Sarah Palin Sues The Old Gray Lady

For John, BLUF:  I am pulling for Governor Sarah Palin.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Tucson Shooting:  ‘The Right Is Coming After Us’

From Hot Air, by Mr John Sexton, 10 September 2020.

Here is the lede plus one:

Last month a judge ruled that Sarah Palin’s defamation lawsuit against the NY Times could go to trial.  Because she is a public figure, Palin still has a tough road ahead of her.  She has to prove that the Times wasn’t just sloppy but is guilty of actual malice or, at a minimum, “reckless disregard” for the truth.  That won’t be easy but the judge in the case did agree it’s not impossible because the Times’ work, in particular that of now-former editor James Bennet on this piece was spectacularly awful.

Today Columbia Journalism Review published the most detailed breakdown I’ve seen of how that terrible editorial got published in the first place.  I’m going to skip over most of the preliminaries here and assume you’re already familiar with the backstory involving Sarah Palin’s Facebook map and the 2011 Tucson shooting by a deranged man named Jared Lee Loughner.  All you really need to know is that, despite a lot of media outrage directed at Palin at the time, there has never been even a shred of evidence that Loughner had ever seen her Facebook map or that he cared one way or the other about Palin.  His politics, so far as they are coherent at all, appear to have leaned to the left.

All of this seemed to be a long settled-issue until the Times needed to put out an editorial about the shooting of some Republicans by a deranged Bernie Sanders fan in 2017.

The idea for an editorial on the Arlington shooting came from [Elizabeth] Williamson, a Washington-based edit-page writer who had previously reported in the US and abroad for The Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post.  A few hours after the bullets flew, according to her deposition, she sent an email to colleagues with the subject line, “Are we writing on the congressional shooting?” An editor responded, “Can’t see it yet, but keep looking.  A nutcase who hates Republicans???”

Already it’s clear that this is shaping up to be an editorial about political violence and it looks like someone on the left is responsible.

For the next few hours, Williamson and other edit-page staff researched motives for the shooting. Mid-afternoon, [James] Bennet contributed to an email string:  “Did we ever write anything connecting … the Giffords shooting to some kind of incitement?” A colleague offered up a 2011 column in which Frank Rich mentioned Palin’s map but noted that “we have no idea” if Loughner had seen it before the shooting, adding, “nor does it matter.”

Hours before the editorial was published, Bennet is already casting about for a way to compare the shooting at the baseball diamond to the one in Tucson years earlier. Critically, he’s not sure if there’s a connection. A little before 5 pm Williamson submits a draft of the editorial. Here’s what it said about Palin and the map:

Just as in 2011, when Jared Lee Loughner opened fire in a supermarket parking lot, grievously wounding Representative Gabby Giffords and killing six people, including a nine-year-old girl, Mr. Hodgkinson’s rage was nurtured in a vile political climate. Then, it was the pro-gun right being criticized: in the weeks before the shooting Sarah Palin’s political action committee circulated a map of targeted electoral districts that put Ms. Giffords and 19 other Democrats under stylized crosshairs.

I nhope Ms Sarah Palin wins and wins the appeal, all the way to the Supreme Court.

We need to stop this partisan character assassination by the press.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Keeping the List Short

For John, BLUF:  I am not shocked.  Saddened, but not shocked.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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John McCain's 2008 Running Mate Sarah Palin Is Not Invited to His Funeral:  'It's Sad'

From People, by Reporter Susan Keating, 29 August 2018.

On the other hand, it appears that Google Maps has already renamed the Richard Russell Senate Office Building, at the behest of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, for the late Senator McCain.

Hat tip to the Drudge Report and to Memorandum.

Regards  —  Cliff

Royal Duty Shell Sees Low Oil Prices For Some Time

For John, BLUF:  Between "smart" Barack Obama and "dumb" Sarah Palin, I tend to favor Sarah.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Say, Whatever Happened To 'We Can't Drill Our Way To Lower Prices'?

