Jonathon Capehart has Sarah Palin's number.

Courtesy of the Washington Post:

Palin told her supporters via e-mail that her “One Nation Tour” bus would descend upon the Hawkeye State. The part of her missive that elicited side-eyes from me was this. “The heartland is perfect territory for more of the One Nation Tour as we put forth efforts to revitalize the fundamental restoration of America by highlighting our nation’s heart, history, and founding principles,” Palin wrote. 

What, pray tell, are “efforts to revitalize the fundamental restoration of America”? Did I somehow miss her detailed plan to pay off the nation’s $14.3 trillion debt and create jobs for the growing ranks of the unemployed? Americans want solutions to the worst economy in their lifetimes. They are hungry for leaders who have the courage to present realistic plans to turn things around. But if some of those Americans are looking to Palin for said solutions, they are bound to starve. 

Remember, no matter what she says or does, Palin is not running for president. The half-term governor of Alaska parlayed her 2008 vice presidential nomination into a bankroll-busting career as a best-selling author and reality-television star who is accountable to no one but herself for what she says and does. As a star, Palin is terrific. She’s a natural talent. And she is well aware of and comfortable in exercising her ability to steal other people’s spotlight. That she would give up that kind of power for the confines of the campaign trail is unfathomable.

Now why does that summation sound familiar? 

Oh yeah, because THAT is pretty much what I have been saying all along.


And I have to say that with Bristol's new reality show, Mercede's Playboy interview, the birth of a new grandbaby raising embarrassing questions, and Levi and Joe's books about to hit the stands, I find it even less likely she will declare than I ever did in the past.

However, and I feel obligated to always add this caveat, this IS Sarah Palin, who might very well be willing to launch a Presidential campaign solely to prove her critics wrong.

Yes, she IS that petty.

However I have no idea who Palin can convince to accompany her on the campaign trail if she WERE to declare her candidacy.  Piper starts school next Tuesday (Yes she is going to school, one of my sources saw her registering), Bristol is filming her reality show, Track has a new baby to care for (And has said he wants NOTHING to do with her political activities), Willow is completely uncooperative, and Trig is much too big, and much too fussy to take along for photo ops.

That leaves only Sarah's parents (And really WHO finds them interesting anymore?), and Todd (Who I imagine has it written into his contract that he only has to do a handful of these appearances each year).

Let's face it, Palin simply will not launch a campaign without some family member to use as a shield. That alone might be the determining factor that keeps her stomping around her Wasilla compound in frustration, rather than out on the campaign trail stumbling over reporter's questions and generally making an ass out of herself.

An article from Sarah's Scandals you should all read

You can read the article at Sarah's Scandals



One thing is for certain here, she did not indicate she was pregnant

Al Gore calls "bullshit," quite literally, on climate change deniers.

(Adult language. Might not be safe for work, or to played around young children.)


Here is the link to Aspen Journalism who first reported on Gore's remarks:

"Former Vice President Al Gore spoke Thursday at a communications and society seminar at the Aspen Institute (FOCAS). 

He primarily addressed the subject of how citizens can exercise their democratic duties in the networked world, although he also gave a long overview of media and communications history. 

Gore spoke off-the-cuff for about an hour and then took questions from the seminar attendees.During the discussion, Gore addressed the issue of what happens when citizens are fed information that is meant to derail rational debate on complex issues."

Personally I do not blame Gore for expressing frustration at how the corporations have spent millions of dollars working to discredit him, and convincing the low hanging fruit that the evidence that they read about, or see out of their windows, every day is not reality.

It  is at times like this that I have to fight the urge to fantasize about how much different our country, and the world, would be if George Bush, the Supreme Court, and Fox News had not colluded to steal the 2000 election. Nothing to be gained by that kind of thinking, except to reignite that barely forgotten ember of anger that burned in the pit of my stomach and caused me so many sleepless nights lo those many years ago.

(H/T to Progressive Alaska.)

Palin e-mail "hacker" transferred to halfway house, will finish his sentence on November 23rd.

Courtesy of PC World:

David Kernell left a fenceless minimum-security federal prison in Ashland, Kentucky, where inmates are put to work on landscaping and building maintenance for between 12 and 40 cents per hour for the halfway house, according to a Tennessee television station. 

Kernell was convicted last year of breaking into to Palin's Yahoo e-mail account during the 2008 presidential election. He outsmarted Yahoo's password reset system by correctly answering questions using information about Palin that was easily available on the Internet -- a technique that criminals continue to use to break into those accounts. 

Apparently it took Kernell minutes to look up her birth date, ZIP code, and where she met her husband Todd (Wasilla High School).When they don't make any money from the crime, it's unusual for first-time hackers with no criminal records to get a prison sentence, but Kernell's case wasn't exactly typical. Palin and her eldest daughter Bristol testified during the trial, and prosecutors argued that a stiff sentence would deter further hacking during presidential elections.

This is, of course, a complete travesty of justice. And just another example of how the Palins leave a path of destruction wherever they go.

The ONLY reason that this kid, who by the way did not "hack" anything, was given such a stiff sentence was because Sarah and Bristol perjured themselves when asked what kind of impact the guessing of the password to the Yahoo account had on their lives.

