"Refudiating" Sarah Palin: Talking to Alaskans, getting the facts

Guest post by Maelewis

We were recently at a get-together where our hosts gave us the warning not to talk politics because some of their guests were very conservative and they didn't  us want to upset their friends. The first people we ran into were from Alaska. My husband's first question was, "So, is Sarah Palin running for the Senate?" We decided that we should involve them in conversation with the hopes of learning something about Sarah Palin. They provided confirmation for things that we already know, but it's nice to hear it from more than one source. And, I'm reporting our conversation with the hopes that the Politicalgates community will enjoy learning what we learned. (I think that you have figured out that when people tell us not to talk politics, they shouldn't put people from Alaska in the same room with us).

Disclaimer: I don't want to describe the people in any detail because they still live in Alaska. They are credible, and I have no reason to doubt anything that they say. I also don't want to provide too much personal description, just in case someone could figure out who they are.

They had been part of the Alaska State government before Sarah was elected governor, and when she first took office, one of them thought that Sarah was "kinda cute." That impression quickly changed. They said that they worked for Governor Palin. I asked, "Did you work with her?" "No," they answered, they worked FOR her. Sarah never did any work; she didn't like to work and she didn't work. Other people did Sarah's work for her. The thing that bothered them was that Sarah was dumb. They were used to working with people who learned on the job, and grew with the job. Sarah never learned anything, and she didn't want to learn anything. They also resented her choosing to live in Wasilla instead of living in Juneau.

I asked why Sarah quit her job as governor. It was for the money; they didn't see any other reason. (At this point, a good reporter would cite Sarah's claims of frivolous ethics violations charges and her abuse of her office to raise money to cover her legal fees. It was my choice to keep the tone conversational instead of confrontational. I wanted to give the impression that I didn't know much about Palin, and they were educating me. I wanted them to talk).

So, when my husband asked if Sarah was running for the Senate, after saying no, they added that Sarah is probably not a citizen of Alaska anymore, since she spends far more time out of the state than in Alaska. They doubted that she could get elected in Alaska right now.  Later in the conversation, they added that in the future, she might make some moves in a national direction, but it would only be for the attention and the money (most of all the money). They said that Sarah would  never chose to do anything that involved hard work.  I suggested that she would need a staff. No, they said, other people do the work for her. Their attitude was that she didn't want the job, just the high profile and the money.

I did ask the "jackpot question," was she really Trig's mother? One of them hesitated, and finally said that she claims to be his mother. I said that Sarah IS Trig's mother, but did she give birth to him? The other person reported seeing Sarah two weeks after Trig was supposed to have been born. Sarah was thin, her figure was thin and her face was thin. The person was indicating that she found it hard to believe that Sarah Palin had just given birth two weeks before. (If I am allowed to read body language, there was doubt, serious doubt, but no one speaks about it).

Other tidbits: About that word salad, they knew all about Sarah's word salad before we saw Sarah on the national stage. Sarah was good scripted, but not unscripted. Since her VP campaign in 2008, she has gotten worse. I asked why, hoping to hear about the substances that impair speech, but they thought that it had to do with her need to chase fame. They talked about Sarah's use of fundamental religion as something that she latched onto recently as much for show, and then they joked that she wore a Jewish star when she needed to connect with a special interest or group. They described being at a reception at the Governor's mansion in Juneau, where a woman, who was Jewish, wore her Jewish star. When Sarah saw the woman and the star, she turned her head and walked away. My husband's reaction was that was an indication that Sarah was antisemitic. He didn't know about Palin's history of using racial terms in describing a Jewish political opponent.

Out of respect for our host and the candid conversation of her guests, we didn't want to push the Sarah Palin issue. I asked if they had one super story, the kind that I could tell my Democratic friends and get a good laugh. They didn't even hesitate. They described an event when Lisa Murkowski, as a Senator from Alaska, addressed the state legislature. Then, the custom was for there to be a reception at the Governor's Mansion, following the address. Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska, was upstairs and kept everyone waiting, and waiting, and waiting. It was hours, and it was noticed. Finally, a very upset Sarah Palin emerged, hair flying and messy, no makeup, and clearly upset. Levi had just appeared on TV, giving an interview, and they were trying to decide how to respond.  (I will let everyone process that -- Governor of Alaska, former Vice Presidential candidate, obsessing over a teen aged boy appearing on TV. How could she handle that famous 3 AM phone call? It explains her emotional over-reaction to petty things, and probably much more). The conclusion of our new friends form Alaska was that Palin belonged in Wasilla, adding that she was trailer trash, and that was the nicest thing that they could say about her.

