Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly.
He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
I actually watched these shows earlier out of boredom. Tweety was mad. Nancy Pflouahgartenberger (whatever) tried and she’s faster on her toes than most. But the money quote was something like, “In between shopping trips to Neiman’s and Saks maybe they should have showed her the Constitution.”
This caper is gonna make for a long day at the office for the good folks at the RNC/McCain press operation. Thought I’d offer a little help in a humorous vein; some other possible spin lines for the RNC.
1.) What you sneering critics in the liberal MSM fail to see here is… a Jobs Program! Saks floorwalkers, cashiers, a team of sweating porters to haul the merchandise from the store to the motorcade… chiropractors to treat those porters. Sarah Palin knows how to create jobs!
2.) What’s the difference between a Pit Bull and a Hockey Mom? You can feed a pit-bull for 483 years with 150 grand.
3.) Still cheaper than Mitt Romney’s hair products. We’re saving money here…
The link to the page with Jeff Larson’s fingerprints all over it was good, but that doesn’t go far enough. The author needed more red circles.
Pacifier? A high end baby store. Trig the prop is growing. Atelier? Men’s store. Levi went from a effin’ redneck drinking beer in his truck to a besuited executive with a manicure and scrub.
We get all sorts of emails asking for money to place an ad or put out fliers, whatever, to be competitive. We give what we can to those races or ballot propositions that most need a spot of cash. Everybody who contributed their pennies to the RNC, expecting that to pay for advertising time, is now realizing that they paid for Sarah’s lipstick and hose.
Grifter.
Cheat.
Tax Evader.
Liar.
What a wonderful mother and role-model!
The RNC is pulling out of Colorado and Michigan and 2-3 other states because even with the 8 million dollar loan from Wachovia, they can’t afford to run ads. But they can afford to buy a Louis Vuitton purse for little Piper Palin.
As for those who think that this is a legitimate campaign expense? It is not. It is quite clearly and expressly against the law to use donor contributions for clothing. Candidates are expected to dress themselves.
As for whether the Palins can afford to dress like royalty? 1) They are worth at least a million dollars. 2) She is governor and ought to already have a few nice suits. 3) She is running as Jane Everywoman the Hockeymom not the Queen of Alaska. 4) Don’t they have a line of credit (with 3 houses and a plane, they must have some sort of understanding with their bank)? 5) It is quite possible to look elegant without shopping at Neiman Marcus… find a dressmaker.
Let’s ask another question. The President and Vice President send to Congress a budget for their offices. Cheney and Reid had a bit of a showdown because Cheney didn’t want to even say how many people he had on staff much less names and positions. What is Reid going to say when Palin sends over a budget that includes $150,000/month for her wardrobe?
Wow. I may have to revise my opinion of Tweety. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anybody so eviscerated by fact and logic alone. So much more deadly than ORally-style bullying and bluster.
Their analysis was one thing, but in the clip they showed, it was McAwesome, how Palin put on the condescending voice, while McCain just sat there staring at her legs.
OK. I know that Nancy Pfotenhauer is very bright, and (unlike some, ahem) very much qualified to hold her position in McCain’s campaign. But I have to ask, from a purely visual standpoint, is it possible that John McCain would ever surround himself with women don’t look like beauty queens?
And if not, is that because he is targeting the lizard brain of his base, or is it a personal failing? Or both?
Just saw it on Olbermann! McSame is falling apart. He became totally confused talking about who he agreed with in regards to Western PA and the “terrible” things that were said about them!
Was that Matthews kept calling her Eliza Doolittle. And as much as we all may like Eliza Doolittle, in the end the story was about a woman being part of a long con.
He’s just piling on because he thinks he knows that it is safe to do so. Were the race a 2 pointer instead of a blowout he would be respectfully shaking his wattles at that same plastic IQ-sink of a political front lady and declaring Palin’s choice a political masterstoke.
He’s a front-runner, nothing more. Always has been, always will be, which is how he got where he is today.
It doesn’t take “testicles” to beat up on losers, let alone the stammering, incompetent representatives of those losers.
All true, and I’ve never been a fan, but it’s also true that he demolished her with simple fact and logic, not stupid bluster, bullying, and screaming about crap like “pro-americanism” and “family values”. Seeing the clip made me realize how incredibly rare that is on US “news” shows. Whatever his personal motivations, Tweety did precisely what journalists are supposed to do, and he deserves some credit for at least knowing how it’s done. I suggest leaning back and enjoying the once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Once I heard him say that viewing Hillary Clinton gave him “shivers up and down his leg” or some such drivel, I was through with his whole brand of commentary.
