Spudnuts - WTF?

As many of you may know, Sarah Palin recently had a chat with Greta Van Susteren and critiqued President Obama's State of the Union address. Palin's appearance on Van Susteren's show was a big hit at The Washington Post. From Alexandra Petri's "WTF Moments with Palin on the 'Race to Space,' Sputnik, and Spudnut:"

Dear Sarah Palin,

Based on your comments to Greta van Susteren on Fox News last night about the State of the Union address, I think there has been a slight misunderstanding. Or, possibly, several large misunderstandings.

I liked your coinage of "WTF moments" from President Obama's phrase, "winning the future."

I also enjoyed your analysis that:

That was another one of those WTF moments, when he so often repeated this Sputnik moment that he would aspire Americans to celebrate. And he needs to remember that what happened back then with the former communist USSR and their victory in that race to space, yes, they won, but they also incurred so much debt at the time that it resulted in the inevitable collapse of the Soviet Union.

It's not that I agree with the sentiments you are expressing, but I like the way you say it. It's like a tonal poem. It sounds like the classic Beatles song "Dig a Pony," with people aspiring other people to celebrate things in a strange, contorted syntax. ...

Stephen Stromberg's "Sarah Palin's weird 'Sputnik' story" is another take.

But the prize may belong to Ann Telnaes for her animated cartoon, "Sarah Palin explains the history of Soviet Space program." It has audio, too, from Palin's chat with Van Susteren. The cartoon doesn't seem to be embeddable, so you'll have to click the link to see and hear it. It's worthwhile; perhaps Telnaes' cartoon is the future of political cartoons.

At any rate, it's apparent that Palin is getting more presidential by the day, no?

A Fox Video and a transcript of Palin's conversation with Van Susteren is here.

'Sarah Palin's Alaska' is not like Ronald Reagan's 'Death Valley Days' and 'GE Theater'

Sarah Palin likes to insinuate that she is like Ronald Reagan, and her fans like to compare her with Reagan. Well, what about the TV shows? Reagan hosted "General Electric Theater" and "Death Valley Days;" Sarah Palin is the host of "Sarah Palin's Alaska." How are these shows different?

Ronald Reagan became the host of "General Electric Theater" in 1953. The show made the already well-known Reagan, who had appeared in many films as a "second lead" throughout his career, wealthy, due to his part ownership of the show. After eight years as host, Reagan estimated he had visited 135 GE research and manufacturing facilities, and met over a quarter-million people. During that time he would also speak at other forums such as Rotary clubs and Moose lodges, presenting views on economic progress that in form and content were often similar to what he said in introductions, segues and closing comments on the show as a spokesman for GE. Reagan, who would later be known as "The Great Communicator" due to his oratorical prowess, often credited these engagements as helping him develop his public speaking abilities. [emphasis added]

Got that? Reagan did "introductions, segues and closing comments" for the show. He was the emcee, not the star of the show. He was off-camera and off-mic most of the time. The show was about the play, not about Ronald Reagan. Not only that, but Reagan credits his experience with improving his public speaking abilities. Did he say, "geez" and "flippin'" on the show, like Sarah Palin does on her show? No way! How would that have improved his public speaking abilities? Did Reagan use the program to showcase his family and lifestyle? Again, No!

And what about "Death Valley Days," which Reagan hosted from 1965 until he entered politics? He was the show's host and did much the same as he did on "General Electric Theater."

Try to see an episode of all three shows: "General Electric Theater," "Death Valley Days," and "Sarah Palin's Alaska," then explain how Sarah Palin is like Ronald Reagan.

Perhaps the reason for the ratings collapse of Palin's show is that the show should have been more about Alaska than about Sarah Palin.

Note: The second paragraph's description of Reagan's experience on "General Electric Theater" is taken from Wikipedia, here. Wikipedia's description of "Death Valley Days" can be read here. The post's photo comes from Wikipedia's entry for "General Electric Theater."

Palin Family Circus News - Friday, October 8, 2010

Delaware's Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, Christine O'Donnell, is the latest to evade a question of whether Sarah Palin is qualified to be President. The NY Daily News reports:

Sarah Palin's finding out the Tea Party is a tough crowd.

