Watching the Palin Watchers
Behind the scenes at a Sarah Palin campaign appearance, checking out the crowd and the media.
6:25 PM State Senate candidate Louis Pate speaks. “I thank the organizers — not the community organizers — for the opportunity to be here.” I saw my first Secret Service agent, talking into his wrist. He was conspicuous, but looked tough as nails. Looking around, it appears that the local media is bored, except for the — from what I take to be — high school journalists hunting and pecking away on their MacBooks.
6:37 PM North Carolina gubernatorial candidate and Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory is up next. They play his intro video, but we can’t see it because of a huge American flag between us and the video screen across from us. He enters to loud music, and the crowd goes nuts. He panders to the ECU crowd, talking up the football team, which is always a good move. He points out that it takes a mayor to reform government — referring to both Palin and himself (not a bit self-serving!) — and seconds later says, “That’s why a mayor should be the next governor of North Carolina!” The crowd response is good. The McCain/Palin traveling press isn’t here; wonder if they’ll get here and set up in time before Palin takes stage. “The culture of arrogance changes now in the state of North Carolina.” He’s a good speaker. Very polished. I think we’ll be seeing a lot more of him in years to come. If he gets into the governor’s mansion in November, I could see him running for the White House at some point.
6:40 PM First “Drill, baby, drill!” chant of the night. When McCrory mentions Beverly Purdue [NC Democratic gubernatorial candidate] saying she won’t drill, she was heavily booed. McCrory plugs Elizabeth Dole’s foundering Senate re-election campaign. McCrory concludes and gets a standing ovation as he walks off stage.
6:43 PM U.S. Senator Elizabeth Dole speaks and, frankly, gets a better crowd response than I anticipated. Dole returns McCrory’s compliments, plugs him for governor. She lists a couple of her recent accomplishments, but the crowd doesn’t seem to know what she’ talking about with the BRAC [Base Realignment and Closure] commission and something else … something to do with a tobacco buy-out, I think. Greenville used to be a tobacco town but hasn’t been in years, and the farmers Dole might have helped didn’t apparently show up. She mentions a love for the military and her work with the Armed Services Committee, and gets the crowd back. Media photographers are starting to snap crowd pictures now — that is the first time I’ve noticed that. Dole plays up a failed attempt by her, Hagel, and Sununu years ago to reign in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. She ties her Senate opponent Kay Hagan to Chuck Schumer and the economic downturn, then claims that the New Yorker [Schumer] is trying to buy a NC Senate seat. The “bitter and clingy” yokels are not amused.
6:50 PM Ten minutes to game time. The traveling press isn’t here. Is Palin? Dole pleads for support, funds in a tight race. “Nobama!” chant starts. She ends with “tell Chuck Schumer that no New Yorker is going to buy a NC Senate seat.”
7:00 PM “Sarah! Sarah!” chant starts. Emcee Henry Hinton notes she’s in a motorcade on the way, and says she’s probably five minutes out (he’s dreaming). They play a McCain video, which again, I can’t see. The crowd I can see, and they seem as engaged as you can hope for considering they’re watching a video at a political rally. The video recalls his Vietnam stories, including the “cross in the dirt story.” Better not tell Andy Sullivan. He’ll soil himself. Again.
7:08 PM I’m scanning the crowd for potential protesters. Nobody stands out. The only protester I’ve seen thus far was a solitary college kid standing on the street corner on the edge of campus near the football stadium, holding a sign that said “Sarah No” as he grooved to his iPod.
7:12 PM Emcee goes off-stage once more to check to see when Governor Palin might arrive.
7:25 PM U.S. Senator Richard Burr comes out. The crowd, expecting Palin, was slightly let down until they figure out he’s introducing Palin. Goes for a “she’s one of us” approach. Some local press start jockeying for position on risers beside me to take personal pictures. Either that, or the work cameras at some of the local news organizations are off-the-shelf and dinky ones like I have.
7:27 PM The traveling media stampedes in, laptops fired up and ready to go. Palin’s motorcade must have arrived.
