Halloween at the White House

Happy Halloween everyone! Be safe out there!

Palin's health care game changer

Palin recommended we tune in to the weekly GOP national address for the common sense alternative to the Left's health care proposal.

Palin has the manpower to point the spotlight on the good things the GOP is doing. The Left and corrupt media constantly say that they're the ones doing all the work on reform while the Right just wants Obama to fail. Harry Reid just said the other day that he wants to "dance" and Republicans "won't get out of the chair." Palin shows that we have been offering solutions and reforms, common sense reforms, but the Left doesn't want to hear it.

U.S. News previews another Palin book, The Persecution of Sarah Palin

In their Washington Whispers section, U.S. News & World Report previews a Palin book coming out soon written by the Weekly Standard's Matthew Continetti. The book is titled The Persecution of Sarah Palin.

They offer several excerpts but one caught my eye and it was about how the Left feminists view Palin's accomplishments.

"Palin's sudden global fame rankled those feminists whose own path to glory had been difficult. To them, Palin was less a female success story than she was the beneficiary of male chauvinism," writes Continetti.

First of all, her sudden global fame happened because she was picked as VP candidate. Anyone who is picked receives immediate global fame. Her lasting fame occurred because people are impressed with the body of work she's done. They recognize her as a good governor with conservative ideals and that's why she's remained in the spotlight while other VP picks have faded.

Secondly, Continetti writes that feminists were jealous because "their own path to glory had been difficult." And Palin's wasn't difficult, it's that what he's implying? Those are his words, not used by the feminists he's referencing. Life is difficult for everyone. Palin never had it easy. She cut her path through the wildnerness with blood, sweat, tears and damn hard work - and this was all before she was picked as McCain's running mate. Anyone who runs for governor of a state, wins and then successfully runs that state has a difficult job. Maybe we should clue Continetti in that mayors and governors aren't picked out of thin air to serve the people - they are elected by the people, and you have to make a case for yourself and have a record that proves you will work hard to serve the people.

It seems like Continetti buys into this "feminist" ideal that Palin got to where she is by being a benificiary of male chauvinism. Saying or implying that Palin's path wasn't difficult is a major misstep that makes me question Continetti's motives. I don't know if I trust this book.

Going Rogue with Hoffman endorsement

Palin has endorsed conservative Doug Hoffman over the “Republican” Dede Scozzafava in the special election of New York’s 23rd congressional district.

This is exactly the type of situation that Palin said she would like to help out on. Getting the RINOs out and real conservatives in is exactly what we need to do to stop this landslide into socialism. This is great news and will most definitely give Hoffman a substantial edge.

Now for the Going Rogue part? Minn. Governor Tim Pawlenty didn’t know anything about this race. I’m not kidding:

"You know I haven't been following that, I haven't studied the race at all," he said. "It's not that I would or wouldn't, I just don't know anything about it. I haven't taken the time to study their positions, their records, so I haven't taken a position on it."

And this man is supposed to be a 2012 frontrunner?? First he hires former McCain aides for his campaign and now he’s not paying attention to a wildly popular conservative vs. Republican special election that has gained immense national coverage? This makes me think that he’s on board with the RINOs and doesn’t want to publicly acknowledge himself that way, or he is incredibly stupid, one or the other.

This race is critical. The only way we’re going to change the direction of this country is to elect real conservatives. I keep hearing that a so called “third party” won’t ever win. I disagree. First, a conservative is not part of a third party. Secondly, the majority of Americans are sick and tired of RINOs and hard leftists. They’re tired of paying the government for wasteful programs. I think most Americans are ready to elect real conservatives, not squishy "Republicans" or RINOs. That was one of the reasons the Right was so down about McCain being the 2008 nominee.

Palin endorsing Hoffman is going to start an enormous wave of support for conservatives everywhere. She will be the catalyst for this change, while the other Republican RINOs sit on the sidelines.

No concerns, just lies

This post at the Corner got me thinking of how over a year ago the Left continually demanded that Palin should resign being the VP candidate because she had a family and needed to concentrate on being a mother and raising her kids. Their sexist excuse was because she had a 5-month-old special needs baby and his mother shouldn't be out working at job that would take away so much time from him.

