Finally burying the Sarah Palin - Gabby Giffords "targeting" link

The New York Times Runs The Worst Editorial In Human History, Blames SARAH PALIN For Giffords Shooting AGAIN https://t.co/kO9HDBy2oK pic.twitter.com/a8fbb2rQMw

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) June 15, 2017

The Deeper Problem With the NYT's Editorial Blaming Republicans for Political Violence https://t.co/6ZJB8tghNa via @WeeklyStandard

— Brit Hume (@brithume) June 16, 2017

The bogus claim that a map of crosshairs by Sarah Palin’s PAC incited Rep. Gabby Giffords’s shooting

Excerpt:

“Was this attack evidence of how vicious American politics has become? Probably. In 2011, Jared Lee Loughner opened fire in a supermarket parking lot, grievously wounding Representative Gabby Giffords and killing six people, including a 9-year-old girl. At the time, we and others were sharply critical of the heated political rhetoric on the right. Before the shooting, Sarah Palin’s political action committee circulated a map of targeted electoral districts that put Ms. Giffords and 19 other Democrats under stylized cross hairs. But in that case no connection to the shooting was ever established.” — New York Times editorial board, June 14

This quote is from a corrected version of a New York Times editorial that had falsely claimed that the gunman in the 2011 Giffords shooting was politically incited by Palin’s political action committee. Many readers asked about the uncorrected version, which initially claimed “the link to political incitement was clear” between the gunman’s actions and the map portraying crosshairs, including one over Giffords’s congressional district in Southern Arizona.

Comment: More from above link under the heading "The Facts"

Gun control is back in the national debate, after the shooting Wednesday at a baseball practice among congressional Republicans. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) was critically injured, and four others were wounded. The shooting quickly became political. The gunman, who died after a shootout with police, had volunteered for the 2016 Democratic presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and posted angry and vulgar comments on social media aimed at President Trump.

The Times argued that our politics has become lethal, and argued for stricter gun control measures. The Fact Checker obviously has no opinion on this matter.XXX Here’s what happened in 2011.

Jared Lee Loughner shot Giffords in the head during a Jan. 8, 2011, constituent event, then opened fire on the people lined up to meet her there — injuring 14 and killing six. Contemporaneous news reports noted that Giffords was one of 20 Democrats targeted in a map circulated by Sarah Palin’s political action committee in March 2010. The map portrayed stylized crosshairs to mark each of their districts, in a “Take Back the 20″ campaign to reclaim seats in the 2010 midterm elections.

After the map was published, Giffords said in an interview: “We’re on Sarah Palin’s targeted list, but the thing is that the way that she has it depicted has the crosshairs of a gun sight over our district, and when people do that, they’ve got to realize there are consequences to that action.”

As the corrected version of the Times’s editorial notes, no connection was established between this map and the 2011 shooting.

After Loughner’s shooting, some of Palin’s surrogates claimed the map was never intended to portray crosshairs, and instead said they were “surveyor’s symbols.” But that was debunked by Palin herself, when she acknowledged that the symbols were intended to be crosshairs.

It’s unclear whether Loughner even knew of Palin’s map, but it probably would not have changed the outcome. His focus on Giffords began as early as 2007, long before the map was published. He became fixated on her since he met her at a constituent event in 2007, and decided he was unsatisfied by her answer to his question: “If words could not be understood, then what does government mean?”

Three days after the shooting, authorities filed criminal charges against Loughner after finding items in his home that showed he had plotted her assassination. They found in his safe a 2007 letter from Giffords thanking him for attending the constituent event, and an envelope stating “I planned ahead,” and the words “assassination” and “Giffords,” along with his signature.

Loughner had no clear political views. Instead, he was a troubled man who abused alcohol and drugs, and whose mental illness was apparent to his classmates and family even before he was diagnosed as schizophrenic during his court trial.

... We’re glad to see this fixed in the editorial, but it’s not a good sign that the debunked talking point was included as fact in the editorial of a major media outlet. Any future references to this talking point by politicians or political groups will receive Four Pinocchios.

