The Republican's "Secret Society" conspiracy theory falls apart in hilarious fashion.

Courtesy of the Inquisitr:  

On Tuesday, Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) appeared on Fox News to declare that a text message he had seen between fired FBI agent Peter Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page was a smoking gun that proved there was a “secret society” within the Federal Bureau of Investigation dedicated to bringing down President Donald Trump. By Thursday, however, when the text had been revealed by ABC News to appear to be harmless banter between the pair, Johnson was forced to admit to the “real possibility” that the text was a joke. 

Naturally, Twitter pundits were very happy to pounce on the news, heaping scorn on Johnson and the other Republican congressmen pushing the “secret society” conspiracy. 

This latest controversy actually began several months back when the Robert Mueller investigation into possible collusion between the Russian government and members of the Trump administration to affect the outcome of the 2016 presidential election announced that agent Peter Strzok was being fired after it was discovered that he had sent text messages insulting to the president. Republican members of both the Senate and House Intelligence Committees, who are also investigating the Trump-Russia scandal, then asked to see the texts in question to determine if there was an anti-Trump bias in the FBI. The FBI released some texts to the committees but announced that texts from a five-month period were “lost.” According to a report from CNN, this alarmed Republican members of the House Committee, such as Trey Gowdy (R-SC) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who were proponents of the theory that there was a “deep state” coup being attempted by members of the intelligence services to unseat President Trump. The FBI has said that the texts were “lost” due to a “glitch” in the system. 

Donald Trump himself commented on the missing emails, tweeting it was “one of the biggest stories in a long time.”

Of course Trey "Benghazi" Gowdy and Fox News also took the bait:

Investigative journalist Sara Carter joined "Fox & Friends" Tuesday morning to react to newly revealed text messages exchanged between top FBI counterintelligence official Peter Strzok and senior FBI lawyer Lisa Page, with whom Strzok was having an extramarital affair. 

According to Reps. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) and Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas), who saw the messages, Strzok makes reference to a "secret society" of anti-Trump agents within the Department of Justice and the FBI who had their first meeting the day after Trump won the election in November 2016.

Can you say "smoking gun?"

Well don't say it yet, because as it turns out this is all based on a joke.

Courtesy of HuffPo: 

One text that Page sent Strzok early on the morning of Nov. 9, 2016, has dominated the conservative media world this week, serving as a springboard for a Republican conspiracy theory suggesting that the nation’s premier law enforcement organization was plotting a coup against Trump within hours of his stunning victory. 

“Are you even going to give out your calendars? Seems kind of depressing,” Page, a FBI lawyer, wrote in the text to Strzok from her FBI-issued phone. “Maybe it should just be the first meeting of the secret society.” 

Republican lawmakers seized upon the “secret society” reference this week, claiming to see sinister motives, and it started popping up all over cable news chyrons. But, in fact, it was almost certainly a joke, a bit of gallows humor after an election that featured Russian interference. 

So what was that “calendars” reference all about? Out of context, it’s a bit confusing. But the backstory is actually kind of funny. The New York Times first reported that the “calendars,” which the Times said had a “Russia theme,” were a gag gift for those working on the early Russia probe. 

A source familiar with the text messages filled HuffPost in on the details. It turns out that, as a joke, Strzok had purchased calendars featuring “beefcake” photos of Vladimir Putin doing manly, tough-guy things like riding a horse.

Yeah, so that happened.

I have to say at this point I do not know how anybody takes Fox News or the Republican party seriously anymore.

Sarah Palin makes attempt to poison Hilary Clinton. (Well that's at least the way I'm reading it.)

What Palin is making reference to is a story that was reported two day ago in which Hillary once made a reference to Palin in a 2015 interview and her team decided that it was beneath her to do so.

Courtesy of The Hill: 

In an interview with Times Magazine journalist Mark Leibovich last July, Clinton reminisced about spending time in Alaska during one summer in college, where she came face to face with “a huge moose.” 

