Wardrobe-Gate: The Story That Will Not Die

Patt Morrison, writing for Huffington Post has (gleefully) not let up in terms of going after the hypocracy of Sarah Palin:

Over the weekend, Governor Sarah Palin was backing away from Wardrobe-Gate like, well, like an Alaskan moose backing away from the barrel of a 30-06 Winchester.

She was back to wearing her own clothes, Palin said pointedly. And she had bought a lot of them from her favorite store, a resale shop in Anchorage called ”Out of the Closet.”

That name … it rings a bell in Southern California ears, doesn’t it? “Out of the Closet” is a chain of nonprofit thrift stores operated by and for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. Liz Taylor has donated stuff to it. So have Carol Burnett and Aaron Spelling and the makers of “The X Files” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

I raised questions about this in my weekend blog here and on the LA Times site. Why? Because the OOTC shop in Anchorage, beloved of Palin, makes no mention whatsoever of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation on its website. OOTC’s AIDS charity status is a huge selling point for the California stores. So I posed the question, “Trademark lawyer alert?”

Question answered. At a press conference today, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation did two things…

And two, the foundation’s lawyers are pressing the trademark infringement issue against the Anchorage OOTC, sending off a ”cease and desist” letter about the name that’s been above the doors of the foundation’s AIDS benefit shops since 1990.

“Out of the Closet” is a federal trademark, and yes, that means Alaska, too. As Palin herself noted rather indignantly in a Katie Couric interview, “Alaska isn’t a foreign country, where it’s kind of suggested, `Wow, how could you keep in touch with what the rest of Washington, D.C. may be thinking when you live up there in Alaska?’ ”

If this woman can not even formulate an effective response to such an (ultimately) insignificant issue as this, that does not get her in to deeper doo doo, how the hell does any person capable of rational thought think Palin is capable of holding the office of vice president?

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A Message To Sarah Palin

And a message to anyone contemplating voting for the McCain/Palin ticket from the young women who would have to live in a country with Sarah Palin a hair breadth away from the presidency:

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Palin lies in conference call to reporters

Listen to the conference call here. During a conference call, Sarah Palin, who also refers to TrooperGate as TaserGate, stated:

Well, I’m very very pleased to be cleared of any legal wrongdoing … any hint of any kind of unethical activity there. Very pleased to be cleared of any of that.

Big ol lie, because the report (pdf) did find her guilty of abusing the power of her office for personal gain, an ethics violation. This woman evidently has no shame. Part of the transcript below from the Alaska Daily News site:

Palin: Hey, thank you so, Meg. Thank you so much. Thank you also to our local reporters up there in Alaska. Even hearing your names make me feel like I’m right there with you at home. It’s good to get to speak with you. Let me talk a little bit about the Tasergate issue if you guys would let me and, Meg, you want me to just jump right on in there?

Stapleton: Sure governor, go ahead.

Palin: OK cool.

Well, I’m very very pleased to be cleared of any legal wrongdoing … any hint of any kind of unethical activity there. Very pleased to be cleared of any of that. Todd did what anyone would have done given this state trooper’s very, very troubling behavior and his dangerous threats against our family. Todd did what I think any Alaskan would do.

And he, Todd did what the state’s Department of Law Web site tells anyone to do if they have a concern about a state trooper. And that’s you go to the commissioner and you express your concern. And Todd did what our personal detail asked him to do. Bob Cockrell early on as I was elected and was asked are there any threats against you, and Todd brought the concern as I did to Commissioner Monegan about the state trooper’s threats. He did what any - I think — any rational person would do so again, nothing to apologize there with Todd’s actions and again very pleased to be cleared of any legal wrongdoing.

Why do these people think we are all ignorant? Why does Sarah Palin have the ability to lie so easily and to reporters? She also contradicts herself, as per her usual. First says she is happy as a clam to be cleared and then bitches that the report was just partisan politics…which btw..it wasn’t.

