Sarah Palin's "pregnancy" with Trig: Revealing email exchanges with two liberal journalists

Both pictures in high-resolution (click below):
Photo March 26, 2008
Photo April 13, 2008

By Patrick

Time for a short, but also informative weekend post! Yes, it again concerns one of our favourite issues, the faked pregnancy of master-fraudster and Ex-Gov and Ex-VP candidate Sarah Palin! We just cannot get enough of it! It is so addictive to write about a subject that virtually the whole media has chosen to ignore. Maybe the media has chosen this path so that their audience won't be overly concerned about the integrity of the political class! (snark)

I recently had email exchanges with two very well know liberal journalists about Sarah Palin's "pregnancy" with Trig. You all know these two journalists. I won't reveal their names or give any hints, and please do not start to guess in the comments. It is not the first time that I posted quotes from email conversations with a journalist about the pregnancy, without revealing the identity of the journalist, of course.

The identities of these two journalists, who both are prominent and have a national audience, is not important, but the content of their messages is incredibly revealing indeed.

Therefore I would like to present a few quotes from these recent exchanges.

"Journalist No 1" wrote the following to me, after I explained to the journalist what our blog is all about:

Thanks for your very candid response. To be equally candid, I am in the opposite camp and think this kind of theory is hurtful to liberals in that it does place the left in the wacky conspiracy column. I don't doubt your sincerity, though, but you are also talking about something that is six years old and no longer relevant; Palin, herself, has lost relevancy. Given how it is such a narrow niche and so old, I'm not sure why you would want your site to have the ongoing association when the news, and the world, has moved on from Palin.

I like this response pretty much (don't agree with it, of course), as it is a great example of the attitude of the liberal media towards the "Trig question" - an attitude that Andrew Sullivan, the "most prominent Trig doubter", according to "Salon", heavily criticized in the past: "This is your liberal media, ladies and gentlemen: totally partisan, interested in the truth only if it advances their agenda, and devoid of any balls whatsoever."

So let's move on to the second exchange ("Journalist No 1" was not in the mood for further conversation, by the way). The quotes from the second exchange are a real "shocker." Too bad that the American public does not know what their journalists DO know!

"Journalist No 2:"

Everybody knows that pregnancy was faked.

That Salon story was RIDICULOUS.

Haha - I had to take a deep breath after I received this email!

"Journalist No 2" of course referred to the infamous "definite debunker", written by Justin Elliott, which appeared at "Salon" in 2011.

I then asked the journalist to clarify who "everybody" is.

"Journalist No 2" answered:

Everyone *I know* knows that baby is not Palin's.

If this is not educational, I do not know what is!

Too bad that no investigative journalist had the balls to fully expose the fraudster Sarah Palin. Of course we do not want to forget to mention that Andrew Sullivan and Joe McGinniss came close to exposing her, and that Professor Brad Scharlott did everything he could to push the issue into the mainstream.

The exchange with "journalist No 2" showed that Sarah Palin actually hasn't fully gotten away with her fraud, but that many journalists are in fact aware of it - but won't talk about it in public. The exchange gave me a lot of confidence that it would be virtually impossible for Sarah Palin to run for any kind of office again and to avoid the "Trig question" at the same time.

I would like to conclude this post with some screenshots of recent comments at "Conservatives4Palin", where some commenters "boldly" exposed a long-time member of the C4P-community as a potential "Trig Truther" - it was a hoot! The "exposed member" dared to ask in 2011 at Greta Van Susteren's blog in a comment why Sarah Palin won't provide the birth certificate for Trig! This of course constituted "high treason", and the Palin-fans were up in arms after the "discovery."

Here is the comment in question which "AmazedOne1" left on Greta's website in 2011:

"AmazedOne1" is a "regular" at C4P, as the statistics prove:

Screenshots from C4P after the "exposure" of commented AmazedOne1:

Particularly interesting is this response by "AmazedOne1":

"Well, over a year and half ago, it seemed that it would be an easy and blatantly quick way for her to put the rumours to rest while sticking it in their faces. However, Sarah clearly kniows what she's doing, and has handled it differently than I would have if people were saying thinks like that about me. Instead, she successfully dispels the critics by laughing at them. It works!"

