Palinisms: Did she really say that?

Palinisms: Did she really say that?

Palinisms: Did she really say that?

Did she really say that?
Sept. 7 2011 10:28 AM

The Complete Palinisms

Did Sarah Palin really say that?

“[M]y concern is for the GOP candidate who wins this primary, as they go forward to face the Obama presidential ticket machine and really the thuggery that is involved in that. ... Senator McCain and I, we are the only ones in America who ever had to face that Obama presidential ticket machine and all that it encompassed. And what it encompassed really was, you know, this unscrupulous, gimmicky scheme that it was. And Senator McCain, evidently has chosen Mitt Romney as the one to be the most prepared to face this thuggery, this scheme that he is going to have to face, someone's going to have to.”—discussing the presidential race on Fox News, Jan. 4, 2012

“It was such an exciting night. And if not predictable, for some of us, which I predicted much of that last night. I felt that it kind of felt like it was as it should be at this point in the race with the finishes, strong finishes, great speeches by all the candidates afterwards. I think the speeches really foretold what we have to look forward to.”—discussing the Iowa caucuses on Fox News, Jan. 4, 2012

Jacob Weisberg Jacob Weisberg

Jacob Weisberg is chairman and editor-in-chief of The Slate Group and author of The Bush Tragedy. Follow him on Twitter.

"You've already withstood the wrath and the disdain and the lies from the media and the prominent political class looking down on us, mocking us, making things up about us, telling us to go to hell. You've already withstood that. We're still standing, right? You're here today.''—in a speech in Manchester, N.H., Sept. 5, 2011

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"I bet you, you can go out here and you can find 10 members of any Iowa farming family and ask them, what are the common sense solutions that we need in order to make the cuts in the federal government and in order to really get the economic engine, our small businesses, to be able to get up and running and grow and thrive and hire more people? You ask any 10 members out here and they could probably give you a better idea than those 10 members of the commission [the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction]. You know why, Sean? These members of Congress have been part of the problem. Not part of the solution. I say it with all due respect to those who are willing to serve in public office. But, doggone it, no more of the same, no more politics as usual."—in an interview with Sean Hannity, Aug. 12, 2011

"And you know, back in the day, we used to hear that, 'Hey, it's the economy stupid.' Well, now, simply put, it's the spending, stupid! What's going on now with our bloated, overreaching, fat, nauseating spending from federal government, taking more state and individual control from Americans and trying to do it all on a federal level, which is creating this bankrupt situation that we're facing now!"—in an interview with Fox News' Greta Van Susteren, July 26, 2011

"You know, if there are those who are out there willing to serve, with good executive experience, who have that servant's heart and—and know not to be so excessively partisan that they can't just do what's right for the people who have elected them, then I would certainly find that person and support them and do all that I could to make sure that they defeat Barack Obama in 2012."—in an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity, July 13, 2011

"I wouldn't think it to be such a slow news day that, what with numerous wars and serious economic woes concerning Americans, a bus is driving news stories today. The next leg of the tour continues when the time comes."—a Facebook note  denying rumors that she had canceled her "One Nation" bus tour, June 22, 2011

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"We'll do a stop. We'll do a lot of OTRs, off the records. We'll meet a lot of great Americans. And then I'll write about that at the end of the day."—discussing her bus tour in an interview with Fox News' Greta Van Susteren, May 31, 2011

"I want [the press] to have to do a bit of work on a tour like this, and that would include not necessarily telling them beforehand where every stop is going to be."—discussing her bus tour in an interview with Fox News' Greta Van Susteren, May 31, 2011

"Part of his ride was to warn the British that, 'We're already there,' that, 'Hey, you're not going to succeed. You're not going to take American arms. You are not going to beat our own well-armed persons, individual, private militia that we have.' "—defending her historically questionable statement about Paul Revere on Fox News Sunday, June 5, 2011

"You know what? I didn't mess up about Paul Revere. ... [I]n a shout-out, gotcha type of question that was asked of me, I answered candidly. And I know my American history."—defending her historically questionable statement about Paul Revere  on Fox News Sunday, June 5, 2011

