Because Metafilter will Never Be Rid of Her

June 30, 2009 5:07 PM

Vanity Fair recently published "It Came From Wasilla", Todd Purdum's lengthy profile piece about Sarah Palin, her involvement with and the inside workings of the McCain campaign, and her political future.

While a lot of the stuff in Purdam's article have been reported elsewhere, they haven't been reported with this much detail or with this context. Purdam documents Palin's meteoric rise in Alaska, her relationship with her fellow Alaska politicians, as well as her icy relationship with the McCain staff.

posted by Weebot (232 comments total)

The Other Palin Profile; Palin: I'd beat Obama in a run.
posted by ericb at 5:13 PM on June 30

I love how the national press is all like, "Omigod Sarah Palin keeps doing these things to stay in the national spotlight like criticizing David Letterman can you believe it me neither okay let's devote two weeks' coverage to that story that's a good idea omigod I can't believe how she's trying to stay in the national spotlight, furreals!"

It really is true that if you just ignore she'll go away. As we've seen, she doesn't have the brains or the guts to go on MTP or sit down with the NYT or in general take questions from reporters of any kind - the only kind of press she ever receives is from cable pundits and long-form magazine writers who speak endlessly of her unwillingness to exit the national stage which is just so bizarre because, of course, they are the ones who are keeping her there on the national stage.

But you have to admit, she makes good theater. Attractive, stupid, and angry. She'd be a hit on any show.
posted by billysumday at 5:16 PM on June 30 [28 favorites has favorites]

YES you are right, billysumday. I'd watch her on an elimination reality show. I'd feel dirty, but I'd watch.
posted by palliser at 5:21 PM on June 30 [2 favorites has favorites]

Should you read that long Sarah Palin thing in Vanity Fair?
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 5:22 PM on June 30 [27 favorites has favorites]

From the Politico comments:

Running so much is probably what made her youngest baby retarded. Sad but true.

Stay classy, Internet Commenters.
posted by GuyZero at 5:23 PM on June 30 [1 favorite has favorites]

It ruins the election for John McCain. It does this whenever it is told.
posted by gman at 5:27 PM on June 30 [7 favorites has favorites]

Between "angry, stupid, and attractive" and this money shot:

Andrew Halcro later remembered that he and Palin once compared notes about their many encounters, and she said, "Andrew, I watch you at these debates with no notes, no papers, and yet when asked questions, you spout off facts, figures, and policies, and I’m amazed. But then I look out into the audience and I ask myself, 'Does any of this really matter?'"

... I think she's got the nomination in the bag. America loves the belligerent, ready to be tough on something, anything, and despises the thought of education and preparation.
posted by adipocere at 5:28 PM on June 30 [10 favorites has favorites]

posted by billysumday She'd be a hit on any show.

Except David Letterman's.
posted by mattdidthat at 5:32 PM on June 30

She'd be a hit on any show.

Except David Letterman's.

Friend, I believe the head of CBS would beg to differ with you on that one. Ratings bonanza.
posted by billysumday at 5:34 PM on June 30 [2 favorites has favorites]

Memo to Palin: Good work on keeping up a low-level of stupidity. It's really going to help in 2012.

PS: If you could arrange for the, like, one remaining semi-viable Republican candidate to be found in bed with a dead moose, that'd be great, kthx.
posted by DU at 5:36 PM on June 30

I think he likes her.
posted by iamkimiam at 5:37 PM on June 30

I think she's got the nomination in the bag. America loves the belligerent, ready to be tough on something, anything, and despises the thought of education and preparation

Yes, that describes our current President exactly.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:49 PM on June 30 [16 favorites has favorites]

America loves the belligerent, ready to be tough on something, anything, and despises the thought of education and preparation.

Yeah, "America" is a little more nuanced than that, but I totally understand how you arrived at that conclusion.


I often lament the death of Hunter Thompson, but never more than when I see Sarah Palin, she was his perfect foil, more than Bush, even more than Nixon, maybe.
posted by Divine_Wino at 5:50 PM on June 30 [10 favorites has favorites]

Then when I see, dammit.
posted by Divine_Wino at 5:51 PM on June 30

I think DU might be onto something. With the rate that the supposed GOP 'hopefuls' keep shooting themselves in the foot (it does seem like everytime there's someone mentioned as such, they're done two months later), Palin might be the last one standing come 2012. Not that she won't have some kind of embarrassing incident (as if the campaign wasn't bad enough), but she'll just bull through it, tossing out the same homespun nonsense and taking none of the responsibility for her actions. People will love her for it. Be afreared. Be very afeared.
posted by Ghidorah at 5:55 PM on June 30

Republicans still don't understand is the shocking magnitude of their defeat in 2008. Their old white ware hero lost to a liberal black guy with a crazy name. I didn't believe it would happen.

The GOP simply cannot fathom that it was Palin, Sarah frigg'n Palin, who did them in. It wasn't just because Bush was so incompetent. It wasn't just becuase of the economy. It wasn't just becuase of the debacle in Iraq. It wasn't just becuase Obama was so awesome. It was becuase Palin was in it for herself and didn't give a shit and/or was incapable of understanding any of the aforementioned issues. She threw McCain and the GOP under the bus.

And now that it has I marvel at the circular firing squad that is the GOP. All the smart people former fiscal conservatives — the meat of the party— are finally bailing on that sinking ship.

I hope, hope, hope, she runs in 2012. It will be so awesome. Her fellow Republicans will savage her in the primaries. Get used to the Deer in Headlights look. She will still likely get the nomination and unless between now and November 2012 Obama fucks a dead dog on national TV Palin will lose so catastrophically it will effectively kill the GOP for at least another decade. I can't wait.
posted by tkchrist at 5:55 PM on June 30 [43 favorites has favorites]

ericb: "Palin: I'd beat Obama in a run."

That looks suspiciously like Yoga, Sarah. ELITIST ARUGLUAALA YOGA.
posted by boo_radley at 5:57 PM on June 30 [5 favorites has favorites]

I pray to baby jesus everyday that the 2012 gop ticket is palin/huckabee.
posted by empath at 5:58 PM on June 30

I pray to baby jesus everyday that the 2012 gop ticket is palin/huckabee.

Oh. Me too.

I kinda find Huckabee very likable though. And he is genuine about poverty issues. So he'll never get it unless he jumps on the blame the poor bandwagon.
posted by tkchrist at 6:00 PM on June 30 [3 favorites has favorites]

The GOP simply cannot fathom that it was Palin, Sarah frigg'n Palin, who did them in

Republicans hated John McCain and were halfhearted about campaining for him. In contrast Palin looked like a freaking GOP angel. (I look back and wonder what I was smoking to like her so much.)
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 6:03 PM on June 30 [9 favorites has favorites]

Be careful what you wish for. A lot can happen in 4 years. If the economy doesn't improve and some foreign policy hiccup (see: Carter, Jimmy) happens on Obama's watch, anybody can get elected. I'd rather it be someone like Huntsman than Palin, personally.

I don't think that Palin can get the nomination because of the simple fact that the movers and shakers in the conservative political world - all the old Bush hands, the McCain soldiers, the last remaining Nixon and Reagan warhorses - will do everything in their power to take her down, and she's just not smart or tough enough to withstand the barrage when it finally comes.
posted by billysumday at 6:03 PM on June 30 [3 favorites has favorites]

(I predict a viable third party candidate next time around.)
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 6:04 PM on June 30 [2 favorites has favorites]

Sweat is my sanity," Palin tells the magazine.

Sweety, I hate to tell you this, but you're not even close.
posted by five fresh fish at 6:05 PM on June 30 [1 favorite has favorites]

Bill Hicks, please come back to life.
posted by davebush at 6:05 PM on June 30 [6 favorites has favorites]

Jezebel- Vanity Fair's Palin Profile Reads A Lot Like Its Clinton One
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 6:06 PM on June 30 [2 favorites has favorites]

I'm with tkchrist; just the idea of her debating Obama is like imagining a cage match between Barney Fife and Hannibal Lecter.
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:08 PM on June 30 [29 favorites has favorites]

(I predict a viable third party candidate next time around.)

Maybe. 2012 is a long way away. I think it's more likely there'll be a VERY hotly contested primary between a Jesus Candidate and an Anti-Tax candidate. The one who wins will be barely tolerated by the loser's base and will lose the general election. That's when the infighting gets serious. 2016 has the "viable" third party candidate, either Jesus Party or We Hate Poor People Party, depending on how the infighting works out.
posted by DU at 6:11 PM on June 30 [7 favorites has favorites]

Is it ok to hack emails? Go thru someone's mail & broadcast what you stole? Nope, not ok to most Americans.TN proceedings tomorrow to decide
3:21 PM Jun 29th from TwitterBerry
posted by benzenedream at 6:16 PM on June 30

I think it's more likely there'll be a VERY hotly contested primary between a Jesus Candidate and an Anti-Tax candidate.

I think that's why people think Palin is a viable candidate - she appeals to both of those bases relatively well. I do think it's possible there will be a Romney/Palin cagematch, or Romney/Huck cagematch, wherein it's Romney the anti-tax technocrat crusader who's coming to save the economy versus the TaliBaptist candidate who think Mormons are more evil than Muslims. It'll be interesting, that's for sure. I just hope the Republicans don't wise up and pick some boring like Mitch Daniels from Indiana - popular, experienced, normal, smart. But again, 2012 is just too far away to really speculate accurately.
posted by billysumday at 6:18 PM on June 30

I'M HACKING YOUR EMAILS RIGHT NOW

HACKING THEM SO FUCKING HARD
posted by Mikey-San at 6:21 PM on June 30 [7 favorites has favorites]

Seems like people here are underestimating Romney in the 2012 pool: what I took away from the article is that Palin, regardless of her base, simply wouldn't be up to getting the nod.
posted by StrikeTheViol at 6:21 PM on June 30

Be careful what you wish for. A lot can happen in 4 years. If the economy doesn't improve and some foreign policy hiccup (see: Carter, Jimmy) happens on Obama's watch, anybody can get elected.

The economy is gonna get worse no matter what. That much is a given. It's sustained 14 years of near irreparable damage which only accelerated under Bush's incompetent tenure. Obama pretty much knows this. It's gonna be pretty hard to lay the economy on Obama's door in 2012 becuase nobody has any better ideas that won't run contrary to their corporate contributors and PAC's. And what foreign policy hiccup could be worse than losing two wars simultaneously like Bush did? Hell we knew we were losing Iraq and Afghanistan in 2004. And we still re-elected that idiot. No the incumbent is gonna have all the cards in 2012 more so than usual. I think even the GOP understands it's better off regrouping for 2016. The economy will look somewhat better and they can run on culture issues which really all they got.
posted by tkchrist at 6:22 PM on June 30

Romney cannot win the fundies.
posted by DU at 6:22 PM on June 30 [1 favorite has favorites]

There is an alternate universe where Clarissa Clinton is the star of "Campaign" a 24-part arrested-development-madcap miniseries about the road to the White House where she stars a ditzy yet headstrong media-hungry moron who somehow ends up a Veep pick named Susan Payin. Conservatives grumble that she's a nasty cartoon and offer of their own real-life conservative , Barry O'Brian, who vocally backs the republicans in real life but on the show plays a dreamy, comically idealized progressive.


Tkchirst; That's what so scary. The right-wing, hard line, evangelical Christians could totally get a bigger foothold if they focused on the poverty and social justice (if you're god-fearing!) issues.
posted by The Whelk at 6:28 PM on June 30

Palin/Bachmann 2012!
posted by Severian at 6:31 PM on June 30 [3 favorites has favorites]

Andrew Halcro later remembered that he and Palin once compared notes about their many encounters, and she said, "Andrew, I watch you at these debates with no notes, no papers, and yet when asked questions, you spout off facts, figures, and policies, and I’m amazed. But then I look out into the audience and I ask myself, 'Does any of this really matter?'"

A video of that encounter was one of the things I found truly damning about Palin. For a while I gave her the benefit of the doubt, in no small part because I did think the media coverage of her, particularly the first week, was ridiculous: I found the narrative of conflict between her political philosophy and reality inside her family both irrelevant and strained, and wondered what had gone wrong inside of people who assumed this was not only something important to know about her but apparently the first thing we really needed to talk about.

But watching her directly say in a debate that nuts and bolts policy knowledge was irrelevant... that was it for me. She didn't even do listeners the courtesy of pretending to honor it and be on its side while sneakily undermining it rhetorically, the usual alternative to showing some kind of command of that knowledge from a different perspective. She said it was irrelevant.

