In response to Rand Paul's divisive statements Kentucky beefs up Civil rights legislation.

From Kentucky.com:

The Kentucky Senate, reacting to a divisive comment by Republican Rand Paul, has adopted a resolution declaring any form of discrimination to be inconsistent with American values.

Louisville Democratic Sen. Gerald Neal introduced the resolution Friday during a special session on the state budget. It was adopted without objection in the predominantly Republican chamber.

Neal, Kentucky's only black state senator, said he took personal offense at the comment made last week by Paul, a U.S. Senate candidate, who was criticizing the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Look Sarah was right!  A Teabagger CAN make a positive impact on this country.!

Not on purpose of course, but still.....

Israeli commandos attack ship bringing supplies to Palestinians while in international waters. Ten killed, Prime Minister Netanyah cancels White House visit.

According to MSNBC:

Israeli commandos on Monday stormed six ships carrying hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists on an aid mission to the blockaded Gaza Strip, killing at least 10 people and wounding dozens.


White House spokesman Bill Burton, speaking a day before President Barack Obama had been scheduled to host Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for talks at the White House, said the United States "deeply regrets the loss of life and injuries sustained" in the incident.

Netanyahu's office in Jersusalem said later that the prime minister had canceled the White House meeting to attend to the crisis at home.

Here is video of the boarding as recorded by Al Jazeera.



The Israelis are really working the PR to make it appear that they were firing in self defense, but I really think the video speaks for itself.

Would THIS be enough to finally force BP to take responsibility for this spill?

Apparently, despite the claims of scientists, BP is denying that there are huge underwater plumes of oil.

Ironic Update:  Do any of you remember this 1999 BP advertisement?

Fox's "legal eagle" Megyn Kelly and two other female attorneys try desperately to come up with some law that author Joe McGinniss has broken. I don't want to give away the ending, but they fail.

I don't want to be overly judgemental but are we sure that Megyn Kelly actually WENT to law school? (Yeah I guess she did. AND she was the editor of the Albany Law Review?  Wow I guess when they say too much peroxide kills brain cells they are not kidding are they?)

Well since she has some knowledge of the law then there is simply NO excuse for this incredibly shoddy attempt to smear Mr. McGinnis by jumping to ridiculous conclusions.

Let's take another look at this picture that they so completley misrepresent.

Okay now this picture was taken from the edge of the Palin property.  As you can see Mr. McGinnis is all the way on the OTHER side of his balcony, literally only a few feet away from the property line, and as far away from Sarah and her family as his deck allows him to go.  Now the geniuses on the Fox legal panel make the accusation that he is looking through binoculars.  In fact he is talking on his CELLPHONE and had no idea his picture was being taken.  (By the way Mr. McGinniss  is a college graduate so I am pretty sure that he could figure out that he would need to be facing the Palin house while looking through the binoculars in order to spy on them. But once again kids, it is a CELLPHONE!)

And you know Megyn Kelly has a history of this kind of ridiculous hyperbole.  As some of you may remember she gave similarly poor legal advice suggesting the Palins go after your favorite blogger, and mine, just last summer. (By the way, and I always feel I need to explain this, the comments about "dressing my boys up in skirts" was a completely tongue in cheek response to rumors that the Bush administration was going to reinstate the draft and to news that they were lowering the recruitment requirements for the US Army to allow in people with substance abuse issues and mental health problems, yet they were still kicking out gays at an amazing rate. And I should also mention that my only biological child is a 23 year old female, and to be honest I could not even get HER to wear skirts after she turned four years old.)  

Trust me Joe McGinniss is NOT going to do ANYTHING which would justify the Palins taking any legal action whatsoever.  He is here to write a bestselling book, and I believe that is exactly what he is going to accomplish, despite any attempts by the Palins to scare him off the story.

Sarah Palin fake feminist. Well why not? She faked being a mayor, faked governing Alaska, faked writing a book, and is a fake political commentator at Fox News.

From the Washington Post:

But, of course, Palin isn't a feminist -- not in the slightest. What she calls "the emerging conservative feminist identity" isn't the product of a political movement or a fight for social justice.

It isn't a structural analysis of patriarchal norms, power dynamics or systemic inequities. It's an empty rallying call to other women who are as disdainful of or apathetic to women's rights as Palin herself: women who want to make abortion and emergency contraception illegal and who fight same-sex marriage rights. As Kate Harding wrote on Jezebel.com: "What comes next? 'Phyllis Schlafly feminism?' 'Patriarchal feminism?' 'He-Man Woman Hater Feminism?' "

Given that so-called conservative feminists don't support women's rights, how can they paint their movement as pro-woman? Why are they not being laughed out of the room?

Easy: They preempt criticism of their lack of bona fides by aligning themselves with a history that most women are proud of -- the fight for suffrage. They claim they're the real feminists, as Palin did in her speech lauding the Susan B. Anthony List for "returning the women's movement back to its original roots." (She wasn't talking about voting rights; she was referring to the debated notion that first-wave feminists were antiabortion.)

By tying their "feminism" to the suffragists, whose goal was realized nearly 100 years ago, they're not-so-subtly saying that women in America have achieved equality. In fact, they don't believe that systemic sexism exists.

A related strategy for Palin and fellow conservatives is to paint actual feminists as condescending hypocrites who simply don't believe in young women: "[They] send this message, that 'Nope, you're not capable of doing both. You can't give your child life and still pursue career and education. You're not strong enough; you're not capable.' So it's very hypocritical," she told the anti-abortion-rights crowd. Palin's "pro-woman sisterhood," however, "is telling these young women that they're strong enough and smart enough, they are capable to be able to handle an unintended pregnancy and still be able to . . . handle that [and] give that child life." (Unless of course, these young women were unlucky enough to live in Alaska when then-Gov. Palin cut funding for an Anchorage shelter for teenage moms.)

So Palin's "feminism" isn't just co-opting the language of the feminist movement, it's deliberately misrepresenting real feminism to distract from the fact that she supports policies that limit women's rights.

Confronted with evidence that homosexuality is prevalent within the animal kingdom a minister decides that, rather than being the natural order of things, these sinful creatures simply need to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. All fixed!

Research scientist Vanessa Woods wrote about gay sex among Bonobo monkeys in Psychology Today:

I'll tell you this: I would swap every gadget I own - my car, my laptop, the potential to fly to the moon - if I could wake up as a bonobo. No bonobo has ever been seen to kill another bonobo. There is very little violence towards females. The infants get an idyllic childhood where they do nothing but hang out with their moms and get anything they want. There is plenty of food. Lots of sex.

Bonobos have gay sex. For bonobos, sex is a mechanism to reduce tension. And you can't talk about two females rubbing clitorises together until they orgasm in documentaries, intelligent design classes, or to right wing demographics who believe homosexuality is unnatural.

This rather provocative, yet well researched observation inspired a Baptist miniser to respond with this letter:

I believe that Scripture teaches that God created a perfect world. In this perfect world, man chose to disobey (sin), and brokenness and death entered into the world (Gen. 3, Rom. 5). We see it everyday on TV, newspapers, etc... You obviously alluded to a sense of brokenness in the article, as you mentioned violence & wars.

