Saturday, June 09, 2012

Steve Schmidt describes the end of the 2008 campaign as a "car crash." Seems like an understatement to me.

Schmidt with Woody Harrelson, who played him in the HBO film "Game Change."
This from in an interview with Steve Schmidt in New York Times:

It was Mr. Schmidt who first championed Sarah Palin as Mr. McCain’s running mate, a bold move, he told Mr. McCain, that could win him the White House. Instead, her selection was widely viewed as one of the most calamitous political judgments in modern presidential politics. By the time Mr. McCain conceded, Mr. Schmidt himself feared that his role in that campaign would leave an indelible scar on his reputation. 

“I’ve been involved in a lot of victories and I’ve been involved in defeats,” Mr. Schmidt said on this warm morning by the lake. “And the ending of that particular campaign felt like being in a car crash.” Mr. Schmidt came up with Ms. Palin’s name, and two other McCain campaign advisers — Rick Davis, the campaign manager, and A. B. Culvahouse Jr., a lawyer — were primarily in charge of checking her credentials in the space of a week. 

Mr. Schmidt said he has not spoken with Ms. Palin since the night Mr. McCain conceded. His criticism of her has been a defining theme of his post-2008 years, in contrast to Mr. McCain, who has praised her repeatedly. “If I knew two days before what I knew two days later, I would have handcuffed myself to the truck to prevent him from leaving the compound,” Mr. Schmidt said, recalling the moment that Mr. McCain left to announce his selection. “I guess the evidence of that is the trauma I still have four years later.” 

“She absolutely should not be president: no way, no how,” he said. “I’ve watched her on the public stage over the past four years. There has been zero effort — zero — to improve any of her obvious deficiencies.” 

“My regret is I should have been the guy to say, ‘Stop, it’s too risky,’ ” he said, walking slowly up the road to his home. “As opposed to the guy saying: ‘Let’s take the risk. We have to win this.’ ” 

How does that make him feel? “Terrible, terrible, terrible,” he said. “I have a level of regret that is hard to put into words. The notion that I would be a participant in a decision that, had events turned out the other way, this person would have been in national command authority? I am sick about it.” 

And I DO believe that Schmidt is indeed "sick about it." Hell who in their right mind DOESN'T get a little queasy thinking about Sarah Palin as the Vice President of this country?

However even as remorseful as Schmidt appears to feel about his role in helping to drag Sarah Palin out of the dark forests of Wasilla and then thrusting her onto the public stage, he does not seem prepared to tell the ENTIRE truth about how that came to be.

In the HBO version of "Game Change" it appeared that Rick Davis, played by the very talented Peter McNicol, chose Palin almost randomly after seeing her on YouTube. But that certainly does not square with things that I have heard around Alaska, and seems to fly in the face of reports (As I wrote about yesterday) that Palin was all but certain she was McCain's pick as far back as March of 2008.

Now while I actually can accept the idea that Palin was not vetted until the last minute, or even that she was not "officially" chosen until late in August of 2008 (This is backed up by reports that McCain staff members did not even know that McCain knew Sarah Palin), I do believe that somebody had convinced her she was on the ticket by sometime in March. The question is who?

And learning the answer to THAT "who" question would also lead us to the "who" that was truly responsible for convincing Schmidt and Davis to then convince McCain that Palin was just the shot in the arm his campaign needed to become competitive against Barack Obama again.

Now the name that has been bandied about for the last three years is Lowell "Bud" Paxson.

Paxson is a very wealthy businessman who started the "Home Shopping Network," and is also a dedicated Evangelical, which would place him right within the sphere of influential people that McCain needed on his side in 2008.

However there is something which actually might have given Bud Paxson a little more leverage in helping foist Sarah Palin onto McCain's beleaguered campaign. Vicki Iseman.

Vicki Iseman was a lobbyist for Paxson, who many staff members on McCain's earlier campaign against George W. Bush, thought might have become a little TOO friendly with the Senator from Arizona. They even went so far as to block Iseman's access to McCain. (Is anybody else having a John Edwards/Rielle Hunter flashback right about now?)

The New York Times story that officially linked the two together came out on February 21, 2008.  Around two weeks later Sarah Palin announced, on March 6, that she was pregnant.

And then thirty three days later Trig was born, sporting the middle name of "Paxson."

Things that make you go "Hmm."

If Paxson had indeed wanted Palin on the ticket, then he might have been in a unique position to help the Vicki Iseman story disappear, or at least refuse to add more troubling information to fan the flames, in exchange for a certain "favor." Which would certainly have made Palin feel  grateful enough to have used his name as the middle name for her fake baby.

Now we may NEVER know exactly who it was, for certain, that pressured John McCain, and Steve Schmidt, into putting Palin on the Republican ticket in 2008. However I think we can say with some certainty that Palin probably knew she was John McCain's running mate, BEFORE John McCain knew it.


161 comments:

  1. AJ Billings7:05 AM

    Two words $arah Palin, just two words
    OBVIOUS DEFICIENCIES

    $arah Palin, Alaska's most famous
    Quitter
    Defeated
    Liar

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous9:56 AM

      Steve Schmidt can take a little heart, after all, it's Frank Murkowski's fault for letting her believe she would be in the running to take over his remaining US Senate term when he took the helm as Governor.

      She caterwauled enough to be put on that ridiculously long list even though he always intended to appoint his daughter Lisa (who I've long admired as a pragmatic and conscientious State lawmaker.) She had no business being in consideration and damn Frank for making her think she was in contention. He gave her a sweetheart appointment with no qualifications to make her the ethics officer and superficial head of the regulatory agency on oil and gas development.

      She had to work five days a week, eight hours a day with two hours of commuting. She hated it, real work with highly technical jargon from day one, and looked for ways to quit without losing face.

      Enter Randy Reudich and his lobbying on agency time and she found a way to not only quit in spectacular rogue fashion, but to take down an Incumbent in the 2006 elections.

      This was all on the brink of statewide catastrophe for the Republican brand what with the Corrupt Bastard's Club, the indictment of Senator Ted Stevens, Joe Miller's collusion to take on the Party, and an arrogant Governor no one could stand.

      Never mistake it was because Sarah Palin was a competent or qualified. . .it was because the party was eating itself alive and she marketed herself as a reformer and a breath of fresh air - all the while everyone ignored her wicked record in Wasilla.

      When the MSM started digging in the city records where her vapid and harsh leadership style in the Valley played out, we all would have sent her packing the way we did when she ran for Lt. Governor. Instead we gave her the keys to unimagined wealth and notoriety.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous7:12 AM

    Gryphen, I think you are getting very close to the truth about how an idiot like Palin would get on the ticket with McCain.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous7:24 AM

    Is this the same Paxson who launched PAX TV back in the late 90s?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dis Gusted7:31 AM

    my understanding is he met her at the Governors Association meeting February 2008. At that time he discussed the VP position with her and wondered how she would explain Bristol's pregnancy.....

    He KNEW she was a farce even then. However, it didn't matter to McCain as he doesn't view women as equals.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous8:12 AM

      That would have been a reallllyyy long pregnancy.

      Delete
    2. Dis Gusted8:34 AM

      she had just delivered the baby..... The RNC pregnancy was faked.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous8:46 AM

      Only if you actually believe that Trig wasn't born until April.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous7:38 AM

    Wasn't McCain part of the crew that was entertained by Todd's prostitutes early 2008 or was that 2007?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:06 AM

      remember when John McCain was married to his first wife the one that loyally waited for him to be found alive in Vietnam for years.

      Then when he came home frequented brothels and abandon her after a car accident. He's scum he would not blink at Toads brothel excursions?
      Just one of the MANY reason the story is not getting traction.
      Not to mention the Malia lady files complaints with the people investgation the secret serice stories and then if they check her web site she could come off as an obsesive stalker lady because all she blogs about is Palin Palin Palin.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:57 AM

      10:06 Malia is doing a hell of a job..trying to get the proof out there about Todd and Sarah. I watched the one hearing in D.C. and it was very obvious that they were covering up and not disclosing the additional information about Todd even though many of us knew they ALL had received the information.

