more than a sheep who has watched the dog for many years.

She is an utter waste of political space

[Vuk]

Which is nothing more than a sheep who has watched the dog for many years.

She is an utter waste of political space

lol, I personally think that she is just what this country needs. If she runs for President on the GOP ticket, she has my vote.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Please please please let Palin be the 2012 GOP candidate.

[Vuk]

Please please please let Palin be the 2012 GOP candidate.

Isn't it funny how concerned a Frenchman is about something he is so removed from?
lol, I certainly hope she is too. In Europe people get a very one-sided view of everything concerning American politics, but in the US I think you will find that things are different, and there is actually a lot of support for her. Who cares what a bunch Europeans think? It is an American election, and it is going to be what Americans think that decides who gets elected.

[rory_20_uk]

No, she's really a smart women with extensive knowledge on a diverse range of subjects...

Insular Xenophobia... yes, truly a Palin supporter.

[Louis VI the Fat]

* digging caribou barbie *

[Rhyfelwyr]

I've noticed it's more acceptable in intellectual circles (like the Backroom of course!) for people to spew all kinds of hyperbolic rubbish about right-wing candidates, while if anyone tries the same with figures from the left then suddenly it's cause their loonies.

It seems like a bit of the old champagne-socialist snobbery to me.

[Vuk]

I've noticed it's more acceptable in intellectual circles (like the Backroom of course!) for people to spew all kinds of hyperbolic rubbish about right-wing candidates, while if anyone tries the same with figures from the left then suddenly it's cause their loonies.

It seems like a bit of the old champagne-socialist snobbery to me.

lol, the story of politics.

[Louis VI the Fat]

I've noticed it's more acceptable in intellectual circles (like the Backroom of course!) for people to spew all kinds of hyperbolic rubbish about right-wing candidates, while if anyone tries the same with figures from the left then suddenly it's cause their loonies.

It seems like a bit of the old champagne-socialist snobbery to me.

I immediately plead guilty to being an insufferable snob, one with exquisite taste in champagne to boot. I plead not guilty on all other charges. I, for one, will happily disparage the loony left too.






Problems start when either the loony left or the rabid right mistakes itself for mainstream left / right. Which is, sadly, most of the time.

[PanzerJaeger]

Sarah Palin was unfairly mauled by the media during the election. There were a lot of ugly undercurrents surrounding the vitriolic attention she received that highlight the Left’s fear and loathing of strong female conservative figures. She had far more administrative experience than Barry and was no more inclined to gaffes than Joe Biden. It almost became Barry versus Palin, despite the two being on opposite ends of the ticket.

That being said, since the election, she has used her new found fame to increase her own power, influence, and bank account, sometimes at the expense of the national party (Delaware for example). There are far better, less polarizing, GOP candidates on deck. A 2012 run would be unnecessarily divisive.

[Strike For The South]

lol, I personally think that she is just what this country needs. If she runs for President on the GOP ticket, she has my vote.

I rest my case.

Sarah Palin was unfairly mauled by the media during the election. There were a lot of ugly undercurrents surrounding the vitriolic attention she received that highlight the Left’s fear and loathing of strong female conservative figures. She had far more administrative experience than Barry and was no more inclined to gaffes than Joe Biden. It almost became Barry versus Palin, despite the two being on opposite ends of the ticket.

Perhaps. I would argue that Biden despite his gaffes was in the Senate for years and therefore has the kind of clout and connections you need to get things done and Obama has a much better resume than Palin. Perhaps not on experince but on schooling alone, not that the level or quality or a school are necesarily indictive of ones inate intellegence or ones ability to wheel and deal. The gulf between Obama and Palin is to wide to be ignored.

Not to mention I feel many of the planks in Palins platform are nothing more than reactionary and require no more thought than a simple "Well that's the way it should be" or "That is how I precive it so that is how it must be"

Even though I vhemently disagree with many of Obamas policies I at least think he tries to see something from every angle and think critically.

