Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Ultimate Nightmare: Sarah Palin and the Unhinged Left

We're just barely one week out from the presidential election and there's no better sign of the battle lines emerging for 2012 than Andrew Sullivan's utterly hysterical diatribe against Alaska Governor Sarah Palin this afternoon.

I've been observing the
anti-Milky Loads delinking campaign, but for purposes of counter-mobilization I'm going to provide the link just once: "Why Palin Matters." To read Sullivan's essay is to witness a literal stream of consciousness of a chronic psychopathology whose affliction is clinically untreatable, and potentially dangerous to the larger society (borderline sociopathic).

I do not use this language freely, but there's nothing short of ghoulishishness to Sullivan's writing, a fundamental belligerence that leaves the transitive verb "demonize" stunningly impotent in explaining the enormity of Sullivan's psychological dislocation.

See for yourself, in any case:

Some readers think my continuing attempt to expose all the lies and flim-flam and bizarre behavior of Sarah Palin is now moot. She's history - they argue. Move on. I think she probably is history. Even Bill Kristol and his minions in the McCain-Palin campaign may not be able to resuscitate her political viability now. But even if she is history, she is history that matters.

Let's be real in a way the national media seems incapable of: this person should never have been placed on a national ticket in a mature democracy. She was incapable of running a town in Alaska competently. The impulsive, unvetted selection of a total unknown, with no knowledge of or interest in the wider world, as a replacement president remains one of the most disturbing events in modern American history. That the press felt required to maintain a facade of normalcy for two months - and not to declare the whole thing a farce from start to finish - is a sign of their total loss of nerve. That the Palin absurdity should follow the two-term presidency of another individual utterly out of his depth in national government is particularly troubling. 46 percent of Americans voted for the possibility of this blank slate as president because she somehow echoed their own sense of religious or cultural "identity". Until we figure out how this happened, we will not be able to prevent it from happening again. And we have to find a way to prevent this from recurring.

It happened because John McCain is an incompetent and a cynic and reckless beyond measure. To have picked someone he'd only met once before, without any serious vetting procedure, revealed McCain as an utterly unserious character, a man whose devotion to the shallowest form of political gamesmanship trumped concern for his country's or his party's interest. We need a full accounting of the vetting process: who was responsible for this act of political malpractice? How could a veep not be vetted in any serious way? Why was she not asked to withdraw as soon as the facts of her massive ignorance and delusional psyche were revealed?

The Palin nightmare also happened because a tiny faction of political professionals has far too much sway in the GOP and conservative circles. This was Bill Kristol's achievement.

It was a final product of the now-exhausted strategy of fomenting fundamentalist resentment to elect politicians dedicated to the defense of Israel and the extension of American military hegemony in every corner of the globe. Palin was the reductio ad absurdum of this mindset: a mannequin candidate, easily controlled ideologically, deployed to fool and corral the resentful and the frightened, removed from serious scrutiny and sold on propaganda networks like a food product.

This deluded and delusional woman still doesn't understand what happened to her; still has no self-awareness; and has never been forced to accept her obvious limitations. She cannot keep even the most trivial story straight; she repeats untruths with a ferocity and calm that is reserved only to the clinically unhinged; she has the educational level of a high school drop-out; and regards ignorance as some kind of achievement. It is excruciating to watch her - but more excruciating to watch those who feel obliged to defend her.

Her candidacy, in short, was indefensible. It remains indefensible. Until the mainstream media, the GOP establishment, and the conservative intelligentsia acknowledge the depth of their error, this blog will keep demanding basic accountability.
That's a longer segment than I'd like to afford old RAWMUSLGLUTES, but this is so pathetic that the post could very well end up down the memory hole if some coherent editor at the Atlantic decides eventually to intervene for goodness' sake.

In something that should be unbelievable, but isn't, top hard-left blogger Kevin Drum,
at Mother Jones, recognizes the depth of Sullivan's psychopathology, and then goes ahead and appauds it!

Andrew's obsession with Palin was often hard to take, and I sometimes wished I could reach through the screen and strangle him whenever he started talking about Trig Palin again. Still, aside from the "clinically unhinged" crack, I agree with all of this.
But that's not the end of it: Sullivan's post is getting the big huzzahs all over the radical leftosphere, as if this screed - this virtual-incitement to political violence - constitutes mainstream political debate and discourse.

As I've already noted a couple of times, the election of Barack Obama is just the beginning of a new culture war for America. The best example is seen in the mobilization of street unrest by
the most hardline radical groups in America in an attempt to overthrow Proposition 8, the majority ballot measure in California that preserves marriage between one man and one woman. With the final racial barrier breached in the left's electoral storming of the White House, the Democratic Party's extreme fringe factions are launching a multi-pronged campaign to purge conservatives from the institutions of power - by any means necessary - across the U.S. political landscape.

