Sarah Palin introducing her successor at the top of the social media food chain/Max Goldberg, Iowa State Weekly via Wikimedia Commons
Newscaster Katie Couric, who inadvertently made Sarah Palin famous, is finally giving Alaska’s former, half-term governor her due for turning American politics into the shitstorm it is today.
But that understates the role of the woman from Wasilla in causing a sea change in American politics.
Instigator would be a better word for Palin. She didn’t foreshadow what was to come; she lit the fire and then fanned the flames.
President Donald Trump might have elevated the chaos to an entirely new level, but he only built on the framework of she-of-the-bluntly-combative-advice “Don’t retreat; reload!”
Those late-night Tweets Trump fires off at almost anyone who dares criticize his performance as president?
Don’t retreat; reload! And attack, attack, attack!
No Dan Quayle
Quayle never got beyond his belief that the tuber had a “toe” at the end.
Once billed as a future Republican presidential contender, he largely disappeared from national politics after he and running-mate, incumbent President George H.W. Bush, lost the 1992 election to Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton and Sen. Al Gore, D-Tenn.
Many expected much the same to happen to Palin after her largely incoherent comments about Russian President Vladimir Putin in response to a Couric question about the governor’s international diplomatic experience.
Palin handlers scrambled to translate, though back home in Alaska those who grew up during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the U.S. knew what she was talking about. It had long been Soviet Union and then Russian policy to periodically fly jet fighters or bombers near the U.S. border to test U.S. readiness.
Once foreign aircraft were spotted on radar, fighters from U.S. air bases in Alaska would be sent up to intercept the invaders and turn them home, ie. “we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation.”
None of that had anything to do with being governor of Alaska (the bases are under the control of the U.S. Air Force, not the governor) or with international policy (Russian military activities don’t affect Alaska-Russia trade, which doesn’t amount to much), but Palin’s response wasn’t as totally wigged out as it sounded to most of America.
It was, however, prime fodder for Saturday Night Live and the many comedians who pilloried Palin. She could have rolled over and tossed in the towel, but she didn’t. In what was to become a Palin trademark move and a model for Trump, she aggressively counter-attacked.
The woman who’d won election in Alaska as a uniter abandoned any pretense of that idea and went to war. She was Sean Connery in the Untouchables: “If he pulls a knife, you pull a gun. If he sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue.”
Shocked
Couric and co-author Brian Goldsmith write now that Palin “stoked her supporters’ fears—and won their cheers. At her rallies, Palin said, ‘I am just so fearful that this is not a man who sees America the way that you and I see America.’ At one, a man shouted ‘Treason’ and Palin said nothing. At another, Palin’s anti-Obama diatribe led a man to yell out, ‘Kill him!’ Palin did not push back against her often-angry crowds. In the strongest echo of today’s Trump rallies, she instead used her speeches to go after the free press (or the “lamestream media”), reserving particular scorn for elite publications.”
(Editor’s note: Trump’s rallies today would actually be an echo of Palin rallies past. The echo comes after the sound, not before. And Palin was the sound.)
“Palin’s supporters then started verbally attacking her traveling press corps, including hurling a racial epithet at an African American journalist,” Couric and Goldsmith continue. “Again, Palin not only refused to lower the temperature; she seemed to bask in that kind of heat.”
Why wouldn’t she? This was war, not politics, and she was feasting on the troops rallying to her cause as the victim warrior. The woman who had long known all the world’s problems could be solved with just a little “common sense” was being attacked by the ruling elite, and she wasn’t going to take it.
Shout “crony capitalism!”
In one sense, it was commendable. Palin was a woman aggressively standing up for herself, and screw you if you didn’t like it.
In another sense, it was horrible. Here was the Republican vice-presidential candidate accusing the first African-American to run for President of liking to “pal around terrorists.”
It was an unsubstantiated charge tied to the fact that Chicago’s Bill Ayers, one of the founders of The Weather Underground, a group militantly opposed to the war in Vietnam, met and supported Chicagoan Barack Obama long after the war ended.
There was never indication they were pals. By 2013, after Obama became president, Ayers argued the president should be put on trial at The Hague for international war crimes. Ayers called Obama’s approval of drone attacks on suspected Islamic militants “terrorism.”
But the palin’ around with terrorist’s accusation played well to a certain segment of America that saw Obama as a supporter of Islam, despite any evidence, and Palin was just getting started.
She took personal offense at losing to Obama and running mate Joe Biden in 2008.
Quitter
In retrospect, that, too, was an understatement, and her next comments prescient.
“My choice is to take a stand and effect change,” she said in a speech outside her lakeside Alaska home, “not just hit our head against the wall….We know we can effect positive change at this moment in time on another scale and actually make a difference for our priorities.”
After the resignation, as after the Putin-head interview, more than a few people thought Palin’s political career really was over. Once again, she proved them wrong.
She leveraged her VP run and her aggressive support of conservative causes (despite her left-leaning role as Alaska governor) into status as a serious American pol-ebrity and spent the next eight years harassing Obama – say “death panels” – and teasing the conservative, grassroots Tea Party with the possibility she might run for President.
That never happened, but Palin played a pivotal role in sucking the whole country into the vicious, tribal politics of today.
“This is not to say that (Palin running mate, the late Sen. John) McCain or other ‘old school’ politicians were unwilling to go negative or attack their political opponents,” Couric and Goldsmith write. ” They would and did. It’s that there were lines they wouldn’t cross—especially when it came to respecting the legitimacy of their opponents and of journalists. These are lines that politicians like Palin and President Trump won’t even acknowledge. And in a big, diverse democracy, where power is transferred peacefully, where compromise and consensus are required to get things done, those boundaries matter.”
