Sarah Palin just resigned as Governor

[PETA]

Originally Posted by Deff Gordon

yes. that estimate is in regards to total cost including interest. it's a staggering number and you know that for the first handful of years it was run like the wild west.

the first couple went fairly well... it was the intervening couple that went bad... very very bad.

And it is a staggering sum. What's more staggering is that Obama and the Dems topped the entire war spending in one bill that nobody read.

Originally Posted by Deff Gordon

their policies were total crap and they did a horrible job regarding rebuilding and stabilization.

quite true. General Franks made no bones about his complete indifference towards the rebuilding process and GW took way too long to fire Rumsfeld and sack a few generals... he deferred too much and lead too little.

[Deff Gordon]

Originally Posted by PETA

the first couple went fairly well... it was the intervening couple that went bad... very very bad.

it was just one year... because the Iraqi citizens were somewhat hopeful. when those policies we started putting in place put their businesses and factories out of business, they didn't want us there anymore and started to fight.


as for the Obama "topping it" thing... it was something that was started by Paulson under Bush. and that money is going into the US and not handed out to other countries for nothing. at least that money is staying here to benefit us.

[PETA]

Originally Posted by Deff Gordon

it was just one year... because the Iraqi citizens were somewhat hopeful. when those policies we started putting in place put their businesses and factories out of business, they didn't want us there anymore and started to fight.

Well, that and AQI beheading their children in the streets kinda hurt the scene too. The sectarian violence etc etc. I'm not suggesting they were exclusive - they weren't - but cemenmt factory fuck-ups were probably more expensive to us than the violence was overwhelminmg to the Iraqis. Neither here nor their... the fact is we fuck up a fairly decent chance to avoid the shit that occurred.

Originally Posted by Deff Gordon

as for the Obama "topping it" thing... it was something that was started by Paulson under Bush. and that money is going into the US and not handed out to other countries for nothing. at least that money is staying here.

The Stimulus Bill was Obama and the Dems... the GOP got shut out of the process. Might just come back to haunt the Dems

[Deff Gordon]

Originally Posted by PETA

The Stimulus Bill was Obama and the Dems... the GOP got shut out of the process. Might just come back to haunt the Dems

bah.. the US bailout started way before and the elephants getting locked out is just crying 'cause they wanted their earmarks.

side note... a buddy is in mexico. i'm trying to get him to bring back some cohibas for us.

[PETA]

Originally Posted by Deff Gordon

bah.. the US bailout started way before and the elephants getting locked out is just crying 'cause they wanted their earmarks.

side note... a buddy is in mexico. i'm trying to get him to bring back some cohibas for us.

blah blah blah,... wha!~!!!!!

[matt]

lol - http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/f...?currentPage=1

[vinnie97]

Originally Posted by Deff Gordon

my reasons for not wanting palin are as follows:

she's a political evangelist. she doesn't care what you think or feel. her actions are guided by her beliefs only. not open minded to others. there is no way somebody like that should EVER be that close to guiding the ship. "do as i say, not as i do."

Your fearless leader isn't exactly amenable to other ideas either and his veil of "deep concern" does little to shield his elitism. The apology tours are getting really sickening.

her actions when she fucks up...
ex 1: katie couric interview. she wasn't bombarded... asking 'what she reads' is a softball question! that's like saying "what is your favorite color?" is tough question. palin and camp acted like cunts and crybabies and went on a katie couric smear campaign when palin couldn't even answer a simple question.

I didn't see said interview but Katie Couric smear campaigns are fine by me.

ex 2: going on all the smear campaigns about her family being attacked by the media... puh-leeze. she brought her family in and placed them on a fucking pedestal right next to her.

It was the media that did most of the smearing...I guess you would think it more prudent to leave her family in the background since their presence is open season for attack.

to top it off... she's a quitter: going gets tough... she bails
her excuse is total BULLSHIT. period. Alaska ain't a fucking busy place. not a hard job. there isn't even a full-time reporter for the government up there because THEY DON'T DO SHIT. they meet for about a month and move on. Alaska pretty much runs itself. not a lot going on up there. her excuse is pure crap. she's a quitter.

Didn't know you were such an Alaskan civil professional.

it's totally unfathomable how anybody could even remotely think she's the shit.

When we're talking about lesser of evils in the last election, there is no question.

and vince... those reasons you gave on hating obama are kinda weak. the church he went to? bill ayers? jeez... do you even know how the whole bill ayers thing went down? i'm on boards of things here and share seats with a lot of people. i'm sure i've crosses some sorted paths in my day. in fact... it's pretty much a given i've been around all sorts. why not argue some real shit like economic decisions or real business that's happening? do you even understand why you are a republican? i don't think so.

To me, character is important, as is who you associate with. We're talking about a political culture in Chicago that Obama was a significant part of.