+++

BONUS:

What could be more appropriate as a bonus for this wonderful post by our reader maelewis than the documentary by a man who went to Alaska on a search for the "real" Sarah Palin - Nick Broomfield's excellent documentary "You Betcha":

The Right to Vote Shall Not be Infringed

by Sunnyjane

In 1964, President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, which made it illegal to discriminate against citizens based on their gender (women), race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion.

The Voting Rights Act was signed the following year with the sole intention of prohibiting state and local governments from imposing any qualification or prerequisite to voting that would deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color.  To ensure compliance in states and specific localities with a history of discrimination, precise guidelines were put in place -- Sections 4 and 5 -- that required Department of Justice approval for changes in voting laws, processes, or procedures.

Where Men (and Women) Were NOT Created Equal

In what has always been hailed as a free country, it is embarrassing to people of good conscience to remember that many of our fellow citizens were denied the opportunity to vote due simply to the color of their skin.  And yet, it was so.

Because of the Constitution's Fifteenth Amendment, which became law in 1870 and banned federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude, it was illegal to be so obviously discriminatory as to post Whites Only signs at voter registration and polling sites.  However, racists always find a way around any law that actually gives a person of color a freedom that whites enjoy.  In some southern states -- and in California, oddly enough -- a poll tax was instituted that required every black to pay $2.00 just to vote.  That may not seem like a large amount today, but considering the mostly seasonal employment of black communities in the south, $4.00 for a husband and wife was tantamount to taking food out of the mouths of their children.

Other southern states were even more hostile to the idea of blacks voting, and actually required that African Americans pass what was cleverly referred to as a literacy test.  In Alabama, the test was administered by a white person -- who was solely responsible for deciding who passed and who didn't -- and the questions went like so: Name all the sixty-seven judges in the state; tell the date when Oklahoma was admitted to the Union; and answer how many bubbles are in a bar of soap.  No, seriously.

In Louisiana, a harsh written test was administered, which consisted of thirty questions.  Warning was given that one wrong answer meant the applicant had failed, and only ten minutes was allowed to complete the test.  Of the thirty presented, I have selected four at random as examples:

19.  Draw in the space below a square with a triangle in it and within that some [sic] triangle  draw a circle with a black dot in it.
20.  Spell backwards, forwards.
27.  Write right from the left to the right as you see it spelled here.
28. Divide a vertical line in two equal parts by bisecting it with a curved horizontal line that is straight at the point of bisection of the vertical.

If these test were administered to all Americans today as a registration prerequisite, nobody in this country would be allowed to vote.  Period. 

The Supreme Court, the Kochs, and the ALEC Bill-Mill

Passage of the Voting Rights Act brought an end to these restrictively discriminatory procedures and voting became an color-blind equal right for all Americans.  Safeguards in the act ensured that access to the ballot box was open and unconstrained.

The election of the first African American as president has not signaled a post-racist society to this country, but rather, has brought out a new plague of that disease.  The far-right fringe has escaped from under its rock and has elected some of the most anti-American public officials in the history of the country.  We now have thirty Republican governors -- many of whom were elected after 2008 -- who are determined to restrict the right to vote to Republican whites only.  

Thanks to the American Legislative Exchange Council, Republican governors have passed laws that suppress voting in their states.  Many of these laws have been challenged and banned by the Department of Justice due to the Voting Rights Act formula for southern states.  However, the Supreme Court's recent decision to suggest that congress come up with a new formula is about as effective as suggesting that George Zimmerman might want to rethink his decision to carry a concealed weapon in the future.  Won't happen.

Find Me Some Dead Voters -- Quick!

So certain was Gov. Nikki Haley (R-Zombie World) that dead people were voting in South Carolina elections that she had two or three (hell, I lost count) studies done in 2012.  Results: NO DEAD PEOPLE VOTED.  

Rick Scott in Florida decided to do a purity-purge of its voter rolls to eliminate non-citizens.  (No word on how non-citizens got on the rolls in the first place.)  In so doing, the elections officials informed a ninety-one-year-old veteran who fought in the Battle of the Bulge near the end of World War II and has voted for many years, that he couldn't vote.  

And Rick Perry did a happy-dance shortly after the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act, announcing that Texas would go forward immediately to enact the state's ID laws and other restrictive voter suppression laws...  

END NOTE

 

Down the Rabbithole, Through the Looking Glass -- to the Grand Duchy of Derp

by Ebbtide

Ah, how used have we grown to hearing these types of comments, complete with the usual excellence in spelling, punctuation and grammar?

"Obama is getting exactly what he deserves – a thumb in the eye. Makes my day."

"Obama is coming across as a cross between a thug and a spoiled brat–and this isn’t the first time." 

