Have a break, Sarah Palin

The weather is a bit unsettled over here. We woke up in the middle of the night because of the thunder and lightning. It died down long enough for me to put this post together, but dark clouds are gathering again, so this will be short, just to keep things going.

Sarah Palin is still honourably giving advice to the President, still helping him progress the nation, just like she promised.

She knows sooo much about Libya and other Arab countries! President Obama is a lucky guy to have an insightful person like Sarah Palin sharing her wisdom with him so selflessly.

Can you just imagine the mess the country would be in without her? She was so helpful to the President and the country when she campaigned to elect all those clever teabaggers to Congress! Their contribution to the debt ceiling debate was priceless.

Her Facebook notes and clever tweets are loaded with precious advice and support for the President she respects so much. She's true to her word. She said she couldn't put all the pressure on one individual's shoulders and she's dutifully sharing the burden with him, always ready to help and encourage him with her kind words.

Every time she appears on Fox News she reinforces her support for the President, doesn't she?

What a girl!

The President and the country (hey, the world!) would like to thank Sarah Palin, but she must be tired by now, so we think she should take a looong vacation somewhere without any cameras, without the internet, without anything and give her fantastic brain, her sweet mouth and that busy tongue a well deserved rest.

You've done enough, Sarah. Really. Just go and relax. Take your family with you.

We'll manage, somehow.

Sarah Palin, same old words, two different styles on the same day

Sarah Palin did three interviews yesterday.

Between 9 and 11 am (Alaska time) she talked to Megyn Kelly on America Live, where she bashed feminists in general and Gloria Steinem in particular:

America Live, with Megyn Kelly

Then she changed into a more fetching outfit (???) to appear on Lou Dobbs Tonight (around 3 pm in Alaska), to talk about the economy:

Lou Dobbs Tonight

I think she got tired of sitting in front of the fireplace and moved to the window for the Greta show (5 to 7 pm Alaska time), where she indulged in her favourite activity. Yes, bashing President Obama:

On the Record with Greta Van Susteren

She more or less said how dare Obama go on a ten-day vacation, in Martha Vineyard of all places, yadda yadda (too elitist).

That's rich, coming from a woman who's been on a very well paid vacation for over two years!

I don't understand why, having been fairly well dressed in the morning, with a grown-up hairstyle, she then decided to change into a last frontier jacket, bad hair and completed the look with a big crucifix for the later interviews.

The inanity and vitriol of her words are consistent, but her choice of clothes, hair and accessories is very weird.

Remember this one?

[In the process of watching the videos frame-by-frame I noticed that she was doing the tongue thing very quickly, as if she had remembered NOT to do it and then checking herself. Maybe she caught my tongue videos on youtube and decided not to give me further opportunities to expand my collection of tongue shots? I'm sure she'll indulge again when she goes on Hannity, that's when she can't control the thing... Ha ha!]

Can you read a simple graph, Sarah Palin?

Sarah Palin likes to attack President Obama on his handling of the economy and the public debt:



Let's look at that graph again:


(Please click on the image to enlarge)

I hope this is not too difficult for Sarah to understand...

[H/T to Grasshopper for the graph]

Sarah Palin: "Thank you, president Bush"

Sarah Palin was as classy and generous as ever in Colorado last night:



President Bush made it all possible:



He wasn't too sure about which enemy he was after:



The guy Sarah Palin admires so much is a monument to sensitivity:

Sarah Palin should choke on her own words

Sarah Palin during the 2008 campaign:



President Obama, shortly after taking office:



Sarah Palin told the National Tea Party Convention:

"We need a commander in chief not a professor of law standing at the lectern."

Sarah Palin told Greta Van Susteren last week:

“We cannot afford our commander-in-chief, our CEO to” to not focus on his job."

She tweeted on April 8:



Osama bin Laden was killed, the Commander in Chief announced last night. The appalling Commander in Chief kept his promise.



Somebody forgot to include him in her thank you tweet:



Our reader austintxx posted this picture, which says it all:



(H/T to Austin and Curiouser)

Reader M found another Sarah Palin little pearl of wisdom in one of her Facebook notes:

"Mr. President, your hesitation and vacillation in the Middle East breed uncertainty. It’s symptomatic of the puzzling way you govern."

Recent bits and pieces about Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin is still doing her job of bashing president Obama on Fox News. Now her broadcasts have moved to the great outdoors and the chosen location has a landscaped garden, complete with a pretty artificial lake in the background. She's always animated when she mentions the president and in the new setting her hair is animated as well.



In her latest appearance there was a lot of blinking and lip licking.



