Arrrrrrgh, I Give Up!

In my opinion Sarah Palin is the most overhyped politician of our time. Her ineptitude and loose relationship with the truth,however, has been rewarded time and time again since she was named John McCain's nominee for Vice President last summer. It is for that reason that I typically try to avoid giving her too much of my time.

I put up obligatory posts this week on the Vanity Fair hit piece on her and an accompanying GOPolitico story where Steve Schmidt and Bill Kristol aired each other over he VF article.

Now I was going to leave it at that but there was another report from CBSNews about some emails that documented a back and forth between Palin herself and Schmidt. Honestly I couldn't help but at least post the back and forth without the commentary and let it speak for itself.

Enjoy.

First the Peon

"Pls get in front of that ridiculous issue that's cropped up all day today - two reporters, a protestor's sign, and many shout-outs all claiming Todd's involvement in an anti-American political party," Palin wrote. "It's bull, and I don't want to have to keep reacting to it ... Pls have statement given on this so it's put to bed."

Then Schmidt

Schmidt hit "reply to all" less than five minutes after Palin's e-mail was sent. "Ignore it," he wrote. "He was a member of the aip? My understanding is yes. That is part of their platform. Do not engage the protestors. If a reporter asks say it is ridiculous. Todd loves america."

Undeterred Peon

"That's not part of their platform and he was only a 'member' bc independent alaskans too often check that 'Alaska Independent' box on voter registrations thinking it just means non partisan," Palin wrote. "He caught his error when changing our address and checked the right box. I still want it fixed."

Schmidt comes with the haymaker

"Secession," he wrote. "It is their entire reason for existence. A cursory examination of the website shows that the party exists for the purpose of seceding from the union. That is the stated goal on the front page of the web site. Our records indicate that todd was a member for seven years. If this is incorrect then we need to understand the discrepancy. The statement you are suggesting be released would be innaccurate. The innaccuracy would bring greater media attention to this matter and be a distraction. According to your staff there have been no media inquiries into this and you received no questions about it during your interviews. If you are asked about it you should smile and say many alaskans who love their country join the party because it speeks to a tradition of political independence. Todd loves his country

We will not put out a statement and inflame this and create a situation where john has to adress this."

Game Over.

Obviously at that point even Schmidt was done with her. When will the Mainstream Media follow suit?

The REAL Palin Story

I wasn't impressed with the Sarah Palin story in Vanity Fair yesterday. Most of it was rehashed stuff that politics junkies like me already had seen reported other places. The rest of it was stuff that I think common sense would have allowed you to believe without the need for the story. The people who support Palin are never going to read that article and change their mind about her and the rest of us which is the overwhelming majority of the country don't need to know any more "dirt" to turn us off from Sarah Palin.

However the fallout from the article is really worth paying attention to. This GOPolitico article detailing the attacks and counter attacks that were launched after the article was published is pretty interesting reading. The primary reason is that Bill Kristol's role as Sarah Palin's primary promoter and sponsor is being exposed to the masses. And the by product of that is that every "news" organization whom employed Kristol during the election season including the New York Times and of course FoxNews as having allowed blatant propaganda to be disseminated through their organization without ever forcing Kristol to divulge his ties to the McCain campaign.

Ok and I will admit that there is a "juicy soap opera" feel to it also that is pretty compelling. I don't know that anybody has improved their profile any more than Steve Schmidt since the election came to a close. The guy helped to run one of the worst, most inept presidential campaigns in history and yet after the election he started to speak truth to power. He has been frank about what the GOP needs to do to change their political fortunes and it doesn't involve just using the words "freedom" and "socialism" more. And he has also of course come out in support of gay marriage. Something that, of course, would have been a lot braver move had he done it during the campaign, but still better late than never, right?

Well after how he conducted himself in the GOPolitico documented, drama filled back and forth, I can only see his star rising even further.

Bill Kristol, not so much.

Well I am not going to excerpt from the article because I have major issues with GOPolitico has a news organization, however if you like to watch the GOP implode right before your very eyes, I would say click on the link and go crazy.

Heresy

The former campaign strategist Steve Schmidt has come out in favor of gay marriage and or civil unions.

From ThinkProgress:

“I’m personally supportive of [marriage] equality for gay couples and I believe that it will happen over time,” he said. “I think that more and more Americans are insistent that, at a minimum, gay couples should be treated with respect and when they see a political party trying to stigmatize a group of people who are hardworking, who play by the rules, who raise decent families, they’re troubled by it.” […]

snip

“The attitudes of voters about gay marriage and about domestic partnership benefits for gay couples are changing very rapidly and for voters under the age of 30, they are completely disconnected from what has been Republican orthodoxy on these issues.”

The only question is how quickly will the Republican Party try to excommunicate Schmidt now that he has challenged party orthodoxy. It also should be said that he said he voted against Prop 8 so evidently this is not just a political move. Good on to him for having the courage to speak truth to power. Unfortunately I don't think his party is interested in change.