Now the Governor is a REAL Alaska Republican Politician.
There are certain milestones in a professional career that mark an ascension, an achievement, a distinction….they are a clear message that you have “arrived.” Depending what the career is, it might be the corner office, the primo parking spot, your name on the letterhead, or the ever-popular six weeks of vacation.
For Alaska politicians, there seems to be a new benchmark. A modern-day Republican ”keeping up with the Joneses” if you will. And Governor Sarah Palin has just “arrived.” She’s about to have her very own…..legal defense fund. Yup, move over Don Young, there’s a new girl in town, and she’s got bills up to her eyeballs. Rumors are that once you reach this level, you get a gold Rolex with “They’re picking on me!” inscribed on the back, but as of this writing that is not confirmed.
And the official story, of course, is that Sarah Palin (like other legal defense fund setter-uppers Congressman Don Young, Senator Ted Stevens and even incarcerated “corrupt bastard club” members Vic Kohring) has done absolutely nothing wrong. She is simply the victim of frivolous and completely unfounded ethics complaints. Woe is her.
Legal bills have mounted fighting complaints that she called partisan, false and frivolous, starting with “the politically motivated Troopergate probe,” Palin said in a written response to questions.
She said the legal bills all stem from her actions as governor.
“I must defend against these baseless ethics accusations out of my own pocket as the use of public monies to do so could itself violate state law,” Palin wrote.
The debt, amassed since she was catapulted into the national spotlight during the presidential race, was revealed in her annual financial disclosure filed this week with the Alaska Public Offices Commission.
“On August 29, it seems the political landscape changed in Alaska. Now, it seems in order to do this job as Governor, with the political blood sport some are playing today, only the independently wealthy or those willing to spend their income on legal fees to defend their official actions in office … can serve,” Palin said in the written response to Daily News questions.
Blood sport? It’s funny, because whenever the governor responds to things in writing, she just sounds an awful lot like…..hm…. Meg Stapleton. Funny how that is.
The debt is owed to the Alaska law firm Clapp, Peterson, Van Flein, Tiemessen & Thorsness, according to her financial disclosure.
Long time readers of The Mudflats will know that the reason that Van Flein is in bold italics is because it’s just delightfully irresistable to say it in a thick German accent, and imagine him, as the Palin’s lawyer, in a dastardly black cape and a long twirly moustache. Anyway…
So Palin has now racked up over half a million dollars in legal fees, with three ethics complaints still pending as it stands right now. There have been 10 complaints filed in her first 24 months in office….so, at that rate, (punching numbers on calculator)….if she is re-elected for a second term…..(punching)….she can expect to have over $4 million dollars in legal fees and 40 ethics complaints filed against her as a sitting governor. (whistles) That’s pretty impressive. Take THAT Don Young.
“Obviously we cannot afford to personally pay these bills — and really no future governor should feel the sense of financial vulnerability at the hands of those with a political vendetta bent on personal destruction,” Palin wrote. “Some have suggested a legal fund to pay these bills. We’ll have to pursue that.”
It’s nice of her to be thinking about future governors that might be put through this baseless persecution. It is exceedingly odd that no OTHER Alaska governor before her seems to have run into this… but in this post 8/29 Alaska, things just aren’t the same.
And she was not clear about what measures she might take to ensure that no future governor should “feel this sense of financial vulnerability”. Maybe some kind of law that keeps people from investigating the governor….. Now THAT has some possibilities. Keep your ears open.
There is no exact dollar figure given for how much the governor will have to receive in contributions to be able to pay her mounting legal bills. All that Van Flein had to say was that it was:
Well she shoulda thought of all that before she decided (or couldn’t help herself) to cross all of those ethical lines. She doesn’t learn from the previous mistakes, either (remember she doesn’t make any!). WHINER.
boo – hoo……….welcome to the big leagues Sarah.
Well, at least there is something she is willing to take the money for.
If Palin doesn’t want to have legal fees, she should stop breaking the law.
