Sarah Palin's new book signing... and some comic relief

Sarah Palin's book signing event at the Mall of America has very strict rules. Daughter Bristol will join her mom so people will be forced to buy her own book, which is shocking, refreshing, honest, inspired and perfect.

Perhaps the McCains would take exception at the perfection of Bristol's book. I think Sarah Palin couldn't include such perfection in Going Rogue, but thought it would be a good idea to resume the score settling via Bristol.

I'll introduce a bit of fantasy here:

I wrote to my friend Sarah to ask her about it and she sent me a delightful e-mail.

Dear Regina,

Thank you for asking about a possible problem with the Mc'Cains if they think I left them out of the other books that I wrote.

I'm as pure as the driven snow up here in Alaska and would never utter a single word against that war hero real patriot maverick John Mc'Cain or his real American family. But my daughter is young and is very candid and honest and impulsive. (Is utter for real? It's so darn ugly! Makes me think of cow's.)

You see, my beautiful abstinent daughter is so honest that she described how that gnat Levi ran away with her virginity and wouldn't give it back. If he tries to sell her virginity to another girl, Bristol the Pistol will take his backwardass to court for handlin stolen goods. (What do you mean, people can't sell somebody's virginity? Bristol has been selling her abstinence for two years, what's the difference?)

My brave Bristol is refreshing and wasn't afraid of lying to me. What makes anybody think she'd  be afraid of lying to everybody else? Sheesh...

Anyways, I have to give her a hand pedaling (sp?) her inspiring book and there was soooo many Going Rogues and Americas by Heart (or is it America by Hearts? Whatever) that are needing shiftin, also, too, so what's a Mama Grizzly to do?

I had a welcoming break from my civic duty up here in Alaska so I went and accepted an invitation to see that inspired, refreshing, honest, perfect film that I didn't ask Bannon to shoot (did I say shoot? LOL!) and if I'm going to be in the heartland with fellow Americans anyway, why not go on another book signing? I miss that crazy Going Rogue bus tour, with my perfect gift from God, remember him? Little forever dependent Trig, the one with the extra chronozone. Little Piper Diaper was more polite back then, I don't think I'll bring her on this one. Perhaps if I promise her a real vacation she'll behave herself. Whatever. I don't know who I'm bringin with me to the heartland. Willow is too cranky. Perhaps Todd, have you seen Todd???

So, Regina, that's me, all open and transparent, setting the record straight. I have to thank you for trying to set this darn record straight for over two years. Your a trooper and fight like a girl! I'm so appreciating you're efforts!

We must have coffee some time. It's not a long drive from the continent of France, wherever that is. Just drop by and I'll welcome you like Kate Gosselin when she came over and show you real Alaskan hospitality. Gotta go now, there's another peepin Tom spoiling our summer and I have to find Todd to make the fence higher while I bake some blueberry pie. Unflippinbelievable!

Best,

Sarah

There, end of fantasy interlude. That was fun!

Bristol Palin is not afraid of being a hypocrite

Excerpts from Bristol Palin's book have appeared on the internet. I concentrated on the hypocrisy of one of her statements and condensed my commentary in a video:



Hypocrisy is long running theme in the Palin family, along with mediocrity, pettiness and greed.

Does Sarah Palin really believe her family would feel at home in the White House?

So Sad...

Bristol Palin's Paycheck - Take Two - UPDATED (4)

This topic has generated a fair amount of interest and has been reported widely. Most blogs and news outlets didn't comment very much on certain aspects of the Foundation and there's been only veiled references to the hypocrisy surrounding Bristol's paycheck: Teenage pregnancy pays well.

Candie's is not the only organization that has jumped on the Palin bandwagon. A lot of people are making money from what is now a recognized brand. We have to suffer Sarah Palin and some of her family (the whole family in the case of Sarah Palin's Alaska) making the news and being paid a lot of money for spouting conflicting messages. In Sarah Palin's case, the message is laced with poison and has resulted in some tragic consequences.

Back to Bristol Palin and the Candie's Foundation, what makes me critical of their position is the cynical exploitation of young people. If Candie's had limited themselves to selling female apparel using sex as a marketing tool, they would be just another company among many, doing the same thing. But they started a foundation that has a dishonest and cynical mission statement: To educate young people regarding sex, to warn them of the pitfalls of engaging in sex prematurely and the consequences of doing so. Candie's Foundation has grown since 2001 and have a decent amount of money in the bank. How much have they given in charitable grants in 2009? $35,000. Here are a couple of snapshots of their expenses in 2009:


This foundation looks more like a marketing outfit than a charity to me.

As for stating that Bristol Palin makes a profit from exploiting young people, yes, she does. When we look at the whole picture, what she really advocates is teenage pregnancy. The abstinence spiel is just playing hard to get. Candie's Foundation produced this PSA to pay lip service to safe sex:



Bristol Palin knows how hard it is to be a teen mom. It's hard, but hey, if it happens, you get to stomp on Dancing with the Stars, make the cover of glossy magazines, get to "act" in a show on ABC Family and get a quarter of a million dollars from a dodgy foundation. You'll be able to pay cash for one or more houses for yourself and your baby. So long as you promise to tell the world what a devastating mistake your baby is, so long as you tell the world you'll never have sex again (marketing two mistakes may be a bit harder, unless she goes for at least another eight mistakes or a very multiple one, to beat Kate Gosselin and the Octomom).



