Margo Howard | 07/05/2009 7:15 am
Margo Howard, Ann Coulter Miraculously Agree: Palin Too Big for Alaska
Editor’s Note: A longtime journalist, Margo Howard went into the
family business (her mother was the fabled Ann Landers) in the 1990s as
Dear Prudence. Her broad experience and understanding of human nature
provide answers for the troubled — and entertainment for everyone else. Margo’s advice column, Dear Margo, appears twice a week — on Thursdays and Fridays — on wowOwow.com.
To slightly skew an e-mail that was going around a few weeks ago, let me just say that friends said the day I agreed with Ann Coulter pigs would fly. Well, swine flu … and I now find myself in agreement with Coulter. [Click here for Coulter’s post.] Sarah Palin is too big for Alaska. And you know why? She signed a book deal – reportedly for somewhere between $7,000,000 and $11,000,000. In April. I do not know how I missed this news, but I did. Maybe you did, too. In any case, no one is particularly tying this news to her resignation. I mean, wouldn’t you rather earn X millions of dollars than $175,000? The haste with which she made her announcement, however, does nothing to disabuse me of the idea that she and the Mr. might be in some legal trouble.
I think quitting for a big-bucks book deal shows a real lack of character, but a great deal of opportunism. The citizens of Alaska elected her to a term of office and she is skipping out because … well, she is too big for Alaska. People who are lame ducks seldom deal with their duckhood by resigning, so let’s scratch that one.
I do disagree with Coulter (my usual stance) on one point she makes in her post. She writes, "I thought her press conference explained it very clearly – though she couldn’t put it precisely this way without sounding vain, but it’s obvious." She "explained it clearly"? That, my dear, is a stretch. If she had explained it clearly the news outlets and the blogosphere would not be talking about how it could barely qualify as English.
Should you want to read a hilarious entry from Jim Washburn’s blog, here’s the beginning, and the link:
To slightly skew an e-mail that was going around a few weeks ago, let me just say that friends said the day I agreed with Ann Coulter pigs would fly. Well, swine flu … and I now find myself in agreement with Coulter. [Click here for Coulter’s post.] Sarah Palin is too big for Alaska. And you know why? She signed a book deal – reportedly for somewhere between $7,000,000 and $11,000,000. In April. I do not know how I missed this news, but I did. Maybe you did, too. In any case, no one is particularly tying this news to her resignation. I mean, wouldn’t you rather earn X millions of dollars than $175,000? The haste with which she made her announcement, however, does nothing to disabuse me of the idea that she and the Mr. might be in some legal trouble.
I think quitting for a big-bucks book deal shows a real lack of character, but a great deal of opportunism. The citizens of Alaska elected her to a term of office and she is skipping out because … well, she is too big for Alaska. People who are lame ducks seldom deal with their duckhood by resigning, so let’s scratch that one.
I do disagree with Coulter (my usual stance) on one point she makes in her post. She writes, "I thought her press conference explained it very clearly – though she couldn’t put it precisely this way without sounding vain, but it’s obvious." She "explained it clearly"? That, my dear, is a stretch. If she had explained it clearly the news outlets and the blogosphere would not be talking about how it could barely qualify as English.
Should you want to read a hilarious entry from Jim Washburn’s blog, here’s the beginning, and the link:
‘Let’s go quit!’ That was CNN’s Candy Crowley Friday night, imagining the decision process that led to Sarah Palin’s resignation, so spontaneous and unplanned did it seem. Nutty, too. It sounded like Richard Nixon if, heading into his Checkers Speech, he’d first taken the edge off by mixing Benzedrex inhalers into his rum and Cokes, the ones Dick Tuck had laced with pure Sandoz LSD, and then Nixon had gone on camera and wrestled an imaginary bear that turned into a black Satan and he’s going to keep that precious baby, no matter what anybody says, even the NBA coaches. That kind of nutty.Click here for the rest of Jim’s blog.
Read more about: Alaska, Ann Coulter, Books, Jim Washburn, Margo Howard, News, Politics, Sarah Palin
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648 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment
It is one thing to say ‘is this turning into a pissing contest…." and then leave it at that, leaving both sides opportunity to ask themselves if they have gone too far.
It is ANOTHER thing to suggest that one side in particular, even one person in particular—is at fault! THAT is ‘choosing sides’ , ASSUMING only one point of view is ‘wrong’(other than ‘yours’)……rather than asking for rationallity and civility from all sides….
