Morality is not determined by the church you attend nor the faith you embrace. It is determined by the quality of your character and the positive impact you have on those you meet along your journey
The President really knocked'em dead! But check out the grim visage on Trump's face. The guy looks like he is wants to be anywhere in the world but sitting in that room.
I saw Seth Meyers monologue as well and he also went after Trump mercilessly. Hey the guy wanted to be the center of attention, and he got exactly what he was asking for. So fuck him for being able to dish it out, but not take it.
By the way here is a picture of Bristol from the dinner.
Trump arrived on the red carpet at Washington’s Hilton Hotel with his wife, Melania, shortly at 7:00 p.m. (ET). After giving a brief interview with a group of several of media outlets, Trump -- who was invited to the event as a guest of the Washington Post -- walked away to a chorus of audible boos from the media members on the press line. (And it wasn't because they wanted to hear Trump talk more.)
You know those journalists who booed him? Those are true patriots!
Fuck Trump! I hope the crap he pulled concerning our President follows him to the day he dies, and that the next time he tries to get that "sideshow of has-beens" reality show of his renewed for another season that they laugh his ass all the way out onto the street corner.
I find it almost unbelievable that this woman has the gall to say the things she said yesterday and then show up to eat the food provided by the White House staff. The woman is absolutely devoid of conscience or class.
I see they cleaned Todd up and trotted him out to do the only job he still retains, Sarah Palin's personal handbag carrier and family values prop. Of course WHO in that family is not one of Sister Sarah's props?
Update: Obviously a number of you are a little ahead of me. I have also recently learned that this luncheon was NOT held at the White House. So thankfully she will not get close enough to our President to infect him with her Palin parasitic pox.
Klondike Kardashian starts her vicious attack by blaming President Obama for the high gas prices and using her shoddy record as Governor as an example to, and this part is almost unbelievable, shame him for his performance.
Her assertion that cutting subsidies would hurt smaller oil companies, and their ability to find new oil resources, is a straw man argument at best. By the way how does the Queen of the Teabaggers justify supporting government handouts to corporations making billions of dollars in profits when their whole philosophy is supposedly to cut government waste? It has become increasingly transparent that Palin is now a shameless corporate whore.
But then around the 2:07 mark Palin gets flustered by Baier's question and seems to change her position entirely, now suggesting that the oil companies are huge corporate entities who use their numerous lobbyists to funnel as much profit as possible to their shareholders. This time when asked again about subsidies Palin avoids the question entirely and instead accuses the President of not knowing what he is doing when it comes to energy.
At the 3:38 mark Baier asks Palin if she were a member of Congress whether or not she would vote against raising the debt ceiling. Palin answers with a "Hells no!" (When in fact she actually meant "Hell's yes!") Then she goes on an uninformed rant about not needing to raise the debt ceiling because America "rakes in" 6 billion dollars a day and should, instead of paying to keep the government running on a day to day basis, simply use every penny of that money to pay down the national debt. She then goes on to say that the states should be left to worry about paving their own roads, building their own monuments, and supporting their own "cowboy poetry." (Wow, does Palin hate cowboys! I wonder how that plays in the Mat-Su Valley?)
By the way, does Palin not understand that having the states pay for these things would STILL mean raising taxes on Americans? And that without the Federal government financial support which Alaska has gratefully received for these last fifty two years we would still be stuck in the nineteenth century, relying on gravel roads, carrying our own human waste to the local iced over pond in honey buckets, and communicating with our friends and neighbors around the state using ham radio sets?
Then Baier attempts to nail Palin down on her plans for 2012. "Haven't decided yet." is her response, after which Baier reminds her that Fox pays her to be an "analyst" and suggests she offer an opinion on the rest of the potential GOP field instead.
Palin refuses to say much about anybody in particular, instead waxing poetically about the importance of the process and how it should not simply come down to a handful of "elites" or "chosen ones." (This was said immediately after being asked about Mitt Romney.)
Speaking of "elites" the very next question is about Donald Trump (8:21) and here Palin completely switches gears, commending his courage, and defending his right to "throw out good ideas." (You know like asking the President to prove he was born in America, or what his grades were in school, or wondering out loud who wrote his books for him. You know, good ideas like that.)
When asked about Michele Bachman, Palin says she respects her because she has had to "go up against the elites, if you will in the party, and buck some tide." (WTF, is "buck some tide?")
Baier tries his best to nail Snooki down by reminding her that she said she would only get in the race if she did not see anybody who she felt she could support, and suggesting they were now at the point for her to make that decision.
Palin responds with a brusque, "We're not to that point yet Brett." (Translation: "I can still milk this thing and squeeze donations out of my ignorant supporters for at least another year yet, so why would I strangle that golden goose now?")
After Palin brings up the fact that the Obama campaign has already started, by way of attacking him, Baier uses that to suggest it is time for the Republicans to get serious and start their own campaigns if they hope to have any chance against him in the upcoming election.
This REALLY pisses Palin off, and she responds with: "Nope the point is our President should be buckling down and trying to find solutions to the challenges facing this country!"
Baier: "It doesn't matter how much he raises?"
Palin: "You know I do not want to believe that the American political process is going to come down to who has the most money. If that's the case? Count me out!"
Well I already counted her out a long time ago, but it is good to hear that she does not realize that having tons of money to spend in a Presidential campaign is a very necessary part of the American political system and that she is admitting she can not compete if it is.
But then the Grizzled Mama gets REALLY ugly (9:08) by suggesting that Obama's 2008 campaign was partially financed by foreign money, which of course is illegal.
To his credit Bret Baier asks Palin directly if she is suggesting that the FEC "would find that foreign money got into the Obama campaign?"
