Can you please give me some of Palin's fresh ideas? Can you please point me to a legitimate interview where she DOESN'T come across as a moron and can you please explain how Palin respects other people and will work with them?

greenschemes said, “The left. Barak Obama ran on the strength of “Lets unite. Lets come together. Lets stop badmouthing each other and have civility in our political discussion.” obviously a paraphrase and yet. What do I continue to see from the partisan hacks out there? Palin Bashing. Bush Bashing. Conservative Bashing. God Bashing.”

Well first of all I would like to point out that Obama did not punish Lieberman for supporting McCain and calling Obama a danger to the country. Obama also met with the Republicans Lindsay Graham and McCain in Chicago. This was done during Obama's transition and for the purpose of creating a bipartisan atmosphere.

Second of all it's the right wingers that are more partisan than the lefties. The right wingers are blaming Obama for the economy's woes (when just a couple months ago these same folks said that Obama has not been around long enough to get anything done). These right wingers are also claiming that Obama is not their president and are calling for his impeachment, etc. This is Obama bashing done by your own side.

Finally, there's a difference between being critical of people's actions and policies, such as Palin's, Bush's, the conservatives and bashing someone such as the right wingers bashing Obama. If you're happy with the way Bush has taken away your rights under the US Constitution, if youj're happy with the way the war is going in Iraq and Afghanistan, if you think the economy is going well for you and you have no concerns whatsoever (if you think your job is safe and if you think you're invested in a such a way that your money is completely safe in a completely safe bank) then you're in the minority. While there are many reasons and both the Dems and Republicans have some blame in this mess, at the end of the day it is ultimately Bush's (and the Republicans') leadership and vision which brought all these crises upon us. Don't take my word for it, the majority of Americans feel the same way.

So while you may feel safe and are happy with the way things are going under a Bush administration, the majority of Americans are not and so Bush, Palin, Cheney, etc. will be criticized. That's different than bashing.

As far as Palin's ethical issues… I don't believe a public servant should use the power of his (or her) office for personal retribution. I also do not believe a public servant, particularly the governor or president whose responsibility is to use public funds wisely and who has fiduciary responsibilities should take advantage of that position and enrich himself or herself by funneling funds their way.

It's really shocking that Americans would actually find corruption in politicians acceptable behavior. And then these same politicians are supposedly “Christians” who believe in family values. Well apparently these politicians may claim a belief in family values but they do not believe in the ten commandments because (to use Palin as but one example) they steal from the public. No wonder America is in the mess it is in today when people find it acceptable for politicians to steal for their own benefit and that there is nothing wrong with electing convicted felons to be a US Senator.

The left. Barak Obama ran on the strength of “Lets unite. Lets come together. Lets stop badmouthing each other and have civility in our political discussion.” obviously a paraphrase and yet. What do I continue to see from the partisan hacks out there?

Palin Bashing. Bush Bashing. Conservative Bashing. God Bashing.

So I can only say “Liars.” There was never any intent by the partisan hacks of the left to come together. Only to gain power and have their finger on the Supreme court judges, the social and moral agenda of the nation.

There is no desire for non partisanship unless the other side submits and rejects their views and beliefs and repents of their sins and crosses over to the promised land of the left. Thus we have the continuation of Sarah Palin bashing because she is a threat. We have the continual laughter by a FAR LEFT media/comedy central/Bill Maher/Air America and partisan blogs that attempt to portray her as unflattering, inept and a bumbling moron because she is a threat…..she represents hope for the other side.

So the Lets all get along, stop this bickering was all a lie……….as is all political jockeying…………to ascend to power at any lie/cost.

Thus thank you. While your laughter and your mockery of the right might gain you laughs from your own side, they certainly do not from the other side and they will not from the independents when the left does nothing to solve their problems in the next 4 to 8 years. Not because the left doesnt want to solve their problems……..its that they wont solve them. Power begits power and if you solve the problems then you have no reason to remain in power.

The GOP needs to move beyond Palin and select smart leaders with good ideas who are also upstanding citizens. Why would we want third rate people to be our leaders? It might be fine for Alaskans (especially if they can vote Stevens, a convicted felon into the Senate), but thankfully the rest of America does have better values and expects leaders who can be role models. Really, do you want to tell your child that it's ok to be a convicted felon because he (or she) can still be a US Senator and national leader?

Hilary is, of course, a heretic to the Left . . . much like Blair in the UK . . . and thus is open season on her.

There is probably a larger meme here too – beyond politics of Left and Right. . . about how we tend to despise our leaders today, and want to subvert anything heroic. The idolization of Obama is a curious antithesis to this…a longing for a strong leader to transform things…and a reluctance to undermine him.

Anti-heroic vs Heroic. Two paradoxical aspects of our culture.

Sounds good to me, Dorian

BTW: A mea culpa, Dorian. I must concede. There are some embarrassing videos of leaders on the Left.