"I caught a glimpse of Joy Reid and Melissa Harris Perry today on MSNBC about to physically attack some poor Swedish guy from Wikileaks for daring to confront their personal attacks on Snowden, Greenwald and Wikileaks. Personally, I'd prefer if those two would go ahead and wear short skirts, sweaters with a big "O" in the center and do some good cheers. "Hey, hey, BHO, how many leakers did you screw today-o?"

 "I hope like hell he (Snowden) can get to Venezuela just to stick it up the secret government's ass." 

"Seems to me Venezuela is one of the safer places in Latin America for him to be. I think it would be a less likely chance there of getting snatched. Cuba would be best. Because rest assured, it will NOT be over. These assholes will try to snatch him. Count on it."

"Ha, my country spyin' on me, secretly. FU george bush and henry Obama! What a great country??????????" 

"The hubris on display by the Empire and their minions reveal it and they to be the fools of the planet. The only people who take the Empire seriously are reactionary white men and Dimbots who can’t see past their appointed savior."

(leading to the money quote)

"And people wonder why Rand and Ron Paul have appeal......"

OK—that’s all typical, right? What else would you expect from The Blaze or the Freepers or RedState or The Daily Caller or (heaven forbid) a Breitbart site?

 

Well, here’s the kicker--

 

All of the above comments are from Daily KOS, Democratic Underground, Fire Dog Lake and Crooks & Liars. (I won’t link to the specific posts because I don’t want you all to suffer the vomit-inducing feelings I had reading them. I will, however, say that these were not, as far as I could judge, people trolling on progressive sites. These were posts from long-time, regular posters, who actually took affront at anyone who dared to say anything against the dynamic duo of Snowden and Greenwald or in defense of the President, or even Democrats in general.)

 

One of the posters at FireDogLake even gleefully posted a link to a Daily Caller article where a Democratic politician was calling for Obama’s impeachment—

"Also, at least one Democrat has called (in The Nation) for Obama’s impeachment.

Democrat Elizabeth Holtzman of New York, who sat on the House Judiciary Committee during the Watergate era, powerfully yet dispassionately lays out the case for the immediate impeachment of the president."

Initial reaction from a fellow progressive?

"yes to this"

A while later, the poster realized that...

          "It seems The Daily Caller was being deceptive, quoting from an article Holtzman
           wrote for The Nation about Bush in 2006 and making it seem as though the
           article was just written about Obama.  There's even a photo of Obama above the
           Daily Caller article."

Oops. Yeah, but still—quoting the Daily Caller when they’re blowing bad notes on Obama and calling for impeachment seemed like such a good idea at the time, right?

Some of the posters at KOS actually sound like they could be C4Pers talking about Sarah Palin:

"Someday the president will be looking for a pardon from Snowden." 

"Shades of Mandala."(sic) 

"According to President Obama, he's a "hacker." Who writes this guy's material? Snowden knows more about the covert intelligence gathering operations of this nation than President Obama will ever be allowed to know  in his lifetime." (emphasis mine.)

          "Such and eloquent and sincere young man.  My political reaction is strong, but my
           emotional reaction is far, far stronger.  This man is a danger to the establishment
           because he is so goddamn eloquent and concise at explaining what is wrong with
           this country."  

And inevitably, it’s not that long before they go  Godwin.

 "Must crush the rebel forces undt zen ve vill rule for a tousand yeers!!!"

HERE'S THE PROBLEM

After ranting at length about the evil empire that is the United States, and more specifically, the Obama administration and the Democratic Party, many go on to state emphatically that they are DONE with this whole voting thing, that Democrats are as bad as or worse than Republicans, and just STOP THE WORLD, THEY WANT TO GET OFF.

Edward Snowden and Glenn Greenwald aside (sorry Glenn, some of us just aren’t that into you), here’s the thing—you don’t have to love Obama, and you certainly should stand up for your beliefs and hold any and every administration’s feet to the fire on issues that matter. But I’m starting to get really depressed that not only are many of these “progressives” advocating throwing the baby out with the bathwater, but that their actions might lead to replacing the bathwater with toxic sludge and the baby with a zygote.

First of all, not everyone who is not in favor of sainthood/knighthood/Nobel and/or Pulitzer Prizes for Snowden and/or Greenwald is an Obamabot or a tyrant-supporting veghead or a sycophantic loon. Just because many of us aren’t willing to shampoo with kerosene and then light our hair on fire, it doesn’t mean that we are fake-progressives or secret teahadists or any of the other idiotic things they’ve been calling us lately.

Even if you think Barack HusseinLeninHitlerStalin Obama is absolutely personally responsible for every injustice ever perpetrated on mankind, in order to square that circle you have to ignore a whole lot of good things he’s been able to accomplish, even with the most intransigent, combative, do-nothing Congress in recent history.

