Monday, July 06, 2009
Doug Wilson has an excellent piece on Sarah Palin's recent resignation.
I have been quiet about Sarah Palin for a bit, not needing my comments count to soar into the stratosphere again, but I do want to give her a little bit of free advice. If you see her, pass this on, wouldja?Personally, I'm with Mark Steyn. I think Palin is genuinely out of politics for the foreseeable future (at least, I believe she intends that to be the case). That news conference was too hastily-arranged and unorganized to be a sly political move. Palin is sick of spending her time (and her limited personal finances) on one stupid complaint after another. She wants to serve the people, not play politics.
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[B]e aware that many conservatives are sympathetic to you because of your ability to set off this aforementioned derangement on the left, which is admittedly a shorter trip every day. At the same time, George W. had this same ability, and yet he was no conservative. He was a "big government conservative," which when translated means a big government liberal with some common sense left. Now that Obama is spending us into a little Bernie-Madoff-style prosperity, it appears that Bush had a goodish bit of restraint left, at least comparatively. But we don't need any more slow death conservatism, and we need to stop measuring how far right we are while tethered to the left's drunken lurches toward the far left. They are not a reliable indicator. I say this because a number of conservatives around the country are hungry for a genuinely different direction, and they know by now that the reactions of the Pie Topping Left are not a reliable guide to what that direction is.
And, by the way, if you go in a genuinely new direction, you will have two mortal enemies, the Democrats and the Republicans respectively. The Democrats will be the nastier of the two, but the Republicans will be meaner in a sly way, and far more effective.
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The more conservative of them will shake their heads sadly. She could have been another Reagan, but wasn't up to it. Never mind that Reagan redivivus would have almost all of them spitting nails. They only like Reagan because he's dead now, and they will like you fine when you're dead. Ignore them. Ignore them blithely. Ignore them like you have never heard of the books they are recommending. With regard to their urgent pleas, you should have the placid countenence of a Buddhist monk reading a Far Side cartoon. Their sophisticated construct that they call a world doesn't really exist. You can learn more about the way the world actually works -- as I believe you already have -- by talking to the guy who sells elephant ears at the Nebraska State Fair.
In the meantime, study what you want. Read the kind of books that they would declare an even greater manifestation of what your problem must be. They want you to travel, so you should go places they don't want you to go. As providence would have it, you are this generation's catnip for the power elites. It is a beautiful gift. Don't waste it.
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15 comments:
I think you and Steyn are right.
I think it is despicable what they did to her.
The leftist media and their brown shirt thugish Democratic operatives could make Mother Teresa look like the Wicked Witch of the West.
I really haven't been keeping up with what the media supposedly did to her, except I did a little something about Letterman and all that. But what she endured could not begin to be compared with what Mr. Bush, Mr. Cheney, Mr. Clinton, and even Mr. Gore went through.
If she was treated harshly, I'm certainly not condoning it, but I can't stand for politicians to try and play the victim. If I vote for someone and they decide to quit, I don't care what their excuse is. We might as well say it like it is. She quit. All that proves to me is that didn't have what it takes to be the president in the first place. Kinda like Ross Perot. Things get too personal and he decides to quit. What did he/she think would happen? People are mean - even so-called "conservative Republicans."
I suppose I might be more inclined to sympathy if she had acknowledged that the unique challenges of motherhood make being the VP a virtual impossibility - particularly if you have a baby. Evidently they also make being the governor impossible, or at least its impossible to do either well simultaneously. I mean, can people actually be honest with themselves without the fear of being called sexist?
The media ripped into her from the git-go.
They tore her down in every way possible, including making her family the butt of jokes.
They reserve this 'special treatment' for those that threaten them by being a member of a minority group that actually doesn't go along with leftist groupthink model.
They did (and still do) a similar thing to Clarence Thomas.
