Try this on for size: Palinism. What is it? It is an updated version of McCarthyism, which takes its name from the late Sen. Joseph McCarthy, the Wisconsin liar, demagogue and drunk, and means, according to Wikipedia, "reckless, unsubstantiated accusations, as well as demagogic attacks on the character or patriotism of political adversaries." As far as we know, Sarah Palin is not a drunk. (Well as far as we know. If I had to guess I would lean more toward over the counter pharmaceuticals. But that is just a guess.)
But she certainly shares McCarthy's other attributes -- and this one as well: the ability to drive the debate. In McCarthy's day, it was anti-communism coupled with national security, and it hardly mattered that he frequently did not have his facts straight. He got huge amounts of attention anyway.
With Palin, the subject is health care, which in many ways is the Red Menace of our day and lends itself to a kind of political pornography. For sheer disregard of the facts, her statement about President Obama's "death panel" has to rank with McCarthy's announcement that "I have here in my hand a list of 205" (or 57 or 72 or whatever) names of communists in the State Department. They were both false -- McCarthy's by commission, Palin's probably by omission. She rarely knows her facts.
(Just click the title to read the rest of the article.)
I'm sure many Americans easily compare Senator McCarthy to EX 1/2 Term Governor Sarah Palin. They both base their verbal vomit on lies and distortion, playing to a very small base of crazies.
ReplyDeletePerhaps Ms. Palin will meet her end in the same manner as McCarthy? And hopefully very soon.
Gryphen.... will are counting on you and other bloggers to find the story that finishes her career for good.
ReplyDeleteWOW! If I were her, I'd be mortified to know that history will remember me as "McCarthy like".
ReplyDeleteYes!! Finally she is being called out by a major news organization. Yes!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Gryphen. What a delightful read first thing this morning.
I've been spreading this link around too, people need to realize what she's doing!
ReplyDeleteThis is an incredibly naive moral equivalency which...again... plays into Palin's hands just as accusations of "deserter" about Bush only empowered and motivated The Swift Boat gang to put Kerry's Vietnam experiences under a microscope.
ReplyDeleteI live in New York and the Daily News is no longer a player in Big City journalism. Walk into a convenience store around here and the right-leaning "New York Post" is either sold out by noon or kept behind the counter. Come back at midnight and you'll see a pile of unsold New
York Daily News being sent back for recycling.
Is anyone on this form even capable of remembering how Dan Rather's
CBS-fake-Bush-military memo worked out for the party?
I do.
Bush was given four more years.
Sad to say there are too many democrats who really think the right doesn't know or can't use this sort of thing for motivation, firing up the base,,,again,,,using it to rake in political capital.
McCarthy = Palinism.
ReplyDeleteHas a nice ring to it.
Joseph McCarthy was insane. See, they have something else in common.
Re: Wes Ben:
ReplyDeleteI'm sure your heart is in the right place but you couldn't be further from the truth about Palin giving a damn about what a columnist from a New York Newspaper thinks about her--and that is indicative of why the woman is a threat: the left thinks she can be stopped by that sort of
sophomoric moral equivalency.
Consider this: she's either a "Born-Again" or "Charismatic" Christian.
They--far more than any other Christian orientation__believe and accept that if they believe they are following, in their own life, their Lord's road to calvary they will be blessed:
From the Beatitudes:
"Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake: Be glad and rejoice for your reward is very great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets that were before you."
It doesn't matter if such a person is genuinely on the side of right or not: it's what they believe and Sarah Palin--sorry, folks--is not simply a "narcissist" or a "publicity whore"; she is a woman who believes she is fighting a Quixotic cause and as a Charismatic (or whatever) not only expects to be scorned and vilified, I'm guessing she uses as evidence that she is fighting the good war.
That's why the protestations of her "five minutes of fame" were ludicrous. That's why labels that she is irrelevant are equally nonsense.
Google "Pelosi + health care and you'll get 8,000,000 + hits; Google
"Palin + health care and you get 30,000,000 + hits.
What does that tell you?
ir·rel·e·vant
adj.
1. Unrelated to a matter being considered.
It's about time the left looked for a different adjective don't you think?
I read your posts every day becaues I find them honest and informative. Don't bring yourself down to Palin's level by printing unsubstatiated innuendo about drug or alcohol abuse. It cheapens your articles.
ReplyDeleteUK Lady here
ReplyDeleteTime someone from the repugs with some clout asked her the McCarthy question
"Madam, have you no decency?
