The odds seem to favor one of two former governors — Mitt Romney or Sarah Palin — being the next Republican nominee for president, according to the Irish bookmaking agency Paddy Power.
But either would lose to President Obama, the odds-on favorite at 8-1 to win a second term in the White House, according to the betting so far at Paddy Power, which has, at various times, been spot-on and awful as a predictor of American presidential elections. ...
When Bristol Palin premieres on "Dancing With the Stars" next Monday, she'll be fighting the odds, costume criticism and rumors of troubled practice sessions.
Sports bookies (really? really!) have put Bristol above "Brady Bunch" mom Florence Henderson, who's picked to finish last. But that's not saying much. The teen mom, who was thrust into the spotlight two years ago when her own mom (you know, Sarah Palin) became John McCain's running mate, is predicted to finish 11th out of the 12 celebrity contestants by two different bookmakers. Her odds of winning: 20-1. ("Dirty Dancing" star Jennifer Grey is the early fave.)
"My favorite low-brow bromide is that Sarah Palin "terrifies the Left." The truth is she (and her ilk) terrify all sensible, thoughtful people on the Left and on the Right, let alone every civilized nation on Earth. That a personality less qualified, less able, less educated should ascend so rapidly (and clearly with the help of an opportunistic media on both sides of the ideological divide) speaks to the depths this nation has sunk in terms of selecting viable, wise leadership. [...] Terrified? You betcha."
Today, on the ninth anniversary of 9/11, Weber has posted "Historiphobia," which describes some of our own history and how a public ignorant of its own past may be easily exploited: Remember attacks on German Americans during World War 1? How about more of the same in World War 2? The Japanese internment camps? The perennial demonization of Jews? Gays? Catholics? Not to mention those who toiled and died in slavery and lived lives of humiliation under Jim Crow.
It's all there in the history that seems to have been almost purposely mislaid by those who know too well that a public which knows its own story knows itself; it is an activist public, educated and energized against forces which inevitably seek power through oppression and division.
Like a recalcitrant child who refuses to see the lesson of its past imperfect behavior, the mobs who lately decry Islam and discharge their fatuous bile are only the latest in a long line of porous intellects railing against convenient scapegoats and destined to replay an episode that, were history a requisite part of this nation's diet (instead of just another quaint castoff from the pre-IPhone era), would surely have evolved out of existence. ...
In "Muslims and Islam Were Part of Twin Towers' Life," we're told that there was a Muslim prayer room in the southern tower of the World Trade Center: ... On any given day, Mr. Abdus-Salaam’s companions in the prayer room might include financial analysts, carpenters, receptionists, secretaries and ironworkers. There were American natives, immigrants who had earned citizenship, visitors conducting international business — the whole Muslim spectrum of nationality and race. ...
"We are not at war against Islam. We are at war against terrorist organizations that have distorted Islam or falsely used the banner of Islam to engage in their destructive acts. And we've got to be clear about that. We've got to be clear about that because ... if we're going to successfully reduce the terrorist threat, then we need all the allies we can get. The folks who are most interested in a war between the United States or the West and Islam are al Qaeda. That's what they've been banking on.
"And fortunately, the overwhelming majority of Muslims around the world are peace-loving, are interested in the same things that you and I are interested in: how do I make sure I can get a good job, how can I make sure that my kids get a decent education, how can I make sure I'm safe, how can I improve my lot in life. And so they have rejected this violent ideology for the most part, overwhelmingly.
"And so from a national security interest, we want to be clear about who the enemy is here. It's a handful, a tiny minority of people who are engaging in horrific acts -- and have killed Muslims more than anybody else.
"The other reason it's important for us to remember that is because we've got millions of Muslim-Americans, our fellow citizens, in this country. They're going to school with our kids. They're our neighbors. They're our friends. They're our coworkers. And, you know, when we start acting as if their religion is somehow offensive, what are we saying to them?
"I've got Muslims who are fighting in Afghanistan, in the uniform of the United States armed services. They're out there putting their lives on the line for us, and we've got to make sure that we are crystal clear for our sakes and their sakes: They are Americans. And we honor their service. And part of honoring their service is making sure that they understand that we don't differentiate between 'them' and 'us.' It's just 'us.'"
Update: Alaska Dispatch has a report (with slideshow) of today's event at Wasilla's Menard Sports Center. Sarah Pallin and about 300 people attended.
