Fort Hood might cancel Sarah Palin's visit - Palin flying in plane of Samaritans Purse - CALL TO ACTION!

This is an article by Celtic Diva, which she posted today and which we repost with her kind permission, partly edited.

Monday, Palin took the "roadshow" to Ft Bragg, North Carolina for her book signing...a move which has angered many military and civilians alike. According to Fort Bragg Public Affairs, she is "clearly not a political figure."

Huh? I would agree that she is "clearly" not a "candidate" but considering her interference in NY-23 and Facebook tretises, she is MOST DEFINITELY a political figure.

And by the way, she chose the title "politician" on her Facebook page.

As if to try and "mitigate" the obvious danger of having an out-of-control Palin on record at Ft. Bragg potentially slamming the Commander-In-Chief, the military originally tried to keep the press away so as not to "encourage" anti-President Obama rhetoric. However, they relented when the media strongly objected.

After what we've seen at Ft. Bragg yesterday, it's easy to see why they didn't want the press to document the activities.

AP reported that the bus parked nearby, splashed with her photo, encouraged donations to her political action committee and supporters made clear that she should run for president.

+++

UPDATE:

Thanks to one of our readers, we found the picture of Sarah's bus, with the SarahPAC logo printed on it (click to enlarge):



Therefore Harper Collins, who have paid for this book tour, directly support SarahPAC with their actions, and in doing so they support an insane woman who desperately wants to come to power (so that she can display her personality disorder in the White House). Well done, Harper Collins!!

+++

It's illegal for this event on base/post to reflect any partisan politics. It's also putting active military careers in jeopardy if they are seen as participating in these activities.

Sarah Palin had promised to limit herself to signing books at Fort Bragg, no politicizing her visit, amidst general concerns that her signing would violate Federal Law (Titles 10, 2, and 18, United States Code), Department of Defense (DOD) Directives, and specific military regulations strictly limit a military active duty person's participation in partisan political activities.

I don't think it gets more partisan than SarahPAC.

Palin's father, who greeted supporters as his daughter signed copies of the book, said in an interview that Obama's handling of the military was "scary."

"I see a decline in our might," Chuck Heath said. "People used to be afraid of us and respect us, (but) they're not afraid of us and don't respect us anymore."

Errr...did I mention it was illegal for folks to spew partisanship at this event on base/post around active military personnel?

The Department of Defense defines "partisan political activity" as "activity supporting or relating to candidates representing, or issues specifically identified with, national or State political parties and associated or ancillary organizations."

According to AP, G.R. Quinn, 58, a veteran who spent 20 years in the military, wore an "Impeach Obama" shirt at Sarah Palin's book signing at Fort Bragg. He blasted the president for closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, for the plan to hold a key Sept. 11 terrorism trial in New York and for Obama's handling of the military overseas.

Should I NOW mention that partisan thing again...and add that a veteran with benefits may not want to break federal law?

I'm going to have nightmares tonight because while she was restricted from speaking at Fort Bragg, she is not yet restricted from speaking at Fort Hood! However, we might be able to change that.

There are new developments on the horizon regarding Sarah Palin's planned visit in Fort Hood on Friday, December 4, 2009.

It seems that outrage across the country over the behavior of Palin and her entourage at Ft. Bragg has shown itself in stories on military-themed websites.

For example, the AP story on Palin's Ft. Bragg visit appears on a website widely-read by our nation's military, Military.com, and they titled the piece "Some Anti-Obama Tones to Palin Bragg Visit." The comments are dominated by folks who are incensed by the behavior at the event.

For example:

"I wonder what would have happened if someone wore an impeach Bush/Cheney shirt when he was our CINC?"

Perhaps an even bigger indicator of the ripple effect after Palin's visit can be seen in a comment on this blog. The story below includes contact numbers to Public Affairs on Fort Hood, including the Col. who is the Public Affairs Officer. I requested that folks contact them and express (respectfully) their feelings.

