Sarah Palin Talks About Special Needs, Her Son and Todd Todd Todd in Alabama

Sarah Palin with Todd, a few days earlier

I don't have the complete footage of Sarah Palin's speech at the Exceptional Foundation event, but it appears Todd was her prop du jour. Poor Todd, he took nearly three months to recover from the Iron Dog, it took place in February... Sarah can't help lying and embellishing stuff just for the sake of it. It was all Todd, Todd, Todd (my marriage is perfect).


It seems she spoke about Trig very briefly, and she used the same old tried and tested platitudes. He's an inspiration, he's perfect, God knows better, blah blah. I don't think Sarah Palin can relate to the struggles other parents of children with special needs encounter and can't share in their achivements either.


Other parents talk about their children in a very different way: They share all their children's small steps towards independence, what therapies work for them, what groups they joined. They talk about their children as real human beings, not as a badge of faith or some mythical object they evoke for effect. There are a few blogs written by real parents of real children with special needs on the sidebar. Trig is real to somebody else, the person who's providing for him. In the three years we've been following Trig's progress, all we have observed from this joke of a "mother" is the cynical exploitation of his condition for her own ends.

I don't think we're going to see much of Trig from now on. As he grows and becomes less compliant, too big to be carried around like a loaf of French bread and less cute, his presence at events won't reflect well on his "mother." It will become very difficult for her to feign familiarity with a child who recoils from her. I believe Trig looks at her and sees a very shrill, frightening, strange woman.


Sarah's tone of voice was very patronizing in this clip. She did talk about the tornadoes, but she almost made it sound like a good thing, on the same level as the aurora borealis, something like a wonder of Mother Nature. She and Todd Todd Todd will join another opportunist and do all they can for the victims of the disaster: Franklin Graham, of course.

According to one report, she quickly turned to politics. No surprises there.

Palin speaks to Exceptional Foundation: fox10tv.com

Some excerpts from an article on Baldwin County Now:

Palin — the former vice presidential candidate and former Alaska governor — received a warm reception from an estimated 150 to 200 guests who paid top dollar to attend the benefit dinner. She was chosen because her son, Trig, was diagnosed with Down syndrome in utero and she has since spoken in favor of special needs’ children’s rights.

During tonight’s dinner, Palin said she initially feared the “challenge” of having a child with Down syndrome but spoke of how Trig is an inspiration to her and husband Todd.

“There’s society’s measurement of perfection and then there’s God’s measurement of perfection — and at the end of the day, that’s all that really matters,” she said of the latter, receiving the audience’s applause.

Much of Palin’s remarks veered into politics, particularly during a question-and-answer session following her keynote address.

As for a familiar subject -- whether she will run for president in 2012 -- the Republican said, "You don't have to have your name on a ballot to fight for things like that" (special needs causes). "We don't need an office; we don't need a title to do that."

What Sarah Palin has done for special needs causes:

- attacked liberals for saying she should have aborted Trig.

- attacked a blogger for photoshopping and iconic image of a mother's love for her child.

- attacked the producer on an animated cartoon where she was the butt of a joke by a character voiced by an actress with Down syndrome.

- attacked Rahm Emanuel for using the word "retarded" in private once, but defended Rush Limbaugh for using it several times in public.

- paraded Trig all over the country, exposing him to crowds, bright lights, noise and the elements.

- donated $1000 of other people's money to a Down syndrome organization.

She attacks anybody and everybody in the name of special needs, but her favourite cause is herself.



Blogs by parents of children with Down syndrome:
hang on little tomato
Girl in a Party Hat
Our Jacob
Teeny Tiny Hopkins

Poor Todd, he tries and he tries, but can't win anymore...

Todd has failed to win the Iron Dog since 2007. When he doesn't break his snowmobile, he breaks a limb or something.

The team of Huntington and Olds crossed the finish line of the 2,000-mile snowmachine race in Fairbanks at 5:51 p.m., Saturday, about 18 minutes ahead of the second-place team of Todd Palin and Eric Quam. Palin’s hometown is Wasilla, while Quam is from Palmer. Palin and Quam were actually in the lead coming down the homestretch into Fairbanks, but Palin suffered a mechanical issue that allowed Huntington and Olds to pass them.

“We had all kinds of neck-and-neck and back-and-forth going on,” said Iron Dog Executive Director Kevin Kastner. “At one point, (Marc) McKenna and (Dustin) Van Meter were blasting along and they went into the drink. In the end, the net result that ended up making the decision was Palin had an accident and nearly tore the ski off his sled.”

So much bad luck... As the non-girly sidekick of a very famous person, there are too many eyes on his team and they can't resort to some of their tried and tested tactics anymore.


There were other rumours about charming Todd kicking competitors' fuel cans and other nasty bits and pieces, but who knows?

There are lots of smaller teams without big sponsors, who don't have multi-millionaire wives. They compete fairly and find it galling to be beaten by cheaters. Marc McKenna's team is one of them. One of his small sponsors was very upset in 2007 and it was not for political reasons. It actually upset him even more when the news of Todd's team cheating hit the news and gave the liberals ammunition against his governor.

I believe that in the old days Todd competed hoping to win the prize money, it made a difference to him back then. I'll leave you with this video of an endearing young lady talking about her husband's win in 1995. Classy gal...



It looks like Todd's luck has run out and his aspirations of being a winner are going the same way as his wife's...

(Pat on the back for me. I managed to write a whole post without typing a certain name once. It might not do me any favours as far as the search engines go, but I don't care, it feels so good not to type her name...)

"Sarah Palin's Alaska" - Episode 5, featuring Kate Gosselin - A reader's review

By Leadfoot_LA and Bella, age 7

This week on Sarah Palin's Screw You Levi, Kate Gosselin and her 8 kids visit Sarah to learn "what this great state of Alaska is all about." Something tells me they will learn more about Sarah and why she is not so great.

Full disclosure: Bella and I have always watched Jon & Kate Plus 8, and Kate Plus 8. The sextuplets are about the same age as Bella, and she likes to watch as they go on all their adventures. I used to really dislike Kate, on the first show. But after Jon turned into a complete and total dirt bag, I felt sorry for Kate and actually began to like the way she stood tall and raised her 8 kids virtually alone. She is a germ-a-phobe and a control freak, but I really do think she puts her kids' best interests first and I've always appreciated her directness.

Right off the bat, Bella asks me who is more popular "Kate Plus 8," as she calls her, or "Sarah Palin." I say I'm not really sure, and ask what she thinks. She says "probably Sarah Palin because she is more known from when she was working with that guy in the election."

Sarah heads out to the local gun shop to meet her dad. She says in Wasilla, the gun shop is like a barber shop, and is a second home to her dad. She is picking up a bear gun so that she can protect Kate (who she keeps calling "a gal") since she has never gone camping. She says seeing someone with a weapon in Alaska is as common as seeing someone with a Blackberry in New York City.