Here Palin seems a little unsure of her "facts" and tries to hand the ball over to Baier: “Am I wrong to bring up the fact, and maybe Bret at this point, you have more information than I do on where a lot of those dollars were that were unaccounted for. Remember we saw much proof of a lot of the contributions to Obama’s campaign credit card contributions under fake names, and addresses that perhaps weren’t even real addresses in the US, you know I certainly hope that we won’t give up on making sure that we have free and fair elections. Not just Obama’s, heck some on the GOP too, on the GOP side. Let’s make sure rules are being followed. We are a land of laws."
Leaving that accusation just hanging in the air, Baier simply ends the interview without providing cover for Palin, leaving her to suffer the sting of the forthcoming criticisms for her outlandish statements all by her stupid self.
This represents and even lower, new low for Palin. She is clearly still so embittered by her loss to President Obama that she must accuse him of cheating in order to justify how a black man could have beaten her, and the old guy that was running with her, back in 2008.
As Geoffrey Dunn is so brilliantly pointing out in his book, Palin is the very definition of "competitive," and when she loses MUST find a reason to explain it that does not call into question her own lack of ability, nor assign her any fault.
Toward that end, Palin will even accuse the President of the United States of stealing an election.
And you know, coming from somebody who benefited from the corrupt GOP political machine in Alaska, that is just the absolute height of hypocrisy.
(BTW, and this is somewhat off topic, but it appears to me that Palin is spending the majority of her time in Arizona, near Bristol, and has barely stepped foot in Alaska for several months now. My sources have recently suggested that the Shailey Tripp, and Dillingham love child, revelations were too much for Sarah and that a Palin divorce is imminent. This is still in the gossip stages, but there is certainly plenty of circumstantial evidence to support that contention)
You know the way that some of the "Christians" in this country have been behaving themselves, I would have expected this to have happened a long time ago.
Way back in September of last year I wrote about my daughter's arrival, and how it upended my world. In a good way of course. (Well mostly.)
What I did not share with you at the time was that my daughter arrived in Anchorage with a very specific goal in mind.
Inspired by the tax credits approved for studios making films in Alaska, my daughter decided to come up here and open a film studio. You heard me, OPEN A FILM STUDIO!
Not only that, but she wanted it to be a "green" film studio. You know, a film studio that would have the least impact on the environment as humanly possible. One that would be powered by renewable energy and use several energy saving techniques to keep costs low and pollution at a minimum.
And she wanted to do this at only 23 years of age!
Now it took me awhile to decide what my role in all of this would be.
Do I endorse her ideas wholeheartedly, and prepare to provide emotional support when the harsh sting of reality ripped jagged holes in her dreams? Do I try to talk her out of wasting her time on such fantasies and suggest more attainable goals? Or do I ridicule her for shooting for the moon when she has not yet learned to navigate successfully around THIS planet?
Well I was one of those fathers who always told his child she could do ANYTHING.
You all know how much I hate being a hypocrite, so really what choice did I have? I supported her of course. In fact I even suggested some ideas, such as scouting locations for the studio in Palmer instead of trying to buy an overpriced lot here in Anchorage.
I also took her to the bank and sat beside her only to witness her crestfallen face when she was turned down for the loan she needed as seed money.
I went along with her to see a musk ox farm that she thought would be perfect, if she could only talk the owner into FIRST letting her turn it into a studio, and THEN start buying it from him in installments when the money started rolling in. (He did not go for it, but you would be surprised how long it took him to finally say no to my daughter's hopeful face.)
I helped her to buy a new Apple computer so that she could better communicate with potential investors and build websites.
And I tried to be the voice of reason when she over extended herself, and her own personal cheerleader when she became frustrated, or felt the harsh sting of defeat.
But of course you know how all of this was destined to turn out don't you? I mean she is ONLY twenty three years old.
Situated on a 10-acre site, Glenn Studios Campus is comprised of 4 multi-purpose sound stage areas, eight (8) production offices, and assorted ancillary spaces. In addition Glenn Studios will also feature an on-site gym, cafeteria, indoor parking and a certified(subject for approval) Helipad.
Glenn Studios™ location is 40-45 minutes North of Anchorage on the Glenn Hwy next to the state fair grounds. Hence the name "Glenn Studios".
This location works for just about any scale film that comes to Alaska. This structure has a great deal of appeal as a sound stage. Glenn Studios is also the perfect location as a "base camp" for so many production that film in Palmer/Wasilla area.
Yep, that's her studio alright, and right now there are currently thirty five films that have received the "green light" to start filming in Alaska and Glenn Studios is the ONLY studio that is positioned right now to meet their needs.
I know right?
So currently my daughter is the Studio Production Coordinator, which essentially means she runs the place. And if that weren't enough she is also working two other jobs to make ends meet until they get their first big check, which is made somewhat easier by the fact that she is living with me rent free. (But really how could I NOT do my part to invest in the future of Alaska film making, while also supporting my daughter's dreams?)
As if that were not enough excitement for one household, I also have my daughter's girlfriend, and my newly "adopted" daughter, performing in the local stage production of Tommy.
Bent Alaska has a great review, as well as show times and ticket prices. So if you are in Anchorage and looking for an evening of great entertainment, you would be hard pressed to find anything comparable to this stunning performance.
So if you are wondering how it feels to be the least talented, and potentially least successful, person living in my house, I have to say it feels pretty damn good. Pretty damn good indeed!
So take heed my fellow parents, because there is always the chance that when you tell your child they can do ANYTHING, that they will actually take that as a challenge! And someday grow up to blow your freaking mind!
