Update: This piece is now up as a full-length article at Lew Rockwell.. Reader responses will be below in the Comments, as usual…
In an August 3 piece in Salon magazine, even the usually well-modulated voice of Professor Juan Cole, shot up a few octaves. He compared Sarah Palin to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, and came out in Ahmadinejad’s favor. Now, according to some people, Ahmadinejad stands guilty of anti-Semitism. I don’t know if that’s true or not. But that’s what the establishment media seems to think. So, if the same media thinks Palin is worse than Ahmadinejad, then what it’s saying is that to liberals, being a conservative small-town mother is more dangerous than being anti-Semitic.
Palin and the Iranian president are both dangerous populists, writes Cole. They blame their failures not on their own loose lips (Palin’s stutterings on the Katy Couric show and Ahmadinejad’s alleged anti-Semitism), but on media conspiracies against them.
Of course, there’s no real reason why both things couldn’t be true. Palin could have her short-comings, and she could still be the victim of a hatchet-job by the media. But measured logic is not the style of the Sarah-phobics:
Here’s Cole again on the Irani-Alaskan Axis-of-Medieval:
“Both politicians ‘encourage a political style of exhibitionism, disregard for the facts as understood by the mainstream media, and exaltation of the values of people who feel themselves marginalized by the political system….’
Dear me. Tut-tut. Political exhibitionism, eh? And that wouldn’t be something ever committed by Barack Obama now, would it – he with the near-halo on many a magazine cover, who dubbed himself a voice for people marginalized by the system – or so I recall – in his celebrated Getty- er- pre-election speech on race?
As for “facts as understood by the mainstream media,” since when are facts determined by how journalists understand them? Isn’t that just what some guy called Donald Rumsfeld said not so long ago and got these very same journalists lathered up at his solipsism?
I’m no fan of Sarah Palin.
Anyone who has five children at home and hankers for high office has her priorities confused. If a real feminist was needed on McCain’s team, Todd was the Palin they should have picked. And no, the photogenic governor doesn’t have the experience needed to take on DC. No more than our genial President himself.
But by trashing Sarah Palin in such a rancid, racial, and bigoted way, the media did itself no good, and turned her into an instant symbol of the double-standards practiced by this country’s political elites toward outsiders.
Whatever you think of the moose-hunting mayor, she isn’t an insider, and it was insiders who dragged America through the mud over the last two decades.That makes her – one way or other – a voice for ordinary people, one of us. The persistent trashing of Sarah Palin is a trashing of ordinary Americans.
Great article. I saw it at Lew’s site and came here.
I have bookmarked your blog. (warning!)
=:-)
Subject: RE: “Sarah-Phobic”
From: “Elliott”
Date: Fri, August 7, 2009 3:17 am
To: lilarajiva@mindbodypolitic.com
Priority: Normal
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Hi Lila,
I read your article via lewrockwell.com, and I wanted to tell you that I
appreciate it: both its content and your acid tongue.
Partly due to the treatment of Sarah Palin by so-called feminists, I began
to believe (realize?) that feminism has no validity; at least it hasn’t had
any in my lifetime. (Or perhaps it works as a personal philosophy, but if
someone loudly declares that he or she is a feminist, I now just roll my
eyes. I suppose that’s the case with most -*ism*s, though, possibly even
libertarianism to an extent.) Her treatment by journalists and politicians
is very similar to the kind of treatment that I saw many girls receive in
school: that is, many women (esp. the purported feminists) looked for
reasons to hate her, and many men sexualized her before then looking for
reasons to hate her. In school, females slandered other females because they
wanted to establish superiority (as the alpha-female, I guess) so as to
receive attention from the males. Isn’t this — the over-sexualization and
hatred of women, as well as the (in this case, implicit) attitude that men
should be dominant over women — the antithesis of feminism? And yet it was
and is the M.O. of outspoken pseudo-feminists in response to the advent and
existence of Sarah Palin and other women in the public’s conscious.
