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Sarah Palin’s back, and she still doesn’t like the media

By Jimmy Orr | 01.08.09

On the day that Barack Obama was officially certified as the next President of the United States, Sarah Palin (not to mention Joe the Plumber) is back in the news. And she’s got a gripe or two. Or three.

It’s not like she went berserk, but while speaking to conservative filmmaker John Ziegler, a clearly frustrated Palin outlines her problems with the media, her campaign handlers, the media, the media again, and the media (especially bloggers).

Republican

The problem with Palin, according to Palin, is that she’s a Republican. If she were a Democrat, the media would have embraced her.

“I think they would have loved me as a candidate, and I’ve already lived through that more on a local level,” Palin said. “There have been times where here in Alaska, I’ve taken on my own Republican Party when there has been corruption.”

“The mainstream media here in Alaska, they’ve loved me through those episodes. And then though the minute … that I have done something that is … back to the conservative roots … that’s when the mainstream media here in Alaska, they turn on you. So there’s so much hypocrisy in it all,” she continued.

“It’s pretty baffling, but yeah, had I been chosen to run as a reformer on the Democrat ticket, we would have seen an absolutely different and I think, if you will, a much prettier profile of Sarah Palin and the Palin family and my administration,” Palin said.

Those dern bloggers

This thing you’re reading right now?  In Palin’s eyes, an abomination.

“When did we start accepting as hard news sources bloggers?” she asked. “Anonymous bloggers especially. It is a sad state of affairs in the world of the media today – mainstream media especially – if they are going to rely on anonymous bloggers for their hard news information.  Very scary.”

Well, she said “anonymous bloggers” are the bad ones. So maybe we’re OK.

On the Katie Couric interview

Palin admits her interview with CBS anchor Katie Couric was not very good. Why’d she go back for more? The campaign made her.

“I knew it didn’t do well,” Palin said. “Then we gave her a couple segments after that.”

“My question to the campaign was, ‘After it didn’t go well the first day, why are we going to go back for more?’” she asked.  “And however it works in the upper echelon of [the campaign], I was told we were going to go back for more.”

“Going back for more was not a wise decision either,” she said.

No one will dispute that.

On Caroline Kennedy

Palin wonders if there is a “class-bias” in the media.  As in Kennedy gets better coverage than Palin.

“I’ve been interested to see how Caroline Kennedy will be handled and if she will be handled with kid gloves or if she will be under such a microscope,”she said.

“It’s going to be interesting to see how that plays out and I think that as we watch that we will perhaps be able to prove that there is a class issue here also that was such a factor in the scrutiny of my candidacy versus, say, the scrutiny of what her candidacy may be.”

Documentary

The filmmaker interviewed Palin for an upcoming documentary called, “Media Malpractice”.

In promoting the documentary on his web site, Ziegler writes of his admiration for Palin — his real admiration for Palin.

“I also know now, with morally certitude, that the media assassination of her, her character and her family was one of the greatest public injustices of our time and I am totally justified in devoting my life to correcting the historical record in my forthcoming film “Media Malpractice…How Obama Got Elected and Palin Was Smeared”.

Morally certitude?

Regardless, here are some excerpts:

<< Breaking News: Barack Obama is the next President of the United States! | Main

Comments

1. Gaias Child | 01.08.09

Blame on, pretty moron governor, your time has come to mush right back to school and learn to talk and think since you are doing great with the makeup and clothes and hair. I will give you some assigned reading: Riane Eisler, Chalice and the Blade, Sacred Pleasure, The Partnership Way. Learn some history and decide whether you want to keep on living on competition and combat and blamuing or you want to grow up and learn something.

2. GW | 01.08.09

Aren’t her 15 minutes of fame up?

3. Fernando | 01.08.09

Mrs Palin: You are NOT Caroline Kennedy

4. Sissy Willis | 01.08.09

Ziegler leaves Gibson and Couric and their fellow-traveling Northeast Corridor conservatives in the dust:

http://sisu.typepad.com/sisu/2009/01/roger-l-simon-i.html

I just got an annoying message that I am “posting comments too quickly.” This is the first I’ve ever posted, fergossake.

5. JIMMIE W BECK | 01.08.09

SARAH PALIN IS RIGHT ON

6. Alec | 01.08.09

Sarah Palin has every right to complain.
She and her family were attacked by the left-wing media,m set up by CBS and ABC and trashed by the left-wing Kool Aid Drinking bloggers.

Watch the video and see that Sarah Palin is a great American.
And- by the way- will be the next President of the United States.
(If we survive the next 4 years!)

7. Ida | 01.08.09

Sarah some day will be a good politican but she have a lot to learn to get with
the big boys . just ask hillary.

8. marty | 01.08.09

she is so ignorant, is almost funny

9. Kim | 01.08.09

I live in Eagle River Alaska, I’m not an anonymous blogger, I am an Alaskan that thinks that she needs to sit down, shut up, and govern our state. I wish she would give me a chance to interview her. I would surely ask the questions that the media has been skirting around, I think they’ve been rather nice to her considering all the mess she starts.

10. Barbara | 01.08.09

What a bunch of garbage

11. Clueless | 01.08.09

Where are the excerpts? Just kidding. And I didn’t know Palin was Obamas direct oppenent in the election. I could have swore I heard something about a McCain guy somewhere.

12. Bryan | 01.08.09

This movie will not be good… in fact it will probably be bad.

13. ericmiami | 01.08.09

Sarah is the greatest gift the Democrats could have asked for. Thank you, Sarah, and thank you, God.

