Longtime "Today Show" anchor Matt Lauer fired from NBC over allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct.

Matt Lauer has been terminated from NBC News. On Monday night, we received a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by Matt Lauer. As a result, we’ve decided to terminate his employment. pic.twitter.com/1A3UAZpvPb

— TODAY (@TODAYshow) November 29, 2017

Courtesy of NBC News: 

Matt Lauer, the anchor of "Today" for two decades, was fired by NBC News after a detailed complaint about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace. 

"Today" co-anchors Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb announced Lauer's firing Wednesday, telling viewers at the top of the show that they were processing his departure but didn't yet know all of the details. 

In a memo to employees sent Wednesday morning, NBC News Chairman Andrew Lack said the complaint, which was made by a colleague of Lauer's, prompted a serious review and represented a "clear violation of our company's standards."

Lack said it was the first complaint lodged against Lauer, 59, for his behavior since he took over as anchor of the show in 1997, but there was "reason to believe" it may not have been an isolated incident. 

"Our highest priority is to create a workplace environment where everyone feels safe and protected, and to ensure that any actions that run counter to our core values are met with consequences, no matter who the offender," Lack said.

Guthrie, who joined Lauer at the anchor desk in 2012, said she was "heartbroken" for both him and the "brave colleague who came forward to tell her story and any other women who have their stories to tell." 

"I'm sure we will be learning more details in the hours and days to come. And we promise we will share that with you," she said.

I predicted weeks ago that we would see people who we would never have suspected accused of sexual misconduct, and I have to say that this is certainly one of them.

One thing is for certain, NBC News is absolutely not going to waste any time once allegations are made.

And another thing that is for certain is that Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb are the very definition of grace under pressure.

It is quite clear that their heart is broken and yet they soldier on and do their job even through their tears.

Which only underlines the hypocrisy in this tweet from Trump this morning.

So now that Matt Lauer is gone when will the Fake News practitioners at NBC be terminating the contract of Phil Griffin? And will they terminate low ratings Joe Scarborough based on the “unsolved mystery” that took place in Florida years ago? Investigate!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 29, 2017

The fact that this POS continues to live in the White House while so many people are losing their jobs for far less egregious acts of sexual misconduct is a terrible injustice that I hope will someday be rectified. 

Donald Trump's answers on the Today Show this morning are causing anxiety attacks among the conservatives.

If @Caitlyn_Jenner walked into Trump Tower, what bathroom would @RealDonaldTrump suggest she use? #TrumpTODAY https://t.co/E6jLyif6ls

— TODAY (@TODAYshow) April 21, 2016

And that's not all, check this our courtesy of Today:

Q: Would you want to change the Republican platform so that exceptions would be made on abortions in the case of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother? 

A: "Absolutely, for the three exceptions, I would," he said. Trump was then pressed further and asked if he would make an exception to protect the "health" of the mother. "I would leave it for the life of the mother, but I would absolutely have the three exceptions." 

Q: Do you believe in raising taxes on the wealthy? 

A: "I do, I do, including myself. I do."

Somewhere Grover Nordquist is banging his head against the wall and screaming into his hand.

As for Trump's idea of changing the GOP platform on abortion, well that has certain groups pulling out their hair also: 

“The Republican Platform has always been solidly pro-life even when Republican candidates have not been,” said Vice President of March for Life Tom McClusky. “The Platform sets the standard that all candidates need to work from,” he said, and noted that suggesting the party weaken its position on the abortion issue “would set back years of hard work” for the movement.

I think we can all count on Donald Trump moving much more toward the center once he wins the nomination, and that should cause those of us on the Left more than a little concern.

After all Trump was also against the Iraq War while Hillary voted for it, and like Bernie Sanders he is also not a huge fan of trade deals, which Clinton has also approved.

In short Trump could very well find more support with the independents than many of us might like to believe.

Of course he is completely full of shit and is in actuality a megalomaniacal lunatic who should be kept as far away from the White House as humanly possible.  Which is something that I think we need to keep reminding people about.

