Eugene Robinson says John McCain owes us all an apology

[kpete]

A Starter, Not a Finisher

By Eugene Robinson
Tuesday, July 7, 2009

What can you say about a public official who ridicules those who would take the "quitter's way out" -- as she faces reporters to announce that she's quitting? A governor who claims that "the worthless, easy path" would be to serve out the remaining 18 months of her term? An ambitious politician who says that "life is too short" to worry about, you know, boring things such as responsibility or duty?

You can say that all of us who ever took Sarah Palin seriously -- or pretended to take her seriously -- should be deeply ashamed. And you can say that John McCain should publicly apologize for putting the nation he loves at risk by choosing Palin as his running mate. Imagining Palin within a heartbeat of the presidency should be enough to make even die-hard Republicans shudder.

The reasons she gave for stepping down are not just contrived or implausible but literally nonsensical. She can most effectively serve the people of Alaska by ceasing to exercise the powers of chief executive? She worries that as a lame duck she would somehow be compelled to waste taxpayer money on useless junkets? In her "Don't Cry For Me, Alaska" news conference announcing her departure, the folksy non sequiturs -- "Only dead fish go with the flow" -- were like nuggets of Cartesian logic amid a tub of mush.

But I'm stating the obvious. The thing is, Palin's unsuitability for high public office has been obvious all along. Tina Fey got it right; the rest of us were far too reluctant to state plainly that the emperor, or empress, has no clothes.

more:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/06/AR2009070603141.html

[lpbk2713]

1. Right on. K&R

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:


:kick:

[snappyturtle]

2. K&R Was Eugene reading my mind? nt

[redqueen]

3. "all of us who ever took Sarah Palin seriously -- or pretended to ... -- should be deeply ashamed"

There it is.

I love that guy.

[tridim]

6. I took her seriously for about a week, during the RNC.

Because mostly rational Republicans, like my parents seemed to be completely fooled by her shtick. It wasn't long after the RNC that she started imploding and I stopped worrying about her.

[Grinchie]

38. If I hadn't seen the same phenomenon with my own eyes, I'd say your were lying

But the fact of the matter is that we were traveling in northern california, and popped into a hotel bar for a drink after a long drive and calm down. It was late, and the bartender had Fox News on blaring the Republican National Convention.

We got into a discussion and the bartender was gushing over Palin. She made some remarks about health care and her job, and that nobody should be able to get universal health care, because it's just not done. Of course, she was totally supportive of Palins abuse of power in Troopergate, and blamed the bad old police officer for pissing off Palin, who was within her rights to orchestrate his termination. No analysis, no empathy, no comprehension that this could happen to her at any time if she were in the same spot. Nothing.

At that point, we finished our drinks, and got the hell out of that looney bin.

Yes, there are places in America that make the Twilight Zone look positively healthy!

[bulloney]

47. I was the same way, Tridim. But it didn't take long to see she was a one-trick pony.

She only knew so much and kept repeating it everywhere she went. Then, there was the debate against Biden where she didn't address the questions and just blathered her own agenda. Then came the interviews with Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric that exposed her as the ignoramus she is. Of course, in true Palin form, she plays the "victim" card and says it was the liberal media playing "gotcha" journalism. Actually, they were pretty lame questions. And Couric got an award for her interview for just asking basic, run-of-the-mill questions. She got the award because of Palin's responses to the questions (or lack thereof), not the depth of the questions.

The topper came about a week before the election, when she campaigned at a solar panel factory in suburban Toledo and gave her "drill baby drill" talk to the employees. To me, that's about as dumb as wearing a Michigan jacket at an Ohio State football rally.


You can't write a script for stupid like that.

[ecstatic]

10. But McCain chose her for VP of the United States!!!

As much of a joke she is, there was always that scary possibility that they would actually succeed!!

[RaleighNCDUer]

51. Well, you can rest assured that had they been elected, and had she

moved into the top slot, she'd have been no more in charge than Bush was. The PTB would have just continued pulling the strings, and she'd merely be a national embarrassment.

[wizstars]

48. YEAH--both of 'em!! n/t

[Just Saying]

4. That is the Pulitzer Prize Winner, Eugene Robinson

And he's right, as usual.

[malaise]

5. Sorry Eugene

I knew this the moment she opened her mouth last year.

Glad to see you finally caught up with those of us who knew about her unsuitability for public office.

