Weekly Roundup, July 17-22, 2012

By Blueberry T

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Sunnyjane’s Countdown to the Election

Sunnyjane is going to help us through the next few months by recapping the election-season happenings.  This past week, we saw President Obama singing in the rain – well, speaking, anyway – along with his wet but rapt audience.  Meanwhile, Mitt was looking managerial even while relaxing with his son at the multi-million dollar digs in New Hampshire.   The various story-lines of Mitt’s no-good-very-bad-week come together – the shifting story about when he left Bain (proving his business background is now a liability); the hidden tax returns.  I love that Joe Trippi wrote – for Fox News, no less – that no one in their right mind would choose a running mate who refused to provide tax returns and who had hidden accounts overseas, yet Romney thinks he can get away with non-disclosure.  There is a LOT more in this post, including Cheney re-emerging, the outsourcing of the Olympic uniforms, wasteful spending by Congress while they clamor for cuts in vital programs, and much more.  Well done once again, sunnyjane!

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Next Installment: Leadfoot’s Review of Bristol’s F***in TV Show

Leadfoot and Bella suffered through two more episodes of “Life’s a Tripp.”  The show is actually brilliant in showcasing how mean, petty, spoiled and dysfunctional the Palins are.  Let’s see – going to school to learn to style hair is just too tough for Willow, who is used to having her Friday nights free in case she wants to party and trash someone’s house.  (Okay, I added that part.)  Bristol is trying so hard to get Gino to propose to her that she looks desperate.  I wonder how many times in all the episodes someone says to Tripp, “You’re not cute” (meaning he’s misbehaving) – so much so that he is saying it back to them, along with “I hate you,” again.  Really, how many times has he said that?  These are not things that get said repeatedly by 3 year-olds in happy, well-balanced families, in my experience.  Then, of course, there is the “f-bomb,” which Patrick concludes is “faggot.”  (Since this post, the story has been picked up by quite a few media.)  Patrick also reminds us of the context that the Palin sisters have used this kind of foul-mouthed language before.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

More Palin FamilyDysfunction

Dusty is back!!  Speaking of context, she looks at Tripp calling Willow a “faggot” in the context of all the utter dysfunction in the Palin household.  We well know that Palin brags about “going rogue,” that she is a disinterested mother and absentee parent and that the family revels in nastiness and lashing out in response to any perceived slight.  The Palin household is not a place where children gradually learn coping and socializing skills in a nurturing environment.  Instead, the kids are constantly both defensive and offensive – yes, both meanings apply.  Tripp, unfortunately, is learning their dysfunctional behavior and potty-mouthed language, and like most young children, he is a good mimic of what he hears from his mother, aunt and other relatives.  Ironically, the Palins seem to think that the public will find this as amusing as they do. No, actually, we’re just not that into watching you abuse your child, Bristol.  I hope that this will be further evidence to use in court about how unfit Bristol is to care for Tripp. 

Saturday, August 21, 2012

Another Horrific Mass Shooting

Patrick’s Saturday post is so sad – a remembrance of Jessica Ghawi, one of the victims of the terrible shooting in Aurora, Colorado.  It seems not that long ago that we were writing about the shooting in Tucson, or was it Virginia Tech, or … well, there are too many, and each time we hear how "shocked and saddened" our politicians are.  I cannot imagine how the families must feel, as they listen to more “up is down” spin from the NRA and the Republicans, saying that we should have more guns, not less.  (I continually fight my wish that members of Congress or their loved ones would have to face the terror of having someone point a weapon like the one above at THEM; then suddenly this would be a problem that had to be solved. Gabby Giffords excepted from this group.)  We all need to rise up and make Congress accountable for failing to protect the welfare of the American people.  It is the ONLY WAY that this sad situation is ever going to change.  #RIPJessica and all the victims of this and the many other senseless gun tragedies.  

Sunday, August 22, 2012

A mini-wiki – whatyou need to know about Mitt Romney

Patrick’s excellent post puts together five of the best recent articles about Mitt Romney, in an effort to reveal who he is and what he stands for.  Well, as Patrick points out, the one thing that most clearly defines Romney is that he stands for nothing except making money – he is a serial flip flopper and as Ted Kennedy brilliantly pointed out, he is “multiple choice” (not only on abortion, but on everything).  The good news is that the media is doing its homework and putting together some fine investigative work.  The articles are:

• “Where the Money Lives” -- Vanity Fair  
• “6 Things Mitt Romney is Hiding” –  Mother Jones 
• “Here’s What I think Romney is hiding…” –  Business Insider 
• “Assets Hint at Larger Romney Wealth” – Associated Press/ Time  
•  “Romney stayed at Bain 3 years longer than he stated” – Boston Globe 

Despite the Romneys' protestations, this was not the Obama campaign slinging mud at them (as Ann intimated) - these were journalists digging up information that the voters need to know about a guy who wants to be President but refuses to disclose key information and is so secretive that he makes Richard Nixon look open.  

