Real Housewives of Miami star Lea Black is trying to prove that the Bravo Housewives are good for more than just cocktails and catfights by getting political in a self-penned opinion piece posted this morning on the Huffington Post. Who's she targeting? Duh, Sarah Palin!
"Sarah Palin is the sideshow in the circus that everyone wants to watch, but that most people don't take seriously," Black told us when we chatted with her earlier today. "The Republican Party has become a circus and she's the sideshow act that everyone likes to laugh at, not with."
Black also thinks the Sarah Palin's Alaska star should stick to reality TV and stay out of politics, adding, "I think she makes for great entertainment, but I don't think she can be taken seriously for leading a country."
As for Black's onscreen drama with Bravo's newest group of Housewives gals?
"You're not going to see any table-flipping," she said. "But if you tune in tomorrow night you may see some pig-flipping."
Huh?! Black declined to elaborate, but we have a feeling it has something to do with a promo clip of housewife Alexia Echevarria's husband butchering a whole pig in the middle of their own kitchen.
You'd think they'd have the hired help take care of that.
Bristol Palin, Gov. Sarah Palin’s 18-year-old daughter, sat for her first interview since giving birth to Tripp, which aired Monday on Fox News Channel’s “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren.”
News of the unmarried high school student’s pregnancy emerged within days of her mother’s introduction as Senator John McCain’s running mate in August. In addition to being a mother, Ms. Palin appears to be embracing a potential role as an advocate against teen pregnancy, saying that abstinence is “not realistic.”
Ms. Palin, who said she was “exhausted,” at moments seemed to have a poise and world-weariness that belied her age. But there were still flashes of a defiant teenager.
She said she had been particularly irritated by media rumors that her mother, a social conservative, had forced her to have the baby.
“It doesn’t matter what my mom’s views are on it,” she said. “It was my decision, and I wish people would realize that, too.”
Though she declined to elaborate, Ms. Palin’s views on abstinence appear to differ from those her mother, a proponent of abstinence-until-marriage education, would like to see espoused.
“Everyone should be abstinent, but it’s just not realistic at all,” she said, adding that among people her age, “it’s more and more accepted now.” But though she said she hoped her story would help change that acceptance, she did not advocate the use of contraception or go into greater detail as to how to prevent teen pregnancy.
When Ms. Van Susteren asked if she knew how to take care of a baby, Ms. Palin responded, “Yeah,” with a note of irritation. She added, “Because I’ve been babysitting my whole life. So it’s not just the baby part of it that’s hard, it’s just realizing that I’m not living for myself anymore; I’m living for another human being.”
Ms. Palin said she felt “blessed” to have a large extended family to help her take care of Tripp, born Dec. 27. During a brief appearance, Governor Palin added: “I don’t know how other families do it if they assume that the young parent will make it on their own, or if they assume that the government is going to take care of the young parent and that child. That’s not government’s role.”
Bristol Palin: Media Maven with a Message
In a stroke of media mastery, Bristol Palin harnessed the Palin-family-doting Fox News last night to announce a powerful (and decidedly non-Fox News) message for policy makers: abstinence only is "not realistic." The new teen mom also told Great Van Susteren that she would "love to be an advocate to prevent teen pregnancy." Making this announcement on one of the most watched, and most conservative, news stations in the nation is already a pretty good display of her ability to reach a large swath of Americans (particularly the most difficult to reach on this issue.)
As we all remember, Bristol and her unplanned pregnancy dominated the national news for a month during the Presidential campaign. Yet this is really the first time we've heard from Bristol herself. It appears she is striking out on her own.
In fact, she told her mother about the interview, and her plans to discuss teen pregnancy prevention during it, just the day before. Some have spun this story as Bristol Palin attacking her mother's abstinence-only policies. She clearly is not, but she is finding her own voice.
What the interview reveals is that Bristol Palin is lovely, humble, honest, no doubt still a teenager and refreshingly free of any political agenda--except to use her experience to steer teens away from the same fate.
In startling candidness, Bristol Palin expresses the conflicting emotions that come packaged with teen parenthood; her love for her child and of motherhood and her belief that waiting ten years before becoming a parent would have been a better path.
She explained,
"I like being a mom, I love it. Just seeing him smile and stuff, it's awesome...It is very challenging but it's so rewarding...Of course, I wish it would happen in ten years so I could have a job and an education and be, like, prepared and have my own house and stuff... I just hope that people learn from my story and, I don't know, prevent teen pregnancy I guess... It's not just the baby part of it that's hard, it's that I'm not living for myself anymore I'm living for another human being...I'd like to be an advocate to prevent teen pregnancy because its not a situation you strive for I guess...Kids should just wait--it's not glamorous at all."
The mother of Levi Johnston, the Wasilla teenager who is the father of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter's unborn child, was arrested Thursday on drug charges.
