Pro-Palin feminists?

The US blogosphere is a marvelous, bizarre and iconoclastic place.

While wandering around, I found a blogsite that I would have embraced to my bosom on the strength of this awesome Blogging for Choice post.

Unfortunately, that was not the first post that I read at Reclusive Leftist; the one that took me there was Feminists and the mystery of Sarah Palin.

And ... well, it's more than a mystery to me as to why this blogger is so blindly enamoured of Palin. It appears to be some form of post-traumatic syndrome. Reclusive Leftist was a staunch supporter of Hilary Clinton for President and when the latter lost the nomination for the US presidential campaign, the former lost part of her ability for rational thinking.

Sarah Palin appeared to her as though the Governor had descended from heaven pure, powerful and perfect in her potential to rally her feminist followers. Uh, what?

Think back to the reactions to Sarah Palin’s speech at the convention. Remember the gal at Jezebel whose head throbbed with hate blood as she listened to Palin speak? ... What the hell is that? I cannot figure it out. I look and look, and it’s like trying to see someone else’s hallucination. No matter how hard I squint, I can’t see whatever it is they’re looking at. What is so horrifying?

My own reaction to Palin’s convention speech was the polar opposite. I can honestly say that, aside from Nixon’s resignation speech, Sarah Palin’s address at the convention is the only Republican speech I have ever enjoyed. Or even been much interested in. I don’t agree with Republicans on politics — not by a long shot — but as a person, I found Palin charming in a Harry Truman, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, Erin Brockovich kind of way. How could you not? Especially after the goons had spent the previous weekend in a misogyny fest of lurid speculation and grotesque sexual insults about her and her family. I was proud of her for her courage, as well as for her personal accomplishments as a working-class regular person who went into politics and succeeded.

Yes, I was gob-smacked. There's also a lot of rightwing Republican-style unvarnished Obama-hate going on there and I have no idea whether that developed as an antidote for the drubbing his supporters gave Hilary.

So I left a comment. It hasn't been approved and posted yet and many others have. Just in case it never shows up, here it is. I tried to make it humorous, playing up one aspect of Reclusive Leftist that seems a tad touchy.

So, how would you explain those non-heterosexual (I wasn't sure if the L-word is allowed in the comments) feminists who are suspicious about Palin?

1) They're certainly not trying to please their men or "currying" to their guys.

2) Most have not had abortions to regret; those who do have children wouldn't certainly begrudge her fertility or the handiness of a sperm donor.

3) Those who wear lipstick, regardless of whether they're pit bulls or not, would feel kinship with her. And those who don't might think she's hot.

4) They might get a little queasy about the evangelical christian stuff. Unless they're celibate, and then it's a moot point.

5) They probably like her tomboyishness and interest in sports.

6) They might wonder whether her acceptance of homosexuality is limited to her one closest gay friend or extends to all.

7) The rape kit. Now that could give them pause.

While some might assume that non-heterosexual women are less likely to be sexually assaulted, in fact there are men who think that forcibly subjecting (L-word) women to sexual acts is great sport.

To my knowledge, this has not been debunked.

Reclusive Leftist provides a link to a Slate item that goes into an arcane discussion about insurance coverage that seems to imply that it wasn't Sarah's fault that the rape kit had to be billed to victims, the insurance companies were somehow to blame. It doesn't address the issue at the state level, though it may have simply been yet another thing that Palin micro-managed incompentently and let fall between the cracks.

I also told Reclusive Leftist that in my opinion Palin had the worst traits of Spiro Agnew, Dan Quayle and Dick Cheney combined, and that it was unacceptable that she should be above scrutiny or criticism because she was a woman.

Deflection, spoof, rebuttal or attack?

The choice of words depends on one's vantage point when observing how a Democratic pro-choice organization is responding to Sarah Palin's tactics.

EMILY's List, the feminist organization that works to elect pro-choice, Democratic women to office, has launched a campaign countering Sarah Palin's "Mama Grizzly" shtick, which the former governor has used to promote conservative women candidates. But because the group's response blurs the line between parody and rebuttal, its messaging is mixed.

Nicole Allan staff editor and political writer at TheAtlantic.com is ambivalent though supportive.

Here is Stephanie Schriock explaining the rationale behind the campaign:

"I know Sarah Palin doesn't speak for me - or for millions of women and men across this country.

