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...

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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's "Abortiongate"

This is from "Going Rogue", expressing Sarah Palin's own thoughts:

Just before Track was born, Todd and I moved to a small apartment in Wasilla, next door to our good friend Curtis Menard, Jr., who by now was a dentist like his dad. Curtis was like a brother to me. We asked him to be Track's godfather. Todd and I shared one car, and we loved our little life together, though with the Slope and fishing schedule we still didn't see each other very much. I wanted another baby right away, so I was excited when I learned I was pregnant again. We were sure it was another boy, and we decided to call him Tad, a combination of Todd and Track.

I loved the fact we had planned so well and that events were falling neatly into place in our well-ordered lives. Our babies would be a year apart, right on schedule. At the beginning of my second trimester, I went in for my monthly exam. Todd was on the Slope. He had always been good about leaving me short love notes before he left, but as I drove to the doctor's office, his latest played in my head because it had a special addendum: "I love you, Tad!"

At my exam, the doctor listened for the baby's heartbeat. When she didn't smile, I didn't worry; she was known for her mellow demeanor. But I noticed that she kept moving the stethoscope around. And she didn't hand it to me as doctors usually do, so the expectant mother can listen to the sound of life.

"Let's do a quick sonogram," she said.

I agreed, eager to confirm that Tad was a boy - or to be surprised.

We moved to another room, and I lay down on a sheet-covered table. The doctor spread gel on my belly and began sliding the transducer back and forth. I waited for the familiar Shoosh-shoosh-shoosh sound of the baby's beating heart.

But it didn't come. And the sonogram picture looked empty.

The doctor said coldly, "There's nothing alive in there."

Her bluntness shocked me. I felt sick and hollow, and burst into tears.

"You have a couple of choices about getting rid of it," she said.

"It." That's what she called our baby, whom we'd been calling Tad for three months.

She went on to explain that I could go home and let "it" pass naturally. Or I could have a D&C.

(...)

Todd flew home to be with me when I had the D&C. When the doctor's bill arrived in our mailbox, it came with a typo. In the box describing the procedure, someone had typed, "Abortion." Instead of starting off with a fresh form, they painted it over with a thin layer of Wite-Out and retyped, "Miscarriage." For some reason it just felt like salt in the wound.

Hmmm... where do we start? This is so badly written it's difficult to make any sense out of it. The bulk of the sub-chapter's section was transcribed above. It deals with their schedule for producing babies and how this carefully planned schedule was cruelly disrupted by events in the second trimester of her pregnancy.

Knowing something about writing and how to structure a text, I don't understand why she opened this section by mentioning Curtis Menard Jr. How is the fact that he lived next door relevant to the rest of the passage? Oh, yes, he was invited to be Track's godfather. But it seems to me that the key is in this sentence: "Curtis was like a brother to me."

How did she manage to get pregnant 3 months after Track's birth if "with the Slope and fishing schedule we still didn't see each other very much."? They must have planned every second of every minute of every available day: "I loved the fact we had planned so well and that events were falling neatly into place in our well-ordered lives. Our babies would be a year apart, right on schedule."

Then we have a doctor "known for her mellow demeanor" described as cold and blunt a few paragraphs later.

I found two definitions of mellow:

1. Having the gentleness, wisdom, or tolerance often characteristic of maturity.
2. Relaxed and unhurried; easygoing.

The mellow doctor was cold and blunt? Maybe Sarah Palin and her ghostwriter don't quite grasp the meaning of the word mellow?


But the killer is in the last paragraph: When the doctor's bill arrived in our mailbox, it came with a typo. In the box describing the procedure, someone had typed, "Abortion." Instead of starting off with a fresh form, they painted it over with a thin layer of Wite-Out. and retyped, "Miscarriage."

When Patrick published a post about Sarah Palin's miscarriages, wmhogg left this comment:

I'm a physician, and this is the silliest thing I've ever heard. First of all the sonogram wouldn't look empty, and how would Sarah know if it was? Does she know how to read sonograms? No doctor, not even one, would tell her that the sonogram looked empty, simply because that's not how it works. Sarah thinks that her uterus was like an empty house with all the furniture gone. Instead, think of Grand Central Station.

A D&C when you are pregnant is an abortion. There's no other term for it. Her story about the word "miscarriage" on the hospital bill would be silly as "miscarriage" is not a medical term - that's layperson speak.

In other words, "abortion" is a medical procedure, "miscarriage" is not.

Over many other threads, people remarked that no clinic would use Wite-Out on a bill.

Sarah Palin's reason for including this little tale was raised as well.

Personally I think that the whole point of the miscarriage/abortion mention in the book should be to ask "why" it was brought up.

There was absolutely no reason to bring it up. Unless she spoke in great detail about each of her pregnancies, then what would be the point of her bringing this information up in her book, sharing it with everyone.

She does it for a reason, and the question is what is the reason she felt the need to make this information known.

Is she worried about someone revealing this information and it being damaging? Is she worried that the truth will come out about an abortion and she is revising the story before it comes out so she can claim she has already told people about what "really" happened, in an attempt to lessen the damage it might do to her "pro-life" cred?

Make no mistake, this was offered up for a specific reason, especially considering how little was offered about her medical history in that letter released for the presidential election.

Our suspicions regarding this strange tale arose entirely from Sarah Palin's own account of events. Just like the wild ride...

Sarah Palin appears to be incapable of telling her stories without introducing embellishments that come across as odd and contradictory.

As with all Sarah Palin's versions of events, her very own words seem to be her worst enemies.

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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Sarah Palin: "Leave my kids alone!"

