Still on the subject of education, Salon has an excellent article about Sarah Palin's deficiencies in the history department.
Sarah Palin's vacation from history
Well, of course she's not interested in American history. Hearing her stumble over her words as she mangled the story of Paul Revere was depressingly familiar. As history professors specializing in the Revolutionary era, we have heard our share of students returning muddled answers to basic questions. The difference between them and the former half-term governor, though, is that they are generally careful not to embarrass themselves. When they haven't read the assignment, they'll lower their heads and pray the professor doesn't see them. If called out, they'll promptly admit to a lack of preparation and promise to get their act together. Few of them ever plunge into the great unknown, and flail away, as Palin does routinely, with an off-the-wall answer, followed by a next day do-over amid protest that the professor didn't get what she meant the first time. College undergraduates possess at least a modicum of self-respect.
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We should prepare for some exciting and entertaining times ahead: Michelle Bachmann and Sarah Palin sparring in the political arena. For some reason, it made me think of Celebrity Deathmatch. The main characters have been keeping a low profile, but their aides decided to start the fun without them.
Palin adviser slams Bachmann strategist Ed Rollins for dissing the ex-governor
The spat between their advisers began Tuesday when Rollins disparaged Palin in a radio interview. “Sarah has not been serious over the last couple of years,” Rollins said. “She got the vice presidential thing handed to her. She didn’t go to work in the sense of trying to gain more substance. She gave up her governorship.”
In an interview with Politico, Rollins made the point again. Bachmann will “be so much more substantive. People are going to say, ‘I gotta make a choice and go with the intelligent woman who’s every bit as attractive.”
"Beltway political strategist Ed Rollins has a long, long track record of taking high profile jobs and promptly sticking his foot in his mouth," Michael Glassner, Palin's chief of staff, said in a statement to Politico's Ben Smith. "To no one's surprise he has done it again, while also fueling a contrived narrative about the presidential race by the mainstream media. One would expect that his woodshed moment is coming and that a retraction will be issued soon."
But Rollins declined to take back what he'd said about Palin. "What's the retraction?" Rollins asked. "I say she's serious?"
Wel, well, well... Michelle Bachmann's camp can't claim she was the most amazing CEO that ever lived...
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I've commented before that Sarah Palin's e-mails belong in another century. Crivella West agrees.
24,000 Sarah Palin Emails To Be Searchable on Crivella West Website
What was acceptable in the last century is no longer acceptable in the 21st century. Today, nearly all communication records are stored electronically. Instead of making what were once electronic records available electronically, the State of Alaska is printing, on paper, individual copies of the records for each party requesting a set. This process has converted searchable electronic records into a mass of unorganized, laborious to interpret and impossible to search information. Modern methods would also enable the releasing party to easily and inexpensively identify and withhold confidential information, when permitted, without lengthy and expensive manual review, and thereby respond to an information request in weeks, not years.
Crivella West, at its own expense, is converting a paper copy back into a searchable digital copy, and will make the digital copies available to the public without charge. In addition, Crivella West will provide analytical tools to organize the documents to help users find information of interest. Crivella West is continuing its collaboration with msnbc.com, Mother Jones and Pro Publica.
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Finally, it looks like Sarah Palin's photo-op with Margaret Thatcher is going from bad to worse.
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| (I'm thinkin' if I should show them my book that I wrote?) or... (Whose autograph do I get first?) |
Rush Limbaugh: wrong on Margaret Thatcher and Sarah Palin
The Thatcher ally quoted in my original blog told me on Wednesday that members of her circle were standing by their decision after the description of Palin as "nuts" was reported in the US. This is what the ally told me on Wednesday:
"Margaret will not be meeting Sarah Palin. If necessary we will make sure that Margaret has an off day when Palin is in London."
Ouch!
