Recent bits and pieces about Sarah Palin

I was going to do one of my "Recent bits and pieces about Sarah Palin" posts and all I found was this:

The latest thing is still about Rove's prediction that she'll run and the rebuttal on Sarah Pac's blog.

As there isn't very much about her at the moment, and the major speech (will she, won't she?) at the teabaggers rally on September 3 has already been covered, I looked further ahead.

Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck are going to defend the Republic. That's very strange. I didn't know there was a king or queen trying to usurp power in the US. Hey, they must know, being intellectuals and all that, and somebody has to prevent America turning into a monarchy!

Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck are coming to town for a once in a lifetime event and you don't want to miss it.

Do not miss this once in a lifetime opportunity to witness the fusion of two intellectual conservatives as they Defend the Republic on the Family Arena stage.

After I stopped laughing at the description of these two as "intellectuals," I turned my attention to the sponsors of the event: Hansen's.

I visited their website and in the section about pests and diseases, I found this:

It's frustrating to watch a tree that was once as strong and colorful fall victim to disease or insect infestation. Sometimes you can treat a sick tree; other times, removal is the best option. Either way, you have to know what you’re dealing with – and fast before it spreads to your entire tree or plant population.

I couldn't help comparing the diseased tree to the GOP...

*****

Unless Sarah Palin does something spectacular before September 3, we'll need to wait until then to have some recent bits and pieces about her...

Recent bits and pieces about Sarah Palin

Various readers wondered if footage and photos of Sarah Palin's One Nation bus tour would be used in future ads for Sarah Palin's campaign. Sarah Pac has already released a video... At least they left out the history lesson about Paul Revere's wild ride, ringin' bells and shootin' and warnin' the British. Of course, Sarah Palin is NOT campaigning, she's just educating America.



Still on the subject of education, Salon has an excellent article about Sarah Palin's deficiencies in the history department.

Sarah Palin's vacation from history

Well, of course she's not interested in American history. Hearing her stumble over her words as she mangled the story of Paul Revere was depressingly familiar. As history professors specializing in the Revolutionary era, we have heard our share of students returning muddled answers to basic questions. The difference between them and the former half-term governor, though, is that they are generally careful not to embarrass themselves. When they haven't read the assignment, they'll lower their heads and pray the professor doesn't see them. If called out, they'll promptly admit to a lack of preparation and promise to get their act together. Few of them ever plunge into the great unknown, and flail away, as Palin does routinely, with an off-the-wall answer, followed by a next day do-over amid protest that the professor didn't get what she meant the first time. College undergraduates possess at least a modicum of self-respect.

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We should prepare for some exciting and entertaining times ahead: Michelle Bachmann and Sarah Palin sparring in the political arena. For some reason, it made me think of Celebrity Deathmatch. The main characters have been keeping a low profile, but their aides decided to start the fun without them.

Palin adviser slams Bachmann strategist Ed Rollins for dissing the ex-governor

The spat between their advisers began Tuesday when Rollins disparaged Palin in a radio interview. “Sarah has not been serious over the last couple of years,” Rollins said. “She got the vice presidential thing handed to her. She didn’t go to work in the sense of trying to gain more substance. She gave up her governorship.”

In an interview with Politico, Rollins made the point again. Bachmann will “be so much more substantive. People are going to say, ‘I gotta make a choice and go with the intelligent woman who’s every bit as attractive.”

"Beltway political strategist Ed Rollins has a long, long track record of taking high profile jobs and promptly sticking his foot in his mouth," Michael Glassner, Palin's chief of staff, said in a statement to Politico's Ben Smith. "To no one's surprise he has done it again, while also fueling a contrived narrative about the presidential race by the mainstream media. One would expect that his woodshed moment is coming and that a retraction will be issued soon."

But Rollins declined to take back what he'd said about Palin. "What's the retraction?" Rollins asked. "I say she's serious?"

Wel, well, well... Michelle Bachmann's camp can't claim she was the most amazing CEO that ever lived...

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I've commented before that Sarah Palin's e-mails belong in another century. Crivella West agrees.

24,000 Sarah Palin Emails To Be Searchable on Crivella West Website

What was acceptable in the last century is no longer acceptable in the 21st century. Today, nearly all communication records are stored electronically. Instead of making what were once electronic records available electronically, the State of Alaska is printing, on paper, individual copies of the records for each party requesting a set. This process has converted searchable electronic records into a mass of unorganized, laborious to interpret and impossible to search information. Modern methods would also enable the releasing party to easily and inexpensively identify and withhold confidential information, when permitted, without lengthy and expensive manual review, and thereby respond to an information request in weeks, not years.

Crivella West, at its own expense, is converting a paper copy back into a searchable digital copy, and will make the digital copies available to the public without charge. In addition, Crivella West will provide analytical tools to organize the documents to help users find information of interest. Crivella West is continuing its collaboration with msnbc.com, Mother Jones and Pro Publica.

*****

Finally, it looks like Sarah Palin's photo-op with Margaret Thatcher is going from bad to worse.

(I'm thinkin' if I should show them my book that I wrote?)
or...
(Whose autograph do I get first?)

