Sarah PAC Report First Half of 2015 - The Grifting Continues: 95.4% of the Revenues are "Expenses", mainly for Consultants, Lavish Travel, Swanky Hotels and Limos

By VinnieF

Back in 2013 I wrote a couple of articles for Po'Gates on Sarah PAC's wild spending habits (part 1 and part 2). I didn't follow up in 2014 because there wasn't really anything new. Not much has changed this year either. But Sarah PAC is such an interesting phenomena and a good example of Republican 'fiscal responsibility' in action that it's worth another look.

Download the new SarahPAC filing for the first half of 2015 here.

The Overall Numbers

I have to admit I was surprised at the amount that Palin raised in the first half of 2015, almost $490,000. I thought it would be much less. This is actually more than she raised in the closest equivalent period, the first half of 2013, about $460,000. Both of these are much less than the $1.67 million she raised in the first half of 2011 when she was considered by many to be a possible Presidential candidate.

In the first half of 2013 she kept the expenses in check spending only about $30,000 more than she took in. This year however, Sarah Palin already spent over $750,000, $260,000 more than she took in. As a result her cash on hand is now at its lowest point since the PAC was formed, just over $560,000. It was about $820,000 at the beginning of the year.

In the second half of 2013 she managed to pull in $710,000. I'll really be surprised if she can do anything near that in 2015. We'll see. With ShePAC they bled it dry before turning out the lights. Sarah PAC likely has at least a couple of years of useful grifting life left in it. Sarah is making sure her cronies get their fill now while the getting is good.

The Great Candidate Dump of 2015

Sarah announced in June that she was donating to over 40 candidates. This seemed odd for a couple of reasons. First, why now? The primary for anyone running in 2016 is still a year away. In many cases we don't even know who's running yet. Secondly, why so many candidates? I think it was simply to sound impressive. Sarah usually gives $5,000 to each candidate so giving this to 40 candidates would indeed be impressive.

Sarah PAC gives no explanation as to why the list of 43 candidates was picked over others. As far as I know they have never even provided the list of the candidates they donated to. (Their website used to list the candidates she endorsed but doesn't any more.) Looking at the list of candidates it consists mainly of some lesser known Tea Party leaning members of the House of Representatives. Noticeably missing are any 'GOPe' candidates like Rand Paul or Marco Rubio who Palin has endorsed in the past.

Now that the numbers are out we see that Sarah didn't tell us she's giving these candidates far less than she usually does. Most of the candidates got only $500 while seven got $1,000 for a total of $25,000.

There's one other donation of $10,000 to the Naval Special Warfare Family Foundation which is like a Wounded Warriors project for Navy Seals because you know Sarah is just so in love with veterans.

That brings the total 'program' spending amount to $35,000 or 4.6 percent of the total revenues. The other 95.4 percent is 'expenses'.

So What Are You Getting For Your Money?

As has always been the case with Sarah PAC, it's hard to explain what they're doing with all the money that they're spending. The Sarah PAC website is a perfect example of that. The site was re-designed early this year. A splash page was added about a month ago. I work in IT and I have a good idea what this redesign should have cost. My guess would be $5K at most. New to the expense list this time around is Harris Media, a group that specializes in right wing social media sites. They've charged the PAC over $43,000 this year.

The level of lethargy with regard to the Sarah PAC site is unreal. When the redesign was done early in the year they didn't have any new content. They took three articles from November of 2014 and simply changed the dates to 2015. Right now, if you go to "All Posts" the third most recent one listed is entitled "Victory" and dated January 28, 2015. It starts out saying "Last night was huge." The night they're referring to was the election night last November!

Updates to the website are few and far between. There was even a post announcing the engagement of Bristol and Dakota that was on the main page of the site for a good month after they wedding was called off. (As with Bristol's Instagram, any mention of Dakota has been scrubbed from the site.) Right now, the latest post is a brief paragraph for July 4. The other four posts on the main page are dated between March 18 and April 22.

Fun with Consultants

Sarah PAC's heavy spending on consultants is well documented. This report is no exception. Over $375,000 was spent on on consultants, many of them Sarah's cronies. This is almost 50% of the total PAC receipts! (This considers the web designers, lawyers, photographer and part-time clerical as 'consultants'.) Again, trying to figure out what these people actually do for their money is baffling.
There are five people receiving a monthly payment that generates a full-time salary:

• Tim Crawford (Treasurer) - Fundraising - $138,000 / year
• Grey Strategies (Doug McMarlin)- Logistics - $96,000 / year
• Northstar Strategies (Jason Recher, Sarah's "bodyguard" for many years, and Doug McMarlin) - Logistics - $96,000 / year
• Rebecca Mansour ("RAM", the original founder of Conservatives4Palin, who once very secretly started to work for SarahPAC) - Aries Petra- Speechwriting - $72,000 / year
• Andrew Davis - Logistics / Research - $67,500 / year

There are also two part-time clerical people from Wasilla making $2,500 a month, and some other consultants. She spent $3,000 on a travel agent. Who uses travel agents any more? Another new consultant is Heimdallr LLC that earned $10,000 for "speechwriting, research".

Here is for example more info about Jason Recher and Doug McMarlin, who both belong to Sarah Palin's closest circle for years. They also worked extremely closely with George W. Bush and also with people like Karl Rove, which is apparently no contradiction for "Tea Party icon" Sarah Palin:

With experience in public policy, strategic consulting, reputation management, and publishing and corporate positioning, Jason Recher and Doug McMarlin have served as advisors to many of the nation's most prominent officials, including President George W. Bush, Karl Rove, Senator John McCain, and Sarah Palin. Together they operate NorthStar Strategies, LLC, where they work to create major media and political strategy campaigns; implement national best-selling tours; and function as liaisons, publicists, and advisors within the political, publishing, and entertainment sectors.

Together, they were responsible for the public rollout strategy for the two top-selling nonfiction books of 2009 and 2010: Going Rogue: An American Life by Sarah Palin and Decision Points by George W. Bush. By implementing strategic plans that included specific demographics and a combination of grassroots, social networking, and extensive media to each publishing client, the books reached the top three on the New York Times Bestseller List.

Both Recher and McMarlin worked closely with the George W. Bush Administration, McMarlin serving as one of a select group of individuals who traveled on the President's behalf in advance of foreign and domestic missions to plan and execute the visit's logistical and message aspects; and Recher as Special Assistant to the President, with duties that included planning, coordinating, and executing each detail of the President's travel. The two were also Senior Advisors to then-Governor Sarah Palin, Recher aiding the McCain for President Campaign; and McMarlin heading SarahPAC during the 2010 mid-term elections, implementing successful national media initiatives and political and logistical strategy that resulted in significant 2010 election victories.