With sin, I believe what Scripture says, when it states that "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." Not only are there individual sins, but also a corruption due to sin. One of these particular sins listed in Scripture is homosexuality. I single it out, only because of the implications of your research. I don't think it's worse than other sins, but neither have I departed from the traditional understanding of what Scripture teaches (ex: Rom. 1).

Here's why I find this article so thought-provoking.

I have a four-year old son named Owen who loves animals. He stays up at night with a flashlight looking through books in his bed, and says things like, "I'm doing research on whales." You guys would instantly connect :).

When I read your article about bonobos, I of course, thought of Owen. He would love them. But, I had to ask the question, "Am I comfortable with him learning about bonobos and their behaviors?" It's a good question for me to ask myself. If I'm honest, I would say my first reaction was to shield him from these animals because of their behavior. This wouldn't be uncharacteristic for us, since there are lots of animal behaviors that are difficult for a four-year old to understand (i.e. mating, violence, etc...). However, what's different about this particular behavior is that in an orthodox biblical position, homosexuality is a sin... but animals don't sin. We don't typically place animals in a moral category. In other words, they don't do righteous acts or unrighteous acts. So...what am I to make of these animals that engage in homosexual activity?

It seems to me that this behavior reveals a sense of brokenness in the natural world. Paul spoke of the unnaturalness of homosexuality, "men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men..."(Rom. 1:27). So, what he says is unnatural, now looks to be natural! But, just as natural disasters aren't normative, neither is homosexual activity within animals. The creation itself is marred with the effects of sin (i.e. death).

I think bonobos are fascinating creatures and still point to the creativity and beauty of God. However, it leads me to Romans 8, "For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies" (vv. 20-23).

On this Memorial Day weekend Sarah Palin honors the troops by plagiarizing a veteran's poem. Stay classy Sarah!

From Sarah's Twitter account:

VETERANS,not reporters,give freedom of the press.VETS,not politicians,give freedom to vote.VETS,not campus radicals,give freedom to assemble

Apparently Sarah Googled "insipration Memorial Day poems" and stumbled upon this particular work.

And Sarah being Sarah, she simply took this homage as written by Charles M. Province and made it her own.  You know by making it suck.

Here is the poem as this veteran of the United States Army originally wrote it.

IT IS THE SOLDIER

It is the Soldier, not the minister
Who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the Soldier, not the reporter
Who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the Soldier, not the poet
Who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer
Who has given us freedom to protest.

It is the Soldier, not the lawyer
Who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the Soldier, not the politician
Who has given us the right to vote.

It is the Soldier who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protester to burn the flag.

In my opinion one of the best ways to honor the military is to give full credit to one of it's members, not only for their service to our country, but also for the poem they wrote to honor their fellow soldiers.

But hey that is just me.

Update:  Gawker has picked up this story as well.

The State of Alaska is so desperate to kill wolves that is suing the Federal Government for making them stop.

From the ADN:

The state of Alaska sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Friday, seeking a court order allowing it to go ahead with a controversial predator control program.

Last week, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced it would begin shooting some wolves on Unimak, the eastern-most island in the Aleutian chain, to protect caribou calving grounds as part of its aerial predator control program.

While the program is in place in at least six locations around Alaska, it would be the first time in recent history that aerial predator control would be used inside a national refuge in Alaska.

The department planned on using two biologists and four pilots to kill wolves.

The feds responded Monday, cautioning the state that killing the wolves without a special use permit would be considered "a trespass on the refuge" and immediately referred the matter to the U.S. attorney.

The state has interpreted that as federal officials blocking the program. The lawsuit, which names U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service acting director Rowan Gould, his agency and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, seeks a court order allowing the state to kill seven wolves while the litigation continues.

Even after living in Alaska for my entire life I STILL find myself amazed at the bloodthirsty attitude these dickless morons have toward one of the most successful predators in the state.

And don't think for an instant that this "predator control" will be handled in a competent and scientific manner.  Only last month these trigger happy buffoons slaughtered an entire wolf pack in March. Which included two wolves that were wearing tracking collars.

NPCA officials issued a statement Thursday saying "state gunners in helicopters killed the entire Weber Creek wolf pack from Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, including two collared wolves from a 16-year National Park Service scientific study."

Gee, no wonder the Feds are telling the mto knock it off!

Just for fun. "How Dummies Respond to Oil Spills".

You have to admit, it is kiind of catchy.

Let Joe McGinniss paint a picture of what REALLY happened when Todd Palin came to call.

Here is an interview that David Weigel conducted with Joe McGinniss just the other day.

When a source told Joe McGinniss that he could rent the house next to Sarah Palin's Wasilla, Alaska, home, the author was sold.

A room at the Best Western, not far away, would have been prohibitively expensive. The landlord of this house, meanwhile, offered it to McGinniss for $1,500 per month after a friend of the author recommended him as a solid alternative to the other people asking about the property.

"She was talking to this mutual friend of ours and said, 'I've got to find someone we're comfortable with,' " McGinniss said Friday evening from the deck of the house -- a deck that became famous after Palin posted a photo of it on Facebook this week. " 'My biggest concern is the Palins' privacy, especially the children.' So this mutual friend said, 'Well, you know, I think you're in luck. Joe McGinniss is going to be coming back here, and you couldn't find a better guy, just the right sort of person to move in and guarantee their privacy.'"

What happened next, said McGinniss, came as a total surprise. He had planned to keep the news off the Internet and tell the Palins himself that he'd be their neighbor as he wrapped up his biography of the former governor. (This is absolutely accurate.  I can tell you that once we had known, and I certainly did not until Sarah posted her Facebook message, that Joe McGinniss was living next door to the Palin house there is NO WAY that I, or any other Alaskan blogger, would have let that slip out.  Sarah Palin made this public, and she did it for a reason.)

"'I wanted to say, 'I'm writing this book, but I hope we can just get along as good neighbors, and after that, you'll never hear from me again,'" said McGinniss. "That's basically what I told Todd on Monday when he came over. He didn't really want to hear that.

"He took off on how my Portfolio piece was a bunch of lies, and a smear, and all this and all that, and he said, 'You going to be putting the microphones in now, and the surveillance cameras?' (WTF?)I said, 'Listen, you don't know how lucky you are that I'm renting this place because that's exactly what's not going to happen as long as I'm here. I won't see you, you don't see me, this will be fine.' He talked for a few more minutes beyond that, and he got, I'd say, increasingly hostile. And then he left, and I was still out here on this deck, where I'm sitting right now, when they took that picture for Facebook." (Notice that the very thing they accuse Joe of doing is what they do themselves?  How often have we seen that pattern?)

McGinniss said he was offended by the way Palin described his presence next door. Contrary to what Palin said in her Facebook post, he can't see into the windows of the home and he can't hear their conversations. While Palin intimated that McGinniss could watch the family when it went swimming, he said that only the edge of their land near the lake was visible from his property. He was deeply offended by the implication, not thinly veiled in Palin's note and subsequent interview with Glenn Beck, that he would be peering in on the children.

"These little kids, I couldn't care less about them," said McGinniss. "I have my own kids and grandkids to care about. I don't have any interest in Palin's kids. I'm not going to write, oh, I saw Trig run across the lawn, and I saw someone else change his diaper. I haven't been writing for 40 years to wind up on that level. I'm just very offended by this."

