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Vanity Fair on Palin. Let the Skewering Begin.

I have been besieged with emails, Facebook messages, and blog comments asking for my impressions of the Vanity Fair piece that appeared today entitled “It Came from Wasilla.”

Basically, the article was a whole lot of what we already knew, skillfully brought together, and topped off with some more interesting McCain staffer revelations from the campaign trail.  I would have loved to hear more about Palin’s religious intrigue, a topic that has been discussed, but has never gotten the traction in the national media as some of her other dimensions. We may be hearing more of this, now that we know her new communications director is a Christian book author. Perhaps that explains the sudden religious lingo that has “become manifest” in the messages from the governor’s Twitter account.

Also not covered are her environmental policies, her potential ties to Pebble mine, and her abysmal track record of dealing with rural and Native issues. But an author only has so many words in which to tell his story, and Sarah Palin needs a whole book.   No, not the one she’s writing with her Christian book author ghostwriter, the other kind.   And no, the Christian book author ghostwriter for her upcoming book project is not the same Christian book author as the communications director Christian book author. It’s a different one.

But, back to the article.  Palin supporters will be screeching about the fact that dismissed ethics complaints weren’t mentioned, among other things. But while Palin and her supporters, in addition to her detractors, tend to focus on the micro-news of the day, Todd S. Purdum is able to take a step back and analyze the big picture from outside the Palin bubble. It wa a refreshing perspective of the forest, from a place that often gets caught up examining the bark.

There were several moments in the article when I found myself chuckling, or realized that my eyebrows were physically as high as they could possibly go.  Here are a few:

Walter Hickel, 89, a former two-term governor and interior secretary, and the grand old man of Alaska politics, who was co-chair of Palin’s winning gubernatorial campaign, in 2006, now washes his hands of her. He told me simply, “I don’t give a damn what she does.”

I’d heard that before, but I haven’t gotten tired of it yet.

There is virtually nothing about Palin’s performance in the fall campaign that should have come as a surprise to John McCain. Had he really attempted to learn something about her before the fateful day of August 29, 2008, when he announced that she was his choice for running mate, he would easily have discerned all the traits that he belatedly came to know.

THANK you.

So, of all the puzzling things that Sarah Palin told the American public last fall, perhaps the most puzzling was this: “Believe me, Alaska is like a microcosm of America.”

Believe me, it is not.

That was the biggest chuckle line for me.  Not only because Palin has never really been “outside” enough to know what America is really like, and second because….believe me, it is not.

There’s a lot of good behind-the-scenes stuff from McCain insiders about the debate prep, and how one of them called her “Little Shop of Horrors.”  It was unclear if it’s the same one who called her a “whack job.”

But the part that really surprised me, and the thing that Alaska bloggers and others routinely discuss that hasn’t been discussed much out in the open is Meghan Stapleton, the spokesperson for SarahPAC.

But just months into its existence the pac’s chief fund-raiser, Becki Donatelli, a veteran of Republican campaigns, suddenly quit. One person familiar with the situation told me that Donatelli could not stand dealing with Palin’s political spokeswoman in Alaska, Meghan Stapleton, who has drawn withering fire from Palin friends and critics alike for being an ineffective adviser.

I like to think of Stapleton, (who has earned the monikers “Stapletongue,” “Staplegun,” and “Meg the Mouth”) as a guest at a picnic who sees an insect on the food table, and without hesitating, lets off a Banshee scream and pounds the thing into oblivion with an overhead swing of a sledgehammer.  Guests may or may not realize later, as they all pitch in to clean up the mess,  that it was a butterfly. 

So, if you haven’t done so already, pull up a seat, select your beverage and dig in to six pages of an interesting read. 

I wonder if Todd S. Purdum realizes how much email he’s going to get. 

I’ll be waiting for chapter two.

Comments

comments

Comments
333 Responses to “Vanity Fair on Palin. Let the Skewering Begin.”
  1. aker says:

    After calling Africa a country, Palin’s office ordered a map of the world! Unfortunately she will probably think the world is flat now.

  2. GinaM says:

    I think the reason why we haven’t heard from GINO about the VF article is because it’s all TRUE. Also her crazy fans haven’t come up with an appropriate spin just yet. Notice she takes her cues from them. Now that there is all this infighting over her she is probably sitting back and waiting to see how that’s going to turn out too.

  3. Moose Pucky says:

    “As in any resource-rich developing country with weak institutions and woeful oversight, corruption and official misconduct go easily unchecked.” Yep, yep.

  4. Connie says:

    Pat,
    In her mind she is “God”

  5. I finally got through the whole article, but only after I printed it out. It was too hard to read on-line. Maybe because it’s just too hard to even follow anything about Sarah Palin, whether it’s coming out of her mouth or just the list of all her nutty behavior.

    I think the part that shocked me the most (because I’d heard most of it) was the birth announcement for Trig. Good grief. How does she think that it’s OK to send something out from God? Wow.

  6. trisha says:

    One thing I disagree with– The article stated that she could probably win the Iowa Caucus. He is probably thinking her “folksy charm” would play well there.

    I lived in Iowa for 20 years (as recently as three years ago) and I can’t see Iowan’s falling for Palin. I may be wrong, but these are salt of the earth people who don’t buy into a lot of balony.

    Her winking, flirting, skirting the issues style of politics doesn’t seem like it would play well with people who are REALLY concerned with the issues. Before the caucuses, people in Iowa really educated themselves on the candidates, their records and their plans for the Country. As the first caucus in the Nation, they take their role very seriously. They know the world is watching.

    The candidates work for years in Iowa doing town hall meetings, traveling the state endlessly, and answering a lot of questions from concerned citizens. She can only wink and use her charms for so long before the people of Iowa would get fed up with her non-answers and want to know her record and where she stand on the issues that impact Iowa and our Nation.

    I don’t think she can fool them for long.

  7. oregonbird says:

    In reading through the comments, I notice that, from the time the VF article came out, right up to today, there are commenters who present *lots* of text, and then a single sentence of their own view. *Lots* of text!

    Can we take it as a given that we’ve all hopped over and read the article, and a line or two will remind us of the exact section that you’d like to offer commentary on? I honestly find the commentary to be more immediate and interesting than the article.

    I found something missing from the article — Palin’s prediliction for surrounding herself with men who loathe and despise women. WAR comes to mind, as does her most recent hire. I wouldn’t mind seeing a high-class rag taking on the mental and emotional causes for actively working to place women in the hands of men who would subjugate and harm them.

  8. Moose Pucky says:

    And (hee-hee): “Palin turns her debate with Joe Biden into a winkathon. By J. Scott Applewhite/A.P. Images.”

  9. Moose Pucky says:

    This is good also: “Palin’s life has sometimes played out like an unholy amalgam of Desperate Housewives and Northern Exposure.”

    And kudos once again to whoever came up with the book title:
    Northern Overexposure

  10. Moose Pucky says:

    I rather like this line from the Vanity Fair article: “Perhaps most painful, how could John McCain, one of the cagiest survivors in contemporary politics—with a fine appreciation of life’s injustices and absurdities, a love for the sweep of history, and an overdeveloped sense of his own integrity and honor—ever have picked a person whose utter shortage of qualification for her proposed job all but disqualified him for his?”

  11. Azmomma-former Alaskan says:

    Ya think it could be the “change” ? Just thinking.

  12. All l Saw says:

    Read the article, loved it.

    One thing though, a lack of zoning exists EVERYWHERE —->

    http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/06/zoo-installation-shows-trouble-in-paradise

    And the places WITH zoning by and large look plastic and Stepford creepy, (i.e. Beaverton, OR).

    Had a great conversation with a close relative who works in the Democratic circles of Dallas TX, as I explained to him how Sarah got to be be Governor:

    The Dick Vote.

    And apparently the Dick Vote in “Real America” is as influential as ever =-)

  13. trisha says:

    Have you posted that link over at HuffPo. I’m sure the readers over there would like to add to the comments at Runners World. I can see that the Palinbots are out in full force over there.

    One funny (and most likely-fake) comment: “Wow, I didn’t vote for her but after this article, I am so impressed, I would vote for her”.

    Say what?

    If you vote for someone because they are a “runner”, well…enough said.

  14. trisha says:

    The part that gets me is the concession speech that Palin wanted to deliver that “somehow” (cough, Todd, cough) got loaded in the teleprompter. She is so full of herself.

    I can just see her with her arms outstretched and raised above her head—Don’t cry for me Argentina…errrrr….Don’t cry…the country of Africa…oh wait…..Don’t cry for me Pro-American parts of the country..the truth is, I’ll never leave you.

    It was easy to see from early on in the campaign that Palin thought that SHE was at the top of the ticket. I still think she believes it was all about her.

  15. let it run says:

    I can see her locking herself in her room to read this with a big box of tissues to soak up all the tears and the sweat of rage. Even Todd won’t be allowed to be there. He’ll suffer later.

  16. KaJo says:

    Anyone interested in commenting on the flag desecration (there’s that word again! Only this time it’s a bit more appropriately used) in the Runners World Palin picture #7, there’s a comment section attached to the article — only trouble is, you have to register to use it.

    It might be worth it, though — there’s a significant number of Palinistas cooing over the article and the pictures, and talking about the Vanity Fair article being a hit piece.

  17. Lainey says:

    wow

  18. Martha says:

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~THE MENTAL INSTABILITY~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    The pattern is inescapable: she takes disagreements personally, and swiftly deals vengeance on enemies, real or perceived.

    In the aftermath of the November election, the conventional wisdom among Palin’s supporters in the Republican establishment was that she should go home, keep her head down, show that she could govern effectively, and quietly educate herself about foreign and domestic policy with the help of a cadre of experienced advisers. She has done none of this.

    Rather, she has pursued an erratic course that, for her, may actually represent the closest thing there is to True North

    Also with Coale’s help, Palin formed the grandiosely named Alaska Fund Trust, to defray a reported half million dollars in legal expenses arising from a slew of formal ethics complaints against her in her home state—prompting yet another formal complaint, that the fund itself constitutes an ethical breach.

    Palin is a cipher by choice.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    DICTIONARY MEANING- a person of no influence; nonentity.

    Main Entry: cipher
    Part of Speech: noun
    Definition: zero; nothingness
    Synonyms: blank, naught, nil, nobody, nonentity, nothing, nullity, squat, zilch, zip, diddly squat, goose egg, insignificancy, nada, nought, zippo, zot
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    When she chooses to reveal herself, what she reveals is not always the same thing as the truth. Her singular refusal to have in-depth conversations with the national media—even Richard Nixon and Dick Cheney, among the most saturnine political figures in modern American history, each submitted to countless detailed interviews over the years—has compounded the challenge of understanding who she really is.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    I’ve included this because Palins previous interviews showed not JUST her lack of knowledge, but her irrational thought processes….M
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    The caricature of Sarah Palin that emerged in the presidential campaign, for good and ill, is now ineradicable.

    The swift journey from her knockout convention speech to Tina Fey’s dead-eyed incarnation of her as Dan Quayle with an updo played out in real time, no less for the bewildered McCain campaign than for the public at large.

    It is an ironclad axiom of politics that if a campaign looks troubled from the outside the inside reality is far worse, and the McCain-Palin fiasco was no exception.

    By the time Election Day rolled around, the staff had been serially pummeled by unflattering press reports about the gaps in Palin’s knowledge, her stubborn resistance to direction, and the post-selection spending spree in which she ran up bills of $150,000 on clothes for herself and her family at high-end stores.

    The top McCain aides who had tried hard to work with Palin—Steve Schmidt, the chief strategist; Nicolle Wallace, the communications ace; and Tucker Eskew, her traveling counselor—were barely on speaking terms with her, and news organizations were reporting that anonymous McCain aides saw Palin as a “diva” and a “whack job.”

    Many of the details that led to such assessments have remained obscure. But in a recent series of conversations, a range of people from the McCain-Palin campaign, including members of the high command, agreed to elaborate on how a match they thought so right ended up going so wrong.

    At one point, trying out a debating point that she believed showed she could empathize with uninsured Americans, Palin told McCain aides that she and Todd in the early years of their marriage had been unable to afford health insurance of any kind, and had gone without it until he got his union card and went to work for British Petroleum on the North Slope of Alaska.

    Checking with Todd Palin himself revealed that, no, they had had catastrophic coverage all along. She insisted that catastrophic insurance didn’t really count and need not be revealed.

    This sort of slipperiness—about both what the truth was and whether the truth even mattered—persisted on questions great and small. By late September, when the time came to coach Palin for her second major interview, this time with Katie Couric, there were severe tensions between Palin and the campaign.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    To attempt to use something like this, that is so easily disproved, lends to Palins mental state, her delusional grandiose opinion of herself….M
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    By all accounts, Palin was either unwilling, or simply unable, to prepare. In the run-up to the Couric interview, Palin had become preoccupied with a far more parochial concern: answering a humdrum written questionnaire from her hometown newspaper, the Frontiersman.

    McCain aides saw it as easy stuff, the usual boilerplate, the work of 20 minutes or so, but Palin worried intently.

    At the same time, she grew concerned that her approval ratings back home in Alaska were sagging as she embraced the role of McCain’s bad cop.

    To keep her happy, the chief McCain strategist, Steve Schmidt, agreed to conduct a onetime poll of 300 Alaska voters. It would prove to Palin, Schmidt thought, that everything was all right.

    Then came the near-total meltdown of the financial system and McCain’s much-derided decision to briefly “suspend” his campaign.

    Under the circumstances, and with severely limited resources, Schmidt and the McCain-campaign chairman, Rick Davis, scrapped the Alaska poll and urgently set out to survey voters’ views of the economy (and of McCain’s response to it) in competitive states.

    Palin was furious. She was convinced that Schmidt had lied to her, a belief she conveyed to anyone who would listen.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    It’s all about her, the paranoia is showing………M
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    The next big milestone for Palin was the debate with Joe Biden, on October 2. An early rehearsal effort in Philadelphia found 20 people sitting in a stifling room with hundreds of sample questions on note cards.

    Palin just stared down, disengaged, non-participatory.

    A disaster loomed, so Schmidt made the difficult decision to leave campaign headquarters, in Virginia, and fly to McCain’s vacation retreat in Sedona, Arizona, where it was thought that Palin might be able to relax and recharge, and accept the assistance of a voice coach and a television coach. For three full days—at the height of the campaign—Schmidt dropped virtually all other business to help Palin prepare
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    From paranoid to completely disfunctional…M
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    He also enlisted some extra help. By this point, Palin’s relations with Nicolle Wallace—a veteran of the Bush White House and a former CBS News analyst who had tried to help Palin get ready for the Couric interview, and whom Palin blamed for the result—were so strained that campaign aides cast about for someone who could serve as a calming presence:

    Palin’s horse whisperer.

