94% of the $5.1 million Sarah Palin's political action organization spent last year went to political consulting firms.
So what's the big deal?
Here are some "notable" lines from the Palin's last public appearance via the Daily Beast:
"Now is the time to furlough the consultants, and tune out the pollsters, send the focus groups home and throw out the political scripts, because if we truly know what we believe, we don’t need professionals to tell us”
Sarah Palin spent $4.8 million last year on consultants, pollsters, focus groups, speech writers and professionals. The very thing she says politicians and the public alike need to stop doing she did excessively. And probably, the very speech listed above where she decries political consulting was more than likely written by a paid professional political speech writer/consultant. Folks, it just doesn't get any more fraudulent than Sarah Palin.
Many people are saying that Sarah Palin's exit from Fox News means she's gone forever from American politics and society. I disagree. Either her and Fox will rejoin efforts later on; or somewhere someone will give her a platform to spew her stupidity. Or if by 2016 she isn't getting the attention she thinks she deserves, she'll run for president to get back in the spotlight and to make millions again. Also, I can see her running for office in 2014 just to get her name back in rotation if need be. Politics is popularity and it's as addictive as any drug. Palin is an addict.
Just because it's so easy, her latest delusional rant she gave the right wing America-hating website Breitbart deserves a mention. Her reflections on Mitt Romney's loss:
Conservatism didn’t lose. A moderate Republican candidate lost after he was perceived to alienate working class Reagan Democrat and Independent voters who didn’t turn out for him as much as they did for the McCain/Palin ticket in 2008," Palin said. "Granted, those same voters also didn’t turn out for Obama as strongly either.
Huh???? So once again, after suffering a huge electoral loss on the national stage, Republicans still didn't lose. This is insane and it takes someone just as insane to repeat such garbage.
Moreover, she says a "moderate Republican" lost because working class Reagan Democrats and Independents didn't turn out for him as much as they did for her and McCain four years earlier. This is pure delusion. Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan got 997,145 more votes than McCain and Palin. This very easy and very simple math means more people turned out for Romney/Ryan than McCain/Palin. She's completely senile. There's no way you can possibly say Reagan Dems (whatever those are) and Independents didn't turn out more for Romney than McCain.
More importantly, if you're still running your electoral fortunes on the term "Reagan Democrats," you've already lost. That was 32 years ago. The electorate is no where near the same as it was then. It's not even the same as it was in 2004. Democrats aren't even the same now. And neither are Republicans. Reagan supported gun legislation, raised taxes 11 times, doubled tripled the federal debt, grew government to enormous levels, ran chronic budget deficits every year, and supported amnesty for immigrants. He could never get elected by today's GOP.
Waiting for those "Reagan Democrats" to turn out is actually right where I want the GOP to be. Losing.
*Editor's Note:
The original publication of this stated Ronald Reagan had "doubled" the federal debt. This is no where near correct. Reagan TRIPLED the federal debt. We apologize for the error.
The Republican-controlled House passed the latest NDAA with yet another round of indefinite detention. If you're like me, you're more worried about the "forever war" clause contained in the NDAA than about indefinite detention. Notwithstanding, it's worth pointing out the Small Government Conservatives not only, once more, passed indefinite detention they killed off an amendment that would have blocked the detention of U.S. citizens.
Probably the best part about the indefinite detention saga is how 2012 is the new 2004. In arguing against the amendment that would have blocked citizens from being held without charges, Republicans used their familiar 2004 tough guy talk accusing anyone who didn't support their policy as being terrorist sympathizers. Yep, it's all about who has the bigger penis. Writes Adam Serwer: "Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.) accused the lawmakers of wanting to "coddle terrorists," while Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Tex.) warned that under an amendment they'd introduced, "as soon as a member of Al Qaeda sets foot on US soil, they hear you have the right to remain silent." National Review's Andrew C. McCarthy, a former federal prosecutor who has never heard of a same-sex marriage supporting, pro-financial regulation liberal who wasn't secretly a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, wrote that their proposal was the result of "libertarian extremists" teaming up with liberals with an "obsession" with giving "more rights" to "mass murderers."
A top Republican says if you try to prevent billionaires from moving their money to foreign accounts in order to avoid American taxes you're a Nazi. In other words, you're an enemy of the state. No better than the terrorists.
What do you call a budget that adds $10 trillion of new debt in ten years? If you're Republican, you claim it's a budget that prevents a debt crisis.
The brilliant Sarah Palin does a robocall in Kansas to support a tea bagger running in Texas. Brilliant! They really do think she's smart though.
