Sarah Palin on Sexual Harassment

Sarah Palin on Praying for Those in Harm's Way

Sarah Palin: "Polls are only good for strippers..." (sic)

Palin Pans Ryan-Trump Pow-Wow

After the highly anticipated meeting between presumptive Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, there were positive notes emanating from Capitol Hill.



Alas, not all in the Trump campaign cohort got the message that The Donald is making motions to unify the party. Sarah Palin put out a blistering post on Facebook panning the Ryan-Trump Pow-Wow.

Palin's perjuice peaked last week, when she claimed that Speaker Ryan would be "Cantored".  Currently, Rep. Ryan is 64 points above his challenger in the Wisconsin 1st Congressional district.  Oops. But Palin has a spotty success ratio on her endorsements.

Perhaps Palin has forgotten Civics 101 in which the Legislative Branch must pass laws which the Executive Branch approves (or vetoes) and then enforces. So if Trump does win the White House, he needs a party to pass legislation, and the cooperative House of Representatives to begin a budget.  Speaker Ryan did win the backing of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, so it is strange to think that Ryan is the epitome of the establishment.

Palin's post epitomizes a troll tone which wants to stick it to the establishment, without having concrete goals or a realistic plan.  It's like the Sex Pistol's anarchy ode  from 1976 "Don't know what we want but we know how to get it. I want to destroy the passerby. 'Cause I want to be anarchy." The expression of anger may energize those in the circle but it makes it impossible to expand the outreach and ultimately to get things done.

The Trump campaign has a penchant for pointing to polls to validate their "yuuuge" presumed victory.  Well, polling is premised on having an accurate turn-out model. If conservatives do not pull the level for a Manhattan Mogul who slashes and burns anyone in his own party who does not immediately jump on Trump Train, such surveys may be worth less than the paper that it is printed in.

Palin has the reputation of being a pit bull hockey mom, which may have helped during a contentious primary campaign. But those sharp elbows hinder efforts at inspiring party unity. Does Palin think that her presumed gravitas will garner an emolument in a hypothetical Trump Administration?  Or is it just an orchestrated celebutard campaign to keep her name in the spotlight prior to her "Judge Judy" like syndicated TV stint" 

More Muddled Message From Ben Carson

The Ben Carson campaign has been capitalizing on a kerfluffle regarding a CNN report just as the Iowa Caucuses were starting that Carson was suspending his campaign. Other opponents, such as the Cruz and Rubio campaign, trumpeted the information to their grassroots operatives.  A subsequent clarification from the Carson campaign that he was off the campaign trail for a few days to get some R&R as well as fresh clothes, were not passed along to the Caucus precinct captains.

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) publicly apologized for not passing along the additional information.  Some have been scandalized by a recorded telephone call (isn't dissemination a felony unless there's two party consent?) that the Cruz campaign pushed a suspended campaign pitch to win over Carson voters.

Dr. Carson has perseverated on this point.  First, he claimed Christianity forced him to accept the apology but then his forgiveness was conditional.  Then his expectation evolved to having heads roll in the Cruz campaign.  Now in day three of this contrived controversy, Dr. Carson went on television to demand:"Don't do what's legal, but what's right". Whatever does that mean in the primary process?

In addition, is this selective outrage?  The Rubio campaign was also trafficking in this report. Why is Cruz the sole focus? Is it animus against Cruz because some of his New Hampshire staff and fund-raisers defected to Cruz?  Is it because both Cruz and Carson are competing for the same sliver of the Republican primary electorate?  Or is it to gang up on the front runner which neither the establishment nor the press likes?

That pious platitude is about as clear as Carson's campaign clarification that he was leaving the campaign trail to get fresh clothes in the heat of a primary that could determine the viability of the Carson campaign.

It is unclear what Carson really wants, other than more publicity and burnishing his personal brand. Perhaps he will answer when he returns to New Hampshire on Saturday afternoon for the Republican Debate.  But if he thinks that this whiny, ambiguous complaints about past contests endears himself to conservatives, he is as mistaken as former Governor Sarah Palin was about her endorsement of Donald Trump for President

Sarah Palin's Post Iowa Caucus Lament

Superstar Donald Trump surrogate former Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK) gave some surprising post Iowa Caucus analysis.

Yahoo News reporter Hunter Walker caught Governor Palin at the Des Moines airport and essentially asked why the Manhattan Mogul was not winning in the Hawkeye Cauci. 