"By being here I have learned things, and I've gotten an insight into her character, into her ability to incite hatred, that before I only knew about in the abstract."

So there you have it.

Joe McGinniss arrived in Wasilla, Alaska to shine the light of truth on the lies and obfuscation that the Palin's are famous for, and he has already begun to do exactly that.  Hopefully the next lies that he refutes will NOT be ones directed at him. (Please click the link at the top to read the entire piece by David Weigel.  There is much more that I did not use for this post.)

If you are looking for good news about the oil spill in the Gulf you should probably NOT watch this Rachel Maddow video, but if you want the truth.....

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Joe McGinniss fires back at allegations that he is a "stalker".

From the New York Times:

Reached at his newly rented home, Mr. McGinniss said it’s actually a large lake, Lake Lucille, and said that he had no plans to take pictures or intrude on the family. “They are the ones who took a picture of me and posted it on the Web,” he said.

Mr. McGinniss has been called a stalker by many on various Web sites, but he doesn’t see it that way.

“I am not taking video or photos and I found two people in my yard who were walking over trying to take a picture over the fence and I told them that they had to leave, so in a way, I am serving as a kind of a buffer.”

Mr. McGinniss said that he had planned on moving to either Wasilla or Anchorage this summer to finish reporting for his book when a friend of a friend told him the house was available. He said the house, which the Palin’s had previously rented and renovated but never occupied, was a bargain at $1,500 a month with a lake side views.

His view of the Palin’s house is changing though. The Associated Press reported that the Palin’s are putting up a 14-foot fence.

“I am not sitting here with binoculars trained on her yard,” he said. The author said that after Ms. Palin wrote a post about his presence on her Facebook page, he received thousands of angry emails and a few death threats, but plans on staying through the summer. Mr. McGinniss, the author of a number of bestsellers, including “The Selling of the President,” “Blind Faith” and “Fatal Vision,” didn’t expect his new neighbors to bake him a batch of cookies, but he had hoped for a kind of détente even though he wrote a very rugged article about Ms. Palin for the now-shuttered Portfolio magazine in 2008.

“I had hoped for a mutual respect and benign neglect, but on Monday, Todd,” Ms. Palin’s husband, “came over to introduce himself and I told him who I was and he sort of freaked out,” he said.

“I am writing a book about Sarah Palin,” he said. “Why not live right next to the story? Unless I do something that is an active violation of their privacy, where is the harm?”

Well good I am glad that Mr. McGinniss finally found a reporter who has the journalistic integrity NOT to take the things that Sarah Palin says at face value.

Update:  For those of you who are feeling kind of helpless and want to show Joe McGinniss a little support there is a Facebook page just for you.

I almost hate to do this to you, but here is a picture of Sarah Palin's face tattooed on a Marine's ass.

This is the tattoo as it appears on Marine Gunnery Sgt. Benjamin Lepping's hindquarters.

Lepping, an ordnance disposal expert out of Camp Pendleton, was assigned to Alaska before he went to Afghanistan.

He said he had such a good time, he wanted something to remind him of his time there.

“I decided, ‘What could be better than getting a tattoo of the hottest cougar in the Republican Party?’”

I don't know, maybe it is just me, but I don't think she has ever looked better.  Nor have I seen her in a more appropriate setting.

Just what is the root cause of Sarah Palin's need to accuse people of sexually violating her children?

I am sure that almost EVERYBODY is aware of Sarah's campaign to vilify author Joe McGinniss, who had the temerity to rent a place that has the same view of Russia that Sarah enjoys. (Dammit, watching for Russians is Sarah's job and she does not want anybody stealing her thunder!)

So completely freaked out was Sister Sarah that she cracked her whip and forced Todd (a man who is clearly used to being "whipped") to quickly construct this godawful monstrosity.

(Don't you just love how the  two different types of wood compliment each other?)

That was of course step two of Palin's psychotic episode after learning that Mr. McGinniss had taken up temporary residence next door.  And that is absolutley fine.  The Palin's can put up what ever ugly ass thing they want to on their property. (And of course they have a history of doing just THAT.)

However that was step two. It was step one of Sarah's decomposition that is the most troubling, as well as the one most consistently used by this deeply troubled woman.  In step one Sarah, overcome with feelings of vulnerability, immediately played the victim and, unsure that she alone could garner the appropriate sympathy, intentionally suggested that her children were in danger of being victimized as well.

From her Facebook rant:

First Sarah sexualizes herself and then makes the claim of being made to feel uncomfortable by the presence of Mr. McGinnis: So, putting on the shorts and tank top to catch that too-brief northern summer sun and placing a giddy Trig in his toddler backpack for a lawn-mowing adventure, I looked up in surprise to see a “new neighbor” overlooking my property just a stone’s throw away. Needless to say, our outdoor adventure ended quickly after Todd went to introduce himself to the stranger who was peering in..(By the way I have it on good authority that the only Palin that Joe has seen thus far was Todd when he came over to introduce himself.  He NEVER saw Sarah, in shorts or otherwise.)

But Sarah does not feel that she has sufficiently made herself enough of a victim with that statement so she drags her youngest daughter into it: Wonder what kind of material he’ll gather while overlooking Piper’s bedroom.......?

So with a few words typed onto her Facebook page, and a call in to the always histrionic Glenn Beck show, Sarah impugns the character of this well respected author and creates a swell of negative press directed at him.

And THIS is far from the first time that Sister Sarah has played this card.  On the contrary this is familiar territory indeed for this paragon of family values.

Finally! The amount Sarah Palin will receive for her Cal State Stanislaus speech revealed!

From the LA Times:

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will receive $75,000 to appear at a California State University campus fundraiser next month, two sources at the university have confirmed.

The sources, who have seen the contract for the appearance -- at Cal State Stanislaus, in Turlock -- said it calls for $75,000 plus expenses for Palin's hotel, air fare and travel. But the former governor's travel has not been booked yet and the exact cost of expenses is still to be determined, said the sources, who said they wished to remain anonymous because they did not have permission to speak about the contract.

Palin is receiving the fee in two payments of $37,500 each, one of which has already been paid, the sources said.

You know the thing that I find kind of ironic about all of the hoopla over this speech is that if Sarah Palin wasn't so damn secretive this would never have been such big news.

I mean she is receiving $75,000, which is actually less than many assumed she was probably making, yet because she had an iron clad privacy clause she managed to bring a great deal of damaging publicity to Cal State Stanislaus Foundation.  In fact there are still lawsuits being filed.

When is everybody going to learn that dealing Sarah Palin is like inviting the devil into your living room?  She is going to either end up damaging your soul, or leaving a scorched mark where she stood and the lingering smell of brimstone and wasted money.

My examination of Bristol Palin's interview with Harper's Bazaar which includes a very special commentary from Sherry Johnston.

From Harper's Bazaar:

Bristol never expected to find herself here: waking up at 5:00 a.m. to fix Tripp's breakfast (usually eggs), get herself ready — "It takes me so much longer with a baby, it's not even funny" — then head to work from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. as a medical assistant in a dermatologist's office. "I thought I would be somewhere warm at college with my friends," she says. "But that was definitely not possible with having Tripp."