Bristol Palin's foray into acting drew my attention to another expenditure by the Candie's Foundation: $165,000 to ABC Family. I hope somebody will take a closer look at that.

The original post appears below. I would like to thank reader Trigmund Freud for obtaining the 990 form. Perseverance pays off!

I decided to feature the post again because, while some websites credited Palingates as being the first to publish the information, there was no link to the post and a lot of people are arriving on the blog through Google searches. It's easier to find the post if it's at the top.


Bristol Palin makes a nice profit from teenage sex


I received a document today, the form 990 (Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax) of the Candie's Foundation for the year 2009. I don't think anybody else in the blogophere has this information so far...

Neil Cole, Chairman and CEO of Candie's and its parent company, Iconix, sees no contradiction in promoting their products through ads showing highly sexualized young people while simultaneously promoting abstinence via the Foundation.

He defends the contradiction: “Just because you’re wearing high-heeled sexy shoes doesn’t mean you should have a baby.”

In 2001, under fire from critics who accused him of dressing high-schoolers like tarts, he established the Candie’s Foundation, which fights teen pregnancy. In 2009 he introduced the foundation’s new teen ambassador, Bristol Palin.

The Candie's Foundation would have much more credibility if they promoted comprehensive sex education alongside the message that young people should consider whether they're ready to be sexually active. Instead, their mission statement on their 990 form reads:


They repeat the same drivel three times on the form.

Bristol Palin had devastating consequences from her teenage pregnancy. In 2009 she was paid a really devastating amount of money:


This amount is not final, as the 990 is not complete yet. Candie's requested an extention to present the data for their annual Event to Prevent, so Bristol may be due some further devastation.

The Candie's Foundation is the charitable arm of the purveyors of sexy attire for teenagers that uses soft porn to market their products. It's just a handy way to generate tax free money by pretending to be against teenage sex. They decided to cover all bases...



Bristol appears to have developed a convincing image, very, very relevant in the context of sexual abstinence.


Candies and Bristol Palin are well matched. Hypocrisy, greed and gratuitous exploitation of young women while delivering conflicting messages is a profitable bond between them.


UPDATE

Back in January 2010, a Candie's Foundation publicist put a foot in his mouth:

A publicist from the Candie's Foundation says that Bristol is not paid for her role as spokesperson but is compensated for travel and other expenses.

$262,500 is a LOT of travel!

(H/T to Curiouser11)

UPDATE 2

Kim Chatman just reminded me about the claims that Bristol was working her butt off at a doctor's office. According to that spin, Bristol had to get up at some ungodly hour to bathe Tripp, fix his breakfast and get ready to go to work.

Why bother, if she was being paid handsomely as a teenage pregnancy advocate? (I can't resist being sarcastic about Bristol being an abstinence advocate...).


UPDATE 3

Candie's Foundation had a different opinion of Bristol before they jumped on the Palin bandwagon... There was a controversy about this ad because USA Today would not print it, likely due to concern it would anger certain republican presidential and vice presidential candidates (and supporters). (H/T to LisanTx)



UPDATE 4

Here's an interesting video, made before Bristol Palin thought abstinence was a realistic alternative:



(H/T to maelewis)

The 990 return may be viewed and downloaded HERE.
Please read previous posts about Candies.

Bristol Palin makes a nice profit from teenage sex

I received a document today, the form 990 (Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax) of the Candie's Foundation for the year 2009. I don't think anybody else in the blogophere has this information so far...

Neil Cole, Chairman and CEO of Candie's and its parent company, Iconix, sees no contradiction in promoting their products through ads showing highly sexualized young people while simultaneously promoting abstinence via the Foundation.

He defends the contradiction: “Just because you’re wearing high-heeled sexy shoes doesn’t mean you should have a baby.”

In 2001, under fire from critics who accused him of dressing high-schoolers like tarts, he established the Candie’s Foundation, which fights teen pregnancy. In 2009 he introduced the foundation’s new teen ambassador, Bristol Palin.

The Candie's Foundation would have much more credibility if they promoted comprehensive sex education alongside the message that young people should consider whether they're ready to be sexually active. Instead, their mission statement on their 990 form reads:


They repeat the same drivel three times on the form.

Bristol Palin had devastating consequences from her teenage pregnancy. In 2009 she was paid a really devastating amount of money:


This amount is not final, as the 990 is not complete yet. Candie's requested an extention to present the data for their annual Event to Prevent, so Bristol may be due some further devastation.

The Candie's Foundation is the charitable arm of the purveyors of sexy attire for teenagers that uses soft porn to market their products. It's just a handy way to generate tax free money by pretending to be against teenage sex. They decided to cover all bases...



Bristol appears to have developed a convincing image, very, very relevant in the context of sexual abstinence.


Candies and Bristol Palin are well matched. Hypocrisy, greed and gratuitous exploitation of young women while delivering conflicting messages is a profitable bond between them.


The 990 return may be viewed and downloaded HERE.
Please read previous posts about Candies.