It is interesting to see this type of "rationalization" of Sarah Palin's refusal to provide Trig's birth certificate on a rabid pro-Palin website. In fact, Sarah Palin even once wrongfully claimed to have provided Trig's birth certificate (apparently in an act of desperation) - but this would be too difficult to process for the obsessive Palin-fans who are living in a world of selectively chosen reality.

It would also too difficult to process for them that the notion that Sarah "successfully dispels the critics by laughing at them", which "works", is evidently wrong. Such an idea ignores the basic fact that Sarah Palin even went so far as to send a six-page attorney letter to Northern Kentucky University, the employer of "Trig Truther" Professor Brad Scharlott, as Politicalgates revealed in December 2012. Enclosed to this long, rambling letter were about 100 pages of documents - but crucially, no copy of a birth certificate.

So, if it "works" for her, why does Sarah Palin spent hundreds, if not thousands on dollars on such an excessive lawyer letter? 

The only thing that "works" for Sarah Palin is the refusal of the US media to expose her fraud.

The truth, as we had to learn the hard way, is a precious, delicate and rare flower.

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Palin-biographer Joe McGinniss: "I think the Politicalgates archives are the best single available resource for anyone wondering why questions are still being asked about Sarah really being Trig’s birth mother." (from August 28, 2011)

Kathleen Baker, editor of Politicalgates, writes in the UK "Guardian" about Sarah Palin's faked pregnancy: "Sarah Palin, unreliable narrator"

Read all posts at Politicalgates about Sarah Palin's faked pregnancy with Trig - FOR THE COLLECTION, CLICK HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE AND HERE.

Download the research paper regarding Sarah Palin's faked pregnancy and the role of the media, written by Brad Scharlott, Associate Professor for Journalism at Northern Kentucky University - CLICK HERE.

Brad Scharlott's revised version of the paper has also been published by "Business Insider."

Read the old post at Palingates about the faked pregnancy with the pictures still intact in hardcopy HERE.

Read the old posts at Palingates online HERE (useful also for watching the video clips which were published with the posts).

Listen to Sarah Palin's own description of her unbelievable "Wild Ride" from Texas to Alaska, which happened on April 17, 2008: Sarah explains how she decided to make the trip, despite of the fact that her "water broke" the night before.

In addition, please don't hesitate to watch the excellent video-documentaries about "babygate" which our reader Lidia17 created - HERE, HERE and HERE.

We break the "Spiral of Silence" - Read the details about the "biggest hoax in American political history!"

Forty-five Senators Support the Mass Murder of Americans

by Sunnyjane

  Second Amendment Rewrite: A well funded NRA, being necessary to the job security of gutless Republicans and Democrats who believe in the right to massacre Americans, shall not be infringed.

One day before a Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer was gunned down by a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings, forty-five U.S. Senators decided it was better to let Americans be murdered than to have gun purchasers suffer the inconvenience of a five-minute background check.  And let us be clear: this was a vote of sheer cowardice, having nothing to do with their alleged Second Amendment convictions.  [Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) also voted No, but for procedural reasons that will allow him to bring the amendment back up at a later date.]

As for those Second Amendment convictions, it is worth noting that forty-two of the senators who voted No have received campaign funding from the NRA.  I know; shocking, isn't it?

A Shameful Day: Spitting on the Graves of Newtown Victims

President Obama:  The gun lobby and its allies willfully lied about the bill. 

A grim and angry President, a distressed Vice President, a former Representative who is a  gun violence victim, and anguished family members of the Newtown dead stood in the Rose Garden after the Senate vote that defeated the  Manchin-Toomey Amendment.  This watered-down-to-weak-tea amendment, which was introduced as a compromise to satisfy pro-gun senators, only provided background checks for commercial gun sales; private sales would have required no background checks.

The remainder of President Obama's statement from the above caption said, They claimed it would create some sort of Big Brother gun registry, even though the bill did the opposite.  

The President went on to give a well-deserved smack-down to Sen. Rand Paul, who had insolently referred to the Newtown parents lobbying Capitol Hill as props:  It's a dog and pony show, it's a parade, it's theatrics.  

President Obama:  I've heard folks say that having the families of victims lobby for this legislation was somehow misplaced–a 'prop,' somebody called it.  Are they serious?  Do they really think that thousands of families whose lives have been shattered by gun violence don't have a right to weigh in on this issue?  Do they think their emotions, their loss is not relevant to this debate? 

Two other amendments -- a ban on the sale of military-style weapons and a limit on the size of ammunition clips -- both failed.  

