Former reporter and current blogger, Julia O'Malley wants people to think that Sarah Palin was not always this way. (Spoiler alert: Yes she was.)

Here is a portion of O'Malley's revisionist history courtesy of The Guardian:  

There was a time when Sarah Palin was normal by Alaska standards. Way back before the hoopla, and way before she endorsed Donald Trump, she made sense as a politician here. That’s not the case any more. 

I’m told she lives in Alaska most of the time, but she’s invisible in public life. But back in the day, I liked her – and so did many in my community. I’m not conservative, but she grew on me when I worked as a reporter in Anchorage in the mid-2000s, and the reason had nothing to do with politics. She was a kind of regular person I recognized as of this place. Tough, funny, pragmatic. She loved Alaska like I did. If you didn’t know her then, it’s hard to explain or believe.

O'Malley then offers this picture, which shows Palin just hobnobbing with the locals and which she believes was NOT a photo-op, that there tells you that she does not understand Sarah Palin.

Above all, Palin was nice. If a reporter called her office, she called back on their cell phone: “Hi, this is Sarah.” Like most people here, she was religious, but didn’t talk about it publicly. Like most people, her family hunted and owned guns, but she didn’t talk too much about that either. She was fuzzy on policy details, but only insiders noticed. She made a big deal about government corruption. 

“She wanted to be liked and, as a result, was likable,” said a reporter friend of mine who covered her as governor. “Her only real enemies were white-guy boys club oil politicians who were getting indicted by the feds.”

Okay well there is some truth to this.  Palin absolutely was focused on her polls numbers and receiving positive coverage from media outlets.

So yes she returned calls fairly quickly, IF you were somebody that she perceived to be "on the team."

In fact at one time Dennis Zaki was one of those people, and broke into the news biz to some degree based on his access to Sarah Palin and the number of great photos he took of her and other politicians in Alaska.

However I was there when he lobbed the first criticism her way, and let me tell you the arctic winter has NOTHING on Sarah Palin when it comes to freezing people out.

O'Malley then documents when SHE thinks everything changed for Palin:

I rode along in the motorcade the day she came back to the state to vote. We whizzed out to Wasilla, and she emerged from her black SUV wearing a Carhartt jacket. The outfit was self-conscious. Alaska schtick. Not her thing. But she’d already recalibrated for an audience that wasn’t us. Then John McCain lost. She peaced-out on being governor. 

For many here, that was the end. 

It’s hard to keep track of what happened next. The internet Sarah-ploded. There was Fox News, reality television, the book, the steady stream of social-media snits, the house in Arizona, a family run-in with the cops and Bristol’s baby-mama drama.

You see the problem with this is that O'Malley seems to be basing most of her Palin-ology on her personal experiences with the then Governor who was seeking positive coverage.

It does not seem that O'Malley has done any real research into Palin's past nor that she has read any of the great books written about her including those written by Geoffrey Dunn, Joe McGinniss,  or even Frank Bailey.

Instead she bases it on her memories, which I find somewhat unreliable as O'Malley was also the reporter who swore up and down that she KNEW that Sarah Palin was indeed pregnant with Trig, and that there was no conspiracy: 

But, of course, there was no silence spiral. The journalists, including me, who covered Palin at the time believed she was pregnant because she was pregnant. Even before the announcement, she seemed to be putting on weight. She wore baggy jackets and scarves. Before the announcement, she acted nervous when photographers tried to take her picture. Later on, her face filled out. Her fingers swelled. She had a noticeable belly. And it wasn't made out of foam. 

Palin also ran all the time at the gym in Juneau. People I know saw her on the treadmill sweating in workout clothes. She had a belly. I repeat: she had a real pregnant belly. Are you going to tell me she was wearing a prosthetic abdomen on the treadmill?

For the record Palin has ALWAYS been a conniving opportunist who manipulated the weak willed around her and savaged her critics at every turn.

She used her feminine wiles to seduce male reporters and her girl power BS to win over the female journalists. And that seemed to work well here in Alaska, where let's face it journalism is not exactly breaking new ground.

However all of that came to a halt when a certain Katie Couric asked the innocuous question "What do you read?"

THAT was the beginning of the end, and THAT was when everybody started to see the true Sarah Palin.

Somebody it seems that Julia O'Malley never got the chance to meet.

Inside Edition asks Sarah Palin political questions because nobody else wants to anymore.

Click protruding Yeti skull to visit website and play video.

For some reason they asked Palin some questions about politics, such as about former American Idol runner up Clay Aiken's bid to get elected to Congress:

Palin: "He's running as a "D"?

"Yes."

Palin: "Well then I hope he's runner up in the elections too. Bless his heart you know he..he seems like.. he seems like he has a lot of common sense, certainly has a lot of talent, and he's got that confidence that's needed in the political arena. But..um..I think we need more business minded, job oriented Republicans in Congress so we can turn some things around. You know we tried it with the "D's" over the last couple of years. Let's..let's go to some conservatives."

Then the reporter asks about Chris Christie.

Palin: "Yeah you know I just don't know all the information out there. It's hard to be the CEO of an organization and not know what the closest people to you are up to. (Really? She claimed that she had no idea that Frank Bailey was trying to get her ex-brother-in-law fired. IS she saying she knew all about that? Cause we all know she did.)It's tough not to know. I know when I was Mayor and manager of this city, and then Governor of the state certainly you know what your top aides are up to. (Aha! So she admits it!) I just want to make sure that..um..you know that every politician, everyone whose elected, whose given that..that honor, and that sacred honor of..of.. that vote, people's trust, that we don't blow it. And you blow it if you every time  you try to hide anything. You know whatever's hidden eventually light shines upon it."

Did she REALLY just say that? Holy crap!

Well then I guess we can all expect the babygate thing to explode onto the front pagers any day now, right?

Later the Inside Edition reporter asks Todd if he is ready for Palin to be President, and he claims she would win "hands down if the media did its job."

Seriously just what is in the Wasilla drinking water?

There are a couple of other questions in the segment, including the obligatory one asking her if she was going to run, which she totally avoids. And at the end the reporter expresses surprise that she is still living in Wasilla, so apparently he missed the memo that she is now a resident of Arizona.

There was another interview posted at the Inside Edition where the reporter asks the only honest person in the Palin house about the Grizzled Mama running for President:

Palin's daughter, Piper was there and we had to ask what the 12-year-old thinks of her mom running for national political office again. 

Moret asked, "Piper, what do you think of your mom as president?" 

Piper shook her head "no." 

 "No?" asked Moret. 

Sarah reacted, "Piper!"

Uh oh, somebody went off script.

Update: Here is Palin with the reporter pretending that she still has feelings for Todd.

Look how happy Todd is to be included in the picture. You can almost feel the love.

DENIED!!!!

