Wednesday 30 September 2009

Sarah Palin's Going Rogue, a book to nowhere


There are some biographies of Sarah Palin already published (and reduced in price). They came out before she went rogue and "wrote" her autobiography with the help of a very Christian ghostwriter, Lynn Vincent.

One of these biographies has a long title: Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned Alaska's Political Establishment Upside Down.

It was written by Kaylene Johnson after Amanda Coyne turned down the honour of putting pen to paper in order to give the American public a glimpse into the life and times of Sarah Palin according to... Sarah Palin.

Here are some excerpts from a review of the book by an Alaskan reader:

This book, unfortunately, reads like a fanzine. In its small format, there are 32 full pages of photos and just 90 pages of text, with generous, generous white space. Five of the 90 pages are devoted to Palin's JV and varsity high-school basketball experiences.

"Sarah" is studded with the memes Palin made famous. Johnson calls Palin from the title onward a "hockey mom," but offers no details at all of that experience.

Kaylene Johnson's published works are varied, with many articles about Alaska and... Jesus, the bible and all that.

Amanda Coyne gave her reasons for turning down the project in an e-mail to the publisher:

"I've been following the governor's performance these last months, and I fear that she is floundering. Her administration is exiting rapidly, some of her decisions have been ill-thought out, at best.... Sarah is the type of woman who will end up defining her own success, but I have a hunch that that success will be to sail off to D.C. to take Stevens' seat if and when he gets indicted, and leave this state in a lurch. I've been talking long and hard to many people here, and I'm realizing that I can't write the book that you and I have spoken about. I simply can't have my name on what, so far, is turning out to be a puff piece without substance."

Amanda was right about Sarah Palin leaving the state in a lurch, but was wrong about Sarah's reasons. It turned out to be money and Sarah seems to be in a hurry to cash in before it all goes pear-shaped. The speaking engagements are failing to materialize and it doesn't seem to be that her fees are too high, it's more to do with people being embarassed to invite her:

Palin's bookers are said to be asking for $100,000 per speech, but an industry expert tells Page Six: "The big lecture buyers in the US are paralyzed with fear about booking her, basically because they think she is a blithering idiot."

Many big lecture venues are subscription series, "and they don't want to tick people off," said our source. "Palin is polarizing, and some subscribers might cancel if she's on the lineup." Other lecture buyers are universities, which have a leftist slant, and corporations, which dislike controversy.

"Palin is so uninteresting to so many groups -- unless they are interested in moose hunting," said our insider. "What does she have to say? She can't even describe what she reads."

People are beginning to see what Amanda Coyne saw some time ago: the pretty gift-wrapped package is just an empty box.

Rogue Sarah Palin

I had a look at a couple of online bookshops to see how Sarah Palin's book is doing.

Amazon

Going Rogue: An American Life (Hardcover)
by Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin (Author)
List Price: $28.99
Price: $15.65 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25.

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

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autobiography (2)
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Barnes & Noble

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Positive readers opinions: "Absorbing", "It's a Masterpiece"

A couple of negative opinions, followed by a reply from a Palin supporter:

The book was done so quickly because she quit writing halfway into it and had someone else finish the book.

I find it sad that someone with Mrs. Palin's obvious ignorance is able to put a book on the bestseller list before it has even been published.

Palin again top! The pathetic haters of Sarah Palin dismiss the book and rant about her "ignorance" before even reading it. Their heads must be boiling over... their envy of her SMASHING success (bestseller even before it's out!) is so transparent. Sarah Palin again top! Haters flop! Her book will be fascinating.

This last guy complains about her detractors talking about her ignorance before they read the book. So how come her fans are saying "Absorbing", "It's a Masterpiece"? Have THEY read the book?

I noticed that Going Rogue can be ordered at nearly half of the list price. The tendency is for the price to drop... I wonder how long before her book is placed in the bargain bin at $1 or given away in some "buy one get one free" special offer.

Come on palinbots! Sarah needs your money! People's silence can be expensive, don't you know?
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Tuesday 29 September 2009

Sarah Palin's Babygate for beginners

A few "Trig Truther" blogs had an increase in traffic in the past couple of days thanks to Andrew Sullivan linking to Bree Palin's post. Bree uncovered some Fox News footage showing a very "tight abs" Sarah Palin five days before she posed for a photo sporting a very nice pregnant belly.

The following comparison is even more striking:


As many of the newcomers are not familiar with the details of Sarah Palin's short and flat pregnancy, I'm going to do a quick recap of how this "conspiracy" evolved.

What made people suspicious, apart from the rumours that emerged in the early days of the vice presidential campaign? By announcing that Bristol was 5 months pregnant, the RNC hoped to put an end to those rumours: Sarah Palin faked the pregnancy to cover for her teenaged daughter, Desperate Housewives style. Based on the April 18 birthdate, Bristol couldn't possibly be the mother of both babies. Case closed, story dead.

