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March 28, 2024

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Open Thread – Buttons

I’ve seen many Mudflatters comment about recent posts and how they wish they could go far and wide. Recently, we’ve added a feature that will let you help posts do just that! Please note at the top and bottom of all posts, there is now a way that you can share your favorite articles to Facebook, Twitter, and other social media links. You can even share via email. So have fun sharing the MudLove in all kinds of ways.

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109 Responses to “Open Thread – Buttons”
  1. yukonbushgrma says:

    State of Alaska poised to release Sarah Palin emails

    http://www(dot)heraldnet(dot)com/article/20110602/NEWS02/706029865

    “The state of Alaska is about to release more than 24,000 pages of Sarah Palin’s emails from her time as governor. But officials are also going to withhold another 2,415 pages the state deems privileged, personal or otherwise exempt from Alaska’s disclosure laws.”

    “…The state says it is providing printed copies because it doesn’t have the software to electronically redact information from emails.”
    —————————–
    Doesn’t have the software???? Gimme a break!!!
    —???—

    • yukonbushgrma says:

      Oh yeah, and I’d like to know their reasons for withholding the 2,415 pages too!

  2. yukonbushgrma says:

    Trump: I’m Prepared to Run as Independent

    http://www(dot)newser(dot)com/story/119981/donald-trump-considering-run-as-independent(dot)html

    “I’d like to see what happens with the Republicans—if they get the right person. So far, I don’t see it,” he said, complaining about the “ridiculous timing” of the GOP’s release of the Paul Ryan budget plan. “Sarah Palin wants me to run, a lot of people want me to run, and I actually think I’d be better off running perhaps as an independent,” he said. Palin would “love to have me back,” he claimed, although he said the two had not discussed the possibility of a Palin-Trump ticket.
    ———————————

    Scarrrrrryyyyyy …

  3. mike from iowa says:

    Slightly way off target. The Documentary Channel(channel 197 on Dish Network) is airing Hollywood Roundtable, a panel discussion about racial segregation and integration. The panel has some serious star power. Harry Belafonte Jr.,Charlton Heston,Sidney Poitier,two unknown White guys,Marlon Brando and a Black man I didn’t recognize.I’m not sure how segregation affected the White guys,but the other panel members probably have some good stories to tell.

  4. scout says:

    “Sarah Palin: Gas Prices Are So High We Might Not Finish Our PAC-Funded Vacation” (VIDEO)

    “Plenty of Americans are worried about whether they’ll be able to pay for their family vacations this summer due to the high price of gas. Sarah Palin is worried that her PAC won’t be able to afford it.” snip

    “if the price of gas climbs much higher — right Todd — we are not going to be able to go too far,” Palin said.” snip
    http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/06/palin_gas_prices_are_so_high_we_might_not_finish_our_pac_funded_vacation_video.php?ref=fpb

    Right, Todd; we shud quit, right after the “statute of Liberty”?!?!

    • slipstream says:

      What, Sarah quit? Sarah is no quitter! She is not, she is not . . . oh yeah, she is.

  5. scout says:

    “State prepares to release Palin emails”

    “The state is about to release more than 24,000 pages of Sarah Palin’s emails from her time as governor. But officials are also going to withhold another 2,415 pages the state deems privileged, personal or otherwise exempt from Alaska’s disclosure laws.”

    “State officials expect to send the emails to a commercial printer to be copied this week, a process that is estimated to take about four days.

    “Copies of the emails will then be shipped in boxes from Juneau to the people and news agencies who requested them,”…….

    http://www.adn.com/2011/05/31/1892284/state-prepares-to-release-palin.html

    • Kalena says:

      Most people think these emails will be heavily redacted. I wonder if Frank Bailey will help to fill in some of the blanks from his emails to help preserve the public record?

      I’m about 3/4 of the way through Blind Allegiance and what strikes me is how totally out of her league and immature she was as governor…that along with petty and vindictive makes one wonder how she ever got as far as she did.

      • scout says:

        We’re about to find out….statute of limitations for filing ethics charges is July 26th. I sincerely hope Sarah-per-diem makes a visit to the statue of justice* on or before that date. Sarah “got as far as she did” with the assistance of others that turn their backs on right vs. wrong to win at any cost; dishonorable means** justified by their supposed righteous end. shameful

        *:( stacked personnel board
        ** palling around with the infamous liar, Andrew Breitbart

        • Kalena says:

          “We’re about to find out…”

          I hope he feels a moral obligation to fill in some blanks, if he can. He did start the process in the book. If she’s going to get away with something illegal or unethical because of redaction and he has information to add, I hope he will…for AK and for the country.

