That’s what she said
‘The only flag at my office is an Israeli flag,’ she was quoted as saying, ‘and I want you to know and I want Israelis to know that I am a friend.’
Then again, we know her husband doesn’t recognize America’s jurisdiction over sovereign Alaska, so why would she fly the symbol of the occupation – the stars and stripes?
Related
Sarah Palin To Resign As Governor Of Alaska
A Thought About Patriotism
Hiding Sarah
Just have to channel my inner double-standard cop here, in deference to much of OW’s conservative readership – It probably goes without saying that if Joe Biden had said this, conservative media would be wallpapered with snickers of ‘walking gaffe machine: tee hee!’
Good stuff.
I’m thinking a new Axelrod/Winner/Daily Kos video for this one.
Calling all Flag Pin Wingnuts!
Calling all Flat Pin Wingnuts!!
ARF! ARF! ARF! ARF ARF!
Why the hell would she have an Israeli flag in her office? Is Alaska a new Israeli settlement or something?
More WTF from a cavalcade of WTF.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDSlOU8HPRY
You can see her tiny devious Israeli flag in the window of her office late in the video. You can also see, gasp, a big american flag on a stand! Up to Oliver’s usual “I run based on narrative, not fact” standards of course.
Someone doesn’t get tongue in cheek. Dear Sarah so wanted to impress the foreign dignitary she made shit up about what flags are in her office.
Haplo, dear friend, did you not read this part?
Nice of you to point out that that isn’t true.
OMG. OMFG.
Stupid always burns, but Haplo9’s stupid is like eating a garbage can full of habaneros and washing it down with a pitcher of Tabasco.
(Can we bronze this discussion thread please Oliver?)
This woman speaks in tongues after all. That’s the only explanation.
Up to Oliver’s usual “I run based on narrative, not fact” standards of course.”
Oliver and Duros already pointed out the central idiocy here but I wanted to add that this is a pretty good example of conservative projection and denial.
Even when they discover for themselves that their candidate is lying through her teeth in order to construct a political narrative, they deflect that knowledge on to their political enemies. Why? Because they must at all cost protect the narrative as told, otherwise their brains will implode.
Haplo, didja happen to notice the headline at the NY Sun link that Oliver so helpfully provided?
No?
Here’s what it says.
Palin: ‘Only Flag in My Office’ Is Israeli
On the Hustings
By Staff Reporter of the Sun | September 26, 2008
m’kay?
Now go play. Snacktime’s at 3.
The source of the quote in the NY Sun is an aide to Bill Clinton. The reporter did not hear Palin make the remark. It is, at best, second hand and should not have been place within quote marks by the paper’s editors.
Um, guys? The headline of Oliver’s article:
“Sarah Palin Doesn’t Have An American Flag In Her Office”
I point out that that is incorrect. So now you guys want to say that she really was! trying to tell Peres that the Israeli flag is the only flag in her office? Seriously? Do you think she really thought Peres was going to take her literally? There couldn’t be any other explanation, like she was trying to flatter the old man?
>Even when they discover for themselves that their candidate is lying through her teeth
I read somewhere that there is a point in a campaign where even partisans start to buy their own spin. This strikes me as an example – you take a quote from Palin that anyone, even Peres, would know is probably false if taken literally, and yet you claim this is evidence of Palin’s great perfidy rather than considering that there are other, more benign and likely (yet lacking the punch you desire) explanations.
Despite that it may make you feel better to think so, the other side is not pure evil. Try to get some semblance of a grip people. Sheesh.
So now you guys want to say that she really was! trying to tell Peres that the Israeli flag is the only flag in her office? Seriously?
Yes.
Because that is what she said.
Tell me, are you saying we should just not believe what she says or are we to take her at her word?
either way, sounds like you’re spinning pretty hard yourself, trying to make excuses.
Oliver, I see you’re busy tracking down the really important stories, like whether or not Sarah Palin has an American flag in addition to an Israeli flag in her office, but maybe you can spare a few minutes to comment on the Obama campaign’s continuing efforts to stifle criticism of The Chosen One.
Remember the campaign’s recent lawsuit and attempts to have charges brought against the American Issues Project for their ad linking Obama and Bill Ayers (despite it containing no actual lies, just uncomfortable truths for the Man of Hope)? And the “Obama Action Wire” exhorting his faithful followers to flood the switchboard of Chicago radio station WGN to try to keep them from airing Stanley Kurtz’s discussion of his investigation into links between Obama and Bill Ayers and the failure of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, Obama’s sole source of ‘executive’ experience? And the later “Obama Action Wire” trying to do the same thing to keep WGN from airing David Freddoso’s discussion of his book The Case Against Barack Obama: The Unlikely Rise and Unexamined Agenda of the Media’s Favorite Candidate?