But the story wouldn't go away. A bit of googling here and there led people to Sarah Palin's own account of her labour and delivery of Trig. That's what we have called the "wild ride" ever since. It was wild alright: after delivering her all important speech, leaking amniotic fluid and without being checked by a doctor, Sarah embarked on a series of long flights from Dallas to Seattle to Anchorage, including a 2 hour stopover, followed by another 50 minute car ride from Anchorage to a small, not adequately equipped hospital in Palmer.

Of course this startling account of events set many alarm bells ringing. Women with some experience of childbirth, others who had experienced leakages, parents who had premature babies with or without Down Syndrome, healthcare professionals, curious people, they all scratched their heads and said to themselves: "There's something fishy here."

Another thing that googling revealed was a very well scrubbed governor's website. Loads of photos had disappeared, all from the time of the pregnancy. The alarm bells rang louder. Sarah Palin couldn't scrub the whole internet and some interesting photos started to emerge.


As the popularity of Palin's Deceptions grew, so did the curiosity of the dedicated researchers, who were determined not to leave any stones unturned. Lots of documents were unearthed, some through the Freedom of Information Act, and a good collection of travel schedules, travel authorizations, court papers and other bits and pieces started to grow and make sense (or not) in the context of the famous "pregnancy".

After Tripp was born, allegedly on December 27 (or was it 28?), 2008, and was presented to the world via Fox News in mid-February 2009, people started to doubt the official date of Trig's birth. The Trig we saw as a premature newborn on April 18 simply didn't look like a premature baby. Sarah Palin took this "premature", jaundiced, special needs baby to work with her 3 days after his "birth" and presented him to the press. The wild ride and Trig's debut defied all known medical advice in cases such as the one Sarah presented as fitting her own particular circumstances.

There's a lot more. There are countless theories regarding Trig's parentage, but I'm going to stick with the simplest of scenarios. Although Bristol is the hottest candidate for Trig's mom, regardless of who the real mother is, one thing seems to be quite clear: Sarah Palin didn't give birth to Trig. Not on April 18, 2008 or any other date. She was never pregnant in 2007/2008.

All of Sarah Palin's daughters are more nurturing to Trig than Sarah ever was. She puts on a show when the cameras are rolling. A fly-on-the-wall camera would never catch Sarah Palin showing any spontaneous affection for this innocent child.

To Sarah Palin, Trig is nothing more than a prop to enhance her pro-life credentials, he's just a means to an end, the scoring of political points by appealing to the emotions and the good nature of the people she has duped. She also made a fair bit of money in donations to her SarahPac and "legal" fund from these misguided followers.

This is the sad story behind Babygate.

There was some high drama in the past few months, bloggers were outed, threatened, silenced.

But just as Sarah Palin couldn't hide all traces of her fake pregnancy from the search engines, she won't be able to stop all bloggers.

Research teams regroup, undeterred. We will continue to put this puzzle together, piece by piece. The truth will come out, sooner or later.

You betcha!

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Sunday 27 September 2009

Shapeshifting Sarah Palin

Our friend Bree Palin came across some very good footage of Sarah Palin dated April 8, 2008. When we look at some screenshots from the video together with other pictures, it becomes very clear that Sarah Palin's "baby bump" changes shape and size in a very peculiar fashion.



I find the photos around April 8 particularly interesting. Either Sarah Palin ballooned from nothing into the square shaped belly, or the other way around, because the footage wasn't taken more than a couple of days apart...



By April 13, Sarah had obtained a better shaped belly and finally looked pregnant. But she must have shrunk again by April 17, because the air crew on the Alaska Airlines flight to Anchorage didn't think her stage of pregnancy was apparent, which Sarah Palin confirmed in an interview a couple of days after she "delivered" Trig.

Reporter:
Just a clarification – you flew commercial Alaska Airlines?

Palin: Yeah, yeah.

Reporter: And did -- This was something else I think I heard your father say I just wanted to clarify. Did you have to hide your pregnancy because you were so far along?

Palin: Well, you know I never felt nor do some people say I ever looked like I was that far along, um, so no purposeful way or need to hide that I was pregnant. Um, some, I know that some airlines would have uh, some hesitancy on letting maybe a nine month pregnant person get on board but it wasn’t nine months so, um, it was…

Reporter: And you didn’t tell them you were feeling something when you came back on the plane?

Palin: No need to because I wasn’t feeling at all like I was in labor in fact, you know I wasn’t one or maybe two contractions an hour that felt just like Braxton Hicks which I’d been having for months. That doesn’t constitute labor, so…

What a truly fascinating pregnancy...

(Way of Peace put the photos together, with respective dates. Please click to enlarge. Thanks WoP!)

ALL Babygate posts on palingates

Saturday 26 September 2009

Open thread - Beautiful France

Patrick is a very talented photographer and worked his magic on the visit to France earlier this month. I would like to share some of his very beautiful pictures with our readers.