What makes me really sad is that just when some people are finally actually waking up to the MAJOR difference between the Republicans and Democrats—seeing that Republicans hate women and will do everything in their power to keep them barefoot and pregnant…and that Republicans hate gay people…and minorities…and voting rights…and feeding people. Just when folks are finally getting really fired up about the injustices that occur and will continue to occur if the Republicans regain power nationally and continue their stranglehold on state governments…just when there’s a glimmer of hope for the House in 2014 and a strong feeling about 2016, these people are saying that they’ll never vote for a Democrat again or they’re just not going  to vote period.

To them I say this: Every time you vote for a non-Democrat or don’t vote at all, a Louis Gohmert or a Ted Cruz or a Scott Walker or a Rick Scott or a John Kasich or a Rick Snyder or a Bob McDonnell gets elected.  (Let us not forget that some serious non- and third-party voting during the Bush elections helped yield the long-term effects of Roberts and Alito on the Supreme Court.)

And then, as you stand on your pure principles and stomp your little feet, women’s rights get trampled, children go hungry and uneducated and get sick, veterans suffer, the elderly lose ground and workers get shafted.

Here are some of the results of electing douche-bag Republicans--which was a particularly heinous thing to do on a state level in 2010 as it allowed them to gerrymander states that should be true blue into islands of condensed blue surrounded by vast wastelands of red. And remember, some of these states were (and are still) toying with the idea of allotting Electoral College votes by House district rather than by overall vote total. (See—Pennsylvania, and a national effort led by everyone's favorite, Ken Blackwell of Ohio for examples.) 

Just in case you're wondering what losing state offices to Republicans means in terms of voting rights, Meet the Nation's Five Worst Election Officials.

WE LUV YOU WOMENZ

 

2011 was a record-breaking year for new abortion restrictions, with a staggering 80 different anti-abortion provisions enacted in the first six months. At this midway point, 2013 has seen the second-highest number of abortion restrictions signed into law.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the 2013 legislative session is on track to be yet another record-breaking year for state-level restrictions on women’s reproductive rights.

ALL OF YOUR GOVERNMENTZ BELONGZ TO US

I've written before about Michigan's utterly repulsive Emergency Manager law, which was rescinded through a referendum in November and re-installed by Michigan Republicans a week after that vote. Yeah, let's keep electing Republicans because Democrats are just as bad.

 Unelected Emergency Manager Preparing To Break Detroit’s Pension Promises

There are hundreds of other examples, but you get the point.

You don’t have to love Obama. You don’t have to approve of everything he does. You can get mad as hell about the issues that matter to you. And you don’t have to love or admire every Democrat either. Some of them are kind of worthless, but even at their worst, they’re still better than just about every fricking Republican. (Do I have to do another state-by-state review of Republican chicanery? Please don’t make me do that!)

But PLEASE, I BEG OF YOU—don’t take it out on the rest of us who are trying to fight the good fight. Do whatever you can to fight your good fight on the issues that matter to you, but please don’t burn down the house while you’re trying to light that candle.

• PLEASE VOTE (FOR DEMOCRATS—EVEN IF THEY’RE FLAWED, THEY’RE STILL GENERALLY AT LEAST 99% BETTER THAN REPUBLICANS

• PLEASE ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO VOTE, AND HELP THEM DO IT

• PLEASE SUPPORT AND WORK FOR CANDIDATES WHO COULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE

• AND PRETTY PLEASE WITH SUGAR ON TOP--STOP PROVIDING FODDER FOR THE RIGHT WING BY BAD-MOUTHING DEMOCRATS AT EVERY TURN

A Little of This, A Tad of That, and the Same Old GOP Crap

by Sunnyjane

I wonder why the vaginas didn't show up?

The House of Representatives has spent an exhausting eighty-five days out of the one-hundred-thirty available doing absolutely nothing to pass legislation that would actually benefit American citizens.  It's been pretty well proven that abortion bills, religion bills, family relationship bills, marriage bills, naming postal facilities, and repealing the Affordable Healthcare Act have not elevated the level of life, liberty or the pursuit of happiness for American citizens  And, absent passing an Immigration Reform bill, the Senate is not much better, but they do spend more days doing nothing than their colleagues in the House.

But GOP-run lawmakers at the state level have taken up the slack by introducing or passing so much anti-American legislation that it's hard to keep up.  Ironically, much of it is coming back to bite them, as witnessed this last week or so.