“I've eaten moose, too. I've had moose stew,” Clinton told the magazine, according to a transcript made public from the hacked email account of Clinton's campaign chairman, John Podesta. 

“In Alaska, moose stew. So that's why I always got a big kick out of Sarah Palin with all of her, ‘We're cooking up some moose stew here,’” she added, with a laugh. 

Clinton’s presidential campaign later asked Leibovich not to include the reference to Palin. 

“Fine to use the moose, but appreciate leaving the mention of Sarah Palin out,” Clinton spokesperson Jennifer Palmieri told the journalist in a July email made public on Tuesday.

So in a nutshell Hillary made some off the cuff reference to Sarah Palin, and her people realized that the freak show would use it as a chance to dance around shouting "Look at me, look at me, I am still relevant, even Hillary Clinton is talking about me."

And of course, as this demonstrates, that is exactly what she did.

President Obama demonstrates that Republicans are becoming a punchline even outside of America.

Courtesy of Politicususa: 

Part of what makes this a special evening for me is the presence of my family members who are here. My grandmother, Mama Sarah, who told me I had to come back to Kenya. And when she says you should do something, generally you have to do it. I’ve told this story before — the first time that I visited Kogelo, Auma and I and my brothers were there. Mama Sarah speaks Swahili and Luo, and I speak neither –and so Auma was serving as a translator. And I think about a half a day had passed before suddenly she turns to Auma and says something. And Auma starts laughing, and I say, what did she say? She says, he goes to Harvard; if he’s so smart, how come he can’t talk to his grandmother? Which was a good point. 

My siblings are here, aunts, uncles. And so, tonight, I welcome all of them to a somewhat unusual Obama family reunion. I suspect that some of my critics back home are suggesting that I’m back here to look for my birth certificate. That is not the case.

Did you hear that laughter in response to that joke? 

If your claim that President Obama was born in Kenya, is even uproariously funny to Kenyans, I think that is all you have to know about its validity.

And somewhat (But not really.) off topic, is Donald Trump still leading in the polls for the Republican nomination?

Okay now David Corn of Mother Jones says that we SHOULD take Donald Trump's candidacy seriously. I'm so confused.

As I'm sure most of you remember the Huffington Post wrote this piece saying that they did not think that Trump was a serious candidate and would from now on report on him as "Entertainment" instead of in their "Politics" section.

There were a number of news outlets that disagreed with that decision, and in fact some of you expressed similar opinions here in the IM comment section as well.

Now as it turns out David Corn of Mother Jones, who by the way one would expect to be among the first to mock Trump's candidacy, is agreeing with those dissenters: 

Trump has indeed turned an important event—a major political party selecting its presidential nominee—into a stretch Hummer-sized clown car. A Trump-dominated GOP contest does have the feel of a super-charged reality show, with political consumers (that is, the audience) on the edge of their seats, eagerly awaiting the next Trump tweet—Trweet™—blasting another foe or critic. ("Hey Pope Francis, you suck!") Trump is campaigning as a bombastic buffoon, playing to the crowd and inspiring love-hate viewing. Yet, I believe my dear comrades at HuffPo (and I hope they will link to this article) are wrong. 

It's not that Trump is truly a statesman who ought to be regarded as such. But he is a political phenomenon that tell us much about a significant slice of the American public: Republican voters. It is indeed a drop-dead serious matter that a large bloc of GOPers—perhaps a plurality, depending on which poll you prefer—would entrust this nation to Trump. And the fact that Trump's demagoguery is prevailing at this early stage of the Republican presidential race is a measure of how far the tea party shift in the party has gone—and how this ideological extremism has developed deep roots within the GOP.

Okay well that is a valid point. 

However personally I will NEVER be able to treat a Trump candidacy as anything other than a joke.

Of course at this point that is pretty much how I treat the entire Republican party.

