Entries tagged with “Sarah Palin” from Reality Window

I have a new favorite blog that I'm going to be checking in on, thanks to Sully. It's called "Margaret and Helen" by two women who met in college and have been friends for almost 60 years. Helen, who does most of the writing, puts it this way.

My name is Helen Philpot. I am 82 years old. My grandson taught me how to do this so that I could "blog" with my best friend Margaret Schmechtman who I met in college almost 60 years ago. I have three children with my husband Harold. Margaret has three dogs with her husband Howard. I live in Texas and Margaret lives in Maine.

This Thanksgiving Letter to the Family will give you an idea of Helen's writing style. I think thanksgiving dinner at Helen's house would be a lot of fun.

But Helen's fame has come about as a result of the 2008 campaign, specifically by McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as a running mate. Helen has some pretty concise opinions about Gov. Palin and she doesn't mince any words.

She is a weak, pathetic woman who thinks big hair, winking, baby talk and self deprecation is somehow becoming of a woman who wants to lead the free world. My god, where is Margaret Thatcher when you need her!

That's just a snippet from her first post on Palin and I'd add that Golda Meir and Indira Gandhi would have brushed Palin off their shoulders like the fluff she is.

If you've got the time I suggest that you go here and scroll to the bottom and read her posts in the order they were written starting with "Sarah Palin is a Bitch... there I said it." And do take the time to appreciate her choice of titles for specific posts. And I must add that Harold is a saint -- it's that or he has a great sense of humor. Maybe both.

I found myself laughing so hard I was afraid I'd wake other family members up. More bits of Helen's wisdom:

You just can't teach an old dog a new trick... even if you put lipstick on it. Change is needed. I know because I am a fat, old dog. For too many years I've been eating more pie than I should. Jenny Craig had me doing pretty good for a few years but eventually I started eating pie again. John McCain has been part of the Republican party in Washington for 26 years. It doesn't matter what he has been saying the last few months, eventually he's going to eat the party pie again. He's old. I'm old. That's what we do. We don't suddenly switch to salad.

On the final debate:

Well, I thought it was a good debate. My hats off to Bob Shieffer... and my blouse too if he plays his cards right. (Just don't tell my husband.) But who the hell is Joe the Plumber? Seriously. What the hell was that all about? Joe the Plumber? Joe Six Pack? The new McCain strategy seems to be banking on a lot of guys named Joe with a beer in one hand and a pipe wrench in the other. Is this a political campaign or a dating service for the Palin women?

Anderson Cooper has a fan:

I was just watching CNN and I couldn't believe what I heard. Even if McCain loses this election, many in the Republican party will see Governor Moose Meat as the candidate who almost saved McCain. In other words, it wasn't her fault - he would have been nothing without her. The reporter then took that to a horrifying conclusion - Palin in 2012.

Has everybody gone mad? Dear Lord she is like a cockroach. We'll never be rid of her! I tell you after the scare of that report my hair went from a lovely silver, just like that sweet Anderson Cooper's, to stark white... completely devoid of color (my hair not Anderson Cooper).

About those clothes:

What really gets my goat is that I could have put that same wardrobe together at JC Penny for about $300 with enough money left over for a piece of pie and coffee. Are you telling me THAT is the best they could do with $150,000?

Beverage alert -- swallow before reading. This one is in response to a letter she received asking advice on how to talk to the letter-writer's grandparents who are refusing to vote for an African-American.

But remember we grew up in a different time. We grew up during a time when this country didn't understand the depths of its hatred. Don't blame them. They don't know any better. It is a part of who they are. But if they ignore you, you have my permission to do what I do when Harold doesn't listen to me. Put laxatives in their pudding.

There's more. Do look for her "New Rules" and hang onto your panties. She said it first. And do be careful about drinking and eating while you're reading. You're likely to to burst out laughing unexpectedly. Don't say you weren't warned.

Helen, you're my new hero.

From prosebeforehos.com blog comes this handbill which the blogger notes was distributed in Dallas the day JFK was assassinated.