Or at least they matter in peace time. When at war?
There is only one objective in war: to win.
Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton has finally figured that out. She Tuesday channeled her inner Palin on CNN, telling interviewer Christiane Amanpour that Democrats have to stop being civil with Republicans.
“You cannot be civil with a political party that wants to destroy what you stand for, what you care about,” Clinton said. “That’s why I believe, if we are fortunate enough to win back the House and or the Senate, that’s when civility can start again.”
Palin must be proud. When the history of this time is recorded, she will hold a notable place. In the moment, Trump’s image burns far brighter than her’s, but don’t be surprised if, when the history books for this period are written, Sarah Barracuda from Wasilla – the good but not great basketball player, the second runner up as Miss Alaska 1984, the marginal university student, the failed sportscaster and small-town mayor – plays a major role.
“Palin may have stumbled over some issues, but she understood that image and personality now mattered more than policy mastery,” Couric and Goldsmith wrote. “She was all about the base before that strategy became conventional wisdom. She saw the political power in attacking elites. She was right that women in positions of prominence—especially women seeking national office—are treated differently. And unfortunately she knew that delegitimizing the opposing party, and the mainstream media, are effective campaign tactics. It turns out, Sarah Palin could see a lot more than Russia from her house. ”
She fed and led a big, angry tribe that pushed the United States toward the sort of tribalism that tore Europe apart in the mid-Twentieth Century. Love her or loathe her, and there are legions on either side, she changed America.
For much of a decade, when Palin reared her head, the country reacted.
Guess Sarah was right. She fights a just war.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2018/10/12/voxs-abolish-scotus-harvard-law-professor-hoped-liberal-court-would-crush-conservatives-when-hillary-won/
I guess it boils down to whom you support the most and condone how they became rich: Sarah Palin or Christine Blasey Ford.
Speaking of Dr. Ford…
Seems like a really weird coincidence that Nikki Haley resigned immediately as UN Ambassador after Brett’s confirmation…
But Trump will just pump out some more b.s. PR to cover her retreat.
Seems like all the women in his cabinet have now left?
There are any number of reasons for her retirement. Trying to hang that on the Kavanaugh hearings is way too speculative for my taste, as it sort of dehumanizes her and assumes she’s just reacting with the mob, as opposed to being a strong independent woman in possession of not only the facts, but the wit with which to sort them out.
I would like to know the real reason, for sure.
That didn’t sound like he was “trying to hang that on the Kavanaugh hearings” to me, Jason but just a weird coincidence. Go ahead and give us one of your better reasons for her retirement.
The timing (and the fact that all were surprised) sure makes it a possibility, of course, but I believe DT still has one woman left in his cabinet (Nielsen).
Jason,
Just so you know…
Nikki Haley did NOT retire, she RESIGNED…they are much different and from the “money” articles that are coming out, it looks like she is in a ton of debt (hence will need to still work)…so, why leave a “cush” job as UN Ambassador?
Was she the dissenting voice in WH that was leaking tweets a few weeks ago?
Is she looking to run for a new office?
Was she against the Kavanaugh confirmation?
I am not the only one who finds the timing a bit unsettling and like a smart person once said “There are no coincidences”.
https://www.google.com/amp/amp.timeinc.net/time/money/5420391/nikki-haleys-resignation-debt-finances
Sorry guys. No offense, but it seems like you’re chasing rainbows with a butterfly net trying to make a connection between the resignation (that was a typo before) and the Kavanaugh hearings.
@Bill, there is no burden on me to offer a theory, but rather on you to show a valid connection between the two events, something a bit more solid than them occuring within a few weeks of one another.
Boy Jason, you seem a bit confused! You are the one that said “there are any number of reasons for her retirement.”
All Steve (and I concurred) said was that there was a “weird coincidence.”
You don’t have to say what you believe, I was just offering you the chance to enlighten us here.
Jason,
With all do respect, your offering of rainbow metaphors does nothing to support your opinion.
Like Bill said, “What evidence do you have” that she was not frustrated with D.T.??
Do you not recall that she was one of Trump’s most vocal critic before he landed in the W.H.??
Many feel her forced shift right of moderate on public policies drove her out.
“Often referred to as a moderate Republican, Haley was one of the harshest critics of US President Donald Trump during his bid for the White House. She criticized Trump for not speaking out against white supremacists, his stance on immigration and his demeanor. She supported Senator Marco Rubio of Florida during the Republican primaries.”
https://m.dw.com/en/nikki-haley-from-trump-critic-to-trump-envoy/g-45818793
Agreed Jason . Detractors Speculation. Why ? Could take her at her word . She resigned for personal reasons. Obviously she is all about hard work and follow through. Announced resignation but agreed to be ultra responsible and stay on 2 more months and show her replacement the ropes . While people are making conspiracy theories about Haley ,Trump is working his butt off for all of us . He’s a goer . Take a look at recent ap article. Plus he is looking into prison reform. Reduce sentence for low level offenders. This president cuts to the chase and is a hard worker! Luckily he has real Americans come into his Oval Office and give him opinions and ideas . Instead of hosting weddings for Rothschild relatives. It’s a start ! I bet he would listen to anyone who had a legitimate solution to our nations concerns. Especially if put into numbers. His detractors should get their ideas to him and be part of change for the better. Cooperation?
Meet the people who bailed on the Obama Admin.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-05-31/unfaithful-departed-meet-people-who-bailed-obama-administration
Bryan,
“Haley will be the seventh Cabinet-level official to leave a post during Trump’s first two years in office…
The Cabinet shuffle still pales in comparison to the high turnover among the White House senior staff, which has seen the departures via resignation or firing of the chief of staff, the chief strategist, the press secretary, multiple communications directors, and other top officials.”
