Sarah Palin's appearance at the fundraiser for PTSD was apparently a success. Which I take to mean that after her speech there are now more people suffering with PTSD.

This from Princess PTSD's Facebook page:  

What an honor it was tonight to speak at a fundraiser in Houston for the unique and wonderful organization called Mighty Oaks. Under Chad Robichaux's leadership, this strong, experienced military team helps our vets overcome PTSD. The work they do for our wounded warriors is so crucial. It’s the sincere heartfelt work that only private non-profits can really tackle. As a faith-based group, Mighty Oaks uses a Christ-centered approach to helping our vets heal, and their many success stories are incredibly inspiring. The number of vets struggling with PTSD is truly staggering. It’s our duty as a grateful nation to do everything we can to help our warriors who sacrificed so much to ensure our liberty. Mighty Oaks helps our men and woman regain the freedom in their own lives that they fought to defend. We can’t wait for politicians to tackle this. Every American who loves their freedom can step up and give our vets the love and support they deserve.

Yes only Christ-centered, faith based, non profits can address these problems adequately.

How dare any of us think that specially trained therapists with the VA or other non-faith based organizations know how to deal with post traumatic stress disorder.

Idiot!

I found exactly one news article covering the event from The Courier.

Here is a little of what it had to report: 

Former Alaska governor and 2008 vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin shared her views on the Second Amendment, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria crisis and military issues, as well as cracked some jokes and told personal anecdotes at the Mighty Oaks 4th Annual Gala at WoodsEdge Community Church Friday night. 

The gala, which drew about 400 guests, benefited the Mighty Oaks Warrior Programs, a faith-based, non-profit organization focused on helping veterans deal with post-traumatic stress disorder and adjust to life after combat.

Now I don't know enough about the size of the venue, or the past number of attendees to make fun of that 400 number, but I will say that it does not sound terribly impressive. 

And if that is all that showed up I wonder if they managed to show a profit after paying Palin to babble on about things she does not understand?

Speaking of things she does not understand she apparently did not hold back: 

When she took the stage, Palin started off by saying how glad she was to be in Texas and remembering the time she spent in the state during her summers in high school. 

“I’m gonna spare you guys all my Texas jokes, especially because I’m in church,” Palin said. 

She talked about her son, Track, an army veteran who served in Iraq, and his experience with the Mighty Oaks Programs. 

“He was enamored,” Palin said. 

“At this time in such a tumultuous world, we need our returning warriors to be strong, we need them to be healthy,” she said. “They need to win these battles too, the battles that are at home.” 

Palin went on the reminisce about the time when she went into labor with her youngest son, Trig, while in Texas and flew back to Alaska before he was born. 

The former governor touched on some political issues, including commenting on the violence in the Middle East and the president’s lack of response, global warming and Second Amendment rights. 

“One more thing Alaskans and Texans have in common,” Palin said. “I know I’m amongst a bunch of people clinging to their guns, their God and their Constitution.”

Yes sadly that last part about the similarities between Alaska and Texas is not wrong.

Well except for the God thing, Alaska is actually not that religious, except is certain concentrated areas like where Palin grew up.

As for the other points that she brought up.

I am surprised that she held back on raunchy jokes, simply because she was in a religious institution since it certainly has not stopped her before.

Secondly is this the first time that Palin is admitting that Track suffers from PTSD?

And how in the hell is he appropriate for this program since he saw no combat, and his PTSD is a preexisting condition that was the result of Palin's parenting?

And finally let me just vent about that damn Trig story for a minute.

Back in 2008 when I was pushing for the Alaska bloggers to get that out to the media in a united manner, and telling everybody that it was key to destroying Palin forever, they not only refused to participate but begged me not to continue either for fear it would damage our reputation as a group.

The argument back then was that the wild ride story was ultimately more damaging than the truth. A truth by the way which all of us agreed with.

Well now here we are six years later, and she is telling that story to new audiences all of the time, and rather than damaging her it seems to be one of the things that endear people to her.

Which considering the fact that it is a story about a middle aged woman with a high risk pregnancy, placing her unborn child at risk simply so that she could give a speech in Texas and further her political aspirations, seems kind of counter intuitive.