Hillary Clinton's response to Bernie Sanders saying she is unqualified to be President.

Okay I thought that was fair and non-confrontational, unlike Sanders' response.

Speaking of Sanders' response this is how he responded to Charlie Rose on this topic yesterday:

Bernie Sanders is refusing to back down from his claim that Hillary Clinton is not "qualified" to be president, though he told CBS host Charlie Rose on Thursday that he only attacked her because she attacked him first. 

“Do you believe Secretary Clinton is unqualified to be president?” Rose asked the Vermont senator on CBS Evening News on Thursday.

“Well, does Secretary Clinton believe that I am unqualified to be president?” Sanders shot back. 

Is anybody else getting a distinct Donald Trump vibe here?

By the end of the interview Sanders had grudgingly acknowledged that Hillary Clinton would be better than any of the choices on the Republican side. 

Here is what Josh Marshall of TPM has to say about all of this:

All candidates, by definition, say that they're more qualified than their opponent. Various things Clinton said can be reasonably interpreted as questioning whether Sanders is up to the job of the presidency. But it is an entirely different matter when an opponent, in his own voice, says flatly his challenger is "unqualified" to serve as President of the country. That's something that cannot be unsaid. If Clinton is the nominee, it will undoubtedly be a staples of GOP stump speeches in the Fall. These are simple realities of political campaigns. Primaries that drag on get intense. Especially in the venomous and kinetic New York media environment. The Clinton operation has plenty of sharp elbows themselves. But it is incumbent on both candidates to fight hard and yet not say things that can't be unsaid - not always as easy thing to manage. Because it matters a lot on various fronts, what the candidate him or herself says, says explicitly. 

Hopefully from this point forward both the Sanders' camp and the Clinton camp will keep in mind that either one of them are far, far, far better than anyone being offered on the GOP side, and stop providing ammunition that will be used against the ultimate Democratic nominee in the general election. 

Sarah Palin's Today Show interview goes down in flames. Update!

Watch @SarahPalinUSA speak out on TODAY in exclusive interview. #IowaTODAY https://t.co/Kbol2A7w9x

— TODAY (@TODAYshow) February 1, 2016

Courtesy of Business Insider:  

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) bristled during a Monday interview on NBC's "Today" show when she was pressed about her provocative comments about her son's arrest and post-traumatic stress disorder. 

"You guys brought me here to talk about Iowa politics and the caucus tonight — not to talk about my kids," Palin said. "And that was a promise. But as things go in the world of media, you guys don't always keep your promises, evidently." 

"It's a shame that our military personnel even have to wonder, if they have to question if they're respected anymore. It starts from the top," she said then. "The question, though, it comes from our own president, when they have to look at him and wonder, 'Do you know what we go through?'" 

During her Monday "Today" interview, Palin said she wasn't blaming President Barack Obama with her comments. 

"What did I say that is offensive?" she said after host Matt Lauer asked if she regretted what she said at the Trump rally. 

"I don't regret any comment that I made because I didn't lay PTSD at the foot of the president," Palin added. "I did say, though — and suggested very adamantly — that there is much more that our commander in chief could do to prove that he respects our troops and let them do their job." 

Palin further criticized the hosts for not having her exact quote. 

"If you guys have a specific quote, it allows the media to be more credible," she said.

Matt Lauer then said that the Today Show had NEVER promised to avoid asking questions about Track's arrest or her comments on PTSD.

This was Palin's response:

Well, I was told that this interview is about the caucus tonight in Iowa. And right on, who will it be to put America back on the right track and restore constitutional government that we are lacking today and that we so need? And I said, "Right on, let me go talk about that. Sure."

Okay well let me just say that I take back all of my recent criticisms of the Today Show and Matt Lauer.

THIS is exactly the kind of interview that I was hoping for and did not expect to see.

Just watch Palin's face when they ask those questions about Track.

Update: Here is Palin on MSNBC this morning.  (I guess she did not learn her lesson yet.)

"I can do and say whatever I want."