The simple truth would have been that Sarah was freaked out that the world had discovered what an imbecile she was to use private Yahoo accounts to conduct state business, but THAT was glossed over in the testimony.

As I said back in April of 2010, Palin was extremely lucky that the person who guessed her password information was just some harmless college kid pulling a prank and NOT some political operative or foreign spy looking to find some damaging information on Palin that they could have used to REALLY hurt her, and potentially the people of Alaska.

Personally I hope that once David Kernell finishes his sentence that he gives a couple of interviews and tells people his side of the story, and how aggressively Sarah Palin worked to destroy his life in retribution for daring to reveal her ignorance.

From the "Why didn't somebody think of this before?" file. Chicago Palin-bot just rents the damn theater and shows "The Undefeated" himself!

Courtesy of Time Out Chicago:

It was, for a Democrat-dominated city, a sight as rare as lush trees in the remote Alaskan tundra: a room packed with self-avowed Palinistas. The conservative baby cubs came to a rented theater at the Gene Siskel Film Center on July 23 to suckle at the teat of their “Mama Grizzly” during the first (and, so far, only) Chicago screening of The Undefeated, writer-director Stephen K. Bannon’s unabashed love letter to the onetime vice presidential nominee.

“I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t know if there’s any thought in Illinois. Wasn’t Quinn the running mate of the guy we just convicted?” William Kelly sounded off. The conservative commentator and erstwhile Illinois comptroller candidate ponied up the cash for the theater rental. “If I have to rent out every theater in town so people will see this film, I’ll do it,” said Kelly, only half joking.

See? This movie CAN TOO fill up theater seats!

All you have to do is find ONE guy with deep pockets to rent the theater and show it for free. Isn't that how Star Wars got to be such a blockbuster?  Or wait, maybe that was Deep Throat?

Well I am sure that the people who enjoy this movie are just your regular, every day Americans. (Just like the ones that enjoyed Deep Throat.)

 Nearby, a gentleman in his sixties, wearing a “Palin 2012” T-shirt and carrying a tote bag emblazoned with Palin’s face, discussed his lack of surprise at being surrounded by so many like-minded people. 

“You think this area should be so Democratic and so Obama, and it is to a certain extent,” said the man, a member of Organize4Palin who goes by the nickname Super Yoni. “But there are more of us out there than you know.”

The Illinois branch of Organize4Palin numbers about 100 members, one of the group’s coordinators, Whitney Zahnd, told me. The 28-year-old health-care researcher made the drive from Springfield in her Organize4Palin tee emblazoned with a bear and the slogan “Get your grrr on.”

Okay well maybe "regular, everyday Americans" was kind of a stretch.

But it is not like they are a bunch of shut ins with no social skills or ability to conduct themselves properly in public. Right?

In short time, the chatter grew to a Mama Grizzly roar. A theater employee gently announced to the crowd, “You’re going to have to take your conversation outside.”

Oh.  Well I certainly hope that during their little field trip away from the facility they were not confronted with anything that would disturb their fantasies about Sarah Palin's popularity or demonstrate to them just how far out on the fringe their faith in the Mama Grizzly was to those living in the REAL world.


On the sidewalk, the Palinistas were disheartened, though not stunned, at what they saw. Across the street, the Chicago Theatre’s marquee announced that night’s sold-out show: Bill Maher, the lefty political comedian who famously called their political idol a “dumb twat.”

Now THAT is why it is always so much safer for Palin-bots to just to stay in their mother's basement, where the Cheetos are plentiful, they can troll liberal blogs uninterrupted for hours, and the television is always tuned to QVC.

As promised here is the update on the long awaited book about Sarah Palin's faked pregnancy, and the culpability of the American press for not revealing the deception.

Just smile Todd. Trust me, NOBODY will ever figure out what we did.

Thank you for patiently waiting through the weekend for this update.  With no further ado, I will let Fred fill you in on the book's progress and just when we can expect to see it in our local bookstores.

The book is nearly finished, and large sections of the book were turned into our publisher's legal department in late June. We are still shooting for a release date within the next four - six weeks. 

However, there have been some hold-ups, and I'll share the status of that now. I noticed that after Gryphen kindly posted my request for title ideas back in May, many people asked if there were going to be any great new revelations in the book. Would we finally have the answer? At the time, the answer to that was - honestly - no. 

My original hope for the book was to, first, present, in one place, an iron clad summary of the material that have been collected by multiple researchers that Sarah Palin's pregnancy with Trig was not as presented to the public in March and April of 2008. One way that the mainstream media has been able to ignore the story is that the bits and pieces have been scattered on multiple blogs and websites, and presented piecemeal. Each piece, then, is argued about and ignored individually. The weight of the story, however, when presented as a coherent whole, becomes overwhelming. Crafting this "coherent whole" was and continues to be a very difficult job. For example, there are actually about fifty separate photos from the time frame of March 4th through April 18th that are relevant to the story, and tough decisions had to be made about what material to put in the book and what to leave out, since we simply cannot use it all. The main market for the book is going to be those who know almost nothing of the story. Too little evidence and the story falls flat. Too much and the main point - that the media ignored terribly glaring inconsistencies in multiple areas - gets lost. 

