It was Sarah Palin’s night.
After a day when the “birthers” took a lot of heat from the Tea Partiers. Breitbart sounding beyond himself.
“I was talking to her,” said Breitbart. “She was asking me if I thought it was was to bring it up, and I said, no. We have a lot of strong arguments to be making, and that is a primary argument. That is an argument for the primaries that did not take hold. The arguments that these people right here are making are substantive arguments. The elections in Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts were all won not on birther, but on substance. And to apply to this group of people the concept that they’re all obsessed with the birth certificate, when it’s not a winning issue–”
Winning issue? How about it’s no issue at all and wouldn’t be if Barack Obama was white. Expect the Tea Party PAC to denounce “birthers” by Monday.
But tonight it was all about Sarah.
Sarah hits Obama on national security.
“Thank you very much… Thank you so much. God bless you. … .. I am so proud to be an American! … Do you love your freedom? …”
Then asked for anyone in the audience who serves their country to stand up, thanking them for our freedom.
“Happy birthday Ronald Reagan.”
Not forgetting to give a shout out to “a guy with a truck,” Scott Brown.
After her opening salvo, a little over 6 minutes into it, Sarah Palin turned immediately to national security. Her main target, Barack Obama. “We need a commander in chief not a professor at law standing at the lectern.”
But somewhere in her harangue she got lost. “Wonder if Alaska is still the beacon of hope for their cause…” Oops.
Sarah to self, gather yourself girl, don’t lose it now.
Then, on she went focusing on foreign policy.
“How’s that hopey, changey stuff workin’ out for ya?”
“One number we are sure of is the unemployment number. … The list of broken promises is long,” Palin continued, clearly beginning her pitch to people that she’s not the same gal who blew interviews, went rogue, and begged out of being governor, even as she reminded people she was Alaska’s governor.
As for health care, pass “market based solutions,” like allowing people to buy insurance across states, tort reform, the usual.
While making sure to get in energy and her “all of the above” strategy suggestion into the mix.
It’s up to you to make the final judgment, but the biggest applause came when Palin mentioned her special-needs child, talking about all people being welcome.
At the end, once again Sarah invoked Reagan, adding his “shining city.”
As expected, the Tea Party crowd loved her.
At least she had her talking points down, making sure to lead on national security. Because Sarah’s target tonight was Barack Obama, and it wasn’t a coincidence that it sounded like a campaign.
I’m starting to warm up to Palin…She is just so brilliant and will be make a perfect President…Sarah Palin 2012…lol
Good lord, she will not stop until she is president of something be it the Tea Party movement or commander and chief of the USA.
shows you how good American marketing campaigns can be. Disgusting.
I know my sense of humor is a little different sometimes –
But am I the only one laughing my *ass* off as Sarah Palin’s big speech is precisely opposite the very First televised NASCAR Race of the NASCAR season ? LOL
My sister just called and asked me “Why is Sarah Palin telling jokes about Obama reading a teleprompter…When she also does it too?”…I told my sister simply this “Sarah is hypocrite and her fans don’t care if she is one. Just as long as she says hateful things about Obama.”
There two groups of people supporting Palin the Tea Partiers and racist. The latter being a sick group of individuals I’ve met personally who have told me they enjoy Sarah putting down the “Black guy”…sick
The media seems to be falling head over heels with Sarah Palin…She’s their new “It Girl”.
Woweee!!!! She does plays hardball. As we play patty-cake.
In the meantime, this ayem Barack Obama tells Democratic activists that ”we need to change the way we work with the other party.”
The president says Democrats can’t solve all the nation’s problems by themselves. He says Democrats ”need to extend our hands to the other side.”
“Woweee!!!! She does plays hardball. As we play patty-cake.”-Ramsgate
It’s because Obama sees himself as a peace maker…While soon to be President Palin sees herself as a warrior aka bomb thrower, take no prisoners type etc…I think Palin is just a female version of George Bush…This woman will lead us into more wars I can feel it…She’ll tell her followers it’s gods plan just like Bush did….
Ohhhh? I thought that is what he has done all year. To what affect?
Good evening all. Still no snow Ramsgate? Where are you Marie?
No Djjl, nada, nothing.
Just saw on the news that we won’t be getting any either. It passed just south of us and drifted out to sea.
Imagine Jersey and even Staten Island were buried. and they are just . . . what. . . 3 miles south of here. . . . at most.
Lucky for you, Ramsgate.
No one can any longer dispute who or what these tea baggers are after this convention. They have proudly revealed themselves.
Trouble is, adjectives change nothing. Name calling changes nothing other than drive them deeper into the fabric of American culture. These are people who really believe that because they are right about God and heaven, they are right about anything and everything.
I have tried to get to the bottom of such thinking — would love a genuine psychological analysis of what actually drives people like these. I would love to discount them with the term stupid, but that not only doesn’t help, but doesn’t describe all of them — at least I don’t think so.
It is like trying to get inside the head of a suicide bomber which I must admit seems easier than getting inside the heads of some Republicans.
Is it Greed? Fear? Fearful greed? Ignorance? Willful ignorance? Is it as simple as trying to understand the Catholic Church when confronted by the fact that the earth wasn’t the center of the universe, thus proving they were wrong about something, anything? And being wrong challenged their pitiful authority?
