Tina Fey may have a banner year ahead of her.
72
Jon Stewart must be kicking himself...
75
My fantasy is that all the sane people in this country are just shaking their heads and waiting for the day they can vote. The circus that is the American presidential campaign is just a side show, good for a laugh, a few thrills, some shocks, but just that, a side-show.
Please, Gail, tell me that on election day reality will kick in and sanity will be restored.
Please, Gail, tell me that on election day reality will kick in and sanity will be restored.
55
Donald Trump, who's always quite crude,
Expresses nothing but sheer gratitude
That Palin endorsed his views
And his policies eschews,
Though she sounds like she'd downed a quaalude
Expresses nothing but sheer gratitude
That Palin endorsed his views
And his policies eschews,
Though she sounds like she'd downed a quaalude
50
Palin is akin to the item you discover in the fridge and can't quite remember how long its been in there. You give it a small taste and realize its gone completely bad.
90
This is a slap in the face of McCain and that just serves him fine for bringing Palin into our lives. Last we know Palin `s romance with the Republicans was over when she was fired from FOX.
Now Trump brings her back to irk McCain until he decides to dump her without giving much thought to it. .
Now Trump brings her back to irk McCain until he decides to dump her without giving much thought to it. .
39
Thank you, Gail Collins.
Americans, Don't worry about these multi-billion dollar subsidies to Iowa agribusiness. Remember Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst who campaigned on her "castration experiences" with Iowa hogs? Surely she is putting those "cutting skills" to work on Iowa pork as well as other Federal Programs...
No? Really? Joni is just another fraud from the Heartland?
I'm shocked, shocked I tell you to see that corruption is going on here!
The "Iowa Caucus" enterprise has become laughable.
Time to think about an endgame for this charade.
Americans, Don't worry about these multi-billion dollar subsidies to Iowa agribusiness. Remember Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst who campaigned on her "castration experiences" with Iowa hogs? Surely she is putting those "cutting skills" to work on Iowa pork as well as other Federal Programs...
No? Really? Joni is just another fraud from the Heartland?
I'm shocked, shocked I tell you to see that corruption is going on here!
The "Iowa Caucus" enterprise has become laughable.
Time to think about an endgame for this charade.
72
Gail,
Sarah Palin puts you at a real disadvantage.
It's simply not possible for a columnist to write something
funnier than the transcript of what Sarah said in her speech.
Sarah Palin puts you at a real disadvantage.
It's simply not possible for a columnist to write something
funnier than the transcript of what Sarah said in her speech.
107
Believe it was the animated fictional cultural icon Homer J. Simpson
that said; "It's funny 'cause its true."
Enough said.
that said; "It's funny 'cause its true."
Enough said.
16
Nice article, Gail, with one suggestion. I'd have used a comma or dash after "Poor guy" below. Using a period made the time too long.
"Let’s take a minute to feel sympathy for Ted Cruz. Poor guy.
O.K., time’s up."
"Let’s take a minute to feel sympathy for Ted Cruz. Poor guy.
O.K., time’s up."
15
i love the word "squirmish"... it's perfect for the PAINED look trump had on his face during palin's endorsement.
"As Sarah Palin endorsed donald trump, he stood by squirmishing with every shrieking bloviation she made."
"As Sarah Palin endorsed donald trump, he stood by squirmishing with every shrieking bloviation she made."
56
“Trump’s candidacy, it has exposed . . . " Read it backwards. It makes a little more sense. Sort of.
14
LOL....oh sorry, its just these mental squirmishes that keep popping up. My Dearest Sarah, the GOP gift that keeps on giving, seemingly forever. Bless ya hon.
31
Is it absurd to think that Sarah Palin endorsed Donald Trump because he secretly offered her the vice-presidency ticket if he is the nominee? I don’t think so. Mr. Trump’s biography is called the “art of the deal” and this would indeed be a big deal for them (not so much for the country…).
8
My thoughts? Donald Trump endorsed by Sarah Palin and Vladimir Putin for the presidency of the United States. Surely this must seem surreal even to Republicans. Or maybe not. In any case, SNL writers couldn't have done better.
61
Thank you, thank you for the best laugh I've enjoyed in weeks! I loved the look on The Donald's face as he listened to Palin's awesomely awful "speech." I've never seen him look frozen like that before. Priceless. You've reassured me that I haven't lost my sanity because I've recently begun laughing hysterically over the antics of the GOP candidates. Love you!
43
It started with electing a photogenic actor with a declining mind as President. Next, Bush, Sr., who never completed a sentence, selected the handsome spelling wiz Dan Quale for VP. Then McCain on the road to being Bushwhacked, sought the naked libido vote with SP as VP. Beauty over brains by B actors, Bullies and Babes. Fox News and the Republican Party are now indistinguishable.
84
Sarah is simply an opportunist. That she would endorse Trump after his insult of McCain speaks volumes. She knows Trump is a billionaire. The rest of the clown car riders are not. If only she would go home and keep an eye out for the black helicopters with the other looneytunes in Wasilla.
29
Gee....there's no one to like in this piece. Not Palin, not Trump, not Brandstad or anyone who'd support Cruz or Trump. Not corn which has been forced on us first in our food which makes us fat to gasoline, why not add rose petals....bet rose growers could used extra income too.
My old Ford truck sits idled by a dangerous fuel line leak that was no doubt cause by ethanol eating up fuel line gaskets in older cars. So nice of oil companies to make gas with nothing added, more expensive. Oh yes, no one with a brain can like oil companies either.
The more I think about it, the more I believe Donald Trump is a Democratic plant. Hillary nor Bernie could destroy the Republican Party like Trump's doing. He is a gift to all Democrats & long may he wave! Trump is a great terrible person....his terribleness is great! So great that Trump's candidacy will finally put the GOP out of its misery, having been dealt a fatal blow years ago by Bush-Cheney....I like to think of it as a mercy killing ala Trump!
Laugh or cry, eventually Sarah Palin's white trash family will come to no good end. I envision a Wasilla version of Erskine Caldwell's Tobacco Road, bless their ignorant hearts! I'm sorry I won't live to see what future historians make of the first couple of decades of the 21st century. They'll have a field day from hanging chads on up with whole chapters on the Shakespearean tragedy that was the Palin family.
Love the Bern! But find Hillary likable enough to vote for!
My old Ford truck sits idled by a dangerous fuel line leak that was no doubt cause by ethanol eating up fuel line gaskets in older cars. So nice of oil companies to make gas with nothing added, more expensive. Oh yes, no one with a brain can like oil companies either.
The more I think about it, the more I believe Donald Trump is a Democratic plant. Hillary nor Bernie could destroy the Republican Party like Trump's doing. He is a gift to all Democrats & long may he wave! Trump is a great terrible person....his terribleness is great! So great that Trump's candidacy will finally put the GOP out of its misery, having been dealt a fatal blow years ago by Bush-Cheney....I like to think of it as a mercy killing ala Trump!
Laugh or cry, eventually Sarah Palin's white trash family will come to no good end. I envision a Wasilla version of Erskine Caldwell's Tobacco Road, bless their ignorant hearts! I'm sorry I won't live to see what future historians make of the first couple of decades of the 21st century. They'll have a field day from hanging chads on up with whole chapters on the Shakespearean tragedy that was the Palin family.
Love the Bern! But find Hillary likable enough to vote for!
54
I find it odd that you rip Iowa for wanting to maintain it's subsidies. If you really believe what you just wrote-lets get rid of ALL subsidies for everything, not just corn in Iowa. Lets go after what New York receives in federal subsidies too. Otherwise, Iowans have every right to vote their pocketbooks, just like the rest of the nation. Perhaps some real study on ethanol would be beneficial for you in that Iowa has begun the process of converting from corn to bio waste products from crops. But it took the development of corn ethanol to get where Iowa is headed. In the end, corn won't be used, and there may be little reason for future subsidies. In the meantime, your comments make Iowans look wrong for protecting their's and make you look like you might even support subsidies for big oil which ethanol has to compete with in order to survive. And while you comment away on the corn subsidies, remember Iowa employs many thousands of people in good paying, manufacturing jobs in the ethanol industry--something desperately needed in this country. It seems to me the phrase of "all politics are local" applies, and Ted Cruz knew he had an issue with ethanol and got smacked by the Governor for it. What's the beef?
3
If you're talking about NYC, for every dollar the feds give us we give back three.
63
Sarah Palin was, is and always will be a ditzie broad. Why people trust her is beyond reason. After she discovered to world outside of Alaska and the race was over, she DUMPED the people of Alaska for network stardom and paychecks.
She is still unable to complete a sentence in coherent English, she still has little regard of seemingly a need for facts. She went as far as to blame the President for her son's P T S D. The women is not competent or knowledgeable yet tens of thousands of American hang on her every word. I can not believe that I've lived long enough to see candidates like those running for President today and spokespeople like Palin have so much sway in the running of America. If we do not, somehow, manage to rid ourselves of the religious, overly conservative, right wing and the overly liberal far left America is going to become a third world Nation. And even though I am already 75, I am sorry to say that it will happen in the lifetime I have left, and I;ll have to see it. Sigh!
She is still unable to complete a sentence in coherent English, she still has little regard of seemingly a need for facts. She went as far as to blame the President for her son's P T S D. The women is not competent or knowledgeable yet tens of thousands of American hang on her every word. I can not believe that I've lived long enough to see candidates like those running for President today and spokespeople like Palin have so much sway in the running of America. If we do not, somehow, manage to rid ourselves of the religious, overly conservative, right wing and the overly liberal far left America is going to become a third world Nation. And even though I am already 75, I am sorry to say that it will happen in the lifetime I have left, and I;ll have to see it. Sigh!
35
If Trump becomes the Republican Anointed One, then he should choose Palin as his running mate. This could be a winning team - Palin protecting us from Russia across her door-step and Trump balancing our budget with bankruptcy. Perfect!!
31
It's easy for all of us, who read the New York Times, to mock one who doesn't appear to read (or think) at all.
What must give us pause is the fact that our ridicule is validation of her among the millions who mistrust those more intelligent than they are.
What must give us pause is the fact that our ridicule is validation of her among the millions who mistrust those more intelligent than they are.
53
The current Republican crop,
Forgetting their 2008 flop,
Sent in the big guns
(No, not those anti-birth control nuns)
When they brought back Mrs. Malaprop
Forgetting their 2008 flop,
Sent in the big guns
(No, not those anti-birth control nuns)
When they brought back Mrs. Malaprop
16
The lying, greedy Hypocrites, all of them. It is now absolutely blatant without any effort to hide behind polite words. Now if we knowingly choose one of these specimens, then we have to take responsibility for our own demise. Can't blame these dangerous guys.
5
"Cruz has broken one of the great traditions of the Iowa caucus (First in the Nation! Forever!), which is that every major presidential candidate falls down to worship Big Corn."
Wow, I'm not a Cruz supporter at all, but this great. I hope he wins in Iowa so maybe some other politicians will stand up to big corn and maybe, just maybe we could actually get presidential primary reform to fix the current messed up, unrepresentative system we have.
Wow, I'm not a Cruz supporter at all, but this great. I hope he wins in Iowa so maybe some other politicians will stand up to big corn and maybe, just maybe we could actually get presidential primary reform to fix the current messed up, unrepresentative system we have.
13
Is Ms Palin under-educated, poorly read, and inarticulate? Is she a dangerous demagogue? Clearly yes.
But many Americans, particularly those who have been left behind economically and socially, are equally inarticulate and find companionship in her ignorance. While these NYT comments almost uniformly deride her as a stooge, many others, though not liberal-Coasters, "get" exactly what she means.
What she, and Mr. Trump now too, represents is a broad coalition of the left and right who disdain career politicians who say one thing and do another; who take $ with both hands; etc. etc. Those intoxicated with Mr. Sanders are looking for authenticity no less than Mr. Trumps' supporters. Sure, Sanders is more articulate, but is no less an ideologue in thrall to movement politics.
We seem to be approaching a time when a majority of Americans have finally grown fatigued at the many lies of the monied and entitled class: the economic, social, and political bargain they made is not being honored (the rich take most and the workers get the scraps but get to live relatively OK).
The time for laughter is past when the likes of a man like Donald Trump gets this close to the presidency. He is a crypto-fascist authoritarian and many, many Americans are just fine with that if he can deliver them security and jobs. He cannot deliver.
We are in serious danger from within. As Franklin said when asked what kind of government the founders had created: "A democracy, if you can keep it."
But many Americans, particularly those who have been left behind economically and socially, are equally inarticulate and find companionship in her ignorance. While these NYT comments almost uniformly deride her as a stooge, many others, though not liberal-Coasters, "get" exactly what she means.
What she, and Mr. Trump now too, represents is a broad coalition of the left and right who disdain career politicians who say one thing and do another; who take $ with both hands; etc. etc. Those intoxicated with Mr. Sanders are looking for authenticity no less than Mr. Trumps' supporters. Sure, Sanders is more articulate, but is no less an ideologue in thrall to movement politics.
We seem to be approaching a time when a majority of Americans have finally grown fatigued at the many lies of the monied and entitled class: the economic, social, and political bargain they made is not being honored (the rich take most and the workers get the scraps but get to live relatively OK).
The time for laughter is past when the likes of a man like Donald Trump gets this close to the presidency. He is a crypto-fascist authoritarian and many, many Americans are just fine with that if he can deliver them security and jobs. He cannot deliver.
We are in serious danger from within. As Franklin said when asked what kind of government the founders had created: "A democracy, if you can keep it."
22
Years ago I laughed when Bush W was campaigning and mangled our language. Then he became president--twice.
17
Sarah Palin is emblematic of one distinctive feature of the conservative movement in that she has no interest in, or talent for, persuasion. Like Ted Cruz, she does not see it as necessary to expand the subscription base beyond rural white people over 40 with high school educations. She confines herself within the puny corral of true believers, who agree with her on everything, and therefore overlook her utter incoherence. Her statement yesterday about her son's arrest for domestic violence -- that it's Obama's fault -- shows what a cynical self-interested person she is. That she would take such a sad, painful, and private family crisis and -- on the very day it happens -- turn it into a presidential campaign speech, is appalling. A normal grieved parent would say, "We don't know exactly what happened yet, and I can't comment at this time." Moreover, she concedes that her son has done wrong even before his case comes to court. The young man's lawyer must be furious. Good luck with this piece of work, Donald. You may have to fire her.
19
Needs more Tina Fey!
9
Is it possible that Sarah Palin is a drunk? She certainly sounds like she's had one too many. And Trump looks like John McCain must have felt: like a man who bitten into an apple and found half a worm.
47
She could simply be bipolar.
In any case, there is something not quite right with her, and what's sad is that no one in her orbit seems willing or able to help her get better.
In any case, there is something not quite right with her, and what's sad is that no one in her orbit seems willing or able to help her get better.
26
The Sarahcuda could be Secretary of Education, and start a new national program to increase religious literacy: Reading is FUNdamentalist.
13
Her speech was an All You Can Eat feast at The Last Supper Inn.
9
Ethanol was fine as a short-term solution when the problem was an oil shortage well back into the last century. But now both oil and natural gas supplies well exceed demand, and the long-term problem is carbon emissions. Ethanol is at best only slightly cleaner than gasoline.
Conservatives often complain that it's nearly impossible to end a government benefits program, and ethanol subsidies are proof of their point. Tax money would much more usefully be invested in truly clean energy sources for the long term.
politicsbyeccehomo.wordpress.com
Conservatives often complain that it's nearly impossible to end a government benefits program, and ethanol subsidies are proof of their point. Tax money would much more usefully be invested in truly clean energy sources for the long term.
politicsbyeccehomo.wordpress.com
13
The circus has now officially become a carnival.
17
"carnival" means the chance to eat red meat before Lent. (same as "Fat Tuesday" --Mardi Gras, and "Shrove Tuesday") Let's pretend it refers to the Republican cannibalism going on this election season.
4
I'm interested in finding out about some of Donald Trump's "losers".
Exclusively the ones who lost a fortune when he stiffed them by going bankrupt four times.
Too bad they were casino loans, not student loans. Then Trump wouldn't have be able to declare bankruptcy, would he?
Exclusively the ones who lost a fortune when he stiffed them by going bankrupt four times.
Too bad they were casino loans, not student loans. Then Trump wouldn't have be able to declare bankruptcy, would he?
10
Notice no news people bother to look into these things, while they fall over themselves to report his every tweet.
18
First and foremost, I love it that you use the word "posthaste."
You are correct about the farms subsidies. They started in the Great Depression and were needed then. They are not needed now, but politicians are still scared to touch them despite how wealthy many farmers in Iowa and the fertile Midwest have become. The truth is many of these farmers wouldn't care if the subsidies were eliminated. But they will take free money. They are rich but they hardworking. I've never known a lazy farmer.
You are correct about the farms subsidies. They started in the Great Depression and were needed then. They are not needed now, but politicians are still scared to touch them despite how wealthy many farmers in Iowa and the fertile Midwest have become. The truth is many of these farmers wouldn't care if the subsidies were eliminated. But they will take free money. They are rich but they hardworking. I've never known a lazy farmer.
11
There is something entertaining about anyone imagining and endorsement from Sarah Palin means anything. It hasn't helped a bit in the last 3 elections. In one she was even on the ticket. I think I might imagine having her endorsement is the kiss of death as the old saying goes.
I also imagine the overlap in the People Who Love Sarah and the People Who Love Trump is YUGE! I'll bet there aren't as many people outside of that union as you imagine.
I also imagine the overlap in the People Who Love Sarah and the People Who Love Trump is YUGE! I'll bet there aren't as many people outside of that union as you imagine.
6
I truly feel sorry for the poor sap who had to type the transcript of Palin's endorsement speech. I hear there's a GoFundMe site for therapy sessions...
20
Even Donald Trump looked painfully uncomfortable during Palin's endorsement "speech". When you can make a guy who can throw slurs and demonstrate hypocrisy and ignorance with aplomb wince and shuffle, you should be aware that you have jacknifed over the edge of reason.
25
Lorne Michaels must be giddy.
120
.
.
Before I discuss Sarah Palin, Ted Cruz, and Donald Trump, I feel I must address Gail's mention of sitting "at a dinner party next to a stranger who’s describing how she met President William Henry Harrison in a past life." I for one would be transfixed if I found myself in the company of someone who could tell me all about William Henry Harrison. I'd forget to eat my dinner! Now to the subject at hand.
A Palin, a Trump and a Cruz
In Iowa tried not to lose
(Though second place can
Be *like* winning, and
New Hampshirites still get to choose).
Then Brandstad, the Forever Guv,
Showed Senator Ted little love.
"We must protect corn,
At noon, night, and morn
So dollars will rain from above."
So Palin got onstage with Trump,
Ill-practiced at been' on the stump.
Her words were confused
(But on Nightly News,
She sure didn't look like a frump).
Trump called her endorsement "an honor",
Bestowing allegiance upon 'er.
While other Repubs
Fought with hand and glove
Backbiting like people named Donner.
I think we know how this will end.
It's "Sarah for V.P." again!
With Marco or Cruz
Or Trump if they lose:
The question ain't "if". It is "when".
.
Before I discuss Sarah Palin, Ted Cruz, and Donald Trump, I feel I must address Gail's mention of sitting "at a dinner party next to a stranger who’s describing how she met President William Henry Harrison in a past life." I for one would be transfixed if I found myself in the company of someone who could tell me all about William Henry Harrison. I'd forget to eat my dinner! Now to the subject at hand.
A Palin, a Trump and a Cruz
In Iowa tried not to lose
(Though second place can
Be *like* winning, and
New Hampshirites still get to choose).
Then Brandstad, the Forever Guv,
Showed Senator Ted little love.
"We must protect corn,
At noon, night, and morn
So dollars will rain from above."
So Palin got onstage with Trump,
Ill-practiced at been' on the stump.
Her words were confused
(But on Nightly News,
She sure didn't look like a frump).
Trump called her endorsement "an honor",
Bestowing allegiance upon 'er.
While other Repubs
Fought with hand and glove
Backbiting like people named Donner.
I think we know how this will end.
It's "Sarah for V.P." again!
With Marco or Cruz
Or Trump if they lose:
The question ain't "if". It is "when".
22
While only brief reference was made to the most recent Track Palin domestic-violence episode I do have a question. Did Track Palin see combat while deployed? I can find no specific reference to anything other than his unit was a "Stryker" type unit which is a combat unit. However, I saw no specifics as to whether he was subjected to any combat operations or even their aftermath while deployed. I just find it odd that there don't seem to be reports of his actual experiences which might give some credence to a claim of PTSD. To have post-traumatic stress disorder you need some traumatic stress. Did he experience it or not?
20
palin is always a delight. nobody else does jabberwocky quite like sarah.
10
Hilarious. Except, wait...not hilarious. These people represent the views of about half of Americans, and unfortunately this segment of the population feels that they've been forced to endure a horrible regime for the past eight years. The Fox News (and Limbaugh, etc.) never-ending propaganda stream has fundamentally changed America, such that conservative proles will literally support anything which shows liberals in a negative light, even things that clearly make no sense. Sarah Palin's son gets arrested for intimate partner violence and she publicly blames Obama for it - and people accept this as reasonable! "If Obama cared about veterans, Palin's son wouldn't have PTSD!" Donald Trump publicly mocks a disabled reporter, John McCain's capture after being shotdown in Vietnam, and Megyn Kelly's menstruation, plus he flubs a reading of the Bible, yet he's the leading candidate among evangelical Christian conservatives. It's as if conservative media has hypnotized people into purposely avoiding critical thinking. With the overall public discontent over having to tolerate Obama (who has been a good President, not that anybody pays attention to or cares about that), it seems likely that the next President will come from the other side of the aisle. I wish there were some moderate conservatives running again, like McCain or Romney, who at least were reasonable people. That's not what the conservative electorate is interested in now, though.
17
There are some people who understand Palin's dialect. The audience sings out amen, cheers and other forms of interaction seem to show some form of understanding. It is an elite form of Republican communication It is a secret language devoid of grammar but with morphed quotes and distorted vocabulary.
I believe that anyone who uses English grammar is now part of the Establishment according to the Palin Rule Book. I have learned something about myself by listening to Ms Palin speak for a few minutes. My brain needs nouns and verbs. It needs structure. My brain actually hurts after listening to Palin. It is not about the content. I can't understand the content.
My heart goes out to all the aged Roman Catholic nuns who taught grammar with the use of sentence diagrams. If they tried to use Palin's language arts into a sentence diagram 'squirmishes' would occur.
I believe that anyone who uses English grammar is now part of the Establishment according to the Palin Rule Book. I have learned something about myself by listening to Ms Palin speak for a few minutes. My brain needs nouns and verbs. It needs structure. My brain actually hurts after listening to Palin. It is not about the content. I can't understand the content.
My heart goes out to all the aged Roman Catholic nuns who taught grammar with the use of sentence diagrams. If they tried to use Palin's language arts into a sentence diagram 'squirmishes' would occur.
45
Palin spewed really epic redneck rap. It is really awesome if you look at it as akin to beat poetry or megachurch preaching. It is really frightening that she was nearly a heartbeat away from the presidency. I guess McCain's wartime captivity altered his judgment sufficiently to be beguiled into choosing her as his running mate. Perhaps her presence spared us that disaster.
15
Gail you are a national treasure. You have the unmatched ability to take the gruesome facts of our current political life and turn them into a belly laugh. I believe I speak for many when I say "more, please."
43
Consistent Palin Family Values – guns, alcohol, and violence. If only the rest of America would open his eyes and follow her lead. Take us to that City on a Hill – Boot Hill.
19
Just goes to show you, Giant Pander Bears are not just for China and popular zoos...
13
We all owe Palin a debt of gratitude... the GOP pack was getting dull.
13
Palin said that Trump had to balance budgets in the private sector? Doesn't she know he declared bankruptcy four time?
70
I think more to the point, there are many people who have had to declare bankruptcy who believe it is there ethical responsibility to pay back what they owe if/when their economic situation makes the repayment possible. There are others who lack a sense of ethics, and do not feel a sense of responsibility to pay back what they owe. They simply walk away leaving others to suffer a financial loss which was not their fault.
10
Let's not be silly. Trump only does what's necessary to protect him self from the greedy" takers" seeking to undermine his way to sainthood, and keep their money while he is at it. Budgets are for wimps.
PT Barnum was a successful businessman too, except more honest.
Palin wouldn't know a balanced budget from snowshoe hare, or her ... from her elbow.
I honestly know where these new " Americans" are from. I grew up with a bunch of hardworking, straight forward people whose politics, which did not coincide with mine , were respected.
What is with this childish, name calling that passes as discussion now. I remember McCarthy. Trump, Palin, and their ilk are much the same.
We have a great country here. Let's not throw it away We are great. We don't need to make it great "again".
We are.
PT Barnum was a successful businessman too, except more honest.
Palin wouldn't know a balanced budget from snowshoe hare, or her ... from her elbow.
I honestly know where these new " Americans" are from. I grew up with a bunch of hardworking, straight forward people whose politics, which did not coincide with mine , were respected.
What is with this childish, name calling that passes as discussion now. I remember McCarthy. Trump, Palin, and their ilk are much the same.
We have a great country here. Let's not throw it away We are great. We don't need to make it great "again".
We are.
7
The Trump vs. Cruz squirmish get better and betterer. The Trump - Palin hair-do comb-bo is a sight to behead. The lovey-dovey of the condo-for-cash Chinese and beautiful people, really, Mexicans, teams up with rouge rogue alpha grizzly mom soccer-it-to 'em anti-establishmentor. You can't make it up - it's really for real!
57
You have put your finger on the main thing, I can see it from my house, OK?
12
Guys and Gals, i have to run down to Iowa and be with Mr Trump, I smell some money that might come our way. Todd, keep they boys out of Bristol's room, lock up the vodka and don't give Truck the key. Oh, Willow, is it 'squirmish' or 'squeamish'?
7
You gotta love Gail for reminding us about President William Henry Harrison. At this point, I associate him exclusively with her. http://www.amazon.com/William-Henry-Harrison-Presidents-President/dp/080...
10
If Yogi Berra, the legandry Baseball player with a penchant for deep and meaningless " philosophical sayings " were still alive, he would be so jealous of Palin's still deeper unintelligible utterances, that he would have taken the fork in the political road and ask every Republican to vote for both Trump and Cruze! Sara's vocabulary is as much understandable as is her vision for USA.
12
On some level, Yogi's words made sense. On every level, Palin's make no (n) sense.
18
I recommended your comment even though for this Yankees fan describing Yogi Berra's brilliant zen koans as meaningless is fighting words. ;-)
12
Classic Sarah Palin word salad.
32
There has been a recent leak from a respected media PR firm disclosing that Trump and Palin have signed a three year $60 million dollar contract beginning November 2016 to star on a new Reality TV series called "So You Wanna Be President". All of the recent activity by Trump and now Palin is nothing more than classic headline-grabbing to promote the series.
33
“How about the rest of us? Right-winging, bitter-clinging, proud clingers of our guns, our God, and our religion, and our Constitution.”
I couldn't help but notice she puts guns before God.
The "evangelical" crowd supposedly piling into Mr. T's bus love guns, perhaps more than God, or perhaps they equate the two. They certainly are not disturbed by Mr. T's personal life, his lack of Sunday go-to-meeting or his wife's modeling days pin-up shots (hats off to ya Mr. T!). I have to wonder what their reaction would be if that bundle came with a Dem, or with Obama?
