The Plank - All Comments

re: The Most Telling Part of Palin's Announcement

bl462 — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:27:48 GMT

Why does Palin think that a non sequitur citation of contemporary opposition to William Seward's purchase of Alaska from the Russian Empire is any reasonable or plausible excuse, reason, or explanation of her sudden need for a fast getaway from the governor's office?

re: The Killer Logic of Sarah Palin

iambiguous — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:16:31 GMT

Quite interesting, Mike. Thank you.

Allow me though to suggest angles on the Palin story not yet fully explored:

How will this effect the recovering economy? After all, in a few weeks she will be just one more American out of work. Or is Wall Street counting on those who are now lining up to make money on this to finally bring the recession to an end? What happens if this becomes the new bubble? Has Obama, Geitner and Summers Inc. assigned someone to monitor it?

How will Alaskans' cope once Sarah Palin steps down and they are no longer able to see everything in the world from Wasilla? Will they still be able to see the Moon, the Sun, the stars? Will gravity still work there?

What can we expect when every swinging dick [and lots of stiff ones] in the media become so obsessed with following Palin 24/7, only the women can still function as journalists? How will this change the way we read the news?

What happens if Sarah Palin decides to quit being herself? How will this effect the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Republican Party, Groundhog's Day, the Super Bowl and the common cold?

re: The Most Telling Part of Palin's Announcement

simon greenwood — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 23:45:31 GMT

It's the highest percentage play for someone whose fan club is based around resentment though

re: The Most Telling Part of Palin's Announcement

iambiguous — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 23:39:32 GMT

noam: "I meant to post on this last night but got sidetracked."

george:

That's to be expected. When one celebrity dies and another one is being reborn it's hard to decide which story is more important.

In other words: Has TNR no shame?

Ordinarily we're lucky to get one new post on Saturday. The dead zone. Not so today, right?

Yes, I know: I'm the kettle calling the pot black. True enough. But I have no dignity and integrity to protect. I'm not the guy or gal being read on Air Force One and in the Oval Office.

Let's be blunt: How long can it be now before the testosterone at TNR and NRO merge?

Rich "Starburst" Lowry will take mortification to new heights. So that means someone at TNR has to take it to new depths.

To that I say this: May the most abased and ignominious man win!!

re: The Killer Logic of Sarah Palin

blackton — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 23:16:07 GMT

For laughs go to this website: www.conservatives4palin.com

It is amazing how much these people delude themselves, even after this.

re: The Biggest Loser in Palin's Exit

iambiguous — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 23:08:51 GMT

The biggest loser?

What is that compared to all the winners:

* our Michael Jackson by way of Sarah Palin media

* our Sarah Palin by way of Michael Jackson media

* late night comics

* political cartoonists

* Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert

* Tina Fey and Saturday Night Live

* Rich Lowry and the Todd Palin wannabes

* Katie Couric and Charles Gibson

* the celebrity money machine

* Mad Magazine

* The Lord

* Saks Fifth Avenue

re: The Killer Logic of Sarah Palin

kerFuFFler — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 22:40:17 GMT

bkaplovitz,

you're behind the times. (Or that is, J.g. Thayer is since he wrote your entire post.)

The media have already pointed out drug use (and possible dealing?) by Sarah's eldest. It would be easier for the media to give her kids a miss if they were not getting into so much trouble.

And frankly, the trouble is relevant to our political discourse. She holds up Bristol as a heroic teen who CHOSE not to have an abortion. We question the wisdom and efficacy of an abstinence only approach to sexuality for teenagers, and her household is a case in point. The fact that Sarah still champions abstinence only shows how unwilling to learn from experience she is.

Republicans (like John McCain!) made cruel jokes about Chelsey when she was much younger than Bristol, and she had done absolutely NOTHING to warrant it. While I don't approve of cruelty to Bristol, it is true that her own behavior pulled her into the spotlight, and her Mom put her center stage by using Bristol's pregnancy as proof that Sarah was indeed the mother of little Trig; surely she could have supplied documentation to that effect easily instead of throwing her daughter under the bus.