Before she goes camping, she must first take part in a "Palin family tradition" - climbing a mountain called The Beaut. There are tons of Palins -- Sarah says 4 generations are there. I see Bristol, Willow, Piper and Tripp, but no Track or Trig. Sarah goes up last -- as the "trail sweeper," to make sure all the kids make it. Piper starts walking and then immediately says "I am hungry!"

At the top, they see a plane and Sarah says, "It is the National Enquirer! Where's Bristol?!," and then cackles a horrible witchy-poo laugh. She says people ask her if any of her kids will go into politicas and she often answers that they are independent enough, so they could, but they have also witnessed a lot of the "brutality" that goes with the territory. I don't think ALL politicians experience brutality, Sarah. Only the lying, quitting, pregnany-faking ones. And what you refer to as "brutality" is often just truth-seeking. While showing the view from the summit, she says, "On a really clear day, you can see Russia from here! Almost." Enough already!

Back at the Palin home, Piper is sporting a new hairdo -- a bumpit and highlights. It is the same hair as Sarah's, and makes Piper look chubby. Sarah tells Piper to do her math homework, but not to use a calculator. Piper takes Sarah's Blackberry and tells her there is no calculator on it. Sarah says, "oh, ok." But then she notices Piper's guilty look and says, "Piper, you are cheating!" Piper smiles at her and Sarah says, "Oh, hi Willow!" It was as if she were like, "I don't have the energy to deal with cheating on math homework, oh look, something shiny." She gave up in about 5 seconds. No discipline, no conseqences.

She tells Piper that Kate and the 8 kids will be camping with them. Todd just stares at Sarah, while Willow taps away on her iPhone 4, ignoring everyone. For the 2nd week in a row, she is there, but does not speak. Bella rolls her eyes. I ask what is wrong. She says, "her voice, her voice, her voice!"

The Gosselins show up at Sarah's house and Sarah does that fake squeaky voice to greet them. "Hell-eeeeeeeeoooow" Kate looks genuinely disgusted. She is not a woman who hides her emotions well. She can't think of anything nice to say to Sarah, so she just says, "wow, beautiful view" and "Oh, look kids, there's a bear on the floor, did anyone notice?" The kids take the bear's fake tongue out and Todd says not to worry because it was removable before. Kate asks if the bear is real, "like was it once walking outside?" Todd says Sarah's dad shot it a few years ago. Kate doesn't look pleased.

Sarah takes them next door to the castle. Piper says her mom has another job where she goes on TV. Another job?! Piper, honey, that's her only job. Kate says she admires that Sarah is a strong woman who doesn't back down and doesn't let the world's opinion of her change her. Immediately following that statement, Sarah shows Kate the giant fence and says that they have a neighbor who moved in to watch them, so they can't go in their front yard anymore. Oh the irony.

Kate says she doesn't often meet people who undergo the same level of scrutiny as she does, and that her kids can't play in their front yard either because of the paparazzi camped out there. So she can relate to Sarah. Compared to Sarah, Kate has an excellent vocabulary and quick wit.

Sarah takes Kate and Willow to a class on how to survive in the wild and stay safe from bears. In the car, Kate tries to make conversation, while Sarah looks at her Blackberry. I sure hope Blackberry paid for all the airtime they are getting!! Sarah tells Kate that the only true way to stay safe is to have a partner that is slower than you, Kate looks shocked and says, "Oh my Gosh! Sacrifice your friend?!" Sarah says, "yep, that's right." Note to self - never go camping with a narcissist.

At the bear class, Kate says she has never seen so many guns in her life. She is clearly uncomfortable and says, "I'm not really into this." Sarah says that Kate will be putting herself and her family in danger if she is unarmed. Kate takes the gun but says this is something we will not see again. She is more scared after the class than she was before. Bella says, "I don't know how Kate Plus 8 can do that." I say, "shoot a gun?" Bella says, "no, go camping with Sarah Palin."

Next they go to the firing range and learn to shoot a gun with blanks to scare bears away. Sarah and Willow shoot it. Sarah says, "that felt great." Kate looks horrified. Willow is now wearing the red jacket and hoodie we saw at confrontation with the teacher in Homer. The plot, as always, thickens. Kate says she does not consider herself a gun advocate, but will do anything to protect her kids, so she will try to shoot it. Sarah likes shooting so much, Willow says, "she's crazy!" and Kate says "I was just about to say the same thing." Yes, the viewers agree. The coach says that Sarah is the best, so she should defend the camp. He asks Kate if she wants more practice and she says, "no, I'm good."

Oh my, they take all 9 kids (Kate's 8 + Piper) to the Heath House of Horrors. Creepy Chuck shows them antlers that are stuck together because the two animals died that way. He says, "how'd you like to fight with someone you hate, and then die that way?" TO A BUNCH OF 7 YEAR OLDS!!! Kate says "the moral of the story is, don't fight." Haha. Way to make the best of an awkward situation, Kate. He hands them severed paws of various animals, porcupine quills (which he sticks into his arm!), whale teeth and other "artifacts." They go inside and Kate starts screaming when she sees all the dead animals. She says nothing could have prepared her for what she saw. They go see the antler mountain in the yard, and Sarah says her dad's dog hunts for them and brings them all back.

They head off in a float plane (of course - planes are like taxis in Alaska, doncha know?!) to go camping at Chelatna Lake. Sarah, Creepy Chuck and Todd head out first to set up. Kate has never camped before, and is not thrilled that it is cold and rainy. When they land, Kate says, "are you kidding me? Doesn't the lodge sound much more fun?" Sarah and Creepy Chuck call a "safety meeting" and Kate says, "go ahead, go hear what they have to say," with a tone in her voice that rings of, "God, I hate these people." She says she is more worried about her freezing toes than bears.

Todd and Sarah's brother take all the kids fishing. Todd really is good with kids. It is in moments like these that I feel a little glimmer of pity and hope for him. Willow speaks! She is worried that Kate is not having fun, and she is right. Kate is miserable, standing under a canopy tent and getting eaten up by bugs. Sarah says, "kids will always have fun if they are being productive and helpful and pitching in," as she sends them off in the rain to gather firewood. I was starting to worry that her work ethic line wouldn't make it in this episode, but never fear -- there it was.

Sarah AGAIN makes the Russia joke. She says that if they looked over their shoulders, they could see it, "swear to God." What is WRONG with her?!

They cook moose hot dogs and hamburgers in the rain. Alexis wants marshmallows, and Sarah says, "Go ask your mother!" Kate turns her nose up at the moose hot dog and then starts to lose it. She says, "why would you pretend to be homeless?! I don't get it. I am freezing and I have 19 layers on! There is no table, no chairs, no paper towels, no hand washing materials." She said she has kept it together as long is she could, but she is done now. She is hungry, wet, cold, and has had enough. Bella says, "mom, that would be you." Fair point. Some people are just city people, I tell her.