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/510527/
Best Line from Sarah Palin’s speech endorsing Trump: “No more Pussyfootin’ Around!”
Palin and Trump are real people who speak from the heart and that’s why real people identify with them and subsequently vote for them.When you take away former President Coward T.Golfcart’s teleprompter he mumbles and fumbles along like the foreign exchange student he was who cheated and conived his way to an Ivy League law degree like his wife and the clinton’s.Left Loons are obstructionist resistant idiots who are calling for revolt and violence because they didn’t get it their way.I hope they get the revolution they espouse to want…Our side has 27 billion bullets and those Dipshits don’t even know what bathroom to use?!How’s that gonna play out.If you don’t like it here get the f%#@ Out!I recommend Yemen or Somalia for a relocation of all these Idiots!
Bryan,
Are U using your “alternative handle” to flex up your rhetoric?
Wolfass is much more fitting, since it was clear to me that when you arrived on this site that you were “A wolf in sheep’s clothing”…since day 1.
Now Steve, why would I feel the need to use another handle? Grow-up.
But, I appreciate the way Wolfass expresses their self.
Sorry Bryan…
Thought you had a “manic moment” then.
Still wondering how Wolfass counted all “27 billion bullets”?
Kanye, Kid Rock, and Sarah were seen at the White House today. Rock On Sarah! You go girl. You versus Lisa will be a great matchup! Hi ’em where it hurts!
Was it just coincidence that Trump chose Sarah Palin for his candidacy announcement? No. And it is a classic video if you can still find it on Youtube.
This is what I have been saying since 2016: We owe Sarah Palin much credit for encouraging the Tea Party Movement and saving this country from a Socialist Apocalypse.
The Trump candidacy began when Sarah ate pizza with a fork with the Trumpster in NYC and told him he had what it would take to Make America Great Again> Thanks Sarah. Seriously.
Funny how easily most Americans forget the famous “Crosshairs” Ad by Sarah Pac in 2010? The GOP is once again trying to incite violence.
“In 2010, SarahPAC, the political action committee created by the former Alaska governor to help elect conservative candidates across the U.S., ran an ominous graphic online that depicted crosshairs over the districts of House Democrats who had supported President Obama’s Affordable Care Act and listed the names of the lawmakers…And on Jan. 8, 2011, Giffords, as well as 18 others, was shot by a mentally ill Arizona man outside a Tucson grocery store, where she was holding a small constituent meeting…Six people died in the tragic shooting, and Giffords, who was critically injured after being shot in the head, only survived after hours of emergency surgery, months of intensive medical care and years of excruciating of rehabilitation.”
Daily News
http://gawker.com/5728545/shot-congresswoman-was-in-sarah-palins-crosshairs
Nonsense. The GOP is not trying to incite violence. That very old ad was not in good taste .
> The GOP is not trying to incite violence.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/donald-trump-incitement-violence/
Opinion,
It may be a few years ago, but these events are important in today’s current political climate.
“Takebackthe20.com by Sarah Palin’s Political Action Committe, that literally put Democrats in the cross-hairs last spring after the bill passed. “Don’t retreat, instead- RELOAD!” was how Palin introduced the map to her Twitter followers. Days later, a vandal smashed the glass door of Giffords’ Tucson office. Giffords’ father tells the New York Post that members of the Tea Party “always threatened” his daughter.”
Gawker.com
Gawker has been pretty unreliable. Also you and I both know palin is not a good representive what was her life experience before politics- not much ,she just happens to have a loud voice. She was marginally effective at raising a family. Failed in her governorship ,She got a B or worse grade at most important thing in her life raising wholesome children . She tried hard though, give her that . Basically she is not a role model though she did help make people aware . Aside from all That ,I agree with you 110% . Especially with today’s political climate those type of ads are unacceptable. Keep in mind that ad was before the insanity of the last year . It’s time to take a page out of kayne book . He says he loves everyone to his best ability. He says that because he is strong. Let’s look at true leaders like him and others.
Steve it is worth considering the statistics that leftists use actual violence , killing,lawlessness as means of expression at a very high rate . They have a tendency to kill and terrorize their fellow citizens. That said there is no excuse for republicans to verbally follow suit. Two wrongs do not make right in civil society. My opinion is most of the civil violence we have seen recently is egged on by very bum politicians combined with George soros paying those disruptive groups to cause civil unrest and get chaos underway . Frankly it’s very likely his intent . He would stop giving them money if he disagreed with their methods. So I consider those groups separate from real democrats. There is high probability soros does this becouse he can’t stand America and it’s independence. He has historically made massive sums of money through chaos in society. He is as close to evil as you get . If he wanted to be a force for good he is smart enough to find peaceful ways to accomplish good social change . He obviously wants chaos and evil violent acts . He is using democrats and leftists emotions like a tool . If he wanted good change he would support ethical politicians and ethical groups. In our current world everything is not as simple as it appears. We are being played against each other.
Opinion, Soro’s objective is what it always has been, destabalize governments and economies and profit from it and that he does. Kayne is a perfect example of one straying to far off the Democat plantation. An independent thinking black man. Can’t have that now can we?
The stupid on here is staggering!
Bill, do you ever keep up with current events?
Bryan, you are certainly part of the stupid on here but you aren’t alone!
Opinion,
https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/10/12/photos-metropolitan-republican-club-in-manhattan-targeted-by-vandals/
Bill, can you be more descriptive in your definition of “stupid”?
https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000006154922/fascism-leaders-america-trump.html
Oh yes, those scary crosshairs. Isn’t it funny that Democrat Giffords was shot by a Democrat.. Steve, you are the gift that keeps giving. So lost you don’t even see it.
