Palin Visits Israel Roundup

Dektau:

Sporting what appears to be a necklace with the Jewish symbol of a Star of David, the Alaska resident visited the Western Wall, the holiest place where Jews can pray.

She also toured Jerusalem’s Old City and is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.

“Israel is absolutely beautiful and it is overwhelming to see and touch the cornerstone of our faith and I am so grateful to be here,” the devout Christian told reporters. “I’m very thankful to know that the Israeli and American link will grow in strength as we seek peace along with you.”

Despite meeting with the country’s leader, she is technically traveling as a private citizen and has been coy about whether she hopes to be traveling as something other than that come 2012.

“I don’t think there needs to be a rush to get out there as a declared candidate,” she said earlier this week. “It’s a life-changing decision.”

Jerusalem Post:

Palin and her husband Todd arrived for a two-day visit on Sunday afternoon and toured the Western Wall and its adjacent tunnels. They will visit the Old City again on Monday, tour Gesthsemane and the Mount of Olives, and have dinner with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara at their official residence in Jerusalem.

[...]

World Likud chairman and Likud MK Danny Danon and Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz served as Palin’s tour guides on Sunday night. Palin was told that Jews were not allowed to pray openly on the Temple Mount and about the Arab riots that accompanied Netanyahu’s decision to authorize the creation of an exit from the Western Wall tunnels in 1996.

“Why are you apologizing all the time?” Palin asked her guides....

“It’s overwhelming to be able to see and touch the cornerstone of our faith,” Palin told reporters upon exiting the tunnels. “I’m so thankful to be able to be here, and I’m thankful to know the Israel-American connection will grow and strengthen as the peace negotiations continue.”

Rabinowitz said that Palin prayed at the point closest to the Holy of Holies and left a note with a personal prayer....“She said that she absolutely supports Israel and that America is the biggest friend that Israel has,” Rabinowitz said.

When Rabinowitz shared the story of Purim with Palin, she told him it was especially meaningful to be at the Kotel on Purim.

Danon said that Palin’s visit to the Western Wall Tunnels was very exciting.

“She really connected to the story of the Jewish nation,” Danon said. “She knows the material but there’s nothing like standing in front of those big stones and hearing about the connection. I know that she loves Israel, and after a visit like this, she has a personal connection to the Western Wall.

[...]

“She didn’t go into diplomatic issues, but I can clearly say from the questions she asked in relation to our conflict here with the Muslims in these holy sites that she knows that we are right and that the Muslims are just claiming things for provocation and they’re not right,” Danon said.

Israel National News:

MK Danny Danon (Likud) and Kotel Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovich accompanied Palin on a tour of the Kotel and Kotel Tunnels.

[...]

Danon asked Palin to try and convince world audiences that the blame for lack of progress on a peace agreement should be shifted to the PA's Mahmoud Abbas. "A leadership that churns out people who are capable of slitting children's throats as they sleep is the one that needs to prove that peace can be made with it. [U.S. President Barack] Obama's pressure on Netanyahu hurts Israel and its citizens," he added.

Ynetnews:

Palin began her trip by visiting the Western Wall in Jerusalem, where she met with the Rabbi of the Western Wall, Shmuel Rabinovitch, who escorted her on part of her a tour.

Rabinovitch said Palin obliged his request to not walk along the Western Wall square so as to not disturb the reading of the scrolls at the time.

Rabinovitch mentioned that Palin shared her views on United States-Israel relations, saying she believes there are no disagreements between the two countries. She also voiced her "absolute" support of Israel.

"We're happy to accommodate Jews and non-Jews visiting the Western Wall. You could feel Palin's love towards the people of Israel and her great interest in the story of Purim," said Rabinovitch.

[...]

The former Alaskan governor is a possible candidate in the 2012 presidential election, and as such a visit to Israel has become an imperative stop on a candidate's way to the White House. She is also known for her enthusiastic support of Israel, even in difficult times.

YidwithLID:

Palin's support of Israel is not new and/or shocking news. What is interesting is when you compare her pro-Israel stance and that of the last two GOP nominees, McCain and President Bush to the Anti-Israel stances of President Obama and the previous nominee Senator Kerry. If one is to be truly honest it is apparent that GOP has become pro-Israel party.

Aaron Klein will be on Fox and Friends tomorrow morning to talk about Palin's trip to Israel.


Will update as more becomes available.

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The Threat to Alaska's Oil Tax System, ACES

There's currently an operation underway to give billions of dollars back to the oil companies in Alaska, undermining the tax system passed under Governor Palin's administration known as ACES (Alaska's Clear and Equitable Share). These are things that are good to understand especially since we're talking about Governor Palin's record.

Bob and Mark explain a little bit of what's happening:

Here's a link to the pdf of the Tax Foundation's Alaska ranking.

And they talked about it with Senator Wielechowski this morning:

When Bob and Mark talk about the pipeline being owned and tariffs, etc... they're referring to the fact that the oil line in Alaska is controlled by the Big Three oil companies, Exxon, BP, and ConocoPhilips. They charge other smaller companies a tariff to ship their oil in the pipeline. This is why Governor Palin was so adamant about the natural gas pipeline being built by a separate entity like TransCanada.

Learn more in Sarah Takes on Big Oil.

Rush: "Obama's Destroying the Freaking Country!"

Rush defends Palin and expresses his frustration with the media and the conservative intellectual elite.