@Sue
That makes me think of the movie, “Liar Liar” with Jim Carrey… when he tells his client to STOP BREAKING THE LAW, ‘STOOPID!’ (very slightly modified for print purposes)
somebody call her a waahmbulance.
Amazing what a little light will do to expose criminals. Had it not been for her rushing through that crack in the door she probably could have lived our her term punishing her opponents, ripping off the State at every turn, and basically not doing a whole hell of a lot.
But once she accepted to run with Grampy McCain all bets were off, not only for the national press but for Alaskans as well. Life would have been so simple and profitable for the Grifter Governor has she just said no, but ambition got the best of her. Power corrupts and it appears as if the GINO has been looking for ways to increase her power ever since she was a corrupt little mayor.
Poor Palin, you don’t have the skin thick enough to run at the head of the ticket let alone be President. Can you imagine if a world leader said something disparaging towards her if she was President? She’d be pushing the big red button before the person even got done saying it…and that is reason #1 (among about a million) that she shouldn’t ever hold the office of President of the United States.
Tee hee!
Couldn’t happen to a more deserving person.
“Those with a political vendetta bent on personal destruction” she says -
I’m confused – didn’t she initiate one of those legal complaints against herself. Is she saying she has a vendetta against herself?!!
And if those stupid harasthemeat people give her money for her legal fees, well more fool them. Fools and their money are soon parted as the saying goes.
Does said law firm get any state business ?? Let’s keep an eye out for any new contracts.
I just can’t help myself here….childish I know, but what the heck!!!
Liar, liar, LIAR, tight black leather skirt on FIRE!!! You know the one you wear with your buttoned down red blouse, when you have gathered the legislators, and you want a bill passed. Nothing like a little eye candy there Gino.
Couldn’t help myself since this did actually take place in session.
Austin: They don’t NEED to! Defending Sarah’s becoming a full-time job!
(Oh, and Forty? GOOD one!)
“…with the political blood sport some are playing today…”
Sarah Louise Palin (or Meg) you DARE to make this analogy just as wolves on Alaskan turf are shot dead bleeding under your helicopters of death and their puppies are gassed?
Ever, EVER heard of something called karma, Bad Sarah?
@austentx, I left you and Dr. Truth a message in our “party grotto”.
Another quote “legal fees to defend their official actions in office” – since when has having private emails and still withholding them, getting people fired for personal reasons, using taxpayers money as a private (miss) piggy bank, letting husband in on state business, flying your kids around and putting them up at the Ritz, been official state business?
This woman is just singing to her numbnut choir and as usual they will believe every word.
When she was asked what will she do with those uncashed checks, she said they would be forwarded to ScarahPac and the donors asked asked if they want their contribution cashed.
Wow, what happened to “thanks but no thanks”? How very socialist of her.And conveniently probably used for her legal fees for Van flea. Isn’t that a little like money laundering????
Oh and didn’t troopergate start BEFORE Aug 29????
AKM, you forgot the crying violin….(? that one)
She needs to be watched very, very carefully….
The white quean with a whip and a ego needs money.
I’m scared!
Maybe pebble partnership will give her some stones.
Trans Canada might just take some money and give it back to her.
I here there is some money up there in the 7 mountains.
She might have to sell some signed boots on ebay, or have her family member list the item so that she is clear of those pesky ethic issues.
She could get another unofficial book deal maybe.
How about if she just plea bargains a deal to drop all charges, if she just resigns because of out of state political interests.
Or how about if all Alaskan’s donate one dollar from are PDF, pay her legal fees, kick her out of the state, and create a State Holiday with the rest of the money called, GINO DAY!
whenever someone says palin is a real this or that, all that comes to mind is how unreal she really is and how different her definition of the truth is from what the rest of us consider it to be.
Poor GINO. If McCain had never heard of her, the state would still be picking up her legal bills for all her ethics complaints.
Believe me, if she is topping out at over half a million, there is serious legal work going into each and every one of these complaints. VanFlein’s kids are going to be able to go to college out of state, you betcha!
