Archive for January, 2010
Frank Rich Did It First, But More Would Follow: Trying To Destroy Sarah Palin And The Tea Party Movement
Monday, January 18th, 2010Here is one Mainstream Media Narrative: Tea Partiers (Baggers) are racist, mobs, hate-filled, unruly, people.
Here is another Mainstream Media Narrative: Sarah Palin is a stupid hick, a gender traitor, and a quitter.
And the Mainstream Media Narrative that underlies all narratives: Anyone who believes something other than the liberal agenda is selfish, mean, and evil. So, there goes the majority of the country too stupid to see greatness when it’s right in front of their eyes. /sarcasm
Now, the Judson Phillips’ Tea Party Nation, Inc. gathering at Opryland in Nashville, Tennessee [background here] had the potential to fulfill every single one of those narratives and give the MSM a story that wrapped everything up in a bow. In fact, the MSM was hoping to undermine the Tea Party movement, discredit Sarah Palin and vilify “rich” conservatives all in one fell swoop–hopefully the day of the convention.
Unfortunately for the MSM and fortunately for those who are concerned about the country, the shady actions of a few were exposed so as to not tarnish the vast majority of good people in the Tea Party movement. Some changes could be made to correct errors by the Tea Party Nation, Inc. founder. Sarah Palin could make a decision with all the facts and not be blind-sided.
Still, guys like Frank Rich tried to jump from this one bad actor and tarnish the whole movement. His piece was utterly predictable. He tried to say that Sarah Palin was attempting to hijack the Tea Party movement. Erick Erickson writes of Rich’s leaps in logic:
As for Palin? Rich is trying to build up activists to tear down Palin, but in fact Palin and the activists are one together. Sarah Palin is the epitome of the tea party activist — a mom who got involved in politics because the political establishment in Wasilla, Alaska was misspending sales tax revenue. Just as wasteful spending in Wasilla got her involved in politics, the federal waste and spending is getting lots of moms, dads, and kids involved in politics today.
The Left hates Sarah Palin with a vehemence that is impossible to quantify. They loathe the Tea Party folks because it is everything they’re not–true grassroots, not astroturf; common citizens coming together (not paid stooges); and people who are united by a desire to take power away from D.C. and give it to the American people.
So, if Frank Rich and others like him can tie the actions of one man to the average Tea Party person concerned for his country, he’ll do it. If Frank Rich can portray Sarah Palin as a hypocritical pol, he can defeat the most effective voice in opposition to Barack Obama and the left in general.
The Tea Party groups around the country are doing much good. They will be an effective foundation for bringing accountability to both parties.
Witness what is happening in Massachusetts. Even in a liberal state given to supporting Democrats almost exclusively, the people are rising up to send a message to elitists in Washington.
This is terrifying for the liberals. They’d like to knock down any symbols that will threaten their power.
So, the people do well to police their own. The Left accuses the Right side because they’re the Soros-funded, ACORN-defiled and SEIU astroturf kings. They are utterly corrupt and they want to dishearten Americans by painting the opposition with their own cynical brush.
The best defense against scurrilous attack by people intent on destruction is the truth. Keeping our own side clean deprives the Left of ammunition.
Meanwhile, it’s too late. The Left is losing. And they know it. That’s why they’re desperate.
Constrasting Mark Knoller’s Tweet Coverage Of Obama’s Church Speech With Mine (Unpaid Twitterer Citizen Journalist)
Sunday, January 17th, 2010Today, President Obama spoke at a D.C. area church to honor Martin Luther King Day. Gateway Pundit has the video. You can see my Twitter feed for the notable quotes, etc.
Here are some differences:
1. I admit my bias. Mark Knoller does not.
Anyone reading my coverage knows that I’m an out and proud conservative-libertarian. People read my stuff with that in mind.
That is not to say that Mark Knoller is unbiased. He just doesn’t admit it. For example, if you followed his coverage, you’d get a sweeping overview that would lead one to believe that the President’s speech was exclusively honoring Martin Luther King. You wouldn’t get the quotes about progress for gays and lesbians or the politicized comments about health care reform.
It was a political speech in a church, not a soaring ideals speech. You wouldn’t know that from Mark Knoller’s coverage. It’s what Knoller left out that demonstrates bias. This is a much more insidious form of bias because people don’t know what they’re missing.
