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June 2010
06/18/2010
06/16/2010
Sarah Palin: Thatcher's second coming?
Can Sarah Palin style herself as Thatcher's second coming?
Both attractive women from Nowhere Fancy exploited their femininity. But only one could command an interview.
Visiting Margaret Thatcher is a traditional rite among Republican presidential aspirants – Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney all pitched up on her doorstep in 2008. But Sarah Palin, who announced on her Facebook site this week that she hopes to secure a meeting with "one of my political heroines, the 'Iron Lady'," has a more obvious claim to be Thatcher's heir. She's an attractive woman from Nowhere Fancy, just as Thatcher was, and snobs deplore her for it, just as they deplored Thatcher.
That said, if Palin hopes to style herself as the second coming she has a few things to learn. She might wish to study Thatcher's disciplined command of arguments, facts and statistics, for instance. By the time Thatcher was elected, she'd enjoyed a 20-year parliamentary career. Her clearly expressed views – clearly expressed, I stress – about every crisis, problem and debate of concern to Britain were a matter of public record. Palin has neither said nor written a line so far that would allow anyone reasonably to conclude that her opinions about economic and foreign policy are as cogent and informed as Thatcher's. *No one (not me, anyway) can argue with her conservative instincts, but to compare her ability to express them with Thatcher's would be ludicrous.
This ability allowed Thatcher to dominate in unscripted interviews. When interrogated by hostile journalists she left them speechless and stuttering. She regularly ate Neil Kinnock for lunch during prime minister's questions. Her eidetic command of inflation statistics verged on the weird, suggesting the obsessive aspect of men who routinely memorise train schedules.
Above all, she was always prepared. You will never find an example of Thatcher caught short in the way Palin was by CBS anchor Katie Couric, talking about Republican presidential runner John McCain's stance on regulation.
Couric: "Can you give me any other examples in his 26 years of John McCain truly taking a stand on this?"
Palin: "I can give you examples of things that John McCain has done that has shown his foresight, his pragmatism, and his leadership abilities. And that is what America needs today."
Couric: "I'm just going to ask you one more time – not to belabour 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."
Thatcher did not wing it.
* Why is it that no one will argue about Palin's non existent conservative credentials or her actual record?
06/14/2010
Trouble Ahead for Sarah Palin in 2012
By Jason Easley
The Des Moines Register released their new 2012 GOP poll for the state of Iowa today, and as expected the three most well known names, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, and Sarah Palin lead the pack. What is a surprise isn’t the overwhelming favorability of Romney, but the high unfavorabilily rating for Palin, who is not favored by 39% of the state’s Republicans.
The Des Moines Register poll did not measure preference, but instead focused on favorability. Romney had the highest favorable at 62%. He was closely followed by Sarah Palin at 58% and Newt Gingrich at 56%. Where the potential candidates separate themselves is in unfavorables. Romney has a very low unfavorable rating of 26%. Gingrich is second at 33%, and Palin is third at 39%. Another negative working against Palin is that almost all those surveyed have made their minds up about her. Only 3% of those surveyed were not sure about her, compared to 12% for Romney and 11% for Gingrich.
The problem that Sarah Palin is going to face not only in Iowa, but through out the 2012 campaign is that there are a substantial number of Republicans who have serious doubts and reservations about her. Her favorability issues are compounded by the fact that the American electorate has already made its mind up about her. While it is true that Palin is just as popular as any of the other Republican contenders, she is also more disliked by people in her own party than any of the other contenders.
Polls like the one in Iowa highlight the potential limitations of Sarah Palin as a presidential candidate. Voters, and a sizable number of Republicans, don’t like her. Most importantly, she has been so overexposed that people have already made up their minds about her. Instead of working to change this perception, Palin continues to reinforce it with erratic behavior, fence building, and celebrity feuds. Just because this poll shows that there are real trouble signs for Palin in 2012, doesn’t mean that she should not be taken seriously. The 2012 GOP field is so weak, that even a deeply flawed candidate, who has no chance of winning a general election, like Palin, has a chance to win.
Sarah's presidential skills on display
WATCH and WEEP
06/12/2010
The gospel of Palin?
Combine two of your most reliable go-to topics: Sarah Palin and religion.
That's what Newsweek which is known for its religious covers and made a splash with its November 2009 cover featuring Palin in bike shorts is doing for next week's issue.
The cover, which reads "Saint Sarah," features Palin with a halo and teases "What Palin's Appeal To Conservative Christian Women Says About Feminism And The Future Of The Religious Right."
The accompanying story, written by Lisa Miller, carries the following descriptor paragraph:
To white evangelical women, Sarah Palin is a modern-day prophet, preaching God, flag, and family--while remaking the religious right in her own image.