Courtesy of News Times: 

A federal judge on Wednesday denied Sarah Palin's request for more than $22,000 in attorney fees in a case against her that was dismissed. 

U.S. District Judge Timothy Burgess last year dismissed a case against the former Alaska governor by activist Chip Thoma, saying Thoma didn't provide the evidence necessary to support his claims. Thoma alleged Palin had acted to silence him for complaining about tourist bus traffic on the narrow, windy streets around the governor's mansion in 2009. 

Burgess in October ordered that Palin recover costs, but on Wednesday denied her request for attorney fees. In his written decision, he said courts have limited situations in which defendants may recover attorney fees to those where claims against them were "frivolous, unreasonable, or without foundation." But he said he cannot conclude that the case here was frivolous, noting the limited record in the matter and that neither party engaged in discovery. 

"It's nice to be told you weren't frivolous," Thoma's attorney, James McGowan, said. The lawsuit, he said, was aimed at "vindicating" Thoma's First Amendment right. 

Thoma had claimed that Palin undertook an effort, while governor, to "punish, embarrass, discredit and silence" him because he complained about traffic around the mansion after she returned to Alaska from her failed 2008 vice presidential bid. He said this had a chilling effect on his First Amendment right. 

Thoma referred to excerpts from a book by Frank Bailey, a Palin aide during that period. But Burgess ruled that quotes from the book were, among other things, inadmissible hearsay and said Thoma lacked the personal knowledge to authenticate the statements in the book. 

Personally I think that Thoma had a VERY strong case, the Bailey book could not have been more clear that she did everything in her power to destroy him, and was upset that the judge ruled against him.

But at least he won't have to pay that vindictive bitch's lawyer fees.

I believe there is a long line of people who could sue Palin for similar treatment, and that if they all chose to do so she would probably spend the next twenty years paying court costs until she was penniless.

Alaska once again allows Sarah Palin to slip through the grip of justice. Update!

Sarah Palin running at Musk Ox farm in 2003.

This from The Sacramento Bee:  

The Alaska Supreme Court has upheld a lower court decision that does not forbid use of private email accounts for state officials conducting state business. 

The case stemmed from emails sent during then-Gov. Sarah Palin's administration. Palin and members of her administration used private emails to conduct state business. Activist Andree McLeod submitted a records request for all emails sent to or from the private accounts of Palin and her husband, and also sued, seeking to have each email declared a public record. 

The lower court interpreted public records as state agency records preserved or appropriate for preservation under the records management act. 

The high court agreed, saying not every record a state employee creates is appropriate for preservation under the act. 

You know I suffered a little blowback in May of 2011, when I suggested that Andree McLeod was perhaps getting in the way of drilling down into the truth about Sarah Palin and her e-mails. 

I said then, and I believe now, that our best bet at seeing exactly what it was that Palin was hiding was to see the e-mails in Frank Bailey's possession. However due to McLeod's aggressive attempts to see those e-mails by going through the courts, Bailey ended up paying an almost $12,000 fine and then handing over the majority of his e-mails to the state, where we now learn they will remain locked up forever.

I begged and pleaded that Bailey release his e-mails through a Wiki-leaks type of program but,  even though I had heard that something like that might be a possibility, it never happened.

The thing is that way back before Bailey ever signed on to do a book deal I received some information as to what those e-mails contained, and it was indeed explosive. However most of that NEVER found its way into "Blind Allegiance." So now that these e-mails are forever locked up, we will simply never have the opportunity to see the REAL truth that Palin worked so hard to hide from the Alaskan people.

I have said it before, but it is worth repeating, if you want to learn the truth about Sarah Palin in Alaska, going the traditional legal route is a complete waste of time.

Update: Perhaps this from the ADN will clarify things a little better:

The opinion also found that allowing employees to choose not to preserve a document "is not absurd because, as the State notes, 'each state agency has the best understanding of the preservation value of its own documents.'

" The court said it agrees with the state that use of private email accounts "is no more an obstruction of access to public records than communicating through paper letters. As the superior court noted, the law requires a state employee to retain records; whether the record exists in paper or electronic form does not change the analysis. 

"Thus using private email accounts for conducting state business, alone, does not constitute an 'obstruction' of access to public records under the Public Records Act," the court said. 

McLeod's attorney, Don Mitchell, said he disagrees with the court's position equating private email messages to letters that get placed in an office file. "There's no way to know whether these private emails exist at all," he said, adding that the private Palin emails came to light when McLeod, through a public records request, noticed a private email address for Palin. 

And this:

He viewed the decision as a partial win for McLeod, and an "important step in the proper direction," clarifying the definition of a public record and the state's preservation obligations. 

Like I said it does not appear that the courts have any intention of honoring Andree's request to force Palin to release to the public the emails from her "private" account, even though they were used to conduct state business.   Therefore the only way we could have access to them is if Bailey were to release them on his own. And that also does not appear to be a possibility any longer.

Bristol Palin completes her metamorphoses into her mother, and then claims that people want her dead. Where have I heard THAT before?

Courtesy of Hollywood Gossip:  

Yes, Bristol says she's receiving regular death threats this fall. 

“People have such opinions about me. It's like ‘I hate you, I want you dead and I want to shoot my TV,’” she explains of her public perception. “I don't read any of it." (And yet she can quote it from memory?)


And today we now learn that a "suspicious package" suddenly arrived right on cue, which now gives weight to Bristol's claims of death threats:

A suspicious package sent to the CBS studio lot yesterday (Oct. 3) contained a threatening note regarding Bristol Palin, TMZ reports. 

According to a studio source, the package contained a white powdery substance (later found to be harmless) and a note "that read something like, 'This is what will happen to you if Bristol Palin stays on [the show].'" 

You know I have been hearing about death threats directed toward the Palin girls for years. The Grizzled Mama claimed in her book that her girls were threatened with "gang rape" while they were living in Juneau, but that turned out to be a complete fabrication. So I sort of take EVERY other threat since then with a HUGE grain of salt.

While it may not be completely unreasonable to think that DWTS fans are upset enough with this phony to do something truly nasty like this, it is also EXTREMELY convenient. (Seriously has anybody ELSE ever received this kind of threat?)

This may sound somewhat conspiratorial but I would certainly not put it past Bristol to pull a stunt like this for attention. (Just think back to all of the times Sarah cried wolf in the past.)

After all Bristol IS her mother's daughter.

Though actually to be honest I am having trouble seeing where the Mama Grizzly ends, and the rabid surgically sculpted grizzly cub begins.

For instance what the hell is up with the new glasses?

Does Bristol actually need them now, or is she simply channeling her mother? Who also by the way does not need the glasses SHE wears!


As per Frank Bailey's book Palin had laser surgery on her eyes, but wore her fake glasses "to appear smart." Of course most of US realized a while ago that it was really an attempt to distract from Palin's wonky eye.

