Hey, don’t look at me – I’m with the editors…

To comment on this post, please scroll up to the title “Found in a Dumpster Behind Harper-Collins, The Book Cover Sarah’s Editors Wanted To Use…” and click on the word comments just beneath.  Thanks, OzMud

Spouse was chuckling away, murmuring things like “I love Americans!” the way only an Oz bloke can… then I find out he’s reading last years Darwin Awards and the winner was this guy from Arkansas:

THE WINNER!!!:
( Arkansas Democrat Gazette):
 
Two local men were injured when their pickup truck left the road and struck a tree near Cotton Patch on State Highway 38 early Monday. Woodruff County deputy Dovey Snyder reported the accident shortly after midnight Monday.

Thurston Poole, 33, of Des Arc, and Billy Ray Wallis, 38, of Little Rock , were returning to Des Arc after a frog catching trip. On an overcast Sunday night, Pooles pickup truck headlights malfunctioned. The two men concluded that the headlight fuse on the older-model truck had burned out. As a replacement fuse was not available, Wallis noticed that the 22 caliber bullets from his pistol fit perfectly into the fuse box next to the steering- wheel column. Upon inserting the bullet the headlights again began to operate properly, and the two men proceeded on eastbound toward the White River Bridge .

After traveling approximately 20 miles, and just before crossing the river, the bullet apparently overheated, discharged, and struck Poole in the testicles. The vehicle swerved sharply right, exiting the pavement, and striking a tree. Poole suffered only minor cuts and abrasions from the accident but will require extensive surgery to repair the damage to his testicles, which will never operate as intended. Wallis sustained a broken clavicle and was treated and released. “Thank God we weren’t on that bridge when Thurston shot his n**s off, or we might both be dead,” stated Wallis.

 “I’ve been a trooper for 10 years in this part of the world, but this is a first for me. I can’t believe that those two would admit how this accident happened,” said Snyder. Upon being notified of the wreck, Lavinia ( Poole ‘s wife), asked how many frogs the boys had caught and did anyone get them from the truck. Priorities, after all!!

Though Poole and Wallis did not die as a result of their misadventure as normally required by Darwin Award Official Rules, it can be argued that Poole did, in fact, effectively remove himself from the gene pool.

Here’s a link to the runners up. The new list should be out soon. I love this time of year!

To comment on this post, please scroll up to the title “2010 Darwin Award Winner (from December 2009)” and click on the word comments just beneath.  Thanks, OzMud

HAPPY TURKEY DAY!

See Sarah  – that’s how it’s done. In a well-manicured garden flanked by two well-behaved and well-groomed daughters (neither of whom flip off the press or tug at uncomfortably short-shorts) and without blood dripping in the background as loser turkeys are shoved into the cone of death by a leering butcher.

Just another reason why yOu can’t become president.

Oh and I heard this on The Ed Show… don’t bears hibernate this time of year? Be  good moma grizzly, Sarah, and go find a cave to hole up in for a few months – give the rest of us a much-deserved Palin break 🙂

To comment on this post, plese scroll up to the title “How A Real President Pardons A Turkey” and click on the word comments just beneath.  Thanks, OzMud

Malia Litman, Progressive Alaska and Palin’s Q & A all reported today on Sarah Palin’s huge North Korea – South Korea gaffe on Glenn Beck’s radio show. It didn’t take long for the youtube vid’s to start popping up 🙂

So… Sarah Palin thinks we are pals with communist North Korea, eh? Did she forget this speech?

Even our youth voices concerns over a possible Palin presidency…

It’s not like Sarah hasn’t made this mistake already It’s not like we the people haven’t been repeatedly warned:

January 2010 – The Telegraph, UK

You had to know someone was going to do this… I laughed so hard there are still tears in my eyes!  And it’s just in time for Thanksgiving too!

When I visited the FB page there were more tha30 comments – all hilarious. Check them out here:  

Oh and I pick May! Because umm she’s so very limber 🙂

h/t to my oldest daughter

To comment on this post, please scroll up to the title “2011 Miss TSA Calendar (Pick Your Fav Pin-up Girl!)” and click on the word comments just beneath.  Thanks, OzMud

Taking a Palin break- that whole famdamily just makes me crazy and once in a while I need to stop and come up for sane air. So here’s a lovely little thing I stumbled over last night: A little girl in a Baptist church reading the story of Jonah and the Whale. It’s enchanting.

You don’t have to believe anything in the bible. You dont have to believe in anything, period. Just watch this absolutely adorable little girl tell the story of Jonah (and the big fish? What happened to the whale?), complete with voice changes and arm gestures. You’ll at least come away believing in the human race because any species that produces offspring this smart and cute can’t be all bad 🙂

Watch it fast – the  youtube links are disappearing as I’ve been posting… if this one disappears, the original is on a religious website here:  http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=9EM911NU 

(Should you go to this site, don’t attempt to read the sugary,bible-thumping comments without wearing a sports cup!)

PS. The two teenagers in the background are going to be mortified to learn this video has gone viral and they are caught-out chewing fingernails and picking at zits while the camera was rolling. ROFL

============ Update ============

So I’m watching it again because she’s just so cute and I’d rather listen to her than Sarah Palin being interviewed by Sean Hannity and – whoa nelly! Back up the soundtrack! At around 0:50-0:59 does she actually say (in God’s voice) “because I want you to go there and tell those frickin’ people…”  HAHAHAHA! Did I hear that wrong?

