Sarah Palin's disastrous resignation speech writ large

This is a hoot. Vanity Fair asked their literary editor, their research department and their copy editor to go through Sarah Palin's resignation speech and correct it. What results is a sea of red, green and blue corrective ink all over the original speech transcript. I reproduce below just one page as an example (click on it to enlarge it) - Vanity Fair shows the rest here.

As Vanity Fair comments: "If you watched Sarah Palin’s resignation speech, you know one thing: her high-priced speechwriters moved back to the Beltway long ago."

Poll: 60% think Palin resignation was bad move

Oh dear. Only 16% of those polled in the US think that Sarah Palin's resignation as Alaskan governor is a good political move in respect of a future run for the Presidency.

Oh dear. Oh dear.

Dear me.

Sarah Palin stands relatively alone amongst quitting first term governors

A poster on Mudflats has looked at all the first term Governors in the USA since 1900 - all 1200 of them. They found that there have been only three who have resigned without being forced to do so:

Jim McGreevy, Eliot Spitzer and Sarah Palin.

Jim McGreevy "coupled the announcement of his decision to resign with a public declaration of his homosexuality and an admission to having had an extramarital affair with the man he had appointed homeland security adviser".

Eliot Spitzer was alleged to have been involved in a prostitution ring.

Sarah Palin resigned because.....um.............er....................ah yes, she didn't want to be a lame duck.

Letterman: Top ten messages on Sarah Palin's answering machine

A bit of a grudge settler. Best watched here but the list is below anyway.

10. "Hi, it's George W. Bush. Why didn't anyone tell me resigning was an option?"
9. "It's John McCain--Why did I call?"
8. "Mark Sanford here. Ever been to Argentina?"
7. "I'm calling from Geico to see if you want to renew your dogsled insurance"
6. "It's Letterman. We still cool?"
5. "McCain again. Still no idea why I called"
4. "Hi, it's the dry cleaner. Having trouble getting caribou blood out of your Prada jacket"
3. "Hi, it's Sarah...Oops...Dialed my own number"
2. "Schwarzenegger here. If you want a job, California could use a new governor"
1. "Hey, it's McCain. Who would've thought you'd retire before I did"

Maureen Dowd on nuttiness and battiness

I've just seen this beautifully written article on the Palin resignation from Maureen Dowd of the New York Times:

Sarah Palin showed on Friday that in one respect at least, she is qualified to be president.
Caribou Barbie is one nutty puppy.
Usually we don’t find that exquisite battiness in our leaders until they’ve been battered by sordid scandals like Watergate (Nixon), gnawing problems like Vietnam (L.B.J.), or scary threats like biological terrorism (Cheney).
When Lyndon Johnson was president, some of his staff began to think of him as “a sick man,” as Bill Moyers told Arthur Schlesinger Jr. Moyers and his fellow Johnson aide Dick Goodwin even began reading up on mental illness — Bill on manic depression and Dick on paranoia.
And so it was, Todd Purdum learned, as he traveled Alaska reporting on Palin for Vanity Fair, that the governor’s erratic and egoistic behavior has been a source of concern for people there.
“Several told me, independently of one another,” Purdum writes, “that they had consulted the definition of ‘narcissistic personality disorder’ in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders — ‘a pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy’ — and thought it fit her perfectly.”
The White House can drive its inhabitants loopy. So at least Sarah Palin is ahead of the curve on that one.
As Alaskans settled in to enjoy holiday salmon bakes and the post-solstice thaw, their governor had a solipsistic meltdown so strange it made Sparky Sanford look like a model of stability.
On the shore of Lake Lucille, with wild fowl honking and the First Dude smiling, with Piper in the foreground and their Piper Cub in the background, the woman who took the Republican Party by storm only 10 months ago gave an incoherent, breathless and prickly stream of consciousness to a small group in her Wasilla yard. Gobsmacked Alaska politicians, Republican big shots, the national press, her brother, the D.C. lawyer who helped create her political action committee and yes, even Fox News, played catch-up.
What looked like a secret wedding turned out to be a public unraveling as the G.O.P. implosion continued: Sarah wanted everyone to know that she’s not having fun and people are being mean to her and she doesn’t feel like finishing her first term as governor.
She can hunt wolves from the air and field-dress a moose, but she fears being a lame duck? Some brickbats over her ethics and diva turns as John McCain’s running mate, and that dewy skin turns awfully thin.

Palin's bonkers moment - damage control or crash and burn?

Well, it's either bonkers or brilliant, but I suspect the former at the moment. To resign as Governor of Alaska completely undercuts the whole argument forwarded on her behalf for the last year - that she was a competent executive office holder. Her executive experience now looks threadbare and she looks as though she is abandoning the voters of Alaska to try to be President.

