By Blueberry Tart
Watch Patrick from Palingates talks on the air to Nicole Sandler about Sarah Palin's faked pregnancy with Trig in News | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com
BellPeppery transcribed part: "…Sarah Palin has, she’s got a bunch of very fanatical followers in the U.S.A. These people, what they see is an image of Sarah Palin which in fact has nothing to do with the reality. They paint an image of her which is just like a fantasy image of Sarah Palin, this strong, conservative woman with convictions."
This post and comments link to Andrew Sullivan’s series of posts on “Why Does Trig Matter?” (here, here and here).
Andrew’s posts on babygate generated a lot of buzz in the blogosphere this week. Our reader litbrit had an excellent post on her blog on this subject and a follow-up post. The comments also linked to our reader Ennealogic’s blog posts and to a post by Phil Munger on Progressive Alaska.
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Wednesday started with some fun on an open thread, with a great video of Kathy Griffin and Levi Johnston going ice-fishing…looks like they had some fun! This post also delved into the Norfolk, Virginia Freedom Fest speech and the scuttlebutt around the eviction of several conservative bloggers from the event. Seems that Sarah has a natural talent for divisiveness that really is remarkable and does not exempt those conservatives who dare to speak her name in vain.
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Next we had a quick look at the progress that Palingates is making in getting the word out about Sarah, with great numbers for traffic to the site – more than 500,000 page views in June! Help support PG with a donation if you can! And, we ask for your support for the Bloggers Choice awards (please ask others to support PG too). Patrick updated the post with a video of Sarah’s appearance at the International Bowl Expo 2010, where her appearance was very professional, if by that what we are referring to is the oldest profession.
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Babygate Revisited! Building on Patrick’s radio interview, Andrew Sullivan’s great posts on this subject, and the posts by litbrit and others, Palingates took another in-depth look at Babygate. This included my own summary (abridged), which is available in the full version for download here.
There are a lot of compelling and convincing pieces of the babygate puzzle; but what is absolutely deterministic for me is not any one of the pieces of evidence, but all of them taken together.
- If the only evidence about babygate were the unbelievable and differing versions of the wild ride story, that in itself would be enough to cast serious doubt on Sarah’s story.
- If the only evidence were the photos showing her not pregnant shortly before reportedly giving birth, or that no one knew she was pregnant when she announced at “7 months,” that in itself would be enough to cast serious doubt on her story.
- If the only evidence were the accounts and photos indicating Bristol was pregnant in late 2007, that in itself would be enough to cast doubt on her story.
- If the only evidence were the lack of any documentation of Trig’s birth, or the fact that neither the doctor nor the hospital nor anyone else will corroborate the account, or any one of the many discrepancies that we, and others, have discovered, that would be enough to cast serious doubt on her story.
Readers made many excellent comments, identifying even more discrepancies. These include the fact that the health insurer requested the birth certificate, which they presumably would not need if Sarah had given birth to Trig; conflicts in Levi’s and Bristol’s accounts about telling the Palins about the pregnancy; Bristol reportedly testifying that photos of her baby were on the internet in Fall 2008; research indicating that no DS babies were born in the Valley during 2008 (verified?) and numerous other important observations. Quite a few readers found the March 14th photo (lighter version) to be the most compelling photo – very obvious, no subtle interpretation needed! No doubt, babygate will someday make quite a book!
Andrew Sullivan linked to our post.
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Another fascinating week wrapped up with our Quitter Day festivities – Palingates celebration of the first anniversary of the Quitter Speech! This memorable moment, complete with word salad supreme, hyperventilation and the accompaniment of honking geese, is forever enshrined in cyberspace for our entertainment and to steel our determination to put an end to Sarah’s political future. The icing on the cake is the written version of this remarkable oration (the original version with enough CAPITAL LETTERS and EXCLAMATION POINTS to make any 6th grader proud!!!!!!!). And the cherry on top is the wonderfully revealing, “I sure showed them, didn’t I” photo of our anti-heroine, completely oblivious to the fool she had just made of herself, but also smugly aware of the fools that she would soon make of her followers by raking in their money, without all the work and pesky restrictions of being Governor. BluedogAK also correctly observed that she used teleprompters for the speech.
