The Atlantic Pushes the "Irrelevant" Meme in Wake of "No Invite" Newsweek Story

The left has spent years trying to convince Americans that Governor Palin is "irrelevant." The fact that they are still claiming the same garbage in the year 2012, proves how ridiculous the claim is and has always been.

Today, The Atlantic used the revelation that Governor Palin has not been invited to the Republican National Convention to rehash this old, laughable attack-line. The article they published to "prove" their case is titled, "Sarah Palin's Incredible Shrinking Act Is Almost Complete." Oh, how they wish it were so...

The piece began:

Last December, after Sarah Palin announced in October she wouldn't run for president, we started to notice she was shrinking. Now, four months ahead of the election, she seems smaller than ever. The latest sign of her diminished political significance is that Palin hasn't even been invited to the Republican National Convention by Mitt Romney, Newsweek's Peter Boyer reports. But it doesn't appear that it's because she's too busy with other things.

The writer of this piece, Elspeth Reeve, seems to have missed some key parts of Peter Boyer's piece. Such as the history of Palin-bashing from the Mitt Romney camp, the tenuous relationship between Romney and grassroots base voters, and this key paragraph towards the end of the Newsweek article that stated:

Palin’s admirers—and they are many, judging by Facebook and Twitter metrics, where her numbers are far greater than Romney’s—still hope for a rapprochement. “Palin is the female Ronald Reagan of our time,” says Kremer of the Tea Party Express. “There’s no one that excites the base, and energizes the base, the way that Sarah Palin does. There’s just not.”

None of that information fits the absurd narrative that The Atlantic is trying to sell to their readers by cherry-picking the pieces of Boyer's article that they wanted to spin. Reeve continues:

The chief of staff for her SarahPAC quit, ABC News' Shushannah Walshe reports, because he didn't have enough to do. Palin hasn't totally endorsed Romney and she hasn't done any campaign events for him, and the worst part is, hardly anyone's noticed.

This person obviously hasn't discovered the joy of breaking ideas into separate paragraphs, but I digress...

First of all, Governor Palin hired Michael Glassner while she was still considering running for office. After she made her decision, I'm sure she down-sized her payroll a bit. Why wouldn't she? And what does the size of her staff have to with the relevancy of her message? The answer is that it doesn't because people are still very much drawn to Governor Palin, and what she stands for.

Just ask anyone who has seen her speak in person, within the last few months. Or ask one of the 1,500 people who gathered in 100 degree heat to see her speak in Michigan last weekend. Governor Palin is still very much a movement leader with "rock star" popularity, and the lefties can't stand it.

The piece continues:

Palin's headlines have all announced a steady decline, even when we couldn't tell that's what was happening.

Yes, Reeve now offers up "even when we couldn't tell" as evidence that Governor Palin's headlines have "announced a steady decline." Pure rubbish, on a day that saw hundreds of "Palin" headlines, most of which found a way to trash her for getting snubbed (thus far) by her own party.

Next, Reeve dives into a long string of sentences with no time-lines attached, or context added about some of Governor Palin's staff changes, and employees who have protected Twitter accounts. The sad thing is that The Atlantic's left-wing audience is willing to accept a protected Twitter account as proof that she's finally irrelevant. It's pathetic and it's reaching.

Governor Palin didn't get passed over by Mitt Romney and the RNC because she's losing her influence, quite the contrary. If Governor Palin did attend the Republican Convention, and delivered a prime-time address, she would outshine their candidate a hundred times over. She didn't mean to upstage John McCain in 2008, but she did, just by being herself. There is no doubt that Romney's advisers aren't aware of that. It's nothing more than a left-wing pipe dream to think she wasn't invited because she's losing her stature.

The bottom-line is that she wasn't invited to the GOP Convention because their 2012 nominee hasn't extended an invitation. It fits the way Mitt Romney has treated Governor Palin, ever since his staff started publicly trashing her before the 2008 election. It also fits the way the GOP establishment treats outsiders and reformers.

I hope The Atlantic is proud that they did their part to assist the good ole boys in the GOP establishment cover their backsides, with this scatterbrained hit-piece.

Trashing Governor Palin; The Fiscal Times Edition

Proving that the media lives in an echo chamber, The Fiscal Times published an article last week that was a virtual repeat of every article written about the speculation surrounding Mitt Romney's vice presidential pick. It began by mentioning some current Republican women who these authors think might be considered for the ticket. Then predictably, it descends into the typical Palin bashing that the media is so well-known for. The authors collected quotes from some left-wing academics, and Republican talking-heads, who seem to think that Governor Palin cost John McCain the election, even though poll numbers from the time prove otherwise.

