The New Politics: Sarah Palin & William Russell

William Trower Russell III speaks to supporters as his wife, Katarzyna, and children, William Stanislaw and Anna Elizabeth, listen Monday evening in downtown Johnstown. Russell is hoping to unseat U.S. Rep. John Murtha. Photo: Dave Lloyd/The Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown, PA.

Link to story, photo, and video: http://www.tribdem.com/multimedia/local_story_324165353.html

Important Note: At the bottom of this column you will see what YOU can do to make sure a superb candidate, Lt. Col. William Trower Russell, is competitive enough to have a good chance of winning against John Murtha. Please read & respoond.

Brother and Sister Under the Skin -- William Trower Russell, Sarah Heath Palin

This will be the column for Friday and Saturday, November 24 & 25. Currently, I have a very good title. Never fear, however, because the entire column will appear -- as if by magic. You can find my other colunn on practical politics at SmartPolitics101.

I promise not to ask you to contribute immediately to the campaign of Iraqi Freedom veteran "Trower Russell," although I guess you could do so (please!) by clicking on his name. I recently wrote a column about some of John Murtha's minions writing nasty comments (to me!) about Lt. Col. Russell. Now, Murtha, cited recently as one of the "top 20" politicians in terms of moral corruption, criticizing William Trower Russell is a hoot. It's a little like Paris Hilton taking verbal pot shots at Barbara Bush.

Granted, some people believe Lt. Col. Russell has no chance of beating John Murtha. In their minds, it's as preposterous notion as, say, the Illinois football team defeating Ohio State. Yes, it's just as absurd as the notion that leading political analysts would start supporting Sarah Palin for the Republican vice-presidential slot, as many of them now are doing.

Modern politicians at the federal level are almost exclusively people who have "opinions" on the military and the War in Iraq. In fact, Trower Russell, a veteran of Desert Storm, the Balkans, and Iraqi Freedom, has seen the war "up close and personal." He has fought in Iraq and has seen comrades wounded and killed.

Wouldn't it be amazing to send someone to Congress who actually knew first-hand about the war? Wouldn't it be an interesting way to follow up on the universal refrain that we "support our troops" by actually voting for one? That's a notion which could begin to make a lot of sense to the voters in PA's 12th congressional district.

Sarah Palin has a lot in common with William Russell. In fact, they're both warriors, people who don't back away from a fight. I'm sure all 50 governors in the U.S. "support our troops." Sarah is probably by far the most supportive of them because her son, Track, age 18, is one of them. That makes her unique among the governors of these United States.

William certainly has a unique perspective on 9/11. Most of us saw it unfold on TV. In Russell's case, however, he was as usual on the front lines. When the terrorists hit the Pentagon, he was there with his then-pregnant wife Katarzyna.

Thus, on 9/11/2001, Lt. Col. Russell of the U.S. Army was getting ready to fight Islamic terrorists who want to destroy America. On 9/11/2007, Track Palin and his best friend, John Bates, were enlisting in the U.S. Army. Yes, they're all indeed "brothers and sisters" under the skin. Sarah Palin, Katarzyna Russll, Track Palin, William Russell, all people with strong bonds of decency and love of country.

Sarah and William are winners in the politics-of-the-supposedly-unwinnable. In Sarah's case, she took on a powerful incumbent governor, Frank Murkowski, a Republican, and she beat him. Then, in the general election, she beat former governor, Democrat Tony Knowles.

Oh, and she took on the oil industry in Alaska. She won in the struggle to raise oil taxes, something the industry had prevented by flooding the political system with money. When she was a high school basketball star, they called her "Sarah Baracuda." Now, they might start calling this incarnation of integrity, "Sarrah Incorruptible."

If Sarah were running against Murtha, it would be a classic case of "The Beauty and the Beast." But in western Pennsylvania, the Keystone States's version of a Political New Jersey, we're lucky to have William Russell (and his terrific campaign manager, former Marine Larry Stiles) standing up to Murtha.

I believe on Election Night, 2008, Lt. Col Russell will be congressman-elect from the 12th District. In saying that, I fully realize we're like a bunch of men (and women) looking up 26,000 feet to the top of Mt. Everest. The defeat of John Murtha would be more than a turning point for western PA. It would be a turning point for the country.

John Murtha has already raised a million dollars from "the usual suspects." He will raise about $4 million, most of it coming from the grateful beneficiaries of the federal tax dollars he doles out to big contributors. If William Russell raises a tenth that amount, he'll probably be overjoyed. But Russell has factors going with him that Murtha will find out about in what the Bible calls "the fullness of time."

However, this campaign is going to transcend money. I'm sure Murtha agrees with Tip O'Neil that "money is the mother's milk of politics." Yet this time there's real hope that Murtha's "milk" is going to curdle. In politics, sometimes enough is enough. Murtha has become the moral version of a human landfill, and it's just not as easy to buy votes as it used to be.

Sarah Heath Palin and William Trower Russell are major players in the "New Politics." They have nothing to do with the mildly corrupt, longwinded people we normally associate with politics-as-usual.

They're a new breed -- honest, courageous, dedicated to serving their states and country. They are doers rather than mere talkers. They're people who can cleanse the governmental garbage-heap we now have in Washington, DC.