The Anchorage Daily News reported Friday that Sherry L. Johnston, 42, was arrested by Alaska State Troopers at her Wasilla home and charged with six felony counts of misconduct involving a controlled substance.
The arrest was the result of an "undercover narcotics investigation," according to police.
Few details were available. Johnston was released on $5,000 bond, according to the paper.
Johnston's son, Levi, drew headlines soon after John McCain named Palin to be his running mate at the end of August. The campaign announced in a press release that Palin's 17-year-old daughter Bristol was pregnant, and that Johnston, 18, was the father. The story became the soap-opera subplot to the Republican National Convention the next week.
Levi Johnston and Bristol Palin have said they intend to marry in the summer. Their baby is due Saturday, according to the Anchorage Daily News.
Levi Johnston's Mother Busted In Drug Raid
Bristol Palin isn’t exactly going to have the mother-in-law of the year. She’s no Sarah Palin! Sherry Johnston, mother of Bristol’s fiancé Levi, was just busted in an undercover drug raid by Alaska State Troopers yesterday.
According to the Anchorage Daily News, Sherry was charged with six felony counts of misconduct, involving a controlled susbstance. Sherry was served the warrant around noon at her home in Wasilla, Alaska, at the "conclusion of an undercover narcotics investigation," a police statement read. She was released on a $5,000 unsecured bond.And to make matters even worse, Bristol is due with her baby in just two days!
Although we realize this has nothing to do with Sarah Palin, it’s hard not to just check off yet another bit of drama that seems to go hand-in-hand with the entire Palin family. But Sarah’s spokesman Bill Allister defends her, saying, "This is not a state government matter. Therefore the governor's communications staff will not be providing comment or scheduling interview opportunities."
No other information is being released at this time. But we’re sure Sarah Palin will schedule some interviews to talk about it just to get herself back in the public eye. She went from 100 to zero in about 5 seconds after Obama’s win! It was like she fell off the face of the earth! This is the perfect scandal to get people interested again!
Palin Pardons a Turkey in the Name of “Peace and Harmony.” Let the Slaughter Begin !!!
Yet again, my Governor, Sarah Palin has left me speechless. Today, in her home town of Wasilla, she decided to pardon a turkey. To my knowledge, this has not happened before, and I wonder if it might be the only thing left that made her feel “Presidential.”
That aside, she arrived at the turkey farm, with temperatures in the single digits in a short black skirt, and high heels. Then, she stood in the turkey shed, and read her statement.
Within the first 10 seconds I expected a lightning bolt to blow a hole in the roof of the turkey barn and strike her dead, leaving a little black pile of ashes with a pair of stylish glasses frames resting on top. Had I been there in person, they’d have seen me literally dive for cover.
Now, Sarah Palin actually advocates the death penalty, but I figured if the “friend to all creatures great and small” line didn’t get a lightning bolt, we were safe for now.
But the worst was yet to come. As she took advantage of the media opportunity after the magnanimous pardon, business as usual was going on at the turkey farm. And it was going on right behind Palin, and on camera.
Yes, that’s right. Sarah Palin actually said the campaign trail was “pretty brutal” while some guy behind her was slitting the throat of a turkey and draining it in the cone of death, right in front of the cameras. Turkey #2 met its demise while the reporter asked what programs in the upcoming budget might be “on the chopping block.”
When asked why she came out to pardon the turkey, Palin responded, “For one, you need a little levity in this job,” and went on to say that it was nice to do something that wasn’t so “heavy-handed politics, that invites criticism. Certainly we’ll probably invite criticism for even doin’ this too.” A correct prediction from our Governor as she stood there on Channel 2 News, with a backdrop of blood-soaked snow and dying birds.
Before you believe that maybe Sarah Palin didn’t know about this, or was horrified when she realized sitting in front of the TV later that night what had happened, remember that when a photographer asked her if she wanted the turkey slaughter as a backdrop, the “friend to all creatures great and small” said, “No worries!”
Sarah Palin Turkey Death Interview Video
Sarah Palin stands in front of a bird slaughtering machine being interviewed by a news crew as a farm hand awkwardly undertakes his work.
Sarah Palin Turkey Death video below....
She may have returned back to the upper 1, to her Gubernatorial duties in the state of Alaska, but the comedy hits just keep rolling in from Sarah Louise Palin.
The governor was being interviewed by a local Anchorage television news station while the work of the Triple-D Farm and Hatchery continued.
Palin was at the Turkey farm for a pardoning of the Turkey ceremony, a token gesture leading up to Thanks Giving where Governors and Presidents pardon a turkey from the chopping block, it makes for great TV vision.
What turned into a basic publicity stunt for Sarah Palin turned into a comedy classic for the YouTube ages.
