The "Palin Brawl" in Anchorage on September 6, 2014: The complete timeline of events and the witness statements do not look favourable at all for the Palin-family, but they now try to rewrite history by distorting the facts - BONUS: Bristol Palin's new post, telling the "truth" about the brawl, contains a blatant, important lie which can easily be debunked (see October 22 in the timeline)

"Born and raised by hypocrites"

Green Day - "Jesus of Suburbia" 

By Patrick

Today is October 25, 2014. The now infamous "Palin-Brawl" happened on September 6, 2014 in Anchorage, more than 1 1/2 months ago.

However, only now we see headlines like this one (from ABC News, October 23, 2014):

So, finally, after such a long time has passed, the Palin-family found their PR-strategy for this incident - and they try to do what they are best at: Claiming to be victims, and trying to rewrite history.

Therefore it is only appropriate to remind ourselves (and the media) what really happened after the brawl.

The Timeline:

Saturday, September 6, 2014:

A massive brawl involving the Palin-family (Track, Bristol, Sarah, Todd, Willow) breaks out at a party at the home of Korey Klingenmeyer in Anchorage, while Bristol's five-year-old son Tripp was waiting for them outside in the car, a Hummer stretch-limo.

The news quickly make the rounds in Alaska, by word of mouth. We hear about it from a source in Alaska already the following day, but the details are still very sketchy. We hear that apparently a group of people from the "Iron Dog" crowd was involved.

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Sunday, September 7, 2014:

Sarah Palin posts the following message on facebook:

I was traveling yesterday, so I'm posting Todd's 50th birthday greeting a day late, which is fine because the handsome guy barely looks a day over 50.

- Sarah Palin

Screenshot:

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Monday, September 8, 2014:

Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston attend the settlement conference of their new custody trial for their son Tripp, at the Superior Court in Palmer. According to the Alaska court records, a settlement was reached on this day. The details of the settlement are sealed, therefore we do not know the outcome. See our extensive reporting about the custody trial, including the documentation HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.

Screenshot from the Alaska Court records, accessible via Alaska Court View (click to enlarge):

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Tuesday, September 9, 2014:

The first report about the brawl appears in public, written by Alaska blogger Amanda Coyne, containing a few details, but some facts are still sketchy, as Amanda Coyne also admits herself. Title of the post: "Loose Lips: Hell hath no fury like a Palin family visit."

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Wednesday, September 10, 2014:

Politicalgates publishes in the "Important second update" of our post about the brawl several more new details about the brawl, obtained from a source on the ground who saw the incident. Our information was subsequently being confirmed by further media reporting and the police documentation.

Still no statement about the incident from a member of the Palin-family or their lawyer.

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Thursday, September 11, 2014:

Blogger Amanda Coyne publishes a post with more important details, titled "A note to readers about the Palin family brawl."

Then, the first report in a mainstream media outlet, by the "Alaska Dispatch News", Alaska's biggest newspaper, titled: "Witnesses, APD confirm Palin family was present at Anchorage party that turned violent." 

Still no statement about the incident from a member of the Palin-family or their lawyer.

Then, on the same day, blogger Amanda Coyne publishes her most comprehensive post about the brawl, titled "Eyewitness comes forward on ‘Palin brawl’." As one of the very first eye-witnesses, Eric Thompson, employee at McKenna Paving Bros, goes on the record.

In the meantime, Sarah Palin publishes a new post on facebook about her support for conservative candidate Rob Maness in his bid for the US-Senate seat in Louisiana.

In the evening, Sarah Palin appears on Hannity and talks about ISIS. In this conversation with Sean Hannity, the brawl is not mentioned at all.

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Friday, September 12, 2014:

The story about the brawl hits the national media, for example with a detailed TV-report on "Good Morning America", who spoke with eye-witness Eric Thompson:

Still no statement about the incident from a member of the Palin-family or their lawyer.

Politicalgates is being quoted by a number of mainstream media outlets, for example New York Magazine, New York Post and ABC local news.

Later in the day, news breaks that eyewitness Eric Thompson has been fired from his job by his employer, McKenna Bros. Paving Co, for speaking out about the brawl to the media, in his interview for ABC News.

We posted:

The party happened at the house of Korey Klingenmeyer. He is an employee with McKenna Brothers Paving.

The witness Eric Thompson, who is now fired, was also an employee with McKenna Brothers Paving.

The party was for the 40th birthday of the owners of the company, Matt & Marc McKenna.

The guy who was punched by Bristol Palin was Korey Klingenmeyer.

We believe that the firing of Eric Thompson is also supposed to be a warning to Korey Klingenmeyer, who has a well-paid job there at the company, in order to prevent him to file charges against Bristol. 

