Sarah Palin Pre-Emptively Refudiates Her Own Story About The Origin Of “Refudiate”
Last night on her TLC reality show, Sarah Palin apparently tried to explain how she came to use the word “refudiate” in a tweet about the so-called Ground Zero Mosque:”
“I pressed an F instead of a P and people freaked out,” said Sarah, pointing out that her blunder was the second-most-searched word on Google trends. “Make lemonade out of lemons,” said Sarah.
As Taegan Goddard anc others have pointed out, though, F and P are nowhere near each other on a keyboard, and there’s also this video of a Palin appearance on Sean Hannity’s show several weeks earlier (relevant portion at the 2:30 mark):
So, you know, which is it Sarah?
Man, Doug, does she get you all wee-wee’d up or what?
What Palin said was absolutely true.
“I pressed an F instead of a P and people freaked out.”
She didn’t say it was a typo, she said she hit one letter instead of another.
Are the N and Q keys next to each other? Hell, no. Then why do so many people (especially me) type Iraq when they mention Iran? Because they’re right next to each other, and their names are so damned similar. The mind makes a mental short-circuit.
Likewise, “refute” and “repudiate” have related meanings, and similar spellings. So she had a brief brain-fart. Come on, tell us you’ve never done that.
I’m going to repeat an earlier quote I made, and try to not mess the formatting up this time:
http://www.facebook.com/notes/sarah-palin/a-thanksgiving-message-to-all-57-states/463364218434
That’s from the same “intellectual” who accused doctors of removing tonsils and amputating feet needlessly, purely to make a buck.
Doug, take the pledge. Go just a week without mentioning Palin. You’re only embarrassing yourself.
J.
I agree that we should be free to invent words. In fact I’m going to invent one for Jay: idiopologist.
Idiopologist: a person who devotes themselves to inventing excuses for idiots. Please update your dictionaries accordingly.
And yes, I did a Google search and it apparently is a brand new word. Yay me.
Is this really worth discussing? Do you and Dr. Taylor take turns on the Palin stories? It just so tiresome to keep seeing them.
Steve:
I think Doug is on a quixotic missions to make this a better country, or at least save the GOP. He seems to have some sort of dislike for the idea of an imbecile leading the Republican ticket in 2012. I know, it’s crazy!
Steve,
It’s about as worthwhile as any other conversation involving the former Mayor of Wasilla. Unfortunately since she continues to insist we pay attention to her, pay attention to her we must.
>”Likewise, “refute” and “repudiate” have related meanings, and similar spellings. So she had a brief brain-fart. ”
I have to admit, Jay tea has a point here….
>” Unfortunately since she continues to insist we pay attention to her, pay attention to her we must.”
Uhhh Doug? Most emphatically, we don’t. That is a choice we make of our own free will. We could quite easily ignore her, and she might even go away if we did…. or not…. but whether we pay attention to her or not is quite beside the point. Our fixation upon her is like the gawkers driving past a really bad accident on the highway… we are looking for the blood and gore, half hoping we won’t see it… but either way, see it or not, we will get home.
“I have to admit, Jay tea has a point here….”
Jay might, perhaps, get some more respect if he gave the same benefit of the doubt to the president…
Doug seems to feel similarly to a lot of conservatives and libertarians who want a Republican to beat the president in 2012…and Doug, like others who feel that way, knows that if Sarah Palin is the GOP nominee, the president will cruise to reelection…maybe he feels like a modern-day Cassandra, trying to warn his fellow travelers against making an enormous mistake against their own interests…
I see Gov. Balin’s Power Rangers are on the job. Wattup J?
How many states are there Anjin?
Well Zels, there is the state of supreme ignorance, where you live. When Putin rears his head and enters your airspace Gov. Balin drives him away…
anjin, I couldn’t understand that. Could you translate that into Australian for me?
And I do give that same credit to Obama — I don’t think he really is as stupid as that collection of his own brain-farts that Palin assembled makes him sound. Nor do I think he’s some kind of crypto-Muslim, based on his admission to George Stephanopolous. You’re the one who won’t extend the same courtesy to Palin.