Jason Easley commented on this recent round of Obama bashing on politicususa:

What Palin was insinuating with her little free and fair elections remark was that 2008 was not a fair election. Sarah Palin believes that the election was stolen from her by Barack Obama and his foreign money.


Inevitably, the other topic of interest is Babygate. David Wegel claimed that he contacted Mat-Su Regional Medical Center and obtained confirmation that Sarah Palin gave birth there, proving that all Trig Truthers are deranged and obsessed with with their theories about the pregnancy hoax. Does Weigel actually believe that all the bloggers who have been writing about this didn't think of phoning the hospital in the course of their investigations? After nearly three years he was the first person to get an answer out of them? How odd...

Of course Andrew Sullivan didn't fall for it and Phil Munger offered some local information that makes Weigel's claims look ridiculous.

Some bloggers are still intent in proving that Sarah Palin didn't give birth to Trig. It appears to be quite a difficult task and gives Sarah Palin an advantage: Until they actually prove something by producing cast iron evidence, she can chose to ignore their challenges urging her to prove otherwise.

Others have chosen to focus on the Wild Ride and use Sarah Palin's own statements about her labour and delivery of Trig to question her judgement.

Laura Novak interviewed a neonatal specialist and his answers were very interesting.

Delivering in small hospital without NICU:
For a full term baby with no known problems, this is fine because most babies and mothers do well. The equipment and personnel to resuscitate a baby would be there and the baby could be stabilized and transported to hospital with a higher level of care. However, when there are known problems with the baby, it makes no sense to take unnecessary risks that the baby will need immediate intervention that cannot be provided in community hospital.

Sally and Chuck Heath pose with Trig in one of the rooms
of a delivery suite at the local community hospital
a few hours after his premature arrival

Despite the happy outcome, the wild ride puts Sarah Palin on more dangerous ground than challenging the whole pregnancy. She has mentioned "Trig Truthers" in some of her speeches, but has never addressed the "Wild Ride Skeptics."

Sarah Palin is going to make a speech on May 3, addressing a crowd connected to special needs. I doubt that she will refer to her brave and selfless journey from Dallas to the Valley, when she took all necessary steps to ensure Trig's safe arrival...

Just the facts, Madam: A German chief banking economist gives his assessment about the US economy in 2010 and an outlook for 2011

In my last post I announced that I was going to publish a post about the US economy. Although not directly related to Sarah Palin, it's undoubtedly an important subject. One of the main reasons, if not the primary reason why Sarah Palin seems to have a chance of winning the Republican nomination is the dire economic situation in the USA. People are looking for a "savior", and why not choose Palin, the woman who doesn't really know anything, but also finds some resonance in her claim that she is apparently not connected to the "Washington elite", the people who supposedly are responsible for the huge economic problems, which are presently affecting many, many people in the USA. So why not choose Palin and "clean up the mess?" I fear that there still is a substantial amount of Republicans who are prepared to follow this simplistic and dangerous logic. The fact that the new GOP chairman Reince Priebus "coincidentally" visited Alaska just after Christmas 2010 also doesn't inspire much confidence.

To say that Sarah Palin is "finished" politically seems premature in my opinion. Sure, the "blood libel" speech might have reinforced the view in many independents, moderates and liberals that Sarah Palin has no business in being a serious contender for the US presidency, but what Palin apparently only cares about at the moment is her base. I get the impression that large parts of her base liked the "blood libel" speech a lot. The theme seems to be "Sarah against everybody else". Sarah against the despised "elites."

Without the economic crisis, Sarah Palin wouldn't even be worth talking about. But that's not the situation that the USA faces right now. The USA currently is probably in the deepest economic crisis since the second world war.

Views on the economy are always highly political. Also, economic developments often take a long, long time, usually several years. It's inevitable that political "blame games" are the result. The current government might not be responsible for mistakes which were made years ago, but it has the huge task of correcting those mistakes quickly in order to improve the economic situation. Therefore, it's difficult to find "unbiased" views, as the state of the economy and politics are so closely connected.

A few days ago, I got my hands on a new study which was published by the chief economist of one of the largest German banks, a bank with about 200 billion dollars in their balance sheets. The study was directed at the so-called institutional clients of the bank, at the investors: Primarily other banks and financial companies and institutions which are going to make decision about very large investments in 2011. The study examines the current economic situation in several countries, including European countries, and also including the USA.

This bank has a very good track record of making correct predictions. However, this is of course still just an opinion, and forecasts can be wrong. The study also included some data, which will be difficult to dispute and which sometimes "speaks for itself." All the data which has been compiled for this assessment comes from public sources, we are not talking about "secret" information. I found it very fascinating to read such an assessment which was written from a purely economic point of view, with no political "distortions", because it's very difficult to find such "honest" opinions.

