Did Palin reveal true feelings?

Did Sarah Palin reveal her true feelings when she used the term "blood libel" in her attempt to portray herself as the victim of Saturday's assassination attempt on Arizonaa's first Jewish Congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords? Some people believe it to have been the utmost callousness; I think it was Palin's gross ignorance and her reliance on others to do much of her work for her.

For those who don't know or haven't yet heard, "blood libel" refers to the anti-semitic charge that Jews murder Christian babies and drink their blood, or make matzohs with the blood. As foolish as it is, this charge has been the basis for much anti-semitic activity. 

I suspect Palin was at best only vaguely familiar with the term, thinking it simply referred to any false charge (or, quite likely, that was the thinking of her writers), and did not realize associating this term with an attempt to kill a Jew. After all, she was only trying to tell Real Americans that she was the victim.

And the gunsights she drew on the map of America, including Giffords' location? As she (well, her people) explained, they were just surveying symbols. Or bunnies, or unicorns. 

Don't fret, Sarah...we know you have to reload your victimhood. Along with "Second Amendment remedies" Angle, "Armed and dangerous" Bachmann, and all those other politicians and media personalities who have been saying it may be necessary to revolt against our illegitimate government. And that includes all those liberals who bring guns to political rallies and call for the overthrow of the elected government (or would, if there were any; but oddly enough, there aren't).  

Nice work, Sarah Palin

Sarah, you put the gunsights on several people, including Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. But the effort would not have been successful without the help of Sharron, Glenn, Sean, and various other damn fools, including Arizona Governor Jan Brewer who recently signed into law the bill that allowed the assassin to carry a concealed weapon without needing a permit (or a background check). As I write this, a 9- or 10-year-old girl is known to be dead and 10 persons in critical condition or in surgery, among them a Federal judge.  

Thanks also to the Pima County Republicans for helping to set the mood with their "Help remove Gabrielle Giffords" M16 shoot in June 2010:

Hat tip to Jed Lewison for Palin's gunsight promo, and to David Safier (via David Neiwert) for the Pima County shooting event.

Sarah Palin's hand job

Little Sarah's teacher sent a note home to Sarah's parents informing them that Sarah was caught cheating...no, wait...it wasn't fifth-grade history class, it was the question-and-answer period following her speech at the Republican Tea Baggin' convention February 6. The questions, as usual were selected in advance. Apparently the answers were, too--Stefan Sirucek, reporting for The Huffington Post, caught little Sarah red-handed (inkstain-handed?) reading the responses she has so much difficulty remembering: "tax cuts, energy, lift American spirits" inked on her left hand.

Apparently, Palin is not "smarter than a fifth-grader." But hey, at least she wasn't using a teleprompter for her question-and-answer session.

Sarah Palin says, Okay start makin' shit up

When Sarah Palin quit her job as Vice President Governor before completing a term, she admonished those working in the media to "quit makin' stuff up." Now that she no longer spends her time watching for Putin to come over the horizon, she can make up scary stories about proposed health care reform:

The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s “death panel” so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their “level of productivity in society,” whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.

Also in that Facebook post, a little more hypocrisy, the political exploitation of her children. Shame on Obama's Death Panel for dragging Palin's child into a political debate! How despicable! It seems like every time Palin opens her mouth, we realize that America dodged a bullet last November.

Duel of the Titans--who is dumber?

We've heard how Sarah Palin couldn't name any of the papers and magazines she reads because, well she reads all of them, and how she opined about carbon cap-and-trade without noticing that the point of that is to address global warming. Well, Glenn Beck's show on Monday was a rant about how President Obama's nominee for Supreme Court justice, Sonia Sotomayor, will help lead America directly to Hell:

Beck: America, I want you to watch this. As our country burns to the ground, because we all have this kind of stuff going on, this is the questioning -- now get ready, because it's a hard line of questioning -- here's what happened, this is what our senators were doing today. Watch this.

Yeah, watch it Glenn--probably for the first time. This is not the questioning; this is the introduction and opening remarks. David Neiwert at Crooks and Liars was one of those who noticed.

I just wanted to remind people that when you see Palin appear as Beck's new co-host, you read about it here first.

ADDENDUM: BEN STEIN JOINS THE COMPETITION
Dean Baker at The American Prospect read Ben Stein's 11 July column in the New York Times and figures Stein goes beyond global warming denial--he's never even heard of it! (Added 15 July 2009).

Yet another Palin speculation

After Alaska governor Sarah Palin's announcement today that she would relinquish her seat as governor and watcher of Russia, media pundits were furiously punditing their little hearts out. My first thought was that she was preparing her 2012 presidential campaign as the Alaskan Independence Party candidate (emails on that subject between Palin and McCain campaign strategist Steve Schmidt last October having just been revealed--thank you, David Neiwert). That's right--get elected president and then secede from the United States.

After reading what Jed Lewison of Daily Kos had to say (...I can't do it and make a difference where I am right now behind the governor's desk, so I'm going to go around the governor's desk, and I'm going to make that difference, outside -- outside government). Upon careful reflection, however, I am now able to speculate with as much reliability as any mainstream media pundit, Palin's true plans--she will become co-host with Fox News' Glenn Beck.