MORE: New York Times corrects editorial that drew huge backlash for blaming Sarah Palin in Gabby Giffords' shooting

New Fact Checker: The bogus claim that a map of crosshairs by Sarah Palin's PAC incited Gabby Giffords 2011 shooting https://t.co/1sw0T4AFTf

— Michelle Ye Hee Lee (@myhlee) June 15, 2017

Noonan on Palin: "on her magical mystery tour ... a trip to Crazytown"

Someone Had a Good Week - Mitt Romney got off to a strong start. Don't underestimate him.

Excerpt:

In other news, Mitt Romney had his first good week. It was startling. He stepped out from the blur. The other candidates now call him "the front runner." By most standards he was the front runner months ago, but nobody talked about him. He didn't live in the Republican imagination. It was "Will Mitch run?" and "You like Pawlenty?" Only seven minutes into the conversation would you get, "How will Romney do?" He was so '08, that disastrous year.

But this week he got three big boosts. He had a reasonable announcement speech followed by a lot of national interviews. Then the Washington Post poll: Mr. Romney leads President Obama. On top of that, the two most visible Republicans the past 10 days were Sarah Palin ,on her magical mystery tour, and him. They got all the coverage, and for a moment it seemed like a two-person race. Meaning a lot of Republicans got to think, "Hmm, Palin or Romney—a trip to Crazytown or the man of sober mien." That did not hurt him.

Comment: Magical Mystery Tour (Freshman year of college (1967)

Noonan on Weiner: "This is decadence. It is pornography"

But sometimes all of Washington has to put up its hand up like a traffic cop and say no. It has to say: That doesn't go here, it's not acceptable, it's not among the normal human transgressions of back stairs, love affairs and the congressman on the take. This is decadence. It is pornography. We can't let the world, and the young, know it's "politically survivable." Because that will hurt us, not him, and define us, not him. So: enough.

Sarah Palin: You're No Ronald Reagan!

Sarah Palin: You're No Ronald Reagan!

Excerpt:

Well, that rubbed Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan the wrong way. She pointed this out in a recent article in the WSJ. Here is the part of her piece that talks about today's conservatives, Palin, and Reagan:

Conservatives talked a lot about Ronald Reagan this year, but they have to take him more to heart, because his example here is a guide. All this seemed lost last week on Sarah Palin, who called him, on Fox, "an actor." She was defending her form of political celebrity—reality show, "Dancing With the Stars," etc. This is how she did it: "Wasn't Ronald Reagan an actor? Wasn't he in 'Bedtime for Bonzo,' Bozo, something? Ronald Reagan was an actor."

Excuse me, but this was ignorant even for Mrs. Palin. Reagan people quietly flipped their lids, but I'll voice their consternation to make a larger point. Ronald Reagan was an artist who willed himself into leadership as president of a major American labor union (Screen Actors Guild, seven terms, 1947-59.) He led that union successfully through major upheavals (the Hollywood communist wars, labor-management struggles); discovered and honed his ability to speak persuasively by talking to workers on the line at General Electric for eight years; was elected to and completed two full terms as governor of California; challenged and almost unseated an incumbent president of his own party; and went on to popularize modern conservative political philosophy without the help of a conservative infrastructure. Then he was elected president.

The point is not "He was a great man and you are a nincompoop," though that is true. The point is that Reagan's career is a guide, not only for the tea party but for all in politics. He brought his fully mature, fully seasoned self into politics with him. He wasn't in search of a life when he ran for office, and he wasn't in search of fame; he'd already lived a life, he was already well known, he'd accomplished things in the world.

Americans don't want, as their representatives, people who seem empty or crazy. They'll vote no on that.

It's not just the message, it's the messenger.

Comment: Mentioned earlier (in the comments) here

George Wll: on Populism and Presidental politics

Sarah Palin and the mutual loathing society

Excerpts:

The Republican presidential nominee, an Arizona senator, was a maverick, which was part of his charm. He spoke and acted impulsively, which was part of his problem. Voters thought his entertaining dimensions might be incompatible with presidential responsibilities. For example, he selected a running mate most Americans had never heard of and who had negligible experience pertinent to the presidency. This was 1964.

...

Populism has had as many incarnations as it has had provocations, but its constant ingredient has been resentment, and hence whininess. Populism does not wax in tranquil times; it is a cathartic response to serious problems. But it always wanes because it never seems serious as a solution.

...

Palin is united with the media in a relationship of mutual loathing. This is not her fault. But neither is it her validation.

Comment: William E. Miller.

Sarah Palin: "Going Whiner"!