As a bonus, the post includes a link to a little-known story from Scoop Independent News about “Bishop Romney” counseling a pregnant woman not to have an abortion, even though her life was in danger.  

Monday, July 23, 2012

Sunnyjane’s Countdown: 16 Weeks to Election Day

by Azure Ghost

I realized how far behind I was on the Roundup when I saw sunnyjane’s post and realized I hadn’t even reported on her “17-weeks-and-counting” post yet – uh oh!  She highlights the latest evidence of how fake Romney is – even his Twitter followers are bogus!  Then there was yet another week of focus on what Mitt is hiding in his unreleased tax returns, with an increasing number of Republicans calling for full disclosure.  Fortunately, Ann Romney said that “…there are so many things that will be open again for more attack... and that's really, that's just the answer.”  Okay, I find it hard to interpret that statement in any way except to confirm suspicions that they are hiding “so many things.”  The post contains a plethora of sunnyjane’s trademark witticisms, aimed at Limbaugh, Bachmann, O’Reilly, The Donald, McConnell and, of course, Sarah Palin!!  (The photo captions are by themselves worth the price of admission.)  On a more serious note, sunnyjane points out that Mitt Romney’s been pallin’ around with a rapist, and she reminds us of the pitiful reactions of some Republicans to the Aurora massacre. 

Some comments and links (okay, really a lot, to make up in some small way for the ones I inadvertently deleted – so sorry!): 

Enigmaplanner:  Why did John McCain pick @Sarahpalinusa over @mittromney in 2008? Easier to cover up a fake birth than answer Mitts tax filing questions.

AzureGhost:  …here are some reasons why Palin really is better than Mitt:

Believes in seceding from the US instead of just outsourcing
Wouldn't even know how to spell "Bain"
Thinks 7-Eleven cookies are gourmet food
Isn't Mormon but pretends to be Jewish
Wouldn't put pet dog on car roof; would just shoot it

Thank you, GOP, for the never-ending laughs at your expense.

Thanks to Sleuth1, who did us all a favor by live-blogging Bristol’s show; I think the Scotch probably helped a bit!  The wrapup:  Tripp dropping the F bomb was the total highlight for me! …I agree that it was sad, but it totally put the lie to her "mothering skills".  And THAT I totally enjoyed.

BanditBasheert:  I feel so bad for Tripp - and for anyone who ever has to be responsible for turning him into a productive member of society.  That mouth - on that adorable little boy.  I get the feeling Brisdull sees Levi in him, which is why she is turning him so negative.  She really hates Levi but she isn't done with her revenge.  She's destroying his little boy - because she can't get to him.  This is sooooo sad.

Kathleen:  Every week this programme reveals another level of Palin family abuse of small children. I expect they all grew up like this. 

JCos:  Bristol - "Levi, your son said the F word."
Levi - "Which one?"
Bristol - "Tripp!"
Levi - "I meant which F word."

Mxm:  Bristol whining about her inability to discipline Tripp was just sad.  She doesn't understand that first she must discipline herself.

Silver_desert:  Britney Spears lost physical custody of her children when she was unable to handle the spotlight and the media was all over her for ages.  But I don't remember her kids being subjected to the abuse the Palins do to their little ones right in front of our eyes for the past four years.

BfromC:  She is sooooooooooo terribly naive to think that her statement settles it. 

First -- we KNOW he gives 10% to the church.
2nd -- this has nothing to do with Mitt's charitable giving.  It is about his secret, potentially illegal and totally "un-American" financial practices!

Maelewis:  I think that her latest statement is right up there with "It's our turn," and wearing that $990. t-shirt.

IWanttheTruth:  When she says Mitt is good and generous she means he is good and generous to Mormons because they deserve it.  The rest of us are "you people"/Gentiles and are lesser beings.  She is addressing the rest of us blurry masses from within her self-righteous Mormon bubble.  The Romney's buy their self-righteousness with that 10% donation. 

Jane:  My question: why does Mitt always seem to bring out Ann every time he needs to defend himself, or decides that he wants to employ a mean attack dog??? No, seriously, he uses her as his defense and attack dog. It is a VERY strange dynamic. George W. used to do that sometimes with Laura, but never to this extent: he used Laura to come out and "explain or defend" when he had done something embarrassing and indefensible – but not to act as his mean attack dog. This merely weakens Mitt even further in my view, and is a very sick political AND family dynamic. If Mitt's not man enough to do his own defense and make his own attacks, he shouldn't be running for the job. Can any of us even imagine the howling that would occur if Michelle were to act as Barack's defense or mean attack dog – or if Michelle were to angrily condescend to the voters, lecturing them as to why none of the rules applied to her or Barack? 

Psalm023:  Crazy how some would refuse every citizen the right of universal health care, yet demand the right of every citizen to bear arms.

Leadfoot_LA:  …the crazies are ALWAYS in control. The crazy shooter made the rules in that theater last night. Crazy Sarah Palin gets attention for her lunatic rants. The crazy lady in the grocery store draws the attention of all the other shoppers who just stare in silence. Crazy is unusual, and it is LOUD. So people tend to give crazy way more attention than it deserves.