Cost-Benefit
It would be fun to find out how the “discount” that Van Flein wrangled out of Petumenos on the family travel expenses, compares to what Van Flein charged Palin for his services.
“Fools and their money are soon parted as the saying goes.” ~Amen to that!
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Correct me if I’m wrong, but did I not hear that James Dobson and crew were pickin’ up the tab for Sista Sayrah’s legal fees whilst she was out on the trail spewing venom?
What happened? And I wonder if that in any way relates to Dobson quietly stepping down.
Hmmm….what a wicked web she weaves! I’ll betcha she has a data file(s) on her Blackberry to try and keep the lies sorted and at-the-ready.
i can see palin’s rear end from my house… how curious, but it looks as if that rear end is getting a good paddling from alaskans who give a damn.
I find this part particularly telling:
“Last month, with Van Flein as her lawyer, she settled an ethics complaint over her children’s travel by agreeing to repay the state for an estimated 10 trips. She said Friday that debt is still under review by the state.”
So maybe it’s not as “settled” as all that?
Sarah Lou just can’t be true!
I can not believe that she and her followers think she is qualified to become PTA, never mind the POTUS
Can’t you just see the other partners at the monthly sit down going over the accounts recievable and just kinda staring at Van Fleabag……….
these checks that are mentioned on the PDF are made out to the”palin family”
“tod and sarah palin” Palin descresionary fund???
I counted @ least 6K worth
http://media.adn.com/smedia/2009/03/21/04/Palin_APOC.source.prod_affiliate.7.pdf
How Socialist is THAT??? Where’s “thank, but no thanks”?
Liar,Liar, blk leather skirt on fire, lol!
the problem child….maybe she wants to pay less that the agreeded amount OR they suddendly FOUND some other one that SHOULD have been reported…
should of been discretionary
BigPete…Cost-Benefit…
I bet they split the diff
This is a great article about GINO and Greta Van Suckup and her husband, very interesting!! the comments are brilliant too, the usual trolls are nowhere to be seen either. They just can’t defend this one
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/geoffrey-dunn/palin-pallin-around-with_b_177709.html
nimrod of the north should throw herself on the mercy of the court. if the judge is an old ‘burp’ and she wears those walkin’ boots and winks a lot, all will be forgiven and she’ll be ready to challenge our potus and win . also. too. ….loveb
problem child – saw that already and had left you a note at the end of Anchorage Speaks Out………
UK Lady – thanks !! Man – does Coale want to boink Sarah or what ?? Look at that picture………..
At least there’s a good chance she’ll suck the Republican donor base dry–well in advance of 2012.
She turned down Federal monies to help hungry and cold Alaskans. But she never seems to have trouble accepting money for her personal use. A legal defense fund, Sarah PAC, $180,000 in clothing and jewelry, plane tickets and hotels for her kids, checks for staying home.
I guess for GINO accepting money is only acceptable if SHE gets it.
I think the house of cards is falling. Maybe this will be the last straw and her supporters will put their foot down on her demands. She gets their loyalty, their defense, they buy her toys, her little bobblehead Sarah dolls, and now she hints that she might open a legal fund for donations.
I love the photo of the “substantial debt” man. He is so dastardly-looking.
Substantial Debt Man is in fact, Snidely Whiplash… dastardly villain and nemesis of Dudley Do-Right.
AKM
Every day GINO opens her mouth, I am grateful that she can’t shut herself up.
dumb, dumber, dumbest
AKM, you again create wonder. In just a few days, you have inspired a new holiday (Attack Ferret Day) and a new mark of excellence for Alaskan politicians — perhaps the “Legion de la Defense Juridique”, or more simply, the “Legion de l’Infamie”?
A remark about the last thread: It’s hard to remember, but DADT — bad as it is — was actually an improvement over the previous situation, where “asking” was permitted. As in, “We’ve had a report that you’re queer. Are you?” Which put the interrogatee (if gay) in the position of (1) saying yes and getting a DD or (2) saying no and living from then on with the knowledge that if any actual evidence ever surfaced, he or she could be court-martialed for lying about it.
