Sarah's Just Not That Into You!

Yes, I mean you. You know who you are. You point out whenever Sarah Palin tells little harmless white lies. You call her names like "the Quitter Queen." You ask tough questions that get her all discombobulated, like, "What newspapers and magazines do you read?" You post pictures of her on your blogs that show what she looks like without makeup, for crying out loud! And you even investigate her past when we all know there is only one real unfiltered version of her history that she's already laid out for you in her new book, "Going Rogue." No wonder she banned you from the last stop on her book-signing tour. How dare you think you could invade her space right there in her beloved Wasilla. Sheesh!

*removes tongue from cheek now*  :)

Here's an image borrowed from ADN's story on the whackjob's wierd Wasilla signing. The only reason I looked at their story is because two of my most favorite netizens were unceremoniously escorted out of the venue of the signing, the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center, after being informed that they were "banned" from the event. [BANNED!! Making it on Sarah Palin's enemies list.]

Palinbots gather before climbing stairs where Great Leader deigns to sign their books

Three things struck me about this picture right off the bat.

1. The floor of the upper walkway definitely looks wavy.  How many people can safely walk up there? Who was responsible for the design and construction, and were inferior materials used?  Was the architectural engineering flawed?  The building is not that old!  Oh right.  Sarah picked the architectural firm who just happened to be a significant contributor to her campaign for Lt. Governor.  [Village Voice: The Book of Sarah]
   
   
2. And there's that railing, the one that looks awfully like the one in Sarah's house. You'd almost think the same architect designed both buildings, except according to Todd Palin, he built their house on Lake Lucille (a mere mile or so away from the Sports Center) himself with the help of some buddies. [H&HT: The House That Sarah Built]
   
   
3. Then there's a veritable wall of mesh netting hanging from the ceiling all the way down to the lower floor, serving as .. ? .. a tomato-proofing curtain?  I realize this is a space where people play sports that involve moving objects like basketballs and hockey pucks.  But is this netting necessary for crowd control?  Or is it just to add to the sense of special-ness one feels as one reaches the upper level and grows close to the precious one?  I guess it could be to keep Sarah from throwing herself over the edge of the railing to fall into the arms of her devotees below.
   

But back to the event itself.  Turns out there's not one but two reasons that certain people were escorted out of this public (as advertised by Sarah in a recent tweet) event.  First, someone drew up a list of people to be banned and provided names and photos for the reception desk at the Sports Center.  I wonder who that could be?  Sarah won't take credit for the ID package, claiming that Harper Collins (publisher of "Going Rogue") was responsible.  But who here believes Harper Collins determined that a blogger (Gryphen of Immoral Minority) and a videographer (Dennis Zaki) should appear on a "banned" list?

Second, according to Wasilla Recreation and Cultural Services Manager James Hastings, he didn't want to be responsible if Sarah's minions created "a negative situation" for our intrepid blogger and his photo-journalist friend.  "If I take three minutes on Google I can see that, given the nature of the people who were here, it wasn't in his (Zaki's) best interest to be here. He and others could have found themselves in a negative situation," Hastings told ADN.  That admission alone says tons about Hastings, Wasilla Palin-worshippers, and of course Sarah herself.  But we already knew that.

Sarah, just between you and me, hon, you've gone as far as you can go in public life. But it sure is fun to watch you try and pretend otherwise.  Now, can I be banned too?  Please?

To Sarah Palin's Fans

The media knows when someone is a celebrity. They rightfully labeled this picture, "Sarah Palin waves at fans during book tour."

I don't think religious figures in history had fans. I don't think monarchs had fans. Even politicians don't seem to have fans. But musicians do. Television, movie and stage stars do. Some professional athletes do. But not Senators or Representatives or Mayors or Governors or Presidents.

But that's neither here nor there. Bottom line is, Sarah Palin has fans. Fans who wait in the cold for her plane to touch down, wait while she switches to the big blue bus parked on the runway, wait while the bus drives a few miles to the local bookstore, and wait while she regally disembarks the bus, clutching Trig (the token child) like a security blanket and her personal pro-life badge, and wait while she enters the bookstore for "The Amazing Signing Ceremony."

Fans of Sarah Palin, I know you are out there. I doubt many of you frequent my blog but I have a very serious question to ask you, and I would really, really love to get an answer from some of you. But before you consider the question, you have to promise to think about it and then be as honest as possible with yourself, with me, and with my other readers.

I don't expect many responses but hey, surprise me! So here's the question:

If you found out that Sarah Palin told a lie and continued to perpetuate a hoax about giving birth to a Down syndrome child, would you still be a fan?

Even if you who read this have absolute adoration for Sarah Palin (if your minds are at all free to think), you should be able to imagine the scenario. I'd be very happy if you left a comment on how that might change your perception of her. Would that totally destroy what you think of her? Partially destroy? Would you forgive her this kind of fraud if it occurred under certain circumstances?

I'd really like to know.

Thank God for Tiger Woods

First of all, a very sincere mea culpa to those who visited my blog and who had, by every right, an expectation that if I took a break I would at least say something about it.  I have no explanation for my absence that would hold water... suffice it to say I blew a gasket and skittered off for several weeks in random wanderings, unable to give voice to any of my opinions or feelings.

Second of all, were it not for Tiger Woods and the daily revelations of his dalliances, I expect we'd be hearing even more inane coverage of Ms. Inane herself.  Yes, the self-appointed Queen of the North, the female Jesus (Jesusia?) who loves to cry that she is being crucified by the press and her former close friends and co-workers, and frankly, most of the world.  Thank goodness for the steadiness and reliability of the Alaskan bloggers (you know who you are!) and even some not-so-Alaskan bloggers and journalists for debunking Ms. Rouge Renegade at nearly every step of the way.

Third, by this post I'm not quite sure that "I'm back..." -- but at least I'll try not to leave you hanging as before.  Nothing ill beset me in such a way that I felt warned off my usual blog-course.  Ha.. as if I'd made such a dent in anyone's usual deception!  I wish.  I thank the many of you who worried and questioned, though. It was humbling to receive your e-mails and comments.  But I do sense that we all need to do what we can, again, to gather up the steam needed to melt the mask off Ms. S'error so that there is no chance, whatsoever, of seeing her name on a ballot for our national leadership.  Ever.  Again.

Thank you for your patience with me, and for keeping the faith.  Now, let's get busy!

Moose Masks

"the problem child," this is for you:

Behold AKMuckraker, posing for a picture at the Pittsburgh Mudstock, in one of the moose masks!

Mudstock Memories -- Random Thoughts and Images

What a joy to meet so many other mudpuppies in Pittsburgh, for the 3rd Mudstock there!  This post is just random thoughts and images of the event.

Here is our live blogging setup.  I think that's Lori in LA and behind her is a computer (someone is at it) and if you follow the wire up, there's a projector that is shooting The Mudflats dot net comments up on the screen.  We took turns posting our hellos from the room at Roland's where we gathered, waiting for the guests of honor.

I got there about 20 minutes before 1:00 PM, but it still took about an hour for everyone to arrive.  All told a good 35 folks came up, although not necessarily all at one time.

