Inspire Political Discourse

VIDEO: Tina Fey as Sarah Palin: "I'm Launching My Own Network"

Comedy GOLD on SNL. Tina Fey hosted the Saturday night show, reprising her role as "Sarah Palin". Via HuffPost:

Fey, hosting for the second time, dressed in a leather jacket and unveiled Palin's new career path--owning her very own network. It will feature shows such as "Todd!", "Are You Smarter than a Half-Term Governor?" and "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (that's right, SNL firmly landed in Team Coco). Not only did the sketch mock Palin, her family, and the Republican Party (note the Kenneth the Pag-ing of Bobby Jindal), but it also went after the tea-partiers for their constant misspellings and grammar mistakes in their protest signs.

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Sarah and Todd Palin in Bed With Socialist Dictator, Hugo Chavez

Dear Sarah,

How does it feel to be sleeping with CITGO, aka Socialist Dictator, Hugo Chavez?

Psst, Sarah, your web is getting awfully tangled.

From the Mudflats:

But, it looks like the Palins may be padding their pockets from a surprising source.
It turns out that Mystik Lubricants is owned by… wait for it … Citgo. Yes, that same Citgo that’s owned by Venezuela. Socialist Venezuela. Socialist, Hugo Chavez lovin’, Venezuela.
Oops.
Guess they should have heeded the advice Sarah Palin gave to President Obama:
“Now is not the time to experiment with socialism!"

Sarah Palin’s Sister-in-Law Arrested for Burglary Second Time in One Week

9:00 PM FRIDAY - Breaking News: Todd Palin’s sister, Diana Palin was arrested for breaking and entering in Wasilla, Alaska yesterday.

Some of you may recall that Levi Johnston’s mother, Sherry Johnston, was also arrested (but on drug charges, and in January), and is scheduled to go to trial in May. I bring this up because it occurred to me tonight that the Palin Clan really is the modern version of the Beverly Hillbillies. Trailer courts, drug dealing relatives, child pregnancy, drug busts, and now petty burglaries. A model, truly law abiding, fine example of a Christian-Republican family indeed.
From the Anchorage Daily News:

Todd Palin’s half-sister was arrested Thursday after police say she broke into a Wasilla home for the second time this week to steal money.

Weekend Political News Summary: January 24-25, 2009

:: SURPRISE....No comprehensive case files on many Guantanamo detainees. From the Washington Post:

President Obama's plans to expeditiously determine the fates of about 245 terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and quickly close the military prison there were set back last week when incoming legal and national security officials -- barred until the inauguration from examining classified material on the detainees -- discovered that there were no comprehensive case files on many of them.

__________________________
:: Palin aides being charged with new ethics violations. From HUFFPOST:

In her current complaint against McAllister, McLeod sites a series of activities that she contends violate Alaska's "Executive Branch Code of Ethics," which prohibits public officials from using or authorizing "the use of state funds, facilities, equipment, services, or another government asset or resource for partisan political purposes."

"These campaign activities have absolutely nothing to do with the public's business, and everything to do with promoting Palin's personal endeavors and political aspirations," McLeod declared in an exclusive interview. "This must not go unchallenged."

__________________________
:: According to the complete dick, Rush Limbaugh, Republicans should be against the stimulus plan because it could hurt their electoral chances. Politics as usual. From Think Progress:

Political News Catch-Up Summary - Thursday, January 22 - Friday, January 23, 2009

:: Jan. 23 - A bank which received bailout money, employs the wife of House Republican Whip Eric Cantor. Bolding is mine. From PROPUBLICA:

House Republican Whip Eric Cantor [1], a rising star in the Republican party, has been a prominent voice demanding accountability in how the government doles out hundreds of billions for bank bailouts.
This Thursday, Cantor cast a high-profile vote opposing release of another $350 billion in bailout funds. Unpublicized until now was a recent development: The Treasury Department used $267 million of taxpayer funds to buy preferred stock in a private banking company that employs Cantor's wife.
The bailout for New York Private Bank and Trust (NYPBT) [2] came earlier this month as part of a Treasury Department program to boost "healthy banks" with extra capital. NYPBT is the holding company for Emigrant Bank [3], a savings bank with 35 branches in and around New York City. Diana Cantor runs the Virginia branch of Emigrant's wealth-management division, called Virginia Private Bank & Trust, which targets an ultra-rich clientele.