J.
My dear sweet Zelsdorf Ragshaft III, if Palin had been called out on saying there are 57 states she would have tried to excuse her mistake or concocted some pathetic lie (as if people should have to excuse minor mistakes), and then she would have turned to her obedient supporters, unintelligently and resentfully mocked the person calling her out (like the maniac she is) and tried to spin it all as “Nasty blue state elitists trying to destroy poor little me”.
If Obama would have written “refudiate” he would basically have said “oops” and allowed the degenerate right-blog munchkins to chatter and gloat for a while. He wouldn’t have fed the matter with fuel by trying to excuse the mistake (rather than, just, you know, be a grown man and let the matter rest). It’s not the mistake/lie/faux pas – it’s the coverup or excuse-making. Children learn that.
Do you happen to know of a better Palin apologist, Zel? You are not… You are not good. At this.
“I don’t think he really is as stupid as that collection of his own brain-farts that Palin assembled makes him sound. Nor do I think he’s some kind of crypto-Muslim, based on his admission to George Stephanopolous. You’re the one who won’t extend the same courtesy to Palin.”
Except Palin does not tolerate criticism. Obama didn’t try to turn his brain-farts into something they weren’t. He doesn’t lie so much, and if he does he doesn’t lie about lying. Palin is a very discourteous person, she doesn’t deserve courtesy.
“It’s about as worthwhile as any other conversation involving the former Mayor of Wasilla. Unfortunately since she continues to insist we pay attention to her, pay attention to her we must.”
You find this relevant??? – while ignoring the fact that she was just named the 2nd most admired woman in the US, ahead of Lib luminaries such as Oprah & Michelle Obama. You are right at the border between Andrew Sullivan zealousness and the typical left wing blog ankle biting. What’s next, a post about her inconsistent statements whether Trig is her son. Dude, you are approachaing Andrew Sullivan territory. Sometimes, you should take a deep breath and think about what you are posting. I still think a post about her most admired survey results is more worthy of a post that this non story.
“Dude, you are approachaing Andrew Sullivan territory.”
You are approachaing a compliment.
Also, neither Michelle or Oprah are luminaries of the left. Oprah would be nothing if it weren’t for everything *besides* her politics and enjoys a massive, diverse fanbase of women, and Michelle has never been voted on in political processes.
This refudiation idiocy of Palin’s is just another example of her being a psychopath who can never admit mistakes or misunderstanding. When someone like that will be running for president, why not compile all her personal failings and idiocies?
Please spare me – Doug is Northest elitist who looks down on people who don’t go to elite snobbish Universities. He is as left wing as the typical Liberal blogger who takes a bite of Gov Palin ankles as soon as she gets up in the morning. What else explains this non story.
Besides, He, like you, has no clue what’s going to happen in 2012. He doesn’t know what the economy is going to be like in 2012. We know Obambi is in over his head and not up to the job, so who knows what else he screws up in 2012. We don’t know whether Gov Palin will perform well in debates and on the stump, and gets the benefit of the doubt from Americans who see how she does in 2 years. And assuming she wins the Repub nomination, she may pick a running mate that changes the dynamics.
Again, spare me with this “Doug is a Repub trying to save the Repub party stuff”. It doesn’t pass the smell test, given his tendency to post snarky putdowns like this meaningless post. Posts like this is Lib blogger putdown stuff. I will concede that if the economy and the jobs situation improves by 2012, Obama will be tough to beat. We like to give our Presidents 2 terms when the economy does well.
” Doug is Northest elitist who looks down on people who don’t go to elite snobbish Universities. ”
Capitalizing random words, can’t spell…
Have you ever considered the fact that people like Doug appear elite simply because people like you are the only thing to compare with?
I know of people with no academic background that I look up to. I also know people with academical credentials that voted twice for W or have otherwise distanced themselves from humanity. I think Doug is also capable of looking beyond college-education (or college-uneducation) when taking the measure of people.
“We don’t know whether Gov Palin will perform well in debates and on the stump”
She ain’t “Gov” no more, gov. She wasn’t up to the job.