Lessons from history: Meet the inventor of "Political Home Reality Shows" and the "Big Lie"

The new year has just begun and Sarah Palin is quiet - though certainly not for long. This "break" gives me the perfect opportunity for a look back in history. In this case, I am talking about the "dark" history of the 20th century, and there are some interesting and shocking details to discover.

Sarah Palin is a "phenomenon" which still is not easy to understand. Accordingly, mainstream America seems to be uncertain about how to treat her. On the one hand, she is widely considered to be a laughable, ignorant person, as an extreme political outsider without "gravitas", but on the other hand, the extreme nature of her political positions didn't stop a channel like ABC to feature her daughter Bristol (and at the same time, Sarah) on DWTS, and didn't stop TLC from producing a folksy family propaganda show about the greatness of Alaska and the greatness of Sarah Palin's family.

Commentators in the MSM usually shy away from some of the conclusions that seem obvious for almost anyone who closely examines Sarah Palin - in particular, the apparent narcissistic nature of her personality. Wikipedia remarks:

Although most individuals have some narcissistic traits, high levels of narcissism can manifest themselves as a pathological form as narcissistic personality disorder, whereby the patient overestimates his or her abilities and has an excessive need for admiration and affirmation.

I would definitely say that Sarah Palin has an excessive need for admiration and affirmation, and one of the best pieces of evidence for this claim is her "reality show" on TLC, and also the overly enthusiastic picture she constantly paints of her own family, in particular of her children.

Sarah claims to trump the competition in being a great hunter, fisherman, mother etc., and she also has no hesitation to praise her children as being role models, for example in "America by Heart" when she talks about Bristol on page 96:

It didn’t take long after that magical night, however, for both new parents to realize how much work—and how little fun—teenage parenting is. But my strong, beautiful Bristol reacted in a way that made me proud. She went to college. And worked full time. A nd took care of a needy, colicky baby through many, many sleepless nights, doctor’s appointments, and lonely, cold car rides to and from babysitters. She worked as hard as any young single mother could possibly work.

Well, I haven't seen the college that Bristol "went to", but it surely exists in Sarah Palin's mind, and that should be good enough for her fans.

According to Sarah Palin, the "courage" of Bristol in earning hundreds of thousands of dollars through speaking out to "pause" and/or to be "abstinent" is truly remarkable (p. 121):

Bristol has boldly and publicly acknowledged in ads for the Candie’s Foundation that abstinence is the only surefire way of preventing pregnancy. A nd for this, she has been accused of being a hypocrite. But to those critics I say this: Which is the more courageous course for a young, single mother: to sit down and shut up and avoid the critics, or to speak out in a painfully honest way about how tough single parenting is? I’m biased, of course, but given a choice of role models between Bristol and Murphy Brown, I choose Bristol.

Naturally, her son Track made Sarah Palin proud as well, as she explains on page 36 in "America By Heart":

On September 11, 2008, the brigade’s deployment to Iraq landed the soldiers in the Diyala Province, northeast of Baghdad, fighting insurgents and helping to rebuild that war-torn country. Then, on September 11, 2009, he as scheduled to return home. Like all military families, his sisters, his baby brother, Todd, and I were overjoyed that Track is coming home safe. But at the last second, the family of one of the other members of the Stryker Brigade had a medical scare. Track’s fellow soldier had to get home fast, and there were no extra seats on the transport. So Track, God bless him, gave up his seat. He had to stay an additional month in the heat and sand and danger of Iraq for another available flight home. At first, he didn’t want to tell us about the reason for his delay. He still doesn’t like to talk about it, much less have his mom crow about it in print. But then I finally heard the story of what he did for his fellow soldier, I think I was prouder of my son than I had ever been before.

However, two facts stand in contradiction to this "report" by Sarah Palin about Track's selfless behavior in "America by Heart."

Firstly, the right-wing "Washington Times" reported on Friday, September 18, 2009:

"The Palins are expecting the return of eldest son Track this weekend from a yearlong deployment with an Army combat brigade in Iraq," Palin spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton told The Washington Times. "Mrs. Palin also has her first major paid speaking engagement in Hong Kong" in a few days, she added

Secondly, while this report is no final proof that Track did indeed return on the weekend of the 19/20 September 2009, we do know that Track "CJ" (cough, cough) Palin was already home on October 2, 2009, because that is the day when he received a speeding ticket in Alaska. So Sarah's account in "America by Heart" is a deliberate exaggeration, presented in order to make the behavior of Track appear "greater" than it actually was. In writing about these events in this manner in "America by Heart", Sarah in my opinion also somehow diminishes the altruistic nature of Track's act.

Sarah Palin is a complex person who seems to defy "simple explanations", and the regular readers of Palingates will know that we sometimes take the liberty to look back at extreme politicians in history, especially the Nazis in order to draw parallels to current events and in order to understand history and learn from it. While history doesn't repeat itself 100%, I believe that the during the 20th century people got more than enough insights into the minds and actions of totalitarian politicians. There are more than enough lessons to be learned from the past.

Recently I watched a new TV-documentary which was produced by the leading German magazine "Der Spiegel." This 78-minute long documentary reports about the conclusions of a new biography about Joseph Goebbels, written by the accomplished German historian Peter Longerich. In his body of work, Longerich focuses on the Third Reich and the Holocaust. He is currently the Director of the Research Centre for the Holocaust and Twentieth-Century History at the Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, University of London. His new biography about Joseph Goebbels, with the impressive length of 912 pages, doesn't seem to be available in English language so far.

