November 5, 2010

"How would you feel if some dude you knew was out to get you moved 15 feet away from your kids? How would you feel?"

Sarah Palin's reality show:


ADDED: I must say... Palin ought to move to a more secluded house. I'm not saying Joe McGinness isn't a jerk, but even assuming perfectly nice neighbors, she ought to have more privacy. Also, I love that she calls her patio "the cement slab."

AND: The nugget of propaganda delivered by this homey reality show is that Sarah Palin regularly sits down and does her own independent, studious research and writing.

IRONY: McGinniss's lawyer accuses Palin of invading his privacy:
Mr. McGinniss was not asked if any production crew could videotape him as he read a book on the secluded deck of the house he was living in at that time. He was not aware that any camera crew was in fact videotaping him. Mr. McGinniss had a reasonable expectation of privacy under those circumstances. The mere taking of the video therefore gives rise to an actionable claim for invasion of his privacy. The publication of the video on your website and in the television show constitutes an additional wrong – the unauthorized use of the likeness of Mr. McGinniss. Finally, the manner in which Ms. Palin describes Mr. McGinniss in the episode is defamatory: Mr. McGinniss has never invaded the Palins’ privacy, contrary to the many statements made by Ms. Palin and her husband, both prior to this television production, and now repeated in the episode referenced above.

105 comments:

Scott M said...

Unless she's got something uniquely un-reality TV up her sleeve, this couldn't possibly be a bigger mistake if she's got presidential aspirations. She's certainly not hurting for money, so I'm not entire sure what the thinking is here.

To answer the question posed, though, I'd feel armed.

1775OGG said...

One way to find the answer to Gov. Palin's question would be to move in close to Arianna's domicile!

How would Arianna respond to that?

Or, alternatively, move next door to some residences in the Hyde Park neighborhood. Would that move raise alarms?

Cheers.

kent said...

Unless she's got something uniquely un-reality TV up her sleeve, this couldn't possibly be a bigger mistake if she's got presidential aspirations.

Agreed.

That being said, however: Joe "Short Eyes" McGuinness is lower than a snail's dong, and twice as slimy.

MadisonMan said...

Not living through this, I'm not sure how I'd react. I think a good start would be for her to get the cover of Levi's Playgirl magazine, and make copies of it, and use it to cover up every thing she reads. So it looks like she's reading Playgirl when she's actually reading, oh, The Progressive, or something. It would be different if the guy next door was a physical threat to the safety of her or her family. I don't think that's the case.

I suspect that the people who buy the book this guy is writing won't have their opinion of SP changed one way or the other by what he writes/photographs/oversees. So what does it matter?

Alternatively, she could buy the house out from underneath him. I understand she has money. What's the price tag on peace of mind?

AllenS said...

The best way to handle a man like Joe McGuinness, is to kick the absolute shit out of him.

MadisonMan said...

The best way to handle a man like Joe McGuinness, is to kick the absolute shit out of him.

Has the US ever elected a person who has kicked the absolute shit out of someone else? (Let's ignore Senators from South Carolina for this question).

kjbe said...

I'm sorry, but, waaaa. Change what you can and accept what you can't...or not. Have a nice day...or not. It's always our choice.

If the guy didn't break any laws, it's all just drama.

AllenS said...

Has the US ever elected a person who has kicked the absolute shit out of someone else?

Since the term "US" is so broad and a couple of hundred years old, I would say, yes, yes it has.

A resume enhancer.

Scott M said...

I would be very willing to believe Teddy R beat the shit out of someone at some point in his life. Jackson too.

kent said...

Has the US ever elected a person who has kicked the absolute shit out of someone else?

List of Politicians Who Participated in Duelling

Anonymous said...

``Has the US ever elected a person who has kicked the absolute shit out of someone else?''

Andrew Jackson, senator from Tennessee. (I don't know if he literally kicked anyone, but he certainly fought duels.)

Scott M said...

As intriguing as that is, Kent, dueling (re pistols, not sabres) is hardly my concept of beating the shit out of someone. The latter is a much more visceral, up close and personal sort of thing.

Chip Ahoy said...

The video cues with two faces I wouldn't watch if you paid me. Unless you paid me a sum that overcame my righteous resistance. Which isn't that much actually, $10.00 would cover it. I would watch, but while watching I'd sing "Poker Face" in the voice of Cartman to confuse input synapses. Besides, I'm busy right now celebrating Guy Fawkes Day.

