September 2, 2009

Why Andrew Sullivan shouldn't be talking about whether Sarah Palin is "nutty enough."

So that prince of a man Levi Johnston is luxuriating in Vanity, saying:
Sarah told me she had a great idea: we would keep it a secret—nobody would know that Bristol was pregnant. She told me that once Bristol had the baby she and Todd would adopt him. That way, she said, Bristol and I didn’t have to worry about anything. Sarah kept mentioning this plan. She was nagging—she wouldn’t give up. She would say, “So, are you gonna let me adopt him?” We both kept telling her we were definitely not going to let her adopt the baby. I think Sarah wanted to make Bristol look good, and she didn’t want people to know that her 17-year-old daughter was going to have a kid.
Springing into a posture of triumph, Andrew Sullivan is all:
So, according to Levi, Governor Palin was very, very interested in avoiding embarrassment for her daughter - and a political problem - by passing off someone else's child as her own and adopting him. This kid's name was Tripp. But this exercise is called "proof of principle." If anyone believed that Palin wasn't nutty enough to try to pass off her own daughter's baby as her own, they need to reassess.
First, there are 2 babies — Trig and Tripp — born too close together for both to have been Bristol's. But Sullivan says it's a "proof of principle" exercise. (Is that common parlance? Maybe in England. WikiAnswers says: "A proof of principle experiment is one designed to see if the idea is workable. Usually little if any data is collected.") So the point is: If we are to believe Johnston — a humongous "if" — then Palin is the sort of person who would adopt a baby — Tripp, in that case — then she might have also adopted Trig.

But let's examine this:

First, Johnston didn't say that Sarah would pass the baby off as her own, only that she would adopt it. Whose baby is Trig supposed to be? Who else in the world would Palin have wanted to protect by taking on a new baby? The motive would have to be entirely different, such as thinking she'd look good having a Down Syndrome baby. So the principle is a different one.

Second, is it nutty for a grandmother to take over the role of raising a child born to a too-young mother? Let Andrew Sullivan step up and answer a clear yes to that if that's what he thinks. Do you realize how many women he is tainting with an accusation of insanity? Many, many women — including Barack Obama's grandmother — have done that over the ages. No one with any sensitivity to the condition of women in society should say that it's crazy for a grandmother to step in. It is a good and gracious thing that many good women have done, and emphatically not crazy.

Third, if you want to talk crazy, how crazy is it to want so badly to paint Sarah Palin as crazy? She is your political opponent, Andrew, and you don't think she's good enough for high office. It's not so dramatic. It's utterly banal. Ironically, Palin draws energy from your overheated hatred. Have you heard she's about to make $100 million?

99 comments:

Chennaul said...

I think I got an Olde English saying for Sullivan-

He's parsimonious with the "facts."

A.W. said...

mmm, still don't care what sully thinks.

He's descended into full on crankdom. at one time he was really interesting. not any more.

And Andrew, Andrew, Andrew, haven't you heard of the Heisenberg uncertainty. Johnson said this percisely to get people like you all conspiracy crazy.

rhhardin said...

Proof of principle is mostly used for malicious computer hack opportunity.

Mostly it's feeding bogus input to this or that program and getting it to produce a memory fault, which proves that it can be made to do something it isn't supposed to.

Converting that to a useful hack is assumed to be possible but not interesting in detail. It's enough to force a design fix to eliminate the mistake.

Ritmo Re-Animated said...

"So that prince of a man Levi Johnston..."

If only his mother were Queen - I mean - governor, then his life accomplishments would make him a true equal to Princess Bristol.

Chennaul said...

Or my Ma-mere had this saying-

Conniving Conniption -

descibes Sully perfectly.

Ritmo Re-Animated said...

Proof of principle is also extensively used in industries with a heavy R & D component - such as the pharmaceutical industry.

Skyler said...

I don't know why anyone pays attention to that fool, but I would like to point out, Ann, that you followed him and so many other nuts by voting with him. I'm still amazed at that.

Anonymous said...

