Palin in Progress

Palin' in Progress might be a better title for this TIME cover story about Sarah Palin. It was written with the help of Rebecca Mansour, Sarah Palin's "speechwriter."

Apparently, however, Mansour isn't entirely happy with the article. About 7:00 AM PST, she tweeted, "Every other line in this TIME piece gibberish. Obama "hiring his way out of a recession." No, Palin accused him of "spending" his way out."

But GOP12 posted what it may consider to be points Palin scored with the article:

1. Palin thinks Obama is vulnerable, and she implies that she is the one to take him on. "In battleground states, he's polling at 40% or below," she notes.

2. "The country is rejecting his agenda ... My vision of America is diametrically opposed to his. He sees America as the problem. I see America as the solution."

3. Asked what she makes of Obama's presidency thus far, Palin quipped, "Two words: Jimmy Carter."

4. Asked who can beat him, she needed seven more: "Someone who can draw a sharp contrast."

The weakness of these "points" is illustrated by my ability to easily rebut them:

1. What can I say? Palin has more reason to be embarrassed by her poll numbers. For a while, after the Republicans' 1994 takeover of the House, it was thought that Bill Clinton couldn't be reelected. He was and presided over four years of prosperity and low unemployment. When he left office in 2001, he left a budget surplus to Republicans, who quickly squandered it and racked up unprecedented debt. "Sarah Palin Is 'Virtually Unelectable' " puts Palin's attempt to crow about polls into perspective.

2. Her assertion that President Obama sees America as the problem while she sees it as the solution is just another attempt to gin up some controversy. Palin's "argument" about American exceptionalism originated in a remark Obama made when responding to a reporter's question at a news conference:

Q Thank you, Mr. President. In the context of all the multilateral activity that's been going on this week -- the G20, here at NATO -- and your evident enthusiasm for multilateral frameworks, to work through multilateral frameworks, could I ask you whether you subscribe, as many of your predecessors have, to the school of American exceptionalism that sees America as uniquely qualified to lead the world, or do you have a slightly different philosophy? And if so, would you be able to elaborate on it?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism. I'm enormously proud of my country and its role and history in the world. If you think about the site of this summit and what it means, I don't think America should be embarrassed to see evidence of the sacrifices of our troops, the enormous amount of resources that were put into Europe postwar, and our leadership in crafting an Alliance that ultimately led to the unification of Europe. We should take great pride in that.

And if you think of our current situation, the United States remains the largest economy in the world. We have unmatched military capability. And I think that we have a core set of values that are enshrined in our Constitution, in our body of law, in our democratic practices, in our belief in free speech and equality, that, though imperfect, are exceptional.

Now, the fact that I am very proud of my country and I think that we've got a whole lot to offer the world does not lessen my interest in recognizing the value and wonderful qualities of other countries, or recognizing that we're not always going to be right, or that other people may have good ideas, or that in order for us to work collectively, all parties have to compromise and that includes us.

And so I see no contradiction between believing that America has a continued extraordinary role in leading the world towards peace and prosperity and recognizing that that leadership is incumbent, depends on, our ability to create partnerships because we create partnerships because we can't solve these problems alone.

It's clear that Palin, who relies on a poorly informed speechwriter for her opinions, takes The President's remarks out of context to support her contention that Obama doesn't believe that America is exceptional. The deemphasized portion of the President's remarks, above, is the portion used by Palin to support her claim.

Snowbilly's post, "Strike three! You're out, Sarah Palin!," counts three other ways Sarah Palin or her ghostwriter (speechwriter?) take things out of context in a farcical attempt to buttress her opinion by citing writings that do not support her view. But, of course, Sarah Palin doesn't play by the rules -- this game doesn't have many rules -- and we aren't playing baseball; however, a little intellectual honesty isn't too much to ask.

3. In retrospect, Jimmy Carter is increasingly seen as a good president. What does Palin have to say about another one-term president, George H.W. Bush, who is respected by most Americans? He's a "blue blood."

4. Yes, there would be a stark contrast between Palin and Obama, should that race occur, and it wouldn't be favorable to Palin. Palin would pale in comparison (and contrast). That contrast has many people, even in the White House, relishing the idea of running against Palin.

The TIME article does, however, provide some insight into Palin's organization and staffing:

Like most retainers (she's a queen, if you didn't know), Palin's crew is not a team of rivals: it is devotedly, self-effacingly protective of its boss. Palin has hired some people virtually sight unseen, and yet the most important credential appears to be loyalty. ...

... The main gang of six — Sarah, Todd, Crawford, Mansour, Van Flein and Davis — has settled into something of a routine this year: Palin and her husband receive a daily morning briefing from Davis and Mansour via e-mail. It includes links to articles on candidates she's endorsed, what's happening inside the Beltway and around the world, and local sports news in the areas where she's traveling. The staff holds three conference calls a week —usually without Palin — but the conversation via Skype, e-mail and cell phone is continuous.

