When NPR fact-checks Palin on Revere…
…and says she was essentially correct, I guess we can finally believe it.
The stupidhead.
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…and says she was essentially correct, I guess we can finally believe it.
The stupidhead.
Ah, but she was correct in a wrong sort of way. /liberal
Powerline was bothered less by what Palin said as by how she said it:
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2011/06/029182.php
I agree that what she said was poorly expressed, but I was amazed that so many people assumed that a warning must be benevolent or conspiratorial. I took it as a threat, as in, I’m warning you. If you do that one more time, you are grounded for a week.
I agree with expat; poorly expressed. When politicians talk five hours a day, they will make gaffes or at least on occasion poorly express themselves: Palin on Paul Revere [poorly expressed] or the POTUS [57 states, speaking Austrian, air in tires……].
But notice the different press reaction.
I see Sarah Palin’s role as a narrative pusher, a policy pusher. What she says has resonated strongly. Death panels, for example. I don’t know if she writes the stuff herself, or if she has ghost writers, but her policy statements are pretty well done.
Keep at it.
Powerline hits the nail on the head. I wish I’d said that. Thanks for the link, expat.
Powerline says it well but also has a too healthy respect for the elite and the well spoken. It’s last paragraph I find disingenuous because Sarah has no trouble articulating ideas. A few incoherent sentence, gaffes if you will, doesn’t present a disqualification. Here’s the last sentence:
Sarah Palin has many qualities that I admire, but her supporters need to acknowledge that her frequent inability to communicate effectively, when speaking impromptu, is a serious shortcoming that legitimately weighs on her standing as a potential president.
Seriously, as a governor or mayor, did anyone ever state she was just terrible because of her impromptu speaking abilities.
We’ve had enough of the well-polished speakers with egos a mile high who cater to the media and as soon as they disappear into Washington become RINO’s.
Curtis,
I think this could be a more serious problem in foreign affairs. It takes some time to learn how your words will be taken abroad by different audiences. Foreign media and leaders will cherry pick what they want from whatever you say in order to manipulate their own populations. One impromptu statement can cause a crisis or bring down a leader who is a good ally. I hope Sarah is paying attention to such things if she is planning to run.
expat,
Afaik her two major speeches abroad that I’m aware of (in Hong Kong and India) were bit mauled by either the local or the US media.
“bit mauled” -> “not mauled”
Oops.
I think, Expat, that communications between states are more robust than that. And if foreign media manipulates messages, then that’s not the fault of the speaker. Palin went and visited with Netanyahu, one of the best communicators on the planet. No problems there.
Sarah Palin doesn’t have a problem with articulation. She doesn’t have a problem with impromptu speaking. The problem doesn’t exist but has been manufactured out of intense animosity against her. It exists in the same set as the “She’s stupid” accusation.
If there is someone who has an articulation problem with impromptu speeches it is Obama. Who is making the claim that this disqualifies him?
1. She says something that doesn’t sound quite right, or just as “we know it’s supposed to be”.
2. The media jumps all over her, she’s dumb, she’s stupid, she’s incompetent.
3. We find out she’s right.
4. The media leaps before they look. Again. And again. And again. So who is it that’s not smart?
Could this be connected? This war we’re in is a war against women:
“It’s about the control of women, the trafficking of women, the subjugation of women. Women are the booty. And Islam’s war on women becomes more brazen, more in-your-face. The diminishment and dehumanization is the critical strategy of this grotesque ideology that demands/commands global domination. The honor killings, the forced marriage, the child marriage, the clitorectomies … it’s all manifesting itself in the West.
“Yesterday I was on FOX discussing a California op-ed piece by a Muslima calling for the stoning of women who engage in affairs with married men. Mainstreaming sharia.”
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6j8gg2b
The writer, Pamela Geller, says there’s a reason Western “feminists” are silent on Islam’s treatment of women, and her post lays that out.
I’ve been amazed and baffled by their silence myself, and really unable to account for it. I don’t know if it’s just fear, or if the Religion of Color trumps the Religion of Gender. Both?
Beverly: Here are the rules.
Note especially numbers 7, 9, 12, 13, and 14.
Curtis,
The visit with Netanyahu is not a typical situation. Both he and Palin agree on the issues, and he is not seriously threatened by his opposition right now. But in many countries, conservative rulers do have strong opposition that will use any of our misspeaks to regain power. It is important to know how to state our principles and explain our policies in a way that doesn’t give those who hate us a 30-second soundbite in their next campaign. Our leftist MSM has a far greater reach in the world than Fox or NRO. We have to work very hard to make the best use of the little airtime we get. I want our people to strive toward effective communication with people who don’t know us. We need to be sensitive and not pull the rug out from under our friends by spontaneous comments that can be misinterpretted.
Until now, Sarah has not had much need to speak to the world. I believe she is capable of developing her skills in this area because she respects average people. But she probably needs to work on learning how her words will be understood abroad. More to the point, she needs to internalize her knowledge of world affairs so that she can speak directly and spontaneously about them. One of Sarah’s greatest strengths domestically is her ability to reach out to individuals who feel unrepresented by the chattering classes. She should be trying to widen that ability.
OMT, I was and am extremely critical of Obama on this score. His entire campaign theater in Berlin was disgusting because he was completely unaware of local issues. He fell for the Schré¶der/Steinmeier reset policy toward Russia because Steinmeier kissed his derriere. We see now how he is trying to repair things with Merkel that should never have been damaged in the first place. The man is a catastrophe.
Good thoughts, expat. Given the work ethic of Palin, I have no doubt she is engaging herself in an effort to widen her abilities.
In the other thread, Sergey and SteveH state the need for a leader who will lead the renewal, a renewal which if it does not happen, Western civilization is doomed. Sarah Palin articulates this fundamental issue better than anyone and I believe the attack on her impromptu speech skills is a red herring. She actually cuts through the bull better than most.
The Left are in alliance with the Islamic Jihad. Feminists are members of the Leftist alliance. They cannot go against the Left without being sanctioned, excommunicated, and whipped as punishment. So they don’t go there.
Many of the Left’s members have contradictory ideological goals. Black panthers, for example, hate gays and view it as being a sin against Christ. Homosexual activists of the Left, however, want to promote homo education of elementary kids. A little bit inconsistent don’t you think. But they work together. Because the cannon fodder just needs to shut up and obey orders. And they do. So they group their resources together in a common cause.