"Bristol can be used." That's one of the things Alaska Governor Sarah Palin said last week, during her interview with CNN's Larry King. Here's the entire exchange on Bristol:
KING: Something all mothers fear, though, is the knowledge that her daughter is pregnant. Was that very hard for you to take?
PALIN: When it was revealed to – on national media that my 18 ...
KING: No, when it was revealed to you.
PALIN: year old daughter is pregnant? Oh, when it was revealed – what do you think, Larry? Of course. I looked at her and thought – and I thought, Bristol, honey, you're going to have to grow up really fast and she is a strong and kind-hearted young woman. She is going to make a great mom. She – she is very strong. She is going to be just fine.
But Bristol has an opportunity at this point also to reach out to other young American women and let them know that these are absolutely less than ideal circumstances that she or any other unwed teenage mother are in and it is not something to glamorize, it is not something to condone, if you will. Bristol has an opportunity to reach out to other young mothers and help them and hopefully not see such a prevalence also of unwed teenage mothers, the rates are too high.
Bristol can be used as an example of Larry taking less than ideal circumstances and still making the best of these circumstances and that is who she is. She is strong, she is kindhearted, she is going to be just fine.
That's our Sarah Palin.
I'll give her credit for at least making a fairly coherent statement of more than 100 words, though.
I've read a lot of comments about how cynical Palin's discussion of her daughter was. But I haven't yet read one that asks the first question that came to my mind when I heard Palin say that - "Did you clear this new public role for your daughter with her before you made that statement?"
Bristol can be used.
At the risk of being so reviled, let me point out that in the marathon of Palin interviews last week, the single most revealing exchange had nothing to do with her wardrobe or the “jerks” (as she called them) around McCain. It came instead when Wolf Blitzer of CNN asked for some substance by inviting her to suggest “one or two ideas” that Republicans might have to offer. “Well, a lot of Republican governors have really good ideas for our nation,” she responded, without specifying anything except that “it’s all about free enterprise and respecting equality.” Well, yes, but surely there’s some actual new initiative worth mentioning, Blitzer followed up. “Gah!” replied the G.O.P.’s future. “Nothing specific right now!”
Bristol can be used.
She failed to save John McCain from presidential election doom, but Sarah Palin, the Republican senator’s controversial running mate, may yet emerge as the saviour of the American publishing industry. Literary agents are queueing up to sign her to a book deal that could earn her up to $7m.
Bristol can be used.
MIAMI — Gov. Sarah Palin seized the spotlight Thursday from her fellow Republican governors, 12 of whom awkwardly stood behind her as she continued a high-profile effort to repair her battered image.
The Alaska governor did something she never did in two months as the Republican vice-presidential candidate: She held a news conference, a six-minute event with only four questions in which she refused to look back.
"I don't even want to talk about strategy within a campaign that is over," she said.
Palin then gave a 22-minute speech to the Republican Governors Association that dwelt on the recent campaign. It began and ended with standing ovations and occupied a larger chunk of speaking time than other governors had here.
It doesn't matter whether Palin was “a joy to work with,” as McCain aides said publicly, or a “diva” and a “whack job,” as some said privately. It doesn't matter whether she decided to buy the $150,000 in new clothes, or the Republican National Committee bought them for her. What matters is her real and measurable effect on the broader American public. And if Sarah Palin were a cereal, she’d be rushed off the shelf.
Bristol can be used.
I suppose it will be recorded as among political history’s ironies that Palin was brought in to help John McCain. I can’t blame feminists who might draw amusement from the fact that a woman managed to both cripple the male she was supposed to help while gleaning an almost Elvis-sized following for herself. Mac loses, Sarah wins big-time was the gist of headlines.
I feel a little sorry for John. He aimed low and missed.
What will ambitious politicos learn from this? That frayed syntax, bungled grammar and run-on sentences that ramble on long after thought has given out completely are a candidate’s valuable traits?
And how much more of all that lies in our future if God points her to those open-a-crack doors she refers to? The ones she resolves to splinter and bulldoze her way through upon glimpsing the opportunities, revealed from on high.