The news about the firing of Eric Thompson hit the mainstream media.

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Saturday, September 13, 2014:

Although there is still no offical statement from the Palin-family, journalist Scott Conroy publishes "The Palin Family's Side of the Anchorage Brawl Story", quoting only an anonymous source, but the details are rather sketchy, It becomes obvious however that the Palins apparently see themselves as victims.

Multiple media-requests directed at the Palin-family to give a statement about the brawl are denied.

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Sunday, September 14, 2014:

Politicalgates publishes more details about Marc and Matt McKenna, the owners of McKenna Bros. Paving Co. who fired Eric Thompson.

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Monday, September 15, 2014 to Thursday, September 18, 2014:

Still no statement about the incident from a member of the Palin-family or their lawyer.

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Tuesday, September 15, 2014:

Fired eye-witness Eric Thompson gives an in-depth interview to the Alaska Dispatch News:



Eric Thompson talks about Palin's involvement in a house party fight from Alaska Dispatch on Vimeo.

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Thursday, September 18, 2014:

Bristol Palin publishes on her own blog (with her ghost-writer, the right-wing journalist Nancy French) a post in which she jokes that some people mistakenly believe that her parents are getting divorced.

Curiously, Bristol Palin doesn't mention the brawl at all, although it had been reported all over the national media that she apparently played an important role in the brawl and reportedly punched the host Korey Klingenmeyer several times in the face (which was also confirmed by our own source who was at the scene).

Screenshot of Bristol's short post:

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Friday, September 19, 2014:

Finally, a first statement by Sarah Palin, addressing the brawl, nearly two weeks after the incident. 

However, Sarah Palin is very vague and just says that she is "proud" of Bristol and "loves" her. Sarah alludes to the fact that the media reporting was apparently not correct, but doesn't say why this should be the case, or what actually happened in her opinion.

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Saturday, September 20, 2014 to Wednesday, October 8, 2014:

The big silence!

No statement at all by the Palins about the brawl.

Bristol Palin publishes no less than nine (!) posts on her blog during these dates (ghost-written by Nancy French), but none of her posts addresses the brawl in any way.

Same with Sarah Palin:

No less than 12 posts during this time-frame on her facebook-page, but not one of them addresses the brawl.

So far, there is still no meaningful statement from the Palin-family about what happened during the brawl. The news about the brawl start to fade.

On September 21, 2014, CNN-host Brian Stelter states that he believes that the Palins "deserve the benefit of the doubt about the brawl."

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Thursday, October 9, 2014:

If the Palins hoped that the brawl would disappear from the headlines, they are in for a rude awakening. The report by the Anchorage Police Department is released, and several witnesses confirm what Eric Thompson already said in public: The Palins started the whole fight, showed outrageous behaviour, and Bristol punched host Korey Klingenmeyer repeatedly. Also, the police report confirms that Track and Bristol were "heavily intoxicated."

The police report hits the headlines with full force.

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT HERE

Screenshots:

It now becomes increasingly clear that the strategy of the Palins, which could so far be described with "dodge, dip, dive, duck, and dodge", would not work out in the end. The witness statements in the police report are simply too damning. Also, it becomes more than obvious that the "The Palin Family's Side of the Anchorage Brawl Story", which had been published by Scott Conroy on September 13, 2014, as I mentioned above, was not confirmed by any of the witnesses outside the Palin-family.

So, what to do, how to play the victim, the favourite Palin-activity of all time?

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Tuesday, October 21, 2014:

It is very telling that the silence on part of the Palin-family continued.  

However, the publication of the police tapes on October 21, 2014 appeared as a "stroke of luck" from their point of view, as listeners could now hear for themselves how a crying Bristol Palin described her ordeal (or that's what it now sounded like). 

Please note that I have uploaded the complete police audio tapes in just one file HERE for download. I could not upload them to youtube in one file, as they are more than two hours long in total!

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Wednesday, October 22, 2014:

Suddenly, the big silence stops.

The Palin media-machine quickly kicks into gear again - with the old worn-out phrases.

Bristol Palin publishes "the truth" about the brawl, believe it or not. It was all about "violence against women", and Bristol now conveniently claims to have been the victim.

Screenshot:

However, Bristol's post contains a bold, important lie which can easily be debunked - Bristol wrote:

Why would anyone do this? Well, here’s a hint. The guy was on social media during this incident, tweeting, “about to get famous.”

When Willow saw all this happening she looked at the guy’s mom and said “get ahold of your son.”

But apparently the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree, because his mom pushed Willow. A grown woman pushed my little sister.

(...)

But the evening that began so well took a turn for the worse when this guy decided he wanted to “get famous.”