Speaking of appearances, Bristol also had this to say in another interview:

Bristol also commented to E! News about Julianne Moore's famous comment about Sarah Palin at the Emmys this year. Moore said Sarah Palin gave her a "big thumbs down" on her performance in the movie Game Change, in which Moore played Palin during her time as John McCain's running mate in the 2008 election. And the younger Palin agrees with her mom. 

"I don't think she's a good interpreter of my mom. I think my mom is way hotter than that," Bristol said. "I think she doesn't have that accent. It's kind of silly, but my mom's awesome."

Well I have SEEN Bristol attempt to act so I understand her confusion with how the process works. But see Julianne Moore was NOT trying to be a good "interpreter" for Sarah Palin (Though after hearing many of her speeches I can say unequivocally that she really needs one!), Moore was acting the PART of Sarah Palin. Which she did well enough to earn an Emmy. So put that in your pipe and smoke it, ya little shit. (And remember I have seen pictures of you smoking a pipe.)

And as for Sarah Palin being "way hotter" than Julianne Moore?

Not on her BEST day would that ever be true.

Remember Moore had to undergo over two hours of makeup every day to make herself unattractive enough to play Sarah Palin.

And STILL she fell short in that regard.

P.S. Speaking of metamorphoses did all you catch this bizarre transformation from one of Palin's interviews yesterday?

Holy crap! Welp I guess I'll be stocking up on silver bullets.

(Hat tip to Alaskan Dave Down Under for the gif.)

Another lawsuit bounces off of Sarah Palin's ever fluctuating chest.

Courtesy of MSNBC:  

A federal judge on Thursday struck down claims in a lawsuit alleging that former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin acted to silence an activist who complained about traffic around the governor's mansion in 2009. 

U.S District Judge Timothy Burgess granted Palin's request for summary judgment, finding that activist Chip Thoma failed to provide the evidence necessary to support his claims. Palin's attorney, John Tiemessen, said the ruling means that, as a matter of law, no valid claims stand, and it should lead to dismissal of the case. 

Thoma sued for at least $100,000, claiming that Palin, while governor, undertook an effort to punish, embarrass, discredit and silence him after he complained about tour bus traffic around the mansion following her failed 2008 vice presidential bid. 

Thoma, in his lawsuit, said he complained about the traffic in 2009 to a state agency and made signs and fliers about the traffic situation that he posted and handed out. He alleged that Palin and unidentified conspirators retaliated - in some cases "twisting" his words, in others, "concocting complete fabrications" - to silence him and others whom Palin perceived as speaking out against her. 

Thoma's initial lawsuit was partly based on a leaked draft manuscript by Frank Bailey, a Palin aide during that period. Bailey's book claimed Palin aides "went into discrediting Chip overdrive" after Palin expressed frustration with complaints she took as an attack on her family being in Juneau. For part of her tenure, Palin had gotten flak for not being in Juneau enough, or full-time. 

Burgess said excerpts from the book could not be considered in the motion for summary judgment for several reasons, including that the passages are inadmissible hearsay. He said Thoma lacks the personal knowledge to authenticate the statements made in the book. 

Burgess also said the only documented evidence that Thoma submitted to support his motion and oppose Palin's was his own affidavit. 

"The record is simply devoid of evidence concerning the alleged retaliation," Burgess wrote.

This is very disappointing as I really thought that Thoma had a strong case.

And as for evidence, why didn't they try and subpoena the actual e-mails that Bailey has in his possession? I still have my copy of the first draft of "Blind Allegiance," that was sent out before publishing, and in it are the actual e-mails as they appeared in Bailey's e-mal box.

You would think those would be pretty damning in a court of law.

Whatever, whey should we expect THIS to stick when virtually EVER OTHER thing has slid off Palin's bony exoskeleton? I guess if you can get away with faking your poll numbers, pulling off a phony pregnancy, and convincing people you are an "energy expert," getting out of lawsuits must be a snap.

Yeah, well I have to think that the Grizzled Mama's luck is just about up, and that eventually one of these things will take her down for good. I just hope I am either the one that does it, or right there in a ring side seat when it happens.

Joe Miller, Sarah Palin butt-boy and puppet master behind the takeover of the Alaska GOP, has accepted a payoff to settle his lawsuit.

Courtesy of the Alaska Dispatch:

On Monday, Miller accepted a $5,000 judgement against the borough and former Fairbanks Mayor Jim Whitaker. The judgement was offered by the borough. 

The borough mayor, Luke Hopkins, said it offered the judgement because it was in the "taxpayer’s best interests to put a stop to this litigation and legal expenses with this low monetary offer." 

Hopkins was also surprised that Miller accepted, given that he initially said that he would do so for $50,000, and then $25,000. He originally claimed that he had over $160,000 in damages. 

You know I'm kind of surprised as well, since Miller is a pugnacious asshole who will go to great lengths to make a point. I wonder what could have convinced him to settle for such a comparative pittance?

After Miller lost in the general election to Murkowski’s write-in campaign, he sued the borough, claiming that someone in the office illegally leaked information about Miller’s time at the borough. 

The judgement admits to none of this, however, and for all the time and money involved in the case, the only salient fact that seems to have emerged is that the former mayor of the borough, Jim Whitaker, had a meeting with Renee Broker, Miller’s supervisor, about Miller's time at the borough and what could be said to the press about that time. 

When deposed about the meeting, Broker claimed attorney-client privilege, even though Whittaker was no longer the mayor. Whether or not Broker and Whittaker could claim such privilege was scheduled to be argued in front of a judge next week. 

The borough contends the law is very specific that former mayors can seek advice about events that occurred while they were in office. 

Miller still believes that someone at the borough leaked the information, his lawyer John Tiemessen said. “But every case has a point of diminishing returns,” he said. “Maybe you haven’t beaten under every bush and overturned every rock, but you’ve done enough that you have a pretty good idea of what’s going on,” he said. 

Miller sought legal fees, but he refused to provide information about whether or not he or his leftover campaign coffers were footing the bill for those fees. He had said that until January 2011, his lawyers were paid a flat fee of $10,000 a month. Since then, however, he’s denied that his campaign has paid for the legal fees. 

The judge ordered him to provide such information by Monday, but he accepted the judgement instead.

Aha! So the real reason that Miller suddenly decided to walk away from a lawsuit which he has pursued doggedly for well over a year now is most likely because he simply did NOT want to divulge who was footing the bill for his legal costs.  Well that is too bad because THAT would be a question well worth finding the answer to.

Especially since we recently learned during the domestic terrorism trial that Miller was the person, along with Palin Chief-of-Staff Frank Bailey, who introduced FBI informant Bill Fulton to, future convicted terrorist, Schaeffer Cox.

It is also an important question because this lawsuit pertains to an incident that happened back in 2008, which is now connected to the recent overthrow of the Alaska GOP by Miller and his minions.

