Sarah Palin's version of American History

There. Any questions?

Sarah Palin's version of Paul Revere's ride - as performed by Stephen Colbert

On Monday’s “Colbert Report,” Stephen Colbert attempted to prove that it was possible to ride a horse while ringing a bell and firing and reloading a musket by jumping on his coin-operated kiddie horse and taking a very bumpy ride.

Chris Matthews - Let Me Finish 6/6/11

I think Chris Matthews is one of the best at what he does. He's been on the inside of politics for years and he knows what he's talking about. He calls out Democrats and Republicans alike when they mess up. Here's his wrap up for "Hardball" today. I think it's smart and pretty intriguing.

Let me finish tonight with June 6th, D-Day. The Republican campaign has hit the beach. A week from now the candidates – six of them – face off in the first real debate of 2012. Here's what I thinks going on in the inside.

Sarah Palin – What's she doing? Instead of running for president she's playing Tammany Hall political boss. Her agenda? Knock off Mitt Romney. She's got real problems with him. One, she doesn't want him to win, not Mitt Romney, not him running the country for eight years. I can give you several reasons. You can list them yourself. Look at his background. Look at hers. Do you really think he's her kind of Republican?

She showed a bit of this attitude last week going to New Hampshire and big-footing Mitt on his press coverage –knocked him right out of the ballpark. That bus of hers rolled right over his chili fest.

Second on her agenda – knock off Michele Bachmann. The Congresswoman from Minnesota is getting in the race, showing up for next Monday's first big debate. She's a real-life candidate and Sarah wants her on the scope. This is roller-rink politics. Palin is out to knock both Mitt and Bachman off the course.

Here's how she does it –she backs the alternative to Romney in the regular Republican Party - Tim Pawlenty, the ex-governor of Minnesota - who happens to be the active alternative to Bachman among the religious right-tea party factions.

This is where it gets intriguing, even fascinating. Can someone with Palin's chops go out there and work this thing for Pawlenty, someone so obviously without those chops? Can she put a tiger in this guy's tank? Better yet, can she "be" that tiger?

This is wild. If Palin pulls it off, Pawlenty of Minnesota can win the caucuses in its southern neighbor Iowa. He can go on and win among her fellow evangelists in South Carolina, starting a long, hard campaign against the deep-pocketed Romney right across the country. It would be Romney-Pawlenty or Pawlently-Romney onward to the national convention in Tampa.

If Palin fails to light up Pawlenty in Iowa and Bachmann wins out there, then Bachmann goes to New Hampshire good enough to make a decent showing then head down to South Carolina and wins there, setting up a Romney vs. Bachmann race all the way to Tampa.

This is how it looks on the Republican side right now as we approach the first debate. I'm counting on the debate to make the difference. If Bachman can do well, if she can be a star in the big candidate nights like next Monday, she will be the one to watch. If not, bet on Palin working her magic and knocking off, first Bachmann, and then Romney.

I don't think the Republican Party can nominate anyone to the left of Pawlenty. That leaves it to him or Bachmann, another way of saying Palin or Bachmann.

Sarah Palin: ‘We Must Never Forget the Wisdom of Jefferson, and his Wife, Weezy’

From the hilarious Borowitz Report: Visiting Thomas Jefferson’s historic home, Monticello, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin today paid tribute to the nation’s third President, telling an audience of supporters, “We must never forget the wisdom of Jefferson, and his wife, Weezy.”

Gov. Palin said that “at a time of our history when the American people needed leadership, it was Jefferson who said the immortal words, ‘We’re movin’ on up.’”

The former Alaska Governor, criticized in recent days over her grasp of American history, used the Monticello speech to demonstrate her knowledge of the country’s founding fathers.

“Let us have the ingenuity of Benjamin Franklin, who invented the electric chair,” she said.

“Let us have the honesty of George Washington, who told his father that he chopped down a cherry tree because it was blocking his view of Russia,” she added. “And let us have Washington’s perseverance, which he demonstrated during that harsh winter at Sweet Valley High.”

But she saved her most fulsome praise for her favorite American hero, Paul Revere: “In his famous cry, ‘One if by land, two if by sea,’ Paul Revere proved that you don’t have to know how to count higher than two to be a great American.”

At the end of her speech in Monticello, Gov. Palin said that she was looking forward to the next stop on her bus tour, Philadelphia, “the home of the Taco Bell.”

Go to the Borowitz Report for more brilliance.

Sarah Palin insists she didn't get Revere history wrong

Sarah Palin is the gift that keeps giving, and giving and giving...

The former half-term governor of Alaska insisted Sunday that history was on her side when she claimed that Paul Revere's famous Massachusetts ride was intended to warn both British soldiers and his fellow colonists.

"You realize that you messed up about Paul Revere, don't you?" "Fox News Sunday" anchor Chris Wallace asked the potential 2012 presidential candidate.

"I didn't mess up about Paul Revere," replied Palin, a paid contributor to the network.

"Part of his ride was to warn the British that were already there. That, hey, you're not going to succeed. You're not going to take American arms. You are not going to beat our own well-armed persons, individual, private militia that we have," she added. "He did warn the British."

Memo to Palin: no - you're wrong.

Palin was asked in Boston on Thursday about the Revolutionary War hero during a stop on her East Coast bus tour. Her version of "history":

"He who warned the British that they weren't gonna be takin' away our arms by ringing those bells, and makin' sure as he's riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that we were going to be sure and we were going to be free, and we were going to be armed."