So, never forget: Sarah Palin is the left's ultimate nightmare.

Andrew Sullivan is simply the most vociferously vocal symptom of a larger implacable movement seeking to wrench any inkling of "center-right" ideology from the heights of influence in the American state. The left wants nothing more than the utter destruction of the Alaska Governor. Once that's complete, the continued ideological escalation of the culture war will branch out from there, with further attacks on "Christianists," Mormons," to the Fox News "ministry of propaganda" and beyond.

Is it any wonder why conservatives have no interest in transcending partisan divisions to join hands in an essential surrender to the nihilism of the left's progressive ideology program?

33 comments:

  1. Dr.D,
    Once again, I applaud you for taking the time to read and bring to our attention these types of screeds. I try to read some, but for the most part I'm always overcome by a feeling of nostalgia. I spent 26 years dealing with every form of human degradation that could be wrought by psychopaths. Been there, heard that,seen that. Thanks for the information.

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  2. Their fear is downright palpable.

    They just can't handle the idea that someone without "their" educational pedigrees could actually be perceived as wiser than "they" in the eyes of millions ... therefore she must be denigrated, just as they have denigrated President Bush ... BY. ANY. MEANS. NECESSARY.

    Truth and integrity be damned.

    They are heading for an implosion.

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  3. "So, never forget: Sarah Palin is the left's ultimate nightmare."

    Exactly.

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  4. That is one very sick individual

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  5. Was he sober when he wrote that?

    Wow, I've seen 7th graders with better writing skills than he has...

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  6. You guys make me laugh. Are we afraid of Sarah Palin? Yes and no.

    Yes, because a potential Palin presidency would be a clear and present danger to the Republic.

    No, because if she is nominated, there is no way in Hades she would be elected. You must have a very poor opinion of the American electorate if you think they could accept such a moron as their President. Anyone who has seen the Couric interviews cannot possibly believe that Sarah Palin would be fit for the presidency. Anyone sane, that is.

    On the other hand, George Dubya B*sh did manage to get "elected" and "re-elected", so we should be careful. We must do what we can to prevent this potential disaster.

    Still, I think it would be great if the Republicans nominate Palin. Any remaining intelligent or educated person would leave the Party, and the only ones remaining would be the mouth-breathing knuckle-draggers like yourselves.

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  7. "Sarah Palin is the left's ultimate nightmare."

    I still read Sullivan occasionally because it's a bit like watching a horror movie. Palin definitely sent him over the edge into psychosis. But probably no more than his gay friends.

    Judging from my time in San Fran, I imagine that most of the gays are frothing at the mouth over Palin. She represents all that they detest: wholesomeness, sincerity and (dare I say it?) normalcy.

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  8. It's funny really. Sullivan's diatribe has a whole lot of truth to it, IF you replace the name Palin with NObama!

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  10. Any remaining intelligent or educated person would leave the Party, and the only ones remaining would be the mouth-breathing knuckle-draggers like yourselves.

    Once again, we see no mention of WISDOM ... just education and intelligence.

    Education and intelligence possessed by those like Chris Dodd, Barney Frank and many others whose lack of wisdom created our present financial crisis.

    Education and intelligence possessed by Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dorn while they were doing their part to blow up America.

    And there are many more educated, erudite idiots out there ... professing to be and admired as though they were wise, yet exposed as fools when their ideas are applied to life.

    Your foolishness is evident, jasperjava ... for you either believe that only the educated and "intelligent" can be wise, and must be so because they are educated and "intelligent" ... or you believe that wisdom, or the lack thereof, does not matter when it comes to the selection and performance of our leaders.

    I have seen too much evidence of highly-educated and even erudite idiocy on the part of our Left-leaning leaders, to agree with you. You shouldn't be believing your own press.

    In fact, I think you might, deep down, realize that and agree with me instead of your own press ... and fear the results: that your worldviews will be REPUDIATED by the American people, were Sarah Palin to run in an unbiased environment. Otherwise, y'all would say nothing and watch us implode.

    MSNBC recently learned of what their bias can do to them ... because they wanted so badly to validate the recent negative stories about Gov. Palin's debate prep, they were taken in by a hoax regarding the source of those stories.

    Why would anyone want to perpetrate such a hoax? I think that part of the motivation is fear ... fear that those they disdain will be able to engender widespread acceptance of of those disdained viewpoints.

