Is Sarah Palin "Over?"

Don't get me wrong, I'm not actually counting Sarah Palin out. She's proven herself to be many things, not the least of which is "good at self promotion." But could she be entering the Ann Coulter portion of her career, where she'll have to mud-sling, fire-bomb or poo-fling in order to get attention? I sure hope so.

[Excerpt]

Palin Family Leaves Empty Mall of America Book Signing Half Hour Early

IS THIS THE END OF SNOWBILLY GRIFTING? The jihadist conspiracy of elitist liberal shopping mall patrons struck with merciless force yesterday at Minnesota’s Mall of America: only 300 people showed up to attend the Sarah and Bristol Palin book signing of Bristol’s new memoir about her life as a drunk pregnant teenager. . .

Read more at: Wonkette

Photo of the Day: Sarah Palin, Media Whore

This little act of semi-vandalism perhaps perfectly encapsulates what Sarah Palin is up to with her family vacation/bus tour. She's apparently not running for president, or if she is, she's tryin' to break the mold, you betcha. But that bus with the tacky wrap-job, with the over-the-top patriotic imagery and slogans, the big Palin autograph. . .it all points to what she's been all along: a media whore. It's really as simple as that.


Source (and much more, at): Rump Roast


Thanks to Stupid Monkey Planet for the tip.


UPDATED:  To add--before the inevitable charge of misogyny--that I also called Donald Trump a "media whore."

The Truthers Begat the Birthers, Which Begat the Deathers. . .

"Hell yeah, I've got a redeeming quality! I. . .uh. . .gimme a minute."
Image from source, Think Progress

I understand the dilemma presented to today's news and news commentary shows. I understand how news and entertainment came together in a distasteful mashup. I understand why people who by all rights should not be famous or popular are. How do I know? Because I've been a blogger for four years, that's how!

Yes, my little tiny corner of the interwebs is just a random collage of (mostly) politics, (sometimes) confessional, (occasional) pop culture repository, and other assorted tidbits. But I think about these things. I wonder, "Should I really be giving [fill in the blank: Ann Coulter, Sarah Palin, Donald Trump, Glenn Beck] any more coverage? He/she would fade away if people stopped paying attention" And it's true. But when real life politicians, politicos and wannabes provide more entertainment (lurid or not) than fiction, it is hard to ignore.

So add Andrew Breitbart to the list. He's just as much of an attention whore as any of the above. He is utterly without scruples. He's staged and/or doctored "evidence" in order to perpetrate faux news stories that are largely hoaxes. And yet, he continues to get press, and get on shows like Real Time with Bill Maher. As distasteful as Breitbart and his shtick is, it is also important to shine a light on its awfulness.

[Excerpt]

Meet The Deathers: Andrew Brietbart Website Pushing Conspiracy Theory That Osama Might Not Be Dead



Mere hours after President Obama announced the death of Osama bin Laden, supported by incontrovertible DNA evidence, the conspiracy theorists are hard at work. Andrew Breitbart, a prominent right-wing commentator with close ties to the Republican Party and the Tea Party, is pushing the theory on his website Big Peace. . .
 
Read more at: Think Progress

Donald Trump's Media Whoring is Almost Over

Anyone with a combover this ridiculous shouldn't be asking about the
authenticity of anything. Image from Huffington Post.

My headline might be a bold prediction, since Donald Trump has been a media whore for 25 years, but you have to admit that he has amped it up over the last few weeks. But his big ticket "birther" wave has just crashed to shore, taking any (faux) legitimacy for their cause along with it. So, Trump tries to put a bow on it by taking "credit" for Barack Obama's release of the birth certificate. . .even though it proves that Trumps whole cause was a hoax, and his only big issue is a bust. And then, Trump took this covertly racist campaign to more overt areas when he implied that Obama shouldn't have been able to get into Harvard when his white buddies' kids couldn't. Or something.

Point is, without the birther canard, Trump's novelty is gone baby, gone.

