During the VP Debate Thursday evening, the Republican Candidate for Vice President ended her exercise in delivering talking points by quoting, in her final statement, the ol' Gipper, former President (well, he had the title, anyway), Ronald Reagan;
We have to fight for our freedoms, also, economic and our national security freedoms.
It was Ronald Reagan who said that freedom is always just one generation away from extinction. We don't pass it to our children in the bloodstream; we have to fight for it and protect it, and then hand it to them so that they shall do the same, or we're going to find ourselves spending our sunset years telling our children and our children's children about a time in America, back in the day, when men and women were free.
Unlike her running mate, Mommy Moose can't pull out the POW-POW-POW card, so, you go next best, and wave that flag, high and proud, using the forum of the nationally-televised debate to shake a good dose of jingoism all over us.
A Frank Capra moment ...
Brilliant!
However, there's only a slight problem with it.
Either the Wasilla Whiz Kid didn't research, and put this together herself (by all accounts of her, that's extremely doubtful), or the Rove Rats in the Dead Campaign Express just pulled it off the World Wide Web and threw it in, believing, as we noted above, end the night waving, verbally, at least, Old Glory.
The problem is Reagan, how, and what he was using that quote for.
The Gipper was rallying the Right Wing troops, jingoistically hamming it up, as part of Operation Coffeecup, to defeat the advent of Medicare.
In order to maintain the illusion of spontaneity, the AMA did not announce the existence of Operation Coffeecup or publicize the Reagan recording. The record was to be used, campaign organizers cautioned, only in the groups meeting under the controlled conditions of the informal coffees. Under no circumstances, recipients of the record were warned, were they to permit commercial broadcast of the recording.
When did he say this? It was on a recording he made for Operation Coffeecup — a campaign organized by the American Medical Association to block the passage of Medicare. Doctors’ wives were supposed to organize coffee klatches for patients, where they would play the Reagan recording, which declared that Medicare would lead us to totalitarianism.
You couldn’t make this stuff up.
I am a bit surprised, Palin, being young, and at a college, didn't pull out the "Ask not what your country can do for you, But ask what you can do for Country First - because, you know, John McCain is the only one in this campaign who can say he would stoop so low as to have me exploit Ronald Reagan and JFK in the same evening, just for the purpose of sucking in a few more votes ..."
Throughout America's adventure in free government, our basic purposes have been to keep the peace; to foster progress in human achievement, and to enhance liberty, dignity and integrity among people and among nations. To strive for less would be unworthy of a free and religious people. Any failure traceable to arrogance, or our lack of comprehension or readiness to sacrifice would inflict upon us grievous hurt both at home and abroad.
Add a few line about the son in the Army, and the flags would practically wave themselves.
Ya Betch'ya!
I can't wait to see what Peggy Noonan does with this.
Being the #1 Gipper Groupie, she must have turned even a ghostlier shade of white when she heard Palin dropping the Gipper's' words.
(And you don't want to mess too much with The Nooner ... She's got connections with that that old Iran-Contra gang, and they have the resources to make it look like it was a wolf in a helicopter that does the shootin' of certain nitwits that dare use Ronnie like that.)
It's fascinating, how these people actually work at, go out of their way, to make themselves look ridiculous.
“I think what she’s doing is she leaps ahead and anticipates the next question. In this case, I think, obviously she’s very well familiar with Exxon Valdez. Not only that, it impacts her family. It impacts every single Alaskan, and so she is very familiar with it. I think she just starts getting to, ‘OK, so I bring up Exxon. What’s next?’ And she starts then getting into this battle in the weeds. So, I think, she is working her hardest to answer the questions, at the same time that she’s also jumping ahead and jumping to the next question, before she’s answering the first.”
Well, I suppose, you can be "jumping to the next question" and be annoyed at the same time.
So, what did Mommy Moose want to do with the Couric interview?
"OK, I'll tell you honestly," Palin said, "the Sarah Palin in those interviews is a little bit annoyed because it's like, man, no matter what you say, you're going to get clobbered. If you choose to answer a question, you are going to get clobbered on the answer. If you choose to try and pivot and go on to another subject that you believe that Americans want to hear about, you get clobbered for that, too."