But there you have it. I was left all on my own to push for the truth, which I think I managed to prove beyond at least a legal shadow of a doubt, and yet this story continues to be told as if it, as crazy as it is, represents the facts concerning the birth of Trig Paxson Van Palin.

Still kind of burns my ass.

So when did the family know that Trig Palin had Down syndrome again? Update!

The other day this showed up on Brancy's blog: 

 When I found out Mom was pregnant with a baby who would have Down syndrome, I confess. I was scared. I didn’t know what it would mean for his life or for ours. 

Whoa, hold the horses!  That is NOT the way the family mythology describes how Bristol and the rest of the family learned about Trig's condition.

In fact in her book, and numerous articles, the Grizzled Mama makes a point of saying that she did not tell ANYBODY that she was pregnant, nor did she discuss the baby's condition, which was NOT known to the children until the day Trig was born:

Initially Palin hid her pregnancy – and her pain – from both the public and her children, son Track, now 19, and daughters Bristol, 17, Willow, 14, and Piper, 7. 

 "Not knowing in my own heart if I was going to be ready to embrace a child with special needs," she reveals, "I couldn't talk about it." (So pro-life of her, don'tcha think?)


On April 18, 2008, Palin gave birth to 6-lb., 2-oz. Trig, five weeks early. As Todd and their three daughters gathered around the bedside (Track, an Army private, listened in by phone from his base in Fairbanks), Willow said of the new arrival, "He looks like he has Down syndrome." 
 

Trig Palin's first appearance right after his birth. He looks like he has Down Syndrome?

Palin, who says her own qualms were laid to rest "the minute [Trig] was born," felt a lump in her throat. "If he does, you know you will still love him, Willow. It'll be okay." 

Willow pressed: "But why didn't you tell us?" Palin admitted she didn't know how to break the news. "I was a little shocked," says Willow "but I don't care – he's my brother and I love him." 

So how could Bristol have been "scared" about his condition during her mother's pregnancy if she did not even know about it  until "Sherlock" Willow pointed it out after his birth?

It seems odd that if Nancy French were tasked with writing a post celebrating World Down Syndrome Day that she would not have at least been given the Trig Palin birth talking points.

Or is it possible that it has been so long now that Bristol herself has forgotten exactly how they weaved the webs they weaved when first they practiced to deceive?

So here let me educate Nancy so she will not forget again.

March 14, 2008

During Palin's pregnancy nobody, and I mean NOBODY, knew she was pregnant until she announced it on March 6, 2008. (One day after John McCain won the Republican nomination. Remember NO coincidences.)

Then Palin started wearing scarfs and big jackets both inside and out making it impossible to see how her pregnancy was "progressing."

March 29, 2008.

Until finally she blew up seemingly overnight.

April 13, 2008.

Then Sarah Palin boarded a plane in that condition to attend a conference in Texas.

On April 17th, she woke up in a Texas hotel room and "Palin said she felt fine but had leaked amniotic fluid and also felt some contractions that seemed different from the false labor she had been having for months."

However Palin was a trooper and she gave her speech, after which she left the conference not telling anybody, including Texas Governor Rick Perry, that she was in labor and hightailed it back home on a commercial flight. During that flight, according to flight attendants, "The stage of her pregnancy was not apparent by observation. She did not show any signs of distress."

Then she arrived in Alaska at the International Airport in Anchorage, where NO security staff or emergency personnel were there to meet her. And totally on their own she and Todd drove past two large, well equipped hospitals in Anchorage and then for yet another hour to have her baby at the poorly equipped Mat-Su Regional Medical Center near Wasilla, where Cathy Baldwin-Johnson helped bring Trig into this would.

Tah-Dah!

AFTER which, the rest of the family was notified about the birth and then showed up to see the new baby.

And that was when Willow made her incredibly intuitive diagnosis as "Trig" was handed off to various family members and even Bristol's boyfriend. (Well that is the way it is described in Levi's book at least."

Gee how could ANYBODY not remember a tale like that? I mean it is just so ridiculous, and memorable.

Sure sometimes people have trouble keeping lies straight but this was....oh, that's right!

Oh well I guess the next time somebody wants to write about a Palin pregnancy, or baffling political claim, or confusing family history, they should just swing on by IM. We will be HAPPY to help keep the record straight.