Sorry.
If he had gotten into the REAL contemporary function of the Vice President…a function pioneered by Bush I while he was guiding poor ol’ Granpa Ronnie through the reefs and shoals of early Alzheimer’s and into Iran Contra/BCCI territory and then perfected by the real president of the last 8 years, Dick “I’m In Charge” Cheney (And let’s not even talk about Agnew’s real gig as bagman or LBJ’s as the pre-selected willing [if not witting] successor to a coup d’état.)…had he sailed full steam into those waters I might be more amenable to these kudos, but as it went down?
Naaaaaahhhhh…
If whatshername had the chops of a James Carville or a Mary Matalin she would have reamed him a new one about 17 seconds into the segment and he would have been down on his hands and knees in his usual role as the submissive frisson feeler in a run of the mill media-generated S&M political porn scene.
Oooooooo . . . You have no idea. I certainly could. The $6K winter coat at Bergdorf’s? That’s just to start. I could do it in about 3 days. You gotta be in New York or Paris, London, or Tokyo to do so, but it’s not hard at all.
I think The most expensive piece of clothing I wear on a regular basis cost me about $30. I can’t imagine setting foot inside any of the Rodeo Drive-style boutiques, much less buying anything inside them.
I read once that the secret of the difference between millionaire wannabes and actual millionaires was that actual millionaires shop at Target and KMart and bring their own lunches to work. Whatever happened to the days of Pat Nixon’s good Republican cloth coat?
I gotta defend Sarah and Nancy P here. Sarah got the first part of the answer as to the VP’s duties right. The VP is the chief team player in promoting the President’s agenda. That’s what Joe Biden is doing for Barack Obama today.
Where Sarah goes off the rails is the VP’s role in Senate business. Matthews was right in his criticism of Nancy P for trying to defend that.
and in that, he’s right. The only duties spelled out in the Constitution are to succeed the President on the President’s incapacitation or death, and to preside over the Senate to break ties if necessary. That’s really about it.
Now if the President wants the Vice President to be an attack dog, he/she’s an attack dog. If the President wants the Vice President to be an ambassador plenipotentiary and peripatetic, or to be their liaison to the oil companies, or whatever, that’s the President’s perogative. But that doesn’t mean the next Vice President will inherit those duties, or any at all except for the first two mentioned above.
And I loved that story about LBJ being frozen out of the Democratic caucus meetings as Vice President. I haven’t independently verified it, but it sounds right.
Here is a more scary thought. Both in her comment to the 3rd grader and in the debate she said “If the VP wants too…” when referring to working closely with the Senate.
While she would have no vote, not sit on any committees, and could not introduce legislation, she COULD if she wanted to show up every day and preside over the Senate.
And since she controls the gavel and interprets the rules she could wind up being a loud mouth pain in the ass grabbing lots of time on CSPAN.
the funniest part of that, Andy, is that anytime you watch CSPAN, you’ll notice who is in the president’ chair. It’s always Jon Tester or Jim Webb or Amy Klobuchar or Sheldon Whitehouse or Sherrod Brown. Why? They’re freshmen, and this is their hazing. Being forced to preside over the Senate. At least next year’s freshman will welcome Palin.
True, but John Adams made a partisan pain in the ass of himself as VP presiding over the senate, spouting off about this and that and no one able to stop him.
He only shut up when they threatened to make rules to shut him up and he was thinking about becoming President and he wanted to make nice. Pretty much ever since the VP has let the senators do their thing.
I thought watching cable news shows made you stupid, BooMan. 😉
But YouTube makes you smile.
I actually watched these shows earlier out of boredom. Tweety was mad. Nancy Pflouahgartenberger (whatever) tried and she’s faster on her toes than most. But the money quote was something like, “In between shopping trips to Neiman’s and Saks maybe they should have showed her the Constitution.”
Even better: In all the shopping at Neiman and Saks and all the places she stopped she never picked up copy of the US Constitution.
Ouch.
that responsibility was for her personal shopper
and there’s the tax issue does she have to declare the clothes as income
the best I’ve read
The link to the page with Jeff Larson’s fingerprints all over it was good, but that doesn’t go far enough. The author needed more red circles.
Pacifier? A high end baby store. Trig the prop is growing. Atelier? Men’s store. Levi went from a effin’ redneck drinking beer in his truck to a besuited executive with a manicure and scrub.