The picture which is being presented about the state of the US economy is not pretty. As Palingates is a blog for facts, even if they may be uncomfortable, I immediately decided to share it with our readers.

The study is in German language, and a scan of the page can be seen here. There is another additional booklet with more statistical data, and I included all the graphics from this forecast relating to the economic situation in the USA in this post.

Here is the translation of the complete assessment for the current economic situation in the USA - the graphics follow afterwards:

USA: Between unemployment and mountains of debt

The year 2010 was dominated in the USA by a dent in the economic growth, which fostered concerns about an upcoming recession. The beginning of the year saw a promising development within the labor market, but the recovery later began to stutter. However, another economic downturn did not occur. Now, at the end of the year, the danger of a "double-dip" has decreased significantly. The economic indicators and the labor market seems to be stable.

As a whole, however, 2010 was a disappointment - since spring 2010 the US-economy started to grow only within its potential in production. Unemployment currently stagnates at 9 1/2 per cent - a very high level for the USA. This is not only a social and political, but also an economic issue. High unemployment could be the symptom as well as the cause of the rising structural unemployment. Many Americans lost their jobs in sectors (building sector, financial sector) in which there will probably not be a significant rise in jobs in the near future. Wrong or missing qualifications for sectors of high growth prevent a return of individuals to the labor market. In addition, long periods of unemployment devalue existing human capital. The USA will have to fight with these problems for a long time. Even at the end of 2011 the unemployment will probably still be higher than 9 per cent.

The federal state, which acted quickly during the crisis, when the private demand collapsed, will now act as a brake for the economic development. On the one hand, it doesn't look like there will be significant budget cuts in the new year. But in light of the very high deficit and and massively rising debt there is hardly any room for additional impulses from the federal state. The fact that the stimulus package from 2009 expires in 2011 will strain the economy. The US states and cities will probably profit from the cyclical rise of their revenues. But if these revenues will be enough to leave the budget cuts of the previous years behind remains to be seen.

However, the private demand should slowly become more stable, especially because of the slight decrease in unemployment and the positive effects on the income of the households. On average the US economy should grow about 2 per cent in 2011 (2010: 2,7 per cent), and the dent in growth at the end of 2010 will be followed by a recovery during 2011.

The US Federal Reserve will probably not extend their program for government bonds in mid-2011. A slight upturn in prices and a more robust economy will allow the Federal Reserve not to issue another stimulus. But the high level of unemployment will stop her from abandoning the "zero per cent interest policy" in 2012.

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That's the assessment. There is good news and bad news. One of the most important facts seems to me that a huge disaster, a breakdown of the economy could be prevented, due to the actions of the federal government. In addition, the situation seems to be quite stable now. But the bad news is that the high unemployment and the high debt will be problems that the USA will have to deal with for a long time.

Regarding the unemployment, there were very interesting, if not outright shocking statistics which accompanied this forecast.

First, we have an overview about the rate of unemployment from 1980 until today. Headline: "High unemployment - and no quick solution in sight." The graph shows the rate of unemployed people, in per cent of all people who are able to work (the grey ares mark "recessions"):

This statistic is of course already well known, but what really gives huge cause for concern is a second statistic that I wasn't aware of up until now: The statistic about the average duration of unemployment in the USA from 1950 to today. Headline: "Long-term unemployment at an all-time high."

Explanation of the German terms: "In Wochen" means "in weeks", and "Durchschnittliche Arbeitslosendauer" means "average duration of unemployment."

This statistic really shows how dramatic the current situation is: During previous times of crisis since the second world war, the duration of average long-term unemployment in the USA peaked at around 20 weeks. These days, the average duration of unemployment in the USA has sky-rocketed: It's currently at about 35 weeks!

High-unemployment always has been a "gateway" for extremists, and that's why we cannot simply "declare" at this point that Sarah Palin is history and turn to other, more pleasant topics. In these times of crisis, the "usual rules" of politics don't apply any more. Irrationality will continue to gain a foothold in 2011.

The "silver-lining" on the horizon is that the economic growth is expected to stabilize, according to the next statistic. Headline: "Expansion stabilizes in 2011."

Explanation of the German terms: "Real gross domestic product, change in % to the previous quarter, yearly rate."

Then we have a statistic about the salary development. This is a bit more complex, but also very interesting.

Explanation of the German terms:

a) Red line: Rate of unemployment (scale on the right)

b) Dark blue line: Hourly salaries (scale on the left), change in % per cent, average every 3 months

c) Light blue line: Hourly salaries (scale on the left), in % in comparison to the previous year

Headline: "Risk of deflation - High rate of unemployment dampens the salary dynamic"

What is interesting about this statistic is that there only appears to be a relatively moderate rise in salaries in the USA since the 1980s, which also certainly doesn't help to stimulate the US economy in general.