If Palin is making that much money then certainly she must be a worthwhile, talented, smart, good, ideal person...small wonder she quit in the middle of her term as governor.

Sullivan, making much less, must be a loser, dumb, a nobody, without talent, a scribbler, a hack or he would be making much more money.

How muich did Lincoln make?

Automatic_Wing said...

I guess he's kind of implying that she would've passed the baby off as her own ("we would keep it a secret"), but he won't say that outright.

Just adopting the baby after Bristol gave birth wouldn't have kept it a secret, she also would've had to claim the baby as her own.

In any case, Johnston's word is pretty much worthless by now. It's obvious to all but the most obsessive Palin-bashers that he's willing to say/do anything to keep his name in the news for a while longer.

traditionalguy said...

So Palin has goals in life and she discusses means to get to them. That shows executive ability, and is not nutty at all. Her goal was to protect Bristol and her granchild's future from Levi Johnson and his family. Smart move Sarah...but Levi was not about to release his power over Gov.Palin's family without cashing in his sperm's lottery ticket first.

Tristram said...

Fred, are you comparing Sullivan to Lincoln?

former law student said...

Sullivan dug himself a horribly deep hole by publishing the idea that Palin gave birth to her own grandchild. Levi has given him a straw to grasp (by leaping six feet, he can almost reach it) by mentioning the proposal that Palin wanted to raise her grandchild as her own.

but I would like to point out, Ann, that you followed him and so many other nuts by voting with him. I'm still amazed at that.

Hey a lot of rational people voted for W. Even in 2004 it made a kind of sense to retain the leader of a nation at war. You can't fault her for that.

Chennaul said...

What's the population of Wasilla?

8,000?

Anybody else ever live in a small town?

Ya, like the mayor is going to keep anything that happens in the family a secret for-

nine months...

former law student said...

Ya, like the mayor is going to keep anything that happens in the family a secret for-

nine months...

"You seen that Palin girl lately?"
--"Cute girl, but she's starting to pack on the pounds."

But if anyone sees either the Palins at the ob-gyn or the ob-gyn at the Palins, people would start speculating.

Chennaul said...

I lived in a small town once, was the retired mayor's grand daughter-Canada-probably a lot like Alaska-I'm just sayin'.

Anyways smoked a cigarette once-news of that got home before I did.

Chennaul said...

Seems to me like the young Levi is engaging in the polar opposite of "carpet-bagging" taking advantage of the New Yorker's simple belief system, or ignorance about small town America.

Anonymous said...

Palin couldn't exist without Andrew Sullivan.

Super(wo)man needs a villian.

Sullivan is Zod.

I can totally see it:

"Kneeeeeeeel before Zod."

Dust Bunny Queen said...

I lived in a small town once, was the retired mayor's grand daughter-Canada-probably a lot like Alaska-I'm just sayin'.

Yup. I live in a small town now. Even smaller than Wasilla. Everyone knows everyone's business. You recoginze who is fooling around because you know what cars they drive and where they park them at night.

There are no secrets in a small town.

The saying is that the fastest thing in town is a rumour.

The good thing about small towns is also how people will rally around and help those who are in trouble. We don't need a "community organizer" to help us to help each other.

hombre said...

The byline on the Vanity Fair story is "Vanity Fair." Understandably, nobody wanted the credit for this specious piece of dreck.

Did Levi say Sarah doesn't cook? Oh well, whatever the "media" is paying for today.

Sullivan has become the real "birther." And why would anyone think he knows any more about how grandmothers should behave than he knows about what marriage should be?

knox said...

Sullivan dug himself a horribly deep hole by publishing the idea that Palin gave birth to her own grandchild. Levi has given him a straw to grasp...


I don't think he dug a deep hole. Not at all. Sullivan's fans, (and the mainstream media, who also propagated this unfounded and wicked theory) could care less if it's made up.

It makes Palin look bad, so it's a winner. Bonus points for making her look crazy and deceitful and white-trashy! Truth, decency, and everything else went out the window when it came to Palin. Oh yeah, and her children. Demonizing her was Job One.