I didn't expect too much from this "Spiegel" documentary, which was distributed on DVD together with a weekly edition of the magazine, but then I was really taken aback by a whole "series" of apparent "parallels" between one of the darkest people in history, Joseph Goebbels, and the woman we usually write about.

I today published a few minutes of this documentary in a clip on youtube, together with English subtitles. There is one particular fact I was never really aware about before watching this documentary: Apparently caused by a severe narcissistic personality disorder, Joseph Goebbels created a "public cult", not just around him, his upbringing and his home town, but especially around his family and his children.

For example, at some point during the 1930s after the Nazis came to power, Joseph and his wife Magda Goebbels started to commission professionally shot "birthday movies", which featured their six little children, who congratulated Joseph Goebbels and showed other scenes from their family life. Over the years, this became more and more excessive, and it is noted on several webpages that for example in 1942, the Goebbels children appeared on no less than 34 occasions in the weekly German national news reels ("Deutsche Wochenschau"), one of the most important instruments of cinematic Nazi Propaganda. The children served as the German (and Nazi) "model family."

The clip I made with excerpts from the "Spiegel" documentary gives you an impression. Please be aware that there are graphic images of the corpses of Joseph and Magda Goebbels and their dead children at the beginning of the clip. As most of you will know, Joseph and Magda Goebbels killed their six children before committing suicide in May 1945.

On Google video, you find another clip with 48 minutes (!) of footage with the Goebbels children, produced in 1942:

What stands out in looking back at this horrific exploitation of Joseph Goebbels' children is the increasingly excessive nature of the exploitation, which in my opinion cannot be explained by propaganda purposes alone. In addition, not shown in the clips above, Joseph Goebbels as the head of the German propaganda and the movie business also started to produce movies about his home town and the home in which he grew up, claiming that he had a happy, perfect childhood. In reality, as historian Peter Longerich points out, Goebbels' childhood was far from perfect, for example due to a severe deformation of his right leg which developed when Goebbels was five years old. In addition, Goebbels later was a mediocre student at University, obtaining a PhD with a low mark, however, on virtually every occasion in later life he made sure that he was introduced as "Dr. Goebbels."

History never repeats itself in identical ways, but we should all educate ourselves and try to learn from history.

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In addition, Joseph Goebbels "perfected" a technique that is still very relevant today - especially as far as Sarah Palin is concerned: The "Big Lie."

Alternet wrote on December 31, 2010:

The Big Lie theory goes like this: A gigantic, audacious lie is more likely to be believed by the masses than a small one if it is repeated often enough. First articulated in the pages of Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler (who attributed the practice, of course, to Jews) and deployed as a tactic by Nazi master propagandist Joseph Goebbels, the Big Lie went mainstream in 2010, as its propagators on the Right were accepted by big media as respectable articulators of a legitimate point of view.

The "Big Lie" is the classic "Sarah Palin concept." She has embraced it like nothing else. Her "official" life story is full of these "big lies" that she repeats over and over and over again.

A happy family life? A big lie. A happy marriage? A big lie. Sarah Palin's "life-affirming" pregnancy and birth of Trig? A big lie. The list goes on.

Don't let a politician with a severe narcissistic personality disorder get into the White House, and don't give this person a platform. You all understand this, but unfortunately ABC and TLC and Fox News don't.

Oh, speaking about Fox News: Kathleen found something interesting today which hasn't been discussed on Palingates so far. It turns out that one of the main propagandists for Adolf Hitler before he got into power was - Fox News:

Observers of the current US election season have noted the prominent role of Rupert Murdoch’s reactionary Fox News Channel, which currently employs GOP and “Tea Party” partisans Sarah Palin, Glen Beck, Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Sean Hannity, and others. Some have alleged that a television network carrying so many potential political candidates and propagandists on its payroll is unprecedented. But there is a precedent for large-scale Fox intervention into a political campaign.

In 1932, the German newsreel subsidiary of Fox News Channel’s corporate ancestor, Fox Films, intervened in national elections in Germany.

The candidate Fox supported was Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

The basic facts are available in German historian Hans Mommsen’s authoritative study entitled The Rise and Fall of Weimar Democracy, which is translated into English and widely available in over five hundred libraries in this country. Mommsen, one of the most distinguished postwar German historians, is now Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Bochum. In Mommsen’s account of Nazi propaganda techniques, we find the following: “There was nothing that escaped the ingenuity of Nazi propagandists. A case in point was the use of film. Under Goebbels’ influence the party had begun to exploit the potential of the political propaganda film to an unprecedented extent as early as 1930. Such films were shown mostly in places where Hitler and other prominent party leaders were not able to appear as speakers. For the manufacture of outdoor sound film, the NSDAP turned to an American company, Twentieth Century Fox.“

Scholar William G. Chrystal confirms this account and provides further important details in his 1975 article on “Nazi Party Election Films, 1927-1938.” Chrystal writes: “Support for two additional 1932 election films, Der Führer (The Leader), and Hitlers Kampf um Deutschland (Hitler’s Struggle for Germany) came from the German-based subsidiary of Twentieth Century Fox, Fox Tönende Wochenschau (Fox Weekly Sound Newsreel [i.e., Fox Movietone News]). In addition, they also supplied some mobile sound film vans to be used during the campaign. Thus at least part of Hitler’s support in that critical time was the result of Fox’s help. The background for this assistance is unknown since Fox Tönende Wochenschau records were destroyed during the war,” according to a July 9, 1974 letter to Chrystal from Joseph Bellfort, who was at that time the vice president of the Twentieth Century Fox International Film Corporation.

