Todd has failed to win the Iron Dog since 2007. When he doesn't break his snowmobile, he breaks a limb or something.
The team of Huntington and Olds crossed the finish line of the 2,000-mile snowmachine race in Fairbanks at 5:51 p.m., Saturday, about 18 minutes ahead of the second-place team of Todd Palin and Eric Quam. Palin’s hometown is Wasilla, while Quam is from Palmer. Palin and Quam were actually in the lead coming down the homestretch into Fairbanks, but Palin suffered a mechanical issue that allowed Huntington and Olds to pass them.
“We had all kinds of neck-and-neck and back-and-forth going on,” said Iron Dog Executive Director Kevin Kastner. “At one point, (Marc) McKenna and (Dustin) Van Meter were blasting along and they went into the drink. In the end, the net result that ended up making the decision was Palin had an accident and nearly tore the ski off his sled.”
So much bad luck... As the non-girly sidekick of a very famous person, there are too many eyes on his team and they can't resort to some of their tried and tested tactics anymore.
There were other rumours about charming Todd kicking competitors' fuel cans and other nasty bits and pieces, but who knows?
There are lots of smaller teams without big sponsors, who don't have multi-millionaire wives. They compete fairly and find it galling to be beaten by cheaters. Marc McKenna's team is one of them. One of his small sponsors was very upset in 2007 and it was not for political reasons. It actually upset him even more when the news of Todd's team cheating hit the news and gave the liberals ammunition against his governor.
I believe that in the old days Todd competed hoping to win the prize money, it made a difference to him back then. I'll leave you with this video of an endearing young lady talking about her husband's win in 1995. Classy gal...
It looks like Todd's luck has run out and his aspirations of being a winner are going the same way as his wife's...
(Pat on the back for me. I managed to write a whole post without typing a certain name once. It might not do me any favours as far as the search engines go, but I don't care, it feels so good not to type her name...)
+++PALINGATES EXCLUSIVE+++ +++Todd Palin sponsored by subsidiary of Venezuelan state owned oil company CITGO!+++
Palin palling around with Communists!
We have news! Sarah Palin goes "commercial"!
As we discovered just now, Sarah has made a commercial for the Iditarod sled dog race 2010, which can be found on the official site of the Iditarod:
So what's the deal here? The Iditarod is a commercial event, and there can be no doubt that Sarah Palin got paid for this commercial. But she certainly received much less than her regular $ 100,000 speaking fee.
But - can that be? Isn't Sarah Palin the queen of the grifters? Would she really do a commercial for a relatively small event like the Iditarod just for "pocket change", without any "extra benefits"?
Well - if you look closely at Sarah's commercial, you can see that there is something curious going on here. The Iditarod is a sled dog race. However, Sarah is standing in front of a snowmachine. A snowmachine?? Let's take a closer look:
"Mystik has produced quality lubricants since 1922 for every major U.S. industry, from farming, petroleum and automotive to trucking, textiles, mining, construction and food processing. They all value Mystik products for their dependability and long service life. They also appreciate the guaranteed lubricants warranty."
"The company is owned by PDV America, Inc., an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., the national oil company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela."
That means in effect that Todd Palin is being sponsored by Hugo Chavez!
That's what Michelle Malkin had to say about CITGO in 2006. Clearly the right-wingers have strong reservations towards CITGO, to put it carefully. Does Sarah Palin care? Does she even know? And if she doesn't know, why not?
But it gets even better!
Look what Sarah Palin said about "foreign oil" in this clip - which was thankfully provided by our special friends from "creeps4palin":
Did you hear that? Sarah Palin says from 1:30:
"We need that resource (natural gas from Alaska) much better than the alternative...to rely on foreign sources that are controlled in some cases by regimes which are volatile, dangerous and don't like America."
Hey Sarah - how does it feel to make an advertisement promoting a company which is controlled by Hugo Chavez and accepting sponsorship from them?
Couldn't you choose a company as sponsor that is not owned by "regimes that don't like America"? Surely there are many American owned oil companies around in the USA for you to approach for sponsorship.
It seems that the Palins can be bought by just anyone!
Sarah Palin is palling around with the Communists!
(Kathleen provided the research and Patrick wrote this post)
+++
UPDATE (by Regina):
Sarah Palin described her experiences during her appearance on Saturday Night Live in 2008 in "Going Rogue" - an excerpt:
"During all this, the writers, the producers, and the campaign continued to hammer out the script. Josh Brolin, Mark Wahlberg, and the singer Adele were also on the show that night, as was director Oliver Stone, who made a cameo appearance. Unbelievably, he is a supporter of Communist dictator Hugo Chavez, who in a 2006 speech to the United Nations referred to the president of the United States as 'the devil himself.' I did not shake Stone's hand."
Two things jumped at me. One was her posturing by not shaking Oliver Stone's hand. The other was how Sarah drew attention to the disrespect to the president of the United States by Hugo Chavez. She doesn't have a problem with that now that the president is somebody she doesn't like...
(H/T to Bluerinse)
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UPDATE 2 (by Regina)
Kathleen found a video of Sarah Palin talking about Hugo Chavez during the 2008 campaign. It's in Spanish, so a rough translation is provided below.