The last statistic is a more "unusal" one: It gives an overview about the "due date" ("Fälligkeit") of commercial US-mortgages (in billion USD). Headline: "The problem of re-financing continues to grow."

It is interesting to see that the need for re-financing of US-mortgages will continue to be extremely high during the next years. This will certainly also be a problem with permanent political consequences: It will greatly affect many families in the USA and will not be helpful for the current US-government and for the President, as many people will blame the government for the ongoing problems.

Please be aware that such an economic assessment and forecast is only an opinion, and other economists might come to different conclusions. But the most striking fact in my view is the dramatic scale of the current unemployment in the USA, and the data is hard to dispute. Especially the huge, unprecedented rise of the long-term unemployment which will continue to open the path for political pied pipers. The huge unemployment is not the fault of President Obama, as these economic trends took many years to develop and have complex causes which were set way back in the past, but he will continue to be blamed for not finding a quick solution. I do hope that the majority of voters will make their choice in 2011 and 2012 with a cool head and will not be swayed by those people who come along with the cheap promise of flushing out the "elites."

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Please re-tweet:

http://twitter.com/#!/palingates/status/26460485595439105

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Additional note by Patrick:

On the one hand I can see that one might feel uncomfortable to talk about facts which might be "damaging" for the current administration. But let's face it: President Obama will be blamed for the current economic situation anyway. Isn't it better to:

1) Research the facts
2) Then explain with facts why

- Obama is not to blame for the problems he inherited
- Obama did everything possible to avert an even greater disaster

The data shows that many problems appear to be structural problems: They developed over a long period of time. It's not President Obama's fault that the current workforce partly seems to have the "wrong" qualifications, and that in previous years many jobs were shipped overseas.

President Obama made huge efforts during the last two years, including saving the car industry.

Therefore I say:

Gather the facts and throw them in the face of the teabaggers. Don't retreat, re.....no, wait.....respond. ;-)

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Please treat this in the comments as an open thread.

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Fundraiser with Barack Obama - Determination and Pride - UPDATE! CSU Stanislaus has to disclose Sarah Palin's contract - Read the judgement

Guest post by Jula

Last week was a very interesting one. I had the privilege of seeing/greeting President Obama at a fundraiser. I came away re-energized.

Earlier on Sunday, BfromC also had a nice reminder about Frank Schaeffer’s good piece on political sanity prevailing: "Obama Will Triumph - So Will America", also published in Huffington Post.

The article was written by Frank Schaeffer, already back on December 21, 2009, but they are words to consider when one is feeling pretty bad about how low things are going.

Final paragraph (it's worth reading the whole article):

The Future Looks Good

After Obama has served two full terms, (and he will), after his wisdom in moving deliberately and cautiously with great subtlety on all fronts -- with a canny and calculating eye to the possible succeeds, (it will), after the economy is booming and new industries are burgeoning, (they will be), after the doomsayers are all proved not just wrong but silly: let the record show that not all Americans were panicked into thinking the sky was falling.

Just because we didn’t get everything we wanted in the first short and fraught year Obama was in office not all of us gave up. Some of us stayed the course. And we will be proved right.

I saw that article when it came out originally and I thought he was right on. Obama came in with such huge (almost superhuman) expectations and this myth that the Dems have a filibuster proof Senate. They do not. They have low 50’s number of real Dems and then the Blue Dog “conserva-Dems” like Ben Nelson, Bayh, Landreau, Lincoln, etc. and “independents” like Lieberman that often side with the Republicans. And contribute to the right wing spin machine. Its impressive what he has gotten done so far, although I too get frustrated that more hasn’t happened. I’m glad to see even KO was more acknowledging of these facts in some of his criticism recently.

We cannot get discouraged even though the relentless right wing disinformation campaign seems to be winning the public debate lately! Especially Sarah’s disrespectful sniping and fear mongering.

Back to the fundraiser with Obama this past week:

Wow—talk about a difference from the Tea Party and Sarah rallies. Very racially diverse crowd, no disrespectful signs about the other side, no yelling, people bringing their kids, many seniors (supposedly a group Obama doesn’t have as a big base), many people talking about their charitable work. Some protesters outside, most of whom had various things on their signs. Nothing specific about the mosque issue that I saw. In fact, the opponent of the candidate Obama was stumping for was there in plain site and people just walked right by him and never said a harsh word. Some even greeted him.