      Plus, many people (to include me) have sent the book "Boys Will be Boys" (Shailey Tripp) to members of Congress, the President, the Vice President, media outlets, Bill Maher, David Letterman, Jay Leno, etc.

      Todd's unethical ways ARE known and it will just take time for it all to come out against the Palins and for the world to see the frauds they have been (in Alaska) for many, many years!

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:34 AM

      Nancy Reagan was a loyal friend to McCain's first wife and found him so vile she would not speak to him for years. She did when he had the GOP nomination. Party loyalty. He is one of the most wretched men to ever walk on this planet. Very important for GOP to protect him on every little thing and at all cost.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous7:40 AM

    O/T OMG - it seems that Bristol's show is going forward on Lifetime after all. I cannot believe it. Sarah must have really pumped them up for this crap. Bristol will be on Kelly Monday morning to talk about her show. Who would ever want to watch a show about Bristol Palin...freaking unreal that these people just continue to getting breaks for making money. Sooooo disgusting!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous8:11 AM

      I think that the money Alaska taxpayers give to producers has a lot to do with it.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous8:23 AM

      Sarah still has Alaska in her back pocket.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous9:15 AM

      It really is barf worthy!
      Who would watch this boring crap

      Delete
    4. Anonymous9:43 AM

      No, Sarah doesn't have our state in her back pocket. She slinks around, worried someone's going to call her out in public.

      Delete
    5. FUCK YOU MCCAIN!!!!!!10:11 AM

      Apparently there are shows about Swamp People and Storage Units.

      Brisdull is like a combination of both!

      Scary ass scary Rednecks + Storing all the illegitimate babies!

      Gold, Jerry!

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:31 AM

      Now hold yer horses, there --

      Remember how originally her show's air date was something like June 6th, and now it's been pushed back to at least June 19th - but she has this critical promotional interview to do Monday first.

      This Monday is basically her "audition" and she'll be watched VERY carefully. If she comes off stupid, mean, or fucked up (keep in mind her heavy pharma use) the show isn't going to happen.

      They've been trying to coach her in on camera demeanor and are VERY nervous because she's still so awful one on one; also other than those brief "interviews" on DWTS between numbers she hasn't really done a true promo interview without her helicopter harridan of a mother fluttering around.

      So. . still lots of chances for Bristol to fuck it up! :) Advertisers will be given clips of her interview if it goes well to encourage them to sign up for ads; if she sucks on the show, the network will just write off the expense. They still can't get advertiser interest so don't assume it's going forward. Even if it does go forward, it's likely to be one or just a few episodes of spliced together material, hardly attractive to advertisers, and the network will take a loss on it.

      Media Insider

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:47 AM

      8:23

      Sarah doesn't have Alaska in her back pocket! Perhaps some on the extreme right, but certainly not the majority in the State.

      She and Todd basically 'hide' when they are in the state. They are afraid of what they will run into. Know I'd give them a piece of my mind if I had the opportunity!

      And, Todd, now that he has been proven a 'pimp' that operated in Alaska and actually took the girls across state lines, assuredly isn't showing his puniness face anywhere!

      Delete
    8. Anonymous1:29 PM

      i'd love to run into the skank and her tenor voiced , two toned dick fake fukin' husband somewhere up here, i'd verbally cut loose unabashedly on both the griftin' fraud criminals and would hope that that little prick todd'd make a move on me, that'd be toooo much fun

      Delete
    9. Anonymous2:23 PM

      Media Insider how do we find out who possible advertisers for this show are as soon as possible? Can you post us please if there is any sponsors?

      Delete
    10. Anonymous4:27 PM

      Thanks, MI. Always good to hear from you.

      Delete
  7. Dis Gusted7:41 AM

    oh yes - Palin knew back in 2007, even if McCain was not yet aware...(he was).

    But within a few months of being sworn in she and others in her circle noticed that a blogger named Adam Brickley had started a movement to draft her as Vice-President. Palin also learned that a number of prominent conservative pundits would soon be passing through Juneau, on cruises sponsored by right-leaning political magazines. She invited these insiders to the governor’s mansion, and even led some of them on a helicopter tour.

    http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/10/27/081027fa_fact_mayer#ixzz1xJLnS9EH

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We should point to this use of taxpayer money every time a RWNJ complains about Pres. Obama using Marine 1.

      Delete
    2. Yeah, too bad for them there isn't a comment section at the NYTimes article (boo hoo). They can stew in their own piss over at Sea4Pee.

      Delete
    3. Oops, that remark was supposed to be under Anonymous@7:42's comment. ;-)

      Delete
    4. Anonymous9:42 AM

      She may not be smart or learned, but she sure is shrewd. She used State money to hire a PR firm to drum up interest with the MSM to tout her 'energy expertise' even though her resume and legislative accomplishments were still tissue paper thin.

      Remember, this is a woman who doodled 'tax payer' as a reason to be elected to the Wasilla City Council. Imagine her admitting proudly today that she's a tax payer to the Tea Party.

      What a loser.

      Delete
    5. Boscoe10:35 AM

      Heh... imagine her admitting to the teapublic that she raised taxes on "job creators" and redistributed that wealth directly to the peasants!

      It's amazing how people like Palin and Romney do things to curry favor with the constituents when in power that they later repudiate as "socialist" when they're not.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous2:59 PM

      Di-gusted,
      Wow I don't think I've seen that NY'r article, thanks for posting definitely a keeper!
      Thnx!
      http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/10/27/081027fa_fact_mayer?currentPage=all

      Delete
  8. Anonymous7:42 AM

    Over at the Urinal the Peebots are going apeshit over the Times article. They've pointed their fingers at everyone in the 2008 campaign, but fail to understand a mojority of the US population were able to look beyond Palin's star appeal and saw the real lying misinformed cartoon character created by the far right to further their cause.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous7:59 AM

    This smells more and more like the rightwing evangelicals were looking for someone to promote.

    How to better to find a female politician who would fake a pregnancy and give him the name of her very rich mentor, Bud Paxson? Paxson may not have been personally involved but he has the money to hire those who were are his command.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Does the name "Margaret Thatcher" come to mind?
      The dude from focus on the family....as in Air Force Academy....I think he wanted a woman of Thatcher's caliber. Men can dream can't they?
      Also remember how many times Sarah mentioned her intent on meeting....don't know how far back that intent goes. Seems Sarah will do anything.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous8:06 AM

    Isn't that why she named her adopted DS boy after Paxson.

    Middle name.

    Supposedly born in Mid April, but actually born to someone else earlier.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous8:28 AM

      Maybe Paxton is his real father.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous8:29 AM

      OT..Do you ever think Cox and others are just the fall guys? Do you think this is a way to get information on the Palins, who the Feds are really going after.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous9:50 AM

      I wish this were true, but I doubt it.

      I also doubt the Paxton connection.

      Too many conspiracy theories. Isn't it better to focus on the nonsense that comes out of her mouth? She is such an idiot.

      Delete
  11. Beldar Poormoderatedouchebag Conehead8:10 AM

    Gryphen, you don't approve of her middle-naming her kid after her political benefactor? I suppose you'd prefer she chose "Wealthyconservativedouchebag", instead? That's an awful middle name for a child and I hope you can see past your hostility towards the Screechy Wretch(tm) and applaud her decision not to burden the child with the more unwieldy and slightly anonymous middle name. The kid has burdens enough, as it is.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous8:27 AM

      Beldar: Your comment doesn't make one bit of sense! Think how the Palins name their kids - Tripp - after a favored prostitute of Todd and Paxson, after this wealthy man that assisted Palin into the VP slot. Weird!!!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous8:27 AM

      Her next son will be Tasteful Hannity Palin.

      Delete
    3. WakeUpAmerica9:59 AM

      Beldar, you crack me up! Apparently, @8:27 can't see the tongue in your cheek.

      I quite like Tasteful Hannity Palin as well.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous9:59 AM

      Beldar: Your comment doesn't make one bit of sense!

      Anonymous 8:27 AM, you need to learn how to read comments by Beldar SomeTag Conehead. Read a few more, and perhaps a pattern will become evident to you.

      Delete
    5. FUCK YOU MCCAIN!!!!!!10:08 AM

      Poor, 8:27...