No doubt, DADT was an inadequate solution. I’ve always thought Clinton brought it up too soon. Remember, his 1992 election was far from a landslide, and Sam Nunn snookered him into playing it safe. Of course, if he’d waited too long, there’d be a Republican Congress and maybe not even DADT.
Ah, who knows. In any event, it’s time to get on with it and recognize that the only meaningful difference among servicepeople is which branch they’re in (now that’s military tradition).
Ahh
Compare and contrast:
Debbie Wasserman-Schultz. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation/story/961946.html
Sarah Palin.
Well, never mind. There is no comparison, only contrast.
OK, I’ve been busy and haven’t been posting much, but, dang, y’all don’t recognize me anymore so my posts are getting thrown to the ‘flats’? Where’s the love for a longtime
mudpuppy?
“[T]hose with a political vendetta bent on personal destruction,” Palin wrote.
Taken from the classic Rovian guide to make critics seem anti-American:
“Those [insert non-conservative flavor of the moment] that are hell bent on destroying [insert "America," "our way of life," "our freedom," or "the fiscal surety of our children and grandchildren" and so on.]
Words I dare her not to utter in any of her future verbal blizzards or on paper:
Progress
Via
Also
Too
Reign
Maverick
America
Executive Privilege
Bless (Blessed, blessing)
God
Grow
Official
Serve
Hit Piece
Great Theater
Alaska
Mother
and most recently, Blood Sport
Anything else Mudpups?
@ Village
“legal”
“education”
‘special education”
“needs”
“Trig”
Palin is shocked….shocked, I tell you….that her lawyers aren’t doing this for FREE. She’s used to getting the proverbial “free lunch” on almost everything:
Free per diems to stay in her own house, free travel and lodging worth tens of thousands for her kids, free state Suburban with tinted windows, free hundreds of thousands in clothing, makeup, hairstyling, and accessories….and what about that house of hers, eh? The one with the same windows and railing as the Wasilla sports complex that was built at the same time just down the road? Oh yeah….free building permits….Mayor Palin decided Wasilla didn’t need them anymore when she built her own house…..Not to mention the approximately $180,000 free legal work from the Dobson/ Texas firm’s lawyers that the McCain campaign brought in during the election to obstruct and meddle in the legislative investigation of “Troopergate.”
But MOST importantly….Palin thought she had a FREE PASS with the ethics and abuse of power laws of the State of Alaska!!
Ethics complaints….one after another….which have NOT been settled in her favor are the bases for her legal bills. Period. No scary “blood sport” conspiracy…..Just citizens holding a public official accountable to the laws of the state.
Palin is no pit bull, folks…..She is the common old hog at the political slop trough who’s now squealing ( aka “whining”) that she has to pay for the consequences of her own actions.
Will they take clothes for a down payment? She still has a few bags of stuff from the campaign. She will even sign them to make them very valuable. Then the law offices can display them on their wall. Just trying to help out.
Lee323 – Looks like the “grifter gravy train” is runnin’ out of rail !!
Greta and hubby can pay her legal fees:
Dec. 1, 2008 Governor Martin O’Malley has appointed John P. Coale to the Board of the University of Maryland Medical System. Coale is a high-ranking Scientologist, husband of Fox News commentator Greta Van Susteren, and a class-action trial lawyer who become quite wealthy from “The Tobacco Wars”.
OT There is a story on immoral majority about the Star mag on Bristol & Levi. I bet GINO is fuming! I don’t think her week ifs off to a good start.
There is also a very good story on “Andrew Halcro” about another corrupt action in Alaska.
CrAzy Sarah…The gift that keeps on giving…LORI LosAngeles..Great idea..
I think I’ll make a donation to the Defend Sarah Fund: a big box of Kleenex (wonder if it’s tax deductable…)
Liar, liar, pants on fire — Palin could provide heat for the whole state, her backside is so hot from her endless untruths, also.