I thought she said lots of other things during her time in the spotlight that I disliked (her dig at community organizers during the RNC is one that sticks in my mind) or that made her look foolish (the Couric interview). But that one was probably the one that galvanized my negative opinion of her as someone who not only didn't have a command of national policy issues, she was outright uninterested in it, likely indifferent to people who might, and therefore completely unsuitable for national leadership.

I might have been willing to see that phrase as a rhetorical one-off if I had seen anything else during the rest of the campaign cycle that suggested she really did have some interest in and knowledge of policy. But we didn't. More platitudes, more playbook offense, more evidence that Palin essentially is the person in the debate to whom "facts, figures, and policies" -- really, almost any kind of specifics -- aren't really relevant, just something to be countered with PR, dogwhistles, and a bit of personal charm.
posted by weston at 6:32 PM on June 30 [7 favorites has favorites]

or "It Came From Wasilla" or "Baby I Can't Stop Coming (from Wasilla)", etc.
posted by plexi at 6:33 PM on June 30

Being good in a debate is not necessarily a winning strategy. Obama, though he has turned out a bit more hawkish than I had anticipated (or liked), probably won more on the weaknesses of the Republicans at that very moment than his particular strengths. I nearly rerouted a drink through my nose when, prior to the elections, I overheard yet more people at a concert saying things like "Obama, he seems like a real college boy" with a great deal of disdain.

Reagan, Bush the Elder, Bush the Shrub ... Don't discount Palin just yet. Three and a half years in the White House and Obama hasn't magically made kittens rain from the sky, she might get more traction than you'd think. America has a strong anti-intellectual streak, and rather than wanting a President who represents the best we have to offer, the country often seems to prefer someone who makes them feel like they could do the job themselves. Regular joes.

I don't want a regular joe (or Jane) President. I want a President who is so terrifyingly talented, insightful, and brilliant I feel like a slobbering moron by comparison. Palin's got an enormous amount of that everyday charm, and while we're all pointing and giggling, there's a lot of "good ole folks" scratching their chins and wondering if she might not make a bad President 't-all.
posted by adipocere at 6:37 PM on June 30 [9 favorites has favorites]

Governor tries to fit in her favorite exercise as a way to keep her 'sanity'

I like how the running article includes sanity in quotation marks in the sub-header, as if her sanity is in question. And that was nothing but a fluff piece, with no substance about the health of the average American, or how just walking 30 minutes a day can help start you towards a healthier life.

Nope. Instead, she complained that she didn't have time to run during the election preparations, how she once fell and cut her hand (see, she's human! She even falls down and bleeds!), and what she listens to while running. Fsking Teenbeat for adults.
posted by filthy light thief at 6:43 PM on June 30 [2 favorites has favorites]

adipocere - I'd like to think that's a shift of the times, in part due to the campaigning efforts. I think Clinton was the most "down-to-earth" president in history, but I am thoroughly lacking in references beyond my lifetime. Bush Sr.? Old, semi-casual, but his wife was terrible at being "hip." Reagen? Ancient!

President-casual seems like a recent creation, one to make intelligence less important, and almost a handicap.
posted by filthy light thief at 6:51 PM on June 30 [1 favorite has favorites]

It's gonna be pretty hard to lay the economy on Obama's door in 2012 becuase nobody has any better ideas that won't run contrary to their corporate contributors and PAC's.

I'd like you to be right, but I have far less faith the American voters than that. If the economy's still in the basement, all anybody will want is someone to blame it on, and the closest guy is the easiest target.
posted by rtha at 6:52 PM on June 30 [1 favorite has favorites]

Last trailing thought: the only reason I want a president who can out-run the competition is if there's a zombie invasion/infestation. Otherwise, I'm content as long as they're fit enough to handle the stress of the job. Great, you have endurance in physical sports, how will that make for a better nation under your guidance? End voting, and otherwise elected officials are to be the fastest one in a 5k run?
posted by filthy light thief at 6:54 PM on June 30

(I look back and wonder what I was smoking to like her so much.)
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 6:03 PM on June 30

guys if there is a strain of weed that makes you a one-issue abortion voter let me know because i got this joke i gotta make
posted by Optimus Chyme at 6:54 PM on June 30 [35 favorites has favorites]

She will still likely get the nomination and unless between now and November 2012 Obama fucks a dead dog on national TV Palin will lose so catastrophically it will effectively kill the GOP for at least another decade. I can't wait.

Mmmm, I dunno. How long has the dog been dead?
posted by hifiparasol at 6:59 PM on June 30 [1 favorite has favorites]

It really is true that if you just ignore she'll go away.

I don't understand why you would think this. She's not a troll on your favorite internet forum; she's the governor of a state of the United States of America.

And she can likely win another term, if she so chooses. Or a term as a United States Senator.

And she has millions of people who think that she should be President of the United States.

She's not going to go away simply because I put my fingers in my ears and sing la la la I can't hear you.
posted by Flunkie at 7:02 PM on June 30 [4 favorites has favorites]

(I look back and wonder what I was smoking to like her so much.)

You were enamored of her "executive experience". Or so you said. Despite it being pointed out to you that her "executive experience" consisted of running her town into the ground.

You also seemed to like the fact that she didn't have an abortion.
posted by Flunkie at 7:06 PM on June 30 [16 favorites has favorites]

From the Politico comments:

Running so much is probably what made her youngest baby retarded. Sad but true.

Stay classy, Internet Commenters.

Politco isn't exactly known for its classy commenters.

As for Palin, meh.
posted by IvoShandor at 7:07 PM on June 30

They could have just stopped at the point where they mention she's a narcissist. That pretty much tells you everything you need to know, now and forever. But man, she could really bring the stupid.
posted by docpops at 7:12 PM on June 30 [2 favorites has favorites]

I don't understand why you would think this. She's not a troll on your favorite internet forum; she's the governor of a state of the United States of America.

She's the governor of a state of 600,000 people. A state that is very, very far away from most Americans. And we ignore most other governors - quick, name the governor of Idaho. The governor of Oklahoma. The governor of North Dakota.

And she can likely win another term, if she so chooses. Or a term as a United States Senator.

You haven't been keeping up, friend. Her political career in Alaska is pretty much over. She doesn't want another term as Governor, and she'd probably lose to Mulkowski in the primary for the Senate seat.

And she has millions of people who think that she should be President of the United States.

Millions might vote for her, but I doubt SarahPAC has more than a hundred thousand members.

She's not going to go away simply because I put my fingers in my ears and sing la la la I can't hear you.

No, see, the point is that she would go away if the press stopped covering every single Twitter post and every single individual whistlestop as though it were a huge media event. For instance, how do other politicians stay relevant? They host big fundraisers, they go on "listening tours," and they work their ass off making the media rounds. Palin doesn't do those things because a) the people in Alaska get pissed when she does and b) she's too scared to sit down for a half hour and talk to intellectual heavyweights like David Gregory (eyeroll). Sarah Palin is the exclusion to the rule that you gotta work to stay in the spotlight, because media outlets know that she boosts ratings. For instance, this 10,000 word VF article - did it bring up anything new or vitally important about Palin that we didn't already know? No. It's simply: well, it's been a few weeks since we talked about Palin, let's publish an article, I'm sure that'll make the rounds. And so then cable news this afternoon/evening was talking about Palin - simply because of the VF article. Were they discussing Palin because of something she did? No! It was the media talking about how the media loves to talk about Palin, and it's sort of infuriating.
posted by billysumday at 7:15 PM on June 30 [13 favorites has favorites]

Please. Yes, Alaska's not a particularly big state. And yes, she hasn't said she's running for re-election, but she also hasn't said she isn't. And she might lose a primary for Senator. And who cares that there are less people in "SarahPAC" than there are people who are avid followers and who would like to see her be President. And an article in Vanity Fair and a post about it on Metafilter are hardly relevant to the people who follow her. This article, and this post, not existing would not make her "go away". It's not the case that it "really is true".
posted by Flunkie at 7:24 PM on June 30

"It Came From Wasilla"

And for all I care It can go back to the pre-women's rights era from whence It came.

(...after It banishes the GOP to the swamp/outer space/frozen tundra in 2012)
posted by clearly at 7:25 PM on June 30

Only 5504 comments to go ¡Si, lo podemos!
posted by Devils Rancher at 7:35 PM on June 30 [2 favorites has favorites]

Know what I dislike most about Sarah Palin?

It's the fact that everytime I look at her, she reminds me that I'm a goddamned heterosexual male.

Even knowing all that I know about her, my first thought upon seeing a photo of her or seeing her on television is always, "Man, she is sexy."

And then my mind splits into two: one part says "Since she's attractive, I should probably listen to what she's saying" and the other part is saying to the first part, "Man, fuck you! What she's saying is absolute bullshit! Why are we even talking about this?!"

She makes me hate myself. That's why I wish she would just go away, above and beyond the fact that she would implement policies that hurt the things and people I care about. I suck.
posted by lord_wolf at 7:38 PM on June 30 [12 favorites has favorites]

I have tried. I have really tried. I cannot fathom what anybody sees in Sarah Palin as a leader.

She is dumber than a box of rocks. She thinks a wink and a smile can substitute for real knowledge; her whole playbook is conservative platitudes and liberal-bashing. She's been quite unethical with regards to government funds, if her critics are to be believed. In short, she's another conservative who talks the talk, but doesn't walk the walk.

If the Republicans are insane she'll make the ticket next time.
posted by Benny Andajetz at 7:38 PM on June 30 [2 favorites has favorites]

She'd be a hit on any show.

Except David Letterman's.

The crazy thing is, going on Letterman would have been a brilliant PR move for her. She could have sat down with him and said something to the effect of "I can take a joke about myself, but I get really defensive about my family," and Letterman would have apologized, and she would have looked like the bigger person and down to earth and it would have done wonders for her image. Instead, she decided to slug it out in this ugly, tabloid-style battle that made her look like she was on the same level as a late-night comic.

She has no idea how to position herself as a credible presidential candidate. If she were smart, she'd be cramming to go on Meet The Press and show off her newly-won domestic and foreign policy chops. Instead, she's living like a tacky reality TV star. I wouldn't rule out her getting the nomination in 2012, since Romney's a Mormon, Huckabee's said nice things about brown people, and every other candidate seems incapable of keeping their dick in their pants. But if she does, Obama will win between thirty and forty states. That might be the best thing for the GOP in the long run; any recovered addict will tell you that you have to hit bottom before you can start getting better.
posted by EarBucket at 7:39 PM on June 30 [5 favorites has favorites]

filthy light thief: Clinton might have been "down-to-earth", but he was also a Rhodes Scholar.
posted by djfiander at 7:40 PM on June 30

I don't think she will be the nominee. She was only viable to the point she was a contrast to McCain. In a real primary season there are probably ten or more people who could outdo her. (And I have come to the sad conclusion that a truly wise Palin would have declined the Veep offer and concentrated on her family, her new baby, and her governorship. And the rest of us on the Right guzzled the flavorade because we truly do care about our one issue-but she just wasn't anything but a cynical choice. )
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 7:40 PM on June 30 [3 favorites has favorites]

I guess it came as no surprise to me to read that contrary to what McCain had told American, vetting began pretty much on the day he named her as his running mate, with lawyers flying up to Alaska almost immediately in a race against the national press. This bit, though, really jumped out at me:

When Trig was born, Palin wrote an e-mail letter to friends and relatives, describing the belated news of her pregnancy and detailing Trig’s condition; she wrote the e-mail not in her own name but in God’s, and signed it “Trig’s Creator, Your Heavenly Father.”

I guess it shouldn't surprise me that a person who even her own friends call self-absorbed and narcissistic would write something like this but ... damn.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 7:45 PM on June 30 [1 favorite has favorites]

It's gonna be pretty hard to lay the economy on Obama's door in 2012 becuase nobody has any better ideas that won't run contrary to their corporate contributors and PAC's.

Are you kidding me??? People were bitching when he hadn't "fixed" the economy in his first 100 days! Granted, they were stupid people, but there's lots and lots of stupid people in this country.

My only hope is that the thinking Republicans who count will realize what a disaster she would be for this country and nix any nomination. I think that they will look at her "mavericky-ness" as the loose cannon that she actually is and think, "Man, I wouldn't want her pre-emptively nuking Iran or Russia or France for chrissake. Maybe we should, you know, not let her near Washington."
posted by leftcoastbob at 7:46 PM on June 30

(I look back and wonder what I was smoking to like her so much.)

Quoted for total lack of self-awareness. Thanks for almost ruining the Republic.
posted by joe lisboa at 7:50 PM on June 30 [7 favorites has favorites]

I don't know if anybody else here has been to Wasila, but I have, and it's hard to overstate how much of a depressing methhole it is. And it's apparently roughly 50% bigger now than it was when Palin was mayor.

