Sarah Palin's First Amendment Confusion Deepens
In the span of just a few days, Sarah Palin has demonstrated that her ignorance of the First Amendment is total. One day after repeating her earlier call for Muslim Americans to "refudiate" their freedom of religion, Palin defended the disgraced Dr. Laura Schlessinger. But in tweeting that Dr. Laura's "1st Amend.rights ceased 2exist," Palin showed once again she has no idea what they are.
With no sense of irony, the former half-term Governor of Alaska and the same woman who once accused candidate Hillary Clinton of "whining" rushed to defend Dr. Laura not from government censorship, but from the "shackles" of public criticism:
Dr.Laura:don't retreat...reload! (Steps aside bc her 1st Amend.rights ceased 2exist thx 2activists trying 2silence"isn't American,not fair")
For her part, Dr. Laura told CNN's Larry King the night before that she was quitting her radio show to "regain my First Amendment rights" supposedly lost after her staccato on-air use of the N-word:
"I want to be able to say what's on my mind and in my heart and what I think is helpful and useful without somebody getting angry or some special-interest group deciding this is a time to silence a voice of dissent."
If that language of faux victimization sounds familiar, it should. After all, it's been a staple of the Palin persona since the moment she stepped onto the national stage.
Sarah Palin's first unfortunate run-in with the First Amendment to the United States Constitution came during the home stretch of the 2008 presidential campaign. During an interview with conservative WMAL radio, she regurgitated her usual talking points against the "elitism" and "filter" of the "mainstream media" before coughing up this nugget:
"If [the media] convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations, then I don't know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the mainstream media."
Then in May 2009, Palin extended her ersatz constitutional protections to Carrie Prejean, portraying her fellow beauty pageant contestant and marriage equality opponent as a victim of a "liberal onslaught of malicious attacks." Going one step further, Palin asserted:
"I can relate as a liberal target myself...I respect Carrie for standing strong and staying true to herself, and for not letting those who disagree with her deny her protection under the nation's First Amendment Rights. Our Constitution protects us all -- not just those who agree with the far left."
Two months later, Palin's First Amendment dullardry raised its ugly head again. In the wake of his apology for an unfortunate joke at the expense of Palin's 14-year old daughter, the soon-to-be ex-Governor said of David Letterman:
"Letterman certainly has the right to 'joke' about whatever he wants to, and thankfully we have the right to express our reaction. This is all thanks to our U.S. Military women and men putting their lives on the line for us to secure America's Right to Free Speech - in this case, may that right be used to promote equality and respect."
Alas, the same Right to Free Speech did not extend to her critics. When various bloggers and media outlets published reports that the Alaska Governor might be the subject of a criminal investigation, Sarah Palin threatened to sue.
All of which makes Sarah Palin's support of Mama Grizzly Sharron Angle altogether fitting. Of her protege, Palin said, "She's got GUTS and is putting up with more crap than she deserves because the libs don't know what to do with her and the support she has. And for her part, Sharron Angle has learned well at the feet of the master. As she told David Brody of CBN, "I'm not going to earn anything from people who are there to badger me and use my words to batter me with." And in her classic formulation for Carl Cameron of Fox News:
"We wanted [journalists] to ask the questions we want to answer so that they report the news the way we want it to be reported."
Sarah Palin couldn't agree more. As she lamented in the wake of her defeat in November 2008:
"I want to make sure that Americans do understand that there is a little bit of disappointment in my heart about the world of journalism today. And I don't want any individual journalist to take it personally but--I have such great respect for the role of the media in our democracy, it is a cornerstone, it allows the checks and balances. But only when there is fairness and objectivity in the reporting."
So she joined Fox News.
As for Dr. Laura's First Amendment rights, Palin tweeted Wednesday:
Dr.Laura=even more powerful & effective w/out the shackles, so watch out Constitutional obstructionists. And b thankful 4 her voice,America!
UPDATE 1: Sarah Palin might have felt differently in 1999, when Dr; Laura told the mother of autistic child, "I'm going to say something now that you need to hear. You need to have a life aside from this torture...Your son may not be fixable. In which case you're going to have to think of some kind of placement."
UPDATE 2: The ironies don't end there. In 2008, Dr. Laura blasted Palin, asking of John McCain's running mate, "what kind of role model is a woman whose fifth child was recently born with a serious issue, Down Syndrome, and then goes back to the job of Governor within days of the birth?" And in February, Palin attacked Rahm Emanual for his "R-word" remark in a private meeting, an attack which should now boomerang:
"Just as we'd be appalled if any public figure of Rahm's stature ever used the 'N-word' or other such inappropriate language, Rahm's slur on all God's children with cognitive and developmental disabilities - and the people who love them - is unacceptable, and it's heartbreaking."
