rahl

Beginning Of The End: Sarah Palin Hijacks The Tea Party Movement : Post Politics: Political News and Views in Tennessee

So, did the TEA partiers choose her, or is she taking control? I think this is an attempt to intigrate them into the mainstream Republican Party, otherwise they could actually become a legitimate third party option and split the republican party, basically handing the Democtrats every election from here on out.

Thoughts?

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Baraka_Guru

I can't say I know enough about Sarah Palin's activities these days, or what's happening to the Tea Party Movement, but I read that Palin hasn't ruled out running for president in 2012.

I don't think this is a coincidence.

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

dksuddeth

She did. After giving a speech to the higher ups in the TEA party movement in Tennessee, she turned right around and endorsed a big government, career politician, pandering lier in Rick Perry for TX governor.

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"no amount of force can control a free man, a man whose mind is free. No, not the rack, not fission bombs, not anything. You cannot conquer a free man; the most you can do is kill him."

Jetée

I share these sentiments. I'm too simplistic and oblivious to Palin's politics because they affect me none at all, neither now, or three years from now; but the issue for her now is to not let her name and one-time 'VP candidacy' be forgotten, even though she probably wasn't that deserving of the position in the first place.


To add... I did come across this snapshot of her address from the other night:


During the Q & A portion of Sarah Palin’s appearance at last night’s Tea Party Convention, she was caught on camera reviewing response cues pre-written on her hand. Enhanced images confirm that Palin indeed had the words “Energy”, “Tax cuts” and “Lift American Spirits” scribbled on her palm.

Let us put aside the fact that this proves that her softball questions were screened in advance, and that she needed help answering pre-screened softball questions — and focus on the fact that she has a clearly visible POW/MIA bracelet with her son Track’s name on it.

What is that about?

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As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world (that is the myth of the Atomic Age) as in being able to remake ourselves.

—Mohandas K. Gandhi

Seaver

I see the writing a non-point distraction. I see no difference in the notes in hand vs. notecard / teleprompter other than showing the lack of a decent operational staff.

As far as what Palin is trying to do, another non-issue. She holds no office so at this point is a non-politician making a speech at a leaderless mass in hopes of gaining a political foothold and trying to bring the teapartiers in-line with the hardcore right. Both will fail (hopefully).

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"Smite the rocks with the rod of knowledge, and fountains of unstinted wealth will gush forth." - Ashbel Smith as he laid the first cornerstone of the University of Texas

Shell

Jetee...I'd much rather see a couple of words written on her hand than someone who reads from tele-prompters constantly, like Obama did throughout his campaign.

I read in the paper this morning that Palin encouraged the Tea Party, in her speech, NOT to appoint a leader and NOT to identify itself with any other group.

She's growing on me. I like her.

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..."Say what you think. Those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind" ~ Dr. Seuss

The_Dunedan

The TEA movement (Taxed Enough Already) and the TEA Parties started out as something magnificent, a huge groundswell of popular anger against the RepublCrat policies which have brought the US to the brink of financial, political, and social collapse.

It is being progressively infiltrated by Right-Statists of the worst kind. I was a fan of Mrs. Palin from the get-go, because she had significant promise to be the first effective advocate that rural people* have had in Washington in many years. She took the "Good Oil Boys" of Alaska to the mat, canceled the Ketchikan-Gravina Bridge when it went over-budget (and was then savaged for this simple act of changing her mind), and worked to introduce effective** predator management to control invasive species and preserve both livestock and native wildlife. However, she is evidently an Israel-first-er, which sits not well with me at all, and appears to have slid off into the muck and mire of [R]-brand DC politics. I am -deeply- disappointed in both Mrs. Palin and the TEA movement for these latest developments. Tom Tancredo, Joseph Farah, and all their excrementitious ilk are cordially invited to suck rotten eggs. I'm all for a literacy test before voting, but -only- if it's applied in all languages. Naturalised Citizens are Citizens too, even if they -don't- speak English, and the US has no official language. The idea is to keep morons from voting, not to keep ethnic, cultural, or religious groups from voting.