[marions ghost]

7. "Don't Cry for me Alaska"....

ha ha
:D

[bobburgster]

8. Nice to read!

Eugene Robinson, said it perfectly. The amount of hyperbole we put up with from the majority of the media after she was nominated was pathetic. They should hang their heads in shame. Thank god for the interviews or they would still be doing it.

[Auggie]

9. WTF was McCain thinking when her name came up, anyhow?

The bigger issue is Gramp's judgment, IMO.

[stanwyck]

17. He was told by Focus on the Family Dobson, and the

rightwing radio crowd to pick Palin. Or else. Or else they'd stay home. McCain bypassed Ridge and Lieberman in favor of this train wreck. What does this say about McCain?

[lpbk2713]

20. It says McLame is a plane wreck.

FIVE TIMES.


:rofl: :rofl:

[Auggie]

21. It says "thank goodness Obama won"

Horrible judgement by Gramps

[Hydra]

11. Let's hope this means she's not on the ballot for 2012

She did WAY too well last time for my comfort. Still, Republican Presidents lately have a habit of being hat racks. GW wasn't making the policy, McCain wouldn't have been, and Palin wouldn't be either. It's all about a figurehead.

[Fedja]

35. Let's hope she is

I can think of noone better to disintegrate republican hopes of a solid result.

[Gman2]

12. And he's got a really great , warm smile. Skoll.

[TahitiNut]

13. "... empress has no clothes."

Yup. And that's the fantasy appeal she has to the prurient right wing, too. :shrug:

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

14. "Cartesian logic amid a tub of mush"

:rofl:

[northernlights]

15. "She will flake out. "

Bingo.

[Lancer]

16. I love Gene, and the most significant thing he says here

is that Sarah Palin will ALWAYS let her constituents down. She cannot finish anything. Attending six tiny colleges in five years in pursuit on one B.A. degree is not trivial. The Rethugs always wave that fact away, but it's a key to her personality. Ironically, the journalism degree she finally received is meaningless because it taught her nothing about managing a story or the media in a way that would grant her any claim to legitimacy.

She leaves every job before it's done. She runs away from responsibility over and over. She is not a leader. She resigned from the Alaska Oil and Gas Commission after less than a year (citing ethics concerns, of course, on the part of other Republican members.) For inscrutable reasons, she can't finish a single term as governor of a state with a population 30% the size of Brooklyn.

Who in God's name ever thought she could finish a two-year campaign for President? She couldn't finish a two-month run for the second-banana spot without crashing and burning in spectacular fashion, over and over again.

[Bette Noir]

46. Taught her nothing about managing a story?

Taught her nothing about composing a sentence in English! The college that gave her a degree should have its accreditation investigated.

[Cha]

18. Of course, Eugene Robinson has it

right but so does the Rude Pundit when he says..she's not going away.

Not with our US corporatemediawhores trying to distract from the real work that's being done by real leaders.

[Kingofalldems]

19. No way, freepers clam she quit because she received "The Calling",

I guess direct from the Man Upstairs.

[earth mom]

22. Did the BFEE force McCain to pick Palin? That's what I want to know.

Her pick had * & Cheney's fingerprints all over it. :puke:

[stanwyck]

52. The pick had Focus on the Family's Dobson all over it

He went to MN in advance of the convention and setup shop with like-minded ideologues. Lieberman was out. Palin was in. Plus, Palin was being championed by rightwing radio. The threat was known to McCain. Pick Ridge or Lieberman, and the Christian fundamentalists will stay home. And McCain desperately needed that margin. It's the margin that put W in. If you're a Republican, you can lose the minority vote, the college-educated vote, the urban vote. BUT you can still scrape by IF the religious right turns up. Well, that used to be the case, anyway.
I think this last election was a wakeup call for conservatives. The middle abandoned them with the Palin pick and the religious right wasn't enough, not with McCain leaking votes from ALL categories. ALL demographics showed decreases for McCain vs. Bush's numbers EXCEPT uneducated Southern white men. With that group, McCain "improved" on Bush's numbers.
(This info is from Chuck Todd's book on "How Barack Obama Won".)

[uppityperson]

23. Excellent writing, k&r for putting it so well

[ElboRuum]

24. Actually, I think we should be thanking him.

He did us the favor of showing us how completely unfit for public office she really is AND drowned whatever chances he had by selecting her over other, less embarrassing, potential veeps.