Hmm...and where exactly is your accountability re this direct conflict of interest, Mr. Cantor?

Mark Wilson/Getty Images.

OMFG Obama is a Stupid Lying Liberal Wingnut

 
“Wah wah wah....” That's the sound you are likely to hear these days when cruising the blogs owned by conservatives. And no, they aren't crying about the loss of the election. They are crying about how OMFG, Obama so fucking lied!

Yup. Obama lied. He still has not fucking given us that change he promised us. In point of fact, that change should have happened yesterday. After all, he has been the president elect for almost a whole damn week now!

And did ya hear, he might not be a US citizen because he fucking lied about that too. Stupid liberals are so gonna be sorry for getting him elected. Hey, we coulda had John McCain and Sarah Yummy---they would have had the damn job half done by now. I mean, look at how smart Palin is, and she can see Russia from her house. And hey, her spending sprees were good practice for governing, and Nicolle Wallace don't know nothing anyway.

Palin would let us teach fucking creationism in schools, as it should be. And school prayer would probably be allowed again. Damn, I so wish we had played the Wright card. The GOP is too fucking ethical is my opinion. That's one thing I am really gonna miss about ole W. He knew how to kick ass and ignore ethics, that boy did. 

Wha's that? Never mind the AIP --- what a bunch of crap that is. Who cares if Todd wants to secede from the Union, eh? He isn't gonna run the bloody country anyway.

Wha? No, I don't think Troopergate was a big fucking deal. I would of fired that guy too. Family has got to stick together, ya know?

Anyway, gotta go. The gun shop is 40 miles away, and I am GD determined to get there before it closes. Damn Obama is gonna try to take our guns away too. Stupid wingnut. I just hope he trys.

More on the Sarah Palin Wardrobe Flap

Oh my. More revelations about Sarah Palin. Er....the Beverly Hillbillies comes to mind.

From the Washington Post, bolding is mine:

“On top of the $150,000 first outlined in Federal Election Commission filings, Palin spent "tens of thousands of dollars" on additional clothing, makeup and jewelry for herself and her family, including $40,000 in luxury goods for her husband, Todd, our colleague Michael Shear reports. The campaign was charged for silk boxer shorts, spray tanners and 13 suitcases to carry all the designer clothes, according to two GOP insiders.

"The shopping continued after the convention in Minneapolis, it continued all around the country," one source said. "She was still receiving shipments of custom-designed underpinnings up to her 'Saturday Night Live' performance" in October. Sources said expenses were put on the personal credit cards of low-level Palin staffers and discovered when they asked party officials for reimbursement.

Newsweek reports that top McCain aides were stunned by the huge tab, especially after adviser Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three outfits for the convention and three for the campaign trail, with a budget of $25,000.”

RELATED POSTS

>A Picture of the Real Sarah Palin Emerges and Yes, She is As Bad As We Thought She Was
>Newsweek Outs Sarah Palin Regarding Her Shopping Spree
>Senator Palin???

A Picture of the Real Sarah Palin Emerges and it's Worse Than We Knew

 
As more secrets about Sarah Palin begin to emerge, they paint a picture of a diva, more ignorant and self-absorbed than we had previously guessed or known.

Although reports out of Alaska early during her stint as John McCain's running mate claimed that she was a profligate spender (as in $50k to redecorate her office in Wasilla when she was the mayor), a woman who deals in cronyism (rewarding supporters, relatives, friends, and dealing harshly with critics), a religious wing-nut of the most scary kind (witches, beware, Palin & witchhunters), not much came close to the picture that has emerged in recent days.