There were some African American kids sitting next to me and you could just see them sit up a little straighter and beam with pride that this country was open minded enough to elect a black president who is such a wonderful role model for them.

As usual, Obama was intelligent, gracious and very articulate. He recounted the mess he inherited and the progress since he took office. He spoke about not giving into fear and division and not to underestimate the American workers. And that Americans have been through a lot and never lost hope. And yes we can.

Addressing his poll numbers, he emphasized that he is elected to do what was RIGHT, not what was popular and that sometimes you just have to establish the foundation to continually build upon (I assume that he was referring to healthcare, etc.). And if you don’t get everything right away you keep trying and need to take the long view.

Even the digs at Republicans were done with that same charming snarkiness that Rachel Maddow also does so well that it doesn’t come across as mean spirited. One of his best line: ”When you want your car to go forward you put it in “D”. And when you want to go backwards…..well, you know the rest."

I have certainly been frustrated with him sometimes. But we cannot lose site of the big picture. And we cannot lose faith—the good guys are in charge now. I thank God every day that we elected this super smart and decent person versus Uncle Fester and the crazy lady from Wasilla.

So, in the vein of slow and steady progress, the ‘gaters are keeping at it to expose the hypocrisy and move this country forward. In the end, I agree with Frank Schaeffer that truth and decency will win out.

P.S. Obama’s other best line: "There are no coincidences."

P.S.P.S. The national media were there and I discreetly gave some of them a card with palingates URL when they walked by. Ya never know!

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Note by Patrick:

I always thought that the following clip is a fitting depiction of what Barack Obama was facing when he took over the leadership of the country.

Obama campaigned in the rain in Chester, PA, on October 28, 2008. It was a bitter cold day. John McCain cancelled his own rally 50 miles north due to the bad weather.

The Americans voted for the tough guy. Good choice!

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UPDATE - GOOD NEWS:

The "Palin-curse" now struck CSU Stanislaus with full force - again (see our previous reporting). The Superior Court of the State of California ordered in a very precise and convincing judgement that CSU Stanislaus has to release Sarah Palin's secret contract which the CSU Stanislaus Foundation signed with the Washington Speakers Bureau.

Fortunately, we already got hold of the original ruling, which can be downloaded HERE.

SFGate reported today that CSU Stanislaus is "perplexed":

CSU has yet to receive the judge's ruling, said spokeswoman Claudia Keith, "We're perplexed as to how he could have come to that conclusion," she said. "Nevertheless, we'll comply with whatever the court has ordered."

Well, we are not "perplexed", because the reason for the need to disclose the contract is pretty obvious, it's not exactly rocket science:

The court also stated in the description of the facts of the case that the University was so eager to protect Sarah Palin and her request to keep the contract secret that at the beginning they went so far to LIE for Sarah Palin:

Fortunately, due to the persistence of "California Aware", the two students Alicia Lewis and Ashli Briggs and State Senator Leland Yee, the University didn't succeed with their dirty tricks.

Now we will have the pleasure to see for the first time a complete copy of Sarah Palin's contract which was negotiated for her by the Washington Speakers Bureau.

Secrecy is Sarah Palin's best friend. Good to see that outside Alaska, people are willing to apply the law correctly, even if it doesn't favor Sarah Palin and her desperate need for secrecy.

Inside Alaska, however, there isn't much hope.

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BONUS:

You know why:

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Sarah Palin: Why I am qualified to be President of the USA - UPDATE!

It's time for us to take a break from the ongoing Palin/Johnson marriage soap opera, and turn to politics again.

Is Sarah Palin qualified to be the next US President? What would be better than to let Sarah Palin speak for herself.

She did an interview with Bill O'Reilly on November 19, 2009, and probably because this was during her book tour, the interview didn't receive a lot of attention -it was overlooked. However, it should get a lot of attention! Because this was actually one of the very few times when Palin was ready after her resignation from the Governorship to talk about politics in greater detail. As you can imagine, as usual she performed badly.

You can watch the complete, one-hour interview by Bill O'Reilly here:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

As it becomes more and more obvious than Sarah Palin is going to run for President, the time has come for us to revisit this interview. Let's start with a "biggie". Sarah explains why she thinks that she is qualified to be President - certainly a key question:

"Commonsense"! Brilliant! That probably means that a large part of the US population would be qualified to be the leader of the free world. You should expect nothing else from an "exceptional" country! ;-)

See the excellent comments by the "Young Turks" regarding this part of the interview HERE.

Let me also mention some facts, which Sarah Palin conveniently left out or distorted in this clip:

1. After Sarah Palin was elected mayor to the city of Wasilla, she had to hire the city manager John Kramer who then actually ran Wasilla - because Sarah Palin couldn't handle her job.

