Arizona man shoots friend in torso with new gun. Because that's what guns are for.

Oops.

Courtesy of ABC 15:  

A man was taken to the hospital from the Arizona State Fairgrounds after he was accidentally shot by his friend, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety. 

DPS said a man was inspecting a semi-automatic handgun that he had recently purchased when he accidentally shot his friend in the torso. The victim was taken to a hospital and is expected to be OK. 

The Arizona Exposition and State Fair website says the Crossroads of the West Gun Show is taking place at the fairgrounds this weekend. 

Signs outside of the exhibit hall say 'No Loaded Guns' allowed. 

Well clearly this is a case of a good guy with a gun stopping a bad friend with a.....I don't know, attitude problem?

But hey the state fair is covered, after all they did put up a sign and everything.

Seriously what else could they have done? It's not like they can stop selling guns on a fairgrounds full of innocent people and children or anything.

Bristol Palin posts old photos to wish her father a happy birthday. Still better than his wife did for him.

Courtesy of Bristol's Pikore account: 

Happy Birthday Dad!!!!!! Best Friends!!! Loves me the most 😜 #ididntcauseasinglegrayhair

Happy 51st Dad!!! Thank you for all you do for all five of your crazy kids, we love and appreciate you more than words could describe!!

Of course the "wife" was a little busy today, what with vomiting forth word salad with moosenugget croutons on CNN, and then later going to the Alaska State Fair to flirt with this guy.

Patriotic superstar Lee Brice let his out-of-this-world band climb a glacier, fish a river, and meet country music's biggest fans before putting on a rip roarin' show at the Alaska State Fair... best part was his tear-jerking tribute to the United States Military! Hoohah, Lee Brice! Fun to do what we do every year at this time right before winter roars in - family time at the Fair. Glad the kids and cousins got to meet Lee! 

Pres. Obama just changed the name "Mt. McKinley" to "Denali"... controversy ensued; here at the concert with niece, McKinley (in green hat), looked for my other niece, Denali... no controversy there - family's as diverse as ever! 

Still harping on the Denali/McKinley thing isn't she? Which apparently is so much more important than spending the day with your official purse carrier, and the guy stuck with raising your kids, on his 51st birthday.

Oh well, I'm sure that by now Todd has found somebody else to keep him warm at night.

Donald Trump continues to attack the decision to invade Iraq, and Jeb Bush for defending it.

So first there was this exchange at the Iowa State Fair between Jeb Bush and a well informed member of the audience as captured by NPR: 

BUSH: First of all, the Iraqis want our help. They want to know that we have skin in the game, that we're committed to this. We don't have to... 

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: They booted us out in 2011. 

BUSH: Excuse me? 

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: We had to get out in 2011. 

BUSH: We didn't have to get out in 2011. 

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: Your brother signed the deal. 

BUSH: It could've been modified and that was the expectation. Everybody in Iraq and everybody in Washington knew that this deal could've been expanded and now... 

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: Your brother signed a bad deal.

Okay all on its own that is pretty damning stuff right there, but later Donald Trump was asked about the exchange: 

“He said ‘skin in the game.’ I don’t know if you saw his recent statement…We’ve spent two trillion dollars, thousands of lives lost, wounded warriors who I love all over the place. And he said we have to prove we have skin in the game. I think it may be one of the dumbest statements I ever heard.” 

Trump concluded that thought by saying Jeb should apologize to the families affected by the war.

I dislike virtually everything about Donald Trump, but the fact that he keeps calling out Jebbie and his brother over the Iraq War as a candidate currently vying for the Republican nomination is awesome and I LOVE that shit.

In other Trump news he actually did give those Iowa kids rides on his helicopter, after being told by the Iowa State Fair organizers that he wouldn't be allowed to do that.

I guess when you have billions of dollars people don't get to tell you what you can and can't do.

Which includes calling bullshit on Jeb Bush's defense of his brother's presidency apparently.

Thirty seven year old man accidentally shoots himself in the groin while attending the Alaska State Fair.

Courtesy of Alaska Dispatch:  

A 37-year-old man was flown to a hospital Tuesday evening from the Alaska State Fair grounds after he accidentally fired a bullet into his lower pelvic region, according to officials with Palmer’s Department of Public Safety. 

The unidentified man, his wife and two young children had left the fair and walked to their vehicle in the parking lot near the equestrian center, said Jon Owen, director of public safety in Palmer. 

“The children were buckled into the car and he was getting in,” Owen said. “He took his gun out of the holster to put into the door. His finger went onto the trigger and a round was fired.”

By the way even though this is Alaska firearms are NOT permitted on fair grounds.

I am sure that this idiot believed he was keeping his family safe from a possible attack by rabid corn dogs or something, and decided the rules did not apply to him.

I wonder how safe his family, not to mention his family jewels, feel now?

Sarah Palin welcomes "surprise" guests to the Wasilla compound.

Okay this has to be a setup.

I have seen other people "drop in" on Palin, such as Larry the Cable Guy, and Palin was less than pleased to see them.

So this appears to be yet another attempt to portray herself as approachable and down home.

A couple of things interesting to note is that Palin clearly has an actual camera guy handling her videos, and family members are NOT the ones behind them as we have imagined, and Palin is all done up for a video which means that the "surprise" guests catch her at her best.

They are also wearing Yarmulke's for reasons that I am not Jewish enough to understand, but you will notice that she works both Israel and Netanyahu into the conversation.