Sarah Palin was asked by a reporter from a Spanish language TV network in the US if she considered President Hugo Chavez a dictator (he was elected). She answered "Yes."
The reporter goes on to ask whether she would consider military action against Venezuela. Sarah Palin said only as a last resort, that Senator McCain and herself love peace, she has a son serving in Iraq, fighting for our freedoms, etc, and says she believes in sanctions to show these unfriendly regimes that they can't mess with America. She would target Hugo Chavez in particular, because he wanted to use energy sources as weapons, which proves how important energy independence is for our country.
The Venezuelan commentator closes with a remark about how President Hugo Chavez was inserted into the talking points of a political campaign, but found it odd that Sarah Palin was wearing a red jacket, the colour of Chavez's party. "Subliminal message?" he asked. .
"The mere idea of someone doctoring the photo of a special needs baby is appalling." --- Meg Stapleton to CNN, June 2009
+++
Sarah Palin fingertips have discovered the "little twittering thing" again. She is currently at the Iron Dog snowmobile race in Alaska, in which Todd takes part, and she reveals her excitement to the world via twitter.
The attached picture is: A silly photo-montage of Trig!
UPDATE - Here's the original photo:
Sarah, please tell me, why isn't that funny?
Don't bother to use your brain cells - I tell you why:
It isn't funny because this is the arrogant and bitchy answer you just gave to Andrea Friedman. Look at Trig, he has a normal life, too! He is a fan!
No, Trig hasn't a normal life. He has a mentally disturbed "mother" who uses him as a prop - again, for the whole world to see.
Instead of giving a reasoned response to the sincere concerns of Andrea, which you haven't done and surely will never do, you just showed her the finger, which is apparently the only response you are mentally capable of.
We know how Sarah Palin's calendar is shaping up for the month of February, 2010, so we wonder who will be looking after the kids, considering that Todd will be competing in the Iron Dog race.
As we can see, Scott Davis and Todd Palin have a remarkable history finishing in 2nd place. How did they break the spell and finally achieve 1st place in 2007?
Well, we might have an answer for that!
We recently found a fascinating first hand account of Team Davis/Palin efforts to win the race.
What I witnessed was Scott Davis and Todd Palin adjusting their track tension "off the clock" right before pulling up to the restart. When they were confronted, they definitely looked like the proverbial lad with his red hand in the cookie jar.
The alleged former infractions I was informed about include: taking parts on the course rather than at a checkpoint (this would allow them to repair at the failure location rather than tow or backtrack to a checkpoint), taking fuel from an airplane or bought from a villager (in former races, the rules stated fuel would only come from that provided by the race direction at the checkpoints), replacing sled parts that were not allowed to be replaced (self-explanatory), replacing parts assemblies rather than individual components (i.e., replacing a complete rear skid assembly rather than disassembling the existing skid to replace a failed part). Those are the instances I had heard of.
Mark Carr (former veteran racer) was DQ'ed during a different race for buying fuel in a village after running out before the next checkpoint. There was no '15 minute' penalty, etc......it was a full disqualification.
Why does it matter if a team breaks the rules?
The non-cheating way to handle a need for track adjustment would have been for them to restart, then immediately pull over and make the adjustment, which is what they did after getting busted.
Andrew, this race is timed. The racers were off the clock to move their machines from the impound area to the restart line on 'Front' Street. On the way there, Davis/Palin wrenched on their sleds off the clock, thus stealing several minutes from every team chasing them.
The rules state that certain parts are not legal to be replaced, and certain parts, (like a complete engine assembly) cannot be replaced as an assembly. (or a complete rear skid).
Of course, other competitors were not impressed with the performance of the winning team, and didn't forget it in a hurry. Some were still talking about it in 2008.
Much harsher penalties were usually given for similar violations, or people were even disqualified for lesser violations.
The final minutes of the 2007 race were a nailbiting affair, "in a rare nearly photo-finish style." Team 22 cheated, weren't disqualified or penalized enough and went on to win the coveted $25,000 prize money. This year the money for the winners has been doubled.
Is it possible that the 2007 "win" had something to do with the fact that the winner's spouse was the still popular and powerful governor of the great state of Alaska?
Will Mrs Todd Palin be able clear a couple of dates in her busy calendar to cheer her husband in this very Alaskan event? After all, she quit being governor to help progress the state of Alaska, didn't she? This year she could have appeared in full Arctic Cat gear, warm from head to toe, and nobody would have raised an eyebrow. Perhaps they aren't that interested in the walking billboard now that she's no longer "The Governor".
Todd won the race before, but with other partners. He has previously raced with Dusty Van Meter in the race, and they were co-champions in 2000 and 2002. In 1995, Palin partnered with Dwayne Drake for his first win.
Sarah didn't wear her husband's team colours in 1995. She was only a councilwoman in those days, but she was as classy as ever, as we can see in this video.
We're sure the other teams will be watching Team 22 very closely indeed. They have quite a reputation... and could end up $50,000 richer!
We will be paying attention to the race too. We call it "Grifter Watch".
“There can be a lot of drama that follows the race, a lot of drama. Being a favorite team, they’re targeted a lot. You can’t do anything wrong, or somebody’s going to turn you in, because that’s one way to get you out of the race: get you disqualified.”