Control+Alt+Delete

It was a surely-they-can't-be-that-dumb-moment when the Florida legislature passed the new ban on computers and smart phones through all Internet cafes in the state.   This was in response to the little fiasco involving Lt. Governor Jennifer Carroll and the non-profit veterans charity with which she was involved.   The charity turned out to be a front for internet gambling.  She resigned.

As it turns out, however, the bill was so shoddily written that it ended up outlawing every computer in the state.  There's a lawsuit.  [Snort!]

Be Careful Who You Vote For

The Republican solution to help farmers get their crops harvested.

It is relatively easy to vote along party lines in November -- until you see the effect of that decision in July.  So it has been since 2010 with those real-America farmers in the heartland and non-heartland, from Georgia to Arizona to Michigan, and all in between.  In 2011, after Georgia passed a law to clear the state of illegal immigrants, crops rotted in the fields.  In 2012, the vice president of Farmers Investment Company in Arizona fretted that their seven thousand acres of pecans were not being harvested due to lack of immigrant laborers: If we want to be in charge of our food security and our economy, we need to support immigration reform for agriculture.  Now, here we are in 2013 and a Michigan farmer whose cherries and apples are ready to be picked is frustrated by the lack of an immigration bill and the Republican insistence that the border be secured.   

Said this Republican-voting farmer The border must already be pretty secure because we don't have the labor in this country that we used to have.

Mitch McConnell's Real 2014 Opponent?  Mitch Mconnell

It's usually more effective to spell the Candidate's name correctly, don't you think?

Is Mitch McConnell running a 2014 campaign in the manner of Romney?  How could we forget the Republican presidential candidate's invitation to take a sneak peak at his new ad?  Or, to be with Mitt for a better Amercia?  Do all Republicans go dumpster diving for ad agencies?  Must be that conservative reduce-spending thingy, right?

On top of that, the ad is so bad as to be downright jaw-dropping.  If you haven't seen it -- What rhymes with Alison Lundergan Grimes? -- take a peek and you'll understand why these guys look like this: 

Yikes!                       Whoa!                        Ruff!

Um, About Demands for that Smaller Government Thing...

It's pretty obvious that GOP legislators in many of our states do not seek counsel and advice before passing their restrictive and repressive laws.  Wisconsin governor Scott Walker recently signed an anti-choice bill that bans doctors who lack admitting privileges at nearby hospitals from performing abortions.  Planned Parenthood and Affiliated Medical Services filed suit and a federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order to block its enforcement until a full hearing scheduled for July 17.  In his decision, the judge said, There is a troubling lack of justification for the hospital admitting privileges requirement.  Moreover, the record to date strongly supports a finding that no medical purpose is served by this requirement.

Let's keep our fingers crossed on this one.  It could set a precedent for other states.

You are Known by the Company You Keep

Just so the federal-tier GOP Tea Partiers don't feel ignored, we have to take a look at one or two of them.  It's been revealed recently that Mitch McConnell's Kentucky senate buddy, Rand Paul, has a top aide who is a neo-Confederate white supremacist who first helped Paul write his 2010 tome Mr. The Tea Party Goes to Washington.
  

The self-described Southern Avenger advocates the secession and subsequent independence of the Southern States from this forced union and the formation of a Southern republic and has great respect for John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated the sixteenth president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln.

Not to put too great a shine on this guy, but he's a ranting, raving, racist nut-job skank.  Good work, Rand!

Michele the Mouth
 

Oh yes, the representative from Minnesota cannot keep her stupid trap shut, especially when it comes to her favorite bitch subject, Obamacare.  Ms. Bachmann, who obviously didn’t pay her exorcist’s bill and got repossessed, recently called the President's advocacy for the Affordable Healthcare Act selfish and calculating.  [Yawn...]

End Note

If it's good for Women's Health Clinics in Texas, why not gun shops? 

Infamous quitter Sarah Palin gives interview to infamous disgraced "Christian" activist and former Abramoff associate Ralph E. Reed and provides one of the most hilarious quotes of the year, while promoting her new book about Christmas!

By Patrick

The proof: Sarah Palin can see Santa Claus from her house! (picture from 2008)

What can you say! What a big surprise on a Saturday night! From time to time, I like to search youtube for the latest clips of ex-Governor "Granny Grifter" Sarah Palin - well, "just because", you never know! One might find a clip which has been overlooked so far, ideally containing ridiculous quotes in a situation riddled with hypocrisy - and today, I found exactly what I was looking for! It feels like I have received an early Christmas present!

As we have already pretty much forgotten, Sarah Palin made a screech in June at an event of the "Faith and Freedom Coalition." The dubious background of these self-appointed super-Christians got barely noticed back then. However, this is going to change right now! 