I think it is important to note that in my opinion this whole 8 to 5 job in the dermatologist office is purely for show.  It is clear that the Palin's are working to create an image here.  In fact if Bristol has the financial means to spend the majority of her time caring for Tripp, I think most mothers would agree that she should be doing exactly that.  And of course if she truly HAS to work than the next person who should be called in to parent him is Levi, the child's father, and not somebody else.  Even IF that somebody else is supposedly Track's long suffering girlfriend, Britta:

Her older brother Track's girlfriend, Britta, currently lives in the third bedroom, and her 15-year-old sister, Willow, often sleeps over. "I was scared to live by myself," Bristol explains.

One can only imagine how much scarier it must be in the Palin compound for Bristol to pack up and move all of the way to Anchorage.  And remember this is BEFORE the journalistic "stalker" moved in next door.  No, whatever drove nineteen year old Bristol out of her house in Wasilla has been there all along.

Her neighborhood is not the picturesque wilderness many associate with Alaska; it's a modest cluster of homes halfway between Ted Stevens International Airport and the Great Alaskan Bush Company, where the wildlife accepts tips.

I am somewhat amazed that the writer of this article chose the Great Alaskan Bush Company as one of the landmarks to illustrate where Bristol lives.  The Bush Company is perhaps the most famous strip club in Anchorage. (In the interest of full disclosure I should let you know that worked as a bouncer at the Bush for a brief time in the 80's.  Long story.) Could this be some hidden message to the Palins from the author?

(And by the way, I KNOW where Bristol lives, and this description is very deceptive.  Don't worry Bristol I have no intention of publicizing your address or infringing on your privacy.  Despite what your mother may have told you about me.)

In May of 2009, she began working with the Candie's Foundation, which approached her after her frank interview with Fox News's Greta Van Susteren. Bristol now preaches abstinence as "the only 100 percent foolproof way you can prevent pregnancy."

Detractors have been quick to pounce, but "I don't think it's hypocritical at all," Bristol responds. "Like, if you get lung cancer from smoking, why wouldn't you want to tell people, 'Hey, look, don't smoke.' Why wouldn't you want to be productive and share your story and do something positive with it?"

Did she just compare giving birth to her son ("He's like a Gerber baby. He's the cutest baby in the whole world.") to getting lung cancer?  Number one that is horrible, and number two perhaps a better example would be to compare having a baby to taking a job that turned out to be extremely tough but infinitely rewarding at the same time.  After all having a child is not usually fatal.

But don't worry, according to Bristol the things she says in this interview will NOT emotionally scar Tripp.

She's not worried that Tripp himself might one day read her words and take them the wrong way. "He knows that I love him," she says, shaking her head. There's no doubt that he is a happy baby, making a few cooing complaints only when it nears nap time. He is learning basic sign language to communicate with Trig, including stop, which Trig signs when Tripp tackles him. (Sign language? So it sounds like Trig's hearing is even worse than we thought.)

Her parents seem impressed with their determined daughter. "We're very proud of her for taking responsibility. It's not an easy road, but it's the right road," says Sarah. "Decisions were made, and we can't unwind those decisions. Consequences are being dealt with. I'm sincerely proud of her."

Indeed, if the campaign spotlight finds Bristol again, version 2.0 will be tougher. "There's been so much misreporting and lying about me and my family, it makes me sick," she says. "It proves a lot of reporters just report lies and rumors, so I'd push for more accountability." Meanwhile, she and the rest of the world are speculating about Palin 2012. "I don't know if my mom will run, but she should." (Remember "lies and rumors" is Palin-speak for "truths and embarrassing secrets".)

Unsurprisingly, she's no Obama fan. "I think he is making more Americans become dependent on government, and he's acting like government can and should take care of everyone. That is completely contrary to what made America a great nation. We should be expected to take responsibility for ourselves."

Yeah why can't EVERYBODY just quit their job halfway though and then milk their unsophisticated fanatical supporters of all of their  hard earned money?  Or, if that is not an option,  get knocked up as a teenager and use thier family's famous name to pimp their baby out to magazines for oodles of money?  Isn't THAT the American way?

WHAT could possibly make this saccharine sweet fiction about Bristol and her life with Tripp even more nauseating?

"I just want Tripp to be happy and healthy. But it would be fun if he was an athlete," she says, before picking him up and giving him a hug. "I know I'll be a hockey mom."

Ugh!  Yep that did it!  Gee I wonder who talked her into adding that last part?

In case some of you wonder why it took me until today to write this post, well first of all I was a little busy yesterday (Wasn't it fun?), but the other reason is because somebody e-mailed me and asked if they could weigh in on this topic.

How could I say no?

From Sherry Johnston:

I am simply confused as to just what this photo shoot is all about?

When I looked at this I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. In the interview Bristol refers to herself as a single teenage mother, who does it all by herself, with no help from Tripp’s “dead beat” father, and further states that she struggles with everything from daycare to diaper duty, while continuing to stick with her "stay abstinent until marriage” line.

And yet she also claims that it is Levi who is exploiting Tripp!

Well the only one I have seen exploiting my grandson is his own mother Bristol! I am looking at pictures of her dressed in designer clothes from head to toe, while pretending to cook in her brand new condo, all while standing beside my precious grandson. Who, by the way, is dressed like a slob in comparison and with no socks on his little feet!

And they present this as if it was like any other day in their life, in which everything is just great.

But wait! It seems to have slipped her mind that the queen of abstinence is trying to send the message to young teenagers everywhere that it is NOT glamorous to have a baby. They are supposed to realize that it’s a 24/7 job, and costs a lot of money to take care of a baby, and that it is a struggle every single day.

However the only struggle Bristol has when she wakes up in the morning (in her big brand new condo), is which designer jeans she should wear, and which truck she should drive today.

She apparently enjoys live in child care, and her boyfriend can pop in to visit whenever he likes (And yes she has one). When other teenagers see this layout they are going to think “WOW, now I am definitely going to have a child! I wish I had it TWICE as bad as her because then I might even own an airplane to fly me to all my speeches!”

There was no reason at all for my grandson Tripp to be in that photo shoot. The only reason that I can imagine is that they offered her more money if he was included.

It seems obvious that Bristol is using Tripp to make money, after accusing my son of that very same thing. The message to my son and my family is clear, “Do as we say, not as we do.”

Aha! Now we know HOW Joe McGinniss came to rent the house right next door to the Palins. THEY reached out to HIM.

From Politico:

Sarah Palin's next-door neighbor sought out author Joe McGinniss as a tenant, McGinniss's son said.

"No one is stalking anyone," Joe McGinniss, Jr., a novelist whose father is the non-fiction writer, wrote in response to an email from a Palin supporter who confused his email address and his father's.
(He shared the email with me.) "A woman was renting her house and sought out the author because the Palins had crossed her (owed her money for renovations she had done at their request and never paid her for). So she knew McGinniss was writing the book and found him and offered him the house."

The neighbor "turned down more lucrative offers from the National Enquirer who wanted the house so they could 'stalk' and take pictures, etc... She said no," he wrote.
McGinniss, Jr. wrote that Palin is "inspiring a lot of hate in people, appealing to so many of people's worst instincts. Sad and scary."

If you click the Politico link you can read more of Joe juniors's statement.