Ted Cruz mocks Joe Biden the day before he buries his son.

Courtesy of Think Progress: 

Thursday, Vice President Joe Biden will bury his son, Beau, who died after a battle with brain cancer. That didn’t stop Senator Ted Cruz, who is running for president, from using Biden as a punch line for a bad joke on Wednesday night. Cruz was speaking to a group of Republicans in Michigan.

"Vice President Joe Biden," @TedCruz says to faint laughter. "You know the nice thing? You don't need a punch line." #JoeBiden

— Chad Livengood (@ChadLivengood) June 3, 2015

Later Cruz made a minimal effort at damage control: 

It was a mistake to use an old joke about Joe Biden during his time of grief, and I sincerely apologize. The loss of his son is heartbreaking and tragic, and our prayers are very much with the Vice President and his family.

Today is the funeral of Beau Biden, and many prominent politicians were in attendance, including the President and Michele Obama, as well as Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Somehow I doubt that Cruz made an appearance.

Possibly my favorite joke from Saturday's White House Correspondent's Dinner.

Sarah Palin watches the Sochi Olympics.

This image showed the other day on Reddit.

I actually wasn't going to post this until I read the comments that accompanied it, and found a small yet aggressive group of trolls trying desperately to suggest that this was unfair because it was Tina Fey, and not Palin, who said "I can see Russia from my house," and that in fact living so close to Russia DID give Palin foreign relations experience.

On the first part, yes that is true, but Palin made a slight exaggeration like that incredibly easy, which is why it stuck. And on the second part, no it didn't!

Palin's interactions with Russia were virtually non-existent, and in her own words really only amounted to the scrambling of American jets when Russian jets would penetrate our air space, which happens occasionally, and which the Governor of the state has NOTHING to do with.

However the point of this Reddit post is was that Palin is a joke. Not only a joke but a joke so recognizable that her name itself is often the punchline.

So the handful of pro-Palin trolls can grind their teeth and pull their hair all they want, but over the years Palin has proved her detractors right repeatedly, and proved that the wishful thinking of her supporters is simply a fantasy based on nothing but wishful thinking.

By the way just to demonstrate how split the Republican party is these days, Palin has been invited to speak at CPAC again.

And the sad fact is that she will NOT be the craziest person there.

Iowa GOP posts graphic about identifying a racist, that essentially identifies them as racist.

Courtesy of the Daily Beast:  

The Republican Party of Iowa briefly posted a photo on its Facebook page of a flowchart asking readers to determine "Is Someone A Racist?" 

The flowchart first asked if the person was white or not white. If they weren't white, they were automatically not a racist. If they were, it then asked "do you like them?" If the answer was yes, they were also not a racist. However, if the answer is no, then "they are racist." The flowchart also noted "if you think this flowchart isn't funny, then this flowchart is racist." 

 It was posted by the official Iowa GOP Facebook account at 8:00pm EST on Friday night with the message "Because it's Friday night and we don't need serious political posts on Friday night we are sharing this. Happy Friday and LIKE and SHARE! Unless you think the chart is racist, then don't." 

In a statement posted on the Iowa GOP Facebook page at 8:50 EST, party chair A.J. Spiker wrote "Earlier tonight, a contractor of the Iowa GOP made a post referencing a discussion on race that the GOP believes was in bad taste and inappropriate. We apologize to those whom were offended, have removed the post and are ensuring it does not happen again."

Yeah okay so they are saying that there was a loose cannon contractor in their building who posted this and that it is not something that the Iowa GOP endorses.  At least not publicly.

But here's the thing. If the person who posted it had access to the official Facebook page of the Iowa GOP, which they did, and they posted this knowing full well it would be seen by everybody who visited that page, which it was, doesn't it kind of stand to reason that the contractor felt that what he was doing was in line with the attitude of the Iowa GOP?