It is surprising to some that Sarah Palin thinks that the populist politician has a conservative side. 

It is unclear as to whether Palin will join Trump in New Hampshire, as Palin used to be quite popular with Iowa voters.

When Walker asked Palin about the V.P. slot with Trump, his access suddenly was limited.

h/t:  Hunter Walker
       Yahoo News

On Sarah's Choice

The already unconventional 2016 Republican Primary process was rocked by a charter flight between Anchorage, Alaska to Des Moines, Iowa for former Governor Sarah Palin’s (R-AK) of Donald J. Trump for President.  Gov. Palin was the maverick Vice Presidential choice of 2008 Republican nominee Senator John McCain (R-AZ), and her anti-establishment Republican conservatism was thought to carry cache with the Tea Party.

One of the beauties of the Tea Party is that it is not a leader driven movement.  It was sparked by a tax day 2009 protest about being Taxed Enough Already.  This movement occurred after Sarah Palin’s ascendency, so the Tea Party was energized by Palin espousing Tea Party policies but she did not necessarily embody the movement.  Even after it was clear that Palin was going to support his opponent in Election 2016, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) tweeted thanks to Palin for her prior support.

As a inveterate Tea Party type, I must admit disappointment in Sarah’s choice. Palin have often campaigned on limited government, ending government subsidies for ethanol, and strict adherence to the Constitution.  Yet Palin’s endorsement of Trump validates a candidate who hardly mentions the Constitution, panders for votes in Iowa by increasing ethanol mandates and whose rhetoric has an authoritarian edge.  In short, Palin chose populism over principle.

Since vaulting out of obscurity in Alaska, Sarah Palin has been a populist inspired conservative politician. Her choice to support Trump seems to drop the pretense of conservatism. Trump has cultivated a pugnacious appeal spoiling for a fight, although the objectives may be obscured. In 2008, Palin’s running mate John McCain relished being a maverick who will fight for you.  At the time, many Palin boosters thought that she would be a conservative oriented populist. Palin’s pick impeaches that perspective.

One might wonder what prompted Palin’s choice.  Well, Palin has been out of the limelight for a while.  After Palin left the Alaska Governorship in 2010, she was a political commentator for Fox News from 2011-2015.  When Fox News parted ways with Palin, Palin established the Sarah Palin Channel in 2014 but pulled the plug on the $9.95/month subscription price after a year. Now her video content is available free on Facebook. Palin also hosted Amazing America with Sarah Palin on the Sportman Channel in 2014.  This is a far cry from her GOP kingmaker potential in the early days of the Tea Party. Sarah's choice certainly put her back in the limelight, for now.

Much like Donald Trump, Sarah Palin is good at creating headlines for political junkies, even if both speakers have trouble stringing together sentences in their evocative appeals.  It is also a fair assessment that Trump and Palin either strongly appeal to supporters or loathing from opponents.

Will Sarah's choice help Donald Trump in the Iowa Caucuses?  Trump seems to be relying upon earned media and hype to drive supporters to the Hawkeye Cauci instead of an organized ground game. It is thought that Trump would have to garner a groundswell of new voters to go to the Caucus.  Social Media sports many Trump trolls who trumpet their leader, but it is hard to see support in Iowa itself.  Trump may hope that Palin’s endorsement will put them over the top, but he may end up wondering how that hopey-changey thing worked out for him.

In the end, Palin's endorsement of Trump may be a good thing for the Tea Party. It will clarify if the movement is meant as a populist rage against the GOP Establishment's machine or if it stands for conservative Constitutional principles.  In other election cycles, the latter group would have little choice but to opt for a populist.  But as it stands for the 2016 Iowa Caucuses, Tea Party conservatives  can choose Dr. Ben Carson or Senator Ted Cruz without sacrificing their principles. 

Sarah Palin on Political Correctess and Suicide Vests

Sarah Palin on Winning

Sarah Palin on Deflated Balls

Wonder if the First Lady of the Outdoors who stars in the Sportsman's Channel's show "Amazing America with Sarah Palin" is suggesting politically hunting for RINOs with deflated balls.  

That might make them endangered species in 2017.  