I'll be out having fun tonight, so you can continue earlier discussions here, or start new ones...

(Click on photos to enlarge)

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Friday 25 September 2009

China and Sarah Palin

This is too funny. EyeOnYou sent me this as an e-mail and I asked if I could turn it into a guestpost. Having just received the go ahead, over to EOY:

Guestpost by EyeOnYou

China Reacts to Palin

Sarah Palin’s first brush with China has not made her many friends. “Palin Gives Speech in Hong Kong, Called Boring, Members of the Audience Left Early” was how Ming Pao, a popular Hong Kong newspaper, put it in a headline today. A commenter in a Chinese Web forum wrote of Palin’s speech: “This is such a joke. Since when does China need the U.S. to point the way to the future?”

Now the two links included in the paragraph that I quoted go to a newspaper and a blog, both in chinese, and if you use google translation, it definitely loses something in the translation, but quite honestly, the feelings that are expressed come shining through and I don't think that I have ever laughed quite like this before.

A few of examples (from the blog):

**Brought in a big liar liar in the Huyou, animatedly Huyou, there are always idiots fooled the.

**Claimed that the U.S. should help China to find the next - the United States is really willing to help others, Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!

**China should look grave for the United States! Menopause neurotic woman

**Inability to increase the brain remnants, Wang reproduction.

**This person good shameless! Careful jaw smashed his own foot.

**The Sao woman has loosened her tongue everywhere, polluting the air.

**Please carefully read the lady in China five thousand years of history. Otherwise, please shut up. Arrogance + ignorance = terminally ill.

I am guessing that they were not too thrilled with her speech!!!!

Another opinion on Sarah Palin's speech:
TimesOnline
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Desperate Housewife Sarah Palin

A post written in partnership ProChoiceGrandma

People who have been following Babygate couldn't fail to notice the many similarities between Sarah Palin's and Bree Van de Kamp's storylines. One happened in real life, the other in episodes of Desperate Housewives. Here are a few relevant excerpts from the fictional fake pregnancy.









A few questions:

1. Did Bree act like she was in a delicate condition; OR did she thrash her guts hiking through town in high heel FM boots while “six” months pregnant?

2. Did Bree announce her fake pregnancy early; OR did she wait to see who would win the Republican nomination before announcing the very next day that she was 7 months into her fake gestation?

2. Did Bree purchase an empathy belly to actually look pregnant, OR did she fake it using a multitude of long scarves, beginning 2-19-08?

3. Did Bree wear several fashionable maternity outfits for the duration of her fake pregnancy, OR did she consistently wear the same black jacket with those long scarves?

4. Did Bree adjust her empathy belly accordingly over several months of fake gestation, OR did she accidently overinflate it on one single day, while on all other days “the stage of her pregnancy was not apparent”, in other words, FLAT or SQUARE.

5. Did Bree have an 8 or 9 month fake pregnancy, OR did she have a 6-week “easiest of all of them” pregnancy?

Honestly, Sarah Palin could have done better. After all, Desperate Housewives aired BEFORE (between April and November 2007) she started her own pregnancy deception in March 2008. Either she didn't pay attention or thought people would believe her because she said so, as usual...
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Thursday 24 September 2009

So sorry, Sarah Palin...

The Fairbanks Daily Newsminer apologized to Sarah Palin because they referred to her as a "broad" in a front page article about her Hong Kong gig.

Fair enough.

They also published this cartoon:

Are they calling her "white trash" and will have to apologize again, or are they bashing the rest of the media?

(click on cartoon to enlarge)

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Sarah Palin, not looking backwards?



After all the fuss about not allowing the media to record her speech in Hong Kong, Sarah Palin goes and posts a big chunk of it on Facebook!

Apparently, the Main Street part of her speech was the controversial bit, where she bashed President Obama, blaming him for the implosion of the economy, where she reiterated her death panels B.S., all very appropriate for an American citizen making a speech on foreign soil.

Sarah Palin also took the opportunity to challenge the human rights record of the host country. Ever the diplomat, our Sarah!




It wasn't all negative, though. Sarah praised Ronald Reagan (again) and Margaret Thatcher, who's not quite as dead as Reagan yet, but fairly ga-ga and out of it. Didn't Sarah Palin say to Joe Biden: "There you again, looking backwards again" during the wink-wink debate back in November?



The speech was simply more of the same old, same old, no big surprises. For those of us who expected some dramatic changes, it was a disappointment. No major cosmetic surgery and definitely no elocution classes!

I suppose it was during the Q&A bit at the end that she said she needed a wife. I agree. Sarah Palin could have done with a wife to iron that jacket! The botox may have ironed out the wrinkles on her face, but the jacket needed more traditional treatment...
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Wednesday 23 September 2009

We have long memories, Sarah Palin (UPDATED)


The Associated Press reported on Sarah Palin's Hong Kong speech:

Palin started off her speech — which was closed to reporters — with a light talk about the links between her state and the southern Chinese territory, then touched later on economic issues.