Sullivan's writing about it yet again not to prop up his theory, but because he can't stop writing nasty things about her. He enjoys it.

I have my issues with Palin at this point, but how she has been treated is just reprehensible. And her political career provides the most crystalline evidence of how just mean and unhinged the left is.

Barristers Handshake said...

I swear Andrew Sullivan just says stupid outlandish shit so people will link to him. Last week he wrote that any time someone is picked up by a "soldier" they're bound to be tortured because the CIA tortured people. You'd want to link to shit like that to say "look at what an idiot Andrew Sullivan is" but it just helps his page views and Google ranking. Unfortunately there is no way around it, other than quoting him but not providing the link, but that just ticks off people who read the blog. I really wish there was a way to link to Sullivan without linking to him.

Chase said...

C'mon.

IS there - I'm serious now - a sadder person anywhere than Andrew Sullivan?

Frustrated on every turn - HIV Pos, revealed to a barebacking (unprotected sex)web solicitor (hat tip to palladian), same-sex marriage frustrated, Christian/Catholic basher . . .

Life is really pretty bad if you are highly talented but highly frustrated at every turn.

Which begs the question - why does anyone even bother to give Andrew the time of day?

William said...

Sullivan is like some strange insect crawling across the picnic table. The finger flick is the appropriate way of removal because if you squish it leaves an unappetizying residue. Ditto with Levi.......Orwell said that you don't have the face you deserve until you're forty. That's exemplified with Levi. He's a good looking kid, but as the years go by the self indulgence and venality will puff out his face and spread his midriff. He's a working class Ted Kennedy, but, unlike Ted, he will not retain sufficient wealth or power to get away with it. Working class wastrels grow up or become bitter.

hombre said...

And her political career provides the most crystalline evidence of how just mean and unhinged the left is.

It goes way beyond that. It shows how people who don't fit the leftist narrative -- including the narrative about who is acceptable on the right -- can be hounded out of office using scurrilous means that would normally be intolerable.

WV "encow" = bovine dower

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Levi Johnston reminds me of Kato Kaelin.

Whatever happened to Kato? fell off the radar did he?

KCFleming said...

Levi Johnston will wonder where he can sup next, once he runs out of stories to tell about his ex-mother-in-law.

As soon as he's no longer useful, he'll be thrown to the side faster than you can say 'Cindy Sheehan'. He won't understand at first that his minor glimpse of fame among the MSM journalists was mere vampirism, and, veins soon sucked dry, he won't be invited to their nifty addresses any longer.

I actually feel sorry for him. He's too stupid to know what's coming, but he'll get a face full of it soon enough.

Lesson 1. Disloyalty is rewarded by the enemy, but briefly. Then both sides reject you.

miller said...

I don't know who this A. Sullivan is, but anyone who seriously thinks as he does about Sarah & Trig is, well, crazy.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

What kind of a dad would Levi Johnston make?

Tearing up his kid grandmother on national television.

Shanna said...

But Sullivan says it's a "proof of principle" exercise.

Let's leave off for the moment what we should think of Levi's credibility, since he seems out to get his fifteen minutes entirely by slaming the palin's.

The crazy part about Sullivan's accusations were that Sarah Palin was first of all, quite obviously pregnant. And the fact of a Down Syndrome child points to an older mother, rather than one too young.

So, whatever. Andrew's an idiot who wants to be validated.

chickelit said...

I just realized that yesterday was the first anniversary of Palinsanity.

Keep it up Sullivan et al.- remember the meme, it's easy:
harrassarah

Freeman Hunt said...

Ha. If I thought this Levi person was going to be half-responsible for raising my grandchild, I'd want to adopt said grandchild too.

jag said...

Let's face it, Sullivan doesn't like women, in or out of bed. He was vicious to Hillary and he's vicious to Palin. It doesn't matter on which side of the political asile they sit.

chickelit said...

try again:

harassarah

Lyle said...

Stab him in the heart, stab in the heart.

My guess is Andrew is going to die (knows he's on short time, at least) soon and perhaps this is why he's lost his mind.