Exchange the word communist for the words terrorist and socialist and some of the lines come directly from the rhetoric being spouted by Republican candidates. Outrageous rhetoric which is responsible for the tire-slashing, car-smashing, canvasser-assaulting, baby-bear-killing, spitting, death-threat writing, muslim-children-gassing supporters of right-wing outrage that frequent the McCain-Palin rallies and claim to be the representatives of "real America".

John McCain and Sarah Palin, how far is too far? How will you know when the rhetoric and rage that you're advocating through euphemisms has gone too far? Who has to be injured or killed?

The moral and ethical bankruptcy of the Republican party is revealed.

There have been hints and bits of this story floating around since shortly after Sarah Palin was announced as McCain's running mate. Max Blumenthal and Dave Neiwert have done the investigative reporting that confirms what's what with Sarah Palin and her support of and by members of an Alaska secessionist movement that has strong ties to the white supremacist movement in the lower 48 states.

Rachel Maddow interviewed Max Blumenthal and CNN did a lengthy segment with Dave Neiwert. Rachel and Max's segment is more concise than the CNN segment but the CNN segment has more actual source material in it. Unfortunately, the CNN segment is actually spread across 2 youtube clips because of editing issues. The first CNN clip has material that the second clip edited out. The second clip repeats some of the material of the first but does have the end of the interview which the first clip does not.

Here is Maddow's interview which is a good start if you're not familiar with the topic at all.

The original Salon article is "Meet Sarah Palin's radical right-wing pals". Be sure to watch the companion video of their interview with Mark Chryson, former chair of the Alaska Independence Party and Palin's political mentor who was largely responsible for her move from the city council to the mayor's office.

After reading this and watching the videos, one is compelled to question again: what was John McCain thinking when he chose Sarah Palin as his VP running mate? A person with her small-town, petty, vindictive approach to use of power and evident ties to an organization that quite literally stands in opposition to the United States of America should never have passed any legitimate vetting process. What must Republicans such as Olympia Snowe or Jody Rell or Mitt Romney or Charlie Crist think after having been passed over for Sarah Palin?

I'm tempted to add Joe Lieberman to the list though, of course, he still pretends to be an independent Democrat. The one benefit to the McCain-Lieberman relationship is that it has finally damaged Joe's relationship with Senate Dems enough that we can say good bye and good riddance.

All of this merely confirms another aspect of what we know about John McCain. His judgment is cannot be relied on. He is erratic, tempestuous, impulsive, and the precise opposite of what this nation needs as a leader at this time.

The undecided voters polls, the pundits, the blogs have given Joe Biden the win and said in one way or another, Sarah Palin stopped the bleeding. Palin's display of rote memory, chirpy little phrases and winks ... winks?? ... refusal to answer questions at all, her mistaken and outright wrong answers, and her "team of mavericks" line just underscored her lack of qualifications for the VP position, much less the office of President of the United States.

Joe Biden, on the other hand, re-affirmed the solidity of Obama's choice. He was very clear and well-spoken with a firm grasp of matters, both domestic and foreign, on display. He was particularly effective in refuting McCain's claim of maverick status in this clip

That's right, McCain voted against any extension of the program which will help low-income and poverty level families stay warm this winter in the face of heating fuel prices which have skyrocketed. Of course, he probably doesn't have to choose between food, heat and mortgage payments with his 11 houses or however many it is that he owns. Some maverick ... not.

There was another notable moment in the debate. Joe's unexpected catch in the throat took us by as much surprise as I think it did him. But he unequivocally demonstrated that he understands what's at stake in this election in a very powerful way.

Biden had a few other outstanding moments in the debate. His performance won him high praise from a number of sources. Kula2316 did a round-up of debate reviews including these two:

John F. Harris and Mike Allen of Politico declare Biden the clear winner:

To the contrary, it is hard to count any objective measures by which Biden did not clearly win the encounter. She looked like she trying to get people to take her seriously. He looked like he was running for vice president. His answers were more responsive to the questions, far more detailed and less rhetorical.