That being said, since the election, she has used her new found fame to increase her own power, influence, and bank account, sometimes at the expense of the national party (Delaware for example). There are far better, less polarizing, GOP candidates on deck. A 2012 run would be unnecessarily divisive.

Party over people? Or do you simply feel a D would fall lockstep in with pushing in agenda that is highly detrmential?

[PanzerJaeger]

Perhaps. I would argue that Biden despite his gaffes was in the Senate for years and therefore has the kind of clout and connections you need to get things done and Obama has a much better resume than Palin. Perhaps not on experince but on schooling alone, not that the level or quality or a school are necesarily indictive of ones inate intellegence or ones ability to wheel and deal. The gulf between Obama and Palin is to wide to be ignored.

Not to mention I feel many of the planks in Palins platform are nothing more than reactionary and require no more thought than a simple "Well that's the way it should be" or "That is how I precive it so that is how it must be"

Even though I vhemently disagree with many of Obamas policies I at least think he tries to see something from every angle and think critically.

In many ways Palin and Obama are two sides of the same coin, as both represent what is wrong with American politics today.

Whereas Palin appeals to what you would call ‘reactionary anti-intellectualism’, Obama’s base is made up in large part by an equally ignorant and possibly more annoying force – pseudo intellectuals. These are the people that have a bachelor’s in psychology from a second tier college, read the Daily Beast at work, watch a lot of PBS and think they’re ‘informed’. A well spoken, polished candidate that exudes an air of intelligence is enough to get them to pull the lever without much more thought. Throw in the chance to relive the Civil Rights Movement without having to actually do much of anything, and it’s a pseudo intellectual wet dream in the making.

Obama was an affirmative action case at Harvard. He made his name in Chicago race baiting. In the Illinois and later US Senate he accomplished nothing of real substance. The lauded writer’s only published works consist of two ghostwritten books about being Barack Obama. As president, well, nothing really needs to be said on that front…

But into the vapid space that has become American politics, Barack Obama was the perfect feel good candidate, the magical negro we’ve been groomed to listen to unquestioningly. Much like Sarah Palin, he’s a pretty package with nothing in it. The economic collapse just happened to make Obama’s narrative slightly more appealing than Palin’s this time around.

That’s not to say that Palin should get a shot in 2012, not at all. There are plenty of candidates out there with real administrative experience and real legislative accomplishments. The problem is that they have a hard time making it out of the primaries.

Party over people? Or do you simply feel a D would fall lockstep in with pushing in agenda that is highly detrmential?

Chris Coons will be a liberal Democrat. Mike Castle would have been preferable. On another level, party control yields committee chairmanships, which are the real instruments of power in Washington.


Edit: Also, your Seinfeld reference is much appreciated. I'm going to have to pull out the first season dvd.

[Kagemusha]

I do wonder why the GOP candidates have to be "mad preacher" types these days. Is for example Colin Powell simply too old to run,or cant a more moderate Republican be a successful candidate of the party these days?

[Furunculus]

I've noticed it's more acceptable in intellectual circles (like the Backroom of course!) for people to spew all kinds of hyperbolic rubbish about right-wing candidates, while if anyone tries the same with figures from the left then suddenly it's cause their loonies.

It seems like a bit of the old champagne-socialist snobbery to me.

that has always been the case.

the amusing aside is the visceral fury and loathing that some in the right (thatcher) generate in some of the left (pinter), when the most that happens in reverse in my opinion of british politics is benign contempt. maybe that is what infuriates them; the fact that we really don't care............?

[rory_20_uk]

I can muster some real loathing of the far Left mainly as their actions cause severe damage to the UK / England.

Europe as a whole is waking up to the realisation than the Left ideals were never really affordable and inconveniently creditors aren't prepared to pay for ever. This includes both the massive spend on providing not merely a "welfare net", but more like a "welfare double-springed mattress with Egyptian cotton sheets" and the wars that were fought mainly for Utopian ideals - spreading Democracy into some of the most resistant places on the planet...