For the cultural edification of all folks at TMV, I have found . . . on the wonder that is YouTube . . . a video of Gordon Brown – in that august and historic chamber, the House of Commons – picking his nose and eating his booger!
A true conniseur.
For all you colonials to enjoy, and wish vainly that you too had such a leader!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VaP1HB7Vew

Like you, I dislike the tendency of those on BOTH sides to believe anything that supports their preconceptions. This is statistically more true of conservatives, who are more likely to continue to believe the lie even when it is exposed.

Ack! Now, whenever I watch an old “Star Trek” rerun . . . with Chekhov's awful Russian accent warning about the approaching “wessel”…I will be thinking of Palin and the bloody turkeys!!

Still, thanks for the trivia. Odd that nobody seems ever to have been curious about that odd name through the election…everything else about that Peyton Place in the Pines was spread across our papers.

JSpencer, of course I didn't mean to say that liberals were never victims of cheap shots. Just that MSM videos and photo shoots are invariably anti-conservative. Arguably, the most notorious being The Atlantic's cover portrait/scandal of John McCain…for which The Atlantic only apologized as the photographer pubically and unequivocally declared embarrassing McCain was her intent…unlike other cases in which the MSM has the wiggle-room of “it's a matter of interpretation”.

As the photographer for the Atlantic's hit-cover portrait of McCain asked rhetorically:
“Why else would they [The Atlantic] hire me, knowing how anti-Republican I was?”

Why indeed?

It's definitely worth looking through the entire sequence. (Not just for you, Shaun.)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegallerie...

The problem with the Palin turkey video is two-fold. There is no getting away from the fact that seeing animals slaughtered–even in a humane way–puts many people off. And what a disservice Palin's staff have done to her by allowing the cameras to record the in-many-peoples-minds cruel, bloody slaughter of those turkeys.

“Plus, whatever she was saying (and I went back and forced myself to listen to her and not to look at the slaughter behind her–and I still don't know what she was droning about) was completely lost to her audiences.

Oh well, I am sure there will be many more opportunities for Sarah Palin to shine.”~ DE
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You guys are welcome to the insights. True, the Palin choice of backdrop was a little odd, considering she's trying to appeal to ?? Maybe she thought this would really rope in the right “red meat” crowd? In any event I appreciated seeing her in this mileau. It was, if nothing else, an honest backdrop for her.

The equivalent on the liberal side, a side that wants us also to buy their slant on “acceptable realness”, would be interviewing a gay man about the rights to gay marriage in front of an S&M bondage storefront where a man was being fitted for leathers behind the glass, in full view, and taught how to wield a whip..

I mean, that would be “the reality of some gay lifestyles” vs Palin's “the reality of some rightwing lifestyles.”

Either would defeat the purpose of winning folks over. But more importantly, they make them think? Maybe some vegetarianism was inspired by Palin's backdrop? Or maybe the shot was educational? We cannot be hypocrites. We must look at everything each one of us does and wears and eats and look to the origins of those things and make informed decisions.

I'm a big fan of looking at all the angles and keeping it real. If you didn't know that already by now…lol…

Did a quick search on Wikipedia on Wasilla:

In 1917, the U.S. government planned the Alaska Railroad to intersect the the Carle Wagon Road (present Wasilla-Fishhook Road) which connected Knik and the mines.[7] Knik businesses and residents rushed to purchase plattes and the town declined. Wasilla Station was named for the nearby Wasilla Creek. Local miners used the name “Wassila Creek”, referring to Wassila, a chief of the Dena'ina. There are two sources cited for the name, one being derived from a Dena'ina word meaning “breath of air” while another stating Dena'ina derived it from the Russian name “Vasili.”[8][9]

Thank you for your comments, but–again–I have to disagree with you that “In contrast, there are never shots of liberal leaders in embarrassing poses.”

Again, please give me some time to provide some examples.

Although–and this is self-deprecating in a way–there is that very infamous (mental) shot of one of our “liberal leaders” in a very “embarrassin pose”. A mental image that will probably stay with us for our lifetimes.

But you are totally right that this was a dumb move. Handlers should never all their talent to be in such shots. I recall Gerald Ford's fumbling of a football, for example, that carried symbolic resonance.

Puzzling, really, that staffers can be this dumb. Especially conservative staffers, who should know everything will be used against them.

Yes, the debate about “gotcha” videos used against conservatives aside, as a political video this was a case of dumb and dumber.

The problem with the Palin turkey video is two-fold. There is no getting away from the fact that seeing animals slaughtered–even in a humane way–puts many people off. And what a disservice Palin's staff have done to her by allowing the cameras to record the in-many-peoples-minds cruel slaughter of those turkeys.

Plus, whatever she was saying (and I went back and forced myself to listen to her and not to look at the slaughter behind her–and I still don't know what she was droning about) was completely lost to her audiences.

Oh well, I am sjure there will be many more opportunities for Sarah Palin to shine.