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2016 Postmortem
Showing Original Post only (View all)Why Sarah Palin actually matters again [View all]
With a new Fox contract and sharp words on immigration, the former Alaska gov. is the smiley face of white backlashBY JOAN WALSH
Sarah Palin is back! Not only did she get another Fox News contract, she was the star of Ralph Reeds Faith and Freedom Conference this past weekend for her slashing attacks not only on President Obama and Democrats but on Republican sellouts (and 2016 hopefuls) like Jeb Bush. Watching Palin gleefully take on Bush, who made a dumb comment about needing immigration reform because immigrants are more fertile than native-born Americans, I realized that Palins star really is rising again, at a time of heightened racial insecurity on the white far-right. They need a hero, and here she is again.
I stopped paying much attention to Palin around the time she self-destructed by trying to make herself the victim after the attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the shooting of 18 other people in Tucson, Ariz., in January 2011. After that, not only my attention but others seemed to drift away. She declared that she wouldnt run for president, surprising no one, her spots on Fox News became less frequent (to her loud complaints) and, ultimately, the right-wing network didnt renew her contract (though it was stated as her choice; she was going on to better things). I thought maybe Palin didnt matter anymore.
But she continued to be the big crowd-pleaser at conservative gatherings from CPAC to the NRA convention, where she mocked Mayor Michael Bloombergs anti-gun politics by slugging a Big Gulp, taking on the whole elite, effete nanny state her admirers imagine threatens them. Still, it was her attack on Bush this weekend that made me realize the extent to which she could become the face of the white nativist backlash, which is a dangerous development for the GOP, and the country, but a cushy, natural perch for Palin.
Bush, you probably heard, made a dumb play for conservatives to support immigration reform by claiming older white America needs their babies. Immigrants are more fertile, and they love families, and they have more intact families, and they bring a younger population, the former Florida governor told Reeds convening on Friday. Alex Seitz-Wald noted immediately what a mistake that was: Bush was stating some of the very reasons that the far right opposes immigration reform. And he did it the same day we got the news that deaths among native-born whites were outpacing their births. Way to rub it in, Jeb!
Well, Palin rubbed Bushs nose in his mistake, trashing him ideologically while using her trademark sex appeal. You kind of have to see it her hair has never been bigger, and she mocked Bush with such visible self-confidence and self-satisfaction:
full article
http://www.salon.com/2013/06/17/the_return_of_sarah_palin/
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That remark at the 2008 RNC really stuck under my crawl, esp. as a Social Worker myself
Proud Liberal Dem
Jun 2013
#8
The writer in the link got it 100% backwards. Sarah is 100% great for Jeb/Paul.
graham4anything
Jun 2013
#2
I bought 20 copies of her book for 25 cents each. I use them for toilet paper in my outhouse
egold2604
Jun 2013
#11