Joe Scarborough highly critical of Sarah Palin and suggests GOP should do the same.

[telemann.livejournal.com]

In an Op-Ed piece for Politico, Joe Scarborough thinks the GOP should "man-up" and take Sarah Palin down a peg. "Republicans have a problem," Scarborough writes at Politico. "The most-talked-about figure in the GOP is a reality show star who cannot be elected." To make matters worse, Scarborough prods, Palin does all of this while demeaning the legacy of GOP standard-bearers that many hold dear, people such as former presidents Reagan, whom she casually downplayed as "an actor," as well as George H.W. and Barbara Bush, whom she deemed "blue bloods." In a particularly caustic passage, Scarborough seeks to draw a comparison between the legacies of H.W. Bush and Palin:

"I suppose Palin's harsh dismissal of this great man is more understandable after one reads her biography and realizes that, like Bush, she accomplished a great deal in her early 20s. Who wouldn't agree that finishing third in the Miss Alaska beauty contest is every bit as treacherous as risking your life in military combat? Maybe the beauty contestant who would one day be a reality star and former governor didn't win the Distinguished Flying Cross, but the half-termer was selected as Miss Congeniality by her fellow contestants." Source.

Ouch. Sarah Palin's seriousness was questioned as recently in October by none other than Karl Rove, who suggested that a presidential candidate who appeared in a reality television show wouldn't have much gravitas. Peggy Noonan, Ronald Reagan's speechwriter fired off a few choice words to Palin, calling her a "nincompoop." While many defend St. Palin, suggesting it's the mean ole poopy-pant liberal media that has it "out" for her, there are plenty within the Republican party that also think Sarah is a lot of hot air.

Joe Scarborough's editorial.

Comments

[telemann.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I think it's more than just that, and it certainly challenges the narrative by right wingers it's poopy pants liberals attacking her.

[http://users.livejournal.com/-wanderer-/]

Oh well, that is not to say there is nothing to legitimately criticize about Palin that isn't based in partisan politics. And Joe Scarborough seems to have gotten more reasonable over the years (or maybe it is just that everyone else got crazier?) so his opinion counts for something, at least.

And yeah, I think you'd have to have your head buried in the ground to think that it is just pissy liberals that have a grudge against Sarah Palin.

[light-over-me.livejournal.com]

Yeah the GOP infighting over Palin isn't really anything new.... remember back, after McCain lost, all sorts of Republicans blamed her for costing them the election. It isn't just Palin either. There's a lot of tug o war going on.

[http://users.livejournal.com/-wanderer-/]

Yeah, as influential as Palin is among certain people and as hated as she is among others, she's just a lightning rod for larger issues that people are concerned about. It is easier to focus limited attention on one loved/hated person that to have a potentially exhausting national discussion about the issues she represents, though.

[thedinglestarry.livejournal.com]

"And Joe Scarborough seems to have gotten more reasonable over the years (or maybe it is just that everyone else got crazier?)"

Haha, I feel that way about David Frum, and I'm not sure which it is either. I used to despise the man, but in the current opposition climate Frum sounds extremely reasonable, and rightly criticises his own party for uses "racially coded" attacks rather than attacks on economic policy: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/hardtalk/9083689.stm

[thedinglestarry.livejournal.com]

*using

Also he deserves a lot of credit for "Republicans originally thought that Fox worked for us and now we're discovering we work for Fox."

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

Shocker - as conservative commentators move away from the right, they seem more appealing to the left. See: Sullivan, Andrew.

[geezer-also.livejournal.com]

Conversely people like David Horowitz and Dennis Miller lose all credibility.

[thedinglestarry.livejournal.com]

Well yes, but the question is whether Frum / Scarborough etc are actually moving towards the left, or whether the GOP is moving further to the right. I mean how is Scarborough actually moving away from the right by criticising Palin?

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

The GOP itself spent significant time moving to the left over the last 10 years prior to Obama's election, to the point where they elected a center-right President twice and then put someone even further left than him on the nomination stage in 2008. Even with that leftward movement, it still wasn't enough for the Frums and Scarboroughs of the world.

The party moves right again, we see the biggest victories in history in the House.

This isn't a coincedence.

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

You can think it's more than that, but it's pretty simple and spot on. Scarborough's the old guard, and Palin threatens that.

[thedinglestarry.livejournal.com]

There's certainly an element of that, she's certainly ruffled some feathers by backing less-established candidates in the last election, but there's an equally big if not bigger element of *Scarborough thinks if Palin gets the nomination the GOP will lose*.

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

Sure. Scarborough, however, thinks Palin, and not McCain, is the reason they lost in 2008. That alone puts his ability to figure out what's really going on in question.