    They settled on Mark McKinnon, a smart, funny, soft-spoken former Democrat from Texas. McKinnon had long admired McCain, and had begun the Republican primary season helping him out—though warning that he would never work against Obama in the general election.

    But now McKinnon, whose role in helping prepare Palin has not been previously reported, and who declined to elaborate on it to V.F., changed his mind and quietly signed on.

    Mark Salter, McCain’s longtime aide, says that McKinnon was picked because “he’s got a lovely manner You sort of want a guy who’s very easygoing, gives good advice, and doesn’t add to the natural nervousness.”
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    WOW! This is really over the top. Typical Palin blaming others, which is part of her mental instability, then needs a “horse whisperer ?
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    When orders or advice from McCain headquarters began to conflict with her own impulses, aides told me, she simply did what she wanted to do.

    Some top aides worried about her mental state: was it possible that she was experiencing postpartum depression? (Palin’s youngest son was less than six months old.)
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Not postpartum, just typical Palin. If they had taken the time to know her they would have realized that there is s”something wrong” with her………M
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Palin maintained only the barest level of civil discourse with Tucker Eskew, the veteran G.O.P. operative who had been made her chief minder.

    A third party had to shuttle between them to convey even the most rudimentary messages.

    “She started to hedge her bets,” the same McCain friend says. “Frequently, she would be concerned about how something would play in Alaska.

    What? You’re worried about your backside in Alaska when there are hundreds of millions of dollars being spent?”

    One longtime McCain friend and frequent companion on the trail was heard to refer to Palin as “Little Shop of Horrors.”

    When aides went to load McCain’s concession speech into the teleprompter, they found a concession speech for Palin—written by Bush speechwriter Matthew Scully, who had also been the principal drafter of her convention speech—already on the system.

    Schmidt and Salter told Palin that there was no tradition of Election Night speeches by running mates, and that she wouldn’t be giving one.

    Palin was insistent. “Are those John’s wishes?” she asked. They were, she was told.

    But Palin took the issue to McCain himself, raising it on the walk from his suite to the outdoor rally. Again the answer was no.

    Polar Disorder

    There is virtually nothing about Palin’s performance in the fall campaign that should have come as a surprise to John McCain.

    Had he really attempted to learn something about her before the fateful day of August 29, 2008, when he announced that she was his choice for running mate, he would easily have discerned all the traits that he belatedly came to know.

    In every job, she surrounded herself with an insular coterie of trusted friends, took disagreements personally, discarded people who were no longer useful, and swiftly dealt vengeance on enemies, real or perceived.

    “Remember,” says Lyda Green, a former Republican state senator who once represented Palin’s home district, and who over the years went from being a supporter of Palin’s to a bitter foe, “her nickname in high school was ‘Barracuda.’ I was never called Barracuda. Were you? There’s a certain instinct there that you go for the jugular.”

    The second thing McCain could have discovered about Palin is that no political principle or personal relationship is more sacred than her own ambition.

    To be sure, Palin is “conservative,” whatever that means, but she can be all over the lot in the articulation of her platform.

    She gained the mayoralty of Wasilla in 1996 by turning against the incumbent, John Stein, who had been one of her mentors when she was on the city council, and injecting sharply partisan issues such as gun rights and abortion into what had previously been a low-key local contest.

    She fired the police chief, eased out the museum director and the city planner, and fired and then rehired the librarian (who had opposed book censorship).

    Palin was entitled to make the dismissals, and she variously justified them on the grounds of budget difficulties or the need for a team that she could be sure would support her efforts.

    But the Frontiersman accused Palin of confusing her election with a “coronation.”
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Richard Nixon, eat your heart out!…..M
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    She apparently didn’t like preparing for debates back then either. “In the campaign for governor, they’re prepping her for debate,” Curtis Smith’s former business partner, Jim Lottsfeldt, told me recently in Anchorage, “and Curtis says, ‘The debate prep’s going horribly. Every time we try to help her with an answer, she just gets mad.’”

    But there were ominous signs—indications of an erratic nature.

    This is the third thing McCain could have discovered about Palin—a woman, after all, who kept a pregnancy secret for seven months, flew all the way home from Texas to Alaska with a near-full-term baby while leaking amniotic fluid, and then finally drove the 45 minutes from Anchorage to a hospital in Wasilla, all so that the child could be born in the 49th state.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~This will never make sense to anyone, either she is crazy or a liar……..M
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    As governor, she hired several old high-school, hometown, or political friends with minimal qualifications for important state jobs.

    One friend, a former mid-level manager for Alaska Airlines, headed the department that reviewed candidates for state boards and commissions; another became director of the state Division of Agriculture, citing a childhood love of cows as one qualification.

    Palin communicated with legislators and her staff mainly by BlackBerry, sometimes using a personal e-mail account to avoid having to disclose documents under the state public-records laws.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Nixon again…………M
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    The brutal reality is that many people who have worked closely with Palin have found themselves disillusioned.

    More than once in my travels in Alaska, people brought up, without prompting, the question of Palin’s extravagant self-regard. Several told me, independently of one another, that they had consulted the definition of “narcissistic personality disorder” in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders—“a pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy”—and thought it fit her perfectly.

    When Trig was born, Palin wrote an e-mail letter to friends and relatives, describing the belated news of her pregnancy and detailing Trig’s condition; she wrote the e-mail not in her own name but in God’s, and signed it “Trig’s Creator, Your Heavenly Father.”

    In Alaska, there has never been a gubernatorial tradition of pardoning a turkey at Thanksgiving, but Palin decided to stage such a ceremony last November all the same, at the Triple D Farm & Hatchery, outside Wasilla.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    More presidential delusions………M
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Because Palin had taken particular umbrage in the fall campaign at any effort to criticize her children or invade their privacy, her willingness to mix it up in public with an 18-year-old, who is after all the father of her only grandchild, struck many in Alaska as odd.

    So did Palin’s suggestion, at a time when declining oil prices have thrown the state budget into the red, that she did not want to accept about a third of the $930 million in federal stimulus money available to Alaska, because it would come with too many big-government strings attached.

    The move seemed calculated to burnish her national conservative credentials.

    In the face of bipartisan outcry, Palin’s aides insisted she had never meant to say she wouldn’t take the money, only that she wanted to review the matter carefully.

    That was news to former aide Larry Persily. After the first meeting on the stimulus money, Persily told me, “Everyone in the room left thinking she’d said no.

    Then her staff said, ‘She didn’t say no. She just didn’t say yes.”’ Palin wound up taking all but about 3 percent of the $900 million available to Alaska. The consensus even among the Republicans I spoke to was that she rejected the last $28 million—for energy assistance—mostly to save face.

    The ever shifting sands of Palin’s sensibility were also on display after former senator Ted Stevens’s conviction on corruption charges was set aside, in April. Palin’s old nemesis, the Alaska Republican Party chair Randy Ruedrich, called on Stevens’s Democratic successor, Mark Begich, who had defeated Stevens just days after the original conviction last fall, to step down and allow a new election.

    Palin told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner in an e-mail, “I absolutely agree.”

    Days later, at a news conference, Palin insisted she had never called on Begich to step down.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    This is not simply “ordinary lying”, even for a politician. THIS is just nuts! Like a kid who puts their hands over their face and says…you can’t see me…………M
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Perhaps nothing has caused a bigger stir than Palin’s nomination of Wayne Anthony Ross to be Alaska’s attorney general.

    It was the first time in Alaska history that a cabinet nominee was rejected.

    Though Palin’s spokeswoman has said she does not intend to challenge Senator Lisa Murkowski, the former governor’s daughter, who is also up for re-election next year, Palin has changed her mind without warning in the past, and becoming a senator would keep her in the national spotlight.

    Surveying the landscape of political and policy troubles in Alaska, Gregg Erickson, an independent economic consultant in Juneau, concludes,

    “Everything she’s doing seems to be saying that there’ll be a problem in the future owing to her inattention, but she won’t be here to deal with it.”

    In Evansville, though, Palin concentrated on the task at hand: an emphatic defense of the anti-abortion cause.

    But in doing so she made a startling confession about what she thought when she learned she was pregnant at 43 with her youngest child, Trig, who arrived in April 2008, as the world now knows, with Down syndrome.

    “I had found out that I was pregnant while out of state first,” Palin told the crowd. “While out of state, there just for a fleeting moment, I thought, Nobody knows me here. Nobody would ever know. I thought, Wow, it is easy to think maybe of trying to change the circumstances and no one would know—no one would ever know.

    Then when my amniocentesis results came back, showing what they called abnormalities—oh, dear God—I knew, I had instantly an understanding, for that fleeting moment, why someone would believe it could seem possible to change those circumstances, just make it all go away, get some normalcy back in life.”

    It is almost impossible not to be touched by the rawness of her confession, even if it is precisely this choice that Palin believes no other woman should ever have, not even in the case of rape or incest.

    When I ask Bitney what he makes of the whole Palin phenomenon, he sighs. “What do I take away from this?” he asks.

    “Oh, I don’t know. I don’t know. It’s just a lot of emotions and stuff. I find it’s frustrating dealing with Sarah, because it seems we’re always dealing with emotional crap and we never seem to be able to focus on the business at hand that needs to be done.

    I don’t know whether to blame her or pity her for all this emotional upheaval that we’re always going through with her.

    Now we all get to listen to Levi and Bristol.

    Check my feet for horseshoes if I have to sit there and listen to another talk show.

    I got involved in helping her become governor because we needed to change some policy directions. Teen abstinence is not why I waved signs for her.”

    Palin seemed resigned to the fact that her reputation would never again be as fresh and glowing as it once was.

    She complained about “national figures and some in the press who, who want to put not just me, but anybody who dares speak up, it seems nowadays, right back down in their place.”

    She bemoaned her changing fortunes in Alaska. “I think things here that have so drastically changed these past months … Some want to forbid others from speaking up, and it’s been through lawsuits, been ethics-violation charges, media distortions And those are the folks who want to tell me, they want to tell you to sit down and shut up.

    We will not do so. I just can’t because I love my state, I love my country, and I need you, we need Michael Reagan to keep on fighting for our freedoms, for our country, and what we’re being fed today, it seems, is a steady diet of selected misrepresented news So I join you in speaking up and asking the questions and taking action, and here at home in my beloved Alaska, I just say, politically speaking, if I die, I die.”
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    These are not the words of a skilled politician, faking victimization.

    These are the words of a mentally unstable women, who believes everything she says…….at the time. Flip the switch in her head and the words might be different tomorrow, however her mental state will not………M

  19. anonyarctic says:

    Oops, thought I was on the Runner’s World thread, but it all leads back to the self-worship of Palin. : )

    The VF article was an addicting read, and AKM, your butterfly comment about Stapleton was perfect! Another example of someone in over her head.

  20. anonyarctic says:

    Quoting Plato now. She must have studied hard not to mangle that line, unlike her stumbling, bumbling Reagan (Gingrich) and Lincoln attempts.

    It was just about running (or was it? beating Obama with her feisty endurance?) but did you see one of the first comments, “I like her so much, not only will I give her my vote to lead the nation and the free world, but I think I’ll take up running!” LOL!

    Not to pick on her (and certainly not to defend Palin) but Ennealogic tries to say that nursing mother’s cannot run. Not true. I nurse, I run.

    Unlike Palin, I do look like I had a baby. I looked pregnant too when I was. I look like a nursing mother also too. I can barely manage to get in a 20 minute run thrice a week or hit the gym. I juggle two jobs and care for two little ones, try and keep home and house and it is damn hard work.

    Wish I had an intricate network of extended family and staff and catastrophic insurance coverage so I could run a national campaign and tour overseas NG while continuing to collect my salary just cause I tweeted and blackberried all the way. Some would say I was rude while I ignored briefings by people who do all the work that I claim credit for. But by god, I have accomplishments and am just used to doing hard work all day, every day. If only someone would explain to me just what a Mayor/Governor/CEO/VP does! Again very appreciative of all that going on all these years.

  21. tigerwine says:

    txindygirl – that paragraph grabbed me, too! Regretfully, she’s a good reason why many think women aren’t capable of handling a big political job. I’m old fashioned enough to think that with that many kids (and one a Special Needs child) a person owes it to her family to take care of them. . . .and, she probably could have done a half decent job of that if she had limited herself to just governing AK. But, she not doing a good job of either. The thing I dislike about her the most, is that she is such a fake. Voters will excuse almost anything but that!

  22. Lisabeth says:

    Honesty in Gov,
    Thank you. I found the article here thanks to you
    http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=10615662

    In the article Jay Ramras says that that group makes anti semitic statements. Does anyone know why or what those are? It doesn’t surprise me one bit. R says that Sarah has a flag of Israel but people from Sarah’s strange fringe extreme religion do not support Israel for the reasons Jews support Israel: And on a recent video of the religious group, they had several anti-semitic statements. I think they are called Joels army and their intent is to “control the banks” along with the other 6 pillars (their words) of society…..

    They are a scary group and I hope people focus more on this-it has been discussed a lot on other blogs lately.

    I wonder if this is what Jay Ramras is referring to. Does he have a blog? Anyone know? Thanks………

  23. let it run says:

    AKM..I am late to this thread, but I LOVED how they “fired” at Staplegun (thanks that’s my li’l nickname for her), she been getting away with this charade too long. SP should have let her go long ago but undoubtedly will be hyper critical now..or cut her losses and sack Mega-phone Staplegun! Meg has probably thought she has been able to hide behind SP’s gaffes…but no mas! The VF Becky Donatelli ( as in I have tons of power and money) line was superb!

  24. txindygirl says:

    I have not seen this mentioned in the posts (but I may have overlooked), but this one paragraph from the VF piece is incredibly significant and will likely be taken very seriously by political types:

    “When I ask Bitney what he makes of the whole Palin phenomenon, he sighs. “What do I take away from this?” he asks. “Oh, I don’t know. I don’t know. It’s just a lot of emotions and stuff. I find it’s frustrating dealing with Sarah, because it seems we’re always dealing with emotional crap and we never seem to be able to focus on the business at hand that needs to be done. I don’t know whether to blame her or pity her for all this emotional upheaval that we’re always going through with her.”