This in turn has forced many of the savage cuts that now befall our nation. I think and have said that the Armed Forces need a decent Strategic Defense review and consequent rebalancing. Personally I believe that we would be better served with an Marine Corps structure that is concerned with the sea and pushing a short distance in-land. But this should not be based merely on what little we can afford as apparently spending more on people doing nothing with no prospect of returns on investment is more of a sacred cow...

[Ronin]

Well....I guess that explains why Obama is gonna be on Mythbusters!

I hope they use a LOT of explosives to test this....preferably with the real Palin there. :P

P.S. - and anyway...Palin is SOOOO last week....bring on the anti-masturbation witch!

[Ironside]

I do wonder why the GOP candidates have to be "mad preacher" types these days. Is for example Colin Powell simply too old to run,or cant a more moderate Republican be a successful candidate of the party these days?

From what I've gathered, there's been a weak economic development in the US the last decade (both for the people and the state). This is blamed on the political parties (Bush in particular obviously) and since both parties are uacceptable, they lack popularity.

Thus you get a movement that searches for what the see as the lost essence of the US, while combining it with their own ideas, becoming radical conservatives (they quickly want back a golden age that never existed the way they percieve it).

Being the US, "a person of the people"(=lots of anti-intellectualism) gets even more important, since they are different from the political establishment. And to be fair they even got a few. But I think they missed the part of "a person of the people" meaning someone who understands the "average American", not being one (you usually want someone better to run important stuff).

It isn't getting better of the science (eeevil) vs religion (gooood) battle they play out. The US got a lot more religious politics on average as well.

So you'll end up with people who says taxes bad! (golden age, no matter that they're the lowest in 60 years), federal state evil! (golden age+taxes) and religious rule good! (their own adding).

I doubt the current movement would work 2000 or 2020, even if some of it have existed for a long time in the US.

Palin is enjoying riding a popularity wave that she won't control. It will crash someday, hopefully not with the country in it.

[Fragony]

GILF

[Strike For The South]

In many ways Palin and Obama are two sides of the same coin, as both represent what is wrong with American politics today.

Whereas Palin appeals to what you would call ‘reactionary anti-intellectualism’, Obama’s base is made up in large part by an equally ignorant and possibly more annoying force – pseudo intellectuals. These are the people that have a bachelor’s in psychology from a second tier college, read the Daily Beast at work, watch a lot of PBS and think they’re ‘informed’. A well spoken, polished candidate that exudes an air of intelligence is enough to get them to pull the lever without much more thought. Throw in the chance to relive the Civil Rights Movement without having to actually do much of anything, and it’s a pseudo intellectual wet dream in the making.

Obama was an affirmative action case at Harvard. He made his name in Chicago race baiting. In the Illinois and later US Senate he accomplished nothing of real substance. The lauded writer’s only published works consist of two ghostwritten books about being Barack Obama. As president, well, nothing really needs to be said on that front…

But into the vapid space that has become American politics, Barack Obama was the perfect feel good candidate, the magical negro we’ve been groomed to listen to unquestioningly. Much like Sarah Palin, he’s a pretty package with nothing in it. The economic collapse just happened to make Obama’s narrative slightly more appealing than Palin’s this time around.

That’s not to say that Palin should get a shot in 2012, not at all. There are plenty of candidates out there with real administrative experience and real legislative accomplishments. The problem is that they have a hard time making it out of the primaries.

I do not disagree that the left is immune to this sort of anti-intellectuialism, the right has simply been able to mobilize there locksteppers in much better fashion. Of course with men like Alan Grayson they may be quickly learning how to invigorate the base.

My major problem with Palin is that she has a world view and makes facts suit it. Now of course this is true with all of us to an extent as everyone from time to time just KNOWS they are right even when all the evidence clearly says they are not. However, Palin has made this an art form which has infected the GOP. Harkening back to the good ol days that never were, assuming that good ol fashioned Americans just need to take power back and everything will be ok.