To comment on this  post, please scroll up to the title “Palin Break: The Story of Jonah as told by the Cutest Little Girl Ever!” and click on the word comments just beneath.  Thanks, OzMud

Even if the highly unlikely probability of winning a presidential election happens, Sarah Palin would never be president. And here’s why…

10. 
The Presidency is an actual job. Sarah doesn’t do jobs. Sarah hires other people to do  jobs for her. I’m pretty sure POTUS can’t just hire a Finance Manager and then leave the Oval office every day at 3pm to go watch soaps on TV.

9.
Presidents of other countries, when meeting with POTUS to discuss solutions to world problems expect to engage in stimulating, intellectual conversations. Sarah doesn’t do stimulating, intellectual conversations. Sarah brings cookies and has her picture taken while handing them out to starving villagers, displaced by harsh winter storms, to illustrate her generous nature and problem-solving prowess.

8.
POTUS is expected to have his or her photo taken several times a day, gratis, with any number of charitable organizations, winners of school contests, heads of state, newly elected officials, etc. Sarah doesn’t do photos for free. Sarah routinely charges as much as $5k to have her photo taken with a payee.

7.
POTUS is expected to give several speeches per week, including a weekly address to the nation. He is not paid extra for any of these speeches. Sarah doesn’t do free speeches. Sarah doesn’t speak for less than $75k and then says as little as possible. (Unless she’s appearing on Fox where she says even less.)

6.
Pardoning a turkey each year before Thanksgiving is a POTUS tradition. Sarah doesn’t do turkey pardoning as much as she stands in front of national media, live, on air and shows the country how a turkey is slaughtered after having been pardoned.

5.
At a meeting of international delegates, POTUS is expected to remember the names and countries of each delegte as he or she speaks to them individually. Sarah doesn’t do names or countries. Sarah can’t even seem to remember where her youngest son was born. Wasilla? Anchorage? Well really it’s all just semantics, isn’t it. At least he was born a fish picker.

4.
POTUS is expected to work with congress to repair our failing healthcare system and come up with new, innovative ways to incorporate private healthcare insurance with government-sponsored medicare. Sarah doesn’t do government-sponsored healthcare. Sarah thinks we should all just hop over the border into Canada and let their government handle our healthcare needs.

3.
In times of crisis, POTUS is expected to take responsibility and to be the calming voice of reason – the steady mind that leads the public away from panic and towards useful solutions. Sarah doesn’t do calm. Sarah does whine, blame and point, and all at the top of her lungs.

2.
Our President faces tough decisions every day. From immigration to offshore drilling rights, POTUS is poised to deal with a daily myriad of problems, and often is expected to voice possible solutions off the cuff, at a moment’s notice. Sarah doesn’t do tough decisions. Sarah spews whatever idiotic idea pops into her head at the time with no apparent concept of self-editing. Her idea of solving the immigration problems in America consists of building a 6k mile, 14′ tall wooden fence. Her offshore drilling solutions are to bring all offshore drilling to Alaska where its – safe.

And the #1 reason why Sarah Palin will never be President:

1.
The White House staff consists of approximately 2,500 federal employees. This does not include the President’s cabinet or his personal staff. Hundreds of people run interference with and review his correspondence, including emails and telephone calls. His staff makes his schedules, plans his events and come and go between their offices and the Oval Office, routinely.

On top of this, POTUS works intimately and daily with his cabinet of 22+ members. These are the people in whom he confides and trusts to ask their counsel and advice. The President, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Vice President and Cabinet members all purportedly have no secrets. Well, very few anyway.

Sarah Palin’s entire world is built on secrets. Secrets closely guarded by a handful of trusted supporters. In fact,her inner circle of trusted individuals is smaller today then when she was picked to be John McCain’s running mate, two years ago because Sarah fires anyone she perceives to have wronged her – whether her perception is accurate or not.  Sarah trusts no one.

Sarah Palin can never be POTUS because Sarah Palin could never handle the sheer number of people expected to be let into her inner circle in order for her to function as President.

Sarah Palin’s entire four-year campaign for the Presidency is a farce.  As a campaign vehicle it does not exist. It does exist, however in the minds of her supporters. Sarah has seen to that. It is perhaps the biggest money-making vehicle to which this country has ever been exposed. It reminds me of an old science fiction story where locals are conned into letting the big alien machine into their town and they feed it everything they can find because they’ve been told it’s the most important machine in the world – that by feeding and protecting it they were the chosen ones…  and then they were told it needed to be fed!

With the help of the gullible townspeople, the machine slowly gobbles up the town, land and people and all.

Sarah Palin will never be president. But she will, if left to her own devices, gobble up the country, the land and the people and all until like the fictional town above, there’s nothing left. 

For some reason my link function doesn’t work this morning. This is one of many cartoons found at About.com: Political Humor called Best Palin Cartoons. (http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/bl-palin-cartoons.htm?PS=243%3A17)

To comment on this post, please scoll up to the title “Top Ten Reasons Why Sarah Palin Will Never Be POTUS” and click on the word comments just beneath.  Thanks, OzMud

Sarah Palin is already campaigning for the office of President of The United States. The truly odd part about her campaign is… she really doesn’t want the job. She’s proved this by quitting every position she’s ever held, sans her stint as mayor of Wasilla. Oh wait – she kept that job but only because she was allowed to hire someone else (at the tax payers expense) to actually do it for her.