After I got out of the car, I didn’t get far. I never even got to talk to his mom, because a guy in his late thirties or early forties got in my face. He was towering over me – probably at 6 foot something and over 200 pounds. He puffed his chest out and started yelling.

“You c-nt!” he looked right in my eyes and said. “Get the f-ck out of here, you slut!”

I was alarmed that things had gotten so bad so fast. But it got even worse when this guy started pushing me. He had his hands on me, pushing me down. That’s when I swung and hit his face.

Some would say I should’ve never retaliated in defense against him, but certainly he should never have pushed a girl. It didn’t phase him. He pushed me down to the ground and kept me there.

It was scary and awful. He held me down until someone got me out of the situation.

That’s it – that’s the story.

This guy, who Bristol curiously does not mention by name, is Connor Cleary. His twitter is here.

So, according to Bristol, Connor Cleary tweeted at the night of incident he was "about to get famous".

Really, Bristol Palin/Nancy French?

The problem: This is a blatant lie, which can easily be proven. 

Connor Cleary tweeted, but only five days later, on September 11. The sentence he tweeted was: "About to be famous up in this bitch."

Screenshot:

With this proven lie, Bristol's "new story" falls apart completely. As this was tweeted five days after the brawl, how on earth could Willow have used this as a pretext for approaching his mother, in order to "get hold of her son"....?

Connor Cleary has already been named in connection with the brawl, this is not a secret.

He told his story to the National Enquirer - quote from the article:

One victim, Connor Cleary, 26, told The ENQUIRER it was a peaceful party until the reality show family showed up!

Connor said he was approaching the Palins’ stretch-limo Hummer when Track began getting in his face. “He (Track) kept trying to pick a fight with me and then when it all came down – it happened,” Connor said, in an exclusive interview.

“He kept saying, ‘Oh what, are you trying to get into the ----ing limo?’ and he kept cursing at me and walking towards me,” claimed Connor.

Track allegedly threw two jabs at Connor, according to an online report – and that’s when all hell broke loose outside the residence of 39-year-old Korey Klingenmeyer, host of the Sept. 6 bash.

Alarmed, someone screamed, “This isn’t some damned Hillbilly reality show!” according to an eyewitness.

No word of apology by the Palins about their own behaviour. No mention that the other witnesses had not confirmed the Palin-version of events.

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Friday, October 24, 2014:

Sarah Palin started her favourite activity - hunting journalists. Not seeing the irony that her heavily intoxicated family delivered more than enough "punches" at the brawl, poor Sarah now feels "punched in the gut." Why? Because CNN journalist Carol Costello aired a segment which wasn't to Sarah Palin's liking:

Journalists like Carol Costello are "ruining America", did you know...?

The segment was "truly sickening, yet strangely laughable"...?

I think Queenie Palin should create her own media.

Oh, she tried to do that, totally unsuccessfully? Too bad.

Needless to say that although Carol Costello has already apologized for her remarks, Sarah Palin and her ilk want her scalp. Sarah Palin already said that the first apology in a statement to Politico could not be "accepted":

Unfortunately, Sarah Palin forgot to mention that she herself for example never apologized to former Alaska State Senate President Lyda Green (Republican) for laughing when a right-wing radio-jock called Lyda Green a "bitch" and a "cancer." Lyda Green herself is a cancer survivor, which Palin knew.

Watch:

Senior Republican Lyda Green is indeed not a fan of Sarah Palin, which is not surprising, as she had good insights into how Sarah Palin is wired. Green was a guest on the Rachel Maddow show in 2008, explaining her experiences with Sarah Palin (and Todd Palin).

As an inevitable result of Sarah Palin's attack on Carol Costello, the facebook of the CNN-journalist is now being flooded with ugly comments from right-wingers. This might please Sarah, as her favourite attitude towards her perceived enemies has always been the same: Hunt, seek, destroy. 

Screenshot from Costello's facebook:

However, facts have always been the biggest enemy of the Palins, and that is why I wrote this post.

As usual, the deflections and the lies of the Palins are in plain sight, for everyone to see.

Finally, I would like to highlight the following articles in the media:

Josh Marshall, editor and publisher of "Talking Points Memo": "Sarah, Bristol & The Recurrence Of The Eternal Victim"

Andrew Sullivan, "The Dish": "The Odd Lies of Bristol Palin"

Finally, a rather unlikely source - the conservative "Daily Caller" doesn't buy Bristol Palin's accusations against the media: "Bristol Palin Claws Media With 10 Perfect Post Brawl Nails" 

Have a good weekend, everybody!

(h/t KAO!)

