Fighting for the Word

Author Stacy Schiff and NY Times columnist discuss Sarah Palin, Grizzlies and Feminism:

The issue is no longer first-rate intellect, or first-rate temperament, but first-rate opportunity. Which is where the Mama Grizzly business really falls down. An actual grizzly mom is a single mom. She lends a whole new definition to full-time homemaker. If Dad shows up it’s probably to eat the kids. What Mama Grizzly wouldn’t believe in school lunches, health insurance and quality childcare? Who’s going to look after the kids while she’s off hunting? It’s really, really clever to put this powerful vocabulary — pit bulls and grizzlies — in the service of disempowering people. Kind of like death panels in reverse.

When thinking about whether or not Sarah Palin is a feminist, my answer is "no." And I'm irritated that I might have to explain that.

Levi on Campaign Trail

Levi Johnston, after his announcement that he will run for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, visits the Jimmy Kimmel show.

I want to congratulate you on is the torment you have – it’s like there’s this huge bear and you’re this little mouse, just pecking away at the bear’s feet. And the bear would like nothing more than to swat you and crush you and literally kill you, but you will not be killed.

The Electoral Politics of Prop 8

Nate Silver on the politics of Prop 8 in the 2010 and 2012 elections:

My best guess is that the Tea Party will largely continue to shirk the issue, but that the Republican Establishment will be fairly happy to engage it. The real battle, however, may come in 2012, when the Supreme Court could be about ready to take up the case. The leading indicator may be the reactions of the major Presidential hopefuls. For instance, will Sarah Palin produce a tweet or Facebook post containing the the phrases "activist judge" or "judicial activism" within the next 24 hours? It may depend on which type of conservatives -- the tea-partiers, or the movement conservatives of the Republican Establishment -- that she ultimately wants to affiliate herself with.

And in the LA Times, an analysis of the role Prop 8 will play in 2010 California politics.

Ben Folds' Tribute to Levi Johnston

From Mediaite:

The chorus actually borrows directly from Johnston’s now-defunct MySpace page that became popular after Sarah Palin was announced as the GOP VP nominee. This is a pretty classic hook – but it makes it even better that it came from Levi himself:

I’m a fuckin’ redneck, I like to hang out with the boys
Play some hockey, do some fishing, and 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.

Well, now the proposed reality show has a theme song…

Palin Family Circus on Steroids

Yesterday was political theater Christmas! Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston announce their engagement - via the cover of US Weekly and a magazine spokesperson on the Today show. They don't tell Sarah Palin prior to announcement. And apparently they didn't tell Levi's sister Mercedes either. In her blog, Mercedes reacts to the surprise and then offers to be their wedding planner. Bristol reveals that they will marry in Alaska next month and the groom will wear "camo." Sarah and Todd Palin's press statement is more than a little chilly.

“Bristol at 19 is now a young adult. We obviously want what’s best for our children. Bristol believes in redemption and forgiveness to a degree most of us struggle to put in practice in our daily lives.”

UPDATE: Gawker has an exhaustive compendium called All the Trash Levi Johnston Has Talked About His Future Mother-in-Law.

Whistlin' and Repudiatin'

Dale Roberts, founder of teaparty.org at a 2009 Houston Tea Party rally.


Windy City Watch in a post on Palin's "racial dog whistle" last night on Sean Hannity's show in response to the NAACP resolution on the racism within the Team Party Movement. She calls Obama "half white and half black" and she makes up a new word - "refudiate."

She is implying that white folks can’t be racist against some one who is “half white,” while at the same time reminding folks he is “half Black.” Let’s not forget that Palin’s buddy, radio host and pill popping bigot Rush Limbaugh refers to Obama as a “Halfrican American.” These references have a purpose and its not a celebration of Obama’s diverse background.

In the same interview Palin called on Obama to “refudiate,” (yeah the crazy lady made up the word “refudiate”) the NAACP for its resolution condemning the teabagger movement for the bigotry that is directed at Obama as well as others.

Genius or Savant?