I couldn't help but notice she puts guns before God.
The "evangelical" crowd supposedly piling into Mr. T's bus love guns, perhaps more than God, or perhaps they equate the two. They certainly are not disturbed by Mr. T's personal life, his lack of Sunday go-to-meeting or his wife's modeling days pin-up shots (hats off to ya Mr. T!). I have to wonder what their reaction would be if that bundle came with a Dem, or with Obama?
47
Don't forget Bristol's baby daddies and Track's domestic disputes. If that was the Obama offspring, Palin would be singing a different tune.
13
Don't you know that's all Obama's fault?
9
The big endorsement, the Big Rock Candy Mountain of endorsements, is yet to come.
That would be Benjamin Netanyahu’s endorsement.
It will be coming very late, just a few weeks before the November election.
Mr. Netanyahu will be exacting a fearful price.
A signed document, witnessed by the Supreme Court, committing the new President to withdraw from the Iran deal within 60 days of assuming the office of President.
In the event that Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton both agree to this condition, the matter of Mr. Netanyahu’s endorsement will be settled by a coin toss.
Stay tuned to this station for further developments.
That would be Benjamin Netanyahu’s endorsement.
It will be coming very late, just a few weeks before the November election.
Mr. Netanyahu will be exacting a fearful price.
A signed document, witnessed by the Supreme Court, committing the new President to withdraw from the Iran deal within 60 days of assuming the office of President.
In the event that Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton both agree to this condition, the matter of Mr. Netanyahu’s endorsement will be settled by a coin toss.
Stay tuned to this station for further developments.
8
Crazy for you to say Clinton would agree to this as she put together the sanction regime that led to the deal and has stated that she supports it,
6
It would be her call, of course, but she already is a committed neocon on foreign policy, and she wants to get elected, so ...
1
Donald J. Trump is in a win/win situation. Even if he would end up not being the Republican presidential nominee, he will have garnered an undreamed of amount of media exposure. More than he could have acquired in any other way.
Same can be said for Sarah Palin who made tons of money as a Republican flack after her and McCain's failed run for the White House in 2008. Whether her endorsement of Trump was sincere or not, whether it will be effective or not, it re-positioned her in the media spotlight and will undoubtedly reinvigorate her flagging career as Republican flack.
Same can be said for Sarah Palin who made tons of money as a Republican flack after her and McCain's failed run for the White House in 2008. Whether her endorsement of Trump was sincere or not, whether it will be effective or not, it re-positioned her in the media spotlight and will undoubtedly reinvigorate her flagging career as Republican flack.
9
Love you Gail and your style, but I sense even you are feeling the Horror of what could transpire. Satire and ridicule work magic in reflecting societies (Canada has great comics and satirists). But when ignorance is bliss it may be time to emigrate!
15
Only one way this could get better. Maybe Trump will offer her the V-P slot on his ticket?
12
Almost liked, then realized it is just too possible and too scary to contemplate.
8
Palin is like the crazy relative who keeps getting invited to Thanksgiving dinner. Her grasp of reality - like her grasp of English - is fleeting. The sad thing is that she might actually believe what she's saying. Have Americans become so stupid that they believe what they hear simply because the person saying it sounds sincere? Trump's in a bit of trouble. Why else would he seek the endorsement of an absolute wingnut?
27
As usual, Ms. C., your humor is appreciated; so why not consider how the House of Commons insulted The Donald recently? They had fun; but when it came to asking the Home Secretary to "ban" him, they realized that that would be a mistake: he could be elected president. What a stretch!
7
Does anyone recall the poem about the gingham dog and the calico cat (The Duel by Eugene Field)? At the end it says: "But the truth about the cat and pup
Is this: they ate each other up! Now what do you really think of that!" Trump and Cruz?
Is this: they ate each other up! Now what do you really think of that!" Trump and Cruz?
10
An idiot, resurrected by another idiot. I hope President Bush comes out of hiding to endorse him. Or Cheney. Or Rumsfeld. They are all in hiding.
30
Perhaps the ever-present pained expression on Cruz's face is due to an overindulgence in west Texas Crude.
And as a retired English teacher I give Sarah an F for her performance. No wonder she cycled through so many colleges before leaving.
So put that in your pipe and stoke it, Sarah.
And as a retired English teacher I give Sarah an F for her performance. No wonder she cycled through so many colleges before leaving.
So put that in your pipe and stoke it, Sarah.
15
Palin is the perfect sidekick for Trump. They speak the same convoluted English. We could enjoy the campaign season a lot better if we got a laugh once in a while instead of just shaking our heads at how anyone could ever consider any of the repubs currently running to be our country's leader.
27
Come on people, lay off Mrs. Palin. She is at a higher level than we are.
Sarah attended 5 colleges in six years (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/04/palin-attended-5-colleges_n_124..., giving her a very broad educational experience. She graduated with a degree in Journalism, fostering a love of reading and the power of language. This was confirmed when Katie Couric queried her as to the newspapers she reads. Sarah replied, "All of them."
Sarah attended 5 colleges in six years (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/04/palin-attended-5-colleges_n_124..., giving her a very broad educational experience. She graduated with a degree in Journalism, fostering a love of reading and the power of language. This was confirmed when Katie Couric queried her as to the newspapers she reads. Sarah replied, "All of them."
49
Bit o' trivia: Around the time of that interview, an actual publicity photo of then-Mayor Palin appeared on the internets showing her at her desk with a copy of the John Birch Society newsletter. I recall thinking that the newsletter's staff were probably quite upset that she didn't give them a plug.
4
Mike,
You mean "governor," not mayor, I presume?
You mean "governor," not mayor, I presume?
2
Through the miracle of googling, I found that the photo was taken when she was on the city council.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/18/603152/-
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/18/603152/-
1
Gayle, it didn't dawn on me until I read your column that Sarah Palin must be a graduate of Trump University. Thanks for the eye opener.
22
Would the prisoner like to have a blindfold or a cigarette?
10
To see these two intellectual lightweights and wingnuts merging forces regurgitating lots of spin to do battle and go rogue with opposing Republican candidates is similar to watching two hippos dancing the tango trying to win the big prize !!!
These two loose cannons will energize and rally their audiences attending the Republican circuses of competing assorted clowns, trapeze artists and flame-throwers to great glee and enjoyment as they climb to new high points of comedic entertainment. This amounts to the meteoric rise of two reality-TV stars with lots of glitz and glamor, like lots of glass jewelry, who are both deficient on truth, while they try to win the attention of cable-news talking bobble-heads.
But this will end badly. While Sarah Palin believes that she can “Refudiate” Donald Trump’s opponents, this will be the kiss of death for Donald the Trumpet. Both meteors will crash with lots of Sturm und Drang while criticizing everything in sight in a fiery mess.
These two loose cannons will energize and rally their audiences attending the Republican circuses of competing assorted clowns, trapeze artists and flame-throwers to great glee and enjoyment as they climb to new high points of comedic entertainment. This amounts to the meteoric rise of two reality-TV stars with lots of glitz and glamor, like lots of glass jewelry, who are both deficient on truth, while they try to win the attention of cable-news talking bobble-heads.
But this will end badly. While Sarah Palin believes that she can “Refudiate” Donald Trump’s opponents, this will be the kiss of death for Donald the Trumpet. Both meteors will crash with lots of Sturm und Drang while criticizing everything in sight in a fiery mess.
13
I think you may mean "Squirm and Drang."
13
I don't watch SNL anymore... but if we were to possibly get a Trump / Palin skit on Saturday, I'd tune in for sure! (With Tina Fey of course).
10
Perhaps some generous person could pay for English lessons for Sarah?
6
How about a Go Fund Me?
3
Good idea, but the money would only be wasted, since she'd give up half-way through the course.
6
I wish I could laugh at this column but it designates another wonderful gift from Trump to the country which we did not need. The return of the mouth from the north is bad news, and he knew exactly what he was doing to allow her the microphone to blast out her inanities to the world. ENOUGH.
10
It's really mind-boggling that a man who has cut his teeth on NASTY (could we somehow make that an acronym for Cruz?) would even imagine running for president - just because oligarchs are behind him. Particularly as he's pandered to the Tea Party, while concealing past electoral loans - from his wife's investment bank employer and another big bank. (Let him go back and get more hidden loans, instead of asking his bamboozled supporters, in my view.)
Cruz is finally up against Karma: Gov of Iowa mad at him - 10 days from the Iowa Primary. Plain has dumped him for Trump. People questioning his allegiance to America, given his foreign birth. Trump all atwitter- like a dive-bombing hawk. NYTimes commentariat peddling furiously along with Gail!
I myself am against ethanol. Too costly to produce and lowers your mileage. And I hate to see good food wasted on cars. But if it would take down Cruz, I'd cross my fingers behind my back, travel to Iowa and sing its praises - while reviling "Audit the Ted" as the NASTY sociopath he is.
I'm also against Palin. But, inarticulate as she is, the fundies love her. And a Trump Iowa boost from her - right now - sounds like music to my ears.
I'm also against Trump. But heck, a narcissist is way better than a NASTY sociopath. At least for the time being.
Gail for columnist laureate!
Be my guest to come up with an acronym for NASTY Ted.
Cruz is finally up against Karma: Gov of Iowa mad at him - 10 days from the Iowa Primary. Plain has dumped him for Trump. People questioning his allegiance to America, given his foreign birth. Trump all atwitter- like a dive-bombing hawk. NYTimes commentariat peddling furiously along with Gail!
I myself am against ethanol. Too costly to produce and lowers your mileage. And I hate to see good food wasted on cars. But if it would take down Cruz, I'd cross my fingers behind my back, travel to Iowa and sing its praises - while reviling "Audit the Ted" as the NASTY sociopath he is.
I'm also against Palin. But, inarticulate as she is, the fundies love her. And a Trump Iowa boost from her - right now - sounds like music to my ears.
I'm also against Trump. But heck, a narcissist is way better than a NASTY sociopath. At least for the time being.
Gail for columnist laureate!
Be my guest to come up with an acronym for NASTY Ted.
23
You know that, if Pain hadn't endorse The Donald, he would have to call her both a Loser and a Quitter. 'Cause that is what defines her (besides being an idiot).
19
The hypocrisy of the Iowa corn farmers is just astounding.
28
Wow, it is now clear, the movie Idiocracy is actually a true story!
17
Sarah Palin is one of the few who can evoke nostalgia for the wisdom and rhetorical competence of Dan Quayle. Come to think it, Donald Trump is another.
Oh wait, I almost forgot Ted Cruz.
Oh wait, I almost forgot Ted Cruz.
7
This "fact thing" seems to be as tricky for you as it is with Sarah.
Ted Cruz who announced his presidential candidacy today, will be the subject of much vitriol in the press. But he won’t receive the epithet most coveted by liberals when they go after conservatives: They can’t say he’s stupid.
“Off the charts brilliant,” is what legendary liberal Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz said of his former student in an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer a year ago.
http://www.whitehousedossier.com/2015/03/23/liberal-prof-dershowitz-cruz...
Ted Cruz who announced his presidential candidacy today, will be the subject of much vitriol in the press. But he won’t receive the epithet most coveted by liberals when they go after conservatives: They can’t say he’s stupid.
“Off the charts brilliant,” is what legendary liberal Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz said of his former student in an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer a year ago.
http://www.whitehousedossier.com/2015/03/23/liberal-prof-dershowitz-cruz...
The interviews with Trump are all about his poll numbers, his greatness, and letting him attack Cruz, Clinton and Bernie. ( he's now calling Bernie a wacko, and the media journalists say nothing ). There are zero questions on how he plans to wave his magic wand and make the country great.
I originally let the Trump bombastic remarks go by, but it's like a dog peeing on your furniture, by the tenth time you're had it. Actually that does sound offensive, apologies to all dogs.
In regards to Palin endorsing Trump, it's just follow the money train.
What position is she hoping to get in a Trump cabinet? Secretary of Energy? Or maybe she can communicate with the aliens on Mars.
She prides herself on being part of the special needs community as her son has Down syndrome, yet Trump mocked a NY Times reporter with special needs.
She was McCains VP, but Trump called him a loser for being captured during the Vietnam War when his plane was shot down.
Trump who served his time at UPenn for two years and claims he was ranked number one, but no one remembers him being there.
Palin is pro life, but Trump admits to being pro partial-birth abortion . It's a NY Value, who knew, as he states in the Tim Russert interview.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tsOlXidHXRE
http://www.dailywire.com/news/2651/heres-video-proof-trumps-cynical-phon...
I originally let the Trump bombastic remarks go by, but it's like a dog peeing on your furniture, by the tenth time you're had it. Actually that does sound offensive, apologies to all dogs.
In regards to Palin endorsing Trump, it's just follow the money train.
What position is she hoping to get in a Trump cabinet? Secretary of Energy? Or maybe she can communicate with the aliens on Mars.
She prides herself on being part of the special needs community as her son has Down syndrome, yet Trump mocked a NY Times reporter with special needs.
She was McCains VP, but Trump called him a loser for being captured during the Vietnam War when his plane was shot down.
Trump who served his time at UPenn for two years and claims he was ranked number one, but no one remembers him being there.
Palin is pro life, but Trump admits to being pro partial-birth abortion . It's a NY Value, who knew, as he states in the Tim Russert interview.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tsOlXidHXRE
http://www.dailywire.com/news/2651/heres-video-proof-trumps-cynical-phon...
12
If Darwin Award nominations were allowed for those still living, my vote would go to John McCain for giving an unvetted Sarah Palin the key to the national political stage.
11
No one will argue that Palin's language is intelligible but to her slobbering fans, that merely means it's "lofty".
9
Sarah Palin seems to be the Kim Kardashian of politics. Famous for being famous. Though from the little I've actually heard her speak, KK is more able to speak in sentences that one can follow.
9
On a completely different topic but rather interesting: I just read that Kim Kardashian's godfather is OJ Simpson.
2
"Squirmishes"? - Has anyone since William Shakespeare contributed as many new words to the English language? Giving credit where it is due, Sarah Palin stands on the shoulders of that other Republican wordsmith, George W. Bush - Strategery, Suiciders, Misunderestimated, Webster will be celebrating as they add pages of new Palinisms to their 2016 dictionary.
17
Palin, Cruz, Trump, the governor of Iowa...all republicans...and obvious sleaze--they seem to all go together these days. Best thing to do about the situation and to avoid the smell of that cesspool is to stay miles away from republicans. If they don't get elected, maybe the smell will go away.
9
And here I was hoping that we could get through one entire election cycle without that industrial strength, incoherent annoyance known as Sarah Palin. Does she seriously think anyone cares any more?
15
She was a beauty contestant. She's still a beauty contestant. It isn't about whether any one else cares. It's pure egomania.
4
i really like the word "squirmishes." I'm going to HAVE to try to use it in a sentence soon. I wonder if I'll find a decent pretext.
7
perhaps it describes what's going on between trump and cruz--is that a squirmish?
4
Squirmish
Noun
- The feeling one gets when seeing Sarah Palin re-enter the political fray.
- A feeling somewhere in between amusement and abject fear.
Thank you Sarah, for adding yet another word to our ever evolutionizing dictionary
Noun
- The feeling one gets when seeing Sarah Palin re-enter the political fray.
- A feeling somewhere in between amusement and abject fear.
Thank you Sarah, for adding yet another word to our ever evolutionizing dictionary
9
You know, the weirdest thing about the Donald is that he runs around bashing immigrants, yet he imported every one of his wives.
34
Um, Marla Maples, wife number two, was imported from Georgia, the US state, not the former Soviet state. Nice try, though.
8
I had a short lived cold/flu the last 2 days and woke up today feeling a lot better. The thing is that I had to grab my iPad as I had this crazy idea that Donald Trump was Republican front runner and Sarah Palin was back. It was ,alas, not my imagination.
6
Re Trump's body language during the Palin tirade, I heard a good one..."Trump was shifting around and looked like he had a tac in his shoe".
A gong show indeed.
A gong show indeed.
11
If you can't complete a sentence you can't complete a thought. Ill-formed thought makes up your belief system, which changes every time you open your mouth. Perky enthusiasm takes you only so far, even in politics. Ms. Palin long ago reached her limits but maybe she can't see that. Someone should tell her.
21
You overestimate the ability of the conservative electorate to assess her ability. She's very popular. Her supporters aren't interested in the substance of what she says.
8
I would just like to say I "squinge" (squirm and cringe) whenever Sarah Paliin opens her mouth.
64
Dear Ms. Collins...love your humor. Can't get enough. I would ask you to marry me if I were not already imaginarily engaged to Tina Fey, Amy Schemer, and
Sara Silverman. I would like to add your name to the list, but if I did I might have too many characters for my Twitter account...if I had one.
Please be kind and keep writing because my imaginary friends all depend on your wit and wisdom.
Sara Silverman. I would like to add your name to the list, but if I did I might have too many characters for my Twitter account...if I had one.
Please be kind and keep writing because my imaginary friends all depend on your wit and wisdom.
11
We choose our president in such a preposterous way. This is NOT democracy. It is a spectacle. Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina effectively deciding the candidates for the rest of the nation?!!!! Are you kidding?
We have to change it to survive.
We have to change it to survive.
18
Palin and Trump. The circus truly has come to town. Would make PT Barnum pleased.
4
Someone please remind Sarah Palin she herself was once a longtime politician. She was not from the private sector when she ran for various offices in Alaska. I guess it was OK for her back then, while she could win an election.
Now the system is bad because she did not win in 2008, so she is against it. Boo-hoo-hoo!
Refudiate! Sqirmish! Battle cries from the bard of Wasilla.
Now the system is bad because she did not win in 2008, so she is against it. Boo-hoo-hoo!
Refudiate! Sqirmish! Battle cries from the bard of Wasilla.
4
Trumplestiltskin campaigning with Palin...HUGE strategery.
7
Cruz is against RFS but Palin said she would get rid of the Dept. of Energy which is pro-RFS, am I right? Thus both Cruz and Palin are anti-Iowa.
1
If only the beloved Casey Stengel and Yogi Berra were alive, they could teach Sarah Palin a thing or two about language.
3
Ah, leave her be. Ms. Palin is just being herself. She's never been a good public speaker and she's not about to become one now.
1
Isn't "squirmishing" what squirrels do when they're trying to get all their nuts together? Oh. Now I understand.
14
I feel squirmish just reading the tortured words of Palin........
9
Trump/Palin-imagine, she could be just a hearthbeet away for the Commender in
Trump/Palin--she could be just some hearthbeets away for Commenter in Chiefs!
Trump/Palin--she could be just some hearthbeets away for Commenter in Chiefs!
If the purpose of ISIS's terrorism is to ensure fear remains in the hearts of Americans, why hasn't anyone besides me suggested Donald Trump (or The Real Estate Developer, according to Charles Blow) is as much a domestic terrorist as ISIS is an international terrorist organization.
How many posts to this site employ "fear," "afraid," and "scared" when commenting on the possibilities the The Real Estate Developer might win the GOP nomination or, worse, become the next President of the US?
I will already admit to a fear for America's future incited by the fact that The Real Estate Developer has attracted as many supporters as he and the polls say. Recently, this fear - if not total disbelief in the primary machinations - has grown through his acceptance of an endorsement from the biggest joke in American political history, the moronic ex-half-term governor of Alaska.
While the fear that ISIS MIGHT attack on our soil is real, one can take solace from the efforts of the various agencies of the government which, I believe, leads to some diminishing of that fear.
In the case of The Real Estate Developer, not only does he continually stoke the flames of fear with his bombast, he does so with the approval of the "news" media, whose repeating of his rants maintains the state of anxiety on which he hopes to capitalize.
The Real Estate Developer's is as much a terrorist as ISIS and, sadly, he's got the national media - rather than ISIS videos - doing the job for him.
How many posts to this site employ "fear," "afraid," and "scared" when commenting on the possibilities the The Real Estate Developer might win the GOP nomination or, worse, become the next President of the US?
I will already admit to a fear for America's future incited by the fact that The Real Estate Developer has attracted as many supporters as he and the polls say. Recently, this fear - if not total disbelief in the primary machinations - has grown through his acceptance of an endorsement from the biggest joke in American political history, the moronic ex-half-term governor of Alaska.
While the fear that ISIS MIGHT attack on our soil is real, one can take solace from the efforts of the various agencies of the government which, I believe, leads to some diminishing of that fear.
In the case of The Real Estate Developer, not only does he continually stoke the flames of fear with his bombast, he does so with the approval of the "news" media, whose repeating of his rants maintains the state of anxiety on which he hopes to capitalize.
The Real Estate Developer's is as much a terrorist as ISIS and, sadly, he's got the national media - rather than ISIS videos - doing the job for him.
9
Love you Gail, however, you said: "But even some of them (republicans) must have found it a little creepy.". Surely you jest? You can't really believe there are rational republicans, can you? The problem is that there are no rational republicans, so cast aside the old chivalry and just tell it like it is. Even if you offend Ross and David.
4
There are rational Republicans. They're the ones behind the scenes and their in it to steal money.
4
Thank you Gail. I so look forward to your column to find some humor in this whole Republican election travesty. Sarah Palin needs a translator to interpret what the heck she is trying to say. She was the reason I volunteered for the first time in my life to get involved in a Presidential campaign - Obama's!!! The thought of her in a cabinet post is horrifying!!!
Please find a Seamus to ride atop a car. Maybe Donald Trumps' orange animal which s wrapped around his head would suffice. It goes with him everywhere.
Please find a Seamus to ride atop a car. Maybe Donald Trumps' orange animal which s wrapped around his head would suffice. It goes with him everywhere.
29
I bet cha, Sarah Palin, anyone who grows up in a household where the murder of the English language is sucked up through mommy-dearest breast milk, will forever suffer from Post Traumatic disorder.
And didn't you say that your oldest son was joining the war in order to do God's work? Halleluyah, how did that work learned at the altar of the Almighty turn out for your family and their drunken brawls? Must have been the fault of Obama, honey.
And didn't you say that your oldest son was joining the war in order to do God's work? Halleluyah, how did that work learned at the altar of the Almighty turn out for your family and their drunken brawls? Must have been the fault of Obama, honey.
15
Writers for the New York Times do not understand us Tea Party folk and our love for Sarah Palin. It works like this: Sarah says something and we translate what she said into what we were thinking we wanted her to say.
If you have trouble understanding that then you probably can count change.
If you have trouble understanding that then you probably can count change.
13
Sarah appeals to many people in this country. Wasn't she a noted commentator on Fox "news"? When you bash her you bash millions of her supporters who care about as much for what you say as you care for what they say.
Interesting though that some of these comments are as vitriolic as some of those made against Hillary.
Interesting though that some of these comments are as vitriolic as some of those made against Hillary.
1
Indeed, she did work for Fox for a few years, but her ratings were so low that they let her go. So, to answer your question, no, she isn't as popular as you think.
5
The bar for Tina Fey's next SNL appearance has been set high.
15
Welcome back, Sarah!! Our beloved redneck queen of the tundra and of neologisms as they are spuck (yes, not spoken) in her native language. The first English as Second Language candidate for a desk in the White house in the history of America, Sarah now has conjoined with the first one whose brain matter is visible on the surface of his scalp.
If I may be allowed just a smidgen of sexism here, with Sarah back in the spotlight, everyone's first next thought is Tina Fey. Poor Tina. Ms. Fey is, if anything, more accident-causing beautiful than she was 8 years ago. Ms. Palin is, well, not, and that was her only positive contribution to McCain's disastrous run for President. Mr. Trump dislikes prisoners but is obviously smitten by the dungeon's torturer. And now he risks being upstaged himself. Poor guy. He has already willingly put his wrists and ankles in the manacles.
Do I smell the hint of a ticket here? Trump/Palin...Dumbest/Dumbesterest. Fiction doesn't have a prayer up against fact.
There are, Gail, people who think you make this stuff up, or that you just wake up in the morning and transcribe verbatim the dream you had in the seconds before the alarm went off. But we, your acolytes, well know that if the truth be spuck (as Sarah might put it), it will be spuck by Gail.
If I may be allowed just a smidgen of sexism here, with Sarah back in the spotlight, everyone's first next thought is Tina Fey. Poor Tina. Ms. Fey is, if anything, more accident-causing beautiful than she was 8 years ago. Ms. Palin is, well, not, and that was her only positive contribution to McCain's disastrous run for President. Mr. Trump dislikes prisoners but is obviously smitten by the dungeon's torturer. And now he risks being upstaged himself. Poor guy. He has already willingly put his wrists and ankles in the manacles.
Do I smell the hint of a ticket here? Trump/Palin...Dumbest/Dumbesterest. Fiction doesn't have a prayer up against fact.
There are, Gail, people who think you make this stuff up, or that you just wake up in the morning and transcribe verbatim the dream you had in the seconds before the alarm went off. But we, your acolytes, well know that if the truth be spuck (as Sarah might put it), it will be spuck by Gail.
10
Folks, we just need two more witches.
"Double, double toil and trouble;
...etc"
"Double, double toil and trouble;
...etc"
1
"Sarah Palin is really falling apart."
Maybe it's just that Sarah Palin partakes of the ethanol.
Maybe it's just that Sarah Palin partakes of the ethanol.
1
You can thank John McCain for Sarah Palin. For the record even if Trump loses he's still the Kingmaker and any GOP replacements are going to have to kiss his rear end for years. Still old school republicans are mostly silent on the guy, and here we have mild ridicule.
Christopher Hitchens, why did you have to leave us just when you are absolutely needed?
Christopher Hitchens, why did you have to leave us just when you are absolutely needed?
6
Have you heard McCain's own people are calling Sarah Palin a "moron"? Now they tell us, but guess what--
we knew it already.
we knew it already.
12
Hey, I see nothing wrong for paying for schwermas ("the United States pays for Middle Eastern “squirmishes.”").
2
sometimes ya just gotta larf, or you'll get into a squirmish
8
We're supposed to kick ISIS's butt yet not get involved in the squirmishes in the Middle East and let Allah sort it out. I'm confused by that one.
17
Logic is oxymoronic to Governor Palin's "thought" processes.
3
Oh, Gail! Have you no Seamus?
25
Very Clever. Best post of the day.
2
"You're fired"/"I quit" 2016,
Be afraid, America, very afraid. Word salad is bad for your health.
Be afraid, America, very afraid. Word salad is bad for your health.
8
According to Wikipedia, Sarah Palin has a bachelor's degree in communications with an emphasis in journalism from the University of Idaho.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin
Isn't it amazing that she can't produce a simple cogent sentence in English?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin
Isn't it amazing that she can't produce a simple cogent sentence in English?
9
My wife made me listen to Palin's . . . what was it . . . a speech? a ramble? a medical problem? Surely that's cruel and unusual punishment.
12
“Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'” ― Isaac Asimov
16
Sarah’s explanation of her son Track’s domestic violence charges was beyond the pale. PTSD is a very serious personal topic, and addressing it should be a national priority, but Ms. Palin turned this into trash talking President-Obama. She said that our military should be able to go in, unfettered and “Kick ISIS’ a—“; how does that even align with her also saying that “they come back hardened, a bit different?” Does she remember that as a Senator, Obama objected to the very Iraq war into which her son was sent? Does she even care about how many other people would come back suffering from the kind of militarism she espouses? And did she, as a parent, care for even a moment, whether her son should have such easy access to a gun? For a figure who called herself a “mama grizzly,” she is selling out her own child.