Why am I a Conservative...because I believe in social (preservation of family values, no matter how damaged the libs deem them to be) and fiscal conservatism. I don't believe in sweeping legislation that promises to impose a tax burden on the middle class (health care "reform" and cap and trade, both of which are insane spending bills especially at a time like this) and I've already made that clear all throughout this forum. I believe in immigration enforcement and not amnesty for millions. The trade deficit also needs serious addressing.

Truth be told, both parties are taking this country into a sinkhole, the current power brokers are just accelerating it.

[david austin]

Originally Posted by vinnie97

Truth be told, both parties are taking this country into a sinkhole, the current power brokers are just accelerating it.

This is the most reasonable, smart, and non-biased quote in this entire thread... maybe even this entire forum.

The Republican party is in shambles with pretty much zero directional leadership.
The Democrats need to step off the bullshit hope and change platform.

We will continue to slip down this slope as long as people stay focused on partisan crap instead of solutions to the whole. Unfortunately the nature of such actions bring the desire for everyone to get their back scratched in some form or another... and that is why ultimately... nothing will ever get done.

[Deff Gordon]

Originally Posted by vinnie97

Your fearless leader isn't exactly amenable to other ideas either and his veil of "deep concern" does little to shield his elitism. The apology tours are getting really sickening.

false. way more open minded and open to other's ideas than Palin is and has ever been.

I didn't see said interview but Katie Couric smear campaigns are fine by me.

let me remove that rock from on top of you. it's nice out here (sometimes).

It was the media that did most of the smearing...I guess you would think it more prudent to leave her family in the background since their presence is open season for attack.

nope. she went on the offensive quite often. if something was said bad about her.. she would go apeshit defensive and focus ALL energy on that one thing. during elections, everybody has mud slung on them. she acted childish.

as for her family... she put them out there and ran on those principles including them. so when her teen daughter shows up preggo... it's NEWS... there were no slams... it's a newsworthy event. and thus, comedies use that as joke material. the rest of us intelligent people see it as "do as i say, don't do as i do" mentality. it's like the former governor of NY going on a crusade against prostitutes and johns, yet is one himself. talk about bad character.

Didn't know you were such an Alaskan civil professional.

again with the rock. it's all over the news and reported everywhere on what a lax system they have up there and how they aren't busy at all.

When we're talking about lesser of evils in the last election, there is no question.

To me, character is important, as is who you associate with. We're talking about a political culture in Chicago that Obama was a significant part of.

that's where we'll disagree. palin has shown us poor character from the get go. spending hundreds of thousands on clothes to writing a concession speech!!! what the fuck!!! seriously. lack of character. just because he's from a geographical region that is corrupt doesn't mean he is. that's like saying i'm a drug dealer because i worked at night clubs. fucking ludicrous and you know it.

Why am I a Conservative...because I believe in social (preservation of family values, no matter how damaged the libs deem them to be) and fiscal conservatism. I don't believe in sweeping legislation that promises to impose a tax burden on the middle class (health care "reform" and cap and trade, both of which are insane spending bills especially at a time like this) and I've already made that clear all throughout this forum. I believe in immigration enforcement and not amnesty for millions. The trade deficit also needs serious addressing.

what values in particular? what makes your values superior to mine or the next guy's?

http://imgur.com/mTPIA.jpg

you want to talk fiscal conservatism and responsibility because i can go on and on and bore you with macro economics and how the previous admin fucked us over and 2x on Sunday. all those billions and billions (which will total to 4.5 trillion) were just thrown away. poof! gone. no more.

Truth be told, both parties are taking this country into a sinkhole, the current power brokers are just accelerating it.

agreed. i think if obama had way out west play at the inauguration you'd be a lot happier. lol

[J. Fees]

Originally Posted by david austin

This is the most reasonable, smart, and non-biased quote in this entire thread... maybe even this entire forum.

The Republican party is in shambles with pretty much zero directional leadership.
The Democrats need to step off the bullshit hope and change platform.

We will continue to slip down this slope as long as people stay focused on partisan crap instead of solutions to the whole. Unfortunately the nature of such actions bring the desire for everyone to get their back scratched in some form or another... and that is why ultimately... nothing will ever get done.

is vinnie 97 David's ultra conservative alias?

[vinnie97]

lol @ merrit's wow comment.

I think any amenability you see from Obama is all part of the well oiled White House PR machine. I think going around in these circles is wasting our time, since neither of us will likely change the other's mind.

[FarangBa]

Originally Posted by Deff Gordon

http://imgur.com/mTPIA.jpg

Holy Cow! after all this time, I finally think I get you. That photo says it all.

Is that one issue the reason you hate conservatives so much?

[BigBallinColin]

wtf you motherfuckers are just in it for the blood now.