What is so scary is that she truly believes she is always truthful and ‘transparent’ – that’s the definition of a pathologically ill liar…
Sarah Palin: Out of touch/Out for herself.
What about the complaint she filed against herself?
Shouldn’t she be willing to pay to defend herself from that one? I mean. it certainly ranks up there with the frivolous ones.
on The Immoral Minority blog:
Reviews The Star magazine interview with Levi’s sister Mercedes in which she shares dirt on Bristol and her loving parents…Sarah’s going to need more donations in her legal fund, now that she has to go after that”rag” (except much of it may be true).
AND she is asking the judge who decided against her pet road to Juneau (The Road to Nowhere) to “do-over” and reconsider…this from the Gov who said no thanks to stimulus monies (thanks Shannyn Moore)
Maybe SP really IS a Republican governor…
But Scarah – Nobody *Expects* the Spanish Inquisition!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uprjmoSMJ-o&NR=1
From the last post – I’ve emailed my Rep (a pretty conservative Repub) and both Senators (both Dems – one’s new this year). I love technology and how easy it is to become an involved and active participant in my government! I heart pajama wearing progressive bloggers and technology!
I am still astonished at the number of people who support GINO. I shared with my local DS community via email that SP was refusing stimulus $$ for education of kids with special needs and one snarky person emailed back that she was glad. She completely supported the GINO. I was really stunned. Still am.
BIG, FAT LIE: “Now, it seems in order to do this job as Governor, with the political blood sport some are playing today, only the independently wealthy or those willing to spend their income on legal fees to defend their official actions in office … can serve,” Palin said in the written response to Daily News questions.”
BIG, FAT TRUTH: Now, it seems in order to do this job as Governor, only the honest, ethical people with true character and a humble desire to serve the people of the State of Alaska as their primary goal and, hence, find no need to defend their official actions in office…..can serve.
Hey, Sa-Rah!! No need for a “legal defense fund” when you follow the BIG, FAT TRUTH!!
@ Village – don’t forget the “hungry markets.” I cringe every time.
@ Village – also, too “a servant’s heart” (gag)
Can somebody who knows their state government history tell us how many other Alaska governors had to shell out bucks for thier own defense in ethics complaints? I lived there for six different administrations and don’t remember any of them racking up the complaints like Sarah has done. Just askin’.
Village~
You may as well add “idills” (for ideals) to the growing list of palinisms, as every time she says it, a pickle comes to mind.
OK, here’s a weird thing. I’m an English Lit type, trained to analyze patterns for meaning, so sometimes I perhaps overdo it, but does it seem to anyone else that there’s a serious disconnect between acknowledged reality and projected reality? I know about spin, but it seems to me this cuts a little deeper–I mean, TP has a side table set up in GINO’s office, from which he runs the “Impeach Trooper What’sit. He makes repeated calls to GINO staffers. He reports that she’s unhappy about things. And yet her tame investigator says she “had no idea” what he was up to? And the thing with her kids–she gets on her high horse and basically demands an apology because a reporter said they were dropouts when–hello! they were not attending school for an apparently indefinite period of time. And the thing about the state not being responsible for the well-being of the villagers under conditions like those the villages have been facing–even as she says that she is along on the missionary trip “as your Governor”. I know we’ve all talked about this a lot, but it almost seems pathological–and apparently it’s contagious. I just got my very first troll (Yes! It finally happened!) over on my blog. I’d been writing about how this election–and politics in general–have shown an increased blurring of the lines separating Church and State, and that I find it a matter of concern. The troll informed me that “no one had said she shouldn’t vote for Obama because he was a Muslim,” and that I was “attacking Sarah.” Gotta admit I did a double-take on that one. It’s like a slow-motion movie, where you see the villagers waving torches, gaping mouths, slow, growly shouts as they march slowly, ever so slowly, toward the windmill. You know that somebody’s gonna get hurt, and that this is a mob, but because it’s moving so slowly it’s easy to think it doesn’t matter. It’s like a cult, in a way. That disconnect that we’ve all seen in Sarah over and over–and in her staunchest supporters–seems creepily contagious. Maybe we should set up a therapy fund, or hire guys in panel vans to roar up to the most egregious cases, whisk them away to de-programming centers, and make them sit through hours and hours of psychotherapy with guys in turtlenecks and large medallions on heavy chains until the evil chains are broken.
