Huckleberries Online

Liz: Sarah Palin Not My Cup Of Tea

Posted by DFO

Dec. 8, 2009 9 a.m. • 16 comments

Lizard People: Is there a political way forward for the Alternative Right at all? I don’t think so, but there are elections coming up, you know. Some people seem to think Ron Paul might run again in 2012. It’s possible. We have other options, actually, and it is a good idea to show America that we are more than a cult of personality, or a “one trick pony”. Gary Johnson seems worthy of support. We’d better get started. And just to cut down on the confusion, let’s cleave the Palinite Tea Partiers from the “Alternative Right” right now, before they break our hearts down the road.

Question: What advice would you give Lizard People re: options for the Alternative Right?

I used to identify with the Tea Partiers. After all, I’m a part of the Alternative Right, and the tea party folks seem to be somewhat like us, in that now that a Democrat is in power, suddenly they also love liberty and the constitution. HA!!!

It’s tempting to find common cause with them, to sit in on their meetings and make nice, but I can’t hold my nose that long, and I can’t seem to avoid using the phrase “illegal wars” long enough to befriend them. It feels greasy at any rate. I’m not sure I want to befriend people who think everything would be okay if only McCain would have been elected. Or Bill Sali for that matter.

It sure seems like the Tea Parties have been co-opted by the same old bunch that marginalized Ron Paulers during the 2008 campaign.

So, I guess the name of the game is still education. But instead of education by pointing out the similarities, I think pointing out the differences is the way to go. “We’re not like you. We never supported Bush. We didn’t want McCain.”

One positive trend I see is the growing use of the term “Alternative Right”. It sounds less like in-group jargon than “Paleocon”.

Is there a political way forward for the Alternative Right at all? I don’t think so, but there are elections coming up, you know. Some people seem to think Ron Paul might run again in 2012. It’s possible. We have other options, actually, and it is a good idea to show America that we are more than a cult of personality, or a “one trick pony”. Gary Johnson seems worthy of support. We’d better get started. And just to cut down on the confusion, let’s cleave the Palinite Tea Partiers from the “Alternative Right” right now, before they break our hearts down the road.

16 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

idawa on December 08 at 9:12 a.m.
I think what is the most off-putting of those I’ve met in the “alternative right” is how they believe that they are the only true lovers of the Constitution and also refuse to believe that any interpretation of the document outside what they believe it means is valid. Of course, few of them actually know what the Constitution says about anything (or that you should capitalize it as a proper noun - see above). ;) I love the Constitution dearly, I carry it with me everywhere I go, and yet, I don’t think I would agree with most any of the alternative righters about what it means …
empyrius on December 08 at 9:23 a.m.
Gloria La Riva for POTUS! But if we must be a “realist” about hope, well, Ron Paul rocks!

The teabeggars are an uneducated, National Enquirer reading, slogan chanting, manufactured movement of Fox News; beware of the mindless drones!

Sara Palin!!! G ood I ndian L ooking F emale (har har har har).

Peace
empyrius on December 08 at 9:25 a.m.
Constitution
redman on December 08 at 9:25 a.m.
Pony of many tricks make you money
spokelooneh on December 08 at 9:38 a.m.
Tea partiers in lead over GOP:

“Running under the Tea Party brand may be better in congressional races than being a Republican.

In a three-way Generic Ballot test, the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds Democrats attracting 36% of the vote. The Tea Party candidate picks up 23%, and Republicans finish third at 18%. Another 22% are undecided.

Among voters not affiliated with either major party, the Tea Party comes out on top. Thirty-three percent (33%) prefer the Tea Party candidate, and 30% are undecided. Twenty-five percent (25%) would vote for a Democrat, and just 12% prefer the GOP.

Among Republican voters, 39% say they’d vote for the GOP candidate, but 33% favor the Tea Party option. … ”

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/december_2009/tea_party_tops_gop_on_three_way_generic_ballot
Smacky on December 08 at 9:45 a.m.
Polls be damned. When election day comes around it will be difficult for any voter to wrap their head around the platform of a teabagger.
BethB on December 08 at 11:11 a.m.
I miss old style Republicans - the ones who believed across the board that government should stay out of our lives. I don’t agree with of a lot of their solutions as a practical matter, but I miss that philosophy as a counterargument and as a reminder to always act fiscally responsible. Now Republicans are social conservatives, and seem of have sworn off fiscal responsibility except when it suits them. It’s the worst of both worlds. It should be called the LTEC party - for their “let them eat cake” philosophy.
Cabbage Boy on December 08 at 11:20 a.m.
Surprisingly Beth, I agree. I miss the old small government across the board GOP. But I am working to change that at the local level at least.
BethB on December 08 at 12:19 p.m.
I wish you the best on that, CB.
moscow_minidoka on December 08 at 12:28 p.m.
I agree with Beth and CB. My grandfather was that sort of Republican, and he’d be sickened by the degree in which the modern GOP (especially the teabagger wing) wants to intrude on everyone’s personal lives.
MamaJD on December 08 at 1:09 p.m.
I agree with Beth and CB, too. I miss the GOP that stood for fiscal conservatism as its primary cause.
Sisyphus on December 08 at 1:20 p.m.
I’ve written several laments to the same effect. Its exemplified by a comparison of Bush I and II. The GOP is not only rudderless, with no real intellectual pillars, but its also leaderless. Sarah’s exploiting that right now but she needs an lettered adviser to give her some gravitas. There’s been much speculation on who is gonna fill the power vacuum. So far, I don’t like what I see.

I’m surprised MM, there was little but the John Birch society types in IF. While they were always considered fringey on the national scene it concerns me greatly how mainstreamed they are becoming.
Cabbage Boy on December 08 at 1:50 p.m.
I am as socially conservative as they come. But I don’t want the government to fix every social ill. I think the over-reaction and treading into this murky pool is a response to the Democrats desire to push the government into the nanny position. For those that don’t want Gov’t involved in personal lives, which of you are against forced healthcare? And it being taxpayer funded. How about forcing me to pay for abortions? If that isn’t intrusion in a personal life. Condoms in schools? Homosexual sex ed?

I don’t want the GOP passing a federal amendment about marriage, but that is just an overreaction to the liberal push in the opposite direction.

Sis talks about the GOP being rudderless, but I would counter that the Democratic party gets buffeted every which way by every little tempest. Their rudder is lashed to the hard left and the ship is taking on water.
redman on December 08 at 3:14 p.m.
The less our government does the better for us all. There is just too much agreement on this post for this Blog……

pretty soon were going to start singing “we are the world”
BethB on December 08 at 4:19 p.m.
LOL, Redman.
Stickman on December 09 at 3:50 p.m.
‘we are the world’.

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D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.