COURIC: “What newspapers and magazines did you regularly read…?”
PALIN: “I’ve read most of them.”
Get that? She couldn’t even name a single newspaper or magazine. No wonder she’s so well informed.
Can’t Bring Yourself to Type the Word “Ass”?
Eager to share our brilliant political commentary and blunt media criticism, but too genteel to link to horsesass.org? Well, good news, ladies: we also answer to HASeattle.com, because, you know, whatever. You're welcome!
Palin is a walking gold mine of corruption and ignorant quotes – thank you John McCain!
the only question remaining is why did he throw the election? They are self-destructing. the media can just ask questions and let Palin dig the hole and lower herself in.
That’s as idiotic a comment as any candidate has ever spewed — which takes no small amount of doing! Does Palin have any idea how many newspapers there are in the U.S.? Of course not. She couldn’t begin to read them all. Undoubtedly her idea of “reading” newspapers consists of glancing at the headlines when she walks past the newspaper boxes on a street corner. Her best debate strategy is to get hit by a car before Thursday so she won’t have to show up.*
* Just kidding — wingnut joke!
If she’d even said just the Wall Street Journal, or National Review, or the Washington Times… but, hell, she couldn’t even be bothered to mention the Anchorage Daily News.
The more I see of her, the more it seems like she has the spot because she was the first one to say, “Yes.” I suspect that whatever their positions in public, Huckabee, Romney, Giuliani, et al. have all decided that 2012 is the way to go, and none of them wanted to be tagged with losing alongside McCain. (Whatever happened to Jack Kemp, anyway?)
Well, at least W was honest when asked the question Palin used a lie to answer.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/.....mas15.html
Well wse know she reads the John Birch Society rag, The New American because she posed for her Wasilla city council portrait with it in front of her.
There are two things I find utterly fascinating about Palin’s response.
1.) I think she is actively trying to dodge identifying any specific newspaper because she knows that her answer will have further implications. If she just says Anchorage Daily News then she might come off as completely parochial and myopic. If she says NY Times then she knows that alienates anti-intellectual base of the party. If she says Wall Street Journal then she comes off sounding elitist, and anything with the words “Wall Street” is not good politically at the moment. And while she may just be covering for the fact that she doesn’t read newspapers, I think she perceives the question as a damned if I do, damned if I don’t. Thus her insane response “all of them”. But it does belie a political instinct however maladaptive it may be.
2.) After the collision of all the talking point kicking around her head you can see she is just thinking as speaks. Very unfiltered in a way in terms of her emotions. Because after the crashing of the talking points she becomes reactive. I can just imagine her thinking to herself “this bitch Katie Couric just called me ignorant!” And her response is to defend herself and Alaska. But her answer really betrays her ignorance and parochialism. She says “Alaska isn’t a foreign country” that is unable to keep up with the news. The suggestion seems to be that foreigners don’t get news. This really betrays how little she knows about the rest of the world. Anybody who has ever travelled outside the country knows that in this modern world foreign nationals are on average much better informed and the newspapers much more extensive in world affairs and American political affairs. I remember traveling to South Africa years ago and that was when I first became aware of just how moribund the American press really is. Looking at headlines of foreign newspapers was an eye opener. So it really takes someone who profoundly ignorant of the rest of the world to blindly assume the rest of the world is this teeming mass of ignoramuses. Projection much, Sarah?
@5 Dave Neiwert writes about that photo over at Orcinus.
http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/
Think how the world would view any of us if they knew we read this blog. Fuck me I’d be
embarrassed. It’s just you liberal tards are so
god damn amusing.
mark–
These KLOWNS live their lives in FEAR.
Leave them alone to stew in their own shit.
They love it when there are world disasters.
The more suffering, the higher th body count…all the better for them.
It’s a pathetic existence that they seem to convince themselves they thrive in.
@9 The only time you speak anything near the truth is when you’re projecting. OK, you live in fear, stew in your own shit, love world disasters, suffering and body counts. Yours is a pathetic existence. Thanks for letting us know, bitch.
@8 Think this is funny?
http://www.republicanoffenders.com/Pedophiles.html
Thanks for stopping by. It was amusing.
@8: Mark: Admit it – this is the highlight of your day or maybe your year. As a troll with no life, you are lucky to read the well thought out opinons on here – as long as some other excuse-spouting troll isn’t on here – or some topic-changing troll or some right wingnut troll who likes to excuse serial liars like McCain and Palin.
I especially love the constant refrain “But the democrats do it …” as my mom used to say – that does not make it right or excuse the corruption and lies coming from republicans.