Sarah Palin on the Lamestream Media

Former Governor Sarah Palin relating the scorn from elites for living one's beliefs with attendees at the 2014 Value Voters Summit held by the Family Research Council.  

h/t: David Horsey

Richard Dawkins and Sarah Palin Clashing In Social Media Concerning Down's Syndrome

Richard Dawkins, the acclaimed atheist ethologist from Oxford University stirred up a cyclone of controversy on social media with a Twitter posting on the morality of aborting a Down's Syndrome child in-utero.  When someone commented that she would not know what she would do if she were pregnant with a child having an extra chromosome, Dawkins doubled down on his "progressive position".  Dawkins answering like "Dear Abby (the atheist edition)" wrote: “Abort it and try again. It would be immoral to bring it into the world if you have the choice.”  So abortion was not only an option for "The God Delusion" author, Dawkins demands that it is immoral for women to deliver a child afflicted with Down's Syndrome.

Reading Dawkins declarations closely, it is quite revealing of his weltanschauung.  As an atheist, Dawkins does not draw  from any moral compass. So it is not surprising that he liberally latches unto "an individual woman's right to choose. Later referring to a fetus as "it", Dawkins detaches personhood from an unborn child. Dawkins pontificating that the only moral choice is to kill a defective child ought to please both Social Darwinists (survival of the fittest) and the ironically named humanists (the banner which binds British atheists activists).

Two things should trouble the intelligentsia from Dawkins Down's Syndrome declarations. Firstly, Dawkins prefaced the right of women for early abortions, not abortion on demand until childbirth. So it seems at some point personhood is bestowed on an unborn fetus.  Or is abortion just less mentally messy when the victim does not look like an unborn child.  The other aspect which can be inferred from "Abort it and try again" aspires for a utopian perfection in offspring.  Such a callous attitude can easily devolve into getting rid of undesirable elements in society, be it physically deformed, mentally challenged or part of an undesirable group.

Sadly, Dawkins Social Darwinism for Down's Syndrome children seems prevalent in the United Kingdom.  Currently, 92% of pregnant women diagnosed with Down's Syndrome children aborted their unborn children. Moreover, half of all such cases go unreported. There are concerns that if the National Health System (NHS) expands the super accurate Ariosa Harmony testing, this figure will become nearly total, especially if NHS threatens to withhold special care for Down's Syndrome children.

It did not take long for former Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK) to respond to Dawkin's dialectic. Palin famously campaigned for Vice President in 2008 with her young son Trig, who has Down's Syndrome. Palin took her seven years of experience being a mother of a Down's Syndrome Child when she reached out to Richard Dawkins via Facebook. 

. Palin's folksy riposte to Dawkins displays a positive sense of humanity that the learned professor lacks.  In addition, Ms. Palin's Facebook posting alludes to her Down's Syndrome child as having a unique kind of absolute beauty.  This echos Governor Palin's peroration when speaking before a Right to Life Conference.

Many will dismiss the message as it came from Sarah Palin, who our "intellectual betters" from academia and the media deemed as dumb "Caribou Barbie". Yet Palin's testimony rings true and advocates valuing the individual  whereas Dawkin's tweets sound abstract and collectivist.

Even though Dawkins may have coined the concept of memes, however Sarah Palin has perfected the social media tactic. Palin dubbed Obamacare IPABs as Death Panels to deftly defending Down's Syndrome children.

So as these cultural catalysts clash on social media, perhaps it can bring us to understand how we approach ourselves and society.  Our we driven by the selfish gene as Dawkins theorized in genetics or can we inculcate altruism? Palin preaches that mothers should be open to Downs Syndrome children, but is that openness a moral imperative?

A Momma Grizzly, a Lone Survivor and Even a Self-Proclaimed Rodeo Clown Take Aim at Jesse Ventura's Defamation Victory

Former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura (Reform-MN), who also can boast that he was once a Navy SEAL, won a defamation civil lawsuit against the estate of American Sniper author Chris Kyle.  In  American Sniper (2012), Kyle's best selling book about being a Navy SEAL and who  credited as the most lethal sniper in American history, he alluded to a bar brawl with "Scruff Face".  This unnamed individual who was bad mouthing America military involvement at the wake for a fellow SEAL.  During the publicity tour for the book, Kyle was asked by Opie and Anthony if the boisterous attendee was Jesse Ventura and Kyle answered honesty.