  6. yukonbushgrma says:

    Well, if American media aren’t welcome to her little party, I hope the overseas/global media are taking note and publicizing her stupidities far and wide.

    We live in a global village now. Anyone seriously considering the presidency surely must realize that all world peoples have a stake in our 2012 election. I hope the foreign media keep at her, and at her, and at her ………

    What has she told them so far? — absolutely nothing.

    • beth says:

      “What has she told them so far?” — yukonbushgrma

      Well, she certainly gave Afghan President Karzai the old ‘what for’ yesterday on her Fb page. Does all the junk [someone else writes and] she posts on Fb as if they were actual US policy statements and/or demands of –and for– our global village, count? beth.

  7. Zyxomma says:

    Lucky thing I don’t eat while watching the news. Seeing her, Donald Chump & their respective broods at a pizza joint would have put me off my feed.

    • mike from iowa says:

      Maybe they are trying to arrange a marriage between Barron Trump and whichever Palin girl doesn’t get “that way” next.

  8. beth says:

    And while I’m on the topic of her 30 May visit to Ft. McHenry, ‘pups just *knew* she couldn’t write about it without writing also, too, about St. Ronnie, right? Fret not — she did. To whit:
    ““““““““`
    President Reagan once noted that our national anthem is the only one in the world that ends with a question: “O, say does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave, o’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?” It’s up to each generation of Americans to answer that question. I hope we all make it our duty and responsibility to make sure that, YES, our banner still waves over a free and brave nation!

    [this was the 3rd of 4 paragraphs in her ‘lesson’ to (what I’m assuming she hopes are) ‘rill Amuricans’ reading her words of “foundational” rediscovery and wisdom…]
    ““““““““`
    Quick question: is “home of the brave” the same as “[a] brave nation”? To me, those two phrases mean two totally different things; anyone else?

    Ach…she makes my head ache. beth.

  9. beth says:

    Calling all History Buffs — Calling all History Buffs buffs — Calling all History Buffs

    [Cross-referencing and calling also, too, all: US Flag buffs, Ft. McHenry buffs, National Anthem buffs, Americana buffs, Smithsonian buffs, and US school children past grade 4.]

    So Missy QuittyPants is taking her family on a tour of East coast sites of “foundational” importance this week.

    She is ‘live blogging’ each day and tweets a link so all who follow her via that medium [ http://twitter.com/#!/sarahpalinusa ] can read her words on what she’s discovered about the historic “foundation” of our nation. The Twitter link she tweets takes the reader to the Ocean of Pizz site where one can learn –straight from her little tappity-tappity fingers– fascinating tidbits like the following from her 31 May visit to Ft. McHenry:

    “What an inspiring visit to see the enormous symbol of America’s great victory!”

    HOLY CR@P!

    Holy, holy, holy! cr@p!

    Is she serious? Did she honestly visit Ft. McHenry and think the flag she saw flying over that place was “the enormous symbol of America’s great victory”?

    OK – let’s put this into context; lets see what else she wrote about “enormous symbol of America’s great victory!”… Let’s start at the beginning of her ‘lesson”:

    Tried not to melt during our fun visit to Fort McHenry this afternoon – it was worth the sweat to see the site of a key event in the War of 1812 and the history of our country! From the morning of September 13 to the morning of September 14, 1814, British warships bombarded our fort in an effort to penetrate Baltimore harbor. But the fort withstood the attack. When the commander in charge of the fort had taken command of it, he had commissioned to be made “a flag so large that the British would have no difficulty seeing it from a distance.”

    That huge flag, known as “The Star Spangled Banner,” was immortalized in the poem by Francis Scott Key that became our national anthem. Key watched the bombardment from a nearby ship and was amazed to see the flag still proudly and defiantly flying over the fort the next morning when the British finally ceased their futile bombardment. [Italics added. b.]

    *That*, my dear mudpups, was her ‘intro’ to all readers about the history she was visiting at the fort. [Other than it’s a rather simplistic version, the last sentence of the first paragraph *should* be its second sentence, and one should avoid –if at all possible– using the same word descriptive twice in the same sentence (see: “bombardment” in last sentence of second paragraph…should have used, maybe “attack” or “relentless assault” in one or t’other of the places), she is definitely talking about the flag…and *only* the flag.]

    Soooooo, if I could please get some clarification from mudpup history buffs (or mudpup US Flag buffs, Ft. McHenry buffs, National Anthem buffs, Americana buffs, Smithsonian buffs, or a mudpup who has studied beyond grade 4 in the US school system) about the present-day location of “a flag so large that the British would have no difficulty seeing it from a distance”, “the enormous symbol of America’s great victory!”, the flag known today as *The* Star-Spangled Banner, I’d sure appreciate it. beth.