These "Christians" were so incredibly proud of Sarah Palin being at their event that they posted a short interview with her on youtube a few days ago. Sarah is being interviewed by none other  than Ralph E. Reed, the founder of the Faith and Freedom Coalition. One of the original moral majority. And he and Sarah have a lot in common as he himself is in the same top-ranking grifter category as the Quitter from Alaska, as we can see below!

This interview is noteworthy for another "epic" quote by Sarah Palin. As expected she delivers and her jumbled thoughts go astray yet again. This time in a weird, disjointed and disastrous botched attempt to appear humorous (that is at least what I think, and which really is the best one can say in her favor in this case).

Watch the interview:

Where to start?

The hair!!! OMG...no more needs to be said.

Anyway - here is the quote, starting from 1:05, when Palin discusses her new book about Christmas::

Quote:

"Oh it's gonna be a great Christmas book, lots of nice festive joyful things within the book, like recipes and traditions of our family that are probably pretty unique, because we are from Alaska, and live near the North Pole, so we have access to Santa Claus and all the good things that come with Christmas."

I mean, come on! You couldn't make up such a Palin-quote! It's a gift! Sarah Palin invokes close proximity to Santa in her bid to prove that Christ is the center of Christmas. Much in the same way as proximity to Russia makes her a defense expert, Sarah seems to imply that proximity to Santa means that she is an expert on the traditions of Christmas. Or something!

However, this interview also provides us with an excellent opportunity to take a closer look at one of  Sarah Palin's new "associations" - namely Ralph E. Reed, who founded the Faith and Freedom Coalition in 2009 and asks the questions in the interview.

Well, let's start with another quote by Sarah Palin, in an interview with Bill O'Reilly from 2010:

In the interview, Palin said, after being asked about "Obama's Pastor" Reverend Wright:

"Well, I believe that it is not negative campaigning or off-based to call someone out on their associations."

So let's take a quick look at Sarah Palin's new friend, Ralph E. Reed!

Wikipedia reveals a lot of very, very interesting information regarding Ralph E. Reed. He was, for example, in the past a close business associate of infamous lobbyist Jack Abramoff, and supported  some of Jack Abramoff's shady deals, for which Abramoff and several others were then later sent to prison.

From Wikipedia:

Reed was named in the scandal arising from lobbying work performed by Jack Abramoff on behalf of Indian gambling tribes. E-mails released by federal investigators in June 2005 revealed that Reed secretly accepted payments from Abramoff to lobby against Indian casino gambling and oppose an Alabama education lottery. Additional e-mails released in November 2005 show that Reed also worked for another Abramoff client seeking to block a congressional ban on Internet gambling. These cases are being investigated by multiple federal and state grand juries and by the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. Abramoff pleaded guilty to three felony counts in federal court, raising the prospects of Abramoff testifying against others.

Those e-mails and other evidence revealed the participation of the Christian Coalition in the alleged fraud, particularly the Alabama chapter of the Christian Coalition, which received large amounts of donations from the casino money. It is alleged that Abramoff engaged Reed to set up an anti-gambling campaign to include the U.S. Family Network, the Christian Coalition, and Focus on the Family in order to frighten the tribes into spending as much as $82 million for Abramoff to lobby on their behalf. To represent him in connection with the scandal, Reed retained defense attorney W. Neil Eggleston of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. Eggleston served as White House associate counsel during the administration of President Bill Clinton.

In December 2005, three Texas public interest groups filed a complaint with Travis County Attorney David Escamilla on December 1, 2005, alleging that Reed failed to register as a lobbyist in 2001 or 2002 when he was working for Abramoff. Escamilla said on March 27, 2006 "his office had concluded its investigation -- but that a two-year statute of limitations on misdemeanors from 2001 and 2002 had expired."

On June 22, 2006 the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs released its final report on the scandal.

The report states that under the guidance of the Mississippi Choctaw tribe's planner, Nell Rogers, the tribe agreed to launder money because "Ralph Reed did not want to be paid directly by a tribe with gaming interests." It also states that Reed used non-profits, like Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform, as pass-throughs to disguise the origin of the funds, and that "the structure was recommended by Jack Abramoff to accommodate Mr. Reed’s political concerns."

The "Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal", one of the main reasons why Jack Abramoff was ultimately convicted and sent to prison for six years, has its own, very detailed page at Wikipedia. The introduction reads like this:

The Jack Abramoff Native American lobbying scandal is a United States political scandal relating to the work performed by political lobbyists Jack Abramoff, Ralph E. Reed, Jr., Grover Norquist and Michael Scanlon on Native American casino gambling interests for an estimated $85 million in fees. Abramoff and Scanlon grossly overbilled their clients, secretly splitting the multimillion-dollar profits. In one case, they were secretly orchestrating lobbying against their own clients in order to force them to pay for lobbying services.