To register your disgust with the spineless senators who voted No on the gun bill(s), tweet them!
    
Crackling and Cackling Static from NRA Lackeys 
 

Fearful of further soiling their skid-marked Fruit of the Looms, the forty-five senators who voted against the amendment defied the will of ninety percent of Americans who want to reduce their chances of being killed or wounded by gun violence.   Even seventy-five percent of card-carrying NRA members favor commonsense gun reform.

After Arkansas GOP state Rep. Nate Bell tweeted that Boston liberals spent the night cowering in their homes wishing they had an AR-15 with a hi-capacity magazine, Joseph Farah of Wing Nut Daily World Net Daily took up that mantra, writing the systematically disarmed residents of the Boston and Cambridge area cowered in their homes and hid in their closets in fear of one armed and dangerous terrorist presumed to have been involved in the Boston Marathon bombing.

Frighteningly, the Boston Bombing suspects possessed what police called an arsenal of weapons, which included a M-4 carbine assault rifle, a weapon similar to those used by American forces in Afghanistan.  Information to date suggests, but does not confirm, that these weapons were not obtained legally, as the younger brother was not old enough to obtain a gun permit and the elder brother was not on record as having a permit.
 
Appropriately named GOP Senator Jeff Flake obviously believes that under the First Amendment, he has the right to lie shamelessly to the relatives of shooting victims.  He wrote to the mother of a gun violence victim that While we may not agree on every solution, strengthening background checks is something we agree on.  He voted No.  And when asked about his duplicity, he replied That's the beauty of a six-year term.  

Reactions to the Vote that Defeated Gun Reform

Public reactions to the irresponsible, anti-American vote in the Senate can be seen in this excellent video: The Senate "decided to do nothing."  We've had enough gun violence.  "Vote them out."   H/T to GottaLaff at The Political Carnival.

Editorial response from the media was brutal: cowardly ... cowed into submission ... more shameful and dysfunctional than we've known ... revealed more than a "do-nothing" body ... a sanctuary for too many cowards...

 End Note

It is past time for sound reasoning and commonsense to rule the gun reform debate instead of special interests and the contrariness of the ten percent in our country who only care about hanging on to their right to have as many weapons available to them -- and to people who have no business with guns -- as possible.

At the Second Continental Congress in 1776, Dr. Lyman Hall arrived in Philadelphia as a representative from Georgia.   At the direction of his constituents, he voted No on the proposal to fight for independence from England.   However, he later changed his vote to Yes, saying to John Adams,  I remembered something I'd once read, "that a representative owes the People not only his industry, but his judgment, and he betrays them if he sacrifices it to their opinion."  Rather wryly, he then told Adams, It was written by Edmund Burke, a member of the British Parliament. 
     
When it comes to judgment, integrity, and doing what is right for all Americans, we could learn some good lessons from people like Dr. Lyman Hall. 

The Wild Ride – 5 Years Later

By JulaUSA

Sarah Palin, 26th March 2008 (click on picture to enlarge)

For some reason I had always had a visual picture of the Wild Ride as being late at night since Sarah and Todd Palin landed in Anchorage about 10:30 pm that Thursday night April 17, 2008. But they had been traveling all day during busy times. If their 4 hour flight landed in AK at 10:30 pm, that means they left Seattle (after the 2-hour layover) at 6:30 pm AK time (7:30 pm Seattle time). So the layover in Seattle was from about 5:30-7:30 pm.

Well, today (Thurs 4/18) I am traveling and as I write this post, I am sitting in the Alaska Airlines Board Room (their airline club) at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. It is now about 7:00 pm local time and I have been here for a little over an hour – literally at the exact same time in the exact same airline club during the exact same Thursday evening of the year that the Palins spent that 2-hour layover during the alleged Wild Ride five years ago.

This is a busy time at the airport and there must be about 30 people here on my floor. There are two floors so probably double that number for occupancy of the entire lounge.

There looks like there are some new furniture coverings but the overall décor is the same as it has been for several years  – sort of low chairs and couch type things (some without arms) and low “coffee table” type tables. With some bar stools at a high table stretching along with windows. But many/most of the chairs have been low.

As it happened, there was a pregnant woman (medium height and build) who was sitting across from me for a while. Even though she had a coat in front of her, you could still definitely tell that she was pregnant. She had trouble leaning forward with the low seats and tables and her husband helped organize their refreshments. She had to lean back. I saw her get up and down a couple of times. She had to sort of get a “running start” to get momentum and had to do that back arching thing while holding onto the backrest of the low chair to stand up.

