GREAT GREAT piece of writing!

You got three front-page Christmas feel-good articles, a Christmas TOE cartoon, and a religious piece from the bishop. How much more do you want?

I think you're just grumpy because they picked on your princess...oh, and Palin too.

A little early though for April Fool's editorial, don't you think?

This is what passes as journalism in the rags today and the owners of newspapers can't figure out why their circulation numbers keep dropping. If a conservative had written such tripe about a woman they'd be accused of being a sexist.

And mr. john whatever your last name is, if in fact you were the one to write this, you had the gall last week to give us the definition of compassion.

What a two-faced embarrassment for an adult male you are.

And it is a little curious why you chose Christmas Day to publish your piece of crap.

If I subscribed to the hard copy of The Empire I'd be cancelling my subscription tomorrow.

I'm steamed - and who screams the loudest "can't we just get along"? Yeah, the loser progressives.

Sarah Palin has more class in her little finger.

There goes whatever votes there were in the Mat Su Valley (population 85,000 and growing fast) for keeping the capital in Juneau (population 31,000 and shrinking). Mat Su Valley is even bigger than all of SE Alaska (71,000 and shrinking, although no one in Ketchikan would vote to keep Juneau the capital).

Palin has lots of class. She pr!ck-tea$ed right-wing America into thinking she might be a presidential candidate and in the process suckered a bunch of people into putting millions in her bank account by purchasing her ghost-written books and letting her babble to a bunch of inbred hillbillies. I love how she conned a fortune out of a bunch of honest, hard-working, FOX News-watching suckers who now don't have money to contribute to real GOP candidates. I guess the Koch brothers will be forced to ante up even more to get one of their bootlicks elected.
I'm not overly enthralled with Barack, but if the current field is the best the GOP can muster then we are better off staying where we are. Where is Kermit the Frog when we need him?

Would you please provide some basis for you opinion that the Editorial Board at the Juneau Empire is against what you characterize as "conservative" positions, etc. Or if that is beyond your ability, could you just give a couple of examples of how the political personalities mentioned in the Empire editorial are genuinely "conservative" using your own subjective definition of what constitutes conservative.

The Empire provides a valuable forum for public opinion, including your opinion. There is no genuine reason to call for a boycott of the paper. If you really think the Empire is out of line and has a bias that you do not like, here's an idea that will allow you to demonstrate real character and genuine commitment to whatever principles you harbor: Go out and start your own competing publication or media outlet.

The media market in our little town is wide open to new opportunities. Put your thoughts and energy into developing a paper or other outlet instead of carping about the Empire.

In the modern world it has become commonplace for many to know what they don't like instead of what they like and Calypso is a good example of this phenomenon. The adult response to a position one doesn't like is to point out the flaws based on at least a little logic, a fact or two and reason. But of course in the modern world, fact, logic and reason are often overlooked. It's easier to engage in emotional diatribes and anonymous postings rather than present a coherent critique of what was obviously a tongue-in-cheek editorial commentary.

Complaining to Morris about the endless stream of extreme right-wing Heritage Foundation rubbish that the Empire publishes on a regular basis.

There's some real hatred of progressives on the editorial board of the empire.

Real two-faced hatred.

I don't believe that I mentioned one thing about there being too many liberal as oppossed to conservative opinion pieces.

Let me state my opinion one more time for those that want to attack me and spin what I wrote.

My beef is with the tone and even the choice of words written by the editorial board at the Empire in regards to Sarah Palin.

And, joe, don't spin it as being "obviously tongue-in-cheek". I'm not buying it and if it's so amusing to denegrate another human being let's choose someone on the left and write an "obviously tongue-in-cheek" article. Maybe the board could start with Dennis Egan or Beth Kerttula. It'll never happen.

And all the while those of us that post are being lectured, quite consistently, by the editorial board on civility.

Hypocrisy to the extreme.

And you know joegeldhof, I don't want to start a new paper - I want to call out the editors on this established paper when I see wrong.

And it's just wrong for a grown man to write such snark and tripe about a woman that he personally holds a grudge against or that he does not agree with politically.

Mr. Moses, think of it this way - would you be proud to have your daughter read this editorial, if in fact you wrote it?

p.s. - Did any of you know that Rick Perry had major back surgery last fall? Where's the compassion Mr. Moses?

moderated post showed up...

Don't be baited by Frenchie into feeling you have to write snark or tripe about Trump and Palin. I'll do it for you. You take the high road while I wallow in the filth. I'm comfortable down here - it suits me.

Trump/Palin - 2012
"You're Fired / I Quit!"

The great temptation here is to ignore your bald conclusions. But I'm willing to point out the obvious just in case you decide to engage in analysis at some point.