This bunch doesn't want to eliminate or minimise State power, they just want it in "the right hands"...by which they mean Their Own Hands. Disgusting.



*As distinct from Jimmy Dean Farms and Monsanto Corp.
** As opposed to feel-good, do-nothing, Sierra Club Crap.

dippin

The teleprompter issue is a non issue, because she, and Obama, and everyone else uses them as much as anyone else. All major politicians have speech writers.

Vabeachdude

Agree, it's a sad state of affairs.

Derwood

Can we just stop now?

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Baraka_Guru

Well, I should probably add that I view the "Tea Party movement" not as a political or social movement so much as a bunch of angry supply-siders who decided to vent their anger through a few protests, Facebook, and Twitter. It was newsworthy for a while because of the sheer numbers, but that's the way the media works when it comes to large groups of vocal people.

That said, the Tea Party movement has yet to convince me that they are concerned about much beyond fiscal policy, and a particular period of fiscal policy decisions at that. They're against Keynesian recessionary economics--I get that. What I don't get is how they expect to do anything beyond, perhaps, influence decisions on emergency stimulus spending.

An attempt by someone who might want to run for president with the Republican Party to win the hearts of people voicing that they want little more than tax & spending cuts is a good idea.

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

Jetée

Yeah, I see it, too (the distraction point). It was news; not my opinion of anything for or against, but actual news of the event.

Kinda sorry I posted it in the first place because, just as you pointed out, it has distracted (or attracted) attention away from the original premise of this topic.

Just like Sarah Palin is one big distraction. She's not even a politician anymore. I see her more along the lines of 'freelance lobbyist', in my opinion. What do I care of whatever political agenda she has? especially if she can't host her own venue to do so, instead choosing to piggyback onto the convention for the TEA Partiers. (again, an irony considering what my first posts' random and additional aside prompted)

If she seriously wants to consider entering her name into the presidential ballot box again in a few years' time, she needs to realize that it's not going to be effective, if at all, to campaign for her own brand of politics now, when it is basically irrelevant to the general population at large to think about what a "rogue politician" has in mind to instill change in the American mindset and government.

One essential ingredient to politics (and comedy!) is timing.

__________________
As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world (that is the myth of the Atomic Age) as in being able to remake ourselves.

—Mohandas K. Gandhi

Seaver

The Tea Party started, as stated, as an upswell against wasteful spending.

It has, since then, devolved into a useless mass of conflicting ideology and has been infiltrated and taken over by the dingbats which would otherwise be kept far away from policy making (and rightfully so). So now they represent Republican ideology in the same way that Loose Change represents Obama's foreign policy.

__________________
"Smite the rocks with the rod of knowledge, and fountains of unstinted wealth will gush forth." - Ashbel Smith as he laid the first cornerstone of the University of Texas

rahl

I did see a brief clip of her in an interview at fox news either that night or the next day where she basically said that she wasn't opposed to running for President in 2012, and would if called upon by the country. That's not an exact quote and I'm too lazy to find and post the link, so take it for what it's worth.

__________________
"Your life is Yours alone...Rise up and live it"

Baraka_Guru

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

dippin

The problem is that incomplete fiscal policy at that.

The simple fact is that given future projections for SS, medicare, and military spending, taxes either have to go up or those programs have to be cut without a corresponding cut in taxes. Anyone actually campaigning on that is, of course, political suicide.

rahl

Thanks BG

__________________
"Your life is Yours alone...Rise up and live it"

Shell

...the above youtube video of Palin does nothing but make that CBS correspondent sound ridiculous. The correspondent said the 3 words on Palin's hand made it appear that she doesn't know her facts. Are you kidding? It makes it look like she doesn't want to miss mentioning 3 key issues while on the spot in front of the camera, tired from speaking appointments, and under public scrutiny for any teensy flaw including any hesitation in her voice. That can hardly be compared to Obama's reliance on the teleprompters where he read every word of what he was saying, and that, more than likely, a speechwriter wrote.