      Read. Think.

      Then read again.

      THEN, and only then,

      perhaps you should type.

      Love,

      Satire

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:58 AM

      … can't see the tongue in your cheek.

      A small bit of history, for those who don't already know it: the present-day "smiley" :-) used to be a "tongue-in-cheek" -) before it grew a colon.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous8:10 AM

    I would love to know where Todd stands on all this. Is he aware of everything Sarah has done and just goes with the flow with his hands out for more money?
    How could they possibly have any kind of regular marriage with Todd going to whores and Sarah sleeping with black athletes. We have account they sleep in separate beds and probably live in separate houses. Todd does not appear with Sarah on the road anymore.
    This is definately not a Christian family.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous8:25 AM

      Remember, they've not had a 'real' marriage for years!!! They just play married for the money and appearance. But, Toad isn't around much anymore - since the pimping story hit.

      Both need to be strung up by their toes! They are a huge embarrassment to Alaska and Alaskans!!! Finally, the rest of the world is finding out about their many evil ways!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous8:40 AM

      They do live in separate houses. Obviously that's the reason why they still own the two on their dead lake.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:12 PM

      It's not very 'Christian' to suggest that there is a problem with a white woman 'sleeping' with a black athlete either. She was single at the time so why would it be a problem for Tawd?

      'Thinking' that sleeping with someone of a different race makes that person 'not Christian' sounds far more un-Christian IMHO. Unless, of course, we are to accept that racial bigotry is now an acceptable tenet of Christianity.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous8:15 AM

    Sarah is going to be on Fox in a minute to tell us how she would fix the economy!! LOL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sally in MI12:13 PM

      Let me guess. She'd let those small business owners pay no taxes and drill and run more pipelines and deregulation things and um drill baby and you know with her vast oil experience as the one civilian on the Oil and Gas Commission for a year and Todd worked the slopes until he didn't and gotta get rid of those unions and their demands because we are a good union family and I guess Uma, when we make sure that Obama is fired we can build that city on Reagan's grave because HE, being a TV star and all, he knew how to get people working after he fired the airplane radar guys. The union thugs that tried to ask for breaks and more money. Imagine. If you need money in the US, just start a PAC and pretend to run for office. All the money is yours to spend...and get a few speaking engagements and a reality show, and by gosh, you're ready to be POTUS.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous8:23 AM

    The evil web they weaved!!! No wonder McCain always speaks highly of Palin...once again, she has someone over the barrell!

    The Palins have an ugly way of naming their kids - Tripp and Paxson!!! Fucking amazing!!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous8:35 AM

    Uma said she's in Phoenix Az. Same ugly long helmet wig..

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous8:38 AM

    It's more likely that Bristol would have named her own baby, even though it was handed off to Sarah. It's Bristol's baby because they went to great lengths to pad Bristol up for her public appearance to make it look like she was pregnant at he McCain speeches. Back to basics again. Paxson is probably a coindicence but in any case it's just more speculating that does little good.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well if using the name "Paxson" is just a coincidence, and what a bizarre coincidence it would be, then it is only one of an incredible string of coincidences that surround this family.

      To learn more about that just go to the right side of this blog in the "Important Immoral Minority posts" and click on "The Sarah Palin pregnancy: What are the odds?"

      I think you will agree that NOBODY has that many unrelated coincidences in their life.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous9:21 AM

      Gryph, that child did not have merely one middle name, if my memory serves me correctly: Was there not a "Van" in that long name?
      Not as in Van Halen, but as Van Flein, the attorney retained by the Palins? Just askin'...
      fromthediagonal

      Delete
    3. Two naming coincidences for one little baby? First name: Tri-G just coincidentally is named the medical short-hand for Trisomy-G babies?

      Middle name: Paxson just coincidentally is named after the fundamentalist who employs Vicki Iseman .. who just happens to have been overly involved with John McCain?

      Not to mention all the other coincidences that we were asked to believe about the miracle birth of Tri-G. I think you've got it right, Gryphen. If not, Sarah needs to man-up and explain the coincidences.

      Delete
    4. FUCK YOU MCCAIN!!!!!!10:05 AM

      Re: "Van"...

      Maybe it's where Brisdull conceived him?

      ;)

      Delete
    5. FUCK YOU MCCAIN!!!!!!

      That's funny!

      Delete
    6. Smirnonn5:28 PM

      I heard that "Van" came about because they like the band Van Halen and they figured out after much research that Halen rhymes with Palin.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous8:59 AM

    8:38 There are no coincidences with the Palin and Heath clans. To include naming their kids - Tripp - (remember, Levi caught Todd) after Todd's prostitute (spelled exactly as Shailey's last name - "Boys Will be Boys") and Paxson for the retarded child that appears not to belong to Sarah. They are one weird, weird family!!!

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Anonymous9:37 AM

      Why would you intentionally use the word retarded? That is not the appropriate condition for a DS child.

      The only people that can use retarded are Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin (when referring to her own 'son.')

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:18 AM

      Pretty sick that Sarah refers to her own child in that manner. But, he's supposedly NOT her child! She has no affection for him and it shows whenever she is around him and has since the beginning of her fraud in regard to that poor kid!

      Delete
  18. Anonymous9:02 AM

    She just did an interview with Uma P. from Fox News. I caught the last minute and it Sarah said something like, anything is possible". So, upon hearing that and then reading this post, it throws up the conspiratorial theories of WHO is behind her?

    Why can't she just go into the sunset and be a content mom of her very needy children?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sally in MI12:07 PM

      She was never happy being "mom." She passed her kids off on others or dragged infants around in a wagon to knock on doors. She is the least maternal person I think I have ever seen. A mom doesn't put her needs ahead of her childrens'. Ever.

      Delete
    2. FUCK YOU MCCAIN!!!!!!2:12 PM

      You know what's even WORSE than being a "mom" to our dear, dear Sarah?

      Being called "GRANDMA"!!!

      Think about it.

      Have you EVER heard Sarah say Tripp calls her "Nana" or "Gammie" or "Nana Veep"?

      No. Nothing.

      Gee, it's "almost" like they don't even exist to her.

      Chew on that for awhile, and you *may* start to comprehend how INCREDIBLY self-centered and selfish this person is.

      The *Worst* part about it, though?

      Brisdull will act EXACTLY the same way b/c it was what she was taught.

      She lost out, now Tripp will lose out. You think Brisdull will feel sorry for her son more than herself? Not likely.

      She will twist and turn Tripp's world on a whim, and won't even think twice about the effect on him.

      Delete
  19. Look it up!9:09 AM

    Of course Palin knew - why all the speculation? It was DC gossip for quite awhile.

    This dude started his blog to support Palin as VP in Feb 2007 with any gossip about the twit. By December 2007, he's in deep:

    http://palinforvp.blogspot.com/2007/12/medved-palin-possible-vice-presidential.html

    The Wonkette watching her since Dec 2006 at least. In Jan 2008, the AK Air Feb magazine article about Palin being "The Hottest Gov" sent ripples to those not paying earlier attention.

    The Wonkette weighing in, March 5, 2008: http://wonkette.com/364454/mccain-wont-get-sarah-palin-for-veep-either-shes-pregnant

    SF Gate linked to from Wonkette, Mar 1, 2008:

    http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2008/03/01/whos-sarah-palin-shes-hot-where-hes-not/

    Scratching the surface...it's all out there for the digging - there is no question that she knew. The endless whining about whether she knew or not is getting really tiring.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous9:11 AM

    Who keeps benefiting from keeping Sarah relevant? Today, do each of these campaign employees take inventory on their choice and regret that choice like Steve Schmidt does? They got close and personal to the eyecandy, and they remain so tight-lipped about her constant interference in Republican affairs.

    Are Paxson, Culvahouse, and Davis enjoying her far-right tea-party extremism?

    ReplyDelete
  21. What if $arah hadn't slid the clue in Todd's inconvenient baby-momma's baby's name?

    ($arah looked at it as a tribute - not as a clue haha)

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous9:17 AM

    Seems Mr Schmidt has trouble moving on with the rest of the world. The country's got more pressing things to worry about, like how the democrats still heavily control the media and people are still stupid when it comes to this administration. NO ONE even thinks about 2008 anymore except to say there were no good choices then and no good choices now for President.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Anonymous9:53 AM

      ROFL!! You are really off if you think the Democrats run the media. Really off. Very sad.