Rush Limbaugh: wrong on Margaret Thatcher and Sarah Palin

The Thatcher ally quoted in my original blog told me on Wednesday that members of her circle were standing by their decision after the description of Palin as "nuts" was reported in the US. This is what the ally told me on Wednesday:

"Margaret will not be meeting Sarah Palin. If necessary we will make sure that Margaret has an off day when Palin is in London."

Ouch!

Recent bits and pieces about Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin has been relatively quiet and not seen very much seen since the very hectic weekend when she attended media parties, chose life and extracted money from a fledgling special needs organization. She attended all those weekend's events with Todd Todd Todd, her new handy prop.

Meanwhile, a book looking into her lies was published, an article by Joshua Green made some impact, Trump and Huckabee dropped out of the 2012 presidential race and Sarah Palin is making renewed efforts to fleece her followers.

Sarah PAC sending direct mail on 2012

Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin is sending direct mail solicitations nationwide to raise money for her political action committee titled “2012 Can’t Come Fast Enough,” a move that is certain to re-stoke talk of whether she will run for the presidential nomination.

“Taking back control of the House last year was only the first step,” Palin writes in the mailer. “Now you and I must fix our eyes on 2012. Our goal is to take back the White House and the Senate.”


The bloggers have continued to focus on her less than savoury past and tall stories.

The article by Joshua Green, "The Tragedy of Sarah Palin," was brilliantly debunked by Jeanne Devon and highlighted by Andrew Sullivan.

The Real Tragedy of Sarah Palin

The real question he’s asking is – What could Palin have achieved if she had a different personality, if she were not a political opportunist and had actual integrity, if she were qualified, if she knew her stuff, if she were an effective leader, if she knew how to manage people, if she were intellectually curious, if she didn’t quit? The question Green asks is really what Sarah Palin might have achieved if she hadn’t been Sarah Palin. And it’s why “What went wrong?” is a false question. “What went wrong” was Palin being who she is – consistently and predictably opportunistic. There are times when opportunity comes from doing the right thing, but there are times when opportunity comes from doing the wrong thing. It doesn’t mean that Palin changed, it just means she was true to what drives her always – her own self-interest.


Laura Novak had another conversation with Brad Scharlott, this time taking a closer look at the Sponge Bob Square Pants baby bump Sarah Palin sported in a documentary filmed by Elan Frank.



Sponge Sarah Square Pillow

Brad: I uniformly lightened the picture – I did not move any pixels nor did I give isolated areas special treatment. So the relative flatness you perceive in the stomach area is an accurate depiction of reality – her belly really does look more like a first-base bag than a basketball.

[Laura is working on another good post, where a doctor is going to give an opinion about certain photos...]

Andrew Halcro returned to one of my favourite themes: Dairygate. He discusses the problems faced by the city of Palmer if Matanuska Creamery moves to their city centre, but recaps some of the financial details of this sorry saga and we can clearly see that something is amiss...

Palmer's Problem: Same spill, closer to home

Almost three years ago the Matanuska Creamery opened its doors on the strength of federal government handouts and loans from the state's agriculture loan fund. Over the the same amount of time, the Creamery has repeatedly returned to the Board of Agriculture and Conservation (BAC) for loan restructuring and payment deferrals on almost $650,000 because they have failed to turn a profit.

Today, with the Creamery citing high operating costs and the need to move from its existing facility in Wasilla, the BAC is on the verge of leasing a valuable piece of property in the heart of Palmer to the Matanuska Creamery for $1 per year.

In addition to the low cost lease, the BAC is also considering loaning these folks even more money to facilitate the transition. According to news reports, the Creamery is asking for an additional $300,000 from the state for moving expenses and needed upgrades to the property.

These additional funds would drive the current outstanding loan balance owed by the Creamery to almost one million dollars. All of this to a private enterprise who as recently as February was six months behind on their current loan payments.

According to a recent article in the Mat Su-Valley Frontiersman, Matanuska Creamery CEO Karen Olson said the business needs to leave its current location because high rent, lack of public water and sewer and other issues are hurting the business.

[Question: Didn't a certain mayor improve the sewer system of Wasilla?]

The bail-out initiated by fiscal conservative Sarah Palin is set to continue. She destroyed the former CEO Joe Van Treeck, who ran the state owned dairy for 23 years faultlessly, to put it in the private, greedy hands of the utterly incompetent Karen Olson. Sarah also fired the entire agriculture board and appointed a bunch of her cronies from the Valley, who, coincidentally, oversee all these endless, no collateral loans that are never paid back.

Halcro asks:

Does Olson honestly believe we forgot about Kristen Cole, Ralph Carney and the cast of characters who after taking charge of Mat Maid lost more money in one month than in the dairy's previous 23 year history?

And remember, in the 23 year history of Matanuska Maid, never once did it receive a state handout. Contrast that to the Matanuska Creamery which can't keep it's doors open without continued state assistance.

In addition, the Creamery benefited from the closing of Mat Maid because it was the beneficiary of the closed dairy's milk producing equipment for almost nothing. Questions still remain today about the status of the lease agreement and the subsequent payments due to the state.

Dairygate stinks more than the tainted cheese this hopeless creamery produced a while ago...