I don’t agree with Palin’s views, either, but she’s no worse than and even
slightly preferable to Obama (“the savior”), McCain (“the hero”), and Joe
Biden.
Then again, they’re men.
Attachments:
Subject: at least you are getting close
From: Robert
Date: Fri, August 7, 2009 4:45 am
To: lilarajiva@mindbodypolitic.com
Priority: Normal
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Lila, this is Robert from Prague again.
There are few people who have correctly referred to Bill Clinton as a
psychopath. You can meet the other one; he wrote The Analytic Papers. You
can Google the phrase to locate his website and read on.
The problem is, in America one has to be psychopathic to be successful.
Regards,
Robert B
Subject: Love your stuff, love Palin, loathed Clinton, but……
From: “EDDIE G
Date: Fri, August 7, 2009 4:51 am
To: lilarajiva@mindbodypolitic.com
Priority: Normal
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Although Clinton brayed after every woman like a hound dog in the presence
of some blue tick bitch in heat, I believe the frenzy of media coverage
about Sanford is the direct result of the right going after Clinton on sex.
We KNEW Clinton was just dirty as hell, sleazy as some siding salesman in
Little Rock, and that we could get him if we could just show the public and
convince them……. Problem is, he was slick as calf slobber and we could
not peg him. He was good, REALLY good, and he adjusted himself to political
reality of losing the house and senate in the manner of a consummate
politician with no real convictions. It was about him, not his policies,
and he moved with the flow.
My opinion is that Republicans were SO FRUSTRATED that they warped out of
control and allowed the evangelical fascists in the party to turn DC into a
church meeting expelling the wicked. BTW, I am a very devout Christian who
was gloriously delivered from a life of drug addled dissapation. I read my
Bible every morning and have memorized huge sections of the New Testament,
I have as a life goal to glorify Jesus…. so I think I have the bona fides
to use the phrase “evangelical fascist.” This strategy by the Republicans
was a mistake, and has come back to bite the Republicans in more ways than
just Mark Sanford.
Before the ascent of the religious right, the press knew what every wise
pastor and church leader knows. Men are weak. Their egos are stroked by
power and money and politics is a distillery of both. Men who fall should
be allowed to discretely deal with their own issues as much as possible, in
the hopes of rescuing their marriages (the REAL victims are the spouses and
children, not the constituents). Before Clinton, that was more or less an
unwritten rule. We smashed it because we WANTED Clinton, and we are going
to pay for it.
And just so you will know….. no, this letter is not from experience. I
have a wonderful wife and happy marriage and have been faithful to her for
almost 31 years. One of my goals in life is to be able to say in truth at
my death, “I kept those vows. You were the only one.” I am not writing
some sort of apology for lotharios.
However, aside from that, I love your stuff. I eagerly read you on Lew
Rockwell whenever I see your stuff.
Thank you.
eg
It seems that liberals–or at least the ones in Washington and the major media outlets tend to hate everyone that is not like them. The recent attacks from the political elite on the protesters—they had swatsticas, its brown shirt tactics, organized by Rush Limbaugh, show very disturbing tendencies on the part of liberal elite. The do not like anyone who disagrees with them. The do not like debate. The misunderstand democracy. They are showing total contempt for citizens in a very obvious way. Interestingly, they are demonstrating by their actions and attitudes everything that “right wint” nut jobs have said about them. All in all, we see that the liberal elite have taken on the role of authoritarian leaders and are vexed that the little people do not know that they and St. Obama are in charge……..More depth to this but the attitude toward the health plan protestors speaks volumes of increasingly dark motives and predatory values.
Subject: Re: Lew Rockwell Today
From: “Gadget42”
Date: Fri, August 7, 2009 7:51 am
To: lilarajiva@mindbodypolitic.com
Priority: Normal
Options: View Full Header | View Printable Version | Download this as a file
—–BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE—–
Hash: SHA1
just a quick note of thanks for your continued great works!
– —
Brothers and Sisters in Liberty, Sons and Daughters of Liberty!