For a while, I purposely stayed away from here——too many insults, too many fanatics, too many statements that had less to do with having conversation, and more to do with proganda and attacks……hardly a venue for ‘intelligent women’ whose goal is to have discourse with other intelligent women.
Er pedant alert, it’s horsewoman or if you want to be PC, horseperson. An equestrian is a person who rides horses as in equitation, a horseperson is involved with their care and maintenance, likes them etc.
Yours
Melyni (horse person in VA)
Margo,
As always I am entertained with your wit, and am frankly appalled at the personal attacks on you by some of Palin’s flock. In today’s New York Times, Ross Douthat noted the following in his editorial about Palin:
"In a recent Pew poll, 44 percent of Americans regarded Palin unfavorably. But slightly more had a favorable impression of her. That number included 46 percent of independents, and 48 percent of Americans without a college education."
That last half of the last sentence is very telling. Her defenders display no grasp of the reality that is Sarah Palin, and opt to shoot below the belt at anyone who questions her competence, or her ability to string a sentence together. I hope you enjoyed a good guffaw when you were accused of being ‘jealous’ of Palin’s overblown payday for ‘her’ book, because I know I did. (Someone obviously didn’t do their research about you either.) To equate the best-sellers list with good literature is only reflective of the "American Idol" mentality that is pervasive in our society today. If it’s (she’s) popular, it (she) must be great!
I, for one, just wish she would stay in the frozen outer territory and take care of her children and leave the rest of us alone.
Ah, my dears, I have a little observation for you. Do you want catty comments? Do you want LOTS and LOTS of catty comments?
Than follow any shoddy old story with "Palin" or "Coulter" in the title, dahlings, pro or con, my dears. It draws sharks like blood in the water, doesn’t it?
The opinions that are held with passion are always those for which no good ground exists; indeed the passion is the measure of the holder’s lack of rational conviction. Opinions in politics and religion are almost always held passionately.
Bertrand Russell Sceptical Essays
A classic story, with politicians… Very often when arguing politics, when they cannot substantiate their claim, with Facts, Proof, they stoop to personal attacks.
Now, their tactics have caught on….
Well said Mommy Dearest.
A) Everyone is entitled to their opinion.
B) "Foul" language is a part of life, deal with it.
C) While to some, Sarah Palin is a hero, someone to honor and emulate. I frankly, am sick and tired of hearing from her. Yes there are some comments and attacks against Sarah Palin and her family that didn’t need to be made, but Palin still disgusts me. Let me parade my pregnant daughter around on national TV and talk about how she’s going to get married and what a good girl she is for doing it. Let me not finish the job I was elected to do. You know what, she resigned from being Gov. of Alaska, do you really, REALLY think that this is a good track record?
Your request is being processed…Your request is being processed… Palin Hit With Another Ethics Com Your request is being processed…Your request is being processed… Geoffrey Dunn
Award-winning journalist, filmmaker and historian
Posted: July 6, 2009 07:44 PMIn the wake of Governor Palin stepping down from her job, new allegations have surfaced today in Alaska charging Palin with additional violations of the Alaska Executive Ethics Act.
Zane Henning — a conservative government watchdog from the governor’s hometown of Wasilla and an oilfield worker on Alaska’s North Slope — asserts in a letter to Alaska Attorney General Daniel S. Sullivan that Palin has "been charging and pocketing per diem to live in her home and has used the process for a personal gain since being elected."
The Washington Post first broke this story last September during the 2008 presidential race, but until now, no formal ethics charges have been brought on the matter in Alaska.
In a detailed press release accompanying his complaint, Henning declared that:
Henning noted that "the State of Alaska provides housing in Juneau for the Governor."
Henning further argued that Alaska Statute 39.20.010 sets an "annual salary for the governor of $125,000."
According to Henning:
In February, Palin was required to pay back income taxes on thousands of dollars in expense money she received while living at her home overlooking Lake Lucille in Wasilla. Little more than two weeks ago she was forced to pay back the State of Alaska more than $8,100.00 for nine trips taken by her children that she had improperly charged as being part of official state business.
Henning contends the per diem is another way for the Alaska governor to line her pockets at the state’s expense:
"The Governor is quitting her job," said Henning, "and now more than ever the State of Alaska, along with its residents, need to be reimbursed for the per diem charges, including interest and a fine…[I]t is up to private citizens, like myself, to hold our Governor accountable."