Tuesday, March 6, 2012

"Game Change" - Sarah Palin's Trojan Horse?

For Truthers another highly anticipated date approaches . March 10th, HBO premieres “Game Change.” The movie, like last year’s Palin books, is the current now-people-will- see-the –real-Sarah piece of merchandising we’ve built up in our minds and on our blogs. Well, I’d advise not to pop the cork on the champagne when the title appears on the screen. Wait until the credits roll and see if you still feel like celebrating.

“Game Change” the movie may be the game changer for public opinion of Sarah that puts her in a better position on Sunday morning than she’s been in a long time. March 11, we may wake up to pundits raving about the movie, talking about the hockey mom who was so badly mistreated that the fact that she survived at all shows she is a superwoman, supermom, superpatriot, and the reincarnation of Queen Esther. This could be a nightmare. One more time, Sarah Palin might be the hottest thing the Republicans have to offer in their stumbling, bumbling, awkward sack race to the national convention.
Yup,  “Game Change” may turn out to be the Republican Party’s launching of Sarah Palin 2.0 - refurbished and sold “as is” to those who love the brand and can’t find a new, untarnished version.
How can it be?  Allison, you are wrong. You MUST be wrong.  Please, say you are joking. (See?  I can argue with myself, too.) But here’s the key to Sarah’s return - sympathy. It's a key she wears around her neck. Mom of a child with Down Syndrome. Mom of an unwed teenage daughter. Mom of a deployed soldier. First female governor who took on the "good ole boys." Wife of a man wrongly accused (ha- read this) of cheating. A mother who is stung by the insensitivity of David Letterman (has she said anything to the parents of Sandra Fluke about Rush's beyond crude comments or their having been deemed "entertainment" or .simply "inappropriate" by GOP leaders? - NO.) Sarah wants all the sympathy and leaves none for anyone else. It's been a gold mine for her.

Yesterday morning on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Jonn Halperin, co-author of “Game Change” was shown about a 30 second clip of a 2 ½ minute movie “trailer” created by SarahPAC to rebut the upcoming HBO movie version of the book and asked to comment. The pro-Sarah donation-funded advertisement says exactly what you’d expect, i.e. the movie gets it wrong. Actual footage of cheering crowds, enamored reporters, and the McCain team’s grandiose descriptions of the accomplishments of the sitting governor, all move across the screen in rapid-fire succession. Ho hum.

Halperin’s reaction is  that they (Sarah and her team) are assuming this movie is negative. But, he says, the movie is very sympathetic toward her. He says they had a screening in Seattle this past weekend, the movie was shown to an audience of 500 “mostly not pro-Palin people andwhen it was over, they were asked how many felt more sympathetic toward the VP candidate after seeing the movie. Almost everyone had a hand in the air Mr. Halperin goes on to say it is “largely sympathetic.” “It’s going to be uniting,” for the Republicans.

Yesterday I watched it live and found it on the MSNBC site for Morning Joe. Today I'm having problems with it. Here's a link to another site, Real Clear Politics, reporting with an opinion different from mine, where you can watch the clip and consider an opposing view:

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=2&cts=1331059889966&ved=0CDMQqQIwAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2Fvideo%2F2012%2F03%2F05%2Fgame_change_author_halperin_palin_just_assuming_movie_is_a_smear.html&ei=c1pWT9aXE8Tg0QHcy7y8Cg&usg=AFQjCNGCaNKbf4HFXLVkf-XQlf2pr7BTFA&sig2=J8_A2oCzK2UBe5AvE_uEvA

Again this morning, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski had Game Change on their minds. Both of the co-authors were on the show, MarkHalperin joining  with Mark Halperin to discuss and promote “Game Change, ” and Julianne Moore, too.

This time Joe and Mika said they’d been to a preview.  Their descriptions work in Sarah’s favor, too:
Sympathetic
Balanced
Sympathetic
Accurate
Sympathetic
It’s the story of a woman
Recently given birth
Plucked from obscurity
Put on national stage
Recently found out her daughter was pregnant
Son about to deeply to Iraq
Sympathetic
People around her did not have her best interest at heart
Not well informed about some areas of international politics
Treated cruelly
Sympathetic
A mom separated from her kids
Sympathetic

I don’t know about you, but my enthusiasm has been replaced with trepidation. For years, we’ve heard about Sarah’s ability to come back after being written off, to come from behind, to pull of a political imitation of Lazarus, and yet, we Truthers fall for the next book, the next movie, whatever….     Every time! 

