LA police department launches investigation into sexual assault charges against Steven Seagal.

Courtesy of HuffPo: 

The Los Angeles Police Department has launched a sexual assault investigation against actor Steven Seagal, who in recent weeks has faced several allegations of sexual misconduct including rape, according to multiple reports. 

A spokesperson for the LAPD told CBS News that the incident allegedly occurred in 2005. No other details of the case have been made public. 

Several women, including actresses Portia de Rossi, Julianna Margulies and Rae Dawn Chong, have recently accused Seagal of sexual harassment. In a November tweet, de Rossi claimed Seagal “unzipped his leather pants” during an audition in the actor’s office. Margulies said Seagal had attempted to sexually harass her in his apartment when she was 23, and Chong accused Seagal of once showing her “his junk” in his hotel room and leaving her multiple “sex messages” on her machine. 

A woman named Regina Simons, who worked as an extra on the 1994 film “On Deadly Ground,” which starred Seagal, told The Wrap this month that the actor raped her at his home.

All in all more than a dozen women have accused Seagal of sexual misconduct.

Now this is important. not so much because Seagal is a Hollywood star (He isn't.), but because of who he is now associated with politically.

In recent years Seagal has become besties with Vladimir Putin (He was even awarded Russian citizenship.) and has gone out of his way to defend him a number of times, including most recently against charges that he interfered in our election:

Seagal defended Russia by responding that “every country is involved in espionage,” and denied that Putin had “anything to do with fixing” the U.S. election – all while pronouncing Putin’s name with a hardcore Russian accent. 

The actor concluded that the belief that Russia interfered with the U.S. election is the result of “astronomical propaganda,” and meant as some sort of “diversion.”

Seagal is also, of course, a Trump supporter, and has been a friend for years.

He has even been photographed hanging out with other Russian agents.

So yes this case will prove very interesting to watch for a number of reasons.

Somebody left an unidentified package on Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin's driveway. But don't worry according to the LAPD bomb squad its just good old American horse manure.

Steve Mnuchin and his wife earning a gift of horse poop.

Courtesy of the New York Daily News:  

Los Angeles police got a whiff of horse manure intended for Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin at his Bel-Air home Saturday night. 

A neighbor discovered the Christmas-themed package on the driveway of the Trump cabinet member around 5:30 p.m. local time and called police, a Los Angeles Police Department official said. 

The bomb squad opened the gift-wrapped surprise and found a “pretty good quantity” of horse manure inside, LAPD Sgt. Briggs said.

Local authorities wrapped up their investigation at the Bel-Air home a short time later and Briggs said the Secret Service would be picking up the box of feces on Sunday.

I typically do not like gags like this, as I find them childish and immature.

Having said that this is a pretty good childish and immature gag.

And they gift wrapped it, which is such a nice touch.

Perhaps Mnuchin can start following EPA Director Scott Pruitt's example and start having his office, and driveway, swept for unwelcome packages of feces.

Just a thought.

Have a happy Christmas Eve folks. 

Russia, who just used Facebook to help undermine our democracy, wants to make sure they have control over it in their country. Update!

Courtesy of the Los Angeles Times:

In its latest attempt to wrest control of the internet, Russia's communications agency has threatened to block access to Facebook if the company refuses to store its data locally. 

Alexander Zharov, chief of the Federal Communications Agency, told Russian news agencies Tuesday that they will work to “make Facebook comply with the law” on personal data, which obliges foreign companies to store it in Russia. Critics have slammed the law, which took effect in 2015, for potentially exposing the data to Russian intelligence agencies. 

Zharov said that the Russian government understands Facebook is a “unique service” but that it will not make exceptions and will have to block it next year if Facebook does not comply. 

Last year, Russia blocked business-focused social network LinkedIn after a court ruled it violated the law on data storage. LinkedIn is available in Russia only if accessed via proxy servers.

Sounds like Facebook wants to maintain control over who uses Facebook, and how they use it in their country.