It's not my bailiwick, but I want to say I'm on board with Andrew Sullivan and others who want to see Trig Palin's birth certificate, especially now that President Obama has put his own "birther" controversy to rest. No, I'm not suggesting that Trig is not Sarah Palin's kid; I really don't know. It's just that, given his ties to Alaska's First Family, Trig could well turn out to be our first U.S. president with Down Syndrome, and showing that birth certificate now would guarantee that he doesn't have to endure all this trauma down the road. It's for his own protection!
That is a little tongue in cheek but you have to agree that his point is valid.
Don't think so? Well then perhaps you need to hear it directly from the "mouth that roars."
Look that is from the Queen of the Teabaggers herself.
What I get from what she is saying is that we should not denigrate "people who are just curious" about the documentation that proves people really are who they say they are, were born when they say they were born, and gave birth when they said they gave birth.
After all if, like Sarah Palin says, it is not appropriate to call the people who demanded to see President Obama's birth certificate "Birthers," then how is it okay to call people who want to see evidence to support Sarah Palin's last pregnancy and the birth of her fifth child "Trig Truthers?"
And since the sitting President of the United States felt it was appropriate to respond to the requests of "people who are just curious," then surely it is just as appropriate to demand that same kind of transparency from a woman who constantly positions herself as a potential GOP candidate for that same extremely important position.
Sarah Palin is the mastermind of a dark conspiracy to punish an Alaskan citizen who dared to speak out against her over the traffic situation in Juneau -- this according to a lawsuit obtained by TMZ.
A man named Theodore Thoma claims he had a serious issue with traffic in the neighborhood surrounding the Governor's Mansion back in 2009 ... back when Sarah was the Gov. In fact, Thoma claims he proposed state action to solve the problem and even made up signs and fliers to push the issue.
But Palin didn't take kindly to the criticism, says Thoma, and she "undertook a campaign against [Theodore] ... to punish, embarrass, discredit and silence" him.
Thoma wants Palin to fork over more than $100k for all of the harm she's caused.
You know I searched my memory and I don't believe I have ever heard of Mr. Thoma before. I do vaguely remember something about a traffic issue in Juneau, but I cannot for the life of me remember where I read, or heard about it. (If any of you have better memories please let me know.)
Palin herself spent virtually NO time in the Juneau mansion during 2009, but that does not mean she did not do exactly what this man is accusing her of doing.
I am currently up to page 109 in Geoffrey Dunn's book, and I am once again amazed by how aggressive and petty Palin can be toward anybody who dares stand up to her, or get in the way of her ambitions. She never forgets a grudge and treats anybody who criticizes her as a sworn enemy for life.
Essentially if everybody that Palin had mistreated on her way to where she is right now were to file a suit against her, she would spend virtually the rest of her life in courtrooms. Not exactly a troubling thought in my mind.
BTW here is what I found on Court View thus far. I actually do not expect it to go far, but you never know.
Update: I KNEW I had read about this before. Thanks for the anonymous commenter who sent me the links.
In response to Mr. Thoma's efforts to control the amount of traffic flowing through that neighborhood, Palin of course used her children to bludgeon him.
"I wanted to offer him to hide Piper's trampoline further in a corner of the yard ... if it's a matter of not giving anyone anything to look at so they'll go away then I'd ask Piper to not giggle so loudly on her buoy swing or bicycle in the yard," Palin said in a written statement, referring to her 7-year-old daughter.
That was the dog whistle which signaled Palin's Flying Monkeys to take wing and go on the attack:
It seems that Governor Palin is so popular with tourists that thousands of people are walking from the docks to the governor's mansion in an attempt to catch a glimpse of the first family. Mr. Thoma feels that this -- along with Piper Palin's lemonade stand, trampoline and buoy swing -- is "bringing down the neighborhood." It seems that Mr. Thoma doesn't enjoy the Palin children very much.
From there of course the whole thing just went viral, and Mr. Thoma found himself under assault from people all across the country, who had never even heard of Juneau before Sarah Palin came on the scene.
You know what? He just might have a very solid case here. And if he is successful I have to imagine that there are a number of OTHER Palin victims who might just follow his lead.
Superman renounces his U.S. citizenship in Action Comics‘ record-breaking 900th issue. But that’s not all the benevolent alien refugee does in the sprawling special issue, which hits stores Wednesday.
It’s a sobering moment, as obvious as it is revolutionary. Superman’s conscientious creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, who dreamed up Superman for Action Comics‘ 1938 debut, positioned their deathless hero as an American heartland warrior battling tyranny and evil.
But Superman has always been bigger than the United States, and not just because he was inspired — directly or indirectly is still subject to debate — by Friedrich Nietzsche’s polar-opposite Übermensch.
In an age rife with immigration paranoia, it’s refreshing to see an alien refugee tell the United States that it’s as important to him as any other country on Earth — which in turn is as important to Superman as any other planet in the multiverse.
The genius of Superman is that he belongs to everyone, for the dual purposes of peace and protection. He’s above ephemeral geopolitics and nationalist concerns, a universal agent unlike any other found in pop culture.
It makes perfect sense that the ultimate illegal alien would become troubled by the way that his adoptive home was treating other non-native born Americans. I mean let's face it America needs Superman far more than Superman needs America.
When was the last time YOU saw America make the world spin backwards in order to save the life of one of its citizens? Yeah, that's what I thought!
So right about now you are probably asking yourself, "I wonder how the Teabaggers will respond to this news?" Gee how do you think they will respond?
DC comics has decided to have Superman renounce his US citizenship stating “Truth Justice and the American Way It’s not enough anymore.”
Who buys comics? Mostly Americans I reckon…
How dare they? Do you know how many people are trying to get citizenship? How many are going through pure hell in paperwork and legal costs to do this? The statements are clear that DC (and I must assume that these views are shared by Warner Brothers as well since they own DC Comics) is a fan of the “world view”/world government.
