Heroic Media: An evening with Sarah Palin, and another example how to distort history

"Heroic Media" invited their supporters to an evening with Sarah Palin on April 29, 2010 in Austin. We extensively reported prior to this event, and it didn't escape our attention that the President of "Heroic Media", Brian Follett, was a leading "Swift-Boater". Unfortunately, it seems that the rest of the media completely missed this noteworthy fact. No, not everyone: Comedy Central mentioned it as well!

Here are pictures from this evening:

Judging by these pictures, Sarah Palin seemed to thoroughly enjoy herself, and Rick Perry was certainly very pleased to rub shoulders again with his "favorite" female politician. Perry was such an enthusiastic participant that he afterwards published 61 (!) pictures of this event on his flickr account.

Palin's and Perry's next meeting will probably be when they both will have the honor to meet a conman from Tyler, Texas.

As previously reported, "Heroic Media" is an anti-abortion organization. They openly admit that their billboards are designed in a way that it's impossible to tell whether "they are pro-life or pro-choice", and they add: "That’s intentional because women in crisis respond best to photos of women they can relate to."

They have posted several of their clips on youtube - here is an example:

So, what news is there to report about this evening?

Well, one of our brilliant spies (aka "Palingaters") sneaked into the venue after the event was over and got hold of one of the programs which were distributed at the event. This program does indeed give a lot of interesting information, and it also is a brilliant example of the illness which so many Palin-supporters seem to suffer from: The "negation of reality and Palin delusion syndrome".

You can download the full program HERE.

Let's have a look. Here we have the general plan for the evening:

"Governor Rick Perry"? "Governor Sarah Palin"? Okay...

Well, the former half-term Governor is currently freelancing for Fox News and maybe soon for Discovery, when she is not giving directions to Rebecca Mansour which issues should be tackled next on Mansour's facebook...just saying.

So what else do we have...an uplifting message by the swift-boater himself:

The "abortion ratio dropped 24% in Austin" since Heroic Media "entered the market"? And that was...because of "Heroic Media"? Right! No need to see statistics or other data. We have to believe the President, the President cannot be wrong.

Now, let's meet: The Governor!



There is one expression, sometimes enthusiastically used by bloggers, which I am not particularly fond of: "What am I missing?" But that's the only phrase I can think of right now. Sarah Palin's abbreviated "Curriculum Vitae" seems distorted like Leo Trotzki's CV in Stalinist Russia. For God's sake, people! She voluntarily, without any pressure, resigned - so that she would be able to earn the big bucks, what she craved for like nothing else! It almost happened a year ago, on this beautiful July 3, 2009! I can still hear my screams of joy from that day! Unfortunately, Brian Follett seems to have missed it. What a shame.

I on my part seem to have missed the message of "principles" and "reform" in "Going Rogue". Brian, can you please drop me an email and point me to the right page? That would be awfully nice, thank you very much.

Here we have more speakers - lots of smiling guys who by the grace of God will never have to cope with an unwanted pregnancy:

Heroic Media also proudly presents again their cunning billboards:

We find some extremely interesting info at the end of the program - who belongs to the "National Advisory Board" of Heroic Media:

Interesting! We meet again Thomas Monaghan, founder of "Domino's Pizza", about whom we recently reported as well! He is the major financial backer of the extremist Thomas More Law Center, whose member Kim Daniels is reportedly currently advising Sarah Palin on a daily basis.

This was not a "heroic" event, but just another meeting for those people who would like to turn the USA into a theocracy - with the "pure" Sarah Palin as the poster girl. As "pure" as "whiteout"!

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At the right-hand bar, under our email addresses, I included a link to a new service which I have called "Palingates-Wikileaks". I don't know whether there is a need for such a service, but it's meant seriously, and it works. It is a service which was invented by people who are at the forefront of the "privacy protection" movement in Europe. It allows us to receive messages in complete confidence - outside the reach of any authorities. No logfiles are being kept. If there is any information you always wanted to send us, but which is so "hot" that you never dared, now is your chance! Nobody will ever be able to find out who sent us the info.

You can leave messages anonymously here (without sending an email):

https://privacybox.de/patrickpalingates.msg

Or send an email directly to our new address which is hosted outside the USA and Europe:

patrickpalingates@privatedemail.net

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Protesters gather in Austin where Sarah Palin and Rick Perry will speak tonight for "Heroic Media" (President: Swift-Boater Brian Follett) - UPDATE!

Sarah Palin and possibly also Texas Governor Rick Perry will speak tonight at the Convention Center in Austin, Texas. The event is organized by "Heroic Media". Although the anti-abortion organization "Heroic Media" received some closer scrutiny leading up to this event, for example today by "Think Progress", the media still doesn't seem to be aware that the President of "Heroic Media" is Brian Follett.