Personally I am hoping that since the recent successful conviction of the militia terrorism squad, that the FBI is now ready to turn their sights on Miller and HIS very interesting connections to certain questionable activities, not to mention his connection to a certain half term Governor which apparently goes back to her days as the mayor of Wasilla.

Why did the 2008 overthrow of the Alaskan Republican Party fail? Or did it?

Yesterday we received confirmation from one of Schaeffer Cox's co-defendants, Coleman Barney, that despite the defense attorney's attempts to blame FBI informant William Fulton, the notorious "241" plan was indeed the brainchild of Cox himself, and that Barney had serious reservations about the plan:

A member of the Mormon Church, Barney told the jury he believed in advancing the militia's freedom-minded aims but worried for his soul. He told fellow militia members that enacting the notorious "241" plan to kill two government officials for each fallen militia member was more likely to make them the objects of ridicule rather than martyrs, Barney testified. 

"I don't know that this would accomplish anything in God's plan other than we'd be dead and we'd be labeled as loonies," Barney told jurors, summarizing statements he made to other members of the volunteer force.

That plus the rantings from Cox himself in the courtroom will undoubtedly prove more than enough to put Francis "Schaeffer" Cox away from quite some time.

However I have found myself somewhat more fixated on the previous revelation in court that the people who introduced FBI informant Bill Fulton to Cox in the first place were none other than Joe Miller and Palin Chief of Staff Frank Bailey, and what that had to do with the recent coup within the Alaska GOP by Joe Miller and Cox disciple Russ Millette.

So I did a little digging and came up with some rather interesting, if not startling, information.

According to sources the reason that Cox, who was a Fairbanks acquaintance of Joe Miller's from way back, was brought into the hotel room to meet Fulton was because of his ties to the Ron Paul campaign.

You see even back in 2008 the plan was to use the Ron Paul smokescreen to provide cover for the REAL individual behind the takeover, and that was Sarah Palin herself. Essentially both Joe Miller and Frank Bailey were working as her surrogates to finally oust Randy Reuderich, and take the party out of the hands of the old guard, which included Ted Stevens, Don Young, and  Lisa's dad Frank Murkowski.

Sarah Palin despised these men for a variety of reasons and wanted to wrest control of the Alaska GOP out of their hands. And though her few remaining supporters would argue she wanted to "clean up the corruption" that was not her true motivation.  (Though it did make a handy bumper sticker for her gubernatorial campaign.)

And in fact with Miller's help, the groundwork her minions had done leading up to the convention, and Cox's ties to the Paul campaign,  Palin pretty much had all of the elements in place to take over the Alaska GOP that March. There was a fairly significant split among the delegates, but my understanding is that Palin's people had a plan in place that they thought would successfully oust Reuderich and put Vice Chair Cathy Giessel in his place.

However something happened, and the next day plans had changed. Instead it was decided that Sean Parnell would run against Don Young, and Reuderich was allowed to remain the party chairman for the next four years.

Here is what the AP reported took place the next day:

A state Republican convention that could have unified a troubled party descended into infighting Friday, with the lieutenant governor announcing his intention to unseat a congressman and the governor calling for changes in GOP leadership. 

Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell said he would challenge U.S. Rep. Don Young, the 18-term incumbent who's the subject of a federal investigation that includes his campaign finance practices. 

"The days of unquestioning loyalty are gone," Parnell said a few hours later after filing candidacy paperwork. "It's time for principled leadership." 

Gov. Sarah Palin escorted Parnell into the Division of Elections office and immediately endorsed him over Young. She gave no thought to the protocol of an endorsement months before the August primary, she said. 

"When something's right, it's right," she said. "There's no time like the present to state your case and speak candidly about what you believe it. And I believe in his candidacy." 

Palin announces her endorsement of Sean Parnell

But what happened to convince the group to abandon their carefully crafted plan?  What new information was revealed that suggested that this was small potatoes and that there were bigger things ahead for Palin and her merry band of trouble makers?

Now this is where it gets interesting.  According to my sources the reason they put off the coup was because it was revealed that Palin had something more important on her plate. The VP nomination.

Apparently the word came down that Palin was no longer interested in taking over the Alaska GOP because she was all but certain that she was going to be on the Republican ticket.  Remember this is less than a month after her first meeting with John McCain, one month before the birth of Trig Paxson Van Palin, and about seven months before she was officially trotted out as John McCain's running mate.

We have been led to believe (Even though I have ALWAYS known better) that McCain picked Palin at the last minute, but in fact, according to my sources, Palin was certain enough that she was on the ticket as far back as March of 2008 to walk away from the overthrow of her arch nemesis, Randy Reuderich. Something which she had been planning for years!

Now this is also rather interesting because in his book, Frank Bailey, who as we all know did not seem shy about outing Palin's numerous lies, only says this about Palin's chances at the VP slot:


"While none of us believed Sarah to be a sure thing for veep--or necessarily even a front-runner--by midyear we understood that it was a possibility, a development that raised anxiety and excitement."

So since Bailey was DEFINITELY around during the time that this news was shared, are we to believe he did not take it seriously? Or is there some other reason that he did not share with his readers just how far back Palin was certain she was McCain's choice for VP?

This might be a good time to remind all of you that Palin had only just announced she was pregnant eight days earlier, on March 7, the day AFTER John McCain officially won the nomination as the Republican candidate for President.

By the way I was also told that Palin had no intention of finishing her first term, ostensibly because she figured she would have a new job as VP in Washington, DC.

Which only goes to remind all of us once again WHY Palin hates President Obama so much. He is after all the man she holds personally responsible for destroying her carefully laid plans to someday sit in the Oval Office.

So having that dream stripped away, it appears that Palin and her minions have returned to plan B, and are now firmly in charge of the Alaska Republican party.

Schaeffer Cox explains that just because he's paranoid, doesn't mean everybody's not out to get him.

"I'm sorry you'll have to speak up. The voices in my head are drowning you out."

As many of you know by now Schaeffer Cox is an extremely paranoid individual who actually took to wearing bulletproof vests and having friends carrying guns stand in as security while conducting visits with the Office of Children's Services.  This has led many to ponder the state of Cox's mental health.

Well ponder no more.

Yesterday Cox was asked just WHY he thought he was the target of a Federal hit squad:

Cox has gotten a lot of mileage out of his story about how federal agents had been dispatched to arrest or kill him. On Wednesday, he finally got the chance to explain how he came up with the theory and the curious string of events he said have given him pause. 

First, he'd had a run in with the Office of Children's Services. He couldn't figure out why the agency was intent on interviewing his 18-month-old son, who wasn't speaking yet. Suspicious vehicles were driving by his house. Out of the blue, an airport police officer pulled him over, not to make a traffic stop but to hand Cox a manila envelope containing Cox's domestic-terrorist profile. The officer never acknowledged what he'd handed to Cox, saying only, "Hang in there, buddy. There's a lot of us pulling for you." 