Chris, I would say Bush went through similar abuse as Palin (though the Left seemed to get particularly personal with Palin for some reason, maybe because they can't stand conservative women). I wouldn't say Clinton or Gore was subjected to even a tenth of what Palin has had to put up with. The media was in on it, whereas the media generally left Clinton and Gore alone (except with certain punchlines of jokes).
I do think that Palin should be careful to stop playing the victim, it isn't very presidential, much less gubernatorial. Be like Bush, stay above the fray. He was so humble and genuinely self-deprecating... I'm going to miss that.
"I wouldn't say Clinton or Gore was subjected to even a tenth of what Palin has had to put up with. The media was in on it, whereas the media generally left Clinton and Gore alone (except with certain punchlines of jokes)."
Certainly Gore didn't have much in the way of personal attacks, but Bill Clinton? You gotta be kidding me! He was heavily persecuted by the press, not to mention the political attacks. I think people have forgotten about that, but particularly during the latter part of his second term he received no mercy from anyone, not even the so-called "liberal media".
I'm not going to miss anything about Bush, but I've never missed anything about any president. I did have an emotional attachment to Reagan and even Clinton - and that wasn't on ideological grounds. Its just that he has so much charisma. In fact, I wanted to stay mad at him, but couldn't. Even still, when he left I was saying, "Good riddance! Now we get a real Christian president who is going to cut the size of government, put a stop to nation building, and restore integrity to the White House!" So little did I know...
Oh and what I initially meant about what Gore went through...I was just talking about the stress of the job itself, and the agony of his il-fated and unjust presidential defeat. And for the record, I voted for the other guy.
Chris, I believe you're comparing apples and oranges here. I'm talking about the PERSONAL attacks leveled at Palin, while you seem to be discussing political jabs and even normal job stess. Palin, like Bush, was incessantly attacked as a stupid hick who couldn't understand complex things like foreign policy. She was attacked for being a bad mom. You name it, the Left and the media threw it at her. Some of that vitriol was definitely tainted with sexism, but ultimately, they just hate her because she's a conservative and, worse yet, a follower of Christ.
Meanwhile, I don't recall Clinton having any serious personal attacks (notwithstanding Leno's blue dress jokes) from the media. Yes, he got hate from the extreme fringes of the Right, but those people don't run the media or pop culture like the fringes on the Left run it. And sure, he got flak for policy decisions, but much of that was deserved and comes with the job either way. Gore had stress? So does every public servant, especially at that level.
You wouldn't characterize "Whitewater" as personal? Of course, everything is political when you are in politics, but that was bitterly personal. And many times more money was spent on that investigation than was spent on the 9/11 investigation, I might add. They spent $70 million of taxpayer money to try to burn one guy, and failed to even come close to getting a conviction. Yeah, they busted some small-timers just so it wouldn't look like they were totally incompetent, but the teflon president survived it virtually unscathed.
And yes, I agree that every public servant at that level has stress whether due to personal matters or something else. I was merely pointing out that Mrs. Palin proved that she did not have what it takes to hack it. And she is proving the point of her critics who said she was unqualified.
Is Sarah Palin positioning herself as a Libertarian? This is a must read.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/24/us/politics/24palin.html?_r=1
Hmm, interesting. She was more of a populist "compassionate" conservative when she ran with McCain and didn't seem to have a good grasp of true conservatism, outside of the social issues, that is. Of course, maybe some of that was her having to promote McCain's agenda, which has never been about small government. Maybe this time away from government will give Palin an opportunity to sharpen and refine her views and actually become a complete conservative. There are so few.
If I'm reading this with the mind of a politico, and I am because I must, I think she is playing on a trend that has not fully been brought to light - the demand of the People for fiscal responsibility. I don't know all about Palin's political ideology, because as you said, it was likely overshadowed by the ideals of Mr. McCain, but I do know that she used to support Pat Buchanan. That alone would indicate a potential awareness of the New World Order, a.k.a. New Global Financial Order a.k.a. New Economic World Order a.k.a. Global Financial System a.k.a. Global Financial Regulation a.k.a. G-20 Summit.