Two of the most well-known and respected Republican strategists, Jason Recher and Doug McMarlin speak on such topics as crisis management and "designer politics."

"Crisis-management" - well, Sarah Palin can never have enough of that!

The legal struggles related to the use of the 9/11 video don't appear to have cost Sarah that much considering how expensive legal fees can be. A retainer of $7,500 was given to the firm that did the work on the copyright case and about $7,000 went to her regular lawyers.

Have PAC, Will Travel

I find this to be the most scandalous part of Sarah PAC. Sarah PAC now sends out emails with every right-wing news item saying how they can help solve the problem. For example, with the Planned Parenthood issue, Sarah PAC asks for your help in getting candidates elected who will do what she wants. Same thing with the Iran deal. Sometimes they need $15, sometimes $20. They never give a clue what the money will be used for. Even the bots have complained about how poorly written some of these emails are.

Sarah flew to New York in February for a brief appearance on Saturday Night Live's Anniversary Special. I can't figure out the exact airfare from the FEC report, but there is a stay at the Waldorf Astoria in NY at that time with a bill of $4,562! Along with this, there's a limo charge of $3,854! Assuming the airfare was at least $1,500, would bring the total cost of this trip to over $10,000.

Also in February, Sarah gave a speech to the prestigious National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) in Florida. I can't determine the exact airfare or rental car expenses for this trip but we can see that she ran up a $4,300 bill at the swanky La Playa hotel in Naples.

Finally, there was a trip to Las Vegas in January where Sarah presented Ted Nugent with the Golden Moose Award. (No, that's not a joke.) That one only generated about $1,000 in hotel expenses but it included a $16,000 charter air flight with a $228 catering bill associated with it. This event was the same day as the SHOTSHOW event where Sarah and Dakota held up the F You Michael Moore sign.

Bristol Palin proudly posted about the trip in January 2015 to Las Vegas on her Instagram, boasting about the "fun trip to Vegas" - posing with Sarah in front of the private jet, which was paid by the rubes! 

Here is the screenshot from the Instagram, slightly altered:

Filing for this private flight:

Please note that there was an additional trip by the Palin-family to Las Vegas in February 2015 for Sarah Palin's birthday. For this trip, we can "only" find a receipt for the Venetian hotel.

There were other trips as well. Overall, Sarah spent at least $35,000 on airfare, over $7,500 on rental cars and $12,350 on lodging. There are also over $27,000 in credit card expenses that aren't itemized but appear to be mainly related to travel. All told, this is over $85,000 in travel expenses!

First, one has to ask how responsible it is to spend so lavishly on travel when spending other people's money. Why the heck does she need to charter flights and stay in first class hotels?

Secondly, if you're a conservative wanting to see Sarah's type of candidates get elected, how does it help the cause to have Sarah flying across the country acting like a high end celebrity? It's just a poor use of money in that regard.

No Immediate Help For The Rubes

Part of my desire to write this was to show the bots how irresponsible Sarah is with their money. But they've seen this data before at this site and elsewhere and have excused for her behavior. As noted at the beginning, Sarah is doing the same scam and continues to get away with it.

It looks like PT Barnum was right about one being born every minute. Sarah likely has at least a year or two left to bleed her people some more. I don't know whether that's sad or funny.

Sarah Palin's eldest daughter Bristol Palin and Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer are engaged - UPDATES

By Kathleen

Bristol Palin can't wait to marry Medal of Honor recipient, Dakota Meyer, so after what can only be described as a whirlwind relationship the two got engaged today in Vegas.

They have only dated for about two months, after Dakota Meyer met Bristol and Sarah Palin in Las Vegas (see his public Instagram, and Bristol Palin's public Instagram).

This was also the occasion where Dakota Meyer and Sarah Palin proudly posed with the controversial poster which read "FUC_ YOU Michael Moore". Bristol Palin took a photo of the moment and displayed it on her Instagram as well as at "her" blog (a blog which is ghost written by conservative author Nancy French).

Dakota Meyer also proudly posted the "FUC_ YOU" photo on his own facebook.

I'll spare you my remarks........

CLICK ON PICTURES TO ENLARGE:

Photo from Bristol Palin's public Instagram

Photo from Bristol Palin Public Instagram

Dakota Meyer with Sarah and Bristol Palin Vegas two months ago

Photo Dakota Meyer public Instagram

This was Dakota Meyer and Sarah Palin two months ago saying "FUC_ YOU" to Michael Moore, from Bristol Palin's Instagram:

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UPDATE: 

Kentucky TV-station LEX 18 News confirmed the engagement on their website, but provides no further details. Dakota Mayer lives in Kentucky

(h/t) BinWI

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Note by Patrick:

I really, really hoped that there would not be a reason to publish another post about the Palins anytime soon, but this new development was of course too important to give it a pass.

We wish Bristol and Dakota all the best, and lots of luck!

Hopefully there will be no reason to publish another post about them in the near future. We can only pray.

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UPDATE 2:

For the purpose of documentation, here is how Dakota Meyer, Bristol Palin and Sarah Palin announced the engagement.

Dakota Meyer on Facebook (click to enlarge):

Bristol Palin (on her blog, ghostwritten by Nancy French):

Ghostwriter Nancy French shared the link to the post on facebook as well, naturally:

In the typical "low-key Sarah Palin fashion" (snark!), the disgraced former Governor wants the world to know via facebook that she is also very, very happy about the new addition to her family:

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UPDATE 3:

A review of media reports written about Dakota Meyer reveal that he was involved in a number of newsworthy incidents in the past.

I will let the reports speak for themselves. 

Where to start? Well, let's start with Fox News, they always write the truth, as we all know, so you better believe it...

They published a rather intriguing story back in December 2012:

So what happened? Fox News explains:

COLUMBIA, Ky. – Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer is recovering after allegedly being attacked by a teenager over the weekend in Kentucky, but details of the fight and what provoked it remain unclear.

Police said Thursday they arrested 18-year-old Kanissa'a Thompson and charged him with second-degree assault in the altercation, which occurred early Sunday at a facility called Red Barn Event Rental, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported. The facility near Colombia, Ky., is used to host various events, from wedding receptions to class reunions.

WYMT-TV reports Meyer was injured badly enough that he was treated at a local hospital and released. The severity of the charge indicates that the victim was seriously injured, a State Police spokesman told the Herald-Leader.

(...)

State police didn't release details of the incident in Kentucky, but the owner of Red Barn told the Herald-Leader that he had rented it to a woman who seemed to have been a student at a nearby college for a private event.

Fox News also broadcast a TV-report about this incident.

This report is still quite "sketchy", but can we find more details?

The Lexington Herald Leader reported that the accused teenager denied the allegations:

COLUMBIA — The 18-year-old farm worker charged with assaulting Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer claims he never touched the high-profile Marine veteran and puts the blame on an unidentified young woman.

