Tuesday 21 December 2010

Palingates Weekly Roundup - December 13 to December 19 - UPDATE


Palingates - Best Political Blog 2010 - Blogger Choice Awards

We had great news this morning. Palingates has won the 2010 Blogger's Choice Awards for Best Political Blog! Thank you to all Palingaters, this award belongs to this extraordinary community, dedicated to tireless teamwork.

I would also like to congratulate Bill Hess on the well deserved award for his delightful photography blog.

And finally, warmest congratulations to another blogging community on winning the award for Worst Blog of All Time. They won by a very wide margin and earned every single vote. Well done!

***

By Blueberry Tart


Alaskan Hospitality?

Leadfoot_LA and Bella have done it again – their post is so much more entertaining than the TV show they are reporting on! This is the Sarah-Kate Gosselin episode. Let’s see, where to begin? Piper has her hair streaked and bumpited (is that a word?) and cheats on her math homework, which Sarah willfully ignores. They plan to take Kate plus 8 camping and, to put Kate at ease, emphasize the threat of bears attacking them while camping. “Sarah tells Kate that the only true way to stay safe is to have a partner that is slower than you…” That sounds true to Sarah’s character. Chuck’s house is an animal mortuary; he seems most alive when surrounded by dead animals. The camping adventure is staged to make Kate as uncomfortable as possible – nice job showing off your version of Alaskan hospitality, Sarah! Hmm, now it’s Willow in the same outfit from the Homer teacher harassment episode. Bella chimes in every now and then with pearls of wisdom, showing much more maturity than either Sarah or Kate.


First Family (not!)

“Multi-tasker in Chief” Kathleen has an excellent guest post, if you can get past the Time portrait of Cruella de Palin, described so well by the Bard’s prescient words. OMG, have you ever seen anyone who looked icier and harsher than she does in that portrait? As yknott said, “This shows her true spirit. Hateful, vapid, empty and manipulative.” It gives me chills. Kathleen highlights another conservative, Charles Krauthammer, pointing out why Sarah would not be successful in her much-anticipated run for the Presidency. In a nutshell, he says she cannot attract those who are not part of her ideological base, and her lack of knowledge of policy, as pointed out in the Katie Couric interviews and elsewhere, remains a huge barrier for all but her fringe supporters. The bigger message is that more Republican pundits are saying out loud that she is not presidential material.


I'm sorry I'm not so hotty-totty

The emerging story of Sarah Palin, the “PR genius” as she’s been called, is that the more people know about her, the less they like her. Her favorable to unfavorable numbers show a steady decline in her appeal, and a steady increase in the number of people who view her unfavorably and would not vote for her under any circumstances. Patrick includes a summary table that is really devastating to anyone who thinks she is electable: she has by far the biggest negatives of any of the public figures evaluated. Can she turn it around? She is now making herself available to the “lamestream” media for more “softball” interviews. They never probe or ask tough questions. Just more of Palin creating her own narrative, smiling a lot and repeating the same old time-worn, tired, trite, trivial talking points. (Even O’Reilly asked tougher questions.) ABC/MSM: this is PR, not journalism.


Sarah Palin tongue
The tongue works full-time...

Kathleen's post shows how Sarah Palin is trying desperately to reconstruct her personal narrative from "quitter" to "worker." She is now enlisting the MSM, on her own terms of course, to help reshape her image. Kathleen points out that this is a "flip-flop" from her prior position that she would not engage with any MSM...Faux News, Fakebook and Twitter have served her so well (as we saw in the last post). This post also includes two (!) boots-on-the-ground reports from the book-signing in Anchorage, where those wanting her signature were "free" to remove their coats so that there would be no embarrassing moments with people wearing Palingates T-shirts (someone's been reading Palingates...). Thanks, Sondra and the anonymous visitor! By evicting Gryphen and the "Worst Governor Ever" T-shirt wearer, Palin's minions made sure that their messages and Palin's antipathy toward freedom of speech would be seen/heard even more widely -- good job, henchmen! To end on a positive note, try the wonderful recipes, with a special H/T to Heidi3!