What has Sarah used to her advantage as much as her female identity? Maybe Trig, but technically he is an offshoot. She’s never a “parent” she’s a “mom,” be it a “Hockey mom”or  the “mother of a combat vet” or “Trig’s mother.”  Her story about being pregnant and over 40 sells over and over, no man can touch it and no thinking woman who sees the March 2008 pictures of her can believe it but still, it sells. You never hear Todd Palin say “when our daughter Bristol came to us and told us she was pregnant…”; no, it’s a much more sympathetic phrase when it comes from Sarah.  She winks, she licks her lips, she crosses her legs wearing short skirts. She thrusts out her chest. She wears stupidly high heels. And she interjects sexual references into her challenges, her complaints, and her excuses. All the while, she complains that she's been the victim of sexism.

Good grief, "Game Change” is going to do more for the sympathetic female image Sarah wants to promote than “The Undefeated,” ever could. That’s my fear. That’s my prediction.

While I don’t like the looks of this one bit, I’m going to have to sign up for HBO just to see this for myself. In my gut, I know  I’m opening the gates and inviting the Trojan Horse inside the walls of my sanctuary. I hope I’m wrong, but I believe history teaches lessons. I believe the Palins’ history shows clear patterns, and in this case it’s Sarah’s pattern of making a comeback that I fear.  It’s what she does. If you can’t watch the movie Saturday night, tune in to the Sunday morning and Monday morning talk shows. We’ll be hearing the concensus together 12 – 48 hours after the credits roll. 

 I’d love to be proven wrong. We will know very soon.

23 comments:

annettej said...

Joe and Mika are not exactly the two people I'd get my information from.

Most notably though it doesn't matter how sympathetic they claim the movie is to her because of her extenuating circumstances----she was not competent to be a vp nominee.

Have these excuses ever popped up for a man?

All of the things going on in her life just proves she should not have accepted McCain's offer. It was all about her narcissism and not the country. Let's face it, her whining about how she has been wronged flies in the face of the interview she did about Hilary Clinton during the 2008 campaign--complaining.

And to me this was never about Sarah making a comeback. She is here. She howls on FAUX and whines on Facebook and probably titters on Twitter. Her unfavorables are EXTREME--but she's like a five legged dog in a carnival, you could feel sorry for her but she's making a living and unlike the dog--crazy as hell.

It was all about her know nothing self trying to run for President that made people wet themselves. That will not be happening. And she can talk about a brokered convention all she wants--she will be swatted like Rush is being now--that will not be happening.

I will be watching Game Change for fun--not to see her squished like a bug. She does that to herself on a regular basis anyway.

Anonymous said...

I got a bit worried when Jay Leno liked it, as he's a big Republican. But I don't think anyone who feels "sympathy" for her would want her in office. It's more like: "Poor thing, in over her precious little bitty head."
Jf anything, it will set women as candidates back for 100 years. But she already did that. It's history now. Instead of picking a competent educated woman for the "game change," they picked one with the IQ of 83 whose husband ran a prostitution ring. That's today's GOP.

Anonymous said...

If Sarah were a man, she'd be President. If she were a man, she'd be Obama. They are one and the same politically.

You can't even deny it rationally.

She wouldn't be called a nutcase or over emotional. She wouldn't be attacked for crap democrats get away with everyday.

You pick apart everything she does and every misstep. What were your thoughts on Obama getting his senate minority leader's name wrong. he called his Mike, not Mitch. That's just one itty bitty thing that republicans would be nailed on. May not matter. It doesn't. Obama's still an inconsequential leader when it's all said and done. The hypocrisy amongst libs is just mindboggling.

so everytime you try to create your anti-Palin mythology and make up more bullshit about things you know nothing about, think about all the good in the world, and how YOURE not apart of it - because you're busy doing nothing.

Anonymous said...

When it comes down to it, let them think what they want. If they care enough to bother with what I do, then I'm already better than them.

Anonymous said...

It is what it is. This movie will illicit different opinions from different people, depending not just upon their overall opinion of Palin but whether they see her as a victim or a numbnut. Just as her book and the books that others have written about her have been viewed differently by different people, this movie will as well.

We've often discussed that if Babygate truly broke there would be the camp that felt that Palin did the right thing and they would support her decision. There would also be those that judged her harshly for the lies and obfuscation surrounding her decision. This would not "bring her down".