Being interviewed by KTUU TV, an NBC affiliate in Alaska, Palin stood directly in front of a Turkey slaughtering machine where all the action was taking place. Despite the camera man apparently telling Sarah what was being captured by the lense, the Governor continued on her regual bullshitting rants.
A farm worker sheepishly began his day job killing Turkeys ready for Thanks Giving night, Palin mumbled on about "greatly falling" oil prices and the role of limited cheques in the mail Alaskan government.
The results can either be interpreted as excruciatingly hilarious, or simply disturbing television.
Sarah Palin in a Towel? Clueless on Africa? Wasilla Hillbillies?
Sarah Palin Winks Lasciviously at the Crowds. Because you know thats just how people like her are, all trailer trash and slutzy. And her ultra-hot MILFness is supposed to turn conservative voters off. Huh.
Milquetoast conservatives bring out the long knives for Sarah Palin while the left continue to be angry, hostile, and remarkably ungracious winners. Other people are documenting right-wingers being sore losers, so I ain’t going to bother on that.
Although, I will note they are predicting the GOP is going to self-destruct. How long had pundits on each side predicted the other party was going to self-destruct? Or that their party was going to enjoy a permanent majority? You know what, it almost never happens. Historically, I think the 40-year one-party rule of the Democrat house is going to turn out to have been a fluke. The Whitehouse changes party hands, on average, about every eight years. Pick up a history book, you goobers.
But back to Sarah Palin. Male McCain staffers got to enjoy Sarah Palin coming out in a towel and their complaining? Not only should they be fired, they should be stripped of any claims they had to supposed “manhood”.
Here is a Dramatic Re-Enactment of Sarah Palin Coming Out, Wrapped in Towel. McCain staffers are apparently not only self-loathing and America-hating left-of-center moderates, they’re also nuetered, desexualized eunuchs or something.
Sarah Palin doesn’t know Africa is a continent? Didn’t know what countries were part of NAFTA? Bullshizzle and bullshizzle. In fact, that sounds like folks tried to trap her. They set her up with Charlie Gibson. They set her up with Katie Couric. She spent some, but not nearly enough, time on friendly media. She was set up by losers in the McCain camp, and now they’re trying to make her out to be the problem when, in fact, they were.
I don’t mean to be ungracious, but I hope they all choke on pretzels.
Ben France on the Bullshizzle Palin Smears. Way to go Ben. Take on these retarded mofos who think we’re all as stupid as they claim Palin is.
McCain aids let loose on “Wasilla Hillbillies”. Someone needs to let loose on “McCain’s Loser Campaign Staff that Ran a Losing Campaign and Should Never Be Employed By Anyone Running a Political Campain, Unless they want to Lose–Again”.
Fortunately, Sarah Palin aides are firing back. Toldya, they ain’t going nowhere. Youbetcha.
Nicolle Wallace, who would know, defends Sarah Palin and–get this!–does it publically, and uses her real name and everything. Unlike the “anonymous” staffers who are throwing rocks at Palin’s care from the bridge, the running away as fast as their fat little legs can carry them. Campbell Brown on the falseness of the Palin smears. The Provocateur knows the Sarah Palin smears are bunk. More good points from a Marketplace of Ideas.
Will it work? We shall see. But, I think those folks are full of it, and as long as Republicans want to take their advice on how to campaign and who to nominate in our primaries, Republicans will lose those elections. Bottom line.
Two weeks ago, People magazine was granted an exclusive interview with Senator John McCain’s new running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, who spoke about motherhood and career, life in Alaska and the historic nature of her candidacy.
She has not given an interview since, eschewing the traditional television news circuit traveled by a vice-presidential nominee.
Sarah Palin will break that news media blackout on Thursday, when she will begin two days of interviews by the ABC News anchor Charles Gibson.
The sessions could be the first test of SarahPalin’s ability to parry substantive questions on foreign and domestic policy, and as she flew back to Alaska on Wednesday, she brought with her a squad of johnMcCain’s top policy advisers to help her prepare. In a broader sense, the interviews will also provide fresh material for what is now an intense war between the campaigns to define Sarah Palin in the public mind, a battle that both campaigns consider potentially critical to the election outcome.
“The fight is over how she is going to be defined in the eyes of the American public,” said Terry Nelson, John McCain’s former campaign manager. “She’s been introduced, but all the information about her has not been introduced, and once that information comes to light people are going to draw conclusions about her, and the campaigns are fighting to shape the conclusions.”
With new reports coming out daily about Sarah Palin’s record in Alaska, and a more aggressive offensive from Senator Barack Obama’s campaign, John McCain’s team has issued a partywide, all-hands-on-deck.
It has hired several veterans from President Bush’s campaigns, making them part of a team dedicated to defending Sarah Palin from unsubstantiated Internet rumors, Democratic attacks and potentially damaging news reports about her record produced by the investigative journalists now in Alaska.
