Have Conservatives Finally Had Enough Of Sarah Palin?
The Sarah Palin bloom seems to be off the rose.
There are signs out there that the Sarah Palin magic has worn off with many conservatives as they turn their attention to the Presidential race and Palin continues to play her teasing game with the media and the GOP over whether or not she’s throwing her hat into the Presidential race. I first noticed it on Saturday afternoon, after Palin’s speech in Iowa, in this post at Ace of Spades:
[A]fter the encouragement of interest, and the cultivation of speculation about what that “major announcement” might be, it was a very standard-issue and not-particularly-important or novel stump speech.
Some might find this sort of coyness and games-playing “brilliant” or the like. I don’t.
Some may claim she “played a trick on the media.” Yes, the media. And everyone else too.
So who was actually getting his chain yanked there? The media was getting paid, which is all they care about.
Palin got lots of attention for a speech that turned out to be extremely bullet-point and frankly trivial.
I don’t consider this an achievement. I just consider it manipulative, and I don’t just laugh it off as playing a prank on the stupid media.
A lot of people traveled a very long way and sat out in the rain for something that was suggested just might be The Big Announcement. A lot of people watched on TV.
And what they saw was a no-brainer stump speech.
Who’s being pranked here? The media in attendance were all paid to be there. Their travel arrangements were comped. They’ll get back their vacation day. And it was either covering this or covering Jon Huntsman.
What about everyone else?
Not surprisingly Ace took substantial heat for this post, but he hasn’t backed down, and has continued to speak bluntly about Palin on his Twitter feed since that post went public. And he’s not alone. Consider. for example, this exchange between Laura Ingraham and Ann Coulter last night on Fox News Channel where Coulter states bluntly that Palin is unelectable, that many conservative pundits have been afraid to speak out against her because of the hate mail that her supporters will inevitably send, and calls Sarah Palin the GOP’s Barack Obama (“She’s become sort of the Obama of the tea party, she’s just ‘The One’ to a certain segment of right-wingers.”):
Take Coulter for what you will, but I don’t think you can understate the significance of people talking like this on the very network that employs Palin to provide commentary (although it’s worth noting that Bill O”Reilly, who Ingraham was subbing for, has been much less of a sycophant toward Palin than his fellow Fox hosts like Sarah Palin and Greta Van Susterin).
Then, this morning, Red State’s Erick Erickson is out with a broadside against not just Palin’s electoral teasing, but also the sycophantic fans who are as bad as the most rabid Ron Paul supporters in the vitriol they unload on people who dare to make the slightest criticism of their chosen candidate:
To not bow at the throne of Sarah you get disowned. You get attacked. You have people drum up stories attacking your credibility.
(…)
There are many, many good people who support Sarah Palin and feel like they owe it to her to support her given what she has been through — from her shoddy treatment at the hands of Team McCain to an unrelenting press. But these people who have sat and continue to sit patiently and quietly waiting for Sarah Palin to finally make up her mind are starting to get frustrated. And some of them are getting aggravated by and drowned out by The Palin Fan Cult. The cult is full of people with little prominence outside a twitter stream, a few nominal soapboxes imagined to be bigger they they are, and possessing a lot of bile and little grace inside an echo chamber of indecision 2012 dementia. About the only thing this cult lacks are thetans.
Sarah Palin is a great person. She’s a great fighter. She draws in awesome attention and rallies a crowd. She has some terrific and loyal supporters I don’t want to lump in with the loud voices largely now disconnected from political reality. Ron Paul is the same way. But at some point, Sarah Palin has to take some responsibility for her supporters as Ron Paul must for his. Palin’s dragging out the tease on her decision has compounded the problem and we’ve reached a breaking point.
The comparisons to a late Reagan entry in 1980 and late Clinton entry in 1992 are frivolous and false comparisons. While both waited to make it official until November for Reagan and October for Clinton, it was abundantly clear to people even outside their most ardent supporters that they were running. Few outside Palin’s most ardent fans think she is running and, at this point, a sizable majority no longer care.
As Ann Coulter said, “Fish or cut bait.” Governor Palin has teased us long enough. Most of us are tired of it. She has harmed her own entry into the race and now, even if she got in, would only see a modest rise in polling.