2. I link to competing news sources. Mark Knoller does not.
For example, Knoller’s network was not covering the speech live. MSNBC online did cover the speech live.
So I linked to the coverage so people could watch, and discern, for themselves.
Those following Knoller’s feed would have to take his word for it. That’s too bad. On Twitter, a person can follow all network feed while watching another network video live coverage in another window. It’s not really competition at all. It is also incomplete news.
3. I link to “competing” Tweeters. Mark Knoller does not.
Well, I don’t view them as competition. I view them as different points of view. Period. People can take what they want from them.
So, I Retweet Knoller or Matt Lewis or Philip Klein or Jake Tapper or Mary Katherine Hamm or Matt Drache or Steve Green or any other news source who is offering information about the subject. That includes lots of people you haven’t heard of, but who I follow on Twitter. I retweet regular people and give their opinion the same weight as Mark Knoller. If he or she says something worthwhile, why does it matter WHO says it?
Mark Knoller’s feed is all Knoller all the time. It’s just limited, is all.
It is great that Mark Knoller is on Twitter. I like his Twitter feed. I have, however, noted more than once what he’s omitted salient information.
Following Major Garrett and Jake Tapper often fills in the blanks and leaves me wondering about subtle bias. On Twitter, bias is revealed rather easily. When multiple sources live-report an event an observer can see them.
Twitter is the great equalizer.
What does this mean for the future of news aggregation and assimilation? I don’t know.
I have linked to local people with webcams and big orgs like MSNBC. I have linked to heavily compensated pundits and average citizens like me who are especially insightful (or stupid–and I don’t mean just the citizens).
The media world is flattening. Between YouTube and U-Stream, Blogging, Twitter and other outlets, news and entertainment are becoming more merit-based.
There will always be room for a guy like Jake Tapper or Andrew Malcolm who are adapting to the new media forms. People will pay them for their content either under a big brand or on their own. They are safe.
Well, they’re as safe as anyone is in this morphing economy and accelerating technology.
The Tea Party Spirit Of Scott Brown’s Supporters
Sunday, January 17th, 2010I have heard twice now that Scott Brown’s supporters aren’t Tea Partiers, they’re Democrats and Independents. Who says that Democrats and Independents can’t believe in the spirit of the Tea Party? Nearly all Americans are disaffected with out-of-touch government leadership.
From Time:
“Given the often contrived and polarizing
conflict that dominates the cable-TV landscape, it would be easy, on
the outside looking in, to slap a Tea Party label on Brown’s
supporters. But most of those lunging for his hand were not lunatics
from the fringe, merely Democrats and Independents feeling bruised,
ignored and taken for granted by people in power.”
First, the Tea Party folks are not the fringe. They enjoy more approval than either the Republican or Democrat party. Second, on what planet do the media live? All Americans, of all political persuasions, are sick of the government. One only has to look at Nancy Pelosi’s approval ratings to know that she’s pretty universally reviled. Ditto Harry Reid. Do the delusional press think that only Tea Partiers are fed up and skewing these approval numbers?
Gottta love the disconnect. And THAT’S why I say that all incumbents, Democrat and Republican, should worry. The American people are disgusted. If I were a Republican Senator or Congressman, I wouldn’t be too smug. They’re likely to get primaried and ousted. This is happening everywhere.
The American People have had it. It’s not just fringy nut-bags like the media, and really, those in power, would like to imagine. It’s a “throw the bums out” year. There are a lot of bums.
Martha Coakley And Barack Obama Sitting In A Tree….And Pushing Each Other Off The Branches
Saturday, January 16th, 2010Verum Serum digs up a delightful gem:
So here we have Martha Coakley, who less than 18 months ago could not see her way to shelling out a measly $1000 in a gesture of party unity (and on Obama’s birthday no less), now hoping beyond hope for Obama to save her campaign this weekend. Then you have Obama, who is forced to put aside Coakley’s petty back-stabbing and campaign for her this weekend, only to risk even further emasculation of his political clout on the very real possibility that Coakley loses to Scott Brown on Tuesday. All because the centerpiece of his legislative agenda for all of 2009 – ObamaCare – is on the verge of going down in flames.