It really is one of the most insane, nutty political moves I have witnessed in many years.

"Only dead fish go with the flow" she says, in explanation. Ah but when the seagulls follow the trawler....

Perhaps this will precede a high-falluting shot at the Presidency but she's shot herself in the foot. She will, of course, get huge support from the Republican base. But independents and Democrats are not going to persuaded that she has suddenly become fit for public office by resigning from it.
Even Palin's Republican colleague, Sen Lisa Murkowski has criticised the move:

I am deeply disappointed that the Governor has decided to abandon the State and her constituents before her term has concluded.

As Bruce Reed reminds us, based on past history, quitters don't win.

The Huffpo reports that her allies are saying "She is out of politics, period...she doesn't like her life".

Whatever you say about Sarah Palin, she is never boring. Just imagine what would have happened if she had become Vice-President! A Veep quitting eight months after being elected for no apparent reason other than something to do with fish. It would initiate quite a national crisis.

The Palin resignation speech is worth watching below. It is positively stomach-churning.

The Palintology industry just keeps on giving...

There's an excellent and extensive article about the Alaskan wonder in Vanity Fair. In fact, it is so extensive that I am having to pencil off time in my diary to finish reading it.

In other Palin news, she now says she would beat Obama. She said she would have more "endurance" than Obama. ?????????? But, tellingly, she used her favourite and tiresome word "Betcha" when she said it, so I think we can be safe in filing it under "Bovine Scatology". I suspect a new Tina Fey impersonation script is being written as we speak....

Gaw blimey....couldn't she just have gone away and clobbered Moose for a few years?...

Sarah Palin goes ballistic over David Letterman's jokes

On US TV, David Letterman made some jokes about Sarah Palin and one of her daughters. Sarah Palin and her husband went ballistic but seemed to think that Letterman was referring to her 14 year old daughter, whereas in fact he says he was referring to her 18 year old daughter. So here is David Letterman's reply on his show. It is worth watching. This demonstrates very well why Letterman has been at the top of his profession for thirty years.

Pass the sickbag, Alice

Oh dear. Sarah Palin has set up a website handing the cap around for donations. Nothing wrong with that. But it's the name of enterprise which gets me. SarahPAC. Oh dear. (PAC means Political Action Committee by the way).

And she's lining up a book deal which has been estimated as being worth anywhere between $7 and 11 million.

No chance of the cult of personality sweeping away rational debate, here, is there?

Ego. Ego. Ego.

What will be interesting will be to compare the quality of Palin's prose with that of Barack Obama. I have just read a passage in "Dreams from my father" which is simply one of the most beautiful passages of prose I have ever read. It is where he describes a run-down African American estate in Chicago at the time he was a community organiser.

It will be interesting to see how Palin's prose (if she actually writes the thing, that is) measures up to Obama's.

I can hardly wait.....not.

Sarah Palin attacks bloggers in new video

Other nuggets include: The Katie Couric interview wasn't her fault, of course. It was her media handlers' fault. It was the editing that ruined the interview, also.

And after having several months to think about it, she has finally come up with the names of two newspapers she reads: USA Today and the New York Times.

She was exploited by Katie Couric, Tina Fey and others.

And the scrutiny of her candidacy was a "class issue" apparently. She hints that she reckons that Caroline Kennedy won't get the same bashing, presumably because Kennedy is "high class". Perhaps Palin should actually read the interview with Kennedy in the New York Times, which she allegedly reads. They mercilessly printed the transcript including Kennedy's repeating of the words "ya' know" 142 times.

Sarah Palin Sarah Palin Sarah Palin Sarah Palin Sarah Palin

Google's Top Ten of fastest rising search terms during 2008 has "Sarah Palin" at the top of it.

Don't I know it. My natural curiosity would have, of itself, fueled most of my many posts on Madam Palin during the autumn. But the fact that if I put "Sarah Palin" in a title it caused my humble little hitcounter to go ballistic may have, I freely admit, egged me on a bit.

At the turn of the year, I'll be posting the top ten viewed posts on Liberal Burblings. The way things are going, the most popular post is likely to be a surprise. Nothing whatsoever to do with politics. It's one of two posts (on the same non-political subject) which have given me endless self-gratuitous hitcounter-viewing pleasure throughout the year. I'll keep you in suspenders until early January.

But I can give you a sneaky peeky into the top ten by saying that a Sarah Palin post will be near the top. One of my Sarah Palin posts went completely ballistic and I had over a thousand hits on one day for it. Small beer in the scheme things, admittedly, but for this humble burbling blogger, it was quite exciting - especially as the overwhelming majority of the hits were coming from the Good ol' USA.