Kanissa'ai Thompson is charged with second-degree assault for allegedly inflicting serious injury on Meyer, 24, during an early-morning fight Dec. 9, but Thompson said he never touched Meyer.

"I never got involved," he told the Lexington Herald-Leader in an interview Friday.

Meyer received medical treatment for the injuries he received at a party held in a Columbia business commonly called the Red Barn.

Alexis Tooley, a friend of Meyer who was at the party, told the Herald-Leader she later saw three staples closing a wound on Meyer's head. She said the party had gotten "crazy," and more than one fight had broken out.

Thompson said Meyer got involved in a scuffle between young women before he was injured.

The newspaper could not independently verify Thompson's account. Thompson said he would call others who could support his story and ask if they would contact the Herald-Leader, but none did.

Meyer said he did not want to discuss details of the incident, but said Thompson's story was false.

"This is definitely not what happened," Meyer said.

Meyer said the attack was the first time he'd feared for his life since returning from Afghanistan, where his actions in a deadly firefight earned him the Medal of Honor, and that it was unfortunate the incident happened in his hometown.

"I hope this is something we can all learn from and it's a stepping stone to making the community a better place," Meyer said in a statement.

A "crazy" party, and a big fight? Sounds somehow familiar. In any case, we still do not know what actually happened, who hit who, so to speak, and who is to blame.

According to the report, the situation was complicated:

Thompson said the party involved students from Lindsey Wilson College, a liberal arts college in Columbia affiliated with the Methodist Church. There were 100 people or more at the party, many of them drinking and dancing, Thompson said.

Thompson said he talked to Meyer at the party before the trouble started. Meyer was among those drinking, he said.

Tooley said she was walking away from the area of a confrontation when she was knocked down from behind and someone began hitting her in the head.

It was Meyer on her back, Tooley said.

However, Tooley said if Meyer did shove her, she does not think it was on purpose.

Tooley, who is not the woman Thompson claims injured Meyer, said she and Meyer have been friends since high school.

Tooley said she was face down and couldn't see who was hitting her. She has heard differing accounts of who hit her, but said she doesn't think it was Meyer. It's possible someone trying to hit Meyer hit her, she said.

When Meyer got off her or was pulled off her, she looked to the side and saw him on his hands and knees, with blood on his face, but no one was hitting him at that point, Tooley said.

Tooley said she left quickly.

Thompson said he believed Meyer had identified him as the assailant because of the potential embarrassment of being hit by a woman, but Meyer disputed that contention during a phone conversation he had with Thompson on Friday.

Meyer called Thompson while he was being interviewed by the Herald-Leader, and Thompson allowed a reporter to listen to the conversation.

Meyer said he did not identify Thompson as the person who kicked him while he was down. Other witnesses gave statements about who assaulted him, Meyer said during the call.

Thompson had called Meyer earlier in the week to talk about the incident, and Meyer called back Friday to see if Thompson was serious about wanting to join the military, which they had discussed earlier.

But we still do not know exactly what happened, just that several people were apparently involved. It is also not easy to understand why Dakota Meyer was "on the back" of female student Alexis Toole.

Also, it does not appear that we will ever find out what actually happened.

The last reports about this incident which can be found on the internet are a few reports which say that the accused man, Kanissa'ai Thompson (full name actually Kanissa'ai Ali Thompson, according to his facebook), entered a "not-guilty plea":

From then onwards, there was apparently "total silence" in the media. I could find no more reports about the trial, or the outcome. My impression is that the charges have most likely been dropped, but I do not know this for certain.

Then there is another incident regarding Dakota Meyer, which also received a lot of coverage in the media, and which was also mentioned in the report by Fox News which I quoted above:

Meyer also found himself in the center of a controversy last year, filing a lawsuit against a former employer over claims that he is mentally unstable and a problem drinker.

His lawsuit claims that defense contractor BAE Systems retaliated against him for objecting to the company's sale of high-tech sniper scopes to the Pakistani military. Meyer claims a manager at the British company said he was "mentally unstable" and had a "problem related to drinking in a social setting," according to the lawsuit.

AP reported more details about the case in November 2011:

According to the lawsuit filed Monday, BAE hired Meyer in March but the relationship quickly soured. Meyer said he became dismayed in April upon learning that BAE had pursued sales of weapons systems to Pakistan, and sent an email to his supervisor expressing his disapproval.

Meyer wrote that it was "disturbing" how U.S. troops were being issued outdated equipment when better, advanced thermal optic scopes were being offered to Pakistan.

"We are simply taking the best gear, the best technology on the market to date and giving to guys that are known to stab us in the back," Meyer wrote in the email, according to the lawsuit.

Roehrkasse, the BAE spokesman, said it is the State Department and not BAE that makes the decision on which defense-related products can be exported.

"In recent years, the U.S. government has approved the export of defense-related goods from numerous defense companies to Pakistan as part of the United States' bilateral relationship with that country," Roehrkasse said.

Meyer claims his supervisor began berating and belittling him after sending the email, at one point allegedly taunting him about his Medal of Honor by calling it Meyer's "pending star status." That supervisor, Bobby McCreight, is also named in the lawsuit and is still employed by BAE. Roehrkasse said McCreight is a former decorated Marine sniper.

Meyer resigned from BAE in May. He then tried obtaining a job at a former employer, San Diego-based Ausgar Technologies, but the lawsuit claims the opportunity fell through after McCreight characterized Meyer as a poor employee during a conversation with a manager who had to approve new hires.

It was then reported in December 2011 that Dakota Meyer dropped the lawsuit against BAE, and that the case was settled. The contents of the settlement were not disclosed.

Finally, the most "sensational" report are the results of the extensive investigation conducted by news organization McClatchy into the claims of Dakota Meyer (and the Marine Corps) about what happened in 2009 during the battle in Afghanistan which earned Dakota Meyer the Medal of Honor. The last report from this investigation was published in October 2013.

The findings by McClatchy were quite devastating for Meyer, because it became obvious that his own account of the battle, as told in his 2013 book titled "Into the Fire: A Firsthand Account of the Most Extraordinary Battle in the Afghan War", was at least partially untrue.

I find it actually quite remarkable that a news organization conducted this investigation, as a "Medal of Honor" recipient should usually be beyond reproach. But the journalists apparently believed that they had good reasons for the investigation.

Excerpt from the article, which includes also a very detailed graphic presentation of the incident:

WASHINGTON — In his memoir of the 2009 battle in Afghanistan that brought him the Medal of Honor, Marine Sgt. Dakota Meyer describes how he reflexively switched from his machine gun to his rifle and back to his machine gun as he mowed down a swarm of charging Taliban from the vehicle’s turret.