Secondly, the thrust of the book was to show how and why the mainstream media first during the campaign and second, since, have ignored the story

The "smoking gun" was the presentation of all the material together in such a way that the weight of the evidence made the idea that she had faked the pregnancy plausible beyond any reasonable doubt. As I am an attorney, the reasonable doubt angle is one that I explored a great deal in the chapters on the pregnancy evidence.This was, as I said, the original plan for the book.

Then, on June 10th, thousands of pages of Palin's emails were released. Within 24-48 hours, the Palin apologists were shouting, "There's nothing to see here!" and encouraging everyone to move on, even though no one could possibly have read even a fraction of the mail in that time. 

One extraordinarily interesting discrepancy was pointed out by Gryphen in his blog on June 13th, when he shared the enormous disconnect of Palin sending herself a draft copy of the letter she intended to release to friends and family after the baby was born. This letter was sent six weeks before Palin's announced due date and eleven days before the child's announced "birth." Numerous other media outlets had already commented on the letter, most taking the position that it actually "proved" Sarah Palin was Trig's mother, with none noticing the eye-popping discrepancy that she referred to her pregnancy in the past tense and as "easy" when she still supposedly had six weeks to go.

This discovery led me to believe that there was "plenty to see here." I put any new writing and editing on hold as I, with the help of two very dedicated research helpers, have pored over emails. Our persistence has paid off. The bread crumbs are tiny (more like crumbs of crumbs), but the trail is there. No, of course there is no email stating, "I woke up this morning and decided to fake a pregnancy." If there were, it would have been found weeks ago and the story would be over. 

But, as any good Catholic school-boy knows, there are sins of commission, and sins of omission. 

Those who spent months (paid for by the state of Alaska) redacting Sarah Palin's emails likely pulled out a lot of "commissions," but they missed the omissions, because they could not possibly know what to look for. We did. I can now tell you with confidence that there will be new material in the book. After almost three years, there is more to find...

I'm sorry that all of you who have been waiting for the book will have to wait a bit longer. Prior to the release of the emails, I believed that an August 15th release date for the book was realistic. Now, I am working terribly hard to make this all come together by September 1. 

Also, for all who are wondering about a title, we have made a decision, but are not yet releasing it.
Fred

Coming soon, an update on the progress of the "babygate" book.

Sarah Palin on March 26, 2008. Eighteen days before "birth" of Trig Palin.

I currently have in my possession an e-mail from the author of the upcoming "babygate" book.

I will post it fairly early tomorrow morning because, and some of you may not be aware of this, IM receives more visitors on the weekdays than on the weekends.  In order for the most people to have the opportunity to read what Fred has written I decided it would be best to post it on a day that saw more traffic so that I would not have people asking me over and over again about an update.

I think that most of you will be very pleased with the information, though for some of the more impatient ones it might be a little frustrating.

Just like with Joe and Geoffrey's books, there are ALWAYS new revelations which threaten to change the tenor of the book or delay its release.  I learned long ago that patience is my best friend.

Speaking of patience, I should also let you know that there are many MORE revelations coming out about the Grizzled Mama, and her "Alaska mafia." Including one that I heard just the other day that I am hoping like crazy I can manage to prove, because even among the most jaded Palin watchers this one will be huge.

One thing I can share is that some, who are claiming to be in the know, are convinced that Palin actually WILL announce her candidacy during her speech in Iowa on September 3rd.

I remain somewhat skeptical, but as I have said before I would not put ANYTHING past this lunatic.

I know a couple of authors who would be thrilled if Palin DID launch a short lived, ultimately doomed campaign in early September.  And I do have to admit that it would certainly bring more players into the "Sources for Gryphen" family.

I guess that would not be all bad now would it?

Update: I was just now watching Meet the Press, and sitting there with my plate of eggs watching David Gregory ask David Plouffe just WHICH bills the government will pay for certain if the debt ceiling does NOT get raised by Tuesday suddenly just pissed me the hell off!

So I would like to vent a little.

When the Tea Party was in its infancy and nobody was paying it much attention, the Koch brothers arranged for Sarah Palin to make appearances on their behalf and essentially, along with the spastic Glenn Beck, become the face of the Teabaggers. Because of her unrivaled name recognition she brought tons of undeserved attention to what was clearly a very unsophisticated astro-turf group of angry racists, who, over time, were polished with corporate money enough so that they were able to choose and back candidates who are currently holding our country hostage.

While that was taking place there were those who were working overtime to convince me to drop the babygate story because it was never going to "make any difference."

"Just focus on the wild ride story, Gryph.  That will be enough to stop her if enough people hear about it.  The babygate story just makes you, and ALL of us, seem like crazy conspiracy theorists."

Of course I refused, and as my reward I found myself isolated.  I learned over time that journalists were steered away from me, for fear I would bring up"that crazy conspiracy story."

At one point I was so close I could taste it, to REALLY blowing this whole thing up. But I was sabotaged by those I considered my friends. In my personal opinion if I had received more support, and if others had worked side by side with me, Sarah Palin would NEVER have been able to provide the spark that the Koch brothers used to start the Teabagger bonfire.

