Saturday, January 9, 2010

Steve Schmidt: So, it was COUNTRY FIRST Steve?

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Palin watchers, from both sides of the Great Divide That is Sarah, are all a-buzz about the revelations from Steve Schmidt. Unless the upcoming 60 Minutes interview is very different than most of these shows, we've seen the most 'shocking' clips already in the teasers. Anderson Cooper is the interviewer? Oh, well that should be 'hard hitting'. Yawn.

Steve S. was the senior campaign strategist and advisor to the 2008 presidential campaign of Senator John McCain. I guess part of his job was to oversee the 'Selling of Sarah' and judging from some of Sarah's comments in her book, she didn't like him very much!

The McCain campaign slogan, 'Country First' sounded nice, but their actions said something very different.


Well ... excuse me if I don't consider Steve S. a 'hero' .... fact is that even though he KNEW Palin was a disaster, he was willing to work very hard to get her elected, and 'Country Be Damned'.

If McCain had won, Schmidt would still be covering up Palin's incompetence, no?

O'Sarah is not well informed? Hide her from the Press!

O'Sarah will say anything for attention? Let her accuse her opponent of 'palling around with terrorists'.

O'Sarah has skeletons in her closet? Scrub the closets!

O'Sarah can't answer simple questions? Avoid questions!


Too little, too late, Steve. Don't get me wrong: I believe you. It's not as if I didn't know what she was at the time! BUT .... speaking up now doesn't make you more honorable.

Seems to me that when Sarah was lying/misleading about Senator Obama, you were OK with that, it was just 'politics'. Now that YOU are the target of her venom, it's another story?

26 comments:

  1. Exactly, Archivist...I'm not holding my breath either, thinking there will be more revelations in the other 45 minutes or so (60 Minutes is really about 50 at most, with all the ads).

    If you don't mind, a bit OT: I saw that Richard Barnes Palinbot quote to the right.

    I can just see Palin or one of her minions reading this and getting on the phone to JessicaBehive, "Hey Jessica, BFF, next time you order wiglets from China would you order a gross or two for me? I just thought of a terrific new money-making scheme. We could put the offer on SarahPAC like we did for the $100+ book offer..."

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  2. Agreed that Schmidt may not say anything new, but it's good that what he has to say will get a big audience. There may be something for the palinbots, too, like "she did alright in the debate." They'll love that as long as they don't remember and think about the fact that she said at the outset that she wouldn't answer the questions.

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  3. I never understood why the moderater didn't stop the debate right there and then. She announced she wouldn't answer the questions that were asked?

    O.K. no debate.

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  4. I just LOVE your comments to the Palinbots on the right. They are simply hilarious.

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  5. Rational ConservativeJanuary 9, 2010 at 12:30 PM

    "If McCain had won, Schmidt would still be covering up Palin's incompetence, no?"

    Yes. Sarah probably would have been hidden away, relegated to harmless photo ops. Throughout history, one constant is incompetent leaders. Poor leadership surrounds us, it’s a fact of life. Even if the unthinkable would have happened to McCain, Sarah would have been kept in her place. The alternative is unthinkable.

    "Now that YOU are the target of her venom, it's another story?"

    What is Steve Schmidt supposed to do? Just stand there and take it? Sarah didn't give him much of a choice.

    "I guess part of his job was to oversee the 'Selling of Sarah'"

    Sarah was a petulant, unwilling student, who turned out to be an ingrate as well. Steve Schmidt had to get grimy from all the dirty work. He did a remarkable job, IMHO, considering what he had to work with. Amazing, when you think about it.

    "'Country First'" sounded nice, but their actions said something different."

    Politics is a bloodsport.

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  6. Julie (former Palintologist)January 9, 2010 at 12:47 PM

    Leadership is about action not status. The VP candidacy was all about flash and status to Sarah. If Steve Schmidt is guilty of some sort of fraud on the American people, then so are the hairdresser and clothes consultant that made Sarah look so much more attractive than she really is.

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  7. We now know that Sarah could not even say her debate opponent's name correctly! Put your empathy shoes on and consider the task before them. This is what the McCain Campaign had to work with:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrzXLYA_e6E

    Everyone I knew thought Sarah was going to implode on that stage. The bar was set so low for her all she had to do was not fall to pieces. I remember all of us sitting around the TV, crossing our fingers, nervous as all get out (ah, were those innocent times). Did she win the debate? No. Was the debate a success? Yes:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRWwRsL_U5I

    Steve Schmidt was merely doing his job. I think he found out the hard way, like many of us, what Sarah is really like.

