Final thought of the day.

Found on Reddit

All props go to Lawrence O'Donnell for this awesome and accurate quote.

The Sarah Palin curse continues as the night before she shows up to support Steve Lonegan he is forced to fire his top adviser.

Courtesy of New Jersey.com:

Rick Shaftan, a top adviser to Steve Lonegan, may not be known to many outside New Jersey and New York political circles, but he went viral today — and it cost him his job. 

Shaftan gave a lengthy, profanity-laced interview with political news site Talking Points Memo, ridiculing Democratic Newark Mayor Cory Booker, Lonegan's opponent in Wednesday's special U.S. Senate election. 

Shaftan, a fixture on many state and local conservative campaigns in the metropolitan area, said Booker's online interaction last month with Portland stripper Lynsie Lee was "weird" and suggested the mayor's somewhat vanilla exchange suggested he was gay. 

"It was just weird. I mean, to me, you know, hey, if he said, 'Hey, you got really hot breasts, man. ... But, like, he didn't say that," Shaftan said in the interview. "It was like kind of like, I don't know, it was like what a gay guy would say to a stripper." 

Hours later, Lonegan fired Shaftan, saying the comments “are not reflective of my views or that of my campaign. 

“His comments are distasteful and offensive, and his contract as a vendor for my campaign will be terminated immediately,” Lonegan said.

Damn, I swear her powers of political poison are getting stronger by the day.

This guy, Shaftan, had a long career in local politics but now he will have a very hard time finding work with another political hopeful after this embarrassing incident.

And her plane had not even landed yet.

You know I was thinking the other day about perhaps the  most famous of her endorsement that did NOT result in a loss for the endorsee. And that was Ted Cruz.

But in that case he became a carrier of her disease and the poison has now spread through the Republican party.

I can hardly wait to find out how much more damage she will do to Lonegan today at the Teabagger party.

South Dakota Senatorial candidate mocked by newspaper after having picture taken with Sarah Palin.

Here is the headline from the article:

Bosworth cozies up to Palin.

Followed up by this:

This one picture sums up the Bosworth campaign: Say anything for attention and money. (And BosworthForSenate.com still does nothing but ask for money.)

It's pretty funny that just the very image posing with Palin dismisses this person as a serious candidate.

Not that Dr. Annette Bosworth did not already have skeletons in her closet:  

Sioux Falls Doctor Annette Bosworth made her candidacy official Tuesday. The 41-year-old physician will campaign against former Governor Mike Rounds and state Senator Larry Rhoden in next June's primary. 

Bosworth has been in and out of the headlines the past several months while fighting to keep her medical license for employing an assistant without the proper agreements in place. But Bosworth believes those experiences have made her battle tested and she is touting her career as a physician as an asset for her candidacy.

Ah almost losing your license for breaking the law, sounds EXACTLY like somebody who would seek an endorsement or photo-op from Sarah Palin.

By the way speaking of Palin this photo was sent to to me with the caption; "Palin tried the 'do you know who I am?' bit at Denver airport to try and get an earlier flight. Ours was delayed by 3 hours."



The sad fact for Palin's future is that fewer and fewer people remember who she is, and those who do really don't give a shit.

If Sarah Palin leaves the Republican party she has no place to go. To put it bluntly NOBODY wants her.

Courtesy of US News:  

Former vice presidential candidate and Gov. Sarah Palin, R-Alaska, openly mulled leaving the Republican Party in a Saturday interview on Fox News, citing her "libertarian streak." The Libertarian Party, frequently a refuge for renegade Republicans, isn't sure that she would be a good fit – and the Reform Party, too, says it has "zero interest" in Palin. 

"[W]hile a few of Sarah Palin's views are aligned with those of the Libertarian Party, her pro-interventionist foreign policy, her support of the 2008 Republican-led bailouts, her loyal support of Big Government Republicans, her social conservative agenda and her lack of concrete backing for any serious downsizing of Big Government runs afoul of the Libertarian Party's goals and most Libertarians' views," the Libertarian Party's executive director, Carla Howell, told U.S. News. 

Palin could conceivably find a home in the Constitution or Reform parties - but the Reform Party, which had its heyday in the 1990s, is entirely uninterested. 

"The Reform Party would probably have zero interest in Sarah Palin," Reform Party Chairman David Collison told U.S. News. "The primary reason is that we are not really as closely aligned with the tea party as people would think." 

