BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?

Subject: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: kendall
Date: 06 Nov 08 - 09:22 PM

The right wing high ups are trashing Sarah Palin. Is it her fault that she didn't know that Africa is a continent, not a country? Is it her fault that she didn't know that South Africa is a country in Africa? Or that North America has three countries? Or that she couldn't name them? That the Vice President does not run the Senate?
Come to think of it, yes I guess she is to blame.
How in the name of common sense did she convince herself that she was qualified to be VP? She's number than Dan Quayle!

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 06 Nov 08 - 09:24 PM

"number" - well, it gets cold in Alaska.

I don't know about "sorry" - I think we should feel grateful for the part she played in this result.

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: Amos
Date: 06 Nov 08 - 09:26 PM

We all choose what we will put attention on. She chose pageants.



A

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: Ron Davies
Date: 06 Nov 08 - 09:28 PM

Kevin has it right.   The most important thing Obama had to do to win was to unify the Hillary voters behind him--many of whom had threatened to sit home--or even vote for McCain.

Enter Sarah. Not exactly what the Hillary voters were looking for.

The rest is now history.

We are forever indebted to you, Gov. Palin.

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 06 Nov 08 - 09:29 PM

Yeah, I think we are. Ironic, isn't it?

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: Rapparee
Date: 06 Nov 08 - 09:31 PM

I don't think the "Palin in 2012" campaign will go very far. I suspect that, politically, she's over.

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: Ron Davies
Date: 06 Nov 08 - 10:08 PM

It's also interesting that she may well not feel the same way. And, according to a very well-argued article I just read, that is why she will definitely NOT try to take over from Stevens in the Senate.

If she has any appeal to anybody, it's as an outsider. Alaska governor, OK. Senator, definitely not OK.

Besides, in the Senate she might have to learn to construct a coherent sentence--with only one or two "y' betcha"s per sentence.

She is being counselled to stay in Alaska, make sure the natural gas pipeline goes through, and write a best-seller--on any topic. (Sounds like ghost-writers will be in demand).

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Nov 08 - 10:46 PM

Hugh Hefner might give her a call. He usually does at times like this.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: John O'L
Date: 06 Nov 08 - 11:12 PM

Speaking of gratitude and irony, would Obama have been elected president without eight years of Bush?

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: Riginslinger
Date: 06 Nov 08 - 11:14 PM

John - In my opinion, probably not!

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: Alice
Date: 06 Nov 08 - 11:25 PM

They picked her.
They should have vetted her.
They should not be blaming her now.
I think she is naive and was chosen by sexists who thought
any woman would do. Shame on them.

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: Ron Davies
Date: 06 Nov 08 - 11:33 PM

"without 8 years of Bush"---that's pointless speculation.

It is certainly true that it's the combination of his 2004 speech and his early opposition to the planned Iraq war which put him on the political map.

But you could just as easily say that it 's only Hillary's self-destructive behavior which made Obama's nomination possible. She had everything going for her--then threw it away by alienating the anti-war wing of the Democratic party---by stubbornly refusing to admit she was wrong in authorizing Bush in 2002 to use force against Iraq.

In the 2008 election the man and the moment met--but Obama and his team also brought insights which would be very useful anytime--from harnessing the power of the Web to bring in voters who felt powerless up to now, to understanding how the particular system of the Democratic primaries worked--especially the value of caucuses. And a lot more.

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: Celtaddict
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 12:40 AM

She has certainly had well over her fifteen minutes of fame in the world press. She apparently did very well as the mayor of Wasilla (pop. about 7,000). I expect we will be seeing and hearing from her for some time yet, but if the Republicans are serious in wishing to groom her for the national stage, they have some major work to do.

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: Sawzaw
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 01:17 AM

Palin was a piss poor choice for VP.

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 02:00 AM

In deciding what to feel about her we should bear in mind (if she doesn't shoot the bear first) the repeated stories about her vindictiveness in and from high school, the occasional glimpses of it even while campaigning ("I'll find out who said that") and that we maybe able toobserve it in action now that she is back to being a big frog in a small pond.

I'm surprised by Swazaw's post above. I thought he liked her and her ilk (that's ilk, not elk, she's probably shoot one of those too).

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: catspaw49
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 02:08 AM

SARAH IN 2012
SHE HAS THE EXPERIENCE
SHE CAN IDENTIFY THE SHINOLA

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: GUEST,McGee
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 03:03 AM

simple answer: NO She is hubris personified. Thank the gods she was unmasked by Tina Fey, Katie Couric, Charlie Gibson and finally two comedians from Québec (Merci!) before she could do too much damage.

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: kendall
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 03:27 AM

Arrogance and ignorance; what a combo! Fits her to a T. Her and Bush.

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 03:42 AM

Well I can see she would be an asset to the opposition in 2012.

I think many of us were left wondering what kind of a place Alaska must be to choose someone that dumb, and then for everybody to elect her. Do they drink a lot?

I refuse to believe there isn't someone more suitable within the state, within either of the two parties.

