« Dawn Johnsen’s Nomination Is Officially Dead
‘Crusader-Americans’ Do Nothing As Iranians Invade Iraq: Al Mokhtasar, Saudi Arabia »
OMG! Palin As President
Dec 27th, 2009 | 43 responses
It’s the season for the Remmers Report Annual Awards which run the gamut from the serious to the mundane, We take no prisoners and offer no pity for the absurd, especially when we gaze into the crystal ball and prognosticate the future of political mayhem.
First, let’s get the serious out of the way.
Hero of the Year — US Airways pilot Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger who safely landed his plane on the Hudson River, saving the lives of all 150 passengers and crew.
Heroes of the Year – The three Navy snipers who killed three pirates holding an American cargo-ship captain hostage for five days on a covered lifeboat about 350 miles off the Somalia coast.
Gutsy Diplomat of the Year — Matthew Hoh who resigned the top foreign service job in Afghanistan in protest of the administration sending in more troops.
Of those three, it reflects my gratitude and admiration for people who by training and experience do their jobs well.
Meritorious Achievement — To Barack Obama who was sworn in as the first black president in the history of the United States and to American voters who elected him. This honor is based on overcoming in part the prejudices of our past history. It does not reflect the job he has done so far in his first year in the Oval Office.
Now, let’s party.
Winners of the Year — Private health insurance carriers and Big Pharma. What industry wouldn’t drool over the prospects of 30 million new customers mandated by Congress?
Loser of the Year (foreign division) — The Norwegian committee that bet the come line as if it were a craps table game and named President Obama winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for doing nothing but talking the talk.
Loser of the Year (domestic division) — Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich impeached by his state legislators and indicted by the feds for attempting to sell Obama’s vacant U.S. senate seat to the highest bidder. Me thinks he protests his innocence too much.
Losers of the Year — All those investors and charities who lost $50 billion at the hands of Ponzi scheme ring leader Bernard Madoff.
Quote of the Year — “You lie” shouted by Rep. Joe Wilson (R-South Carolina) during a joint session of Congress speech by President Obama.
Most Gullible — Teabaggers.
Most Intellectually Challenged — Republican Rep. Michelle Bachman of Minnesota who received more ink and air time than any other member of Congress. She has produced nothing to show for it but those inane statements about investigating fellow congressmen for patriotism, the wonders of carbon dioxide/global warming and leading The Charge Of The Light Brigade (which lost to the infidels).
Frequent Flier — Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina. Of all his trips, the one I enjoyed most was his taking the state plane to get a haircut, a one upsmanship on the president flying to Chicago which just happened to include a visit to his personal barber. The governor flying to Argentina to meet his girl friend was cool. Not so cool was leaving the state without telling anyone where he was going.
God Blesses The Elite — All the House and Senate members living for nominal rent at the K Street church where some counseled member John Ensign to pay $90,000 in hush money to the husband of whose wife was having an affair with the Nevada senator.
Most Self-Serving U.S. Senator (tie) — Democrat Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Independent Joe Lieberman of Connecticut. Nelson’s negotiation to have all taxpayers fund his state’s Medicaid costs forever is as breathtaking for Nebraskans as the purchase of the Louisiana territory for early Americans.
And, now the media and entertainment gold mines.
Athlete of the Year — Tiger Woods for his prowess on the golf course and stamina off it.
Buffoon of the Year — Glenn Beck.
Biggest Blowhards — (Tie) between Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly and Keith Olbermann.
Most Influential News Network – Fox. Personally, I abhor most of the stuff they put on the air but you have to give them credit grudgingly for ratings and shaping much of the national agenda.
Best Political Cable News Host — Chris Matthews of MSNBC. Just the thought sends shivers up my leg.
Best Network News Anchor — Charles Gibson of ABC who promptly retired, his network handing over the reins to Diane Sawyer, Nixon’s former girl Friday.
Best Viewing TV Night — Tuesday’s CBS’s lineup of “NCIS,” “NCIS: Los Angeles ” and “The Good Wife.”
Best TV Ad — AT&T’s little-girl-loses-dog found by North Carolina basketball star Tyler Hansbrough by social networking his campus buddies.
And finally the Remmers Report fearless forecasts.