(This piece also appears at Perrspectives.)
The Race To Total Ignorance!
everyone interested better shake a tail feather, Palin's lead is growing by the minute.
"She's not just the host, she's also a contestant, and she's winning!"
nt
Please, please, please make her the Republican candidate for the Presidency!
Let them field Romney or someone else who would be a prospective threat against a progressive candidate in 2016, one who will be defeated by the incumbency margin just as handily. Take a useful one out, so they won't put that one back up again when it might actually make the race tight.
Save Palin for 2016, when her mantra of fuckwit simply will fall flat in front of a solid progressive national movement. A second enormous flop failure like that after an eight year gap should scare enough donors away from the RNC that the party may just finally fold up shop, or become so extremely marginalized that it will be forced to reinvent (perhaps into something reasonably good, though I find that idea hard to believe), or will simply stay on the sidelines in perpetuity.
Sarah Palin is clearly a confused human being.
As much as I am sick of hearing about Palin (at what point can we all just agree to ignore her and quit feeding this thing?), what can you even call this?
It is like a desperate 3rd grade attempt to be Machiavellian, but baaaaaaaad....
"Machiavellian" is almost an anagram of "Michelle Bachmann." Maybe not that close, but perhaps someone more clever than me can come up with a better joke about it :)
I think it qualifies as an anagram on Glenn Beck's chalkboard.
Anal Rash Pi
And if you use her middle name "Louise" it gets more fun. Just look at some of the words in there.
I bet "dr" laura celebrated the retiring of Helen Thomas...
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
It's called TWITter for as REASON! And the reason is that it appeals to small-town, small-minded TWITS like Palin!
Twit, Twitter, and Twittest. And Sarah is the most Twittest of all.
She coughed up a nugget. She must be the goose who layed a snow machine mechanic... oops... I meant a fisherman... oops... I meant a pot grower!
I hate it when people hide behind the first amendment to excuse bad behavior.
Can we stop spreading what these to over exposed idiots keep saying?
To say that no one has heard what they have said is moronic.
Maybe you should consider a macrobiotic diet...
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Sarah is unbelievably ignorant. Not only has she not been censored, everybody anxiously awaits her next ridiculous statement. It makes everybody, no matter how stupid, feel smarter.
. . . there's no First Amendment issue. But she also knows the dolts who hang slavishly on her every word don't understand how the First Amendment applies, and so she's going to keep on saying the same silly things over and over again. She's never going to run for office again -- her goal is to stay relevant by flirting with the idea of running, so that she can continue to rake in the cash. That's all this is about.
what the first ammendment is. She might now is some kind of vague sense of generalities, but just let a reporter ask her what it is specifically and it will turn into another "gotcha" question.
The right has had such success at getting the most outrageous hyperbole accepted and supported by thoughtless followers that they no longer have any inhibitions about saying anything.
There's Sarahs unmatched freedom of speech.
Doc spews the N word a thousand more times.
That'll teach 'em not to mess w/folks who have 1st Amendmendment rights and exercise them!!
and she was interviewed on CNN. She seemed intelligent and reasonable, which left me wondering, why the Hell was she calling dipshit dr Laura for advice in the first place?
Wow I missed that. Well I wouldn't be surprised if the right wingers to start attacking her in 5,4,3,2....
To reach her audience?
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Elon James White answers your question Definitely NSFW:
http://video.thisweekinblackness.com/blog/201...
From what I heard this lady told Dr Laura that whenever her husband's friends came to visit they would make all kinds of nasty racial remarks to her and the husband! What I want to know is why did this woman's husband allow his asshole fiends to act this way? Why didn't he throw these fuck heads out of his house and tell them not to come back until they could act like real humans?Don't get me wrong. because, Dr Laura is a hate-filled, racist piece of shit, and an UGLY one at that and I'm just curious about her husband's behaviour!
An idiot leading other idiots. I look forward to her nomination as the Rethug candidate for POTUS in 2012 and the debates with the Dem candidate (hopefully not Obama, would love Grayson).
One of the states down south would adopt and take Sarah away from us. The majority of us in Alaska do not want her anymore; she is an embarrassment to us, we don't claim her, and wish she would step out in front of a moving vehicle
... if what's on your mind and in your heart is "n*****, n*****, n*****," people getting angry at you just kinda comes with the territory.
she already has ...when she was campaigning in the southern states, and ppl were shouting "Hang the n*****!!" in reference to Obama, what was Sarah doing? Egging them on, shouting You Betcha! Basically she has it in for people who are not NRA gun wielding white christians like herself
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyAQYYhUYNg
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Quite apart from Ms. Palin's fairly typical confusion about the 1st Amendment, doesn't her statement "Don't retreat...reload!" sound a bit like saying "If you find yourself in a hole... dig harder?"