I know you all must agree but the question remains...why is CBS trying to roast her by using something so ridiculous as that? That tells me they credit her as a viable threat to their own personal political allegiance and want to make her look bad but can't find any material. I wouldn't want to make my living doing that.

And as far as saying she's open for whatever 2012 brings her way...that's no surprise. But I doubt seriously she would take that on because of the strain on her family. With that being said though, dangling that carrot in front of everybody is upping her desirability for anything else she wants to pursue....precisely her plan, most likely.

__________________
..."Say what you think. Those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind" ~ Dr. Seuss

Willravel

Fox News took over a very small libertarian movement last year and now the GOPPTB are either positioning Palin for a 2012 run or are building up an even stronger cult of personality to bolster her Fox News show. If I were a GOP strategist, I'd probably be grooming Palin to be a fifth media face, after Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck, and ORly, but they may not be objective enough to realize how badly President Obama would defeat her in a presidential race.

ratbastid

When I saw him speak as a candidate, there wasn't a single teleprompter in the place. He did about forty five minutes of EXCELLENT stump speech armed with only a microphone, then took questions for another hour. Sorry to pour some cold fact on your smear, but there it is. The man is an amazing speaker, and it's sad that you can't even let him have that.

One telling thing about Sara's Hand... Notice that the word "budget" is crossed out in the phrase "budget cuts" and replaced with "tax cuts". So she knows that selling ACTUAL small government, in terms of reduced services, etc, is a non-starter. People want to get, but don't want to give. So talking "budget" cut is a bad idea. "Tax" cut, though, people go for that. So let's write THAT on the ol' hand...

dippin

Again, as shown in this very thread, Obama relies on the teleprompter as much as Palin does, if not less. He relies on speech writers as much as she does. Just like Palin also had a ghost writer for her book.

Regarding the hand, it is drawing attention because its amateurish and because, well, its rare that someone needs a cheat sheet for basic principles one one is supposed to be for.

I don't think it matters much, but the notion that anyone who says anything about that is trying to "roast" her is nonsense.

Derwood

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"You can't shoot a country until it becomes a democracy." - Willravel

aceventura3

The thing about Palin that is so appealing is that she is not "perfect", she is not trying to be, she knows her weaknesses, and she takes the barbs with a smile. As most major politicians evolve into national prominence they have had the opportunity to fine tune their message and delivery over years and years of practice, trial and error. Palin is doing it in the full light of unrelenting national coverage. Imagine being a mom and a mayor of a town with a population the size of a large high-school and a few years later being the most prominent non-elected official in contention for a Presidential run. Palins history suggests that she will work "like the dickens" to improve her skills and before you know it, she will be as smooth as some of our great politicians who took a life time to perfect their skills. Palin is a reflection of the people in the Tea Party, not perfect but they do the best they can. The more "elite" politicians and media people attack her, the more she is loved. Their best strategy would be to ignore her.

A great tea Party ticket ticket would be Palin and Rice, in either order. The Republican Party would be history.

P.S. - And I am a Danica Patrick fan too. I will be watching a NASCAR race for the first time in about 30 years. There is something about those feisty brunets.

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"Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on lunch."
"It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions on vegetarianism while the wolf is of a different opinion."
"If you live among wolves you have to act like one."
"A lady screams at the mouse but smiles at the wolf. A gentleman is a wolf who sends flowers."

fresnelly

Aren't you worried that would merely split the conservative vote and give the Democrats a majority?

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aceventura3

I hear some Republican "elites" don't like Palin. I was watching MSNBC, Morning Joe yesterday and Joe was saying Republicans he talks to don't like her but they don't have the courage to say it publicly. If that is what being a Republican is about, the party will be history, having the courage to do what you think is right is number 1 in my book. I am not worried. In fact, the Tea Party movement is making Obama move to the center, the movement can not be ignored by either party.

