Palin joins NCNA, more fodder for political herds

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and University of Alaska President Mark Hamilton both spoke at the new Lena Point fisheries facility dedication in Juneau on April 28, 2009.The message arrived late Monday afternoon just as I was about to close the laptop—Gov. Sarah Palin (R-Alaska) joined the National Council for a New America. House Republican Whip Eric Cantor also said in the announcement more “local and national leaders” would be added. I pondered the fascination with Palin, especially in pomp media.

I coined the term ‘pomp media’ for self-congratulatory, puffed up media organizations whose brands are experiencing declining profits but whose control of messaging the populace is stronger than ever. Katie Couric is a great example—a newscaster who calmly listened to a vice-presidential candidate make an extremely stupid statement yet is too uninformed to question the candidate’s political gaffe. The Atlantic’s Andrew Sullivan wrote about Palin on Sunday. He said, “[G]iven this blog's coverage of governor [sic] Palin's various strange stories about Trig, and her continued refusal to provide any medical records to confirm her account…” What about those strange allegations describing Vice-President Joe Biden’s daughter’s recreational habits? Will Andrew ask him? I mean if children are fodder for political herds, can we be inclusive?

And then I happened across words of wisdom in a baseball blog.

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Do GOP leaders realize the opposition declared a bloody war of ideas in October?

Donkeys are cute, but if you have ever been around them, you'll find they can be obstinate and downright mean sometimes. Frequently their actions make no sense at all.Conservative talk show icon Rush Limbaugh is the most recent target of Dem strategists in what many conservatives perceive as a political war. Popular analyst Sean Hannity has had his turn, and so have some conservative journalists. Why do conservatives believe there’s a war of ideas and an official assault on celebs and others who don’t agree with the Democratic move to bigger government, keeping the underclass locked in plantation mentality and promoting socialist ideals?

One reason is a virtual declaration of war by a popular leftist blog site catered to by any Democrat who wields power. This was reported by the conservative blog Atlas Shrugs in October, 2008. Conservative blogger Pamela Geller wrote, “Those of us who swim in these waters know how malevolent and dangerous the leftard blogs are. A shark infested cesspool.”

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Halloween—will Joe the Plumber, McCain and Obama walk the streets alongside Miley Cyrus?

On Halloween there are always the requisite witches, pirates and rock stars. But with the general election days away, we’re guaranteed a few glimpses of political personalities. Not long ago, I heard a tap on my office door and there stood Obama, at least from the neck up, courtesy of an amazingly realistic mask. My daughter’s boyfriend has had a ball with that one. I threatened to take the broom to him if he tries to go vote while wearing that mask. A West Hollywood (Calif.) man hung an effigy of Palin from his chimney, perhaps the most tasteless and biased Halloween display this year.

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Hatchet jobs on McCain, Palin and Obama fill pulp and glossy tabloids

It’s that time of the election year again, and reportage sizzles like the video clip of Madonna doing her sexual gyrations just before she fell on her fanny. This month’s New York magazine has hatchet jobs on Sen. John McCain and an analysis of the mess Sen. Barack Obama will confront if he wins the presidency (after the two year reign of ineptitude displayed by a Democrat-led Congress). There are lurid tales about Palin and Obama in a popular tabloid, and the writers are not sympathetic.

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Anchor does Rodney King as Townhall Presidential Debate approaches

There’s a wistful tone in an article at the CNN blog by anchor Campbell Brown as she asks our presidential candidates to stop the negative campaigning. You can tell she’s earnest, and there’s an echo of Rodney King’s famous, ‘Can we all just get along?” But the truth is the presidential election of 2008 is a race that has not only drawn record voter registrations. This race, beginning with the primaries, has evoked a verbal bullet spray of tipping points, from accusations of gender bias, media bias, age bias, racial bias and a governor from Alaska who reminds me very much of the enduring lead female character in the drama ‘Fargo.’ Toss in another vice president who thought Franklin D. Roosevelt talked to America about the stock market crash of 1929 on TV and you begin to feel a bit like you’re in a Woody Allen movie. On the top of one ticket and on the bottom of another are two basically unknown quantities in politics on the federal level. To ask for kindness may be a laudable goal, but to expect it is naïve. This election has as many twists and turns as a backcountry road during a blizzard and really isn't very different from past elections in that regard.

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Fey as Palin doesn't come close to hilarious SNL bailout skit

**See followup below. Apparently SNL bowed to liberal pressures to take down the video satirizing Democratic members of Congress and President George W. Bush. So much for liberal support for freedom of speech. Now you see why I am so critical of Democratic supporters about that issue. They only believe in freedom of speech if it's beneficial to them. ***

On Saturday Night Live yesterday, Tina Fey did her Sarah Palin, but it really wasn't very funny; SNL writers missed so many opportunities to skewer Joe Biden in the Vice Presidential Debate skit. The Palin-Biden skit just wasn't well-written.  But where the writers zinged it was in the bailout video, the one we should all be talking about. Frankly, I've tried hard to find a person facing foreclosure. I've quizzed people in the grocery, at the gas pumps, and just the other day at the ATM where I finally struck gold. The woman I was chatting with told me she did know a couple who'd had to file bankruptcy because of their mortgage.

"I'm sorry to hear that," I said. "Did they get to keep their home?"

"No! They're buying another one for about $300,000," she said, adding that she was shocked.

On Friday I received a newsletter from my bank. The header to one story said, "Fannie Mae Offers Solutions for 'Underwater' Home Loans." 'Underwater' is bankspeak for a mortgage that exceeds the value of  the property. The bank is now offering those with a Fannie Mae-backed mortgage a new program that allows borrowers to refinance up to 120 percent of the property's current value. Do you think maybe this is what Gov. Sarah Palin was brave enough to allude to in her debate response when she said the word, 'responsibility?" She is the only politician I've heard who's even mentioned this.

The SNL video is hilarious. The show rarely comes close to its glory days, but this video skewering Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank and President George W. Bush makes me remember what a cutting edge show once did. As for Fey, she's gotten tiresome. Maybe she could think about doing Sen. Robert Byrd? All she'd have to do is put on a white wig and fall asleep on the Senate floor while she's standing up there giving a speech.

Update on Tuesday, October 7, 2008 at 12:16AM by Kay B. Day, Editor

I've often said liberals want freedom of speech as long as they're slamming others they don't agree with.

Saturday Night Live has pulled the video that satirized Barney Frank, Nancy Pelosi, George Bush and George Soros.

Apparently, the show is relying on Fey's impression of Gov. Palin to carry them through.

I think it would be a great idea to write the sponsors of the show. I don't plan to buy a single product or service from anyone sponsoring SNL.

I'd do the same thing if the show bowed to conservative pressure. I'm kind of like that when it comes to freedom of speech.

Trio of winners as Palin reclaims her brand, Biden sticks to his and Ifill does her job

Issues surrounding the Vice-Presidential debate at Washington University held potential for controversy—Gwen Ifill’s objectivity, Gov. Sarah Palin’s newcomer status and Sen. Joe Biden’s habit of exaggerating stories. That last is somewhat understandable. Biden is an excellent speaker and a great teller of tales. I don’t think last night’s debate had a single winner; in fact, all three participants were winners. The pitfalls for Palin and Ifill however were far riskier than Biden’s.

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