Irene said...

I think a good start would be for her to get the cover of Levi's Playgirl magazine, and make copies of it, and use it to cover up every thing she reads. So it looks like she's reading Playgirl when she's actually reading, oh, The Progressive, or something.

;-)

victoria said...

I don't know, Ann. It's like the Clampetts calling the swimming pool, "The cement pond". A little too folksy 47 years after "The Beverly Hillbillies". And more than a little disingenuous. Ok, a lot more.


Phony's.


Vicki from Pasadena

traditionalguy said...

And the beat goes on. Sarah Palin is supposed to be doing everything wrong by revealing her real self to viewers, when a Gravitas Mask is needed to trick voters into a false image that voters want to see. Or so says the Rove/Bush political team, and the Krauthammer super-pundits. No, Sarah is doing the real work necessary to create her reputation as a genuine good and intelligent person.That work must be done since it is the only known antidote to the snake bite poisons injected by a false images of her of that the Rove/Bush Media Operation along with the the Democrat owned MSM are carefully sculpting of her like the Sultan of Brunei's statutes. This show is a brilliant tactical move.

Larry J said...

Has the US ever elected a person who has kicked the absolute shit out of someone else? (Let's ignore Senators from South Carolina for this question).

Since you didn't limit it to presidents, I'd say that yes, the US has elected quite a few people who've done that and worse. Our history shows quite a few combat veterans have been elected over the last 200+ years. I'd wager that more than a few of them got their hands bloody.

As for McGuinness, Sarah wouldn't have to kick his ass personally or even send Todd. I'm sure Piper would be more than able to do the job. She's what, 9 now? Don't mess with Alaska females!

traditionalguy said...

The greatest shit kicker out of entire Armies became President: Ulysees S Grant ( See, $50 bills). His extra special skill was endurance. Sarah Palin is showing us that skill too.

Known Unknown said...

I don't know, Ann. It's like the Clampetts calling the swimming pool, "The cement pond". A little too folksy 47 years after "The Beverly Hillbillies". And more than a little disingenuous. Ok, a lot more.

Yeah, those Alaskans. Too fucking fauxlksy. You should drop by Ohio sometime and hear of paper sacks and cement slabs and front stoops and davenports.

AllenS said...

cement slab = bbq, beer

patio = limp wrist, wine

Christopher said...

As intriguing as that is, Kent, dueling (re pistols, not sabres) is hardly my concept of beating the shit out of someone. The latter is a much more visceral, up close and personal sort of thing.

I wonder how Alexander Hamilton felt about that. Or that matter Aaron Burr.

Triangle Man said...

Or, alternatively, move next door to some residences in the Hyde Park neighborhood. Would that move raise alarms?

She can't afford that. Not with the private schools, and the gardener, and the house keepers you need there.

Brian said...

@Vicki:
Phony's.

Am I wrong, but I thought you identified yourself as a socially liberal Republican in California before? Then you posted you voted a straight Democratic ticket, as usual. Which means you're really a Democrat. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

As far as "cement slab," it's accurate. The "Beverly Hillbillies" were hillbillies transplanted into Beverly Hills, where they used the vernacular of where they were to define all the new-fangled things around them. That was the hilarity, the fish out of water story. Hence the "cement pond" for the pool.

Sarah is in her house in Alaska. The panned shots of her house and the neighbor's house doesn't show a Beverly hills mansion. It shows a rather nice lakehouse, with a "cement slab" in the back yard to sit on the wrought iron furniture and enjoy the view. She could have called it a back porch. Whatever, it's an accurate term.

It would be fake if she put on airs and used a word like "veranda" or gave her house a name, like the old antebellum houses around here. Her house (from the back anyway) doesn't look very different from ranch-style homes with a lake view in the south. Compare her house to the mansion that Edwards has in North Carolina. And he was a vice-presidential candidate that kept talking about being the son of a millworker.

Scott M said...

Sarah Palin is supposed to be doing everything wrong by revealing her real self to viewers, when a Gravitas Mask is needed to trick voters into a false image that voters want to see. Or so says the Rove/Bush political team

Last I checked, I'm neither Rove nor Bush or on their "team", but that's what I think too.

No, Sarah is doing the real work necessary to create her reputation as a genuine good and intelligent person.