The video originally appeared in Shannyn Moore's article at The Huffington Post. It has also appeared in stories at New York magazine, mediaite, and Media Matters. The video is interesting, because it provides a glimpse of Sarah Palin in a rare, unscripted moment.
A lot is at stake here. Some insist that the girl with Palin is Willow, rather than Bristol, and there is a golden opportunity for people to project their own feelings onto Palin as they speculate about her state of mind and body language while the camera is running. Mediaite may have the most informative story, which ends with "Watch [the video]. Or you can probably just wait until the cablers track down [Kathleen] Gustafson and she pops up on a slew of shows in the next few days."
It would be interesting to see an interview, although Gustafson said something like, "I'm a stills person, rather than video person," when Palin asked her to turn toward the camera. She might have more insight into whether Palin rolled her eyes when she told her she was a teacher. Whether the girl is Willow or Bristol matters to some heavily invested in a rumor that Bristol is pregnant. The girl in the video does not appear to be pregnant.
Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin's carefully crafted image as a regular hockey mom has taken a few hits since her unsuccessful vice presidential bid. Starting with her bizarre decision to quit the governorship in the middle of her term, which New York's Gabriel Sherman later compellingly argued was a move to freely cash in on her celebrity, there's also been the ruckus caused by her massive speaking fees at events such as the Tea Party convention in Nashville and at nonprofit institutions such as universities. ...
... But all those who wonder whether revelations of her personal prima donna qualities will damage her image are proceeding from an assumption that she does, in fact, disguise her self-centered side well in managed environments. I've long disagreed with that assessment, because her famous Facebook postings often have the tone of a nasty, snotty, slightly dense but popular high-school girl. ...
... Well, Palin's dark side came out in full effect this weekend, and this time the victim was not President Obama but a schoolteacher in small-town Alaska. ...
Update:Sarah Palin has weighed-in, inveighing against — what else? — wait for it! — lamestream media. She does, however, have a little snark to offer:
The LSM has now decided to use this brief encounter for another one of their spin operations. They claim I – wait for it – “appear to roll my eyes” when the lady tells me she’s a teacher. Yes, it’s come to this: the media is now trying to turn my eyebrow movements into story lines. (Maybe that’s why Botox is all the rage – if you can’t move your eyebrows, your “eye rolling” can’t be misinterpreted!)
In writing and in speech, Sarah Palin has a problem with citations. She cites others' work, out of context, to support whatever she's chosen to write or talk about.
In a September 8, 2009 Facebook note, Sarah Palin posted her written testimony for the New York State Senate Aging Committee. In her testimony, she defends using the "death panel" phrase and insists "its accuracy has been vindicated." To support this false claim, Palin cites a piece written by the Washington Post's Eugene Robinson. She doesn't mention that Robinson's very next sentence calls her "death panel" claim outlandish and false. ...
Citing a column by Pat Buchanan that clearly argues against conflict with Iran, Sarah Palin on Sunday suggested that a war with Iran would be good policy and a boon for President Obama's 2012 reelection hopes. ...
...Palin's post[on climate change] is a prime example of such an attempted diversion. She writes, "The IPCC’s supposedly definitive report proving the theory is riddled with serious errors," while bulldozing over the fact that those errors don't speak at all to the core of climate science. In reality it's a perverse sort of ad hominem attack on the IPCC and the 620 scientists who authored the 4th assessment report. The argument goes: they've made these errors, therefore everything they've said must be an error. But, in reality, none of these mistakes undercuts at all the scientific consensus that greenhouse gases have raised and will continue to raise global temperatures, a belief held by nearly all climate scientists.
She then tries to back herself up by suggesting that the former head of the IPCC, Greenpeace UK, and the Natural Environment Research Council are in her corner. They clearly are not. They have attacked the IPCC because they believe, rightfully so, that these petty errors can be used by opportunists to distract from the central and unwavering truths of climate science. Alan Thorpe says as much in the article to which Palin links:
We open ourselves up to trouble if we start getting into hearsay and grey literature. We have enough research that has been peer-reviewed to provide evidence for climate change, so it is concerning that the IPCC has strayed from that. ...
There you have it. Sarah's out. Time to retire the side?
An Irish bookmaker, Paddy Power, gives 8-1 odds that President Obama will beat either Sarah Palin or Mitt Romney in 2012:
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