In other news this is how Russia used the social platform to manipulate OUR fellow citizens.

Courtesy of WaPo:   

The batch of more than 3,000 Russian-bought ads that Facebook is preparing to turn over to Congress shows a deep understanding of social divides in American society, with some ads promoting African American rights groups, including Black Lives Matter, and others suggesting that these same groups pose a rising political threat, say people familiar with the covert influence campaign. 

The Russian campaign — taking advantage of Facebook’s ability to send contrary messages to different groups of users based on their political and demographic characteristics — also sought to sow discord among religious groups. Other ads highlighted support for Democrat Hillary Clinton among Muslim women. 

These targeted messages, along with others that have surfaced in recent days, highlight the sophistication of an influence campaign slickly crafted to mimic and infiltrate U.S. political discourse while also seeking to heighten tensions between groups already wary of one another.

Clearly the Kremlin understands the potential power of Facebook, having used it against us, and they do not want anybody else to have that power to manipulate them as well.

On the one hand that is smart.

On the other hand, fuck these guys.

I think Facebook should not only allow themselves to be banned in Russia, but also only allow Russians who have been thoroughly vetted, and DON'T have any ties to the Kremlin, use Facebook.

Update: Politico has more on who was targeted:

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein was the beneficiary of at least one of the Russian-bought political ads on Facebook that federal government officials suspect were intended to influence the 2016 election. 

Other advertisements paid for by shadowy Russian buyers criticized Hillary Clinton and promoted Donald Trump. Some backed Bernie Sanders and his platform even after his presidential campaign had ended, according to a person with knowledge of the ads.

The pro-Stein ad came late in the political campaign and pushed her candidacy for president, this person said. 

“Choose peace and vote for Jill Stein,” the ad reads. “Trust me. It’s not a wasted vote. … The only way to take our country back is to stop voting for the corporations and banks that own us. #GrowaSpineVoteJillStein.” 

The ads show a complicated effort that didn’t necessarily hew to promoting Trump and bashing Clinton. Instead, they show a desire to create divisions while sometimes praising Trump, Sanders and Stein. A number of the ads seemed to question Clinton’s authenticity and tout some of the liberal criticisms of her candidacy.

As I have stated before, if you did not vote for Hillary Clinton there is a strong possibility that the Kremlin made you their little bitch. 

Let the impeachment marches begin!

Courtesy of Mic: 

On July 2, there will be marches demanding Trump's impeachment in at least a 20 across the country. Organized by a group of activists based in Los Angeles, the nationwide demonstration will demand Democrats take immediate action — that is, if impeachment doesn't come first. 

"We want impeachment," Stephanie Tatro, one of the central organizers of the Impeachment March, said in an interview. "A handful of our reps haven't been shy about speaking out against Trump, and we support them, we want them to continue to take strong action toward impeachment." 

So far, the biggest march will be in Los Angeles where Tatro and her fellow organizers worked on the Tax March. They also worked with Indivisible, the grassroots protest group leading the disruptions at Republican town halls over the past three months.

But even without much promotion, there are already a number of sister marches in the works in cities like New Orleans, Phoenix, Cleveland and San Diego. It's a young project, and the organizers are seeking out larger left-leaning partners to help grow their small movement. They hope to see local groups across the country glom on and start their own marches. 

Oh yeah I think I can manage to free up some time for an impeachment march or two this summer.

Reminds me of those rallies demanding that Sarah Palin quit her job as governor.

It worked back then, and remember she was not being investigated for colluding with the Russians to steal an election.

Man with large gun collection uses one to kill his wife and two others over washing machine dispute. Son exercises his 2nd Amendment rights by killing him as well.

Courtesy of NBC Los Angeles:  

A man shot and killed his wife and two others in his home in eastern Los Angeles County on New Year's Eve before his son wrestled the gun away and fatally shot him after a possible dispute over a washing machine, authorities said. 

