Today marks the one-year anniversary of John McCain's introduction of Sarah Palin to the international stage, in Dayton, Ohio, a political battleground that the Republicans desperately needed for another shot at the White House. They lost Ohio big (by more than 300,000 votes), and they lost the election even bigger--mostly thanks to Palin's erratic, if not downright bizarre, performance as the vice-presidential nominee.
In many ways, it seems longer than a year. Much longer. Palin went back to Alaska, where her life turned into a nasty soap opera. There were revelations from McCain's staff about her behavior on the campaign trail; she was hit with a myriad of ethics charges (some of which, contrary to Palin's claims otherwise, stuck); she bailed on her relationship with the state's legislators and played politics with the federal stimulus plan; she got into a dog fight with Levi Johnston; she began a series of odd Twitterings, replete with a six-part ramble on Mommy Bear; she resigned amid chaos and deception, only to return as a diva on Facebook.
And through it all she has been obsessed with Barack Obama.
I've just returned from Alaska, where I conducted interviews and archival research for a book on Palin, and many of those I spoke to in the Last Frontier, from across the political spectrum, noted that Palin was fixated on Obama. "It's like she's back in high school and someone is more popular than she is," said someone who worked closely with Palin during her 2006 campaign for governor. "It's unnerved her. She can't let it go."
I met Geoffery while he was up here at Shannyn Moore's house. It was on the same night I met Tony "Best Governor ever" Knowles. Some of you may remember when I wrote about it on August 9th.
He is a brilliant man, and his observations about Sarah Palin are dead on.
Please do yourself a favor and click the title to read the entire piece.
Go to palingates and read some more information that just fits right in with this HuffPo article. Just reading the comments that she links from the ADN you just can't help wondering how McCain's flunkies ever picked her as his runningmate.
ReplyDeleteAnd for the love of god do not forget to read her "Who's Your Daddy" letter (or pamphlet whatever). This will clearly help you understand why she does what she does. FYI, she came up with this after someone said something about her dad and she passed this out at a huge school event.
Now Mr. Dunne's book is one I can't wait to read!
Is there a link for the "Who's Your Daddy?" piece?
ReplyDeleteHey, I hate Palin as much as the next person, but can't we just move on and forget this bitch? The more you all bring her name up, the worse it gets.
ReplyDeleteShe's quit...wait until she actually surfaces and goes national before you start again....please.
The intelligent people are on to her...we've called her bluff. She has a base and it is the choice of that base whether they will try to educate themselves and move into this new century and this new administration or choose to hold onto the past; the racist and hateful past that achieves nothing.
ReplyDeleteWoe to them if they choose not to evolve.
Gryphen when I read Geoffrey article the first thing I thought of was that Liberman/Palin picture. You know the one where Liberman is blocking her from "Touching" the President. Well here is the link for those who want to refresh there memories.
ReplyDeletehttp://theimmoralminority.blogspot.com/2009/03/joe-lieberman-sacrifices-what-is-left.html#comments
The "Who's Your Daddy" letter?? link is here:
ReplyDeletehttp://cjrarchive.org/img/posts/PalinDaddyCJR.pdf
It's actually her answer to an Education Forum during her run for Gov in 06. This link will give you the background on the letter. She actually wrote the letter when she was Mayor and tried to pass it off as her answer to the Education Questions!!
Make sure you press the links in the article, that will take you to the ADN where you will find some enlighting comments.
Link Here: http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/shades_of_lipstick.php?page=all
Link to Who's Your Daddy piece:
ReplyDeletehttp://cjrarchive.org/img/posts/PalinDaddyCJR.pdf
Geoffrey Dunn rocks! That article was some kind of wonderful! My first thought was to wonder if he was trying to smoke her out from her hiding place. I sure can't see her letting this slide without some kind of response.
ReplyDeleteNo anon@6:39pm: She needs to be exposed for the fraud she is!!!
ReplyDeleteShe was foisted on as a VP candidate. We need to know the truth,ALL the truth!
THE TRUTH NEEDS TO BURY HER FOREVER!
anon @ 6:39 - I would love to ignore her. Unfortunately, she is now a popular figure among apprx. 20% of Americans (mostly religious fanatics) who hang on her every word - and her words are extremely dangerous. She incites hatred, paranoia and violence, putting our President in danger (from her followers). As long as she continues her attacks, she has to be watched - for the sake of our Country and all of it's citizens. If and when she is in a jail or a mental institution, then we can ignore her. Yes, I AM afraid of her (and her zealot followers), not because she will ever get near the White House - but for the violence she can instigate.
