Sarah Palin's imaginary threats to her daughters - projection, marketing strategy or distraction?

When Sarah Palin drops hints about perverts targeting her children, we get suspicious.

This is not the first time she has used her children in some imaginary scenario where her children are at the mercy of sex predators.

Sarah Palin used some alleged threats of gang rape against Willow and Bristol as an excuse to move them away from Juneau.

From Going Rogue:

"In that first year, I was alerted to threats against Willow by students at her Juneau school, one particularly disturbing. Someone posted a note on an Internet site threatening to gang-rape her at school. I never felt safe for her after that. Later, the same thing happened to Bristol."

Last year David Letterman was depicted as a dirty old man who craked jokes about the statutory rape of Willow.



Now Joe McGinniss is supposed to get a kick out of peering through Piper bedroom window and watching her children swimming in Lake Lucille.

"Wonder what kind of material he’ll gather while overlooking Piper’s bedroom, my little garden, and the family’s swimming hole?"

Why does Sarah Palin have such an unhealthy preocupation with sexual threats against her daughters? Why does she paint an image where her daughters are the objects of men's fantasies? Who is sexualizing her underage daughters?

Bristol is now a famous teenage single mother. Encouraged by mom Sarah, Bristol associated herself with a company that uses sex in the most cynical way to sell their shoes and clothes while promoting abstinence as the only form of birth control.



Sarah Palin's own image revolves around a sexy image. Her own father thought it was appropriate to wear a t-shirt proclaiming his daughter to be the hottest governor of the coldest state.

Sex sells and Sarah Palin exploits the interest people have in all things sexual to stay in the headlines.

If she decided to become a pole dancer or pose for Playboy, good for her. But she's putting her own daughters out there as sex objects.

The grizzly mama conjured up images of Bristol and Willow being gang raped, of Willow being raped in the Yankee Stadium, of Piper taking her clothes off in her bedroom being observed by a dirty old man.

Sarah Palin has a very strange mind and projects her darkest thoughts onto men whose minds are NOT dominated with dreams of illegal sex with minors.

But there are plenty of other men who must be very grateful to Sarah Palin for providing them with the sexual imagery involving her own famous, good looking daughters to fuel their fantasies.

Sarah Palin uses sex to sell herself and uses her daughters sexuality to exact revenge on any man who dares to challenge or mock her.

Her latest stunt is generating many headlines and has Fox News in a frenzy. While they're discussing her fence and Todd's wrestling prowess as an alpha male, while people are debating the perceived threats to her daughters by the presence of a journalist and author too close for comfort, a number of other things that happened in the past week are not being discussed:

Rand Paul made a fool of himself.

Vaughn Ward lost the primary in Idaho.

Tim Burns didn't win the vacant congress seat in Pennsylvania.

Nikki Haley's skeletons are falling out of her closet.

Sarah Palin's speech in Las Vegas was a disaster.

She put her foot in her mouth regarding BP's donations to Obama.

The fee for her appearance at CSU Stanislaus was disclosed.

Chuck Heath said she doesn't make her own decisions.

Is it a coincidence that she turned the spotlight on her new neighbour when she was being criticized by the media? Is it a coincidence that she portrayed him as a threat to her daughters?

Yes, sex sells, sex distracts. In Sarah Palin's case, sex is a weapon she reloaded when things became a bit tricky.

What a cynical move by a woman with a very disturbed mind!

Price the children pay for Sarah Palin's millions

Sarah Palin treated the State of Alaska as a travel agent until she had to refund the state for some of her children's travel expenses. Her staff were very helpful, coming up with various "purposes" for the children's trips around Alaska and further afield so the Palins could be reimbursed.

Later her website added a page regarding invitations that specifically asked whether the First Family was invited to events.

Sarah Palin's own statement at the time contradicts earlier assertions that her children travelled on the state dime for state related business:

"This is a big state, and I am obligated to -- and intend to -- keep Alaskans informed and meet with them as much as I can, from Barrow to Marshall to Ketchikan, at the same time, I am blessed to have a large and loving family, and the discharge of my duties should not prevent me from spending time with them. I will do so in accordance with the upcoming rewrite of regulations concerning travel expenses, and despite those who would crimp me from fulfilling either my obligations to the state or my obligations to my family."

Were the children government officials or simply part of her large and loving family? Most of their trips were considered valid as state business and Sarah Palin had to reimburse the state for just a fraction of them, around $10,000.

Yet she defended herself by saying "I am blessed to have a large and loving family, and the discharge of my duties should not prevent me from spending time with them."