You might have thought that Fox News should have learned their history lessons by now.

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PLUS:

We already had our amazing yearly round-up by Blueberry Tart, but let me take a final look at our stats for 2010 as well.

The stats for Palingates in 2010 exceeded our wildest expectations:

- 5,222,981 pageloads

- 2,688,298 unique visitors

- 895,312 returning visitors

I don't know what the next year will bring, but I hope that we will get close again. ;-)

As usual at the end of every month, we would like to make an appeal for donations. Every donation, big and small, will help us to keep going.

Please donate via the paypal button below, or send me an email in case you would like to donate via check, money order or cash.

We hope that you all have a good start into the new year!

2011 will be the year which will decide the political fate of Sarah Palin. We will be "on the watch!" ;-)

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Sarah Palin fights with devastating poll numbers and hooks up with the lamestream

"Sarah Palin’s Approval Rating Crashes to a New Low" was one of the typical headlines of 2010, and the situation for Alaska's most famous citizen is not improving: NBC/The Wall Street Journal published a new poll, and Palin looks "palin' by comparison":

Ouch! It does appear that US citizens really do not appreciate the efforts of Sarah Palin. How ungrateful of them...

HuffPost reports:

Public opinion on Palin leaves little room for her to improve only by swaying those who are undecided about her — she must actively change peoples' minds if she wishes to compete against Obama. According to the NBC/WSJ survey, 50 percent of respondents said they have a negative view of Palin while only 28 percent have a positive view. In the HuffPost Pollster trend estimate, Palin has only a 37-percent favorable rating, while 52 percent disapprove. This is an ominous sign for Palin not just because she is unpopular among those who express an opinion of her but because the vast majority of people do express an opinion - 78 percent of people in the NBC / Wall Street Journal poll and 89 percent in the HuffPost Pollster Trend estimate.

Romney, on the other hand, not only starts from a stronger position than Palin but may have more room to grow simply by becoming better known. In the new survey, respondents had a more positive view of Romney by a 28-percent to 20-percent margin (his HuffPost Pollster favorable rating is also positive, by a 34-percent to 31-percent margin). In the NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, more than half (52 percent) said they had no opinion of Romney.

The trend doesn't look too good for the ice queen either:

But who appears to be unimpressed by these terrible poll numbers?

Sarah Palin...as well as parts of the media from the group which Sarah loves to call the "lamestream."

So why not hook up with each other...?

Politico published a remarkably detailed, three-page-article, examining Sarah Palin's new media strategy. It is noteworthy that the journalists of Politico seem to keep a much closer eye on Palin these days after the controversy regarding Jonathan Martin's "Hurricane Sarah" article which famously resulted in Sarah Palin calling Jonathan Martin a "punk."

Politico reported on December 16:

The former Alaska governor has started cautiously cooperating with some of the same media outlets she and her supporters have accused of unfair and inaccurate coverage they feel has caricatured her as a flaky lightweight — a narrative her team seems determined to rewrite as Palin openly weighs a bid for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

“This is just about getting the press to characterize the governor accurately,” said Tim Crawford, a top Palin aide. “And, if that can be accomplished through Gov. Palin and some of the people around her talking to the press, we’ll try that.” (See: Palin has run in with press.)

Palin’s effectiveness as Republican John McCain’s 2008 vice presidential pick was undercut by the bad press she generated, particularly from her stumbling television interviews. After that experience — and particularly since her resignation as governor last year, which she says was prompted partly by unrelenting media scrutiny — Palin has mastered a high-impact, if unconventional, communication style that almost completely circumvents most traditional media.

Instead, she’s relied on conservative media outlets from which she is unlikely to face tough questioning (most notably Fox News, for which she is a paid contributor). She also taps social media such as Facebook and Twitter, combined with her own star power, to deliver cutting attacks on her opponents and the media that sometimes drive the political debate for days.

So what does Palin have to offer to the "lamestream?"

The latest example: ABC spared no expense and sent GMA co-anchor Robin Roberts to Alaska. The full episode was due to be aired today - some of the excerpts:

Well, to be perfectly honest, and with all due respect, ABC: If you do conduct an interview with Sarah Palin and produce nothing which really differs significantly from an interview on Fox News, then it probably wasn't worth it.

The constant attacks by Sarah Palin and her Palinbot attack brigade which were directed at the "lamestream" media DID deliver results: Despite the fact that Sarah is one of the most vicious politicians around and developed insults and "mean-girl-manners" to an art-form, tells lies on a regular basis and hides numerous private scandals and secrets, she doesn't need to be afraid to be asked in a very critical manner. It appears that no journalist is keen to have Palin's fanatical supporters at his or her throat, which would be the inevitable result of highly critical reporting, as proven countless times in the past.

No change of this sad state of affairs is to be expected to happen soon, and this is bad news, despite of the atrocious poll numbers. The "lamestream" continues to give Sarah Palin a pass.