So I would just like to take a moment to say FUCK YOU!

Fuck you for playing it safe.  Fuck you for worrying about appearances more than truth.  And fuck you for being a coward.

And while I am on this rant I would also like to say fuck you to those who wanted the babygate story all for themselves.  Fuck you for driving people off of the net who were selflessly working to bring this story to the American people.  Fuck you for chasing away sources who were timidly coming forward, until they realized that people might soon learn their true identities. And fuck you for damaging the reputation of good people because YOUR ego demanded that you get credit for EVERYTHING.

Okay I am done now.  Sorry if some of you found that offensive or a little out of character, but damn I have been holding that inside for years.

The babygate story is NOT just about a mother protecting her daughter, or her family.  It is MUCH deeper and uglier than that. And once it is really out there in the public consciousness, it should serve as the stepping stone to revealing all kinds of political manipulations and Faustian deals that might finally awaken a slumbering populace and get them to focus on taking back their country from the corporations and political fat cats who have held the reins of power for much, much too long.

And with that Gryphen steps off of his soapbox.  Thank you for listening.

Bristol Palin addresses her bizarre weight gain during DWTS in her book of excuses and outright fabrications. Oh THIS ought to be good!

I actually thought I would never revisit the DWTS weight gain issue again, but Bristol's ridiculous excuse for why she gained weight on the show is too stupid to leave unaddressed. (I can't believe the Palins think they can say such outlandish bullshit and never get called on it!)

Here is the actual page from her book:

 I know it is small and hard to read, but I wanted to give you an actual screenshot in case anybody thought I might be exaggerating.  Below I have typed out the pertinent portions.

The ironic thing about this whole thing is that my critic was a self-described public advocate against bullying...as long as she agrees with the victims politics, I guess. After a prominent gay suicide, she went to the airwaves and criticized bullies...while at the same time publicly stating that a 135 pound girl like me was obese. But because I was  already active and fit, the show's schedule wasn't new to me. I did gain five pounds over the course of the show, but I was still thinner than a lot of girls my age.

Bristol continues in the next paragraph:

So let me address this issue head-on. I'm not skinny and I'm not fat. I'm a girl like everyone else who lives in this era of airbrushed photos who's trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle. And do you know what? I'm succeeding. Everyone talks about how strenuous the Dancing with the Stars workouts are, but they're nothing compared to any high school basketball practice. Though one contestant famously lost forty-one pounds, I have to assume it was because she was not too active beforehand. Because I was an active kid before I started, this show actually took my activity level down a notch. That meant I was not going to be seeing rapid weight loss. Which was fine with me.

Okay rather than simply pick apart what Bristol is saying I think I will let the pictures, which surely she knows are still available on the internet, do my talking for me.

First let me point out that the weight Bristol brought with her to DWTS was NOT the weight gain left over from having Tripp, as evidenced in his May, 2009 picture taken while she was promoting the Candies Foundation.

Bristol May 6, 2009

And as for her so-called athletic lifestyle before DWTS, Bristol did not attend regular school after the beginning of 2008, and was certainly not on any basketball teams since then. She went back for a short time and graduated from Wasilla High, on May 15, 2009. (Once again NOT participating in any organized sports during that time.)

And as evidence of her rather sedentary lifestyle (Or perhaps something else) here is Bristol in May of 2010.

Bristol May 5, 2010

So I think it is pretty well established that Bristol was NOT engaged in any rigorous sports activities directly before starting with DWTS.

Here is a picture of Bristol's very first rehearsal with Marka Ballas on September 2, 2010.

DWTS first rehearsal September 2, 2010.

I am not going to make any disparaging comments about her weight, other than to say that for a nineteen year old she is NOT in what I would consider athletic condition. Anyone disagree?

So taking this rather out of shape nineteen year old and having her compete on what has been called "more of a weight loss competition, than a dancing show," one would logically expect Ms. Palin to start toning up and dropping some lbs.

But instead this is what she looked like a twenty six days after she started working with Mark Ballas on the dance routines.

Bristol September 28, 2010.

And here she is in October.

Bristol in October, 2010.

And again in November, at the end of the show.

Bristol November 23, 2010.

Now I am not going to claim I am an expert on female weight loss, but I WAS a personal trainer and I can tell you that what these pictures demonstrate is physiologically impossible. Unless Bristol has some very dangerous thyroid gland problem, there is simply NO reasonable explanation for this weight gain while practicing dance steps for up to eight hours a day. None.

And by the way, just to spike the ball a little here, DWTS also had as contestants gymnast Shawn Johnson, football player Emmet Smith, figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi, basketball star Rick Fox, speed skater Apolo Ohno, just to name a few of the athletes that appeared in past seasons, and they ALL demonstrated an increase in their overall conditioning and a decrease in their weight. Are we to believe that THEY led sedentary lives before they started rehearsals?

In fact as far as anybody can tell, EVERY constestant on DWTS lost weight and got into much better shape due to the strenuous rehearsals involved, with ONE notable exception.

Bristol on the View November 24, 2010.