We all know that the McCain campaign had serious management issues, combined with a horrible economy leftover from the Bush years. The authors ignored all of that, and instead, proceeded to interview a man who refuses to take any responsibility for the 2008 election outcome:

Steve Schmidt, a senior strategist with the McCain presidential campaign who was instrumental in recruiting Palin, has been widely quoted as saying that the McCain-Palin ticket was a testament to an inadequate, hasty review of Palin. “The vetting process did not disclose what would become obvious afterward,” Schmidt told The Los Angeles Times earlier this year. “We had a person who fundamentally lacked the knowledge and basis – at a very, very deep level – to be a plausible commander in chief.”

And I'm a millionaire...

Writers from Breitbart News, C4P, members of Governor Palin's staff who where there, and others, have already taken Schmidt down a few notches in the credibility department, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. Any "journalist" who uses Steve Schmidt as a source, with this much information at their disposal, is a fraud. End of story.

Now that we've established that the writers of this Fiscal Times article can't be trusted to report facts or context, the article continues with a jab at Governor Palin from Larry Sabato:

"Romney wants people to look at his VP and say, ‘This person is qualified to be president if called upon. Palin never passed that test. Some women and men being mentioned today may not qualify either.”

Perhaps Sabato believes "Palin never passed that test" because the media, McCain staffers, and people who still work for Mitt Romney, did everything in their power to distract people from Governor Palin's actual record. It was, after all, Steve Schmidt's job to educate America about Governor Palin's record, and lo and behold, Steve managed to mess that up too.

If you read Governor Palin's record, you can see that she was more than qualified to serve, if need be. She also had more executive experience than anyone on either ticket. So, the notion that she was "unqualified" is just another false narrative being perpetuated by the elites. They obviously judge qualifications differently than do most Americans. It's not about actual governing experience, it's how long you've been in D.C. and you're friends with in that swamp.

Another thing that stood out about this article; just as Steve and Mary Beth pointed out in their post about the recent U.S. News hit-piece on Governor Palin - The Fiscal Times also used failed left-wing politician, Jennifer Lawless as a source. In case you didn't know, Lawless ran for office as a Democrat in 2006, for U.S. Congress in the 2nd District in Rhode Island. Steve and Mary Beth wrote:

Jennifer Lawless is portrayed in the article as an author who writes books on women in politics. Further, she’s lauded as a Director of American University’s Women and Politics Institute.

Nowhere in the article does it mention that Jennifer Lawless actually ran a failed Congressional campaign back in 2006 against a sitting Rhode Island incumbent. In fact, running against the popular Democrat incumbent in the primary, Lawless was ultra-pro-choice which awarded her the endorsements of NARAL Pro-Choice America PAC and Planned Parenthood Action Fund.

Needless to say, the authors of the Fiscal Times article failed to disclose Lawless' political history and associations with left-wing organizations to their readers, and instead, present her as simply the "director of American University’s Women and Politics Institute."

It's no wonder why nobody trusts the media anymore. Governor Palin has been lied about repeatedly, by the same people over and over again, who possess no discernible credibility. And it certainly doesn't help when people like Larry Sabato, who should know better, repeats the garbage as though he forgot how to do his own research. It just smacks of lazy, beltway group-think.

Hollywood Honors Julianne Moore for Her Politics

I have never seen another industry hold as many award ceremonies to honor itself than the narcissist-class in Hollywood. Most professionals don't have the the low self-esteem required to devote so much time, effort, and money on events for the purpose of patting themselves on the back. To each their own, I guess.

Recently, Julianne Moore was honored at one such event, the "Critics Choice Television Awards," for her role in HBO's anti-Palin movie, Game Change.

Moore took home a little trophy in the "Best Actress in a Movie or Mini Series" category. Upon receiving her award, Moore stated:

“You can’t give a great performance without a great story. So I thank the Republican Party for fostering such a truly amazing American Story.”

I have some news for Ms. Moore... It wasn't a "great performance." Far from it actually. She portrayed Governor Palin's accent completely wrong (Moore sounded like she was portraying someone from Minnesota), and she didn't pick up on any character traits or mannerisms that the Governor possesses. Then there's the fact that Moore played a character in that movie who doesn't even exist. This "truly amazing American story,” is actually a truly amazing political hatchet job. But yes, by all means, Ms. Moore, thank the Republican Party for your new trinket. Especially the ones who used that "truly amazing political hatchet job" to cover their own behinds after they failed at their jobs. And the ones who stood by and watched silently as those covering their backsides, lied and maligned one of the people representing their party on a national ticket. Moore owed them a thank you.