The two other victims killed were the son's 48-year-old girlfriend, who also lives at the house in Rowland Heights and a 27-year-old man who was visiting, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said Friday. 


The 54-year-old man, whose name has not been released, allegedly pulled out a semi-automatic pistol and opened fire. His 33-year-old son, identified as Christopher Morey, wrestled the gun from his father and shot him once, killing the man, according to the sheriff's department. 

The 54-year-old father was a heavy drinker with a large gun collection, and authorities had made dozens of previous trips to the home, the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department said. Deputies said they have responded to 25 calls for service within the last three years at the address where the shootings occurred.

The son was arrested and is currently in jail on a with bail set at a cool million dollars, because apparently when you take a gun away from the shooter he is no longer considered a threat so then shooting him is, pardon the pun, overkill. 

So to sum up this heavy drinker who owned a pile of guns, had frequent visits from the authorities, but still managed to hang on to them so that he could murder his wife and two others over a washing machine kerfuffle, and then die at the hands of his son with his own gun.

Really lived the ole NRA dream didn't he?

Los Angeles closes all schools in response to "credible" terrorist threat.

Courtesy of the LA Times:

Officials closed all Los Angeles Unified School District campuses Tuesday morning after receiving a "credible threat" of violence involving backpacks and packages left at campuses. 

Authorities said they plan a search operation of all of the LAUSD's more than 900 schools. The nation's second-largest school district has more than 700,000 students. 

 “I think it’s important to take this precaution based on what has happened recently and what has happened in the past,” LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines said. 

The move comes less than two weeks after two shooters killed 14 people in San Bernardino in what was the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil since Sept. 11. 

I saw that superintendent on the news this morning and he looked a little shaken up, saying that they receive threats all of the time but the specificity of this one convinced them to respond in this way.

And of course this is EXACTLY what the terrorists hope to achieve by launching attacks here in this country or simply threatening an attack.  They have managed to completely disrupt the lives of thousands of children and their parents, and caused widespread panic in the second largest city in America.

Welcome to the new normal in America.

It looks like Sarah Palin is finally going Hollywood. Well sorta.

Courtesy of LA Weekly:  

Sarah Palin is scheduled to speak to Hollywood conservative group Friends of Abe Friday, a source with knowledge of the situation says. 

The location is Brentwood's Luxe Sunset Boulevard Hotel, the same venue that hosted Donald Trump in July, the source, who did not want to be identified, said. 

The occasion is the FOA's holiday party, the source said, and it'll be the first time a speaker will be featured at the annual event. 

The onetime governor and vice presidential candidate is expected to deliver remarks about the "war on Christmas," the recurring controversy that reemerged this month when Starbucks unveiled red, holiday-neutral cups for the season.

You know I think if Abraham Lincoln were to actually meet these "Friends of Abe" he would probably vomit right into his beard.

Well IF Palin is actually going to this event, then she might also make the last book signing on her schedule at the Oak Tree Gun Club in California.

However considering the fact that her recent appearances have attracted smaller crowds than a garage sale in the Sahara, she just might quit on this as well.

After all, that is what she is most famous for doing.

Man had 1,200 guns and two tons of ammunition. Died anyway.

Courtesy of Mediaite: 

The Los Angeles Police Department is looking into the death of a man whose decomposing body was found in his car just a short drive away from his Pacific Palisades condo. When authorities looked around his house, however, they were astonished to find that the deceased was packing some serious heat. 

The L.A. Times reported that LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith was “staggered” to find approximately 1,200 guns and two tons of ammunition inside the man’s house and garage. Officers found that many of the guns still had their packaging and price tags, and the mint-condition pieces ranged from handguns, to shotguns, to sniper rifles. 

“Our truck couldn’t carry it all,” Smith said. “We had to go back and make another trip.”

Here is more from NBC Los Angeles: 

"The boxes of ammunition were out behind the garage and they were just lots of them, piled at least 8-feet tall, and the pile just kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger," said a neighbor, who did not want to be identified. 