I'm a westerner myself - I'm from Butte, Montana - and I've watched with concern as Sarah Palin tries to co-opt the independent frontier spirit and patriotism of my part of the country, and turn it into a sort of national movement for backwards-looking, extremist politics. The strong western women who raised me and who are my role models would be horrified by the radical views of Sarah Palin and her candidates.

And then there's Forbes' Joel Kotkin outlining the reasons he calls Sarah Palin the Republican Party's Poison Pearl:

[...] if conservatives really want evidence of Palin's limitations, they only need to talk to people in her home state of Alaska. "She represents a constituency that is rural, but that's it," says Jim Egan, executive director of Commonwealth North, a local think tank. "What she says and does makes little sense in the urban environment that most Americans live in." If it does not sell across the board in Anchorage, home to almost half of Alaskans, you wonder how well her message will play in Omaha or suburban Houston, much less New York or Los Angeles.

See for yourself; here's the "Sarah Doesn't Speak for Me" video.

Sarah Palin's Downward Spiral

Is that not a splendid headline about The $arah©™ Palin©™?

From here:

Palin's favorability among Republicans — not support for a presidential candidacy; but merely whether they like her — has usually been in the 70s or 80s, well above other prominent party members. But now it's in the 50s, right down there with the other sad sacks[...] So now intensity of support among primary voters, the only reason a Sarah Palin presidential candidacy has been taken with the least bit of seriousness, isn't much of a factor anymore. They prefer Mitt Romney, an abortion-loving plastic liberal from Taxachusetts, more than Sarah Palin.

And also. Too:

Here's a brief history of Sarah Palin's relationship with the establishment Republican party and its supporters in the press: They sat on their hands after John McCain picked her as vice president because she was able to fire up a despondent base; they continued to sit on their hands in the two years leading up to the 2010 elections because Palin raised tons of money while mobilizing the Tea Party; and now that that's over, they don't want her to run for president because she's an embarrassment to the nation and clearly incapable of doing the job even if she were to somehow win, which she won't.

But they can't just call her an incompetent joke in public. The base would rush to her defense! So instead they come up with meek, over-intellectualized excuses for why they don't like her and want her to disappear forever.

Best of all, now that The $arah©™ Palin©™ is shedding supporters faster than true pit bulls lose the lipstick, more ... dare we say? ... realistic and not-so flattering pix of her are popping up on the web.

Like this one, f'rinstance. Eh.

BREAKING! Divorce? You Betcha!

Well, this might explain Sarah Palin's quick exit from the governorship and her descent into total (as opposed to intermittent) incoherence.

The Palins are heading to Quitsville, Marital State.

AlaskaReport has learned this morning that Todd Palin and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin are to divorce. Multiple sources in Wasilla and Anchorage have confirmed the news.

A National Enquirer story exposing previous affairs on both sides led to a deterioration of their marriage and the stress from that led to Palin's resignation as governor of Alaska.

The Palins were noticeably not speaking to each other at last Sunday's resignation speech in Fairbanks. Sarah ditched Todd (MSNBC) right after the speech and left without him. Sarah removed her wedding ring a couple of weeks ago.

Sarah has recently purchased land in Montana and is considering moving the family there. Sarah Palin is originally from Idaho.

Todd Palin told Fox News last week that he was heading back to his job in the oil fields of Alaska, yet Sarah recently signed a book deal reportedly worth $11 million.

(If you want the NE link, go to Alaska Report link.)

It seems Alaska Report is pretty reliable. At the bottom of the story:

AlaskaReport was the first website to report that Sarah Palin was running for governor of Alaska and the first website to report that Sarah was picked as John McCain's VP candidate.

Sarah Palin: the queen of venal mediocrity

According to this, even Newt Gingrich is directing criticism toward Sarah Palin.

[...]Palin needs to "be more careful and think through what she's saying and how she's saying it. There's no question that she has become more controversial," Gingrich said. [...]

The weeks after the November election were notable for an apparent increase in the number of conservative commentators who were suddenly willing to deliver some version of the same basic message: We like Sarah Palin, but we're not so sure nominating her for president is a good idea.

Now, all these months later, there is polling evidence to suggest that the GOP base is embracing this same view. (For what it's worth, a new USA Today/Gallup poll finds that Palin's unfavorable rating has spiked to an all-time high of 53 percent in the wake of Tucson, although it's not immediately clear what the breakdown among Republicans is.) In this climate, it's safer for Gingrich to join the pile-on when Palin attracts negative press attention [...]