BfromC:  I was just listening to Progressive Radio while out and they were discussing gun control. They brought up the fact that so many other countries in this world have figured out how to manage this and avoid the gun violence. We in the USA are a deadly anomaly.

Bottom line - what is the problem with having people register and go through some checks, and banning the sale of the most destructive of the weapons?

To me the irony is that in many conservative states now, you have to go through many more hoops to register and be allowed to vote, than any hoops troubled and mentally ill people have to jump in order to murder people in a fit of delusion. They obviously have NO hoops to prevent them from their destructive purchases.

Ennealogic:  There will always be crazies - especially when fostered and fed by extreme voices.  What we can do is limit the damage the crazies do, by regulating the weaponry they can legally buy and own.

Junasie14:  And to think that someone with this mindset would run as a pro-choice candidate in MA in two seperate elections, only to reverse himself again when looking to the national stage, is beyond belief. Everything in this mans' career has been calculated and controlleed to the umpteenth degree, and he is taking a lot of people for fools with his pious attitude of "how dare people question my background".

Linda1961:  Rmoney has never believed in America - first by sending American jobs overseas and destroying American businesses just so he could add to his fortune, then by not paying his fair share of taxes on his income, and finally, by accepting subsidies from the government he refuses to support.

Jane:  There are only two advantages to doing it Mitt's way – and both are shady: 1) evading American taxes that are legally due from him; 2) using Swiss privacy laws as a sinister cloak so that he can safely invest in things like Iranian oil – investments that would be illegal if publicly registered or done from America. And we know for a fact (from the mouth of his own adviser, no less) that Mitt has invested in Iranian oil. Who's pallin' around with terrorists NOW?????

Maelewis:  Mitt's money that is sitting in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Switzerland or any other foreign country that provides a way to shelter money against US taxes shows that Mitt Romney is not patriotic. If his money was invested in some way in the United States, it would be invested in our businesses and service industries. The taxes that Mitt avoids paying could have been used to improve highways and repair crumbling bridges and other vital infrastructure. All of those enterprises would have provided jobs. Let me repeat that: Mitt is unpatriotic to shelter his money outside of the United States to avoid paying taxes. That money could be working for the US instead of foreign interests.

Patrick linked to Andrew Sullivan at the Daily Beast.  

ProChoiceGrandma linked to Slate about the possibility that Mitt is hiding the fact that he took the amnesty for taxevaders using Swiss bank accounts.  DailyKos has a post on this topic as well.  

Mxm pointed out this article explaining the amnesty for “financial parasites hiding in Swiss bank accounts.”   

Bloomberg has another plausible guess about what is in the 2009 return that would look bad for Romney.  

(BBT: I’m leaning toward the “all of the above” choice for #WhatRomneyishiding)

Moreapa linked to HuffPo article about Romney’s admission that Cayman Island accounts were set up to help people evade U.S.taxes.  

Linda1961 had this from Wonkette on SheriffJoe Arpaio.  

zane1 found this – too good!  Also this from the Boston Globe on Romney’s connections with Bain after February of 1999.  

Leadfoot pointed this out onWonkette.  

Sunnyjane:  There's something batshit crazy about this country.  I can't buy heart-worm medication for my dogs over the internet without a prescription from the vet, but some gun-toting cretin can buy six thousand rounds of ammo over the internet with no restrictions. Police chief: Suspect bought over 6,000 rounds of ammunition through Internet  http://us.cnn.com/2012/07/20/j...

Alwaysthink, zane, Linda, Kathleen and others offered a round of applause and many h/t’s to HonestyinGov, who has been lighting Twitter up with many, many tweets about Mitt buying Twitter followers and many other topics.  Here are just a few:
https://twitter.com/HnstyNgov/... @billmaher:> @nyaltnews CHART:#Romney's Twitter account surging with phony followers. http://goo.gl/zMzWp #MoreFakeMitt @TheDailyShow #p2 

https://twitter.com/HnstyNgov/... @MittRomney's: "Mormon Church owns UNREGULATED #Gun Sale website"http://bit.ly/LC4sve  #Aurora #Theatershooting#CO #connecttheleft #p2b #p2 

This one highlights Jason Alexander’s excellent post.  @IJasonAlexander Responds w Lengthy Response to #Aurora tragedy & #GunRights ppl to him. http://www.twitlonger.com/show/if2nht #connecttheleft #p2 #p2b

Older_Wiser suggested this to add to Patrick’s Romney post  and here is a link to Frontline:  TheMormons. 