Bleep Superman. I urge a boycott of Warner Brothers, all DC franchises, and particularly Superman.
They intended this to be a political statement, but it is really a slap in the face of the American identity. Show me any one country that has done more for the world than America. We have fought for more people and sacrificed more treasure than any other country in history.
Superman’s real kryptonite is lack of comic sales. Hit them where it hurts, and I bet they’ll be doing a special issue where he retakes the citizenship oaths.
You know somehow I think this boycott is going to be less than successful. Let's face it, the 40% of the Teabaggers are over 55 years old, while only 22% of them are under 35. How many fifty five year old Superman comic book fans can there really be? citizenship
Maybe the Teabaggers should concentrate on not being such insufferable douchebags, and leave the boycotts to the liberals.
Now if you will excuse me I have to go buy a Superman comic book.
I'm thrilled to show you the cover of my new book, "Not Afraid of Life!" You'll notice that there's a certain cute little boy on the cover. I love that photo!
I have to agree with Bristol that Levi's son is a VERY cute little boy. But how come she is using such an old picture of them together? Why not use a more current one?
Oh, yeah. I forgot.
By the way literacy may not yet be dead in this country, but it is flat on its back and bleeding out like a son-of-a-bitch! Though I have to say that Geoffrey Dunn did his level best to revive it.
Update: Apparently while all of this is going on Levi is trying to get a little love from Oprah:
"Oprah's had Bristol Palin and Sarah Palin, Levi wants to be on her show," Johnston's manager, Tank Jones, told the gossip website.
"He wants to tell his side of the story," he added about why Johnston is seeking a spot before "The Oprah Winfrey Show" wraps up in May.
Yeah, good luck with that. If only you had asked BEFORE allowing the Grizzled Mama to convince you to tell people that you are a liar.
The Dish did call Mat-Su Hospital in 2008 and were told that Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy rules prevent them from talking about individual patients. But we confirmed, like Wiegel, that the list of newborns is voluntary.
I will confirm that I ALSO called the hospital, at least twice, and was told that because of HIPAA they simply could not answer any questions about their patients without the express permission of said patient. In fact I was quickly adding it up in my head and can confirm that over a dozen bloggers, journalists, and authors have made similar requests, and that ALL of them were told what Sullivan and I were told.
So the fact that Weigel received an actual answer is, to say the least, shocking. Either he has mad journalistic skills or......
Andrew also mentioned the amount of research he did concerning the "wild ride."
We also interviewed ten OB/GYNs to check whether the story Palin tells, of her water breaking in Texas and flying back to Alaska, was plausible. None would say it was impossible, but all of them agreed that Palin should have gone to the hospital in Texas and that a woman getting on a plane after her water breaks is extremely dangerous. Neither Dave nor Salon really want to touch the wild ride, for good reasons. Because any sane person would immediately ask questions.
I can also confirm that I have spoken to about four or five doctors specifically about this as well. Hmm I wonder how many Weigel has interviewed on this topic?
Let's face it Wiegel's incredibly lazy brand of "journalism" simply cannot measure up to the hours of research, number of interviews, and incredible dedication that many of us who have been focused on this story have dedicated to it in these last three plus years.
So for him to strut around as if he has miraculously repudiated the idea of Sarah Palin faking her last pregnancy with a mere phone call to Wasilla makes him look like a idiot and a phony.
BTW speaking of interviewing doctors, Laura Novak has her second interview with a pediatric specialist up on her blog. Go take a look and see if it makes Sarah Palin's version of Trig' birth any more likely.
The clerk, realizing that Washington, D.C. reporters don't typically cold call her hospital, asked me if this call was about "our former governor." It was. Was Trig Palin born there?
"Oh, that's not even a question," she said. (If my reception was better I could have heard her eyes rolling at this point.) "Yes. Everybody here remembers that. Yes, this is where the Palins come -- this is their family hospital."
Well that is more than most journalists have been able to get out of the Mat-Su Hospital, who usually has taken the "We don't discuss our patients with the media" approach to these questions. If indeed they are willing to go on the record now, that is a good thing.
But having said that who accepts "Yes. Everybody here remembers that. Yes, this is where the Palins come -- this is their family hospital." as an answer to the question that Weigel posed? Was there somebody in the building who was there the day that the Governor gave birth? Why didn't Weigel wait to write his story after he talked to somebody with more information than this clerk? Or did he try, and nobody else would respond?
And while we are on the subject how does Weigel, or anybody, explain why CBJ, who was once a very approachable fixture in Wasilla, is now essentially channeling Greta Garbo? Here is what Phil Munger, the only Alaskan blogger who knows Johnston, recently wrote about this bizarre situation:
CBJ, as she was often called locally, was a very public fixture around Wasilla up to the time of Trig's birth. Our daughter attended ballet with one of CBJ's kids for years, and I often saw CBJ somewhere or another around Wasilla or Anchorage at least once a week for well over a decade. Between the time of Trig's birth - early 2008 - and the issuance of the election eve letter purported to be from her, CBJ was far less evident. Since the letter was issued, CBJ has been unavailable to comment on it or on any other matter related to Trig and Sarah Palin.
(And Phil if you read this feel free to chime in.)
I have developed very little confidence in Weigel's journalistic abilities ever since he misquoted Shannyn Moore, and used that as the basis for attacking Sullivan on the babygate issue. (BTW neither Moore, nor Weigel, has ever publicly corrected that story, which still burns my ass.)