If memory serves, Carter carried his own luggage to the White House in an attempt, however see-through one might or might not think it was, to do what you're suggesting she's doing. Again, if memory serves, it didn't work because as much as we Americans generally like to believe the President is just the first among equals (so to speak) we still expect a bit, however thin, of distance between a president and an average Joe.

Rialby said...

More secluded house

She lives in Alaska. Who expected some journalist from the leafy hippy-filled village of Amherst, Mass to move next door to her?

Don't pin it on the victim. Heck, if Ritmo or AL or Garage moved next door to you and started pestering you, I wouldn't expect that you'd have to move out of Madison.

Scott M said...

Heck, if Ritmo or AL or Garage moved next door to you and started pestering you, I wouldn't expect that you'd have to move out of Madison.

The beer would flow aplenty, but I'd always know where my bump gun is.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I love that football jersey she had on..

MadisonMan said...

Don't pin it on the victim.

Victim of what? Having a lousy neighbor? That's really very very little in the grand scheme of things. But I will agree that how you deal with it is very revealing.

traditionalguy said...

Scot M...Is separation from common men needed so that we can expect magic powers to be exercised by our Father in Washington? In the case of Andy Jackson it was his courage and his righteous promise to kick out the soft toed shoe, Philadelphia lawyer and banker named Nicholas Biddle that made him champion of the common man. But Sarah still has to get over the media created false impression that she is illiterate.

Trooper York said...

"Has the US ever elected a person who has kicked the absolute shit out of someone else? (Let's ignore Senators from South Carolina for this question)."

Andrew Jackson.

Who is one of her role models I believe.

Scott M said...

@TG

...and you think staring in your own reality TV show is the best way to do that these days?

Trooper York said...

Sorry I didn't read the prior comments as others have mentioned Andrew Jackson.

Well William Howard Taft sat on Emilio Aguinaldo until he surrendered the Phillipines.

Wince said...

AND: The nugget of propaganda delivered by this homey reality show is that Sarah Palin regularly sits down and does her own independent, studious research and writing.

Althouse is just worried that the Palin-at-study image might replace the Althouse-at-study iconic photograph for widespread unlicensed use on the Internet.

Drew said...

My wife and I will probably be watching this show. Me, because I like Alaska; her because she adores Sarah Palin.

Trooper York said...

And I think staring in your own reality show is a great idea.

Specificly for Sarah Palin. She can let people see her and her family live their live without the lies and distortion spread by the mainstream media. Americans can make their own judgement. I think it was analagous to Ronald Reagan staring on "Death Valley Days." When the liberal press branded him a crazy right winger who would blow up the world....normal Americans who had seen him on TV knew that it was a big bunch of bullshit.

A very smart move. It will be a great show.

Scott M said...

A very smart move. It will be a great show.

I still disagree, but what the hell, I won't watch it simply because I'm utterly against the genre. I'll stick with AMC's "Walking Dead" as it is a much better mirror of Congressional reality.

Trooper York said...

Just think of the images invovled.

Sarah Palin and her family hiking and swiming and canoing and living their family life in the great outdoors with all of their children invovled.

The Obamas. Not so much.

Well they will have the vacation shots from the 200 million dollar a day trip to India. They do have that.

Trooper York said...

Reality TV is TV these days.

Having a reality show does show what you are really like. You can't hide from the camera and your true persona does come out one way or another.

I personally think that will be a great thing for Sarah Palin. That is with normal Americans of every stripe. They will see their family life reflected in their exploits and not the demon conjured up by the liberal mainstream media jackels.

Sprezzatura said...

Did anyone else think that Todd was doin' some TV-thinkin'.

I think he was going to sit across from Palin (for this staged video clip) when he wandered out (as planned). But, then he realized that he'd be ruining the shot so he changes course and sits beside her.

BTW, did folks see the promo for this show? Palin takes the lord's name in vain more than once. Some of her Christian supporters will notice that.

Christopher in MA said...

Scott M said "I would be very willing to believe that Teddy R beat the shit out of someone at some point in his life."

And so he did. You can google the whole story if you like, but basically, the Rough Rider was hanging out in a tough western bar (this was when he went out west to build his physical strength up) when a hombre walked in, looked around, spotted TR and said "Four-Eyes is gonna treat the house." When Teddy didn't acknowledge the man, he walked up, spit in TRs face and repeated "I said Four-Eyes is gonna treat!"

TR then beat the shit out of him.