There's some mudpups on the left, and on this shelf that divides our "room" from the rest of Rolands' upstairs area, a lovingly carved wooden moose held forth.  Nearby were baskets where one could make donations to the Pittsburgh mudpups who organized the shindig, and donations to the Alaskans whose villages got wiped out by the flooding ice.

It was amazing to many of us that we had learned so much about Alaska thanks to John McCain's insane shot in the dark.  And we also expressed our amazement and delight that we had found each other as a result of the intrepid bloggers, primarily AKM, who helped us connect.

Shannyn and AKM arrived, bubbling with smiles and energy.  Here's Shannyn holding forth by the projector screen.  I kept trying to figure out where the "receiving lines" started, but I should have had no worry.  The two lovely ladies circulated throughout the room throughout the event and we each had lots of opportunities to greet, hug and chat with the guests from the "upper 1."

You know, Shannyn looks just like she does when she's on Countdown.  And AKM looks just wonderful too, although she asks that we don't publish her pic directly.  However, I did manage to get a photo of her in disguise ... incognito, as it were... and here it is:

AKM is wearing a Steelers cap and a moose mask, graciously provided by our hosts for the afternoon, Hamlets Mill and the other Pittsburgh mudpuppies.  Okay, so I used a little Photoshop filtering too...

One thought dawned on us as we discussed AKM's identity exposure by Doogan.  Had that not occured, it is quite likely that AKM would not have appeared in person at Netroots Nation, and by extrapolation, we would never have gotten to meet the real live AKM.  There was a silver lining in the Doogan cloud, and now, months later, my disgust and antipathy towards him has moderated.  He's still a dirtbag, though.

My sincere hope is that our intrepid Alaskan bloggers, having trekked this far, make some new friends and firm up some good contacts for the future.  I am ever so grateful they were there, doing what they do, because without a doubt they helped save us from the massive disaster that would have been a McCain-Palin administration.

Safe travels, AKM and Shannyn.  Thanks for meeting with us!

Good Morning From Pittsburgh

I'm watching Rachel Maddow on Meet the Press.  She makes Dick Armey uncomfortable and he gets very loud and keeps wagging his finger and talking over people.  Ugh for Armey.

Soon it will be time to meet up with the other Mudpups.  Meantime, I'm enjoying a third cup of coffee.  Byron was fascinated by the mini-Melitta setup I brought with me so I could brew my favorite blend:

I'm pretty sure Byron is related to Brian.  He seems to be enjoying the trip to Pittsburgh, as am I!

Something Completely Different

I don't usually post YouTubes as the sum and substance of a blog entry, but if you haven't seen this yet, I heartily recommend it. 

Why does this move me so much?  Maybe it's my heritage, or my age, or simply my delight at seeing something so different, so evocative, so stunning and, for lack of better words, so deeply real.

Please see the Huffington post for the story that goes with this video.

Get Ready, Pittsburgh!

Netroots Nation starts tomorrow, and the firecracker radio host and blogger, Shannyn Moore, together with the irrepressible weaver of wonderful parables, AK Muckraker, have hit the town to attend this annual event. These two are not the only Alaska bloggers I admire greatly, but they are the two who actually made it this summer to the eastern part of the 'lower 48.'

The Pittsburgh area folks have been planning and plotting and putting together a Mudstock to coincide with the conclusion of Netroots. A Mudstock is usually a brief gathering of mudpuppies, ordinarily consisting of sharing a delectable meal somewhere and possibly joining for some sightseeing to boot. A mudpuppy is simply someone who is an admirer of AK Muckraker, and by extension, the rest of the fantabulous, progressive Alaskan voices we turned to when Sarah Palin was thrust upon us as a candidate for ... Vice President of the United States of America. I still can't believe John McCain did that to us. Oh, the two iconic images that all mudpuppies respond to are a pair of yellow boots (duh, for walking through mud!) and a majestic moose, code-named Brian.

It is my great fortune to be near enough to Pittsburgh and able to travel to the upcoming Pittsburgh Mudstock! Can you tell I'm excited? I've been preparing for days.

• Ordered and received my very own figurine of a moose - check
  
• Dusted off and cleaned out travel bags - check
• Made a list of computer essentials to bring - check
• Installed IPhone apps that will let me tweet text and even images - check
• Got approved for a day off work - check
  
• Reserved a rental car since mine may or may not make it - check
• Reserved a hotel room - check
• Cooked and froze food so housemates wouldn't starve in my absence (guys... *eyeroll*) - check
• Charged up the battery on the camcorder - check
• Printed out driving directions and loaded destination maps - check

Okay, well, it's just a weekend and I won't go into what I'm packing to wear and stuff. But I'll be tweeting as I can along the way (you can see my Twitter feed on the left of the blog), and blogging when I can when I get there, and uploading pics when I return.

For anyone in the neighborhood, you can still RSVP until Friday night to join in the fun! Here's the forum thread with all the Pittsburgh Mudstock info. Just e-mail Hamlet's Mill and let him know you are coming!

Here's a Sign I'd Like to See

Wouldn't it be lovely... to drive down a local highway... and see this:


I can dream, can't I?

Is There a Felony Conviction in Sarah's Future?

Where's the Coverage?

The ADN doesn't have it. Not a peep from C4P on the story, either. And there's no mention at Sarah Palin's Facebook page, although there's a new note today with a statement in which the crazy ex-governor lady praises Michele Bachmann. Yes, that Michele Bachmann, the even crazier (if that's possible) Minnesota congresswoman.

The Sarasites and Palinbots across the country went fairly flipping insane over Gryphen's revelatory blog post of Saturday, 1 August, 2009. The internets burned furiously for the next several days with made-up nonsense about the blogger. Sarah's private attorney even sat down on his day off to write a letter threatening a lawsuit, just because Gryphen said that his sources reported Sarah and Todd's marriage was on shaky ground. Well, okay, he said more than that but the potential break-up of this holy couple is what seemed to infuriate Sarah's faithful.

Yet on Monday this past week, 3 August 2009, a legal document was filed that alleges the crazy ex-governor lady attempted to commit bribery. Say what...! No word? No tweet? No statement on Facebook? No announcement or denouncement by Meg-the-mouth or Todd or Chuck or Van Flein or anyone? The silence on this is stunning.

Background

Here's the story as I know it. Back in March of this year, an African-American musician named Gregory Royal filed a Federal lawsuit in Washington,DC, against then-governor Palin(PDF) for failing to declare June 19th, 2007, as a day of celebration—you know, the kind of stuff governors do all the time. Juneteenth, as it is called, celebrates the end of slavery in the United States, and is recognized worldwide.

The Juneteenth proclamation is required by Alaska law. Each year the governor is supposed to make the declaration so that festivities may ensue with the government's blessings. On being reminded that then-governor Palin failed to meet this legal obligation, AK administration officials claimed it was a stenographic mistake. But given the opportunity to retroactively make the declaration, stubborn Sarah apparently shrugged it off and let things ride. The law suit alleges damages because vendors and others who were involved in preparing for and hosting events related to Juneteenth suffered from a lack of participation both from citizens and the governor's office.

Sarah Palin was the only Alaska governor who failed to issue the proclamation or appear at the festivities. She didn't even send a representative. She never apologized for failing to do her legal duty. And apparently, she refused to accept a summons from the process server and tried to have the suit dismissed claiming the court failed to properly serve the documents.