*****

The governor's shoes were too big for Sarah Palin and now she's considering filling the even bigger, presidential shoes. It's a recipe for disaster.

(Please click on image
to see it in full glory)

Recent bits and pieces about Sarah Palin

I'm late with the main post today. Our son thought it was a good idea to ring from Australia to break some good news. The only problem was the time of the call here in France: 3 am...

So, without further ado, let's get down to business.

I have already covered the most relevant bits and pieces about Sarah Palin this past week.

Here's a little collection of the stuff I found when I googled her name this morning. They are not terribly important or breaking news, but reflect a less than sympathetic view of Sarah Palin.

Ok For Romney, Huckabee But No Way For Palin, Trump, U.S. Voters Tell Quinnipiac University National Poll; No Clear Leader In Gop Presidential Pack

Mmmm... not very popular, eh?

Bonnie Says: Sarah Palin Must Think Osama Bin Laden Is The Same As A Caribou She’s Killed! She Wants His Head!


Clearly Sarah, you see hunting for Bin Laden in the same league as hunting for caribou on Sarah Palin’s Alaska! You made sure on the hunting episode of your reality show to film and then show us your “kill” on TV.

Your dad, Chuck Heath, has a house full of mounted animal heads on the wall. You seem to be applying the same “hunting” mentality to the world’s most dangerous terrorist.

Sorry, Sarah. President Obama had the intelligent and practical wisdom to tell CBS News that “We don’t trot this stuff out as trophies.”

Get it Sarah — Bin Laden’s head isn’t a trophy to be mounted on the White House walls. Not only is it morally inappropriate, he is still a human being and not a caribou, but as the President said, a photo could incite “additional risk or be used as a propaganda tool.”

Satirists despair: Palin won’t be President


Palin’s insurmountable problem is simple. As Americans know her more, they like her less, as her views are exposed to analysis that leads to ridicule. Moreover, Palin has not helped herself. Resigning her post as Governor of Alaska in 2009, saying her constant need to legally defend herself from ethical charges was undermining her ability to do her job, badly damaged her credibility as a serious politician. If she could not last a full term in Alaska, could she be trusted to be President of the United States.

The other Palin presidency

...a recently formed Nevada group stands out because it lists as its president none other than Sarah Palin herself. What's curious is that Palin doesn't seem to know about "Friends for Palin 2012," and the group's co-founders aren't talking. Another odd crumb on the strange trail to get to the bottom of the newly formed group is a mostly defunct but timely pro-Palin website by the same name, which has been set up to take campaign contributions ranging from $5,000 to $100,000.

Rebecca Mansour, spokesperson for Palin's political action committee, SarahPAC, said she was unaware of the group and hadn't once heard Palin speak about it.

The address listed for all parties, including Palin, is a location in Sparks, Nev. for a company called Nevada Business Corporations, which is acting as the registered agent.

Oops she did it again: Sarah Palin fails to name any influential journalists working today (she could have said Katie Couric...)

... when quizzed by an NBC reporter during the White House Correspondents Dinner at the weekend the former Republican vice presidential candidate froze.

'Oh my goodness, that's a great question,' she said before turning to husband Todd with pleading eyes.

He couldn't answer either.



Have a great weekend!

Recent bits and pieces about Sarah Palin

We have been very interested in other events taking place in Iowa, but there's politics going on as well:

A Tea Party Star Stirs Iowans, and She Isn’t Palin

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Sarah Palin, the reigning heroine of many social conservatives, has given few signals that she will make a presidential bid. Mike Huckabee, who won the Iowa caucuses in 2008 on the strength of his appeal to evangelicals and other constituencies, has mostly offered reasons for not joining the race.

So into that space has come Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota.



I found a brief, but good article about Sarah Palin's interference in Wisconsin politics:

The Foul Phoniness of Sarah Palin’s David Prosser Endorsement

Palin today urged her Wisconsin Twitter followers to “please remember to vote for Justice Prosser on April 5,” a virtual endorsement of the conservative judge who called Wisconsin’s Chief Justice, Shirley Abrahamson, a “total bitch” that he would “destroy,” and voted against ethics rules requiring judges to recuse themselves from cases involving their campaign donors.


Gryphen had a post on The Immoral Minority about some ugly developments in Canada:

Candidate's posters defaced with rifle-target symbols

Disturbing graffiti has turned up on Liberal campaign posters in an Ottawa-area riding, stirring up parallels to the anti-politician rhetoric that became an issue in the U.S. earlier this year.


Malia Litman had a number of posts about Sarah Palin's "energy expertise" and one of her readers unearthed this video:




Bill Maher is still having fun with Sarah Palin, this time about her birth certificate. Most of the articles about Maher/Palin seem to be against Maher. He's a comedian, and his comedy is a bit explicit, but at least he's saying some things about Sarah that are closer to the truth than what the media has given us in the past two years...

Bill Maher Finds Sarah Palin’s “Birth Certificate,” Says She Was Born Pregnant



Tina Fay has written a book and it seems to have a very different tone from Going Rogue:

'Bossypants' by Tina Fey is funny and heartfelt

That she manages to completely avoid a memoir's biggest pitfall — oblivious narcissism — is proof enough that a sense of humor is crucial to most storytelling.