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Comments of the Week: (True confessions: I have not gotten through all the comments this week, but I hope to someday!)
Junasie14 (on the CSU speech and Sarah’s propensity for not letting facts get in the way): “…what struck me about it is that Sarah knew exactly where Eureka College was located just a couple of months ago, when she spoke at Five Points Washington in Illinois. Praising the hard-working patriotic Americans of Central Illinois, she paid homage to Reagan's Eureka College, just up the road…”
Ginam and others posted this from c4p: Lipstick: “There was an awkward moment when a Rep. from this area in the TX Leg. came up to speak before Perry. He said Palin was also a Grandma and how her daughter had given birth to a Down Syndrome Child...the crowd really mumbled to correct him but he kept going. I am thinking, do you not KNOW this woman?”
Anonymous: “Some have suggested Palin could be a "puppet" backed by powerful people who are calling the shots. We don't know, and may never know most of what goes on behind the scenes. But generally speaking, in any political puppet situation, it would be a mistake to focus on the puppet or the show. What matters in that kind of situation are the puppetmasters.”
Ontohertricks: “The words ‘carefully crafted fake image’ are the key words to the personality disorder we are describing.”
Fawn218 (responding to this quote from Sarah’s CSU speech: “And a basic knowledge of right and wrong that’s what we desire in our children’s education”): “And yet Sarah has been unable to each her children right from wrong..... IE vandalism of public school buses; illegal drug use; underage drinking; irresponsible actions resulting in multiple teenage pregnancies; vandalism of private property; breaking and entering. hmmm.....maybe Sarah should look from within her own family”
Mel: “Look, as word salad as it was, the speech had a point, and it's a very scary one. She wants to indoctrinate our kids in "American exceptionalism."...she's talking indoctrination at the public school level…we're better than everybody else, we're chosen by God, we are right and you are wrong. And the crowd roared."
AKRNC has a strong and passionate letter to Sarah, worth reading (posted ~3 a.m. Sunday, PG time)
Grasshopper: “…To completely enclose a public school zone with chain link fence for a 30 min. speech by a private citizen is something new to me…”
Here is an excerpt from Teutonic13, who had several thoughtful posts: “So Ms. Palin. In your relentless path to suckle your ego, and mend hurt feelings, do not allow your vainglorious aspirations to tarnish us. You do not speak for me, nor do you speak for most of our people.”
Several readers noticed that publicity for Bristol’s upcoming TV appearance describe her as “the mother of Trig and Trip Palin.” Misspellings aside, we enjoyed seeing that in print!
Espresso4me: “…Just makes things up because she is wired that way.”
Finny: “There are so many, many Sarah Palins. There is the hockey mom in her sweats and jeans. There is the prom queen with her corsage and prom hairdo. There is the hooker with her platforms and mini-skirt. There is the madonna rocking her baby. There is the know-it-all energy expert with tight lips and a bun. There is the wannabe teenager in her trucker cap and shades. There is the sexy newscaster with a skirt climbing up her thigh. There is the sorority girl with her tight tank top....I could go on and on.”
MrsTarquinBiscuitBarrel reminded us that the Heaths moved to Alaska right aftr the huge Good Friday earthquake of 1964: “…Heaven knows what soap opera/family hassles back in Sandpoint, Idaho, motivated a young, broke family to move to a young, broken-up state...”
Sdilmoak: “The great ‘Illusionist’”
Sam 3710 named her Granny Griz; ivyfree came up with a new word: Palingering; and Finny and EOY, among others, channeled Sarah in quitting doing any more laundry ;-0
Drpatois: “Recap of falsehoods [from the bowling alley speech]:
1. $he was too young to have any memories of her father bowling [in Idaho]
2. $he did not go bowling after BB games because no bowling center existed.
3. $he never stepped foot in the Mat-Su bowling center in the 13 years it did exist.”