Scott M said...

Having a reality show does show what you are really like.

It shows what you're like in front a camera with 10's or millions of people watching...and you are well aware of that little factoid. Failsauce.

William said...

Joe McGinniss, even among liberals, had an unsavoury reputation. He would approach his subjects in a friendly and sympathetic way. He would pretend to be their new best friend, the one who would present their side of the story to the public. After publication, his subjects found out that he was not their best friend. They complained not just that McGinniss treated them unfairly, but that he had betrayed their confidence and friendship. In a famous case, he was sued by Jeffrey MacDonald. MacDonald claimed that McGinniss had told him that his book would expound his innocence. Instead, the book, Fatal Vision, expanded on his guilt. The case was settled out of court, but it made McGinniss the poster boy for journalistic con men. Janet Malcolm in her book, The Journalist and the Murderer, used him to explore the theme of journalistic ethics and the duty a journalist owed to their subjects, especially when they purported to be their friend.....I think the shady record of McGinniss is relevant to the Palin story. This is not a man who has been overly nice in his scruples, and there he is next door with a telephoto lens. In all the stories I have read about this controversy, I have never heard it mentioned that McGinniss, besides being an investigative reporter, is famous for being a scumbag.

Trooper York said...

Not true ScottM. You can't hide who you are. The real person comes out. Trust me. It is true.

When I watch them film "What Not to Wear" you can really tell what the people on it are like even from the brief amount of time they are on the air. In a full out reality show...the truth will out.
You can hide it or lie enough for it not to show.

Sprezzatura said...

"It shows what you're like in front a camera with 10's or millions of people watching...and you are well aware of that little factoid. Failsauce."

Being in front of a camera for all to see = summer fun

Being in the back yard for neighbor to see = not summer fun

Being able to spy on neighbor through hole in fence = summer fun

traditionalguy said...

Scot M...The category reality show usually means non actors are acting out roles made up by writers. This Alaska show should be more like one of my wife's favorite shows: Rick Steves Europe. Sarah is no amateur. She has been a public figure since she became a City Council member 18 years ago, and before that she had been a Beauty Pageant contestant and a TV Sportscaster. So watch it and judge for yourself, unless your prejudice against her show is so strong that you don't want to be confused by the facts.

Trooper York said...

That is you can't hide it. Your true self will come out no matter who you present yourself.

If you don't believe me...check out Camille Grammer on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

She presents as a caring, giving loving mother. Check it out and see if you believe it.

The camera is like a lie detector.

Shanna said...

...and you think staring in your own reality TV show is the best way to do that these days?

I think it's not a great idea if she has designs on the white house. Otherwise, have at it!

If she had wanted the white house, my expectation would have been for her to continue as governor of alaska, maybe write a book and do some appearances, and do a lot of studying up on policy positions so she could explode out of the gate when she was ready. She didn't do that. The things she is doing now signal to me that she is not going for the top job anytime soon. If she does, based on her current resume, I would not vote for her.

The guy who moved in next door is still a creep, though.

Sprezzatura said...

"The camera is like a lie detector."

If W knew that, he wouldn't have needed to water board.

john said...

You need to correct something: it's not "out to get you .." It's "out to getcha.."

Oh yea, you can drop a trannie, tune up the snowmobiles, change oil, clean the fish and finish dressing out a deer on a cement slab. Not so much on a patio. Cement slab fits.

Trooper York said...

It's the little things that will tell the tale.

How she treats people in offhand little moments. You can really tell a lot about someone by the way they treat servers or other people in the little transactions of life. I think she will do great.

You have to go with the next big thing. Reagan went on Television to build his brand. Reality TV is the cat's pajama's these days.

Don't fight the last war.

Leave Meet the Press to the old used up losers like McCain and Gingrich.

Trooper York said...

It will be a great way to be before the public to build her brand without the filter and the slant from the liberal scumbag mainstream media.

To take John's example…if she cleans a fish or field dresses a moose or even just loves her handicapped child in little offhand moments….most normal Americans will see themselves and their family. And smile in gentle recognition.

And the vickys of Pasadena and hdhouses and Loafing Oaf's will hate her even more.

If that is even possible

Scott M said...

So watch it and judge for yourself, unless your prejudice against her show is so strong that you don't want to be confused by the facts.