“My mind was completely blank. I fired so many thousands of rounds I didn’t think what I was doing,” Meyer, then a corporal, wrote in his 2012 book, “Into the Fire: A Firsthand Account of the Most Extraordinary Battle in the Afghan War.”

But videos shot by Army medevac helicopter crewmen show no Taliban in that vicinity or anywhere else on the floor of the Ganjgal Valley at the time and location of the “swarm.” The videos also conflict with the version of the incident in Marine Corps and White House accounts of how Meyer, now 25, of Columbia, Ky., came to be awarded the nation’s highest military decoration for gallantry.

The videos add to the findings of an ongoing McClatchy investigation that determined that crucial parts of Meyer’s memoir were untrue, unsubstantiated or exaggerated, as were the Marine Corps and White House accounts of how he helped extract casualties from the valley under fire. The White House and Marine Corps have defended the accuracy of their accounts of Meyer’s actions. The Marine Corps declined to comment on the videos.

Army National Guard Sgt. Kevin Duerst, the helicopter crew chief whose helmet camera recorded one of the videos, confirmed the absence of insurgents on the valley floor as the aircraft flew in on a first run to retrieve casualties.

“We totally flew over everything. . . . There was nothing going on down there,” Duerst said in a telephone interview Friday. “There was no serious gunfight going on.”

Former Army Capt. William Swenson, who’s to receive a Medal of Honor from President Barack Obama on Tuesday for gallantry in the same battle, declined in an interview Sunday to directly address questions about the purported swarming of Meyer’s vehicle.

But, he said, the videos showed the reality of what happened in the Ganjgal Valley on Sept. 8, 2009.

“Those videos allowed me to relive the reality of that battlefield: what I saw, what other people saw, where people were, the valley, the terraces, the trees, the friendlies,” meaning Afghan and U.S. forces, said Swenson, 34, of Seattle. “It shows the truth of that battle, a truth I never expected to see again.”

In a telephone interview Friday, Meyer said, “I wrote my book to the best of my recollection of what happened. And if that’s not it, then that’s not it.”

After reviewing the videos, Meyer said his vehicle was charged after the helicopter had departed with Swenson’s wounded sergeant and an injured Afghan soldier. His book, however, puts the “swarm” before the aircraft landed for the pair.

Bing West, who co-authored the book, didn’t address the videos in an email, saying only that a McClatchy reporter who survived the ambush “has annually dredged up baseless innuendoes to attack the Medal of Honor process and to denigrate the valor of Meyer."

The videos aren’t the only new evidence that’s surfaced that disputes crucial events described in the official accounts and in Meyer’s book.

The Army narrative of how Swenson was nominated for the Medal of Honor and Swenson’s comments in the interview undermine the book’s claim that Meyer killed an insurgent with a rock after he’d joined the then-Army captain in an unarmored pickup to recover casualties.

It was Marine Capt. Ademola Fabayo, not Meyer, who rode in the truck with Swenson, according to Swenson and the account posted Thursday on an Army Web page devoted to Swenson’s Medal of Honor. Fabayo was a lieutenant at the time.

“Fabayo and I fought side by side for the entire battle,” Swenson said. “When Fabayo and I returned into that valley in that unarmored truck, he was shooting out of his passenger side window and I was on the radio, driving.”

It wasn’t until the pickup broke down and Fabayo and he switched to an armored Humvee for a final run that Meyer joined Marine Sgt. Juan Rodriguez-Chavez, an Afghan translator and them, Swenson said.

The Army narrative and Swenson’s account are corroborated by sworn statements included in Meyer’s Medal of Honor file or given to military investigators after the battle by Rodriguez-Chavez, Fabayo and then-Maj. Kevin Williams, the Marine commander who nominated Meyer for his Medal of Honor.

The videos, Swenson’s comments and the Army account of Swenson’s actions add to the controversy that’s embroiled the battle from the minute it erupted. Tipped off in advance, scores of insurgents trapped Afghan forces and their American trainers in the U-shaped valley, firing storms of bullets and shells from a fortress-like village and the surrounding slopes.

A nearby U.S. base failed to provide air support or adequate artillery cover to the Afghan and U.S. forces for 90 minutes. Two Army officers later received career-ending reprimands, while Swenson – in an interview with military investigators – accused senior U.S. commanders of imposing politically driven rules of engagement that were getting U.S. troops killed.

The battle, which lasted six hours, cost the lives of five American servicemen, nine Afghan troops and an Afghan translator, and 17 others – including Swenson and Meyer – were wounded.

Swenson, who was training Afghan Border Police on his second tour of Afghanistan, and Meyer, who was training Afghan troops, were recommended separately for the Medal of Honor for repeatedly returning to the battlefield to retrieve casualties, including the bodies of three Marines and a Navy corpsman. Swenson also was recommended for his role in extracting U.S. troops from the ambush.

In addition to finding that key parts of Meyer’s memoir, as well as the Marine Corps and White House accounts of his actions, were embellished, untrue or unsubstantiated, McClatchy’s investigation raised questions about the military awards process, which some lawmakers, military officers and veterans groups say is subject to improper influence and manipulation.

McClatchy’s findings were based on dozens of military documents – including sworn statements by American participants in the battle – and on interviews last year with nine Afghan troops who survived the clash near the border with Pakistan.

The purported “swarm” of Meyer’s vehicle by charging insurgents is a major facet of the official narratives and his memoir.

In the book, Meyer and West wrote that Meyer, firing from his Humvee’s turret, killed up to five of some 10 insurgents who assaulted the vehicle as he and the driver, Rodriguez-Chavez, pushed into the ambush zone in a rock-strewn wash that leads up the Ganjgal Valley to the village of the same name.

Their telling describes Meyer’s purported thoughts and actions as he mows down Taliban with a .50-caliber machine gun and his rifle. Rodriguez-Chavez ran down an insurgent, they wrote.

Narrating the incident at Meyer’s Sept. 15, 2011, award ceremony, Obama related how the insurgents were “running right up to the Humvee, Dakota fighting them off.”

Meyer and West wrote that the “swarm” occurred just before an Army Black Hawk helicopter landed to retrieve Swenson’s sergeant, Kenneth Westbrook, who died a month later from complications from the treatment of bullet wounds. A map in the book titled “Meyer swarmed during MEDEVAC” pinpoints the location of the swarm at 300 meters – 328 yards – ahead of where the Black Hawk landed.

The videos, however, dispute the accounts of the “swarm” in the book, the Marine Corps accounts and the narrative Obama read.