Weekly Roundup, July 2-8, 2012 - UPDATE: Regarding Gryphen and his claim that other bloggers want to "sabotage" his research - Gryphen's "ruffled ear theory"

by Blueberry T

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Romney won’t detail his plans because he would lose

Would you hire someone who said they were going to drastically cut programs, but wouldn’t say which ones?  That’s what Mitt Romney is asking America to do.  He says that he learned from his “mistake” in giving details during his losing Senate campaign against Ted Kennedy.  So just trust him, okay?  Sunnyjane’s post is packed with information and links about his non-responsiveness on the federal budget, fair pay and violence against women legislation, the Dream Act, closing tax loopholes and closing federal departments.  She also highlights Republicans’ post-election plans to sabotage President Obama’s administration; sadly, their treasonous strategy worked well in the 2010 midterm elections.  Since then, President Obama has taken the fight to them more effectively, so that their obstructionism is more transparent.  Now, he is highlighting the Romney campaign’s lame attempt to parse the difference between “out-sourcing” and “off-shoring” jobs… heh heh, what a great campaign strategy, to focus attention on the difference between jobs in Nebraska and jobs in China and India.  BTW, Rupert Murdoch is not impressed with Romney’s campaign. ;-)    

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Romney on Immigration Reform: We’ll get back to ya…

Sunnyjane sharpens her master wit like the chiselers of Mt. Rushmore, focusing on Romney’s refusal to explain what he really would do about – well, pretty much everything, because, as noted in the last post, if people really knew where he stands and what he would do as president, well, he would lose!  Can’t have that, for Pete’s sake!  In this excellent post, Sunnyjane uncovers the ugly roots of Arizona’s immigration legislation, showing that it was developed with the support of Neo Nazis/white supremacists.  Mitt Romney has praised the Arizona law and repeatedly criticized President Obama’s approach, vowing to end the Administration’s legal challenge on “Day One” of a Romney Presidency.  Hopefully, “Day One” will never come; but in the mean time, the Supreme Court pre-empted his threatened action by striking down most of the AZ law.  What would he do now?  In typical Romney fashion, in an interview with Bob Schieffer, he tried to deflect and answer a different question, and when Schieffer didn’t allow him to evade the question altogether, he said, “…we’ll look at that…”  Sounds just like Sarah Palin saying she’d check and get back to ya… (but never did).   (Have I mentioned what a genius Sunnyjane is at picking great cartoons and illustrations, too?)

Sunday, July 08, 2012

Bella in Bella Venezia!
     

Patrick gave us a wonderful treat: his photos from the visit to Venice, where Kathleen and he met Leadfoot and the aptly-named Bella!  His pictures are certainly worth more than thousands of words; our readers really enjoyed our “virtual vacation.”  Enjoy!

Some comments and links:

NJfan:  It was a hate-fest and whine-fest all rolled into one coming from a single mom who hates her responsibilities...that's how I see it.

Patrick:   … I cannot remember to have watched such a disgusting, repulsive piece of garbage on TV before. The Palins are so immersed in their sick world of hate and revenge that they don't realize how repulsive they actually are.

CacklingRad:  It's easy to say to your child, "Don't do that. Put that down. You want a time out?" The hard part is getting up off your butt, putting down your iPhone, and enforcing what you just said. Kids learn very quickly when their moms are too lazy to actually follow through with threats or prohibitions; they know they can just ignore them, and so they do… Todd's little speech struck an odd note, because he really nailed it: Bristol isn't the world's only single mother, and even mothers with husbands are frequently left alone with their children. 

Cheeriogirl:  "I pledge allegiance to my cash and to the accounts I hold outside of America, and to the Republicans who know that for nothing I stand, one oligarchy, with millions for us, and I won't reveal my taxes to the small."

Linda1961:  Honestly, if Rmoney can't deal with the MSM, most of which is lame because they insist upon dealing with false equivalencies, how does he expect to deal all of the problems and people that our president has to handle?

Maelewis:  What beautiful pictures and what a beautiful experience!  Thank you so much for sharing it with us.  Of course we have to laugh when we remember Bristol explaining to the reality TV cameras that she wanted to show Tripp the world by exposing him briefly to a Celebrity's View of Los Angeles. She taught him to stick his tongue out at people. She got in a fight and she hated the place-- as did poor Willow, the babysitter. Leadfoot really did show Bella "The World," or a least a good part of it. It looked as if Bella will have much better memories of that special, shared experience with her mother. 

Ennealogic:  What a terrific and joyful journal!  Pictures do tell a story and this tale is like a richly woven tapestry, a pleasure to behold.  Leadfoot, be sure and tell Bella that the internet people love meeting her this way, and that at least one of them thinks she looks totally awesome in the feather and lace mask.  That is a fantastic photo!

Older_Wiser pointed out this very positive Forbes article on the medical loss ratio provision of the Affordable Care Act:  The Bomb Buried in Obamacare Explodes Today – Hallelujah!

She also asked why Clarence Thomas should not be censured and impeached for not having recused himself re ACA.  

MrsTBB linked to Vanity Fair’s excellent article on Mitt’s offshore bank accounts.  

HonestyinGov pointed out this at Slate on Romney’s “evolving position” on whether the individual mandate is a tax and this piece on Dem talking points about Romney’s offshore accounts and calling him the “deadbeat dad” of the ACA.   

Here is Robert Reich on Romney, Bain and the New Gilded Age.  