This article also makes mention of strange policy decision which took place at Mat-Su Hospital:
One of the original concerns Sullivan had with the Trig Palin story -- one that's based on an absent fact, and not on innuendo -- was that Mat-Su Regional did not list Trig Palin's birth on its website. There's a portion of the web site, the baby nursery, where newborns are listed. Trig, born on April 18, 2008, is not there. And that's somewhat curious. So: Is every baby born at the hospital listed on the web site?
"No, it's not automatic," said the clerk. "Truth be told, we do take security photos of all the babies, but if the parents want their babies listed on the web site, they can request it. We're really sensitive about it, though. I think the hospital took up the policy not to publish names automatically because of possible baby kidnapping issues."
I would like to point out that Mat-Su made this decision AFTER the birth of Tripp Johnston, and that it remains the ONLY hospital in Alaska to make this strange, and unnecessary, choice. Oh and by the way, there has NEVER been a baby kidnapped from the Mat-Su Hospital.
The fact that something stinks in Wasilla about this birth, should be a scent that even a pathetic excuse for a journalist like Dave Weigel should have the ability to sniff out.
Update: Phil Munger is clearly no fan of Dave Weigel either. Make sure to read what Phil says about the Mat-Su Regional Medical Center and how unlikely that it was the Palin "family hospital."
(BTW, and completely off topic, for those who are having trouble leaving comments, I do know about it and have contacted Google. Other bloggers are having similar difficulties and have complained, so I hope it will be rectified soon. Until then your best bet is to use a Google account. Apparently THOSE are getting through just fine. Thank you for your patience.)
I received this last night in the comment thread from my last post yesterday.
I heard THE BEST anecdote at Humpy's. Sarah Palin DOES indeed read IM...not only that, but she has been refreshing the comments on every babygate related post, even to the point of checking in the middle of the night lately.
I can't say who said it of course but if any folks are in the position to know Sarah's recent demons...this would definitely be one of them.
Gryphen, you'll be pleased to know that she recently called you the devil incarnate. I guess that makes HER...what exactly?! She apparently is bitching to everyone, especially RAM, how she "knows things" about you and she is just waiting for the right time to "ruin your life like you ruined hers". I seriously was going to wee myself from laughing SO hard. If Sarah knew you had a piece of stray navel lint, she would have the paparazzi photographing it and go on fox to talk about how lintbellies are KILLING THE NATION!!!
The idea that she has "dirt" on you is so hilarious, even RAM must be reconsidering having Sarah's "I'm Iz A Runner!" mag cover on her bedroom ceiling.
I wonder what "dirt" she has on me? Oooh I am so worried.
Did she find out that I am a raving heterosexual?
Or that I pay my bills early, like a Socialist?
Or that I often read three books at the same time like an intellectual elitist?
Well whatever you have on me lady, you better use it quickly, because in another six months or so I don't think anybody will be paying any damn attention to your loser ass anymore.
Sleep tight Sarah, it will all be over soon.
(BTW "Humpy's" is a very popular restaurant in downtown Anchorage.)
Update: Yeah I don't think that being quoted in The Week is going to make the Grizzled Mama any happier with me.
The wife of the doctor who delivered a newborn Barack Obama back in 1961 claims she had NO CLUE her late husband brought the future President into the world -- IN HAWAII -- until she saw B.O.'s birth certificate this morning.
Ivalee tells us, "Life is full of surprises! We are huge Obama supporters and our whole family has been calling one another all morning."
She continues, "I know my husband is just looking down on us smiling. We had no idea that he delivered President Obama until this morning when we saw the birth certificate ... It is very exciting. I just can't believe it. We had no way of knowing. Everyone is calling us and I'm looking forward to calling all of the family back and informing them that it is true."
This just goes to show you that even something as completely disgusting as forcing a sitting President to produce his birth certificate, just to get the country's focus back on the critical issues facing our nation, can bring a little happiness into somebodies life in an unexpected way.
But just you wait, because you know that if Trump hears about this he will demand credit for making this nice old lady's day as well.
"I am so happy that I, Donald Trump, could make this sweet old woman happy. Now let's see who else I can make happy by demanding to see the President's college transcripts! I am a very smart guy. You can tell that because I keep saying it over and over"
The following are select portions of the plea for more money that the Grizzled Mama sent out to her rapidly dwindling supporters. (I decided to illustrate it with screengrabs from yesterday's Greta Van Susteren interview for your enjoyment. H/T to Loriah..)
Taking back control of the House last year was only the first step. Now you and I must fix our eyes on 2012.
Can I count on your support as we look ahead to 2012?
I know what a sacred trust it is to be asking you to contribute your hard-earned money to SarahPAC.
I take that trust very seriously, especially in these hard economic times.
But there’s so much at stake now!
It’s imperative that you and I fight to end deficit spending – protect our free market entrepreneurial system – drill here and drill now for responsible energy independence – secure our borders – and strengthen our national defense to stand up to Islamic extremists and other enemies of America.
please send your best gift possible to SarahPAC today.
Thank you for joining me in the fight to keep America the country we know and love!
With an Alaskan Heart,
Sarah Palin
You know if the people who loved her REALLY wanted to help her, they would stop sending her money and pool their resources to get her some top notch psychiatric care just as soon as humanly possible.
Because ladies and gentlemen, this woman is losing it BIG TIME!
(To read the pitch for the Flying Monkey cookie money in its entirety, just click here to visit the Sea O'Pee.)
No holds barred interview which, while revealing all of the positive aspects of Sullivan's reporting, does not attempt to whitewash any of his numerous missteps.
My favorite part (Of course):
ANDREW SULLIVAN DID NOT SUPPORT John McCain in 2008. The torture flip-flop would have been enough of a reason. Then McCain added Sarah Palin to the ticket. The combination of her scant government experience and “raw political talent” terrified Sullivan—and with only two months between her nomination and the election, he started hammering.
