Posted on 05/15/2009 5:37:50 AM PDT by Tolik
EDITOR'S NOTE: In these messianic times we have slouched into an acceptance of presidential worship, and we need to be reminded from time to time that the medias Obama standard is really no standard at all. The following is a sequel to the recent Bush Did It.
WASHINGTON (AP) The first 100 days of the Palin presidency, according to a consensus of media commentators, have proven a near disaster. Perhaps it was Palins scant two years experience in a major government position that has eroded her gravitas, or maybe it was her flirty reliance on looks and informal chit-chat. In any case, the press has had a field day, and it is hard to see how President Palin can ever recover from the Quayle/potatoe syndrome. Here is a roundup of this weeks pundit mockery.
LET THEM EAT MOOSE
Ted Stevens may have gotten off, wrote Bob Herbert in the New York Times, but he taught our Sarah something first like using $100-a-pound beef for her state dinners. And whats this $50 mil for her inauguration gala? Since when do you fly in your favorite pizza-maker from across the country on our dime? Or send the presidential 747 for a spin over the Big Apple for a third-of-a-million-dollar joyride? Does Palin think shes still in Alaska and has to have everything flown in from the South 48 by jumbo jet?
WASILLA CHIC
Also in the Times, Gail Collins weighed in on the already-tired yokelism of the new commander in chief. What were getting is Wasilla chic. Thats what were getting. She arrives in the Oval Office, and first thing sends back Blairs gift of the Churchill bust as if its a once-worn Penneys outfit. Then she gives the Brits some unwatchable DVDs as a booby prize as if she idled the old Yukon and ran into Targets sale aisle. Did Sarah send Bristol into Wal-Mart back in Anchorage for that engraved iPod for the queen? And whats this dont-bow-to-the-queen stuff, but curtsy for a Saudi sheik? Maybe that explains why she brags to Stephanopoulos about her Muslim faith. So far, the best things going for her are Todds biceps.
IT'S THE MATH, STUPID!
Well, lectured Paul Krugman, again in the Times, we were worried that they didnt teach math at Idaho U., and now we know for sure they dont. Is it $1.6 trillion, $1.7 trillion, or $2 trillion in red ink this year? Are we supposed to be impressed that she offers fiscal sobriety by cutting 0.003 percent of the budget? She gives out money to those who dont pay taxes and calls it a tax cut. And now Queen Sarah tells us that in four years shell halve the deficit, as if she hasnt borrowed another $5 trillion in the meantime. Does she think were morons? How many Drill, baby, drill! oil wells can she tap into up there in Alaska to pay for the extra $11 trillion in debt shes saddling us with?
WORSE THAN 'NUCULAR'
ABCs Katie Couric summed up the general disappointment with the presidents communication skills. I tried to warn the American people in that interview a few years back what they would get if they voted for her. Lets face it: Shes a walking embarrassment. I mean just count em up: The mayor of Wasilla thinks Austrians speak some lingo called Austrian. Then she tries her hand at Spanish and comes up with some concoction, Cinco de Cuatro. Next thing shell walk into the window of the Oval Office and expect it to open oops, shes already done that. No wonder that when her Teleprompter stalls, she shuts her mouth until it catches up. Im surprised she managed to get sworn in. And did she think that tasteless Special Olympics slur was funny? Or making fun of octogenarian Nancy Reagans séances? No wonder Wanda Sykes feels at home.
ANCHORAGE STYLE
A dragon lady in heels is what President Palin is, according to the NYTs Frank Rich. Dont fall for this pageant nice-girl stuff. Our former beauty queen is a ward hack. Look at her nominations. Cant Palin find anyone who has paid his taxes or do they simply ignore that stuff in no-tax Alaska? Does No more lobbyists mean More lobbyists than ever? Her chief performance overseer doesnt perform too well herself and, like Daschle, Geithner, and the rest, skips out on her taxes. When Palin brags about fiscal sobriety, it really means record deficits. In Sarahland, not wanting to take over banks and car companies translates into, She already has. Highest ethical standards equates to There are none. Calling herself the VA president means shes just told vets to use their own health insurance.