And to think these people, drunk on their own sense of power and certitude and backwater authority, since the election of Scott Brown, are insisting that they are equipped to manage the nation’s economy and national security.
It’s frustrating when the stupidity, as well as the marvels in life have exceeded the adjectives to describe them…and the feelings that get stirred up by them. We need some new expressions.
UNDER THE THUMB OF THE DUMB
That appears what will happen if conservatives take over the congress. We will appear Under the thumb of the dumb.
Notice Ms ALMA GANTRY doesn’t metion that we will also appear under the thumb of the corporations.
http://www.democratz.org
Disgusting, not. I read a little bit of elitism in these comments here, but that’s to be expected anymore. Sarah is real hope, not the manufactured hype of the hope dope currently occupying the White House. The dems are in deep doo doo and you all know it. That surely s@cks for you. As for a TelePrompter, please show me a video in which one is displayed during Sarah’s speech.
I used to give some of you credit for brains, but not anymore. You are all hanging on to Obama lies that he made during his campaign as he repeatedly shows America that he says one thing and does another. It makes you all look rather gullible and frankly, foolish. Oh well. Keep dreaming that the amorphous Obama is anything and everything. I know one thing about him that is painfully clear. He is a deceitful politician of the worst kind through and through.
Oh, yeah. Nice little raaacist comment, Taylor. It always comes in handy as a last resort.
Morning all – I caught part of her speech–you know the part where she says we have to ask for “divine intervention.” Now that’s scary.
Ramsgate says:
07 February 2010 at 12:19 am
just so you know, I live in upstate NY and we didn’t have one flake of snow.
As to your comment – they have their own world-view and they aren’t about to read, listen to or hear anything that is different from that world-view. It scares them.
I was talking to a woman yesterday who told me that a woman was created to complement the man and therefore she was not his equal. Well, for any of you who have read my comments for more than two years, you know that I went off the deep end with that comment. She then told me that her new pastor is a woman and that the members of her church are upset and want a man. When asked why – well that’s the way it has always been.
What I’m trying to get at is that fear of and ignorance and the refusal to look at the world in a different way than from what one is used to is downright scary. I feel sorry for these people because nothing will ever change if they have their way, which means of course not only the dumbing down of this country but losing our place in the world.
I am such a dud! I got cozy in bed last night to watch Palin’s speech and fell asleep and completely missed it!
The one thing I admire in Palin is that she is not afraid to take on the establishment in her party. I wish we had her equal on the left.
Jane~ I love your return to our threads
I think there was a study done recently on fearfulness as children and which world view one holds as an adult.Turns out fearful children become conservative as adults.
I know this is overly simplistic but if you are raised to believe in a vengeful God,seems like that would make children fearful.
I think I would have to leave the country should Sarah become President. That’s a National Catastrophe if I ever saw one. ;( Listening to that speech was like nails draggin’ across a chalkboard.
“Sarah is real hope, not the manufactured hype of the hope dope currently occupying the White House.”
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That is the hands down FUNNIEST bunch of crazy as a shithouserat BULLSHIT I have heard in a LONG, LONG time!!!!
Can you POSSIBLY be stupid enough to actually think that trip?
“Oh, yeah. Nice little raaacist comment, Taylor. It always comes in handy as a last resort.”
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YER EVEN STUPIDER then I thought!!!! But then I guess you agree they should have had them a “Literacy test” so them folks what don’t speaks them no english or them darkies couldn’t vote huh?
I am so glad when you crawl out from under the rock you normally lurk under to let us know just how fu*king stupid you meat puppets really, REALLY are.
“Oh I get my news from tha newspapers” can you tell us what papers you read? :O I read all of them” but can you give us the NAMES of some of the papers you read? “O all of them”
BWAHAHAHAHAHA!
Hey Sarah, have you asked limpwithnoballs to babysit your retarded child yet?
Hey dumber then dog shit, go on over to rawstory.com and they have a GREAT pick of your hero standing behind teleprompters.
You really, REALLY are even STUPIDER then I ever could have imagined!
Lake Lady says:
07 February 2010 at 9:44 am
LL – I still read all the blogs and comments even if I don’t comment. I’m just so busy these days and seem to have my finger in everything. Thank goodness us older folk don’t need quite as much sleep as the younger ones.
Iceblinkjm says:
07 February 2010 at 9:57 am
I hear you. The “divine intervention” sent me over the wall which is why I’m glad I didn’t catch the whole thing.
I happen to agree with LL about Palin taking on the establishment; however, she uses facts to her liking. And what I’ve been hearing is that Obama is a facist, communist, socialist from many of the “teabaggers.” I wish they’d learn the definition of these “isms.” And how can they use these terms when he bailed out Wall Street? They really don’t make sense to me but unfortunately these folks have a lot of people buying into their snake oil.
amabomon says:
07 February 2010 at
4:01 am
It seems that you have on single problem guiding you – you hate Obama. If you read here, you couldn’t come to the ridiculous conclusions you have – at least not unless you have a truly warped mind.
Sarah Palin is a symbol of everything that is wrong with this country.
djjl says:
07 February 2010 at 10:36 am
AMEN to that and succinctly put.
Hi djjl.
“Tea-baggers.” It’s really just an intentional, deliberate epithet; it’s not cute, it’s not funny, it’s not smart.
