Sarah Palin's "Dead Zone" Moment

[mijopo.livejournal.com]

Sarah Palin's chances of winning the 2012 presidential election are now, effectively, zero, not that they'd ever been high.  There's still an outside chance that she could win the nomination, although I doubt it, but I'd bet a lot of money with really lousy odds against her winning the election.   I think it was pretty clear that she was far too divisive after she seriously damaged the GOP's efforts to win the Senate in the midterms while suffering the humiliation of having her handpicked candidate lose to a write in GOP candidate in her home state.  That showed us that her "base strengthening" strategies don't scale at all to a more general election. 

But she really hurt herself in the Loughner aftermath.  She expressed "condolences" to Giffords' family despite the fact that Giffords didn't die, suggesting an almost casual indifference and a going through the motions.  Then her team came up with this silly "they were just surveyor symbols" argument, despite the clear intended meaning.  And finally, her petulant, defensive offputting "blood libel" defense will put to rest any thoughts that she might recover this thing intact. 

A leader's primary concern and focus would have been on the families of the victim and actions that could be taken to prevent such tragedies in the future. I was never particularly troubled by the target-reload talk, that was far different than the explicit appeal to "second amendment remedies", but I found her responses incredibly offensive.  I'm glad that she's been revealed for the classless, self-centered mindless partisan politician that she is.  She cares nothing for America, and everything for her career. 

Comments

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Palin just happened to take the idea that politics is show business for ugly people a bit more literally than some others did. It's finally biting her and her groupies in the ass. Not a moment too soon, at that.

[mijopo.livejournal.com]

show business for ugly people

No way, say what you want about Sarah's politics, she's wicked hot!

[dukexmachismo.livejournal.com]

I hope your first sentence is correct.

I'm glad that she's been revealed for the classless, self-centered mindless partisan politician that she is.

Don't forget -- there are plenty of mindless partisan voters out there.

[mijopo.livejournal.com]

True, but presidential nominees always have to perform the trick of winning the nomination by solidifying the base, and then winning the election by winning the moderates. She might be able to do the former, relying on mindless partisans, but no way can she accomplish step two.

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

I still hope she'll somehow get the nomination. That'll be the most fuckilarious presidential campaign evAR.

[mijopo.livejournal.com]

Yes, I really hope she gets the nomination, it will be hilarious and we won't have to worry about the GOP taking the White House.

[dukexmachismo.livejournal.com]

Until the one after.

They're going to keep getting more and more surreal until we just quit having them altogether.

[paedraggaidin.livejournal.com]

Bahahahaha.

Oh, the political fantasies....

[a-new-machine.livejournal.com]

At that point, why even campaign? Obama can just send some guy around to take questions at rallies, saying that Obama couldn't make it because he just can't stop laughing.

[farchivist.livejournal.com]

Shoot, I hope she campaigns WITHOUT the nomination. The hilarity will be immense.

[debergerac.livejournal.com]

i realize y'all hate palin, but expressing condolences isn't used -only- when someone dies...it's also used to express sorrow or grief.

[whoasksfinds.livejournal.com]

wasn't it also reported that ms. gifford did die?

[mijopo.livejournal.com]

Try searching on "express condolences" on Google, let me know how far into your search results you are before you find it being used to express sorrow or grief over an injury or something other than a death. It's used almost exclusively to express sympathy for a death. Palin either couldn't be bothered to get the information right or change her FB post when she realized it was wrong.

[paft.livejournal.com]

Don't count her out yet.

The right seems to be doubling down. Even Jonah Goldberg, who initially posted a demurral of her use of "blood libel," has now backtracked on that.

[debergerac.livejournal.com]

just to get things clear... so palin's to blame for the shooting? or is it beck, i can't keep track.

[whoasksfinds.livejournal.com]

the "dead zone" was when the left started placing blame on their political opponents for the actions of a schizo. still waiting for the apologies.

[fizzyland.livejournal.com]

We'll apologize as soon as the right retracts all their nonsense about socialist Nigerian Presidents, meaning never.

Agreed on all.

[squidb0i.livejournal.com]

Palin's eliminationist rhetoric was fairly tame by comparison to the constant fear porn coming from the right wing media complex.
Seeing it cited over and over as the primary example is rather disappointing when there's such a rich vein of examples to mine.

http://mediamatters.org/research/201101130002
http://slacktivist.typepad.com/slacktivist/2009/06/killing-in-the-name-of.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpzeI8sgIHU&feature=player_embedded
http://www.themiracleoflife.org/Circus/Circus.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0a1S-ToTwOA&feature=related
http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/politics/1801/
http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/beck-claims-i-dont-use-violent-rheto
http://rightwingnews.com/interviews/anncoulter.php

I could go on and on..

Re: Agreed on all.

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

You're still pushing this meme, eh?