7:32 PM Palin comes out, and the crowd loves her. Warms up with “Sportstown, USA” and ECU’ football’s upsets over West Virginia and Virginia Tech… “you know something about underdogs.” Mentions Biden: Biden gets booed. Good speech so far, steady, and well-delivered.
7:38 PM “Despite what Barack Obama says”… Boos, “Nobama!” McCain will give healthcare tax credits to help you pay for coverage. It’s broadly the same speech that she gave this morning in Florida, but she seems to be feeding off the crowd — giving off a lot of energy, considering how long her day has been. I can’t make it out, but several of the traveling journalists have the same screens up on their laptops. I’m guessing that it is a copy of the speech, and they’re making sure she’s not going off script.
7:43 PM Looking down under the camera crew setup, I notice a scowl on the faces of a couple of crew members when Palin thanks the military. I hope that her comments weren’t the cause of the dirty looks. One guy in the traveling crew packs up his laptop and leaves. I guess he’s confident he won’t hear anything new, and perhaps he’s right as far as the speech goes, but what about the crowd? Don’t they care about the crowd reaction? Apparently not.
7:48 PM Lots of press are checking their email and websurfing now, with the The Trail and Bloglines being two sites I can make out immediately. Several others are frantically typing away on Blackberries. When Palin gets to line about Obama starting his career in the living room of a domestic terrorist, crowd loves it. The media looks around briefly, then seems to lose interest in Palin.
7:53 PM Angry-looking, local female journalist in front of me is pounding on her keyboard. I could make out normal notes, plus a comment about Palin: “sounds like a robot, but the crowd loves her.” Hmmm … maybe it’s you, ma’am? A few other media are now websurfing — Yahoo News and the News and Observer’s Under the Dome blog.
7:56 PM MSBNC’s First Read joins the reading list. Somebody else is on a site with a color scheme and layout that looks suspiciously like the Huffington Post. An Asian man — presumably a journalist — looks at the crowd with an arched eyebrow, but I don’t know why. I heard him speak later to his companion, but can’t make out the language.
7:58 PM The speech is now over, and Palin walks down into the crowd to shake hands with folks on the floor. Shania Twain’s She’s Not Just a Pretty Face plays her off. Nice touch.
There were no protests or hecklers.
“Watching the watchers” is an interesting game to play. The media is used to being the ones deciding the story, but they don’t want to be the story themselves. I expected some of what I saw last night — the taking of phone calls during speeches and the sometimes fevered text messaging during the speech — but I must tell you I was surprised when some of the press simply stopped paying attention shortly after Palin made the Obama-Bill Ayers connection in the speech. They appeared to have been waiting for another “gotcha” moment, hoping for someone in the crowd to threaten Obama or call him a terrorist.
Some of the web surfing during the speech was no doubt legitimate. I suspect both MSNBC’s First Read and Washington Post’s The Trail were being updated from the press row, and the authors were merely checking to make sure that what they posted came across correctly. The journalist reading Bloglines , a news feed aggregator, may have also been doing precisely what he should. But the Huffington Post?
At least it wasn’t Kos.
But the guy who packed up and left the press row after Palin got past the Obama-Ayers connection when he didn’t hear anything inflammatory from the crowd was a point of concern. So was the fact that so many journalists in front of me — perhaps a third of them, or even a little more — simply began tuning Palin and the crowd out after that point.
I understand the life on the campaign trail must be a grueling marathon of unending travel and 14-hour days. It has to wear everyone down, and people start to cut corners. The press allows themselves this as long as they get the broad strokes correct enough.
It does seem hypocritical, though, that these same frayed journalists then attack politicians on the same schedule, for even the smallest gaffe.
It’s a clear double standard.
But then, we’re getting used to that.
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Bob Owens blogs at Confederate Yankee.
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58 Comments
1. USAF Captain:Mr Owens, thank you for the ring-side seat, the observations, and the contact high.
In watching Governor Palin at her various appearances, I am struck by one thing: while McCain, Obama, and Biden work the rope lines merely pressing flesh, Sarah does so with Sharpie in hand. It would seem that the other candidates are just politicians while the public (or at least those assembled to greet her) want to take away a tangible souvenir — her autograph — from their meeting with her.
