Thursday, November 19, 2009

Sullivan Deconstructing Sarah

Andrew Sullivan on Palin's Going Rogue:
"In this, the book is emblematic of late degenerate Republicanism, which is based not on actual policies, but on slogans now so exhausted by over-use they retain no real meaning: free enterprise is great, God loves us all, America is fabulous, foreigners are suspect, we need to be tough, we can't dither, we must always cut taxes, government is bad, liberals are socialists, the media hates you, etc etc."
Yeah, that sounds about right.

8 comments:

  1. No, I haven't, have you? What did you think? I know I keep saying I will stop writing about her but she really is fascinating and newsworthy. Plus I think now she likes the pub to sell her book. Can't blame her for that. I realized that I have 5 posts that mention her name, too many! Anyway, you know my views about her. She's a very attractive candidate in looks and manner. She is the base of the republican party today and as such deserves discussion. I don't think she is remotely qualified. I don't agree with any of her politics. She was a ferocious pit-bull in her flippant comments about my candidates, and honestly I do hold the socialist and pallin' around with terrorist remarks against her, although realize that they were ordered by the McCain camp. I saw her on fox with her first Greta Van Sustern interview, I believe, and she was OK, pretty good. I saw some of her other msm interviews and she tanked. Call a spade a spade. She used her baby as a prop, then complained about the media talking about it. Think about it, why would you get off the plane or the bus, carry Trig, wave to all the reporters, then hand Trig off to the nanny or relative to take care of? Why not just leave the child on the plane or bus with the nanny and leave the child out of it? She did this an awful lot Sheila, and she wanted to have it both ways.
    From the reviews I have read, she tells the story of her life in a charming way but blames almost every one else for her problems.
    If the criticism of her and her book were coming mostly from left-wingers I think she could have a point about it not being fair, but it is amazing how many conservative columnists, handlers, and pundits I have read that don't think she's all that.
    Not her fault at all, but she was totally unprepared for the spotlight. John McCain did a terrible job in preparing her for an onslaught - which ANY canidate faces. It is really his fault.
    Having said that, again, she is tremendously popular and charismatic and has a future, although I am sure not in politics. I would welcome her against my candidate of choice.
    Finally, the ghost-writer she chose is a noted homophobe and I really don't like that either.
    You've said you like her and I understand the home-town attraction, I really do, I even like her story in Alaska. The pics of her fishing and hunting are incredible. She really has lived a great life.
    I think when she has gotten in a pickle with reporters and when trying to portray something about her in a good light, she has not been honest. She was a little more dishonest than just fudging on her resume.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The line before last should read "she has not always been completely honest."

    ReplyDelete
  3. It's funny. When I corrected my last line I did not see your response but when I pushed publish the second time, your response came before mine. "Ghosts in the internet(s)!" One thing I like about when talking to you is that I feel for the most part, not all, but for the most, we try to leave the rhetoric out of the conversation and stick to our thoughts. I appreciate that. I really liked your thoughts on Gov.-elect Christie and said so publically. I agree that a vote for Daggett was not a vote to get anybody elected, but it is a shame.
    I did think you liked Sarah Palin, perhaps you only said you thought she got a raw deal sometimes.
    For gossip purposes, one of the latest stories on the left-wing blogs is that O'Reilly was mad at Hannity because his interview aired Wednesday night to huge ratings, while O'Reilly's 3-parter aired Thurs-Fri-Mon, I think to lesser ratings. ha! ha! I really don't like 3-parters!
    If I had the Palin book in front of me I would love to read it and probably would read it very quickly, but would not buy it because 1. I don't have a lot of extra money now, and 2. I don't really want to support her.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I forgot to say, I was curious, what GOP women do you think McCain should have considered last time around? Hutchinson? Whitman? Fiorina? OUt of those 3, I don't like Fiorina but do like Whitman. What were your thoughts?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Here, here!

    (Dole said some really, really, really nasty, very, very un-Christian-like things about her opponent in the last election. I used to like her)

    Maybe you, me and Sarah can have a cheeseburger together!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Just like Mary Matlin and James Carville??? Oh my goodness, the conversations that you must have.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I havent read her book but plan on getting it. If the McCain branch of the party is crying it must be ok. Not going to go into it but I agree with her on somethings but not all. I agree with you, im not sure why she is always holding her kid or favors Federal help to families with disabled children. As a conservative she mush know that that is best handled by the states or more preferably by the churches or other community groups (not to mention the federal gov has no consitutional athourity to do such a thing). I must say I would take two years experiance as Governor over two years as a Senator any year.

    ReplyDelete
  8. As a constitutional matter, I guess it's no one's responsibility to take care of our neighbors. But what about the moral obligation? I don't have the confidence that you do in our churches helping those that need helping. I think most churches want to help, but many of them lack the funds to set up real agencies for help.
    As for your last line, I would generally agree that experience as a governor is more akin to that of the president than a senator. However, as we have seen, a governor who quit her job in the middle of crisis, was not able to build a coalition outside of her rabid base, and was not able to handle even the easiest of interviews, is not a success, but a failure. She was a pretty cheer-leader, local television sports caster, small-town mayor, and small state governor who couldn't hang. She still blames her handlers and the media for her problems. She bombed. I literally can't imagine a President Palin dealing with Congress and the World. She would be controlled by her own party, and clueless against the world. Sorry, just my opinion.

    ReplyDelete