Which brings us to a post about narcissism (H/T to Kilob). Funnily enough, the article doesn't mention Sarah Palin at all!

Do Narcissists Know They Are Narcissists?

[...] how can narcissists maintain their inflated self-image even though they know full well how they are perceived by others? The researchers suggest a few intriguing possibilities.

Perhaps narcissists assume that others are just failing to realize how bitchin' they really are. They may think that people are just too dim to recognize their brilliance. Another possibility is that narcissists may think critics are just envious of them. Narcissists may take negative feedback and think to themselves, "Those haters are just jealous!"



To follow the progress of the baby eagles, I suggest opening this link on a separate tab (press control key and click on the link). That way you don't have to restart the video when refreshing the page to read new comments.

Recent bits and pieces about Sarah Palin

It's time for another summary of recent news about Sarah Palin.

Geraldine Ferraro—Historical Footnote, but Better than Sarah Palin

Even with the higher profile that had come with being the nominee, she was unable to successfully run for higher office, losing nomination races for the Senate in 1986 and in 1998. This suggests that her main claim to fame is as a novelty candidate selected for a Mondale campaign that had little to lose with the long odds that were against it. On the other hand, she was a lot smarter than Sarah Palin and had a substantive career before being a media sensation.


I can't embed the videos from Fox News about Geraldine Ferraro, but I noticed a marked difference between Sarah Palin's and Kay Bailey Hutchison's tributes to Ferraro. Hutchison had a genuine personal account, Sarah Palin offered the usual soundbites about that glass ceiling she always mentions when talking about other female politicians. Palin treasures her one encounter with Ferraro, as if it made them BFFs... I also noticed that Hutchison disagrees with Sarah Palin's opinion on how president Obama dealt with the Libya issue...


Sarah Palin vs Bill Maher

Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin slammed HBO’s Bill Maher Sunday, criticizing the comedian after he slammed Ms. Palin, calling her “dumb.”

Although Ms. Palin did not mention Mr. Maher by name she did say that she would not waste her time “responding to personal, vulgar, sexist venom spewed my way.”

From Sarah Palin's Facebook note:

(I won’t bother responding to it though, because it was made by he who reminds me of an annoying little mosquito found zipped up in your tent; he can’t do any harm, but buzzes around annoyingly until it’s time to give him the proverbial slap.)


Contradictions... I'm not going to respond to it , but I'll do it by responding to it, comparing the guy to a mosquito. She also says she's through with the whining about the media and proves it by whining some more. Plus ça change...


Sarah Palin Has More Facebook 'Likes' Than Any Republican Presidential Hopeful

Among all Republican presidential hopefuls, Sarah Palin is winning in popularity on Facebook, as first observed by Technorati.

When looking at official Facebook pages, the former Alaska governor and TLC reality star has more than 2.8 million "likes."

We all know that a great number of Sarah Palin's "likes" come from people who are moved by curiosity and don't really like her at all. People can't follow her page without clicking "like." She may appear to be doing better than her Republican rivals of Facebook, but some of her strongest supporters seem to have changed their minds about her:

Tea Party: We Want Mitt Romney, Not Sarah Palin

Can we remove "Tea Party darling" from Sarah Palin's moniker? If the results of a new poll are to be believed, then yes.

According to a report in the New York Daily News, the poll from Pew Research finds 24% of Tea Party members say Mitt Romney is their choice for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012. Mike Huckabee was second with 19%, followed by Newt Gingrich at 15% and Ron Paul with 13%.

How did Palin fare? -- just 12% of Tea Partiers favor her right now. Of course, that could all change if or when she actually enters the race.

Michele Bachmann wasn't included in the poll.

Mitt Romney is the Tea Party new king and Michele Bachmann may be the new queen-in-waiting.

The Daily Telegraph headline doesn't agree with the body of the article about Bachmann:

Is Michele Bachmann the new Sarah Palin? Republicans warm to woman they once saw as a joke

A Tea Party favourite, Mrs Bachmann is a former tax lawyer who many moderates in the party think could prove its biggest liability in the forthcoming primary for the 2012 nomination.

Her gift of the gaffe is such that a leading Republican consultant recently said that she made Sarah Palin look like Count Metternich.


Meanwhile, back in India, the gossip websites are busy using Sarah Palin's notoriety to promote a young actress:

American politician Sarah Palin goes ga-ga over Sonakshi!

“Though Sarah admitted that she hadn’t watched her film, she was reportedly taken by surprise at the actress popularity. Sonakshi too added that she wants to do her bit in creating awareness amongst the masses, especially with regards to education and women’s health-related issues,” added the source.

Moreover, Palin was also surprised to see the newbie’s inclination towards social responsibilities, especially the emancipation of women in the sub-continent.



I saved the best until last, to close this post on a high note. Geoffrey Dunn has given an interview about his book:

The Lies of Sarah Palin - The Untold Story Behind Her Relentless Quest for Power, an interview with author Geoff Dunn

[...] my book will be the first in-depth, cohesive portrait of Palin between two covers. It begins with her childhood--in many ways dysfunctional -- and leads through to only a few months ago and her shameful response to the carnage in Tucson. Secondly, I have been leaked thousands of pages of documents--from throughout Palin's life--that no other journalist has ever seen.