    I learned a long time ago, that having a high-tech, mathematically-intense education in science and engineering did not give me a monopoly on knowledge and wisdom ... that those I worked with every day, though they could not match my educational credentials, knew a LOT about how to achieve the technical, commercial ... and human-relations ... objectives that kept our paychecks coming and our sanity intact.

    It is the conceit of the educated, and their conflation of knowledge and wisdom, that is at the root of many of our nation's problems today ... from unworkable ideas, to paralysis-by-analysis.

    A little humility would go a long way in countering those ill effects ... but when so many worship themselves as omniscient, humility is hard to come by.

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  11. Bravo Jasperjava, well said.
    And let's not forget either Palin's comedic value as the very essence of the unblinking right-wing twit.

    Will the rest of you get over this idea that you own America's political soul? That somehow you can lose an election convincingly yet still be the platform "real" Americans want? Real Americans voted for someone else. Get over it.
    You got your asses handed to you in this election because you've nearly ruined the country in two terms. It's out of your hands now until you either commit treason and bring down the government or you get some intellectual framework back into the Republican party to win an election.

    Respectful note to Donald: If you are pro-victory, join the army. Go and bleed your own blood for wars either just or stupid. Walk the talk.

    I know what it is to lose a child.
    Go get an arm blown off and tell me if it hurts as much.

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  12. Rich, I'm assuming that you aren't talking about educated idiots like Feith, Perle, Wolfowitz, Kristoll, Tenet, Krauthammer, Adelman, Rice, et al at whose feet can be laid the supreme error in Iraq. You can say things are going swimmingly there now, and maybe they are, but it was still not worth the cost. How much wisdom did anyone show in accepting the Niger hoax? And in thinking Iraq would be a cakewalk that would be over in a matter of months?

    Palin may be wise as all get out, doggoneit. To be wise don't you at least have to display some intellectual curiousity however. When Couric asked that incredibly unfair gotcha question, "what periodicals do you read" and received a blank stare, it put that curiousity on display. Sorry, but I'm missing the evidence of the wisdom of Sarah Palin and I think a lot of other Americans are as well.

    DD: I'll grant you that Sullivan went way off the deep end with Trig. With the piece quoted you don't seem to identify where your exact disagreements are. A couple of jibes at Sully's homosexuality don't constitute analysis. BTW, Sullivan is not a leftist, is he? Or are we purging the Republican Party now? Are all the other Republicans who supported Obama now in the leftist camp? Our tent is growing!

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  13. Let's stop tip-toeing around the truth: if Mr Sullivan has an obsession with Governor Palin -- which clearly, he does -- there must be a reason behind it.

    And the reason is that Mr Sullivan is homosexual, and that the Palin candidacy was a societal refutation of the legitimacy of homosexuality. Yes, the McCain Palin ticket won only 46% of the vote, but that's uncomfortably close to a majority for Mr Sullivan. Couple that with California's passage of Proposition 8, and Mr Sullivan sees a real, and personal, threat.

    Senator McCain was never the threat as far as Mr Sullivan was concerned; he was the Republican "maverick," whose only really socially conservative position was on abortion. But Governor Palin stood as the link to the social conservatives to whom Senator McCain had rather little connection. Thus, even though the ticket was defeated, the attacks on Governor Palin must continue.

    The Palin candidacy was a bit of a reach, given that she had been governor for less than two years. But, come 2012, she will have been governor of our largest state for going on six years, and by then will have established a good, or a middling, or a bad record as governor. Mr Sullivan is just deathly worried that she'll prove to be a good governor, and a viable candidate. If Senator Obama turns out to be a poor president -- always a possibility -- then Mr Sullivan could be facing the nightmare of his own mind.

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  14. Gov. Palin will soon be Sen. Palin.

    The problem we have is that a bunch of journalism majors are trying to run our country through their writings. Scary.

    How does the sexual orientation of journalism majors affect their attitudes towards sexually attractive female subject ? (didn't
    I write that nicely PC ?)

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  15. Donald, you hit the nail on the head. The attempt by ultra-left marxists like Drum and Uruk-hai wannabe Handy Andy to criminalize politics or at least marginalize a VERY popular conservative brings us back to the ravings about Ronald Reagan and his sure-as-shootin' plot to bring about WWIII.

    The hysteria of lefties then, however, was more or less kept within the bounds of reason. No such constraints are evident with the foam-at-the-mouth nervous breakdowns in print that AS offers on a daily basis.

    Didn't he disappear for a week with his "husband" after he posed the "Just Asking..." calumny? I think the outlines of the nihilist mass psychosis on the left are becoming clear after the fog of the election lifts.

    Kinda takes you back to the thirties when Stalin "purged" those outside the political parameters of his "workers' paradise!"

