Posted on 07/08/2009 1:48:05 PM PDT by moneyrunner
Dear Rich,
Please don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m starting to think that Christopher Buckley endorsing Barack Obama for President may not have been an isolated case of poor judgment. Your piece, Sarah Palin Up and Out, tells us quite a bit more about you than it does about Palin.
At the risk of being sued for copyright infringement, I’ll quote the beginning of your screed:
In all the speculation about why Sarah Palin quit the Alaska governorship, no one — right or left, supportive or critical, rational or conspiratorial — has credited her stated reason that she had to do it for the sake of Alaska.
It’s just too absurd. .. But she still proved adept at the traditional political art of extreme disingenuousness.
You then go on to state: She didn’t want to put Alaska through the hell of a lame-duck governor who would “hit the road, draw the paycheck, and ‘milk it.’” Never mind that if she feared becoming a lame duck, she could run for re-election — especially if “serving [Alaska’s] people is the greatest honor I could imagine.”
Well, my friend, and you are my friend, you may have reached the pinnacle of your ambitions by being editor of a magazine that has to beg for gift from its readers, but Sarah Palin has bigger goals. The reception she received from the Republican base showed that she was the biggest draw in the party. If she wanted to see whether she stood a chance of being the leader of the party, and perhaps its Presidential nominee, she needed to make a move. No matter how much she loved Alaska. You can’t run for President from there. Distance won’t let you; not if you are also the governor.
(Excerpt) Read more at moneyrunner.blogspot.com ...
Yeah, right.
I’m with you.
Nelson Rockefeller's attitude about Goldwater according to Stuart Spencer (Rockefeller's public relations head in 1964) was, "We had to destroy Barry Goldwater as a member of the human race."
The Conservative Revolution: The Movement That Remade America, by Lee Edwards.
I don't know if Goldwater ever played organized sports -- though he was a brigadier general in the USAF Reserves -- but Ms Palin is a competitor.
She is now free to suit-up and return to the court of public opinion.
The game is about to resume and she is ready to kick some butts.
I recognize her weaknesses, but I’ve been a bit protective of her anyway, for two reasons.
First, of course, I like her.
But, secondly, the people who snipe at her (with the exception of a very few) seem to be promoting some centrist or other as our next flag-bearer.
And that gets my back up.
Some of the shots have been personal and petty, and that annoys me. Some of them seem to be directed at social conservatives in general, which I take personal. And some of them seem to be intended to clear the way for some mush who would sell his soul for good press.
I’m not sure who I’ll support for 2012, its early yet. But I do know it won’t be anyone to Palin’s left on the spectrum. No more McCains for me, and no more mushs who don’t know what they stand for, and haven’t the stomach for a fight.
You nailed that right, people need to remember the day after the election Mittens took a cruise with NRO.... he is their man (again) for 2012.
Personally, I think we are about to see a battle royal for the soul of the GOP and it will be waged between Palin(ites) and Mittens.... she will wage it out front in full view of everyone, he will do as he did in 2008 and do it through minions and Politico and NRO, etc.
It’s hard not to like her. She has unbelievable political gifts. And, I admire her for having five children, and her position on the life issues. I have six children, and they are the most important thing in my life — far more important than my career.
But, while an inexperienced Lefty like Obama will get a pass from the media, an inexperienced Republican will not. And, by the time anyone runs against Obama, he will not longer be inexperienced.
BUMP
I hope so, I really miss 1964.
.. and I am still looking for that photo of Nelson at the podium giving the Goldwater delegates the finger -- boy, the look on his face!
No, I don't think that all the crew at NRO are RINOs. But if they can't take criticism, what makes them any better than Palin, who they accuse of folding under the vile abuse that she has taken? I have said nothing about them that's even in the same ballpark as the abuse Palin has taken, so get off you high horse.
Some of the people at NRO are great. They had the intelligence to get Mark Steyn. David Kahane just wrote a great piece that I linked to above. I read Jonah Goldberg with a great deal of enjoyment, even if I occasionally disagree. I also think highly of Charles Krauthammer - not an NRO writer but a truly excellent intellect, but I think he's totally wrong about Palin.
Bottom line, the Beltway boys can get pretty incestuous when it comes to thinking and I think this is one of those times. If they disagree, I'm telling them - and you - to "man (or lady) up."
THAT’s going to leave a mark...
Oh, buy the way lady lawyer, I sent Lowry an e-mail with my post first thing this AM. Have not heard back.
All GOPers get the dunce label. Ford did. Reagan did. GWB certainly did. That is immaterial and a tactic of the leftist stooges in the media. Reagan knew more about conservative philosophy, communism, defense policy, trade, etc than anyone before or since to hold office. He was not just smart, he was wise.
Palin has potential, good instincts, warmth. But she does not have the knowledge yet. And there is no reason that additional knowledge and wisdom needs to change her ability to connect. It should only enhance it.
I’m sorry, your piece was heavy on name-calling, including vulgarity, and ad hominem, and short on argument. I doubt that it has the “NRO crew” concerned much at all.
Current Ongoing Yahoo Poll: What is your opinion of Sarah Palin?
Results at 3:04 pm
I have a very positive opinion. I hope she returns to politics. 49%
I have mixed feelings. She’s talented but flawed. 6%
I have a very negative opinion. I hope she does not return to politics. 44%
Not sure/No opinion. 1%
126052 votes
Vote for Sarah:
http://js.polls.yahoo.com/quiz/quiziframe.php?poll_id=46789
Like many of the Republican press in NY and DC, they write for their peers in the MSM.
Not us.
And they are wrong 99% of the time.
Useless girlymen.
“who generally regard conservative ideas as some combination of boobish, evil, backward, boring, dangerous, and simplistic. “
Are you suggesting that Palin exhibits any of these traits?
Boobish? Which pol ever had as good a comeback on Sat Night Live after being so savaged? Talk about grace under fire.
Evil? Uh, strike 2.
Backward, Boring, Simplistic? - Tell that to Alaska Big Oil who KNOW she is Dangerous.
It appears you have struck out, lady lawyer.
So you have a problem with my characterization of some of the writers at NRO? Try this one (from today) by the appropriately named Anthony Dick: But it wasn’t just the choices she made; it was the way she presented herself in conformance with the stereotype of the red-state simpleton.
Want to try for something other than impudent snob?
Thanks. You and Dick made another entry in my blog.
Want to try for a hat trick?
I don’t know who you are responding to, but I never said any of the stuff you have in quotes.
If you had read Anthony Dick more carefully, you would have seen that he was quoting William F. Buckley, and the language which has you so exercised — and apparently has blackminorca exercised too — is from William F. Buckley, not me, and not Anthony Dick. This is from the Anthony Dick piece:
WFB once remarked to me, in reference to the second-term plunge in popularity of the George W. Bush administration, that it is not enough for conservatives simply to be intelligent or sophisticated. They have to project these qualities, conspicuously and convincingly, in order to get past the visceral prejudices of elite opinion-makers, who generally regard conservative ideas as some combination of boobish, evil, backward, boring, dangerous, and simplistic. Overcoming these prejudices is, if not a prerequisite, at least a very helpful vehicle for receiving a fair hearing on the merits. Bill Buckley was, of course, a master at this project. Sarah Palin seems either completely oblivious to it, or else too indignant to play that game. This may be a principled decision, but it is not without consequences.
Exactly what about the foregoing quote is wrong? Do you think WFB was an impudent snob, too? A RINO? A girly man? Go ahead and put me on your blog. Big deal. I’m sure Anthony Dick is trembling in his boots, too.
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