Michelle Bachmann, yet another female right wing lunatic in the mold of Palin, lied today by saying her presidential campaign had over 250,000 donors. She's crazy.
Ron Paul called the Occupy Wall St. protest a "legitimate effort."
Turns out Sean Hannity's claim that Obama was hanging out with Black Panthers in 2007 is a total lie. Yeah, real shocker.
Fox News' Steve Doocy, once again, distorts the facts about Reagan's presidency. Doocy claimed that Obama's policies won't work and he should instead look at Reagan's "permanent tax cuts" to get the economy on the right track. As County Fairnotes, Reagan's tax cuts in '81 and '86 were offset by his 11 tax increases. One of those 11 increases was the largest tax increase during peacetime in history. Never mind any of that though. As always though, we aren't talking about Real Reagan here. Republicans are simply talking about Fantasy World Reagan.
Given that it took her going to 6 different colleges to get a four-year degree, and that she quit as governor of the third least populated state in the country after just two years, it's not startling to realize Sarah Palin has no understanding of American government.
“If I were in Congress, I would not vote to incur more debt,” she asserted. But she also said, “We cannot default.” But then she also said: “We cannot afford to retreat right now.” Of which she finally added that Republicans have to reload when it comes to the debt debate. Sounds like she needs to reload her brain cause I'm not sure it's possible to have any less understanding of government and still be considered a top-tier presidential hopeful. Thank you GOP for making all of America just that much dumber.
First off, we all should be thankful she isn't a Member of Congress. Secondly, a vote by Congress to raise the debt ceiling is not a vote to "incur more debt." It's a vote to allow Congress to keep paying the debt. Here's what the Government Accountability Office tells us about the debt ceiling:
“The debt limit does not control or limit the ability of the federal government to run deficits or incur obligations. Rather, it is a limit on the ability to pay obligations already incurred."
They even use the word incur so maybe Republicans will believe it since their Fearless Patriot Leader Palin did too. As we've discussed on this blog a million times, not voting to raise the ceiling will cause the debt to rise faster than it would if Congress just raised the ceiling like it has numerous times over the last couple decades.
Not raising the limit means we can't pay our debt. That means we will have higher interest rates and accumulate more debt much quicker than before. There's a reason why we have never defaulted on our debt-- it would be insane. But that's just what Palin is saying Congress should do. In fact, she's saying that's what she would do. She would cause us to default on our debt and force the federal debt to explode. She is a fiscal conservative after all.
That's the gist of the debate. Republicans are purposely skewing the debate to make people think raising the debt limit means we are agreeing to spend more money and raise the debt. That's dishonest and pathetic. Raising the debt limit simply allows us to pay our bills. We'll incur debt whether we raise it or not.
There are a few very basic facts about the nation's debt and budget deficit that are essential to understand. One, the budget deficit was $1.4 trillion dollars when President Obama took office. Two, the federal debt level was over $11.9 trillion at the end of Bush's 2009 budget.
The fiscal 2011 budget deficit was $1.34 trillion. And the federal debt today is $14.34 trillion.
That means the budget deficit is, at worst, unchanged. And the federal debt has grown by $2.44 trillion since Obama took office. These small and simple facts are very, very hard for Republicans to grasp, however.
Sarah Palin, when giving her only campaign interview to her employer, the Republican Fox News channel, seemed to not have a care in the world for facts or intelligent conversation when discussing important issues like budgets and deficits.
President Obama has grown more debt than all other presidents combined?? Wow that is very crazy talk. She can't be serious.
Unfortunately she is serious. And she is what the Republican base cheers on, even cherishes. Her completely untrue, crazy chatter like Obama has grown more debt than all other presidents combined is considered very Serious and president-worthy criteria for Republican voters. They really want their candidates to deny reality.
The simple fact is, though, President Obama hasn't even raised near the level of debt Reagan did when he tripled it. Or when George W. Bush doubled it. Inheriting the largest budget deficit in world history on top of the largest federal debt in the galaxy means, in the Republican Fantasy World, you're responsible for it. Republicans are for whatever makes them appear least responsible especially when it comes to fiscal deficits. After all, these are the very fiscal conservatives that we are talking about.
*Update:
As luck would have it, I came across this image below demonstrating who is more responsible for the debt situation.
There's just no way anyone with half a brain could suggest Obama has added more debt than all previous presidents combined. Well, I take that back. It's very possible Republicans talking on Fox News can suggest, despite clear and simple facts to the contrary, pretty much whatever it is they want with complete immunity. Case in point is quitter Sarah Palin.