WendyinCa’s comment was posted by Andrew Sullivan on his blog: “The crux of the controversy about the Trig/Palin issue is quite simple. If Trig is her biological son she should offer proof. PERIOD…. She should do that so that she is worthy of a position of influence within our society. If she can’t do that because she has lied and lied and lied about the circumstances of Trig’s birth and has not only lied, but has exploited the lie to further her personal ambition, then quite simply she has no place in our society that demands trust and accountability. PERIOD.
There is no gray here. The media giving her this ‘so-called’ pass is abhorrent. But what is more abhorrent is Palin’s refusal to address the situation, provide proof and establish credibility. Based on Palin abhorrent behavior, the only logical explanation, to me, for her behavior, is quite simple. Trig is not her biological son. And she has not only lied about giving birth to him, but has also chosen to exploit what may have been very unfortunate circumstance to further her personal ambition. AND THAT IS THE STORY THE MEDIA HAS IGNORED!!!! There are no ‘passes’ here for lying and exploitation just because she is a woman. None at all.”
Kellygrrrl: “…I'm wondering if that physician would agree that no male politician should be questioned about extramarital affairs, cuz that's just what men do…while I agree that throughout history many women have lied, I take strong offense at the implication that all or most women do that and it's ‘normal’
it's not normal
it's not OK”
SilentOne: “Read the book Into the Buzz Saw about the many, many brave journalists in various media who DID speak up about nasty stuff they saw going on with the government, military, media, and those in power - and the death threats, burglaries, attempts on their lives, and job losses they suffered…. I was a member of the alternative journalism community for a LONG time. Death threats didn't bother me so much. It was the attempts on my life (one of which put me in the hospital) and the attempts on my family's lives which were the tipping point. Those things will wear you down after a while and, effectively, turn you silent.”
Jk, lilybart, GrannyJ and others objected to Sarah saying that special needs people would not be in the running for a Nobel Prize (and cheapening the value of this honor at the same time). They noted that people with special needs have indeed won such prizes and are highly acclaimed for their abilities.
aview999 posted this from the comments: “If Sarah Palin is the answer, I can’t begin to imagine what the question is.”
JCos aptly noted: “I guess this answers the question, what do you have to do to get kicked out of a Freedom Fest? Exercise your freedom?”
View_From_Here found that the “only dead fish go with the flow” meme is attributed to Linda Ellerbee (a self-proclaimed maverick). Maelewis found that it dates back to the 18th Century.
More_Cowbell and others commented on Palin’s weird comment about whether she would be “merciful enough” to be Trig’s mom. Merciful?
Pallotine posted numerous quotes from the Frontiersman in 1997, indicating that Palin’s behavior is not new:
A Frontiersman editorial wrote, “The mayor’s administration has been one of contradiction, controversy and discord. While she will blame everyone but herself, we see mostly Sarah at the center of the problem.” [Frontiersman editorial, 2/7/97]
In 1997, a Wasilla group called Concerned Citizens asked Palin to appear before them to answer questions, but the Frontiersman wrote, “she doesn’t intend to face the hostile group to answer their questions.” Her deputy administrator said that the group could fax the questions and she would answer them then. [Frontiersman, 3/5/97]
A Frontiersman editorial wrote, “Wasilla is led by a woman who will tolerate no one who questions her actions or her authority.” [Frontiersman editorial, 3/7/97]
A Frontiersman editorial wrote, “Palin continues to lose public faith sticking by her philosophy that either we are with her or against her.” [Frontiersman editorial, 3/7/97]
The Frontiersman reported, “Wasilla voters may get the chance to transform the city to the city manager form of government under a proposal by Wasilla councilman Nick Carney…He said he thinks Palin does not have the management skills to run the City of Wasilla.” [Frontiersman, 2/21/97]
MANY ‘Gaters were especially offended by Sarah’s comment that she almost got into a spat with a 4-year old!
