Can we stop treating Sarah Palin as a joke?

[Cyrano]

This is one dangerous person. And anyone who thinks she couldn't get elected are fools.

I remember when everyone treated Ronald Reagan as a joke. And then he got elected president – twice.

I remember when everyone treated George W. Bush as a joke. And then he managed to steal the presidency – twice.

Wake up, America. What if this woman got into the Oval Office? Forget the “Be afraid, be very afraid,” bullshit. Instead, we should all live in absolute terror every moment of our lives.

As bad as we thought Reagan and Bush were, Palin is far beyond whatever we would consider “dangerous.” Take one moment, and think of Sarah Palin sitting in the Oval Office with the power to launch nuclear weapons. If that doesn’t scare the living hell out of you, then you are brain dead.

[belpejic]

1. As hard as it is to not treat her as a joke, I agree.

We can't wait for the Republicans to eat their own in this case. What can we do to help permanently discredit this person?

[omega minimo]

10. phony

[villager]

2. As a child, I was sitting up with my parents and their friends in the 60's, when Reagan

...was first elected governor of California.

I still remember the laughter greeted with the "joke" that "if he ever gets elected President, I'm leaving the country!"

[HipChick]

3. Just checking on my dual citizenship...

actually tri-citizenship...I'm good ..just in case..

[saracat]

4. I agree. She is very , very dangerous, because the people

who are behind her are dangerous. This is a true cult of personality and the lack of critical thinking that afflicts this nation extends to both sides of the aisle.She could be elected.I believe we ignore the danger of her possible candidcay at our peril.

[omega minimo]

5. You betcha ;)

We went down the Rabbit Hole long ago, as you point out in the OP. Reagan and Bush still are a joke. It's taking them seriously that IS the problem.

"Morning in America" "Like to have a beer with the guy" "Stolen elections, Big Whup"

[Deep13]

6. True, it just lowers the bar for her.

If she can spell her own name, people will think she's some kind of fucking genius.

Still, even if we on the site stop making jokes about her, the late night comedians never will.

[independent voter]

7. Palin and her kind are very dangerous

There are just enough misinformed lunatics to elect people like Palin and her ilk, and they have shown that they have zero respect for our Constitution. They literally want a religious government, which would be the end of democracy in America as we know it.

The founders would be rolling over in their graves and crapping themselves if we ever elected someone like that.

[upi402]

8. The media is dangerous, she is a joke n/t

[Locrian]

12. careful

>>The media is dangerous, she is a joke n/t

Hitler was a joke - at one time. The people behind her are batshit crazy too.
I wouldnt put it past "non-crazy" but super greedy/wealthy to attempt to
use her. And fail. Thats when the whole thing really stops being a joke.

[upi402]

21. agreed

and the elites will use their media to foist her. there will likely be a chrystal nacht event too i'd bet... bombing the reichstaag (sp?)

[Bonhomme Richard]

9. She's not, nor will be, running for anything. She is in......

her 15 minutes and is grabbing all the bucks she can before the big fade. She just likes to hear her name and president in the same sentence.
Dangerous? Yes, but in the right wing wacko arena. Not as a presidential candidate.

[Inuca]

15. Agree

She is stupid, but not THAT stupid not to realize that she does not stand a chance in 2012. She is going for all the ego-stroking and especially money she can get until th 2012 primaries get under way at which point she won't be able to tease any longer with "will she" or "won't she". And she WON'T.

[abluelady]

16. Exactly.

She doesn't have the wherewithal to do anything that truly takes an effort. And, the Presidency just doesn't pay enough.

[Bryn]

11. I wonder what Mitt Romney's ultimate motive is when

recently he said that Sarah Palin was qualified to be President of the United States!

[Inuca]

17. If you refer to his recent Sunday morning

interview (I think), and if my recollection is correct, he didn't exactly say that. He said something like "she is impressive" or somethinglaudatory but less precise along these lines. Romney is pretty smart and in the unlikely case that he will have to fight her in a primary I don't think he will want black &white statements like this on record against him.

[Lerkfish]

13. yeah, why don't we start treating DK like a joke du jour?

seems to be the MO around here.
let's lay off the batshit crazy right wingers but instead lets pile up on the liberals.

[Cleita]

20. Because I believe those who pile it on the liberals are

batshit crazy right wingers who are still flying under the radar here on DU.

[kestrel91316]

24. +1000

[Walk away]

14. What are we supposed to treat her as? The Boogie Man?

How is that going to help?