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  8. Sarah began to believe that SHE was the presidential nominee, overshadowing McCain at most of those campaign events. This is where the fallout began. She was basically ignoring Schmidt who was McCain's boy. The disparagement began there.

    Schmidt knew from the get go that this idiot had nothing to offer beyond her gender for the ticket but when she blew him off, basically running her own campaign, they emnity arose between them.

    McCain is indeed the bad guy in all this but Schmidt, a paid consultant, had to deal with her arrogance and stupidity on a daily basis. She honestly felt she was the prime candidate since the base went wild with enthusiasm for her in the beginning.

    I think she honestly (and I use this term lightly when it comes to Sarah) believed it was all about her and she would skate to glory on her looks and that awful winking she relies on to get her through. The issues be damned as far as she was concerned.

    Not cutting Schmidt any slack but just imagine the nightmare of dealing with her and that awful family, including her creepy father, day after day and then being pilloried by them after the campaign collapsed. Holy sh*t!!

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  9. Sarah fooled a lot of people. Alaskans once gave Sarah 80% approval ratings as Governor, sometimes those ratings neared 90%. I believed in those numbers, believed in Alaskans. Not once did it ever cross my mind to begrudge them for leading me astray. Similarly, not once has it ever crossed my mind to lay any blame on Steve Schmidt.

    I loved the 60 Minutes clips. It is very gratifying to watch a fellow Republican call Sarah a liar on National TV. It gives me an "all is not lost" kinda feeling. In hindsight, every syllable uttered by Steve Schmidt regarding Sarah's debate preps make perfect sense. Anyone who continues to advocate abstinence-only sex education after their own daughter gets knocked up by her boyfriend is unlikely to be interested in facts of any kind.

    I agree, Anon@3:09. Sarah believed it was all about her, believed she was the star, and believed the issues were irrelevant. I can't imagine how unbearable that must have been.

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  10. Don't forget that she called McCain her running mate, and at least once at a rally made reference to a "Palin McCain Administration"

    http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/09/a-what-administ.html

    And don't forget how ticked she got that McCain wouldn't let her make a concession speech.

    Yeah, she thought it was all about her.

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  11. I'm assuming English is not this woman's first language, but giving out your phone number on Sarah's Facebook page???

    "hello, there i am so fan of you. i just saw you at the Elmendorf AFB. last month. yes, i am living in Fort richardson ak. anyway i have some favor to ask. my parents who is living in Elbert county Colorad(which is biggest republican party in Colorad) are having Lincoln day dinner on Feb 2010 (next month) and they come ...up with idea that they are gonna have a auction for your signed books. since i am living in alaska they thought i can have some easiler access ( they can't find the address nor contact info for yours) so i am trying to help them. if you will i can buy a books and with prepaid box send that to you and you can send straight to my parents at colorad. they will(whole republican party at Elbert county ) be so happy and thrill to hear that. we know you are busy.. just let me know what do you want me to do. my contact info is XXX-XXXX. hope you can participate the event. thank you so much."

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  12. The above comment is pretty pathetic but it looks like she was one of those children "left behind" as they say. But judging by her writing she could possibly get a job "ghost writing" for Palin as she makes about as much sense as her idol in expressing her thoughts.

    Sad to think that this is the equivalent of who votes out there these days. She was probably just as much satisfied with George Bush during his 8 years of imcompetentcy.

    Scary.

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  13. The biggest trouble with stupid people, as is eminently on display below, is that they never realise they're stupid. They're just too stupid, I guess.

    You never see someone say: "Well, I'm actually a bit thick and ill-informed, so I'll sit this one out." Oh no.

    And for some reason, the stupid tends to be combined with a loudmouthed self-satisfaction and sense of entitlement.

    'The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity' (Yeats):

    Bill O'Reilly: "Let me be very bold and fresh again, do you believe that you are smart enough, incisive enough, intellectual enough to handle the most powerful job in the world?"