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"He who warned, uh, the British that they weren't going to be taking away our arms uh by ringing those bells and making sure as he's riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that we were going to be secure and we were going to be free and we were going to be armed."—on Paul Revere, June 3, 2011

"[M]any in the mainstream media are looking for kind of a conventional—a campaign-type tour. And I've said from the beginning this isn't a campaign tour, except to campaign on our Constitution, our charters of liberty."—discussing her bus tour in an interview with Fox News' Greta Van Susteren, May 31, 2011

"I want [the press] to have to do a bit of work on a tour like this, and that would include not necessarily telling them beforehand where every stop is going to be."—discussing her bus tour in an interview with Fox News' Greta Van Susteren, May 31, 2011

We'll do a stop. We'll do a lot of OTRs, off the records. We'll meet a lot of great Americans. And then I'll write about that at the end of the day."—discussing her bus tour in an interview with Fox News' Greta Van Susteren, May 31, 2011

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"What isn't fair, though, is when it's only one-sided, when it's only the conservatives, say, who get hammered away at those things that the press wants to know. You know, the perfect example of the media one- sidedness is Obama's record not being explored, his associations in the last campaign not being explored, and now revelations of maybe some of his upbringing, some of his background, certainly his associations, how they impact his world view and how that affects his decisions today."—on criticism from the media, in an interview with Fox News' Greta Van Susteren, May 19, 2011

"I think my problem is that I do have the fire in my belly. I am so adamantly supportive of the good, traditional things about America and our free enterprise system, and I want to make sure that America is put back on the right track, and we only do that by defeating Obama in 2012. I have that fire in my belly.!"—on whether she will run for president in 2012, in an interview with Fox News' Greta Van Susteren, May 19, 2011

"It's going to keep on coming, and you know, I feel like I have a prayer shield in front of me that deflects a lot of that. I just want to make sure that for my loved ones, for my parents, for my spouse and my children and those close to me, that they have that tool to deflect also so that they're not adversely affected."—on criticism from the media, in an interview with Fox News' Greta Van Susteren, May 19, 2011

"[C]andidates need to get their message out via the news social media, be a fair and balanced reporters who will just allow the facts to get out there. Don't even participate in that goofy game that has been played now for too many years with the leftist lamestream media trying to twist the candidates' words and intent and content of their statements."—in an interview on Fox News' Hannity, May 18, 2011

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"This rapper—we thought that we were to be united under the leader of the free world, Barack Obama, in tamping down racism and inciting violence and cop killing, certainly, and killing a former president. All those things that this rapper has glorified and really is known for, it just certainly reflects a lack of judgment on the White House's part. And I'm saying this not a proponent of stifling any kind of free speech. I am obviously a proponent of free speech. I'm not anti-rap. In fact, like Bret Baier, I know the lyrics to 'Rapper's Delight,' too. But I am saying just common decency in the White House—wouldn't we like to see a reflection of all that is wonderful and great, a shining city on a hill that the White House is supposed to be, with events inside of that house that reflect the patriotism and the decency and the influence of America."—in an interview on Fox News' On the Record w/ Greta Van Susteren, May 11, 2011

"Show photo as warning to others seeking America's destruction. No pussy-footing around, no politicking, no drama; it's part of the mission"—a tweet urging the release of a photo of a dead Osama Bin Laden, May 4, 2011

"I think the media is loving this because they want to make birthers, as they call people who are just curious about the President of the United States and his background and his associations and his consistency with what he says today versus what he said in both the memoirs that he wrote or Bill Ayers or whomever wrote them—the media is loving the fact that some curious Americans are actually asking the questions. And they're trying to make those curious Americans sound kind of crazy. So the media is loving this issue and they're perpetuating the issue, trying to make it sound really worse than it is."—in an interview  with Fox News' Greta Van Susteren, April 26, 2011