Sincerely,
Rob
http://www.starvingthemonkeys.com/
http://voluntaryist.com/fundamentals/introduction.php
Atlas Shrugged, Owner’s Manual For The Universe!(tm)
Subject: Sarah-Phobiia
From: “L. Neil Smith”
Date: Fri, August 7, 2009 8:05 am
To: lilarajiva@mindbodypolitic.com
Priority: Normal
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Dear Ms. *Rajiva,*
I found your comments about Sarah Palin interesting — although
their grudging quality seemed unnecessarily petty. That might just be
me, I guess. I was especially pleased with your remark “The/ /persistent
trashing of Sarah Palin is a trashing of ordinary Americans.”
I agree with you — or you agree with me. In either case, here’s
what I said about the vicious media assault on Palin last November in my
journal, _The Libertarian Enterprise_:
http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2008/tle493-20081116-02.html
I also think what’s happening at these recent public confrontations
over medical Marxism serves to underline the attitudes involved.
L. Neil Smith
Subject: bill clinton got sex by raping women
From: “JOHN C REIS”
Date: Fri, August 7, 2009 9:10 am
To: lilarajiva@mindbodypolitic.com
Priority: Normal
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barack got sex from a willing “male: barney frank did what to whom?
Attachments:
ubject: Sarah-Phobic
From: “bill s
Date: Fri, August 7, 2009 9:55 am
To: lilarajiva@mindbodypolitic.com
Priority: Normal
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“History, with all her volumes vast, Hath but one page” ~Byron
“…Where do standards of decency and privacy go when the target is a
conservative? Journalists seem to be scrambling to nose around in
conservative dirt like pot-bellied slum-kids licking candy-wrappers from the
trash, dead sure that deep inside there’s some juicy stuff left over for
them…”
Standards of decency from ” journalists”?? you are kidding right?
Palin is a media whore and she dragged her family in front and center, and
now expresses shock and dismay when the media does what the media does. I
don’t get it, Is it really a big surprise??? She is an undisciplined,
thin-skinned political lightweight and the attention afforded her, including
yours, is basically a waste of bandwidth.
You do cause me some vertigo “defending” bill clinton, but your venial
tirade is relatively trivial IMO, particularly in the context of the recent
POTUS history of pursuit of excellence to the bottom. I prefer to use body
count and erosion of civil liberties as the litmus test, not the Berlusconi
scale. **
.
*assaulted a couple of women, bit one on the lip until she bled,
Assault!.Are you sure of that?
*sodomized the barely-adult daughter of a loyal Democrat donor and then
tried to trash her as a stalker? Barely adult !?! you have got to be
kidding.. Stalker, no doubt
*besides causing unaccountable career-implosions,… causing?, Arent carreer
implosions ulimately the stuff of free will
*gory suicides …innuendo, have any facts?
*causing.. jail time… facts? did you mean elective jail time?
Ultimately what is your point? The liberal media gave Clinton a pass?? You
have got to be kidding.. The whole time honored canard of the “liberal
media” unjustly persecuting conservative stalwarts has gotten pretty
threadbare. Liberal media, conservative media, I think you mean to imply
Corporate media. Corporate media goes after easy red meat irrespective of
affiliation and sells it to the superficial ADD public that laps it up.
evangelical connonization of Bush???
your senses? BTW, in debate 101 that would be called Fallacy of False
Choice..
*
Once someone is elevated to be the Establishment throne POTUS, they are by
default the new insider by definition, don’t you get that? Was Clinton was
an insider when he was living larger than he ever expected in his wildest
dreams as gov. of AK?
If Palin represents “ordinary americans” come and shoot me now
Perhaps BHO really sucks, but having Palin a heart attack away from POTUS
would have been in the realm of fantastic reality to take a line from
Richard Burton in the Night of the Iguana..
Best regards, Bill S
Wow–Bill S must work for the Washington post or the DNC. The ad-hominum and cliche laden phrases in his post suggest a disapointed Obama supporter. Rather than focusing all his studies on debate 101, composition 101, logic 101 and manners 101 would have been good touchstones as well. Likely, debate 101 trope just that–a trope.