Elections 2014: Two Senate and One Governor Wannabes and Shouldn'tbes

by Sunnyjane

We're just three Tuesdays away from election day, and the Silly Season has morphed into the Pathetic Period.  The Silly Season officially began the day John Boehner's first tax-payer- financed lawyer bailed on him and the Big B decided it would be smart to hire the lawyer who lost Bob McDonnell's corruption case.  This circus stunt, of course, is merely a desperate ploy to earn votes for Republican Tea Party candidates on November 4.  Because, you know, those Benghazi/Obamacare/IRS thingies didn't work out too well.

The Pathetic Period took off when, in a debate with her Democratic opponent, one GOP candidate pivoted from a question she didn't want to answer and accused her challenger of suing a neighbor whose pet chickens had pooped in his yard. Pathetic.

One interesting bit to know while you're reading about a couple of the races for this mid-term election:  The Senate Conservatives Fund, which was set up by skanky old Jim DeMint before he skedaddled away to make his millions as president of The Heritage Foundation, is not having a very good year.  For some unfathomable reason, the SCF hired former Virginia attorney general and failed (thank God) gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli to be its new leader.  Of the six candidates the SCF shoved money at, three lost their primaries: T. W. Shannon (OK), Chris McDaniel (MS), and Milton Wolf (KS).  The other one, Rob Maness of Louisiana, is expected to lose to either Democrat Mary Landrieu or the other Republican candidate, Bill Cassidy. (Louisiana is a weird state; it will hold a jungle primary on November 4, and the top two candidates will be voted on in a runoff election on December 6.  Either way, Maness, a Palin endorsee, is gonna lose.  Heh.) So how's it going there for you, Cooch?

Since there are a gazillion House races and thirty-three Senate races, we'll only look at a couple of the more interesting ones.      

Deep in the Heart of Texas: Abbott v. Davis for Governor

Proving that you can shine shit for fun and profit.

The issue that got the attention of Democrats nationwide was Texas state senator Wendy Davis's noble filibuster effort to stop the legislature from passing a grossly restrictive abortion bill in 2013.  The bill passed anyhow, much to the delight of conservatives everywhere.  However, appeals have bounced around the Texas courts so many times since then that I'm not sure where it stands today; the latest decision on whether or not the restrictions on abortion clinics are too severe seems to change hourly.  But this is known: of the forty-four clinics currently operating, all but eight will have to close if the bill is upheld.

To Greg Abbott, forcing women who choose to obtain an abortion to drive 250 miles is merely a slight inconvenience, but a manageable one.  I guess it's according to how you define manageable.

Lest we be lulled into believing that shutting down women's clinics is all about being pro-life and, ahem, all concerned about the health and safety of female Texans, there's another side to this story: it's called PROFIT.  And who would profit from these restrictions?  None other than Gov. Rick Perry's sister, Milla Perry Jones, who is on the board of the doctors-owned Texas Ambulatory Surgical Center Society, which runs 420 clinics throughout Texas.  Since the need for abortions is not likely to go down, this little group could make tons of money, i.e., profit, by charging a higher fee than the shut-down clinics did.  See?  You knew it had to be about the money, didn't you?

On teh gays gettin' married, one of Abbott's arguments for banning such a thing is that it would reduce out-of-wedlock births.  (I thought that was contraception's job, but perhaps I'm wrong.)  Now I have no earthly idea what judge would accept that explanation as sound reasoning, but if it can be done, it will be done in Texas.

The current polls are inconclusive on this race, but most have Abbott leading by single digits.  It's extremely important that women and minorities vote on November 4.

The Bluegrass State:  McConnell v. Grimes for Senate
 

I'm not a scientist, but I'm right there with Paul Ryan when it comes to budgets!

It may well be called the bluegrass state, but politically it's redder than Rudolph's nose on Christmas Eve.  Despite the fact that Kentuckians detest Mitch McConnell, Democratic candidate Alison Grimes has an uphill battle on her hands.

One reason Mitch wants to become Senate Majority Leader is so that he and his senate cronies can shut down the government again, because, you know, it was such a $25 Billion success the first time.  And as Michael Tomasky wrote just recently concerning the debate, Le Turtle has an astounding ability to lie, dissemble, and misrepresent himself to voters.   The entire debate between the incumbent and Grimes should have convinced his constituents that Mitch is full of crap and needs to be replaced.  Now I don't know whether McConnell is stupid or if he thinks Kentuckians are stupid, but his response to the question on Obamacare was the epitome of contempt.  He hates it, and taking a line from Ted Cruz, he'd rip it apart branch and root.  But, he'd let his citizens have their little website -- Kynect -- if they wanted to keep it.  Gee, thanks Uncle Mitch!  Idiot.

For her part, at least Alison Grimes stated that there was no way she would take affordable health care away from five hundred thousand Kentuckians who had it under Kynect. 