Gay marriage,the Wars, Bush, Palin and circumcision have all made him nuts. I love him, but he's a very bitter, spiteful, and hirsute man.

garage mahal said...

Man I'm starting to like this kid.

Imagine all those speaking invites he'll get. He's going to be rich rich rich!

Hoosier Daddy said...

I do not think there will ever in the course of human events be this much attention paid to a vice presidenitial candidate's birth canal or who really birthed the kids.

Big Mike said...

Professor, I still have trouble comprehending why you continue to get excited about what Andrew Sullivan writes. He's clearly a very troubled man. Once upon a time he was very insightful, but sometime in 2007 I gave up on him.

Randy said...

What Knox said goes for me.

EnigmatiCore said...

"Many, many women — including Barack Obama's grandmother — have done that over the ages"

That racist old woman?

Hoosier Daddy said...

Hey a lot of rational people voted for W. Even in 2004 it made a kind of sense to retain the leader of a nation at war. You can't fault her for that

I think a lot of people voted for W because the alternative was even more ridiculous. Personally I would have welcomed a moderate blue dog Democrat as I was never thrilled with Bush from jump-street. Instead it’s seems all the Democrat party can offer up as of late are dyed in the wool socialists or harebrained envrio-wackos who think the planet is going to die faster than Medicare goes insolvent.

Hoosier Daddy said...

That racist old woman?

No, no no! Repeat after me.

Typical white person.

Next time you have to write it 50 times using a quill pen.

John Stodder said...

The Kato Kaelin comparison to Levi Johnston wins the thread. Well played, Lem.

chickelit said...

@Hoosier:

The canal of birth was even an issue for Pana-McCain.

Joe said...

Levi Johnston isn't the brightest bulb on the tree (he's the CFL bulb) so we don't know the actual context. I know parents who preferred to adopt unexpected grandchildren than have them put up for an outside adoption.

Hoosier Daddy said...

It makes Palin look bad, so it's a winner. Bonus points for making her look crazy and deceitful and white-trashy!

Well I tell ya what, if wanting to raise your teen-age daughter’s kid is deceitful and white-trashy then I think we could use more of that. Yes I would rather have more grandmas step up to the plate rather than ask for society…I mean the taxpayer…. to do so in their place. Then again that progressive concept of welfare and the state will be there for you pretty much erased any semblance of familial responsibility except for deceitful and white-trashy people like Palin.

hombre said...

garage wrote: Man I'm starting to like this kid.

Really? Given your worldview, I guess I just assumed that "family" and "loyalty" would be way up there on your list of values. ROTFL

WV "uncesp" = Rescuing Levi from the media.

traditionalguy said...

Levi Johnson is being used by the National Government Media only for making the point, over and over, that trashy, ambitious people come out of Wasilla, Alaska. He proves it everytime. Meanwhile Sullivan still wants to be a hero that leads the Kill Palin forces. She must be a mortal threat to Sullivan, for some unknown reason.

Bruce Hayden said...

I think a lot of people voted for W because the alternative was even more ridiculous. Personally I would have welcomed a moderate blue dog Democrat as I was never thrilled with Bush from jump-street. Instead it’s seems all the Democrat party can offer up as of late are dyed in the wool socialists or harebrained envrio-wackos who think the planet is going to die faster than Medicare goes insolvent.

I think that, in the end, a lot of people realized that Kerry wasn't the real thing, when it came to having what it took to fight the War on Terror. Yes, he had the medals, and his honorable discharge. But both were provided politically (thanks to the Sainted Sen. Kennedy for the later). But while he did his three or four months in Vietnam, the guys who couldn't get out of theater that easily remembered officers like him, and so voted for GWB. A surprising number of Vietnam vets, who had never voted for a Republican for president before, voted for Bush in 2004.

Any guesses to how many states Obama would have carried if he had run in 2004? Would he have done as well as Carter in 1980? Dukakkis?

Anonymous said...

Here's something you'll have to spring for the print issue to read: after Palin got done explaining her master plan to hide Bristol's pregnancy, divorce Todd, and cash in on the governorship, she left Johnston on a platform that was gradually dropping into a pool filled with sharks, but foolishly left for a fundraiser without making sure he was dead. But you'll have to wait for the next issue to find out how he escaped.

