MMMM. A big, frosty, foamy mug of moose-flavored Kool-Aid: "Palin Is No Puppet" (National Journal)

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Palin Is No Puppet

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Just as Dick Cheney didn't control George W. Bush, the neocons don't control Sarah Palin.

:spray: :spray: :spray: :spray: :spray: :spray: :spray: :spray: :spray: :spray: :spray: :spray: :spray: :spray: :spray: :spray: :spray: :spray:

by Paul Starobin

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Of the many unflattering caricatures of Sarah Palin that litter the political landscape, the notion that she is a dummy or a puppet -- a mere figure for manipulation by a superior brain -- is probably the most prevalent. She has even been given a mock "endorsement," bestowed in a YouTube video by the so-called Ventriloquist Dummies of America Association, for her supposed likeness to an inert object of play.

So let's just say this at the top: Palin is not anyone's puppet. It is not true for her, just as it was not true for George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, and a long list of politicians who have been accused of having their strings pulled by one puppet master or another.

The image of the politician as puppet is among the oldest tropes in American politics. When William McKinley ran for president in 1896, political cartoonists had fun sketching him seated on the knee of Mark Hanna, a reputed Svengali of that era. No less a figure than John Adams, the Republic's second president, came to believe that George Washington, as the first chief executive, had been a puppet of the conniving Alexander Hamilton, Washington's brilliant Treasury secretary. Perhaps Adams's judgment was influenced by his wife, Abigail, who once wrote of Hamilton, "O, I have read his Heart in his wicked eyes many a time. The very devil is in them."

But on this point, history's verdict is clear: Successful politicians are almost never anyone's dummy. Although it sometimes takes the passage of time and the release of documentary evidence to establish that judgment, there is virtually no case of such a figure proving true to caricature -- an empty vessel, a stick figure, a parrot.

Such portraits invariably have more to do with the manner in which ill-informed or biased journalists, jealous rivals, and self-promoting advisers mischaracterize the political figure in question than with reality. "Think about this: People sometimes think they are having an effect when they are pushing on an open door," noted political scientist Fred Greenstein, the author of a 1982 book on Dwight Eisenhower, The Hidden-Hand Presidency: Eisenhower as Leader, that demolished the widespread belief that Ike was a lazy, figurehead president.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/njmagazine/cs_20100410_5534.php

[hatrack]

1. I particularly like the bit about her status as a "successful politician"

Pure comedy gold!

[momster]

2. They Start With A Big Lie

GWB wasn't Cheney's puppet? How can anything this article says have meaning after that? In the first 4 yrs, GWB had no freaking idea what was going on unless Cheney told him. Only after his re-election did GWB try to take some kind of control. Even books written by the conservatives can't quite manage to hide how much control Cheney had over the information and action-plans that reached Bush. Evil Viziers the world over are now studying Cheney's "Guide to Controlling Your King" in paperback.

[Kerrytravelers]

3. I haven't the stomach this morning to get through the entire article.

Bless the hearts of anyone that could.

Did it, by chance mention, when citing her as a "successful politician", her inability to complete one term as governor?

Let me go out on a limb and say... nah, dontcha' know. *wink* *wink* *wiggle* *giggle*

[Amerigo Vespucci]

5. It was a series of unrelenting facepalms

Like this:

But as Gellman noted in an interview, Bush, even in his first term, did not hesitate to go against Cheney when the VP was advocating what the president viewed as a politically losing proposal. Although Cheney pushed hard, he could not get Bush to agree to a plan to inoculate all Americans against smallpox in the event of a biological attack. Bush could not stomach the idea that some people would likely die from the vaccine.

"Bush really was the decider," Gellman said, with Cheney working on the "broad scope of Bush's authority." This dynamic became clear as the president gained experience and lost confidence in Cheney's political judgment. Bush ruled in favor of civilian trials for terrorism suspects, against the continued use of waterboarding, and in favor of the release of some Guantanamo prisoners to their home countries -- with Cheney on the opposite side of each of those major decisions, as he now ruefully acknowledges.

[Windy]

4. she may not be a puppet, but she does have a head filled with sawdust! nt

[KharmaTrain]

6. At This Point, She's An Opportunist...

Boooshie's rise was from within the GOOP establishment...his road to the nomination was greased and his "base" is far different than that of Mooselini's. She was brought forth as a prop as opposed to a tool. Gramps needed a "game changer" and thought he could manipulate her but was spun instead...he unleashed yet another opportunist on the political landscape.

Today, Bible Spice is strictly in it for the ego and the money...definitely "gone rogue" and using anyone and everyone who is playing into her game. It's void of any serious politics...just talking points and platitudes intended to keep her gravy train rolling. You're not seeing the "usual suspects" lining up behind her yet...Mittens is their "boy". While boooshie was a Brahmin, Palin is a cow patty...and from her '08 performance one that isn't easy to control or manipulate.

While I don't underestimate her "popularity", I see her as a destructive force within her own party.