Sarah says to the camera, "come on, it isn't that bad! She had a tent over her head!" Sarah tells Todd he is smart to "escape" down to the river to fish (to get away from Kate's whining). The kids were having fun and wanted to stay, so Kate says, "ok, have fun. You are now a Palin, you are not a Gosselin." Kate tells Sarah she is leaving, and says that camping is where their similarities end. Sarah says she is staying because she has to put her bear training to use. She "grew up around this, is used to it, and she LOVES it."

Kate says that Alaska is gorgeous and amazing, but the camping just was not for her. She wants all her kids to be warm and dry, so they all leave.

Creepy Chuck says that Kate "bitched from the minute she got off the plane." Very respectful, Creepy Chuck. Especially since you know you are on camera. Sarah says, "well, I'd probably be the same way if she took me to New York to some red carpet event." Oh. My. God. First, you would freaking love it, Sarah. Second, you would invade the gifting lounge and steal everything you could carry.

The Palins and Heaths all sit around the campfire telling stories and playing games. Sarah says Alaska is the "easternmost state." Maybe someone can explain that to me. I don't get it. Sarah sleeps with the bear gun in her tent. They start to say, "goodnight, Grandma. Goodnight Mom," like the Waltons. Sarah says, "I love you." Willow answers back, "I have to pee." Piper yells, "Willow has to pee!" HAHAHA -- keep it classy, Palins.

As we go to scenes from next week (Riding ATVs and more shooting), Bella says, "Mom, will Sarah Palin read this?" I say, "that's probably what she's always reading on that Blackberry." Bella gives me a big grin with giant wide eyes and says "uh oh!" I think she is worrying that Sarah's feelings will be hurt. I, on the other hand, will sleep just fine.

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Leadfoot and Bella, excellent job again! Of course Sarah will read that - she wouldn't miss reading Palingates for the world! ;-)

I have to confess that I never watched Kate Gosselin before, I always refused to click on these clips and thought they should be ignored, but BY GOD, this woman is a reality show goddess! Even Sarah Palin is out of her depth. "Did it use to walk?" says Kate, while pointing to the bear at the floor. Simply brilliant - hard to beat in the reality show world. Kate Gosselin gives the "masses" what they want - a freak show with sweet kids.

Our reader sleuth captured the whole live chat which was going on at Palingates during the show - it can be downloaded here. Many thanks again to sleuth! 44 people were online in the chat, which is very nice.

Here is a short scene from episode 5 with Kate Gosselin freaking out:

There is more:

Below you can watch basically the whole episode, which was uploaded to youtube by some Kate Gosselin fanatic, but "part 4" appears to be missing:

Part 1:



Part 2:



Part 3:



Part 5 (part 4 appears to be missing):

Well, I haven't watched it all yet, but so many freaks and so many sweet kids - I wouldn't miss watching it for the world! ;-)

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Diplomacy in the age of the Twitler - Why Sarah Palin has no place in mainstream US politics

Sarah Palin has been on the "little twittering thing" again.

The former homemaker from Wasilla, Fox News contributor, highly paid screecher and renowned foreign policy expert, spotted two tweets by Philip J. Crowley, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs.

Crowley today tweeted twice:

First tweet:

Second tweet:

As should be apparent to virtually any human being with a properly functioning brain, Crowley was trying to be diplomatic in order to try to solve the current US hostage crisis in Iran. The two hikers Joshua "Josh" Fattal and Shane Bauer detained by the Iranian authorities since July 31, 2009.

Crowley was walking a fine line: The "friendly" first tweet was immediately followed by a much more nuanced second tweet. It seems unlikely to me that the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was very pleased, even though the tweets were not aggressive.

I think we can all agree that Crowley was exercising diplomacy in order to try to solve the current US hostage crisis in Iran - over twitter, which seems to be quite a novel way to handle the situation.

Wikipedia defines diplomacy like this:

"Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states. It usually refers to international diplomacy, the conduct of international relations through the intercession of professional diplomats with regard to issues of peace-making, trade, war, economics, culture, environment and human rights. International treaties are usually negotiated by diplomats prior to endorsement by national politicians. In an informal or social sense, diplomacy is the employment of tact to gain strategic advantage or to find mutually acceptable solutions to a common challenge, one set of tools being the phrasing of statements in a non-confrontational, or polite manner."

In a "non-confrontational or polite manner." Seems reasonable, does it not?

Not if you ask Sarah Palin. Her Neocon advisors like Randy Scheunemann who has the blood of more than 100,000 Iraqis on his hands have taught her well.

Sarah Palin tweeted twice as a response:

First tweet:

Second tweet:

Sarah "Twitler" Palin doesn't want diplomacy. She wants war. It's as simple as that. No "kowtowing" to anyone for Palin.

These tweets by Sarah Palin are even more embarrassing in light of the fact that it seems to be a tradition in Iran to pardon prisoners on birthdays of leaders as well as on national religious observances.

An example from a report in June 2010:

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has signed a decree to pardon 708 political, military and civilian prisoners, the official news site of Ayatollah "leader.ir" reported. Head of the Iranian judiciary system Sadig Amoli Larijani appealed to the Supreme Leader with a letter requesting to pardon 708 prisoners in connection with the birthday of Imam Ali - June 26.

From another report:

Pardons are common occurrences on national religious observances in Iran, and Wednesday marked the birth of Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad, a revered figure in Shi'a Muslim tradition.

Maybe the homemaker from Wasilla should just stay out of international affairs, an area that she clearly has no clue about.

It's also not surprising that in 2008 Sarah Palin already believed that the USA is at war with Iran:

But there is another incredibly interesting point, which some of our readers also pointed out in the comments today:

Todd Palin, as is well documented, was a member of the Alaska Independence Party from 1995-2002. Sarah Palin tried to cover up this fact and demanded from the 2008 campaign that they deny it. This famously led to a fight with Steve Schmidt - CBS reports:

Palin blasted out an e-mail with the subject line "Todd" to Schmidt, campaign manager Rick Davis and senior advisor Nicolle Wallace, copying her husband on the message (all of the e-mails are reprinted below as written).

"Pls get in front of that ridiculous issue that's cropped up all day today - two reporters, a protestor's sign, and many shout-outs all claiming Todd's involvement in an anti-American political party," Palin wrote. "It's bull, and I don't want to have to keep reacting to it ... Pls have statement given on this so it's put to bed."

Her reference to a single protestor's sign and "many shout-outs" was indicative of Palin's occasional tendency to take anecdotal evidence of a minor problem and extrapolate it into something far more menacing. The final of the three presidential debates was just hours away, which would mark the unveiling of the soon-to-be canonized Joe The Plumber.