Attempted Bribery Charge

Kim Chatman, an Alaskan who believes in holding Sarah Palin accountable, joined the suit when it was transferred by U.S. District Court Judge Reggie B. Walton to the U.S. District Court of Alaska. Last Monday, plaintiffs Kim and Gregory filed another document with the court seeking to add to the original complaint. Alaska Report has a link to the document along with a story about this incendiary charge.

According to this new claim, Sarah Palin, then governor, attempted to bribe a third party with state funds and legislative support if s/he would convince the plaintiffs to drop the lawsuit. Hopefully someone with a good understanding of the law can clarify this for me, but I believe this additional charge escalates the lawsuit from a civil matter to a criminal matter, and if found guilty, that would make Sarah Palin, the crazy ex-governor lady, a felon. [Please see readers' contributions in the comments that clarify the felony issue.]

Why am I not surprised then that such a hoopla and circus was taking place over Gryphen's "Splitsville" blog post while this serious charge was being filed in Federal court? Could it be someone was trying to misdirect attention from what really matters to what doesn't?

What a 5-Week Preemie Really Looks Like

Sarah's "gone dark." Her devotees are experiencing withdrawals. Her lawyer is sending out unprofessional attack letters with demands—via e-mail, for chrissakes!

It's time to re-visit a certain time and certain images many in the media took for granted.

According to popular myth, Trig Paxson Van Palin was born on April 18, 2008. He was also reportedly born with jaundice, a hole in his heart, and with trisomy 21, otherwise known as Down syndrome.

Not only that, he was also reportedly born at 35 weeks, which would make him 5 weeks premature.

This little fact has never been examined much, as far as I know, so I did some reading on premature babies. Even those who are NOT already genetically challenged and are born this far in advance of their due dates normally undergo a week or two in a NICU, or a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

Why?

Because infants born before they achieve 37 weeks gestation have difficulty breathing and eating. Additionally, even without the Down syndrome complication, premature babies require temperature control because they simply do not have the capacity to warm themselves... thus they need a special environment in which to spend their first several days. They normally have to be fed by a nasal tube because their ability to suck a bottle or a breast is undeveloped. They also frequently need additional oxygen because their lungs are not developed enough to take in sufficient air. Another very common complication is jaundice, as a result of the fact that the infant's liver is simply not mature enough to process the bile before it builds up. If you doubt anything I'm saying here, please check yourself.

Here are three pictures of premature infants. These images were found searching '5 week premature infants' on Google's "image" search page. After reading the stories that came with each picture, I have every reason to believe that they represent actual pictures of newborn babies who were 5 weeks premature.

4-day old infant born 5 weeks prematurely, with feeding tube, in NICU

Infant born 5-6 weeks prematurely with jaundice

Newborn, 5 weeks premature, with jaundice and feeding tube

Now, here is Trig Paxson Van Palin right after he was born on April 18, 2008.

Trig Palin, shown here on the day of his birth, supposedly 5-weeks premature

Please recall that Trig and his "mother" were supposedly released from the hospital the day after the birth—a Saturday—and that his "mother" took him to work the following Monday for show and tell with the media.

Re-think this. The facility in which this premature infant was supposedly born didn't even have a NICU. So whatever early intervention may have been required was not even possible. If you knew you were having a special needs child, five weeks too soon, with the great likelihood that special equipment or treatment would be needed to preserve the life, would you intentionally go to a local clinic without the facilities, staff or know-how to help?

Re-think this. This 5-week premature infant with jaundice (what jaundice?) and a hole in his heart and Down syndrome, all conditions which require, anywhere else in the world, careful treatment and monitoring in a facility specially equipped to handle it, was taken to work a couple days after birth and presented as proof of the crazy ex-governor lady's religious pro-birth credentials.

As the crazy ex-governor lady would have us believe, not only was she pregnant for just a month, her miracle baby managed to be born and survive without any of the customary clinicians or neonatal equipment that any of us would have insisted upon, in spite of his early arrival and challenging circumstances.

Yeah, right. And I've got a bridge to nowhere for sale. Any bidders?

The Really Big Palin Story This Weekend

No, the really big story this weekend isn't Grypen's post at The Immoral Minority revealing trouble at la casa Palin.  Granted, this story is huge, at least if you guage it by the number of comments under this post—458 last time I looked.  For what it's worth, Gryphen and Dennis Zaki of Alaska Report both stand by the story and I have not known either of them to be wrong yet.

And it isn't even the unsophisticated video (the one that infringes copyrights with stolen images and has been removed from several video servers already) hailed by Sarasites and Palinistas as proof that a cabal of Alaskan bloggers are taking their marching orders from President Obama with the express purpose of destroying Sarah Palin.  Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis has some suggestions for how to keep the video out of circulation.  But the video is so boring, poorly written, fallacious and just generally ridiculous that I think it does the neotheocons' cause more harm than good.

The big story this weekend is a crazy letter from what must be a crazy attorney acting on behalf of a crazy ex-governor lady demanding that Gryphen retract his post and apologize by 3:00 PM AST yesterday, August 1 (that would be 7:00 PM EST yesterday).  There has been no retraction, no apology and it is, what, 24 hours past the deadline!  I don't think we'll see one either.

The crazy ex-governor lady has a twisted interpretation about the first amendment.  She takes it to mean that she can say anything she wants (like President Obama hangs out with terrorists) and be politically incorrect to her heart's content (like hoping for a backlash against ethics complaint filers), yet if anyone makes a joke about her or repeats a rumor they've heard about her, they must be violating HER rights.  And since the crazy ex-governor lady has a phalanx of lawyers at her beck and call (which she probably hopes to pay for with the unethical Alaska Fund Trust funds), her first reaction is to threaten to sue.

The crazy attorney—Thomas Van Flein—has threatened to sue bloggers before.  But guess what, there was no follow-through.  In a way that's too bad, because if you get the crazy ex-governor lady in court as a result of her suing you, you get to ask all kinds of questions and demand documents and delve into the private nooks and crannies of Wasillabillyhood right there on the shores of dead Lake Lucille.  Only the shadow knows how many skeletons (or wedding rings) lie at the bottom.

On behalf of progressive bloggers everywhere but especially those in Alaska, I say to the crazy attorney and ex-governor lady, "Bring it on!"

And Now, Something Different

Where squash come from

Over the past week or so, all my favorite blogs have said everything I could have said (and in most cases, said it better) about the Alaska Quitter. This has left me with a little extra time and thank goodness, because the garden has been literally spilling over in exuberant fertility.

I've been taking pictures of the vegetable garden we planted in two raised beds—a new addition to the yard this spring. The beds are made of seasoned western cedar, shipped all the way from the Pacific Northwest, and measure 4' wide by 12' long by 22" high.

Platter-size zucchini leaves

The entire garden is a huge success, but the most prolific crops so far have been members of the squash family: zucchini, crookneck and cucumber. If you garden, you are probably familiar with that time in the summer when the produce starts coming hot and heavy. The last few weeks have been 'that time' for these plants, and they haven't slowed down yet.

