Fox News shill Greta Van Susteren, who seems to have joined the ranks of media professionals who employ their skills and credentials for their own personal gain rather than the public good, never challenged Governor Palin's qualifications. Let us also note that every single answer Palin gives is identical to the answers she gave in this interview earlier in the day. To her claim that her attempt to ban Harry Potter was chronologically impossible, the Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone [changed in the US to ...the Sorcerer's Stone] was published in 1997 and Sarah Palin served as mayor of Wasilla from 1996 to 2002. But the "toughest" question van Susteren asked was about the governor's plans for 2012. Again, I feel a high degree of certitude that the few people who are reading this are capable of ferreting out the irony of Palin's lamentations about the press not reporting the way that she wants them to. And were these rantings ever to be carried across the tundra to reach her bespectacled view, her phantom pajama-clad, nest-clogging teenager would have company in her gallery of disdain- for which we should be ashamed while her Oxycontin-addled son is off in Iraq fighting for our freedom to blog! But the issue of her African knowledged was raised and she was given a chance to defend herself. And she said that she was concerned about corrupt governments and what's happening in Darfur. I came away thinking that she doesn't know that Darfur is a region in Sudan, former seat of bin Laden's farflung network. But of course, no follow-up from Ms. Van Susteren. Remember, they just report. It's up to a nation of geographic morons to decide whether mention of Darfur is sufficient evidence of comprehensive knowledge of Africa. Of course, we should rest assured that a figure as well-read as Sarah Palin would have an arsenal of knowledge on every continent.
But let's move away from the scurrilous double-standard I unfairly expect from a vice presidential candidate and review her expectations of a functioning First Amendment. This is a woman who limited her availability to the press, even eschewing repeated requests from Bill O'Reilly. She implied last night that Katie Couric was setting feminism back by embarrassing the candidate with her "gotcha" questions about Supreme Court decisions. Then she blamed the press for "choosing" what stories to publish and which ones to ignore. I wonder how she might have reacted if asked why she didn't stand up against the 23% of Texans who believe that Barack Obama is a Muslim. I wonder what she might have said to Jon Stewart. I wonder why she never stood behind a podium and took questions from the campaign press corps. And yet, she blames the press for perpetuating rumors about her and her family. Isn't this woman supposed to be an avatar of rugged individualism and personal responsibility? Where is one example of her culpability in the hatred she stirred up at rallies? In the fatuous claims that her First Amendment rights were violated by asking her why she talked about William Ayers instead of our two wars and perilous economy?
AND WHY DON'T ANY OF HER KIDS SEEM TO GO TO SCHOOL?!!!
Can she answer any of these questions? Can she really stand behind her record of unprecedented deficits as mayor of Wasilla and obsequiousness to the oil companies as long as they keep writing checks to the citizens of Alaska? And who are these engines of American opinion who continue to tout this woman as a force for good in American government?
You have to wonder why these people still have jobs. Since sunshine is the best disinfectant, I urge everybody reading this to demand truth from these public figures, and to advertise their abject lack of honesty and patriotism on every forum you can:
Fred Barnes
Bill Kristol
Dick Morris
Laura Ingraham
Rudolph Giuliani
Sean Hannity
Rush Limbaugh
Please note that the view of this blog is that Conservatism is a legitimate political philosophy and my own fury with the folks listed above does not stem from their links to the Republican Party or any other conservative entity. Pat Buchanan, Juan Williams, David Brooks, occasionally Paul Gigot, George Will and Bob Novak all have the power to enrage, but they do so through reasoned argument rather than the intellectual dishonesty and greed-motivated hate-mongering that the fart-sneezers above do. Further, these people have large audiences and I am exercising my own right and meagre power to chip away at the pernicious influence that these shit-trumpets have on the country and planet that I love best.
Ultimately, when somebody says that government is the problem, not the solution, and then they ask for your vote, you have to wonder why they prefer the evils of public service to the virtues of private enterprise.
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