It's also hard for people who haven't been there to understand exactly how utterly and completely empty Alaska is. Wasila is currently the 5th largest city in Alaska. Because it has 5000 people. Think about that: The fifth largest city in Alaska has fewer people in than live in like a 500 foot radius of me. Anchorage is by a large factor the biggest city in Alaska. There are, indeed, something like 280,000 people there. But if you haven't been there that is probably misleading. It feels tiny with most of what resembles an actual city squished in a grid you can walk across in 15 minutes. It's small.

But in any case the government isn't in Achorage, it's in Juneau. Juneau is like a small rustic temperate rainforesty tourist trap ran into and had a love child with a state capital. There are more students at University of Michigan than in all of Juneau. By about 25%. It's also extremely inaccessible. You can only get their by air (or boat, I guess)... cars have to be barged in. Why you'd put your state capital in such an inaccessible place in a tiny offshoot of your state whose people and climate are nothing like the rest of the state is something there is probably a story behind.

So that's Palin's background.
posted by Justinian at 7:53 PM on June 30 [4 favorites has favorites]

posted by EarBucket The crazy thing is, going on Letterman would have been a brilliant PR move for her. She could have sat down with him and said something to the effect of "I can take a joke about myself, but I get really defensive about my family," and Letterman would have apologized, and she would have looked like the bigger person and down to earth and it would have done wonders for her image.

And then David Letterman would have said, "Well, I'm glad that's settled. So why didn't you throw a tantrum when Conan, Leno, and Kimmel made much nastier jokes, and why did you go on Saturday Night Live after they made really nasty jokes at your daughter's expense? Oh wait, sorry, I forgot. At that time, people were paying attention to you."
posted by mattdidthat at 8:00 PM on June 30 [5 favorites has favorites]

Apparently, she wrote that email posing AS God, trying to be cute, I guess. Like:

So, ya'know, it's Gaaad, here, ya'know. I just thought I'd tell you that all babies are precious, ya'know, even if they're not up to code, ya'know? You betcha. Ooooh kay, ya'know, so uh, so long and thanks for all the prayers, ya'know? ---GAAAAD

Hey, maybe the media IS out to get her, ya'know?
posted by stavrogin at 8:00 PM on June 30 [1 favorite has favorites]

Quoted for total lack of self-awareness. -- or, rather: self-congratulatory retroactive "awareness." Let me guess: the war in Iraq was a mistake too?
posted by joe lisboa at 8:01 PM on June 30 [4 favorites has favorites]

Apparently, she wrote that email posing AS God, trying to be cute, I guess.

I understood that she doesn't actually believe that she, herself, is the Almighty.

Or maybe she does, who knows.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 8:04 PM on June 30 [1 favorite has favorites]

I didn't. The way the article described it and did so right after saying she might have narcissistic personality disorder, it sounded like she was proclaiming herself God. It's a little comforting to know that she's not that crazy, even if she is the sort of crazy that probably writes Christmas cards as if they're from the family dog.
posted by stavrogin at 8:15 PM on June 30

Well, taking on the persona of God in e-mail format does seem a bit narcissist. Then again,

even if she is the sort of crazy that probably writes Christmas cards as if they're from the family dog

is something I would do. "Rerry Ristras rery-rody!"
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 8:25 PM on June 30 [6 favorites has favorites]

Palin seemed like a good move at the time. They announced picking her just after the Democratic convention; right then, the media was exhausted with conventions and bored of Democrats. The whole insane Hillary whipping circle had finally ended (and Jesus, talk about your worthless weeks of media hysteria...). She made political sense too, covering part of the base that was lukewarm on McCain and couldn't be motivated by Hillary-hate anymore.

The media needed red meat, and the McCain camp needed something to set against First Black President. And it did totally suck all the wind from the Dem primary. Washed it away entirely and forever. When I first heard of it, I thought that's it, McCain's won.

There's something Reaganesque about Palin. She's got some charm, some folksiness, the same casual anti-intellectualism. She might have actually done well as a Vice President or even President. "Doing well" meaning being only a public face while smarter and better people ran the show. The problem is that she actually believes the bullshit act that Reagan merely projected.

Had she been less fucking crazy it might have worked. Even as crazy as she was, had the McCain campaign not played so heavily with demanding experience, poise, level-headedness (which was obviously not a good angle for creepy old rage man McCain, anyway)... Had they not gleefully helped lower the bar for savaging and confronting female candidates... Maybe we'd all be speaking whatever the fuck accent it is that Palin speaks while MeFi conservatives lectured us douchily while we tried to look on the bright side: at least Bush is gone, even though the GOP would be providing fresh horrors every week.

If it were a chess move, it would be marked !! in the player's notebook, but it's now on its way to becoming a historic ?? Thank. Fucking. God.
posted by fleacircus at 8:30 PM on June 30 [5 favorites has favorites]

is something I would do. "Rerry Ristras rery-rody!"

David Berkowitz' defense attorney would like a word.
posted by ob at 8:31 PM on June 30

Remember Palin came into the convention with the crowd shouting "Drill, Baby, Drill" Ostensibly,her reason for being on the ticket was her expertise on energy issues as the governor of an oil producing state. The Republicans tried to frame the election around gas prices, a way to get the voter to vote with their pocketbook, as the other issues were not winnable for them, (Hello, War, Economy beginning to crumble, Healthcare????) .

And as an added bonus they got her "pulchritude and fecundity" bonafides, the "sexy librarian" with the first dude husband role she loves to play, just a big attention whore with little substance.

The thing that stood out to me at the time of her addition to the ticket is her children's lack of knowledge of the announcement until the day it was made. Their Facebook pages were still up with their party pictures and stupid rants for anyone to see. Did she not want to tell them because she was afraid they couldn't keep a secret? Three of them were old enough at the time to be given at least a head's up on the maelstrom of publicity they were about to go through. She had to know what a toll this would take on them, especially putting Bristol into the spotlight at a very difficult time. She has always come off as a complete narcissist.

The whole Palin debacle was such an excecise in cynicism, it's a wonder John McCain has the nerve to spout the kind of shit he has been lately re:Iran, etc.
posted by readery at 8:39 PM on June 30 [4 favorites has favorites]

Palin/Bachmann 2012!

Bachmann-Palin Overdrive: Takin' Care Of Business.
posted by GuyZero at 8:41 PM on June 30 [5 favorites has favorites]

Then when I see
No, you were right the first time.
posted by Saxon Kane at 8:59 PM on June 30

One often sees the ultimate expression of a movement such as the Republican Revolution once the wave has crested.
posted by Ironmouth at 9:03 PM on June 30 [2 favorites has favorites]

She is the complete embodiment of the PTA President.
posted by Edward L at 9:03 PM on June 30 [3 favorites has favorites]

2012 Palingenesis
posted by hortense at 9:12 PM on June 30 [3 favorites has favorites]

How could she possibly run for president when she's busy reading every newspaper in existence?

DAMN YOU KATIE COURIC!!! DAMN YOU TO HELL!!!
posted by bardic at 9:13 PM on June 30

If she were smart, she'd be cramming to go on Meet The Press and show off her newly-won domestic and foreign policy chops. Instead, she's living like a tacky reality TV star.

Reagan was a Hollywood invention, and he ran America like a Western, filmed on a lot where all the buildings are facades, propped up with termite-ridden plywood. Only by the stroke of divine luck and Alzheimers were we kept from a nuclear confrontation at the hand of that goddamn yahoo.

There's something Reaganesque about Palin. She's got some charm, some folksiness, the same casual anti-intellectualism.

QED. Watch out for Palin — she's Mericuh's li'l Hitler, and she'd happily grind this country and the fags, Jeews and Moslems into paste, if it raised her profile any.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:15 PM on June 30 [6 favorites has favorites]

If Palin does run for president in 2012, someone better ask the question, "If you couldn't contain the rape and meth epidemic in your own home town as Governor, how can anyone expect you to be a competent administrator at the national level?"

Because whatever her answer is, it will make for great television.
posted by quin at 9:35 PM on June 30 [15 favorites has favorites]

Ol' Frank Zappa never knew Sarah, but he said it best:

"What is the ugliest part of your body?
I think it's your mind."
posted by rdone at 9:40 PM on June 30 [5 favorites has favorites]

posted by quin If Palin does run for president in 2012, someone better ask the question, "If you couldn't contain the rape and meth epidemic in your own home town as Governor, how can anyone expect you to be a competent administrator at the national level?" Because whatever her answer is, it will make for great television.

I hope someone asks, "Since the abstinence-only sex-ed policy you supported failed to prevent your daughter's teen pregnancy, why should we expect sound policy decisions from you when the policies you support have obvious and glaring failures?"
posted by mattdidthat at 9:52 PM on June 30 [1 favorite has favorites]

... I think she's got the nomination in the bag. America loves the belligerent, ready to be tough on something, anything, and despises the thought of education and preparation.

Fortunately "America", as in the stereotype in your head doesn't actually make up a majority of the population. For ever Bible Thumper, there's a Dr. Phill watching "spiritual" Oprah Acolyte. For every rich CEO, there's like 100 poor people. For every angry white man there's a Mexican.
posted by delmoi at 11:05 PM on June 30 [2 favorites has favorites]

I hope someone asks, "Since the abstinence-only sex-ed policy you supported failed to prevent your daughter's teen pregnancy, why should we expect sound policy decisions from you when the policies you support have obvious and glaring failures?"

You know that's a good point, I know that's a good point, but the way it would read is "some journalist blamed Palin for her daughter's pregnancy", which would do little but evoke sympathy for Palin.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 11:09 PM on June 30 [2 favorites has favorites]

Let me see if I can figure out how Sarah would answer these questions:

If Palin does run for president in 2012, someone better ask the question, "If you couldn't contain the rape and meth epidemic in your own home town as Governor

"You know, as an Alaskan, I'm offended by the question. We're not all uneducated illiterates. We have magazines, such as the Economist. And that is a critical issue for the people Trying. It's offensive. We're all trying, but freedom is messy and frankly the problems were not that bad as long as don't care about poor people we all work together"

Since the abstinence-only sex-ed policy you supported failed to prevent your daughter's teen pregnancy, why should we expect sound policy decisions from you when the policies you support have obvious and glaring failures?

"Families are off limits. You know, the democrats no know bounds of civility. The way they've been making fun of my retarded son has been horrible. By the way. I have a retarded son, who I did not abort." (proceeds to whine about the question on friendly venues for months)
posted by delmoi at 11:11 PM on June 30

Oh, here we go: Palin Story Sparks GOP Family Feud
posted by lalex at 11:24 PM on June 30 [1 favorite has favorites]

Oh, here we go: Palin Story Sparks GOP Family Feud

Oh, man, this is too good:

Kristol cited a passage in Purdum’s piece in which “some top aides” were said to worry about the Alaska governor’s “mental state” and the prospect that the Alaska governor may be suffering from post-partum depression following the birth of her son Trig. “In fact, one aide who raised this possibility in the course of trashing Palin’s mental state to others in the McCain-Palin campaign was Steve Schmidt,” Kristol wrote.

Asked about the accusation, Schmidt fired back in an email: “I'm sure John McCain would be president today if only Bill Kristol had been in charge of the campaign.”

“After all, his management of [former Vice President] Dan Quayle’s public image as his chief of staff is still something that takes your breath away,” Schmidt continued. “

Yikes! Man, remind me not to get on Schmidt's bad side.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 11:38 PM on June 30 [7 favorites has favorites]

But in any case the government isn't in Achorage, it's in Juneau. Juneau is like a small rustic temperate rainforesty tourist trap . . .

"small rustic temperate rainforesty tourist trap" – Let's not bring Skagway into this.

The cruise ship docks and tourist traps in Juneau are concentrated in one small part of town (South Franklin Street). If that's primarily what you saw of Juneau, you'd never know what the town is like for real residents. Most of that development was within the last twenty to thirty years, and most residents have no direct connection to the tourist industry.

Also, the population is pretty spread out; the historic downtown is a small part of the city. Downtown looks like a self-contained little town, but that's because of geography. The last forty years of housing developments, malls, etc. has been elsewhere. Everything and everybody in the local road system is politically, culturally, and economically one city. This includes Douglas Island, the Mendenhall Valley, Auke Bay, etc.

. . . ran into and had a love child with a state capital. There are more students at University of Michigan than in all of Juneau. By about 25%. It's also extremely inaccessible. You can only get their by air (or boat, I guess)... cars have to be barged in.

By the standards of the state, it's not inaccessible. Besides the airport (which is important), locals use the Alaska Marine Highway, both for cars and walk-on traffic. Barges are used for shipping in the same way the Lower 48 uses railroads and trucking, and are used by the state as a whole, not just Juneau. (There are goods that go into the Interior that spend part of their journey on the ocean.)