Taya Kyle at her husband's funeral Feb.2013

Ventura's suit alleged emotional distress and defamation of character seeking a $15 million in damages.  Since Chris Kyle had been killed in Feburary 2013 as he helped a fellow veteran deal with PTSD, so that meant that defending the defamation suit fell upon Kyle's widow and single mother Taya Kyle. Ventura's lawyers argued  that: “it would be unjust to permit the estate to continue to profit from Kyle’s wrongful conduct and to leave Governor Ventura without redress for ongoing damage to his reputation.”


 Jurors were initially deadlocked as the eleven defense witnesses had slightly different recollections of "the punch".  The defense consented to allowing for a split verdict.  When the judge sent them back for further deliberations, the jury rendered an 8-2 verdict awarding Ventura $500,000 for defamation and $1.3 million for "unjust enrichment". Mrs. Kyle's lawyers are considering an appeal of the federal civil case.

While the jurors rendered their verdict, the public relations appeal certainly was not favorable.  Ventura claimed that he initiate the defamation suit to clear his name in the prospect of a 2016 Presidential run  as an Independent.  Ventura better not expect any support from reform minded conservatives, based on the reaction to the Ventura verdict.

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK) used her presence on social media and her new SarahPalinchannel.com streaming network to go Mamma Grizzly on ex-SEAL and WWF wrestler sometimes known as "The Governor".

Palin's point about  the irony when a supposedly strong public figure like former Governor Ventura running to lawyers when words get rough and tumble in the public arena is made more poignant because of "Sarahcuda's" savaging in the media.

Marcus Luttrell, the now medically retired Navy SEAL who wrote the book Lone Survivor (2007) about his ordeal in Afghanistan in Operation Red Wing, was not as subtle as Sarah Palin in her criticism of the Ventura verdict. Luttrell used social media to post several memes which reminded the world that Ventura was picking on a widow.

Aside from the bad optics of battling against a widow, Ventura violated a key precept of SEAL culture, namely having your brothers-in-arms' backs.  No wonder why Jesse joked that he would be unwelcome at future SEALs reunions.

Glenn Beck has facetiously referred to himself as a "rodeo clown"  closely identifies with the honor of military men and women.  In fact, the impetus to hold Restoring Honor in 2010 was to both restore honor in  America but as a fund raiser for the non-profit Special Operations Warriors Foundation, a charity providing college scholarships to children of KIA special force personnel. So Ventura's victory in court in a defamation suit against Special Operator's widow prompted an unusual answer.




Beck is all about honor and pro arguendo could appreciate Ventura trying to recover his good name.  But Beck suggests that after winning the case Ventura should forgo collecting the cash from a widow.  It is a common sense solution which would restore his honor and burnish his brief for future public service.  But I'll bet that is as likely as Jesse Ventura scoring Howard Stern for his VICE Presidential running mate in 2016.

Now that the courts has restored Jesse Ventura's good name, as it is, it is appropriate for the court of public opinion to judge Jesse Ventura's character.  After all, Ventura claims: "I would rather be uncomfortable with the truth than be lied to in comfort. That's my nature."

Do remember that Jesse Ventura has advanced 9/11 conspiracy theories when peddling his book "American Conspiracies" (2010) which were so far out that the HUFFINGTON POST deleted the piece.

Jesse Ventura was so incensed at airport security by the TSA that he blustered: "I've had enough of the Fascist States of America" and threatened to obtain dual citizenship with Mexico.

Ventura's television venture on the Ora TV "Jesse Ventura: Conspiracy Theories" has evolved to "Jesse Ventura: Off the Grid", as the 62 year old pro wrestler turned politician is hiding from drones and broadcasting someplace in Mexico Ventura claims that he will continue to broadcast as long as his solar panels and satellite connection holds up.

Still feeling comfortable with this body of truth?

Sarah Palin on "No More Kings"

At the 2014 Western Conservative Summit, former Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK) rallied the audience of 2,000 conservative grassroots activists with a scathing speech decrying politics in the District of Calamity (sic).  

Palin noted that: "[W]e don't do kings."  But this was not a feel good historical allusion ala Schoolhouse Rock. Palin colloquially ticked off a list of offenses which the Obama Administration has been involved:

Man rocking us to our core. From Benghazi. Fast and Furious gun running. Stimulus bust...greenies on our greenbacks. And scandals? NSA spies. Obamacare lies. VA...let's die.The IRS aims to repress conservative's voice. The DOJ wiretaps reporters. Violation of our religious rights. And then there's ignoring illegal, in house fundraising that you heard recently has been going on...the list of abuses it goes on and on...And look alone not defending borders is dereliction of duty. Violating the oath of office. If that's not impeachable....