I've also gotten some people to talk, both on the record and on background, who have never spilled the beans before.

It sounds very promising, we can't wait to read this book!

Recent bits and pieces about Sarah Palin

It's been a busy weekend for Sarah Palin. Her visit to India and speech were not really a sucess. Her shallow platitudes didn't go unnoticed.

An Indian website gently pokes fun at her speech:

On the perfidious Britishers

‘Friends: our two democracies understand this struggle for freedom. It’s the struggle of those who defiantly dumped tea in Boston Harbor to protest a British tea tax. And it’s the struggle of those who courageously marched to the seacoast near Don-dee [sic] to make their own salt in defiance of a British salt tax! This hunger for ‘Freedom & Opportunity’ is proof that what we call the “American Dream” is not just “American.” It is the universal dream of people everywhere! I believe it’s created within us!’

Misuses the word ‘enormity’

‘There, in my home state of Alaska, we’re so proud of nature’s beauty & our towering mountains, but certainly here relatively near the spectacular Himalayas can I appreciate an even greater sense of nature’s enormity! One of the mountains near my home (I see it everyday from my kitchen window!) is called “Pioneer Peak”’

Kapil Komireddi was more direct:

Palin was out of her depth. It’s appalling enough that a contender for the American presidency, the putative leader of a popular anti-government movement, cannot conjure up a compelling vision for her country. But the speech also confirmed Palin’s illiteracy in foreign affairs. Talking about energy – the centerpiece, apparently, of her “vision” for America — Palin had no words to assuage Indian anxieties about nuclear energy in the wake of the tragedy at Fukushima in Japan. Energy-starved India is likely to be one of the world’s biggest markets for American nuclear technology, but Palin was content with empty platitudes: there was repeated praise of free-trade, condemnations of government spending, and even a mention of the moose her daughters had recently spotted outside their house in Alaska.



Opinions on Sarah Palin's visit to Israel are divided. David Frum, a member of the Republican Jewish Coalition, thinks she will lose support and votes. His viewpoint is purely political. On the other hand, Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, believes the trip will help her, but he focuses on her biblical motives for supporting Israel.

David Frum:

Sarah Palin is visiting Israel, a move which normally helps GOP candidates. But as my latest CNN column points out, by ignoring the Republican Jewish Coalition she may be writing off an opportunity to broaden her support.

The RJC local chapters are active in almost every state. Jewish Republicans may seem a minority of a minority, but the local chapters contain disproportionate numbers of local Republican activists — the kind of people who make a difference in a state primary.

Over the months since November 2008, the RJC had repeatedly offered to organize an Israel tour for Palin. They have repeatedly invited Palin to speak at their meetings. As a member of the RJC board, I know that Palin’s team engaged in extended conversations about these invitations. Yet they were abruptly shelved. The RJC organization learned that its invitation would not be accepted the same way everybody else did: by reading the newspaper.

Why? We cannot know for certain. But we do know this: Some members of the RJC board — including me, and one or two others — have publicly said critical things about Palin.

The seeming result: Palin decided the RJC was dead to her.

Morton Klein, in this article: Sarah Palin Woes Evangelical Vote with Pro-Israel Stance, Says Zionist Group (woes?)

Morton Klein, the national president of Zionist Organization of America, said Palin’s expression of support for the Jewish state while visiting a holy site will definitely help her politically.

“This will only increase her votes,” Klein told The Christian Post.

Palin’s trip to the Jewish state is speculated to be an effort to energize her base.

Her comments about Israel’s effort to restore the tunnels along the wall are in line with the views of Christian Zionists, who defend Israel’s occupation of the West Bank on biblical grounds.

Christian Zionists favor Israel because they say God has named Jews as His chosen people. These conservatives and others have also criticized President Barack Obama for not supporting Israel enough despite Israel being the U.S.’s strongest ally in the Middle East.

ZOA’s Klein insisted, “Evangelicals are more supportive of Israel because they believe in the Bible.”

Sarah Palin, he said, is definitely a pro-Israel evangelical. Klein, who said he knows Palin personally, said she had a picture of an Israeli flag in her office while governor of Alaska.


Another item making the news is Sarah Palin's aborted visit to Bethlehem:

Daily Telegraph:

Sarah Palin has emerged at the centre of a potentially embarrassing mystery when she abruptly aborted a visit to Bethlehem just yards from an Israeli checkpoint guarding the entrance to the city of Christ's birth.

The Guardian:

Sarah Palin apparently had second thoughts about crossing an Israeli checkpoint on Monday to visit Bethlehem during a three-day visit to Jerusalem.

The former governor of Alaska pulled up to the checkpoint run by the Israeli border police to the south of Jerusalem in a white people carrier, with her husband, Todd, her assistant and Israeli guides.

None of the occupants left the car nor did they speak to the police officers at the checkpoint, according to photographers at the scene. They then turned around and drove away. A spokesman for the Israeli police said there was no incident at the checkpoint and a spokesman for the Israeli army said that Palin's group had not co-ordinated a visit to the occupied Palestinian territory.