Nov. 1, 2010 — Constitutional lawyers are consulting with House congressional leaders facing a parliamentary crises. The mid-term elections resulted in no majority for any party. The Democrats lost 50 members, the Republicans dropped 10 with third party candidates picking up 60 new members consisting of the Conservative Party, Teabagger Party, Reform Party, the Libertarian Party, the Green Party, the Birthers Party and the Right To Life Party.
Jan. 21, 2013 — President Sara Palin was sworn into office, telling a world audience she would ask Congress to declare war on a foreign country consisting primarily of brown-skinned people. On her Facebook Page the following day, President Palin said she was misquoted.
July 4, 2015 — President Palin resigns.
opinions powered by SendLove.to
43 Responses to “OMG! Palin As President”
most prosaic blog post of the year — another excuse to make stuff up about Palin and call people who want smaller government a sexual epithet
Heroes of the Year – The three Navy snipers who killed three pirates holding an American cargo-ship captain hostage for five days on a covered lifeboat about 350 miles off the Somalia coast.”
Have to give this one to the hostage captain instead. Understated and brave.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Online Networking, Ock Andretti. Ock Andretti said: OMG! Palin As President http://bit.ly/8hPdNy [...]
A little dirt dished out equally. Not bad.
A couple of standouts:
BEST: Actually giving credit to Fox News for shaping policy – thereby giving a voice to a previously silent and ignored demographic.
WORST: Effectively calling Sarah Palin a racist.
BAD: Once again using the term “TeaBAGGER”. If you want to call them (us) gullible, that's fine…. But if you weren't “concerned” about their growing strength, you wouldn't marginalize them with a tag-line.
Typical journalistic cowardice.
Maybe TeaPARTYER would be better? It sounds more fun, anyways. I'm forgetting what your preferred term was, J.D.
[...] OMG! Palin As President – The Moderate VoiceIt’s the season for the Remmers Report Annual Awards which run the gamut from the serious to the mundane, We take no prisoners and offer no pity for the absurd, especially when we gaze into the crystal ball and prognosticate the future of political [...]
There is no gasbag that is competitive with the Rush-Meister, the other two are at best, runner-ups.
Greatest American of 2009 – Governor Says Texans May Want to Secede From Union, if successful Governor Perry would do more to improve the USA than any other politician since FDR.
Most hypocritical: Republican Rep. Michelle Bachman of Minnesota who received $250K in federal farm subsidies.
About Sully the pilot…..
His skill is without a doubt excellent and this should be celebrated, but as for hero……well maybe. I think that motivation should play an inportant factor here considering that the pilots are the first at the scene of the accident.
The Sarah Palin item is satire which is humor with an element based on truth. Palin's father said she was distraught with the students the year in college she spent in Hawaii. The “brown skin” genesis comes from a George Carlin skit about U.S. war policy. She has used her Facebook to claim she was misquoted, among them the “Death Panels.” She quit as governor after 2 1/2 years. — Jer
Cheap shots at Beck, Palin, and the dreaded “teabaggers”. Who could have seen THAT coming?
“Maybe TeaPARTYER would be better? It sounds more fun, anyways. I'm forgetting what your preferred term was, J.D”
I'm really not sure WHAT the preferred term would be. The “teabag” reference is, at best, vulgar; and at best, marginalizing. It is my understanding that the Tea Party movement consists of both Republicans and Democrats who are disenfranchised with either party. Most of them do come from the GOP side, but approximately 1/3 are from traditional democrat roots. All of them are social conservatives, and I think it's the tie that binds them all.
Satire is fine, jk. I'm not the biggest fan of Palin, and I'm not sure I'd be able to cast my vote for her. But she does have an air of Teddy Roosevelt about her, and I do like that. The satire gets lost, however, when tempered with the hint of hatred that is evident in the citing above. IMHO.
Why would any one vote for someone that has little experience, but is attractive, personable, has the gift of BS and is long on platitudes and short on the practicality of things?
I agree with you. The “teabag” reference has been rendered both vulgar and marginalizing, and anyone who uses it as such gets a yawn from me.
I've noticed a big chunk of Independents and Libertarians at the tea party gatherings, as well as disenfranchised Repubs and Dems. They seem to have several ties that bind: social and fiscal conservatism, an intense distrust of the self-professed (and self-serving) “elites” who got us into this mess, contempt for the media, and an awareness that the country is barreling down a socialist highway at breakneck speed.
Poking them with a stick just makes them more determined, IMO.