Collison said his party aspires to be viewed as centrist, and embraces activists affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement. "Palin would basically torpedo that," he said.

As if that was not bad enough I had heard in the past that even Alaska's AIP party was keeping their distance. Essentially Palin is  poison and just about everybody knows it.

And the misses just keep on coming for Palin as the Washington Post examined her claim that Hispanics are against an immigration bill and gave her three Pinocchios for being such a dumb ass. 

However Buzzfeed might leave the biggest mark on her punditry pinata as they discover that before Palin was against passing immigration reform which contained amnesty for illegals, she was for it.

Well she wanted people to pay attention to her again, and they certainly are.

Conservative reporter says that the rehiring of Sarah Palin proves that Fox News does "not care about conservatism."

Courtesy of The Week:  

Not long ago, conservatives like myself were thrilled to find out that Fox News, often portrayed as the mouthpiece of the conservative movement, had parted ways with former governor of Alaska (and quitter) Sarah Palin. This was truly a cause for celebration. Those of us devoted to building a conservative movement capable of winning elections had come to view the former governor as the symbol of everything, and I do mean everything, wrong with the modern conservative movement. 

But now, Roger Ailes has rehired her. And in so doing, Ailes has issued a painful reminder that he cares far more about making money than he does about informing his viewers — or even winning elections for the Republican Party. 

To be sure, I admire and recognize Palin's remarkable political ability. Her political instincts are sublime, as evidenced by the way crowds of very honorable and intelligent Americans connected with her during her campaign. But while having good political instincts may well make you a hit on the campaign trail, and might even score you a victory or two in elections, those who are all sizzle and no steak get found out soon enough. And never in the history of the United States has anyone ever been found out quite the way Gov. Palin was. 

Before John McCain nominated Palin to be his running mate in 2008, the Republican Party was already in lousy shape. But Palin was rock bottom. She simply did not know enough to engage anyone on any matter of substance, and that was a highly damning fact that shaped the modern perception of the Republican Party. It plagued us in the last election, and continues to hamper us to this day. Because of Palin's lack of education on matters of substance, and because so many in the movement embraced her in spite of that utter cluelessness, most voters came to view the party as a movement driven by charismatic but uneducated leaders followed by hordes of hero worshipers too oblivious or uninterested to contemplate the sorts of disaster that might follow if someone like Palin were actually elected.

"But Palin was rock bottom. She simply did not know enough to engage anyone on any matter of substance, and that was a highly damning fact that shaped the modern perception of the Republican Party." God I love that! Especially because it is so true.

 Of course I completely disagree with the assertion that Palin demonstrates "remarkable political ability" since she has never really demonstrated any. Instead what she has demonstrated is the ability to identify those ignorant enough to fall for her deceptions and to drain every last dollar out of their bank accounts, as well as the ability to attract attention from the public much like a traffic accident attracts attention from passing motorists.

However I do agree that Ailes putting her back on the payroll indicates that he only cares about using her to attract a few more eyeballs to Fox before the last horny old conservative goat becomes too decrepit to even work the remote control anymore, and does not really care about presenting the conservative movement as a viable political ideology, unless that in some way fattens his bank account.

Personally I think that this is a miscalculation for Ailes. Sure he will get some short term attention, and a few more clicks for this decision, but ultimately Palin's presence will damage the credibility of Fox (Assuming there is any left) just like she has impacted the credibility of the Republican party. (Assuming there is any left.)

But hey, who am I to tell Ailes how to run his network into the ground? He seems to be doing a bang up job of that all on his won.

Politicians in Alaska know to stay far clear of a Sarah Palin endorsement, but in some parts of the country there is apparently a steeper learning curve.

Right after I finished the post right below I happened to take a little jog over to Palin-land where I see this on Snowdrift Snooki's Facebook page:  

Jason Smith for Missouri’s 8th Congressional District 

Jason has worked tirelessly to build on the foundation of his humble beginnings and is a responsible and respected leader in the Show Me State. In Washington DC, Jason will maintain that innate sense of his community and will bring his commonsense conservatism to the halls of Congress. Jason recognizes that government is the problem, not the solution. He will protect our 2nd Amendment rights and work to promote a culture of life. We must all work together to send Mr. Smith to Washington on June 4th.

 – Sarah Palin

What? There are actually people who WANT Sarah Palin to endorse them?

Now if you are like me your first thought was the one up above, but your second thought was probably, "Who in the hell is Jason Smith?"

