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The best I can piece together from Twitter and Mediaite is that some goon named Dan Wolfe is likely the instigator of the “prank”, and the pic is Weiner. Wolfe seems to have known ahead of time that a “sex scandal” was looming for Weiner, and this was the culmination of a weeks-long attack on him.
Somewhere along the line, Breitbart picked up on Wolfe’s version of the story, and thought it would be just peachy to “ask questions”, and go on CNN to present Wolfe’s accusations about what kind of people Weiner follows. Not a high watermark in journalism. Breitbart has since thrown Wolfe under the bus; the truth about exactly how the pic was sent is still not clear; and Anthony Weiner looks like a guy with little reason to act as guilty as he did.
My theory about Weiner’s reaction goes back to Wolfe’s accusations about his “fans”: I think Anthony acquired a decent sized following of purty young thangs; thought “what could the harm be” in following them; then freaked when “Seattle girl” got that pic, which he undoubtedly knew was of him even if he didn’t send it.
Sometimes you don’t have to be guilty of one specific thing to get that “oh man, this is not going to end well” feeling. Like, “wait’ll my wife sees who I follow”. Gulp.
As for getting the FBI in, it goes back to the pic being his. There’s probably a lot more..
Tommy Christopher’s Mediaite article is a good read but it’s mostly about “the Weiner story that wasn’t a story”. Reader’s Digest version: a) There’s some low-lifes out there who don’t care one bit about the lives of minors. b) Breitbart handled the story properly and held-back reporting the unsubstantiated (and eventually determined to be “false”) accusations against Weiner.
Breitbart went on CNN and used Dan Wolfe’s allegations that there was something “fishy” about who Weiner followed. Like, that pretty girls asked him to follow them, and he clicked “Follow”. Breit and Wolfe clearly implied that there were “relationships” involved. If what they’re discussing is a relationship, I had one with Veronica De La Cruz and Brooke Baldwin, ’cause, ya know, they answered me.
Hey, remember that “failure”, the Chevy Volt? It would appear that people are willing to pay an extra $20,000, or let the tax credit go to the dealer while still paying foll pop for it. I can’t vouch for the dealer practices – I’ve never met an auto salesman I didn’t like – but I’d love to see FNC explain The Failure Of That Lousy American Car.
The volt is a piece of junk. If people want to pay 40 grand for this white elephant that’s their business but in a nutshell the volt is bad technology in an overpriced car.
And yes I know this is supposed to be a stepping stone for better technology in the future. Only thing here is that they are trying to reinvent the wheel and the alternative stinks. Show me an electric car that is lower in price, longer range, and a shorter charge time then we can talk.
-Roger Ailes needs to have Sarah Palin tell him right now…-
I have to believe that her potential candidacy was thoroughly contemplated before she was hired and the lines about that clearly drawn in her contract. She’s doing exactly what she’s been doing all along and it’s only the calendar that has changed.
The Iowa caucus isn’t until February, so what’s the rush?
^^ The public made up it’s collective mind on Hillary Clinton not long after she became first lady. The public made up it’s mind on Richard Nixon around the time when the press didn’t have him to kick around any longer. Perceptions do change, and Palin idn’t running this cycle.
Al’s right (cough), there’s a dozen second acts in a public figure’s life in this country. Palin could continue her image makeover for six more months, and the Sarah Palin we once knew will be utterly forgotten.
- Volt –
Jacky, I don’t believe you understand the technology. It’s not an electric car. It’s a plug-in hybrid, which is essentially a standard gas/electric car that operates as electric-only if you cruise the city, then get home before the juice is used up. If you decide to take a longer trip, the gas engine eventually kicks in to keep you on the road until you can plug in again. I don’t know why people have such a hard time understanding this.
She’s doing exactly what she’s been doing all along and it’s only the calendar that has changed.
Things have completely changed Al. And not just the names of the months.