That's what it sound like to reasonable people. To idiots, it's a call to further publicize their stupidity.
Why is the default deflective reaction to anything always name calling and labels...
In fact I challenge everyone who posts or comments on this site, to go one lousy day without using labels to lazily categorize people. For example, replace fascists, with, Americans who I disagree with, or Pubtard, with American I differ from philisophically, or Right Wing Nut Job with American whose views differ from mine or Half-term Governor, well that one is appropriate...
One lousy day.
Can you point to even one comment on this thread that did as you said?
I think I saw a rethug, but that was about all.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
You comment fascist.
I will not shut up Billy, do you want to shut me up? Do I not have the right to speak?
I was refering to this site in general which I enjoy very much. Im not pointing fingers, not assigning blame, just reacting to what I perceive as a noticble tilt in our discourse. Certainly did not mean to offend anyone.
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://ca...
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
"fascist" means something, as does "rightwing nutjob". Would you feel better if instead of saying "Sharron Angle is such a rightwing nutjob that she said ..." or "Sharron Angle is such an American on the extreme right of the political spectrum who has a few screws, that she said ..."
Seems a little petty.
I hope your day gets better.
I also think Hannity tops Beck and the Drugster
Domestic Terrorism
Nazis reference
That's a lovely glass house you've built, m.
me-oww!
I am learning from my over-reactive past. Just trying to encourage polite debate, I used to post terrible things on this site and will always regret it. In fact, seems I do not belong here.
I don't see why you feel that way. We've all made ourselves some spectacular glass houses. I think there's plenty of room for you here. JMHO
me-oww!
That reminds me of when the minister tried to talk logically with the Martians in George Pal's War of the Worlds...
Or the scientists who wanted to study James Arness's carrot-critter in The Thing.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
I don't think it is the default. I think what we're doing is distinguishing between the other person's (in this case Palin) *opinions* and *facts.* I can disagree politely with someone's opinion, but I'm not going to pretend that their made-up facts should be treated with the same respect as real facts.
She so crazy!
Now Sarah Palin is advising someone else not to quit?
So Sarah is saying that Dr. Laura should be able to exercise her first amendment right and say the n-word whenever and however she wants without "activists" complaining? Does she really want to go down that road? And how exactly has Dr. Laura's first amendment right been taken away?
This is also so funny that Palin is twitter defending her when Dr. Laura bashed Palin in the past as basically being a bad mom.
... when I see the birth certificates.
I'm protected by the First Amendment so Sarah Palin can't criticize anything I say!
...all over her face with my love gun.
I am sure Palin would find some convoluted constitutional logic to permit the use of your love gun....your right to bear arms. And would simply look up at you, smile and say "Fire".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=On73aHpgdSQ
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
or "reload!"
"At will"
others haven't pointed out the blatant hypocrisy: she said Rahm Emanuel should be fired because he used the epithet, "retarded," yet Dr. Laura uses what is also clearly an epithet but that's her first amendment right? Come on!
Here's what Palin said about Rahm Emanual:
How much you wanna bet that Palin would say "Well, Dr. Laura isn't a public figure like Rahm Emanuel so then it's okay" or "It's okay because she didn't directly call someone the n-word, she just said it to make a point?". She will make excuse and excuse.
...for pointing out Palin's Rahmbo hypocrisy.
that's as clear-cut as I've ever seen...nice job!
Simply stated, Palin is a moron.
[Palin defending Dr. Laura] from the "shackles" of public criticism." What Sarah is really worried about are the shackles of public scrutiny. Being held accountable for your words.
Palin won't make media appearances unless she gets kid gloves treatment. Too many media sources have given her a pass, and now she demands it. And it's no accident that all the tea-bag candidates are following the Sarah-celebrity model of avoiding legitimate press wherever possible.
These nuts keep on playing the victim card, saying that they're being attacked by the media. Why the hell does the media keep on giving them a platform?
If this was a white lady calling Dr Laura asking what she should do if her husband's friends often refer to her as "bitch", if Laura would have suggested the lady was "too sensitive"....
Ah, bitch, bitch, bitch....quit being so sensitive...bitch
You have the First Amendment right to say anything you want, but if you say it in the workplace and it's offensive, you may be fired. End of story.