Even the important conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer is being attacked in a pretty disgusting way by Palin's fans due to his opposition to Sarah Palin. The rabid right-wing "American Spectator" asked today:

"Does Krauthammer Have a Man Crush on Obama?"

Krauthammer likes Obama, he has a "man crush" on him? Well, the "American Spectator" seems to be convinced and explains the underlying reason for Krauthammer's alleged adoration:

My guess is that it has something to do with Sarah Palin. While Krauthammer has not called Palin "a cancer" or "a joke" as Brooks has done, his distaste for Palin is palatable. This was certainly the case in August 2009 when Krauthammer suggested that we ought to ask "Sarah Palin leave the room" after she coined the term "death panels."(...)

It seems to me that Krauthammer cannot get past Palin's accent. The prospect of a Palin presidency has Krauthammer so troubled that he is now prepared to cast Obama as another Bill Clinton and have four more years of Obama in the White House. How else does one explain Krauthammer concluding his article by comparing Obama to Ronald Reagan?

So there we have some revenge for Krauthammers open criticism on Palin, which he reiterated in a recent interview with Bill O'Reilly. It's really about Palin, who ought not to be picked on, and not about Obama.

The fact that Krauthammer criticized Sarah Palin on his show prompted Bill O'Reilly to give poor little Sarah the chance to defend herself. That's at least my impression - and to be perfectly honest again, the following clip with Bill O'Reilly is just as "enlightening" as a typical "lamestream" interview with Sarah Palin:

Palin: "I am sorry I am not so hotty-totty."

"Newshounds" posted a very good article about this interview.

Well, Bill O'Reilly clearly is not Sarah Palin's biggest fan, as became already apparent in the past, for example when Bill O'Reilly famously interviewed an ill-prepared Sarah Palin on immigration. I guess that's what Charles Krauthammer had in mind about when he called Palin "weak on policies."

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On a different topic, we recently received information from different people regarding the fact that the Palin family apparently bought a new home in or around Phoenix, AZ. Apparently Bristol now lives there with Tripp. This could also be Sarah Palin's base for the upcoming presidential campaign. While this is all still at a "rumor stage", due to the lack of hard evidence, I would like to point out that the rumors are "strong."

Speaking of Tripp - we received this picture a while ago. Tripp in the rain, bare-foot (of course...). The photo was taken at the back of Palin's house in Wasilla:

This picture appears to have been taken in July, so it was most likely a warm, rainy day. Sarah Palin's history of "bare footed neglect" doesn't seem to apply here. But it's a fun picture. What would be a good caption?

By the way, Levi certainly knows how to pick cool shirts for his son:

Levi, Bristol and Tripp - the soap opera will probably continue for the next decades.

Have a nice start into the weekend, everybody!

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"Bristol the Pistol" and "Sarah the Hunter": Shooting together for world domination - Targets today: Margaret Cho and "anti-hunting hypocrites"

I thought that it would be a quiet Sunday today with nothing much to report, but it turns out that Sarah Palin and her "mini-me" Bristol had different ideas!

We already knew that Sarah Palin was a professional victim, but what we didn't know so far is that her little apprentice Bristol is quickly following in her footsteps, almost on a daily basis.

DWTS-contestant Margaret Cho, an accomplished comedienne, fashion designer, actress, author, and recording artist and long-time campaigner for gay and lesbian rights, had the audacity to write a critical blog post about Sarah Palin, therefore violating the first amendment ("Any criticism of a Palin will be considered as an attack on American values and the constitution and has to be repulsed by any means necessary swiftly and forcefully.").

Margaret Cho wrote:

Margaret already realized that there probably would be some sort of reaction. Haha - YOU BETCHA!

So here we are - Bristol the Pistol shoots back on her "official" facebook page:

There you have it, Margaret! Sarah mobilized her ghostwriters and BOOM goes the cannon!

I guess that Sarah Palin, whose legendary vindictiveness easily seems to match the one of Josef Stalin, also did not miss that according to Wikipedia, Margaret Cho uttered the following wise words after Sarah Palin was nominated in 2008:

"I think [Palin] is the worst thing to happen to America since 9/11."

It was already the second time within days that Bristol via the ghostwriting department shot back at somebody. Keith Olbermann recently also violated the first amendment when he declared Bristol Palin to be the "worst person in the world", and the following response was published on December 2 on Bristol's facebook:

If this is not enough professional victimhood for you, then you should listen to Bristol Palin on the Alaskan "Bob & Mark Show", Sarah Palin's most favourite program ever (and Sarah promised to announce her run for President on this radio show first):

But wait a moment! Doesn't this remind you of another appearance on the Bob and Mark Show - by Sarah Palin, back in 2008?

Yes, it does! ;-)

So Bristol Palin now has a new, polished, official facebook with ghostwriters, and her old private facebook apparently has been deleted. Which is no big surprise, because without a ghostwriter, Bristol sounds for example like that - she left these comments on the facebook page of another teenager, who also violated the first amendment:

But that's of course not everything!

Already about two years ago, the Palindeception team unearthed Bristol Palin's old myspace comments from 2006 and 2007 - they can be downloaded HERE.