I had no idea so I looked him up and discovered that he is running in a special election in Missouri for one of their recently vacated House seats and is a friend of Sarah Steelman.

 You remember her, right?

Other than that Smith seems like the usual cookie cutter teabagger, with campaign ads stressing his family values and ability to fire his camouflage rifle.

Of course none of that explains WHY Palin would endorse this guy after staying relatively quiet for such a long time. But then I found out that he was the first elected official and candidate to do this.

That's right he was the first politician to jump on that ridiculous "Liberty Pose" thing that Palin did back in March during her speech at CPAC.

So apparently if you are willing to court ridicule my mimicking the lunatic behavior of a crazy person, that crazy person will gladly help to sabotage your campaign.

Seems fair.

Want to REALLY insult an Alaska politician? Just compare them to Sarah Palin and see what happens!

Courtesy of Policymic: 

On May 2, ThinkProgress writer Josh Israel wrote a hit piece against Alaska Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell, who is currently exploring a bid for the United States Senate in 2014. The title? "Meet Mead Treadwell: The Male Sarah Palin." 

Huh? 

I guess it's not technically libel to compare someone to Sarah Palin, but ThinkProgress's intent is clear: to malign Treadwell's character and present him as a fringe conspiracy theorist rather than a serious politician. Let's go through Israel's eight major points and explain why not one of them validates the comparison.

"It is not TECHNICALLY libel to compare someone to Sarah Palin." No but it IS close enough to libel in Alaska that people feel compelled in Alaska to defend their candidate against that comparison.

 This young man, Will Bishop, then goes on to try and disassemble each point made in the article by Think Progress, using at times even minor differences to make space, so that Treadwell, who is currently "exploring" the idea of running against Mark Begich for the Senate in 2014, can avoid the stain of being associated with Palin.

I do not know either Mead Treadwell nor Will Bishop, but I would not be at all surprised to learn that this effort was supported, if not directed, by Treadwell himself in order to avoid that comparison.

And the fact that you will find essentially ALL Alaska politicians taking similar steps if they find themselves similarly slimed with an association with Palin is why I did not even bother to discuss the recent, and clearly unscientific, poll by Harper Polling which suggested that Palin could win the nomination for the Senate and beat out all other Republican candidates.

No, no she could not. And that may be a shock in other parts of the country but it is obvious to everybody living in Alaska.

We do NOT like her! Period!

And much of the reason for that was her incredible pettiness, which Bishop brings up in the close of his article in support of Treadwell.

Around the time of Sarah Palin's resignation as governor in 2009, Rod Boyce, managing editor of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, wrote a long column detailing his months-long attempt to get then-Gov. Palin in the room with the News-Miner's editorial board. Palin considered the paper an adversary because it had opposed the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act. Boyce noted that either of Palin's predecessors, Frank Murkowski and Tony Knowles, would have come into the board room and argued heatedly with skeptics of their policies, trying to win them over. Palin didn't believe in that. Either you were for her or against her, and she didn't see any point in talking to opponents.

So just imagine how Palin would be treated by the press, and  the Alaskan people she abandoned in 2009, if she were to throw her wig into the ring for ANY political office up here.

Can you say "eviscerated?"

John Boehner claims that President Obama plans to "annihilate the Republican Party." And here I thought I could NOT like the President anymore than I do.

Courtesy of HuffPo:  

Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) warned fellow Republicans this week, saying President Barack Obama's inaugural address had convinced him that the president was undertaking an effort to "annihilate" the GOP. 

"Given what we heard yesterday about the president's vision for his second term, it's pretty clear to me -- should be clear to all of you -- that he knows he can't do any of that as long as the House is controlled by Republicans," Boehner said during a speech at the Ripon Society on Tuesday. "So we're expecting over the next 22 months to be the focus of this administration as they attempt to annihilate the Republican Party." 

Boehner continued, claiming that the broader goal of the administration was "to just shove us into the dustbin of history."

You know this reminds of me of a suicidal man who accuses another man of murder for not taking his gun away before he shoots himself. Arguably the only people the Republicans can blame for the destruction of their party is the choices made by Republican party.

However if Boehner is unwilling to be that circumspect, there is another person that he could legitimately blame for the  demise of his party, and that would be Sarah Palin.

As any Alaskan can tell you allowing Palin to be associated with you is the kiss of death.

Whether it be dairy companies, a natural gas pipeline, reality shows, cable news outlets (Which by the way we now know for certain has cut her loose.), or certain well known politicians..