Please do, that always works out SO well for you.

Yet another reason to hate Mondays.

Sarah Palin will be joining us exclusively on Monday when we take our show to Iowa. #IowaTODAY pic.twitter.com/44iFMrVuah

— TODAY (@TODAYshow) January 29, 2016

And if anybody thinks there will be any "gotcha" questions, or that Palin might be asked something about the father of her daughter's new baby or her son's domestic assault charge, I will have to assume that you have never seen this lightweight piece of fluff that cares more about the newest diet fad than it does any real news.

Robert Bates, the reserve deputy who shot instead of tasered a suspect, is interviewed on The Today Show.

Courtesy of Mediaite:

The Oklahoma reserve police officer who mistakenly shot and killed an unarmed man earlier this month finally spoke out on Friday morning, sitting down for a satellite interview with NBC’s Today Show. 

“First and foremost, let me apologize to the family of Eric Harris,” Tulsa reserve deputy Robert Bates said of the 44-year-old black man he fatally wounded. “This is the second-worst thing that’s ever happened to me or the first that ever happened to me in my life. I had cancer a number of years ago. I didn’t think I was going to get there… I’d rate this as number one on my list of things in my life that I regret.” 

Asked by Matt Lauer how he could make the fundamental mistake of grabbing his gun instead of the taser, Bates replied, “This has happened a number of times around the country. I have read about it in the past. I thought to myself after reading several cases, I don’t understand how this can happen.” 

He added: “You must believe me, it can happen to anyone.” 

A couple of things got my attention during this interview.

First why in the hell did this guy feel the need to drag his entire family onto TV with him? He looks more like a politician accused of having an affair, rather than a man who accidentally shot a man to death.

Second he at first suggests that this might be the "second" worst thing that has happened to HIM. He corrects it almost immediately and decides it's the first worst thing that has happened. But he continues to make this all about him, instead of about the victim of his incompetence.

And thirdly when Matt Lauer asks Bates to stand up and demonstrate where the taser was in relation to his gun, and the fact that the taser was on his chest while his gun was on his hip, makes the prosecution's job much, much easier.

And his declaimer at the end that this can "happen to anyone," which I would contend is flatly untrue with adequate training, does not do a lot to help his case,

I think this guy is in big trouble, and I think deservedly so.

Apparently Sarah Palin is angry at Savannah Guthrie for calling her out for taking a cheap shot at President Obama in her ghostwritten Facebook post.

"At least he didn't eat it!"

Okay let me explain that this link leads to Breitbart, a site so filled with stupidity and conservative hatred toward liberals that is fairly reeks like its founders cocaine in fused rotting corpse. Click it at your own peril.

However here is what she told them:

In contrast, in an interview the day before this Lena Dunham lovefest, Guthrie asked me if I, after enduring days of hate and threats spewed at my family again, took a ‘cheap shot’ at Obama by merely mentioning his admittance to eating dead dog in the plainspoken post I wrote defending my innocent son and his good dog. She was inferring, of course, that my reference to an established fact is beyond the pale, but apparently Lena Dunham’s knowing indictment of a totally innocent man is perfectly respectable.

What is immediately clear here is that as Palin bitches that Guthrie called her out for her cheap shot directed at the President, she does so while taking yet another cheap shot at a young woman discussing an incredibly painful experience in her life.

Apparently the conservatives, who have long vilified Lena Dunham, are convinced that she is making up her allegations of being raped and are attempting to shame her out of show business.

I know very little about Dunham's experiences, but I do know enough to know that MOST women do not make up false rape accusations, and if they do, they do not typically put them in book form.

However how like Sarah Palin to immediately go on the attack against a fellow woman and land on the side of the conservative men who hate her?

Just seeing Sarah Palin still gives Nicolle Wallace PTSD. Tell me about it.

Courtesy of Mediaite:  

As O’Donnell explained, Palin found herself on the wrong side of PETA after she posted a photo of her young son Trig standing on top of the family dog to reach the sink. 