“Giffords’ Tea Party opponent in the 2010 election, Jesse Kelly, went even further with the violent rhetoric. Kelly’s campaign held an event called “Get on Target for Victory in November.” Description: “Help remove Gabrielle Giffords from office. Shoot a fully automatic M16 with Jesse Kelly.”
This language is never acceptable in politics, and yes, by running an ad which covered nearly a dozen states with “Crosshairs”…
The Sarah PAC was inciting something other than a “non violent” approach to conflict resolution.
I personally think more people should read the biography about her to gain a good idea of her “moral compass”.
Seems Steve Scalise was in someones crosshairs huh Steve? I mean, it is common to place crosshairs over targeted areas during a campaign or business dealings. Who cares? What is not cool is Democrats actually placing crosshairs on people and pulling the trigger. Did you see that looney New York Democrat going to set off a 200lb bomb on Election Day in DC and kill himself. Mental illness should not be taken advantage of.
Palin & Trump have one main activity in common:
They both get their daily news from “Fox and Friends”.
Garbage in, Garbage out!
James, you are going to embarrass those supporters on here. Heheh!
Can you spell LOSER?
Dump Trump! Palin is a LOSER!
Yep James, Eric Holder, Lunch bucket Joe, Obama, Kamilla Harris, Pelosi, Schumer, Brennen, Hillary, CNN, MSDNC, NYT, Wash Post, NPR, etc.. Real winners there!
Now those are what LOSERS look like. Why do you embarrass yourself James?
Palin came to Cordova, dazzled us all, I voted for her in the gubernatorial election, and she won. A maverick (rip) selected her, and then she went rogue.
How’s that working for you now?
You know James, that Sarah did a number on the big oil cos. in Alaska and they were also supporting McCain. I was shocked that those oil cos. didn’t raise hell with John but they kept silent (everyone knew it was a Hail Mary pass aimed to get McCain back in the game he was trailing on).
You say she went rogue but I suspect she had help. She knew she was out of her league being in where she was appointed, but few others knew, until Katie Couric interview showed her up as the boob she was. Not sure who helped Sarah but you can just bet she didn’t come up with it on her own IMO.
State of NY and NYNY will get Trump & his siblings on real estate tax fraud. No stature of limitations on this crime.
Mid term elections will be fun to watch! GOP is going down the hole!
The Palin family is moving from AK, time to go!
Good luck and turn off the lights, when you leave. Thanks, for the memories! It was quite a ride!
Thanks Bill, I always appreciate your insight.
I still have stock in XOM, COP, CVX & PSX. I believe in them, since we still need fossil fuels. Most important to me, is that I could not fish without it.
I only wish AK had a better deal, per barrel.
James McCain was a Rino. But you cheering for the GOP to go down is like rooting for Mao or Stalin. It is difficult because the Democrat Party is full of Marxist/Socialists/Communists. Like a cancer, tue Democraps should be stamped out like ISIS.
Thanks James,
I knew their was something we both agreed on…
As for Bryan…
You are your own “Party’s” worst enemy…
Cowards like U that spread hatred and are scarred to use your own real name and then call for “stamping out” of opinions that do not support your Colonialism Agenda throughout the world….
Even Naploean and Custard were eventually defeated….
Only time will tell just how well the American People stand up to the R’s latest threat to our Civil Liberties and Freedom in this country, but I am betting on the “Free Will” of my comrades over the censorship and manipulating of Democracy by your aging group of old white Oligarchs.
Thanks James, we do have to hand it to Sarah with her ACES taxes on oil industry (passed before she went rogue). Then Parnell did us in. Unfortunately we didn’t protect ourselves during the low oil prices we experienced recently.
Ok Brian much of what you say is near accurate. But your virotrol towards democrats helps no one . I agree we have some very immature democrats in our nation but your saying stamped out like isis is plain crazy and makes an important movement for bettering the nation look bad . It puts you on same plain as the worst of your opposition. Our nation doesn’t need your brand of insanity or viritrol . Please stick to reasonable conversation and reasoning. Your points are lost when you are so vicious. You have a talent for providing awesome information. You are often correct in your statement s but Save your extremeness for something else .
Brian you should watch the trump Kanye White House video on breitbart. You will see how a true man shows his courage. Kayne says he loves everyone . This is despite the extreme meanness that’s been directed at him . Kayne gets it . Like trump says . Kayne has true compassion for his fellow humans .
Opinion, I value your opinion if you will excuse the pun. My reference towards Democrat cancer was towards the vitriol coming from Hillary, Maxine, Holder, and the rest of those hate spreading Dems calling for the demise of Trump. Just look at some of tue Democrats mental operatives in Portland this week (Steve that is what cowards look like). So yes, I’d call Antifa and BLM a cancer that brings nothing good to the “body”, if you will.
Opinion, show me one Democrat who stood-up for Kavanaugh even though they knew everything was a lie. Besides Manchin. Of course to support Kavanaugh would get one ran off the plantation. Just look at Kanye. Look like the Democrat lynch mob sprung into action. Their playbook is so predictable.
Bryan you pretty well nailed that one . There’s been some pretty despicable behavior from those groups. Understatement . Sure makes them look bad . Even illegal. Peaceful protest is constitutional. Those groups have crossed the line into illegal and unethical behavior.
@Opinion, couldn’t agree more with this post. Also, I was in full agreement with another post you made about raising a family being the most important job a man or woman could have. That’s how I live my life, too.
Opinion,
You speak so highly of Kayne West…Do U really know him well?
His beliefs?
It is funny, cause I just heard his name for the first time the other day.
I sent a friend a link to the police video shooting Cody Eyre last X mas eve and my friend sent me back a link to Kayne West and Nas video…the title was “Cops are Killing Kids”.