 ...the curse of Palin is sure to doom them in the long run.

After the debacle of the two Bush terms the Republicans desperately needed to choose a presidential candidate with gravitas, and they seemingly did that with John McCain. But then his campaign was bullied into adding one of the most inept politicians on the planet, and essentially turned the GOP into a laughingstock only fit for ridicule by late night comedians.

Then they allowed Palin to tease the low hanging fruit usually relegated to the extreme fringe of the party with hints at a presidential run of her own, which garnered her undeserved attention that she then used to bring focus onto a truly ridiculous group of Constitutional retards, so blatantly clownish that they wore teabags and tricorner hats on their head, who were nonetheless successful in placing political IED's into the Congress and Senate which have sabotaged EVERY attempt to successfully govern since their arrival.

Then Palin went on to cash in on her notoriety with poorly written books, crappy reality shows, and often bizarre public appearances right up until she had drained the very last ounce of credibility from her public image, and had become nothing but fodder for late night comedians. And while doing so had helped to sully the image of the Republican party for ever having elevated her to such prominence in the first place.

 Not all of the blame can be laid at Palin's feet, there is still plenty to go around, however if John Boehner is looking for the single most damaging decision the Republican party has made in the last four years, and the trigger for the problems they are facing today, they need look no further than a dead lake in a tiny methamphetamine saturated town in Alaska.

List of featured speakers at Tampa GOP convention. Guess who's not on the list. No go ahead, guess!

'What? They really didn't invite me?"

Courtesy of Tampa Bay Times:  

Florida Gov. Rick Scott, Sen. John McCain and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are among seven headline speakers announced today for the Republican National Convention in Tampa. 

The first look at featured speakers also includes South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez. 

The keynote speaker and others will be named closer to the Aug. 27-30 event, Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus said in announcing the headliners, whom he called "some of our party's brightest stars, who have governed and led effectively and admirably in their respective roles." 

"Ours will be a world-class convention, worthy of the next president of the United States, and these speakers — and those that will be announced later — will help make it a truly memorable and momentous event," Priebus said.

Well keeping Palin far away is a good start, but I really don't think this will be the MOST memorable and momentous event ever.  I mean after all you are STILL Republicans.

I guess if there was anybody left who did not realize that Palin is a walking, talking embarrassment to the Republican party, THIS should put those doubts to rest.

Gee I wonder how the Grizzled Mama is taking it?

 Never mind, I'm pretty sure I already know.

Mad Magazine's take on Sarah Palin's attempt at "infiltrating some turf" on the Today Show.

Get a load of this description, from the magazine that had me giggling all through my adolescence:

When ABC announced that Katie Couric would be filling in as co-anchor on Good Morning America, the producers of The Today Show knew they had to do something big to counter-program. And they did! Unfortunately, they did something big and stupid, bringing in unqualified V.P. candidate, half-term Alaska governor and intellectual feather-weight Sarah Palin to co-host. Is this bad, desperate TV? You betcha!

I could not have said it better myself!

By the way, could the Today Show now be starting to feel the effects of the "Palin curse?" Maybe.

In what has become one of the most closely watched ratings battles ever, ABC’s Good Morning America with guest host Katie Couric edged Couric’s former show, NBC’s Today, for the first time. On Wednesday, Good Morning America drew 5.236 million total viewers, to Today’s 5.149 million. 

When will people ever learn?  Sure she may get you so some initial attention, but in the long run being associated with Sarah Palin is like going skinny dipping with an anchor around your neck.

The only place you are going is down.  And fast!

Seeking the Palin endorsement, the very definition of political desperation.

Courtesy of CBS News:

After leaving an indelible mark on the 2010 midterm elections, Palin has had a minimal impact thus far in this cycle. But one presidential candidate is hoping that the Mama Grizzly is about to come out of hibernation. 

Despite the deeply held maxim that endorsements are overrated, Newt Gingrich and his senior aides are increasingly hopeful of gaining Palin's support, which could mark a significant turn in the Republican nominating fight.

In a Washington Post poll released last week, 23 percent of registered Republicans and GOP-leaning independents nationwide said that an endorsement by Palin would make them more likely to back a particular candidate, while 15 percent said it would make them less likely to do so. 

But Palin's impact among evangelical and Tea Party-leaning GOP voters could be significant in the current multi-conservative field. 

Asked how impactful a Palin endorsement would be, one Gingrich aide replied succinctly: "Big."