When Grimes refused to answer if she had voted for President Obama in 2008 and 2012, GOPers pounced like vultures on two-week-old roadkill in August.  Even Chuck Todd, newly anointed anchor of Sunday morning's Meet My Good Republican Friends Meet the Press, asked if not responding to that question disqualifies her.  It makes one wonder where Chuck Todd was in 2012 when Mitt Romney refused to answer questions about what policies he would propose on various issues, oh, like the following:  refusing to answer questions on Richard Mourdock's belief that a baby conceived through rape was something God planned; or refusing fourteen times to respond to questions right after hurricane Sandy on whether he would still get rid of FEMA and turn disaster relief over to the states and private sector groups; and  his refusal to answer what tax loopholes he would close, what he would do about immigration reform, his stand on the NRA, etc.  You really wanna talk about disqualifying a candidate, Chuck?  You really wanna go there?

Some polls have Grimes up in this race.

The Motor City State: Land v. Peters for Senate

I don't always run for the U.S. Senate, but when I do, I blow $6 Million of the Kochs' money!

She wasn't anybody's first choice, and now we're seeing why, said an in-the-know GOPer of Terry Lynn Land's candidacy.  Land is running against Democrat Gary Peters in Michigan's race for the U.S. Senate seat of Democrat Carl Levin, who is retiring after this term.

By most accounts, Land is simply not ready for prime time.  She's uncomfortable campaigning, has been called the invisible candidate, and once said I can't do this! when being questioned by a group of reporters.

Things got so bad that in mid-August the Kochs pulled their $1.1 Million dollar ad blitz for her.  And just recently, the National Republican Senatorial Committee left her all-dressed-up-and-no-place-to-go by yanking back an $850,000 ad campaign.

Needless to say, Gary Peters is ahead in this race with a 42 - 33 lead.

End Note

And don't let any new ones in!

(We will continue to look at Senate and House races until Election Day)

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Please note that due to a glitch in the Matrix, the first version of this post and the comments disappeared. We apologize for any inconvenience! :-)

PALIN-BRAWL - The police-report finally brings out the ugly truth: Witnesses say that the Palin-family started the fight, Bristol and Track Palin were "heavily intoxicated" and violent, Bristol punched the host Korey Klingenmeyer multiple times, she was "out of control" and acted abusive towards him - and then lied to the police afterwards about what happened! And there is much more - read the naked, unmasked truth about the Palin-family!

Yes, we know all too well, Sarah!

By Patrick

+++UPDATE October 25, 2014:

The police tapes and the complete timeline of the brawl+++

Thank the Lord for the work of the Anchorage Police Department! The infamous "Palin-brawl" from Saturday, September 6, 2014 (read our extensive report) was already almost forgotten, and Sarah Palin and her clan almost got away with their lies again. 

Although the Alaska media consistently reported the true story, as told by eye-witnesses (see for the example the reporting by blogger Amanda Coyne and the Alaska Dispatch News), the spin-machine of the Palins went into full gear afterwards. As a result, the "Palin-version" of the brawl, in which they are the victims, got widely reported and muddied the waters, and CNN-host Brian Stelter then even felt compelled to ask on air whether the Palin-family does not "deserve the benefit of the doubt", a statement which was afterwards celebrated by right-wing media outlets like "Breitbart", who claimed that Brian Stelter rightly "shamed his colleagues."

However, giving Sarah Palin "the benefit of the doubt" is never a good idea, as journalists who were not "convinced" can now check for themselves. The extensive witness statements about the "Palin-brawl" which are contained in the police report leave no doubts any more about what happened, who started the fight, and who behaved in the most disgusting manner: It was the Palin-family.

Many, many thanks to our friend Malia Litman who today published the report!

Read and download the report:

DOWNLOAD LINK 1

DOWNLOAD LINK 2

I copied the statements from the report for easier reading:

Matthew McKenna nailed it down there in the last sentence:

"The problem was that Bristol and Willow 

were drunk as were their boyfriends."

There are many more quotes in this report which deserve be mentioned, and we will do so in due course. But first, it is a feeling of great relief that this police report not only fully confirms the reporting of the Alaska bloggers, the Alaska media and most of the mainstream media, our own reporting (using inside information from our sources in Alaska), but also bluntly exposes the Palin-family as hypocrites, liars and as hugely unpleasant as a whole. Finally, no "benefit of the doubt" is needed any more.

It is a real shame that eye-witness Eric Thompson lost his job about this whole affair - just for telling the truth. But the truth cannot be hidden forever.

EDITED TO ADD - From my comment earlier on in the last post:

 "One policeman states that AFTER he had taken Korey Klingenmeyer's testimony that Track and Todd came at Korey again and that he and other officers had to separate them in order to prevent further escalation."