Piper was the record breaker, with the most air miles. Of all Palin children, Piper used to be the clear favourite, appearing with Sarah at numerous events and being the recipient of some genuine affection from her mom. The only downside is that Piper didn't seem to attend school on a regular basis long before the vice presidential campaign in 2008.

Looking back (without prejudice) at the Palins before August 2008, they appeared to be a normal family, even though they had very hectic lives and were sometimes scattered across a very large state due to their mother's position.

Sarah Palin's run for the vice presidency was the worst thing that happened in these children's lives. Their family life went from hectic and slightly chaotic to utterly dysfunctional overnight.

Track may have escaped the worst, becoming the dutiful child fighting for American's freedom of speech in Iraq.

Bristol was quickly thrown under the bus and her pregnancy with Tripp was used by the campaign as an alibi for Sarah's rumoured faked pregnancy with Trig. Since then, Bristol has become a gossip magazine darling, retroactive virgin and a drama queen in a federal court.

Willow has the lowest profile, perhaps because of her age and for being the middle child. One memorable incident was her depiction as the victim of statutory rape in the Letterman fiasco. More recently, Willow was seen in the "locust" episode when the Palins and entourage descended on a gifting suite of a pre-Oscar event and had a jolly good time.

Piper lost her place as the favourite child to Trig and was relegated to the role of babysitter and provider of some cute moments. She's quite at ease with the crowds and gives autographs quite happily. Again, Piper missed a lot of classes during the campaign and book tour. The trend seemed set to continue until Alan Grayson made a remark about his own kid being in school.



Trig was the centerpiece of the Going Rogue book tour. The little guy worked very hard to please the crowds, on one occasion appearing late at night in a diaper and sweatshirt, facing the elements, the noise and the chaos with admirable aplomb. Trig was last seen in public in December 2009 while on a short vacation in Hawaii. The only other event involving Trig since then was a "vicious attack" directed at him on an episode of Family Guy. According to some, Trig is now living with aunt Heather in Anchorage...

So, the mother who was prepared to bend a few rules in order to be around her children, from Barrow to Marshall to Ketchikan, has to be content with covering the whole of the United States (and parts of Canada) with fewer opportunities to be around her large and loving family.

Is the pile of dollars Sarah Palin made so far a reasonable substitute for a family? Are the lives of the Palin children any better than they were before July 2009, when their mother quit as governor of Alaska to make some serious money?

How they must dream of those days when mom made a modest $125,000 a year but they could regularly see her in the flesh instead of a TV screen...

+++

Some recent unrelated articles about Sarah Palin:

Palin's lawyer says another ethics complaint dismissed
Palin email witness decries 'dog and pony' prosecution
Sarah Palin Accuses Obama of Using AZ Immigration Law to Incite People
Does Anyone Know the Real Sarah Palin?
Strip Joint Hosts Palin Look-a-Like Contest

Good article about bloggers:
New Study: Liberals More Open Than Conservatives Online
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Sarah Palin and the Canadians + some tips on education

Colby Cosh, a Canadian journalist, had to attend Sarah Palin's gig in Calgary and live blogged the event in a very entertaining way. Here are some highlights:

6:19 pm: “Alaska and Alberta!” Palin’s daughter Piper interrupts the first sentences of her speech, as if on cue, and gets a blazing round of applause. Palin talks about constantly having her accent described as “Canadian”. “You did an amazing job” with the Olympics; Canada’s filled with “tough and talented hockey players.” The pandering works.

6:22 pm: Girlish excitement about meeting Shaun White backstage at the Tonight Show. I didn’t know she’d cast her lot with Leno. Bad move! You’ll lose the youth demographic!

6:26 pm: She’s laying it on a little thick with the pandering and cute gags. Of course she can get away with it, but it occurs to me that I’m not exactly sure what the substantive portion of this speech is supposed to involve. Was there going to be a substantive portion?

I can tell you what the substantive portion involved: The usual talking points, small government, lower taxes, energy independence, bashing climate change science, Tea Party, bashing Washington, D.C., all laced with Canadian references to suit the local audience. She talked quite a bit about TransCanada and the pipeline, obviously.

In the Q&A part of the event, Sarah Palin sat with Sen. Pamela Wallin to answer a few questions.

6:48 pm: Here’s Sen. Wallin. With her help, Palin dispenses deftly with the “writing on the hand” thing and the “I can see Russia from my backyard” thing. First things first, I suppose. The former has Biblical warrant (book of Isaiah, people!) and the latter was, or so Palin says, just a Tina Fey quote that got hung on the real candidate. “And she made a lotta money sayin’ it, too,” gripes the Gov.

Same old, same old...

Colby Cosh followed up the live blogging with an article called "The Final Word".