ReplyDeleteIn my 58 years, I have never witnessed such a divisive, crazy public figure (not even Joe McCarthy - and I grew up in his hometown).
I am really looking forward to Geoffrey Dunn's book. I just wish it could be completed sooner.
ReplyDeleteElla @ 7:40, I totally agree.
Chuck Heath says Scarah is somewhere writing her book...lol, she's never written anything that made sense and I certainly wouldn't pay one red cent for anything she wrote. I hope Murdoch loses bigtime on his venture with the quitter.
ReplyDeleteKallie in Texas
Trig, Piper, Bristol and Trip have all be sighted in the Valley in the past week. This makes me think she may be "out of town" but I can't imagine she's out of state with all her kids up here.
ReplyDeleteIt's strange - this weird seclusion thing.
Sarah Palin's level of maturity is at the level of high school, even to the point of continuing to function in a clique. She likes to appoint her classmates to positions they have no skill for. This is an indication of something stopping her development. I don't know the exact reason in her case, but the usual cause is drugs and/or alcohol.
ReplyDelete"[Palin] represents the biggest threat to Obama," Stapleton stated. "She's the only one who can get the base excited....I just hope to God Rahm Emanuel isn't using taxpayer money to come after Alaska."
I imagine Rahm Emanuel and President Obama laughing their butts off when they read this stuff.
To anon above - She is NOT out of the picture. Until she stops facebooking & telling her peeps to watch the wackadoodle Glenn Beck she is still in the picture. Glenn Beck does not need any help gathering his 9-12ers.
ReplyDeleteSarah is the kind of politician we need to get out of the picture (& NO I am not suggesting we kill her like the repubs suggest they kill Obama). Michelle Bachmann (sp?) is another scary character that needs to be removed from office. The dude who won't even read the health care bill & will just vote no on it needs to be removed. Can you imagine electing someone who won't even bother to read the bill?
Gryph, do NOT stop;)
Anon @ 6:39, please go to today’s Palingates: Sarah Palin: unreliable and unhinged.
ReplyDeletehttp://palingates.blogspot.com/
Perhaps you will understand why it is important to continue to expose Sarah Palin for the fraud she is and what a disaster it would have been had she become vice president to a 72 year old 4 time melanoma survivor. The political dominionists who foisted Sarah into the position on the ticket had high hopes that McCain would kick the bucket. There is no delicate way to put this other than to say Sarah Palin is just plain stupid.
John McCain, can you see NOW what you could have wrought upon Americans? It is your fault because you were pressured by political dominionists to put one of their poorly groomed lunatics on the ticket. That, my friend, is why there should always be a separation of church and state.
Let us all remain vigilant to make sure we never come this close to disaster again!
ella - your comments are totally on the money. I agree wholeheartedly that the pressure simply must be applied until she and her ilk have been totally decimated. She is just too dangerous - and evil.
ReplyDeleteWhen someone surrounds themselves with "Yes" people who keep feeding her the line "You are just wonderful," Sarah can not take it when the AK bloggers, media, Obama and the general public see any faults in Mother Sarah. Hopefully many more of Wasilla's residents will leak more of the stories regarding Sarah now that they don't have to fear the bully. As attractive as Sarah is on the outside, she is festering cesspool on the inside. Gradually, all that steamy slime will come to the surface and mar the beauty of Alaska's most famous losing beauty queen.
ReplyDeleteI would like to put it in perspective for Mama Quittybears followers--Her "Beck Bounce" was more due to Rush Limpballs being on his show than to her mention on FB. In any case,it allowed Beck to get about 1/2 million LESS viewers than Letterman.
ReplyDeleteDunn needs to get an interview with Meg and followup on the idea that Obama is behind the attacks on Sarah.
ReplyDeleteMeg, you are a TOTAL IDIOT. Sarah is just plain dumb, but Meg is stupid.
Meg, please release more information of this plot by Obama and Rahm.... let's see how looney tunes you are.
I look forward to Dunn's book as a mighty counterweight to Palin's upcoming puff-piece and even Levi's tell-all. Nothing like solid research.
ReplyDeleteThanks GinaM for your reference to the Columbia Journalism Review article on Palin's early days in "Shades of Lipstick". Wow. SP has been running her game for many years. Dodging questions, failing to show up for her scheduled appointments, cries of "persecution" early on for gentle teasing. She is skilled at manipulation, and I am so glad her tricks are finally being exposed.
I smile every time I think of the picture of Joe Lieberman "blocking" SP from Obama contact at the Alfalfa Dinner. It says so much about SP's confidence in her power to charm to see her advancing boldly toward O with a big smile on her face, after she said so many vile things about him during the campaign. Yes, she REALLY did think she could wink and flirt her way into his good graces.