Words have meaning ; just as the “n” word reveals a deliberate racism on the part of the speaker, so too, does “tea bagger” reveal a deliberate intent to demean. There are some terms that are deliberately offensive. Using them reveals a mindset on the part of the speaker.
“Tea-bagging” is a sexual act. To refer to people as a sexual act, because you don’t like their political beliefs, is condescending and insulting, and it’s juvenile. It is being deliberately offensive.
For years, I’ve heard Rush Limbaugh, G.W.Bush and other right-wing propagandists refer to the Democratic Party as the “Democrat Party.” It was a deliberate attempt to separate Democrats from Democratic. And, it was always offensive, stupid, and juvenile.
I’ll repeat my standard point: I am not a member of any movement, including the tea party movement. But they are Americans who deserve to have their own political beliefs without being referred to as a sexual act, in such a demeaning term as “tea-bagger.”
“Sarah Palin is a symbol of everything that is wrong with this country.”-djjl
Yes, I so agree with this statement.The most scary thing about Sarah is that she could very well be our next President. My parents laughed about Ronald Regean becoming President & Bush II…they really believed the country would never elect these people. But Americans did twice!!!…I laugh at Sarah Palin being President because I know it can happen and the media wants it too…They are pushing this woman down our throats an will not stop until she is our new commander an chief…
Noogan says:
07 February 2010 at 11:04 am
In all honesty I have never heard the term used as meaning a sexual act and I worked in the reproductive field for almost 30 years. Maybe my age is really showing.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the Republicans nominated as their presidential candidate T-bagger (those are the things that they staple to their mailers) Sarah Palin to run against President Obama? It would be fantastic to see Pailn walk onto the stage at their first presidential debate and say “Hello Mr. President. May I call you Osama?” Obama could then ask her about her connections to the Alaska Independence Party. We know that Todd was a dues paying member of that group from 1995 to 2002. We also know that Sarah sent a taped message to the group during their convention in 2008, as governor, telling them to “keep up the good work.” Then perhaps Sarah can explain to all of us how the Posse Comitatus movement is connected to the Tea Party movement? Palin is an unqualified buffoon. Peace
Jane Austen says:
07 February 2010 at 8:18 am
Hi Jane:
Greetings, from the gloriously sunny Big Apple. You put it very well. It is beyond scary.
Your examples add to the warehouse full of anecdotes that demonstrate just how messed our country is right now. There is no other way to describe it: We are truly f***ed. It is stories like yours that triggered my own post. Who are these people and what makes them tick?
Certain sectors of the establishment (Republican party/Fox News/Corporate America) know just how stupid the American public/electorate/government is and without using Latin, like the Catholic Church and Law, they have in the light of day taken over this country and have gotten away with it! We bailed out these voracious monsters that were consuming the US economy, brought them back to life, and now we await the next economic/oil bubble that will finally deal the final death blow to our culture. The most unbelievable part is that they did it in the light of day right under the noses of a willfully stupid public.
Worse the Democratic Party — the party that was supposed to protect the people — is at best a willing accomplice does not have the intestinal fortitude or the guile to countervail the culprits.
This is what happens when the pigs finally kill Farmer Jones and move into the farmhouse.
“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
And we thought Animal Farm was strictly political. It never was.
So Jane where does that leave us? Well, it brings me back to Sarah Palin and the one thing she said that got a rise out of me: she asked, How’s that hopey-changey thing going?
“Sarah Palin is a symbol of everything that is wrong with this country?”
Come on. Really? Sarah Palin? You’re giving her far too much power with this gross overstatement of fact. Liberals and Democrats are getting sucked into a pattern here, a transparent one: You continue to project massive power onto Sarah Palin; you’re at risk of creating the very thing you fear and loathe most; the more you talk about her, the more people pay attention. Liberals keep her in the press constantly; yet, they can’t figure out why her legend keeps growing. It’s because you keep feeding it.
And, the more you keep feeding it, the more you’re compelled to rip at the very “symbol” you’re creating. It’s a vicious cycle, but not one that is propitious for Democrats.
Republicans just wish she’d disappear; Democrats are the ones giving her power.
Race in this country is SUCH a complicated issue. I know as a liberal mine is not an acceptable opinion but one of my worries during the primary, when I saw how race was playing out, was that race would become an impediment to substance in an Obama administration.
I understand and share the liberal dream of an AA individual rising above history and achieving the highest office in our country, but I did not belive that now was the time for it because of all the problems that needed to be fixed.I worried that it would distract and polorize.
I was right. It distraced and polorized within the our Democratic party and if that was true,for sure it would throughout the country. Having been accused of being a racist because I supported Hillary I began to understand the power of that accusation. I think that accusation alone drove some of the so called puma movement out of the party.
Now it is mudding the waters again. No doubt some of Tea Party’s reactionary uprising is motivated by racial animus but there exists within it a large branch who consider themselves without racial bias. To fling that at them only serves to reinforce their belief that Dems are snobby,self satisfied elitists.
Noogan says:
07 February 2010 at 11:04 am
______________
I don’t give a rat’s ass about the topic of Palin and the Tea Party. As I’ve said before, the countdown to the implosion is already underway. But I have to call bullshit on Noogan’s sanctimonious postings. The only time you feign moral outrage is over the use of the “tea bagger” phrase. Everywhere else, you cheerfully — and cheekingly — wallow in offensive terms. Day before yesterday, in fact, you happily joined in the “how many times can I say retard” game, and referred to Obama as the “retard in chief.” And you constantly link to sites like Michelle Malkin’s and Larry Johnson’s, where the worst kind of invective is the order of the day.