(…)
I’m tired of the tease. But I’m even more tired of the angry cranks and Palin prophets who swear to know her every move and have shown neither ideological nor political moorings in anything other than their hopes and wishes poured into the vessel of their ambition named
L. Ron HubbardSarah Palin. That’s exactly what many lefties did with Barack Obama. Like Barack Obama, Sarah Palin is just a mortal politician, just a human of the same sinful flesh as the rest of us passing through this place on her way to eternity just like you and me.We should not set Palin on a pedestal so high she shatters if she falls off, but that’s what her most ardent fans have done. Thanks to Palin’s own conduct, if she does shatter by either not running or running and losing the nomination, the Palin Fan Cult gives me and many others the strong impression they’d rather shatter all the other candidates than have anyone but Palin herself win.
As someone who has not held back their opinion of Sarah Palin for the past three years, I can certainly relate to what Erickson writes about here. Even the slightest criticism of Palin, or even citing a poll that shows that she is even less popular today than she was at the end of the 2008 Presidential campaign, puts one at the mercy of the Palinistas. I’ve been told I’m obsessed, that I’m an Obama support, that I hate Sarah Palin, conservatives, or, most bizarrely of all, women merely because I haven’t falllen down and worshiped at the throne with them. What people like this didn’t seem to realize, though, is that they were burning bridges even as they were defending their Chosen One. When you attack someone for even the slightest transgression, you tend to turn them off, not just to you, but to the person you’re supporting. I said during the 2008 Republican primary season that Ron Paul’s worst enemies were the same committed supporters who were supporting him. The same is true of Palin supporters. Not only has Palin pissed people off with her actions, but her supporters make the situation worse by viciously attacking anyone who dares criticize her. While Palin has nobody but herself to blame for her problems,her supporters have done her no favors.
There’s evidence for the idea that the right is getting over its Palin love-fest beyond what bloggers and pundits have to say, though. As I noted last week, nearly three-quarters of Republicans said in a recent poll that they don’t want her to run for President. Largely this is most likely a reflection of the fact that Republicans have noticed that Palin continues to get handily beaten (a worse performance than Bachmann, Paul, Cain, and even Huntsman) by President Obama in head-to-head match-ups, and an indication that her sky-high unfavorable rating is made up of more than just a bunch of Democrats who don’t like her.
The Palin magic is wearing off, it seems, and conservatives are waking up. My only question is., what took you so long?
So, Doug, by the headline and your own history of having “had enough” of Palin years ago, are you saying that you don’t consider yourself a conservative?
J.
You have hit it right on the head. If you dare bring up Palin’s record-which no matter what Palinstas claim is NOT perfect, small things like she raised sales tax .5% in Wasilla & took a town in the black & turned it red to tune of over 3 million-they freak out on you. They make personal attacks. I was told yesterday I was jealous-OMG of what? I had the gall to point out that no one but her ardent supporters are trying to get her to run-mistake major attack. Every thing that you say or comment on-you get personally & viciously attacked. IMO Palin supporters are getting worse than Paul supporters in their actions. I was reading yesterday how her supporters want her to run 3rd party as a Tea Party candidate-this shows me what morons & how little they know about elections & getting on ballots. I have seen many threaten if she doesn’t get the nomination to write her in-seems to me they are intent on re-electing Obama if they can’t have their way. I am glad a few people are finally saying what many of us has been saying for years. Palin is damaged goods, 2 years of tweeting & FB a leader do not make. If you want to run for something-run for Kyl’s seat in the senate.
@Jay Tea: <<A perfect example…you don't worship at the Palin tree the name calling starts. But Jay BTW can you tell me what is so conservative about tax increases? Or how about putting a town so deeply in debt? Or how about that NOT knowing that you have to own land to build on it? I suppose you want to blame someone else for that…but bottom line is was Palin project, Palin was Mayor, Buck stopped with Palin.
@Jay Tea:
I’m a libertarian and it’s been a long time since I’ve described my political views any other way. But, since you mentioned it, I will note that there were conservatives who were critical of Palin three years ago, not the least of them being George Will and Charles Krauthammer.
I just found this poignant:
Ah yes. The guys with working brains.