14. smart guy(b;ackjew) | 01.08.09

How did Barack Obama get elected??he only campaigned for 2 stinking years
o right, smart people voted him in/ and George Bushs’ idiocy for 8 years
and John Mccain being too old and picking a far flung hootnanny as a running mate
you wasted so much time researching a wanna-be!! i hope you got a deposit bottle

15. Jay Arr | 01.08.09

When you are from a small town, everyone knows all about you, including your personal faults and assets. On the national scene, a simple question, like “what do you read?” is hugely important. Why? The answer instantly tells me how one surrounds him- or herself with information, influences ones thinking, and more than anything else, how one stretches or challenges his or her mind. It is a question I ask every potential employee in my firm. Katie Couric was spot on. Sarah Palin is too small-town minded to be on the national stage. Even now she can’t see past the Bering Strait or south east of Juneau. She’s also a typical Republican: stuck in a closed world of self pity and the narrow-mindedness. Just like Bush.

16. Apple | 01.08.09

Compairing Palin to Kennedy is compairing apples to oranges. Caroline is seeking a Senate seat, certain a big deal but definately not a heartbeat away from the presidency. Coming from relative obscurity to run for vice president is asking for scruitny.

17. Kevin GOP Anti Palin | 01.08.09

Well heck, I’ll take her word for it regarding biased media. I suppose that I’ll just read the newspapers she reads.

And those are…….. uh, that’s right. Grandma Sarah can’t read.

18. william shearer | 01.08.09

Palin should not be in the news. she is nothing in the fed gov.

19. Anonymous Blogger | 01.08.09

Is Palin saying that if she had the same stance on gay marriage, abortion, foreign policy, etc. but for for whatever reason were willing and able to run as a Democrat then the media would love her? Or is she saying that if she looked the same but had completely different values that the media would love her? Not that Palin has any skills in logic, but that’s a false dilemma. The Dems would never elect her in a primary or a general election because she’s TOO STUPID. Republicans, on the other hand, like their leaders a little dim.

20. Dom | 01.08.09

If she were a democrat she would definately get better press, though that’s probably because if she were a democrat she wouldn’t be a gun totting Anti-environmental govenor who forces her children to marry.

21. whatever | 01.08.09

While your busy trying to clean up your mess, your other daughter is probably busy doing her thing - if you know what I mean.

22. mr. x | 01.08.09

i don’t like the dems or the repubs. they’re both corrupt and self-serving. my advise to ms. palin is: if u can’t handle the spotlight, then choose another career. enough whining already!!!

23. jrs | 01.08.09

Governor, you’re no Carolyn Kennedy.

24. oceanbear | 01.08.09

Palin reminds me of a Laurel and Hardy movie and she’s playing both parts.
I can’t help but feel that Harry Truman had it totally correct:
“If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen”

25. Jessica | 01.08.09

I think Sarah is the best thing that has ever come along. I applaud her tell it like it is attitude. People are so blind to the truth, it’s sickening. Sarah and Ann Coulter for President and Vice President. You want this country straightened out, that’s the way to go!!!!!!!!

26. Radian | 01.08.09

“Media assassination” of Palin? More like suicide.

27. Bo Lasquis | 01.08.09

“The problem with Palin, according to Palin, is that she’s a Republican. If she were a Democrat, the media would have embraced her.”

Hogwash. If she had run as a Democrat, the attacks from the Sean Hannitys and Rush Limbaughs of thw world would have made her treatment as a Republican look like a romp through a field of flowers.

28. ron | 01.08.09

She is right,of course, the media did a hatchet job on her, at least she is articulate and a damn good shot. I have completely written off the lop-sided leftist media. I can no longer stomach MSN, CNN, Rueters. And my major was journalism, and I worked for a daily newspaper for a few years before deciding I rather make money. Once upon a time the basics of the news were WHO:WHAT:WHERE:WHEN:WHY and these were held inviolate, anything beyond that belonged on the editorial page. These days it seems to be WHO DID WHAT TO WHOM FOR HOW MUCH AND CAN I GET BOOK DEAL IF I GOT PHOTOSHOP’D BLOOD. Writers of the news are some of the most opinionated left leaning self serving individuals you will ever meet, and almost two a man they would sell their souls or the truth just to be published. Sports writers on the other hand, are the true icons of the industry.

29. Susan B | 01.08.09

Why does Sarah Palin never talk about policy? Is that the media’s fault?

30. Paul | 01.08.09

The Kennedy’s are a pox on this country’s politics and are as far from supporting this great country as corruption can be. People that live through them, estoll their lifestyle and would join them in avarice, are as phony and shallow as hollywood, but they must be the majority as this blog and election reveals. Sarah will not kill the unborn, if nothing else, this alone and by itself puts her in a class untouchable.

31. debbieloverhaha | 01.08.09

Maybe the media mockery had somthing to do with her policy positions, and her lack of knowledge with respect to the issues. Remember, she sais to Couric, in response to a question on the proposed TARP, at a point when the economy was on the precipice of a meltdown, that Health Care was an important issue!!! Now tell me, all yoiu neo-con defenders, how can anyone with a BRAIN, regardless of their ideolgicalbias, vote for ANYONE with such a poor grasp of life and death issues????????? PLEASE, I WANT TO KNOW!!!!!!!

32. Lazlo, New Orleans LA | 01.08.09

i’m amazed that i would actually prefer to listen to paris hilton talk politics than this imbecile. please JUST GO AWAY. REALLY!!!! GO AWAY!

33. One Simple Chinese’s Mind in Plano, TX | 01.08.09

What a stupid woman Palin is. She is a joke and an insult to women…She disgusts me and all my lady friends…

34. whynot | 01.08.09

Looks like - Sarah, Ann and Greta could use a girls night out.

35. Terry Florida | 01.08.09

Everyone who compares Palin to Caroline Kennedy is a moron. This woman has done more in 2 hours, than even our new president. When are you people going to quit drinking the liberal kool aid……..

36. seth | 01.09.09

Freedom is speech is great! America is in for a tough 8 years thanks to the Dems deregulation in critical areas. I am sitting pretty with cash stored up, stable job, and my smarts. The rest of you will be in bread lines soon!

Suckers, thinking the Gov’t will help you!!!!!!!

37. gop gal | 01.09.09

I think Sarah Palin is great. People that don’t like her are afraid of her. They are only following the herd. They do not think for themselves they are only parroting what they hear other losers say!