And now, reading those sexist statements a year later you see that their “concerns” were all lies. When Palin did in fact have to resign because of attackers hell bent on destroying her career you would think the Left would say something like “she’s doing the right thing to protect her family.” Or “we continually wanted her to resign in order to take care of her family and now she’s doing it.” But no, they’re not about advocating for Palin’s children or her family or women in general. No, once she resigned all we heard from the Left was “QUITTER!!!!!”

So their feigned concern was nothing but an attempt to attack Palin. They don’t care about the message it says to women. They don’t care that they’re being hypocritical because they’re also attacking women on the Left with the exact same family arrangements as Palin. They don’t care that it makes the Left look like it’s stuck in the 1950’s as far as women’s roles in the work force go. The only thing they care about is destroying the Right, destroying conservatism and they know Palin is a huge threat to their goals. Their attacks, their "concern" was all about trying to destroy her any way they could. They will attack her no matter what she does.

As an aside, I get the feeling the Left has never underestimated Palin. They've never had doubts that she's a superstar with mass appeal, and they've never had doubts that she would be a great Republican president comprable to Ronald Reagan. That's why they keep on knocking her down, and go to extreme lengths to do so. And they are so effective with their attacks that the RINOs on the Right actually start to believe their lies. At least NRO seems to be turning the tide with their treatment of her recently.

Interesting that Palin is going on Oprah Nov. 16

Palin is going to be on the Oprah show on November 16, to promote Going Rogue. I am so intrigued by this and wonder how it will turn out. We all know the history of Palin and Oprah from last year. Oprah went all in to help fellow Chicago resident Obama win the presidential election last year, even going so far as to produce an infomercial for him. Despite Palin's wild popularity Oprah didn't invite her on the show - which is fine, it's her show.

But now all of a sudden Oprah wants to give Palin a platform to promote her book. I'm skeptical. I know Oprah will be polite and nice. I don't think this will be a Katie Couric moment for her. I think she does have a shred of integrity left and wouldn't want to use her show for that purpose - to purposely make a guest look stupid. Although, if I remember correctly she embarrassed that writer who lied about his biography while he was a guest on her show - but that's a totally different situation. I do get the sense that Oprah is not a Palin fan by any means and doesn't respect her. I am riveted wondering what kind of questions she'll ask Palin.

Oprah obviously has the golden touch when it comes to endorsements and celebrities who go on her show instantly receive a certain legitimacy of their work that might take years to achieve otherwise - her endorsement of Obama is great example of this. It's interesting to think that Palin's appearance on the show might boost her popularity outside hardline conservative circles - which is what all the NR and RINO folks have been saying "she needs to do." But given Oprah's audience it might go the other way - they may continue to dislike Palin and also start to dislike Oprah for having Palin on.

No matter what we know that Oprah will achieve one thing - a massive boost in ratings. I know I'll DVR her show, which I never do. And I really will be excited to see how this turns out for both Oprah and Palin.

Palin's article in National Review Online

Today Palin was published in National Review Online with an article about the importance of drilling domestically. I might just renew my NR subscription after all!

Palin has been beating the drum of drilling locally for years. It's obviously an issue close to her heart and you can't deny the passion she has for it. I would not be surprised if the tide started turning and we did start drilling here because of Palin's continued calls for it. If it happens, we really have to give her a ton of credit. She explains exactly how we could get it done and how it would work for all states. I agree with her 100%.

Drill
Petroleum is a major part of America’s energy picture. Shall we get it here or abroad?
10/16/2009
By Sarah Palin


Given that we’re spending billions of stimulus dollars to rebuild our highways, it makes sense to think about what we’ll be driving on them. For years to come, most of what we drive will be powered, at least in part, by diesel fuel or gasoline. To fuel that driving, we need access to oil. The less use we make of our own reserves, the more we will have to import, which leads to a number of harmful consequences. That means we need to drill here and drill now.


We rely on petroleum for much more than just powering our vehicles: It is essential in everything from jet fuel to petrochemicals, plastics to fertilizers, pesticides to pharmaceuticals. Ac­cord­ing to the Energy Information Ad­min­is­tra­tion, our total domestic petroleum consumption last year was 19.5 million barrels per day (bpd). Motor gasoline and diesel fuel accounted for less than 13 million bpd of that. Meanwhile, we produced only 4.95 million bpd of domestic crude. In other words, even if we ran all our vehicles on something else (which won’t happen anytime soon), we would still have to depend on imported oil. And we’ll continue that dependence until we develop our own oil resources to their fullest extent.


