Earlier this week, the media once again displayed why no one can take them seriously. The Fourth Estate is totally insolvent and is declaring bankruptcy, morally and otherwise. In this recent instance, having to do with Tuesday night’s Republican primary in Alaska, it was at least quite hilarious.
You see, Sarah Palin had endorsed Joe Miller over the incumbent alleged Republican Senator, Lisa Murkowski. As Jim Treacher at The Daily Caller lays out, and as Ace of Spades also noted, the media was so hell-bent on a way to discredit Sarah Palin that they indulged in the child-like behavior of squinting your eyes closed to reality and wishing really, really hard that fantasy comes true. First up was Alex Gutierrez at Slate, who was clearly desperately hoping for a way to spin Palin as politically detrimental:
From Alexandra Gutierrez at Slate, posted on August 23 at 5:54 PM:
On Tuesday, in her home state, Sarah Palin’s favorite will probably get trounced. Joe Miller is widely expected to lose by a large margin to incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the Republican primary—an embarrassing defeat for the former governor, who has endorsed Miller, but also to Miller’s other major backer, the Tea Party Express.
Yeah, it’s embarrassing alright. Embarrassing for you, Gutierrez. I suggest that you look in the mirror if you want to see embarrassing defeats. How does that crow taste, by the way? I hope Gutierrez at least shared the crow with her boyfriend, Dave Weigel, who defended her in his column without disclosing their relationship status, in true Weigel form. He has updated his column to make the disclosure now, only after being shamed (surprisingly) into it by The Daily Caller piece. His girlfriend has now attempted to cover up her bias as well, and has removed “Grizzly woman not mama grizzly” from her twitter bio.
Too little, too late. They cannot cover up the obvious fact that the media inevitably tries to pin any defeat at all on Sarah Palin and, in this case, they went so far as to wish for said defeat solely in order to do so. But any wins? Oh, no. That’s not due to silly, old Sarah Palin. That’s due to anger. Remember, we wing-nuts are super angry and violence fomenting. Or something. I can’t keep all the accusations straight, particularly when it is the Left committing the only acts of political violence. From MSNBC First Reads:
First thoughts: Anger trumps accomplishments
Stunning development: Murkowski trails Miller by 1,960 votes in AK GOP Senate primary… We might not know the final result for days… How to explain why McCain easily won in AZ but Murkowski is in trouble: Anger is trumping accomplishments… That’s a lesson vulnerable Democrats might want to learn… If Miller wins, he’d be the fifth Tea Party insurgent to win a GOP Senate primary… Palin-ism bests Stevens-ism?… In FL, it’s Sink vs. Scott for governor, and Crist vs. Meek vs. Rubio for the Senate… How the Conventional Wisdom has been wrong in the Sunshine State…. And profiling NM-2.
It’s funny how we were told that then candidate Obama’s mere running of a campaign was experience enough to be President of the United States, but any new face in the GOP lacks accomplishments and only some insane form of frothing at the mouth anger propels them to victory. I’ll spell it out in simple terms for you, leftist media: Miller won because Murkowski is a horrible Senator. His campaign was thankfully boosted by Sarah Palin, whom many people respect and admire. Those who do are not drooling rubes, unable to read, blinded by wing-nutty wing-nuttiness. No, they are people who are well cognizant of political issues, no matter how much you desperately and childishly stick your fingers in your ears to try to deny that. They are people who are tired of electing representatives who do not reflect their beliefs nor their policy choices. They are people who want the best for this country, out of love, not out of spiteful anger nor hatred. They are people like me and my neighbors.
And we vote. I suggest that you get used to eating that crow. Because, we’ll see you in November.
—–
cross-posted from NewsReal
Steve Maley
KnightsofMalta
Dan Spencer
Moe Lane
Dan McLaughlin
Speaking of wishful thinking, there are over 20K votes yet to count.
Achance (Diary) Friday, August 27th at 9:36PM EST (link)It ain’t over til the fat lady sings, Lori.
In Vino Veritas
"What's with the fat lady?"