The truly sad part about her campaign is… it distracts those people who were elected from focusing on why they were elected, which was supposed to be serving the people. You remember – us.

There’s a reason we pause between election cycles. It’s to allow elected officials the opportunity to put partisanship aside and work together for the good of the citizens. To make America just a little bit better than it was before. To solve the new problems that arise as the population grows and cultures within the country change.

We stop campaigning so we can take stock of how far we’ve come from where we’ve been and make report cards on our leaders to see how they stand up to their predecessors, and our needs. And then we let them get to the job of governing.

When our elected officials have to spend time and energy defending their offices from campaign rhetoric and constant stump-speech accusations, very little gets done in the name of moving our country forward.

Most people understand this. 

Enter Sarah, stage left, using wine & cheese politics to promote herself by tweeting, Facebooking, reality TV showing and mock-commentarying on Fox. If your city doesn’t get its roads fixed this year or that new hospital built, well at least you’ll all know who to thank.

Sarah Palin… the party of me. 

To comment on this post, please scroll up to the title “Sarah Palin’s 4-year Campaign for a Job She Doesn’t Want” and click on the word comments just beneath.  Thanks, OzMud

Perhaps in the interest of fairplay the producers of Dancing With The Stars should have  provided each Season 11 contestant with a national, political website from which to garner public votes. Flashing their names and vote-numbers across the screen a few times during each of the live performances doesn’t quite compare to the 24/7 national vote-solicitation campaign granted Bristol Palin by her mother’s PAC websites. Oh look here’s one now:

From Conservatives4Palin:

So let me get this straight… I don’t have to watch the show or even like dancing. I just have to know this is Sarah’s kid and she wants myvote. Umm… ok! Wait… Sarah’s tweeting…

“Passion of the Christ” waltz eh? Oh that sounds so spiritual…

Wow. Christianity sure has changed since I went to church every Sunday. Because I definitely don’t remember anything in the bible about pulling your skirt way over your head while a half-naked guy leers at your bare legs, flailing his arms and drooling.

Maybe I was sick that day.

Here’s the thing. This little peek is brought to you by the video folks at PalinTV. (You knew mom was organizing her own TV network, right?) It’s posted on Conservatives 4 Palin, right beside the SarahPAC donation button, just beneath the Sarah’s Legal Defense Fund button, just on the other side of the Buy These Sarah Palin Books buttons and…

But thats ok because Bristol told us herself – her votes all come from ordinary folks just like her, not anything to do with her mom’s political connections. People who say that are just jealous.

Riiiiight… and I’m tall and blonde.

I’m not big on these reality shows. The winner is seldom the guy I cheered on. But this is so unbalanced it’s just dirty wrong and I hope the producers of DWTS-11 catch a lot of flack over this obvious stacking of the deck, with voting rules overwhelmingly favouring one contestant over the rest.

Dirty dancing  is one thing – dirty voting is quite another.

============UPDATE============

H/T @ Commenter Joe (thanks for the link!)

This posted at Evil Beet Gossip – a photo of Bristol coming out of the Cheesecake Factory in L.A. 16 November 2010

I don’t mean to be mean but… let’s lighten it up shall we?

Wait… what’s that?

Yanno… where I come from that’s not junkfood.
Looks like a five-month bump to me.
So much for abstinence, eh?

To comment on this post, please scroll up to the title “Sarah’s Political Websites Openly Solicit DWTS Votes For Bristol” and click on the word comments just beneath.  Thanks, OzMud

David Kernell, the young man convicted of breaking into one of three yahoo email accounts Sarah Palin unethically used for state business had his sentence passed down today. It’s probably easier to just post this link to Palingates coverage than to rewrite it here. Be sure to read the entire summary as Palingates provides a unique outside the U.S. perspective on the whole incident.

In my mind, this is a perfect example of something not-so-bad blown completely out of proportion by the reigning Palins with the help of an adoring media. I am so tired of the media giving these people carte` blanche just because their bizarre behaviour  is fodder for good ratings – but now, to have helped Sarah turn a curious college student into a major class felon – that’s the Palin/Media brand gone too far.

With Sarah Palin in command we no longer need to go outside the U.S. to find political prisoners. We’re now making them right in our own backyard. 

Tell us, Sarah, when two of your children, Track and Willow got into trouble with the law over destroying public and private property, what happened to them again? Oh that’s right. You built them a big house and took them shopping.

Nice one Sarah. Very presidential of you.

=============== Update ===============

Palingates has updated their report with portions of the actual testimonies posted here along with links to the complete .pdf files.

We have known since the testimony was given that Sarah and Bristol lied under oath as (at the time) many of us were godsmacked to note that Mr.Kernell’s attorney ignored the perjury. He was trying to keep the trial focused on the facts rather than let it wander off into a media frenzy about Sarah… and of course no one will ever know if that was the right way to go for his client or not.

Jeanne Devon at The Mudflats posted aerial photos of the Palin house in Wasilla after Bristol claimed – under oath – to be alone, without telephone service  and miles from nowhere. The photos clearly show the Palin house is not out in the boondocks. Other witnesses corroborated the fact that two secret service persons were living at the Wasilla house and so at no time could Bristol have ever been alone and/or in mortal danger. But the judge never heard these facts. Bristol and Sarah’s testimomies stayed on the record and unchallenged.

