By Arturo Mora, Kansas City Star Midwest Voices columnist 2009
Palin presses the flesh
The adjectives to describe Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's resignation are just too easy to come by, unless you’re one of her googlie-eyed followers who’ve drunk her Kool-Aid. Let’s start with: irresponsible, overambitious, megalomaniac, martyr, and of course, quitter.
The one Democrats are most frightened of, though, is brilliant politician. It’s extremely unlikely, but she may just be able to do the impossible and beat President Obama in the next election.
The Facebook statement explaining her decision, besides reflecting her usual poor command of English, is an obvious call to arms for the next election.
“I am now looking ahead and how we can advance this country together with our values of less government intervention, greater energy independence, stronger national security, and much-needed fiscal restraint. I hope you will join me. Now is the time to rebuild and help our nation achieve greatness!”
She continues with her usual attack on the press: “How sad that Washington and the media will never understand; it’s about country. And though it's honorable for countless others to leave their positions for a higher calling and without finishing a term, of course we know by now, for some reason a different standard applies for the decisions I make.”
The “higher calling” point might have some validity, if she had not said a day earlier, "Many just accept that lame duck status and they hit the road, they draw a paycheck."
To quit an executive governing position because you are bored with lame-duck status, or even if you don’t like the ineffectiveness of that status, is unconscionable.
Guess what governor? Lame-duck status inevitably comes with most executive positions, unless you’re defeated or resign. What would our states be like if all lame ducks quit once they’d decided not to run again? What if President George W. Bush had decided to quit once lame-duckness made him ineffective?
That’s not how government works in America. You serve out the full term, unless there’s a scandal or illness that forces you out. If you do otherwise because you don’t want to be a lame duck, you deserve only one title. Quitter.
Palin mentioned quitting for a "higher calling" (cue "Hail to the Chief," please), and that is not without precedent. Many have quit the Senate or governorships to run for President. And that can even be honorable, avoiding a situation where you don’t cheat the taxpayers of your state out of your full attention.
First, she blew that argument by talking about the lame duck thing. Second, it’s not a valid point to make when the "higher calling" is over three years away. No one, as far as I know, has ever quit an elected position that far out to run.
So that different standard she pre-assumes the press will make about this doesn’t apply here. Palin loves to use the press as her whipping boy, and play martyr. But the fact is the worse damage the press has ever done to her is airing her inane answers to fairly straightforward interview questions.
Mostly this all shows just how endeared she is with certain other press clippings, the ones about the adoring crowds she draws and how many Republicans view her as the Great Conservative Hope. Her statement shows an extraordinary megalomania. Only Palin can save the country!
It’s also risking an image as overambitious. If you think Hillary Clinton had trouble shaking that tag, watch it become glue on Palin.
The irony is that, as horrible a political move as this is, in the end Palin may be able to win all the marbles. Stranger things have happened, witness Obama’s victory.
The Republican base is so in love with her, they may just drive her to the nomination in 2012. If that happens, all bets are off. If the economy is still tanking, voters may just ignore everything else, and we will have President Sarah Palin in 2013.
Let’s just hope she doesn’t get bored about 2017 or 2018 and quit again.
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I think you're wrong Arturo.......
....The Republican base is so in love with her, they may just drive her to the nomination in 2012. If that happens, all bets are off. If the economy is still tanking, voters may just ignore everything else, and we will have President Sarah Palin in 2013.
In spite of the PDS blather being forwarded by Arturo's progressive bretheren, I do not see the same "love" for Palin in the GOP base that they do. My areas/spheres of influence numbers about 300 between 35 and 70 yrs old, the vast majority of whom (75% guess) are repubs. They see me (libertarian) as a whacky, fiscally conservative, liberal (how many see libertarians, anyway). I do not know a single one who supports Palin as presidential material. Many will defend her regarding PDS.....and do so regularly......but virtually none believe her to be a viable presidential candidate.
Frankly, that pleases most, including me.
Give Palin credit though for being the lightening rod for the reawakening of traditional "republican roots" political activism. It will be very interesting to see what evolves in the GOP over the next 15 months....a most critical period for the party.
Vegas2112 To answer your
Vegas2112
To answer your question of yesterday, John Kerry.
I'd much rather have someone
I'd much rather have someone in the White House that knows what it's like to meet a payroll or knows what happens to my business with a tax increase.
I don't care how many Ivy League titles he has behind his name. I am not impressed. They are all worthless to me if he has no clue as to how the country works and what makes it run.
Classic Palin
Katie Couric: "What other Supreme Court decisions do you disagree with?"