“She’s a dynamic agent for change, the Democrats recognize this, and there is this race now to paint a picture of her which is not true,” said Brian Jones, who resigned as John McCain’s communications director in 2007 but returned this week to help in the effort to bolster Sarah Palin.
John McCain’s campaign released an advertisement on Wednesday accusing Barack Obama of trying “to destroy” Sarah Palin, and featuring images of scavenging wolves and an assertion that Democratic operatives are researching Sarah Palin in Alaska. (The advertisement cited a report by FactCheck.org that was critical of “completely false” attacks on Sarah Palin, but failed to note that the report was referring to Internet rumors not linked to Barack Obama’s campaign.)
The McCain campaign is regularly battling reports from news organizations that have the potential to undermine the image that it has presented of Sarah Palin as a reformer.
On Wednesday, a new report on Politico.com detailed Sarah Palin’s requests for federal appropriations as governor, including money for studies on the mating habits of crabs and the DNA of harbor seals, the very sorts of pet spending projects John McCain has lampooned.
John McCain’s campaign has dispatched another team to Alaska to respond more rapidly to such reports. It is headed by Taylor Griffin, who had worked for President Bush’s 2004 campaign. Another former Bush campaign aide, Tracey Schmitt, is now Sarah Palin’s traveling press secretary.
Tucker Eskew, a veteran of Mr. Bush’s primary season campaign against John McCain, has been advising Sarah Palin this week, as she has hopped between S.U.V.s and planes, all the while reading briefing materials or receiving tutorials from policy advisers who have dipped on and off the campaign trail to visit with her.
On Wednesday night, three of them were on the plane to Alaska with Sarah Palin: Douglas Holtz-Eakin, John McCain’s economic adviser; Steve Biegun, a former staff member of Mr. Bush’s National Security Council who has taken leave from his Ford Motors job to advise Sarah Palin; and Randy Scheunemann, John McCain’s senior foreign policy adviser.
Also accompanying Sarah Palin to Alaska as she prepared for her interview was Nicolle Wallace, a communications director for Mr. Bush’s 2004 campaign and, later, his White House. Ms. Wallace’s husband, Mark Wallace, Mr. Bush’s deputy campaign manager in 2004, is helping prepare Sarah Palin for the debates.
For now, the preparation for the debate and the sessions with Mr. Gibson are one and the same. Aides have developed a set of presumed questions and answers that they are walking Ms. Palin through.
Aides traveling with Sarah Palin have reported back to associates that she is a fast study — asking few questions of her policy briefers but quickly repeating back their main points — who already has considerable ease and experience before cameras.
A former aide in Alaska who had helped prepare Ms. Palin for her campaign debates there said she had a talent for distilling information into digestible sound bites. The aide said she generally prefers light preparatory materials to heavy briefing books, and prefers walking through potential questions and answers with aides to holding mock sessions.
BARACK Obama has dismissed the US presidential campaign of rivals John McCain and Sarah Palin as putting "lipstick on a pig" in his most direct attack on the Republican odd couple aiming to keep him out of the White House.
However the line is being interpreted by some - especially those in the McCain camp - as a personal sledge against Mrs Palin, Senator McCain's surprise running mate who described herself as a "pit bull with lipstick" when she accepted the Republican vice-presidential nomination at the party's national convention last week.
"We've been talking about change when we were up in the polls and when we were down in the polls," Senator Obama told a rally in Virginia as surveys suggested Senator McCain and Mrs Palin have overhauled his lead for the election to be held on November 5 (Australian time).
"The other side, suddenly, they're saying 'we're for change too'. Now think about it, these are the same folks that have been in charge for the last eight years.
"You can putlipstick on a pig. It's still a pig. You can wrap up an old fish in a piece of paper and call it change. It's still going to stink after eight years. We've had enough," he said to instant applause.
Last Thursday, Alaska Governor Mrs Palin joked that the only difference between a hockey mum like herself and a pit bull was "lipstick".
The McCain-Palin campaign called the comments "offensive and disgraceful" and demanded an apology. The Obama camp said the remark was not a dig at Mrs Palin and accused the Republicans of a "pathetic attempt to play the gender card".
Asked how anyone could be sure the comment was directed personally at Mrs Palin, a McCain campaign spokeswoman said: "She's the only one of the four - the presidential and vice presidential candidates - who wears lipstick".
Other reports quote Senator McCain as using the same phrase about Hillary Clinton's health plan last year.
Embracing the running mate's tradition attack dog role, Mrs Palin has been savaging Senator Obama daily on the campaign trail as Senator McCain talks up his maverick, reformer credentials.
He told a rally in Ohio that he had shown himself to be able to work with his opponents, something he said Senator Obama often claimed but could not prove. In her speech, Mrs Palin repeated her widely queried claim that she had said "thanks, but no thanks" to a notorious "bridge to nowhere" project in Alaska.