This quoted report by McClatchy from 2013, reporting about the video evidence, was actually preceded by a first report by McClatchy from 2011, which originally started the controversy:

In this original report, McClatchy also noted that it was actually unnecessary to embellish the story, as Dakota Meyer undoubtedly performed "heroic deeds." But possibly not the actions which become part of the official narrative:

But there's a problem with this account: Crucial parts that the Marine Corps publicized and Obama described are untrue, unsubstantiated or exaggerated, according to dozens of military documents McClatchy examined.

Sworn statements by Meyer and others who participated in the battle indicate that he didn’t save the lives of 13 U.S. service members, leave his vehicle to scoop up 24 Afghans on his first two rescue runs or lead the final push to retrieve the four dead Americans. Moreover, it’s unclear from the documents whether Meyer disobeyed orders when he entered the Ganjgal Valley on Sept. 8, 2009.

The statements also offer no proof that the 23-year-old Kentucky native "personally killed at least eight Taliban insurgents," as the account on the Marine Corps website says. The driver of Meyer’s vehicle attested to seeing “a single enemy go down."

What's most striking is that all this probably was unnecessary. Meyer, the 296th Marine to earn the medal, by all accounts deserved his nomination. At least seven witnesses attested to him performing heroic deeds “in the face of almost certain death.”

Braving withering fire, he repeatedly returned to the ambush site with Army Capt. William Swenson and others to retrieve Afghan casualties and the dead Americans. He suffered a shrapnel wound in one arm and was sent home after the battle with combat-related stress. Meyer’s commander, Lt. Col. Kevin Williams, commended him for acts of “conspicuous gallantry at the risk of his life … above and beyond the call of duty.”

But an exhaustive assessment by a McClatchy correspondent who was embedded with the unit and survived the ambush found that the Marines' official accounts of Meyer’s deeds — retold in a book, countless news reports and on U.S. military websites — were embellished. They're marred by errors and inconsistencies, ascribe actions to Meyer that are unverified or didn’t happen and create precise, almost novelistic detail out of the jumbled and contradictory recollections of the Marines, soldiers and pilots engaged in battle.

The approval of Meyer’s medal — in an unusually short time — came as lawmakers and serving and former officers pressed the military services and the Pentagon to award more Medals of Honor because of the relatively few conferred in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Only 10 of the decorations have been awarded since 2001, seven of them posthumously.

Meyer is the first living Marine since the Vietnam War to be awarded the honor. It was first bestowed in 1863.

So, whatever one might think of Dakota Meyer, he certainly is no stranger to controversy.

The "Daily Beast" conducted a longer interview with Dakota Meyer in May 2014.

There, he also briefly addressed the controversy regarding the circumstances of the battle for which he received the Medal of Honor:

BVR: So you would say the lack of Medals of Honor is due to the military vetting people more closely, getting more sworn statements—

DM: I think there is more technology available. And I think the standard, it’s almost an impossible standard to receive the medal.

BVR: You were the first living recipient—

DM: The first living Marine since Vietnam, yeah.

BVR: As far as the controversy, do you have anything you want to say to people who have publicly doubted the Marine Corps’ official account of the Battle of Gangjal?

DM: No. I mean there’s really nothing to say. The medal was given on all eyewitness accounts. The only statement that wasn’t used in that was my own.

BVR: So you would say that account was accurate and there were not exaggerations or inaccuracies?

DM: I don’t know. That’s the thing. You’re trying to ask me about something four years ago and I can’t sit and… well, it’s 2009, five years ago. The only thing people are doubting are the numbers of people saved and the numbers of people killed and to that I say, I don’t know what the numbers are. I wasn’t out there trying to click, trying to keep stats. I can say this. I didn’t kill enough and I didn’t save enough.

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The Houston Chronicle published a very interesting article about Dakota Meyer in December 2011:

Excerpt:

Meyer won't talk about the suit on the advice of his attorney. He conceded that he briefly drank too much, though it was before he worked for BAE. Then 22, he'd returned from Afghanistan and blew off steam with friends, drinking once or twice a week.

"I didn't come back and drink a lot because of the war," Meyer said. "Just imagine being away from your friends for four years and coming back home and being home. You're going to take a month to hang out and do stuff."

Quitting the bottle

Meyer said the heavy drinking stopped in June 2010 after he found a support network at Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia. Meyer didn't go to work for BAE until the following March.

"I have been with him in a number of social situations and it's just never been something that's ever crossed my mind," said Chris Schmidt, the college's dean of students.

Before Meyer went to war, he was a standout player on the school's varsity football squad, earning "Defensive Player of the Year" honors while also playing running back.

In theory, he shouldn't have been a running back. His father warned Meyer that he was too big. But once told it was impossible, Meyer worked to prove his dad wrong.

There was only one rule.

"I don't want a quitter," Michael Meyer told him, "because if you quit now, you'll quit in life."

Embracing challenges

Persistence had been a trademark from early childhood. The elder Meyer recalls a time when his son, then 8, took up snow skiing. He tumbled down the slope again and again, but doggedly trudged on to the next one when given the chance to call it a day.

His track coach, Will Hodges, said Meyer's work ethic was the difference-maker. "He'd do more than anybody else," he said.

To become a running back, Meyer spent part of his sophomore year as a cheerleader. That helped give him the strength and balance needed to run from the backfield.

Meyer also needed to increase his speed and stamina, so he joined Hodges' track squad at Green County High School. Meyer really stood out for his decision to tutor special-education kids.

He gave Ben Tucker, an autistic student, a football jersey and walked the halls with him. In class, he helped kids with disabilities on math and reading assignments. "It would not be the popular thing to do to hang out with someone with a disability, but he didn't treat them that way," said Tucker's mother, Diana.

Former football coach Mike Griffiths said Meyer's mother left the family when he was a baby.

"That's enough to do it to you," Griffiths said. "That protection that he didn't maybe receive, he felt like, 'Hey, I can do something about it because I know what it's like to be different.' "

On a new mission

Everything has changed since President Barack Obama placed the medal around Meyer's neck.

He travels constantly, recently flying to Rhode Island, Boston and New York. Meyer is spearheading a drive to raise $1 million for the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation, and so far has helped net $325,000.

He goes to Los Angeles this week. There will be many other public appearances, but they aren't his way of trying to make right a day he believes went badly wrong.

"I'll never be able to make that up," he said.

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Just for the record, I would like to add this exchange from the comments below - responding to one of Sarah's and Bristol's fans:

Professional hater Sarah Palin says "Fuck You" to Michael Moore, together with gun sights in his name, and Bristol Palin proudly celebrates her mother's statement on her blog and on Instagram - UPDATE: Sarah Palin delivers bizarre speech at "Iowa Freedom Summit" - UPDATE 2: Conservative Republicans in Iowa are shocked by Palin's "terrible", "painful" and "disjointed" speech, now believe that she has become a "distraction"

By Patrick

I actually didn't plan to write another post about Sarah Palin very soon again, as I am really sick and tired writing about this disgusting woman, whose future in politics was decided long ago, when she quit as Governor and decided not to run for President in 2012. But here we go again, it's almost inevitable! Why? Because Sarah Palin is not a professional politician anymore, but she feels more and more comfortable in her role as political provocateur, and she goes even further: She has established her brand as a professional hater, and whoever is the "target" of her scorn, could be up for a pretty rough time.