Police were trying to determine the origin of the guns and whether they were legally being kept at the home.

And even more from the LA Times:

Several neighbors said the man was known only as “Bob” in the local area and described him as a gun fanatic who claimed to have worked covertly for either the FBI or the CIA. His fiancée had lived in the town home on Palisades Drive for years, they said. 

“He'll say crazy things to people like he does night missions swimming to Catalina,” said one neighbor, who declined to give her name, saying she was afraid. “He would come … and tell us he would show us self-defense moves.” 

Gee, I wonder what talk radio programs and cable news programs THIS guy watched?

Okay be honest, at first glance you thought this had to be Sarah Palin didn't you?

Courtesy of the LA Times:  

A Lake Los Angeles woman is expected to be arraigned Friday on charges that she bludgeoned her boyfriend to death with cans of peas, carrots and chicken broth, prosecutors said. 

Linda Clarene Jackson, 59, is charged with one count of murder in connection with the death Tuesday of her boyfriend, David Ruiz, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. She also faces allegations that she used the canned foods as a deadly weapon. She had been convicted in 2005 of making threats.

Death by canned food, you just know that this is the fate most likely awaiting Todd Palin. 

"Go ahead, say one more Goddamn word and we'll see if your skull is can proof."

Teenager shoots himself in the head playing Russian Roulette. Now who could have seen that coming?

Courtesy of ABC News Los Angeles:

Sheriff's officials say a 17-year-old in unincorporated Torrance has died after accidentally shooting himself in the head playing Russian roulette. 

Authorities responded to the 900 block of West Carson Street just after midnight. The teen was rushed to a local hospital, where he was declared dead a short time later. 

The preliminary investigation revealed that the teen had produced a .38-caliber special revolver and stated that he was going to play Russian roulette. Two minors who were present in the bedroom were pleading with him not do it.

Look I don't want to tell ABC News how to do their job, but typically when somebody puts a gun up to their head and pulls the trigger, that cannot be categorized as "accidentally."

I can see it now soon people will start blaming violent video games, and possibly "The Deer Hunter" for this accident.

But let's face it stupid kids do stupid things every single day. Hell every single minute it seems.

However if they do not have access to firearms it greatly reduces the number of deaths that result from those stupid choices, and hell it reduces the number of "accidental" shootings to zero.

Simply put unless you are living in the middle of nowhere surrounded by dangerous animals, or currently fighting for your life in a zombi apocalypse, there is simply no good reason for seventeen year old boys to have access to guns without adult supervision.

Todd Palin has something to say about Chris Kyle and "American Sniper." You may have to lean in as he has a tiny feminine voice.

This is from Breitbart so remember to hold your nose if you click the link.

I love how they headline it:

EXCLUSIVE — TODD PALIN: ‘HEARTLAND’ CAN SEE THROUGH LIBERAL HOLLYWOOD ABOUT CHRIS KYLE, RECORD-BREAKING ‘AMERICAN SNIPER’

Make is sound to serious and like Todd Palin has ANY idea of what he is talking about.

Here are a few of the portions without all of the Breitbart bullshit surrounding them to make them sound literate.

First on meeting Chris Kyle: 

And then it was an honor for me and others to participate in Stars Earn Stripes with Chris and others in the military. You can have a conversation with somebody but until you’re side-by-side in the trenches with somebody, then you really know somebody. These guys, being a sniper, being out ahead of his unit and saving lives, Chris was just a good man, an expert in his field and he was one heck of a teacher.

I sounds like somebody might have had themselves a little man crush.

And where are these "trenches" he is babbling about?

Does he mean the dangerous trenches of Los Angeles.

On Kyle's abilities as a teacher:

He and Dean Cain were partnered up in Stars Earn Stripes and he turned Dean into a sharpshooter—and Dean was an excellent student. I can’t say how much Chris was a great instructor, along with all the other military ops. And that just goes to show you with their training and dedication and discipline. From spending time with him on the show and out on the trail, and at different functions, was just a true honor and I just can’t say enough about our troops. It’s just an honor to spend time with them and to stand shoulder to shoulder with them and learn just a little bit about what they were trained to do and what some of the missions were. It was unbelievable.

