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Liberal Self Destruction

September 4, 2008 by Ron  
Filed under News/Op-Ed

I can’t help but be amused at the liberal self destruction going on the last week. The liberal response to Sarah Palin for the last week has been one of the most entertaining things I’ve ever seen.

I’m not a fan of MSNBC and rarely watch it. But for the last few days I’ve found myself switching over to see what new nonsense is spewing from the mouths of the talking heads there. It’s been great fun. Of course, the dishonesty there is nothing short of amazing. For at least the last two days both Chris Matthews and Keith Olberman have asked for information about who in the MSM has gone after Sarah Palin as a mother. Indeed, both have denied that it has happened. It is utterly beyond belief that neither is aware of Washington Post reporter Sally Quinn’s hit piece entitled Palin’s Pregnancy Problem or CNN’s Campbell Brown badgering a McCain spokesman on the subject of whether Palin could be a good mother and be Vice President. The latter caused the McCain campaign to, at least temporarily, cut CNN off from all interviews and McCain himself cancelled a scheduled appearance on Larry King Live. I’m sure Matthews and Olberman

Of course, the highlight of all this is the reaction of the Obama campaign. Joe Biden has complained that Sarah Palin’s speech last night didn’t include everything he thought it should. The Obama campaign and the liberal press has complained that Palin’s speech didn’t include any specifics. Did any of these complainers actually listen to Barak Obama’s acceptance speech?

The fact is, convention speeches aren’t the place for specifics, they’re for vision casting. With Obama’s heady claims, his speech would have taken a day or two to complete had it included specifics. Of course, after nearly two years of campaigning, Obama has yet to be specific about anything. He makes claims about what he’ll do but there’s never any answer to the question, how?

The latest from Obama is that Palin’s speech was too devisive. I kid you not, that’s what they’re saying. I ask again, did any of these complainers actually listen to Obama’s acceptance speech? Fully one third of it was directed at attacking John McCain. I don’t have a problem with that, I have a problem with him whining about Sarah Palin.

The double standards are so thick you could cut them with a knife. I guess we shouldn’t expect anything else from the Obama campaign but wouldn’t it be refreshing if the MSM actually took note of it. That, alas, would also be asking too much.

The next few weeks will be interesting to watch. At some point Palin will be facing the press and answering questions. The left is convinced that she’ll fall on her face. The right is sure she won’t. But Obama has as much riding on Palin’s performance as McCain does. Obama is totally invested, at this point, is Sarah Palin’s failure as a candidate. Indeed, he doesn’t have much choice. It’s kind of like the Democrat’s investment in defeat in Iraq. They’ve gone too far to turn back now. For Obama’s part, he’d gone too far before Palin was ever announced.

Obama has worked hard to tie McCain to George W. Bush. The Obama mantra has been that McCain represents four more years of Bush. The problem with that approach is the fact that McCain has worn the “maverick” hat for too long and had too many very public disagreements with his party. I’ve been a huge opponent of John McCain for just that reason. It was a big gamble for Obama to take this course but he’s gone to far with it to turn back now.

Then along comes Sarah Palin, a governor with a record of facing off against coruption in her own party and winning. That caught the Obama campaign, the MSM and everyone by surprise. Conservatives who knew anything at all about Palin were elated. Obama and his campaign were caught with their pants down. Then, instead of working fast to get up to speed, the Obama campaign decided to just run with anything they could find. That was a mistake but again, they’re already committed to that approach.

So now Obama thinks Palin is too devisive. He would never see himself as devisive, though he is as devisive as they come when it comes to John McCain. He can lie about McCain all day and that’s not devisive.

I’m convinced the Obama campaign and the MSM’s reactionary approach to Palin will harm Obama. I believe it already has. The McCain campaign is running the news cycle for the first time. Obama has been accustomed to being in control of the news cycle and they just don’t know how to react when they’re behind the curve. They are completely reactive now and just hoping Palin will make a mistake. While she might, I wouldn’t bet the farm on it.