The few. The proud. The Rinos!
@Doug Mataconis: I know this isn’t the right thread, Doug, but I wanted to make sure you saw it: BRILLIANT piece on ATF/Fast & Furious. I just linked to it from Wizbang. Superb summary.
J.
@victoria_29:
If the buck stops with Palin, why is there no Obama supporters who claim the buck stops with him?
@Sam: If the buck stops with Palin, why is there no Obama supporters who claim the buck stops with him?
RAAAAACIST!!!!!!
J.
@victoria_29:
This would be a proper political stepping stone for her. However, with all the fanfare over her, it is debatable whether or not her ego would permit this. Becoming too popular too fast, IMO, is a hindrance for people, as it sets the bar very high at the get go. Anything below that is oftentimes viewed as a set-back.
If the buck stops with Palin, why is there no Obama supporters who claim the buck stops with him?
You want Obama to answer for Palin’s actions as mayor of Wasilla?
@Jay Tea:
You forgot:
Hostage taker
Bigot
terrorist
Son of a bitch
barbarian
hanging blacks fro trees
etc etc etc
La Diva Palin is the same shallow pinhead she was three years ago–plucked from obscurity by a desperate McCain who, ironically, probably would have fared better had he gone with Lieberman or Graham. However, like any narcissist, she has her charms and knows how to use them in search of adulation. Those charms eventually wear thin once people realize that, for the narcissist, everything is only and ever all about her.
Palin’s current posturing keeps her in the public eye. Getting in the race would make her one of many, whereas teasing makes her unique and keeps her “relevant.”
Jay Tea and Sam–you obviously don’t read much outside your comfort zone or you’d realize that plenty of Obama’s supporters are quite critical of what he’s done in office.
@jan:
The proper political stepping stone for Palin would have been not quitting as Alaska’s governor after half a term to rake in the bucks. When the going get’s tough, La Diva Palin quits.
After the 2008 campaign, Palin had a choice. She could have done what she needed to do to be a serious contender, or she could become another media personality. She chose the latter, and now she has jumped he shark.
@mantis:
Wow! What I said was does the buck stop at Obama for ANYTHING?
All we hear is that it is Bush’s fault, the hurricane’s fault, the Arab spring’s fault, the Tea Party’s fault, the congresses fault ad nauseum.
The buck never stopped at Obummers desk has it?
@Fiona:
Obama quit the State Senate, quit the US Senate.
Is he a quitter too?
Sarah who?
@Fiona:
While I could understand the reasons for Palin stepping down from her governor’s job in Alaska, I also felt that such a move meant she was also stepping away from any immediate desire to run for office on the national stage. Apparently, though, she didn’t see it that way.
Palin, IMO, is no more or less narcissistic than most politicians. Obama, with his messiah complex, stands toe-to-toe with what you consider to be Palin’s diva one. It makes sense that people have to have an extreme amount of confidence in themselves to take major leaps in life like contemplating becoming POTUS. When they look in the mirror, they see a beloved winner, hence a narcissist is born.
Running for a Congressional office, however, is not out of the question for Palin, or the realm of possibly in her ability to win such a race. She has charisma, a feistiness and tenacity, that endears her to people the same way it rubs others, like you, the wrong way.
@Sam: ,
What you’ve just written is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever read. At no point in your incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone is now dumber for having read your response. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
@jan: Two points… first
Really? I see this as one of the great and unjustified right wing talking points. Is Obama a technocrat? Yes. But Messiah Complex? That really makes no sense and doesn’t particularly match his record … or even his rhetoric. What for you denotes a messiah complex?
At the time she left the Govenorship, she could have been a viable senate candiate. She still might be in one of the smaller, solidly red midwest states. But even there, its questionable if she could actually win in a statewide election. At this point I think the House of Representatives would be the only sure bet for her. And that’s too much of a step down.
@mattb: Sam’s tactic, like his GOP masters, is to scatter dust and sand in the air with false doubts that speak to an intense unresolved victim-hood.
And it’s all you will see from the GOP. Where is the plan to govern post-Obama? What governing successes are they going to run on? Nixon’s trip to China? That was the last one that mattered.