Like her running mate, she is a delusional, lying bag o batshit folks..

H/T to TPM for the link to the audio.

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Tina Fey does Palin, take two.

The best is the last part I think, where Palin can’t give an example..Glad to see Fey back on SNL if only to lampoon Palin.

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Stop the Presses! Palin takes reporters questions..

She took all of Five questions..CNN also has another writeup about the cough..Q&A here. From the very short transcript, here are the questions:

CNN: On the topic of never letting this happen again, do you agree with the way the Bush administration has handled the war on terrorism, is there anything you would do differently?

POLITICO: Do you think our presence in Iraq and afghan and our continued presence there is inflaming islamic extremists?

POLITICO: Do you support the reelection bids of embattled Alaska Republicans, Rep. Don Young and Sen. Ted Stevens?

POLITICO: Are you gong to vote for them?

JERSEY JOURNAL: What do you think of bailout package before congress?

The answers were worthless so why waste space printing them here? The phrase…,trained seal…comes to my mind.

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Palin loves aerial hunting.

Of course the reality is..aerial hunting isn’t hunting..its morbid and its a painful death for the animal. Pass this around. I grew up in a family where we didn’t eat store-bought meat until I was 7 or 8. I know hunting and this ain’t fucking hunting. My republican father agrees and is appalled.

From the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund.

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Jon Stewart goes after Hannity and Palin lovefest

H/T to Crooks and Liars for the video. They also have the transcript available. Talk about a mouthpiece for the Rethugs…go Hannity!

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Anchorage Alaska Has Something to say…

Anchorage Alaska Has Something to say…

“This was the biggest political rally ever, in the history of the state. I was absolutely stunned. The second most amazing thing is how many people honked and gave the thumbs up as they drove by. And even those that didn’t honk looked wide-eyed and awe-struck at the huge crowd that was growing by the minute. This just doesn’t happen here.~ Progressive Alaska

Then, the infamous Eddie Burke showed up. He tried to talk to the media, and was instantly surrounded by a group of 20 people who started shouting O-BA-MA so loud he couldn’t be heard. Then passing cars started honking in a rhythmic pattern of 3, like the Obama chant, while the crowd cheered, hooted and waved their signs high.”~Alaska Real

Mudflats writes:
o, as I jettisoned myself from the jaws of the ‘Drill Baby Drill’ crowd and toward the mystery rally at the library, I felt a bit apprehensive. I’d been disappointed before by the turnout at other rallies. Basically, in Anchorage, if you can get 25 people to show up at an event, it’s a success. So, I thought to myself, if we can actually get 100 people there that aren’t sent by Eddie Burke, we’ll be doing good. A real statement will have been made. I confess, I still had a mental image of 15 demonstrators surrounded by hundreds of menacing “socialist baby-killing maggot” haters.

It’s a good thing I wasn’t tailgating when I saw the crowd in front of the library or I would have ended up in somebody’s trunk. When I got there, about 20 minutes early, the line of sign wavers stretched the full length of the library grounds, along the edge of the road, 6 or 7 people deep! I could hardly find a place to park. I nabbed one of the last spots in the library lot, and as I got out of the car and started walking, people seemed to join in from every direction, carrying signs.

Never, have I seen anything like it in my 17 and a half years living in Anchorage. The organizers had someone walk the rally with a counter, and they clicked off well over 1400 people (not including the 90 counter-demonstrators). This was the biggest political rally ever, in the history of the state. I was absolutely stunned. The second most amazing thing is how many people honked and gave the thumbs up as they drove by. And even those that didn’t honk looked wide-eyed and awe-struck at the huge crowd that was growing by the minute. This just doesn’t happen here.

*Hat tip to Enigma @ Watergate Summer for posting links to these blogs

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Ten Post Round-Up: Bad News Ahead

Last week, I did my level best to stay out of the political fray, but to no avail.  So, I officially give up.  And, since our politicians aren’t giving up, I guess I might as well just dive in and go for the gold.

