That all started after she told Greta she had the 'fire in her belly' needed to run in May? How about this running outfit?
Posted on 10/12/2011 7:47:03 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Although I fell in love with Sarah Palin in 2008, she had begun to drive me a just a little bit crazy recently, often so inarticulate that I thought she was trying to make Barack Obama without a teleprompter look like Pericles.
All is forgiven. Sarah Palin’s decision not to run for president redeemed her. She did the right thing by her country, her party, and by herself. By not running, Palin preserves her status as a power broker in the Republican Party, which could have been diminished by a bad showing in the primaries. She will be big in 2012, bigger than if she'd launched a failed presidential bid.
In considering the career of Sarah Palin, up to this point, I am going to use a word I generally consider verboten: sexism. It is generally liberals who toss around the sexism charge, but it is worth asking whether, if she had been a man, Palin would have been treated as abominably by the liberal media.
In 2008, we had a man running for the presidency of the United States who was a virtual unknown, yet the media was in Alaska, rummaging through Palin’s trash. Some of the speculation about Palin and her family was downright bizarre—Daily Beast blogger Andrew Sullivan became fixated on whether son Trig was really Palin’s (Sullivan posited that Trig was her grandson).
It should be noted that Palin especially upset liberal women. One of my Georgetown liberal friends and I agreed that we just shouldn’t talk about her. Fine with me, but my friend called with daily bulletins. An itch that had to be scratched, Palin was criticized by my friend for having had “that pathetic baby,” a particularly brutal reference to Trig, who has Down syndrome. Yes, Sarah got my friend’s goat.
But was it sexism? Only in the sense that conservative women face a kind of hostility that is the result of a combination of their sex and their philosophy. Women are supposed to be liberals. You will be punished by the media if you wander off the reservation. But I don’t think this response is fueled by sexism per se as much as it is by something arguably worse: the idea that women are owned by one political party. African-Americans often face the same prejudice.
But I am ready to concede that pure sexism, sexism not based on political philosophy, does exist outside the fringes of society. Ironically, the one instance of this we’ve seen lately comes from what should be an unlikely place: the Obama White House. Ron Suskind’s new book, “Confidence Men: Wall Street, Washington, and the Education of a President,” quotes women who’d worked early on in the administration alleging sexism. I'm afraid it sounds plausible.
“[T]his place would be in court for a hostile workplace ... Because it actually fit all of the classic legal requirements for a genuinely hostile workplace to women," Anita Dunn, former Obama communications director, is quoted saying.
I think the real story here may be that supposedly feminist men often don’t treat women well. Jean Paul Sartre was famous for (figuratively) walking all over feminist icon Simone de Beauvoir, while Dashiell Hammett also treated Lillian Hellman like a human doormat. It’s enough to make you yearn for an old-fashioned male chauvinist pig who’ll stand when you enter the room and refrain from sleeping with your friends!
In the case of Obama & Co., the guys probably felt they had good feminist creds because they were advancing policies designed to curry favor with female voters. These are always big government policies that assume that women are victims of discrimination, even if most of the discrimination we see these days hurts men more. Sarah Palin's offense, the thing that made her so infuriating to liberal women, was that she didn’t buy into this. She believes in small government and personal responsibility. This made her a target. You aren’t supposed to believe these things, Ms. Palin.
It should be said that Palin made the mistake of playing into the media's hands. She appeared on Saturday Night Live, dignifying Tina Fey’s imitations of her. On the other hand, she engaged in an ongoing feud with what she called the “lamestream media.” A little aloofness would not have come amiss (though I can't help feeling that that's just not our Sarah). She became a celebrity rather than a governor, giving up her day job on flimsy pretexts (though it may truly be that she had to leave the governor’s office because the number of ethics inquiries filed against her spelled financial ruin if she didn't start making big money).
Some have suggested that Palin take courses and learn more about history and policy (I am picturing her as Meg Ryan in I.Q.). I don’t see that happening. She is a gut politician. But she could bone up some and learn not to get down on the media’s level. She was probably plucked prematurely from Alaska, but that can’t be remedied.
