Baron Dave Romm
Sarah Palin: An American File
By Baron Dave Romm
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Going Rogue
Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is staking out territory explored by Joe the Plumber: Media Has-Been. She has a new book out: Going Rogue: An American Life. It's selling big... in some areas of the country and with some people. Yes, Sarah Palin has become the new L. Ron Hubbard: Believers believe and everyone else is laughing.
Various falsehoods in the book are exposed by The Huffington Post, John McCain via the Huffington Post, Andrew Sullivan, The Sarah Palin Truth Squad and many more a quick Google search turned up.
Really, it's easy to debunk Going Rogue. Facts just don't matter to her. She's appealing to the GOP "base" of gullible idiots.
I've been collecting links about Palin since McCain chose her as his VP candidate last year, for the 2008 election. Some of these might be a little dated, but what the heck. You'll see how her media elite status developed. Or maybe just get a glimpse into what interests me. Or maybe some of these stories are in her book in slightly altered form.
Pre-Election Links from 2008
Once Elected, Palin Hired Friends and Lashed Foes devastating NYTimes piece on the VP pick. 9/13/08:
WASILLA, Alaska - Gov. Sarah Palin lives by the maxim that all politics is local, not to mention personal.
So when there was a vacancy at the top of the State Division of Agriculture, she appointed a high school classmate, Franci Havemeister, to the $95,000-a-year directorship. A former real estate agent, Ms. Havemeister cited her childhood love of cows as a qualification for running the roughly $2 million agency.
Ms. Havemeister was one of at least five schoolmates Ms. Palin hired, often at salaries far exceeding their private sector wages.
NYT: Palin Personally Sought To Ban Book From Library. Riffing off the NYTimes profile above, this TPM piece emphasizes one damning bit of history:
Among the many startling accusations against Sarah Palin in the new profile of her in The New York Times, this one truly stands out: Not only did Palin want the Wasilla librarian to ban books, but she is alleged to have personally pushed for a particular book to be removed before shebecame mayor: [Daddy's Roommate].
This is not the only accusation that Palin personally targeted a particular book for removal from the library on ideological grounds. It's also worth noting that Rev. Howard Bess, a liberal minister from the nearby town of Palmer, has accused Palin of successfully getting his own book, Pastor I Am Gay, banned from the library while she was mayor.
As Mayor of Wasilla, Palin Cut Own Duties, Left Trail of Bad Blood Washington Post 9/14/08:
Palin says her time as mayor taught her how to be a leader and grounded her in the real needs of voters, and her tenure revealed some of the qualities she would later display as governor: a striving ambition, a willingness to cut loose those perceived as disloyal and a populist brand of social and pro-growth conservatism.
But a visit to this former mining supply post 40 miles north of Anchorage shows the extent to which Palin's mayoralty was also defined by what it did not include. The universe of the mayor of Wasilla is sharply circumscribed even by the standards of small towns, which limited Palin's exposure to issues such as health care, social services, the environment and education.
Firefighting and schools, two of the main elements of local governance, are handled by the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, the regional government for a huge swath of central Alaska. The state has jurisdiction over social services and environmental regulations such as stormwater management for building projects.
Sarah Palin is a Far-Right Extremist: Ten Reasons DKos Diary by David Drissel 9/21/08. A partisan look, to be sure, but demonstrates one of the major differences between the left wing and right wing blogosphere: For the most part, liberal bloggers tend to stick to the facts and link to primary sources. (Not all DKos comments are in quite the same journalistic vein.)
I mentioned these a year ago, so will just make the links in passing:
126 Mistakes or lies Palin made in the debate. Partisan and subjective but thorough listing of Palin's statements in 10/2 debate. DKos diary 10/3/08
ABC exposes Palin lie about divesting from Sudan. DKos Diary 10/5/08
John McCain and Sarah Palin: Dishonest and Dishonorable Brad DeLong's short but pithy exhortation, pointing out that "100 Economists" warn against Obama plan is not merely wrong, the list only has 90 names. 10/7/08. Conservatives can't add or subtract.
Baron Dave Commentary: Republicans made much of Obama's comparative inexperience in Federal government compared to John McCain. Fair enough, though they cherry-picked their facts. At the same time, they were completely blind to their own VP-candidate's lack of experience and outright failure as an mayor or governor. As it turned out, Obama's tenure as community organizer had more responsibility and success than Palin's tenure as mayor, and his experience as US Senator was greater than Palin's laughably short stint as Alaska governor.
