Sarah Palin: Cannibals in GOP Establishment Employ Tactics of the Left

Sarah Palin's Facebook Page ^ | January 27, 2012 | Sarah Palin

[Timber Rattler]

We have witnessed something very disturbing this week. The Republican establishment which fought Ronald Reagan in the 1970s and which continues to fight the grassroots Tea Party movement today has adopted the tactics of the left in using the media and the politics of personal destruction to attack an opponent.

We will look back on this week and realize that something changed. I have given numerous interviews wherein I espoused the benefits of thorough vetting during aggressive contested primary elections, but this week’s tactics aren’t what I meant. Those who claim allegiance to Ronald Reagan’s 11th Commandment should stop and think about where we are today. Ronald Reagan and Barry Goldwater, the fathers of the modern conservative movement, would be ashamed of us in this primary. Let me make clear that I have no problem with the routine rough and tumble of a heated campaign. As I said at the first Tea Party convention two years ago, I am in favor of contested primaries and healthy, pointed debate. They help focus candidates and the electorate. I have fought in tough and heated contested primaries myself. But what we have seen in Florida this week is beyond the pale. It was unprecedented in GOP primaries. I’ve seen it before – heck, I lived it before – but not in a GOP primary race.

I am sadly too familiar with these tactics because they were used against the GOP ticket in 2008. The left seeks to single someone out and destroy his or her record and reputation and family using the media as a channel to dump handpicked and half-baked campaign opposition research on the public. The difference in 2008 was that I was largely unknown to the American public, so they had no way of differentiating between the lies and the truth. All of it came at them at once as “facts” about me. But Newt Gingrich is known to us – both the good and the bad.

We know that Newt fought in the trenches during the Reagan Revolution. As Rush Limbaugh pointed out, Newt was among a handful of Republican Congressman who would regularly take to the House floor to defend Reagan at a time when conservatives didn’t have Fox News or talk radio or conservative blogs to give any balance to the liberal mainstream media. Newt actually came at Reagan’s administration “from the right” to remind Americans that freer markets and tougher national defense would win our future. But this week a few handpicked and selectively edited comments which Newt made during his 40-year career were used to claim that Newt was somehow anti-Reagan, and isn’t conservative enough to go against the accepted moderate in the primary race. (I know, it makes no sense, and the GOP establishment hopes you won’t stop and think about this nonsense. Mark Levin and others have shown the ridiculousness of this.) To add insult to injury, this “anti-Reagan” claim was made by a candidate who admitted to not even supporting or voting for Reagan. He actually was against the Reagan movement, donated to liberal candidates, and said he didn’t want to go back to the Reagan days. You can’t change history. We know that Newt Gingrich brought the Reagan Revolution into the 1990s. We know it because none other than Nancy Reagan herself announced this when she presented Newt with an award, telling us, “The dramatic movement of 1995 is an outgrowth of a much earlier crusade that goes back half a century. Barry Goldwater handed the torch to Ronnie, and in turn Ronnie turned that torch over to Newt and the Republican members of Congress to keep that dream alive.” As Rush and others pointed out, if Nancy Reagan had ever thought that Newt was in any way an opponent of her beloved husband, she would never have even appeared on a stage with him, let alone presented him with an award and said such kind things about him. Nor would Reagan’s son, Michael Reagan, have chosen to endorse Newt in this primary race. There are no two greater keepers of the Reagan legacy than Nancy and Michael Reagan. What we saw with this ridiculous opposition dump on Newt was nothing short of Stanlin-esque re-writing of history. It was Alinsky tactics at their worst.

But this whole thing isn’t really about Newt Gingrich vs. Mitt Romney. It is about the GOP establishment vs. the Tea Party grassroots and independent Americans who are sick of the politics of personal destruction used now by both parties’ operatives with a complicit media egging it on. In fact, the establishment has been just as dismissive of Ron Paul and Rick Santorum. Newt is an imperfect vessel for Tea Party support, but in South Carolina the Tea Party chose to get behind him instead of the old guard’s choice. In response, the GOP establishment voices denounced South Carolinian voters with the same vitriol we usually see from the left when they spew hatred at everyday Americans “bitterly clinging” to their faith and their Second Amendment rights. The Tea Party was once again told to sit down and shut up and listen to the “wisdom” of their betters. We were reminded of the litany of Tea Party endorsed candidates in 2010 that didn’t win. Well, here’s a little newsflash to the establishment: without the Tea Party there would have been no historic 2010 victory at all.