Those who oppose domestic drilling are motivated primarily by environmental considerations, but many of the countries we’re forced to import from have few if any environmental-protection laws, and those that do exist often go unenforced. In effect, American environmentalists are preventing responsible development here at home while supporting irresponsible development overseas.


My home state of Alaska shows how it’s possible to be both pro-environment and pro-resource-development. Alaskans would never support anything that endangered our pristine air, clean water, and abundant wildlife (which, among other things, provides many of us with our livelihood). The state’s government has made safeguarding resources a priority; when I was governor, for instance, we created a petroleum-systems-integrity office to monitor our oil and gas infrastructure for any potential environmental risks.


Alaska also shows how oil drilling is thoroughly compatible with energy conservation and renewable-energy development. Over 20 percent of Alas­ka’s electricity currently comes from renewable sources, and as governor I put forward a long-term plan to increase that figure to 50 percent by 2025. Alaska’s comprehensive plan identifies renewable options across the state that can help rural villages transition away from expensive diesel-generated electricity — allowing each community to choose the solution that best fits its needs. That’s important in any energy plan: Tempting as they may be to central planners, top-down, one-size-fits-all solutions are recipes for failure.


For the same reason, the federal government shouldn’t push a single, uni­versal approach to alternative-powered vehicles. Electric cars might work in Los Angeles, but they don’t work in Alaska, where you can drive hundreds of miles without seeing many people, let alone many electrical sockets. And while electric and hybrid cars have their advantages, producing the electricity to power them still requires an energy source. For the sake of the environment, that energy should be generated from the cleanest source available.

continued at NRO

Limbaugh and Palin: brave conservatives in the Left's crosshairs

I’m sure you’ve heard about Rush Limbaugh’s desire to buy a portion of the St. Louis Rams and the subsequent fallout from that. I got a chill when I heard he was dropped from the financial group bidding on the team and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s comments about the matter. That makes two events in the past week that have made me feel like I was in the Twilight Zone and made my heart fall in my stomach – Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize for his two weeks in office and now this.

Do you get the feeling that the Left is “all in” at this point? This seems to be the moment they have been working toward for 50+ years. They have an ultra-left radical in the White House and a huge majority in both Houses. The corrupt media is completely in lock step with the radical left cause. The entire Left has abandoned any pretense of representing their constituency. They are All About moving their cause forward despite how idiotic they look, how embarrassing the circumstance is, losing the last shred of personal integrity they had. They will do whatever it takes, and that includes trying to destroy the careers of Limbaugh and Palin. It’s almost like there’s no going back for them now.

"Stand Up For Our Nation" coming soon

As has been reported, Palin is going to announce soon her new political organization called "Stand Up For Our Nation." I'm not an expert on PACs at all but I read that this will be a different sort of PAC than the one Palin currently has, SarahPAC. There are so many laws regarding politicians, money and legal activities (as we all know!) that this PAC will probably allow her to do things that SarahPAC won't. I'm excited for it!

Palin Plans New Political Group
The Wall Street Journal Washington Wire blog
October 14, 2009, 2:31 PM ET
Michael M. Phillips reports on the doings of conservative favorite Sarah Palin.

Sarah Palin fans can expect to see a new Palin political organization surface as her memoir, “Going Rogue: An American Life,” hits the shelves next month.

“There will be an announcement about it coming up,” Palin associate Tim Crawford said Wednesday.

The New York Post reported this week that Palin’s new group will be called “Stand Up For Our Nation.” (News Corp. owns both the Post and The Wall Street Journal as well as HarperCollins Publishers, publisher of Palin’s book.) Crawford, who is treasurer of Palin’s existing political-action committee, SarahPAC, refused to provide any details about the new organization’s purpose or structure.