[Nothing Without Hope]

25. John McCain showed just how much he "loves" this nation when he chose Palin

and he's STILL praising her. That level of cynicism is hard to imagine, but he has it. Why should I care if he decides it would be politically wiser to "apologize"? I dobut that he will, but if he did, it would mean absolutely nothing except that he changed his mind again based on expediency. He knew was Palin was, and she has been quite consistently insane, greedy, and vicious right through everything. He doesn't care.

[Wednesdays]

26. K&R

:kick:

[Brother Buzz]

27. Sarah Palin is by nature more of a firebrand opinion-maker than anything else.

Articulating a political vision and inspiring people to believe in it are true accomplishments, and no one can take that away from her. But realizing that vision through legislation or executive action requires discipline, persistence and rigor. To return to stating the obvious, these are attributes that Palin lacks.

Mr. Robinson, thank you.

[Life Long Dem]

28. At this point...

Seems this is an addendum to the obvious. Sort of like sealing the deal.

You can come to this conclusion when someone announces to the world that the family gathered around and pulled her name out of the hat for her to rule the world as the next leader.

[bertman]

29. I doubt we'll get that apology, Eugene. 70% of Republicans say they'd vote for her in 2012.

:banghead:

[troubledamerican]

32. Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini were figures of ridicule. Who sparked a minority mob's passions.

Stalin was a failed poet, Hitler was a failed artist, Palin a failed sportscaster: Failed Narcissists.

All portrayed themselves as victims.

All sparked the passions of a mob that wasn't the majority.

All were single-mindedly obsessed with absolute power at any cost.

All shocked the MAJORITY who had written them off with ridicule.

[Buns_of_Fire]

50. ...and unfortunately, all three wound up running their respective countries.

Just something to always keep in the back of our minds...

[beac]

55. Stalin, Hitler and Mussolini didn't have to contend with YouTube and the blogosphere.

I firmly believe Ronald Reagan couldn't have gotten elected in the internet age either.

It is exponentially harder to hide a candidate's flaws and easier by the same measure for ordinary voters to do their own research on their would-be leaders.





ETA Mussolini who I somehow left out in my original reply. Poor Benito!

[beac]

54. But remember that's 70% of the less than 30% who still self-identify as Republicans.

Let them go ahead and choose her as their candidate. Obama will win in the biggest landslide in history.

[bertman]

58. Yep. That's the good part, beac. IF we can just keep making Progress-as in Progressive.

[2Design]

30. absolutely n/t

[TheKentuckian]

31. McCain is dishonerable, old money changing, war monger

who wouldn't piss on this country if it was on fire unless one of his cronies made a buck off it.

[grantcart]

33. exactly right.

[optimal-tomato]

34. The Empress DOES TOO have clothes!

...Michael Steele still has the receipts!

[Lilyeye]

36. Eugene was SPOT on.

[BR_Parkway]

37. Even after buying her $150K in clothes, she still had no clothes...

[Grinchie]

39. Don't forget the Joker without makeup Bill Kristol kissing her ass

I hope that hyeana get's what's coming to him. Whast a despicable piece of crap he is, and all the media managers that keep him coming back like a bad raisin.

[Christa]

40. I beg to differ, we owe McCain a big THANK YOU

If he had chosen a responsible, capable running mate it is possible that he could have been our president now.

So:

Thank you, McCain!

[WillyT]

41. Big K & R !!!

:kick:

[moondust]

42. So she's an opportunistic publicity hound...

what would the media and Republickins do without her?

I can't wait for the next installment! She needs a comedy reality show of her own!

[Gman]

43. When will some reporter ask Palin the toughest question of all...

...then why did you even run for governor in the first place?

[anachro1]

44. However, I am so proud of Sarah!

Who knew that a simple, anti-intellectual Alaskan housewife playing pretend governor would bring the entire republican party whimpering down to it's knees? Sarah; you were their Highway to Hell.

[Bette Noir]

45. I love Eugene Robinson.

I'll rec anything he writes.

[McCamy Taylor]

49. McCain treated his run for the presidency as a craps game, winner take all.

Never elect an addicted gambler to any executive office.

[beac]

53. Error: you can only recommend threads which were started in the past 24 hours

Missed it by mere minutes!

But here's a kick for a Mr. Robinson's very correct essay. (No doubt a Palinbot "fire Eugene!" rally is in the works as I type this.)

[SemiCharmedQuark]

56. Damn, I love Eugene Robinson.

I end up saying that in every DU thread about him.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

57. She has a constituency: Heaven Help Us.

And 9% of Republicans are MORE likely to vote for her now! WTF is that shit about?