      Delete
    2. FUCK YOU MCCAIN!!!!!!10:03 AM

      @9:17-

      roll on, troll.

      Delete
    3. WakeUpAmerica10:05 AM

      Wrong on all accounts as usual, Krazy Kristy the Palin Stalker. Murdoch owns the largest news media conglomerate IN THE WORLD. Is he a democrat? Uh, NO! So how does it work that the media has a liberal bias when most of the media is owned by rat bastard Murdoch? You're such a fool. Worst of all, you're a blind, sanctimonious fool.

      Delete
    4. "NO ONE" blah blah blah...

      "NO ONE", meaning you, just you, one person.
      One very stupid person.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:34 AM

      Anon @ 9:17

      You are one of those jerks that keep saying don't look back when you've made a mess aren't you? Yet you try to 'recapture' that Reagan glory of being an exceptional nation as a shiny city on the hill also there?

      Delete
    6. Sally in MI12:05 PM

      If "Democrats control the media" why are there more positive stories about the serial liar Romney than about the President? And if we controlled the media, Sarah would never be behind a microphone reading a script.

      Delete
  23. Anonymous9:19 AM

    The story back in 2008 was that she named Trig "Van Paxson" that way because she wanted it to sound like "Van Halen", her favorite band. That sounds like a sorry excuse; why not just name his middle name, "Van Halen"?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. FUCK YOU MCCAIN!!!!!!10:02 AM

      No.

      It was "Van Palin", like "Van Halen".

      Delete
    2. Anonymous6:33 AM

      It also features the initials VP. Although the child's full initials are TPVP they only used VP in the Van Halen style on the (adorable) birth announcement photo. VP STANDS FOR SOMETHING.

      Delete
  24. Anonymous9:20 AM

    I think that that Vegas guy, I think is name is Adelson who backed Newt, is the one that is backing Palin now. He probably is he one pushing for her to go to that rented space in Tampa during the RNC. Surely to God, Palin has no chance of being the nominee but then I guess anything is possible...

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous9:22 AM

    Palin on FOX spilling her crap today...

    http://www.therightscoop.com/sarah-palin-slams-obama-private-sector-doing-fine-remark-absolutely-out-of-whack-and-out-of-touch/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:03 AM

      Hahahaha! Shhhhhh....no one tell the Queen that her new glasses make her look like she has a UNIBROW! Plus it accentuates her crossed eyes. Fugly, fugle , fugly!

      Delete
    2. FUCK YOU MCCAIN!!!!!!10:12 AM

      Disgusting Pig.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:04 AM

      She's the Fox rabid attack dog on the President and nothing else. She keeps their racist viewers happy. She changed her glasses in the hopes of looking scholarly, which she isn't. Once she opens her mouth and speaks you know how whacked and out of touch with reality SHE is.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous6:39 AM

      Why would an Evangelical Christian have amneosyntesis to find out if there are genetic birth defects like Down Syndrome? She WOULDN'T, asiIt's dangerous to the fetus. Evangelical Christians think amneo is wrong - they trust God. I think the baby was already BORN when Sarah announced that she was pregnant and THAT is how they knew he had DS. Amneosyntesis doesn't make any sense.

      Delete
  26. Anonymous9:33 AM

    I have no doubt that Sarah was certain she could get the Establishment's attention, especially after she conjured up a 7 month pregnancy with a DS child.

    The woman could have pulled out of the 2008 plummet, sure she got rich, but she's didn't recognize or appreciate her deficiencies and work on it to gain the public trust and respect for personal and professional growth out of the whole backasswards gain.

    “I’ve watched her on the public stage over the past four years. There has been zero effort — zero — to improve any of her obvious deficiencies.”

    But as a saber rattler, you don't have to put any work into that. You just Google a topic or ask your idiot kids or husband before your paid appearance on a home studio feed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:13 AM

      she still does that - she asked Track about the StatUTE of Liberty - she asked Willow about Syria.... Willow explained that she knows nothing.

      Delete
    2. FUCK YOU MCCAIN!!!!!!2:21 PM

      There WILL be a STATUTE of LIBERTY

      IF the Rethuglicans win!


      Buh-bye Freedom!

      Delete
  27. Anonymous9:35 AM

    If Sarah could tear herself away from smoke blowing enema's everyday in the form of prayer chain emails, she'd probably be a little upset that the rest of the country still thinks she's not good enough for the national stage.

    But she's rich and has little responsibilities - no accountability, so she's nicely ensconced in that Fox Bubble that makes her think she's still a rock star.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. WakeUpAmerica10:07 AM

      Well said. I can't a single word to that.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:00 AM

      Thank you WakeUpAmerica, that's quiet a compliment coming from you!

      Delete
  28. Anonymous9:54 AM

    I have no respect for Schmidt or the woman who worked with him, Nicole someone. They knowingly put this country at risk of having a mentally deficient VP one heartbeat from the WH. Surely they knew McCain was not presidential material, either. He is hot headed, warmongering, confused and lying still about her being a good choice for VP. I think the repubs. let him run knowing he would not win. They wanted a democratic president in office to try to clean up the mess left by the Cheney/W administration. Then they could rely on voters being distracted, and blame the mess on President Obama. Romney is no prize, either. Dressing in a State trooper uniform, and flagging down drivers is a felony. Didn't some serial killers do that? Romney is a strange, strange robot looking person.
    WH.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:45 AM

      Astute observation. I wondered why Obama wanted to inherit this mess, lord knew what he'd be up against for 4 miserable and obstructionist years.

      He's still rising like a Phoenix from the ashes. But why would he want four more years of this?

      Delete
    2. Sally in MI12:01 PM

      I think he is hopeful that after the past two years of the GOP trying to turn the clock back a century, that we will help him get a true majority in the Senate and the House back. THEN we can start to move this nation forward and not back into some iteration of a fascist Christian state run by the few at the expense of the rest of us. Exceptional? We can be under progressives; we will never be more than third world under the current right wing fanatics.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:05 PM

      Because. Obama. Is. Not. A. QUITTER!

      Delete
  29. Schmidt should not feel so bad about this because even experts on psychopaths can be fooled by them. Over a period of time they figure it out, but it takes time to understand what is going on. If you don’t understand what they are they there is a period of severe confusion while you try to figure out what the hell is going on. Often much damage has been done before this happens. A psychopath establishes one on one relationships with huge amounts of people which is why they affect so many negatively. Almost all of their energy is concentrated into this which is why they don’t do the work they are supposed to do. They are able to asses each person to determine what persona they should present to that person, know what to say to get them to like them, they evaluate if that person is valuable to them and can be used for their purposes, then they gather information from them, pass false information to them, tell them things to harm others, and use them in many ways. They have no conscience, so leaving destroyed people in their wake does not bother them. That is what a psychopath constantly thinks about other than what their goals are which can be money, power and sex. It’s all about getting what they want at any cost to others. They will even take extreme risks to achieve these goals. Even people who are very intelligent are easily fooled by them. In the case of Sarah Palin who I feel is the most obvious psychopath on the planet she fooled most of the population of Alaska. Why? She has a co-psychopath who works with her to plot, plan, manipulate, harm, design her persona, fix situations to change public perception and blackmail to get what they both want. Then on top of this other psychopath types who have lots of power are behind her all over the country because they too can use her persona to control people. If people who were fooled and used by her and Todd, including those in the militia or Alaska agencies (especially law enforcement) would come forward and tell their stories they would be doing a huge service to their country.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:51 AM

      That is a very good and correct description of how a psychopath operates.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:26 PM

      Go Celia. You are right on, as usual.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous1:56 PM

      Don't you get it? Schmidt didn't give the teeniest tiniest SHIT whether Palin was a psychopath or not - not until she became such a public embarrassment to McCain - and to himself - that the coast was clear for Schmidt (and also for Nicole Wallace, who now had a novel based on Palin to sell!) to throw her sorry ass under the bus.