You are bringing them in from the wood work.
Yet more reasons to support your get the hell out of this increasingly crazy country policy….
Hi Robert —
I did respond to his post in my next post..
I wasn’t being serious when I suggested Todd, but I doubt that Sarah did as much as he did in setting up the business and running it..
and he probably does as much or more than her in raising the family..
The rest of his points betray the beltway mindset, as you astutely notice..
The last line especially…
Subject: Mrs Palin
From: “Keith F. G
Date: Fri, August 7, 2009 12:29 pm
To: lilarajiva@mindbodypolitic.com
Priority: Normal
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Just on the question of legal fees: it’s about time the US changed the
“American Rule” that each side in a legal action pays its own costs, unless
otherwise provided by statute. That rule makes the US a lucrative
playground for lawyers (I am one, but not of that sort!). If it were changed
to the rule in other countries, most trivial and frivolous litigation, which
must cost this country countless billions a year, would never occur. In
most of the rest of the world the loser pays the bulk of both side’s costs,
which I believe was the rule here also for part of the nineteenth century.
By the way, most of the statutory exceptions are anti-business, as one might
have expected.
Keith GSubject: Mrs Palin
From: “Keith F. Goodenough”
Date: Fri, August 7, 2009 12:29 pm
To: lilarajiva@mindbodypolitic.com
Priority: Normal
Options: View Full Header | View Printable Version | Download this as a file
Just on the question of legal fees: it’s about time the US changed the
“American Rule” that each side in a legal action pays its own costs, unless
otherwise provided by statute. That rule makes the US a lucrative
playground for lawyers (I am one, but not of that sort!). If it were changed
to the rule in other countries, most trivial and frivolous litigation, which
must cost this country countless billions a year, would never occur. In
most of the rest of the world the loser pays the bulk of both side’s costs,
which I believe was the rule here also for part of the nineteenth century.
By the way, most of the statutory exceptions are anti-business, as one might
have expected.
Keith G
t: Why would someone run for office? Why would we want them to?
From: “Bryan M
Date: Fri, August 7, 2009 1:53 pm
To: “Christian_libertarians@Yahoo”
Priority: Normal
Options: View Full Header | View Printable Version | Download this as a file
http://bryandmorton.blogspot.com/2009/08/why-would-someone-run-for-office-why.html
They seem to be as ubiquitous as cockroaches – people wanting you, to want them, to
steal your hard earned money, and run your life. That’s right, it’s those evil
little trolls called political candidates. You can’t get away from them. Their
smiling faces and their lies are on billboards, in your mailbox, on your TV, on your
computer. And God knows, once we elect one of them, there really is no escape. You
can’t politely decline their offer. Refusal to pay tribute or follow their rules can
and will result in penalties which increase with the degree of your desire to simply
be left alone.
The next time you see an ad asking for your consent to become one of their slaves,
stop and ask yourself, why. Why does this person want to run for office? Does he
really believe that he’s smarter, or more moral, or more ethical than you? Is he
somehow better equipped to know how to spend your money better than you? Is he
clairvoyant, somehow knowing what is best for you and your family, even though every
individual on this planet has different likes, dislikes, dreams, goals and
abilities?
Or, is it really that he’s just a parasite that wants to feed from the tax trough
and control your life?
If his concern is really for others, (as they all claim), then why doesn’t he just
get a productive job which actually serves the community without holding a gun to
our heads to force us to pay for said services. Folks, the country is going broke.