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  16. Sarah Palin is indeed the left's ultimate nightmare, as some of the hateful liberal comments on this post so adequately prove. LOL! They don't even know how amusing they are!

    Sullivan says Palin is "History". Yes indeedy. She's history in the making and she will be back stronger than ever before. It's going to be fun watching the left implode. She'll be a perfect candidate exactly because they hate her so much.

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  17. Sullivan lost his mind after Palin was announced and I think he literally hit the point of no return and has some screws loose.

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  18. Sullivan was right on, get real.

    I have shoes more intelligent, or wise, if you prefer, than Sarah Palin.

    Anyone not outraged by McCain's extremely poor choice has their partisanship so firmly embedded up their rear that the phrase "don't confuse me with the facts, my mind is made up" fits like a well-tailored suit.

    Stop complaining about what you think the left really is, please. You haven't a clue. This piece is a silly joke, and extremely out of place at a time when we really need to come together.

    You lost by a huge margin, stop blaming others and just deal with it. Isn't that supposed to be a conservative trait?

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  19. The media continues to drop lower than the market.

    "By David Bauder | The Associated Press
    8:35 AM EST, November 13, 2008
    NEW YORK - MSNBC was the victim of a hoax when it reported that an adviser to John McCain had identified himself as the source of an embarrassing story about former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, the network said Wednesday"


    MSNBC the "victim"????? Sarah Palin is th evictim. MSNBC is guilty of bias unethical "reporting".

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  20. What's awesome about Sullivan's rant is that he screeches about how Palin was supposedly a blank slate that people could project their wishes onto. Because that doesn't describe Barack Obama to a "T" or anything.

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  21. I think you are over-reacting to normal criticism of Governor Palin. She was and remains inadequate. Perhaps you've got your hackles up because right now she's the face of the Republican Party by default. So when she's attacked, you feel attacked. Also, it's entirely false that she's the nightmare of the so-called "Left" (do they mean the Democratic Party?) My hunch is that positioning Palin at the head of the Republican Party and having her run in '12 and or '16 will make a clear majority of Americans very comfortable because she clearly stands no chance.

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  22. Where were the Professors like you when I attended college. I quit giving the college my tuition because of the vapidity and intolerance of a particular professor. I had a full time job and being a daddy of three played into it as well, but the final straw was a professor that pushed all my buttons.

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  23. Look way off to your left. That's the unhinged left.

    Look a little closer to your left. That's the unhinged right.

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  24. In the stagnant world of politics, Sarah Palin is a breath of fresh air. Intelligent, informed and competent, she has proved her viability as a candidate by opposing and exposing corruption in Alaska and in her own party.

    Andrew Sullivan will be perpetually P.O.ed until he can don a white, lacey wedding gown and walk down the aisle to marry his homosexual lover. With people throwing rice and Sullivan throwing his garter to the hopeful drag queens in attendance.

    When I read the hateful B.S. put out by the libeals in this post, I notice that they have many broad-brushed smears to share, but no specifics. Their political argument is limited to name-calling and personal attacks.

    Sarah will be back, and so will the GOP. And there will be a serious backlash from the electorate after Obama the Marxist really screws things up.

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  25. Palin is far more of a threat to the Republican party than she is to an "unhinged left".

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  26. Palin is far more of a threat to the Republican party than she is to an "unhinged left".

    Indeed. And that may be a very good thing indeed for the GOP.

    Does the GOP tent (as defined by GOP elitist behavior) genuinely welcome and embrace "social conservatism" or do they not?

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  27. Andrew Sullivan is indeed over the sanity line. Unfortunately so are many of the extreme left who agree with him. I am still laughing at the poster who so intelligently wrote about Palin's blank face when asked about what periodicals she read. Palin like many in this country has watched Coric on the air for quite some time and erroneously believed her to be both polite and intelligent. She found herself faced with a question of unbelieveable snobbishness and ignorance. How would any of us react if the state we lived in would be assumed to be completely out of contact with the modern and literate world? Geez guys, they even fly airplanes way up there in the far north, can you imagine it? Get a clue. Sarah Palin is far more qualified than any of the left will openly credit her with being. She is even open to the beliefs of others and would not impose her personal belief system on the rest of the country the way the extreme left would do. Just a personal message, many who disagree wholeheartedly with you are highly educated as well, perhaps far more so than you. We do not care for a nanny state, go mess up your own lives to your hearts content, just stay out of ours.