So for YOU, a willing participant otherwise, to howl like a banshee when pejoratives are employed against the Tea Partiers, is the height of hypocrisy. Be consistent: Either wallow in the mud or abstain.
BTW, I don’t for one minute buy your standard disclaimer about not being a member of the tea party movement. Also.
Yeah, Jane, I’m sorry to say, your age is showing if you didn’t know about the term “tea-bagger.”
Making the argument that “tea-baggers” refer to themselves as “tea-baggers,” so it’s okay to use the epithet, is sort of like the argument that racists use when they say “black people call themselves niggers, so what’s wrong with me doing it?” It’s also sort of like the argument that homophobes use when they say “gays say it, so why can’t I use the term fudge-packers?
It’s not really logical to make that argument. The term has become widely known now for its demeaning connotation, so continuing to use it exposes the intent of the user as deliberately insulting.
Noogan says:
07 February 2010 at 11:22 am
Good point.
Lake Lady, “but there is a large branch who consider themselves without racial bias.” Yes, that’s true. Those are the people who call themselves “patriots” and consider the Left NOT patriots. They think that “we” are destroying the country by destroying its constitutional principles. They would prefer, I’m certain, that we all be locked away in some ‘concentration camp’ or reeducation camp and never be heard from again. The Nazis began by arresting labor leaders and union members—the Left—and finally ended up by gassing the Jews. Peace
I didn’t watch Sarah’s speech, watched a good movie instead last night.
But, I just want to say that I am sick to death of hearing about RONALD REAGAN.
Do you know plans are in the works for the REAGAN CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION?!
Oh, my God. They’re planning on a whole big celebration for next year, which is the 100 year celebration of Reagan’s birth in 1911?
They’re going to glorify him with propaganda until they get Reagan’s face carved into the mountain alongside of Washington and Jefferson.
Noogan
I said she was a “symbol” of everything that is wrong. That is not giving her any power of any kind. Her “power” is derived from the corporate interests that give her a stage. The stage is to help insure their continued access to and control of power. She is nothing more than a vacuous symbol of the rot at the heart of this system.
BTW, I too, had never heard the sexual connotation of “tea bagger” until reading it at this site.
Lake Lady says:
07 February 2010 at 11:24 am
_____________________
That one considers him or herself, subjectively, to be without racial bias does not in fact mean that, objectively, they are correct. That’s in fact the reason race is a thorny problem. We’ve managed largely to overcome overt racism, but not so much the subconscious part that resides below the surface. And there, it’s often hard to tell whether its racism, nativism, culturalism, or some combination thereof. At this stage of the game, I think most of what is frequently called racism is instead culturalism or nativism.
That said, I agree with you. Race is a difficult issue to discuss even when people have the best intentions. It’s made much harder when people reflexively accuse others of being racists, or of playing the race card. That needs to stop. I wish we could have a honest and frank discussion about all of this, but I fear the issue remains too explosive.
Ogenec:
I did join in Taylor’s musing about the “how many times can I say retard” game, and referred to Obama as the “retard in chief.” Ramsgate called me on it; it was over the top, and it was intended that way. It’s not a term I have used before or since. So much for your hollow outrage, over my “sanctimonious” comments about the term “tea-bagger” which, as even you admit, is the only thing I’m “sanctimonious” about! Ha! Way to point out my intellectual honesty and consistency. Thanks.
And you constantly link to sites like Michelle Malkin’s and Larry Johnson’s, where the worst kind of invective is the order of the day.
I’ve never once linked to Michelle Malkin’s site, and once linked to a blog post at No Quarter.
So, all in all, a very weak argument on your part, Ogenec. And, whether you believe me or not, I’m not now, nor have I ever been a part of any “movement” and that includes the “Obama” movement. I don’t subscribe to “movements” because they foster “group-think” which is something I cannot abide. I like to observe these days, having been an active Democratic Party member for years; until the DNC’s shameless actions during the nomination process.
Noogan says:
07 February 2010 at 11:45 am
________________
Do you seriously want to make that argument? OK, if your argument is that you use of retard in chief was intentionally over the top, that is exactly the way in which people are using “tea bagger.” It should not upset you one bit, if you were being consistent. But that’s not the argument you’re making, now is it? You’re arguing frequency, as in “I only used an intentionally, over-the-top, demeaning term ONCE!!!”
You’ve linked to a site at which Malkin is a contributor. I forget the exact name of it. And you admit you’ve linked to No Quarter. Given the filth these folks traffic in, I hardly think it’s a an adequate response to say “but I only linked to it once!!!!”
As to the weakness of the equivalence argument, please forgive my laughter. YOU are attempting to draw a comparison between use of a term of disdain and a racial epithet — which you were so indelicate as to say it out in full, instead of using the customary “n word.”
Here is the one thing you’ve said that I agree with: “The term has become widely known now for its demeaning connotation, so continuing to use it exposes the intent of the user as deliberately insulting.”