BREAKING: Tea Party Nation’s Judson Phillips: “I Want To Make A Million From This Movement”
Friday, January 15th, 2010Embattled Tea Party Nation, Inc. owner Judson Phillips has been making the media rounds to defend his up-coming, February 4-6 conference at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee.
Disillusioned Tea Party volunteers are angry at Phillips for turning the grass-roots group into a for-profit venture without their consent and for charging more than $500 per person to an event that many worked for but can’t afford.
Local Tea Party insiders say that long-time Republican donor Bill Hemrick [he gave $1000 to the NRCC in late 2009 and to the Fred Thompson and Marsha Blackburn campaigns among others], owner of Upper Deck Trading cards, gave Judson Philips at least $50,000 and maybe the whole $125,000 to cover Tea Party Nation’s Sarah Palin speaker’s fee. This act led Tea Party activists to believe the Tennessee Republican Party has been involved in the closed-door organizing.
Meanwhile, all money made by the sold-out event will go straight to Tea Party Nation, Inc. while grassroots activists have donated their time to make the event happen.
Tami Killmarx, a nurse, and an original member of the Nashville Tea Party Nation Steering Committee says,” I don’t believe for an instant that this money that Judson Philips is making will go to anyone but him. He doesn’t have a PAC. He’s been promising to form a 527.”
He has done neither. Killmarx was asked to leave the Tea Party Nation group of volunteers and kicked off the Tea Party Nation social networking site for voicing her concerns. Her husband, Robert, was asked to leave soon after.
That’s not the only financial funny business Phillips is accused of making. Kevin Smith, the website developer who was never compensated for his work on the Tea Party Nation social networking site and who wrote an insider’s account of the Tea Party Nation dealings, says that Phillips called his account a lie, but offered no proof to the contrary. Smith asserted that Philips mishandled Tea Party funds by paying for expenses out of his wife Sherry’s PayPal account. Judson Phillips did not return my request for comment.
Smith says, “Judson has been very slick and deceptive about PayPal. He’s answered the wrong question. He had two different accounts. One was his wife’s account. After August, there was a TPN account.” Smith was paid from Sherry’s account.
In the same NBC article, reporter Domenico Montanaro notes Judson Phillips personal financial problems:
A background check of various public records databases raises questions about how he has handled money in the past. The search shows that during Phillips filed for Chapter 7 personal bankruptcy in 1999 and during the past decade, he has had three federal tax liens against him, totaling more than $22,000.
In an interview with NBC News, Phillips admitted to the financial difficulties. He declined to comment on the bankruptcy, but said the federal tax liens have been paid off.
Tami Killmarx said that she heard Phillips say more than once, “I want to make a million from this movement.”
Killmarx wasn’t the only volunteer who suspected Phillips intentions were to gain personally. Jerry Williams who ran security for the Tea Party Nation gatherings from the groups inception until August when he resigned, and was slated to handle security at the February 2010 convention, said, “We have a situation that’s like a natural disaster. [Likening the American political climate to a disaster.] You’ve always got people out there who want to make a buck on it. This is the same thing. There’s people out there who want to jump on this Tea Party thing for their own interests. They’re not really worried about the country or the people.”
He continued,”I think Judson is a good guy. He’s trying to do the right thing in the wrong way. We need to do it where everyone can get involved. Most of the people are like me, and just want to bring the country back to the people and to the constitution.”
Williams said that he resigned because he didn’t want to be a part of something that “leaves people out.”
Financial questions and personal gain weren’t the only problems with the Phillips. Internal emails reveal that Sherry Philips who is the Tea Party Nation Vice President forced dissenters from the organization. In one email sent to Anthony Shreeve, another Steering Committee member, Sherry Phillips says:
Due to the events of last Saturday and your indiscretion in relation to the National Tea Party Convention, it is apparent that your loyalties and interests are not compatible with those of Tea Party Nation. It is for this reason I am requesting your resignation from the TPN Advisory Board. I will give you 24 hours to remove yourself from the group before I remove it myself.
In addition, Judson Phillips threatened to sue one woman for her disagreement in an online forum. She asked to not be named for fear of recrimination. From other accounts, threats to sue were common. Judson Phillips is former assistant district attorney and current lawyer specializing in defending those accused of drinking under the influence. The email to the “banished” volunteer is as follows:
XXXX,
Please be advised your relationship with Tea Party Nation, INC, is hereby terminated immediately.