When Wallace started to defend Palin by saying “her kids are beautiful,” Griffin shot back, “Don’t play the kid card!” To that, Wallace admitted, “I’ve got nothing else except the kid card!” 

After playing a clip of Palin trying to turn the whole thing around on President Barack Obama during an interview with the Today Show, O’Donnell asked Wallace, “Do you have PTSD when you see her?” 

“A little bit,” Wallace said, laughing. “I start to sweat out.” O’Donnell said she could see the color “drain” from Wallace’s face. “Who do I get to try to kill me today. PETA or Palin?” Wallace wondered aloud.

I like the fact that Wallace points out that using the kids to defend Sarah Palin is the only card that she has in her deck.  (Clearly she and Palin are playing from the same one.)

However that statement about who to get to try and kill her today was really stupid.

And that last remark about Palin's looks MIGHT have been true in 2008, but not anymore.

Sarah Palin on Sean Hannity last night ratchets up her battle with PETA. Update!

The first thing I have to point out is that Palin is put together well.

She has her hair styled right, her makeup applied professionally, and she even manages to appear sane.

This may seem like a small thing, but for Palin it's quite the accomplishment these days. (However it should be pointed out that she talks incredibly fast, is at times somewhat manic, and may have partaken of some chemical assistance to help her along.)

The interview starts off with Hannity presenting Palin as the victim of liberal attacks and then asks her what she makes of it all.

"Well yeah the ridiculousness of it all Sean. Background though, PETA has been attacking me for years, and those of my ilk. They've been attacking me because they know that I eat, therefore I hunt. And you know I tell my kids that many of their meals will be..coming wrapped in fur not cellophane. And that we eat organic, you just gotta shoot it first. So you know they've never been a big fan. And then when I was governor...uh...aggressive predator control in order to allow many of our herds to thrive and see good return on our herds...uh..they didn't like that either and they were brutal back then too. But this one? I have to admit even though it seems like I've seen it all, this one kind of took me aback. "

Hannity then suggests that PETA will not like the pictures he posts of fish that he has caught, which is a fairly ridiculous statement. He then quotes PETA, including their dig at Palin (Which I enjoyed hearing on Fox News.), and suggests that PETA want animals to have constitutional rights.

Palin's response:

"Well I guess they don't know where their leather belts and leather chairs and...um...their crocodile purses, many of the elites that are part of that leftists PETA group, where those come from. No..I...I..love animals. I specifically...um...I'm in love with our dog Jill Haddassah, who is a service dog for our youngest son. Trained in Iowa at the Puppy Jake Foundation, we love her...uh...we'd never abuse her, so I think what we've done is proven the irrelevance of PETA, and many on the left, because the double standards they apply...so hypocritical. Here Ellen DeGeneres was PETA's woman of the year and she posted the same image. A child standing, using as a footstool, her dog. the little dog."

Little dog?

"And...uh..yeah there were outcries of 'oohs' and 'awws' and 'how beautiful Ellen' that was, but Sarah Palin heck no. And also their man of the year in 2014 was Mayor De Blasio who, my goodness, he killed a groundhog didn't he? (Actually he accidentally dropped it and it died a week later. Not exactly murder.) And yet still you know they...they..they praised him."

At this point Hannity tells Palin he is putting "all these pictures up" because, you know, this is totally unrehearsed.

Hannity then says that for the record this is a dog "specially trained for your son."

"Oh absolutely, and the Puppy Jake Foundation they're so good, they train these dogs to help disabled vets, that's their main purpose here. We were privileged to, having been supporters of the foundation, been able to adopt the dog that's been trained for a child with special needs. Yes there is a bond there, he's part..uh..Trig of course needing and knowing the love of this dog. Teaching him so much. And Jill yes she's a great part of our family. We're very, very happy to have her and nobody would ever hurt her."

Okay so to be clear Palin is saying that this dog was specially trained to work with special needs children even though the Puppy Jake Foundation trains dogs for injured vets, not children.  And that the people of PETA are hypocrites because they chose Ellen DeGeneres as their "Woman of the Year" even though she posted a similar picture featuring a small child on a large dog, and Mayor De Blasio once accidentally dropped a groundhog.