Note to the humor challenged: Lighten up, you'll live longer. Also, I'd like to see a reliable source that addresses the demographics of the “teabaggers”.
Hi JD. Happy New year.
When the “tea partiers” decided to send teabags to legislators, they signed on for the term “teabaggers.” The term was used by partisans on both sides of the controversy, and the term–in the political sense–is in the New Oxford American Dictionary, where it was nominated as word of the year. Deal with it. NOAD's statement on the term:
It should be noted that the term “teabagger” appears on Oxford's list because of the usage cited on that list, not because of any other meaning. Citations for the political sense were found in a number of legitimate sources throughout the year. As a reference to members of the currently active Tea Party, the word has been used in speech and print by both liberals and conservatives. In this context, the term “teabagger” is a reasonably conceived informal name for an affiliate of the Tea Party, and as a word in the news, it earned a mention for the year 2009.
Having deliberated carefully over the word-usage evidence, Oxford's lexicographers are confident in their judgment that “teabagger” the political term stands distinctly apart from “teabagger” the vulgar term.
You're basically a lazy ass, aren't you? At the top of your computer screen, type the following…..http://www. G-O-O-G-L-E. com
“Contrary to charges from Democrats that the recent spate of contentions congressional town hall meetings are the result of “Astroturf” and “manufactured anger,” a new CNN poll finds a huge majority of Americans would likely attend such a meeting on the issue of health reform if one was held in their community.
According to the poll conducted between July 31 and August 3, seventy-one percent of respondents would attend “a town hall meeting or some other public forum where voters get a chance to speak” to “tell [their] member of Congress what [they] think about health care.” Forty-one percent say they are “very likely” to do so”
When someone makes a statement that sounds questionable, yet expect it to be accepted as truth, then it is incumbent on them to show some level of proof when requested. Sorry, but telling me to go do a search is hardly a substitute for a link to a reliable source – and neither is a poll with general and ambiguous context. Anyone can opine, and that 's fine and dandy, but it isn't the same thing as separating the wheat from the chaff.
Tea Partier is fine. The concept is founded philosophically on the Boston Tea Party, and more recently sprang from some stockbroker talking about the need to organize another one. The most unified part of the Tea Party movement is about government power, so that makes sense.
As JD said, criticism is no problem. Even hard slams. But for major media figures to refer to this group, which outpolls the Republican and Democrat parties in popularity, by using a coarse sexual term (wink wink) is disgusting to say the least. And the claim by some such as Page, that this is what Tea Partier participants asked to be called is an outright lie.
“Why would any one vote for someone that has little experience, but is attractive, personable, has the gift of BS and is long on platitudes and short on the practicality of things?”
Are we talking about Sarah Palin or Barack Obama?
“Also, I'd like to see a reliable source that addresses the demographics of the “teaPARTIERS”.” (edited the “bagging” portion)”
I would like to see that as well. I can speak for our own local tea party with the stats. According to the local organizer, she says that 90% of those attending the protests have “registered” with her, with name and party affiliation. Of those, 36% were Republicans, 33% were Independents, and 28% were Demcrats. The rest had no party affiliation. Our area is traditionally democrat, where 70% of the state registered democrats – yet we're a “red state”.
I'm not sure what the demographics are for the rest of the nation, but as you pointed out, I'd like to see it.
The teabag reference was started by the media, NOT (I repeat, NOT) the organizers themselves. They were also called RACIST because they carried signs against the Obama Administration's policies. Some were armed, not as a means to incite violence, but as a statement against any meddling with the 2nd Amendment – yet the media focused in on the weapon and wished not to show the fact that the bearer was, indeed, a black man (since that would have contradicted their “racist” claims.
The term Teabagger was then used as a marginalizing mechanism. You can deny that and revert to any dictionary you wish, but the fact remains that it is a political ploy to use that term towards anyone who may just make things difficult for either party in the future. The “n” word is also in that very same dictionary, yet we as a society have decided (correctly) that it should not be used for it's divisiveness and hateful connotations.
And Happy New Year to you too, brother. I trust you had a wonderful Christmas? Hope so.
Exactly.
Well said.