Palingates published an extensive report about Heroic Media, their activities and their President Brian Follett on April 11, 2010.

Brian Follett is, as noted in public records, one of the major financial backers of the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth". He is mentioned with having donated $ 40,000 to the "Swift Boaters", which places him at No. 19 in the individual "Donation High Score" of the Swift Boaters. However, other records indicate that his overall donations were actually higher and amounted to $ 47,500 in total.

"Heroic Media" conducts anti-abortion campaigns - for example on TV, Internet, billboards and radio.

On the Heroic Media website, they freely admit they attempt to deceive teens with their advertising (h/t EyeOnYou):

"Heroic Media’s billboards are designed so you can’t tell if they’re pro-life or pro-choice. Our billboards typically showcase young women instead of babies. That’s intentional because women in crisis respond best to photos of women they can relate to."

Example of a billboard by "Heroic Media":

For more info, see our report from April 11, 2010.

The local media just reported that protesters have gathered at the Convention Center in Austin (h/t austintxx) - see the KVUE news clip HERE.

And don't forget to vote in their poll!

More news reports about this event:

Austin Post

The Austin Chronicle

Interesting info from the Austin Post:

"It’s totally fine for Palin to do a speaking engagement to raise money for an organization she supports. But if reporters want to attend the event, they also have to buy a $50 ticket and support the organization. You betcha, liberal media! I wonder if the Chron or Burnt Orange Report shelled out any cash for Heroic Media."

So, every journalist has to pay $ 50 to the Swift Boater. How clever!

It is noteworthy that John McCain called the swift boater's campaign "dishonest and dishonorable".

As an alternative to the protest at the Austin Convention Center, the Travis County Democratic Party invites everyone today to an "Evening Without Sarah Palin"! Sara Hickman will be present and will sing her new song "Palin' By Comparison"!

If there are any readers with a report and photos from these event or the protests, please don't hesitate to contact us.

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UPDATE:

Sarah Palin and her special relationship to Texas - More connections

Guestpost by mxm

As Palingates posted previously, Palin will appear in Austin for the Heroic Media organization. This faith-based nonprofit RTL group was founded in 2004 as the Majella Society by Brian Follett. The group changed its name to Heroic Media to reach a broader audience. Little can be found about Follet, other than a single article in a RTL newsletter and a note on the organization's Facebook page that Follett and his wife recently had a new baby.

In that RTL newsletter Follett is identified as a corporate philanthropist from Wisconsin. Follett relocated to Austin from Wisconsin for personal reasons. He founded the organization and named two Directors, Sandy Faucher and Barbara Lyons. Both women have long been involved in the RTL movement. These three are heavily associated with the Catholic Church.

Heroic Media is a registered nonprofit organization and is listed on Guidestar as Majella. The name comes from the patron saint of pregnant women, St. Gerard Mejalla. Who knew.

Their mission statement according to GuideStar: Majella is a faith-based non-profit that reduces abortion by creating a culture of life through television, billboard and Internet advertising and connecting women in crisis with life-affirming resource centers.

According to their tax returns, contributions have been:

2004 $679,265
2005 $880,890
2006 $819,679
2007 $912,472
2008 $998,461 (this is the last year information is available for)

The tax returns indicate the Follett, Faucher and Lyons are not paid any salary for their services. Salaries are listed for others in the organization. Four open positions are currently listed at the organization's site and at least 2 are listed with various online recruiting services: Vice President Marketing, Major Gifts Officer, Director of Development, and National Events Manager. From the titles and job descriptions, a significant growth effort is underway.

Heroic Media promotes prominent GOP celebrity testimonials for their organization and counts among them Bill O'Reilly, who was a featured guest at a fundraising gala. I am sure that they are hopeful that the Palin celebrity will be lucrative for their fundraising efforts.

Follet's donations to presidential campaigns are interesting. As was pointed out the other night, he was a significant contributor to the swift boat veterans. In 2007 he contributed $2300 each to hopeful presidential candidates Brownback, Fred Thompson, Huckabee and Romney. Someone is missing here. Why would a man who donated to the swift boat veterans not donate to Vietnam era hero John McCain?

He did finally donate $2300 to McCain in March 2008, once he had nailed the GOP candidacy. In Oct 2008 he also donated $5000 to The National Republican PAC. Sarah, the guy was just not that into Johnny, but loyal to the big picture. You might want to ask him about that when you see him next. He did not donate to the campaign after you joined???? But he wants you to work for him, although you will get paid and you do like TX.