Is that about right?

Man she just cannot stop digging this hole can she?

Later in this same interview Palin also endorsed Louis Gohmert to take over Boehner's position as House Speaker. 

Thank you for the support @SarahPalinUSA! http://t.co/LBBhrQUVDu
— Louie Gohmert (@replouiegohmert) January 6, 2015

Well why wouldn't she? After all there are not many politicians out there that make her feel smart by comparison.

Update: Holy crap, she was on the Today Show this morning as well and more unhinged than ever:  

"I thought, absolutely hypocritical double standard, as usual, applied to, I don't know, perhaps a constitutional conservative,'' Palin told Savannah Guthrie on Tuesday. 

In an initial statement to NBC News on Monday, Palin referred to President Barack Obama, who admitted he tried dog meat as a 10-year-old in Indonesia, when she wrote that "at least Trig didn't eat the dog." She stood by those comments on Tuesday. 

 "Oh heck no, that was the best line in the post that I wrote,'' she said after Savannah asked if it was a cheap shot. "It was the kickoff line."

And the hole gets deeper.

Wendy Davis appearance on the Today Show yesterday.

Courtesy of Mediaite:  

NBC’s Today profiled Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate and state Sen. Wendy Davis (D-Fort Worth) on Wednesday as part of a regular feature on successful women they have dubbed “Doing it All.” The segment was described by host Savannah Guthrie as one focused on “giving advice for women on tackling today’s challenges.” 

“One woman who knows them all too well is Democratic Texas state Senator Wendy Davis,” she continued. 

Maria Shriver noted that Davis became a national political figure when she stood 11 hours “in her pink tennis shoes” to postpone the passage of a restriction on abortions in Texas after 20 weeks of gestation and the augmentation of health standards in clinics. 

“Everybody says Wendy Davis is an overnight sensation,” Shriver observed. “Does it irritate you that people call you an overnight sensation?” 

“I’m not an overnight sensation,” Davis countered. “I am the epitome of hard work and optimism.”

And that hard work and optimism are paying off in a big way right now for Wendy Davis. 

Especially according to this fundraising report that came out Tuesday:

In the first fundraising report since her campaign announcement in early October, we learn today that Wendy Davis has raised a massive amount in donations from an astounding number of donors. Davis raised $12.2 million from 71,843 individuals, and received donations from every Texas county. 

That's a massive amount of donors, equally important to the high amount raised. The more donors there are, the more likely it is that they will donate again and influence others to donate. 

What this report means, at core, is that Davis' momentum is very real and very strong, and she's got the resources to win. No other Texas Democratic candidate for governor has raised this much money, from this many donors, so fast.

This tweet helps to explain the significance of Wendy's achievement.

# of @wendydavistexas grassroots donors staggering - at this same point in 2010 re-election campaign, Perry had 8k donors. Davis has >70k
— Jeremy Bird (@jeremybird) January 15, 2014

I think things are finally starting to look up for Texas

Video of Sarah Palin leaving the Today Show on October 11, at the very beginning of her disastrous book tour.

Boy that Willow's a friendly gal isn't she?

I love how in the spirit of Christmas Palin steals that old man's pen, uses it to sign two other people's books but not his, and then forces him to wrench in out of her hand to get it back.

I also noticed that in this video Palin manages to ignore the Levi Johnston questions, the same questions to which later in the day she could no longer resist responding.

By the way as of this posting Palin's faux Christmas book is back up to 278 in the Amazon bestsellers rank, which must mean that some conservative group made a bulk purchase in order to help her save face.  Calling in those favors Sarah?

Sarah Palin sells little over 20,000 books in first week of highly promoted book tour. Update!