Sheesh, I do go on. What I actually STARTED OUT to say is that it’s very difficult to deal with that sort of person because it’s impossible to reach a common, stable agreement on history. A conversation, a plan of action, a course of events–none of those things can really occur because the context is constantly shifting. No bedrock of agree-upon, unchanging “reality” to support a future.
Congratulations on your first troll! You have “arrived”!
Did you fling it? AKM
Troopergate report: Palin abused power
–ADN headline
Honest to God, she really thinks she is Queen Sarah.
She has no concept of American Democracy. None.
She is either one of the most ignorant elected Governors ever – or the dumbest. Maybe both.
@ BodieP
I do believe you have nailed GINO there Bodie ~ the thought of her someday achieving the office she obviously believes she is destined for sends shivers down my spine.
GINO does not understand the concept of “separation of church & state” or “freedom of the press”
With Bush ~ it was Orwell’s 1984
With GINO ~ the handmaidens tale
@ BodieP
You can’t convince the Palin “mob” of a different reality or history. They filter out any facts or evidence that doesn’t support their illusions about SP. I really think this feature of brain function is strongly mediated at the level of the limbic system because of the associated fear, paranoia, and hate that often accompanies their rhetoric. What is left after filtering are the talking points that SP makes sure are articulated loud and clear. For example: the whole spin that her legal debts are the result of the “blood sport” to get her personally. The “mob” repeats this over and over to each other until it feels like facts. They won’t even spend 5 minutes doing a little research to see why these legal debts have actually accumulated OR acknowledge that the outcome of these legal battles has resulted in SP having to pay back monies to the State for her various violations of state laws.
The siren call of victimization by SP stirs their blood and reinforces their desire to defend an illusion.
When I read comments by Palinbots, I’m appalled by their lack of understanding about the facts of a given situation. If you try to correct their mistakes, they immediately fly off the handle and attack Obama….. Limbic system, for sure. Fight or flight…..and they’re going to fight. Forget the higher cortical functions of reasonable debate and consideration of evidence.
The people who are reachable with facts are the moderates and many independents. They haven’t joined the delusional limbic “echo chamber” of TribeSarah. Why is this important? Because Palin doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of a national office with the support of only her base.
@BodieP:
Maybe Sarah is an uncovered scientologist and expects that ‘the war on psychiatry’ (link on the Dunn Huffpo story) has succeeded in abolishing (physically obliterated) all psychiatry AND that she is safe from being held accountable. Hmm…that can’t really be true because
Even Snidely Whiplash knows
That the GINO empress has on no clothes.
@ BodieP
Lee323 earlier posted another explanation for this behaviour after talking w/ a social anthropologist. Lee? It made a lot of sense to me – in description only but not in true understanding of WHY – but something went thunk (or something like that) and fit into place. The best part? I don’t bother w/ them anymore, and don’t miss a minute of not caring about them since they are lost to us!
Off topic, but it is 11:20 p.m. in Anchorage and Mt. Redoubt has been erupting for about 45 minutes.
OT OT OT
Mt. Redoubt : (thanks deist)
http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=10051900
OT OT OT
Mt. Redoubt monitoring :
http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/Redoubt.php
Done now! (except to check back several times !)
Oh, I had a great idea for an auction SP could pull off to help fund her legal bill, but it’s so stupid that she’d probably try it if she heard the idea. So there. Not gonna tell. Good night from AK!
@ MarthaUYS
Yep. I posted a while back about the “tribalism” effect that was being demonstrated during the fall campaign. Not sure anymore just which specific blog that it was when I posted that.