“I was told: ‘Don’t touch this, it will hurt your reputation,’” he says. During a campaign when most pundits were, at worst, quizzical about Palin, Sullivan filled his blog with questions she was never going to answer. Did he pay a price? “I have become more of an outlaw in this town because I couldn’t hide my amazement from my peers—I’ve definitely become more alienated from mainstream media.”
Since the election, Sullivan has continued to press for clarification about a rumor the mainstream media won’t touch: that Trig is not Palin’s son. Sullivan hasn’t flung any accusations at Palin; he’s just pounded her ever-changing stories about Trig’s birth, and her unwillingness to provide a birth certificate for him. In the heated conversation that surrounds all things Palin, nuance has been lost—and Sullivan has been cast as a crank who takes pleasure in badgering a woman who may have no political future. His response: “Early on, I figured out that anything I write about her can only help her, but I don’t care about that. The job of a journalist is to find the truth.”
"The job of a journalist is to find the truth." You know if there is one thing that television talking heads, newspaper and magazine reporters, authors, and even bloggers should all be able to agree on, it is that.
BTW I was really pleased to read that Sullivan has a "blog cave" just like the one I am currently sitting in while writing this post. Of course I call mine "The Liberal Lair of Loquaciousness."
You can almost hear Sarah Palin reading that and going "Oh please, you arrogant son-of-a-bitch!" Right before she goes off to look up loquaciousness.
And here is the birth certificate, courtesy of Andrew Sullivan, for all of you Birthers who simply must see it with your own eyes.
Well that is that! Next?
Update: Fox News is going to have to be dragged kicking and screaming into the harsh light of reality.
And yet all Sarah Palin has to do is SAY she gave birth to her son on April 18, 2008, and not ONE mainstream journalist will dare to even express concern that she might not be telling the truth. So WHO is it that does not get fair treatment from the press?
She is hopped up, angry, and vicious throughout this interview. Repeatedly attacking the President from every direction, and culminating with a mean girl ugliness directed at Katie Couric that is truly disgusting to behold.
At the 12:00 mark:
Greta: " I know there are a lot of people out there who don't like President Obama so they want to believe he was born someplace else, but so far people who have investigated this, believe he was born here in the United States. I don't have any doubt he was born here in the United States, and has gotten sort of circus like, is that Donald Trump sort of, you know playing with everybody, being a distraction away from those important issues, or do you blame the media?"
Palin: "I think the media is loving this because they want to make Birthers as they call people who are just curious about the President of the United States and his background, and his associations, and his consistency with what he says today versus what he said in both the memoirs that he wrote, or Bill Ayers or whomever wrote. Uh the media is, is loving the fact that some curious Americans are actually asking the questions, and they're trying to make those curious Americans sound kind of crazy so the media is loving this issue and they're perpetuating this issue trying to make it sound really worse than it is."
So if, as Palin just stated last night, there was nothing wrong with "some curious Americans actually asking the questions" about the President of the United States birth certificate, then it stands to reason those same curious Americans would want to put the OTHER conspiracy theory to rest, and ask to see Trig Palin's birth certificate.
Surely Sarah Palin is just as willing to be as open and transparent as President Obama, don't you think?
So come on Ms. Palin the ball is now in YOUR court. Either step up, or shut up!
Update: Shut up? Not a chance! From the Grizzled Mama's Twitter page:
Media: admit it, Trump forced the issue. Now, don't let the WH distract you w/the birth crt from what Bernanke says today. Stay focused, eh? 9 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®
It is time to take the gloves off, and for so-called "journalists" to stop providing cover for this lunatic. If she wants to sit at the grownups table she better stop acting like a four year old, and deliver the goods.
HBO's political telefilm, Game Change, continues to add talent.
CSI’s Larry Sullivan has been cast as Sarah Palin’s deputy chief of staff Chris Edwards, while Trauma’s Jamey Sheridan has nabbed the part of John McCain's speechwriter and senior campaign advisor Mark Salter. Temple Grandin’s Melissa Farman will play Bristol Palin.
I just hope Melissa is not one of those method actors. Once she steps into the darkness of the Palin family she might never emerge.
I suppose she is going to need one of these, unless of course the Grizzled Mama is willing to donate hers in the interest of art.
Asked by host Greta Van Susteren about the news of Couric’s departure, Palin said: “Yea, I think I read that in a newspaper” — elongating her pronunciation of “newspaper” — “one of many newspapers that I read, online.” Her inability to answer Couric’s question in 2008 about what newspapers she reads was widely mocked.
“And yea, I hear that she wants to now engage in more multi-dimensional story-telling,” Palin added, “versus, I guess, just the straight-on reading-into-that-teleprompter-screen story-telling. So more power to her. I wish her well with her multi-dimensional story telling.”
Yes that's right. Palin actually mocked Katie Couric for using a teleprompter in the same interview where she was waving a hand covered with crib notes.
It just arrived today, and I am only on page 40 of a 423 page book. (Not counting the Acknowledgements, Bibliography, and Index of course.)
So far it is an EXCELLENT read and I am already captivated by the story, even though I already know much of it.
I will not be posting any big bombshells or heretofore unknown tidbits, since Geoff is a friend, and I am not an asshole. However I will gladly give you my opinion of this, the first of the explosive Palin centric books headed our way this year, once I have finished it.
Now if you will excuse me I have some reading to do.
(P.S. Have you ordered YOUR Geoffrey Dunn book yet? Well what are you waiting for? Click here.)