  25. Ted says:

    One observation about Sarah Palin that sticks deep inside like a dagger: Palin fits the description of an NPD (Narcissistic Personality Disorder) to a tee. This fact, which should frighten the bejesus out of everyone, is also the one that Kristol fears most, as its the first one he trots out and dismisses not at all convincingly:

    “Is there any real chance that “several” Alaskans independently told Purdum that they had consulted the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders? I don’t believe it for a moment. I’ve (for better or worse) moved in pretty well-educated circles in my life, and I’ve gone decades without “several” people telling me they had consulted the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.”

    Anyone with enough experience in life has encountered dangerous people like NPD narcissists and ASPD sociopaths — Palin’s documented behavior closely fits both diagnoses, which often run in tandem.

    For a partisan Democratic example, just look at Jonathan Edwards, another pol who fits NPD traits to a tee (http://www.slate.com/id/2213740):

    “John Edwards outed himself as one when forced to confess an adulterous affair. (Given his comical vanity, the deceitful way he used his marriage for his advancement, and his self-elevation as an embodiment of the common man while living in a house the size of an arena, it sounds like a pretty good diagnosis.)”

    Palin is very probably NPD, and maybe ASPD too (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASPD). Based on this alone, her political career should be dead, no matter what people think of her actual politics.

  26. samper says:

    The Fox article mentions that President Obama did not “immediately” return requests for a response to SP’s comment on how she could outrun him.

    Really? They think this is an important matter for him to address? Do they REALLY think that he has an opinion either way? What if he said “I could beat SP in a basketball game”? Would they run to SP for a comment in response to that?

    Fox is utterly ridiculous to think PO has a thought in his head about SP, other than that she is a constant distraction that he avoids consistently.

    Why are they bothering him for a comment on her grandiose statement of beating him at running? Who the F cares? And don’t they have any REAL news to cover?

    Further, those photos are around the world by now… very nice way to present our flag to others, SP. Very “presidential” layout in RW, also too.

    Why is it they think she can run our country on looks? Instead of spending a day with RW, maybe she should have been reading an Econ 101 or Foreign Policy 101 book?

    All fluff, no substance. Embarrassing.

  27. AK Sandhills says:

    I’m surprised that no one referenced my favorite part of the whole article so I am going to have to share it with you:

    But Palin’s lack of knowledge turned out not to hurt her. Andrew Halcro later remembered that he and Palin once compared notes about their many encounters, and she said, “Andrew, I watch you at these debates with no notes, no papers, and yet when asked questions, you spout off facts, figures, and policies, and I’m amazed. But then I look out into the audience and I ask myself, Does any of this really matter?”

    I have read this before in Andrew’s blog & quoted in other articles. To me, this not only sums up Sarah Palin, but also tells you a lot about how well she knows her loyal followers. Indeed, to them none of it really matters.

  28. Lee323 says:

    @ califpat
    ——————–
    She’s a braggart……and a name dropper. PO has absolutely nothing to do with her running. She chose to drop his name into the conversation to feel important…..like all name-droppers do.

  29. lexky says:

    califpat
    i agree, that was the first thing that came to my mind.

  30. califpat says:

    oops: concerning

  31. califpat says:

    Maybe I am reading far too much into GINO’s statement concening that she can outrun President Obama in a race. I see her metaphorically and snarkily saying that she can beat him in a presidential race. Does anyone else get that idea or is it just me?

  32. Lainey says:

    I was listening to a recap video, some of which had palin speaking…or something similar to speaking (maybe in her case – double speaking).
    I noticed she avoids word contractions at all costs.

  33. Lacy Lady says:

    I see where there is a banner with a star also in the “flag” picture. She wants to make sure we all know her son is in the service.
    I still think that Rev Billy Graham’s son was instrumental in getting the Rep. party to get Palin on the McCain ticket. Don’t think McCain ever vetted her. Just decided to get a woman on the Republian ticket. Don’t think Billy Graham’s son is anything like his father. I read about his involvment with Palin back during the election. Bad News!!!!!!!!

  34. honestyinGov says:

    296 Lisabeth Says:
    June 30th, 2009 at 9:04 PM

    Have any of you looked at the Sarah fan site lately? There is some kind of war of words going on between site owner R and Jay Ramras.
    ——————————-
    Lisabeth… early on the post this morning ( probably within the first 25 posts ) there was a link to the KTUU website. There is story there. Most of the comments under the story are from THEM. One of THEM even mentioned what the remarks were that were under discussion… so they obviously read and post from THEIR site.

  35. Nan says:

    On *Romney?* wild.

  36. Lisabeth says:

    Have any of you looked at the Sarah fan site lately? There is some kind of war of words going on between site owner R and Jay Ramras. Now Andrew Halcro has stepped in. There are several issues they are sparring over and I’m trying to find out the backround.

    I don’t think this is OT since some is related to the VF article. One thing R says is that Ramras accused her and the site if being anti Semitic and I wondered why. Take a look at their site and you will see. All very strange. They are blaming everthing on Romney (the VF article). Does J ramras have a blog?
    Thxs.

  37. Lainey says:

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_pl420

    the ‘spinners’ & ‘protectors’ got loose again
    to me, the last paragraph says ‘barracuda’

  38. nswfm CA says:

    That would only work if every man in the country was on Viagra, and maybe not even then.

  39. jo in AK says:

    They disappeared from the ADN, maybe they thought they needed a few staples in the middle of them. Soft porn leading up to the centerfold. I showed them to everyone at work and they shrieked, ICK!

  40. Martha says:

    This is sooooooo funny! I just can’t get over what republicans do when ANYthing goes the least bit wrong for them. When it comes to inhouse affairs, it’s bring out the big ol’ crab cooker, we’re going to cannibalize tonight!!
    =====================================
    A hard-hitting piece on Sarah Palin in the new Vanity Fair has touched off a blistering exchange of insults among high-profile Republicans over last year’s GOP ticket – tearing open fresh wounds about leaks surrounding Palin and revealing for the first time some of the internal wars that paralyzed the campaign in its final days.

    Kristol cited a passage in Purdum’s piece in which “some top aides” were said to worry about the Alaska governor’s “mental state” and the prospect that the Alaska governor may be suffering from post-partum depression following the birth of her son Trig. “In fact, one aide who raised this possibility in the course of trashing Palin’s mental state to others in the McCain-Palin campaign was Steve Schmidt,” Kristol wrote.

    Asked about the accusation, Schmidt fired back in an email: “I’m sure John McCain would be president today if only Bill Kristol had been in charge of the campaign.”

    “After all, his management of [former Vice President] Dan Quayle’s public image as his chief of staff is still something that takes your breath away,” Schmidt continued. “His attack on me is categorically false.”

    “Bill Kristol, going back to the time of the campaign, has taken a lot of cheap shots at the campaign without ever offering a plausible path to victory,” Schmidt said. “He’s in the business of ad hominem insults and criticism.”

    Responding to Schmidt’s counter-attack, Kristol directly fingered Schmidt: “It’s simply a fact that when the going got tough, Steve Schmidt trashed Sarah Palin, both within the campaign and (on background) to journalists. This was after Steve took credit for the Palin pick when, at first, he thought it made him look good. John McCain deserved better.”
    Scheunemann, confirming that his email had been searched, accused Schmidt of “acting in a manner of Iranian secret police” in going to his account.

    The foreign policy hand said what was discovered was a message from Kristol inquiring who was the source in the campaign of the “diva” leak, the now-famous complaint from a senior McCain campaign official to CNN’s Dana Bash that Palin was acting like a spoiled and selfish celebrity.

    A source familiar with the contents of the email said that Scheunemann actually accused Nicolle Wallace’s husband, Mark Wallace, of being the source of the leak.

    When Kristol questioned the likelihood of a male like Mark Wallace using such a gossipy term as diva, this source said, Scheunemann wrote back that Mark Wallace knows something about divas because he’s married to a diva.

    Asked about the email, Nicolle Wallace said: “I did not have any knowledge of this. This is all news to me.”
    ==============================================
    This last part is the funniest. How many times has this been referenced and discussed on this very blog? How many times have you seen Palin referred to as narassasistic on this blog, the ADN etc., WITH an explanation of what that is and where they got their information?

    If things get any worse they will have to call in the “prolifers” as they WILL begin to eat their young…..M
    ===============================================

    “Is there any real chance that ‘several’ Alaskans independently told Purdum that they had consulted the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders?” Kristol wrote. “I don’t believe it for a moment. I’ve (for better or worse) moved in pretty well-educated circles in my life, and I’ve gone decades without ‘several’ people telling me they had consulted the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.”

    In response, Purdum, a Princeton graduate, wrote of his Harvard-degreed critic: “I’m not nearly as well-educated as Bill, but the great Irving Berlin taught me that ‘you don’t have to go to a private school not to pick up a penny near a stubborn mule.’ In the age of Google, I’m confident that plenty of Alaskans know more about finding medical reference works — and all sorts of other knowledge — than Bill thinks they do.”

    Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/24392_Page3.html#ixzz0Jyqi3Uvk&C

    Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/24392_Page3.html#ixzz0JyqHRPU4&C
    Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/24392_Page2.html#ixzz0Jyq4wQZ3&C

    Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/24392_Page2.html#ixzz0Jype66

  41. txindygirl says:

    A woman does not have to be naked to be x-rated. Palin’s expression and body language say it ALL. She knows the effect she will have. Should she be going for that effect?

    What makes me laugh a little is that those RW pics are the same style that women use on dating sites (and I mean no snark against dating sites nor the women who use them). You know, the ones where they show how playful and sexy they are. Palin’s pics would look fantastic if she had a profile on match.com.

  42. Lainey says:

    I think those photos are photoshopped also too, but if they are the real thing…it appears as if palin is auditioning to be the next pin-up poster…how professional for a politician competing for the big prize…but then again—–
    it is how she operates and what she uses to impress the good ole boys.

    I’m still mad at one of those not so good and really old boys…mccain!!!

  43. sauerkraut says:

    ooohhh… thanks for that visual, txindy!

  44. txindygirl says:

    Re: RW pics

    #2,3,5,7 are suggestive and slutty. They look like they should be part of The Dud’s private collection.

    These pics are NOT dignified at all. Nor do they honor her office. Jesus, this woman is a governor, a former VP candidate, and a presidential candidate hopeful. Does she really think she can ride the wave of erections to the Whitehouse?

  45. wynsplc says:

    Minor correction my last post….”that is IN keeping with SPs character”

  46. wynsplc says:

    Is it just me or does anyone else think these RW photos are altered?? Especially in the last photo of her descreating the Flag..the shadow of her is behind and to the left yet the wall light fixture is to the right??? I noticed some possible shadow discrepencies on first picture also but more subtle. Most look like studio photos with background added later. Anyway, it wouldn’t surprise me if they were faked…that is keeping with SP character.

  47. ENOUGHwiththetrainwreck says:

    i am spellbound at the idiocy of the photos (running magazine). she isn’t even running. and did she lean down for a chest shot? really? oh.my.god.

    her face isn’t tan? how does that happen when you run all the time?

    ah crap. i grow weary of making sense of that woman.

  48. sauerkraut says:

    269 CrabbyPatty Says: June 30th, 2009 at 6:15 PM

    And now ….. Runner’s World. Golly. Just as soon as one of the qualifications for political office includes “must run fast”, I’m sure the fascinating news that um, Palin likes to run, will actually MATTER.
    __________

    I know plenty of women in their 60’s who would kick her hiney… and even more who would lap her in a mile run on the track. The only thing on her which runs fast is her incoherent mouth.

    And I emailed RW to let them know I will not be renewing thanks to the political fluff piece in should be a serious runner’s magazine… back to Running Times, I guess.

  49. CrabbyPatty says:

    Politico has an interesting article ABOUT the Vanity Fair article – http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/24392.html. William Kristol once again rears his head (wow, just like that there Putin guy!) to fire accusations against McCain staffers.

  50. lexky says:

    i never wanted to see scarahs camel toe
    that just gross

  51. Lainey says:

    I just don’t see that palin has what they’re calling charisma or others, outside of this VF article, saying that she has ‘personality‘…wtf. I also don’t think that being the ‘sexiest’ in the Repug party or having ’appeal’ qualifies you for running a country…you’re not worthy of being more than a celeb. They did add that she is the riskiest…an understatement. I agree, she is a fascination…translation: deeply ignorant freak! …who in their right mind wants to be a cipher by choice??!! …oh sorry, I did say ’right mind’. I do like the caricature also too.

  52. PepperzMom (GA) says:

    I found a nifty little tool that works with Firefox, IE, Safari and Google browsers.

    What it does is convert a webpage to an identically formatted PDF version. Been using it for a number of articles I wanted to keep for posterity (yes, a few of them related to SP – unfortunately). It’s come in handy a few times when “arguing” with certain aspects of the internet community, since it saves exactly what was posted online. There are some personalized settings you can set too.

    Go here: http://www.pdfdownload.org/

    Needless to say…the whole VF article has been PDF’d, just in case access is blocked at a later, and needed, date.

  53. honestyinGov says:

    I’ve been away for a few hours… now trying to catch up on all the posts.

    I see Gryphen has updated and the link from his page shows that Andrew Halcro has an updated post from a few hours ago. He hadn’t posted in about two months.

    I read his post. He voices his opinion about the Man Sour Jay Ramras stock accusation Man Sour was making. I think Man Sour must have made him a little mad. She brought him out of retirement to post. Check it out.

  54. Professor Geezer says:

    It’s Macbeth. (No cap in the “b”)

  55. texdude says:

    Physicsmom: Palin’s base doesn’t read. Period. But you already knew that.

    For those of you who don’t subscribe to VF, give it a try! It’s cheap — $15 for 12 issues, and most of them are chock full of great articles. I came across it years ago on a flight from Denver to Houston. I read one article, and I was just on to the second one when we landed in Houston, so the flight attendant said take it with you. They have great political stories, and usually one crime of the rich and famous type article. It also has some of the greatest ads.

  56. austintx says:

    The comments that follow the RW puff piece are fawning drivel.

  57. LiladyNY says:

    Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
    That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
    And then is heard no more: it is a tale
    Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
    Signifying nothing.

    Macbeth

    Very apt, I’d say.