For months, Cox believed a six-man team from Aurora, Colo., had been sent to Alaska to kill him. According to Cox, he now knows he was wrong about it. He'd misinterpreted short hand notes on the supposed domestic terrorist file. A "Squad 6" in the paperwork wasn't a six-person hit team, but a reference to "squad #6" -- a unit within the FBI. The report had been generated in Aurora, but Cox was convinced that was the hometown of the imaginary agents he thought had been dispatched to deal with him. 

He also claims that around the same time, the summer of 2010, someone from the electric company that services his home called to warn him that the FBI had asked the company to flag Cox's residence as a danger zone and to prevent workers from going on the defendant’s property. A pastor at Bible Baptist Church also spoke to Cox about visits from FBI agents who asked "all kinds of questions" about the defendant. 

And the stories kept coming. Cox claimed he'd heard from a military police officer on Fort Wainwright that U.S. Marshals had stopped in and were talking about a plan to use Cox's son as a way to provoke Cox to act violently, giving them an excuse to shoot him and get rid of the "Schaeffer Cox problem." And finally, Cox heard rumors that a Fairbanks FBI agent had been overheard at church discussing his dislike of Cox. 

 "These things just keep adding up. I just kept not believing, but there becomes a time when you have to," Cox told the jury. "It was enough to make us scared."

Now just to sum up, Cox claims he was tipped off that he was under investigation by an airport police officer who handed him his "domestic-terrorist profile," by an electric company employee who said his residence was a "danger zone," by a pastor who said the FBI was asking questions, and by a Fort Wainwright police officer who warned him that "U.S. Marshals had stopped in and were talking about a plan to use Cox's son as a way to provoke Cox to act violently."

I hate to be a doubter, but this sounds like just about the most unbelievable set of circumstances imaginable. Not one, but TWO officers of the law put their careers in jeopardy by sharing classified information or warning Cox that he was about to be set up by the Feds?  Really?

To me this sounds like the rantings of a paranoid schizophrenic. That may not be a completely accurate diagnosis but I have to say that any doubt of Cox's mental illness should be put to rest after reading this.

Clearly the guy is a nutjob.  A nutjob who was actively attempting to purchase military style weaponry, and plotting the murder of law enforcement officials.

I can't imagine that the jury will have much difficulty deciding that Schaeffer Cox presents a clear and constant danger to his community and that he needs to be put away for a very long time.

And as for this idea he has that he was a target of the FBI? From what I understand Cox was considered nothing more than an irritating insect by law enforcement, a small man with an inflated sense of his own importance. Even after he started his little militia group he was not considered any sort of threat. That is right up until he started talking about kidnapping judges and killing State Troopers in their homes. Then things got real, and Schaeffer's paranoia finally had a reason to exist.

However here is something that people seem to be missing.  Back in 2008 when future FBI informant Bill "Drop Zone" Fulton first met Cox, Schaeffer was just some big mouth kid with no history of violence, and still two years away from his first brush with the law.

Do you remember WHO introduced Fulton to Cox?

I think it's safe to assume that Fulton had no idea at that time he would someday be instrumental in building a case against the skinny kid in the newsman's hat, so exactly WHAT was Fulton doing hanging out with Joe Miller and Frank Bailey in 2008?

Was that just a coincidence, or did Schaeffer Cox's criminal activities suddenly pull attention away from where the FBI was focused at the time?

Personally if I were Joe Miller, Frank Bailey, and Sarah Palin that would be EXACTLY what I would spend my sleepless nights worrying about right now. Especially if I were Joe Miller.

The ADN provides undercover video of Schaeffer Cox discussing murder plans with his co-defendants and FBI informant. Update!

This video is courtesy of Kyle Hopkins over at ADN and this is how he describes what it shows:  

Cox, in his trademark newsboy's cap, says he could tolerate going to jail, but it would be "killing time" if the authorities took his family; Vernon and Cox talk about going to war against authorities; and Cox thinks that the only thing keeping the authorities from killing him is the "cost" that would be inflicted by the militia, but later says he doesn't think the militia is strong enough to sustain a long-term conflict. 

The last two clips, taken with Olson's hidden camera and two more hidden in his vehicle, are of the "take down" sting on March 10, 2011, first of Vernon (in front passenger seat) and his wife Karen, then of Cox (in rear seat) and codefendant Coleman Barney as each examines a silencer-equipped .22 pistol and a hand grenade obtained from an FBI informant. 

The Cox and Barney bust was compromised when a man walked up and pointed out the "whole line of guys out there with bulletproof vests."

Yeah I think this is pretty compelling evidence, and I don't think the defense's attempt to blame this whole thing on William Fulton, or FBI entrapment, will hold much sway over the jury after they see this.

I am currently trying to get the MSM to pay attention to the connections between this case, Palin, and the new chairman of the Alaska GOP. There is more that connects Schaeffer Cox to Russ Millette, but I need the help of reputable journalists to dig it out and bring it to the attention of the American people.

The important fact to keep in mind is that this GOP takeover was originally orchestrated by Palin and her goons almost eight years ago, and has only NOW come to fruition through the co-opting of the Ron Paul movement.  In essence the AIP, 2nd Amendment Task Force, and various militia groups have taken over Alaska politics.

By the way, I checked in with my sources again, and for those of you who doubted the impact of Fulton's admission in court the other day that he was introduced to Cox by Palin operatives Joe Miller and Frank Bailey, my understanding is that it sent a shock wave through the courtroom, and also got attention of federal law enforcement.

However in order for the resources needed to investigate this to be provided by the Feds there really kind of needs to be some interest on the part of journalists.  In other words, the Feds are somewhat wary about really going after this angle (Blame the Ted Stevens debacle.), but will feel compelled to do so if there is enough heat on them from the public at large.

So while Geoffrey Dunn's Huffington Post article was a very good start, we really need to keep spreading this connection far and wide.

And just to add a little more drama and sense of urgency, what is happening in Alaska to the Republican party is ALSO taking place all across the country, but it is just not catching the attention of the local reporters.

In my opinion things are about to get VERY scary, very quickly if people don't wake up to what is taking place right under their noses.

Update: News is filtering out of the courthouse that Schaeffer Cox has now requested that he be named co-counsel so that he can help defend himself and question witnesses. Apparently he does not think his lawyer is doing an adequate job.

And just when you thought this trial could not get anymore entertaining!

The Schaeffer Cox/Bill Fulton/Sarah Palin connection goes mainstream! Update!

"I'm sorry, Schaeffer who? Oh crap!"

As many of you probably remember I wondered in my Friday post if " the court transcripts will be enough to shake some reporters awake to the now much more obvious connections between the AIP, the sovereign citizens moment, the militias, and our half term ex-Governor Sarah Palin?"