Oh God he speaks just like his dipshit wife.

And what does "I can’t say how much Chris was a great instructor, along with all the other military ops" mean? Is that supposed to be a compliment, or is he saying that he was sworn to secrecy so he can't say?

Time to remind everybody that the Palins have a son in the military: 

As father and mother, Sarah and I witnessed our son [Track] go through boot camp. It’s just an unbelievable process. You have an 18-year-old go down to boot camp and then you go down there a few months later when they graduate from boot camp and they’re just mentally strong, physically strong and have all the respect in the world for their drill sergeant because their drill sergeant is right next to you climbing up that mountain or running the five miles. But it just shows years of training, dedication and protecting freedom and liberty. That’s the motto of our military.

Sucks they couldn't get him off drugs though, am I right?

Well that's enough kissing up to the military and playing fan boy to Chris Kyle, time to attack Hollywood:  

They spend their lifetimes trying to have a successful movie like the American Sniper so they’re jealous of the success of the American Sniper. So, of course, there’s a double standard where they say ‘do as I say, not as I do’ and when you look at the last few years in America, Chris Kyle is a true American hero. People are just craving for that and that’s why the movie is such a success. He’s an American hero and that’s why people are going to continue to pack the theaters to see the show and it’s going to break all kinds of records. My hat’s off to Clint Eastwood and Bradley Cooper—they did an outstanding job.

"People are just craving for that?" WTF?

Yeah Cooper and Eastwood are all right, but the rest of  the elites in Hollywood are assholes:

Their true colors definitely show. They like to bring that attention to themselves. That’s the motivation. It’s this group mentality of “I’m going to slam this guy and I’m going to get rewarded by my friends for standing up and making a statement” but heartland America can see through it all. And that’s why American Sniper is a huge success.

Yes Hollywood sucks so hard that virtually EVERY member of the Palin household has participated in multiple reality shows or appeared as a contestant on a celebrity game show.

And by the way Alaska is thousands of miles away from the "heartland of America." Or has he forgotten that we are "The Last Frontier."

Well one thing we know for sure, Todd did not borrow Sarah or Bristol's ghostwriter for this interview. That is clearly 100% percent bonafide Todd Palin stupidity.

Best reaction to the earthquake in LA today.

You know I realize that was kind of comical looking but there are heavy lights hanging over the heads of those anchors and diving under the desk like cowards could have been the only thing that saved their lives.

It kind of reminds me of when I was kid and we had a substitute teacher from out of state, who reacted to a short, but rather powerful, underground jolt by screaming, diving under her desk, and yelling at the class to do the same.

Instead we sat there laughing at her.

She never really did get our attention again for the rest of that class.

By the way Dennis Zaki is in LA right now working on some TV deals, and when I e-mailed him to ask if he had felt the quake he wrote back, "Nope, sleeping."

LA Sheriff tells Washington that if we don't pay for more preschools today, we will pay for more prisons tomorrow.

Courtesy of The Washington Post: 

The man who runs the nation’s largest jail system came to Washington on Monday to promote what he considers a potent tool in crime-fighting: universal pre-school. 

Los Angeles County Sheriff Leroy Baca is heading a lobbying effort by more than 1,000 police chiefs, sheriffs and prosecutors to convince Congress to enact the Obama administration’s plan to expand preschool to every 4-year-old in the country. 

“Either you have to pay now (for preschool), or you’re going to have to pay a guy like me later,” Baca said. He oversees a jail system with 19,000 inmates. 

About 60 percent of those behind bars in Los Angeles are high school dropouts, said Baca, adding that many struggled in school because they did not have the benefit of preschool during their earliest years. 

