Sarah Palin fights with devastating poll numbers and hooks up with the lamestream

"Sarah Palin’s Approval Rating Crashes to a New Low" was one of the typical headlines of 2010, and the situation for Alaska's most famous citizen is not improving: NBC/The Wall Street Journal published a new poll, and Palin looks "palin' by comparison":

Ouch! It does appear that US citizens really do not appreciate the efforts of Sarah Palin. How ungrateful of them...

HuffPost reports:

Public opinion on Palin leaves little room for her to improve only by swaying those who are undecided about her — she must actively change peoples' minds if she wishes to compete against Obama. According to the NBC/WSJ survey, 50 percent of respondents said they have a negative view of Palin while only 28 percent have a positive view. In the HuffPost Pollster trend estimate, Palin has only a 37-percent favorable rating, while 52 percent disapprove. This is an ominous sign for Palin not just because she is unpopular among those who express an opinion of her but because the vast majority of people do express an opinion - 78 percent of people in the NBC / Wall Street Journal poll and 89 percent in the HuffPost Pollster Trend estimate.

Romney, on the other hand, not only starts from a stronger position than Palin but may have more room to grow simply by becoming better known. In the new survey, respondents had a more positive view of Romney by a 28-percent to 20-percent margin (his HuffPost Pollster favorable rating is also positive, by a 34-percent to 31-percent margin). In the NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, more than half (52 percent) said they had no opinion of Romney.

The trend doesn't look too good for the ice queen either:

But who appears to be unimpressed by these terrible poll numbers?

Sarah Palin...as well as parts of the media from the group which Sarah loves to call the "lamestream."

So why not hook up with each other...?

Politico published a remarkably detailed, three-page-article, examining Sarah Palin's new media strategy. It is noteworthy that the journalists of Politico seem to keep a much closer eye on Palin these days after the controversy regarding Jonathan Martin's "Hurricane Sarah" article which famously resulted in Sarah Palin calling Jonathan Martin a "punk."

Politico reported on December 16:

The former Alaska governor has started cautiously cooperating with some of the same media outlets she and her supporters have accused of unfair and inaccurate coverage they feel has caricatured her as a flaky lightweight — a narrative her team seems determined to rewrite as Palin openly weighs a bid for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

“This is just about getting the press to characterize the governor accurately,” said Tim Crawford, a top Palin aide. “And, if that can be accomplished through Gov. Palin and some of the people around her talking to the press, we’ll try that.” (See: Palin has run in with press.)

Palin’s effectiveness as Republican John McCain’s 2008 vice presidential pick was undercut by the bad press she generated, particularly from her stumbling television interviews. After that experience — and particularly since her resignation as governor last year, which she says was prompted partly by unrelenting media scrutiny — Palin has mastered a high-impact, if unconventional, communication style that almost completely circumvents most traditional media.

Instead, she’s relied on conservative media outlets from which she is unlikely to face tough questioning (most notably Fox News, for which she is a paid contributor). She also taps social media such as Facebook and Twitter, combined with her own star power, to deliver cutting attacks on her opponents and the media that sometimes drive the political debate for days.

So what does Palin have to offer to the "lamestream?"

The latest example: ABC spared no expense and sent GMA co-anchor Robin Roberts to Alaska. The full episode was due to be aired today - some of the excerpts:

Well, to be perfectly honest, and with all due respect, ABC: If you do conduct an interview with Sarah Palin and produce nothing which really differs significantly from an interview on Fox News, then it probably wasn't worth it.

The constant attacks by Sarah Palin and her Palinbot attack brigade which were directed at the "lamestream" media DID deliver results: Despite the fact that Sarah is one of the most vicious politicians around and developed insults and "mean-girl-manners" to an art-form, tells lies on a regular basis and hides numerous private scandals and secrets, she doesn't need to be afraid to be asked in a very critical manner. It appears that no journalist is keen to have Palin's fanatical supporters at his or her throat, which would be the inevitable result of highly critical reporting, as proven countless times in the past.

