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Sarah Palin's Political Instincts
A few days ago David Letterman told a crass joke about Bristol Palin. It was, as Paul Farhi points out, similar to a million other crude jokes told about the Palin family over the past year. But this time Sarah Palin went ballistic and last night Letterman apologized. James Joyner comments:
A week ago, I wrote a post titled Letterman Palin Jokes Cross the Line, both excoriating Letterman for his remarks but defending him from the ridiculous charge that he was some sort of pervert who liked to joke about 14-year-olds. Since then, Letterman first explained his remarks and subsequently apologized for them profusely. And rightly so.
But I have a hard time believing Palin was legitimately confused days later about the target of the joke and, in light of the previous jokes told about Bristol’s out-of-wedlock pregnancy, particularly outraged at this one. Instead, she took advantage of the initial media brouhaha over the Willow/Bristol confusion and made a big spectacle, hoping to both remove the Bristol mess out of the realm of legitimate ridicule and reframe herself as an aggrieved party rather than a rather cartoonish figure.
Letterman may have gone over the line, but that plainly wasn't what bothered Palin. She was just looking for some free publicity, and getting her supporters worked up over a supposed insult from a dissolute member of the East Coast liberal elite played directly into her standard class resentment schtick. It shows impressive political instincts, in a way. It's a good thing she's not as ruthless, smart, or tireless as Richard Nixon or we might all be in real trouble.
In related news, check out the Sarah Palin shrine at the New York Stock Exchange.
No, I'm sorry
Even the evil Sarah Palin is allowed to object loudly and repeatedly when some old male creep with a national TV platform makes crude sexual jokes about her daughter, no matter which one he thought he was referring to.
I hadn't heard about the earlier, similar ones by O'Brien and Leno et al, but the media, not Palin, initially publicized the Letterman "jokes."
You guys need to wake the heck up and evolve a little bit. This stuff is just over the line, and I don't give a damn whose daughter is being lewdly trashed. Palin was absolutely 100 percent right to raise a stink about it. Maybe if more women public figures who are ridiculed and demeaned sexually this way would do the same, it might stop some day.
Political instincts? I'd
Political instincts? I'd say Hillary did a much better job on this front. Palin is a weak echo and I believe is only trying to salvage a little self pride for her retirement.
I would say that we've probably reached a local minima in female imagery in the media over the last year and a half (at least in politics and popular music). It's probably time for a little backlash, hopefully a little more substantial and a little less politically motivated.
it doesn't hurt until it's
it doesn't hurt until it's white people, right?
http://www.motherjones.com/riff/2009/06/letterman-palin-rape-africa
faked up pomposity from a vicious shark
Well I don't think his joke was over the line in the first place.
What was over the line was his apology. He shouldn't have done it at all.
The second apology was appalling and it only led to giving encouragement and a false sense of justification and fake victimization to her,
let's put it nicely,
her ugly cunt supporters.
They smell blood in the water, vaginal blood apparently, and they're not going to shut up about it.
They'll be carrying on about this six years from now.
Letterman should never have backed down.
Hypocrites
The ultra conservative fundamentalists who flock to Palin will tell you all day long that if a man and woman have sex outside of marriage God will condemn them to hell for all eternity. But then when a woman gets pregenant without being married, they will embrace the woman, man and baby whole heartedly, and defend their actions to the death, acting outraged and angry by all who dare not embrace them, and proclaiming from on high the baby is a blessing and gift from God, if, and only if, the woman gives birth to the baby (rather than an abortion) and marries the baby's father.
That's nuttier than squirrel poo, but that's how they think.
Oh, come on, Palins...
The Palins parade their kids around for the media when it suits their agenda, so I find this recent outrage a little phony. Letterman aside, the truth is that Bristol's crisis pregnancy should have been a huge red flag to the Palins as parents that their focus on politics and celebrity was distracting them from their daughter's needs and activities. Instead, they accelerated their efforts to advance Sarah's political ambitions. It's a parenting issue, not a sexist issue.
You're in Trouble
"It's a good thing she's not as ruthless, smart, or tireless as Richard Nixon or we might all be in real trouble."
You're in for a rude awakening in 2012. Sarah Palin is the real deal. The way she cleaned clock on Lauer Friday is just the beginning.
You are watching the evolution of a candidate. Timeline her from mayor of Wasilla and you will notice that she is a giant who becomes even bigger with each experience, whether it's bad or good. She is an outside the box thinker, who swats detractors and now has an army helping her.
When Palin was announced as VP, she was a big deal. She's even bigger now. She will be a behemoth by 2012.
If you want to live in a dreamworld and think she's the Caribou Barbie character that the mainstream media wants you to believe or that she's Tina Fey's character, you will be shocked when she makes a big splash in 2012. If you want to look into who she really is by doing your own independent research, you'll be much better prepared for the day when she puts her hand on that bible and says "I Sarah Palin do solemnly swear..."