"I think that he was born in Hawaii because there was the birth announcement put in the newspaper, but obviously if there's something there that the president doesn't want people to see on that birth certificate that, uh, you know, he's going to great lengths to make sure that that isn't shown and that's kind of perplexing for a lot of people."—in an interview on Fox News' Justice With Judge Jeanine, April 9, 2011

"I appreciate that The Donald wants to spend his resources in getting to the bottom of something that so interests him and, and many Americans. You know, more power to him. He's not just throwing stones and, um, from the sidelines, he's digging in there, he's paying for researchers to find out why President Obama would have spent $2 million to not show his birth certificate, so, you know, more power to him."—in an interview on Fox News' Justice With Judge Jeanine, April 9, 2011

"[H]aving to set the record straight on my Facebook page yet again is further proof that the media can't be trusted even to print a statement in a manner that people can read."—complaining on Facebook that a statement she issued was featured too far down in a recent Daily Caller story, March 30, 2011

"Are we at war? I haven't heard the president say that we are at war. And that's why I too [don't know], do we use the term intervention, do we use war, do we use squirmish?"—in an interview with Fox News' Greta Van Susteren, March 29, 2011

"During the flight here, between our countries, it did not escape me that Japan lies about halfway between my Alaskan home and India."—in a speech delivered in India, March 19, 2011

"Well, I'm all about job creation. And I guess I could provide some of these gals who pretend like they are me some job security. I would ask, though, if they're of the mind of spreading the wealth around, that perhaps they want to spring for one of my kids' sets of braces or something as they capitalize on pretending to be me."—in an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity, on news that Julianne Moore will play her in the movie adaptation of Game Change, March 10, 2011

"It's no wonder Michelle Obama is telling everybody you better breast-feed your baby—yeah, you better—because the price of milk is so high right now!"—speaking to the Long Island Association at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury, N.Y., Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011

"Nobody is more qualified really to multitasking and doing all the things you need to do as a president than a woman and as a mom."—speaking to the Long Island Association at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury, New York, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011.

"And nobody yet has, no body yet has explained to the American public what they know, and surely they know more than the rest of us know who it is who will be taking the place of Mubarak, and I'm not real enthused about what it is that that's being done on a national level and from D.C. in regards to understanding all the situation there in Egypt."—on President Obama's response to the turmoil in Egypt, in an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network, Feb. 4, 2011

"I want the mainstream media, and I've said this for a couple of years now, I want to help 'em. I want—I have a journalism degree, that is what I studied."—in an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network, Feb. 4, 2011

"What is needed in America are those things that Ronald Reagan did espouse and what he lived and not worrying about what the critics are going to say about me."—in an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network, Feb. 4, 2011

"But when it comes to, and David, perhaps what it is that you're suggesting in the question is should the GOP, should conservatives not reach out to others, not participate in events or forums that perhaps are rising within those forums are issues that maybe we don't personally agree with?"—on the inclusion of pro-gay groups in the CPAC conference, in an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network, Feb. 4, 2011

"You have 435 House members. You have 100 senators. You have nine Supreme Court justices and one president. You add up that number and you look at those 500-some people and you realize they are the ones making the decisions that affect our everyday lives and affect our opportunities to either create more jobs or see unemployment continue to stay consistent at the level it is or even grow, unfortunately, in the future."—on President Obama's State of the Union address, to Fox News' Greta Van Susteren, Jan. 26, 2011

"The media's definitely a major part of the problem, if there's a problem with incivility in this nation, definitely, because so many in the media, the lamestream media picking up on what goes viral with lies and innuendo and rumors that are out there in the blogosphere and elsewhere, for the lamestream media to pick up some of these things and run with it without getting facts, that perpetuates the problem that we have with some negative discourse in this country, so definitely the media is a big part of the problem and I certainly would like to see a lot of that changed."—on President Obama's State of the Union address, to Fox News' Greta Van Susteren, Jan. 26, 2011