    • beth says:

      *descriptive word twice*, not word descriptive twice. b.

    • beth says:

      Arrrgh… it was *30 May*, not 31 May… gads, she makes my brain go: kaplooie! b.

    • mike from iowa says:

      That flag was the garrison flag,the largest ever flown over a garrison. It measured 30′ high and 42′ long and was one of two made for the fort. The other was called a storm flag and was 17′ feet high and 25′ long. Both flags were made of heavy wool by a Mary Pickersgill,well-known flagmaker from Baltimore. The larger flag had 15 stripes 24 inches wide and 15 stars-24 inches point to point. In those days a star and a stripe were added for each state. The garrison flag is housed in the Smithsonian Institutes National Museum of American History in Washington DC. Technically the Star Spangled Banner does not end with a question mark,only the first of the four verses does.

      • beth says:

        Shhh… don’t tell anyone, mike from iowa — $Ps whole ‘lesson’ to the people about the “foundational” aspects of Ft. McHenry and *her visit!* to see “the enormous symbol of America’s great victory” would kinda go: Poof (with all her other retellings of history and facts thereto.) beth.

        • mike from iowa says:

          My mistake. I thought you wanted to know about the rill Star Spangled Banner. There are some reports that the “Flag” was hauled out on Sept. 14 after the bombardment ended. I wonder if Goofball knows that Francis Scott Key was a durned lawyer/poet. He will be expunged from the official records as RWNJ rewrite history. They will say the Americans fought hard because they knew at some point the new Messiah Quittypants would grace their prescence with hers. Barf!!!

  10. mike from iowa says:

    I saw about two dozen geese flying over my adopted hometown this morning. What do you suppose it means?

  11. G Katz says:

    Piper seems to be getting some training in case she wants to be in the secret service some day. Mom, continues flapping jaw, clueless!!

    http://thepoliticalcarnival.net/2011/05/31/video-did-sarah-palin-really-let-daughter-piper-physically-shield-her-from-reporter/

    Oh, and I don’t know about you, but I don’t remember MY mom walking around in suits and pumps when my family tromped around historic sites on vacations. Yep, just a typical family vacation in a bus plastered with posters with a new suit for each day.

  12. aussiegal77 says:

    The whole Palin bus tour thing is puzzling. But I think at the end of it all it comes down to emotional politics. As long as Palin can divide America and presidential candidates into Real Americans and Fake Americans – then she will be in her element.

    I hope the MSM will tire of her jerking them along and then just ignoring them – can they not see she’s cackling at them from the bus? Why not just send 2 interns with iPhones to follow her family vacation paid for by SarahPAC? Then have them blog it? Palin isn’t even a serious person running officially for 2012. Once she announces her candidacy – treat her like a candidate. Until then – she is a private citizen yelling LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME!! LOOK AT ME!!! from a bus. Cover it for a day or two then move onto the next attention whore.

  13. OMG says:

    I hope you’re all still here because this is an important message to pass around (reported by Greg Sargent of The Plum Line):

    “Truly the dumbest `American exceptionalism’ attack yet
    By Greg Sargent

    “I didn’t think the right’s “American exceptionalism” attack on Obama could get any dumber, but Sarah Palin has now outdone them all. She’s now faulting Obama for insufficient praise for our armed forces:

    “She also made a slight dig at President Obama for saying Monday at Arlington National Cemetery that his “most solemn responsibility as president [is] to serve as commander in chief of one of the finest fighting forces in the world.” Answering a question about Memorial Day, Palin said, “This is the greatest fighting force in the world, the U.S. military. It’s not just one of the greatest fighting forces. And I sure hope our president recognizes that. We’re not just one of many. We are the best.”

    “As it happens, the reporter got Obama’s quote a bit wrong. This is what Obama actually said: “It is my most solemn responsibility as President, to serve as Commander-in-Chief of one of the finest fighting forces the world has ever known.” But this isn’t good enough for Palin: If Obama doesn’t say that our armed forces are the bestest, baddest, most ass-kicking-ist fighting forces in all of human history, he’s subtly denigrating the troops.

    This is a reminder, if you needed one, that the charge that Obama doesn’t believe in American exceptionalism — which has taken literally dozens of forms now — will be central to the 2012 campaign. It’s also a reminder, though, of what this attack line is really about. It’s impossible to imagine that a significant number of voters could hear Palin’s latest attack and come away thinking there’s something to it; her claim is just too dumb for people to take seriously. But these sorts of attacks aren’t about the actual claims themselves. ”

    Send this to all the people who you know support Palin just to set the record straight.