As the book release date gets closer, expect the Left to ramp up Palin bashing

I saw this blog article published by Zennie Abraham in the San Francisco Chronicle online edition titled "Sarah Palin "Going Rogue" will keep her out of office." Abraham's bio says that he works in the sports business world and that he's a video blogger who gets picked up by CNN. It was a very long piece and I have to ask - why are they going to this much effort to try and discredit Palin if her career is so over? That's what I keep hearing from the Left and the RINOs, that she's un-electable, a carciacture, career dead in the water, quitter, etc. Yet they keep coming out with these editorials, blog posts, articles and news stories about her.

In his post, Abraham tries to make the case for elites being the best politicians and why Palin will always fail as a politician because she is not an elite (?). Or at least I think that's what his point is.

Her new book "Going Rogue" is proof of what I've expected all along: that Governor Palin didn't want to learn how to be an effective politician at the highest levels of office. Like any member of the masses who obtains a little power and attention, it overcame the larger responsibility of governing and so she jettisoned being Alaska's leader.

What? That paragraph makes no sense. What is the "it" he's referring to? She was elected Governor of Alaska - since when is that "a little power and attention." It's the executive position of the largest state in the country. She ran it and was the first woman and youngest ever to do so. I don't understand when he says she didn't want to learn how to be an effective politician at the highest level. She was already there; she was already effective. Alaskans elected her. And how does he know what she wrote in Going Rogue - so how can it be "proof" of anything?

He tries to explain himself in the following paragraph:

By contrast, elite elected officials rise to power because they have an overarching sense of purpose that involves true social change focused more on helping people than a party or a group. The lynchpin idea of Ronald Reagan's assent to power was that government had become too large and inefficient at a time that America didn't need government spending to supercharge the economy.

So "elite elected officials" have a sense of purpose that involves true social change - not fake social change. And Palin has no sense of purpose, because she is not an elite. Got it. /sarc

He also throws Reagan in there and it doesn't make sense at all because Reagan was not an elite, but maybe that's the point he's trying to make - that Reagan is the exception to the rule because of the chance possibility that America didn't need government spending at that time (?) but Reagan outspent a lot of Presidents and increased debt so I don't understand how this fits with his argument but whatever.

Here are some more of Abraham's great ideas (all in this same post):

I fully expected Palin to resign from the GOP in the middle of the presidential campaign

...now we're in a position where without government spending the country's financial system would have collapsed.

No Republican or Democrat in power will tell you that we don't need the stimulus program, but will tell you that money's not getting our fast enough for their areas.

That's where we are today and why so many Alaskans thought Governor Palin lost her mind when she threw back part of the economic stimulus money.

Gov. Palin has become a kind of repository for the hopes and fears of the undereducated mostly white American masses.

Palin's message is outside of that of the power elite because it doesn't help solve the problems they're dealing with.

Let's not forget this was in the San Francisco Chronicle online. They probably paid him to write this trash. This is an example of the corrupt media trying desperately to prime their audience, however shrinking it may be, for some major Palin-bashing once the book comes out. This blog post is a steaming pile of you know what and the SF Chronicle doesn't care if it's published as long as it bashes Palin. The fact that it's poorly written, contains factual errors and misrepresentations is of no importance to them. I expect nothing less from the corrupt media now and in the coming weeks.

Pawlenty hires McCain staffers

Lifted from Ace, again. He reports that Tim Pawlenty has hired Randy Scheunemann and other 2008 McCain campaign advisors to advise him. Even though Scheunemann was one of the "good ones" and a Palin defender then and now, this is a good move and Palin needs to move on with advisors she selects on her own. I'm of the mind that the entire McCain advisory staff is not fit to do any advising. The 2008 campaign and election was a disaster. Us regular citizens could have run a better campaign.

Palin got where she is today by being a beltway outsider and I think she needs advisors that are out of the beltway, too.

Pawlenty Hires Ex-McCain Staffers
Noted in this post over at Hot Air written by "Eeyore-pundit" himself (I keed, I keed; all the AP critics should read it anyway because he's got a good point).


Quick summary: Pawlenty is hiring two former McCain staffers, including Randy Scheunemann, who was Sarah's more aggressive defender among the insiders from Team McCain. Does this mean that Scheunemann has soured on Sarah and is looking for greener pastures? Does it mean that she's unlikely to run in 2012?