Sarah Palin: "Well, let's see. There's --of course --in the great history of America rulings there have been rulings, there's never going to be absolute consensus by every American. And there are -- those issues, again, like Roe v Wade where I believe are best held on a state level and addressed there. So you know -- going through the history of America, there would be others but--"
Couric: "Can you think of any?"
Palin: "Well, I could think of -- of any again, that could be best dealt with on a more local level. Maybe I would take issue with. But you know, as mayor, and then as governor and even as a Vice President, if I'm so privileged to serve, wouldn't be in a position of changing those things but in supporting the law of the land as it reads today." --unable to name any Supreme Court decisions other than Roe v. Wade, CBS News interview, Oct. 1, 2008
ill-suited
You can excuse any individual aspect of Palin. She struggles to put together a coherent sentence, but some intelligent people are poor talkers. Her academic career was highly pedestrian, but some people are better than their academic record suggests. She's highly inexperienced, but experience isn't the same thing as competence. She seems to alienate the people she works with, but doing good work isn't the same thing as getting along with others. She struggles to run her own household, but some very competent people struggle with these things. The list goes on.
But then you ask yourself what is it about her that should make anyone excited for her to be president. Frankly, I can't think of a good answer. She isn't the intellectual leader of anything. Her perspective on most issues, when she even has an opinion, is total boilerplate conservatism that gives the impression of little more than regurgitation. Her primary "accomplishment" in Alaska was building the pipeline -- except that ground won't be broken on the pipeline for many years, if ever, due to legal holdups.
In short, she's shown no evidence of ability as an independent thinker, and her record of "leadership" suggests a temperament that's ill-suited to the presidency.
I won't speak for others, but what scares me is that someone so devoid of any sort of positive qualifications and so obviously marked with a number of warning signs of incompetence is nonetheless capable of attracting support from a substantial number of Americans. I'm just grateful that nowhere near a majority of Americans would ever be willing to vote for her after the thorough meat-grinder of a presidential election.
=========
Credit to Dave Stickler
My sentiments exactly:
but what scares me is that someone so devoid of any sort of positive qualifications and so obviously marked with a number of warning signs of incompetence is nonetheless capable of attracting support from a substantial number of Americans.
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Oops, were you or weren't you talking about Obama?
seriously, twas
is that really the best you can do in defending Palin?
Perhaps I can settle your fears
Obama graduated from the best law school in the country and taught at perhaps the third-best law school in the country. Rather than go into a seven-figure income as one of the country's top lawyers he went to the community instead, then into the United States Senate. His life has been one of stunning achievement, without the advantage of wealthy parents.
It is of course impossible to find achievement of that sort in the curriculum vitae of Sarah Palin, whether academic, political, or societal.
HRW
which is exactly why he isn't qualified, plus the company he kept.
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He went from academia to an organizer (agitator). He's never witnessed first hand what it took to run a business. When in the Illinois senate, he spent many of his votes as "present". People in power latched onto him because of his color and far-left politics and are now riding him in the WH.
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I'm not a Palin supporter because I feel like she's been dirtied by the press, and don't feel she's the most qualified. I support Mitt Romney.
I'm not really a Palin fan,
I'm not really a Palin fan, but if she is so inexperienced, illequipted and stupid; why are the liberal left so afraid of her?
Not afraid, but wise to be aware....
I would say the left would be wise to not get cocky, is all I'm saying. It's ridiculous, this far out, to think you can reliably predict what will happen in 2012.
Obama's ratings may be in the 50s or 60s now, depending on where you look, but that's meaningless. Remember Bush I's ratings after the Gulf War!
So many variables.....the economy obviously, unknowable foreign crises, etc. etc. etc. The right assumes his plans will tank and people will curse his high spending. Maybe, maybe not.
Palin has shown she has appeal. If everything falls into place, it could happen for her.
For the left to assume she will falter, not learn from mistakes, that Obama's plans will definitely work, that he's unbeatable, that's a huge mistake of hubris.
The left should not fear her, but be aware of the discontent she represents. Ignore that at your own peril.
That said, if I had to place my bets....totally unscientific, just my hunch.....I'd say 40% chance she gets the GOP nomination. If she does, if the economy is at all reasonably recovering, and if Obama is doing well enough to get positive approval ratings, extremely unlikely she'd beat him.
....what's so funny about peace love and understanding? E.Costello
To reader Nukman
Why would you say that the "liberal left" is afraid of Sarah Palin? She lost the election for McCain, and if she attempts to run in 2012 she will split the Republican vote badly. I should think that Sarah Palin is the greatest asset the Democratic Party has, in terms of siphoning funding from viable candidates, siphoning headlines from viable candidates, and recruiting liberals into phone banks. She can rouse only the same twenty percent of the voting population that Rush Limbaugh can, the difference being that no one is writing Mr. Limbaugh checks to support a campaign that, say, Pawlenty or Romney could have really used.