Maybe there is a messiah in this race after all — or at least one in the making for 2012.
Oct 9, 2008 - 8:58 am 2. kabud:USAF Captain:
>Maybe there is a messiah in this race after all — or at least one in the making for 2012.
i absolutely agree that something like that is happening.
It is very interesting but several very smart strategists and analysts that i know have the same kind of opinion about her based on what is known about her, her career and what she said in her public life
There is this opinion in some intelegence circles so to speak that Sarah best qualification is her
CLEAR understanding of the threat from our main enemy
Because , well, i dont want to sound too dark, but because of the future war((
Oct 9, 2008 - 9:15 am 3. Dave:And the Palin Derangement Syndrome hits high gear ewlsewhere.
Her standard stump speech has been described as a sublime call to assassinate Obama. And her white suit has been called the same as Klu Klux Klan robes.
Oh well. I keep hoping those who can not stand her will come out and fight, but no such luck.
Oct 9, 2008 - 9:29 am 4. Self-hating boomer:The media lacks any curiosity, because its collective hive-mind has already decided that there’s only one side to this, and the democratic process is boring. Why bother with the formality of an election when there’s only one possible candidate?
Oct 9, 2008 - 9:32 am 5. sara:What this article points out is that most people don’t listen. They are interested in the salesman, not the product. Obama is such a slick salesman. Nice to look at and listen to.
But once the salesman is gone, you’re left holding the merchandise. The Journalists are too lazy to care to explore the merchandise. So, we’ll be left holding the bag, with lots of “extras” thrown in that we didn’t ask for. Ayers, Soros, ACORN – we won’t have to pay for those.
They’ll be free.
Oct 9, 2008 - 9:41 am 6. Joe Buzz:Yes Bob, the MSM press corp is out in force hoping to hear someone shout “We dont want a bigger Government” or something similarly easy for them to hatefully misquote.
Oct 9, 2008 - 9:44 am 7. kabud:guys dont complain about MEDIA
make your own MEDIA:
youtube clips on bailout were watched by MILLIONS
possibly 10s of millions cause youtube is playing dirty games with numbers of views
WE ARE THE MEDIA
Oct 9, 2008 - 9:44 am 8. Someone75:USAF Captain:
Wow – really? Palin shakes hands AND signs autographs? Count me convinced – I’m switching to McCain on Nov. 4th. More of that great “small town common sense” that you people are known for.
Oct 9, 2008 - 11:13 am 9. Whitworth:Ding Dong The main stream media is dead! Long live the blogs!
Oct 9, 2008 - 11:52 am 10. Robert Hurley:Not much substance from Mr Owens!
Oct 9, 2008 - 11:54 am 11. USAF Captain:Someone75 writes:
“Wow – really? Palin shakes hands AND signs autographs? Count me convinced – I’m switching to McCain on Nov. 4th. More of that great ’small town common sense’ that you people are known for.”
Yes, she actually does. Omigosh! Isn’t she talented? Actually, I was pointing out that the folks on the other side of the rope wanted her autograph and did not want Obama’s, Biden’s, or McCain’s. I had never really seen any politician working a rope line who signed autographs before — and this includes the serial fornicator back in ‘92 and ‘96.
By the way, I am glad “we people” could convince you to change your mind. Welcome aboard!
Oct 9, 2008 - 11:56 am 12. Don’t let the psy-ops throw you - UPDATED | The Anchoress:[...] Owens at Pajamas Media: He’s watching the press watch Palin. Interesting. Over at his site, he links to what is purported to be overheard remarks made by [...]
Oct 9, 2008 - 11:58 am 13. Marc Malone:Someone75 – I think you miss the significance of the simple act of signing autographs. These people maintain an exhausting schedule. Pressing the flesh is just a de rigeur thing. Their hands get sore from it. And they’re tired. They’d like to move on.
You could take the cynical view that Palin signs the autographs, because she’s liking the spotlight, but you’d be wrong. She does it, because they want her to do it, and she can be bothered to do it.