Sarah Palin with reporter Andrea Gusty, 13th April 2008. Several days later Palin flew with Alaska Airways whose only statement about her flight was that the stage of her pregnancy was not apparent (click on picture for high-resolution)

During this time two Board Room staff picking up dishes asked the pregnant woman if she needed anything, but she was fine.

While they were sitting there I also asked her about her trip and if the staff on the plane were as attentive. She confirmed that even though she and her husband were flying coach (so pretty cramped quarters) that the flight attendants made sure she was extra well hydrated. She had just arrived on a flight from back east. Apparently, the guy that had the aisle seat even traded places so she could have that one for a bit more room. Obviously he could tell that she was pregnant.

I asked a question at the front desk and mused out loud that they must get to know a lot of the VIP guests that travel frequently through here (high profile local media people, prominent politicians, sports figures, well known business people, etc.) One person responded that yes they do and make an effort to remember these people. Gosh – like maybe Governors from this part of the country……

I couldn’t help but think of another woman (a “VIP” no less) in the late stages of “pregnancy” who spent a Thursday evening in April around dinner time in this busy airport lounge and supposedly nobody here or on the plane even noticed that she was pregnant, much less in early labor.

What.A.Crock.

The Wild Ride obviously never happened! 

Alaska Airlines: "The stage of Mrs Palin's pregnancy was not apparent by observation during her travel"

(Many thanks to our reader "comeonpeople" for writing to Alaska Airlines in 2010 
and then making the reply available to us!)

Listen to Sarah Palin's description of Trig's birth, in her own words, during the press conference from April 21, 2008 (complete recording):

In addition, we do not want to forget to mention the excellent video by our reader Lidia17, which she created in 2010. In this video, Lidia17 contrasted the two completely different versions that Sarah Palin told about her birth story - and both being "spoken" by herself (at the press conference on April 21, 2008 and on the "Going Rogue" audio book). I always loved that video! What a shame that the world is so easily fooled, when the fraudsters are in plain sight! 

The first two videos by Lidia17, her very convincing effort to create a comprehensive documentary about Sarah Palin's faked pregnancy, can be viewed HERE and HERE.

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Finally, I would like to add the comment that our reader Sondra, who is from Alaska, left on this post:

I can't tell you how thankful I am for all of you. Like you I've been banging my head for years. How can anyone not think this is a MAJOR issue? Is it really that hard for someone to show a birth certificate? If someone questioned my kids' births I'd whip those puppies out in an instant. Then all of this would have gone away.

The morning of April 19, 2008 I began contacting the media. I started with KTUU. Then it was local AP, then national AP. No one cared. Sarah who? I called ACOG, Alaska Airlines, Sen Murkowski's office, and of course ADN. Many times. People either didn't care or they were informing Sarah. She knew I was on to her. Our local AP director asked me to provide a list of questions to ask CBJ to none other than Steve Quinn....yep....the questions (very detailed ones) I'm sure went directly to Sarah via Ivy Frye.

Silence.

I kept at it for a long time. I knew I had to give it up when my autistic kiddo threw my computer mouse and broke it. He was sick of looking at the back of my head. Priorities. Unlike Sarah my special needs kid HAD to come first. I did the right thing.

Then that day in August when my husband woke me to tell me "HE PICKED HER!!!" Of course, I knew in my head that he would. We immediately began calling McCain's campaign office, and though we were polite, they blocked our calls.

Then you came along. I can't tell you the relief I felt when I suddenly found, unlike here, like-minded people who knew Sarah was full of shit. Sarah's popularity was inflated here, but still high. Who doesn't love free money, right? Most loved Sarah or the idea of Sarah.

All of you have done what I could never have done. You're smart, savvy, and tenacious. You found evidence that I didn't look for. You asked questions. You found answers. You found the truth.

Have faith in karma. She won't get away with this forever.

PS. Dear Kristy--if you, your alter ego Julie Newman, or any of your other alias/fake accounts contact me again I will report you to the authorities. Coward.

I replied:

Sondra, thank you so much for all your efforts!! I cannot prove it, but I believe that you are the very first "babygater!" Well, "Alaska" decided pretty early that the true story has to be kept a secret. After Lisa Demer's ADN-investigation died in late 2008, all hope was gone that the Alaskans would reveal the secret. That is something we didn't know back then, and we certainly would have refused to believe it.