I wonder if Trump has heard of that video?
Especially as our President has just called for blanket “stop and frisk” by police in Chicago.
“Trump told a gathering of police chiefs on Monday, ‘stop and frisk’ for anyone seen as a possible criminal in Chicago”… “This is not seen as a contradiction: There are simply two classes of people—us and them, winners and losers, people deserving of rights and everyone else.”
https://youtu.be/9Q0Q9mdvpi4
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cops_Shot_the_Kid
https://youtu.be/G6nTdzBdVAg
Seems like there are two sides to Kayne West…
Steve I don’t know kayne well at all . I only know the outreach he has made in the last year is admirable. Also his direct concern for his fellow man especially inner city . He has started an effort to improve Chicago. I do know he has a very bad past which makes his recent improvement even more astonishing. Not to mention his struggle with personal issues. I guess I look at people as to how they are making an effort to better themselves and their circle of influence. Kayne is no saint by any stretch of imagination but if he makes a dent In Chicago’s problems he’s a hero in my mind .
Steve while you are on it . My opinion on stop and frisk for what it’s worth. Very bad idea . Not a path to go down. Find other legal methods. You and I both know a politician isn’t going to be right on all subjects. Jobs , economy and other items will eventually solve Chicago’s problems. ( this is part of why I support trump) then Some form of reward based system for families staying together. I don’t know . Main thing that would remove 90% assumed need for stop and frisk would be to remove drug profits . Which means complete legalization across board . Means no black market . No profit no need for theft . It’s a no brainer in my mind . Combine that with easy acces treatment centers and marketing to heavily stigmatize users . Maybe even give the stuff away free . Losers use ect . Reward based system for people who stay and keep clean . Yeah crazy idea . Work better than what’s being done . IMO . Boom no more need to stop and frisk which should never occur in America. IMO . I’m sure everyone think I’m crazy now but I bet it would work.
Steve while you are on subject. As you brought it up I’m against stop and frisk period . Against constitution. There are other solutions. Politicians can’t be right on everything. As to that horrible video you posted it’s obvious there needs to extreme reform on how law enforcement treats mentally ill people . Years ago My brother graduated #1 top of class out of trooper academy in Sitka ,he started work in Fairbanks and hated it because other troopers pushed him to be mean to people who just need help . He quit in less than 6 months I believe. He was a top cadet gave up a good career . Not his cup of tea . You can’t really blame troopers as they mostly just follow their training and supervisors. There needs to major reform. Sooner the better. What a gross waste .
Opinion,
Thanks for sharing that story of your brother…
I have several people close to me who all walked away from L.E. careers as well.
My partner as well as my new neighbor were both commisoned rangers for the park service.
The annual “spray each other in the face with mace” trainings and forced “quotas” make for a non pleasant job.
I am very concerned Trump’s rhetoric “don’t retreat…reload” and stop and frisk anyone who looks like a “criminal” will only further exasperbate our escalating police violence.
I am dissapointed in Kayne for not speaking his mind at the Trump meeting.
Look at our NFL…
We have a large divide growint
Colin Kaepernick states:
“To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way,” he continued. “There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder… I am not looking for approval. I have to stand up for people that are oppressed. If they take football away, my endorsements from me — I know that I stood up for what is right.”
https://www.google.com/amp/s/people.com/sports/take-a-knee-protests-start-2018-season-miami-dolphins-nfl/amp/
Kaepernick is nothing but a whiney, millionaire douche. I jist wish he and the lot would shut-up. Nobody cares what that morom has to say. I am curious why American blacks complain the loudest? It really is embarrassing. Please don’t respond to that comment unless you knkw what you are talking about. As for the cops, well, they have a tough, under-appreciated job. They deal with the scumbags of society and repeat offenders for years. Troopers, especially in Alaska aren’t viewed with favor. So, the citizens have to accept some responsibility. I am not going to get into the lies like “hands-up don’t shoot”.
I think what’s more important locally is what’s being said in ballot measure one and the lies stand for Alaska is spreading. Which confuses Alaskans and puts our salmon and water in danger . Also the fact pebble mine hired a top gun public relations fixer to skew public opinion to get behind their toxic unacceptable mine . I can tell you pebble hired HDR to conduct fish surveys and determine water quality and when the amazing report of heavy fish concentrations and pristine water came back from HDR pebble fired the fish crew and hired a different contractor for new surveys to be closer to answers they wanted. That’s according to multiple people on the ground and in the offices .
Just like Trump, Palin is only an obvious symptom of a much larger Disease that is plauging our Nation.
The “Show Me Da Money” disease that will get people to say just about anything….
If she really wanted to help Alaskans, then she should have stayed in her post as govoner as the financial crisis was making it’s way to AK.
She left the post to Parnell (Conoco Phillips executive) who signed away our profits in SB21 and threw our budget into perpetual deficit mode.
No she wants a come back tour, well I hear it is still sunny down in Arizona they like Republicans too!
I still have a signed poster of Sarah Palin (sitting in a dogsled of mine) hanging in my kitchen from before she was invited to be McCain’s running mate. This poster was for a library thing and the poster has Sarah holding a book (The Great Serum Race) while sitting in a dogsled with a number of other dogs (one of which was mine) looking on. I was able to shake her hand at this photo shoot and she seemed pleasant and quite enamored with the whole thing.
For those who remember, Sarah ran as a social conservative for governor of Alaska but she did not govern that way IMO. And she was able to get some increased taxes from oil cos. with the help of Democrats. This made her unpopular with said oil cos. and that surprised me when McCain chose her, as oil cos. supported him.