The Last Word (with h/t to Linda 1961):

" A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines." Ralph Waldo Emerson

+++

Update by Patrick:


Hi everyone,

you know that we try to avoid any discussions about Gryphen and his "comments", as ignoring them turned out the best way of saving time and energy, but he again left an incredibly stupid comment, and we just would like to clarify some points. In his latest "ask uncle Gyphen" post...

http://theimmoralminority.blogspot.it/2012/07/lets-have-another-ask-uncle-gryphen.html

...the following exchange can be found:

+++

Anonymous 9:40 AM
What criteria do you use in censoring posts? I've tried to post some things referencing other anti-Palin sites and you haven't allowed them through. What gives?


Gryphen 10:35 AM
There are a couple of blogs that do far more harm then good, in their attempts to attract visitors. Some that are working behind the scenes to sabotage any research that they are not in control of, and some who simply pick preschool fights with me in order to troll for hits to their blogs which apparently they cannot manage on their own.


The internet is a wide open place, and they are free to do as they wish, but I have no responsibility to help those who engage in such tactics gain attention. 


By the way ANYBODY who poses as a teenage girl to gain Levi Johnston's trust is a blogger whose motives his visitor's might do well to question.


I'm just saying.

+++

So Gryphen sees dark forces at work who "sabotage research" and "pick preschool fights." I am not sure what exactly he is talking about, but he might not have like the fact that for example Brad Scharlott rejected Gryphen's "ruffled ear theory" in several recent blog posts. I agree with Brad's conclusions. But factually discussing the theories of other bloggers has nothing to do with "sabotaging research", but is simply the correct way of finding the truth. We do know that Gryphen is not prepared to allow criticism towards his cherished theories, and that's also why for example Palingates decided not to publish a "rebuttal post" right after the "ruffled ear theory" was first published on IM. Back then, it was a very tense situation between the blogs, and we didn't want to stir up any further tensions.

We are in favour of free speech and the free exchange of ideas and theories. Nothing is sacred. That's also why we believe in uncensored comments. Gryphen is right, the internet is a "wide open place", but if one is not prepared to "accept" the openness of the internet, where people have different perceptions, theories and ideas, then the internet is probably the wrong medium for you.

As to Gryphen's last remark, he obviously was talking about Kathleen's facebook profile, for which Kathleen used a picture of one of her daughters as an avatar. Let's just say that everybody who deals over facebook with Kathleen knows EXACTLY who she is. For example, as far as Levi Johnston is concerned, Kathleen made it perfectly clear to him in a personal message, before she posted any comments on his facebook page, that she was Kathleen who ran the blog Politicalgates, and she told him that the avatar was a photograph of her youngest daughter, taken by her eldest daughter. Kathleen did not pretend to be a teenager in order to try to "gain Levi's trust."

Gryphen could have saved himself the embarrassment, if he has such ideas, and could have emailed us in order to ask for clarification. That's what grown-ups do.

I don't think that anyone here would have expected otherwise, apart from Gryphen, whose head is apparently full of dark fantasies about evil bloggers who don't like his theories and want to sabotage him. This is all a sad state of affairs, and has ultimately been very damaging for the "Babygaters" as a whole. In his defence, Gryphen is obviously influenced by some people who, behind the scenes, wrongly and self-servingly blame Kathleen and me for the demise of "Palindeception", but unfortunately Gryphen (who was never a part of Palindeception) was never interested to get to know the full, incredibly well documented truth about what happened (all email exchanges and internal board discussions have been saved) - the truth consisting of facts which Kathleen and I have never published in order to protect other people, even if it meant that we could have easily "exonerated" ourselves.

So probably this game will go on forever, but in the end, we are here to find the truth, and if Gryphen plans to defend his theories to the end of days, right or wrong, and to smear other bloggers who don't agree with him, he is free to do that - but that's not how you find the truth and push this topic back in the mainstream media, which for example Brad Scharlott tried last year, with the strong support of Politicalgates - and also the support of IM. Gryphen should remember that only bloggers who are united will achieve something in the end, even if they disagree about some of the "facts." What is a well-know fact is that circular firing squads only take out each other, not the enemy.

+++

Update 2 (by Patrick):

I also would like to quote from Professor Brad Scharlott's incredibly interesting post from July 5, 2012, in which he discusses (and dismisses) the "ruffled ear theory" and also mentioned what Gryphen said to him in email conversation, together with new other information about Sarah Palin's lawyer contacting Brad Scarlott's university.

Brad reveals that the "two Trig theory", which he considered in previous articles as a possibility, was used against him in the letter sent by Palin's attorney to him as well as by Brad's university attorney in a subsequent discussion. Brad is clearly very angry that this theory, which he sharply rebutted in a previous and the above mentioned post, is used against the "Trig Truthers" in order to discredit them, and he is angry about Gryphen's behaviour, who mocked Brad in email messages and said that he would delete any comments on IM which would attempt to refute his own evidence and also called himself a "famous blogger":

My greatest mistake as a scholar and researcher was buying into the two-Trigs theory that Jesse Griffin, also known as Gryphen at his blog site Immoral Minority, has been pushing for more than two years now.

(...)