Palin added, "In those Katie Couric interviews I did feel that there were a lot of things that she was missing in terms of an opportunity to ask what a vice presidential candidate stands for -- what the values are represented in our ticket. I wanted to talk about Barack Obama increasing taxes, which would lead to killing jobs, wanted to talk about his proposal to increase government spending by another trillion dollars. Some of his comments that he has made about the war that I think may, in my world, disqualifies someone from consideration as the next commander in chief. ... I wanted to talk about things like that. So, I guess I have to apologize about being a little annoyed, but that is also an indication of being outside that Washington elite, outside of the media elite, also, and just wanted to talk to Americans without the filter and let them know what we stand for."
We could go on-and-on with the wisdom of the Wasilla Whiz Kid, but it could cause a colic epidemic
Even if ya survived the debate, everyone should be feeling a bit woozy today, from the stench of the Right Wing Freak Show, hootin' and hollarin', doin', ya know, the victory dance, for Palin clearing the lowest of expectations, and, sans any drooling or mucus.
She exited the debate stage upright, and breathing, setting off the Flying Monkeys in their jubilation, and, likely, giving the old, crony white hairs of the party, a woody.
And it was lamented, to some extent, on the cables, in their post-debate gum-flapping, that there were no gaffes, or YouTube moments ...
Unless ya' count all the gaffes and YouTube moments the gum-flappers missed.
It should also be said, that a 72-year-old, party-toeing, multi-presidential-race loser being called maverick is like calling a 72-year-old Willie Mays "slugger".
It's a affectionate moniker, tossed at days gone by.
And there's always something creepy about people who give themselves, or referring to themselves constantly, by a nickname.
"Let's talk about the maverick John McCain is. And, again, I love him. He's been a maverick on some issues, but he has been no maverick on the things that matter to people's lives," Biden carefully explained. "He voted four out of five times for George Bush's budget, which put us a half a trillion dollars in debt this year and over $3 trillion in debt since he's got there. He has not been a maverick in providing health care for people. He has voted against -- he voted including another 3.6 million children in coverage of the existing health care plan, when he voted in the United States Senate. He's not been a maverick when it comes to education. He has not supported tax cuts and significant changes for people being able to send their kids to college. He's not been a maverick on the war. He's not been a maverick on virtually anything that genuinely affects the things that people really talk about around their kitchen table. Can we send -- can we get Mom's MRI? Can we send Mary back to school next semester? We can't -- we can't make it. How are we going to heat the … house this winter? He voted against even providing for what they call LIHEAP, for assistance to people, with oil prices going through the roof in the winter. So maverick he is not on the important, critical issues that affect people at that kitchen table."
Game ... Set ... Match!
The Obama Campaign should ride this right through November 4, whipping the phony maverick war horse all the way through the finish line, much as Red Pollard rode Seabiscuit to so many victories.
It will drive the stumblin' fly boy up a wall, to have his former pals in the press report Obama and Biden dissing him and his record, especially the bogus "maverick" legend.
This will bring things on the Dead Campaign Express to a full boil, with McCain finally snapping, preferably during the next debate.
Then we'll have that one, beautiful "Perry Mason" moment, with McCain, melting down, flipping his lid on stage, in front of tens of millions on national television.
They were busy with the massive canning operation indoors.
Jesus, Del Monte doesn't do as much canning in 90-minutes.
Was it a fund-raising move, to have Mommy Moose sponsored by the American Canning Association?
I don't have the transcript yet, but I know, at one point, Palin, who up to that point, cheerfully, and full of perk, had been answering the questions with her own answers, not, necessarily generated by the question, came right out and said she wasn't going to answer the questions the way Moderator Gwen Ifill, or her debate challenger, Senator Joe Biden, liked.
The clearest view of Sarah Palin that came out this evening is that either the coaching worked, or she has the extraordinary capability to memorize the notes.
At times, you could see Mommy Moose drifting into that Tina Fey/Katie Couric mode, almost seeing her words heaved onto the conveyor belt, going to the "Out Tube".
She hit, and early, all the homey, folksy targets, I suppose, to try to keep them in their seats.
She did "Shout Outs" to Soccer Moms and Dads, Joe Six Pack and, of course, the Hockey Moms.
And she attacked Joe Biden, frequently and often.
Biden, for his part, did exactly what he should have done, and needed to do - He protected and defended Barack Obama, and he hammered home McCain = Bush.