Anyway, Sarah then became the “pitbull,” that she is associated with today, but prior to her running with McCain this “pitbull” thing was unspoken. It came with her position on the ticket but didn’t go away when the ticket failed. Perhaps this was due to her taking “personal offense at losing to Obama and running mate Joe Biden in 2008” as Craig writes-whatever it was, Sarah was not able to govern like before and she ended up “quitting.”
However, Sarah had already adopted her “pitbull” stance that came from “who knows where?”-She just was not able to revert back to her prior self IMO.
Agree or disagree with her politics, you have to have to hand it to her, she’s one feisty lady. I don’t agree with the premise of the article, though, that she’s somehow the cause of the current political toxic discourse. That’s on an American population that has become addicted to reality TV and are simply getting the show (from both sides) that they wanted.
Jason, just to add a little to what you said:
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/rep-steve-scalise-when-eric-holder-other-dems-call-for-violence-thats-a-direct-threat-to-our-democracy
Bryan,
Maybe U guys on the outside have not got the memo, but most Alaskans think Fox News is pure Bullshit.
Your sources only further discredit your toxic right wing beliefs.
Show me any peer reviewed “journalism” that supports anything you have to say.
See most reputable news sources hire college educated journalists to do research, conduct interview and then prepare the stories…
Your citings are mostly “talking heads” regurgitating the same old rants over and over again…
Even a parrot can recognize repeatition when it hears it.
So Steve, you are denying that Holder (scumbag) and Hillary (scumbag) called for violence to name a few Democrats just because you do not like the source? Do you know how childish you sound? It seems you get your news from ADN. What a biased joke. This is why you are so brainwashed about Global Warming. MSDNC and CNN, NYT, NPR, Wash Post, etc.. who are known liars (just look at tue Ford saga) and you chose to believe them because you were told to by “most” Alaskan’s? So, since there is record of these violent Democrats I’d say Fox is correct wouldn’t you?
Bryan,
After both Bush Presidents took us to war for the conquest of oil in the middle east…
“It seems likely that the death toll in the past 15 years easily exceeded half a million Iraqis, but how much higher is hard to determine.”
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/politics/wp/2018/03/20/15-years-after-it-began-the-death-toll-from-the-iraq-war-is-still-murky/
That does not even include the half a million or more killed in his father’s first gulf war…and the millions of American GI’s that suffer with PTSD and “Gulf War Syndrome”.
And you still have the stupidity to call Liberals “violent”?
Maybe Republicans live in houses without any mirrors these days?
You are so far down the “double talk” hole that it would be hard to shed any light on your ideals.
Jason,
I would add to your “reality tv” comment, that “Trumpism” is implementing a level of propaganda that is unprecedented in U.S. history.
Ex Milatary is now working for Fox News and “vice ver sa” Fox News “casters” now doing public “briefings” as the White House Staff…
Very Orwellian…
Time to re-read 1984.
“The slogans of the Party. These slogans are, “War is peace / freedom is slavery [and] ignorance is strength.”
https://www.businessinsider.com/ap-trump-is-staffing-or-casting-from-fox-2018-3
Steve: Your angry and accusatory rhetoric as well as inaccurate facts takes away any credibility you might have had. Need to either ratchet it down a couple notches or double up on your meds.
Sure Time for Change…
The insults from hidden handles flow freely in this day and age…only you all say the same shit, just different days.
I agree with you Jason . Premise of article doesn’t fit . Political history has been toxic from day one . That’s part of why Washington new he didn’t want to be president. Look at what leftists did to Abe Lincoln. That’s pretty toxic. Obviously lots more examples both sides . When I read Ted Roosevelt book I was pretty shocked with extreme tactics of the time . Also the corruption and Moralless capitalism. ( I love capitalism but it needs good people behind it ) if someone was to say a spark ignited our current mess which I believe can’t be pinned to one instance but if a person was to try in a foolish way it would started with the Clinton’s and their lawless methods to garner money and get their way plus their abuse of citizens. Seared in my mind is Waco . Ruby ridge ect . The true beginnings of where we are at is Nafta . Something that has destroyed the lives of countless and made a deep base for trump . Ross Perot was first face . He dropped out when his daughter wedding was threatened. In Alaska joe vogler comes to mind but Americans have always been independent minded and palin has almost nothing to do with what’s going on in the national undercurrents . She was just a voice . IMO
Opinion,
Just researched that 10 out of the 12 first U.S. Presidents ALL owned Black Slaves are were against emancipation….
Maybe that is what Trump speaks of when he wants to “Make America Great Again”??
Steve. I’m sure you were being a bit silly on purpose. You already know that’s not what trump means. As to first presidents it’s pretty unfair to judge the past by the present. It was a different era but you knew that also . Whatever you read about first presidents may have been statistically true . What your statement leaves out is our nations founders were prepared for freedom for all men . Or citizens. As their constitution and preamble represented. Some of the founders were distinctly against slavery. Historical fact which you probably already knew. As you probably remember Washington freed his slaves at his death if I remember correctly. He may have even had a slave consort . ( debatable but her relatives claim kinship with Washington) In that era and before there were all colors of slaves . A crazy different time . Your statement about them being against emancipation was probably inaccurate. Who ever wrote that most likely didn’t speak directly to the first 10 presidents and may have spread nonsense. I think you knew all that and were just trying to make some political point that’s not connectable . I believe what trump means when he speaks make America great again is make America an industrial powerhouse, return family values, make each person able to support themselves and their homes , return a basic pride in the Americans concept for striving for improvement and good change in the world and guarantee our countries indipendance from the tentacles of foreign money and foreign governments. That’s a rough idea anyway. Trump is distinct friends with all skin colors and doesn’t give a damn what color someone is if they are independent thinker and striving to better themselves. As is proven by his close friendship with North Korean leader and kayne ect . The issues at hand are not about races it’s about keeping America improving and free . He clearly loves all Americans that strive to improve our nation within its laws and constitution. IMO
Isn’t it funny Steve gives me hell for going back to Obama and then he dredges up the founders and slams them over stupid logic and then goes back to the 1st and 2nd Gulf Wars to slam America, meanwhile ignoring Obama killing Americans without due process. Anyhow Opinion, nice response to Steve’s silly response. Steve, I’d encourage you to go read some history on how well our Founders treated their slaves. Hint, a lot better then the majority that landed in the Caribbean, Central and South America.