This is a 28 July 2017 Editorial From Investor's Business Daily.

Who was it who said "Drill, Baby, Drill"?

Not directly mentioned is how oil and gas production are a foreign policy tool.  Our ability to produce lessens the threat to our friends and allies of a Russian effort to blackmail with energy delivery curtailments.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Long Odds, But

For John, BLUF:  I hope Sarah Palin wins.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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THE NEW YORK TIMES IS IN TROUBLE

From Blogger John Hinderaker, at his Blog Power Line, yesterday, 8 July 2017.

That former Governor from a detached state is suing for defamation.

It all goes back to the 2011 shooting in Tucson and the rush to blame the Tea Party and certain persons.  The usual Professor Paul Krugman like sludge.♠

I would settle for $1 and a public apology by the Publisher, in front of the Flatiron Building, at noon on Sunday.♥

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  You know, like the press being all up in arms over all the violent "left wing" rhetoric that led to the shooting at the members of the Republican Congressional Baseball Team.  By the way, Congressman Steve Scalise is back in Intensive Care.
♥  Plus Lawyers fees.

Holding Accountable

For John, BLUF:  I was pleased to see this from The Wash Post.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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"Any future references to this talking point by politicians or political groups will receive Four Pinocchios."

This is in reference to people (and newspapers) blaming Governor Sarah Palin for the shooting of US Representative Gabby Giffords by some left wing loon.

And it is The Wash Post.

Hat tip to Ann Althouse.

Regards  —  Cliff

Energy Prices Down

For John, BLUF:  "Drill, Baby, Drill."  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Mr Michael Walsh, writing in The PJ Tatler, gives us "The Revenge of Sarah Palin"

In sum:

The price of a gallon of regular gasoline on Monday was $2.13 nationwide, and below $2 in 18 states.

Remember when gas was $4 a gallon?

Turns out that President Obama was wrong, if you can imagine it.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Where There is a Thaw In US-Russian Relations

For John, BLUF:  Not every deal is a bad deal.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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In The Washington Post Reporter Ryan Schuessler, back on 31 July, talks about a "Small thaw in U.S.-Russian relations at the Alaska frontier".

The beginning:

ANCHORAGE – The United States and Russia are in the midst of their most tense relations since the Cold War, but for a small number of residents of both countries, things are warming.

It will now be easier and cheaper for Native residents to travel across the Bering Strait to visit relatives on the other side.

Last week, officials announced updates to an agreement that allows Native residents of Alaska and Russia’s Chukotka Peninsula to travel between the two countries without a visa, for stays of up to 90 days.

This will mean that some Alaska Natives will be able to visit friends and family in Russia without having to pay for a visa — a cost of at least $160 — or wait for that application to be processed.

The agreement requires that a traveler be a Native resident of the designated areas in Alaska or Chukotka, and have a documented invitation from a resident on the other side.

The indigenous people of the region share cultural, linguistic and family ties with their counterparts on either side of the maritime boundary between the two countries.  After the end of the Cold War, the Russian and American communities started to reestablish ties long cut off by the so-called “ice curtain.”

This is actually good news.  At some level we know how to cut a deal that benefits everyone.

Oh, and remember when folks said that Governor Sarah Palin was divorced from our foreign policy?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  Yes, you CAN see Russia from Alaska.  Granted, not from Willow, but that was Tina Fey anyway.

Regards  —  Cliff

Women in the House[s]

For John, BLUF:  Both Houses, that is.  The GOP is upping its game with women.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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"New GOP women will have to walk a fine line"

That is the headline from a Washington Examiner article by Reporter Ashe Schow yesterday.

It’s tough to be a woman in the GOP. Republican women who want to be outspoken members of their party, defying the narrative that the GOP is the party of old, white men, risk heightened scrutiny from a mainstream media dead-set on proving that the GOP is the party of old, white men.

It is like Reporter Schow thinks that the media♠ sees a Sarah Palin inside each Republican woman, like if they were real women they would be Democrats.  And, the media are looking for a new Tina Fey to bring it to life.