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: gnu
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 05:47 AM

Ahhh... after I listened to her speak a few times and heard a bit about her, I figured McCain had made the right choice, perhaps the only choice.

Put yourself in the pic (pun intended). The call comes and John says, "Please. I am begging you to be my running mate." Your reply, not wanting to waste your time or trash your political career might be along the lines of: "Do you REALLY think I am that stunned?"... click

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 06:16 AM

Sorry for her? Why, what outrageous fortune has she suffered? She's back in Wasilla, no doubt hailed as the hockey mom who slugged it out with the best, she and her family have a new wardrobe (several items gone missing, I read) and a book deal would not surprise me. She is ignorant and deluded enough to believe that it does not matter and that she has something that people will look for in the 2012 elections. She is also vindictive (Richard is right). So - sorry for her? No way.

But I am also with Alice in that I believe SP has been a pawn, and those that picked her in the first place deserve to be outed for the conniving, manipulative sexists that they are. What on earth were they thinking? Did they really believe the public would swallow this and not see the ploy behind it?

Sarah is damned by her own behaviour and thinking. Those who picked her should be damned also, though.

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: goatfell
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 07:00 AM

I'm a Scot and I'm a Communist/nationalst anyway I feel sorry for Palin, but I just hope that one day she will in the whitehouse. Oh and by the way, it was a Hamilton that burnt the orginal whitehouse down and so they had to paint it white.

Tom Hamilton

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: Riginslinger
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 07:43 AM

The fact of the matter is, the media began to go after Sarah Palin the minute the brought McCains poll numbers up even an above Obama's. The were feeling the election slipping away from them and they were desperate.
                Once the financial meltdown started, McCain's fortunes sank like a stone, but in the interests of keeping him down, the media kept after Palin.
                What they did to her was embarrassing for her, but I don't think she'll be such an easy target next time, and she might be of a mind to get even.

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 08:05 AM

well if she doesn't get even, she can take it out on a moose.

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: Barry Finn
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 08:11 AM

My vote's in for the Moose

Barry

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: Bobert
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 08:29 AM

She's gettin' a bum rap from the Repubs...

She ougtta get Ted Staevens Senate seat after the Senate boot him, learn up so geography and head to Washington in some 6 inch spike heels!!!

Yazzir, yazzir, yazzir...

Now that ***is*** a plan...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: Riginslinger
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 08:33 AM

Yeah, I think that's what she should do too. Though I'd skip the geography lesson and just learn to avoid answer questions from buffoons who have it in for you.

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 08:36 AM

I'm also wondering what the rebuff will be doing to her faith, after all did she not believe it was God's will that the Republicans should be elected?

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: Greg F.
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 08:39 AM

SHE's the buffoon. And a corrupt one, at that.

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: Riginslinger
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 08:40 AM

She did, so it must have been the devil's doing. But what does that say about the opposition?

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 08:49 AM

I can't see why anybody needs to feel all angry and vindictive about her. She's history, and quite an entertaining part of history. I can't see the Republicans picking her as a Presidential candidate next time, and if they did, Obama would walk it.

As for all the stuff about how thick she is - I suspect she's quite as sharp as the run of politicians, she just hasn't picked up some of the tricks of the trade, to go along with the very effective ones she has picked up.

But even when she's done that, I think she'd find it very hard to broaden her appeal the way a candidate would need to, at the same time as holding on to the people who love her most.

Two days in and we're talking about future elections. Enough of that!

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: Riginslinger
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 08:55 AM

Yes, I agree with everything you say, McGrath, especially the last part. One of the really broken aspects of the American election process is, the minute one election ends, everyone starts planning for the next one.

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: GUEST,Arkie
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 10:56 AM

I do not feel sorry for Palin because she chose to put herself on an international stage. She doesn't know geography and her attending four or five colleges before she graduated does not make her a world traveler or much of any kind of traveler. If she reads books, they are obviously not the kind of books that provide any understanding of culture outside her own state. If McCain was the one who picked her hoping to get the women's vote and the small town vote, this is another example of faulty judgment. There is no way she would get the Hillary vote and he already had small towns in the South locked up. As far as I am concerned Palin's comment after Obama won the Democratic nomination, a comment made in a public place, "So Sambo beat the bitch" makes her unfit for any public office much less Vice-President.

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: Alice
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 11:01 AM

Palin showed that she did not understand geography - nor science, history, the constitution, the functions of federal branches of government...
Her college studies were dismally poor. Her focus was (American) sports and wanting to report sports on television.

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: Ed T
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 11:08 AM

Seems like the Palin approach was more to smear Obama, then offer any meaningful governing ideas/concepts herself. To me, she showed more "fluff-entertainment" than real content throughout her campaign. She will likely go down in political history as a blip in an otherwise boring MacCain campaign. However, she may be well remembered for her "entertainment" value.
As to the current media (and republican insider) assessment of her, "when you are in the smear business, don't cry when some of it is thrown back at you".