Reader Pearlygirl took me up on that:

response from Ft Hood
I just called Col. Danner. He was very polite and also expressed that he has received many concerns about this book signing. It was set up before the recent shootings but it is being rethought. It was worth calling.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
by: pearlygirl @ Tue Nov 24, 2009 at 05:04:18 AM AKST

I thank pearlygirl and all who have called. I'm following up with a phone call to Col. Danner to try and get more of an explanation.

My understanding is that blogs across the country have been making similar posts and are encouraging phone calls as well. It looks like it may be working.

+++UPDATE+++

As if we didn't have enough reasons...

Here is the portion of the Greta Van Sustern interview last night where she accused Obama of not acknowledging/not respecting the troops as reported on Politico today:



I was angry when I read about it, but not NEARLY as angry as I was after I watched her attitude while saying the words:

"There's been a lack of acknowledgement by our president in understanding what it is that the American military provides in terms of, obviously, the safety, the security of our country," Palin said during an interview with Fox News's Greta Van Susteren. "I want him to acknowledge the sacrifices that these individual men and women - our sons, our daughters, our moms, our dads, our brothers and sisters - are providing this country to keep us safe."

There's much more.

+++

Sarah Palin arrived in North Carolina Sunday by way of Asheville. She was slated to have a much-touted dinner with Franklin Graham and his father Billy. While this is a video made by a fan (so pardon the drippiness) it does provide a good view of the plane she arrived on...and the call number. You may also see some "interesting" dynamics at play:



I received this message this morning regarding the plane from a trusted reader:

"Linda, Thought I would let you know. The plane Sarah flew in to Asheville had the N number 262SP. The SP does not stand for Sarah Palin but the plane is owned by Samaritans Purse. I checked it out at the FAA registry. Wonder if that plane is being used at Rochester and other book signing destinations? Samaritan donations being put to good use to haul Palin's carcass around."

As if that was not interesting enough, he wrote back later:

Tried to check the flight activity for this airplane (N262SP) at Flightwise.com. The flight activity for this plane is blocked by the owner. Guess he doesn't want anyone to know where he is flying. This is a good site to track an airplane's activity. Might come in handy for checking the use of AK state airplanes.

Yup, especially those Alaska planes now leased by Samaritan's Purse up here.

It seems that one must apply to have their plane's schedule made "private" and in doing so, a reason must be provided. I'd love to see the reason Franklin Graham gave for blocking access.

Did I mention that my readers are awesome?

EDIT by Palingates:

Franklin Graham is the President of Samaritan Purse, an organization which has caused some controversy in the past. They also seem to spend only a relatively small amount for the projects the donations are designed for - see HERE and HERE (but they seem to have enough money to fly Sarah Palin around!).

+++

CALL TO ACTION:

Please get in touch with Fort Hood and tell them that Sarah Palin's planned visit does not conform with military regulations.

Col. Stephen Sicinski is the Garrison Commanderof Fort Hood and his number and email are restricted.

However, here are the phone numbers of the PAO (Public Affairs Office) on Fort Hood. PLEASE BE RESPECTFUL when you speak to them. Also, please no profanity or insults, no matter how much Palin might irritate you:

PA On Call Representative Phone: 254-291-2591
PAO - Col. Benton Danner
Email: benton.danner@us.army.mil
Phone: 254-287-0103
Deputy PAO (Civilian) - Mr. Bruce Zielsdorf
E-mail: bruce.zielsdorf@us.army.mil
Phone: 254-287-8506
Deputy PAO (Military) Phone: 254-287-6694
Remember...RESPECT...and let me know in the comments if you called and what happened.


Please click on the title of the blogpost or CLICK HERE before using the toolbar below for sharing!

Watch her fans trying to explain Sarah Palin's talking points - UPDATE!

This is probably the best video of Sarah's fans I have seen so far - watch them struggle as they try to explain for example Sarah's stance on "foreign policy":





I honestly think that not even Sarah herself knows what her position on foreign policy is, therefore it was probably to much too ask of her supporters. Damned, the gotcha media again!

One guy says that he watches a lot of Fox News. Well, there he might have seen things like the following:



Wonkette discusses this screenshot from this Fox News:

All 193% of Republicans Support Palin, Romney and Huckabee

+++

UPDATE:

Now for the good news:

This article which appeared in the San Franciso Chronicle reminds us that Palin's supporters constitute only a small part of the population:

The new autobiography by moose hunter and failed vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is harder to find in the Bay Area than a hockey mom. Some bookstores figure it's one of those grit-your-teeth First Amendment deals that principled booksellers must put up with from time to time.