Everyone is so scared and frightened
What is it with you ditto heads, that you keep repeating that the "left" (code for anyone who is not on the marginalized, far-right)is afraid a Palin.
Name a single Democrat or Independent afraid of this intellectual giant.
Instead of being honest and straight-forward, she delivers an incoherent, fuzzy press conference which never addresses the reasons she quit the people of Alaska. It would have been less disingenuous if she had actually stated that she was stepping down to seek higher office. There is no indication of that.
This women is scrutinized because she can never give a straight answer about anything. Instead of talking to mainstream media, she takes softballs from Greta and Runner's World.
It's hard to come up with a single Republican with less credibility
Then Vegas - let it go!
and tell the folks on your side to do so also. She's not a threat, so quit acting like she is. Unless, she really is!
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Oh, how hard it must be to be a liberal. You've got the executive branch and both houses of the legislative branch and a majority of governorships - but can't stop talking about little old Sarah Palin.
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I'll tell you what - if I was in your shoes with the majorities you've got, I wouldn't give a rat's *ss about some lady that may or may not run in 2012.
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For your side to keep talking makes us think you are worried. Prove us wrong!
Twas
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Oh, how hard it must be to be a liberal. You've got the executive branch and both houses of the legislative branch and a majority of governorships - but can't stop talking about little old Sarah Palin.
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I'll tell you what - if I was in your shoes with the majorities you've got, I wouldn't give a rat's *ss about some lady that may or may not run in 2012.
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For your side to keep talking makes us think you are worried. Prove us wrong!
Twas,
I don't think many people give a rat's ass about her.
But, why is she off-limits to discuss on matters of politics? I think that moderates and the left are critical of her because they find her to be divisive, evasive, inarticulate and somewhat of a hypocrite.
The thing is, she is also hammered by intellectually honest conservatives on the right.
Even Fox's Liz Trotta..."...The woman is inarticulate, under-educated...what would William F. Buckley have thought of her as the standard bearer for the conservative party?"............
Link Below
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uvj-Xr0irhE
Yes prove them wrong by not speaking up anymore
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Oh, how hard it must be to be a liberal. You've got the executive branch and both houses of the legislative branch and a majority of governorships - but can't stop talking about little old Sarah Palin.
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I'll tell you what - if I was in your shoes with the majorities you've got, I wouldn't give a rat's *ss about some lady that may or may not run in 2012.
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For your side to keep talking makes us think you are worried. Prove us wrong!
Which is exactly what these wingnuts want. LOL
So transparent.
And in reference to talking about Sarah Palin
Please note that substantial criticism is coming from mainstream Republicans, a significant amount from conservative Republicans, and most importantly from Alaskans themselves. Also please note that Ms. Palin is herself blogging vigorously, and clearly has expressed no desire to move from the spotlight, as long as it's an uncritical spotlight.
Funny how Arturo can call names and not get censored...
But if it comes back his way he goes crying for Yael!
What are you doing here???
DanBeyer....wha?????
What are you doing here???
Very confused, what in the heck are you talking about???
....what's so funny about peace love and understanding? E.Costello
Look before you leap.
There ought to be a law; that anybody who chooses to run for higher office must resign from their current elective position. If that is what the Alaska Governor plans to do, than more power to her. I grow weary of those who "take time away from their busy schedules" with pay, in order to run for president. If nothing else, it would screen out those who are just bored with their daily routine, know they have no chance to succeed, and are just running for the heck of it.
Now, if Madam Palin resigned from the governor's office only for the reasons she gave, then she is doing a disservice to those Alaskans who elected her to represent them. After all, presidents receive more personal attacks than any other politicians in the world. Every move they, or members of their family, make is subject to extreme and highly personal criticism. That's just part of the job. Always has been and always will be. If she can't take the heat.....
Well
If you are going to run for POTUS then you should quit (the Obama fans word) or resign (the Palin fans) your day job. If that is in fact her intent.
Quit or resign is the same thing--only one is used deliberately to be an insult. Go figure.
hmm
Like Hillary? McCain?
Yes
Like Hillary? McCain?
Yes.
Thanks twas
One thing the Dems have learned from the GOP is they need to create someone so evil so that persona can be painted across the whole spectrum of the party. Rush doesn't work so much but they tried. So now its Palin.
