2012
“Prayer Shield” Protects Palin from Critics//UPDATE: How can she stay out when “lamestream” wants her in so bad?
May 20, 2011
Much attention is being paid to Sarah’s comment to Van Susteren last night that she has “fire in her belly.” Video and transcript of her appearance here.
But to me the most revealing moment was when she said, “The darts and the arrows keep flying…it’s going to keep on coming and, you know, I feel like I have a prayer shield in front of me that deflects a lot of that..” [emphasis added]
No doubt the shield was manufactured by her Prayer Warriors, working overtime in the attic of the Palin home on Lake Lucille.
It’s hard for rational people to appreciate the extent to which Sarah is in the grip of religious delusion. I honestly believe that Sarah thinks God has armed her with both sword and shield and has sent her forth to do battle with the infidels. The Anchorage Daily News was on to more than its reporters and editors realized when they called Sarah “The Joan of Arc of Alaskan politics” in 2006.
Look again at her remarkable words to “Focus on the Family” founder James Dobson toward the end of the 2008 campaign:
As I write in THE ROGUE :
Dobson told her that not only was he praying for her but that he’d just hosted a gathering of more then four hundred “prayer warriors” and that, “We were sure asking for God’s intervention,” in the campaign.
“Well, it is that intercession that is so needed,” Sarh said. “And I can feel it, too, Dr. Dobson. I can feel the power of prayer and that strength that is provided through our prayer warriors across this nation…We hear along the rope lines that people are interceding for us and praying for us. It’s our reminder to do the same, to seek His perfect will for this nation, and to of course seek His wisdom and guidance in putting this nation back on the right track…I have to have faith that our message will get out there minus the filter of the mainstream media…I have to have that faith that God’s going to help us get that message out there.”
Unfortunately, the Big Guy in the Sky fell asleep at the switch on election day. But Sarah’s had his ear plenty since then and she’s not going to let him make the same mistake twice.
UPDATE:
See Chris Cillizza in “The Fix” in Washington Post:
In a field without much star power, a Palin candidacy would immediately suck the media oxygen out of the room for the other contenders. Put simply: Palin is the only potential candidate in the field who could go to Iowa tomorrow and have 5,000 people show up.
Posted in 2012, Anchorage Daily News, evangelical, Fox, Greta Van Susteren, Joe McGinniss, mainstream media, Sarah Palin, The Rogue | 
Tags: delusion, focus on the family, Fox News, god, greta van susteren, james dobson, prayer shield, prayer warriors, prayer warriors for sarah palin, the rogue | 
65 Comments »
The Beat Goes On…Sarah + Van Susteren Tonight
May 19, 2011
Sarah’s back on her chatty pills. After two Fox News appearances last night, she’s scheduled to be back with her spiritual Siamese twin, Greta Van Susteren, on Fox tonight. Any day now, I expect to see a National Enquirer headline about the “love triangle” involving, Sarah, Greta and Franklin Graham. For a Scientologist, Greta sure hangs with militant fundamentalist Christians a lot.
Do you think Sarah is squeezing all she can out of Fox because she knows that once she announces her candidacy that golden goose will turn back into just another Lake Lucille grebe?
The math is simple: the longer Sarah delays her announcement, the longer she can keep her hands in Rupert Murdoch’s pockets.
And Fox is putting no pressure on her. Why should they? Every time she’s on their air, their ratings go up.
Expect this win-win situation to stay as it is, at least through the summer.
Until, let’s say, September 11.
The tenth anniversary of 9/11 is coming up. Keep an eye on Sarah’s plans for the occasion.
Posted in 2012, evangelical, Fox, Greta Van Susteren, Joe McGinniss, Sarah Palin, Tea Party, The Rogue | Tags: 9/11, 9/11 anniversary, Fox News, franklin graham, fundamentalist christian, golden goose, grebes, lake lucille, national enquirer, sarah palin 2012 campaign, Sarah Palin announce for presidency | 45 Comments »
New Gallup Poll Shows Romney-Palin Tossup for GOP Nomination//UPDATE//UPDATE 1.1
May 18, 2011
I place little credence in long-term polls, but this one has to be considered a warning shot across the bow of all those purveyors of conventional wisdom who have decided that Sarah Palin can be safely stored in our collective memory/nightmare bank.