The right wing Israeli Prime Minister appears to be very keen on Sarah Palin:


Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her husband Todd concluded their brief first visit to Israel on Monday by meeting Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara at his official residence in Jerusalem.

Ahead of the meeting, Netanyahu’s office checked with Palin to see whether they could expand it to a full reception for her with other politicians and aides, but she politely declined.

J Street officials, who are in Israel for a meeting of the Knesset Diaspora Affairs Committee, complained on Monday that Netanyahu had refused a request to meet with them but had chosen to meet with Palin.

The left-wing American lobby’s president, Jeremy Ben-Ami, said he had wanted to meet with Netanyahu “to introduce ourselves and explain how we can work together as allies.”

Ben-Ami wrote in a letter that “while the Prime Minister doesn’t have time to meet a movement that now represents over 170,000 pro- Israel, pro-peace supporters, he has time to host Sarah Palin for dinner.”


Yesterday was World Down Syndrome Day. Did you see Sarah Palin's enthusiastic tweet and encouraging the Facebook note about it? *crickets*

She had her phone with her in Israel...

Recent bits and pieces about Sarah Palin

Here's another summary of recent Sarah Palin news.

Sarah Palin didn't make the Newsweek list of the "150 Women Who Shake the World." A couple of people don't think it was fair to leave her out:

Mark Berman:

There is one name noticeably absent -- Sarah Palin.

Agree or disagree with Palin's views, she is certainly a force in our national dialogue. The mere title of the piece warrants Palin's inclusion on the list. She can't open her mouth without the entire world "shaking." Everything she says or does is closely watched and reported by the media ad nauseam. If she is not earth-shaking, who is?

Palin deserved to be on the list more than many of the women who did make it.

Suzanne Fields:

There's Nancy Pelosi, but no Sarah Palin, for instance. We get complaints that fewer women serve in the new Congress, but there's no mention of the tea party winners.

Alex Pareene doesn't think HBO's Game Change, starring Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin, will be a good film:

After living through the 2008 election, does anyone really need to see a movie about it? HBO apparently thinks so. The network made news yesterday -- masterfully -- by leaking the news that Julianne Moore has been cast as Sarah Palin in the upcoming made-for-television adaptation of "Game Change," the most annoying political book of the post-Bush age.

Roger Ailes wasn't impressed with Sarah Palin's "blood libel."

Before Sarah Palin posted her infamous “Blood Libel” video on Facebook on January 12, she placed a call to Fox News chairman Roger Ailes. In the wake of the Tucson massacre, Palin was fuming that the media was blaming her heated rhetoric for the actions of a madman that left six people dead and thirteen others injured, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

Ailes told Palin that she should stay quiet.

“Lie low,” he said. “There’s no need to inject yourself into the story.”

But, this being Sarah Palin, she did it anyway.


Ailes was not pleased with her decision, which turned out to be a political debacle for Palin, especially her use of the historically loaded term "blood libel" to describe the actions of the media. “The Tucson thing was horrible,” said a person familiar with Ailes’s thinking. "Before she responded, she was making herself look like a victim. She was winning. She went out and did the blood libel thing, and Roger is thinking, 'Why did you call me for advice?'”

Ailes’s displeasure matters, not only because his network is a holding pen for Republican candidates-in-waiting, but because he is paying Palin a hefty $1 million annual salary while she strings out her decision over whether to run for president.

Aaron Blake and Chris Cillizza discuss Sarah Palin's plummeting figures in the most recent Bloomberg poll:

Sarah Palin's unfavorable rating has spiked to a new high, adding further fuel to the argument that her presidential campaign may be doomed before it begins.

A new Bloomberg poll shows the former Alaska governor is now viewed unfavorably by 60 percent of American adults. That's higher than any other poll has shown, but it's not even the entire picture.

Of that 60 percent, nearly two-thirds - 38 percent of all adults - say they view the former GOP vice presidential nominee "very unfavorably." No other politicians tested even comes close, including President Obama (22 percent). What's more, Palin's unfavorable rating is more than twice as high as her favorable rating, which rests at just 28 percent. Another 12 percent aren't sure how they feel about her.

Emi Kolawole comments on the possibility that Sarah Palin was chosen by McCain because of her gender:


A former campaign manager for Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) 2008 presidential campaign is reported to have said that former Alaska governor Sarah Palin was added to the vice presidential "short list" because then candidate McCain had requested a woman be added.

There were rumours about a move to Arizona:


On Wednesday, Ben Smith of Politico quoted an unnamed source who suggested that a 2012 Palin presidential campaign, if there is one, might be headquartered in Scottsdale.

On Tuesday, a Democratic state lawmaker peddled the theory that Palin might actually be angling to join McCain in the U.S. Senate by replacing the retiring U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.

In his weekly newsletter to constituents, state Rep. Steve Farley, D-Tucson, wrote: "And as long as we are trading in rumors, I will leave you with an unwelcome one that I heard this afternoon from two separate reliable sources: Sarah Palin is considering moving to Bristol's new house in Maricopa in order to run for Kyl's Senate seat. Just what we need in our politics - another politician from out of state who believes that ideology trumps jobs, the economy, and common sense. Let's hope the rumor is wrong."