So Bristol perhaps you should have just left this topic alone, because bringing it up in this book is only going to have people talking about what they believe was the REAL cause of your bizarre weight gain on DWTS.

Bristol at 32 weeks pregnant with Tripp

The President asks the American people for help in solving the looming debt crisis.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Courtesy of MSNBC:

Decrying a "partisan three-ring circus" in the nation's capital, President Barack Obama criticized a newly minted Republican plan to avert an unprecedented government default Monday night and said congressional leaders must produce a compromise that can reach his desk before the Aug. 2 deadline.

"The American people may have voted for divided government, but they didn't vote for a dysfunctional government," the president said in a hastily arranged prime-time televised speech.

He appealed to the public to contact lawmakers and demand "a balanced approach" to reducing federal deficits.

In his call to action, Obama recalled former Republican commanders in chief. "In the past, raising the debt ceiling was routine ... Congress has always passed it, and every President has signed it. President Reagan did it 18 times. George W. Bush did it seven times. And we have to do it by next Tuesday, Aug. 2, or else we won't be able to pay all of our bills."

I thought the President sounded exasperated, and weary from fighting over every little thing. He has done just about everything imaginable to make this problem go away and has volunteered far deeper cuts than most Democrats are comfortable with, and STILL the Teabaggers are holding a gun to the Republicans head and refusing to let them negotiate in good faith.

I certainly hope that the voters are paying attention and realizing just WHO is acting like the responsible grownup and who is acting like the petulant child.

If you want to contact your elected officials and tell them to stop playing politics and do the right thing, just click here to find out who needs a piece of your mind.

Somebody fixed Sarah Palin's movie poster for her. I bet she won't even thank them either.

 Now THAT is truth in advertising.

(All credit goes to the amazing AzureGhost.)

Not that I had any respect left for Jay Leno, but after this pathetic Bristol Palin interview I kind of wish Conan O"Brien would find him in an alleyway and kick his ass. Is that wrong of me?

In my opinion the ONLY true host of the Tonight Show was the late, great Johnny Carson. (Steve Allen and Jack Paar were fine, but Carson was the king!)

Leno has never able to ever come close to filling that great man's shoes.

And this interview did almost as much to make me dislike him as when he threw Conan O'Brien under the bus to satisfy his need to feel relevant, and to feed his gigantic ego. (Gee who does THAT sound like?)

Part One:



Bristol does not waste one second before trotting out her first lie, this one being about why she had her chin done. (Bristol fails to mention that she had undergone procedures to have the fat sucked out to make her face look thinner a few times in the past. And when she says that it is NOT an implant, I don't think even Rickles buys that load of moosecrap.)

"I wanted to be candid in the book?" Really? Then why weren't you?

Quickly. of course, the slams against Levi begin. Essentially Bristol claims her parents never liked him, and knew he was no good.

The idea that Sarah never liked Levi is undoubtedly accurate, she really does not like anybody besides herself. But she DID have him to living in her house, and running errands for her. Not to mention that he was one of the VERY few people allowed in the hospital when Sarah "gave birth" to Trig.

That does not exactly sound like he was despised.
Leno asking Bristol about her mother running for President: "Is there any reason she SHOULDN'T run?"

Rickles: "Cause she could lose."

This inspires the crowd to erupt in wild applause, which clearly causes Bristol to become very uncomfortable.

Leno: "Do you want her to run?"

BP: "I think so, yeah." Careful Bristol you almost told the truth there.

Again Bristol's version of how she learned that her mother had been tapped as McCain's VP choice does not jive, in any way, with the version that Palin wrote in "Going Rogue." I think they are going to need another visit to the re-education camp family meeting.

Now the only intelligent remark that Leno makes during the interview is to say, after Bristol trots out the "lawsuits" excuse for why her mother quit as Governor (By the way , those were ethics charges, NOT lawsuits.), "That happens with every Governor. Everybody gets lawsuits, its all part of the job." (Again these were ETHICS CHARGES!) However Bristol has been trained well, and insists that her mother did it "for Alaska."

Bristol also says that her mother is not building a house in Arizona. I never heard that she was "building" one but I am unsure if Bristol was denying that she had purchased one or not. Because, you know,  THAT would be another lie, which good "Christian" girls should never tell. (Sorry I made myself choke laughing at that one.)

Part two:



Bristol talks about her reality show and Rickles provides the appropriate unimpressed response. ( I am beginning to warm up to Rickles, who keeps reaching over to touch Bristol's hand which is clearly freaking her out a little.)

Then Leno decides to attack Levi concerning his upcoming book by essentially saying he "dislikes this guy" because he divulges too much private information that the public does not need to know.

Now just absorb THAT for a moment.  Essentially Leno believes that LEVI is airing too much dirty laundry, as if HE was the one to accuse Bristol of getting him drunk and stealing his virginity. Apparently that giant head of Leno's is an "irony free" zone. 

Fucking idiot!

Palin propaganda film sells out in Grapevine, Texas. That might be impressive if anybody had ever HEARD of Grapevine, Texas.

Courtesy of Reuters:

"The Undefeated," a glowing look at failed vice-presidential candidate and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has already sold out a show in Grapevine, Texas (population 46,000), according to the distributor Cinedigm.