GOP candidates – including the major ones – have entered the race and she is influencing – directly and indirectly, deliberately or not – that competition. And she’s not just sitting in a Fox news room giving her views; she’s now out there promoting herself or her message.
This isn’t 2010 anymore. The race on the GOP side is starting to take shape and she is playing a role in it.
It’s at this point where she has to make a decision and it’s also where Fox or, more accurately, Ailes has to make one too.
This is getting to be completely untenable. How are they supposed to treat her? How are they to question her?
Her negatives changed drastically after the Lewinsky scandal, a fact that Chris Matthews got caught noticing. Hillary Clinton was the most hated woman in America before that.
The negatives she retained going into the election mainly centered on her support for the Iraq War, a problem most Dems actually working when that war started carried with them into the election. Obama had the luxury of being a private citizen on record as opposing, which helped carry him past her to the nomination. Add her shambles of a campaign – including Bill frequently stepping on it – and she was sunk.
^Might have some change if, as with Hillary in 2008, she shows a side of herself or exhibits qualities during the campaign that we haven’t seen. It’s possible. Races have done that to candidates. Of course not all of the changes in the public’s mind were positive.
But not enough, I think, to get her the nomination. And certainly not the presidency.
Let me know when they make one that’s:
1) affordable
2) safe & suitable for a family that doesn’t spend it’s time watching TV at home
3) not butt ugly
This one is for the first-adopter technogeeks with deep pockets. Yours is coming.
Btw, here in “green” N. California, watching a Volt cruise the freeway is like watching Scarlett Johansson stroll through an airport: People running into each other to get a better look. If I had a Volt right now, I’d be afraid to drive it. It causes a riot wherever it goes. That sucker is a hit.
Hillary’s negatives among Democrats before the campaign were enormous. It wasn’t just Iraq since other candidates who supported the war – Joe Biden anyone? – didn’t suffer as much. And Hillary distanced herself from the war pretty quickly.
To be sure, the left hated her because of the Clinton/moderate/centrist/DLC views she had.
The point remains: it’s hard for a politico/public figure to turn his/her image around unless something major happens.
Well Steve, I’m a solid Democrat, and partake of much liberal media, and that is not my recollection. My side was begging for her to run, long before we had a clue who Barack Obama was. I’m still stunned he beat her. He didn’t in California. She’s very popular here.
Well Steve, I’m a solid Democrat, and partake of much liberal media, and that is not my recollection
I guess we need to agree on a time frame. Certainly after Lewinsky her positive numbers went up. But not because the public viewed her favorably as a candidate for office but as a victim.
Summary:
“Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s ratings in the latest New York Times/CBS News poll suggest that unlike her Democratic rivals, her favorability ratings worsen as voters’ income and education levels increase. The poll also found that Mrs. Clinton was far better known than her opponents, but more than half of those who had an opinion of her had a negative one.”
joe I know about the backup gas engine but GM has been marketing the volt as a an electric car so I treated it as so. But even then the car is still about 32 grand. For a compact car that price is ridiculous.
-Palin-
It is surprising how people can dislike her this much yet they cannot stop talking about her. I think it is because it is because she has a lot of charisma and a lot of talent, she just sucks at using it. It is easy to write her off as irrelevant but she clearly is not and she is real threat to a lot of people, as of right now the republican party and maybe with a lot of work and a lot of luck even the president himself.
I like the guy who was holding the “idiot queen” sign. I mean think what he had to do to do that. He had to make a sign, find out where Palin would be, show up, and make sure that he had the sign in the picture along with Palin. All for someone I am assuming he dislikes. Why all the trouble for that?
Jacky, as a serious car nut, I may be a little too close to the subject to know how GM has marketed the car to Average Joe. I’ve known forEVER that it was coming, and what the technology is. If everybody thinks it’s an “electric car”, GM has failed to explain plug-in hybrid technology.