Palin plays the blame game, and gets it wrong re: "palling around with terrorists"
More Palin lies given short shrift in the conservative news media: Obama not palling around with terrorists. CNN Factchecker 10/5/08. Verdict: False.
In order to make that claim, the GOP had to eat its young and distort the facts. Republican clears Obama on Ayers. DKos diary with links to the audio interview 10/7/08
Meanwhile, Palin is palling around with America-hating terrorists like Alaska Independence Party founder Joe Vogler who once said, "I'm an Alaskan, not an American. I've got no use for America or her damned institutions." MarbinMD DKos Diary 10/5/08 with good links.
It gets worse for Palin, from a link used last year: Meet Sarah Palin's right-wing pals salon.com 10/10/08 on Mark Chryson, Steve Stoll and Joe Vogler
Baron Dave Commentary: McCain/Palin ran under the slogan "America First." And yet, within a few weeks of Obama coming into power, a huge swath of Republicans want to secede from America from Texas to Georgia and debilitating the whole party. Whence this flip-flip? As is often the case, what Palin said was the exact opposite of reality: She is the one "palling around with terrorists" and it is the Republican Party that doesn't believe in America.
Interactive Palin in the Oval Office
Sarah Palin click and play Cruel but funny. And Going Rogue makes this look tame, in retrospect.
Palin goes shopping, gets bill, now in sticker shock
RNC shells out $150K for Palin fashion Sarah Palin goes shopping at Saks Fifth Avenue. Politico, 10/22/08:
The Republican National Committee has spent more than $150,000 to clothe and accessorize vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her family since her surprise pick by John McCain in late August.
According to financial disclosure records, the accessorizing began in early September and included bills from Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis and New York for a combined $49,425.74.
The records also document a couple of big-time shopping trips to Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, including one $75,062.63 spree in early September.
The RNC also spent $4,716.49 on hair and makeup through September after reporting no such costs in August.
But even that seems like playing with the truth. Wardrobe Mysteries Linger since none of the stores recalls her spending any money there. NYTimes 10/23/08:
There are still aspects of the Republican National Committee's shopping sprees on behalf of Gov. Sarah Palin and her family that are murky.
Some of the fashion experts consulted Wednesday, for instance, about the $150,000 in purchases that appeared on Federal Election Commission records were puzzled by where all of that money had gone, given what they had seen of Ms. Palin's wardrobe.Consider also the $4,902.45 charge at Atelier New York, a high-end men's store, presumably for Ms. Palin's husband, Todd, the famous First Dude.
Karlo Steel, an owner there, said he had gone through the store's receipts for September, twice, and found no sales that matched that amount, nor any combination of sales that added up to the total. Because the store carries aggressively directional men's wear, he caters to a small clientèle and knows most of his customers by name, as well as the history of their purchases.
Palin in book: McCain aides kept me 'bottled up'. SF Chronicle report on Going Rogue 11/13/09 with this tidbit from the campaign:
In the months leading up to her July resignation as Alaska governor, her legal bills had mounted to more than $500,000, fueled mostly by what she called frivolous ethics complaints. What appeared to upset her most, though, was that about $50,000 of the legal bills was her share of the expenses for being vetted for the VP nod, Palin writes.
She said no one had ever informed her that she would have to personally take care of any expenses related to the selection process.
Palin's "going rogue", McCain aide says CNN 10/26/08:
With the presidential race in its final days and polls suggesting that McCain's chances of pulling out a win are growing slim, Palin may be looking after her own future.
"She's no longer playing for 2008; she's playing 2012," Democratic pollster Peter Hart said. "And the difficulty is, when she went on 'Saturday Night Live,' she became a reinforcement of her caricature. She never allowed herself to be vetted, and at the end of the day, voters turned against her both in terms of qualifications and personally."
Baron Dave Commentary: Spending money to make a dowdy candidate look telegenic doesn't bother me. Nor does the amount spent: Half the battle is making Paling feel confident, and taking her to the upscale New York emporiums is exactly what she needed... to look good in Alaska. New Yorkers were never going to see anything but a ticket-balancing rube. Texans were never going to see anyone but a non-Texan. Californians were never going to see her as anything but a dumb hick. But she needed to polish her image amongst her supporters. The voters in Montana and Utah liked her politics, but needed to be comfortable with her as a national candidate. Emelda Marcos knew this.
What does bother me is lying about it, and being so chintzy when the bill came due. Instead of making an uplifting photo-op, "Palin goes shopping in New York!", she has to pretend to a maverick while looking like an elite. She should have taken her cues from Hillary Clinton, who was and is perfectly comfortable with wearing pants suits or fancy dresses. Sarah will never have the bearing or gravitas that Hillary has, and is stupid enough to think that works in her favor.
