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Thursday, January 28, 2010

Sarah Palin Drops The Hammer: "President Obama You Have A Credibility Gap"




We kind of figured Sarah would have something more to say about President Obama’s State of the Union speech. As you will read, she doesn’t disappoint.

Sarah was pulling no punches last night when she appeared on the Sean Hannity Show:







She was spot on. It was like Obama was lecturing America. This was the most disjointed, rambling, and frankly..hateful State of the Union speech we have ever witnessed. It was all about Obama attacking those he thought weren’t on board with his lunacy.

But why waste time. Let Sarah give us her take. This is simply delicious:

The Credibility Gap

Today at 4:17pm

While I don’t wish to speak too harshly about President Obama’s state of the union address, we live in challenging times that call for candor. I call them as I see them, and I hope my frank assessment will be taken as an honest effort to move this conversation forward.

Last night, the president spoke of the "credibility gap" between the public’s expectations of their leaders and what those leaders actually deliver. "Credibility gap" is a good way to describe the chasm between rhetoric and reality in the president’s address. The contradictions seemed endless.

He called for Democrats and Republicans to "work through our differences," but last year he dismissed any notion of bipartisanship when he smugly told Republicans, "I won."




He talked like a Washington "outsider," but he runs Washington! He’s had everything any president could ask for – an overwhelming majority in Congress and a fawning press corps that feels tingles every time he speaks. There was nothing preventing him from pursuing "common sense" solutions all along. He didn’t pursue them because they weren’t his priorities, and he spent his speech blaming Republicans for the problems caused by his own policies.

He dared us to "let him know" if we have a better health care plan, but he refused to allow Republicans in on the negotiations or consider any ideas for real free market and patient-centered reforms. We’ve been "letting him know" our ideas for months from the town halls to the tea parties, but he isn’t interested in listening. Instead he keeps making the nonsensical claim that his massive trillion-dollar health care bill won’t increase the deficit.

Americans are suffering from job losses and lower wages, yet the president practically demanded applause when he mentioned tax cuts, as if allowing people to keep more of their own hard-earned money is an act of noblesse oblige. He claims that he cut taxes, but I must have missed that. I see his policies as paving the way for massive tax increases and inflation, which is the "hidden tax" that most hurts the poor and the elderly living on fixed incomes.

He condemned lobbyists, but his White House is filled with former lobbyists, and this has been a banner year for K Street with his stimulus bill, aka the Lobbyist’s Full Employment Act. He talked about a "deficit of trust" and the need to "do our work in the open," but he chased away the C-SPAN cameras and cut deals with insurance industry lobbyists behind closed doors.

He spoke of doing what’s best for the next generation and not leaving our children with a "mountain of debt," but under his watch this year, government spending is up by 22%, and his budget will triple our national debt.




He spoke of a spending freeze, but doesn’t he realize that each new program he’s proposing comes with a new price tag? A spending freeze is a nice idea, but it doesn’t address the root cause of the problem. We need a comprehensive examination of the role of government spending. The president’s deficit commission is little more than a bipartisan tax hike committee, lending political cover to raise taxes without seriously addressing the problem of spending.

He condemned bailouts, but he voted for them and then expanded and extended them. He praised the House’s financial reform bill, but where was Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae in that bill? He still hasn’t told us when we’ll be getting out of the auto and the mortgage industries. He praised small businesses, but he’s spent the past year as a friend to big corporations and their lobbyists, who always find a way to make government regulations work in their favor at the expense of their mom & pop competitors.

He praised the effectiveness of his stimulus bill, but then he called for another one – this time cleverly renamed a "jobs bill." The first stimulus was sold to us as a jobs bill that would keep unemployment under 8%. We now have double digit unemployment with no end in sight. Why should we trust this new "jobs bill"?

He talked about "making tough decisions about opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development," but apparently it’s still too tough for his Interior Secretary to move ahead with Virginia’s offshore oil and gas leases. If they’re dragging their feet on leases, how long will it take them to build "safe, clean nuclear power plants"? Meanwhile, he continued to emphasize "green jobs," which require massive government subsidies for inefficient technologies that can’t survive on their own in the real world of the free market.

