Re: Obama takes opportunity Palin missed

Whether I like Palin or not is immaterial. I've been commenting on what
she's done.

(For the record, I kind of do. And she is a shining light for the political
persuasion I am mostly like. But she's just so very... you know.)

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


On Thu, Jan 13, 2011 at 8:41 PM, Mike Findlay <[email protected]>wrote:

>   It would solve a lot of this back and forth if you guys would just come
> out and say you don’t like Palin.  We get it already.
>
> To compare the two speeches is grossly unfair.  Obama wasn’t idiotically
> and mercilessly attacked for provoking the shooting of the congresswoman at
> whose pep rally he was speaking.  Did she give the perfect speech, no, but
> who does?
>
> For the record I thought his speech was fine.  I don’t get where the lavish
> praise of eloquence comes from, it was rather obvious to me that he didn’t
> have his teleprompters and he is only a fair speaker without them, but what
> he said was as good as could be expected.  But the setting with its constant
> cheering was offensive to me.  And if I’m offended it means the speech was
> offensive ipso facto right?  Or maybe res ipsa loquitur.
>
> Mike F.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>  *From:* Johne Cook <[email protected]>
> *Sent:* Thursday, January 13, 2011 7:37 PM
> *To:* DADL (off topic) <[email protected]>
> *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=X3oDMTJwZDlhcDRsBGFzc2V0Ay9zL3BvbGl0aWNvLzQ3NTQzBGNjb2RlA21wX2VjXzhfMTAEY3BvcwM4BHBvcwM4BHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcmllcwRzbGsDb2JhbWF0YWtlc29w
> 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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