Now, the campaign is trying to intimidate TV stations to keep them from airing NRA ads pointing out Barack’s record on the second amendment by threatening to have their FCC license revoked, citing factcheck.org and the Washington Post as their justification despite the fact that both of these sources have been demonstrated to be wrong.
And to add to all the “stifling of dissent” Hope and Change goodness, the Obama campaign is also asking Missouri law enforcement to target anyone who lies or runs a misleading TV ad against Obama.
Any harsh words against the Obama campaign’s actions, Oliver? Or are you perfectly happy to have criticism silenced as long as it’s in support of your preferred candidate?
Let me get this straight Duros: you guys are asserting that she said the equivilent of this:
“I, a sitting governor of the state of Alaska, have only one flag in my office. It is the flag of the state of Israel. I do not have a flag of the United States, nor a flag of the state of Alaska.”
She said this to a head of state, and you are certain that she was expecting him to take her literally. You base this off a quote from the NY Sun that has no other supporting context. Do I have that right?
Do you think she really thought Peres was going to take her literally?
Thank you Haplo. It is a huge relief to know that we shouldn’t take anything Palin says literally or even to expect that she actually believes what she’s saying. I mean, phew, that really is a load off my mind.
I read somewhere that there is a point in a campaign where even partisans start to buy their own spin. This strikes me as an example – you take a quote from Palin that anyone, even Peres, would know is probably false if taken literally, and yet you claim this is evidence of Palin’s great perfidy rather than considering that there are other, more benign and likely (yet lacking the punch you desire) explanations.
I think the rest of the paragraph exemplifies its first sentence nicely. Way to go Haplo.
What you’re saying is that if anyone took Palin’s statement – “The only flag at my office is an Israeli flag” – to mean what it actually means, they would be a fool because clearly, this statement is false.
You know Haplo, you might have gone with the explanation that Palin dropped the qualifier, the only “foreign” flag at my office. That would actually make sense. To suggest that Palin was speaking metaphorically or figuratively, however, is just idiotic.
I find it interesting that you disregarded the misstatement defense and went straight for the “saying things that are demonstrably false to make a point is okay” defense. Classic.
you guys are asserting that she said the equivilent of this:
I’m not asserting an equivalent of anything. I’m going by what was quoted. You seem to be the one asserting something other than what she said.
fafaroo,
I don’t know exactly what Palin was trying to say. Thats the whole point – you guys went immediately for the least plausible meaning in order to bolster your partisan preconceptions. I doubt you even stopped to consider that your claim, when taken to its logical conclusion about what she meant, is pretty ridiculous. “Hey Shimon, you may have seen or heard about the offices of elected officials in the US and other countries – they usually have flags of the country and the state – but not mine! Israel only!”
Bah – pleading for reasonable-ness from partisans is like asking for candor from a politician – a fools errand.
“Um, guys? The headline of Oliver’s article:
“Sarah Palin Doesn’t Have An American Flag In Her Office”
I point out that that is incorrect.”
You are really fucking stupid.
“Let me get this straight Duros: you guys are asserting that she said the equivilent of this:
‘I, a sitting governor of the state of Alaska, have only one flag in my office. It is the flag of the state of Israel. I do not have a flag of the United States, nor a flag of the state of Alaska.’”
That is what she said. She was stupid for having said it, but that is what she said.
Ugh, now you guys fall back to the “its what the quote said!” defense. Here is a simple question – do you think your take on the quote – that it indicates that Palin is a big liar – a reasonable take?
“I, a sitting governor of the state of Alaska, have only one flag in my office. It is the flag of the state of Israel. I do not have a flag of the United States, nor a flag of the state of Alaska.”
She did say that. She said, and I quote, “the only flag in my office is the flag of Israel”, which is a much more consise way of saying all that bumph. Is English not your first language?
>She did say that. She said, and I quote, “the only flag in my office is the flag of Israel”, which is a much more consise way of saying all that bumph. Is English not your first language?
Lol this is funny. Do you guys interact with other people this way? Everything someone says is 100% literal, regardless of what context they might have said it in? My friend said he’s going to kill me! Guess I better call the cops!
I don’t know exactly what Palin was trying to say.
Exactly so. Which is why you should stop talking.
Was she making stuff up then or are you making stuff up now?
Like Will Rogers said, “Never miss an opportunity to shut up.”