Now that she has been given her first award for misrepresenting Governor Palin (in every aspect) to millions of Americans, she is being called "the 'get' star." From Randee Dawn at the LA Times:

[W]hen HBO, Roach and Strong approached her about playing Sarah Palin in "Game Change" — a movie based on a portion of the book of the same name by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin — the opportunity was impossible to resist. At least, in the first few seconds.

"I got a phone call saying, 'They just offered you Sarah Palin, and can you talk to Jay,' and it all happened really fast," recalls Moore, a leggy fair-skinned redhead who does not, initially, call to mind the rogue Republican 2008 vice presidential nominee. "So I kind of said yes before I really thought about it. My first thought was, 'OK!' and my second thought was, 'Oh, no! I really, really, don't know how to do this.'"

And she never figured it out... Dawn continues:

Capturing any real-life individual on film is one thing; when she's still living is yet another; when she's as polarizing as the former Alaska governor is — and you're part of the "liberal Hollywood elite" — it's on another plane altogether.

At least the writer had the decency not to insult her readers intelligence by suggesting that Moore is anything but a left-wing elitist. But Hollywood can cloud one's vision of reality, and it certainly did in this instance. Moore didn't capture anything remotely close to the real world, or a "real-life individual." The the writer states:

Moore in many ways is the polar opposite of Palin: Committed to LGBT rights...

Stop right there... No, Governor Palin doesn't support gay marriage, but she certainly supports the rights of every American. The left has trouble discerning the difference between rights and privileges though, don't they? Trust me, if Governor Palin was the "polar opposite" of someone who supports the "rights" of gay people, she wouldn't have the support she does have from the non-left-wing "LGBT community."

If anyone from the LA Times is reading this, I implore them to email me at stacy@conservatives4palin.com so I can put you in touch with some of the numerous gay Palin supporters that I know. It would probably make an interesting article.

She continues:

...getting rave reviews for edgy roles in such films as "The Kids Are All Right"and "Boogie Nights"

Okay, there she' totally right on this point. Governor Palin is the polar opposite of someone who would play a whore in a horrible movie about the porn industry. Yep.

The article continues goes on for a long time about how they got Moore to look like Governor Palin using makeup and dress. Then it goes on to discuss how excited all of the Obama fundraisers who made the film, were when Moore put on the wig and glasses. Danny “Victory Fund” Strong stated:

"Other actors are essential in the piece, but the whole film rode on her performance. If Sarah Palin didn't work in the film, the film was not going to work."

Gee, I wonder why that is? The book wasn't even about her, but the movie certainly was. And it certainly was (in the planing stages anyway) about the election in 2012.

The next part of the LA Times article is where it gets interesting. Dawn writes (emphasis):

Moore's out-of-the-park performance surprised many viewers not only because she was spot-on with her characterization but also because she tapped into the emotional well she and Roach were aiming for, creating a level of empathy for Palin that gave her a common humanity among even her detractors.

These people put together an entire movie to trash Governor Palin's character; they LIED about her having a nervous breakdown, and then claim they were actually "creating empathy" for their victim. If this movie created any empathy for Governor Palin, I would hate to see what the opinions were of the people it created it in, before they saw the movie.

This isn't the first time someone has been awarded for attacking Governor Palin, and it probably isn't the last trinket Julianne Moore will receive from her industry for doing the party's dirty work. They will continue to perpetuate their lies, while lowering their standards to honor the talentless and agenda-driven.

Political Wire Blames Palin for Automated Robocall Dialing s

One would think that a political news site such as Taegan Goddard's Political Wire, would comprehend a rudimentary political task such as the robocall. Either he does not, or he is playing the part in an effort to knowingly make Governor Palin look bad with the headline. I'm certain that in this case, it's the latter.

Yesterday, Taegan linked to a story written by a snarky columnist from the Topeka Capital-Journal, which stated that some robocalls that the Governor recorded for the Ted Cruz campaign in Texas, had been dialed to numbers in Kansas. Taegan's headline read, "Palin Robocalls Wrong State," as if she not only had anything to do with the call placement, but also single-handedly dialed the numbers.

So, let me go ahead and clear this up for the slow people who read Taegan's headline as some sort of verification that Governor Palin is "stupid." According to Macmillan and reality, a robocall is:

An automated telephone call which plays a recorded message

Governor Palin recoded one message that was sent to numerous numbers, of which she played zero role in selecting. For whatever reason, some numbers set up by the company handling the calls, were in fact, directed to Kansas. It was a mistake by the company, not Governor Palin.