"So I listened to that Sputnik moment talk over and over again, and I think, No, we don't need one of those. You know what we need is a Spudnut moment. … The Spudnut shop in Richland, Wash., it's a bakery, it's a little coffee shop that's so successful, 60-some years, generation to generation, a family-owned business, not looking for government to bail them out and make their decisions for them. It's just hard-working patriotic Americans in this shop. We need more Spudnut moments in America, and I wish that President Obama would understand in that heartland of America, what it is that really results in the solutions that we need to get this economy back on the right track. It's a shop like that."—on President Obama's State of the Union address, to Fox News' Greta Van Susteren, Jan. 26, 2011

"I love it when anybody goes rogue, for the right reasons."—on Michele Bachmann's response to the State of the Union address, to Fox News' Greta Van Susteren, Jan. 26, 2011

"Both of their messages, too, those conservative common sense messages that they had on how to get the economy back on the right track were really good. They were sound. They were sound because they were in opposition to President Obama's message."—on Rep. Paul Ryan's and Rep. Michele Bachmann's State of the Union responses, to Fox News' Greta Van Susteren, Jan. 26, 2011

"We don't just have the fighting instincts of a bunch of sheep like I think a lot of Democrats do."—on President Obama's State of the Union address, to Fox News' Greta Van Susteren, Jan. 26, 2011

"I've been accused of dividing within establishment in the Republican party, too, for some years now, and I don't see it as division."—on whether Rep. Michele Bachmann is creating divisions in the Republican party, to Fox News' Greta Van Susteren, Jan. 26, 2011

"We can have individuals and individual character traits within politicians, being able to be made manifest in the way that we express our views."—on the strength of the Republican party, to Fox News' Greta Van Susteren, Jan. 26, 2011

"Piper was named after Todd's airplane, the Piper Cub, which gets us to the hunting grounds. Bristol, Bristol Bay fishing grounds. Willow, a local sport-fishing stream. Trig, I pull the TRIG-ger. Track ... I remember when we told my dad that his grandson was named Track, he said, 'Like TRACKing an elephant?' "—on how her kids names' were derived from the outdoors, speaking at the annual meeting of Safari Club International, Reno, Nevada, Jan. 29, 2011

"If a caribou needs to be sacrificed for the sake of energy independence, I say, 'Mr. Caribou, maybe you need to take one for the team.' "—speaking at the annual meeting of Safari Club International, Reno, Nev., Jan. 29, 2011

"That was another one of those WTF, when he has so often repeated this 'Sputnik moment' that he would aspire Americans to celebrate, and he needs to remember that what happened back then with the former communist USSR and their victory in that race to space, yeah, they won, but they also incurred so much debt at the time that it resulted in the inevitable collapse of the Soviet Union."—in response to President Obama's State of the Union address, to Fox News' Greta Van Susteren, Jan. 26, 2011

"We need to cut these things that aren't constitutionally mandated, that are kind of on the periphery, the fluffery, like NPR and National Endowment for the Arts. Those are obvious."—on President Obama's State of the Union address, to Fox News' Greta Van Susteren, Jan. 26, 2011

"His theme last night in the State of the Union was the WTF, winning the future, and I thought, OK, that acronym, spot-on. There were a lot of WTF moments throughout that speech."—on President Obama's State of the Union address, to Fox News' Greta Van Susteren, Jan. 26, 2011

"Especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding, journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn."—Facebook note and video in response to the Tucson shooting, Jan. 12, 2011

"This isn't about me, and my response four days after this horrendous event, and in my response I talked about defending those who were innocent, had nothing to do with the shooting, and my defense wasn't self-defense, it was defending those who were falsely accused."—to Fox News' Sean Hannity, in response to criticism of her initial response, Jan. 18, 2011

"On this day celebrating the legacy and the life of Martin Luther King Jr, we would be well to remember one of his famous quotes. He had reminded listeners that a lie cannot live. And I believe that in not every situation it's just going to be providence that sheds light on what the truth is. We have to do our part also, so in a situation like we have just faced in these last eight days of being falsely accused of being accessory to murder, I and others need to make sure that we too are shedding true, shedding light on truth so a lie cannot continue to live, because if a lie does live then of course your career is over, your reputation is thrashed and you will be ineffective in what it is that you are trying to do, so I will continue to speak out, they're not going to shut me up."—to Fox News' Sean Hannity, in response to criticism of her initial response, Jan. 18, 2011