He spoke of supporting young girls in Afghanistan who want to go to school and young women in Iran who courageously protest in the streets, but where were his words of encouragement to the young girls of Afghanistan in his West Point speech? And where was his support for the young women of Iran when they were being gunned down in the streets of Tehran?

Despite speaking for over an hour, the president only spent 10% of his speech on foreign policy, and he left us with many unanswered questions. Does he still think trying the 9/11 terrorists in New York is a good idea? Does he still think closing Gitmo is a good idea? Does he still believe in Mirandizing terrorists after the Christmas bomber fiasco? Does he believe we’re in a war against terrorists, or does he think this is just a global crime spree? Does he understand that the first priority of our government is to keep our country safe?

In his address last night, the president once again revealed that there’s a fundamental disconnect between what the American people expect from their government, and what he wants to deliver. He’s still proposing failed top-down big government solutions to our problems. Instead of smaller, smarter government, he’s taken a government that was already too big and supersized it.

Real private sector jobs are created when taxes are low, investment is high, and people are free to go about their business without the heavy hand of government. The president thinks innovation comes from government subsidies. Common sense conservatives know innovation comes from unleashing the creative energy of American entrepreneurs.

Everything seems to be "unexpected" to this administration: unexpected job losses; unexpected housing numbers; unexpected political losses in Massachusetts, Virginia, and New Jersey. True leaders lead best when confronted with the unexpected. But instead of leading us, the president lectured us. He lectured Wall Street; he lectured Main Street; he lectured Congress; he even lectured our Supreme Court Justices.

He criticized politicians who "wage a perpetual campaign," but he gave a campaign speech instead of a state of the union address. The campaign is over, and President Obama now has something that candidate Obama never had: an actual track record in office. We now can see the failed policies behind the flowery words. If Americans feel as cynical as the president suggests, perhaps it’s because the audacity of his recycled rhetoric no longer inspires hope.

Real leadership requires results. Real hope lies in the ingenuity, generosity, and boundless courage of the American people whose voices are still not being heard in Washington.

- Sarah Palin


Say it with me children! BOOM!




That’s a hard act to follow right there. Nothing more one can add except spot on Sarah, spot on.

No wonder the latest poll places Sarah Palin at the top of the 2012 presidential sweepstakes.



Video courtesy of Palin TV.



O'Keefe is Front and Center; What About Kernell?

By Adrienne Ross - www.motivationtruth.com

Conservative filmmaker James O'Keefe, you will recall, is the young man who recently exposed corruption in ACORN. Though his methods were not mainstream, they brought to light the type of "community organizing" ACORN has been engaged in and what American dollars have been supporting.

Fox reported at the time:

Officials with the controversial community organizing group ACORN were secretly videotaped offering to assist two individuals posing as a pimp and a prostitute, encouraging them to lie to the Internal Revenue Service and providing guidance on how to claim underage girls from South America as dependents.

Read the full article here.

Mr. O'Keefe is back in the news, this time for something he has allegedly been caught doing.

According to Fox:

The independent filmmaker who brought ACORN to its knees last year with undercover exposes was arrested this week along with three others, including the son of a federal prosecutor, and accused of trying to interfere with the phones at Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu's office.

[...]

O'Keefe's arrest "is further evidence of his disregard for the law in pursuit of his extremist agenda," ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis said in a statement. The organization's Twitter feed commented on the news: "Couldn't have happened to a more deserving soul."

Read more here.

I certainly condemn any such actions and, if he is guilty, he will have to take responsibility and face consequences, regardless of whether he thought there was something to be uncovered. Though some espouse the notion that the end justifies the means, I assert that one who engages in corruption to expose corruption loses all credibility. One who speaks out boldly against unethical behavior ought to walk the walk.

This brings me to the irony of ACORN's Twitter feed. How could they possibly have anything to say about someone deserving punishment? How dare Bertha accuse anyone of being an "extremist"? Maybe it's just me, but registering dead people and Mickey Mouse to vote just might be the epitome of extreme, and if she doesn't know that, well, there goes that credibility I mentioned.

In the spirit of "never allow a crisis to go to waste," it should come as no surprise that Democrats want to use the charges against O'Keefe to gain a political advantage.

The Fox article went on to state:
Louisiana Democrats are seizing on the incident as political ammunition to attack Republican Sen. David Vitter, who is up for re-election later this year.