Also, looking back, the "Journolist" emails made abundantly clear that the liberals wouldn't touch the issue as well - because they believed that it could backfire on them. And the Republicans were (and are) not interested either. The GOP more or less quietly got rid of Sarah, she is not part of the political circles any more, they basically discarded her like an old dish-rag (even our delusional friends from the peepond have realized that). So there is nobody left who could be interested to investigate and to reveal this huge secret, especially now where Sarah Palin is sliding into political irrelevancy.

I agree with Leadfoot below, I would have liked to see her properly exposed and shamed, so that everyone would have seen that Palin is not just stupid and mean, but also a huge fraudster. But it seems that we will have to be content with the "status quo", with Palin being laughed off the political scene, but without the big public shaming she would have deserved. I guess that one cannot have everything. It's not satisfying, but let's face it: The situation could have been far, far worse. In 2009/2010 Palin had the chance to became politically powerful - and I believe that the people who kept a watchful eye on her and her dark secrets ultimately prevented that.

So as I said before, all the bloggers and investigators and readers can be happy and should be proud. The situation is not perfect, but still, a lot has been achieved, and we don't need to worry about Sarah Palin any more. 

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Note:

Read more about Sarah Palin's "wild ride" on April 17, 2008 HERE.

Read all posts at Politicalgates about Sarah Palin's faked pregnancy with Trig - FOR THE COLLECTION, CLICK HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE,HERE AND HERE.

Boston Marathon Bombing, MIT University Security Policeman Killed - One Suspect Killed and One Suspect On The Run. Bombers Are Chechen Brothers - UPDATE: "Suspect No 2" Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is now in custody!

By Kathleen

Less than twelve hours after the FBI released photos of the men suspected of carrying out the Boston Marathon bombing an MIT University Officer was shot and killed in the line of duty on the MIT Campus. Within a short time reports were being called in to various news agencies that a violent exchange involving multiple gunshots and explosions was taking place in the streets of the quiet Boston suburb of Watertown. A policeman involved in this exchange is in a critical condition in hospital.

Police at the scene have said that the incident at MIT University and the shootings in Watertown are definitely related and reports have just come in that these events and the suspects who took part in them are also linked to the terrible Boston Marathon bombings. 

One suspect, the one with the darker cap was killed early on Friday morning, and the other suspect, the one with the white cap, is believed to still be in the area and is being actively searched for by a large police force. Watertown residents are requested by the Boston Police Department to stay indoors until the suspect is apprehended as he is believed to be armed and dangerous.

There are reports that there are explosives all over the streets that need to be collected and detonated so there will be some controlled explosions which will be preceded by a siren. 

I will update the post as more news comes in. 

Update:

It has been confirmed that the suspects are brothers and that they have Chechen origins. 

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Update 2:

After a long hunt, suspect No 2, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, is now in custody! He was caught in Watertown, MA.

FBI press conference reveals the "official suspects" of the Boston bombing, including photos and surveillance video

By Patrick

The FBI just held a short press conference, revealing the two current "official suspects." I taped the press conference, but it will take about two hours to upload the video, because the file is quite large. When it has finished uploading, it will be available on youtube HERE. Maybe the press conference will be available somewhere else quicker.

The FBI spokesman said that the two men are the suspects because they went together to the marathon, as can be see in the published surveillance video below, and "suspect 2" with the white baseball cap was seen dropping his rucksack at the site of the second explosion, shortly before it happened. Apart from that, the information which was given during the press conference was rather sketchy. It is apparent that the investigation has only just started, and that there are still many open questions.

The FBI have presented some pretty good pictures of the suspects. All the pictures can be found on the FBI-website here.

Here are some images from the FBI-website:

This is the surveillance video:

The FBI warned everyone against taking action on their own, if you come across these people, as they may be dangerous. Instead call: 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324). 

Explosions in Boston - Open Thread - UPDATE: Internet sleuths at Reddit and 4chan search for the Boston bomber - UPDATE 2: CBS News report about the possible suspect

By Patrick

The USA has yet again been hit by a terrible tragedy which appears to be caused by terrorism. The perpetrators are unknown yet. Hopefully they will be found soon.

Our thoughts are with the victims and their families.