There is a push coming from many on the so-called right and the so-called left in this country and practically every other country in the world for a supranational governing body to oversee the regulation of world financial markets. In fact, you'd be hard-pressed to find any politician of any clout that is arguing against this. There are a few notable exceptions of course, and even then you'd have to question the sincerity of some.
But with this trend is a grass-roots movement against central banking. Among these are people are those who know the supposed fix to banker chicanery is actually quite the opposite - a literal banker takeover of world governmental authority with various tentacles reaching into many international bodies. This is what I think Palin hopes to take advantage of. Really at this point she has nothing to lose and everything to gain.
But my personal suspicion is that she'll be turned into something of a female Glenn Beck - the Neocon who conveniently turned Libertarian - someone who is allowed to give you just enough of the truth to make you think he is on the side of the People, when in fact he is just using public outrage as a means of corralling people in opposition to the leftist faction of the duopoly. The Republicans have got to do something to get people back on their side, and while they may publicly apologize for an outburst at the president during his speech, they are going to feed off of anything that might be perceived as opposition to Obama. And let's be honest, many right-wing folks loved that "You lie!" stuff. And who can blame them? The president is, after all, a liar - not that this makes him the least bit unique.
I'm not impeaching her character, I'm just wondering about the money behind her and speculating - yes speculating - about her imminent thrust back into public life and how she will be repackaged.
The link that follows this post will give folks an idea of how much corruption there is in Washington, in this case, the "conservative" faction of the duopoly. There are a number of well-meaning conservatives in its ranks I'm sure, just as there are a number of liberals with good intentions.
Of course, there aren't any new revelations to anyone who has followed politics for any length of time with even a negligible degree of objectivity, but I thought this was worth taking a look at because it addresses Mrs. Palin (sort of), who really is a political anomaly.
Really its just about John Zieglar's attempt to confront David Keene of the American Conservative Union. Among the reasons (buried somewhere under all that corruption) for the confrontation is a personal attack Keene leveled at Palin - an attack in my opinion that was probably justified, but that's not the point.
The real point is how mainstream American conservatism - if it can be called that - is often the habitation of every kind of opportunist, as is liberalism, of course. And some guys, like Keene, get caught when they get sloppy. Check out the embedded YouTube videos too.
http://tinyurl.com/yf2mvop
Note this excerpt from my previous comment concerning Mrs. Palin back in September:
"But my personal suspicion is that she'll be turned into something of a female Glenn Beck - the Neocon who conveniently turned Libertarian - someone who is allowed to give you just enough of the truth to make you think he is on the side of the People, when in fact he is just using public outrage as a means of corralling people in opposition to the leftist faction of the duopoly."
I have not been proven correct yet, but I think I may be eventually. Stay tuned. Palin just signed on as a Fox News correspondent.
http://tinyurl.com/y8w2zmj
Okay, I'm going to toot my horn a little bit more. My prediction about Sarah Palin being fashioned into something on the order of Glenn Beck seems to be coming to pass.
Just like Beck tried to co-opt the Tea Party movement, they've got Palin following his example. Who is they? I don't exactly know, but surely no one is going to suggest that she came up with this idea on her own. It would be more plausible to suggest that she wrote that book of hers.
If you haven't already heard, she is going to be the keynote speaker at the first Tea Party convention where she's getting paid $100,000 for her speech, and the tickets are 549 bucks a pop. Does this sound like the real Tea Party Movement? Are people who are frustrated with excessive taxation and the Fed really going to organize an event like this? An event where people are shelling out more than $500 to hear John McCain's running mate? Hardly.
Okay, if there was ever any doubt that elements within the Republican party are trying to hijack the Tea Party movement by the likes of Mrs. Palin and other opportunists, the latest developments should convince anyone.
http://tinyurl.com/yb56hls
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