But many nonchain bookstores won't handle it.

"Our customers are thinking people," said Nathan Embretson, a bookseller at Pendragon Books in Oakland. "They're not into reading drivel."

There's not a single copy on the shelf. Embretson said no one has asked for it except for one guy, who was kidding.

"He said he wanted to look at it but he also said he didn't really want to read it," Embretson said. "Anyway, he certainly didn't want to buy it. I think he regarded looking at it as a kind of punishment."



Please click on the title of the blogpost or CLICK HERE before using the toolbar below for sharing.

Andrew Sullivan takes the Trig Truther argument mainstream!

Andrew Sullivan
BIOGRAPHY

Anybody who thinks that Andrew Sullivan has "folded" is very mistaken. Exactly the opposite is the case. Andrew Sullivan today published a brilliant article in the UK Sunday Times, also published in the London Times Online, called "Beware the powerful fantasy world of Sarah Palin, Warrior Princess".

He writes in the UK paper what no US mainstream media outlet has dared to publish before:

"(…)
What can one say about one of the most compelling and bizarre works of “non-fiction” on the market, Going Rogue by Sarah Palin?

I have to say it stymies me somewhat. Treating it as some kind of factual narrative to check (as I began to), or comparing its version of events with her previous versions of the same events (as I have), and comparing all those versions with what we know is empirical reality, is a dizzying task. The lies and truths and half-truths and the facts and non-facts are all blurred together in a pious purée of such ghastly self-serving prose that, in the end, the book can really be read only as some kind of chapter in a cheap 19th-century edition of Lives of the Saints.

It is a religious book, full of myths and parables. And Sarah is fast becoming a religious icon of sorts for what is now the Republican base. On the first day of her tour, she dragged her infant with Down’s syndrome everywhere she went, even waving his hand to the crowds at one point as his little head swung back and forth. Here is the Madonna with child and a child that is an emblem of everything those who oppose abortion believe in.
(…)

So you simply read the book as if it is fiction and enjoy it. Or you read it as non-fiction and believe that Palin is a magical mythical figure who defies the laws of time and space and normal human nature.

Take one story that every mother will relate to: the drama of her delivery of her fifth child, Trig. She tells us that at eight months pregnant with a child she knew had Down’s syndrome and would need special care at birth, she got on a plane from Alaska to Dallas, Texas, to attend an energy conference. Most airlines won’t allow this but Alaska Airlines did. Palin then tells us that at 4am on her first night in Dallas, “a strange sensation low in my belly woke me and I sat up straight in bed”. In an interview she gave with the Anchorage Daily News just after Trig’s birth, she confirmed that she had amniotic fluid leaking at that point.

So she was a mother eight months pregnant with a special-needs child thousands of miles from home. She wakes up in the middle of the night with contractions and amniotic leakage and she tells her husband she doesn’t want to call her doctor because it would wake her up at 1am. And she is the sitting governor of a state and her doctor is a close personal friend. Not only that, but she gives the speech as planned in the afternoon, during which she makes a rather good joke. She then tells us what happens next: “Big laughs. More contractions.”

After the speech, does she then go to a local hospital to get checked out? Nah. She gets on two separate aeroplanes all the way back to Alaska, with a stopover in Seattle, because she is determined to have the child in her home town and she just knows that the contractions and amniotic leakage are not signs of imminent delivery. She has had four previous kids so she has experience. “I still had plenty of time ... It was a calm, relatively restful flight home,” she explains of the next 15 hours.

You might imagine that an airline would have some qualms about letting a woman in some sort of labour at eight months, and pregnant with a Down’s syndrome child, get on a long transcontinental flight. What if the baby were born in mid-flight? The plane would have to be diverted. What if something happened to the baby? The airline could be liable. Palin never told the flight attendants. Couldn’t they tell, one might innocently ask. In the Anchorage Daily News story about the birth, Alaska Airlines said: “The stage of her pregnancy was not apparent by observation. She did not show any signs of distress.” Palin makes Xena, the warrior princess, seem fragile.