My thoughts? It's too damn early to tell. Maybe RS has had a change of heart and now loves him some Minnesota Nice. Maybe he's just looking for a paycheck and Pawlenty is willing to hire him 3 years out while Palin wants to wait a while to assemble her team. Maybe.....she's just not that into him?


One question that I have to ask: Is it really VITAL for Sarah to hire former McCain staffers for a potential 2012 presidential run? Its not like that team really covered itself in glory the last time they were on the field, now is it?


continued.

McCain says there were "clearly" tensions between Palin and his advisors during campaign

Above: Palin received flowers last week as her son Track's brigade is going out for re-deployment (Boston Globe).

McCain admitted that there were "clearly" tensions between his campaign advisors and Palin's "camp" during the campaign.

It seems to me that if there were clearly tensions between Palin and his advisors then the person at the top needed to do something about it at the time. It's like parenting, you don't let your children just fight it out, especially when something as big as POTUS is at stake. What does that say about McCain, that he clearly noticed tensions but apparently did nothing? We know Palin isn't the type to complain and I'm sure that she didn't have a "camp." I'm sure all the complaining came from McCain's advisors directly to him. We know Palin has a huge amount of respect for McCain and she was painstakingly committed to winning the election. She would never do something to jeopardize it. She's the type who takes hits and keeps on carrying on. So these advisors are clearly the ones who brought anything to McCain's attention, and it seems like McCain just left Palin to fend for herself.

Secondly, it's amazing that now McCain admits that there were clear tensions between his staff and her during the campaign - just in time for Palin's book to be released. I don't recall him admitting so much previously. It seems to me that he's doing a preemptive strike should anything be said about it in the book.

I have a great amount of respect for McCain, too. And I believe that he only has the best wishes for Palin at this point. I don't think that he believes what Palin's critics say about her. But it would be my wish if he disowned those advisors publicly and called them out for the backstabbing jerks they are. They deserve to have their careers ruined for what they did to Palin. But I know that's not how it works in Washington and McCain has been around a long, long time. We're just fortunate that we have Palin to turn Washington around hopefully in a few years.

Palin will be a strong force in 2012, McCain says
Last year’s Republican nominee for president predicted yesterday that Sarah Palin will remain a “formidable force’’ in the GOP, despite criticisms that the former vice presidential candidate lacked the substance and policy knowledge needed for national office.

Senator John McCain of Arizona said on CNN’s “State of the Union’’ he is still very fond of the former Alaska governor, whom he chose as his running mate for the Republican ticket in 2008. He said that there is a strong field of Republicans considering the 2012 presidential race, and that “Sarah is one of them.’’

McCain acknowledged that “there were clearly tensions’’ between some of his top campaign advisers and Palin’s camp during the run-up to the election, but he said that is natural in a hard-fought campaign. He said that although he does not always agree with Palin, her political popularity with many GOP voters is obvious.

“When we selected or asked Sarah Palin to be my running mate, it energized our party,’’ McCain said. “We were ahead in the polls, until the stock market crashed. And she still is a formidable force in the Republican Party.’’ -- WASHINGTON POST

Palin was right...again

Remember this awesome part of her RNC speech?

"But when the cloud of rhetoric has passed ... when the roar of the crowd fades away ... when the stadium lights go out, and those Styrofoam Greek columns are hauled back to some studio lot — what exactly is our opponent's plan? What does he actually seek to accomplish, after he's done turning back the waters and healing the planet? The answer is to make government bigger ... take more of your money ... give you more orders from Washington ... and to reduce the strength of America in a dangerous world." -Sarah Palin RNC acceptance speech 9/3/2008

She called out Obama in a big way there. She saw through his facade and cut to the true Obama politician: the one who believes in maximum government control and how he wants to weaken America. She perfectly described his character as one of rhetoric over accomplishment, and a dangerous idealogue. Palin again predicted the future accurately in her RNC speech made over a year ago. Obama is still continually crafting that image. All of Obama's speeches/apologies - Cairo, the U.N., the Olympics committee, etc. are part of his craft in progress. If you remember it's the same rhetoric he used during the campaign and he's still perpetually campaigning.