No change of this sad state of affairs is to be expected to happen soon, and this is bad news, despite of the atrocious poll numbers. The "lamestream" continues to give Sarah Palin a pass.

Even the important conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer is being attacked in a pretty disgusting way by Palin's fans due to his opposition to Sarah Palin. The rabid right-wing "American Spectator" asked today:

"Does Krauthammer Have a Man Crush on Obama?"

Krauthammer likes Obama, he has a "man crush" on him? Well, the "American Spectator" seems to be convinced and explains the underlying reason for Krauthammer's alleged adoration:

My guess is that it has something to do with Sarah Palin. While Krauthammer has not called Palin "a cancer" or "a joke" as Brooks has done, his distaste for Palin is palatable. This was certainly the case in August 2009 when Krauthammer suggested that we ought to ask "Sarah Palin leave the room" after she coined the term "death panels."(...)

It seems to me that Krauthammer cannot get past Palin's accent. The prospect of a Palin presidency has Krauthammer so troubled that he is now prepared to cast Obama as another Bill Clinton and have four more years of Obama in the White House. How else does one explain Krauthammer concluding his article by comparing Obama to Ronald Reagan?

So there we have some revenge for Krauthammers open criticism on Palin, which he reiterated in a recent interview with Bill O'Reilly. It's really about Palin, who ought not to be picked on, and not about Obama.

The fact that Krauthammer criticized Sarah Palin on his show prompted Bill O'Reilly to give poor little Sarah the chance to defend herself. That's at least my impression - and to be perfectly honest again, the following clip with Bill O'Reilly is just as "enlightening" as a typical "lamestream" interview with Sarah Palin:

Palin: "I am sorry I am not so hotty-totty."

"Newshounds" posted a very good article about this interview.

Well, Bill O'Reilly clearly is not Sarah Palin's biggest fan, as became already apparent in the past, for example when Bill O'Reilly famously interviewed an ill-prepared Sarah Palin on immigration. I guess that's what Charles Krauthammer had in mind about when he called Palin "weak on policies."

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On a different topic, we recently received information from different people regarding the fact that the Palin family apparently bought a new home in or around Phoenix, AZ. Apparently Bristol now lives there with Tripp. This could also be Sarah Palin's base for the upcoming presidential campaign. While this is all still at a "rumor stage", due to the lack of hard evidence, I would like to point out that the rumors are "strong."

Speaking of Tripp - we received this picture a while ago. Tripp in the rain, bare-foot (of course...). The photo was taken at the back of Palin's house in Wasilla:

This picture appears to have been taken in July, so it was most likely a warm, rainy day. Sarah Palin's history of "bare footed neglect" doesn't seem to apply here. But it's a fun picture. What would be a good caption?

By the way, Levi certainly knows how to pick cool shirts for his son:

Levi, Bristol and Tripp - the soap opera will probably continue for the next decades.

Have a nice start into the weekend, everybody!

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PLEASE RE-TWEET:

http://twitter.com/#!/palingates/status/15937384919072769

http://twitter.com/#!/palingates/status/15937820891807745

http://twitter.com/#!/palingates/status/15938333679034368

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Sarah Palin and Bill O'Reilly and their interviews about the oil spill and immigration: Not a love affair

Sarah Palin states her case during her interview with Bill O'Reilly about immigration on July 9, 2010

Bill O'Reilly is not a flag waving fan of Sarah Palin, as became more than obvious again yesterday when he interviewed Sarah Palin on Immigration. Bill O'Reilly caused an incredibly embarrassing moment for Sarah just a few weeks ago when he asked her what solutions she would suggest to solve the Gulf oil disaster. The woman, who a few days earlier addressed the President on her facebook and boasted...

"We’ve all lived and worked through the Exxon-Valdez spill. They can help you. Give them a call. Or, what the heck, give me a call."

...then just came up in the interview with the Dutch and Norwegian dike builders who surely could solve the Gulf crisis.

Consequently, Bill O'Reilly dryly remarked later that Sarah Palin also cannot fix the oil spill.