Well that question has been answered by none other than our good friend Geoffrey Dunn.

Just take a look at this courtesy of the Geoffrey Dunn over at the Huffington Post:

According to sworn testimony Thursday during federal court proceedings in Alaska, two close associates of former Governor Sarah Palin -- Joe Miller, a staunch political ally of Palin's whom she supported in his failed bid for the U.S. Senate; and Palin's former director of boards and commissions Frank Bailey, more commonly known in Alaska as Palin's "hatchet man" -- were responsible for introducing FBI Informant William "Drop Zone" Fulton to Schaeffer Cox, the leader of the so-called Alaska Peacekeeper Militia. 

The surreptitious meeting between Fulton, Cox and Palin's associates took place a scant six months before Palin was selected by John McCain to serve as his running mate on the GOP ticket. Cox, a supporter of Palin's, was then a Republican candidate for the Alaska House of Representatives, District 7. He finished with 36 percent of the votes. 

Bailey makes no mention of this extraordinary meeting with Cox and Fulton in his not-so-tell-all book, Blind Allegiance. Nor does he address his, Miller's and Frye's efforts to oust Ruedrich at the convention. It's yet another Bailey cover-up. 

In fact, Palin had longtime ties to the right-wing, anti-government fringes of Alaska politics. Despite her duplicities to the contrary, Palin's husband, Todd, had on three separate occasions registered as a member of the Alaska Independence Party, which called, at the time, for the secession of Alaska from the Union. Palin also produced a glowing video on behalf of the AIP welcoming them to Fairbanks for their statewide convention earlier that year. 

In 2009, for my book, The Lies of Sarah Palin: The Untold Story Behind her Relentless Quest for Power, I interviewed Mark Chryson, chairman of the AIP from 1995 to 2002, who talked about the various ways his movement supported Palin during her tenure as mayor of Wasilla (he claims Palin attended the AIP convention in 1994.) One former militia member I interviewed in Talkeetna with direct links to Cox said that the Palins -- "especially Todd" -- were "sympathetic to our cause." That Palin and her minions would associate with Cox -- and seek out his counsel for political "strategy" at a time when she was being considered as a potential vice-presidential nominee -- is further reflection not only of her fringe political views but also of her warped political judgment.

Man after waiting all of this time with that secret rattling around in my head I cannot tell you how gratifying it is to see it somewhere else besides on my blog, Mudflats, and a few other places around the internet.

I know the Huffington Post is not exactly the New York Times, but it IS read by journalists all across the country and hopefully more than a few of them will recognize the enormity of this story and start their own investigations.

P.S. Please click the link at the top and visit HuffPo and help this story get the attention it deserves. If it makes it to the front page that might REALLY push it along.

Update: The story is starting to spread. Finally.

Just how did Schaeffer Cox meet FBI informant "Drop Zone Bill?" And what does it have to do with Sarah Palin?

Image courtesy of Alaska Dispatch.

I have been closely following the trial of Francis "Schaeffer" Cox this summer, mostly through the incredibly detailed court reporting of Jeanne Devon of Mudflats fame, though admittedly I have been focused on the revelation of a certain detail that I had learned through sources and was waiting to have testified to in a court of law.

Yesterday that detail became part of the official record, when William Fulton finally made his long awaited court appearance:

Nelson Traverso for the defense: When did you first meet Mr. Cox? 

Fulton: At the 2008 Republican convention, Sir. I was introduced to Mr. Cox by Joe Miller and Frank Bailey in my hotel room. We were having a meeting on a strategy session for the next day. 

Traverso: Joe Miller, the ex-candidate Joe Miller? 

Fulton: Yes, sir.

Okay now just savor that for a moment won't you?

The future FBI informant was FIRST introduced to the future domestic terrorist, by both future Tea Party favorite, Sarah Palin butt-boy, and future Senate candidate Joe Miller AND Sarah Palin Chief of Staff, Frank Bailey.

And what were they there to discuss? "We were having a meeting on a strategy session for the next day."

As I wrote earlier Joe Miller and Sarah Palin had teamed up in 2008 in an attempt to take over the Alaska Republican party.  That attempt failed, however just recently another attempt by Miller and, Schaeffer Cox recruit, Russ Millette was much more successful.

Okay so just to tie all of this together, Sarah Palin operatives, Frank Bailey and Joe Miller, were close enough associates of Schaeffer Cox to introduce him in a hotel room to future FBI informant and militia "supply sergeant" William Fulton, in order to hatch a plan on how to wrest control of the Alaska GOP away from Randy Reuderich and the "good old boys" club.

And today, hiding behind the Ron Paul label, that plan has been implemented.

So, WHO is in charge of this new Republican party? Well I can tell you this, it's NOT Ron Paul!

Now of course there are a lot of other strings yet to be tied up, and Miller, Bailey, and Palin's connection to all of this is much deeper than this reveals as of yet, however I have been assured that the true story (And it is a doozy!), will be reported some time after this case is finally wrapped up.

However until then hopefully having this connection between Cox, Bailey, Miller, and Palin on the court transcripts will be enough to shake some reporters awake to the now much more obvious connections between the AIP, the sovereign citizens moment, the militias, and our half term ex-Governor Sarah Palin.

P.S. Before I close this post I just want to give a shout out to the exemplary work done by Jeanne Devon.  I had hoped to be in the courtroom myself for much of this trial, however my work responsibilities have kept me away, but having her do such an amazing job has really made it almost seem that I was there as well. Huge hat tip to Mudflats!

Oh if ONLY the American media had followed Canada's example back in 2008.

Every time I see this clip I cannot help but imagine just how incredible it would have been if the MSM in this country had not been so cowardly, and had actually done their jobs of getting to the bottom of this bizarre fabrication..

Just imagine.

With Palin's career destroyed back in 2008, there would have been no Tea Party.

No "death panels."

No crosshair image placed over Gabrielle Giffords district in Arizona.

No crappy reality show from Alaska.

No clearly pregnant Bristol on DWTS.

But alas, such was not to be.  So instead it was left up to a few dogged bloggers, her own slips of the tongue, and a handful of books written by Geoffrey Dunn, Frank Bailey, Joe McGinniss, and yes, even Levi Johnston, to bring her down.

Well at least today she has been marginalized to the point that she is no longer an actual threat, though I am still anxiously awaiting the day when her ability to garner ANY attention has slipped through her clawlike fingers.

Frank Bailey fined $11,900.00 for using state e-mails in book. If you see Sarah Palin walking around with a big smile, now you'll know why.

This from ADN:

Frank Bailey, the former Sarah Palin aide turned tell-all author, has agreed to pay an $11,900 civil fine for violating the state's ethics laws by keeping, disseminating and profiting from confidential emails he obtained while serving in Palin's administration. 