Palin: McCain aides kept me ‘bottled up’

Excerpt:

The rumors are true, according to Sarah Palin. The McCain-Palin campaign was not a happy family.

In Palin's "Going Rogue," Palin confirms reports of tension between her aides and those of the 2008 Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain. The vice presidential candidate confirms that she had wanted to speak on election night, but was denied the chance and says she was kept "bottled up" from reporters during the campaign.

Palin also writes harshly of CBS anchor Katie Couric, whom she describes as "badgering" and biased.

Comment: Sarah was a disasterous pick for VP. She is NOT the future of the Repubican party.

Palin: Obama's plan "Orwellian" and "Evil"

Palin calls Dems healthcare plan "evil,"

Excerpt:

Describing Democratic healthcare plans as "evil," Sarah Palin is warning that the proposals being debated in Washington could threaten the life of Trig, her Down Syndrome infant boy.

Palin, in her first policy statement since resigning as Alaska governor, wrote on her Facebook page Friday afternoon that the sick, elderly and disabled would suffer should healthcare be rationed, as conservatives claim it will with a public option.

"The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society,' whether they are worthy of health care," Palin wrote. "Such a system is downright evil."

Palin also cited the recent floor speech of conservative Rep. Michele Bachmann, which the former governor said "highlighted the Orwellian thinking of the president’s health care advisor, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, the brother of the White House chief of staff."

Comment: She's correct.

Letterman apologizes

Letterman re-addresses Palin: 'I had no idea [Willow] was there'

Excerpt:

"I had, honestly, no idea that the 14-year-old girl, I had no idea that anybody was at the ball game except the governor, and I was told at the time she was there with Rudy Giuliani," Letterman said. "It’s not your fault that it was misunderstood, it’s my fault. ... So I would like to apologize, especially to the two daughters involved, Bristol and Willow, and also to the governor and her family and everybody else who was outraged by the joke."

Comment: Right thing to do!

This rankled me!

Internal Battles Divided McCain and Palin Camps

Excerpt:

On Wednesday, two top McCain campaign advisers said that the clothing purchases for Ms. Palin and her family were a particular source of outrage for them. As they portrayed it, Ms. Palin had been advised by Nicolle Wallace, a senior McCain aide, that she should buy three new suits for the Republican National Convention in St. Paul in September and three additional suits for the fall campaign. The budget for the clothes was anticipated to be from $20,000 to $25,000, the officials said.

Instead, in a public relations debacle undermining Ms. Palin’s image as an everywoman “hockey mom,” bills came in to the Republican National Committee for about $150,000, including charges of $75,062 at Neiman Marcus and $49,425 at Saks Fifth Avenue. The bills included clothing for Ms. Palin’s family and purchases of shoes, luggage and jewelry, the advisers said.

Comment: Yes you can say "this is the New York Times ... what would you expect them to report" ,etc. But it is commonly known that $ 150K was spent on wardrobe! Think about that: $ 150,000!!! Our (the Peets') annual wardrobe budget is less than $ 2000. (If you know me, you could say ... "it looks like it too!). In a typical year I spend about $ 600 on clothes (mostly shoes because for me they wear out so fast). If you are trying to reach people - real people who are struggling to pay mortgages and have ends meet, having a candidate spend $ 150,000 on wardrobe is not a good idea!

Rangel insults Palin

Rep. Rangel Calls Palin 'Disabled'

Excerpt:

In a CBS 2 HD exclusive interview Rep. Rangel called Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin "disabled."

The question was simple. Why are the Democrats so afraid of Palin and her popularity.

The answer was astonishing.

"You got to be kind to the disabled," Rangel said.

That's right. The charman of the powerful House Ways & Means Committee called Palin disabled -- even when CBS 2 HD called him on it.

CBS 2 HD: "You got to be kind to the disabled?

Rangel: "Yes."

CBS 2 HD: "She's disabled?"

Rangel: "There's no question about it politically. It's a nightmare to think that a person's foreign policy is based on their ability to look at Russia from where they live.

Comment: I hope that this creates a backlash against the Dems and that more of the Hillary voters come on over!

