A Poem for Sarah....
I’m a little Tea BIGOT!
Short on Clout!
Here is my Anger!
Here is my Pout!
When I get steamed up
Bile comes Out!
Disagree with me and
my Gun will come Out!
-author unknown
In an internet story about Sarah Palin and her response to the criticism for her use of the term "blood libel" more than 1800 readers took the time to comment on Palin, and this story. I have read the first page of 32 such pages and selected for my readers a representative sampling.
For a few weeks now, I have boycotted Palin stories in the press. For a while, I had enjoyed reading anything negative about my former governor, but finally realized the attention people like myself give to Palin stories is exactly why the press continues to follow Palin around like paparazzi.
Polls indicate Sarah Palin appeals to a large minority of Republicans which translates into a fairly small minority of total Americans. However, large portions of Palin haters are like myself and cannot ignore her. We dislike her politics and demeanor so strongly we select any story with her name in the headline hoping for one more pratfall...one more foot in the mouth. Each time thinking this is the one which will dethrone her as the standard bearer for that large minority of republicans.
I have come to the conclusion that she will never stop, and the press will never stop responding anytime she calls them so long as both lovers and haters cannot take their eyes off her. Only boredom of the masses will finally end her reign as the darling of the press. So I did my part and boycotted any press coverage she received until this "blood libel" comment snowballed Palin onto the front page headlines again which I could not ignore.
In a desperate attempt to increase my readership, I hereby succumb to the siren song of Sarah. Though I stake no claim to fairness or impartiality, I start off with a pro-Palin comment:
"....Is the term "blood libel somehow copyrighted and no one but a Jewish priest can use it ? Are bulls-eyes the only proper way to mark a political candidate to be voted out of office? She uses the tools available to her to stir the pot and it is working I guess.
It seems interesting that if this woman is so insignificant that so many feel the need to downgrade her with such vigor. Is she really that much of a threat to politics as usual that a full on attack is needed ? Seems she may well be making a lot of people nervous."
Then.....
Why does this woman continue to get national attention? She has made an utter fool of herself since day one. All the way back to her vice-presidential bid she was unable to name a Supreme Court case besides Roe vs Wade, and she couldn't name one magazine or newspaper that she read. In another interview, she seemed to have no clue who Hamas is and started rambling rather incoherently about Iran. She made some weird claim about International Relations experience because the president of Russia would fly over Alaskin airspace or something similarly bizarre. Thanks so much McCain for introducing this airhead to the country. I wish she would just stop talking, I think most of the nation is quite fed up with her self-centered illogical and dimwited ways.
and.....
Sarah Palin has become the Paris Hilton of politics -- except without the porn video. Regarding her "blood libel" comment, I think SNL last week on their fake news said it best -- "I would be offended if I thought she actually knew what it meant."
Come to think of it, I wonder what Paris Hilton has to say about the Tucson shootings. Her opinion is at least as relevant and well-informed as Sarah's.
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Sadly, all of the moronic comments above attacking Sarah Palin, one, have high ratings and, two, prove you are fools.
I don't know if a single comment had a valid, logical reason as to why one should not like her. Instead, it's all "she's a moron", "she's stupid", "she needs to shut up". Good grief, you guys are like 3rd graders.
Why do I like her? Because she knows that America has largely drifted from a Christian-based, common sense approach to life, qualities that our nation was founded on, and she's not afraid to say it.
For the sake of our country, please use your brain.
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Everything she says needs an excuse...but notice it takes ten days or more to figure out that excuse. Stay home and take care of your kids lady.
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Funny how Palin criticizes "mainstream" media. She's part of the mainstream media. Fox News is mainstream media, masquerading as otherwise. It's called controlled opposition.
Fox is owned by News Corp, one of six multinationals that own most news outlets in the US. And it's all corporate-state propaganda.
When a Republican puppet's in office, MSNBC plays opposition. When it's a Democrat puppet, it's Fox News. Keith Olbermann doesn't recount dead American troops in his nightly sign-off since Obama took control. Fox never made a peep about Bush II tripling the size of the federal government, but now that Obama's in office, they can't have a segment where "spending" doesn't enter into the debate.