The thing I really love about Ms. Cynical is that she whines, makes excuses and is such a total wimp – but rarely has any coherent argument. How does it feel to be a pincushion and constantly get your butt handed to you?
This is a hate blog. No doubt about it. Liberals are the most hate-filled and intolerant people around.
@14 “Waaaa”
Tough shit, bitch.
@15
Steve, would you admit Goldy is running a hate blog?
You can call it hate if you like, but those of us left of center have been dealing with really nasty shit from the right for decades. Turn about is fair play. Toughen up, ya whiner.
@14
I think it’s a bit of a stretch to say that “Liberals are the most hate-filled and intolerant people around.” You base this opinion on the responses of a very small number of frustrated and angry people on this blog who are regularly called some of the vilest names imaginable, who see a lot of illogic and deflection instead of debate and who are repeatedly accused of all kinds of offensive non-sense. See 8 and 9 above.
This is as silly as saying that all republicans are liars and stupid . Doesn’t really elevate the debate now does it…
There are a lot of liberals who are not hateful at all and would love to have intellectually honest and thoughtful debate….
@16 No, this is not a hate blog. Now, will you please admit that you’re fucking insane?
I saw this interview; she is just unbelievable. She can’t name one thing she reads? Not even Fox News online? And then, to say, Alaska isn’t a foreign country? Katie Couric didn’t say or imply that at all – she just asked, “What specifically do you read?” I’ll be surprised if one of Palin’s kids makes it to college.
She also keeps answering hot-button issues with “personally”. It doesn’t really matter what she thinks personally because she running for public office. It matters what she would do to other people.
She would not answer the question clearly on the morning-after pill. It’s likely she considers it a form of abortion (it’s not).
She also has a gay friend. (Will wonders never cease?) But, of course, she had, just had to put her own spin on it. She said something to the effect of “my friend is just that and not my “gay” friend.” Great. But then she says, “she just made a choice that I didn’t.” Because gays are gay by choice, of course.
Anderson Cooper had Carville and some nut case Buchanan (his wife? his sister?) who said that the McCain campaign was trying to put too many facts into Palin’s head instead of just a few and then letting Palin be Palin. And, that Ronald Reagan was like her because they are both folksy. To which Carville said, to his credit, that Reagan actually had an interest in the world beyond his view and that’s what did make his folksiness effective while Palin seems devoid of any interest in the world.
She’s Bush in a skirt; both of them lack a spark of intellectual curiosity in the world around them and it’s just frightening.
I hope the McCain campaign doesn’t have to resort to an earpiece or notes on her palms Thursday night to keep all those pesky facts in her head.
@18
rla, let me ask you a question.
Do you think it’s more likely that a Gregoire yard sign would be destroyed in Issaquah, or a Rossi yard sign would be destroyed on Capitol Hill?
This speaks to where the hate and intolerance lies in our society.
@ 18. Amen. The crap that substitutes for debate on this blog is weird stuff. Can’t people agree to disagree without mentioning that person’s mother or sister or goat?
Everyone is welcome to question a candidate’s bias, motives, etc. But the personal attacks without any basis in fact is hideous.
Hey troll, ready to tell more lies and spread distortion? I’ve called you out several times and you vanish. I do not spew hate, and even avoid obsenity. Deliberate misrepresentation, however does irk me.
troll, want a list?
1. You indicate a “direct quote” about Obama’s father and never give attribution
2. You indicate that his mother’s residence on Mercer Island is evidence of wealth when at the time her father was a furniture salesman who moved to that area so that his daughter could get a better education
3. You repeatedly indicate “some” call you the unofficial moderator of trheads
4. You cite misleading statistics about fund raising and duck my challenge with actual statistics from the very site you used.
And gottago I too find the various sexual innuendo to be rather pointless. But I also distain the hit and run tactics used by many on the right side. Make an allegation and refuse to engage and defend.
And now I gotta go.
She has a journalism degree for cryin’ out loud…can’t she recall anything from those 6 colleges she attended?
K, I’m impressed by your memory. You have a sharp mind. And I’m not being sarcastic. This is a real compliment.
@21
Ha ha, that’s a good one. It’s a false choice. You can’t compare a district full of tattooed angry youth to a moderate suburb. Which is more likely to give you heart burn, a glass of water or 5 alarm chili? That will show you were unhealthy consumption is.