Sam speaks for the party of Watergate, Pardon for War Criminals (see: Watergate), Iran-Contra, the Reagan Debt, Impeachment, Govt Shutdowns, Torture, two unfunded wars, and an unfunded drug program, and the collapse of the U.S. economy. Sam’s de facto leader cannot even travel to Vermont, a United State last I checked, for fear of arrest for war crimes.
Run on this, Sam. It’s what happened. Screaming your head off about Obama, who arrived only very recently, is not a policy position. It’s a temper tantrum and no one is buying it.
Well, it’s on a lot of far right websites, so it must be true.
Doug –
You should add a prominent warning, in bold red letters, at the top of any post that includes an embedded video of Laura Ingraham talking to Ann Coulter.
I didn’t even click the video to play it, moved past the image as fast as I could, yet my eyes still burn.
@mattb:
You don’t read much do you?
Quitting is quitting unless your a sycophant for Obama!
14 words and you took 4 times as many to avoid answering? Talk about a failure of rational thought! You WIN!
@jan: “Messiah complex?” I have never heard Obama claim he was the son of god or a savior of any kind. You make this kind of crap up out of your mind because you lack any actual solutions, and think it’s “clever” to demean our President.
You do not seem to understand you also denigrate the Presidency in the process. A Republican will be President again one day and you also diminish him or her with your baseless rhetoric. Learn how to govern, and get back to us. Your comments scream “amateur hour” in politics.
@James in LA:
Another ASSumer of great proportions there James! Those who assume like you do are nothing but ASSES!
No need to counter your assumptions because I would be replying to an ass!
@James in LA:
Must not be too well informed James!
NewsWeak head Evan Thomas: ” I mean in a way Obama’s standing above the country, above – above the world, he’s sort of God. ”
http://www.mrctv.org/public/checker.aspx?v=ydaG6UprkU
@Sam:
What I said was does the buck stop at Obama for ANYTHING?
No it’s not.
All we hear is that it is Bush’s fault, the hurricane’s fault, the Arab spring’s fault, the Tea Party’s fault, the congresses fault ad nauseum.
Well, as much as I’m sure you would like to blame everything you don’t like on the president, including the weather, I’m sorry most people just don’t buy that garbage. If you have some specific examples of actual decisions made by the president that are blamed on others, feel free to share them. I’ll gladly say the buck stops with Obama for decisions made by Obama or his administration. For instance, this Fast and Furious mess. Regardless of how much the president knew about the operation, it is his responsibility to deal with it. The buck, in that case, stops with him, because it concerns the actions of an agency under his control.
As much as you might want to blame the crappy economy on him, he inherited it. As much as you would like to blame a hurricane on him, that’s ridiculously stupid. I’m not really sure what is supposed to be “the Arab Spring’s fault,” but the efforts by the Republican Party in Congress, whose only goal is defeating the president, to ensure that absolutely nothing is accomplished other than tax and spending cuts that only worsen our economic situation, are their own damned fault. The president cannot force the legislature to pass laws and budgets, vote on appointees, or even show up to joint addresses. They do what they damned well please, and right now their goal is to make sure everything gets worse so whatever lunatic they nominate has a better chance at getting elected.
@Sam: Produce the plan to govern post-Obama. Try do do so without using the words “Obama”, “socialist,” “kenyan” or “tax cuts.” None of these tactics has produced any governing successes for your side. Calling me names does not change this fact.
Palin quit. Obama got promoted. Big difference.
@Sam: Because Evan Thomas said so, it must be true? I bow to your deft debating skill that relies on sample sizes of exactly one.
It’s a non-starter, Sam. You need Obama to be something he is not so you can keep knocking him. Trouble is, you cried WOLF! 357 times too many, and this began the moment he was elected.
No credibility, no solutions, no plans. Just deluded spew. Welcome to today’s GOP.
@jan: Clearly, you have little understanding of narcissism. It has nothing to do with confidence and everything to do with self-loathing. Narcissists are giant black holes of need–they need others to validate their existence. La Diva Palin uses publicity to fill her need for adulation. Had she stepped back into her role as governor, she would have had to cede the spotlight for a while and do the hard work of running the state. Instead, it was much easier and more lucrative for her to “write” a book, do tours, and get a spot on Faux news. Doing so kept her in the limelight. Likewise, her constant tease (will she or won’t she run) provides her with the headlines she craves.