It's all controlled. It's all theater. Both major parties are the same. They might pretend to be opposed to one and other, and they might squabble over small things, carefully designed to give the illusion of choice and difference, but on all the major fronts both parties go along.
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Palin is an interesting phenomenon. I am not sure if it is because she is an (apparently) physically attractive person that the media likes to print her picture, or if it has more to do with the fact that people who are "liberal" (I don't mean actually "liberal" by that, but "knee-jerk liberal") think that all conservatives are moronic, and see her as a typical spokesperson.
We can find many such individuals--the intellectually limited Hasselbeck, the self-aggrandizing O'Reilly, the ethnocentric Palin, the unbalanced Bachmann--whom the media gloms onto.
What I find very sad is that these people have come to be spokespersons for the "conservatives." These people are no more capable of clearly articulating a conservative position than they are capable of explaining Einstein's theory of relativity.
I wonder if the Republican party realizes--and I think that they are coming to realize this--that such people are doing more to alienate voters entirely than they are to bringing them into the Republican fold (or to turn them into Democrats). The last time this happened--and disaffected people started up the "American" party (also known as the "Know Nothing" party), an interesting thing happened. The Whig party disappeared and the new Republican party came into being.
I think that, perhaps, people ought to look into the "Know Nothing" party--it was opposed to the immigration of Irish and German Catholics into the US and wanted to curb both immigration and naturalization (they promised to appoint only native born Americans to office), it was only open to Protestant males of British lineage who were over 21, it was largely middle class, it was prone to violence to achieve its ends . . . wow, does this sound like Palin's "Tea Party" or what?
Those who fail to learn from history (and Palin would be one) are doomed to repeat it. The time is ripe for a new party to emerge--and the party most likely to bite the dust is the Republican party. Allowing someone like Palin (and the others) to rise to power was not a very good idea for them.
I am sure that we all know people like Palin--who don't understand the Constitution, who don't understand what a democratic republic based on religious freedom is, who don't understand even the basics of logic or the English language. The world must be a really frightening place for people like that--and it kind of explains why they get so angry about "change." These are people for whom "different is bad" because all they can wrap their brains around is what was done in the past (or, what they fantasize was done in the past). They only understand slogans--which is why, like Palin, they tend to cobble half-understood sloganizing language together in a kind of gibberish way.
I think that SNL is right--I would be offended if I actually thought she understood what she was doing. But, I do think that people ought to look up the Know Nothing party to see what happened--we really can learn from history. Well, if we are a little more advanced than Palin.
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Do you have a crystal ball. Bets are on, Palin won't run. She is a Media "Star".; they love hacking away at her, and she loves returning it.
She is a reminder to those on the Left, not to forget Freedom of Speech. We all have it.
Strong, Powerful, secure; most people fear an intelligent, outspoken person.
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Christian values? Do you seriously think Jesus Christ would have made himself a political victim of a tragedy the day of a memorial for the actual victims of the tragedy?
Jesus Christ said that we should love our neighbors as thyself.
I am sorry but after listening to both Christians speeches I believe Obama's was much more Christ like than Palin's was. Obama spoke about offering words of healing rather than wounding. He also stated that power, wealth and fame was not as important than love. That was more Christ like than what Palin had to offer during this crisis.
Being at the top is not all that it is cracked up to be. A good leader is selfless and others come first. A good leader has to be strong in the face of adversity. Palin did not display strong common sense leadership. If she would have waited she would had been exalted of the accusations that had been made personally against her. She didn't, which ended up making her look weak and foolish. A good leader needs to stay focused and positive, not just for Christians, but for ALL of humanity!
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Sarah's unique.
She can drag herself up on the cross, nail herself to it, then use that position of self crucifixtion to @!$%# us all over.
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I do not believe it is coincidental that most of those who defend Palin sound a lot like the below commenter. That is not to say all Palin supporters are ignorant and nearly illiterate, but certainly a large portion of her supporters come across as such. Perhaps that explains why her supporters do not expect more from her in the way of knowledge of geography, history, and current world events.