Treble baked Alaskas all round!

It turns out that Ted Stevens is probably not going to be re-elected to the US Senate.

He's a convicted felon, but Alaskans, such as they are, voted for him in sufficient numbers on November 4th to require careful counting of absentee ballots, questionable ballots etc.

However, the counting is looking good for his opponent, the Democrat, who is Mayor of Anchorage - Mark Begich.

Why is this piece of arcane Alaskanalia important?

Well, in the scheme of things it probably isn't, but it beats worrying about the UK recession or "GRIDLOCK!!!!" in Newbury.

But, there is a scintilla of importance to the Stevens news.

It means that the annoying person who is Sarah Palin won't be catapulted to the US national stage via the Senate (if Stevens were to be elected, the Senate would kick him out, there would be a special (by) election and Palin would win it.). As she is, as Governor of Alaska she is about eight hours behind the news cycle and doesn't get a look in.

Indeed, just to put the knife in further, Palin was on Larry King yesterday (below) and seemed to take a Stevens' victory as a fait accompli. More fool her. (Mind you, looking at her on LK, I did wonder whether perhaps my "no never" answer to the LibDem Voice election night question "Sarah Palin - would you?" was perhaps somewhat hasty. When I was fully in control of my loins..........)

Palin's swanky clothes - the lid comes off

Standby for some entertainment. I love this woman.

In their special election edition, Newsweek reports that Gov. Sarah Palin's "shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain's top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy." "One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family -- clothes and accessories from top stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. According to two knowledgeable sources, a vast majority of the clothes were bought by a wealthy donor, who was shocked when he got the bill.""Palin also used low-level staffers to buy some of the clothes on their credit cards. The McCain campaign found out last week when the aides sought reimbursement. One aide estimated that she spent 'tens of thousands' more than the reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for her husband. Some articles of clothing have apparently been lost. An angry aide ... said the truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its books."

Hat-tip: Political Wire

OH NO!!! It could be Senator Palin!

Oh dear. Oh dear. It's not all sunshine this morning. Ted Stevens is leading by just under 5,000 votes in the Alaskan Senate race, with 96% of the votes counted.

If Stevens is elected he will almost certainly be ejected from the Senate in January because of his ethics conviction.

This means there will have to be a special election. That will almost certainly be Begich (Democrat) versus Sarah Palin (Republican). (No wonder she didn't want to say who she voted for).

Palin would probably win.

So it would be Senator Palin for four years with a nice run-up for her to the 2012 Republican nomination battle.

Oh well. At least she's been vetted now - i.e. by the national election process.

Were the pranksters pranked?

I have listened very carefully to this prank call (below).

I am convinced that it is the pranksters themselves who were pranked. It is obviously not Sarah Palin on the line. The voice is far too girlish - there's too many little giggles and "aw shucks" remarks. In particular the "We love you" is far too over the top.

I am convinced that it is Tina Fey impersonating Sarah Palin on the recording. The "maybe in eight years" remark is just like Tina Fey.

And obviously, the real Sarah Palin would have smelt a rat with the "Sarkozy" reference to hunting by helicoper, rather than saying: "We should go hunting together". And obviously Sarah Palin would have realised that "Sarkozy's" reference to "my Special American adviser Janny 'Alliday" indicated a phoney.

Americans! I beg you! Please spare the world from this TOTAL DINGBAT!

This is just utterly and completely pathetic. Just when I thought nothing more could come out about Sarah Palin which would further insult the intelligence of the American people.....

In a conservative radio interview that aired in Washington, D.C. Friday morning, Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin said she fears her First Amendment rights may be threatened by "attacks" from reporters who suggest she is engaging in a negative campaign against Barack Obama.
Palin told WMAL-AM that her criticism of Obama's associations, like those with 1960s radical Bill Ayers and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, should not be considered negative attacks. Rather, for reporters or columnists to suggest that it is going negative may constitute an attack that threatens a candidate's free speech rights under the Constitution, Palin said.
"If [the media] convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations," Palin told host Chris Plante, "then I don't know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the mainstream media."

The audio of the interview segment is here on Tinyrevolution.com under the title "So stupid it hurts".

The First Amendment says:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

kos says:

Oh Sarah, don't you know the First Amendment merely limits the ability of Congress to make laws abridging freedom of speech? Of course not! She doesn't even know what a vice-president's job is!