2. Sarah Palin quit her highly paid job in the Alaskan oil & gas commission after 11 months - because she couldn't handle her job.

3. Sarah Palin quit as Governor of Alaska after 2 1/2 years - because she couldn't handle her job.

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Some more short clips from the interview.

Sarah Palin said that there were people who said that she should have "aborted" Trig:

Now this is a fascinating insight into the crazy mind of Sarah Palin! Who ever wrote or said that she should have aborted Trig? I have never read anything like that. Did she just made this up - or maybe she is convinced that this is the truth? I don't know which alternative concerns me more.

This woman is a whackjob. The fact that we are talking about her is like a scene from a surreal Bunuel movie.

Actually, to be precise, watching Sarah Palin in action is pretty much like Bunuel's great, highly recommended movie "The Phantom of Liberty." Does the description on Amazon sound familiar to you:

"None of it makes sense, except that it makes absolute sense."

Sums up Sarah Palin quite nicely!

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Sarah Palin doesn't like it that the USA is deeply in debt with China. Well, say "thank you" to your friend George W. Bush!

If you have watched this short clip, please pay close attention to the next one. Would Sarah Palin actually have done anything different than George W. Bush? It doesn't seem like it. She praises him and apparently thinks that he has done a pretty good job!

She also thinks that America has to eliminate the "Al Quaida cells", because otherwise they would come over "to destroy America". It doesn't get much more simplistic than that, and with Sarah Palin as President, it's certain that the war in Afghanistan will continue - forever and ever, until the last "cell" in the Afghan mountains has been found and the last billion has been spent. I think the Russians already tried that before, and we all know where that got them. Perhaps Sarah Palin wants to ensure the downfall of the USA.

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If you ask the future President Palin a question, make sure that you explain it properly, because otherwise she might not be able understand it. It''s really just a matter of courtesy!

And for Heaven's Sake, please don't ask her what she reads, also as a matter of courtesy.

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What about healthcare, Sarah? OK, I see: You want "Free-market results-oriented patient-centered solutions", you think that Obama's healthcare plans are evil, and at the same time your family happily enjoys free Government healthcare in Alaska. Glad that we cleared that up!

Apart from that, she talks in this clip for example about "Gitmo", Obama's actions on the road to socialism which "scare the heck out of her", and whether she has ever met Obama (she just met him twice and said "hello").

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Two short and pretty hilarious clips to finish this post.

Sarah Palin dives into the Bunuel movie again and explains that her only "skeleton in the closet" was a "D" on a college course:



Sarah Palin: You lie! ;-)

Your closet is so full, it's about to open on its own!

Let's finish on a high note. Sarah Palin says that it's fair to call out politicians by their associations with others:

Thank you so much, Sarah! We will expand on this point in later posts! :-)

I hope that you have enjoyed these insight into Sarah's qualifications, and please treat this post in the comments as an open thread, as so many other fascinating things are currently taking place in Sarah's world in beautiful downtown Wasilla.

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UPDATE:

I just found this amazingly well done video with Palin's various explanations what the Vice-President does. This should definitely be a part of this little insight into Sarah's limited intellectual capacities. But at least she has "commonsense"! (In Sarah's mind, that means: Make as much money as possible, as fast as possible and take the money and other goodies from as many people as possible)


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Sarah Palin unhinged - VIDEO - UPDATE!

President Obama upset our Sarah when he declined to comment on her remarks about the START Treaty he signed in Prague:

"I really have no response. Because last I checked, Sarah Palin's not much of an expert on nuclear issues."

Still on a high from the rally with Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin addressed the Southern Republican Leadership Conference. Thankfully, this is a short video.



She was almost manic when she talked to Sean Hannity in Minnesota. I didn't think she could get any worse.

I was wrong.

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Here's a bonus video, just for fun:

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UPDATE (by Patrick):

OMG! You have to listen to that! Sarah Palin at the "W(h)ine and Spirits" convention in Las Vegas - the complete, rambling speech. The audience is extremely reserved, there is hardly any applause - but Sarah behaves as if she speaks in front of a roaring Republican mob... ;-)

It gets pretty interesting from a "babygate" viewpoint from about 26:45 onwards, when she suddenly starts to talk about her "pregnancy", Trig's birth, Bristol's pregnancy etc.

As usual, Sarah has a lot of praise for America in general, the "greatest nation on earth" line is included in ALL of her speeches. May I ask the question how Sarah can assert that her own country is the "greatest on earth" when she herself has seen NOTHING of the rest of the earth so far - apart from a military base in Kuwait, a military hospital in Germany and the Hong Kong airport? Oh, maybe there were a hospital and a few more hotels in Canada as well.