That argument applies with equal force to “retard.”
ogenec~ I agree with your observations and I too wish we could have an honest national conversation of on race.I used the wording I did about not considering themselves biased because I believe that it is probably impossible to be completely unbiased.In order to work toward that ideal one has to be rigorous on a daily basis in challenging one’s own internal unconscious bias’
Lake Lady says:
07 February 2010 at 12:01 pm
_______________________
I agree with everything you said.
Jane~ I never heard the term before Maddow and Olbermann decided to act like adolescents for a week making jokes about it. I think that week will forver stain any other work they do and expose them to all sorts of charges from the right.
I still really don’t know what it exactly means literally. Please anyone reading this do not chose to enlighten me. I will live in blissful ignorance.
ogenec
…BTW santimonious was the perfect word. I have been searching for it for a while.
ogenec, “when people reflexively accuse others of being racists, or playing the race card.” Is how lots of people feel about those who claim someone is anti-woman or a misogynist. Peace
Lake Lady says:
07 February 2010 at 12:10 pm
______________
Yeah, it certainly fits. Anyhoo, off to happier subjects, like getting ready for the Super Bowl. I always root for the underdog, so GO SAINTS!!!!
I think I am going to watch the Superbowl today just because it is in New Orleans.Not being a football fan the last time I watched was when it was in LA and that was because my daughter was working it…running all the chiefs who catered to the VIPs.
Lake Lady says:
07 February 2010 at 12:09 pm
I’m laughing my bloomers off. I thought I was the only one that hadn’t heard that term. In my youth I had to have certain terms explained to me because I was one of those people who was oblivious to certain “blue” language that makes up the English language.
Lake Lady says:
07 February 2010 at 12:38 pm
I’m no football fan but I’m rooting for the Saints only because everyone else seems to be rooting for the other team. I forgot who that is.
Ogenec:
OK, if your argument is that you use of retard in chief was intentionally over the top, that is exactly the way in which people are using “tea bagger.” It should not upset you one bit, if you were being consistent.
My argument was that use of the term “tea-bagger” is deliberately and intentionally insulting, and offensive. My agreement that the term “Retard-in Chief” was deliberately “over the top” doesn’t negate my original argument in the least. It is, in fact, perfectly consistent. Get the point now?
But what you’re trying to argue is that because I agree that “Retard in Chief” was over the top, you can now repeatedly use the demeaning term “Tea-bagger.” Now, that is what is called “inconsistent.”
By the way, your anger and defensiveness show I’ve touched a nerve. Good.
Wait. I “linked to a site to which Michelle Malkin is a contributor”?
Oh_My_God! How could I?! That’s just shocking; a shocking breach of your fragile comfort zone. Bad me. Very bad me.
That’s a little different from “Michelle Malkin’s site” which you said earlier, isn’t it? Are you confused? Well, let me clarify things for you.
Huffington Post, Memeorandum, RealClearPolitics, and others ALL link to stories at many sites across the net. And, those articles/sites may well be sites to which Michelle Malkin “contributes.” It doesn’t constitute an endorsement of Michelle Malkin; or are you also going to limit sites to which Taylor also “LINKS.” Do you grasp the concept of the net? Or are you just trying to set limits on information people feel safe in accessing?
Word of advice: Stop digging You’re getting deeper and deeper into your hole. And, you’re starting to look a little bit desperate. Your logic is failing as your emotion is rising. Defensiveness doesn’t help your argument one bit.
As to the weakness of the equivalence argument, please forgive my laughter. YOU are attempting to draw a comparison between use of a term of disdain and a racial epithet — which you were so indelicate as to say it out in full, instead of using the customary “n word.”
I pointed out the impact that words have when they are used to demean and denigrate people; there is nothing laughable about it. So, please forgive my contempt for you thinking it’s funny. You don’t want to hear the word “nigger” but you don’t mind the derogatory term “tea-bagger.” That’s just hypocrisy. You want to be able denigrate when you want to; others want to denigrate when they want to: That is Equivalence, my friend.
So, basically, you’ve once again made my original argument for me. Did I not say it was “intentional” and deliberately insulting and demeaning? Yes, I did. So here you are now, saying the exact same thing!
Lake Lady: Ouch, on the “sanctimonious” thing. Oh, well, I guess I’ll just have to go on, painful as it may be.
Noogan says:
07 February 2010 at 1:11 pm
But what you’re trying to argue is that because I agree that “Retard in Chief” was over the top, you can now repeatedly use the demeaning term “Tea-bagger.”
__________________
Nice try. Epic miss. I do not like the term “retard.” I do not like the term “tea bagger.” And I certainly don’t like the n-word. I’ve always tried to refer to the Tea Partiers as, well, “Tea Partiers.” If I ever referred to them as “Tea Baggers,” I can assure you it was an inadvertent slip of the tongue. I’m not a kid, and I don’t need to engage in sophomoric name-calling to make my point.
You can’t claim the moral high ground on this one. But I do applaud the vigor of your Sisyphean attempts.
“Republicans just wish she’d disappear; Democrats are the ones giving her power.”
Noogan,
So you really think it is Democrats who are rushing to the Palin rallies? It’s Democrats who want her to run in 2012? Did you see the Republicans lauding her on the Sunday shows this morning? Lauding her and the Tea Partiers. It is the former Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Ed Gillespie, who announced this morning that the natural home for the Tea Partiers was the Republican Party.