What is undeniable is that, because she was smart enough not to run, she has a great future. Her analysis of what is at stake in 2012 is on target (oops! Is it okay to say that?):
We cannot afford this fundamental transformation of America, turning it into something that we don't even recognize. Instead, we need to restore this country. We need to restore all that is good, and right and free about America. Our republic is worth defending. We do not need a transformation, we need a renewal. We need a restoration of America.
Could anybody have said it better?
Sarah Palin is one smart gal.
Name please, Charlotte. A true Conservative woman wouldn't have "liberal friends" that spoke in this manner about an infant, especially a "woman".
A conservative that sets no standard of behavior for their friendship is not conservative enough for me.
IIRC, she was getting DAILY death threats. Yet many here think she hoodwinked them.
The country does.
You get it.
So if you and your family were getting daily death threats, you’d just cavilerly say “damn the torpedoes” and go ahead anyway? She doesn’t have Secret Service protection like the Obama family has had since 2007, thanks to a gracious President Bush. Yes, the Palins are now somewhat wealthy, but as a former bodyguard, I can tell you it’d be VERY expensive, very fast!
Kind of a dopey article, but the salient point is, Palin will continue to wield influence - on HER terms - and will be young and in great shape for future elections after her family situation is more conducive. As much as we wanted to see her run this time, we also know objectively, she would have had difficulty outside of the core conservative base. Yet Herman Cain has emerged as the best alternative, and according to research reported tonight by Juan Williams, he can probably win at least 30% of the African American vote, which Republicans have basically written off. So I’m OK with Palin being the kingmaker and keeping her powder dry this go-round.
He’ll probably get a good portion of the Hispanic voters, too, if he’s the nominee.
That all started after she told Greta she had the 'fire in her belly' needed to run in May? How about this running outfit?
| She'll run for the good of the country. |  |
She did the right thing by not running. |
WTF does her running outfit have to do with anything, or am I missing something?
Disagree.
Palin is already rapidly becoming irrelevant. I’m disappointed in her.
We shall see.
Sarah who?
I’m not exactly a fan but I’m far far from a Palin hater. She has her place and it is on FOX and doing rallies and such. Coulter or Malkin with much more substance.
I’m first and foremost a realist. That anyone would think she could win a national election against President Obama boggles my mind. Her treatment during a 2012 run would make 2008 look like playtime. In addition she would be bloodies up by Romney ahead of time unlike 2008 where she was just placed at the convention without having to fight others in the GOP.
Why do you feel a need to continue being a pr-ck? Palin is out, she’s not going to run.
Get over it and quit being an a$$. You plague FR like a Troll..... perhaps that’s been you game all along.
Wise up.
Yeah : )
Are you just trying to discourage voters from supporting her in the election? I have seen this before.
Did you see that campaign-like video she did in Iowa in August? You wouldnt talk like that if you did.
Wow, WTF as someone said, else said is right.
1. Palin was plucked from Alaska at exactly the right time. It was a stroke of genius on the part of a fool. It is the only think that kept the non-campaign close for this guy who had admitted knowing little economics and refused to criticize his opponent. [Isn’t it ironic that a guy knowing his limits in economics lost to an economic illiterate, but it was still foolish for someone who wants to run for president to day.] She was plucked before she was corrupted by any received wisdom that is so often wrong. She was plucked before she knew she dare not run because she did not have an Ivy education.
2. Palin had to be destroyed by the MSMediots. She was a frontal attack on too many of their constituency groups, female, union member and racial minorities.
3. She is not redeemed in my mind by not running this time. She is giving into the MSMediots.
4. She only sounded confused because she became gun shy as she and her family kept taking hits.
Personally, I am still hoping she gets in this time. She passes my key test for a candidate this time. She is maybe the smartest possible GOP candidate. She certainly can say she declined, but she and her family kept taking hits and no conservative candidate has emerged with the implosion of Perry, so she is once again running. As I said I hope she does and that would redeem her in my mind.
WTF, Why did the GOP and the Democrats destroy Palin. She fought plenty of GOP in Alaska ask the ones in jail. You don’t have a clue.Watch the GOP without Palin.She is Politically done thanks to GOP and without her help in 2010 the GOP was on life support and now you can pull the plug . The GOP is dead.
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