In there we find many more original comments by Bristol Palin, published without the filter of the evil lamestream media:

Bristol Palin, who already earned hundreds of thousands of dollars with her claim to fame as an unwed teen mother, took exception to Keith Olbermann's complaint that she is not a good role model for abstinence. She also took exception to Margaret Cho's claim that Sarah blames Bristol for the lost election in 2008.

Anyway, Sarah Palin is busy. She has twitter mania today, shooting at her own targets, the imaginary "anti-hunting hypocrites":

Oh, yeah, it's all so controversial, Sarah! They are all after you, really, they are! Everyone wearing leather shoes is a vicious killer! KILL, KILL, KILL, Sarah!

Sarah Palin's Sunday-messages are a bit different. That's just the way she rolls.

Good that Tina Dupuy decided to start to write "Sarah Palin's Enemy List", a work in progress. Otherwise it would be pretty difficult to keep track during the next two years!

Our fellow-blogger Ennealogic appealed to the media yesterday: Pull the plug on Sarah Palin! We fully agree, but it seems that the Queen of mean and her little princess will continue with their hunting tour for a long, long time.

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BONUS:

Earlier today when I was about to take a look at Bristol's facebook post, there was a surprise!

Although I clicked on the correct URL, all I saw was this message on facebook:

I was really confused at first, and didn't know what the reason was, but after a lot of testing I came to a conclusion which was also confirmed by another reader: Bristol Palin's facebook page is not accessible in Europe!

Do you think I am joking?

Well, you can check for yourself!

Even if you are in the USA, you can get a German IP with a German online proxy, for example with THIS ONE.

When you try to reach Bristol's facebook page via this German online proxy, you receive the same error message.

As a comparison, Sarah Palin's facebook works fine with the German proxy!

But when I tried to access Bristol's facebook page for example via an online proxy which gives an IP address from the USA, everything works fine!

Therefore, as confirmed by another reader who lives in another European country and also by Regina who lives in France, Bristol and/or her handlers apparently try to block access to Bristol's official facebook page from Europe.

What a pity to hear that we Europeans are apparently not worthy of reading Bristol's ghostwritten masterpieces.

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You can donate via paypal button below, and if you would like to donate via check, money order or cash, please drop me an email: patrickpalingates@gmail.com

The Moneyblast will continue until next Wednesday, December 8!

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Revealed: The Administrators of Sarah Palin's facebook page also administer the facebook group "Sarah Palin 2012" - More evidence for Palin's run!

Will she run or won't she, that is the question? For many months now, political observers wonder whether Sarah Palin is going to run for President. The "clues" everywhere that she will run, and that's also what we have been hearing behind the scenes for a long time now. However, some people are still not convinced.

My view is that Sarah Palin is hell-bent on running for President, and that it's been more than obvious for a long time. The argument that Palin is only out there for the money is not true at all in my opinion. What she wants is MONEY, but also POWER. Sarah Palin is not a rationally thinking person, she never was, and should not be viewed by "rational" standards. Her "version of reality" is profoundly different from that of almost anyone else. In addition, Palin could still make much, much more money after a presidential run, she could easily publish more books, make many more highly paid speeches etc.

We discovered another piece of evidence which really should leave no doubt of what Sarah Palin's real intentions are:

Some of the administrators of Sarah Palin's facebook page also started the facebook group "Sarah Palin 2012", which appears to be the "official" facebook group for Palin's upcoming presidential campaign.

Let's start from the beginning:

Already in May 2010, the blogger Derek Pangallo published on his website "Electric Outlet" an article called "14 Voices of Sarah Palin (Facebook Page Administrators Revealed)." In this article, he wrote:

"Briefly last week, Facebook allowed you to see the administrators of any page. I took the opportunity to catalog some of the more interesting and controversial ones, including Sarah Palin's."

He then published the list of administrators and provided links to their facebook profiles.

He added:

"It's surprising the page has 14 admins -- you'd think it could get a bit erratic. But perhaps they don't post, just delete nasty comments; that could take some manpower. I believe the admins are listed chronologically in the order which they were added, with the page creator at the bottom because, well .. look who it is."

We only discovered this article a few weeks ago. I think it was one of our readers who saw it - please raise your hand! :-)

(UPDATE: The h/t goes to sleuth!)

I then tweeted Derek in order to get the facts confirmed, and he tweeted me back:

A close inspection of this list leaves no doubt that the list is genuine, and that these were indeed the Sarah Palin's facebook administrators in May 2010.

These are the names of the administrators, with links to the facebook profiles and some other profiles:

Maggie Walsh
Nancy Naish
Lisa Smith
Sherrie Barnett
Jackie Stamper Siciliano
Vern Robinson (and HERE)
Tommy Child (and HERE)
Rebecca Mansour (and HERE)
Zach Johanson
Ivy Frye
Chantel Zandi
Alex Raye Conger
Doug Lane
Sarah Palin

The list includes Rebecca Mansour and Ivy Frye, who are of course well known. C4P founder Rebecca "RAM" Mansour, whose paid services for SarahPAC were exclusively revealed by Palingates in February 2010, is now universally regarded as one of the most important advisors and "staff members" of Sarah Palin. Amongst other things, RAM is Palin's "online communications coordinator", as the New York Times called it. RAM's devotion to Sarah Palin seems to be unmatched, as recently proven once again by RAM's latest interview with right-wing talk show host Tammy Bruce, in which RAM still appears to be "starstruck" (well, the inevitable awakening will be very tough for Rebecca, I almost feel sorry for her). During the first three quarters of 2010, Rebecca Mansour so far received $ 64,000 from SarahPAC, paid to her company "Aries Petra."