More from the excellent Wikipedia page about the scandal:

Abramoff and his partner Scanlon are alleged to have engaged in a series of corrupt practices in connection to their lobbying work for various Indian gaming tribes. The fees paid to Abramoff and Scanlon for this work are believed to exceed $85 million.

In particular, Abramoff and Scanlon were alleged to have conspired with Washington power broker Grover Norquist and Christian activist Ralph Reed to coordinate lobbying against his own clients and prospective clients with the objective of forcing them to engage Abramoff and Scanlon to lobby against their own covert operations. Reed was paid to campaign against gambling interests that competed with Abramoff clients. Norquist served as a go-between by funneling money to Reed.

Allegation of double dealing

On June 22, 2000, Susan Ralston e-mailed Abramoff, "I have 3 checks from elot: (1) 2 checks for $80K payable to ATR and (2) 1 check to TVC for $25K," [...] "Let me know exactly what to do next. Send to Grover? Send to Rev. Lou?"

Thus eLottery money went through Norquist's foundation, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), the Faith and Family Alliance, and Reed's company, Century Strategies, while the last check was sent to Sheldon's Traditional Values Coalition (TVC).

In 2000, Abramoff forced the Choctaws to give the Alabama Christian Coalition of America $1.15 million in installments. Norquist agreed to pass the money on to the Coalition and another Alabama antigambling group, both of which Reed was mobilizing for the fight against a proposed Alabama state lottery.

In 2002, after Abramoff worked with Reed to close the casino of the Tigua tribe, he persuaded the tribe to hire him to lobby Congress to reopen the casino.

Of the $7.7 million Abramoff and Scanlon charged the Choctaw for projects in 2001, they spent $1.2 million on their behalf and split the rest in a scheme they called "gimme five."

The 2006 report by the U.S. Senate Committee about this scandal reveals more - and Ralph E. Reed is given a very prominent role in the report.

The "contents" of the 2006 report explain some of the main facts and make it abundantly clear that Ralph E. Reed played a very prominent role in the "Abramoff-scandals":

Excerpt from the report:

Substantial Fees and Conduits – Setting the Stage for Scanlon

As the Tribe’s trust and confidence in Abramoff grew, Rogers would often discuss with Abramoff issues affecting the Tribe, both at a local and national level. In 1999, Rogers and Abramoff discussed various legislative proposals in Mississippi and elsewhere that threatened the market share of the Choctaw’s casino operations, and which the Tribe wanted to somehow counter. It just so happened that a few months earlier, Ralph Reed, the former executive director of the Christian Coalition and one of Abramoff’s long-time friends, had reached out to Abramoff: “Hey, now that I’m done with electoral politics, I need to start humping in corporate accounts! I’m counting on you to help me with some contacts.” Abramoff saw an opportunity: he suggested a grassroots effort and recommended the Choctaw hire Reed to orchestrate an anti- gaming effort.

The Tribe agreed to hire Reed to mobilize grassroots opposition to various legislative proposals throughout the Gulf Coast that would have increased gaming, thereby diminishing the Choctaw casino’s market share. No one from the Choctaw had any direct contact with Reed; rather, Abramoff served as the liaison with Reed and his firm, which eventually became a subcontractor to Preston Gates.

In March 1999, Abramoff and his associate, Shawn Vasell, spoke with Reed about the Choctaw’s grassroots needs. According to a draft engagement letter from Reed to Abramoff, Reed was hired to defeat a bill that had passed the Alabama House of Representatives “authorizing dog tracks in the state to install video poker and other casino-style games on their sites.” Reed promised to “build a strong grassroots network across the state against the extension of video poker and [REDACTION].” He claimed that no firm had better relationships than his with the grassroots conservatives in Alabama, including the Alabama Christian Coalition, the Alabama Family Alliance, the Alabama Eagle Forum, the Christian Family Association, and “leading evangelical pastors such as Frank Barker of Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham.” Reed boasted that “Century Strategies has on file over 3,000 pastors and 90,000 religious conservative households in Alabama that can be accessed in this effort.”

So Ralph E. Reed was selling his "believers" as his own private "Christian" PR-army to Jack Abramoff in order to support his criminal dealings.

He did not do this for free, of course, but received a handsome fee. Ralph E. Reed is obviously a very talented grifter, just like Queen Sarah from Alaska. It should come as no surprise that they both like each other!

