The Great Non-Story: Sarah Palin's Emails, And A Random Thought Or Two

OS will be away from desk, home and normal life for the remainder of the week, attending a most wonderful conference. He thanks his readers, the number of whom has risen dramatically since the Weiner debacle. (Sorry, did it again...)

Sometimes, though, the things deserving attention are the things that don't generate fireworks.

Toby Harden at The Telegraph points out one such thing--the strange release of all of Sarah Palin's emails from her governorship of Alaska.

The trove of more than 13,000 emails detailing almost every aspect of Sarah Palin’s governorship of Alaska, released late on Friday, paints a picture of her as an idealistic, conscientious, humorous and humane woman slightly bemused by the world of politics.

One can only assume that the Left-leaning editors who dispatched teams of reporters to remote Juneau, the Alaskan capital, to pore over the emails in the hope of digging up a scandal are now viewing the result as a rather poor return on their considerable investment.

In other words, there is a possibility that the woman we see on the cameras really is just Sarah Palin, who has an unnerving way of speaking in a stream-of-consciousness form of English that draws ridicule from the literati. And, yes, she really should take a deep breath and allow the words to line up in coherent sentences before she engages her vocal cords.

One email that did surface was reprinted in its entirety by the LA Times, certainly no right-wing champion.

Among some 13,000 messages was an unexpected, revealing and touching email from Palin to friends and family.

It was initially written, obviously not for publication, in April of 2008 just a few days before....
...the arrival of her fifth child, Trig, who was born with Down syndrome. In her email Palin imagines a letter from God to the family about to launch on its challenging child-rearing experience together.

Here is Palin's entire letter:

To the Sisters, Brother, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and Friends of Trig Paxson Van Palin (or whatever you end up naming him!):

I am blessing you with this surprise baby because I only want the best for you. I've heard your prayers that this baby will be happy and healthy, and I've answered them because I only want the best for you!

I heard your heart when you hinted that another boy would fit best in the Palin family, to round it out and complete that starting five line-up.

Though another girl would be so nice, you didn't think you could ask for what you REALLY wanted, but I knew, so I gave you a boy because I only want the best for you!

The remainder is here, go ahead and click on it...OS doesn't wish to ruin the surprise, the good moment that awaits his readers who take the time to read this letter.

OS thinks there are two questions (at least) at play with Sarah Palin:

1. Should she be President of The United States?
2. Does she deserve the vilification she has endured for being herself in public?

On Question 1, OS is not certain he can say 'yes', but only time will tell in that regard. For now, his view is 'probably not, but she has some valuable role to play somewhere going forward'.

On Question 2, OS sez definitively 'no'. Her treatment has been pretty shameful. Granted, the chaos generated by the daughter's out-of-wedlock pregnancy and accompanying soap opera certainly did not help matters, but had this been the daughter of Pelosi or Reid, the tone from the press would have been much more deferential.

OS keeps returning to that idea of 'culture', that common cement of modesty, shared values and civility that holds things together. Every Weiner, Schwarzenegger, Bill Clinton, Teddy Kennedy, Angelo Mozillo, Goldman-Sachs, Henry Paulson, Housewives of New Jersey episode and LeBron James erode that cement.

What, then to make of a Sarah Palin and her letter to her family in contrast to Anthony Weiner and his anatomical tweets to women with whom engages in phone sex while his wife is newly pregnant? What are we to make of those who still prefer a Weiner to a Palin, such as the editors of the New York Times?

None of this will be solved here, obviously. In the meantime, OS hopes his readers will take time this week to display extra kindness to those closest to them--family, colleagues, friends, church and synagogue. No better place to begin re-gluing the culture than where we are.

Have a great week.

If TheWeiner's Lips Are Moving, He's Lying

This exchange from a few days ago is just breathtaking--the dodge, the weave, then lecture of the reporter for asking a question, another dodge, another weave, proclaiming himself the innocent victim of a hoax, lecture the reporter on his ethics for even asking a question. On and on it went, one lie layered upon another, charmingly urbane, reasonable-sounding, lie upon lie. This is a sociopath absolutely on his game.

Rep. Anthony Weiner Weeps In Public For Being Exposed As Perv And Serial Liar

This is the contrite Anthony Weiner, weeping for the cameras because he got caught being a creep, and lying repeatedly about it.

He's sooooooo sorry about it all, but of course, there's no thought of resignation. That's what Republicans do when they get caught doing creepy behavior. The rules are different for the Left; for the Barney Franks, Bill Clintons, John Edwards(what if he had been elected President or Vice-President? Does anyone ever ponder that quandry? At least, Spiro Agnew resigned over his previous sins.)

Then there's AlGore... And let us not forget Teddy Kennedy, or John Kennedy, for that matter. The rules are different for the Left.

So, out of curiosity, OS decided to stroll down memory lane, to view TheWeiner in action, TheWeiner unplugged. TheRealWeiner, with his Weinerness on display for all to enjoy. Lil' Anthony, treating us to The Full Weiner.

Here's TheWeiner going postal in frustration because the GOP controls the House, and won't let themselves be rolled on a spending bill:



Ahh, the joys of adult conversation on the floor of the House!

And another, in which TheWeiner burns up two minutes of floor time to ridicule the majority for having the obvious wisdom of attemtping to put National Palestinian Radio out of our misery.



Ever wonder how much money we burn per minute when the House is in session?
What a guy!

And here's the best bit of all: Anthony Weiner, Champion Of Women's Interests. Stay with this one through about 1:25 if you can, where he asserts that 'Some rape is more desirable in the eyes of the sponsor than others'...It gets, well, randier and more insulting after that.



WeinerGate should really come as no surprise--the posting of a picture of his Weinerness in a state of arousal to a woman with whom he is flirting is really par for the course for any person with this level of arrogance and total absence of basic judgement. The common thread isn't the perv sex, or even the Leftist politics (Republicans get randy, too...Terry Sanford playing hooky in Argentina with his mistress does come to mind.)

It's the sheer arrogance, the utter lack of judicious consideration of possible consequences of behaviour, the folly, the stupidity. It's what one would expect of Billy-Bob living in his trailor in the back parts of Bedford County, cooking meth and impregnating his second cousins. Billy-Bob creates a lot of chaos, but it's usually localized. These people pass laws, impose taxes, start wars, put the country into impossible levels of debt, and eviscerate anyone who dare raise a hand in objection.

TheWeiner won't resign. Weiners like him never do. MizNancy had her legal eagles write out his faux-apology, and ordered him to make the contrition look convincing. He certainly did not step to that podium willingly. He had to do it now, lest the question continue to arise in 2012, stiffening the resolve of his opposition, arousing curiosity, emboldening the press to repeatedly raise probing questions. Sorry, just couldn't resist....

He should resign, though. Were he a Mensch, and not TheWeiner, he would resign, and stand for election for his seat again, either in the by-election, or in the 2012 general election. (Who knows, he might find himself contesting for the seat with a woman in opposition. Now, wouldn't that be interesting! He doesn't care to find out.)

But, he won't. He'll get away with it, in the end, because he can.

Because the rules are different for the Left. And Weiners.