Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Saradise Lost - Book 3 - Chapter 20 - Raise Your Hands if you Think She Wrote It

Like almost everything she does or says, soon-to-be-ex Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's op-ed in today's Washington Post, is gaining traction with right-wing blogs and writers looking for the next Jim Jones Ronald Reagan, and derision from sites on the left that are either totally fed up with her bullshit and are tearing the op-ed to shreds, or who are attempting to trace down the real author.

The fact that lefty political blogs which excel in humor aren't totally ecstatic over the article is the best proof I've yet seen or read that Palin herself didn't write the piece. There's not a single sentence in the piece that gets me to ask the most typical Palin question there is when she speaks or writes - "What did she mean?"

I'll join others on the web who are going through this essay, written by, as my friend TBogg has put it, a person with a "journalism degree from Hawaii Pacific North Idaho University of Idaho Matanuska-Susitna of Idaho."

Here's Sarah Palin's Washington Post Op-ed, with my comments (in red or blue):

There is no shortage of threats to our economy. America's unemployment rate recently hit its highest mark in more than 25 years and is expected to continue climbing. Worries are widespread that even when the economy finally rebounds, the recovery won't bring jobs. Our nation's debt is unsustainable, and the federal government's reach into the private sector is unprecedented.

This is the result of decades of flight of wealth from the middle class to the wealthy, through actions of Reagan, both Bushes, and Bill Clinton, abetted by the GOP and Democratic Party Blue Dogs.

Unfortunately, many in the national media would rather focus on the personality-driven political gossip of the day than on the gravity of these challenges. So, at risk of disappointing the chattering class, let me make clear what is foremost on my mind and where my focus will be:

Media like Runners World, People Magazine, Sports Illustrated and Vogue?

I am deeply concerned about President Obama's cap-and-trade energy plan, and I believe it is an enormous threat to our economy. It would undermine our recovery over the short term and would inflict permanent damage.

What might or might not pass Congress will be such a patchwork of give-ins and giveaways to lobbyists, it might actually be damaging, rather than good, but it will not be "an enormous threat."

American prosperity has always been driven by the steady supply of abundant, affordable energy. Particularly in Alaska, we understand the inherent link between energy and prosperity, energy and opportunity, and energy and security. Consequently, many of us in this huge, energy-rich state recognize that the president's cap-and-trade energy tax would adversely affect every aspect of the U.S. economy.


I've met very few Alaskans competent to discuss cap-and-trade with any authority. Cap-and-trade itself is designed to be a compromise that makes a slow switch from a carbon-based economy less painful, more stable, than it will otherwise be. And, as originally proposed, the sale of permits for carbon offests would bring in significant Federal revenue. That has been "traded away,"
as Andrew Halcro has observed this week.

There is no denying that as the world becomes more industrialized, we need to reform our energy policy and become less dependent on foreign energy sources. But the answer doesn't lie in making energy scarcer and more expensive! Those who understand the issue know we can meet our energy needs and environmental challenges without destroying America's economy.


As in "Drill, baby, drill..."

Job losses are so certain under this new cap-and-tax plan that it includes a provision accommodating newly unemployed workers from the resulting dried-up energy sector, to the tune of $4.2 billion over eight years. So much for creating jobs.


Rational Federal long-range programs to move American industry toward sustainable energy output and use, have always created more jobs than they have eliminated. The creation of the Environmental Protection Agency, better water treatment policies, green belt creation, he building of better power plants, the building of companies that produce windmills, photoelectric cells, control systems for these products - all these activities represent good, long-term, high-paying jobs.

In addition to immediately increasing unemployment in the energy sector, even more American jobs will be threatened by the rising cost of doing business under the cap-and-tax plan. For example, the cost of farming will certainly increase, driving down farm incomes while driving up grocery prices. The costs of manufacturing, warehousing and transportation will also increase.

American industrial farming practices are totally unsustainable. The chemical fertilizers, chemical herbicides, chemical pesticides, feedlots full of animals that need to have antibiotics injected almost daily, and the heavy, inefficient mechanization of these industries, are killing our land, endangering our people, and destroying family farms. Palin is even more far removed from understanding this than most American politicians.

The ironic beauty in this plan? Soon, even the most ardent liberal will understand supply-side economics.


The ironic beauty of that short paragraph is that the ghost writer probably is still attempting to explain to Palin what it means. Here's a piece of supply-side economics: America could have built the
Prius, but secretive, unimaginative, short-sighted automotive executives killed any possibility. Not liberals.