There is also an unnecessarily nasty shot at the now deceased Joe McGinniss, proving that nobody holds a grudge like a Palin. AND she gets the opportunity to bring Trig into the conversation.

I will also point out that Palin's contention that nobody in Alaska has a fence is an outright lie.

And by the way she had her fence before McGinniss moved in. Todd simply added to it in order to make a show of protecting their privacy.

Which of course was ridiculous.

I call bullshit on the entire video. 

Alaskans to give Duck Dynasty the cold shoulder.

Courtesy of TMZ:  

Life's not always fair if you're part of the "Duck Dynasty" brood. We've learned they've been invited to the Alaska State Fair ... but there are already cries of boycott. 

The Robertsons were hired to do a town hall of sorts, telling stories about their lives and their beliefs. But those beliefs include Phil's views on homosexuality ... including his observation that a man's anus is no match for a woman's vagina ... and therefore the boycott. 

We're told there's a groundswell from people who want to either get the Fair to cancel the gig or -- if necessary -- disrupt the gig. 

State Fair officials tell us ... they don't endorse all of Phil's views ... but they believe his core value is family ... something near and dear to Alaskans ... so the appearance WON'T be cancelled. 

Yeah you know I think the Robertson clan might want to watch their P's and Q's while visiting Alaska.

First off Alaskans do not take well to phonies.

The REAL Robertson family

Second, we have a rather proud gay community up here who would dearly love to disrupt this event and make national headlines while doing so.

And third it might be worth noting that while the rest of the country was still trying to get a handle on Sarah Palin, we ran her ass out of office. 

So we have no problem playing hardball.

You know, now that I think about it, perhaps August 30th would be the best day to go to the fair.

Guess who's coming to Alaska.

Courtesy of Alaska Dispatch:

Duck Dynasty stars coming to Alaska State Fair: Get ready, Alaska. The Alaska State Fair announced Wednesday that the stars of Duck Dynasty, the hit A&E channel show, will be hosting "An Evening with the Robertsons." That includes revered matriarch, Miss Kay, blue-cup-holding, story-telling Uncle Si and brothers Jep and Alan, as they "share insights into their family life, booming business and the filming of A&E’s most-watched series." Also included is Phil, the "Duck Commander" himself, who weathered controversy last year after making homophobic remarks in an interview with GQ. The evening is scheduled for Aug. 30. Tickets go on sale May 2.

As if we don't already have enough racist rednecks up here. 

Well you know that the Lunatic from Lake Lucille will certainly not let this opportunity pass without trying to take advantage of it in some way.

However there is some question as to whether the Robertson clan would welcome her participation in anything they would do up here, or whether she would be willing to show her face in Palmer which is only a hop, skip, and a drunken stumble away from Wasilla. (I can guarantee she would be greeted with boo's.)

Well I haven't decided if I am going to the State Fair this year or not, but I can assure you that I will not be there on May 2nd.

Does anybody really think that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan receive THIS kind of reaction when they visit a state fair?

President Barack Obama gets a hug from Joy Dannelly as he visits the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa, August 13

Now the President is not the ONLY popular member of the Obama family. Here is his much more popular wife on last night's Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
There the Obama's go, being adorable again.

You can see the next two segments by clicking here.

(H/T to the Obama Diary for the photos.)

Seriously Michele Bachmann, seriously? Update!

Okay now this is supposedly a serious Presidential candidate, trying her best to shrug off the mantle of Tea Party wingnut, she should know better than to allow herself to be photographed like this.

This is the kind of crap that Palin is always pulling. I don't like Bachmann's policies, or essentially anything about her, but I thought she was too professional and self aware to have allowed something like this to happen.

But she did allow it, leaving us with NO choice but to make immature juvenile cracks at her expense.

Here I'll start:

"Oh this is one of those corndog thingies. Fortunately my husband Marcus taught all about how to eat one of these like a lady. Somebody hold my hair."

I did not know that Viagra sponsored a booth at the fair??

Suddenly Sarah Palin realized that Todd had run over to the other side of the fairground and was now carrying Michele Bachmann's purse.

Okay I have a million more, but then I will just have to spend the rest of the day apologizing to the ladies that come here, so I will leave the rest up sick twisted minds of my visitors.  Have fun!

Update: Since so many of you sent me the link to this picture, I guess I really have no choice.

"You don't need to squint Marcus. Nothing is spraying out of this one."

Yes I know I am going to hell. The only question is how close will my seat be to the flames?

Wisconsinites drown Scott Walker out at State Fair with chants of "Shame."

 Courtesy of WISN.com:

Political protesters shouted down Gov. Scott Walker Thursday as he officially declared the fair open for business.

From the moment Walker stepped on stage for the State Fair opening ceremony, a group of protesters in the crowd tried to shout him down.

But Walker carried on, trying not to let it interfere with his message, or the fair itself.

"Eight hundred thousand people are going to be here this week, and that handful of people will not distract the majority. People from around the state and around the Midwest are going to come and have a fun time," Walker said.

There was a also a strong showing of Walker supporters in the crowd, but they appeared outnumbered and outshouted by the anti-Walker protesters.

If this is any indication of Walker's political future in Wisconsin it doesn't exactly look very bright.

Perhaps a lesson to others that putting corporations ahead of your constituents is going to bite you in the ass in the long run.