More, she just honestly likes the people… really, really likes them. That’s her appeal. She’s down-home friendly. She doesn’t wear a plastic smile. She honestly enjoys their energy, and gets energy from them. You can see it. And it doesn’t seem to go to her head. She’s always been recognized as being extremely approachable.
It was an interesting article. I sure would like to hear from a secret service guy how they feel about her pressing the flesh so closely in those mobs, if they really worry about her in that circumstance. I’m sure they wouldn’t say, but it would also be an interesting perspective.
Oct 9, 2008 - 12:17 pm 14. jerry:Here is a question for Hurley and anyone guy?
I know you two pudknockers have such a high level of contempt for Palin and think she is an airhead. Ok, she is the Governor of Alaska, which one heck of accomplishment. So what do you do when you aren’t sitting in your underwear behind a computer in your parent’s basement?
To tell you the truth I am getting sick and tired of the condescension shown by the Obamabots who show up here. Between you and me most of here are nobodies but at the end of the day Sarah Palin will either be Vice President of the United States or Governor of Alaska.
Oct 9, 2008 - 12:27 pm 15. Liza:Sarah Palin is wholey UNQUALIFIED to be President, the reason the press is dismissive is because she is an intellectual lightweight who rose too far too fast, she has done more to set women back than anyone of this generation. Palin epitomizes the type of woman I dispise – weak, moralizing arm candy that lacks substance.
Oct 9, 2008 - 12:37 pm 16. jerry:Liza:
Projecting are we? Another nobody passing judgement on a somebody.
Since Palin is a more accomplished person than Obama is then it also applies to him to doesn’t it?
By the way, Sarah Palin is running for Vice President, not President and as the debate shows she has a better understanding of the Constitutional role of the VP then 36 year Senate veteran Joe Biden.
Oct 9, 2008 - 12:55 pm 17. Jackstothemax:It is very disheartening as an audience member to read that Bob Owens did not put much substance into this post that he is writing. The media is portrayed as an organization that is not fully interested in the political climate that this country is in at the moment. Since he did not provide much information on Palin, I think it is the right idea to try to focus on some of the aspects about Sarah Palin that a lot of people do not know about.
First off, as governor she helped increase tax revenues for Alaskans by increasing the taxes on oil companies,and now Alaskans will be receiving a check for $1,200 because of it. She has also been able to rally support for a pipeline that could carry natural gas to the Lower 48 states. She is quick to stand up for her beliefs, and much of that plays into her political decisions.
It goes to say a lot about her character. Whoever is willing to stand up for their beliefs and views without staggering is someone who can take on some of the toughest leaders in politics and business and try to decide what is the right, not the popular thing to do.
Oct 9, 2008 - 1:07 pm 18. Bonnie_:Good lord, I despise women who put down a successful woman because she doesn’t have the same political beliefs.
One could imagine what “Liza” is and what she looks like, and what she’s ever accomplished in her mean and miserable life. I don’t want to, actually.
Sarah Palin is a bright and beautiful feminine American star. I admire her, I respect her, I am amazed every day at her intelligence and strength. She is an inspiration to women and men everywhere to reach high and fight hard for your principles and goals.
Oct 9, 2008 - 1:16 pm 19. kevin c:hey LIZA-IF PALIN IS SUCH A LIGHTWEIGHT THEN WHAT ARE YOU-YOUR IQ IS SO LOW AN ICICLE IN SIBERIA IN JANUARY REGISTERS A HIGHER NUMBER. DOLT-GO BACK TO YOUR DAILY COMMIE AND KISS SOROS FAT REAR END-SOMETHING ID BET YOUR GOOD AT ,LEWINSKY WANNABE.
Oct 9, 2008 - 1:17 pm 20. kabud:>Liza:
well, i have to tell you that you forgot your medicine
or is it menopause?
Oct 9, 2008 - 1:24 pm 21. kabud:captain, dont get ingaged with phone oponents:
they KNOW
they are here to DISRUPT
I cherish a thought that communists in USA will be killed first by soviet and chinese wmd-s
because they DONT BELIEVE it is coming)))
We just have to sit by the river and wait for their dead bodies to overflow our rivers
, damn, they stink
Oct 9, 2008 - 1:27 pm 22. Ron Murphy:It is finally getting through to the people
that Sarah Palin is not a professional raised
cat fish farm politition but a regular folk that
has a purpose to serve the people and not the
establishment.