Live video of the explosions at the Boston Marathon today:

Let's share the news and our thoughts about this tragedy.

Continuously updated news about the events can be found at Huffington Post.

If you are family trying to find out about missing loved ones, please call 617-635-4500. If you saw or know anything about the bombings, please call 1-800-494-TIPS

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There are some issues with Disqus at the moment. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do about it. 

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UPDATE:

New shocking live video from the explosion:

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UPDATE 2:

Internet sleuths at the famous as well infamous internet websites reddit and 4chan are searching frantically for photos of the bomber and already made several interesting finds. Please read the article at Atlantic Wire with the details. However, nothing has been proven or confirmed yet. It is an ongoing investigation. This is also the reason why we won't publish pictures of possible suspects, before anything is confirmed. 

But it is noteworthy that internet sleuths have started their own major investigation. It might prove valuable in the end.

The reddit page "findbostonbombers" can be found here.

Here are the photo comparisons of the "4chan think tank."

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UPDATE 3:

CBS News just broadcast a very informative report about the latest developments regarding the possible suspect.

Watch (or click here):

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UDPATE 4: 

Live video stream from CBS Boston about the latest developments: 

CBS Boston Live Stream CBS Boston Live Stream

Sunday Sarah Palin fun post - Palin's number one fan "M. Joseph Sheppard" accidentally calls Palin-aide Rebecca A. Mansour "the most repulsive looking person I have ever seen" - PLUS: Sarah Palin 2016 bumperstickers!

By Patrick

Good evening, everyone! Time to have some fun! You all know "M. Joseph Sheppard" (not his real name), who Wonkette recently called "Sarah Palin's number one fan", and who runs the already legendary Palin-fan blog "Palin4President 2016." He is from New Zealand, and when he is pumped full of oxygen from the great New Zealand air, he proves over and over again that even a completely nutty Palinbot can be incredibly entertaining. Because let's face it, the entertainment value of the Palinbots is often quite limited. There are, however, some exceptions, for example "BrianusBerkleianus." His unique comments at C4P would be the best satire in the world, were they not real.

So let's start with one great idea that "M. Joseph Sheppard" had on Friday: Create you own "Sarah Palin 2016" bumpersticker! Sure, why not, Joseph!

All you have to do is to go to "Zazzle", because they have their very own "bumpersticker editor." It's great fun! I had some ideas, and our creative readers had as well! Some examples (click to enlarge):

Well, the possibilities are endless.

It's very timely as well! Because just today, Sarah Palin played the good old "I might run for President" game again when she was asked by the media in Arizona whether she plans to run for President. Her answer: "I don't know what I am going to do in 2016."

Watch:

She might run! She might run! OMG - that would be the funniest thing in the world, ever.

But I assume that we most likely won't have the pleasure.

But that is not all: "M. Joseph Sheppard" today provided us with one of the most hilarious misunderstandings in Palin-cult history, ever!

(big h/t to "BinWI")

The story goes at follows: "M. Joseph Sheppard" was irritated by anti-Palin commenter "Gina." I don't know what her comments were, but in any case, "M. Joseph Sheppard" was also mightily irritated by Gina's avatar. Now: An intelligent person would probably understand that your avatar does not necessarily depict yourself, but might be the picture of another person. But "M. Joseph Sheppard" forgot to switch on his brain for a moment and commented on C4P:

In passing there is someone or something called "Gina" I can't tell if it is a man or woman but it says the avatar is them. It comes here regularly from Immoral Minority as it quotes my posts here especially the self-deprecatory ones (obvious it has no sense of humor or self-awareness). Gina is, frankly and sadly, the most repulsive looking person I have ever seen-it if has ever had an intimate partner of any gender I would be amazed and would consider that to be the main reason why it attacks Sarah in the most childish and idiotic language. Pity rather than anger is the only response one can feel.

The "most repulsive looking person I have ever seen"...?

Well, "M. Joseph Sheppard" was unlucky, because this "most repulsive looking person" was none other than the commander of Sarah Palin's internet brigade herself, the one and only "RAM", Rebecca A. Mansour. Gina had simply used RAM's picture as her avatar, and "M. Joseph Sheppard" apparently has some regrettable "gaps" in his knowledge of "Palin-cult history", because every faithful Palin-fan should of course know who RAM is!

I cannot find this exchange on C4P anymore. In any case, I had taken screenshots before it apparently disappeared:

Oh, come on, I almost feel bad for RAM! 