I mean somebody has to, right?

Update:  This is from an interview that Barbara Walters conducted with the family in November 2009:

"We didn't find out he had Down syndrome till the day he was born," Willow said. "So that was kind of a shock. But we didn't really care. He's still our brother."

So the revisionist Palin-bots can stop trying to muddy the waters now. From Willow's own lips NOBODY in the family knew!

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.

Psst, can you keep a secret? Good, because I have chapter three of "The Wild Ride" for you to read. But remember, don't tell Sarah!

"Dammit! I thought I stopped this book?"

I will not bore with all of the drama that has erupted around the release of this book (actually to be honest I CAN'T bore you it yet), but have no fear as it is still on track to be released in the very near future. 

There are still last minute pieces of information being added and some behind the scenes dealings with the assholes currently trying to keep it out of your hands. But I have been assured that, come hell or high water, the book is ABSOLUTELY going to be released!

I have been very fortunate to have read seven chapters so far, and personally I am psyched!

I asked if I could share some of it with you and was told that I could, but that I needed to avoid giving away the more hush hush portions.  So I chose to share Chapter Three which is an overview of the mountain of evidence that leaves no doubt that Palin faked her last pregnancy, and then offers the pathetic excuses offered by Palin-bots to refute that evidence.

So with no further ado, let me present Chapter Three of The Wild Ride entitled "The Devil's Details."

"I'm telling you a lie in a vicious effort that you will repeat my lie over and over until it becomes true" – Lady Gaga 

There are multiple irregularities in Palin's pregnancy story and birth history. Some of these irregularities are simply curious (for example, her abruptly canceling her security detail less than 24 hours before she went to Texas on April 16th, and taking only Todd) and others border on the inexplicable (for example, the failure of the flight attendants to notice that she was pregnant as she returned to Alaska on April 18th,, in spite of the fact that a photo allegedly taken only five days earlier showed an advanced stage of pregnancy.) 

Any of these taken alone might be no more than an odd footnote retained in the memory of a few Alaskans. However, when all the anomalies are taken together, presented coherently, and dissected matter-of-factly, one gets a story that becomes so unlikely, so implausible, and so bizarre that it defies all statistical odds that it might be true. 

Your questions answered about upcoming babygate book: "The Wild Ride."

March 16, 2008. The "nail in the coffin" picture.

I received this e-mail earlier today in response to some of your questions about Fred's book:

Question: What's the story on the book's publication?

Answer: Final publication details are still being worked out. 

Q: So there'll be a website? 

A: Yes, within a week - ten days. 

Q: Will the book be hard copy or an e-book? 

A: The book will be available in all formats, hard cover, soft cover and all ebook formats. 

Q: Any more details about timing? 

A: As soon as I know for sure, I will tell you. The delay has been caused because of my fervent belief that the answer to the story is in Palin's emails. We have found several that are highly damning. Reviewing emals and going down various paths has taken a huge amount of time. I have a research assistant that has probably read more of the emails, and more carefully, than anyone on the planet. 

Q: Can Fred come back and update us? 

A: As soon as the blog is up and running you can look for info from there. 

Just let me just add a few of my own answers to this list.

No I am not author. Neither is Andrew Sullivan. (Though he might have some association.)

Yes there new bits of information in this book, that should satisfy and fascinate even the most jaded "Trig Truther." (As a matter of fact I just learned of one yesterday that might move this from the realm of probabilities, to the land of certainty. And I would give my eyeteeth to be able to post about it, but that is NOT how I treat my friends and fellow investigative journalists.)

I actually look forward to hearing about more attempts to defame the people who say that Palin did not give birth to Trig on April 18, 2008.  Because the  amount of crow they are soon going to have to eat is guaranteed to almost choke them to death.

Allow me to present the introduction to the new book on Babygate: 'The Wild Ride."

This will be on the book cover. Click the pic to see it in full size.

This was sent to me yesterday to be shared with all of you.

Introduction: 

The vast majority of Americans are utterly unaware that there was, and continues to be, a significant controversy regarding the alleged birth of Sarah Palin's fifth child, Trig, in April 2008. 

