Jordan Loewe tells the Daily Mail that Sarah pressured her to stay mum about Track's abuse.

I was not going to post about this story twice on the same day, but this needs to be shared.

Courtesy of the Daily Mail:  

The college graduate said the Palins were upset with her for involving law enforcement.'I got the cold shoulder for calling the police and tarnishing their name,' Jordan said. 

'I was very particular about when I called the police and I didn't call them often. If I had called the police every time he pulled out a gun, then he would be in jail. 

'To his family, I was still kind of the bad guy for calling the police and blowing this up. The answer to them is, "we don't call the police because that's our reputation". 

'I don't really know what they believe but I definitely got some rude text messages, to say the least, about calling the police.' 

After that famous incident where Track kicked her and threatened to shoot himself, the Palins had this response about her calling the police:  

'I got a text to say I was disrespectful and not respecting their privacy; that I shouldn't have been drinking and I was blamed for that. 

'There was never any responsibility put on Track or what he did or what happened. 

'I think safety over reputation or a last name, that's pretty important. I still can't believe that they took priority over my life and Charlie's life. 

'I disappointed them by calling the police and asking for help because I thought I was going to die.' 

So to the Palins this young woman being murdered, or their son committing suicide, was preferable to bad publicity.

That is some seriously fucked up thinking right there.

Here was the bizarre rationalization that Sarah offered Jordan about Track's violent behavior:

Jordan said that she sat down for a heart-to-heart with the Palins a few weeks after Track attacked her. 

'Sarah said to me: "Track has always had an outlet for his violence. He's played hockey his whole life and it's applauded when you get in fights with people and that's how he can take it out. 

'"He would be on the ice and be aggressive and violent. People cheered him on for that. 

'"When he was an adult and stopping playing hockey, he immediately joined the military and that was his outlet for violence. They were proud of him for that just like they were in hockey. 

'"Since he's out of the military, he doesn't have that outlet anymore. So it's hard for him."' 

Jordan added: 'I was hoping she had an idea for somewhere to take his violence but clearly it was just having him take it out on those around him. 

'I remember her telling me, as if, 'This is the reason why you got hit but that's all I have for you.'' 

There is so much wrong there that I almost don't know where to start.

Look I was a very aggressive, and yes sometimes violent, teenager myself.

But my aggression was never directed at women, or those who were weaker than me.

My aggression diminished over time, and even more rapidly when I became a father. When I became a dad that just mellowed me right out.

There is NO excuse for Track at 28 years old to have remained so completely out of control.

And Jordan does not buy that PTSD excuse either:

Jordan said that he never completed the PTSD program and questioned whether Track's problems stemmed solely from the disorder. 

'Track told me he was clinically diagnosed before leaving Iraq with PTSD and that is a serious issue,' she said. 

'But there are other problems there. From what he has told me and what his family and friends have told me, this didn't come from the military. '

Track has had a history of violence from a young age. He got suspended for fighting in high school. This came from just deep-rooted mental health issues from childhood or adolescence that were never addressed or taken care of. 

'His mom likes to say "PTSD, he came back different". He did - he came back a lot worse. But it exacerbates the problem, like alcohol does. 

'I think part of the problem is that Track has never gotten in trouble for anything that he has done. He's attacked multiple people, he's pulled guns on multiple people and has never really gotten in trouble. I wasn't the first and I won't be the last. 

'If he's gotten away with this much so far – what could happen to him? Not only that, if he goes to jail, his family is going to pay for a lawyer, bail him out and there's never really been consequences. 

'All these people being quiet and trying to sweep this under the rug, whether it's his family or friends, that's the problem.' 

Bingo!

And haven't WE been saying that exact thing for years now? 

Track may have some rage issues that are part of his psychological make up, but those can be addressed and controlled through therapeutic interventions and medications.

I work with this population, I know.

But rather than get him the help he has needed since adolescence his parents simply swept the problems under the rug, and then used their money and influence to cover for him.

That tactic has helped to destroy Track's relationships, led to the abuse of family members, and almost got both Jordan and Todd killed.

Awesome job there Sarah.

If only you had listened to the IM community all of this could have been avoided.

He's still doing it.

From tonight's Trump rally: pic.twitter.com/g1MtfIAvFV

— Angelo Carusone (@GoAngelo) October 18, 2016

Tomorrow's Trump tweets will be all about how the media is exaggerating this and that she came onto him first.

Having a little trouble telling the Bernie Sanders supporters from the Trump supporters.

Loud protest outside @HillaryClinton East LA event. pic.twitter.com/yoASUDhc3S

— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) May 6, 2016

Rowdy crowd here -- cops escort second protester out of Clinton's event as supporters chant "Hillary! Hillary!" pic.twitter.com/dT5WV6Dj44

— Liz Kreutz (@ABCLiz) May 6, 2016

Protesters in East LA have formed two long lines - and are yelling at Clinton supporters as they leave her event pic.twitter.com/I6zgTeAe6n

— Liz Kreutz (@ABCLiz) May 6, 2016

Okay do these people really think this is helping?