I no longer have a link to the AKM post above. Maybe one of you have it and can post it in comments? Believe it or not I’m cooking Thanksgiving dinner while typing these posts today. It’s a version of my new tradition since moving to Australia that I fondly call An America Thanksgiving (a week late and in the wrong country).

Off to get a pumpkin pie in the oven… NOBODY DO ANYTHING EXCITING UNTIL I GET BACK!

To comment on this post, please scroll up to the title “David Kernell: Palin’s Collateral Damage” and click on the word comments just beneath.  Thanks, OzMud

People across the country are noticing how those contestants who are genuinely working at becoming good/better dancers are being forced off the show while Bristol, who puts in almost no effort at all is voted back on week after week.

I read about how the Christian Right has organized massive votes to keep Bristol Palin on DWTS over at The Immoral Minority and went surfing to see what I could find from other posters. Because really, week after week, we all sort of grit our teeth and just pray she doesn’t fall and hurt herself  because let’s face it – the girl is just an abominably bad dancer. 

This is what I found:

Lovely Mittal – NewsXonline.com
Almost every week she gets the lowest scores particularly from the judges but she manages to slip back due to the voting system in the show which has a call in facility ,wherein the fans and supporters can just call and contribute to the number of votes to the contestant of their choice.
However in Bristol’s case there are reports doing the rounds that she gets her support from her mom Sarah Palin’s supporters.

As Sarah Palin is being seen as a strong contender for the forthcoming 2012 Presidential elections in the US, it is being floating around that the supporters of Sarah Palin are quite supportive of Bristol’s position in the coveted contest.

AAyles – Twirlit.com
Bristol Palin is not a good dancer. America may be stupid enough to waste their votes on a contestant who clearly shows no talent and little passion for the competition but the judges are there to do a job… For the first time in the history of Dancing with the Stars, that is not happening.

Celebrity Circuit – CBSNews.com
NEW YORK (CBS) After Tuesday night’s “Dancing with the Stars” elimination, many were surprised that Rick Fox was sent home – and equally as shocked that Bristol Palin is still in the competition.

Some may be wondering if her mother’s devoted Tea Party following is what’s keeping the young competitor afloat.

Jeff Kane – RobotCeleb.com
[Kane reports that Bristol tells Ellen – even though she obtained an absentee ballot, she forgot to mail it in so she didn’t actually vote in the 2010 midterm elections. ] My favourite line comes at the very end:

“I wonder if her mom being on the (2012) ticket would be motivation enough for Bristol Palin to take five minutes out of her busy day to fill out a ballot and mail it in. She has to have at least some free time because judging by how she is dancing; she clearly isn’t spending her time in rehearsals.”

Jeff Kane – RobotCeleb.com
So did Bristol Palin really get that many calls? We will never know. DWTS has never revealed how their scoring system works. They have simply said that they take the judges scores and combined them with the votes, plug those numbers into a formula and come up with a final score. Since nobody knows how many votes people are getting it is impossible to know how this formula really works. Or, for that matter, if there is a formula at all. Perhaps Bristol has such a connection with the conservative side of the audience that they call in en masse and those votes help keep her around. Or maybe the producers know she is good for publicity and stirs up controversy and helps with ratings so they massage the numbers and keep her around.

I might have my tinfoil hat on, but after last night I think maybe there might be some truth out there among the fog.

A few of the comments:

Katttie: have not watched the show this year at all; very disinterested which started with “professional” dancers winning the competition in prior years. Now we have a very incompetent dancer who should have been voted off the first show, embarrassingly remaining, week after week…..thanks to the unfair advantage of the Tea Party. Shame on the show for not foreseeing this problem – it is very unfair to the remaining dancers. I don’t plan on ever watching again, haven’t missed it one bit.

mariapalestina: agree Bristol has worked hard and improved a lot along the way. But she must know she’s not up to the level of any of the other dancers, and I think part of the reason she is depressed (which she said she is) could be that she knows she doesn’t deserve to still be there. I don’t blame her if the Tea Baggers are trying to skew the voting. It’s just a shame because people should be judged for their dancing rather than for their mother’s politics.

ELBK: I’ve seen a couple of Tea Party blogs where they praise Bristol’s dancing and diss some of the other dancers’ style as “over the top.” Every week they post the number to call for Bristol and Mark. You know, though, the show should have foreseen this happening and, what’s more, they put this poor girl who is the only contestant without a performer background, in a position where she suffers humiliation week after week … If she wins the whole shibang, I don’t care. It’s just a dance contest.

ELBK: I like Bristol and really feel for her as she struggles to keep up on DWTS. She has landed “in jeopardy” so often, based on the judges’ scores, but then is magically lifted back into the contest by the voters. I voted for Bristol at the beginning and the night her mother was on I could not get through on the phone, which is unusual for DWTS. There is no doubt in my mind now that the Tea Baggers are voting for Bristol en masse and, if it keeps up, she will end up winning. That would be so unfair to the other, more talented people. DWTS should have foreseen this scenario. Not only is it unfair to the other dancers, but to Bristol also, who probably will catch on to what is going on if she hasn’t already, plus make the other dancers resent her.