On at least ten occasions, Palin gave answers that were nonspecific, completely generic, pivoted away from the question at hand, or simply ignored it: on global warming, an Iraq exit strategy, Iran and Pakistan, Iranian diplomacy, Israel-Palestine (and a follow-up), the nuclear trigger, interventionism, Cheney's vice presidency and her own greatest weakness.

Scot Lehigh of the Boston Globe, Biden's ready for the job:

You can say this about Sarah Palin: She did better debating Joe Biden than she did being interviewed by Katie Couric.

But that sets the bar very low indeed. So let's pay Palin the respect of treating her exactly as a male candidate would be treated. And that means saying this: She was simply nowhere near as good as Joe Biden

Biden certainly underscored the wisdom of Obama's choice last night and introduced himself in a new way to people who are unfamiliar with him. His ability to speak to the questions raised, his obvious grasp of the issues and his genuineness all marked him as a great VP candidate. In the end, this debate will not change the overall tenor of the race or its outcome but it did introduce the VP candidates to America in a new way, and when all is said and done, it was successful.

Remember this? The veep nominee who couldn't spell potato.

Well, it's hard to believe but she's making him look good. Here's the second segment of the Sarah Palin - Katie Couric interview. It's on foreign policy.

Add that to yesterday's interview and her performance in the Q&A session done during her tour of Ground Zero and ouch. National Journal's Hotline blog has the transcript.

No wonder they won't let the press ask her any questions.

Obama's press conference this afternoon in Florida concerning the current activity in Congress on the bailout bill and coordination with John McCain.

His points on being able to do more than one thing at once and the difficulties inherent in bringing two presidential nominees into a delicate negotiating process that needs a bipartisan approach were very well made.

It is evident that he is focused on doing the best for the nation and emphasized repeatedly his and McCain's development of common ground on addressing the Wall St. bailout issues. He also demonstrates the ability to handle multiple issues simultaneously, calmly and without histrionics. Calm, cool, steady, thoughtful. Sounds like characteristics we need in our next president in great contrast to McCain's bombastic and scattershot, panicked approach to his campaign.

There is speculation that McCain chose the debate delay option in an attempt to deliberately delay the VP debate and possibly end up failing to reschedule it. And after seeing the first portion of Sarah Palin's interview with Katie Couric, it's completely understandable why McCain is hitting the panic button.

And it's this point in particular in the interview that is just cringe-inducing.

COURIC: But he's been in Congress for 26 years. He's been chairman of the powerful Commerce Committee. And he has almost always sided with less regulation, not more.

PALIN: He's also known as the maverick, though. Taking shots from his own party, and certainly taking shots from the other party. Trying to get people to understand what he's been talking about -- the need to reform government.

COURIC: I'm just going to ask you one more time, not to belabor the point. Specific examples in his 26 years of pushing for more regulation?

PALIN: I'll try to find you some, and I'll bring them to you.

Actually there was more than one cringe-inducing moment but that's the one that stands out. There will be more segments of the interview released over the next few days per CBS. "Tomorrow's (25) portion of the interview will focus on international affairs. As previously announced, Couric's extended interview with Gov. Palin from the campaign trail will be broadcast on the CBS EVENING NEWS next Monday (29) and Tuesday (30)."

I think that sign from the Alaska Women's Rally said it best.

McCain / Palin
Unstable / Unable

Ben Smith has the complete transcript of the first segment of the Palin-Couric interview.

Alaskan women held a protest rally this weekend and it turned out to be the largest protest rally Alaska has ever seen. The pictures of all the hand-lettered signs are great including this one, courtesy of frsbdg. Mudflats blog has even more pictures.

The sentiment expresses in 2 words what Richard Cohen and Eugene Robinson take a few more well-chosen words to say in their columns today.

Cross-posted from KerryVision.net

I saw the moon last night. Can I be an astronaut now?