Judging by the implosion of all the Republican candidates for president, Trump, Huckabee, and now Gingrich, is it possible that Sarah Palin will win by default?
Former half-term Governor of Alaska writes on her twatter page President Obama should quit "pussy-footing" around and go ahead and release the pics of a dead bin Laden. Wheee!
In the battle to determine who is the dumbest Republican in the history of America, Michelle Bachmann took a slight lead over Sarah Palin when she told her tea bagger crowd in New Hampshire they were the home of Plymouth Rock, and the Revolutionary War battles of Lexington and Concord. All historical episodes took place in Massachusetts not New Hampshire. I guess reality really does have a liberal bias.
Not to be outdone, Palin sought advice from Fox News boss Roger Ailes as what to do after the Arizona shooting. Ailes told her to do nothing, lie low and definitely not to give a prerecorded video of a teleprompter speech. Palin chose not to listen.
Realizing Palin was catching up, Bachmann hurriedly released a Facebook statement blaming her ignorance of American history on President Obama's teleprompter. Take that liberals.
More people turned out in Madison, WI Saturday to protest Republican efforts at busting up unions than the largest tea bagger protest of President Obama's health care reform. Take a guess who got more media coverage, and who was portrayed as being Patriotic Americans defending their freedom and liberty???????????
Reminiscent of Moral Values Crusader and former Vice President Dan Quayle in 1992 who tried to pick a fight with imaginary sitcom character Murphy Brown for being unwed and pregnant, Mike Huckabee highlights Natalie Portman as an example of degrading American values for being unwed and pregnant.
It's worth mentioning Huckabee doesn't say a word about his potential running mate Sarah Palin's teenage daughter's unwed pregnancy and her subsequent dropping out of high school. But Palin is a Republican and led by God so we really can't blame him for the oversight.
Andrew Sullivan makes a good point about Sarah Palin's appeal to Republican voters.
She is the base's base, and her appeal, in my view, is all about identity politics.
She represents no real coherent set of ideas; merely what she would call the "real America", i.e. white and rural. I also think race is at play here. I think many people under-estimated the willingness of Americans to vote for a black president before his election, but equally under-estimated the impact of an actual black president after his Inaugural actually doing things and exercizing authority. I see Palin as a kind of cultural antibody to the future America Obama represents. And if the next election focuses on culture and not economics - or culture because of economic stagnation - I would not count her out.
I'm not counting her out. She's in. She's going to run, no doubt about it.
The Republican base believes President Obama is illegitimate in large part because of people like Sarah Palin who is paid millions of dollars to go on Fox News and stir the base with crazy conspiracy theories about the president's birth place, his policies and/or his character. That's her role. It's not going to change. It will actually get worse the closer we get to 2012.
If I've learned anything since the Summer of Hate, it's not to underestimate the Republican Crazy. Palin will stir up what she thinks is "real America," the people most prone to believing her lies, and will have plenty of help from right wing media sources like Fox and Hate Radio. As Sully mentions, the future America Obama represents is simply one that is not governed by Republicans. Sure it has lots to do with a black man making decisions, but worse it's a black man that belongs to the enemy camp, the Democratic Party. There's no worse future scenario to Republicans than that. If it means stirring a crazy base that is full of hatred, racism and 8th grade diplomas, then the GOP will do it and not think twice about it.
Sarah Palin, who used to be governor of the third least populated state in the union until she quit in the middle of her term so she could go make millions of dollars as a motivational speaker and a contributor to Fox News, spoke at a 100th birthday tribute to Ronald Reagan last Friday. Palin told the attendees that unless, and until, President Obama gets instep with the values of Reagan we will continue down a path of ruin.
In her speech she made numerous references to socialism, big government, less liberty and how Reagan fought against all of it. She's quite insane to say the least.
It's almost as if all Republicans in 2011 were not alive or were on another planet during Reagan's two terms.
Reagan is hardly the embodiment of small government or fiscal conservatism. He tripled the national debt. He ran chronic budget deficits for 8 solid years. He increased spending by 25% in 8 years. He ballooned the size of government-- heck he created the Dept. of Veterans Affairs which is a ginormous expansion of government.
The public workforce grew under Reagan. He didn't shrink anything. And get this, instead of privatizing Social Security like he pledged to do in every speech he ever gave, he gave it a $165 billion bailout. He raised taxes numerous times. He compromised with our bitter enemies, the Soviets, instead of engaging them. He sold Iran arms for hostages and he aided and funded both bin Laden and Saddam Hussein.
The only other post-WWII president who added more to the national debt, grew government larger and emboldened terrorists more was George W. Bush.