As for the price-to-size quotient, the concept of a compact car always being cheap is changing. The Volt is intended to be the “right size” for its intended job, and priced at what the market wil bear for new technology directed at first adopters.
For a relevant comparison, see: the Mini Cooper. It’s easy to dump $35K on that “little car” because it’s not considered little; it’s just a Mini. The new Lexus CT200h hybrid is in a similar category: Premium Compact. The Chevy Volt is a Premium Compact. Not for everyone; not intended to be.
Jacky, my only reason for discussing the car is that, early on, the rightwing decided en masse to bash the thing as a failure before it even went on sale. It was a kneejerk reaction to the auto bailout, and they had no compunction bashing an American breakthrough technology out of spite.
Gussying up a Prius as a Lexus and charging a lot of money for it (CT200h) is a legitimately cynical marketing trick, worthy of scorn if you’re so inclined. Beating on an industry-leading new direction from America, priced as low as they can possibly get away with, is damn near unpatriotic.
Well screw all the righties who beat on their own industry. The car is a huge hit, they can’t make enough of them, and dealers are raking in HUGE profits selling every one they get a hand on. AND they’re selling a boatload of $18,000 Chevy Cruze’s – same size, same platform, 40mpg – to people coming in to gaze at the Volt. USA!
While I sort of agree with you in theory, Steve, I don’t know that her contract with FNC requires that she inform them of her intentions before she decides for certain herself what she’s going to do. And several on FNC’s payroll (of both parties) continue to maintain their own PACs which, by definition, are designed to influence elections. Her bus tour is a SarahPAC endeavour.
If she tells FNC, “I’m probably going to run” and they cut her off, that action influences the race even if she later decides not to. Conversely, if she tells them she’s not going to run and FNC makes that announcement public, that also influences the
race… and she can still change her mind. This same argument might hold true for Gov. Huckabee, as well. however they and their employees have a larger stake regarding his intentions and, as a host of a programme that bears his name, he might have an additional fiduciary responsibility to FNC to consider. Palin does not.
I think the rule has to be straightforward and simple, and that is precisely how FNC handled both Gingrich and Santorum. They were not suspended until steps were taken to form exploratory committees – a clear indication of intent to seek public office. That Sarah Palin is a “rock star” who attracts network news paparazzi everywhere she goes should not be sufficient reason to treat her differently than any other potential candidate who has not taken any formal steps toward running.
FNC can do whatever they want with Palin; she certainly isn’t breaking any currently established guidelines. But they should cut ties with her if they want to have any semblance of integrity in the runup to the election.
The most powerful name in the party – the one who seems to singlehandedly be able to tell the Tea Party which way to turn, and who to ignore (hellooo Romney) – is giving exclusive interviews to her own employer on the bus. “Incestuous” is putting it mildly.
I don’t know what her contract with them actually requires her to “contribute”, but at one time at least Bill O’Reilly tried to get her to analyse who was winning and losing an issue and she only wanted to promote a policy. Perhaps they can dump her for failure to perform.
Exactly, Al, I’ve mentioned this several times. Every “contribution” from her is a campaign speech. I’ve never understood her purpose there other than as “our special guest, Sarah Palin, who we’re paying to be our special guest and promote books and stuff”. I’d take that gig..
Oh for God’s sake, somebody punch me in the face. I just saw an ad for “An exclusive interview with Sarah Palin. On Fox News Sunday”.
Really? Is that exclusively after Greta rode the bus with her? Or exclusively after Hannity and Palin wasted a half hour being vacant last night? Oh, I get it. It’s exclusively after payday.
Say what you will about Palin, but everything she accomplished, she did on her own.
She became mayor of a town, governor of a state and made it to the #2 spot on a major national ticket…without being married to a powerful pervert, having influential friends, having gone to the Ivy League, and so on.
Can you say the same about Mrs. Clinton? The ONLY reason she was seriously considered for the Dem nomination and is now Sec of State is that she was Senator from a state in which she’d never actually lived. And how did she get that? Because people are starstruck and felt sorry that her charming husband messed around with a fat intern, and embarrassed her publicly.
