A hard-hitting piece on Sarah Palin in the new Vanity Fair has touched off a blistering exchange of insults among high-profile Republicans over last year’s GOP ticket – tearing open fresh wounds about leaks surrounding Palin and revealing for the first time some of the internal wars that paralyzed the campaign in its final days.
Rival factions close to the McCain campaign have been feuding since last fall over Palin, usually waging the battle in the shadows with anonymous quotes. Now, however, some of the most well-known names in Republican politics are going on-the-record with personal attacks and blame-casting.
So what is Palin up to? From the fascinating Vanity Fair article:
In the aftermath of the November election, the conventional wisdom among Palin’s supporters in the Republican establishment was that she should go home, keep her head down, show that she could govern effectively, and quietly educate herself about foreign and domestic policy with the help of a cadre of experienced advisers. She has done none of this. Rather, she has pursued an erratic course that, for her, may actually represent the closest thing there is to True North. […] She created a political-action committee—Sarahpac—with the help of John Coale, a prominent Democratic trial lawyer. But just months into its existence the pac’s chief fund-raiser, Becki Donatelli, a veteran of Republican campaigns, suddenly quit. One person familiar with the situation told me that Donatelli could not stand dealing with Palin’s political spokeswoman in Alaska, Meghan Stapleton, who has drawn withering fire from Palin friends and critics alike for being an ineffective adviser. Also with Coale’s help, Palin formed the grandiosely named Alaska Fund Trust, to defray a reported half million dollars in legal expenses arising from a slew of formal ethics complaints against her in her home state—prompting yet another formal complaint, that the fund itself constitutes an ethical breach. Onetime supporters have become harsh critics. Walter Hickel, 89, a former two-term governor and interior secretary, and the grand old man of Alaska politics, who was co-chair of Palin’s winning gubernatorial campaign, in 2006, now washes his hands of her. He told me simply, “I don’t give a damn what she does.”
And on and on… So, do you think Palin will run for Prez in ’12?
#31 contempt, are you absolutely sure the Greek columns were an homage to the modern-day Greek god Obama?
I would have thought they were making a reference to the birth of democracy in Greece, but then again, I’m not an Obama-hater.
#30 – Alfredone – not only is she a wonderful person, she will be President in 2012.
The White House will be full of bastards. Who’s your daddy? will replace the weekly address to the nation.
#31 – contempt
You’ve seen nothing like this from Obama… Why do you even try to make him into something he isn’t?
#33 Gary
>>I would have thought they were making a reference to the birth of democracy in Greece.
You’re kidding, right? That doesn’t even make sense if for no other reason than the US is not a democracy but a republic.
I think we all know what was going on even if some refuse to admit it.
Well, I’ve read this thread, and the one on Al Franken below.
Let’s see…
Franken has written several books, while there’s no clear evidence that Sarah Palin has actually read one.
#35 contempt wrote “That doesn’t even make sense if for no other reason than the US is not a democracy but a republic.”
Where were you all of the times when George W. Bush spoke of American democracy? He might have appreciated your greater knowledge of our government’s structure 😉
#35 – contempt – That doesn’t even make sense if for no other reason than the US is not a democracy but a republic.
Wow… Are you fucking serious? You don’t know what democracy is? Eight years of Bush really fucked you up.
contemp…IIRC he was also wearing a blue tie, and you know that that means…..
I was in Wash DC last week, and I saw a heck of a lot of Greek columns. I wonder what they represent there?
#38 Jägermeister
Wow, I hardly know what to say… the government school system strikes again.
There’s good reason to believe that Sarah Palin is a dominionist. Therefore, anyone who believes in freedom of religion (and especially freedom from religion), should oppose Sarah Palin at every opportunity.
http://tinyurl.com/5qgu9h
That said, I strongly support Palin for president … Michael Palin that is.
http://tinyurl.com/krwaps
#40 – contempt – Wow, I hardly know what to say… the government school system strikes again.
Or TV. Aren’t those the two favorites to blame?
#42 Jägermeister
You can blame either one you like since neither made you aware that the US is a Republic.
An interesting point from VF article talking about debates before the gubernatorial election:
“Andrew Halcro later remembered that he and Palin once compared notes about their many encounters, and she said, “Andrew, I watch you at these debates with no notes, no papers, and yet when asked questions, you spout off facts, figures, and policies, and I’m amazed. But then I look out into the audience and I ask myself, Does any of this really matter?””
——
Reminds one of Bush the Lesser, no? Who needs facts when I have my beliefs.
#43: Ah, classic debating technique, Alf, of not answering a question you don’t know the answer to by throwing it back at the questioner. Well played, sir!