  58. Physicsmom says:

    I actually did learn one new thing in the VF article: the bit about Moneghan calling her to advise that someone had complained about Trig not being in a carseat right before she fired him. All the Wooten stuff was building up, but apparently that was the final straw. How dare he report a citizen’s complaint and not tell her who it came from so she could destroy him or her? However, the hot guy from the Nation (his name escapes me) was on Rachael Maddow tonight and he said that GINO’s base doesn’t read Vanity Fair, so the article will be preaching to the choir and not make any difference. that was a drag to hear. Hope he’s wrong.

  59. Kim O'Brien says:

    Quick question – I live in Denver …just a mile or so away from a development / community called Stapleton ( old airport was called that so they kept the name ) SO – the airport was named after and old Mayor of Denver –named Ben Stapleton . He was elected with the HUGE help of the KKK ( yeah – THAT KKK ) in the mid 1920’s .

    How ironic would it be if Meg Stapleton was related ?? Classic……….

    Kim O’Brien

    Denver Colorado

  60. Bystander says:

    I know he was a genius, but how could Shakespeare have anticipated Palin 400 years ago?

  61. lexky says:

    should we even buy the magazine?
    i think if we dont contribute to to her publicity then people wont write about her and that will hurt her more than anything.
    just a thought.

  62. CrabbyPatty says:

    MacBeth 5:5

  63. the problem child says:

    #
    262
    AlaskaDisasta Says:
    June 30th, 2009 at 5:54 PM

    Mz Palin reminds of that T.S. Eliot line “a tale told by an idiot, signifying nothing’. That’s the governor broad in a nutshell.
    ————-
    Shakespeare? I think MacBeth?

  64. CrabbyPatty says:

    And now ….. Runner’s World. Golly. Just as soon as one of the qualifications for political office includes “must run fast”, I’m sure the fascinating news that um, Palin likes to run, will actually MATTER.

  65. anadventurer says:

    I feel guilty for not paying to read that.

  66. Just_a_Mote says:

    This may become the only pandemic I would be happy about. Knowledge of the true nature of Palin is starting to spread.

  67. lexky says:

    snoskred said do not go to THAT sight.
    so i dont go anymore

  68. clydedog says:

    Most of the stuff we alredy know but the real teller was the way she alienates advisors and staff. This is why she will never even get to a presidential primary. She can’t attract the best advisors and staff (as the previous three presidents have) or they don’t stick around. You can’t run a national campaign with the required fundraising with second string people. If she were smart she would realize potus is unreachable and go for gov or senator.

  69. AlaskaDisasta says:

    Mz Palin reminds of that T.S. Eliot line “a tale told by an idiot, signifying nothing’. That’s the governor broad in a nutshell.

  70. Women Who Run With The Wolves says:

    And another thing….she was talking about her being out jogging and running into people that were/are her opponets and they all just smile at each other? AKM, is she refering to either you, Gryphen or Halcro?

  71. texdude says:

    You do all know that Todd Purdham is married to DeeDee Myers, President Clinton’s first press secretary?

    I came across the article last night (well, this morning) about 2 am and then had to stay up and read it all. LOL. Had to take a bit of a nap earlier after that!

    Not a great deal in the article we didn’t already know, but Purdham did a good job amalgamating all of the info. And of course the stuff about Palin and the teleprompter on election night was priceless.

  72. Seagull Junker Palin says:

    It looks like the Gov. violated the U.S. Flag Code:

    http://watchingthewatchers.org/read/3535

  73. Women Who Run With The Wolves says:

    Today she has totally made me feel a little bit under the weather. Actually I think I threw up in my mouth when I saw her posing w/the american flag draped across her kitchen counter. Icky.

  74. lilybart says:

    that last photo with the flag is shocking in its lack of taste

    she looks weirdly plastic and “posed” for no real purpose I can see

    THAT photo will show up again, and again….prime target for photoshopping

  75. Nan says:

    zyggy
    ohhh, I didn’t mean the snark at you! Everybody knew who you meant – I wuz just tryin’ to be silly…

    Hon, I won’t complain again about what’s shes called, as long as somebody can call her out on all her crap while they’re at it.

    abashed,
    Nan

  76. CougInPortland says:

    Sorry if I brought up old topics, Shadow’s Heart. New to this blog. Have been lurking forever. I LOVE this site. Greetings from Oregon.

  77. nswfm CA says:

    Desperate to pass as Bree in Desperate Housewives, but Bree was caught in her fake pregnancy escapade. Foreshadowing….

  78. Shadow's Heart says:

    From Huff poster FarLeftField:

    Desperate Housewives + Northern Exposure = Desperate for Exposure. LOL

  79. CougInPortland says:

    Check THIS out. What’s next Parcheesi? Chutes And Ladders? I feel for all of you in Alaska. I really Do. The ultimate race, she lost. Notice AP says “former beauty queen.” NO, she was a runner-up.

    http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/06/30/palin-says-outrun-obama-race/?test=facescomments

  80. zyggy says:

    250 Nan Says:
    June 30th, 2009 at 5:02 PM
    zyggy
    Hey! I *like* Elly Mae – the original, Clampett version, that is. Might not have been a mental giant, but had a heart of gold, and would get Granny to feed everyone (corn pone and possum, maybe, but it wouldn’t have been just a plate of cookies loaded down with religious tracts)

    hm. snarky meow over now
    ******
    Ouch, =) Okay, I’ll call her Wasillabilly Palin. Okay with you? =)

  81. Village Reader says:

    I went and checked out the pics. She looked good. Healthy and toned. But then the photos kept coming. They started to look …odd. I’m not a fan of Palin. Can’t stand her. But there is nothing that states a person can’t look sexy and attractive (even older) while working out. However, Palin started off good then she messed up and the pics began to look like an aging ‘cheerleader.’

    THe last photo annoyed me. I have mixed views on the flag. It is OUR symbol. People have died following the symbolism of the flag. Yet the courts uphold people burning it. However, Palin is a GOVERNOR and she had the flag tossed over a chair and her LEANING on it with her elbow. This pic was ‘disrespectful’ in my view.

  82. Wolf Pack says:

    Is that the flag or her table cloth. Is Blackberry paying her to sell their phones?

  83. Nan says:

    zyggy
    Hey! I *like* Elly Mae – the original, Clampett version, that is. Might not have been a mental giant, but had a heart of gold, and would get Granny to feed everyone (corn pone and possum, maybe, but it wouldn’t have been just a plate of cookies loaded down with religious tracts)

    hm. snarky meow over now

  84. SystemBucker says:

    I just have to share this little diddy…she might have to do a little explaining about one of her photos for Runners World.

    “Sarah Palin Violates the U.S. Flag Code” http://watchingthewatchers.org/read/3535

    For someone who loves this great country of ours, she doesn’t seem to respect the flag much.

  85. zyggy says:

    Palin is a very pretty woman and has a very toned and tanned body =) but egad, as soon as she opens her mouth she turns ugly. She just had to complain and put a twist in “…It cracks me up going to some running event and seeing some dude who campaigned so hard against me, or a lady who’s been blogging some mean comments about me…..” The pictures were fine, and I’d flaunt my body too if I had a body like that, but she’s just a mean witch, and needs to leave all of us alone.

    I’m wondering how her devotee’s will spin all this from VF? They will spin themselves into a huge whole trying to cover up all this. Palin is burnt toast. Her background of deceiving and lies are over.

    Go away Ellie May Palin.

  86. phoebe says:

    Interesting how SP wants to change the subject….I could beat Obama, I have more endurance………………….NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO don’t take the bait. OB is way to smart to touch this tarbaby. The Worst Person….that’s just wonderful.

  87. nswfm CA says:

    Comment from the awl link above:

    You know how there’s people who have done bad things, and you wish them ill in a schadenfreude kind of way, but then when something bad happens to them, you feel sorry for them?

    Yeah, Sarah Palin is not one of those people.
    =====
    yeah, I agree.

  88. samper says:

    I still see it as GOLD in my own little world.

  89. Nebraska Native says:

    OK…the twitters are quiet as they circle the wagons and strategerize and I can hardly wait for morning… this will just keep going 🙂 Nite’ Puppies!

  90. justafarmer says:

    but at least the trig wild ride birth made MSM!

  91. justafarmer says:

    she was third…sadly just the KO bronze…not even worth aluminum!

  92. Nebraska Native says:

    She got the “bronze” medal on worst persons… niiiiiiiiiiiice!

  93. justafarmer says:

    “worse person in the world”

  94. samper says:

    justafarmer: I think it’s silver, if not gold!

  95. justafarmer says:

    KO with the trig birth email…the bronze!

  96. samper says:

    OMG! ON KO: Rush thinks President Obama is going to seek a THIRD term!

    Ummm… he’s only 6 months into the FIRST term!

    Just caught the teaser, can’t wait to hear the story.

    OOPS! OT!

    Sorry! 🙁

  97. Tealwomin says:

    ARE WE SUPPOSE TO BELIEVE THIS QUOTE ?

    “When I run, I’m totally incognito because I’m not wearing the trough full of makeup… (so what you’re saying is that you don’t look anything like these ‘posed pictures’?)…I can go running through a mob of tourists and they don’t recognize me.” (Come on, she would stop and cry, “Don’t you know who I am?”)

    I think COULD is the key word, not that she did, but another ‘if only story’ brought to you by The Opposite of Govenor herself…

  98. winkwinkWA says:

    Sarah always remind me of the mother (beauty queen) who’s getting older and her teen daughters are young and beautiful so she has to place herself front and center, bet she even flirts with their boyfriends, probably wears her towel when they come over!!! I don’t think she can be trusted around men, that’s why Todd hangs around….

  99. samper says:

    swe123: Welcome to AK and Sarah’s Kingdom!

  100. samper says:

    IJ: That might sound weird. I’m slamming her, of course, not you!

    But then again, it’s Sarah… vain, stupid, little Sarah.

  101. swe123 says:

    Okay I forced myself to look at all the pictures. My only thought-holy sh$t! This is a sitting Governor! Are you kidding me? Most professional women I know want to be taken seriously for our abilities, talents, and education. NOT how well we can stretch and bend over in spandex! She makes me cringe. I don’t think I have ever in my life disliked someone as much as I dislike her.

  102. samper says:

    InJuneau: Perhaps, but it’d be kind of goofy to wear panty hose under running togs for a photo shoot with full make up, hair and costume changes! LOL! 🙂

    IOW: She wasn’t “really” out running that day… she shouldn’t have thought she needed the full regalia of pantyhose on that day.

  103. samper says:

    Martha: Great summary!

  104. samper says:

    Ripley: MSNBC is on basic here in MI. Not so there?

  105. UK Lady says:

    Martha – Great post!

  106. Ripley in CT says:

    dang, I gotta get expanded cable for this!!!

  107. InJuneau says:

    winkwinkWA–I agree with samper; I’m pretty sure it’s the tan, not pantyhose (although I think lots of people do wear them uphere to do outdoorsy things like hunting; they help keep one warm without adding a lot of bulk).

    crystalwolf aka caligrl–I think that may have happened back when she was still working for the State. She’s now the “family/caPharaS” spokesmouth, not that you’d guess she wasn’t working for the State now, as much as she’s talking for GINO.

  108. Martha says:

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~THE LIES~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    At one point, trying out a debating point that she believed showed she could empathize with uninsured Americans, Palin told McCain aides that she and Todd in the early years of their marriage had been unable to afford health insurance of any kind, and had gone without it until he got his union card and went to work for British Petroleum on the North Slope of Alaska.

    Checking with Todd Palin himself revealed that, no, they had had catastrophic coverage all along.

    She insisted that catastrophic insurance didn’t really count and need not be revealed.

    This sort of slipperiness—about both what the truth was and whether the truth even mattered—persisted on questions great and small.

    She gained the mayoralty of Wasilla in 1996 by turning against the incumbent, John Stein, who had been one of her mentors when she was on the city council, and injecting sharply partisan issues such as gun rights and abortion into what had previously been a low-key local contest.

    She fired the police chief, eased out the museum director and the city planner, and fired and then rehired the librarian (who had opposed book censorship).

    Palin was entitled to make the dismissals, and she variously justified them on the grounds of budget difficulties or the need for a team that she could be sure would support her efforts.

    But the Frontiersman accused Palin of confusing her election with a “coronation.”

    Yet Palin herself cut corners. Ruedrich, Palin’s target on the Conservation Commission, was forced to resign, but in 2006, as Palin was beginning her campaign for governor, a conservative columnist dug up e-mail messages showing that she too had conducted campaign business from her mayoral office.

    (sound familiar..M)

    Confronted by the columnist, Palin acknowledged that she had erred.

    Then she turned around and issued a press release, demanding to know why the columnist was publishing smears.

    This is the third thing McCain could have discovered about Palin—a woman, after all, who kept a pregnancy secret for seven months, flew all the way home from Texas to Alaska with a near-full-term baby while leaking amniotic fluid, and then finally drove the 45 minutes from Anchorage to a hospital in Wasilla, all so that the child could be born in the 49th state.

    Palin was for the infamous Gravina Island “bridge to nowhere” before she was against it, and reversed herself only when such pork-barrel projects prompted a nationwide backlash.

    Palin communicated with legislators and her staff mainly by BlackBerry, sometimes using a personal e-mail account to avoid having to disclose documents under the state public-records laws.

    After one meeting between the governor and legislators in 2007, Lyda Green, then the president of the state senate, returned to her office to catch up on some paperwork.

    She caught Palin on the news. “And she comes on TV and says, ‘I want to once again confirm that neither I nor my staff ever holds closed-door meetings.’ Well, we had just been in a closed-door meeting for an hour and a half!

    Only weeks after Palin praised John Bitney for doing so much to make her first legislative session a success, she summarily fired him—because, he says, he had had the bad luck to fall in love with the wife of one of the Palins’ best friends (a woman he has since married).

    At the time, Palin’s office cited what it called “personal” reasons for an “amicable” departure. But when The Wall Street Journal called Palin’s office during last fall’s presidential campaign to ask about the case, a spokeswoman for Palin said that Bitney had been “dismissed because of his poor job performance,” and refused to elaborate.

    The final straw may have been Monegan’s June 30, 2008, e-mail warning to Palin that an unnamed state legislator had complained that she’d been seen driving with her newborn son, and that the infant had not been strapped into an approved car seat.

    “I have never driven Trig anywhere without a new, approved car seat,” Palin fired back. “

    I want to know who said otherwise—pls. provide me that info now.”

    Twelve days later, Nizich fired Monegan on Palin’s orders. Forty-nine days after that, John McCain announced that Palin would join him on the ticket.