Gary: SHUT UP ALREADY! If that was Chelsea Clinton up there you would all be stumbling over yourselves to vote for her! I think its great shoving another PALIN in all the liberals faces and actually the shock is they have yet to MANIULATE the vote to get her off! Sorry but the fat black dude from Disney goes tonite! Your lives are so meaningless that all you have to do is attack anything to do with Sarah Palin the rest of your lives? GO GET ONE!

One thing’s sure noticeable… people who are clearly not Palin fans are kind and generous with their comments about Bristol. People who clearly are Palin fans are nasty, threatenting and have no room in their world for any opinion other than their own. hmm…

But I’ve saved the very best for last:

Regan: Bristol’s mother is paying for people to attend the show???? I just read the article @ this link, and I have to say I was honestly disgusted.  It’s sad to see performing arts come to this. 😦

The link provided in this comment leads us to the People.com TV Watch page and this tidbit:

It’s a long and expensive flight from Alaska to Los Angeles, but Bristol Palin has had a steady cheering section in the ballroom for Dancing With the Stars. How? Her parents, Sarah and Todd Palin, have been treating family and friends to plane tickets …As for how Piper, 9, and Willow, 16, manage to be in the ballroom on school nights, Palin says, “We work with the school to bring their schoolwork with us.”

You know I’m over 6,000 miles from Alaska but I swear I just heard Gryphen spit coffee across the room.

And at the very bottom of the article is a bonus announcement… evidently there’s a new People’s mag inteview hitting the stands Friday (oh that would be today!) called an in-depth look into Sarah and Todd’s 22 year marriage… Ok at least a dozen Alaskans lost their coffee on that one 🙂

To comment on this post pleae scroll up to the title “Scattered Opinions About Bristol & DWTS” and click on the word comments just beneath. Thanks, OzMud

Since my post regarding how staged I believe the scenes from Sarah’s un-reality TV series were/are, I have received two lovely emails from Patrick over at Palingates detailing facts about the Palin’s backyard. Palingates link is over there ->

As an update to the original post, a video found at the Alaska Dispatch from July 2010 (made specifically to show the infamous 14′ fence) was added which showed no table and chairs set and no visible patio or cement slab, as Sarah calls it. I questioned whether or not the patio even existed before the filming of the TLC series and used the missing patio, table and chairs to further assert my disbelief of Sarah’s claim that this was in fact her favourite place to write in the whole world.

Patrick provided links… here, here, here and here to photos taken from 2009 forward which clearly show the cement slab did exist prior to the TLC filming, and the table and chairs on occasion stood on the patio. So it appears the invisible patio of July 2010 is just an optical illusion, a slightly off camera angle that tricked an old pair of eyes.

However, the table and chairs are not on the patio on 26 July 2010, reinforcing my contention that it is removed and replaced at Sarah’s convenience and is not a permanent fixture as she infers when she makes the claim that this is her favourite place to write in the whole world.

Although I must admit, having a moveable place to write also fits in with Sarah’s personality disorder of this was my favourite place to write in the whole world until it wasn’t. 

Pfft – patio furniture is certainly meant to be taken indoors during storms or snow seasons, so why care if it’s not there for one picture and back for another?

Because Sarah is using this setting, her cement patio, table and chairs to cement her image of being a professional writer. This is her favourite place to write in the whole world… (See? Look at me! I’m a writer! I have a favourite spot and everything!)

Oh yes, and now that you can see I’m a real writer, you’ll believe that nosy ‘ol Joe McGinniss drove me out of my favourite place to write! Darn it!

The fact that the patio already existed and the table and chairs periodically appear in pictures on the patio does not change my mind that Sarah staged this Utopic Writing Place to emphasize her point that Joe McGinniss caused her great personal discomfort and inconvenience by renting the house next door.

That’s just another Sarah Palin fabrication, right up there with claiming to be a writer in the first place.

This bare table and chairs in the middle of nowhere can’t possibly be anyones favourite place in the whole world to write. It can’t even be a dinner table for a family sporting five kids and at least one grandchild.

The perfect place to write? In the middle of God’s Country? Really?

Let me repeat myself:
There is no shelter to protect her from wind, sudden showers or effects of the sun. There is no overhead protection to fend off UV rays, deterioration of her paper research material, or her eyes. (People don’t normally read oudoors without shading, even when it’s overcast as the sun’s glare makes it impossible to focus for any length of time, not to mention it’s also harmful to one’s eyes.) Lastly, there is no comfy chair in which to curl up for the hours and hours it takes to actually, you know… write.

If it’s the Alaska scenery she’s after, Sarah could easily see all of Lake Lucille and the trees beyond from inside her house, behind one of the many windows overlooking the beautiful Alaska skyline, surrounded with all the creature comforts $20mil can provide and safe from harsh elements and perceived-nosy neighbours.

Well and truly, I appreciate Palingates input. I have great respect for the work Patrick and the rest do over there and find myself  a bit flattered that my little post even came under their radar.

Thanks again! It’s pretty important these days (with all the real journalists in hiding) for us to keep each other honest and accurate and I sincerely appreciate the cement slab correction 🙂

To comment on this post, please scroll up to the title “Palingates Sets The Record Straight” and click on the word comments just beneath.  Thanks, OzMud

oOOOooo her’s not going to like this animated version I’m guessing…

How on earth did I miss this Lary King interview?

Speaking forcefully to an evidently stunned King, Palin called on her supporters to buy the book and then burn it, in order to prevent it falling into the wrong hands.