Comments of the Week

Bandit Basheert: She looks without seeing, she touches without feeling, she views without caring. She is an empty soul…trying to present a facade - and she is an epic fail.

CaliGirl22: I wonder WHO owns the out takes? Now, that would make a show I may actually watch, since i would never watch her real fake show!

Igetit2: Well you see this is the way it works: when they are at home in the big comfortable house and need something to eat, they rent a plane and fly out into the wilderness to hunt and gather. But when they are out in the wilderness and need something to eat, they get it from the grocery store.

Caty zeitler: I have lived in rural Alaska for 20 years. When you live up here you get a lot of people who come to visit. You just do not treat guests that way. And if you’re going to take them somewhere remote and feed them, you have the decency to bring food they will eat. And something else that gets me if you are hosting and taking someone out in conditions they are not used to you make sure they are dressed properly.

Sick of Sarah: Sarah...Haiti has that SMALL GOVERNMENT you always preach about needing here. No clean water, no sewer system, few schools, no UNEMPLOYMENT checks, no social services, no earthquake proof building codes, no government medical care, limited police...

Vilca found this unbelievable quote from a Palinbot: "…I can envision a future hero or heroine of Haiti writing an autobiography someday with a vivid account of a lovely lady who came from America one day, and transformed and inspired a life in the immortal space of a few small, shining minutes…a smile, of truth made, and not feigned…a light in the eyes, of truth made, and not feigned…bottomless depths of soul--all, all of truth made, and not feigned. "

Moseyon noticed that Palin was wearing an earpiece in the interview with Franklin Graham – is this an audio feed with the answers to the questions she was being asked?

Gyalist noticed that the tassel in Sarah’s purported graduation photo is the wrong color for someone with her purported major; Palingaters are on the case… to be continued.

SirGuestalot: The only things missing from that [Time] photo are the 101 Dalmatians.

DarkEFang: If Sarah Palin's entire public speaking career could be distilled into one sentence, it would be that: "They don't know how to spoken." Later: "Government Takeover of Healthcare" was named lie of the year by Politifact.com. Sarah is going to be pissed. She spent so much time making up lies all year, just to be beaten by Frank Lutz. I have to say, I never expected to see the day that Palin loses a lying contest.

Adrian: In terms of being perceived as a viable leader, that [RNC] speech, when no one knew her, was when she peaked. It has only been ➘downhill➘ since then. It's time to scrape her off of our national shoe. And then burn the shoe. And then bury ashes.

Kellygrrrl: Great minds talk about Ideas. Average minds talk about Events. Small minds talk about People. Stop and listen to what Sarah talks about 95% of the time

AKRNC had another conversation with insights from her Republican insider source (early Thursday); Malek and other Repub insiders are through with her, apparently. Later, AKRNC said: I am so sick of the media getting the blame for Palin's failures, whether we're talking about interviews, her standing among her constituents, etc…Palin is the one who has mishandled the media since the day the V.P. campaign began… she couldn't handle it …whined and complained, lied about the things that were said and continues to do so to this day…Talking about the media treatment regarding Palin doesn't take away from the fact that she doesn't have a clue as to foreign and domestic policy or the first idea as to how to run our country…

Louiecypher had more good advice for Sarah: Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.

Maelewis: Many of us women have gone to school with a mean girl like Sarah. We see right through her. We also have worked too hard for too long to let THAT women be the first woman president, elected by celebrity and a certain sexiness instead of being qualified for office.

465janedoeseeker: What's amazing to me is: how could ANYONE spend literally hundreds of thousands of dollars on spin doctors, image enhancers, coaches, speech writers, book writers, and PR people, only to see their ratings plummet???

Ocliberal: The thing that peeves me the most about Palin is how propped up she is. I can't remember any politician ever getting the passes she gets… Why isn't her college education (or lack of) examined? Why does her dismal record as mayor and governor never get any scrutiny? Why is her ridiculous 'wild ride' story just ignored? Why is she never, ever, ever held accountable by anyone? Without accountability why does she warrant any credibility? Why is she on anyone's 'fascinating' person of the year list? She is a liar, a fraud, a fake and cipher. There is no there, there. In other words, why is this woman who has absolutely no credibility or credentials at all given any position of influence in our national discourse?