Therefore it is my view Sarah Palin should have taken some time to prepare for her new interview about immigration - an area in which she has virtually no experience whatsoever, other than cheering on the appointed Arizona Governor Jan Brewer.

Bill O'Reilly could have interviewed his neighbor next door, it would have sounded pretty much the same. Because, as expected, Sarah didn't prepare one little bit and embarrassed herself again:

The Fox News contributors afterwards weren't impressed with Sarah Palin's performance:

This repeated failure on Bill O'Reilly's show caused even some Peebots, who usually defend any of her Queen's moronic actions, to loose their nerves:

I like especially the last comment by "militantfeather". It nicely sums up the delusional world in which the Palinbots live in.

We are very much looking forward to Sarah's next interview with Bill O'Reilly. I suggest that they should talk next time about "Cap and Trade". Or is it "Cap and Tax"? Well, Sarah, you decide.

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BONUS:

Here are the real "Mama Grizzlies" - the ones who don't want an unhinged, vindictive moron to become the next President of the United States:

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ANOTHER ONE:

I couldn't resist to post a good example of the personality cult which surrounds Queen Sarah. The Peezoo are meeting in San Diego this weekend, and the Queen graciously called in. See the reactions:

How much time do you think Sarah Palin had to spare on the phone for her most devoted followers?

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Sarah Palin, still lying about her record regarding the oil industry in Alaska

Sarah Palin, in her attempts to undermine President Obama, continues to make wild claims about her tough stance when she dealt with the oil companies in Alaska before she quit the office of governor.

Sarah Palin told Bill O'Reilly yesterday:

"... as governor of Alaska, what I did in dealing with the oil companies and I’ll betcha 75% of my time was being taken up by energy issues here in this state. I had to set up our Petroleum Systems Integrity Office so that we could be there on the front lines making sure what the oil companies were telling us was legit when they were dealing with their corroded pipes that we find out and other lax maintenance issues. It took us putting that as the highest priority to to protect our resources to protect our environment including not just the physical environment but the human environment here."

Some people (with better credentials and more integrity than Sarah Palin) beg to differ. Mudflats had an excellent article by Richard Fineberg back in February where he blows Palin's claims right out of the water. Fineberg looks at a series of spills and other incidents in Alaska and draws our attention to the performance of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and the ineffectiveness of Sarah Palin's much trumpeted Petroleum Systems Integrity Office, highlighting the inaccuracies presented by Sarah Palin in Going Rogue.

Prior to the election it had been revealed that BP had been trying to save money for years by cutting corners on oil pipeline maintenance on the North Slope. This was very serious: leaks and spills from corroded pipelines were all too common and harmed the environment plus led to production slowdowns. So one of my first priorities was to establish the Petroleum Systems Integrity Office (PSIO). With the creation of the PSIO, Alaska became the first state to require industry operators to document their compliance with maintenance and quality assurance standards, and to share that information with the state. Unfortunately, the next year the House Finance subcommittee gutted more than a third of the PSIO budget. I fought to get it restored and finally succeeded.

The preceding excerpt -- one of Palin's few curtsies to environmental considerations in her autobiography -- is a mixture of fact, wishful thinking and empty rhetoric. Demonstrating her characteristic failure to follow through, Palin abruptly ended this snippet without telling readers what - if anything - the new agency accomplished during its two years under her tenure. The Alaska spill sequence that silently shadowed her Lower-48 book tour in late 2009 clearly suggest that the oversight procedures Palin claims to have established to insure safe production and transport of Alaska petroleum were either not in place or not working as intended.

Review of state documents reveals further evidence that Palin's new unit has not been able to fulfill the tasks or deal with the problems that Palin outlined in the passage above. According to the executive order establishing the PSIO in April 2007, the new agency's first major assignments were to conduct a gap analysis to identify redundancies and holes in the government monitoring process, and to "evaluate industry oversight of . . . facilities, equipment, infrastructure, and activities." When Palin left office two years later, the gap analysis had yet to be completed and there was no sign of a PSIO evaluation of industry management oversight programs.