More from the 2006 report:

On April 6, 1999, Abramoff informed Reed that he “spoke with our managing partner [at Preston Gates] and he has approved the subcontractor arrangement” and instructed Reed to “get me invoices as soon as possible so I can get Choctaw to get us checks asap.” When Abramoff believed he could not get money quickly enough to Reed, Abramoff suggested that the Choctaw pay Reed directly: “Ralph, I am not sure that I can get this wire moving fast enough today. Give me your wire info and I’ll do what I can.” Abramoff then asked, “Any chance that a wire from Choctaw directly would be OK?” Reed’s response is unknown; however, the Committee has seen no evidence that the Choctaw paid Reed or his firms.

By mid-April, things were moving. In an e-mail entitled “Disbursement on behalf of Choctaw Indians,” Abramoff assured Reed that the money was on its way. Using the Choctaw’s money, Reed paid for grassroots activities including, telemarketing (patch-through, tape-recorded messages and call-to-action phone calls), targeted mail, legislative counsel and local management, rallies, petitions, “voter contact, television and radio production, the remainder of phones, the statewide fly-around, the pastor’s and activist rally, the church bulletin inserts, and other items.”

Reed also claimed that he was leveraging his contacts within the Christian community for the Choctaw’s benefit. Reed reported to Abramoff that there would be “a saturation statewide radio buy with a new ad by Jim Dobson that he will record tomorrow.” Reed assured Abramoff, “We are opening the bomb bay doors and holding nothing back. If victory is possible, we will achieve it,” and, one day later, again promised, “All systems are go on our end and nothing is being held back.”

By May 10, 1999, the Choctaw had paid Reed $1,300,000 through Preston Gates, with another $50,000 outstanding. For reasons unclear to the Committee, in late 1999 the Tribe discontinued paying Reed through Preston Gates. Rogers recalled that there came a time when either Reed or Preston Gates (or both) became uneasy about money being passed through Preston Gates to Reed. Abramoff thus searched for another conduit.

In the exhibits to the report, extensive email-correspondence between Abramoff and Reed can be found - examples (click to enlarge):

In 2010, a feature film starring Kevin Spacey as Jack Abramoff was released. The movie is based on the real events and has the title "Casino Jack." 

Also in 2010, a documentary film about the Abramoff scandals was released. It is called "Casino Jack and the United States of Money" and is available in full on youtube - where it only got little attention so far. 

Here it is - this is a brilliant, devastating documentary, an absolute must-see - and it not only prominently features Ralph E. Reed, but also for example the corrupt scumbag Grover Norquist, who is still around:

So this is the caliber of Sarah Palin's latest "association!" Just wonderful, isn't it?

Still, we can be comforted in the knowledge that at the very least Sarah Palin will ensure that Santa Claus and Christ won't be taken out of Christmas! That surely is a real relief, and a great service for humanity. Please give Governor PayMe a medal or something, and let her give another speech, for her $ 90,000 standard fee, pretty please! She has a lot of Christmas presents to buy (and names lists from Mr Reed  do not come cheap) so she needs the money, the poor woman!

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UPDATE:

Our reader "Got a life" was inspired and created this wonderful photo montage, which is just perfect for the content of our post:

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UPDATE 2:

Bill Moyers summarized the disgraceful "Mariana Islands episode" in an article at Huffington Post from 2012. This Mariana Islands PR-scandal is also explained in great detail in the excellent documentary film I posted above.

Excerpt from Bill Moyer's article:

As head of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, Reed boasts he's building a political dynamo of five million members with a massive database, an annual budget of $100 million and full-time lobbyists in all fifty state capitals, a colossal effort aimed at putting in place a right-wing social agenda and identifying and establishing contact with what it estimates as 27 million conservative voters in America. As you can imagine, with clout like that, Reed and his coalition were in high cotton at the Tampa convention.

Which brings us to that curious Mariana Islands minimum wage plank in the Republican platform. Some years ago, our government made an effort to clean up sweatshops on the islands -- including Saipan -- that have been under the control of the United States since the end of World War II.

Chinese women were brought over to the islands to work under awful conditions -- subject to forced abortions and prostitution and paid pennies for producing garments labeled "Made in the USA."

Corrupt local officials hired the firm of infamous lobbyist Jack Abramoff -- for more than four million dollars -- to try to stop the reforms proposed back in Washington. Abramoff, in turn, hired Ralph Reed and his political direct mail company, Millennium Marketing, to conduct a phony grass roots campaign urging Alabama Christians to write their local congressman to oppose the reforms.

Of course, Reed didn't tell those Christians he was being paid to help keep running sweatshops that exploited women. Instead, he told them the reforms were a trick orchestrated by the left and organized labor. Limits on Chinese workers would keep them from being "exposed to the teachings of Jesus Christ." His company explained it was just trying to encourage "grass roots citizens to promote the propagation of the Gospel" and that many of the workers were "converted to the Christian faith and return to China with Bibles in hand."