One attendee said she criticized the U.S. Federal Reserve's massive intervention in the economy over the last year, arguing its actions only exacerbated the crisis. She also praised the conservative economic policies of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Earlier, she talked of Alaska's salmon exports and complimented Hong Kong as a "beautiful city," according to a second attendee. Both people spoke on condition of anonymity.

I found this passage a bit puzzling:

CLSA requested Palin's speech be closed to reporters so she could make an "unfettered" presentation to investors, according to spokeswoman Wheeler. And Palin, whose supporters have long accused the media of bias and harsh treatment, agreed. Since resigning, Palin has ducked mainstream news outlets and communicated with supporters largely via her popular Facebook page.

Fred Malek (the dog killer) also chipped in about Sarah Palin's trip:

While she's thought to be considering a bid for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012, her Hong Kong trip bore no political overtones, said Fred Malek, a friend and Palin adviser.

"You can read a lot of things into it, 'Is she trying to burnish her foreign policy credentials?' and the like. But really, it's a trip that will be beneficial to her knowledge base and will defray some legal and other bills that she has," Malek said.

Bloomberg also reported on the speech:

Former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin spoke to fund managers in Hong Kong today about issues ranging from Alaska’s fishing industry to U.S.-Sino ties, according to people who attended the closed session.

Palin, 45, spoke about 80 minutes to a full house in the main ballroom of Hong Kong’s Grand Hyatt hotel shortly after 12:30 p.m. local time. Reporters were kept out by tight security at the investor forum organized by CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets.

People who attended Palin’s speech said she took only pre- approved questions. She also discussed the U.S. health care reform debate, the U.S. deficit and energy conservation, they said.

Ben Smith of Politico named the speech ghoswriters:

John McCain's campaign foreign policy advisor, Randy Scheunemann, has emerged as an advisor to former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as she attempts to build a serious public profile and begins to build a network of aides and advisors typical of a national politician.

Scheunemann confirmed this evening that he's with Palin in Hong Kong, where she is delivering a paid speech at a conference hosted by the brokerage house CLSA,

Scheunemann, an early supporter of the Iraq war, is prominent in the hawkish, internationalist, neo-conservative wing of the party's foreign policy thought, and his place beside Palin also offers a bit of a clue as to the direction in which her vaguely-defined foreign policy views are likely to develop. Two other Republican policy hands worked on the speech as well, I'm told: AEI China expert Dan Blumenthal and D.C. lawyer Kim Daniels.

Bree Palin has more information on the speechwriters.

There aren't any surprises regarding the speech or the identity of her advisors. It was the usual anti-Obama stuff, written by neo-cons...

The puppetmasters are attempting to create an aura of secrecy around the pitbull. They are trying to boost her credentials as an expert on many things, with prepared Facebook notes, op-eds and a carefully crafted speech delivered behind closed doors. She's not seen in public and doesn't speak to the press. The first and last time Sarah Palin gave a national press conference was on November 13, 2008 and that didn't last very long:

In Miami at the Republican Governor's Association, Sarah Palin held her first national press conference. About 100 reporters gathered. The bank of TV camera were two-deep on the risers. And -- drumroll please -- it lasted three questions and about seven and a half minutes.



Will Sarah Palin ever be able to speak to the press? Or do they plan to keep her under wraps forever? Are they waiting for people to forget her word salad, her idiotic answers to Charlie Gibson and Kate Couric, her inappropriate dress sense on many occasions?

Good luck, puppetmasters. We remember all that and more: the giggles on the Bob and Mark show, her talk to Sarkozy, her pearls of wisdom on Twitter, the ridiculous collection of photos on Runners World, all her tabloid rants. We remember a lot of stuff... from Wasilla mayor to unemployed quitter governor, we remember it all.




UPDATE

A first hand account of her speech by Cameron Sinclair
Bree Palin has more nuggets from the speech
(H/T to EyeOnYou for Hong Kong photos and link to HuffPo)
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Tuesday 22 September 2009

Why Are People In Alaska Afraid To Talk About "Babygate“? – See What Verne Rupright, The Mayor of Wasilla, Has To Say…

Guestpost by Patrick
patrick12344@yahoo.com

In the comments to my previous blogposts here on “palingates”, many commenters wondered why the people in Alaska are so afraid to talk about “babygate” and to “spill the beans”. After all, what do they have to lose, now that Palin has gone?

It is not easy to find the right answer to this question. But it is clear to us that a number of people in Alaska know at least parts of Sarah Palin’s “secret”, including leading politicians of the Republican party in Alaska and other people in higher political circles, as I explained in my first guestpost.