As the McCain Campaign staffers have now been unleashed, the Palin bashing has grown, and is painting a highly unflattering picture of the woman who would be Evita.

According to Fox News, who spoke with campaign staffers, Palin:

• Not only did not know who NAFTA countries were, but could not understand that Africa is a continent and not a country.
• Could not name the countries in North America. 
• She refused help to prepare for her interview with Couric, and then blamed her staff for her failures, specifically Nicolle Wallace.
• After the Couric interview, she turned on campaign staff, throwing tantrums nasty enough (a daily occurrence after she viewed her press clippings) that she frequently reduced these veteran politicos to tears.
• She succeeding in getting at least one McCain staffer fired, McCain's senior foreign policy adviser, when he attacked other campaign staffers in defense of Palin a week before the election.

Watch the video clip from The O'Reilly Factor here.

And, as I reported earlier today, Newsweek's release of their Special Election Project 2008, provides us with some previously unknown details about the Palin wardrobe flap. Highlighting is mine.

NEWSWEEK has also learned that Palin's shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain's top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy. One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family—clothes and accessories from top stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. According to two knowledgeable sources, a vast majority of the clothes were bought by a wealthy donor, who was shocked when he got the bill. Palin also used low-level staffers to buy some of the clothes on their credit cards. The McCain campaign found out last week when the aides sought reimbursement. One aide estimated that she spent "tens of thousands" more than the reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for her husband. Some articles of clothing have apparently been lost. An angry aide characterized the shopping spree as "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast," and said the truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its books.

RELATED ARTICLES & POSTS:

>Newsweek Outs Sarah Palin Regarding Her Shopping Spree
>Senator Palin???
>Hey there, hey Sarah Palin! Do Real® Americans wear Valentino?>Looking for a Fiscal Conservative to Vote For? Sarah Palin is NOT a Fiscal Conservative

Todd Palin Should Be Ineligible for a Security Clearance

Todd Palin's Past Political Associations A Likely Security Clearance Disqualifier

Although Sarah Palin smack talks Barack Obama for "palling around with terrorists," it turns out that the Palin family has its own history of palling around with Alaska's own unique brand of America-haters. Palin's husband Todd was once an actual member of the secessionist Alaskan Independence Party (AIP). Palin herself was not a member of AIP -- but many AIP luminaries claim her as a kindred spirit and "one of their own."

A charitable characterization of AIP might be "quirky down-home Alaska politics." However, the security processes that govern access to our defense and national security institutions might not look so kindly on Todd Palin's past political associations. Indeed, if Todd Palin were applying for a job in the US government or at a contractor that required access to sensitive classified information -- a security clearance -- he would very likely be ineligible.

What's so bad about the AIP? The party officially renounces violence and disloyalty to the United States

Read full article.

Palin Continues to Lie Re the Findings of the Troopergate Report - Does she think that we can't read?

Palin: ‘No Abuse Of Power There At All’ In Troopergate Report»

A report released last Friday by the bipartisan Alaska Legislative Council found that Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) “abused her power” and violated a statute of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act — an act, the report stressed, that “is not optional.”

Since the report’s release, the McCain-Palin campaign has been in full spin mode. Campaign manager Rick Davis falsely claimed “there was absolutely no wrongdoing found in the report.” And when asked by a reporter if she abused her power, Palin dodged, saying “there’s nothing unlawful or unethical about replacing a cabinet member” — referring to her dismissal of Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan.

But yesterday, during an interview with the local CBS affiliate in Pittsburgh, Palin stooped a little lower, stating flat out that the Legislative Council’s report had found that she did not abuse her power:  Full article here.