The Alaska attorney general's office disclosed the settlement today in a letter to ethics campaigner Andree McLeod, who initiated the complaint against Bailey in 2010 after reading about Bailey's plans for a Palin book in the Daily News' gossip column, The Ear. 

At the time she filed the complaint, McLeod had been trying for two years to get the state to release Palin's emails. She said it was improper for one person to have access to at least part of the public records trove when the general public were unable to get them. 

"This settlement is just the beginning in straightening things out," McLeod said in a prepared statement announcing the settlement. "Justice has yet to be served as the state now has to reveal Palin's public documents and emails that Bailey confiscated when he left state employment."

Okay so here's the thing. I understand Andree McLeod's point here, but the facts are we would NEVER have seen those e-mails if Bailey had not put them in that book.

Oh we may have seen bits and pieces, but the majority of them would have been redacted completely out of existence.

You know I tried to get Bailey to release all of the e-mails before the book came out, or even after, and he has refused to discuss to do so, or even discuss it with those who have asked.

I doubt seriously that the state is going to release the next batch of Palin e-mails intact, so the only way to REALLY know what she is hiding is through Bailey. What do you think the chances are NOW that he will risk giving them to the public?

Dammit why is getting the truth out so fucking hard?

Get your popcorn ready kids! "Sarah Palin: You Betcha!" to be available for Video On Demand by November 11th of this year.

Courtesy of Talk TV World:

SARAH PALIN: YOU BETCHA! will be available on Internet VOD/EST on November 8th and Cable VOD on November 11th from Freestyle Digital Media. The DVD will be released in 2012. 

The film is directed by Nick Broomfield (Biggie and Tupac, Kurt & Courtney) and Joan Churchill (Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer) with appearances by: John Bitney (Palin's former Legislative Director), Howard Bess (Former Alaskan pastor), Colleen Cottle (Former Wasilla Deputy Mayor), Walt Moneghan (Former Police Chief of Anchorage), Mike Wooten (Palin's former brother-in-law/Troopergate Scandal), Chuck and Sally Heath (Palin's parents) , Lyda Green (Former Alaskan Senate President), and Laura Chase (Palin's former campaign manager). 

SARAH PALIN: YOU BETCHA! tells the story of Nick Broomfield's quest for the real Sarah Palin - a journey across the icy snows of Alaska in mid winter, to meet the school friends, family, and Republican colleagues that in previous days gave their heart, and souls to the charismatic, charming, and intoxicating ex hockey mum. But it's not all plain sailing. People are frightened to talk, Wasilla makes Twin Peaks look like a walk in the park. It's a devout evangelical community - 76 churches with a population of only 6 thousand, and the Crystal meth capitol of Alaska. Who are the flying monkeys, the enemies, the friends, and most importantly - are you with her or against her? Join the quest and for Christ's sake buy some thermals! 

I am of the mind that much of the reason that this film did not get more attention, and a wider release, was that Palin took herself out of contention for the Republican nomination. Which was great news for America, but really unfortunate for this film because from what I have seen of the documentary it is highly entertaining.

As a rule I do not ever take advantage of my VOD as it always seemed ridiculous to pay the cable bill and then pay additionally to watch a certain movie. I will of course make an exception in this case.

And I will also purchase the DVD which is supposed to be available in 2012. In my opinion we owe Nick, and Joe McGinniss, and Geoffrey Dunn, and Frank Bailey a huge debt of gratitude for scaring Sarah Palin back into the shadows, so if I can repay them even a little by purchasing their books and movies I am definitely going to do so.

(I actually received a free copy of both Geoffrey and Joe's books in the mail, but still purchased an additional copy as well which I have donated to people who could not afford one of their own. They have now both been donated to local libraries if I am not mistaken)

Oh and speaking of books, I had another conversation with Fred this morning and he and his publisher are still working out some kinks, but hope to provide an update, including the release date, in the near future.  From what I understand part of the hold up has to do with the number of pictures included in the book.

Author of "The Lies of Sarah Palin" comes to the defense of rival author Joe McGinniss.

Courtesy of Firedoglake:

Five days before a literary embargo theoretically prohibited any reviews from appearing in the mainstream media, the New York Times delivered what was effectively a journalistic hit (executed by Janet Maslin) on bestselling author Joe McGinniss and his long-awaited book-length profile of Alaska’s former governor, The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin. 

I was nearly three-quarters of the way through it by the time that Maslin’s review was first posted on the Times web site. I was immediately appalled by its intellectual dishonesty, its distorted portrait of the book, and its unbridled demonization of McGinniss. She calls the book “dated, petty and easily available to anyone with Internet access.” Really? Then why, one must ask, has the book caused such a ruckus? Are there reports on the Internet, for instance, of Palin’s mass firing of people of color during her first weeks as Governor of Alaska or personal accounts of her dominionist religious beliefs? Is there a full-scale work that combines the elegance and depth of McGinniss’ reporting into a composite narrative? I think not. Indeed, the power of The Rogue is that the whole of its devastating narrative is greater than the sum of its parts.

I should also acknowledge that I am the author of an earlier book on the former Alaska governor, The Lies of Sarah Palin: The Untold Story Behind Her Relentless Quest for Power, published by St. Martin’s in May, and which I suppose in some people’s eyes would make me something of a competitor with McGinniss, though I never looked at it that way. I sensed at the outset that our books would be very different—and they are, told through very different eyes and voices, and with an entirely different focus—although they come to startlingly similar conclusions about Ms. Palin, both as a human being and as a political figure. While I have never met McGinniss personally, we were introduced by email last year through mutual friends in Alaska and we occasionally communicated (or, more accurately, commiserated) about the poisonous ordeal of covering Palin. But I had not seen a single word of the McGinniss book until I read the first “installment” in Doonesbury, which featured excerpts from the book (all by “named” sources, incidentally), and then received a review copy that arrived in the mail later that week.

Moreover, roughly nine months after the assassination attempt on Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords—over whose congressional district Palin had placed crosshair images on her SarahPAC website—there’s not a single mention by Maslin of Palin’s troubling behavior and commentary, both before and after the carnage that left six innocent bystanders dead and another 13 wounded; nor is there a single reference to her many demagogic (and unsubstantiated) claims regarding President Obama, with whom she is strangely obsessed (her charges of “death panels” and “palling around with terrorists” come immediately to mind). Nor does Maslin mention Palin’s troubling behavior on the campaign trail, with her ramped up rhetoric that lead respected Congressmember John Lewis to condemn Palin for “sowing the seeds of hatred and division” throughout the country. All of this is apparently forgiven, or conveniently forgotten, by Maslin, whose Sarah Palin is—once again—a victim. Poor Sarah. Poor, poor Sarah Palin.

I cannot urge you strongly enough to read the entire article by Geoffrey Dunn.  And while doing so please keep in mind that Geoffrey did his OWN painstaking research into the life of Sarah Palin, and essentially wrote about THE EXACT SAME PERSON that Joe McGinniss described in his book.