It's unusual for established Republicons to criticize Palin; they know they'll be the target of venomous attacks from her sycophants, even though sane and reasoned objections about her suitability for holding public office are more numerous these days.

Palin's ignorance and inarticulacy are so constantly on display that she can't just be simulating them to strengthen her popular appeal. They are also attributes in which she takes pride. As Jacob Weisberg writes in the introduction to his new anthology, Palinisms: The Accidental Wit and Wisdom of Sarah Palin: "Palin's exuberant incoherence testifies to an unusually wide gulf between confidence and ability. She is proud of what she doesn't know and contemptuous of those 'experts' and 'elitists' who are too knowledgeable to be trusted."

From here. And also: check out the photo of Leila Ben Ali - doesn't she look like $arah's younger muslim sister?

Sarah Palin Gets Something Right

Sarah Palin gets something right.

Gov. Sarah Palin on Wednesday called an e-mail pitch in her name for Planned Parenthood that ran wild on the Internet during the presidential campaign "great theater."

Remember that? Pro-choice people were inspired to send donations to Planned Parenthood in Ms Palin's name. A thank-you note would then be sent to her.

A lot of people did.

"I have boxes of thank-you notes from people associated with Planned Parenthood thanking me for the donations. Same with some anti-hunting groups, they're doing the same thing right now. It's political theater – it's great theater I guess for some," Palin said.

Planned Parenthood gained more than a million bucks. And it was great theatre.

But then Ms Palin whiffed on the next bit.

But she said it wouldn't change her view that "every life is precious."

Um, Sarah, the point of the campaign was not to change your tiny mind, but to mock you.

But, apparently, by saying the word 'great' right near the Great Satan Stand-in, Planned Parenthood, and/or by not turning around three times and spitting on her left hand, she has alarmed some of her wingier supporters, like this gang GOP12, which styles itself thus: 'Breaking news on rising GOP stars and the 2012 Republican Presidential nomination'.

We all know Sarah Palin's pro-life, but her words are considerably more measured than in the past. She acknowledges differences with Planned Parenthood but only after noting both have a shared goal: to reduce the number of abortions. And even her differences are shaded slightly more neutral: "perhaps a different approach". Alan Keyes, that is not.

Later, Palin issued this press release:

“The abortion issue has been with us for decades and has pitted well-meaning people of differing ideologies against each other. Where we can find common ground is in the belief that no one wants a single abortion.

“But when there is a clash of values, I always will come down on the side of life. Making donations to Planned Parenthood in my name might be interesting theater in these politically charged times, but it is not going to change my views or the views of many other Alaskans who believe every life is precious.

“Anti-hunting groups are employing the same tactic of using my name to promote their cause right now. Again, interesting theater.”

Again, it's clear where she stands, but she's less strident in tone; more eager to find ways to work with the opposing side. Has the three-year pivot begun?

(emphasis mine)

SHRIEEEEEK!!!!! Sarah is pivotting!

What If Sarah Palin Were Black?

Chauncey DeVega answers:

So, let's play a game of fill in the blanks. I will start:

If Sarah Palin were black she would have disappeared into obscurity long ago.

If Sarah Palin were black, her daughter's out of wedlock, "baby daddy drama" would have been presented as an example of both pathological behavior and a dysfunctional family that is symbolic of the social problems in that community. If Sarah Palin were black, never would the poor decision making by the Palin family be marked off as challenges overcome, or deeds to be valorized.

Here's the blogpost, linked to at Alternet, that seems to have inspired that piece. It's by the same author at We Are Respectable Negroes and it is hilarious.

Because of the hole in the space time continuum created by the Large Hadron Collider, the Niggaro Universe has overwritten the universe of We Are Respectable Negroes. Scientists are diligently working to correct this problem, and it should be rectified in the next few days. For now, because of the influence of this alternate reality things are changed. Our Barack Obama is now "Barack O'Bama," a white Republican, Sarah Palin is a black Democrat, Joe Biden is Joe Biden but just a Republican, and John McCain is a maverick, Democratic populist. Zora, Gordon, and Chauncey have been replaced by their doppelgangers from the Niggaro Universe. They are the same, yet different. If you too have been changed by the disruption of the space time continuum do not feel obligated to resist. Instead, indulge your new self until this Crisis on Negro Earths is remedied.

What's Palin lyin' about, exactly?

IMHO, I suspect that deep-down, she wanted the pregnancy to end in still-birth or miscarriage.