I actually heard a social anthropologist talking on some program on NPR about this phenomenon several months ago rather than talked to him myself. It went “thunk” with me as well.
To be fair, “tribalism” is not only seen in the far right-wingers but also in many groups, right or left, with a specific political agenda. Opposing viewpoints or discussions are not tolerated and are very threatening to their grasp of what they believe is the “true reality.”
The so-called “trolls” are good examples of this tribalism effect. They come to fight…..not to engage in thoughtful discussion of opposing views. I think they stick out like a sore thumb because of that “limbic” quality of their posts. Interestingly enough, however…..I have noticed that “trolls” actually often end up inadvertently aiding and abetting the site they are trying to disrupt because other posters jump in with all kinds of facts and arguments which can be quite compelling to a person who is not familiar with the issue at hand. (Of course, the PERSONAL jabs at a poster by “trolls” do NOT aid the discussion but end in a melee that benefits no one.)
come on (21:12:45)
____________________________
As I’ve said many times, GINO will go down in history books as:
First & Worst.
First female. Worst governor.
Now back to volcano preparation!! Wish us all luck
Well, GINO…here’s some more ethics violations…per palingates…
“The camera closes in on Sarah Palin speaking to young missionaries, vowing from the pulpit to do her part to implement God’s will from the governor’s office.
“What she didn’t tell worshippers gathered at the Wasilla Assembly of God church in her hometown was that her appearance that day came courtesy of Alaskan taxpayers, who picked up the $639.50 tab for her airplane tickets and per diem fees.
“An Associated Press review of the Republican vice presidential candidate’s record as mayor and governor reveals her use of elected office to promote religious causes, sometimes at taxpayer expense and in ways that blur the line between church and state.
“Since she took state office in late 2006, the governor and her family have spent more than $13,000 in taxpayer funds to attend at least 10 religious events and meetings with Christian pastors, including Franklin Graham, the son of evangelical preacher Billy Graham, records show.”
hahahahahahaha…..
So, is that were Trig’s third name “Van” comes from? Van Flein?
anon blogger (00:20:44) :
________________________
No, just strange coincidence. It’s from Van Halen. Oddly enough I bet that band hates the Palins.
Secret Shopper–stay safe…
I know Palin said Van Halen…but she also said Bristol was named for Bristol Bay…and then said she was named for Bristol, CT.
So…I was just wondering.
So she is going to ask people to pay her debt….sounds very much like that dreaded word “socialism” or even “welfare” to me.
Sad news…from HuffPost
The son of the poets Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath has taken his own life, 46 years after his mother gassed herself while he slept.
Nicholas Hughes hanged himself at his home in Alaska after battling against depression for some time, his sister Frieda said yesterday.
He was 47, unmarried with no children of his own and had until recently been a professor of fisheries and ocean sciences at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Wow, half a million dollars to defend yourself against YOURSELF. She couldn’t be more tragic.
“She said the legal bills all stem from her actions as governor.”…well thar ya go . stop being gov. and the bills will cease!
This from a person who repeatedly told the villagers and everyone else hurting during these dire times “it’s not governments job to take care of you” now wants to set up a fund to pay her legal fees because she’s unethical. How about don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time. It must be me but I don’t think that should be allowed. I’m unemployed can I set up a fund for people to donate to me, I didn’t think so. I think we need to change some of the rules in this country for politicians. Granted big corporations give them large sums of money for their campaigns but those little dollars from us really add up as well and we don’t get half as much on our investment as we give. The time for change has come.
I’ve been complaining about tribal aspects of the religious right for some time, not to mention the tribal behavior of the jingoists (many of the same people, plus the neo-cons) during the whole 9-11 to Iraq war to Patriot Act, etc. These people are so lost in their tribalism that they fail to understand that it is primitive survival behavior that we have been trying to get away from in recent human history of democratically inclined people.
