Re: Obama takes opportunity Palin missed

Huh?
 
She only made the one tape, what are you talking about?
 
How can she rant one day and come swinging the next when she only made one
speech?
 
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf
Of Johne Cook
Sent: Thursday, January 13, 2011 5:38 PM
To: DADL (off topic)
Subject: [DADL-OT] Obama takes opportunity Palin missed
 
Perhaps this is the thing I was most angry at. The day after ranting about how
senseless killing shouldn't be used as an opportunity to engage in partisan
politics, Sarah Palin came out swinging in her very partisan way when, to quote
Mike Birbiglia, what she should have said was nothing (or, rather, limit her
comments to the sympathetic message on Facebook on Saturday). As it is, it
looked to me like she was using her video as a test of her ability to be
Presidential. (Unless everybody who has an opinion and a webcam dresses for
success, wears a flag lapel pin, and furthermore has a large American flag in
their kitchen.)

And that brings me to this story (and good Lord, is that really the link?):

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/47543;_ylt=AhdyR.msK46X3F28V_RG8eZtGMV_;_ylu=X3
oDMTJwZDlhcDRsBGFzc2V0Ay9zL3BvbGl0aWNvLzQ3NTQzBGNjb2RlA21wX2VjXzhfMTAEY3BvcwM4BH
BvcwM4BHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcmllcwRzbGsDb2JhbWF0YWtlc29w