Further afield, there were a couple of articles related to India.

Amnesty International suggests an itinerary for Sarah Palin when she visits India:

I understand that you will be travelling to India to deliver a speech to the India Today Conclave. This conclave is a a group of extremely wealthy and self-declared important people in India, talking about how awesome India is while pretending not to see all of the poverty and hardship faced by hundreds of millions every day. OK, there are some good people speaking at the event and I shouldn’t be so cynical. But, I digress…

Keep in mind that there are lots of vegetarians in India, Gov. Palin.

I realize that we need not worry too much about your expertise on India. India is pretty darn close to Russia and as you told us when asked about your foreign policy experience, “They’re our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska.” But despite that, I thought it might be helpful for me to give you a suggested itinerary to give you a more well-rounded picture of the country.

Somya Lakhani, of Indian Express, watched Sarah Palin's Alaska, which starts airing in India tonight.


This is not how we remember Sarah Palin's series:

The show takes the viewers on a trip to Alaska and controversial American politician, Sarah Palin, is the gracious tour guide.

Sarah keeps politics out of the show and is often seen juggling various relationships. The children, surprisingly, come across as well-grounded and their individual characters come out rather well on the show. The former governor gets candid about her relationship with Todd and even breaks down as she talks about her youngest son, Trig, who suffers from Down’s Syndrome. The excellent production values of the show make it a fun watch and the non-political life of the former governor of Alaska is intriguing.

We had already looked into Sarah Palin's own appearances and pronouncements in recent days. The news cycle was dominated by more urgent news than Sarah Palin, so this was all I could find...

More bits and pieces about Sarah Palin

Let's start the new month with some more bits and pieces about Sarah Palin. February wasn't kind to her. Will March bring better tidings?

Sarah Palin is definitely not having a very good time lately. Manly Todd didn't win the Iron Dog, she was called a "froot loop" by Jamie Oliver and a google search this morning didn't reveal favourable articles about her.

The governor of Iowa made a statement that could sound like he supports Sarah Palin, but it seems he's more interested in the entertainment value of a Palin/Bachmann circus.

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad voiced excitement about Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann’s potential presidential bids and what they could mean for the first-in-the-nation caucuses.

"If Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann participate, this could break all records and could get to be really really wide open and very interesting."

Iowa's governor may be keen on a cat fight between Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann, but the polls don't bode well for Sarah Palin.

Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin is finding little support in Iowa, according to a recent poll.

A newly released Des Moines Register Iowa Poll finds support for a Palin candidacy waning, with Ms. Palin losing support amongst Iowa Republican likely voters.

Tea Party polls don't appear to confirm the notion of Sarah Palin as queen of the teabaggers.

Herman Cain and Ron Paul won a pair of tea party straw polls Sunday, a show of strength among grassroots activists for the long-shot presidential hopefuls.

Sarah Palin took fourth place in the poll at 10%

Karl Rove wasn't very charitable to Sarah Palin when he gave an interview to the New York Times magazine.

One week before the 2010 midterm elections, Rove took aim at Sarah Palin, questioning the wisdom of her appearance on a reality show, Sarah Palin’s Alaska, if she really wanted to be taken seriously as a presidential candidate. Palin lacked the “gravitas” to be president, went a subhead in the U.K.’s DailyTelegraph.

Rove’s backhands weren’t accidental, nor was he the victim of outrageous tabloid reporting. When I bring up his statements about Palin during our interview, Rove says only that he wished he’d made his comments on Fox News instead—before going into a withering impersonation of Palin, recalling a scene from her TV show in which she’s fishing.

"Did you see that?" he says, adopting a high, snivelling Palin accent: "Holly crap! That fish hit my thigh! It hurts!

In the meantime, a Sarah Palin supporter in Alaska confirmed something we have noticed a long time ago, her supporters are not nice people and tend to take her figures of speech literally.

Anchorage citizen activist Andree McLeod has obtained a six-month protective order against a woman who threatened her life over her public records requests for former Gov. Sarah Palin's official e-mails.

"Where does this b*tch get off thinking the public should shell out for her revenge for the Palin family. I've heard enough from this, and I would like to use stronger words to express my feeling for Andre (sic). Well... I think Andre (sic) has used up to (sic) much oxygen. So I have my scope cross hair on her head! She better watch out, the request may have been her last!"

"Yes, I know I made threats. I really hate that women (sic)," she wrote.

The Alaska PD decided that the threat should be investigated only after the shooting of Rep Gabby Giffords. They made the connection to Sarah Palin's crosshairs, despite her denials...

UK's Daily Mail picked up two Wonkette's stories about Sarah Palin's Twitter and Facebook "fake" accounts.

It's in her home state, it's America's highest peak and she's even climbed part of it.

But Sarah Palin seemingly cannot spell Mount McKinley.

Only a week after a blog claimed she has a private Facebook account, the same website now says Mrs Palin has a secret Twitter account, too - the misspelt @mckinely777.

