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Palin’s “W-T-F” Demeans Politics. She Just Doesn’t See Her Gross Indelicacy….Obama’s SOTU a Pastiche of Plagiarism.
Eddie Tagged Out at Home.
Eddie Burke’s Last Hurrah was a desperate gamble to return city government to the era of the Gray Wolves….a weak mayor, strong council government…where Burke—surveying his own greatness—would be foremost. It was a power-play attempt to keep Rahm Emanuel off the ballot which almost worked….but in the end the Illinois Supreme Court, composed of some powerful Democrats owing their careers to Burke shot him down unanimously. Voting with the them was his wife, Justice Anne Marie Burke.
In essence, it was a slam-dunk for Emanuel and against the chalk-white council Lion. Five Supremes ruled the appellate court was in error by declaring Emanuel had failed to reach the residency standard. Two other Justices including Anne Burke agreed he should be on the ballot but feared the majority’s strongly-written opinion puts in jeopardy laws maintaining police and firefighters have to live in the city and school residency plans.
Emanuel is significantly ahead in the polling. Whether if elected it would presage another spate of Council Wars between a Mayor Emanuel and Burke remains to be seen. Probably not.
Before this thing continues any longer and she further disappoints those who have defended her in the past, Sarah Palin should announce she’s definitely not running for president. Her inexcusable play on the State of the Union address’s title…Winning the Future…linked it with the unutterably gross and obscene workingman’s rebuke of the same acronym—WTF.
Suggestive it was—very highly.
Cute it was not.
Moreover…way-`way-`way out of line.
In case we namby-pambys didn’t get it, she played on the theme frequently last night on Fox. “[Obama’s] theme last night was w-i-f, winning the future,” she said. “I thought, okay, that acronym—spot on. There were a lot of w-t-f moments throughout that speech.”
She should concentrate on revving up the grassroots where she can make a tremendous difference in changing the political landscape in 2012. She makes a fortune in speaking fees; she is a contributor-commentator on Fox; she’s written two books; the family made a “realistic” TV program, Sarah Palin’s Alaska; she is a pinwheel of color for personal publicity—but not necessarily the clarification of issues. This Hollywood-style bandwagon campaign is highly inappropriate for presidential candidacy, putting her credibility in question and subjects her use of social conservatism to reasonable skepticism as to whether it is being put to exploitation for aggrandizing personal publicity.
What also bothers me is the commerciality that has been utilized in putting her 20-year-old daughter, Bristol, on view. The images coming through are mixed, discordant and indistinct….streaming nationally with variants of “Desperate Housewives” marketing. Added to Bristol’s illegitimate pregnancy and her giving birth as an unwed mother, came the startling advice conveyed by Bristol via Fox that “abstinence is not realistic” for a teen….this being essentially contradicted by a later Bristol interview….and the question of contraception remaining open and unanswered.
Then there was her breakup with her fiancé coupled with unsavory personal malingering accusations by him concerning the Palin family….with him concluding that his insults were made up.
Following which there was the “Dancing with the Stars” competition featuring Bristol twisting and turning lasciviously attired in black net stockings… and the fact that Bristol is going on the road in speaking engagements at $15,000 a pop, including an engagement to speak at “Sex Week” at George Washington University.
This has all the earmarks of a contrived campaign to keep the Palins in the gossip-news field with super-spreads in The National Enquirer, and to use family members to haul down as many speaking fees as they can. Her salty expressions such as “W-T-F” only show that where others use four-letter vulgarities….as by our vice president….Mrs. Palin has shown she can use three-letter-vulgarities and gain more media yardage.
SOTU Speech: A Pastiche of Plagiarism.
The obvious Obama attempt to mimic Reagan-JFK-FDR wordsmiths from past orations has been popped like a toy balloon. From start to finish it’s a slick paste-up. First, its title “Winning the Future” is lifted from the title of a bestseller by Newt Gingrich—“Winning the Future: A 21st Century Contract with America” [2005]. Alvin Felzenberg has noted other similarities in his U.S. News & World Report article yesterday including these:
Obama proclaims that America must be “the light to the world.” That reminds Felzenberg of an oration of that same title by Woodrow Wilson….and harkens back to me of Matthew 5:14 “you are like unto a light of the world” which leads to the imagery “city on a Hill” used so often by President Reagan.
Not to forget “Light of the World” is the title of a new book by Peter Seewald where he interviews Benedict XVI.
Obama’s supposed hit line, “Sputnik moment” was first used by Mitt Romney in a 2005. When Obama got his longest sustained applause of the night—“I know there isn’t a person here who would trade places with any other nation on earth”—it reminded Felzenberg of JFK’s “I do not believe that any one of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation.” And, of course, Margaret Thatcher’s salute to us that we are the first nation that sprang from an idea was less artfully parsed by Obama in twice as many words.
Thanks for clarifying my reasons for hesitation on Ms. Palin!!
ReplyDeleteShow-Biz ain't Presidential.