Sarah Palin now plays the "I might run for President" game again, by saying yesterday that she is "of course interested" to run for President in 2016, a statement which was widely reported immediately. At the same time, virtually everybody knows that the last thing that Sarah Palin, the most divisive person in US politics, will ever accomplish these days is to win an election. And Sarah Palin and her team know this as well. However, what they also know is that there is no better way to get publicity and attention than to incite hate against the political enemy, which will bring lots of headlines, and will rally the base. It will most likely bring donations as well to SarahPAC, which is paying for her luxury travels, and God knows for what other things as well.

Nothing was ever more attractive for Sarah Palin than to whip up the hate against the other side, the perceived enemies, starting with her vicious personal attacks against Barack Obama right at the beginning of her Vice-Presidential campaign in October 2008. She instantly became famous and infamous at the same time by saying in early October 2008 that Obama "is not a man who sees America as you see it and how I see America", and that he is a person "who sees America it seems as being so imperfect that he’s palling around with terrorists."

Her very unique way of dividing America into good and evil did not help her chances for winning the 2008 election, but it surely helped her to establish her own brand.

For Sarah Palin, there never can be "bad PR." In Germany we have a saying which translates like this: "Once your reputation is ruined, you can do in life whatever you want." This absolutely applies to Sarah Palin. She just wants the headlines, the attention. Everything else is secondary.

The problem is that her vicious attacks can still bring people in real danger, and this is one of the reasons why it is still necessary to write about this horrific woman, who has no conscience.

As you have all seen yesterday, Sarah Palin proudly posed in Las Vegas for a photo giving a "Fuck You" to Michael Moore, which also included two crosshairs in Michael Moore's name:

There actually exists a second photo of this moment, which was taken by Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol, who published it on her public instagram account:

Bristol's comments about this unconscionable act by her mother is very telling:

Bristol's photo is pretty sharp, and when you enlarge it, you can clearly see Sarah Palin's signature, and the gun sights, the cross hairs:

But there is even more! While "some people" claim that Bristol Palin is super-private these days and does not want to be disturbed in her super-quiet private sphere at all, Bristol even proudly celebrated the statement by her mother on her very public, very own political attack-blog as well, and posts her photo again:

There she also posts the photo again:

So the Palins are clearly very, very proud of what they are doing, as usual.

So what if one whipped-up right-winger takes all this a bit too seriously and tries to take matters into his own hands by physically attacking Michael Moore, or even trying to shoot him? Doesn't Sarah Palin as well as her outspoken daughter Bristol think that gun sights in Michael Moore's name sends the "wrong message"...?

You only need to look at Michael Moore's facebook to discover that the hate against him is very, very strong - there are literally thousands of deeply hateful comments, just because Michael Moore refused to worship the US military:

I think that the Palins couldn't care less whether they even incite more hate towards Michael Moore, or whether they even send out a potentially deadly message.

They are far too interested in headlines, attention and luxury.

As Bristol Palin also proudly shows on her Instagram, the Palins still enjoy their private plane rides - yes, it's such a "fun trip to #vegas", isn't it:

So what is Palin doing now? After cleverly getting big headlines again, today she will attend the "Iowa Freedom Summit", which should rather be called the "Iowa Freedumb Wingnut Summit."

Yes, Sarah Palin is there, and the media already took note:

Some journalists snapped pictures of Sarah Palin in the lobby of the Marriott hotel on Friday, chatting away for example with Newt and Callista Gingrich:

So Sarah Palin desperately tries to stay relevant, and uses every trick in the book. She knows that ugly attacks against the political enemy always get the best response.

I actually planned to write a post about Joni Ernst, who is now starting to establish herself as "Sarah Palin 2.0." But even such a phony, flawed right-wing politician and Koch-sucker like Joni Ernst, who preaches water and drinks wine, seems to miss what made Sarah Palin famous: This special brand of nastiness.

Finally, I would like to remind our readers, especially our new readers, that the personality of Sarah Palin has already been exposed quite a long time again, by people who knew her very well.

For example in 2009, the Alaskan conservative publicist and radio presenter Dan Fagan, who was enraged about the spitefulness of Palin's autobiography "Going Rogue", published a remarkable piece, in which he named exactly what defines Sarah Palin: Her "dark soul":

Sarah Palin: A Dark Soul

Posted on 18 November 2009 10:16am

By Dan Fagan

Publisher

The Alaska Standard

I will not buy Sarah Palin’s new book because I believe the governor who quit to be a fundamentally dishonest person. Why support the work of someone you can’t trust?

I have read some excerpts from the book and it is clearly a work of vengeance, revenge, and pure meanness. Palin comes across as the rotten on the inside, faultfinding, petty teenage girl we all hated in high school. If you’ve seen the movie “Heathers” or “Mean Girls” you know what I am talking about.

Palin, when writing Rogue, set herself on a course of smallness, triviality, quibbling, sophistry nothingness, and worthlessness. From the excerpts I’ve read, it is hard to draw any other conclusion than Sarah Palin is small in stature, character, and integrity.

Yes I do believe Sarah Palin has a dark soul. A soul obsessed with her image. A soul focused on hurting others. Sarah Palin’s book reveals her as someone unwilling, unable, incapable of living a life of forgiveness. She is a grudge carrier. Settling scores drive her and she is hell bent on revenge, payback, getting even.

Her meanness comes through most clearly in her book when she attacks former legislative director, and former friend dating back to high school, John Bittney.

Palin describes Bittney in her book as someone who was slouching and had his shirt buttoned wrong and poking through his fly. Palin wrote Bittney was a “Blackberry games addict who couldn’t seem to keep lunch off his tie.”

What crudeness, heartlessness, and pure ugliness. Palin can cut to the quick with the best of them. She knows how to enrage her enemies with a cut to the bone insult. It’s one of the things she’s best at.

And you thought Palin laughing at Bob Lester’s vicious attacks on Lyda Green was an aberration. Plain and simple Sarah Palin wants to hurt those she has unforgivness in her heart toward, and she wants to hurt them badly.

Did you see the Oprah interview when she asked Palin about Levi? Palin answered by saying she would not talk about on him on national TV. She then immediately proceeds to slam Levi over and over calling him a porn star and making fun of his new ambition to be a movie actor. It was overwhelming evidence Palin cannot help herself. She has no self-control when it comes to letting things go. She must settle the score. She must. She Will!