The Joe The Plumber narrative was the Republicans' secret weapon -- the last chance to put a chink in Obama's seemingly impervious armor. It was not a time for distractions, but the campaign was compelled to deal with the drama that seemed to follow Palin wherever she went.

Schmidt hit "reply to all" less than five minutes after Palin's e-mail was sent. "Ignore it," he wrote. "He was a member of the aip? My understanding is yes. That is part of their platform. Do not engage the protestors. If a reporter asks say it is ridiculous. Todd loves america."

This clear cut response from the campaign's top dog carried an air of finality, but it did not satisfy Palin. She responded with another e-mail, adding five more names to the "cc" box, all of whom traveled on her campaign plane. They included her senior political adviser Tucker Eskew, senior aide Jason Recher, the lone traveling aide from her Alaska office Kris Perry, press secretary Tracey Schmitt and personal assistant Bexie Nobles.

Palin's insertion of the five additional staffers in the e-mail chain was an apparent attempt to rally her own troops in the face of a decision from the commanding general with which she disagreed. Her inclusion of her personal assistant was particularly telling about her quest for affirmation and support in numbers, since the young staffer was not in a position to have any input on campaign strategy.

"That's not part of their platform and he was only a 'member' bc independent alaskans too often check that 'Alaska Independent' box on voter registrations thinking it just means non partisan," Palin wrote. "He caught his error when changing our address and checked the right box. I still want it fixed."

Palin was attempting to bend the facts ever so slightly to fit neatly into her version of events. In truth, the box that Alaskans have the option of checking when registering to vote states the full name of the party, "Alaskan Independence Party," not "Alaska Independent," which would make an error by uncommitted voters more plausible.

Clearly irritated by what he saw as Palin's attempt to mislead her own campaign and apparently determined to demonstrate that the ultimate authority rested with him, Schmidt put the matter to rest once and for all with a longer response to everyone in the e-mail chain.

See also the report in Salon by Max Blumenthal and David Neiwert.

Why is this relevant in respect to Iran? Because it's a little known fact that in 1993, the Alaskan Independence Party found an illustrious sponsor: The Islamic Republic of Iran.

Salon reports:

Vogler's greatest moment of glory was to be his 1993 appearance before the United Nations to denounce United States "tyranny" before the entire world and to demand Alaska's freedom. The Alaska secessionist had persuaded the government of Iran to sponsor his anti-American harangue.

That's right ... Iran. The Islamic dictatorship. The taker of American hostages. The rogue nation that McCain and Palin have excoriated Obama for suggesting we diplomatically engage. That Iran.

AIP leaders allege that Vogler, who was murdered that year by a fellow secessionist, was taken out by powerful forces in the U.S. before he could reach his U.N. platform. "The United States government would have been deeply embarrassed," by Vogler's U.N. speech, darkly suggests Clark. "And we can't have that, can we?"

The prospective sponsorship by the Islamic Republic of Iran happened in 1993. What did Sarah Palin do the following year, in 1994, just after the infamous AIP leader Joe Vogler planned to denounce the "tyranny" of the United States of America at the United Nations? She attended the annual AIP Convention!

Here is a very instructive clip about the nature of the AIP:

That's Todd and Sarah Palin for you. American traitors - and liars through and through.

Why the mainstream continues to ignore these damning facts, only God knows.

Our answer to Sarah:

Apart from that, Sarah Palin says it herself - it's perfectly ok to be judged by your associations:

It's only ignorance and forgetfulness which makes diplomacy in the age of the Twitler possible. Sarah Palin shouldn't be allowed to get away with her warmongering and her lies. She herself was shaped by extreme political forces, and should have no place in mainstream US politics.

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PLEASE RE-TWEET:

http://twitter.com/#!/palingates/status/29133407663

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Sarah and Todd Palin's "vindictive streak" - 10 lessons to be learned from the Troopergate scandal

Thanks to the publication of the email exchange between Todd Palin and Joe Miller, Sarah and Todd Palin's "vindictive streak" is becoming a focus of discussion again. Shushannah Walshe published a spot-on article today in the Daily Beast, calling Palin's "vindictive streak" her "Achilles Heel."

The vindictiveness of Sarah and Todd Palin is not exactly a new topic. It was exposed for example in great detail during the Troopergate scandal. It seems to me that it would be a good idea to revisit some details of this affair, as we are dealing here with a woman who is serious contender for the Presidency of the USA - and whose past, frankly, thoroughly discredits her.

Troopergate is one of the few scandals involving Palin which have been reported in detail in the media. However, when reviewing the material at a later stage, one can still make discoveries which are as relevant and sometimes even as shocking as they appeared to be two years ago.

The details of Troopergate prove that Sarah Palin is utterly unfit for any type of "higher office." They also prove that Sarah and Todd act "as a team", and this seems to bring out the worst in both of them.

It is not my intention to repeat the whole history of Troopergate. Palingates has written about Troopergate in the past in great detail. Regina substantially covered the issue in 2009. In addition, there are several good resources that I recommend. "Pro Publica" published a good summary about Troopergate with further links. The "Anchorage Daily News" has a whole page with articles about Troopergate. An excellent summary of Troopergate is also available here.

In July 2007, the ADN published a key article about Troopergate, called "Is Wooten a good trooper." In order to fully understand the extent of the vindictive behavior of Sarah and Todd Palin, we have to look at the situation which existed when Sarah Palin became the AK Governor in December 2006. Lisa Demer in the ADN outlines what happened up to this point:

In August 2005, nearly four months after the investigation began, Palin wrote a lengthy e-mail to Grimes about Wooten that included some new accusations and new witnesses. She wrote that she was writing not as his sister-in-law but to express concern over the lack of action about a trooper whom she said many described as a "ticking timebomb" and "loose cannon."

In October 2005, Palin announced she was running for governor. Sgt. Wall, who is now a lieutenant over patrol in Fairbanks, finished his investigation the same month. The following March, (Colonel) Grimes handed out the punishment.

The union's Cyr says that ultimately Wooten was treated fairly by the Department of Public Safety.

"Clearly the folks have the ability to file complaints, and the state has the obligation to investigate them and that is what was done. He was disciplined, appropriately so we believe in the end. And you know, basically end of story. The only question in our mind would be has this pattern continued and has pressure been brought on anybody, I mean, after this whole sorry mess."

Wooten and McCann's divorce was finalized in January 2006. They continue to have disputes over custody and visitation.

So the situation was the following:

1. The divorce between Sarah's sister Molly and Mike Wooten was finalized in January 2006.

2. The investigation against Trooper Wooten was closed in March 2006 after Wooten received a punishment.

So why did Sarah and Todd Palin continue to bother with the case after it was apparently a non-issue?