Really, are we all supposed to defer to you as the person who gets to define the world and be the arbiter of labels? I am not conservative in your world. Great! You get to define the world. At best, I am a RINO, in your world. If I say something like: "If you say so" then I am engaging in snarky behavior. Nice little self-perpetuating universe you have going there Calypso.

As a matter of fact, I supported Sarah Palin when she ran for Governor. As a matter of fact, I said she did some good things as Governor in the string of comments above. Does that make me a "conservative" in your world? I did say (and I think that most Alaskans in general pretty much agree) that Palin quit and that a majority of Alaskans believe she has been consumed by personality driven activities. Does that make me a "liberal" in your world? The press, at least in part, has been rough on Palin but what do you or anyone, including Palin, expect when someone like Palin puts herself out there in the limelight?

Anyone that wants a quiet life is welcome to move to International Falls and cut wood and attend Mass. There isn't likely to be much media attention to these kinds of activities. Sarah Palin or any other politician cannot have it both ways when they engage in revved up conduct and behavior--you don't get to be on page one anywhere in the world by engaging in provocative behavior and making extreme comments and then get to demand privacy, etc., etc.

I read as a matter of course and regularly the National Review. Does that make me a "conservative" in your world?This publication regularly makes fun of and spoofs liberal politicians or at least politicians they perceive as liberal. I also read the New Yorker pretty much from cover-to-cover every week. Does that make me a "liberal" in your world? I also read many publications every week on national defense. Does that make me a "conservative" in your world?

Calypso--the entry level stakes anymore for engaging in civic discussion and debate, including political activities, are having a tough hide. Frankly, politics has always been that way. Richard Nixon had a rough ride. So do Bill Clinton. Much of their rough ride was a direct result of their own personality traits and weaknesses. The point being that Palin wasn't the person who drew some short straw to be Governor or the VP candidate. She wasn't put in office when she was absent from a meeting because nobody else wanted the job. She sought out the jobs and put herself into the public arena where brickbats are part of the activity.

And really, is there a cliche more over-utilized inappropriately than saying someone is a "conservative" based on their love of "God and Country." Harry Truman fought in WW I and attended church. Does that make him more or less conservative than Palin. Bill Clinton and George W. Bush both routinely went to church, wore little American flag pins on their lapels and said they loved their country even though they were essentially both draft dodgers with addiction issues. Neither one of these "Baby Boomer" Presidents serve as splendid examples of the dominant political cohorts in American politics. Neither one of theme qualifies as a conservative or a liberal in my world -- they were both hugely flawed individuals that accomplished some good things and made a lot of mistakes. Both are routinely vilified by folks as being horrible for this reason or that which is a good example of how expectations have distorted politics in a substantial way and that a lot of folks in America, including you based on your blog postings here, are essentially clueless when it comes to understanding the nature and scope of government and the difference between political leadership and political personalities . George Washington was a regular church goer for a lot of reasons, including practical and political but the evidence is pretty clear he didn't believe in the typical God figure as handed down by most churches. Where do you place America's first President -- as a conservative or a liberal? Maybe he was simply practical, aloof but considerate and ultimately effective.

Your expectations of political figures seem way out of kilter. You want the Empire to rip the current President. Why? You fail to give any reason, a fact or engage in logic. In that sense you are part of the mainstream political sentiment anymore. You are just acting on emotion and long on conclusion devoid of fact or reason. Look, I am not a devotee of Obama. He hasn't proven to be an effective administrator, which is, after all, the job of the President, but then I didn't harbor any real expectations of what he would do or not do. A bunch of my liberal friends are hugely disappointed in Obama. What did they expect? The guy never administered anything other than maybe a personal checking account. But of course electing anyone out of the legislative branch is often a problem given that they are in the law making branch and not the law administration branch. The skill sets acquired in the law making branch or not necessarily transferable from one branch of government to the other as it turns out.

What do you expect from your politicians? Square the actual job duties with what the politicians actually accomplish and you might actually gain some understanding about what is genuine and what is fake in politics. Until then, why don't you do yourself a favor and stop wasting time with your whining and sniveling about the Empire and all the liberals you apparently love to hate. Stick to reality, facts, logic and reason -- the cornerstones of The Enlightenment, if you want to get anything done. Anything else is just more noise and carping, something most political scenes already have in abundance to the detriment of civic life everywhere.

Joe,
Good job! I couldn't have come close to saying it as well as you did.

I may sound kind of dumb with this example, but I'll give it anyway. Does anybody remember CNN Crossfire from the 80s. The hosts were Tom Braden (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Braden), Bob Novak (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Novak), and Pat Buchanan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Buchanan). Of the three, Buchanan was the biggest saber rattler, while Braden was the biggest pacifist. Novak was much less volatile than Pat. Read their backgrounds.