Grapevine isn't exactly a teeming metropolis but the film is set to roll out across Tea Party country in 10 AMC theaters.

In addition to Grapevine, the documentary by conservative filmmaker Stephen K. Bannon will expand to Indianapolis, Ind.; Independence, Mo.; Kennesaw, Ga.; Houston, Texas; Orlando, Fla.; Oklahoma City, Okla.; Highlands Ranch, Colo.; Phoenix, Ariz.; and Orange, Calif.

 The film opens tomorrow if anybody is looking for an accidental comedy, an opportunity to be surrounded by assholes, or a cure for insomnia.

Currently the website Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 0%, which means that of the eight people who have seen this cinematic beatification of Sarah Palin, ALL of them gave it a "rotten" rating, but ONLY because that is the lowest rating available on the website.

Below is a screenshot featuring the professional film critics who were subjected to this celluloid abortion because their jobs demanded it of them. I figured their opinion of the movie was worth noting.

I captured this screenshot because, as we all know, the minute this post goes up Rotten Tomatoes will be inundated with positive reviews of this "film" by Palin-bots, the majority of who have not yet even seen the movie.

As revealed in Frank Bailey's book, THAT is how Palin and her supporters handle bad, or negative, press, by hijacking the polls or attacking the critics, or both.

Still I am more than positive that nothing they can do will save this clunker from joining films like "Ishtar," "Battlefield Earth," and "Freddy got Fingered" as one of the worst films of all time.

Since we are on the topic of Palin failings, I should also inform you that all of that talk by her sycophants of "Sarah Palin's Alaska" possibly earning an Emmy turned out to be bullshit as well:


Outstanding Reality Show
The Amazing Race
American Idol
Dancing With the Stars
Project Runway
So You Think You Can Dance
Top Chef

However as kind of a booby prize it looks like Bristol's complete lack of rhythm, poor work ethic, and bizarre weight gain did not keep DWTS from getting nominated. So that should make the Grizzled Mama feel better right?

Ah, who are we kidding? That bitch only cares about one person, and that person is HER!

The director of Sarah Palin's film "The Undefeated" studied Nazi and Soviet propaganda filmmakers. Ahh, now it all makes sense!

Courtesy of the Wall Street Journal:

People have said I’m like Leni Riefenstahl. I’ve studied documentarians extensively to come up with my own in-house style. I’m a student of Michael Moore’s films, of Eisenstein, Riefenstahl. Leave the politics aside, you have to learn from those past masters on how they were trying to communicate their ideas.

Leni Reifenstahl was Adolph Hitler's favorite filmmaker, while Sergei Eisenstein made numerous propaganda films in Soviet Russia and his film "Ivan the Terrible, Part 1" made him a national hero of the USSR, and won him favor from Joseph Stalin himself.

So let me see if I have this straight.  The guy who made the documentary designed to sell the REAL Sarah Palin to the American people, admittedly received his inspiration from studying propaganda filmmakers from both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.

Have I got that right?

You just can't make this stuff up folks.

US taxpayers subsidized Rupert Murdoch's efforts to destroy journalism in this country to the tune of 4.8 billion dollars! Update! Important correction.

From Reuters:

Rupert Murdoch may not garner as much attention for his financial savvy as he does for his journalistic escapades, which last week led to the shuttering of Britain’s oldest tabloid. But that doesn’t make his money management any less impressive.

Indeed, when it comes to taxes, instead of rendering unto Caesar, Murdoch has Caesar rendering unto him.

Over the past four years Murdoch’s U.S.-based News Corp. has made money on income taxes. Having earned $10.4 billion in profits, News Corp. would have been expected to pay $3.6 billion at the 35 percent corporate tax rate. Instead, it actually collected $4.8 billion in income tax refunds, all or nearly all from the U.S. government.

Low life, scum sucking, son-of-a-bitch!

Here I thought I could not dislike Rupert Murdoch anymore than I already do, and then I learn this!

There you go Americans.  While our economy is suffering through historic hard times, and our neighbors cannot find jobs to feed their families, our tax dollars are going to subsidize a man who has purposefully lied to the citizens of this country, provided a platform for constant attacks against our President, and helped sell TWO unnecessary wars to the American people!

There is no place in hell hot enough to adequately punish this cancerous piece of human excrement.

Update: Well at least THIS is some good news today:

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. media empire dropped its bid to takeover lucrative British Sky Broadcasting on Wednesday ahead of a House of Commons vote in which all three major parties were to issue that very demand.

News Corp. deputy chairman and president Chase Carey said "it has become clear that it is too difficult to progress in this climate."

Gee, ya think?


Well this is a start, but personally I will not be satisfied until Murdoch has been run out of the news business forever. And takes all of those phony journalists at Fox News with him, by the way.


Yes I know that I am being unrealistic, but a man can dream can't he?

Correction: The journalist who wrote the initial article that I based this post on, has admitted he made a rather large mistake.


Rupert Murdoch's News Corp did not get a $4.8 billion tax refund for the past four years, as I reported. Instead, it paid that much in cash for corporate income taxes for the years 2007 through 2010 while earning pre-tax profits of $10.4 billion.