In addition, several people especially in Wasilla most likely know the truth or parts of it, too. From all we have heard, there is a close-knit society there in that little town. Everybody seems to know everybody. And there is certainly no shortage of rumors in Alaska concerning Trig’s parentage. For example, a reporter of the “New Yorker”, who visited Alaska in September 2008 to investigate Sarah Palin’s home state, remarked about the faked-pregnancy rumors:

"This Faulknerian story had been making the rounds in Alaska for months—I heard versions of it in Anchorage and Juneau within twenty-four hours of arriving in each city—and it derived from the peculiar circumstances surrounding Trig’s birth."

So, are people beginning to talk now?

Well, they might…but then we have people like Verne Rupright. He has been the mayor of Wasilla since November 3, 2008, having been voted into office with the impressive amount of 466 votes.

Verne Rupright seems to be very concerned about Sarah Palin and her family. How concerned, we learn through an article by the London Times Online which was published in August 2009. This article shines more light on the question as to why people in Alaska and Wasilla might be afraid to talk. The Times writes:

A friend of Bristol recalls dodging press photographers on high school graduation day. “I love Sarah and the people who know her understand why she resigned. It’s hard putting your family through that much.”

But the local people have also learnt to be wary, and the list of those who won’t talk to journalists is long. Verne Rupright, the mayor, understands this protective spirit. “This is a hard place and that makes people a bit more bound together. People like Sarah came up that way,” he says.

As he points out where Mrs Palin shot her first rabbit, he notes that those who threaten her family should remember the local tendency to carry guns.

So there you have it. Her family is apparently “threatened”. By whom, with what? We don’t know. Threatened by the truth? Could be!

Oh well, and her defenders might be “carrying guns”. Enough said, right?

In many other places in the USA, such a comment by a mayor would probably cause an outrage. But in Wasilla? Very unlikely, in my opinion.

I can understand why “ordinary citizens” in Alaska are afraid to go on the record about babygate. But there are not just ordinary citizens in Alaska, but also for example people in the “upper echelons” of society who know the truth about babygate. It is understandable to a certain extent that the people in Alaska have lost interest in Sarah Palin – they are just glad that they got rid of that crazy woman.

One of my contacts in Alaska recently told me that it’s unlikely that the Alaska media would be interested in babygate at this point, and added: “Honestly, since Palin's resignation, she doesn't make the news much locally anymore.”

However, in my opinion, Alaskans have a certain responsibility, if they like it or not. Sarah Palin is “their” product – and every person in Alaska who is in a position to do so should not hesitate to tell the public the truth about babygate, in order to prevent this unfit person causing further damage to the rest of the USA and possibly the world. Sarah Palin is a fraud, and she needs to be exposed as such – so that the ordinary American voter can be in no doubt that Sarah Palin is not a serious option and has no business to be in politics.
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Sarah Palin, pitbull no more...


Pitbull, Barracuda, Sarah Palin, all make for a good show but have no bite.

Why is the pitbull being wrapped in cotton wool? Sarah Palin can't have dinner with anybody unless it's someone friendly. She can't make a speech unless it's behind closed doors. She doesn't give interviews unless it's to one of those reporters who worship the ground she walks on.

Before she resigned we were treated to nice tweety rants and irrational press releases. We had a diet of word salad with ingredients like the constitution and our brave men and women blah blah. Unfortunately, nothing written in her name since August 7 has flown from her own fingertips.

I'm not holding my breath about the Hong Kong speech. It will be carefully crafted by somebody else and expertly delivered by a puppet who had weeks to get it word perfect.

So... while the puppetmasters retouch the pitbull's lipstick for future appearances, we'll continue to discuss Babygate to our heart's content. Patrick has sent in another good post, coming next...
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Sunday 20 September 2009

Levi Johnston, Lori Tipton And Their “Business” at Mat-Su Hospital – And What Rex Butler Doesn’t Want To Go On the Record With… UPDATED

Guestpost by Patrick
patrick12344@yahoo.com
Anybody interested in Sarah Palin’s faked pregnancy with Trig has to deal with surprises from time to time. One of those surprises was the Vanity Fair article “”Me and Mrs. Palin” which appeared in the October issue of Vanity Fair and was “written by Levi Johnston” (it was based on an 16-hour-interview marathon that Levi Johnston had with Vanity Fair in preparation for the article).

The article in Vanity Fair left many observers from all sides of the political spectrum unhappy. For example, the Sarah-cultists at C4P released an angry “Levi the Liar” post the day the first facts became known over the internet, and in the New York Times, Gail Collins wrote about “The Revenge of Levi” and couldn’t hide her disappointment when she remarked: “For the first time in my life, I feel sympathy for Sarah Palin.”

Even our “brother in arms” Gryphen from “Immoral Minority was stunned and declared: “Essentially much of what Levi says in the article is in direct opposition to things I have learned over the last five months”, and his confusion was noticeable when he added: “I don't know what that means yet.”

Well, I also don’t know what this means yet, but what I do know is that a systematically executed analysis of the situation based on the facts is the only way forward.