The Americans hit hardest will be those already struggling to make ends meet. As the president eloquently puts it, their electricity bills will "necessarily skyrocket." So much for not raising taxes on anyone making less than $250,000 a year.


Under eight years of Bush, our family's personal investments dwindled, our income failed to keep up with costs, and our true taxes increased. In just a few months of Obama, our investments have gained, our incomes increased, and our taxes, due to the burst of the GOP-induced real estate bubble, have actually gone down. Palin fails to acknowledge how much energy prices skyrocketed during the Bush administration.


Even Warren Buffett, an ardent Obama supporter, admitted that under the cap-and-tax scheme, "poor people are going to pay a lot more for electricity."

If we do nothing at all, Buffett's prediction will also come to pass.

We must move in a new direction. We are ripe for economic growth and energy independence if we responsibly tap the resources that God created right underfoot on American soil. Just as important, we have more desire and ability to protect the environment than any foreign nation from which we purchase energy today.

Obviously, Palin's ghost writer didn't realize the snarky implications of "tap the resources that God created right underfoot on American soil." Some are having a field day on this.


In Alaska, we are progressing on the largest private-sector energy project in history. Our 3,000-mile natural gas pipeline will transport hundreds of trillions of cubic feet of our clean natural gas to hungry markets across America. We can safely drill for U.S. oil offshore and in a tiny, 2,000-acre corner of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge if ever given the go-ahead by Washington bureaucrats.


Another example of a ghost writer. Palin would have (and has repeatedly) written "progressing" without a following pronoun. But this paragraph once again states Palin's "drill, baby,drill" mantra. Alaskans may see economic benefits from increased oil, natural gas and coal production, but the planet and the American economy need to grow out of this failing paradigm - the sooner, the better.


Of course, Alaska is not the sole source of American energy. Many states have abundant coal, whose technology is continuously making it into a cleaner energy source. Westerners literally sit on mountains of oil and gas, and every state can consider the possibility of nuclear energy.

Actually, this paragraph's sentence, "[m]any states have abundant coal, whose technology is continuously making it into a cleaner energy source," does look like something Palin may have written. She did forget to write "clean" nuclear energy. There is no existing proof that so-called "clean coal" technology works.

We have an important choice to make. Do we want to control our energy supply and its environmental impact? Or, do we want to outsource it to China, Russia and Saudi Arabia? Make no mistake: President Obama's plan will result in the latter.

Under mostly GOP leadership (cue picture of generations of Bushes hugging Saudi princes and kings, not to mention going into business with the bin Ladens), and Bush economic policies allowing the Chinese to own the American bond market, we're 3/4 of the way there already, Sarah. I can see that much from my house, even if you can't.

For so many reasons, we can't afford to kill responsible domestic energy production or clobber every American consumer with higher prices.

During the Bush administration, Americans got clobbered again and again and again.

Can America produce more of its own energy through strategic investments that protect the environment, revive our economy and secure our nation?

Certainly, but I'd trust many Republicans and Libertarians, let alone Democrats to find that solution, before thinking Sarah Palin has the key to an answer worth thinking about in this field. As Donald Craig Mitchell wrote so effectively last week in The Alaska Dispatch:


"Within weeks of her arrival at the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission Sarah knew she was drowning. That she had no understanding of, and no interest in, the Commission's highly technical work. And not only that, but, like every state employee, she was expected to be at work five mornings a week. To get to the Commission's office in Anchorage required an hour commute from Wasilla that during the winter she had to make by driving in the pitch dark down an icy, moose-strewn highway.


"So according to people who knew her at the time, soon after she arrived at the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission Sarah began searching for a face-saving excuse to quit a job she never should have been given."


Yes, we can. Just not with Barack Obama's energy cap-and-tax plan.

What it appears we are going to get is not "Barack Obama's" plan. It will be a typical clusterfuck product of the collaboration in Washington DC between lobbyists and the congressional figures who are in bed with them.


And -
No I Can't! - believe that the Sarah Palin I've known for 18 years penned this op-ed.

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

Franks fault. You know Frank created her. She is the fault of Frank.

Anonymous said...

Spot-On, Phil! Good work.

Winski said...

You can tune into Sean Hannity's Delusion Hour any afternoon and hear the same pitch, almost word for word. This is nothing but copying a transcript of Sean's show, dressing it up a little and sending it right over to the WaPo offices.