Photo courtesy of Facebook

This according to the Drudge Report:

BOOK SALES RACE, WEEK 11/17/13: RUSH LIMBAUGH 'BRAVE' REMAINS #1 WITH 52,463 SOLD [300,400 SINCE RELEASE]... O'REILLY 'JESUS' IN SECOND AFTER SCANNING 49,069 [645,976]... MORE... KRAUTHAMMER 'MATTER' TAKES SHOW WITH 40,598 [131,713]... DUCK DYNASTY 'SI-COLOGY' 26,934 [347,811]... DORIS GOODWIN 'THEODORE' 22,268 [47,571]... PALIN 'GREAT' OPENS WITH 20,157 (Note that the other authors listed are on their second, third, and sometimes fourth week of publication. Not their first.)

Gee even after subjecting herself to interviews on the Today Show, CNN, and USA Today she still cannot convince anyone outside of her rapidly shrinking group of supporters. (For context it should be noted that "Going Rogue" sold in excess of 2 million books, most of which were sold in the first few weeks.)

Also keep in mind that the sales for these conservative books are artificially padded through the use of bulk sales to conservative groups who then give them away with donations or subscription to their periodicals or websites. So the question to ask is, are they still doing that for Palin? Or are they doing it in a far less aggressive fashion due to her fading popularity?

By the by, I think that THIS, and not the Bashir controversy, is the main reason why Palin is taking back her invitation to have Matt Lauer fly up to Alaska to interview her.

Or perhaps it was HE who determined that it was a waste of his time, and NBC resources, to fly all the way to Alaska to interview a has been who is no longer relevant to anything or anybody.

Update: As if to illustrate Palin's diminished popularity, here is Bill O'Reilly telling Howard Kurtz that Palin is too afraid to come on his program:

BILL O'REILLY: Let's just be frank here. You want to be frank, Howard? You want to be honest? Sarah Palin won't do this program. She won't come on the program because she doesn't want to mix it up. She doesn't. She wants to give a speech, and nobody gives speeches here. Okay? So she doesn't come on. We invited her on tonight. You're here instead. But I don't begrudge Sarah Palin that. She can come on. She doesn't come on, she does come on, whatever she wants to do. Okay? Fine.

You know when the top rated host of the Right Wing cable news station/Republican propaganda machine that once employed you, feels he can slam you like this, you are essentially finished. 

More behind the scenes pictures of Sarah Palin during her media blitz to promote her ghostwritten Christmas book.

Outside of the today Show

Gotta maintain that mother of a combat vet credibility

With Mark Levin, (I think this is an old picture. Different down vest.)

With the only person on television who may be her intellectual equal.

Palin is clearly pulling out the stops in her attempt to get somebody, anybody, to buy this crappy book of hers.

 I will update you all later on her interview on Hannity as well as any other brain cell murdering interviews she might do in the near future.

(All photos courtesy of Facebook.)

Round two for crazy Sarah Palin interviews. This one from the Today Show.

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

Here are the lowlights courtesy of the Today Show:  

Sarah Palin had harsh words for Obamacare on Monday — and the GOP's chances in 2016 didn't fare much better in her opinion. 

“I would never put my faith and hope in any one individual politician,’’ Palin said after Matt Lauer asked her about New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a favorite in the field, on TODAY. “Not any of them. There is no Ronald Reagan on the scene today. If he were on the scene, that’s who I would put my faith in. (Wrong! IF he were on the scene today she would call him a RINO.)

"New Jersey, a blue state, has a Republican governor. Right on; it beats the alternative.” 

Last week in an interview, Christie called the federal government shutdown engineered by Republican Senator Ted Cruz and members of the Tea Party “a monumental failure.” 

“When you stand in the middle of the road, you’re going to get hit on both sides of the road,’’ Palin said. “We need to take a stand, especially on this Obamacare, and support those who are just fulfilling their campaign promises. So many politicians ran for reelection and for election saying they would do anything in their power to de-fund the state of socialized medicine program called Obamacare. Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, some of these guys were actually fulfilling their campaign promises and they ask for debate. That’s why they stood up. They took the stand, (and) fought for us to debate the issue of Obamacare.” Lauer asked Palin about President Barack Obama’s apology at the end of last week after it was discovered that five percent of Americans can't keep their existing policies because they don't meet the standards of the new healthcare law. 