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There is also the matter of consistency. When a politician has publicly claimed she has produced a birth certificate and hasn't, is it illegitimate for the press to ask why she simply lied about this? Can any sane person misremember such a thing? And if she's claimed she has released it, what on earth is the ethical reason for not asking her to do it along with medical records? When she publicly derides skeptics in speech after speech, is it not the press's duty to see if her derision has empirical validity? Or are we skeptics supposed to just sit back and be mocked by a pathological liar putting her own credibility against ours?
We all have cognitive biases. I have one - profound skepticism of anything Palin says - and may be judging evidence in ways that others wouldn't. But so do Justin and Ben and Weigel who have an interest in dismissing the possibility that they may have missed uncovering the biggest hoax in American political history. That same cognitive bias question applies to Loy and Quinn. It does not mean they they may not be right. It just means that their cognitive bias is as real as my own.
Now we're talking!
Time to tighten up our defensive armor and sharpen our rapier like wits, for the battle to reveal the most egregious Sarah Palin lie of all has really just begun.
Franklin is badly outmatched here and every time he gets cornered, which is often, he seems to be overcome with some sort of "Biblical Tourette's" which renders him incapable of doing anything except spouting disjointed chunks of memorized sermons, like some half drunk Christian revivalist.
The law firm hired by the House of Representatives to defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court has decided it will drop its defense of the federal statute, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman.
The firm, King and Spalding, had faced protests from gay rights groups after its contract with the House Administration Committee and General Counsel - along with its attached price tag of up to $500,000 -- was reported. The Human Rights Campaign announced a national campaign last week to urge the group to withdraw from the agreement.
The firm had agreed to work on behalf of the GOP-led House after the Obama administration announced earlier this year that the Department of Justice would no longer defend the law, which it says is unconstitutional.
Good news for people who simply want the right to marry the person they love. Regardless of their plumbing.
I urge you to read the latest data points on the story, specifically the eye-witness accounts of two journalists who, after two years of silence, are now saying they saw Palin's pregnant belly covered only by a thin layer of fabric before she gave birth. These are important new parts of this jigsaw puzzle, and they go alongside the handful of pictures we have of Palin pregnant in her one-month public pregnancy. They should be taken seriously and definitely buttress - powerfully - the case that this whole thing is a tempest in a spatula.
Does this long-delayed meta-story settle the matter? The key thing, it seems to me, is to look at all the facts we now have and try to get beyond the order and manner in which we found these things out. This is not easy. But having tried to do that over this weekend, I still believe that none of these new things, alas, prove the pregnancy the way simple medical records would. To me, however, they do strongly tip the balance toward establishing the pregnancy as fact. When you add in the date of Bristol's giving birth to Tripp (removing the likeliest alternative scenario, although there are others) and the odd, last-minute but clear doctor's letter on election eve, the balance of doubt shifts again. I don't see why Quinn or Loy would lie about this; and their accounts seem persuasive - although it is maddening they didn't report this before, and weird that they didn't. They get to an empirical nub: what did you see with your own eyes? It's almost the best empirical test we have. Almost.
Joe McGinniss weighs in, on Andrew Sullivan weighing in, on the two new eyewitness accounts of Sarah Palin's "pregnancy:"
I’m a Trignostic. I don’t have a dog in this fight. But I don’t agree with Sullivan that the “recovered memories” of Loy and Quinn (neither of whom I know, by the way) should be accepted as having significant weight.
Not only is eyewitness testimony unreliable, but these were young male reporters covering the most dazzling & sexy political figure in Alaskan history. Sarah invites them to view her (veiled) belly in private? And now–contradicting what they wrote at the time–they both decide retroactively that she was obviously pregnant?
Something about that smells like fish to me: and not like fish that even Todd Palin could sell commercially.
Sullivan says the Loy and Quinn accounts “buttress–powerfully–the case that this whole thing is a tempest in a spatula.” He finds Loy and Quinn “persuasive.” I don’t.
I am with Joe on this one, something definitely smells very, very fishy about this suddenly appearance of two completely off the radar "journalists" with almost identical reports of seeing Palin's cloth covered baby bump. I mean could they not at least come up with two unique versions of what convinced that she was pregnant? Reading these back to back makes it seem that somebody, cribbed off somebody else's notes.
The idea that Sullivan might allow his Palin fatigue to convince him to accept these two extremely questionable accounts as believable, simply to put this behind him and move on to fresher topics, could cause some to worry about our chances of EVER getting to the bottom of this mystery, wrapped in an enigma, then shaped to look like Trig Paxson Van Palin.
But does that mean I am about to give up? I'm sorry have we met?
Keep dodging Sarah, eventually one of these stories will stick, And when it does, your whole web of lies will simply begin to unravel, no matter HOW hard you and your Palin-bots try to spin it back together.
And that will happen either with, or without, Andrew Sullivan's continued efforts in reaching that eventuality.
Did you notice that to make his point, Rush had to misquote the article? You know if the truth is not enough to make your point, then you don't have a point.
And the reason that nobody went after Republican icon Ronald "cue the halo" Reagan like this is because he was not an absolute fraud like Sarah Palin. Oh he was bad alright, just not Sarah Palin bad.
And just to be crystal clear, nobody is trying to make up things to "destroy Sara hPalin." All we are doing is trying to get to the truth which hides behind the fallacies surrounding Palin.
If that truth "destroys" her that is on her, NOT on the people reporting that truth to the American people.
Titled Deer in the Headlights: My Life in Sarah Palin's Crosshairs, the memoir is slated for a fall release under Touchstone Publishing.
"He's ready to give an inside glimpse to his relationship with the Palins, share his trials and tribulations of being thrust into the spotlight and becoming a father at such a young age," the source tells Us.