You would think after the scandal last week or so with the PUBLISHER of the WaPo trying to sell access to her whole WaPo staff and getting caught trying to do it would deter her from making this kind of rookie mistake...Whoops, guess not...

curiouser said...

Phil,
Thanks for the great commentary and perspective.

After reading the op-ed a third time, it sounded to me like she might have written it/put it together herself...some of her own words and previously used sound bites with the words of others thrown in.

Does anyone else want to scream when she says 'hungry markets'?

Virginia Voter said...

Phil, I say she wrote it with help. It's the same old same old argument many others have used to put down cap and trade. anyone can copy and past bits here and there.

Like Curiouser said, Sarah just recycled the never ending, oft repeated Rethug talking points, and peppered it with some special Palinese word salad. Only Sarah uses "progressing" and "hungry markets", which does make me wanna scream, also, too!

Does Sarah realize that there are currently huge oil and gas SURPLUSES in the reserves? Cap and trade has nothing to do with fossil fuel development, it is meant to wean us off it...ugh, her ignorance is astounding.

tomandlou said...

Check out The Rocky Mountain Collegian- The article entitled"Cap and trade bill will hurt US economy" The title sounds familiar see what you think about the rest.

KaJo said...

There's a wee bit of push-back from someone who's already tweaked her not too long ago -- Senator John Kerry.

He's written a piece for HuffPo criticizing her for ignoring the "global climate change crisis" with a little jab (again!), saying "Governor Palin need look no further than the view from her front porch in Alaska to see how destructive this crisis can be. The small native village of Newtok is being literally wiped off the map..."

Well, from what I've seen of Quitter-Gov. Palin's attitude toward native villages, she just tuned him out.

But wait, Senator Kerry winds up and zings Palin again, saying, "Reading Gov. Palin's op-ed too often it sounds like the only threats America faces are solely economic..." and "unfortunately, even in the areas Gov. Palin does focus on, she gets things wrong."

Anyone can guess what reaction this criticism from a previous critic will get from Palin.

Any bets on whether she goes off in a whirling-dervish ranting tizzy; or do you think someone finally got her to take her meds?

Aussie Blue Sky said...

FGS it's just a collection of comments from some less-offensive right-wing blog - from last year. $arah just "personalized" it.

Anonymous said...

Shannyn Moore Cheapens Ceremony to Honor Fallen Troops

Apparently, not even a somber ceremony to honor fallen soldiers is off limits to desperate people looking to attack Governor Palin.

In her latest hate-filled rant, Shannyn Moore has once again demonstrated that she is not bound by logic and common decency when it comes to discussing Governor Palin.

The Alaska Decoration of Honor ceremony was held on Saturday, May 23rd to honor Alaskan military members who were killed while performing their duty, and as the sitting governor and Commander in Chief of the Alaska National Guard, Governor Palin attended. Before the event she tweeted this:


Headed to Memorial weekend event honoring 177 AKn & AK-based soldiers killed in combat since statehood. God bless AKs military & families.

You might be wondering what Shannyn could find to criticize at such a solemn event, so let's begin:


Governor Palin insisted she be sat on stage and demanded time for a speech.

Could it be that the families of the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice wanted to hear what their governor had to say? Is it possible that they wanted to shake her hand when they went on stage to receive the Alaska Decoration of Honor for the bravery of their lost ones? Not in Shannyn's world. In Shannyn's sad little world, Governor Palin bullied her way on stage in a fit of rage and selfishly consumed valuable time that could have gone to another world famous governor who fully supports the military. Even though she later admits it was "appropriate" for the governor to speak at such a ceremony, she adds this:


...but her high level maintenance made it difficult for those that planned it.

Yes, I'm sure that adding an extra chair on the stage was incredibly inconvenient for the planners. As if Shannyn's criticisms up to this point weren't absurd enough, she decided to be crude:


The most somber occasion I have attended, and the governor wore a mini skirt. Neat. Way to comfort the families of fallen soldiers; give them tickets to the "bare legs show." One side of the auditorium was waiting for the"Basic Instinct" shot, Alaska style.

What a disgusting and offensive comment to make about a governor, a mother of five, and a wife of twenty years. But Shannyn wasn't finished describing Governor Palin's attire yet:


She just looked cheap.

Shannyn, you're cheap. Your price for embarrassing yourself with such drivel is a little face time on MSNBC, or perhaps a pat on the back from Arianna Huffington. Have you failed to notice that no one cares what you have to say unless it involves Governor Palin? When was the last time Keith Olbermann had you on to talk about your fascinating take on current affairs?