I took some liberty with this Paul Simon tune (here's the real thing on Youtube to help you keep tune) because I could use a little help now:

Fifty Ways to Serve Zucchini

The problem is the garden's bursting with the stuff
The answers need to get here fast because it's tough
I thought at first perhaps there'd never be enough
But I need fifty ways to serve zucchini

Light up the grill, Jill
Bake some in bread, Fred
Dip one in sauce, Hoss
Just get me squash-free

Stuff some in fowl, Powell
Add them to soup, Snoop
Bread 'em and fry, Guy
Just get me squash-free

The frig's veggie drawer is getting hard to close
And every day I go outside to find lots more of those
They've grown so huge that they've abandoned their neat rows
And I need fifty ways to serve zucchini

Light up the grill, Jill
Bake some in bread, Fred
Dip one in sauce, Hoss
Just get me squash-free

Stuff some in fowl, Powell
Add them to soup, Snoop
Bread 'em and fry, Guy
Just get me squash-free

One day's haul - 3 large zucchini, 2 crookneck and a 16" cucumber

So far, I've prepared zucchini in these ways:

• Sliced, breaded and lightly fried in vegetable oil
  
• Chopped and sauteed lightly with Vidalia onions, added to rice, ground beef, tomatoes, cheese and stuffed into bell peppers (also from the garden)
• Cut into sticks, dipped in butter and rolled in crumbs and parmesan and baked
• Raw, dipped in favorite salad dressing
• Halved and sliced thinly, added to tossed green salad
• Sliced together with crookneck squash and steamed lightly, served with butter and lemon
• Chopped, with a little bacon, chives and jalapeno, combined in fritter batter and deep-fried, served with basil mayonnaise (fresh basil from garden, lemon juice blended with mayo - yummm)
• Grated and baked into several loaves of zucchini bread

Zucchini bread cooling on stove

I've managed to foist a few zucchini (and cucumbers, lettuce and swiss chard) off on relatives, neighbors and friends. But still they come! Anyone have any more good ideas on what to do with these green beauties?

Sarah Palin Rejects Ethics Finding

The Bottom Line

Thomas M. Daniel, the independent investigator hired by the Alaska Personnel Board to produce a report on Sarah Palin's 18th ethics complaint (see list below), finds that:

In light of the evidence that the governor expressly authorized the creation of the trust and the fact the trust website quite openly uses the governor's position to solicit donations, there is probable cause to believe that Governor Palin used, or attempted to use, her official position for personal gain in violation of Alaska Statute 39.52.120(a). (Full report, PDF)

The Irony - a Double Whammy

Daniel concludes there is probable cause to believe that Palin violated the Executive Branch Ethics Act when she allowed and authorized the establishment of a legal defense fund (Alaska Fund Trust, AFT for short) to pay for her personal attorney costs associated with defending against ethics complaints. 

Keep in mind that Palin takes credit for reforming Alaska's ethics laws, one of her first achievements as governor.  CNN quotes Daniel as saying, "I can only apply the Ethics Act as currently written.  And as currently written, it does not allow a state official to use her position to solicit funds to pay for a private attorney or any other personal expense."

The Denial - or What the Meaning of 'Is' Is

CNN prints this response from Sarah Palin, via her spokeswoman, Meghan Stapleton:

The fund itself was not created by me nor is it controlled by me. Neither I nor my lawyer has received a penny from this fund.

I find the notion that I have taken any action pertaining to the legal defense trust fund misguided and factually in error. I have not 'acted' relative to the defense fund, and it is misleading to say I have.

I can think of several actions the soon-to-be ex-governor took that related directly to the Alaska Fund Trust.  Let's take a look.

The Rebuttal - Oh Yes You Did

First, we find in Daniel's report:

[Ms. Kristan Cole, Trustee of the Alaska Fund Trust] stated...that the governor gave her approval to create the trust as the "official" legal defense fund for the governor and authorized the use of her photograph on the trust's website.

Next, remember all the occasions during which Sarah Palin, along with her staff and spokespersons, bemoaned the heavy financial burden on her family from battling "frivolous" ethics complaints? I certainly see her frequent "poor me" comments as actions taken to stimulate donations to the AFT.

Then there's SarahPAC.  This is a separate political action fund guided by FEC reporting regulations.  As soon as the Alaska Fund Trust was established, however, the following message appeared on the Home page of the SarahPAC Web site urging contributors to pay the AFT a visit:

In fact, for a time on the SarahPAC site, visitors were explicitly told to wait for the official fund that Sarah was setting up instead of donating to the unofficial fund established by businessman Clayton Paslay.

SarahPAC is authorized by Sarah Palin. On the PAC's site, in answer to the frequently asked question, "Who is behind SarahPAC?" we read:

Gov. Sarah Palin believes all Americans must work together for the future, regardless of their party affiliation. Gov. Palin is the honorary chair of SarahPac, and its supporters are Republicans, Democrats, Independents, and those unaffiliated with any political party.

Daniel didn't mention the SarahPAC connection, but it lends further credence to the notion that Sarah most definitely took action of some kind by pointing prospective donors to the AFT.

The Questions

According to question #8 on the FAQ page for the Alaska Fund Trust, contributions and expenditures shall be disclosed by the Trustee on a quarterly basis in a categorized accounting.  The AFT was founded on April 22, 2009, three months ago.  Three months is also a quarter of a year.  When will this disclosure be published and who gets to see it?

I'm particularly interested in this question because of statements made by Meghan Stapleton and John Coale (husband of Greta Van Susteren and unofficial advisor to Sarah Palin) that seem to contradict Palin's assertions that neither she nor her lawyer has gotten a penny from the fund.

The Washington Post reported on July 13, 2009:

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s political action committee raised nearly $733,000 in its first five months, according to a report filed Monday with the Federal Election Commission.

Stapleton said about $1.2 million has been raised between SarahPAC and a fund set up to help Palin pay more than $500,000 in legal debts stemming from multiple ethics complaints filed against her.

And this from Newsweek on July 18, 2009:

John Coale, a Washington lawyer who helped Palin set up a legal-defense fund and PAC, tells NEWSWEEK the fund is "well on its way" to paying off $500,000 in legal debt from the campaign and another $100,000 in bills incurred later, leaving questions about how big a part money woes played in her decision to resign.

According to Stapleton, the AFT has or had close to $500,000 in it, just about equal to Palin's supposed $500,000 debt due to ethics complaints. How much has been paid out so far, and to whom?

According to Coale, the AFT has plenty of money and is already paying off legal debt.  Except in this case, the $500,000 figure is as a result of the campaign, not ethics complaints from Alaskan "anklebiters."  So if the money was there why was Palin still whining about how the ethics complaints were bankrupting her?

What did the ethics complaints really cost Sarah Palin? Who released the Daniel report marked 'confidential' and why?  Did Sarah Palin resign so she could take the money and run without further oversight or annoying rules?  Why is the AFT still open for business and soliciting donations?  Why is there still a link on SarahPAC directing visitors to the fund?

Please find more posts on this topic at The Mudflats, Shannyn Moore, Progressive Alaska here and here,  Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis, and Palingates here and here.

Bauer and Allot Have It SO Wrong

Politico published an article three days ago titled "Trig Palin has divided America," by Gary Bauer (yes, that Gary Bauer) and Daniel Allot.  It starts out like this:

A year ago, Palin gave birth to her youngest son, Trig, who has Down syndrome. Since then, mother and son have become objects of the left’s unrelenting scorn and the right’s unflinching fidelity.