Well, according to the available, extensive documentation, the answer is obvious: Because they were simply obsessed with Trooper Mike Wooten, and tried everything they could to bring him down.

One of the key documents of this scandal is the Branchflower-report, which was published on October 10, 2008. This report was the result of the decision of the bipartisan AK Legislative Council in July 2008 to hire a special investigator. The AK Legislative Council at this time consisted of ten Republicans and four Democrats. The key finding of the report is the statement that Sarah Palin abused her powers by violating the AK Ethics Act.

To start with, Sarah Palin fully supported the decision to begin this investigation, as the ADN documented in this video clip. On September 1, 2008, however, Sarah Palin filed an ethics complaint against herself in order to bring the matter also before the AK Personnel Board, whose members are appointed by the Governor and which then later published the Petumenos report.

Let's take a look at 10 lessons to be learned from the Troopergate-scandal.

1. Only punish the enemy, and let my friend go free. The tale of the illegal moose-kill: Just punish Trooper Wooten, but not Chuckie Heath, please!

From pages 24/25 of the Branchflower report:

Here is the money-quote:

"And he said, I didn't want that. I only want Wooten charged."

Of course Todd doesn't want Chuckie Heath to be charged! After all, Chuck is part of the Palin clan and therefore has to be granted immunity automatically. It's "Sarah's law."

Vindictiveness at its finest.

2. The correct application of the law is the lower priority - Sarah Palin orders: Please deny Mike Wooten's workers' compensation benefits claim! Who cares whether he is entitled to it?

That's a really good one as well, on page 47:

Money-quote:

"She had mentioned or said something to the effect that either the Governor or the Governor's office wanted this claim denied."

Sarah doesn't seem to care too much whether Mike Wooten was entitled to receive the benefits. Anyway, suits him right, after all, he dared to cross the "Gov" and violated Alaska's first unwritten law: You do NOT upset Sarah and/or Todd Palin.

3. If she doesn't get her way, Sarah Palin tries to go the direct route - for example through displaying "passion and frustration":

Money-quote:

"Well, again, I think she kind of said the same things that Todd did,

in regards to that this is just not right."

Yes, it's just not right if poor Sarah doesn't get what she wants.

If she was President of the USA, she would surely think that she should always get what she wants. Just like so many other dictators we have seen in history. ;-)

4. Sarah Palin doesn't like it when her "enemies" just receive "a slap on the wrist."

Sarah Palin also shows her unhappiness that her wish is not being granted in an email to Walt Monegan:

Money-quote:

"This trooper was 'investigated' for over a year

and merely given a slap on the wrist."

Please note that an investigation is not finished until Queen Sarah approves. If she doesn't approve, the subject needs to be investigated until the desired result has been reached.

5. If the State authorities are not conducting their job properly and do not present enough evidence against the "enemy", Sarah and Todd Palin will take matters into their own hands.

At this point, I would like to introduce a document which has been mentioned at some point in the past, but just like many other things has been largely forgotten. However, it's an important document, as it provides for example deep insights into the "working relationship" between Sarah and Todd Palin. I am talking about an affidavit which Todd Palin provided on October 8, 2008.

Rachel Maddow even mentioned this affidavit in her program back then:

This 25-page affidavit is a fascinating document. An example:

Money-quote:

"My wife and I had to retain a private investigator

in order to conduct interviews to preserve

witness accounts of Trooper Wooten misconduct."

Yep! Their desire to destroy Mike Wooten went so far that they even instructed their own private investigator. The AK State Troopers were apparently just not "good enough." It seems that the Palins didn't receive the preferential treatment they desired. Well, as the President of the USA, Sarah Palin would have her very own "Department of Law", dontcha know? I guess Trooper Wooten's case then has to be re-examined for federal crimes. Surely we can find some of those...?

6. Don't ride a snowmachine without the approval of Todd Palin.

From Todd's affidavit:

Money-quote:

"Wooten (...) was supposedly on worker's comp for months. I (...) by coincidence saw Wooten there one day, and took photos."

The evildoer at work again! Defrauding the state! Good that Todd is on the case.

Unfortunately, it turns out that Wooten was not really doing anything wrong - from the Branchflower report:

Money-quote:

"Wooten had discussed the planned trip beforehand with his doctor who had given Wooten permission to make the trip."

What a shame, another "dud"! But at least Todd tried, didn't he?

7. Sarah Palin is not on her own - you can only get Sarah and Todd Palin as a "double pack." You vote for "Team Palin", not Sarah Palin.

Due to the leaked email which was published by Mudflats, Todd's close relationship to Sarah Palin and the fact that he likes to play the "enforcer" for her received fresh attention. However, this should surprise nobody. Todd himself made a very frank statement about his role in his affidavit from October 8, 2008. You never vote for "Sarah Palin" - you always vote for "Team Palin":

Todd Palin - Sarah Palin's "best friend" and enforcer (click to see video)

Money-quote:

"My wife and I are very close. We are each other's best friend."

Strictly professionally speaking, of course. ;-)

8. If Sarah and Todd are obsessed with an "enemy", they just cannot let go.

Todd himself testified that he had "hundreds of conversations over the last several years" with "just about everyone" regarding Mike Wooten. Although this statement seems to me as an obvious attempt to shift blame from Sarah (which was successful in the end, as the investigator Petumenos concluded that Todd had just acted as a "private citizen"), it's still very telling. If you annoy Sarah and Todd, they just cannot let go.

Money-quote:

"All of this upset me."

Please note: A "Palin" is always the victim.

9. Don't accuse Sarah Palin of having neglected Trig.

Ok, this is a slightly bizarre one. ;-)

From Todd's affidavit:

Money-quote:

"I want to know who said otherwise - pls provide me that info now."

Remember, everyone: Trig and Sarah's care of him are OFF-LIMITS. ;-)

10. If you are in mortal danger and call Sarah Palin for help, please make sure that she doesn't have a meeting scheduled soon.

I left the best point for the end.

Some of you will already have heard of this story, but I am sure that many of our readers won't be familiar with the details, as Troopergate mainly ceased to be a topic of discussion after 2008.

Sarah Palin gave a witness statement at some point in early 2005. I don't know the exact date of the statement, as it's not mentioned on the document. However, the original copy of her witness statement is fortunately available.

It's a memorable statement indeed. The story that Sarah describes in this conversation is quite convoluted. Basically, she was called by her sister Molly because her husband Mike Wooten was "in a rage", and then later, with quite a sophisticated technical setup, Sarah Palin was able to listen to the conversation over the phone. In this conversation, Mike Wooten apparently made death threats against Chuck Heath. Alarmed, Sarah then drove to Molly's house, but then just stood outside (!) and watched through the windows...