“When children go to preschool, they get to kindergarten with social confidence,” said Baca, 71, who worked as a part-time teacher in middle and high school and adult education classes for 30 years, in addition to his criminal justice career. 

“They’re more sensitive about others,” Baca said. “You don’t steal from people as easily (if you attend preschool), you’re not as destructive, you acquire the skills to be socially engaged at an early age.” 

Advances in neuroscience over the past decade suggest that the window between birth and age 5 is a critical period of rapid learning and brain development. 

“I would rather invest in children than in jails,” said Baca, who is heading a new group known as Fight Crime: Invest in Kids. The Los Angeles County jail spends about $35,000 a year to house and feed each inmate, he said.

This guy is SO playing my song! I have been saying this for decades now!

That is one of the reasons that I advocate so hard for better schools and higher teacher pay.

Simply put you either invest in children early or you subsidize failing adults later.

The sweet spot, when working with kids, is that four to six year old age span in my opinion. At that time they are essentially absorbing everything they see, touch, and hear. 

If you start them early on the path of loving to learn, and increasing their confidence in their abilities, it will see them through all kinds of challenges later on in life.

I have seen when the system fails children, and in almost EVERY case the damage had been done at the very earliest stage of their development.

Getting children access to good nutrition, a positive learning environment, and a place where they can feel safe and nurtured, does not only positively affect them, it positively affects all of us.

To put it bluntly, the Republicans are all about cutting education costs and building larger prisons, so we should all be for spending whatever it takes on education in order to tear down prison walls later. Because no matter how you slice it you are going to pay. At one end or the other.

And the later costs are substantially higher then the earlier investment. Trust me on that.

First actual news report confirming the Melissa Rivers/Bristol Palin "Celebrity Wife Swap" reality show segment.

"Mom always said that even bad attention is better than NO attention. Right?"

Courtesy of USA Today:

 Bristol Palin just can't get enough reality TV. 

The double Dancing With the Stars alum, who also starred in her own reality show for Lifetime, is now kicking off a new season of Celebrity Wife Swap. 

On June 23 (ABC, 8 p.m. ET), Bristol and sister Willow Palin will trade lives with Joan Rivers and her daughter, Melissa. Bristol Palin poses on June 26, 2011.(Photo: Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY) 

Bristol and her son, Tripp, 4, live in Wasilla, Alaska, with Willow. Needless to say, snow in May is a surprise for L.A.-based Melissa and Joan, who arrive to find that Tripp rules the roost. According to ABC's release, Melissa "finds it a challenge to deal with Tripp's boyish exuberance." She thinks he needs more structure and a daily routine. 

Meanwhile, at the Rivers' L.A. home, which doubles as a television production office and the set of three TV shows, every day is scheduled to the minute for Melissa's son Cooper, 12. The house bustles with cameras and crews, but the family makes sure to always sit down for dinner together. Bristol is surprised by it all, and vows to lighten things up. (Yeah good luck with that!)


 "Melissa and Joan arrive to find that Tripp rules the roost."

Oh great, so we get to see  yet ANOTHER television program which showcases Bristol's terrible parenting skills.

I swear these people just continue to invite ridicule at every opportunity.

By the way, and I think this should be noted, I am Facebook friends with Sunny and in her posts about Levi's time with Tripp the boy looks extremely happy and seems to be quite well behaved.

I'm just saying.

Tonight is the premiere of the completely unnecessary, and unwanted, reality show "LIfe's a Tripp." Gee, I wonder what the critics have to say about it? Update!

"Palin cakes are supposed to be lopsided. Now let me cut your finger for daring to criticize me."

Here are just a few snippets of what critics have to say about Bristol's most recent public flame out, courtesy of the Hollywood Reporter:  

Los Angeles Times' Robert Lloyd describes the show as being "about two sisters, temporarily billeted in a Beverly Hills mansion, mostly complaining about Los Angeles, each other and their lives." 