Anonymous said...

The Amazing Disappearing Shannyn Moore
By Joseph Russo

Shannyn Moore:

I tried not to be jealous of South Carolina last week when Governor Mark Sanford went missing. I fantasized about Sarah taking a break on the Chilkoot trail. She could collect her thoughts, and prioritize Alaska back to the top of the list. John Kerry had the nerve to say the same thing. Sarah slams his looks…nice. Does this mean Letterman’s comments about her “looks” are fair game now?

Actually, Governor Palin had a problem with Letterman's jokes about her children. However, her looks have always been fair game to you, Shannyn. You are the person who was running around with a cell phone camera trying to peek up her skirt, right? Yeah, that was you. Creepy.

Kerry (D-Vietnam) is an adult and he joked about Palin "disappearing." Palin is an adult and she joked about Kerry. Palin is actually funny, Kerry is not. At least Kerry wasn't ripping the troops this time though, lets give him that.

Here is another thing to consider: Kerry is one of the least popular politicians in America. Palin is approaching 50% in favorability if you take a look at the latest Pew and CNN polls (above 50% according to the last Rasmussen poll). (And you might find these poll numbers of just how much our men and women in uniform dislike Obama, interesting.)

Also, I hear that Moore will be doing a disappearing act the next time she goes on "Countdown to No Ratings" with Keith Olbermann. Olbermann is the only host in America who is actually on a first name basis with all of his viewers (not counting his family and the maid cleaning the bathtub).

Update: Shannyn Moore (skirt chaser) approves of photoshopping pictures of Trig Palin:

KaJo said...

More criticism of the $arah Palin op-ed, on Andrew Sullivan's blog -- not from him, though, the criticism is from Conor Clarke.

Clarke couldn't resist a zinger, either. (...heh...)

"And then you have Sarah Palin show up, blathering about how we're "destroying America's economy" while we're "literally" sitting on mountains of oil and drill baby drill and blah blah blah. Sickening."

Anonymous said...

If Sa-Rush BarraQuitter wrote that op ed, I'll eat my XtraTuffs.

That stinkin' fish can't float downstream fast enough. Palin's all yours, L48!

Anonymous said...

To the extent several websites, most notably liberal Alaska blogger Shannyn Moore, are now claiming as “fact” that Governor Palin resigned because she is “under federal investigation” for embezzlement or other criminal wrongdoing, we will be exploring legal options this week to address such defamation. This is to provide notice to Ms. Moore, and those who re-publish the defamation, such as Huffington Post, MSNBC, the New York Times and The Washington Post, that the Palins will not allow them to propagate defamatory material without answering to this in a court of law. The Alaska Constitution protects the right of free speech, while simultaneously holding those “responsible for the abuse of that right.” Alaska Constitution Art. I, Sec. 5. http://ltgov.state.ak.us/constitution.php?section=1. These falsehoods abuse the right to free speech; continuing to publish these falsehoods of criminal activity is reckless, done without any regard for the truth, and is actionable.

§ 5. Freedom of Speech

Every person may freely speak, write, and publish on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that right.

KaJo said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
KaJo said...

Let me rephrase what I'd posted a few seconds ago:

Pretty chicken sh!t of you, Anonymous @ 1:41, 1:44, and 1:52, to post that drivel copied from C4P over here without identifying yourself with your normal pseudonym.

Anonymous said...

Interestingly enough, cap and trade was part of the McCain Palin platform, and she said she was in favor of cap and trade when Gwen Ifill asked her about it in her debate with Sen. Biden.

Oh, but wait, that would require that she be consistent and thoughtful.

Never mind.

Ennealogic said...

Hehe, I have to laugh (well, at least chuckle) at the Sarasite who wishes to express an opinion here but does not have the intestinal fortitude to identify itself even with an online moniker.

Also, too, there you have the topic of this post by Phil which deals precisely with the "op-ed" that carries $arah Palin's byline, yet which is obviously not written by her, nor could have been written by her. Not to mention that the op-ed itself is severely lacking in any rational raison d'etre for opposing a cap and trade system, without also explaining exactly why $arah went on record supporting just such a system only a few months ago.

It must be hard being a Sarasite these days. The object of their affection keeps changing course, talking points, directions, and keeps lying -- which is typical except she keeps getting caught in her lies, be they plagiaristic in nature, or simply self-preservationist and self-serving.