While you can drive from Seattle to Anchorage without putting a car on a ferry for part of the journey, unless you have a lot of time, gas money, and don't care about the miles (and wear-and-tear) on your car, you're going to fly (as most Alaskans do when leaving the state).

Why you'd put your state capital in such an inaccessible place in a tiny offshoot of your state whose people and climate are nothing like the rest of the state is something there is probably a story behind.

Well, yes. Going back to the Russians, the previous capital was Sitka. The Juneau area was developed by gold mining, and had a lot of economic activity surrounding this. Southeast Alaska and the southcentral coast were the most accessible (compared to the Interior or coast north of the Aleutians) and most important economically, so it's not surprising that the capital city was located in a coastal town. Anchorage is within this zone, but didn't exist in the Russian or early U.S. period, while Juneau was booming and a lot closer to Seattle.
posted by D.C. at 12:14 AM on July 1 [7 favorites has favorites]

Related: Profile of Levi Johnston in this month's GQ.

Once you get past the slightly-too-precious opening (and/or GQ's gawdawful website design), it's actually a pretty even-handed and penetrating profile, especially given the tabloid subject matter.
posted by gompa at 12:37 AM on July 1 [3 favorites has favorites]

She is dumber than a box of rocks. She thinks a wink and a smile can substitute for real knowledge; her whole playbook is conservative platitudes and liberal-bashing. She's been quite unethical with regards to government funds, if her critics are to be believed. In short, she's another conservative who talks the talk, but doesn't walk the walk.

She is the Thomas Kincaide of politics. The John Tesh of new-age jazz. The Tim LaHaye of novels. A peculiar breed of Pentecostalish folk. Enough of them that one can make a niche living off them; not enough of them to really dominate the larger scene.

One in twenty homes has a Kincaid. "Precious Moments" figurines and postcards gross $15 million a year. John Tesh is fantastically wealthy through his endeavours. The execrable "Left Behind" series made the authors a mint. There are people out there who actually think it's a good series.

Flabbergasting. It's like these people are entirely different species.
posted by five fresh fish at 1:22 AM on July 1 [9 favorites has favorites]

And the rest of us on the Right guzzled the flavorade because we truly do care about our one issue-but she just wasn't anything but a cynical choice.

Some day you will perhaps come to understand that by definition anyone who would ban abortion is not capable of leading a functional, civilized society. When abortion is banned, citizen suffering increases. A leader who would choose to maximize suffering instead of minimizing it can not be a good leader.

The best thing you can do for yourself is to open your mind to voting for a candidate who won't ban abortion (none of them ever do anyway) but who best represents your personal interests visi a vis the economy, access to education and healthcare, and getting along better with other nations so that no one feels the need to terrorize you.
posted by five fresh fish at 1:41 AM on July 1 [1 favorite has favorites]

Even if I can't abide Sarah Palin or anything that she stands for, I still find the "narcissistic personality disorder" criticism profoundly unfair. Is she profoundly narcissistic? Well, of course she is! She's a politician, fer Chrissakes! It comes with the territory!

Nobody with an ego smaller than the Hindenburg would even remotely consider going through the indignities of running for office (and Sarah Palin did get her fair share of indignities). I mean, look at your current President. He may be awesome, and much more justified than most in his pride, but he certainly holds himself in extremely high regard. There's somebody who has written a not-particularly-self-critical 300-pager on his own life. And who, speaking of God, has cracked a few too many Messiah jokes about himself.

Think of narcissistic personality disorder as a professional health hazard, natch, a requirement for being a politician.
posted by Skeptic at 2:04 AM on July 1 [2 favorites has favorites]

OK, I'm going to be un-PC. Someone has to.

As a heterosexual male (who spends lots of time in deep rural Alaska, where I am now, and who actually once shook Sarah Palin's hand before she was nominated for VP) I *do not get* the constant bullshit about how "hot" or "sexy" or "attractive" she is. I'm telling you that I stood right next to Sarah Palin in person before she was so famous, and it didn't even occur to me to find her more than average looking. (And such thoughts occur to me regularly, I confess.) So there. She looked like a mom approaching middle age.

The mere fact that she's height-weight proportional (coming from an unbelievably obese social milieu) and has shiny hair and straight teeth doesn't impress me much. She looks to me like she tries way too hard to be "hot." That's not hot.

Dollars to (lots of) donuts the average Sarah Palin supporter is obese. Hell, I'll bet the average white American Christian is obese. Just like Jesus told them to be.
posted by fourcheesemac at 2:31 AM on July 1 [7 favorites has favorites]

I hope she runs for something, because it'll continue putting her where she needs be: in a position where she has some accountability.

Which would you prefer, Senator Palin or Sarah Palin, Fox commentator or the "Sarah Palin Show" on radio? If she did the latter, she could spout off all day and wouldn't have to answer to anyone for the crazy shit she'd say on a daily basis.

Keep your friends close and your enemies close.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:14 AM on July 1 [1 favorite has favorites]

...it didn't even occur to me to find her more than average looking.

Really, fourcheesemac? I don't have time right now, but do a little photoshopping and superimpose the Marquardt matrix for the ideal proportions of a human face (as based on the golden mean) over this official portrait of Sara Palin. You will see a perfect match. Her face is simply ideally proportioned. She is beautiful. She is Helen of Troy. You could look into her eyes for ever.
posted by Faze at 4:24 AM on July 1 [3 favorites has favorites]

Her face is simply ideally proportioned.

Except for her GIGANTIC MAN JAW. Christ, she looks like she could throw a handful of walnuts into her mouth and chew 'em down, shells and all.

Also, she abused her authority.
Also, she is a complete idiot.

Why are we even discussing this non-person? The only ticket Palin will be riding on in 2012 is the meal ticket.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:40 AM on July 1 [3 favorites has favorites]

Flabbergasting. It's like these people are entirely different species.

Fivefreshfish -- Of course. Anyone who disagrees with us is not human. Another species. Believing this is the first step toward political murder, genocide, or war. It's a classic symptom that a person's personal politics are out of whack. As soon as we hear ourselves uttering any of the many variations on "my opponent is less than human," we need to stop, take a deep breath, and get away from the political blogs for a while. Denying your opponents' humanity is the original sin of politics, and even being correct doesn't justify it.
posted by Faze at 4:58 AM on July 1 [13 favorites has favorites]

I was coming here to post that Politico rundown of the massive infighting this touched off. It is delicious! Also.
posted by CunningLinguist at 5:13 AM on July 1

I wouldn't rule out her getting the nomination in 2012

Nah, no fucking way. As much as you can predict anything this far out (i.e., zero much), it's gonna be Gingrich.
posted by mediareport at 5:30 AM on July 1

Gingrich isn't actually in the race. He knows he's unelectable, and I don't think he'd want the job even if he got it. But acting like he's running is a great way to raise his profile and bring in tons of cash for his PAC. He played the same game in 2007.
posted by EarBucket at 5:34 AM on July 1

Dollars to (lots of) donuts the average Sarah Palin supporter is obese. Hell, I'll bet the average white American Christian is obese. Just like Jesus told them to be.

...aaaand this is where you lost me. Pretty spectacular synthesis of LOLFATTIES, LOLXTIANS, and LOLREPUBLICANS into two short sentences. So, like, kudos for that. I guess.
posted by shiu mai baby at 5:38 AM on July 1 [5 favorites has favorites]

Also, check out SarahPAC's July 4th fundraising video. It appears to be a bunch of random pictures of the Alaska National Guard sewn together with Windows Movie Maker, with an added coda about that botched Air Force One photo op in NYC (remember that?). I could have thrown together a better video in an afternoon.
posted by EarBucket at 5:43 AM on July 1

And as an aside: goddamn, how I wish just one conversation about Sarah Palin could not devolve variations on the theme of the "hot or not" debate.

There's so much about her person to mock; what I don't get is why otherwise relatively fair-minded and left-leaning folks are all too eager to fall into the easy trap of commenting about her appearance.

When was the last time people debated the perceived sexiness of Huckabee or Pawlenty or Romney? They don't. Funny how that works, isn't it?
posted by shiu mai baby at 5:45 AM on July 1 [10 favorites has favorites]

Hell we knew we were losing Iraq and Afghanistan in 2004. And we still re-elected that idiot. No the incumbent is gonna have all the cards in 2012 more so than usual.

Iraq and Afghanistan were television wars. No draft, no real pain for the overwhelming majority of this country. The economy, that's another issue. It genuinely and daily worries pretty much everybody. Whether the incumbant can turn things around, or even just give the appearance of being about to turn things around, that's what it's going to turn on.

Other than that, the main card he holds at this point is that the republicans have no credible candidates. Palin seems unlikely, Limbaugh notwithstanding. That said, you never know who might come out of nowhere.

Early days, early days.
posted by IndigoJones at 5:47 AM on July 1

There's so much about her person to mock; what I don't get is why otherwise relatively fair-minded and left-leaning folks are all too eager to fall into the easy trap of commenting about her appearance.

Because even otherwise relatively fair-minded and left-leaning men occasionally think with their dicks?

Don't blame us, blame the testosterone...
posted by Skeptic at 6:04 AM on July 1

Really, the big factor in both the midterms and the 2012 presidential election is going to be Obama's personal approval rating. It would be nice if policy were a consideration for the electorate, but the fact is they vote for the guy they like better. And I suspect Obama, like Clinton and Reagan before him, has a pretty untouchable personal appeal. Even in the harshest days of the campaign, it never dipped below the mid-50s. Hell, even Rush Limbaugh assumes he'll be a two-termer (maybe more ohmygod).
posted by EarBucket at 6:14 AM on July 1

My favorite thing about Palin is still that, as far as I can determine, she has never actually managed to perform even the minimum requirements for any job she has held - up until the running mate thing.

Of course, everyone who works knows that person - someone who thinks they're being nice promotes her to a job putting socks in a rubber bag, and within a month her protector in the firm has to create a position for a person to pick up the socks and another position for a person to put the socks in a rubber bag. The socks-in-a-rubber-bag department has a 70% budget increase and departments that had folks over-extended on the promise of new positions are burned out. Eventually, thanks to her mismanagement, socks-in-a-rubber bag has to be outsourced and - because that was such a great idea - she's promoted to a higher level. Meanwhile, some key folks whose departments depend on reliable delivery of socks-in-a-rubber-bag leave the firm ... we've all seen it.
posted by Lesser Shrew at 6:23 AM on July 1 [1 favorite has favorites]

When was the last time people debated the perceived sexiness of Huckabee or Pawlenty or Romney? They don't. Funny how that works, isn't it?
posted by shiu mai baby

To be fair, this is because there is only one hot male Republican politician. All the others look like enormous albino toads with jowls like a basset hound's ears.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 6:25 AM on July 1 [8 favorites has favorites]

Palin still has some clout with people. For instance, a few weeks ago, I was sitting in a tiny cafe in a tiny town in central Illinois, where my in-laws live. As I was eating my gooseberry pie, the older folks (probably in their 60s) sitting at the table behind me were discussing various issues. Suddenly, I heard an old man say, "Sarah Palin is the best thing the Republicans have right now," or something to that effect. It was all I could do to not choke on my pie. In addition, my husband works with people who STILL think Obama is a Muslim. I sometimes wonder if these people live in the same reality I do.
posted by cass at 6:27 AM on July 1

When was the last time people debated the perceived sexiness of Huckabee or Pawlenty or Romney? They don't. Funny how that works, isn't it?

Well, 'cause they're not sexy. There's been plenty of discussion of how hot Obama is, on the other hand.
posted by EarBucket at 6:33 AM on July 1 [1 favorite has favorites]

Well, 'cause they're not sexy. There's been plenty of discussion of how hot Obama is, on the other hand.

To a certain degree, yes. But there's this ridiculous double standard applied to female politicians where their appearance is regarded as a perfectly valid aspect of their worthiness as a candidate (see: aforementioned "sexiness" of Palin; Hillary's perceived "severity," her pantsuits; the question of whether or not Sotomayor was "too fat" for the SCOTUS, etc.), a phenomenon that just doesn't exist for their male counterparts, for the most part.

And it makes me absolutely nuts. I mean, I expect it coming from sexist jerkoffs like Limbaugh and Hannity and O'Reilly; coming from MeFi folks whose opinions I otherwise respect very highly? Not so much.
posted by shiu mai baby at 6:56 AM on July 1 [3 favorites has favorites]

To be fair, this is because there is only one hot male Republican politician. All the others look like enormous albino toads with jowls like a basset hound's ears.