The Obama campaign immediately sent out an email to supporters highlighting the bridge "whopper". It also unveiled a new anti-Palin website called The Next Cheney.
The campaign took another nasty turn in a row sparked by education policy, after Senator Obama had accused Senator McCain of doing nothing in 26 years in Congress to rescue failing schools.
That prompted a television ad from the Republicans that said Senator Obama supported "legislation to teach 'comprehensive sex education' to kindergartners".
An Obama spokesman said the candidate had supported a Bill that provided for sex education which encompassed teaching younger children how to avoid falling prey to pedophiles.
"Last week, John McCain ... couldn't define what honour was. Now we know why," the spokesman said.
Since his shock decision to select the little-known Mrs Palin as his vice-presidential running mate, Senator McCain has come from behind to tie with Senator Obama or pull ahead in some polls. Mrs Palin herself polled well ahead of Senator Obama's running mate Joe Biden in a hypothetical match-up between the vice-presidential nominees - 53 per cent to 44.
A survey of news media showed the McCain-Palin pairing had generated more coverage than the Obama-Joe Biden campaign for the first time in three months.
Here is Ann Kilkenny’s open emailabout Sarah Palin. Keep in mind she is some housewife from Wasilla, Alaska that may just be jealous of Sarah Palin. Who knows?
CNN has reported that most people sing Palin’s praises and Kilkenny is one of her few critics. Wasilla substitute teacherAnne Kilkenny compared the atmosphere surrounding Palin to a popularity contest.
“I found the informal manner in which she ran City Council meetings had the flavor of turning city business into a fan club,” saidKilkenny, a registered Democrat who moved to Wasilla from Seattle, Washington, in 1981.
This weekend, Kilkenny, one of the few identifiable Palin critics in Wasilla, wrote an e-mail to friends criticizing Palin’s track record that rapidly spread to blogs and Web sites.
“Everybody likes her because she’s a real nice person. She’s always been nice to me and everyone in town,”Kilkenny told CNN.com. “I wrote my message in the spirit of providing complete and accurate information. I’m not angry or jealous.”
But here is the emailKilkenny wrote about Palin:
ABOUT SARAH PALIN I am a resident of Wasilla, Alaska. I have known Sarah since 1992. Everyone here knows Sarah, so it is nothing special to say we are on a first-name basis. Our children have attended the same schools. Her father was my child’s favorite substitute teacher. I also am on a first name basis with her parents and mother-in-law. I attended more City Council meetings during her administration than about 99% of the residents of the city.
She is enormously popular; in every way she’s like the most popular girl in middle school. Even men who think she is a poor choice and won’t vote for her can’t quit smiling when talking about her because she is a “babe”.
It is astonishing and almost scary how well she can keep a secret. She kept her most recent pregnancy a secret from her children and parents for seven months.
She is “pro-life”. She recently gave birth to a Down’s syndrome baby. There is no cover-up involved, here; Trig is her baby.
She is energetic and hardworking. She regularly worked out at the gym.
She is savvy. She doesn’t take positions; she just “puts things out there” and if they prove to be popular, then she takes credit.
Her husband works a union job on the North Slope for BP and is a champion snowmobile racer. Todd Palin’s kind of job is highly sought-after because of the schedule and high pay. He arranges his work schedule so he can fish for salmon in Bristol Bay for a month or so in summer, but by no stretch of the imagination is fishing their major source of income. Nor has her life-style ever been anything like that of native Alaskans.
Sarah and her whole family are avid hunters.
She’s smart.
Her experience is as mayor of a city with a population of about 5,000 (at the time), and less than 2 years as governor of a state with about 670,000 residents.
During her mayoral administration most of the actual work of running this small city was turned over to an administrator. She had been pushed to hire this administrator by party power-brokers after she had gotten herself into some trouble over precipitous firings which had given rise to a recall campaign.
Sarah campaigned in Wasilla as a “fiscal conservative”. During her 6 years as Mayor, she increased general government expenditures by over 33%. During those same 6 years the amount of taxes collected by the City increased by 38%. This was during a period of low inflation (1996-2002). She reduced progressive property taxes and increased a regressive sales tax which taxed even food. The tax cuts that she promoted benefited large corporate property owners way more than they benefited residents.
The huge increases in tax revenues during her mayoral administration weren’t enough to fund everything on her wish list though, borrowed money was needed, too. She inherited a city with zero debt, but left it with indebtedness of over $22 million. What did Mayor Palin encourage the voters to borrow money for? Was it the infrastructure that she said she supported? The sewage treatment plant that the city lacked? or a new library? No. $1m for a park. $15m-plus for construction of a multi-use sports complex which she rushed through to build on a piece of property that the City didn’t even have clear title to, that was still in litigation 7 yrs later–to the delight of the lawyers involved! The sports complex itself is a nice addition to the community but a huge money pit, not the profit-generator she claimed it would be. She also supported bonds for $5.5m for road projects that could have been done in 5-7 yrs without any borrowing.