“Again, spare me with this “Doug is a Repub trying to save the Repub party stuff”.”
I didn’t even know Doug was a republican, as I am a recent poster here.
If these ankle-biters were just trying to denounce or complain about Palin, I would not respect them. But it seems to me that they are trying to *destroy* her, and I respect that. Discourse and antagonistic communication is not about denouncing your enemies or opponents, but about eradicating them from history. This campaign against Palin is very hostile and honest, and I respect that.
“Except Palin does not tolerate criticism. Obama didn’t try to turn his brain-farts into something they weren’t. He doesn’t lie so much, and if he does he doesn’t lie about lying. Palin is a very discourteous person, she doesn’t deserve courtesy.”
Projecting again. Palin has been subject to some of the most vicious criticism I’ve ever seen leveled at a politician. She has people challenging her for her frigging obstetrics records, for Christ’s sake, accusing her of claiming her daughter’s child as her own (sometimes adding in “fathered by her husband”), and the fact that said daughter gave birth to a child less than nine months later. The AP assigned ELEVEN fact-checkers to her first book. People attended her campaign rallies with “SARAH PALIN IS A CUNT” T-shirts.
Palin either ignores them or responds graciously. It’s Obama that can’t stand criticism — witness his temper tantrum after the Republicans fought him over the Bush tax cuts. He called them “hostage takers.” The guy’s a perpetual whiner.
Again: Palin did NOT describe her error as a typo. She said she used one letter instead of another, and that is absolutely true. As noted, the two words are similar and related. It was a mistake, but hardly some catastrophic blunder.
But I guess Doug has his Palin-bashing quota to fulfill, so there’s that…
J.
Hmm, when Palin sees a mean T-shirt, she is wise enough to rise above it.
But when Obama is confronted by an opposition that wants to bankrupt the country by shoveling money at millionaires and billionaires, all the time screaming about the deficit, he gets mad at them.
Yes, clearly two people operating on the same level of importance.
Next: Obama has harsh words for North Korea, while Palin graciously doesn’t yell at the waitress for not refilling her coffee fast enough.
Can’t wait for the debates!
> anjin, I couldn’t understand that. Could you translate that into Australian for me?
No, but I will put it into my English to babble translator, then it will make sense to you.
BTW, yesterday you said you prefer to talk past me. Yet you continutally address me directly. Really dude, make my day – start talking past me.
> The guy’s a perpetual whiner.
Ah, I guess that means you don’t like whiners. And yet here you are, same as every other day, conducting a major whine a thon about how mean people are to Balin.
Are the N and Q keys next to each other? Hell, no. Then why do so many people (especially me) type Iraq when they mention Iran? Because they’re right next to each other, and their names are so damned similar. The mind makes a mental short-circuit.
Iran and Iraq are both actual words. “Refudiate” is not. So Palin’s mind made a mental short-circuit to nonsense? I disagree. I contend her circuits worked just fine. She’s just stupid.
Wow, liberal ignorance on parade. Yes, I know liberal and ignorance mean the same thing, but since this site is infested with them, one must say it for their benefit.
Look, Sarah Palin screwed up, she’s only human. She’s never done anything as stupid as Obama or Joe Biden.
Remember, Obama once said he had traveled to 57 states, and had one or two to go!
Was at a war memorial [for dead people] and claimed he saw many honorees out in the audience.
He thinks Austrians speak “Austrian” [they mostly speak German, as there is no such language as “Austrian]
He also thinks Europe is a country!
Then there was the tale Joe Biden told Katie Couric [as she swooned] about FDR, as President, getting on television when the stock market crashed in 1929 to “comfort the people.”
The problem, of course, is at the time FDR was the Governor of New York. Hoover was President in 1929. FDR wouldn’t take office until March of 1933!
Oh, and the first commercial television license wasn’t granted until 1941. It was the 1950s before TVs were common and popular.
As ridiculous as Biden is, Couric never corrected him. She just looked lovingly into his eyes. Two stupid people in one TV interview.