  14. Irishgirl says:

    This One Nation tour by Palin could end up being disasterous for her. (One can only hope). Slowly, the news reports are getting crankier and crankier as they begin to realize that she is calling all the shots. No one likes being made a fool of.

    She has revealed herself to be an utter nut job – playing hide and seek with the press and behaving like a child. Her actions are revealing the vindictive demeanour Bailey spoke about in his book – she has to get back at the media at all costs. And her behaviour is most certainly not presidential.

    And remember, she is a master at distraction. She wants everyone to be focussed on her tour and not the book and the forthcoming emails.

    And another reminder to get your reviews into Amazon!!!

    • jojobo1 says:

      Have I ever.I think one of the palinbots posting must be either Todd or palin herself says the same thing every time someone makes a comment.Sure can tell Frank was truthful in what he said, they are out to discredit him and in just the same way he told about how they went after others.

  15. scout says:

    Re; inhaling toxic gases from combustion engines:
    “I just love that smell of emissions.” ~ Sarah Palin

    Is she hawking Palin™ philosophy on magnets™ for your toolbox™ from that bus, or was she stroking the A.M.A. vote? Emissions from the quittypants, so deeply profoundful….dabs eyes

    • yukonbushgrma says:

      In another WI matter:

      I am just sick that Joanne Kloppenburg has conceded the SC election to Prosser. The election was certified, EVEN THOUGH there were flagrant irregularities and the minutes from Waukesha County hadn’t even been turned in yet. (The minutes are required from all counties before the vote is certified. Waukesha County’s are reportedly voluminous.)

      Kloppenburg even mentioned the irregularities and that they need to be investigated. So why didn’t she challenge the results? — cost? — just tired of fighting?

      Patrick in WI, you out there?

  16. OMG says:

    For those who haven’t read this Rolling Stone article about Roger Ailes:

    http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/how-roger-ailes-built-the-fox-news-fear-factory-20110525?print=true

  17. aussiegal77 says:

    Maybe if Palin would use her brain once in a while in her professional life instead of “shaking her money-maker” – she might just stop making stupidly timed statements all the time:

    http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2011/05/i-love-that-smell-of-the-emissions-1.html

    • Zyxomma says:

      Here’s yet another gem from Mr. Sullivan:

      http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2011/05/what-israel-does-for-the-us.html

      It’s short, so I’m not quoting from it. The last sentence says it.

    • aussiegal77 says:

      Yeah ok, let’s all get ready for the “America, F**k Yeah!” Tour courtesy of Palin. How tiresome. I read on Sully’s The Dish that she had a dig at the President for saying on Memorial Day that our military was one of the finest fighting forces in the world. He is right – America is ONE OF the finest fighting forces. Israel’s military is no slouch either. But of course to Sarah – slobbering all over Israel is only when it’s most opportunistic. And at other times – it’s American Chest Thumping, all day, every day. As I said – tiresome.

      And just because President Obama didn’t have to be brash and obnoxious like Palin and said WE ARE THE BEST FOREVER – doesn’t mean that America’s military is not respected around the world. Subtle as a brick this one. But I guess what we’ve learned time and again is that those with the least ability, the least grace and are the least competent are often the LOUDEST. Palin is the perfect example of swaggering braggadocio to hide abject ineptitude.

      So let her keep hollering and whooping – President Obama will continue to quietly and with devastating competence, get the job done. We didn’t elect a quitter for President.

      http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2011/05/the-rogue-tour-the-rogue-campaign.html

      • beth says:

        re: “America is ONE OF the finest fighting forces”…

        Besides which, how can POTUS/we insist to the Iraqis and Afghans that they *must* stand their own armies to protect and defend their people, if we then go and brag that [implied] their armies aren’t –and probably won’t be for a long, long, long time– totally up to snuff? [Which is true, but, sheesh!]

        I’m pretty sure Palin will ever be too busy thumping her ‘rill Amurican’ chest to even begin to understand the wisdom and tact –through words spoken and unspoken– of bringing others along to where we would like them to be; too busy yelling ‘Amurica = exceptionalism” to offer [implied] encouragement to others instead of cutting them off at the knees through insufferable jingoism. beth.

  18. aussiegal77 says:

    Clickety click!

  19. TNbluedot says:

    Another good Jason Easley article on Politicus re: Snowdrift Snooki, the media and her family vacation… http://www.politicususa.com/en/sarah-palin-media-dc

    There’s a perfect response in the comments, “Letter from a Vietnam Veteran.” It’s submitted ‘author unknown’ but it’s spot on!

    I wish ALL media would ignore this grand-tour-of-all-these-neat-historic-places-she’s-just-learning-about. Can you imagine her response to being ignored? Priceless fun and games!!