Sunnyjane: McCain was sure he had drawn an Ace in the poker game of politics. Unfortunately, he drew the Joker, and Palin is the price we're still paying for it.

Original Lee dubbed her Potemkin Politician.

ProChoiceGrandma had an excellent comment on Sarah and Time’s Person of the Year (early Friday).

Suz1941: That is one scary looking photo of the "Ice Queen". It does not look presidential - it looks evil to the core. It reminds me of looking in Dorian Gray's mirror. Also, the picture looks defiant, hard - filled with a deep hatred as she looks out on everyone she would destroy if given the chance. Whoever took that picture captured her inner soul.

Psalm73: Seriously, there's something wrong with a person who says government shouldn't interfere in people's lives, yet she is saying she wants to interfere in people's lives, but it's only ok for her to interfere in people's lives…

Aview999 and LouieCypher got into some songs in honor of Sarah:

You're A Mean One, Mrs. Palin
You really are a heel,
You're as cuddly as a cactus, you're as charming as an eel, Mrs. Palin,
You're a bad banana with a greasy black peel! …

Louiecypher’s version of the 12 days of Christmas is not to be missed; here is part:

…On the eleventh day of Christmas Sarah sent to me
11 news pimp’s pimping

10 Rove a freaking

9 fakebook postings
8 op-ed pieces
7 tweeters tweeting
6 scandal’s brewing
5 Golden Gaffe’s…
4 Palinbot’s
3 books signings
2 Caribou gloves
And a photo op in Haiti
On the twelfth day of Christmas
Sarah sent to me
Oh hell she has probably quit by now
Love you Gater's and you are left with the last line.
hope you have happy holidaze...
-Louie

Aview999 (just part):

I won't vote for her in a pinch,
I won't vote for her v. the Grinch;
I don't believe she'll keep us free,
She'll outlaw MSNBC.

Her speeches swirl with mindless sound
While turkeys die in the background…

So don't persist in asking me,
I will not vote for Sarah P.

Emily Peacock: ‎"Speaking for God is the greatest sin of all." -- Amish saying

Annettek: She's a new paradigm in American politics: an openly far right populist rabble-rouser who's not a fringe figure, a celebrity who openly embraces her celebrity status, a "mean girl" who has absolutely no shame, and and shrewd operator who plays the media like a piano.

Wayofpeace quoted P.M. Carpenter: “…merely asking that question of such a whining political farce lends gratuitous credence to Her Preposterousness. Ms. Palin is a mass-entertainment creation and chief lunatic of the lunatic fringe and nothing else…

Ella_B: And what are those time tested truths private citizen Palin? Abstinence does not work, perhaps?

Mrsgunka: She's like an old vinyl record that is stuck and plays the same thing over and over and over and over.....ad nauseum!

Phyllos60: …Palin has some twisted idea that feminists (that is, women who don't agree with her) do not work, are not independent, and want government to run their lives! Say what? Also, 'they' have no work ethic. Who the heck is Palin talking about?! It's nonsense like these comments Palin needs to be called out on by media…

Links of the Week

Teutonic13 found this on Gawker: Henry E. Hudson, the federal judge in Virginia who just ruled health care reform unconstitutional, owns between $15,000 and $50,000 in a GOP political consulting firm that worked against health care. PCG had the link: http://tinyurl.com/2co5q5h [BBT: grrrr!]

Juicyfruityy and others linked to Christine Todd Whitman’s skewering of Palin

Sickntiredofpalin linked to Time on the brevity and lack of accomplishments of Palin’s Haiti trip. and sickntired and Juicy76 gave us these great gifts of laughter HERE and HERE

Quietone linked to Fox News footage with revealing SP body language (at 4:20).

Mxm contrasted Sarah’s body language with Michele Obama’s warm connections with Haitian children, shown here

Jack Slater has a great photo from Palin’s Haiti trip

Sunnyjane linked to alternet showing that Fox News misinforms people: “So the more you watch, the less you know.”

