Sarah Palin Teabagging Speech Liveblog

10:02: And I guess we're done.

10:00: Talking about her running for president. The crowd is chanting for her to run. Asking her what the 3 things she would tackle as president--didn't he already ask her that question?

9:59: OHHH. She's talking about endorsements & how she'll make some people mad when she gets into the primaries. I hope she comes to Kentucky to see Rand Paul!!! She's going to "assist" in contested primaries.

9:58: More talking about her kids after whining about the liberal elites attacking them. Talking about how her son hates it when she talks about him. Track wants us to thank the troops that came before him.

9:57: "The Palin Plan" is simple & drives the "elitists" crazy b/c it's too simple & easy to follow. "Bottom line: we win. They lose." More platitudes. More cheering from the teabaggers.

9:55: She's pretty ramble-y & awful off the cuff. And she probably had these questions well in advance. No gotcha media for Sarah.

9:53: Plow right on through being harassed when the media is mean to you. Yes, Sarah, people hate you b/c you love your country. But anyway, when the media is mean to you, you should "plow right on through it" & that includes going on Oprah, writing numerous Facebook notes about how mean people are to you & writing a book whining about how the media treats you.

9:53: Our country needs "divine intervention." I guess she wants to follow the Constitution unless it's having to do with the separation of church & state.

9:52: She is hard to follow. She's just rambling on & on. I guess she needs a teleprompter...

9:48: Dammit. There's a Q&A. I guess I'll blog this.

9:48: "Merchant of hate with an 'Oh Gosh' smile." Perfect summation of Palin's speech. Perfection.

9:46: Thank God. She's done. God Bless us all--I'm getting drunk.

9:45: Just referenced Trigg. 2 minutes after she whined about people talking about her children.

9:44: More masturbating to Ronald Reagan. Working for the teabagging ideals is apparently a great tribute to him.

9:43: More whining about people attacking her children. Crowd booed.

9:43: "Liberal intolerance." She's not even talking in sentences, just uttering words like that.

9:42: Freedom is a "God-given right & it is worth fighting for." America should never ever apologize b/c we are always right.

9:41: Still trying to figure out how Palin wants Americans to serve. But all I'm hearing are platitudes & what is obviously a campaign speech.

9:40: Palin just applauded Bart Stupak for trying to enslave women to their wombs.

9:39: Palin is telling us how to serve our country. We don't need a leader--we're not all sheep, everyone is a unique snowflake.

9:37: We should be drilling in America. No more "cap & tax."

9:34: Pro-market agenda. Lower taxes for small businesses. Support competition & innovation. Reward hard work. Make sure the game is fair. Get government out of the way. This speech is all platitudes. Seriously.

9:33: OHH she's giving advice to Barack Obama. Talking about how D.C. should be just like Alaska. She sounds like she's giving a speech to 3rd graders.

9:31: "Freedom lovers" need to realize that we are more beholden to other countries & less free & should be seriously pissed off. Because the democrats HATE freedom.

9:29: The crowd just boo-ed at the idea of "union bosses."

9:28: More bashing of the president.

9:22: "You're probably tired of hearing the talk, talk, talk." Yes, Sarah, please STFU & get off my TV for one day.

9:20: Wait, Alaska is the beacon of hope for democracy for people living in oppressive regimes. Did I just hear that right?

9:19: Again, bashing the president. Is that all this speech is going to be?

Fuck using diplomacy. Let's just invade all the countries who we don't like.

9:18: "We need a commander in chief, not a professor of law standing at the lectern."

9:17: Apparently, the terrorists hate our constitution.

9:15: She claims she's not politicizing national security. The Christmas day bomber not accomplishing his goal was a "Christmas miracle." I wonder how she'd spin this if we had a Republican president.

9:13: Attacking Obama's role in national security. Being able to see Russia from her house makes her worthy of being president. She doesn't need to know the different between North & South Korea or who was behind 9/11.

9:12: Just called Obama a "charismatic guy with a teleprompter."

9:10: Competition=good. Sarah Palin speaks in all platitudes. Seriously. If I were doing Jezebel's drinking game, I'd be vomiting already.