GUTTER TRASH
Pretty crude, pretty petty, Sally Quinn sighed in the Washington Post. No manners at all. Does our new mom in chief think its neat to laugh when her court jester at the correspondents dinner calls Michael Moore a traitor and a terrorist and hopes he dies of kidney failure? Is that funny? Ask those on dialysis. Is that what Alaskan hockey moms do scream out at every talk-show host who hurts their itty-bitty feelings? Limbaugh, Hannity who will it will be next? Poor old Jim Cramer?
NEOCON CON
Shes a Bush clone, the Timess Maureen Dowd chimed in. Bush is out, Palin is in but we keep getting renditions, military tribunals, wiretaps, e-mail intercepts, Predator drone executions over Pakistan, the same in Iraq, and even more of the same in Afghanistan all retrofitted with new hope and change banalities. I mean, whos putting Mommy Dearest up to this Wolfie, Perlie, Cheney?
TINGLE FOR HUGO?
There is no foreign policy, Chris Matthews said on Hardball, his voice dripping with scorn. She just tours the world and nods, as if her good looks and serial apologies are going to win us a collective tingle abroad. I dont think Hugo Chávez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad care much that shes got great legs and a nice wink. How many times can Ms. Vapid say, Were sorry and Hit that old reset button and expect thugs to make nice?
RACE, ALL THE TIME
Eugene Robinson worried in the Washington Post about Palins emphasis on race. Look, she gets 95 percent of the working-class white vote. She promises next month to talk to the Christian world from Estonia, of all places. Hello? She goes to the Summit of the Americas and immediately puts race on the table as if we are supposed to separate those with European heritage from those without. Then she tells al Arabiyya that she hopes to heal the rift with Europe because of my own shared European heritage that seems to resonate in ways I hadnt imagined throughout the EU. I guess were learning that those gaffes last year on the campaign trail, like her typical black person remark and Todds I am finally proud of my country again nonsense were not gaffes at all.
WHERE IS THE PRESS?
Howard Kurtz summed up the press cynicism the best in his Washington Post column. How long does she think she can keep picking on her right-wing plants in the audience for these softball Q-and-A sessions? I mean, there are only so many pukey What has surprised you the most about this office? What has enchanted you the most about serving in this office? questions you can lob.
Let me know if you want in or out.
Links: FR Index of his articles: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=victordavishanson
His website: http://victorhanson.com/
NRO archive: http://www.nationalreview.com/hanson/hanson-archive.asp
Pajamasmedia: http://victordavishanson.pajamasmedia.com/
What a very useful way of looking at things. Why does Victor Davis Hanson get to be so brilliant? He’s like Mark Steyn without the humor or the nastiness. Hard to say which of them I love best.
Hanson has been a huge supporter of Sarah Palin since before she was selected at McCain’s running mate. He’s a good man to have in her corner, and he shows absolutely no sign of waivering in his support for her.
that was good, I needed something to brighten my day up
Thanks for posting this. VDH is always good to read, but especially so when the madness from DC threatens my sanity.
Also we would have a NY Times story comparing the White House garden to Green Acres and the kids playset to an Anchorage playground.
—hilarious—
The man is a genius. That is spot on perfect!
Thanks for posting, I just emailed it to my “what bias?” relatives.
;o)
ping
NBC is still trying to smear Palin via the Jay Leno show. Curic was on as a guest and they played Palin at her worst in the running of the Curic interview. No let up, Palin will be hammered all the way to 2012.
Great article!
How does one take raw iron, some carbon, and turn it into a sword?
I guess between now and 2012, we'll find out if Sarah has the metal.
What a great article.
Any Yahoo Buzzers can buzz it up at:
A brilliant exposition of the Double Standard.
LOL!
Ping
OMG - this is brilliant.
Pinged the wrong one - this is the one!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.