Castigating the most polemic and progressive President in our nation's history would seem to be in a conservative's Common Core (sic).  However, Palin embodied the spirit of the Tea Party speaking on behalf of the Forgotten Man by challenging  Congressional Republicans to live up to their oaths of office.

Palin acknowledged that making the case for impeachment was not difficult. What is difficult is to have the will to do what's right. Inevitably that means impeachment.

Naturally, liberals lambaste Palin as being stupid  not just for being a conservative female politician but also for doubling down on impeachment.

But Republican party regulars also bristle at the suggestion of doing something controversial just before an election so the media can alienate prospective voters from voting for the GOP.  As for the cautious inaction modus operandi, Palin notes that it misses the point that Obama is abrogating Congressional authority.  Moreover, Palin laments that big GOP majorities do not necessarily reign in radicals, as was demonstrated from the wake of the 2010 wave election.

To buttress her call for patriotic citizens to unite and have the will to do their part in doing right, Palin implored:

It is our work now-- it is our turn. This President's Forgotten Man is "We the People". And We the People know that our best days are still ahead because we know that God shed his grace on thee America. He's given us our freedom to do what's right.  God doesn't drive parked cars-- I think he expects us to get up and take action in order to defend these freedoms that are God given.  I think that it's an affront to God to let this go on as He gave us these freedoms.  We're not going to let someone-- a person, a party-- take them from us.  We are not going to dethrone God and substitute Him with someone who wants to play God. 

Palin closed her provocative comments by invoking Colorado's motto-- "Nothing without Providence".

Invoking patriotism along  traditional understandings of our founding (and believing them), recognizing God in America, adhering to the Constitution, advocating doing the right thing-- no wonder why progressives and the GOP Cocktail Party (not always different entities) consider Sarah Palin such a pariah.

Sarah Palin on "If I Were in Charge"

Sarah Palin on Life in Amazing America

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK) continues to be a conservative cultural vanguard who is adept at reinforcing her own brand.  

Palin's latest project is a reality series Amazing America with Sarah Palin on the Sportsman Channel.  

The series is intended to be an anthology which explores the people, places and pastimes which makes America great as exhibited through outdoor living.  Ms. Palin, who some have dubbed "The First Lady of the Outdoors", will host the weekly half hour show in which she chooses the topics and the guests.

Amazing America will be co-hosted by comedians Mark Christopher Lawrence and Jerry Carroll.  Carroll claims: "I bring that good ol' boy, dare I say redneck, blue-collar experience to the viewers."  The patriotic rockers Madison Rising wrote an original theme song for Amazing America theme.


Amazing America will highlight outdoor sports and spectacles not normally in the limelight, like a blacksmiths' championship, or spotlights on professional shooters,  knife makers and taxidermists.

But Momma Grizzly's creative control should allow for messaging which reinforces her political and cultural weltanschaaung, such as her selfie challenge to young women.

Amazing America premieres at 8 PM EDT on the Sportsman Channel.  

h/t:  Breitbart

Outrageous Obama Incivility

President Obama with Senior Advisor Dan Pfeiffer

As the new fiscal year looms without a budget passed, and the debt ceiling debate on the horizon, the Obama Administration ought to be building ad hoc coaltions to prevent the United States going off the fiscal cliff.  Yet when President Obama's Senior Advisor Dan Pfeiffer went on CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper", the White House pressed a bombastic bric-a-brac against Republicans.

Having an Obama  senior spokesman call Republican opponents "suicide bombers" is beyond the pale of civil political discourse coming  from the White House.  These verbal bomb throwing  through the auspices of the Oval Office neither builds Congressional coalitions vital for governing (as opposed to campaigning) and this infelicitous  and incindiary analogy shows a shocking lack of civility.  In the same day, Obama White House Press Secretary Jay Carney dredged up birther barbs to mock Republicans for wanting to defund Obamacare.

After the near assassination of former Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ 8th) in January, 2011, President Obama made a grandiose speech at the Together We Thrive rally  in Tucson which memorialized the fallen in  the atrocity where President Obama proclaimed:

But at a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized -– at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who happen to think differently than we do -– it’s important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we’re talking with each other in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds.  