You may not speak on behalf of TPN, exercise any authority on behalf of TPN or interfere in any way with any business relationship tea party nation has;
Further, you will cease and desist from any defamatory statements against myself, or any member of the tea party nation board. You will cease and desist from any attempt to interfere with the National Tea Party Convention or the Sarah Palin appearance.
You fraudulently misrepresented your qualifications to be the planner for such an event. We have spent numerous hours since last Thursday trying to correct your incompetent mistakes. Had we followed your plan, you had us $100,000 in the hole.
You will issue an immediate retraction and apology or you will be defending a law suit for fraud, defamation, intentional interference with a business relationship and malpractice. As you consider this, remember what I do for a living.
Judson PHillips
President,
Tea Party Nation, INC.
Judson Phillips’ threatening email was prompted by this volunteer’s email sent to advisory board members:
To the advisory board:
Right now if the convention were to not happen for whatever reason Judson signed a contract that will leave either him and/or the board responsible for about $110,000. I’m not sure how this will work; perhaps we need a non-profit attorney to explain it.
The reason I am so concerned is that the Opryland wrote to me and told me that they needed to know who to take direction from, me (as the convention coordinator) or Pam and Sherry, as the people going behind my back and meeting with them. This makes TPN and the convention look bad to a very professional organization, the Opryland.. This hotel hosts dignitaries from all parts of the world, entertainment, and political. How embarrassing this is for us as a group for them to see the dirty laundry of TPN. Let’s hope they keep this confidential. Of course, within their walls, I’m sure we are a laughing stock.
I told them to go ahead and take their direction from Pam and Sherry. I will have no part in this type of high school backstabbing.
Many people interviewed about Judson Phillips called him a bully who would cut people out at the first sign of disagreement. More than one grass roots organization representative who interacted with Phillips called him difficult. Tennessee organizers note that there are many splits from Judson’s group and that he’s caused problems for the Tea Party movement state-wide with his divisive actions.
The Tea Party Nation volunteer group really fell apart, though, after the November 7, 2009 planning meeting at the local Golden Corral called The One Year Notice Rally.
Excited organizers found out October 22 that Sarah Palin had chosen to speak to the party. During the meeting, local activists urged Phillips to change the venue so more people could attend as the space was so limited at Opryland. At that point in November, he had 60 days to change the venue but was afraid if he changed it, Palin wouldn’t come speak to the gathering, says one person familiar with the meeting.
When Judson Phillips suggested the $550 convention fee, some members were so aghast they got up and left the meeting.
At one point, fisticuffs nearly broke out, emotions ran so high. Those who had been in the bottom-up organization felt betrayed because the event excluded so many average people and many of the volunteers themselves couldn’t even afford to attend. Philips and his few supporters saw an opportunity to make money.
This meeting prompted many long-time Tea Party members to quit.
To better control the conference planning, Judson Phillips excluded the Steering Committee members and instead included five key people: Sherry Phillips, Pam Farnsworth, sister-in-law to the Phillips, Bruce Donnelly, President of the Chicago-based Surge USA, and Bill Hemrick and his business partner Jason Lukowitz. In one email, Tea Party volunteers were notified that they wouldn’t need to stay for this meeting.
The decision was made to keep the conference, small, expensive and exclusive.
Internal documents show overall expenses to exceed $480,000 including Sarah Palin’s speaking fee. More than one person disclosed that it was quite possible that Phillips would lose money on the conference.
Judson made the comment to Politico that the ticket price was so expensive to cover the speakers fee, but it looks like he did not put the money up for the fee. Either Bill Hemrick gave Tea Party Nation, Inc. the money or paid the Washington Speaker’s Bureau himself. And in fact, the fee isn’t $75,000 but $115,000 plus $10,000 in expenses.
Big donors were sought to underwrite the “Tea Party” including organizations who had helped organize and sponsor citizen-lead events elsewhere. None of these groups wanted to go on the record for fear of recrimination and many refused to attach their name to this event. Those who have continued to sponsor the event are unlikely aware of Judson Phillips’ actions.
Says one original sponsor still deciding whether to stay involved,”This is not the event we signed on to in the beginning.”