I thought of Dole too, but that was more campaign rhetoric. Didn't he say in his resignation speech, "its either the White House or Russell, Ks". Well, I don't think he set up residence in Russell in '96 nor was he planning to. So that move did fall flat.
You can tell Dems are scared
You can tell Dems are scared of someone when they start trashing them. Most of the time they will just talk about them being uneducated, unqualified, not ready, etc., but when they start trashing families and children and lives, that's when they're scared. It's not good enough for Sarah to just lose, they want to destroy her so she'll never have a chance.
The exact same thing they did with Dan Quayle. If you check out Quayle's resume, you'll find he was much more qualified and educated then most of the people in Washington, so he had to be destroyed by the left and the press and he was.
Palin criticism
If you actually read the media, much of the criticism directed towards Palin came from the right-wing commenters.
Yes "overambitious"
...such a dirty word to place on the shoulder of a female. But Hillary Clinton was also labeled as a evil, racist monster by the Obama followers. So she's in good company, IMO.
Truth is Palin will never garner the GOP nom for Pres or VP. I think that's reality. Yet here the usual suspects of Yael, Barb and Arturo feel the need to continue trashing her. (Yes arturo your headline is a sham, this article is nothing but trash) I guess there is nothing else going on in the world, right?
And what really is wrong with "quitting" in order to run for a seat down the road? Seems like it is the honest thing to do. Obama spent 143 days in the Senate before he decided to run for Pres. How much of his time was actually spent on Senate business after he announced? Why didn't he resign to run? Why doesn't the public make their Senators quit in order to run for Pres? Looks like you want to give Palin a different set of rules.
I know this. Palin and I are on very different sides of the aisle of many issues, but I have a tremendous amount of respect for her. More so than ANY female on the Dem side of the aisle--and certainly more than Barb Shelly.
Good post, Jenni -
I too don't think she will get the nomination, but I respect her for not making the Alaskan people pay for her run. I can only think of two people who quit to run - Bob Dole & Sarah Palin - both Republicans. There may be more. If so, please enlighten me.
Quitters don't win
And winners don't quit. Dole is a perfect example.
Yes, Apop, you must be so proud
that your guy spent 143 days in his Senate job representing his constituents before he spent the remaining 1,460 campaigning for the presidency. And I don't want to hear that he fulfilled his requirements for his Senate job. How many other things could he (or his replacement) have done for his constituents had he been in Washington and in Illinois during that time?
No, his Senate job was for one purpose.
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Aren't you proud?
He fulfilled the requirements of his Senate position
No, his Senate job was for one purpose.
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Aren't you proud?
And McCain made so many mistakes in his campaign, which indicated that he was not presidential material, so yes, I have no regrets that I indeed voted for the better candidate.
I don't see it as a matter of pride, but rather being comfortable with my decision, which I am.
Oh, rats -
if McCain hadn't "made so many mistakes in his campaign" - he would have had Apop's vote.
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Isn't that amusing?
Actually McCain never had my vote
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Isn't that amusing?
Not a fan of his going way back. Something about him always said "unstable" to me. He may have been able to win me over, but he never did.
So actually for me the choice was Obama or one of the third party candidates.
nice
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Isn't that amusing?
Not a fan of his going way back. Something about him always said "unstable" to me. He may have been able to win me over, but he never did.
So actually for me the choice was Obama or one of the third party candidates.
How is that Obama guy workin out for ya? You still in the twilight zone or is reality catching up to to hope & change
Actually he's workin out just fine for me
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Isn't that amusing?
Not a fan of his going way back. Something about him always said "unstable" to me. He may have been able to win me over, but he never did.
So actually for me the choice was Obama or one of the third party candidates.
How is that Obama guy workin out for ya? You still in the twilight zone or is reality catching up to to hope & change
He set a date for withdrawl from Iraq, is working on closing Gittmo and reforming health care. I'm quite pleased. Thanks for asking.
On Palin's reason
I think the best read is #5:
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1908800,00.html?xid=rss-topstories-cnnpartner
As for bladefist's post, my own take on Obama is that he's made a more than decent start, though as we're seeing (and as Nobel prizewinning economist Paul Krugman predicted back in February), the stimulus package should have been significantly larger from the outset.
Let's see if the Senate can pass the most significant piece of legislation ever to address climate change, and it'll be a pretty darn good first year for a president.
Competency. It's darn nice to see it back in the White House. No wonder the right-wingers are up in arms about the guy -- he's proven quite savvy and effective, while the likes of Palin, Sanford, and other GOP "hopefuls" are spectactularly imploding.