38. Sarah Supporter | 01.09.09

Interesting to read the hatred for this woman who has been married 20 years, is moral, is the mother of 5, and is the Governor of Alaska. Interesting too the blind faith in liberal aristocrats of no particular talent leading America into the same stagnant socialism enjoyed by Cuba, Russia, and Europe.

39. Appalled | 01.09.09

Jrs, you are absolutely corret: Sarah Palin is “no Carolyn Kennedy.” Carolyn Kennedy, however, is no Sarah Palin. Gov. Palin has tangible, political experice–mayor and two-term governor–whereas senate hopeful Kennedy has a prominent last name, the job resume of a 19-year-old college student, a Park Avenue apartment, and an estate in Martha’s Vineyard.

Gov. Palin may not of had a seat in Camelot, but she has a pragmatic understanding of this country’s need for energy independence, the struggles of middle America, and life in general. What does Carolyn know or understand about America’s problems or real life? She only knows how to avoid working for her money.

Do not get me wrong, Sarah Palin is not currently prepared or intelligible enough for the office of president or even vice-president. But, she is hands down more qualified and politically savvy, than daddy’s little girl, for say a seat in the U.S. Senate.

If it wasn’t for her last name she wouldn’t even be a viable contender for the Senate seat.

Besides isn’t she already too overwhelmed with all of her boards, panels, and charities? Stick to the bake sales and elaborate charity balls sweet heart, because your family’s reign of terror is coming to a close as soon as your uncle’s term is up.

Gov. Palin’s home life was overwhelmingly and inappropriately scrutinized by “the liberal media elite,” where we discovered her teenage daughter to be pregnant and her diet to consist of freshly shot game. Therefore, she must be the quintessential slack jawed, uneducated hick that can only be observed on the Maury Povich show or People’s Court. Who would want someone of that background in any public office of importance?!?!?

Carolyn Kennedy grew up in the lavishness of America’s first and only family, the Kennedys. Morals were always a priority, with her father sleeping with every pin-up girl he could get his hands on and her uncle leaving his pregnant mistress to drowned in a submerged car. None of this has invited much media criticism though, because she is a Washington and New York insider and part of outwardly honorable and proud legacy.

40. Conservative | 01.09.09

It was nice to see someone like Sarah Palin who is not as phoney and full of themselves as the people who pass judgement and are obviously unsuccesful

41. GoSarahGo | 01.09.09

Ah yes libtards, weak conservatives (see McCain’s new “America First” pac) and so-called independents: By all means continue to knock Gov. Palin and essentially throw your support for the same lousy government that you continually complain about. Same with the media, dumb skirts like Katie who go right from nancy pieces on Today and Dateline to a position once held by the great Ed Murrow.

But if mediocrity’s what you want, mediocrity ye shall get.

42. SAM | 01.09.09

Do you people actually listen to her answers!!??? Try it and there is no way you can honestly say she is whining or that she is uninteligent. She gives more direct answers to question than anyone in politics.

43. John | 01.09.09

Governor. Palin, If you weren’t so scared that your political blunders put your future national career in the crapper, you might wake up to the fact that Americans forget everything. Do yourself and the nation a favor by just zipping it and disappear.

Then come back strong and remind the nation that Republicans like you are as narrow as a needle.

44. Courtenay Rule | 01.09.09

May I please just stick my oar in momentarily as an ignorant Australian with a largely irrelevant question: why are American left-wingers stereotyped as drinking Kool Aid (I take it that’s a brand of cordial)? In my country, left-wingers are traditionally stereotyped as drinking more upmarket beverages like caffe latte and chardonnay…

45. Ino martin | 01.09.09

Who is Caroline Kennedy? Why are some people saying Palin is o Kennedy? Plain Got everything she had because she was smarter than her opponents not because she has a famous last name.That alone commands my respect whethter i like her or not.

46. rick | 01.09.09

“… Ziegler writes of his admiration for Palin — his real admiration for Palin. ‘I also know now, with MORALLY CERTITUDE, that the media assassination of her…”

“Morally certitude”??? Come on. Is Ziegler another Republican who cannot speak grammatically correct English? I’m not “morally” certain that the inability to use correct syntax, etc. makes one unfit for office (and for making documentaries?), but I am intellectually certain that our country’s political life will be better served by having intelligent people in office, especially people who have a grasp and command of the English language. It is even better to have in office those people who read newspapers and magazines, and who can also name them when a reporter asks her or him to do so.

47. g8oih’o[ | 01.09.09

God Bless Sarah Palin. WIhtout her, Barack Obama might have lost the election.

48. Anon | 01.09.09

Trust me, if a dem was just as clueless as her and ran, the media would have done the exact same thing. Its not the fact she is a Reb. or a women, she is simply can’t comprehend that the national media calls you on your missteps!

49. Kelly Parker | 01.09.09

The big myth: “Liberal Media”

If there is a Liberal Media conspiracy, then why are there so many outlets for Conservatives to defend their insanity? Pretty much wherever you look, another right wingnut is defending Sarah, W, drilling for oil in your mother’s swimming pool, or WHATEVER in newspapers, blogs, or on internet sites like this one. The truth is, there IS NO LIBERAL MEDIA. Every major outlet and news organization is owned and controlled by CONSERVATIVES. The problem for all you conservative whiners is this: REALITY has a liberal bias.

To those of you who think Sarah Palin has “done something”… I can only ask, “WHAT?” She was mayor of a small town (part time job) that now has insurmountable debt due to her actions; as governor she supposedly fought “big oil” and swung a pipeline deal with a FOREIGN COMPANY that will probably never be built without the cooperation of… uh… BIG OIL! Too bad she burned the bridge behind her! She claims to be fighting for energy independence when we should CLEARLY be fighting to reduce consumption, because the state of Alaska only provides a SMALL PERCENTAGE of the total energy needs of the United States, and that percentage will dwindle as Alaska resources are depleted. Her handling of the Walt Monegan fiasco and her lack of full disclosure (THOUSANDS of e-mails that were declared “out of bounds” for some reason…) pretty much shows she is just as corrupt as the “corrupt” administration she supposedly replaced.