Even that sentence, I suspect, will cause half of the people who have picked this book up in a book store or started to read the sample online to put the book back down or click away, shaking their heads. Not again, you think. This is crazier than the Obama birth certificate saga. No thanks. 

I hope you'll give me just a few more paragraphs. 

Still reading? Please consider each one of the following documentable facts before you also put this book down. 

*From the time Sarah Palin announced her pregnancy until Trig Palin was allegedly born was 44 days. 

*Sarah Palin never appeared pregnant prior to her statement that she was nearly seven months along. 

*Sarah Palin appeared in public after announcing her pregnancy showing no signs whatsoever that she was pregnant. 

*Even though Palin has asserted that this entire allegation was fabricated to hurt her after she was selected as John McCain's running mate, she was actually accused publicly of not being pregnant and covering for her daughter in early April 2008, before Trig's alleged birth. 

*Sarah Palin has given details about the diagnosis of Trig Palin's Down Syndrome that do not meet standard diagnostic guidelines. 

*Sarah Palin has stated that after her amniotic sac showed signs of leaking, instead of seeking medical care, she went to a conference and gave a speech, then took two separate commercial airline flights, each approximately four hours long. 

*The community hospital at which Palin has stated she gave birth allows no high-risk obstetric patients to be admitted. 

*Sarah Palin was accused, on the Anchorage Daily News website, of being the child's grandmother within two hours of his birth announcement. 

*Reporters who interviewed her three days after Trig's arrival were openly skeptical of her story. 

*The physician Palin claims to have been at her birth was a personal friend who was not actively practicing obstetrics in April 2008. 

*The physician Palin claims to have been at her birth has refused to state publicly that she was even present at the birth. 

*No physician who has even been asked about the obstetric details of Palin's birth has been willing to say anything other than her story is completely implausible. 

In spite of all of these, (and many additional details, each one of which makes her story more and more unlikely), Sarah Palin has never provided one piece of objective evidence that she actually gave birth to Trig on the day she said did. 

Not one. 

Not a birth certificate. Not a single medical record. Not an unequivocal statement from her doctor. No explanation as to how a 44 year old woman, with multiple high risk factors, was allowed to give birth at a community hospital which does not allow high-risk obstetrics to be practiced there. No explanation as to how multiple photographs exist, from unimpeachable sources like the Anchorage Daily News and the Juneau Empire, that clearly show no discernible signs of pregnancy during the period of time when she should have been six, seven, even eight months pregnant. 

Sarah Palin has been called an outright liar on the Trig Palin story since the day after she was selected as McCain's running mate, yet her primary proof that she did give birth to Trig has been 

*she says that she did 
*she would not lie 
*her daughter was five months pregnant in September of 2008 
* some reporters saw her and she looked pregnant 
*you cannot ask about it because you are not a doctor 
* if you do ask about it, you either are picking on her kids, think Trig should have been aborted, or hate her because she is a Christian (or possibly all three.) 

On August 29, 2008, four and half months after Trig Palin's announced birth in Wasilla Alaska, Sarah Heath Palin walked onto a stage in Dayton, Ohio. 

Behind her, carried by her oldest daughter Bristol, was a child whose Down Syndrome diagnosis gave her instant and unassailable credentials with the Christian Right. She had walked the walk. She had courageously "chosen life" for a baby whom most would have chosen to abort. 

That's not even the real story. The real story is the media's cowardice and collusion, first with the Republican machine during the campaign, in covering the story, and then, in the three years since, in doing their collective best to see that the story never sees the light of day. 

Welcome to the Wild Ride. 

Wow! Did anybody else get goosebumps?

The book is essentially finished, though there is some tidying up yet to be done, and the website should be up in the next week or so. 

This book should piggyback very well off of the courageous work that Joe McGinniss has already accomplished, and will, in my opinion, make an ironclad case, using multiple pictures and Palin's own e-mails, that proves beyond a reasonable doubt that Sarah Palin faked her fifth pregnancy.

Personally I am very excited about information contained in this book, and if the increase in hits that I, and others, have received recently looking into the babygate story are any indication, now is the perfect time for the publication of this book.

What is it that Palin and her fans keeping bellowing? Game On?

Sounds good to me, Game On it is!