Obama may have some narcissistic tendencies–likely all politicians do–but Palin is a textbook example of narcissistic personality disorder.
@Sam:
You’re on a roll today regarding some adroit responses!
To me the biggest differences between Palin and Obama are their gut ideologies, race, and genders. Otherwise, they seem to be very similar in being “commercial beings.” They have done a great job selling themselves to the public with only a minimum of experience behind them.
Obama was perhaps ‘groomed’ more than Palin, for his rise to political stardom, having a patron, like Emil Jones, powerful Illinois Senate president, actually give him legislation by others to call his own, in order to bulk up some kind of record to run on…or, how Alice Palmer, a popular dem candidate, was strangely pushed aside (by a rather suspicious lack of qualifying signatures allowing her to run), paving an unobstructed path for Obama to becoming a State Senator.
Even Obama’s run for the US Senate was filled with providence, in having a strong GOP rival, Jack Ryan, have to back out because of scandal, being replaced by a weak, last minute carpetbagger, Alan Keyes, causing Obama to say, “All I have to do is keep my mouth shut, and start planning my swearing in ceremony” (a quote taken out of Obama’s Audacity of Hope book).
Palin had the Tea Party going by being an early adopter and a popular and enthusiastic speaker at their events. If she were going to show leadership and commitment, she’d have declared earlier, so she must have been going for strategic advantage. She’s probably been listening to an adviser who told her to hold back and let the initial contenders cut each other up for months, and then join in when the field had started to be winnowed down.
Sadly for her, that time has come, it’s September. The “tease” event was the event that should have carried her announcement. Clearly, something went badly wrong with her campaign strategy, and she has lost the momentum she would have carried if she’d announced “on time,” at that event, rather than disappointing her people once more. Whatever it was that happened, she can still use the circumstance to her future advantage if she comes clean about it. At this point, she should definitively state that she is no longer considering a run, and why, and throw her support to one of the existing candidates; this would put her back into currency rather than annoying everyone with her dithering. But does she have that sense of timing? Probably not.
I don’t know about conservatives, but I love Palin. More, please!
@jan: , “All I have to do is keep my mouth shut, and start planning my swearing in ceremony” (a quote taken out of Obama’s Audacity of Hope book).
Anyone running against Alan Keyes would benefit from this advice.
@James in LA:
Can’t talk to you liberals! It is like talking to a spoiled child.
I replied to your post and never said anything about the Thomas comment except that he said it!
you come back with your ad hominum childish reply!
No wonder nothing gets done in DC.
I replied to your post and never said anything about the Thomas comment except that he said it!
That was your proof that Obama thinks he is the messiah. A quote from a journalist. Here’s a hint, dumbass: Evan Thomas and Barack Obama are two different people. Understand?
No wonder nothing gets done in DC.
I’m think “James in LA” might be in LA, not DC. Just a hunch.
@Sam: Evan Thomas does not speak for me. In fact, he does not really speak for anyone I know.
Tell me, Sam: which states next year does the GOP intend to take back from Obama? You see, his pathway has many roads, but the GOP has to fight uphill all the way. The govs of WI, MI, OH, IN, and FL have so poisoned our politics that they are going to make it very difficult for the GOP next November.
THIS is the legacy of Sarah Palin. Which states, Sam? The electoral map is coming, and is has MATH in it!
@mantis:
I only pointed out that there are those who DO think he is God or God like!
Just forget you assholes who are like children. you cannot reply without name calling and vitriol.
@Fiona:
And, you don’t think that Obama has shown no need for adulation? What about those Greek pillors used as the backdrop for the acceptance of the Democratic nomination? Also, you are seizing on a lot of speculative license, in using what you think to be Palin’s motives in quitting her governorship, as a basis of diagnosing narcissistic personality disorder. BTW, I have a DSM on my desk, where I work.
@James in LA:
Yes, Keyes was a gift to Obama, being just a terrible candidate.
@mattb:
We’re just going to have to agree to disagree on this one. Obama has often been cast by a full spectrum of politicos as cool, aloof, seemingly “above it all.” With people fawning over him during the 2008 campaign, fainting at his rallies, yes I think he did develop a “Messiah complex.”