(H/T to all readers who posted links)


Piper was her usual adorable self. I hope she makes it back to Wasilla in time for school on Monday. The poor thing had trouble catching up after the vice presidential campaign. Signing autographs, being cute, waving to the crowds and smoothing Trig's hair with spit were very interesting experiences, but didn't quite make up for the missed lessons. Last year Piper missed a lot of school again, this time making appearances on Oprah, Barbara Walters, signing copies of Going Rogue and looking after Trig, as usual. I expect school gets a bit more complex as the years pass, so she must be really behind with her formal education.

I have an idea that could help Piper. If she has access to a laptop during her travels, she could visit some fun sites with lots of educational games. There's a website with a long list of links to loads of these sites. There's a lot of science, which should please old Chuck, some numbers games and other really great stuff. I'm sure Piper can use a computer, children are very savvy these days. Sarah could join in and learn something too!


I'm not sure if there are many fun sites to help Willow, who has also travelled a lot, but not as much as Piper. Bristol has missed some college classes as well. They had a fantastic experience in Hollywood, but would that help them with their grades and essays?



We know how much the Palins value education and we're just trying to be helpful.
.

Just how many of these t-shirts do the Palins own?

Do the Palins have a t-shirt each or have they been sharing the same one?

Bristol Palin with Granny, Todd and the grandchildren on July 4, 2009, in Juneau

Sarah Palin (incognito), with Trig, December 2009, in Hawaii

Todd Palin, wearing "the" t-shirt probably on the next day, December 2009, in Hawaii

Well, if they own one t-shirt each, we could call it "family style". But if Sarah and Todd borrowed Bristol's shirt, what are they doing with all the millions Sarah was paid for her book?

Oh, yes, I forgot, Sarah is not only a fiscal conservative, but she walks the walk and is very thrifty at home also, too.

The t-shirt says: "If you don't love America, then why don't you get the hell out"

Considering how much the Teabaggers complain about the country all the time, who exactly should be getting the hell out?
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Sarah Palin's family values - UPDATE: Chuck Heath was adopted! UPDATE 2 - Sarah Palin did mention something about it in "Going Rogue"

Many people noticed how Trig is being used by Sarah Palin in her "bus" tour. It doesn't matter what time of day or night, it doesn't matter if the weather is bad, Trig makes an appearance in unsuitable clothes, minus his glasses, then he's handed to the nearest aide while Sarah grabs the microphone without a backward glance at her precious gift from God.

Some commentators have talked about how Trig is very important in helping cement Sarah Palin's pro-life credentials. One of Sarah Palin's aides, Jason Recher, even said that people go to book signings to see Trig.

But we're worried about Trig's welfare. We know that he must feel the cold, specially when he's yanked from a nap to make an appearance in bare feet, a diaper and a bare midriff. Trig must be flying with her in order to provide her grand entrances photo ops at the signings. This worries me:

Children with DS often have medical problems such as chronic pulmonary hypertension, frequent infections, and pulmonary vascular overperfusion and injury from existing or previous cardiac defects. These problems all may be viewed as risk factors for HAPE (high-altitude pulmonary edema) and thus result in the rapid development of HAPE at low altitudes. Care should be taken when traveling to even moderate altitudes with children with DS.

We don't know who gave birth to Trig, but we know that Sarah Palin has parental responsibility. In her case, parental irresponsibility seems more fitting. Her favourite child, Piper, has been out of school for weeks now. She told Matt Lauer that she was having trouble catching up after missing so much school during the campaign. She was a year younger. Surely school gets a bit more complicated every year and Piper should have a harder time this year?

Sarah Palin's parenting style is very unorthodox. First under the bus was Bristol, exposed as a five month (no more, no less) pregnant teenager to prove that Trig was Sarah's baby. Apart from Track, all the children old enough to be in school were travelling up and down the country with the campaign circus. Before she was tapped as John McCain's running mate, her children were already clocking many Alaskan airmiles, seemingly changing schools all the time because Sarah Palin couldn't be bothered to live in Juneau on a permanent basis.

Last summer both Sarah and Todd Palin accused David Letterman of cracking jokes about the rape of 14 year old Willow. In order to "protect" their young daughter from the perverted Letterman, they put a big spotlight on Willow, when everybody understood the joke, however tasteless, in a completely different context.

Where are their family values? Their children can be used to get back at people, they don't go to school on a regular basis, don't have a regular bedtime, are constantly exposed to large groups of people in any weather and at unsuitable times.

The job of a parent is to protect and nurture, to provide a secure and stable environment so the children can fulfil their potential.

What we see with the Palins are children who are treated like trained seals in a circus act or used to make a point when it suits their mother's agenda.