[Jack Rabbit]

18. Can we stop treating Sarah Palin?

I hate to rain on this parade, but she's jumped the shark like nobody has ever done it before. She can't count getting on 25% of the vote.

Her book tour alienated some of her followers. Her address to the astroturf shindig in Nashville alienated more. Doing stand up comedy on Leno didn't do anything for her. Her story of family treks to Canada for health care only make her seen less genuine. Here is a political demagogue talking about the evils of socialized medicine (picking up Betsy McCaughey's pack of lies about government death panels) and praising "common sense conservative free market solutions" while the story of her own childhood exposes the problem of the American health care system (it's expensive and inaccessable) and the virtues of socialized medicine (it's affordable and available to all).

Trust me, her 15 minutes are up. Start worrying about Mitt Romney. Better yet, start worrying about America and start worrying now. It doesn't matter who succeeds Obama in 2012 if he's such a flop that he can't win. It is that failure that will send America into the dust bin of history along side the Soviet Union, not his successor, who won't be able to do anything about it.

[Cyrano]

30. Hey, Jack Rabbit: It's not Palin I'm worried about. It's the

countless millions of American imbeciles who would vote for her. Do your really believe that the human species has an over abundance of intelligence?

As I stated in my OP, this is a country that elected Reagan -- twice, and let Bush Jr. steal it twice. -- Do you really believe this Palin creature could not come to power in this country?

I, for one, believe that Mickey Mouse could get elected under the right conditions.

[Jack Rabbit]

47. Ronald Reagan never polled as badly as Sarah Palin

Maybe I thought he was a disaster as governor of California (and I still do), but the perception of him nationally was always better. He never polled 79% negative even when the bastard threatened a "blood bath" (his term) against anti-war demonstrators at UC Berkeley. And I still think he was a terrible president with a direct straight line called "Reagonomics" leading from his 1981 economic program to the 2008 meltdown on Wall Street. He still wouldn't poll the kind of negatives Mrs. Palin does.

Bush the Frat Boy only polled numbers like that in his second term. If he could have run for a third term, it would have been hopeless beyond stealing.

While there are right wing ideologues who think she can do no wrong, most people see through Mrs. Palin. She is not a leader, she is a politician trying desperately to pose as one. Common sense is not something that all people with deficient book learning possess by nature, yet she would have us believe otherwise. Bush would have had us believe that, too. It only worked as long as there was a crisis, but when people realized that he did much to bring that crisis on himself the jig was up. No one with any common sense would have invaded Iraq when the enemy was in Afghanistan.

Reagan was an entirely different story. He knew he wasn't the sharpest pencil in the box and, just as importantly, he knew that wasn't a source of strength. He did not look down his nose at people he thought were smarter than he was and was more than willing than get advice from them. This doesn't mean that supply side economics was the panacea for all that would ever ail any economy or that deregulation was wise, but at least he went about implementing them the right way. Otherwise, it wouldn't have taken Wall Street 25 years of policing itself to melt down in a orgy of greed. But I digress.

Mrs. Palin isn't being helped by her advocates, either. The most recent in the parade that includes Glenn Beck, the granddaddy of all teabaggers, and Rush Limbaugh, the granddaddy of all right wing blowhards, is some nutty lady named Pam Geller who goes on television to argue that Mrs. Palin did not quit her job as governor of Alaska, but was "called to lead a new American revolution and answered the call." Ms. Geller does not tell us who called her, but I know it wasn't me and I seriously doubt it was the seventy or eighty per cent of respondents in public opinion surveys who, like me, don't think she has what it takes to be president and that she will never have it.

So, to summarize my argument about Mrs. Palin:

• She has very high disapproval ratings and hasn't even been president yet;
• She cannot hide her shortcomings, namely her ignorance of constitutional principles or of public affairs (I would so like to ask her, in front of an audience of millions, who she plans to appoint to head the Department of Law in the White House should she become president);
• Her strenghth ("common sense") is a work of fiction and she can't hide that, either;
• Given her personal history, her Reaganesque stand on public issues, especially health care, is entirely inauthentic; and
• She is more interested in making money from her celebrity than in being a leader (one might suppose the biggest reason she wants to be president is that she will make a mint from her memoirs after she leaves office).

None of this has anything to do with my opinion of her. That is the perception of Sarah Palin held by most Americans. It just so happens that I hold that view of her, too.