Phil, love your comments on this "op-ed" ... what's your bet that we'll see more ghost-writing? My take is the GOP has no ideas whatsoever, therefore we'll never see anything constructive coming from Ms. Palin anytime soon. She couldn't come up with an idea on her own if her next French polish or hair extension depended on it.

Anonymous said...

Anon at 1:52. Did you even read what Shannon wrote about what you call "facts"?

She clearly identified them as rumors. Last I checked, rumors are not the same thing as facts. Until they turn out to be true, as may yet be the case.

"Freedom of speech" protects citizens from government, not the other way around.


Like many others in the lower 48, I cannot wait for Shannon to be sued by Sarah. That means depositions, given under oath. Ought to be very interesting.

Anonymous said...

Obviously, the sentence structure is totally NOT Sarah Palin - any linguist/educator can see this.

Also (altso) it's a pretty lame way to begin a new career by having a 'ghost writer' write because you are not educated enough to do so. This, everyone can see for themselves.

John Kerry has a great counter piece to this nitwit's 'take' on things which, again, was probably written by one of her staff who may be a bit more intelligent but certainly misses the mark totally so that comment needs to be qualified. If they're a bud of Palin, how can they have a brain of their own to begin with?

This op-ed piece is just another nail in the Palin Political coffin.

It was not penned by her alone and it was pathetically written by a mere Palin pedestrian sycophant.

We'll get that news soon.

Casey said...

"sigh" whoever the saracite(s) are that keep posting are...2 things are glaringly obvious. First...they are starting to run scared...best defense is an offense. Second...Phil doesnt give a rats azz what you think.

Laurie

Anonymous said...

Excellent analysis, Phil.

Keep after this fraud. The country doesn't want or need her shallow talking points sprinkled with snark. In a nutshell: Low class, low-brow op/ed piece.

Anonymous said...

all,

away from my laptop today. busy with the hard reality world and teaching. you're right re the anon troll - I could give a ratz ass....

phil

sent from my iPhone

Anonymous said...

Maureen Dowd didn't really nail Palinspeak and neither did the ghostwriter who did this oped.

It's kind of like doing accents, very few people are really good at them. I have tried writing in Palinese and its practically impossible for anyone who usually writes in complete grammatical sentences. You have to put yourself in a whole different headspace. And stay there. Just throwing in a 'progressing' (followed by an 'on' is a dead giveaway) or two doesn't do it.

Tallimat said...

Nice piece Phil,

But I think this op-ed could be a combination of all her collected bullet points, gathered in the past three weeks.

I also find it so boilerplate-isk. Gee is she that hungry for media coverage?

By the way, another ethics complaint has been filed.

annoy-mouse

Anonymous said...

Of course she didn't write it. The only way Sarah will be stopped now - or at least shown for who she really is - is for journalists to follow her and ask obvious follow-up questions on things like this essay. She will be positively stumped. She isn't good off the cuff in the first place - and esp. struggles when questions are about anything specific or policy related.

The problem, however, is that journalists, by and large, have utterly failed to do any serious reporting about Sarah. So, that leaves it to Citizen Bloggers. Someone up there needs to trail Sarah and at any given moment, pop up with an intelligent query regarding policy matters. They need to have video camera in hand (the only thing that will force her to try and answer is if she fears it will show up on YouTube) - even if it's just a camera.

Citizen Bloggers who care about the future of the Republic, get busy. Someone needs to hold Sarah accountable and someone needs to continue catching her stumbling over her ideas and words. Far too many Americans believe the image of Sarah that the McCain campaign perpetuated - not the reality of Sarah.

jo said...

If someone want's $arah to "write" an opinion (not fact she doesn't know many) piece they have to pay her enough for her name and her writer. McInsane told us she was an energy expert, sorta like her proximity to Russia for foreign policy experience. Media hard on her right, why hasn't anyone asked the "expert" how fossil fuel is formed.

Anonymous said...

Phil,

I have read your blog often but have never posted. Just wanted you to know that I have learned a lot about your beautiful Alaska. Sarah Palin will be a minor footnote in years to come. Thanks for the education.

Peace and love.....

Unknown said...

She couldn't possibly have written it.

Not enough ...., !!! or quotation marks.

Anonymous said...

Hey, anyone mention that Bill Ayers wrote Obama's "autobiographies"? How else to explain someone whose only other written work was an awful poem about "apes eating figs" suddenly becoming a skilled writer. Be careful , "progressives" , those who live in glass houses and all that....