Cracks me up when he kinda freaks out there, hollering and saying he'd vote for Elmer Fudd if he were going up against Obama. Utter exasperation on Rush's part. I don't see him get like that very often.

Senator Who Fled WI Wants to Amend Constitution So No One Else Has To

Via Madison:

One of the Wisconsin 14 is working on a law that would prevent other lawmakers from stopping legislation by running away and hiding — a move that could be seen as an olive branch to angry members of the GOP.

Sen. Tim Cullen, D-Janesville, a key member of the Democratic senators who fled the state in a failed effort to stall Gov. Scott Walker’s budget repair bill, said Tuesday he was drafting a state constitutional amendment that would allow the Legislature to vote on and pass fiscal bills with a simple majority. The constitution requires each house to have three-fifths of all members present to vote on bills that have a fiscal impact.

[...]

“I was part of creating this divide,” Cullen said. “I need to be part of fixing it.”

Mark Belling:



The guy in the pic is Tim Cullen. Maybe there are nefarious intentions (likely, these are Democrats) or maybe Cullen just got homesick in Illinois and doesn't want to do that ever again.

I can't envision a scenario where Republicans would flee anyway. I'd be more interested in hearing the reason the law requires a three-fifths majority vote now and the consequences a simple majority requirement would have. Seems to me that if the object were to prevent fleeing to avoid a vote, they could pass a law that would prohibit that action and provide means for replacing any who would flee (most likely by gubernatorial appointment), rather than amend the quorum requirements.

Palin vs. Ailes?

In typical tabloid fashion, the NY Mag is trying to create a feud between Palin and her boss at Fox, Roger Ailes:

Before Sarah Palin posted her infamous “Blood Libel” video on Facebook on January 12, she placed a call to Fox News chairman Roger Ailes. In the wake of the Tucson massacre, Palin was fuming that the media was blaming her heated rhetoric for the actions of a madman that left six people dead and thirteen others injured, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

Palin told Ailes she wanted to respond, according to a person with knowledge of the call. It wasn’t fair the media was making this about her. Ailes told Palin that she should stay quiet.

“Lie low,” he said. “There’s no need to inject yourself into the story.”

Palin told Ailes that other people had given her that same advice. Her lawyer Bob Barnett is said to have cautioned her about getting involved. The consensus in some corners of Palin's camp was that she faced considerable risks if she spoke out.

But, this being Sarah Palin, she did it anyway.

Ailes was not pleased with her decision, which turned out to be a political debacle for Palin, especially her use of the historically loaded term "blood libel" to describe the actions of the media. “The Tucson thing was horrible,” said a person familiar with Ailes’s thinking. "Before she responded, she was making herself look like a victim. She was winning. She went out and did the blood libel thing, and Roger is thinking, 'Why did you call me for advice?'”

Ailes’s displeasure matters, not only because his network is a holding pen for Republican candidates-in-waiting, but because he is paying Palin a hefty $1 million annual salary while she strings out her decision over whether to run for president.

I've lost track of all the "feuds at Fox" stories that have cropped up the last couple of years. First there was Palin was trying to take Beck's time slot, then Beck was trying to take O'Reilly's, then dogs were sleeping with cats, er, something... Odds are this story isn't even true, but for the sake of argument let's just assume that it is.

First off, the media blowback over the "blood libel thing" never ceases to amaze me. They act as if that's all she said. As if accusing her of having blood on her hands wasn't enough, they had to twist her response as a final kick in the teeth. (You can watch her entire response here.) And the faux outrage over her use of the phrase massively ticks me off. Dennis Prager's response to it is my fave.

Secondly, I see no reason to say anything bad about Ailes in this case. Hey, if someone asked me for my opinion and then went and did the opposite, I'd probably say the same thing to myself. "Why did you even ask me?" I'm sure Governor Palin sought the advice of many people and eventually went with what she thought was best.

What's ironic is that the liberals often refer to Palin as a Fox tool. Evidently this is not the case. She has a mind of her own. As Tony Lee points out:

Ps: Ailes being "mad" at Palin for lay viewer: says she is not Ailes/FoxNews puppet, actually can help her.

Once again, her opponents present contradictory narratives. Is she a Fox News tool or is she an opponent of Fox News?

Thirdly, I have to disagree with Ailes' advice. Palin had to say something. People tend to forget that things were still running very hot against her when she made that video. They calmed down a tad after the President made his speech, but that was in large part because she had already responded. And responding was not "injecting herself" into the story. The media had her tried and convicted for mass murder before the bodies were cold. They injected her into it for four days before she finally said something. John Ziegler best sums up my reaction to the idiotic "she injected herself into it" bull.

It's impossible to know what would have happened if they had tried a different strategy. Hindsight's 20/20. Palin did the best that could have been done in a no-win situation.

What they're really trying to do here is create buzz about a wedge between Palin and Ailes while conveniently bringing up Arizona again. But get real; there's no way Ailes would toss Palin out the door just because she didn't take his advice once. All of this faux "concern" about, "uh-oh, Palin's in trouble," is ridiculous on its face given that she's been a frequent presence on Fox since that time.

If she terminates with Fox or vice versa and runs for President, it's because she's running for President, not because of Tucson. If she doesn't run, you can pretty much bet Ailes will give his front teeth to keep her. If Roger really wanted to fire Palin because of a personal vendetta, she would have been out the door with Santorum. Would have been the perfect excuse.