Raven (Diary) Friday, August 27th at 10:18PM EST (link)“You’re obsessed with the fat lady!”
“If you do not have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.”
Luke 22:36
Tannhaeuser, Niebelungenlied, the Ring, etc. - Wagner you know /nt/
cactusjack Friday, August 27th at 10:23PM EST (link)He was quoting "Independence Day." n/t
dirkbelig Saturday, August 28th at 2:05PM EST (link)Yep.
“This would be a great job if it weren’t for the ****ing customers.” – Randal Graves, “Clerks”
Of course the recount could leave Murkowski the winner
civil truth (Diary) Friday, August 27th at 10:37PM EST (link)The point I heard is that the Slate author and his comrades who predicted a massive defeat for Miller have egg on their face regardless, having tried to make it all about Sarah to diminish her image.
Whether or not Lori is premature in predicting the ultimate outcome, the race is far, far closer than anyone expected, which therefore, contrary to interest, results in the Slate author giving more credit to Sarah’s endorsement than the actual effect of her endorsement.
I have no problem with karma biting these guys in the posterior.
You have very thoroughly documented how Sarah’s actions have critically damaged the Alaska Republican Party.
But that’s not what her critics on the left are talking about; rather they are becoming unhinged by their visceral and misogynist hatred to Sarah, and ironically thereby making her more powerful.
And this is mostly for the good so long as Sarah doesn’t misinterpret this as a go ahead to run for elective office.
The greatest evil…is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried, and minuted) in clean, carpeted, warmed, and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voice. Hence, naturally enough, my symbol for Hell is something like the bureaucracy of a police state or the offices of a thoroughly nasty business concern. -C.S. Lewis
http://www.gmsplace.com/
We aren't to recount, C_T, and won't be until after the 8th.
Achance (Diary) Friday, August 27th at 10:58PM EST (link)Questioned ballots are still being examined and prepared for count, rejection, or challenge. Domestic absentees are first and internation absentees have longer, but I think everything has to be in to be counted on the 8th of September.
Only after the count on the eighth is recount an issue. If it is within half a percent, the State pays, if not, the candidate requesting the recount pays.
Alaska has lots of people who live nowhere near a polling place; rural residents, oilfield workers, and, especially, military all over the State and all over the World. So, we have long mailing times and our laws allow for that.
Questioned ballots are simply a matter of deciding whether the person was entitled to vote and, if so, for what elections. The most common questioned ballot is some voter who is registered in the precinct of his/her home address but votes someplace convenient to work or on the way home. They’re not on the list there, so their ballot is questioned. Election workers and candidate/party observers evaluate the ballot and make a determination as to whether the person could vote and if so for what elections. For example: if you voted out of your precinct but in your House and Senate district, you could vote a full ballot. If you voted out of your House district but within your Senate district you could vote a Statewide ballot plus your Senate race. If you voted out of your house and Senate districts, you could vote Statewide and ballot measures only. If you voted a party ballot for which you were not qualified, i.e., were a Libertarian voting out of precinct by said you were NP and took a Republican ballot, only your ballot measures votes would be counted since you weren’t actually eligible to vote as a Republican. And, yeah, they do that. So, anyway, that sort of stuff is why Lisa wanted a lawyer.
In Vino Veritas
Mea culpa, I meant final tally, not recount
civil truth (Diary) Friday, August 27th at 11:27PM EST (link)…don’t know how “recount” popped up in my title – brain voltage arcing perhaps? I’m well aware that you don’t start a recount until you finish the first count.
However, my misstatement led to your providing me a thorough lesson in Alaska voting procedures. So thanks for that.
The greatest evil…is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried, and minuted) in clean, carpeted, warmed, and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voice. Hence, naturally enough, my symbol for Hell is something like the bureaucracy of a police state or the offices of a thoroughly nasty business concern. -C.S. Lewis
http://www.gmsplace.com/
We think "recount" because of the effects of the Bush/Gore Fight
Section9 Saturday, August 28th at 8:05AM EST (link)It’s been ten years (hard to believe, isn’t it?), but the rhetoric of that fight still sticks with us.