So the next few weeks and months are going to be fun. I’m looking forward to every minute of it. I’m especially looking forward to Palin debating Biden. Yes, that should be great fun.

Also see: Michelle Malkin - The Obamas and their “Public Allies”

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  1. The American Freedomist » Blog Archive » Liberal Self Destruction (From Fort Hard Knox) says:
    September 5, 2008 at 2:49 pm

    [...] Indeed, both have denied that it has happened. It is utterly beyond belief that neither is aware of Washington Post reporter Sally Quinn’s hit piece entitled Palin’s Pregnancy Problem or CNN’s Campbell Brown badgering a McCain spokesman on the subject of whether Palin could be a good mother and be Vice President. The latter caused the McCain campaign to, at least temporarily, cut CNN off from all interviews and McCain himself cancelled a scheduled appearance on Larry King Live. I’m sure Matthews and Olberman READ IT ALL HERE! [...]

    Reply


Comments

20 Responses to “Liberal Self Destruction”
  1. Bill Collier says:
    September 5, 2008 at 2:59 pm

    The fact is, the media, adjunct of the DNC that it is, is used to running the new cycle and now they too are off their game. This is truly delicious.

    Also, let me add, these people keep trying to do guilt by association with McCain/Bush, showing pictures of them and all that. Here my take:

    1. I will take a president who has kept America safe for 8 years as an associate over a terrorist who has attacked America as an associate ANY DAY

    2. What’s good for Obama is good for McCain, if Obama can question McCain’s connections let’s start asking about Tony R., Sal Alinsky (Sp?), Jeremiah Wright, ACORN, and the rest of the Chicago machine politics insiders and failed 60’s revolutionaries

    3. Will someone ask how Michelle’s salary increases and funding for her org. are related to Obama’s rise in position….

    4. The “media” are the ones that we need to investigate for FEC violations: 55% of Americans think media bias is a greater source of political corruption than big corporate donations to candidates

    Bill Collier
    An American Freedomist

    Reply
  2. misanthropicus says:
    September 5, 2008 at 6:44 pm

    The Glibamatons have been hit hard by these recent developments. Traditional media is still mightily behind them, yet they all have painted themselves in a corner and lost credibility. Also, I don’t think that Hillary or Sibelius will come out to hit Palin - it would be very counterproductive.
    I hope that McCain & Palin can sustain the momentum - they’ll make the right team for the quite ugly times that lie ahead.

    Reply
  3. Maggie Thornton says:
    September 5, 2008 at 10:26 pm

    I also watched MSNBC on Tuesday night when O’Reilly was on. They all reported like hacks. They were so unprofessional.

    BTW, I’m watching a rerun of tonight’s O’Reilly (Friday) and Sally Quinn is on again, saying she was unfair to Palin, she listened to the speech, thinks it was wonderful, will be a formidable candidate - said she did a good job. This woman is saying she was wrong. Said when she wrote the first column she didn’t know anything about Palin. I bet she got tons of negative press and email.

    I agree with everything Bill Collier said (above).

    Really like your new look.

    Maggie

    Reply
  4. Ron Ron says:
    September 5, 2008 at 10:41 pm

    Good points Bill. I agree.

    Misanthropicus, I like that term, Glibamatons. I expect I’ll use it.

    Maggie, I didn’t see O’Reilly tonight. I was busy working on the changes to this site. I’m amazed to hear of Sally Quinn’s retraction! I expect she did get tons of bad press and lots of email as well. At least she recognized her mistake, though she was pretty adamant in her own defense previously. I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for more of the MSM to follow suit. In fact, Quinn will probably be excoriated by them for her retraction. And that too will help McCain/Palin and hurt Obama.

    Reply
  5. so saddened says:
    September 6, 2008 at 12:21 am

    although sally quinn said she was wrong, she said it was because she hadn’t yet heard palin’s speech. she never said she was wrong about her mother-related comments. then when o’reilly gave her the last word, she went right back to the motherhood thing, saying palin hasn’t yet learned just how hard it is to raise a downs child, she (sally) as a “citizen” has a right to know how palin will handle it, etc.

    i saw it as a woman being forced to eat crow, not based on true recognition of her mistake but based on being - rightfully - pilloried, but not being able to eat the crow with dignity.