There is one part in Levi’s article on which I would like to focus in this blogpost: Levi’s remarks about what happened on April 18, 2008, Trig Palin’s “official birth”.

According to Levi Johnston, Sarah Palin told her family that she was pregnant only “one or two days” before she revealed her well concealed secret to a stunned media on March 5, 2008. Then, on April 18, 2008, the following happened, according to Levi Johnston: “I was at the hospital when Sarah had the baby a little after six A.M. on April 18, 2008, two weeks before we told her we were pregnant.”

This sentence left some readers perplexed. Most people I know understood it in the way that Levi Johnston himself was physically present at the hospital at a little after six a.m. in the morning.

But can this really be true?

On the blogs, some commenters doubted that Levi had a good reason to be there at all that morning, given the fact that he was merely the boyfriend of the daughter of the baby’s mother.

As promised, I will try to look into the facts which are available to us. We actually have one person who went on the record regarding what happened on the morning of April 18, 2008 at Mat-Su hospital in Palmer, AK.

This person is Lori Tipton. She is a journalist with the Alaska TV-channel KTUU, and cannot be suspected of left-wing sympathies. On her facebook page, she openly declared that she is “a fan of Sarah Palin”, and she is the partner of Bob Lester, who is the co-host of the ultra right-wing Alaska radio program “The Bob and Mark Show” - which used to be one of Sarah Palin’s favourite radio programs. This radio show brought us an unforgettable insight into the type of humor that Sarah Palin enjoys, when Bob Lester described Sarah Palin’s then internal Republican rival, former Alaska Senator Lyda Green, as “nothing but a very jealous woman” and a “cancer” and a “bitch”. Sarah Palin herself couldn’t suppress a few girlie giggles – knowing very well that Lyda Green herself is a cancer-survivor.

Lori Tipton had been assigned to report for KTUU from Mat-Su hospital on the morning of 18th April, 2008.

She gave not only one, but two reports about what happened there that morning, and those reports are complimentary to each other.

Further to the above accounts, a while ago, I received an e-mail from a reader of PD which was written to her by Lori Tipton on September 22, 2008. The email had been written in response to a question that this reader had asked to Lori Tipton about Sarah’s pregnancy with Trig. There, Lori Tipton explained, after first mentioning how tight the HIPPA rules are: “Mat-Su hospital, where Gov Palin delivered, wouldn’t even confirm that she was a patient at the time of her delivery. We had to camp outside the entrance and wait for her family to walk by.”

Obviously, Lori Tipton was not at the Mat-Su hospital at six a.m. that morning. In the email she clearly says that they were waiting outside the hospital and that the family walked in at a later point. In her KTUU report she mentions that Sally and Chuck Heath “visited with their new grandson Friday afternoon”.

Interestingly, Lori Tipton was later interviewed by the “Daily Dish” in December of 2008 about what happened on the 18th April 2008.

Andrew Sullivan’s colleague Patrick Appel, who identified himself in this article as a “non-believer” in babygate (stating “I don't believe Sarah Palin is capable of pulling off such a cover-up”), quoted Lori Tipton as follows:

“Sarah [Palin] was in another room, and they said that she was sleeping when we arrived. And so, we got a little bit of footage of Sally [Heath] holding Trig, and Chuck [Heath] standing next to her. And Bristol [Palin] was in there, and I said to Bristol, "We should get some footage of you and your brother and your grandparents." And she’s like, "No I really don’t like to be photographed." And I said, "Are you sure?" And she’s like, "Yeah, yeah, no." And she didn’t have any make-up on or anything, but she was dressed in typical teenage attire, a tight shirt, low-cut jeans, you know, and we had heard the rumors before the delivery of this baby also, that Bristol was pregnant, and so, when my photographer and I got to the hospital and we saw her, I thought, well, clearly there’s no way that that girl just delivered a baby seven hours ago.”

Therefore, from this account we learn that Sarah’s parents Sally and Chuck Heath were present that afternoon (also documented through the pictures and the footage which was shown on KTUU) and according to Lori Tipton, Bristol Palin was also there.

So are we to believe that Levi was there at Mat-Su hospital before the rest of Sarah’s family?

Well – at the time of the interview with the Daily Dish in December 2008, Levi Johnston had already been a “national celebrity” for several months. Would Lori Tipton really have left him out from her description about who was there on that day?

I personally do not believe so because a common appearance of Bristol and Levi together in April 2008 at such an event would have been too spectacular for Lori Tipton not to mention when she was interviewed by the Daily Dish.

I therefore have to conclude that Levi Johnston was in fact not there in the afternoon together with the Palin family, but at six a.m. in the morning – unless we want to call Levi a liar. And I refuse to believe that Levi is a liar. What I do believe is that we have a cleverly written Vanity Fair article which allows us to read between the lines.

So, if Levi was present at the hospital at six a.m. that morning, despite the fact that the family only arrived later that day – what was he doing there so early? What was his function? I don’t have an answer to that – but it is a question that Levi or his handlers could and should answer.