We’re talking about choosing WORLD LEADERS here. White trash who glorifies the pregnancy of her own teenage daughter and her “illegitimate grandson” is clearly not the leadership we want to bring the United States into the 21st Century World. Despite the blogs, movies, and what-have-you that will continue to defend this woman, REALITY will prevail.

I have been a conservative all my life. The last 8 years have made me ASHAMED and embarrassed to be an American. Palin is the poster child of the Ugly American.

50. What on earth? | 01.09.09

Absolutely amazing. Palin talks about hyprocrisy? She complains about smears against her and her family when she was actively attempting to portray Obama as some sort of anti-American terrorist sympathizer! Her hypocrisy is breathtaking. How dare this guy focus on smears against Palin and co! He calls the episode ‘one of the greatest public injustices of our time’. What on earth? He must be joking. And Palin is basking in the media attention. She’s not complaining about all this coverage now. She’s rarely out of the news. When will Palin and her bizarre followers wake up to the fact that she was criticized because she obviously just was not up to the job. Interviews, like the one with Couric, are part and parcel of the process of standing for public office. Get over it.

51. frank burns | 01.09.09

It seems that not just the mediea but all of reality nowadays has a leftist slant to it.

52. Sean | 01.09.09

Once again Americans have shown the world that they are not capable of the “democracy experiment.” The manner which Palin was treated reflects a people who lack the sophistication for the debate of the political arena. Democracy is that great theory which failed to have an opportunity to prove its worth because it fell on the wrong people at the wrong time. Sarah Palin may or may not have been a proper choice but the Americans may or may not have been intelligent enough to know the difference. Whether it be Washington, New York, or Chicago—Sarah Palin does more by example to serve America than most elected Americans. I used to defend Americans in Europe but now I have joined most Europeans in waiting for the fianl fall of the Democracy Experiment.

53. Silly Simpleton Sarah | 01.09.09

what the hell is she saying? ANYONE FROM WACKY-SILLA WHO SPEAKS ASSBACKWARDS CAN TRANSLATE WHAT THIS DINGBAT IS SAYING?

54. gwen | 01.09.09

Gov. Sarah Palin is very intelligent and brave. To those morons that say she is ignorant, let me ask them what have they achieved when she became mayor and governer while raising her family?

55. Martha | 01.09.09

To 28. Ron - can you please give me 2 examples of an articulate, coherent and understandable sentence consisting of more than 4 words that Palin has put together ? This might change my opinion about her intelligence.
Thanks,
Martha

56. Deborah | 01.09.09

Of course it was a class issue with Palin : all about the class and style she does not have and we sorely expect and need in a (vice) president. We just do not want an uninformed, little educated and inarticulate hillbilly with an incoherent thought process to be in second place as leader of the free world.
At least Caroline Kennedy is an intelligent, well educated woman who knows what goes on in the world.

57. Mungo | 01.09.09

Will Palin ever stop whining?

58. blabla | 01.09.09

Am I allowed to say this? Stupid stupid woman! she doesn’t know when to get off stage!

59. Frank Stein | 01.09.09

Geeze, this woman is truly a moron. She harps away at the media as though every other politician doesn’t have to deal with them. Poor Sarah, poor, poor Sarah she was abused. We should feel sorry for poor little Sarah. Then she talks about Kennedy, who last time I checked was getting savaged by the media with the “um,” “ah” focus, the “won’t tell us how rich she is” and all sorts of crud about whether she is qualified. Of course Palin answers the qualification question nicely, anybody is qualified. Give me a break, Palin is a whiney nasty thief.

60. Mark | 01.09.09

Are we not entitled to have as a leader who knows something or who can analyze complext relationships? Or, is articulate enough to communicate with the citizens? Or, to confident enough to lead all citizens without destroying those who disagree? Give me a break, Sarah. I’m surprised there were any Republican votes in 2008…and I’m a Republican who has been starving for leadership for decades.

61. Curious Orange | 01.09.09

Ya they love you when you`re fighting “you know” corruption but the second you “you know” sell out they`re all over you

62. vch | 01.09.09

To the Aussie (#42)The “Kool Aid” references refer to Jim Jones, a charismatic African American religious leader who convinced many of his followers to commit suicide by drinking poisoned Kool Aid. According to this warped line of thinking, Obama (supposedly a messiah-like figure) is like Jones, and Obama supporters are like the poor deluded folks who blindly followed Jones.

63. Scott | 01.09.09

The posts here defending Sarah Palin are a hoot! Misspelled, grammatically twisted, logically inept bloviation is all it amounts to. (haven’t they heard of spellcheck?)

Being “governer” of Alaska, (a state with less people than the county I live in) and a small-town mayor (again, a part-time job) are hardly qualifications to lead the free world. Conservatives who defend this laughing stock just keep digging that hole that their party has fallen into. As for 2012, I say “Run, Sarah, RUN!” - SNL needs new material.

64. jerryt | 01.09.09

I’m tired of the “liberal” label waved by the FauxNews cronies and their brain-washed loyalists. The hypocrisy is that the Christian Conservatives in this country are the equivalent to the Islamic Fundamentalists in the Arab countries. They are simply narrow-minded, hypocritical & archaic-thinking power brokers that want to intimidate their will on others. That’s clearly NOT the American Way.

65. bob | 01.09.09

“The left wing media” is a convenient device for those now-mainstream media which are dedicated to openly serving a particular party and ideology, and for people like Palin who need an excuse. What they are really saying is that Rush Limbaugh “tells it straight” and anything that isn’t spun hard to support conservative ideology is “biased”. Which is about like the people of Pisa complaining that their tower is the only correctly aligned building on planet earth. Palin confuses bloggers with journalists, opinion pieces with news, and comes away with all sorts of strange, whiney delusions. The whole thing about her baby was a rumor in the blogosphere that grew out of her failure to inform her sponsor that her daughter was pregnant. It was hardly a blip on the radar compared to the constant pounding about Obama’s “false citizenship” and “terrorist roots” and all the demented rest that was being pushed openly and hard by Limbaugh, Beck, Savage, Levine, Coulter, Malkin, Hannity, etc etc. Palin’s simple-minded acceptance of this and her inability to see things except through her own narrowly-informed tunnel is just another example of what’s wrong with her. She is the equivalent of someone whose world is informed only by Michael Moore movies.

