Pat Oliphant for November 24, 2009

Palin tells interviewers it was good for Alaska that she upped and quit. So perhaps she’ll wise up and up and quit before she runs for elective office next time.

and before the rabid right starts with the mantra that “lefties hate Palin because they’re afraid of her because she’s so great”:

one, I don’t hate her. Maybe she’s an interesting person, maybe she has interesting things to discuss in her personal life story. In fact, I’d love to talk to her and ask her to explain why she thinks what our country needs is tax cuts, an open-ended commitment to wars in Iraq & Afghanistan and lots of deregulation because government gets in the way. I’d love to ask her if she reflected for a moment could she not see that is precisely what Bush 43 did and look where it got us?

I’d love to ask her why she thinks it’s “opposition research” for a respected media organization like Associated Press to fact-check her memoir about such recent events? I’d like to ask her if she could explain the reasons why our nation’s founders gave the free press a protected role in our democracy (republic). I don’t think she understands the fundamentals of history, the constitution or the bill of rights.

But I am afraid of ever having a president again who proclaims proudly that he/she will govern “from the gut,” disdaining knowledge, informed, differing perspectives and reasoned discourse.

All you righties who love her and think she’s what we need, here’s a question: Does it bother you that for years she falsely claimed and received tax-free per diem payments for sleeping in her own home? Does it bother you that she routinely billed Alaska taxpayers for travel expenses for her family’s sightseeing vacations and shopping sprees? Does it bother you that when questioned, Palin revised her travel expense claims to specifically state her family members had an “official” role even when the event’s organizers told her there was no role?

Does it bother you that she so routinely and brazenly ripped off Alaska taxpayers? And before you dismiss her violations of laws and ethics, know that it was members of her own party who brought the complaints against her.

i’m the one who flagged you scotfritas - let me try to help you understand - we discuss - we do not call people names

and just to offer you some clarification on common sense - believes has infinitely more

take a lesson

SCOTT LIES

I like that scottfreitas is now giving out advice on how to be taken seriously in our little forums. Sorry to tell you this, bud, but nobody takes you seriously. Your fellow conservatives have said as much. believecommonsense, on the other hand is pretty widely respected by most folks on these boards because he engages with people rationally and manages to do so without spewing forth such invective.

Of course, these revelations just feed your little persecution complex, making you all the more certain of your own brand of divinely inspired wisdom.

Guess there’s just no hope for you. Oh, well. I’m not losing any sleep over you.

Scott, I’ve never even glanced at the moveon.org site and am apparently much less familiar with George Soros than you are.

Alaska’s GOP majority in the legislature initiated ethics complaints against Palin after some of her practices were brought to public light. Since she was ordered to reimburse improper per diem payments and family travel expenses, the word ‘frivolous’ would seem not to apply, at least not to anyone with a smidgen of reasoning and logic.

You seem to be well on the way to becoming what you fear and hate: intolerant, unforgiving, assuming omniscience you do not have, turning all who disagree with your views into enemies that must be destroyed. You do not exhibit the Christian values you say you believe in, nor do you exhibit that you understand the teachings of Christ. You’re becoming your own enemy.

BCS, “anyone with a smidgen of reasoning and logic” would realize that the teams of lawyers and operatives that overtook Alaska had one thing in mind: The discrediting and vilification of Palin. I was shocked at her description of some of the frivolous actions that were brought against her. If true, I doubt this is the kind of political process you would approve of.

She does not want to be president–she wants to be high priestess and run a talibanic-style theocracy here. This is from someone so immoral as to promote the destruction of an endangered species so that she can have cheap gas in her SUV to drive her horde to hockey practice.

It’s not the liberals that hate or are afraid of her–it’s anyone with a mind sane enough to listen to her and understand what she wants to do to the USA.

Scott, you are the psychopath. And despite all your rantings about Christianity, you show nothing–NOTHING!!–of the spirit of Jesus Christ, none of his love, none of his open-heartedness, only the self-righteous moralistic attitude of the Pharisees who crucified him.

Scottie:

BTW, I think ya kinda got that easter and halloween thing backwards. The church co-opted existing pagan festivals relating to fertility and death of the season cycles into its festival year. Look it up.

Regardless of their endless whining, most of the name calling comes from the right, especially the more baseless and vicious kind. Check av8tor’s above comment for verification.

Christianity in the form of Catholicism has co-opted pagan celebrations over the ages in attempts to “main stream” the sect.

That said, it’s interesting how commonsense made a pertinent comment, which scott then drug into the ditch as is his daily want.

So if I were a dispensational fundamentalist millennialist, I might be inclined to identify scottfreitas here as the Antichrist and av8tor as his False Prophet.

But that’s all a bunch of nonsense. No, in fact, scottfreitas is merely the psychologically disturbed and dangerous cancer to American public life that everyone else here has recognized. And av8tor is apparently his lowly apologist.

Sorry, av8tor. If you want to be a conservative and disagree with every one of my posts, that’s fine. But when you stick up for the Arkansas Taliban leader, scottfreitas, you have crossed the line between merely opinionated and vengefully tyrannical.