Goddard's left-wing commenters bought into his headline however, and responded as you can imagine they would. The fact that this puts them into the position of completely misrepresenting the robocall process, never dawns on them. Unlike Taegan Goddard, I'm not convinced that they know better. They just aren't very bright people.

Dave Weigel's Predictable, Pathetic Response to Deb Fischer's Win

Last night, Steve wrote:

As it became clear these past few days that Governor Palin’s endorsement had succeeded in catapulting Fischer past Stenberg and into a position where she had a legitimate chance to defeat Bruning, panic set in among those wishful thinkers in the DC Establishment on both sides of the aisle who’ve been telling us that her time had passed, that she was irrelevant.

Predictably, Dave Weigel tried to outdo the other "wishful thinkers" in trying to make his handful of readers believe that Governor Palin had nothing at all to do with Deb Fischer's win in Nebraska. Yesterday, in a post titled "Nebraska: Prepare Yourself for Stories About Sarah Palin, Kingmaker," he wrote:

State Sen. Deb Fischer has won the Republican primary for U.S. Senate in Nebraska, making her the odds-on favorite to replace Ben Nelson. What you will hear: Sarah Palin endorsed a Mama Grizzly and pushed her over the top. The larger backstory: Fischer benefitted from a yearlong, bloody, stupid primary between state Attorney General Jon Bruning and Treasurer Don Stenberg. The former, working his way up the greasy pole for years, had spooked Chuck Hagel out of running for re-election in 2008, then gotten chased out of the primary by then-Agriculture Sec. Mike Johanns. The latter had lined up conservative support -- Jim DeMint, Rick Santorum, Erick Erickson. The two of them tore chunks out of each other, leaving Fischer alone.

I write that this was predictable because this is what Dave Weigel does anytime Governor Palin is in the news. He downplays her success, takes numerousjabs at her on Slate, and uses childish snark by writing "who?" next to any story he retweets about the Governor on Twitter. It's rather pathetic that a grown man would spend this much time and effort to try and convince the world that someone else is "irrelevant." Normally, you don't have to spend any time or effort persuading the public that a person is irrelevant, people just know that they are.

Weigel may have been correct by stating that the Nebraska GOP primary was "bloody" yearlong process, but that doesn't explain why Fischer picked up so much steam in such a short time period. Just ten days ago, she was polling 16 points behind Jon Bruning.

Also, a few days ago, Tony Lee wrote the following over at Big Government:

This is the first attempt at seeking statewide office for Fischer, a 61-year-old state Senator who has not been a career politician, who needed Palin’s endorsement to level the playing field against her well-funded opponents.

Fishcer’s campaign manager Aaron Trost told Breitbart News that Palin’s endorsement had a “big impact on publicity” and would “help educate a lot of people who the true conservative reformer in the race is.”

Two recent polls show Bruning with the lead, with Fischer in second followed by Stenberg. In a poll commissioned by the Fischer campaign, Bruning led with 30 percent, followed by Fischer with 25.6 percent and Stenberg with 18 percent. Twenty four percent of those polled were still undecided. The primary is on Tuesday.

Palin Power

Fischer e-mailed Palin in December of 2011 while Kay Orr, the first female Republican governor ever to be elected and who is one of Fischer’s statewide co-chairs, also contacted Palin to ensure Fischer stayed on the former governor’s radar screen.

When Palin decided to endorse Fischer, Trost said it led to “an awesome day.”

“Gov. Palin has tremendous support in this state; there were a lot of people excited with the endorsement and wanted to get involved with the campaign,” Trost said, noting that there was a big surge in online contributions and phone calls in the office but would not disclose how much the campaign raised.

“Gov. Palin supporters are not only volunteers but they are workers; supporters of Gov. Palin are in the office every day, going door to door, really into running a grassroots campaign,” Trost said. “They are not into an establishment-type campaign.”

So, Weigel can spend his time trying to convince his readers and Twitter followers that Governor Palin is "irrelevant," and that she had nothing at all to do with the victory in Nebraska, but the campaign manager of the victor in that race disagrees. He, after all, doesn't live in a false reality where he's surrounded by chronically Palin-obsessed leftists, who spend a big chunk of their time trying to convince themselves and each other that she's "irrelevant."

I don't think they can see the irony here.