Wrapping Up Some Palin Links
Another Wink and Nod from Sarah Palin DKos Diary from Meteor Blades 10/23/08 with video of Palin and McCain talking to Brian Williams. She refuses to answer William's question, "s an abortion clinic bomber a terrorist under this definition?", simply changing the subject to Ayers (see above). Bouncing off this diary, MissLaura DKos Diary 10/25/08: Sarah Palin refuses to call anti-abortion killings Terrorism. Points out that Palin is afraid to talk about the victims of right-wing anti-abortion terrorism. (Baron Dave comment: Palin makes no mention of Eric Rudolph's victims, or the people who helped him. So much for Bush preventing attacks on America soil.)
Palin's Churches and the New Apostolic Reformation list of Talk2Action's stories on Palin's Rapture Christianity, anti-Semitism, John Hagee and links to radical Christian organizations. (Baron Dave commentary:Radical Christianity goes beyond Palin, as the right has no problem seriously debating Obama the Antichrist?. If it's legitimate to talk about The massacre at Fort Hood and Muslim soldiers with attitude then it's legitimate to be far more worried about domestic Christian terrorism, the kind that is the GOP "base". Sarah Palin is pandering to the worst elements in the US and should be held accountable.)
Palin's dubious ethics. The GOP has a double standard on how clean a politician should be. The appearance of ethics violations is enough to go Democrats, but actual ethics violations just get lied about and shrugged off. A few examples: Ethics complaint against Palin: She held VP interviews from her governor's office. Anchorage Daily News 11/19/08. Palin Hit With Another Ethics Complaint Huffington Post /6/09 (just after she resigned). Palin, the press, and the ethics charges Media Matters 7/6/09: "But according to the ADN, the investigations have cost the state roughly $300,000, which raises all kinds of doubts about whether that was really the reason Palin decided to walk away from her governorship. At the time, we asked, did Palin really quit over a $300,000 tab? And would the rest of the press pick up on the ADN's analysis?"
McCain Communications Director Gave Reporters Incendiary Version Of "Carved B" Story Before Facts Were Known TPM Electioncentral 10/24/08. Ashley Todd, "B" mutilation hoax. Spread by McCain people very quickly. Fox reaction was swift and removed quickly. Despite conservative news media reports, Todd was a paid CRNC supporter s 10/27/08
She matters to the GOP "base": 10 Reasons That Sarah Palin Could Win the Republican Nomination (though Obama Would Crush Sarah Palin In 2012: Poll)
To end, let Frank Rich of the NY Times state the obvious: The Pit Bull in the China Shop 11/21/98: "At last the American right and left have one issue they unequivocally agree on: You don't actually have to read Sarah Palin's book to have an opinion about it."
National Limerick Writing Month
Keep those limericks a-comin'!
Vikings vs. Themselves
The Vikings cruised to a 9-35 victory over the really-not-that-bad Seahawks. The win was so decisive, Tavaris Jackson had a td pass as the benchwarmers saw action in the 4th quarter.
A Vacation
I'll be away for Thanksgiving, and unless circumstances change I won't have a column next week. Happy Thanksgiving all, and be wary of The War On Channukkah.
Baron Dave Romm is a conceptual artist and a noble of Ladonia who produces Shockwave Radio Theater, writes in a Live Journal demi-blog maintains a Facebook Page, plays with a very weird CD collection and an ever growing list of political links. Dave Romm reviews things at random for obscure web sites. You can read all his music recommendations from Bartcop-E. Podcasts of Shockwave Radio Theater. Permanent archive. More radio programs, interviews and science fiction humor plays can be accessed on the Shockwave Radio audio page.
Thanks to everyone who has sent me music to play on the air.
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Ted Rall: AMERICA ON TRIAL
Right-Wingers Have Reasons to Worry About Trying KSM.
Froma Harrop: The Civic Price of Courting Corporations (creators.com)
Amtrak riders passing through New London, Conn., can catch an odd sight in an otherwise picturesque New England setting: a fancy corporate center standing next to a street grid emptied of nearly all its buildings. This used to be the Fort Trumbull neighborhood, a working class enclave that would have been largely forgotten had it not been central to a controversial 2005 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on eminent domain - the government's right to take private property for public use.