Glen Greenwald on the Salon, destroys Palin's statement very powerfully:

The First Amendment is actually not that complicated. It can be read from start to finish in about 10 seconds. It bars the Government from abridging free speech rights. It doesn't have anything to do with whether you're free to say things without being criticized, or whether you can comment on blogs without being edited, or whether people can bar you from their private planes because they don't like what you've said.
If anything, Palin has this exactly backwards, since one thing that the First Amendment does actually guarantee is a free press. Thus, when the press criticizes a political candidate and a Governor such as Palin, that is a classic example of First Amendment rights being exercised, not abridged.
This isn't only about profound ignorance regarding our basic liberties, though it is obviously that. Palin here is also giving voice to the standard right-wing grievance instinct: that it's inherently unfair when they're criticized. And now, apparently, it's even unconstitutional.
According to Palin, what the Founders intended with the First Amendment was that political candidates for the most powerful offices in the country and Governors of states would be free to say whatever they want without being criticized in the newspapers. In the Palin worldview, the First Amendment was meant to ensure that powerful political officials such as herself would not be "attacked" in the papers. Is it even possible to imagine more breathtaking ignorance from someone holding high office and running for even higher office?

Could Sarah Palin follow in Ronald Reagan's footsteps?

The video clip below is fascinating. It is Sarah Palin in 1988 when she was 24 years old and starting as a sportscaster on a local television channel called KTUU-TV in Anchorage, Alaska. It includes news of "Dillingham's Beaver round-up". Don't laugh. Another sportscaster went on to become US President. His name was Ronald Reagan. Geoffrey Nunberg discusses accents here, and includes a reference to how Palin's accent has changed since she read the sports news.

Below that is a video of Palin (or Heath as she then was) in 1984 and the swimsuit section of a beauty pageant.

Sarah Palin still doesn't know what the Vice-President does

Oh dear. Sarah Palin still doesn't have a clue what's in the US Constitution about the role of the Vice-President. It's enough to make a grown man weep:

Yesterday, Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) sat for an interview with KUSA, an NBC affiliate in Colorado. In response to a question sent to the network by a third grader at a local elementary school about what the Vice President does, Palin erroneously argued that the Vice President is “in charge of the United States Senate“:

Q: Brandon Garcia wants to know, “What does the Vice President do?”

PALIN: That’s something that Piper would ask me! … [T]hey’re in charge of the U.S. Senate so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom.

Indeed, while Palin suggests that questions about what the Vice President does is something only her daughter Piper would ask, Palin herself asked this very question on national television in July. Apparently, she still hasn’t learned the correct answer.

Article I of the Constitution establishes an exceptionally limited role for the Vice President — giving the office holder a vote only when the Senate is “equally divided”:

The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided.

Moreover, the U.S. Senate website explains that the modern role of Vice Presidents has been to preside over the Senate “only on ceremonial occasions.” ThinkProgress contacted Senior Assistant Paliamentarian Peter Robinson, who also disputed Palin’s characterization of the Vice President’s role:

In modern practice the Vice President doesn’t really control the Senate. … If anyone has a responsibility to try to govern the Senate, it’s the responsibility of the two leaders.

Hockey mom booed at Hockey game

Oh dear, a bit of a puck-up.

When Sarah Palin dropped the ceremonial first puck at the Flyers’ opener on Saturday night at the Wachovia Center, she was greeted by resounding (almost deafening) boos. Ed Snider, owner of the Flyers, had her introduced to the crowd more as a hockey mom than as the Republican candidate for vice president. She was flanked by Scott Gomez, the Rangers center, and Mike Richards, the Flyers center.
While Philadelphia fans are known for not being shy about voicing disapproval,
the question has been raised — including by me in an earlier version of this post — whether the appearance was appropriate at a sports event like this. (writes Lynn Zinser of the New York Times.)

The Wilmington News Journal says:

...it seemed like there was an avalanche of boos when she walked out -- boos that were almost immediately drowned out by blaring, bombastic music.There is no doubt in my mind that that the music was ordered up to help tamp down what could have been an even more embarrassing moment.The weirdest part of it was that Palin, who had to know she was going to be booed, walked out with her cutie pie 7-year-old daughter, Piper.Why do I have a feeling that poor Piper will be discussing being booed by thousands with a therapist in about 10 years?

Troopergate Day ends - report published

As I write, Troopergate Day is just coming to an end in Alaska (they're nine hours behind us).

So I am just in the nick of time to say that Troopergate Day was aptly named, distinguished as it was by the publication of this legislative investigator's report which says (see snapshot below):

Finding Number One

For the reasons explained in section IV of this report, I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaskan Executive Branch Ethics Act. Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) provides:

"The legislature reaffirms that each public officer holds office as a public trust, and that any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust."

AP summarises:

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- A legislative committee investigating Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has found she unlawfully abused her authority in firing the state's public safety commissioner. The investigative report concludes that a family grudge wasn't the sole reason for firing Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan but says it likely was a contributing factor.