MoveOn.org Uses Palin Op-Ed as Fundraising Tool
By Robert Schlesinger, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
First Sarah Palin writes an op-ed in the Washington Post. Then the fundraising machines get cranked up. That noise you hear? It's the cha-ching and cha-ching on both sides of the aisle, starting with liberal activist group MoveOn.org, which is asking for money to run an anti-Palin ad.
Palin, in case you missed it, wrote an op-ed blasting President Obama's cap-and-trade proposal. Incredibly, she manages to write nearly 700 words on the topic without mentioning "global warming," "climate change," or "carbon emissions." (As Ezra Klein notes, that's like writing an op-ed hitting firefighters for using high-pressure water cannons without ever mentioning fire.)
Enter MoveOn.org. Tuesday afternoon they sent an email to members slamming the Palin op-ed ... and asking for money so they can run an ad against her. Here's part of the email (emphasis theirs):
Her op-ed is a marvel of misinformation and outright lies. Just like conservatives in Congress, Palin is trotting out the "energy taxes" scare tactic, and arguing instead for more drilling and more dirty coal. This bill already has too many giveaways to Big Coal and Big Oil, but that's still not enough for Palin.
As ridiculous as Sarah Palin's lies are, they're getting attention, and they're a real threat to clean energy. If we can raise enough money today, we'll run a rapid response ad to counter these lies and stop Palin's attack. Can you donate $35?
...
This is the same Sarah Palin who doesn't believe climate change is caused by humans. The same Sarah Palin who is obsessed with drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. And the same Sarah Palin who's looking for controversial issues to launch a 2012 presidential bid.
Now she's positioning herself as the face of the conservative attack against clean energy, against the Clean Air Act—even against the creation of millions of new jobs in solar and wind.
The truth is that nothing would please MoveOn and other such groups more than Palin being the face of conservative attacks on, well, anything. She's a divisive figure, particularly for the liberal base of the party. She can easily become a Jesse Helms- or Newt Gingrich-type for Democratic fundraisers (what Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton were for Republicans).
And it's a win-win: You can imagine the fundraising email SarahPAC is undoubtedly preparing for its members: Powerful liberals have targeted Sarah ... can you spare a few bucks to help promote her agenda?
Cha-ching.
It's the fundraising cycle of life in politics—truly a majestic thing to watch.
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Op-Ed response
Palin Washes Hands of Cap-and -Trade;
Clears Conscience of Reason
by Kurtis Cates, July 22nd, 2008
In her July 14th Op-Ed published in the Washington Post Alaska Governor Sarah Palin offered her position on the Cap and Trade legislation which is currently moving through Congress. It belies either an ignorance or dishonesty which I must attempt to answer. The piece has been widely analyzed for quality of argument and perused for relevance to cap-and-trade. John Kerry wrote what I believe was the perfect response, though I didn't expect that the perfect response would not utterly bring her down. He was pretty gentle, but his points were basically flawless. I cannot be so gentle. I am going to call Palin out for what she is, which this most recent tirade has confirms.
Governor Palin spends much of the piece complaining about what 30 years of the Obama Administration has left us with. She notes that, in the meantime, she has been putting together a little care package of ideas derived from a long career ruling Alaska, converting water into wine while Jesus gets ready to return for everyone that was smart enough to keep drilling. It is a typical political-slam type intro, stretched into the space of an article. It misses where facts are concerned but is packed with effective language and imagery and solid punches. But when she gets to the part where a person would normally present a -solution, alternative, plan- she returns to the empty words, which talk about issues but do not touch them, that she campaigned and lost with.
"We must move in a new direction. We are ripe for economic growth and energy independence if we responsibly tap the resources that God created right underfoot on American soil. Just as important, we have more desire and ability to protect the environment than any foreign nation from which we purchase energy today."
It is literally oil or nothing with this person. Her campaign chants' echoes have not ceased. People say that she has an eye on the 2012 election. I think she may still be re-running for 08'. Alaskans have weird rules about mulligans. And she did suggest in this piece that God created oil. But God did not create oil any more than he created the human brain. Why isn't she willing to use both? (Or) Why didn't God let the dinosaurs live a few million years longer? Why did God make this most incredible resource out of Dinosaurs instead of Buddhists?
More at www.fromthebiblebelt.com
Just another catch phrase
No one has really defined the term "Green Job".
From what I gather it has something to do with work that decreases our dependance on foriegn oil and little with jobs or the enviornment. Folks throw around wind, solar, and wave energy as "green".
We've already seen a backlash against wind power. Enviornmental organizations aren't happy with the fact 300 ft. wind turbines kill birds and muck-up views of the countries shorelines and forests. Giant solar farms aren't much more popular due to their vast size and effect on desert landscapes; let alone plants and animals. Wave power is too far from practical application to really matter. NIMBY has a way of darkening even the greenest heart.
Can these technologies support "millions of new jobs"? I'm sure building and developing "green" technology will put people to work; but for how long? As someone else posted the components of these windmills and such will be machined and fabricated overseas for the most part (what about that carbon footprint?). Once installed the need for manpower to maintain these power plants would be minimal; considerably smaller than the time and effort to build them.
Our country needs SUSTAINABLE energy from many sources; be they wind, coal, petroleum, nuclear, geothermal, etc. "Green" has become a hollow term used by politicians to create hype and collect green ($).
The unrealistic creation of millions of jobs with solar and wind
The biggest lie or un-truth is the creation of millions of jobs building solar panels and solar sites and the building and installation of wind generators. Robert Schlesinger must have graduated from the same school as the president did and had the same math teacher. Neither one has the ability to count. Common sense tells us that if just one million jobs were created to build these things they wouldn't be built here in america. Company's like General Electric would sub most of the componet manufacturing out overseas. We will be only be out more money without the promised results. Putting the blame on Sarah Palin is wrong. From what I have read and listened to when she spoke, she is for the creation of new forms of producing power and fuels for our countries needs. She has a lot of common sense and knows that until the time we are able to become truly independent of the third worlds fuels we need to produce our own and that we need to drill in places that have been put off limits by the librals in power in DC. Washington should be listing to people like T.Boone Pickins who knows what it take to make thing like the new wind power along with natural gas usage to help our country. If we had Sarah as our president, I don't think she would be trying to change America to be another Europe like this president is doing. The liberals should be scared. They konw that she is smarter than them. I thank Sarah Palin for the fresh energy she brings to our political system.
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