    Sarah Palin: "I believe that I am because I have common sense and I have I believe the values that I think are reflective of so many other American values, and I believe that what Americans are seeking is not the elitism, the uhm, the ah, a kind of spineless, spinelessness that perhaps is made up for that with some kind of elite, Ivy league education and, and a fat resume that is based on anything but hard work and private sector, free enterprise principles. Americans are could be seeking something like that in positive change in their leadership, I'm not saying that that has to be me."

    Steve Schmidt, to his credit, tried to hide the stupid.

    The ultra-right, with no other options, is trying to turn Sarah's stupidity into a "common sense" virtue.

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  14. It was all downhill for Sarah after the Gibson/Couric interviews. She was chasing Pres. Obama's rear end, eating his dust, and getting ridiculed on the National stage. But that wasn't her fault, don't ya know. Steve Schmidt et. al., are to blame.

    And, darn it all, people like Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity have claimed the role of ideological enforcers, turning up the heat on suspect conservatives. Gosh, why do they get to have all the fun?

    And by golly, being a real Christian is hard. You have to read the Bible! And some of them even go to church on the weekends. ChristianINO is good enough, thank you very much.

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  15. For anyone who considered that the "60 Minutes" interview about Palin would dampen her "fans", think again.

    Commentators are willing to believe anything said against Schumer, Reid, Kennedy, etc., but are unwilling to accept anything negative about Sarah, Hillary or Elizabeth because they feel the coverage is biased and sexist owing to gender. Selective reading at best.

    To think that this Dimwit could not understand the difference between North and South Korea and had to be "educated" regarding the wars over the past 100 years, is too mind boggling to contemplate. Imagine this dummy in talks with Kim Jung Il? Holy guacaomole!!!!

    McCain needs to be tarred and feathered for even considering this "dumbbell" in the first place. Rest assured the Palinites are on this. She is being "set up".

    Could it be "god's will" at work?

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  16. I still can't forget video of the rally where they actually had Palin/McCain signs all over the place. McCain wasn't there. I almost fell off my chair. She certainly seized every opportunity to forward her idea that she really WAS the top of the ticket.

    Can anyone come up with a link to that video??

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  17. I don't remember seeing those signs, not that I doubt it. She came to believe it was her run for the presidency and she is still holding fast to that belief.

    Anyone that uneducated and unaware of the events that have shaped this nation has no business anywhere near the seat of global power. She is a disaster.

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  18. @8:27, no question the Palinbots will attempt to rescue their perpetual damsel in distress. It's ennobling and one of the few things that makes them feel superior to non-believers. Only special people have the wisdom to see the distressed damsel needs protection, an admission that directly contradicts Sarah's pit-effing-bull image.

    Sarah's emotional immaturity has never been a big secret. Her mental stability became suspect when she resigned her superfluous "title." Yet she clings to it and her children like a child clinging to a security blanket.

    Sarah now comes across to me as someone who values herself only as much as other people value her. She measures her self-worth by what other people think. Her confidence is nothing but bluster.

    I believe Sarah is more mentally unbalanced than the McCain staff is letting on. Something alarming.

    I'm beginning to wonder if Sarah is suicidal.

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  19. Sarah faked a pregnancy, so I can easily see her pretending to be suicidal to get attention or to manipulate. Whether she is or not, she was obviously saying some extremely bizarre and disturbing things. After all, McCain's staff was alarmed enough to bring in a physician to observe her.

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  20. Schmidt included "dangerous" in his description of Sarah, and I don't think he would have used that word if he knew she was suicidal. Of all the emotionally loaded situations, suicide is the most frightening. The urgent life and death nature of suicide brings out the RESCUER in all of us. We harbor the belief that we can be responsible for saving the suicide. We also harbor the terrifying belief that we may push the person "over the edge" and become responsible for the death. Suicide is a very serious topic and should never be taken lightly. But we are talking about Sarah, someone who has cried wolf about another emotionally charged act, an act equally alarming and as serious a topic as suicide, to manipulate people - gang rape of a child.

    Sarah's egregious behavior is on the record. She claimed Bristol and Willow were threatened with gang rape and used that as an excuse to transfer them to different schools. Presumably, Sarah took this action to protect her daughters from an unsafe environment. What about the other students? As governor she did nothing to follow up on those threats, to remove those threats from the school system, and basically left Willow's and Bristol's classmates to fend for themselves. Nor did she alert anyone in authority who could have ensured a safe learning environment for the rest of the students. We are talking about children here! She is either criminally negligent or a lying "loose cannon." This incident alone makes her a menace who clearly needs help.