What on earth are our underpaid teachers, laboring in the vineyards of education, supposed to tell students about the following sentence, committed by the serial syntax-killer from Wasilla High and gleaned by my colleague Maureen Dowd for preservation for those who ask, “How was it she talked?”
My concern has been the atrocities there in Darfur and the relevance to me with that issue as we spoke about Africa and some of the countries there that were kind of the people succumbing to the dictators and the corruption of some collapsed governments on the continent, the relevance was Alaska’s investment in Darfur with some of our permanent fund dollars.
And, she concluded, “never, ever did I talk about, well, gee, is it a country or a continent, I just don’t know about this issue.”
It’s admittedly a rare gift to produce a paragraph in which whole clumps of words could be removed without noticeably affecting the sense, if any.
(A cynic might wonder if Wasilla High School’s English and geography departments are draped in black.)
(How many contradictory and lying answers about The Empress’s New Clothes have you collected? I’ve got, so far, only four. Your additional ones welcome.)
Matt Lauer asked her about her daughter’s pregnancy and what went into the decision about how to handle it. Her “answer” did not contain the words “daughter,” “pregnancy,” “what to do about it” or, in fact, any two consecutive words related to Lauer’s query.
Bristol can be used.
"I’m like, OK, God, if there is an open door for me somewhere, this is what I always pray, I’m like, don’t let me miss the open door. And if there is an open door in (2012) or four years later, and if it is something that is going to be good for my family, for my state, for my nation, an opportunity for me, then I’ll plow through that door."
I'm not sure whether God will listen to Palin's request. But if He has a sense of humor, God will open that door for Palin, and America will have another riveting presidential campaign in 2012.
Well, Governor Palin, if Bristol doesn't work, you've already used Todd, Track and Trig. If I were Piper or Willow, I'd be wanting to spend a helluva a lot of time with Grandma and Grandpa, and keeping my ears pealed for the sounds of an oncoming bus....
29 comments:
Sarah Palin has repeatedly made the disclaimer about how it's not her fault John McCain lost the election, but if she cost him even one vote she would apologize.
If those Americans who did not vote for John McCain but would have, had it not been for Sarah Palin on the ticket - each emailed her with a brief message like:
Dear Sarah,
You cost john McCain my vote.
John Q Public of Oklahoma
Would it help bring Sarah back to planet earth?
I love fantasies but I'm a big believer in reality. And I just don't see her getting any.
Lynn-in-Australia
I just read in your ADN, that Alaska has a higher than U.S. average of school drop outs. Gov. Palin should address that for Alaska, as well as her own "prime example" family. Education for Alaska's children should be one of her first priorities, instead of her thinking of running for President. And you are right--"why use Bristol?" Bristol already has too many responsibilities for her to handle at 18.
Love all your articles.
And you Phill Munger also used Bristol. Not only that, but you justified using a teen mother.
You are one jerk that shouldn't even be talking about how Sarah and Bristol will behave.
Let me guess, you are proud as punch to also use Bristol?
Unless your part of the Palin family, it ain't even your place to talk.
Me thinks your just lazy and will stoop to use Bristol. Like you can't even get off the laptop to find other stuff to slam Palin's view on prolife, abstence (sp?), etc.... as a matter of fact you have got to be a blob stuck next to the woodstove. A lazy man with no life and crappy music.
But you, like a fool, continue to use Bristol as well...
You are sick and twisted man.
Thank the northern lights you don't know me or my girls...
Just come out of the closet and admit you can't stand strong, responsible teen mothers.
...strong responsible teen mothers?
(The wingers really do compete with themselves, it's an ongoing process whereby we find out which of them can be the most unintelligent, and simultaneously, the most obnoxious.)
Entertaining and disturbing, all at the same time.
Great post again Phil. Alaska's drop out rate rose by three with Palin dragging her 3 under-educated kids with her, The woman has no shame. A true Republican.