Problem is, nothing will "bring her down"; there are no icebergs. This movie will make the skeptics even more skeptical and make the apologists even more sympathetic. She'll still spout her nonsense on Fox and still bandy about hints that she might run for POTUS. We will get to see first hand what we, as detractors have always known; that she is not very bright and lacks basic understanding of world affairs and might possibly suffer from some sort of mental illness. The Fox News viewer will see a poor, pitiful "everywoman" that was thrust into a situation that she was not capable of handling, because "she's just like them". This poor gal loves her country so much that she was willing to sacrifice her health, family and much personal embarrassment to try to save America!

We'll all take away what we want to from this film based on how we already feel. It might be called "Game Change" but I seriously doubt that it will change anyone's minds about Palin. You either love her or hate her and there's very little in between.

Anonymous said...

@12:31 - please leave your racist comments about our brilliant President to your own low information blog and/or FB page where the FBI can watch you. Your lack of reasoning power belies your low IQ. You should be ashamed to post comments, because you appear to be so stupid. But you never are. It's quite sad. It must hurt to go through life so alone, so uneducated, so unable to comprehend the depths of the world. Your psyche is so obviously wounded, and your heart is in such a crisis state.

Olivia said...

Just remember if this turns out to generate goodwill for Sarah, she and her flying monkeys have been all over the place shrieking that it is all lies. Of course, she never has to account for anything she says so no one will question her about it.

Olivia said...

Anonymous @ 12:31

With a teeny weeny brain like yours, how do you ever manage to get past the "captcha" code?

Cracklin Charlie said...

12:36

Sarah?

Anonymous said...

I heard an interview on NPR with an author who wrote about the Obamas in the White House. She talked a lot about how much the Obamas actually have to pay for out of their own pockets. If grifter granny found out that it wasn't going to be a free-for-all all-expenses-paid wild party time she most likely wouldn't want the job. It's too much work anyway and you have to learn too much and think too much. Better to keep on with the faux noose and lecture circuit , winking and pageant walking - those are much easier ways to get money.

Anonymous said...

The truth is, 12:31, if Sarah was a man, she wouldn't have been Governor of Alaska. She wouldn't have been considered for the VPOTUS slot. The only reason she was chosen was because she's a woman, because of her face and her legs and her winking. She was chosen for the most sexist reasons possible and she welcomed that sexism.

Sarah Palin is an empty shell.

Your comparison of her to President Obama reeks of desperation and ignorance. It is a false equivalency because the opposite is true.

If Barack Obama wasn't bi-racial, he wouldn't be attacked the way he has been. His citizenship or intelligence or accomplishments wouldn't be questioned.

Anonymous said...

I have been afraid of this. Nicole Wallace and Steve Schmidt surely know that she did not give birth to Trig, and most probably that Bristol was not pregnant during the campaign. The fact that they are out there bravely presenting the "truth" about Sarah Palin as mentally unstable and unprepared, but NOT mentioning the Babygate issues and not revealing how she was really chosen for VP, means that this book and movie are a coverup. They are creating a false version of history to protect the religious leaders who were behind getting Sarah on the ticket. And Babygate is how they did it.

Jo said...

Anon@2:13--I suspect that you are correct. I have wondered if Schmidt is 'taking the fall' for the Palin pick, rewriting history, instead of telling about those who were really behind the Palin pick.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps they really picked her at a sex party, I mean gambling party, I mean swinger pary, errrrr craigslist.

Anonymous said...

I, also, think that McCain, Schmidt and the rest of those on the campaign know all about babygate. I think that is why the truth about the Palin's hasn't come out. Too damaging. Murdock, McCain and god knows who else are involved in the coverup. I willing to bet that they found out about TODD THE PIMP, also2. I'm reading Shailey's book and I'm disgusted with what the Palin's have been able to get away with.

@12:31 Hi Sarah. You will never be anything but a mentally unstable, low IQ, crazy lying witch.

Alicat

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
If Sarah were a man, she'd be President. If she were a man, she'd be Obama. They are one and the same politically.

You can't even deny it rationally.

She wouldn't be called a nutcase or over emotional. She wouldn't be attacked for crap democrats get away with everyday.

You pick apart everything she does and every misstep. What were your thoughts on Obama getting his senate minority leader's name wrong. he called his Mike, not Mitch. That's just one itty bitty thing that republicans would be nailed on. May not matter. It doesn't. Obama's still an inconsequential leader when it's all said and done. The hypocrisy amongst libs is just mindboggling.

so everytime you try to create your anti-Palin mythology and make up more bullshit about things you know nothing about, think about all the good in the world, and how YOURE not apart of it - because you're busy doing nothing.