Today’s Ten Post Round-Up is designed to show you just how bad this election show has gotten.  But, before we go any further, I should first let Uncle Jay explain the news (the word for the day is: lipstick).

You know things are bad when:

• Your go-away party is bigger than your welcome home party.

• Your financial guru won’t vouch for your tax plans.

• Your running mate is being labeled as worse than the guy you are planning to replace.

• You claim to be the “Party of Lincoln” in order to woo African-American voters, but some of your more outspoken members keep doing things to remind black folks precisely why they don’t vote for your party.

• Websites are popping up having to debunk all the crap hitting the fan in this election.

• The man, notorious for being a lying scumbag, calls you out on national television–for lying (and he’s supposed to be on your side).

• A local newspaper, formerly notorious for supporting all things Republican (and/or conservative), actually has the gonads to come out against you.

• Doctors are questioning your ethics for not fully disclosing your medical records.

• A comedienne can make your running mate look she’s the one who’s copying her.

• The fact that you are Caucasian allows you to get away with things that you would never let slide if the candidate were African-American.

(originally posted at: The Sirens Chronicles)

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SNL does Palin-Humor Alert!

Its great and its SNL at its best…watch it!

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Gina Gershon as Sarah Palin-Humor alert!

I do like the Funny or Die website on occasion, Its twisted….and so am I.

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Pulling Out for Palin

You have to admit, the ridiculous factor in this election is over the top. The pro abstinence Vice Presidential candidate who eloped when pregnant, steps into the National arena as a wildcard, not vetted, VP pick, and before she could begin to comment on her political platform/beliefs, announced her unwed daughter was pregnant. We should step back and allow her privacy, while Palin would legislate anti-abortion laws that would make such private decisions for the rest of the country. Not exactly a smooth intro, but it just keeps going–

What exactly does a Vice President DO?

The obvious answer to this question, is to accept the candidacy, and proceed to tell half truths in front of 40 million witness/viewers. All the press could do was lavish praise of what a spunky little gal this is and how she’s energized the party. Before she was on the ticket, McCain was struggling to get a crowd at all for his speeches… now he can get 10,000, although not the 84,000 Obama had attending his acceptance speech.

The RNC had a whole lot of empty seats. I can’t help but think lots of Republicans thought his choice was bad- McCain himself announcing the VP choice would be terribly important because of his age and health- picks a vastly inexperienced candidate with no Foreign relations experience whatsoever.

This dynamic dundering duo has duped the public into their sideshow of snappy lines that are shallow on substance. We hear slams, rhetoric, and McCain inviting us to *Fight with Him*…. is he really referring to that 100 year war he was talking about, and if we choose to NOT fight with him , will he impose a military draft? So while we know the names of Palin’s kids, one heading off to Iraq, one heading off to a shotgun wedding, leaving the rest of the kids to care for the special needs baby, McCain & Palin head off on their campaign tour, repeating the snappy lines that only tell half the story.

Palin said “Thanks but no Thanks to the Bridge to Nowhere Money”– but kept the money & used it for other things.
While Gramps McCain waves his fist saying he will stop pork barrel spenders in their tracks, Palin got the most pork barrel monies of all the States in the US…. a per capita bonanza for Alaska. So Palin’s only political experience is in direct conflict with McCain’s no pork barrel spending mandate.

While Palin prattled on about her family & Hockey Mom/PTA resume- all that time wasted as we are left not knowing where they Stand on Torture, Gitmo, the Iraq War, the Economy, the Mortgage Crisis, and the $9.5 trillion dollar national debt.

I fear that I know the answers to those questions.
We should all pull out for Palin.

Crossposted at Ramblings.