Teabagger vs. n-word? More false equivalence. Do you people even think about this stuff or is it all about the me-centric analysis? History anyone? Good grief…
You guys have to grow thicker skin. Your “Tea Party” movement chose as their symbol, the tea bag. Numerous websites OF the movement implored people to “tea bag” or “teabag” Washington DC, “the Dems” and Obama (“sending the Oval Office a Tea Bag). Teaparty.org calls the tea bag “the symbol of the tea party movement”. Brother, if you're going to “teabag the president” you WILL be called teabaggers. Come ON guys. You're pissed and blaming the media for your own poor choice of symbols. Heck, it's even the exact opposite of the original tea party. In the original, big business (the British East India Company) got corrupt government (the members of the House of Lords were shareholders of the company) to write a law deregulating that company (tax relief). Look it up! It is that company's tea that was thrown into the harbor. Homegrown tea importers were not exempted from the tax, giving them a disadvantage, kind of like wind and solar power v.s. petroleum and coal. The corporado-aligned “tea party” movement is all FOR tax breaks for big business and corporate friendly government.
Back to the tea bags. Conservative writer Jay Nordlinger in the National Review admits “So, Conservatives started it: started with this terminology. But others ran with it and ran with it.” Like you, JD, he'd like it to go away now. But it won't. No one's going to call people who send teabags to Washingon “tea bag senders” and they're damn sure not going to call them “tea party patriots.” Some of these people are carrying swastikas, Soviet flags, pictures of Hitler, etc. They're not patriots. They're nuts. Bad choice of symbols. Face it. Your party (the tea party party) did an epic fail, a stupid and predictable PR blunder.
If you sent pitchforks to Washington, you would UNDOUBTEDLY be called “pitchforkers.” Think “truthers,” “birthers” etc. You didn't see this coming? And now you want to blame that ever convenient boogeyman “the damn liberal media?” Go ahead. Waste your breath and your time.
“Your “Tea Party” movement chose as their symbol, the tea bag. “
That's not true, Green. A COUPLE of people did that and wore tea bags on hats and such. The media zoomed-in on it and turned it into what it was – a political marginalization.
I, myself, saw a few tea bags at our rallies. My point above was that of the “teabagger” reference. We did not call ourselves teabaggers. The media did. This is no different than calling liberal democrats infant murderers.
My point stands. If your means of protest is “to teabag Washington,” you will be called teabaggers. It was stupid and lame. And yes, GOP legislators called Clinton a “scumbag” (used condom) and a “putzhead” (penis-head). Get over it. The tea partiers, if you wish, a pro-corporatist group ignorantly chose an inappropriate means of protest, one which was based on a historical event that was specifically anti-corporatist. They're teabaggers. And PR-newbies.
“Teabag Washington”??????????
No… Our means of protest was PROTESTING!
Pro-Corporatist? Are you insane?
Perhaps my local “tea party” group is the exception, but we stand just as much against unchecked corporatism as we do out of control government spending.
Were you aware that many of us (myself included) are also environmentalists? Probably not. We just don't adhere to the Al Gore brand of environmentalism.
The crux of the entire movement is that both parties suck, and are so wrapped up in corruption and special interest that they don't even bother hiding it anymore.
Yes, “Teabag Washington”. I linked to the professionally printed posters to that effect, carried by tea party people.
I agree with you about “unchecked corporatism” but the credo of the tea party “free market” is a euphemism for “deregulation”, exactly the opposite of the Boston Tea Party, which was about a favored corporation getting a tax break such as that given to fossil fuels to the detriment of renewable energy. The biggest industries bribing politicians to write favorable regs are insurance, pharma and oil. These three have been relentlessly protected from “competition” by the GOP, and the FOX-driven tea parties are a part of that movement, which they characterize as “pro-business”.
In general, though both parties are corrupt, the Dems have always been stronger on environmental issues, while the GOP has actively pushed against public health measures if they would cost their corporate bosses money. For example, Bush relaxing mercury emission standards below those recommended for adults, let alone children.
You're right GD, that's exactly what we're about! What's good for GM is good for the country! And we're going to rescue them from the awful hands of gov'mint soon. We've already built a big EMP generator (based on a model we found in “Scooby Doo and the Samurai sword”). Although its range is a bit limited, it can knock out an old hearing aid from over 20 feet away, unless protected by an aluminum foil shield. The static electricity radioactive hydrogen extractor project hasn't gone well yet, but we're not giving up until that heavy-water nuke is ready. We're waiting for that next check from the GOP (routed through a Nigerian bank) to get the project back on track. We did lose a couple of members, though, after deciding that we just couldn't accept any of them KKK members (wimpy little moderates couldn't make a Molotov cocktail if their life depended on it). I'm personally going to be giving the cane+walker defense training next session, right after we sing the opening “Hail to our Beck” hymn.