13
Well, at least Ms. Palin didn't blame the president for her family's various out of wedlock pregnancies......
15
Yet.
7
Perhaps Ms. Palin should address how she has thrown her former wounded/POW running mate, John McCain by endorsing a billionaire who said the Senator was not a hero and in general, does not like our military members who get captured, before critizing our Commander in Chief.
11
For the woman “who can see Russian” from her front door—‘tis a long distance from Wasilla to the Siberian tundra—she has again show her lack of details and facts as she endorsed Trump. She sounded more like a shouting, ignorant revivalist preacher, who is equally ignorant of the Christian faith, but wants a “hallelujah” from the crowd. Well she even asked for such as she endorsed Trump.
Apparently all problems in this world are Obama’s fault, including her son Track’s repeated explosions with those around him—some of which go back long before he entered the military service. Not only is Lady Sarah two faced with her trumpeting of the Palin doctrine—among them chastity and soberness, she has three grandchildren who were born out of wedlock. Nor is this the first time Track has gotten in trouble with society because of his alcoholic intake. Sounds to me as if there is some lack of personal responsibility on the part of Governor Palin and her husband Todd to follow the biblical injunction “to bring up a child in the way he (she) should go.” Doubt Sarah reads her Bible, nor does she read anything else of substance given her rambling speech endorsing Trump; it was total nonsense.
Try going west to Russia next time, Ms. Palin!
Apparently all problems in this world are Obama’s fault, including her son Track’s repeated explosions with those around him—some of which go back long before he entered the military service. Not only is Lady Sarah two faced with her trumpeting of the Palin doctrine—among them chastity and soberness, she has three grandchildren who were born out of wedlock. Nor is this the first time Track has gotten in trouble with society because of his alcoholic intake. Sounds to me as if there is some lack of personal responsibility on the part of Governor Palin and her husband Todd to follow the biblical injunction “to bring up a child in the way he (she) should go.” Doubt Sarah reads her Bible, nor does she read anything else of substance given her rambling speech endorsing Trump; it was total nonsense.
Try going west to Russia next time, Ms. Palin!
12
"She sounded like a shouting, ignorant revivalist preacher..."
May she was speaking in tongues.
May she was speaking in tongues.
3
Wow. Gail, you have inherited a gift that Molly Ivins would envy -- the National Republicans are now dumber, crazier and meaner than her "Texas Lege." Of course a bunch of them come from Texas, or came from Texas before they limped back home.
The Republican party is now a hair-pulling tantrum headed by perhaps the two most unlikeable men in modern political history. And then there's Snarly, and then there's Christie ... Let's see: Scar, Judge Doom, Cruella DeVille, Ka ... what a lineup. Cartoon villains a seven-year old can appreciate.
Even more pathetic you have old-time serious Republicans lining up to kiss the ring ... deciding that Trump is the lesser of two weevils ... er evils. Watching Bob Dole truckle to Trump was pathetic ... particularly given Palin's crazed endorsement.
And then there's Rick Wilson's put-down of Trump's "alt-right" supporters -- a bit too icky to repeat here. But the sad part about the reportage of it is that they are focussing on the ick, and not on the alt-right: the Dylann Roof brigade.
So Bob Dole is telling all good Republicans that Trump is better ????
Wowza.
The Republican party is now a hair-pulling tantrum headed by perhaps the two most unlikeable men in modern political history. And then there's Snarly, and then there's Christie ... Let's see: Scar, Judge Doom, Cruella DeVille, Ka ... what a lineup. Cartoon villains a seven-year old can appreciate.
Even more pathetic you have old-time serious Republicans lining up to kiss the ring ... deciding that Trump is the lesser of two weevils ... er evils. Watching Bob Dole truckle to Trump was pathetic ... particularly given Palin's crazed endorsement.
And then there's Rick Wilson's put-down of Trump's "alt-right" supporters -- a bit too icky to repeat here. But the sad part about the reportage of it is that they are focussing on the ick, and not on the alt-right: the Dylann Roof brigade.
So Bob Dole is telling all good Republicans that Trump is better ????
Wowza.
6
You and Stephen Colbert should REALLY get together on covering the ??? that is Sarah Palin. Last night he did a riff a la the Pallin' Palin endorsing presidential candidates that was so true and funny that it hurt both body and brain.
6
"Cruz has broken one of the great traditions of the Iowa caucus (First in the Nation! Forever!), which is that every major presidential candidate falls down to worship Big Corn...GAIL!...DO NOT FORGET about the $25+ BILLION of taxpayer welfare that's been given to Iowa's "BIG PIG" farmers during the past couple of decades! Cruz can still fight back if he campaigns with the Palin-endorsed Iowa Senator Joni Ernst...Heck, the Ernst family alone took in a porking $500K of taxpayers' bacon just between 1995 and 2010!
8
I keep wondering what kind of... uh, honorarium... Palin got for her babbling endorsement.
7
I keep saying that whenever you say it can't get any worse...presto! It does! And here she is. You come out ahead on this latest development, Gail. She practically writes the column for you. The rest of us.....not so much.
7
Egad! By not supporting ethanol subsidies, is Ted Cruz setting the standard for political independence and integrity in this election?
Yes. But then, what do such things like independence and integrity mean in this election? Ted Cruz is intelligent, articulate; a renaissance man who probably got better grades than the visionary and transcendent Pres. Obama himself!
Just compare Ted Cruz to the obnoxious Trump and his over-caffeinated new friend (to think I once liked her, yuck!).
Or compare Ted Cruz with Mrs. Clinton, who campaigns while waiting to be served with indictment papers, (I have never liked her.) And also how about that Mrs. Clinton: she can’t even out campaign a cranky old socialist!
Then compare Ted Cruz to that cranky old socialist. Well, I’m tempted, but after all, this is “Be nice to cranky old socialists week”, so I’ll just leave that one alone.
Thanks Gail Collins! I know you don’t support Ted Cruz, but you have provided a happy spring board to those who may.
Yes. But then, what do such things like independence and integrity mean in this election? Ted Cruz is intelligent, articulate; a renaissance man who probably got better grades than the visionary and transcendent Pres. Obama himself!
Just compare Ted Cruz to the obnoxious Trump and his over-caffeinated new friend (to think I once liked her, yuck!).
Or compare Ted Cruz with Mrs. Clinton, who campaigns while waiting to be served with indictment papers, (I have never liked her.) And also how about that Mrs. Clinton: she can’t even out campaign a cranky old socialist!
Then compare Ted Cruz to that cranky old socialist. Well, I’m tempted, but after all, this is “Be nice to cranky old socialists week”, so I’ll just leave that one alone.
Thanks Gail Collins! I know you don’t support Ted Cruz, but you have provided a happy spring board to those who may.
Here is some more Ted Cruz info for you. Mr. Cruz made about 3 million defending personal injury and he defended up to the US Supreme court a wrong conviction in Texas.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/21/opinion/two-sides-of-ted-cruz-tort-ref...
"Eventually, the mistake came to light and Haley tried to fix it. Ted Cruz was solicitor general of Texas at the time. Instead of just letting Haley go for time served, Cruz took the case to the Supreme Court to keep Haley in prison for the full 16 years.
Some justices were skeptical. “Is there some rule that you can’t confess error in your state?” Justice Anthony Kennedy asked. The court system did finally let Haley out of prison, after six years."
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/12/opinion/the-brutalism-of-ted-cruz.html
And if that isn't enough, Mrs. Cruz works for Goldman Sachs.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/21/opinion/two-sides-of-ted-cruz-tort-ref...
"Eventually, the mistake came to light and Haley tried to fix it. Ted Cruz was solicitor general of Texas at the time. Instead of just letting Haley go for time served, Cruz took the case to the Supreme Court to keep Haley in prison for the full 16 years.
Some justices were skeptical. “Is there some rule that you can’t confess error in your state?” Justice Anthony Kennedy asked. The court system did finally let Haley out of prison, after six years."
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/12/opinion/the-brutalism-of-ted-cruz.html
And if that isn't enough, Mrs. Cruz works for Goldman Sachs.
3
Track Palin's behavior before he went to Iraq (rather than go to jail) is not significantly different from from his behavior after he got back. Maybe sometimes, PTSD starts at home.
39
When I heard Scott Pelley on CBS report that T rump had just gotten a huge and important endorsement and that it was Sarah Palin I just wanted to go back to bed and pull the covers over my head. CBS has drunk the kool aid.
Palin and T rump....Barnum and Bailey....the joker auditioning for the clown....it becomes harder and harder to take the Nation seriously.
But, thanks to the link on the front page of the NYT today I got to watch Bernie Sander's new ad featuring a great old chestnut by Simon and Garfunkel. It actually gives me some hope.
When the Country gives billions to profitable industries it is called the "free market" but when We the People give millions to other Americans to help pay for rent and groceries it is called "socialism".
Curiouser and curiouser....
Palin and T rump....Barnum and Bailey....the joker auditioning for the clown....it becomes harder and harder to take the Nation seriously.
But, thanks to the link on the front page of the NYT today I got to watch Bernie Sander's new ad featuring a great old chestnut by Simon and Garfunkel. It actually gives me some hope.
When the Country gives billions to profitable industries it is called the "free market" but when We the People give millions to other Americans to help pay for rent and groceries it is called "socialism".
Curiouser and curiouser....
21
"...when trapped at a dinner party next to a stranger who’s describing how she met President William Henry Harrison in a past life."
Gail, if we're ever at a dinner party together, I'd love to hear your William Henry Harrison stories.
Gail, if we're ever at a dinner party together, I'd love to hear your William Henry Harrison stories.
4
Hmmmm..... I wonder if there's lead in Wasilla's water supply.
21
I would rather have subsidies go to big-ag corporations that are actually producting SOMETHING than using them to encourage farmers to grow nothing at all, which has been the M.O. on subsidies for decades. Never mind that Palin can't assemble a coherent sentence with a subject, verb and object. Anyone who has followed politics in the last decade already knows all that.
2
Oh, pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepuh-LEEEEEEEZE!
Remember how George Steinbrenner used ti give Billy Martin a "vote of confudence?"...May Sarah Palin's endorsement of Donald Trump, be the kiss if death for his presidential hopes.
Remember how George Steinbrenner used ti give Billy Martin a "vote of confudence?"...May Sarah Palin's endorsement of Donald Trump, be the kiss if death for his presidential hopes.
3
Sarah Palin . . . hahahahahahaha . . . My God! Sarah Palin . . . hehehehehehehehe. . . . If enough people are looking to this walking combination of ignorance and arrogance to tip the Republican nomination in Trump's direction then the Republican Party really is in trouble. From incoherent babbling to monumental motherly enabling, even Trump has to be embarrassed by his association with this numb skull.
9
Sarah Palin is trash; trying to blame the President for her son's PTSD (something tells me he was a violent ass before he ever served) is inane, as a number of vets have pointed out. Why are we still listening to someone who can't form a cogent sentence?
21
So on the republican side, we have nut jobs endorsing crackpots and ethanol whores attacking a delusional egocentric who works for the oil and gas industry. Meanwhile the old GOP establishment is trying to figure out how to retake control of the nomination process and extinguish the fires of righteous indignation that consume the new party base. There isn't much here to feel good about. No wonder the GOP is the gloom and doom party.
11
To paraphase James Brown, Ms Palin needs to get off that main thing and shake 'til she feels better..
" Sara, Get up offa that thing,
and shake 'till you feel better, Get up offa that thing,
and try to release that pressure!
Get up of that thing! Is Donald so good! so good! Good God!
Can you hit it one mo' time, from the top?!
Get up offa that thing, 'till you feel better..
So good! So good! Sara, gots you "
" Sara, Get up offa that thing,
and shake 'till you feel better, Get up offa that thing,
and try to release that pressure!
Get up of that thing! Is Donald so good! so good! Good God!
Can you hit it one mo' time, from the top?!
Get up offa that thing, 'till you feel better..
So good! So good! Sara, gots you "
2
When did "Saturday Night Live" turn into a documentary?
21
In 2012, I never thought the Republican Party could get much more pathetic when Romney stood beside Donald Trump to accept Trump's endorsement.
But Trump's face as he stood beside Palin said it all. When Trump looks embarrassed, it is really bad. Truly amazing the depths to which they have sunk.
And poor Karl Rove and the rest, heirs to Lee Atwater, are trying to figure out what to do with the Frankenstein they have created.
It would be funny if the whole country and the rest of the world weren't paying the price.
One more sad result of our Iraq war, Germany is now dealing with over a million refugees.
But Trump's face as he stood beside Palin said it all. When Trump looks embarrassed, it is really bad. Truly amazing the depths to which they have sunk.
And poor Karl Rove and the rest, heirs to Lee Atwater, are trying to figure out what to do with the Frankenstein they have created.
It would be funny if the whole country and the rest of the world weren't paying the price.
One more sad result of our Iraq war, Germany is now dealing with over a million refugees.
11
Big error for the Trump campaign to add Sarah. I'm no fan of Trump, but what in the world were they thinking? Usually you'd pick someone to add to your constiuency, not overlap. Nor to drive people away. I think the Trump campaign has underestimated her potential to do damage, and how much she is reviled.
4
I was trying to remember when Sarah, poor dear, was together. She is obviously a product of our underfunded, totally ignored educational mill. I cant immagine that she ever took an English class.
2
If anyone is looking for the visual equivalent of this week's political discourse, particularly the insertion of Sarah Palin into the equation, please see a painting by James Ensor, "Doctrinal Nourishment" from the late 1880s. I think that fairly accurately characterizes this year's election antics, at least on the GOP side; we'll have to see if the Dems can match it.
3
What really got to me was the look on Trumps face. It spoke of "what have I gotten myself into".
8
Conservatism is free market capitalism, not subsiding special interests like ethanol that only benefit the Iowans and which the rest of the country pay for in higher taxes.
Now, Trump is pandering to the ethanol industry in Iowa, it's Washington cronyism at its best for a reality tv Star...
Cruz will pay the price as the governor of Iowa's son is in the Ethanol business. But, really we pay the price in terms of higher food prices.
Now, Trump is pandering to the ethanol industry in Iowa, it's Washington cronyism at its best for a reality tv Star...
Cruz will pay the price as the governor of Iowa's son is in the Ethanol business. But, really we pay the price in terms of higher food prices.
4
I personally think Trump grabbed Palin just to take her away from Ted Cruz. Probably threw some money at one of her enterprises also.
3
It think it is time to devote a column on whether Donald Trump really wants to be president. Case in point, there has been a 30 year open question about what is behind Rush Limbaugh - does he really believe what he says or is he trying to be entertaining (I go with entertainer). I don't really think Trump really wants to win, otherwise he'll have to, you know, do stuff. This touches on my own theory about how he is immune to consequences in saying whatever he wants. If the next offensive thing he says backfires and gets him off the candidacy hook, he's at least had a good time.
4
The real story is that by having Palin support him, getting the media treat
it as newsworthy and getting some citizens applaud it, Trump is
getting ready to publicly call everybody stupid and that we are all losers.
it as newsworthy and getting some citizens applaud it, Trump is
getting ready to publicly call everybody stupid and that we are all losers.
3
Just like a broken clock, Cruz is right at least twice about a thoroughly discredited idea: ethanol from corn was originally proposed to both be a renewable fuel from the sun and improve/reduce harmful auto tail pipe emissions. Now we know that the cost to the environment in terms of land use as well as the fossil fuel inputs to farm outweigh any environmental benefits; keeping the land fallow or growing the corn to supply global food markets would be better both economically and environmentally. Ditto for the replacement of native tropical forests with palm oil plantations to supply biodiesel.
The subsidized small farmer may be deserving, but pay him to not plant or to grow food instead; the lion's share of the benefit/profit ends up in the pockets of ADM, the Cargill and especially the Kochs, who don't see the irony/hypocrisy of receiving direct and indirect subsidies.
The subsidized small farmer may be deserving, but pay him to not plant or to grow food instead; the lion's share of the benefit/profit ends up in the pockets of ADM, the Cargill and especially the Kochs, who don't see the irony/hypocrisy of receiving direct and indirect subsidies.
6
So Federal government subsidizing corn products, blocking imports, assuring tax breaks is OK with the conservative anti government group?
11
"So Federal government subsidizing corn products, blocking imports, assuring tax breaks is OK with the conservative anti government group?"
The anti-government "conservatives" think anything that takes money from hard working taxpayers and gives it to the big donors that fund them is just fine.
The anti-government "conservatives" think anything that takes money from hard working taxpayers and gives it to the big donors that fund them is just fine.
3
What is it about Mrs. Palin that her own words cause more damage to her than the worst insult? And what is it about politicians that so many of the Republican candidates for any office drool at the very mention she might show up at a rally to endorse them?
Poor Ted Cruz. In one week he lost Bob Dole, an authentic hero and a former nominee for President from the party Ted Cruz is currently using to feed his ego and Mrs. Palin.
Republicans in Iowa should not be the joke they have become. People in graves all over Iowa are currently turning over--and thinking about rising up in fury.
Poor Ted Cruz. In one week he lost Bob Dole, an authentic hero and a former nominee for President from the party Ted Cruz is currently using to feed his ego and Mrs. Palin.
Republicans in Iowa should not be the joke they have become. People in graves all over Iowa are currently turning over--and thinking about rising up in fury.
5
So Cruz supporting the oil billionaires is the _real_ reason he's against ethanol subsidies. His supposedly courageous stand has nothing to do with eliminating taxpayer funded payouts to wealthy special interests; he simply supports a different special interest.
Oh for the sweet, lost days of innocence, when dogs rode on top of station wagons.
Oh for the sweet, lost days of innocence, when dogs rode on top of station wagons.
23
I will never forgive McCain for inflicting us with the scourge of Palin, and had begun to believe that mercifully, she had finally gone away. Now Trump (who claims to be very, very smart) has resurrected the twit from the tundra. I almost felt sorry for him, standing there next to her with an expression on his face like that of someone who might be standing next to a lit stick of dynamite. My sympathy faded quickly however, when my ears began to bleed after about three minutes of her hateful and ignorant rant.
13
I wouldn't take a second to feel sorry for Cruz. The sooner he's gone, the better.
8
The longer the current paradigm plays on the more alarmingly it resembles the corniest and least believable aspects of a dystopic ecological disaster novel by science fiction author, John Brunner, which seemed flawed and over-wrought at the time of its issue for a cartoonish portrayal of an American Businessman turned President, called, ''Prexy.''
With oceans rising, a world population lapping the edge of 8,000,000,000, and the far right in biblical scaled denial, Brunner's book, ''The Sheep Look Up,'' seems alarmingly mundane, down to its portrayal of a food market that bears similarities to ''Whole Foods.'' As for Sarah Palin - a friend entered the room during her endorsement and though it was Tina Fey for sure, insisted we were pulling their leg and making fun of them, insisting this was reality, or real, anyway. Truly the only way to listen comfortably to Palin is on full mute. Then turn on the CC and enjoy the chaos. It's as if the prototype chip for the first ''Google Translator'' was implanted in her speech center. Random access madness.
With oceans rising, a world population lapping the edge of 8,000,000,000, and the far right in biblical scaled denial, Brunner's book, ''The Sheep Look Up,'' seems alarmingly mundane, down to its portrayal of a food market that bears similarities to ''Whole Foods.'' As for Sarah Palin - a friend entered the room during her endorsement and though it was Tina Fey for sure, insisted we were pulling their leg and making fun of them, insisting this was reality, or real, anyway. Truly the only way to listen comfortably to Palin is on full mute. Then turn on the CC and enjoy the chaos. It's as if the prototype chip for the first ''Google Translator'' was implanted in her speech center. Random access madness.
10
OT It always struck me how nuclear catastrophes are conspicuously absent in TSLU
How about the movie Idiocracy, take your pick.
Why can't we have a political season like golf or baseball. When the season is over the game is over. And it is a game. Make the players wear uniforms like NASCAR with the patches of their sponsors on them so we know who they are really playing for. Trump and Cruz could wear the crabby old people pac patch. Cruz would also have a big oil patch and a picture of himself, representing the arrogance pac.
12
Trump couldn't have picked a better person to endorse him than Sarah Palin. She sums up the Tea Party electorate. Sure, she has a problem expressing herself, but it's not her fault that she's dumb. Maybe it was the way she was raised or the Alaska school system or it's just in her DNA. It might be Obama's fault.
Let Sarah speak, dumb people need to be heard too
Let Sarah speak, dumb people need to be heard too
25
Yes, but unfortunately too many dumb people are allowed to vote.
5
I can't 'refudiate' your point. It does make one 'squirmish'
3
The sad fact is that Donald Trump has absolute contempt for his supporters, and for Sarah Palin. He is immensely rich, and they are not. But, he will be very happy to sell any of them, including Ted Cruz and the Governor of Iowa, a time-share at one of his fabulous resorts.
5
I'm surprised the Donald would tolerate being in her presence. Does he not know she's one of those people with "disgusting" stuff leaking out of her?
12
Palin Traumatic Stress Disorder. I feel sorry for her son, but not too much.
11
Unfair, Ms. Collins, to lump an innocent vegetable into this spectacle of unprecedented idiocy. A single stalk exudes Jeffersonian intelligence and Churchillian leadership in comparison.
26
Sarah Palin
a minimum of intellect, a maximum of wailin'
but no longer should we skirmish
there's too great a risk of her becoming squirmish.
a minimum of intellect, a maximum of wailin'
but no longer should we skirmish
there's too great a risk of her becoming squirmish.
22
I know the Daily News is a crude newspaper, but boy, did they hit the nail on the head with yesterday's front page?
A photo of Trump and Palin pointing at one another with the headline caption "I'm with Stupid."
They nailed it. I still can't refrain from bursting out loud laughing when I think of it. Hold on while I wipe the tears from my eyes.
Thank you Gail, for reminding me of it today!
A photo of Trump and Palin pointing at one another with the headline caption "I'm with Stupid."
They nailed it. I still can't refrain from bursting out loud laughing when I think of it. Hold on while I wipe the tears from my eyes.
Thank you Gail, for reminding me of it today!
88
But who was saying it though, Trump or Palin?
Trump and Palin = poster children for Dunning-Kruger effect.
1
Works for both!
1
Just one thought.
Palin didn't purposely invent a new word - she's an idiot. She thought "squirmish" was the correct pronunciation of skirmish.
Palin didn't purposely invent a new word - she's an idiot. She thought "squirmish" was the correct pronunciation of skirmish.
55
"Just one thought." Palin? Nah, I don't think so.
1
Ms Palin's purpose is to energize a crowd, which probably can't hear her exact words (nor care what she actually says) anyway. She is perfectly comfortable waving her arms and working emotion into her voice in a way that the candidates cannot. She brings emotion, in other words.
Cheerleader extraordinaire (and this is not intended as a put-down)
Cheerleader extraordinaire (and this is not intended as a put-down)
13
Dissecting the remaining riders on the clown bus (a Gail Collins coinage) somehow obscures reality. The G.O.P has gone toes up in the toilet.
At last Trump has found someone to add a little dignity to his campaign. A failed Vice-Pesident candidate no less.
10
Accepting Sarah Palin's endorsement is a major mistake for Trump. I believe it is irrefutable that having this ditz, who couldn't answer a single question about overseas relationships or, for the most part, the rest of America, as his Vice President -- one heartbeat away from running the country -- is what cost John McCain an election that was his to win.
7
The thought of another middle-eastern squirmish makes me squeamish. This latest skirmish appears schemish. a typical Trumpish stuntish which will cause some Cruzish responsish. It's getting funnish.
18
And, in the idiom of Finian's Rainbow, this is all so outstandishly outragish.
By Republican definition, anything bad that happens in this world is Obama's fault. Anything good occurred in spite of him; he had nothing to do with it.
16
Palin blames Obama for her son's actions. It's safe to say she had more to do with his upbringing than did Obama.
59
The poor young man can't escape his main affliction of having Sarah Palin's DNA.
2
Can you imagine growing up in that household? Almost makes one feel sorry for the son...
2
I wouldn't be to sure about that, Old lawyer. I can't speak to Palin's actions prior to August 2008, but since then it seems she's been too busy flying around the country promoting herself to pay much attention to her children.
1
Perhaps John McCain has done some good in his years in Government, perhaps he suffered as a POW, perhaps many other things. However, he will be remembered in history only as the foolish man who released the Kraken of ignorance and malice on the country and it's populace. Every time she speaks McCain is eroded. At this point he has practically disappeared. A fitting end considering what he has wrought.
37
This is so true. Every time I see Palin butchering the English language on television, I see the image of John McCain and then reflect on how he destroyed his own image by adding Palin to the mix in 2008. I think somehow the old fly boy somehow moved to the front of his brain and he actually thought that this young, attractive thing from Alaska would push him over the top. This he did despite the admonition from his own people.
Palin is a political train wreck. I couldn't help but notice the barely concealed wincing on Trump's face as she proceeded to reinforce her standing as a national joke.
Palin is a political train wreck. I couldn't help but notice the barely concealed wincing on Trump's face as she proceeded to reinforce her standing as a national joke.
4
Gail , you are being a little hard on these top tier candidates. Don't you recall in "Skyfall" Javier Barden 's explaination on how to get rid of rats on an island?
Entice them all into a barrel and then seal it tight. The rats will eat each other, but save the last two and set them free. Their nature has changed, they will only eat rats. Set Cruz and Trump free, and let them eat up the rest of the Republicans.
Entice them all into a barrel and then seal it tight. The rats will eat each other, but save the last two and set them free. Their nature has changed, they will only eat rats. Set Cruz and Trump free, and let them eat up the rest of the Republicans.
7
She's no Shakespeare but then neither are most Americans whose ear she has, and elitist belittling of their simple ways is exactly what drives them to the polls. What they (nor, apparently, Palin) don't get is that Trump is himself an elitist wolf in sheep's clothing. He just stumbled upon this opportunity and is now milking it to kingdom come. Which brings me back to Shakespeare - the bard would have relished these ironies and gone on to pen masterpiece theater!
9
One doesn't have to be Shakespeare to be coherent. And yes, you are right. We don't like smart people. It reminds us that we might not be as smart as we think we are. We like to say, see, look, she was a governor, and she's a dumb as I am.
3
I'm unconvinced that Ted Cruz opposes corny capitalism.
7
Wow. Squirmishes, eh? As a word lover, I have to thank her for that one. I'll keep it right next to my Bushisms and Quaylties.
6
Forgive me, but did you miss "woundedness"?
2
She also came up with "refudiate". And actually, in spite of her lack of intellect, she is pretty creative with the English language.
1
I have to wonder whether, by November 2016, there will one shred of dignity left in American democracy.
32
Yes there will be, her name is Hillary Clinton!
7
Or Bernie Sanders.
The Democrats are uniformly intelligent and articulate, whichever one you might prefer.
The Democrats are uniformly intelligent and articulate, whichever one you might prefer.
1
I love Gail Collins, but her style is getting a tad old and tired these days, even if part of its charm is its repetition (Romney's dog, for example). Plus, this article borders on the crime of explaining a joke: it's not funny to point out how funny Sarah Palin is.