The fact is we’ve been consuming more than we’ve been producing for a long time. We
fell for the biggest scam there is – politics. Politicians promise everything,
prosperity, security, fairness, (That one’s a real hoot, ain’t it?), justice, and we
actually believe that politicians can grant us those things. We fall for the same
gag every time. It’s like Lucy promising to hold the football while Charlie Brown
kicks it. Good ends cannot be produced by evil means. Remember folks, the government
cannot provide anything from the one hand which it doesn’t first steal from the
other, (plus a substantial handling fee.) Consider that the only four tools
government has are theft, violence, slavery, and fraud. The rest of us produce goods
and services for others which they voluntarily buy from us. Most of us treat our
neighbors well, we don’t threaten them with violence even if they don’t give is a
percentage of their paychecks. We don’t invade their privacy or tell them what they
can or cannot peacefully do. We don’t fine or arrest them for selling their property
for more than the market price, (what the government calls gouging), or less than
the market price, (what the government calls flooding) or even for selling at the
market price, (what the government calls price fixing.) No, quite the contrary, most
of us are happy to let our neighbors live their lives as long as they do the same to
us. It’s not until you get the politicians involved that things get ugly. Why?
Because only the government has the monopoly on the use of violence against others
with impunity. If anyone else steals from you, you may exercise your right to defend
yourself. When it’s the government, you better not. When anyone else forces you to
act against your will, again, you may exercise your right to defend yourself and
again, if it’s the government, you’d better not. There’s one to think about for
those who believe in equal rights. Why are the rights of the government class
greater than the rest of us? If I don’t have the right to steal, commit violence or
fraud, why should they?
The question that needs to be asked most is, “What type of person desires that kind
power over others?” Even with the best of intentions, they must realize the
immorality of the political means to their ends.
The next time someone who lacks the humility to understand that he’s NOT better than
you asks you to vote for him, ask him why you’d be better off as his slave than you
would be as a free man.
“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most
oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral
busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some
point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without
end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.” CS Lewis
Peace, liberty, justice, and prosperity,
Bryan
Attachments:
untitled-[2] 5.3 k
Subject: comment
From: “mario l”
Date: Fri, August 7, 2009 2:43 pm
To: lilarajiva@mindbodypolitic.com
Priority: Normal
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You say you are not a fan of Saracuda Palin but you sound like one.I liked her but
they did get to her when she ran for VP because she suddenly bowed down to israel
and was ready to fight anyone for them and bankrupt us. What about the yellow GOP
not coming to her defense by raising money for her legal bills? Those trust fund
country club republicans let her wither away.They would much rather call for
bombing little girls from the golf course. Here was a
beautiful self made woman with four kids who was not an elitist had her own business
who daddy did not set up life for her. After brainwashing women for 45 years to be
the opposite of Saracuda they were not going to let all that work go down the drain
and let a real woman into the arena.
Subject: Puhlease!!……
From: “Rosanne L”
Date: Fri, August 7, 2009 8:45 pm
To: lilarajiva@mindbodypolitic.com
Priority: Normal
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Oh puhlease….. here’s Palin’s comment on the national healthcare crisis affecting
millions of people:
“The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down
Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s “death panel” so his bureaucrats can
decide, based on a subjective judgment of their “level of productivity in society,”
whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.”
It couldn’t get more stupid… she is a crass and craven idiot, using her children
to make brownie points with her adoring fans. You know it and we all know it.
oh wait…she then went on to call up *again* all those ‘real Americans in the
heartland.’ You know, we folks from the big cities just aren’t ‘real Americans.’
She needs to tell that one to my WWII and Vietnam vets: father, uncles, cousins,
and a boyfriend who risked life and limb so she could spew her idiocy – all gone now
and am glad they are not here to listen to this mindless and dangerous rhetoric.
They were, by the way, all from New York City. But you know…according to dear
Sarah, they weren’t ‘real Americans.”
she is the problem, not the solution.
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untitled-[2] 2.4 k [ text/html ]
From: “Ann Ford”
Date: Fri, August 7, 2009 9:00 pm
To: lilarajiva@mindbodypolitic.com
Priority: Normal
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Lila,
Well written.
I do understand your feelings about Palin stepping into Washington. A lot of people
don’t think she belongs there because she has a house full of kids.
My husband felt the same way when I wanted to work in his failing company. He said
“We got 8 kids at home” Well. we made a deal, I went to work after the last school
bus left and I had to be home by 4pm. No problem, I just loaded up my trunk with
work that I could do after 8pm when the kids went to bed. Oh, and I came at the
right price. My work was free, I took no pay until the third yr.