__________________
"Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on lunch."
"It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions on vegetarianism while the wolf is of a different opinion."
"If you live among wolves you have to act like one."
"A lady screams at the mouse but smiles at the wolf. A gentleman is a wolf who sends flowers."

Baraka_Guru

What makes you think Palin isn't a part of the elite?

Or are you merely stating that she doesn't come across as such?

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

dippin

When you are a millionaire, former VP candidate, who now makes a living doing paid speaking engagements and campaigning for major candidates in your own party, you ARE the elite. Ron Paul might make the "elite" of the party nervous, but Palin? She's as much an outsider as Bush was, which is to say they portray themselves as such, but are the furthest thing from it.

Cimarron29414

While I like Palin as a person, she simply lacks the political savvy to be an effective President. I think she's too trusting (naive?) to ever "get it". The hand writing is a good example. It's just reflective of not foreseeing how its presence would create an opportunity for cyncism and attack - and she didn't get that. I don't consider her to be unitelligent, I just think the Presidency requires some intangible quality which she is lacking. I can't see a scenario where I would vote for her as President.

I don't view the TEA party as trying to create a viable third party. I think it's more along the lines of creating a voting block which is large enough to encourage a candidate's/representative's fiscal responsibility, regardless of the candidate's other politcal beliefs.

Your pay scale doesn't make you "elite". Your attitude towards those who make less than you makes you elite.

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Gives a man a halo, does mead.

"Here lies The_Jazz: Killed by an ambitious, sparkly, pink butterfly."

Baraka_Guru

So she's an elitist in "populists' clothing"?

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

Cimarron29414

I am white collar. I hold the "very competent" trash collector in higher regard than the "complete fuck-up" CEO. Pay scale doesn't matter to me. All I care about is whether you are honest, hard working, and have integrity. I believe Palin looks at it the same way. I believe that most other politicians and most other professionals look at it the other way around - because they are elitists.

...at least, that's my take on it.

__________________
Gives a man a halo, does mead.

"Here lies The_Jazz: Killed by an ambitious, sparkly, pink butterfly."

roachboy

i think folk should watch this film about populist faces in the crowd:

A Face in the Crowd (1957)

i'm confused by the discourse of inwardness that's so big in conservative circles these days---even more than during the bush period, which was that of manly men being all resolvy and shit. for reasons that elude me now i watched the last glenn beck-sarah palin love-fest and was kinda amazed at the whole thing--just how long they spent talking about how persecuted each is at the hands of the pointy-headed elite (who *are* these people anyway?) before moving into a long strange sequence of monologues about trust. who can you trust in a persecuting world? how do you know who a good person is? the two of them decided that george washington was a good example of a good person.

it made my head hurt.

there's something really quite odd about this language of inwardness. i understand the words but not why it would have any persuasive power---i mean watching people on television talking about how inward they are, how "real" and "authentic"---it's a little strange don't you think?




on the teabaggers: personally i think the more visible they get the more alienated folk will become by them. it's curious that so much attention was paid to palin's speech and not to the delightfully racist opening speech on the first night of that gathering of those authentic and inward-looking regular folk.

but i confuse easily. and my head's all pointy.

__________________
a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle
spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear

it make you sick.

-kamau brathwaite

aceventura3

I use the term pretty loosely. By "elite", I often refer to a group of people in various walks of life who have a pretentious attitude and act as if they are superior to others. On a true definition of the word Palin is certainly in a "elite" class, as would any nationally known and influential public figure would be.

True. Using Reagan as an example, he was "elite" in many ways but came across as a very down to earth person. One of my biases against Obama is that he is too smooth, too tailored, too "perfect"...I like a little dirt, wrinkles, weathering, etc. I am a Maryann guy, not a Ginger guy, if you ever seen Gilligan's Island.