Okay, I'm game, name your hot Republican male.
posted by The Whelk at 6:58 AM on July 1

But there's this ridiculous double standard applied to female politicians where their appearance is regarded as a perfectly valid aspect of their worthiness as a candidate


Surely some of that is just half-to-no-ass-round-the-clock-blowhard-commentator white noise? Like if it wasn't appearance it would be because they "smell funny" or once, they totally saw Sotomayor eating DIRT behind the gym. Totally!
posted by The Whelk at 7:01 AM on July 1

Purdum put it well: Palin simply would not be a national phenom if she looked like Susan Boyle. Her good looks are an integral part of the package.

Romney's looks come in for discussion, too, but it's more ancillary with him.
posted by CunningLinguist at 7:04 AM on July 1

Discussion? Romney? The fact that his entire manner is like being stranded on a rock face with no food or water? I keep thinking his head is fully removable like a LEGO person.

Okay, a large part of sexual attraction comes from imagining ...how that person is in bed. So to speak. You can be as chiseled as you want, but when you come off like a mouthful of sand wrapped in a pale beige wrapper, my mind's not headin' to the budior.

Now Huckabee, that's a little closer if you've got a thing for big-daddy southern types. Repressed guys with big appetites can be demons in the sack, so that I can kinda see.

Yes I'm admitting a passing sexual thought about Huckabee. DON'T YOU JUDGE ME INTERNET.
posted by The Whelk at 7:22 AM on July 1 [4 favorites has favorites]

To a certain degree, yes. But there's this ridiculous double standard applied to female politicians where their appearance is regarded as a perfectly valid aspect of their worthiness as a candidate

With Palin, I chalk this up to her being so different looking from most of the old white men she's in the club with. She's young, attractive and stylish, it's almost human nature that her looks would be commented on, especially in a political arena, where presentation matters so very much.

None of that excuses sexist talk about her, but I do think it would be almost impossible for there not be be comments about her looks. Visually, she just stands out.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:22 AM on July 1

Right, but the fame of Susan Boyle is itself demonstrative of what I'm talking about, albeit on the other side of the attractiveness spectrum. People were blown away by her voice largely because the audience pre-judged her dowdy appearance and concluded, before she ever sang a single note, that she'd be this epically deluded trainwreck. Over and over again, the beauty of her voice was held as this omigosh! kind of contrast to her homely outsides, because we all know that only pretty people can sing well.

It's unprovable, of course, but I'd bet a thousand dollars that a similarly dumpy male contestant who sang incredibly well wouldn't have experienced the same cultural zeitgeist that Boyle did. Why? Because our culture considers a woman's appearance to be fair game when judging her competence.

That kind of thinking is stupid and shallow when you're talking about a contestant on a throwaway talent show; it's outright dangerous and phenomenally insulting when it's used as a litmus test for women who are in positions of power.
posted by shiu mai baby at 7:23 AM on July 1 [6 favorites has favorites]

the rest of us on the Right guzzled the flavorade because we truly do care about our one issue-but she just wasn't anything but a cynical choice.

What you have to understand is that to those of us outside the cultural-political current that you inhabit, Sarah Palin is what you look like. She was chosen specifically to court you and yours by flattery- by far and away the most common thing I heard coming out of Christian conservatives back when she was introduced was that "she's just like me!" Sarah Palin was chosen specifically because the Christian Right- one of the biggest factions within the GOP- was angry about not getting to pick the candidate and was threatening to go start its own theme park* instead. Palin's choice was indeed incredibly cynical. It was basically the assertion that Christian conservatives- like you- would vote for anyone, no matter how horrible a parody of the Christian Right, as long as their identity politics were played to. Of course you liked her- how could you not?

I still find the "narcissistic personality disorder" criticism profoundly unfair. Is she profoundly narcissistic? Well, of course she is! She's a politician, fer Chrissakes! It comes with the territory!

Narcissism doesn't just mean having an out-sized ego. It's a fairly specific set of disordered behaviors that are incredibly destructive. There's a member of my family with it, and it's simply awful. If you want an idea of what it looks like, go watch Steve Carrell's character in The Office, particularly the second or third season, and mentally eliminate the bits that show he's really a decent and caring guy underneath it all. The vindictiveness, manipulation, and viciousness go beyond what you would expect from a politician.

*With blackjack! And hookers!**
**Okay, probably not.
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:38 AM on July 1 [2 favorites has favorites]

Tina Fey made us think Palin is hot. Because Tina Fey is spicy. Rawr.
posted by educatedslacker at 7:46 AM on July 1 [5 favorites has favorites]

It's unprovable, of course, but I'd bet a thousand dollars that a similarly dumpy male contestant who sang incredibly well wouldn't have experienced the same cultural zeitgeist that Boyle did.

While I agree with your larger point, you chose the wrong example.

Also, while again affirming my agreement that Palin has been treated sexistly, I'd like to point out that even treated fairly, she was and is disastrously ignorant, hateful, divisive and theocratic.
posted by DU at 7:47 AM on July 1

It's unprovable, of course, but I'd bet a thousand dollars that a similarly dumpy male contestant who sang incredibly well wouldn't have experienced the same cultural zeitgeist that Boyle did.

I don't know about that.

I hear what you're saying and I agree with a lot of it, I really do. But I think people talk about Palin's looks because she herself has presented them as part of a reason to vote for her. A lot of the campaign marketing around her, both as a running mate for McCain and as a possible 2012 candidate, has been centered on the idea that she's hot! hot! hot! So when I see all of that hoopla around someone who's average-looking at best, the cognitive dissonance is striking.
posted by EarBucket at 7:50 AM on July 1

She is never going to make it into something like the presidency because she is lazy. She won't do the work required. I don't think she is unintelligent, but she is uninformed and has no desire to get informed. Also, as Todd points out she and the truth have an uncomfortable relationship. Her tight skirts and high heels might get her into the Senate, but she is not getting into the Oval Office without doing the work.
posted by caddis at 7:51 AM on July 1

People were blown away by her voice largely because the audience pre-judged her dowdy appearance and concluded, before she ever sang a single note, that she'd be this epically deluded trainwreck.

In fairness, this wasn't just because she was dowdy. It was because of her conduct before she sang, and frankly because her conduct let you know right away that she wasn't quite right in the head. Which, in fact, she isn't.

It's also the case that her appearance, conduct, dress, and accent label her pretty clearly as working class, which also strongly sets up preconceptions of failure, especially in a culture that's at least arguably highly class-conscious.

So anyway, it's not just that Susan Boyle, dumpy woman, got up and sang well. It's that Susan Boyle, dumpy AND working-class Catholic Scot AND a bit of a thickie, got up and sang well.

I'd bet a thousand dollars that a similarly dumpy male contestant who sang incredibly well wouldn't have experienced the same cultural zeitgeist that Boyle did

Paul Potts. Though he doesn't also capture the condescending "borderline retard can actually do something well" aspect of Boyle.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:52 AM on July 1

Ah, I hadn't heard of Paul Potts. Thanks, y'all. Glad I didn't put actual cash money behind that earlier statement. Heh.
posted by shiu mai baby at 7:56 AM on July 1

Also, this: I'd like to point out that even treated fairly, she was and is disastrously ignorant, hateful, divisive and theocratic.

Absolutely. 100%. Couldn't agree more. Which is why I'd love it if, on MeFi, at least, her appearance didn't matter.
posted by shiu mai baby at 8:01 AM on July 1

My bad. I just said "Susan Boyle" as shorthand for "not hot." I didn't mean to restart that tedious old argument.
I will still insist though, as a straight girl, that Palin is a babe and she would not be where she is otherwise, and I reject accusations that it is sexist to say so.
posted by CunningLinguist at 8:02 AM on July 1 [1 favorite has favorites]

Okay, I'm game, name your hot Republican male.
posted by The Whelk at 6:58 AM on July 1

Aaron Schock. Good-looking, but a huge fucking asshole (and J.D. Hayworth-grade dumbshit). Probably got an ugly-ass painting in his attic's what I figure.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 8:04 AM on July 1 [2 favorites has favorites]

Aaron Schock.

I didn't know vanilla pudding came in Hate, Stupid, and Jerk flavors.
posted by The Whelk at 8:12 AM on July 1

Sarah Palin is attractive for a politician

I don't think I'd look at her twice if I randomly saw her in the grocery store.
posted by empath at 8:18 AM on July 1 [2 favorites has favorites]

Which is why I'd love it if, on MeFi, at least, her appearance didn't matter.

I agree about the larger point about the appearance of politicians who are women.

But for Palin, her appearance is probably always going to matter here. In large part because her appearance, in combination with her few political stands and utter vapidity, is a telling part of what the Republicans running McCain thought America wanted to see. Our presidential candidate is really old and spent a big chunk of his life getting the shit kicked out of him on a regular basis and might well not last through a full term, so let's make his VP... transparently dumb as a box of hammers, inarticulate, unaware of national issues, unread, uneducated, completely incapable of taking over the presidency. But pretty -- she even won a beauty pageant! -- and opposed to abortion. That'll get those Hillary women!
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:21 AM on July 1 [2 favorites has favorites]

When was the last time people debated the perceived sexiness of Huckabee or Pawlenty or Romney?

Well, Huckabee and Pawlenty aren't hot. There were some TV commentators fawning over the perceived manliness of Romney, though ("shoulders you could land a 747 on" was one of the compliments he got from the talking heads). Plus, Romney really has gotten far in his political career because he "looks like an executive." It's less blatant with Romney in part because it's socially acceptable to fawn over a woman's good looks (to the point of embarrassment) in a way that it isn't for a male politician, but the undercurrent of such sentiments is there.
posted by deanc at 8:25 AM on July 1

It occurs to me that Palin could have learned a lot by studying Al Franken. Here's a guy who's best known for playing Stuart Smalley on Saturday Night Live, and he very consciously molded his image into that of a smart, serious, credible candidate for the U.S. Senate. He did it by playing down his celebrity, eschewing attention-grabbing stunts, and generally conducting himself in a professional, serious manner. Palin's done precisely the opposite since November.
posted by EarBucket at 8:27 AM on July 1 [6 favorites has favorites]

If being sexually attracted to Mitt Romney is wrong, I don't want to be right.
posted by elsietheeel at 8:39 AM on July 1

Okay, I'm game, name your hot Republican male.

Can we included closeted gay Republicans? Because that makes it easier.
posted by rokusan at 8:45 AM on July 1

Though he doesn't also capture the condescending "borderline retard can actually do something well" aspect of Boyle.

We're all borderline retards, man. All of us.
posted by rokusan at 8:57 AM on July 1

Okay, I'm game, name your hot Republican male.

I could probably find one in the LCR.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:24 AM on July 1

Have at it Blazecock.

Me, I can just *feel* the amount of over-touching and too-long handshakes and sustained eye-contact that one young guy with the dark hair gets during any given meeting.

Uh, presumably.
posted by The Whelk at 9:33 AM on July 1

We're all borderline retards, man. All of us.

In case it wasn't clear, I intended to disparage the audience and their prejudices, not Boyle.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:38 AM on July 1

There's so much about her person to mock; what I don't get is why otherwise relatively fair-minded and left-leaning folks are all too eager to fall into the easy trap of commenting about her appearance.

Because even otherwise relatively fair-minded and left-leaning men occasionally think with their dicks?

Don't blame us, blame the testosterone...

Dude, sounds like maybe you're just a bit too hormonal to be trusted with a vote, if you know what I mean.
posted by jokeefe at 9:38 AM on July 1 [21 favorites has favorites]

Anyone who disagrees with us is not human. Another species. Believing this is the first step toward political murder, genocide, or war.

Yes, Faze, I believe everyone who thinks Left Behind is an example of good writing should be rounded up and shoved into the ovens. Obviously.

[rolls eyes]
posted by five fresh fish at 9:54 AM on July 1 [1 favorite has favorites]

Pope Guilty The vindictiveness, manipulation, and viciousness go beyond what you would expect from a politician.

Well, I expect a lot of that from a politician...
posted by Skeptic at 9:56 AM on July 1

Re: sexiness of politicians — it should be noted that men who are tall are paid more, have greater reproductive success, and win more elections.

The visual appearance of candidates clearly will have an influence on their electability. It is certainly not sexist to say that Palin has an advantage over most other political women.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:08 AM on July 1

ROU_Xenophobe: It's also the case that her appearance, conduct, dress, and accent label her pretty clearly as working class, which also strongly sets up preconceptions of failure, especially in a culture that's at least arguably highly class-conscious.