School district police officer in Texas body slams 12 year old girl.

Courtesy of The Daily Beast:  

The San Antonio Independent School District has launched an investigation into a videotaped incident in which a school district police officer body slammed a girl to the ground. Footage shows the officer, identified as Joshua Kehm, picking up and tossing an unnamed 12-year-old female student to the pavement at Rhodes Middle School. A spokeswoman for the school said the incident began when the girl and another student were arguing. Kehm has been placed on paid administrative leave while officials probe the situation.

I am damn sick and tired of seeing videos like this where full grown men uses unnecessary levels of force to subdue children.

I work with troubled children with special needs almost every day of my life, and I would NEVER do something like this.

We have strict protocols for when and how to put our hands on a child, and police officers assigned to schools should have the same training and the same restrictions.

I hope they fire this son-of-a-bitch.

After his big win last night Donald Trump brings campaign manager who manhandled female reporter on stage with him. You know, because he can.

Courtesy of Slate:  

Lewandowski doesn't usually stand by Trump's side during election night addresses. He's typically offstage, either watching or bossing people around. But there he was tonight, following Trump's wins in Florida, Illinois, and North Carolina, standing immediately to his candidate’s right.

This was not an accident. It was a display, and a vile one. Lewandowski was accused of aggressively grabbing Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields at a Trump event last Tuesday. She was bruised. The Trump campaign first denied that anything had happened, smearing Fields as either dishonest or delusional. Breitbart, Fields’ own publication, which serves as a mouthpiece for the Trump campaign, refused to fully defend its reporter, arguing instead the most likely explanation was that a Secret Service agent had grabbed her. Eventually, video emerged that showed Lewandowski lunging for Fields. Fields filed a police report, and she and a number of other Breitbart staffers resigned—all while the campaign continued to deny that Lewandowski had anything to do with it.

Meanwhile Breitbart's response to former staff members going public is to threaten them.

Courtesy of Politico:

Breitbart is getting litigious. 

The company sent out cease and desist letters to some of the employees who left the company in the past week, multiple sources with knowledge of the letters told POLITICO. Six staffers resigned in the past few days, citing the aftermath of how the site handled one of its reporters, Michelle Fields, accusing Donald Trump's campaign manager of strong-arming her as she tried to get the candidate's attention. 

I think this might be one of the best previews yet of what life would be like under Donald Trump presidency.

People being being abused by jack booted thugs, and pressure from propaganda outlets to keep quiet about it.

Now where have we seen this before?

Drivers with guns in the car more likely to drive aggressively. Also more likely to have a violent response to road rage.

Courtesy of CNN:  

According to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration, 66% of traffic fatalities are caused by aggressive driving. Over one-third (37%) of aggressive driving incidents involve a firearm, according to research for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. Research also indicates that aggressive or risky drivers are more likely than safer drivers to: be young and male, have been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, have received driving citations (for moving and non-moving violations), score higher on measures of aggression and psychiatric morbidity, use illicit drugs, drive more miles per day, drive in denser traffic more often, abuse alcohol, have higher levels of stress, and be more likely to attribute blame to other drivers. 

They are also more likely to carry firearms in their car. 

Of course, not all gun owners are alike, just as not all drivers are. But if the gun owners who drive with a gun are more likely to drive aggressively than those without a gun in the car (gun owners or not), the risk rises not only that a road rage incident will occur, but that it will become lethal. Many studies have found that where there are more guns, there are more deaths -- not fewer.

I think for many of us this falls into the "no shit Sherlock" category.

However I found this next part a little surprising.  

Ample research also documents that the mere presence of a weapon can intensify aggression. 

One study compared responses to a pickup driver stalled at a light for 12 seconds. When the truck sported a military rifle in the rear window, other drivers honked more quickly and more often at the driver than they did if no firearm was visible. This so-called weapons effect counters the "polite society" argument, showing that weapons provoke visceral responses that increase aggression.

That seems a little counter intuitive. One would think that the presence of a weapon clearly on display might make people a little hesitant to anger the driver. But instead it seems that merely seeing a gun makes even unarmed drivers respond more aggressively.

One of the pieces of advice that I give to young people that I work with that are just starting out as drivers is to always be a polite driver and to not overreact to poor drivers they may come across on the road.

I sometimes add that since this is Alaska it is quite reasonable to assume that the driver of the car that just cut you off in traffic is packing heat and will shoot you during an angry confrontation.

Now I am wondering if that might not have made some of these youngsters even more likely to pull up to them at a stoplight and flip them the bird.

Alaska's lone Congressman twists a staffer's arm because...well because he is Don Young and that's the kind of thing that he does.

Courtesy of Roll Call: 

 NBC News producer Frank Thorp V caught the late-for-the-conference-meeting Alaska Republican’s manhandling of an unsuspecting staffer on camera. Per Thorp’s Twitter feed, the aide had attempted to redirect Young to enter the already in-progress GOP strategy session through another doorway when things got physical. 