Cheers, rfm
Oct 9, 2008 - 1:32 pm 23. Ditto:Oh please don’t play the menopause card, Kabud. I’ve been there and made it through and I am a great admirer of Gov. Palin. Menopause isn’t a factor – extremist liberal indoctrination is. Sarah doesn’t have proof of having had an abortion and in fact speaks in favor of not having abortions, therefore Liza believes that Gov. Palin is an anti-woman.
Please don’t for a second believe that the majority of women feel the way Liza feels. I think what Sarah Palin is accomplishing is fantastic in its own right, and is encouraging to women everywhere. If Senator Obama is elected, the only good that will have come from the entire process is that Sarah Palin will remain on the horizon as a beacon of hope for next election cycle.
Oct 9, 2008 - 1:39 pm 24. Paul From Hamburg:Liza, I couldn’t agree more. I’ll bet that Sarah Palin doesn’t even know that Franklin Roosevelt was president in 1929 and that the television was in commercial use in 1929. She probably doesn’t even know the difference between the words “epithet” and “epitaph”. In fact, she is so dumb I’ll bet she can’t even spell “wholly” or “despise”.
Oct 9, 2008 - 1:49 pm 25. Marc Malone:Liza – The press is not dismissive of her because she’s a lightweight. They’d ignore her if she were. They just think that she fails to meet their standard of what qualifications a candidate should have. They want her to think like them and value the things they do. They reseve to themselves the right to determine the worth of a candidate.
And you’ve fallen for it.
Oct 9, 2008 - 2:22 pm 26. kelley in virginia:Sarah Palin might be alot of things, but “weak” isn’t one of them.
Oct 9, 2008 - 2:32 pm 27. kabud:>Paul From Hamburg:
i dont care about what you claim Sarah doesn’t know)))
I hire her for OTHER things
Oct 9, 2008 - 2:59 pm 28. Senav:Sarah,You de man!!!
Oct 9, 2008 - 3:08 pm 29. Lindsey:I was at the event as well and noticed the media looking bored out of their minds. Tried to get some photo’s but they turned out blurry. One thing that I love about Sarah is she seems to really be in it for the people. She stayed quite awhile after her speech greeting the crowd and signing autographs.
Oct 9, 2008 - 3:09 pm 30. trangbang68:Meow, Liza, who’s arm aren’t you candy on?
Oct 9, 2008 - 3:39 pm 31. Valerie:The media gets bored easily. President Bush toured this country and gave his “the terrorists are trying to hijack one of the world’s great religions: speech over and over again. He did this with a purpose: to calm our people, and assure that they treated their neighbors according to our best ideals. And, our media decided that it wasn’t news, because he kept giving the same speech. So, they didn’t mention that he was touring the country, trying to calm it.
That led to the unchallenged assertion to Zbigniew Brzezinsky that President Bush was an Islamophobe.
Our press is trained to write for a deadline. They are not trained to read, or to think.
Oct 9, 2008 - 5:02 pm 32. Russ:Liza,
I’ve finally gotten so fed-up with that little dig about being unqualified that I looked it up. According the the US Constitution, one must be a natural born citizen, 35 yearts of age, and in continuous residence here for 14 years before taking the office of President. That’s it.
I know what’s coming next “This is a far different, more complex world…” blah, blah, blah…. The Founding Fathers having themselves recently thrown off the yoke of the most powerful empire on the planet, faced further conflicts with that adversary, aggression by Spain, France, and just about anyone else with a navy. Back then we might have lost a best-of-five series to Denmark!
If it was good enough for them….
Oct 9, 2008 - 5:41 pm 33. Freeedom is just another word:Palin was here in Ft. Myers. She was originally to speak at a smaller venue, the Alico Arena. They changed her to the big concert and sport stadium, Germaine Arena because of the long lines. I tried to attend, but the line was 3 hours long. Those who got there at 12:30 were not admitted into the arena at the 2:30 cutoff. Reported that there were 8,000 inside.