My prejudice against reality tv is indeed too strong for me to waste time on it anyway. Facts have nothing to do with it. On a serious note, there's simply too much in the way of political liability at stake. On the humorous side, if they're smart, they'll do a "chore montage" and quickly spliced together edits of work around the house complete with her painting the outside of the house white...so quick that you would second guess whether you saw what you thought you just saw...funny.

bagoh20 said...

Is it even possible among the chattering classes for anyone to be authentic anything? I think Palin is mostly authentic. If she were to stop being herself, then she would still be accused of faking and it would be accurate. So how do you get around that? There is nothing she can do to avoid that lazy label, which includes Ann's propaganda about the supposed propaganda of her writing and research, which she merely claims to do just like the rest of us. Is that so hard to believe. Would you not do the exact same thing if you were her? Or are you suggesting she isn't smart enough to use Google and a word processor?

bagoh20 said...

All reality show are not equal, thank god. I don't think we'll be seeing Todd's "Situation", although it would get ratings.

Jenner said...

Sarah Palin . . . fake? If it's one thing that she is, it's REAL. Isn't that why the lefties hate her so much? She's real and she's actually proud of it.

That's why second guessing Sarah to try to figure out her master plan is so disappointing. If you simply take her at her word, she doesn't lie to you.

ricpic said...

If Todd Palin had evidence in the form of photos of McGuinness using a telephoto lens to take pictures of the Palins from his house and Palin then went over to McGuiness's house and punched him in the nose would that be assault or (if there is such a thing) justifiable assault? Does the law make allowances for a physical response to invasion of privacy?

Scott M said...

Does the law make allowances for a physical response to invasion of privacy?

If there were, I would think paparazzi would not be a viable career.

Gabriel Hanna said...

@Trooper York:

How she treats people in offhand little moments. You can really tell a lot about someone by the way they treat servers or other people in the little transactions of life. I think she will do great.

Uh huh. Take this hypothetical case. Let's suppose the editors cut out fifty instances of Palin being nice and polite to working people, and include one instance of Palin cussing out a waitress, and they also cut the part right before that where the waitress deliberately spilled a drink on Palin and told her she should have aborted Trig.

Would people know the "real" Sarah Palin? No.

It is very easy to take weeks of footage and edit it to tell whatever story you want. Nobody is a saint or an angel.

This used to happen on the "Real World" all the time, every story needs a hero and villian, and the editors get to decide who that is going to be.

Scott M said...

@Gabriel

Exactly my point. Too much liability. Either her detractors see it as propaganda if it all goes her way, or, if what you described happens, her detractors simply blame it on liberal Hollywood. Either way, you end up with a net zero real gain with loads of possibilities for something unfixable to happen. Potential epic fail.

LordSomber said...

Joe McGuinness = Mrs. Kravitz

ken in tx said...

Davy Crockett is reported to have kicked the shit out of several opponents. He was also very witty. When accused of lying during a run for congress, he replied with words to the effect that yes, he could run faster, jump higher, walk longer, and tell better lies than anyone running against him.

Gabriel Hanna said...

"Reality show" is a misnomer. It is the illusion of reality created using people who are not professional actors.

Every reality show has a story to tell, no one would watch it if it didn't. And that story is created by what they decide to show and what they leave out. And it won't be Sarah Palin telling her own story.

Scott M said...

All of this is small potatoes to Keith Olbermann getting suspended indefinitely without pay (per insta)

Every webhead in the world must be trying to link to the story because I haven't been able to get one pulled up yet.

Drew said...

BTW, did folks see the promo for this show? Palin takes the lord's name in vain more than once. Some of her Christian supporters will notice that.

I work in a church office and sometimes I say "shit" or "fuck."

Trooper York said...

Guy's I just don't agree. She will have some degree of contol over this and the editing excuse is just bullshit. A shanky whore like Danille Staub bitched about the editing but anyone who saw it could tell she was a pyscho.

I bet I watch more reality shows than anyone who posts here and let me tell you that the "real" person comes out.

This will not be a really contrived reality show like "The Real World" or "Jersey Shore." In those shows you can see where they are striving to bring content and drama. This will inherently be interesting just in the press of everyday life and the activities they engage in. The entertainment will be there more like shows like
"My Super Sweet Sixteen" "Say Yes to the Dress" and Joe McGuinness's
favorite "Toddlers and Tiara's."

Don't be such old fogies.

Scott M said...