Revenge has become the work and calling of her life. Maybe it always has been. It’s clearly what drives her now. Her cutthroat attacks on others will be her downfall. Her inability tocontrol her desire to hurt those who hurt her will end up in the end discrediting her as a leader, as a person.

It’s never too late to change. But time is running out on Palin’s political career. Her poll ratings drop every time she opens her spiteful mouth. Her book will not help.

Truer words have never been written by Sarah Palin, and what makes this piece especially relevant is the fact that Dan Fagan supported Sarah Palin's bid for Alaska Governor in 2006.

So what now? What will Sarah Palin's next desperate attempt to stay relevant be?

In any case, nobody else has developed the "art of dividing a nation" to such perfection like Sarah Palin.

This will be her greatest legacy, and future generations will scratch their heads why such an awful person was ever allowed to appear on the national political stage.

+++

UPDATE:

We actually have a source at the "Iowa Freedom Summit", which is taking place right now, where the top-wingnuts of the nation explain to an audience of mainly older conservative white people how they want to run the USA into the ground again, just as George W. Bush did.

Watch the speeches live here on C-SPAN. Ted Cruz is talking, just now where I am writing this, and Sarah "Queen Esther" Palin will follow soon.

Here are the first photos from our source - Sarah Palin's new best friend, top-Republican Iowa operative Becky Beach, is there with her dog (click on photos to enlarge):

What we would like to know is: Will Becky Beach take this opportunity to talk to Sarah Palin about using Jill as a stepping stool for Trig...? The dog "Jill" was supplied by Becky Beach, who is the founder of the "Puppy Jake Foundation", which Sarah Palin promoted heavily on facebook and in the media.

+++

UPDATE 2:

Here we go - Sarah Palin met Becky Beach in Iowa today:

Sarah, a word of warning: Don't try to use Jake as a stepping stool! We understand that Jake might bite...!

Here is another photo from the event in Iowa - Sarah Palin posing with Ted Cruz, his infamous father Rafael Cruz, and Steve King, and Becky's dog again.

+++

UPDATE 3:

Even by her own standards, Sarah Palin delivered at totally bizarre speech today at the "Iowa Freedom Summit" - I uploaded one minute from the speech to youtube, please try to understand what she wants to say here, because I cannot figure it out:

Transcript (many thanks to "Helen Wheels" at Raw Story):

"It must change, things must change for this cover, ihhhh, our government. Look at it. It isn't too big to fail, it's too big to succeed. It's too big to succeed, so we can afford no retreads or nothing will change with the same people and the same (slur)policies, that got us into this status quo another latin word status quo and it stands for, Man, the middle class everyday americans are getting taken for a ride, that's status quo and GOP leaders by the way, uh, ya know, the man, can only ride ya when your back is bent so strengthen it (laughter), then the man can't ride ya Merica won't be taken for a ride because so much is at stake and we can't afford politicians playin' games like nothing more is at stake than oh maybe just the next standing of theirs in the next election."

+++

UPDATE 4:

My favourite comment from the Conservatives4Palin:

+++

UPDATE 5:

Our friend James Rustad, who writes and performs songs about current political events almost on a daily basis, created a song specifically about Sarah Palin's speech in Iowa, and he captures her really well:

Also, check out his wonderful song about the Palin-Brawl!

There is another song which I had actually missed, and you will like this one as well, I am sure: "I am not your Steppin' Stool"

+++

UPDATE 6:

The Washington Examiner published a devastating article: The Republicans finally realized that crazy Sarah has become a huge problem for them.

Excerpt:

As 2016 race begins, GOP faces its Palin problem

(...)

The news, given big play on the Drudge Report, heightened the anticipation of Palin's speech to the Freedom Summit. After all, there were still memories in the crowd of her rousing speech at the 2008 Republican convention. But when Palin took the stage, it was clear this would be no inspiring effort.

First, Palin embarked on an extended stream-of-consciousness complaint about media coverage of her decision to run in a half-marathon race in Storm Lake, Iowa in 2011. She then moved on to grumbling about coverage of a recent photo of her with a supporter who had made a sign saying "Fuc_ you Michael Moore" in reaction to the left-wing moviemaker's criticism of the film "American Sniper." Then it was on to Palin's objections about the social media ruckus over a picture of her six-year-old son Trig standing on the family's Labrador Retriever.

It was all quite petty, and yet the complaining took half of Palin's allotted time. She then proceeded to blow through her time limit with a free-association ramble on Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, the energy industry, her daughter Bristol, Margaret Thatcher, middle-class economics — "the man can only ride ya when your back is bent" — women in politics, and much more. It would be hard to say that Palin's 35-minute talk had a theme, but she did hint that she is interested in running, although there are no indications she has taken any actual steps in that direction.

"Long and disjointed," said one social conservative activist when asked for reaction. "A weird speech," said another conservative activist. "Terrible. Didn't make any sense."

"There was a certain coarseness to her that wasn't there before," said yet another social conservative who noted that some in the crowd were uncomfortable with Palin declarations like, "Screw the left in Hollywood!" (It's not that they like the left in Hollywood — just the opposite — but the crudeness of Palin's expressions turned them off.)

"I know she is popular, but it is hard to take her seriously given that performance," said Sam Clovis, the conservative Iowa college professor, radio commentator, and sometime political candidate. "Palin was a sad story Saturday. With every speech she gives, she gets worse and worse. If one were playing a political cliche drinking game, no one would have been sober after the first 15 minutes of an interminable ramble. It was really painful."

"I think she has a role in the conservative movement and in the party," Clovis continued, "but she needs to get serious about what it is she can contribute and accomplish."

To be fair, it should be noted that Clovis ran in the 2014 Republican Senate primary against Joni Ernst — a race in which Palin endorsed Ernst. (Citizens United, a sponsor of the Freedom Summit, endorsed Clovis.) But Clovis was by no way alone in faulting Palin's performance.

"Calling Gov. Palin's remarks bizarre and disjointed would be charitable," said a well-connected Iowa Republican. "Her shelf-life, even with the most conservative voters in our party, seems to be near the end. In a day filled with strong performances from likely candidates ranging from Scott Walker to Ted Cruz, her remarks were a distraction."

Very interesting: Nicole Wallace explains at "Morning Joe" that Byron York, who wrote this devastating article at the "Washington Examiner", was one of Sarah Palin's "staunchest defenders" during the 2008 campaign.

Watch:

Levi Johnston's 21st birthday party - Exclusive report and interview with Levi, part 2 - Plus: Levi's ghostwriters James and Lois Cowan revealed!