“History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it”-Winston Churchill
I guess my beef is...
cwilson (Diary) Saturday, August 28th at 1:49AM EST (link)If Murkowski wanted a laywer (or a couple dozen), she should pay for them — same way it appears Miller will have to. It sticks in my craw that the NRSC/NRC is paying for Murkowski’s lawyer(s), but not Miller’s.
I don’t care WHAT state it is, the state GOP should stay out of primaries. The national Republican organs (RNC, RNCC, RNSC) should stay out of primaries. Save their money, and use it in favor of whoever wins the primary, in the general to defeat DEMOCRATS — instead of blowing $4M to (unsuccessfully) defeat a fellow Republican, leaving the cupboard completely BARE when it’s time to train fire on the Left!
Obviously there are exceptions; if David Duke is running or whatever. But Miller isn’t a David Duke. Rubio wasn’t (back when Crist pretended to be a Republican). Rick Scott isn’t. etc etc.
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom — go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen! –Samuel Adams
Particularly
rec0n Saturday, August 28th at 3:07PM EST (link)When said Senator is contemplating a run on the Libertarian ticket. I’d like to formally welcome the Libertarian Party into their new Big Tent Era.
Enjoy.
Actually, here Republicans co-opted the Libertarians
Achance (Diary) Saturday, August 28th at 3:35PM EST (link)many years ago over the income tax. Repealing the Alaska Income Tax, and it was a stiff one, was the great Libertarian accomplishment here and made Dick Randolph from Fairbanks a credible candidate for Governor and a member of the Legislature. Because of Alaska’s oil revenue, Republicans here have been able to spend lots of money while still saying “No new taxes” and “Government off my back and out of my pocket.”
The legalize marajuana stuff brings out Lefties more than Libertarians here because marajuana and other “recreational” drugs are de facto legal here anyway unless you’re dealing or commit some other crime. You’d have to send the cops an engraved invitation to get busted for personal possession or growing.
The Libertarian surge here in the ’80s was mostly oil field workers who didn’t like Alaska’s high taxes on the astounding wages they were making. They all thought they’d died and gone to Heaven when they got their paycheck and really, really, really didn’t like all those deductions. I know I’d worked a lot of months and some years in Georgia for less than I was grossing some weeks back in those days. You can find a lot of federal court cases on tax evasion and Constitutional challenges to taxes from those days.
Once the income tax went away, the Libertarian surge ebbed and they’re down to barely on the ballot now. The AIP, the guys who found the Libertarians too moderate, has lost its place on the ballot even though it was powerful enough for a Governor, albeit a rich one, to be elected on their ticket in ’90.
In Vino Veritas
Wagner "Nymph" aria is over, Miller by a nose
vandalii Sunday, September 5th at 11:14PM EST (link)Alaska is clearly not Florida
“Man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of the time he will pick himself up and continue.” – Winston Churchill
"Anger is trumping accomplishments"
The_Rebel (Diary) Friday, August 27th at 11:56PM EST (link)reminds me of Peter Jennings famous quip in 1994 that the “voters had a temper tantrum”.
Its the arrogance of the left
SirGladiator (Diary) Saturday, August 28th at 6:56AM EST (link)To put it words even they can understand, they’re so dumb they think they’re smart. These comments menioned in the Diary show an extreme bias of course, but obviously that’s nothing new. What’s comical is they think the People are too stupid to realize their bias if they do the least little thing to try to hide it. They can’t figure out that it takes somebody pretty stupid to think like that, which is just hilarious. It’s like how they went on and on about how brilliant Obama is, and how Sarah Palin isn’t, when all the actual evidence points clearly to Palin being a genius, and Obama being not very smart at all.
But we can’t go by the evidence, we have to go by the D and the R, right? And of course that means the D is smart, and if he’s losing its because he’s so incredibly smart that the People simply aren’t capable of figuring out how brilliant he actually is, while the R of course is stupid, and if she’s winning its because the American People are stupid too. Riiiight. For the rest of us, we see the hilarity of the left calling people stupid, when they’re the ones who so clearly are. And we also enjoy watching them make fools of themselves, like in the comments mentioned in the Diary. Thanks for the great Diary Lori, and keep up the great work!