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  21. So becoming an analyst on Fox has given Sarah a platform to "negate" the liberal MSM, like the 60 Minutes Steve Schmidt interview. That's what Bill wants us to believe, anyway. Sarah said the American people aren't interested in that stuff, too.

    Then why is it everytime I see Sarah now I have a mental image of her smearing her makeup and messing up her hair? Did they take all the mirrors out of the room so she would focus on the Couric interview prep.? Did she shout "Pamper Me! Pamper Me! Pamper Me!" while she was sabotaging herself?

    That's all I think about when I see her now.

    And I voted McCain/Palin.

    So, Sarah, yes we do care about that stuff. Mental stability is a profoundly important qualification we look for in our leaders.

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  22. I thought Sarah looked pretty good on Fox compared to how she looked on her book tour. But the people are on to her. Unfortunately for Sarah, the facade has been lifted and the public knows the level of her attractiveness is directly dependent on the skill level of the makeup artist patching her up. The magic is gone. Even mannequins have become better at being Sarah - they are more photogenic.

    I keep thinking of the TMZ clip showing her at the airport. Instead of the requisite footage showing the statesman disembarking the plane, we see Sarah waiting at a counter for her ride, not a welcoming party in sight to greet her. Instead of being escorted to a stretch limo, Sarah had to keep pace and follow the driver to a SUV. The final smack down: The driver didn't even tote her luggage (nor did Todd).

    And what of her once formidable political clout? On Bill's show, Sarah had no choice but to publicly announce she would accept no payment for the Tea Party convention.

    Ouch!

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  23. "Munguia Mike
    Hope That Sarah Doesnt become "overexsposed" on the tele. She should try to stay "New and Fresh" for as long as possible,and not just become a familiar face on TV,no matter what network. Sarah is Too Precious to Market in a commercial arena....
    about an hour ago"

    Okay, which one of you posted this gem?

    It's brilliant!

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  24. Beck was holding Sarah's hand, spoon feeding her, yet she still could not get it right.

    George Washington was the leader of our Founding Fathers?

    I often wondered why the McCain Camp was so reluctant to fully take advantage of Fox and conservative talk radio during the campaign. "Why," I would rail, "are they feeding her to the wolves?" Now I suspect it's because McCain knew Fox and talk radio would see the real Sarah and he feared he would lose their support. Maybe they would have played along, maybe not, but it was a gamble McCain wasn't willing to make.

    To this day there are people on both sides of the aisle who believe Sarah is credible.

    That is marketing genius.

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  25. "John Mullins
    I AM A MEMBER OF THE SO CALLED " MIDDLE, WORKING CLASS" AND I DON'T BELONG TO A UNION.
    THEREFORE I WILL PAY A TAX ON HEALTHCARE WHILE UNION MEMBERS WON'T?
    I've said it before and I'll keep repeating it "I WILL GO TO JAILBEFORE I PAY FOR SOMEONE ELSE'S HEALTHCARE!"
    4 hours ago"

    Don't drop the soap, John Mullins.

    "Tim Stauffer
    ...."This is why "WE THE PEOPLE" revolted in 1776!!! The British Empire tried to FORCE the American people to BUY Tea, ONLY from Engalnd!!!!!!!! Taxation WITHOUT Representation. So if "WE THE PEOPLE" do not belong to a SPECIAL interest group like a UNION. "WE THE PEOPLE" have NO representation in the "GOVERNMENT STUPID" !!!

    FIRE THE "GOVERNMENT STUPID"... See More

    TERM LIMITS NOW !!

    FAIR TAX NOW !!

    DEATH TO JIHADIST!!!! NOT CIVILIAN TRIALS
    5 hours ago"

    Uh-oh, Tim. You must not forget to include Sarah's version of "Patriot" history: George Washington led our Founding Fathers in the Pledge of Allegiance and all of them were very proud to say "Under God."

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  26. I don't think Sarah would ever contemplate suicide, nor do I think she would use threats or attempts in that direction. She's far too narcissistic; all her mental illness and her delusions are aimed to strengthen her self-image. It's too easy for her to just construct the next fantasy in order to carry on.

    I don't think such people (sociopaths, psychopaths) experience what we think of as 'depression' .. when things don't go their way and they're out of options at the moment, the description of 'catatonic' .. just shutting down.. seems more accurate.

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