      Only when the consequences of continuing to pretend Palin was a viable candidate were outweighed by (non-Pbot) public consensus on her deficiencies did Schmidt and Wallace start badmouthing her.

      If they could have disguised her craziness and gotten her elected VP, they NEVER would have come clean.

      Schmidt would have been more than happy then to keep his mouth shut about Scary Palin's proximity to the oval office.

      Schmidt is a liar and a hypocrite of the first magnitude. Wallace is no better. They are whores, not idealists, who are now trying to salvage what's left of their reputations.

      Too late, as far as I'm concerned. I have nothing but the utmost contempt for them both.

      Delete
    4. nswfm3:00 PM

      Celia, I knew she was a fucking liar the first time I saw her on TV at the Dayton OH announcement.

      I KNEW SHE WAS A FUCKING LIAR THE FIRST TIME I HEARD HER INTRODUCING HER FAMILY.

      Thanks to ThatAssholeMcCain, everyone else knows it, too. And also.

      Delete
    5. Smirnonn5:32 PM

      Spot on, Celia. I had a business relationship with a psychopath and that's EXACTLY how it went down. I was confused, started seeing fucked up patterns and eventually got hosed for tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. I've went with my gut feelings ever since and have done very well.

      Delete
  30. Anonymous10:09 AM

    Gryphen....I've been reading your blog since its birth. If EVER there was a time for the mainstream media to start paying attention to what you've written, it's NOW. Your past few posts, including this one, have been superb. You remind me of a young Bob Woodward or Carl Bernstein, and no, I'm not being sarcastic. Sarah Palin has a devious past. Every day I wake up wishing to turn on the national news and see her face splashed across the screen with handcuffs on. Her "fans" can rant and rave until the cows come home that their gal has been maligned and smeared, but she's as dirty as they come in politics, and the hard work you've put into exposing her slimy ways WILL pay off...soon.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:39 AM

      Me too! Thank you Gryph.

      Delete
    2. Smirnonn5:33 PM

      Amen! Gryphen does a superlative job of keeping the wigged harridan's exploits front and center :)

      Delete
  31. Anonymous10:22 AM

    Convenient that there's a Paxson, AK to provide an alternate explanation for Trig's middle name. It doesn't erase the strange coincidence that someone who shares his name is an evangelical christian who was in a position to cause big trouble for McCain.

    Still, wish there was a way to know if Bristol and Levi ever went camping in Paxson or if Todd and Sarah ever spent a rare romantic night there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:57 AM

      It's about as plausible as the mediocre high school basketball point guard who couldn't even earn a scholarship on her talents with any of her five colleges becoming a 'sportscaster' for a minute and saying she named their oldest daughter after the town where ESPN is headquartered, instead of the huge pristine region her husband hails from.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:59 AM

      .... Todd and Sarah ever spent a rare romantic night there


      I won't be surprised if soon we hear of a homespun story about why the coinkydink Palins are so fond of Paxson, Ak.

      Delete
  32. Look it up!10:29 AM

    October 2007, interview w/ Palin over the rumors about Giuliani picking her as VP:

    http://monocle.com/sections/affairs/Magazine-Articles/Not-for-hire---Alaska/

    Subscription only, but some excerpts here:

    http://observer.com/2008/08/2007-sarah-palin-on-being-rudys-vp/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:39 AM

      Fascinating. Get a load of this:
      M: This is a very male state. Have you been a victim of sexism in your public career and in that regard, have your good looks and beauty-queen past hindered you?

      SP: If I have, I am totally oblivious to it. I haven’t let it be an issue because it’s just so passé, so 20 years ago to me.

      A few months later her excuse for keeping the 'pregnancy' a secret was to avoid sexist criticism from Neanderthals. Sheesh!

      Delete
  33. Look it up!10:31 AM

    Aug 2007, lots of speculation!

    http://blogcritics.org/politics/article/could-alaskas-hottie-governor-be-the/

    She was carefully building her fake profile for a very long time...all the Repub party had to do was grab what was already out there in lies.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Look it up!10:33 AM

    Even Ron Paul should pick her, Sept 2007

    http://www.dailypaul.com/2317/sarah-palin-would-be-best-vp-for-ron-paul

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. nswfm3:05 PM

      Ron Paul's son Rand just endorsed R-Money instead of his dad. Nice kid, there. His father must be proud....
      /sarcasm all the way around

      Delete
  35. Look it up!10:35 AM

    June 2007, cruise to Juneau to check out the Gov

    http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2008/10/10/palins-talent-scout.html

    "In June 2007, a cruise hosted by the political journal The Weekly Standard set anchor in Juneau, Alaska. Standard editors William Kristol and Fred Barnes then lunched with Governor Sarah Palin. It was a moment of discovery to equal Hernando Cortez’s landing at Veracruz.

    The Daily Telegraph’s Tim Shipman saw this encounter as the launch of a Neoconservative project surrounding Palin. He interviewed a former Republican White House official now at the American Enterprise Institute about Palin:

    “She’s bright and she’s a blank page. She’s going places and it’s worth going there with her.” Asked if he sees her as a “project,” the former official said: “Your word, not mine, but I wouldn’t disagree with the sentiment.

    Kristol appeared on Fox News on June 30, 2008, confidently predicting that McCain would select Sarah Palin and as a public display of support, oil prices would miraculously fall."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous4:34 PM

      "She's a blank page." Ain't it they truth.

      Delete
  36. Anonymous10:49 AM

    Given that McCain is always singing Sarah's praises, there may be a connection with this post. In Game Change, there is the scene where McCain refuses to intervene when Palin is having a meltdown by stating, "I can't talk to her; she'll turn on me!" If Paxson supports Palin and Palin was aware of McCain's affair with Paxson's lobbyist, she could damage McCain as much as Edward's was damaged by his affair. If McCain ever decides to tell the truth about Palin, she will blow him out of the water!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:26 PM

      There were many lines in Game Change that addressed the truth in an oblique way, and this was one of them.

      "She might turn on me!" Why would Senator McCain have anything to fear from Sarah Palin?

      I have assumed that McCain's subsequent fawning over Mrs. Palin was to protect the shreds of his "reputation." I believe that McCain is covering up any investigation of the Palins for this reason.

      However, if there was/is blackmail involved, I would not be surprised. I think we need to know more about the Palin-McCain connection. There's more to Game Change and I hope it comes out - soon.

      Delete
    2. nswfm3:09 PM

      lotsa stories on that from googling
      Paxson's lobbyist vicky iseman

      you get all of this:
      http://www.google.com/search?q=Paxson%27s+lobbyist&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=rcs#hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=VGB&rls=org.mozilla:en-US%3Aofficial&channel=rcs&sclient=psy-ab&q=Paxson%27s+lobbyist+vicky+iseman&oq=Paxson%27s+lobbyist+vicky+iseman&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_l=serp.3...3713.9767.0.10129.17.15.2.0.0.0.254.2559.0j13j2.15.0...0.0.3fMg1TzU__Q&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&fp=67057f9a511676f0&biw=1024&bih=608

      Delete
  37. Look it up!10:53 AM

    Fluff interview w/ Palin Oct 2007.

    http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/8736

    At 16:27, she says the Healthcare issue is HUGE, and what Alaska has done is to create a workforce to cherry pick and "plug in those successes" to the Alaska system. Word salad at its worst.

    Host asks Napolitano about her ambition at around 14:02, and if Palin were smart she would have taken Janet's advice.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Anonymous11:00 AM

    Lego hair with another new crazy flat wig and shabby ill fit blouse this morning:
    http://www.mediaite.com/tv/sarah-palin-absolutely-out-of-whack-for-obama-to-say-private-sector-is-doing-fine/

    Uma expression is priceless- what nonsense are u talking bitch look.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:18 PM

      As always, Palin Projections. You can count on her for that.

      Delete
  39. Anonymous11:08 AM

    Gryph -- please repeat your comment a while back about "Trig being Tripp before he was Trig" or the other way around. Which was it ? Thanks. Great post !

    ReplyDelete
  40. Anonymous11:18 AM

    Anyone think Sarah may have blackmailed Paxson that she was pregnant with his child?