MicMac had a poignant post: “My disabled son was greeted with all sorts of weird responses: “Robot Boy” “Darth Vader” and the like…He looked awkward, he sounded awkward, he smelled awkward, what’s not to like? He smiled a great big smile, and taught me how to smile, at everyone, in return, come what may. All were rewarded by the experience…
I dislike Sarah Palin intensely. But not to the point that I do not feel infinitely sorry for her, as she clearly experiences the parenting of a special needs child as some sort of angry, defensive, one-dimensional political billboard. How painful for her, for her child, her family and everyone who falls within her dark shadow.”
Anne_123 reminded us of an oldie but goodie: Friday, October 31, 2008 Texas Mom says: Thank You Sarah Palin
“I would like to take a moment thank Sarah Palin…for being a perfect example for my bright and creative 11 year old daughter. Thank you, Sarah, for helping open a dialog between us to discuss the mockery of pseudo-equality and the men who hide behind a woman, putting her in a leadership role not because she exemplifies the qualities of a leader but because she *is* a woman and their denial of their own misogyny demands they nominate a figurehead with breasts…
…Thank you, Gov. Palin, for being the ideal example of how maliciousness, pettiness, manipulativeness, and viciousness can hide behind an appealing, friendly smile and look and sound a lot like people you can trust…” (Posted on womenagainstsarahpalin)
Mxm: “She purchased the adjacent land for the Wasilla compound days after the big quit and started building almost immediately. It appears that Bristol also took advantage of some cosmetic surgery. Legal bills could have been substantial for her Troopergate defense, Track's juvenile issues, an adoption of an unrelated infant could have cost $10-$40K."
Aview999 (quoting from FDL): “I think either the cumulative stress of being caught out in all those lies has caught up with her and she’s coming undone…or…if she’s truly psychopathic and thereby immune to feelings of confusion, regret, guilt and remorse, one of the many Damocletian swords that have been hanging over her head is about to fall. …… I have no idea, but I have believed since I did my research for the Portfolio piece that she is mentally and psychologically unsound.” – Joe McGinniss
Lidia17: “The sick, sick truth is that the media has studiously and intentionally avoided investigating the fact that a mentally-ill person, who had stuffed a cushion down her pants to fake a pregnancy, was mounted as a credible candidate for Vice President of the United States, and still is taken seriously to some degree by most major media outlets.”
Mrsgunka: “After quietly rereading the comments tonight I wonder if the Palin phenomena is nothing more than a raspberry seed under our dentures to distract us all as to what is really taken place in this country…”
Many readers enjoyed EOY’s recap of the posts that appeared on C4P on Quitters’ Day last year; here is but one sample: “Folks. This is no time for negativity. Sarah Palin is going into the wilderness. Think Moses, Jesus and Ronald Reagan. This is the beginning of the taking back of America.”
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Sleuth: “I found this YouTube last night of Andree talking about Todd's emails, and am reposting the link from the last thread in case anyone missed it. I'd never seen it before.”
This is the video with Andree McLeod:
Note by Patrick: Unfortunately I wasn't aware of this excellent video before now, otherwise I would have included it in our recent posts featuring Andree McLeod's efforts.
Sunnyjane: …Rachel Maddow debunks the Ronald Reagan myth and sets the record straight on President Obama's accomplishments during his first seventeen months in office. A reader uploaded it here.
Fashionplate: “Just came across a post by Joan Walsh in Salon—‘Journalists trash Palin speech.’"
Fashionplate: “Just came across a post by Joan Walsh in Salon—‘Journalists trash Palin speech.’"
Guest: The politicusa article on her approval ratings crash hasn't been available all day.
Funny analysis here (note the logo on the right side of the story).
Aview999: on-line petition: Dear Sarah Palin, Please Shut Up Already
SickntiredofPalin: “Here's the problem with the media. So maybe bloggers will be the news researchers of the future.“ (Chart on who controls the media)
Kathleen posted a link to this from Ennealogic on Hypocrites & Heffalump Traps: “She managed to diss, hiss and piss at a whole slew of people but managed to also glorify Glen Beck, falsely credit Ronald Reagan with having grown up and gone to school in California, put down "lowly" Eureka College (Illinois), and confused our Constitution with the "Constitution of Liberty," an essay in which the author explains why he is not a conservative.”