I have uploaded the complete speech to tindeck, therefore it's very easy to listen to it and to download the MP3 file - just click on the button:

H/T to Finny - and many thanks to the unknown person who recorded the speech - the sacrifice will never be forgotten. Originally published at Huffington Post.

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UPDATE 2 (by Patrick):

Hilarious! A special treat for all of you, straight from youtube - Sarah Palin, the worst mother in America! You won't be disappointed! People are definitely becoming more informed. I guess somebody reads the blogs... ;-)

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Healthcare: President Obama in top-form, pokes fun at Republican disaster prophecies - Open Thread

h/t kellygrrrl from "FreeRangeTalk"!

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Yes!

Of course, it's hard to please everybody...


Just go with the flow, Barracuda. Just go...
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Message to Sarah Palin: "We don’t quit. I don’t quit."

Apparently Sarah Palin and Hannity watched a different State Of the Union speech. What's more likely, though, is that they were either too keen to distort President Obama's words or too stupid to understand what he said.

Here are some highlights from President Obama's speech:

Now, the true engine of job creation in this country will always be America’s businesses. But government can create the conditions necessary for businesses to expand and hire more workers.


We should start where most new jobs do – in small businesses, companies that begin when an entrepreneur takes a chance on a dream, or a worker decides its time she became her own boss.

Through sheer grit and determination, these companies have weathered the recession and are ready to grow. But when you talk to small business owners in places like Allentown, Pennsylvania or Elyria, Ohio, you find out that even though banks on Wall Street are lending again, they are mostly lending to bigger companies. But financing remains difficult for small business owners across the country.

So tonight, I’m proposing that we take $30 billion of the money Wall Street banks have repaid and use it to help community banks give small businesses the credit they need to stay afloat. I am also proposing a new small business tax credit – one that will go to over one million small businesses who hire new workers or raise wages. While we’re at it, let’s also eliminate all capital gains taxes on small business investment; and provide a tax incentive for all businesses, large and small, to invest in new plants and equipment.

You see, Washington has been telling us to wait for decades, even as the problems have grown worse. Meanwhile, China’s not waiting to revamp its economy. Germany’s not waiting. India’s not waiting. These nations aren’t standing still. These nations aren’t playing for second place. They’re putting more emphasis on math and science. They’re rebuilding their infrastructure. They are making serious investments in clean energy because they want those jobs.

Well I do not accept second-place for the United States of America. As hard as it may be, as uncomfortable and contentious as the debates may be, it’s time to get serious about fixing the problems that are hampering our growth.

This year, we have broken through the stalemate between left and right by launching a national competition to improve our schools. The idea here is simple: instead of rewarding failure, we only reward success. Instead of funding the status quo, we only invest in reform – reform that raises student achievement, inspires students to excel in math and science, and turns around failing schools that steal the future of too many young Americans, from rural communities to inner-cities. In the 21st century, one of the best anti-poverty programs is a world-class education. In this country, the success of our children cannot depend more on where they live than their potential.

Now, the price of college tuition is just one of the burdens facing the middle-class. That’s why last year I asked Vice President Biden to chair a task force on Middle-Class Families. That’s why we’re nearly doubling the child care tax credit, and making it easier to save for retirement by giving every worker access to a retirement account and expanding the tax credit for those who start a nest egg. That’s why we’re working to lift the value of a family’s single largest investment – their home. The steps we took last year to shore up the housing market have allowed millions of Americans to take out new loans and save an average of $1,500 on mortgage payments. This year, we will step up re-financing so that homeowners can move into more affordable mortgages. And it is precisely to relieve the burden on middle-class families that we still need health insurance reform.

Now let’s be clear – I did not choose to tackle this issue to get some legislative victory under my belt. And by now it should be fairly obvious that I didn’t take on health care because it was good politics.

I took on health care because of the stories I’ve heard from Americans with pre-existing conditions whose lives depend on getting coverage; patients who’ve been denied coverage; and families – even those with insurance – who are just one illness away from financial ruin.

Starting in 2011, we are prepared to freeze government spending for three years. Spending related to our national security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security will not be affected. But all other discretionary government programs will. Like any cash-strapped family, we will work within a budget to invest in what we need and sacrifice what we don’t. And if I have to enforce this discipline by veto, I will.

We will continue to go through the budget line by line to eliminate programs that we can’t afford and don’t work. We’ve already identified $20 billion in savings for next year. To help working families, we will extend our middle-class tax cuts. But at a time of record deficits, we will not continue tax cuts for oil companies, investment fund managers, and those making over $250,000 a year. We just can’t afford it.