“What apology?’’ Palin said. “He kind of acknowledged a bit that there’s a broken website. The broken website is the least of America’s worries. This broken website I think is symbolic of a broken administration. Take over one-sixth of our economy and the socialized medicine (Oh, if were ONLY so lucky as to have socialized medicine.) that’s being crammed down our throat, that’s what’s broken. 

“Where do you get this five percent?’’ she said. “It’s not five percent. It’s most Americans will not be able to keep the healthcare policy and programs that they had desired. (It really pissed me off that Lauer did not call her out on this statement.) The new programs that are being forced down our throat are unaffordable. Some of them are still being told, ‘Well if you like that insurance policy and that coverage, you still will be able to keep it, it’s just going to cost you a little bit more.’ That’s the point. If it’s going to cost you more, then it’s not the same policy.” 

Lauer asked Palin about the Tea Party’s alternative. 

“The plan is to allow those things that had been proposed over many years to reform a healthcare system in America that certainly does need more help so that there’s more competition, there’s less tort reform threat, there’s less trajectory of the cost increases,’’ Palin said. “Those plans have been proposed over and over again, and what thwarts those plans is the far left. (That's total bullshit. The Republicans have done nothing on health care unless they were trying to thwart a Democratic plan.) It’s President Obama and his supporters who will not allow the Republicans to usher in free market, patient-centered, doctor-patient-relationship leaps to reform healthcare.” (Also bullshit.)

Palin was coy about any of her own future political aspirations, including a possible run for the Senate out of Alaska. (Palin does not "play coy" if she were going to run she would be telling everybody! The fact is that she is never running for office again and journalists should realize that.) In her book, she writes about a saying posted on her kitchen cabinet that reads, “Do today what others won’t, so you can do tomorrow what others want.” 

“Sometimes you do have to make sacrifices today in order to progress those around you to create a better environment for all, so making sacrifices today, perhaps doing what you don’t necessarily really, really want to do today, but it pays off in the end,’’ she said. “I don’t know if that necessarily applies to political office though, because people can make a difference without a title, without an office, and we’re proving that.” 

In her new book, Palin steers away from politics (The hell she does!) to write about the Christmas holiday. She believes Christmas is under assault from atheists and secular liberals. (See!)
“What I’m saying is, we need to protect the heart of Christmas and not let an angry atheist armed with an attorney, a Scrooge, tell us that we can’t celebrate traditional faith in America,’’ she said. “We have a constitutionally-protected right to celebrate faith, and Christmas is a part of that.” 

Apparently Palin brought her own Wig wrangler to the Today Show with her.

God two interviews in two days, what did we all do to deserve this?

If Palin keeps this up, and continues to give these crappy interviews, she is going to destroy her ability to fool even the tiny remaining group of people who still give her the benefit of the doubt and fail to realize that she is a giant fraud, and colossal moron.

So let's hope for many more of these, shall we?

The Today Show's Mat Lauer is flying to Alaska to interview Sarah Palin about her newest "book of lies."

The picture that Page Six used to illustrate their story. Really captures Palin's essence, don't you think?

Courtesy of Page Six:  

Matt Lauer is going to Alaska for Christmas. 

The “Today” show host will spread some Yuletide cheer with Sarah Palin and her brood riding snowmobiles, ice-fishing and making moose stew. 

An NBC source said the arrangements were made as Matt prepared to interview the former vice presidential candidate live on Monday about her new book, “Good Tidings and Great Joy: Protecting the Heart of Christmas.” 

Lauer will visit the Palins in Wasilla in early December for a segment that will air the week of December 16.

I would usually add some holiday snark to this post, but I have to go bleach my eyes out in an attempt to rid it of that image. 

The President Obama Today Show interview that has gone viral.

I liked this interview, though I did think that the President let "W" off a little too easy. But then again he is known for his diplomacy.

That idea about the tattoos is hilarious, but he better be careful because his daughters might call his bluff.