    After Levi told Tyra Banks that he had often spent the night in the Palin home, in the same room as Bristol, and assumed that the governor knew they were having sex, Palin, through her spokeswoman, released a blistering statement expressing disappointment “that Levi and his family, in a quest for fame, attention, and fortune, are engaging in flat-out lies, gross exaggeration, and even distortion of their relationship.”

    On the CBS Early Show, days later, Johnston seemed resigned. “They said I didn’t live there. I ‘stayed there,”’ he said. “I was like, O.K., well, whatever you want to call it. I had my stuff there.”

    Although Bristol initially told Greta Van Susteren that teen abstinence is “not realistic at all,” by springtime she had signed up as an ambassador for the Candie’s Foundation to promote abstinence as the way to avoid teen pregnancy.

    So did Palin’s suggestion, at a time when declining oil prices have thrown the state budget into the red, that she did not want to accept about a third of the $930 million in federal stimulus money available to Alaska, because it would come with too many big-government strings attached.

    The move seemed calculated to burnish her national conservative credentials.

    In the face of bipartisan outcry, Palin’s aides insisted she had never meant to say she wouldn’t take the money, only that she wanted to review the matter carefully.

    That was news to former aide Larry Persily.

    After the first meeting on the stimulus money, Persily told me, “Everyone in the room left thinking she’d said no.

    Then her staff said, ‘She didn’t say no. She just didn’t say yes.”’

    Palin wound up taking all but about 3 percent of the $900 million available to Alaska. The consensus even among the Republicans I spoke to was that she rejected the last $28 million—for energy assistance—mostly to save face.

    The ever shifting sands of Palin’s sensibility were also on display after former senator Ted Stevens’s conviction on corruption charges was set aside, in April. Palin’s old nemesis, the Alaska Republican Party chair Randy Ruedrich, called on Stevens’s Democratic successor, Mark Begich, who had defeated Stevens just days after the original conviction last fall, to step down and allow a new election.

    Palin told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner in an e-mail, “I absolutely agree.”

    Days later, at a news conference, Palin insisted she had never called on Begich to step down.

    On the eve of the Alfalfa dinner, in January, Palin was a guest in the home of Fred Malek, a veteran Republican fund-raiser and government official dating back to the days of the Nixon administration. Malek raised money for McCain’s campaign last year, and also agreed to play host to a fund-raising dinner for Republican governors in early May. (Palin was to have been an honored guest, but canceled owing to spring flooding in Alaska.)

    (There was nothing about the flooding that kept her in AK….M)

    ( from the plagiarism to claims of “media distortion, I consider these lies….M)

    Palin herself often sounds tired and resentful these days, as if wondering whether she should have blinked and just said no to John McCain. In a rambling, 17-minute speech introducing Michael Reagan, the former president’s son and a conservative radio host at an event in Alaska in June—a speech that borrowed heavily, without clear attribution, from a four-year-old article by Newt Gingrich and the Republican strategist Craig Shirley—

    Palin seemed resigned to the fact that her reputation would never again be as fresh and glowing as it once was. She complained about “national figures and some in the press who, who want to put not just me, but anybody who dares speak up, it seems nowadays, right back down in their place.”

    She bemoaned her changing fortunes in Alaska. “I think things here that have so drastically changed these past months … Some want to forbid others from speaking up, and it’s been through lawsuits, been ethics-violation charges, media distortions

    And those are the folks who want to tell me, they want to tell you to sit down and shut up. We will not do so. I just can’t because I love my state, I love my country, and I need you, we need Michael Reagan to keep on fighting for our freedoms, for our country, and what we’re being fed today, it seems, is a steady diet of selected misrepresented news

    So I join you in speaking up and asking the questions and taking action, and here at home in my beloved Alaska, I just say, politically speaking, if I die, I die.”

    (“Politically speaking”………we wish! ..M)

  109. Nebraska Native says:

    OMG she is a “worst persons” That’s HUGE!

  110. Nan says:

    Keith Olberman taking on the Trig birth announcement from “Trig’s Creator” :-X

    …right after the commercial

  111. samper says:

    KO in teaser: It’s official! Sarah Palin can’t tell the difference between God and Sarah Palin.

    ROFLMAO!

    Reference: Signing birth announcements as coming from “Your Heavenly Father”.

  112. califpat says:

    New thread is up.

  113. swe123 says:

    So I guess Pain’s response to the VF article is to scream at the Runner Mag to release her interview. Gotta get the attention back on her at all costs.

  114. samper says:

    For those who want a direct link to the photos:

    http://www.runnersworld.com/photo/sarahpalin/home.html

    Also, too: I don’t think it’s pantyhose… I think when she uses her tanning bed, she covers her face so she can retain that “youthful” skin.

    The flag pic is the worst re: the contrast between legs and face. Almost looks photoshopped.

    Again…

    Bleccchhhh. Barf.

  115. Nebraska Native says:

    Whoohoo.. KO is taking on Palin on MSNBC… this should be good!

  116. M. Bergert says:

    The Team Palin website is understandably low key and quite considering the damning nature of the article. But then, the Team Sarah folks like to deny their are any negitives about Sarah, so it is not unusal for them to be like this. It’s easier to keep your head in the sand and deny the facts then it is to confront them. After all, how could they go this long and not see what Sarah really is.
    As a hint on how to join their web site, since they don’t like to hear any negitives about the real Sarah, give them a fictious name, web site, and tell them how much you love her, and they will accept you into their site. Yes, I am afraid you have to lie, but it is worth the comedy and educational on how ignorant some people are.

  117. Nebraska Native says:

    Good choice Ripley!!!!

  118. Nebraska Native says:

    As the mom of a veteran… that flag pic REALLY pissed me off… She has no sense of respect or decorum.

  119. crystalwolf aka caligrl says:

    KaJo Says:
    June 30th, 2009 at 1:14 PM

    I just sent Todd Purdum a Facebook message.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Kajo, wanted to send him a message too, there are 2 of them on facebook which one is him?
    Need to tell him to check out the Alaskan bloggers!

  120. fawnskin mudpuppy says:

    samper, aren’t there two blackberries in the palin/flag pic?

  121. London Bridges says:

    Sarah thinks being involved in politics is like working for an escort service/beauty pageant. Her first approach is to make you a happy customer and guarantee your return business. However, if you don’t leave her a large enough tip or you complain about the service, her man, Todd rolls you in the parking lot, and swears you to secrecy or there will be future h*ll to pay. It’s worked so far, hasn’t it?

  122. The Rubber Room Hotel says:

    From the Running article one thing that struck me.
    Her running music, Van Halen, AC/DC and Amy Grant.
    Does she not understand ACDC”S music?

  123. samper says:

    She’s on her couch at home, with the family assembled before her.

    No make up. Sweats. Ponytail.

    Watching with great intent and flipping between Faux and MSNBC.

    Captivated with MSNBC.

    Starts simultaneously screaming her head off and crying.

    Starts throwing things at Chuck Todd.

    Furiously dialing Meg’s cell to tune in.

    Begging Dud to write a press release a la Willow/Letterman in her defense.

    Demanding Meg do the same. Tells her to use the words “desecrate” and “icon” again, to remind people how important she is.

    Composing a twit to let her “fans” know how great it is to live in AK, how much she admires the troops, and that Trig’s first tooth is coming in (this to distract from MSNBC viewing).

    Screaming her head off now… Piper ordered to escort all kids out of the room.

    Buries head in Dud’s chest saying “WHY are they DOING this to me???”

  124. crystalwolf aka caligrl says:

    EyeOnYou Says:
    June 30th, 2009 at 12:32 PM

    Stapleton replies to an email and says she will reply separately on a non-state account. When did this take place? After Stapleton left her job with the state I am guessing …..so….. Why was Stapleton having access to the state email account?
    ~~~~~~~~~~~
    I thought I heard…during the “L@@K at me tour” USA that megamouth was being referred to as “gov palin spokesperson”? Does anyone know, for sure???

  125. ds55 says:

    Sarah doesn’t mind if her own iconic image is desecrated.

  126. Trini says:

    I hope in the next chapter he recalls how she greeted a couple of campaign staffers at her hotel door wearing only a towel and then invited them to talk to Toad while she got dressed!

  127. samper says:

    Yeah, I think I remarked on that flag photo in the Open Thread…

    Her legs look freakish, and where the HE!! is her respect for the flag? She has it draped casually instead of displayed with dignity!

    And is that a BLACKBERRY in her hand?

    Those photos are just … blecccchhhh, barf! Even the cheerleaders in my high school yearbook looked more dignified/adult/whatever.

  128. bonefish says:

    Read every word of the article and loved the whole thing! Also watching with interest how fast this is going viral… wow. Am curious as to what her response will be. Might not be pretty.

  129. CorningNY says:

    Nan–
    Love the comments on that article from theawl. My favorite:

    Kataphraktos
    [#226]

    “You know how there’s people who have done bad things, and you wish them ill in a schadenfreude kind of way, but then when something bad happens to them, you feel sorry for them?

    Yeah, Sarah Palin is not one of those people.”

    Exactly!!

  130. Wolf Pack says:

    Very pathetic that a grandma in her late 40’s does a photo spread, tying to look like a cheerleader.

    LOSER!

  131. Ripley in CT says:

    HA!!! Just had this song run through my head. Oh Saraaaaaahhhhhhh…..

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZarmRLa2p9Q

  132. Mattie says:

    I know this is ridiculous but I want to throw up just thinking about her running for president and having to listen to her earthy twitty ways. She is the most egotistical person I have ever seen. Did you see the runners world article. jeez.

  133. Alaskan Sisu says:

    Thank you very much, everyone, thank you very much, everyone, thank you very much, also.

  134. Star says:

    Bout time for van suckup and coale to make a trip to AK.. LMBO

  135. Nan says:

    Thanks, Nebraska – just got lucky lol

    🙂

  136. Nebraska Native says:

    Good find Nan!

  137. Nebraska Native says:

    I’m not sure Sanford is going to eclipse Palin this time. He’s pathetic, she’s potentially dangerous and this is so going viral.

  138. MinNJ says:

    I thought this was such a well written article and was so delighted to read exactly what many of the lower-48 were probably wondering about her. Now that the article has national attention (and I just knew that the Dud was her [bad] advisor,) I’m thrilled. I’m waiting for Meg to throw up publically soon.

    Thanks, Mudpups, for the background on this author. His good writing is such a great pleasure to read.

  139. winkwinkWA says:

    Running mag. article–Is she wearing pantyhose under her shorts, who wears pantythose while running? Last pic.- How about some respect for the flag GINO??? Grow up beauty pageant contestant, your waaaay past 18, on second thought maybe not!!

  140. Star says:

    Watching HardBall…tooooo funny…Bet she is throwing a hissy fit ..

  141. Nan says:

    Terrific article on VF

    this is hysterical – “should you read the Vanity Fair article”
    http://www.theawl.com/2009/06/should-you-read-that-long-sarah-palin-thing-in-vanity-fair

    Very, very good!

  142. justafarmer says:

    oooh…Todd Palin being “savvy enough” to make calls in South Carolina!

  143. Nebraska Native says:

    Love the phone calls from Todd… so declasse as usual

  144. Nebraska Native says:

    Me too ds55, me too.

  145. justafarmer says:

    ok…at the Hardball interview…Todd Palin emerges!

  146. ds55 says:

    Watching Hardball now, seeing the video of Sarah being introduced as McCain’s running mate. I remember that moment. I remember feeling afraid that Sarah might be a sharp cookie, not unlike Hillary Clinton. ROFL!

  147. Nebraska Native says:

    “She’s always best when the chips are down…” yikes.

  148. justafarmer says:

    sorry about that London! Soon as I hit “return” I thought….crap!!

  149. Nebraska Native says:

    So telling that McCain did not mention Palin when he was talking about Rep. leaders on Leno. This is really really good– the interview I mean..

  150. WakeUpAmerica says:

    AKM, I really think that you are close to being able to write your own book about all this. Actually, you could just use all your blog articles and beef it up a bit. I guarantee it would lend humor and insight into “It” from Wasilla. Please consider it. I would be thrilled to read it.

    I wonder how “It” is receiving the VF article. Any tweets yet? Hmmmmm?

  151. London Bridges says:

    Almost crapped my pants when I read Todd P. Whew it was Todd Post-partum not Todd Palin! I though the Toad was going to defend Sarah’s honor!

  152. Nebraska Native says:

    OMG this is a good interview… wow!

  153. Ripley in CT says:

    Oohh… just read Sullivan. Man, is he pissed off. Hell, maybe he’s the iceberg! Awoke the beast, and all that.

    Perhaps this article is attached to what will be her eventual downfall. That is MSM, baby. Vanity Fair. The ones who broke Watergate, for God’s sake. Totally Legit.

    Oh man, I can see her squirming now. Who’s taking bets on her next move? Will it be to finally go away, or will it be to rush the stage?

  154. justafarmer says:

    ok, Purdum,

  155. justafarmer says:

    Todd Parlum (sp) that is

  156. justafarmer says:

    Todd P on Hardball right now!

  157. Jackie says:

    @63-Say No to Palin & 87-Rubber Room – Not to take up for Sarah, cuz I’d hate that, but I understood Todd is only 1/8th native – if so his kids do not qualify for Native Benefits. I’m pretty sure benefits cut off after the 1/8th point.

  158. Gramiam says:

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/#31670487 This is the link for Hardball interview with Todd S. Purdum

  159. Nebraska Native says:

    ( Is this really going to do it? The end of GINO and all the damage she has done in a relatively short time? Oh please oh please)

  160. justafarmer says:

    sorry for hijacking the thread…I’ll stop now!

  161. justafarmer says:

    thanks Ennealogic, I was just in Tuesday mode..lol!
    Glad I can go to sleep early tonight!

  162. Gramiam says:

    okay it was several week away last week LOL!

  163. Nebraska Native says:

    Todd S Purdum is on the Hardball repeat next on MSNBC. (6:30 CDT)

  164. justafarmer says:

    lol Nebraska!
    another OT… MSNBC just did a little thing about Bon Jovi doing “Stand By Me” in Farsi for those in Iran.

  165. sjk from the belly of the plane says:

    Imaginary new tweet from the twit…”VF and MSM plot to overthro sov. state of ak w/new article of lies. Will continue to progress AK for missile def funds and free salmon for all”

  166. NMJ says:

    Terrific 10,000 word article by Purdum. I caught the link from Politico, and read it this morning. Hardball was all over it, and I’m sure Keith and Rachel will be too.