The American Liberty Alliance, lead by Eric Odom, announced last week that his group was withdrawing support and would not attend.
Anthony Shreeve, another Steering Committee Member paints the controversy in stark terms,”It’s like a cancer. It’s like it’s consumed Tennessee.”
Shreeve took pains, as did others involved, to say his frustration wasn’t about Sarah Palin’s speaking fee. One person said, “we’re capitalists.” The real concern, Shreeve said, “We want her to endorse the movement with real grassroots people.”
Tami Killmarx echoed the concerns of many grassroots people from Tennessee:
“At every step of the way Judson is trying to poison the waters. He has ruined this for us. This is not “the movement” in Tennessee. People are fighting hard for our country. We are worn out. We have wanted to come out for months [to expose Phillips]. We are trying to salvage this movement. Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachman need to know what this is. It’s a ruse. Let everyone come and hear Sarah Palin. Un uh, they wanted to make money. They wanted get in bed with the GOP. They don’t want to make it so that everyone can hear Sarah Palin. We wanted to hear her. We wanted to hear someone who believed in us. Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachman need to understand where they’re coming.
I was in D.C. on 9/12. These weren’t elitist rich people. There were no “activists” there. I don’t have anything to gain to turn Judson in. I have fought too hard for this thing, to see the elderly people pouring out in droves and then be left out now.
Judson Philips stands to make thousands while we are outside the door knocking.”
Killmarx expressed sadness about not getting to see Sarah Palin after volunteering and giving her own money to fund early Nashville Tea Party events.
“I believe in Sarah Palin. I believe in her and she’s a good woman. She’s being deceived like the rest of us.”
Media Willfully Missing Story Again: Doesn’t Fit The Narrative
Thursday, January 14th, 2010Erick Erickson continues his week-long tear. He’s going for it and now going after the press for missing the obvious about the Scott Brown race and the conservative support he is overwhelmingly receiving from across the country:
The narrative, of course, is that conservatives want a totalitarian pure party with a purity test for the GOP. You want gay marriage? No way. Pro-choice? No support. For government assisted health care options? We don’t recognize you. At least that is what the media claims.
So the media has and is ignoring the alliance between left and right among the GOP in Massachusetts.
Scott Brown is not a conservative. He makes no pretension of being a conservative. He defends Romneycare, which most conservative have rejected. He is pro-choice. But he is for less government interference in the free market and less spending. Like Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania, he is the perfect sort of Republican candidate for New England.
Jim DeMint’s Senate Conservatives Fund is supporting Scott Brown. Marco Rubio is supporting Scott Brown. RedState is supporting Scott Brown. We, well . . . I, suspect he’ll give conservatives heart burn as New England Republicans do. But all of us know he is a good, pragmatic fit for Massachusetts. He’ll vote against Obamacare and he’d vote against a second stimulus. Conservatives do know, despite media and liberal Republican (called “moderate” by the media) claims to the contrary, that the GOP needs 51 seats in the Senate to have a majority.
Of course the press isn’t covering this. As I noted two days ago:
Conservatives don’t want to concede ground in places like Massachusetts and Maine. They just want the Republicans there to at least adhere to fiscal conservatism. The social issues don’t play as well there. People get it. Conservative people get it to the tune of $1.3 million dollars in 24 hours. That’s how much average citizens want health care reform to die. They are putting their time and treasure on the line to get Brown elected.
The Republican party still has a big tent. Big enough even for Ted Kennedy’s old seat.
Amazing. The press missing a story.
BREAKING: Brown Ahead By Four!–UPDATED A Miracle Coming?
Thursday, January 14th, 2010I so want this to happen, I’m afraid a poll like this is just to get Democrats off their duffs to vote. New reports on the Brown-Coakley race:
Riding a wave of opposition to Democratic health-care reform, GOP upstart Scott Brown is leading in the U.S. Senate race, raising the odds of a historic upset that would reverberate all the way to the White House, a new poll shows.
Although Brown’s 4-point lead over Democrat Martha Coakley is within the Suffolk University/7News survey’s margin of error, the underdog’s position at the top of the results stunned even pollster David Paleologos.
“It’s a Brown-out,” said Paleologos, director of Suffolk’s Political Research Center. “It’s a massive change in the political landscape.”