However I can attest to the fact that both Joe, and Random House, are receiving an incredible amount of threatening hate mail  from the supporters of Sarah Palin.

In fact I have also received a couple of my own hate e-mails since posting my support of Joe.  Here is just one example.

You better shut the fuck up , or somebody is probably going to do something about it , and disrupt your little immoral life and send you to the judgement!!!


SEEK CHRIST WHILE HE STILL CAN BE FOUND , YOU ARE IN DANGER OF THE FIRE !!!! IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE !!!!

If this is what I received one can only imagine how much worse it is for Joe.  However I have every confidence that Joe McGinniss is going to hang tough and do the job that he flew up here to do.

P.S. You know somebody just sent me this story and I could not help but think that this is DEFINITELY the most appropriate way to celebrate Sarah Palin that I have ever seen.

The 29-year-old Marine from Louisville, Ky, tells the Marine Times he's gotten a tattoo on his left buttock in the likeness of the conservative political heroine and former Republican governor.

Yeah I know, more threatening e-mails for Gryphen.  Kind of worth it though, don't you think?

The OTHER Palin story of the day. The AP gets access to MORE Palin e-mails.

The other day the Associated Press got their hands on some interesting Palin administration e-mails concerning the planning behind the natural gas pipeline in Alaska.

From the AP:

E-mail exchanges also show at-times close communication between staff and representatives of the Canadian company Palin picked to build the line. In June 2008, after her recommendation of the company and less than two months before the Legislature voted on the contract, Palin agreed to host people involved with the project at her home for a salmon feast and "informal gasline chat."

"There's a Costco in Juneau, if you know what I mean," Palin wrote. "And my family is quite capable of setting out food and cleaning up afterwards."

The correspondence is contained in more than 2,000 pages of e-mails between Palin's office and others surrounding the pipeline process. The e-mails were released to The Associated Press this week under a public records request filed in 2008, when Palin was the Republican vice presidential nominee. Palin resigned as governor last year.

It appears fairly obvious, and of no surprise to most of us, that Palin was only going to work with a company that was not part of the "old boy's network". But that also meant she did not get the best deal, or the best people to do the job.  She chose the company willing to kiss her ass and treat her like she might have a clue as to what she was doing. In the end of course, the deal stalled.  Just like the experts always knew that it would.

Some e-mails suggest the administration closely watched how its position was playing in the media and was sensitive to any criticism.

In one exchange dated May 5, 2008, Revenue Commissioner Pat Galvin, a Palin administration official, questioned why Palin would take a trip "back east" that month, on the cusp of the special legislative session Palin called to consider her eventual recommendation that TransCanada receive the license to build the pipeline and up to $500 million from the state.

I do not remember just  what Sarah was supposed to be doing on this date (and if any of you know feel free to weigh in) but I do want to point out that this was supposedly only 17 days after Sarah gave birth to a premature baby with Down's syndrome.  So besides leaving during a critical time in getting this gas line deal worked out she also left during what should have been an important time in the life of her newborn son.

And possibly the least surprising revelation of all is that there were reams of e-mails that were deemed protected by the attorney-client privilege.


The AP requested different groups of e-mails, including from June 1, 2007, and Dec. 1, 2007, to cover the submission period for companies vying for the pipeline contract. Only one, dated Nov. 30, 2007, was apparently included. Public records officer Linda Perez said she would look into why other e-mails weren't included.

E-mails released run into late 2008.

The governor's office also released a 72-page log detailing e-mails it was withholding for what it described as reasons including attorney-client or executive privilege. Subject lines on those e-mails included "Messaging/Strategy," "Myth Busting," and "Bad News.

In many ways this also relates to Palin's overreaction to her new neighbor Joe McGinniss.  EVERYTHING is about keeping the secrets secret.  Can you imagine just how much energy is expended by Sarah, her family, and her staff to keep those damn skeletons in the closet  where they belong?  It must be exhausting.

Shannyn Moore discovers that Joe McGinniss is by no means the most unsavory sort to live next door to Sister Sarah.

From the Huffington Post:

The home Joe McGinniss is renting used to be an Oxford House from 2005 until 2008. The tenants were men recently released from prison who were recovering addicts. What? No fence to protect sexy Sarah in her tank top? Dear God! Who was lurking in that house watching her children play?

The Palins themselves rented the home McGinnis is staying in for six months in 2009, but weren't interested in purchasing it. They didn't want to spend the money. Last October they were "done with the house". During the election, the Secret Service guarded the Palin home from the backyard now occupied by Mr. McGinnis. Here's a hint, Sarah - if you want to dictate who lives in the house, you should have probably bought it first.

It's predictable Palin.

So let's get this straight. 

Sarah Palin, and her precious children, have as neighbors a variety of men who have JUST been released from prison, for THREE WHOLE YEARS!  And during this time they do not feel concerned enough about their "safety" to either build a fence, or to raise a stink about the possibility of peeping toms or potential sex offenders living next door. Yet when a famous AUTHOR moves in to the very same house they go into a blind panic and act as if they are under siege from a terrorist?

Gee I wonder if she mowed her lawn while wearing shorts and a tanktop when the house was occupied with drug addicts and ex-cons?

And by the way didn't Sarah claim that she tried to purchase the house on the Glenn Beck show yesterday?  Is that yet another lie Ms. Palin?

Update:  It looks like the Palin media machine has recruited ABC to get THEIR version of the story out to the masses.



Wow they have really spun this segment in order to show Mr. McGinniss in the worst light imaginable.

I don't think there is any doubt that Sarah is in a blind panic and throwing every weapon she has in her arsenal at Joe to get him of the story.

Rachel Maddow reminds us that there is nothing new about oil spills, and that the one in the Gulf of Mexico is actually a rerun from 1979.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I posted this Daily Kos link a few days ago, but now read it again after listenng to what Rachel has just said and see if it does not ring true to you NOW.

Not to freak you guys out, but that 1979 oil "spill" leaked for NINE MONTHS! 

After that disaster we did nothing to change how we get our energy needs met.  One has to wonder if THIS TIME we will finally learn our lesson.

Here is Sarah complaining to her big, bad protector Glenn Beck about her scary new neighbor.

So Todd and his "friends" built the fence too?  Well by looking at it I guess that is no surprise.

She keeps making subtle, and not so subtle, allegations that Joe puts her children in some sort of jeopardy.  That it absolutely the ugliest method imaginable to garner sympathy and SHE DOES IT ALL OF THE TIME!

Nobody ever threatened to rape her daughters while they lived in Juneau like she said!

Bristol was NOT alone and frightened by phone calls when Sarah's e-mail was accessed, like Bristol claimed ON THE WITNESS STAND!

And Willow DID NOT have to leave Wasilla High because of threats either! 

All lies, every last one of them!  And now she is using the exact same tactics in an attempt to smear Joe McGinniss.  You shameless little bitch!

"Screwing with my wife and children"?  Why does Beck use that kind of language to describe his fantasies that the Palins are being stalked.?  I mean what kind of deep seated psychosis does this guy have?

Yep! Sarah built "the dang fence"! Updated! And updated yet again!

I finally got confirmation that Sarah did indeed build a much higher fence to block that "stalker" Joe McGinniss from seeing any of her dirty laundry drying on the clothesline.

She did not even wait a week to slap that bad boy up.  Can you freaking believe it?