Biden could have done a bit more, in that, he left a bevy of softballs hanging, as Palin sprouted the distortions and lies (like, a few times, bragging how Stumblin' Bumblin' John McCain "suspended" his campaign, to work on the Wall Street Heist - wink, wink).
(Yet, he also towered over Palin, with a good story from his early days in the Senate, and, near the very end, choking up some, when talking about his days and a single day, and his children, following the terrible car accident that killed his first wife, and daughter.)
Remarkably, Palin didn't push back.
She let Biden, for nearly the entire 90-minutes, whack McCain like a piñata, without much of a counter attack.
Including, near the end, when Biden slapped down, spit on, and ground with his heel, McCain's self-styled "Maverick" legend.
Head slap!
Of course, it was that way ... It wasn't one of the canned notes that she set to memory! The Jaw Dropper
Any previous references that Palin was similar to Darth Vader/Dick Cheney, those people were vindicated.
In a question about the Vice President's office, how they would work it, Palin, astoundingly, made some bizarre reference to the Constitution, and stated that she would like to see the powers of the office INCREASED, as to how it relates to the Senate and what that power would give legislatively
HOLY SHIT!
She wants more power than Cheney!
That's pretty ballsy, and I only hope the Obama Campaign has already produced an ad, a commercial, a two-hour-movie on that.
After the past 7.5-years, all that has come out how Cheney, almost single-handly (well, with The Scooter, David Addington and John Yoo riding shotgun), has dragged this country down, and Palin comes out with an idea, that, if elected, she wants more power than he ever had.
Out-of-touch? The Take
Well, on the upside for the Stumblin' Bumblin' McCain Camp, her head didn't explode, and she didn't get ushered off the stage, babbling incoherently.
The Rove Rats can burn those lists, of the midnight calls they were going to have to make, to see who they could get to take over on the ticket.
She did well enough to live another day (and she did make a comment of not speaking "through a filter" again, talking directly to "the people", which translates that she will continue to be shielded from the media), the base, along with the Right Wing Freak Show are popping champagne bottles, and will be crowing that she won (on MSNBC, early polling suggests Biden won, with both Palin and Biden doing well with the numbers, suggesting, perhaps, it was more of a draw).
And, Palin introduced, for this year, anyway, the debate tactic of ignoring the question posed by the moderator, raise your own question and then, energetically answer your own question.
Suffice it to say, both accomplished what they needed to this evening.
However, it still looks, from tonight, back to when she was first announced, that Palin is some kind of "Make A Wish" kid, who's desire was to go through a political campaign.
Or, perhaps, the geeky junior high school civics student, who gets to go to the State House and "run the government" for the day.
Palin has a detached, cartoonish way about her, though, that she can spout her lines and speeches, there's an emptiness to it, that all she is doing is reciting lines, sans any commitment or belief.
We're just a few hours away from THE BIG DEBATE, and it's a cross between Christmas Eve and gawking at a horrible car accident.
In case you haven't been paying attention, or, you've been preoccupied with the on-going, slow-motion robbery of the country, via the Wall Street Bailout (since when do you call handing over billions of dollars to fat cats who already have billions of dollars a "rescue"), Sarah Palin, the Wasilla Whiz, has, for all intents-and-purposes, won the debate this evening.
How so, we hear you cry?
Well, simply that the debate moderator Gwen Ifill is in the bag for Barack Obama, and the Democrats, by way of writing a book - that isn't being published until January 2009 - and will slant all the questions, give Joe Biden a pass, and really apply the screws to Palin.
Yesterday, he was cool with Ifill, today, she's a thug who will work over Palin and leave her inches away from death, totally sandbagging the debate for her.
You won't be able to trust Ifill, not even her saying "Welcome, and Good Evening".
Who is she welcoming? ... Who is going to have the good evening? ...Did she look at Palin when she said it, or Biden?
You see, this will be just one of the few times the Rove Rats have let Mommy Moose out of the gulag, to face real, non-McCain-staff people, and these "outsiders" keep insisting on asking America's Hockey Mom pertinent questions, queries that one would expect a person seeking national office to have a handle on, to be able to articulate an answer that doesn't sound like someone who takes pride in being clueless..
Oh, sure, we'll get a good dose of obfuscation, the continuation of the McCain-Palin serial lies, some cheap shots at Biden and Obama, but what else will she put on the table?