Frankly, none of the Republican stuff is funny any longer. It's all tedious.
Frankly, none of the Republican stuff is funny any longer. It's all tedious.
2
Remember. Iowa Republican caucus voters picked Santorum (2012) and Huckabee (2008). Iowa is one big social conservative meet up on caucus night. Using Palin in Iowa is a brilliant move by Trump. Social conservatives adore Sarah Palin. Which all points to the fact that the Trump is one if not more steps ahead of everyone else, and the media still continues to underestimate him. Trump is playing chess while everyone else is still trying to master checkers.
5
This is in no way a time when it is easy to be proud to be an American.
9
If McCain and the Republicans had had their way, this woman would be completing her eighth year as vice-president right now, assuming that the job hadn't shortened McCain's life. In which case, she would be president. People flirting with Trump--her double in many ways--need to give that scenario some serious thought.
15
I'm for getting big government out of Iowa. End the subsidies to the worst crop in the country behind tobacco and the GOP candidates.
7
It is easy and fun for intelligent people to dismiss Sarah Palin. The fact is, Sarah Palin is still up there at the podium speaking out against the "politicians" we elect to govern the nation in which we all live despite the fact that Sarah Palin dismisses the fast majority of US citizens who do not live in what she deems to be "the heartland." Sarah Palin promotes hate. She, a self-described pitbull wearing lipstick was all too excited and proud to have her son fight for our country while at the same time she had her daughter Bristol literally displaying her son as a consequence of sex in Sarah's well orchestrated "values" carnival act. There are studies that suggest that post traumatic stress is worse in soldiers who have been abused as children. Sarah Palin promotes values based on extremism and violence. She is quite likely her children's problem.
10
Since Trump is so high on Ms Palin's capabilities that he wants her in his cabinet, I suggest that should he not be elected President that he give her control of one of his bisinesses.
13
Not only ethanol subsidies, but we also ought to be outlawing high fructose corn syrup from our food supply. Iowa doesn't ever pick any presidential winners, anyway.
7
You have to have a little respect for those three. As far as we know, none of them ever tied their pets on the roof of their cars for the family vacation.
3
This show grows increasingly strange. What is the fascination with these people? Palin fails at everything she does, including motherhood, evidently, yet continues to show up on the front page of newspapers. Trump, well Trump is the Id of the far right, missing its superego. It's like rubbernecking a car accident: we can't remove our eyes.
I think I'd prefer the stranger who met William Henry Harrison in a past life to the word salad course of Palin/Trump. More credible.
I think I'd prefer the stranger who met William Henry Harrison in a past life to the word salad course of Palin/Trump. More credible.
7
I heard that there will be heavy snowfall in northern Kentucky -- of course it is President Obama's fault. I am surprised that she has not the president or his administration for her daughters out of wedlock pregnancies. She is a shallow pathetic "human" being.
13
Corn subsidies are to Iowa as sugar subsidies are to Florida. The rest of the nation has to pay corporate welfare to these two states because of their importance in presidential elections. Iowa in the primaries and Florida in the general. Which is why we have cheap corn syrup in our food products while the rest of the world gets real sugar.
6
The Tea Partiers are beside themselves with glee. Palin and Trump, the perfect confluence of brazen trash talk, artless fabrication, and out and out stupidity.
Our precipitous decent into the political trashcan is proving a tumultuous and harrowing affair.
Brace yourselves, only eleven more months to go.
Our precipitous decent into the political trashcan is proving a tumultuous and harrowing affair.
Brace yourselves, only eleven more months to go.
5
Trump, as is rare for him, read that statement directly off a piece of paper. You can't speak off-the-cuff when discussing the R.F.S.
The R.F.S. is just another example of the standard Republican hypocrisy; be against government spending and their distortion of the free market, except when it benefits me or my interests.
The R.F.S. is just another example of the standard Republican hypocrisy; be against government spending and their distortion of the free market, except when it benefits me or my interests.
5
The fact that any adult would think that Sarah Palin has anything of substance to say says a lot about the state of the American electorate. All I can think when I hear her speak is how can anyone listen to this simpleton with her idiotic cliches and her conservative mindlessness. White Americans are in the clutches of idiots and seem to be loving it. Scares me to the core.
8
There are two events that have pretty much destroyed democracy in America. 1. the Supreme Courts Citizens United decision which opened the flood gates allowing money to flow like Flint's tainted water.
2, Senator McCain's decision to allow Ms Palin to be his running mate who then went on to turn political discourse into something less than intelligent or intelligible. She opened the gate allowing dangerous 'thinkers' out into the sunshine, not ashamed to voice their hatred and ignorance.
2, Senator McCain's decision to allow Ms Palin to be his running mate who then went on to turn political discourse into something less than intelligent or intelligible. She opened the gate allowing dangerous 'thinkers' out into the sunshine, not ashamed to voice their hatred and ignorance.
2
What are we gonna do with them farmers--strong conservatives against big government unless it's giving them subsidies (welfare?).
4
Palin and ger kind love to lecture us on "personal accountability". Except when it comes to their own failures. Then suddenly they are masters of blaming anybody and everybody else.
8
Ms. Collins failed to mention--that besides the billions in taxpayer money subsidizing corn-based ethanol--it ironically takes huge amounts of fossil fuels and precious water to produce the stuff. Nonetheless Ms. Collins has done the impossible. She has identified one issue that some progressives can agree with Cruz on.
4
So Sarah Palin is to Trump what Chelsea Clinton is to Hillary. The latter speaking the unspeakable about Sanders and Obamacare so her mother could never be charged with the quote. And the former speaking unspeakable sound and fury signifying nothing.
The credentials of one includes past governor and VP candidate--obviously bringing great credit to her party, state and family. The credentials of the other include a $10million apartment and a $3 million wedding.
And we wonder when Jeb Bush will debut his daughter Noelle as his spokesperson--obviously a great testament to his ability to run Florida and his family.
Who needs super PACs with endorsements like these. Maybe Jesus himself will materialize to endorse Cruz--and rule--once and for all--on the constitutionality of a Canadian born president--albeit to a Cuban-Canadian father and an American mother. Evidently the law really does need clarification only an amendment could bring. Good luck with that
(see Canada's Maclean's Jan. 2016).
The credentials of one includes past governor and VP candidate--obviously bringing great credit to her party, state and family. The credentials of the other include a $10million apartment and a $3 million wedding.
And we wonder when Jeb Bush will debut his daughter Noelle as his spokesperson--obviously a great testament to his ability to run Florida and his family.
Who needs super PACs with endorsements like these. Maybe Jesus himself will materialize to endorse Cruz--and rule--once and for all--on the constitutionality of a Canadian born president--albeit to a Cuban-Canadian father and an American mother. Evidently the law really does need clarification only an amendment could bring. Good luck with that
(see Canada's Maclean's Jan. 2016).
6
Ms. Palin should be commended. Much like those intrepid pioneers of science who discover new subatomic particles, Ms. Palin has seemed to discover, or invent an entirely new level of stupidity. Her speech defies definition - is it stream of conscious poetry, is it just ignorance derived ranting, is it intentional misdirection to highlight the inanity of the Trump candidacy? At this point, linguistic and political scholars still ponder.
That we even give this person a national stage in our political discussion is either testament to the greatness of freedom in our system, or a national shame.
That we even give this person a national stage in our political discussion is either testament to the greatness of freedom in our system, or a national shame.
9
To people who say Gail is elitist, could someone please explain to me why expecting politicians to speak clearly, using logical statements and fair grammar is elitist? If ethanol is not proven to be good for the environment, because it takes as much energy to produce it as it "saves" in gasoline, and makes food more expensive, why is expressing that thought elitist?
I don't think that one should needs to be "elitist" to ask for public policies and political speeches that make sense.
I don't think that one should needs to be "elitist" to ask for public policies and political speeches that make sense.
25
It must be very difficult for New Yorkers to realize that out here in the Midwest, Ohio and the other states where national elections are actually decided, the people she describes in this article are wildly popular. Sad to say, perhaps, but it is here where the final decision will be made.
4
Well, thank you then, for twice electing Obama. Good Job from where I sit. I'm sure you'll do the same for Hillary when the time comes.
2
It is arguable that Palin's actually lost the 2008 election for McCain (though McCain's antics trying to take credit for the response to the financial collapse probably played at least an equal role). While she may be popular with a segment of the midwest, she is polarizing and wildly unpopular with a larger number of voters.
1
We will try.
Corporate welfare is an anathema to all good conservatives. Yet, the conservative farmers of Iowa are gleefully content feed at the govermental subsidy trough.
They abhor govermental involvement and claim to revere the free market system, but howl at the threat of losing their government funded safety nets.
Ethanol is yet another gimmie for the hypocrites of Iowa, and shouid no longer be subsidized. Let us see if the free market wishes it to continue.
They abhor govermental involvement and claim to revere the free market system, but howl at the threat of losing their government funded safety nets.
Ethanol is yet another gimmie for the hypocrites of Iowa, and shouid no longer be subsidized. Let us see if the free market wishes it to continue.
11
Other than for entertainment value, I don't understand why the press continues to cover anything Palin says or why she's entitled to any front page coverage, particularly when she mostly offers incomprehensible babbling. And the sadder thing is watching those supporters who believe in her pronouncements. Makes me wonder how badly our educational system has declined.
11
Can America make itself look any more ignorant before the world? It's difficult to imagine how national politics for the GOP could become a carnival sideshow within the past two election cycles.
The terrifying question is whether the current Republican primary directions actually represent the attitudes and goals of the people who live all around us.
The terrifying question is whether the current Republican primary directions actually represent the attitudes and goals of the people who live all around us.
12
"Sarah Palin is really falling apart."
Here's a theory: Based on the antics of progeny, one should wonder about her parentage. Specifically, alcohol use or abuse. During pregnancy. Could it be a form of fetal alcohol syndrome?
Not that knowing the source of her verbal slippage would change anything of course. But in this year of the unexpected being almost normal, speculation is really all we have left.
So I'll speculate: GOP elites will back Trump to get rid of Cruz. Then they hope (and pray) they can somehow sideline Trump. If not in the primaries, then at a brokered convention.
Failing the above, the GOP elites will quietly back a Dem. Could be Bernie - with the hope he'll last only one tear.
Or....
Here's a theory: Based on the antics of progeny, one should wonder about her parentage. Specifically, alcohol use or abuse. During pregnancy. Could it be a form of fetal alcohol syndrome?
Not that knowing the source of her verbal slippage would change anything of course. But in this year of the unexpected being almost normal, speculation is really all we have left.
So I'll speculate: GOP elites will back Trump to get rid of Cruz. Then they hope (and pray) they can somehow sideline Trump. If not in the primaries, then at a brokered convention.
Failing the above, the GOP elites will quietly back a Dem. Could be Bernie - with the hope he'll last only one tear.
Or....
2
The entire presidential political caucus mechanics is lopsided towards the special interests of small states like Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Nevada, Colorado, etc. which sets up a completely skewed view of who's the clear front runner of either party. Since politicians are forced to prostitute themselves in order to win the votes of their special interest groups of each primary state, there is a gradual deterioration of the entire political process. Although Ted Cruz has flip flopped on the backing of $15 billion ethanol subsidies in order to win order the corn crowd of Iowa, apparently billionaire NY developer Donald Trump has no trouble prostrating himself in order to win votes although claims he's no politician. Iowa is the same state in which Koch Industries backed Tea Party darling Joni Ernst claimed that federal government "hand-outs" are anathema to the American way of pulling up your self by the boot straps although somehow huge billion dollar federal government farm subsidies (entitlements) are an exception to the rule. Joni Ernst is also in bed with Koch Industries to dismantle the Clean Water Act because it is "damaging" to business and free enterprise. Just ask how the victims of lead poisoning in Flint, Michigan feel about clean water and big business. Not coincidentally, Koch Industries has run afoul of the environmental 18 times in the Hawkeye State alone which explains their need to bankroll politicians who oppose environmental regulation.
4
For those who live outside the Iowa media markets, you are missing some terrific and hilarious negative political ads. In response to a Jeb! ad which portrays his campaign as a speeding freight train confidently going down the track, a parody ad (by a Rubio pac, I think) starts with the same cartoon train, but it then goes off the track into a spectacular train wreck. The best ad is another Rubio pac ad, against Cruz, which frames his picture inside a Canadian maple leaf cut out frame, with O' Canada playing in the soundtrack. Cruz is accused of supporting value added tax, as embraced in Canada and (oh my God, FRANCE!!). Taxes favored by Obama and Pelosi, opposed by Reagan. Birtherism is never mention, but you would have to be an ignoramus to miss the secondary message.
Of all these fine candidates, its hard to pick the worst loser. Kasich never seems to be targeted. I guess he is considered to be such a long shot, he is not worth spending advertising dollars on.
Of all these fine candidates, its hard to pick the worst loser. Kasich never seems to be targeted. I guess he is considered to be such a long shot, he is not worth spending advertising dollars on.
10
That minute of sympathy for Ted Cruz was too long.
35
A millisecond of sympathy is too long. But a great line from Gail.
1
Trying to understand how Sarah Palin, whose oldest son is an Iraq combat veteran, could endorse a man like Donald Trump, who avoided military service, and who dismissed John McCain as "not a war hero" because he was captured. Sarah was John McCain's running mate, after all. And then yesterday, talking about her son's combat-related PTST, Sarah managed to turn a personal tragedy into a political attack, blamed Obama, and then said we need a commander in chief like Donald Trump, who who respects and honors our troops. Wow.
524
She's a true politician. A mercenary. It's all about the benjamins for her. She is simply following the trail of money no matter where it takes her and no what she has to say. Hope you don't really believe she believes anything she says; I'm not even sure she has a belief system at all. She perfect for Donald, though. One reality TV star endorsing another. She's the Kim Kardashian of the GOP.
5
Soap-Operas need no logic! Therefore no understanding.
Addiction is sufficient.
Addiction is sufficient.
1
I think all you've said tells us what we already know about SP:
Very *flexible* moral code; any political expediency to keep her in the headlines (in which she is perfectly matched w/ Trump). That John McCain's former running mate would pair up with someone who did not serve and demeaned McCain's service shows us that she has not integrity or inner compass of loyalty.
She has always been fact-free in her speeches; she is also a moral trollop.
Very *flexible* moral code; any political expediency to keep her in the headlines (in which she is perfectly matched w/ Trump). That John McCain's former running mate would pair up with someone who did not serve and demeaned McCain's service shows us that she has not integrity or inner compass of loyalty.
She has always been fact-free in her speeches; she is also a moral trollop.
1
This is a moment to mark. We have now seen parody come full circle with Palin now mimicking Tina Fey. Trump should work on his bush, jr., imitation a bit more. Palin is outshining him.
11
Thank you, Gail. Please, please contact Tina Fey. I will sit here, an old woman, in winter, chuckling to imagine that you, with a couple of deft comic female allies, will soon invent a great SNL skit featuring Sarah Palin (check out the photos ... in her Trump endorsement speech, she wears a cape of weird stuff that evokes The Revenant. Credit Leonardo?). Of course it would be tempting to drag in Palin's family as characters, but in truth that story is sad ... not funny. The fact that Sarah Palin would blame Obama for her son's PTSD establishes that she is a despicable charlatan.
22
Gail,
The untold story is that Cruz and Clinton are being attacked by the same machine, Karl Rove's Super Pac, American Crossroads. The lies about the FBI investigating Clinton, and that she is somehow responsible for her husband's affairs, all because she simply believed her husband and fought back? Absurd. That is outright propaganda.
The untold story is that Cruz and Clinton are being attacked by the same machine, Karl Rove's Super Pac, American Crossroads. The lies about the FBI investigating Clinton, and that she is somehow responsible for her husband's affairs, all because she simply believed her husband and fought back? Absurd. That is outright propaganda.
20
Subsidies to Iowa? Is that socialism......for the few.....tjat's ok, but socialism for the many, with Sanders, that is very bad.
34
I am happy that Tina Fey will be back to guest star on SNL...I have deep sympathy for the entire creative community as reality has upended all our wildest fantasies.
Trump/Palin 2016 - bombast, vitriol and insanity!
Trump/Palin 2016 - bombast, vitriol and insanity!
23
This is a fascinating drama about which GOP candidates support which "small government" subsidies. Trump likes corn; Cruz crude. Cruz also likes Wall Street. How can one not like those who give you enormous loans for politcal campaigns?
11
Palin is an embarrassment. And Trump? Why would you want her talking for you? She can't put a proper sentence together. Blaming the President for her son? Give me a break.
39
Why are you paying so much attention to the big field of Republican candidates and so little to the Democratic primary? One would think you were a Republican paper. But the real reason is probably that you have already endorsed Clinton and still want to keep a blackout on Sanders, who is clearly the choice of your readers.
10
C.C. -- could you possibly fail to understand that the reason Gail is poking fun at the Republicans rather than write some piece of dialectical exegesis of the New Bernie is because she's a political humorist and these Republicans are manna from heaven? Bernie is not ... and that's good? Is that so hard?
For the record I have a PhD after my name too ... I do want other folks out there to appreciate that having a PhD does not mean that your sense of humor, or common sense, have been surgically removed.
For the record I have a PhD after my name too ... I do want other folks out there to appreciate that having a PhD does not mean that your sense of humor, or common sense, have been surgically removed.
1
I have a doctorate too, and I also have a sense of humor. So I need, absolutely need Gail's columns. And speak for yourself mister. I read the NY Times, and I support Hillary. Bernie has an overly simplistic understanding of economics, and he is pro gun.
I continue to be amazed that anyone considers Sarah Palin relevant about anything. Seriously, what has she done that any politician would want an endorsement from her? Perhaps some of the Trumpsters can explain to those of us that are shaking our heads in disbelief. I think one of the commenters yesterday (Stu I believe it was) said it was like getting an endorsement from Kim Kardasian.
14
It feels so good to be an American. In the south we have battalions of bigots. Out in places like Iowa we have a host of hypocrites living off the government dole while decrying the welfare state. We have a candidate from Texas who is contemptuous of New York values. Hint, hint, wink, wink - you know they have those un-American people doing horrible things like marrying each other, and driving electric cars! Palin ought to go back to Alaska and keep her eye on Russia - just in case! And for the horde of Trumpsters out there, I've got a third rate apartment I would like to sell you for a first rate price! Trump touts his abilities as if we were electing a dictator. And the band played on!
32
And Mrs. Cruz works for Goldman Sachs.
1
Gail, your comment about Sarah's "personal growth" says it all. Can I get a hallelujah?
19
I'm having a hard time imaging an 'evolved' Sarah Palin.
Sorry as a non Christian I don't use that word ;))
2
Donald Trump should invite Sarah Palin to be his running mate. Dumb and Dumber. Perhaps between them they could come up with a coherent, meaningful, substantive sentence or two. Maybe not . With regard to growing corn for fuel, why hasn't anyone suggested using those federal subsidies for solar farms in Iowa? Growing corn and solar power require the same thing - sun.
25
"He's from the private sector, not a politician. Can I have a hallelujah?" Sure; but let's first ask the good people of Flint, about their experience with Governor Snyder, a private sector guy with his eye on the bottom line.
69
and I don't believe bankruptcy counts as "balancing the budget"
2
Iowa candidates at the altar of ethanol
View socialized subsidies in government’s protocol.
But with corn payments so rich,
Campaigns dare not pitch
Policies affecting corn guzzling in gasohol.
View socialized subsidies in government’s protocol.
But with corn payments so rich,
Campaigns dare not pitch
Policies affecting corn guzzling in gasohol.
109
Corrected for inflation, the price the farmer receives for corn today is less than half the price it was in 1980.
1
If you didn't know who she was and you heard Sarah Palin's first endorsement speech, you really would think it was someone who escaped from a mental institution or someone who you see standing on a corner in Manhattan ranting. It's pretty amazing that there's people that thought Ms Palin actually made sense.
And as far as Ted Cruz, he scares me and I can't stand him, but I have got to hand it to him for standing up in Iowa, it is admirable.
And as far as Ted Cruz, he scares me and I can't stand him, but I have got to hand it to him for standing up in Iowa, it is admirable.
9
One good thing to see Sarah Palin back on the campaign trail: the incomparable Tina Fey will be back doing her on SNL! You Betcha!
4
"The Screeching Wingnut" rises again from Wasilla and Phoenix to join Donald Trump in his parade toward the Presidency. Sarah Palin asked "can I get a hallelujah?" - hell, no! Almost as memorable as her coining the phrase "refudiate" was her "squirmishes" to describe America's wars in the Middle East, started by GW Bush. But the acme of Palin's existential demented shrieking was when she blamed President Obama for her ghastly family dysfunction - her son beating up his girlfriend and threatening her with a gun, her daughter's second unexpected pregnancy by some other guy. Domestic violence in the Palin home was Barack Obama's fault? Corn is a big deal in Iowa, we all know that. But Iowa's Gov. Terry Bransted stuck his nose in the Republican Primary caucus fray by urging voters to reject Ted Cruz. Poor Ted! Poor Iowa! Poor fractured Republican Party! Deliriously happy Donald Trump - he has Sarah Palin's glass-shattering shrieks endorsing him. What more could The Donald want on his braggadocious hegira to "Make America Great Again!"? Alas, dear Gail, you don't have a Trump doggie caged on the top of the Trump family car to poke fun at this Presidential Election go-round!
8
Mom always taught us that, if we couldn't say something nice about someone, we weren't to say anything at all.
So, regarding the Palin family values....
(No further comment.)
So, regarding the Palin family values....
(No further comment.)
8
Time for another really great Tina Fey impersonation...too much fun! But while we Democrats laugh ourselves silly, she and Trump and the rest of the gang are sneaking up on America.
3
If Trump is the nominee, he will select a retired general or some other far right military guy a his VP. It will never be a woman; we know how Trump thinks of women, including his own daughter.
4
We'd never have heard much from Sarah Palin were it not for John McCain, who continues to think that this woman was a good choice for VP. Boy, did his "straight-talk-express" crash a long time ago! Can I get a hallelujah?
7
I had a thought last night. Maybe The Donald is using Sarah Palin as his "easy out" - Donald, YOU'RE fired!
Why else would anyone invite onboard the person responsible for the tanking of the Republican's chances in 2008? SP will sink the Trump ship and enable him to blame her rather than admitting he's just tired and bored by all of this now. He proved that someone could get this far on hype rather than substance, got the attention he's apparently been craving, and can now gracefully (?) bow out. Stranger scenarios have been played out before - such a blatant misstep ...
Why else would anyone invite onboard the person responsible for the tanking of the Republican's chances in 2008? SP will sink the Trump ship and enable him to blame her rather than admitting he's just tired and bored by all of this now. He proved that someone could get this far on hype rather than substance, got the attention he's apparently been craving, and can now gracefully (?) bow out. Stranger scenarios have been played out before - such a blatant misstep ...
5
A "squirmish" must be a battle among squirrels...which is apropos for iowa, where the candidates are fighting for the biggest share of the nuts.
14
Speaking of squirrels, I would have thought Rand Paul's hair would be polling much higher in Iowa than it is.
There are a couple of expression from around here that might be apropos Ms Palin:
"Dumber than a corned hake." (No Iowa corn involved.)
"As numb as a pounded thumb."
"Dumber than a corned hake." (No Iowa corn involved.)
"As numb as a pounded thumb."
4
Gail Collins writing of Sarah Palin and Donald Trump. It just doesnt get any better than that!
13
Criticizing Palin's unusual speech patterns might be unwise. She might be uttering a new and strange form of poetry (some of it IS very creative!). Also, do we really want to be making fun of someone whose brain might be wired very differently than the norm?
2
You mean not functioning or working in a proper or orderly fashion, like haywire.
1
LOL!
I bet the corn in Iowa is as high as an elephant's eye.... Apologies to Rogers and Hammerstein!
3
Actually, No. At the elevator today the price of corn is about $3.52 a bushel, which adjusted for inflation is less than half of what it was in 1980. Somebody is making out like a bandit, but it is not the Iowa corn farmer.
5
Physicists say that in the multiverse every possible scenario is happening. That means that 'somewhere' Sarah Palin is ashamed of herself - a comforting thought.
9
Trump. Cruz. Palin.
That whirring sound you hear is Lincoln spinning in his grave.
That whirring sound you hear is Lincoln spinning in his grave.
283
Not quite so bad if you’d printed it thus:
“Trump’s candidacy—it has exposed not just that tragic (the ramifications of that betrayal) of a transformation of our country. But (2) he has exposed the complicity on both sides of the aisle that has enabled it. Okay?”
“Trump’s candidacy—it has exposed not just that tragic (the ramifications of that betrayal) of a transformation of our country. But (2) he has exposed the complicity on both sides of the aisle that has enabled it. Okay?”
In the meanwhile, back in Baked Alaska, one of the sons is involved in domestic abuse. Ah, but that would be the fault of the military, right Sarah?
(or so she alludes)
The military that Donald Trump is going to expand and make great again? The expansion that you, Sarah, just endorsed?
As usual, Sarah Palin just does not add up. But that is least important to her. And we guess, least important to the nodding and smiling and thumbs up Trump. After all, she wears a very glittery, glitzy dress, Donald.
(or so she alludes)
The military that Donald Trump is going to expand and make great again? The expansion that you, Sarah, just endorsed?
As usual, Sarah Palin just does not add up. But that is least important to her. And we guess, least important to the nodding and smiling and thumbs up Trump. After all, she wears a very glittery, glitzy dress, Donald.
1
Obama is also to blame for the fact that Sarah Palin's daughter, professional abstinence preacher Bristol Palin, has had two out-of-wedlock babies by two different fathers. So far. Barack is just a bad guy. Face it.
There's one issue on which Sarah should change her position to agree more with the President's, however. She might want to get all the guns out of her house, including the semi-automatic weapon her victim-of-Obama son reportedly held to his head and drunkenly threatened to kill himself with. If she doesn't take that step, she should ask Google Maps to add one of those cute little target graphics she loves so much onto the location of her own home.
There's one issue on which Sarah should change her position to agree more with the President's, however. She might want to get all the guns out of her house, including the semi-automatic weapon her victim-of-Obama son reportedly held to his head and drunkenly threatened to kill himself with. If she doesn't take that step, she should ask Google Maps to add one of those cute little target graphics she loves so much onto the location of her own home.
12
The Donald started out with a huge smirk on his[ faux tan] face but as Palin rattled on [and on and on] the smirk started to become a grimace, disguised as a half smile.
That ear shattering shrill voice rising up and up into near hysteria...let's hope Sarah will soon be banished back to Alaska!
That ear shattering shrill voice rising up and up into near hysteria...let's hope Sarah will soon be banished back to Alaska!
4
He's probably thinking 'disgusting. never was a 10, gotten fat and sunk to a 5'.
Looking at Trump`s face during the high pitched rambling of Ms. Palin butchering the English language tells me Trump is not really amused. One thing about Trump is the businessman is far from stupid but Palin appears to be .
Looking at my tea leaves tells me Mr. Trump is already thinking how soon he could fire Ms. Palin.
Looking at my tea leaves tells me Mr. Trump is already thinking how soon he could fire Ms. Palin.
5
OK, Gail, time to move on. Watching 12 clowns climb into a tiny little car is funny only the first time; after that it is just forced titters. There are plenty of other targets for your humor.
Thanks in advance.
