Another back page: Engstrand on McCain and Palin

Sarah Palin's performance at the first Tea Party Convention the weekend has drawn either cheers or jeers, the latter especially for her stumbling use of "palm prompter" crib notes on her hand during a  Q & A session after sniping in her speech at the president for using a teleprompter. As the New york Daily News concluded:

She was paid $100,000 for her speech there Saturday night, money she said she would give back to the group's conservative cause.

She also gave Democrats an unexpected gift when video of the speech caught her glancing at notes written on her left palm.

Palin's grade school trick means she should no longer ridicule Obama's use of a TelePrompTer for speeches, said Democratic National Committee spokesman Hari Sevugan.

"Her hypocrisy has killed off the favorite silly GOP talking point," he said

One of Palin's admirers is the newly transplanted resident of Minnesota's First Congressional District and self-proclaimed congressional candidate Lt. Col. Jim (James K.) Engstrand. On November 11,  2008, Lt. Col. Engstand posted on the I Love Sarah Palin (the Barracuda) Facebook group wall:

James K. Engstrand wrote
at 3:50am on November 11th, 2008

Sarah Palin is the only reason"Yosemite Sam" got my vote. He crossed the aisle way t much and was a greater defender of the "Drive By Media" and his political enemies then he was for Sarah.

I would be proud to have her as my President.

LTC James K. Engstrand

Update: The comment seems to have been has not been removed, along with those surrounding it. Fortunately, I saved a screenshot and post it now, and the post is still viewable here. You'd think politicians of all stripes--and their allies--would have learned not to scrub by now. Found it, and hence have corrected this post. Engstrand has changed his avatar.  [end update]

Engstrand's comparison of 2008 Republican Presidential candidate, Vietnam Vet and former prisoner of war John McCain to the Looney Tunes character Yosemite Sam gave me pause, as it violates the late Ronald Reagan's so-called 11th Commandment forbidding loyal Republicans from public criticism of each other.

A little googling, though, revealed that Engstrand's slam of Arizona's Republican senior senator was hardly original. The analogy seems to originate in a February 2008 NRO column by Mark Steyn, The Gollygamist Is Out:

. . .So, if Republicans went for McCain because he’s the “national security sheriff,” I think it’s the sheriff part they like, rather than the national security. It’s easy to see him moving down a dusty Main Street in a low crouch, hands ready to draw. Actually, now I do try to picture it, he’s less like the sheriff and more like Yosemite Sam, and that doesn’t usually work out as well. . . .

Steyn's snarkwas sticky, and as the election loomed, Republican leader Rush Limbaugh took to calling McCain "Yosemite Sam." Only a few days before Engstrand's November 11, 2008 post on the Palin fan group wall, Limbaugh opined in Unconscionable: McCain Staffers Attempting to Destroy Sarah Palin:

All of these campaign aides were trying to cover their own rear ends.  They were going out there and blaming other campaign aides for things that went wrong, the choice of Palin, why McCain looked like Yosemite Sam prancing around when the dynamite failed to go off at half the debates.

Perhaps Engstrand can be given a pass for parroting a standard conservative inside joke about his party's nominee, or his own reluctance to support the Republican Presidential candidate in the hypothetical absence of Sarah Palin on the ticket. 

However, one must wonder what sort of leadership, judgment and tact Engstrand exhibited by posting his sentiments about John McCain on November 11, 2008. In the southern Minnesota where I was raised, Veterans' Day was, after all, a time to honor all veterans for their service to our country. What a pity Lt. Col. Engstrand could not set aside his extreme ideology for one day--even for a fellow Republican.

For an earlier Bluestem post about Engstrand's online musings about politics, see 2007 blog post: Engstrand believed newly-elected "tyrannical liberals" would "chase Christians out". Another post, Eyes of Texas are upon us; or, Werner comes from Lone Star to North Star for Engstrand, looks at his campaign worker from the  Dallas area.

Image: John McCain as Yosemite Sam, from Rush Limbaugh's November 6 broadcast. Unconscionable: McCain Staffers Attempting to Destroy Sarah Palin

Comments

[Dave Thul]

You are attacking a combat veteran for expressing his viewpoint?

Seems like it was only last month when you were attacking Quist for daring to criticize Rep Walz, a veteran.

[Sally Jo Sorensen]

Nice try at distraction from the chair of the Steele County Republican Party, but no one is attacking Engstrand as a war veteran, disrespecting his service to our country in Iraq, nor questioning his loyalty to this country (which was the case with Allen Quist, who deemed Congressman Walz as a greater threat than terrorists).

Engstrand's service to our country is not being questioned, nor should it be. I'm grateful for it, as I am for that of Congressman Walz and Senator McCain and all veterans who serve honorably.

Rather, what's being scrutinized are Engstrand's remarks and beliefs and whether they are a good match for those of voters living in Southern Minnesota.

In this post, I examine his use of a rather mean-spirited nickname for the 2008 GOP Presidential candidate John McCain (since Thul brings up combat veteran status, remember that McCains's naval honors include the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart, and the Distinguished Flying Cross). To me, Engstrand displayed questionable judgement to use this dismissive name for Palin's running mate. Pundits and entertainers like Steyn and Limbaugh can do this for a living--those who run for office are generally expected to adhere to higher standards.

That Engstrand repeated the mean-spirited slam against decorated combat veteran Senator John McCain on Veterans Day on a public Facebook group raises additional questions about his judgment and match with Southern Minnesota values-- not Engstrand's patriotism or his service.

Moreover, the earlier post on Engstrand's blog entry doesn't question his service or patriotism, but his judgement and grasp of facts. To call attention to Engstrand's Feb. 2007 blog post that included Engstrand's notion that newly elected liberals intended to "help" Iran's president finish the Holocaust and to chase Christians out of America is entirely proper.

In the earlier entry, I quoted the entire post so that readers could see the context in which Engstrand's belief was stated and included a screenshot of the post, as well as links to the material. And in this post, I include a screen shot and include the pedigree of the "Yosemite Sam" nickname.

Thus, Thul's response raises interesting questions in and of itself. Why wouldn't he want voters in Southern Minnesota to know what Jim Engstrand says publicly online about John McCain and those who were elected in 2006?

Why distract Bluestem's readers by attacking a straw man?

Even more interesting: what does Dave Thul think about the substance of my posts: Engstrand's public writings online?