President Obama then rightfully noted that a "more civil and honest public discourse can help us face up to our challenges as a nation."  So how do Dan Pfeiffer's inflamatory remarks against ideological opponents fit into this call for civility?

Perhaps President Obama gave himself a waiver on civility.  After all, President Obama's 2012 re-election campaign persisted on an unsubstantiated insuniation that Republican Presidential Nominee Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA) was a felon for alleged misrepresentations when he was at Bain Capital.  Political campaigns ain't beanbag, so rough and tumble rhetoric is not out of the ordinary, particularly for a politician who can not win without smearing his opponent.  But governing is different than campaigning.

While Pfeiffer's smear of his opponents as suicide bombers is outrageous and unwise, it is not the only example of inflamatory accusations that have the imprimatur of Obama's Oval Office. Democrat Congressional leaders such as House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA 8th) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) have been wont to refer to uncooperative Conservative Republican legislators as "Arsonists".  Senior Obama White House Advisor Dan Pfeiffer echoed this arsonist accusation and kidnappers comparison against Republicans.  Or progressive radio host Thom Hartman who compared Senator Ted Cruz's  (R-TX) filibuster to "Taliban-styled suicide bombings".   Kind of sounds like the Obama White House talking points were passed out.

These slanderous characterizations from the Obama White House give Democrats surrogates in the Lamestream Media license to copy scurrilous phrases.  This was quickly spread by  MSNBC's Chris Matthews did when the former Democrat staffer turned broadcaster asked  Representative Scott Perry (R-PA 4th) why the Republicans want to hold the country "hostage".

The Obama Administration seems intent to demonize and try to delegitimize their opponents, ala Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals. But Pfeiffer, Pelosi and Reid are not alone in voicing vitrolic language against idelogical opponents.  Senator John McCain referred to Senator Cruz and Senator Rand Paul as "wacko birds", while Congressman Peter King  critiqued Senator Cruze as a crazy, fraudster and suicidal.  While these invectives abrogate Reagan's Eleventh Amendment, they are not as vial as a voice of the President of the United States in a time of real Islamist jihadi terrorism comparing Republicans to suicide bombers. 

It sounds like the White House communication staff need to take a crash course at the National Institute for Civil Discourse.   After all, the NICD launched a website "YourWordsCount.org" which reminds readers of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's word of wisdom: "Civility costs nothing and buys everything."   But that would also mean that they would be reminded of dear leader Obama's quote:

You and I, as citizens, have the obligation to shape the debates of our time – not only with the votes we cast, but with the voices we lift in defense of our most ancient values and enduring ideals. Let each of us now embrace, with solemn duty and awesome joy, what is our lasting birthright. With common effort and common purpose, with passion and dedication, let us answer the call of history, and carry into an uncertain future that precious light of freedom.

So much for shaping the future in an uplifting way.

In the aftermath of the Tucson shooting, the elite Liberal media were quick to lambast Tea Party Conservatives, particularly former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, for  dangerous symbolism on  pamplets which "targeted" politcally vulnerable  Democrat districts like Giffords' with crosshairs.  Ironically, the Democrat Congressional Camapign Committee used bullseyes for their targeted districts.    But as Chris Plante would put it: "If it wasn't for double standards, liberals would have no standards at all."

From a partisan political perspective, the Obama Administration's beyond the pale references to Republicans clearly demonstrates that the Obama White House does not want to deal and is pushing to peg Republicans with any blame for a government shutdown.  They may be calculating their strategy premised on the 1995-1996 government shutdowns which allegedly hurt Republicans (even though that was not demonstrated at the ballot box).   But according to the latest Pew Poll, both Democrats and Republicans would be blamed for a government shutdown.

In the scheme of things, political blame is inconsequential compared to the quantum corsening of civil discourse that has been displayed by White House operatives Dan Pfeiffer and Press Spokesman Jay Carney. Such uncivil exchanges are unworthy of authority in this Constitutional Republic.

Some Reasons to Give Flying Flip About Filibusters

Senator Ted Cruz (R-FL) took to the Senate floor and stood  for 21 hours and 19 minutes  to speak against voting for the cloture motion on the House Continuing Resolution legislation (House Res. 59) . But detractors like Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) are quick to insist that it was not a filibuster.  It is said that the Freshman Senator from Florida could not have a filibuster as his effort was not intended to delay or prevent legislative action.    