Palin Derides Taxpayers

►Palin’s Kind of Patriotism - The New York Times

Criticizing Sarah Palin is truly shooting fish in a barrel. But given the huge attention she is getting, you can’t just ignore what she has to say. And there was one thing she said in the debate with Joe Biden that really sticks in my craw. It was when she turned to Biden and declared: “You said recently that higher taxes or asking for higher taxes or paying higher taxes is patriotic. In the middle class of America, which is where Todd and I have been all of our lives, that’s not patriotic.”

What an awful statement. Palin defended the government’s $700 billion rescue plan. She defended the surge in Iraq, where her own son is now serving. She defended sending more troops to Afghanistan. And yet, at the same time, she declared that Americans who pay their fair share of taxes to support all those government-led endeavors should not be considered patriotic.

Troopergate Goes to Alaska Supreme Court

►Alaska Supreme Court takes up 'Troopergate' case - The Huffington Post

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Alaska Supreme Court will decide whether to block the findings of an abuse-of-power investigation due to be released next week that could be potentially damaging to Gov. Sarah Palin's vice presidential candidacy.

The court accepted an emergency appeal late Friday filed by six Alaska lawmakers who claim the investigation is being manipulated to hurt Palin before Election Day on Nov. 4. The court scheduled oral arguments for Wednesday on whether to suppress the probe's findings.

The independent investigator conducting the probe plans to turn over his conclusions by next Friday to the ...........Continue reading here.

RELATED POSTS:

• Troopergate documents
• Troopergate from the beginning
• Colberg files suit to quash subpoenas

• Lawsuit to Freeze the Troopergate Investigation Goes to Court

• Legislative subpoenas go unanswered

• Palin, Monegan comments on Troopergate changed over time
• Alaska Politics blog: The Troopergate papers
• Colberg files suit to quash subpoenas
• Video: Colberg Friday news conference
• Video: What Palin has said about Troopergate, and what the campaign says now
• Todd Palin Ignores Subpoena in Troopergate Investigation

• Todd Palin Ignores Troopergate Subpoena - CBS News

• Todd Palin Subpoenaed in TrooperGate Investigation

• Alaskans Against Sarah Palin Rally

Lawsuit to Freeze the Troopergate Investigation Goes to Court

Inspire Note: What is Palin hiding? If she is innocent, let the investigation go forward, and allow the public to know the truth.

►Troopergate suit heads to court - The Anchorage Daily News

A lawsuit aimed at freezing the Legislature's abuse-of-power investigation of Gov. Sarah Palin hits the courtroom this week.

Troopergate documents

Troopergate from the beginning

Colberg files suit to quash subpoenas

RELATED ARTICLES: 

►Legislative subpoenas go unanswered

►Palin, Monegan comments on Troopergate changed over time

►Alaska Politics blog: The Troopergate papers

►Colberg files suit to quash subpoenas

►Video: Colberg Friday news conference

►Video: What Palin has said about Troopergate, and what the campaign says now

►Todd Palin Ignores Subpoena in Troopergate Investigation

►Todd Palin Ignores Troopergate Subpoena - CBS News

►Todd Palin Subpoenaed in TrooperGate Investigation

►Alaskans Against Sarah Palin Rally

Anti-Palin Rally on Saturday Angry About Troopergate

►Anti-Palin rally calls for Colberg removal - The Anchorage Daily News

TROOPERGATE: More than 1,000 protesters gather in downtown Anchorage park.

A protest slamming Gov. Sarah Palin's handling of the state's so-called Troopergate investigation -- and calling for the attorney general to lose his job -- drew more than 1,000 people to the Delaney Park Strip in Anchorage on Saturday. Continue reading here.