[paedraggaidin.livejournal.com]

Eh, it doesn't surprise me. She's merely the latest famous political hack who shamelessly panders outright bullshit to the lowest common denominators of his/her base. It's a phenomenon seen across all lines of party, politics, gender, race, and religion. When she opens her mouth, people on both the right and left groan in dismay at the apparently mindless drivel that vomits out, yet various Tea Party and "momma grizzly" types simply adore her.

Although I disagree mightily with her particular politics, it's not they that worry me as much (there are people with ideas just as bad or worse who actually have a chance of being elected) as what her popularity demonstrates about the American electorate.

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

But she really hurt herself in the Loughner aftermath. She expressed condolences to the Loughner family despite the fact that Loughner didn't die, suggesting an almost casual indifference and a going through the motions. Then her team came up with this silly "they were just surveyor symbols" argument, despite the clear intended meaning. And finally, her petulant, defensive offputting "blood libel" defense will put to rest any thoughts that she might recover this thing intact.

I was with you in the first paragraph because that was always true. This, however, is simply false. Did she hurt herself with this stuff? Maybe, but only with the people who were never in a million years going to vote for her. Your idea of "casual indifference" absolutely didn't fly among the conservative right, or even really the middle, I suspect, given the polling on the rhetorical aspects of this tragedy.

A leader's primary concern and focus would have been on the families of the victim and actions that could be taken to prevent such tragedies in the future. I was never particularly offended by the target-reload talk, that was far different than the explicit appeal to "second amendment remedies", but I found her responses incredibly offensive. I'm glad that she's been revealed for the classless, self-centered mindless partisan politician that she is. She cares nothing for America, and everything for her career.

In other words, she didn't address the points you wanted her to address, so this makes her a "classless, self-centered mindless partisan." Gotcha.

Talking about Sarah Palin is almost completely useless at this point. People are so completely dug in at this point where any information about her is seen entirely through the prism of their previously held beliefs - how many people still think she deleted the "don't retreat, reload" tweet again? - and this is clearly no different.

Her Presidential chances are better than they look (http://tinyurl.com/4nhkldu). I still believe there's little to no chance of her running at all, but if she does and she simply hangs around in the 2nd or 3rd place spot as people drop out? Yeah, she'll have a good chance against a weak President who's just as polarizing as she is. I still don't think she'll run, though, and if you really think people are going to say "Well, I like what I see, but her response to the Loughner shooting was terrible," well, I have a President who was friendly with a guy who participated in numerous domestic terrorist attacks that I'd like to introduce you to sometime.

[fizzyland.livejournal.com]

Is Sarah Palin someone you would want as President?

Blood libel and you

[fizzyland.livejournal.com]

I realize that Sarah Palin fills that important position of Gormless Clown from the Right but even comedy relief isn't enough to justify how she's overstayed her 15 minutes.

Like a classic narcissist, Palin manages to make everything about her and her stridently wrong video proclamations, teleprompter reflection flickering in her glasses, just confirms it.

Re: Blood libel and you

[whoasksfinds.livejournal.com]

Palin manages to make everything about her

how ironic, considering the left tried to make this tragedy about her within about 20 minutes of the shots being fired.

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

Her chances were always pretty much zero, starting at 2008. She's a cheerleader, not a candidate.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Someone should have told John McCain that instead of claiming she'd get McCain the sympathy of the base.....

[anosognosia.livejournal.com]

"She expressed "condolences" to Giffords' family..."

What a bitch!

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

Seriously. If she really cared, she would have sent money, like a liberal would have.

[meus-ovatio.livejournal.com]

The only thing Palin did wrong was try to act like a victim in the aftermath of a shooting spree. Regardless of partisianship, she has tanked in American popularity simply for this reason. Or as David Brooks said today, "She completely shot any chance she ever had at being taken seriously again."

[lordtwinkie.livejournal.com]

wasn't she being blamed for the murder of a 9 year old and others by a lot of people both on the streets and in the media?

i mean its not like being shot but shes still a victim of that bullshit

[farchivist.livejournal.com]

I think that whole 'blood libel' thing was just the big damn nail in the coffin. There aren't a lot of people who'll forgive that. (Well, outside Westboro, that is.)

[mrsilence.livejournal.com]

Expressing her condolences is fine....or it would be if we had any reason that Palin was actually sorry in the least that Gifford got shot. I think most of us realise that when she heard the news Palin was very likely cheering in private...

...at least until one of her more intelligent advisors informed her that that rather than clearing the way to victory, it actually decreases the chance of her preferred candidate winning. Then she might have felt sorry.

[mijopo.livejournal.com]

Well, my point about the expressing condolences is that the word "condolences" is almost always used in the case of a death. I just thought it seemed a bit odd to express condolences to Giffords' family when she hadn't actually died. And then that she didn't bother to change it when it was clear she hadn't died seemed odd to me. But maybe I'm quibbling too much over the meaning of "condolences" and/or am wrong about its primarily being used in the situation where there's a death.