New Developments III

[Sonic Youth]

Somewhere in South Carolina, a man breathing a sigh of relief.

There's no way this is a campaign strategy. Her rambling, bizarre speech and her body language suggest something bad is coming down the pike and she knows it. Stay tuned.

And maybe her political career is over - we'll see about that - but the Palin's are here to stay. No way will such a compelling, fascinating family be allowed to fade into obscurity. She's a celebrity, she's always wanted celebrity status, and she'll find another way to get it. And the people who hate her want to see what happens next as much as the people who love her. So long as she's not in public office, we may as well enjoy it.



Edited By Sonic Youth on 1246682979

[OscarGuy]

Let's hope this is the end of Sarah Palin and not just some attempt to get into the contiguous to begin campaigning for president.

Then again, you don't make a prominent announcement like this on a Friday because of the dead-end news cycles on weekend, so she's probably hoping it drifts out of public notice quickly. And if it really were an attempt to campaign for president, it would be stupid not to finish out her term as she'd have plenty of time to campaign at the end of it.

So, more implosions for the Republican party would be great!

[Mister Tee]

I suppose someone should say something about Sarah Palin, but, honestly, she just leaves me speechless.

The bright side for the GOP is, something keeps coming along to knock the latest GOP-in-turmoil story off the top of the news. Unfortunately, with the exception of Michael Jackson, it always seems to be another bad Republican story.

Lots of speculation there's another shoe to drop on Palin. Her speech -- I use the term loosely, given the series of non sequiturs in which she spoke --- didn't feel like the work of someone who's come to a careful decision; it had an "I've got to get out of Dodge fast" vibe.

[taki15]

Is anyone going to tell Mark Sanford to just shut up? Next thing, he'll be telling us about when he first started masturbating.

The guy always seemed a little shaky to me (with his pig stunt, etc. ). On one hand I feel sorry for him. It's pretty obvious that he is in full mid-life crisis mode and his public meltdown is a sad spectacle.

On the other hand, his hypocrisy is so astonishing and so emblematic of the Republican party at large, that the whole thing seems like poetic justice.

I think in the end he will follow Foley's route and he will resign to live with his mistress in Argentina, the woman he clearly loves.

[Mister Tee]

Is anyone going to tell Mark Sanford to just shut up? Next thing, he'll be telling us about when he first started masturbating.

[Mister Tee]

Given the creative math Limbaugh showed yesterday -- somehow spinning a 5-4 decision as unanimous -- he ought to have no trouble seeing this as a Coleman victory.

[taki15]

I remember Ann Coulter saying the day after the election that the only silver lining for the Republicans was Franken's defeat. Well, I guess now they don't have even that.

By the way, I'm curious to see how Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh are going to spin this. But then again, after saying today that Obama plots to repeal the 22nd amendment in order to run for a third term at 2016, I'm not holding my breath.

[Mister Tee]

I was actually going to retrieve last year's Senate Results thread, to finally put a button on the '08 election.

It's officially over; Coleman's conceded. Congratulations to Eric on finally having full Senate representation.

[OscarGuy]

It may almost be over, but who really knows with a scab like Norm Coleman or a Republican governor like Tim Pawlenty...but hopefully this will be the end and MN will finally have a second senator.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/06/30/franken.ruling/index.html

[OscarGuy]

As I've stated to people I know. I don't care that he had an affair. What I care about is that he's a Religious Values man which means he's displaying profound amounts of hypocrisy over the whole matter. So, I get tired of the sanctimony over the issue, yet they can't help but do what they preach against. It's like a pig working in a butcher shop. It's antithetical to your existence. Haven't so many campaigns imploded in recent years that it should be second nature for these politicians to NOT engage in these activities for they WILL be caught (eventually) and they will suffer the consequences (hopefully).

[Heksagon]

I'm delighted to see that the Republican Party is getting what it deserves. People who believe that they are morally superior to others always believe that they themselves have the right to do things that they would deny to others.

But I have to wonder, why on Earth would people take a hypocrite like Sanford seriously? And no doubt, they will still do so in the future.

[Johnny Guitar]

It's certainly satisfying on a gut-level to see a hypocrite hoist on his own petard. But I confess to some unhappiness that the sex police seem to be growing ever more powerful. Many of us thought, when Clinton stood up to the press-urged impeachmnet wave, that this country would adjust to a more mature, realistic standard on sexual behavior. But the witch-hunts have, if anything, expanded, and too many have resulted in immediate resignation rather than what I'd prefer, a quick "Fuck off, it's not your business".

I agree with this. This unending string of mainly Republican, heavily hypocritical scandal revelations in recent years yields some satisfactions, of course, but really I'm more of the mindset that these things aren't anyone's business. It's not lost on me that these moral crusaders are making it difficult for other Americans to have their "own business." But our finger-pointing and nosiness can get a bit too gleeful, too zealous. Part of the problem is that left-liberals are often more uptight and puritanical than they should be and than they will admit to being. If you ask me, hypocrisy in matters of sexual morality should not be the primary arena of combat against the right wing.

The cultural critic Lauren Berlant had a line somewhere that went something like, 'Every time I hear about a new sex scandal, I feel bad for sex.'

Jack Nicholson's response, in the wake of the Clinton scandal, was, 'What, do you want a president who doesn't have sex?'

Writing about Ezra Pound's mistress Olga Rudge, who demurred from being seen in public with him to avoid humiliating EP's wife Dorothy, Guy Davenport asserted, 'Lives were private in those days, and our animal nature was accommodated with a respect we can hardly imagine.'

[Big Magilla]

And another thing -- Adultery is illegal in South Carolina. What kind of example does it set when the state's top executive breaks the law? :p

That's why he had to go all the way to Argentina to do it!

[Damien]

And another thing -- Adultery is illegal in South Carolina. What kind of example does it set when the state's top executive breaks the law? :p

[Big Magilla]

I pretty much agree with everything Tee says, but just once I'd like to see one of these assholes say "I was wrong to criticize so-and-so for doing what I did myself and offer him/her/them my sincere apologies."