If the original tea party had charg ed a week ’s wages, we might still be bowing to some Lordship arriving in Boston Harbour

[Cees Binkhorst]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Amerikanen houden echt van hun politici. Véél meer dan in Europa. ;)

Groet / Cees

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/03/grifters-tale/
February 3, 2010, 9:30 pm
Grifters’ Tale
By TIMOTHY EGAN

Judson Phillips is a Tennessee lawyer, specializing in personal injury
lawsuits, drunk-driving cases and men who get into trouble beating their
wives. It was his idea to incorporate Tea Party Nation as a money-making
venture and charge $349 to hear Sarah Palin talk about what’s wrong with
America over steak and lobster this weekend in Nashville.

Andrew Young is a North Carolina lawyer, specializing in John Edwards.
The deceptions. The baby born to the mistress. It was his job to make
sure the Diet Sprite never ran low. And when Edwards suggested that
Young co-habitate with the senator’s mistress, to further an outrageous
lie, Young set up the guest room and explained to his family that they
now had new members.

If there’s money to be made hitching your wagon to a politician trading
in populism, well, who can fault these fine men for seizing the
opportunity. They must know, the check is more reliable than the politician.

Palin and Edwards are two of an American archetype, opportunists playing
to outrage while taking care of themselves. They are both attractive,
with that lucky combination of genes that rarely lands on more than one
member of an extended family. They can both hold an audience without
saying anything of substance, or even making sense.

They repeat certain phrases: “good people,” “real Americans” and “God’s
will” for Palin; “hard-working folks,” “two Americas” and “millworker’s
son” for Edwards. Code words, time-worn and simple, that say: I’m one of
you.

Members of the Tea Party movement, from people who can’t stand having an
African-American in the White House to those genuinely concerned about
the sea of debt, share at least one thing: they fear the country has
gone to ruination.

They see “elites” in banking, on Wall Street, in Washington, getting
theirs at a time when average income did not go up a dime over the last,
lost decade. They should be mad. America is passing them by.

Edwards at one point claimed to be their leader, to share their pain,
even before this movement had a name. His acolyte of 10 years, the
attorney Andrew Young, believed every word.
Associated Press Sarah Palin on her book tour in December.

But Edwards was scamming him. The senator drove a clunker to rallies —
someone else’s car — but tooled around in his Lexus or BMW in private.
He wore Armani suits, careful to tear the label off. While he nested in
a $6 million mansion of nearly 30,000 square feet, he complained about
the “fat rednecks” he had to listen to, those people living in trailers,
with no health insurance, the other Americans.

And the scam extended to loyal donors, most notably Bunny Mellon, the
99-year-old heir to a dynastic family, whose money was solicited to
cover up the mistress story, in Young’s account.
Now Young has found the light, he says in “The Politician,” his tell-all
book. “Virtually every word that came of his mouth was a lie,” he says
of Edwards, “but it was convincing.”

Palin is trying to get in front of the same parade that Edwards wanted
to lead. When she quit on her state, barely halfway through a single
term as governor, her explanation was a classic of incoherence.
She never mentioned the obvious reason for resigning: to get rich,
quick. Nothing wrong with that; it’s as American as late-night ads for
the Snuggie — the blanket with sleeves! But why not come out and say it,
instead of cloaking it in some larger cause?

If Palin truly believed in the Tea Partiers and their discontent, she
would not be charging $100,000 to stoke their fears. She can do that for
free, on Fox. And what policy solutions does she offer the troubled
middle class? Tax cuts, like the ones that caused this massive deficit
to begin with? Preventing new regulation of the banks that got us into
this horrid economic collapse, under the guise of “less government”?

She has nothing to offer but honeyed words, the syrup for suckers.

Say what you will about Tea Partiers, but many of them can see through
this scheme in Nashville. “Smells scammy,” wrote Red State Blogger Erick
Erickson, no friend of the media elite. Others are boycotting it, citing
the $549 price for the convention, or the single night tab of $349 to
hear Palin.

You could even see a bit of suspicion creep into Glenn Beck, Palin’s
enabler on Fox, during the strangest of interviews a few weeks ago.

Beck to Palin: “Who’s your favorite founder?”

Palin: “You know, well, all of them.”

Beck was skeptical.

So Palin, who can’t name a founder any more than she could think of a
Supreme Court decision, wants to lead a movement inspired by the
founders. If the original tea party had charged a week’s wages to
register political outrage, we might still be wearing fussy stockings
and bowing to some Lordship arriving in Boston Harbour.