Palin's mini-me, Delaware Senate contender Christine O'Donnell, ducked a question over whether Palin is qualified to be President, joining fellow Tea Party Senate hopeful Joe Miller in declining to comment.

Palin, the face of the budding Tea Party movement, is widely seen as a contender for the GOP nomination in 2012.

O'Donnell broke her boycott of national media Thursday and chatted with CNN reporter Jim Acosta. In response to his question about whether Palin was qualified to be commander-in-chief, O'Donnell said:

"Is she running for President? Again, hypothetical."



New York's "Nobody Wants to Say That Sarah Palin Is Qualified to Be President," tells us, in part:

Sarah Palin sure has some fair-weather friends. ...

Guess what's going to happen now, besides Todd Palin sending a sassy e-mail to Christine O'Donnell. Reporters are going to start asking every prominent Republican with electoral ambitions whether they think Palin is qualified to be president, hoping for another awkward dodge. Any such dodges, along with those of Miller and O'Donnell, will be reported in the media and contribute to the erosion of whatever viability Pain has as a presidential candidate. Palin has her friends Joe Miller and Christine O'Donnell to thank for that.

About one year ago, Mississippi's Republican governor, Haley Barbour, damned Palin with faint praise by saying that she is constitutionally qualified to be President. Guess what? Millions of others are also, too.



Salon's "America Hates Sarah Palin" has:

According to a new CBS poll, America really doesn't care for Sarah Palin. She is viewed favorably by 22% of Americans, and unfavorably by 48%. Those are not great numbers for a potential 2012 candidate. ...

... The polls also serve as a reminder that the Fox/Tea Party bloc of enraged older white people, for all their bluster about taking "their" country back, represent a sliver of the population. ...

The Washington Post's Jonathan Capehart has the best palinsight around and wrote of a Palin candidacy:

Taking time out from bashing out-of-touch elites, Sarah Palin went to West Palm Beach on Wednesday to tape a webcast for newsmax.com and made a laughable pronouncement. According to Jose Lambiet's "Page 2 Live" blog at The Palm Beach Post, the former half-term governor of Alaska and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee said that she would run in 2012 if "the American people" want her to.

Earth to Palin: they don't. ...

... Now, this might difficult for Palin or her legions of fans and admirers to accept, but "the American people" have consistently said they don't think she is qualified or should be president. You will recall that last month I said Sarah Palin is everywhere -- and going nowhere. A CBS News poll released on Oct. 6 shows nothing has changed. ...

... Palin told her Palm Beach audience that she wasn't sure if voters were ready for her "unconventional," "out-of-the-box" style. As the polls have shown since late 2008, they're not.

"Earth to Palin?" Let me go all palingates here and offer "proof" that the Palins are from another planet:

Palin Family On Their Home Planet

Click the photo to enlarge it

More photos from TLC's "Sarah Palin's Alaska" can be seen here.



Celebrity Cafe's "Bristol Palin Hasn't Noticed Weight Loss From Grueling 'Dancing with the Stars' Workouts," quotes Bristol: "I haven't really noticed a change in [my body] ... I think most people lose weight [on the show] because they're too stressed out to eat. I haven't had that problem!"



The NY Daily News has "Sarah Palin: 'Dancing with the Stars' asked my husband Todd to be on ABC show before Bristol joined."

Todd must have sloughed it off onto Bristol, because he can't dance, right?

Anonymous sources?

Michael Joseph Gross gave a lengthy (for TeeVee) interview with CNN. They discussed his article, "Sarah Palin's Sound and Fury," which was published in Vanity Fair:



On the use of anonymous sources, this part of Gross' article was briefly discussed:

One person who has been a frequent houseguest of the Palins’ says that the couple began many mornings with screaming fights, a fusillade of curses: “ ‘Fuck you,’ ‘Fuck this,’ ‘You lazy piece of shit.’ ‘You’re fuckin’ lucky to have me,’ Sarah would always say.” (This person never saw Todd and Sarah sleep in the same bed, and recalls that Todd would often joke, “I don’t know how she ever gets pregnant.”)