Interface - you brought up "Climate Change"
legislation again. I would think that would be the LAST thing you would mention, since you WON'T ANSWER MY QUESTION!
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It's obvious the only answer you could have would be your adoring trust in Obama, without actually understanding what the legislation would do to our midwest utility companies (and their customers).
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So, by all means, don't question the holy Obama, because you could get an answer that would require you to think.
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Yael, please don't delete this. Interface has never answered my polite question, and until he does, I don't feel like he should be given a pass.
A "Reporter"
saying someone else is: irresponsible, overambitious, megalomaniac, that's just to funny. No sure about Palin but sure about the star.
Kcgrh - it's amazing to me that the Star
just can't stop talking about her. Every little piece of news (however insignificant it may be) draws out column after column. Then the blogger libs chime in.
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At present, she's no threat to anyone, but I think maybe the libs are fearful of what their Messiah is doing to this country. They won't admit they are worried because that would mean they would have to admit their insecurity.
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I'm not one to defend Palin right now. I just think it is very odd that they can't stop talking about someone who is supposedly so stupid.
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If she has no chance, why talk about her as if she does?
FEAR....
that's what is pushing the libs to keep trashing Palin..
She has that inherent ability to ignite people like Reagan IMO....
The libs know, as you said, that the big 0, the messiah, is making a mess of things, and Palin can easily communicate to people how the big 0 made a bad situation worse and added TRILLIONS to our national debt also..
The big 0, the messiah, looks more and more like Jimmy Carter II.
less then 16 months until sanity returns.
[laughing]
Fear, eh? [laughing]
Palin's the gift that keeps on giving. I'm rooting for her to toss her hat in the ring!
Then, Interface, what else is it that keeps you
people trashing her? If she was insignificant, who would care?
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BTW - I'm still waiting!
Twas....
Me thinks the libs are afraid of what Sarah Palin causes to happen. Much like Reagan, she can make people much more patriotic and proud of America. The big 0, the messiah, merely apologizes for America and is doing things to make us just another third world country.
Palin has the ability to call him on his lib ideas and state it in a way the person in the street can not only understand, but agrees with. This person on the street wants smaller more effective govt., the big 0 thinks govt. should be larger. This person wants less debt, the big 0 will spend trillions of dollars.
The libs truly fear her IMO...
column on Palin
But Palin didn't just quit. She quit -- and proceeded to praise herself for doing so. This took a quintessentially Palinesque form, combining an unjustified air of selflessness with an unjustified sense of self-pity. "I thought about how much fun some governors have as lame ducks: travel around the state, to the Lower 48, maybe, overseas on international trade -- as so many politicians do," Palin mused. "And then I thought: That's what's wrong. Many just accept that lame-duck status, hit the road, draw the paycheck and 'milk it.' I'm not putting Alaska through that."
Right. So when she was campaigning around the Lower 48 in pursuit of the vice presidency, or, later, setting up SarahPAC to pay for her political travel and turning up everywhere from Washington's exclusive Alfalfa Club to the Vanderburgh County Right-to-Life dinner, that was fine -- not putting Alaska through anything. But it's not fair to the state for her to be a lame-duck governor? What, someone's going to hold a moose gun to her head and force her to go on a trade mission?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/04/AR2009070402254.html
You libs are Hilarious....
If the messiah, the big 0, continues on his path and doesn't do what Sarah said:
“I am now looking ahead and how we can advance this country together with our values of less government intervention, greater energy independence, stronger national security, and much-needed fiscal restraint. I hope you will join me. Now is the time to rebuild and help our nation achieve greatness!”
Then we can run a duck in 2012 because the messiah, the big 0, is not getting reelected.
You libs are trying to socialize medicine, pass a cap and tax to drive remaining manufacturing to China and India yet you think Americans will reelect the big 0. You are in a dreamworld fortunately...
Kcpunky/Apop
Punky - How long was she on the McCain ticket? What, about 3 months.
Apop - I have plenty of opinions about a particular PRESIDENT. But do I care about VP candidates from the past losing ticket? You spend too much time worrying about someone from the other party.
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And lastly, Interface - I'm waiting!
[snicker] Come on flop....
Answer the question or be a man and say you have no answer...
Hope she runs in 2012
it would be a dream come true for the Dems. She proved in the past election how little she knows and that will not improve with age :-) Let's face it , she is a quitter. It is a clear sign that she never was ready for prime time. There are related posts at beginning at http://iamsoannoyed.com/?page_id=588
book, news personality, move to NY
Time for her to write a book...
Land a nice couple of slots on news programs...
Reality show?...
And move to NY, closer to the studios...
Short Amtrak commute to DC...