It is this image of a frontierswoman, capable of almost anything, fiercely independent, fathomlessly brave, totally unflappable, driven and blessed by faith in God, resisting the evil cynicism and hatred of the eastern elites, ambushed by hostile interviewers, persecuted by her godless enemies and carrying on as an “iron lady” of Alaskan dimensions, that makes her such a powerful cultural and political icon. Her physical beauty doesn’t hurt either. (…)"

So far there are only a few comments, and almost all of them negative (left by males). Please comment there and show Andrew Sullivan your support.

+++

UPDATE:

It should be noted that today the London Sunday Times has not only printed Andrew Sullivan's article, but also a large excerpt from Sarah Palin's book "Going Rogue", focusing on the events leading up to the Trig's birth ("Sarah Palin: my life with a Down's syndrome child"). You can also leave comments on this article.


Please click on the title of the blogpost or CLICK HERE before using the toolbar below for sharing.

MAD Magazine: Sarah Palin - "Blunder Woman"

When we walk daily in Sarah Palin's mud of scandals, propaganda, hypocrisy and dirty secrets, we are always happy to get hold of some fun stuff.

I have fond memories of MAD magazine from my childhood. I had "tons" of issues of MAD magazine (and still must have some somwhere...) and I can say that the hard-hitting satire in MAD had a great early influence in shaping my views from an early age.

Now MAD strikes again - and the target is Sarah Palin, which is more than appropriate. According to MAD, Sarah is the "Blunder Woman" (click to enlarge):



This parody also caught the eye of the satire department of the "Anchorage Daily News (ADN)" - they write:

NOT QUITE AS CHEAP a shot as the Newsweek cover, but maybe a contender. The current issue of Mad Magazine lists Sarah Palin as "Blunder Woman," the 18th "stupidest person in America." Since Ear personally knows 23 stupider people, it's not a true fact. But at least she looks better as a drawing in tights than in those running shorts. And, because No. 1 on the Mad list is Michael Jackson, taste obviously weighed lightly in the selection. But isn't that what we love about Mad?

Well -I don't agree that the Newsweek cover was a "cheap shot", because Sarah Palin proudly posed for the picture herself. However, I admire the fact that the ADN were able to locate 23 people who are stupider than Sarah Palin. This is quite an achievement. ;-)


Please click on the title of the blogpost or CLICK HERE before using the toolbar below for sharing.

Sarah Palin 2012: The Trailer + Bonus Material / UPDATE: Sarah Palin twitter-madness alert!

Freshly grabbed from the tube - Sarah Palin 2012 Trailer:




+++

Last year, I was very impressed by this trailer, which I like even more:





Please click on the title of the blogpost or CLICK HERE before using the toolbar below for sharing.

+++

UPDATE:

The Sarah Palin twitter-madness has started again! Someone call William Shatner!



What the heck are "tailgate-parties"?

OK, please excuse my European ignorance. Wikipedia knows:

In the United States, a tailgate party is a social event held on and around the open tailgate of a vehicle. Tailgating often involves consuming beverages and grilling food. Tailgate parties usually occur in the parking lots at stadiums and arenas before, and occasionally after or during, sporting events and rock concerts. People attending such a party are said to be tailgating.

Sorry if I explain something to you here what you probably have know already your whole life. ;-)

Now we know what Sarah Palin likes to do in her free time. I guess Sarah Palin wouldn't have dinner in the White House, but a tailgate party.

EDIT:

I have been accused of giving the impression of being an "elitist" because I made fun of tailgate-parties. Please note that it was not my intention to offend any particpants of tailgate-parties. I am well aware that tailgate-parties can be great fun and that probably large parts of the population enjoy tailgate-parties independent of their political views. I can also imagine that even highly educated people are probably not shy to participate in tailgate parties. My comments here were just written with my tongue firmly placed in my cheek - hence the "satire" warning in the labels of this post. When I join the elite, I will let you know.

+++

What's up in D.C.? Where? Maybe in the building with this big round roof which is standin' around there?