There is, to be sure, some ear deformity in the first photo that is less noticeable in the second, but that is surely due to both the aging process (Trig was much younger in the first photo) and optical factors, such as different lighting, lens types, and angles in the two pictures.


Why do I say Griffin is more interested in protecting his reputation than finding the truth? Because he absolutely refuses to show his readers the evidence that makes his theory practically untenable – meaning illustrations like the one immediately above that I showed here in a series of seven posts in October aimed at killing the two-Trigs theory. Moreover, I would bet a case of beer that Griffin has not shown the ear experts he consulted the above four-panel composite. If he did, they would almost certainly change their original judgment.

And that makes Griffin an intellectual coward. At one point, I tried to direct his readers to my research by placing in the comments to some of his articles the web addresses to my ear-related posts. In a personal email to me, he mocked me for doing that and let me know he would delete any such efforts on my part.

So what do we make of that email of Griffin’s? What I conclude is very sad: Griffin will not publish evidence, or even link to evidence, that challenges his own ideas. I cannot overstate how antithetical such actions are to the spirit of the search for truth, which is the animating spirit among true scholars.

(...)

Griffin has become the opposite of a scholar searching for truth. He does not seek out all evidence relevant to a theory he has proposed. Any evidence that contradict his publicly stated ideas gets axed. He has created a bubble of ignorance for himself and his readers. And, here is the tragedy: he has empowered Sarah Palin to paint all Trig Truthers as nut-cases because of his unwillingness to consider evidence or ideas that challenge his own.

I know from personal experience how Sarah Palin makes use of Griffin's theory. As I said, before I looked closely at the evidence, I bought into the two-Trig's idea. (In other words, I foolishly relied on Griffin’s research, which was shallow and unimaginative.) And I incorporated that theory into a version of a magazine-type article about the birth hoax that I sent to various publications last summer. I also sent a copy to Sarah Palin in August to give her a chance to respond to my charge that she faked Trig's birth.

Palin did not respond directly to that article. But in February, months after I had tried to kill the two-Trigs theory, Palin's attorney sent a six-page letter to my university, in an effort to get my employer to force me to stop writing about Palin. In that letter, he ignored the fact that I had very publicly rejected the two-Trigs theory, and instead emphasized that I had advanced it in the article I sent Palin. And thus he was able to make me look like a gullible idiot in that letter he wrote, twice referring to my views as "insane."

Our university's attorney, who has had no reason to follow the Palin birth hoax, clearly bought some his arguments, in large part because of the implausibility of the two-Trigs stuff. And I had to suffer the slings and arrows of her withering skepticism about my research in a meeting she held with me and my two immediate superiors.

(...)

In his last email to me, Griffin referred to himself as a "famous blogger." He has a large readership, so he is famous in a sense. But the fact that he thinks of himself in such terms perhaps reveals part of the problem: being "famous" in his own mind, with many acolytes effectively telling him in comments that he is practically infallible – but remember that he he nixes the dissenting voices – he may have convinced himself he is indeed infallible, and cannot bring himself to admit he made a mistake.

Weekly Roundup, June 25-July 1, 2012

by Blueberry T

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

The Romneys’ “Hobby Horse”

Jame’s excellent guest post revisits Mitt and Ann Romney’s tax deduction for the champion dressage horse Rafalca.  Ann Romney is co-owner of the Olympic-caliber horse.  Until recently, the Romneys described Ann’s interest in dressage as a therapeutic hobby that she took up after her MS diagnosis.  Apparently there is more to it than that, as the Romneys claimed a $77,000 loss on the horse on their 2010 tax return; so the hobby is apparently also a business venture.  Hmmm.  Most people cannot claim the costs of their hobbies as business expenses in the first place – and most people don’t even earn $77K/year, let alone lose that much on their “hobby horse.” Ironically, the value of the actual tax write-off was so low that it defies all reason that the Romneys would have even bothered claiming this deduction and thus bringing attention to their ultra-elitist hobby – er- business.  Jame also reports on the Romneys involvement in a lawsuit brought by the buyer of one of Ann’s horses that turned out to be lame and to have been drugged.  Very interesting post; thanks, Jame!

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

More of Bristol's Pity Party 

Bell Peppery took one for the team this week, reporting on the second pitiful week of Bristol Palin’s  painfully boring “reality” show.  Ugh.  These two episodes concentrate on how utterly vapid Bristol is and how dull and meaningless her privileged life is.  The episodes make clear that the whole underlying premise of the show is to display her vile vituperation toward Levi, as she repeatedly says the most insulting, degrading things about him in Tripp’s presence.  She also attempts to entrap Levi, and even though he wisely stays away, she uses it as an excuse to bash him some more and to DELIBERATELY DISAPPOINT TRIPP, who was falsely led to believe that his dad would meet them.  If that is not emotional abuse of that poor little guy, I don’t know what is.  Many thanks to Bell Peppery for suffering though this tripe, sparing the rest of us.   