Susan Estrich: See Sarah Run (creators.com)
I really hate defending Sarah Palin. I mean, I don't agree with her on anything. Seeing a woman at her level saying and doing some of the things she says and does is like nails screeching against a blackboard for me. And while she ultimately helps Democrats in any partisan contest, her brand of polarizing politics and efforts to annihilate the moderate wing of the Republican Party ultimately aren't very good for her own party (not my problem) or the country (everyone's problem).
Relationships: Think positive in love (guardian.co.uk)
High expectations help romantic relationships to flourish, says Dr Luisa Dillner.
Stuart O'Connor: "Rich Hall: I'm not against technology, I just find it very frustrating" (guardian.co.uk)
Comedian Rich Hall hates most gadgets - especially mobile phones - but is quite fond of his automatic guitar tuner.
David Foster Wallace: Shipping Out (pdf; harpers.org)
DFW on cruise ships.
roger ebert's journal: How pleasant to meet Mr. Lear!
The limerick's a form metronomical,
For the telling of jokes anatomical.
Yet the best one's I've seen
So seldom are clean,
And yet clean ones so seldom are comical.
Edward M. Eveld: "It's a fact: 'Information' author John Hodgman is funny" (McClatchy Newspapers)
As a "famous minor television personality," John Hodgman is almost a household name. We said "almost."
Neil Gaiman's 'Graveyard Book' buried under awards (guardian.co.uk)
As the fantasy world's renaissance man collects yet another award, he talks to Michelle Pauli.
Robert W. Butler: 'The Blind Side' director says true stories make better films (McClatchy Newspapers)
Lee Hancock has made three feature films, each based on real people and events.
David Bruce: Free Writing Handouts with Anecdotes, Volume 2 (lulu.com)
Free download. This short pdf file contains a number of handouts that cam be used to teach students some basic writing rules. Feel free to make and give away as many copies as you want to for educational purposes. Feel free to distribute this little pamphlet as a pdf file.
The Dollyrots: Brand New Key (youtube.com)
Hubert's Poetry Corner
"Graves of Magadan"
Food for thought at Thanksgiving, Christmas and other family times?
The Weekly Poll
New Question
The 'Trials vs Tribunals' Edition
John Dickerson hosted a roundtable discussion of Eric Holder's decision to prosecute 5 Guantanamo Bay detainees in New York with Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton with National Security Network and Hamilton Peterson with Keep America Safe.
Unplugged: Pros and Cons Of 9/11 Trials In New York - CBS News Video
Do you support or oppose the Administration's decision to try the accused terrorism perpetrators in New York City?
Send your response to
Results tomorrow
answered:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Link from RJ
Naughty But Nice
Hi there
I thought you might like this! It is a little bit naughtier than usual.....
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Still sunny and warm.
Lake Placid Visit
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Colbert donned a reddish-orange racing suit Sunday and went on a ride with U.S. bobsled driver Steven Holcomb. He was in the black sled that Holcomb had just driven to the four-man World Cup gold medal at Mount Van Hoevenberg.
With the crowd at the finish line chanting his name, Colbert hopped into the third slot normally manned by Steve Mesler and tucked in tight between Justin Olsen and brakeman Curtis Tomasevicz. About a minute later, Colbert emerged unscathed but breathing hard.
Colbert said he looked up for only the first four turns on the way down the 20-turn layout, then buried his head in Olsen's back for the quick ride to the bottom.
Before he walked away to present World Cup silver medals to the U.S. four-man team led by John Napier, Colbert tried to console Mesler, a huge fan who was disappointed to be the odd man out for the ride.
Stephen Colbert
Lifetime Achievement Award
Susan Sarandon
American actress Susan Sarandon was on Saturday honoured with a lifetime achievement award at the Stockholm film festival.
Sarandon accepted the prize, a 7.3 kilo (15 pound) bronze horse -- the heaviest of all film awards, according to organisers -- following an interview and audience discussion at a theatre in central Stockholm.
She told the audience she had always seen herself as a character actor, and sought to make films "that encourage people to be the protagonists in their own lives."
Following the discussion, Sarandon presented a 1975 screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, in which she starred, on a screen made out of ice in a city square.
Susan Sarandon
Rare Book Found
Charles Darwin
An auction house says it is selling a rare first edition of Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" found in a family's guest lavatory in southern England.
Christie's auction house said Sunday the book - one of around 1,250 copies first printed in 1859 - had been on a toilet bookshelf at a family's home in Oxford.
The book will be auctioned on Tuesday - the 150th anniversary of the publication of the famous work. Christie's said the book is likely to sell for 60,000 pounds ($99,000).
