Day: August 29, 2010

Two Years Of Sarah Palin: Where Will She Be Two Years From Today?

Two years ago today, Republican Presidential nominee Senator John McCain surprised many when he selected Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his Vice Presidential running mate for the Presidential Election of 2008!

This has been a very busy two years for Sarah Palin, including being controversial from Day One as to her qualifications to be a “heartbeat away” from the Presidency; her campaign performance; her resignation from the Alaska Governorship; her publication of her best selling memoir; her becoming a Fox News commentator; her campaigning for and endorsing of “Mama Grizzlies” and “Tea Party” candidates; her Twitter and Facebook commentaries; her lucrative speech tours; controversial family issues centered around Levi Johnson; and the rumors that she might seek the White House in 2012!

As she has become a heroine of the Tea Party Movement and the conservative right wing of the Republican Party, she has emerged as the major flashpoint for liberals and progressives and much of the news media!

The speculation is rampant that she will announce for President sometime next year, and that she will be hard to defeat or oppose, on the part of the male Republican politicians who seek the Presidency!

This is so despite the fact that her public opinion ratings are in the low 30s or high 20s, and she tends to have a majority of Americans skeptical of her abilities and intelligence!

The author finds it hard to believe that Sarah Palin will give up the lucrative financial life she has gained, thanks to John McCain, as she would have to forgo it if she announces for President!

And she would have to finally really answer detailed questions and show her deep knowledge of foreign and domestic issues, which she has so far failed to reveal! She comes across as ignorant and intellectually lazy on just about everything going on in this country and the world, and survives on slogans and patriotic rhetoric, as at the Glenn Beck rally yesterday in Washington, DC!

But if she were to run, could she really become the GOP nominee for President, or even run on a third party, right wing in nature, which might hurt the Republican nominee? Again, it is hard to imagine such occurring!

And were she the GOP nominee, could she REALLY rally the country and defeat President Obama? And could she actually deal with the myriad of domestic and foreign policy issues she would be confronted with, even with advisers to assist her?

Again, the whole scenario seems impossible, but imagine the following: Were she to win the Republican nomination for President, she would be receiving the nomination at the Tampa, Florida convention on–get this–Wednesday, August 29, 2012–exactly two years from today, and four years after being chosen to be the VP nominee!

If that were to happen, the reaction would have to be–UNBELIEVABLE!

The Quandary For Florida Democrats And Progressives: Charlie Crist Or Kendrick Meek?

Two of the three candidates for the US Senate seat in Florida this November appeared on CNN this morning, and in so doing, they demonstrated the quandary faced by Florida Democrats, as well as progressives and liberals!

Florida Governor Charlie Crist, who was a Republican until he broke with the party and announced his candidacy as an Independent; and South Florida Congressman Kendrick Meek, who surprised many with his overwhelming victory over Jeff Greene, a billionaire who spent many millions to try and take the Democratic Senate nomination away from him, both were interviewed by Ed Henry!

Based on polls, Meek is way behind both Crist and Republican nominee Marco Rubio, the former State House Speaker in Florida! Meek gains only about 16 percent of the vote, while Crist and Rubio keep switching the leadership in the race!

Remembering that Florida tends to be a Republican state in the past 15 years, but that Barack Obama won the state in the electoral vote two years ago, the situation faced by those voters and citizens who are not favorable toward conservatives and Republicans, and therefore would not support Rubio, is who do they support financially and vote for in November?

Crist disappointed many Democrats and progressives and liberals as he repudiated the Obama Health Care plan although he says he would work to change it in the Senate; as he refused to back gay marriage rights; as he refused to say how he feels about Sarah Palin, who he supported strongly when she ran for Vice President in 2008; and most importantly, when he refused to say if he would back the Democrats or the Republicans for Senate organization in 2011 if he wins the seat–a fact that his vote COULD decide whether Harry Reid or Mitch McConnell would be Senate Majority Leader next year! 🙁 Instead, he said that he would do what was good for the people of Florida, refusing to commit himself!

It is obvious that Crist wants to keep his options open, but that is not encouraging to Democrats and progressives and liberals who have to decide if it is worth it to support him, or go over to Meek’s camp, despite his apparently small chance, at least at this point, of being competitive in the race!

As Meek pointed out in his interview with Ed Henry, he had overcome a billionaire spending millions of his personal fortune, and that he is the only TRUE Democrat in the race!

So the Florida Senate race is a major problem, particularly for those who want to assure that Marco Rubio does not take over the seat, with what would seem like a likely victory for the Tea Party, and the ultimate advancement of Rubio to a presidential run at some point in the future!

The Truth About Glenn Beck: Be Skeptical Of His “Transformation”! :(

If one attended, or watched Glenn Beck yesterday on C Span , at the “Restoring Honor” rally in Washington, DC, he seemed very committed to unity and spoke more like a religious evangelist than a political firebrand!

It would be hard to find fault with his message, but it contradicted everything he has said on Fox News Channel and his radio shows, where he has called President Obama a racist, talked about the President as a Muslim, a Fascist, a Nazi, a Communist, a Socialist, a Marxist, a totalitarian, etc!

His rhetoric on television and radio encourages alarm, fear, trepidation, hysteria, and undermines the ability of this country to resolve its economic, social, and foreign policy problems! He has made millions promoting hate, poison, divisiveness, anger and despair, and he has aimed at splitting the American people based on race, religion, and ethnicity! 🙁

How can it be explained that Glenn Beck seemed so different yesterday on the Washington Mall? It is the fact, as the columnist John Avlon has declared, that there is a split personality, a good Glenn Beck struggling with a bad Glenn Beck!

It is clear that Glenn Beck is an opportunist, who is ultimately out to make as much fortune as he can, without considering the effect he has on the rest of us in this country! He realized that this rally yesterday could not be portrayed in the same light as his talk shows, because that would undermine the profit motive always in the forefront of his mind! Better to confuse the American public, some of which is clueless on Glenn Beck’s real motives!

Better for Beck to look reasonable and rational, but watch as he goes back to his emotional ranting and raving on his cable and radio shows!

To believe that Glenn Beck has reformed is to believe in the tooth fairy! Everything he has done is a ploy for his own advancement, and his willingness to besmirch the anniversary of the Martin Luther King, Jr. “I have a dream” speech, and claim he was not aware of the historical date is impossible to believe, as he is not an ignorant man, just a man willing to exploit for his own benefit!

Again, as expressed yesterday, we shall see whether Glenn Beck has reformed, but one can be certain that he is not going to do so, as that would upset many of his followers who prefer the Beck of cable and radio to the Beck of conciliation that we witnessed in wonderment yesterday!