I think that it has become painfully obvious how little substance there is to Sarah Palin, less even than George Bush. Sarah is an opportunist who has spent her entire career jumping from one position (opportunity) to another, never staying long enough to do much damage, nor accomplish anything substantive. I saw it at the AOGC where Sarah hated a 9-5 job and jumped at the opportunity to out Randy, score some points and move on to something else. She leveraged that jump into the Governor’s mansion and once again was so confined by this day to day job that she unilaterally decided to “work from home” in Anchorage, and collect illegal per diem, to boot. In less than two years, she almost leveraged that job into the Vice Presidency but luckily for America, enough people saw through her. Now she is stuck back in the boring Governor’s job and the reality of the failure of AGIA is making her nervous. I truly believe that she would LOVE for Ted to win so that she could skip out on the failed Governor’s job and skip on to the Senate. No conscience, no concern for her country, her state or even her family. The perfect Prince. Machiavelli would be proud.
i guess ultimately we all have to stay with the idea that her private family life is none of our business. the problem is, she enmeshes all of them into her image, work and campaigning. todd is involved at high levels; bristol and levi are used as props; she tells an interviewer she's especially qualified to address the needs of disabled and high needs children because of trig -- and on and on.
i'm still really bummed out about her working primarily from anchorage and wasilla. maybe it would have been better for their family to move to juneau? it seems like a genuine small town, rather than a spread-out wasteland [sorry philip; and i know i'm broab brushing the valley]. maybe juneau has its boneyards, trick or treat robbers, jim creeks and meth, too? i'm not sure. but why turn your nose up at an entire town and 50 years of tradition?
clark,
I actually love Juneau, and wish I had more opportunities to go there. It was the first town I lived in, in Alaska, although only for less than two months.
The Mat-Su Valley was a great place to raise kids - they've been outdoors all the time, and the schools they attended prepared them for college.
Palin doesn't care about our traditions of government, and doesn't care much for Juneau - it is a fairly liberal town, and, let's face it, the majority of people in the town are smarter than she is, and she probably gets a sense of them seeing right through her.
Wasilla, on the other hand......
It might be nice to credit the writers that you're quoting. yes, the links are there, but at least say who they are in your own text. It's not that hard and it's basic common courtesy.
"Bristol can be used"... Her answer to Larry King's question was not good at all! She (in other words) would like her daughter to be an advocate for Un-wed Teen Pregnancy? This is so Sarah Like... It appears that Sarah is fine with a "no-education" clause. She never said that she will work with Bristol on getting a high school diploma and going on to college. Is it true that her son Track join the military to avoid jail time for vandelism? And he too is a high school drop-out! Is it true that she is so on the "Drill baby Drill" because she has a nice cut of the profit coming? Alaska has to have at least one person other than Sarah to become Govenor eh?... Why is ther no further investigation of her Tax returns (per diem), the house that was built and so on and so on?
The woman is a whack-job and an international laughing stock and anyone who isn't embarrassed by her turn upon the stage is, very likely, an uneducated white person -- someone who thinks earth is a few thousand years old, that the truth of evolution or global warming are debatable etc.
Those votes are gone boys and they ain't comin' back
Alaska can do better. Education, baby, Education.
"Dear Sarah,
You cost john McCain my vote.
John Q Public of Oklahoma"
-Lynn-in-Australia
Lynn - agree 100% with the idea, but let me just say as a resident of the single state in the union where not one single county voted blue, Oklahoma (to my great dismay) is not the example you seek. Maybe choose a close one where a handful of anti-Palin votes really contributed to loosing McCain the Presidency - say North Carolina.
Can someone find out "Who is really Governing Alaska behind Sarah Palin?"
Sarah makes the statement that she was city manager but we know she hired someone to do that, we also know she hired her friends (unqualified) for other big state positions.
So... we want to know "Who's really governing Alaska?" who is helping Sarah from behind the scenes because we know that she is pretty much an "Airhead that lucked up on Opportunity!"