Woo hoo!
UPDATED:
Valerie Jarrett On Double Dipping The Tax Payer By Way Of Bank Fees
Thursday, January 14th, 2010Does it make sense to give banks fees when the consumer will ultimately pay? No. But that’s exactly what President Obama is doing. His best friend Valerie Jarrett explains why this makes sense:
Obama Administration officials estimate that losses from the TARP program are around $120 billion, and argue this new tax will pay for those losses.
However, much of the estimated loss from TARP comes from the auto industry bailout.
So what appears to happening here is that the Obama Administration and congressional Democrats are attempting to levy a tax on financial institutions — some of which never received TARP funds, some which have already paid them back — in large part to pay for the bailout of the auto industry, a bailout which greatly favored the autoworkers’ unions, a Democratic Party constituency.
Michelle Malkin calls it “Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee” = The Cover Tim Geithner’ A** Tax and says:
2. The tax won’t apply to non-banks, black holes Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, or the bailed-out auto companies.
3. This isn’t about getting “our money” back. It’s about redistributing it again under the guise of faux populism.
More to the point, this is what I call the Cover Tim Geithner’s A** Tax. Making banks the whipping boys takes the heat off Geithner for his incompetent, complicit, and transparency-subverting tenure as New York Federal Reserve chair.
Team Obama wants you to keep your eyes on its fatcat barbecue charade.
But don’t be distracted. Geithner will be on the hot seat next week in Congress. And that’s where the real scrutiny of “financial crisis responsibility” lies.
Yup. Man, the Obama administration has the faux-populism schtick down. The words are like honey, but they give a terrible case of indigestion once you eat them.
They count on people being stupid. They hope people are distracted by their sweet words. And people have been in the short term, but when people get deeper in, they feel taken. Over and over again.
It’s the utter contempt for the American people that’s so disgusting.
Wanting Sarah Palin To Succeed
Thursday, January 14th, 2010This post is in relation to a piece I wrote for Pajamas Media titled: Why Is Sarah Palin Associating with the For-Profit Tea Party Nation?
There are a couple kind of “friends”: There are those who kiss your ass, but behind your back say nasty things. There are those who kiss your ass and are opinion-free cheer leading no-minds. There are those who say that you a re friends and you ask, “Who?” I would suggest, that in this world of “friending”, most of these people are not your friends.
A true friend, whose value is above rubies, is one who loves you and loves you enough to tell the truth. A true friend is the iron-sharpens-iron kind.
Now, in politics, finding a true friend is difficult, indeed, but the best politicians have the best friends. They trust them and are open and don’t worry about betrayal. They know, of course, that betrayal is always a possibility. People are human, after all. (Et tu, Brutus?) But they are not obsessed or hide in fear over it. And the best politicians bring around them the best, most trust-worthy advisers. The worst, surround themselves with yes-men.
I was thinking last night about President George W. Bush and his relationship with Karen Hughes. He was strengthened and fortified by her feedback. You could tell even by the pictures that they argued issues and talked through difficult situations. She seemed to be a wise and trusted adviser and friend. I thought his presidency was worse for her leaving. And I wonder how much he lost by not having her around. Who knows?
On Beck last night, Sarah Palin and Glenn talked about trusting people.:
Glenn wonders if “this is the woman who can lead us” and not lose her soul. He reads from his diary and says:
“I don’t know yet if she’s strong enough, if she’s well enough advised, or if she knows that she can no longer trust anyone.”
And then, Sarah says to Glenn, “That trust thing. You nailed it with that question. Trustworthy people surrounding us, leading us, we’ve got to be able to trust, but it’s very, very dangerous to trust people in this business of politics, Glenn.”
And that is definitely true–even liberal journalists see the problem with gossip journalism relying on disaffected insiders. The other day, I read a Politico article about the Clintons being “alone”; they have been abandoned by their inner circle:
While the low-key response to a brutal portrayal of Clinton in part reflected a decision to keep a prominent face of the Obama administration’s foreign policy above the fray, it was also a recognition of reality: The same senior aides who had leaked damaging gossip could hardly be expected to rebut it.
These people have violated the Clinton world’s final taboo: After savaging one another in the press for more than a year, the former aides finally turned on the principals.