Rebecca, you haven't deserved this! After all, it's difficult enough to work for somebody like Sarah Palin. Take it with humour! He didn't know what he was doing, the silly "M. Joseph Sheppard" from New Zealand.

RAM: Getting paid big bucks by SarahPAC, 

but boy, it ain't an easy life!

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Southern Exposure: The True Character of Mark Sanford

by Sunnyjane

June 2009:  Oh look, Mark, you really CAN see the Appalachian Trail from Argentina!
(Photo of Gov. Mark Sanford and Maria Belen Chapur courtesy of radaronline.com)

Memo to all American citizens: When your GOP governor ditches his -- or her -- security detail just before taking a trip south, you can be sure something nefarious is in the wind.

Hiking the Political Trail

Ha! I can have my cake and eat it, too!

Mark Sanford (R-SC) and Jenny Sullivan were married in 1989, even though she had doubts.  Well, the fact that Mark demanded that little portion about fidelity be removed from his wedding vows should have been sort of a clue, as far as I'm concerned.  However, Jenny says in her book, Staying True, that we were very young, we were in love … I questioned it, but I got past it.  (Big mistake, Jenny, huge mistake.)

With his academic credentials, Mark was able to achieve success in various financial businesses, including starting his own real estate firm in 1992.  However, while his wife was still in hospital recovering from the birth of their second child, Mark announced during one of his visits that he would be running for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994.  This was news to Jenny, who had no idea that her husband had political ambitions on any kind.  There was no discussion, no What do you think, honey?  How would you feel about that?  What effect would that have on you and the children?  Do you have any concerns?  Can we talk about it when you and the baby have gotten settled in at home? 

Conservative, Cheap, and Classless

Not only did he just decide without discussion with his wife that he would run for a congressional seat, but Mark informed Jenny she'd be running his campaign -- because she was free labor.  She turned out to be an excellent campaign manager, and successfully directed his three victorious runs for the House.  While there, he was named the most fiscally conservative member of congress by the Cato Institute, the libertarian think tank founded by -- you may have guessed it -- Charles Koch. 

Cheap?  You, dear readers, are invited to decide for yourselves.  During campaigns, he would pick up discarded index cards and turn them over to see if anything was written on the back.  If not, he would insist that they be reused by his own staff, saying, This is the way campaigns are lost.  He also made his staff reuse Post-It-Notes and would make them return office supplies he deemed too expensive.  Though a multimillionaire, like some other conservative lawmakers we could name, he slept on a futon in his congressional office because he was too tight-fisted to pay for a small apartment in the Washington Metropolitan  Area.  

He was as mean and stingy in his personal life.  Jenny told the story that on one gift-giving occasion, he drew her a picture of half a bicycle; on the next occasion, he gave her a picture of the other half and presented her with a $25 used bike.  While serving in Washington he once bought her a diamond necklace, which she loved and wore proudly.  However, he later took it away from her and returned it for a refund. 

When his father died, Sanford's brothers dug the grave on the family's farm while Mark built the casket in a shed.  The family then deposited their father in the hole under some trees and shoveled in the dirt.  Rest in Peace, Paw. 

Gawker also reports that Sanford and two congressional colleagues went to the movies.  Sanford offered to treat them to soft drinks from the theater's concession stand, but when he returned he had one large Coke and three straws.  No mention if they were bendy straws, but I doubt it.  (Didn't this sort of sharing go out with the 1950s?)

A former staffer said this about Mark Sanford: He'd pick up change from the street during an event … Even today, Sanford gets his hair cut at Supercuts -- and brings a coupon.

The Two-Timing Two-Term Governor 

Oath of Office: Yeah fine, just so I'm not swearing to any of that fidelity crap.

Sanford's self-imposed limit of three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives put him in the perfect position to run for governor of South Carolina in 2002, with the unpaid Jenny again at the campaign's helm. 

While his family sweated in the Governor's Mansion every day -- Mark would not allow them to turn on the air conditioning because it was too expensive -- the new governor was fighting his own Republican Party-controlled General Assembly over the state's budget.  (Just for edification, South Carolina's average July temperature is 92.7 degrees F (33.7 C) with humidity as high as 90%.  That's enough to melt your liver and turn your hair into an irate Brillo pad.)
 

We're having Bar-b-Que later, only $20 a plate.  Slaw is extra.