Palin says she’ll plow her take back into “the cause.” Her favorite
cause, of course, is Sarah Palin. It came to light this week that her
political action committee spent $63,000 to buy copies of “Going Rogue.”
It’s a sweet deal: get average people to donate to Palin. She then
spends their money on her book, increasing her royalties and exposure.

Political grifters, the smart ones, usually get out while the getting’s
good. It’s always about timing: the trick is finding the mark, before
the mark finds you.



2.
Liz I.
The Great Plains
February 3rd, 2010
11:15 pm
Harmless? Half-Governor Palin's misguided policies for the salmon
fisheries and disdain for the energy needs of Alaska Native villages led
to a crisis in the Kuskokwim Delta last winter. Villagers were forced to
choose between food and fuel. Mrs. Palin ignored their plight for six
weeks, while "pajama-clad" bloggers organized a relief effort. Mrs.
Palin finally showed up, carrying a plate of cookies. Then, her
adminstration so poorly managed the state's home health care program for
the elderly and disabled that the feds shut the program down--but not
before some 200 of those elderly and disabled died. She turned down
millions in federal stimulus money for energy improvements for housing,
claiming, falsely, that the money would require onerous state wide
building codes. So, no insulation for Alaskans! At the same time, she
worked to hasten the extinction of Beluga whales and turned a blind eye
to the catastrophic potential of the Chevron oil tank farm located
perilously in the path of an erupting Mt Redoubt. Space precludes me
from discussing her sweetheart deal with TransCanada and Exxon (Exxon!
Whose damage to the state, its people and its resources has never been
made whole) which will most likely result in no pipeline and 1.5 billion
dollars in damages paid to Exxon and TransCanada. Sarah Palin? Harmless?
Just ask Alaskans.
  Recommend  Recommended by 803 Readers
6.
HIGHLIGHT (what's this?)
sbd
new york
February 4th, 2010
8:17 am
Palin can probably only get so far by her own wits. But her brand of
nonsensical folksiness is catnip to a large voting segment of the
American population. Her blind ambition, coupled with the strategy of
the Republican intelligentsia, is where the real danger lies. People
like Karl Rove and Dick Cheney use telegenic fameballs like her as
fronts for their own lust for power. People like Palin who have the
chutzpah to strive for national office, yet no real understanding of the
responsibility that comes with that office (or really anything else, for
that matter), and are blind, deaf and dumb to their own limitations,
give the Roves of the world what they need. That's how we ended up with
the so-called permanent majority of Bush. Not dangerous? Think again.
  Recommend  Recommended by 779 Readers
24.
HIGHLIGHT (what's this?)
Andrea
New Mexico
February 4th, 2010
10:08 am
Sarah Palin wasn''t "harmless" as governor of Alaska. But the reason
Egan takes her seriously -- as well he should! -- is that she's both a
danger and a symptom of Republican fecklessness. Sarah Palin represents
the current GOP's obsessions: empty name-calling, blatant disregard of
the facts (historical and contemporary), substitution of charisma or
attitude for policy, and determination to damage this president rather
than participate in governance. She has demonstrably lied about issues
large and small from the moment she entered the national stage; she
knowingly fomented racial hatred at her campaign rallies in 2008; she
continues to encourage the worst of the GOP base rather than the best.
And she's dangerous because, thanks to John McCain and his refusal to
adequately vet her, she's now a national political figure whose
ambitions are boundless and unclear. As for not having spent any
taxpayer money, did the first commenter on this thread not read any
newspapers during the 2008 campaign? She spent plenty -- much of it at
Neimann Marcus. "Plainspoken woman of the people?" She and Todd are
millionaires. I agree entirely with your distaste for John Edwards,
though I wouldn't call him a stereotypical Democrat (I think he's just a
stereotypical sleazebag, myself, and unfortunately there are lots of
those in both parties). But Egan is dead right in likening Palin to
Edwards. They're both fakes. Edwards has been outed. Let's see whether
the media has the courage to out Palin.
  Recommend  Recommended by 600 Readers
5.
lisa murphy
netherlands
February 4th, 2010
8:14 am
The contempt for Sarah Palin comes because she deserves it. Her behavior
is contemptible. She understands perfectly well how to cash in on one's
looks to gain wealth. She also has no problem with telling lies in order
to pander to people's fears. What is there to defend? John Mc Cain's
greatest disservice to the American people was to introduce this
charlatan into the arena of public discourse.
  Recommend  Recommended by 374 Readers
11.
michelle
Anchorage
February 4th, 2010
8:19 am
As an Alaskan I have to agree that Sarah Palin is not harmless. Many of
us are thankful that she cut her term short before she could do any more
damage to our state. Fortunately for us, she rarely showed up for work.
But the little that she did accomplish was disastrous. People, please do
your homework and don't be seduced by Sarah—even if you don't like Obama
you would regret giving this woman any power. She's clearly unqualified,
a liar, and a hypocrite. She's exactly what she claims not to be. I can
only hope that one day everyone will see the truth about Sarah
Palin—hopefully before it's too late.
  Recommend  Recommended by 319 Readers
7.
Captain Ronnel
L. A., CA
February 4th, 2010
8:17 am
Just 10 years ago people like Palin would have been laughed off the
stage--by Republicans. Which just goes to go show steeply the collective
intelligence of this nation has nosedived.
  Recommend  Recommended by 279 Readers
63.
HIGHLIGHT (what's this?)
Greg
London, UK, but US citizen
February 4th, 2010
1:10 pm
Palin is also dangerous because, like Fox So-called News, she helps
marshal the ignorant and bigotted into a political force. And that force
is angry and destructive, not forward-looking and constructive.
  Recommend  Recommended by 263 Readers
4.
Bluedog
Anchorage
February 4th, 2010
8:14 am
What Liz said...and more. And I love Mr. Egan's point that she should
have been honest about quitting to make money and become famous. Bad
enough that she quit, and worse that she pretended she did it for her
beloved Alaskans.