Trig has special needs but he's getting a lot less than any child without challenges.

In my book, that's criminal.

Bree Palin has an excellent slide show of Trig in the book tour.

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UPDATE: A reader sent me a very interesting tidbit, which has never been mentioned anywhere in any of the many articles and books about Sarah Palin. It's the obituary of a Dorothy Mooney, Chuck Heath's adoptive mom (source: The Spokesman Review", February 11, 1992). We can only guess whether being adopted had any impact on Mr Heath's adult life, but having observed the family dynamics and read a few accounts of the Heath children's early years, it sort of makes you go hmmm... (H/T to D)


UPDATE 2: Excerpt from Going Rogue

He (Dad) was born in 1938 to the celebrity photographer Charlie Heath, who specialized in shooting famous prizefighters.
(...)

...when Dad was ten Grandpa Charlie moved the family to Hope, Idaho, and started a fishing lure business, while Grandma Marie continued to teach school. Grandma Marie was a Christian Scientist who didn't believe in doctors or medicine, and believed that physical illness was merely a manifestation of the mind.

Dad doesn't talk much about his childhood, but through the years I heard enough muffled conversations between my mom and dad to know that his parents' acceptance of pain must have translated beyond the physical. Dad's childhood seemed to me painful and lonely.

Sports and outdoors were Dad's passion, but his parents thought they were a waste of time. Dad had a choice: he could either abandon his passion or fend for himself. So he rode the bus fifteen miles each day to Sandpoint High School, and hitchhiked home every night after practice. He became a standout athlete, excelling in every sport. He held the school record for the 100-yard dash until 1998 (dad sent the boy who broke it a letter of congratulations), and was recently inducted into Sandpoint's Sports Hall of Fame. Even setting records didn't capture my grandparents' attention, though. Dad worked in a local lumberyard, staying with different families. He went from couch to couch when he couldn't hitch a ride back to Hope, and was virtually adopted by a classmate's kind family, the Mooneys.

Some questions have to be asked:

What does Sarah Palin mean by this passage: his parents' acceptance of pain must have translated beyond the physical.

A father who was a celebrity photographer specializing in shooting prizefighters and who went on to start a fishing lure business didn't show any interest in Chuck Heath's passion for sports and the great outdoors?

Why did Sarah Palin say that he was "virtually" adopted by the Mooneys when Dorothy's obituary clearly states that he was indeed adopted?

In the previous update I said a possible impact of an adoption and the strange family dynamics made you go hmmm.

Having read Sarah Palin's account of her father's childhood and how she made the reference to a "virtual" adoption, it makes you go more than hmmm, it makes you scratch your head and wonder if anything is ever straightforward in this family!

(Click on photos to enlarge)

The Levi Johnston Blues - Sung by Ben Folds, Lyrics by Nick Hornby

We have a nice fun post for you today before we move on to more serious matters - Kathleen just discovered on youtube the "Levi Johnston Blues", sung by US singer Ben Folds, and the lyrics have been written by no-one else other than UK writer Nick Hornby ("HighFidelity", "Fever Pitch")!

Here is the video - there is also a live version available on youtube:



Here are the lyrics - will Levi get any royalties?


"Woke up this morning, what do I see?
Three thousand cameras, pointing at me,
Dude says, You Levi?, I'm like, Yes, that's me sir,
Well, you've knocked up the VP nominee's daughter

So I tell him, No, you got it wrong, mister,
Already with a girl, and her name's Bristol
They all laugh and say, where you been, sonny?
Your mother-in-law's a heartbeat from the presidency

I say, Mother-in-law? No, we ain't getting married
They say you will be soon, boy, she just announced it
I get on my dirt-bike, ride to my girl's home
I'm gonna lay down the law, tell her what's going on

CHORUS:
I'm a fuckin' redneck, I live to hang out with the boys
Play some hockey, do some fishing, kill some moose
I like to shoot the shit and do some chillin', I guess
Ya fuck with me and I'll kick your ass

So we talk and it turns out we don't believe in abortion
And sex outside marriage is against our religion
And when I try to tell them I'm eighteen years old
They say Levi, it's too late, you gotta do as you're told

CHORUS
I'm a fuckin' redneck, I live to hang out with the boys
Get on my snowboard, do some fishing, kill some moose
I like to shoot the shit and do some chillin', I guess
Ya fuck with me and I'll kick your ass"

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/09/ben-folds-nick-hornby-pre_n_315950.html

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Sarah Palin: I spy with my little wonky eye....Pie Spy!

+++UPDATE November 14, 2010+++

+++Pie Spy LLC mentioned in SarahPAC's quartely report (click here)+++

Rarely a day without news from the colourful life of Sarah Palin!