Friday, June 29, 2012

Celebrating the Momentous Health Care Ruling

Patrick and Kathleen highlighted the Supreme Court’s decision upholding the Affordable Care Act.  The excellent video from Talking Points Memo covers the crazy way the announcement unfolded and reactions to it, from exuberation to the expected call from the Republicans to repeal it.  The challenge will be to ensure that we re-elect the President and give him a Congress that will support his initiatives, as the GOP is already raking in big bucks on the promise of repeal.  But right now, let’s enjoy the victory; here are some great cartoons that tell the story well. 

  

Friday, June 29, 2012

Sea4Pee Review in Photos: Brissie’s Show, Episodes 3&4

AnneS offers a photo montage of Bristol’s show, distilling that duuulllllllll hour down to the nitty-gritty.  She brilliantly shows the pure essence of Bristol’s obsession, sparing the rest of us having to suffer though an hour of Bristol’s whining.  But WTF is going on with Willow?  My God, girl, time to look in the mirror and get a hold of yourself!  Hint:  you might want to listen to Michelle Obama’s dietary advice, instead of your mother’s.  While we all enjoy poking fun at the self-centered young women, Politicalgaters also share a real sadness about the disturbing treatment that Tripp is enduring.  If this is what we see on TV, imagine what is happening when the cameras are not rolling.  I hope Levi not only wins a judgment against Bristol for her violation of the Child Custody Stipulation, but perhaps he can look into suing Lifetime TV for abusing Tripp for their depraved idea of “entertainment.”  As zane1 pointed out, Bristol’s show got bumped by – wait for it – reruns!  Hahahahaha!  

Sunday, July 01, 2012

Request from Malia Litman

Kathleen’s post highlights the work that Malia Litman is doing to try to bring accountability regarding one of the more sordid Palin scandals.  As I have not followed this issue closely, I will leave it to readers to check in with Malia to see the latest regarding Todd Palin’s alleged role in a prosititution ring that may also include a Secret Service agent who guarded Sarah Palin during the 2008 campaign.

Levi’s girlfriend Sunny fights back

Bristol seems to have met her match in more ways than one.  Not only has Sunny Oglesby become Levi’s mate, taking Bristol's place, but she is naturally pretty and pleasant, seems to enjoy working hard, and doesn’t sit by passively while Levi is being trashed.  This post highlights Sunny’s new messages, setting the record straight about the malicious lies that Bristol and Willow spewed on “Life’s a Tripp.”  More good news:  Levi is moving forward with his new life, leaving behind the cast of malignant characters that have plagued him these past four years: Bristol and the Palin family, his former lawyer Rex Butler and the former manager, Tank Jones.  We hope that Sunny and Levi can begin their new life together without having to constantly deal with Palin negativity and vindictiveness; Politicalgates sends best wishes to them and their family.  (I still can't get over how much Tripp looks like Sunny in that photo - more so than Levi! Photos can be deceiving.) 

Some Comments and Links: 

VinnieF:  I think ultimately we love both of our parents, unless one of them is truly nasty (i.e. physically abusive).  I'm sure deep down Tripp loves his dad just like any little boy does.  He's going to come to like less and less this lady that keeps talking so badly about his dad.  Once he becomes a teen and is able to comprehend the lengths that Bristol went to in order to denigrate his own father, he's going to hate her for it.

Sunnyjane:  I'm certainly no child psychologist, but children's minds are like computers, they store everything, and if you don't program them correctly, you get a mess that's hard to repair.  When your child cuddles up for comforting attention, or to be read to, etc., and you're sitting there ignoring him while using your iPad AND a Blackberry as you yammer on about his father, the child is receiving a lot of unhealthy input.  Bristol is simply a poor mother, and no matter how much she kisses him and says "love you" on automatic pilot, that is NOT nurturing.

Psalm023:  …forcing a child to be part of a skit where his mother makes fun of his father, and shoots his father's book, with his father's face on the book cover, is creating a firestorm of mental agony for that little boy.    Having to live with Bristol, he's having to  conform to his mother's reckless behavior and must be wondering what is wrong with his dad that makes his mother hate him so. 

If the producers of this show insist on showing tomorrow night's episode, they will be partly to blame for that boy's future emotional stability.   To me, it's like a 20th century circus taking in unwanted orphans with physical deformities and using them as sideshow freaks.   What they are doing here is paying an emotionally-stunted/immature young woman with a child to disparage her child's father in front of a 3 year-old.   And they consider this entertainment.  They are no better than the romans throwing christians to the lions for sport, or other depraved behavior.   

Molly_WI:  My heart bleeds for all the hardship the Romneys have had to go through with all that money they have that they don't know what to do with/how to hide. Life must be so difficult for them. 

Jolly Roger:  When will the MSM's boneheaded insistence on pushing Little Bighair on us FINALLY come to an end? This is surely in violation of the Constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Kathleen:  I'm really puzzled by Tripp shouting at Bristol that he "hates her" --- that dear readers can only be learned behaviour which he has picked up from someone close to him. My disgust grows daily.