Back to Refudiate:
A funny thing happened along the way. British MEP Daniel Hannan, a self described “Shakespearean nerd” wrote that yes, this was very Shakespearean, and he thought Sarah Palin was following it the great tradition of the Bard of Avon.
In Fact, Hannan, one of Britain’s top leaders, thought refudiate was a beautiful word, and one that should have been in circulation already.
http://thespeechatimeforchoosing.wordpress.com/2010/07/22/british-mep-daniel-hannan-say-i-like-the-cut-of-sarah-palin%e2%80%99s-shakespearean-jib/
Also, refudiate was named “word of the year” by the New Oxford American Dictionary.
http://thespeechatimeforchoosing.wordpress.com/2010/11/15/new-oxford-american-dictionary-sarah-palins-%E2%80%9Crefudiate%E2%80%9D-named-word-of-the-year/
The moral of this story is simple: Even when Sarah Palin screws up, she is smarter, and more productive than Obama and Biden put together.
That, and she lives in your heads rent free!
Sometimes, I am thinking of a word and inexplicably type some different word. Or, though I know full well the correct hominym, I put the wrong one down. The problem with the dynaminc that Doug sets up here is that it leaves me with more in common with Palin than with her detractors. These sorts of inane criticisms are the air that Palin breathes and one of the reasons she commands such defensiveness. Split an infinitive? Idiot! Misplaced capital letter? You’re obviously dumber than me! It makes Palin’s critics seem more unserious than Palin and provides cover for the fact that Palin is genuinely intellectually lazy and something of a numbskull. The problem is that this is not really demonstrated with the kinds of mistakes most people make when typing extemporaneously.
Mr. Delmonico’s post must rank as one of the contenders for most obnoxious comment. Surely a Limbaugh fan. You actually believe that Obama thought there were 57 states? Or that Europe is a country? You have to be pretty stupid or blindly hateful to put any stock in those beliefs.
Reid — Why do you say he has to be stupid or hateful? Surely, as a Palinista he is capable of being both…
wr: I’m big enough to admit my mistakes, and you’re right.
The ironic thing is that he’s defending a Palin gaffe while ripping Obama a new one over obvious gaffes.
reid, it’s indisputable that Obama actually said those things. All of ’em. They’re all thoroughly documented. And it’s your argument that he’s super-intelligent, that he’s an intellectual.
Why would such a man say such things, if they were not true?
J.
JT: Don’t be an ass. Look up the definition of “gaffe”.
Oh, I’m familiar with it. I was just wondering if you were — you apparently only recognize it when it conforms with your prejudices. Obama is brilliant, so he makes gaffes. Palin is a moron, so she obviously believes everything she says, and never just misspeaks.
I know Obama makes gaffes. (I’m tempted to attribute it to his association with Joe Biden.) I give him a pass on most of them, and only focus on the ones where he seems to be making the classic political gaffe of “accidentally speaking the truth.” His “Joe The Plumber” incident is my favorite. His wife, her statement about how deciding what foods children should eat is “too important to leave to the parents.”
Why won’t you extend the same courtesy to Palin?
I know why. I said so above. I’m just wondering if you can bring yourself to admit it, or if you’ll wrap yourself in some knots to deny the obvious.
J.
JT: Still being an ass, I see. I’ve never said anything about Palin’s “refudiate” gaffe, so spare me the righteousness.
JT: By the way, feel free to turn your guns on Delmonico. Or do you only target hypocrisy when it comes from the left?
reid, “turn my guns on Delmonico?” Why?
I don’t care for his style — as noted, it’s pretty derivative. I see his comments about Obama actually believing what he misstates, I’ll chalk up as rhetorical device to rebut the same standard applied to Palin. (The ones about Biden and Couric, I’ll take at face value — I’ve written at length about the “Three B’s of Joe Biden” — his standard response to any kind of challenge is to Bluster, Bully, and Bullshit, and he’s never called on it. And Couric? ‘Nuff said.)
But nothing he said was fundamentally wrong.