9:09: This sounds like a campaign speech. Jesus Christ. She's going to run for president.

9:08: "Stop blaming everyone else." No, Sarah, you have never blamed anyone else for your problems. Except for in 400+ pages in your book.

9:06: "Real people." Not politicos. "Common sense conservative principles." I just want to drink.

9:05: "Do you love your freedom?" No, Sarah, I fucking hate freedom.

Already the masturbation over Ronald Reagan has begun.

9:04: HA! One of the commentators just slipped & called Palin, "Paris." I can see the similarities.

9:03: "There's a big question about what [Palin] knows." Umm...duh msnbc commentators.

9:02: msnbc commentators are saying that the teabaggers don't want Hispanics voting b/c they cannot read. And these people aren't racist...right.

8:58: Jezebel is apparently liveblogging as well & they have a fun drinking game here.

"Correlations between the current administration & Marxist dictators in Latin America." Apparently, that was a workshop at this teabagging conference. HA! This is going to be way too much fun.

8:56: 4 minutes to go & msnbc's still showing a program on Michael Jackson.

Going Rogue Part One

Okay folks. After a month plus long break I am back. I am determined to finish this book if it kills me.

We are opening with chapter 4, in which Palin & McCain “go rogue” together. It opens with Palin going to Arizona to be vetted for the vice presidential gig. About John McCain, Palin writes:

I had always admired the Republican Senator for his independent spirit and passion for keeping our homeland safe. I sincerely respected him. Both Todd and I found him a kind, respectful man. (210)

Kind & respectful? How about the time he called his wife a cunt & trollop in front of various members of the press & the joke he made about Janet Reno being Chelsea Clinton’s father? If that is what he says in public, I can only imagine what a raging asshole this man is in private.

There is also an odd anecdote about Steve Schmidt saying they were “going to ram ‘global test right up John Kerry’s ass.” (213) Schmidt apparently is good at employing the “gotcha media” that Palin likes to bemoan saying that “he was very good at setting traps for his opposition.” (213) I would think that Palin would be morally above such trickery, but apparently, when it’s her side that’s doing it, it’s all good.

When asked about the rivalry between the Sunni and the Shia, Palin “knew the history of the conflict to the extent that most Americans do.” (214) That’s all fine for an average American, but I want my vice president to be smarter than me and a lot more knowledgeable about foreign policy issues. I don’t want someone who doesn’t know why there are two Koreas or thinks that Saddam Hussein was behind 9/11. Our potential vice president should be smarter and shouldn’t be bragging about her lack of knowledge in her book.

Scientist Palin comes out and explains her views of evolution, saying:

I believed in the evidence for microevolution—that geologic and species change occurs incrementally over time. But I didn’t believe in the theory that human beings—thinking, loving beings—originated from fish that sprouted legs and crawled out of the sea. Or that human beings began as single-cell organisms that developed into monkeys who eventually swung down from the trees. I believed we cam about through a random process, but were created by God. (17)

I don’t even really know what to say. Palin’s views make absolutely no sense. So we came about through a “random process” but we did not evolve from single-celled organisms? So how exactly does Palin think we evolved? She never really gave a logical explanation in her book but I guess it’s silly of me to expect logic from someone like Sarah Palin. Palin does think that we should be teaching a religiously motivated theory of creation, saying “I saw nothing wrong with students debating the merits of evolution in the classroom.” (219) Of course Palin doesn’t see anything wrong with forcing her religious beliefs on others and debating the merits of a theory that has been refuted over & over again.

Writing more about John McCain, Palin writes, “John believed in change, the power of independent and committed individuals, the power of women. He thought it was time to shake things up.” (223) I am rolling my eyes. The power of women? This is a man who is anti-choice & called his wife a cunt IN PUBLIC. And she’s trying to tout him as a great feminist.