From WesinOregon: Is Sarah Palin an Ignoramus or a Cynic?
ontohertricks: “Hmmmmm, could this be a reason why many of Sarah's emails haven't been turned over?”
Patrick found this nice shout out to Palingates.
Patrick: This is just too funny:
TAMPA BAY (AP) - Two days ahead of its annual nation-wide conference, the American Psychological Association's president Mindy Shullman has pre-announced that the APA will be adding "Sarah Palin Veneration Syndrome (SPVS)" to its definitive catalog of officially-recognized psychological disorders…
From EyeOnYou: (Montrose Press article on CSU speech)
America’s favorite victim is at it again...She complained that students who took extraordinary measures to learn her compensation were trying to “silence” her….
For Palin, who is long on rhetoric and short on substance, it was the perfect storm.
Say No to Palin in Politics: “…this article chews Joe Miller, the guy Scarah endorsed to win Lisa Murkowski's senate seat, up one side and down the other! It's delightful and totally applies to Scarah, also too. There's more to read. I have never read this blog before. Very good points.”
"Ignorant of Alaska’s Economic Realities…” and: “… So, how's that environmentally safe oil drillin thingy workin out for ya?"
"A state-hired independent investigator is reviewing whistleblower allegations of improper waste disposal, environmental contamination and state regulatory neglect at a small oil field in shallow waters of the Beaufort Sea.
Patrick and Gunsmoke posted this link to Andrew Sullivan on the controversy about Andrew Breitbart’s offer of $100K to publish private emails.
Patrick: Excellent post about the CSU speech and the open mic remarks on this blog (links also to Palingates).
Patrick and others: Please comment on this article to defend Andrew Sullivan (no registration necessary).
EyeOnYou: from Bill Hess - Bill is traveling and he shares some information that he got by someone he met along his journey… Khaf shares a very enlightening viewpoint that I think everyone should see.
From Finny: “And for more fun, I have just found this video that mixes in bits from "The Office" with $arah's speeches...it's so naughty!”
Zane1 gave us hope that the MSM is beginning to call out Sarah’s lies.
Kathleen: Jebus is a conservative
Honestyingov (following up re CSU): "Yee: Palin Epitomizes Lack of Transparency at CSU and UC Friday, June 25, 2010"
ParadigmShift: $arah PayMeNow appears on stage in Norfolk, VA with the dregs of the GOP in the ironically titled "Freedom Fest" and the joint is barely 1/3 full.
Patrick: The full video [of the Norfolk speech] is here!
Phil Munger on Quitterday
Patrick: More funny Quitter videos -here and here
Crystalwolfakacaligrl: “Sarah Jones weighs in on quitter anniversary LMAO”
Patrick: “Great interview with Alicia Lewis about the CSU Stanislaus affair on politicususa!”
CDNPotpourri: Sarah Palin evolves into enduring political figure; GOP strategists say she has a shot at presidential run in 2012
Juicyfruityy posted a number of good articles on the media’s role: For the media, Palin is great at the box office…For Palin, the benefit is the exposure she needs to maintain her public profile and stir up chatter about a potential presidential candidacy — both of which help her continue to rake in millions of dollars in speaking fees. She also gets a villain with which to further energize her supporters: The more she convinces them “the MSM” hates her, the more they love her.
Juicyfruityy: (quoting Josh Green)
“Stop and ponder that one for a moment. Palin's poll numbers are nearly as horrible as George W. Bush's--but only one of them launched two wars and destroyed the economy. That's remarkable. But what's more remarkable, in light of this, is that the idea of George W. Bush running for another term (were such a thing possible) would be greeted by gales of laughter from the political cognoscenti, while the prospect of a Palin presidential campaign is taken seriously.
And wrapping up with Andrew Sullivan’s post on bloggers, mentioned by lilly-lilly and others:
I believe the blogosphere first truly gained traction in America for a good reason. There is something about blogging's freedom from the constraints of conventional journalism that captures an American ideal: civic engagement totally free of anyone else's influence.
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