All of this time she had a regular size fence and did not see any reason to change it, but the day that a reporter moves into the neighborhood, UP goes the fence. 

Gee too bad Palin is not in charge of that border fence down in Arizona!  She would have that sucker up in an hour!

Update:  Gretawire has a picture of the fence.  I bet the Palins sent it to her.

Boy is that a crappy job or what?

Update 2: After reading some of the comments (many of which are quite humorous and imaginative) I feel I need to make the following point:  This hastily constructed, Dr. Suess inspired fence is going to accomplish absolutely NOTHING!  Except of course to make Sarah Palin look like a paranoid idiot!

Joe McGinniss did NOT move next door to look into Sarah's windows!  He moved to Wasilla to be close to the subject of his book, and to start doing the kind of in-depth research that he has to do in order to make it stand out from the numerous Palin inspired books that have already been published, and those that are due to be published in the coming months.

Granted I do not know the full story of how Joe came to rent that house (and to be honest if I find out I doubt I will be able to share it), but I can tell you that he certainly did not fly 4,000 miles for the hope of catching Sarah Palin, or anybody else in that ridiculous family, walking around in their birthday suits. (I am pretty sure Joe saw those pictures of Sarah in Hawaii so if such a thing were to occur he would be forewarned to quickly cover his eyes and protect his vision.  Kind of hard to write after you have been rendered blind.)

However unless Joe was hoping to conduct all of his interviews with the interviewee standing on the Palin property, while he stood in his yard, I cannot imagine how the Palins believe this will foil his plans.

Sarah Palin overreacted (like she always does) and now after Joe has finished his research and left to write the book, she will always have this ungodly eyesore to remember him by.

Which, by the way, makes me giggle every time I think about it.

Bristol Palin, glamour model?

I literally have NO idea what Bristol Palin and the people at Bazaar are trying to sell with these photos.

Are they saying that raising a toddler is glamorous and that EVERY teen should try it?

Is the message that mothers don't need no stinking dads around telling them how to raise their babies or that they shouldn't make cookies or feed their children while wearing evening gowns?

Or is the whole thing just a big FU to Levi and another reminder that the Palin's can make money off of their children all that they want and he can't even get two days in a row with his son? 

Palin backed Idaho GOP candidate, who plagiarized President Obama speech, loses!

From the Fix:

Top national GOP recruit Vaughn Ward on Tuesday lost his primary in Idaho after a series of missteps by his campaign, throwing the Republican Party's chances in doubt against top-targeted Rep. Walt Minnick (D-Idaho).

Well that is one down folks.

And how is the other embattled GOP candidate that Palin endorsed doing?  Let's go to the video shall we?



Well she is just doubling down on the denial isn't she? 

But if Will Folks has the e-mails and phone records that he says he has her campaign is FUBAR'd.

And the Palin political curse continues on.

Update: Holy crap! Palin appears in a brand new Nikki Haley campaign ad.



Oh this is going to be epic!

Update 2:  Oh and speaking of Palin backed candidate's self destruction, it looks like Rand Paul's is happening right on schedule.

Glenn Beck clenches his pudgy little fists and stumbles to Sarah Palin's defense.

From Mediaite:

Palin apparently sent Beck an email last night before posting the news on her Facebook telling him McGinniss’ presence was a “nightmare for our family.” Beck thinks McGinniss moving next door is the equivalent of stalking, is “really creepy” and that “Todd Palin should receive a medal for restraint.” Beck also issued this threat:


If you don’t get control of your authors I will never mention a Random House book ever again. And I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, but I tend to sell books, not just my books, but books from other publishers.

I can only imagine that Random House is pissing themselves in sheer horror that the "Beckerheads" of the world will not purchase any of their books. I just don't think that connect-the-dots and coloring books makes up a very large part of their merchandise.

Here is video of Beck's childish little rant.



Okay just to clarify, Todd is by no stretch of the imagination a "bad ass".  But even funnier than that is hearing pudgy little Glenn Beck talking about "you keep pounding my wife you get your ass kicked!" (But what if she liked it?)

And Joe McGinniss presents NO threat to Sarah Palin and her family.  He is a writer for God's sake!  The guy is there to gather information and put it into a book, and that is all.  Though to be honest the one thing that Sarah fears more than anything is the truth, and Joe is definitely here to discover the truth.

Did that idiot really claim that Todd Palin wrestles "bears and Santa with his bare hands"?  What kind of prepubescent idolatry is that?

Think you hate BP as much as you possibly can? Wanna bet?

For years when I drove by BP's office building in Anchorage I paid little to no attention to it.

It was just another oil company with offices located here in town and whose money probably helped to pay for the road I was driving on. In fact I have met a number of their employees and found them to be just like everybody else.

However after the recent events in the Gulf of Mexico I find myself envisioning the executives that run the company as versions of Snidely Whiplash, with dark cloaks, pencil thin mustaches, and evil eyebrows.

Unfair you say?  Over the top you claim?  Unnecessarily hurtful you argue?

Well what else do you call a company that kidnaps it's own workers and threatens to hold them until they sign statements that could be used against them in court.

Or who hire Jefferson Parish sheriffs to keep reporters away from the local wildlife refuge.

Or what do you call them when you learn that the dispersant they have been pumping into the Gulf for over a month now to break down the oil and keep it out of sight has the same molecular structure as anti-freeze.

And what do you call a company that only released the now famous video of the oil flowing from the broken pipe after first denying that anybody had asked it for it despite numerous requests form media outlets and the White House?

And now we have BP Managing Director Robert Dudley complaining that the lack of trust "hurts a little"! (H/T to AKMuckraker)



Is this asshole kidding me?  There is NOBODY more devastated by this than BP? Should we ask the fishermen and locals living along the Louisiana coast if that is true?

Assuming you did NOT hate BP before, how do you feel about them now?

Author Joe McGinniss is a brave, brave man!

From Sarah Palin's Facebook page:

Spring has sprung in Alaska, and with this beautiful season comes the news today that the Palins have a new neighbor! Welcome, Joe McGinniss!

Yes, that Joe McGinniss. Here he is – about 15 feet away on the neighbor’s rented deck overlooking my children’s play area and my kitchen window. Maybe we’ll welcome him with a homemade blueberry pie tomorrow so he’ll know how friendly Alaskans are. (Joe!  Do not, I repeat, do NOT eat pie from the Palins!)

We found out the good news today. Upon my family’s return this morning from endorsement rallies and speeches in the Lower 48 states, I finally got the chance to tackle my garden and lawn this evening!  (Okay by a show of hands how many of you believe that Sarah EVER does yard work anymore. I mean unless a camera crew is nearby.) So, putting on the shorts and tank top (was this necessary?) to catch that too-brief northern summer sun and placing a giddy Trig in his toddler backpack for a lawn-mowing adventure (Who in the hell mows a lawn with a toddler strapped to their backs?  And what kind of crazy ass image is she trying to project here?), I looked up in surprise to see a “new neighbor” overlooking my property just a stone’s throw away. Needless to say, our outdoor adventure ended quickly after Todd went to introduce himself to the stranger who was peering in...