I did my level best to help Levi to write a book back in 2009, when it really mattered. After all of this time I can only imagine that he has become frustrated at how many people are about to make serious money for their books on Palin, while all he has done is stand on the sidelines trying to shop that ridiculous reality show of his. So now he has decided to join the crowd.
The problem is that NOW there is a crowd. If Levi's book had come out in the beginning of 2010, as was planed, he would have been all alone in that market and would have sold a ton of books.
I am not sure what, if anything, Levi will have to add after the books by McGinniss, Bailey, and Dunn have come out, but if all he wants to divulge is how like a "fish out of water" he felt standing on stage in front of millions of people in uncomfortable clothes, I doubt too many people will waste the $24.99 to read it.
Levi DOES have some scandalous information at his disposal. The only question is does he have the guts to reveal it?
Update: The people who are ghosting Levi's book just contacted me. Sorry I cannot divulge the questions they are asking, but they did send me this promotional blurb to share:
Levi Johnston Sets the Record Straight [for Touchstone]
Book Focuses on His Life in Sarah Palin’s Crosshairs
(New York, New York April ?, 2011) Levi Johnston, best known as Bristol Palin’s baby daddy, sets the record straight in Deer in the Headlights: My Life in Sarah Palin’s Crosshairs, with his often funny and truly moving coming of age story to be published this fall by Touchstone an imprint of Simon & Schuster. Senior Editor Matthew Benjamin acquired World rights from Robert E Guinsler of Sterling Lord.
“I want to tell the truth about my close relationship with the Palins,” said Johnston, “my sense of Sarah, and my perplexing fall from grace—how I feel and what I've learned. I'm doing this for me, for my boy Tripp, and for the country.”
Commented Stacy Creamer, Vice President and Publisher of Touchstone, ‘This is a sweet and funny story with a touch of irony; a fascinating tale of a misunderstood boy figuring out how to be a man and a father after being thrust into the spotlight and subsequent media circus at a very young and vulnerable age. Levi has seen the Palin family up close and personal and is ready to tell his story.”
About a week ago the so-called "Sarah Palin stalker, Shawn Christie, contacted me via Facebook to let me know that he had just been fired from his job.
Today Shawn sent me the following:
Jesse, I was waiting to get my last check and make sure there were no other problems. I started working for the company in February, I was hired after I was working for a temp company since December.
The articles (about the new restraining orders) came out in my local newspapers on Saturday, and that Monday the 18th, I came into work and they let me go.
It was weird too because they had done a background check on me when I was hired and they knew about the first PFA's, but I think it really had to do with the BS that Sarah put out about me raping her daughter, so now I have no job, we are already losing our house, my mother is unemployed, and my father is disabled.
So I guess this is how Sarah deals with people who, as she said, are mentally disturbed??? Take away their job, that really helps.
As I posted before, Shawn Christy completely denies that he threatened to rape Palin's daughter or made any other threats against the family:
I spoke with Palin's attorney Tiemessen last Friday, he said there was a letter mailed 60 miles from where I live that was magazine words taped together, something about Willow, I didn't send it and I told him that..
I contacted the company that Shawn worked for, Genova-Pensylvania, and spoke to his immediate supervisor to ask him if their reasons for letting him go had anything to do with this recent tabloid story, or pressure from Palin supporters, but he said the company policy was not to comment to the press about their employees.
Look I know that receiving a letter making threats against your child, if indeed that happened, would make ANYBODY want to take steps to protect their family. But WHY release that information to TMZ knowing full well that it could have a very detrimental effect on a potentially innocent young man's life, and the life of his family?
We know for a fact that President Obama receives dozens of death threats every single day, but how many of those individuals names show up on a gossip website? None.
Sarah Palin, the woman who is constantly claiming that bloggers are always going after her and her family, has used TMZ, and the numerous other websites that ran with the story, to destroy Shawn Christy's opportunities for employment, and attempt to bully his family into staying silent about their difficulties with the Palin family.
You know if Palin actually has proof that Shawn Christy is harassing her family, and sending letters threatening her daughter, why has she not filed charges against him? In order to get a PFA, or Restraining Order, all anybody has to do is say they had a relationship with somebody, state the reasons why they feel they need one, and sign some papers. No actual evidence required.
However this really does not protect Palin, and her family, until AFTER Christy defies the order and shows up close enough to her to be in non-compliance with the order. If the Mama Grizzly is really so terrified for her family does it not make more sense to have him charged with a crime?
Or is there some reason that Palin does NOT want this to go in front of a judge?
This self-styled anti-Palin movement – whose members span the globe and are mostly, but not exclusively, liberals – has been behind some embarrassing revelations about the former Alaska governor, her family and allies. But some of their leading theories have been thoroughly discredited, and earned them widespread criticism.
Yet that only seems to have hardened a commitment to accomplishing what they profess to be their ultimate goal: the absolute and complete exposure of Palin as a fraud unworthy of a role in American civic life. And now, with Palin edging back into the political spotlight in the face of flagging poll numbers, they believe that they are closer than ever to achieving it.
A number of forthcoming books promise to delve deeply into – and, they believe, give mainstream credibility to – some of the more salacious Palin rumors and conspiracy theories that have sprouted in the anti-Palin blogosphere and on supermarket tabloid stands, but have mostly been rejected by the mainstream media.
Vogel gets some of his facts wrong, such as assuming that the questions about Trig's birth have been put to rest, but he does a pretty thorough job of reporting about the impact that the blogs have had on Palin's credibility, and that they have cleared a path for for the upcoming books by Dunn, Bailey, and McGinniss to deliver the coup de grace.
I probably could have come off better in the article, but I certainly have been treated worse by reporters in the past, so no worries.