Biden cam here to Ft. Myers too this week. His venue was not changed. He stayed in the smaller arena.
Looks like Palin for SW Florida.
Oct 9, 2008 - 6:06 pm 34. skink:Sarah Palin sings Country:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HvxtJmtr80&eurl=http://www.crikey.com.au/video.html
enjoy
Oct 9, 2008 - 6:37 pm 35. naguabo79:Liza:
You hate her, not because she is weak. You hate Sarah because she took everything your friends threw at her and she has kept on smiling and taking on the big guys. She does not back down and you cannot stand it.
Oct 9, 2008 - 7:00 pm 36. Javelin:Oh really, only a really small mind would focus on such trivia. More fodder for the cattle here!
Oct 9, 2008 - 7:33 pm 37. Marc Malone:Javelin – Yes, it is trivial. Human perspective always is, but it is endlessly valuable.
Oct 9, 2008 - 8:08 pm 38. USAF Captain:Liza writes:
“.. because she is an intellectual lightweight who rose too far too fast, she has done more to set women back than anyone of this generation.”
Liza, sorry to pile on but your mean-spirited and illogical comment deserves at least one more rejoinder. It would be inconsistent for the press to be enamored of Obama’s accomplishments and consider Palin as having risen too far too fast. Both have come a long way since ‘92 and I would submit that Palin’s accomplishments — emerging from the ranks of the PTA (I know that just churns your guts, doesn’t it?) to governor of an important state who is approved of by over 80% of her constituents — are more impressive than Obama’s who had the benefit of the Chicago political machine to help him..
..but I split hairs here and your life is so full of negativity and meanness that I doubt you would appreciate the significance.
Oct 9, 2008 - 10:37 pm 39. Robert Hurley:Liza:
Keep at it. I think you have stirred up a hornet’s nest here. It is great to see them rise to the bait.
Oct 10, 2008 - 9:56 am 40. otterboy:Fine job, Bob, very Glengarry Glen Ross. Like you remember as a kid when you saw rock stars close up, the costumes not quite clean, shredding their solos because they were just too tapped, always younger than you thought and jaded beyond their years. Not caring much ’cause it’s just some crapland between the coasts.
Oct 10, 2008 - 12:20 pm 41. Dan:You point the camera back the other way at these fools riding the sinking ship down.
Palin and her husband are Good Friends with Joe Vogle. Vogle is a member of an ANTI AMERICAN group that thinks Alaska should not be part of the USA. Now that McCain knows that, he will let her go….right?
Oct 10, 2008 - 1:59 pm 42. Marc Malone:Dan – No, they won’t, because this group doesn’t blow s**t up!
Oct 10, 2008 - 3:01 pm 43. Edward A.:There must be a good reason McCain is keeping Palin in the background. If he is doubting her abilities, let’s hope McCain stays healthy for four years.
Oct 10, 2008 - 3:07 pm 44. Mark from AK:Dan – Joe Vogler died in 1993. At least get your misunderstood half-truths correct. Some people say he got “Voglerized.” ( local Alaska slang for disappearing and being found months later wrapped in a blue tarp )
Oct 10, 2008 - 4:01 pm 45. Shannon:If Barack Obama becomes president, we might all be looking to move to the states that secede from the socialistic America he will create.
Oct 10, 2008 - 5:14 pm 46. notutopia:Country first and our freedom might become a fond memory.
The trouble with “traveling media teams” is they ARE constantly being sensitized by the same scripts. They are only half listening, at best when they are present at these important functions. The citizens present who wait for hours to see and hear their candidate/s, are there to actively participate in what has become a feudalistic election process. You would think that those voters sitting in seats and standing would be afforded due interest and representation from the press. Without them, the event holds no meaning! And neither does the purpose of their work! Unfortunately, unless it is a NEW sound bite,even though it is a new sector of the geographical voting pool being covered, they still aren’t moved. It is most gracious that Gov.Palin shakes hands AND signs autographs.
Oct 10, 2008 - 6:37 pm 47. Peg C.:There’s precious few people whose autographs I would want or have ever wanted. Maybe growing up with stars’ kids in L.A. is why. Whatever, I have no desire for McCain’s, Obama’s or Biden’s autographs. I’d love to have Palin’s.