@michael reynolds:
Michael, you are a master of dry wit.
@jan: “With people fawning over him during the 2008 campaign, fainting at his rallies, yes I think he did develop a “Messiah complex.”
Well with air-tight evidence such as this, I don’t really see how I could argue….
100% unsupported opinion. Where you see “fawn,” others simply see “celebrate.”
@Lee Sailor:
Palin galvanizes people, rallies them emotionally, something that usually is a talent of the dems. Hoffa did the same thing, by throwing red meat out to his union people. But, behind the ability to grab someone’s emotion there has to be something of substance, some experiential knowledge, giving credence that their ideas can be effectively implemented.
I don’t see Palin as being that kind of person. She would do much better, at this stage in life, with a Congressional position, or even in a secretary post like, Secretary of the Interior or Energy, than as prez. Otherwise, she can continue on in the role she has carved out for herself, as a spokeswoman, a writer, a political pundit, and sometimes “King maker” in her candidate endorsements.
Look guys, Jan has proved her case pretty conclusively. There was some faux Greek scenery at the 2008 Democratic convention and people like Obama. Some of them REALLY like him. The man clearly thinks he is a messiah.
I think apologies are in order…
I only pointed out that there are those who DO think he is God or God like!
You were responding to this comment:
“Messiah complex?” I have never heard Obama claim he was the son of god or a savior of any kind.
So you are either confusing Evan Thomas with Barack Obama, or your comment makes no sense. You pick.
Just forget you assholes who are like children. you cannot reply without name calling and vitriol.
Oh, the irony.
@James in LA:
Who is offering evidence? This is my opinion which is pretty well supported if you just google the Obama ’08 campaign. There you can pick and chose what is offered there, including Oprah (the Queen of day-time TV, and one of the richest and most important celebrities around) asking people if Obama was “The One” everyone has been waiting for? That sounds pretty Messiah-like to me!
Palin = ZZZZZZZZZ
@ Victoria 29…
“…what is so conservative about tax increases…”
Actually tax increases, when you have historically low effective tax rates and a large amount of debt, would be conservative economic policy. It is the simple-minded catechism of no tax increases ever that is not conservative by any stretch of the imagination. Now – I understand this cannot be understood by what passes for Republicans today – and certainly not by the faction that wears tea bags dangling from their hats. But their lack of economic understanding does not make it any more true.
@anjin-san:
…glad to see you’ve finally come around, anjin!
Anyway, I’ve got to get some work done. One response just leads to another, and then the day is eaten up.
@anjin-san:
Look guys, Jan has proved her case pretty conclusively. There was some faux Greek scenery at the 2008 Democratic convention and people like Obama. Some of them REALLY like him. The man clearly thinks he is a messiah.
You forgot that Oprah likes him too. Therefore, he thinks he’s the messiah. QED.
Who is offering evidence?
Not you, despite many furious attempts.
@jan: The One is a reference to The One who could step forward and fulfill MLK’s dream, not rapture a bunch of loud angry bigots.
Your projection is showing.
Luckily, the story is far from over.
@jan:
Okay, I’ll play along.
(1) has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements)
Palin’s achievements are few, her knowledge minimal yet she acts as if she can go toe to toe with people far more accomplished than herself. She had to hire a city manager to do her job in Wasilla
(2) is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love
Probably, but since I’m not inside her head I’ll give her a pass on that one.
(3) believes that he or she is “special” and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions)
Her behavior with the mainstream media shows that she thinks she deserves to be treated differently than other candidates–should only have to do interviews with people who won’t ask her hard questions, shouldn’t have to do press conferences, etc. Likewise, her notion that she’s going to run some different type of presidential campaign.
(4) requires excessive admiration
Her defensiveness over every perceived slight illustrates this characteristics. She pounces on any critique of her actions. Even Rove’s harmless statement that she might announce her intentions at her Labor Day Tea Party speech drew her ire.
(5) has a sense of entitlement, i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations
Again, she seems to think she’s entitled to special treatment by the media and as a potential presidential candidate. She also acts as if anyone who disagrees with her is somehow anti-American or mistreating her. She plays the victim card expertly whenever anything doesn’t go her way.