Sarah ruthlessly baited the media with her children so she could continue to play the victim. What a drama queen------and bad mother.

re: The Killer Logic of Sarah Palin

tomeg — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 22:24:18 GMT

No time now, for July 4 barbecue beckons, but I'll post a shockingly simple game plan with bullet proof rationalization, strategy and more, later (or tomorrow). As George has written to satiety the past several days, "Stay tuned."

re: Don't listen to Obama

kgrant1054 — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 21:37:05 GMT

Putting pressure on marginal Democrats is fine, a good plan, especially in order to get them to actually vote like Democrats. But, and this is a big one, if you put too much pressure on said marginal Democrats, they will sulk, whine, and then take their ball and go home. There are enough of them to cause a good bit of heartburn, especially when you add to that the reality that Kennedy and Byrd are simply not dependable due to health concerns (and of course, Holy Joe, who is a world unto himself). Obama cannot risk alienating these people over the long term because he needs their votes. This is even more true when it is groups like Moveon doing the pushing - their antics in the past have sullied their reputation, and thus are not quite palatable to everyone. If Obama finds himself married to the folks like Moveon and Kos, his agenda is toast.

There may be 60 votes in the Democratic caucus, but there are certainly not 60 progressive votes. Not even close, thus, Obama has to tread lightly. May not be very satisfying, but it certainly is a great deal more realistic.

re: Don't listen to Obama

mhenderstock — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 21:05:43 GMT

Obama might well have a shrewd secret plan, but we don't know what it is and aren't obliged to try to figure it out. Our jobs, as concerned citizens, is to do what we think is right. Personally, I think putting pressure on marginal Democrats would be a lot more productive than futile attempts to turn Repubs.

re: The Biggest Loser in Palin's Exit

dbuck — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 20:33:19 GMT

Not silent is Geoffrey Dunn, over at the Huffington Post, "The Real Story Behind Palin's Bombshell," here

www.huffingtonpost.com/.../the-real-story-behind-pal_b_225636.html

Apparently she has quit before. (A campaign slogan for 2012? "Quitters always quit.") Dunn has the skinny on that and more.

Dan

re: The Killer Logic of Sarah Palin

dylanposer — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 20:03:34 GMT

woody,

I thought that was pretty hilarious too. Airport security was looking at me laugh.

re: The Killer Logic of Sarah Palin

ratnerstar — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:43:23 GMT

blackie- the most coherent part of it was the end, where it stated "Copyright ©" and "All Rights Reserved." Strangely, that seems to also be the portion that bkaplovitz ignores. Really stretchin' the ole "fair use doctrine" limits, eh buddy?

re: The Killer Logic of Sarah Palin

michael — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:32:08 GMT

I think she's opting for as many dollars and as much fame as soon as possible because POTUS in '12 or '16 is at best a maybe. So, rich and famous (soon) is something she can control, why take a pass?

It is better to look back as a rich and famous loser rather than a loser who didn't grab some cash and is stuck in Alaska with a nasty reputation.

It may seem like resigning is foolish but she could hang on for 18 months and still end up being on a "Whatever Happened To?" list, in ten years.

I think she got to where she is by not turning down an opportunity. (Regardless how foolish it seemed)

If someone flashed big bucks last week, she would answer "How soon?".

re: The Killer Logic of Sarah Palin

blackton — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:27:16 GMT

Wow, is that Commentary posting deranged. All that was missing was a sound of a stamping foot and a cry of "its not fair."

re: The Killer Logic of Sarah Palin

bkaplovitz — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 18:42:59 GMT

From Commentary Magazine's "Contentions" Weblog

July 4, 2009

The Biased Microscope

By J.G. Thayer - 07.04.2009 - 10:24 AM

When Sarah Palin announced her resignation, one of the factors she cited was the relentless scrutiny that fell on her and her family. It can be argued that, as an elected official, she has to live with it—but does that have to extend to her family?