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: catspaw49
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 11:11 AM

Kendall, I am not sure. I'll have to look up some good answers and get back to you.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: Riginslinger
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 11:21 AM

Crow is what you'll be eating in 2012!

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: Wesley S
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 11:41 AM

According to CBS news last night - McCains people had to inform Sarah that Africa is a continent - not a country.

If we're eating crow in 2012 it will be because Sarah has shot them.

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: Amos
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 11:48 AM

Rig:

That is laughable, man.

If the changes initiated between now and 2012 are such as to impose a shift back to the right in 2012, it would not be "eating crow" for those of us who pushed America a bit to the left this election.

Sarah--who reportedly was also unsure about the difference between Africa and SOuth Africa-- is not a figure on the world scene. She is a cartoon on the TV mindsets of a small portion of the country's viewers, more like SpongeBob SquarePants and a lot less like Nelson Mandela or Al Gore. Your snarling defence of ignorance is a sorry thing to see.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: GUEST,Chongo Chimp
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 11:56 AM

He's just enjoyin' rattlin' your cages, Amos. Why let it get to you? Just ignore him. That's what us chimps do in a similar circumstance.

As fer Sarah Palin, hey, she added some real neat entertainment to the election and she helped McCain lose it at the same time. Give the lady the respect she deserves, I say! We're all in her debt. Ook! Ook! ;-D

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: Riginslinger
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 12:01 PM

Amos - There are obviously people inside the McCain campaign who really have it in for Sarah Palin. Frankly, I don't really relish the idea of having to defend her, but I think a lot of this stuff is really over the top.
                      In addition to that, the election is over. The unemployment figures that came out this morning are the highest in 14 years. Surely the American public has more to worry about than one of the losing candidates confusing the Republic of South Africa with the continent of Africa.
                      Dan Quayle never came back, maybe Sarah Palin is made of stiffer stuff. I think she is.

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: GUEST,Jaze
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 12:04 PM

Did she really say that?? The Sambo comment?

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: Maryrrf
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 12:05 PM

"Sambo beat the bitch"? Did she really say that????

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: Alice
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 12:10 PM

There was a claim reported by Charley James at the L A Progressive that a waitress in Wasilla overheard her say that to the others at the table where she was serving. I tried to find confirmation of it, but never could. The waitress was never named.

Snopes.com says it is "undetermined" whether the "Sambo beat the bitch" remark is true or false.

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 12:18 PM

I doubt that we will ever know if Sarah Palin said that or if it was made up by someone to damage her campaign. Either way is entirely possible.

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: Maryrrf
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 12:28 PM

I don't like Sarah Palin, but I doubt if she would be foolish enough to say something like that in public. She is savvy politician in some ways. If a comment like that were proven it would be virtual political suicide.

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 12:47 PM

"Two Mules for Sister Sarah"?

Nope, one elk will do thanks.

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 01:00 PM

Calamity Jane?

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: kendall
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 01:21 PM

The republican party and Sarah herself is what sunk her. When she started rambling along on a subject of which she knew nothing it became obvious to anyone that she is an ignoramus. Her own mouth did it, not the media.
Any 8th grader would know the questions she flubbed. All of them are on tape and if she is silly enough to run again, her opposition will play them over and over. She will die in the primaries.

Subject: RE: BS: Should we feel sorry for Palin?
From: PoppaGator
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 01:29 PM

Sarah Palin's appeal is to the know-nothing "base" electorate that the GOP (correctly) claims as their own. Her ignorance of elementary-school civics and geography is not going to hurt her one little bit with that constituency, nor will her snide attitude towards the more educated and sophisticated among her fellow Americans (those of us who do not fit her definition of "real" Americans).

For that matter, whether or not the reports of the "Sambo" remark are true or not, that won't hurt her among most of her following, either.

Her future in the Republican party depends upon the direction taken by that party over the next few years.

If the US successfully makes a transition to a whole new post-fossil-fuel economy, with job creation and economic growth based upon manufacturing of renewable-energy technology, a revived fuel-efficient auto industry, etc., there should be room for a pro-business conservative party that is no longer wedded to oil interests and does not need to be anti-intellectual.

A GOP advancing the principles of, say, T. Boone Pickens ~ who advocates revolutionary changes in energy technology for purely economic reasons ~ could easily emerge as the opposition to a more altruistic save-the-planet group following the message of Al Gore.

In a smart new 12st-century Republican party like that, Palin would indeed have no future.

However, I'm not sure we can count on the GOP correctly reading the handwriting on the wall and adopting to a "new-age" reality. The big business of hate-talk radio and Faux News has too much at stake, and is too well entrenched, to go away quickly and quietly. If there's no one else in the Republican Party willing and able to shape a whole new direction and set of policies, the extreme right wing is going to hang on for dear life as a slowly shrinking minority in control of a once-great American institution, taking the nation's more thoughtful school of conservatism down with them. And Ms Palin is as likely as anyone, if not moreso, to be the leader of that lemming's march to the sea.