    Reply
  6. Tim Bucktoo says:
    September 6, 2008 at 8:45 pm

    I am assuming that everyone has seen the many reports of Palin’s own tawdry history of lobbyists and earmarks by now. I agree that it will be interesting to see how she handles herself in a serious interview, if indeed it ever happens. It does seem strange that a candidate who places being a beauty queen so prominently on her resume would be so sensitive to “sexist” criticism.

    Reply
  7. Jenn Sierra Jenn Sierra says:
    September 6, 2008 at 9:39 pm

    The only thing tawdry is Tim Bucktoo’s unfounded allegations. And Sarah isn’t the one who’s “senstive.” It’s the rest of us, who like her, who are appalled and disgusted with the media hypocrisy. And don’t worry - we’ll have plenty of chances to hear Palin in interviews and debates. The squirming we’re seeing on the left right now is soon going to turn to writhing and gnashing of teeth. They don’t call her the ‘barracuda’ for nothing.

    Reply
  8. Tim Bucktoo says:
    September 7, 2008 at 9:04 am

    McCain has made opposition to pork-barrel spending a central theme of his 2008 campaign. “Earmarking deprives federal agencies of scarce resources, at the whim of individual members of Congress,” McCain has said.

    But records show that Palin — first as mayor of Wasilla and recently as governor of Alaska — was far from shy about pursuing tens of millions in earmarks for her town, her region and her state.

    This year, Palin, who has been governor for nearly 22 months, defended earmarking as a vital part of the legislative system. “The federal budget, in its various manifestations, is incredibly important to us, and congressional earmarks are one aspect of this relationship,” she wrote in a newspaper column.

    In 2001, McCain’s list of spending that had been approved without the normal budget scrutiny included a $500,000 earmark for a public transportation project in Wasilla. The Arizona senator targeted $1 million in a 2002 spending bill for an emergency communications center in town — one that local law enforcement has said is redundant and creates confusion.

    McCain also criticized $450,000 set aside for an agricultural processing facility in Wasilla that was requested during Palin’s tenure as mayor and cleared Congress soon after she left office in 2002. The funding was provided to help direct locally grown produce to schools, prisons and other government institutions, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan watchdog group.

    Wasilla received $11.9 million in earmarks from 2000 to 2003. The results of this spending are very apparent today. (The town also benefited from $15 million in federal funds to promote regional rail transportation.)

    The community transit center is a landmark: a one-story, tile-fronted building with a drive-through garage. Its fleet of 10 buses provides service throughout the region. Mat-Su Community Transit Agency officials say the building was made possible with a combination of federal money and matching gifts from a private foundation.

    Taylor Griffin, a McCain campaign spokesman, said that when Palin became mayor in 1996, “she faced a system that was broken. Small towns like Wasilla in Alaska depended on earmarks to take care of basic needs. . . . That was something that Gov. Palin was alarmed about and was one of the formative experiences that led her toward the reform-oriented stance that she has taken as her career has progressed.”

    Palin, he said, was “disgusted” that small towns like hers were dependent on earmarks.

    Public records paint a different picture:

    Wasilla had received few if any earmarks before Palin became mayor. She actively sought federal funds — a campaign that began to pay off only after she hired a lobbyist with close ties to Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), who long controlled federal spending as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. He made funneling money to Alaska his hallmark.

    Steven Silver was a former chief of staff for Stevens. After he was hired, Wasilla obtained funding for several projects in 2002, including an additional $600,000 in transportation funding.

    That year, a local water and sewer project received $1.5 million, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense, which combs federal spending measures to identify projects inserted by congressional members.

    When Palin spoke after McCain introduced her as his running mate at a rally in Ohio last week, she made fun of earmarking. She said she had rejected $223 million in federal funds for a bridge linking Ketchikan to an island with an airport and 50 residents, referring to it by its derogatory label: the “bridge to nowhere.”