Rather than fight the same tired battles that have dominated Washington for decades, it’s time to try something new. Let’s invest in our people without leaving them a mountain of debt. Let’s meet our responsibility to the citizens who sent us here. Let’s try common sense.

It’s time to require lobbyists to disclose each contact they make on behalf of a client with my Administration or Congress. And it’s time to put strict limits on the contributions that lobbyists give to candidates for federal office. Last week, the Supreme Court reversed a century of law to open the floodgates for special interests – including foreign corporations – to spend without limit in our elections. Well I don’t think American elections should be bankrolled by America’s most powerful interests, or worse, by foreign entities. They should be decided by the American people, and that’s why I’m urging Democrats and Republicans to pass a bill that helps to right this wrong.

But what frustrates the American people is a Washington where every day is Election Day. We cannot wage a perpetual campaign where the only goal is to see who can get the most embarrassing headlines about their opponent – a belief that if you lose, I win. Neither party should delay or obstruct every single bill just because they can. The confirmation of well-qualified public servants should not be held hostage to the pet projects or grudges of a few individual Senators. Washington may think that saying anything about the other side, no matter how false, is just part of the game. But it is precisely such politics that has stopped either party from helping the American people. Worse yet, it is sowing further division among our citizens and further distrust in our government.

So no, I will not give up on changing the tone of our politics. I know it’s an election year. And after last week, it is clear that campaign fever has come even earlier than usual. But we still need to govern. To Democrats, I would remind you that we still have the largest majority in decades, and the people expect us to solve some problems, not run for the hills. And if the Republican leadership is going to insist that sixty votes in the Senate are required to do any business at all in this town, then the responsibility to govern is now yours as well. Just saying no to everything may be good short-term politics, but it’s not leadership. We were sent here to serve our citizens, not our ambitions.

Throughout our history, no issue has united this country more than our security. Sadly, some of the unity we felt after 9/11 has dissipated. We can argue all we want about who’s to blame for this, but I am not interested in re-litigating the past. I know that all of us love this country. All of us are committed to its defense. So let’s put aside the schoolyard taunts about who is tough. Let’s reject the false choice between protecting our people and upholding our values. Let’s leave behind the fear and division, and do what it takes to defend our nation and forge a more hopeful future – for America and the world.

We have finished a difficult year. We have come through a difficult decade. But a new year has come. A new decade stretches before us. We don’t quit. I don’t quit. Let’s seize this moment – to start anew, to carry the dream forward, and to strengthen our union once more.

President Obama sent a few messages that apply to Sarah Palin:

"Let’s try common sense."

"We cannot wage a perpetual campaign where the only goal is to see who can get the most embarrassing headlines about their opponent – a belief that if you lose, I win."

"So let’s put aside the schoolyard taunts about who is tough."

"We don’t quit. I don’t quit."

Ouch!

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BONUS

You can read the funny bits and be spared the torture of listening to Sarah Palin.

VAN SUSTEREN: Speaking of cold, we're going up to Alaska. Governor Palin is up there. Governor Palin, if there is one single word that describes your view of the state of the union speech, what is it. and why?

SARAH PALIN, FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR/FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: In a word, "lecture." I think there was quite a bit of lecturing, not leading in that, as opposed to Governor McDonnell's follow-up comments, quite inspiring his connection with the people. He absolutely gets it, he understands government's appropriate role.

It seemed like our president has that fundamental disconnect between what people are expecting with their government and what he wants to deliver.

VAN SUSTEREN: And Governor Palin, in terms of the speech, do you think he managed to reach across the aisle, even though you used the word "lecture," are any Republicans persuaded, let's try to work together?

PALIN: Not necessarily Greta, because the remembrance here has got to be that he and the Democrats, they've been in charge of Washington this last year. So the common sense reforms that he is looking to Republicans to join him on, he could have implemented many of those "common sense," as he calls them, reforms all along. Nothing has stopped him from doing that.

His mention of offshore drilling, considering that, and new energy plants, and other things that do make a lot of sense, and I appreciate he mentioning those in the speech tonight. Those things that again are common sense he could have implemented. And I think that was a bit condescending as he spoke that received by Republicans, who are saying, wait, we wanted to do that all along. Where you been?

+++

Spot the "mandation"

"I tell ya, this is why people are disenchanted and becoming more and more disengaged really from what their government is doing because when we see an issue like this, words spoken that may not be true, coming from our president, and embarrassing our Supreme Court and not respecting the separation of powers... Since August more Americans have paid more attention to the (health care) bill and more Americans are becoming more concerned. It hadn’t been a matter of he not being able to explain his policy with government take over and mandation of health care, but Americans understanding what is in there not liking it."