McCain, this is all your stupid fault, you first.
flying fish .... I agree that people need to realize what she's been doing, but will they. Yesterday was an epiphany for me as I saw byline after byline even on Huffington Post that seemed to indicate a win for the GOP and yes, crediting Palin, on healthcare. So who is going to realize anything when the MSM even including HuffPo is tantalizingly, with sensationistic opeds guiding this whole issue. They (and she) are killing healthcare and killing my country. There is no civil discourse, only hatred. As I am about ready to hit "post comment" to send this, I see the links on the left. Under Daily Kos "Sebelius walks it back." That is so typical of late. So and so (fill in the blanks) apologizes to Rush Limbaugh, So and so (ditto) "walks it back." Is there any democrat with backbone? I filled out my form on healthcare and why it matters to me. I jumped on my bike and rode it to my Senator's office and gave it to the aide, asking that it at least be read. See, I already know his position. I don't think I can sway it, but if he had a heart and read what I wrote, it might give him pause. At least the piece of paper I gave him is supposed to go on the record. I hope that is so, because I may now throw in the towel.
ReplyDeleteNow let us just see how much play this opinion piece gets in the MSM. (Except for KO,CM,RM,&ES)
ReplyDeleteReady now??? Listen up!!!
((((((CRICKETS))))))
It took Edward R Murrow to bring down McCarthy.
ReplyDeleteWalter Cronkite's reports on Viet Nam had a huuuge influence on LBJ's decision not to seek reelection in 1968.
This WaPo article is a start, but somebody, on a MAJOR NETWORK preferably, needs to speak up and end this train wreck...!
The problem being a majority of the U.S. population being uneducated about McCarthyism. There are too few left that lived through it, and too few that never learned about it beyond the label.
ReplyDeleteWithout the reference, "Palinism" doesn't have the bite it should.
Too bad Michael Moore can make a little 'short' comparing the two.
well Snap! I'm so sick of the Republican's. I really hope the Democratic party and the Independents grow some and drown out this party of hatred. I've started e-mailing my senators and am ready to start the fight on a local level. We all need to get on the band wagon. I DO NOT want to see an era of Palinism!
ReplyDeleteAnon 8:01. I get what you are saying. She will wear our revilement proudly as it confirms her belief that she is fulfilling what Christ asked of his flock. And, this will encourage her to do more of the same. So it seems we have a religious war on our hands (ugh). I think this is what Lea Burton of theopalinism has been trying to get across to us. So the real question is, how do we "make it/her go away" without ending up in a religious civil war?
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing more dangerous then religious zealots.
Philip said...unsubstatiated innuendo about drug or alcohol abuse.
ReplyDelete*******
gryph; hows bout linking to her quitter speech?
OT - seems the facebook followers are finally discovering the swine flu has all been a hoax to push through health care reform! How could we have been so blind?
ReplyDeleteGod help us all. ManxMamma
Mmmm. Methinks you hang out too much with educated, openminded people. You think Palin people will think it's a BAD thing for her to be equated with McCarthy? All they know is that he was against communism. Communism bad, therefore McCarthy good, therefore if Palin like McCarthy, then Palin good.
ReplyDeleteThat said,yes,Palin is the McCarthy for this century. And she's from my state. How embarrassing.
"As far as we know, Sarah Palin is not a drunk."
ReplyDeleteBut, isn't Alaska, or Wasilla, the meth capitol of the world? Maybe she likes to smoke it as shooting it leaves tracks.
Or maybe, she likes those hillbilly heroin Oxycontin's. Maybe Sherry told her she was getting too big of a habit and that's why Sarah set her up. She figured if Sherry wouldn't sell to her, then she couldn't sell at all.
I think maybe quite a few Valium would do Palin some good, you betcha!
"Is anyone on this form even capable of remembering how Dan Rather's
ReplyDeleteCBS-fake-Bush-military memo worked out for the party?"
Dan Rather's reporting was NOT fake. Bush's lies were fake. Do you read or research much? Dan Rather was recently vindicated for that report. He also won a settlement from CBS.
Well, McCarthyism may not have much of a bite as mlaiuppa @9:11 pointed out.
ReplyDeleteAnd Anonymous @8:01 made a valid point that fundamental extremists believe they are doing God's work.
That is why babygate is so important. Not only did Palin lie and deceive her constituents with a fake pregnancy, she continued spewing lies, i.e., the wild ride story; the breast pump story; the pro-life stories, etc. Palin even used Trig for the purpose of fear mongering about death panels.