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  28. The insanity of right thinking nowadays is sooo scary. Now that the election is freshly concluded, and feelings and truths are just released out in the open, its time for a bit of release. If it were Mitt in this position, many on the left would be upset over the continued policies of Mr. Bush and the never-ending reinvention of character he performs to pander to whomever stood infront of him at that moment, but the choice would be understandable. He has an impressive resume, a relative understanding of national politics and is quick witted, and has an IQ well above average. The choice of Palin was not only blindsiding, it was a complete insult to the country and a direct sign of ignorance to the importance and challenge of the presidency. The pundits who have thron the term "Hail Mary" out there were still missing the mark. This was a "Hail Mary" to the neophyte watergirl who is sitting on the ten yard line while the opposition was still in huddle, and the referees were not allowed to call it because it would be considered "biased"of them to call the foul. And this was from a QB (McCain) that was respected before that cheap shot. It takes time for a fan to vent away such a cheap shot, like it takes a bit of time for citizens to vent away the actions of a presidential candidate which had the likness to a nuclear bomb imploding out counrty because the janitor was placed in charge and didn't know what she was doing. The fact that a powerfull and influencial group that is so extreme, it would place that power over the stability of the country, has grown to represent 20%-30% of the country because of the fear and ignorance it is fed on a daily basis... that is what is scary! That Alaskan lady is just a pawn in one big disturbing scheme.

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  29. So, never forget: Sarah Palin is the left's ultimate nightmare.

    Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha....
    hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha....
    hahahahahaha.... hehehehehehehehehehe...

    Ok, I'm done now.

    [snort] hahahahahahahahahahahaha

    Ok, I'm really done this time.

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  30. Obviously these lefties are as usual clueless. They truly have no idea why Palin has already become a powerful political force.

    Talk about intelligence, wasn't it Obama who had already visited 57 or 58 of our States; or who thought that negotiations stopped the Russian ships during the Cuban missile crisis. Talk about a dim lightbulb....Obama just gets away with being idiot because the media blocks for him. Otherwise the number of State gaffe would have been played 24/7 as the introduction of every news cycle.

    You lefties are of course welcome to post your ignorance and give the rest of us a good giggle. Thanks.
    One day you will realize just why Palin is such a force and understand just what McCain understood.

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  31. Norm, let me spell it out for them ...

    Sarah Palin isn’t just the future of the GOP.

    She is America’s future.

    For too long, we have let out-of-touch elitists … who conflate educational credentials and erudite speech with wisdom, who analyze everything to the point of paralysis, who substitute simplistic litmus tests (Is war never the answer? Do you support the right to abort? Do you believe that a serious faith in God is anti-intellectual?) for open-minded analysis, who have substituted hubris for humility, and state tenets of assumptive faith as facts.

    Look at what they wrought … leaving the path clear for YEARS for terrorists and tyrants to grow stronger and bolder, continual misery worldwide at the hands of tyrants that threatens peace worldwide, perpetuation of poverty across generations, and now financial collapse (the causes of which cross party lines, because one party emulated the other in certain areas of governance while they were in power).

    Now, look at what those who ignored such Best and Brightest, during their time of leadership, wrought … hundreds of millions freed in Eastern Europe, Afghanistan, and Iraq, where we stopped that nation from becoming a wealthy, high-tech Taliban 2.0 with respect to supporting terrorism, and put a family of tyrants to death … moving people from poverty to productivity, by putting an end to the Great Society and its practice of allowing people, their children, grandchildren to perpetually “get by” instead of doing what it takes to get ahead … moving a nation from malaise and stagflation to innovation and prosperity, by removing the shackles of Big Government resource robbery and letting them do what they do best.

    Educational credentials, a well-built resume, and the ability to communicate all have much value … but they pale in comparison to even the simplest expressions of WISDOM. By placing the former above the latter, our Best and Brightest have shown themselves to be dim bulbs.

    Wisdom like ... if one aspires to be a "citizen of the world", in a world where many of its leaders don't view life and liberty as inalienable rights, their commitment to the security and prosperity of this nation should be called into question ... and he is known by the company he steeps himself in.

    Wisdom like ... when other nations adopt rights-respecting governance as we have, they effectively cease to be threats to world peace ... and conversely, letting the "alternatives" run amok in the name of "diplomacy" and not being an "imperialist" threatens that peace.

    Wisdom like ... a party label like your own should not be a stop sign to justice, when it comes to corruption.

    Wisdom like ... it is best that I create my own future, instead of believing the Biggest Lie of All and waiting for the Best and Brightest to create it for me ... even if that means I have to work harder, and someone else might end up with more than me.

    And that is why they fear Sarah Palin and those like her … because the latter haven’t forgotten what wisdom is, and they have the capability to remind others and rain on the elitist’s parade of arrogance ...

    ... and remind this nation that often, It IS Just That Simple.

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