Why did I want to do this? I was about 35 and driven. I just could not fantom
living in a van with 8 kids and three dogs. How bad was it? We faced not only
loosing the business but also our home. That was the year OPEC oil crisis.
What did I know about advertising? Absolutely nothing. Our weekly paper (all
advertising, a weekly shopper, full broadsheet ) when I started we had a weekly
circulation of maybe 10,000 (and that is streaching it) grew to 60,000 + in 7 yrs.
direct mail and I was nominated for Small business woman of the yr. I did not win
the title but was appointed to the SBA advisory council. Really did not want to do
it, but I was the first woman ever appointed, if I did not accept, would there ever
be another offer to a woman. Remember the glass ceiling.
I was so busy with the paper and the kids at home, also a girl scout leader, band
mother, Jr. womans club member and I was also taking two classes a week (evenings)
at our community college. Yep, I made the deans list. This does not include the
baseball season or ski season. Yes, I was a gate keeper during the non sanctioned
races.
Why would anyone want to go to Washington? I think this gal Sarah reminds me about
myself when I was her age. She is driven, she sees something is wrong. Heck, she
can’t be worse than we have now.
Foreign affairs, that’s a piece of cake. I would not be afraid to see her in
Washington or dealing with foreign affairs. I think her style is unique and
genuine. I also believe our enemies will see this and a least have respect for her.
They may not agree with her but I am sure she would earn their respect.
Again thank you for your article. And I hope I did not take up too much of you time
with my story. I am now an older woman and I fear for our country.
I can no longer believe everything our politicians are saying like “if you like your
health insurance you can keep it” Or “no illegals will be covered by the health
care plan” “No home visits are not mandatory”. Yet, if you read the bill you are
reading the complete opposite. And then the media sounds like a bunch of parrots
giving their opinions and truthfully they sound foolish because you know they also
have not read the bill.
Again, thank you and good nite.
Attachments:
From: “Ann F >
Date: Fri, August 7, 2009 9:00 pm
To: lilarajiva@mindbodypolitic.com
Priority: Normal
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Lila,
Well written.
I do understand your feelings about Palin stepping into Washington. A lot of people
don’t think she belongs there because she has a house full of kids.
My husband felt the same way when I wanted to work in his failing company. He said
“We got 8 kids at home” Well. we made a deal, I went to work after the last school
bus left and I had to be home by 4pm. No problem, I just loaded up my trunk with
work that I could do after 8pm when the kids went to bed. Oh, and I came at the
right price. My work was free, I took no pay until the third yr.
Why did I want to do this? I was about 35 and driven. I just could not fantom
living in a van with 8 kids and three dogs. How bad was it? We faced not only
loosing the business but also our home. That was the year OPEC oil crisis.
What did I know about advertising? Absolutely nothing. Our weekly paper (all
advertising, a weekly shopper, full broadsheet ) when I started we had a weekly
circulation of maybe 10,000 (and that is streaching it) grew to 60,000 + in 7 yrs.
direct mail and I was nominated for Small business woman of the yr. I did not win
the title but was appointed to the SBA advisory council. Really did not want to do
it, but I was the first woman ever appointed, if I did not accept, would there ever
be another offer to a woman. Remember the glass ceiling.
I was so busy with the paper and the kids at home, also a girl scout leader, band
mother, Jr. womans club member and I was also taking two classes a week (evenings)
at our community college. Yep, I made the deans list. This does not include the
baseball season or ski season. Yes, I was a gate keeper during the non sanctioned
races.
Why would anyone want to go to Washington? I think this gal Sarah reminds me about
myself when I was her age. She is driven, she sees something is wrong. Heck, she
can’t be worse than we have now.
Foreign affairs, that’s a piece of cake. I would not be afraid to see her in
Washington or dealing with foreign affairs. I think her style is unique and
genuine. I also believe our enemies will see this and a least have respect for her.
They may not agree with her but I am sure she would earn their respect.