James O'Keefe's drama is front and center, it's being used to promote the Democrats' partisan agenda, and they're ready to hang him from the rafters.

Contrast him with a man named David Kernell. You may not even know who he is, although you should. Kernell is the son of Tennessee Democratic legislator Mike Kernell, the same son who hacked into the email and stole personal information from a sitting governor and vice presidential nominee.

The LA Times reported that the Department of Justice said:

The single count indictment, returned on Oct. 7, 2008, and unsealed today, alleges that on approximately Sept. 16, 2008, Kernell, a resident of Knoxville, obtained unauthorized access to Gov. Palin’s personal e-mail account by allegedly resetting the account password. According to the indictment, after answering a series of security questions that allowed him to reset the password and gain access to the e-mail account, Kernell allegedly read the contents of the account and made screenshots of the e-mail directory, e-mail content and other personal information. According to the indictment, Kernell posted screenshots of the e-mails and other personal information to a public Web site. Kernell also allegedly posted the new e-mail account password that he had created, thus providing access to the account by others.

Kernell was released without being required to pay bail, and almost a year and a half after committing this felony, he still hasn't been brought to justice. Notice that O'Keefe has been accused of attempting to commit a felony, while evidence supports that Kernell actually carried out that crime. Kernell, however, has been handled with kid gloves, while O'Keefe has been manhandled and dragged into the spotlight. Something is rotten here, and it stinks. So what is behind the major difference between these two? The obvious difference is that the crime against Governor Palin was a greater violation--not just a thought in a man's mind, but one that he saw through. How is it then that he's slipped so far under the radar?

There's nothing new under the sun. As Governor Palin is wont to say: it's "politics as usual." Once again the double-standard that exists between the treatment of those on the left and those on the right is glaring. No one is condoning illegal activity from either side of the aisle; all we're asking for is one set of rules. It's like Trent Lott being raked over the coals for making racially insensitive comments, while Democrats looked the other way when Harry Reid referred to a "Negro dialect" and the benefits of a "light-skinned" president, words that--had he been a Republican--would have led to his swift exit from stage right. Instead, he was given a pass, his record of being "on the right side of history" commended, and granted incredible grace and mercy by Al Sharpton, of all people. I'm all about grace and mercy, as long as they're not selective. The left's selective outrage is not any more attractive.

The difference between O'Keefe and Kernell is political affiliation, period--and that double-standard is getting old. If, in fact, James O'Keefe is guilty of attempting to commit a felony, he has to take what comes. But please, finally, apply the same sense of justice to David Kernell, who's been charged with not just making an attempt, but actually carrying out a felony against Governor Palin. Consistency please, and justice--for all.

Zogby: Sarah Palin Front Runner For 2012 GOP Nomination




In a brand new Newsmax Media-Zogby poll, Sarah Palin tops a huge list of possible contenders for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

From Newsmax:

By: David A. Patten

Sarah Palin's recent book success and her new high-profile role on Fox News are having a stunning impact on her political standing with a Newsmax-Zogby poll showing the former Alaska governor now leading the GOP field as the party's preferred candidate for president.

The exclusive Newsmax Media-Zogby poll released Thursday asked likely GOP voters: "If the Republican primary for president of the United States were held today... for whom would you vote?"

The poll gave voters a selection of top tier potential candidates as well as some dark horses, the list included Scott Brown, Jeb Bush, Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, David Petraeus, Tim Pawlenty, and Mitt Romney.

Despite the size and diversity of the field, Palin grabbed a solid 22.2 percent to take the lead with former Massachusetts Gov. Romney close behind with 19.4 percent.

Also making a strong showing was former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich with 12 percent, followed by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee at 11 percent.

The Newsmax-Zogby poll suggests the rumble for top dog among GOP candidates is anything but static.

In early December, a CNN/Opinion Research poll found Mike Huckabee led the Republican field of presidential candidates with Palin trailing him for second place.

The latest data is clearly good news for Palin.

"It suggests to me that reports of her political death are exaggerated," political strategist and Democratic pollster Douglas Schoen tells Newsmax. "In American political life, politicians have not only second and third lives, they have nine lives. And Sarah Palin is on her third or fourth life."