It's also worth pointing out that not only did she use her PAC to buy
her books, but the PAC helped finance her bus tour in other ways. She
paid $13,000 for the "bus wrap," several thousand dollars for autopens
(for that personal touch), $28,000 for a jet charter, $50,000 for the
photographer who then charged Palin's fans for the photos....not to
mention all the money she shoveled to her friends and retainers, the
speech writers, the many political consultants, the lawyers, web site
developers, a former McCain staffer to hold her hand during the bus
tour... The rumor in Alaska is that she also paid the founding bloggers
of www.conservatives4Palin.com to write her Facebook posts. Wouldn't
surprise me in the least--there is no way Palin is writing them.

So, Sarah used her PAC to spend about 95 percent on herself and her
"career," and 5 percent on Republican candidates. She has made grifting
a work of performance art.

And God only knows what's going on with her Alaska Trust Fund, the
"legal defense" slush fund administered by her best friend. The ethics
investigator who looked into it said Palin probably did abuse her office
by supporting it. (This was shortly after Palin quit.) The bylaws allow
the fund to disperse money on the friend's say-so to Palin, her family,
or any other friends. It was supposed to release quarterly reports. So
far, not a word.

So thanks for this column.
  Recommend  Recommended by 253 Readers
91.
HIGHLIGHT (what's this?)
Margaret
Tulsa OK
February 4th, 2010
1:21 pm
Did you say "nothing wrong with that?" Spare us the sarcasm--It's very
wrong that Sarah Palin abandoned public office in order to get rich
quick. It's a disgrace that she spent $63,000 buying her own book in
order to increase sales figures. And the behavior of John Edwards is
close to insane. Tell the truth, Mr. Egan. Edwards, with his deceitful
private life, came close to damaging the Democratic Party for a
generation, not to mention the vacuous and repetitive speeches he made
to appeal to poor people. Edwards is a complete phony and should be
ignored by the media. As for Palin, please expose every money-grubbing
scheme she dreams up, and don't say "nothing wrong with that."
  Recommend  Recommended by 194 Readers
9.
SamBam
California
February 4th, 2010
8:18 am
You don't get it do you? Sarah Palin and the Teabaggers were made for
each other. Both shamelessly display and promote the same ignorance,
bigotry, unwillingness to take responsibility, and sense of victimhood.