Palin also railed against the book’s publisher, OR Books, responsible for last year’s runaway bestseller Going Rouge: Sarah Palin — An American Nightmare, describing the company as “my nemesis”.

An OR Books spokesperson responded: “We are shocked by the ferocity of Palin’s attack, but even more by her use of the word “nemesis” We believe this performance was clearly coached, probably by Newt Gingrich.”

Here’s an interesting excercise for you to try… I actually stumbled onto this clip while looking for sales figures on Going Rouge. We know Going Rogue sold a bit over 2mil copies (although a healthy portion of the supposed ‘sales’ were reportedly purchased from Sarah’s PAC for giveaways to boost sales) and I was after updated sales figures on Going Rouge. But that’s not the interesting bit.

Ok, everyone who’s surprised that Sarah Palin’s new Reality TV show starts by dishing up some whopping big lies, shout A M E N!

Yuh, that’s what I thought.

While the primary focus of TLC’s trailer (as seen here at Huffington Post) on Sarah Palin’s Alaska has been steady on how badly she and her husband Todd have overreacted to and lied about the behaviour of their summer neighbour, Joe McGinniss, I couldn’t help notice something entirely different about this bizarre peek into Sarah’s show.

Maybe it’s because I was the pregnant mother of two when I endeavoured to publish my first piece, or maybe it’s because I do a lot of writing outdoors, or maybe it’s the two years of conditioned mistrust for the former Alaska half-governor – whatever the reason, my brain zeroed in on the surroundings Sarah calls ‘where I like to write…’ and not one active brain cell bought it.

So without permission I took some screenies and if somebody at TLC wants to yell at me, let them. My email addy is in the nav bar at the top.

First up is the opening shot of Sarah sitting at a table in her backyard, overlooking Lake Lucille. It’s a dramatic shot, contrasting the enormity of the wall of windows to our tiny little Sarah. She refers to her cement patio as a cement slab – a trailer park term which only serves to accent her lack of education.

I’m struck by the sheer barrenness of the setting.

A closer look at the patio table and chairs is a bit telling. There are only four chairs. On that huge patio, there are only four chairs. One small table and four chairs for a family of  – Seven? Eight? Nine?  Odd.

Enter Todd, stage right. Notice a few things: 1) The windows behind him are reflecting darkening clouds. 2) He’s wearing a black hoodie with a monogrammed top pocket over a pale blue t-shirt. 3) He’s dressed for chilly weather. She’s bare armed and in a loose tee. 4)The patio is bare. No raised flower boxes, no knick knacks or patio lounge chairs. Not a squeaky family swing or cushioned redwood deck chairs.  

He asks if she’s comfortable. She initially says yes, but uses the question to bring up the subject of their neighbour, Joe McGinniss.

Sarah and Todd sit together complaining about how hard it’s been on them since the arrival of Mr. MGinniss and how disruptive his presence has been on their lives.

But look at the table instead of listening to their drivel. Sarah opens this segment with the claim that she’s out on the patio to write. To research and write. This is her favourite place in the whole world to… research and write. Uh…

Sarah’s belongings on this table consist of one book (which looks suspiciously like the red jacket of a book I’ve seen her photographed with before but can’t place it at the moment) a writing tablet, a pen, her Blackberry and what looks to be a second writing tablet, but could be a second pamphlet-style book, and a cold drink container with straw. It could also be a lunch menu from Taco Bell, who knows.

The point is, there’s no real research material. There’s no computer laptop or net book, no thesaurus or dictionary, and no pages of notes previously gleaned from different sources in preparation for writing about them here, in this setting, at this, her favourite place to write.  And there couldn’t be, because it’s windy and there’s no shelter and why would you bring loose pages or precious resource books outside onto a bare table with no protection from the wind? Then there’s the fact that it looks like it’s going to rain at any second…

And one more thing – as you look at the photos of this patio… there don’t seem to be any electrical outlets. No place to plug in a computer, television, radio or light.

Sarah and Todd have both agreed that they believe Joe McGinniss is on his deck, reading a book. The cameraman has even zoomed in between fence slats to verify that yes, there he is, approximately 20-30’ from them on the other side of a 14’ fence and poor Sarah is now so unnerved that she cannot continue writing. She must relinquish her favourite place to write in the whole world because Joe McGinniss might lean over the 14’ fence from 30’ away and see what she’s writing.

Sarah had so few writing tools she was able to scoop them up in one go and start to walk away. Please note it is the dutiful Todd who leans over to wipe the ring of moisture left behind from Sarah’s large drink. If that doesn’t define their interactive roles for you, nothing will.

Sarah exits stage right and Todd walks straight down center stage, turns his back on the audience, I mean Lake Lucille and begins the most inane diatribe on the ills of living next door to the evil Joe McGinniss and how his wife has struggled to endure his tenancy a scant few feet from her daughter’s (sigh) bedroom. Has this woman never heard of curtains?

Now look at Todd. The black hoodie with the monogrammed top pocket is gone, replaced by an actual black jacket with plain top pocket – and now worn over a black t-shirt, not pale blue. I do love it when the continuity editors screw up. It’s not like anyone has to wait for film to be developed any more. Maybe that’s why it’s called The Learning Channel, eh?