The poll's results offer a stark contrast to earlier surveys on Palin.

In November, a Washington Post-ABC News poll reported that 52 percent of voters viewed Palin unfavorably, although her positive rating among Republicans in that poll was 76 percent.

Since then, Palin has continued making appearances associated with her blockbuster bestseller "Going Rogue: An American Life."

And earlier this month she inked a deal as an on-air contributor to Fox News, followed by several high-profile appearances on the network.

The poll indicates that, among Republicans at least, Palin has overcome the various and sundry attacks leveled against her in the media and remains a powerful political force.

She recently kicked off a series of campaign appearances on behalf of Republican candidates who hope to ride the current wave of anti-incumbent animus into Washington.

GOP political leaders are taking notice.

California Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the chief deputy whip for the GOP, tells Newsmax he's not surprised by Palin's strength in the Newsmax-Zogby poll, "but I imagine there are a few networks, that it might surprise them."

McCarthy says Palin has become the voice of an electorate increasingly frustrated with federal governance.

"She has the common sense to go out, to listen, to talk, to tell exactly how she feels from the heart," McCarthy tells Newsmax. "They can try to go out there and say whatever they want about her but she's really the voice of the people. She raises a family, she understands those challenges. … I think that's what America is looking for."

"America is not looking for a party," McCarthy says. "They're looking for a leader and those who will help change Washington."

The Newsmax-Zogby poll asked voters to select from among a diverse field of candidates, including newly elected Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown (5.2 percent), Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (4.9 percent), and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (3.9 percent).

The poll also probed voters' interest in a dark horse in the race, Gen. David Petraeus, the commander who received high marks for his performance in executing the Bush administration's successful "surge" strategy in Iraq.

Petraeus placed fifth among the candidates with 5.6 percent of the vote, indicating he's clearly on the radar of GOP voters. The poll's margin of error was 2.2 percent.

Of course, polls taken months or years before an election often don't reflect what actually happens on Election Day. A Gallup poll taken in November 2007, for example, showed then-Sen. Hillary Clinton with a seemingly insurmountable 27-point lead over a young senator from Illinois named Barack Obama.

Schoen points out that 15.6 percent of those surveyed in the Newsmax-Zogby poll were undecided. Considering that frontrunner Palin received just over 22 percent, "it's anybody's race" according to Schoen.

"I think the greatest degree of certainty we have now," Schoen says, "is that uncertainty reigns." The tea party movement did not exist a year ago: It's now one of the most powerful forces in American politics. Scott Brown was a little known legislator. Barack Obama was a very, very popular president.

"So the world has changed, and it will undeniably change to a much greater extent."

Schoen points out that the grassroots-conservative movement has yet to coalesce behind a favorite candidate, adding, "The activist conservative right is probably the most visible, active, aggressive force in American political life today."

The poll isn't all good news for Palin, cautions Fox News contributor and bestselling author Dick Morris.

She is the clearly highest profile candidate listed, he says, yet she garnered less than three-quarters of the vote.

"Sarah Palin has a strong group of dedicated supporters who really, really like her – with good reason, I might add. I think they believe, and I think they're right, that she was an enormous asset to the McCain ticket," Morris tells Newsmax. "And I think that group is going to be there buying her books, tuning into her programs, coming to her book signings, coming to her rallies, voting for her in the polls. But the fact that it's less than a quarter of the Republican electorate, to me indicates some trouble ahead for her."

Morris tells Newsmax the 2012 Republican nominee is likely to beat President Obama.

A couple of key points. Zogby uses the best sample, "likely voters." This is generally the most accurate sample. One has to watch for this in polling. Often lesser pollsters will use "registered voters" which is a slightly less accurate sample, or simply poll "adults" which is can be wildly inaccurate. With that said, we feel this poll is a true reflection of the voters at this point.

Also, while I respect Dick Morris, and agree that Sarah will still have to earn the nomination, one must look at this poll in context. Newsmax offered up a large group of potential candidates for those questioned to choose. That diluted the percentages to each candidate.

Something else that is not mentioned here, but should be, is this: The front runners, Sarah , Mitt Romney, and Mike Huckabee remain about the same, in relationship to each other, as well as to the rest of the potential challengers. None of the other potential candidates are ever able to pull out of the single digits in any poll.