RELATED ARTICLES:

►Legislative subpoenas go unanswered

►Palin, Monegan comments on Troopergate changed over time

►Alaska Politics blog: The Troopergate papers

►Colberg files suit to quash subpoenas

►Video: Colberg Friday news conference

►Video: What Palin has said about Troopergate, and what the campaign says now

►Todd Palin Ignores Subpoena in Troopergate Investigation

►Todd Palin Ignores Troopergate Subpoena - CBS News

►Todd Palin Subpoenaed in TrooperGate Investigation

►Alaskans Against Sarah Palin Rally

Palin in Alaska - The Troopergate Investigation

►Today's Headlines on Anchorage Daily News

Legislative subpoenas go unanswered

With state officials again defying legislative subpoenas in the investigation of whether Gov. Sarah Palin abused her power, the war between state lawmakers and Alaska's attorney general is escalating.

Palin, Monegan comments on Troopergate changed over time

Alaska Politics blog: The Troopergate papers

Colberg files suit to quash subpoenas

Video: Colberg Friday news conference

Video: What Palin has said about Troopergate, and what the campaign says now

RELATED ARTICLES:

>Todd Palin Ignores Subpoena in Troopergate Investigation
>Todd Palin Ignores Troopergate Subpoena - CBS News
>Republicans Shaping Palin's Image - Carefully - and Angering Alaskans as They Do So
>Todd Palin Subpoenaed in TrooperGate Investigation
>Kathleen Parker, a Conservative Republican, Calls for Palin to Step Down
>Media Literally Revolt Over McCain Campaign Severe Limitations of Palin's Foreign Relations Tutorial at the UN
>Alaskans Against Sarah Palin Rally
>Newsweek Calls for Palin to Step Down
>The Palin Pick -- The Devolution of McCain

Todd Palin Ignores Subpoena in Troopergate Investigation

►Todd Palin Refuses to Testify? Shocking! Shocking, I say! - Mudflats

Ed O’Callaghan, erstwhile top terrorism prosecutor from Washington D.C., now holed up in Anchorage Alaska giving legal advice in the Troopergate investigation, announced that the “First Dude” will not be cooperating.  He will ignore his subpoena, O’Callaghan says, because he no longer believes the investigation is “legitimate.”   Why?  Didn’t say.  It must have something to do with that hideously partisan unanimous vote by a council of 8 Republicans and 4 Democrats.  Continue reading here.

►Todd Palin ignores call to testify - Alaska Daily News

MEETS TODAY: Failure to obey subpoena could bring charges.

Todd Palin, the husband of vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, will not heed a subpoena to appear before an Alaska legislative committee this morning to testify about his role in Troopergate.Continue reading here.

►Todd Palin Ignores Troopergate Subpoena - CBS News

>>Lawyer Says Governor's Husband Objects To Probe, Finds Call To Testify "Unduly Burdensome"

(AP) Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's husband has refused to testify in the investigation of his wife's alleged abuse of power, and key lawmakers said Thursday that uncooperative witnesses are effectively sidetracking the probe until after Election Day.
Todd Palin, who participates in state business in person or by e-mail, was among 13 people subpoenaed by the Alaska Legislature. Palin's lawyer sent a letter to the lead investigator saying Palin objected to the probe and would not appear to testify on Friday.Continue reading here.

Technorati Tags: Todd Palin, Troopergate, Walt Monegan firing, subpoena, Palin ignores subpoena

Todd Palin Subpoenaed in TrooperGate Investigation

The Huffington Post

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The abuse of power investigation against Sarah Palin, Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential candidate, took a potentially ominous turn for her party on Friday when state lawmakers voted to subpoena her husband.

Republican efforts to delay the probe until after the Nov. 4 election were thwarted when GOP State Sen. Charlie Huggins, who represents Palin's hometown of Wasilla, sided with Democrats. "Let's just get the facts on the table," said Huggins, who appeared in camouflage pants to vote during a break from moose hunting. Continue reading here.

Palin's Husband Subpoenaed in TrooperGate

Todd Palin Subpoenaed in Firing Probe - The Drudge Report

The state Senate Judiciary Committee voted 3-2 today to subpoena 13 people -- including the husband of Gov. Sarah Palin -- in an investigation of whether Palin abused her power in trying to get her former brother-in-law fired. Continue reading here.