What further proof is needed that the Palins were in an aggressive mood that night. Alcohol and aggression are not good bedfellows ever. 

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UPDATE:

As I expected, this finally, and deservedly, exposes the Palin-family as the huge hypocrites they really are. It was long overdue, as they got away with far too much during all these years.

Josh Marshall, editor and publisher of Talking Points Memo, just tweeted:

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UPDATE 2:

Next Monday, October 13th, Sarah Palin will be the keynote speaker at a banquet, held by the "Trinity Christian School" in North Dakota, and will appear together with the well-known anti-gay religious extremist and proven liar David Barton.

Excerpt from a detailed article about David Barton by the Southern Poverty Law Center:

A fervent homophobe, Barton has claimed that gay people die “decades earlier” than others and have more than 500 partners apiece in their lifetimes. On his WallBuilders radio broadcast, he’s flagrantly misled listeners by saying that the “leading pediatric association in America” has cautioned educators against providing education about homosexuality. But the American College of Pediatricians that Barton referred to has only a couple of hundred members and is, in fact, a right-wing breakaway group from the 60,000-member American Academy of Pediatrics, which is the real “leading pediatric association in America.” The group he cited split with the American Academy of Pediatrics explicitly because it had taken an official stand that there is no harm associated with same-sex parenting.

Some of Barton’s claims are mind-boggling to any reasonably well-educated person. For example, in his version of history, the founding fathers “already had the entire debate on creation and evolution,” and chose creationism. Reality check: Charles Darwin didn’t publish his theory of evolution in The Origin of Species until 1859, more than half a century after the founding fathers were active. Barton also has asserted that the American Revolution was fought to free slaves. “That’s why we said we want to separate from Britain, so we can end slavery,” Barton said. Actually, that’s ridiculous. Many of the founding fathers were slaveholders, slavery is acknowledged (although it is not named) in the constitution that they wrote, and the British Empire outlawed slavery three decades before the United States did.

Barton also has promoted the anti-immigrant cause and engaged in Muslim-bashing. He opposes immigration reform, saying that God established national borders (tell that to the Russians and the Poles, who have seen their borders changed repeatedly over the course of history), and has appeared on the radio show of hard-line nativist William Gheen. Barton cited infamous Islamophobe Robert Spencer in attacking U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), the first Muslim congressman.

In 2010, Barton joined the battle to bowdlerize the Texas social studies curriculum for public schools, supporting efforts to excise Martin Luther King Jr. and 1960s farm worker activist Cesar Chavez from textbooks. As reported by Washington Monthly, Barton said King didn’t deserve to be included for advancing minority rights because “only majorities can expand political rights.”

After establishing a 25-year record of Big Lie propaganda, Barton finally got taken down in a decisive way in 2012 — and among the most effective at eviscerating his reputation were fellow Christian conservatives. Barton’s book, The Jefferson Lies, had actually made The New York Times best-seller list. But then Jay Richards of the Discovery Institute, a think tank known for it advocacy of “intelligent design,” asked 10 conservative Christian professors to evaluate Barton’s work. They found the book riddled with errors. Professors Warren Throckmorton and Michael Coulter of Grove City College, a conservative Christian school in Pennsylvania, even wrote another book in 2012, Getting Jefferson Right: Fact Checking Claims about Our Third President, that debunks Barton’s claims. The same year, Richards said that Barton’s books and videos were full of “embarrassing factual errors, suspiciously selective quotes, and highly misleading claims.”

The coup de grace also came in 2012, when readers of the History News Network voted Barton’s new book the “least credible history book in print.” The nonpartisan network, affiliated with George Mason University, describes its mission as putting current events in historical perspective and features articles by prominent historians.

Meanwhile, a multi-ethnic coalition of evangelical ministers, based in Cincinnati, asked Thomas Nelson, the book’s Christian publisher, to withdraw the book. The pastors said the book inaccurately portrayed Jefferson’s true views on race, his record as a slaveholder, and his negative views of Jews. “You can’t be serious about racial unity in the church, while holding up Jefferson as a civil rights hero and champion of freedom,” the Rev. Ray McMillian told Grove professor Throckmorton for an article published on the crosswalk.com website.

After all of this pressure and negative publicity, a Nelson spokesman announced in August 2012 that the publishing company had reviewed Barton’s book and found enough errors to recall copies not yet sold and stop new shipments. This came despite the book’s commercial success.

His reputation in tatters, Barton accused his critics of exaggerating his claims about Jefferson’s Christian faith. Then he reportedly bought up 17,000 remaining copies from Nelson and continued to sell them on Amazon. He also said that he would publish a new edition (it wasn’t clear where) that won’t include any substantial changes but will alter a few phrases to clear up any confusion.