Troop,

I bet I watch more reality shows than anyone who posts here and let me tell you that the "real" person comes out.

How many people do you know personally and well at that, that have been on reality tv?

Anonymous said...

I don't see why the Palins have a problem. Sarah and Todd both can and do use firearms. McGuiness should do the worrying about an 'accidental' discharge. It happens. Ask Dick Cheny's hunting partner.

Didn't McGuiness give up and move to Malibu?

Trooper York said...

This might even be more of a travel show. Like House Hunters.

Which is very contrived I grant you.

The format is that the house hunters have to choose between three possiblities. The fact is that they had already chosen and the crew scrambles to shoot other houses and apartments that they have no intention of buying. Like the cameramans mother's house or something.

This show will show off the natural beauty of Alaska and Palins frolicing in it. It is the new media. The new way things are done. Don't be afraid of it.

I know the Palin's aren't.

Trooper York said...

"How many people do you know personally and well at that, that have been on reality tv?"

On "What Not to Wear" about twelve because they were in the store and four who became real repeat customers.

Also two people who are in major reality shows on Bravo who I don't want to name.

I am not bullshitting you ScottM.

Some of the WNTW people were very happy with the experiance and others not so much. It seems to me that the one's who tried to be something they are not are the ones who are unhappy. Just sayn'

Trooper York said...

But I want to make one thing clear.

I do not know any midgets.

Trooper York said...

Also the dudes from "Scappers" grew up with my wife's family and her sister and her friends know them all very well. We see them at weddings and communions from Saint A's all the time.

Now that's a great show if you want to know what neighborhood guys from Brooklyn are like.

Shanna said...

The format is that the house hunters have to choose between three possiblities. The fact is that they had already chosen and the crew scrambles to shoot other houses and apartments that they have no intention of buying.

Oh No! My illusions have been shattered!!!

I caught a marathon of Top Chef Desserts the other day and I really like it! Even though I didn't like the regular Top Chef show. Desserts are more fun to watch for some reason.

Trooper York said...

I think "Scrappers" would be a great role model for the Palin show.

Natives in their natural habitat. So to speak.

Trooper York said...

Sorry Shana. I don't mean to burst anyone's bubble.

You do know that Snookie is a virgin?

Big Mike said...

I'm with Karl Rove; Sarah Palin's reality show stint is a strong counter-argument to the notion that she has the gravitas to be President of the United States.

Plus, I saw a portion of one episode where she's doing some rock climbing (sort of -- back before my knees went to Hell I hiked more challenging terrain than what she was attempting) and the first thought that went through my mind was that I wasn't looking at potential presidential material.

How would I feel if some dude I "knew was out to get me moved 15 feet away from my kids"? If he was out to physically attack me and me kids, I'd be concerned enough to keep on eye on the kids when they were playing outside, and keep a loaded rifle nearby. But he's only out to dig up some dirt -- I don't think it would have mattered to me all that much (beyond keeping the shades drawn in the bathroom and bedrooms).

john said...

Trooper -

Maybe the first season of Survivor fit your template. Now the people who make it on reality shows have their own agents, publicists, and coaches. There is no more "real you" in those shows, if there ever was.

But the Palen clip came across as relatively unscripted. They seem to have a good touch for that homey-ness.

(Oh, and when I earlier said "drop a trannie" I meant transmission. I do not have a homophobic bone in my body.)

traditionalguy said...

We need to live blog the first Sarah Palin's Alaska episode just to help Scot M face reality about reality shows. I believe Scot M must have been molested by a reality show as a young boy. He can help us by reporting when the Editors have slipped in Tina Fey doing stupid stuff spliced in between the Real Sarah's Courageous doing fishing clips.

Trooper York said...

"I'm with Karl Rove; Sarah Palin's reality show stint is a strong counter-argument to the notion that she has the gravitas to be President of the United States."

Gravitas? Who are you listining to ....Eric Fuckin Severiad. He's dead dude.

Palin is taking it out of the hands of the old school scumbag media and going into this century.

Facebook. Twitter. Reality TV.

Sorry if she isn't buying commerical time from the town crier.

Gravitas! Jeeeeez.

Trooper York said...

Besides...while she was rock climbing...at bet you were looking at her ass!!!!!!!!

Chennaul said...