Anyway, Sarah Palin didn't bother to call 911, which might have been appropriate in this situation. Even worse, she left the scene after 15 minutes, because she had a meeting.

Guess it wasn't so dangerous after all.

Very Palinesque, this episode.

Money quote:

"I had ah a meeting that I couldn't miss."

Final lesson: Sarah is all about Sarah.

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PLEASE RE-TWEET:

http://twitter.com/#!/palingates/status/26686507026

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UPDATE:

One of our invaluable readers sent me a document I have never seen before - a summary of the witness statements from 2005 regarding the "incidents" surrounding Mike Wooten. This document contains the summaries of the statements for example from Sarah, Todd, Track, Bristol, Chuck, Molly etc.

One part of the statement by Track caught my eye:

So wait a moment. In her statement shown above, Sarah Palin said that she told Track to listen to the phone conversation in order to "stand by in case I need to run over to Molly's. Molly needs some help. You listen in on this."

However, Track testified that the "main and only reason they were listening to the conversation" was to find whether Mike Wooten had an affair!

I guess we can add another lesson:

"If you execute a wicked plot, keep in mind that your accomplices could testify differently in the end." ;-)

By the way: Did you notice that Track said that he used the "house phone?"

Didn't Bristol testify in April 2010 in Knoxville in the David Kernell trial that the Palins have no landline?

Well, I guess one of them must be lying! ;-)

Oh, what a tangled web we weave...

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UPDATE 2:

In the discussion, several additional points about Troopergate were mentioned. Another incredibly damning detail regarding Sarah Palin is the fact that she and her sister Molly went to the Palmer courthouse in 2005 while Mike Wooten was absent, and obtained a domestic violence restraining order against Mike Wooten. However, it turned out later that there was no evidence whatsoever for domestic violence. The judge then called this order an "abuse of the legal system."

The moderate AK Republican and Palin-critic Andrew Halcro reported in 2008:

In a statement released on September 2 through her attorney Thomas Van Flein, Palin once again shows how her propensity for a misrepresentation of the facts got her into trouble to begin with.

Palin is attempting to get the investigation moved into the executive branch so it is reviewed by the personnel board.

In her statement, Palin writes, "In 2005 and early 2006, State Trooper Mike Wooten was the subject of a court-imposed Domestic Violence Protective Order."

As has been the governor's history with this issue, she offers up another twisted fact.

In 2005, Palin and her sister Molly went to the Palmer Courthouse while Mike Wooten was in Portland with his stepson. They convinced a judge to grant Molly a domestic violence restraining order against Wooten. This was done so Molly could retain full custody of the children.

When Wooten returned from Portland, he realized that there was a order prohibiting him from seeing his kids. Three weeks later, Wooten was granted an appearance in front of the couple's divorce judge.

In front of Judge Suddock, Molly testified that Wooten never hit her or never physically abused her or ever touched the children. She told the judge she was feeling pressure from her family to file the order.

Suddock immediately dissolved the order because there was no proof of any domestic violence and called the order an abuse of the legal system. He then scolded Palin's sister for keeping Wooten's kids away from him.

This appears to be Palin's classic approach to deflecting attention away from situations she has created; blame the other person.

The governor's futile attempt to get the legislature to abandon their ongoing investigation goes completely against what she promised when this process began.

More daming facts were also reported in 2008 by Newsweek - Sarah Palin and her family "lodged up to a dozen complaints against Wooten with the state police." The judge in the divorce trial was shocked by the attacks on Wooten:

Court records obtained by NEWSWEEK show that during the course of divorce hearings three years ago, Judge John Suddock heard testimony from an official of the Alaska State Troopers' union about how Sarah Palin—then a private citizen—and members of her family, including her father and daughter, lodged up to a dozen complaints against Wooten with the state police. The union official told the judge that he had never before been asked to appear as a divorce-case witness, that the union believed family complaints against Wooten were "not job-related," and that Wooten was being "harassed" by Palin and other family members.

Court documents show that Judge Suddock was disturbed by the alleged attacks by Palin and her family members on Wooten's behavior and character. "Disparaging will not be tolerated—it is a form of child abuse," the judge told a settlement hearing in October 2005, according to typed notes of the proceedings. The judge added: "Relatives cannot disparage either. If occurs [sic] the parent needs to set boundaries for their relatives."

Furthermore, two audio-recordings regarding Troopergate were mentioned in the comments, and in order to make the material available, I would like to post them here.

In August 2008, two weeks before Sarah Palin's nomination, a "notorious" phone call by Frank Bailey came to light. Sarah Palin then famously denied that Frank Bailey made the call on her behalf.

I do hope that Frank Bailey will give more details in his upcoming book. We are certainly eager to hear the full story. ;-)

The recording is now hard to find online, but it has been preserved:

You can download the transcript of the phone call HERE.

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In addition, Sarah Palin gave a memorable press conference over the telephone on October 11, 2008, the day after the Branchflower report was published. Despite the fact that the Branchflower report concluded that Sarah Palin "abused her power", she claimed in the press conference (in what we now might call "Christine O'Donnell-like-fashion") that the report found no wrongdoing on her part whatsoever.

From the Branchflower report:

So the wannabe President of the United States of America doesn't think that the abuse of power is to be considered wrong behavior. This should tell you everything about Sarah Palin you need to know.

Listen:

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Todd Palin's aggressive encounter with a citizen at Valdez airport on August 17, 2010 - Sarah Palin's husband attempts to bully Valdez citizen (VIDEO)

Sarah Palin likes public appearances - provided everything is under control, questions are pre-screened and no potentially critical soul is in sight. Spontaneous, unscripted encounters which are being taped are not her thing, which became painfully obvious when Shannyn Moore recently published "Sarah Palin's Homer moment". In Homer, Sarah, Todd and Willow Palin confronted the Alaska teacher Kathleen Gustafson, who put up a huge sign saying "Worst Governor Ever" - and this encounter was taped with a cell phone. This unplanned meeting with Kathleen Gustafson turned out to be a PR-disaster.

Today, we get another unscripted and unfiltered view of Sarah and Todd Palin.

Apparently Sarah and Todd Palin now regard every video recorder (and the owner) they can spot around them as the enemy.

Hawk is a citizen of Valdez and owns several shops there. He is very well connected within the community of Valdez. On August 17, 2010, Hawk went with his wife to the airport at Valdez, as she had a plane to catch from Valdez to Anchorage.

Coincidentally, Sarah Palin, Todd Palin, Greta Van Susteren and her Fox News team were booked on the same flight as Hawk's wife.

When Hawk spotted Sarah and Todd, he took out his video camera and started filming. Not an unusual type of behavior when people spot a very famous person at a public place like an airport, wouldn't you think?