(6) is interpersonally exploitative, i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends
Palin’s ability to stab others in the back or drop them when they no longer fill her needs is apparently legendary in Alaska, which may be why her popularity there has plummeted to new lows.
(7) lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others
While Palin’s decision to give birth to a special needs child was commendable, I found the way she used him as a prop on the campaign trail and her book tours disturbing. She seemed to have little understand for the child’s needs, but knew instinctively that he made for good press. Her overall use of her kids as campaign props also showed little empathy for their needs.
(8) is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her
Her supporters have frequently stated that anyone who criticizes her is jealous, but I don’t know if she feels this way or not.
(9) shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes
Her division of the country into “real Americans”–that is those who think like her–and others is arrogance at it’s height, as is her trying to steal the spotlight after Gabby Gifford’s shooting by making her stupid “blood libel” speech.
I never said Obama didn’t like adulation; otherwise he wouldn’t be a politician. However, he doesn’t react pathologically to every bit of criticism or every unwarranted attack that comes his way; whereas Palin feels a need to rebut everything bad ever said about her and then attack the person who said it.
As for the pillars–I doubt Obama chose them. I suspect it was a decision by whatever committee is in charge of podium decoration.
Sarah Palin’s time in the spot light has dimmed. The more she insists on media coverage, the more her true self is exposed. She is a very vindictive and spiteful woman and it is showing up more and more. To kick Christine O’Donnell out of the venue is the act of a very petty person.
I am a Democrat and would never vote for her. I can look and both Michele Bachmann and Christine O’Donnell and albeit, they would never get my vote, I can say that neither one of those women are petty or mean. Michele Bachmann is willing to do the heavy lifting and has some education. O’Donnell is not capable of holding office, but she seems like a very nice person.
Sarah Palin had a golden opportunity handed to her on a silver plate. She refuses to do the work needed to gain an education in what it takes to run this country. She has gotten by her whole life on her looks and charm.
I have a daughter who was a runway model in New York. I told her many times that God blessed her with a great body and a beautiful face but get over it. Where ever she goes there will be someone prettier and thinner so she better develop her intelligence and personality.
Sarah Palin was never told this.
Let me get the crayons out for you and diagram it. Oprah and Obama are two different people. She could build a shrine to him and it would have absolutely nothing to do with how he thinks of himself.
In other words, you can’t support your argument, so it’s on to the next thread…
Mz. Palin does not really like anything that involves sustained effort. Her recent actions to keep the younger, prettier Christine O’Donnell from sharing the spotlight with her reveal quite a bit about her character.
@Sam: This may be my favorite internet quote of all time, the one that best sums up the entire rightwing ethos in a handful of words:
“Just forget you assholes who are like children. you cannot reply without name calling and vitriol.”
@anjin-san:
In other words I had work to do. What about you?
As for supporting my arguments, I do a better job than you my fellow poster. All you manger to do is be like a little kid who loves snapping bra straps, thinking that by merely doing that he’s making a major intelligent statement.
Sounds like you might still have some issues from your younger years to work though here. 🙂 But I should be careful – you might bring out your heavy artillery and call me “sophomoric”.
At any rate, I am glad you are impressed by your ability to cut and paste from right wing websites. No one else really is.
If you had been around here a little longer, you would know that I am pretty upfront that my OTB posts are essentially drive by politics. I don’t have time to do any serious writing here, and don’t pretend to be offering anything earth shaking. I like to argue about politics, and there are some bright people here to argue with and learn from.
There are also fakes. You, for example.
.
@Fiona:
A time-consuming reply from you, Fiona, but one that is saturated with your own projection and perception of who you think Palin is.
Basically, though, one could turn all nine points around, insert the name ‘Obama’ and it would also fit his personality profile, as to how a great swath of the population sees him.
1) Lack of experience — Obama’s is veneer-thin, with no outstanding achievements or real voting record.
2) Fantasies of unlimited success — he started running for prez during his first year in the US Congress(???)