There's so much wrong with this article it is hard to know where to start.  First of all, it is not possible that Sarah Palin gave birth to Trig.  There's no evidence to support this birth and a whole lot of evidence to the contrary (<-- read some of the older posts on this blog). If you have not thought to challenge the story yet, you have quite a ride ahead of you.  If you are a blue pill sort of person, you may as well just go back to sleep.  If you are inquisitive and seek truth, take the red pill and use the brain you were born with.  Or just read back through my posts on this topic.

The authors of the aforementioned article go on to assert that:

Palin is controversial, in part, because America is divided over disability. We’ve established laws and institutions that protect people with disabilities. But we also do everything we can to make sure they don’t see the light of day.

According to Bauer and Allot, Palin stands opposed to "powerful trends," the thrust of which would just as soon eliminate "an entire class of people," the disabled.  The 'Right to Birth' crowd and the families that include a person with a disability (400,000 of them?) flock to Palin because of the courage of her choice. Somehow this means that others who have no idea what this choice entails have a hatred for Palin because of her choice.

What Bauer and Allot don't touch is the fact that whoever birthed Trig presumably had a choice, a choice that Sarah Palin would do her best to deny to you and me. 

Whether or not you have a family member with a serious disability, you can probably imagine that caring for that dear one requires educating oneself about the condition, plus spending lots of time and probably lots of money getting professional assistance to help that dear one live the best life he or she can under the circumstances.

The image above shows just one instance of many when Sarah was on the campaign trail.  She held Trig up as her certificate of passage into the club of the real-life pro-birthers.  This baby is staring up at thousands of watts of spotlights, and the noise from the cheering Sarasites at the Republican National Convention is no doubt deafening—at least to a baby that can hear.  To this day we have heard nothing but platitudes from Trig's assumed mother about supporting children with birth defects.  We see Sarah in Running World magazine talking about how great it feels to burn, to get hot, when she runs.  We see Sarah in Twitter decrying an Alaskan blogger who posted an image for a day that replaced Trig's face with that of a talk show host with whom Sarah has a very cozy relationship.  We see six- or seven-year-old Piper struggling to lug Trig around, sometimes while she is precariously perched in high heels.

But what we don't see is the kind of care Trig is getting, the sacrifices that any mother with a Down syndrome baby would have to make to get frequent checkups and special therapy.  We also don't see Sarah as Governor making positive steps toward funding for special services, or promoting the kinds of organizations in her own state that are instrumental in providing for and helping families with disabled members.

Here's what we do see.  Sarah signing autographs on the body of a child who is not enjoying the spectacle:

For a closer look, I rotated and cropped the image.  You tell me if this young one appreciates this particular photo-op:

Bauer and Allot have it so wrong.  Those of us who see Sarah Palin for who she is (and who she isn't) do not despise people who are born with disabilities.  We may want to retain the option to choose whether or not we take on a lifetime of effort and expense to take care of a mal-formed or severely disabled child.  But we do not "hate" Sarah Palin because she claims Trig is her burden, or her joy, from her god.  More power to those who have the resources and the time to nurture and care for those disabled from birth.

But a pox on those who claim that mantle, that halo, when it is not theirs to take.  And that, dear readers, is exactly what Sarah Palin is doing.  If you have any doubts, do the research.  If you have any doubts, remember that Trig is and has been her "ticket to ride."  The least you could do is verify the facts.  You'll find she has provided none of her own.  If you still have doubts, just start adding up all the times she has lied or exaggerated or twisted the actual truth in any number of other issues.  I do not think she can tell the truth, the whole truth.

Another Politico article, this one by Steve Seckler, says:

But what I really think cemented Sarah Palin’s most loyal following and elevated her personal mystique to a level transcendent of her politics was the single most selfless decision of her life: to give birth to her son Trig. That seemed the case among many at my 4th of July parade, including those who I know never attend church and would rather talk combines and corn borers than abortion or gay marriage.
[snip]
To Palin’s supporters as well as many who are not, no diva smirk or vapid interview response can ever say as much about her as the image of her nursing Trig on the Straight Talk Express.

That is exactly why we must continue to educate others and spread the truth about Sarah's amazing hoax regarding Trig.

The foregoing is my personal opinion regarding the hoax that Sarah birthed Trig, and especially that she nursed Trig.  Look at the Republican National Conventions pictures again.  Tell me who in the Palin family, if anyone, actually nursed Trig.

Lies.  More lies.  Red pill or blue, it's up to you.

It's 21 22 Ethics Complaints, Not 18 ... But Who's Counting? (updated again and again)

Sarah Palin has so many ethics complaints that major news outlets can't keep track anymore! Huffington Post reprinted an AP story by Rachel D'Oro yesterday claming the current number is 18 instead of what appears to be 21 22. In order to keep the record straight, we need a list!

Since no list is worth anything without supporting documentation, you can find links for ethics complaints numbers 1 through 18 at Newsminer and also at Alaska Daily News (ADN).

Find a link for number 19 here,
a link for number 20 here (even though the article misstates number as 19),
a link for number 21 here,
and a link for number 22 here.

Without further ado, here are the 21 22 acknowledged complaints (there may have been more that were just never made public) against Sarah Palin and her administration as of July 15 16 20, 2009.