Those who believe that Jesus would condone Palin's deceptions and lies while doing God's work should be rebuked and referred to Jesus' testimony, Matthew 7:15-23. Jesus warned about being deceived. Mark 13:5-6. Mark 7:20-23. Matthew 24:11. Enough to make the point.
""Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake: Be glad and rejoice for your reward is very great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets that were before you."
ReplyDeleteThat saying is only for the real Christians who tell the truth. And don't even go to "Palin is a real Christian". She does everything, I mean everything the complete opposite of what Jesus preached to his followers. Palin and her brand of Christianity has given Christ a bad name. Just look at what she prays for; a pipeline to make money from. Of course the money won't go to the least fortunate amongst us. She prays for power, to be elected Governor. Not Christian. I'm sure that Gryphen could do a long post about Palin's unchristian actions, words and deeds. Like cutting funding for homeless teenagers. Like letting the Native Alaskans either freeze or starve. There you have just a few examples of Palins Christianity. And don't forget how she let over 200 people of her state die due to her uncaring incompetence.
Was this lady a victim of Palinism?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.juneauempire.com/stories/080209/reg_473786423.shtml
Will anyone from Alaska or elsewhere follow this story?
I believe the Dems and Indies ARE making themselves known by refusing to sink to the level of the braindead screaming tea baggers.
ReplyDeleteJoseph McCarthy was a walk in the park compared to Palin but I do believe something will come along and take her down for good. Perhaps God will speak to Michelle Bachmann and not Sarah? Will Sarah obey God? (I mean the one that is in her head of course).
As to whether she abuses substances - not a clue. She appears to be higher than a kite on occasion so she may be self-medicating. I have no idea if she is, or if she's just nuts.
Not to quibble re the details, but a person can not think they are "chosen" by God and NOT be a narcissist. What this means is that she is textbook NPD, as in mentally ill. Not that she is your average teenage narcissist. She's got it bad.
ReplyDeleteYou're never going to convince her cult of anything. They know she was "anointed", so that's all it takes for them.
I heard a woman on the radio defending "death panels" by saying that Sarah was the only person who actually read the bill. Oh, god, how I laughed. When the host pointed out that that language was nowhere in the "bill" and that there were in fact 5 bills, the woman just stuttered on about how you have to "infere" what's in there.
In other words, "makin' things up". They know it and they don't care. They're a cult.
I can recall my wild youth and hanging out at my friends houses. We knew the social drinkers from the alcoholics. There were parents, the mothers stood out, that were on pills. They don't fool the kids.
ReplyDeleteLevi is probably an expert on the subject of parents that try to hide any type of substance abuse. Unless he was brain dead and only thinking with his little head when he was living at the Palin house.
I am afraid I agree that Palin and her followers will not consider it a bad thing that she is compared to McCarthy, that is those of her followers who even know who he was. All they will pick up on is he was against Communism, so therefore he was a great American. I am sad to say not that Sarah is right, they are a cult and they don't care what she says or does or how many people she hurts. I don't know how John McShame sleeps at night.
ReplyDeleteTo wes_ben @ 9:46,
ReplyDeleteFormer Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards once bragged "that the only way he could lose an election in Louisiana was to get caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy."
Maybe that's what it will take for Palin to be deposed from the pedestal she's installed herself on. Maybe a sex tape with Todd's former partner will do the trick.
There are always people like in the Palin cult. The trouble is they are in the position we now see. It is all built on lies and quicksand.
ReplyDeleteMore focus on church and state matters and the C-streeters is good.
The country is not all fundamentalists christianists. The more people to organize and stand up to their threats the better. They do have media tyrants like Murdoch working for them. The whole world cares b/c they don't want to see the USA taken over by fundamentalists.
Palin's close ally and soul mate, Greta Van Susteren, spent her childhood at the foot of Joe McCarthy,a good friend of her father's. McCarthy even lived in their Wisconsin home for a period of time. Coincidence? I think not.
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greta_Van_Susteren
http://www.nndb.com/people/204/000024132/
http://www.nnp.org/nni/Publications/Dutch-American/vansusteren.html
Palinism, like McCarthyism, wilts when the white hot light of truth shines directly on it. Consider the internet the sun.
ReplyDeleteI've been saying this for the longest time. She is truly our modern day Mccarthy. She's totally taking advantage of the volatile political climate in this country to advance her own agenda. She is a sick individual and needs to be stopped.
ReplyDelete