Palin whines more about Barack Obama stealing her campaign them, saying “it struck me as ironic that the Obama campaign had captured the theme of change. I’d always run on a platform of change, and I quickly wondered how I could start interjecting that ‘We were change when change wasn’t cool’ theme.” (225) Poor Palin. That mean black Muslim stole your campaign theme. She also wrote that “Obama wasn’t saying much in his speeches, but his oratorical skills were absolutely captivating.” (227)

Palin also blasts Obama & Biden for having less foreign policy experience than her. “They reminded me that Obama didn’t have foreign policy experience. As a governor, I had gained such experience as it related to Alaska’s international commerce and energy issues, as well as our strategic national security position.” (229) Wait, is she referring to the fact that she can see Russia from her house?

Palin next gets into Bristol’s pregnancy, being shocked at the way in which the news was broken, saying that she didn’t get to announce it herself. “It surprised me that the campaign, which had the information in the first place, had had no plans to raise it in a constructive way. After all, it is an issue that affects far too many American teenagers.” (233) Yes, it is an issue which affects many American teenagers especially since we have been living under the Republican idea that abstinence is the only thing we should be teaching our teenagers and that if they know about how to safely use condoms (and protect themselves from pregnancy and STDs), they will be encouraged to have sex. Instead of bragging about her pro-abstinence viewpoints, Palin should have conceded that that is a simply unrealistic point of view. This would be an easy way for her to gain a lot of respect from some of her detractors.

She also whines that other candidates children’s were left alone but hers weren’t. Well, maybe if she didn’t trot out her children and her baby at every turn, the press wouldn’t feel the need to “use” her children.

Palin whines about how the McCain team won’t let her “speak [her] heart and mind even after an intimate issue affecting [her] own family.” (235) Of course, Palin is always the victim of a vast conspiracy and this time it’s one that is headed by John McCain’s staff.

Palin further writes, “Bristol could barely stand to look at the television as commentators started suggesting that her pregnancy might change the outcome of the U.S. presidential election.” (239) You know, Sarah Palin is really idiotic and naïve if she doesn’t realize that her daughter’s pregnancy is something which people are going to scrutinize. From the beginning, I thought that Palin should not have ran and not have put her daughter through that kind of scrutiny.

We are done with the first section of Chapter 4. Up next: the convention.

Final Pages of Chapter 3

In this section we get Sarah’s pregnancy with Trig, her traveling a lot, and more whining and rewriting of history.

The chapter opens with Sarah discovering she is pregnant with Trig.

There was no way I could buy a home pregnancy test in Alaska. The cashiers would know, the people in line would know, and the next thing I'd see was a headline...As governor, I knew that my life was even more of an open book, and there were a few things that I thought were not for public consumption, at least not at first. (171)

Okay 2 Things: (1) Sarah isn’t close enough to one of her friends or her mother or her sister and they couldn’t go to the drugstore to pick her up a pregnancy test. & (2) For someone who drones on & on about her common sense, Palin, per usual, has exhibited very little. You can buy things like pregnancy tests online from stores like drugstore.com. I guess Sarah never thought of using the new fangled Internet.

We continue on with Sarah wondering how this pregnancy will effect the public perception of her & I am going to go with the conservative response: She spread her legs, she’s getting what’s coming to her. Slut!

Sarah contemplates abortion on the next page writing:

And for a split second it hit me: I'm out of town. No one knows I'm pregnant. No one would ever have to know. It was a fleeting though, a sudden understanding of why many women feel pressured to make the "problem" go away. Sad, I thought, that our society had elevated things like education and career above the gift of bringing new life into the world. Yes, the timing of this pregnancy wasn't ideal. But that wasn't the baby's fault. I knew, though, what goes through a woman's mind when she finds herself in a difficult situation. at that moment, I was thankful for right-to-life groups that affirm the value of the child. That say, yes, every child has value and a purpose and a destiny. (172)

Oh wait, she’s clarifying her remarks from earlier this year & saying it was only a half-second thought. Amazing that wouldn’t even nudge her a tiny bit. And since simple Sarah doesn’t believe in teaching women about contraception, quite a few of us will be pregnant in “less than ideal situations.” Thank God for those right-to-life groups for helping us through those unplanned pregnancies.