It's always the same with Christians: our moral failings are just mistakes, and we beg our Creator for forgiveness. Reminding us of them is just mean and nasty. Now, you heathens on the other hand, when you do the same things, it's obviously because you are Godless and don't teach your children the truth of the good book. She was perfectly happy to judge the behavior of anyone else, but her own family is off-limits because they are saved. Typical self-absorbed drivel.
"...strong, responsible teen mothers"?!
There's no such thing! Any teenage girl who is strong and responsible knows she's not prepared to be a mother and takes the appropriate action, whether that action is abstinence or prophylactics, to prevent such an event from coming to pass.
It really isn't worth the time to parse Sarah Palin's statements in interviews. She's one of those people who just fills her speaking time with loosely associated words that are in the same ball park, but really don't make sense. Her words sound great to people who, like her, don't really listen to and critically evaluate what's said to them. It's not clear that even she understands that she's not making sense.
I really think some people are just that empty-headed, not really knowing that speaking really requires some thinking and effort in order to make sense. They must think that reality is just as cloudy for everybody else, so they may as well just "get in there" and play the game. Wouldn't that explain how cluelessly aggressive she is?
Way to take a quote out of context.
Ahhhh perhaps a website could be started up with the title "Sarah Palin You Cost John McCain My Vote"......everyone who believes this to be the case can sign it as a comment. perhaps then Sarah will get the message.
I do not think I have ever seen a person in public life with such misplaced self importance. This lady has absolutely no self awareness at all. Anyone with the slightest intelligence, knows their limitations, we all have them. She really thinks she can do everything and anything, including the most powerful position in the world. It is simply mindboggling, to listen to this uneducated, shallow female. I am so happy that most of the other Republican Governors ARE smart enough to recognize this fraud. Todd has made many decisions for her, according to all the reports I have read, to the point that Alaskan legislators were going to get a lapel button to match the one that said "Where is Sarah" because she was hardly ever THERE. The second button was going to say "What does Todd think?".
It's disgusting how Palin has used her children as props for her political career. She didn't hesitate to toss her pregnant, teenaged daughter under the campaign bus or pull the little ones out of school to drag them on the campaign trail.
Not to mention that Bristol always seemed to be the one stuck holding little Trig at campaign events. Bristol clearly needed motherly guidance herself, but instead she had to be the surrogate mom for her special needs baby brother. Meanwhile, their mom was out scratching and clawing her way single-mindedly into power.
You can put lipstick on a pit bull, but it's still a dog.
I'm just so tired of this person. Palin is the GOP's answer to Paris Hilton-- a self-important media whore and dullard who is simply famous for being famous. I BEG the media to push the mute button on this lady and save me from pounding my head into the nearest cement wall.
Maybe we can take up a collection and pay her $7 million to just go away, for the sake of the Republican party.
Palin needs to go away. Seriously.
Gee Phill, your better at victimizing Bristol than her own mother is...
And I thought Sarah was sick and twisted. Me thinks you take the cake for being the most sick and twisted 'progressive Alaskan'...
Some of your followers must have a problem with stong, responsible teen mothers. Totally laughable. You and some of your followers appear to be the problem, not the teen mother.
You'd think after she lost and cost John McCain the election Sarah Palin would disappear to oblivion. My stomack turns everytime I hear her voice but why do I still hear her voice? Didn't she loose the election?
She stood there at the Governor's convention in Miami gloating because all these mindless reporters wanted to ask her questions while the other highly qualified, experienced and non-self serving governors stood there waiting their turn. If I were Sala Palin I would appologize to these Governors then I would disapear from the face of the earth.
SalforO
Every time I hear Sarah Palin speaks I feel I'm in the land of OZ where nothing is real. What was John McCain thinking when he chose her unless she heard about the search for VP and attacked the opportunity.
Why does this woman insist on randomly inserting the word "also" into so many of her sentences? It drives me crazy.
"...and hopefully not see such a prevalence ALSO of unwed teenage mothers"
"Bristol has an opportunity at this point ALSO to reach out to other young American women"
Both read better without the word.
I love to hate Sarah Palin. She gave me three million reasons to do so.
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