While Mayor, City Hall was extensively remodeled and her office redecorated more than once.
These are small numbers, but Wasilla is a very small city.
As an oil producer, the high price of oil has created a budget surplus in Alaska. Rather than invest this surplus in technology that will make us energy independent and increase efficiency, as Governor she proposed distribution of this surplus to every individual in the state.
In this time of record state revenues and budget surpluses, she recommended that the state borrow/bond for road projects, even while she proposed distribution of surplus state revenues: spend today’s surplus, borrow for needs.
She’s not very tolerant of divergent opinions or open to outside ideas or compromise. As Mayor, she fought ideas that weren’t generated by her or her staff. Ideas weren’t evaluated on their merits, but on the basis of who proposed them.
While Sarah was Mayor of Wasilla she tried to fire our highly respected City Librarian because the Librarian refused to consider removing from the library some books that Sarah wanted removed. City residents rallied to the defense of the City Librarian and against Palin’s attempt at out-and-out censorship, so Palin backed down and withdrew her termination letter. People who fought her attempt to oust the Librarian are on her enemies list to this day.
Sarah complained about the “old boy’s club” when she first ran for Mayor, so what did she bring Wasilla? A new set of “old boys”. Palin fired most of the experienced staff she inherited. At the City and as Governor she hired or elevated new, inexperienced, obscure people, creating a staff totally dependent on her for their jobs and eternally grateful and fiercely loyal–loyal to the point of abusing their power to further her personal agenda, as she has acknowledged happened in the case of pressuring the State’s top cop (see below).
As Mayor, Sarah fired Wasilla’s Police Chief because he “intimidated” her, she told the press. As Governor, her recent firing of Alaska’s top cop has the ring of familiarity about it. He served ather pleasure and she had every legal right to fire him, but it’s pretty clear that an important factor in her decision to fire him was because he wouldn’t fire her sister’s ex-husband, a State Trooper. Under investigation for abuse of power, she has had to admit that more than 2 dozen contacts were made between her staff and family to the person that she later fired, pressuring him to fire her ex-brother-in-law. She tried to replace the man she fired with a man who she knew had been reprimanded for sexual harassment; when this caused a public furor, she withdrew her support.
She has bitten the hand of every person who extended theirs to her in help. The City Council person who personally escorted her around town introducing her to voters when she first ran for Wasilla City Council became one of her first targets when she was later elected Mayor. She abruptly fired her loyal City Administrator; even people who didn’t like the guy were stunned by this ruthlessness.
Fear of retribution has kept all of these people from saying anything publicly about her.
When then-Governor Murkowski was handing out political plums, Sarah got the best, Chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission: one of the few jobs not in Juneau and one of the best paid. She had no background in oil & gas issues. Within months of scoring this great job which paid $122,400/yr, she was complaining in the press about the high salary. I was told that she hated that job: the commute, the structured hours, the work. Sarah became aware that a member of this Commission (who was also the State Chair of the Republican Party) engaged in unethical behavior on the job. In a gutsy move which some undoubtedly cautioned her could be political suicide, Sarah solved all her problems in one fell swoop: got out of the job she hated and garnered gobs of media attention as the patron saint of ethics and as a gutsy fighter against the “old boys’ club” when she dramatically quit, exposing this man’s ethics violations (for which he was fined).
As Mayor, she had her hand stuck out as far as anyone for pork from Senator Ted Stevens. Lately, she has castigated his pork-barrel politics and publicly humiliated him. She only opposed the “bridge to nowhere” after it became clear that it would be unwise not to.
As Governor, she gave the Legislature no direction and budget guidelines, then made a big grandstand display of line-item vetoing projects, calling them pork. Public outcry and further legislative action restored most of these projects–which had been vetoed simply because she was not aware of their importance–but with the unobservant she had gained a reputation as “anti-pork”.
She is solidly Republican: no political maverick. The State party leaders hate her because she has bit them in the back and humiliated them. Other members of the party object to her self-description as a fiscal conservative.
Around Wasilla there are people who went to high school with Sarah. They call her “Sarah Barracuda” because of her unbridled ambition and predatory ruthlessness. Before she became so powerful, very ugly stories circulated around town about shenanigans she pulled to be made point guard on the high school basketball team. When Sarah’s mother-in-law, a highly respected member of the community and experienced manager, ran for Mayor, Sarah refused to endorse her.
As Governor, she stepped outside of the box and put together of package of legislation known as “AGIA” that forced the oil companies to march to the beat of her drum.