Obama takes opportunity Palin missed

Jonathan Martin Jonathan Martin Thu Jan 13, 4:27 am ET 
In the span of a single news cycle, Republicans got a jarring reminder of two
forces that could prevent them from retaking the presidency in next year. 
At sunrise in the East on Wednesday, Sarah Palin demonstrated that she has
little interest — or capacity — in moving beyond her brand of grievance-based
politics. And at sundown in the West, Barack Obama
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/politico/pl_politico/storytext/47543/39637999/
SIG=11obom7os/*http:/topics.politico.com/index.cfm/topic/BarackObama>  reminded
even his critics of his ability to rally disparate Americans around a message of
reconciliation. 
Palin was defiant, making the case in a taped speech
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/politico/pl_politico/storytext/47543/39637999/
SIG=11mcn6bv4/*http:/www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47477.html>  she posted
online why the nation’s heated political debate should continue unabated even
after Saturday’s tragedy in Tucson. And, seeming to follow her own advice, she
swung back at her opponents, deeming the inflammatory notion that she was in any
way responsible for the shootings a “blood libel.”  (See: Shooting presents 2012
test
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/politico/pl_politico/storytext/47543/39637999/
SIG=11mcre0p7/*http:/www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47465.html> ) 
Obama, speaking at a memorial service at the University of Arizona
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/politico/pl_politico/storytext/47543/39637999/
SIG=11m20o0rp/*http:/www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47540.html> , summoned
the country to honor the victims, and especially9-year-old Christina Taylor
Green, by treating one another with more respect. “I want America to be as good
as Christina imagined it,” he said. 
It’s difficult to imagine a starker contrast. 
Many Republicans believe that it’s mostly the media that is obsessed with Palin,
and that there’s little chance she could win the party’s nomination. (See:
Republicans disappointed at Palin
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/politico/pl_politico/storytext/47543/39637999/
SIG=11m66qlpo/*http:/www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47504.html> ) 
But if she does manage to, Wednesday illustrated why so many in the GOP fear
that it would be disastrous. 
The former Alaska governor has a knack for supplying rhetoric that will delight
her supporters, send her critics howling and invariably create a frenzy of
coverage. But her response suggests she is capable of hitting just that one
note. 
The production value — from the heavily scripted speech to the American flag
just behind her left shoulder — of Palin’s address appeared presidential. With
Obama set to speak later in the day, it almost had the feel of a State of the
Union response from the opposition. And, in condemning violence, she displayed
some flourishes that touched the country’s spirit. (See: Tragedy marks turning
point for Palin
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/politico/pl_politico/storytext/47543/39637999/
SIG=11mamhul8/*http:/www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47351.html> ) 
“Yes, our debates are full of passion, but we settle our political differences
respectfully at the ballot box — as we did just two months ago, and as our
Republic enables us to do again in the next election, and the next,” she said in
her first on-camera remarks since the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords
(D-Ariz.). 
But for much of the eight-minute talk she was defensive and showed little
interest in doing anything other than channeling the understandable resentment
of her ideological kinsmen over the blame-casting. And that won’t appeal much to
a political center that — even while they may not think Palin is in any way
responsible for Tucson — preferred more conciliation even before the jarring
attempted assassination of a member of Congress. (See: Palin grabs spotlight
with video
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/politico/pl_politico/storytext/47543/39637999/
SIG=11mg9ebjd/*http:/www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47532.html> ) 
Even on the right, her talk was seen as a missed opportunity. 
“The strongest way to rise above would have been to talk about suffering,
tragedy, hope, strength and recovery,” said former Bush press secretary Ari
Fleischer. “Instead, she followed the more conventional political route and made
it about herself rather than the victims.” 
At a moment when even the famously combative Fox News chief Roger Ailes
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/politico/pl_politico/storytext/47543/39637999/
SIG=11nfr7l2n/*http:/topics.politico.com/index.cfm/topic/Rogerailes>  was saying
take it down a notch, his most famous contract employee did just the opposite. 
Her timing was especially maddening to some Republicans.
The furious response on the right to the notion that conservatives were somehow
responsible for the tragedy had been articulated by respected voices such as
George Will
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/politico/pl_politico/storytext/47543/39637999/
SIG=11nvar6o0/*http:/topics.politico.com/index.cfm/topic/georgewill>  and
Charles Krauthammer
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/politico/pl_politico/storytext/47543/39637999/
SIG=11v1tgjm6/*http:/topics.politico.com/index.cfm/topic/CharlesKrauthammer> ,
each of whom wrote compelling columns. A CBS poll released Tuesday night
validated their claims, showing that 57 percent of Americans didn’t think that
the country’s harsh political tone had played a role in the shooting. Most
important though, there was mounting evidence that the gunman was a deeply
disturbed young man who was not motivated by any traditional political cause.
The left, it was becoming increasingly clear, had overreached before she
reignited the issue. 
Further, Palin’s pushback served to reinforce the message behind Obama’s speech,
providing the president with an opportunity to transcend both the immediate
finger-pointing on the left at Palin and other conservatives and her angry
denunciation and counterattack. (See: Obama: 'I believe we can be better'
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/politico/pl_politico/storytext/47543/39637999/
SIG=11m8oa04d/*http:/www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47535.html> ) 
What attracted so many centrist voters to then-candidate Obama in 2008 wasn’t
any of his policy prescriptions but rather his pledge to change the conversation
in Washington. He hasn’t done it yet and has, at times, not lived up to his own
stated desire to bring down the temperature. But his fundamental political
worldview is that most Americans prefer conciliation over confrontation. 
And, speaking to a capacity basketball arena filled with leaders of both parties
and those touched by the tragedy, he appealed to that spirit. (See: Mourning
turns to cheers
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/politico/pl_politico/storytext/47543/39637999/
SIG=11mirma4b/*http:/www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47538.html> ) 
“Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, let us use this occasion to
expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to
sharpen our instincts for empathy, and remind ourselves of all the ways our
hopes and dreams are bound together,” implored the president. 
The speech was a vivid example of the promise of Obama and a reminder of why,
even after so many missteps, he remains a formidable figure. (See: Obama
challenges America
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/politico/pl_politico/storytext/47543/39637999/
SIG=11mohtgt7/*http:/www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47537.html> ) 
“It was supposed to be simply a chance to make a good speech, but it may be more
than that,” said GOP pollster Steve Lombardo after the address. “It may be a
time when we look back and say that he re-made himself tonight into the
President we thought he could be.” 
Krauthammer, one of the president’s sharpest critics, suggested the speech saw
Obama find his role as head of state. 
“I wouldn’t underestimate how this is going to affect the perception of
president,” Krauthammer said on Fox News after the memorial service, comparing
what Obama did in Tucson to President Bill Clinton’s speech following the
Oklahoma City bombing and President Reagan’s address in the wake of the
Challenger explosion. 
What few Republicans wanted to say for attribution — but what was manifestly
clear — was that Palin had made Obama look even bigger than he was. 
Her argument for conflict-oriented politics lent itself as the near-ideal foil
for his plea for civility. It was a clear contrast and, for Republicans, a
dispiriting one. 


Johne Cook
| http://raygunrevival.com | http://authorculture.blogspot.com |

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