Without that message out there, it would be easy for women to wonder, well, am I the only one who thinks maybe there is some purpose for this baby? Am I off base in believing that what's easiest isn't always what's best? If not for those groups providing an affirming voice, it would be so easy to go along with what society wants women to believe: that it's easier to end a pregnancy than to bring the baby into the world. Society has made women believe that they cannot do both--pursue career, or education, or anything else, and still carry a baby. Pro-life and pro-adoption groups affirm the power and strength of women. Even if it's just a seed of faith the pro-child message plants in a parent's mind, that bit of faith can grow. I reassured myself that it was going to be okay, that giving this baby life was the right choice. It wouldn't be the last time I had to hold on to that seed of faith. (172)

I find her tone to be incredibly patronizing & rude. Sarah, why don’t you actually talk to a woman who has gone through an abortion. Abortion is NOT a simple, easy decision. Women agonize over it & there are a number of reasons why a woman would chose abortion. While I find it commendable that you support adoption groups (b/c I think adoption is amazing), that does not give you the right to take such a judgemental tone with your fellow women. What was written on your Starbucks cup? That’s right! "There's a place in hell reserved for women who don't support other women!" (Even though you completely botched the quote! But you betcha I think it's cute Palin gets her philosophy off of those liberal coffee cups.) You are not supporting women by taking a pro-life stance. So instead of pretending to support other women, actually fucking do it.

Two pages later, we learn that Trig has Down syndrome & Sarah is, per usual, arrogant enough to wonder why God would make her family suffer so much, as her sister had a child with autism. “Obvious He knew Heather had a special needs child. Didn’t He think that was enough challenge for one family?” (177) Of course, God always is watching & plotting every move in the Palin family’s life.

We get Sarah talking even more about abortion, saying:

I read that almost 90 percent of Down syndrome babies are aborted—so wasn’t that a message that this is not only a less-than-ideal circumstance but that it is a virtually impossible to deal with? Now, just a couple of hours into this new world, I could not get my arms or heart around it. That fleeting thought descended on me again, not a consideration so much as a sudden understanding of why people would grasp at a quick “solution,” a way to make the “problem” just go away. But again I had to hold on to that seed of faith. (178)

Like so many other pro-lifers, Sarah Palin is pro-choice when it comes to herself. Of course, she is different & special, even ordained by God. I love how Palin obviously considered abortion but is not back stepping, as the anti-choice loons make up such a huge part of her base. And again, abortion is not decision for a woman to make. I find it incredibly patronizing that she goes on & on about how many women take the easy way out—wait, isn’t the easy way out something like quitting halfway through one’s term.

We also get Sarah Palin mocking Senator Kerry:

I recalled Senator John Kerry’s comment to California college students in 2006: “You know, education, if you make the most of it, study hard, you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. And if you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.”

What a loon, I thought. What an elitist loon. (181)

Oh geez, Sarah. It’s not like you’ve ever misspoken.

We have Sarah complaining about how mean the Senate president was to her. Of course, she does not bother to name the Senate president, who is Lyda Green. I wonder if Palin is so angry, because Lyda had this to say about her when McCain nominated her: “She's not prepared to be governor. How can she be prepared to be vice president or president? Look at what she's done to this state. What would she do to the nation.” (source)

Anyway, Palin wanted to move her speech time for the opening of the legislature, and Sen. Green said no, that it should be at the traditional time. Sarah whines:

I had scheduled our trip for Track’s graduation a month prior. My chief of staff made sure the state Senate president knew I’d be taking two days outside of Alaska to attend. (The sixty-nine-year-old Republican was a fixture in state politics and was one of the gang not happy to see a new administration rock the boat.) We gave her the date. A letter was sent. We did this because after I was elected, the rules for governors’ travel seemed to have changed with no notice. (181-182)

Poor Sarah, everyone is so mean to you & victimizes you all the time & you are so damn important to Alaska that they never, ever allow you to leave.

I sensed the senator was enjoying the media attention that this “showdown” brought. She rallied a couple of radio talk show hosts to her cause, and they were milking the drama, such as it was. Such drama: it must have been a slow news week. (183)

Yes, because Sarah Palin has never, ever stirred up a fight/controversy for media attention.