#	Date	Filer	Description	Results
1	7/28/08	Alaska Legislature	Abuse of Power re: firing Walt Monegan (aka Troopergate)	10/10/08 Sarah Palin found guilty of abuse of power for permitting husband and staff to harangue Monegan about the trooper
2	8/06/08	Andree McLeod (AK resident)	Undue influence exerted by Palin and staff exerted to get a job for a Palin supporter	Palin staff member advised to take ethics training
3	8/20/08	Brian Kraft (AK resident)	Breaking election law by taking public position on ballot initiative concerning Pebble Mine	05/08/09 Complaint rejected by APOC (Alaska Public Offices Commission)
4	9/02/08	Sarah Palin (AK resident)	Self-disclosure filing with AK Personnel Board (re: Troopergate)	11/03/08 Personnel Board found no abuse of power for Sarah Palin letting aides and husband hassle Monegan, but also, no investigation of who committed perjury in their contradictory sworn statements, Palin or Monegan
5	9/03/08	PSEA (AK Public Safety Employees Association)	Improper disclosure of the trooper's personnel records and amended to include allegation of harassment (bundled with charge #4)	11/03/08 Dismissed together with #4 by AK Personnel Board
6	10/13/08	Walt Monegan (AK resident)	Request by filer for a hearing to clear his name (it had been sullied by Palin and staff)	11/03/08 AK Personnel Board said there was no legal basis or jurisdiction for a hearing on this matter
7	10/23/08	CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics)	Expensive wardrobe purchased for Sarah Palin with donor money violates FEC regulations	05/19/09 FEC ruled "party money" is not covered in ban
8	10/24/08	unnamed filer	Abuse of power for charging AK for children's travel	02/23/09 AK Personnel Board negotiated settlement wherein Sarah Palin paid ~$8,000 to reimburse for costs
9	11/14/08	Zane Henning (AK resident)	Alleged abuse of office by doing "post-election damage control" in interviews from Governor's office	03/23/09 Dismissed by AK Personnel Board
10	12/02/08	Anthony Martin (AK resident)	Sarah Palin violated ethics by campaigning for Saxby Chambliss of Georgia	03/23/09 Dismissed by AK Personnel Board
11	12/18/08	unnamed filer	Alleged misuse of funds by allowing her picture to be used to promote Alaska seafood in national publications while also promoting her national political ambitions	01/12/09 Dismissed by AK Personnel Board
12	01/12/09	Edna Birch	Interference in job hiring	02/20/09 Dismissed by AK Personnel Board because filer failed to use a real name
13	01/26/09	Andree McLeod (AK resident)	Palin aide Bill McAllister worked on state time to benefit Palin's extra-AK political interests	PENDING
14	01/26/09	Andree McLeod (AK resident)	Palin aide Kris Perry worked on state time to benefit Palin's extra-AK political interests	06/05/09 Dismissed by AK Personnel Board
15	03/18/09	Andree McLeod (AK resident)	Improper use of state resources for partisan political purposes	05/27/09 Dismissed by AK Personnel Board
16	03/24/09	Linda Kellen Biegel (AK resident)	Conflict of interest by advertising for husband's sponsor by wearing Arctic Cat gear during official duties	06/02/09 Dismissed by AK Personnel Board
17	04/22/09	Sondra Tompkins (AK resident)	SarahPAC constitutes ethics violation by misusing official position and accepting outside employment	05/08/09 Dismissed by AK Personnel Board
18	04/27/09	Kim Chatman (AK resident)	Alaska Fund Trust (AFT) violates ethics rules by funneling improper gifts to Sarah Palin	06/24/2010 PALIN SETTLES - has to return $386,000 because AFT declared illegal.
19	07/06/09	Zane Henning (AK resident)	Illegal continuation of per diem collection when Sarah Palin's home is less than 50 miles from Anchorage office	PENDING
20	07/10/09	Ray Ward (AK resident)	Illegal compensation collected by Sarah Palin for giving radio and television interviews since '08 campaign ended	PENDING 07/15/09 Dismissed by AK Personnel Board (in part for not being properly notarized)
21	07/14/09	Andree McCleod (AK resident)	Failure to transfer power to Lt. Gov during '08 campaign, while collecting salary during "off duty" status	PENDING 07/24/09 Dismissed by AK Personnel Board as legally flawed
22	07/20/09	Andree McCleod (AK resident)	Failure to disclose gifts within 30 days of receipt	PENDING

To summarize the 21 22 complaints we know about:

One found Sarah Palin abused her power.

One found Sarah Palin illegally solicited funds for her personal use while Governor.

Two were dismissed by the Personnel Board with various repercussions.

Eleven Twelve were dismissed by the Personnel Board with no other actions.

One was rejected by APOC.

One was rejected by the FEC.

Five Four Three are still pending resolution.

The AK Personnel Board has consistently refused to affix any finding of fault. As a reminder, this group of three persons is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the Governor.

---

Go figure, eh?

Who's for the Talibanization of America?

In a sort of follow-on from the last post...

A few weeks ago I was reading the comments on Phil Munger's outstanding blog, Progressive Alaska.  An anonymous person left a comment under one of his posts that almost shook me off my chair (and that's not an easy thing to do).  Here is part of what 'anonymous' said:

My goal for this country is for the god of the Bible to be in charge of the leaders of this country. If the leaders of this country are NOT Born Again Christians, than [sic] they should not be allowed to hold office.

My goal is for English to be the National Language.

My goal is for homosexuality to be against the law as it is an abomination to God.

My goal is for the Bible to be taught to our children as The way to live a moral and just life.

My goal would be to rid our televisions electronic games and media of all the sex and violence.

A real person said this.  I did not make it up.

Between then and now I did a little research on the proscriptions enforced by the Taliban.  Before I print this, please know that most Muslims do not subscribe to the more extremist view of Sharia Law that is reflected below.  But there are extremists in every religion and the Taliban who are currently operating in parts of Afghanistan and in a certain section of southern Pakistan seem intent on enforcing these rather strict social rules.

From "Life under the Taliban:"

The Taliban have issued edicts forbidding women from working outside the home, except in limited circumstances in the medical field.

The Taliban prohibit girls from attending school.

Women and girls are not allowed to appear outside the home unless wearing a head to toe covering called the burqa.

Women are also forbidden from appearing in public with a male who is not their relative.

Acceptable punishments for these infractions are public hangings, amputation of limbs, and stonings.

And this, by Jan Goodwin, Echo NYC (sorry, the link was no longer functional):

Claiming that they are restoring Afghanistan to the "purity of Islam," the Taliban regime has "expunged all leisure activities. Their list of what is illegal grows daily: music, movies and television, picnics, wedding parties, New Year celebrations, any kind of mixed-sex gathering. They've also banned children's toys, including dolls and kites; card and board games; cameras; photographs and paintings of people and animals; pet parakeets; cigarettes and alcohol; magazines and newspapers, and most books. They've even forbidden applause -- a moot point, since there's nothing left to applaud."

According to another source, Religious Tolerance, we read:

Within Sharia law, there are a group of "Haram" offenses which carry severe punishments. These include pre-marital sexual intercourse, sex by divorced persons, post-marital sex, adultery, false accusation of unlawful intercourse, drinking alcohol, theft, and highway robbery. Haram sexual offenses can carry a sentence of stoning to death or severe flogging.

(Can you imagine the trouble some of our legislators would be in, were we to adopt similar 'laws?')

And finally, some other general proscriptions include:

1. Shaving one's beard
2. Flying kites
3. Gambling
4. Music and dancing at weddings
5. Displaying pictures or portraits (idolatry)
6. Broadcasting music in any shop or business location

If we go back to the person who left the comment at Progressive Alaska and compare his or her goals with the laws for which one can be stoned to death or suffer amputations, do you see a lot of difference?

• A leader must be a born-again Christian.  So, we should strive to become a theocracy?
• No language other than English will be tolerated.  I suppose this is an attempt to deny the multiculturalism that has made our country so great.
• Homosexuality is illegal, and presumably punished severely.  My 'god' doesnt care about sexual orientation; that is not what is important at the end of the day.
• All children must be indoctrinated using the 'christian' bible.  So much for freedom of, or from, religion. This flies in the face of our country's founding ideals.
  
• No more sex or violence on TV, in games, or media.  Might want to talk to the US Military who use sex and violence in games to train troops.  Not saying I approve, but this sounds a lot like no TV, no music, and no games period.  Not a far cry from no kites, no dancing or music at weddings, and death for sexual offenses.
  

The anonymous person who so fervently laid out his/her goals should really do a little studying, and maybe, just maybe, he or she might notice that the stated goals are not at all dissimilar to those held by one of America's sworn enemies.

We need to be vigilant in finding and disarming any movement in this country that seeks to impose a particular moral regime on everyone.  It's fine with me if you want to grow your beard or wear a burqa.  But don't tell me I can't dance and sing at weddings or fly kites or keep a parakeet or only vote for a person who claims to be a born-again Christian.

This is our country.  You vote for who you want.  So will I.

