Palin fires up NRA crowd, hits Obama for using Newtown families
(CNN) – Sarah Palin blasted President Barack Obama and gun control advocates Friday, blaming them for "exploiting" recent mass shooting tragedies to promote their political agenda.
Speaking to a welcoming crowd at the National Rifle Association convention in Houston, the folksy former governor from Alaska also used chewing tobacco at one point to draw some laughs.
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Palin, wearing a shirt that read "Women hunt," was one of several speakers at the NRA gathering who targeted the Obama administration and some lawmakers for wanting tighter firearm restrictions after the Newtown elementary school massacre.
In the days leading up to the Senate's April 17 vote on gun control proposals, the president invited families of Newtown victims to fly on Air Force One to Washington and lobby Congress.
Newtown families also participated in media interviews and appeared in an ad made by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the pro-gun control group co-chaired by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
When the upper chamber ultimately fell short of the 60 votes needed to pass a bipartisan compromise to expand the background check system, some of those family members stood behind the president not long after the vote as he chided Capitol Hill for what he described as a "shameful day in Washington."
Palin argued the president was practicing the "politics of emotion" by "flying in grieving parents on Air Force One, making them backdrops in his perpetual campaign-style press events."
Par for the course, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee faulted the media for being a "reliable, poodle-skirted cheerleader for a president who writes the book on exploiting tragedy."
Politics of emotion, she argued, won't make the country safer. "It's the opposite of leadership. It's the manipulation of the people by the politicians for their own political ends. It's not just self-serving. It's destructive and it must stop."
Charging the president with being disingenuous in the wake of the shooting was a running theme throughout the day at the NRA. Palin added Obama was ignoring another tragedy.
"We could use a bit more emotion by the way of what goes on every single day on the streets of cities like Chicago and New York," Palin said.
Speaking of New York, Palin took the opportunity to take a swipe at Bloomberg, a mayor she has vehemently opposes for what she describes as his nanny state politics. In her last big speech at a major conservative gathering in March, Palin made headlines for sipping a "Big Gulp" on stage, a knock against New York's ban against certain large sugary drinks.
"Now I see that the mayor of New York now wants to ban public displays of legal tobacco products," she said, referring to his recent push to keep tobacco products out of sight at stores in order to de-glamorize the product.
"I tell ya," she said, as she pulling out a pack of chewing tobacco. "Don't make me do it."
With the crowd roaring, she put the pack back in her pocket.
"It's funny because Todd's been looking for this all morning."
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The fact that an idiot like her still has fans is amazing. She is just cashing in her fame as much as possible before she becomes completely irrelevant.
Not a Palin fan, but would have been worlds better than the sandbox dictator we got. As has been famously said, we can survive the man but we cannot survive the imbeciles that put him in the White House.
She is right again. Our media never miss a chance to report on some wacko killing Americans, but we never hear of the homeowner that has defended himself from an intruder using his own gun
Uh, losing a child or parent to a mass shooter IS kinda sorta an "emotional issue" for the victims families. And having to live in fear that your loved ones could be next is also pretty emotional. That's what emotions are for, BTW. To make us DO something about threats to our lives. To NOT be emotional about random slaughter of innocents would be the "sick" response. When such events no longer get our attention and cause us to feel something and do something, that's when we know we're a lost civilization.
Are you kidding me. The NRA is exploiting Newtown? The president, the VP, the dems in congress, the media have been using Newtown to beat a drum for gun control for the last 5 months or haven't you noticed. No one has come out to control the garbage that kids watch on TV 24/7 or see on video games and other entertainment mediums that put them in the frame of mind to be violent. The problem with out society is the very low threshold needed to move into a violent mode. The country is awash with TV shows whose main component is conflict, confrontation and violence.
Is this woman intelligent enough to see the irony of accusing someone else of exploiting a situation? Palin is without shame, and will say, do or use anything to keep herself in the spotlight. Sarah, your 15 minutes of fame ended years ago. Please, just go away. Stop embarrassing yourself and the rest of us.
Palin! Please go home, get in your helicopter & go shoot caribou! You're worthless, unkind, & haven't a clue about a
dang thing! Pres.Obama has more consideration for mankind in his baby finger than you have in your entire demented
being! Please go home & shut your mouth!
when will she just go away?
What a stupid, stupid woman. It figures idiot right-wingers love her so much, she's a genius in their eyes.
I hope that Sarah Palin runs again, maybe her next loss will send her back to Alaska where she belongs!!
This is going to be hard because obama just cant pass what he want wit house republican he just going be smart and work wit both party democrat and republican to do the right bill instead of an all go nowhere democrat bill
Sarah Palin is articulate, right, beautiful and kind. I've always liked her. The kind of person you hope others would emulate.
Does the NRA really think Sarah is a big plus for their side? OMG. What a joke.
Oh...the only reason this baffoon from Alaska is so popular is because she knows absolutely nothing. How come we can find the most ignorant fool on the face of the planet to lead this group of folks?...same outcome
She didn't know anything in 2008. What make them think she knows anything now? Oh, I get it... the tea partie.
The essence of the 60 vote rule in the senate is to tone down the single person filibuster ability. Can we all please remember that when a bill comes up for approval and the 60 vote requirement, is that what is being asked is 60 votes to " debate the issues" on the floor of the senate.
In a sense it does not matter that Democrats used the same tactic but however it is true to say this Republican opposition has used it much much more. QED debate faulters and both sides accuse each other of acting behind closed doors.
I am sorry one senator on the senate floor =1% or 1 committee member should not be able to stop debate ( a filibuster is non rhetorical in the debate sense.) since frredom of speech implies we all can speak * debate??) but a filibuster says no only my rhetoric or freedom of speech is paramount.
Regards,
hodgson.
Must be time to sell another book. The wicked witch of the North has come out of her haunts to promote herself once again.
Sarah Palin impresses herself more than she impresses any educated American. Why the repubican party continues to parade her around at their gatherings is confusing. Generally you try to put your best foot forward and give reason for attendees to support your cause. How can any real American support an organization that relies on Sarah Palen to deliver their ill-conceived message? Then again, we're talking about animals who love guns more than people, and who will lie at every turn to protect their precious firearms so they can be ready to kill someone.
You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before. The Democrat Motto?
Women hunt rabbits.. women kill ants.. Go brave women!
Governor Palin is absolutely right! Gun control folks are exploiting the various shootings for the furtherance of their own agenda to subvert the 2nd Amendment. The NRA presented an excellent program that could be implemented in the public schools. As a former public school teacher, I whoteheartedly endorse it as a reasonable solution to the violence in our public school system. As a future School Board member, I'd certainly implement it in the schools that I'll oversee. For the facts, read John Lott's "More Guns, Less Crime."
Sarah The Entertainer,.... keep riding that pony until it drops. You have found your niche. I never have or ever would consider you as a P/ VP candidate, nor di the American voters for that matter.
Just like the conservative use Benghazi to frame Hillary et. al. They can dish it out but can't take it when the same tactic is used against them. Hypocrites.
Go Get Em Sarah!!!
As Rahm Emanuel says – “Never let a good tragedy go to waste”.