Think about how she must view developments of the past few days: two people who were outpolling her have chosen not to enter the race. Absent Huckabee and Trump (always a farce, but even Slate bought into it late last month ), Sarah finds herself rising to the top by default.
To Sarah, this likely seems evidence that God is, in fact, opening the doors for her and sending her a message that she is His chosen candidate, the Christian leader best prepared to wage war on the secretly-Muslim darkie who occupies the White House.
Given her egomania and ambition, and her belief that she has been anointed by God to prepare the USA for the second coming of Jesus, why would she not run?
And let’s not ignore what Rachel Weiner reported in the Washington Post: she just sent out 400,000 solicitations seeking donations to SarahPAC. She entitled her pitch letter “2012 Can’t Come Soon Enough.”
Does this sound like someone who’s not planning to enter the race?
UPDATE:
Politico features new poll results: “Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin jump to top in new Gallup poll.”
She’ll be on FOX twice tonight: with Sean Hannity and with Eric Bolling. No doubt Hannity will ask about these poll results and whether she’s going to run. No doubt she’ll duck the question. What’s the hurry to announce when she can become a front-runner by doing nothing?
UPDATE 1.1:
Outside-the-beltway right-wingers climbing back on board the S.S. Sarah.
Posted in 2012, Donald Trump, Joe McGinniss, mainstream media, Obama, Sarah Palin, The Rogue | Tags: 2012 gop candidates, christian, god, GOP primaries, huckabee, muslims, rachel weiner, war, Washington Post | 86 Comments »
Enter THE ROGUE Last Chapter Contest Here…$250 Prize for Winner!
May 17, 2011
Here’s the best chance for you commenters–and anybody else who has an idea about what the last chapter of my book about Sarah Palin should say–to make a difference.
I’m about to start writing the last chapter of THE ROGUE. It’s due for delivery to my publisher Random House/Crown on June 3.
Tell me, please, what you think I should say, why I should say it, and how I can prove it to an extent that would pass legal vetting.
Trig is not off limits–nothing is off limits–but I’m not going to devote the chapter to showing how Figure A or Figure B proves that Sarah was or was not pregnant with that child. I’ll make my own views on that question clear in THE ROGUE.
So the matter before us today is: if you had five thousand words, more or less, in which you could summarize The Rise and Fall (and Possible Rebirth) of Sarah Palin, how would you use them? What would you say?
Please remember, in THE ROGUE, I am not preaching to the converted: I can’t–nor do I want to–write a final chapter that contains only snark and invective. The first twenty chapters don’t do that, so–despite the fact that I won’t pull punches–I don’t want to leave those who read the finished book with the taste of bile in their mouths.
Let’s put it this way: imagine yourself in a dialogue with a friend who respected your opinions.
You have three or four minutes, without interruption, to explain why Sarah Palin is every bit as bad as you believe her to be, and why she continues to be a danger to the USA.
What would you say? How would you say it?
As I’m working on my last chapter, I’d love to know.
I’d love to know so much, in fact, that I’m offering a $250 prize to whoever gives me the best suggestion about what I should write in the next two weeks–whether it’s a phrase, a sentence, or whether you take five thousand words to express it.
thanks,
Joe
Posted in 2012, evangelical, Joe McGinniss, mainstream media, Obama, right wing, Sarah Palin, Tea Party, The Rogue | Tags: contest, joe mcginniss, joe mcginniss writing contest, Sarah Palin, the rogue, valley refuse, writing contest | 193 Comments »
Sarah Palin Hits Daily Double: Obama Okays New Alaskan Oil Drilling & Huckabee Says He Won’t Run
May 15, 2011
The president’s announcement, which included plans for expanded drilling in Alaska demonstrate[s] his commitment to reducing oil imports by increasing domestic production…Mr. Obama said the administration would begin to hold annual auctions for oil and gas leases in the Alaska National Petroleum Reserve, a 23-million-acre tract on the North Slope of Alaska. The move comes after years of demands for the auctions by industry executives and Alaska’s two senators, Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, and Mark Begich, a Democrat.