However, one possible answer could be that he was “handing over the baby”. And that the Palin family had a vital interest that he would be “invisible” for the rest of the day, and therefore it’s very likely that he was sent home before the media arrived.

This leads me to the second part of the title of this blogpost.

This is a little bombshell. From a reliable source in Alaska who has first-hand knowledge, I know for a fact that Rex Butler, Levi Johnston’s attorney DOES NOT want to go on the record regarding the question of who Trig’s biological mother is, and in addition he said "he doesn't know for a fact" that Sarah Palin has given birth to Trig.

Especially for the readers of Palingates, I have obtained another snippet of information, which is properly sourced and documented, and which has never been reported anywhere so far to my knowledge. Many of you will probably remember that our friend Gryphen from Immoral Minority wrote in his famous “Splitsville” blogpost:

“I also learned that there was an incident back in the summer of 2008, before the McCain campaign officially tapped Sarah, where Todd Palin pulled a gun on Levi in a heated exchange concerning his relationship with Bristol. This news will be hitting the local papers here in town next week.”

Well – the reason why this “gun incident” didn’t hit “the local papers here in town” was that it was not confirmed by Levi, when he was confronted with it shortly after Gryphen’s blogpost had been published. In addition, with regard to the “gun incident”, Levi made a memorable comment which so far has also never been reported – he said exactly these words:

“If someone pulls a gun on me, they better use it.”

Have we seen the “real, honest, straightforward Levi” in this sentence?

Hopefully we'll never find out...

UPDATE

CC, Livvy, Naked Truth and others

Thank you very much for your input. The 18th April 2008 raises a lot of questions. Who alerted the journalists, and when? At which time in the morning did the journalists arrive at the hospital? Etc.

Even more questions raises Sarah Palin's official schedule from the 18th April, 2008, and this is one piece of evidence which I didn't mention in the blogpost. The schedule was obtained through a FOIA request, and this page can be viewed here:

http://tinyurl.com/luab5z

On the top of the schedule for the 18th April 2008 it says:

“Bristol: Interview Assistance Set Up w/KTUU (Wasilla)
GOV: Interview w/KTVA and ADN (ANC)
Todd: Interview w/KBYR (Wasilla)
Trig's Birth
WASILLA”

What does "Interview Assistance" with Bristol and KTUU mean? And I have never ever seen interviews by Sarah Palin or Todd Palin which were conducted on that day!

When were these appointments which are mentioned in the schedule set up? How did people know that the premature DS-baby would have been "fit" to be presented to the public at the day of his birth?

Sarah and Todd gave a press conference about the birth only three days later - the link for the audio to download is in Regina's special babygate resources on the right-hand side of Palingates. The statements in the press conference ("I didn't look so far along", said Sarah - despite of the famous Gusty-picture with her massive belly) also raised a lot of additional questions.

We are not conspiracy theorists. I am personally not even interested in conspiracy theories. All I am dealing with since November 2008 are facts - and the facts DO NOT ADD UP.

Nobody should be in doubt here that this investigation will continue until the truth has finally been revealed.
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Friday 18 September 2009

Healthcare around the world




I visited good old Wikipedia and found out a few things about healthcare around the world. It's an easy format to follow and as the subject involves mainly facts and figures, it's a fairly reliable source in this case. I picked some countries to illustrate my point about the contrast between the US and an assortment of other countries regarding healthcare.

Health care systems vary according to the extent of government involvement in providing care, ranging from nationalized health care systems (such as the U.K. and Sweden) to decentralized private or non-profit institutions (as in Germany and France). Universal health care is implemented in all industrialized countries, with the exception of the United States. It is also provided in many developing countries.

Germany has Europe's oldest universal health care system, with origins dating back to Otto von Bismarck's Social legislation, which included the Health Insurance Bill of 1883, Accident Insurance Bill of 1884, and Old Age and Disability Insurance Bill of 1889. As mandatory health insurance, these bills originally applied only to low-income workers and certain government employees; their coverage, and that of subsequent legislation gradually expanded to cover virtually the entire population.

Currently 85% of the population is covered by a basic health insurance plan provided by statute, which provides a standard level of coverage. The remainder opt for private health insurance, which frequently offers additional benefits. According to the World Health Organization, Germany's health care system was 77% government-funded and 23% privately funded as of 2004.

The government partially reimburses the costs for low-wage workers, whose premiums are capped at a predetermined value. Higher wage workers pay a premium based on their salary. They may also opt for private insurance, which is generally more expensive, but whose price may vary based on the individual's health status.

France, like other countries in Europe, has a system of universal health care largely financed by government through a system of national health insurance. In its 2000 assessment of world health care systems, the World Health Organization found that France provided the "best overall health care" in the world. In 2005, France spent 11.2% of GDP on health care, or US$3,926 per capita, a figure much higher than the average spent by countries in Europe and less than in the US. Approximately 77% of health expenditures are covered by government.