"This person never saw Todd and Sarah sleep in the same bed, and recalls that Todd would often joke, "I don't know how she ever gets pregnant." Who is the source?

In "Me and Mrs. Palin," Levi Johnston appears to state:

After the nomination, Sarah and Todd wouldn’t go anywhere together unless the cameras were out. They’re good on television, but once the cameras would leave they didn’t talk to each other. In all the time Bristol and I were together, I’ve never seen them sleep in the same bedroom. (I don’t know how she got pregnant.)

Apparently, Levi hung-out with Todd, or hung-out within earshot, or talked with someone who did.

Palin Family Circus News - Friday, August 13, 2010

Watch these Jimmy Kimmel videos for some insight into Sarah Palin's family life. Levi is done buying rings. Levi and Bristol are taking a break. Ma & Pa Palin found out about the engagement from a magazine, and that was Bristol's idea! Aren't they just like the rest of us?

Levi's run for Mayor of Wasilla should make a mockery of Sarah Palin's experience as mayor. People are going to say that Levi can do just as good a job, possibly a better job than Sarah.


Breaking: TMZ (Palin family news outlet) is reporting a child custody deal.

Sarah Palin's Next-door Neighbor Is Controlling Her

Sarah Palin appeared on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace and was asked how her summer was going with writer Joe McGinniss living next-door. She said, "We just avoid certain angles in the house and we avoid the front yard and we're doing a lot of things out and about around Alaska to have our summer fun and our outdoor recreation. Like Todd says, some people just need to get a life and bless his heart he needs to get a life."

Was Sarah referring to her husband, Todd, or to Joe McGinniss when she said that Todd said, "some people just need to get a life," and then said, "bless his heart he needs to get a life?" Does "his" and "he" refer to Todd Palin or to Joe McGinniss? Both? The Washington Post is running a story, "Palin: Next-door author changes way family lives," which says, "Sarah Palin says the best-selling author who moved into the house next door to her family while writing a book about her needs to get a life." Does that make it any clearer? Fox News makes its interpretation very clear, however, stating, "Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said her family's had to change its behavior ever since a writer working on a book about her moved in next door. She said writer Joe McGinniss needs to 'get a life.'"

A Politico story, "Palin blames media for unfavorable rating," has additional damning notes of Sarah's TeaVee appearance:

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin blames her upside-down approval rating among independents on one of her favorite foils: the media.

Palin, who serves as a paid commentator for Fox News, said on "Fox News Sunday" that "if I believed everything I read or heard in the media, I wouldn't like me either." [me?]

Fox host Chris Wallace cited recent polling numbers from Quinnipiac University that showed 50 percent of independents viewed the former vice presidential GOP nominee in an unfavorable light. Just a third said they viewed her favorably.

"I've never committed to running for president for one and I know that polls are fickle so we won't even talk about the approval rating or the favorability," she responded.

"As for the unfavorable, you know, I don't blame people for not really knowing what it is, in some instances, what I stand for or what my record is," she continued. [We weren't going to talk about it?]

Asked about how her summer was proceeding with journalist Joe McGinniss living next to her, Palin acknowledged his presence has altered her family's behavior.

Later, I'll look for a video/transcript of Palin's TeaVee appearance.

Raw JournoList E-Mails on 'Babygate' - Was there a 'liberal conspiracy' to protect Sarah Palin? - Updated!

Here, we see Sarah Palin thinking, fleetingly, just for a moment, "Darn! We can't have it both ways!"

The Daily Caller has published "Raw Journolist emails on 'Palin's Downs Child.'" These are posts by members of JournoList (to the list) concerning stories that Sarah Palin had faked a pregnancy. WikiPedia's entry for Ezra Klein, the founder of JournoList, has this background information about the list:

In February 2007 Klein created a Google Groups forum called "JournoList" for discussing politics and the news media. The forum's membership was controlled by Klein and limited to "several hundred left-leaning bloggers, political reporters, magazine writers, policy wonks and academics." Posts within JournoList were intended only be made and read by its members. Klein defended the forum saying that it "[ensures] that folks feel safe giving off-the-cuff analysis and instant reactions". JournoList member, and Time magazine columnist, Joe Klein added that the off-the-record nature of the forum was necessary because “candor is essential and can only be guaranteed by keeping these conversations private”.