You were doing fine until “fat intern”. I don’t require every woman to be a size 0, and neither should you. Ms. Lewinsky was an attractive young woman impressed with the power. Leave her alone.
Appears she did well on FNS but I still doubt she’ll run this cycle.
As for her casting a huge shadow onto Gov. Romney’s announcement, are we so sure she did that on purpose? If so, that would make her quite the savvy player. Sarah Palin goes on a patriotic-themed bus tour without inviting the press along. She apparently refused to furnish her itinerary to them and even actively tried to give them the slip-a-roo once or twice. Major news outlet reporters were buzzing around her paparazzi-like yet they collectively yawned while the current front-runner officially started his campaign.
Either Sarah Palin is one amazing politician or a whole bunch of reporters must really want her to run for POTUS. Which is it?
June 3, 2011 at 8:32 am
OK, so why was 0bama’s flag log OK?
http://www.modeproject.com/work/obama-logo/
Neither his nor Sarah’s are exact representations of the flag, so that’s not it.
Maybe Mr. BASHir can enlighten us as to why the double standard, again?
June 3, 2011 at 8:32 am
“flag lolO”, not log! LOL
June 3, 2011 at 8:34 am
Now I REALLY did it! Not only did I have my usual typo, but posted on the wrong thread! I’ll move it down one now.
June 3, 2011 at 8:40 am
Tommy Christopher has an 86 page thesis on the Weiner flap. I read it but I was so lost that I have no idea what it was all about.
June 3, 2011 at 8:54 am
The best I can piece together from Twitter and Mediaite is that some goon named Dan Wolfe is likely the instigator of the “prank”, and the pic is Weiner. Wolfe seems to have known ahead of time that a “sex scandal” was looming for Weiner, and this was the culmination of a weeks-long attack on him.
Somewhere along the line, Breitbart picked up on Wolfe’s version of the story, and thought it would be just peachy to “ask questions”, and go on CNN to present Wolfe’s accusations about what kind of people Weiner follows. Not a high watermark in journalism. Breitbart has since thrown Wolfe under the bus; the truth about exactly how the pic was sent is still not clear; and Anthony Weiner looks like a guy with little reason to act as guilty as he did.
My theory about Weiner’s reaction goes back to Wolfe’s accusations about his “fans”: I think Anthony acquired a decent sized following of purty young thangs; thought “what could the harm be” in following them; then freaked when “Seattle girl” got that pic, which he undoubtedly knew was of him even if he didn’t send it.
Sometimes you don’t have to be guilty of one specific thing to get that “oh man, this is not going to end well” feeling. Like, “wait’ll my wife sees who I follow”. Gulp.
As for getting the FBI in, it goes back to the pic being his. There’s probably a lot more..
June 3, 2011 at 9:54 am
^ That was excellent. I have no patience for long, winding stories, especially ones that really have no great meaning in my life.
June 3, 2011 at 10:16 am
Tommy Christopher’s Mediaite article is a good read but it’s mostly about “the Weiner story that wasn’t a story”. Reader’s Digest version: a) There’s some low-lifes out there who don’t care one bit about the lives of minors. b) Breitbart handled the story properly and held-back reporting the unsubstantiated (and eventually determined to be “false”) accusations against Weiner.
June 3, 2011 at 10:22 am
Breitbart went on CNN and used Dan Wolfe’s allegations that there was something “fishy” about who Weiner followed. Like, that pretty girls asked him to follow them, and he clicked “Follow”. Breit and Wolfe clearly implied that there were “relationships” involved. If what they’re discussing is a relationship, I had one with Veronica De La Cruz and Brooke Baldwin, ’cause, ya know, they answered me.
June 3, 2011 at 10:40 am
Roger Ailes needs to have Sarah Palin tell him right now whether she plans on running. Right now as in this weekend (er, you get the idea).