    In the nationally televised speech, she stood by McCain and said, “I’ve championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. In fact, I told Congress thanks, but no thanks, on that bridge to nowhere. If our state wanted a bridge, I said, we’d build it ourselves.”

    However, as a candidate for governor in 2006, Palin had backed funding for the bridge. After her election, she killed the much-ridiculed project when it became clear the state had other priorities. She said she would use the federal funds to fill those needs.

    This year she submitted to Congress a list of Alaska projects worth $197.8 million, including $2 million to research crab productivity in the Bering Sea and $7.4 million to improve runway lighting at eight Alaska airports. A spokesman said she cut the original list of 54 projects to 31.

    “So while Sen. McCain was going after cutting earmarks in Washington,” said Steve Ellis of Taxpayers for Common Sense, “Gov. Palin was going after getting earmarks.”

    tom.hamburger@latimes.com

    Reply
  9. Tim Bucktoo says:
    September 7, 2008 at 9:12 am

    Todd Harris, a GOP strategist who is close to the McCain campaign, says Palin won’t be available to the press for about two weeks. His defense? She might make “a mistake.”

    If she goes out and makes a mistake, that is something that [voters will] care about, and that’s something that will haunt [McCain] for awhile, so I think this is a smart move.

    This has got to be one of the craziest messaging decisions ever: Harris is conceding that Palin’s not even ready to be a vice presidential candidate, let alone be president.

    I just don’t see how they can sustain two weeks of keeping Palin in hiding. Every day the McCain campaign keeps her away from reporters just highlights the fact that they don’t think she’s ready.

    This strikes me as a pretty impressive strategic blunder.

    Reply
  10. Jenn Sierra Jenn Sierra says:
    September 7, 2008 at 5:12 pm

    Tim…do you have links or sources for any of this stuff? Palin’s been all over the news for over a week, now. She’s been in public appearance after public appearance. She’s running for VICE President, you know. How many interviews has Joe Biden been giving lately? Oh, right….no ones cares what he thinks, really, because he’s running for VICE President….

    Reply
  12. Tim Bucktoo says:
    September 7, 2008 at 10:08 pm

    Jenn I simply hope that we can stick to the truth when discussing politics. Making public appearances to read or recite a prepared speech and giving interviews to answer the many questions voters have the right to know are two very different things. This article was about Palin, not McCain, which is what I am responding to. I believe that all candidates, Democrat and Republican, are servants of the people and not the other way around. Joe Biden gave a lengthy interview on Meet The Press this morning. Palin has been invited to appear any time between now and election, but has so far failed to respond. To learn more about Palins refusal to give interviews visit http://www.petitiononline.com/B9AE83R/petition.html
    Remember, Google and the truth are our friends.

    Reply
  13. Ron Ron says:
    September 8, 2008 at 8:05 am

    Bucko, all you hope is that you’ll wear poor Jenn out. You trolls are all alike. I’ve seen it a million times. You respond incessantly and when the conservative tires of it, you claim victory by virtue of having the last word.

    Here’s the deal, comments are just that, they aren’t blog posts. If you have something you want to get out, go start a blog. No more 18 paragraph comments will be allowed. Keep your comments brief and to the point and if you expect them to be approved. And if you continue to badger, your ability to post will be revoked.

    I personally want diversity of opinion represented here, within limits. Moonbats are something else entirely.

    Good luck with the petition drive. The bottom line is, we’ll see in November whether McCain has made a good move or not. I believe he has. You believe he has not. Time will tell and we look forward to the results. Do you?

    Reply
  14. Jeremy says:
    September 8, 2008 at 8:21 am

    I’m really excited about Palin, maybe naively so… I can’t help but have this sick feeling in my stomach like I’ve been duped by the Republicans yet again. There still are a LOT of policy questions that haven’t been asked. I’m just assuming she’s going to answer them all right.