GOP Insiders Trying to Marginalize Governor Palin & Her Supporters

For weeks, members of the GOP establishment have been busy rewriting history by trying to diminish Governor Palin's record, and her real contributions to the 2008 presidential race. Without her on the ticket, McCain would have lost by 20 points.

The facts no longer matter when you have a herd of Republican operatives, speaking from the same script to rid their party of one of its most outspoken reformers. Now these same spineless creeps are not only attempting to marginalize her, but also us, her supporters.

According to Reid Wilson at the National Journal (emphasis):

Several insiders interviewed for this story said former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will present a unique challenge to Romney's team: Will they give her a prime spot to satisfy her fans, or reduce her role because of her polarizing nature?

You've got to hand it to the anonymous GOPe "insiders"... They sure know how to sell a line of garbage to the left-leaning media. They just repeat the lines of garbage the left themselves created. Who else would think that a Governor who held an 80% approval rating, 18 months after being inaugurated, has a "polarizing nature" but someone from the other party.

Then one of the GOPe's professional liars said:

"You want people to generate interest and passion," said one Republican who has organized conventions before and who, like others, didn't want to be named. "Sarah Palin goes to a very small segment, relatively speaking, of the Republican Party. And you're trying to put together a rainbow coalition."

I gather "goes" is the coward's way of saying "appeals," but all one has to do is watch Governor Palin's last speech at CPAC to know that is a lie. She spoke to a full house, who spent much of the time on their feet. Also, a recent poll showed:

She [Palin] is seen positively by Gingrich voters (85/7), Santorum supporters (80/10), and Romney ones (57/27) alike. That's a contrast to Romney who is disliked by both Santorum (38/48) and Gingrich (32/54) voters and Santorum who is disliked by Romney (38/48) voters and only seen narrowly favorably by Gingrich (46/42) backers.

And another thing, as Tony Lee pointed out on Twitter:

“Sarah Palin goes to a very small segment, relatively speaking, of the Republican Party"...LOL, then why does person quoted want anonymity?

There would be no need for these people to say these things anonymously, if there were any truth in what they're saying.

The frequency with which GOP operatives are attacking Governor Palin, and their willingness to marginalize her supporters, should tell you all you need to know about the current Republican party. They have put us in a very bad situation and hurt the party, but don't forget that they are the ones who chose to go down this road.

Bristol Palin: Bill Maher is More Than a Comedian

Bristol Palin published a new piece today on her blog titled "Responding to the Viral Sensation, Loving my Brother." She responded to some of the numerous comments people left on her "Mr. President, When Should I Expect Your Call?" post, but she also pointed out how the left is giving Bill Maher a pass by stating that he's merely a "comedian." She wrote:

Bill Maher is much more than a comedian. He’s a big-time political player who hides behind the “comedian” label whenever he gets criticized. His guest list represents a huge chunk of the Washington establishment and sometimes even includes prominent Republicans. And as I said in my original post, he’s put himself straight in the middle of presidential politics by giving $1,000,000 to President Obama’s SuperPAC. Bill Maher isn’t just some guy behind a microphone in a seedy comedy club in the middle of nowhere. He’s a comedian and political commentator like Rush is an entertainer and political commentator. He’s a little bit less popular, but his professional failure compared to Rush doesn’t make him any less accountable for his vile speech.

You can read her entire post here.

Also, John Nolte points out Bristol's piece over at Big Hollywood.

Plus, check out this article over at NRO by David French, who is married to the editor of Patheos. It seems they had a little server melt-down yesterday due to Bristol's blog:

Nancy tweeted it to her few hundred followers (she and I have a rather pathetic contest for twitter followers; right now I’m barely in the lead with a whopping 776), and Bristol facebooked it. Within hours, it had been shared 8,000 times. Already it was taking off.

Then Sarah Palin tweeted.

Patheos’s server promptly melted down. One of the most-trafficked religious sites on the web, its server still spontaneously combusted. A small mushroom cloud was spotted over the server farm. Eleven additional servers had to be brought online to handle the traffic flow, and by the end of the day, 8,000 shares had turned into more than 85,000 (update: 100,000), and the story of Bristol’s challenge to the president had been reported not just in the political and mainstream media but also in the Hollywood media as well. Thousands of tweets, and tens of thousands more Facebook shares from Fox to the Huffington Post to the Hollywood Reporter took the post well beyond the familiar and comfortable enclaves of the conservative blogosphere.

That, in essence, is Palin power. No other name in the conservative movement can instantly break through the wall of separation between conservative punditry and popular culture. Bristol powerfully and concisely told the truth — and reached an audience so large it resides only in most pundits’ wildest dreams.