Buddy Cianci-Democrat-

First resignation

Cianci was forced by law to resign from office for the first time in 1984 after pleading guilty to assaulting a Bristol, Rhode Island contractor with a lit cigarette, an ashtray and a fireplace log. Cianci claimed that the man had been having an affair with his wife, though both the man and Cianci's then-wife said that no relationship existed. Providence municipal regulations forbade a convicted felon from holding public office; ironically, a law Cianci himself promulgated a few years before with an eye to removing political opponents from the City Council.

Comeback

Cianci spent the next few years as a radio talk show host on Providence AM station 920 WHJJ and as a television commentator. In 1990 he successfully mounted a re-election campaign with the slogan, "He never stopped caring about Providence."

Trooper York said...

I agree that there are a lot of phonies in reality TV. None bigger than Camille Grammer who I mentioned prevously. My point is that all the publiscists and spin in the world doesn't help her when you see her in action. The camera doesn't lie. Editing is just an excuse. The truth will out.

Penny said...

Building a 14 foot fence...for the children.

And to think some say Sarah doesn't have a liberal bone in her body.

Scott M said...

I believe Scot M must have been molested by a reality show as a young boy.

Completely uncalled for. I didn't insult Palin or anyone else on this issue.

Anonymous said...

"Phony's."

Where did Miss Pasadena attend school? Too lazy to look up the plural of "phony," I guess.

I don't think that saying "cement slab" was an affectation.

Unknown said...

Miss Sarah ought just bitch slap the guy. Frank Rizzo came close a couple of times when McGinniss was starting out in Philadelphia and Joe quickly split.

Big Mike said...

I'm with Karl Rove; Sarah Palin's reality show stint is a strong counter-argument to the notion that she has the gravitas to be President of the United States.

Our current icon of gravitas is our current Vice President.

Tell me again about counter-arguments. Rove is sore because the 'Republican moderates' are becoming an endangered species.

The Scythian said...

"I don't know, Ann. It's like the Clampetts calling the swimming pool, 'The cement pond'."

No, it's not at all.

Trooper York said...

You're right ScottM. I am sure he meant it as a joke. Traditionalguy is a good man and was just fooling around. I respect your opinion and agree that you did nothing wrong.

Sorry pal. You are a good egg.

Anonymous said...

"Andrew Jackson, senator from Tennessee. (I don't know if he literally kicked anyone, but he certainly fought duels.)"

There was a failed assassination attempt on Jackson when he was President (both pistols jammed).

Old (and he was old then) Hickory started to beat the shit out of the guy. He was pulled/dragged off the guy by bystanders.

Trooper York said...

Of course as a good egg...you do know that all of the people like vicki who hate Sarah Palin...would be happy to abort you. Just sayn'

The Scythian said...

Trooper wrote:

"Palin is taking it out of the hands of the old school scumbag media and going into this century.

"Facebook. Twitter. Reality TV."

This Trooper guy is wise; you should listen to him.

Nixon on Laugh In. Reagan, a B-Movie actor, running for president. Clinton playing the sax on the Arsenio Hall Show. Teddy Roosevelt's self conscious journey west.

Lots of people said that these things indicated that they were unserious or lacked gravitas.

Strange how politicians who make an attempt to connect with the people are always accused of lacking gravitas and then frequently end up winning.

I'm no Palin fan, but she is by far the most media savvy politician (or at least political hopeful) operating in the United States today.

Irene said...

Lem said, "I love that football jersey she had on.."

When I first saw it, I thought, "cougar"!!!

Then I saw that it read, "Panthers."

Chennaul said...

Charles Sumner(January 6, 1811 – March 11, 1874) was an American politician and statesman from Massachusetts. An academic lawyer and a powerful orator, Sumner was the leader of the antislavery forces in Massachusetts and a leader of the Radical Republicans in the United States Senate during the American Civil War and Reconstruction, and the counterpart to Thaddeus Stevens in the United States House of Representatives. He jumped from party to party, gaining fame as a Republican. One of the most learned statesmen of the era, he specialized in foreign affairs, working closely with Abraham Lincoln. He devoted his enormous energies to the destruction of what he considered the Slave Power, that is the scheme of slave owners to take control of the federal government and block the progress of liberty. His severe beating in 1856 by South Carolina Representative Preston Brooks on the floor of the United States Senate helped escalate the tensions that led to war. After years of therapy Sumner returned to the Senate to help lead the Civil War. Sumner was a leading proponent of abolishing slavery to weaken the Confederacy. Although he kept on good terms with Abraham Lincoln, he was a leader of the hard-line Radical Republicans.