Michelle Cottle in The New Republic about Sarah Palin's "p.r. genius":

With her new-media savvy and old-fashioned charisma, Palin has managed to merge Norma Desmond (“Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my closeup”) with Greta Garbo (“I want to be alone”) to become one of the most irresistible spectacles on the public stage. Any political strategist who orchestrated such brilliant success via such unconventional means would instantly be dubbed the p.r. genius of our time. But, as far as we know, there is no crack communications team charting Palin’s course. At some point, even Palin haters may have to face the possibility that the p.r. genius is Sarah herself.

Bachmann Beats Palin

From David Frum:

Michele Bachmann raised $1.7 million in the last quarter, more than the erstwhile Republican vice-presidential candidate, even though she had to balance fundraising with her congressional duties and her campaign for reelection. More importantly, Bachmann’s contributors were limited by FEC regulations to a maximum of $2,400, while Palin’s contributors were each allowed to donate up to $5,000 to her PAC.

Bachmann is raising spectacular amounts of money. So the question should be: why isn’t Palin, a national figure with more media coverage than Bachmann, at least keeping pace?

A good excuse to post a classic Bachmann video.

The Palin Puppet Soap Opera

Levi Johnston's reconciliation with Bristol Palin and the Palin family resulted in Levi threatening his sister Mercede.

The message was from my mother saying that Levi, who has not spoken to us since he rekindled his relationship with Bristol (although we had attempted repeatedly to call or text him), left a message saying that if I did not take my blog down by Wednesday that I would never get to see him, or Tripp, again.

Mercede continued her blog post with this:

As for this new People magazine article where my brother “Apologizes to the Palins” I am extremely disappointed in him. Not only is he being controlled like a puppet, but saying that all of his comments and stories were lies is absurd!

I know for a fact that all of his comments were true. I lived through all this and I remember clear as day all of the times that Levi would come home and tell me about Sarah complaining, or fights going on between the family, .etc.

I know he wasn’t making all that up, why would he have back then? I am very disappointed that he is allowing them to control him in such a manner.

Levi, please don’t do this to yourself and family again.

I am not afraid of the Palins. And yeah maybe it is just me up against a huge army of Palin supporters, but really what else can they take from me?

Nothing.

In the end the truth shall prevail.

Palin, Ltd.

Forbes has a piece doubting Palin's previously reported net worth. For the Forbes' folks, $10 million in earnings last year does not make her a "financial juggernaut."

Bottom line: thanks to a memoir published at the zenith of public interest in her, the former Alsaka governor had a windfall year. But her best days, financially, could be behind her. Unless, of course, she's elected President.

The White White World of Sarah Palin

Conservative David Frum points out in a "tweet" how it's white as far as the eye can see in the new SarahPac video.

Kind of remarkable to see a Republican ad with not a single nonwhite face in any crowd scene.

Liberal Elites Devote More Ink to Levi Johnston

Gail Collins on the editorial page of the NY Times on Levi Johnston:

But this week Johnston sent out an olive branch, via People magazine. “Last year, after Bristol and I broke up, I was unhappy and a little angry. Unfortunately, against my better judgment, I publicly said things about the Palins that were not completely true,” he said.

We have been dealing with a lot of imperfect apologies recently, but this one hits a new level of unsatisfactory.

Chewin', Spittin' & Apologizin'

Someone in the Palin Family Circus apologizes - but his last name isn't Palin. Levi Johnston's mea culpa in People magazine:

"Last year, after Bristol and I broke up, I was unhappy and a little angry. Unfortunately, against my better judgment, I publicly said things about the Palins that were not completely true," he tells PEOPLE exclusively. "I have already privately apologized to Todd and Sarah. Since my statements were public, I owe it to the Palins to publicly apologize."

UPDATE: Andrew Sullivan weighs in on the apology:

I suspect, for what it's worth, that the Palins have used their real weapon against him - his love for Bristol and his kid - to coerce him back into line. For the record, nothing he said struck me as in any way far-fetched. And until he tells us what exactly wasn't "completely true", there's not much more to say.

Oh, and he was awesome on Kathy Griffin.

