Palin: The 'Troopergate' You Haven't Heard Of | Newsweek Scope

Buckle Up—or Else
Jacob Weisberg 9/19/2009 12:00:00 AM
Last week dawned clear and bright in the nanny state of New York City. Monday's paper brought word that the city's new health commissioner was working on ways to get residents to exercise more. That same morning, Michael Bloomberg announced his own latest assault on unhealthy behavior. By 2012, the mayor hopes "to lower the proportion of adults who drink one or more sugar-sweetened beverages each day by 20 percent." Tuesday's news was about plans to forbid smoking at parks and beaches.
Death, Republican Style
Jacob Weisberg 8/29/2009 12:00:00 AM
The republicans charge that Democratic health care reform would, in Sen. Charles Grassley's words, "pull the plug on Grandma." According to Sen. Jon Kyl, the bills before Congress would ration medical treatment by age. Rep. John Boehner says they promote euthanasia. Sarah Palin has raised the specter of "death panels." Such fears are understandable. It's not preposterous to imagine laws that would try to save money by encouraging the inconvenient elderly to make an early exit. After all, that's been the Republican policy for years.
Attack!
Sharon Begley 8/15/2009 12:00:00 AM
If, this fall, proponents of health-care reform conduct a postmortem on how President Obama's signature issue went down to defeat—I'm not saying it will, but stick with me here—they will not be far off if they trace it to this summer's "great phrase face-off." From Obama, we got "bending the cost curve," his hope of slowing the rise in health-care spending. From Sarah Palin: "death panels." From Obama: "the status quo on health care...is threatening the financial stability of families, of businesses, and of government." From GOP strategist Frank Luntz and his clients: some bureaucrat will put himself "between you and your doctor, denying you exactly what you need." From Obama: "If you like your health-care plan, you can keep" it. From GOP Sen. Jon Kyl: "Imagine needing a new hip that will make it easier to get around, but just because you're over 75, the government denies you that surgery." Not to mention Republican Rep. Lamar Smith's assertion that the Democrats' bill "contains gaping loopholes that will allow illegal immigrants to receive taxpayer-funded benefits." And then there was that sign greeting President Obama outside an August town-hall meeting in New Hampshire: Obama lies, grandma dies.
Letters to the Editor
7/18/2009 12:00:00 AM
POLITICS
Where the Bars Are Open Till 5 A.M.
Amanda Coyne 9/13/2008 12:00:00 AM
At the Republican Convention, Sarah Palin talked about her hometown as if it were a place painted by Norman Rockwell. She spoke about the factory workers and the farmers. She quoted the mid-20th-century columnist Westbrook Pegler: "We grow good people in our small towns, with honesty and sincerity and dignity." She talked about conservative values and fiscal discipline. "I grew up with those people," she said. So you might imagine that Wasilla, Alaska, is a tight-knit community with a general store, cozy cabins and a quaint bar where everyone knows your name, all centered around a town square with a steepled church and a frozen pond.
CAMPAIGN 2008
An Apostle of Alaska
9/6/2008 12:00:00 AM
John McCain was not her dream pick. Only a year ago, when the Republican primaries were just beginning, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told NEWSWEEK that she wasn't enthusiastic about anyone in the GOP field. McCain was languishing at 7 percent in the polls. Mike Huckabee was reduced to playing his electric bass to get attention. Palin, driving with a NEWSWEEK reporter along the highway from Anchorage to Wasilla, said she could understand why the country was enthralled by the race between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. "When you talk about the Republican Party needing appealing candidates, darn right they do!" she said. "The Democrats, whether you like them or not … there is some dynamic there, and it's something that the Republicans I think have lacked for some time."