Nah, it’s not Democrats giving the likes of Palin power. It’s a lot of Democrats who recognize a shallow sell out when they see it.
Ogenec:
Nice try yourself:
I have never argued for use of the word “retard” any more than Taylor has; but consistently I don’t like the word “tea-bagger” either. Your straw man argument is a nice distraction, but it’s still a straw man.
When I posted my comment about the term “tea-baggers,” I didn’t name names, but you felt compelled to launch an attack against me, basically calling me a liar, by saying that you don’t believe that I’m not part of the “tea party movement.” As proof of my deception, you tossed out the “link to Michelle Malkin’s site.” Well, that proved to be a straw man as well, since I’ve never done that, any more than I’ve argued in support of use of the word “retard.”
Thanks for your applause; it is a sisyphean effort to argue straw men all day long. It takes some doing to untangle the web of deceitful distractions even if they don’t have merit.
I haven’t tried to claim any “moral high ground” on this one; another straw man argument, but there you go. You may not need to engage in sophomoric name calling, but you clearly need to engage in “straw man” arguments, if your commentary today is any indication.
djjl:
No, I don’t watch the Sunday morning talk shows; it’s just the same old crap. I do like Sunday Morning on CBS, though. It’s the age thing, you know? When you get old, you get tired of hearing bullshit repeated across the spectrum. You just want some nice, uplifting news.
Well, I don’t know if she’s going to run in 2012 or not, but if she does, don’t you think Democrats will benefit? Maybe I’m just not giving Palin credit enough! Is she really–really?–capable of winning the White House, you think? Are Democrats really that fearful of a Palin GOP candidacy? I don’t see that happening. I could be wrong; wouldn’t be the first time.
But, I have to take issue with the “Democrats recognize a shallow sell out when they see it…” Not to put too fine a point on it, but Democrats nominated a shallow, inexperienced, under-achiever last time around, didn’t they? And, now they’re dealing with the consequences, and that’s part of the problem; the incompetence of this administration shows. But then, I’m a strong Hillary Clinton supporter and never liked Obama.
You could be right: Maybe this time Republicans will nominate a shallow sell out and elevate Palin to their nominee. But maybe Democrats will benefit from that, so maybe it’s a Democratic conspiracy to elevate her, so Dems can battle her and win. I’m just kidding, but thought I’d toss that out since I’m batting 1000 on this site today.
Go Saints! Take that, Ogenec. We’re on the same side after all!
Heh.
Here are the undisputed facts: someone who called another a “retard-in-chief” now takes offense at the term “Tea Bagger.” Says the term is “an intentional, deliberate epithet; it’s not cute, it’s not funny, it’s not smart.” I completely agree. But the same critique applies to “retard,” no matter how frequently or not the term is used.
No matter how mightily you try, you cannot escape that contradiction. That’s textbook ersatz sanctimoniousness to me.
Noogan says:
07 February 2010 at 1:58 pm
Go Saints! Take that, Ogenec. We’re on the same side after all!
______________________
Happy to hear that!!! I’ll just give you a pound and a “Who Dat?!?!?” and set about the rest of my party prep
You guys take it easy…
Sarah is a shallow sell, but Obama is not? Hardy har har. Obama’s polls are in the toilet because most people have come to realize that he is exactly what you describe Sarah as being. Funny, but there were a chunk of Democrats like myself who didn’t vote for him because he was all fluff. And now independents and more Democrats continue to bleed away from him. As Sarah indicated in her speech, Democrats have only themselves to blame right now as the majority of Americans do not support their agenda. How quickly a year goes by. Obama, the one so fond of himself, mistook an election win for a mandate to take the country in a direction that most are not willing to go.
I don’t think the Democrats are fearful of Palin. Democrats are reasonably fearful of corporate influence – via money, media, etc. We are watching the death of American democracy. I agree with you about what the Democrats did in 2008. One only needed to know a little about party history to see the unprecedented hijacking of the Democratic process. MONEY IS WHAT MADE IT HAPPEN. And it wasn’t money from all the little people rising up in mass $10.00 at a time – no it was the money who didn’t want a progressive in the WH.
It is the Tea Partiers who really ought to be concerned about Palin. She doesn’t support their concerns.
Noogan says:
07 February 2010 at 11:04 am
1.“Tea-baggers.” It’s really just an intentional, deliberate epithet; it’s not cute, it’s not funny, it’s not smart.”
They called themselves that and if they are that stupid then I think giving them their idiotic due is completely called for. Maybe they can get Santorum to be their leader, after all, if yer teabaggin, yer BOUND to run into some santorum(hint, google santorum)
2.Words have meaning ; just as the “n” word reveals a deliberate racism on the part of the speaker, so too, does “tea bagger” reveal a deliberate intent to demean. There are some terms that are deliberately offensive. Using them reveals a mindset on the part of the speaker.”
Well YES. When I call them their self chosen nickname I certainly AM meaning to point out how stupid they are and how demeaning it is as a human being to have to admit these teabaggers are members of the same species.
3.“Tea-bagging” is a sexual act. To refer to people as a sexual act, because you don’t like their political beliefs, is condescending and insulting, and it’s juvenile. It is being deliberately offensive.”
Well, I gotta give it to ya there. It most certainly IS ment to point out they are morons. But then THEY chose it, not me.