What followed then is not only an incredibly awkward encounter, but also provides an unique insight into the mindset of Sarah and also especially Todd Palin. Never before has the highly aggressive side of Todd Palin being caught on tape. We know from documents for example like the Branchflower-report in the Troopergate-affair that Todd Palin likes to try to bully other people into submission, and this tape is proof that the former "First Dude" hasn't changed.

Hawk starts filming, and then immediately Sarah and Todd Palin start to take pictures of him and seem to be taking down details about him, as if they were employed by the secret service.

Hawk then follows them into the airport and has his first unpleasant encounter with an angry Todd Palin. Shortly afterwards Hawk switches the camera off.

Moments later, Hawk then accompanies his wife to the gate. The camera is still switched off at this point. Then 10-15 minutes after the first encounter, Todd Palin then suddenly approaches him again, and the following encounter is even more aggressive on Todd's part. Hawk switches the camera back on again, to record the rest of the encounter. Another woman gets involved who belongs to Greta Van Susteren's team at Fox News and waves papers in front of Hawk's camera, in order to make him stop filming.

To recap:

A private citizen takes his wife to the airport to catch a flight, spots a celebrity (Sarah Palin) and starts to film her to show his family and friends. This everyday occurrence between a member of the public and a celebrity is met with a very hostile response by Todd Palin.

See for yourself. This is the complete footage, nothing has been cut out or edited:

This is Hawk's own description of the incident:

I start to tape as I'm walking out the door and Dave Cobb (interim mayor of Valdez) is standing there, listening to Sarah.

SP: More policies comin' down the pike..they're gettin' worse....

She notices me almost instantly, cuts off her conversation and says:

SP: Hello there, how are you?
Me: Good
SP: Good.. What's your name?
Me: What's YOUR name.. you look familiar?

Sarah starts walking toward me.

SP: Hi, I'm Sarah.. what's your name?
Me: Hawk.. Nice to meet you Sarah
SP: Nice to meet....... cha... this is my husband Todd Palin.. what do you do here?
Me: Hi Todd.. I'm a small business owner
SP: (voice getting higher) OK. what kind of business do you own?
Me: I have skateboard shops, espresso shops, things like that.
SP: Very good. and you live here in Valdez?

Todd moves out of the picture and starts to take pictures of me from the side.

Me: I do
SP: Do you mind if I take a picture of ya?.. love meetin' the locals.
Me: not at all.
SP takes a picture you can hear the shutter.

SP: Thaaaaats wonderful.. Todd ya wanna stand by him and I'll take a picture?
Todd: Hey I'm good right here.

I pan over to show Todd way off to my side taking pictures of me and using the keypad on his phone.

SP: Good good. OK, we're gettin' on the flight.
Todd: What was yer name again?
Me: Hawk
SP: Hawk.. and he's got the local skateboard shop.
SP: and you're doing the vid-ee-oo foooooor what?
Me: Just me.

SP: Nice to meet you Hawk (she then starts to chat briefly to another member of the public)

Todd and Sarah walk into airport a ways and then both turn around and stop and start taking more photos of me. I follow them into the airport and she's kind of just wandering around. She starts talking to some people up at the counter and others are asking her for pictures. In fact, an airport employee even comes out from behind the counter to have her photo taken with Sarah. It is obvious Sarah is NOT trying to avoid being photographed. In fact, she encourages it and welcomes it , as you can see.

As I'm following her with the viewfinder from the back of the room, you can see Todd circle around out of the picture to come up from beside me. I never saw him coming.

Next thing he's right on top of me and mumbles something. I pan the camera over and say "What's that?" and he takes another picture of me right in front of the camera.

TP: What do you need a video camera for, man?
Me: You got a problem with that?
TP: No.. I mean you got a life or what..? Why you shaking so bad.?
Me: I'm here with my wife, she's getting on the plane.

Todd takes a few more pictures of me as he keeps moving back and forth in front of me and backing me up.
TP: (again) Why you shakin' so bad.. Why you shakin' so bad?

He takes more pictures of me and starts walking to the other end of the terminal, together with Sarah. I tape as they walk away. I turn the camera off and sit back down.

10-15 minutes later, in a different part of the airport:

My camera is still switched off, and next thing I know, right after my wife walks off, Todd runs right into the back of me, so I flip the camera back on, spin around and there he is with his camera right in my face again. Unfortunately, it took a few seconds for the camera to turn on, so I didn't catch the first thing he said to me which was "Why are you videotaping my wife?," Which I wasn't. I was leaving. I never saw him sneak up this time either, but here's the rest that's on tape.

Me: Why do you have a problem with it?
TP: Why are you doing that?
Me: I didn't stick it in your face. I was never...
TP: Why did you stick the camera in Sarah Palin's face? Why did you do that?
Me: I wasn't within 10 feet of you guys.

Now it looks like he's filming me one-on-one with his camera phone, he's got it stuck in my face but it's not taking pictures and he's following me with it. Todd advances closer and closer to me and I keep backing up to avoid a confrontation. At this point, you just now see Sarah and Greta coming down the hallway towards us. They had been no where near me.

Me: Do you have a problem with me being here with a camera? (Evil eye from Todd at this moment.....)

Then the little brunette who I believe was a member of Greta's Fox News team jumps in and says "No.. There's no problem.. there's just nothing to see here."

Me: My wife is getting on that plane...I am just here.

That's when she starts hitting the front of my camera with her notes.. I just say "niiiiice" and they all finally wander off to the loading area. Sarah turns around for one last stare at me.

+++

Later, Hawk's wife was seated on the plane right next to Sarah Palin, but Sarah then changed seats with Greta Van Susteren.

Not one word was spoken between Hawk's wife and Sarah and Greta on the flight...

It sounds amazing even to write it down, but this is the couple who were chosen by John McCain to become the "deputy first couple" and now seriously wants to be the next "first couple" of the United States of America - the most powerful position in the world.

+++

Here are screenshots from the video, in chronological order (click to enlarge):

"Hi there, what's your name?"

Sarah doesn't like it and pulls a face.

Taking down the details.

Todd starts to take pictures of Hawk.

Sarah also takes pictures of Hawk.

Sarah and Todd walk into the airport.

Sarah takes more pictures of Hawk and tells Todd to do the same.

Todd also takes more pictures.

Sarah goes to a desk and starts to have pictures taken with an employee.

First unpleasant encounter with Todd who walks up to Hawk.

"What are you videotaping for?"

Hawk explains: "I am here with my wife, she is getting on a plane."

Sarah still has pictures taken with the employee.

Sarah greets another citizen.

Sarah and Todd walk away. Hawk stops filming.

At the gate, 10-15 minutes later after Hawk stopped filming, Todd suddenly walks up to him again and tries to intimidate Hawk, who switches on the camera again,

but Todd's first sentence was not recorded.