2012 is a long way away, and absolutely anything can happen, but as it stands today, Sarah Palin is the front runner. Sarah is the front runner for exactly the reasons Kevin McCarthy mentions above. Sarah connects with the voters because she is one of them. When she speaks folks know she has had the same experiences they have had.

Sarah is truly a woman of the people, and that is exactly the type of leader America is looking for.




Must-See Photos of Sarah and Me!!! A Post by Conservative Girl with a Voice

As many of my readers know, I had the honor of meeting Todd and Sarah Palin in Reno, Nevada, as it was one of Sarah's many Going Rogue Book Tour stops. (Click here, here, and here to read my three-part whirlwind account of meeting Sarah). The photos have been released for viewing, so I am posting the photos of Sarah, Todd and myself below. I am planning on purchasing each of the photos and making a photo montage as a way to remember the event. For all of those who were lucky enough to attend a book signing and meet Sarah, click here to visit awesome Photographer Shealah Craighead's site to see your photos. Shealah did a great job taking thousands of photographs of Sarah and her happy supporters throughout the entire tour.





















(Click here to visit Conservative Girl with a Voice and become a follower. Click here to follow me on Twitter.)

Governor Palin's Analysis on Obama's SOTU

Governor Palin's Pre-State of the Union Address




Governor Palin reacts to SOTU on Hannity




Governor Palin's Post-State of the Union Address analysis (Greta)

Sarah Palin Reacts to Obama's SOTU On Hannity

Speaking via satellite from her home in Wasilla, FOX News analyst Governor Palin talked to Sean Hannity last night about Obama's State of the Union Address:


I Was Wrong About SOTU. It Was Worse Than I Thought.

Before I explain how Sarah Palin made me feel like an idiot last night, let's address the one part of yesterday's post where I still think I'm right. I wrote:

Politically, it will be impossible to serve his master, the liberal left, and those who elected him, the American people, at the same time. He must pull the trigger on one of them.
Last night, President Obama not only pulled the trigger on the American people by doubling down on Cap & Trade and Obamacare, he also fired off a round at the Supreme Court, causing Justice Alito to say "not true." Joe Wilson was not needed last night since it was now the judicial branch's turn to call the president a liar. He also fired at Senate Republicans. Whining about the super majority needed to get his agenda through, Obama called the GOP the party of no and complained that blocking his agenda was "not leadership." It was highly ironic that the president and Democratic leaders of Congress, who have been slapping away every Republican proposal, would have the gaul to say "if you have any better ideas, let me hear them."

You can't tell your ideas to a deaf man.

So, in the choice between serving his master, the liberal left or the people, Obama chose his master and left the people disenchanted and disconnected again. It's my way or the highway. It left me wondering if Rahm Emanuel had written the speech.

But, as I finish wiping the egg off my face for the rest of my post, I can't help but to still be stunned that the president would even have the balls to press health care and cap and trade (even as members of Congress laughed at him about the global warming comment). This guy really doesn't get it. He didn't hear the people in Virginia. He didn't hear the people in New Jersey. He didn't hear the people in Massachusetts. The only people he heard were those inside the beltway in his inner circle. These are the same people that continue to tell the president to stay the course even if it means slamming into the iceberg ahead.

I was ready with chips and dip and a cold one. Amateur pundit, political science junkie and conservative Republican, I was totally the man yesterday. I told everyone that Obama was going to BS us and try to make us think he was moving to the center even though he really wasn't going to do it.

Then Sarah Palin came on Fox News and basically said that he wasn't going to change course and that he was going to continue to push his agenda. She was right. I sat there staring at the screen, my ego bruised by my hero. She called it.

Today, we sit here and nothing has changed. The speech has done nothing for those on the right who continue to criticize Obama's agenda as out of touch and disconnected from the American people.

The highlight of last night was Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell's rebuttal. On that, Sarah Palin and I agree.

I think there was quite a bit of lecturing, not leading in that, as opposed to Governor McDonnell's follow-up comments, quite inspiring his connection with the people. He absolutely gets it, he understands government's appropriate role.

I was expecting hope and change last night, even if it was just lip service. Instead, I got a "lecture."

-cross posted from my Townhall Blog The Shining City on a Hill.