Yep, it would be big alright. Just ask John McCain, Christine O'Donnell, or more recently, Tim Tebow. Their careers just "soared" after Palin was attached to them like that facehugger creature from the Alien movies.

And if that were not enough to deter the Gingrich campaign from seeking an endorsement from Palin, perhaps the fact that her providing that endorsement might send their candidate to jail might be enough to persuade them of her toxicity.

You see since Newt had all but assured Palin of a "major role" in his administration if he were elected president, and if she provides her endorsement after he publicly made that statement, it puts him legal jeopardy according to the US legal code.


According to TITLE 18 > PART I > CHAPTER 29 > § 599§ 599. 

Promise of appointment by candidate Whoever, being a candidate, directly or indirectly promises or pledges the appointment, or the use of his influence or support for the appointment of any person to any public or private position or employment, for the purpose of procuring support in his candidacy shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; and if the violation was willful, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.

I know that after last night's win the Gingrich campaign is flying high right now.(Well as high as one can fly with 300 pounds of bacon grease soaked male cellulite dragging them back to earth that is.) And they may actually believe that Palin had something to do with it. (We certainly know SHE does.)

So they have to ask themselves a question. Is the possibility that Palin might have helped win South Carolina, a heavily evangelical state that was NEVER going to vote for that Mormon Romney no matter who was running against him, worth the risk of seeking her endorsement and in response being heavily fined or doing actual jail time?

In other words, "Are you feeling lucky, Punk?"

Update: I just saw this on "UP with Chris Hayes" and thought I would share it.

Seems fitting doesn't it?

For those who are fearful that Newt could actually make it into the White House, I would remind you that while Chuckie spread a lot of mayhem in his films, and piled up an impressive body count,  ultimately he always met a terrible fate before the credits rolled at the end of the movie. So this metaphor may be very apt indeed.

How's that Sarah Palin endorsement thing working for ya Tim Tebow?

So as we know Sarah "Albatross" Palin crank called Fox news on December 18 (Rumor has it that she skipped going on camera because her wig was getting its distemper shot), and apparently rubbed one out while gushing that she was "pro-Tebow" and went on an on about how "bold" Timmy was concerning his confidence that Jesus was going to "rock your world."

Well right after that some complete jackass of a blogger (It was me, it was me!) predicted that Palin's endorsement would sabotage Tebow's winning streak, just like her endorsements had destroyed the careers of countless others before him. (Like John McCain, Sharon Angle, Christine O'Donnell, those turkeys that time at Thanksgiving, Bristol, Todd's manhood, etc., etc., etc..)

I know, what a douche right?

Anyhow I thought we would check in on Tebow's career and put any rumors to rest that Palin's endorsement is the kiss of death. Because that's just sil.....wait, what?

According to the LA Times:  

Denver quarterback Tim Tebow said his confidence remains intact despite three consecutive losses. He had one touchdown pass and seven interceptions during those games. 

“The three losses haven’t shaken my confidence," Tebow said. "I’ve had to go through a lot of ups and downs in my sports career, and so I’m not going to let a few losses affect my confidence. I’m still out there playing the game that I love, so I still consider myself very blessed and honored to be playing quarterback for such a great organization.

Oh...well that's an interesting coincidence. Unless you are one of those people who do not believe in coincidences of course.

What is SB Nation reporting on this embarrassing turn of events?

“After being the story of the NFL for several weeks, Tebow has regressed terribly in the past two games. He was dreadful Sunday. Tebow completed 6 of 22 passes for 60 yards. He is no longer making an impact as a runner. He had just 16 yards on six carries.” 

“His passes are sailing high and he is taking way too much time in his decision-making. Tebow is 30-for-73 for with four interceptions during Denver’s losing skid. He has lost a fumble in the past five games and there was no fourth-quarter magic as Denver, which won four straight games this season when it trailed in the fourth quarter, couldn’t do anything in four series in the final quarter. Tebow lost a fumble at the Kansas City 11-yard line on Sunday in a play that was crucial to the Chiefs’ win. Denver simply can’t win with Tebow making these types of mistakes.”

Really? And all of this has happened JUST after Palin has endorsed Tebow?

Well I guess in the contest between Jesus and the She-Devil of Wasilla, Jesus NEVER stood a chance.

Thank goodness I am not the kind of blogger to say I told you so.

(Unless of course it is written really, really, small. "I told you so! Everything she touches turns to moosepoop! Call me a douche will you!")