Thursday, September 15, 2011

GOSH, WHAT A SURPRISE: SUDDENLY PALIN'S "CRONY CAPITALISM" TALK OMITS PERRY AND FIXATES ON OBAMA

I may not have gotten everything right in Tuesday's post about charges (from Sarah Palin especially) that Rick Perry engaged in "crony capitalism" when he mandated HPV vaccinations, but I think I got this more or less right:

In order for "cronyism" to upset right-wingers, there have to be liberals involved, or least establishmentarians, or, at the very least, what appears to be massive amounts of (ick!) government spending, which is liberal by definition.

Now even Palin seems to have forgotten that she accused her fellow Republican of this heinous sin, because last night she posted 656 ghostwritten words about "crony capitalism" on her Facebook page and, golly, what do you know -- the only examples that are bugging her now concern President Obama:

Crony Capitalism on Steroids from GE to Solyndra

In my recent speech in Iowa, some eyebrows were raised when I took on our government's enormous economic problems caused by crony capitalism. As if on cue, just days later President Obama selected someone who exemplifies a major crony capitalism problem to sit next to the First Lady when he delivered his "jobs plan" speech before Congress. He selected General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt as his honored guest.

... This corporation is now the poster child of corporate welfare and crony capitalism.

... Joining GE in the pantheon on crony capitalism is another Obama favorite that has been in the news of late: Solyndra....


Not a word about Perry or Merck or rewarding ex-staffers turned lobbyists in Austin -- that's all moot now.

Texas Monthly blogger Paul Burka thinks Palin's remark about Perry was profoundly significant, and could be a harbinger of a late entry into the race that might put her over the top, at Perry's expense. (Apparently, like Andrew Sullivan, Burka can't read a poll -- see any of the dozens of surveys conducted throughout this year that show Palin far back in the pack, and thoroughly rejected even by fellow Republicans.)

Maybe Palin foolishly plans to run, but if so, her swipe at Perry will turn out to be as enduring an attack as Tim Pawlenty's "Obamneycare" remark, which preceded TPaw's endorsement of Romney by what -- weeks? Intra-party squabbling happens in primary season, but the battle against the Democratic Antichrist, the One True Enemy, is eternal -- examine anything that looks like an abstract principle on a Republican's part and you'll find that the true motive force is hatred of Democrats and the hope of GOP gain.