Again thank you for your article. And I hope I did not take up too much of you time
with my story. I am now an older woman and I fear for our country.
I can no longer believe everything our politicians are saying like “if you like your
health insurance you can keep it” Or “no illegals will be covered by the health
care plan” “No home visits are not mandatory”. Yet, if you read the bill you are
reading the complete opposite. And then the media sounds like a bunch of parrots
giving their opinions and truthfully they sound foolish because you know they also
have not read the bill.
Again, thank you and good nite.
@ Bill S.
“– he with the near-halo on every magazine cover”,> are you forgetting the
evangelical connonization of Bush???”
“Have you have taken leave of
your senses? BTW, in debate 101 that would be called Fallacy of False
Choice..”
***
How ironic that someone who talks about “debate 101” doesn’t even recognize the obvious tu quoque-fallacy he makes immediately preceding it.
BTW “have you taken a leave of your senses” would be ad hominem.
You better take that course again.
Great article in Lew Rockwell. The Elite have utter contempt for the middle class of America. The same middle class that put food on their table, roofs over their head etc.. Their arrogance rivals anything experienced by the monarchies of old.
On another note: you have a great writing style, fiery, bold and uncompromising – just what is need during these times of appalling corruption. As the journalists of the Old Media become nothing but shills for the Ruling Elite individuals like yourself, Will Grigg, Laurence Vance etc.. will become the voices for Truth that our culture desperately needs. Keep up the good work !!!!
@ Roseanne.
“she is the problem, not the solution.”
The solution to WHAT? And to/for WHOM?
ALL politicians are the problem, not the solution.
The only “real American” is either a Native American geographically, or a supporter of the founding fathers, the constitution (all of it, incl. the 2nd ammendment), and the bill of rights, politically.
Somehow i doubt that the crypto-socialist state that the Democrats have in mind is what the founding fathers had in mind.
And the same goes for the corporatist state of the neo-cons and the theocracy of the religious right.
Subject: I’m Going To Scream
From: “Vaughn K”
Date: Sat, August 8, 2009 4:06 pm
To: lilarajiva@mindbodypolitic.com
Cc:
Priority: Normal
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Dear Lila Rajiva,
Boy, if I read one more article about the “shrinking violet,” Sarah Palin, I am
going to scream! For heaven sakes woman, let’s put our efforts behind someone who
can move the ball. Let’s remember who never had anything good to say about Ron Paul
in this last presidential primary–might that be John McCain? And then the
two-headed monster was created: McCain/Palin. I understand the point of your
article–the injustices that have been heaped upon Sarah. You make some fine points
about unjust legal costs, which I happen to agree with you in that this is a real
injustice. But Lila, time’s a-wastin’ and Sarah needs to vanish from the political
arena for the reasons I have stated below in response to Dr. Miller’s article at
LRC, “Why They Hate Sarah.” And I do not agree with your statement that she is for
“ordinary people” because she totally reversed fields once she was co-opted into the
McCain campaign. Hey-and by the way-today she stated that Obama’s healthcare plan
was evil. However, would she REALLY “stick to her guns” if Obama offered her a
cabinet post??? This is a very serious period in America, and so it becomes
imperative to start talking about Karen De Coster.and Ron Paul. Let’s ask Karen if
she would be interested in teaming up with Ron Paul for 2012. How about that?!
Regards, Vaughn K
Dear Dr. Miller,
Now let’s face it.Sarah Palin is one good looking chick. and very appealing to look
at; but after all is said and done, she comes across (from my perspective) as a
fuddy-duddy bureaucrat. She may have said some “cool” things about Ron Paul, but as
soon as she was joined-at-the-hip with the “warmonger” John McCain, she became the
usual political opportunist (read “toady”) who just happened to agree with every
word he uttered. This woman is extremely flighty.and not at all principled. Her
professional background as a statist is extremely dismal.and I see nothing
worthwhile in her background. She has been a tax-eater..par excellence.for years.