Thanks in advance.
If they all dropped out of the race, Gail could stop tomorrow (maybe that is what all addicts say). But this is the fodder she's got, and you go to election with the clowns you've got, not the statesmen you wish you had.
3
I would be gobsmacked by all of this if it wasn't for the slow-motion train-wreck appearance of it all. Is anyone really surprised by any of it? Really?
That said it comes to this for me. How to account for it? How to account for the complete dissolution of our political class? The complete nuttiness of the perspectives of the ruling Elites and them spinning out of control of all logic and reason. They total obliviousness to how they appear and come across. How to account for it accelerating over the past few decades? All right in front of the eyes of your average American. How?
History excuses, more or less, the Roman's for having a similar dissolution...their leadership class drank from, and eat on, a new and marvelous (for them) metal. Lead. It drove them bat*ahem crazy. I wonder what our Elites are doing that's similar in kind and effect? It must be something we don't understand. It's the only thing I can think of to account for all that is now transpiring...they are all walking around out there in some kind of induced Crazyland state....
John~
American Net'Zen
That said it comes to this for me. How to account for it? How to account for the complete dissolution of our political class? The complete nuttiness of the perspectives of the ruling Elites and them spinning out of control of all logic and reason. They total obliviousness to how they appear and come across. How to account for it accelerating over the past few decades? All right in front of the eyes of your average American. How?
History excuses, more or less, the Roman's for having a similar dissolution...their leadership class drank from, and eat on, a new and marvelous (for them) metal. Lead. It drove them bat*ahem crazy. I wonder what our Elites are doing that's similar in kind and effect? It must be something we don't understand. It's the only thing I can think of to account for all that is now transpiring...they are all walking around out there in some kind of induced Crazyland state....
John~
American Net'Zen
10
Sorry, you didn't mention where Hillary stands on the "government ethanol program"?
1
Headlines. Read them. They tell you what the story's about.
1
While her voice makes me cringe (I had the pleasure of listening to her speech on NPR, her voice creepily filled the car, ouch) her words make me laugh until my face cracks. No one, no one can torture language so well, no one makes so little sense and no one can sound so condescending. She has adopted that middle school girl tone which is designed to send every grown up to hell and back at least four times a day. Trump and Palin have covered both ends of the spectrum - he is the schoolyard bully and she's the school yard queen bee....
19
Agreed with Mr. Bob Dole..anybody but Ted Cruz ,but to bring Sarah Palin from obscurity is not the answer. It is a mistake that goes back to Mr. McCain.
What an albatross he has brought around our neck who refuses to leave.
Trumps family appears to be classy when compared to this redneck hack .
What an albatross he has brought around our neck who refuses to leave.
Trumps family appears to be classy when compared to this redneck hack .
5
Nice progression from starting with Sarah Palin's zany sayings and ending up with a discussion of volumes of ethanol.
Sarah really should be given a few minutes to sober up before she is brought before the public.
Sarah really should be given a few minutes to sober up before she is brought before the public.
11
The scary thing is that the Tea Party people seem to know what Palin means.
447
@Mark Lobel:
Well, Palin and her Tea Party buddies are evangelicals, so they both speak in tongues.
Well, Palin and her Tea Party buddies are evangelicals, so they both speak in tongues.
3
Meanwhile the rest of the populace are beholden to somebody to translate Palin speak into recognizable sane discourse. After listening to Palin twangy shrieking voice for even a few minutes leaves one crying Make It Stop!!!
3
"On top of that, we’ve got the ethanol program, which requires gasoline to be mixed with biofuel, usually corn. This causes corn prices to soar"......I love the Collins columns, but as someone engaged in farming I have to report that her facts are wide of the mark. I sure wish she was right, but the price of corn today, adjusted for inflation, is less than half of what it was in 1980.
6
Well, 1980 is way back there, now. As far as the impact of Ethanol production from corn 2007 was the year of the Energy Independence and Security Act that established the big tax break.
Price of corn today is higher than in 2007, but there have been two big spikes, the second longer-lasting, and now it is down again.
Corn prices are volatile ... you know that.
Price of corn today is higher than in 2007, but there have been two big spikes, the second longer-lasting, and now it is down again.
Corn prices are volatile ... you know that.
She is right about one thing though. It takes a lot of corn just to make a small amount of ethanol. It is really not that efficient, at any price.
W.A., are you OK with government interfering with the free market? Sounds very Socialist to me.
Or are you OK with their interference only when it affects ethanol production? Don't you think that the price of corn should be set by the free market? Or are you in favor of continued Socialism?
Or are you OK with their interference only when it affects ethanol production? Don't you think that the price of corn should be set by the free market? Or are you in favor of continued Socialism?
Sarah Palin, the darling of the party that extols personal responsibility, is blaming the POTUS for her son's domestic violence arrest. And Iowa corn farmers continue to demand their subsidies come hell or high water.
Is there no end to the double standards and hypocrisy of the Right? With them, it's always do as I say, not as I do. Whenever an issue touches them personally, their song changes from just suck it up to it's not my or whoever the loved one is fault. Their subsidies are vital to the commonwealth but yours are just mooching off the public. Oh how I wish these silly, stupid people would just dry up and blow away.
Is there no end to the double standards and hypocrisy of the Right? With them, it's always do as I say, not as I do. Whenever an issue touches them personally, their song changes from just suck it up to it's not my or whoever the loved one is fault. Their subsidies are vital to the commonwealth but yours are just mooching off the public. Oh how I wish these silly, stupid people would just dry up and blow away.
57
Oh, I wish for the same and pray every day for your wish to come true!
1
On top of that, we’ve got the ethanol program, which requires gasoline to be mixed with biofuel, usually corn. This causes corn prices to soar and creates environmental problems due to overplanting. “A triple-layer subsidy cake,” said Scott Faber of the E.W.G.
The Renewable Fuel Standard is crony capitalism at it's best. We subsidize rich corn growers, then require ethanol in fuel. For that, we get worse gas mileage in our vehicles and engines wear out faster. Food prices go up, so the consumer has to subsidize both sides of this equation. All this to garner votes from an already bloated program of federal featherbedding.
Then the beneficiaries of these handouts rally around "entitlement reform" for the people without this level of political clout.
The RFS is the best example I know of "Socialism for the rich, Capitalism for e poor."
The Renewable Fuel Standard is crony capitalism at it's best. We subsidize rich corn growers, then require ethanol in fuel. For that, we get worse gas mileage in our vehicles and engines wear out faster. Food prices go up, so the consumer has to subsidize both sides of this equation. All this to garner votes from an already bloated program of federal featherbedding.
Then the beneficiaries of these handouts rally around "entitlement reform" for the people without this level of political clout.
The RFS is the best example I know of "Socialism for the rich, Capitalism for e poor."
36
The percentage-method depletion allowance beats it. That's the biggest scam in the US tax code.
Trump and Palin both speak in the sort of word salad that is indicative of neurological and psychological problems.
54
Though she lacks in ability,
And in mental stability,
Republicans still love her,
The weird half-term governor,
So full of her loony hostility.
And in mental stability,
Republicans still love her,
The weird half-term governor,
So full of her loony hostility.
55
Palin really makes no sense these days, with her garbled, disjointed speech and nonsensical ideas. See Times article on Palin's "mystifying" Trump endorsement speech.
So why did Mr. Savvy Businessman Trump haul Palin out of Alaska for an endorsement, which to many of us shows poor judgment. Crazy like a fox that Trump! Palin has deep emotional appeal to a segment of the conservative right that he wanted to yank away from Cruz in Iowa.
What is Palin's appeal? What we discovered by talking to some of our tea party southern relatives, especially some of the women who adore Palin, is that these women aren't listening to the meaning of what Palin says. They respond emotionally to her "communication" with "them." Remember when your small children sat in front of the TV and believed that Mr. Rogers was really talking to them personally? It seems similar with Palin and her adoring fans.
One of our relatives explained to us that she loves Palin because "she is like me"--has all these family problems but keeps going. She is a real person with problems but stays upbeat and doesn't take any stuff off the liberals.
However, I don't think we can pick on Sarah Palin any more. The woman appears to be in a state of serious mental deterioration, which is sad really.
So, what kind of a person would want to exploit that because he thinks it would be a lark for him to be President of the United States?
So why did Mr. Savvy Businessman Trump haul Palin out of Alaska for an endorsement, which to many of us shows poor judgment. Crazy like a fox that Trump! Palin has deep emotional appeal to a segment of the conservative right that he wanted to yank away from Cruz in Iowa.
What is Palin's appeal? What we discovered by talking to some of our tea party southern relatives, especially some of the women who adore Palin, is that these women aren't listening to the meaning of what Palin says. They respond emotionally to her "communication" with "them." Remember when your small children sat in front of the TV and believed that Mr. Rogers was really talking to them personally? It seems similar with Palin and her adoring fans.
One of our relatives explained to us that she loves Palin because "she is like me"--has all these family problems but keeps going. She is a real person with problems but stays upbeat and doesn't take any stuff off the liberals.
However, I don't think we can pick on Sarah Palin any more. The woman appears to be in a state of serious mental deterioration, which is sad really.
So, what kind of a person would want to exploit that because he thinks it would be a lark for him to be President of the United States?
30
Yes, the effect may be similar to the "speaking in tongues" practiced by some fundamentalist congregations.
But doubt there has been further "deterioration", Palin's always has "been there" from the get go.
But doubt there has been further "deterioration", Palin's always has "been there" from the get go.
Why haul out Sarah? To poach on Cruz territory!
I do want Trump to win the GOP primary like McCain did. Unless Ms. Palin gets control of herself, she may destroy another powerful man.
Whenever I see Ms. Palin speaking, I want to vote for her even though what she said have never make any sense to me. For reasons I don't understand, as a male voter, Palin makes me feel like a dog in a Pavlov's experiment. I watched Palin's endorsement of Trump and she is really falling apart. During the McCain-Obama race, more half her sentence makes sense. Now it is less than 10%.
I feel sad watching Ms. Palin losing the large part of her powerful animal magnetism as time passes. It is a clear display of how power & money can corrupt and destroy a great talent.
Whenever I see Ms. Palin speaking, I want to vote for her even though what she said have never make any sense to me. For reasons I don't understand, as a male voter, Palin makes me feel like a dog in a Pavlov's experiment. I watched Palin's endorsement of Trump and she is really falling apart. During the McCain-Obama race, more half her sentence makes sense. Now it is less than 10%.
I feel sad watching Ms. Palin losing the large part of her powerful animal magnetism as time passes. It is a clear display of how power & money can corrupt and destroy a great talent.
5
Great talent?
You want to vote for her even though you can't understand anything she says (like the rest of us)? That's based on her "animal magnetism"? Less than 10% of what she says makes sense? And yet you consider her a "great talent"? That's your penis talking instead of your brain. She's of the same ilk of the cadre of "hot chicks of Fox News" that men around the country "follow" and "like" on the Internet because they're hotter than any of the chicks the Democrats have. I hope you're a teenage boy not old enough to vote.
2
This has little/nothing to do with animal instinct. Seriously, it seems true the tone of voice is an octave higher as the IQ gets lower. Watch the video again & watch "The Donald's" face as he sinks & his mind wanders. Was he thinking- ' I shudda listened to McCain'?
A great piece, very funny and spot on.
As funny as a Republican Party train wreck is I'm reminded of a line in The Hunt For Red October, delivered by Fred Thompson, playing an admiral- "this business will get out of hand, and we'll be lucky to live through it"
As funny as a Republican Party train wreck is I'm reminded of a line in The Hunt For Red October, delivered by Fred Thompson, playing an admiral- "this business will get out of hand, and we'll be lucky to live through it"
17
I've noticed that Sarah's voice has risen higher and more screechy since her 2008 debut. Indeed, her high-pitched squeals communicate about as much as fingernails crossing a blackboard. As inevitable her cracklings spiral upwards and the rest of her downward she is destined to end up finally a caricature's caricature.
36
Good god, I just had to go listen to that. She sounds drunk in the video. I don't know how much of the juice she and her buddies were hitting before getting up there, but boy - sounds just like so many over-enthused barflies.
50
Yeah, that corn likker will fog yer brain while it loosens your tongue.
2
Donald Trump can indeed switch effortlessly and convincingly from buffoon to statesman. He demonstrated this impressive skill during the recent interview by Chuck Todd on Meet The Press. I wouldn't be surprised if the U.S. voting public gradually forgets the buffoonery and gives him the G.O.P.'s nomination for President. Could he in turn, as he continues to polish up on his pseudo-presidential credentials, succeed in the race for President? It is not inconceivable. Remember Nixon and George W. Bush?
11
Getting the nomination and becoming a statesman are two goals that are unrelated. Unfortunately, I think Trump will achieve the first. I haven't seen any evidence whatsoever of the second. One does not move easily or quickly from a racist, xenophobic, lying bigot to statesman.
2
I never thought I would agree with Cruz on anything but it is certainly high time to eliminate the corn subsidies to produce ethanol, a most egregious boondoggle. They are still in the books only because of the eagerness of presidential candidates to win the Iowa caucuses; a most inconsequential event blown out of proportion by the media to keep the public entertained.
43
Yes, as disagreeable ALL these candidates are- even astopped clock..... etc. But lets not forget Cruz's anti-NY assumptions. And yes, I am sure he includes Suffolk County among NY'ers.
Yes, Mr Trump and Mr Cruz seem to be in a real squirmish over corn. And sane people who worry about the future of their country are in something of a pickle.
244
So Sarah Palin says we pay for middle east "squirmishes"? After reading her incoherent words of endorsement for Donald Trump I squirmished a bit myself here in the Pacific Northwest.
She is such a clear example of a buzzword politician, completely devoid of any intellectual bandwidth. Only in America.
She is such a clear example of a buzzword politician, completely devoid of any intellectual bandwidth. Only in America.
436
I suppose we could consider anyone sufficiently shallow as being devoid of bandDEPTH, as well.
2
You have to hand it to her: Squirmish - her neologism - is a unique 'buzzword.'
Watching the Trump-Palin "reality show," I could only assume it had been written by Lewis Carroll. The Tea Party had literally come to life- the one from "Alice in Wonderland" I mean.
42
Feel sorry for Ted Cruz? Sorry, can't do it. Not today. Wasn't Shakespeare's line "A pox on both your houses!"?
Cruz, to his minimal credit, has been somewhat consistent about ending the corn subsidy. While I'm always a big fan of biofuels, especially alcohol, as a bridge to clean energy (alcohol being cleaner-burning than bio-diesel), corn is actually one of the worst sources of alcohol fuel, using more fertilizer and water, and yielding less alcohol than other agi products. The distillation process is far too inefficient when solar means alone can bring the alcohol to 85% (99% is needed for gasohol).
And, of course, yet again, it's those librul sozhalust give-away eastern Blue states who get stuck paying for it--Iowa gets $1,10 in Fed spending for every dollar it pays out in taxes. We, in NJ, get $0.61 for every one of our dollars, and part of that goes to...IOWA!
Now it's no wonder that Sarah Palin supports the corn subsidy as she supported the oil revenue subsidy paid to Alaskans (which is drying up due to oil falling below $30/barrel.
But Cruz's halo slips down when we remember that he's from Texas, where the oil industry RULES and they HATE Gasohol, regardless of whether it's better for the environment and reducing foreign dependence. (there's even pressure to up oil subsidies now that oil profits are so low...as if the Koch Bros need our help when they are among the 62 with as much wealth as the bottom 3.5 billion )
Yes, a pox on both their houses.
Cruz, to his minimal credit, has been somewhat consistent about ending the corn subsidy. While I'm always a big fan of biofuels, especially alcohol, as a bridge to clean energy (alcohol being cleaner-burning than bio-diesel), corn is actually one of the worst sources of alcohol fuel, using more fertilizer and water, and yielding less alcohol than other agi products. The distillation process is far too inefficient when solar means alone can bring the alcohol to 85% (99% is needed for gasohol).
And, of course, yet again, it's those librul sozhalust give-away eastern Blue states who get stuck paying for it--Iowa gets $1,10 in Fed spending for every dollar it pays out in taxes. We, in NJ, get $0.61 for every one of our dollars, and part of that goes to...IOWA!
Now it's no wonder that Sarah Palin supports the corn subsidy as she supported the oil revenue subsidy paid to Alaskans (which is drying up due to oil falling below $30/barrel.
But Cruz's halo slips down when we remember that he's from Texas, where the oil industry RULES and they HATE Gasohol, regardless of whether it's better for the environment and reducing foreign dependence. (there's even pressure to up oil subsidies now that oil profits are so low...as if the Koch Bros need our help when they are among the 62 with as much wealth as the bottom 3.5 billion )
Yes, a pox on both their houses.
3
I found it most ironic when at a Republican rally Ms. Palin used the term "elephant in the room" to describe yet another affliction to befall her ever so dysfunctional family. And then, instead of coming to grips with her own responsibility she blames it all on Obama. Oh well, at least the audience bought it. BTW: It's doubtful her son saw any action during his 6 month stint in Afghanistan. It's hard to experience PTSD without the trauma.
7
The Republican party base must be ecstatic over Gov. Palin's entry into the Presidential nomination squirmish. Likely that Trump will select her as his VP once he gets the nomination.
2
So let me get this right, according to fiscally conservative republicans, the government giving food stamps to the poor so they get to eat is bad fiscal policy but giving money to growers of corn for ethanol is good fiscal policy? Got it.
8
Trump and Palin (and Cruz) are symptoms. They are just the most recent reflection of the sad devolving of the once proud Party of Lincoln from whence came the ending of a war, freeing of the slaves, and the Gettysburg Address.
Rather than cling to its former inclusive, open-minded, doing-what's-right-for the-country roots, the GOP has seriously strayed. It's instead become exclusive and myopic mainly composed of extremist evangelical Christians; nativists terrified they are losing their Beaver Cleaver white Christian Anglo-Saxon fantasy world.
Trump/Palin have simply hopped onto that bandwagon shrewdly exploiting this fearful group by promising to protect their vanishing narrow worldview including, of course, their guns, their God, and their religion.
Thus, the foundation of the Trump/Palin popularity is nothing deep or complex. It's simply a result of shameful snake-oil like pandering that's been sold and blindly accepted hook, line, and sinker. And if this often entertaining process weren't so dangerous, it and those blindly desperate to cling to the comfort of an idealized past, would deserve our pity and compassion
Rather than cling to its former inclusive, open-minded, doing-what's-right-for the-country roots, the GOP has seriously strayed. It's instead become exclusive and myopic mainly composed of extremist evangelical Christians; nativists terrified they are losing their Beaver Cleaver white Christian Anglo-Saxon fantasy world.
Trump/Palin have simply hopped onto that bandwagon shrewdly exploiting this fearful group by promising to protect their vanishing narrow worldview including, of course, their guns, their God, and their religion.
Thus, the foundation of the Trump/Palin popularity is nothing deep or complex. It's simply a result of shameful snake-oil like pandering that's been sold and blindly accepted hook, line, and sinker. And if this often entertaining process weren't so dangerous, it and those blindly desperate to cling to the comfort of an idealized past, would deserve our pity and compassion
3
The "main thing" to consider with Palin is whether her condition is as a result of being dropped on her head as an infant or through excessive consumption of high fructose corn syrup. Either way she represents a considerable proportion of the GOP electorate. For Trump, she gives a whole new meaning to the expression, useful idiot. All Trump has to do is ogle her backside as she walks away & he's covered with those possessing an IQ over 85 in his following. Trump's advocacy of ethanol subsidies will make him a "driving force" in Iowa!
3
I too, met someone in a future life. I learned that the Republicans are in agreement about one thing- there really is a new ninth planet. At election time, they will support the party's nominee by claiming that the giant, icy, fly-by-night was, all along, the cause of global warming!
Dirty fuels types will love it. It's a cryptic way of supporting them without having to put down ethanol. Thus, the presence of the Alaskan who at one time tackled big oil in her own state, but became more and more confused as she politicked below, Canada. Now she's more confused than ever!
Did she really say about Trump, "Where in the private sector you actually have to balance budgets.." He's, The Man From Bankruptcy, Sarah!!!!
Dirty fuels types will love it. It's a cryptic way of supporting them without having to put down ethanol. Thus, the presence of the Alaskan who at one time tackled big oil in her own state, but became more and more confused as she politicked below, Canada. Now she's more confused than ever!
Did she really say about Trump, "Where in the private sector you actually have to balance budgets.." He's, The Man From Bankruptcy, Sarah!!!!
8
Corn is one of the world's major food crops but it's not without problems:
- The production of ethanol from corn is a net environmental negative, i.e. it takes more energy to make it that you get from it.
- Bakeries have been cited for pollution because they release significant amounts of VOCs (volatile organic compounds) contributing to pollution. Chief among these is, you guessed it, ethanol. Ethanol plants are also point sources for pollution.
- HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) contributes to the 150+ pounds of sugar eaten annually by Americans.
- Agricultural monoculture (planting increasing amounts of genetically identical crops, like corn) risks wiping out a larger percentage of food crops from unexpected pests and plant diseases.
- As a crop, corn is hard on the soil, making it less fertile without petroleum-based fertilizers.
When kids grow up, they don't continue to get an allowance from their parents. It's time to end subsidies for corn if it is such a great crop.
- The production of ethanol from corn is a net environmental negative, i.e. it takes more energy to make it that you get from it.
- Bakeries have been cited for pollution because they release significant amounts of VOCs (volatile organic compounds) contributing to pollution. Chief among these is, you guessed it, ethanol. Ethanol plants are also point sources for pollution.
- HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) contributes to the 150+ pounds of sugar eaten annually by Americans.
- Agricultural monoculture (planting increasing amounts of genetically identical crops, like corn) risks wiping out a larger percentage of food crops from unexpected pests and plant diseases.
- As a crop, corn is hard on the soil, making it less fertile without petroleum-based fertilizers.
When kids grow up, they don't continue to get an allowance from their parents. It's time to end subsidies for corn if it is such a great crop.
7
Just to recap:
Palin is still spinning crop circles but now more incoherently.
Cruz never forgoes an opportunity to be unlikable.
Trump (for the moment) looks smart standing in comparison.
Admittedly, I wouldn't vote against a locally specific federal subsidy either. However, the subsidy probably isn't as meaningful as you'd think. By my count, the benefit works out to a little under $900 million per year or roughly $300 a year per person. Unless the return is concentrated among a few individuals or has a remarkable multiplier, I doubt it makes much difference for the typical Iowan. Naturally, your mileage may vary. I agree though, it doesn't look good for the free-market types.
Cruz's position feels more like a knee-jerk. When cornered, the elected Texan will instinctively support oil. Call it an evolutionary necessity. That said, his position may play out better in the long run. I was beginning to feel like Cruz was Trump's echo. Whether gaff or calculated, there's now at least one difference in policy between the candidates.
Palin is still spinning crop circles but now more incoherently.
Cruz never forgoes an opportunity to be unlikable.
Trump (for the moment) looks smart standing in comparison.
Admittedly, I wouldn't vote against a locally specific federal subsidy either. However, the subsidy probably isn't as meaningful as you'd think. By my count, the benefit works out to a little under $900 million per year or roughly $300 a year per person. Unless the return is concentrated among a few individuals or has a remarkable multiplier, I doubt it makes much difference for the typical Iowan. Naturally, your mileage may vary. I agree though, it doesn't look good for the free-market types.
Cruz's position feels more like a knee-jerk. When cornered, the elected Texan will instinctively support oil. Call it an evolutionary necessity. That said, his position may play out better in the long run. I was beginning to feel like Cruz was Trump's echo. Whether gaff or calculated, there's now at least one difference in policy between the candidates.
Blame the Republican Primary system. Because of its current form, Evangelicals who like Cruz put God first and their self-proclaimed Christian values over America and the US Constitution dictate the policy of all Republican candidates...they must be god-fearing Christians who believe women are nothing more than vassals for child-bearing since all Republican wannabes must be anti-abortion even in cases of rape or probable harm to the mother, deny climate warming and still believe, at best, that evolution is only a theory. Actually evangelicals deny all facts...like disparaging big government despite the fact that Iowa receives more dollars from the Federal Government than it sends in. Also, how come no one is questioning the fact that when Cruz shut down the government and cast his votes for the Keystone Pipeline he was still a Canadian citizen? Thus, Sarah Palin despite her pro-American persona supported a Canadian for Senate. There should be a law that anyone who has dual citizenship and wants to be a candidate for Federal office should renounce his citizenship prior to filing and no person should be appointed to a fed agency or the Cabinet who holds dual citizenship.
9
The entire ethanol policy goes to the heart of what is wrong in Washington---how a small state like Iowa, and a small set of farmers in that small state, is able to receive millions upon millions of dollars for a product that has no chance, I mean no chance to be our future energy source, is the very definition of special interest --thank you Senator Grassley.
21
There is much in what you say that has some truth, but converting a portion of the corn to ethanol serves to dampen the swings in the price of corn which would otherwise be devastating to anyone trying to farm. Further ethanol is a legitimate fuel as ethanol from cellulose has a very real potential to replace gasoline as a renewable fuel source. And for the record, adjusted for inflation, the price of corn today is less than half of what it was in 1980.
1
W.A., are you recommending that the government continue to interfere in the free market? Or is it only OK when it relates to ethanol production?
1
You'd prefer the government largesse flow to a small number of big oil corporations - thank you Senator Cruz.
1
It confounds and astonishes me that we have people who are adored and promoted as leaders, when they are unable to communicate effectively in their native language. Watching people, who are supposed to be the best candidates for the most difficult job in the world, babble incoherently makes me embarrassed for the entire country.
It was bad enough having to listen to one President of the United States say things, such as "You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test." or "I'm the commander -- see, I don't need to explain -- I do not need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being president." or "For every fatal shooting, there were roughly three non-fatal shootings. And, folks, this is unacceptable in America. It's just unacceptable. And we're going to do something about it." (GW Bush).
The ability to communicate effectively is not an optional requirement for a president. Any persons who cannot routinely form complete, coherent sentences have no business being in power.
It was bad enough having to listen to one President of the United States say things, such as "You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test." or "I'm the commander -- see, I don't need to explain -- I do not need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being president." or "For every fatal shooting, there were roughly three non-fatal shootings. And, folks, this is unacceptable in America. It's just unacceptable. And we're going to do something about it." (GW Bush).
The ability to communicate effectively is not an optional requirement for a president. Any persons who cannot routinely form complete, coherent sentences have no business being in power.
31
I believe its common knowledge that the use of ethanol in fuel is net negative from an energy perspective. It appears it is just another way to get some votes and have the American taxpayer foot the bill.
7
"I believe its common knowledge that the use of ethanol in fuel is net negative from an energy perspective."....Then you believe a myth which is no more supported by scientific evidence than vaccines cause autism or global warming is a hoax. As of several years ago, the number accepted in scientific circles was approximately 1.35 positive. There are suggestions that increased efficiency in the intervening years could raise that number to 1.65 . Please check a credible scientific source.
1
Empirically speaking, it sure messes up the operation of all my two-stroke machines.
4
What an insensitive, elitist column -- unworthy of Gail! Here in the Philadelphia area, the nation's heartland, we have hundreds of acres of corn planted where crumbling housing has been torn down so that our local communities can experience the joy of sowing and reaping the rewards of self-generated ethanol. No wonder Ted Cruz, the Princeton/Harvard elitist, self-designated non-politician enjoys no support among our corn growers.