Palin wore Spanx or whatever to hide it, and when her labour came on unexpectedly, she deliberately avoided giving birth at hospitals that would have provided her fetus with the best chances of survival.

Her behaviour is not consistent with that of a woman reconciled to a difficult pregnancy and taking all precautions needed to ensure the safe delivery of a fragile fetus in an environment that provided the most advanced medical resources and support.

By her own account, Sarah Palin's pregnancy was a "high-risk" one: she was 44 years old, and it was her seventh pregnancy (she had had two previous miscarriages); the baby had Down's Syndrome and was about to be born prematurely.

The fact that Palin, despite the obvious complications, embarked on a ten-hour plane journey from Dallas to Anchorage with a stopover in Seattle, bypassing the first-rate Baylor Regional Medical Centre in Dallas with a neonatal intensive-care unit (NICU) situated ten minutes away from the conference she was attending, is mystifying – even more so since Palin then elected not to attend Providence hospital in Anchorage, which is also equipped with excellent NICU facilities that would have ensured a safe delivery for her premature son. [...]

This issue is not about misogyny, as Megan Carpentier claimed in her recent commentary in the Guardian. We are not misogynist and we have no interest in examining Sarah Palin's "vagina". The majority of our readers, supporters and researchers are female, and they are usually women with experience in giving birth. There are also many readers who have medical backgrounds who strongly question Palin's account of Trig's birth. [...]

The questions about Sarah Palin's pregnancy are relevant, because they raise issues of trust about a woman who almost became the vice-president of the US and who still has a large following and political influence. Journalists who now quickly declare this matter "closed" without having examined the evidence should be reminded that former McCain campaign manager Steve Schmidt is on record saying that Palin's book Going Rogue comprises "not 70%, but 100% fiction".

From here.

Does Sarah Palin have a sense of humour?

Perhaps.

Palin may simply have hired a new speechwriter. From the Christian Science Monitor:

Sarah Palin served up 11-1/2 minutes of gentle gibes aimed at Democrats, the media, the McCain campaign, and herself during an appearance at Saturday evening’s Gridiron12 dinner in Washington. ...

In a nod to the intense media interest in Palin, the Gridiron Club’s board dropped a 100 year old rule – often violated – that comments made at the dinner were off the record and could not be reported. Instead, twittering was allowed, although not during speeches or songs. Palin tweets herself and noted in her dinner remarks that she had “the Twitter thing going.” ...

On the political front, Palin said that “if the election had turned out differently, I could be the one overseeing the signing of bailout checks and Vice President Biden could be on the road selling his book “Going Rogaine.” Biden is known for many things but not a full head of hair. ...

Talking about her bus tour for her book, “Going Rogue,” she said, “the view is so much better inside the bus than under the bus.” ...

The ritual at these dinners calls for self-deprecatory humor and Palin obliged. Being at the dinner meant “at least now I can put a face to the newspapers I do read,” she said, referencing her lack of response to Katie Couric’s question about what
newspapers or magazines she liked to read.

Ummm. Did Palin mean by that she'll be able to put a name to those newspapers she claims to read? Or is she planning to connect faces to what she and her groupies - Michelle Malkin for example - allege to be a vast group of media professionals said to be actively conspiring against Palin?

Update - Ha! I suspected that someone new scripted Palin's speech since it wasn't the usual cobbled together material and improvised ramblin' Sarah is famous for. Complete sentences too. And also. Here, the reporter says that Richard Schnure was hired to write Palin's speech for the evening.

Vociferous energy, ill spent.

A sane response to Sarah Palin's prevarications about the US health care reform initiative has been rabidly attacked by her zealot fans and supporters.

A lot of folks use Facebook to stay in touch with friends and family. For Sarah Palin, it's a great way to spread lies about health insurance reform. A few months back, Palin took to Facebook to declare that health reform would create "death panels," and drive private insurers out of business -- and nonpartisan factcheck sites and the independent Congressional Budget Office debunked those lies.

But that didn't stop Sarah Palin. She's back with a new Facebook note claiming that reform will raise costs on families and drive up deficits. Unfortunately for her, even the conservative "Tax Foundation" says those claims are false. So, this week, we're calling out Sarah Palin and taking to Facebook to debunk her lies on the very same pages she's using to spread them.

Watch the video and check out the comments in support of Palin - as well as those raising intelligent points.

Caroline Kennedy vs Sarah Palin?