Because much like the Chris Christie George Washington Bridge closures, even if the big muck-a-muck at the top did not direct the action personally, you have to believe that the action was taken by those who believed they would approve.

Anybody disagree?

In other words, there is a VERY strong chance that this chart was passed around among members of the Iowa GOP for days, before somebody with access to the Facebook account decided to share it with the world.

I mean is there anybody left who thinks the Iowa GOP is NOT racist?

Nailed it! Update with pictures.

*Insert something inflammatory here* <Link to Obama here> (ask for money to fund lifestyle here) GUNS!!! #TweetLikePalin #griftertemplate
— @boopumpkins (@boopumpkins) May 24, 2013

The above tweet was posted in the #TweetLikePalin thread last night.

I think it is pretty clear that the majority of people in this country have her completely figured out. Don't you?

And the ONLY people who are still pretending that Palin has any future in politics or punditry, are those in her family, and those who stand to benefit when people write or talk about her.

Update: By the way I have received a number of photos of Palin from her appearance  yesterday at the Indianapolis Speedway. This seems to be the appropriate place to share them.

Looks like she is getting to the point where not even wigs and high definition makeup can cover the ugliness within.

Unwilling to recognize that Sarah Palin has become a national joke, her few remaining defenders continue to overreact to EVERY perceived slight. While Palin eggs them on from the Twitterverse.

Okay so apparently this happened during Kobalt Tools 400 NASCAR race in Las Vegas on Sunday, as reported by the Right Wing morons at Breitbart: 

During Fox's telecast of the Kobalt Tools 400 NASCAR race in Las Vegas on Sunday, Fox's NASCAR commentator Michael Waltrip and studio host Chris Myers displayed their ignorance by ridiculing former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin over words she never even said or that have never even been associated with her. 

After getting tongue-tied on live television when attempting to say that Brad Keselowski's crew chief Paul Wolfe was a master strategist, Waltrip mistakenly said Wolfe was a "master strategery." Clearly embarrassed, Waltrip, like any insecure man, then immediately tried to make himself feel better by referring to Wolfe as someone who had "Palin strategery," linking "strategery" to Palin. 

One huge problem. 

Waltrip made a fool of himself again, for Palin has never been accused of making up the word "strategery." Will Ferrell, in a Saturday Night Live episode in October of 2000, used "strategery" in a skit about the presidential debate between Bush and Al Gore to mock Bush. 

"One huge problem?" There does not seem to be nearly enough molehill here to even begin constructing this mountain. After all, despite what this idiot contends, Waltrip NEVER suggested that Palin invented the term, he only used her name to indicate something stupid, which considering what everybody knows about Palin is reasonable.

Of course one might imagine that this overreaction would stand on its own and nobody would give it any unnecessary attention, But that "one" would not know Palin very well.

She quickly retweeted this:

Baseless: NASCAR Announcers Michael Waltrip, Chris Myers Pick on Palin for Comments She Never Made: During Fox... bit.ly/YTprSP
— Breitbart Sports (@BreitbartSports) March 11, 2013

Yep that's right. Palin's antennae went up at the opportunity to once again act like a victim, and she followed this up with yet another tweet:

Hey Waltrip, final lap & you still don't have your facts right. Get some "strategery" and check your facts before you shoot off your mouth.
— Sarah Palin (@SarahPalinUSA) March 13, 2013

Here's the problem, well one of the problems, with Palins's tweet.

She actually DID use the term "strategery." As you can hear for yourself in this 2010 interview with Bill O'Reilly at the 48 second mark:

At some point these idiots are going to have to recognize that for the foreseeable future Palin will continue to be the butt of an endless number of jokes, and will probably ALWAYS be used as shorthand for indicating how stupid something is. I mean if NASCAR is mocking you, you know EVERYBODY is mocking you.

These few sad Palin supporters can run themselves ragged trying to defend every perceived slight that comes down the pike, but the reality is that Palin will run out of bots well BEFORE comedians and pundits run out of jokes at her expense.