Hat tip to the Instapundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Maybe not all the media.

CNN News Coverage Error

For John, BLUF:  Double standards.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Carol Costello apologizes.

It is a step in the proper direction.

Regards  —  Cliff

Looking to the Future Overseas

For John, BLUF:  The President is getting a pretty full Foreign Policy plate.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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From The International New York Times we have Journalist David Sanger giving us "Commitments on Three Fronts Test Obama’s Foreign Policy".  The lede, datelined Washington:

In vowing in Estonia on Wednesday to defend vulnerable NATO nations from Russia “for as long as necessary,” President Obama has now committed the United States to three major projections of its power:  a “pivot” to Asia, a more muscular presence in Europe and a new battle against Islamic extremists that seems very likely to accelerate.

From the Instapundit we have this quip:

UPDATE:  From the comments:  “That is so funny.  Sarah Palin saw it coming from her front porch.”

Hat tip to the Instapundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

No, She Didn't Say That

For John, BLUF:  When something gets associated with you, it can be hard to shake.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Trying to strike a lighter tone with one of my "Progressive" friends,♠ I said that I thought it was unfortunate that in 2008 there were the choices there were.

His response was that the Republican Vice President (Sarah Palin) was unacceptable under any circumstances, and then mentioned the apocryphal Palin line, "I can see Russia from my house".  Even that progressive web site Snopes admits that it was never uttered by Ms Palin.

OK, so Governor Palin did say to Charlie Gibson "They're our next-door neighbors, and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska".

By Dave Cohoe (Photo by Dave Cohoe) [GFDL or CC-BY-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Little Diomede Island on the left (Alaska, USA) and Big Diomede Island (Russia) on the right, looking Southward.  About three and a half miles apart.

The ever charming and funny Tina Fey♥ is the one who, while playing the part of Governor Palin in a SNL sketch, said "And I can see Russia from my house."

But, what really makes this a joke is Electing Senator Joe Biden as Vice President.  Really?♦

UPDATE:  I notice I had left out a footnote indicator, but not the footnote.  Fixed.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Actually, a Democrat due to what he sees as a lack of Republicans he likes.
♥  I loved her in the movie Admission, where she was Ms Portia Nathan.  On the other hand, maybe I just liked the alternative high school.  No, I liked Ms Fey also.
♦  I would like to put in a plug for my view that the Vice President does not work for the President, but is an independent person, with an actual, albeit often scoffed at, job as President of the Senate.  And, we shouldn't want the Vice President so close to the President that if the US Congress moves to Impeach and Convict the President of High Crimes and Misdemeanors it has to take down the Vice President at the same time.  Remember Vice President Spiro T Agnew?  The "Deep State" had to make him go away before it felt free to go after President Nixon.  Or so it appears.

Impeachment

For John, BLUF:  White House asking for President to be Impeached?  Sounds like it.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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I think the White House is more serious about this than the House of Representatives, which is the House that actually does Impeachment.♠  Any trial is held in the US Senate.

It isn't like the White House isn't out there flouting the separation of powers; the President's "Pen and Phone" is an example,♥ and the IRS changing the Congressionally passed rules for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PP&ACA) is another.♦

Here is the article from The Hill, by Reporter Rebecca Shabad.  This last Friday White House spokesman Josh Earnest was working the crowd with this talk of Presidential Impeachment.  He was talking about it as though there was a vast right wing conspiracy to get the President, or at least raise money off of saying they would get him.

Earnest was asked to identify who those Republicans are, and he only mentioned Sarah Palin, the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee, but added there’s “no doubt” there are other voices also calling for impeachment.

Earnest also acknowledged that impeachment calls are being tied to fundraising.

White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer told reporters Friday that the White House is taking calls for impeachment more seriously.