With all the recent chatter in the U.S. about Caroline Kennedy's interest in Hilary Clinton's senate seat, it was inevitable that some attention-mongering rightwing pundit would say something about the vapid Sarah Palin.

Chris Kelly skewers Brent Bozell III in ways too numerous to include in this blog, but the most delicious, in my opinion, is this:

"Is Caroline Kennedy really better suited for high office than Sarah Palin? Let's see.

One of them has a law degree from Columbia and has co-written two critically acclaimed books about the Bill of Rights, one specifically about the Fourth Amendment. The other has a journalism degree from college in general and had this conversation with Katie Couric:

Couric: Do you think there's an inherent right to privacy in the Constitution?
Palin: I do. Yeah, I do.
Couric: (That's) the cornerstone of Roe v. Wade.
Palin: I do. And I believe that individual states can best handle what the people within the different constituencies in the 50 states would like to see their will ushered in an issue like that."

In other words, Caroline Kennedy is to Sarah Palin what Michaëlle Jean is to Blob Blogging Wingnut.

The whining and the shrieeeking continues unabated.

At Canadian Cynic we learn that it's the

"Lefties" who are manipulating Sarah Palin into acting like a whiny, petulant, irresponsible spambrain. I had no idea we had that kind of power.

Mudflats of course has a crisp and witty response to that rightwingwacko view.

[Ziegler's] primary assertion is this:

"I strongly believe that no public figure in modern America has ever endured more stress, pressure and unfair scrutiny in a more dignified fashion than she has over the past year."

That’s right. Just this week, a gubernatorial candidate in Idaho said we ought to go out and buy “Palin tags”. You know, the $11 hunting tags that you get when you want to go out and kill a wolf with a rifle. He basically said he was all in support of people going out and hunting Sarah Palin like an animal. Then he said it was just “a joke.” Ha ha.

And then there was the pastor who declared in his sermon entitled “Why I Hate Sarah Palin” that he was actually praying for Sarah Palin to die and go to Hell, saying that then she’d get what she deserved. One of his parishioners then went to a Palin speaking engagement with a loaded rifle slung over his shoulder, and walked through the crowd of people. “Good for you,” said the pastor.

And who could forget all the people who called her a Nazi, and the people who showed up outside her speaking engagements with signs saying she was the Anti-Christ?

Oh wait. Those things happened to Barack Obama. Oops.

Go read the whole hilarious blogpost.

Is Sarah Palin Secretly Pro-choice?

In another instalment of 'DJ! Visits the Dark Side So You Don't Have To', here's the latest on $arah.

She's secretly pro-choice.

Sarah Palin may be America's pro-life sweetheart, but a story making the rounds on conservative websites paints a different picture. It turns out Palin might actually be pro-choice.

Conservative news website Free Republic made their case against Palin's pro-life claims. They say that while governor she appointed a former Planned Parenthood official to the Alaska Supreme Court and that she supports the use of the abortion drug RU-486.

One of the most damning pieces of evidence against her is her continued claim to be "personally" pro-life. This phrase is generally used by pro-choice candidates to make their views seem more palatable to the conservative Christian voting block. It amounts to agreeing that women should have the right to choose but that the candidate wouldn't personally opt for an abortion.

In Sarah Palin's first book, "Going Rogue," she mentions that when she found out she was pregnant with her youngest child (a son who was born with Down's Syndrome) she briefly considered an abortion.

Additionally Sarah Palin has never supported so-called Personhood amendments, which are attempts by conservative lawmakers to grant personhood to fetuses, thus making harming them (such as would happen during an abortion) illegal.

That link cites Free Republic -- and yeah, I went there too -- but the ultimate source is ProLife Profiles, sponsored by American Right to Life.

And woo baby, this gang is Fetus Fetishists on Steroids! They slam National Right to Life for its 'immoral' incrementalist strategy and offers its own strategy.

ARTL Three-fold Strategy

1. Criminalize: recriminalize the intentional killing of the unborn and other innocents through state and national personhood efforts.

2. Demoralize: create unbearable social tension and ensure that there is no child killing with tranquility in order to coerce the government to correct the injustice of shedding innocent blood.

3. Evangelize: persuade individuals by education and evangelism to honor the God-given right to life.

Is this just FF infighting? Who's holier, more fetus-worshipping, panty-sniffing, slut-shaming, woman-controlling than thou?

Or is it just politics, über-whacky Rethuglican-style?