"Anyone expecting an unvarnished, unmeditated look at [Bristol's] life or any substantial take on the challenges it represents, or seems to -- her child-care issues stem from not wanting to hire 'some random baby-sitter,' not from a lack of wherewithal -- will be disappointed," he adds. 

Lori Rackl of the Chicago Sun-Times likewise is less than impressed, calling the show the "Alaskan Kardashians" in that it mostly features "Bristol and Willow shopping, squabbling and engaging in vapid conversations." 

Adds Rackl: "The series is supposed to illustrate Bristol’s journey into womanhood, but it feels like the show is a few years too early for that. It’s also supposed to portray how difficult it is to be a young, single mom. In that respect, the show’s too late. MTV has been there, done that — and done it much better with shows like Teen Mom, 16 and Pregnant and Caged.” 

Hank Stuever of the Washington Post says even the haters should stay away: "Even if you have a lasting grudge against all things Palin, there’s no payoff here. It’s a new low for anyone who makes the mistake of watching." 

He also writes that the show follows the cliched reality show formula too closely. 

“Life’s a Tripp stumbles blindly over the ghostly rubble and ruined format of what was once commonly known as a reality show," he writes. "There are sport utility vehicles in which to ride; boutiques in which to shop; Starbuckses in which to argue. There are microphone packs clipped to waistlines and bra straps. There are staged conversations during which one idly examines one’s split ends while the other person is talking. There is the furnished Beverly Hills mansion, redolent in its Bachelorette and Simpson-Lachey decor, smelling faintly of failed enterprises, pool chlorine and compromised souls." 

David Wiegand of the San Francisco Chronicle writes that the show is "not very interesting, and you probably wouldn't watch if [Bristol] wasn't [Sarah Palin's daughter.]"

And of course as I mentioned before there are a number of others as well that do not hold out much hope for this latest Palin attempt to regain relevance.

When was the last time that a reality show attracted so many negative reviews before it had even premiered? And wasn't THAT also a show about the Palins that eventually got cancelled?

"Where's Tripp?"  "Who cares, I'm sure he's fine. Just keep smiling and sell this thing."

Courtesy of San Antonio Current: “Even though it seems like the media was trying to tear me down,” she says of being a controversial politician’s daughter, “my faith, my friends, and my family held me up.” 

I have to admit, that stings. Despite being a member of the “lamestream media,” as the Palins call it, I don’t like the idea of treating Bristol unfairly. So I have a wad of Kleenex that I promise to stuff into my mouth whenever I feel like saying something cruel about this self-described “simple small-town girl” who has no use for “the image thing.” 

Now, I do believe that some criticism of Life’s a Tripp is fair game, as when Bristol’s actions don’t match her oft-stated principles. For example, she spends so much time bragging about her motherly dedication to Tripp that I can’t help but notice she’s, um, raising him on a TV show that basically serves as a commercial for her brand. And for someone who’s so unconcerned with image, she sure spends a lot of time positioning herself as a down-to-earth family-values exemplar — in truth, not an easy sell for someone who’s had plastic surgery and done the bump-and-grind on Dancing with the Stars. 

The scene that really had me reaching for my wad of Kleenex, though, is the one where Bristol addresses a heckler in a bar. I expected a mature approach to the situation, since Life’s a Tripp is a showcase for Bristol’s supposed maturity. Instead she asks him, out of the blue, “Is it because you’re a homosexual?” 

Mpmfpfph!

Wow! Okay so here is yet another rather scathing review of Bristol's somewhat schizophrenic new reality show.

"I want to live normal life."

"Hey let's put everything we do on television."

"I am a grounded single mom."

"Willow! You just don’t realize how much harder this whole experience in California is going to be without you here. … I need you here with me.”

"Being a single mom is the toughest job!"

"............" (The response Levi usually gets back when he tries to get time with his son.)

From what I can tell reading the most recent reviews of the show, apparently NO ONE is buying the Palin bullshit anymore. From Rolling Stone magazine, to the uber conservative Washington Times, it seems that nobody can quite figure out why the show is even going to make it onto the airwaves, much less suggest that wee watch it.