We get all sorts of emails asking for money to place an ad or put out fliers, whatever, to be competitive. We give what we can to those races or ballot propositions that most need a spot of cash. Everybody who contributed their pennies to the RNC, expecting that to pay for advertising time, is now realizing that they paid for Sarah’s lipstick and hose.
Grifter.
Cheat.
Tax Evader.
Liar.
What a wonderful mother and role-model!
The RNC is pulling out of Colorado and Michigan and 2-3 other states because even with the 8 million dollar loan from Wachovia, they can’t afford to run ads. But they can afford to buy a Louis Vuitton purse for little Piper Palin.
As for those who think that this is a legitimate campaign expense? It is not. It is quite clearly and expressly against the law to use donor contributions for clothing. Candidates are expected to dress themselves.
As for whether the Palins can afford to dress like royalty? 1) They are worth at least a million dollars. 2) She is governor and ought to already have a few nice suits. 3) She is running as Jane Everywoman the Hockeymom not the Queen of Alaska. 4) Don’t they have a line of credit (with 3 houses and a plane, they must have some sort of understanding with their bank)? 5) It is quite possible to look elegant without shopping at Neiman Marcus… find a dressmaker.
Let’s ask another question. The President and Vice President send to Congress a budget for their offices. Cheney and Reid had a bit of a showdown because Cheney didn’t want to even say how many people he had on staff much less names and positions. What is Reid going to say when Palin sends over a budget that includes $150,000/month for her wardrobe?
Wow. I may have to revise my opinion of Tweety. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anybody so eviscerated by fact and logic alone. So much more deadly than ORally-style bullying and bluster.
the Williams-Todd analysis of the McPalin interview leaves you speechless, no matter your political leanings.
so she’ll be releasing the medical records. why was the campaign people against doing so?
who is the more erratic?
making it up as you go.
Their analysis was one thing, but in the clip they showed, it was McAwesome, how Palin put on the condescending voice, while McCain just sat there staring at her legs.
If Palin releases her Medical records, won’t McCain be under huge pressure to release his?
Tweety was hilarious. I mean, break out the popcorn hilarious.
OK. I know that Nancy Pfotenhauer is very bright, and (unlike some, ahem) very much qualified to hold her position in McCain’s campaign. But I have to ask, from a purely visual standpoint, is it possible that John McCain would ever surround himself with women don’t look like beauty queens?
And if not, is that because he is targeting the lizard brain of his base, or is it a personal failing? Or both?
And let’s not forget Jill Hazelbaker, campaign spokeswoman.
Didja see the clip where he said “rates were cunt in the Clinton years”?
Just saw it on Olbermann! McSame is falling apart. He became totally confused talking about who he agreed with in regards to Western PA and the “terrible” things that were said about them!
I would be very happy if the media narrative the next few days consisted of the fissures in the McCain campaign as they brace for a major defeat.
Like this?
Yes, like that. And I want some news cycles. Gimme, Gimme, Gimme.
Was that Matthews kept calling her Eliza Doolittle. And as much as we all may like Eliza Doolittle, in the end the story was about a woman being part of a long con.
Woot! Tweety has him some testicles!
He’s just piling on because he thinks he knows that it is safe to do so. Were the race a 2 pointer instead of a blowout he would be respectfully shaking his wattles at that same plastic IQ-sink of a political front lady and declaring Palin’s choice a political masterstoke.
He’s a front-runner, nothing more. Always has been, always will be, which is how he got where he is today.
It doesn’t take “testicles” to beat up on losers, let alone the stammering, incompetent representatives of those losers.
It just takes overweening self-interest.
Which he has had in spades for several decades.
He ain’t shit.
AG
Word.
All true, and I’ve never been a fan, but it’s also true that he demolished her with simple fact and logic, not stupid bluster, bullying, and screaming about crap like “pro-americanism” and “family values”. Seeing the clip made me realize how incredibly rare that is on US “news” shows. Whatever his personal motivations, Tweety did precisely what journalists are supposed to do, and he deserves some credit for at least knowing how it’s done. I suggest leaning back and enjoying the once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Once I heard him say that viewing Hillary Clinton gave him “shivers up and down his leg” or some such drivel, I was through with his whole brand of commentary.
Sorry.
