Miss me yet?
Posted on 01/03/2012 6:32:07 PM PST by reformjoy
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 Editorial by John Ziegler
Sarah Palin: Selfish, Hypocritical, Sellout
1/3/2012
As surreal as it may be, after spending over two years and several thousand dollars defending Sarah Palin at great personal cost, I now find myself in the bizarre position (three years to the day from starting the journey to Wasilla to do the interview of record on her 2008 VP run) of being perhaps the only conservative commentator willing to point out that Palin has now clearly revealed herself to be a selfish, hypocritical, sellout.
While she was doing her presidential tease (an act that I actually bought because I didn’t think she was capable of such contemptible deceit), I wrote an extremely long essay for the Daily Caller detailing why I thought a Palin run would be horrible for the cause of beating President Obama. At that time, I was roundly (and wrongly) criticized for betraying her, when in actuality I was being very kind to her personally and sincerely trying to save her from embarrassment.
Back then, I still honestly liked and admired her as a person. The events since then strongly indicate that I was totally wrong to give her the benefit of the doubt as a person. I don’t know if the unprecedented and unfair circumstances that she has had to deal with since 2008 have changed her, or if, like Tiger Woods, I was simply completely fooled by her from the beginning. But I do now know that she is worthy of a heck of a lot more contempt than portions of the base and the vast majority of the conservative media are currently holding her in.
A quick glance of the most recent past may help the scales fall off of your eyes like they finally did for me.
First, she not only put her supporters through an incredibly selfish presidential “tease” that she clearly contrived from the beginning, but when she finally revealed her deception, she did so on the Mark Levin radio show. This was inexplicable not because she didn’t do it on Fox News (which got some media attention), but because she broke her nationally televised promise to make the announcement on the Bob & Mark Show out of Anchorage.
This may not seem like a big deal at first, but keep in mind she made a huge production on the finale of her Alaskan reality show that Bob & Mark would be the first to know about her plans. Apparently, by the time she was ready to say “never mind,” rebuilding her Alaskan “ice cred” was no longer seen as very important. Neither was her loyalty to two long-time supporters and friends. Bob & Mark are just two of many people I personally know who have sacrificed for her only to be left by the side of the road for no apparent reason.
Then there is that matter that her political action committee sent out a fundraising e-mail the week before her “decision” which overtly sent the message that supporters could help her pull the trigger on a presidential run by donating immediately.
Obviously when that was sent out, Palin knew she was not running for president and yet when she was asked (ironically, only by Bob and Mark) whether her PAC would return the hard-earned money her supporters surely thought was going to a particular cause, she lamely claimed that people who donated to her PAC did not think they were donating to her prospective campaign. Unbelievably, no one else in the media (on either side) called her on this outrage.
Then there is the issue of her endorsement of another candidate for the Republican nomination. I have never understood how any political commentator could ever not make an endorsement in a presidential primary on their side of the ideological fence, but when you are Sarah Palin and you claim that you “don’t need a title to impact change,” such an omission is particularly incomprehensible.
After all, if she won’t exert her power in a Republican presidential primary, when would/could she ever?
The reality is that Palin hasn’t endorsed for the same reason she didn’t run. She knows that she has almost no influence and a remarkably small base and she is smart enough to not use her stick because she knows doing so will reveal how tiny it really is. She has basically decided it is better for her TV career to still be thought of as somewhat potent, than to be exposed as being essentially impotent (a word, interestingly, she likes to use from time to time).
This non act of cowardice and selfishness was bad enough, but then today on Fox News Palin had the gall to essentially call for Michele Bachmann to get out of the race and endorse someone else.
For me this was the very final straw. I don’t even like Bachmann, but I was immediately livid.
Where does Palin get off telling the only woman who (unlike her) had the guts to get in the race to endorse someone else when she hasn’t had the courage to do that herself? The multiple levels of hypocrisy here would be staggering even for a liberal, but for a conservative they are simply off the charts. Then, finally, lost amid her attacks of Bachmann (whom she surely sees as a potential future rival for air time on Fox News) was her defense of none other than that total fraud and publicity whore Donald Trump.
In perhaps the dumbest stance she has ever taken, Palin called for those who are upset at Trump for threatening to run as a third-party candidate to “shut up.”
Let me get this straight, a woman who agrees with Palin on almost everything should get out of the race and do something she herself wont do, but a liberal con-man who could easily insure the second term of Barack Obama (which she has said must be prevented at all costs) needs to be vigorously defended?
Astonishing. But not nearly as astounding as the reality that she will somehow get a pass on all of this from a conservative media that can be a corrupt and mindless as the liberal version is on its worst day.
I have made a lot of mistakes in my life, but right now (while I still stand by everything that is in my documentary “Media Malpractice”) it is difficult for me to imagine making a bigger one than believing that Sarah Palin was worthy of all that I have tried to do to defend her.
My wife warned me about her almost from the beginning of my Palin odyssey. She presciently told me, “once a beauty queen, always a beauty queen.”