Bravo Bruce4671

I appreciate your reasoned response that did not include any insults or name-calling.

and now, back to the toon…

3 turkeys (1 regrettably uncaged) and a penguin by my count~

av8tor: You look cute in your little Nazi outfit! Maybe if you and the rest of the knee-jerk Republi-nazis manage to get a candidate that’s not too old, white and in the way, or just plain crazy, you can wear that in public.

The pagan ways encourage people to not have rules. Guess they left out the government ideals when they were writing their book.

av8tor, Thank you for posting a link to a news source for a list of the complaints. That is useful to a dialogue and debate.

Guys, chill - there’s no need to get personal just because there’s no moderator shouting “VERBOTEN!!!” every time we get insulting.

“They fail to understand that when taxes are cut it puts more money back to the taxpayers that earned it.”

That’s the easier part. The harder part is that historically, cutting taxes tends to increase deficits, hence requiring the state to spend more money on paying said deficits, hence requiring the state to need more money to simply keep afloat. That, or slash important programs, some of which actually beneficial.

Seriously, where does all this “Tax cuts - doubleplusgood” dogma come from, anyway? Reagan tax cuts were hardly a miracle cure - heck, over 2 years within his first term unemployment in the US was higher than ever since (incidentally, it started falling somewhat after the Tax equity act of 1982 rescinded some of the cuts). Bush Jr’s did not usher a new Golden Age either. Both increased deficits significantly. Neither had unheard-of GDP growth either.

The MY money comes from a worldview that is common to a stage of development that is self-referent…”it’s all about me, mine…I’m the center of the universe.” At this stage of development the frontal lobes are not fully online, and they are the seat of both altruism and the ability to step outside oneself and look back and see oneself as part of a larger community.

It’s the grump of an adolescent who wants to use the family car on demand, oblivious to the cost of the car, the insurance and the gas.

It’s the grump of I want to drive on publicly maintained roads, be able to hire reasonably well-educated people for my business, know that my air and food are safe, know that if I live to 90 and my savings run out I won’t be out on the street starving to death, know that if I am unjustly accused the justice system will have the staffing to give me a timely and fair hearing,…but Leave Me Alone and don’t take away any of MY hard earned money.

Is it the tryptophan, or is it just Norm? (((yawwwwwwwwwwwwnnnnnnnnnnnnn)))

Thanks for the link AVH8TR!

This chick has a longer rap sheet than tupac and biggie! Is she running for office or promoting her upcoming hip hop video?

Thanks to all who commented on the undeserved personal attack from you know who. I appreciate it.

I wrote about two specific actions by Palin that have been determined to be inappropriate. Here’s a link to proof that Palin lost these two items, which neither puppy nor av8tor acknowleged:

from AP as reported by Fox News: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/02/19/palin-pay-taxes-diem-income/

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will have to pay back taxes on nearly $18,000 in expenses she charged the state for living in her home instead of the state capital, officials said Wednesday. and Palin also previously charged the state for her children to travel with her – amounting to $21,012 for her three daughters’ 64 one-way and 12 round-trip commercial flights since she took office through last fall. She also charged for hotel rooms for the girls in some cases.

Her office has claimed the girls were acting on state business, and Kreitzer said the state did not review the matter further. … But in some cases, event organizers said they were surprised when the Palin children showed up uninvited. … Palin last month reimbursed the state more than $8,000 for travel expenses for nine trips, accompanied by her children, after the state paid for them.

The two complaints I mentioned were not filed by left-wing nuts — they were ethics charges brought against Palin by some of her own GOP colleagues in Alaska. They weren’t frivolous by definition since she has been ordered to reimburse taxpayers for the inappropriate claims.

I genuinely asked her supporters how they felt about Palin collecting lodging and meal expenses from taxpayers while eating and sleeping in her own home. That was a fair question. The posters who responded didn’t address that question, they simply sidestepped it. So, for what it’s worth, it doesn’t help your credibility when you sidestep the issue under discussion and counterattack on a different issue.

Lastly, according to CNN, it cost the state of Alaska almost $300,000 to respond to record requests from ethic violations filings from Jan. 1, 2008 to July 2009.

BUT the longest and costliest inquiry began before her nomination. That was the suit brought by the public safety director Palin fired after he would not fire her ex-brother-in-law, according to his charge. This was a personal, personnel issue that was brought long before McCain picked her for his VP slot.

I think I’ll just join the turkey – especially after this rant!

Nothing like politics or religion (or the religion of politics –or the politics of religion) to remind us that some kids just do not play well with others.

Excellent cartoon.

Believecommonsense gets my vote.

Sarah Palin is the quintessential cult-of-personality sound-bite. America has to wise-up and quit falling for sound-bites, or we-re going to become the last, remaining 3rd-world country on the planet.

The turkeys have to identify Ms Palin as the character in the panel because Pat can’t draw her worth crap. Only Obama is skillfully drawn as to not be offensive or racist. By the way, I’m not a Palin fan. Seriously.