Sure Sarah quit her office to make money, and her explanations for her
actions were incoherent and contradictory. But the teabaggers will
overlook her just as she will overlook their obvious contradictions in
wanting the government to pay for their unemployment, Social Security
and Medicare, and enjoying the tax cuts that they've received under this
administration while calling Obama a socialist, Marxist dictator who was
born in Kenya!
  Recommend  Recommended by 183 Readers
90.
HIGHLIGHT (what's this?)
Erik Roth
Minneapolis
February 4th, 2010
1:21 pm
The hypocrisy of Edwards is beyond contempt, as everyone can see, so no
need to waste words on him.
Of Palin, you write: "When she quit on her state, barely halfway through
a single term as governor, her explanation was a classic of incoherence.
She never mentioned the obvious reason for resigning: to get rich,
quick. Nothing wrong with that; it%u2019s as American as late-night ads
for the Snuggie %u2014 the blanket with sleeves! But why not come out
and say it, instead of cloaking it in some larger cause?"
NO! There's everything wrong with that. She had a job to do, a
responsibility she chose, and was elected to meet. Quitting that job,
yet trying to remain a spokesperson for governmental responsibility, and
motivated by greed in doing so, is clearly wrong. That it is in any way
all-American shows how wrong America has become, lulled into late-night
stupor.
  Recommend  Recommended by 177 Readers
15.
HIGHLIGHT (what's this?)
Mary
Washington State
February 4th, 2010
8:20 am
Good comparison between Edwards and Palin. Would like to see more
genuine interest in the people who consider themselves Tea
Partiers---what is the long term goal? What do you see as a better
direction? Please go past replacing our President, because he hasn't
been around that long and the anger seems to be more deeply rooted.
  Recommend  Recommended by 149 Readers
3.
marie burns
fort myers, fl
February 4th, 2010
8:14 am
You're quite right to lump Palin & Edwards in the same school of
scammers. Sadly, the worse things get, the more successful are the
predators. I was flipping through the dial one night & came upon a Pat
Robertson infomercial. The whole thing was about how poor people could
get rich by sending him money. The same people who send Robertson checks
are the patsies who join the Palin or Edwards parade.

While I do feel sorry for them and lament their ignorance, it’s hard to
ignore the fact that there’s a core element of selfishness & greed
behind their lemming-like behavior. They do expect the leader of their
pack to give them something tangible in return for their allegiance. If
Andrew Young didn’t join the Edwards cause for selfless reasons, neither
did Edwards’ other dimwitted followers. Or Palin’s. The real losers are
the rest of us, who vote our consciences for the greater good while the
greedy followers of Pied Pipers vote for hollow men and women whose lack
of substance threatens our very fragile democracy.

The Constant Weader at www.RealityChex.com
  Recommend  Recommended by 149 Readers
23.
HIGHLIGHT (what's this?)
Jim Ryan
Friendswood, TX
February 4th, 2010
8:44 am
Sarah Palin is the bait, and those who donate to her cause are the fish.
  Recommend  Recommended by 139 Readers
8.
Cali
California
February 4th, 2010
8:17 am
She is not harmless. She is scamming regular folks who can least afford
to spend money to buy her book or listen to her empty rhetoric of
putting down the president and those who disagree with her world view
(ie.anti-abortion or anti-evolution or denial of global warming). Palin
is good as a celebrity and she should be able to make as much money as
possible if she wants but a politician who has integrity, morality and
good ideas to lead us out of the current chaos, she is not.
  Recommend  Recommended by 131 Readers
14.
momcat
Lacey, Washington
February 4th, 2010
8:20 am
Excellent column. John Edwards is done. He can no longer suck in the
gullible and lie to his poor, terminally ill wife. But Sarah Palin is
still at it. She has been exposed numerous times, but her followers and
Faux Snooze still think she is the "real deal" - one of "us." HA! She
is, as your title says, a grifter. Nothing more. She cares for no one
but herself. She will pretend to care about the "real Americans" just so
long as they continue to line her pockets with cash.
  Recommend  Recommended by 127 Readers
122.
HIGHLIGHT (what's this?)
Frederic C. Schultz, Esq.
Brooklyn, NY
February 4th, 2010
2:05 pm
You are right in your main points. However, you somehow see John and
Sarah as equally deceptive of the public. A politician's job is to pass
legislation helpful to the people. John Edwards, as I recall from
reading his campaign website, had some intricate and exceptional
legislative proposals, for instance to help keep people in homes. (You
could argue that he did not write it, but if he didn't, he had a great
team!)... He is a successful lawyer. Palin is.. painful to listen to,
vapid, angry, and scary! Edwards was simply saying that he had come from
nothing, had amassed exceptional wealth, and now was going to use it to
help others. Palin is doing the opposite, pretending to help others in
order to try to gain great wealth. There is a difference.
  Recommend  Recommended by 125 Readers
1.
HIGHLIGHT (what's this?)
mary jones
maine
February 3rd, 2010
10:33 pm
I do not understand the contempt for Sarah Palin. She is harmless. She
has raised taxes on no one. She has passed no laws restrcting anyone's
freedoms. Unlike President Obama, none of her major contributors are
Wall Street banks.