A broader understanding of filibuster is an effort to prevent action by making a long speech.  The 21 hours and 19 minutes of floor time certainly qualifies as a long speech.  Consider the aim of Senator Cruz’s effort.  He was speaking against a cloture motion.  Cloture is the procedure that a 60 vote majority in the Senate cuts off debate.  

Those who deny that Senator Cruz’s control of the Senate Floor for nearly a full day was not a filibuster are less interested in abiding by proper political parlance.  They know that the public generally considers a filibuster a noble effort of a Senator to abide his conscience and speak what he understands as the truth until he can stand no more.   Filibusters evoke memory’s of the Frank Capra film “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” (1939).

[L] Frank Capra's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)  [R] Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) during filibuster 

But if Cruz just was giving a very long speech, then he can be framed as just wasting the Senate’s time, even though Majority Leader Reid was appraised and approved of the talkathon. 

All of this between-the-beltways trivialities about filibusters illustrates one of Senator Cruz’s concerns.  Early on in his filibuster, Senator Cruz alleged that most people don’t give a flying flip about a bunch of politicians in Washington, DC with cheap suits and haircuts. A filibuster may empty the Senate chamber, but it can generate considerable attention and audience via CSPAN as well as alternate media and the internet. 










But couching the Senate floor action as a non-filibuster against the cloture vote on the Continuing Resolution (House Res. 59) which it’s technically correct, it is smoke and mirrors to confuse the public of the real work. 

The Continuing Resolution is a budget matter.  The Senate had not passed a budget in four years, and so Continuing Resolutions which used prior spending levels as a metric for stop gap funding have been used.  For Fiscal Year 2014, the Senate had not passed any specific appropriation bills and the October 1st  fiscal new year loomed.  

So the House of Representatives passed a Continuing Resolution for two months of funding of all federal programs, save the yet to be implemented Obamacare.  The White House and Senate Democrats under the direction of Senate Majority Leader Reid want to strip the defund Obamacare provision, which many ayes in the House were premised.

The cloture motion was meant to cut off debate.  If passed, Senate rules for budget bills then only allow for 30 hours of debate.  Senator Cruz and other tea party sympathetic conservatives were concerned that Senator Reid would present a clean bill, which stripped the defund Obamacare provision and not allow for any amendments.  

Cruz’s filibuster sought to educate the public of the Senatorial shenanigans.  Cruz alleged that some Republicans wanted to vote for cloture and then vote against final passage.  This DC two step allows what detractors call RINOs (Republicans In Name Only) to say that they voted against the bill, but their vote was a purely symbolic measure and the Democrat majority gets its way to continue to impose an overarching takeover of the health care system (aside from Congress and Federal workers, who were extra juridically exempted by President Obama over specific legislative provisions). 

[***]

In between renditions of Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham for the Cruz childrens’ storytime, there was probably more substantive debate about Obamacare’s adverse effect on the health care delivery system and retarding economic growth during Cruz’ s filibuster than what occurred when the so called Affordable Care Act was passed by the Senate on Christmas Eve, 2009. 




The filibuster drew more ordinary people outside of the District of Calamity (sic) to pay attention to detailed arguments against than the sweet lies put forth by the  White House and the lapdog Lamestream Media.

While procedurally Senator Cruz's efforts might not amount to much, this is not the only battle to be found in defunding Obamacare.  Even if Senator Reid is successful in passing a Continuing Resolution which strips the defund Obamacare provisions through the Senate, the House must act.  Either the Republican majority in House must acquiesce to Senator Reid's jam down  with a "clean" C.R., the Chambers must  conference or the House can pass another legislative vehicle which the Senate may not approve prior to October 1st.  There are suggestions that revised House legislation might include a one year delay in Obamacare, revoking the Congressional Obamacare exemption,  or approving  XL pipeline, which would be a tough pill for Senate Democrats to swallow. 

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington illustrated how people in the heartland became engaged in a filibuster by dumping an alluvia of telegrams on the Senate floor.  Senator Cruz is hoping that in the internet age, public opinion can be galvanized by social media.  C-SPAN allowed for internet 2.0 peer to peer engagement with Cruz reading Twitter messages on the Senate Floor.  Cruz is counting on alternate media and social media to work around the Lamestream Media and produce a groundswell of support which changes the static between the beltway certainty that an unpopular, flawed law like Obamare can be ramrodded into implementation. 