Sarah Palin was economical with the truth in Going Rogue and continues to lie on her Facebook page and in interviews with her Fox News colleagues.

Jason Leopold, an investigative reporter, examines and documents how BP deals with safety concerns in their Alaska operations in an extensive article on Truthout. (This article was crossposted by Shannyn Moore on Mudflats as well)

This passage from the article doesn't sit very well with Palin's claims:

Two BP management officials, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss internal matters, said budget cuts were largely the reason equipment was not upgraded or repaired, and indicated that much of it has yet to be addressed. BP's Alaska budget for 2010 is $1 billion, compared with $1.1 billion in 2009 and $1.3 billion in 2008.

Moreover, according to two BP Alaska officials, projects related to "safety and integrity" have been cut by 30 percent this year and BP’s senior managers receive bonuses for not using funds from BP’s designated maintenance budget, a company wide policy implemented by Hayward. Documents show that Hayward also implemented a cost-cutting directive following the oil spills in 2006 in Prudhoe Bay.

Let's look at what Sarah Palin wrote in Going Rogue one more time:

Prior to the election it had been revealed that BP had been trying to save money for years by cutting corners on oil pipeline maintenance on the North Slope. This was very serious: leaks and spills from corroded pipelines were all too common and harmed the environment plus led to production slowdowns. So one of my first priorities was to establish the Petroleum Systems Integrity Office (PSIO). With the creation of the PSIO, Alaska became the first state to require industry operators to document their compliance with maintenance and quality assurance standards, and to share that information with the state. Unfortunately, the next year the House Finance subcommittee gutted more than a third of the PSIO budget. I fought to get it restored and finally succeeded.

Then at what she said to Bill O'Reilly:

"... as governor of Alaska, what I did in dealing with the oil companies and I’ll betcha 75% of my time was being taken up by energy issues here in this state. I had to set up our Petroleum Systems Integrity Office so that we could be there on the front lines making sure what the oil companies were telling us was legit when they were dealing with their corroded pipes that we find out and other lax maintenance issues. It took us putting that as the highest priority to to protect our resources to protect our environment including not just the physical environment but the human environment here."

I do hope these two well documented articles, which contradict Sarah Palin's statements, are picked up by the MSM and somebody points out that she keeps harping on a dodgy note, exposing her to a wider audience for the phony she is.

UPDATE

Bill O'Reilly said on Fox that Sarah Palin also "doesn't know how to stop that leak":

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In addition, the "Washington Post" already wrote on Monday that the Obama administration does indeed accept foreign offers, which contradicts Palin's accusations:

"We'll let BP decide on what expertise they do need," State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid told reporters on May 19. "We are keeping an eye on what supplies we do need. And as we see that our supplies are running low, it may be at that point in time to accept offers from particular governments."

That time has come.

In the past week, the United States submitted its second request to the European Union for any specialized equipment to contain the oil now seeping onto the Gulf of Mexico's marshes and beaches, and it accepted Canada's offer of 9,842 feet of boom. The government is soliciting additional boom and skimmers from nearly two dozen countries and international organizations.

In late May, the administration accepted Mexico's offer of two skimmers and 13,779 feet of boom; a Dutch offer of three sets of Koseq sweeping arms, which attach to the sides of ships and gather oil; and eight skimming systems offered by Norway.

UPDATE

Sarah Lied to Bill-O! - Gov. Murkowski began Arctic Pipeline Technology Team, NOT Sarah!

We received an interesting document from an alert Alaskan with a long memory: Andree McLeod, who's a Republican and a very resilient watchdog of local politics. Sarah Palin keeps saying she had to set up the Petroleum Systems Integrity Office as if it was a novel idea and completely her own. Here are the screenshots of a press release dated April, 2006:

Lying again, Sarah?

Sarah Palin's Fox News debut on Bill O'Reilly - Video - UPDATE - Rachel Maddow

Have a strong drink ready - Wasilli Vanilli can from now on "neutralize" her opponents on Fixed News. It surely will be a fun ride!



UPDATE

Rachel Maddow is so brilliant!

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