No more of this game that she’s playing.
He has to demand an answer and if she says she’s undecided then he has to remove her from the network.
At some point this has to stop. And if half the stories out there are true, I think he’s getting fed up with it.
June 3, 2011 at 11:01 am
Hey, remember that “failure”, the Chevy Volt? It would appear that people are willing to pay an extra $20,000, or let the tax credit go to the dealer while still paying foll pop for it. I can’t vouch for the dealer practices – I’ve never met an auto salesman I didn’t like – but I’d love to see FNC explain The Failure Of That Lousy American Car.
http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-autos-volt-20110603,0,6666334.story
June 3, 2011 at 11:03 am
DID like. You know what I mean. I need a nap.
June 3, 2011 at 11:52 am
The Chevy Volt – another great use of money we don’t have!
http://green.yahoo.com/blog/ecogeek/777/u-s-government-will-buy-7-500-of-your-chevy-volt.html
Too lazy to read: the tax credits given will “cost” the US Government ONLY $750 million!
June 3, 2011 at 12:06 pm
Piling on, I admit it.
http://politicalwire.com/archives/2011/06/03/palin_explains_paul_reveres_midnight_ride.html
June 3, 2011 at 12:06 pm
The volt is a piece of junk. If people want to pay 40 grand for this white elephant that’s their business but in a nutshell the volt is bad technology in an overpriced car.
And yes I know this is supposed to be a stepping stone for better technology in the future. Only thing here is that they are trying to reinvent the wheel and the alternative stinks. Show me an electric car that is lower in price, longer range, and a shorter charge time then we can talk.
June 3, 2011 at 12:43 pm
-Palin-
She needs to clean it up, it’s the little stuff like this that hurts her the most.
June 3, 2011 at 1:05 pm
^ Too late.
The public has made its mind up about her and I can’t see her changing it at this point.
June 3, 2011 at 1:18 pm
-Roger Ailes needs to have Sarah Palin tell him right now…-
I have to believe that her potential candidacy was thoroughly contemplated before she was hired and the lines about that clearly drawn in her contract. She’s doing exactly what she’s been doing all along and it’s only the calendar that has changed.
The Iowa caucus isn’t until February, so what’s the rush?
June 3, 2011 at 1:25 pm
^^ The public made up it’s collective mind on Hillary Clinton not long after she became first lady. The public made up it’s mind on Richard Nixon around the time when the press didn’t have him to kick around any longer. Perceptions do change, and Palin idn’t running this cycle.
June 3, 2011 at 2:16 pm
- Palin -
Al’s right (cough), there’s a dozen second acts in a public figure’s life in this country. Palin could continue her image makeover for six more months, and the Sarah Palin we once knew will be utterly forgotten.
- Volt –
Jacky, I don’t believe you understand the technology. It’s not an electric car. It’s a plug-in hybrid, which is essentially a standard gas/electric car that operates as electric-only if you cruise the city, then get home before the juice is used up. If you decide to take a longer trip, the gas engine eventually kicks in to keep you on the road until you can plug in again. I don’t know why people have such a hard time understanding this.
June 3, 2011 at 2:24 pm
She’s doing exactly what she’s been doing all along and it’s only the calendar that has changed.
Things have completely changed Al. And not just the names of the months.
GOP candidates – including the major ones – have entered the race and she is influencing – directly and indirectly, deliberately or not – that competition. And she’s not just sitting in a Fox news room giving her views; she’s now out there promoting herself or her message.
This isn’t 2010 anymore. The race on the GOP side is starting to take shape and she is playing a role in it.
It’s at this point where she has to make a decision and it’s also where Fox or, more accurately, Ailes has to make one too.
This is getting to be completely untenable. How are they supposed to treat her? How are they to question her?
June 3, 2011 at 2:26 pm
I’ll note that Hillary Clinton got beaten by an unknown first term Senator from Illinois.