Senator Cruz's filibuster drew back the curtain on the complacency of the Cocktail Party in both parties between the beltways. The vitriolic reaction that senior Senator John McCain (R-AZ) unleashed against Cruz after stopped speaking reveals his true self. Freshman Senator John Boozman (R-AR) reportedly dressed Cruz down for all the out of state phone calls about Obamacare.   And Senate Minority Leader Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) refused to support the renegade rhetoric.  This internecine sniping prompted former Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK) to note:  "We already have three parties: the Liberal Democrats, the RINO Republicans and 'the good guys.' ". 

Cruz's marathon speech in the Senate also showed some unity amongst the Young Turks.  Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) was instrumental in dissecting the deficiencies and questionable jurisprudential propriety of Obamacare implementation. But what was really impressive was to see how prospective rivals for the 2016 Republican Presidential nomination, namely Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), worked together to get the message out about Obamacare and do something, rather than sit back and cast empty symbolic votes.

The nearly day long debate also had a couple of remarkable colloquies with "friends" on the other side of the aisle.

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In trying to generate groundswell support in the grassroots, Senator Cruz's filibuster popularized the mantra "Make DC Listen".  This slogan may energize the Tea Party Caucus, possibly be the touchstone of a third party or a Presidential campaign.  Nevertheless, "Make DC Listen" taps into public discontent and shows social media savvy. 

So even though Senator Cruz was not successful in his immediate tactic to prevent cloture on the C.R., we ought to give a flying flip about his filibuster as it may be a harbinger for real change in the District of Calamity (sic). 

SEE MORE at DCBarroco.com 

Sarah Palin on Politics

Watch former Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK) demonstration of Cocktail Party flag waving in the Senate as the Defund Obamacare filibuster by Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) was underway during Cavuto show on Fox News Channel.

Some of Dr. Dean's Delayed Diagnosis of IPABs

Although  former Vermont Governor and 2004 Presidential Candidate Howard Dean (D-VT) has been out of the practice of medicine for a number of years in lieu of politics, the Doctors delayed diagnosis of IPABs is right on the money.

Recently, Howard Dean wrote an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal in which he prognosticated:  "The IPAB will be able to stop certain treatments its members do not favor by simply setting rates to levels where no doctor or hospital will perform them."   For those who did not thoroughly study the 2,700 pages of legislation that comprised the ironically titled "Affordable Care Act", otherwise know as Obamacare, IPABs are the 15 member Independent Payment Advisory Board which the HHS Secretary Sebilus appoints that decides the amount that the government will reimburse physicians for medical procedures. 

This was  supposedly intended as a cost control mechanism for Medicare, but in reality will act as a rationing board.  The IPAB name implies that these opinions are advisory, but those opinions become the reality.

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Instead of cajoling vulnerable senior citizens to just "take a pill", the patient is cut out of the process by "Advisory Boards" which make certain treatments financially unviable, depending upon one's status.  When Sarah Palin labled IPABs as "death panels", she was roundly criticized as a scare monger who was stupid, don't cha know?  

A couple of years later,  Dr. Dean  diagnosed IPABs as rationing boards,  it makes  more sense, right?

Howard Dean suggested that: "Getting rid of the IPAB is something Democrats and Republicans ought to agree on."  Obviously, the former DNC chair has not gotten with the program to think that Obamacare is about improving healthcare in America.  It seems that it more about control.

Unless Tea Party House Republicans are successful in defunding Obamacare from the FY2014 budget, all Americans will be mandated to participate in the program or pay a tax.  Nevertheless, the IRS will be in charge of collections and monitoring all of the health information.  Recent reports have indicated that health records will be vulnerable to hackers and scammers.  In addition, the IRS has shown political partisanship in vetting Tea Party tax exempt applications and for surrepticiously sharing this information.  Why couldn't the Obamacare cost cutting extend to denying treatment to political opponents?

Allow me to dispense a rhetorical palliative to Obamacare opponents– as P.J. O’Rourke put it: “If you thought that health care is too expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it’s free.”  Alas, the Affordable Care Act is doubling many peoples’ rates and may cost some their hides. 

 SEE MORE at DCBarroco.com