66. Seen it All | 01.09.09

Katie Couric is not the center of the universe: Sarah Palin is! It always about Sarah. Sarah 24/7/365. All the Sarah, all the time. Church is burnt: its must be about Sarah. Guy knocks up Sarah’s underage daughter: it must be about Sarah. Guy who knocks up daughter mother is arrested for narcotics: it must be about Sarah. Guy who knocks up daughter is too dumb to graduate from high school: it must be about Sarah. Guy who knocks up daughter gets fired for not having the minimum educational qualifications of all the other guys working in the oil patch: it must be about Sarah. Nothing can happen unless it has Sarah. The sun rises on Sarah, the planets and the stars revolve around Sarah, God speaks directly to Sarah. It’s all about Sarah. Self centered, egotistical, megalomaniac, sociopath Sarah. All Hail Supreme Sarah!!

67. dfh | 01.09.09

She is easily the dumbest politician ever. Oh wait, George Bush. OK she is easily the second dumbest politician ever. Dumb as a sack of hammers and proud of it. People want competence dont’cha know?

68. J.Jay | 01.09.09

I just can’t believe the fact that republicans are still supporting this woman! Just amazing! They just seem not to trust lot of hard work by journalists backed up with evidence. She flew all the way to Alaska to deliver her last baby knowing that her child is going to have down syndrome and child’s condition is fragile. The woman either got to be crazy or she just didn’t care or she must have thought if something happens to baby she won’t be called baby killer. So much for conservative.

69. lastevens | 01.09.09

Go away.

70. drw | 01.09.09

uhhh “vch” Jim Jones was white…….Moron.

“To the Aussie (#42)The “Kool Aid” references refer to Jim Jones, a charismatic African American religious leader who convinced many of his followers to commit suicide by drinking poisoned Kool Aid. According to this warped line of thinking, Obama (supposedly a messiah-like figure) is like Jones, and Obama supporters are like the poor deluded folks who blindly followed Jones.”

71. Curious Orange | 01.09.09

Jim Jones was white. He was a pretty lousy singer too

72. jose carlos | 01.09.09

Palin is living proof that good looks and intellect are not necessarily mutually inclusive.

73. LP | 01.09.09

To the Aussie (#42) and vch (#59)

Whoa. Jim Jones was white, not African American - !! dude where’d you get that?? No, he was white.* Anyway it hardly matters but still, keep the record straight.

But otherise, yes Jim Jones was the leader of a cult, who convinced his followers to commit mass suicide, along with himself, by drinking poisoned Kool Aid. At their “People’s Temple” in Guayana. Read it on Wikipedia.

Since then “drinking the Kool-Aid” has been used in reference to anyone who buys hard into an ideaology… right, left, and nonpolitical

You used to hear it used by both sides in reference to preference for Mac vs Windows…!

Check it out on Wikipedia… (*apparently they did adopt children from different races, interestingly enough.) But they all died.

74. kubajean | 01.09.09

Ms. Kennedy has not only read a book or two she has actually authored some really good ones. Yes, she only went to one college but she did, in fact, graduate. If there is a class issue here it is only because Ms Palin lacks any. We don’t exhibit much surprise that children of actors go on to become actors themselves; someone who has as much political experience just by growing up in such a family is clearly going to be better informed than someone without such experience. Not that this life experience would justify political office (our current, fortunately almost former, president is a case in point) but Kennedy clearly has some intelligence and work experience to back up her potential for being an effective senator. More than slaughtering moose, for example.

75. Jonathan | 01.09.09

It is a “class issue”, she has none.

76. WALTR SODEN | 01.09.09

PLEASE GO AWAY, PLEASE.

77. Professional Journalist | 01.09.09

You’d think someone who graduated in journalism and actually worked (albeit briefly) in the media would be better able to anticipate, prepare for and handle interactions with the media.

The truth is that a terribly driven but substantively shallow Sarah Palin carefully orchestrated a series of events that afforded her a tryout on the national stage…and once there, she flubbed it. Miserably. She got her bite at the apple and unfortunately for her it yielded a worm because she herself had aimed too high. She wasn’t ready to be vice president, especially to a 72-year-old four time cancer survivor. She fell flat on her face and has no one to blame but herself.

Someone in Ms. Palin’s inner circle needs to facilitate a reality check, but it looks like everyone is afraid to tell her “The problem, Sarah, is very simply YOU.”

Now if she can just go away? Her 15 minutes are so over.

78. Cassy | 01.09.09

As a Democrat, I still wondering when Democrats will stop caring about Sara Palin and her family. The election is over and she has every right to analyze their losing strategy in her own way. I’d prefer if she did it in the privacy of her own home, but whatever.

I will no longer comment on, read or view any article or video about Sara Palin, “Joe the Plumber”, or any other Republican mascot.

79. Sarah Palinski | 01.09.09

As a Center Independant and former Republican, I am appaled and disgusted with Sarah’s phony stance and utter stubborness!
While surfing the internet I happened upon a site that acturately describes mrs Sarah Palinski
enjoy!
Couldn’t say it any better! :) Ciao!
http://www.ItsFromAlaska.Com

80. HugePhonyCom | 01.09.09

I Think Sarah Palin is so brave and was treated so unfairly in the press.
I would hope that she will run again, and i also think that since she is a quick study, that she wont look as foolish and will provide better answers next time.. and she will also stop that thing she does with her thumbs.
God Bless Sarah palin and her family, God Bless America

81. I Love YOU | 01.09.09

I just love you for that.
GOD BLESS you and VIRAL Marketing!
Your the very best!!!!

82. Respect ALL People | 01.09.09

I also love that poster above!
I LOVE YOU ALSO!! :) :)
God Bless

(Keep that site up forever and ever!

83. Reynard Blake Jr | 01.09.09

In “honor” of Ms. Palin, I wrote a parody:

Sarah Palin (political parody based on Thomas Dolby’s “She Blinded Me With Science”)
By Reynard N. Blake, Jr. (reynardblakejr@yahoo.com)

Ms. Palin is upon us
She sees across the Bering Sea
Alaska’s where she comes from
Competing to be our VP
Mmm—but does she believe in science?
“Does she believe in science?”
Or, know about diplomacy?

McCain chose her in a blur
“Hoping we would buy it—buy it”
Another real “maverick”
“Buy it!”
“Buy it!”

Mmm—she’s a “hockey mom” diversion
To get who’d vote for Hillary
They’ll say Barack’s a Muslim
And Muslims know what terror means
They have no problem lying
“They have no problem lying!”
Or stealing the presidency

She’s for helping AIG
“Helping them with finance – finance!”
“Finance!”
More drilling for energy
“Bibles mixed with science – science!”
“Science!”

Global warming’s a notion
Or temps up by a small degree
Oil drilling in the ocean
Will solve all our energy needs
If oil’s out there let’s find it
“If oil’s out there let’s find it”
Helping Exxon’s corporate greed

“Good heavens, she’s going loco – it’s pitiful!”

I don’t believe it!
There she goes again!
She’s thinking she could really help John McCain!
He is running scared
Momentum slows
They’ll say ACORN harms voting
But – they’re scared of who’ll be voting
Help Democratic victories
Causing a big commotion
And voting out the GOP
Mmm – they’re trying to divide us
“They’re trying to divide us!”
Do they believe in…

84. Thomas Casey | 01.09.09

Quite the vicious backstabber nation we have here.

85. Tony Dee | 01.09.09

Yo Sarah, you go girl. But it’s over…so pump your brakes girlfriend. If you want any chance of going up the political ladder you need to chill and do your home work. How can anyone know all the answers to every question the media asks during a political run for VP? You just need to get better at evading the question like all really good politicians do instead of trying to answer the question and look foolish.
Personally, I don’t give a **** what Sarah Palin reads. Home and garden? Nope, not on my coffee table. Katie Couric? Not on my TV. This is all working out pretty well.

86. Sarah O. | 01.09.09

One of these days it would be nice if people could give up the juvenile name-calling and stereotyping. Conservative = right-wing, gun toting, uber-religious loony. Liberal = Whiney freeloaders looking for handouts.

This **** is why I renounced any party affiliation years ago. Safely called an Independant now because there’s no one to run it as a party. When there is, I’ll probably be out of there too. I won’t be told if I’m being “good” or “bad” according to the ideals of a group, and dissention is viewed as anarchy.

The idea here people is to pick the best person for the job, according to your beliefs. Those are very personal and clearly vary widely.

Truthfully, I think Sarah Palin got a raw deal from the press. Because she’s Conservative? Maybe. Regardless, I also believe she was way underqualified for the position and felt insulted that McCain chose her.

And I think her continual whining about the media is digging her a shallow grave. Her overly emotional responses (leaving messages w/reporters) show her thin skin and lack of experience.

87. Laughing | 01.09.09

We’re all idiots.

88. Scott | 01.09.09

I’m going to go out on a limb here, but I don’t think that Sarah is dumber than a box of rocks. Well, okay, at least not much.

89. JHA | 01.09.09

There may be a small bias in the media, but the much more serious issue is the tendency to be superficial… like running stories about “is there a class issue in the media as opposed to in depth coverage of possible bias in the way news is reported in the war in Gaza , for example.

By the way, some of the “left-wing bias” in the press may be explained by a study published in The Journal of Higher Ed. that found that the liberal bias of college professors was small, but real. It was not due, however, to an evil cabal, but to self selection! Graduate students were asked if they’d consider making researching in their field their life’s work. Overwhelmingly, liberal students said “yes”, while their conservative peers said “no”. Why? The conservatives felt that they could earn more money in business.

All of us need to look at the factual evidence not the spin. For example, Sarah went to the V.P. debate and told the moderator that she might not answer some questions. Spin the media bias anyway you want, but clearly this said “I’m not ready or not willing to participate as an equal.

90. Dave | 01.09.09

I can’t believe this comes from someone who spent the entire campaign slandering Obama. And don’t forget that this is a woman whose husband was a member of the separatist Alaskan Indepence Party, which she pandered to. If she would have humility and grace, and some amount of self-examination, she might become a better and wiser leader for her constituency, but no, she is nothing but a narcissitic whiner.

91. Moses Calouro | 01.09.09

Just because she went to F.U. rather than H.U. doesn’t mean she isn’t qualified for the job of V.P.

Kennedy’s only claim to fame is her family dynasty. The press certainly hatcheted Palin. Very clear, no doubt about it. Kennedy is clearly getting the ’special treatment.’ Maurenn Dowd called Palin a go-go girl a week after she was on the ticket. And now Dowd is glowing in her support for Kennedy.

Id Katie Curic going to ask Kennedy what she reads?

92. CS misprint | 01.09.09

Who says she doesn’t like the media? She doesn’t like some media outlets. Big difference. In any case, who else should/would she have a problem with? In effect, she & McCain ran a lossing media campaign. She can only get to the public via the media. They (the media) ‘vet’ preferred candidates while raking others over the coals. Caveat Emptor.

93. trudy | 01.09.09

ron | 01.08.09,

I was shaking my head at your describing Palin as articulate. Then I read further into your comment:
lop-sided
I rather make money.
PHOTOSHOP’D
almost two a man

I have no doubt Palin sounded articulate to some illiterates. I can only hope that the newspaper you wrote for had a good editor.