Joe announced to Todd that he’s moved in right next door to us. He’s rented the place for the next five months or so. He moved up all the way from Massachusetts to live right next to us – while he writes a book about me. Knowing of his many other scathing pieces of “journalism” (including the bizarre anti-Palin administration oil development pieces that resulted in my Department of Natural Resources announcing that his work is the most twisted energy-related yellow journalism they’d ever encountered), we’re sure to have a doozey to look forward to with this treasure he’s penning. Wonder what kind of material he’ll gather while overlooking Piper’s bedroom, my little garden, and the family’s swimming hole? (Wow!  Have you EVER seen so much venom dripping off of a Facebook post?)

Welcome, Joe! It’ll be a great summer – come borrow a cup of sugar if ever you need some sweetener. (Once again Joe, remember NO PALIN FOOD!) And you know what they say about “fences make for good neighbors”? Well, we’ll get started on that tall fence tomorrow, and I’ll try to keep Trig’s squeals down to a quiet giggle so we don’t disturb your peaceful summer. Enjoy!


- Sarah Palin

Teabagger candidate Vaughn Ward plagiarizes President Obama's famous 2004 DNC speech. You can't make this stuff up folks!

Unbelievable!  of all of the speeches this guy could have plagiarized he chooses possibly the single most famous speech in President Obama's career.  Did he really NOT think that people would notice?

And if that wasn't enough he was also reprimanded by the United States Marine Corps for this ad, referred to Peurto Rico as another country, and failed to cast a vote in the 2008 presidential race.

Talk about a campaign self destructing!  What in the hell could have started such an avalanche of screw ups and blunders?  I mean it almost seems like something so stupid that only Sar......oh, now I see.

“I’m happy to support Vaughn Ward because I know that he believes in the same common sense conservative ideals that we cherish,” said Palin. “Vaughn knows that real job growth comes from the private sector, not government. He believes in free market reforms, tax relief for families and small businesses, and a return to a constitutionally limited government that lives within its means. He’ll carry the conservative banner to Washington and will rein in the reckless growth of government to get it back on our side.”


Welcoming Governor Palins’ endorsement, Ward said, “Governor Palin has provided great leadership for the Republican Party and I am proud to have her support. I look forward to promoting our conservative values in Congress.”

Oh my God!  She is like the black widow of politics!  One endorsement and your campaign is DOA!

Nikki Haley: "I did not have sexual relations with that man!" Sarah Palin: "Eeeww of course she didn't, he is one of those disgusting bloggers! Yuck!

Okay so I am sure that many of you have already heard that a certain well known right wing blogger has blabbed to the world that he once did the nasty with South Carolina gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley.

According to Will Folks:

"Yeah I did her!  Hell EVERYBODY did her! So what?"

Wait..I am sorry that was the wrong quote.  Here we go.

The truth in this case is what it is. Several years ago, prior to my marriage, I had an inappropriate physical relationship with Nikki.

That’s it.

Not exactly a Penthouse Forum letter now is it?

However it WAS enough to force a response from the very married Ms. Haley:

"I absolutely did NOT let him gently caress my silken skin with his keyboard hardened fingertips while he gently bit my neck and slowly unbuttoned....oh my is it getting hot in here?"

Whoops, sorry I did it again.  Just where is my head at today?  Here is the actual quote.

I have been 100% faithful to my husband throughout our 13 years of marriage. This claim against me is categorically and totally false.

It is sad, but not surprising, that this disgraceful smear has taken form less than a week removed from the release of a poll showing our campaign with a significant lead. It is quite simply South Carolina politics at its worst.

These attacks - and those sure to follow - are an effort at distraction, but I will keep my focus on what matters, and that is delivering South Carolina's government back to our people. That's a fight I have fought for the last five years. That's why I entered this race for Governor. And that's what I will continue to do, despite any outrageous and false claims that are thrown at me.

So there you have it!  He said he DID make hot, sweet, South Carolina style love to her, and she says that she is married and has ONLY been dutifully servicing her husband's needs for the last thirteen long, long lonely years.

So with two completely different stories, how in the hell could WE possibly discern which one is the truth? I mean they are both right wing nutjobs, and NEITHER of them offers any real proof, so we are left completely unable to figure out which one is the truth teller and which one is the liar.

If ONLY there were some sign from above (or perhaps even from Facebook) that would help us to discern which of these two people to trust.  Hello, what is this?

Sarah Palin gives disastrous speech to Commercial Real Estate Conference in which she refers to President Obama as an "Opium" addict.

Apparently Sarah showed up at this conference and spent the entire speech talking about politics, and slamming President Obama, while saying absolutely NOTHING about real estate and completely baffling her audience.

This weekend, 2012 Presidential candidate Sarah Palin delivered a keynote address at the 2010 ICSC RECon conference, a retail real estate conference in Las Vegas.

Of course, whenever a conference has a speaker like this, the draw is the speaker's celebrity power, not their glints of insight about the actual topic at hand.

Still, you kind of expect the speaker to tailor their speech a little bit to the crowd.

Apparently in this case that didn't happen. Mainly she just delivered a stump speech.

As somebody who has listened to WAY TOO MANY Palin speeches I do not find this too surprising.  That is until I got to THIS part.

Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska, said at the ICSC RECon show in Las Vegas that President Obama has an addiction problem. He’s addicted to OPM (pronounced by her as “opium”), she said, referring to an acronym for Other Peoples’ Money.

WTF?  Are we to believe this was simply a slip of the tongue, or is this another sneaky little Palin attack on our President?  I mean WHO even uses the acronym OPM in a speech? 

Palin has insinuated Barack Obmaa cozies up with domestic terrorists, that he is attempting to destroy America, and she even supported the "birthers" at one point.  Do we really believe that it is beneath her to make the allegation that our President is a drug addict?

Well you are free to come to your own conclusions about that!

Welcome to another edition of "As the Silla Turns" in which Ivy Frye jumps ship, we learn the Palins are never leaving Alaska, and Todd gets pissy with reporters.

From the New York Times:

Sarah Palin’s big new life is remarkable for its smallness. She is as remote as she is overexposed. Even as she travels the country stirring up Tea Party apostles, poking at opponents and building a robust bank account through speaking fees, book royalties and television contracts, she comes home to one of the more unlikely launching pads in politics — and she apparently will not be pulling up stakes anytime soon.

“Where else would we go?” Mr. Palin said. “Alaska is our home.”

(That wasn't always the plan though.  No that was NOT always the plan.)

Things have changed, of course. Ms. Palin is often away, sometimes joined by her husband and some combination of their five children. Her father, Chuck Heath, who lives in town, said in a recent interview that he had not seen her in a month. While people say that Piper might turn up at Wasilla Bible Church with a cousin and that her parents attend community basketball games, sightings are far less frequent than they were when Ms. Palin was governor and friends from high school bumped into her at the Wal-Mart Supercenter.

Ms. Palin’s inner circle has contracted in recent months, with some of her closest longtime Alaska aides — including Meghan Stapleton, a spokeswoman, and Ivy Frye, who helped research her book, “Going Rogue” — departing. Rumors of family discord still rumble across the Internet. Reports have tried to pin down Ms. Palin’s accumulation of wealth ($12 million?) since she resigned as governor. Yet virtually no one who might know the truth appears willing to talk publicly. (Ain't THAT the truth!)Family members are certainly wary.