Much as I like Governor Sarah Palin, she is going nowhere at this time.  She is important for stirring up the base, but she isn't running for anything in 2014 and is unlikely to run for anything in 2016.  Now I would take her over the Big E any day of the week, but there is not a strong base of support amongst Republicans and Democrats have less respect for her as a woman than they do for Senator Clinton.

As for Whie House Senior Advisor, Mr Dan Pfeiffer, I am not sure what he means by "...taking calls for impeachment more seriously."  Can we put it on a scale of 0 to 9?  Last month it was a 4 and today it is a … 7?, 8?, 9?  Who knows?  I suspect even Mr Pfeiffer doesn't know.

A Bill of Impeachment would be a gift to the Democrats running for office this year?  By 2016 it would be old news.  This isn't to say there are not Republicans willing to talk about Impeachment, but I doubt House Speaker John Boenher would entertain such an action before Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid came to his office and suggested the time had come.  Possible, but not likely.

Or is this a case of the White House wanting to talk about anything except illegal immigration?

Hat tip to the Instapundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Article I, Section 2, Clause 5, Section 2.
♥  One wonders, if he has this authority now, why didn't he have it in early 2009 and why did he not use it to fix things that were broken then.  Was he negligent in not using this authority, assuming it existed all along.  Or is the House Speaker correct in saying the Federal Courts ought to weigh in on this?
♦  Which should be known as Reid/Pelosi Care, since they are the ones who rammed it through Congress without a good once-over.

Defending Hillary

For John, BLUF:  Goose, Goose equity issue.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Hillary’s Brain; Hillary’s Brain on Drudge

An article linked today on Drudge:
http://on.wsj.com/1jOqOJR
Hey!  Hillary’s brain is off-limits! Leave her health records alone! Democrats are right – scouring records of a female candidate is just politics of personal destruction, and for the media to engage in it would be unfair, unethical, and absolutely UNPRECEDENTED.  You can’t probe a woman like that because, well, it’s a war on women!

Bunch of sexist, big meanies engaging in something heretofore unheard of, for shame.

America, you deserve fair and consistent coverage of relevant issues before deciding a Presidential/Vice Presidential ticket, so have faith the agenda-less media will refuse to push whispers and wildly inaccurate information about a partisan politician’s body part.  Goodness, no one credible would print lies, continually harass a candidate’s doctor, disrupt local hospital staff, or even offer to pay locals to give “quotes” about her health records to be included in a “research book” by a public university professor (your tax dollars at work?) which the candidate’s attorney will need to respond to.

From there the Facebook entry goes on to provide links from the past.

Hat tip to Ann Althouse.

Regards  —  Cliff

Gov Palin on Ukraine, 2008

For John, BLUF:  Show Sarah on the show, tall and proud.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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We know that Russia is moving on at least parts of Ukraine.  And maybe the whole thing.  It is their neighborhood.

So, remember Governor Sarah Palin suggesting that this could happen?

After the Russian Army invaded the nation of Georgia, Senator Obama's reaction was one of indecision and moral equivalence, the kind of response that would only encourage Russia's Putin to invade Ukraine next.

That was resurrected by Reporter Tony Lee, of Brietbart.  Mocked in 2008, proven correct in 2014.  Think, we could have had Ms Palin as Vice President, rather than who we have, Mr Joe Biden.

Hat tip to the Instapundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Yes You Can

From The Huffington Post we have this fallout from the Democratic Convention, "John Kerry 'Diminished Himself By Even Mentioning My Name'"

And, yes you can see Russia from the US, on a clear day.  Does Senator John F Kerry not realize the world is round?

Regards  —  Cliff

Andrew Sullivan Relieved

Over at the Althouse blog is a post on Andrew Sullivan feeling relief that Ms Sarah Palin is not running for the Republican Presidential Nomination.  Ms Althouse is linked to Ben Smith at Politico, which says:

The Daily Beast’s Andrew Sullivan, who risked his mainstream reputation to question Palin’s character, politics and even maternity, told POLITICO that now he can “get a life.”