Most general physicians are in private practice but draw their income from the publicly funded insurance funds. These funds, unlike their German counterparts, have never really gained much management responsibility. Instead the government has taken responsibility for the financial and operational management of health insurance (by setting premium levels related to income and determining the prices of goods and services refunded). It generally refunds patients 70% of most health care costs, and 100% in case of costly or long-term ailments. Supplemental coverage may be bought from private insurers, most of them nonprofit, mutual insurers.

Until recently, social security coverage was restricted to those who contributed to social security (generally, workers or retirees), excluding some poor segments of the population; the government of Lionel Jospin put into place "universal health coverage" and extended the coverage to all those legally resident in France.


Health Services in Australia are universal. The Federal Government pays a large percentage of the cost of services in public hospitals. The public health system is called Medicare. It ensures free universal access to hospital treatment and subsidised out-of-hospital medical treatment. It is funded by a 1.5% tax levy on all taxpayers, an extra 1% levy on high income earners, as well as general revenue.

In the Japanese health care system, healthcare services, including screening examinations for particular diseases at no direct cost to the patient, prenatal care, and infectious disease control, are provided by national and local governments. Payment for personal medical services is offered through a universal health care insurance system that provides relative equality of access, with fees set by a government committee. People without insurance through employers can participate in a national health insurance program administered by local governments. Since 1983, all elderly persons have been covered by government-sponsored insurance. Patients are free to select physicians or facilities of their choice.

The Brazilian health system is composed of a large public, government managed system, the SUS (Sistema Único de Saúde), which serves the majority of the population, and a private sector, managed by health insurance funds and private entrepreneurs.

The public health system, SUS, was established in 1988 by the Brazilian Constitution, and sits on 3 basic principles of universality, comprehensiveness and equity. Universality states that all citizens must have access to health care services, without any form of discrimination, regarding skin color, income, social status, gender or any other variable.

On April 9, 2009 the Government of Peru published the Law on Health Insurance to enable all Peruvians to access quality health services, and contribute to regulate the financing and supervision of these services. The law enables all population to access diverse health services to prevent illnesses, and promote and rehabilitate people, under a Health Basic Plan.

The universal health care system is used in Trinidad and Tobago and is the primary form of health-care available in the country. It is used by the majority of the population seeking medical assistance, as it is free for all citizens.

Canada, Argentina, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico, Panama, Uruguay and Venezuela all have public universal health care provided.

In Europe, the following countries have with universal health care: Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

Bhutan, Brunei, China, Hong Kong SAR, India, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Malaysia, South Korea, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Pakistan and Thailand also have universal health care.

Surprisingly, one major country doesn't have universal healthcare provided or managed by the government:

Health care in the United States is provided by many separate legal entities. More is spent on health care in the United States on a per capita basis than in any other nation in the world. Medical debt is the principal cause of personal bankruptcy in the United States, weakening the whole economy. Some have argued that the system does not deliver value for the money spent.

Around 84.7% of citizens have some form of health insurance; either through their employer or the employer of their spouse or parent (59.3%), purchased individually (8.9%), or provided by government programs (27.8%; there is some overlap in these figures). All government health care programs have restricted eligibility, and there is no government health insurance company which covers all citizens. Americans without health insurance coverage at some time during 2007 totaled about 15.3% of the population, or 45.7 million people.

Some Americans do not qualify for government-provided health insurance, are not provided health insurance by an employer, and are unable to afford, cannot qualify for, or choose not to purchase, private health insurance. When charity or "uncompensated" care is not available, they sometimes simply go without needed medical treatment. This problem has become a source of considerable political controversy on a national level.

I find it absolutely unbelievable that the most powerful country in the world, with just about the largest economy, the country that for a long time sought to set the parameters for everything around the world is still centuries behind many minor nations when it comes to healthcare.

The vast majority of the countries I mentioned above are not socialist dictatorships. Some government run health services are more comprehensive than others, there are complex relationships between the government and insurers in some of the countries, but they all regard healthcare as a basic right and strive to provide cover for all their citizens.

What is seen as a human right in so many countries is regarded as a privilege in the US. The per capita expenditure on healthcare in the US is higher than anywhere else in the world, but it's not the government footing the bill. Those who can afford it inflate these figures and swell the coffers of the insurance companies, leaving 48 million Americans without cover. That's more people than the population of some countries.

The same people who are protesting in the US, the people who are buying the dishonest lies propagated by Fox News, by politicians like Sarah Palin and the health insurance companies, could have the tables turned on them and they could find themselves bankrupt in order to preserve their health and that of their loved ones. Instead of accepting a government trying to serve one of their most basic needs, they prefer to part with sizeable amounts of money each month for the benefit of very big corporations that ration the services so they can make more profit.

Why???

Added link: healthcare premiums in Alaska
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