    She prob was hoping to 'miscarry', but the time line didn't work in her favor so she had to come up with a delivery (the wild ride) & a child (only one available to her was a DS child. Perhaps that babies' parents considered him, shamefully, as a 'throw away' child.

    Or, because Sarah had to make good her blackmail to Paxson (or other men - who knows?) she took Bristol's baby from her & claimed him as her own. Whether to make good on her blackmail, or make good her credibility to them & those around them.

    I'm just speculating here, but anything is possible. Sarah is an opportunist, plays dirty & plays for keeps.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Anonymous11:18 AM

    LOL

    Who Failed Upwards Better: Sarah Palin or Steve Schmidt?

    http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/06/who-failed-upwards-better-sarah-palin-or-steve-schmidt/53353/

    Post-2008 style update: Palin is still wearing her signature bangs and glasses. But she's developed an unsettling taste for art teacher-style enormous earrings, as seen above.

    reatment in film: Not so nice. She was portrayed as an empty-headed crazy person in Game Change and many, many, many other times on TV.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Anonymous11:20 AM

    I'm still curious about Glen Rice being Willow's father. I do see a resemblance and she has darker features and looks more "ethnic" than the other kids. Sarah named her eldest son "Track" and she and Curt Menard Jr. (his likely father) bonded big over running in TRACK meets, the Trig and Paxson "coincidences" mentioned above. There is a Willow, AK and obviously a Bristol Bay, AK, but I can't help wondering how "Willow" is a clue to a Glen Rice as the baby daddy scenario. The dad is tall?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:53 AM

      I wonder if Todd is sterile and cannot have children. Maybe none of these kids are his.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:54 PM

      Sometimes I think trolls are posting stupid shit so people will discredit this blog.If Glen Rice was Willows father it would be an unusually long pregnancy marked by other births inbetween.Unless you have some evidence of Palin and Rice being together during her housewife years.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous1:43 PM

      According to Todd's former prostitute, Shailey Tripp said that Todd's pea shooter is only 4 inches. That could be the problem?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous4:27 PM

      Anonymous11:20 AM

      Glen Rice had sex with Wonkey Eye before she had to marry Toad. So I don't think that she carried his seed through the births of Track, then Bristol to at long last give birth to Willow.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous7:41 PM

      Are you fucking serious? Or are you Nyah? This is the kind of sick, asinine crap she posts.

      Agree with 12:54.

      Delete
  43. Anonymous11:44 AM

    Steve Schmidt and company know a lot more than they are telling. I want to know the rest of the story. Did John McCain have to sign a non-disclosure agreement for the Palins too?

    ReplyDelete
  44. Anonymous11:58 AM

    A slightly different interpretation, G. When Schmidt says "had events turned out the other way, this person would have been in national command authority? I am sick about it." --Your next sentence implies that Schmidt is talking about SP being VP.

    I read between the lines differently: I think "national command authority" refers to the POTUS, and I think this is just another teeny tiny clue (or Freudian slip) that Schmidt knows the whole story. Re who sponsored SP, who forced her upon the campaign, the idea that, upon victory, the food taster would take an unfortunate day off -- all of it. Does Schmidt have carefully created credible deniability? Of course he does -- a way better version than you or I could create, because he is so smart and able and savvy, and right in the thick of things (and I mean his network, not so much the McCain campaign).

    As someone who reads and talks to his network, Schmidt surely knew (well before the official picking of SP) way more than we know now. He made a deal with the devil, and he is now crafting a way to continue living.

    And a way to write his book.

    ReplyDelete
  45. Anonymous12:27 PM

    I sincerely hope he writes a book about his experience w/McCain and Palin - it'll be a best seller and I'll be one that would purchase it immediately!

    He might wait to pen it until he retires, but eventually all the crud will come out about Sarah and Todd Palin!

    And, McCain would more than likely be dead by then!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous1:32 PM

      Schmidt retires, McCain has passed on, both Sarah and Todd are in prison.... what's left to tell?

      I think Schmidt already has a draft of his book and will publish it if and only if Sarah becomes a serious threat to the politics of our nation - as an elected official not a Faux pundant (sic).

      Delete
  46. Anonymous12:28 PM

    What happened to "Fred's" babygate book?

    ReplyDelete
  47. I've never believed that the idea of Palin faking the birth of a DS child would cement her with the evangelical base as there were much easier ways to bluff one's religious creds with that group. It's more logical that just as she thought her selection as VP candidate just might materialize, Todd came home and announced he had a small 'problem'. A problem that couldn't be as easily explained away or forgiven as an underage, unwed daughter gone rogue. Van Dillingham just wouldn't carry the same political cachet as Van Paxson with the dominionists.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Respectfully disagree. You can even go back to 2008 when people countered a list of Palin's many deficits with "...but she CHOSE to have 'that little Down's baby...'"

      It doesn't make sense at all, but there are thousands and thousands of people who think since Sarah "walked the walk" where being prolife was concerned, she is not only good enough for them, but they believe she's the BEST for everyone!


      I really thought once weeks and then months and the a YEAR went by without Sarah and Trig being seen together, people would get it. But nope, she's still their "choose life" princess on a wobbly throne built entirely upon lies and manufactured images.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous3:16 PM

      The DS baby wouldn't be necessary to secure her place with the Evangelicals...but it gave her a hook that made her more appealing to the McCain people. It gave her what they call a "personal narrative" that they thought they could use to sell her -- and McCain to women. Plus the baby emphasized her youth and vitality, which they thought they needed to counter Obama. I think that's stupid though. Her presence on the ticket just made McCain look OLDER. In hindsight, they should have gone with Lieberman and tried to play down the middle.

      If anything McCain's selection of Palin just proves that he would make a terrible president -- when push came to shove he didn't go with his instincts and let other people tell him what to do, exactly NOT what you want a leader to do. Compare that to Obama, who was getting pressure to pick Hillary as his running mate...he didn't think it was a good idea so he went with Joe. Joe came with his own headaches but, in the end, he proved to be more of an asset than not. If Hillary were the VEEP candidate, Bill would have been a distraction.

      Also, the whole story of McCain's selection of Palin just goes to prove that he's not the Maverick that he pretends to be. There's a giant marketing machine behind him that has led to his portrayal as such. He wants us to think that he's the straight-talking non-politician...but he's a lying cheat who cares only about John McCain. I lost every iota of respect I ever had for him.

      Delete
  48. Anonymous12:49 PM

    The Pee'ers have descended upon Mediate..go have some fun!!
    http://www.mediaite.com/tv/sarah-palin-absolutely-out-of-whack-for-obama-to-say-private-sector-is-doing-fine/

    ReplyDelete
  49. Not being from Alaska:

    I always thought it started with the luncheon Sarah held for Bill Kristol & friends when they were on their think-tank cruise in Alaska.

    http://firedoglake.com/2008/10/19/how-sarah-seduced-bill-kristol-the-gop-commentariat/

    I also thought Sarah's rise in the state was when she was on that energy committee (forget the name) - and while on this committee, she got wind that the FBI were honing in on the Bastard's Club, so being the opportunist that she is, she took some credit for 'taking them on'.

    Back to Bill Kristol & friends, I don't doubt that they liked what they saw during that luncheon - and what did they see? They saw a woman who could win the women & woo the men & charm the Christians for all their votes.

    But what they all saw was an ignorant idiot. A hungry ignorant idiot. But one they thought they could ply & manipulate. She was going to be the 'front' person while those in shadows ran the gov't their way.

    But Sarah wasn't that sweet pliable ignorant idiot, she had a mind of her own, & no one was/is going to tell her what to do. She proved to be too difficult. I would bet my bottom dollar that in all of Schmidt's regrets, this is something he will never admit to. None of them will. How can you publicly admit you & the 'Powers That Be' had plans on controlling an Ignorant Idiot VP, one who could (easily) become the POTUS?

    To add credibility to this thought, remember Grover Norquist saying this recently about Mitt Romney:

    Read this scary excerpt:

    They have reconciled themselves to a Romney candidacy because they see Romney as essentially a weak and passive president who will concede leadership to congressional conservatives:

    All we have to do is replace Obama. ... We are not auditioning for fearless leader. We don't need a president to tell us in what direction to go. We know what direction to go. We want the Ryan budget. ... We just need a president to sign this stuff. We don't need someone to think it up or design it. The leadership now for the modern conservative movement for the next 20 years will be coming out of the House and the Senate.