My daughter for instance has been campaigning for us to get matching tattoos for years now.

She thinks it would be an awesome bonding experience, and I see it as the end of any chance for future romance in my life.

Katie Couric knows how to handle crazy Right Wing ideologues. Just ask Ann Coulter.

The other day when I posted that Katie Couric had invited Sarah Palin to be interviewed on her new show, some of you worried that Couric would simply softball it, and let Palin off the hook.

To answer those charges I present this 2008 interview with the Crypt Keeper's daughter, Ann Coulter.

Now just for fun, imagine Sarah Palin sitting across from Couric while asked similar probing, and completely non-softball, questions.

Are you smiling? I know you are!

Now for something completely different.

Last week as I was internet surfing I came upon this rather extraordinary young man with an incredible voice singing covers on You Tube.

I had bookmarked the link as was planning to post it at some point, even though it is not usually the kind of thing that I post here, but then somehow I closed the link and forgot the boy's name.

This morning I woke up to the Today Show and lo and behold there was the gifted teenager right there in front of me. Apparently even though I never got around to posting his video, it blew up anyhow and has now received over two million hits on You Tube.

The eighteen year old simply goes by the name Noah, but there is nothing simple about his talent. He has his own You Tube channel and you can hear his work for yourself by clicking here.

Below is perhaps my favorite of his many covers.  Take a couple of minutes and see if this does not impress you as much as it has just about everybody else who has listened to this young man.

The Palin curse continues and even knocks the Today Show off of a 16 year winning streak.

Of course I'm popular! Who else gets asked to autograph a baby?

Courtesy of Media Coder:

ABC’s “Good Morning America” appears to have prevailed over NBC’s “Today” show in weekly viewership for the first time in over 16 years. 

Preliminary Nielsen ratings show that “GMA” had an average of 5,147,000 total viewers for the week of April 9 — 13,000 more than the “Today” show, which averaged 5,134,000. 

“Today” still led “GMA” by more than 250,000 viewers between the ages 25 to 54, the key demographic for advertisers. But by edging out “Today” among total viewers, “GMA” has at least briefly accomplished what has been the top priority of ABC News: to put an end to its rival’s winning streak. “GMA” had not won a week outright since December 1995.

Palin apologists are going to say that during Palin's Tuesday appearance the Today Show won the day, which is true, but as we know that was mostly just because people tuned in to see the train wreck.

The important take away from this is that once again something Palin touches turns to yet another steaming pile of moosepoop.

I am not at all superstitious, and would usually poo poo the idea of a curse, or bad mojo, but I have to admit that Snowdrift Snooki has made me a believer. I have literally NEVER seen such a consistent harbinger of doom in my life.

Her trail of destruction began with John McCain, and from there went to Sharon Angle and Christine O'Donnell, through Herman Cain and Rick Santorum, and even derailed the careers of Tim Tebow and Jeremy Lin. All it seems to take is for Sarah Palin to appear, endorse, or even mention you and your days are numbered.

Hell Matt Lauer's just lucky the Today Show did not spontaneously combust the minute the Wasilla Angel of Death sashayed onto the set.

Thank Odin for small favors.

TV critic slamming Sarah Palin's co-hosting gig on Today Show: " Was another case of Today cheapening the journalistic brand of NBC News."

Courtesy of Mediaite:

 “It showed how frightened they [NBC] are by the move that GMA is making on them, number one. I also think the fact that GMA and ABC said, ‘Hey, we can throw Couric out here occasionally,’ scared them and rattled them. But more importantly, bringing Sarah Palin on that show, even if it got you a little ratings bump for the day she was on and it deflected some attention from Katie Couric, was another case of Today cheapening the journalistic brand of NBC News, which runs that show.”

Obviously I could not agree more. I am not always in agreement with David Zurawick, but this time he is spot on in his disgust over this ridiculous and potentially damaging stunt.

For those who are interested, here is David Zurawik's original article from April 3, the day after Palin wrung the last bit of journalistic integrity out of the Today Show.