Our recent presidents deserve some slamming for the horrible horrible mess they contributed to and human rights violations.
In fact my personal feeling is they should all be in prison for helping lead us down a truly dark dark ethical path . ( human rights violations and destruction of foreign nations , American families children refugees flood to name just a very few . ) our nation is better than how we represented ourselves in the Middle East . No excuse except criminality and hard hearts . But I’m way off topic. Let’s discuss fish . Or bears .
Opinion,
Agree with your last comment…
Stepping over the skulls of the dead without remembering history will not heal the wounds that divide our Nation.
Genocide of Native Tribes and over 6 million Slaves brought to the U.S. homeland and Caribbean cannot be over looked…much of the “reservation” and inner city problems still stem from this divide.
When you said:
“What your statement leaves out is our nations founders were prepared for freedom for all men . Or citizens. As their constitution and preamble represented.”
I had to laugh…
Women were not allowed to vote initially as neither were Blacks.
“The Voting Rights Act of 1965, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote as guaranteed under the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution”
1965 is only a little over 50 years…less than 1/4 of total history since British Independence.
As for Bryan….
He stated:
Steve, I’d encourage you to go read some history on how well our Founders treated their slaves.”
Again, another belly laugh.
Obviously you have never tried to sleep in shackles and chains on a dirt floor.
“When Washington took over Mount Vernon at age 22 there were 18 slaves.
When he married he gained control of 200 more which technically belonged to the estate of his wife’s first husband. By 1786 he owned 216 slaves. (Flexner,p114)
1766: Washington sent a “rogue and runaway” slave to the islands to be sold for rum, molasses, etc. (Flexner,p114)
1774: Washington said new British laws would make Americans “as tame and abject slaves as the blacks we rule over with such arbitrary sway.” (Flexner, p114)
1778/9: Washington was reluctant to buy or sell slaves, although he felt that: “If these poor wretches are to be held in a state of slavery, I do not see that a change of masters will render it more irksome, provided husband and wife, and parents are not separated from each other, which is not my intention to do.” (Flexner, p118)
1786 Washington complained about a Quaker abolitionist society: “I can only say that no man living wishes more sincerely than I do to see the abolition of (slavery)…But when slaves who are happy & content to remain with their present masters, are tampered with & seduced to leave them… it introduces more evils than it can cure.”(Hirschfield,p187″
Steve I respectfully say you need to carefully re read the original constitution preamble and text . It starts with We the people. That means every one and leaves out no one . People includes all races all sexes all ages . It doesn’t say don’t include – . It talks about ensuring a union and tranquility. If you exclude certain people tranquility is impossible. You cannot blame the founders for their wishes not being held to . It took a long time for culture to change and accept the constitution as it was meant to be . You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink . Thank the goodness that’s in our Americans we have made some progress. When I say respectfully to please re read constitution and interpret with open mind its a respectful request as I know you have truly good intentions. Thankfully there are people like you to push progress.
Opinion,
I am no “constitutionist”, yet I feel without Jefferson lobbying for our Bill of Rights, we would have little civil liberty in U.S.
Affirmative Action is fairly new in our country (maybe U should do more “research”).
Some feel Affirmative Action is the real reason JFK had his brains blown out in public.
“In 1961, President John F. Kennedy became the first to utilize the term “affirmative action” in its contemporary sense in Executive Order 10925 to ensure that government contractors “take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin.”[21]This executive order realized the government’s intent to create equal opportunities for all qualified people. This executive order was eventually amended and superseded by Lyndon B. Johnson’s Executive Order 11246 which prevented discrimination based on race, color, religion, and national origin by organizations which received federal contracts and subcontracts. In 1967, the order was amended to include sex as well.[22] TheReagan administration was opposed to the affirmative action requirements”
So “SEX” which means Women….was not until 1967 in U.S.
That is quite different from “We da People” back in 1776.
Rage against the machine says it best in their hit tune from the 90’s in a few lines borrowed from George Orwell…
“The Party” slogan “Who controls the past (now), controls the future. Who controls the present (now), controls the past.”
https://youtu.be/j_zyb-XXWz0
Steve I think you slightly misunderstood me . Also I extremely honor the people and groups along the way that have helped with enacting human rights . For my opinion they were already guaranteed in the original constitution/ bill of rights – the part about all rights not spoken of reserved to the people or the states . – not exact words but close . Also the part about life liberty and pursuit of happiness. Thankfully all the patriots and Americans along the way forced cultural progress to put those future rights into action. Steve Thanks for providing all those historical details.
Steve, allow me to correct you here. There were approx. 10 million slaves that came out of Africa. According to black scholars the United States only recieved 300,000. A small, small, small footprint of slavery. I am not going to argue the moral fiber of our Founders. They did what everybody else was doing back in those times in a growing country and economy. So, can we tone it down a bit on the whole “evil” America who is responsible for every sack of chits misery.
Bryan, what you’ve done is called a “whitewash!”