And so (sadly) I think you are backing a dead horse. I wonder what Dr. Block and Lew
Rockwell would say today about Mrs. Palin.? Maybe a different slant at present? I
know they would be totally honest about how they feel today. However.If they did
happen to agree with you.I would be surprised.
I think perhaps you read the articles on LRC as I do. There is a woman who writes
articles and blogs on LRC. and Sarah Palin couldn’t even “hold her jock”! Her name
is Karen De Coster. She is the “racehorse” you should be backing and writing about.
She has the ol’ buzz-saw logic like MNR used to have when it comes to political
issues. She opens up issues–right and left–so that you can see the fallacies in
their failed logic. She’s right out of the Ron Paul mold–unwavering principles. Oh
sure, she might not attract the following that Sarah now has, but then again if you
back Sarah, what do you have.some thin-skinned bureaucrat who is simply another
fuddy-duddy politician. On the other hand.Karen is already moving the choo-choo
straight down the track with your free-market goals in mind. I do not know Karen
personally, but if you’re looking for intelligence, professionalism, moxie, quick
wit, independence and unflappable integrity, then observe her work, my friend! Might
I also mention that she is also a hardcore Rothbardian!
Regards, Vaughn K
Subject: Fantastic article about Palin
From: “Jonathan S”
Date: Sat, August 8, 2009 8:29 pm
To: lilarajiva@mindbodypolitic.com
Priority: Normal
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I’m a long ago former fan of the former Alaska governor but you really put
her shortcomings into perspective while skewering the hypocrites in a lather
over her. First rate job here (I also enjoyed the book you coauthored).
Jonathan S
Subject: Re: Puhlease!!……
From: “Rosanne L”
Date: Sat, August 8, 2009 8:57 am
To: lilarajiva@mindbodypolitic.com
Priority: Normal
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I don’t disagree with you philosophically. Women are more easily disparaged
in politics than men, as they are in real life. Who’s attacking her private
life? I think there was some ‘liberal’ blogger who made fun of her family.
Frankly, anyone who makes fun of a politicians family is off limits for me.
Those children, and I think her children are darling sweet children, are
off-limits. I feel the same way about this as I do about Rush Limbaugh who
made despicable mockery about Chelsea Clinton’s looks back when she was a
young teenager to make brownie points with his fans . It is same way I feel
about John McCain who also made disgusting jokes about Chelsea on the
campaign trail as well. These people are to be impugned.
I never believed rural people are white trash, or rednecks, etc… There
is way too much pitting the red state/blue state garbage around, but who
exactly started that? Wasn’t it Karl Rove? He single-handedly started the
culture wars in this country and it is still going on. Palin defines the
culture wars. She is not distancing herself from them, but exacerbating
them. Many intelligent people were elected to high office who came from
small towns across this country. But I am deeply offended by her remarks
that swipe all Americans born and bred in the large cities of this nation as
‘not American’ enough for her and her political constituents. This has
nothing to do with her family.
She has paraded them around on the national stage for political brownie
points, hasn’t she? As a mother of a baby with special needs, and a
teenager who got pregnant, frankly…I would have more respect for her if
she stayed home to see to their needs herself and put her political ambition
on the shelf for awhile. But then again, I’m a liberal and you know, we
liberals really don’t care about ‘family values.’
If she doesn’t want her family to put into the present hateful political
climate, she should keep them away from the cameras. She milks it for what
it’s worth because she knows it helps her politically. For that, I
disrespect her both as a politician and as a woman.
Best wishes….Rosanne
Hi Roseanne –
I don’t disagree with some of your points
Populist anti-intellectualism is dangerous.
But Palin’s is no worse rhetoric than some by others.
yet she’s been subjected to much worse treatment and language that if
she’d been anyone else.
Attack her arguments, not her private life.
There is divisive rhetoric all around, including language that classifies
all rural or small town folks as red necks, white trash etc…
The rise of Palin is a reaction to that.
Isn’t it time to put aside this culture war and allow all politicians some
privacy?
Ultimately it’s not good for the country, because it scares people away
from political engagement
Thanks for your response
Lila
I love your WordPress theme, is it a custom theme?