The existence of JournoList was first publicly revealed in a July 27, 2007 blog post by blogger Mickey Kaus. However, the forum did not attract serious attention until March 17, 2009 when an article was published on Politico that detailed the nature of the forum and the extent of its membership. The Politico article set off debate within the Blogosphere over the ethics of participating in JournoList and raised questions about its overall purpose. The first public excerpt of a discussion within JournoList was posted by Mickey Kaus on his blog on March 26, 2009.

Members of JournoList included, among others: Ezra Klein, Jeffrey Toobin, Eric Alterman, Paul Krugman, Joe Klein (no relation to Ezra Klein), Matthew Yglesias, and Jonathan Chait.

On June 25, 2010, Ezra Klein announced in his Washington Post blog that he would be terminating the Journolist group. This decision was instigated by fellow blogger Dave Weigel's resignation from the Post following the public exposure of several of his Journolist emails about conservative media figures.

Klein had justified excluding conservative Republicans from participation as "not about fostering ideology but preventing a collapse into flame war. The emphasis is on empiricism, not ideology".

The 'babygate' posts to JournoList are sorted by date and time, beginning:

Ryan Donmoyer

Aug 30, 2008, 12:07am

I actually hesitate to bring this up…

But is anyone following this:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/29/17933/7330/417/579267 [that story has been deleted]

And ending:

Katha Pollitt

Sept 1, 2008, 12:02pm

I think people are making very narrow harsh judgments about behavior and decisions while pregnant that are not all that unusual. A lot of things look worse on paper than they do in real life. Sarah Palin had been pregnant and delivered four times before Trig. What looks to some j-listers like wild irresponsibility bordering on criminal insanity may have just been her belief that she knew how her body worked and how much time she had before going into full delivery mode. And, if it was her baby, she was right! she didn’t give birth on the plane etc.

In between those two posts, there are many more by well-known members of the media. The consensus that seems to have emerged was that it was a story that should not be covered. The posts are interesting and may provide some insight into why the mainstream media "ignored" the story, as some have claimed; however, the NY Times did mention how the story was received inside the Republican convention hall in 2008 in its story "Palin Daughter's Pregnancy Interrupts Convention Script," which tells why the McCain campaign released news of Bristol's pregnancy, and the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) did describe the "Wild Ride" as well as the scene inside the convention.

Interesting that the "liberal," "biased," "lamestream" media gave Sarah Palin a pass, isn't it? A recent Salon article, "Today's liberal journalist e-mail scandal: They criticized Sarah Palin," is also interesting.

The claims by the right that JournoList is evidence of a liberal media conspiracy don't hold water after reading how members of JournoList didn't run with a story that might have severely damaged the Republicans and Sarah Palin.


Update: Conservative Andrew Sullivan has weighed-in and, apparently, sees something of a conspiracy in the JournoList posts on 'Babygate.' He ends with:

This is your liberal media, ladies and gentlemen: totally partisan, interested in the truth only if it advances their agenda, and devoid of any balls whatsoever. ...

But, Andrew, why didn't they run with the story? Wouldn't a "liberal media" have been delighted to "advance their agenda" and derail McCain's campaign with a story about how Sarah Palin had faked a pregnancy?

People should be aware that conservatives of all stripes are desperately trying to use the existence of JournoList as evidence that an evil, liberal media conspiracy exists. Andrew Sullivan is one of them. Unfortunately, he chose to make a case with the 'babygate' posts to the list, which show that JournoList's members were not part of a liberal conspiracy.

Update: Sarah Palin wrote this about these JournoList posts published by The Daily Caller:

How ironic that on a day when we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, The Daily Caller released 15 pages of JournoListers’ email exchanges about a dark and demented conspiracy regarding my son, Trig.

It’s tough to fittingly describe these numerous members of the mainstream media who actively engaged in the debate about this conspiracy back when I was first introduced as John McCain’s running mate, ...

Did she read the posts? Does she know that none of those JournoList members published a story about the "dark and demented conspiracy?" That they saved her bacon?