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The Road Previously Traveled

I’ve refrained from writing about Palin. Frankly, she’s a herring, well played to distract from the complete lack of substance offered by the McCain campaign. I don’t see that adding to the noise about her serves the nation, whose citizens are justifiably alarmed by the faltering American economy, the exorbitant cost of the Iraq invasion/occupation and the nose diving dollar. They are freaked out by the size of the deficit and the staggering and escalating debt we have with China.  They are disgusted by the selfishness of the Katrina response, the idea that 5 million is the cut off for the middle class to an out of touch McCain, and that tamping down American innovation on alternative energy and drill, drill, drill, will somehow resolve our oil energy crisis.

Our citizens are looking for answers. Americans are a nose to the grindstone kind of people. We work hard. We like it. Give us an insurmountable task, and we’ll do it. We think it’s because we’re Americans, and that’s how we roll. To a degree, that mindset is part of it, but we tackle things like going to the moon or building railroads across and entire continent because we’re winners. We interact in a highly competitive mindset. American companies who set their people up to grow and excel in their work kick ass. You can almost predict when the middle age spread, in the guise of too many layers, too much compartmentalizing, and too much self-positioning robs the essence out of a company. Right now, our nation is feeling this bloat.

We’ve felt this way before, and we tap our best tool to dig ourselves out. We call it American ingenuity, this ability of ours to continually reinvent ourselves. In reality, it’s not a we as much as a few. A few Americans (or people who have adopted us) burst into our consciousness as the right people at the right time. In my lifetime, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Tim Berners-Lee, Helen Greiner and Al Gore are some of the people who moved us, inspired us, and changed the way we tackle the world.

There are unknown citizens out there right now who are on the cusp of being the next amazing Americans. There are people who will harness renewable energy in an economically viable way. Still others will tackle the distribution issues, while others will build the new technology for transportation of the next decade and beyond. It’s an exciting time to be an American innovator. This is a cyclic opportunity, and for a few thinkers and doers, their time is nearly here. Barack Obama sees this. He sees that this country can renaissance yet again, be the global phoenix, cement our innovation superiority, lead by example and wean the world from a self destructive fossil fuel addiction by making it more profitable to embrace the new greener business model, mindset and markets.

That smells like a win. Breathe it in, folks. Remember that smell? It smells like the moon.

This brings me back to Palin. One of the publications I read regularly is the National Catholic Reporter.

If she is a “post denominationalist” today (see the analysis earlier by NCR senior correspondent John Allen (McCain’s VP choice a woman - and a post-denominationalist) her language at times clearly comes out of her earlier Pentecostal formation. Two examples that are making the rounds in recent days occurred in June when she returned to the Wasilla Assembly of God, her previous church, to speak to a graduating class of commission students.

“Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right,” she said in a presentation that was video recorded. “Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending out [troops] on a task that is from God. That’s what we have to make sure that we’re praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God’s plan.”

Later in her talk she turned to the subject of a $30 billion national gas pipeline project that had been proposed for Alaska. “I think God’s will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built, so pray for that.”

Many have drawn the conclusion that such lines provide an insight into how Palin would govern and assess issues, determining whether something was “a task from God,” or “God’s plan” or “the will of God.”

It’s the kind of “God talk” - certainty that a public policy or strategy finds favor with the divine - that can raise eyebrows beyond the church walls. - NCR

It’s certainly raising mine. This is a road previously traveled with George W Bush, and with despots, zealots, the unscrupulous, the maniacal, and the Machiavellian for two thousand years. History is rife with manipulation through religion for personal gain. We are closing the book on an administration that talked to God and screwed the pooch. I think attempting to justify profitable policy with the words “will of God” is a big fat sin. Period.

Greed is one of the seven big ones for a reason.

He (Cecil M. Robeck Jr., a Pentecostal and director of the David du Plessis Center for Christian Spirituality at Fuller Theological Seminary) emphasized that discerning God’s will within Pentecostal denominations is not a matter of “hoodoo” or some magically determined direction. Determining the will of God, he said, occurs in a variety of ways, through using Scripture, for instance; or common sense and personal feelings about a situation; or seeking direction in concert with others in the church or family.