“While returning to the GOP conference meeting to discuss the ongoing situation on our southern border, I was caught off guard by an unidentified individual who was physically blocking me from reentering the room,” Young said in a statement. “Regardless, my reaction was wrong and I should have never placed my hands on the young man.”

I cannot tell you how embarrassed Alaskans are to have this asshole representing us. 

The effects of bullying can last a lifetime.

Courtesy of NPR:  

What doesn't kill us only makes us stronger, right? Well, not when it comes to bullying. 

Some may still consider bullying a harmless part of growing up, but mounting evidence suggests that the adverse effects of being bullied aren't something kids can just shake off. The psychological and physical tolls, like anxiety and depression, can follow a person into early adulthood.
 
In fact, the damage doesn't stop there, a British study published this week in the American Journal of Psychiatry suggests. It actually lasts well into the adults' 40s and 50s. 

"Midlife ... is an important stage in life because that sets in place the process of aging," says Louise Arseneault, a developmental psychologist at King's College London and the study's senior author. "At age 50, if you have physical [and] mental health problems, it could be downhill from here." 

And health isn't the only thing to worry about. Chronic bullying's effect on a person's socioeconomic status, social life and even cognitive function can persist decades later, too, Arseneault's research suggests.

I was a bully. 

The thing was I did not realize it until I was in my early thirties.

I know that sounds a little hard to believe, but it's true.

When I was younger I was pretty passive, for the most part. A few scrapes here and there, nothing serious.

However when I hit my mid teens things took a turn.

Like a lot of teenagers I was full of testosterone driven energy, and conflicted emotions. And I did not know what to do with them.

So I started to workout every day with weights and practice martial arts for hours on end.

Instead of being an outlet for my energy, it instead turned me into a powder keg of aggression.

Though I felt no animosity towards those younger or weaker than myself, for those who I considered my physical equal all it took was one wrong move before fists would be flying.

How I justified that was by focusing on bullies.

My guidelines were if somebody hurt or intimidated others that made it open season on them. All I needed was to catch them in the act, or hear about it from somebody else, and I felt, not only justified, but obligated to "set things right."

By the time I made it to my senior year I got most of it out of my system, and simply coasted through the remainder on my reputation.

In fact my first two serious relationships after high school were somewhat based on this reputation, as the bad boy image I had cultivated was part of what attracted them to me. Even though after I graduated there were very few physical altercations.

It was my third serious relationship after high school where I received my reality check.

This was a thirty year old woman, trained in early childhood education, who was quite unimpressed with hearing about my exploits during my teen years, and after being regaled by my family with story after story, she seemed very pensive and quiet on the drive home.

Later when I asked what was wrong she said that she never knew I was a bully.

I became immediately defensive at that and told her she had it all wrong. I was a GOOD guy.

"Did you beat people up?"

"Well yes sometimes, but.."

"Were students in your school frightened of you?"

"Well maybe a few, but they....."

"Do you think that their fear of you had an effect on their school work, their self esteem, and their emotional health?"

"Well they were bad guys so..."

"If they were bad guys for intimidating those who could not defend themselves, and they could not defend themselves from you, then what does that make you?"

"Well I was...I mean they were....I only....."

Well fuck.

She was right. I HAD actively intimidated people who I identified as bullies, even IF what they had done was fairly minor, and would have sorted itself out with no involvement from me whatsoever.

I simply used their anti-social behaviors as an excuse for MY anti-social behaviors.

To be honest, I was angry at her for making me face that about myself. It meant that I had to go back and reevaluate everything I thought I knew about me.

But in the end I had to recognize the inconvenient truth, I was in fact a bully.

So though I have done a number of good, and selfless things, with my life since then, there is a group of men in their mid fifties who are, right now, walking around with emotional scars that I inflicted.

And you know what? That kind of sucks.

Mike Huckabee suggests that Ted Nugent turn his hunting dog "loose on some Democrats."

Click image to play video.

Courtesy of Crooks and Liars:  

Huckabee began his Tuesday interview with Nugent by asking about "Gonzo, the wonder Labrador Retriever." 

"Nobody hunts more than the Nugent family," Nugent explained. "We literally hunt anywhere between 250 and 300 days a year. And you think Gonzo is good on ducks, you should see him on squirrels and doves and rabbits and woodcock and grouse. He really is a mystical, wonderful hunting dog." 

"Well, maybe we ought to turn him loose on some Democrats and see if he can hunt them too," Huckabee suggested. 

"Well, there's a lot of varmints out there," Nugent agreed. "I think he would do good pointing to varmints and then we could vote them out of office. What do you say?" 

"I'm all about it," Huckabee replied.

Equating Democrats with "varmints" and suggesting that they be hunted by a gun toting lunatic, does not seem like the kind of language that an ex-minister should be using don't you agree?

But then again since when did any of these Right Wing Evangelicals ever let their religion interfere with their hatred of liberals?