In the next page, Sarah Palin is arrogant enough to write her family members a letter from God announcing Trig’s Down syndrome. And God tells us why Trig will be named Trig: “I put the idea in your hearts that his name should be ‘Trig,’ because it’s so fitting, with two Norse meanings: ‘True’ and ‘Brave Victory.’” (185) God, I just love the naming of Palin babies, but this one isn’t that funny. And then God goes on to complain that, “Some will think Trig should not be allowed to be born because they fear a Downs child won’t be considered ‘perfect’ in your world.” (186) There she goes with the “perfect” argument. People don’t abortion Down babies because they are imperfect—they abort them because not everyone has the resources, time & Bristol Palin to raise those children.

Now we have Sarah & Todd in Dallas, where she is keynoting an oil & gas conference. Sarah feels she is going into labor 4 weeks and like a normal person who is older and has a higher-risk pregnancy, she goes to the hospital. HA! Of course she didn’t. She gave her speech & then got on her plane & went back to Alaska to give birth. However, once she is back in Alaska, she gives birth to Trig Paxson Van Palin. I’m going to guess: Paxson after Bill Paxson & Van after Van Halen.

Sarah brings up that stupid perfect argument again saying, “she sees it in the eyes of other parents who have a child that perhaps our world doesn’t consider precious or prized.” (196) Blah. I’m done talking about that.

We get info on Troopergate, which was apparently started by some mean, local Alaska blogger & those liberal media types didn’t bother fact checking it.

The next page we get Sarah talking about China, which is hilarious. “An energy-thirsty Communist nation controlling Alaska’s natural gas reserves was not in the best interests of the state or country.” (205) Things which scare simple Sarah: (1) Muslim terrorists, (2) Russia [she can see it from her backyard!, (3) brown people in Hawaii & finally (4) communist China.

Sarah also manages to attack Katie Couric when she talks about how all simple Sarah does is read & read & read. “Perhaps that’s why I was so shocked during the VP campaign when Katie Couric wondered which papers and magazines I read. Maybe I should have asked her what she reads. She didn’t sound very informed on energy issues.” (207) Sarah, I’m sorry that answering a simple question is so hard for you. But what did you expect out of the election? Easy, softball questions at every turn? And furthermore, Couric is the journalist, SHE ASKS THE QUESTIONS. I’m sorry that stammering out 2 or 3 newspapers/magazines was way too complicated for you.

The chapter ends with Palin announcing Bristol's pregnancy. "Truthfully, I was devastated for my daughter. It wasn't the morality of the situation--what was done was done. It was that I saw her future change in an instant." (207) Okay, wingnut Sarah. Had you taught your daughter how to make Levi strap on a condom, you would not be in this situation. These people just don't get cause & effect, do they?

And that ends our chapter. Next chapter, we are GOING ROGUE!!

Michael Steele is Nervous

Tonight, I got an email from Michael Steele regarding "Obama-care." Here are some fun excerpts:

If Harry Reid cared more about real health care reform needs -- like ending his trial lawyer allies' massive fraudulent litigation costs -- than forcing his party's socialist pipe dream upon an unwilling American people, he might be tempted to apologize for his shameless, and false, accusations.

Don't hold your breath.

I'm not surprised that Harry Reid has resorted to such a laughably desperate attack on our Republican senators and the truth.

The Obama Democrats will go to any length to attain their leftist goal of controlling every facet of American life. He knows that the American people don't want to surrender their health care freedoms to Big Government.

Republican senators are on the side of the American people, who adamantly oppose the Obama Democrats' health care takeover -- and with your help, history will prove it.

You and the RNC are all that stand between our sensible Republican plan for real health care reform and the Democrats' scheme to take more of your hard-earned income to pay for two new unsustainable entitlements while making the quality of your health care worse.

Wow. I didn't realize that affordable health care was an "entitlement" that those evil-spending liberals & their media were trying to push on hard-working Republicans. I'm surprised--Steele claims that he is upset about government intervention in "every facet of American life"--yet the RNC was still pushing for the Stupak Amendment, which greatly imposes on the lives of American women (Stupak is dead, Thank God. ) At least the Republicans killed the public option, just not at the expense of American women.