    • OMG says:

      Thanks for the heads up…I wish more vets would speak up about her flagrant disregard for them while she chases her own stardom.

  20. bubbles says:

    * A Vietnam Veteran’s Letter To Sarah Palin – author unknown *
    by Deb Romilly on Monday, May 30, 2011 at 5:11pm

    For some time now, you have been an amusing, albeit mostly incoherent annoyance. But today you crossed a line. With that high cut helmet, carefully designed to allow your professionally coiffed hair to flow freely, you have tried to hijack a moment that you can’t even begin to understand. You decided that an event that has for years been intended to call attention to our POW/MIAs would make a really cool photo-op, as well as a great kick-off for your next get-rich-quick scheme.

    Well, Sarah, you picked my war this time. I had several buddies, two of whom died within a couple of meters of me, and you zoomed right past their names on The Wall today; winking and smiling all the way. You weren’t invited, you weren’t welcome, but when has that ever stopped you?

    Did you make a few extra bucks for your PAC? If so, I hope that helps you sleep tonight. Because you see, Sarah, my buddies have been sleeping for 40 years; and if they knew that a two-bit grifter like you would one day be making money off of their sacrifice, they might not be resting as easily as I hope they are tonight.

    I’m a Christian, Sarah, and I don’t say this lightly … God damn you, Sarah Palin.

    ***************************************************************************************************

    and a heartfelt AMEN to the author of this letter.

    • TNbluedot says:

      Sweet, Bubbles!
      Sorry for the duplication, but you know how that goes!

      • bubbles says:

        (((Bluedot))) glad you came with it also. great minds and all that.

    • leenie17 says:

      Another AMEN from me. This letter says everything I’ve been feeling the past few days, so much better, and with more credibility, than I ever could.

      And I’ll add one more thing…God bless the veteran who wrote this and the men and women who served with him.

    • mike from iowa says:

      Someone finally had the cojones to call the fraud a fraud in no uncertain terms. I’m quite sure Palin got his meaning.

  21. OMG says:

    This is the most accurate headline yet (from Wonkette):

    “Sarah Palin Honors Vets With Photo Of Herself On A Motorcycle”

  22. TX SMR says:

    Trying again….

    For those of you not offended by sometimes naughty language, TBogg always has a hilarious take on the grifter family antics:

    http://tbogg.firedoglake.com/2011/05/30/my-milfshake-brings-all-the-boys-to-the-yard/

    • Sourdough Mullet says:

      That is HILARIOUS, and spot-on!

    • leenie17 says:

      This is the BEST line from the comments:

      “All you get with Palin is babble, boobs and a bumpit.”

      • slipstream says:

        Great campaign slogan!

        Palin 2012: babble, boobs, and a bumpit

      • TX SMR says:

        And I love the message on the front of the bus ”touch trig for a dollar”

        she is the griftingest attention whore on the planet (and there is a lot of competition for that spot), yet I feel so very sorry for those little children.

  23. OMG says:

    Click the arrow to watch and don’t have the volume up too high:

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/telnaes?hpid=z2

  24. jimzmum says:

    Roosters can be so strange. My oh-so-missed great-aunt Arie had a rooster that was so nasty mean, that she shut him in the wash house every night with his old blind mammy to keep him in line. You could hear him start to raise a rukus after the door was closed, then hear a thwack and an “Arwkgle” as she hushed him up.

    Thank you for the buttons! I will use them a lot.

    I am just not sure how I feel about Mr. Bailey. I was raised knowing the honor was the most important thing a person could have. And, that everything I said and did was a reflection of my family. And, if something was not right, and I could not work to fix it, to walk away. I just don’t know. I am glad he finally chose to walk a different path, but I just can’t quite accept his reasoning for continuing to act in such a way for so long. I am reading the book again, to try and learn more. It is very well-written, and I think will be referenced for years.

  25. thatcrowwoman says:

    6 days of school left (4 for students), and Counting. Last week was a (great big mean ole ugly grizzly) bear, but this week will be much more better. I’ve already decided to make it so. 🙂

    The battle with bad bad Leroy Brown, that paragon of roosterhood, continues.
    Every time he sees me, he charges,feathers ruffled, spurs slashing, beak biting and cackling like crazy.
    Does he really dislike me that much, or has he just started to enjoy our pas-de-deux with the rake?!!
    (In his favor, I must say that he does take very good care of his hens.)

    Which brings me to today’s offering,
    David Hamburger (slide guitar master!) and The Chicken Blues:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnFF3i63ZBs

    hahahahaha caw Caw CAW!!!
    See? Better already.