CBS has a story about Palin's Facebook post. CBS' story quotes this part of Palin's Facebook post, among others:

This JournoList exchange exposes the warped nature of today's media, thus explaining why many of us are forced, in fairness to the public, to utilize other mediums to communicate until the mainstream media wakes up and begins respecting the public's intelligence and desire for truth in reporting.

By substituting ignorance for intelligence and common-sense for truth in her last sentence, you may understand part of Sarah Palin's problem with the media. "The public" must be Sarah Palin's fans. Sarah Palin's found an excuse to continue to hide-out on Facebook and pontificate on Fox!

Upate: Andrew Sullivan has posted "Journo-List And My Hyperbole."

Photo From Hell (Lake Lucille Isn't What We've Been Led To Believe)

If Sarah Palin's latest Facebook rant is to be believed, the Palins have a new neighbor.

It's a funny strange story. According to Sarah, "Upon my family’s return this morning from endorsement rallies and speeches in the Lower 48 states, I finally got the chance to tackle my garden and lawn this evening! So, putting on the shorts and tank top to catch that too-brief northern summer sun and placing a giddy Trig in his toddler backpack for a lawn-mowing adventure, I looked up in surprise to see a “new neighbor” overlooking my property just a stone’s throw away. Needless to say, our outdoor adventure ended quickly after Todd went to introduce himself to the stranger who was peering in..."

So, the family was in the Lower 48? But a NY Times reporter spoke with Todd Palin in Wasilla recently, and Todd indicated that Piper, Track, Trig and Tripp were with him and that Sarah would be returning this weekend. Does Sarah have a secret family in the Lower 48?

Another odd thing about the story is that Sarah welcomes her new neighbor, but complains about him "peering in" and writing "bizarre anti-Palin administration oil development pieces," which, of course, were dutifully refuted by her friends &mdash all experts in yellow journalism &mdash at her Department of Natural Resources.

And what's this about the "family's swimming hole?" On a lake? A lake isn't usually thought to have a "swimming hole," like a river may have. Does some family think they own the lake?

The photo is from here, by way of "Neighbor From Hell," by TBogg at Firedoglake.

When Politicians Debate Fictional Characters, It's Time for a Reality Check

Sarah Palin's recent problem with "Family Guy" has some historical precedents. It was in the early 1990s that some politicians began to have a problem distinguishing between reality and fiction: they actually began attacking fictional characters. In Michiko Kakutani's Fiction and Reality, Blurring the Edges, we're reminded:

... Vice President Dan Quayle attacks Murphy Brown, the fictional anchorwoman played by Candice Bergen, for undermining traditional family values by deciding to become a single mother, and in this week's season premier of the show [week of September 25, 1992], Murphy Brown strikes back, having already elicited even further condemnations from Mr. Quayle.

President Bush [The Elder] speaks of wanting to see an America that looks a lot more "like the Waltons and a lot less like the Simpsons," and in a subsequent episode of the popular television show, Bart Simpson retorts, "We're just like the Waltons. We're praying for the Depression to end, too."

Even Ross Perot, who mocked Mr. Quayle's remarks about Murphy Brown, has gone on the record as condemning the television character Doogie Howser for having sex with his girlfriend ...

And Ms. Kakutani concludes:

In the end, it's dangerous to mistake fictional representations for the real thing. To do so is to ignore one of the most basic impulses behind art -- the impulse to order the chaos of regular life, to transform it into something more perfect, more shapely and more satisfying, to turn it into something with a beginning, a middle and an end.

Worse, to erase the boundaries between reality and fiction means forsaking our ability to make distinctions. It means living in a dimly lit world of shadows, mirrors and self-delusions, content with approximations and soothing mispresentations, instead of continuing to try to discern the truth. One ends up like Don Quixote, Cervantes's would-be knight whose sense of reality was shaped by popular chivalric romances -- a hapless, if well-meaning fellow who believed he could model his own life on that of his favorite literary heroes and who ended up tilting at windmills.

The New York Times has published three articles about Sarah Palin's dust-up with "Family Guy," here, here, and here. Sarah Palin, of course, took confusing reality with fiction to a new level.

Michiko Kakutani is a Pulitzer Prize winning critic for the New York Times.