I spoke up before the South Carolina primary to urge voters there to keep this primary going because I have great concern about the GOP establishment trying to anoint a candidate without the blessing of the grassroots and all the needed energy and resources we as commonsense constitutional conservatives could bring to the general election in order to defeat President Obama. Now, I respect Governor Romney and his success. But there are serious concerns about his record and whether as a politician he consistently applied conservative principles and how this impacts the agenda moving forward. The questions need answers now. That is why this primary should not be rushed to an end. We need to vet this. Pundits in the Beltway are gleefully proclaiming that this primary race is over after Florida, despite 46 states still not having chimed in. Well, perhaps it’s possible that it will come to a speedy end in just four days; but with these questions left unanswered, it will not have come to a satisfactory conclusion. Without this necessary vetting process, the unanswered question of Governor Romney’s conservative bona fides and the unanswered and false attacks on Newt Gingrich will hang in the air to demoralize many in the electorate. The Tea Party grassroots will certainly feel disenfranchised and disenchanted with the perceived orchestrated outcome from self-proclaimed movers and shakers trying to sew this all up. And, trust me, during the general election, Governor Romney’s statements and record in the private sector will be relentlessly parsed over by the opposition in excruciating detail to frighten off swing voters. This is why we need a fair primary that is not prematurely cut short by the GOP establishment using Alinsky tactics to kneecap Governor Romney’s chief rival.

As I said in my speech in Iowa last September, the challenge of this election is not simply to replace President Obama. The real challenge is who and what we will replace him with. It’s not enough to just change up the uniform. If we don’t change the team and the game plan, we won’t save our country. We truly need sudden and relentless reform in Washington to defend our republic, though it’s becoming clearer that the old guard wants anything but that. That is why we should all be concerned by the tactics employed by the establishment this week. We will not save our country by becoming like the left. And I question whether the GOP establishment would ever employ the same harsh tactics they used on Newt against Obama. I didn’t see it in 2008. Many of these same characters sat on their thumbs in ‘08 and let Obama escape unvetted. Oddly, they’re now using every available microscope and endoscope – along with rewriting history – in attempts to character assassinate anyone challenging their chosen one in their own party’s primary. So, one must ask, who are they really running against?

- Sarah Palin

[PSYCHO-FREEP]

You are selectively ignorant about Newt's actual record and you spread crass rhetoric and demagoguery, claiming to be an authority on a subject you know nothing about. Jim Robinson himself, has denounced your so called “factual information” and yes, by all means, you are a propagandist and a disruptor.

[ansel12]

Read on through the thread, and other FR threads, read post 242, we long time Rush listeners know what Rush was doing.

[Timber Rattler]

Pissant used to post them all the time.

Pissant's long gone and comparing my stand for principled Conservatism and his rabid PDS is disingenuous at best, and dishonest at worst. I supported Palin with everything I had. He hated her to the core. Big difference.

Sure you did - and your anti-Newt posts show how much you detest Mitt.

Oh, if one detests Romney, then he should automatically love Newt? Sorry but that makes no sense. I consider them both to be two sides of the same coin, and am not buying into his very recent conversion to red meat Conservatism. His record from 1998 through August 2011 is one that we were all ridiculing up until the time that Palin announced that she was not running.

And it's also clear that there is a lof of this going around when it comes to Newt and his RECENT, post-Speaker record:

[Moorings]

Thanks, but sadly. It is with sadness I wonder if there is room in this GOP to elect a good conservative President anymore. Conservatives are supposed to shut up and vote for the next chosen one.

I used to snicker a bit when I saw posts made by some freepers talking about a third party. However, after this past week, and the coordinated shenanigans pulled from multiple directions, I don't think I can snicker anymore. If your own party establishment teams up with the opposition and pulls the rug from under your feet, what can a candidate do?

Good, talented, conservative leaders with nice families would not want their families dragged through the mud to the point of almost destroying those families.

[Moorings]

Has Newt invited/requested Sarah Palin to come and campaign with him? Someone of Sarah's stature does not simply go down there uninvited. If Newt's people say thanks but no thanks, that will be picked up by the MSM and played for a very long time. It will be bad for both Newt and Sarah.

Moreover, I think Sarah wants this primary process to carry on for a while. She may be for Newt, but from what I have heard from her, she feels that a lengthy hard fought primary will only strengthen the Newt campaign for what is coming up later.

[Timber Rattler]

To devote all this passionate posting to getting us not to vote for Romney’s opponent is a strange passion, not exactly typical of how political primary passions run among conservative primary activists.

Really, then how come we see incessant attacks against us "purists" for always upsetting the apple cart in our demands for ideological consistency in our candidates?

Personally, at this point I don't care who votes for Newt since (like I said before), I consider him and Romney to be two sides of the same coin. Never again will I ever hold my nose and vote for a lesser evil, and this time around, I will be writing in Palin's name with a clear conscience. You used to feel that way too, old FRiend, so what happened?

You say that you have already decided to lay low and not vote for either of them, fine, now move along and lets us deal with the primary among ourselves as we fight to defeat Romney and advance newt Gingrich.

Oh, so sit down and shut up? Is that it? Is that what Sarah was advocating? Is that what FR has become?

[Timber Rattler]

You are selectively ignorant about Newt's actual record and you spread crass rhetoric and demagoguery, claiming to be an authority on a subject you know nothing about.

How can it be considered selectively ignorant, crass rhetoric, and demagoguery when the stories I've posted are those PREVIOUSLY POSTED AND DISCUSSED ON FR, including by yourself, during a four month period last summer in which we were all ridiculing Newt, his pandering, and his backstabbing of Conservatives.