That staffing level, in terms of both quantity and quality, isn't indicative of someone seriously considering running successfully for the presidency.

CBS has a story about TIME's story.

Update: In the comments, Kerry noticed that TIME did an e-mail "interview" with Palin for this article. Her recent "interaction" with ABC News -- stating that she wouldn't run for RNC chair -- was also written. This information is certainly something to be filed away in long-term memory. Palin will undoubtedly claim that these are examples of "talking" with the media.

Update, Dec. 10: Chris Matthews is on the case.
He asks about the e-mail interview ...

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy H/T IM

Update, Dec 10: Salon has published "Time conducts cover story Sarah Palin "interview" over e-mail."

Sarah Palin admits Republicans' responsibility for the economy's problems

In an interview on Laura Ingraham's radio show this morning, Sarah Palin prattled on about a number of things. The host set the tone of the conversation when she stated at the outset that Republicans were out to "knee-cap" Palin and were "afraid" of her. Ingraham played a number of clips of Republicans laughing at Palin and telling her where to stay. Barbara Bush, former First Lady, told Larry King that Palin ought to "stay in Alaska."

At one point, Palin laid the blame for the economy's problems on the Bushs, who, she said, had played a role in "the economic policies that were in place that got us into these economic woeful times." Even if she was only speaking of the first President Bush, he continued the policies of his predecessor, Ronald Reagan. Of course, the second George Bush continued those policies, too -- on steroids. Handed a budget surplus by his predecessor, Bill Clinton, the adminstration of the second Bush racked-up trillions of dollars in debt and was responsible for the near collapse of the economy in 2008.

Palin talked a lot. At one point, she complained that Republicans criticizing her are trying to thwart the will of the people. That's akin to her fallacious belief that anyone criticizing her is restricting her First Amendment rights. She complained that the First Lady's interest in nutrition amounts to telling the people what to eat. It is as though Palin is completely unaware that one of the hallmarks of leadership is setting an example and encouraging people to do the right thing.

If Ingraham is a Palin supporter, she may well regret this interview.

Politico's Ben Smith has a partial transcript and audio, here. CBS has a story, too, with audio.

Here is the interview:



After listening to Sarah Palin, it isn't difficult to understand why Republicans have told her to "sit down and shut up," and now we have the matriarch of the clan telling her to "stay in Alaska."

Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski Tells Katie Couric: Sarah Palin lacks 'leadership qualities' and 'intelluctual curiosity'

From CBS News: Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowki told CBS News' Katie Couric today that she would not support Sarah Palin for president because Palin lacks the "leadership qualities" and "intellectual curiosity" to craft great policy.

"You know, she was my governor for two years, for just about two years there, and I don't think that she enjoyed governing," Murkowski said. "I don't think she liked to get down into the policy." The Alaska senator added that she prefers a candidate who "goes to bed at night and wakes up in the morning thinking about how we're going to deal with" important issues.



There are additional segments from the interview, at the CBS News link, above.

Senator Murkowski has gone even further than those who won't say that Palin is qualified to be President; she has flatly said that she would not support a Palin candidacy. What the Senator says about Palin's lack of interest in governing is true. If Palin were interested in anything more than the ceremonial duties of office, she would work to find solutions to the country's problems rather than continually sniping at President Obama in her quest for attention, and she would not have quit on the people of Alaska when the going got tough.

Obama in Command: The Rolling Stone Interview

By Jann S. Wenner

Sep 28, 2010 7:00 AM EDT

The following is an article from the October 15, 2010 issue of Rolling Stone.

We arrived at the southwest gate of the white house a little after one o'clock on the afternoon of September 17th. It was a warm fall day, but the capital felt quiet and half-empty, as it does on Fridays at the end of summer, with Congress still in recess. Rolling Stone had interviewed Barack Obama twice before, both times aboard his campaign plane — first in June 2008, a few days after he won the Democratic nomination, and again that October, a month before his election. This time executive editor Eric Bates and I sat down with the president in the Oval Office, flanked by busts of Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. The conversation stretched on for nearly an hour and a quarter. The president began by complimenting my multi-colored striped socks. "If I wasn't president," he laughed, "I could wear socks like that." ...

The President answered these questions, among others:

When you came into office, you felt you would be able to work with the other side. When did you realize that the Republicans had abandoned any real effort to work with you and create bipartisan policy?

How do you feel about the fact that day after day, there's this really destructive attack on whatever you propose? Does that bother you? Has it shocked you?

What do you think the Republican Party stands for today?

What do you think of the Tea Party and the people behind it?

What do you think of Fox News? Do you think it's a good institution for America and for democracy?

More questions than these were asked during the interview -- it runs to seven pages! -- and The President answered all of them thoughtfully.

Click the post's title to read Rolling Stone's entire article.