"Not necessarily me being sat down and shut up, but having the voice of respectful dissent being sat down and shut up, that would destroy our republic."—to Fox News' Sean Hannity, in response to criticism of her initial response, Jan. 18, 2011

"I studied journalism, who, what, where, when, and why of reporting. I will speak to reporters who still understand that cornerstone of our democracy, that expectation that the public has for truth to be reported. And then we get to decide our own opinion based on the facts reported to us."—To Sean Hannity, in a Fox News interview, Nov. 22, 2010.

"I want to help clean up the state that is so sorry today of journalism. And I have a communications degree."—To Sean Hannity, in a Fox News interview, Nov. 22, 2010.

"This speaks to a bigger picture here that certainly scares me in terms of our national security policy. But obviously we've gotta stand with our North Korean allies."—Discussing Obama's foreign policy in an interview with Glenn Beck, Nov. 24, 2010.

"We know that Obama wasn't vetted through the campaign, and now, you know, some things are coming home to roost, if you will, which is inexperience, his associations, and that ultimately harms our republic when a candidate isn't—isn't vetted by the media, that cornerstone of our democracy."—In an interview with Anchorage radio station KWHL's Bob and Mark Show, Nov. 16, 2010.

"2 PA school speech; I'll intro kids 2 beauty of laissez-faire via serving them cookies amidst school cookie ban debate;Nanny state run amok!"—Tweet, Nov. 9, 2010.

"As always, proud to be American! Thanks, Commonsense Constitutional Conservatives,u didn't sit down & shut up...u 'refudiated' extreme left."—Tweet reacting to Republicans' success in midterm elections, Nov. 3, 2010.

"I suppose I could play their immature, unprofessional, waste-of-time game, too, by claiming these reporters and politicos are homophobe, child molesting, tax evading, anti-dentite, puppy-kicking, chain smoking porn producers … really, they are. … I've seen it myself … but I'll only give you the information off-the-record, on deep, deep background; attribute these 'facts' to an 'anonymous source' and I'll give you more."—In an e-mail to the Daily Caller, about Politico's use of anonymous sources in a story about Republican resistance to a Palin presidency, Nov. 1, 2010.

"What I think she could add to that even is to explain what the real witchcraft and voodoo politics and economics is, and that's what's going on in D.C. And that's why she's determined to get to D.C., to write some laws and get some truth in Washington D.C. so that our economy can get roaring back to life."—On what was missing from Christine O'Donnell's "I'm You" campaign ad, to Fox News' Sean Hannity, Sept. 6, 2010.

"She's going to have to learn very quickly to dismiss what some of her handlers want... She's going to dismiss that, go with her gut get out there, speak to the American people, speak through Fox news and let the independents who are tuning in to you know what she stands for."
—Discussing Christine O'Donnell's media strategy with Bill O'Reilly in a Fox news interview, Sept. 15, 2010.

"CQ Politics - c'mon guys, get it right. No one told Christine to only speak to FOX news. C'mon now, print truth. Thanks very much."
Tweet, Sept. 18, 2010.

"The Hill: get it right, please; I did NOT tell O'Donnell to only speak to Fox News. Where do u all get this stuff? Pls report truth. Thanks"
Tweet, Sept. 19, 2010.

"Spenard Builders called and they said, 'We're gathering a lot of people in the valley we're goin' to go up to the Lutheran church and the Baptist church and we're going to start praying for our country.' So we shut down City Hall for a while and we all ran up to the churches and we started prayin' for America."
—Describing her reaction to the terrorist attacks with Glenn Beck at a 9/11 memorial event in Anchorage, Alaska, Sept. 11, 2010.

"People show up to hear Glenn Beck. They show up because he has such an infectious eagerness to learn."