You're also forgetting that all of the Britain's Got Talent introducing-you-to-Susan-Boyle stuff before she started singing was specifically created to give you the expectation that she would embarrass herself. The YouTube clip that became enormously popular wasn't just a clip of her singing-- it included the heavily-edited and musically-backed intro stuff manufactured by the show that sets you up to expect the opposite of what occurs. If the clip was just of someone singing who looks like Susan Boyle, it wouldn't have been a big deal. It's the reversal that the producers of the show use to manipulate your expectations and emotions that got people excited. This was all, as you pointed out, predicated on her working-class appearance, etc., but the audience's expectations for Susan Boyle to sing terribly were not generated ex nihilo in their prejudiced little minds-- they were encouraged, heavily, by people with financial interest in it.
posted by shakespeherian at 10:09 AM on July 1

Pat Buchanan gets his hair done,
posted by hortense at 11:25 AM on July 1 [1 favorite has favorites]

lately i'm fascinated by the fact that pundits conspicuously omit Huckabee from all their polls of Republican contenders.

personally, I think it's because they're scared of him.

i also have a theory that he's too much like Obama for them: Addresses opponents respectfully, speaks about issues, seems to have actual principles, that kind of thing.

mind you, i most defnitely don't want him for my president. but of any R currently being discussed, he's the only one I think could challenge Obama on the ground where he won: level-headedness and personal decency. (Plus, though it pains me to admit this, he's funnier.)
posted by lodurr at 11:34 AM on July 1

Aaron Schock.

That wikipedia page scared the living hell out of me. My jaw kept dropping further and further toward the ground at how quickly this guy rose through the ranks, becoming a congressman at age 28(!), and then it snapped shut when I got to this sentence:

"In his speech announcing his candidacy for Congress, Schock suggested that the U.S. sell nuclear weapons to Taiwan if the People's Republic of China failed to follow U.S. policy in Iran,[10] saying "Non-proliferation will either be enforced universally or not at all — it is their choice. The Chinese will come around, I have no doubt."

Say what you will about Palin, but to the best of my knowledge she's never openly advocated something that severely endangers the well-being of the entire planet. This guy is ambitious, very good-looking, very conservative, seemingly competent, and might be in the government for another half-century; He's so young he can't even legally run for president for another seven years.
posted by Ndwright at 11:34 AM on July 1 [1 favorite has favorites]

And it makes me absolutely nuts. I mean, I expect it coming from sexist jerkoffs like Limbaugh and Hannity and O'Reilly; coming from MeFi folks whose opinions I otherwise respect very highly? Not so much.

Man, are you willfully not getting it or what? The entire point of dissecting Plains looks is becuase that is ALL she was. Her entire function. An empty suit with nice curves. You taking offense is, well, almost quaint. It's one of those cynical double speak ironic Republican Talking Points to scold liberals for even noticing Palin's looks. And you fell for it.

She was chosen for her looks. Becuase in our culture, as ridiculous as it is, good looks (or a certain template of superficial features) imply competence. It doesn't mean anybodies sexist to notice this. It means they are paying attention. We all know intellectually that looks and competence are not related. okay. Give us some credit. I'd take Madeline Albright over Palin any god damned day of the week.

And sorry but you are just plain wrong in thinking this is a double standard when it comes to American politics. Just plain wrong. Romney is all about getting mid-western grannies hot for a Hollywood lantern jawed hero.

Romney, Kemp, Reagan, Quayle. These are all the old Leading Men type archetypes. And every one of them was chosen for how they fill out a suit and every one was/is endlessly dissected in terms of their looks. And looks or sex-appeal. Really it's the same damn thing.

It's been this way since Nixon flop sweat oozed into American living rooms. It may not be right but you should be over it by now. Save your outrage for things that actually matter.
posted by tkchrist at 12:21 PM on July 1 [3 favorites has favorites]

the audience's expectations for Susan Boyle to sing terribly were not generated ex nihilo in their prejudiced little minds

Oh, I'll admit to being in that metaphorical audience too. That doesn't mean I can't criticize them-and-me for our prejudices, though, even when they're manipulated by others.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 12:28 PM on July 1

Oh bullshit. The only person "willfully not getting it" is you, tkchrist. Just because the GOP trades on Palin's appearance doesn't mean it's not fucked up and wrong for everyone else to do so.

This pervasive need of our society to constantly judge a woman's appearance, the idea that her physical attributes are part of the public domain, that what heels she wears or whether she's sporting a dress or a pantsuit is just as important as whether or not she has any grasp of foreign policy, is something that feminists have been fighting against, fighting hard, since the freaking dawn of the movement, so I'd really appreciate it if you could dial back on the the condescension just a bit.

From the beginning, I've said that Palin is a treasure trove of mockery, but I maintain that buying into the GOP's line of "see? she's pretty! vote for her because she's pretty!" not only helps people ignore the truly horrible things about her, but legitimizes that same notion of woman's appearance = fair game. And I, for one, would like to think that MetaFilter is above that.

As for the double standard? It's quaint that you think it doesn't exist. Do tell me: when was the last time the media openly questioned whether or not a male SCOTUS candidate was too fat to serve?
posted by shiu mai baby at 12:33 PM on July 1 [5 favorites has favorites]

As for the double standard? It's quaint that you think it doesn't exist. Do tell me: when was the last time the media openly questioned whether or not a male SCOTUS candidate was too fat to serve?

Sigh. SCOTUS is not something WE vote on, dude. And you know damned well that in American POLITICS candidates for high office are judged by their looks. And if anybody here ever made a negative comment on Sotomayor's looks I'll give you ten bucks.

Once again for the cheap seats: I never claimed that it isn't wrong to judge somebody on their looks or that women DON'T get unfairly judged in all avenues of society. But scolding US here, right now, for talking about Sarah Palin's looks specifically is absurd. Becuase that was the entire calculus of her being chosen as a candidate. And we are not blind to see that and mention it. We didn't choose her.

You are lumping everybody here who is talking about her looks under one "OMG UR sexist category" and it's insulting as hell when only one commenter here made some "hottie - I'd hit it" type comment about her.
posted by tkchrist at 12:44 PM on July 1 [1 favorite has favorites]

Eh. On preview ROU_Xenophobe said it better than me. So debate him.
posted by tkchrist at 12:50 PM on July 1

Jesus H. Christ. I'm not calling anyone here sexist, for fuck's sake, and I'm not scolding. If you want to buy into the GOP's party line of valuing/devaluing Palin because of her looks, rather than her (deplorable lack of) merit, be my guest. The GOP will be delighted, I can promise you that.
posted by shiu mai baby at 12:51 PM on July 1 [1 favorite has favorites]

ROU_Xenophobe: Oh, I'll admit to being in that metaphorical audience too. That doesn't mean I can't criticize them-and-me for our prejudices, though, even when they're manipulated by others.

Oh, no, I fully agree-- the reason it was easy for Britain's Got Talent to manipulate the audience (you and me included) into expecting Susan Boyle to fail is that we are already pretty prepped for those expectations via our class- and attractiveness-related prejudices. But I feel that it's important to note that those prejudices were targeted and encouraged in the set-up to Boyle's performance for the cynical exploitation of the supposed contradiction between her looks and the sound of her voice-- Britain's Got Talent's crass manipulation and cynicism (especially in the 'Oh you weren't expecting that, were you?' self-congratulatory bullshit that immediately following the performance, cynically aimed at making us feel like we'd learned more about our prejudices) was far uglier, to me, than the raw prejudice of the audience, myself included.
posted by shakespeherian at 12:57 PM on July 1

Oh, no, I fully agree--

Well, good, then! But I looked at the comment you were responding too and it did look kind of like HURF DURF CLASSIST BRITS AMIRITE, so I thought I ought to clarify.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 1:02 PM on July 1

I'm not calling anyone here sexist, for fuck's sake, and I'm not scolding.

Your second comment sure seemed like it to me. If that was not your intent then I apologize.

If you want to buy into the GOP's party line of valuing/devaluing Palin because of her looks, rather than her (deplorable lack of) merit, be my guest.

Shiu nobody here is doing that. No one.

Some people merely noted that she would not even exist on the platform if she "looked like Susan Boyle." How is noting that omitting all the other outrageously obvious intellectual reasons she was a materially shitty candidate? Jeebus. It underscores the entire irony of the fact she was entirely superficial. You'd have to blind not to notice her appearance and it being such overriding factor in her "viability". So it's gonna come up.

I got nothing to say if that still offends you somehow.
posted by tkchrist at 1:06 PM on July 1

I think it's far more interesting to consider how human nature dictates how we choose our leaders, including discussion related to the positive or negative physical attributes of the candidates, than it is to ignore that those impulses exist or to scold those who wish to talk about them. Politics is about power. So is sex. Sorry.
posted by billysumday at 1:42 PM on July 1

I think the point shiu mai baby is making that even if the GOP's sole selling point of Palin was "Look how pretty she is!", for us to focus not primarily on her history of nepotism, her vast willful ignorance of anything outside a 500 mile radius of Wasilla, her vindicativeness, the sweetheart deals she organized as governor, and her far-right platform and instead say, "Ew, gross, no she's not pretty, yuck" is pretty much buying into the GOP's game of wanting to keep politic discourse at the same level as a beauty contest - screw issues, debates, voting records; who looks best on camera? Who winks at the audience? Who makes you feel like they're just like you? It's not only playing the game on their own terms, it helps shift the focus away from what actually matters in the whole question. The secondary point - that female politicians in general are made the special focus of attention based on their looks - is entirely true, and while male politicians are also commented upon because of their looks, there's a matter of degree there, really; there's a world of difference between how the looks of female and male politicians are judged, and I'm pretty sure we're all aware of it. What I take away from shiu's point is, maybe we shouldn't play that game. Can't say I can find fault with that.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 1:56 PM on July 1 [4 favorites has favorites]

Probably got an ugly-ass painting in his attic's what I figure.

The scuttlebutt on Schock is that it's not what's in his attic, it's what's in his closet, namely him. Part of me (as someone who lives in his district) is glad that he won't be old enough to run for Senate in '10, but part of me also wonders if he'll stay in his district because of what might, ah, come out if he ran for statewide office.
posted by Halloween Jack at 2:06 PM on July 1

Guys got "My boyfriend manages a design firm and we shop at Pottery Barn in matching turtlenecks" all over him.
posted by The Whelk at 2:14 PM on July 1

Jesus H. Christ. I'm not calling anyone here sexist, for fuck's sake, and I'm not scolding. If you want to buy into the GOP's party line of valuing/devaluing Palin because of her looks, rather than her (deplorable lack of) merit, be my guest. The GOP will be delighted, I can promise you that.
posted by shiu mai baby at 3:51 PM on July 1

It sure sounds like scolding to me, and I don't see anyone here valuing Palin based upon her looks.
posted by caddis at 2:21 PM on July 1

Elsewhere, Redstate is reacting in a calm and measured fashion by calling for loyalty tests for the McCain staffers who spoke to the VF reporter, and making threas against those who did.

If you were one of the people who participated in that Vanity Fair hit piece, and we find out your name, you will be a net drag on any national campaign for the rest of your professional career. Not because you helped the Left go after Governor Palin, but because you are an untrustworthy sneak who is dedicated to propping up the elitist system in DC, not fixing it. Any candidate that hires you will have to overcome the base’s natural reluctance to work with a campaign that would hire someone like you. This can be done; but it’s much easier to hire people with your skill set and a name for basic party loyalty.

If you are a McCain staffer who did not talk to VF, I suggest that you find some way to demonstrate that you aren’t one of the people in the first paragraph. Because until we know who talked, the default assumption is going to be that you may have talked. This will not wreck your career, but it will blight it if the base has anything to say about it. On the bright side, a simple and declarative denial will do; of course, if your denial is a lie and we catch you at it, brush up on your typing skills.

posted by jokeefe at 2:43 PM on July 1 [5 favorites has favorites]

"threats"
posted by jokeefe at 2:44 PM on July 1

or to sum it up more succinctly


Redstate: STOP SNITCHIN'
posted by The Whelk at 2:45 PM on July 1 [4 favorites has favorites]

Loyalty tests can be extremely effective. I recommend they try and extract confessions via the dunking chair. It was good enough for Salem.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 2:47 PM on July 1

ARE YOU KNOW OR HAVE YOU EVER TALKED TO VANITY FAIR?

ALSO, DID YOU SEE THE TRIBUTE TO HEATH LEDGER? I'M NOT ASHAMED TO ADMIT I CRIED.

BUT BACK TO YOU.
posted by GuyZero at 2:52 PM on July 1 [5 favorites has favorites]

Yeah, the comments in that thread are pretty ugly too, right down to accusing the one person who thinks that maybe the whole tone is getting a bit vindictive of being one of the staffers who talked. S/he actually suggested throwing them in a pond to see if they floated, too, but that didn't go down very well amongst the self-righteous moralizing and blame fest.
posted by jokeefe at 2:54 PM on July 1

The Redstate thing is funny.