The Nobel committee is helping to craft the image that Obama wants to be, and try to recapture that campaign-mode spirit he once had. They've shown the ultimate desperation to get back to "blame it on Bush" with this prize. But Americans are not going to be deceived by this latest bit of political theater. They are now questioning and laughing at the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to Obama. His crafted image is wearing very thin and it seems like the only ones left who still believe it are Obama and his circle.

We see the Nobel Peace Prize "win" for what it is: an embarassment to Obama and his career. This award comes dangerously close to his Presidency being one big joke.

Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize, really?

Wow.

This just affirms that the Left has infested and ruined this award, as they do with all awards, and it is now given to anyone who can be a mouthpiece to spread Leftist ideology to the masses. The award was tainted when they gave it to Jimmy Carter and then Al Gore - now it is thoroughly diseased. Giving this award to Obama means that the Nobel Peace Prize has become a joke, it means nothing and is a complete farse.

Obama has been President for a mere eight months. He has accomplished nothing of significance whatsoever in his presidency or prior to that. And he certainly has not given hope for a more peaceful world, coming off the heels of abandonning the missile defense shield. The only thing he has accomplished is being elected as President.

Contrast Obama's non-accomplishments with President Bush. He really did give peace to people around the world, by nationbuilding in Iraq and restoring democracy there. He protected Americans from another attack. Obama has done nothing even close to that, and has in fact made it easier for more attacks to happen - not just here but around the world, especially Israel.

Let's face it. This award is just like the Oscar, Pulitzer, Tony, etc. and any other possible award there is. It starts off being a legitmate award until the Left gets their hands on it. Then they completely destroy any authority the award has in its respective field by giving it to non-deserving Lefties who do nothing except actively spread Leftist ideology. This is pathetic.

Palin on a roll with two FB entries today

In the first note she stresses our need to win in Afghanistan, and in the latest note she discusses our need for energy independence. While the administration is taking its eye off the ball with healthcare and the Olympics, Palin brings our focus back to issues that are really pressing right now.

She also calls out Obama for campaigning on Afghanistan as a candidate and now seemingly abandoning it after He Won. I was wondering if anyone voted for him because they agreed with his views on Afghanistan. I bet those people are crushed right now. It also seems like the Left is having a hard time admitting he is a fraud and slimey just like every other corrupt politician out there. He's no different. Just say anything to get elected.

Here are excerpts from her two notes:

Further Proof of the Need for Energy Independence
Today at 7:39pm
The British newspaper The Independent reported today that Gulf oil producers were negotiating with Russia, China, Japan and France to replace the dollar in pricing oil with a basket of currencies.[1] According to the Wall Street Journal, Arab oil officials have denied the story, but even the possibility of such a talk weakens the dollar and renews fears about its continued viability as an international reserve currency.[2] In fact, today a United Nations official called for a new global reserve currency to replace the dollar and end our “privilege” to run up huge deficits.[3] We can see the effect of this in the price of gold, which hit a record high today in response to fears about the weakened dollar.[4]



We Must Win in Afghanistan
Today at 4:57pm
For two years as a candidate, Senator Obama called for more resources for the war in Afghanistan and warned about the consequences of failure. As President, he announced a comprehensive new counterinsurgency strategy and handpicked the right general to execute it. Now General McChrystal is asking for additional troops to implement the strategy announced by President Obama in March. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers in harm's way in Afghanistan right now. We owe it to all those brave Americans serving in uniform to give them the tools they need to complete their mission.

Perfect title, perfect cover

I can't tell you how excited I am for "Going Rogue!!" It's been a really rough couple of weeks for me but when I heard this I could not stop smiling. This is going to be one heck of a memoir and I'm already pre-ordered. Go Sarah!

Sarah Palin's book is bestseller before going on sale
Thu Oct 1, 2009 3:12pm EDT
By Martinne Geller


NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Sarah Palin's upcoming memoir is already the top bestselling book on the shopping sites of Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble, a month and a half before the book goes on sale.


The memoir from last year's Republican vice-presidential candidate, titled "Going Rogue: An American Life," is scheduled for release on November 17, four months after the book deal was announced and much earlier than planned.


The memoir, which became available for pre-order this week, has been in Amazon.com's top 100 for three days, and just replaced the latest novel from "Da Vinci Code" author Dan Brown at the top of the list.