To speak with anyone who's ever been in close proximity of Sarah Palin for any length of time, there is a constant thread in their commentary: she will say anything, lie about anything, if it is to her own benefit to do so. Much has been said or written about this during the campaign, particularly by The Atlantic's Andrew Sullivan, so there's no sense in going over any of this sordid record here.
But just when you think that Palin can't top herself--I mean the execution of a turkey in Wasilla is a pretty tough act to follow--here she comes again, seated down with a right-wing, self-promoting "filmmaker," John Ziegler, taking cheap-shots at the likes of Caroline Kennedy and Katie Couric. The bitterness and envy and mean-spiritedness just ooze from her pores throughout the interview.
While much has been made of the Kennedy and Couric comments, there was a troubling remark, largely overlooked, that Palin made about Barack Obama that was a flat-out, blatant lie--a typically Palinesque twisting of the truth intending, once again, to turn her into a victim and to make Obama & Co., along with the media, appear to be hypocrites.
Here is Palin's latest Big Lie:
"When I heard Barack Obama state in one of his interviews on national television that his wife was off limits, meaning, family's off limits-- you know, 'Attack me, I'm the public official, come after me, I can handle it and we'll duke it out if need be, but family's off limits'-- I naively believed, OK, they respected that in him and his demand for that to be adhered, naively believing that must apply to all of us, right? But it didn't apply."
While Obama did say that he found attacks on his wife "unacceptable," he also very boldly and emphatically stated that Palin's family was also off limits when asked a question about Bristol Palin's pregnancy:
"I have said before and I will repeat again, I think people's families are off limits, and people's children are especially off limits. This shouldn't be part of our politics. It has no relevance to Governor Palin's performance as governor, or her potential performance as a VP. And so I would strongly urge people to back off these kinds of stories."
He wasn't protecting simply his own family with that assertion, he was also protecting Palin's. And Palin lacks the basic grace, integrity and human decency to acknowledge Obama's gesture. And then she twists the truth to make Obama seem selfish and the media unfair.
And what about her claim that Obama's wishes were "respected" about his own family? The right-wing press went after Michelle Obama relentlessly. And they continued to attack her through the campaign--from Michelle Malkin to Ann Coulter. Anyone who claims otherwise is wallowing in duplicity.
So here again, Palin utterly distorts reality, fails to acknowledge Obama's gesture, doesn't acknowledge what her running mate's wife said about Michelle Obama, and turns herself, yet again, into a political victim. Where is Ann Coulter calling Palin on her self-victimization? The silence is deafening.•
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Read Geoffrey Dunn's "Better Angels: The Inauguration of Barack Obama" on Huffpo.
You are able to take her comments out of context, in spite of her obvious meaning, because of your own bias which reveals an underlying concern for what true conservatism on display in Sarah can mean to people.
And I trust, no one forgets that she threw around the dirtiest, ugliest allegations and suggestions in the history of any election during my life time, so ugly that the secret service had to tell her to tone it down.
Palin's constant need for attention by bashing any and everybody (i.e, the media, Katie Couric, Tina Fey, Barack Obama, etc.) for her shortcomings in the last election is fuel to be used by upcoming opponents if she decides to run again. While most of America saw the "real Sarah" during the campaign and realized that she was not qualified to become Vice President, if she keeps up she is going to lose some of her loyal fan base as well because they too will become sick of her whining!
They should run on their accomplishments as legislators or executives. Of course, if you don't have any accomplishments, I suppose it's tempting to use your kids.
They ALL have a 'We lost, but we won't admit it' hangover, and there is no political hair-of-the-dog remedy for their misery. So we will all have suffer through their pains, until they realize America needs some genuine political will to bring us out of this mess.
I'm afraid we're in for at least 4 years of crying about the persecution of the righties.
Give us your well fed, rested and well off, your select few, yearning to not have to even acknowledge the unwashed masses.
Palin's achievements, however, appear to be more the result of bombast and some ability (or sheer willingness) to manipulate facts and create impressions. I doubt that the average admirer of Palin bothers to differentiate such vapid means from actual intelligence.
1. Please explain what you mean by dwell? 2. We use the past to correct mistakes of the future and if we don't, we face unresolved issues. 3. Forgiveness is the ultimate healer when combined with number 2 above.
Many republicans are like sheep and believe whatever they are told. It is very easy for them to forget the facts and just go with the flow.
I not only find Palin annoying, but also the McCains......You can't be mean and nasty during the campaign and then decide you are going to be nice again once it's all over. McCain does this, and so does that Lieberman character.
I am not only thrilled that Barack Obama is our next president, I am also proud as hell.