The Palin Myth Machine

From The Christian Science Monitor:

"Speaking Up: The Sarah Palin Story," expected in bookstores this fall, is part of the ZonderKidz biography series.

"Speaking Up," by Kim Washburn, is also cast as the story of a strong figure who struggles against the odds to reach success. The tagline on the book's jacket reads, "The story of a girl from Alaska who grew up to run for the White House."

"Speaking Up" also draws heavily on Palin's religious background, occasionally quoting from the Bible and focusing on Palin as a strongly committed Christian who refused to compromise her beliefs to suit either fellow politicians or the American public. Her insistence on speaking out about her belief in creationism, for instance, shows her standing up to Republican Party "handlers" who worried that she would alienate some voters.

Republican Party members are not necessarily heroes in this book. Palin is shown clashing more than once with members of the McCain campaign and at one point, Washburn explains, "it took a Democrat-turned-Independent politician [Joe Lieberman] to lift her spirits and restore her perspective."

And the publisher's description:

Speaking Up: The Sarah Palin Story is the latest addition to the best-selling Zonderkidz Biographies series. Noted author Kim Washburn tells the story of the woman who has captured the American attention, sparking debate and igniting imaginations around the country. From her humble beginnings in Wasilla, Alaska, to the historic 2008 election and beyond, Palin’s inspiring story of courage in the face of adversity and faith that overcame difficulties is told with honesty and insight. Kids ages 9-12 will learn why this engaging figure has become one of the most recognized faces in American politics today.

The Palin Family Circus

The Week discusses Andrew Sullivan's persistence on the questions surrounding the birth of Trig Palin, Sarah Palin's Down's Syndrome son with an excerpt from Sullivan's recent blog posting:

"The way in which Palin... has relentlessly exploited her story and child makes this an even more salient political issue - and one which deserves appropriate press scrutiny, as with any other core campaign platform.

"...I have never claimed I know the truth. I don't. I only know that none of us does. We all have to rely on the word of Sarah Palin — something about as reliable as a credit default swap. I want to know the truth. Because if I am loony, I deserve the pushback and criticism for suspecting a story that turned out to be true. And because if Palin has lied about this, it's the most staggering, appalling deception in the history of American politics."

I have to confess in the first 48 hours after John McCain selected Palin to be his running mate in 2008, I spent that Labor Day weekend obsessively poring over the speculation that flooded the internet and blogosphere concerning the story Palin told of Trig's birth, and the doubts raised about whether the child was even hers. I agree completely with Sullivan's point that Palin has used her youngest child as a prop and as a political lever when it comes to the far Right. My own interest, however, had to do with what Palin's version of the story told me about her as a mother.

I have never met a woman who has not wanted to talk about her pregnancy and the experience of giving birth. People's childbirth stories are like people's dreams - they are rarely interesting to anyone else, but for women, childbirth is a profound experience and since we typically lack the words to accurately describe that life-changing experience, we settle on the exhaustive, and often boring, details of the experience. What I find so striking about Palin's story was how devoid it was of those details, and the details she did provide painted her as rather cavalier about a pregnancy involving a baby that she knew would be born with Down's Syndrome. I've never met a woman that didn't paint herself in the most heroic light when recounting her childbirth tale. Palin's story is striking because it sounds like it was no big deal. It was no big deal she traveled to Texas late into her high-risk pregnancy, it was no big deal she concealed her pregnancy until the seventh month, it was no big deal she flew back to Alaska while she was in labor, and it was no big deal that once in Alaska, she drove all the way to Wasilla to give birth.

Most of the speculation and conspiracy theories that abound on the internet question whether or not Palin is actually the baby's mother. My own conclusion after reading Palin's versions of the story is that Sarah Palin's audience for her birth story isn't other women. It's men. Palin talks about childbirth as I imagine a man would. It's all business, cut and dried. No big deal. She's back at work the next day. It's her fifth child - she's a pro at this and can handle it. Palin is also very aware that her looks and her sex appeal account for much of her popularity and success as a politician. And so while having a large family is a political asset for a Republican woman candidate, reminding men that she has actually gone through pregnancy and childbirth five times diminishes her "babe-ness" considerably.