It appears these donations were all personal. It is curious that they are made on various permutations of address and employment affiliation. In some cases, Brian Follett lists his association with the Majella Society in Austin, TX. Some times he is retired and some times he is retired at a PO Box in Sioux Falls, SD. I believe it is all the same person, as Brian Follett, with an employer of Majella and an address in Sioux Falls also donated to the Swift Boat group.

Majella/Heroic Media lists Douglas Kelly & Associates, Inc., Springfield, MO as the producer of its advertising. In 2007 and 2008 they were paid $430,734 and $408,100 respectively. Other than finding listings for the business, it does not appear to have a website. In its tax returns, Majella reported it conducts "psych-graphic audience research".

In my brief searching, I found nothing suspicious or irregular in this RTL organization. While I do not agree with their mission it seems legitimate. The expansion into FLA and its recruiting for sophisticated positions suggests that they are just beginning. Wouldn't it be nice if NOW was paying attention to them?
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SarahPAC's choice to go from Edonations to Upstream Communications as its internet fundraising vendor is very interesting. This is an Austin based company.

The company was founded by Karl Rove, as Karl Rove + Co. in 1981. He sold the company to Ted Delisi and Todd Olsen in 2000, so that he could dedicate himself to Bush. The company is tightly woven into the fabric of TX and GOP politics.

Delisi has moved on, and now is a partner in Delisi Communications, along with his wife Deirdre and mother Dianne (and a couple other folks as well). Deirdre has been involved in public service/politics and was Gov Rick Perry's chief of staff. Dianne is a former TX state representative.

What is it with Sarah Palin and TX?
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Sarah Palin and the Swift Boater

Thanks to our reader "lilylake", there is a new discovery:

Sarah Palin is going to appear at the Convention Center in Austin, Texas on April 29, 2010, at an evening appropriately named: "An evening with Sarah Palin".

The event is organized by "Heroic Media", located in Austin, Texas. According to their website, they have the following purpose:

"Our Mission

Heroic Media is a faith-based non-profit that reduces abortion by creating a Culture of Life through television, billboard and internet advertising which connects women in crisis with life-affirming pregnancy centers.

Our Regions

Heroic Media aims to help women and babies in crisis across the nation. To accomplish this mission, we are structured by regions: Northeast, West, Midwest, South, and Southeast."

In short, "Heroic Media" conducts anti-abortion campaigns - for example on TV, Internet, billboards and radio.

On the Heroic Media website, they freely admit they attempt to deceive teens with their advertising (h/t EyeOnYou):

"Heroic Media’s billboards are designed so you can’t tell if they’re pro-life or pro-choice. Our billboards typically showcase young women instead of babies. That’s intentional because women in crisis respond best to photos of women they can relate to."

Example of a billboard by "Heroic Media":

Part of their campaigns is a website called "www.teenbreaks.com" which urges teens not to abort. The website is aimed at children from 12 years of age onwards. In case the message falls on deaf ears, the website presents horrible pictures of abortions in order to convince the youngsters that abortion is evil - apparently with success .

The connected website "www.heartlink.org" cites from comments which were reportedly sent to "www.teenbreaks.com":

"I finally decided to look at a web site that shows the cons of abortion. After seeing those pictures and reading those stories, I don't see how abortion can still be legal. ABORTION IS HOMICIDE. I could never live with killing a baby, born or unborn."

On the Heartlink website the backers of "www.teenbreaks.com" are mentioned:

"The Rosetta Foundation has been advertising a new Web site for teens, TeenBreaks.com, on Google through the keywords "abortion", "teen abortion" and "teen pregnancy." When a keyword search is done on abortion, bringing up over 10 million Web sites, TeenBreaks.com is outbidding the abortion clinics and pro-abortion groups for that all-important first place spot."

Heartlink is part of "Focus on the Family" - which, as many of you will know, was run until February 2009 by infamous evangelical leader James Dobson.

Now that we have established the general background, let's get back to "Heroic Media" again.

The founder and President of Heroic Media is: Brian Follett.

Who is Brian Follett?

He is, as noted in public records, one of the major financial backers of the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth". He is mentioned with having donated $ 40,000 to the "Swift Boaters", which places him at No. 19 in the individual "Donation High Score" of the Swift Boaters. However, other records indicate that his overall donations were actually higher and amounted to $ 47,500 in total.

Therefore, it seems that the past rears its ugly head.

After all, the Swift Boaters were not liked very much - even by some Republicans.

One Republican said in 2004:

“I deplore this kind of politics. I think the ad is dishonest and dishonorable. As it is, none of these individuals served on the boat (Kerry) commanded. Many of his crew have testified to his courage under fire. I think John Kerry served honorably in Vietnam. I think George Bush served honorably in the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam War.”

This statement was made by:

John McCain - the man who just had Sarah Palin, "The Whore of Babble-On", campaign for him.

Sad times for America, sad times for Republicans.

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