[Cleita]

19. She is entertaining but I agree.

A trained tiger is also entertaining but he can attack and eat you when you let down your guard.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

22. No.

Sarah Palin is a joke.

[kestrel91316]

23. All I can say is, if the US EVER elects that woman president,

we will deserve everything we get.

If people wanna be that stupid, let them. And let them suffer the consequences.

[Blue Meany]

29. If she does run, all we have to do is stir up the "women belong in

the kitchen" conservatives and get them to vote for the libertarian candidate.

[Fire1]

36. But we'll suffer those same consequences. n/t

[Lil Missy]

25. In what respect, Charlie?

[HughBeaumont]

26. Different situations entirely.

Reagan was a convincing corporate spokesperson, folksy demeanor and was groomed to succeed what was perceived at the time as a very weak presidency. With no strong challengers in his way and corporate America on his side, this was a "Right Person, Right Time" situation for the GOP.

Bewsh 43 got in because of his name, his daddy's buddies on the Supreme Court, blatant election theft, Gore's horrible campaign (selecting Lieberman and moving away from the positive attributes of the Clinton Administration didn't help matters) a mostly unvigilant public & internet, stupidity from independents and dirty trickery from Rove.

This isn't 1980 or 2000.

Sarah Palin only has the support of this country's grizzled nutjob Tea Klux Klan contingent and the religious whackjobs. She freely and without care aligns herself with the fringest of the fringe right wing-ding groups. Anyone with a brain stem can see this woman isn't qualified to run a Burger King, let alone this country. She's a tabloid comedy act. Thinking conservatives really aren't that jazzed about her, her family or her irresponsible behavior, which is why they're understandably concerned about 2012. I don't really even think she has near the media support Bewsh and Reagan did.

They know deep down she wouldn't even pose a remote threat to Barack Obama's re-election chances, and chances are, she's pretty much who they'll be stuck running with. Despite what you read on DU, most of the people who voted for Obama are glad they did. I just don't see her gaining any Obama states.

[mdmc]

27. She is the next Raygun

fear her

[Cetacea]

31. I am afraid you are probably right.

I fully expect the major media to declare her "re-invented " and "fully capable" and the masses will nod in agreement as they vote on their Die-bold machines.

[Blue Meany]

28. But satire is one of the best way to deal with conservatives n/t

[NICO9000]

32. I still think she'll make some half-hearted 3rd party run

Does anyone really think she could raise the billion dollars it'll probably cost to win next time? Yes, she would be friendly to the corpo-fascists, but so would any Rethug who would not be anywhere near as polarizing to the general electorate.

That said, I agree. You can't trust the supreme court (lower-cased on purpose by me), the voting machines, and especially a confused, frightened, mean-spirited, and downright stupid public. She clearly knows how to appeal to that last group.

[Blue_In_AK]

33. I agree, Cyrano.

I've been saying that for the past 18 months, although I'm at least glad that she's been showing her true colors lately. If she had been as good a deceiver nationally as she was here in Alaska before McCain picked her, we'd REALLY be in some trouble. There was a reason that she had an 85% approval rating here, and as hard as it is to believe these days, she was more popular with Democrats and Independents than she was with the Republicans.

You might get a kick out of this post at Progressive Alaska today: http://progressivealaska.blogspot.com/2010/03/saradise-lost-book-4-chapter-59-what.html

<snip>

Sarah Palin continues to try to explain away why she had to write her answers to the questions at last month’s Tea Party gathering in Nashville.

Palin’s latest attempt occurred at a right to life fundraiser in Ohio last night. She said, “If what was good enough for God, scribbling on the palm of his hand, it’s good enough for me, for us.” Palin has now been reduced to invoking God to explain away her ineptitude.



Had Palin been Abraham, she would have put down the knife (or not), and paraded Isaac in front of the next available publicist, blaming the tribal scribes and gossips for the whole ordeal.

Had Palin been Moses, the Israelites would have gotten 2/3 of the way across the Red Sea - and passed the ball.

Had Palin been Moses, there might be - at most - 7 commandments.

Had Palin been Joshua, she would have put down the trumpet just before the walls actually began to tumble. Had she played the flute, the walls would have only grown stronger, unless they rocked to the ground from laughter.

Had Palin been David, we would have 30 or so Psalms, instead of 150. At least in the first volume. Palin-David would hold for a better deal on the remaining 120.