H&HT takes a small side path for a moment

A person's religious faith should be a private thing.  Or at least that's how I view it.  I recall a passage in the Christian bible's New Testament about how you should go into your closet and pray instead of standing on the streetcorner, because if you pray in public your reward will be of the temporal world and what you really want is a reward in the eternal world.  Besides, inner conviction and conscience are such intensely personal things.  It is one thing to study or practice various devotions with others.  It is a totally other thing to attempt to coerce, scare, prey upon or cajole people to join your particular morality club—as if your passage into some wonderful hereafter depended on how many followers you could number.

Throughout her life my mother kept searching for the right church and the right pastor who would give the right message.  For a time we were Jehovah's Witnesses. In an attempt to be counted among the 144,000 who would be saved (yes, only 144 thousand) she would take hold of the official version of the bible sanctioned by the Witnesses and go door to door spreading the good word and the Witnesses' literature.  At some point she must have realized that she wouldn't make it into that elite group, and we stopped going to the Kingdom Hall.

I was, according to what I've been told, baptized Lutheran.  But in addition to the years spent as a Jehovah's Witness, I believe that mom went to Baptist and Methodist and maybe even Universalist churches.  Later on she found an evangelist who was on television and who published books with which she was enthralled for a while.  She used to exchange the latest little booklets with her brother's wife who also was enamored of this same evangelist.  Her brother, my uncle, was more the scientific sort and as far as I know, simply tolerated his wife's fervor for this "prophet." 

When mom and my step-dad retired to run a small gas station/convenience store in rural Arkansas, she became a ditto-head—yes, a Rush Limbaugh devotee.  She searched the local churches for some place she felt comfortable, but I don't think she ever found one.  On more than one visit there, I remember seeing little hand-printed signs stuck on the shelves next to cans of pinto beans, Spam and 6-packs of Oreo cookies.  The signs read, "Ditto-heads welcome here!" And, "Proud to be politically incorrect."

Until the day my mother died, she seemed convinced that I was a godless hippie and an incorrigible, despicable liberal.  Rush had found a permanent place in her psyche.  I think she still had a few friends who commiserated with her views, but she never found a better congregation than the clumps of ditto-heads who faithfully listened to Rush's AM broadcasts.

Which brings me to why I write about any of this today.  Two ladies, somewhat more aged than I, knocked on my door today.  They clutched handsful of small pamphlets that they offered to me.  The first lady inquired if I was a Christian.  I replied, no, I was not affiliated with any one major religion.  They told me they wanted to invite me to their Baptist church down the street and they wanted to make sure that I knew that their religion was the only one who had a figurehead who had risen from the dead for me, and therefore, was the one true religion.

I do not disparage these sweet ladies' religious preferences.  I informed them that I had studied—at length—most of the world's major religions and that I found remarkable similarities in all of them, by way of explaining that I understood and appreciated each path.  They continued to remind me that there was only one true faith: theirs.  I asked them if they had ever spent any time looking at other major religions' holy books.  They hadn't, and looked puzzled that I would even ask such a question.

The front porch visit ended with them telling me that they would pray for me.  I thanked them, but thought to myself that their words were a tad condescending, and that their energy might be better spent in other endeavors.

I honestly don't mind when Mormons or Jehovah's Witnesses or just the local Baptist church ladies come to my door with their messages of redemption or whatever.  What I do mind is when people get it in their heads that their way is the only right way and they purposely infiltrate the political structure in order to be in a position to legislate their particular flavor of morality.

If I stand barefooted doing an esoteric dance, a legominism, at dawn on the Soltices and the Equinoxes, or if I don a robe and perform the Sema on December 17, or if I practice green meditation with a Buddhist monk, or if I chant "La illa ha illala" while sitting in the morning, or if I peruse the Kabbalah, or if the last thing I say before laying down to sleep is, "Lord, have mercy," that is my business and I would never insist that anyone join me.  The spiritual journey is necessarily unique for each person.

For what it's worth, I am not afraid of Sarah Palin because I think she stands a snowball's chance of succeeding in gaining a national political office.  But I am dreadfully wary of what she represents in the religious arena.  Extreme religious views such as the ones I suspect she feeds on, views that insist on a sectarian takeover of every major aspect of life in our country, give me chills.  If I may, "Thanks, but no thanks, to anyone who doesn't understand why we must maintain a clear separation between church and state."

Cataloguing 32 Lies Told by Sarah Palin

Andrew Sullivan of The Daily Dish has a post out today that tells the story, line by line, of how (un)trustworthy Sarah Palin is, called The Odd Lies Of Sarah Palin: A Round-Up.

He prefaces his triple-checked list of lies with,

After you have read these, ask yourself: what wouldn't Sarah Palin lie about if she felt she had to?

I'm not sure where Sullivan is going with this, but he makes a pretty solid case that Our Lady of the Iquitarod's words should be taken with a large grain of salt. 

The sad part is, statements that have issued from her mouth have simply been accepted without verification since she came on the national scene.  Where have all the journalists gone, long time passing?

When will we ever learn?

The House That Sarah Built - continued....

Over the last few months I've watched traffic on my little blog, and there has been one story in particular that is revisited, consistently, more than others :  The House That Sarah Built.

Based on a story first exposed by The Village Voice, I raised further questions and provided some images that to me seemed to indicate that some features of the Palin House on Lake Wasilla looked a lot like the features in the multi-million-dollar Wasilla Sports Complex.

Sarah and Todd's house as a backdrop, friends and family standing by as she resigns

Many readers who have paid attention to the various palin-gates (and many dedicated bloggers who also picked up on this story) have pointed to this "house-gate" as possibly the one that finally sticks on Sarah and Todd.

Today, after Ms. "Don't You Want To Do Me" Palin tendered her resignation as Governor of Alaska, I read this story by Max Blumenthal in the Daily Beast:  Did a Scandal Sink the U.S.S Palin?

Though Todd Palin told Fox News he built his Lake Lucille home with the help of a few "buddies," according to Barrett’s report, public records revealed that SBS supplied the materials for the house. While serving as mayor of Wasilla, Sarah Palin blocked an initiative that would have required the public filing of building permits—thus momentarily preventing the revelation of such suspicious information.

Is it possible that the iceberg heading Sarah's way—and the reason she so abruptly and clumsily resigned—has something to do with a real investigation into just where the building materials came from for the house outside of which she stood today as she quit her current job?

Inquiring minds really want to know. 

Governor Sarah Palin RESIGNS

Quickie post here, I'm sure you all have heard the surprising news...  here's my prediction on some of the REAL reasons for this July 3rd Friday holiday weekend announcement:

1. SarahPAC is not going to report the kind of income that she'll need to move into the big league for a 2012 campaign.
2. Her "defense fund" (Alaska Fund Trust) is also not raking in nearly enough money to help pay for existing legal bills in addition to paying to defend her against upcoming ethics complaints.
3. There is, in addition to more troublesome ethics complaints, some big investigation in the wings, either from the IRS or the FBI or both.  This is not something she is going to be able to get her Personnel Board to take care of.
4. She figured she'd better throw in the towel now by committing sepuku, essentially, in the hopes that she will not figure very highly on the radar when the real feces hits the proverbial fan.

We'll see how much of this turns out to be true.