Like most Alaskans, she favors drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. She has questioned if the loss of sea ice is linked to global warming. She campaigned “as a private citizen” against a state initiaitive that would have either a) protected salmon streams from pollution from mines, or b) tied up in the courts all mining in the state (depending on who you listen to). She has pushed the State’s lawsuit against the Dept. of the Interior’s decision to list polar bears as threatened species.
McCain is the oldest person to ever run for President; Sarah will be a heartbeat away from being President.
There has to be literally millions of Americans who are more knowledgeable and experienced than she.
However, there’s a lot of people who have underestimated her and are regretting it.
CLAIM VS FACT •“Hockey mom”: true for a few years •“PTA mom”: true years ago when her first-born was in elementary school, not since •“NRA supporter”: absolutely true •social conservative: mixed. Opposes gay marriage, BUT vetoed a bill that would have denied benefits to employees in same-sex relationships (said she did this because it was unconsitutional). •pro-creationism: mixed. Supports it, BUT did nothing as Governor to promote it. •“Pro-life”: mixed. Knowingly gave birth to a Down’s syndrome baby BUT declined to call a special legislative session on some pro-life legislation •“Experienced”: Some high schools have more students than Wasilla has residents. Many cities have more residents than the state of Alaska. No legislative experience other than City Council. Little hands-on supervisory or managerial experience; needed help of a city administrator to run town of about 5,000. •political maverick: not at all •gutsy: absolutely! •open & transparent: ??? Good at keeping secrets. Not good at explaining actions. •has a developed philosophy of public policy: no •”a Greenie”: no. Turned Wasilla into a wasteland of big box stores and disconnected parking lots. Is pro-drilling off-shore and in ANWR. •fiscal conservative: not by my definition! •pro-infrastructure: No. Promoted a sports complex and park in a city without a sewage treatment plant or storm drainage system. Built streets to early 20th century standards. •pro-tax relief: Lowered taxes for businesses, increased tax burden on residents •pro-small government: No. Oversaw greatest expansion of city government in Wasilla’s history. •pro-labor/pro-union. No. Just because her husband works union doesn’t make her pro-labor. I have seen nothing to support any claim that she is pro-labor/pro-union.
WHY AM I WRITING THIS?
First, I have long believed in the importance of being an informed voter. I am a voter registrar. For 10 years I put on student voting programs in the schools. If you google my name (Anne Kilkenny + Alaska), you will find references to my participation in local government, education, and PTA/parent organizations.
Secondly, I’ve always operated in the belief that “Bad things happen when good people stay silent”. Few people know as much as I do because few have gone to as many City Council meetings.
Third, I am just a housewife. I don’t have a job she can bump me out of. I don’t belong to any organization that she can hurt. But, I am no fool; she is immensely popular here, and it is likely that this will cost me somehow in the future: that’s life.
Fourth, she has hated me since back in 1996, when I was one of the 100 or so people who rallied to support the City Librarian against Sarah’s attempt at censorship.
Fifth, I looked around and realized that everybody else was afraid to say anything because they were somehow vulnerable.
CAVEATS I am not a statistician. I developed the numbers for the increase in spending & taxation 2 years ago (when Palin was running for Governor) from information supplied to me by the Finance Director of the City of Wasilla, and I can’t recall exactly what I adjusted for: did I adjust for inflation? for population increases? Right now, it is impossible for a private person to get any info out of City Hall–they are swamped. So I can’t verify my numbers.
You may have noticed that there are various numbers circulating for the population of Wasilla, ranging from my “about 5,000″, up to 9,000. The day Palin’s selection was announced a city official told me that the current population is about 7,000. The official 2000 census count was 5,460. I have used about 5,000 because Palin was Mayor from 1996 to 2002, and the city was growing rapidly in the mid-90’s.
In a speech weaving together humour, toughness and a folksy touch, Sarah Palin, the Republican Governor of the US state of Alaska, has accepted her party's nomination as vice-presidential running mate to John McCain.
She introduced her family, stressed her small town credentials and joked about her self-professed "hockey mum" reputation, but held out a promise of toughness on key issues from America's dependence on foreign oil to the pursuit of terrorists.
"I will be honoured to accepted your nomination for vice-president of the United States," she told the exuberant crowd, after extended applause welcomed her to the stage.
Her appearance softer than in recent days, with her hair no longer bundled up, Ms Palin praised Senator McCain as honest and courageous.
She said she accepted "the privilege of serving" with him "against confident opponents at a crucial hour" for the US.
Senator McCain "knows how tough fights are won" she said, noting that just a year ago, experts had written him off as the Republicans' nominee for the presidency.
"With their usual certitude they told us that all was lost, that there was no hope for this candidate who said he would rather lose an election than see his country lose a war," Ms Palin said.