Preston Brooks- was a DEMOCRAT Congressman who entered the Senate to commit that violence. [the wiki conveniently omits that.]

Oh and people who want to run away from the REPUBLICAN label-you go ahead and do that.

jamboree said...

I think it's fun that Todd and his friends could and apparently did build the fence instead of getting their personal assistant to calls some contractors who would provide a cover for their illegal help who would come over and build the fence - which is what most other major politicians/media personalities would have done.

More isolated? Alaska is pretty isolated in and of itself. They'll probably eventually buy the property next door and knock the house down.

MPH said...

Betting dollars to donuts that Instapundit doesn't touch today's Noonan article.

Shanna said...

Palin is taking it out of the hands of the old school scumbag media and going into this century.

Facebook. Twitter. Reality TV.


If she’d done all that while maintaining her job as Governor of the state of Alaska I think we would be having a different conversation.

As it is, I want to see more on her resume than half term governor + facebook.

Jim Howard said...

"As it is, I want to see more on her resume than half term governor + facebook."

That's two more things than Obama had on his resume two years ago.

Obama has set the resume bar to zero, since President is the first actual job he's ever had.

And if you don't like it, just shut up and sit in the back of the bus.

Phil 314 said...

Sorry, but Sarah jumped the shark for me some time ago. Fortunately for me, in her present public position, freedom is just a remote click away

I'll say it now to get it out of the way:

President Palin would be the Republican version of President Obama

Shanna said...

That's two more things than Obama had on his resume two years ago.

And look how well that's gone.

Whether there is a double standard or not, she needs more on her resume. All this talk about Reagan being on tv is all well and good, but he was also a two term governor.

Big Mike said...

Oh, sh*t! Now Trooper and edutcher are on my case.

Well, sorry guys, but I'm going to stand on what I wrote.

Something that irked the h*ll out of me during the post-primary election was that your Sarah pushed Miller and O'Donnell past Murkowski and Castle, respectively, but then largely sat on her hands relative to her picked candidates (and relative to other "Momma Grizzlies" such as Haley). Yeah, at the last minute she made some effort on Miller's behalf, but it seems to me that if you're going to show up for a candidate in the primary, you owe it to your voters and to that candidate to campaign hard for them in the general.

I say that despite the fact that I still think it was Murkowski's fault that she lost the Alaska primary and Castle's fault that he blew his primary.

And I say that despite my complete agreement with Trooper that Palin demonstrated that with even ordinary skills at the new media a conservative no longer needs to crawl to a condescending, bigoted, TV "journalist" who couldn't clean a sink trap, much less a salmon.

Besides, IMHO my own wife's butt is way better than Sarah Palin's. Personal opinion and in no way influenced by the fact that I have had my wife learn how to use a gun and take regular target practice.

section9 said...

Palin is using social media better than ANY, REPEAT ANY Republican out there.

She's using television to brand herself as "normal" after the media and the D's have branded her as abnormal.

This is brilliant, no matter what Peggy Noonan says.

Chennaul said...

Don't get me started on Miller.

The courts had to force the letter out in the open where he essentially admits that somehow he graduated from West Point without ever really learning the honor code.

btw-The Right wing blogosphere treated their customers like idiots.

Essentially the attitude was what they don't know won't hurt them.

*********************************

Don't worry about peer pressure when it comes to telling the truth.

That will never steer you wrong.

Anonymous said...

I wonder if Peggy Noonan is jealous of Kathleen Parker's Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. Parker arguably won for going negative about Sarah Palin.

Roux said...

I have to admit that I think she's great. She's the opposite of Obama. He's a condescending jackass and she accepts people at face value. There's something to be said for that.

AlphaLiberal said...

"some dude you knew was out to get you"

Sarah Palin is very paranoid. And nasty.

He has a right to move there and her public attacks on her have been far worse than a person renting a house.

AlphaLiberal said...

I like the Peggy Noonan article better, where she calls Sarah Palin a "nincompoop."

The point is not "He was a great man and you are a nincompoop," though that is true. The point is that Reagan's career is a guide, not only for the tea party but for all in politics. He brought his fully mature, fully seasoned self into politics with him. He wasn't in search of a life when he ran for office, and he wasn't in search of fame; he'd already lived a life, he was already well known, he'd accomplished things in the world.