The 'Experience' Canard

Palin and the 'Experience' Canard

Excerpt:

When Coolidge was named to Warren Harding's ticket in 1920, he had been governor of Massachusetts for less than two years. Aside from a largely powerless stint as lieutenant governor and other smaller legislative posts, his chief previous government experience was as mayor of Northampton, to which he was first elected in 1910 by a Wasilla-like margin of 1,597 to 1,409.

Another year-and-a-half governor to be nominated for the vice presidency: Teddy Roosevelt. It's true that TR, as a former assistant secretary of the Navy, had more foreign policy experience than Mrs. Palin, though one wonders what today we would make of a candidate whose proud boast was that he had killed an enemy soldier "like a jackrabbit."

Then there is Harry Truman, to whom Mrs. Palin compared herself at the Republican convention. "He had only to open his mouth and his origins were plain," wrote David McCullough in his biography of the 33rd president, in lines that might also have been written about Mrs. Palin. "It wasn't just that he came from a particular part of the country, geographically, but from a specific part of the American experience, an authentic pioneer background, and a specific place in the American imagination."

The Truman comparison seems especially to rankle Mrs. Palin's critics, perhaps because in many respects it rings true. Take vetting. John McCain may have met Mrs. Palin only once before he offered her the job, but Franklin Roosevelt admitted "I hardly know Truman" in July 1944, the same month the "Senator from Pendergast" was put on the Democratic ticket.

Or take foreign policy experience. It's fair to say that Mrs. Palin has none, and the McCain campaign should drop the transparent pretense that Alaska's proximity to Russia, or her nominal responsibility for the state's National Guard, gives her some.

Then again, what did Truman know? "Truman had no experience in relations with Britain or Russia, no firsthand knowledge of Churchill or Stalin," writes Mr. McCullough. "He didn't know his own Secretary of State, more than to say hello. . . . Roosevelt, Truman would tell [daughter] Margaret privately, 'never did talk to me confidentially about the war, or about foreign affairs or what he had in mind for peace after the war.' He was unprepared, bewildered."

Truman, it's true, had served bravely as an army captain in World War I; he knew the nature of war. But his chief recommendation as a U.S. senator was as a good-government type who bucked his home state's machine politics (though not so frontally as Mrs. Palin bucked hers) and fought waste, fraud and corruption in military spending.

Comment: New word (for me): "panjandrum"

If nothing else, the media meltdown over Sarah Palin's candidacy for the vice presidency has exposed the not-unsuspected truth that, when it comes to historical ignorance and political amnesia, our cultural panjandrums are in a class by themselves.

"I can see Russia from my house"

HT: Did Tina Fey out-Palin Palin on 'Saturday Night Live'?


Comment: Note: SNL humor. I struggled to stay away to watch the first minutes of SNL. This was very funny!

Obama finally figures out how to compete with Palin

HT: Obama finally figures out how to compete with Palin

In case you wondered

This Is The Sarah Palin Bikini Shot You Are Looking For And, No, It's Not Real.

Comment: The pic of Sarah Palin in a flag-themed bikini with a rifle ... it's a photoshop. I am not posting the photos ... only the link with details.

How Sarah Palin was picked

The Selection Process

Excerpt:

• McCain started looking for a Vice President shortly after securing the nomination in February with a list of 40 names.
  
• By early Spring, he had cut that list down to 20. That list of 20 had 5 women on it: Meg Whitman, Carly Fiorina, Condi Rice, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, and Sarah Palin.
  
• A few weeks ago, McCain cut the list again, this time from 20 down to 5: Pawlenty, Romney, Palin, Ridge, and Lieberman. Those five were all equally vetted.
  
• McCain and his staff had come to the conclusion as he winnowed down the list further that his “experience versus change” argument had “run its course” and McCain told his staff he “hated running as the wizened old hand of experience.” This led McCain away from Pawlenty and Romney as choices, and led his advisers to begin telling news outlets that McCain’s VP pick would be “transformative” as the list narrowed to Lieberman, Ridge, and Palin.
  
• Lindsey Graham pushed incredibly hard for McCain to choose Lieberman - so hard that he “vexed” some of McCain’s other advisers. In fact, Graham called prominent social conservatives such as Huckabee, Blackwell, Huntsman, and Bauer to try and win their support for a McCain-Lieberman ticket. Giuliani also pressed hard for McCain to take Joe.
  