Paddy O said...

"he'll be thrown to the side"

Sadly, I suspect this side will include many, many years of d-list celebrity reality shows. Levi and Danny Bonaduce are going to be tentmates on some semi-deserted island before too many years have passed.

Freeman Hunt said...

Someone needs to tell this kid that he will regret trashing the other half of his child's family. Don't be a loser-dad.

Automatic_Wing said...

Paul Z - If only Palin had had sharks with frickin' laser beams on their heads!

Mark said...

To practice a little bleacher-seat psychology, Palin is a female who represents the strongest political and philosophical threat to a male upon whom he has a crush.

Throw in some ur-Mother qualities and Palin must push just about every crazy-making button in that conflicted man's noggin.

Anonymous said...

I tried to warn Sarah: "If you give up the governorship, you can kiss that secret underground lair goodbye." But would she listen?

Hoosier Daddy said...

Any guesses to how many states Obama would have carried if he had run in 2004? Would he have done as well as Carter in 1980? Dukakkis?


Well if we had someone other than great-grandpa John McAmnesty....

chickelit said...

Levi Johnston = evil John snot

former law student said...

Someone needs to tell this kid that he will regret trashing the other half of his child's family. Don't be a loser-dad.

Hey, Levi watched the vendetta against Trooper Wooten. The Heath girls play hardball when it comes to the lives of their ex-baby daddies. He's just making a pre-emptive strike.

Synova said...

I wish people had just left Bristol and Levi alone from the start. I *almost* don't blame Levi for being an idiot... that's sort of the definition of... what, is he 19 by now?.. And here we had the national media deciding that not only was HE newsworthy but they should dig up any dirt possible on his FAMILY?

I almost don't blame him. It could have gone differently, maybe, if they were left alone to grow up.

And no one who was so horrible and inappropriate to two young people and a tiny baby who were NOT running for national office will never once think they might be even a little bit at fault.

"So that prince of a man Levi Johnston..."

MUL: "If only his mother were Queen - I mean - governor, then his life accomplishments would make him a true equal to Princess Bristol."


So, MUL, *is* he supporting his baby?

Synova said...

For all of that, maybe this is a clever plot.

Levi makes money which goes to Bristol and his child... Sarah Palin keeps herself in the public eye and continues to feed into the growing fatigue people feel at one more obviously unfair and spiteful attack on her.

Honestly, seriously... Andrew Sullivan thinks that wanting to adopt your grandchild is something normal people don't ADMIRE?

Well... "normal" being anyone who doesn't think that the child should have been aborted and tossed in a bucket someplace because, dammit, I did my time with babies so don't expect ME to change any diapers, girlie.

That sort of "normal."

John said...

You're totally gay for Sarah Palin, aren't you Ann?

A.W. said...

Former law student

> Hey, Levi watched the vendetta against Trooper Wooten.

FLS, I already smacked you around on this point once. You want seconds?

She heard him threaten to murder her father. if that’s not a fireable offense, what is?

ethan said...

I'm not sure why genius blogger Ann Althouse defends Sarah Palin. Palin does have tits, after all.

Anonymous said...

Let's see if I get this straight:

Andy REALLY thinks that mothers OFTEN discuss intimate details of their lives and their deep plans with the idiot dude who screwed their daughters.

Frequent happening in the world.

Doesn't the fact that the dunce is undeniably full of crap mean something?

Cedarford said...

Joe said...
Levi Johnston isn't the brightest bulb on the tree (he's the CFL bulb) so we don't know the actual context.


Palin's daughter is no rocket scientist, either.

Kind of makes you wonder why they broke up. Two physically attractive young kids, hormones galore, 100 IQ points shared between the two of them. Made for each other.

Synova said...

"Kind of makes you wonder why they broke up."

Does it?

Isn't that sort of like "wondering" what happened to Jon and Kate? Heck, and they even *asked* to have their personal lives filleted for television.

Frodo Potter said...