This is one of many reasons why the left despises her. They have faux stars. She hit the national scene like a comet. They didn’t build her up and they cannot tear her down. She is as real as it gets.
Oct 10, 2008 - 7:57 pm 48. Lisa:Mr. Owen,
Oct 11, 2008 - 4:02 am 49. Former Belgian:I really enjoyed your article. The media has become “news” by its actions and influence on this election, and they need to know that they, too, are being watched. I would love to see follow-up articles and pictures comparing their behavior at both campaigns’ events.
The media despise Palin because she is not a card-carrying member of the New Class they belong to, which sees itself entitled to govern ad of which Bullcr*p Hussein snObama is the anointed representative.
In fact, she makes it clear she despises the New Class — and *that* cannot be left standing.
Liza: if my written English were larded with typos to the point of incomprehensibility, I would guard my tongue before calling a woman an intellectual lightweight (read: hick) in public. Also, it isn’t she who is claiming to have visited 57 states, to have an uncle who liberated Auschwitz with the US Army, to have been a professor at U. of Chicago when he was merely a lecturer, and other WTFs. And unlike the clown who did make these claims, she isn’t trying to pass herself off as an intellectual.
Oct 11, 2008 - 6:55 am 50. larrymason:The pathetic manipulators on the left still think that all that is necessary to advance their cause is to wear people down with appeals to guilt and sensitivity. Intellectual terrorism is for cowards.Palin is a solid example of strength, grace, and intellect. It should worry them, having such limited experince with those. Vote for the moose hunter.
Oct 11, 2008 - 1:48 pm 51. Russian Bear:Mark my words. When John McCain loses in November, the analysts will speak about picking Sarah Palin for VP as his biggest mistake.))))
Oct 12, 2008 - 11:19 am 52. Marc Malone:Russian Bear – No, they won’t decide that. They’ll decide the turning point was trying to do something about the financial crisis. He should have stood by and done nothing, like Obama, rather than do what he was elected to do. That’s how he got painted as erratic, and that’s the meme that’s holding. Obama won by doing nothing.
Oct 12, 2008 - 12:47 pm 53. skink:why has this site made no mention of the Branchflower report on Palin?
Oct 12, 2008 - 5:11 pm 54. Marc Malone:skink – No one here cares about the Branchflower report. We all knew what was coming: an attempt to diminish Palin. No big deal; just another day at the office.
Actually, the whole investigation is instructive of trying to reach across the aisle. Palin has a mix of people in her administration, including old foes, independents, and Democrats. Sure enough, when the time comes, the others will not back you. Since she stomped her own party, too, she lacks their support. All she has is the people. So, a bi-partisan report is meaningless.
Predictably, they issued findings, which they’re not allowed to do, instead of recommendations. They found no abuse of power. They found that she MIGHT have violated the ethics provision. If they had worded it differently, it couldn’t tar her at all. For example , they could’ve said, “We couldn’t find where she definitively violated….” It’s the same thing, but the press reports on the violated, leaving out the MIGHT have. Might have is just gossipy.
Oct 12, 2008 - 6:38 pm 55. BlackRepublican:ABOUT BARACK AND MICHELLE:
MICHELLE’S THESIS IS INGRATEFUL TO GOOD WHITE PEOPLE.
OBAMA CAMP’S RHETORIC OF KKK AND SEGREGATIONISM FORGOT … DEMOCRAT SENATOR BYRD AND OTHER KKK LEADERS AND DESCENDANTS IN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY. WILSON’S DEMOCRATIC PARTY IS THE ONE WHO DEMONIZED THE BLACK PEOPLE UNTIL NOW. THESE PEOPLE WANT AFFIRMATIVE ACTION FOR BLACK PEOPLE TO WRONGLY TEACH BLACK PEOPLE TO BE LAZY… AND JUST RELY ON THE GOVERNMENT. LOOK AT MANY BLACK PEOPLE AT ACORN. THEY SERVE THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IN ALL ELECTIONS BECAUSE THEY THINK THAT ONLY THE DEMOCRAT (SOCIALIST) GOVERNMENT CAN GIVE THEM HOMES, JOBS, AND LAWS THAT CAN SUE BUSINESSES TO GIVE WAY FOR BLACK PEOPLE TO TAKE OVER. THIS IS OBAMA’S FRIENDS LIKE SHARPTON. OBAMA’S ACORN DAYS IN SOUTH CHICAGO LED TO MY MISGUIDED BLACK BROTHERS.