"Once more we Wingnuts are foiled by the notorious liberal bias of actual facts. Our only weapon is to... NEVER UTTER FACTS EVER AGAIN! Problem solved."
posted by tkchrist at 3:04 PM on July 1 [3 favorites has favorites]

Also, as concerns this photo:

1) If you want to be taken seriously as a possible president, posing like a cheesecake model is not the way to go about it. Even if you want to trade on attractive looks, there are way more dignified ways to do that.

2) Your core voter bloc are super-patriotic conservative Christian Republicans. You really think throwing the American flag over a chair like a dirty beach towel is the way to appeal to them? I'm a dirty socalist commie lefty US-hating liberal non-real American, and even I find that a little offensive.
posted by EarBucket at 3:05 PM on July 1 [1 favorite has favorites]

Wearing running shorts, running shoes, and a sweat top is "cheesecake" now? What are you Grandpa Simpson?

"Cover your ankles you shameless Jezebel!"
posted by tkchrist at 3:10 PM on July 1 [1 favorite has favorites]

Me, I can just *feel* the amount of over-touching and too-long handshakes and sustained eye-contact that one young guy with the dark hair gets during any given meeting.

Sure, but think about the offers he'll get to do his taxes. Accountants don't come
cheap.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:12 PM on July 1

Wearing running shorts, running shoes, and a sweat top is "cheesecake" now? What are you Grandpa Simpson?

I was all set to be on board with you until I looked at the photo. It's not just the outfit it's the pose. That isn't a serious candidate pose, it's a beauty pageant model pose. Ask yourself if you can see Hillary Clinton or Condoleeza Rice standing like that. You know they wouldn't because they're serious people.
posted by Justinian at 3:18 PM on July 1 [1 favorite has favorites]

I don't know EarBucket, what about this photo?
posted by caddis at 3:19 PM on July 1

I was all set to be on board with you until I looked at the photo. It's not just the outfit it's the pose. That isn't a serious candidate pose, it's a beauty pageant model pose. Ask yourself if you can see Hillary Clinton or Condoleeza Rice standing like that. You know they wouldn't because they're serious people.
posted by Justinian at 6:18 PM on July 1 [+] [!]

perhaps shiu mai baby was right all along.
posted by caddis at 3:21 PM on July 1 [1 favorite has favorites]

Wearing running shorts, running shoes, and a sweat top is "cheesecake" now? What are you Grandpa Simpson?

Has nothing to do with the outfit, and everything to do with the pose, as Justinian said. It's not a pose, or a picture, that in any way suggests she should be taken seriously.

I don't know EarBucket, what about this photo?

There's a big difference between a paparazzi shot and something you've invited a photographer to your home to shoot. I think that picture was probably useful to the Obama campaign, but it doesn't read like he's posing for the camera, because he's not. Imagine the public reaction if he'd called the photographers over and flexed so they could get some good shots of his muscles. The campaign would have been over.
posted by EarBucket at 3:23 PM on July 1 [2 favorites has favorites]

Part of Sarah Palin's irresistible appeal to her fundamentalist base is her ability to look at the camera with utter conviction and declare black to be white.

The ability to lie well is a valuable part of the fundamentalist psychology. My son isn't gay, he just hasn't found the right woman! Those rocks aren't 50 million years old, they just look like it as a test of our faith! My sexless marriage isn't foundering, it is filled with God's spirit! The minister isn't molesting little Maria, they're just very close! It isn't torture, it is being tough on terrorists!

Fundamentalists can recognize a truly audacious and talented liar from miles away. Instead of running the other way, as you might expect, they gather around the powerful liar, for they know that their own lies will be respected and protected by a leader who understands the paramount importance of preserving their whole system of denial.

from an andrew sullivan reader mail.
posted by empath at 3:26 PM on July 1 [1 favorite has favorites]

Ah, Republicans, you are truly the most generous political creatures. Never do you stop giving me amusement and schadenfruede. Don't ever change!
posted by five fresh fish at 3:34 PM on July 1

In reality, Palin looks like an overtanned, middle-aged woman who is wearing too much makeup. I walk by the official governor's house on my way to work and see her on her rare visits to the capitol.

The opinion in my group of friends is she will not run for governor again but will instead run for a national seat. Our representative, Don Young, usually declares his candidacy about as late as he can. He just declared his intention early, probably to head her off at the pass. Young may be beatable but has been in his seat for years and it is unlikely she would win unless he gets convicted of fraud, which seems to be a common end to Alaskan political careers. Palin has already tested the waters against Senator Lisa Murkowski and was firmly put down. Murkowski doesn't have a lot of love for Palin.

That leaves the recently elected Mark Begich. A democrat has a snowball's chance in hell of getting elected in Alaska but he was running against a convicted criminal (Ted Stevens) and his father was a beloved Alaskan politician. Despite being a democrat, I think Begich will appeal to Alaskans for being generally competent and, since he is newly elected, he has a lot of time to work on his popularity. I am of the opinion that Palin won' be able to keep her reputation and name recognition intact for the length of Begich's term.

I don't think I am alone in this assumption. No republican candidate has declared they are running for governor. I think they are all waiting for Palin to shoot herself in the other foot. Once her plummeting approval rating drops through the floor, the republican candidates will come out.

Alaskans would vote for a republican tree stump. I think she will lose in the primary, just like Frank Murkowski before her.
posted by Foam Pants at 3:52 PM on July 1

Accountants don't come cheap.

I see what you did there.
posted by tkchrist at 3:55 PM on July 1

Has nothing to do with the outfit, and everything to do with the pose, as Justinian said.

God maybe Shui WAS right.

Good lord. One leg before the other shoulders tilted, hands on hips. It makes you look "slimmer." Supposedly. It's hardly cheese cake.

I have literally seen hundreds of pictures of professional women CEO's doing this exact pose. Only they have suits on. What get's me is none of you mention the ridiculous and ironic prop of the flag she is leaning on. And that I am sure was the work of the photographer.

The sheer artificiality of posing for a camera lends itself to that kind of cheesiness and it's almost always the fault of the photographer. And for god sake you see male politicians doing the most ridiculous forced looking "masculine" poses all god damned time.
posted by tkchrist at 4:10 PM on July 1

The sheer artificiality of posing for a camera lends itself to that kind of cheesiness

Then it should be no problem to point out some photographs of Hillary Clinton, Condoleeza Rice, or other female holders of high office (Senator or Cabinet level) in similar cheesy poses in offical type photos.
posted by Justinian at 4:17 PM on July 1 [1 favorite has favorites]

Also, what is she holding in her hand there? I see a Blackberry, I think, and ... a Magic: The Gathering Card? What is that?
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 4:19 PM on July 1 [3 favorites has favorites]

She is never going to make it into something like the presidency because she is lazy. She won't do the work required. I don't think she is unintelligent, but she is uninformed and has no desire to get informed.

The flaw with that theory is that, except for the word "she", you just described our forty-third president.
posted by Flunkie at 4:23 PM on July 1

W had the advantage of a very wealthy and very old family behind him, and a dad as a former president.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 4:26 PM on July 1

I see a Blackberry, I think, and ... a Magic: The Gathering Card? What is that?

Summon Bevets, surely.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 4:41 PM on July 1 [12 favorites has favorites]

W had the advantage of a very wealthy and very old family behind him, and a dad as a former president.

That's true but it was more than that. W surrounded himself with insiders and allowed himself to be managed by them, at least until Iraq became such an obvious disaster and soured him on Cheney and his crowd. Palin shows no such willingness; one of the big critiques of her by McCain campaign people is that she ignored advice and would not be stage-managed.

I don't mean in a good way of refusing to compromise your values for expediency, I mean in the bad way (for a politician) of not listening when a long-time political type tells you that unless you do X (study, whatever) you're going to look like a fool on a national stage. W would actually listen as long as he didn't have to do a lot of reading and such. Palin would ignore them and go do her own thing. Which usually involved looking bad in front of large numbers of people.
posted by Justinian at 5:01 PM on July 1 [1 favorite has favorites]

Then it should be no problem to point out some photographs of Hillary Clinton, Condoleeza Rice, or other female holders of high office (Senator or Cabinet level) in similar cheesy poses in offical type photos.

Yeah so why don't you spend a couple of hours and wade through the literally tens of thousands of news images and try to find the comparable rights-free posed portraiture photos that will satisfy your definition of "cheesy" becuase I'm not falling for that bullshit. Becuase no matter what I find you will miraculously find a reason it won't be the same.


http://www.michellewhitedove.com/images/HillaryClinton.jpg

http://badgerherald.com/news/2008/02/06/Hillary.jpg
posted by tkchrist at 5:08 PM on July 1

That's what I took away from the W presidency, Justinian. Even as the governor of Texas he was like that - surround yourself with people smarter than you and do what they say. It's not a bad way to lead, except you have to employ people who aren't protecting solely their own interests, and I think sometimes, you do need the conviction to say "No" to conventional wisdom when it matters. Bush did neither of those things. And yeah, Palin seems thoroughly convinced of her own ability to know best at all times, in all situations, so even if she had a political master like Karl Rove at her side, she'd probably relegate him to fetching coffee and picking up dry cleaning.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 5:23 PM on July 1

TKchrist: We'll just disagree then. There's a huge difference between a deliberately posed photo like the Palin one and a "gotcha" photo like the one snapped of Clinton giving a wide-smile thumbs up. One is avoidable, one is not. Everybody looks goofy at some point; serious politicians try not to look that way in deliberately staged photographs.
posted by Justinian at 6:00 PM on July 1 [1 favorite has favorites]

it's a beauty pageant model pose.

Well no wonder McCain picked her.
posted by Pope Guilty at 6:30 PM on July 1

That picture is part of a whole spread, and this piece from ABC news has her challenging Obama to a race. She will never go away and she is utterly clueless. Either she thinks gaining the presidency can be done through publicists or she is angling to become a Fox News talking head.

It's a toss up, president or the next Bill O'Reilly.
posted by readery at 6:31 PM on July 1

Yeah. This photo is from the same spread. Palin is wearing the same clothes. And you know what? It's a great photo (well, it's not a great photo from a technical standpoint but you know what I mean). She looks like a human being who loves her kid. That doesn't qualify her to be President, mind you, but it humanizes her and doesn't play into a caricature. It doesn't make her seem like somebody you don't want within 100 miles of the nuclear button. The last photo has the exact opposite effect.
posted by Justinian at 7:34 PM on July 1

You guys going on about the whole beauty pageant thing, well shiu mai baby was right. That is so sexist. Whether she is cute, ugly, a beauty queen or plain matters not to her qualifications to lead. Tkchrist was spot on in his assessment of her as an empty suit. That is true. She was marketed as a good looking empty suit, or at least good looking, and frankly she is. Nevertheless, her beauty or anything else about her looks really have nothing to do with whether she can be an effective leader or not. Being too good looking, or even too vain, does not disqualify her from leadership. She is lazy, refuses to become informed, and completely unfit for high office, but her looks have nothing to do with this. Where I think I agree with shiu mai baby is that criticizing her for looking too good is just as sexist as lauding her for being viable for looking so good. Get over it with how women look.
posted by caddis at 7:43 PM on July 1

Pictures 5 and 6 are by far the best, IMO. She looks posed in 5, but she's showing good form in that exercise, so it works (compared to 3, which looks a little too forced). And 6 is just plain natural-looking, no pretense, no posing. I like that.

Less is often more.
posted by five fresh fish at 8:01 PM on July 1

Nevertheless, her beauty or anything else about her looks really have nothing to do with whether she can be an effective leader or not.

What does her ability to lead or not have anything to do with it? You yourself say "She was marketed as a good looking empty suit, or at least good looking, and frankly she is."

She is self-marketed product. And people here have been discussing that marketing. There is no discussion as to whether she can be a leader, because everyone is perfectly aware that she is an empty suit and would be an utter disaster. It is not sexist to not have that discussion, because there's simply no discussion to be had.
posted by five fresh fish at 8:07 PM on July 1

Where I think I agree with shiu mai baby is that criticizing her for looking too good is just as sexist as lauding her for being viable for looking so good. Get over it with how women look.

Who the heck is criticizing her for looking too good? I'm criticizing her for look unserious in one specific photo. How is that different than criticizing Dukakis for looking like a buffoon in that tank photo that sunk his candidacy. Treating Palin differently for being a woman would be the very definition of sexist. If she stages a cartoonish photograph, that's no more out of bounds than when Dukakis did. Or Kerry with all the windsurfing photos.