It now appears that she was right. Sarah Palin is, at least now, all about Sarah Palin and not about the cause. After the events of the past few months you can clearly see that reality all the way in Russia from land in Alaska.
Best post so far...out of the 80 I've read on this thread.
People get too emotionally involved with these politicians. Then, when they, the pols, show their feet of clay, all they can do is ash out at those who didn't and don't share their adoration.
Remember the Clinton*istas and their bitter attacks?...Its the same on both sides of the political aisle.
i think you mean lash out, not “ash” out.
I was disappointed to see Palin out, as she could have carried most of the caucuses easily. But it looks like she did not want to put her family through the Rat grinder, as she sized up Obama as willing to stop at virtually nothing to claw his way to a second term.
Yep...lash out.
Politics is a dirty game.
When political discussion comes to the table, its time to move the good china off it.
Let’s look at the allegations:
Did Palin break her promise to make her announcement on the Bob & Mark Show?
Yes.
Did Palin’s PAC send out a fundraising request the week she announced she was not running?
Yes.
Did Palin, the commentator, take the safe route and not endorse a conservative primary candidate?
Yes.
Did Palin undermine Bachmann’s campaign right before Iowa and when everybody else could already see it was floundering?
Yes.
Did Palin defend Trump from criticism?
Yes.
The bottom line here is that many of us see Palin as the true “maverick” and someone who can “shake things up”.
What we are getting is a Palin who is playing it very safe, which is rendering her meaningless.
Better check the threads, seems like a crapload of you Palinistas were convinced that the bus tour was convincing proof of a run for the presidency.
My point, which you missed, was that it was just another flim flam on the part of Palin to keep the money rolling in. I guess there was enough ‘stupidity’ on my part to think that this woman was not that blatently manipulative to invest in the rental of a painted bus to keep the dollars flowing from her cult of followers. I was wrong...and stupid. At least I didn’t empty my wallet for her greedy trick, like you probably did. Now that would be really stupid.
You are right on all accounts. I still had doubts, but I thought that this blatent move of manipulation would have been over the top for even her. Wrong.
My question to the faithful now: Where has she gone? Seems like with all her worthy tweets and folks hanging on every word last summer, people would flock to her rallys. She was smart enough to realize when her 15 minutes was up, I suppose. Her reports from Wasilla are dreary on Fox. I wish they would fire her. I am disgusted how she is treated with deference.
“i never understood her quitting the governor position. That is a deal breaker for a Pres run...you just can’t trust her”.
That was her original mistake. I still am not sure it could be considered a mistake, unless she was planning on running.
Quitting an elected office for any reason other than illness or corruption is pretty much a deal killer. She could never have survived an actual run. Imagine having to defend that in debates and at the same time, convince people you should get the top job in the land.
It would have been a nightmare. To her die hard fans, they don’t care, but it was the rest of the people that would have had a problem with it.
I don’t think she really likes elected office. I think she really enjoys campaigning, but the job that comes after the hullabaloo, not so much.
“You are a dummy...you are stupid...you are dumb as a doorknob...you are toxic”
A microcosm of the mindset of the Palinistas, they love to insult and show what small minds they have. An embarrassment to FR.
Ms. Palin became "meaningless" the very moment after she announced she would not run.
She is now in the same pool as, but without the experience of, the likes of karl rove, little dicky morris, and the oh so superior billy o'reilly.
As such, no more worth noting than the rest of the tadpolls in the pool.
Well, she’s paid as a commentator and she commentated something everyone knows. Bachmann can’t win. To pick at her for not endorsing is petty, as others have noted. For those who want to let the people decide rather than attempt to influence, this is a logical decision.
Also to criticize her for “stringing” the hard core believers along seems a bit much, considering that the race started so danged early this election. Nothing is set in stone until April 24 and here we are, ad nauseam, discussing the nuances of voter thought in Iowas. Bleh. I refuse.
But she certainly has receded from public view.
This guy is suffering from a mutated strain of PDS.
Your Insults are profane and over the top and you can’t make a return argument. That language is not needed on Freeper.
thanks for your reasoned reply.
Insults don’t make an argument.
there are other governors who get sued and don’t quit.
this proves you just can’t make any criticisms of Palin on this site or you get flamed in a pretty ugly way.
Miss me yet?
excellant analysis.
but watch out, you will get flamed.
Yeah, I have been called names too.
Palinistas are like Libs, you try to present an argument and they insult you personally.
“Glad I don’t know you or even live near you, because you are toxic!
JC”
Un-huh. Does your mommy know you’re playing with the computer again?
I am used to it. LOL
Bring it on!
I have pretty much thought this and posted it starting a long time ago.
As Palin isn’t a nominee for anything, she is in the same league as Coulter, Ingraham, etc.
They get criticized here, sometimes fairly, and sometimes unfairly. Goes with the territory.
I believe it’s regret that has caused this change. JMO.
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