Posted by willyloman on September 2, 2008
by Scott Creighton
We are reading more and more reports about how the McCain camp’s choice of Gov. Palin as his VP running-mate isn’t living up to their expectations; how their “vetting” process must have been flawed; and how McCain really wanted someone else in the first place. I wonder if this isn’t the outcome they fully expected, and wanted, in the first place.
You have to admit, there for awhile, the story was compelling; McCain picks a relative unknown who was the first woman to serve as Gov. of Alaska, to be his running mate, making her the first woman to fill that roll in the republican party. She is relatively young, dynamic, attractive, and she is a mother of 5; the quintessential “girl next door makes good” story. Wow. What a headline grabber. And that is just what it did.
The timing of the marketing-launch of this Disneyesque “Princess Sarah” fable couldn’t have been more convenient for the McCain camp; right after a historic speech given by Barack Obama, a history making presidential choice, in his own right. Palin’s nomination dragged the focus of the spotlights right off of the democratic nominee and placed their burning glare square on the face of Gov. Palin and her family.
Obama’s speech and Hillary’s support of his nomination wasn’t the only thing that got lost in the shuffle when Palin was given the nod. So was the democrats new-found unity.
Some dems literally went crazy when her name was announced. They figured that the selection of a woman, any woman, was simply pandering to the female vote by the McCain people and that it was done to take advantage of the hordes of disenfranchised Hillary supporters on the left. That is understandable. Rather than having a woman rise to the ranks of this nomination own the merits of her accomplishments, here they had, staring them in the face, yet another example of a woman being used by men to fulfill a specific need.
So when a story surfaced, that may or may not have been based in fact, there were allot of “progressives” that seem to have temporarily abandoned their higher moral ground to delve into the murky, shallow waters of gotcha politics. Again, understandable. But not the progressives finest moment.
Yeah, the choice of Sarah Palin really shook things up a bit. But now, she’s stealing headlines for different reasons. Now, as the press vets this choice, all sorts of things are popping up about her associations and her life. This is to be expected, after all she was an unknown with relatively little experience in the national spotlight. For the McCain camp not to have expected this, would have been a huge mistake for them.
I doubt they make mistakes that big,… by accident.
In the last few days we have seen a huge rise in the article coming from the republican controlled MSM that tend to suggest that, for whatever reason, the general population of the right-wing consensus isn’t very happy about this choice. Quite frankly I can’t see where those stories are coming from. The right-wing bloggers seem to be defending her quite well, except for the fact that she has little experience. But Bush didn’t have much either, for that matter. Her stance on many of the superficial right-wing issues is perfectly lined up and she has acted accordingly though-out her career.
But still the right-controlled MSM keep pumping out the stories about how the right isn’t happy with her selection. Seems kinda odd that they would be selling that story line way before the mood really develops in conservative land. But they are. Almost as if they need to create that mood.
Over the last three days I have read a total of 3 articles from headline news sources, some of the same ones selling the “right not happy” story, that quote John McCain as saying that he didn’t want this choice in the first place. He really wanted Lieberman, a pro-choice former democratic senator.
Lieberman was in the running, in the end of the selection process, and many thought (including me) that he would be tapped. In fact, I thought it in Jan. of 2007. And I wrote it. But, a slew of Op-Eds came out from leading neo-cons, just one week before the selection of Palin, and here we are.
Kinda curious those Op-Eds came out now as opposed to months ago when Lieberman was running around with McCain on the campaign trail and whispering the right answers in McCain’s ear. He was clearly the quiet front-runner for the spot then. It seems odd that all of this disapproval would surface, publicly, right before John tapped Palin to be VP. These neo-cons usually keep their advice private, you know.
I would be remiss if I didn’t point out just how curious it is that less than a week after the history making selection of Gov. Palin, the McCain camp lets slip out John’s wish to have picked someone else. And the republican MSM spin machine’s willingness to run with it while Palin is literally giving speeches that day.
No, this is way to contrived to be happenstance. Like other events (read “New Pearl Harbor”) that just seemed to happen just at the right time for the neo-cons, this one starts to smell a bit scripted, if you will. It’s like someone is writing the history of our nation as if it were a bad episode of “Dallas” (or Reno 9/11, take your pick) complete with dirty family secrets and plots within plots for the bored super-rich.
In the end, you would have to accept one of the biggest political machines in the history of this nation, never even picked up a paper and read the first thing about Palin, for this to be a “vetting” error. Does that make sense? You might want to think it does, but after these bastards have literally gotten away with murder and torture and crushing the constitution, and they have the dems in congress saying “they haven’t committed any crimes” and our “progressive” candidate voting FOR the retroactive immunity, I think we had better drop the “they’re incompetent” mindset. They are far, far from incompetent.
But that is the story the right controlled MSM is selling us. That is the story they are pushing down our throats without ever giving any consideration to the possibility that the McCain camp chose this woman BECAUSE they knew they could get out of it, and then when they announced their second choice, even though he is now an independent pro-life candidate, it would be an easier sell to the right.
Of course, they got all of that and the chance to “one-up” Barack’s moment in the sun. And who eagerly helped them accomplish this cold-blooded bait-and-switch?
Why the ‘progressive” blog-o-sphere, that’s who. The same “progressives” that never really considered who would be taking her place, in the end, the the 4th Branch of Government office Dick Cheney and his lawyers skillfully crafted over the past 8 years. Pretty clever those little neo-cons, huh?
And all it costs is the humiliation of a family, and reprinting some bumper stickers.
No, I stand corrected. It’s more like Beverly Hills 90210. The guys writing this crap can’t be old enough to have seen Dallas and 90210 had deeper plot lines. Not that I ever watched, mind you.
--MORE--"I would hardly classify my blog as a "progressive" blog, although I think it is.
Besides, I'm already backing off the stories as you can see from the posts below.
Update:
The blogs are talking about me!!
;-)
"This is great!...It really shows courage!...What's the big deal?" Take a spin around right-wing radio and you'll hear the talking heads tripping over themselves to minimize the significance--or better yet, unconvincingly celebrate--the news that Sarah Palin's 17-year-old unmarried daughter Bristol is five months pregnant. Adding insult to injury, Palin likely lied about it all to Sen. John McCain when she was being vetted as his vice-presidential nominee. This ticket is coming apart at the seams. It was McCain's birthday last week, but he gave the Democrats one giant gift in Palin.
--MORE--"
Yeah, yeah, lefty!
Hey, I care about the lying, but I love the kids!!!
Have another, Bristol!!
I'm fine with that 'cause that momma loves her boy!!!!!!!