A commenter at FD named smallLliberal speculates:

Interesting stuff.

What I take from this, the GOP knives are being sharpened to make sure she stays out of the race.

There are all kinds of quotes from Rove, Roger Ailes and the other GOP bigwigs attacking her. They clearly think if she is the GOP nominee then Obama will crush her.

If she does not announce soon that she is not a candidate, this will get uglier. Mark my words.

Woo-hoo!

How much more "far out" can Palin's fans take?

"... it's another example of Sarah Palin having difficulty figuring out how to enter into a serious debate about issues."

I've long wondered if there would be a point at which Sarah Palin went just a little too far for the political mainstream. A whole lot of political observers noticed the obvious lies, the cringe-worthy ignorance, the petty feuds, and the bizarre behavior, but wanted to maintain the fiction that Palin was a credible political figure. After all, John McCain wanted her to be one heartbeat from the presidency -- and 60 million Americans agreed.

Maybe, just maybe, her "death panel" message on Facebook -- complete with lies, poor writing, policy confusion, and family exploitation -- will be enough to convince the skeptical that Palin really is that far gone?

Gone, gone where? If only she were. But no, Palin keeps bouncing back, like a really really bad case of poison ivy.

Many Republicans and US conservatives are distancing themselves from Palin and her incoherent rambles on various topics. The attention-seeking narcissist also known as Bible Spice and Caribou Barbie added her glurge-y twist to the steaming pile of lies about the proposal to fund public health in the US. Nonetheless, she still has supporters, including Newt Gingrich. From the NYT:

The United States, like most countries, has long had a lunatic fringe who channel in the flotsam of delusion, half-facts and conspiracy theories. But now, with the light-speed and reach of the Web, “entire virtual crank communities,” as the conservative writer David Frum called them, have sprung up. They are fed, in the case of Sarah Palin, by people who should know better.

It would be interesting to read Frum's take, if he dares write about this debacle, regarding his fellow travellers in the GOP.

Afternote: Go read JABbering stooge's 'murrican take on Sa-wah. He blogged and posted at the same time DJ! did. You know what that means?

And also.

Among the considerable comments in response to the blogpost that I found bewildering, a Palin supporter suggested that Ross Douthat had the inside track on Palin's bi/non/partisan appeal.

Palin’s popularity has as much to do with class as it does with ideology. In this sense, she really is the perfect foil for Barack Obama. Our president represents the meritocratic ideal — that anyone, from any background, can grow up to attend Columbia and Harvard Law School and become a great American success story. But Sarah Palin represents the democratic ideal — that anyone can grow up to be a great success story without graduating from Columbia and Harvard.

This ideal has had a tough 10 months. It’s been tarnished by Palin herself, obviously. With her missteps, scandals, dreadful interviews and self-pitying monologues, she’s botched an essential democratic role — the ordinary citizen who takes on the elites, the up-by-your-bootstraps role embodied by politicians from Andrew Jackson down to Harry Truman. But it’s also been tarnished by the elites themselves, in the way that the media and political establishments have treated her. ...

Sarah Palin is beloved by millions because her rise suggested, however temporarily, that the old American aphorism about how anyone can grow up to be president might actually be true.

It seems to me, an ordinary Canadian citizen observing the US political scene for a few decades now, that Palin exploited and did not honour that which Douthat claims was a true and essential democratic opportunity. Perhaps anyone in her position would have succumbed to the temptations on offer. Her mis/fortune is that she's not anyone or even 'everywoman', she's Sarah Palin.

Hypocrisy and the Fetus Fetishists

SHE says I don't understand what hypocrisy is. I wonder if the object of HER girl-lust, Sarah Palin does.

Poor Sarah is having a rough week. While she was being celebrated by fetus fetishists for CHOOSING not to abort her fifth child, back in Alaska the legislators were restive.

First, they rejected her 'controversial' nominee for attorney general, Wayne Anthony Ross.

According to Legislative Research Services, it was the first time in state history a head of a state agency has failed to be confirmed by the Legislature. All the Democrats in the Legislature voted against Ross and were joined by nine Republicans, including the Senate president and House speaker.

Controversial? Boy howdy.

In addition to being a gun-nut, a racist, and a 'men's rights' advocate, Ross is apparently cool with marital rape:

According to Burton, who detailed the allegations for me, Ross allegedly declared during a speech before a 1991 gathering of the “father’s rights” group Dads Against Discrimination, “If a guy can’t rape his wife, who’s he gonna rape?”