If he had gotten into the REAL contemporary function of the Vice President…a function pioneered by Bush I while he was guiding poor ol’ Granpa Ronnie through the reefs and shoals of early Alzheimer’s and into Iran Contra/BCCI territory and then perfected by the real president of the last 8 years, Dick “I’m In Charge” Cheney (And let’s not even talk about Agnew’s real gig as bagman or LBJ’s as the pre-selected willing [if not witting] successor to a coup d’état.)…had he sailed full steam into those waters I might be more amenable to these kudos, but as it went down?
Naaaaaahhhhh…
If whatshername had the chops of a James Carville or a Mary Matalin she would have reamed him a new one about 17 seconds into the segment and he would have been down on his hands and knees in his usual role as the submissive frisson feeler in a run of the mill media-generated S&M political porn scene.
Up his leg indeed.
Up his ASS is more like it.
Sorry, man…like I said.
He ain’t shit.
AG
that is funny, McCain’s campaign is imploding and his surrogates waste a day explaining Sarah’s idiotic statements.
…..I like her red leather jacket, it’s what underneath it is what I have a problem with…..
how does a person spend 150K on clothes?
Oooooooo . . . You have no idea. I certainly could. The $6K winter coat at Bergdorf’s? That’s just to start. I could do it in about 3 days. You gotta be in New York or Paris, London, or Tokyo to do so, but it’s not hard at all.
I think The most expensive piece of clothing I wear on a regular basis cost me about $30. I can’t imagine setting foot inside any of the Rodeo Drive-style boutiques, much less buying anything inside them.
I read once that the secret of the difference between millionaire wannabes and actual millionaires was that actual millionaires shop at Target and KMart and bring their own lunches to work. Whatever happened to the days of Pat Nixon’s good Republican cloth coat?
Booman, can you ad a “LOL” in the pull-down menu for ratings instead of having to use a 4? 🙂
I LOL that idea!
I gotta defend Sarah and Nancy P here. Sarah got the first part of the answer as to the VP’s duties right. The VP is the chief team player in promoting the President’s agenda. That’s what Joe Biden is doing for Barack Obama today.
Where Sarah goes off the rails is the VP’s role in Senate business. Matthews was right in his criticism of Nancy P for trying to defend that.
and in that, he’s right. The only duties spelled out in the Constitution are to succeed the President on the President’s incapacitation or death, and to preside over the Senate to break ties if necessary. That’s really about it.
Now if the President wants the Vice President to be an attack dog, he/she’s an attack dog. If the President wants the Vice President to be an ambassador plenipotentiary and peripatetic, or to be their liaison to the oil companies, or whatever, that’s the President’s perogative. But that doesn’t mean the next Vice President will inherit those duties, or any at all except for the first two mentioned above.
And I loved that story about LBJ being frozen out of the Democratic caucus meetings as Vice President. I haven’t independently verified it, but it sounds right.
LOL!
Can I just say that the use of the phrase “before you were tapped” is just wrong?
Here is a more scary thought. Both in her comment to the 3rd grader and in the debate she said “If the VP wants too…” when referring to working closely with the Senate.
While she would have no vote, not sit on any committees, and could not introduce legislation, she COULD if she wanted to show up every day and preside over the Senate.
And since she controls the gavel and interprets the rules she could wind up being a loud mouth pain in the ass grabbing lots of time on CSPAN.
the funniest part of that, Andy, is that anytime you watch CSPAN, you’ll notice who is in the president’ chair. It’s always Jon Tester or Jim Webb or Amy Klobuchar or Sheldon Whitehouse or Sherrod Brown. Why? They’re freshmen, and this is their hazing. Being forced to preside over the Senate. At least next year’s freshman will welcome Palin.
True, but John Adams made a partisan pain in the ass of himself as VP presiding over the senate, spouting off about this and that and no one able to stop him.
He only shut up when they threatened to make rules to shut him up and he was thinking about becoming President and he wanted to make nice. Pretty much ever since the VP has let the senators do their thing.
Our little maverick may have other thoughts.
I think she’d be humiliated on the first day. Actually, McCain would never let her go down there anyway.
Why would 60 Dem senators let her preside over them?
Her special Secret Service friends, maybe?
Blackwater division thereof?
Frankly, I think that if McCain is elected we will be under limited martial law within a year.
Maybe sooner.
Then who “presides” over the Senate? If indeed there is still such a thing and that it retains power enough to demand presiding over?
Whoever has the most guns presides over it, of course.
Waht’ll the pencil-necked geeks like Reid have to harrumph about THAT shit?
Zero.
Nothing.
Nada.
“Yes, Ms. Chairwoman, no Ms. Chairwoman” will be about all that they have to say.
If that.
Bet on it.
AG