You know rumors have long been spinning that this program is part of deal that Sarah made with Bristol, way back in 2009 (or perhaps even earlier), to help her live her dream. Which despite what the abstinence only hypocrite claims, was clearly to be in show business.

I know that the Palin trolls will be here in a few minutes claiming that Bristol just wants to live a simple life, and is a hard worker, and "grounded," and other BS like that. But we have all seen her untalented ass on DWTS, and observed her failed attempts to get this reality show launched for over a year now, so I don't think too many people are fooled by that particular brand of Palin mythology.

Clearly, as has been claimed more than a few times, Sarah has applied serious pressure to certain  entertainment folks to get this show on the air, despite an obvious lack of talent on Bristol's part, or any discernible audience awaiting its debut.

And if you don't believe that this was a payoff for Bristol to keep her mouth shut, and toe the Palin line, then perhaps you did not see where Bristol was sent to live while staying in LA.

So whose house do you think that is?  Mark Burnett's perhaps?

Bristol Palin on her new reality show. "I wanted to show how down-to-earth my family and I are." So this is on the Sci-Fi channel?

"Let me get this straight. I'M the star of the show and I STILL have to push my own stroller?"

Courtesy of TV Guide:

When a planned reality show about Bristol Palin and her Dancing With the Stars friend Kyle Massey and his actor brother, Chris, fell apart, Lifetime offered the daughter of former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin her own series instead. "I was game for it," says the 21-year-old single mom. "I wanted to show how down-to-earth my family and I are." (Translation: "I was desperate top get ANYTHING on the air after so many failures. If it takes riding my son's coattails to be on TV then so be it!")


The result: Bristol Palin: Life's a Tripp, a 14-episode show premiering June 19 that follows Bristol and her 3½-year-old son, Tripp, from their hometown in Wasilla, Alaska, to Los Angeles, where Palin takes a job with a nonprofit. (Is it ACTUALLY considered working at a non-profit if you are paid to be filmed "working " there?)


"My parents were skeptical at first," she admits. "But they know I'm responsible. I won't be getting drunk on TV. This isn't Jersey Shore. It's a family show." The most fun for her? "Watching my son grow up over the series — some of the stuff he says is hilarious!"

Pimping out your child to make money, now WHERE did Bristol ever learn that?

Does ANYBODY actually believe that this all happened without Sarah's "claw of manipulation" guiding the process? Yeah, not me either.

One has to wonder just what kind of "family show" this will be? (I assume something like the Addams Family only far creepier.)

Perhaps she will spend time teaching Tripp the importance of having a strong father figure in his life?

Or perhaps not.


What’s more, she has made sure that their son, Tripp, will at some point be treated to a worldview-shaping image of Dad as something akin to a date rapist. That’s the description of him immortalized in her memoir, one of her many efforts to monetize her surname. It recounts the loss of her virginity as a result of getting drunk and blacking out in the company of Levi, who pounced. What a gift that narrative is to Tripp, now being hauled into a TV reality show, “Bristol Palin: Life’s a Tripp,” already in production. Little children are known to thrive in such environments.

Or perhaps she will teach him how to dress in an appropriate manner before posting your picture on Facebook?

 Or not.

Well it is good to know she at least won't be getting drunk on the show. (You know like those Jersey Shore Twitter bitches!)

Been there, done that.

Yeah, you know I don't see ANYTHING positive coming out of this show for Tripp. Unless of course this finally wakes Levi the hell up and motivates him to start working to protect his son from this type of exploitation.

Or at the very least helps him get a lawyer to protect his slice of that reality show pie.

Hell his name is in the title! That should earn him at least SOME share of the profit.

Then, when he makes enough money, perhaps he can afford to buy a family that actually cares about HIM, and does not view him as a commodity to be monetized for the largest possible profit.

After all, a boy can dream can't he?