Her past certainly hurt her among Democrats. Remember those polls and her negatives?
Granted, her steadfastness during the campaign changed some of that. But not enough to give her the nomination.
Unless something drastic changes (and we don’t want to go there), her national career is over.
June 3, 2011 at 2:32 pm
electric/hybrid/corn cob fed car:
Let me know when they make one that’s:
1) affordable
2) safe & suitable for a family that doesn’t spend it’s time watching TV at home
3) not butt ugly
June 3, 2011 at 2:33 pm
-Palin-
Public perceptions of her will never change that much. She is who she is.
June 3, 2011 at 2:36 pm
- Hillary –
Her negatives changed drastically after the Lewinsky scandal, a fact that Chris Matthews got caught noticing. Hillary Clinton was the most hated woman in America before that.
The negatives she retained going into the election mainly centered on her support for the Iraq War, a problem most Dems actually working when that war started carried with them into the election. Obama had the luxury of being a private citizen on record as opposing, which helped carry him past her to the nomination. Add her shambles of a campaign – including Bill frequently stepping on it – and she was sunk.
June 3, 2011 at 2:37 pm
^Might have some change if, as with Hillary in 2008, she shows a side of herself or exhibits qualities during the campaign that we haven’t seen. It’s possible. Races have done that to candidates. Of course not all of the changes in the public’s mind were positive.
But not enough, I think, to get her the nomination. And certainly not the presidency.
June 3, 2011 at 2:41 pm
Let me know when they make one that’s:
1) affordable
2) safe & suitable for a family that doesn’t spend it’s time watching TV at home
3) not butt ugly
This one is for the first-adopter technogeeks with deep pockets. Yours is coming.
Btw, here in “green” N. California, watching a Volt cruise the freeway is like watching Scarlett Johansson stroll through an airport: People running into each other to get a better look. If I had a Volt right now, I’d be afraid to drive it. It causes a riot wherever it goes. That sucker is a hit.
June 3, 2011 at 2:42 pm
Hillary’s negatives among Democrats before the campaign were enormous. It wasn’t just Iraq since other candidates who supported the war – Joe Biden anyone? – didn’t suffer as much. And Hillary distanced herself from the war pretty quickly.
To be sure, the left hated her because of the Clinton/moderate/centrist/DLC views she had.
The point remains: it’s hard for a politico/public figure to turn his/her image around unless something major happens.
June 3, 2011 at 2:45 pm
Well Steve, I’m a solid Democrat, and partake of much liberal media, and that is not my recollection. My side was begging for her to run, long before we had a clue who Barack Obama was. I’m still stunned he beat her. He didn’t in California. She’s very popular here.
June 3, 2011 at 2:48 pm
The problem with Palin.
http://gawker.com/5808373/a-perfect-example-of-how-sarah-palin-soaks-up-the-spotlight
And Hillary is about as ‘moderate’ as Joe Lieberman.
June 3, 2011 at 2:58 pm
- “SARAH PALIN USES FEET TO WALK AND BLINKS WITH REGULAR FREQUENCY TO MOISTURIZE HER EYEBALLS; Tom Pallenty or whatever cures AIDS.” -
That’s funny.
June 3, 2011 at 2:59 pm
Well Steve, I’m a solid Democrat, and partake of much liberal media, and that is not my recollection
I guess we need to agree on a time frame. Certainly after Lewinsky her positive numbers went up. But not because the public viewed her favorably as a candidate for office but as a victim.
Here’s a 2007 NY Times piece on her numbers: (Hillary Clinton’s Ratings).
Summary:
“Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s ratings in the latest New York Times/CBS News poll suggest that unlike her Democratic rivals, her favorability ratings worsen as voters’ income and education levels increase. The poll also found that Mrs. Clinton was far better known than her opponents, but more than half of those who had an opinion of her had a negative one.”