Part 2: Levi Johnston is shorter than me! (Read part 1)

By Leadfoot_LA

What a night! We hit Chateau nightclub at about 10:30 and found our spot on the red carpet. A variety of b-list celebrities (ok, D-list) came out before Levi. Some kid from Harry Potter (NOT one of the main people), a Disney Channel actress I had never heard of, someone from Dexter. Levi and Tank took the red carpet promptly at 11:00 -- as the main and final attraction. As soon as he walked out, the girls and I kind of gasped. He is REALLY a hunk. My first thought was that he is short. He is about 5'9" - maybe 5'10". I am 5'9 without heels, and was about 6'2" last night. If it wasn't enough that I'm too old for Levi, now I am also too tall. (Pout) Racheal kept saying "he is cute!" and Heather kept repeating, "what a baby face!"

Levi looked a bit uncomfortable and embarrassed on the red carpet. He was definitely blushing. He didn't have that snotty sense of entitlement that *some people* have (ahem, Bristol). He looked grateful to be there and bashful at all the attention.


He did 3 only three interviews, and the one of them was with us. I had been warned by the PR team that I was NOT to ask questions about Sarah Palin. So I had to be crafty. The video is a bit hard to hear, since we were right outside the club with booming music. Here is what happened:

Before we left for the club, I had written Levi a 2-page hand-written letter and slipped it inside a birthday card. I explained to him in the letter that we have all been working hard for 2 years to expose Palin for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to our concerns that Trig isn't properly cared for, our distaste for her making huge amounts of money off of a giant lie, and our quest for truth. I asked him to please to the right thing and tell the whole truth in the book, and that I hope that's what he meant when he said the book is for the good of the country. I said that I believe he is our last hope for the truth to ever be revealed, as he is most likely to know the truth, and the person with the least to lose and most to gain. I asked him to reveal the whole story for Trig and Tripp's sake. I asked him to please contact me when the book comes out, to do a full interview, and provided contact information.

When Levi and Tank approached on the red carpet, I said Happy Birthday and handed him the card. I said it was from Politicalgates and asked if he was familiar with us. He said no, he wasn't, and looked confused. But when Tank heard the word Political, he ripped the card from Levi's hands. I said, "No, it's ok. I promise I won't ask any political questions. It's just a nice card from everyone who has followed your story for the past few years." They seemed to relax a bit, and Tank held onto the card. I hope Levi reads it.

Next I asked if we could buy him shots inside the club to celebrate his birthday. He blushed and looked at Tank for help. This kid is definitely a rookie. I laughed it off and said, it's ok, we were just trying to help him celebrate. I asked if he is still running for mayor. He smiled and said yes, he is working hard on it, and has been getting ready. The election is in October. Every time Levi answered a question, Tank repeated what he had just said. "Yep, October."

I asked if he had been able to see Tripp lately and his face lit up. He was literally beaming. He said yes, he saw him recently. I said he is "SO CUTE!" and Levi smiled and said, "Thanks."

I asked if the book is completed and he said no, almost, but it still needs a little work. I said, well, you know that the people who read my blog are NOT fans of Sarah Palin. We are one of the big Palin watchdog blogs. So when your book comes out, will we like it, or will we love it? He smiled again, looked me right in the eye, and said slowly, "you will LOVE it." Tank echoed him. "YOU WILL LOVE IT." Everything about Tank is large, especially his voice. Levi said, "I promise you, it will be a best seller." I thanked him, and took 2 pictures with him. (Which I can't show you because I am embarrassingly taller than him).

Unfortunately this picture is quite blurry,

but at least it proves that our gal was there with Levi! ;-)

We have another wonderful picture

with Leadfoot_LA's friend Rachael and Levi!

I also listened in to some of the questions the other interviewers asked. They wanted to know if he had an interest in politics. He enthusiastically said yes, and that it is what he plans to pursue for a career. Probably not on a national level, but he is serious about Alaskan politics.

With that, Levi and Tank left the red carpet and went to eat dinner. They wouldn't reappear in the club until 2am, but by then, Tank had figured me out and kept Levi segregated in a private VIP booth.

My impression is that Levi will tell the 100% truth in this book. He was a sweet, genuine kid. "Deer in the headlights" is a perfect book title and is exactly how I would describe him. He is not "Ricky Hollywood." He is a proud father, who smiled, but almost seemed a tiny bit sad behind his eyes when I mentioned Tripp. He didn't come off as dumb at all. He was quick-witted. He's just out of his element a bit. But remember -- the clearest, loudest and most emphatic thing he said to me was that the readers of Politicalgates will not just like, they will LOVE his book. That said all I need to know. Before last night I was hopeful, but not sure. Now I am sure.

I can't wait until September!!

+++

Note by Patrick:

Many, many thanks to our brilliant Leadfoot_LA and her two friends for flying to Las Vegas, interviewing Levi Johnston and having a party night, all for Politicalgates! As you certainly realized while reading part 1 and part 2, this trip was carefully organized, and Leadfoot_LA simply did a wonderful job. We were one of only three media outlets to be granted an interview with Levi in advance. We will upload the video recording of the interview after Leadfoot_LA has returned home tomorrow.

Through these birthday events, we also received a piece of information which up until know has not been revealed: The ghostwriters for Levi's upcoming book "Deer in the Headlights: My Life in Sarah Palin's Crosshairs" are the writers James and Lois Cowan. Many thanks to our reader Katie Annie Oakley for the additional research!

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Firedoglake Book Salon: Geoffrey Dunn

Please take part in the Firedoglake Book Salon with Geoffrey Dunn, who will discuss his upcoming book "The Lies of Sarah Palin: The Untold Story Behind Her Relentless Quest for Power."

The book will be released on Tuesday, May 10, 2011. As we have received an advance copy from the publishers, we already have done a lot of reading, and I can promise you that you will not be disappointed. Geoffrey Dunn had access to a huge number of excellent sources, many of whom went on the record, as well as access to a large amount of additional previously unpublished material. Geoffrey wrote what I consider the ultimate biography of Sarah Palin's political career - starting with her days at Wasilla High School. The book is fact-checked up to the smallest details, and clearly sets a benchmark for all other books about Sarah Palin which are about to follow this year.

The Firedoglake Book Salon with Geoffrey Dunn will start today at 02:00 pm Pacific time - in about one hour.

In order to take part, you need to register at firedoglake to comment. It is an easy process - non-intrusive & they don't spam you.

http://firedoglake.com/

Scroll down the right-hand side to where it says "Toolbox" and register. Takes a couple of minutes.

(many thanks to Phil Munger)

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UPDATE:

New video - Levi Johnston presents his two new tattoos before the party started:

+++

Please re-tweet:

https://twitter.com/#!/politicalgates/status/66960236350676994

https://twitter.com/#!/politicalgates/status/66961035118120961

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UPDATE:

Here is now finally the clip with the video of Leadfoot_LA's interview with Levi Johnston: