Sarah Palin in Demand
Sarah Palin is a big star now. [caption id="attachment_27761" align="alignright" width="212" caption="In this Nov. 4, 2008 file photo, Gov. Sarah Palin, R-Alaska, acknowledges the crowd during an election night rally in Phoenix. Oprah wants her, and so do Letterman and Leno. Fresh from her political defeat, Sarah Palin is juggling offers to write books, appear in films and sit on dozens ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on November 22, 2008 08:00
Barack Obama, Superstar
[caption id="attachment_27513" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Barry Obama, Punahou basketball photo"][/caption] This must be a trying time to be a political reporter. Everyone's tired of lame duck George W. Bush but Barack Obama won't take office for sixty-three days, leaving speculation about appointees and strained a change is a-comin' stories. For example, Christopher Clarey's NYT feature "For Obama, a Scouting Report on Athletic ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on November 17, 2008 07:06
2012 Campaign Starts in 3, 2 . .
Today's meeting of the Republican Governors' Association has, not surprisingly, been greeted with speculation that the party's 2012 presidential nominee is likely in the room. Facing the prospect of being out of power at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue for the first time since 1992, Republicans are looking to their governors to fill the leadership vacuum. Speculation has centered on the ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on November 13, 2008 13:36
Palin Africa/Continent Statements Prove to be a Hoax
The New York Times has investigated Fox News's report that McCain staffers claimed that Sarah Palin did not know that Africa was a continent. As I had suspected, the story was a complete hoax. It was among the juicier post-election recriminations: Fox News Channel quoted an unnamed McCain campaign figure as saying that Sarah Palin did not know that Africa ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on November 13, 2008 12:27
Palin Slams Bloggers in Pajamas
In a recent interview, Sarah Palin derided bloggers as people living in their parents' basement blogging in their pajamas. Here's the video: There is something truly ironic about that, given that the largest bastion of support for drafting Sarah Palin for vice-president was the blog Draft Sarah Palin for Vice-President. The blog has been widely credited with increasing ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on November 13, 2008 10:54
McCain: Some People Say There’s a Woman to Blame …
John McCain was on the "Tonight Show" with Jay Leno last night, continuing his graceful exit from a bitter presidential race. [caption id="attachment_27357" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Nov. 11, 2008: John McCain talks about life after the presidential campaign with Jay Leno on the "][/caption] In his first interview since conceding the presidential election, John McCain said Tuesday that Sarah Palin did not damage ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on November 12, 2008 09:28
Fixing the GOP Redux
Stacy McCain has a tongue-in-cheek rebuttal to my post on the Republican Party's future in which he notes that Sarah Palin graduated college, some non-Southern states voted for McCain, and than some non-rednecks agree with Palin on some issues. James doesn't want the Republican Party identified with redneck opponents of illegal immigration (like that illiterate hillbilly Mark ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on November 10, 2008 15:58
Republican Party’s Future
My Palin Derangement Syndrome post got a number of thoughtful responses, especially for a weekend post. My fellow Jacksonville State alumnus Stacy McCain, a Palin fan, thinks the internal debate on her role in last week's defeat and her future as a Republican Party standard bearer is one we should have. He objects strenuously, though, to the tone of some of ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on November 10, 2008 07:15
“Derangement Syndrome” Syndrome
I sometimes wonder, when reading blogs and comments therein, how many people realize that "Bush Derangement Syndrome" and it's apparent mutation "Palin Derangement Syndrome" are not, in fact, actual mental health disorders. The term was coined by Charles Krauthammer as a joke, for crying out loud. And yet, as James noted in his post below, there are people ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on November 10, 2008 00:06
Palin Derangement Syndrome
Two lawyer-bloggers who I've followed for years are upset with me for buying into the "Sarah Palin was in over her head" meme. Xrlq accused me of drinking "the anti-Palin Kool-Aid" for buying into claims that Palin didn't know which countries were in NAFTA while Bill Dyer is "genuinely concerned for [my] mental health." As to the more "outlandish" ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on November 9, 2008 09:30