    There are several links to the Purdum article on Google News, so it’s probably already gone viral. Let’s see the MSM ignore this one!

  167. anon blogger says:

    Another fluff article of Palin coming out in a running magazine; saw on HuffPost.

  168. E in New England says:

    Samper: OMG, the last one! I spit water all over my monitor!

  169. Gramiam says:

    They said last week that there would be new sign-ups and just regular meetings. Last I heard over 600 signed up now and next meeting is several weeks away.

  170. Ennealogic says:

    justafarmer, I think the next meeting is July 7…

  171. futurexpat? says:

    It was a really good read. Not much of it may be new to a lot of us, but I’ll bet it is really opening some eyes. It’s getting some real traction out there.

    And so far, Sarah has been uncharacteristically quiet.

  172. Nebraska Native says:

    Farmer… that would be just too much for one day… I thought it was next week, but I could be making that up as I go along.

  173. justafarmer says:

    OT but do we have an Anchorage Assembly meeting tonight?

  174. Nebraska Native says:

    Bummer Dudette… not a lot of links to the Runner’s World article as the VF one becomes viral. Oopsie. She wanted attention and now she’s got it. Careful what you ask for darlin’!

  175. samper says:

    Those RW photos are deplorable. What is she, 15?

  176. Lee323 says:

    Todd S. Purdum: “It Came from Wasilla.”

    It??

    Yikes. Sounds like he’s referring to something like the “Creature from the Black Lagoon.”

  177. London Bridges says:

    When Saradise Lost awoke this morning (I’m plagiarizing Gord Lightfoot, here) she must have thought today was gonna be her day! After her daily Botox injection, she planned on basking in the glory of being a pin-up in Runner’s World. Alas, sometime the Truth gets in the way of the best laid plans of Mice & Men! Poor Sarah!

  178. austintx says:

    151 samper Says:
    June 30th, 2009 at 3:06 PM
    Still not a tweet? Not a twitter? She’s been silent all day!
    *********************************************************
    Just this in 24 hrs. What can she say……..party is over.

    Standing room only reported @ AM Kensington Mine Celebration w/JNU COC. Good words re: positive Supreme Court decision & moving forward.
    about 4 hours ago from TwitterBerry

  179. Nebraska Native says:

    Is she back in AK?

  180. justafarmer says:

    Star…I think Sarah might be fishing as well….prolly not for salmon though…

  181. samper says:

    Still not a tweet? Not a twitter? She’s been silent all day!

    She must be sick or something. Certainly, she wouldn’t let this slide!

  182. Ripley in CT says:

    Just sent a message to Mr. Purdum on Facebook. He’ll become very popular all of a sudden. 🙂

  183. ds55 says:

    @ teutonic13 — #142: I remember seeing that ace bandage around her hand/wrist. But I thought she gave another explanation for it. Not a fall while running… anyone remember or have a link? I’ll look for it.

  184. Pepper1939 says:

    Haven’t the time to read all of the comments, but if you have not seen this video….plus the comments regarding it, you better take the time. Maybe it has already been mentioned:
    http://theimmoralminority.blogspot.com/2009/06/sarahpac-4th-of-july-video-oh-you-are.html

    Enjoy…….I puked.

  185. London Bridges says:

    Hot Dusty Roads is plagiarizing the Buffalo Springfield. Neil and Steve are you listening?

  186. Tealwomin says:

    Over at DailyKos, there is a post about the Runner World article, here are some of the comments so far:

    She said, “Sweat is my sanity.”
    Clearly, Palin must have undiagnosed anhidrosis…an inability to sweat because she sure as s#*t ain’t sane.
    …………………
    Challenge a man of Kenyan descent to a footrace.
    I wonder, would his heart rate have even increased by the time her brain embolized?
    ……………………………………
    she is a walkin’, talkin’ snarkalicious idiot. She proves it again

  187. Nebraska Native says:

    Ohhhhhhhhh, poor Sarah got an owie from showing off…

  188. Gramiam says:

    Where I come from we say, “The Vigaro just hit the mixmaster”.

  189. Star says:

    Where’s Sarah??? She will probably say Obama is the one behind the VF article!!! Loving it…LMAO

  190. teutonic13 says:

    A funny Politico Article

    June 30, 2009
    Categories: Sarah Palin
    The other Palin profile

    Vanity Fair’s not the only magazine with a Sarah Palin piece out today. Runner’s World has a Q&A feature with the Alaska governor, albeit a slightly less buzzy one. Among many insights about the governor’s exercise regimen, there are also a few reminiscences about the 2008 campaign:

    Tell me about a memorable run during the campaign that really stands out.

    Oh, my gosh, the one that really stands out I’m embarrassed to death to repeat. I went for a run at John McCain’s ranch a couple of days before the debate with Joe Biden. My favorite thing in the world is to run on hot, dusty roads. I don’t get enough of that in Alaska. So I was in heaven and there were plenty of hills so I knew my thighs were going to just throb and my lungs were going to burn and that’s what I crave.

    I like running alone and having the Secret Service with me added a little bit of pressure. I’m thinking I gotta have good form and can’t be hyperventilating and can’t be showing too much pain and that adds a little more pressure on you as you’re trying to be out there enjoying your run. Then I fell coming down a hill and was so stinkin’ embarrassed that a golf cart full of Secret Service guys had to pull up beside me. My hands just got torn up and I was dripping blood. In the debate you could see a big fat ugly Band-Aid on my right hand. I have a nice war wound now as a reminder of that fall in the palm of my right hand. For much of the campaign, shaking hands was a little bit painful.

    By Alexander Burns 06:22 PM

  191. Gramiam says:

    ICEBERG ALERT!! I can see it from my back porch!!! (and I live in Arizona!!) Everybody grab your hardhats. The sky is falling!!

  192. Nebraska Native says:

    Andrew Sullivan is on a roll… must have had some late afternoon coffee… he is STILL churning out posts. Meggie, are you ready for your close-up? GINO?

  193. Ripley in CT says:

    I love that megaphone stapletongue has a slap mark on the side of her face from that article, too.

  194. justafarmer says:

    I’m waiting for that Barbarian Sarah to show up on the cover of the next issue of Rolling Stone…
    oh, and MSNBC is all over the VF story this evening

  195. wearyvoter says:

    I’m going to the gym first just to get my blood pressure way, way, down. Then I’m going to pop some corn, sit back, log on, relax, and enjoy the read.

    The thought of her being one heartbeat away from taking over from McCain still makes me shudder.

    In other random thoughts: I would love to see her, Blago, and Sanford on an all-politician version of “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here.”

  196. Tealwomin says:

    Runners World article: she said she can beat PrezO right now – today!

    yeah she can beat him alright…running her mouth
    She is trippin’ HARD!
    said she runs to stay in shape phy & mental….I’m like OK, you still didn’t give birth to a 6 lb baby.

  197. Lisabeth says:

    If you all want to be sickened, make sure to go to immoral minority and see the new Sarah PAC video. It is delusional, strange, insulting to Obama and flat out racist.

  198. anon blogger says:

    opps…Me, too. “Ennealogic”

  199. Lisabeth says:

    Sullivans comments are excellent, especially about the MSM and how they havent dealt well with the Trig story, he is right on about Scarah in every way.

  200. Bystander says:

    You MUST see the photos in the Runner’s World article- Sarah is still 17 and a beauty contestant! She is ready for her close up….

  201. anon blogger says:

    Enneologic #128

    Me, too! LOL

  202. Ennealogic says:

    oops *bearing should be baring…

  203. InJuneau says:

    Country Girl–I don’t know, I think definition #2 is spot on too!

    Alaskan Sisu–“Tweets from Twitville”(tm)?

  204. Ennealogic says:

    Yes, Andrew Sullivan is about to burst. One day soon someone will open the can of hoax and a great wail will be heard rising up from Pee-land, and there will be gnashing of teeth and bearing of breast and pulling of hair and lots of effort at denying the obvious.

    I patiently await the day.

  205. winkwinkWA says:

    Story comeing up on the ED SHOW SHORTLY..I think she took over the Jackson talk, but not in the way she wanted…lol

  206. anon blogger says:

    Applause….applause. Great interview by Chuck Todd. He really pointed out some issues and the author did a really great job telling his story; what he learned about the person he sought out to know. And years from now, someone will run across his article and history will prove he nailed it!! A true journalist.

    With words on the screen and Chuck reading them, i.e., “….the vice presidency would be in the hands of a woman who lacked the knowledge, the preparation, the aptitude, and the temperament for the job.” The author summarized opinions of those who knew.

    How sad, and really horrific when you think about it, such person who does not have the aptitude or temperament for the office of the vice presidency; shocking she made it that close to the power and control of this nation; a liar as well. Shameful of those who conspired to persuade me to vote for a woman who was no more qualified for that job than me. Even more so, a substitute if anything happened to the one holding the highest seat of this great nation, a 72-year-old cancer survivor, were they kidding?! And since, all the ethic complaints and family drama stuff taking air time away from the true issues of the day!?! I hope those followers open their eyes before it’s too late. I don’t think Palin will go away until the money stops rolling in.

    OT Sanford said God wants him to stay in office. The arrogance of some making God’s decisions and rules. Okay, I better stop.

  207. EyeOnYou says:

    HOLY CRAP!!!!!

    And The Story The MSM Still Won’t Touch
    http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/06/and-the-story-the-msm-still-wont-touch.html

    The story of the “wild ride”.

  208. UK Lady says:

    Thanks all! – going to watch Hardball now. Keep looking at Andrew Sullivan, he is on fire. He really, really doesn’t like Sarahaha!

  209. Bystander says:

    Check out all of Andrew Sullivan’s Palin posts today on Daily Dish.

  210. I hear Meg is now going through post erratum depression.
    .
    Guv Ikon is going through boast tart am depression

  211. Lisabeth says:

    Ds55, that was in the Vanity Fair article!!

  212. Lisabeth says:

    UKlady, you might be able to get a podcast of Hardball through ITunes or on the MSNBC web site. I often listen to Keith Olberman this way. ITunes is free to downlad for listening to podcasts.

    I LOVED what Andrew Sullivan wrote.

    I hope you have all seen sarahpacs new racist video. Scarah has no common sense and she is obviously listening to people who haven’t a clu.
    What a week.

  213. ds55 says:

    Andrew Sullivan posted:

    “When Trig was born, Palin wrote an e-mail letter to friends and relatives, describing the belated news of her pregnancy and detailing Trig’s condition; she wrote the e-mail not in her own name but in God’s, and signed it “Trig’s Creator, Your Heavenly Father.””

    Jeezus, did Palin really do this? I mean.. she’s just a nut, isn’t she?

  214. samper says:

    Great Idea! Let’s support honest print media!

    I’ll buy the issue as well!

  215. honestyinGov says:

    Huffpo fans love the VF post. Lots of stuff being posted. And as someone pointed out… who doesn’t love the Katie Couric interview. It never gets old. Watching her mind trying to make sense of her comments. Especially the first few seconds where you see her concentrating sooooooo hard.
    ( Couric interview )
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nokTjEdaUGg

  216. samper says:

    justafarmer: LOL at DH!!!!

  217. FL NANA says:

    I read the whole article earlier today on HP. I must say, some of the most enjoyable reading I’ve done in a long time! Enjoyed every minute of it.

  218. swe123 says:

    I can’t wait. I’ve never read VF before but I will definitely be buying the next issue. Hopefully if they sell tons of magazines they will have motivation to keep them coming.

  219. duct idaho palin says:

    What a good idea about buying a copy of VF– I will certainly do that. I just hope that the media gets the idea that what sells is TRUTHFUL stories about Palin, not supporting puff pieces.

  220. Seagull Junker Palin says:

    Mudflatters – keep going back to Andrew Sullivan’s blog. He’s adding updates as he reads through the article!!!

  221. Seagull Junker Palin says:

    Husky – I don’t think it out on the newsstands yet. They usually release good stories online first, then it comes out about a week later. I may be wrong – so definitely check. Johnny Depp is last month’s cover. Heath Ledger will be the cover with Gov. Icon’s (SP) article.

  222. Martha Unalaska Yard Sign says:

    She knew that VF was in Alaska. She’s probably been planning the response for a long time, but now that she’s used up all of her get-out-of-jail-free cards trashing & whining about the media, comedians and bloggers – well, now might just not be the right time! Heh heh. She’s so easy to bait – there’s so much material there!

  223. Canadian Neighbour says:

    UK Lady,
    The Palin VF vid is uploaded on Hardball now

  224. justafarmer says:

    London Bridges…that is soooo great!

  225. Martha Unalaska Yard Sign says:

    Hey! SP grabbed the news cycle today! Isn’t no news the only bad news? LOL!

  226. Husky says:

    I’m sorry if someone has already said this, but even though I know the magazine has to profit some from all of the online reads it’s getting, I’m going to go out tomorrow and buy the magazine as a way of showing my support for when print media gets something right.

    I HAVE to think that the author must have been reading Mudflats for a long, long, time. Here is where dots have been connected from the get go. I’m not saying he didn’t do his research, and do it well, but I’d be surprised if AKM’s blog didn’t have a hand in steering him.

  227. justafarmer says:

    and I just thought…”if the naughty monkey shoes fit…”

  228. UK Lady says:

    Big Pete – Big TA!

  229. Gardenslug says:

    Purdum was fairly gentle with the governor.
    Andrew Sullivan’s reaction to the article is intriguing:

    “The narcissism, the pathological and incessant lying, the viciousness, the delusions of grandeur, the vindictiveness, the fathomless and proud ignorance, the opportunism, the vanity, the white trash concupiscence and fraudulence in almost every respect: these are now indisputable…
    But I did learn of several new odd lies – in the same classic pattern of categorically denying things that are categorically and patently and verifiably true. This is not, as this blog noted in the campaign, the typical political lie, the Clintonian parsing of truth or lying when the truth cannot easily be discovered. It is the statement that it is night when it is clearly, by universal aggreement, three o’clock in the afternoon. So the Dish needs an update and it is imminent. Stay tuned.”

  230. Susan G. says:

    Five-four-three-two-one… Palin gotcha-journalism-elite-media victim dance.