Perhaps the most anticipated intrigue will be if she emulates her running mate, and refuses to look at Joe Biden for the entire evening.
Or, maybe, just maybe, she'll say she can see the famous St. Louis Gateway Arch from her hotel room, which, I guess, by implication, makes her an expert on domestic policy.
"MCCAIN: I just want to make a comment about the obvious issue and that is the failure of Congress to act yesterday. Its just not acceptable. […] This is just a not acceptable situation. I’m not saying this is the perfect answer. If I were dictator, which I always aspire to be, I would write it a little bit differently."
"So, with due respect, I strongly disagree with your premise that she doesn't have experience and knowledge and background." McCain added that Palin has "been a member of the PTA, been a governor, been a mayor." Then, seeming to realize that he'd lost his cool somewhat, McCain said, "I'll stop there." He went on anyway, however, concluding, "But you and I just have a fundamental disagreement and I'm so happy that the American people seem to be siding with me."
NPR: Given what you've said Senator, is there an occasion where you could imagine turning to Governor Palin for advice in a foreign policy crisis.
MCCAIN: I've turned to her advice many times in the past, I can't imagine turning to Senator Obama or Senator Biden cuz they've been wrong, they were wrong about Iraq, wrong about Russia...
NPR: But would you turn to Governor Palin?
MCCAIN: I certainly wouldn't turn to them, and I've already turned to Governor Palin particularly on energy issues and I've appreciated her background and knowledge on that and many other issues.
NPR: Does her energy qualification extend to the international energy market?
MCCAIN: Of course. Of course. That's what it's all about. It extends to a broad variety of issues from her worldview to threats that we face, to radical Islamic extremism, to specific areas of the world. I'm very proud of her, and proud of the knowledge and background that she has.
Yeah, you read it right ... "I've turned to her advice many times in the past"
He's only known her for about three-minutes, so it would be real nice for some reporter to follow-up on just when in the past, how long ago did he turn to the Wasilla Whiz for council, and just what was that council.
It, surely, couldn't be anything to do the with Supreme Court.
On one level, they are getting all they deserve, for the cynical political ploy of choosing Mommy Moose, and then not vetting her.
Just from the get-go, what does it say about Stumblin' Bumblin' Johnny's integrity and judgment to chose a running mate that is already mired in an Ethics Scandal?
At the end of the day, though, the story isn't Palin's ignorance, or the fact that she is manifestly not prepared to be President. It's McCain's shocking recklessness in nominating her in the first place.
No one who put country first would have done that.
Stumblin Bumblin' Johnny is going to need a weeks' worth of POW-POW-POW excuses.
Or, maybe, it's time for the RNC to think about making this an epic, truly, supremely, historic election - They shut down the McCain operation, out of the decency of not insulting the country (and world) any longer with the charade of having a legitimate candidate, leaving Obama to run, virtually unopposed.
Too bad he passed on.
Considering the hijinx of Sarah Palin, Danny Kaye could have, just as easily, filled the role
Tactic: If reporter brings up the Keating Five, McCain says, "I love Dave Brubeck." If reporter replies, "Dave Brubeck?" McCain responds, "Are you saying you don't like Jazz? Jazz was created in America. Why do you hate America?"
Strategy: Internal polls show most Americans think the Keating Five was a successful late '50s/early '60s jazz band
And;
Tactic: In addition to claiming McCain invented the Blackberry, assert that he also invented the wheel, sliced bread, fire, the missionary position, whiskey, apple pie, sliders, cleavage, Beanie Babies, oxygen, blow jobs, sunlight, bikinis, pasteurization, nuggies, the handshake, ice cream, poll dancing, Penicillin, the wave, hot dogs, the Theory of Relativity, beer nuts, New Journalism, indoor plumbing, low-rise jeans, Method Acting, rap, Twister, funnel cake, the printing press, soft pretzels, the phrase "dude," the color blue, moving pictures, "bringing sexy back," nougat, and baseball.
Strategy: Highlights McCain's superior record of accomplishment. Bonus: no time left in the campaign season for media to fact-check effectively.
Among the things needed asap, is for Tom Hanks to march down into the well of the House, address John Boehner, Eric Kantor and the rest of the Reekin' Republicans and advise them, forcefully, that "There's no cryin' in Congress!"