Todd: "Why did you stick the camera in Sarah Palin's face? Why did you do that?"

A young woman, part of Greta's Fox News team, then tries to block Hawk's view.

"Nothing to see here."

Everyone walks into the gate. End of recording.

+++

UDPATE:

The Cyber bullies at C4P are in action!

It's the most predictable response: He is a stalker!

Well, no, actually, Hawk isn't a stalker. If Todd Palin hadn't tried to intimidate Hawk TWICE in this disgusting manner, nothing interesting would have been caught on tape. It would have been a boring video with Sarah Palin talking to people at an airport for about 2 minutes, with Hawk being 10-15 feet away from Sarah and Todd. Nothing newsworthy at all.

The truth is that it was Todd Palin who stalked Hawk, especially at the second encounter which happened 10-15 minutes after Hawk had turned his camera off.

This was a chance encounter that a citizen from Valdez had with the Palins. Hawk's wife was on the same flight, he went with his wife to the airport, where he then spotted the Palins. When Hawk started filming, he had no idea that it would turn into such an controversial story. This should have been a boring 2-minute video of the Palins strolling around in an airport, but because Todd in particular chose to confront him, it turned ugly.

The "second" confrontation with Todd, from 3:13 in the video, happened after Hawk had switched his camera off already for 10-15 minutes. He was sitting at the gate and didn't plan to do any more filming. Todd then suddenly approached him again in this intimidating manner, which was Todd's own choice. Nobody had provoked him to do that. It was only then when Hawk switched the camera on again. Todd really showed his nasty side there - a side of his personality which by the way was already very well documented during the Troopergate investigation.

On the plane, Hawk's wife was then actually seated right next to Sarah Palin, but Sarah realized that this was awkward and then changed seats with Greta Van Susteren.

In addition, the other predictable response: Hunt the enemy!

Suck it, Palinbots, nobody is afraid of you.

Now we know why C4P and Sarah and Todd Palin are a match made in heaven.

Oh, C4P, thanks a lot for reposting the video!

+++

UPDATE 2:

The local media in Valdez reported the story and also mentioned Hawk's full name.

We post this link with Hawk's permission. It's also the proof that our story is correct, as the Palinbots have questioned whether "Hawk is really Hawk" and whether he really is a local business owner - as was to be expected.

Message for Palinbots: Nobody is afraid of you - and nobody in Valdez likes your Queen Sarah Palin either.

+++

UPDATE 3:

Another update! It's amazing to see how the right-wingers try to twist and turn the story, which, however you look at it, is not a positive one for the Palins. Even the centrist-conservative website mediaite.com, whose journalists are in general not fond of "Palin-hating websites", concluded: "It’s the end of the tape, where Todd runs into the guy later, that really looks bad for him."

So the Palinbots are angry. There are just a few details we would like to clear up - not for the Palinbots, who in their blind adoration for their Queen wouldn't believe us anyway, but more for the "general public."

Hawk was at the airport because his wife was on the same flight, which was a pure coincidence. He had no idea the Palins would be at the airport. The reason he had the video camera with him was not that he wanted to film his wife at the airport, but his wife originally wanted to take the camera to Kodiak, which was her ultimate destination.

Hawk explains:

"After talking to Dave Cobb and finding out that he was there to be interviewed by Greta, I had her get the camera out of her bag. I took about 2 minutes of footage of Greta walking around with no incident whatsoever, before Palin showed up. Nobody including Dave Cobb knew Palin was there."

Dave Cobb is a Council member in Valdez, and currently the interim mayor. Sarah Palin is talking to him at the beginning of the clip.

After Hawk had his first encounter with Sarah and Todd, he decided to keep the camera, because he now had something "interesting" on film.

Then followed the infamous "second" encounter with Todd Palin (from 3:13 in the video), which, as mediaite.com and others correctly observed, is particularly damning for Todd Palin. Does anybody who is not brainwashed want see Todd Palin in the White House after watching this clip? I don't think so.

Hawk's wife can be seen in the video from 4:04-4:10, the blond woman standing in line with the grey sweatshirt:

She was in front of the Palins in line, and Hawk was just leaving when Todd bumped into him again from behind and (from 3:13) started his unprovoked "Why did you stick the camera in Sarah Palin's face" rage.

The Palinbots now started their "revenge" activities, but this just shows again what vile, disgusting people they are, and it will only backfire on Sarah Palin.

+++

UPDATE 4:

The local "Valdez Star" reports under the headline "Palin pays secret visit to Valdez":

Many were excited to see the former governor turned celebrity back in Valdez.

Ice cream truck owner and operator Peggy Giles said she was so thrilled to have Van Susteren take a photo of her pink truck that she forgot to get a photo herself.

The hush-hush visit surprised many, including Linda Vandenburg, proprietor of Valdez U-Drive. The group rented a van from the company without having made a reservation, and Vandenburg said it was lucky for them they even had one available this time of year.

The van was returned with only eight miles added to the odometer.

After his interview with Van Susteren at the airport, Cobb said the news host told him the Palins were having lunch in a truck at the parking lot out front and hoped to see him before they flew off.

“We didn’t talk anything about politics,” Cobb said, “We talked about fishing.”

Cobb’s impromptu chat with the Palins was cut short when Valdez business owner Hawk Pierce began videotaping the visit. Cobb left and Palin introduced herself and Todd.

The Palins used their cell phones to take Pierce’s photo in return; Palin says she enjoyed meeting “the locals.”

Todd Palin later challenged Pierce as he followed the couple through the airport, taking close-ups of Peirce with his cell phone.

The footage shot by Pierce was posted on YouTube Monday.

+++

UPDATE 5:

It might seem a bit "over the top" for some of our readers, but we still thought that it would be good idea to show the flight documentation for Hawk's wife, in order to convince the last "doubters" - although the die-hard Palin cultists will of course never be convinced by anything.

Here is Hawk's description for the following two documents:

The first ticket from Valdez to Anchorage was done on coupons. That's why it looks the way it does. You'll notice the ticket was turned in at 8:03 for the flight, but the planes didn't fly. So they just kept her reservation and boarded her on the next available flight which was the Palin flight.

The second document is her itinerary continuing on to Kodiak that afternoon on Alaska Airlines.

Document 1:

Document 2:

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Websites which linked to this post:

Politicususa

The Political Carnival

Oliverwillis.com

Dependable Renegade

Mock, Paper, Scissors

Dagblog

Democratic Underground

FreakOutNation

Wonkette (posted the video)

CBS NEWS

Mudflats (posted the video)

KVAK Radio - Local News in Valdez

The Midnight Review

KTVA 11 (local CBS affiliate)

Progressive Alaska

Mediaite

Asylum

Anchorage Daily News

The Daily Beast

Valdez Star (Local News in Valdez)

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