Two comments:
1. The good "doctor" says that she wants to get her First Amendment rights back. This sounds hauntingly similar to Tony Hayward wanting to "get his life back" after the BP oil spill.
2. Why do both palin and the "doctor" play the victim? Why do they blame others (the media,the left) for their problems?
Reading Palin's twitter feed...4chan trolls are easier to understand
Jennifer Aniston is under fire for an "R-word" remark today, but I am sure crazy Palin will send a similarly supportive tweet her way:
Rachel Green:don't retreat...reload! (1st Amend.rights ceased 2exist thx 2activists trying 2silence"isn't American,not fair")
1. Strong opinions
2. Absolute certainty
3. Total ignorance
Ain't conservatism grand?
said something asinine. Imagine that.
One day I'll wake up and her long-overdue exit from politics or any public mention will have arrived. That'll be time to celebrate.
Bravo for pulling this together.
Another comparison I heard on NPR this morning in relation to this and NYC Islamic center and the Confederate flag. The double standard from the right on the issue of sensitivity has a gap as wide as the Grand Canyon.
.. takes me back to the days of 300baud modems and crackly phone lines.
...makes us long for those days.
I'd love to see Palin on TV and tweeting 24/7. All ignorance, all day. Give the stupid people something to talk about. Let them think that their vote for her will amount to something. What it will amount to is a total waste of a vote. She has no chance of winning any election. So burn those votes dummies.
The Part-time Governor of Alaska is a very confused, and confusing person. When the First Amendment is against what you stand for, she claims that she wants the market forces to determine what is right. When the market forces are against you, as is the case of Dr. Laura, she claims that the First Amendment is the ruling authority. Which is it Sister Sarah? You can't have it both ways. Either the First Amendment, all of the First Amendment, is the controlling authority or the market forces should control each situation. You change your mind as often as most of us change our socks. In the case of the "Ground Zero Mosque" she declares that the First Amendment doesn't matter. In the case of "Proposition 8" she declares that the 14th Amendment doesn't apply. In the case of "Dr. Laura" she declares that market forces should not be involved in a market situation. It was not the Government who "forced" Dr. Laura to resign it were her sponsors that found her diatribe to be unacceptable and left her in droves. Dr. Laura was not a victim, she was a foolish, racist, loudmouth that her sponsors found to be totally unacceptable to them and declared that position by leaving her without them. Sister Sarah, and her Republican ilk, are a very confused and confusing lot to those of us who are more inclined to understand that the U.S. Constitution puts limitations on Government intervention and not on individual businesses decisions on where to place their money.
Can Palin's frequent use of the word "reload" mean anything other than "maybe we should just shoot people we disagree with"?
Perhaps she refers to reloading the pipe she's smoking, but I wouldn't demean pot by implying she's smoking reefer. Crack maybe...
But given who her primary audience is, it seems pretty obvious that "reload" is code for "Sarah Palin says it's OK to kill those with whom we don't agree".
Keep talking, Sarah the Clueless. The more you say now, the sooner you flush yourself down the toilet of history. I can see her and Newtie spinning around in the porcelain bowl right now.
Sarah Palin freaks me out. Aside from telling a dried up radio talk show host to "reload" after spouting a racist word 11 times, this woman is an attention getter- for the wrong reasons and for people who don't know better. Eeeee, her pull with the Right (or should I say " the Ignorant"?) is scary. Very scary. :(
... freedom of speech. It does *not* protect the speaker from listeners disliking the message, or the sponsors of the message.
In the case of Dr. Laura, the issue was the use of the so called "N" word, with this feigned ignorance of the context that the word is used in, in other words, whether the word is being used maliciously or not. It was a lame exercise to justify the word being used maliciously. It's right in line with the Republican party's agenda of promoting bigotry in order to get people to vote against their economic interests. (Hate Mexicans, Gays, Islamics, N__gers) There's no 1st amendment issue if people choose to boycott Dr. Laura's sponsors.
In so far as the Muslim construction a couple of blocks from "ground zero" is concerned, the 1st amendment (held to apply to the states by the 14th amendment) allows the construction if a Christian center would be allowed. To oppose that principle is to oppose the 1st amendment. So people who wish to have the government ban the construction are actively opposing the 1st amendment.
That's why you'll see me reluctant to support legislation curtailing rights under the 2nd amendment. I'm a big supporter of the Constitution superseding legislation, not the other way around. Otherwise, the Constitution is a worthless document. (I think much of the gun violence is a symptom of Prohibition II and the root cause needs to be dealt with, namely, curtailing black market cash flow.)
One thing is for sure - Palin has nothing intelligent to say about the Constitution.
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