The Lonely Goatherd Blog And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats - Matthew 25:32
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All original content on MoreThings.com copyright 2008 Albert Barger or the respective authors
November 21, 2008
Sarah Palin Turkey Interview Governor Palin went to an Alaskan turkey farm to officially pardon a Thanksgiving turkey, and then proceeded to do a local tv interview with other turkeys absolutely being slaughtered in the background. It's a huge YouTube hit.
And you KNOW ol' girl is doing it like this absolutely on purpose. She had to know what was going on behind her. She could have just took a few steps to the side where the slaughtering would have been out of frame. She's a professional politician, and before that a professional broadcaster.
I would say that this display was throwing red meat to her rightwing supporters, hunters and bitter gun owners and such - but it is specifically poultry involved. So she's throwing us rightwing nutjobs white meat - which is healthier for our digestive tracts.
Sarah Palin vs "Elite" Republicans Syndicated conservative columnist Kathleen Parker, of whom I have sometimes been a fan, made waves in the 2008 election by her vigorous distaste for Sarah Palin. She went so far as to call on her to drop off the ticket because she was supposedly so ill-qualified.
She's milked the controversy and negative responses that she's gotten for several columns, including a new one just today. Writing her a response, it got big enough that I figured to just make it an open public letter. So here goes:
Miss Kathleen- I don't want you to be able to easily dismiss my criticism, so I'll try to be nice. I'm not angry anyway, but I have to admit to being a bit contemptuous of some of the Beltway type anti-Palin Republicans. Leaving you specifically out of it, Peggy Noonan and even the usually totaly righteous George Will lost some points with me over Palin.
You all gave in to some really petty idea of elitism here. Now, I'm all in favor of an aristocracy of merit, a kind of elitism. But that's not where Palin fell short.
She's perfectly intelligent and obviously highly competent in her work. She's run things, and Lord knows that she's a multi-tasker. She knows a lot about a lot of things. Ask her about energy policy or wildlife management issues or child rearing or commercial fishing. Plus, she has a temperment that translates to actually getting stuff done - and the character to take on bad actors even in her own party.
She's quite legitimately elite in her knowledge, experience and character. That's how a schoolteacher's kid from the boondocks got where she is. But she got bitten by "conservative" so-called elites largely over stupid prejudice. She didn't go to Harvard. She's got that Marge Gundersson accent. Heck, she even really actually believes in Jesus - as opposed to a mere sophisticated elitist nod to our founders' Christian traditions.
She probably doesn't know much about French symbolist poets or whatever crapola like that it is that is an arbitrary standard of intelligence and sophistication - but would probably have about squat to do with running the country - or anything else useful or meaningful. Christopher Buckley just couldn't imagine such a barbarian as a guest at one of Dad's famous dinner parties. This reasoning itself does not represent truly an elite judgment, but a petty and low-level childish emotionalism based on superficialities.
I've never been one to shoot the messenger. Also, all the columnists in the country collectively wouldn't have the power to have changed the election. But you anti-Palin Republican messengers were WRONG. Completely, 100% off base. This business of yours about how she should have quit the ticket was just complete foolishness that at least LOOKS like a cheap ploy for attention. But maybe that's just my jaundiced perspective.
In any case, Palin certainly did NOT cost McCain the election. People hardly ever vote for the veep candidate anyway. McCain was a weak candidate to start with, and the Palin pick was THE high point of his campaign. Indeed, that pushed him up enough that he was actually edging ahead in polls after her pick - until the unprecedented market meltdown just washed him away. There was no human way that even the sharpest veep candidate could have saved that for him.
I have here on my website images of aspects of the Palin history and personnae. I reference this for you specifically to direct you to the "Wal-Mart Moms" image. During the campaign, she was traveling with Trig and stopped off (in her cheap comfortable traveling clothes obviously not bought by the RNC) at a local Wal-Mart for some diapers. Here she is just standing in the aisle with baby over the shoulder chatting it up with another customer.
This isn't even an example of a politician having "the common touch." There's not a sense of skillfully manipulating or carefully relating to the lower class, but just a couple of normal gals chatting it up in the aisle as equals.
This image and the working class identity implied seems to me to encapsulate a lot of what conservative (and other) elite types really object to. And that is utterly bogus. Plus, it's one of the reasons that she's going to be president someday.
May the ghost of WFB have mercy, Palin might invite the likes of this Wal-Mart mom into the White House. Fortunately, we elected another Harvard and Princeton team, so we'll be expecting a decent minimum of education and erudition among White House guests in the Lincoln Bedroom. I just hope Bill Ayers doesn't decide to blow it up while he's there.
The Sarah Palin 2008 Lipstick Vogue Button Collection from Barger's Boutique Barger's Boutique is pleased to introduce the 2008 Sarah Palin Lipstick Vogue Button Collection. These 20 unique designs capture small bits of the awesomeness and all round raw mad political skillz dat Sarah Palin gots. The opposition has already done their worst, and Sister Sarah stood up to the full frontal assault and maybe as much as got her hair mussed.
But she's a working girl and not really primarily a show horse to start with, which you can see as she's siting up Russia from the backyard or taking down a moose or chatting it up naturally in the aisles like the Wal-Mart mom she is.
While the nation waits to find out how bad President Obama screws the pooch, you can get these 20 images of future POTUS Sarah Palin as a set of 2 1/4" pinback buttons or as 3" refrigerator magnets - complete with an Official Certificate.
Note from the links on these pictures that some of them are available individually.
The Palin Doctrine on SNL's Election Eve Presidential Bash Funny that Tina Fey doesn't seem to like or support Sarah Palin. On SNL as Palin, at one point she described herself as among other things "one part high school bitchy." But then Tina Fey some months ago on the Weekend Update before Palin's emergence famously declared that "bitch is the new black" and that bitches like her and Amy Poehler and Hillary Clinton get stuff done. It was a perfectly valid point.
Which brings me to one of the freakiest election eve things I think I've ever seen. NBC had a two hour prime time Saturday Night Live Presidential Bash. They appear to have done a few new introductory things live, with most of the best material from this last year of presidential campaigning, and a few choice moments of vintage Reagan and Ford and Bush humor for historical flavor.
They also had new bits from the real McCain and Palin. I presume they were pre-recorded while the candidates were in as guests in the last couple of weeks. Palin's live appearance was perhaps fairly criticized for her lack of real lines and performance. The point of her appearance was more simply in her being physically present in the middle of the Palin rap, throwing her hands in the air like a true maverick as they shot down a "motherhumpin moose" to the beat.
But Sarah Palin's little bon mot that they saved for election eve was bitch in full and impressive effect, a solo monologue. Dig this:
It occurs to me watching this that Sister Sarah is every bit the bitch that Tina Fey or Amy Poehler ever thought about being. Whoever exactly wrote that - and it sure at least sounds like she did - it comes across just a wee bit truly malicious and baring of fangs. It seemed a little bit purposely creepy and scary. I find myself both frightened and of course just a wee bit aroused.
Of course, Palin just went on SNL to make jokes about shutting down NBC in vegeance when she becomes veep as part of "the Palin Doctrine." That would be as opposed to the Barack campaign having lawyers making real threats against tv stations and such.
Besides being a really interesting freaky moment of tv history, I find this little 'joking' baring of the fangs rather reassuring. It kind of re-inforces my impression that Sarah Palin's bitch enough for the job. You'd think Tina Fey might appreciate that point.