• In the end, McCain’s advisers told him the “base would revolt” if he chose Lieberman, and to a lesser extent, Ridge. He then chose Palin because she reinforced his persona of being a reform-minded, anti-establishment maverick, because she was “transformative” and an “attention getting” pick, and also because he was highly impressed with her “directness and knowledge” when he met her at an RGA meeting in February. All while being someone conservatives would be satisfied with.
  
• McCain called Palin on Sunday and got her on her cell while she was at the Alaska State Fair. He invited her to Arizona for a “job interview” and reportedly said his mind was made up in a matter of minutes and that he viewed Palin as a “kindred spirit” in politics.
  

Comment: In my view she is a better pick than Lieberman!

That Palin spirit

Comment: This editorial appeared in the Journal on August, 25, 2006

Great Alaska Shoot Out

Excerpt:

The candidate who defeated Mr. Murkowski this week is Sarah Palin, a former small town mayor who ran as, well, a real Republican. She hammered the Governor for misspending tax dollars, and for matching state funds to federal spending earmarks for low priority projects (i.e., the bridge to nowhere). Ms. Palin called the outcome a victory against "politics as usual," and will face a tough battle in November against Democrat and well-known former Governor Tony Knowles.

If Republicans are run out of Congress in November, one big reason will be that, like Mr. Murkowski, they have become far more comfortable running the government than reforming it.

Comment: Republicans have become more comfortable running the government than reforming it. For this reason they deserve to lose in 2008! I see some bright young Republican stars: Tim Pawlenty, Bobby Jindal, and Sarah Palin. I think that John McCain made a masterful choice. By the way, already Obama is bashing Palin for her lack of experience. Friends she has more experience than Obama himself!

"somewhere somehow, Hillary is snickering!"

Comment: What Hillary supporters are saying about McCain's pick of Sarah Palin. (Caveat ... the link is to a forum thread of Hillary supporters. Some of the comments are crude & rude!))

www.hillaryclintonforum.net

• It couldn't be a better pick... and the world will see what a fool BHO is for not picking Hillary. 'nough said.
• I'm actually very excited that women will get some serious respect in this race.
• I'm really excited. Not only did he choose a woman, but he didn't pick the big guys.
  He picked the anchorage girl who is a family woman, just had a baby, and is a former beauty queen! She's smart and very nice
• If it's Palin, I will put blood and sweat into campaigning for that team.
• OMG! Republican candidate chooses a woman!!! Take that Democrats,party of sexism!!!
• What does that tell you about the DNC.. Hypocrits.
• I LOVE McCain!!!! He pulled through for us. The Maverick does it again!!
• Obama snubbed the most viable and experienced woman who received 18 million votes, for another MALE. I have a feeling, somewhere somehow, Hillary is snickering!
• If this is true, this moves me from staying at home to voting McCain.
• From the Administrator of the forum: "This could be the GAME CHANGER" (which is is super large bold on the site!)
• Do you all hear the sound of the running feet of all the women the Obama camp tossed aside? It is THUNDEROUS!!!!
• YES YES YES ... VOLUNTEER FOR PALIN ... VOTE MCCAIN/PALIN

If it's Sarah Palin ...

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin Is McCain's VP Pick: Source

Excerpts:

According to a Republican strategist, Palin is the nominee, though McCain's campaign has not comfirmed this.

With an announcement scheduled in Dayton, Ohio, an associate of Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty said the governor had been informed he is not McCain's pick.

....

At 44, Palin is younger than Obama and, like McCain, she calls herself a maverick.

A Gulfstream IV from Anchorage, Alaska, flew into Middletown Regional Airport in Butler County near Cincinnati about 10:15 p.m. Thursday, said Rich Bevis, airport manager.

He said several people came off the plane, including a woman and two teens, but there was no confirmation of who was aboard.

"They were pretty much hustled off. They came right down the ramp, jumped in some vans here and off they went," Bevis said. "It was all hush, hush."

Comment: My prediction early this year was a McCain / Pawlenty ticket. If it's Sarah Palin, and in just about an hour we will know one way or another, I am somewhat disappointed. Would McCain be picking her just because she is a woman? To try to peel off some of the Hillary supporters? I didn't think Geraldine Ferraro really had the depth of qualification to be the Vice President (1984). Mondale picked her to energize the electorate. Oh well ... those are my thoughts.

Update: Source: Sarah Palin is John McCain's pick for vice president