I know this may cause liberals to break out in a cold sweat and experience high stress and massive fear. But nothing can be more scarier than what we have now in the White House.
well played, sir
One of the things I love about reading the comments here is that you never know who'll show up to weigh in on something. Today it's one of the more hilarious writers at The Onion. Tomorrow, who knows? Maybe Gov. Outside-the-Box, herself.
Once upon a time
OK, now calm down and tell daddy what scares you the more about the swarthy fellow in the big house.
I promise you the fairy queen will make it all go away.
False outrage
The latest dustup is reminiscent of the faux outrage over then-candidate Obama's lipstick on a pig remark. Ms. Palin and the media have focused on this non-issue and our attention has been diverted from the racism, hatred, and sedition, being espoused by the Limbaugh Party. If the Palins were so concerned about their children they would have taught them about birth control, wouldn't have trotted them out for the media when it was policically expedient, and would have kept them in school. I think our country would be much better off if Ms. Palin went back to monitoring the Russians from her back porch.
Geeze Louise
Wow.
During my life a couple of things have completely surprised and shocked me, and they have shown me that I can never really predict what might happen.
One such event was the fall of the Berlin Wall. The wall was in place when I was born and I assumed that it would be there for a long time. I was naive and did not know enough history to know that walls come and go.
And now I get another surprise. I never, ever thought that a candidate to be the VP of the United States of America would be wrassling with a comedian down in the mud.
It took forever to find the original remark that sparked this outroar but I think I found it. Basically Letterman said Bristol Palin was promiscuous by saying she might get knocked up by a Yankee baseball player while watching the game. That's not funny, it is more of a shocking thing to say, but some comedians do 'shock' as well as humor. It is kinda on the same level as eight year olds saying 'poop,' which at that age is about the funniest thing they can ever hear.
Palin pretended the joke was about her 14 year old so she could huff louder and create a bigger outrage.
Then out comes the ancient accusation that Letterman is a perv because he is a man and he is old and he took note of the fact that Bristol had sex.
To think that US politics has gotten this low is shocking to me. I really thought people were past this kind of thing. I really thought we were more grown up than this.
Tripp
Matt Lauer?
"Sarah Palin is the real deal. The way she cleaned clock on Lauer Friday is just the beginning."
I'm no expert, but is this really that difficult?
Palin
Palin is the bottom of the barrel. God help us all if she becomes more than the punchline of a bad joke. Her supporters show us that evolution can work both ways.
Wrong.
"...when she puts her hand on that bible and says "I Sarah Palin do solemnly swear..."
I know this may cause liberals to break out in a cold sweat and experience high stress and massive fear."
Nope, mostly just laughter.
We are tolerant of our own.
We are tolerant of our own. A little trash talk about the Obama girls and libs would sing a different tune.
you are wrong
tagged as:- solution
you are wrong
Palin is a joke
tagged as:- solution
Palin is a joke
Cuz we all know how
Cuz we all know how seriously the Right takes any attempt to diminish the seriousness of child rape:
From the January 15 2007 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:
O'REILLY: "Impact" segment tonight, the disturbing case of the two kidnapped boys in Missouri. As you know, police found 15-year-old Shawn Hornbeck in an apartment of 41-year-old Michael Devlin last week, along with 13-year-old Ben Ownby. Both boys allegedly had been kidnapped by Devlin, who ran a pizza place in the town of Kirkwood. Shawn had been missing for four years.
And the question is, why didn't he escape when he could have? There are all kinds of theories about that. Joining us now from Washington, Greta Van Susteren, who has been out to Missouri reporting on the case.
All right, you know, the Stockholm syndrome thing, I don't buy it. I've never bought it. I didn't think it happened in the Patty Hearst case. I don't think it happened here.
[...]
O'REILLY: I'm not buying this. If you're 11 years old or 12 years old, 13, and you have a strong bond with your family, OK, even if the guy threatens you, this and that, you're riding your bike around, you got friends. The kid didn't go to school. There's all kinds of stuff. If you can get away, you get away. All right? If you're 11.
[...]
O'REILLY: This is what I believe happened in the Hearst case and in this case. The situation that Hearst found herself in was exciting. She had a boring life. She was a child of privilege. All of a sudden, she's in with a bunch of charismatic thugs, and she enjoyed it. The situation here for this kid looks to me to be a lot more fun than what he had under his old parents. He didn't have to go to school. He could run around and do whatever he wanted.
VAN SUSTEREN: Some kids like school.
O'REILLY: What?
VAN SUSTEREN: Some kids like school.