[FarangBa]

Originally Posted by BigBallinColin

wtf you motherfuckers are just in it for the blood now.

[tricky]

as sarah palin prepares to bid alaska adieu, liberals should hope that she runs for president in 2012. Not only will she lose—she could take the entire republican party down with her. ever since she pranced into the limelight last summer, sarah palin has been making liberals like me crazy. She embodies almost everything loathsome about the modern republican party—its brutish anti-intellectualism, its christianist extremism, and its smug provincialism. Her nomination was identity politics of the crudest sort, engineered by men who imagined that disappointed hillary clinton voters would chuck all their principles out of gender solidarity and rally to a candidate of the religious right. (the same geniuses envisioned the buffoonish michael steele as a right-wing answer to barack obama.) palin is a beauty-queen elmer gantry, outdoing stephen colbert in cheesy, braying nationalism. She’s terrifying. And now that she’s stepping down as governor, i hope we see a lot more of her.
In fact, i hope she runs for president. In 1971, pat buchanan wrote a famous memo to richard nixon suggesting that the president’s allies “promote, assist, and fund a fourth-party candidacy of the left democrats and/or the black democrats.” if the republicans could tear the country in half, he wrote, they would end up with “far the bigger half.” he was right. The 1972 election represented the ultimate pyrrhic victory for the left, with george mcgovern’s success in the democratic primaries leading to catastrophe in november. Palin, should she run, could inflict similar damage on the republicans.

the longer palin sticks around, the more she reminds everyone outside the looking-glass world of the right just what the modern republican party has become.

in a way, it’s indecent to compare her and mcgovern—he was a war hero and a profoundly good man whose positions have been vindicated by history. But palin, like mcgovern, represents an avid, countercultural minority that overestimates its own appeal and overplays its hand.
For several decades now, the christian right has been the largest and most cohesive social movement in the country. Ever since the christian coalition was formed from the ashes of pat robertson’s 1988 presidential campaign, religious conservatives have worked systematically to take over the gop from within, one school board and town council at a time. Palin was very much a product of that movement. She rose to power in concert with the christian right, turning her race against wasilla mayor john stein into a referendum on abortion, guns, and god. When john mccain chose her as his running mate, it was a triumph for the movement. Suddenly, a member of its own ranks—not just a supporter, like bush—seemed close to the pinnacle of power. Yet in retrospect, it was also a sign that christian conservatism was becoming a victim of its own success.
That’s because the religious right, big as it was, never commanded a majority. It could only exercise power as part of a coalition, but the more it has come to dominate the republican party, the less inclined it has been to compromise. There’s little room for moderates or intellectuals in today’s gop. Electoral losses have only driven the party further rightward, shearing it of its northeastern wing. Republicanism has become a southern gothic farce of paranoia, resentment, scandal, and hypocritical moralism. Palin is its perfect representative, a constant reminder of its degradation.
Her wild popularity with republicans is matched by her unpopularity with everyone else. In a usa today/gallup poll taken a week after she quit as governor, 72 percent of republicans said they would support her for president in 2012. Other polls have shown that a majority of republicans think she helped mccain in 2008. That is almost certainly not the case. Recent research by emily thorson and richard johnston of the university of pennsylvania, publicized by bloggers including ezra klein and matthew yglesias, has shown that palin’s negative effect on mccain was unprecedented for a vice-presidential candidate.
The longer palin sticks around, the more she reminds everyone outside the looking-glass world of the right just what the modern republican party has become. Of course, some liberals might fear that she could still be dangerous; after the shock of george w. Bush’s re-election, it’s hard to put one’s unswerving faith in the wisdom of the american voting public. But bush was not palin. Ignorant and inarticulate as he was, he and his handlers knew how to create at least an ersatz aura of seriousness. There’s no reason to believe that just because he was elected, she could be as well. She has little more chance of actually becoming president than al sharpton.
Right-wing operative roger stone lavishly supported sharpton in 2004 because he knew that sharpton could damage the democrats without remotely threatening republicans. As the new york times reported in a 2004 story about the alliance, sharpton generated “one of [howard] dean's lowest moments in a debate when he forced him to admit he had no blacks or hispanics in his cabinet when he was governor of vermont.” palin could play a similar role in the 2012 primaries, riling up the base while appalling moderates and independents. I’m not suggesting that liberals step in to fund her—her addled admirers will be happy to do it themselves. But everyone who hates her politics should be hoping that as she leaves alaska’s government, she imagines still greater things in her future. Run, sarah, run!
michelle goldberg is the author of the means of reproduction: Sex, power and the future of the world and kingdom coming: The rise of christian nationalism. She is a senior correspondent for the american prospect, and her work has appeared in the new republic, the nation, the los angeles times, glamour, and many other publications.

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