Questions such as “Where can I make a difference or where can I do the greatest good?” are also means for discovering the will of God, he said.

“Often times, within our circles,” he added, “people will say that they think something is God’s will if they have a strong inner sense that something is right.” - NCR

My strong inner sense is that voters need to run as fast as they can from this potential path towards the ruination of America. We need leaders who listen to experts, marshal facts pertaining to topic, use critical-thinking skills, decide, and lead. I am personally sick of my faith being cheapened by shills who subscribe to the philosophy that if they “want” something with a strong inner sense or persuade others to want it with them, that somehow constitutes a divine intervention. As someone who believes the ways of God make sense in his time, not mine, it is a farce, or worse, to hold forth that some public works project or church gymnasium is holding God’s attention. Famines hold God’s attention, and WE are supposed to step up and fix them. As you treat the least of these, so you treat me. Feed the world? Yes. Profitable pipelines? I don’t think so.

We can’t afford another executive officer who listens to her gut more than facts and figures. America stands at a crossroads; we either continue this long slow decent into self destruction or we choose to innovate into a revitalized leader ready to tackle the challenges of the 21st Century. This won’t happen with people who govern on a whim, it takes leadership, vision and analytical critical-thinking skills to meet difficulties head on. We have big problems; we must select leaders that understand fixing a problem requires owning the problem first. Once we all accept where to start from, the spirits of entrepreneurs and individual endeavors ignite to solve the myriad of problems we face. But first, voters must choose leadership that wants to deal with reality.

We tried touchy feely for eight years and it’s nearly bankrupted us, literally and figuratively. Our country is broke, one of our cities drowned and we stand at the edge of a global famine. This is our window of opportunity to solve our problems and lead the world in a sustaining direction. McCain and Palin offer us only the option to squander this historical moment. God’s will is his, in his time; ours is now, manifested in the willpower of hard working Americans and responsible leadership that will see us through this crisis and seize the opportunity to better our country and the world.

Crossposted at Bring It On!

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Caribou Barbi’s first interview to air Thursday.

Charlie “The Tool” Gibson will interview Miss Mooseburger Weds and Thurs with the interview airing in parts on ABC Evening News, Nightline Thursday night and GMA the following morning. This per TVNewser.

Charlie is cramming as we speak..yeah right. He is soliciting questions to ask her on his blog here.

Tags: Sarah Palin, Caribou Barbi,Palins first interview

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“So Sambo beat the bitch!”

Those words were uttered by none other than the Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, when she was sitting in a restaurant with some friends according to TBogg via LAProgressive, which is linked in the first line. From LAProgressive:

This is how Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin described Barack Obama’s win over Hillary Clinton to political colleagues in a restaurant a few days after Obama locked up the Democratic Party presidential nomination.

According to Lucille, the waitress serving her table at the time and who asked that her last name not be used, Gov. Palin was eating lunch with five or six people when the subject of the Democrat’s primary battle came up. The governor, seemingly not caring that people at nearby tables would likely hear her, uttered the slur and then laughed loudly as her meal mates joined in appreciatively.

“It was kind of disgusting,” Lucille, who is part Aboriginal, said in a phone interview after admitting that she is frightened of being discovered telling folks in the “lower 48″ about life near the North Pole.

Then, almost with a sigh, she added, “But that’s just Alaska.”

No dear woman, that’s a big part of America…still racist after all these years, but they keep it on the lowdown.

Read the rest to see how she’s vindictive and mean….really mean. And she wants to be the Vice President of the United States.

We already have a pack of racists and bible-thumping meanies in the current administration, do we need another four years of them?

Ummm..no, we don’t.

edit: This originally was published by a Yank living in Canada named Charley James. His blog can be read here, and I suggest you check it out as he has lots of background on Sarah and the folks that know her in AK.

Photoshop of Palin courtesy of Fran @ Ramblings.

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