I AM A BLACK REPUBLICAN AND I TOTALLY DENOUNCE MY BLACK BROTHER MALCOM X AS HE STIRS THE SUCCESS MADE BY BOTH WHITE AND BLACK PEOPLE TO LIVE IN HARMONY. WHEN BARACK OBAMA USES THE WORD HOODWINKED AND BAMBOOZLED OF MALCOM X… THAT’S IT!!!!!
BLACK PEOPLE FORGOT THAT IT IS THE POLICY OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY THAT DESTROYED THE BLACK PEOPLE. BLACK LIBERATION THEOLOGY DESTROYS MY RACE. WE ARE FREE AMERICANS NOW AND MY BLACK PEOPLE TO MAKE BLACK AMERICANS LIVE LIKE THOSE IN AFRICA…THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES.
BLACK PEOPLE TRY TO FORGET THAT ABORTION WAS USED BY THE DEMOCRAT SEGREGATIONISTS TO CONTROL THE POPULATION OF THE BLACK PEOPLE. ABORTION IS STILL VERY HIGH IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY.
MY BLACK REPUBLICAN HERO, MARTIN LUTHER KING, WILL DIE IN DESPAIR AND SORROW, NOT BY GUNSHOT, BY BY SEEING HOW THE BLACK COMMUNITY OF TODAY DENOUNCE THE PARTY THAT FREED THEM…REPUBLICAN PARTY…THE WHITE PEOPLE WHO TREATED THEM FAIRLY… THE CONSERVATIVES…THE RELIGION THAT ACCEPTED THEM AS BRETHREN… EVANGELICALS AND CHRISTIAN DENOMINATION.
BARACK’S USE OF THE MALCOM X’S RETHORIC LOST HIS FORMER DECENCY OF USING MLK’S WORD.
ABOUT SARAH:
I JUST LOVE SARAH PALIN!!!! I LOVE THE PALIN FAMILY!!!! THEIR LAUGHS, THEIR TROUBLES, THEIR SORROWS, THEIR DEFEATS, THEIR PROBLEMS…. THOSE ARE THE THINGS THAT MAKE THEM LIKE MY ME AND MY FAMILY!!!!!
JUST CONTINUE SARAH PALIN!!! CONTINUE TO BE UNAPOLOGETIC AMERICAN YOU ARE!!! I HAVE ENOUGH OF OTHER PEOPLE TRASHING PEOPLE LIKE US! CONTINUE TO LOVE LIFE… AND BE PRO-LIFE!!! THERE IS THIS DIVINE PROVIDENCE THAT WILL SERVE JUSTICE… IF NOT TODAY… THEN 2012 IT IS.
I JUST HOPE MCCAIN TO REMOVE HIS APOLOGETIC HAT AND FOLLOW SARAH PALIN’S SHOES…. CONSERVATIVES HAVE NOTHING TO APOLOGIZE!!! IT’S THE LIBERAL MEDIA AND POLITICIANS WHO HAVE LOTS TO APOLOGIZE TO AVERAGE AMERICANS.
Oct 13, 2008 - 4:02 am 56. ENT DOC:BRAVO BlackRepublican
I have not heard it stated more eloquently.
Oct 13, 2008 - 7:35 am 57. Jen06:Black Republican – This white Republican would like to shake your hand.
Oct 13, 2008 - 11:46 am 58. Rob:Can you imagine how hard it is to be a Black Republican??
Oct 14, 2008 - 9:05 pmTalk about tested in the fire. My heart goes out to this guy. He is blessed with an open mind and a clear eye for history. And guts. He is forced to speak up by his own conscience when it would be so easy to keep quiet. This is very unusual.