So, how did Palin take this rebuff?

Not well. Oh, looky, she's accusing legislators of hypocrisy.

Palin said the "hypocrisy" is that the state House last year unanimously passed a citation praising Ross as a distinguished Alaskan and a vocal proponent of free speech whose career has been dedicated to defending individual rights.

"The hypocrisy there is quite glaring. I believe they need to be called out on that," Palin said. The legislature passed the citation to honor Ross' 65 birthday.

Well, Sarah, the legislators don't appear to see hypocrisy in giving some nutbar a phony honour while refusing to put him in charge of the state's legal system.

(You can read more about Ross, who sports his initials, WAR, on the vanity plate of his Hummer here.)

But wait, the bad news continues. 'A top priority' of Palin's also failed last week.

The Legislature dealt another blow to Gov. Sarah Palin on Friday when a bill requiring girls under 17 to tell their parents they're about to have an abortion failed to move from committee, effectively ending its chance of passage this year.
. . .
Controversies surrounding the bill include its requirement a teen must wait 48 hours after telling a parent before having the abortion, and the fact it forbids coercing a minor to have an abortion but is silent on forcing a minor to have a baby.
. . .
She was particularly public about her desire to get an abortion bill passed, holding a press conference in February announcing that she was behind it. What Palin really wanted was a law saying parents not only must be told about an impending abortion but also give permission before a teen could undergo the procedure.
. . .
It was clear the state Senate wouldn't pass a consent bill, so Coghill and Palin said they'd settle for parental notification.

Ah, hypocrisy as it is practised by fetish fetishists. Forbid coercing a minor to have an abortion but totally OK with forcing her to be pregnant.

Am I getting this right, SUZY?

Sexism? When rightwingnuts do it, it's okay by them.

Glenn Beck, Limbaugh's current rival for the religious fundamentalist zealots, teabaggers and assorted rightwing batshit crazy nutters' dream presidential ticket has unceremoniously dumped Sarah Palin. This we hear from the ever-vigilent C. C. - Uh oh ... the honeymoon's over ...

From Think Progress:

In recent days, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin has indicated that she may be open to a conservative presidential dream ticket in 2012: Palin-Beck (or Beck-Palin). “I can envision a couple of different combinations, if ever I were to be in a position to really even seriously consider running for anything in the future, and I’m not there yet,” Palin told Newsmax. “But Glenn Beck I have great respect for. He’s a hoot.”

Fox and Friends plugged the idea yesterday morning and asked Palin whether she would run with Beck. She kept the door open, saying, “I don’t know. We’ll see, we’ll see.”

But just a few hours later on his radio show, Beck shot down the idea, saying he was “absolutely” ruling out a Palin-Beck ticket. He explained that if he had the number two job, Palin would always be “yapping” like they were in “the kitchen”.

Pity poor Dodo. Yet another situation that will be wrenching her allegiances asunder.

See, Dodo venerates Beck and she idolizes Palin.

But ... wait. C. C. has another scoop. It appears that Dodo is currently fixated on a new US coin that has just been minted. Shrieeekkk!!! No white men!!! Reverse racism!!!

Once again, Dodo is massively, one might say mammothfully wrong. The people portrayed on the platinum coin are, from the top, a young woman of Asian ancestry, a young First Nations man, a young Black man and a young androgenous person of northern European ancestry.

What will Dodo do? Castigate Beck for dissing her beloved Sarah? I'll wager she will be silent, as most neocon rightwingers are when confronted with the essential malevolence of teabaggers.

DJ! Does Saturday Sarah

Our friend Audrey at Enormous Thriving Plants has a regular feature called Saturday Sarah. Here's today's.

DJ! is forced to join in today with this from the National Enquirer, Todd Palin caught in sleazy sex scandal!!!11!!!!11! (caps theirs)

SARAH PALIN's husband TODD is caught up in a sleazy sex scandal, The ENQUIRER has learned!

Political bloggers are digging into incredible claims that the "First Dude" - father of the couple's five children - cheated on his wife with a female massage therapist who was busted for prostitution!

The scandal not only has the potential to sabotage Palin's possible 2012 White House bid, but also threatens to destroy her marriage, sources say.

While the story heats up on the internet, The ENQUIRER has uncovered official documents confirming the woman's arrest, and learned police have confiscated physical evidence that could tie Todd to an alleged extramarital affair.