John Edwards is a sterotypical hypocritical Democrat ; a limousine
liberal. Sarah Palin is a Plainspoken woman of the people. I didn't vote
for McCain/Palin, and I wouldn't vote for Palin, today. But, I believe
she is a good and decent person doing her best to represent people who
actually work for a living. There are plenty of current Senators,
including one from New York -- Schumer -- who are deserving of
castigation. Sarah Palin is not an elected official and has spent no
taxpayer money. Put your blind hate aside, and objectively go after
those in D.C. who are doing actual harm.
  Recommend  Recommended by 112 Readers
21.
The rational one
Everywhere USA
February 4th, 2010
8:44 am
"Sarah Palin is not an elected official and has spent no taxpayer money."

She WAS an elected official and a candidate for the vice-president and
therefore a "public figure". And worthy of the distain which she
receives from intelligent people who are capable of rational thought. In
other words, people who don't watch Fox News.
  Recommend  Recommended by 106 Readers
92.
HIGHLIGHT (what's this?)
brendan
New York, NY
February 4th, 2010
1:22 pm
Regarding Edwards:
Would I rather have a lying, philandering, pandering, narcissist who
used social justice and poverty as a way to get elected, but put class
warfare of the rich on the poor, including truly universal health care
on the legislative agenda in a meaningful way,
or an honest, loyal spouse, straight talker who crafted policies so that
the stinking rich and Republicans who have crushed organized labor and
devastated the health of working Americans over the past thirty years
don't get so offended and can keep their ill gotten gains?
I love Egan but this smells of that common Puritan pathology among
Americans that would rather have a morally clean person in office even
if their policies hurt workers than a louse who uses populism as a tool
for power, improving the lives of workers on the way and in power.

  Recommend  Recommended by 97 Readers
12.
bruce
dundas, ont.
February 4th, 2010
8:19 am
IT'S MIND BOGGLING that the 'folks' are so dumb that they'd vote for
palin and against their own self interest. is there any other country
where the downtrodden consisently vote for the fat cats whose "plans"
help keep them downtrodden? what edwards did was pretty revolting, but
at least he worked hard to make his millions. being a lawyer isn't a
crime tho they seem have slipped below used--ah previously enjoyed--car
salespeople in the 'folks' esteem......
  Recommend  Recommended by 94 Readers
120.
HIGHLIGHT (what's this?)
pmg
east brunwick, nj
February 4th, 2010
2:02 pm
Putting Palin and Edwards in the same bag is unfair. Palin is an
ignorant airhead. Edwards is anything but that. His platform was
intelligent and well thought out, though his character turns out to be
abysmal.
  Recommend  Recommended by 90 Readers
19.
n
Washington, D.C.
February 4th, 2010
8:41 am
I don't begrudge John Edwards' driving a luxury car or living in a
mansion. One does not have to "live poor" to have a genuine concern for
those less fortunate -- think FDR. And though John Edwards is certainly
no FDR (who is?), at least he addressed the existence of two Americas
and spoke of the poor in his campaign, something no one else did. As the
poor generally don't contribute to campaigns, often don't vote, and
(let's be honest) are of little concern to most Americans, he did not
have much to gain by making them a focus of his campaign. Although it
goes without saying that Senator Edwards is morally challenged, he is no
doubt more complex than the picture we have been given of him by Andrew
Young, who is himself morally compromised. (Do we really know, for
example, that Edwards complained about "fat rednecks?" Why are citing
Young's statement about that as fact -- isn't that bad journalism)? I
find the Edwards story sad as well as shocking. Why did this once
promising man self-destruct? If you're going to tell the story at all,
that's the question worth asking. And you're going to have to rely on
more than one "source" to find out.
  Recommend  Recommended by 80 Readers
33.
ProfWombat
Andover MA
February 4th, 2010
10:22 am
While I never found Edwards to my personal liking, even before the
revelations began, I did think his position had some merit: there are
indeed economic problems affecting the working people of this country,
which should be addressed by government. I also thought him intelligent,
in command of the issues, bringing to the debate a viewpoint worth
exploring.

Palin's manifest ignorance, her gleeful dismissal of those who disagree
with her, and her extreme right-wing positions seem to me another thing
entirely: a path which, walked further, will poison the debate, offer
nothing to solve the nation's and world's problems, and polarize the
country even more than it is. Those who supported John Edwards on the
basis of his economic populism will find another venue. Those who
support Palin do so, in large measure, because she holds up a funhouse
mirror for their admiring gaze.

Both are dishonest; both exploit their supporters. But the risks they
pose to the political life of the country differ dramatically, in nature
and direction.

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