It's disturbing that Gov. Palin's 'truth issues' are getting to be a regular occurrence. And by 'truth issues', I'm not saying she's lying, exactly, but that she has a habit of stretching the truth to its furthest limits and (I have to assume) hoping it doesn't snap back and hit her in the face.

Maybe if she hadn't sold the plane on e-bay, which she actually didn't, she might be able to see Russia from Alaskan airspace, because you can't see it from the mainland, despite what Gov. Palin suggests.

Video Credit: goodboydc

Even Cindy got the memo. Alaska, as most fifth graders can tell you, is close to Russia.

The trad media seems to have figured it out. John McCain and Sarah Palin are lying about the signature item they're using in all their stump speeches. That Bridge to Nowhere -- Sarah Palin fully supported it. And when she realized that it wasn't going to happen -- that Congress was killing it -- she still took the money and used it elsewhere.

Here's how the Wall Street Journal reported it.

She endorsed the multimillion dollar project during her gubernatorial race in 2006. And while she did take part in stopping the project after it became a national scandal, she did not return the federal money. She just allocated it elsewhere.

"We need to come to the defense of Southeast Alaska when proposals are on the table like the bridge," Gov. Palin said in August 2006, according to the local newspaper, "and not allow the spinmeisters to turn this project or any other into something that's so negative." The bridge would have linked Ketchikan to the airport on Gravina Island. Travelers from Ketchikan (pop. 7,500) now rely on ferries.

A year ago, the governor issued a press release that the money for the project was being "redirected."

TPM points out in Meme Taking Hold?:

McCain said during his convention speech:

"I will keep taxes low and cut them where I can. My opponent will raise them."

Per the New York Times, the reality is this:

This drastically simplifies what the candidates' tax plans would do. Mr. McCain would preserve all of the Bush tax cuts, while Mr. Obama would let them expire for those making more than $250,000 a year. Mr. McCain would also double the child tax exemption to $7,000 and reduce business taxes. Mr. Obama would reduce income taxes and provide credits for people earning less than $250,000 a year.

The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center found that Mr. Obama's plan would amount to a tax cut for 81 percent of all households, or 95.5 percent of those with children. The center calculated that by 2012 the Obama plan would let middle-income taxpayers keep about 5 percent more income on average, or nearly $2,200 a year, while Mr. McCain would give them an average 3 percent break, or about $1,400. The richest 1 percent would pay an average $19,000 more in taxes each year under Mr. Obama's plan but see a tax cut of more than $125,000 under Mr. McCain.

The repetition of outright lies and misrepresentations by the Republican nominees is astounding.

NPR mentioned it in their coverage of the Republican nominees' campaign speeches for today. Don Gonyea noted that she's repeating her lie about opposing the Bridge to Nowhere word for word. The Wall Street Journal mentions it although they don't manage to call it a lie.

How is it that the Republican nominees can stand up in front of hundreds, if not thousands of people and outright lie and no one calls them on it? What does that say for their honesty? Their strength of character? Nothing good.

TPM puts it this way and they did a damn good job of it.

Here's what you need to know about the person that the 72-year-old, cancer survivor nominee of the Republican party, John McCain, has picked for his VP. This was taped in June 2008 for their "Masters Commission" graduates who are people who have completed a training program the church runs whose ultimate goal is to evangelize non-believers in Alaska. [via]

As my family includes missionaries and pastors and others deeply involved with their churches and in living their lives as they believe God wants them to do, I am deeply sympathetic to Sarah Palin's obvious pride and love for her church family. However, her inability to separate her personal faith from her role as governor of all the people of Alaska is disturbing.

I've written before about the separation of church and state and how important it is to our country. I think that Governor Palin missed that lesson about Thomas Jefferson and the First Amendment. When I combine that with the other deficiencies in her resume including a complete lack of foreign policy experience or even evidence of basic knowledge, I can only say that her selection profoundly underscores John McCain's reckless decision making which puts our country's national security at risk.

We do not need someone ready to start a war based on her interpretation of the end times described in the Bible one heartbeat away from the presidency. And if she is an active believer in the Assemblies of God churches, then she believes in Revelations.