Had Palin been Lot's wife, we'd be spared a helluva a lot of salty trouble over the past 33 months. In spite of the fact she probably has multiple attorneys looking back

<snip>

[Fire1]

34. I honestly don't think she can get the needed funds to run an

effective campaign, especially against President Obama. But, then again, there are alot of stupid and vindictive people in the world.:shrug:

[Swamp Rat]

35. No, because it erodes her façade little by little, every day.

She will never be elected to the oval office. Never.

[Echo In Light]

37. The real, shadow interests running the US would never actually put her in

Plenty of far, far scarier fucks out there to concern ourselves with. Palin's a one note distraction...for...?

[jberryhill]

38. You can if you like

Others may not agree with you.

[MrSlayer]

39. She makes it really hard not to.

And honestly, the People are dumb but they are not that dumb. Most Republicans see her as unfit.

[TexasObserver]

40. No.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

41. The big difference is, she's a woman

It'll kill any chance she has with the GOP base to get out of a primary, or various cross sections in a general election.

Most GOP men like her because they want to have sex with her while she parrots their views. They have no interest in her being president. Her running with McCain was nothing more than a cynical attempt to slam Obama's celebrity, coattail Hillary's popularity and fire up the wingnuts in a race they had no chance to win.

In this case, let's be glad for male chauvinism.

[lunatica]

42. I take her very seriously and I still treat her like a joke

The only way she'll ever be President is if the election is stolen and the Supreme Justices select her. Treating these people like the joke they are doesn't mean no one is taking them seriously.

I refuse to show any of them any respect. They are all a joke albeit a very bad one.

[dionysus]

43. more fail. sweeeet.

[AlinPA]

44. I agree totally. Americans are stupid. The media is building her and the teabaggers.

The republican base will go completely berserk if she is not on the ticket for president after the RNC convention. She appeals to the entire republican base: fundamentalist/evangelicals, the racists, the creationists, anti-science knuckledraggers, anti-gay haters, anti-government, anti-immigrant haters.

[Xenotime]

45. I disagree. She can't go through an interview without showing how dumb she is.

[Toasterlad]

46. No.

[LanternWaste]

48. You may consider her dangerous, but I....

You may consider her dangerous, but I see her as little more than a series of fart-jokes from a bad college movie.

"What if this woman got into the Oval Office?" I hope and I pray that she runs for office-- even her own base will be forced to concede she's a political failure.

[Berry Cool]

49. We have nothing to fear from her. The Republicans will never nominate her

because they cannot control her and her base of support isn't broad enough. And as a third-party candidate she will serve only as a spoiler who divides their party's votes.

[bemildred]

50. No. Facts are facts. She is a joke. nt

[bananas]

51. No, nt

[saltpoint]

52. Palin is a political fad, the tickle-me-elmo of the current moment.

She quit her public service job. She's all hat and no cattle. She's vacuously stupid.

As thick as the Republicans are, they are not very likely IMO to turn over serious definitional power to a rogue fool like Sarah Palin.

In the private strategy sessions of the Romney campaign my guess is that the knives are being sharpened. Her path to the GOP headline in the Iowa caucus will be to bolt the party and begin a (likely already-planned) independent campaign. In this scheme, she does not "win" the Iowa caucus but eclipses the person who does by stealing his headline glory the next morning by announcing, say at 09:00 p.m. Eastern Time, that she is breaking from the GOP and running as a third party independent candidate.

She is Little Red Riding Hood trying to charm her way to grandma's house and does not realize how long or politically treacherous the path ahead of her is.

If you strip Sarah Palin of her crass, attention-seeking notoriety, there ain't no 'there' there.

[SycamoreFlynn]

53. Can we stop treating Sarah Palin as a joke?

At one time, the three most frightening words in the English
language were" President Dan Quayle".
Sarah Palin is a fluffball. Maybe that is why "President
Sarah Palin" is even more horrifying!

[HuckleB]

54. NOPE!

[mochajava666]

55. I'm sorry, but No, I can't stop until she stops acting like one

The Jerry Springer aspect of her will keep the ridicule going. She has as much of a chance for the presidency as Blagojevich, Larry Craig, Michelle Bachmann, or John Edwards.

That senile, old fuck McCain gave her the lottery chance at the presidency. That was her one and only chance. She won't accept the vice presidency again, and the GOP establishment won't let her hold elective office on a national level, anyway. They need a puppet, not a psycho.

Reagan and W were potted plants, but they were controllable. Palin is on a mission from God, and her God is one crazy bastard.