    The requirement for president?

    Pick a Republican with enough working digits to handle a pen to become president of the United States. This is a change for Republicans: the House and Senate doing the work with the president signing bills. His job is to be captain of the team, to sign the legislation that has already been prepared.

    http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/02/13/grover-norquist-speech-cpac.html

    I believe Bush* was a 'front', too, something to think about, the Neo-Cons had GW Bush - who was effectively led by Dick Cheney & his trusty in-house counsel David Addington - a dangerous combination, if you ask me. Addington was, along with Cheney, quite the bully. All intelligence brought into the WH for Bush, was first given to the VP's office.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous4:42 PM

      Thank you for posting that quote. It exactly fits the "puppet president" concept that fits with a McCain/Palin presidency that turns into a Palin presidency whenever convenient for the puppet masters.

      And if someone doesn't believe in the puppet-presidency concept, I give you exhibit A: GWBush. Exhibit B is the otherwise puzzling array of klown kar kandidates, incl Mitt.

      Delete
  50. I want to have empathy for Steve. Truly. I believe he honestly regrets the tsunami of hate, divisiveness, and downright stupidity which he in large part unleashed on this nation.

    However, there is NO WAY he is unaware of the truth surrounding Trig's birth- or rather, there's no way he is unaware of the fact that Sarah did NOT give birth to him.

    Until he is willing to stick a knife in the last breath of Sarah's "credibility" (he cache with the right to life crowd), I do not believe he is 100% sincere.

    Walk the walk, Schmitty. You'll sleep easier, breathe easier, and people will buy you beers EVERYWHERE you go. If you broke Sarah's fake pregnancy story, I would buy you a beer at a FUNERAL.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous4:46 PM

      Yeah, but if Schmidt came 100% clean, the same people who brought us Palin (who are enforcing the MSM blackout and preventing any review of the gazillion PalinGates, incl the prostitution) would deprive him of his livelihood or his life. I think a carefully selected 80% is the best we could hope for.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous7:47 PM

      Oh please. If Schmidt gave two craps about unleashing a tsunami of hate, etc., on the nation, he would NOT be a Republican operative in the first place.

      Delete
  51. Anonymous1:10 PM

    Some on this blog have indicated Palin was put on McCain's ticket w/o his approval, which I find hard to believe. Know he wanted Lieberman, his old friend, but I think he was talked out of him due to his stand on abortion.

    Can you imagine Mitt Romney or President Obama being TOLD who would be on the ticket w/them? I'd think suggestions would be made - 'proper' vetting done w/possibilites. Wouldn't you then think, the presidential candidate would then make the selection after interviewing and getting to know the suggested ones for VP?

    ReplyDelete
  52. Anonymous1:14 PM

    One of Steve Schmidt's strengths has been to develop really well-crafted talking points and sticking to them in the various interviews. We are seeing an evolution in those talking points toward more regret, more sense of responsibility -- all good for his resurrection.

    Let us not think that this is some spontaneous confession to the NYT reporter. Schmidt is a master at planning, simplifying talking points, getting them out there, sticking to them, in order to get to a goal. He said in an earlier interview that he would write more about the 2008, and I see this interview as one more step in setting the stage (in terms of info he has released) for that book. I assume a book. A book that tells enough to sell a lot and look like a tell-all, but one that does not actually tell all. Not so much that it pisses off the folks who are in charge.

    I think when we say "Paxson," we should think not so much about that individual as who he represented. Sure, it could have been the real-life Paxson who interacted with SP. But we can see by looking back that Paxson is part of a team. A team so powerful that it could put a blackout on MSM reporting of Palin's scandals as early as Aug 2008 (when the ADN article on the Baby Hoax was suppressed) until the present. A team that could do a $7M cash transfer right in plain sight to Palin (called a book advance). A team that can keep Todd's name out of the prostitution business. A team that prevents any indictments or even investigation of the MANY PalinGates.

    My position is that it is not necessary, any more, for us to noodle the details of the Baby Hoax -- only to point to the impossibility of the pregnancy as stated, an impossibility documented by unimpeachable photos of a flat-profile SP at 5 (and fewer) weeks before the "delivery."

    Similarly, when we think of the grooming and coaching and enabling of SP's political rise (esp the part in the years before the VP pick), we must surely recognize that there is a web of highly placed, enormously wealthy people who were part of it. Will we ever see proof? They certainly hope not. Does Schmidt know who they are and what they did? I vote yes, absolutely. Will he tell all? Of course not. He would be destroyed if he did.

    In this NYT interview, Schmidt volunteers the info that he will "probably vote for Romney": that is pretty interesting. It says that he is still playing ball with the Repubs. If that continues, he surely will not tell all. But the "probably" is interesting, too.

    So how can a man as intelligent as Schmidt vote Repub, for Romney, after all we know? I can't understand that at all, unless there is something powerfully in it that benefits Schmidt.

    How Schmidt's role plays out will tell us a lot, those of us who have been following the clues and have a good idea of the putrid reality behind it all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous4:07 PM

      Paxson"s jet was also used to secretly transport Saudi royalty out of Las Vegas in the aftermath of 9/11, when no other planes were being allowed to fly.

      Jack Abramoff's jet was also used, as well as several jets thought to belong to the CIA.

      Paxson plays with dangerous and powerful groups and individuals.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous7:13 PM

      Yes, exactamundo! (We weren't supposed to know that.)

      Delete
  53. Anonymous1:33 PM

    Diz -- I too cannot bring myself to believe that the fake pregnancy was solely for aligning with anti-choice folks.

    We have proposed many scenarios of what the problem that Palin sought to cover up might have been. Teen pregnancy, conception during substance abuse, a FAS baby, incest, pederasty, disgusting circumstances created by some member of the extended family, something else, or any combination: I bet we will never know.

    But SP knew she had a problem that she concluded was best covered up by her fake DS pregnancy ASAP after the McCain pick. This fake pregnancy was SP's solution to whatever the problem was. An example of "when you have a lemon, make lemonade."

    The details of that are no longer as interesting to me as the FACT that she faked the pregnancy, hoaxed a nation, took advantage of a disabled child for political gain, was enabled in this by GOP VIPs -- and no one in the MSM will address it.

    ReplyDelete
  54. Gasman2:18 PM

    Screw Schmidt. He is STILL pulling his punches regarding Palin. When he comes out and says, "Sarah Palin is a simpering moron with less brains than a bucket of shit," THEN I will be able to respect him.

    A. B. Culvahouse’s claim that the background check on Ms. Palin was “no less rigorous” than the investigation of other candidates simply defies credulity. In virtually every instance that Sarah Palin has opened her mouth since the 2008 election she has confirmed that she is a simpering ignoramus. She has made it abundantly clear that she is a moron who lacks any command of the most basic of facts. Anybody with a functioning prefrontal cortex understands that and is horrified at even the suggestion that Sarah Palin could ever be President of the United States. To assert otherwise is an insult to all sentient beings.

    So, Culvahouse is either too stupid to recognize Palin’s rather obvious cognitive deficits, was too lazy to actually do his job, or Palin had already been anointed by prominent conservatives as the VP pick regardless of her profound shortcomings. The same criticisms hold true for Schmidt.

    I feel not the slightest bit of sympathy for Schmidt. He was also more than willing to put a buffoon like Palin a mere 72 year old cancer survior’s heartbeat away from the presidency all for the sake of winning an election. By tempering his criticism of Palin, he is STILL placing concern over his political consulting career ahead of that of his country.

    Schmidt deserves the opprobrium of his fellow citizens. It was well earned.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous5:09 PM

      I agree. There simply is no way either of them could have spent any length of time with Sarah Palin and not realized that she is woefully uneducated and completely phony even before that "rigorous" vetting. I have no sympathy for Schmidt either. Whatever it is that he is doing now, he's only "sorry" enough to further his own career.

      Bill Kristol was easy for Sarah to fool - Schmidt and the others knew exactly what was going on.