Consider this. Over the past year, she’s had to tolerate incredibly harsh treatment not only of herself, but of three of her five children.

Her oldest daughter had her pregnancy and her relationship with the father plastered all over TV, newspapers, and the internet, even to the point of him and his mother appearing on tabloid TV shows. This newly single mother has become a punchline of a thousand jokes.

Her second daughter recently also became the butt of national jokes when she committed the unforgivable sin of accompanying her mother on a trip to New York City, including a trip to a baseball game.

And her infant son, who has Down Syndrome, is already the subject of the most appalling rumors and innuendo—Andrew Sullivan’s fixation with digging up the baby’s birth certificate and every detail of Palin’s obstetric history has become almost a joke. A disgusting joke.

In the back of her mind, Palin must be looking at that, and wondering when the attacks will fall on her oldest son, currently serving in Iraq.

The treatment of the Palin family is reminiscent of another “innocent bystander” whose life also fell under a microscope for the offense of being in the wrong place in the wrong time.

“Joe the Plumber” was outside his own home, playing with his son, when then-candidate Barack Obama made an unscheduled campaign stop. Joe asked an awkward question of the candidate, which was caught on camera.

That, too, was an unforgivable act. Within days, every detail of Joe’s life was plastered across the media. Soon, we all knew that “Joe” was not a licensed plumber, that he had a history of tax liens (almost enough to qualify for a position in the Obama cabinet), and—most astonishing—his name wasn’t even “Joe,” but “Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher.”

Oddly enough, another person managed to dodge the bullet, for the most part, was Debby Smith.

Smith attended President Obama’s recent “town hall forum” on health care, where she was singled out as “exhibit A” for his reforms. It turns out there is a lot more behind this unemployed cancer sufferer without insurance, as Michelle Malkin and Dan Riehl discovered.

Did any of the mainstream media note that, instead of looking for a paying job that includes benefits, Smith has been an unemployed volunteer for a health care reform advocacy group? Of course not. Did the media discuss some of the other participants in the forum—the representative from the Service Employees International Union, which boasts of having spent $61 milllion electing president Obama, or the lobbyist from the group advocating for national health care coverage? Of course not.

But we do know that Bristol Palin’s former fiance claims to have spent several nights in the governor’s home with her daughter, and that Joe The Plumber had a tax lien on his house.

Nice to know our media have their priorities straight.

--Posted By By J.G. Thayer - 07.04.2009 - 10:24 AM

www.commentarymagazine.com/.../72291

re: The Killer Logic of Sarah Palin

ratnerstar — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 18:34:12 GMT

It's true: that's not what she's wired to do. What she's wired to do is terminate John Connor by any means necessary. I say we give him to her and maybe she'll go away. The future be damned!

In the original text her speech, she actually ended with "I know now why you cry, but it is something I can never do."

re: Don't listen to Obama

JEFF FREY — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:56:20 GMT

kgrant has it right, and John Judis has it wrong. Obama's message to moveon.org is politically astute. He is not bashing moveon, he is telling them to focus on the real enemy (the R caucus that will provide 0 votes for anything Democrats want to do), rather than splintering his own side. He is signaling that he will accept the best bill we can pass right now, rather than demanding an ideal bill that will not pass and mean a defeat for him (and for our side). That strategy may lack philosophical purity, but it is smarter politics than losing a battle and getting nothing.

re: The Killer Logic of Sarah Palin

WoodyBombay — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:45:55 GMT

That question mark is just priceless. The cutest thing I've ever seen.

re: TNR Exclusive: Palin's Ex-Campaign Manager Reacts

WoodyBombay — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:44:49 GMT

"It is a shame an organized effort by a party's activists can hound someone out of their job, which is what I think happened."

An organized effort by a party's activists didn't hound Bill Clinton out of his job.