"Freedom is worth fighting for and that's why he is out doing what he does every day, and I'll tell you he is out there on the front lines. He is on the front lines in a tough and a brutal leftist media world that takes their shots at him every single day. He reminds me of a lot of good Alaskans."
—Introducing Glenn Beck at a Sept. 11 memorial event in Anchorage, Alaska, Sept. 11, 2010.

"… in this most perfect state in America, Alaska, where we are independent and we've got a pioneering spirit that more of America should hopefully get to look into this state and understand."
—At a Sept. 11 memorial event in Wasilla, Alaska, Sept. 11, 2010.

"I did, I did! I'm so proud of myself. I have caribou blood under my fingernails still."
—When asked by a fan whether she'd killed a caribou recently, at a Sept. 11 memorial event in Wasilla, Alaska, Sept. 11, 2010.

"Obama speech tonite may make u dig out ur old Orwell books so rewritten history can be deciphered, depending on who gets credit 4 Iraq surge."
Tweet, Aug. 31, 2010.

"Wow,media goofballs rearing heads this wk,big time!Wonder what's up?Taking the cake:ink re:Bristol=a diva? Silly;obviously have nvr met her"
Tweet, Sept. 1, 2010.

"@ HeyTammyBruce @ JoeWMiller g'night!May Alaska's opportunity to export our pioneering, independent spirit come to fruition w/a miracle on ice"
Tweeting about the possibility that Palin-endorsed Joe Miller will upset incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski (the daughter of one of Palin's former rivals, and the woman who was appointed to the Senate seat Palin was considered for in 2002) in Alaska's GOP Senate primary, Aug. 25, 2010.

"In order to shake off the shackles they wanted to paralyze us with, I handed the reins to another, much like Dr. Laura is doing, so that these obstructionists who hated a Commonsense Conservative agenda wouldn't win."
—A Facebook note defending her defense of Dr. Laura Schlessinger, Aug. 19, 2010.

"I, and obviously many others, have been 'shackled' too by people who play games with false accusations, threats, frivolous lawsuits, misreporting, etc., in an effort to silence those with whom they disagree."
—A Facebook note defending her defense of Dr. Laura Schlessinger, Aug. 19, 2010.

"Dr.Laura=even more powerful & effective w/out the shackles, so watch out Constitutional obstructionists. And b thankful 4 her voice,America!"
"Dr.Laura:don't retreat...reload! (Steps aside bc her 1st Amend.rights ceased 2exist thx 2activists trying 2silence"isn't American,not fair")"

Tweets in support of Dr. Laura Schlessinger, after Schlessinger decided to leave radio following an on-air tirade about the "n-word," Aug. 18, 2010.

"To choose and be so adamant about this exact location just a block or two away from 9/11, again is that knife, it feels like."
—On President Obama's comments on the "Ground Zero Mosque," to Greta Van Susteren on On the Record, Aug. 16, 2010. Watch the video; the Palinism occurs at 1:05.

"Who hijacked term:'feminist'?A cackle of rads who want 2 crucify other women w/whom they disagree on a singular issue; it's ironic (& passé)."
Tweet, Aug. 18, 2010.

"He just doesn't get it, that this is an insensitive move on the part of those Muslims who want to build that mosque in this location. It feels like a stab in the heart to collectively Americans who still have that lingering pain from 9/11."
—on Presiden't Obama's comments on the "Ground Zero Mosque," to Greta Van Susteren on On the Record, Aug. 16, 2010. Watch the Palinism here.

" 'Refudiate,' 'misunderestimate,' 'wee-wee'd up.' English is a living language. Shakespeare liked to coin new words too. Got to celebrate it!"
Tweet, July 18, 2010, after she took flak for mispronouncing "repudiate" in an interview with Sean Hannity and doubling down on Twitter.