    L’Shalom,
    thatcrowwoman

    • mike from iowa says:

      Yesterday was noodles,today is mean ol’ chicken. I’m sensing a trend here. The joker in all of this is Palin. Ok,I got it. Send the chicken to the bus for a honest-to-goodness cat fight and watch the annointed one bail.

    • Zyxomma says:

      I’m reading Life, the autobiography of Keith Richards (assisted by James Fox, a journalist who has known Keef for decades, not some ghostwriter). Yesterday, I read about “Little Red Rooster,” one of their hits. Keith described it as “a song about a chicken.” Fun.

      Happy last week of school, my little corvid!

    • leenie17 says:

      Counting down to the end…lucky crowwoman!!! We had a field trip to the zoo today…in 90+ degree weather. I’m not sure who was melting more by the end of the day…the animals, the kids or the staff! The polar bears DID seem to really enjoy their swim in the pool and I was just a little tempted to join them.

      We have another field trip on Friday to a local park for Flower City Kids, an annual celebration sponsored by the city. The kids plant flower seeds in potting soil in late winter and there is a big picnic at the park so they can plant the seedlings in a special kids garden. They’re SO proud of their flowers! There are usually about 4,000 kids filling the park that day so it’s quite the hectic scene and a challenge for teachers to make sure they don’t lose anyone. The park is right on the water (Lake Ontario) so the kids get the added fun of playing on the beach and wading in the VERY cold lake water. There’s also an historic carousel that they can ride for free that day. It’s a long, tiring day, but everyone has a great time and we leave the park looking more beautiful and colorful than it was before.

    • Waay Out West says:

      Hose him, literally. Turn the hose on him and soak, him and after he says uncle, hose him some more. Anytime he gets cocky with you show him who is boss with the hose.

      He will have no problem coming from nowhere and spurring you while you weed or bend to pick something up. I had to have five stitches in a gash our rooster put in my back, lucky it wasn’t my neck.

  26. OMG says:

    If Palin isn’t running for the GOP nomination then she has successfully taken her supporters for everything they’ve got by allowing them to pay for the bus and her family holiday around the country all the while bolstering her image to make her even more money. I’m quite sure that she is not spending one dime of her own money on this little vacation using PAC money liberally instead.

    At the end of this little junket, if she does not declare her candidacy, the FEC needs to take a hard look at what this supposed educational trip was all about and why she found it necessary to dip into PAC coffers.

    • Irishgirl says:

      Why is she taking so long to decide? When she was tapped by McCain she didn’t blink. She is making fools out of her supporters and the media, and they are lapping it up. The whole thing is disgusting.

      • OMG says:

        I couldn’t agree more. I can’t read stories about her anymore as the media paints her ability to garner media attention as evidence of her political genius. What they don’t seem to understand is that they don’t have to jump like little trained monkeys every time she wants them to because the majority in the country could care less about this attention seeking 6itch.

        Sadly, it’s not only the American media that are feeding the beast:

        http://politico-junkie.blogspot.com/2011/05/turkey-palins-motorcycle-ride-makes.html

      • Gimme-a-break, Sarah says:

        Because she’s a media whore; it’s really rather pathetic (as well as disgusting). Even more pathetic is that the media falls for it, and follows her round.

      • CO almost native says:

        It’s all about the money. And fame. And power. But mostly money.

    • G Katz says:

      And, if this is a “family” educational vacation, where’s Willow, at the least, and where’s Trig? I haven’t seen them pop up in any of the photo ops.

      • Irishgirl says:

        I’ve seen Willow, but not Trig.

        • G Katz says:

          Thanks, Irishgirl. I guess I should be thankful that I’ve actually missed some of the coverage of this event. 🙂

        • Bev says:

          Also did Willow bring her son?
          Besides, if she plans to run, what benefit is it to drag Willow along???

          I just do not get the reaction from the bikers, other then the one about a thong LOL….they see her sexually not presidential….way to drag the office to the ground beauty queen quitter.

  27. Snoskred says:

    The buttons are teh awesome. 😉 But I did want to test them out and make sure they wouldn’t break anything before installing them, so it took a little longer than I would have liked.

    • thatcrowwoman says:

      ooooh, buttons! The series of tubes is a wondrous place, far and wide.

      no jetlag, also, too.

    • slipstream says:

      The buttons are a good start, but — for old-timers like slipstream — could you add velcro?

  28. yukonbushgrma says:

    from Reuters – Gettysburg, PA:

    “Palin was a no-show for several hundred supporters, celebrity-watchers and media who turned out in hopes of seeing her at the Civil War battlefield of Gettysburg on Monday.