You're the one treating her like a delicate flower. I'm treating her like any other politician.
posted by Justinian at 8:28 PM on July 1

She has not staged any cartoonish photos. Running Magazine has done photo shoots with quite a few politicians, including GW who can run just about anyone here into the ground even at his age. Saying that those photos disqualified her from office was sexist.
posted by caddis at 8:39 PM on July 1

I'm just having difficulty understanding why, if the GOP is shilling her based on her looks, the response is to stoop down there and play their game - instead of "Who cares? She's clueless as a politician" but "Pfft, she's so not hot, are you nuts?"
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 8:40 PM on July 1 [2 favorites has favorites]

Saying that those photos disqualified her from office was sexist.

It wasn't me who said that; I simply said that the last photo was one a serious politician wouldn't have been in. That's just a fact.

What is the difference between that and pointing out the Dukakis photo was goofy and extremely ill-conceived? There isn't one.
posted by Justinian at 9:38 PM on July 1

Saying that those photos disqualified her from office was sexist.

Utter garbage.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 4:34 AM on July 2

I simply said that the last photo was one a serious politician wouldn't have been in.

Right, pretty girls aren't serious. Only when you deny your sexuality can you be taken seriously. The Taliban has spoken.
posted by caddis at 4:52 AM on July 2

he audience's expectations for Susan Boyle to sing terribly were not generated ex nihilo in their prejudiced little minds

That may be, but I'll tell you how I first came to hear Susan Boyle, and what my reaction was: I was listening to "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me!" and they played a clip of a short phrase from some song as the question.

And I very clearly remember thinking: "Hm, she's got nice tone, clear but not too-clear phrasing. Very nice! Definitely not a pop singer. I like this voice."

That was literally the first time I actually knew who the hell Susan Boyle was. I still don't know what she looks like. So, yes, AFAIAC, she does actually sound pretty darn good.

Sarah Palin, OTOH, sounds kind of awful, for every definition of "sounds" that I can bring to mind at the moment.
posted by lodurr at 5:45 AM on July 2

Saying that those photos disqualified her from office was sexist.

Nobody's saying that. What I said was that, as a matter of campaign optics, presenting yourself as a sexually available object is not a good way to make people take you seriously as a possible leader of the free world. Someone's attractiveness (or not) doesn't have any bearing on their qualification for office. But that kind of cheesy 1950's flight attendant pose isn't doing her any favors.

No one's arguing that you have to deny or suppress your sexuality to run for office. We're saying that a female candidate presenting her sexuality as a reason to vote for her is, itself, sexist.
posted by EarBucket at 6:54 AM on July 2

Also, wow, these leaked emails from the campaign are fantastic.

Palin wanted the campaign to release a statement claiming that Todd wasn't really a member of the Alaskan Independence Party, and Steve Schmidt, the campaign manager, refused. They went back and forth several times until Schmidt wrote:

"Secession. It is their entire reason for existence. A cursory examination of the website shows that the party exists for the purpose of seceding from the union. That is the stated goal on the front page of the web site. Our records indicate that todd was a member for seven years. If this is incorrect then we need to understand the discrepancy. The statement you are suggesting be released would be innaccurate. The innaccuracy would bring greater media attention to this matter and be a distraction. According to your staff there have been no media inquiries into this and you received no questions about it during your interviews. If you are asked about it you should smile and say many alaskans who love their country join the party because it speeks to a tradition of political independence. Todd loves his country

We will not put out a statement and inflame this and create a situation where john has to adress this."

It's hard for me to imagine any credible Republican strategist wanting to run her campaign after seeing what an uncontrollable trainwreck she was.
posted by EarBucket at 7:24 AM on July 2 [2 favorites has favorites]

EarBucket: That's a great example of the kind of person that Palin has demonstrated herself to be over and over again: making mountains out of molehills, lying even to people that she has to trust (saying that her husband's involvement in AIP was a mistake, when she herself addressed their convention), and, most tellingly, when she was still dealing with Troopergate, once again trying to dictate the actions of someone that she seemed to think of as a subordinate while ignoring their objections.
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:48 AM on July 2

Right, pretty girls aren't serious. Only when you deny your sexuality can you be taken seriously. The Taliban has spoken.

Wow, that's pretty fucked up.

Burying your head in the sand and pretending the world is the way you want it to be instead of the way it is is not a good way to get elected President. You're free to not see the distinction between "I think it is wrong for a female candidate to do X" and "Doing X is not something you can do and be elected to very high office at present" but it makes one wonder if you're being disingenuous.
posted by Justinian at 9:52 AM on July 2 [2 favorites has favorites]

Also, wow, these leaked emails from the campaign are fantastic.

They are, but this is the wrong time for the GOP to leak them. The right time to do this is when it is necessary to protect the public, i.e. when she is trying to run a political campaign in 2011.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:08 AM on July 2 [1 favorite has favorites]

You're free to not see the distinction between "I think it is wrong for a female candidate to do X" and "Doing X is not something you can do and be elected to very high office at present" but it makes one wonder if you're being disingenuous.

Really? She is pretty and sexually attractive. You are essentially saying that because she is comfortable with herself this way that she can not also be a serious politician. I agree that she is not, but it has little to do with her looks or comfort with them. No one says this stuff about the Governator, well some might but he has fans in both parties. When you focus on your star power like Reagan, Ventura, Franken etc. you have to go the extra mile to show that you are also a serious person. She has not done that. However, the mere fact that she is good looking and willing to do a fashion shoot that emphasis that does not by itself mean much. Arnie can play on his muscles and still be taken seriously. Why can't a women play on her good looks? To cast every good looking woman as a bimbo not worthy of serious consideration is sexist. To say that a woman can not strike a pose is sexist in denying her her sexuality. Putting all serious women into pantsuits instead of skirts, that is sexist. What are you afraid of? Approaching politics this way raises the bar for proving your intellectual bona fides, and she has absolutely failed here, but the mere fact that she marched down that road should not be held against her. Categorizing a woman through her sexuality, positively or negatively, is just wrong. Judge her on her ideas, her intellect, her accomplishments. You will find her wanting here, but don't judge her on her looks.
posted by caddis at 9:27 PM on July 2

She can't be a serious politician because of her goofy-ass hair style. The pose is fine for the context in which it is used. But that hair style has just got to go.
posted by five fresh fish at 7:52 AM on July 3

Right, pretty girls aren't serious.

Because no one ever, ever thought Condoleezza Rice or Michelle Obama are serious, after all.

Sigh. Palin was doing a cheesecake pose, or maybe something you might see a Price is Right model doing while she points to a fridge (do they still do that? They did in the late 70s). Something to show her as ornamental. How would you react if she did nude pictures for Playboy?
posted by dilettante at 11:07 AM on July 3

Yeah, I don't think we're getting through to caddis. What does "prettiness" have to do with a choice of pose? Are less pretty people physically incapable of standing like that? If she were not pretty and I said it was not good politically would I be then be railing against "ugly people"?

It's got nothing to do with her appearance and everything to do with her seriousness. In the political world of 2009 America, that's not something a serious politician can do.
posted by Justinian at 12:00 PM on July 3

Aaaaaand, Palin just announced that she is stepping down as Governor of Alaska.

I are serious politician. This is serious thread.
posted by Justinian at 12:31 PM on July 3 [2 favorites has favorites]

Report: Palin stepping down as Alaska governor.
posted by ericb at 12:32 PM on July 3

Woah! I saw that she wasn't running for re-election? But stepping down as governor is a surprise.
posted by empath at 12:33 PM on July 3

Either she's making a terrible blunder for her political future and reinforces the fact that she's not a serious politician OR the constant spotlight was too much for her family and they decided it was simply not worth it, and she is putting her family first. In which case, good for her and I won't speak ill of her again as long as she stays retired from politics.
posted by Justinian at 12:39 PM on July 3

Why is she quitting? Talking heads on CNN surmise: (1) too much stress and strain on her and her family, (2) health issues, (3) a bombshell is about to drop, etc.

Now, Governor Sanford, when are you going to step down?
posted by ericb at 12:43 PM on July 3

Or, is she just selfishly quitting so as to focus on a Presidential run in 2012?
posted by ericb at 12:47 PM on July 3

Wow!

(I am pulling for the bombshell dropping theory)
posted by caddis at 12:47 PM on July 3 [1 favorite has favorites]

Her speech announcing her decision is embarrasingly bad. Terrible. There are goats or pigs or chickens or something interrupting her constantly. It's awful. And from what she is saying I fear she isn't getting out to protect her family but to try to lay the groundwork for 2012. We'll see.
posted by Justinian at 12:49 PM on July 3

Just reported: Sarah Palin and Mark Sanford who met at last year's National Governors Association annual meeting have been carrying on a torrid love affair since then.

/I keed. I keed. But, wouldn't that be a doozy?
posted by ericb at 12:51 PM on July 3

I am pulling for the bombshell dropping theory

Hard to think that you'd be making an announcement on a Friday, before Independence Day, on the day that many people actually get off work, unless there's something you want to bury related to it.

Or unless you're about as sharp as a sack of wet mice. And it is Palin.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 12:57 PM on July 3

Can somebody who watched the seech tell me what the heck kept interrupting her? Some kind of bird?
posted by Justinian at 1:00 PM on July 3

speech even
posted by Justinian at 1:00 PM on July 3

Can someone link to the speech please? I can't find it.
posted by iamkimiam at 1:02 PM on July 3

I am just now beginning to believe in God and the power of prayer. Ever since she burst onto the national scene last year, I've been praying, "Please, God, just make that woman go away."

I just hope that my first born son realizes that my trade off with God is actually worth it.
posted by leftcoastbob at 1:02 PM on July 3 [1 favorite has favorites]

Except for her GIGANTIC MAN JAW.

Holy shit. I can't unsee it.
posted by Dr-Baa at 1:06 PM on July 3 [2 favorites has favorites]

New thread on her resignation.
posted by ericb at 1:15 PM on July 3

"I love how the national press is all like, 'Omigod Sarah Palin keeps doing these things to stay in the national spotlight like criticizing David Letterman can you believe it me neither okay let's devote two weeks" coverage to that story that's a good idea omigod I can't believe how she's trying to stay in the national spotlight, furreals!'"

Well, what do you expect? It's like a slow-motion pileup on the interstate. Her desire for publicity feeds on itself, but the media is not there to teach her a lesson about the boy who cried wolf, and it's not really surprising that they would indulge a politician who is so bizarrely narcissistic. I mean, we don't have James Traficant anymore, so someone has to fill those weird shoes. Unfortunately, she takes herself way too seriously and is not nearly as funny.
posted by krinklyfig at 1:52 PM on July 3

My first thought jon reading of her stepping down was that she would concentrate on running in 2012. Then, this evil imp whirpered in my left ear, "But I think either she or her duaghter is pregnant, and this is a ploy to get that over with before she can run." Am I a really bad person?
posted by path at 4:57 PM on July 3

...apart from showing signs of dislexia?
posted by path at 5:11 PM on July 3

Nearly 500 comments in a few hours. It's like Oscar Wilde, the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about, and well, she won't face that dilema. She's a star and MeFi is a prime example of her stardom.
posted by caddis at 6:54 PM on July 3

Guess she couldn't handle it when she heard I was no longer a fan.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 8:47 PM on July 3 [5 favorites has favorites]

Guess she couldn't handle it when she heard I was no longer a fan.

"... and what's more, Governor, I'm throwing out the Sarah Palin plushies, the Sarah Palin bobblehead dolls, the Sarah Palin gunrack, the Sarah Palin commemorative plates, the lipsticked pitbull keychain, the autographed copy of Snow Buddies, the Todd Palin swimsuit calendar, and my limited pressing 'Puttin' the OT in SCOTUS' T-shirt (even if the illustration of you smashing the Supreme Court in half with a giant broadsword is pretty rad). Consider yourself off the list, Governor. Do you hear me? This ship has sailed. Alice doesn't live here anymore. From now on, you join the ranks of others universally despised as the embodiment of corruption and failure - Boss Tweed, Huey Long, Niel Diamond - just like them, you are hereby persona non grata. Good day!"
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 1:05 AM on July 4 [3 favorites has favorites]

But Neil Diamond is most welcome here in Boston. As a matter of fact, he's one of the quest performers with the Boston Pops at tonight's 4th. of July concert on the Esplanade (also broadcast on CBS with host Craig Ferguson).
posted by ericb at 10:27 AM on July 4

I'd love to watch Neil Diamond performing a quest.

(Or is it Neil Diamond performing in Johnny Quest?)
posted by lodurr at 3:35 PM on July 4