In crediting Murkowski and Begich for the policy change, The New York Times omitted the name of Sarah Palin, who’s been screaming about this for at least as long and even more loudly than have Alaska’s two U.S. senators.
Hours later, Mike Huckabee, who won the 2008 Iowa Caucus, announced he would not be a candidate next year.
Today’s news makes it clearer than ever that Sarah will have a second chance–and her last chance–at the brass ring of national political power.
And don’cha think she’s gonna take it?
Because Sarah is not an elected official, but only a celebrity screecher from the sidelines, she can’t claim credit (except on her Twitter and Facebook pages and on Fox News) for having persuaded President Obama to change his mind about the vital economic and environmental issues posed by the prospect of reopening Alaska’s North Slope to further exploration (some would say “exploitation”) by Big Oil.
And won’t it gall her to see Sen. Lisa Murkowski, in particular, cited as one who made “demands” to which President Obama eventually caved?
Especially with Huckabee handing her, gift wrapped, the USA’s evangelical base, it seems obvious that Sarah will announce her candidacy for president later this year: if she doesn’t, a year from now people won’t even remember how she spells her name. (Is it p-a-l-i-n, or p-a-l-l-i-n, as in “pallin’ around with terrorists”?)
Even if, as many argue, the personal bottom line of http:www.Palingrifters.com is what Sarah cares about most (or only), she must recognize that as soon as she definitively takes herself out of the GOP 2012 candidate pool (aka “The Sargasso Sea”), nobody will care any more about what she says, what she wears, how she looks, Track’s latest brush with the law, Bristol’s latest plastic surgery, Willow’s latest brush with the law, or even whether she really gave birth to Trig.
Sarah’s greatest fear is irrelevance. What if she fell in a forest and nobody heard?
Bruce Springsteen might as well have been writing Fade Away for Sarah in 1980, when she was a sophomore at Wasilla High:
I don’t wanna fade away
Oh I don’t wanna fade away
Tell me what can I do what can I say
Cause darlin’ I don’t wanna fade away
Do you really think she’ll just fade away now?
Having come out of nowhere to get this far, will she go gently into that good night without even a last hurrah?
Especially after Huckabee’s Saturday night announcement that he won’t run,
His decision to forgo a run presumably leaves that space wide open for Ms. Palin, a self described “Bible-believing Christian”
Doesn’t it seem that God is working overtime this weekend to open doors for her so she can plow through?
Hope he gets at least time-and-a-half.
Posted in 2012, evangelical, Fox, Joe McGinniss, mainstream media, Obama, Palin children, right wing, Sarah Palin, Tea Party, The Rogue | Tags: bruce springsteeen, doorman, evangelical, fade away, god, huckabee, lisa murkowski, mark begich, new york times, sargasso sea, the river, willow palin | 30 Comments »
Finally! Someone from MSM Admits it: They Need Sarah
May 11, 2011
Lawrence O’Donnell of MSNBC tells Playboy: “She’s been good for us, and we’ve been good for her. We are doing everything we can to feed her moneymaking capacity by keeping her alive.”
Full interview here.
Posted in 2012, Joe McGinniss, mainstream media, Sarah Palin, The Rogue | Tags: dan quayle, lawrence o'donnell, MSNBC, palin, playboy, prostitution | 17 Comments »
How Trump Makes Sarah Seem Sane
May 11, 2011
The Hill says today that Sarah and Trump have become political kinfolk.
Guess which strange bedfellow benefits more?