 In brief, Governor Sanford vetoed 106 budget bills in 2004; the House of Representatives (also controlled by the Republican Party) overrode 105 of the vetoes.  The following day, Mark brought two piglets to the lobby of the Capitol to protest their pork-barrel spending.  Oink. 

In mid-June 2006, he vetoed the Assembly's entire budget.  If both Houses had not overturned the veto and restored the original budget, the South Carolina government would have shut down on July 1.  By now, many SC citizens believed that Sanford's thrift was sending the state's economy into a rapid decline.

In one rather prescient incident, Sanford opposed the faith-based license plates South Carolina offers, remarking that It is my personal view that the largest proclamation of one's faith ought to be in how one lives his life.  Saaay what?

Off the Rails and on the Trails

Remember how you called Bill Clinton's behavior reprehensible? 

By the time he was inaugurated for his first term as governor, Sanford had already met Belen Chapur (which is the name she goes by) while on a trip to Uruguay.  He met her again at a New York bistro in 2004.  There were two other meetings in New York but -- according to Sanford himself -- it wasn't until 2008 that they began a sexual relationship.  (Yeah, riiiight.)

Jenny Sanford learned of her husband's affair in January 2009 after discovering a letter on his desk that he had written to Chapur.   She demanded that he end the, um, amorous congress. He agreed.  They tried counseling.  Didn't work.  He asked for permission to see Chapur so he could end the affair in person.  She said absolutely not.

In June, Mark told her he was going to take some time away from work to clear his mind in order to write something.  Well, he was not having his mind cleared, he was actually having his ashes hauled in Argentina.  His wife had no idea where he was, and his staff finally put out the information that the governor was hiking the Appalachian Trail.   By the time he returned six days later, the cat was out of the bag.  The next day he held a press conference to fess up.  On the ride to the Capitol, he called Jenny to discuss strategy on how to handle the media.  [Major head-bang here.]  She reportedly told him, Whatever you do, don't talk about your heart.

He obviously ignored that sage advice because he spilled his guts and rambled on about Belen being the love of his life and his soul mate.  It was all too tawdry.  

The next day The State published emails between Sanford and Chapur, one which read I could digress and say that you have the ability to give magnificent gentle kisses, or that I love your tan lines or that I love the curve of your hips, the erotic beauty of you holding yourself (or two magnificent parts of yourself) in the faded glow of the night's light — but hey, that would be going into sexual details.

On the same day, June 25, the governor was warned that Articles of Impeachment would be drawn up if he didn't resign.  He refused.  In the end, he was censured and fined $74,000.

Many believe that the impeachment threat was withdrawn because the state would have ended up with Lt. Governor Andre Bauer as governor.   Some of our readers might remember that in January 2010, Bauer compared poor people to stray animals when discussing ending government-funded school lunches.  My grandmother ... told me as a small child to quit feeding stray animals. You know why? Because they breed. You're facilitating the problem if you give an animal or a person ample food supply. They will reproduce, especially ones that don't... think too much further than that. And so what you've got to do is you've got to curtail that type of behavior. They don't know any better.  A bit of Republican hypocrisy there, since Bauer himself benefited from free school lunches when he was a child.

END NOTE

When a man is wrapped up in himself, he makes a pretty small package.
(John Ruskin, 1819 - 1900)

 

Currently, Mark Sanford is trying to get back to the U.S. House of Representatives, and will face Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch in a special election on May 7.  There had been speculation that his former wife might run for that seat, but she later confirmed that she would not.  So, in typical Mark Sanford style, he asked her to run his campaign: We could put the team back together ... I could pay you this time.  Jenny, ahem, declined his generous  offer.  (After the steam stops coming out of your ears, feel free to fantasize on exactly what you would have told the slug.)

Mark Sanford's heart is blacker than a hog's snout during truffle-hunting season and colder than a well-digger's arse in January. 

Come on, South Carolina voters: Mark Sanford is wrong for your state and wrong for America.  

VOTE DEMOCRATIC!   VOTE BUSCH!

Acknowledgement

Many thanks to Moseyon, one of Politicalgates' terrific Australian friends, for encouraging me to write this post.  As always, I hope I have done the topic justice.

If some of our South Carolina friends -- such as Linda1961 and EbbtideMB -- care to offer up additional tidbits on Mark Sanford's character, we'd be delighted to hear them!