Rand Paul refers to Benghazi as "the worst tragedy since 9-11." WTF?

"So we have a review board. Review board finds 64 different things that need change. A lot of them are common sense and should be done, but the question is it's a failure of leadership that they weren't done in advance and four lives were cost because of this. I'm glad that you're accepting responsibility. I think that ultimately with your leaving you accept the culpability for the worst tragedy since 9-1. And I really mean that. Had I been President at the time, and I found that you  did not read the cables from Benghazi. You did not read the cables from Ambassador Stevens, I would have relieved you of your post."

Arrogant little teabagging POS!

Who gives a crap who HE would fire if he were the President, the facts are that he has less chance of being the President than even Sarah Palin.

And Benghazi was the "worst tragedy since 9-11?" Has this idiot been living in a hole in the ground?

As terrible as the Benghazi attack was, it only cost four American lives. Four Americans by the way who KNEW their job was dangerous and who accepoted a certain level of risk.

What about the tragedies that have befallen the American since 9-11, and cost substantially MORE than four lives?

What about Katrina, whihc cost 4,081 lives?

What about the BP oil spill, which took eleven human lives, killed untold thousands of sea creatures, and cost billions of dollars?

What about Hurricane Sandy, whihc took 110 lives and also cost billions of dollars?

Or what about the shootings in Tucson, the Aurora movies theater, and Sandy Hook, which each cost more lives than were lost in Benghazi?

Rand Paul is a joke and he completely undeserving to be sitting in the Senate, and on that committee.

Secretary Clinton deserved a better class of people to be asking her questions today. Sadly it appears this is the best the Republican party is capable of producing these days.

(H/T to Upworthy)

Bill Maher on Chelsea Lately: "Sarah Palin, the illiterate forest creature who served half a term as the governor of a state with no people and is now the queen of brain-farts."

“Right after the election, Sarah Palin, the illiterate forest creature who served half a term as the governor of a state with no people and is now the queen of brain-farts, after the election, she said that Romney lost because he was defined in the swing states early.” 

“That’s what our money was meant to do. People did not change their mind much in this election after February, March and April. That’s when those ads went on and we had to define Mitt Romney as what he was, a cold, robotic tax cheat from a polygamy cult.”

You know way back in 2009 I predicted that someday Sarah Palin would be relegated to a punch line for late night  comedians and the subject of a question on Jeopardy:

On Monday, March 7, 2011, Jeopardy featured this question in the category Hearts: Her latest book is titled "America by Heart: Reflections on Faith, Family and Flag" 

Not one of the contestants knew that the correct question was "Who is Sarah Palin." And remember, to become a contestant on Jeopardy you need to be exceptionally intelligent with a well-rounded store of knowledge that includes history, science, popular culture, literature, and, yes, politics. Yet none of them had ever heard of this book. That's a sign that Palin's pop celebrity status is waning, and it's a good sign for America.

Nostradamus has nothing on me.

Though let's face it, how hard was it REALLY to figure that out?

Sarah Palin believes that Senator John Kerry diminished himself by mentioning her name. But not nearly as much as the Republicans diminished themselves by choosing her as their VP candidate.

Click on giant head to play video before it topples over.

Gee first day back with full access to the internet and the Grizzled Mama says something stupid. It's like I never left.

This time the dimwit seems to have forgotten that she ran for the Vice Presidency in '08. (Too many Red Bulls laced with vodka crazy lady?)

She starts off calling the Democratic convention (I'm sorry I believe she MISPRONOUNCED it as a "Democrat convention.") a "bunch of bunk." Which in Palin speak must mean "An incredibly uplifting experience that made the Republican convention look like an amateur production of "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" put on by the local KKK in a little backwater town in Georgia."

