Posted on 01/03/2012 6:32:07 PM PST by reformjoy
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 Editorial by John Ziegler
Sarah Palin: Selfish, Hypocritical, Sellout
1/3/2012
As surreal as it may be, after spending over two years and several thousand dollars defending Sarah Palin at great personal cost, I now find myself in the bizarre position (three years to the day from starting the journey to Wasilla to do the interview of record on her 2008 VP run) of being perhaps the only conservative commentator willing to point out that Palin has now clearly revealed herself to be a selfish, hypocritical, sellout.
While she was doing her presidential tease (an act that I actually bought because I didn’t think she was capable of such contemptible deceit), I wrote an extremely long essay for the Daily Caller detailing why I thought a Palin run would be horrible for the cause of beating President Obama. At that time, I was roundly (and wrongly) criticized for betraying her, when in actuality I was being very kind to her personally and sincerely trying to save her from embarrassment.
Back then, I still honestly liked and admired her as a person. The events since then strongly indicate that I was totally wrong to give her the benefit of the doubt as a person. I don’t know if the unprecedented and unfair circumstances that she has had to deal with since 2008 have changed her, or if, like Tiger Woods, I was simply completely fooled by her from the beginning. But I do now know that she is worthy of a heck of a lot more contempt than portions of the base and the vast majority of the conservative media are currently holding her in.
A quick glance of the most recent past may help the scales fall off of your eyes like they finally did for me.
First, she not only put her supporters through an incredibly selfish presidential “tease” that she clearly contrived from the beginning, but when she finally revealed her deception, she did so on the Mark Levin radio show. This was inexplicable not because she didn’t do it on Fox News (which got some media attention), but because she broke her nationally televised promise to make the announcement on the Bob & Mark Show out of Anchorage.
This may not seem like a big deal at first, but keep in mind she made a huge production on the finale of her Alaskan reality show that Bob & Mark would be the first to know about her plans. Apparently, by the time she was ready to say “never mind,” rebuilding her Alaskan “ice cred” was no longer seen as very important. Neither was her loyalty to two long-time supporters and friends. Bob & Mark are just two of many people I personally know who have sacrificed for her only to be left by the side of the road for no apparent reason.
Then there is that matter that her political action committee sent out a fundraising e-mail the week before her “decision” which overtly sent the message that supporters could help her pull the trigger on a presidential run by donating immediately.
Obviously when that was sent out, Palin knew she was not running for president and yet when she was asked (ironically, only by Bob and Mark) whether her PAC would return the hard-earned money her supporters surely thought was going to a particular cause, she lamely claimed that people who donated to her PAC did not think they were donating to her prospective campaign. Unbelievably, no one else in the media (on either side) called her on this outrage.
Then there is the issue of her endorsement of another candidate for the Republican nomination. I have never understood how any political commentator could ever not make an endorsement in a presidential primary on their side of the ideological fence, but when you are Sarah Palin and you claim that you “don’t need a title to impact change,” such an omission is particularly incomprehensible.
After all, if she won’t exert her power in a Republican presidential primary, when would/could she ever?
The reality is that Palin hasn’t endorsed for the same reason she didn’t run. She knows that she has almost no influence and a remarkably small base and she is smart enough to not use her stick because she knows doing so will reveal how tiny it really is. She has basically decided it is better for her TV career to still be thought of as somewhat potent, than to be exposed as being essentially impotent (a word, interestingly, she likes to use from time to time).
This non act of cowardice and selfishness was bad enough, but then today on Fox News Palin had the gall to essentially call for Michele Bachmann to get out of the race and endorse someone else.
For me this was the very final straw. I don’t even like Bachmann, but I was immediately livid.
Where does Palin get off telling the only woman who (unlike her) had the guts to get in the race to endorse someone else when she hasn’t had the courage to do that herself? The multiple levels of hypocrisy here would be staggering even for a liberal, but for a conservative they are simply off the charts. Then, finally, lost amid her attacks of Bachmann (whom she surely sees as a potential future rival for air time on Fox News) was her defense of none other than that total fraud and publicity whore Donald Trump.
In perhaps the dumbest stance she has ever taken, Palin called for those who are upset at Trump for threatening to run as a third-party candidate to “shut up.”
Let me get this straight, a woman who agrees with Palin on almost everything should get out of the race and do something she herself wont do, but a liberal con-man who could easily insure the second term of Barack Obama (which she has said must be prevented at all costs) needs to be vigorously defended?
Astonishing. But not nearly as astounding as the reality that she will somehow get a pass on all of this from a conservative media that can be a corrupt and mindless as the liberal version is on its worst day.