In the meantime I'm wondering how many lips will loosen once they realize that Sarah no longer holds a position of power and the ability to do them or their families harm.

And I'm also wondering how long it will take to undo / turn around / the policies that her appointees have in place - like making it illegal for Alaska natives to fish for their survival this winter, for example.

By Popular Demand...

Well, thank you to one of my readers for asking for more video.  Same as the last, this video displays clips from the Faux Noise production about Sarah Palin when she was a candidate for vice-president.  They got lots of footage from Elan Frank, who had shot video over 2-3 days encompassing April 8, 2008.  The reason this footage is so incredibly valuable (and likely the reason Faux has pulled its video of this very time frame) is because Sarah supposedly gives birth to Trig just 10 days later.

Clips here are taken from Part Two of the Faux Noise production (credit: Elan Frank) that I captured and converted.  There may be more coming, I still have to scour parts 3 - 5 of that "commercial for Sarah" that Greta Van Susteren narrated.  Take it for what you will, at least this time I figured out how to add some sound!

Looks Like Campaign 2012 Has Started

Credit for the original image below goes to Runner's World online mag, who staged this cutesy pic of Governor Icon last month. I'll take full blame for the overlaid word salad but I swear I heard her say something very much like this in the past!

By the way, don't you just want to do me? *wink wink*

I couldn't resist. *insert smiley face here*

Governor Icon of Tight Ab-Land

I found a comment from Regina of Palingates on another blog today with a link to a series of YouTube videos showing the Sarah Palin special that FauxNoise broadcast almost 10 months ago. Thank you Regina, I've been looking for this footage for a long time! A lot of the video that Faux incorporates in their special was purchased from Elan Frank, an Israeli Air Force reservist and documentary director who interviewed Sarah Palin when she would have been almost eight months pregnant. Frank went to Alaska and filmed Sarah over a few days, and the best information I can find has April 8, 2008 as one of those days. (If any reader has confirmation or more precise information please let me know.

So, why is this video footage so important? Because just ten days later—April 18, 2008—is Trig Paxson Van Palin's birthday. Or so we have been told. Images of Sarah seemingly pregnant with Trig are scarce, and they are interspersed in the February-April 2008 timeline with images of Sarah clearly not pregnant.

I extracted an frame of Sarah from one of the videos and put it side-by-side with an image of another woman who seems to really be eight months pregnant. In case you're confused, that's Sarah on the left and a woman advertising a little strap-thingie that connects bra to jeans on the right.

I viewed all 5 parts of the Faux special and found more interesting material that may make it into blog posts in coming days.

Because snippets of the video are quite telling, I put a little movie together showing Sarah talking about her "tight abs" and cooing and giggling and looking ever so innocent as she talks to Elan Frank. I know, I should probably add music in here somewhere, but I'm still very much a newbie when it comes to making videos:

More Fun With Photoshop

The hole that Meg Stapleton and Sarah Palin dig with their ridiculous outrage over petty and false things brought the following image to mind.  If they keep it up, even their faithful disciples are going to have a hard time taking them seriously!

Sarah and Meg accidentally flush themselves down the 'get off the stage' toilet

The Wasillabilly Grifters

Backstory for those not aware:

AK blogger Celtic Diva is trying to get copies of some AK executive branch e-mails and the Palin administration wants an arm and a leg for finding and copying them, so readers of her blog are contributing so that the fee can be paid. The request for e-mails has to do with the executive branch leaking private information to certain media outlets to smear someone who filed an ethics complaint against Sarah Palin.

Part of Celtic Diva's fundraising campaign has included a 'thermometer' type graphic illustrating the fundraising progress. Each day a new image with a new "percent raised" has been posted. One day's image showed Sarah Palin holding a baby Eddie Burke (a radio host who broadcast the leaked information).

Sarah's disciples at one of her more prominent worship sites have gotten into a humongous uproar about this thermometer image because Eddie Burke's face was 'shopped on top of the body of Trig Palin, Sarah's [grand]son. They began informing everyone they could think of about Celtic Diva's horribleness and word must have reached Sarah herself. We know this because her spokesperson Meg Stapleton distributed a statement today, likening the 'shopped image to desecrating a holy icon. I'm not kidding.

As a result, Politico and even CNN reported the extent of Sarah's latest outrage, which probably sent an awful lot of traffic to Celtic Diva's site. Congratulations Linda!! Based on most of the comments on those stories, another result is that Sarah's bulb has gotten even dimmer (if possible). They are fun to read if you have the time.

So I thought, hey, I can 'shop too! With that, let me introduce my latest (hilarious) creation, titled "The Wasillabilly Grifters and Their Enablers." :-)

Feel free to reproduce and use anywhere you want!

Fear, Hate and Loathing in Anchorage, Alaska

After listening to a few hundred people 'testify' before the Anchorage Assembly regarding an ordinance that would extend the current anti-discrimination law to include members of the LGBT community, I've got enough material to compile a typical statement made by the red-shirted xtians who stood up at the microphone. The following is not a transcript, it is simply my impression. The images on the side come from pictures posted on this blog entry at Mudflats.

"My name is Redd Shurt and I've lived in Alaska for a while. I'm here to let you Assembly people know that God loves everybody and I love everybody, really I do, and I don't hate anyone. All my brothers and sisters in Khrist feel exactly the same way! In fact I know a lot of homo-sekshuals and I have gay friends, a lot of 'em. But there's a natchural way to live and an unnatchural way and if you all pass this here ord'nance 64, we'll be forced to condone, support and promote the unnatchural way which is the same as sin because it says so, right here in the Bible: [insert favorite chapter and verse from the Old Testament here]. Alaska will turn into Sodom and Gomorrah and be destroyed. Gays will be recruiting other people and spreading disease and prancing around telling us decent, God-fearing folks what we can and can't do in our own city. So do the right thing and vote NO on 64.

"I don't judge anybody because that's up to God, but I love God and I don't approve of those gay people's sin! Can I get an amen? Think of the children when they go to school or church or daycare or... to the bathroom! What happens when they run into men dressed up like women in a public restroom and get scared and confused! Or what if their Sunday school teacher was a lesbian, trying to infect them with some of that queerness -- that would be turrible bad! I have a right to raise my children as I see fit, far away from sick, immoral deviants. Gay people should just stay in the closet where they belong, but this ord'nance makes it okay for them to come out and that makes me disgusted and angry. Remember, I vote and I'm watching you! In fact, let the people vote on 64, otherwise you are taking away my rights to have a voice in this matter and it's clear that people who feel like I do are in the majority and the majority should rule!

"What about my rights? If I don't want to hire somebody you can't make a law that sez I have to. If God doesn't like what I do then I get to answer to God, not to some law you make up. I won't be able to turn down a homo-sekshual with bad credit who wants to rent an apartment without getting sued! The lawyers will get rich but us Khristshuns will go broke and that is very bad for our city, our state and our country. Even the US Military kicks gay people out and everyone knows that there's no proof at all that you have to be gay because I shure haven't read anything scientific to prove it but right here on the Internet it says gays can be cured so that means it's a choice and behavior can be changed. But if you wanna be gay then suck it up and take what comes with that and don't be asking me to give you any special rights. Besides, I shouldn't have to pay because of a choice you make!"