Cavuto, who can barely be understood with his lips so tightly sealed to Palin's lily white anorexic ass,  brings up the fact that John Kerry made this remark during his speech at the convention, "Sarah Palin said that she could see Russia from Alaska. Mitt Romney talks like he's only seen Russia by watching Rocky IV." Which by the way WAS pretty funny.

The Lunatic from Lake Lucille responds by essentially telling one of the few truths she has EVER spoken:

"I think he diminished himself by even mentioning my name."  In that we have to agree as I believe ANY important politician today ONLY diminishes themselves by mentioning this loser. However then Palin goes on to make herself sound even MORE pathetic and perhaps even a little deranged:

"I think he diminished himself by even mentioning my name. Hows does he even know my name? (WTF? Apparently Palin has managed to do what the rest of he country has still not managed to do, she forgot she ever ran for the Vice Presidency. Oh, how I envy her!) I mean aren't these guys suppose to be this big wig elites, who don't waste there time on the little people, like me. Me representing the average American? (says the woman giving an interview on cable television to honor her million dollar contract from her own home studio in her house.) I did say Alaska, in Alaska you can see Russia from our land base. And I was making the point that we are strategically located on the globe, and when it comes to transportation corridors and resources that are shared, and fought over, Alaska, and I as the Governor, had known what I was doing in dilling (sic) with um...some international issues that had to do with our resources that could help secure the nation. So it's funny that he would take a little potshot like that. But um...it's funny he even knows my name."

Yes it IS funny that a sitting Senator who once ran for President himself would have learned the name of the VP candidate who ran four years later. I mean what does John Kerry do, read the newspapers?

Okay I tend to avoid talking about Palin's health anymore, since when I do she sometimes feels the need to fake a marathon, but did anybody else notice that she seems to be all head these days? Her shoulders are SO narrow that it looks like somebody placed a Sarah Palin head on the body of a twelve year old. (And wouldn't THAT be cruel?)

You know I always wanted Palin to disappear from the public airwaves, but it seems like she might be disappearing from our reality altogether. (Sort of like Marty McFly in the "Back to the Future" movies.)

Pretty soon the only thing we will be able to see in these interviews is a  giant wig, and an oversize pair of glasses, attached to what will appear to be a broomstick.

No Mitt Romney did NOT just accidentally slip and make that joke about birth certificates and here's why.

Courtesy of The Atlantic Wire:

The recent direction of Mitt Romney's campaign may seem perplexing — the candidate's birther joke, those ads accusing Obama of gutting welfare reform, John Sununu's jab that Obama needs to learn how to be American, and veep pick Paul Ryan's pride at bitterly clinging to guns and God — but it can all be explained with just one number: 61 percent, which is the share of the white vote Romney needs to win. 

In June RealClearPolitics' David Paul Kuhn looked at the demographic break down in vote projections and concluded, "The white margin to watch: 61-39. That’s the rough break-even point. Obama likely needs more than 39 percent of whites to assure re-election." To put that into context, Kuhn notes, "Whites favored Reagan in 1984 by a 64-35 margin. They favored Bush in 1988 by a 59-40 margin. Four years ago, whites favored McCain by a 55-43 margin." When Kuhn was writing in late June, he noted in an average of four polls, Obama was a couple points below the 39 percent mark -- and Romney was far from his 61 percent target. The New Republic's Nate Cohn pointed out that averaging more polls, whites were splitting for Romney by 52 percent to 39 percent. With Romney making little headway with black or Hispanic voters — polls typically put his support among non-white voters in the high teens to low 20s — the best remaining option is to get to that 61 percent threshold with whites. And if the Republican primary taught us anything — think back to Donald Trump's birther bubble and Newt Gingrich's South Carolina victory after doubling down on his charge that Obama is the "food stamp president" — these racially tinged campaign barbs are sure crowd pleasers among white Republicans. 