I will say this, I’ve seen one bashed McCain sign in Redmond, and I’ve seen 10 or so Burner signs disappear in the same stretch of road.. Very unscientific but odd in Redmond. How many Obama signs would survive in any republican stronghold that equals the liberal stronghold of capitol hill? Probably equal.
Rationally, these type of arguments really don’t move anyone’s understanding forward. Calling all liberals hate filled only serves to dismiss people’s opinions as well as the people themselves. Just as much as saying all republicans are deviants, which clearly isn’t true.
You don’t know me but I am a proud liberal, and I really don’t have time for hate. I get angry and frustrated, as people on all sides do. But if we’re adults, we’ll try to get past that.
#28
Troll, I’m impressed by your self serving sense of self importance. I mean that. As the self chosen unofficial moderator on this board, your puffery and delusion stand second to none. You seem to have all the qualifications of a GW Bush press secretary.
This is a real compliment. Really.
And the best part of this is you think you are doing your little song and dance to get a rise out of us. You actually do it to complete yourself. Have no doubt that we all know the jokes on you. You are the joke.
30
I second your motion. Troll is the least credible, most twisted, and most delusional poster on this blog. And, that takes a hell of an effort, given the competition. He lives in Rightwing Fantasyland, but proclaims himself a Democrat. He is racist, anti-intellectual, and humorless. I am quite sure he has no friends.
@22
A handfull of folks have, pretty much, taken over the comment threads. Most people that read HA aren’t like that. For some reason Goldy doesn’t care enough about his own blog and the community that he built to turn on the registration feature that he’s already built into the site, which would help deal with what you’re talking about. The log in button is up in the top right of the page.
32
What passes for dialogue on the rightwing now is simply character attacks. Reason, facts, attempts to reach common ground–all of such things are signs of weakness in the rightwing world, as it now stands. A shining example would be John McCain blaming Obama and the Ds for the failure of the bailout bill, despite his “suspension” of his campaign to get things done. It would be nice to have reasoned debate with the other side, but they seem incapable of stepping up to the plate. So, we must battle them on the insignificant turf upon which they live.
@32:
“America isn’t easy. America is advanced citizenship. You gotta want it bad, ’cause it’s gonna put up a fight. It’s gonna say “You want free speech? Let’s see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who’s standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours.” — Aaron Sorkin, The American President
I think Goldy is doing exactly the right thing. Mostly because I think the trolls hurt their ostensible causes so much that it’s a net loss for them, even if they aren’t aware of that fact.
Or, there’s the theory that they’re paid shills/parodists of the Limbaugh/O’Reilly/Colbert mold, and it’s their job to make right-wingers look un-American in their fear and illogic, for laughs.
Yes, there’s a certain amount of Greshaming going on (bad posters driving out good). Again the question is, Is it better than the alternative?
Back in the Mesozoic, when I ran a BBS, the tactic I used was to “promote” the most obnoxious posters to “special elite status.” Then, they could still post as much as they pleased (and even pay us membership fees), but they were in a section of the board where the only people they saw, and the only people who saw them, were each other.
Some were even happy with this.
But that used the security features of the BBS software, and no web forum is as flexible, to my knowledge.
Also, the topic of the board wasn’t politics as such, and the argument can be made that free discourse is a requirement under the circumstances.
I dunno. Schneier says, All security is a tradeoff. This is a similar situation.
Taken over the comments thread? If you go by number of posts, that would be roger rabbit you’re talking about.
Goldy turn on registration?
That would be the end of the blog. For one thing, he even refers to the comments as “from the cesspool,” check out the right side of the window.
Without the trolls, what would be the purpose of the board. To discuss how much you hate bush? How much you hate palin?
Hell, where could steve go and talk about goatsex and not offend people.
There is no serious discussion on this board, only one-sided partisan hacks.
How can there be a serious discussion if the truth is not even talked about.
@35:
“There is no serious discussion on this board, only one-sided partisan hacks.”
From Matthew, Chapter 7, verses 1-5:
Not everyone is a Christian, to be sure. Still, it seems like sensible advice, even on a secular basis.
Unless, of course, you enjoy contributing to the Republican Sincerity Gap.
@35 Republicans fuck goats and they blame me. I didn’t hold a gun to your head, Marvin. I simply report on the strange things Republicans do in America’s public toilets. Like Pudz, you ignore the message and attack the messenger. That tactic might work in wing-nut circles but here it only serves to demonstrate what sick fucks you both are.
I used to be civil to the trolls – but I am fed up with the innuendo (without documentation), the constant whining, the Clinton/democrats do it too and the inability to see the big picture (or admit when they are wrong).