Blog Wonkette used a private email address mistakenly released in the manuscript to track down a Facebook account under the name of 'Sarah Lou', which used that address.

The account is used to 'like' many of Sarah Palin's official Facebook messages, and also to comment on her daughter Bristol's wall.

Well, at least one person likes Sarah Palin...

Recent bits and pieces about Sarah Palin

Germaine Greer will speak at the India Today 2011 Conclave

Bollywood actor Aamir Khan is another speaker

Our Sarah will close the proccedings with "My Vision of America"

Sarah Palin managed to divert the attention from articles laughing at her in the wake of the Bailey's leaked manuscript (which led to the discovery of Lou Sarah's Facebook profile) by announcing a trip to India next month. I tried to find some reactions from Indian bloggers, but so far only a conservative Indian non-profit weighed in on the trip.

The Indian American Conservative Council(IACC) issued a statement welcoming former Alaska governor Sarah Palin visit to New Delhi next month.

"Governor Palin has been a strong pro-business conservative voice," said IACC chairman Dino Teppara.

IACC is a registered 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization that supports conservative, pro-business values.

There was some criticism regarding her trip:

Andrew Cline writes that he has a hard time believing that "someone who makes a trip to India a higher priority than a trip to New Hampshire is a serious presidential candidate."

Others just published variations on the same article , which includes a mention about ethics. That's not Sarah Palin's speech topic, she will speak about her vision for America.

The conference's choice of Palin is an odd one, Politico said. She will be the only American politician attending the conference, which is stacked with Indian and Pakistani officials, business leaders, public figures and entertainers.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is kicking off the conference Friday morning with the keynote. Palin's speech comes Saturday night and brings the conference to a close. The 2011 roster will cover issues from 'The Gender Dialogue: Can the burqa co-exist with the bikini?' to a session on 'Politics and Ethics: Is honesty impossible in Indian politics?'

Some articles about Bailey and the Facebook profile:

There was one on Salon and another on the Daily Telegraph (UK)

As Sarah Palin and Lou Sarah are one and the same, this is fun:

She "likes" herself, and has 12 friends.

Sarah also explained how tough the Iron Dog participants are and didn't miss the opportunity to reiterate what a real macho-man her Todd is: "Girly men don't ride the Iron Dog."

(Please click on image to enlarge)

A reader photographed Todd's mean machine at the checkpoint in Ruby and remarked that he's a country club gentleman now. Well, at least he's being sponsored by a country club, as you can see. Todd is still a family stud boy, definitely not a girly man. (Thanks for the photo, Eileen!)

Sarah Palin couldn't keep her mouth shut about Lybia and quickly inserted her foot in it:

“It’s a little perplexing looking at the White House today,” Palin wrote. “There was a statement on the horrible earthquake in New Zealand, and certainly our hearts go out to all those affected by this horrible natural disaster. But nothing on the slaughter in Libya?”

“If the president just got out there and blasted Gaddafi it could potentially end badly for those Americans,” said Ed Henry, CNN White House Correspondent. “This situation is not as black and white as some people think. The safety of those Americans is a key factor.”

Of course, some people have been laughing at Sarah Palin for a long time:

Will Kathy Griffin Channel Sarah Palin on 'Glee'?

It wouldn't be the first time the show has take a shot at Palin. During one episode last year, tart-tongued cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester, portrayed by Jane Lynch, chastised two students by declaring, "You may be two of the stupidest teens I’ve ever encountered — and that’s saying something. I once taught a cheerleading seminar to Sarah Palin.”

Recent bits and pieces about Sarah Palin

A Google search this morning about Sarah Palin in the news didn't yield many interesting results. The CPAC straw poll, the hiring of Michael Glassner and some musings about a possible running mate for Sarah in 2012 are the top stories.

Google couldn't help, but I was sent a very good link about Sarah Palin, Franklin Graham and some others in connection with USAID money meant for Haiti relief which seems to be finding a different destination, to be used for different purposes. (H/T to AB)

Our Government-Funded Mission to Make Haiti Christian: Your Tax Dollars, Billy Graham's Son, Monsanto and Sarah Palin

Franklin Graham with Sarah Palin in Haiti, December 2010

Here are a couple of snippets from Abe Sauer's article:

[...] U.S. taxpayer dollars are, against Presidential directive, being funneled from the United States Agency for International Development to Billy Graham's charities for use in Christian proselytizing—all while building Sarah Palin's 2012 campaign army.

and

Monsanto donated tons of corn and vegetable seed to Haitian farmers and has committed to donating hundreds of tons more in the coming months. But these seeds are hybrids, engineered not only so that they cannot naturally reproduce, but to assure Haitian farmers remain in hock to Monsanto in the future.

Please read the whole article.

Nomadic Joe also made some connections between Haiti and Sarah Palin's new chief-of-staff in an article on Politicalgates.

I find it scandalous that some people have no qualms in exploiting one of the poorest countries in the world in such cynical fashion. Sarah Palin appears to be very comfortable in the company of these despicable opportunists. Birds of a feather...

This is it for the moment. I'll give you more Sarah Palin bits and pieces next week, perhaps before, if something spectacular happens...

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