Lem, your Kato Kaelin comment wins the thread. LOL. Honorable mention to Joe, Paddy O., and chickenlittle (“evil John snot”).

Sullivan is a misogynist and those who called him that are exactly right. I don’t know if he is angry with Palin because she represents a threat to his crush (Obama). I *do know* that he has consistently shown himself to be angry and vindictive towards women (Michelle Malkin, Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, even Professor Althouse).

Finally, I leave you with this (and bear in mind that I am not a big fan of Palin):
Sarah Pain = unqualified.
Andrew Sullivan = whackjob

Is it going to be easier for Sarah Palin to become qualified or Andrew Sullivan to stop being a nutcase? You tell me.

former law student said...

She heard him threaten to murder her father. if that’s not a fireable offense, what is?

If "I'm going to kill you" is a threat, then my mother used to threaten to murder us kids all the time. She never lost her job.

reoconnot said...

Andrew Sullivan lost his mind when Bush proposed a Constitutional amendment which would have made it impossible for Andrew to marry his boyfriend. Andrew supported Bush on Iraq and then Bush stuck a dagger deep into Andrew's tender heart. It's been nothing but sobs, hissy fits and hysterical rants ever since.

No amount of therapy can restore Andrew's sanity.

Synova said...

Oh, yes, of course, fls, a mother saying, "If you kids mess this living room before we have company this weekend I'm gonna kill you!" is pretty much *exactly* like a man threatening to kill his father-in-law if he hires a lawyer for his daughter (or whatever the heck it was)in the midst of a hostile divorce.

A police officer who blew off that sort of "death threat" when it got called in should get in trouble... but not an officer that *made* that sort of threat?

RLB_IV said...

For those of us who were raised in The South, Levi would be considered white trash. Too bad for the child.

JAL said...

I see one of our trolls has changed his name.

wv = greduc
What the crane isn't.

Shanna said...

should dig up any dirt possible on his FAMILY?

of course that was beyond the pail but so was just about every bit of ridiculous nonsense thrown about Sarah Palin so it's not surprising. I actually did feel sorry for Levi quite a bit, but his reaction has not been terribly impressive. Maybe you're right and he's just socking away cash for the baby, but man. It's so very classless.

Michael said...

Crazy is something Andrew Sullivan is too close to, to see clearly.

Methadras said...

It's obvious that Little Miss Sullivan is either wanting to pork little Levi or he wants to be Sarah's Fag Hag.

JorgXMcKie said...

"How muich did Lincoln make?"

Well, fred, Lincoln was a successful corporate lawyer when elected president, and won the first $5000 fee in US history. (He was the lawyer for, I believe, the Illinois Central Railroad [Casey Jones' railroad], and he had to sue to gain his fee. He won.)

I understand Obama did manage to grab off a big book deal just before he entered the White House, thus avoiding some problems.

LoafingOaf said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
LoafingOaf said...

When Levi was being dragged to the Republican convention despite (according to media reports) not wanting anything to do with it, Althouse posted about how lovely it all was and how she couldn't wait to see the shotgun wedding.

Now she is being sarcastic at him ("prince of a man"). It was okay to use him, but now he is a jerk for speaking his mind. I guess it bugs Palin worshippers that Levi doesn't care anymore and can speak freely. We saw all those Fox News visits with Sarah Palin, where Sarah Palin took us into her kitchen to show us how she cooks moose chili and so forth for her family every day. Levi, at the link, says: "There wasn’t much parenting in that house. Sarah doesn’t cook, Todd doesn’t cook—the kids would do it all themselves...." So, where those Sarah Palin informercials from the Palin kitchen on the Greta van Susteran show just lies?

It's really amusing to read Althouse's commenters reacting to her post about Sullivan trying to paint Palin as nutty by them - once again - painting him as nutty. Bringing up his HIV, etc etc.

Andrew Sullivan has documented dozens of weird Sarah Palin lies on his blog. The Althouse commenters wanna brush those under the rug.

It's pretty obvious that something nutty was going on with the birth of Trig. And remember that Palin concealed her daughter's pregnancy with Tripp from the McCain campaign.