I can't see Canada from my house

Just in case you haven't heard vice-presidential aspirant Sarah Palin's conversation with (as she thought) French president Nicholas Sarkozy, I suggest you check it out here. Try and figure out at what point Palin catches on to the prank--was it when "Sarkozy" spoke with a funny accent? When he referred to Canadian Prime Minister Stef Carse (even I know the PM is Stephen Harper)? Or was it when the caller announced that Palin had been pranked?

So is Palin prepared? Perhaps if she studies a bit, she may yet become prepared for an appearance on Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader. Even former Deputy Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger, in a reckless moment of honesty, said Palin was unprepared for the position of vice president.

Note: I just searched for palin and "smarter than a fifth grader." Google returned about 46,100 hits.

McCain's science advisors off to a bad start

Actually, McCain doesn't seem to have any science advisors yet (what? after 26 years in the senate?), so the science described by Sarah Palin in the McCain Campaign speech she recited Friday was misunderstood, misrepresented, and, of course, politicized. This was to be a speech calling for more Federal assistance for children with disabilities such as autism (read: "redistribute the wealth"), paid for in part with the money saved from cutting back on scientific research. In particular, Palin referred to fruit fly (Drosophila sp.) research, which she called an "earmark."

Sarah, I'll quote Rabelais: Thy Bung hath flung some dung at us!

Fruit flies are one of the workhorses of biological research, and they are important economically (remember the Medfly problem, and fruit quarantines?). The specific fruit fly research Palin was critical of is described here, and involved the olive industry, Pierce's Disease of grapevines, and Sudden Oak Death in the United States. The McCain campaign wishes to trivialize important, applied scientific research, exploiting the appeal of esoteric-sounding work to the scientific illiterates that the Bush administration, Creationists, and wingnuts have been engaged with for lo these many years. How Mavericky is that?

Palin's foolish attitude toward science caught my eye in a post by Mike the Mad Biologist; tristero had more details on the subject, and PZ Myers had more on it. I wish the "mainstream media" could be savvy enough to notice, but then, they'd probably figure they had to give the anti-science crowd equal time. Or maybe not--David Ryan, writing for the Napa Valley Register half a year ago, had the good sense to read the statement by (Democratic) Congressman Mike Thompson, responsible for gaining funding of the research.

Sarah Palin -- Abused power, violated law

The independent investigation by Stephen Branchflower submitted to a bipartisan Alaskan legislative council concluded that Governor Sarah Palin abused her powers as governor in violation of Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a).

The abuse stems from Palin's sister's divorce from State Trooper Michael Wooten, which upset Palin. Palin wanted Wooten fired, and pressured Commissioner of Public Safety Walt Monegan to do so. Apparently, Shadow Governor Todd "First Dude" Palin voiced most of the complaints about Wooten, but the actual firing was, of course, Sarah Palin's responsibility. The affair came to be known as "Troopergate."

When it began to look like this could be a seriously embarrassing situation for the vice-presidential nominee, she decided to stonewall the investigation. The Alaska judicial system, however, would not allow the matter to be dismissed. Palin conducted her own investigation by a hand-picked group of toadies and, to absolutely no one's astonishment, determined that she had done no wrong.

Our nation has suffered enough damage from a vice president who believes himself above the law and who has abused his powers. Would Todd Palin expect to continue his shadowy work as Spouse of the Vice President? And the last thing we need is someone a heartbeat away from the Presidency who already has a track record of covering up illegal actions.

Bait and Switch

I went to the Metropolitan Opera recently for a performance of "Salome."

I took my seat. The lights went down, and James Levine stood up. But instead of conducting the opera overture, he announced to the audience:

Doggonit, I'm not gonna do this opera stuff--it's too elitist. I'm just gonna entertain Joe Sixpack directly, with what Americans, ya know, really love. Watch me juggle instead!

The audience booed and hurled rotten tomatoes and cabbages at him, forcing him to leave the building. If audiences would more often show their disdain for such dishonest behavior, perhaps we would see less of it.

Sarah -- Another Big Dick?

Well, it appears that Palin has figured out what the vice president does. Or at least what she would like to do as vice president. An "expanded role"--sort of like what Cheney had in mind.

Thursday night's debate highlighted a major problem with the format of debates over the past few election cycles, namely, that it is way too easy for one of the debaters to skip difficult or embarrassing questions, and there is insufficient opportunity to challenge statements that are misleading or false.

When I was a wee pup, the bigger kids would often let me play in their ball games. But I did not like it when they said "But his runs and outs don't count." After seeing Palin's interviews with Gibson and Couric, I wondered if the pundits would agree that Palin's "runs and outs" don't count. After the debate, I suspect the Republicans will want to claim her strikes don't count, but her balls do. I think she has to show she can speak her own mind. After all, Hollywood is full of actresses who can deliver scripted lines better than Palin can.

Where's Waldo, er..., Sarah?

You might think a cheerleader like Sarah Palin might rush out onto the field after a play to offer her quarterback a few "rahs." But I suppose she's busy. Or perhaps the McCain campaign writers were already overworked writing jokes for her running mate. Steve Benen at The Washington Monthly noted how Joe Biden was talking to the media quickly enough after Friday night's debate, but Palin, although asked by CNN, was not ready to speak. But she is ready to be Leader of the Free World, remember, should a President John McCain forget to show up for work.