You'd better watch us, 'cause we'll be watching youuuuuuuu…
touche
ok, pretty funny, prof. But no need for the fancy plans. Guys in insurance company polos and Italian shoes can stand right there with the teabaggers at a party they financed and lead mostly ignorant pawns to shriek that any controls on their power or profit is “socialism” (heck, AND “fascism” too). Most of the partiers have not a clue what they're a part of.
You likely do not either. Pity.
“Most of the partiers have not a clue what they're a part of. “
You are actually quite correct about this, Green. I wouldn't say “most”, but it the clueless sheep are always a part of any movement. In fact, most straight-party-ticket voting Democrats and Republicans don't know what they're a part of either.
As we've found out before, Green….. You and I agree on a lot more than you think.
1. We stand against Corporatocracy.
2. We stand against environmental abuse (but with differing angles).
3. We stand against un-checked governmental power.
That's a pretty darn good common denominator between us, don't ya think?
And here's a tid-bit about the protests that is never covered in the media.
Across the street from most Tea Party protests, stood counter-protesters. In most cases, these counter-protesters were PAID union members from SEIU (and others) who left work and protested while receiving a paycheck. Now, I stand with unions locally, but this kind of crap from the national/international unions smells of corruption.
The difference is, that the Tea Parties are grass roots, staffed with those who just “came together” on their own accord – unlike the “astroturf” the the media claimed.
Nice. LOL
JD, I know we actually share many positions and passions. I probably agree more with your environmental stance than you realize too. I see merit in “cap and trade” only as a compromise; the only way we seem to value anything is if it has a cost. Incentives for energy saving upgrades to industry, valuing standing forests more than lumber and other certifiable conservation projects can have a tremendous impact on our current wasteful path. Where we're headed is a degraded planet with mass extinctions, poisoned water and air. The problem is that the same rich creeps who have bled the treasury through boom and bust bubbles are likely to do the same with a “carbon market.” I don't want that either.
The media is just a tool of the moneyed interests that drive astroturf protests and set editorial policy through their advertising dollars, plus the fact that the fat cats run the media (Murdoch, Disney, GE, Microsoft, Time Warner et al) and have a vested interest in policies that shift income to the wealthy.
I disagree that the tea parties are grass roots, as they have massive funding from affected industries and free media support from Fox, even mass produced “protest” signs literally putting words in the mouths of the sheepish masses, who have seen their incomes stagnate, decline and disappear while the rich get richer.
And BTW, I'm not poor and have myself profited from policies that I know are unfair to the majority of Americans, so spare me any “sour grapes” comments. I just recognize that our culture is doomed without a strong middle class, which many of my wealthy compadres fail to understand.
Great! Could you tell us how to sign up? We've been stuck funding ourselves and making our own stuff the old fashioned way. Since you're so familiar with these things, you've either seen it happening or know a good source that could point us in the right direction.
I agree wholeheartedly, Green. The “Beck” side of the Tea Party movement is most likely corporate vested, as you said. However, the bulk of the movement remains the “local” Tea Parties, where the grass roots is evident.
Judging from everything you said, you should be one of us, from the sound of it. My fear is that the grass roots movement will be bastardized into what you were referring. As most movements go, that's usually what happens.
I agree about the strong middle class, which is where strong LOCAL unions come into play. They run the industry pay scales, whether union or non-union.
I just know that the Dems and Reps are not looking out for me anymore and haven't for some time. They are goliaths with little or no ethics.
Good points JD, and I agree with most of them. Except I'll never stand shoulder to shoulder in protest with someone holding a picture of the President of the US with a Hitler mustache (not even Bush or Cheney). That anyone could call that patriotism is beyond me.
The Sadest:
We lost Senator Ted Kennedy…
…who saw wrong and tried to right it.
I agree. The picture of Obama that was similar to Lenin was pretty cool though. Didn't see any derrogatory ones at our protest, and wouldn't have stood shoulder to shoulder with anyone who went that direction either. Although I disagree with his policies, I still think he's doing a decent job, thus far. The Congress on the other hand is hopeless and needs an enema.