For the first time in my 45-year-old career I am writing a skinback. That is what journalists call a retraction of the premise of a piece, as in peeling back your skin and feeling the pain. I will do all I can to make sure everyone who has read or heard secondary reports based on my column also learns the facts and would appreciate the help of readers in that cause.

The journalist, David Cay Johnston, then goes on to explain how he made the error in some detail.

I apologize for my part in disseminating this information. I placed my confidence in the reporter, and it seems he simply made an honest mistake.  I understand mistakes, I make them myself quite frequently.

However like Mr. Johnston, and unlike some people who attempt to double down on an error, I try to own up to my mistakes. And so I have.

I will of course continue to try and provide only accurate information in the future.  However I simply cannot promise that I will not slip up occasionally. I am only human.

Lawrence O'Donnell takes Newsweek to task for their Sarah Palin puff piece.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Excellent!

Bristol's book tour is a bust

The Mall of America was the venue where the most people showed up, and that was only because her mother was there.  Most of them were gawkers.

In Birmingham AL not many people showed up for that one either.

In Fredericksburg TX at Wal-Mart she left after 20 minutes.  You can read about the disaster here.  Thanks to I Tried Being Tasteful  for this eyewitness account.

In   Phoenix AZ at Barnes and Noble, well look for yourself:

What's with the scarf and jacket indoors?  She did the same thing in TX

Poor Tripp ignored by his mommy

Where's all the young people that are supposed to look up to Bristol?

You should read this funny thread concerning her book signing.

More damning reviews for Sarah Palin's "triumphant" revisionist film. Are Sarah and Bristol competing to have their name attached to the bigger failure?

Here is movie critic Roger Moore's take on this polished turd:

But everything in “The Undefeated” is loaded, from its choice of endorsements to the choice of extreme voices in those rare moments when she is criticized. An opening three minute barrage of bile lumps everyone who found her lacking into the same pile as profane anonymous Internet commenters, shock jocks and gadfly comedian Bill Maher. There’s Sharon Osborne. But where are the credible critics who questioned her qualifications?

Her political allies sing her praises and do most of her burnishing for her – “Sarah stands for this” and “She’s a rock star” and “She’s an existential threat to the left.” But about these “endorsements – They aren’t spontaneous question-and-answer sessions with a wide assortment of critics and colleagues. They are mostly Alaska acolytes who appear to be performing their testimonials carefully staged and edited monologues directly to the camera. Thus, “The Undefeated” plays like an infomercial.

The film rightly gives Palin much of the credit for the Tea Party movement she opportunistically leapt onto in 2010. We see her pointing the finger at ethically challenged Alaska Republicans. But we don’t see Palin “standing with” the disgraced Senator Ted Stevens, just like any other party hack. The film misstates her popularity in Alaska and misleadingly twists energy data to convince us that what she did to push more drilling in Alaska is actually America’s energy independence solution.

And while there’s plenty of inspirational Tea Party footage scored with music to make you moist-eyed, there’s nothing about that group’s more controversial elements — the intolerance, conspiracy-mongering, the anti-intellectualism tinged with violent rhetoric.

There’s also no mention of Palin’s burgeoning media career — from “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” to her many connections to Fox News and the controversial commentator Glenn Beck. This is a far more credible reason for her quitting her governor’s job — cashing in. Afraid of how that looks?

Ouch!  Now Moore is one of the people that director Bannon identified as his key demographic, those who had opinions of Sarah Palin based on rumors and the skewed view of her provided by the "Lamestream" media.  Well after Moore has seen the film he appears to be even more convinced of her lack of fitness for political office, and finds her depiction in the movie to have carefully avoided topics that would  have revealed a truth about the film's subject that the creators desperately did not want their audiences to learn.?

However THAT review was a big sloppy kiss compared to what the Hollywood Reporter had to say about it.

A documentary stitched together with a thousand sound bites, this entirely partisan account of the phenomenon that is Sarah Palin looks like a campaign film for a campaign that at least for the moment isn't happening. Puzzlingly titled The Undefeated in that its heroine lost the last election in which she ran and subsequently stepped down from her job as governor of Alaska before her term was up, this narrowly conceived valentine calls upon a vast chorus of coworkers, friends and admirers to numbingly defend everything she's ever said or done and to champion her as a maverick politician with a real connection to the people. Set to begin theatrical runs next week in select houses nationwide, this will attract media attention in the way that anything to do with Palin invariably does (all the more so because it's favorable), but nothing about the film earmarks it as a must-see anywhere other than in the living rooms of die-hard loyalists.

Just makes you want to throw the kids into the mini-van and dash off to your local AMC theater to learn ALL about Klondike Kardashian doesn't it?

No? Well then unlike the paint chip eaters who still clamor for a Sarah Palin campaign for President, your gray matter seems to be in fine working order.

So exactly what kind of person is REALLY determined to see this horrible movie? Hmm I think Vanity Fair contributing editor James Wolcott might just have an answer to that question.

Andrew Breitbart, the angry-faced entrepreneur who likes to inflict himself upon press conferences, has announced that he has already seen the new Sarah Palin documentary The Undefeated three times.