It's worth noting that no pictures of Rebecca Mansour circulating in public at all, despite the fact that she for example gives interviews on a regular basis (the same situation exists with SarahPAC treasurer Timothy Crawford, by the way, of whom also no picture exists in public). However, I do believe that there is a good chance that this photo picturing RAM's nephew Joe Mansour looking into the camera, taken at the Republican National Convention in 2008 and published on Joe Mansour's flickr-account with a creative commons license, could show him with RAM standing next to him. However, I am not 100% sure. We do know that RAM attended the RNC in 2008. Rebecca or Joe, could you please clear it up? :-)

In addition, the inclusion of Ivy Frye in this list is not surprising as well. Ivy Frye is a former pupil of Chuck Heath, also a former receptionist, then one of Sarah Palin's top-Government employees in Alaska, now Bristol's regular travel companion (for example in Los Angeles) and a close friend of the Palin-family.

By the way, a reader sent us some recent pictures showing Ivy Frye, apparently all taken in or around September 2010 in LA. The pictures are pretty interesting.

Ivy Frye with Bristol:

With Bristol and Willow:

With Willow:

With Tripp and Willow:

Well, I guess that Willow will have her own TV-show quite soon as well: "Willow, AK gangsta, the wild one" or something like that. Can only be a matter of months! After all, Willow already is busy practising "gangsta" language on facebook (with "Mama Grizzly's" approval), and she also already "witnessed" first-hand how to trash an empty house. Way to go, Willow!

Meanwhile, it seems that Willow's boyfriend Andy Almon, who appeared on TV in the first episode of "Sarah Palin's Alaska", currently faces charges in court for underage drinking (h/t Kasha Knish/Knishette).

This most likely won't shock "Mama Grizzly" Sarah, as for example Bristol Palin's prom date from 2006, whom we named "J" in our post from September 9, 2010 and who later had a serious drug addiction, was convicted just one year earlier, in 2005, of "Leaving the scene of an accident - involving injury/death" and sentenced to a fine and to a not insignificant jail term.

Back to the list with the facebook administrators:

One notable person in the list of facebook administrators is Jackie Stamper Siciliano. She is a "Senior Community Guide" at "Team Sarah", the notoriously obsessed and fanatic online community which was originally founded by Ralph Benko in support of Sarah Palin.

The "Salyersville Independent" reported in June 2010:

"Jackie Stamper Siciliano of Surf City, NJ, was the guest at the Susan B. Anthony List’s Celebration of Life Breakfast on May 14, 2010. This special event, attended by over 600 people, was held at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C. The keynote speaker for the breakfast was 2008 Vice Presidential candidate and former governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin. Prior to the breakfast and speech, Jackie attended a private reception at which time she met with Sarah Palin. “Sarah thanked me for my work at Team Sarah and sincerely expressed her appreciation for the work I’ve done on her behalf.” During Governor Palin’s speech, Team Sarah staff and members were asked to stand and be recognized for their “courage and boldness."
Accompanying Jackie to the Celebration of Life Breakfast was her husband, Dr. Ted Siciliano, D.C., and son, Teddy. Jackie is the daughter of Jimmy and Vera Connelley-Stamper of Salyersville, KY.
Team Sarah (http://www.teamsarah.org) is a diverse coalition of Americans dedicated to advancing the values that Sarah Palin represents in the political process. It was founded by the Susan B. Anthony List in September 2008. Jackie serves as the Senior Community Guide for the 77,000+ members."

This discovery is significant, as it proves that there is a direct connection between Sarah Palin and her own "organization" and "Team Sarah", which is supposed to be independent.

However, the biggest discovery in my view is the following:

Four of Sarah Palin's facebook administrators, namely Maggie Walsh, Zach Johanson, Tommy Child and and Doug Lane, are also the administrators and/or "officers" of a new facebook-group: "Sarah Palin 2012."

If the "doubters" ever needed more proof that Sarah Palin will run for President, then this is it, as there is no way that these people would have set up this new facebook group without Sarah Palin's approval. In addition, the facebook group has in fact a very "official" look and also NO DISCLAIMER that it's not approved by Sarah Palin - and have you ever seen a "non-official" facebook group that has twenty so-called "officers?"

There is no doubt in my mind that this facebook-group is part of Sarah Palin's "own" operation, that this is in fact the official facebook group for her presidential run.

Screenshots:

The Administrators:

The first four of the twenty (!) "officers":

It's actually very instructive to read the "group rules":

Only "Team Sarah" has more extensive rules! ;-)

No insane stupidity or ignorance, please! Did we forget to mention that any criticism of Sarah Palin is just insanely stupid or ignorant? No? Well, you will soon find out. Try to post there: "I don't like Sarah Palin." I guess that this would also fall under "dissension based on your opinions." Please note that it's the privilege of the great leader Sarah to provide dissension based on her opinions. This should be sufficient for all of us.

Have a nice Sunday, everybody!

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