2
Palin's endorsement speech should be used in all high schools across the nation to illustrate to students how rhetoric should not sound. English teachers would love this.
Palin is but a reflection of the cultured stupidity and ignorance of a vast segment of our population. There is no escaping it. The only solution is to allocate more funding for education.
Palin is but a reflection of the cultured stupidity and ignorance of a vast segment of our population. There is no escaping it. The only solution is to allocate more funding for education.
30
But you don't understand the attraction of Palin. When she stands in front of a crowd and blathers she confers a legitimacy to the Republican base to be uneducated.
12
And education begins at home.
In our celebrity-driven culture, it is not surprising that the media gives so much exposure to Sarah Palin, a person who exhibits no judgment, no logic, no thoughtfulness, no intelligence and no integrity. She seems nothing more than a complete caricature. Worse, it is a sad commentary on our population that there is a market for, or any interest in, such a "personality," much less in the realm of presidential politics.
44
call it the "Kardashian/Hilton syndrome".
I don't know where you are going with this sarcastic commentary. What I do gather from the the current political winds and you somehow reflect it here is that Trump is fast becoming a shrewd politician combined with a personality that somehow facilitates his popularity. Unconventional in his delivery and outside of the norm of the political speech what's attractive to many Americans is precisely his disdain for the phony, double tongue, twisted, political spin of the " pro" politicians who in the end accomplish nothing. The same old problems are kicked down the road: Immigration, the deficit, healthcare, tax reform, an eroding military and a chaotic US Foreign policy that has left our allies concerned and leaderless and our enemies emboldened. People are tired of the same old lines and inaction. Trump knows this very well. He knows what the people want. He voices the discontent of many Americans and somehow has given hope to many Americans, Dems and Republicans alike, that he will get things done in Washington: On the other hand Cruz has a history of alienating members of Congress, both parties. That is not what we need in Washington. We have enough divisiveness and paralysis, nor we need another 8 yrs of an Administration that can't figure out who are our friends and who are not; intent on pleasing everybody but pleasing no one and weakening America's leadership. Trump will have none of that. America first-- always and without apologies. No more dumb deals either.
Cruz alienates Congress. What do you think Trump will do? He will alienate everyone. You give Trump credit for things he could never do.
All Trump has done is tell people what they want to hear; He has given no evidence that he can address your concerns.
I love all these people who say things like "He/she is just like me!" "She/he understands me." That does not translate into actual ability. Think about it. Or is that too much to ask?
Think on this while you are at it: The President does not make laws. All those Congressmen and Senators (They are actually called "lawmakers") do. Whoever is elected will have to contend with that. And you wonder why Obama did not accomplish more?
All Trump has done is tell people what they want to hear; He has given no evidence that he can address your concerns.
I love all these people who say things like "He/she is just like me!" "She/he understands me." That does not translate into actual ability. Think about it. Or is that too much to ask?
Think on this while you are at it: The President does not make laws. All those Congressmen and Senators (They are actually called "lawmakers") do. Whoever is elected will have to contend with that. And you wonder why Obama did not accomplish more?
4
Your heart-felt endorsement of the Trump rhetoric, "he knows what the people want" is striking in its lack of completion. You are more than explicit as to what you claim the people DON'T WANT; but almost entirely silent as to what it is that you claim that they do want.
1
You're absolutely right. No more dumb deals. No more Atlantic City casinos, or NY Plaza Hotels. And we know that Putin is a real mensch who doesn't have people murdered.
4
Gee, let's see. Trump is a very smart malignant narcissist. Palin is a clever but very stupid malignant narcissist. Perfect yin and yang. The universe is in balance, though with an axis tilted far to the right.
BTW, ethanol subsidies and the mandated adition of ethanol to gasoline divert what would be reltively cheap animal feed into agri-welfare for Iowa farmers. Notice the incredible rise in the price of beef lately? Republicans love some forms of welfare.
BTW, ethanol subsidies and the mandated adition of ethanol to gasoline divert what would be reltively cheap animal feed into agri-welfare for Iowa farmers. Notice the incredible rise in the price of beef lately? Republicans love some forms of welfare.
25
Palin on balanced budgets in the private sector: a choking cloud of misinformation heavily laced with "dumb-down" gas.
Has Ms. Palin ever seen the balance sheet of a private enterprise that doesn't contain liabilities? Bank borrowings and/or bond borrowings to finance growth, inventory, or in hard times - just to make payroll? Of course not, because they hardly exist. Any businessman knows that.
Donald Trump certainly knows that. Remember that "small" (his word) million dollar loan he used to get started on his roller coaster career in real estate? When he took that first step into business, was his budget "balanced", with expenses precisely offset by revenues? Was his budget "balanced" when he declared bankruptcy and left his creditors holding the bag?
Sarah: "T'is better to remain silent and be a thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt."
Has Ms. Palin ever seen the balance sheet of a private enterprise that doesn't contain liabilities? Bank borrowings and/or bond borrowings to finance growth, inventory, or in hard times - just to make payroll? Of course not, because they hardly exist. Any businessman knows that.
Donald Trump certainly knows that. Remember that "small" (his word) million dollar loan he used to get started on his roller coaster career in real estate? When he took that first step into business, was his budget "balanced", with expenses precisely offset by revenues? Was his budget "balanced" when he declared bankruptcy and left his creditors holding the bag?
Sarah: "T'is better to remain silent and be a thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt."
26
Anyone still sorry for John McCain's suffering from being blasted by Trump as a loser?
Me neither. He is responsible for putting SP on the national stage.
Me neither. He is responsible for putting SP on the national stage.
60
SP says, “He (DT) is from the private sector, not a politician. Yes, like Michigan governor Rick Synder. Regarding Ms. Palin's son being arrested for domestic violence this week she is blaming it on PTSD from his "service" in Iraq. He is getting a disability check from we hard-working tax-paying losers for it. My son-in-law served in both Afghanistan and Iraq at the most dangerous times and has PTSD and refuses to have a gun in the house. I wonder how Ms. Palin and her son feel about it.
100
The main thing I learned from this is that apparently Alaska actually does have a law that makes it illegal to be "drunk and in possession of a weapon."
I think Track must be the first guy ever charged with this in the history of Alaska.
I think Track must be the first guy ever charged with this in the history of Alaska.
As a wife/girlfriend beater Palin Jr. is prohibited from buying a gun. That is unless he buys it on the Internet or at a gun show. His mummy might also buy him one regardless of the very real danger that presents to the already abused young lady.
5
Don't forget his ETOH level was 0.189 maybe that had something to do with his behavior, no? It is unbelievable that Palin immediately evokes President Obama's name again saying more or less it is all his fault. Does she ever take responsibility for anything?.
1
One of Sarah Palin's favorite "bits" is to mock Barack Obama for using a Teleprompter. But it's hard to imagine a more effective walking, talking in-the-flesh advertisement for the value of that machine. Her endorsement was one for the rhetoric textbooks.
124
heres what happens to sara when she loses her t-prompter
note th silence of th audience ass it finally dawns on them what a moron she really is
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrzD-zqWwWc
note th silence of th audience ass it finally dawns on them what a moron she really is
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrzD-zqWwWc
that's because st Ronald never used one, er, maybe.....
1
"[Y]ou have to balance budgets in order to prioritize, to keep the main thing, the main thing, and he knows the main thing,” she continued." I wonder if M's Palin knows what "the main thing" is. Perhaps she was totally overcome with joy because she was asked to speak at a Trump rally.
33
Might not Mr. Trump's record as a serial bankruptee give us some indication of his fiscal responsibility?
4
No doubt. If the sound of her voice doesn't get you, the stupidity will. Rah, rah.
2
Palin sends her son off to the military on September 11, 2007 in the midst of a election campaign against then candidate Obama, to fight and return before Bush even leaves office and somehow, his domestic issues are solidly placed on Obama's head.
A four year would question that logic.
A four year would question that logic.
210
It's another measure of our cultural decline. Consider the honorable story of Teddy Roosevelt's son's service, and death in service, just about one hundred years ago in WWI. Responsibility was accepted, blame was not cast.
6
Everything, literally everything, is Obama's fault in the nutbar universe.
Getting drunk, beating up your girlfriend, threatening to shoot yourself AND then lipping off to the cops in a drunken stupor ... yeah, that's Obama-derangement-syndrome ... no doubt about it!
In the more gun-friendly parts of New York State one occasionally sees lawn signs that say "Repeal Obama's NY-SAFE Act."
There you go ... you didn't know about Obama's most incredible gun control initiative, did you?
Getting drunk, beating up your girlfriend, threatening to shoot yourself AND then lipping off to the cops in a drunken stupor ... yeah, that's Obama-derangement-syndrome ... no doubt about it!
In the more gun-friendly parts of New York State one occasionally sees lawn signs that say "Repeal Obama's NY-SAFE Act."
There you go ... you didn't know about Obama's most incredible gun control initiative, did you?
Eye rolling time.
Toughen up, Gail. You've got 10 more months of this nonsensical, darnful, barnful fun ahead of you, including the Republicans. Why, Hillary a vote sniffer of the first order, too, has already lined up the teacher union vote.
If the teachers actually vote for ANY of these candidates this time, besides Bernie, they all need to go back to school and study the hard lessons learned from Obama. He still has no clue. Think of all the good Barack could have done engaging young, black males in conversations about the important of their K12 learning. Now, count all the conversations he had. Yep. Zip.
Lesson number one, girl: they all go where the votes are, where the corn is as high as an elephant's eye and as low as a mule's droppings.
You've got to get your mojo back, girl. Think dogs on the roof, and uncrypted emails, and, well, you know.
If the teachers actually vote for ANY of these candidates this time, besides Bernie, they all need to go back to school and study the hard lessons learned from Obama. He still has no clue. Think of all the good Barack could have done engaging young, black males in conversations about the important of their K12 learning. Now, count all the conversations he had. Yep. Zip.
Lesson number one, girl: they all go where the votes are, where the corn is as high as an elephant's eye and as low as a mule's droppings.
You've got to get your mojo back, girl. Think dogs on the roof, and uncrypted emails, and, well, you know.
9
Excuse me, pal, but who are you to call Gail "girl"? Get thee back!
5
Sarah Palin's words are carefully constructed to portray a biblically intoned folksiness. That is what endears her to her followers. Beware the urge to belittle her.
8
Please cite any passage of the Bible that correlates with any of Palin's gibberish.
31
We are all aware that this is what "endears" her to folks. That does not mean she gets a pass on being called out as a complete moron.
9
"Biblically intoned"? No, it's not. It may be Arkansas-backwoods-gospel-tent-intoned, but the Bible is actually pretty well written, and just as literature, a fundamental part of the canon. As far as cowering from belittling a person whose ignorance and malice so richly deserve it just because she has followers who are also ignorant and malicious, it's a no to that, too. We need to stand up to people--Palin, Trump, or others-- who think that they can bully us that way.
9
This was actually the most informative thing I've seen this week on the politics going on in Iowa. Nice to have the sweetening humor to help down the bitter medicine of the politics of ethanol and farm subsidies.
Mainstream Republicans are only into defending the subsidies of millionaires.
Mainstream Republicans are only into defending the subsidies of millionaires.
57
Now you understand what Trump meant when he told (not ask) Iowans at one of his meetings, "How stupid are you." He decided to take their acceptance as confirmation of their ignorance and bought in his "brain trust" to endorse him, if that is what the Palin did. I am now in the position of having to keep my finger on the mute button less I be driven completely insane by her screeching. I rate her voice to be the equivalent of a thousand finger nails dragging along an endless black board. Waterboarding is no match for the Palin.
52
Hearing aids have turned out to be a blessing Dwight. I can turn them off, and do, when I hear screeching.
3
She is about as embarrassing as it gets for our country. But it seems no one in her party, including Sen. McCain will say it out loud. And as if it was only embarrassing...
43
The rest of the world us being entertained for free. Everyone is having a good laugh, incredulous, they always knew americans were generally loud mouthed simpletons but this low?
7
I don't think anyone has to blame President Obama for anything. His fictitious State of the Union Address did that for him. He ignores the deficit, economy, the lack of jobs (especially available to minorities and I am not one). He wants more people whether legal or not (he will make them so) to come here where the lower level jobs are non-existent and will be in the future with more robots. Trump is not costing anyone a dime to campaign and he cannot be controlled by the press or the democrats; too bad. It is truly refreshing to have a non-player candidate. He is not a politician and does not want to rewrite the Constitution. He does not have scandals and does not profess to placate people with lies and entitlements.
No lies from Trump? So all Mexican immigrants really ARE rapists? Not costing anyone a dime to campaign? Sure, why not pass legislation to ensure that only billionaires are eligible to run for President? Do you have a bank account? Did you have one in 2008? Make sure to send a thank-you note to Pres. Obama for the bail-out.
17
Trump has no scandals? I guess you've conveniently forgotten that he started dating his 2nd wife, Marla Maples, while he was still married to his 1st wife, Ivana (who once accused him of marital rape). After divorcing Ivana & marrying the pregnant Marla, he ditched her in favor of wife #3.
19
Now there's a laugh... apparently this lady's been well blindered from the truth...maybe she listens to the Fox propaganda channel. About everything she said is almost the opposite of the actual state of affairs.
4
Trump and Palin: United. Absolutely. Makes perfect sense to me.
46
Mrs. Palin and the English language have a nodding acquaintance, but they definitely cannot be called friends.
131
You can also throw out logic, common sense, and personal responsibility. Take what little you have left, add greed and the overpowering need to win at all cost, pour into a conservative mold and allow to ferment. Voila! Yet another GOP candidate - just like all the other GOP candidates.
2
Her voice! Her voice! Please! Somebody make her stop talking because she makes no sense anyway and yet that sound comes out of her throat and screeches worse than fingernails on a chalkboard.
She doesn't make sense and she sounds horrible not making it.
And to blame President Obama for her son's PTSD....where did he get it? He drove officers around. He didn't see combat. I don't doubt he has it. Perhaps he had it before he went into the army - I mean growing up with Sarah and all.
She doesn't make sense and she sounds horrible not making it.
And to blame President Obama for her son's PTSD....where did he get it? He drove officers around. He didn't see combat. I don't doubt he has it. Perhaps he had it before he went into the army - I mean growing up with Sarah and all.
431
She does have a horrible voice--I totally agree! Unfortunately, she is as much a narcissist as he is so he won't be able to effectively drown her out.
Yet another reason to miss Obama next year. I would hate to hear Sarah sing.
Yet another reason to miss Obama next year. I would hate to hear Sarah sing.
2
sophia--Oh! That's what I was going to say! Anyway, I don't anyone thinks that affliction justifies violent behavior, speaking as one who has suffered from it myself. I never felt the urge to assault anyone. Although, I do feel the urge to stuff a dirty sock in Palin's mouth.
4
And don't forget that his very patriotic decision to go in the army was made in order to avoid jail. He may have gotten a worse case of PTSD there than he did as a chauffeur.
Tina Fey will have to update her Sarah impression to match Sarah's much more screechy voice of today. She sounds like one of the turkeys being slaughtered behind her in that famous video.
Tina Fey will have to update her Sarah impression to match Sarah's much more screechy voice of today. She sounds like one of the turkeys being slaughtered behind her in that famous video.
2
That opening quote by Sarah Palin is breathtaking in it's incoherence. (Paging, Tina Fey)
The very notion that she is a positive addition in any campaign speaks volumes of the candidates on the right. I sincerely hope that the Republicans are able to get it together once the nonsense of Iowa is finished. There are real problems in this nation that need attention. Serious domestic problems and very real world problems as well. Trump and Palin are about as ill prepared to deal with serious international issues as one could be.
The very notion that she is a positive addition in any campaign speaks volumes of the candidates on the right. I sincerely hope that the Republicans are able to get it together once the nonsense of Iowa is finished. There are real problems in this nation that need attention. Serious domestic problems and very real world problems as well. Trump and Palin are about as ill prepared to deal with serious international issues as one could be.
80
Brilliant, as usual, Ms. Collins. Who can possibly take the Republicans seriously? It's scary that so many seem to.
55
Love Sarah. Nobody can come up with that hilarious grammar, America got talent!
Now, that her political endorsement matters at all is absolutely puzzling, even an atheist will pray for her voters to be a minority.
Now, that her political endorsement matters at all is absolutely puzzling, even an atheist will pray for her voters to be a minority.
27
I'm an atheist, and I find myself hoping there really is a hell, not just on earth.
4
The truly ironic thing about Palin's mangled speech is that for years, she has been ridiculing President Obama for using a teleprompter, insinuating that he does not have the intellect to give a speech without one.
Whereas she, quite obviously, cannot make a comprehensible statement either with or without one!
Whereas she, quite obviously, cannot make a comprehensible statement either with or without one!
94
I am constantly amazed at right-wing conservative Republicans who are anti- government, big government, Federal government - until they aren't.
"No government is the best government" unless they want subsidies for sugar and $15 billion (with a B) in subsidies for corn; "no regulation" unless it's the Renewable Fuels Standard established by an act of (gulp) Congress which takes away the peoples freedom from ethanol free fuels, but benefits the Trump and Cruz "clingers" in the countries heartland.
Government haters like Clive Bundy who I bet collects a Social Security check, and his son who I'd give odds would put in for Disability if he tripped over an artifact at the (egads!) Federal Sanctuary. "Haters" who punch out after 40 hours, collect time and a half in their checks, retire at 65, get medical care (instead of getting fired) if they get hurt on the job, who travel between states freely on the Interstate highways, eat food that is among the safest on earth, sleep better relying on the largest and best equipped military in the world, and while they do - dream about going to the stars.
Oh, well, big government haters, go ahead, rant and rave and make noise about Washington, Congress and state's rights, safe in the knowledge that if, by some chance, your local and state government screws up and, say, accidentally/on purpose poisons you with the very water you drink, you can always turn to the Federal government and (yikes!) President Obama to ask for help.
"No government is the best government" unless they want subsidies for sugar and $15 billion (with a B) in subsidies for corn; "no regulation" unless it's the Renewable Fuels Standard established by an act of (gulp) Congress which takes away the peoples freedom from ethanol free fuels, but benefits the Trump and Cruz "clingers" in the countries heartland.
Government haters like Clive Bundy who I bet collects a Social Security check, and his son who I'd give odds would put in for Disability if he tripped over an artifact at the (egads!) Federal Sanctuary. "Haters" who punch out after 40 hours, collect time and a half in their checks, retire at 65, get medical care (instead of getting fired) if they get hurt on the job, who travel between states freely on the Interstate highways, eat food that is among the safest on earth, sleep better relying on the largest and best equipped military in the world, and while they do - dream about going to the stars.
Oh, well, big government haters, go ahead, rant and rave and make noise about Washington, Congress and state's rights, safe in the knowledge that if, by some chance, your local and state government screws up and, say, accidentally/on purpose poisons you with the very water you drink, you can always turn to the Federal government and (yikes!) President Obama to ask for help.
158
The hypocrisy is mindboggling, or they're totally clueless.
4
Ms. Collins, what are these political games that are taking place and are they meant to be taken seriously by Americans? Perhaps I am out of the loop because I get bored by 'reality shows' but I remember when a friend who is alert and awake told me that Sarah Palin had done her 'homework' well in her debate with Joe Biden some years ago. This is not the time to do homework, I groused, and I turned the sound off to look at this woman's eyes. She looks 'unhinged' was one reflection of mine, but then I felt the same way about Donald Trump a few months ago and thought it was unkind of the Media to make fun of him.
The tragedy of this is that my friend is a Muslim. It hurts in so many ways to see the dismantling of America, the noise, the stupidity of these presidential hopefuls and their cunning. They are dangerous, they do not bring out the best in us, they make this American feel shabby.
Cruz brings to mind a 'crucifying experience' and I am too craven to listen to what this guy has to say. Please keep writing. It offers some of us solace, and while I am surrounded by long faces, people who are struggling to survive, I continue to meet kind strangers. Perhaps this is a surrealistic tabloid intermission, a political one, and Jeb Bush, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders will come to the fore and drum out of town these cartoon contenders like the Lion and the Unicorn, Alice here is covering her ears.
The tragedy of this is that my friend is a Muslim. It hurts in so many ways to see the dismantling of America, the noise, the stupidity of these presidential hopefuls and their cunning. They are dangerous, they do not bring out the best in us, they make this American feel shabby.
Cruz brings to mind a 'crucifying experience' and I am too craven to listen to what this guy has to say. Please keep writing. It offers some of us solace, and while I am surrounded by long faces, people who are struggling to survive, I continue to meet kind strangers. Perhaps this is a surrealistic tabloid intermission, a political one, and Jeb Bush, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders will come to the fore and drum out of town these cartoon contenders like the Lion and the Unicorn, Alice here is covering her ears.
18
I felt a little "squirmish"watching Sarah Palin's return to the stage. She seemed unusually ramped up and I cringed, when she apparently felt obligated to mentioned her son's domestic violence arrest. Trumps frozen grin seemed to get tighter as her speech progressed. She seemed forced and was clearly trying to match the Republican concept of "SarahPalin". The fact that "Sarah"and "The Donald", two political caricatures,are teaming up in Trump's serious run for the Presidency is testimony to the descent of the Republicans from the "Grand Old Party" to theatre of the absurd.If Tina Fey is available, I think we got a preview of SNL's next opening.
38
I appreciate the need for an approach to the serious problem this column addresses that gets our attention, delivers the facts and a way of looking at them, and is persuasive, and I can see how humor can facilitate all that. But I have become increasingly concerned that some of the kinds of humor are vulnerable to producing a reaction in the audience of increasingly petty responses delivered under the guise of just doing something similar themselves. I am hoping for humor that opens us up rather than appeals to our snarkier natures.
3
I disagree. I believe humor is the perfect vehicle for deflating the notion that Sarah Palin is a serious political figure. Tina Fey (for example) did it brilliantly, and without snark.
18
NA,
I'm fine with humor, I was pointing out that some kinds of humor tend to produce a response in the audience of snark, and that this process helps, even if this was unintentional, our discourse descend.
I'm fine with humor, I was pointing out that some kinds of humor tend to produce a response in the audience of snark, and that this process helps, even if this was unintentional, our discourse descend.
Recall the old adage about laughing "with" someone rather than "at" them. That only works if the target of your humor has enough personal insight to see the humor in their statements or actions. If Sarah Palin has had such an insightful moment in her life, it does not come through during her public appearances.
I was actually sympathetic to the Palin portrayed by Julianne Moore in the movie "Game Change." I was especially moved by the scene where she sits alone in a motel room weeping while she watches Tina Fey parody her on television. Yet seeing Palin again this week makes me wonder if Moore's personification had more to do with the depth of feeling of a great actress rather than any such reflectiveness in Palin herself. A mother with real depth of feeling would have stayed with her son in a time of crisis, not flown to Iowa to stand beside Donald Trump and bask in the glow of media coverage.
I was actually sympathetic to the Palin portrayed by Julianne Moore in the movie "Game Change." I was especially moved by the scene where she sits alone in a motel room weeping while she watches Tina Fey parody her on television. Yet seeing Palin again this week makes me wonder if Moore's personification had more to do with the depth of feeling of a great actress rather than any such reflectiveness in Palin herself. A mother with real depth of feeling would have stayed with her son in a time of crisis, not flown to Iowa to stand beside Donald Trump and bask in the glow of media coverage.
The word salad queen has returned. It's embarrassing listening to her gobbledygook nonsense. Trump has the kiss of death on him now, stick a fork in him - he's done.
18
She killed McCain (see war hero) and now she will kill Trump.
2
Maybe Sarah is speaking in tongues and since I am an atheist, I never understand what she is talking about. I've always looked at her as having the Chauncey the gardener life (Being There) although Chauncey was a lot more likable. Her 15 minutes of fame has gone into reruns unfortunately. Ugh!
39
Dear Ms. Collins,
Don't hang around with too many "Tea Party" types, do you?
I have next door neighbors that fly the Gadsden Flag and the American flag daily and they LOVE Ms. Palin. She's a regular, gun toting "good old boy" and has been speaking nonsense for years. It's just that, lately, she hasn't been in the news. Now her "endorsement" of Donald Trump has put her back on the national stage and her rhetoric is, of course, a tad more "convoluted" because, heck, all she really wants to do it hunt wolves from helicopters and, maybe, buy a new, double wide trailer. Her entire shtick is "Obama bashing" and "liberal hatin'" only she's just not as articulate as, say, Ann Coulter though Ms. Coulter is obviously in it "for the money" and plays the same tune to her audience again and again while toting her cash to the bank.
As a columnist, this entire amalgamation of GOP/TP/KOCH AFFILIATE candidates must be a god send with each day bringing new "lows' in presidential politics. All I can say is wait until all these caucuses and primaries are over and the two "official" candidates go at it hammer and tong with an unlimited amount of money to spend to tarnish the other side!
This might be the "Mother of All Negative Campaigns" making "Swift Boating" look like child's play.
I can hardly wait for 2020!
Don't hang around with too many "Tea Party" types, do you?
I have next door neighbors that fly the Gadsden Flag and the American flag daily and they LOVE Ms. Palin. She's a regular, gun toting "good old boy" and has been speaking nonsense for years. It's just that, lately, she hasn't been in the news. Now her "endorsement" of Donald Trump has put her back on the national stage and her rhetoric is, of course, a tad more "convoluted" because, heck, all she really wants to do it hunt wolves from helicopters and, maybe, buy a new, double wide trailer. Her entire shtick is "Obama bashing" and "liberal hatin'" only she's just not as articulate as, say, Ann Coulter though Ms. Coulter is obviously in it "for the money" and plays the same tune to her audience again and again while toting her cash to the bank.
As a columnist, this entire amalgamation of GOP/TP/KOCH AFFILIATE candidates must be a god send with each day bringing new "lows' in presidential politics. All I can say is wait until all these caucuses and primaries are over and the two "official" candidates go at it hammer and tong with an unlimited amount of money to spend to tarnish the other side!
This might be the "Mother of All Negative Campaigns" making "Swift Boating" look like child's play.
I can hardly wait for 2020!
16
What we have here is a new Olympic even in Iowa. Call it the "fiascoathon." Trump/Palin versus Cruz/Beck? Has the world gone mad? Yesterday's NY Daily news led with a full front-page ad trumpeting (sorry) "I'm with Stupid!" (Trump with Palin or Palin with Trump wasn't clear from the headline.)
Tuesday's Palin utterly destroyed the Tina Fey Palin-mimick schtick. No comedian, no matter how brilliant, could out-satirize the number Sarah did on herself. It was truly jaw-dropping, but not very funny.
Sympathy for Cruz, even for a second? How often has anyone felt bad for a venomous rattlesnake?
www.endthemadnessnow.org
Tuesday's Palin utterly destroyed the Tina Fey Palin-mimick schtick. No comedian, no matter how brilliant, could out-satirize the number Sarah did on herself. It was truly jaw-dropping, but not very funny.
Sympathy for Cruz, even for a second? How often has anyone felt bad for a venomous rattlesnake?
www.endthemadnessnow.org
37
Palin & Trump together...endorsement?
Or a meeting of the Iowa Chapter of Narcissists Un-Anonymous?
Or a meeting of the Iowa Chapter of Narcissists Un-Anonymous?