  231. justafarmer says:

    ohmy! hubby was confused when I mentioned the VF headline.
    he said “I thought it was about Sanford!”
    I said “no, it’s about Sarah”.
    he said, “sorry, I thought the phrase was Little Shop of Whores…”

  232. London Bridges says:

    tonight’s top ten reasons:
    1. She fakes a pregnancy better than Desperate Housewives.
    2. She is able to leave veteran political operatives speechless.
    3. She really know how to put on a Thanksgiving splash.
    4. She is not easily misled into thinking someone is living in her household merely because their stuff is there for a few months.
    5. She doesn’t like thinking & facts cluttering her mind.
    6. She thinks preparing for a debate means spending $150K on clothing.
    7. She thinks “Little Shop of Horrors” is an excuse for a free 7 day family vacation to NYC.
    8. She thinks a closed door meeting is one in which the attendees engage in sexual activity.
    9. She would never appoint someone to head the Agriculture Department unless they really loved cows.
    and reason #10!
    10. 85% of the time, she can tell Bristol & Willow apart.

  233. Nan says:

    Laurie Says (@33)
    June 30th, 2009 at 12:36 PM

    I enjoyed the read. LOL …I have to stop watching those videos about the 7 mountains and dominionists, cause they are really scaring me. Imagine the damage that could be done if really looney people took them seriously?
    ______________________

    What’s even scarier is… imagine the damage that could be done if really smart people didn’t take them seriously…

    Puts a whole new spin on that, doesn’t it?

  234. Aussie Blue Sky says:

    Seagull Junker Palin Says:
    June 30th, 2009 at 1:08 PM
    I’m afraid I’m going to use this comment section as my shameless advertising piece for Vanity Fair. I’ve subscribed for over 10 years now. It is one of the most interesting reads – every single month. There is always a fantastic political article. Since last year every month there is detailed information about the financial meltdown. Not to forget Christopher Hitchen’s waterboarding “experiment” last year. Also, too, there are always great “Hollywood” stories, the last one I loved was all about the making of “The Godfather”.
    ——————————————————————-
    I have to endorse your endorsement. Through more than 20 years, through the seven-week delay in getting to rural Australia, through all the NY-centric goss that I had no interest in, through all those more recent issues full of pics of dull celebrities …… I’ve remained a devoted reader of the best magazine writers on the planet.

    The next time someone writes about Sarah Palin, their focus won’t be so narrow. 😉

  235. Canadian Neighbour says:

    Martha Unalaska Yard Sign,
    You can almost envision the bots snapping their heads to the left coming from one direction and snap to the right for the next. They’ll all need chiropractors by day end!!

  236. Canadian Neighbour says:

    UK Lady,
    I watch Keith O, Rachel and tonight Hardball on the MSNBC.com site as I don’t get the station either.

    Here’s the Hardball link. I bookmarked it. The VF author hasn’t been uploaded yet but should be fairly soon as Keith O is uploaded within an hour after airing.

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/

  237. EyeOnYou says:

    Former McCain Aides Talk About Sarah Palin Vanity Fair Hit Piece.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4ZYw6B3ltU

    Nicole Wallace basically confirms that she was NOT the one who did the shopping for the Palin clothing like Palin claims.

    For all those who were looking for that picture of Sarah hugging Eddie Burke at the after he introduced her during the Michael Reagan speech….this video has it included (@ 0:54 second mark) ! 🙂

  238. West Coast Annie says:

    “People who lie like this are not politicians. They’re sociopaths.”

    http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/

  239. BigPete says:

    UK Lady

    You should be able to see Hardball here

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/

  240. Alaskan Sisu says:

    Marth Unalaska Yard Sign – Sounds like those twits on tweeter are having a field day! (I think that was the term used earlier)

  241. honestyinGov says:

    I don’t know if this link was already posted. ( sorry if it has ) There was no mention of the VF article on the front page at ADN. I did a web search just to find this. It was only about 3 short paragraphs or quotes from VF. And there is ‘ no name ‘ attributed to the posting and of course no opinion afterward. If SURE no one at ADN wants their name linked to this piece. Vindictive…. yu betcha.

    http://www.adn.com/3437/story/848568.html

  242. Martha Unalaska Yard Sign says:

    Would you want to watch SP hopping around the room, banging fists, pulling hair extensions, bawling to her vindictive god – mad as he11… “They will NOT push me down, I WILL rule the world!”

    No – Me neither.

  243. Alaskan Sisu says:

    This read is healing for many Alaskans. Betcha’ if you hit rewind you’ll see her exhibiting the identical manic VP behavior within the State of Alaska from the very minute she took office. Her first order of business was to divert attention and take away any credibility Alaska’s legislature and our Washington politicians had. Then she hit the ground running creating geographical divisiveness within the State. So predictable. Now if we could just fast forward her butt out of Alaska.

  244. Martha Unalaska Yard Sign says:

    The VF article is everywhere – the bots are confused!

    … who to attack? Where to attack? Too many damn sites linking to the article…dammit…. what do we do now and maybe the ten of us better split up…

    I’m paraphrasing of course – (and maybe there’s really eight, not ten?).

  245. UK Lady says:

    Mirage 18

    Any chance of a summary of Hardball for us poor Brits and others who can’t get US TV?

  246. The Rubber Room Hotel says:

    Say No to PiP,

    It really irks me, having had worked as a community health aide for many years. I have a pretty good knowledge of the health care that has been available to Todd and the kids and Sarah during any pregnancies. And it is way more than any uninsured person that’s for sure. And at no personal cost to the Palins. So what she has said about insurance isn’t a misrepresentation it is an out right lie.
    Though Sarah herself is not a beneficiary to NHC she would have been covered for prenatal and the birth of her children who are basically covered from conception.

  247. samper says:

    Just watched author on Hardball… good interview. He’s a very level-headed guy. Fair, not overly attacking, but still drivin’ the point home.

    The best part: They showed CONCESSION NIGHT and the close up of SP on the verge of tears! I love that whole clip! DEFEAT!

    Also, too, watch it again… note the incredible awkwardness in the hug with McCain and even McCain/Dud’s handshake.

    It’s like “Get me out of here and away from this bats*&t crazy family!”

  248. InJuneau says:

    Earlier today Professor Geezer coined the new nickname “Megagasket”!

  249. SillyWhabbit, Seattle, WA says:

    Totally OT
    CONGRATULATIONS SENTATOR FRANKEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  250. Say NO to Palin in Politics says:

    Scarha’s gotta say something, she told the world she’s not gonna sit down and shut up, lol.

    10, 9, 8, 7

  251. Ennealogic says:

    I just congratulated Purdum via Facebook message, just finished watching him on Hardball too. He did good. He opened doors, and my favorite part was his reference to Desperate Housewives and the many ways Sarah lies. Outright. In your face. Denying reality lies.

    Perfect.

  252. Say NO to Palin in Politics says:

    wow Andrew Sullivan really slammed Scarha, I wonder what this means…….

    “So the Dish needs an update and it is imminent. Stay tuned.”

  253. Martha Unalaska Yard Sign says:

    Politico’s take on the outcome:

    http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0609/Purdum_on_Palin.html

    “The political fallout from the very tough piece: Critics will find more about her to loathe, supporters will think she’s again being victimized by the media and those who fall into neither category will be that much more curious to find out what McCain himself now truly thinks about his decision.”

    They are forgetting to mention that “those who fall into neither category” will also be that much more curious to find out more about her if she runs for anything. This is a great – dispel that Hockey Mama BS!

  254. London Bridges says:

    Vanity Fair’s top ten reasons Sarah Palin is Hot!

  255. califpat says:

    Typing too fast. That is Purdum.. yikes!!!!

  256. wagonjak says:

    From Andrew Sullivan on Palin, remarking on the VF piece…wagonjak

    “As the months have gone by since John McCain revealed his total cynicism and contempt for America’s national security by selecting one Sarah Palin to be a potential vice-president of the United States, we have learned that every single ghastly attribute we discovered in the campaign is worse than we thought at the time.

    The narcissism, the pathological and incessant lying, the viciousness, the delusions of grandeur, the vindictiveness, the fathomless and proud ignorance, the opportunism, the vanity, the white trash concupiscence and fraudulence in almost every respect: these are now indisputable. How an advanced democracy came that close to having this farce of a candidate running the most powerful country on earth reveals how deep the corruption of our politics and especially our media are.”

  257. rebekkah says:

    These words stood out for me: “Stubborn resistance to direction” – “She was furious” – “there were severe tensions between Palin and the campaign” – “3 top McCain aides were barely on speaking terms with her”

    It appears that she doesn’t have a team spirit, or can cooperate and work together with others. I am bewildered at the thought of what might have been if they actually had won.

  258. honestyinGov says:

    We can only hope that all the David Letterman comedy writers are big Vanity Fair readers as well. Or Vanity Fair sent a few copies over to them.

    I mean, what magazine wouldn’t want quotes mentioning their name mentioned every night on TV. Free advertizing. And Letterman would be off the hook because all he has to say is ” VF said…etc..” Or ” Did you read the story in VF..”

  259. califpat says:

    that’s my favorite..

  260. califpat says:

    My facorite parts of the Vanity Fair Peice:

    When Ourdun describes GINO’s appearance at the dinner:

    ” No red naughty monkey double dare pumps tonight.”

    ” A few minutes later, the evenings nominal keynote speaker, the Republican Party National Chairman, Micheal Steele, who has been reduced to a footnote”….

    “When she chooses to reveal herself, what she reveals is not always the same as the truth”

    I havent stopped laughing yet!!!

  261. Mirage 18 says:

    Todd Purdum is being interviewed on MSNBC by Chuck Todd as I am reading this. Perfect timing.

  262. Country Girl says:

    Palin is a cipher by choice.”
    ………………………………………..

    I checked my dictionary:

    cipher |ˈsīfər| (also cypher)
    noun

    1 a secret or disguised way of writing; a code.

    2 dated a zero; a figure 0.
    • figurative a person or thing of no importance.

    3 a monogram.

    4 a continuous sounding of an organ pipe, caused by a mechanical defect.

    Which?

    I vote for # 4

  263. LIVVY says:

    PRAISE GOD, ALLAH AND ALL THE LESSER SAINTS!!!!!!!!!!

  264. Say NO to Palin in Politics says:

    spend money on me, d*mn it, I’m the VP pick! the hissy fit over an AK poll.

  265. Seagull Junker Palin says:

    Say No – oh ABSOLUTELY respectable. Left leaning, yes, sometimes…at least the editor is – he skewered W every month. But absolutely thorough and respectable. They were the ones who broke the W. Mark Felt/Deep Throat story.

  266. the problem child says:

    Andrew Sullivan is unusually restrained… LOL. The picture he chose is completely unrelated to the content of the article, and yet makes the point of the article clear. And the explanation/ caption for the picture is missing the word “really”. /snark

  267. Say NO to Palin in Politics says:

    Seagull Junker Palin, so I guess if a reporter from VF mag called or came a knockin it would be considered a respected magazine. Let’s hope more open up and share the truth.

    Scarah’s gotta be sh*ttin bricks and lightning bolts out her eyes. Ya think the staff is walkin on eggshells today? lol she’s probably issued an order that no one talk about it.

  268. KaJo says:

    I just sent Todd Purdum a Facebook message.

  269. wasillawarrior says:

    I’m loving it !!!! The Cindy-Palin pic is great usually we just see that pic cropped to just pouty puss…I wonder if she stomped her foot as she stuck out her lip…she will want an apology for his unkind words about her truth problem….hee heee…

  270. Say NO to Palin in Politics says:

    good point RubberRoom on the native health insurrance, proof of her lying.

  271. txindygirl says:

    I wish the article would have skewered her on Twittering.

    Should an important person like a Gov be tweeting so incessantly about some KID who hacked her yahoo? Especially as it was an account inappropriately used for government business?

    She lacks so much in the dignity that might otherwise make up for her lack of appropriate footwear.

  272. Lee323 says:

    Three quotes by Purdum about Palin that stood out in my mind are:

    1) “It was in this environment that her ambition first found an outlet in public office, and where she first tasted the 151-proof Everclear that is power.”

    2) “Palin is a cipher by choice. When she chooses to reveal herself, what she reveals is not always the same thing as the truth.”

    3) “Andrew, I watch you at these debates with no notes, no papers, and yet when asked questions, you spout off facts, figures, and policies, and I’m amazed. But then I look out into the audience and I ask myself, Does any of this really matter?”

    The composite picture from these quotes is….. a dishonest politician who is drunk on power and has no respect for the importance of knowledge and education required for leadership.

    Purdum hit the nail on the head exactly right. Yes, Sarah….it really does matter.

  273. Seagull Junker Palin says:

    I’m afraid I’m going to use this comment section as my shameless advertising piece for Vanity Fair. I’ve subscribed for over 10 years now. It is one of the most interesting reads – every single month. There is always a fantastic political article. Since last year every month there is detailed information about the financial meltdown. Not to forget Christopher Hitchen’s waterboarding “experiment” last year. Also, too, there are always great “Hollywood” stories, the last one I loved was all about the making of “The Godfather”.

    And now returning to your regularly scheduled program….

  274. honestyinGov says:

    Has anyone had a tweet from the Shrilla yet today…. She would have had half a dozen by now on a ‘ normal ‘ day.
    Nothing about VF, nothing about the John Moeller Lie… etc…

    The only ‘ logical explanation’ would be that she had been duct taped across the mouth with her hands tied behind her back….

    IE : She is being tortured !! Let her speak !!!

  275. austintx says:

    46 samper Says:
    June 30th, 2009 at 12:55 PM
    Author of VF article is going to be on HARDBALL tonite!
    ****************************************************
    I’ll be watchin’ that !!

  276. LiladyNY says:

    Palin aspires to be adequate! LOL

  277. austintx says:

    Commenter in ThinkProgress article concerning the VF article.
    Arn Gunnutes Says:
    And speaking of Birth Certificates, did she EVER produce one for Trig, showing her to be the MOTHER?

    As opposed to the GRANDMOTHER?

    I don’t believe so.

    Does ANYONE have a LINK to the kid’s BIRTH CERTIFICATE.

    By now, there are PLENTY to Obama’s…

  278. West Coast Annie says:

    Andrew Sullivan’s reaction to VF.

    http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/06/palin-the-horror.html

  279. phoebe says:

    #52 Say NO

    What a wonderful thought!

  280. katmc says:

    There’s a Chapter 2??

    HOT DIGGITY DOG!

    Let it all hang out.

  281. Say NO to Palin in Politics says:

    just think of all the millions of office waiting rooms this magazine will be in, waiting on the table for people to read, the MANY people who don’t know what we know, lol, they may not have time to read all 6 pages.