What she and many others of course fail to realize is that "common" folk with there "down home" sensibilties have NEVER been on the forefront of human progress, not even with the ideas they hold dear.

This is not to say the common man should not have a voice but it is most frustrating to ask someone why taxes should be lowered and hear the answer "because we ain't commies" (The reverse can also be said about the Ds)

Holding politicial ideals is good and only useful if you can comptently and consicesly explain them. Otherwise you add nothing to the process. Palin is literaly the emboidiment of this

Aside from the fact that she holds social ideals which I completely and utterly despise, I simply think we deserve better. Same with my feelings toward Obama

Chris Coons will be a liberal Democrat. Mike Castle would have been preferable. On another level, party control yields committee chairmanships, which are the real instruments of power in Washington.


Edit: Also, your Seinfeld reference is much appreciated. I'm going to have to pull out the first season dvd.

Fair points

[Hax]

Who cares what a bunch Europeans think? It is an American election, and it is going to be what Americans think that decides who gets elected.

1) Link gets posted on an international forums.
2) non-American replies with his view of the situation
3) American replies "we don't care about your view"

To me, this situation seems a a bit bizarre. Fragony, the next time you post something about Islam and Europe, shall we disregard anything non-Europeans say, too?

[gaelic cowboy]

1) Link gets posted on an international forums.
2) non-American replies with his view of the situation
3) American replies "we don't care about your view"

To me, this situation seems a a bit bizarre. Fragony, the next time you post something about Islam and Europe, shall we disregard anything non-Europeans say, too?

Plus when your country effectively elects the Padishah Emperor ruler of the Known Universe every four years it kind is all our business.

[Hax]

He's no mere padishah! He's the shahanshah!

[gaelic cowboy]

He's no mere padishah! He's the shahanshah!

Lies Lies begone powindah facedancer no doubt sent by the Bene Gesserit witches the Padishah Emperor through his C.H.O.A.M. contracts keeps the spice flowing Bi-la kaifa

[Megas Methuselah]

Isn't it funny how concerned a Frenchman is about something he is so removed from?
lol, I certainly hope she is too. In Europe people get a very one-sided view of everything concerning American politics, but in the US I think you will find that things are different, and there is actually a lot of support for her. Who cares what a bunch Europeans think? It is an American election, and it is going to be what Americans think that decides who gets elected.

Sadly, Amerika rules the world, so we all have some interest in who exactly is our emperor. When Obama was elected, I hit the bars that night in celebration and skipped classes the next day, lol.

[Rhyfelwyr]

I can muster some real loathing of the far Left mainly as their actions cause severe damage to the UK / England.

Europe as a whole is waking up to the realisation than the Left ideals were never really affordable and inconveniently creditors aren't prepared to pay for ever. This includes both the massive spend on providing not merely a "welfare net", but more like a "welfare double-springed mattress with Egyptian cotton sheets" and the wars that were fought mainly for Utopian ideals - spreading Democracy into some of the most resistant places on the planet...

In fairness, the centre is more guilty of this, the only parties to really oppose it are the far-left/far-right ones.

[Meneldil]

Europe as a whole is waking up to the realisation than the Left ideals were never really affordable and inconveniently creditors aren't prepared to pay for ever. This includes both the massive spend on providing not merely a "welfare net", but more like a "welfare double-springed mattress with Egyptian cotton sheets" and the wars that were fought mainly for Utopian ideals - spreading Democracy into some of the most resistant places on the planet...

Can I have what you're smoking? The "left ideals" worked fine for 30 years, until the oil crisis. National debts started to explode after that, and after the Regatcher era, when the liberal right succesfully brainwashed the rest of the world into thinking that "rich people shouldn't be taxed, because you know, they help the economy and stuff" (among other BS).

The kind of revisionism you're presenting as facts is sickening.

As for the recent democracy-spreading wars, they weren't started by European nanny states, last time I checked. The overwhelming majority of the european public opinion has shown herself to be against jingoism and war in general.