94. Bruce | 01.09.09

Poor Sarah. There she goes again with the ongoing rant of the GOP that they just aren’t being treated fairly whenever they are asked a question they can’t answer by that gosh darn pesky media!

“Leave my family out of it” she complains. (Note to Sarah: Then quit dragging Bristol and the rest of your trailer park family onstage with you at every possible opportunity!)

“The RNC bought all those clothes” she moans. (Note to Sarah: You didn’t seem to have any problem WEARING those clothers, whether you personally bought them or not. Oh, and by the way: have you actually RETURNED any of them yet? No? Didn’t think so!)

“Quit making fun of the way I talk” Sarah cries. (Note to Sarah: Then stop talking like one of the Beverly Hillbillies! Ditch that GED and spend a few bucks on elocution and grammar training. It might also help if your comments were provided in semi-complete sentences, instead of that James Joycian “stream of consciousness” babble that comes out every time you open your chops!)

“Stop calling me a lipstick-wearing pig”, she oinks. (Note to Sarah: Seems to me YOU were the one that introduced the lipstick B.S.– and even then, you screwed up the common metaphor by substituting “pit bull” for “pig”. Oh– and just for the record, you are a “winter”, so stay away from those glossy “autumn” lipstick colors. It just makes you look pasty.)

95. Mike | 01.09.09

To my liberal fellow citizens. Do you think there might be some bias in the main stream media?… Or what ever one wants to call the predominate sources of information in this country.
Those few that do give Palin and Joe the Plumber a fair shake are called right wing and held in contempt.

96. Colleen | 01.09.09

Can anybody explain to me why Palin’s response to Couric’s question about the bailout did not include anything about ‘freeing up credit markets’ or ‘get banks lending again ‘or ‘businesses need loans to make payroll’? Instead, her answer was ‘We’re ill about this Katie…healthcare…trade…tax cuts need to be included under tax reductions…and also too there Katie’. Why did she not understand the reasoning behind the LARGEST ECONOMIC ISSUE OCCURING AT THAT VERY MOMENT? Did she not think it was important? Did she not think Katie would ask her about it? Did she not think the American people might be looking to a potential VP to explain and reassure them about the bailout that McCain was supporting? Sarah, take responsibility for your own failings, seriously.

97. William S | 01.09.09

Let’s break it down real simple like, for the conservatives. You keep placing uneducated imbeciles up for public office, you’re going to end up with candidates who look like uneducated imbeciles when they interact with the media.

Sara, go away now please. And perhaps think for a moment, obviously not something you do very often, that a candidate for the Senate will not be scrutinized anywhere near as much a candidate for Vice President.

By the way, love the quote from the filmmaker… he sounds kinda creepy. Sarah, keep an eye outside your window, he might be lurking about.

98. Susan Gill | 01.09.09

Sarah Palin makes me cringe with embarrassment - on many levels. Women have made phenomenal progress in commanding respect for their intelligent and nobel thoughts and actions. I cannot even listen to her. And anyone who would speak of her in the same breath as Caroline Kennedy or Hillary Clinton is beyond belief!

99. Billy | 01.10.09

Not really sure how she can cry about the scrutiny her family got when she thought it was all honky dory to trot her family and new born all over America for votes.

She made the choice before she took the nomination , and knew full well that everything she does, and her family and associates will be under a microscope.You would have to be pretty naive to think otherwise.

Did she really think that she could become vice president with only one interview? Thats pretty much what shes saying when she was “Forced” to do another interview.It wasn’t the media that got her, it was her babbling when talking to the media that ended the ticket for them.

Becoming a President or Vice President, you should know full well that its a public life and blaming the media, and not taking any of the blame yourself is very immature. I still haven’t heard her say one thing she really did wrong. So far its the media, media and the media. From the sounds of it, who needs a President when the media controls the country?

Palin likes to pretend that the media was all out to get her, yet she fails to realize that the media is nothing but a tool for politicians and goes both ways.

She is doing nothing but trying to divide the country, turning it into a class war, or culture war. Her comment of class when referring to Kennedy is more then enough proof.

Can you blame the country for wanting to know more information on a person whos been been in politics less then a handful of years? Was she not watching the democratic primaries? Obama was far from getting a free ride when it came to his associates which palin was glad to point out every other sentence.

100. Bah | 01.10.09

Palin could have been a democrat, and still gone down with the answers, or non answers she gave. Honestly, if Obama couldnt name a magazine he read, do you honestly think Limbaugh and Hannity would have let it fly? Asking “What magazines or newspapers do you read?” is far from a gotcha question.

Palin got off pretty easy, someone needs to ask her how she would have felt if she was a dem having Hannity and Limbaugh call you a communist every other day and a terrorist sympathizer.

I think the problem is Palin seems to think that America already knew enough about her and her policies and the media should have just let her slide.If she truly is new politics she wouldn’t have been hid from questions for the first couple months she was campaigning. I wont even go on about the trooper gate mess which was far from being transparent.

101. Please | 01.10.09

Just look at the transcripts of interviews she does . Then compare them to the messages that come out of her office clarifying/fixing what she said previously. One looks like one of her third graders was talking. Ill leave it up to you on which was which.

102. tom | 01.10.09

Once again, Sarah is clueless. She keeps shooting herself in the foot (and mouth) with her comments and doesn’t even know it. Her 15 minutes will be over soon we hope. If her supporters consider her the future of the Republican party, the detour of the party out of power will become a 30 year wander in the wilderness. As a conservative, I cringe every time that woman opens her mouth.

103. charles naff | 01.10.09

People you are so dedicated to the past , please take the time to see that many new ideas and changes have come from people who are thought to not fit the profile of the present group of sso called experts. Sarah may have been from a small town and a state that is far removed from your place of comfort so your concept of what constiutes inteligence may be skewed , as you have indicated in you coments. As to mrs. Kennedy with out her inheritance and family background where would she be? With money you did not earn and a family name that has been on the front page of the media for decades, does that make you super inteligent.