    “‘She’s trying to avoid the media. But I’d like to see the bus. We’re, like, where’s this bus?’

    “By the evening, reports of her bus being parked at a hotel reached the crowd. Many stayed at the battlefield hoping she would visit the memorial as temperatures cooled late in the day. Eventually, after hours of waiting, the crowd thinned.”

    http://www(dot)reuters(dot)com/article/2011/05/31/us-usa-campaign-palin-idUSTRE74S1S920110531?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

    • thatcrowwoman says:

      Such a tease, she is. And I don’t mean that in a good way.

    • beaglemom says:

      It really disgusts me that the media is panting after her just as she wants. And for this to have happened on Memorial Day at Gettysburg, a place that is really hallowed ground to all Americans, is just unspeakable. I suspect it annoyed a lot of serious visitors because most people who come to the Gettysburg Battlefield are steeped in the history of the place.

    • Irishgirl says:

      Palin Dismisses the Press, but They Come Back for More

      “But Ms. Palin clearly wants the media attention — she just wants it on her terms. Having felt burned by what she often calls the “lamestream” media, Ms. Palin is all-too happy to pick the moments she will deal with journalists.

      While reporters for The New York Times, The Washington Post and Time magazine were left this weekend to guess when and where she might appear, the Fox News host Greta Van Susteren blogged Monday morning that she had secured an interview with Ms. Palin aboard the “One Nation” bus. The interview is set to air Tuesday night.

      Do reporters who are trailing her feel used and manipulated?

      “Ya think?” said one NBC producer who was among those who waited for hours on the lawn at Mount Vernon, when the bus tour stopped at George Washington’s home, only to have Ms. Palin slip out of the tour without making an appearance.”

      http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/31/palin-dismisses-the-press-but-they-come-back-for-more/

    • G Katz says:

      While Palin enjoys her little cat-and-mouse game with the press, doesn’t she stand at least some small chance of alienating her followers? How long are they willing to hang out at locations on the route where Palin might show up just to find out she will be there another day or is going to bypass it entirely? Perhaps their loyalty knows no bounds. They may be willing to excuse her because of her persecution from the LSM and all that, but she is playing them just as much as she is the press if you ask me.

    • Lilybart says:

      She went to the mall. Seriously. With the cash from the suckers waiting for her at Gettysburg.

    • Laurie says:

      Talk about lame-stream media. How do they know it was “several hundred supporters”? Did someone call in supporters? More like several hundred rubberneckers waiting for the circus that is Palin to begin. And if she got a a few hundred including members of the media on a national holiday, than the media will probably outnumber the gawkers at the next stop.

    • merrycricket says:

      I think she’s taking a tourist vacation at the expense of her donors. She is obviously behaving like some celebrity.

    • Zyxomma says:

      “A photo on her website late on Sunday showed the closing words of the Gettysburg Address delivered by President Abraham Lincoln after the 1863 battle. That was taken as a hint.

      WHERE’S SARAH?

      Several hundred people gathered at the Civil War site on a hot, sunny day for a glimpse of the woman who supporters hope will inject some life into a sluggish race for the Republican nomination to challenge President Barack Obama next year.”

      That sentence in the middle will sound very familiar to residents of Juneau, no?

    • tigerwine says:

      I swear, she is just jerking Ailes/FOX around. They made two others who were employed by FOX quit when they decided to run – they hadn’t even announced formally. If she isn’t running, why is she out in this hot weather, spending big bucks on gas for that monster? Who leaves AK in the summer for the East Coast with record-breaking heat?

      I’d love to see Roger Ailes fire her for trying to pull this trick. And I also wish all the other networks would just ignore her. By the way, Greta said she was not allowed to interview folks that worked for other networks – do they all work that way?

  29. fishingmamma says:

    You should have called me. I have a box of buttons my grandmother cut off clothes to recycle (not the word they used during the depression) starting in the 40’s. Big coat buttons, Gorgeous sparkly things, and wild plastic things from the 50’s. Abalone buttons as big as silver dollars. I love getting them out and looking at them.

    • thatcrowwoman says:

      I’ve got a glass gallon jar full from my Grandma Shorty, of blessed memory. It sits on a shelf by my sewing machine…ah…the stories those buttons might tell…
      🙂

      • NOLA says:

        Those make cute lamps. Large mason jar, lamp attached to the screw-on lid, cute lampshade…

        • thatcrowwoman says:

          Thanks for the idea, NOLA.
          I’ll be over to NOLA later this month (It’s June in the forest as I type this) with the American Library Association. 🙂

    • beaglemom says:

      I used to play with the buttons in my mother’s button box. I have one to but I don’t think that my buttons are nearly as pretty or varied as those in my mother’s box. Could be the effect of time.