Not well written, not particularly persuasive, more interested in bashing than persuading, and yes, derivative in style, but not wrong. And not really worthy of my attention.
That do ya, reid?
J.
JT: I didn’t say anything about Palin’s gaffe, yet you jump down my throat about hypocrisy. Delmonico posts a long rant that is exactly what you were criticizing but in reverse, and you’re silent. And you come back with a weak defense about Delmonico not posting anything technically “wrong”. Now that’s bullshit. If you’re going to be a wingnut team player, don’t expect your high-minded arguments to carry much weight.
Show me where I’m obligated to police everyone for everything, reid. As I said, Delmonico’s comment bored me. Nothing incorrect, but nothing that interesting, either. Should I post a yawn?
I took it as sarcasm. I didn’t take it as sincere. Sorry if your sarcasm detector is on the blink — maybe you should change its batteries when you check your smoke detectors, on daylight savings days. You wanna tell me what he said that was not only wrong, but interesting enough to draw your attention?
And this whole thread was based on Doug’s deciding to rewrite Palin’s statement on her gaffe, and then said she was lying for what she never said. You stuck up for his side, so I presumed you were on his side. If that was mistaken, and you don’t buy into Doug’s latest expression of misguided Palin-bashing, then I apologize.
J.
JT: You’re not obligated to police everyone, but it’s pretty irritating to be unfairly accused of something that someone else here actually IS guilty of, but you ignored him because he’s on “your team”. (Apology accepted, by the way.) You’re free to ignore people like him, but don’t expect people to think you’re impartial or fair.
Are you claiming that Delmonico’s post was sarcasm? Seriously? It looked like typical wingnut Obama-bashing to me. Intended to promote the meme that Obama is an empty suit, not bright, needs a teleprompter to speak, etc. The kind of nonsense I’m sick of and that you gave a pass to. Maybe it was so idiotic that you mistook it for sarcasm. So yes, I’d say he was wrong, unless you’re nuts enough to believe Obama thinks Europe is a country, for example.
For the record, I don’t care that Palin said “refudiate”; I’d put it in the gaffe territory. But I also dislike her for other reasons and think she’s far from qualified to be president.
reid, it’s indisputable that Obama said all the things Delmonico attributed to him. The question is, what did it mean when he said them?
One option is to take him at his word, and assume he meant them sincerely.
Another is to chalk them up to ordinary human error.
The problem is, the left (“your side,” if you’ll allow me) has sunk tremendous energy into conflating “glib” and “articulate” with “intelligent,” and “inarticulate” or “occasionally stumble-mouthed” as “stupid.”
Steven Den Beste once demonstrated, at length, that George W. Bush is far from stupid. P. J. O’Rourke once described either him or his father as speaking like someone to whom English is their second language — and they lack a first one.
One of the most common citations of Obama’s intelligence is his speaking ability. Well, if that’s the case, why does he keep saying all these incredibly stupid things?
The first possibility is that he is that stupid, using the precedent established with the left’s treatment of Sarah Palin and George W. Bush.
That’s not possible, as he’s so obviously intelligent. So then he must actually be speaking the truth and believe what he says. Including comments about “my Muslim faith” and the like.
The third — and, to me, the most likely — is that he’s a bit stumble-mouthed when off the cuff, exacerbated by his dependency on Teleprompters. But that excuse is not accorded to his rivals, so I don’t feel overly inclined to grant it to his supporters.
I also think that he’s nowhere near as smart as his supporters say, or he seems to think. Yes, I think he’s intelligent, but not the super-genius he’s rated to be. And my evidence is the lack of evidence to the contrary — no history of scholarly writings, no great accomplishments beyond winning elections, no thoughtful, off-the-cuff observations and theses. Plus, his refusal to release his school records and papers deprives us of more evidence of his intellect.
As far as wishing to be seen as “impartial” or “fair,” I could care less. I like what I say or write to stand or fail on its own, neither enhanced or diminished by my own reputation. I don’t want to be seen as an authority on ANYTHING.
Except, of course, my own life and opinions. On that, I am the unquestioned world’s authority.
J.