It's a free country, and what Andrew Breitbart masturbates to is none of my concern.

Some people prefer Japanese hentai porn, others have squirreled away Traci Lords bootleg cassettes inside a basement vault in case of nuclear war.

I say: It's your thing, do watcha wanna do.

I wouldn't presume to tell you who to sock it to.

Ahh, yes that seems to be the most accurate label that I have seen for this film. It is in fact conservative political porn.

Which I guess would possibly explain why Palin showed up to the premiere in Iowa looking like a haggard, used up old porn star.

Complete with too much make up, a helmet of over teased hair, and a peek-a-boo blouse.

Jenna Jameson could hardly have done it better.

Bristol Palin book signing in Fredericksburg, yet another Texas sized tragedy for the family of grifters.

Courtesy of the delightfully named blog, I Tried Being Tasteful:

We didn’t attend the big event which kicked off at 6 pm because we had the grandkids here and because we really didn’t give a hoot. However we did end up at Walmart later in the evening after our weekly pilgrimage to McDonald’s.

When my husband was checking out at Walmart he went to the express checkout that happened to be right next to the area where Ms. Palin had been holding court.

The checker had been there the whole time and said that Bristol had left after only 20 mins. to a half hour of signing. There was even a point where there was no one waiting, so she graciously (to her credit) went around and introduced herself to the employees in the area.

In the grand tradition of her Mama Grizzly, she’d brought little Tripp (have I got the name right? With all the Tripps, Tracks, Trigs, etc., it’s hard to keep up) along for added value. No Sarah, though.

What kind of a country is this, where a hateful, over privileged, young "single mother" cannot attempt to destroy the reputation of her baby's father by essentially accusing him of date rape and then get paid millions of dollars for it?  I thought this was America!

And this happened in TEXAS!  Where else in the WHOLE world could Bristol Palin hope to be more welcomed than in Texas?

(P.S. Please visit the link to the blog that printed this story.  I am sure you agree they deserve some IM love for this awesome post!)

More, very entertaining, public relations fallout surrounding "The Undefeated."

I don't know why people dislike this movie? I give the film, which is all about me and how awesome I am, two thumbs up!

This guy is quickly becoming my all time favorite movie critic, despite the fact that usually he is a conservative hack.

PR Execs Keith Appell and Peter Robbio -- the Tweedledum and Tweedledumber hired to "promote" the Sarah Palin fan film "The Undefeated" (Palin had nothing to do with the production, by the way, and isn't even interviewed in it) -- have been firing away at me in sputtering comments below. "You're done!" says Robbio, absurdly, spittle no doubt flying from the corners of his mouth as he tells his assistant to get him more coffee and plots his next, even more unprofessional, response. This guy needs to hire a damage-control firm to instruct him in the art of sealing one's piehole.

Nay, contra Robbio, I'm just getting started. (And no, I don't feel bad about adding the exclamation point as this is what publicists do in movie ads all the time. Have you ever seen an exclamation point in a serious movie review? Neither have I. Then why are the print ads always saying, "Hilarious! A masterpiece!")

Appell says I wasn't uninvited to today's screening of the film, the only one that has been announced for Manhattan critics. This is because, he says, I wasn't invited in the first place. I suppose this is true. Score one for Appell. Well done. Checkmate! It hadn't occurred to me that I wasn't invited, though, because it hadn't occurred to me that any PR exec promoting a film could be so stupid as to think he gets to choose which reviewer from this paper will review his film. (Appell and Robbio are having rage issues because I pointed out the very obvious flaws in "The Uninvited" in this piece .)
My senior colleague Lou Lumenick was yesterday invited to a screening of "The Uninvited." He passed along the invitation to me. We do this all the time. As all seasoned movie publicists know, when you invite one critic from a newspaper or magazine you have to invite them all. Appell is therefore saying that Lou was invited to this screening of "The Uninvited" -- but I wasn't. Like every other news outlet, we decide who reviews a movie internally. Publicists don't get to pick critic (a) because they don't like critic (b). Everyone in the business knows this, but Appell and Robbio, whose firm CRC Public Relations I'd never previously heard of and never expect or desire to hear from again, don't typically handle New York City critics' screenings. There are 15 or 20 PR firms we deal with all the time, and they all know what they're doing. CRC Public Relations is utterly bereft of a clue, up a deep brown creek without even a tennis racket with which to paddle. What's hilarious about all this is that Lou, who probably had a George McGovern bumper sticker on his lunchbox in college, is far less likely than I, a sensible conservative, am to see the wisdom in a Palin-praising documentary. The makers of the film, if they were wise, would find a clued-in and professional PR firm like Falco Ink or 42 West to deal with critics, but I suppose it's too late for that.

You know it just keeps getting better and better.

Bristol Palin on the View talking about her book of fables.

In this very brief segment of the interview Walters is trying to confront Bristol on why she seems to blame Levi for "stealing" her virginity. It is a little uncomfortable to watch, mostly because of how Bristol lies her ass off about what took place that night, and her feelings afterward.



I am looking for the FULL interview, as there is much on it that I feel needs to be addressed, so if any of you can find it I would be very grateful.