Through dialogue and narration, Todd and Sarah have made it crystal clear they don’t appreciate having their privacy invaded by Joe McGinniss. They go on and on ad nauseam about how they value their privacy and how difficult it’s been to maintain their privacy in light of this recent intruder.

And they say all of this with Lake Lucille as their backdrop. You know – that huge public lake behind their unfenced backyard? The same yard that spreads out in front of the entire back wall of their house? The wall that’s made almost exclusively of huge glass windows? Windows that can be seen from any vessel on any part of the lake if one has the correct zoom lens?

Sarah Palin just continues to remind me of the man who stands naked in his apartment window screaming at passersby to stop looking at him!!!

But that’s not really what I want you to notice the most in this video. It’s this. Take a good look at this photo again:

Take as long as you need. Can you see what’s missing? This is Sarah’s favourite place to write in the whole world . She said so. It stands to reason she spends considerable time here, no? Do you see it now?

Sarah? Where’sTrig? Where are his toys? Where’s his swing and slide? His little toy trucks and sandbox? Where are his riding toys and bubble lawn mower? Where’s the potting bench you and Piper and Trig purportedly used to start your garden in the summer of 2009? Where is the garden, period?

Where’s the BBQ? Where are the patio lights for entertaining your family and guests? The furniture people sit on? Eat at? Where’s the windbreak that lets a writer work outdoors, protected from the sun and wind?

My favourite place to write in the whole world was at a small desk on my front porch overlooking the yard where my kids played. And the neighbouring kids played. And visiting nephews and nieces played. You always had to check for bits of food before you sat down or put your arms on the desk, because let’s face it – the smallest amount of peanut butter and jelly can cover entire rooms.

Several small rocks sat on piles of papers on te desk and on the floor as each time a page wafted away with a gusty breeze one of the kids would fetch it and bring me a new rock to use as a weight – and it wasn’t at all uncommon to see someone had typed a mysterious ‘I love you mommy come play’ message on one of my manuscript pages.

So what did I find missing from Sarah’s favourite place to write in the whole world ? Life. Life is missing.

There are no signs of life in that place Sarah claims to do her writing. No signs of life at all. And if you’re a mother of five who writes at home, the place you write overflows with bits of your kids lives from crayon drawings to spilled strawberry soda stains amidst your scribbled notes of things to remember to write about.

This whole episode is as phony as Sarah herself. If that’s well and truly her favourite place to write in the whole world it speaks volumes for her crappy communications skills.

============ UPDATE ============

On 26 July 2010 the Alsaka Dispatch, responding to the Palin/McGinniss kerfuffle posts this video:

So barely three months ago, Sarah’s favourite writing place didn’t even exist! Interesting, eh? Considering she makes such a big dill out of telling the world Joe McGinniss chased her out of her own backyard!

Lies, lies and more lies…

h/t to dsmyre

@RobDaub who pointed out the dangers of letting small children play near the lake:

More than once since Joe McGinniss moved next door, Sarah tells of having to change the famlies whole lifestyle by making the kids play on the other side of the house – letting us assume this is their normal place to play.

That said, if Todd and Track can erect a 14′ wood fence in an afternoon because her highness has had a hissy fit over a neighbour, they can certaily build a 4′ fence to keep their son/grandson/brother/nephew safe from harm while mom sits in her favourite place to write in the whole world…

@ all the commenters – thanks for your great contributions! OzMud

To comment on this post, please scroll up to the title “Sarah Palin Uses Trusty LIE-WRITER to Launch New TV Show” and click on the word comments just beneath.  Thanks, OzMud

                                                            

‘Tis the morning after the midterm elections and I am struck with a profound sadness that seems to have replaced the momentary relief derived from knowing Christine O’Donnell, Carly Fiorina, Carl Paladino, Sharon Angle and other Palin-Picks will not be poisoning my congress anytime soon.

And while it at least appears that Joe Miller won’t be setting up shop in Washington DC after all, it’s still too early to cite a clear winner of that senate race. I still, rather optimistically have my fingers crossed for Scott McAdams.

And I suppose it was a given that John McCain would retain his seat alongside his  governor who thinks headless bodies roam her deserts, but looking at the bigger picture, they have both proven to be ineffective politicians who are relatively harmless. I can get by knowing the insanity they both spew will stay grounded in Arizona and not affect me too much.

The sadness gripping me this morning is more like the sensation a mother has just before one of her children predictably falls out of a tree. You know it’s going to happen. You’re powerless to prevent it. You know falling is a part of learning how to climb and climbing is a part of growing up but still… you can see what’s coming and wish there was a way to make it less painful.

And this morning I can see what’s coming and I wish there were a way to make it less painful.

Regardless of your political stance, you have to know that the extreme economic trials facing America today were not created in the last 22 months by the Democratic Party. It is simply not possible for a prosperous country to plummet into this much debt in such a short amount of time. Yet that’s what the Republicans keep banking on all of us believing. And to some not-so-small degree, that’s working for them.

But is it working for us? Is blaming President Obama and his administration for all the financial ills that have befallen this country in the last decade really our best strategy? Is that going to get the hundreds of thousands of men and women standing in unemployment lines back to work and earning pay checks? Is it?

Since the 2008 presidential election the Republican Party has so focused on getting back into the driver’s seat they completely missed the part about how their jobs are to help us – The People. they didnt help the Demorats build any roads or new schools or hospitals. They didn’t lift a finger to help the Democrats build a healthcare platform all Americans could get behind. They were too busy campaigning. And they still are. It’s like going to Washington is onegiant campaign trail and nobody actually stops to do the job.