Soggyblogger
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....I'd bet anyone of your lives, ...That "ALL"99% of you "PALIN BASHERS" are either on the gov "PAYROLL" and or .....Welfare, Urban Housing, Food Stamps, Fuel Assistance, Medicare, Unemployment, etc, etc,.....And "NOT FROM OLD AGE" ....The truth hurts don't it?....You "ALL" need to get a "JOB OR LIFE"
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Palin's hardcore right-wing constituents will continue to think that she's the greatest thing since sliced cheese, ignoring the fact that she is unelectable. I don't know if Palin has any advisors, but if she does, she should fire them. When you have to explain your defense, you are in grave danger of becoming irrelevant. It would be my fondest hope to see Palin as the 2012 Republican candidate, but then the GOP would have to be planning on throwing the election. As for Ms. Palin's bonifieds as a "Christian," she represents the far right version of that too. Most of us Christian at the middle or on the left are absolutely horrified that she purports to speak for the faithful. Christ himself warned us against mixing our faith with politics.
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Sarah was a college party girl in Hawaii who hopscotched to different colleges before graduating in journalism. Her first job was as a sports caster. She took that job not because she has a passion for sports, but she has a passion for being in front of a camera. She ran for mayor not because of a passion for politics but a passion for fame. It's not a better nation that she seeks, it's the camera! She simply loves being in front of a camera and she found a way to keep doing it forever. Kudos Sarah.
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It is telling that Palin does not even comprehend the point being made. Spirited political debate does not have to incite violence, paint cross hairs or celebrate locking and loading to take on the opposition. If she is unable to see the difference between celebrating violence against your opposition and debating issues, what kind of politician is she.
There is a difference between political debate as evinced by the Lincoln/Douglasdebates or even Kennedy. Nixon or Bush/Gore and the style of demagoguery she espouses. She seems to subscribe to the Hitler/Goebbels School of Demagoguery and Propaganda instead. She would rather inflame emotions than debate issues rationally.
There are numerous other talking heads and politicians of all political stripes that could face similar criticism but she is the one whining unfair.
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From the comments of the neo-cons here, it is so obvious who her target audience is: the gun-toting, God-fearing, undereducated, republican base. The same 20% who still think GW did a good job (and voted for him because they can spell GW most of the time). They're as predictable as the audience at a "Pro Wrestling" event and easier to market to.
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You say "she was unjustly connected with he shooting"; while I can agree that there is likely no direct link between Sarah Palin and the shooter. It was Congress Woman Gifford that made the link to "heated rhetoric" the crosshairs on the map and said you have to expect that your choice of words have consequences. Since she was the primary target, that is close enough link to warrant a little backing down, but no Dear Sarah had to double down in stead.
It probably would have be best if Sarah had said "we have taken down the map because, while I do not believe it has any link to the shooting, I do not want to cause the Gifford family any more distress. But no! Poor Tone Deaf Sarah uses the term Blood Libel in her own defense. A term offensive to many Jewish People because it is the Blood Libel that was used to justify killing the Jews. Oh, and do I need to point out that Congress Woman Giffod is the first Jewish representative from Arizona?
Sarah's handling of this hole situation has been tone deaf and utterly clueless. I also read two conservative posts and heard another that used the term Blood Libel before Sarah's little video. It was not even an original thought for her, she copied something without clearly understanding the breadth of the term.
I have not gone to name calling Sarah, but I think she has managed to show herself to be morally bankrupt.
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There is no way that Ms. Palin will run for president in 2012 unless she is irretreivably stupid. Why would she want to give up her self aggrandizing money machine and her little circle of mindless worshipers to have to answer questions about her beliefs, practices and pronouncements? She is just playing to her base and stirring controversy to try to squeeze more money out of anyone who is silly enough to listen to her.
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How can Sarah be stupid? She reads "oh, just everything".
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The whole "Blood Libel" thing never bothered me... what bothered me was people were shot and killed, especially the little girl and instead of ignoring her "critics" and calling for peace and unification, she labeled herself the "Victim"... the real victims are no longer breathing.
Always had to be about her.
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Soggyblogger
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