In other words, Romney needs to be more loved by white people and Obama needs to be more disliked by them for Romney to win. Romney made a step toward that goal Friday with his birther joke, "No one’s ever asked to see my birth certificate. They know that this is the place that we were born and raised." Romney defended his comments, saying of his mostly-white audience, "the crowd loved it and got a good laugh."

I NEVER believed that Romney made a slip of the tongue despite many journalists pushing that idea on virtually EVERY cable news channel.

Mitt Romney will do ANYTHING to win this election, and if he thought standing up on stage in a Klu Klux Klan outfit yelling "Let's lynch the ni**er!" would get him the votes that he needs, he would be cutting holes in his bedsheets as we speak.

Montana judge admits to sending racist, bestiality suggestive e-mail about President.

Judge Richard Cebull.

Courtesy of Great Falls Tribune:

Chief U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull on Wednesday admitted to sending a racially charged email about President Barack Obama from his courthouse chambers. 

Cebull, of Billings, was nominated by former President George W. Bush and received his commission in 2001 and has served as chief judge for the District of Montana since 2008. 

The subject line of the email, which Cebull sent from his official courthouse email address on Feb. 20 at 3:42 p.m., reads: "A MOM'S MEMORY." 

The forwarded text reads as follow: 

"Normally I don't send or forward a lot of these, but even by my standards, it was a bit touching. I want all of my friends to feel what I felt when I read this. Hope it touches your heart like it did mine. "A little boy said to his mother; 'Mommy, how come I'm black and you're white?'" the email joke reads. "His mother replied, 'Don't even go there Barack! From what I can remember about that party, you're lucky you don't bark!'" 

The judge acknowledges that the e-mail is racist but claims he did not intend for it to become public. Like that makes it better!


"It was not intended by me in any way to become public," Cebull said. "I apologize to anybody who is offended by it, and I can obviously understand why people would be offended." 

Cebull said his brother initially sent him the email, which he forwarded to six of his "old buddies" and acquaintances. 

He admitted that he read the email and intended to send it to his friends. "The only reason I can explain it to you is I am not a fan of our president, but this goes beyond not being a fan," Cebull said. "I didn't send it as racist, although that's what it is. I sent it out because it's anti-Obama."

I'm sorry I know everybody expects me to write some witty post eviscerating this asshole, but I am literally so sickened by that level of hate directed at our President that I am almost struck speechless.

However I would really like for some reporter in Montana to take a look at the cases that this judge has presided over, and compare whether or not the black defendants that come before him were treated any differently than the lighter skinned defendants that come before him.

Because I have to say that anybody who felt compelled, scratch that, excited to share this e-mail with his "old buddies," has a very deeply ingrained malignant racism that certainly must have expressed itself in a variety of ways over the years.

Further proof that Sarah Palin's political career is essentially over.

For those of us paying special attention to the Palin train wreck the idea of Sarah pursuing a legitimate political campaign probably seems ridiculous.  However there are those people who still believe that she has an actual chance of both running and winning a national election.

So for those of you on the short bus let me help to put your mind at ease.

First there is the myth that she is worshipped by the conservative voters in the southern states.  As recent polling shows, that is not factually based.

It's been assumed the South will be a source of strength for Sarah Palin if she decides to make a 2012 Presidential bid, but our early polling isn't backing up that assumption.

In Georgia we find Mike Huckabee as the leader with 38% to 28% for Mitt Romney and 25% for Palin. Palin has also finished behind Huckabee in recent polls of North Carolina and Alabama, and she's in third behind both Huckabee and Romney in Texas.

Huckabee has the lead with both moderates and conservatives. Interestingly Romney outruns Palin with both groups as well, including a 28-24 advantage over her with conservatives. As has been the case in other states Palin is not getting any boost from female voters- her 24% level of support from them is pretty much the same as her 25% with men.

Then there is the question concerning her ability to put together a team that will not only give her the kind of support she needs to make a viable run for office, but also one (and this would be new for her) whose advice she would both listen and respond to.