This is why I think she is now recovering from plastic surgery. Can't have Miss Perky getting all saggy. (I know this doesn't explain the blessed silence from her inane twittering.)
Hugs to all for their hard work this past year for keeping an eye on this power hungry harpy. We haven't seen the last of her, but now the WH is safely beyond her grasp.
Ironic that Meg thinks Rahm would go after Alaska (ha ha) Sarah Palin was great for fundrasing and she worked better than any other tool. Every time she opened her mouth and her stupidity and hate fell out, money poured in.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, Obama has passed several things giving money to Alaska and was working to help the pipeline get through, so this is obvious projection. Did they get less stimulus money? No, at least not from the WH. The fact that Palin turned a small percentage of it down out of spite (a decision now being overturned), is once again proof that she and Meg are proejecting her jealousies and immaturities onto others.
Rahm isn't coming after them:-) He's ignoring her, sure. Because she is a crazy stalker girl who's been trying to get Obama's attention since the race started.
He has never really done more than acknolwedge her existence, nor has he had to since she was failed VP candidate and he was winning POTUS candidate.
She needs to be institutionalized.
I agree with 7:22 a.m. Palin needs to be institutionalized.
ReplyDeleteWhy would ANYONE on the Democratic side or the White House staff think about Palin other than to monitor her for the violence she incites? That has been her track record this entire year; the murderer-terrorist at the Holocaust museum was a big fan of hers.
I have read the ADN AK governor's campaign 2006 blog notes, and it is shocking how much of a disaster Palin was then. Regina's new post at Palingates brilliant. I am irate now that Palin's mental illness and paranoia was evident then, in 2006, but NO ONE IN THE MSM went after that angle? No one in the ADN pursued that angle? Babygate is part of a mental illness angle, too--a sign of her mental illness anyway you want to look at it, either from "the wild ride" risking her life and the child's so he could be born in AK or faking a pregnancy.
The woman has a long pattern of publicly displayed mental health symptoms; and now she REGULARLY threatens our President and his Chief of Staff. She needs to be in a psych ward.
Yeah, she's mentally ill- unhinged, crazy, obsessed with the POTUS, a raging danger to society and she's now "missing". Has she taken up like Jim JOnes? Is she holed up with her faithful cult, drinking kool-aid at the altar of Sarah, while praying for the death of anyone who pisses her off? Yeah, that sounds about right.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure she has pictures of herself scattered all over, and now she's added the socres to her high school basketball games (WTF?). I was the captain of my high school field hockey team, and I havne't thought about that or talked about it in years. I'm younger than SP. I don't get her thinking other people care about her stupid made up scores in high school.
She is clearly still in high school. still tring to win all of those things she never won. And let's face it, she wasn't prom queen or we would've had that shoved in our face for the past year as proof of her international diplomacy skills, so her entire life is one big made up story.
The toad, the props, they're all there for Sarah and her story. she must be hell to live with.
I'm surprised toad hasn't left her yet. if he's still with her, that is.
As a granddaughter, daughter, and mother to loved ones who truly suffer from mental illness I wince whenever I see one of my posting compatriots offhandedly talk about "institutionalizing" her. I also hope this is said tongue in cheek, as it is almost impossible to institutionalize anyone, even those that need it. It sounds too close to "hang 'em!" for my tastes. And as much as I hate her politics and behavior, it is, I believe, unnecessary and cruel to suggest institutionalizing someone that could be functional and stable once treated in even an outpatient program.
ReplyDeleteAbout the mental health crisis, skip to SP if you want;-)
This is a HUGE reason we need health care reform. Parents I know have had their delusional 14 yr old who came at them w/a knife sent home after 3 days in the hospital b/c "they are no longer an *immediate* danger to oneself or others." That's why we have so many mentally ill people on the streets- if their loved ones could keep them in long enough for their meds to stabilize them (sometimes months) we'd have a lot less homeless people. You can thank Reagan for that. He didn't want to pay for their care and Democrats who thought it "violated their civil liberties." I think having my mother on the streets homeless somewhere violates her civil liberties much more. The mentally ill on the streets were/are loved by SOMEONE, likely held jobs at some point and contributed to society. Now they live in boxes on the streets, drinking alcohol/doing drugs as self-medication, and we hire police officers to combat the "homeless problem" or the "drug problem" and to move them from place to place b/c they can't stay there, but where DO they go? Down the drain with the $. Or we pay the police to deal with the aftermath of shootings where people who were ill and never got help took others to their graves. Or my husband's teenage 2nd cousin, who went quietly, and her parents find her hanging from a rope in her room. We pay huge amounts to lock up people who use drugs & alcohol or commit petty crimes, when many of those people are self-medicating or need help. When we make mental health care a priority we will decrease homelessness, crime rates, alcohol and drug abuse, the number of people in our prisons, and the number of people who die from suicide or die at the hands of people who needed adequate mental health. We will decrease people morning for their loved ones lost to death or their illness, people who were powerless to help them. We need to train police officers, EMTs, nurses & doctors & laypeople to spot the signs of mental illness. It is an epidemic in this country, an unspoken, unspeakable one.