March 6, 2012 12:31 PM

Are you for real?
SArah can't even remember where the fuck Tri-G was born.

Anonymous said...

I think it will be OK.
I think Sarah is being set up to be the biggest scapegoat/takedown in GOP history. They will take her down for everything, any of it, all of it, pretend they are gonna clean house and start over.
Thats what 2012 will bring. Many mea culpas, "we screwed up" , "let the Palin fiasco be a lesson to us"..
Poor stupid Sarah, well poor mentally ill Sarah, can't see the writng on the wall.
This is gonna be epic.

telah said...

I just watched a clip on Morning Joe at the very end, and Nicole Wallace and Steve Schmidt were standing watching as well. The scene is Nicole asking Steve whether he ever asked her about foreign policy, national security, ... ANYthing?.. The acting is EXCELLENT by the Nicole character and Woody Harrelson as Schmidt.
Even if people are sympathetic to Palin, they are bound to walk away thinking "Holy Shit! We Dodged a HUGE bullet!" So she can prattle on and spew and spit and say treasonous comments about our president all she wants...she is no longer a candidate for Anything but Reality TV Star.

Unknown said...

The hypocrisy regarding the movie is ridiculous. We're supposed to have sympathy for her because of her being a Mom of a special needs child, a pregnant teen and having a son in Iraq. At the same time, we're not supposed to treat her differently because she's a woman but that's what they're asking us to do with the above nonsense.

Palin had two months on the campaign trail that she couldn't handle because she was not qualified, NOT because anyone was mean to her. She was no different than she was during her mayoral campaign and her gubernatorial campaign except for the fact that she couldn't call the shots and hated giving up control. BUT, Palin accepted the nomination, she AGREED to do this and then tried to turn things around, demanding the campaign lie for her, do things her way, etc.

Palin went so far during the campaign as to ask that the money coming in for the campaign be split into money that she raised and money McCain raised!! She didn't see this as working with McCain, she was looking at the opportunity for her to get ahead. The nonsense that she cared about McCain is bullshit! HBO fell for her lies if they are portraying her in a sympathetic manner. It's what she wants, she's always the victim and relishes the role, playing it to the hilt.

As women, we're more apt to see through her than men are because we have dealt with girls like this in high school. Unfortunately, many of those girls never grow up and Palin is one of them.

The last thing I'll ever feel for Palin is sympathy. She actively pursued the nomination from the week she was elected governor, hiring a public relations company to advertise "Alaska" on a national basis, but in reality, they were promoting Sarah, NOT Alaska. For a year and a half she pursued the nomination and yet never bothered to become more informed about what she didn't know. It wasn't because she was too busy governing AK, her staff did the actual policy work, NOT Sarah. She didn't further educate herself on domestic or foreign policy. There's zero reason to have sympathy for a woman who was seeking a position for which she was blatantly unqualified. She believed she could do as she had done in Alaska, hiring others to do all the work while accepting all the public glory. When called on it, she cried victim, this is apparent to anyone with an ounce of perception.

However, we have to remember what Sarah said. The HBO movie is ALL fiction so that means the parts that make her look good fall into the same category. She may well regret her trashing of a movie that might have had the ability to help in some small way to recreate her image. Thanks, Sarah, we'll remember what you said, none of it actually happened the way it's portrayed, especially the parts that would have some being sympathetic to your situation.

Anonymous said...

@12:31 -

Sorry, no, one is a kind, intelligent, politically moderate man who was actually elected by the good people of this country to be our top executive...the other is a dumbass con artist who was roundly rejected by this country, and shrieks her jealousy constantly from her badly decorated living room studio. They can't be compared. Sarah isn't qualified to scrub the white house floors. Quit trying to make them equals, no one is buying that crap.

Evi L. Bloggerlady said...

Sadly this upcoming science fiction movie seems more fact based than HBO's Game Change

Ivyfree said...

"If they care enough to bother with what I do, then I'm already better than them."

Oh, hell to the no, buttercup. You're not ahead of us. We lapped you.

Anonymous said...

You were absolutely right, Allison, I was listening to "Morning Joe" today, and they reviewed "Game Change," glowingly, saying that Palin was "superhuman." They emphasized her grit and determination to make the VP gig work and downplayed her total lack of information or qualifications. They said "she didn't know what she didn't know," so she couldn't realize how unsuitable she was. She couldn't talk about national policy because she was used to talking about the price of gas and regular governing things. Ack! They still buy the hype about her. Babygate needs to explode soon.
~physicsmom