Barton still retains some influence, but only in the most extreme and uneducated segments of the Christian Right. Virtually all serious conservatives have repudiated him, and his chances of making a comeback seem remote, to be kind, although he sounds just as glib and sure as himself as ever.

Screenshot of the announcement:

So the fake Christian Sarah Palin continues to scrape the barrel with other fake Christians, what a surprise. Why do I get the impression that Sarah Palin and David Barton will really like each other?

Our wonderful annes_123 has already imagined what Sarah Palin's speech would sound like on Monday at the "Trinity Christian School"...and it appears pretty accurate to me! 

Read for yourself:

"Yes, yes thank you thank you, thank you, yes.... praise me.. ahem.. yes, thank you... So (scratches nostril and smirks)... if yu've been watchin' the news lately my family ...ha ha.. snort... ha..mmhmmm.... got into a little kerfluffle and of course the lame stream media was all over it A HA! Gotcha, Palin Family!

You see they tried that by camping outside my practically NUDE hot yoga positions studio trying to catch a glimpse of me bending over or leaving so they could say.. what? I sweat?

So yeah, God Bless America! Snort ..... lemme tell you a few things about this now infamous (makes quotes with gnarly fingers) "brawl" my wonderful, very loving, independent family "supposedly" instigated.

Yep, we got a big kick out the tale spun just the other night over some good Moose Stew my pops brought in. It's getting cold up there in Alaska! I don't know if you know where my dad lives but it isn't an easy ride to our place but he did because that's what family does. Looks out for each other. How I was raised and how Tawd and I raised our kids (tugging at her strange leather tasseled top to reveal more uneven cleavage for a peep).

So lemme give you an eye witness account by someone who was there (thumps chest and struts like a rooster) not an "after the fact" report jotted down I mean our Alaskan men and women of the police force do their jobs and are good solid hard workin' folks but are at the mercy ya know ...at the mercy when at a scene later than when words and all were going on.

So let's see... got the report right here.

Wouldn't fit on my hand! SNORT! (fixes fake glasses)

"A belligerent Bristol Palin was swinging and punching like a wild woman"...

My sweet little Bristol! She's gotta mean right hook Track taught her. My girls were both threatened with being gang raped multiple times while in our safe public high school. She learned to give a punch.... to fend off gang rapists!! Does that sound wild and belligerent or just a young, very sweet single mom out there trying to protect her sister who had just been attacked?

Sheeshes but it gets better...

So Bristol is being dragged all around by some drunken maniac by her feet and Willow is being clobbered by this big older lady also drunk so what do my kids do? Spring into action to protect each other. Track, Bristol and Willow. Did they say THAT in their lame stream media "report"?

And "heavily intoxicated"? Come on please! Did they do a breath test?

Didn't think so. So they smelled alcohol.

The alcohol that was thrown at them by the crazy man dragging Bristol by the hair and then feet and by the big older lady, much older than me, sitting on Willow spilling her beer all over the place!

The party did get out of control and we would of never of shown up to celebrate my great husband Tawd's 50th if we knew. We just were at the wrong place at the wrong time among folks that should of known better and my kids were their target.

I raised them to stand up for each other and protect at all cost like that Mama Grizzly fierceness.

Once Bristol and Willow were out of harms way we were on our way back to our vehicle to find a more calmer, suitable celebration - probably the local Dairy Queen! Ha! Simple but we are simple folks and more peaceful!

Well, that's when the cops showed up and were trying to get the scoop from a very visibly shaken Bristol ...terrorized not drunk and a fired up Combat Troop Track still making sure his sisters were safe.

And that, folks is the big "brawl"...

Now, lessons to be learned, of course so what can we take from that and turn into a teachable moment for our kids? Well, I prayed a lot about this and God told me........ blab blab blab blab.....snort... show cleavage... blab...

Elections 2014: The Bad and the Just God-Awful Republican Governors

by Sunnyjane

Don't Re-elect -- Instead, Reject!

Of the twenty-nine Republican governors currently in office, thirteen are either embroiled in scandals, being investigate for corruption, or have recently been indicted.  Of these thirteen, three have presidential aspirations: Chris Christie, Rick Perry, and Scott Walker, who is currently up for re-election.  And some of these governors are simply in deep doo-doo for being lousy executives of their states, but expect their constituents to re-elect them anyhow so they can complete the job of totally ruining their respective states.  Is this a great country or WHAT?