http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/mentalhealth/chapter2/sec2_1.html
http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/news/20040601/rate-of-mental-illness-is-staggering
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/05/030507080958.htm
And for people who say "They choose to not get treatment," you're wrong. Research has shown that the same region of the brain affected by the disorders also damage the region of the brain responsible for "insight," or the ability to perceive yourself as you are, ill or well. This is why so many mentally ill people claim others are sick, b/c things do not add up, their brain tells them it is not them, and they are thus "lacking insight" into their illness as docs would say. ~50% of people w/schizophrenia have impaired/lack insight.
I have done years of research so I could advocate effectively for my kids, as well as living w/an abusive & ill mother. I'm usually good at calling it when I see it. When Britney Spears had a 10 second marriage and then was only at the beginning of her decline, everyone said DRUG USER, I said BIPOLAR, wait and see!
Part II LOL
ReplyDeleteSP: BP, ADD?
I have puzzled over Sarah for quite some time. I have not known her personally, but she has been successful for a *long* time. Even if she quit positions, she didn't disappear like someone suffering from bipolar depression would (until now). Her moves were strategic, as this move maybe was in some way, whether to avoid a scandalous divorce and thereby avoiding alienating her base, or if she is simply doing it for $, for her book deal, a FOX show. Or maybe b/c she knew her goose was cooked w/all the ethics charges and wanted to try to get away w/the $ raised for her.
I have thought she suffers from a personality disorder since she stepped on the world stage. My thoughts have changed somewhat, but I am still unsure. The first thing that gave me pause/that suggested mental illness (Bipolar Disorder) was when she mentioned that she and Todd are up all night. That would suggest mania, and go along with her rapid, pressured, rambling speech, grandiose thinking, her disconnect from reality and how she cuts people down who may offer any "alternate reality" to what she perceives. (My BP mom did this. I brought her printouts of her rambling emails and she denied they were from her, I had made them up. Sarah's denials/lies she may actually *believe.*) However, Sarah's energy went on for so long and there never seemed to be the fall into depression. People who know her might be able to speak to whether she would work hard and long and then disappear for awhile, either as Mayor, Governor, etc. It would be very eye opening to know. There are other "forms" or "expressions" of BP so it does not rule it out. Many people in power throughout history have been on the "Bipolar Spectrum."
Severe ADD can cause similar behavior (I have it, I know.) You take on a big order, then go at it with vigor, but start to get overwhelmed at all the work. Some stick their heads in the sand (Sarah, and I've done it,) quit (Sarah,) or ideally break it into small jobs so you're not overwhelmed. If they put her on Adderall or another ADD med, it would explain the weight loss, shaking hands, and if she does have BP, her disappearance (stimulants can worsen the disorder.)
One last thing to chew on is that paranoid schizophrenia has a much later onset in life in women than in men, late 30's. I don't believe that's SP however. Paranoia can exist in many mental illnesses, most notably in Bipolar Disorder when untreated/unstable and in a mixed mood or manic state, and most especially when one has gone untreated for a lifetime.
Sorry to yap so much, I have much more psychological profiling of Palin but it has to wait, I have to make hot cocoas for kids & go get school supplies, or my cranky husband and kids are going to take me to the store in my "blogger PJs." (They're a special kind, doncha know?)
Please remember everyone that not only the mentally ill can behave as she does. 99% of people w/mental illness are nonviolent, not dangerous. Many leaders of the GOP are as "unhinged" as she may be, but not ill. The desire for power does corrupt, and evil has been done by many a sane man (or woman.) Gryphen is not far from the truth with the "Ring of Power." Just my 1000000 cents.
@elliegirl
ReplyDeleteI have to tell you, that you are mistaken if you think that someone with bipolar could not be highly functional.
I have bipolar 1...the worst type. I have had a long career as an addictions counsellor and as the Exec. Director of an alcohol and drug treatment centre. I have chaired and sat on boards of directors. I have raised two fine children who are healthy happy functioning adults.
In short...I have been successful...highly so.