Off topic. Is Sarah Palin cross-eyed? I noticed this several times during the campaign but I just saw a clip of her fake-outrage regarding the President’s remark on Leno and Palins eyes are completely crossed the entire time. Just wondering.
Good comments here, this is interesting. I always wondered about the “tribal” element (first time I heard it here), and how it affects people. Am wondering about the Gino’s trolls. It is a scary thing to see how minds can be almost hypnotized by a leader, in that, the follower loses all common sense. It’s like in the old days when they called for a King, a King at any cost.
Here though, with the Gino trolls; possibly their maturity levels have stopped at the junior high level, they are aspiring beauty queens, they have been prepped by parents to attend baby pageants, and by their comments, beauty is constantly the main focus when they refer to Sarah, they practically drool over her beauty. They assume physical beauty is more than skin deep and goes all the way to the heart. They place so much trust and allegiance to this one person that backing out would be too painful, as they invested so much, it would be too embarassing to back out. (even when the leader’s integrity and ethical standards start to unravel).
It is a socio-psychological event and interesting how and why people don’t ask questions, but blindly follow without thinking. We always wonder how in heaven’s name did the Nazis come to power, how could such a mass population let it get so out of hand. It’s good to try to understand ourselves, as not to let it ever happen again.
@AKM
Did you fling it? AKM
Congratulations on your first troll! You have “arrived”!
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Well, not precisely–I just posted a quick little note congratulating it on somehow managing to avoid one of our nation’s less-seemly political hours, and remarked that following blog links would provide an overview of the controversy, if they cared to know about it. Snide, I know, but hey, at this point I welcome even trolls!
Just who is Palin getting all her “advice” from?
Palin Pallin’ Around with Scientologists: Todd & Sarah & John & Greta
Excerpt and link as follows;
There is something absolutely bizarre and troubling going on in the political netherworld of Sarah and Todd Palin, Greta Van Susteren and her wannabe-queen-maker hubby, John Coale.
At best, it’s a clear case of journalistic conflict-of-interest on behalf of Van Susteren; at worst, it’s a sleazy, national power play by a couple of practitioners of Scientology–the controversial cult that Time magazine described as “a hugely profitable global racket that survives by intimidating members and critics in a Mafia-like manner.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/geoffrey-dunn/palin-pallin-around-with_b_177709.html
four million dollars….the Clinton Legal bills after the White House.
If Sarah really wants to run for Pres, she should start saving now. She thinks $500,000 is a lot just wait. Mitt Romney has $400 million in the bank and won’t hold back!
Just now on MSMBC -the protest from Anchorage, they were taking about the signs. Way to go-made the national news!!! Will probably be on KO tonight.
Don’t pro-Palinites still claim that she’s the most popular Gov. in the U.S.? I wonder how many – if ANY – other Govs have so many ethics complaints against him/her, in such a short period of time?
Oh, I’m sure none, but she doesn’t see this as a problem, because you know, the:
Legal bills have mounted fighting complaints that she called partisan, false and frivolous, starting with “the politically motivated Troopergate probe,” Palin said in a written response to questions.
She said the legal bills all stem from her actions as governor.
“I must defend against these baseless ethics accusations out of my own pocket as the use of public monies to do so could itself violate state law,” Palin wrote.
This line has me dying from laughter:
Question: How does she intend to pay it (the debt)?
Tom Van Flein: She intends to pay it with money.
@Flanders (13:59:22) :
ACK! I hadn’t read that document yet!! ROTFLMAO!! There were some other good ones in there too, like the response about the glasses!
Doesn’t GINO know that pit-bull fighting is a “blood sport”? Oh, so it’s ok for her to engage, but when she has to pay for her problems when she plays, it’s unfair!!! (feet stomping tantrum).
I hope her supporters waste all of their cash on her legal fees so that when she’s looking for campaign contributions, the well will be dry
New post(s), BTW, in case anyone’s feeling lonely here…
I’m confused- so people would donate money to help her pay for her legal bills? Why would anyone do that?