I do agree that there's nothing wrong with a grandmother stepping in to raise a child in circumstances like these. I know some families where this sort of thing took place, as prbably everyone does. But she also wanted to keep it all a secret as she ran for high office. It IS nutty for her to have thought she could do that while running for the Vice Presidency.

Althouse is getting full of herself lately becase Obama's poll ratings have taken a dive. This has made her feel free to come completely out of the closet as a right winger. Some of us thought her very public vote for Obama was just a blogger trying to set things up to be able to attack Obama for the next four years while constanty saying, "But I voted for him!" The only candidate in 2008 that Althouse ever really liked was Sarah Palin. Probably because, at the time, she was falling in love with Meade, a hardcore Dick Cheney fan.

And, and btw, if right-wingers wanna make Sarah Palin a rich woman by paying her crazy amounts of money to hear her speak even though she's already demonstratedshe doesn't know jack squat about anything, more power to them. As long as she's not a heartbeat away from being Commander in Chief. Sullivan didn't want someone completely unqualified to be our commander in chief. Althouse is just busy admiring her for hauling in lots of money (which she is doing because she quit on her job in Alaska specifically in order to cash in...).

former law student said...

A police officer who blew off that sort of "death threat" when it got called in should get in trouble... but not an officer that *made* that sort of threat?

Context is everything -- was the guy blowing off steam or making a promise? From the other charges, he was sloppy, not deliberate, which argues that his remark was not part of an organized plan. You can't tell from the words alone.

LoafingOaf said...

Levi says: "There wasn’t much parenting in that house. Sarah doesn’t cook, Todd doesn’t cook—the kids would do it all themselves...."

Funny, I saw Fox News doing Sarah Palin commercials right from her kitchen, where we saw Palin on a "typical day" cooking all kinds of sausages and moose chili and whatnot for her family before setting off for a day of working for the people of Alaska.

It turned out she quit on her job as governor of Alaska, due to some combination of fearing ethics investigations and wanting to cash in on her fame amongst the right wing.

And now Levi says Sarah doesn't really cook much at all.

So much for those Fox NEws commercials for Sarah Palin, live from her kitchen, as she was showing us how she works so hard in the kitchen before going off to work so hard for the people of Alaska. All B.S. I figured as much at the time I saw 'em.

mbabbitt said...

What happened to sanity? That's all I want to know.

Michael said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Michael said...

"It IS nutty for her to have thought she could do that while running for the Vice Presidency. "

But not, of course, that you could raise your kids as President while your wife had cancer. Good thing there's nothing complicated about HIS private life that would have gotten in the way.

Patm said...

Poor Andrew. His brains exploded when Daddy Dubya, who he loved, came out against gay marriage, and he has never, never been right since. What a waste.

Anonymous said...

@fred: How muich did Lincoln make?

Good question, but on this topic it might be more instructive to compare her to Winston Churchill, who embarked on lucrative lecture tours in the United States to support his family for the decade or two he spent in the political wilderness.

Anonymous said...

So, Oaf, you're taking Levi's word as gospel?

Excellent.

You can never criticize anybody for citing ANYBODY because there isn't a person out there with less credibility than Levi.

Glenn Beck? Far more believable. Free Republic? Easily more credible. Anybody posting there is markedly more credible.

You make it so much easier.

Synova said...

Loafing Oaf...

It was in the NEWS that she employed a COOK while governor.

Old news is now scandal.

It was one of the very few "perks" the previous governor had that she kept.

I betcha she had cleaning people come in, too.

Anonymous said...

How come a family sex scandal cheapens and disqualifies from leadership Sarah Palin but any given Kennedy, Clinton, Barney Fwank or Dodd only grows in stature for the same thing?

What's amazing is that the above august list of Dems actually committed the sexual immorality as opposed to their children (although that happened too) and still are iconified.

Anonymous said...

Remember, UNLESS it's a conservative, the sex life of a politician is nobody's business and a distraction only.

A.W. said...