Charles Darwin
International Emmys To Honor
David Frost
British TV personality David Frost will be honored at the 37th Annual International Emmy Awards for a wide-ranging career that has taken him from pioneering political satire on television to conducting serious interviews with former President Richard Nixon and other newsmakers.
ABC's Barbara Walters will present the International Emmy Founders Award to Frost at Monday night's awards gala at the Hilton New York Hotel.
The presentation will highlight an evening in which 41 nominees from 17 countries will be competing in 10 categories for International Emmys, honoring excellence in TV programming produced outside the U.S.
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (R - War Criminal), who is German-born, will present the International Emmy Directorate Award to Markus Schachter for his outstanding leadership of Germany's ZDF television network.
David Frost
"basic name translation audit"
Unusual Names
Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes might have thought twice about naming their daughter Suri if they'd known that it means "pickpocket" in Japanese, "turned sour" in French, and "horse mackerels" in Italian.
Today Translations, a London-based translation company, is offering parents-to-be -- particularly celebrities -- the chance to check the meaning of prospective baby names in other languages.
For 1,000 pounds ($1,678), the company's linguists will carry out a "basic name translation audit" of names, checking their meaning in 100 languages, or more for an additional cost.
Some choices are beyond easy translation however, the company admits, such as Jermajesty -- the son of Michael Jackson's brother Jermaine.
Unusual Names
Sells For $350K
Jackson Glove
The shimmering, white glove Michael Jackson wore when he premiered his trademark moonwalk dance in 1983 was auctioned off for $350,000 - plus tax - on Saturday.
Winning bidder Hoffman Ma of Hong Kong will pay $420,000, including taxes and fees, for the rhinestone-studded, modified golf glove Jackson wore on his left hand for his moonwalk on Motown's 25th anniversary TV special.
The glove was the top item in a collection of Jackson memorabilia on the block at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square. Its pre-auction estimate was $40,000 to $60,000.
A jacket that Jackson wore on his 1989 "Bad" tour fetched $225,000 - 20 times its low estimate of $8,000.
Jackson Glove
New EU President Wins Fans In Japan
Herman Van Rompuy
Herman Van Rompuy, the European Union's new president, may not be very well known around the world but he's already winning fans in Japan -- as a poet rather than a politician.
Belgium's low-key prime minister is fond of writing haiku -- three-line Japanese poems of just 17 syllables -- and is building a reputation with Japanese poets less than 24 hours after he got the newly-created job.
"We feel very proud that the first EU president ever elected loves haiku," Kaoru Fujimoto, an official of the Haiku International Association, told Reuters in Tokyo. "It's great to know that haiku, which is part of the Japanese culture, is spreading that far."
Herman Van Rompuy
Smuggling Attempt
15 Lizards
Federal officials say they arrested a man who strapped 15 live lizards to his chest to get through customs at Los Angeles International Airport.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Friday that 40-year-old Michael Plank of Lomita, Calif., was returning from Australia when U.S. Customs agents found two geckos, two monitor lizards and 11 skinks - another type of lizard - fastened to his body Tuesday.
Authorities say the lizards' value totals more than $8,500. All Australian reptiles are strictly regulated and Plank did not have a permit for them.
15 Lizards
Wekend Box Office
'New Moon'
The vampire romance "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" sucked up $140.7 million in its first three days and pulled in a total of $258.8 million worldwide, according to studio estimates Sunday.
The No. 1 domestic debut for Summit Entertainment's "New Moon" was more than twice the $69.6 million haul over the same weekend last year for "Twilight," the first in the franchise based on Stephenie Meyer's novels.
Overall, Hollywood had its second-biggest non-holiday weekend ever, with final numbers expected to come in slightly behind the $260 million the industry rang up over the weekend of July 18, 2008, when "The Dark Knight" opened.
Opening at No. 2 domestically this weekend was the Warner Bros. football drama "The Blind Side" with $34.5 million. The film stars Sandra Bullock in the real-life story of Baltimore Ravens tackle Michael Oher, who was a homeless teen taken in by a wealthy family and enrolled in private school.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," $140.7 million.
2. "The Blind Side," $34.5 million.
3. "2012," $26.5 million.
4. "Planet 51," $12.6 million.
5. "Disney's A Christmas Carol," $12.2 million.
6. "Precious: Based on the Novel `Push' by Sapphire," $11 million.
7. "The Men Who Stare at Goats," $2.8 million.
8. "Couples Retreat," $2 million.
9. "The Fourth Kind," $1.7 million.
10. "Law Abiding Citizen," $1.6 million.
'New Moon'
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