June 3, 2011 at 3:08 pm
-Volt-
joe I know about the backup gas engine but GM has been marketing the volt as a an electric car so I treated it as so. But even then the car is still about 32 grand. For a compact car that price is ridiculous.
-Palin-
It is surprising how people can dislike her this much yet they cannot stop talking about her. I think it is because it is because she has a lot of charisma and a lot of talent, she just sucks at using it. It is easy to write her off as irrelevant but she clearly is not and she is real threat to a lot of people, as of right now the republican party and maybe with a lot of work and a lot of luck even the president himself.
I like the guy who was holding the “idiot queen” sign. I mean think what he had to do to do that. He had to make a sign, find out where Palin would be, show up, and make sure that he had the sign in the picture along with Palin. All for someone I am assuming he dislikes. Why all the trouble for that?
June 3, 2011 at 3:16 pm
coo coo:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/06/03/chris_matthews_calling_obamas_economic_policies_european_is_a_slur.html
June 3, 2011 at 3:25 pm
Jacky, as a serious car nut, I may be a little too close to the subject to know how GM has marketed the car to Average Joe. I’ve known forEVER that it was coming, and what the technology is. If everybody thinks it’s an “electric car”, GM has failed to explain plug-in hybrid technology.
As for the price-to-size quotient, the concept of a compact car always being cheap is changing. The Volt is intended to be the “right size” for its intended job, and priced at what the market wil bear for new technology directed at first adopters.
For a relevant comparison, see: the Mini Cooper. It’s easy to dump $35K on that “little car” because it’s not considered little; it’s just a Mini. The new Lexus CT200h hybrid is in a similar category: Premium Compact. The Chevy Volt is a Premium Compact. Not for everyone; not intended to be.
June 3, 2011 at 3:30 pm
joe I honestly don’t care enough about the volt to debate it any further, you win.
-Matthews-
A slur? Wow.
June 3, 2011 at 3:41 pm
Jacky, my only reason for discussing the car is that, early on, the rightwing decided en masse to bash the thing as a failure before it even went on sale. It was a kneejerk reaction to the auto bailout, and they had no compunction bashing an American breakthrough technology out of spite.
Gussying up a Prius as a Lexus and charging a lot of money for it (CT200h) is a legitimately cynical marketing trick, worthy of scorn if you’re so inclined. Beating on an industry-leading new direction from America, priced as low as they can possibly get away with, is damn near unpatriotic.
Well screw all the righties who beat on their own industry. The car is a huge hit, they can’t make enough of them, and dealers are raking in HUGE profits selling every one they get a hand on. AND they’re selling a boatload of $18,000 Chevy Cruze’s – same size, same platform, 40mpg – to people coming in to gaze at the Volt. USA!
June 3, 2011 at 3:41 pm
Chrissy has lost his mind.
June 3, 2011 at 4:47 pm
Alex Wagner on Hardball: “Sarah Palin is the Lady Gaga of American politics..she has her own Little Monsters in the press, chasing her around.”
For reasons related to I and my daughter’s musical taste, that was AWESOME.
June 3, 2011 at 4:51 pm
^ One is a good looking, talentless hack..desperate for attention. The other is Lady Gaga..
June 3, 2011 at 6:03 pm
The Lady Gaga of politics. Is that a good thing or bad thing?
June 3, 2011 at 6:27 pm
Both?
June 3, 2011 at 8:07 pm
I’ll take it.
June 3, 2011 at 9:00 pm
-Palin influencing-
While I sort of agree with you in theory, Steve, I don’t know that her contract with FNC requires that she inform them of her intentions before she decides for certain herself what she’s going to do. And several on FNC’s payroll (of both parties) continue to maintain their own PACs which, by definition, are designed to influence elections. Her bus tour is a SarahPAC endeavour.