As the ADN reports today, Sarah Palin bagged the considerable amount of $1.25 million as an advance payment for her bookdeal. Palin mentions this figure in her new obligatory financial disclosure form for 2009 (the forms includes all income for 2009 until she resigned as Governor on July 26, 2009).

This advance payment, however, doesn't come as a great surprise, taken the fact into account that the previous speculations ranged somewhere between $ 2 million and $ 7 million. Still, nice to have this figure finally confirmed. Did she receive a similar amount as an additional payment recently when the manuscript was handed in, or even more? As always, we can only guess.

Then comes surprise No 1:

In the form, on the first page, she mentions the number of her dependent children ("biological children, stepchildren, adoptive children") as "3".


So...there is Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper and Trig. Everyone knows that Track was in the army during this time, so he most likely doesn't count as a dependent child any more.

But Bristol? Was she not a dependent child during the first half of 2009? She had her High School commencement ceremony on May 14, 2009, and cleverly combined this event with a cover-story in People-magazine. She also had her press-opportunity with the Candie's foundation on May 6, 2009. For both contracts Bristol certainly received a substantial sum of money. Whether this also "removed" her status as dependent child, I cannot answer right now, as I haven't got the specific legal knowledge. We have to be careful with quick conclusions: It might very well be legally possible to consider her as a non-dependent child, taking into account the substanial amount of money she has earned and the fact that she was already 18 years old.

But there is one great inconsistency, and these are the little things which can drive one crazy when it comes to analysing Sarah Palin's "dealings": On her financial disclosure form for 2008, she declared that she had "4" dependent children.


So far so good - "obviously" Track didn't count any more, because he joined the army in September 2007. Or DID Sarah still count him as a dependent?

This question is justified, because curiously, Sarah Palin still mentioned in the attachments to the form for 2008 what the "child" Track Palin earned from January to December 2008 - $ 21,903.20. So, why didn't Sarah Palin mention the income of Track and Bristol in the financial disclosure form for 2009 - in contrast to what she did for 2008? Or did she purposely exclude TRIG in 2008 and didn't count him as a dependent child?


Now to the second surprise: Sarah Palin owns the "Pie Spy LLC".



Huh? The wonky name makes it instantly believable that a Palin is involved in this business. But what exactly is the "Pie Spy LLC" doing?

Thankfully, the ADN already did some digging. From Alaska's corporation database, we learn that the business was founded on April 3, 2009. It provides "Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities". The business has never been mentioned anywhere before - a google search brings no results. Confusingly, in classic Sarah Palin fashion, in her financial disclosure form for 2009, the purpose of the business says "Marketing".

The registered agent of the business is Sarah's "infamous" lawyer Thomas Van Flein.



Who else is involved? From the copy of the "Articles of Organization" for the "Pie Spy LLC" we learn that Meghan Stapleton acts as the "Organizer".



This document was faxed from "Rebound Sports and Orthopedic Physical Therapy LLC" which belongs to Meghan Stapleton's husband Eric Steenburgh.

So what is the real purpose of this business, why was it set up? Why is it not out there on the market, advertising itself? Why is Sarah's lawyer the registered agent?

I could think about some sneaky purposes for this business. As always, we are just left to speculate. At some point, we will maybe hear more about it.

Update: Celtic Diva has a very informative post with interesting speculations about the "Pie Spy" business.


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Bristol Palin's "special" diet

Sarah Palin's fan club always point out teenagers' weight fluctuations to justify Bristol's appearance in some photos, saying that she probably had too many Big Macs, fries and milkshakes.


September/October 2007

Did she have too many fries in this next group of photos? The similarity between Bristol the glutton and Bristol mom-to-be is uncanny.


September 2008

Eventually our Bristol stopped pigging-out and finally managed to go back to her normal slender self.


December 2006, June 2007, May 2009

Too many fries and milkshakes? Naah...

(Click on photos to enlarge)
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Sarah Palin had a plan

Levi Johnston on Vanity Fair:

Sarah told me she had a great idea: we would keep it a secret—nobody would know that Bristol was pregnant. She told me that once Bristol had the baby she and Todd would adopt him. That way, she said, Bristol and I didn’t have to worry about anything. Sarah kept mentioning this plan. She was nagging—she wouldn’t give up. She would say, “So, are you gonna let me adopt him?” We both kept telling her we were definitely not going to let her adopt the baby. I think Sarah wanted to make Bristol look good, and she didn’t want people to know that her 17-year-old daughter was going to have a kid.

He was supposedly talking about Bristol's pregnancy with Tripp. Interesting, eh?
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