What explains the Republican love affair with Reagan then? As Steve Benen puts it, they have no one else. There's Lincoln and then 120 years later they get Reagan. They simply have no other presidents to be proud of, and they don't even like Lincoln for the most part. So that's leaves them with Reagan. Since there is only one, they have to lump all of their so-called principles onto him. Given the reality that Reagan never shrunk government, never reined in spending, never paid down the debt, never privatized Social Security, never cut taxes without paying for them; just never did anything Republicans give him credit for, it's hard to imagine why they celebrate him so much.
With much respect and credit to Benen, my answer is a much, much simpler one. In the Republican Fantasy World none of what Reagan did ever happened.
In order to prove her victimization to fellow Republican victims, Sarah Palin turns to co-victim Uber Patriot Sean Hannity to defend her claim of being a perpetual victim under the guise Republicans are being unfairly treated in America today.
All this leads Republican pundit, David Frum, to tell Palin to "stop talking now."
In the Republican Fantasy World this can only lead to one outcome. David Frum is going to have to apologize to Rush Limbaugh.
I knew as soon as I read former half-term governor of Alaska Sarah Palin's video recorded message what "blood libel" meant. I read the transcript because I wouldn't dare watch the video. Nonetheless I knew what the term "blood libel" meant in the historical context at least.
"Blood libel" is a term wrongly used to suggest Jews murdered Christian children as a sacrifice or for some sort of medicinal purposes. The term has been around for hundreds of years and used to incite fear in Christian populations about Jewish conspiracy theories, most recently for our collective memories in Nazi Germany.
It's very doubtful Sarah Palin knew anything about that. She's never been accused of being smart a day in her life. So it's more accurate that just like many on the right who endlessly watch Fox News, she was simply spreading around one of their new catch-phrases they routinely use to lament their own victimization, which TPM lays out the convincing paper trail here.
She really doesn't need to apologize to Jewish people for using such a derogatory term cause I'm certain she had no clue about the history of it. She should, however, apologize for spreading the hate and fear she learned from watching Fox News but to do that would cost her millions of dollars.
I also found it interesting, if not ironically accurate, that just like bin Laden, Palin prefers to address her flock and the media via prerecorded video taped messages. It keeps the press from asking questions and allows for their followers a personalized feel to the video. I just hope for Palin's sake she wasn't reading the script from a teleprompter but instead had the entire 7-minute thing memorized. One can only hope.
Sarah Palin, the biggest joke in modern political history, still doesn't get it. She, predictably, paints herself as a victim in all this. Of course she does. It's what Republicans always do. They are perpetual victims.
Since when did small government conservatism entail complete media censorship and executing people we disagree with? Just check out the latest round of GOP reaction to WikiLeaks:
God's Servant, Mike Huckabee, says whoever leaked info should be put to death. Very Christian of him.
Tea Bagger Sarah Palin says we should treat it like al Qaeda and smoke them out. Actually, if we treat it like we did al Qaeda we would send hundreds of thousands of troops after someone who had absolutely nothing to do with the leaks. Bite that off and chew it Sarah.
Newly elected Republican Allen West says we should censor all media from allowing them to report on what is revealed in the leaks; because, after all, the leaks represent a serious crime and those reporting on them are aiding and abetting. He's a tea bagger favorite in case you were wondering.
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says we should change the laws to allow for some sort of prosecution of Assange, since he's a terrorist and all. Isn't changing our laws to limit freedoms exactly what "terrorists" want us to do???
These are our leading small government conservatives! There's nothing small government about a government that censors media stories unfavorable to the republic. There's nothing whatsoever small government about a government that puts to death people it disagrees with. Moreover, despite what brainless Sarah Palin says, in what world does small government have anything to do with spending trillions of dollars smoking out evildoers? And there's certainly nothing small government about changing laws just so we can prosecute people with motives we don't necessarily agree with. Yet this is the modern small government crowd in America today. Their ideas represent a movement mascaraing as conservatism and have nothing to do with traditionalism.
These are the people that are labeled by our very Serious media as "small government conservatives." But there's nothing small government about them. Everything about their ideas is authoritarian and tyrannical. They are scared of their own shadows and anything in the dark that might go boo. They are a destructive force bent merely on their own accomplishments. The only thing small about them is their care for this country.
The Fold Blog welcomes all comments as a means of engaging the political debate. Comments from new visitors may take a moment to appear on the site. Some may go through a moderator as well. Please be patient. Click here to read our comment policy.
When one man was contained and powerless outside his own country, he went after him and brought vengeance along for the ride. This is his story as only history can tell it.
Posts