Uganda Homosexuality Law

My girl crush on Rachel Maddow grew exponentially when she reported on the anti-gay law in Uganda.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

So what does this bill say, which you can read here:

-any person who is a homosexual (or commits a homosexual act) can be imprisoned for life

-aggravated homosexuality (sexual acts while living with HIV, rape, incest, repeat offenders, etc.) will be put to death.

-anyone who attempts to "commit an act of homosexuality" will be jailed for 7 years.

-anyone who knows of a homosexual & does not tell can be jailed for 7 years.

-people who "promote" (ie support gay rights in Uganda) will be jailed for between 5 & 7 years.

-this is an extraditable offense. Meaning, a gay man with Ugandan citizenship living outside of Uganda who acts on his natural urges can be extradited to Uganda for punishment.

Who is behind this? Interestingly enough, the same people behind the Stupak Amendment, the Family.

"[The] legislator that introduced the bill, a guy named David Bahati, is a member of The Family," he said. "He appears to be a core member of The Family. He works, he organizes their Ugandan National Prayer Breakfast and oversees a African sort of student leadership program designed to create future leaders for Africa, into which The Family has poured millions of dollars working through a very convoluted chain of linkages passing the money over to Uganda."

And how did Sharlet discover the connection? "You follow [the] money," he said. You look at their archives. You do interviews where you can. It's not so invisible anymore. So that's how working with some research colleagues we discovered that David Bahati, the man behind this legislation, is really deeply, deeply involved in The Family's work in Uganda, that the ethics minister of Uganda, Museveni's kind of right-hand man, a guy named Nsaba Buturo, is also helping to organize The Family's National Prayer Breakfast. And here's a guy who has been the main force for this Anti-Homosexuality Act in Uganda's executive office and has been very vocal about what he's doing, in a rather extreme and hateful way. But these guys are not so much under the influence of The Family. They are, in Uganda, The Family." (source)

How wonderful. Instead of actually focusing on real, proven ways that work in preventing HIV, some Americans are choosing to promote this kind of law, which, I imagine, will only serve to drive homosexuality underground in Uganda, but also stigmatize it in such a way that safe sex practices will not be taught, therefore causing HIV rates of infection to go up. These people are just so damn smart.

So what can we do:

-read the bill

-join Speak out Against the Uganda Anti-Homosexuality group on Facebook. They have petitions to sign & a lot more information than I am offering here.

-And, as always, email your representatives, telling them how important it is to not support this kind of legislation abroad.

Racist Sarah?

I really hope Palin's base sharpens up soon & realizes what a loon their "savior" is.

She is equally circumspect on the issue of ethnicity, pointing out that Todd, whom she met in high school, is “part Yupik Eskimo” and opened her to the “social diversity” of Alaska. (Wasilla is more than eighty per cent white.)Palin, though notoriously ill-travelled outside the United States, did journey far to the first of the four colleges she attended, in Hawaii. She and a friend who went with her lasted only one semester. “Hawaii was a little too perfect,” Palin writes. “Perpetual sunshine isn’t necessarily conducive to serious academics for eighteen-year-old Alaska girls.” Perhaps not. But Palin’s father, Chuck Heath, gave a different account to Conroy and Walshe. According to him, the presence of so many Asians and Pacific Islanders made her uncomfortable: “They were a minority type thing and it wasn’t glamorous, so she came home.” In any case, Palin reports that she much preferred her last stop, the University of Idaho, “because it was much like Alaska yet still ‘Outside.’ (source)

Really?? Our vice-president was almost a racist & there is almost no outcry from her base? Wow. Sarah Palin sure gets a pass for every loon-tastic thing she does.

But I guess she's not really racist, since her husband is part-Eskimo, just like Judge Bardwell isn't a racist.

Presented with No (okay a Little) Comment

Sadly, these people's viewpoints seem to typify what appears to me to be much of the argument against universal healthcare.

(h/t STFUConservatives.)