      Delete
    2. Gasman9:44 AM

      Bill Kristol's opinion of Sarah Palin was entirely controlled by wee billy. Palin made wee billy stand up at attention and Bill simply was smitten like a stag following a doe in heat. Kristol's backing of Palin was because she delivered him cords and cords of good wood and he fantasized about tearing into her sweater and dislodging the fake tits right before he rode her into the sunset.

      Actually, I think a similar condition afflicted most of the GOP men that seemed to swoon whenever Palin was around. She'd tighten up her sweater, inflate the fake tits and do her winkin', flirtin', and fancy pageant walkin' routine and they'd all wet themselves.

      Except now the former sex kitten is starting to look mighty worn, creased, and haggard. Palin looks like she's been rode hard and put up wet.

      I guess being a lying, narcissistic, vindictive, ignorant bitch will do that to ya' after you hit 55.

      Delete
  55. "How does that make him (Schmidt) feel? “Terrible, terrible, terrible,” he said. “I have a level of regret that is hard to put into words. The notion that I would be a participant in a decision that, had events turned out the other way, this person would have been in national command authority? I am sick about it.”

    Fortunate for the country that McCain lost and Sarah isn't anywhere near the WH and a "position of national command authority". Too bad that ever since she was picked by the campaign, she's been given a national stage that ultimately caused tragedy. One thing that Steve Schmidt and no one else connected with the McCain campaign ever talks about is the Gabby Giffords shooting. Had Sarah Palin remained in Alaska, there would be six innocent people still alive including a little girl.

    Every one who participated in elevating that ignorant, stupid, immoral, vicious, lying woman shares in the guilt. Steve Schmidt seems to be the only person who continues to have sincere remorse about bringing her forward - at least the only one with courage enough to speak out. I, for one, am glad that he still gives interviews about the campaign and doesn't pretend that Sarah was a normal person, qualified to be vp.

    Sarah has said that Game Change was all lies but I don't remember that she's ever had the guts to specifically call Steve Schmidt or Nicole Wallace liars.

    ReplyDelete
  56. Anonymous3:43 PM

    By 2008, Sarah already had some abortion problems with the Fundies --her previous "white-outs" on her own medical records after "miscarriages," and she was perceived by many Fundies as leaning pro-choice in a few of her early political decisions.

    Palin had actually been defeated in one of her early political races because she wasn't thought to be "pro-life" enough.

    The DS "pregnancy" and baby was a political necessity for her to burnish her cred with a dubious and suspicious Fundie base. The Neocons who vetted her and those Fundies who were grooming her for VP all knew this, and it is likely that they laid the groundwork for the hoax and supplied the baby.

    Palin, despite all her Dominionist affiliations, still needed to do something VERY dramatically and personally "pro-life" to overcome her image with the hardcore of the Fundie base. Do a Google search on Palin and abortion for evidence of the Fundie distrust of Palin, before she acquired Trig. It is easily found.

    Sarah's "carrying" Tri-G (as opposed to aborting him) was then proclaimed by the right wing press as the most important fact about Palin and THE reason to vote for her. And this happened immediately after she was first introduced to the nation, as if this statement was a long-agreed-upon MAJOR talking point. And it almost worked.

    Tri-G Paxson Van Palin is not related to the Palins and was supplied to them, most likely from some Fundie anti-abortion foundling operation. The whole hoax was purely political in its motivation.

    ReplyDelete
  57. IM Super Fan From Atlanta4:27 PM

    Has anyone noticed that during this interview, Palin seems like she can't move her neck? This was really painful to watch don't you think?

    http://www.mediaite.com/tv/sarah-palin-absolutely-out-of-whack-for-obama-to-say-private-sector-is-doing-fine/

    ReplyDelete
  58. Anonymous4:46 PM

    Someone mentioned that her speech is like that of her forefather, Joe Vogler, of AIP fame. He had a radio show or was on often. Does anyone else know more about their speech? Is it regional?

    ReplyDelete
  59. Anonymous5:07 PM

    I am not swayed by Schimdt and Wallace coming somewhat around. It is better than nothing but not enough for redemption or to be truly in the good graces of the public. He may go on and write the book later. So what? Although she is damaged, she still goes on and on causing great destruction. I am not impressed that Schimdt is a social gadfly with a make over.

    No Republican is going to give a damn about the child they use, Trig. It is all about saving face, protecting McCain, the party, Palin anything but the well being of a child. Trig would be much better off if the truth comes out, it is his only chance. There is talk that he is with his real family now, may be he only does photo ops for the Palins. Whatever, it is not best for anyone to live a lie. Why Repulicans wish that on an innocent child is hard to understand. They have not a shred of decency.

    Schimdt clearly disregards the Johnstons and what went down with them. He is like the guy who drives his friend to the store. Didn't know right away it was for a theft. When the murders are solved, the driver goes to jail for life. It doesn't matter how sorry he is.

    In reality Schimdt continues to cover up. Like in Nixon's day, it's not the crime it's the cover up.

    ReplyDelete
  60. Anonymous6:12 PM

    Gryph, your Very Important Post yesterday is the only one that begins to make sense of the Palin Teflon Coating®. Having been skeptical of a connection between Trig’s middle name and wealthy Fundamentalist Paxson, I’ve got to admit serious rethinking is in order . . . . no one with the intellectual deficiencies consistently and predictably exhibited by Palin (and kin) could get away with so much for so long, and with such arrogance, unless something were behind it all. Commenters have suggested Palins are informants, but your theory is more plausible to me.

    One more thing, despite their stance on sex (basically it’s bad) a sexy aspect seems of paramount importance to Evangelicals. Their TV women generally wear heavy cosmetics, sexy hair, stilettos, and show cleavage, obviously trying to look ‘hot’. Sarah Palin would’ve fit the bill perfectly in this regard. The right tool for the job . . .

    ReplyDelete
  61. Anonymous6:20 PM

    "The scandal breaking about McCain being in bed with a lobbyist should not degenerate into a sex scandal. It's a scandal about McCain's long and disgraceful career as a well-paid shill for the corporate interests he claims to be free of. The whore in tonight's long-overdue scandal is not the female lobbyist Vicki Iseman. The whore is the corrupt senator from Arizona, John McCain."
    http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2008/02/if-you-suspected-mccain-has-been.html

    ReplyDelete
  62. Anonymous7:31 PM

    Politico Mike Allen blog on 09-03-08:

    "Senior adviser Steve Schmidt gave Politico a statement saying the campaign will have no more comment about the vetting process, which was the subject of more critical coverage in Wednesday morning’s papers:

    "Gov. Sarah Palin is an exceptional governor with a record of accomplishment that exceeds, by far, the governing accomplishments of Sen. Obama. Her selection came after a six-month long rigorous vetting process where her extraordinary credentials and exceptionalism became clear. This vetting controversy is a faux media scandal designed to destroy the first female Republican nominee for vice president of the United States who has never been a part of the old boys' network that has come to dominate the news establishment in this country. Sen. McCain picked his governing partner after a long and thorough search. Gov. Palin looks forward to addressing the nation and laying out the fundamental choice this election represents for the American people."

    http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13111.html

    ----

    Why should I believe Schmidt now?


    Great post, Gryphen.

    ReplyDelete
  63. Anita Winecooler8:01 PM

    You hit the nail on the head with this one. The NY times had a story about this, as well as the awkward actions of a "Pregnant" Sarah next to Napolitano in the governor's meeting. I recall her saying something cryptic, as if she already knew she was being thought of as a running mate.
    Then the right wing conservative cruises where she managed to hijack to give tours of huneau's buildings.
    Steve Schmitt and Nicholle Wallace's accounts add up, and game change showed how little trust he had for her. McCain, ultimately, picked "the product", Schmidt was tasked with making her look "smart", a hurculean task while vetting her and running a campaign.

    Wouldn't it be great if he's signaling to Palin to back off, because he knows the "Paxon connection" and Trig's hoax birth?

    Better man up Schmitty, or she'll punch you in the throat.

    ReplyDelete
  64. Anonymous1:46 AM

    This end-Oct 2008 NYT about McCain's campaign strategy and Schmidt's role in it makes Schmidt seem considerably less able than I thought. There's also some chronology re the choice of SP.

    ReplyDelete

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