6
It’s hard to decide what or who has become more sadly weird in Iowa. Gail Collins has given us plenty of choices.
Sarah Palin must long for the days when she vied to be one heartbeat away from the presidency. A grateful nation should be giving a collective “Whew!”
Her performance on behalf of Donald Trump demonstrated that, depending upon your point of view, Sarah either has not stood the test of time or she has done exactly that.
Miss Syntax still has the knack of putting all of the right buzzwords in all of the wrong places. It’s even money that her remarks were guided by crib notes written on the palms of her hands.
If anyone doubted how ruthless Donald Trump can be, this episode makes it clear. Trump managed to pull off a Trifecta with Sarah: he made a splash with the Tea Party crowd, cut the legs out from under Ted Cruz and hit John McCain again just for old times’ sake.
Putting all of the politicians aside, the most bizarre thing about Iowa is the Iowans. They disrupt the nation’s food chain with their ethanol-fueled greed and disrupt the nation’s politics with their creepy caucuses.
The thing we should resent most is being made to feel sorry for Ted Cruz. I draw the line there.
Sarah Palin must long for the days when she vied to be one heartbeat away from the presidency. A grateful nation should be giving a collective “Whew!”
Her performance on behalf of Donald Trump demonstrated that, depending upon your point of view, Sarah either has not stood the test of time or she has done exactly that.
Miss Syntax still has the knack of putting all of the right buzzwords in all of the wrong places. It’s even money that her remarks were guided by crib notes written on the palms of her hands.
If anyone doubted how ruthless Donald Trump can be, this episode makes it clear. Trump managed to pull off a Trifecta with Sarah: he made a splash with the Tea Party crowd, cut the legs out from under Ted Cruz and hit John McCain again just for old times’ sake.
Putting all of the politicians aside, the most bizarre thing about Iowa is the Iowans. They disrupt the nation’s food chain with their ethanol-fueled greed and disrupt the nation’s politics with their creepy caucuses.
The thing we should resent most is being made to feel sorry for Ted Cruz. I draw the line there.
37
Generally right, but please remember, the state went for Obama in '08 and '12. Clearly, there are a lot of sane people living in Iowa.
2
True, sallyb, but from 1999 to 2011 Iowa had twelve years of Democratic governors -- Tom Vilsack and Chet Culver. Then, Terry Branstad, aided by the indestructible Chuck Grassley, mysteriously returned from oblivion and walked among the Iowans, sucking ethanol from their corn.
Gail, one has got to watch more of the GOP prep rallies. Who knew they were so much fun!
Cruz just said on TV that he is Christian first, American second and Republican and Conservative bring up the rear. That is kinda funny for someone who has been waving the Constitution as if he could read the minds of the authors.
While one should leave politicians' families out of politics, one just has to marvel at the notoriety Palin's family, including herself, have gained considering the lack of any discernible talents. But perhaps this is more a norm than an exception. Why, people may not know state capitals etc. but who hasn't heard of people like Zimmerman?
Perhaps that is why people gravitate to Trump. After all, in the land of the blind, one eyed is king.
Cruz just said on TV that he is Christian first, American second and Republican and Conservative bring up the rear. That is kinda funny for someone who has been waving the Constitution as if he could read the minds of the authors.
While one should leave politicians' families out of politics, one just has to marvel at the notoriety Palin's family, including herself, have gained considering the lack of any discernible talents. But perhaps this is more a norm than an exception. Why, people may not know state capitals etc. but who hasn't heard of people like Zimmerman?
Perhaps that is why people gravitate to Trump. After all, in the land of the blind, one eyed is king.
59
Perhaps he should say that he is a Canadian second and an American third, then a Republican, and then...
That the Constitution comes in second just underscores that rather than reading the minds of the founding fathers, he reads the mind of THE Father. I understand his biological father has declared Ted to be the Second Coming or in some way sent from God.
God would not be that cruel.
God would not be that cruel.
3
So … Barack Obama ISN’T responsible for sunspots? Says who?
We’re asked to be astonished at the perfidy of a dealmaker who sees votes in corn, and asked as well to pity a former Alaska governor who’s probably no longer a ten – or was that a seven? Or was that Julianne Moore? Ted Cruz comes out pretty well in all this, for the first time in his life. But Trump comes out best, as he got a valued Tea Party endorsement for the cost of just one visit to Tulsa – though some might consider that a close call.
How come Julianne hasn’t yet put out a contract on Track, the son charged with domestic violence? I understand that he presents an opportunity to wax outraged over PTSD, in Tulsa, but, besides the means to buy Jimmy Choos, what’s the point of all this gallivanting around if you can’t afford to solve problems the old fashioned way? Part of the problem may be that she’s bouncing around the starry firmament watering in Scottsdale while keeping Todd (you’d forgotten about him, hadn’t you?) and the kids back in Wasila. What’s there to do in Wasila besides domestic violence and have kids? And espy Russia from your porch?
In short, never write The Donald out of a ticklish situation, and wonder what it is that has caused Ted Cruz to remain protective of Big Oil over Big Corn, at a time when ExxonMobil is drowning in a lake of oil created by the Saudis and he needs to make a splash in Iowa. Maybe Goldman in seriously vested in Big Oil (you think?) but not Big Corn.
We’re asked to be astonished at the perfidy of a dealmaker who sees votes in corn, and asked as well to pity a former Alaska governor who’s probably no longer a ten – or was that a seven? Or was that Julianne Moore? Ted Cruz comes out pretty well in all this, for the first time in his life. But Trump comes out best, as he got a valued Tea Party endorsement for the cost of just one visit to Tulsa – though some might consider that a close call.
How come Julianne hasn’t yet put out a contract on Track, the son charged with domestic violence? I understand that he presents an opportunity to wax outraged over PTSD, in Tulsa, but, besides the means to buy Jimmy Choos, what’s the point of all this gallivanting around if you can’t afford to solve problems the old fashioned way? Part of the problem may be that she’s bouncing around the starry firmament watering in Scottsdale while keeping Todd (you’d forgotten about him, hadn’t you?) and the kids back in Wasila. What’s there to do in Wasila besides domestic violence and have kids? And espy Russia from your porch?
In short, never write The Donald out of a ticklish situation, and wonder what it is that has caused Ted Cruz to remain protective of Big Oil over Big Corn, at a time when ExxonMobil is drowning in a lake of oil created by the Saudis and he needs to make a splash in Iowa. Maybe Goldman in seriously vested in Big Oil (you think?) but not Big Corn.
29
Trump has already for all intents and purposes declared McCain a 'loser' (not even a war hero). Do you really think he would repeat McCain's mistake, everyone?
She'll get a plumb spot as head of Alaska Fish and Wildlife, with all the rootin-tootin' ammo she wants. Her purpose is being served in Iowa. That's about it.
She'll get a plumb spot as head of Alaska Fish and Wildlife, with all the rootin-tootin' ammo she wants. Her purpose is being served in Iowa. That's about it.
18
Let's hope "that is about it". That she is held in esteem by even a small portion of the electorate I find embarrassing for the. nation. Her perpetual shrill anger and deep contempt for President Obama goes beyond politics. Linking her son's arrest to the President's "neglect" of the military is despicable in it's use of her son's dysfunction and the soldiers themselves for her narcissistic ambitions.
7
She has made herself into a multi-millionaire with all her activities. Having to spend a few years stuck in Anchorage making $75,000 would not be a "plumb job" for her.....
1
She's ba-a-a-ck... (Cue the shower slasher music from Psycho,)
82
(or the theme from "Jaws")
4
..or the intro music to Jaws...
2
Wait, I thought it was lazy welfare moms, teachers and public workers that blew the budget... Now you say it's government subsidies to agribusinesses?!?
83
Has been all along, JPKANT, plus oil, etc.
"These are my principles! And if you do not agree with them...
I have others!"
Groucho Marx, and every politician ever running for office
I have others!"
Groucho Marx, and every politician ever running for office
146
Oh Gail! You're just picking on the Republican cover girl and every conservative's dream (Ross Douthat tops the list) because she actually knows how to speak "American."
Let's see how much "American" language you liberal "pundants" have learned.
Let's see how much "American" language you liberal "pundants" have learned.
35
Huh. Given the long and glorious tradition of American writing and speech, one would not have identified Palin's word-salad as American.
2
O.K. time's up.
1
Amurcan, perhaps?
1
At least this crew of Republicans gives hope that someone can challenge the Clinton machine. I would hate to see Hillary & Bill steamroll the GOP without the hint of a fight.
3
Hope is the thing with feathers...
The problem is that no one on the Democratic side wants to be President enough to spend two years fighting for it....so Hilary has no real competition. Some obvious candidates have already tried (Kerry), others don't want to block Hilary's great chance (Warren).....and minority candidates (Booker) might think America is not ready for back to back black Presidents. And all the Democratic business people and military officers are too focused on building small fortunes rather than blowing their small fortunes on a long shot.
I don't think these Republican rodeo clowns will have a chance in the general election against Hilary.....Romney should have tried again but he is a nice guy and decided to let Jeb Bush take his spot.
I don't think these Republican rodeo clowns will have a chance in the general election against Hilary.....Romney should have tried again but he is a nice guy and decided to let Jeb Bush take his spot.
2
Palin and Trump. Made for each other. Both a half a bubble off plumb. Gail, the Republican worshipers of Trump and Palin don't see anything wrong. As to Iowa and ethanol, it is the perfect oxymoron of the smaller government, lower spending conservatives we see regularly here in flyover country. The voting records of Iowa counties in general presidential elections are correlated with the amount of farm subsidies received by the residents. The greater the farm subsidy, the more likely they are to vote for a Republican presidential candidate or senator. Add to that Social Security and Medicare and you pretty much have it all. Makes perfect sense doesn't it? You can cut any federal program you want, as long as it is not my program.
308
Then in order to save the subsidies and even increase them you put a family member (like your son) in charge and you are "in like Flynn". By golly subsidies in the billions, who knew but god forbid we should support or subsidies healthcare for the very poor and underprivileged.
4
Yes, Trump and Palin are made for each other. The Daily News showed a photo of Trump with Palin, with the headline "I'm with stupid!"
Now maybe Trump doesn't know much about foreign policy or governing, but with Sarah standing beside him when he answers questions, Trump will definitely appear smarter. Hmm, could that be why John McCain chose her for his V.P.
Now maybe Trump doesn't know much about foreign policy or governing, but with Sarah standing beside him when he answers questions, Trump will definitely appear smarter. Hmm, could that be why John McCain chose her for his V.P.
3
''O.K., time’s up.''
A perfect expression of my thoughts about the entire Republican field.
On ethanol:
''Ethanol is being promoted as a clean and renewable fuel that will reduce global warming and air pollution," Mark Z. Jacobson, the study's author and an atmospheric scientist at Stanford, said in a statement. "But our results show that a high blend of ethanol poses an equal or greater risk to public health than gasoline, which already causes significant health damage.''
After this warning, of course, additional methanol was mandated under GWB, and, according to an AP investigation:
''Five million acres of land set aside for conservation — more than Yellowstone, Everglades and Yosemite National Parks combined — have vanished.
Landowners filled in wetlands. They plowed into pristine prairies, releasing carbon dioxide that had been locked in the soil.
Sprayers pumped out billions of pounds of fertilizer, some of which seeped into drinking water, contaminated rivers and worsened the huge dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico where marine life can’t survive.''
And so it goes...
A perfect expression of my thoughts about the entire Republican field.
On ethanol:
''Ethanol is being promoted as a clean and renewable fuel that will reduce global warming and air pollution," Mark Z. Jacobson, the study's author and an atmospheric scientist at Stanford, said in a statement. "But our results show that a high blend of ethanol poses an equal or greater risk to public health than gasoline, which already causes significant health damage.''
After this warning, of course, additional methanol was mandated under GWB, and, according to an AP investigation:
''Five million acres of land set aside for conservation — more than Yellowstone, Everglades and Yosemite National Parks combined — have vanished.
Landowners filled in wetlands. They plowed into pristine prairies, releasing carbon dioxide that had been locked in the soil.
Sprayers pumped out billions of pounds of fertilizer, some of which seeped into drinking water, contaminated rivers and worsened the huge dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico where marine life can’t survive.''
And so it goes...
256
For many Republicans saving the planet or humanity is an oxymoron for
if they believed in science or clima change they would have to change their ways. It seems many Republicans do not even care what kind of world they will leave behind for their children. Just listen to Ted Cruz. Yes just nuke Iran or Isis? What is he thinking? NOT! Does he think the rest of major players in the world would let that happen and not retaliate? Just think what a war with nuclear weapons would do to the planet. Do many Republicans or Cruz ever think about that? Although I do not have any children myself, I do worry about the children and our future generation.
if they believed in science or clima change they would have to change their ways. It seems many Republicans do not even care what kind of world they will leave behind for their children. Just listen to Ted Cruz. Yes just nuke Iran or Isis? What is he thinking? NOT! Does he think the rest of major players in the world would let that happen and not retaliate? Just think what a war with nuclear weapons would do to the planet. Do many Republicans or Cruz ever think about that? Although I do not have any children myself, I do worry about the children and our future generation.
5
'“He is from the private sector, not a politician. Can I get a hallelujah? '
Funny, isn't it, that Ms. Palin was the governor of her state after having been a mayor, i.e., a politician, when she came to public attention? Of course, someone running for office is, by definition, a politician.
The whole idea that "politicians" are bad and outsiders are good is odd. Once in office, the outsider simply is forced to surround himself/herself with non-elected, i.e., not vetted by the public, insiders. George W. Bush, a "Washington outsider," did just that, which gave us Cheney, Wolfewitz etc. Look how very well that turned out.
Funny, isn't it, that Ms. Palin was the governor of her state after having been a mayor, i.e., a politician, when she came to public attention? Of course, someone running for office is, by definition, a politician.
The whole idea that "politicians" are bad and outsiders are good is odd. Once in office, the outsider simply is forced to surround himself/herself with non-elected, i.e., not vetted by the public, insiders. George W. Bush, a "Washington outsider," did just that, which gave us Cheney, Wolfewitz etc. Look how very well that turned out.
278
Her fans, if she still has them, should note that Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan is also from the private sector. And how is that working out in Michigan?
4
But as a true mavericky outsider, once Sarah realized she was a member of the political establishment, she quit.
1
Cruz has ALWAYS been against crony-capitalism, which is just one of the reasons why he is despised by the ruling elites.
This ethanol boondoggle is a disaster. It exists to fund government. The cost increases the price of food for everyone. Cruz takes a principled stand in corn country. That's a leader. Trump says he will double down. That's a panderer.
This ethanol boondoggle is a disaster. It exists to fund government. The cost increases the price of food for everyone. Cruz takes a principled stand in corn country. That's a leader. Trump says he will double down. That's a panderer.
23
So Cruz will take on Big Oil?
9
Spare me your principles, just do what's right.
What's right is to stop raiding our food supply to force people to use fuel that ruins their engine and lowers their gas mileage. That's wrong on so many levels that I don't know where to start.
What's right is to stop raiding our food supply to force people to use fuel that ruins their engine and lowers their gas mileage. That's wrong on so many levels that I don't know where to start.
4
That part is true but if you think Cruz is not pandering to someone else then you are dreaming. Also, he's just creepy.
5
It's difficult to characterize what Sarah Palin said. Was she maybe high on prescription drugs, or is her speech writer still learning the English language?
195
One must wonder. Furthermore, one must wonder what that says about our educational system for she attended university and, I believe, her major was in journalism and she actually graduated.
4
Red: The answer to your question is....yes?
3
Speechwriter?
2
The idea that Iowa can have any effect on national politics makes my skin crawl.
513
You mean like how the state bolstered Obama's presidential ambitions when he won the 2008 caucus, or how the state has gone Democratic in 5 of the last 6 general elections? You keep reading about the lunatic right in the press and assume it represents Iowa as a whole. You should read more carefully.
9
Santorum lost the Iowa caucus 4 years ago by just 8 votes......... How'd that work out for him ?? Does this calm your fears ??
Those of us in Flyover Country know how you feel. We hold know-it-all northeastern liberals in the same high regard.
Apples and Pears!
6
Walnuts and Bears!
2
Let us never forget that, in 2008, the Republican party thought Sarah Palin should be a heartbeat away from the Presidency of the United States.
920
And also never forget she was unleashed upon us by the so-called moderate Republican, John McCain.
5
And that is why McCain lost.
1
Three questions: What is the main thing? (maybe she mean the Maine thing, whatever that is) Who listens to this stuff? And who supports these people? This is like bad porn or a car wreck. You know you should but you just can't overt your eyes. Hard to believe in 2016 a person this ignorant could attract so much attention. Unless of course she was in film or music. By by golly she does. This episode speaks very badly for our culture and society. American exceptionalism indeed.
198
Enter Fumbleina stage right.
I think Palin was substituting "main thing" for "bottom line". So many concepts Missus Palin tries to express are vague near misses. Fuzzy cognition bordering on confusion. If I were giving her a neurological exam I'd be concerned.
I think Palin was substituting "main thing" for "bottom line". So many concepts Missus Palin tries to express are vague near misses. Fuzzy cognition bordering on confusion. If I were giving her a neurological exam I'd be concerned.
4
Yes, and Palin attended university and graduated! What does that say about our educational system? Surely other countries are wondering.
2
'And who supports these people?'
Well, Paul, the Republicans seem to like it! Ya think there might be something wrong with them?
Well, Paul, the Republicans seem to like it! Ya think there might be something wrong with them?
Bad penny Sarah Palin is now Trump's albatross as readily explained by the John McCain election team. She will want her own bus/plane to load up with her family and wardrobe of hunting boots and fish scalers. Her demands will include writing her own material (already obvious) and a cooler of soda-pop for the children. She will want a special phone dedicated to policy discussions with Mr. Trump. Before long, Mr. Trump will be asking John McCain for advice on how to shut her up. This is an endorsement from holy hell and will likewise be memorialized in election history as a major blunder.
390
Terry: A major blunder, no doubt. But for SNL, PERFECT FODDER!
Consider a possible SNL intro:
Dumb & Dumber Duo
Starring center stage
B.S. Bullhorn & Madame Malaprop
Theater of the Absurd
in the Twilight Zone.....
HELP!! Bring on the backstage bad actor HOOK operators.
Removal Imperative!!
Consider a possible SNL intro:
Dumb & Dumber Duo
Starring center stage
B.S. Bullhorn & Madame Malaprop
Theater of the Absurd
in the Twilight Zone.....
HELP!! Bring on the backstage bad actor HOOK operators.
Removal Imperative!!
Once Will Rogers represented the American Everyman, commenting on the powers that be with sly and pointed humor.
Now we have Sarah Palin in that role. The sly remained, the wit is gone.
If we were wondering how we have gone so terribly wrong this election cycle, I am pretty sure that an answer is hiding somewhere there.
Now we have Sarah Palin in that role. The sly remained, the wit is gone.
If we were wondering how we have gone so terribly wrong this election cycle, I am pretty sure that an answer is hiding somewhere there.
34
Early onset dementia is a terrible affliction, particularly when one is perfectly healthy, as is the case with Caribou Barbie.
People come from miles around to hear Half-Baked Alaska speak so they can witness a classic case of chronic traumatic elephant-encephalopathy, an exceptionally common brain disorder known only in Republistan that causes victims to bark at the moon, claim that the sun rises in the west...and lament that President Obama was asleep at the wheel when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
Blunder Woman, who famously couldn't name a single newspaper she read during her 2008 interview with Katie Couric, gave a terrific endorsement speech of Il Trumpolini:
“Well, and then, funny, ha ha, not funny, but now, what they’re doing is wailing, 'Well, Trump and his, uh, uh, uh, Trumpeters, they’re not conservative enough.' Oh my goodness gracious. What the heck would the establishment know about conservatism?"
Poor Trumpolini ---- his first meaningful opportunity to say 'you're fired' as a Presidential candidate and all could do was just stand there helplessly and suffer through one of the great Palin-drone attacks in American political history.
Sarah eloquently pleaded her vision for 21st century America: “How about the rest of us? Right-winging, bitter-clinging, proud clingers of our guns, our God, and our religion, and our Constitution.”
Yeah....that's the Trump-Palin ticket !
“In politics, stupidity is not a handicap.”
― Napoléon Bonaparte
GOP 2016
People come from miles around to hear Half-Baked Alaska speak so they can witness a classic case of chronic traumatic elephant-encephalopathy, an exceptionally common brain disorder known only in Republistan that causes victims to bark at the moon, claim that the sun rises in the west...and lament that President Obama was asleep at the wheel when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
Blunder Woman, who famously couldn't name a single newspaper she read during her 2008 interview with Katie Couric, gave a terrific endorsement speech of Il Trumpolini:
“Well, and then, funny, ha ha, not funny, but now, what they’re doing is wailing, 'Well, Trump and his, uh, uh, uh, Trumpeters, they’re not conservative enough.' Oh my goodness gracious. What the heck would the establishment know about conservatism?"
Poor Trumpolini ---- his first meaningful opportunity to say 'you're fired' as a Presidential candidate and all could do was just stand there helplessly and suffer through one of the great Palin-drone attacks in American political history.
Sarah eloquently pleaded her vision for 21st century America: “How about the rest of us? Right-winging, bitter-clinging, proud clingers of our guns, our God, and our religion, and our Constitution.”
Yeah....that's the Trump-Palin ticket !
“In politics, stupidity is not a handicap.”
― Napoléon Bonaparte
GOP 2016
1493
Loved both the content and the word play. Thanks Socrates.
25
Socrates Rules all!
4
Dear NYT, Should Gail leave, please hire Socrates!
7
Ethanol is one of dumbest things we have done. The conservatives
of Iowa who blast Uncle Fed are perfectly happy to pocket
the Federal moolah.
I've got mine, the hell with you, ans been GOP policy
since Reagan.
Palin 2.0. Her son punches his girl friend and it's Obama's
fault.
You can't make this stuff up.
of Iowa who blast Uncle Fed are perfectly happy to pocket
the Federal moolah.
I've got mine, the hell with you, ans been GOP policy
since Reagan.
Palin 2.0. Her son punches his girl friend and it's Obama's
fault.
You can't make this stuff up.
820
bill - Truth; GOP'ers real campaign motto is ' Thanks, Obama ', and Dems should be campaigning in front of a continuous loop of POTUS's youtube video making fun of GOP'ers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhY9Zxv1-oo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhY9Zxv1-oo
2
It was Obama's fault. Ever since he got elected, a lot of women and minorities have gotten very uppity.
1
And threatened her with a shotgun!
A quick question for my fellow Texans: What's Cruz ever done for you?
Answer: Nothing.
Ted's a theocratic, duplicitous creep. But, oh, how I'd love it if he beat Trump in even one primary - just to see that ridiculous head of hair catch fire.
Answer: Nothing.
Ted's a theocratic, duplicitous creep. But, oh, how I'd love it if he beat Trump in even one primary - just to see that ridiculous head of hair catch fire.
328
You noticed that, did you, J.? Its amazing how many of our fellow-Texans haven't got it yet.
If you aren't sure what political corruption looks like, watch what is happening in Iowa. We have one lobby Big Oil, pushing its candidate against another lobby Big Corn. Both lobbies are basically paying politicians to bring home the big profits for them. In this case, though, we have the rare situation in which two Republican paymasters are fighting for the same pool of the public's money. (I wonder if we can get the NRA and Koch Industries into this fight, too.)
Branstad is right that Ted Cruz is corrupt and bad for Iowa, but he just needs to look in the mirror to see that he's bought and paid for too. How do you think his son got that cushy job with the corn lobby?
The lesson here is that we need campaign finance (ahem, bribery) reform. The Republicans have sold their souls for campaign cash. The Democrats are better, but not by too much.
Branstad is right that Ted Cruz is corrupt and bad for Iowa, but he just needs to look in the mirror to see that he's bought and paid for too. How do you think his son got that cushy job with the corn lobby?
The lesson here is that we need campaign finance (ahem, bribery) reform. The Republicans have sold their souls for campaign cash. The Democrats are better, but not by too much.
274
Political corruption? How can that be? Justice Kennedy, who wrote the majority opinion of Citizens United, justified the decision by asserting that “independent expenditures do not lead to, or create the appearance of, quid pro quo corruption.” This man must be one of the worst appointments to SCOTUS ever, and that's saying something, if he really believes what he wrote.
4
The populous states that will elect the next President have nothing to do with corn. Nor do they have much to do with evangelical Christians.
Seeing Sarah Palin on a stage with Trump, may be the circumstance that finally sinks his campaign. But, the white male "high school or less audience"are also older and Sarah's antics may still arouse their interests? Only time will define the degree of dumbdown that the Republican Party has descended to, at it's mad dog base.
Seeing Sarah Palin on a stage with Trump, may be the circumstance that finally sinks his campaign. But, the white male "high school or less audience"are also older and Sarah's antics may still arouse their interests? Only time will define the degree of dumbdown that the Republican Party has descended to, at it's mad dog base.
78
I'm surprised that Sarah didn't blame President Obama for Track's pre-PTSD, when he was in trouble with the law BEFORE he went into the service.
Trump is only cozying up to Sarah because he wants Bristol Palin to star in a new reality show he's trying to pitch to the networks. It's called "Abstinence Fantasy Island." Trump plans to place Bristol on an uncharted island in the Pacific. Bristol will be housed in an impenetrable compound, surrounded by barbed-wire and a crocodile-infested moat. Celebrity teams will start out from Trump Tower competing to see which team reaches Bristol before she finds a way to get pregnant again. The show will be hosted by John McCain and Levi Johnston, with sponsorship from First Response Home Pregnancy Tests, Huggies Diapers and Planned Parenthood.
Trump is only cozying up to Sarah because he wants Bristol Palin to star in a new reality show he's trying to pitch to the networks. It's called "Abstinence Fantasy Island." Trump plans to place Bristol on an uncharted island in the Pacific. Bristol will be housed in an impenetrable compound, surrounded by barbed-wire and a crocodile-infested moat. Celebrity teams will start out from Trump Tower competing to see which team reaches Bristol before she finds a way to get pregnant again. The show will be hosted by John McCain and Levi Johnston, with sponsorship from First Response Home Pregnancy Tests, Huggies Diapers and Planned Parenthood.
389
good show pitch! You could even weave some immaculate conception storyline in their for the Catholic market, hey and that might draw some Latinos!
4
Oh Judge - are you available for the next Supreme Court vacancy?
p.
p.
1
If Iowa (it's not even a primary, but a formal herd mentality type coffee-klatch) ever loses its place as the first State in which the temperature of voters is taken, maybe the environmental damage of biofuels could actually be debated. But until then, the pandering for support at someone's kitchen table will prevail.
Cruz, the darling of evangelicals, now exposed as "not one of us" by the Guv. That's something that will happen elsewhere. Government "shut-down" politics is what Cruz is known for, and what he'll be remembered for. People are catching on to that theme, and don't want someone who thinks government is bad to try to govern them.
Cruz, the darling of evangelicals, now exposed as "not one of us" by the Guv. That's something that will happen elsewhere. Government "shut-down" politics is what Cruz is known for, and what he'll be remembered for. People are catching on to that theme, and don't want someone who thinks government is bad to try to govern them.