Well, there will always be people in it for themselves…Scott McClellon comes to mind. And Steve Schmidt, too, for that matter. Both have revealed themselves to be untrustworthy people unworthy of respect. Their criticism seems born of personal gain not of sincere concern for the person they vilify.
And yet, in this nasty pit that is D.C. politics, a politician has to be wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove. If he or she lives with integrity, the chance of unseemly characterizations diminishes greatly. Still, even the most silly of sources will be given credibility (hello Levi Johnston) if it fulfills a political purpose. I get all this. This is a part of the national political scene, unfortunately.
However, a politician does need to trust people. He or she needs good advice and fair feedback. Otherwise, the politician is surrounded by boot-licking sycophants and is harmed by an environment of fear that pollutes judgment. (See Richard Nixon.)
Not only that, differing points of view must be sought. The first criticism should never be from an enemy. A friend should always bring it up the possible criticism first, so the person can decide the arguments ahead of time, if nothing else. I remember reading some fashion editor saying that a woman should have a magnifying mirror because no one should see her flaw before she sees it herself. That is, ruthless self-awareness is necessary.
And a true friend cares so much, he will share difficult news. Who wants to hear it from enemies?
Now, specifically regarding Sarah Palin, a cult-like following is NOT what the conservative movement needs. It will do to the conservative and Republican party what Barack Obama is currently doing to the Democratic party: destroying it from within.
If someone disliked something Barack Obama said, he was damned by Obama and his followers. Even if it was friendly advice, the commentator, reporter, etc. was, and probably still is, marginalized and ignored. Now, some of the press coverage of Sarah Palin has been so egregious and unfair, that I don’t believe she should reward those news outlets with ratings on the back of her fame. Fine. Still, there are some honest information brokers who want to report the truth. And the truth is not always going to be comfortable.
Erick Erickson talks about this problem today:
But there is a serious problem developing among some of Palin’s biggest fans.
Unfortunately, given the nature of some of the people who are going to read this, I have to stop here and say I’m a big Palin fan. I like her a lot. I’d gladly support her. I want her in federal office of some kind. And I think John McCain could have picked no finer person to be his running mate. Frankly, the results of 2008 might have been different had the positions been reversed.
Got that? Unfortunately this statement of support is not good enough for some of Palin’s most ardent supporters and I think that is harmful to Governor Palin and to having a real conversation about the GOP, conservatives, and where we head politically in general.
I understand that a great many of Palin’s supporters, myself included, have felt on the defensive for a while. The media genuinely hates this woman. The left is more revolted by Palin than they ever were by Bush.
I get that.
But I also get that there are Republicans who like — even love — Sarah Palin who think some of her handlers might not give her the best of advice or think she should or should not do one thing or another. And i’m finding, both from personal experience and the experience of friends, that when those points are brought up, the person raising the point is often inappropriately attacked as a Palin hater.
He goes on to say this:
It will be Governor Palin who is attacked by the press if my fears turn out to be true. I am concerned about her in this particular instance.
But that hasn’t stopped a number of shell shocked supporters still in their bunkers from firing both barrels because I suggested something Governor Palin is doing might need to be reconsidered.
His concerns, of course are well-founded. Already, posts like this and this are popping up. More are sure to come as the event draws near.
And no, I don’t care what the left-wing media says. I do care about the success of Sarah Palin and the Tea Party movement. I do care about Sarah Palin walking into a mess of a situation. I do care about the Tea Party movement being co-opted by a local megalomaniac and being sold as representative of the Tea Party movement in general. I do care about new activists being disenchanted by profiteering.
But that message will be lost because no one wants to hear concerns related to Sarah Palin’s actions. When her friends shut up about potential pitfalls, she’ll be more likely to be blind-sided.
So with this very long post, I give you a link to my article at Pajamas Media. It is already inspiring vitriol among Palin supporters. That’s too bad. I really like Sarah Palin and the whole of my writing about her has been very positive.
Blind adoration should be left, though, for God and Jesus. True friends of Sarah Palin speak the truth as they see it…no doubt, their perspective is human and flawed too. Who has perfect vision? But in a multitude of counselors there is safety.
In a multitude of cheerleaders, there is Barack Obama. I don’t think the conservative movement wants that.