  282. GinaM says:

    Second favorite part of the story was when they were trying to get her up to speed for the debate and she refuse to cooperate:

    “Palin just stared down, disengaged, non-participatory. A disaster loomed, so Schmidt made the difficult decision to leave campaign headquarters, in Virginia, and fly to McCain’s vacation retreat in Sedona, Arizona, where it was thought that Palin might be able to relax and recharge, and accept the assistance of a voice coach and a television coach. For three full days—at the height of the campaign—Schmidt dropped virtually all other business to help Palin prepare.”

    A voice coach!!!

  283. SystemBucker says:

    It was a great read. Plus, the photo of Palin and Cindy McCain was beautiful! Now I’m moving on to facebook to send Todd Purdum a nice message!!! Thanks for supplying the link GinaM.

    PS. AKM, I think you should right the “other” book!!! Really! 🙂

  284. justafarmer says:

    also, I was just more than a little curious as to WHO loaded her concession speech into the teleprompter (teleprompter???? she NEVER uses a teleprompter 🙂 ..just cheatsheets written in ballpoint pen on her arms…)
    ooooh….to have a look at that concession speech….

  285. Say NO to Palin in Politics says:

    yes, and who did that? Toad? who else would make sure it got on there.

    sneaky and stealth……..and people are supposed to believe she was only wearing a jacket, HA! I never bought that for a moment. World wide walking billboard, with free lights!

    Don’t leave out my Meg moniker, Forkedtongue

    “went to load Mccain’s speech on the teleprompter her’s was already loaded!

  286. KaJo says:

    Another thing — mmboucher Florida’s very first comment at 12:10 PM (“Good job AKM, we need you to do a follow-up for Vanity Fair!”) reminded me — AKM, you DO do occasional stories that get posted on HuffPo.

    This Vanity Fair writeup looks like an ideal topic, with links and background information.

  287. samper says:

    Author of VF article is going to be on HARDBALL tonite!

    Chuck Todd is sitting in, admitting full out that Chris is “out of the country”, but not in Argentina. (He said this last night).

  288. UK Lady says:

    West Coast Annie @ 30

    Took the words right out of my next comment.

    Joe Liebernman for sure is the one who tagged her “Little Shop of Horrors”, only thing I ever agreed with him on.

  289. justafarmer says:

    I actually read the entire six pages and enjoyed every bit of it.
    There needs to be a sequel!

  290. txindygirl says:

    The Vanity Fair article even surpasses the Conde Naste Portfolio article. And that one was GOOD.

  291. califpat says:

    Got to get me a copy of Vanity Fair!! Oh happy days!!!

  292. Martha Unalaska Yard Sign says:

    Meg the Tongue used to work for Palin at the state. Title = Snake Tongue

  293. A Fan From Chicago says:

    I loved that he referenced the Thanksgiving turkey pardon and subsequent decapitations that took place for all the world to see. Can’t get enough of those images. It was the single most hysterical Sarah moment of the year. Dumb as a stump that woman.

  294. sjk from the belly of the plane says:

    no one in their right mind will vote for her for ANYTHING. that being said there are a lot of folks in this country NOT in their right mind. Keep the pressure on.

  295. Canadian Neighbour says:

    One of my favs was Meg making sure to take the email communication off the state email address to continue the communication under the private yahoo email address. In print and not deniable as the yahoo addresses were sometime back which results in out of sight, out of mind for some people. Not now!!

    I also enjoyed how Todd researched and communication with the various people that worked for GINO or ran her earlier campaign. Many were quite open in their commenting.

  296. txindygirl says:

    Death by a thousand tiny cuts. There were so many best parts. Sigh.

    “…so many …privately realized she was casual about the truth…”

    “Palin was furious. She was convinced that Schmidt had lied to her, a belief she conveyed to anyone who would listen.”

    “Palin worked hard, and the results were adequate. ”

    “…there has always been a counter-narrative about Palin, and indeed it has become the dominant one.”

    “…Palin and all that she is could only have come from Wasilla.”

    And there was even a shout-out to TeamScary and the Sea of Pee:

    “It has captivated people who would never have given someone with Palin’s record a second glance if Palin had looked like Susan Boyle.”

  297. Wolfe Tone says:

    I can’t wait for Teh Crazy™ semi-offical press release from Meghan Stapletongue.

  298. the problem child says:

    EyeOnYou, it sounded like maybe she was replying to an e-mail request that had been sent to her and copied to a state account, probably a GINO state spokesperson’s. She was indicating that she was not going to “reply to all” on her response, was how I read it.

  299. KaJo says:

    I noticed that Todd Purdum had some pretty up-to-date information in that article. Up to the Letterman issue, anyway.

    Anyone care to get ahold of him and periodically send him the NEXT installments? 🙂

    He should be told about the “iconic” issue, and the latest — Palin’s breaking Federal and military law campaigning in Kosovo and insulting a US Senator in her speech, her religiosity in her Tweet messages, and the “50% lies she and her Rural Advisor are conspiring on regarding the sustenance fishing for the Yukon village fishermen.

    Phil Munger suggested over at P.A., also, that someone screen-grab the Erika Bolstad — ADN sponsorship of Palin’s beg-athon before Pat Dougherty realizes it puts him and the ADN in a very bad light (I just saved it to my hard drive).

    Oh, I think if we put our minds to it, there’s LOTS of stuff the Vanity Fair reporter could be clued in on — I can see that he may have run out of time before his deadline, interviewing and collating information to date. I think he did a pretty good job.

  300. Laurie says:

    I enjoyed the read. LOL…I especially liked the part where Toad got caught calling Republicans to remind them of Sarah for 2012. This was apparently right at the end of the campaign. I wonder how that made John feel? Hmm…wish someone would tell us more about that tidbit as well.

    I also wish he had touched on the religion aspect of all this too. I have to stop watching those videos about the 7 mountains and dominionists, cause they are really scaring me. Imagine the damage that could be done if really looney people took them seriously?

  301. 24owls says:

    Another great AKM – overall she sounds like a spoiled brat who has no respect for anyone, even McCain – and all the religious tweets, new hires, reference in Trig’s birth announcement, is really unsettling. The separation of state and church, for both state wide and nationally, was written with her in mind. Where is that iceberg to help to end her mess? The sooner the better.

    Thanks AKM –

  302. samper says:

    Some idiot on MSNBC is calling the article snarky, trying to throw Palin under bus, Obama won due to $$.

    Oh boy… here we go!

    Fastening seatbelt…

  303. West Coast Annie says:

    One longtime McCain friend and frequent companion on the trail was heard to refer to Palin as “Little Shop of Horrors.”

    Sounds like Joe Lieberman

  304. The Rubber Room Hotel says:

    Also about the insurance.
    Though Sarah herself did maybe did not have insurance, Todd is an Alaskan native and so are his children and covered under Native health services, and any pregnancy Sarah herself would have had prenatal and birth coverage also.
    The Native Health service may have its problems but it is still basic care and availability to doctors and meds at no cost to the Palins.

  305. BigPete says:

    “Nobody would ever know”.

    The article was quite casual in the way it dealt with Palin’s “casual attitude” towards the truth. Would it have been bad form to state that the Governor is a compulsive liar?

  306. EyeOnYou says:

    Stapleton replies to an email and says she will reply separately on a non-state account. When did this take place? After Stapleton left her job with the state I am guessing …..so….. Why was Stapleton having access to the state email account?

  307. Closet Mudpup says:

    samper

    I still wish they had let her speak that night. As emotional as she was (especially after getting booed during McCain’s speech), she may well have offended enough people that there’d be no having to put up with anything more from her. Ever. I have no doubt she would have begun her 2012 campaign right then and there. It could have been so-o-o priceless!!

  308. K8KZ says:

    Read it and read the crazy responses over at the “team” site – they can’t get passed the wardrobe comment as they keep defending her in that she didn’t ask for it, but dang, did she look good in it!!
    Nothing else has sunk in and they can’t quite grasp what the rest of “us” think about their “Queen”.
    Nut jubs, and SP is the supreme nut!

  309. Martha Unalaska Yard Sign says:

    I said from night one that SP was chomping at the bit to speak and pissed – I know that snarky face too well for comfort. ICKY POO!

  310. sjk from the belly of the plane says:

    who wants gum?

    😉

  311. samper says:

    I can still see the video of the concession.

    She was all teary eyed… Poor, poor Sarah… so close and yet so far, far, FAR away from the WH now.

    Her speech was probably something like:

    In 2012, remember how much you all LOVE me and remember to VOTE for me! I’ll be runnin’ for Prez, dontcha know! And Todd can’t wait to be First Dude of the USA, even though he REALLY wants AK to break from the Union!

    Piper will be a BIG girl of 12 when you elect me POTUS! Just imagine how CUTE she will be then! Almost old enough to avoid the pesky “Child Labor Laws”, so maybe we can skirt around them and she can be my campaign manager!

    And Bristol will be JUST the right age for a nice WH wedding by then, also, too, that YOU ALL can PAY for!!!!

    Remember! Vote PALIN/BACHMAN 2012!

  312. GinaM says:

    Remember when she was standing stand biting her lips to keep from crying. I don’t think it was because she lost, it had to be about not getting her way. What’s up with the body language between her and the Dud. You never see them expressing any kind of connection. No PDA, nothing. It’s real strange.

  313. sjk from the belly of the plane says:

    my fave:

    (The one time Meg Stapleton, who handles Palin’s personal and political public relations, ever answered multiple e-mails was when I wrote her and Palin’s gubernatorial office at the same time, and she replied: “Thank you for emailing. I will email you separately so as to remove us from the state account.”)

  314. Sarah in SC says:

    Popping popcorn! And adding Junior Mints! 🙂

  315. the problem child says:

    Right before this new post went up, I had the following thought on the open thread, which I am vain enough to share again:
    ————
    171 the problem child Says:
    June 30th, 2009 at 11:48 AM
    Does it strike anyone else a curiously ironic that the magazine, VF, is named after a novel called “Vanity Fair” which was about Becky Sharpe, the meanest, sneakiest, most deceptive and self-serving little grifter the Victorian world could produce? Everyone loved her, until they learned to hate her.
    ————-
    “Vanitas, vanitatum. All is vanity.” — Thackeray

  316. pvazwindy says:

    Now that she knows how the party views Stapleton, I would hazard a guess you’ll find her under the bus, in no time.

  317. The Rubber Room Hotel says:

    The VF article was done very well.
    AKM your impression of the Article was also done well.
    Though my favorite line was about Alaska being a microcosm of the US and the
    No It isn’t.
    And the line about a Republican pot head and the Democratic gun collector had me spewing my coffee.

  318. anon blogger says:

    The best part I like:

    “…the vice presidency would be in the hands of a woman who lacked the knowledge, the preparation, the aptitude, and the temperament for the job.”

    FINALLY…the truth.

  319. Martha Unalaska Yard Sign says:

    Here’s the next article I would like to see:

    “It-Came-From-Wasilla Gal Returns Home, Rat Tail Tucked Between Legs”

    She’s got so many to lash out on after her return from overseas – quiet now, but the blast of outrage will come. Or maybe since they are getting such bad press over the tabloid style responses, Meg the Tongue and Twit the Gov, that they will lay just a bit lower and just tweet and write snarky tidbits, stabs, jabs for oh, about two weeks oughta do it.

    They WILL get the jabs in, it’s just a matter of how, and whether they have learned ANY restraint whatsoever. I’m doubting that – buy hey, they might be reading MF right now and decide to take my sage advice about cooling off! Stranger things have not happened!

  320. marcus2 says:

    It’s a good solid article. What comes through is that Sarah Palin is not fit to govern.

  321. pvazwindy says:

    The teleprompter stunt was a good chuckle. I think she forget she was in Phoenix. Poor thing. I also think, it’s a good idea to keep Mr. Purdum on point. If he needs more ammo just direct him to Mudflats.

  322. samper says:

    I agree!

    Favorite ones were signing the birth announcement as God and loading her speech WITHOUT EVEN ASKING and then demanding “final word” from McCain.

    Can you imagine McCain getting up there and having HER speech in front of him instead of his own? Presumptuous bi*&h. What, exactly, made her think her words were needed or wanted during the CONCESSION speech of the actual NOMINEE? (she wasn’t nominated, she was “selected” by the camp)

    What a great, big, whining, WHY CAN’T IT BE ABOUT ME? baby!

  323. Aussie Blue Sky says:

    The memorable part for me was that she so badly wanted to LIE about having no health insurance – and the campaign wouldn’t let her!

    “Catastrophic health insurance” has a certain ring to it. I’m not going to forget it.

  324. Cynamen Winter says:

    “I’ll be waiting for chapter two.”
    ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
    I’m looking forward to “The End.”
    😉

  325. GinaM says:

    Paula,
    I didn’t find his email but here is his facebook page.

    http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/profile.php?id=675136971&hiq=todd%2Cpurdum

  326. samper says:

    Still can’t believe the airwaves haven’t screeched with a tweet of indignation!

  327. Aussie Blue Sky says:

    GinaM Says:
    June 30th, 2009 at 12:15 PM
    My favorite part of the article was the concession speech. She asked could she give one and was told no but when they went to load Mccain’s speech on the teleprompter her’s was already loaded!!!! WTF.
    ————————————————
    And then she wouldn’t take “no” for an answer until she heard it from McCain himself! Can’t you just hear the whining?

  328. the problem child says:

    I frankly thought that he “borrowed’ a lot, without attribution, from the AK bloggers!

  329. Candy Knight says:

    Yes, not much there for those of us familiar with Alaska’s Queen of Crazy. But for those who’ve been asleep at the civic wheel, there are plenty of eye poppers, including her sending out Trig’s birth announcements signed by “God.”

  330. GinaM says:

    My favorite part of the article was the concession speech. She asked could she give one and was told no but when they went to load Mccain’s speech on the teleprompter her’s was already loaded!!!! WTF.

  331. Paula says:

    He done a whoopass job on that there article.

    I couldn’t find his email to give him a thumbs up. Maybe -if one of you finds it, you can post it for all of us?

  332. mmboucher Florida says:

    Good job AKM, we need you to do a follow-up for Vanity Fair!

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  1. […] story is probably gonna be bigger then the Letterman thingy, I’m guessing. I liked this part (H/T-Mudflats): But the part that really surprised me, and the thing that Alaska bloggers and others routinely […]