I have also been very ill at times. I made many terrible choices, and hurt myself and my loved ones. I am smart...and educated. These things combined enabled me, I believe to seek the proper help and to take the meds prescribed once a diagnosis was made. When was that you may ask? Well...it was 4 years ago....I am now 56. I have been bipolar all of my life we believe...but I functioned.
Sarah Palin could most definitely be bipolar...but that is not what I have seen. I am not accustomed to dx folks over the net however. There is something about Palin...I don't like it....but I don't know what it is.
@ Casey,
ReplyDeleteFor starters, I did not mean to hurt or offend anyone in any way, or to imply *at all* that people w/mental illnesses cannot be functional. That's why I stated that most of the mentally ill homeless were once functioning & contributing members of society, and could be again. I was really taking about health care reform. When I referred to Sarah Palin and my disbelief that she could be so functional it was with the assumption she has received no medical care or therapy, as I cannot see Sarah accepting that. My children who have BP in no way believe they cannot achieve their dreams b/c of this. It's like diabetes. You manage it, make good choices, and don't let it define you b/c *everyone has something to overcome in their lives.* I applaud your career choice, we need more of you out there!
My mother was "functional," she held it together enough in her professional life. She had a flexible sales job that could work around her disorder and her clients loved her (though her illness was all taken out on me.) No one expected my mom to lose it. They all liked her, the secretary loved her and promised me in tears that she'd call if she EVER heard from my mom. She didn't hit bottom till 53! She functioned until then. Had she been given the help & medications you were she would still have a job and her house. That is my point EXACTLY. Everyone deserves good medical care when they need it, and hopefully mental health parity laws will mean that IF a public option is passed it will include quality mental health benefits.
I don't know if my monster of a post was too long to read, but it was mostly a DEFENSE of people who have mental illnesses and then some of my musings of her psychological profile. As I stated, it is not complete. As someone who does understand the illness, does it not bother you to read people saying they should lock someone up indefinitely who may be mentally ill? Depending on the severity & type of illness it is, people can often be treated effectively on an outpatient basis, whether it is pharmaceuticals, therapy
(cognitive-behavioral, talk, etc), or holistic treatment as the sole treatment or as an addendum.
And there is a wide range of "bipolarity," even within the most common BP I diagnosis. Basically some have it worse than others. There is a huge range of people, some who can barely function to those who are very successful (like yourself.)
It also has a LOT to do with the quality of mental health care you receive and how many supportive people you have around you. If Britney Spears wasn't Britney Spears, she would not have stayed so long at the hospital. Maybe I assume people know the BP jargon, but the BP spectrum is referring to how MUCH bipolarity you have. If you have a little, it can give you charisma and charm and energy that draws people to you, or the brooding poet or singer/songwriter who kills himself out of hopelessness. Sarah definitely has the charm and charisma (when you're around her) people have said. Every BP person falls somewhere along this spectrum. When I think of it I picture the light spectrum, or the number lines from primary school with 0 in the middle and negative numbers (depression) on one side and positive (mania) on the other. In "Why Am I Still Depressed" the author explains that people hop around the spectrum during their lives. And another thing to throw in the mix is that some people are ultra rapid and cycle throughout the day, while others cycle over months or even years.
Anyway, tune in next week for Ellie's boring babble on psychiatry! Come one come all to read musings on the state of Sarah Palin's mind! It's way past bedtime and hubby wants me to come to bed :) LOL Please excuse me if it doesn't make sense, I'm operating on very little sleep. Night all!
Elliegirl,
ReplyDeleteThat was a beautifully written post, but all too heartbreaking. I commend you for doing your best to shed light on the mentally ill. If your neighbor had cancer would you shun them? No. But with mental illness, there is such a stigma that so many people do shun them when in fact, a friend to help them through the really bad parts would only help.
And you are absolutely right about them self medicating. Most drug abusers do have some kind of mental health issue. That's exactly why they feel the need to 'feel better'. Even a lot of Doctors fail to see what is going on. Especially in this day and age where they want to shuffle you in and out just for profits sake. We need the kind of Doctor's from when I was a kid. The Family Doctor, the one's that used to treat you for nearly any ailment and took the time to get to know you a little bit better.
God Bless you, Elliegirl. My heart and prayers are with you.
Elliegirl.. beautifully written post.
ReplyDeleteNumber 1 problem in US is not drugs or alcohol or crime or whatever...
IT IS the non-treatment of people who are mentally ill.
Biggest mistake is NOT realizing that mental illness IS an illness.
Mary B.. you are so right when you mention that what we need is the 'Family Doctor'.
The majority of our doctors work on part of the body AND are completely oblivious that different parts interact with each other.