If she tells FNC, “I’m probably going to run” and they cut her off, that action influences the race even if she later decides not to. Conversely, if she tells them she’s not going to run and FNC makes that announcement public, that also influences the
race… and she can still change her mind. This same argument might hold true for Gov. Huckabee, as well. however they and their employees have a larger stake regarding his intentions and, as a host of a programme that bears his name, he might have an additional fiduciary responsibility to FNC to consider. Palin does not.
I think the rule has to be straightforward and simple, and that is precisely how FNC handled both Gingrich and Santorum. They were not suspended until steps were taken to form exploratory committees – a clear indication of intent to seek public office. That Sarah Palin is a “rock star” who attracts network news paparazzi everywhere she goes should not be sufficient reason to treat her differently than any other potential candidate who has not taken any formal steps toward running.
June 3, 2011 at 9:17 pm
FNC can do whatever they want with Palin; she certainly isn’t breaking any currently established guidelines. But they should cut ties with her if they want to have any semblance of integrity in the runup to the election.
The most powerful name in the party – the one who seems to singlehandedly be able to tell the Tea Party which way to turn, and who to ignore (hellooo Romney) – is giving exclusive interviews to her own employer on the bus. “Incestuous” is putting it mildly.
June 3, 2011 at 9:38 pm
I don’t know what her contract with them actually requires her to “contribute”, but at one time at least Bill O’Reilly tried to get her to analyse who was winning and losing an issue and she only wanted to promote a policy. Perhaps they can dump her for failure to perform.
June 3, 2011 at 10:17 pm
Exactly, Al, I’ve mentioned this several times. Every “contribution” from her is a campaign speech. I’ve never understood her purpose there other than as “our special guest, Sarah Palin, who we’re paying to be our special guest and promote books and stuff”. I’d take that gig..
June 4, 2011 at 12:58 am
Oh for God’s sake, somebody punch me in the face. I just saw an ad for “An exclusive interview with Sarah Palin. On Fox News Sunday”.
Really? Is that exclusively after Greta rode the bus with her? Or exclusively after Hannity and Palin wasted a half hour being vacant last night? Oh, I get it. It’s exclusively after payday.
June 4, 2011 at 6:27 am
FNS is a broadcast network programme, so it’s exclusive to broadcast. Along with that technical detail, it’s exclusively before payday.
June 5, 2011 at 5:43 am
Say what you will about Palin, but everything she accomplished, she did on her own.
She became mayor of a town, governor of a state and made it to the #2 spot on a major national ticket…without being married to a powerful pervert, having influential friends, having gone to the Ivy League, and so on.
Can you say the same about Mrs. Clinton? The ONLY reason she was seriously considered for the Dem nomination and is now Sec of State is that she was Senator from a state in which she’d never actually lived. And how did she get that? Because people are starstruck and felt sorry that her charming husband messed around with a fat intern, and embarrassed her publicly.
June 5, 2011 at 9:55 am
You were doing fine until “fat intern”. I don’t require every woman to be a size 0, and neither should you. Ms. Lewinsky was an attractive young woman impressed with the power. Leave her alone.
June 5, 2011 at 5:46 pm
She’s sorry?. Uh, no..she’s lying.
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/sarah-palin-sincerely-apologizes-to-mitt-romney-if-she-stepped-on-any-pr-he-needed/
June 5, 2011 at 11:12 pm
Appears she did well on FNS but I still doubt she’ll run this cycle.
As for her casting a huge shadow onto Gov. Romney’s announcement, are we so sure she did that on purpose? If so, that would make her quite the savvy player. Sarah Palin goes on a patriotic-themed bus tour without inviting the press along. She apparently refused to furnish her itinerary to them and even actively tried to give them the slip-a-roo once or twice. Major news outlet reporters were buzzing around her paparazzi-like yet they collectively yawned while the current front-runner officially started his campaign.
Either Sarah Palin is one amazing politician or a whole bunch of reporters must really want her to run for POTUS. Which is it?
June 6, 2011 at 10:02 am
Both.