"It's a combination of things that's resulting in a president who's not taking a strong stand on those things that are the will of the people."
—Explaining that the president was unprepared for office, in an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity, Aug. 4, 2010

"LasVegas RJ editorial recaps Obama lecture 2 Runnin' Rebs: he's got most disconnected, backasswards plan ever imposed on the country we love."
—Palin's synopsis, in a tweet, of a scathing Las Vegas Record-Journal editorial  about the president's economic policies, July 11, 2010

"Jan Brewer has the cojones that our President does not have to look out for all Americans—not only Arizonans, but all Americans in this desire of ours to secure our borders."
—Fox News Sunday, Aug. 1, 2010. The Palinism is at 0:30 in the video below:

"[Barack and Michelle Obama] have power in their words. They couldrefudiate what it is that this group is saying."
—On the NAACP charge of racism in the Tea Party movement, The Sean Hannity Show, Fox News, July 14, 2010

"Ground Zero Mosque supporters: doesn't it stab you in the heart, as it does ours throughout the heartland? Peaceful Muslims, pls refudiate."
—On plans to build an Islamic community center near Ground Zero, via Twitter, July 18, 2010

"We have a President, perhaps for the very first time since the founding of our republic, who doesn't appear to believe that America is the greatest earthly force for good the world has ever known."
Facebook note, June 30, 2010

"I would have waived the Jones Act, and some unions not might not like it, not union membership, but the union leaders, too many, who are thugs."
—Speaking at the Oil Palace  in Tyler, Texas, June 26, 2010 (Palinism at 8:05)

"Shoot, I must have lived such a doggoned sheltered life as a normal, independent American up there in the Last Frontier, schooled with only public education and a lowly state university degree, because obviously I haven't learned enough to dismiss common sense."
—On opposition to offshore oil drilling, Facebook note, June 13, 2010

"Here's an example of how it wastes some time. To be judged on or to be talked about on appearance—say chest size—it makes me wear layers, it makes me have to waste time figuring out what am I going to wear so that nobody will look in an area that I don't need them to look at."
—Fox interview with Greta Van Susteren, June 12, 2010

"It's not interesting stuff that they're making up and writing, and that's why they're going down."
—On Newsweek's "Saint Sarah" cover, Fox interview with Greta Van Susteren, June 12, 2010

"Well, then what the federal government should have done was accept the assistance of foreign countries, of entrepreneurial Americans who have had solutions that they wanted presented. They can't even get a phone call returned, Bill. The Dutch—they are known, and the Norwegians—they are known for dikes and for cleaning up water and for dealing with spills. They offered to help and yet, no, they too, with the proverbial, can't even get a phone call back."
—To Bill O'Reilly, Fox News, June 15, 2010. Watch the video.

"Unless government appropriately regulates oil developments and holds oil executives accountable, the public will not trust them to drill, baby, drill. And we must!" Facebook note, June 8, 2010.

"Contested primaries are so good for America's political process! Competition makes everyone work harder, be more efficient, debate clearer, and produce more."—Palin in a Facebook note endorsing Joe Miller in Alaska's Senate race, June 2, 2010.

"I think it's appalling and a violation of our freedom of the press."
—Speaking about the negative media coverage of Republican congressional candidate Vaughn Ward, Boise, Idaho, May 21, 2010

"And while we're at it, let's expedite the regulatory and permitting and legal processes for on- and offshore drilling."
—Speaking at the Tea Party convention on Feb. 26, 2010, about six weeks before the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico

"These oil companies must be held responsible if there's any lax at all in their measures and we will hold them accountable, but I am still a believer in domestic drilling. There is an inherent link between energy and prosperity and energy and security, and in a nation, energy and freedom."
Speaking in Clarkston, Mich., at the Defending the American Dream Summit, May 1, 2010, about a week after the oil spill

"One thing we can all agree on, though, is how much we respect and want to protect the freedom of the press and we have that in common, so at the end of the day, I think as long as we're protecting that and not abusing the right—we have to be writing truth—then we'll get along just fine tonight."

"I want to make a toast to all at this press event who agree with Thomas Jefferson, who said that our liberty depends on the freedom of the press. So I want to lift a glass to those who defend that freedom. Our finest, the men and women in uniform who defend that freedom, our Constitution, and our exceptional way of life in America."
—Speaking at the Time 100 gala, New York City, May 4, 2010

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