Embarrass? Trash doesn't know the meaning.
johnt Saturday, August 28th at 11:03AM EST (link)They have already moved on to some other idiocy.
Glad to see Zit Face Weigel has a girl friend, between bouts of S&M what do these weirdos talk about, another stimulus package, the crucial importance of massive tax increases?
Odd but when The Normal win it means nothing, when & if they lose it is a Krakatoa level disaster. I guess the only way the Trash can maintain an appearance of sanity is to reconstruct in their febrile brains the very world around them.
It’s great being a liberal.
And soon they’ll have Levi Johnson on their side, birds of a feather.
“a man’s admiration for absolute government is proportinate to the contempt he feels for those around him”. Tocqueville
More Ammunition
wolfgang Saturday, August 28th at 11:09AM EST (link)Powerlineblog has more verification on this today in a short essay. Its the results of a statistical analysis of the media’s political donations. During the Presidential campaign in ’08 94 per cent of the media’s donation went to Hussein Obama, proof that they didn’t really need the Journolist.
Club for Growth backs Miller
chihank Saturday, August 28th at 3:48PM EST (link)Better late than never. However the Club will raise money for Miller for legal expenses and campaign funds.
If the GOP backs a Murkowski third party bid, then the party has alot of explaining on why a 3rd party bid is good for Murkowski but not for Charlie Crist.
Club for Growth backs Miller
chihank Saturday, August 28th at 3:48PM EST (link)Better late than never. However the Club will raise money for Miller for legal expenses and campaign funds.
If the GOP backs a Murkowski third party bid, then the party has alot of explaining on why a 3rd party bid is good for Murkowski but not for Charlie Crist.
What's with the paranoia over the NRSC lawyer?
Adjoran (Diary) Sunday, August 29th at 2:55AM EST (link)Of course, the media stuff in unworthy of comment, except for Weigel getting busted AGAIN – how is this guy working at all?
But there is NO evidence the NRSC lawyer is trying to “steal the election for Murky” or do anything other than advise her on her legal rights.
And yes, incumbent GOP Senators get more help from NRSC than do their challengers. That’s their mission. If you don’t like it, work to change the mission, but quit whining about them doing what they set out to do.
It’s part of how you recruit candidates in the first place – promising to stand by them if challenged. Sometimes they have weaker Senators to stand behind.
The odds of a recount or outstanding ballots overturning this election are astronomical. Some recall Stevens’ last race, where the absentees changed the result, but there were 60K of them then, and a much smaller margin percentage-wise to overcome.
Miller won. Murky just needs a few days to recover from the shock, and see the offers from lobbying firms, and she’ll be okay with it all.
But, will she have the integrity to endorse Miller? nt
davesinsanantonio (Diary) Monday, August 30th at 6:52AM EST (link)The Republican Party better wake up!
dambama Monday, August 30th at 9:55AM EST (link)We are sick and tired of sell-out Republicans and “good old boys” trying to save their seats.
The Republican Party better start supporting TEA Party Constitutional Conservatives, and drop the RINOs. It is the future of the Republican Party.
We Conservatives are going to take over the Republican Party. We will not be distracted by talk of forming a third party. We have a Party, the Party of Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr.
RINOs, either change or get out. If you seek change, start by reading the Constitution, until you finally understand it, and support it.
hehe you sound like I did about a year ago
kyle8 (Diary) Monday, August 30th at 8:13PM EST (link)Well, now I don’t get quite so excited. We have to take what we can get.
hopefully we will have a lot more Republicans in congress, and a lot more of those will be actual small government conservatives.
But AFTER the november elections, then we need to start weeding out the remaing rinos.
We won’t get them all, but we have to try.
“Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty”
Kyle
Ahhh
gunslingr45 Monday, August 30th at 8:02PM EST (link)Another issue of red state on my door step at 5:oo PM Nothin like
“late breaking news” so to speak…..