5.”For years, I’ve heard Rush Limbaugh, G.W.Bush and other right-wing propagandists refer to the Democratic Party as the “Democrat Party.” It was a deliberate attempt to separate Democrats from Democratic. And, it was always offensive, stupid, and juvenile.”
Yes it was. But then the DEMOCRATIC party never said they wanted to be the DEMOCRAT party did they. QUITE a differance don’t you think?
6.”I’ll repeat my standard point: I am not a member of any movement, including the tea party movement. But they are Americans who deserve to have their own political beliefs without being referred to as a sexual act, in such a demeaning term as “tea-bagger.”
Well then the stupid, racist fu*ks should have come up with another nickname shouldn’t they? I mean there are SOOOOO many closeted, selflaothing, self hating gays in the repugnantklan hierarchy you would THINK one of them would have TOLD the teabaggers wouldn’y you? Unless they enjoyed the little inside joke that is!
It seems that others here are not shy about using the word retard in a most cruel way. The comments are shallow, and show the maturity level of those making them. As for batshit crazy, most sane people would only need to read his loony posts to see a perfect example of that.
Democrats are fearful of corporate interests? Really? Democrats are as adept at raiding the corporate coffers as are Republicans.
Tea party activists did not choose teabagger as a nickname, nor did the site tha you directed me to show Sarah Palin using a Teleprompter. Loony tunes.
Here we go again:
Secularhumanizinevoluter says:
07 February 2010 at 2:07 pm
Well, Secularhumanizinevoluter, clearly, nobody ever accused you of rational argument.
djjl, you obviously know very little about the tea party, and how Sarah Palin actually speaks directly to many of these activists concerns. Why do you think that she was the keynote speaker at their convention? I mean really.
djjl says:
07 February 2010 at 2:06 pm
Djjl, I am not sure the Democrats know how to HANDLE Palin.
Do you recall when she was named VP, for almost a week, the Obama campaign was absolutely flummoxed. Years. later, when she came out with her lies about “Death Panels” they were still left speechless. She is dangerous.
I obviously didn’t say Palin didn’t have personal appeal to Tea Party activists – I said that they should be concerned because she has no interest in their concerns – only at the most shallow level.
Read what I write and not what you think I mean.
When I referenced Democrats – I meant real Democrats – not the Democrat elite.
Ramsgate
Yes she is dangerous as is every vacuous shill.
djjl says:
07 February 2010 at 2:33 pm
Absolutely.
The death panels was not a lie. If so, that concern would not have been recognized as such by the Democrats weeks after her comments about them were made.
Death panels WAS and IS a LIE as it relates to HCR.
There are currently – and long have been DEATH PANELS run by HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANIES.
ogenec says:
07 February 2010 at 2:00 pm
Here are the undisputed facts: someone who called another a “retard-in-chief” now takes offense at the term “Tea Bagger.” Says the term is “an intentional, deliberate epithet; it’s not cute, it’s not funny, it’s not smart.” I completely agree. But the same critique applies to “retard,” no matter how frequently or not the term is used.
Here are the facts, Ogenec:
“Tea-baggers” is a derisive epithet. Those who use it, do so deliberately to denigrate others whose political opinion they don’t like. Their derision exposes their very real condescension toward those people. Just as other epithets expose the derision of the user.
Taylor mused about seeing how many times the word “retard” could be used in a sentence. I used the word “retard in chief” in my responding comment.
It is not a “contradiction” for me to point out that use of the term “tea-baggers” is offensive, since I conceded that use of the term “retard in chief” was over the top. Grasp the concept? Therefore, I feel no need to escape that fact. You may not like it, but you are stuck with it, because you keep bringing it up. It’s a dead straw man.
The fact remains: “Tea-baggers” is an offensive term of derision and it’s use belies an intentional and deliberate agenda on the part of those who use it.
If you want to talk about “sanctimonious” then perhaps you should examine your own “sanctimonious” attempts to make yourself the arbiter of information, by issuing a hysterical J’accuse about people linking to sites, which link to sites, which link to sites to which Michelle Malkin contributes. Have you appointed yourself Minister of Information?
“Textbook ersatz sanctimoniousness?” Ha. you’d better look that one up.
You’ll find it listed under “I don’t believe that you’re not a member of the tea party movement.”
We cannot talk about Sarah Palin and the Tea Party movement without really talking about our culture, a topic I all too often want to avoid.
The unavoidable fact is that of our culture’s decline. Just this morning on CBS’s Sunday Morning, there was a segment on the rise of so-called “Reality TV” that began in current TV times with Survivor almost ten years ago. Because we live in a culturally divided country, those on let’s say the less cultivated half of our culture, those who think art, literature, theater, cinema, dance and architecture can be any train wreck of pedestrian ideas any common person can put together without talent or skill, like a house made from beer bottles or videos full of toilet humor, have stepped forward and now want their fifteen minutes of fame. What passes for entertainment is the circus side-show parade of morbidly obese families, (the biggest loser) vulgar New Jersey young people, etc. I know we turn a blind eye toward most of it but when you consider all this, and the worst we see in our polluted and blighted cities, think of it as a visual and real representation of our people. This is what American culture has become. And I don’t see anything on the horizon that will in any mitigate our demise.
