C’mon folks. Before anyone believes the bullshit about Gov. Palin thinking that Africa is a country and not a continent and not knowing what countries are in NAFTA, just stop and think for a second. Those allegations simply aren’t plausible. No functioning adult who so much as watched the Olympics could not know that Africa is a continent. And, as governor of the state with the nation’s longest border with Canada and with large amounts of goods and people moving across that border, it just isn’t possible that she didn’t know what countries are in NAFTA (that’s Canada and Mexico along with the U.S. if you don’t know).
These allegations are coming out because some inside the McCain camp don’t like that Sarah Palin realized that she was being mishandled at the beginning and insisted on doing some things her own way. Couple that with the fact that McCain lost, and that these staffers don’t want to blame themselves or their boss and you end up with a need for a scapegoat. Countless people around Gov. Palin have attested to her intelligence and insightfulness. This is just silly, sour grapes.
As for the shopping spree, it doesn’t make sense either. Large amounts of expense clothes aren’t Palin’s style. She and her husband make enough money between their two careers to buy decent clothes, yet chose to dress modestly. Nordstrom has a store in Anchorage. (I’ve shopped in it.) If she had this sort of taste, she could have exercised it before now. (Yes, I know that Anchorage is not the capitol of Alaska.)
November 7, 2008 at 10:46 am
With regard to the 150K+ in clothing, there’s a big difference between spending your own money and spending someone else’s. As far as her not knowing that Africa is a continent or the countries involved in Nafta; this should not come as a surprise to anyone who watched her field the few questions that were directed her way during the campaign. It is clear that she doesn’t even have rudimentary knowledge of the world outside Alaska. While this doesn’t make her too different from the average American it doesn’t exactly make her a qualified candidate for the position that she was unfairly thrust into pursuing.
November 8, 2008 at 10:42 am
It might be a bit premature to rule out the possibility of the clothes story being true. According to the LA Times story, the spending and dollar figures are the result of FEC filings of the RNC:
“The original $150,000 in purchases was revealed in late October after the release of the September and October Federal Election Commission filings by the Republican National Committee. Those reports revealed that more than $75,062.63 was spent at Neiman Marcus, $49,425.74 at Saks Fifth Avenue and $5,102.71 at Bloomingdale’s around the time of the Republican National Convention in early September.”
So somebody dropped the money at Niemans and Saks, sought reimbursement, and it wound up on the CFR’s. I’ve not heard any news stories say that the story was invented out of whole cloth (no pun intended), rather the arguments I’ve heard are more of the “we are good people, we shop at thrift stores” variety.
Coming from the humblest of origins myself, I find it very easy to picture people who come from the most obscure of origins and who one day find themselves at the pinnace of national celebrity, with unlimited credit card allowances paid by someone else, running absolutely hog wild while the accounts are open. Especially when the provider of the family has a dozen people to shop for. This is a perfectly human reaction.
“As first reported by Newsweek on Wednesday, McCain aides said some of that money was spent on clothing for Palin’s children and husband, Todd, who may have received between $20,000 and $40,000 in wardrobe purchases. The money also included thousands of dollars in shoes.”
No doubt telling the story to Newsweek is disreputable. As Whittaker Chambers supposedly said ‘On the road of the informer it is always night.’ That does not change the facts about the story.
It also could be that the truth is that the stylist hired to dress the Palins simply was not given adequate communication as to the boundaries of the budget she was on. She was reported to have been flown in from New York. Perhaps to her typical clientele, money is truly no object.
November 8, 2008 at 10:47 am
An interesting tidbit, the Alaska ‘out of the closet’ is no thrift store:
“But thrift shop it is not. The little outlet — a five-minute walk from the governor’s office — trends way more toward designer jeans, elegant evening gowns and tailored skirt suits than old sweaters. Anybody who walks in looking for a $5 bargain better just walk out again: a Stella McCartney jacket, wool and silk in a size 6, goes for $295 (matching velvet pumps for $75 and Furla black tote at $195).”
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-clothes7-2008nov07,0,2204292.story
And the store has been served a cease-and-desist letter from the chain of Out Of The Closet stores run by the Aids Healthcare Foundation, asking them to change their name. The owner says she will comply.
http://www.tmz.com/2008/10/30/palin-indirectly-helps-aids-charity-kill-competition/
It’s always the civilians who suffer the most.
November 8, 2008 at 10:57 am
I’m not saying the clothes weren’t purchased. I’m saying that the depiction of her going on an unauthorized and excessive shopping spree for herself is likely inaccurate.
Also, I’ve seen video footage and an interview with the owner of a thrift shop where Gov. Palin shops regularly that is, without question, a thrift shop.
November 8, 2008 at 11:03 am
Also, a moment of looking around the internet for Stella McCartney clothing indicates that, depending on exactly which jacket you are referring to, $295 might be a bargain.
November 8, 2008 at 11:56 am
Technically true: there is no evidence she ever set foot in any of the stores. Or that she even knew what was purchased and for how much.
There is a larger point: once the incident became news, some staffer should have come out on television and accepted all the blame. Thrown himself/herself on the sword, and said ‘the buck stops here, with me’.
Failure to do this was political malpractice.
November 8, 2008 at 1:20 pm
I have to say that even I was taken aback at the shameful and disrespectful way that Palin was treated by the Quebec comedy duo the ‘masked avengers’.
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gbE0H3OZdFIDyIWZCEsAeyHmSGbA
I thought it was outrageous when they told her:
“A: You know my wife is a popular singer and a former top model and she’s so hot in bed. She even wrote a song for you.
P: Oh my goodness, I didn’t know that.
A: Yes, in French it’s called de rouge a levre sur un cochon, or if you prefer in English, Joe the Plumber…it’s his life, Joe the Plumber.”
“de rouge a levre sur un cohon” is French for “lipstick on a pig.”
December 20, 2008 at 12:02 pm
oh, how I wish I’d known about this blog during the election. I think your baseline assumption that Palin is a “functioning adult” may be faulty. Although, for the record, I’ll give you Africa and the shopping spree bit, but I can totally imagine her not knowing the countries in NAFTA.
December 20, 2008 at 12:04 pm
I’m shocked, SHOCKED, that you would find something on this blog you disagreed with.
December 20, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Oh, trust me, this is just the tip of the iceberg.