And this morning the talk is more rhetrical talking points about repealing Obamacare and every bit of legislature that’s been passed since January 2009 – why, exactly?

Is the Republican attitude of tearing down all that’s been built by the Obama Administration and starting over with just Republican ideals being represented really a solution to financial solvency in America? Seems to me it was Republican ideals that got us into this mess in the first place.

The recent Republican wins in the house are not going to make conditions any better for anyone. They’re going to make things a lot worse. The Party of No isn’t going to Washington to work for We The People, they’re off to keep their corporate cash cows happy.

And I don’t say this as a registered Democrat. I say this as a mother with years of experience bandaging scraped knees and developing a sixth sense about trouble.

This morning I can feel trouble brewing and we’re all powerless to stop it.

If President Barack Obama had been a Republican would Sarah Palin or Glenn Beck be calling him a closet Muslim who hates America? Would the Republican delegates who have so passionately voted against any Obama-drafted legislation have been as passionate for seeing it all pass? And had they all worked together to find solutions, how much better off would all our citizens be today?

When politics begins to look like it comes out of a football playbook rather than insights on what the country and its citizens actually need – where do we go for help?

This is a list of American candidates running for office in tomorrow’s elections across the country. With one hand they preach Christian family values. With the other they practice a chilling divisiveness that would leave our poor, elderly and infirm without medical care, without food and with nowhere to go but back alleys waiting for death.

Because every American deserves food, water, shelter, education and healthcare, please do not vote for any of the following candidates:

John McCain in Arizona

Roy Blunt in Missouri

Rob Portman in Ohio 

Carly Fiorina in California 

Rick Perry in Texas

Terry Branstad in Iowa

Susana Martinez in New Mexico 

Tom Emmer in Minnesota.

Christine O’Donnell in Delaware

Michael Grimm in New York

Sean Duffy in Wisconsin

Rand Paul in Kentucky

Nikki Haley in the South Carolina 

Joe Miller in Alaska

Lisa Murkowski in Alaska

Paul Gosar in Arizona

John Koster in Washington

In any civilized society the strong look after the weak, the young look after their elders and neighbours look after each other. In any civilized society there’s an understanding about duty of care for those less fortunate by those more fortunate. It’s a common philosophy found in the teachings of Christ. It’s in the teachings of Buddha and Judaism and Islam. It’s common sense humanity.

Tomorrow we need to show our country and the world that we’re still the compassionate, thoughtful, good Christians, Buddhists, Jews and Muslims that our multiple religions and non-religions have taught us to be.

Tomorrow we need to stand up and vote no to this list of divisive politicians who work to undermine the very nature of American values.

-OzMud

Sky News Australia is the land downunder’s one and only around the clock, 24 hours per day news service. It comes to us courtesy of FOXTEL, our one and only television cable service. A good portion of the broadcasts are courtesy of Great Britain as we, at the end of the day, still pledge allegiance to the Queen.

Not ten minutes ago, while folding laundry, Sky News broadcast a British report on the upcoming U.S. elections. The report talked about how President Obama has lost so much ground during his first two years in office that the Democrats will lose the House and most of the Senate in Tuesday’s election.

The report included this tidbit: “The Democrats themselves are so disenchanted with Pres. Obama that many have jumped ship…”

To drive the point home, a clip of Sarah Palin was played. Her screechy voice whinged… “Mr. Obama you’ve had two years to pull this country out of despair and all you’ve done is make it worse.” My quote is not accurate as I can’t retrieve it. But it’s close enough.

I’m sickened that the media, even over here treats Ms. Palin as if she were an authority on White House policy, foreign policy or was any form of political leader at all. I’m sickened that the foreign media treats her words as if facts and accuracy were a part of her protocol. And I’m sickened that she continues to be treated as a credible influence on any political stage, anywhere.

In just under two years President Obama has done more for the good of the American people than both George Bush presidencies combined. There are news articles you can barely find on back pages of news publications which make the case that he’s written and passed more legislation in two years than previous presidents in their completed terms. But do we hear of any of these accomplishments? No.

We don’t hear of anything positive about the Obama Administration not because positive things aren’t happening in Washington, but because Sarah Palin is a media cash cow and her daily igno-rants bring in more ratings for entities like Fox News.

Sarah Palin represents only a handful of disgruntled Americans. She does not hold an elected office. She lost the 2008 election by something like an excess of 200 millon votes – and that wasn’t even her ticket anyway. McCain added her to the bottom of the ticket in a desperate move to capture the votes from Hillary Clinton backers.

Turns out Sarah Palin doesn’t even deserve to lick Hillary’s boots.

It used to be there were only one or two lunatics to look out for during any given election season.

Today, thanks mostly to a jealous Republican Party, a greedy media  and Sarah I’ll say whatever it takes to put $$$ in my pocket Palin – there are far too many morons to watch.

Please – vote.

============ UPDATE ============

Just watched this on Shannyn Moore’s website and knew I had to post it here as well… thanks Shannyn… this is excellent – and yes, I remember 🙂

To comment on the post, please scroll up to the title “Moron Watch: 36 Hours To U.S. 2010 Midterm Elections” and click on the word comments just beneath.  Thanks, OzMud