104. David Pope | 01.10.09

Notwithstanding the surface theme of Jimmy’s article, in which he is not-so-subtly deriding Sarah, the real question we all should be asking/answering is not whether Sarah was the right choice, it is not what McCain did that was right or wrong, but where does conservative politics go from here? I don’t honestly care whether the media is with us or against us. They are irrelevant to our core values and beliefs. I do not let the media define who or what I am. The media can be wonderfully entertaining, insightful and informative, but you and I have to take the steps necessary to make informed decisions. We have a RESPONSIBILITY to learn as much about our country, its history, the roots of our economic system and the cause/effect relationship between past policy and results (both in the US and historically in other countries).

Here are some of my thoughts on the steps we need to take to win the hearts and minds of the people:

STRATEGIC
1. We have to define who we are. This includes defining the foundation of our beliefs.
2. We have to consistently approach policy based on who we are. We cannot form our positions and create policy based on whim, fads, the media, or political payoffs.
3. We have to remain who we are at all times, not just when it will get us more votes.

TACTICAL
1. We have to begin to take our message to the people via all means possible. If the mainstream media is against us, continue to develop the alternate media.
2. Take to heart the process of incrementalism. Remember - the platform of the American Communist movement of the 1920s and 30s is now acceptable policy. If we are going to roll-back 80 years of incrementalism, it will not happen overnight. This means taking back the courts, the universities and, yes, the media. Then we take back the policy.
3. We aggressively look for and find young, conservative, politicians and groom them. We need to look at them not as competitors, but as successors. We need more energy and youth in the party.

There are many many more things we need to do, but it all begins with defining who we are. Yet the end is worth fighting for. Capitalism as we know it will be dead before the end of the next decade if we do not begin the fight now. Capitalism, even with its flaws, is still the most efficient means of creating and distributing wealth. Socialism is still the most efficient way of distributing mediocrity. Remember - the conservative movement is still the capitalist movement.

105. lisa | 01.10.09

‘one of the greatest public injustices of our time’

Eh? Greatest public injustices? I’m pretty sure there have been some greater ones than this. Much like Sarah Palin, I can’t think of any specific examples, but if this is the greatest public injustice we’ve ever endured times have been pretty sweet. I’d like to meet this guy he sounds like a hoot and a half.

106. Samantha Mibbe | 01.11.09

The press picks on Sarah and her family? Here’s a thought - stop talking to them, stop leaving messages for them and simply do the job you were elected to do and parent your children.

The more I read about this woman, the more I see her on TV the more I shudder as I recall my Borderline Personality mother. Nothing is ever their fault, they are always the victim and the world is split into good and bad. No shades of grey allowed. Everyone who questions, let alone opposes her becomes the enemy, usually called the big bad word ‘liberal’ by Sarah. Indeed, she was the sole reason many, such as myself, deserted the Republican party after 20+ years. Gee, to think I used to be called the bad words ‘conservative’ and ‘Christian’ and survived to be called a liberal.

America is SICK of name-calling, label provoking tirades, Gov. Palin.

I’m waiting for the book that truly addresses her personality defects. She seriously, as the kids say, ‘has issues.’ It’s not NORMAL to keep ranting and whining like this and dragging her children with her.

Sarah won’t go away, she’s mentally incapable of doing so. How telling it was when she called Katie Couric out for supposedly wanting to be the center of the universe. Indeed, Sarah let out a true Freudian slip, it is Sarah who perceives herself as just that.

107. OzMan | 01.12.09

[quote]She is right,of course, the media did a hatchet job on her, at least she is articulate and a damn good shot. I have completely written off the lop-sided leftist media. I can no longer stomach MSN, CNN, Rueters. And my major was journalism, and I worked for a daily newspaper for a few years before deciding I rather make money. Once upon a time the basics of the news were WHO:WHAT:WHERE:WHEN:WHY and these were held inviolate, anything beyond that belonged on the editorial page. These days it seems to be WHO DID WHAT TO WHOM FOR HOW MUCH AND CAN I GET BOOK DEAL IF I GOT PHOTOSHOP’D BLOOD. Writers of the news are some of the most opinionated left leaning self serving individuals you will ever meet, and almost two a man they would sell their souls or the truth just to be published. Sports writers on the other hand, are the true icons of the industry.[/quote]

Ron, if I were you, I’d ask for a refund of tuition from the school that issued your journalism degree. As for your fairy tale, ONCE UPON A TIME, the basics of the news was total partisanship, and the front page looked like the editorial page. But you must have been absent or asleep when they covered that in your journalism school.

108. OzMan | 01.12.09

Gwen, know what I was doing whilst Palin was running a city that has fewer residents than I have employees and a state that is smaller than more than a couple of American cities? I was out there making money…. well, until the lack of oversight that ShrubCo showed destroyed our economy.

The funny thing is, I consider myself a Libertarian. The classic definition of a Libertarian is someone that wants the Democrats to stay out of his wallet and the Republicans to stay out of his bedroom. However, right now it’s difficult to back Republican fiscal policy when it has done so much damage to the US economy (How exactly did the US government go from a surplus to a deficit in the last eight Republican years, anyway?)

I would love to back the Republican party. However, as long as the fundamentalist Christians continue to hi-jack the Republican party, they will become more and more marginalised.

109. keith cummings | 01.12.09

“43. Courtenay Rule | 01.09.09

May I please just stick my oar in momentarily as an ignorant Australian with a largely irrelevant question: why are American left-wingers stereotyped as drinking Kool Aid (I take it that’s a brand of cordial)? In my country, left-wingers are traditionally stereotyped as drinking more upmarket beverages like caffe latte and chardonnay…”

this is my guess…the Kool Aid refers to drugs (specifically LSD) likely taken from the book “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test”, to conversely compliment the image of American red-neck conservatives drinking alcoholic beverages…

110. Marigold | 01.13.09

Palin never went away, and she LOVES the media. How else could she stay in the limelight so that she can get to have her finger on the Nuclear Button?

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