    Reply
  15. Tim Bucktoo says:
    September 8, 2008 at 9:54 am

    Ron, From now on I promise to keep my replies short, stay on subject, and remain respectful at all times. I am an undecided voter giving this and other blogs the opportunity to persuade me to vote for McCain. Above all other considerations I seek the truth. If I have been misguided I am depending on you and the others to correct me. I give you my word that I will keep an open mind. I do not want to visit blogs that simply echo what I perceive to be true, because a lie is a lie, no matter how many times it gets repeated. I commented on this site because you appear to take pride in appearance. I have taken what I consider to be good talking points from forthardknox and presented them to liberal blogs such as http://www.bartcop.com and http://www.crooksandliars.com to see how they respond to being challenged as well. God bless America, and may the voters take the responsibility of choosing the next leader seriously, because these are serious times.

    Reply
  16. Ron Ron says:
    September 8, 2008 at 9:25 pm

    Good to see you here Jeremy. I understand how you feel. For most Sarah Palin was a complete unknown. While I wrote about her back in February, I’m not an expert on her by any means. The more I learn the more I like her but there is a lot yet to learn. If something really bad comes out that could spell the end of McCain’s presidential aspirations. I wouldn’t shed any tears for McCain if that happened because I’ve never been a fan of his anyway. As you and most people know, I wasn’t planning on voting for him. Palin is the only reason I’ve changed my mind. But I have to say, baring any major revelations or gaffs, I think Palin will be a major power in the GOP for years to come. And I have some hope that she might be the impetus for dragging the GOP back to its conservative roots. As I said to Tim, time will tell. Either way, this looks to be a very interesting race from here on out!

    Reply
  17. olga says:
    September 8, 2008 at 11:41 pm

    i changed my mind about mccain before he picked sarah, but no i am definitely all for the repub ticket! the behavior and conduct of the dems this year has made me re-register as an independent. i never voted repub before but i would be proud to this year.

    i think it is wise to keep sarah out of the feeding frenzy for the time being and be selective on her interviews right now. i don’t think it’s a bad thing. seeing how viciously she was attacked as soon as she was announced as running mate, it’s a good call IMO. i’m rooting for her to study up and kick ass, but i have a feeling she will do great.

    Reply
  18. theresa says:
    September 9, 2008 at 4:19 pm

    I was agast at the Obama Shrine at the checkout stand at the supermarket yesterday (only about 5 covers with Obama or his family on the cover of course praising the great one … The media is using every avenue to keep this guy propped up … The DNC leaders are elitest who put what they want before the vote of the people. The democratic voters would have put Hillary on the ticket. But buying super delegates got Obama the nomination … they keep putting unelectable people on the ticket … and it has nothing to do with Obama being black … he is unelectable because of his lack of experience, lack of character, associations with radicals, etc… etc …. The media and their bias, and the obama shrine at the supermarket just sickens me … I truely hope the DNC can not fool Americans with the hollywood story telling !

    Reply
  19. bett says:
    September 10, 2008 at 7:21 pm

    Per your link to Michelle Malkin’s website, it is amazing that people will take a distorted smear job and distort it further
    without any critical thinking or objective research.

    Public Allies is not a radical organization. In fact, the Bush administration
    tripled its funding, named them a model of faith-based and community initiatives,
    and hired them to help other nonprofits improve their services (they teach people
    how to fish rather than give them fish). Also, John McCain has championed and called
    for more than tripling AmeriCorps programs like Public Allies if he is elected.

    The organization does not sponsor, endorse or participate in partisan or protest
    activities whatsoever and its service is conducted in partnership with groups like
    American Red Cross, Boys and Girls Clubs, faith-based organizations, and even
    charter and choice schools.

    The organization’s leadership curriculum is fairly similar to the types of
    leadership curricula that FORTUNE 500 companies use. Public Allies’ effective
    management and business savvy led Fast Company Magazine to give them a “Social
    Capitalist Award.”

    It is a shame that people will make up “facts” and distort information to attack a
    good organization because the Obamas have supported it.

    Reply

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