MikeC's blog

I have been mulling a little over the Sarah Palin resigning and what it really means for the Right.  My conlusion is it is something only time will tell. But, what it does do is gives us a great look inside partisan politics, her resignation has revealed the inner most feelings and workings of those from many political stripes. The grassroots conservative and their zealot like worship of Palin as a folksy heroine and the left leaning liberal or progressive and their macabre and disturbingly ghoulish obsession with her political and personal fate.

Still, in the maelstrom of dissappointment and the more disturbing insane hounding, a few ideas about Palin have been overlooked.

First, going back to August of 2008 when she made her debut on the national scene Palin took the Left and Right like gangbusters. Attractive and energizing, a new face for the GOP from which to move away from the “politics as usual.” From that point she was marked for political termination by the Left. She represented all that they abhor, a religioist, a rugged individualist fighting against their strengthened collectivist agenda, and most of all an ardent female conservative bathed in smarmy Americana. She was alien to their delicate and easily incapacitated world, not only geographically, but culturally as well. Palin had to go, so the hounds were released.

For the Right she was the antithesis of all things Obama. A seemingly level headed and common sense driven Mom whose only want in the world was for everyone to have a balanced check book, some apple pie, and a little bit of God in their lives. A reformer who could bring those back to fold that had felt for eight odd years that their Party had gone awry with Democratic lite policies, abandoned them in a time of great international peril, and reneged on its promises made during two campaigns. In other words someone they could relate to.

Because of the destructive and protective zealotry which has led to propaganda coming from both camps, Palin never had a chance. Her record was never scrutinized honestly, situations in her life were either exaggerated to extremes or never explored, and she was mishandled and pushed in a direction which did not suit her political talents.

Now we stand in the aftermath of her resignation from politics and we see some of the far-right circling the wagons for Palin’s Alamo and the the hordes on the Left gathering to play the role of Santa Anna.

None of this is to say that Palin was not victimized or that she didn’t even have a hand in keeping the feeding frenzy alive. It is just a reminder of what “identity politics” yields you. For further proof of the inadequacies this particular political mindset please feel free to explore the brief history of our present administration. It should be an eye opening education.

Nevertheless, whatever Palin’s motivation is whether it be fatigue, indictment, or furthering her political career, it is anyone’s guess at this juncture. What I am sure about is, regardless of her motivation, this move has ended her active political career, forever. If you think this observation is wrong, then I suggest you Google the election of 1992 and Ross Perot.

One of the saddest things about the Crap-and-Trade Bill being passed through the House is how little it would have taken to stop it. Final vote was 219-212.

In the final tally of party betrayals, 44 Democrats voted "nay" and 8 Republicans voted "aye." Surprisingly, if 4 or more of those 8 Republicans would have voted along party lines, HR 2454, or the American Clean Energy and Security Act, would have been defeated. At the least, sending it back to the drawing board if not down the toilet, forever.

Another interesting note coming from Truth and Reason, out of the 52 member Democratic conservative Blue Dog caucus in the House, 22 voted for HR 2454.

If this bill is not resoundingly stopped in the Senate the long term economic cost stands to be painful. As pointed out by the Heritage Foundation's, Senior Policy Analyst for Energy and Environment, Ben Lieberman in his testimony before the Senate Republican Conference .

What are those costs? According to the analysis we conducted at The Heritage Foundation, which is attached to my written statement, the higher energy costs kick in as soon as the bill's provisions take effect in 2012. For a household of four, energy costs go up $436 that year, and they eventually reach $1,241 in 2035 and average $829 annually over that span. Electricity costs go up 90 percent by 2035, gasoline by 58 percent, and natural gas by 55 percent by 2035. The cumulative higher energy costs for a family of four by then will be nearly $20,000.

Given that hardly any of the Representatives read the bill, or its amendment, in their entirety. Or that many Americans, mostly Democrats and Independents, even know what cap and trade is or the economic impact it could incur. The ignorance that is attached to this monstrosity should not be that surprising.

It is incumbent upon the American voter to demand a reasonable and well thought out piece of legislation that matches their future energy and environemental needs. No one, in their right minds,  should be against clean air, clean water, or the best energy innovations American ingenuity can offer. However, these needs should not be used, by public officials,  as propaganda to garner support for central planning styled legislation that will eventually curtail our freedoms or pocket books. It seems more and more that this is about power and control for a few rather than the needs of many.