“Helping to prevent her from getting her hands on power was one of my guiding goals once I realized the MSM was never going to do it,” he wrote.  “I lost vast tracts of time and not a few T-cells trying to understand and expose this farce, and it’s a huge relief that this preposterous saga is over.  Just knowing she isn’t a threat is a huge psychic relief if you care about America and the world.”

This whole issue would just be a blip, if the person running for President on the other ticket in 2008 had been so much better qualified than Governor Palin.  I recognize your mileage may differ.

Regards  —  Cliff

Maybe 2012 is Not Obama's Year

There is a new McClatchy-Marist poll that shows President Obama losing support vis-a-via Republican challengers, particularly amongst independents.  Here is a report on the poll in The Miami Herald.

The biggest gain came for Palin, the former Alaska governor who hasn't yet announced whether she'll jump into the fast-changing race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

After trailing Obama by more than 20 percentage points in polls all year, the new national survey, taken Sept. 13-14, found Palin trailing the president by just 5 points, 49-44 percent. The key reason: She now leads Obama among independents, a sharp turnaround.

If we accept the view of the Democrats and their Media supporters that Ms Sarah Palin is a joke, then what does that say about President Barack Obama?

And things aren't going to get any better with the upcoming UN vote on Palestinian statehood.

For those who care, I am still holding out for Governor Mitch Daniels.

Regards  —  Cliff

We Survived the Debate in NH

So, now it can be told, Gov Palin can't beat Pres Obama in 2012.  Straight from Hot Air.

That doesn't mean we won't be following the Sarah Show for a while, just like Kad, back in his younger days, was following a certain TV Reporter.

Regards  —  Cliff

If You Think Sarah is an Idiot

If you think Governor Sarah Palin was, and is, an idiot, here is your change to prove it.  The Washington Post is looking for 100 folks to help them analyze some 24,000 EMails sent to or sent by Governor Palin while she was in office.

Act now.  This offer is limited.

Regards  —  Cliff

CNN on Sarah on the Road

Well, to be fair, it is CNN publishing an opinion piece by a conservative writer with Hot Air.  Writer Ed Morrissey says:

CNN asked me to write an opinion piece on how a Sarah Palin campaign — or lack of one — would impact the Republican nomination race.  Instead of hitting that directly, I decided to write an analysis of what Palin has accomplished with her bus tour and how it will impact the race regardless of whether she decides to run in 2012 at all, and CNN graciously published it this morning[.]

Then Captain Ed refers us to not only his own piece, linked above, but also to commentary from Washington Examiner writer Byron York, who noted

One thing many viewers have probably missed in all the horse-race speculation is that Palin is perfectly willing to discuss her positions on key issues, if anyone wants to ask.  In fact, in recent days, weeks, and months, we've seen a lot of policy commentary from the former Alaska governor.

For example, during the bus trip, Palin took a stand on an issue that is crucial for candidates considering a run in the Iowa caucuses. "I think that all of our energy subsidies need to be re-looked at today and eliminated," Palin told RealClearPolitics.  "We've got to allow the free market to dictate what's most efficient and economical for our nation's economy."  What that means is Palin opposes the infamous ethanol subsidy that some presidential aspirants are afraid to question, lest they lose support in heavily agricultural Iowa.

Maybe that is the signal that she is not running—she isn't pandering to the voters in Iowa.

In his own post on Hot Air, Captain Ed ends with this comment:

Again, this is exactly the kind of political tour that other Republicans have conducted, with much more serious coverage from the media than given Palin’s tour.   With all of those reporters following the bus, why aren’t more of them reporting the political story rather than the celebrity story?

Of course it is celebrity coverage—she is just some uneducated girl from the fly-over states.  The fact that she has fought corruption within her own party and crossed the aisle to work with Democrats to raise taxes doesn't count.  I have my own bones to pick with Gov Palin, but I find most coverage distorted, and thus my fascination with this issue.  Like most of my fellow citizens, I have a certain fascination with people behaving badly—in this case the MSM.

Regards  —  Cliff