[Excerpt]

Donald Trump: Obama Birth Certificate Should've Been Released Long Ago


Donald Trump reacted to the release of President Barack Obama's long-form birth certificate by the White House on Wednesday morning.


Speaking at a press conference in New Hampshire, the potential presidential contender said that he's "proud" in light of the disclosure. He added, however, "it is rather amazing that all of the sudden" the document surfaces. He suggested it should be inspected to ensure its authenticity. . .

Read more (with video) at: Huffington Post

What is Wrong with Clinton's Die-hard Supporters? UPDATED

Image from Illseed

There has been talk for many months about Hillary Clinton's die-hard supporters refusing to support or vote for Barack Obama. They've been said to be so dead set against him that they'll stay home on election day, or vote for John McCain. I viewed this as little more than sour grapes, and figured that after a little time to mourn, they'd pretty much all come around.

Then came last night, and Clinton's peculiar speech indicating that she was going to press on. That seems less likely now, but last night, she urged her supporters to visit HillaryClinton.com to give her ideas of what to do next.

So, I went there. I had a little difficulty finding where the people were commenting, but it turned out that it was in the comments section of Clinton's blog. And what I found was stunning, somewhat mesmerizing, and completely bizarre. The overwhelming majority of commenters quite vehemently hate Barack Obama. They're fairly vague and nonspecific about why, but they mostly claimed that they wouldn't even vote for him if Clinton was on the ticket (go there, if you don't believe me).

Worse, most of them are enthusiastic about voting for John McCain, who they see as second best to Hillary Clinton! The combination of Hillary Love and unabashed Barack Hatred was astonishing, and more than a little creepy. I understand that these folks are feeling a bit of the "Kübler-Ross model" of the stages of grief. They're feeling a combination of stages 1, 2, 3 and 4: Denial, Anger, Bargaining and Depression. But they're so dedicated to their cause, I fear that they won't progress to step 5: Acceptance. But I'd like to help them get there.

I've peppered the labels section at the bottom of this post with some incendiary words to try to lure some of them here with a Google search, to ask them a few questions. The words are only for that purpose, not intended to express any personal insults. But if it worked, and you are a Clinton supporter that fits the description above, I'd personally love answers to these points.

1. If you are a Clinton supporter, why would John McCain--whose positions are 180-degrees from Hillary's--be a better choice than Obama, whose policy positions are virtually identical to hers?


2. What did Barack Obama ever personally do or say to Hillary Clinton that would brew such vitriol from you?


3. Does it concern you that McCain would likely fill one or two Supreme Court Justice slots with conservatives, turning the whole court to the right, and probably overturning Roe V. Wade?


4. Even if you're angry with the DNC about their alleged treatment of Clinton, why take it out on Obama, and by extension the whole country?


5. What exactly did the DNC do to Clinton, specifically? And for that matter, does reporting the reality of the delegate math automatically put the news media "in the tank" for Obama?


6. Does Hillary Clinton get a complete pass for everything she did in the campaign, from saying that Obama doesn't pass the Commander-in-Chief test, to heaping praise on McCain?


7. Do you think there is any possible way Clinton could win the Presidency if she ran as an independent? Really? Are you unaware that she'd split the Democratic vote, and that McCain would win in a shoo-in?

Thank you for your time.

UPDATE: Having just spent a great deal of time at HillaryClinton.com, and reading many of the comments, I've come to a couple of conclusions. First, they apparently hate Barack Obama mostly just because he beat Clinton. Second, they are so enamored of Clinton, they believe she did everything right, and nothing wrong in her campaign. They believe that everyone was out to get her, and conspired against her: Barack Obama, the media, the Democratic National Committee, everyone.

They remind me of a woman (or man) who has found that their partner has cheated on them. The wronged partner automatically hates the "other woman" or in this case, "other man." Their grief is palpable, and their response is understandable, if completely irrational. I really do fear for their emotional well being. Hopefully, this condition is limited to the relatively small amount of posters in the "Hillary Family" at HillaryClinton.com.