According to the trolls:
Iraq was a great success (despite the over 4,000 killed and 30,000 wounded).
Deruglation is good – despite the evidence to the contrary.
Tax cuts to the rich help the economy – despite the sorry state of the economy.
Republicans are for fiscal reponsibility – except they create the largest deficits in history.
All I can say is that it is very hard to argue with the truly delusional. They won’t be persuaded by the facts. Facts just get in the way of their arguments.
(Back on topic…)
One of the amazing things is that the questions was so predictable. Virtually every Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidate over the past fifty years has been asked this question (what do you read) at some time or another.
You would have thought that the McCain camp would have fed her some answers. But I guess there is only so much you can do when you are speed-dating your candidate through a list of foreign leaders in fifteen-minute interviews so you can claim she has foreign policy experience.
I think the following things flashed through Palin’s mind (roughly in order) in the handfull of seconds between the question and her response:
“Oh, my Gosh, she’s asking about what I read! I can’t admit I don’t really read anything!”
“Well, I do read some far right-wing newsletters, but I can’t admit that!
“Why didn’t someone tell me this question was coming and tell me what are the correct answers!”
“Okay, I’ll make some non-commental answer which will give me some time to think of the right answer.”
OUT LOUD: “I’ve read most of them!”
“Oops, didn’t work. The bitch is coming in for the kill. Think! Think! All I need is the name of some newspapers!”
“Okay, what if I throw out some names that will be impressive. What names can I think of? New York Times? Wall Street Journal? But then she might ask me specific questions, like what I thought about specific articles! Or they might check and see that I’ve never had a subscription to them, and nobody’s ever seen me reading them! Then they would catch me in a lie!”
“Okay, this is just like an essay question in High School. All you have to do is BS your way through it. After all, it’s TV, and they don’t have more than a minute for each question. If I can just stall for another 45 seconds, I win!”
“Oh, and remember Rove’s advice: if you don’t know the answer to the question, turn it into an attack by the big, bad media – he claims that always puts them on the defensive.”
“Well, you know, in Alaska we aren’t some foreign country….”
Can you imagine this lady trying to advance our countries interests at a G8 Summit?????
Palin’s debate style, as garnered from her previous debates in Alaska:
Source: Palin confident, but often vague
Hal, please keep your man in the sky beliefs to yourself. Do you still believe santa claus flies around with gifts for all the good kids in his sleigh?
Like bill mahr says, you’ve must have a “neurological disorder” to believe in a god.
By the way, change the pic on your website, it’s looks like a religious wacko serial killer. I know you’re mocking someone but people might believe it’s you and judge you accordingly.
As far as the one sided partisan… the rabbit posts about it to newbies. I posted a link from Lee that admitted it. Guess you want to ignore those facts.
“Hal, please keep your man in the sky beliefs to yourself.”
You’re overgeneralizing again. Please quote where I have professed any such beliefs.
“By the way, change the pic on your website, it’s looks like a religious wacko serial killer. I know you’re mocking someone but people might believe it’s you and judge you accordingly.”
I defer to your personal knowledge of what serial killers look like. Me, I think at best we only know what serial killers who have been caught look like, but there I go, insisting on evidence again.
“As far as the one sided partisan… the rabbit posts about it to newbies. I posted a link from Lee that admitted it. Guess you want to ignore those facts.”
This fails on so many levels.
* They’re not facts, they’re opinions.
* I wasn’t aware of it beforehand — again, you’re overgeneralizing.
* And, finally, if you’re intending to advance a partisan agenda, you might want to consider doing it in a way that actually advances it, instead of making readers feel as if agreeing with you would taint them in guilt-by-association.
Unless, of course, you’re a paid employee of the DNC like Limbaugh/O’Reilly/Colbert, and your whole point is to make Republicans look bad, and Democrats look good by comparison.
@35:
“There is no serious discussion on this board, only one-sided partisan hacks.”
@41:
“As far as the one sided partisan… the rabbit posts about it to newbies. I posted a link from Lee that admitted it. Guess you want to ignore those facts.”
So, it takes the space of 6 messages for “one-sided partisan hacks” to go from something to complain about to something to praise.
Sorry, Marvin. It’s clear you hate Republicans. Not even I would accuse them of the things you have.
What was that, your booking photo?
I’ve seen happier people at a wake.
Evidence? I read some of your writing. ’nuff said.
@44:
Aw, Marvin… Your silence on your hate campaign against Republicans is deafening. Good to know you’re bought and paid for.
You taking this act to Giggles or Jet City Improv anytime soon?