__________________
"Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on lunch."
"It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions on vegetarianism while the wolf is of a different opinion."
"If you live among wolves you have to act like one."
"A lady screams at the mouse but smiles at the wolf. A gentleman is a wolf who sends flowers."

dc_dux

There is no Tea Party movement.

What started as a grass roots effort is now an unstructured collection of disparate interests and certainly not populist.

And Palin has aligned herself with the most extreme....the non-populists, non-libertarian, extremist conservatives....those at the recent convention.

Where the first speaker bashed Hispanics and Blacks and suggests that Obama, "a committed Socialist ideologue", would not have been elected if not for the fact that "we do not have a civics, literacy test before people can vote."

... a second speaker shouting out that Obama " "has ignored our history and our heritage, arrogantly declaring to the world that we are no longer a Christian nation. He's elevated immorality to a new level, setting aside the entire month of last June to celebrate gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender pride…"

... followed by speeches from the "birther movement" proclaiming the Obama presidency is illegal.

And Palin, in later, post-conference remarks, talking about declaring war on Iran.

This "Tea Party" movement will certainly not attractive the disenchanted Independents.

__________________
"The perfect is the enemy of the good."
~ Voltaire

aceventura3

At some point this nation will have its theoretical honest dialog regarding race. The societal issue in question here is a bit more involved than simply calling people "racist."

__________________
"Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on lunch."
"It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions on vegetarianism while the wolf is of a different opinion."
"If you live among wolves you have to act like one."
"A lady screams at the mouse but smiles at the wolf. A gentleman is a wolf who sends flowers."

roachboy

see dc's post directly above yours ace.

__________________
a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle
spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear

it make you sick.

-kamau brathwaite

dc_dux

Does bashing Hispanics and Blacks and suggesting that Obama would not have been elected if not for the fact that "we do not have a civics, literacy test before people can vote"..contribute to an honest dialogue?

This is who Palin has aligned herself with..by choice....along with the social/religious conservative extremists.

__________________
"The perfect is the enemy of the good."
~ Voltaire

aceventura3

I actually doubt the Tea Party movement or whatever you call it will be an issue in a few years.

But, on the Iran issue what do you think of the latest developments, and what do you suggest be done? More talk?

__________________
"Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on lunch."
"It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions on vegetarianism while the wolf is of a different opinion."
"If you live among wolves you have to act like one."
"A lady screams at the mouse but smiles at the wolf. A gentleman is a wolf who sends flowers."

dc_dux

The true populists among the Tea baggers are the ones who are not only upset by bank bail-outs, but at the same time, want strong regulations to control the banks/financial institutions. They are not free market extremists.

The true populists are the ones who might be upset with government spending, but also want govt intervention to help Main Street instead of Wall Street.

The true populists arent screaming to not roll back the tax cuts on the top bracket.

__________________
"The perfect is the enemy of the good."
~ Voltaire

aceventura3

I agree the nation is not ready for the dialog, if that is the point.

---------- Post added at 10:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:58 PM ----------

Or, each individual has their own opinion on various issues but are brought together by one common theme of wanting to be heard.

Some will see the conflicts on issues, while others see what is common, and a few see both.

P.s. - After my business goes bankrupt, perhaps my future is in fortune cookies, what do you think?

__________________
"Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on lunch."
"It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions on vegetarianism while the wolf is of a different opinion."
"If you live among wolves you have to act like one."
"A lady screams at the mouse but smiles at the wolf. A gentleman is a wolf who sends flowers."

dc_dux

Declaring war on Iran, as Palin and other neo-con extremists have suggested, is nuts....with the potential of exploding inside Iraq (whose majority is more favorable to Iran than the US) as well. Is that really what you want?

Absolutely, more talk...but not with Iran...but with EU, Russia and China.

Whats the rush to war, ace?

There is no intel that suggests Iran is anywhere near close to having the capacity to threaten its neighbor (Israel) or us. On the other hand, declaring war will certainly result in a jihadist call to action.

__________________
"The perfect is the enemy of the good."
~ Voltaire