We see it as political only because, to the horror I’m sure of founding fathers like John Adams (who are surely turning over in their graves), the nightmare they foresaw in our “democracy” has come true; greedy and base common people with little or no skills for anything but wanting to share power, now sit on our school boards, our city councils and state legislatures. What’s worse, our Congress has become the high school student council it was fated to become with adolescent squabbling and a reptilian hunger for power.
These are people who have essentially risen from literally nowhere and no-place to run our country. Many think this is the genius of Democracy, and while that may be true, I believe it may also be the systemic poison contributing to our cultural collapse.
With the rise of Sarah Palin and the Tea Party, the uneducated, perverse, base, and vulgar of our country have risen to prominence and want to have “their turn” at everything, including, the world of politics. They never had the intellect, the work ethic, the intellectual curiosity nor the moral center to do what is necessary in preparation in order to serve the common good. The more I hear people say, “I like her because she is just like me,” the more I despair. Their desire is to bring civic discourse down to the level of mute street life where wisdom has been lost forever.
It is political fast food with instant fame and glory and power. It is like pulling up to the local and pervasive drive-in window of a fast food restaurant where there is no waiting, no complex preparation, no education or credentials, just a fast, hot, unhealthy fix of bad food full of addictive ingredients that will eventually kill you. This state legislator climate change denier, falls into the growing segment of our population that manifests an old saying “He that doesn’t know he doesn’t know.”
The Federalists were right and are probably laughing themselves silly that our basic misunderstanding of Democracy is leading our country to its ultimate ruin. I don’t know what the system might have looked like if they were to have had their way, but what they feared most has come to pass. It brings to mind Animal Farm in all its horror, or Yeats’ poem The Second Coming. Although he was writing during WWI’s devastating aftermath, I believe Yeats saw our own time more clearly than his own:
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Perhaps as a country/culture we are like a modern sports team that is going through a slump and we may well pull out of it sometime in the future. Who knows?. While waiting for, hoping for better days, the reality of “this is as good as it gets” weighs heavily on my soul.
Better yet, try writing what you mean next time. And you are still wrong about how Sarah Palin relates with tea party activists. Wishing it so doesn’t make it true.
No, I’m not. I wrote what I meant. I offered further clarification on the topic of Democrats – not Palin.
Why are you so angry here?
Well, I’ve made my spicy buffalo wings and blue cheese Spicy too dip and a 6 layer dip for the Super Bowl pot luck.
I hope the Saints win – but I do adore Peyton Manning. I guess I really can’t lose.
See you later folks.
Recipes
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/six-layers-and-a-chip-dip-recipe/index.html
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/good-eats/buffalo-wings-recipe/index.html
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/eating-well/spicy-blue-cheese-dip-recipe/index.html
Noogan says:
07 February 2010 at 2:51 pm
_____________________
Damn, just when I thought the “all clear!” had been given. You want to continue this? Fine with me. Your conceding — well after the fact — that use of the term “retard” was over the top does not inoculate you from the charge of hypocrisy. In fact, it just about proves it. In fact, when Ramsgate called you on it, you relished in the fact that you’d used the term. There was never any acknowledgement that you’d crossed the line; quite the opposite, in fact.
I don’t comment when people use offensive terms, although I’d much rather they didn’t. I didn’t say a word about the “retard” usage, even though I completely agreed with those who criticized it. But when people use offensive terms, then turn around and admonish others for using other offensive terms, that strikes me as the height of hypocrisy. And then, yes, I do say something. That doesn’t make me the would-be arbiter of information. It makes me the person pushing back on YOUR attempt to enforce a weird moral code, where you can use the disparaging terms you like, but draw the line at disparaging terms used against others. And a demeaning, insulting word is a demeaning, insulting word, regardless of usage frequency. That you were riffing on TM’s post is of no significance. Try using that as an excuse with family relatives of the developmentally impaired.
Finally, as to my comment about your disclaimer, I think we’re splitting hairs. Okay, you’re not an official member of the tea party movement. But you do sympathize with their point of view, do you not? That much is clear from your comments. So I fail to see the distinction. That is what I meant, and I’m happy to correct the record. You are not a member of the Tea Party movement; you are a Tea Party sympathizer.
Hey Ramsgate, I really like your thoughtful critique. I agree with it more than I disagree. I particularly like your invoking the Federalists and the Yeats poem, which is one of my favorites. Where I disagree is in your despair. Things will get better.
ogenec says:
07 February 2010 at 3:36 pm
Tx. Let us all be “hopeful” then.
“Tea party activists did not choose teabagger as a nickname, nor did the site tha you directed me to show Sarah Palin using a Teleprompter. Loony tunes.”
So it’s official. you’ve had that self chosen pshycotic break with reality you’ve been working so hard to achieve. She can’t remember the names of what newspapers she reads but she dosen’t use a teleprompter. Are you really laying this level of stupidity out there for all the world to see?
Wadda ya gonna do next, go on Jerry Springer and condess something?
“Why are you so angry here?”
Because quite a few folks called him/her/it on the stupid comments he/she/it made.
I would imagine sucking of thumbs and kicking of heals in frustration is right around the corner.
She may not have had teleprompters but she wrote on the inside of her hand. And when taking the Q&A she practically answered before the question was finished. I would guess that she was given the questions earlier.