I have made a lot of mistakes in my life, but right now (while I still stand by everything that is in my documentary “Media Malpractice”) it is difficult for me to imagine making a bigger one than believing that Sarah Palin was worthy of all that I have tried to do to defend her.
My wife warned me about her almost from the beginning of my Palin odyssey. She presciently told me, “once a beauty queen, always a beauty queen.”
It now appears that she was right. Sarah Palin is, at least now, all about Sarah Palin and not about the cause. After the events of the past few months you can clearly see that reality all the way in Russia from land in Alaska.
And even if she had said, "I'd rather not have to vote for him but would if there was no other choice," which I expect is the same thing that Rush and Levin would say ... I'd have to part ways politically. After long, careful thought, I've concluced that the reality is that Romney would be worse than Obama in the long run because he would do more damage to conservative morale, the GOP, and ultimately America, than ANY Democrat, including Obama, could even hope to do.
Obama is a wound to America, but Romney is deadly poison. Obama we can fight and heal; Romney is kryptonite. Romney needs to LOSE.
My guess is, she wanted to keep the spotlight on her, , her PAC donations, hype her TV realty series, publicize her book, plug the biographical movie "Undefeated"... as long as possible.
It was clear from her actions (actions - not words) that palin was never about anything but the palin brand.
A bunch of freepers saw through her game early on and were trashed for it by those who bought it (and in too many cases to be healthy, still do).
You Palin people crack me up. The name calling and the anger is unbecoming.
...”My wife warned me about her almost from the beginning of my Palin odyssey. She presciently told me, “once a beauty queen, always a beauty queen.”...
My wife said essentially the same thing. She cannot stomach Ms Palin, personally or poltically, and my wife is very conservative. She views Palin as a fraud.....must be a women-folk thing....
I have stated a number of times how my wife was totally turned off by Palin, especially after she QUIT. My wife told me after hearing the ‘lame duck’ reasoning that it was lame alright. As an RN of almost 30 years, she simply sees Palin as a woman who is a quitter.
Someone has already stated this, but there is a great similarity to the fawning Obama fanatics on the left and the passion for Palin on the right. It shows me that Americans are lacking in real thought and rely on emotions way too much. I thought posters on FR would be better than to fall for this woman. And the insults from these posters are childish and downright creepy at times.
LMAO!!!
And unfortunately, it's the same reason I avoid posting on a lot of the current political threads. The insults and name-calling are ridiculous. What ever happened to civil argument? We used to be really good at that around here, many moons ago.
Thank God for "General/Chat."
We are not her and do not know what it has been like to walk in her shoes since she first appeared on the national scene.
I believe in her. I have a cousin that is a real down to earth man from Oklahoma that has lived in Alaska for 35 years. He thinks she is the real deal and he has watched her since she was first mayor of Wasilla. I trust his knowledge of her real character.
People always attack the front winning person. Horribly usually and truth has nothing to do with it.
How solid are we when we are turned with every whiff of ugly words with little or no foundation?
God bless Sarah Palin.
Only a rare woman could be President and get wide-spread respect, a woman who could rise above the catty fray. Hillary and Palin can’t, they slip into it, from time to time, both are polarizing as a result. When a woman goes into that mode, it goes over like a lead balloon, it’s not received well.
I saw the video on yahoo of Palin. What is up with her hair? Looks terrible.
She had her 15min of fame, wrote a book, did a tour, made millions, kept people on the edge of their seats about running for President and now she “hasn’t nothing to say” of any importance.
She had no problem endorsing when she was making a name for herself.
I gave to her campaign, bought her book, supported her, etc. And I just feel she just slapped all her supporters in the face.....
Anymore name-calling from you and I’m gonna ban your ass.
I am under the impression that the majority of recovering ex hippies are gay?
What the hell is it with you people and the lame insults? Wow, calling someone gay...something my kid used to say in the 7th grade. Come on dude.
“Anymore name-calling from you and I’m gonna ban your ass.”
My sincere apologies. I’ll strive to do better in the future and be more civil. Thank you for the warning in lieu of banning me.
JC
he made unspeakable insults against Sarah Palin fellow, so go jump in the lake
another stupid comment instead of a cogent argument.
Join the club of those who can’t make their points with logic.
This is supposed to be a political forum, not an echo chamber.
I knew when I saw the title of the thread that all the haters of Sarah Palin would be all over it, no surprises.
Most are simply bearing false witness!
The Palin haters are all over this thread bearing false witness...case closed
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