UPDATE: NPR's All Things Considered just aired a segment on these videos along with more background. Please do check it out as well.

UPDATE #2: Huffington Post has more background on Sarah Palin's churches and points out that they are part of "a resurgent movement that was declared heretical by the Assemblies of God in 1949. This is the same 'Spiritual Warfare' movement that was featured in the award winning movie, "Jesus Camp," which showed young children being trained to do battle for the Lord. At least three of four of Palin's churches are involved with major organizations and leaders of this movement, which is referred to as The Third Wave of the Holy Spirit or the New Apostolic Reformation. The movement is training a young "Joel's Army" to take dominion over the United States and the world."

Talk2Action has the complete post which HuffPo excerpted along with a lot more reference information.

This post is divided into 4 sections. The first is the timeline; the second a series of quotes from Alaskans about Palin. It's followed by a review of Palin's video and audio record. The fourth section contains many direct links to Alaskan media coverage of Palin, followed by coverage from national media and blogs. Significant articles are added to that section as they become available. I intend to continue updating it. Please comment if there are significant items I've missed.

I think what puts Sarah Palin's selection as McCain's running mate in sharpest perspective is this biographical timeline of her career thus far by KTVA news in Alaska.

This is it:

Feb. 11, 1964 -- Born in Sandpoint, Idaho.

1982 -- Graduated from Wasilla High School in Wasilla, Alaska.

1987 -- Graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Idaho.

August 29, 1988 -- Married Todd Palin, whom she would have five children with.

1992-1996 -- Entered public life, serving two terms on the Wasilla City Council.

1996-2002 -- Elected mayor of Wasilla City, Alaska, for two terms until term limits forced her from office.

2002 -- Lost her first statewide campaign for the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor.

2002 -- Frank Murkowski left the Senate to become governor and named Palin chairwoman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.

2003 -- Split with the party leaders by battling Randy Ruedrich, the head of Alaska's Republican Party.

2006 -- Upset then-Gov. Murkowski in the Republican primary, then defeated former two-term Gov. Tony Knowles, a Democrat, in the general election.

2007 -- Pressured lawmakers to get the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act passed, to build a natural gas pipeline to deliver 35 trillion cubic feet of North Slope natural gas to market.

Aug. 29, 2008 -- Chosen as Sen. John McCain's vice-presidential running mate in the 2008 election.

That's all of it. Really. Presidential historians and scholars are stunned. The New York Times did a biographical feature article: Palin, an Outsider Who Charms

Greg Sargent at TPMElectionCentral posted about the results of the Mason-Dixon poll (pdf) which was done on Aug. 25th & 26th.

You would think that Joe would at least help a McCain/Lieberman ticket in Florida and Connecticut but you would be wrong. The pollsters were prescient enough to have included Sarah Palin's name in the poll as well.

Greg summarizes the poll this way:

Twenty-seven percent of voters in Florida, where there's a large concentration of Jewish voters, say they're less likely to back McCain with Lieberman on the ticket. Half that -- 14% -- say they're more likely. Fifty-six percent say Lieberman's presence would make no difference.

Polls have shown that Lieberman on the ticket would even hurt McCain in his home state of Connecticut. If Lieberman hurts McCain in Connecticut and Florida, where the heck would Lieberman help him?

Well, I'm sure that simplified McCain's selection process.

Now we just have to figure out criteria he was using which told him a governor of Alaska not quite 2 years into her 1st term is qualified to be president if he drops dead. Which really isn't all that remote a possibility given his age and the toll that not-torture inevitably took on his body.

In the Recognize / Not Recognize question in the M-D poll, she had a 75% Don't Recognize response.

They also asked would your vote be more likely, less likely or not affected if she was the veep choice. And it's here that you can see why perhaps McCain chose her.

It doesn't make any difference whether or not her name was on the ticket. 62% said it would have no effect on their vote, 33% weren't sure, 4% said less likely and 1% more likely.

So who knows what went through McCain's mind.

Obama's choice of Biden looks even better from this angle.