Remember NY 23? "Right Wing Social Engineering?" "Green Conservatism?" "Following Obama on Libya?" Are you saying that none of that happened, and those FR discussions and ridicule never took place?

By the way, don't you find it ironic that you're hurling those kinds of accusations against me when you were one of the very worst of the PDS'ers who jumped on the Perry bandwagon and then just as quickly jumped off?

[Timber Rattler]

Palin needs to get to Florida before tomorrow, and start rallies for Newt!

Now why would you want that to happen? You used to say that she did not matter, was an "ignorant populist", and her own worst enemy?

[Timber Rattler]

...and yes, by all means, you are a propagandist and a disruptor.

And I guess that you fail to see the irony in that statement as well.

"Keep on shooting insults with those who don't agree with you. That will surely guarantee your candidate a win."

And I'm curious---did your oil company actually give that big "six-figure donation" to Perry that you were bragging about?

[ansel12]

Romneybot it is then.

The Palins endorsed Newt, yet he is who you are devoted to stopping.

You Romney guys are a plague, no matter what clothes you pretend to wear.

[presently no screen name]

if one detests Romney, then he should automatically love Newt? Sorry but that makes no sense.

Right! It's doesn't but you are the one who said it, not me. I'll put that in a Mitt 'lack of sense' comment column from you. He must be rubbing off on you in a big way - the same dumb*** comments ala My conservatism is I'm married 'x' years and I have 5 children and 'x' grandchildren. This guy must be an embarrassment even to his rino and liberal friends as he is dumb as rocks.

I supported Palin with everything I had. He hated her to the core. Big difference

No there isn't because IF you would stay focused or perhaps deliberately wandering off...we were discussing you patting yourself on the back for the FIRST one to post this Sarah thread. I said so did pissant so it proved nothing. The haters do the same, so that can put you in the same category. So all your rant with everything I had was unnecessary. It proves nothing. You used it as a platform to trash Newt because Sarah threads gets the action.

I believe I gave you a homework assignment - let's see how much you detest mitt - gets some posts going and make them double the amount of your hateful posts on Newt. It's called put up or shut up time. You should know, you can't pull crapola here. For everyone that calls you on it there are probably 100 or more ignoring you and hateful posts towards a Great America, Great Patriot, Great Visionary, Newt, the BEARER of the REAGAN TORCH. Shame on you!

[ansel12]

“Never again will I ever hold my nose and vote for a lesser evil, and this time around, I will be writing in Palin’s name with a clear conscience. You used to feel that way too, old FRiend, so what happened?”

---

By the way, your old friend bit seems confused.

My goal is to stop Mitt Romney.

Don’t try to create a lie for me. I have had an unchanging position for at least a little more than five years, or whenever we first were introduced to Romney, which is vote AGAINST Romney, DO NOT REFUSE TO VOTE AGAINST HIM.

Wanting to stop Romney is why you Romney pushers annoy me.

[Warthog-2]

makes sense.

[Timber Rattler]

You Romney guys are a plague, no matter what clothes you pretend to wear.

There you go calling me a "Romney guy" again when I'm not. I'm just refusing to hold my nose again and vote for a lesser evil. I stand on Conservative principles, but clearly there are many here who are now willing to sacrifice them for short term expediency despite past statements to the contrary.

Let me re-direct you to the real point in Sarah's piece, which is the same point I'm making:

But this whole thing isn’t really about Newt Gingrich vs. Mitt Romney. It is about the GOP establishment vs. the Tea Party grassroots and independent Americans who are sick of the politics of personal destruction used now by both parties’ operatives with a complicit media egging it on.

Do you not understand that????

[Timber Rattler]

I believe I gave you a homework assignment - let's see how much you detest mitt - gets some posts going and make them double the amount of your hateful posts on Newt.

Heh...been there done that...they're now part of Diogenesis' comprehensive truth file on Romney that we started compiling way back in 2007. If you wish, he can repost it yet again to satisfy your homework assignment.

[ansel12]

I agree with everyone else, your “lesser evil” is Mitt Romney’s only opponent, romneybot.

Do you realize how many of you concern trolls are using the same exact tact to keep posting in Romney’s behalf, against his only challenger.

[ansel12]

But in 2012, you are here trolling as a Romney troll.

You’ve come a long way baby.

[Timber Rattler]

But in 2012, you are here trolling as a Romney troll.

The groupthink mentality being demonstrated here is simply astounding. Nay, appalling. This is supposed to be FR, not KOS.

[ansel12]

The groupthink mentality being demonstrated here is simply astounding. Nay, appalling. This is supposed to be FR, not KOS.

Tell it to JR, not to me, do your Romney bit for someone else, and preferably not on the Gingrich threads.

[presently no screen name]

Nope. I know about your candidate all to well. So you don’t have the vim and vigor for any anti-Mitt posts you claim to detest but lots of energy to post anti-Newt posts. Gotcha!