3) Being special and unique — answered limited, unscripted questions from the press when he was cnadidate Obama. Since his election he has run very controlled press conferences, something that the WH press has complained about. Most other presidents have released their school transcripts, except Obama. He started off being a black/white president, a cultural mixture he emphasized as a bridge between the races. But, he swiftly saw it was to his advantage to stress and identify more with the former, especially when confronted with push back and opposition to his policies. In this way such criticism became voiced not as disagreements with his policies but rather because of his race, and being the “first” Black president. Talk about being “special”…..
4) Loves/needs admiration. Gets very prickly when admonished or criticized. Just that comment to McCain, during the health debate when he was challenged, saying, “I won” was over-the-top smug, IMO.
5) Sense of entitlement — Most of his explanations for our current fiscal difficulties are explained as “inherited.” Nothing is his fault that turns out bad. But, as when Bin Laden was caught, he used the word “I” enumerable times, giving only vague references to other people’s participation in the capture. Has also claimed the republicans are “unpatriotic” for not supporting his ideas.
6) Takes advantage and exploits others — this should be starred, as he is famous for throwing others under the bus when they become a negative to him, or are of no further value to his ambitions or agenda. BTW, where are his boyhood friends, school friends — his past is a blank when it comes to “keeper” friends.
7) Lacks empathy, and I’ll add, ties to the common man — especially regarding the military or to red states where he claimed people were “clinging to their guns and bibles.”
8) Is uneasy rather than envious of others — doesn’t seem to get along well with world leaders — Merkel or Sarkozy. Sent the Churchill bust back to England ? There have been many foreign policy personal faux pases with this president.
9) Arrogant — numerous photographic poses caught of him are often described as arrogant/bored. The Giffords event was heavily politicized, indicting republicans, and especially Palin, as if they were the cause of the shooting rampage, instead of an apolitical nut job who had a fantasized issue, involving language, with Giffords, herself. Obama took advantage of that event to exhort the lack of political civility, when most of the breaches in civility have recently been in the liberal court, including Hoffa’s call to violence over labor day.
Like I said, what you think of Palin fits nicely into an Obama characterization of narcissism too.
@anjin-san:
The rhetorical diversion you seem to excel at, anjin, is debasing others with baseless responses, and then concluding your remarks with some kind of demeaning jab. If that’s the only contribution you can come up with in the universe, then have at it.
Only a few really – someone like yourself for example, claiming to be a Democrat who is just a little concerned about her party’s direction, yet spends 95% of her time repeating far right drivel verbatim.
Why are you complaining about something you yourself practice? Of course your jabs are more or less of the marshmellow variety – its probably why you get along with J T and bithead. Birds of a feather and all that…
It’s just all I have to say to you. Why waste perfectly good banter on a drone? At any rate, you are even more boring than usual tonight. Adios..
Oh Lord, I missed this one. A classic, even by your standards.
If you make something happen – it is not, repeat not a fantasy.
Obama is an ambitious guy who set his sights (very!) high and made it happen. The American dream personified.
Most folks can admire ambition and achievement, even in someone they don’t really care for. Of course Obama has that nappy hair thing going and it just seems to drive righties insane.
@jan: Nope, that’s me. Anjin has far more patience for dismantling your cut-and-paste blather than I could ever summon up.
@WR
Must me my zen mindset 🙂
“Sent the Churchill bust back to England ?”
I have never understood this one. Preferring a Lincoln bust means he hates Churchill? He hates the UK? I still dont get it. Why cant he just like Lincoln. He was surely one of our best presidents.
Steve
@jan:
Nope–your analysis, a repeat of basic right wing talking points, doesn’t cut it, especially given that much of it is factually challenged.
I’ve seen a number of Obama’s press conferences and they’re no more scripted than the typical press conference. And at least he has them. A GW Bush press conference was a rare event. And Palin has never held one since becoming a national political figure. I guess her handlers figured that after her first two disastrous interviews it was best to keep her safely confined to Faux News, where they probably fed her questions and answers ahead of time.
The only projection going on is your own.
Obama just called a meeting and wants about a half a trillion for his union buddies. What about the other 93 percent of americans? He could care less, it is always infrastructure for union jobs. I have never heard anyone say that they wished we had high speed rail-ever. His answer is to give away american wealth where ever possible. His job creating czar, just enabled many many jobs! Good going, oh yeah for the chinese.