Weekly Roundup, August 8th-14th, 2011

By Blueberry Tart

First, let’s highlight the photo of Palin from 3/26/08, rights to which Politicalgates has purchased until the end of November 2012 thanks to the generosity of several team members. We will purchase a second photo later this week. Here is an excellent image from lidia17’s recent video as well.

Monday, August 8, 2011

GOP Gloats as S&P Downgrades US Credit Rating

EbbtideMB put together an excellent guest post highlighting the statements made by Republicans leading up to and following the downgrade of the US’s AAA credit rating to AA+. Boehner, Ron Paul, Bachmann, Lindsey Graham and others all thought it was more important to score political points than protect the American economy. This is extremism pure and simple and it is time to hold the GOP accountable for its decision to undermine the economy so they can use it against President Obama, as they tried to do in the debate later in the week. Hopefully posts like this will help Americans see who is to blame. Patrick tops off the post with Palin’s blather on the subject. More idiocy.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Will She Or Won’t She

Will she run or not? It’s time to go on the record one way or the other – and that means not only Sarah, but us! There are lots of good arguments on either side. But I gotta ask: why do a bus tour in Iowa this week if you’re not running? There is probably a wild card too – whatever Politicalgates says, she will want to do the opposite. Notably, as a group we really disagree about this, but we are able to enjoy the debate. As I’m writing this, our poll response is running 3:2 that she won’t run…time will tell.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Common Sense, or the Lack Thereof

Dusty17 has something that is talked about a lot, but is actually in short supply on the Republican side these days: common sense. In this guest post, she debunks some of the Tea Party’s key messages about ending bailouts, less regulation, reducing taxes and the size of government, and keeping government out of our private lives. She shows how utterly ignorant and hypocritical these arguments are. BBT: I think Thomas Paine must be rolling over in his grave every time Sarah Palin uses the term “commonsense [sic] conservative.” Empty rhetoric, better known as BS.

Friday, August 12, 2011

Hold the Presses: Sarah Goes to the Iowa State Fair

If you haven’t seen the post yet, be ready to see Palin’s middle-school persona on full display, this time through her toenail polish…because nothing says “presidential” quite like polka dot toenails! Palin sucked the oxygen out of Iowa last week, creating a huge scrum at the state fair; she and Todd reveled in the attention. Proving once again that Tina Fey has her number, Palin also criticized Scott Conroy and the lamestream media for repeating verbatim what she said about Perry getting into the race. Her pre-announcement dithering continues… H/T to GinaM for collecting the photos of Sarah at the Fair, including the one I used here.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Rick Perry Enters GOP Field; Is There Room for Sarah?

Patrick's incisive post explores the question of whether there is still room for Sarah Palin in the GOP field of candidates for the presidency, now that Rick Perry has announced that he is running. Idealogically, Perry fills Palin's niche, and he does so without the baggage that she has (except maybe for the secessionist connections that they both have). In addition, he hasn't quit his day job yet, has even more ties to big oil, has better hair, didn't fake a pregnancy and doesn't paint his toenails (that we know of). The likelihood of Palin being his running mate seems dimmer by the day as well. Patrick also has a wise comment on why, even strategically, it is not a good idea to want Palin in the race.

Some comments and links:

Adrian (on Perry’s day of prayer and fasting): They must think "fasting" means "eating fast." Smoked_Salmon added: It may be more likely that someone hit the "F" instead of the "T"!

Older_Wiser: So this right wing political stunt ENCOURAGED by the GOP, actually put us FURTHER into debt!

JCos: Palin says America's credit rating shouldn't be determined by the standard and poor, but by the exceptional and rich.

ProChoiceGrandma: The only way to describe the action of the GOP Tea Party is TREASON. They are no better than Somali pirates taking a ship hostage and will kill their hostages and sink the entire ship if they don't get their ransom money. Boehner got his 98% ransom, at the expense of 98% of American citizens. The "ship" that was held hostage has returned to port much like the USS Cole, with a very large hole in it's hull.

SCmommy: …she's just becoming more & more like --who was it that said it today?-- the 24 year old guy who comes to show off his flashy car---at the high school. Just creepy. Stephen Colbert said that Sarah Palin's batsignal is someone else's spotlight.

HopeforAmerica: She is either mentally ill or a drug addict. There is no other explanation for her bizarre behavior.

Drpatois: Ironic. The bottom left (her left) front corner of her T-shirt says:

I am peace I am happiness I am full of love
I don't have to tell anyone here what it should say she is full of.

Zane1: She goes where she knows there is a crowd already & then steals the spotlight. Yes, she must have a family member present....I suspect she has abandonment issues or maybe she's just nuts. [Later] Crowd stealing is what she does best & she doesn't have to say where she stands on issues. It's the Rosie Ruiz (Boston Marathon cheater who took the subway to the finish line) approach to politics.

SondraT: …Sarah can't stand the fact that she simply can't manipulate people everywhere like she did in Alaska. She was a big fish in a tiny tiny pond, but now she can't swim with the smart, educated folks in the "Lower 48" she was never exposed to before the VP pageant. That's why, IMO, she's striking out so vehemently. She doesn't have power to bewitch people like she did in Wasilla.

Sunnyjane: Palin flaunts herself in a sloppy, ridiculous, and unprofessional manner, begging people to notice her roguish, just-your-average-American persona. Do you think she had her toenails painted to look like dice just to please herself? No. She EXPECTS, WANTS, and NEEDS to be noticed. So her feet, clothing, hairdo, and junk jewelry are fair game, in my opinion.

TripleMoon: Her entire strategy is by pretending to NOT be running for the presidency. This strategy can only work for so long. Right now she is getting attention. It's the only way she can. If she conducts herself in the same manner as the other SERIOUS Republicans, she loses her spotlight. She can not compete with the others using traditional campaign strategies.. She would be seen as severely lacking in comparison with the others. She knows that. Her advisers know that. A good portion of the American people understand that. Trouble is, her strategy has a short shelf life.

Indy_girl: Todd says "the family has been tested." So was that just for herpes, or a full STD panel? [to which Karen Collins added] I was hoping for paternity tests, or hell, maternity tests!

Older_Wiser posted this link on fiscal conservatism at work (H/T to cheeriogirl):

Here are AzureGhost’s posters all in one place!

Juicyfruityy linked to David Schuster on the lies told in the GOP debate.

VeryPolitik posted this excellent comment from The Daily Beast via IM: My favorite, so far, is from @OhioBoy274. He writes:

"... During the Revolution, the conservatives were the Tories, who sided with the King and didn't want America to be created.

In the Civil War, the conservatives were the Confederacy, who were willing to tear the nation apart so they could continue to enslave black people.

During the Civil Rights struggle, the conservatives were the ones lynching blacks and standing in schoolhouse doors to prevent America from being integrated.

Conservatives fought Social Security, Medicare, and women's right to vote. They fought child labor laws. They fought the 40-hour work week and mandatory vacation time. They fought safe workplace standards. (Allof these labor-related benefits were brought to you by the efforts of unions.) They fought improved mileage for vehicles.

Today's conservatives are the far-right extremists in the Tea Party. They fight against the people's right to organize in unions and they fight for huge giveaways for rich people and corporations. Same crap, different day.

Conservatives have worked against America and its citizens at every opportunity, and they continue to do so today. On top of this, we have to read idiotic Fox "News" type posts blaming everything on the Democrats - oh, sorry, the "Democrps". It's almost too much to bear."

Here's a link to the Daily Beast article: http://bit.ly/nMZSby