Family support
Displaying her credentials in understanding America's international challenges, Ms Palin introduced her son, Track, who stood in the crowd as his mother told delegates that he was due on September 11 to deploy to Iraq.
She went on to introduce her sons and daughters, all of whom were in the audience, and to indirectly answer the critics who have targeted the conservative, pro-life governor over the pregnancy of her unmarried teenage daughter.
"Our family has the same ups and downs as any other, the same challenges and the same joys," she said.
She also introduced her "perfectly beautiful baby boy", Trig, who has Down's syndrome, pledging to be an advocate for families of special needs children in the White House.
"For years you've sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters," she said.
Seeking to further seal her family credentials, she introduced her husband Todd, saying she met him in high school. She won yet more applause by saying "he's still my guy".
She stressed her small town credentials, her own example for women striving for advancement and her record in cutting and vetoing what she said was wasteful spending during her tenures as both a mayor and a governor.
Delegates warmed enthusiastically to Ms Palin's messages, showing genuine appreciation for a speech with some arguably unorthodox content, and dissolving into laughter when she joked that the difference between hockey mums and a pit bull was lipstick.
GOP holds breath awaiting Palin speech
It’s a rare convention moment, a night when all eyes will be focused on the running mate to the exclusion of everything else. In a speech that may eclipse nominee John McCain’s one night later, his surprise vice presidential pick, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, takes the stage Wednesday evening with the eyes — and hopes — of her party upon her.
Call it the Republican answer to Barack Obama’s Invesco Field speech.
“I’ve watched this thing echo and build,” said Iowa Rep. Steve King. “Now it’s the buildup to the anticipation of the speech.”
For Palin, this event, more than any other, will determine whether she will succeed or fail as a running mate. It’s undoubtedly the most important speech of her career.
“I think we had a very good night last night for Sen. McCain. Having said that, there’s no question that Palin, because she was such a surprise pick, is getting a lot of attention,” said Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole. “It’s a very big night tonight."
“Every person I talk to, the first thing they say is they can’t wait to hear Sarah Palin speak on Wednesday night,” said Erik Iverson, chairman of the Montana Republican Party.
“This is my third convention and I can’t remember a vice presidential candidate, or any of the other speakers, generating as much excitement and enthusiasm.”
Palin, who has never addressed a national audience, will have to clear an extraordinarily high bar with her performance this evening. The Obama campaign sought to raise expectations even further for the 44-year-old Alaska governor Wednesday morning, when communications director Robert Gibbs predicted Palin’s speech would “bring the convention floor out of its chairs.”
Saul Anuzis, chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, said delegates were so eager to hear from Palin because they currently know so little about her.
“I think people are very excited about finding out who she is and meeting her for the first time. In reality, most Republicans have not seen her or heard her or met her,” Anuzis said.
New Hampshire Republican Party Chairman Fergus Cullen agreed.
“She is a fresh face on the national scene, so there’s a huge level of interest in it,” said Cullen, who recalled watching televised Palin’s speech from Dayton, Ohio, on Friday with Republican officials who teared up in response to the Alaska governor’s performance.
“I used to mock Democrats when I saw them weeping about either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama,” Cullen said, “and here I saw a room of Republicans doing the same.”
Tuesday’s speeches by Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) and former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) went off well enough, said several party chairmen. But even at this morning’s delegate events, people were more focused on Palin’s speech tonight.
Rumors are flying that Bristol Palin, Sarah Palin’s teen-age daughter, is the real mother of 5-month old Trig Palin. Did Sarah Palin invent an elaborate cover-up to keep her daughter’s pregnancy out of the public eye? Read the story and see photos.
So, is Trig really Sarah Palin’s baby, or is he her grandson? People are asking that question and are pushing for an answer. Most of the questions center around the fact that Sarah Palin didn’t announce her pregnancy until a few weeks before she gave birth. Photos of her teen-age daughter, Bristol Palin (above right), late in 2007 show Bristol Palin with a rounded tummy. The story is further complicated in that Bristol Palin was taken out of school this past year for up to five months because of a bad case of mono.
What do you think? I doubt that someone as politically savvy as Sarah Palin would be so naive as to believe she could keep such a monumental cover-up secret while running as VP of the USA. And why would she attempt the cover-up to begin with? Teenage pregnancies are a rather common fact of life in modern society. The “shame and disgrace” that people felt years ago are mostly nonexistent these days. I hope the Palin’s will provide proof that Trig is their own quickly in order to counter these rumors. And, if the rumors are true, then handle them immediately in order to end all the speculating.
Photos/pictures of the Palin family at “7 months pregnant” are below.
Real Housewives of Miami star Lea Black is trying to prove that the Bravo Housewives are good for more than just cocktails and catfights by getting political in a self-penned opinion piece posted this morning on the Huffington Post. Who's she targeting? Duh, Sarah Palin!