/www.theroot.com/how-many-slaves-landed-in-the-us-1790873989
What I thought especially interesting was that about 14% didn’t survive the trip and you are talking only those that arrived, making you numbers even more outrageous. Of course, as long as we are only talking “sack of chits” and their “misery” nobody would miss a few who died along the way.
“Agree or disagree with her politics, you have to have to hand it to her, she’s one feisty lady.”
That’s the equivalent of saying: “You can say what you want about butt boils, but you have to hand it to them, they hurt like hell.”
What exactly does being ‘feisty’ have to do with anything? And in my world, screeching harpy feisty doesn’t play well.
Today we had the spectacle of West, in the oval office, calling the Orange One a mother fucker. Now really, all of you that are so lit up about Trump’s magnetism are OK with this? When not that long ago your private conduit of truth, Fox News, hammered Obama for -GASP! – wearing a tan suit in the same room. You find the suit declase, and quite fitting of the Kenyan Marxist but then applaud a mentally ill person literally slobbering over the POTUS. What the hell is wrong with you? Your acting like a bunch of inmates set free of an asylum.
1,2,3, here comes the word ‘socialism’ in reply.
Hi Monk . Glad you finally decided to say something thought provoking. You are pretty far off base and have no idea of the iconic moment you missed . You are to busy smearing people to recognize the good that just occurred in Oval Office. Yep two men crazy conversation . What you missed though is it was two insanely successful men made an emotional connection “ kayne gets and can speak for me anytime” they made a start to working for the better of the nation and helping inner city people . Showed friendship and closeness. If you missed that you missed an epic moment in history. It’s not easy for kayne to put up with his detractors and lack of support. I consider him one of the bravest people of our times . He can wear his hat but mine is off to him . He is actually spending effort to help Chicago and make a movement to pull inner city people out of their downward path . You saw a real man take an extreme step . He is backed by some of our greatest football players ever who are trying to make an effort as well . By the way Trumps strongest supporters don’t care about Fox News and neither does trump. Trump has claimed fox no better than other news sources in a video. So you missed that as well. Fox has been bought out by liberal media and it’s just another money machine. People who understand what trump is trying to do understand this . So forget about fox . It’s not much better than cnn . Glad you finally woke up and pulled away the cobwebs to say something thought provoking and that wasn’t just a waste of time .
Opinion, a monkey could fly out of the Orange One’s ass, rip Session’s face off, on live tee vee, in the Oval Office and your ilk would call it an ‘epic moment in history, iconic’! My gawd we are so screwed. We finally made it – planet of the apes.
Not sure what to say monk . But your picture you describe would be pretty iconic and historic ! Does that type of thing happen to your ilk regularly? God I pity you . So jaded you can’t see the good in two people and potential change it represents . All you see is party lines . Must have been hard life for you . May the rest of your day be joyful!
Love Palin. Like Trump, she doesn’t faulter when the Democrats throw out their usual “deer in the headlight” words like “racist, sexist, racist, sexist, etc..”
Like Trump, she tells it like it is, and most sane people appreciate and love her for it. Take that lying Ford chic, ugly as she may be, she will make milkions off book deals, movie deals, speaking tours, etc.. Palin calls her out for what she is – a liar and liberal media heads spin.
As for Obama and Aires, Obama’s relationship with a domestic terrorist is substantiated.
Let’s examine Obama’s claim that his connection to Ayers and Dohrn is “tenuous” and “phony.” Is it phony that Obama’s political coming-out party in the mid-1990s was hosted by Ayers and Dohrn? What about the panel discussions in which Ayers and Obama both took part—that were organized by Michelle Obama? Tenuous? I suppose the goodbye party for prominent Israel basher and Arafat apologist Rashid Khalidi, attended by Obama, Ayers and Dohrn, is also unworthy of discussion. That Khalidi himself hosted a fundraiser for Obama’s first Congressional campaign must be completely irrelevant, too.
Then there’s the pesky fact that Obama and Ayers served together on the board of the Woods Fund for three years—and continued to do so even after Ayers was quoted in the New York Times fondly recalling his days as a bomber, and despairing that he hadn’t “done more.” (This quote, the Obama fact sheet reminds us, comes from an interview that just happened to be published on 9/11—Ayers had made the incendiary remarks earlier. I don’t know about you, but that makes me feel a lot better). The funds Obama and Ayers helped control at the Woods Foundation funneled thousands of dollars into both Khalidi’s organization and the now-infamous Trinity United Church of Christ. Irrelevant, phony distractions? So what if the Obama campaign’s top strategist concedes that the Senator’s relationship with the terrorist is “friendly”? I apologize for even devoting this much attention to such tenuous and unimportant information.
Obama’s “fact” sheet then brings us the crucial bulletin that all charges against Ayers were dropped, and that he spent no time in jail. Absolutely true. Except a minor detail was omitted: Ayers openly admits he is “guilty as sin” but “free as a bird.” Charges were dropped because federal authorities overstepped their legal bounds in pursuing the Weathermen, not because the charges were unfounded.
Keep living in the past…soon you will tell us what Carter had to see….stop looking in the rear view mirror and tell us how to move ahead.
I think you have no original ideas of your own to offer….just “cut and paste” anti D rhetoric.
No benefit to Alaska.
First it was Fox and now it is “living in the past”? Wasn’t Obama (failed president) and Hillary (just a failure) on TV this week bashing a real President? The past? Past what?
That’s cute, you think Trump is a real President. He is the illegitimate benefactor of gerrymandering, voter suppression, russian interference, …
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/fox-hires-former-white-house-official-hope-hicks-as-communications-director/2018/10/08/86acb1dc-cb10-11e8-920f-dd52e1ae4570_story.html?utm_term=.1c68c9cf651d
Great assessment Craig.
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