Damn I missed this new revelation about Ivy Frye!  I had heard that there was somebody in the inner circle who was close to having a nervous breakdown and I figured it had to be either Meg Stapleton, or Ivy Frye, but now with both of them fleeing the scene of the crimes I am still not sure which one it was that was losing her grip. 

Here is video of Sarah Palin's interview with Chris Wallace from this morning.

(If you cannot see or play the video then click here, and to read the transcript click here.)

WTF?  Why did she call Rachel Maddow a "TV character"?  Rachel is an ACTUAL journalist, not like that "I am not an actual journalist, but I play one on TV" bunch who Palin lets interview her! 

And has been noted by many of you in the comments section of other posts, Rand Paul ANNOUNCED his candidacy on Rachel's show, I don't think either one of them thought his last interview would go the way that it did, but when asked reasonable questions he responded with nutty answers.  What was she supposed to do?  Pretend she did not hear the crazy?

I am not at all surprised that Palin still clings to her "drill baby, drill" philosophy.  She is not known for admitting mistakes or changing her opinions.  As for what she "went through" because of the Exxon Valdez spill, it was simply an unconvenience to her and Todd since fishing was not their main source of income, I don't care how she tries to spin it.

Her response to his questions about Obama's response to the Gulf spill is perhaps one of the most purposefully disingenuous and ugly things she has ever let fall out of her ignorant mouth.  As we have already established right here on this blog, Obama is doing everything in his power to get this things under control. But for her to suggest that in the year he has been in office President Obama should have repaired all of the damage done by George W. Bush to the government agencies charged with overseeing offshore drilling is beyond hypocritical. 

Well she finally admitted that going from place to place and being the center of attention is a "fun gig".  Sure beats being back in Wasilla trying to raise that brood of hellions you gave birth to isn't it Sarah?

I would say I am surprised that she listed "honest" as one of her attributes, but I'm not.  Habitual liars always make the point of referring to themselves as "honest" mainly because they deceive themselves into believing it.

And yes folks she is DEFINITELY running in 2012.  That is unless I can finally get a grip on these last few nails and drive them into her political coffin.

Fascinating post on Daily Kos about BP oil spill. You all need to read this.

From the Daily Kos:

I would argue that at this point in the disaster the die is cast, and it makes little if no difference to BP's ability to operate as a going concern whether the gushing volcano is stopped now or months from now. The sheer magnitude of the lawsuits is going to be staggering--think of the hundreds of billions of dollars in permanently despoiled property alone. All of these claims will ultimately find their way to BP's door, or the door of their excess insurance carriers.

Which is why it makes sense, from the standpoint of defending itself, for BP not to stop the gushing, and in fact to take half-measures which by their very nature will not succeed, yet prolong the appearance of BP "making an effort." The nature of this type of liability litigation practically demands that BP do this to survive.

If BP were able to stop the flow of oil through either its "top hat," "junk shot," or any of the other creative methods being bandied about, the line of attack at trial would be "Why weren't you able to do this sooner?" That's an argument that BP, with all of its hired experts, can never win. The sole question the plaintiff's lawyers will rely on (in addition to their case on causation of the explosion itself) will be "Was the technology available to stop this a month earlier?" The answer is obvious--yes, it was. Of course it was.

"Then, BP, why didn't you employ that method sooner?"

Sarah Palin calls Rachel Maddow "prejudice" and claims that Rand Paul was victim of "gotcha moment".

(Photo courtesy of TPM)

From Huffington Post:

Speaking to "Fox News Sunday," the 2008 Republican vice-presidential nominee said that Paul was being subjected to the same biased media coverage that marked her run for office, before offering her Tea Party-backed candidate a bit of advice.

"One thing we can learn in this lesson that I have learned and Rand Paul is learning now is don't assume that you can engage in a hypothetical discussion about constitutional impacts with a reporter or a media personality who has an agenda, who may be prejudiced before they even get into the interview in regards to what your answer may be," Palin said. "You know, they are looking for the gotcha moment. And that evidently appears to be what they did with Rand Paul, and I'm thankful he clarified his answer about his support for the Civil Rights Act."

This once again illustrates that Sarah Palin, despite her supposed degree in journalism, believes that any real substantive question from a journalist who is not ogling her legs or trying to look down her blouse is engaging in "gotcha journalism".   This is why she avoids all REAL reporters like the plague and sticks with the pretend journalists at FAUX News.

And her contention that Rachel Maddow trapped Doctor Paul is absolutely ridiculous.  In fact Rachel offered him numerous opportunities to clarify his answer and stop digging himself into a pit, and he simply could not stop making it worse for himself.  And his problems were not the result of simply the one interview. He did the same thing to himself over, and over again.

If Rand Paul follows Palin's advice and avoids the media he is finished in national politics.  So....go for it Rand!

Hundreds of scientists work together to throw everything but the kitchen sink at the problem of the rapidly growing BP oil spill. Next up, the kitchen sink.

From the LA Times:

Hundreds of engineers from universities, rival oil companies and the federal government immediately went back to work, in shifts lasting 13 hours or more.

"Anyone who we think could make a difference, we brought in," said Kent Wells, BP's senior vice president for exploration and production.

Then came the "dream team" that President Obama had ordered his Nobel-winning energy secretary, Steven Chu, to assemble: out-of-the-box thinkers including a nuclear physicist, a pioneer on Mars drilling techniques, an MIT professor whose research interests include "going faster on my snowboard," an expert on the hydrogen bomb, and a controversial astrophysicist who was later booted over a past essay defending homophobia.

Those involved say they are crafting and deploying in a matter of days what under normal circumstances would take a year or more.

And yet a limitless budget and all that brainpower have failed to fix the pipe 5,000 feet below the sea surface that has leaked oil for more than a month, spewing at least 6 million gallons, possibly far more.

That may be about to change.

Like Daughter, Like Father, Chuck Heath Gives Wildly Inappropriate Speech at Colony High Graduation.

From the Opinion section of the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman:

To the editor:

Tuesday night I attended the Colony High School graduation ceremony in Wasilla. I was thrilled that Chuck Heath (father of Sarah Palin) would be the keynote speaker. Both my children had him as a substitute teacher and their days with him were insightful, educational and fun.

Chuck explained how he taught all his children to hunt, track and field dress game. Then, trying to be humorous, he said he was going to teach his daughter how to field dress a donkey this fall.

I was dismayed at the suggestion of evisceration of Democrats — a partisan statement that was supposed to be a nonpartisan night of celebration. Did Chuck hope that by giving a stump speech that mirrored his daughter Sarah’s views that it would increase support for her? What message was he trying to convey to the graduates?

The “speech,” reminiscent of a Christian revival, ended with Chuck demanding the “G-word” be integrated back into public schools and government. A celebration for the senior class turned into a political diatribe and was both disappointing and inappropriate.

I am guessing that Chuck was asked to speak because Willow is a student at Colony High this year.  I would have thought that in the past, considering the rivalry that has existed between Palmer and Wasilla for decades, that he would not be their first choice.  Of course after this he may never get asked by any high school in Alaska again.

What is it that Bill Maher said about Rand Paul last night? "The shit does not fall far from the bat"?  Sounds fairly appropriate in describing Sarah and her dad as well.