O'REILLY: Well, I don't believe this kid did. And I think when it all comes down, what's going to happen is, there was an element here that this kid liked about his circumstances.
[...]
VAN SUSTEREN: So you're playing that same sort of thinking to this 11-year-old to 15-year-old. You're thinking logically. You think to yourself, "Why didn't he leave?" That's what most people think. Frankly, I had that thought as well.
But I think you've got to remember that this is a child. He doesn't -- you know, for whatever reason, he may have, you know, wanted to be with his kidnapper. Maybe his kidnapper turned out to be, quote, "a nice guy" or whatever. But this is a kid, Bill. And I think we've got to wait till we get all the facts.
O'REILLY: All right.
VAN SUSTEREN: It may turn out -- you may turn out to be right. I don't know.
O'REILLY: I usually do. I usually -- that usually is what happens.
VAN SUSTEREN: Especially when you're the jury.
O'REILLY: If I'm wrong, Greta, I'll -- you know, we'll play this tape and you'll get your points.
VAN SUSTEREN: At this point, I simply don't know. But I'll wait for the facts.
O'REILLY: All right. Greta will have more, On the Record, 10 Eastern. Thanks, Greta, as always.
I mean, look what happened to O'Reilly after THAT.
Palin and Letterman
I see the Palin Derangement Syndrome Support Group has gathered.
I guess good old Kevin Drum doesn't bother to keep up with the news. Palin didn't cause this flap, she didn't even know letterboy had said anything, until someone asked her about it.
Palin didn't need letterboy for publicity. On June 6th, she drew over 20,000 people to an event in Auburn NY, on June 7th, she received a rousing welcome from 12,000 participants at the Autism Walk, and on June 9th, she brokered a deal between ExxonMobil and TransCanada to start work on the biggest privately funded infrastructure project in American history.
It's only the Palin Derangement Syndrome crowd, here and on every other liberal site, that foams at the mouth over anything and everything related to Sarah Palin, that has a real mental problem.
Palin 2012 ?! Let's hope
Palin 2012 ?!
Let's hope this is the end of the David Letterman - Sarah Palin feud. While last week Letterman apologized, it was in a snarky sort of way, and wasn't accepted by Palin...
Exclusive Video here:david letterman sarah palin joke
Palin/Letterman
I will not take sides on this issue...I will however like to ask, is this type of "HUMOR" the thing we need. I am pretty sure that freedom of speech was not intended to protect people who get some sort of fun at hurting others. We can always justify anything...but when and where do we draw the line.
I teach in a public school. Have you listened to the words that come out of our childrens mouths. Did they learn it at home, off the airways, off the computer, from other kids....it doesn't matter. They did learn it from someone or something. It may not offend you to listen to vulger language. While I am not an angel, when and where will this type of behavior go from here? If I would use the words that come out of the mouths of our children in class I would be out of a job. The only difference is I can't use the excuse.....It was a joke. I was trying to be funny. I am sure some of the people writing in would laugh it off if I did it in front of their kids! Would it be different if my political agenda was the same as yours? Right is right and wrong is wrong!
To have a writer, newpaper, or network say that because someone is in the publics eye they are fair game is at best an attempt to join the ranks the National Enquiror. We really have come a long way as a society!
"Free Publicity"? You are a
"Free Publicity"?
You are a Idiot
Hatred of Palin
DAVID LETTERMAN'S HATE, ETC. !
David Letterman's hate is as old as some ancient Hebrew prophets.
Speaking of anti-Semitism, it's Jerry Falwell and other fundy leaders who've gleefully predicted that in the future EVERY nation will be against Israel (an international first?) and that TWO-THIRDS of all Jews will be killed, right?
Wrong! It's the ancient Hebrew prophet Zechariah who predicted all this in the 13th and 14th chapters of his book! The last prophet, Malachi, explains the reason for this future Holocaust that'll outdo even Hitler's by stating that "Judah hath dealt treacherously" and "the Lord will cut off the man that doeth this" and asks "Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother?"
Haven't evangelicals generally been the best friends of Israel and persons perceived to be Jewish? Then please explain the recent filthy, hate-filled, back-stabbing tirades by David Letterman (and Sandra Bernhard and Kathy Griffin) against a leading evangelical named Sarah Palin, and explain why most Jewish leaders have seemingly condoned Palin's continuing "crucifixion"!
While David, Sandra, and Kathy are tragically turning comedy into tragedy, they are also helping to speed up and fulfill the Final Holocaust a la Zechariah and Malachi, thus helping to make the Bible even more believable!
(For even more stunning information, visit MSN and type in "Separation of Raunch and State" and "Bible Verses Obama Avoids.")
It could be worse than Palin - at least she has potential
I think Sarah Palin just needs more experience and has to do more "homework". So she might be a far better politician. But at her current state she really would have been a bad vice president.