I would like all of you to also remember that this person described in Joe and Geoffrey's book bears a striking resemblance to the person also described in the book "Game Change," Frank Bailey's book, and, yes, even Levi Johnston's book.

Which by the way is the exact same person that I have been writing about for these last three years.

So why did Joe's book receive such vitriol and hatred, while others have only received what could probably be described as a simple slap on the wrist?

Well if you read Chapter Nineteen, I do believe that will answer your questions. (Oh and Glen Rice might deserve a little of the credit as well.)

On Hardball it's Palin-bots and ex-Palin-bots on parade attempting to minimize the impact of the McGinniss book.

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

Clearly Shushannah Walshe is still shotgunning Palin brand Kool-aid, but Frank Bailey serves as a fairly effective counterpoint right up until Mathews hits too close to home with the Domionist talk forcing Bailey to make the attempt to change the subject.

By the way just imagine how much better Bailey's book might have been if he had not been so  worried about protecting himself from possible legal action? If that had happened it might have been Joe McGinniss commenting on HIS book instead of the other way around.

Good news! Nick Broomfield gets distributor for his documentary "Sarah Palin: You Betcha!"

Courtesy of Deadline.com:

Days before its world premiere at the 2011 Toronto Film Festival, Nick Broomfield’s hot-button expose documentary Sara Palin: You Betcha! has been acquired by Freestyle Releasing. The plan is to open in New York and Los Angeles on Sept. 30 and roll out. Broomfield raised over $30,000 on the crowd funding site Kickstarter to support the doc’s release, with private investors kicking in more money to launch the film. Cassian Elwes made the deal with Freestyle co-president Susan Jackson. The doc, directed by Broomfield and Joan Churchill, is not a fave of the Palin crowd, and the filmmakers say it lifts the veil off her image as a former hockey mom as the former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate gears for a possible presidential run in 2012.

No slam against Geoffrey, Frank, Fred, or Joe, but I really think that I am going to enjoy THIS film about Palin even more than any of the books, articles, or blogposts written about her. Possibly including my own.

It just seems like Nick has the best sense of humor about his subject, and that he approaches this bizarre individual who, let's face it, has been covered to death, in a fresh and engaging manner.

As most of you know I really try to find the humor in things whenever possible, and it looks like "Sarah Palin: You Betcha!" is going to have some laugh out loud moments, that I for one could really use at this point in our little journey.

Just in case you missed my last update on this film, here is another look at the official trailer.

(By the way I missed it earlier, but the white truck that Nick is chasing while yelling "Frank!" is Frank Bailey's truck. Nick tried to interview him several times but he always refused.)

P.S. I just want to remind you that if YOU were one of the many who contributed to Kickstart to help Nick get his film distributed, you should give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done, and take pride in the fact that Sarah Palin now hates you too! Welcome to the club!

Doonesbury on McGinniss, day two.

I continue to be interested in where this storyline is going.

It appears that Joe may have been given a peek at future strips, as he appears completely at ease with the similarities between this strip and what happened with the Bailey book.

Courtesy of Joe's blog:

Hedley is the Fox News reporter who was stalking me last summer at Lake Lucille. 

If he ever starts tweeting the juicy stuff, I’m screwed. 

Nobody will ever buy my book. But surely he couldn’t do that without an okay from his boss. 

And because his boss is my old friend Roger Ailes, that could never happen. 

Could it?

Pre-emptive damage control? Fanning the flames of controversy to drum up interest? Knowing Joe I would not be surprised if it was a little of both.

Clearly Joe is inviting people to talk about his book and the controversy surrounding the release of the Bailey manuscript.  However since he has closed the comments on his blog, he has not provided a forum for that conversation to take place.

Now I know that many of you have strong feelings about all of this drama concerning Joe and Frank's books, and I will endeavor to give you all some leeway here to discuss those feelings.  However I am going to warn you that I might reject a comment that just seems overly insulting or designed simply to turn people against each other.

(Comic courtesy of Doonesbury.com.)

Joe McGinniss and "The Rogue" get the Doonesbury treatment. Update.

I am a little intrigued with where this story line might go, in light of what happened with Joe and the authors of "Blind Allegiance." However Joe has been urging people to read Doonesbury, so he must have faith it will not show him in an unfavorable light.

By the way let me just say that I used to be a HUGE fan of Doonesbury!  And I mean HUGE!

I got hooked on them after I bought a bunch of the pocketbooks to read on the plane on my way to college. By the time the plane landed in Hawaii, I was hooked!

Hell I even named my cat "Doonesbury." And as much as I usually shun publicity it would absolutely make my decade if I showed up in one of the strips, unlikely as that may be.

Speaking of showing up in one of the strips, check out Trudeau's evisceration of Palin in this one from Sunday.

And since I brought up the authors of Blind Allegiance, I guess I should probably report that there is still some chance that they are planning to sue McGinniss over the leaked manuscript:

One of the three co-authors of a Sarah Palin tell-all said he's weighing his options -- including whether to sue -- over the unauthorized leak of the book's manuscript. 

Ken Morris said he spent tens of thousands of dollars on attorneys to try to fight the leak -- more than he made from "Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin: A Memoir of Our Tumultuous Years." The tell-all by former Palin aide Frank Bailey was also written with blogger Jeanne Devon. The book was eventually published in May though Morris and Devon have said they struggled to find a publisher. 

Rival author Joe McGinniss was accused of helping leak the manuscript in February. McGinniss, a best-selling author, made headlines last year when he moved next door to Palin in Wasilla, Alaska, as he researched his own book, which is due out later this month. 

McGinniss' attorney Dennis Holahan has acknowledged McGinniss sent a copy to media outlets and others in Alaska but said he told them not to reproduce any of it without the authors' permission. A message left for Holahan wasn't immediately returned Friday. 

Bailey's book was published in May though Morris and Devon have said they struggled to find a publisher. Morris said in an interview that he believes tens of thousands of copies of the draft manuscript were downloaded after the leak and said the manuscript became "one of the most Googled stories" in the world. He said he hired attorneys and cease-and-desist orders went to publications and file-share sites.

I know that many of you feel very frustrated at how all of this played out, and yes there is reason to be especially pissed off at certain parties, but I would still discourage any of you from cancelling your pre-orders of "The Rogue."

Joe CAN be a curmudgeonly pain in the ass, but he is ALSO a very fine author, and his book may be perhaps the best, and most damaging, one written about the Grizzled Mama.

Update: It looks like Andrew Sullivan agrees with me about Joe's book.

But having now read Joe McGinniss's "The Rogue," I can safely say that reality is about to re-attach to her. Finally! Some actual, reported, unafraid journalism on this farce of a candidate. Pre-order it now.