We have also uncovered documents that show the woman - identified by bloggers as Shailey Tripp - contributed free massages to an anonymous person working for Sarah's campaign for governor of Alaska.

While representatives for Todd Palin vehemently deny he cheated on his wife, allegations of his extramarital affair surfaced on Jan. 4 when an anonymous tipster sent out messages to news outlets making the allegation using the e-mail address thepalinmorals@hotmail.com.

"My sources reveal that a massage therapist and computer technologist, SHAILEY TRIPP, had an affair with Todd Palin that lead (sic) to her arrest March of 2010," claimed the anonymous e-mail.

"According to the tenants in the building of her offices, they saw Todd come and go often and heard noises that sounded like someone was having sex. It was the same tenants who called the police on her."

It goes on. Well, it is the National Equirer.

Oh. Wait. There's an update (emphasis mine):

Since the first hours of this breaking story ignited a firestorm of controversy key mainstream media The New York Daily News, Vanity Fair magazine, Yahoo News, The Huffington Post and Forbes Magazine, among others, have cited The ENQUIRER's bombshell investigation into the Palin cheating scandal.

In fact, Forbes suggested that "in the Palin-built political arena of 2011, Todd Palin’s affair might be just the ticket Sarah needs to be the first single mother in the Oval Office."

That's not JJ's take. When I tweeted the link a little while ago this is what she said:

I was wondering how the GOP would solve their Palin Problem.

And, if true (must put that in, I suppose), there will be no end of fun coz we know what dirty fighters the Palins are. Just imagine the 'he said's' and 'she said's'. And the 'well, she did it too's' and 'well, he started it's'.

Popcorn!

Blind perhaps, but no longer silent on Palin.

Three people who worked closely with Sarah Palin in her early political years have collaborated on a book that sets the record straight on Governor Quitter.

Despite being filled with regret for his own actions while serving for nearly four years under candidate and then half-governor Sarah Palin, Frank Bailey came to fear that his former boss remained a voice in American politics. In Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin, former insider and my co-author Frank Bailey said of his ideals when we first met, “I am still a Fox News Conservative.”

Frank went on to explain that Sarah Palin, despite her carefully managed image and “word salad” lip service to conservative ideals, cared little for the smaller government and social values that attracted him to her candidacy in 2005. She was (and he admits guilt in getting sucked in, and participating wholeheartedly) consumed not with governance, but with image, vindictiveness, and ultimately reaping worldly rewards.

Go read the rest at The Mudflats.

Todd Quits Day Job.

No matter who spins it, the story is real. The husband of ex-governor Sarah Palin has left his job as a production operator for petroleum multinational BP.

In addition to working on the North Slope, Todd Palin is a commercial fisherman and for years has participated in the world's longest snowmobile race, the Iron Dog. As the governor's spouse, he was unofficially referred to as the "First Dude" and also took part in official duties, such as hosting a tea for former first ladies of the state.

Todd Palin earned nearly $34,472 working part-time last year for BP in Prudhoe Bay and about $51,679 in the family's commercial fishing business, according to state financial disclosures. He also had $5,600 in snowmobile race winnings and an undisclosed discount on snowmobiles from racing sponsor Arctic Cat.

Meanwhile, the Alaskan blogsite Mudflats has a different take on the choice of title for Palin's 'memoir'.

During the ethics investigation of Sarah Palin now known as “Troopergate,” that phrase became seared into the collective consciousness of Alaskans. Palin’s spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton used that word referring not to Palin, but to the former Commissioner of Public Safety Walt Monegan.

Palin had pressured Monegan to fire her ex-brother in law Trooper Mike Wooten whose nasty divorce from Palin’s sister had left bitter feelings. Monegan refused to fire him, and was subsequently dismissed by the governor, leaving the Department of Public Safety without leadership, and leaving many Alaskans with a bad taste in their mouths.

In a stinging press conference, Stapleton said that Monegan, a particularly well-liked and respected public servant, former police chief and ex-Marine had displayed “egregious rogue behavior.” Stapleton, who had been a respected news anchor before her association with Palin, suffered withering criticism from Alaskans on both sides of the political spectrum.

Alaska is a small town. Monegan was no “rogue,” everyone knew it, and the use of the term disgraced her.

What had Monegan done, according to the governor, that earned him this brand? He had planned a trip to Washington D.C. to seek funding to help combat sexual assault in a state that leads the nation in that category. Rogue, indeed.

The Iquitterod continues.