#44 – contempt
So, in your definition, Republic = Dictatorship?
#43 – Alfred1,
#32 No, I reject the premise of your question…that I don’t know it.
prove I don’t know it, cite something I said, be sure its not the impostor, that contradicts the definition given by Mark Levine in “Liberty and Tyranny,” p. 4.
Oh please!! It can’t be that long. Type it or find a link. I’d like to hear your opinion of it too. You use it as a blanket statement for basically anyone who disagrees with you on anything. Just state your definition. Or, is that too state-ist for you?
#47 Jägermeister
>>So, in your definition, Republic = Dictatorship?
The US being a Republic is not my opinion but a fact that can easily be confirmed. Look it up.
#49 – Alfred1,
I am officially stating that I will now read every one of your posts with the word statist blanked out since you refuse to cite a definition when asked.
Further, I call you a complete and utter hypocrite.
You have, on other threads, claimed to support freedom of religion. Sarah Palin is very likely a Dominionist. There can be no freedom of religion under a Dominionist regime.
Since you support a likely Dominionist, you cannot claim to support freedom of religion.
Unless, of course, by freedom of religion, you mean freedom to be any type of Christian you want or die if you refuse to convert.
So, again, I call you a hypocrite in the extreme.
#49 – Alfred1,
I am officially stating that I will now read every one of your posts with the word statist blanked out since you refuse to cite a definition when asked.
Further, I call you a complete and utter hypocrite.
You have, on other threads, claimed to support freedom of religion. Sarah Palin is very likely a Dominionist. There can be no freedom of religion under a Dominionist regime.
http://tinyurl.com/6zey8r
Since you support a likely Dominionist, you cannot claim to support freedom of religion.
Unless, of course, by freedom of religion, you mean freedom to be any type of Christian you want or die if you refuse to convert.
So, again, I call you a hypocrite in the extreme.
Yes, all that rolling back of regulation we’ve been doing did such wonders for the economy.
her being the essence of a commoner
I get it. She smells bad, too.
GOP hasn’t been the same since Lincoln was killed.
Cursor_
#49
Trust me, if a person doesn’t know that he/she is a hypocrite or even what the word means it’s best to leave them alone. You will never win because it’s pointless.
The truth is contained in an article by Amanda Carpenter:
http://washingtontimes.com/weblogs/back-story/2009/jun/30/mccain-staffers-push-back-on-vanity-fairs-palin-pr/
3 McCain aides said the Vanity Fair article was untrue. 0 have come out to say it is.
Game over, Palin wins.
YES! She will run. The Obamanation is just as bad.
The United States is a Republic
Polls show that the Neocon view is in the minority
–
The United States is a Democracy
Polls show the Neocon view in a majority
J/P=?
#57 – Alfred1,
#49 You didn’t answer the question…too private?
This is the first question you’ve asked me on this thread. What are you talking about?
Are you still cross dressing?
Is your head still wedged deeply in your colon? Nevermind, I can see by the level of unintelligence in your questions that it is.
Alfred, you really should be aware that when you make such stupid themes a significant portion of your posts, you prove that the god you believe created you in his/her own image would have to be a blithering idiot not worthy of anyone’s worship.
Oh … and no. I happen not to be a cross-dresser. Though I’ve known enough people who were and were far smarter than you, so I take no offense at this.
So, if you want to offend me off, you’ll have to say something far more intelligent than anything you’ve ever said on this blog.
#61 – AlfredHypocrite,
Neither freedom nor small government can ever be achieved by a totalitarian regime implementing the latest Inquisition.
So, I’ve answered your incredibly stupid question. Will you provide your definition of statist? Feel free to cheat and actually read a dictionary, if you are able.
I love seeing the liberals falling all over themselves giving Sara Palin advice on how to get elected President. What is the liberal’s obsession with this woman? You all must be scared to death or you would let her alone. Remember she lives in Alaska.
Palin for President? I’m always a tad uneasy when a member of an apocalyptic cult that worships a god who communicates poorly has the full legal authority to deploy the planet’s largest stockpile of WMDs, but that’s just me. Seriously, what could go wrong?
I was raised in the same Assemblies of God sect as Palin comes from. Hopefully, the Joint Chiefs will have a capable translator on hand if she begins “speaking in tongues” 😉
The obsession is she is the subject of the blog….which incidentally is about the GOP’s obsession to get her out of the way. LOL
Personally, I think she’s fat and has an 80’s hairdo. The whiny voice, lack of brains and wink is what make her a spectacle.
#66 – Gary,
Don’t forget to specify which Palin for President you oppose.
Again: http://tinyurl.com/krwaps