43
The whole mantra of the Republican party since Reagan is that government is bad, what are you smoking? They want to starve the beast and drown it in a bathtub.
1
Exactly, John.
The last person I want trying to run 'my' government is the person who's already expressed a distaste for doing the job.
The last person I want trying to run 'my' government is the person who's already expressed a distaste for doing the job.
3
"All this is the opposite of fiscal conservatism, but generally, politicians find a way to evolve on the subject when they get to Iowa."
As they do anywhere. Ah Sara: the second I heard the dulcet screeches on TV, I turned it off. It's like a bad dream--as she falls farther down the elocutionary scale, she needs a translator--which the NYT dutifully supplied the other day. It was one of the funniest articles I've ever seen, until I realized this was US politics.
So Trump is mastering corn policy which Cruz rejects. Is there anything these guys and gals won't say to up their votes? While the American people pay, in one way or another through general revenues, to subsidize one of the more insane subsidy programs in the country.
And conservatives say they want to slash government? Why don't they put their money where their mouths are, and get Iowa to get off the ethanol high of big corn?
Oh, I forgot: all politics are local and there always can be exceptions to one's philosophy--especially with a primary looming.
As they do anywhere. Ah Sara: the second I heard the dulcet screeches on TV, I turned it off. It's like a bad dream--as she falls farther down the elocutionary scale, she needs a translator--which the NYT dutifully supplied the other day. It was one of the funniest articles I've ever seen, until I realized this was US politics.
So Trump is mastering corn policy which Cruz rejects. Is there anything these guys and gals won't say to up their votes? While the American people pay, in one way or another through general revenues, to subsidize one of the more insane subsidy programs in the country.
And conservatives say they want to slash government? Why don't they put their money where their mouths are, and get Iowa to get off the ethanol high of big corn?
Oh, I forgot: all politics are local and there always can be exceptions to one's philosophy--especially with a primary looming.
75
The cornography of GOP politics verges on the unspeakable.
22
dEs: That's right. Will Republicans (before the Iowa caucus?!) begin describing Iowa farmers as "Takers" and "welfare queens" for all the money that is doled out to them in subsidies from the Federal government? Not very likely, I think. Big Oil, of course, is also a welfare queen for the substantial subsidies it gets, and with equal or greater adverse effects for the nation; so, let's not wax too poetic about Cruz's support for "smaller" government, either.
5
To what post will Trump appoint Governor Palin, as she is called.
11
His running mate. She may be the only person who speaks his language. They are both limited in expressing an intelligent thought.
1
Truly, it was a hype-al-ut-in’ day… Trump overcame the potentially significant difficulty of his leading VP candidate having been born outside the U.S., and his new default choice will fit on all those pre-printed yard signs with just a little two-letter mark-up - plus, his new best bud will do the Dan Quayle-tranforms-GHWB-style magic of making the presidential candidate seem downright eloquent and profound in comparison.
Trump - Palin '16
Let's Like, Make American Really Great Again, OK?
Trump - Palin '16
Let's Like, Make American Really Great Again, OK?
16
.....followed by a wink....
2
The next day, Palin spoke at another Trump rally, where she appeared to blame Barack Obama’s veterans policy for her son’s domestic violence arrest this week.
-------------------------------
Oh Gail, you got nothing!
I remember, just last week, you were telling us that political candidates' children were off target: the Obama girls, the Cruz girls, the Bush girls, that Clinton girl... all off target. Focus on their parents, not the (now grown) children...
If Chelsea hasn't exactly lived up to the independent career woman moniker, contantly tethered to her Mama and Papa via their global work, and if the married Bush girl was a just a curiosity, like Chelsea, as a journalist media star, so be it...
We won't talk about the girls in the White House now either -- they are not responsible for the sins of their father... but the Palin offspring? Game On!
I'm not sure if it's because Mr. Track Palin is that rare oddity -- a son, male offspring -- that you broke your own rule, Ms. Collins. Or because it's a Palin. Or because you believe the issue of domestic violence -- alleged domestic violence -- makes you override your rule about not wading into the weeds of the personal life of candidate kids... (Remember too, Sarah's just endorsing, not a candidate here.)
But you pretty much have admitted 6 paragraphs in that you don't object to Trumps' policies or promises or why he is attracting so much political support in the country, but you attack his endorser's kid. Sad.
-------------------------------
Oh Gail, you got nothing!
I remember, just last week, you were telling us that political candidates' children were off target: the Obama girls, the Cruz girls, the Bush girls, that Clinton girl... all off target. Focus on their parents, not the (now grown) children...
If Chelsea hasn't exactly lived up to the independent career woman moniker, contantly tethered to her Mama and Papa via their global work, and if the married Bush girl was a just a curiosity, like Chelsea, as a journalist media star, so be it...
We won't talk about the girls in the White House now either -- they are not responsible for the sins of their father... but the Palin offspring? Game On!
I'm not sure if it's because Mr. Track Palin is that rare oddity -- a son, male offspring -- that you broke your own rule, Ms. Collins. Or because it's a Palin. Or because you believe the issue of domestic violence -- alleged domestic violence -- makes you override your rule about not wading into the weeds of the personal life of candidate kids... (Remember too, Sarah's just endorsing, not a candidate here.)
But you pretty much have admitted 6 paragraphs in that you don't object to Trumps' policies or promises or why he is attracting so much political support in the country, but you attack his endorser's kid. Sad.
2
Gail is just reporting the facts. Palin is the one using her son's problems for political gain.
Track's arrest would not have been anywhere in Gail's writings if Sarah had not come-out of hiding and endorsed Trump.
Track's arrest would not have been anywhere in Gail's writings if Sarah had not come-out of hiding and endorsed Trump.
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Track emerged in the news through his own actions. Sarah spoke out by placing the blame on Obama.
The off limits rule doesn't apply here; it was already in the news, and all the more so because Palin herself made it part of her speech-mangling. Her family manages to make the news -- as well as appearances in reality shows -- just fine without being dragged into it by journalists or columnists.
The off limits rule doesn't apply here; it was already in the news, and all the more so because Palin herself made it part of her speech-mangling. Her family manages to make the news -- as well as appearances in reality shows -- just fine without being dragged into it by journalists or columnists.
54
hey, Palin brought up the subject of her son.....Track is now fair game.
42
Gail, I used to enjoy reading your columns which had more humor and less partisanship than other columnists.
I am sorry to see now that there is less humor and more partisanship.
Instead of working together to solve problems, we are spending our energy sneering at those with different views.
"The Republicans do it too!". Perhaps but that hardly justifies all the sneering that I see from Democrats. Someone has to set the tone of civility and I did once hope it might be you.
I am sorry to see now that there is less humor and more partisanship.
Instead of working together to solve problems, we are spending our energy sneering at those with different views.
"The Republicans do it too!". Perhaps but that hardly justifies all the sneering that I see from Democrats. Someone has to set the tone of civility and I did once hope it might be you.
1
Sneering? How about all the garbage Obama has had to deal with in 8 years?
Remember when the right made fun of the president's community organizer past and Sarah's "pals around with terrorists" sneer?
And let's never forget the 2004 Republican National Convention when all of those patriots wore Band Aids to mock Kerry's Purple Heart Medal.
Remember when the right made fun of the president's community organizer past and Sarah's "pals around with terrorists" sneer?
And let's never forget the 2004 Republican National Convention when all of those patriots wore Band Aids to mock Kerry's Purple Heart Medal.
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I feel your pain, Rohit, but there are some people who just cry out to be ridiculed.
Donald Trump and Sarah Palin have no interest in civility or solving problems. They are living, breathing caricatures. It's just a lot better to lampoon them and move on.
Donald Trump and Sarah Palin have no interest in civility or solving problems. They are living, breathing caricatures. It's just a lot better to lampoon them and move on.
43
Gail, I take the opposite viewpoint. If we can shed light on the patent lunacy of the candidates' core values by means of satire and humor, the electorate will be in a better position to set their issue priorities before voting.
If I had guessed at how absurd politics would become when I was young and making career choices, I would have loved to be a columnist. You can't make this stuff up.
As for partisanship, some readers confuse the motive of taking a side for its logical conformity to democratic principles with that of taking a side for hot-button-issue campaign promises. "Partisanship" is a charge usually levied by those whose position is not supported by facts or a representative majority. Most opinions can be identified as belonging to one party or another, and that association cannot be a valid reason to support or reject the opinion or the person representing it.
I'm happy to see the wing-nuts of the GOP banding together. As with any star in the cosmos that is running low on fuel, perhaps it will soon collapse into a supernova and vanish into a black hole. We're almost there now...
If I had guessed at how absurd politics would become when I was young and making career choices, I would have loved to be a columnist. You can't make this stuff up.
As for partisanship, some readers confuse the motive of taking a side for its logical conformity to democratic principles with that of taking a side for hot-button-issue campaign promises. "Partisanship" is a charge usually levied by those whose position is not supported by facts or a representative majority. Most opinions can be identified as belonging to one party or another, and that association cannot be a valid reason to support or reject the opinion or the person representing it.
I'm happy to see the wing-nuts of the GOP banding together. As with any star in the cosmos that is running low on fuel, perhaps it will soon collapse into a supernova and vanish into a black hole. We're almost there now...
27
I heard that Trump rehearsed for the press conference by watching old tapes of Johnny Carson hosting Charo on The Tonight Show.
53
Based on her outfit, you're probably right.
3
Once again we´re reminded that Palin is a spectacularly stupid woman - dumb, mean, shallow. She is a deceiving and unscrupulous woman utterly unversed in any of the needful political discourses but easily trained to utter preposterous lies and to appeal to the basest element of her audience.
She has never met a simple, declarative sentence she liked, or learned that little things like subjects, verbs and objects are supposed to work together. And her kind of talk gets dangerous. 'Don't retreat... reload' and using crosshairs to illustrate targeted legislators was calling for violence, no question. McCain´s election team says she was "catatonic” and possibly mentally unstable.
She has never met a simple, declarative sentence she liked, or learned that little things like subjects, verbs and objects are supposed to work together. And her kind of talk gets dangerous. 'Don't retreat... reload' and using crosshairs to illustrate targeted legislators was calling for violence, no question. McCain´s election team says she was "catatonic” and possibly mentally unstable.
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Agreed. The problem is that her supporters either don't know or don't care that she's an idiot.
9
"Perhaps", John?
...and yet they chose her as VP candidate. How disingenuous can you get? They started this bandwagon of dumb and dumber, and now we are asked to pay the price.
2
Trump flies her around on a private jet + covers luxury expenses. And her fee? Divinities don't work for peanuts. What's her fee, O Great Negotiator? Pray, do tell.
58
Sarah "word-soup-queen" is back and Ms. Collins isn't thankful? She thinks Sarah Palin is really falling apart" not fully realizing that we have over 10 months left for Palin to issue more statements that will undoubtedly help fuel columnists.
For instance if Ms. Collins had paid more attention she would have heard Sarah Palin rebut Scott Faber of the E.W.G., or 'You know that guy from the Earth-with-Gore group of so-called communists.
Or in an effort to explain her new pal The Donald's warning to Congress not to tinker with R.F.S. she'd have said, "You know Trump is in favor of Refueling-Forever-Surely."
Aah, just when I thought we're into the 2016 election cycle I am reminded that we may be stuck back in 2008, you know those days of Hoopla and Chagrin.
For instance if Ms. Collins had paid more attention she would have heard Sarah Palin rebut Scott Faber of the E.W.G., or 'You know that guy from the Earth-with-Gore group of so-called communists.
Or in an effort to explain her new pal The Donald's warning to Congress not to tinker with R.F.S. she'd have said, "You know Trump is in favor of Refueling-Forever-Surely."
Aah, just when I thought we're into the 2016 election cycle I am reminded that we may be stuck back in 2008, you know those days of Hoopla and Chagrin.
22
It is amuzing to google "Sarah Palin incoherent" because it is far from new. You can choose between just incoherent and publicly drunk.
Two years ago she did it to her friends on Duck Dynasty, "Dec 21, 2013 - Article: Sarah Palin's Impressively Incoherent 'Duck Dynasty' Comments"
A year ago she had one noted as "Best part is her scratching her ass" during her comments.
Then there's drunk, "May 3, 2015 - Watch: A Visibly Drunk Sarah Palin's Incoherent Response"
So she has been entertaining in this way for years. Someone ought to have warned Trump what he was getting. From the look on his face, maybe they did.
Two years ago she did it to her friends on Duck Dynasty, "Dec 21, 2013 - Article: Sarah Palin's Impressively Incoherent 'Duck Dynasty' Comments"
A year ago she had one noted as "Best part is her scratching her ass" during her comments.
Then there's drunk, "May 3, 2015 - Watch: A Visibly Drunk Sarah Palin's Incoherent Response"
So she has been entertaining in this way for years. Someone ought to have warned Trump what he was getting. From the look on his face, maybe they did.
136
You could actually tell when she's drunk or not?
7
Trump got exactly what he wanted. For all of his faults -- which should disqualify him from holding any public office -- Donald Trump reads people well.
1
Sarah Palin asserts Trump's business experience in the private sector to be a strong positive.
However she did not mention Trump's bankruptcies.
Does Palin consider these bankruptcies to be positives.
However she did not mention Trump's bankruptcies.
Does Palin consider these bankruptcies to be positives.
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In the final analysis, david, outside of the Tea Party irregulars, no one really cares what or if Sarah Palin thinks.
2
The whole Republican Tea Party crowd is morally and intellectually bankrupt!
Sarah Palin did a better parody of herself than any SNL skit could. Her loony, twisted up grammatical fusillade of anger, cynicism, scorn and spite is the perfect symbol of what Iowa GOP politics has become.
There is no forward looking aspirational vision here, only wild, flailing free association, sometimes described as performance art. But with all of the contradictions of Iowa politics, where pols like Joni Ernst lift their face out of the Federal feedbag just long enough to utter some earthy wisdom about neutering the same taxpayer subsidized pork, its best not to listen too hard to the words, because they don't actually make any sense.
There is no forward looking aspirational vision here, only wild, flailing free association, sometimes described as performance art. But with all of the contradictions of Iowa politics, where pols like Joni Ernst lift their face out of the Federal feedbag just long enough to utter some earthy wisdom about neutering the same taxpayer subsidized pork, its best not to listen too hard to the words, because they don't actually make any sense.
683
Yes, I do not understand why Rupert Murdoch didn't appoint her president of his supposed news service if he thinks she was/is or ever will be presidential material.
Calling Tina Fey--we need you!
" Let’s take a minute to feel sympathy for Ted Cruz. Poor guy. "
Nope, still didn't work, Gail; we tried and tried, but just can't conjure any such sympathy.
Nope, still didn't work, Gail; we tried and tried, but just can't conjure any such sympathy.
411
I thought liberals were of the party of compassion.
1
When Trump announces Palin as his Vice President then we'll finally have proof that he really is the Democratic Party plant everyone thinks he is.
471
Why vote for one lunatic when you can have two: Trump - Cruz - it even sounds good - much better than the other way around. I don't know what the slogan will be but it will be terrific. Try: Make America Great Again - Deal, then Carpet Bomb. What? You don't think they can mend fences? You probably forgot Bush calling Reagan's trickle down stuff voodoo economics yet it didn't prevent them from forming 'Reagan-Bush'. Ah, those were the days! Wait, you can have it all back and I'm sure it will be...Terrific. Again.
55
Yes, it would be terrifically and hugely funny to the rest of the world.
6
Yes it would be funny but not so muh for the US of A.
Sarah Palin would be nothing - NOTHING - had John McCain not plucked her from obscurity as his VP nominee. Now, to repay him, she endorses the draft-dodging buffoon who openly mocked McCain for being taken as a prisoner of war. Classy.
1295
@The Other Sophie, You're so right.
16
Palin also has no loyalty to Cruz, who she once spoke highly of, nor the Republican National Committee, who helped to fund her VP candidacy. Nor even Alaska where she resigned her elected position as Governor to pursue her own political agenda and a reality TV career.
4
McCain opened a Pandora's box of mischief when he chose this blowhard, English-challenged, bimbo for his VP. We are reaping the fallout from one of the biggest mistakes a politician has ever made. Dumbing down has now become the Repugs mantra.
4
As I said in my comment on another blog, "Sarah Palin's endorsement of Trump is like icing on the Silly Cake". What a farce! Gail, you allowed too much time for sympathy for Ted Cruz - sorry to be critical. But, your tone is absolutely correct. The campaign is a throwback to an earlier century with comical characters included as we might see in a movie, "Right here in River City folks".
63
For you youngsters: River City was in the Movie "The Music Man".
2
I have never been a fan of Ted Cruz, but I hope he beats Billionaire Trump. I give Cruz a lot of credit for not pandering to the Republican hypocrites who all support federal handouts to rich corn growers and to the ethanol proponents.
The ethanol program has been the country's most wasteful domestic program since it was incorporated into the Energy Policy Act of 2005 under President George W. "Iraq War" Bush. Ted Cruz is on the right side of this debate. I hope he defeats Trump in New Hampshire.
Trump is a panderer on the scale of the lifelong politician Hillary Clinton. Some "outsider".
The ethanol program has been the country's most wasteful domestic program since it was incorporated into the Energy Policy Act of 2005 under President George W. "Iraq War" Bush. Ted Cruz is on the right side of this debate. I hope he defeats Trump in New Hampshire.
Trump is a panderer on the scale of the lifelong politician Hillary Clinton. Some "outsider".
17
Naw, Ted Cruz doesn't pander to corn growers in Iowa. He just panders to the Christian right and to power in general including collecting wads of pandering cash from New Yorkers and Goldman Sacks even as he sneers at New Yorkers for not being panderers. To underscore his not-pandering, pandering hypocracy, he puts his kids on Youtube videos in cartoonish political ads and then complains when they appear in political cartoons. Plus he's as mean as a skunk doused in Glade brand Hawaiian Breeze automatic air freshener. Remember? He's the guy who took a case all of the way to the Supreme Court to keep a guy locked in prison for 16 years who was wrongly sentenced? The sentence should have been two years, but no: Mr. "Not me I'm no panderer" Panderer Cruz took that guy's case to the Supreme Court just to keep him in jail because: ____. There is no because. The prisoner's name surprisingly was NOT 24601
Gee, now that I think about it, Cruz is just so not-panderingly panderingly perfect! I'll vote for him too!
Gee, now that I think about it, Cruz is just so not-panderingly panderingly perfect! I'll vote for him too!
37
Cruz is on the "good" side of this debate purely by chance. He owes his candidacy to some well-heeled Texas oilmen. In the immortal words of the great philosopher Mae West, goodness has nothing to do with it.
77
Cruz said he will end ethanol after 5 years. If elected to a second term it would be 9 years. Any promise to do something after the term of office should be viewed skeptically.
3
"betrayal of a transformation of our country," ????
I wonder where that comes from? And what does it mean? Well Palin is not exactly known for being able to make definitive statements, but she is good at equivocations, which you might expect from someone with her mental acumen. But the Potty Tea drinkers love it, if fits right in with their view of the world about them.
It must be such a fun existence being the ultimate pessimist. You get to be grumpy all the time, telling others how bad things are, without ever really defining them. Oh it's regulations, its liberal giveaways to people who do not meet your idea of who deserves what, it is those nasty taxes you have to pay, and so on.
They are going to take the country back, now who does such rhetoric appeal to? Well some of them might be in big business, and want to operate just like JDR did. He was called the most hated man in America, but he would drop a few dimes on the pavement just to watch people scramble for them. Or it could be companies that had to stop pouring toxic waste in the Love Canal. Anyway, according to Palin and Trump, that is what we need, the unregulated free market, even though we are not sure she can spell it.
So this mental midget has a following of like subjects, most of whom seem to be escapees from the loony bin. Herr Trump certainly has galvanized them, next his entry music will be the Horst Wessel March.
I wonder where that comes from? And what does it mean? Well Palin is not exactly known for being able to make definitive statements, but she is good at equivocations, which you might expect from someone with her mental acumen. But the Potty Tea drinkers love it, if fits right in with their view of the world about them.
It must be such a fun existence being the ultimate pessimist. You get to be grumpy all the time, telling others how bad things are, without ever really defining them. Oh it's regulations, its liberal giveaways to people who do not meet your idea of who deserves what, it is those nasty taxes you have to pay, and so on.
They are going to take the country back, now who does such rhetoric appeal to? Well some of them might be in big business, and want to operate just like JDR did. He was called the most hated man in America, but he would drop a few dimes on the pavement just to watch people scramble for them. Or it could be companies that had to stop pouring toxic waste in the Love Canal. Anyway, according to Palin and Trump, that is what we need, the unregulated free market, even though we are not sure she can spell it.
So this mental midget has a following of like subjects, most of whom seem to be escapees from the loony bin. Herr Trump certainly has galvanized them, next his entry music will be the Horst Wessel March.
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Break down the words, it's not that hard.
A betrayal of the transformation is just that. The people are speaking out. The people are emphasizing their priorities differ from those being written up by well-paid lobbyists and passed in Washington DC. The country is beginning a transformation -- aided by New Media to address our old institutions. The police are being challenged by video. The newspapers are being challenged by faster, more accurate fact-gatherers. The schools are being called out for their shady practices of taking loan money, and not delivering a valued product. It's a good transformation: it is speaking truth to power.
It asks, "Why does America's foreign policy consist of arming and bombing established state regimes to overturn governments" yet when their is so much violence from State actors (police and military) here at home too, the answer is to DIS-arm the American people, while we arm the people of the world.
That's the transformation the country is undergoing.
Women, like Ms. Collins here too, want to stop it. They have established their wealth in the old traditions; they like their comfortable and exclusive perch as well-distributed opinionmakers. They like their advantages and privileges. Too err, and be bailed out.
Track Palin fought in the wars Ms. Collins' paper pushed. People think others are complicit in the "betrayal of a transformation of our country."
If you don't understand better now, you don't want to. And that's ok too.
A betrayal of the transformation is just that. The people are speaking out. The people are emphasizing their priorities differ from those being written up by well-paid lobbyists and passed in Washington DC. The country is beginning a transformation -- aided by New Media to address our old institutions. The police are being challenged by video. The newspapers are being challenged by faster, more accurate fact-gatherers. The schools are being called out for their shady practices of taking loan money, and not delivering a valued product. It's a good transformation: it is speaking truth to power.
It asks, "Why does America's foreign policy consist of arming and bombing established state regimes to overturn governments" yet when their is so much violence from State actors (police and military) here at home too, the answer is to DIS-arm the American people, while we arm the people of the world.
That's the transformation the country is undergoing.
Women, like Ms. Collins here too, want to stop it. They have established their wealth in the old traditions; they like their comfortable and exclusive perch as well-distributed opinionmakers. They like their advantages and privileges. Too err, and be bailed out.
Track Palin fought in the wars Ms. Collins' paper pushed. People think others are complicit in the "betrayal of a transformation of our country."
If you don't understand better now, you don't want to. And that's ok too.
I've always seen Palin as a performer, not a politician - a stand-up comedian whose shtick is politics.
And she's just as bad a comic as she is a politician.
And she's just as bad a comic as she is a politician.
27
I live in the Midwest too, and I use my real name here, and this gibberish has no more content than Palin’s “speech”, and no more fact or logic behind it than Mr. Trump’s blatherings.
Ms. Collins has earned her “privilege” by putting her talent to good use. I don’t know her net worth, but I suspect it is not in the Trumpian realm. Track Palin volunteered to fight wars that the sane among us thought absurd from the beginning and were initiated by a Republican President. Could you give a link or two to an example of how NYT “pushed” them?
Who in any sane way can say that any sane American is even remotely being DIS-armed? Where DO you and yours get this notion? Oh, it must be those “faster, more accurate fact gatherers”, you mention, but don’t name. Just because something circulates around the interwebs doesn’t make it so, but I wouldn’t expect that to deter those who slept through critical athinking exercises in school.
Ms. Collins has earned her “privilege” by putting her talent to good use. I don’t know her net worth, but I suspect it is not in the Trumpian realm. Track Palin volunteered to fight wars that the sane among us thought absurd from the beginning and were initiated by a Republican President. Could you give a link or two to an example of how NYT “pushed” them?
Who in any sane way can say that any sane American is even remotely being DIS-armed? Where DO you and yours get this notion? Oh, it must be those “faster, more accurate fact gatherers”, you mention, but don’t name. Just because something circulates around the interwebs doesn’t make it so, but I wouldn’t expect that to deter those who slept through critical athinking exercises in school.
27
Sarah Palin is many things, but coherent is not one of them. Still, I have to give her credit for creating a word that describes exactly how I felt when I saw her fronting for Trump: a combination of squirming and squeamish.
While I find her embarrassing and dangerous (embargerous?), a significant portion of Republican voters seem to think she adds something to Trump’s campaign. That lets you know how far we have sunk as a nation. We could sink further, though. Trump has yet to pick his running mate, and a Trump/Palin ticket would certainly plumb new depths. We’d have to look up to see the wreck of the Titanic.
Against this backdrop, the pandering for the corn vote almost seems nostalgic. It reminds us of what politics used to be like, back in the days when politicians were merely cagey and disingenuous, and would shower Big Corn with millions at the expense of ordinary citizens. Good times.
But if the choice came down to Trump vs. Cruz, I would have to go with Trump. I get the feeling that with Trump as our leader the nation would simply fall apart gradually. With Cruz I think our demise would be quicker, and more—what’s the word?--incandescent.
While I find her embarrassing and dangerous (embargerous?), a significant portion of Republican voters seem to think she adds something to Trump’s campaign. That lets you know how far we have sunk as a nation. We could sink further, though. Trump has yet to pick his running mate, and a Trump/Palin ticket would certainly plumb new depths. We’d have to look up to see the wreck of the Titanic.
Against this backdrop, the pandering for the corn vote almost seems nostalgic. It reminds us of what politics used to be like, back in the days when politicians were merely cagey and disingenuous, and would shower Big Corn with millions at the expense of ordinary citizens. Good times.
But if the choice came down to Trump vs. Cruz, I would have to go with Trump. I get the feeling that with Trump as our leader the nation would simply fall apart gradually. With Cruz I think our demise would be quicker, and more—what’s the word?--incandescent.
1174
All too incandescent, I fear, but we'd not be lonely -- we'd spread our incandescence across the world.
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Trump won't pick her. She is losing her looks. Aging is hitting her hard. Alaska winters and Arizona sun.
29
How about "dangbarrass"
9
Though I'm not a true Sarah fan
I try just as hard as I can
With words she will mangle
Expressions newfangle
Delivered with breathless élan.
A true friend to Donald we see
Who dotes on the Corn Industry,
The World is a thicket
A Trump/Palin ticket
A boon for Bern' or Hillary.
I try just as hard as I can
With words she will mangle
Expressions newfangle
Delivered with breathless élan.
A true friend to Donald we see
Who dotes on the Corn Industry,
The World is a thicket
A Trump/Palin ticket
A boon for Bern' or Hillary.
408
There once was a girl from Alaska
who said I have to talk fasta
when asked to slow down
she replied oh you clown
I'll bury your trump in a basket!
who said I have to talk fasta
when asked to slow down
she replied oh you clown
I'll bury your trump in a basket!
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Oh Larry,
I always look forward to your perfect poems. You just nailed it again!
Thank You
I always look forward to your perfect poems. You just nailed it again!
Thank You
21