--  Kansas, possibly the reddest of the red states, seems to be in an unstoppable swirl down the political toilet.  Sam Brownback's hyper-conservative tax-cutting policies have brought down the state's credit rating from both Moody's and Standard & Poor's, and risks running a deficit through 2019.  In an effort to stem that particular tide, he then cut the tax rate on the top tax bracket even more, which reduced revenue by forty-five percent -- or $93 million in 2013.  Hail, austerity!  But that's not all, folks: Brownback's former chief of staff and current campaign adviser is being investigated by the FBI for influence peddling operations in Kansas government and privatization of the state's Medicaid program.  (The FBI's a bit touchy about things like corrupt government.  Think McDonnell, Bob.)  Latest poll numbers suggest that Brownback's Democratic opponent, Paul Davis, could win with fifty-seven percent of the vote.  (Heh)

-- Pennsylvania governor Tom Corbett is currently having a close encounter of the porn kind.  It seems that eight former employees of Corbett's while he was Attorney General had sent and received hundreds of pornographic images or videos in emails that his office received during the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse case.  Two of these guys who had gone to work for Corbett when he was elected governor in 2010 during the Tea Party wave resigned last week.

In touting his new jobs plan during recent debates, Gov. Corbett urged Pennsylvania to check out the new website and see the 250,000 jobs that were waiting breathlessly to be filled.  However, a check of this shiny new jobs website revealed that some of these dandy job opportunities were hardly what one might call viable career prospects.  Two examples:

• VIP Hostess – I have two visiting VIP gentlemen coming to town. Need a couple of female hostesses to join them for cocktailing, dinner and clubbing. Send me a couple of pictures of yourself – under 30 please, if you are highly attractive and in need of $$...
• Casting Couch – Looking for M.I.L.F.S…hot mom & daughter combos!!! Young busty females between 18-45. Please attach pic. Thank you ladies!!!

Pennsylvanians have been suffering voters' remorse for four years.  The Corbett that looked like a moderately conservative candidate turned into a Tea Partier and the voters have had it with that particular deal; a late-August poll showed his Democratic opponent, Tom Wolf, leading by twenty-five points.

 -- Maine's governor, Paul LePage, is a skank of the first order, and God only knows what possessed the people of that good state to elect him -- temporary insanity, perhaps.  Not only has LePage met several times with a group of conspiracy theorists (a polite term for them) calling themselves Sovereign Citizens -- the FBI considers them domestic terrorists -- but it was recently revealed by one member of the group that in those meetings they discussed hanging the members of the Democratic legislature.  LePage, of course, denies that.

LePage will say anything and doesn't care that it may anger or appall people.  Last year he ranted to two reporters how irritated he was with a Democratic state senator, saying, Sen. Jackson claims to be for the people, but he's the first one to give it to the people without providing Vaseline.   Such class!

Hardly had he gotten into office that he told the NAACP it could kiss my butt because he refused to attend an event honoring Martin Luther King, Jr.  His reasoning went something like this:  the NAACP is a special interest group and he doesn't do special interest groups.  (Yeah, like the Tea Party isn't a special interest group.)  And taking a cue from Mitt Romney, LePage announced that 47% of able-bodied Maine residents don't work.  That went over particularly well, as you can imagine, particularly when Politifact gave the remark a Pants on Fire award. 

If the current polls hold, there's a very good chance that Mike Michaud, his Democratic opponent, may very well become the first openly gay governor in the U.S.

If you're not super-weary of these three, check out the ten most vulnerable governors in this election.

And Speaking of Governors...

It would be a very good idea if Romney would just bite his tongue.

During the 2012 general election, Mitt Romney told Fox Noxious that he absolutely believes that President Obama is responsible for high gas prices at the pump because  he has not pursued policies that convince the world that America is going to become energy secure, energy independent.  (That's sounds very much like a Sarah Palin statement, doesn't it?) The price of gas at the time was $3.80 a gallon on average; today the price is $3.33 on average, and shows signs of dropping below $3.00 in the near future.  Romney's response today on gas prices?  Echos of the sound of silence.

Perhaps Mr. Romney is just too busy to find out the price of gas because he's been out campaigning for a bunch of losers.  You can tell they're losers because they're desperate enough to reach out to Mitt Romney.  Perhaps the will-never-be-anything-but-a-former-governor is doing this to take the opportunity to spew his unhappiness that he lost in 2012.  In a recent event for Terri Lynn Land, a U.S. Senate hopeful in Michigan, he said that it’s time for the president to apologize to Americans for so many failures.  Uh huh.  Well, Mitt, do you mean like ten million Americans now having affordable health care?  Or, the unemployment rate dropping below six percent?  Or, growing jobs in America -- versus jobs in China -- continuously for the past fifty-four months?  Please explain.  We'll be anxiously awaiting your response.   Any time you're ready.

Romney's really getting tiresome.  

End Note 

You're welcome, Patriots!

(Next post we will talk about the House and Senate races.  Hoo boy!)