    • CO almost native says:

      Me, too. also. I have a box with buttons from both grandmothers, and a pair of antique button earrings. No abalone ones, but lots of sparklies 😉

  30. tigerwine says:

    Oh, yes – the buttons – great new feature. Thanks Snoskred!

    • yukonbushgrma says:

      Wow, my dear, you’re up late! What time is it there? — 3-4 a.m.? You’re almost the night owl I am!

  31. tigerwine says:

    Question: In reading Blind Allegiance, if I read it right, Frank says that the story of Track being involved in the vandalization of school buses is false. Is this correct? I have heard from several different sources that this is one reason he joined the Army instead of jail time. Don’t want to spread rumors!

  32. yukonbushgrma says:

    OK, gettin’ a little heavy now …… sorry.

    I was very pleased to read AKM’s interview with Frank Bailey on Mudflats, when she asked him about how and why he wrote the book — and specifically, what it was that prompted him to write the book.

    Being a resident of Eagle, of course the thing that went right to my soul was his statement (after the massive Eagle flood in 2009, when he came to volunteer) that:
    “…getting up there where people’s homes were literally swept away, where their wells were full of diesel and they’d never be able to live there again. And this small community was so thankful that we just went up there – three meals a day – anything that they could give us that they had to show their appreciation for us just showing up to do what we could do – build outhouses for them, fix things. It really put into perspective what I had thought was so bad. I mean these people had lost their homes. It just completely turned it around for me. So, on my drive back, it was then that I knew that I needed to get away from this, and I had to eventually start digging and researching and figuring out how to put this crazy story together in some semblance of order, to tell the truth and set the record straight.”

    Frank’s take on that was spot-on. We WERE so thankful for anything that anyone could do. If we could feed them, and they could build outhouses or anything else, that was a huge gift to our community.

    I guess my whole point in bringing this up again is that many, many of us here in Eagle have noticed that personal relationships and personalities have changed since the ’09 flood. We noticed it most clearly — and right away — during the disaster. Those who we *thought* were our friends didn’t act like friends. And, conversely, people we had never met before showed up and helped us, seemingly for no reason whatsoever. We all learned valuable lessons that summer about trust, truth, work, commitment, honesty and relationships. It was quite the trip for us.

    Maybe that was what Frank realized too.

    Anyway, I want to thank Frank Bailey for mentioning his Eagle trip. I understand why he did. We were there with him.

    • I See Villages From My House says:

      If only more people would be moved and capable of having cathartic experiences in the face of adversity and disaster. Sarah Palin, when faced with a recall in the first year of her Mayoral term (only because of actions The Frontiersman called as her confusion of a coronation instead of an election) was not humbling and character-assessing at all. It simply escalated her M.O. of taking names and exacting revenge on her own constituents, staff and public employees.

      Her “gutteral” instinct, whenever her constituents were affected by an Act of God or “fuel prices” was to think that some benevolent Christian organization would step up. I don’t understand how that is the act or heart of a ‘leader.’ A leader is ostensibly there to. . .lead. For a woman who wants as much publicity as possible for the most mundane of acts, it was hard to reconcile that she chose to keep her charitable actions on the part of cold and hungry Eskimo’s on the Yukon to herself instead of sending up a press release about it while passing off First Response to a multi-million dollar NGO like Samaritan’s Purse.

      She did beg-off some big ticket events in Washington, D.C. and New York to ‘respond’ to Eagle’s flooding, but on the whole, her philosophy on governments role is a detriment to competent emergency planning, evacuation, First Response and rebuilding efforts.

      It was moving to see such a response to the Lower Yukon and Eagle during these trying times, and I’m glad it made such an impact on the Hatchet Man of a walking unnatural disaster named Sarah Palin.

    • Alaska Pi says:

      Not heavy… important.
      (((YBG)))

    • bubbles says:

      i remember as if it were yesterday how the Mudflats people stayed up those nights raising money and getting equipment and tools to Eagle. i remember the pictures you posted and how we all cried.
      sending much love to you and yours YBG.

    • UgaVic says:

      YBG…so glad you did remind us of this happening. I too remember it and much of what was happening in your efforts to regain a part of your lives.

      It IS important to bring it up and to remind us that so many times the people who ended up getting the MOST help from things like this are those who go thinking they will be the ‘helper’.

      I won’t even bother to think of SP and what drives her, waste of time.

    • thatcrowwoman says:

      {{{{{yukonbushgrma}}}}}

      You’re not heavy,
      you’re Our yukonbushgrma.

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1KtScrqtbc

  33. I love buttons 🙂