What is disturbing about the story of Trig's birth is that Palin's ambition and quest for power supercedes the wrenching maternal drives that motivate the majority of women. While it would be shocking to learn that the baby is not really hers, what is more horrifying is that her ambition led her to make a series of decisions that put her child in serious danger. While some find the story to be not credible, I find it to be in keeping with a personality that is deeply narcissitic.

The Palin Reality Show

No, I'm not talking about Sarah Palin's upcoming show on the Discovery channel. I'm talking about the feud between Bristol Palin and Mercedes Johnston (Levi Johnston's sister)that is being played out on....you guessed it...Facebook. And then for all of us not friends of Bristol (she has a fake Facebook name)or Mercedes, it is all documented on Mercedes' blog.

Sadly, I must post video of Palin speaking before the Bowling Proprietor's Association of American annual convention in Las Vegas. Having grown up as a daughter of a bowling proprietor, I'm quite surprised that the BPAA would book Palin as their keynote, given that she's such a polarizing figure. My bluedog Democratic father would most surely have opted out of that event. But it's indicative of what has changed on the political landscape. My father's business was located in a heavily Democratic county and most of his customers were blue-collar, union-affiliated workers. As my father used to say, "When you own a bowling alley, you don't drive a foreign car and you don't vote Republican."

On a much less serious note, what's up with Sarah Palin's wardrobe lately? Apparently, she needs those Republican party stylists back. Notice the short skirts and those crazy red shoes during the interview section of her appearance. That's not even appropriate for guys who hang out in bowling alleys.

Palin's Pregnancy, The Saga

Andrew Sullivan posts responses to readers concerning his ongoing questions about the birth of Trig Palin. While many see this akin to the Obama "birthers", Sullivan has not given up raising this question and wondering why Palin has never produced documents to put this all to bed.

Everything you ever wanted to know (and more) about "Babygate." Courtey of the Palingates blog.

Kathy Griffin goes to Palin's house in Alaska last night on her reality show.

The Palin Rollercoaster

From Rumproast.com:

Sarah Palin's controversial speech last night from the campus of California State University was not allowed to be filmed directly, but rather a local TV station had to shoot a camera at a projection screen inside a media room down the hall from the speech. The attempt made by Palin and the University backfired a bit when the live feed picked up reporters' comments following the speech.

One reporter is heard saying, “Oh my god, I feel like I just got off a roller coaster." There are, however, more comments and a general WTF sentiment. (The reporters obviously did not realize that there voices were being picked up on the feed.)

How's that Illegally Thing Working Out For You

Sarah Palin's Legal Defense Fund was found to be illegal. From The Huffington Post:

Thousands of donors who contributed to a $390,000 legal defense fund for former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will get their money back after an investigator said Thursday the fund was illegal because it was misleadingly described on a website.

State Personnel Board investigator Timothy Petumenos said the Alaska Fund Trust inappropriately used the word "official" on its website, wrongly implying that it was endorsed by Palin in her role as governor.

During the press conference regarding the ethics complaint that prompted an investigation, a mass e-mail was sent out to donors to the illegal fund stating:

"... this ruling is nothing but a political hatchet job designed to embarrass Governor Palin, destroy her financially, and smear her good name. But YOU can help restore her good name!"

and this,

"So today we are starting over. Her legal bills are still there and growing. Will you please help her and give your very best gift to The Sarah Palin Legal Defense Fund today? It is urgent that we help relieve this crushing legal burden."

Great on-the-scene local coverage, as always from Mudflats in Alaska.

UPDATE: Andrew Sullivan has the money quote:

Judge Petumenous pointed out that the way the trust was written there was nothing to stop Palin from using the money for anything she wanted.

The Not So Secret Life of Bristol Palin - The Saga

Next week, Bristol Palin makes a guest appearance on ABC Family's "The Secret Life of the American Teenager".

Note to Sarah Palin: We would gladly leave your children alone if you would stop inflicting them on the American public and using them to as political props. (And to pad your bank account.) Hat tip to DWR for this gem!