Suddenly, Palin’s experience as governor of Alaska might look more impressive…Trump positions Sarah Palin closer to the establishment intelligentsia than otherwise possible….When presented against the backdrop of Trump and his orange mane, Palin might look more electable and serious.
The conservative base…could be drawn into the arms of Palin when confronted by the specter of Trump…Suddenly, mistaking “refudiate” for “repudiate” — as Palin did last year — seems far less noteworthy, and Palin herself more electable.
The Atlantic yesterday, The Hill today, whose upwardly revisionist view of Sarah’s past record and future prospects will we find ourselves blessed with tomorrow?
Posted in 2012, Donald Trump, mainstream media, Sarah Palin, Tea Party, The Rogue | Tags: 2012 gop candidates, donald trump, palin, primaries, revisionist history, the atlantic, the hill | 7 Comments »
That Amazing Robert Hunt Illustration atop The Atlantic’s Palin Story//UPDATE: Andrew Sullivan on the illustration and the story
May 11, 2011
Robert Hunt is one of the most extraordinary illustrators of our time.
In fact, let’s skip the qualifiers and just call the man a great artist.
The Atlantic commissioned him to do the illustration that accompanied “The Tragedy of Sarah Palin” in their June issue (about which I blogged earlier today.)
Whatever one might think of Joshua Green’s article, there is no denying the power of the portrait. It’s Sarah Palin as she sees herself, and as her worshippers see her: in the Oval Office.
It turns out that The New Republic was also aware of Robert Hunt’s artistic brilliance.
They commissioned him to do a portrait of Barack Obama for the cover of their December 2, 2009 edition, which contained a number of articles highly critical of the president.
Hunt has a fascinating account of his interactions with the magazine as he worked on the illustration.
As he describes (and shows), he offered them several possibilities:
Which one did they choose?
Did they choose the one that showed President Obama looking the difficulties of his job straight in the eye?
Or even one that portrayed him in profile, pensive and deliberative, possibly humbled by his responsibilities?
No, The New Republic wanted an illustration that showed him cowed, defeated, turning his back and walking away.
And so of all the choices Robert Hunt offered them, this was the illustration they used:
I hope Robert Hunt will share on his blog his alternatives to the Sarah Palin illustration The Atlantic chose.
Whether he does or not, isn’t Robert Hunt amazing?
As for the editors of the mainstream New Republic and Atlantic, what subliminal message do you think they are trying to convey?
Take a look, side by side:
And Sarah complains about “lamestream” media?
MSM continues to roll out the red carpet for her, because MSM wants her to run against Obama next year.
He’ll be reelected, no matter who his opponent is. But MSM is increasingly desperate for readers and viewers.
MSM is sinking fast, and as a former psychiatrist of mine once told me, “A drowning man has no morals.”
MSM wants Obama v. Palin, because the alternatives are so dull. Without her, nobody will bother to read or watch and MSM numbers and dollars will continue their flight to alternative sources of news, opinion and entertainment.
Only Sarah can juice up the campaign: with Tea Party moronics, blatant racism and Christian Dominionist hate.
So MSM is trying to seduce her now in order to betray her later, after they’ve used her to improve their bottom lines, just as she’s used them to improve hers.
Frankly, they deserve each other, and may the worse whore lose.
But before the whole orgy really heats up, take one more look at Robert Hunt’s vision of President Obama that The New Republic didn’t want you to see:
That’s Mr. President.
Sarah is Ms. Pretender.
UPDATE:
Andrew Sullivan tells it like it is.
Posted in 2012, evangelical, Fox, Joe McGinniss, mainstream media, Obama, Palin racism, right wing, Sarah Palin, Tea Party, The Rogue | Tags: barack obama, illustrators, mainstream media, racism, robert hunt, Sarah Palin, stupidity, Tea Party, the atlantic, the new republic | 30 Comments »
If only Sarah weren’t Sarah, She Coulda Been A Contender//UPDATE: John Podhoretz in Commentary
May 10, 2011
That’s the thesis propounded by Joshua Green in the June issue of The Atlantic.