$arah Palin keeps telling the media to leave her family alone. It's ironic that she should insert one or more members of her family into her own political discourse at any given opportunity.



Todd has many roles as a prop: Todd the Native, Todd the Iron Dog champion, Todd the builder, Todd the fishpicker, Todd the North Slope worker, Todd the caregiver and Todd the hunk.

Track is fighting for freedom of speech in Iraq. He also provided Sarah with her hockey mom credentials. Hell yeah!



Bristol was presented to the world as a pregnant teenager, 5 months gone, to dispel vicious rumours about Sarah Palin's faked pregnancy with Trig. Bristol later became an ambassador for sexual abstinence with the Candies Foundation. Bristol's ex-fiance was also part of the happy family during the campaign. Tripp belongs in this multi-prop set up, appearing out cold on national TV.





Willow used to be an example of the wisdom of children. According to Sarah Palin, Willow was the first to notice that Trig had Down's Syndrome. Then Willow was mentioned in an interview with Glenn Beck regarding the unfairness of President Obama's plans for tax cuts, where 95% of workers would benefit. Willow wanted to know about the other 5%, so Sarah explained that those were the ones who had worked hard to make America great, but they were rich. "Why should they be punished for their success?", said Willow. More recently, Willow became the victim of a statutory rape joke and the target of a pedophile, perverted 62 year old late night comedian. At least that's the Palins interpretation of the events, which they disseminated to the media through interviews and press releases..



Piper is the cute one. Of all the members of the family, Piper was the busiest state official, clocking more airmiles in the service of the state than all the others. Piper gives interviews to the likes of Bob and Mark, Eddie Burke, signs autographs, looks after Trig, wears high heels and at one point ran a lemonade stand in Juneau.






Trig is fast becoming $arah's most valuable prop. He provides her with impeccable anti-abortion credentials, great photo opportunities, goes running with with her when she thrashes her guts and works her thighs into a sweating, throbbing state. His iconic image was desecrated in a photoshop incident. Now he's going to face "Obama's death panel" along with Sarah's parents.



Other members of the family occasionally play minor roles. There's the autistic nephew who came in very handy during a recent visit to the state of New York. Sarah's science teacher dad is mentioned when she wants to prove she's not a creationist. She has been known to quote her parents' fridge magnets.

By the way, none of the things described above is made up. Everything is well documented and a lot of it came from Sarah Palin's very own mouth.

Now, please, stop mentioning her family!
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Sarah Palin's political props

Sarah Palin has a nice little collection of people and events she can use to score political points. More accomplished politicians use their actions to that end. Sarah uses the incidental events in her life to create a persona to hoodwink her supporters and annoy those who don't buy it.

Her family alone is a rich source.

Todd's nativeness is constantly exaggerated. The stories get more and more embroidered and outrageous. Todd is an example to all natives, his lyfestyle should be copied by all those whining natives. They should seize opportunities upon the North Slope, the mines, anything that doesn't involve preserving their way of life. Todd did it and still returns to his village, still embraces all things native, still lives in rural Alaska when he has the chance. Yes, Todd spends one season doing real work and the rest of the time he indulges in the quaint native lifestyle in his village and all its pleasures. It's a win win situation!

Track made the sacrifice of not pursuing higher education in order to serve his country in Iraq. We all heard it at the rallies. Track is risking his life so the people of America can have freedom. He's also obeying God's will. After all, the war in Iraq is a task from God.

Bristol served more than one purpose. She was paraded before the nation and the world as a pregnant teen to prove that Sarah was Trig's mother. Now Bristol is the poster girl for planned, unplanned, accidental, whatever teenage pregnancy. Abstinence is good, is bad, it works, it doesn't work, it's not realistic, whatever. Sarah is the ultimate supportive parent, the living proof that these things can happen in any family, but they are blessed to have a strong, loving family and so on.

Willow should be renamed Wisdom. She was the first one to notice that Trig had Down's Syndrome, giving Sarah another opportunity for an emotional platitude. "If he does, you know you will still love him, Willow. It'll be okay." Then Willow made an incredible remark when she heard on the radio that 95 % of the people in America would benefit from tax cuts, according to campaign promises made by Barack Obama. She turned to her mom and asked "What about the other 5%?" Mom explained that those were the ones who had worked hard to make America great, but they were rich. "Why should they be punished for their success?", said Willow. Oh, the wisdom of a child!

Piper is Sarah's favourite sidekick. She goes everywhere with Sarah, she appears in every interview, whenever possible. Of all the members of the family, Piper is the busiest state official, clocking more airmiles in the service of the state than all the others. We saw Piper standing next to Sarah at the 50th year of Alaska Statehood gala, in January this year, wearing a lovely summer dress and high-heeled sandals. When Matt Lauer interviewed the Palins at their home, there was Piper in high heels again, so cute! Piper gives radio interviews as well. I wonder when she manages to find a gap in her busy schedule to attend school!

Trig doesn't rank as high as Piper in Sarah's preferences, but he'll do as a valuable prop. Trig was the vice presidential campaign mascot. He was passed to everybody who cared to hold him, was dressed like a cute elephant for Halloween, had his hair smoothed with Piper's spit (that cute Piper again!). He worked tirelessly during the campaign, staying up late, braving the noise, the bright lights and all the commotion of the rallies. Trig does a great job humanizing Sarah Palin.

Tripp doesn't have a proper role yet, but he's a blessing anyway.

I'll look at the non-family props and photo-ops another time. Starting with the Evangelical circus in the wrong villages when Sarah finally decided that the natives in the Yukon Delta needed some assistance after all.
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