Cheeriogirl found a good piece by Malia Litman on Palin’s parenting, including Sarah-Todd’s advice on parenting http://tinyurl.com/27hdnn6 and Madam Deal remembered a Palin rant that contradicts the TV spot

Sallyngarland,tx linked to an article on DraftSarahPalin

Carriesblank pointed out this TREMENDOUS piece by Matt Taibbi on Palin. "Not only is Sarah Palin a fraud, she's the tawdriest, most half-assed fraud imaginable, 20 floors below the lowest common denominator, a character too dumb even for daytime TV."[BBT: I had never seen it before; it is brilliant.]

Nicky in NY gave us a good chuckle

AnnaLynne found this on Palin’s Road back to nowhere

and later: it looks like Sarah will have to add Elmo to the enemies list

Rollingingraves linked to this fascinating article

Aview999: National Journal on Sarah guaranteeing Obama another 4 years and The Nation on the tax cuts

Ella highlighted this article from NYT on Palin’s inner circle and this excellent take down by technorati with this snippet: “This Haitian fiasco shows how unfit she really is to hold public office. The nation doesn't need this sociopath in the White House."

Honestyingov found some holiday cheer on lynnrockets

Juicyfruityy found the difference between pseudo-Christians and true Christians and this on Sarah’s vicious bigoted racism

Igetit2 linked to Lawrence O’Donnell on his support of a school desk project in Malawi and commented: I was so impressed that he did it right. Went and visited last August without any fuss, clearly did his research while he was there, partnered with a very legitimate organization, made sure that the project contributed to the local economy, then came back and used his platform to present a very specific need with a very specific way that people can help, focusing on the project rather than himself. In other words, his approach was everything that Sarah Palin's trip to Haiti wasn't.

Adrian and others linked to the Bill O’Reilly interview in which Palin added a few new words to the usual word salad with BS dressing, including “strategery,” “hotty-totty,” or was it “haughty-toighty” (with H/T to Juicy76 and cheeriogirl). Manic phase; many facial tics.

Sick of Sarah/wayofpeace linked to the always excellent flyinyoureye

Myrtille2 made our day with this from WaPo/ABC poll, showing 60% of Americans would not even consider voting for Palin. Yay!

Kellygrrrl linked to Andrew Sullivan on Neocons turning against Palin

DootDittyDoot has an impressive photo album; see it here

Maddie’s_Mom gave us this holiday gift

Many Palingaters celebrated, and several folks linked to Andrew Sullivan on the repeal of DADT!


Tweets of the Week

@HnstyNgov @SarahPalinusa, is "FAKE Annie Oakley" by @taylormarsh on @Huffpo. http://tinyurl.com/27wtcqf / @spalaska #tcot @C4palin @RAMansour @TLC

@HnstyNgov @andersoncooper, @SarahPalin, preaches FREEDOM, but shows 2 B thin-skinned, petty & VINDICTIVE #WGE,AGAIN!http://tinyurl.com/2dtzt84 #p2

KatieAnnieOakley: IQ, decency, growth & experience have nothing to do w campaigns. It's all about marketing. Even an idiot can run for prez - Like Palin.

Cheeriogirl found this one: "On tomorrow's episode, Sarah Palin goes hunting for Lisa Murkowski." H/T SteveWeinstein

Sunnyjane:

@sarahpalinusa: No one is trying to destroy your children, you moron. You’ve done that quite successfully all by yourself.
@sarahpalinusa: You’re SUCH an independent woman! Is that why your daddy had to carry, load, and sight your big bad caribou-killing gun?


Myrtilla found this great cartoon:

sarahpalinella
The Last Word

CR46:

WOO HOO!!!!! We just got our Christmas present!!!! We just got a call from the immigration attorney we hired! Our two young ladies (ages 18 and 19) from Haiti WILL be able to immigrate to the US. We will be sponsoring them completely! This is the best news ever! After so much red tape and so many calls and help from anyone we have ever known, it is finally happening! Hubby will fly there right after the first to escort them "home". So much to do, so little time! Please all Gator's keep your fingers and toes crossed that we don't run into anymore glitches with this!

The Palingates community sends (((()))) to CR46, her family and these young women. You do us proud!

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