The cover:
The Boob Speaks
Sarah says she has no idea why anyone would even mention such a thing, ignoring that her boobs suddenly seem to have ballooned, of course. Here's an excerpt from an interview with her boot licker, Van Susteren:
"No, I have not had implants. I can't believe, yes, that we're even talking about this. I think a report like that is about as real and truthful as those reports that Todd and I are divorcing or that I bought a place in the Hamptons or that Trigg is not my own child. And we still put up with that kind of garbage, too, in even the mainstream media, Greta. It's amazing."
Well, now. She equates this case with another of her blatant lies: the one where she was actually pregnant with Trig before he was born. But the bigger point here is that the reason why this becomes a story is that her looks are pretty much all she has going for her. Let's recall that this is a woman on whom the Republican Party spent upwards of 340k dollars outfitting, even as they tried like hell to keep her from having to actually say anything. This is a woman on whom 19k was spent on spray tans alone. Let's just take a stroll down memory lane.
Steve Schmidt, who was actually there, said this about Palin's clothing thefts during the campaign:
"He also said that if Palin's real spending on clothes had been accurately reported during the campaign, the country would have been in an uproar.
According to Schmidt, she would go into a store, buy everything in sight, and have the bill sent to the Republican National Committee.
Schmidt said he stopped counting after the tab hit $250,000."
We've talked before about other revelations regarding Porky Palin:
"A new campaign finance report filed with the Federal Election Commission reveals that the 150k wardrobe for Palin was really just the tip of the iceberg. It now turns out that outfitting the Empress of Pork was a 340k dollar endeavor. Stylists alone pocketed a total of 110k to do make-up, hair, spray tans, and put together outfits. Her make-up artist was paid over 68k, the hair stylist got a total of 42k, and the fashion stylist almost 60k. There are also another 23k of additional charges from retailers ranging from sporting goods stores to the gap to salons and spas."
Now Sarah Palin tells us that noticing her looks is just, like, so shallow? Right. Nice try. I wonder what her dad would think of her new assets. You know, her dad, the guy who wore this shirt:
"The Coldest State With the Hottest Governor"?
Read More at http://www.palinoscope.com/
Interesting to note.. Sarah continues to suggest that the idea of her not giving birth to Trig is still a story, which it is, and many bloggers and those in the mainstream are still looking for proof that she gave birth to that child. Providing her medical history and the child's birth certificate would take care of that!
Also, Sarah says. "And we still put up with that kind of garbage"
Yeah Sarah, Why? Sue for libel and slander, maybe defamation of character, ( you've already taken care of that on your own), or false statements! Why are you STILL putting up with it? I know why!!!!
06/11/2010
06/10/2010
06/09/2010
You Can't Forever Rob Peter in Order to Pay Paul
U.S. Embraces Model That's Failed Europe
The newspaper headlines say it all. On the one hand, "Crisis Imperils Liberal Benefits Long Expected by Europeans," while in this country: "Private Pay Plummets, Government Handouts Soar."
The modern European welfare state has proven unsustainable. From Greece to Britain, from France to Portugal, European countries are slashing social welfare benefits, raising the retirement age and dismantling government bureaucracies. Yet, even as Europe is learning that you can't forever rob Peter in order to pay Paul, the U.S. is racing to transform itself into a copy of the failing European model.
Greece has been the face of the crisis thus far, with a national debt that equals 108% of GDP, and talk of service cuts sparking spectacular riots in Athens. Spain had its credit rating cut two weeks ago. But Hungary might well be the next debt-explosion poster child: The prime minister's spokesman began openly using the word "default," sending markets into a further tizzy.
But how much better off are we? Our national debt just topped $13 trillion. The Congressional Budget Office projects it will equal 90% of our GDP by 2020. The U.S. government spent $83 billion more than it took in last month, and that figure is expected to exceed $1.56 trillion for the year.
Faced with this rising tide of red ink, our Congress blithely enacted a new multitrillion-dollar health care entitlement. It's now engaged in a debate over legislation repealing a scheduled cut in Medicare reimbursements and further extending unemployment benefits.
Of course, if one points out that we are driving the country toward bankruptcy, the traditional response in Washington is that we must have the "courage" to raise taxes. The Obama administration is preparing to allow Bush era tax cuts to expire, leading to a big jump in income and capital gains taxes.
The health care bill that just passed contained more than $569 billion in tax hikes between now and 2019. And many in the administration and Congress are now pushing for a Value Added Tax (VAT), a sort of federal sales tax imposed at every level of a product's production.
If taxes could solve the problem, Greece would be bailing out the U.S. Taxes currently take a third of Greece's GDP, roughly double the U.S. tax burden. It would be even higher, but the absurdly high tax rates have led to widespread evasion. Greece soaks the rich with a top income tax rate of 40%. It even has a 21% VAT.
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