Former law student

> If "I'm going to kill you" is a threat, then my mother used to threaten to murder us kids all the time. She never lost her job.

Except that isn’t what he said. He said to palin’s sister that if their father hired a lawyer for her, he would put a bullet in his brain.

And I might add, that I doubt your mother was a cop.

And you knew this, or should have known this, already. But you are a dishonest hack who is fooling exactly no one.

Laura(southernxyl) said...

There wasn’t much parenting in that house. Sarah doesn’t cook, Todd doesn’t cook...

So parenting = cooking? Dang, I took my job as a mother waaayyy too seriously.

Ann Althouse said...

"Althouse posted about how lovely it all was and how she couldn't wait to see the shotgun wedding."

Link please. I don't remember that.

A.W. said...

"the shotgun wedding"

indeed, that term in itself seems kind of defamatory to the Palins. the actual fact was that they were engaged when Bristol got pregnant. but libs, don't let the facts get in the way of your bitter hate.

Gabriel Hanna said...

she quit on her job as governor of Alaska, due to some combination of fearing ethics investigations and wanting to cash in on her fame amongst the right wing.

You mean, the baseless ones that get instantly dismissed, yet still cost the Palins tens of thousands in legal fees?

And of course you think it would be fair to do the same to Jennifer Granholm or any Democratic governor.

Anonymous said...

Heck, Lefties cry when Obama is subjected to far less criticism than Palin.

former law student said...

She heard him threaten to murder her father. if that’s not a fireable offense, what is?
...
Except that isn’t what he said. He said to palin’s sister that if their father hired a lawyer for her, he would put a bullet in his brain.

But the Palin sisters did not consider Wooten's remark a threat, because they did not notify their doting daddy for several weeks. (They could have at least suggested he wear some kind of helmet.) So they kinda destroyed the whole "threat" credibility there. Further, "threats" such as Wooten's are legal in the State of Alaska. From the State Troopers's report:

Molly McCann, Sarah Palin and Track Palin allege that on February 17, 2005, Investigator Wooten made a comment to Molly McCann that he would shoot her father if he hired a Iawyer for her. McCann advised that Investigator Wooten made this comment to her, and that Sarah and Track Palin who were listening over an open telephone line overheard it. Investigator Wooten was questioned about the comment and denied ever making the statement. Although McCann, Sarah Palin and Track Palin all recalled hearing the statement, a statement or implied threat to a non-present third party is not a crime. Although McCann and Sarah Palin felt that their father's life was in danger by the statement, neither mentioned the threat to their father for several weeks. Nevertheless, a statement of this sort by a trooper reflects badly on AST.
OPM 101.070 (A)
OPM 101,070 (S)
'OPM 101.Q70 (C)
.Unbecoming Conduct
Personal Conduct
Conformance to Laws
Sustained
Sustained
Not Sustained

By the way, did they cover the concept of "Projection" in your Psyc 101 class? I ask because of this remark you made:

And you knew this, or should have known this, already. But you are a dishonest hack who is fooling exactly no one.


Speaking of "knew or should have known": The Alaska State Troopers' report has been available on line for months. I pulled a copy off the weeklystandard.com website.

Ann Althouse said...

@Loafing Oaf I'm still waiting for the link.

A.W. said...

FLS

> But the Palin sisters did not consider Wooten's remark a threat, because they did not notify their doting daddy for several weeks.

But they did report it to authorities at the time. And yeah, maybe it is not a crime (dubious--in many states that would be considered a terroristic threat, but i don't know alaskan law), but seriously, not a firable offense.

Try this. Try going to your boss and threaten to murder his or her father. Try to act like you mean it. See if you keep your job.

Synova said...

You know... "dotting daddy" is a sneering sort of snideness that I don't think Mr. Palin has ever done the least thing to deserve.

former law student said...

But they did report it to authorities at the time.

The Heath girls did not report the alleged threat to any authorities till they submitted their laundry list of Wooten misdeeds -- e.g. drinking a beer on a two block ride from house to house -- to the Alaska State Troopers.

Synova, I meant the Heath sisters' father, and typed Palin by mistake.