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How YOU can do your part to help Lt. Col. Russell win against John Murtha: In December, Trower Russell will be sending out thousands of e-mails seeking support for his campaign. You can help by submitting e-mail addresses of people on your mailing list who are likely to back Russell. If you have 5, 10, or more friends and acquaintances who are likely to want Murtha out -- and Russell in -- please submit them to the campaign manager, Larry Stiles. His e-mail address is Larry.Stiles@williamrussellforcongress.com. In responding positively to this request, you can help ensure that the "Murtha-era" finally comes to an end. Russell is going to run one of the most financially efficient campaigns possible, but he does need your help (which you can provide at http://williamrussellforcongress.com/. If you can give $100 or more, please do so. If you can donate only $10, then please do that. By submitting e-mail addresses to Larry Stiles, a Vietnam-era Marine, you can link up people concerned about America's future with a candidate who's scrupulously honest and a patriot of the highest quality. Please do what you can! If you have any questions, please e-mail me at: TalkTop65@aol.com.

Note: See the material below about the Political Pistachio radio show that will deal mainly with Sarah Palin -- but also a little about William Trower Russell, who will appear on the same show on November 28.

IRAQ & THE MEDIA: GOOD NEWS IS NO NEWS

Question: Why is the media seemingly losing interest in the Iraq War?

Answer: According to columnist Jack Kelly of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the reason is simple: because of the Petraeus strategy, coupled with growing support from former Sunni insurgents, the U.S. is winning the war -- and al Qaeda is losing.

For a first-rate analysis of the emerging situation in Iraq, read Jack Kelly's column in the Sunday, October 7, 2007 "Forum" section of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. You can find it at: http://post-gazette.com/forum.

Kelly's Conclusion: What's good news for America is no news for the media.

On Monday and Tuesday, I'll talk more about Iraq, and the surprising influence it might have on the election.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) I'll write about Mrs. Clinton's shrill, old politics line that "This is GEORGE BUSH'S WAR." I'll discuss what her position on Iraq, which is not profoundly different from George Bush's by the way, says about her as a person and a candidate.

NOTE THE FOLLOWING NY TIMES STORY FROM 9/26/2007


By JEFF ZELENY and PATRICK HEALY Published: September 26, 2007 HANOVER, N.H., Sept. 26 — The three leading Democratic presidential candidates refused on Wednesday night to promise that they would withdraw all American troops from Iraq by the end of their first term, saying in a televised debate here that they could not predict the future challenges in Iraq.

Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Obama and Mr. Edwards agreed that it would be wrong to promise that they could get all American forces out of Iraq by 2013. But some of the candidates still tried to highlight differences in their approach to ending the war.


Steve says: By 2013??? Now they tell us! Why are the "leading candidates" saying this now, after indicating previously that they wanted us out by yesterday?

Because we're winning the war, and they are trying to reserve a seat on the bandwagon.


JACK KELLY ON SUCCESS IN IRAQ:

Jack Kelly's Sunday column on Iraq has the headline: "On a Roll in Iraq." The sub-head is: "The U.S. and its Sunni Allies are Dismantling al-Qaeda."

For her own political reasons, Nancy Pelosi is still muttering about "the rising level of violence" in Iraq, but the realities on the ground are quite different. The only rise in violence is that directed against al-Qaeda, which is suffering heavy losses that are causing its infrastructure to unravel.

The first paragraph of Kelly's column begins with these words: "The last days on earth of Abu Osama al-Tunisi apparently were filled with anxiety. 'We are desperate for your help,' he said in a letter to al-Qaeda chieftains."

Kelly continues, "A copy of the letter was found by U.S. troops sifting through the rubble of the building in Musayh, about 40 miles south of Baghdad, where on Sept. 25 Mr. Tunisi had been meeting with two local al-Qaeda operatives when an [American] F-16 cut their discussion short."

Columnist Kelly points out that dramatic decline in the number of U.S. deaths that has occurred since Sept. 1. Somehow, most of the media in this country seem to have missed this striking positive development. It just doesn't fit with the media "narrative" we've been hearing for years.

The American military have been busily involved in capturing and killing key al-Qaeda figures, including Tunisi. U.S. forces are being assisted in this effort by Sunnis, especially in formerly hostile locations like al Anbar and Diyala provinces.

Here's how Investor's Daily interprets the media's non-response to the good news in Iraq: "That the media are no longer much interested in Iraq is a sure sign things are going well there."

Kelly cites comments by British Mideast expert Bartle Bull who's recently written an article called "Mission Accomplished." Bull observes, "With most Sunni factions now seeking a deal, the big questions in Iraq have been resolved positively. The country remains one; it has embraced democracy and avoided an all-out civil war."

If success in Iraq is no news for the media, it's also bad news for House and Senate Democrats. They have largely surrendered in the battle with al-Qaeda in Iraq, while the U.S. military is going successfully about the business of winning the War.

The main-stream media will have to look elsewhere for stories that reflect badly on the U.S. Of more importance, Democrats will have to invent another issue to sustain their electoral successes in the recent past.

(More to come on Tuesday, October 9. Thanks for visiting. Your comments are always welcome.)

Stephen R. Maloney

COMMENT & RESPONSE:

Danielk said...
To be fair though, the message coming from most of those people is that we've been winning continually since 2004. If we're winning more now, how is that news?

October 8, 2007 3:33 PM
Stephen R. Maloney said...
To be extremely fair . . .Who exactly are "those people?" They aren't most of the media; they aren't Clinton, Obama, and Edwards. They aren't even Jack Kelly, who has presented a mixed view. They also aren't me. And they certainly aren't Gen. Petraeus. Are they perhaps somebody you have invented? A variation on my theme of "good news from Iraq is no news to the media" is that good news from Iraq is bad news for certain Democrats, apparently including one Daniel K.

steve maloney