More On Sarah Palin's Meltdown at the Iowa Freedom Summit

Looks like former half-term governor Sarah Palin is trying to blame a teleprompter malfunction for her weird and awful speech at last week's Iowa Freedom Summit:

At one point, Palin’s teleprompter froze, according to the New York Daily News, causing her to ad lib through part of her speech where she made the odd “the man can only ride ya when your back is bent,” comment.  * * *

But according to Bloomberg Politics and US News, Palin’s excuse of a malfunctioning teleprompter has been used before to cover up odd moments in her speeches.

I don't really care that she has used the excuse of a faulty teleprompter before.  What I find interesting is that Sarah Palin has mocked President Obama for using teleprompters.  Who could forget this little Palin gem from the 2010 National Bagger Convention:

In a speech that made frequent appeals to patriotism and faith, Palin used the folksy, Washington-outsider rhetoric to lambaste Obama and his Democratic Party.

"How's that hope-y, change-y stuff working out for you?" she asked, mocking the slogans of hope and change that swept Obama's campaign into to the White House.  ***

"This is about the people ... and it's a lot bigger than any charismatic guy with a teleprompter," she said, a reference to Obama's use of teleprompters which conservative critics frequently chide him for.

You get the idea, right?  You don't?  Well, let me translate.

What Palin was saying is that the uppity . . . gentleman currently occupying the White House is so stupid (no doubt due to his racial handicap) that he actually uses a teleprompter [!!] when delivering speeches. This is an example of "code-speak" the GOP uses to attack Obama because he is Black, something the racist GOP base finds very appealing.  As I mentioned here before, other examples of such dog-whistle phrases include "Obama follows a 'Kenyan, anti-colonial' worldview," and "Obama is the 'food stamp president'" and the oldie-but-a-goodie battle cry, "Where's the Birth Certificate!?"

But Palin is so incredibly stupid that she just just doesn't see the disconnect of criticizing Obama for using a teleprompter while blaming her epic speaking failures on a malfunction of the very same device she mocks the President for using.  Maybe she should go back to writing stuff on her hand:

My main concern is that Palin's recent gaffes will prevent her from making a run for the presidency. I hope it doesn't because it is hard to think of something that would be more hilarious than that.

And Sarah, you posed the question, "How's that hope-y, change-y stuff working out for you?" Well, it's working out just fine.  Thanks for asking.

Jon Stewart Runs The Republican Clown Car Off The Road

I'm not sure why Sarah Palin chose this moment to try LSD for the first time (if you can stomach it, Stewart's coverage of Palin starts at 5:11):

The Daily Show
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Reaction to State of the Union Speech

Of course, my favorite part of the speech occurred when Obama stated that he has no more campaigns to run and some Republicans in the chamber clapped in an effort to express their extreme hatred for this President. Obama then looked over toward those Republicans and said, "I know, because I won both of them."



But other than that smackdown -- as well as a jab at the GOP concerning the Keystone Pipeline and the "if you think you can raise a family on $15,000 a year, then try it!" line -- the President pretty much steered away from such talk.  In fact, I was surprised by how non-confrontational the speech was.

I think Obama and his writers realized that the economic numbers pretty much speak for themselves, so why further rub the Republicans' noses in it? There was really no need to go after the GOP for basically sitting out the Bush/Cheney Great Recession and not doing a goddamned thing to make the recovery even better (and actually working at times to make it worse).

Just a couple months ago, the GOP won a great victory in the Mid-Term election.  But you wouldn't have known it from watching this speech. Obama looked like the victor and the Republicans looked pretty glum.

Maybe Republicans are finally realizing that they do completely run Congress now and the American people are looking toward them to actually do something other than trying to repeal RomneyObamacare and investigating Benghazi!!  The President had a laundry list of non-controversial stuff that he wants to get done, and the GOP opposes virtually all of it, mostly because they don't want to give Obama a legislative victory. Republicans will soon realize the obvious -- namely, that it is impossible to effectively govern with that kind of attitude.

And for Fuck's Sake, do we really need five GOP responses to this speech?  Just because your party is in disarray doesn't mean you have to illustrate that fact by having five rebuttal speeches.

UPDATE:  Some Republicans got their feelings hurt by Obama's "I won both of them" quip. In fact, someone posted at one of the political websites that "they were still fanning Lindsey Graham." Sort of reminds me of the way the GOP reacted when Obama crushed Romney during a debate with that "horses and bayonets" line.

Turns Out Obamacare Isn't Destroying The U.S. Economy After All

I guess it's time for the GOP to come up with some new talking points:

More than 2.95 million jobs were created last year, according to the latest figures from the Department of Labor.

It's encouraging news as the U.S. tries to put the Great Recession and sluggish recovery solidly behind it. Many economists expect 2015 to be equally as strong, if not better, for job seekers.

The unemployment rate fell to 5.6% in December, down from 5.8% in November. That's also a big drop from the 6.7% rate in December 2013. It's expected to hit 5.2% -- around the normal level -- by the end of the year . . . .

As far as U.S. job creation goes, 2014 was the best year in a decade and a half.  I have no doubt that the Republicans, after complaining about how shitty the Obama economy is, will now try to take credit for how great it is.

Oh wait -- I guess that has already happened.

Quote of the Week

"[This is] something I would assume Vladimir Putin would do.”

Congressman Ted Yoho (R-Fla.), commenting on John Boehner's retaliation against Republicans who voted against him for Speaker of the House.

It's good to see Boehner finally standing up to the Baggers, but I thought the Republicans loved Putin.