VeryPolitik picked up this astute comment on by Amber Porter of ABC News:  Bristol is seemingly obsessed with Levi’s book and with saying how little it means to her. To “get her mind off” the book, she takes her friends to visit a shooting range and puts the book on a stake where she proceeds to blast it with a gun. No, seriously, it means nothing to her.

Silver_desert:  … There's no doubt Bristol is obsessed with Levi. But her mother was much the same with Curtis Menard, even moving to an apartment near him AFTER she got married to Todd. 

Tyroanee:  I'm just gobsmacked at the level of truly deep down hatred towards large groups of Americans that have been labelled by the Palin Family as UN-American... I'm proud to say then I am UN-American, but even more proud to say my children have learned to love and forgive, for kindness leads to happiness, and living in Peace is why we are here.

ToesintheSand:  …Maybe this train wreck of a "reality show" should be re-named "Palin Family Values". (and come with a parental advisory warning) "DO NOT DO THIS TO YOUR OWN CHILDREN!"

Jane:  Palin: "Waaaaaaa, that big, bad ole Obama! On January 23, 2009, the Dow Jones was 8,077, and today it's 12,497. His Affordable Health Care Act will make health care affordable for my children and grandchildren, and they won't be able to be denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions (like Down Syndrome). He's bringing the troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan. The number of operating oil rigs in US oil fields has quadrupled since Obama took office, and domestic oil production is now at an 8-year high. http://www.thomhartmann.com/fo...
The number of people employed in the private sector is far higher than it was when he took office in 2009 (with most of the unemployment now due to lay-offs of public employees in red states by republican governors). And by contrast, Obama has hired far fewer federal employees than President Bush. http://thinkprogress.org/econo...   Obama saved the auto industry,and is also trying to revive the alternative energy industry so that America can be energy independent. Waaaaaaaaa! How DARE he do all these things? My free-dumbs are literally being taken away in front of my own eyes.

Enigmaplanner:  If you are against ACA or what you call Obama Care, would you be happy if in the law there was a Prayer Opt Out Clause? You could be free to not seek any future medical care whatsoever and rely solely on prayer and nothing else. how many would? BTW, if it is repealed down the road, prayer will be your only choice.

Myrtille2:  Nice comment from Bristol/Nancy's blog :  "Bristol Lies… Her Dumb Show Dies"

KatieAnnieOakley:  My attorney years ago told me the opposite of Love is NOT HATE - it is APATHY. Bristol still has feelings for Levi - her hate betrays her strong connection / emotional response to him.  Hate and Love are strongly related.  She is still tied to him - her hate is passionate, it is deep, and she feels its every thread and fiber.  Levi, on the other hand, seems to acknowledge his past love... accepts it...and now appears to be apathetic to her.  He just doesn't care for her anymore, as a lover or a friend.  Her burning hate / love / passion / is consuming her BECAUSE it is unrequited to her by Levi. 

So, in order to "get" Levi's attention, she has weaponized the only thing Levi turns to her for: Their son. She turns her passion, her hate, her rage, her fury at Levi's indifference to her onto their son.

Tripp is the ultimate victim: too small to fight back, too torn by "Mother Love" to not believe what she says. If we don't have Mother Love - we are unable to love ourselves. We all want to love ourselves, so we defer to mom. Anything to keep mom happy - if only in that moment.

Bristol is repeating a pattern she learned and witnessed since early childhood. She simply doesn't KNOW anything else, and knows if she were to deviate from the family "Order" she will lose HER "Mother Love".

And the cycle continues...

Older_Wiser pointed out this interesting article on how President Obama has helped drive oil prices down and this on education and ownership debt.  

Sunnyjane linked to Bristol and Levi’s custody agreement, noting that on p. 3 #10 it says not to disparage the other parent nor allow others to do so;  and this from politicususa on Bernie Sanders “shredding” Mitt Romney.  

Here is another gem of a speech by Bernie, challenging Congress to break free from the billionaire masters and work for the American people.  

honestyinGov reminded us that CNN and Foxscrewed up their reporting of the SCOTUS ACA ruling 

and found this from Business Insider on Justice Ginsburg basing her decision, in part, on the success of "Romneycare."  

Here is the New Yorker scorecard on how the individual justices voted on the ACA legal questions.  

Cheeriogirl found this January article in Salon on Mitt Romney and the White Horse Prophecy and this excellent poster, which I hope will go viral and be used as a campaign ad.  

BellPeppery posted this helpful link to an interactive site showing how the ACA would affect you/your family. 

Patrick pointed out this great series of clips on the ACA decision. 

Paradigm Shift noted that the GOP’s biggest donor, Sheldon Adelson, is linked to prostitution.  Yes, they sure are the party of family values.  Not.  (I can’t wait to hear Romney denounce Adelson.  I’m waiting, Mitt.  Well, okay, I’m not holding my breath.) 

Sleuth1 and HonestyinGov linked to Irishgirl’s blog on Sarah’s recent interviews (wearing what looks like a hot pink satin nightgown).  

The Last Word goes to Nora Ephron; take heed, Palin women (not that they will):

“Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.” - Nora Ephron