Absolute dynamite
The Washington Post’s dynamite disclosure this morning that Sarah Palin repeatedly charged the State of Alaska a travel per diem for nights she spent in her own home seems to be producing a fairly, shall we say, ho-hum response so far in the liberal blogs.
Here, for example, is Steve Benen’s take at the Washington Monthly:
When lining up the various Palin-related scandals, the questionable per-diem charges still fall well short of the ongoing abuse of power investigation, in terms of seriousness. She’ll probably face some questions about “paying herself to live at home,” but for my money, it’s still a bigger deal that she lied about the circumstances surrounding her dubious dismissal of the state’s public safety commissioner.
Some of the most popular liberal blogs haven’t even discussed the story yet.
With all due respect, this is simply nuts. The potential for this scandal is huge. It doesn’t matter that Palin’s actions may well have been legal under Alaska law: Democrats in Congress were acting within the law in bouncing all those checks on the Congressional bank back in the early 90s: but it struck the public as both corrupt and arrogant and the party paid a huge price. Palin’s action’s will strike the public in just the same way.
If liberals don’t take this story and run with it we’re as stupid and hopeless as the McCain campaign obviously thinks we are (as reflected in their continuing to push lies about the bridge to nowhere).
September 9th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Different folks and strokes I guess. There would have to be some awfully creative thinking to compare that to a bridge to nowhere etcetera.
I was amazed that no one jumped on her pit bull analogy.
Pit bulls are loving cuddly pets that will go into a raging attack mode for no discernable reason. When in the attack mode they cannot be reasoned with, even with a club. Indeed will not back off till they are dead (even then their jaws will still be clamped on the victim) or the victim is nothing more than a useless body.
September 9th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
I forgot to say- Glad to see you are back.
From Steve: Thanks.
September 10th, 2008 at 11:44 am
Steve, I also forgot to welcome you back. Was starting to think you had closed down the Cafe. Glad you are back.
Now to the topic of Sarah Palin: Red Herring alert! Don’t be diverted from the real competition: McSame! Palin is a distraction, easily revealed as the flavor of the month, if that long. Give her enough rope, and she will hang herself. Obama is who we should be contrasting with McSame. Let Biden do his job at the debates. No harm in prompting the media to give fair coverage to these revealatory news items (which they won’t, because they want to talk about her family, her caribou slaughter, etc). She continues to LIE to the American people, and that will catch up with her eventually. PUMAs may see a golden girl, the Religious Wrong may see a savior/prophet, Big Oil may see a proxy, but have some confidence that the American electorate will tire of her fraudulent sound bites within the next few weeks, if not sooner. This is Palin’s equivalent of Clinton’s ‘under fire’ soundbites, and they will turn around and bite her in the behind. Don’t sound the alarm in desperation. Stay cool and let humor be your weapon. She is a joke and little more.
From Steve: Jeepers, great minds and all that. Check out my next post — going up in a few minutes.
September 12th, 2008 at 1:38 am
How I hope Sarah hoists herself upon her own petard. She does seem to be a habitual liar. She did support the bridge to nowhere. She didnt sell the plane on e-bay. She claims to be the quintessential Alaskan Queen of the North, but has no understanding of ecosystems or the need to preserve the environment. Her support for shooting wolves and bears from airplanes is stupid and barbaric. It speaks volumes about her character. Predators are a vital and necessary part of any viable ecosystem. They cull the herds of herbivores of the weak, the sick and the old. In a harsh environment like Alaska, food is scarce in the winter. If herds over-reproduce, they over-compete for food, sicken and die earlier. They become genetically weakened and more prone to disease. Predators keep this in balance. But, fools like Palin see them as catching too many moose, caribou and elk. In fact, they do not, and dont catch any worth human consumption. Palin, and others like her, are ignorant and poor stewards of the environment. It shows in every measure she ‘prays’ for, like drilling in ANWR. It shows in her bearskin rugs. It shows in her demands that polar bears NOT be listed as endangered, when they clearly are. Her environmental incompetence is inexcusable in a state where the environment is so important and so much of a tourist attraction. It is one thing to hunt responsibly for meat supply. It is quite another to slaughter animals willfully and brutally. I detest the woman. She embodies all that is wrong with the Rightwingnuts and their greed and destructiveness, all wrapped up in a holier-than-thou tissue of lies. May all those skeletons in her closet come rattling out and bury her.
September 13th, 2008 at 7:26 am
Larkrise
i’ve heard complaints about the weakening of the human genome because of our “self isolation in cities” - and i think of the accelerated pace of species because of the accelerated pace of urbanization
so your words sound as if you talk about humankind??
fools like Palin and her cheerleaders have no sense for patterns:
nobody catches more “moose, caribou and elk” than humans - so how about “shooting humans from airplanes”? (not really seriously meant …)
no sense for patterns (with pattern detection as basic task of intelligence) could also be a consequence of “self isolation in cities” => loss of reality
those people really think, they can breathe, eat and drink green paper, called “dollars” - they really think they can buy the Earth while the only thing they can do is to buy destruction
apropos loss of reality - in TV i watched a man staying at home despite of Ike - his argument? He would survive because he had a loaded weapon…
September 14th, 2008 at 12:46 am
Again
Indeed, millions of fools think they can “buy” their way out of global warming. They pretend it is a political issue! The science is there. The Arctic and Antarctic and glaciers are melting; and these idiots continue to pillage and plunder. In the next ten years, we will see drastic changes in the climate and sea levels. Many South Pacific Islands are already being forced to plan evacuation of their populations. If one of John and Cindy’s many comfortable abodes is on the ocean, they will be forced to acknowledge the truth, politically expedient or not. So will quite a few other fat cats. The most dangerous and destructive species is the human species. The earth WILL seek balance. In the end, greed, avarice, rigidity and stupidity will send us the way of the dinosaurs. Mother Earth will breath a sigh of relief.