The magazine, however, went with the classier title, “The Tragedy of Sarah Palin,” and illustrated the piece with the striking image above of Sarah in full presidential mode.
“But over the past few months, Palin has begun fortifying her profile by visiting foreign countries and delivering speeches that extol her record as governor, especially on energy, as she did in March to an audience of international business leaders in India….She seems to be reintroducing herself.”
Given that I’m presently writing the last chapter of THE ROGUE I’m not going to critique Green’s piece, though I’m sure some will take issue with his conclusion that Sarah was a great governor of Alaska, who accomplished extraordinary things.
I find it interesting that during his week in Alaska Green spoke to the same people I talked to two-and-a-half years ago about Sarah’s accomplishments as governor–Gregg Erickson, Pat Galvin, Hollis French, Les Gara–and came away with conclusions very different from those I reached and published in my 2009 Portfolio cover story.
I will say that I hope Howard Kurtz reads Green’s story. In the current Newsweek, Kurtz writes about the end of the Sarah Palin phenomenon in a piece titled, “Is Sarah Palin Over?”
Kurtz says she’s toast. Green says she just might be a soufflé only starting to rise.
Maybe Andrew Sullivan, formerly of The Atlantic and now with Tina Brown’s Daily Beast-Newsweek behemoth could moderate a Kurtz-Green debate on The Dish.
UPDATE:
Even Commentary compares Sarah to Daryl Strawberry.
Even while pining for what might have been, Podhoretz writes her off. But who will win his heart next?
Or can Sarah lure him back by offering lunch on the concrete block on Lake Lucille, the way she seduced his buddy Bill Kristol over lunch at the governor’s mansion in Juneau?
Posted in 2012, Andrew Sullivan, Joe McGinniss, The Rogue | Tags: 2012 gop candidates, ACES, AGIA, Andrew Sullivan, howard kurtz, joshua green, natural gas, newsweek, oil, palin for president, Portfolio, Sarah Palin, the atlantic, the daily best, the dish | 27 Comments »
Right Wing Rallies Round “The Tragedy of Sarah Palin”
Pen a fantasy about how Sarah Palin could have been Barack Obama if only she weren’t so:
a) selfish
b) filled with anger, resentment and hate
c) greedy
d) stupid and uneducated
e) all of the above
and you tap into a deep vein of right-wing nostalgia for the Sarah-Who-Never-Was, which will prove of immense benefit to your personal brand and career.
I’m not impugning Joshua Green’s motives for writing his “Sarah-We-Hardly-Knew-Ye” paean of praise in the June issue of The Atlantic.
I’m sure he felt he had a legitimate, counter-intuitive, against the flow argument to make. He’s proven himself to be an excellent and fair-minded reporter in the past. And nobody should knock him just because his first job in “journalism” was at The Onion.
It may be that with “The Tragedy of Sarah Palin,” Green is returning to his satirical roots. Although if you read some of the comments in response to my earlier post, “If Only Sarah Weren’t Sarah, She Coulda Been a Contender,” you’ll find some strong fact-based arguments against Green’s hypothesis.
In any case, I’m sure Green was perspicacious enough to sense the likely windfall that would result from a “St. Sarah, The Fallen Star” story.
And he’s knee-deep in peaches and apples already, as the huzzahs arrive from all the obvious right-wing shills:
—John Podhoretz in Commentary
—Jennifer Rubin in the Washington Post
—Ross Douthat in The New York Times
This chorus sings in only one key: the key of sorrow, for the loss of a Sarah Palin who never existed outside the realm of their collective yearning, and who ever existed only as a figment of their collective imagination.
Andrew Sullivan wrote a bracing response yesterday and today added:
Josh’s piece will serve as balm to the right. And it will allow them to believe that their choice of veep in 2008 was not an indictment of them or the media – but just an unfortunate decision by Palin to change her colors. The only problem with this argument is that it is manifestly untrue. But we know that Palin lovers, like Palin herself, must perforce be wedded to mountains of untruth.
Amen.