I’d ask what’s wrong with Haplo but I expect the answer is being a Republican.
“Someone doesn’t get tongue in cheek”
Thats what she said….
Oh I see … Sarah is just a constant ham, about only having an Israeli flag in her office;
and when she claims that living in a state next door to Russia she is kidding around,
and when she doesn’t know what the Bush Doctrine is, or when she said “Thanks but no thanks” to Bridge-to-Nowhere money, she was just goofing off. Can’t you guys take a joke?
This is all keeping in line with the ironic tone of the McCain campaign … oh, I get it now … “Country first”. Wink
Republican humor
oops, left out “living next to a state next to Russia makes her a policy expert”
Now it makes a little more sense …
“THere is a simple question – do you think your take on the quote – that it indicates that Palin is a big liar – a reasonable take?”
Haplo, I would respond but I’m having a hard time understanding what you’re asking. Are you actually asking the question you wrote or are you possibly asking another question that’s not evident from reading what you typed?
Can we get some clarification here?
Here is a simple question – do you think your take on the quote – that it indicates that Palin is a big liar – a reasonable take?
Given the campaign’s somewhat relaxed attitude toward the facts since the governor signed on, you can’t blame somebody for wondering.
Just as a word from the wise: words are all we have.
Yes, nobody is perfect, but the more mistakes the worse off you are.
And to say “We shouldn’t take things literally” is asinine and is what creates and promotes ignorance. It’s not a sin to demand more from ourselves and our leaders.
If we can’t trust what someone says, we can’t very well trust the person. Yeah, it’s a gaffe, but she has more gaffes than Jimmy Fallon.
Where the hell did you get the idea that her husband doesn’t recognize the jurisdiction of the US over Alaska? That’s totally inaccurate. He simply expressed the desire to have a democratic vote on how the Alaskans desire to govern themselves. Any American who believes in democracy would naturally support such a vote.
If you people are so convinced that a majority of Americans still want to be part of this union then why don’t you support a vote and end the discussion once and for all. I think we all know that the minority who continue to defend this long obsolete, archaic and now totally dysfunctional union oppose a democratic vote on it because they know perfectly well that the majority of the American people would never approve of it. They wouldn’t have approved it in 1789 (it just barely passed in the state legislatures at the time, in some cases just by one or two (bribed) votes), and they don’t want it now.
If you insist on claiming that people do not have the right to declare independence if they should choose to do so, then you might want to read the Declaration of Independence, where that right is specifically stated. The USA was great in its time, but it’s over now. Bankrupt morally, ethically, financially and in every other way. It’s become a travesty of everything it once stood for and it’s time to put it out of its misery. History moves on and sometimes “it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another.”
He simply expressed the desire to have a democratic vote on how the Alaskans desire to govern themselves.
Are you saying that Alaskans don’t have that now?
The USA was great in its time, but it’s over now.
So you’re advocating insurrection now. Good to now.
Traitor.
*know*
“The USA was great in its time, but it’s over now.”
That’s a great point, Mike. What a stirring defense of democracy. I think you should fire off a letter to Sarah Palin and John McCain urging them to run on the “Tt’s time to put the country out of its misery” platform. I’m sure they’d love to hear from you.
Otherwise known as the Norquist Doctrine.
mike: If you insist on claiming that people do not have the right to declare independence if they should choose to do so, then you might want to read the Declaration of Independence, where that right is specifically stated. The USA was great in its time, but it’s over now. Bankrupt morally, ethically, financially and in every other way. It’s become a travesty of everything it once stood for and it’s time to put it out of its misery. History moves on and sometimes “it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another.”
Yes, where it’s specifically stated. But then, if folks want to secede then on would hope “that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation” in words a bit more convincing than just “it’s a travesty that should be put out of its misery”.
But then, “Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes” so perhaps you’d like to re-think this who “I’m outta here” attitude. (Not that we’ll miss you.)
Just a couple of things I saw specifically stated somewhere.
…this whole “I’m outta here” attitude.
Fixed
trying to figure out how important this thread is…
so much energy being spent on the simple subject of a flag. Sounds strangely reminiscent of the big hooplah made about obama not wearing a flag pin. Only more pathetic.
Don’t succumb to right-wing methods oliver.
Any harsh words against the Obama campaign’s actions, Oliver? Or are you perfectly happy to have criticism silenced as long as it’s in support of your preferred candidate?
No response. That’s what I thought. I’ll put you down as favoring thuggish efforts to silence critics as long as they’re in the service of the Chosen One.
Thanks for clarifying your position.