The Paul Revere House's website says that on April 18, 1775, Dr. Joseph Warren instructed Revere to ride to Lexington, Mass., to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock that British troops were marching to arrest them.

Since then, as reported in Slate and Politico, among other sources, a battle has erupted on Wikipedia, where Palin’s supporters seemingly have been trying to edit the Paul Revere entry to be more in line with Palin’s defense of her remarks.

But hey, what do they know?

Sarah Palin: Paul Revere warned the British....

Moved by the historic importance of Boston as she takes her "summer vacation bus ride", Palin decided to recognize the Boston's own Paul Revere and his famous “Midnight Ride” in which he hung two lanterns and rode to Lexington to warn Patriot leaders that the British army was arriving “by sea.”

Palin, however, offered her own take on the revolutionary tale:

PALIN: He who warned, uh, the British that they weren’t going to be taking away our arms uh by ringing those bells and making sure as he’s riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that we were going to be secure and we were going to be free and we were going to be armed.

Not exactly the History Channel's version of things, but hey, she doesn't read much as she's already admitted.

Palin has already portrayed the question put to her as a "gotcha" question. Here's the actual question: "What have you seen so far today, and what are you going to take away from your visit?"

Yeah - that sure is a trick question...

Sarah Palin may be getting nervous - Alaska To Release Thousands Of Palin Emails

In response to Freedom of Information Act requests dating back to the 2008 presidential elections, Alaska is set to release more than 24,000 pages of emails sent and received by Sarah Palin during her governorship. The Anchorage Daily News reports that 2,415 pages are exempt from the request.

MSNBC reports the e-mails should be ready by June 10. The state, reports MSNBC, had at first said it would cost as much as $15 million for the records, but the Daily News says individuals and news organizations that requested the records will pay $725.97 in copying fees.

Part of the reason it's taken so long for Alaska to retrieve and make email records public is because the former Alaska governor sent and received official email using a Yahoo account. The Daily News reports:

Technicians searched for those records by sifting through email accounts of more than 50 state employees, including Cabinet members, executive staff and close aides, to look for emails Palin sent or received from her personal account.

Sarah Palin gets her facts wrong - AGAIN

Former half-term governor of Alaska Sarah Palin, in the only interview she’s granted (to her employer FoxNews) during her “One Nation” bus tour, claimed that the U.S. federal debt had grown more under Obama than “all those other presidents combined.”

This is flatly false. When Obama took office the debt stood at $10.6 trillion. After inheriting two wars and the worst economy since the Great Depression, the debt has grown by $3.7 trillion since Obama has been in office. Palin is off by about $7 trillion.
(via thinkprogress.org)

Sarah Palin Rolling Thunder Motorcycle

Sarah Palin Rolling Thunder Motorcycle

at the ARLINGTON, VA dated MAY 29: Former U.S. Vice presidential candidate and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin motorcycle 'Rolling Thunder' rally photos.

starts at the Pentagon finishes Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC.

participate in today's motorcycle parade from Pentagon to the National Mall.

Sarah Palin gets mixed reaction at Rolling Thunder

Riding onto the scene on the back of a Harley-Davidson, Sarah Palin made a dramatic entrance Sunday at a much-anticipated appearance with the Rolling Thunder bike rally in Arlington, Virginia, an early stop on her recently-launched national bus tour.

The annual motorcycle ride, part of a two-day effort by the Rolling Thunder nonprofit organization, means to draw attention to American troops who have gone missing in combat and remain unaccounted for. Hundreds of participants ride in support of the cause yearly.

Palin did not give a speech during her appearance, but said, when asked about the significance of the event, that it was important to honor men and women in uniform.

When asked whether or not she was planning to jump into the race, Palin said, "I don't know yet."

She and her family spent about 20 minutes shaking hands and taking photos with people in the crowd.

The former governor's participation received mix reviews from Rolling Thunder organizers and participants, according to the Washington Post.

"It intimidates our people if we’re pro or con any particular candidate,” said Wayne Kirkpatrick, chairman of the board of an Illinois chapter of Rolling Thunder. “And until national says there's a candidate we’re and supporting them, we don’t want to feel because the president of this chapter is pro-tea party, ‘Gee, I have to be our else I better get out of this organization.”

“Don’t come here and try to make a political point out of it,” said Joe Clark of Pennsylvania. “If she’s just here backing the cause of the entire run, that’s fine. If she’s just trying to get votes, she should just stay out of it.”

Mark Posey of Indiana agreed: “I think she has no reason the be involved in this,” he said. “If she’s launching her campaign to run for president, I don’t think this is the place to start.”

“I don’t think she has any business having anything to do with Rolling Thunder. It’s not a political statement, so to speak. It’s not a Republican or a Democrat thing,” said Denise Throckmorton, who lives outside of Pittsburgh.

Former Palin aide: "she would be an absolute disaster as President"

Former Sarah Palin aide Frank Bailey opened up to "Extra" about the ex-Governor of Alaska with his thoughts on her possible run for the presidency. In his candid interview, Bailey revealed, "She would be an absolute disaster as President."

The former member of Sarah Palin's inner circle released a new tell-all titled, Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin: A Memoir of Our Tumultuous Years.

The book details Frank's four years with Palin, based on 50,000 emails he wrote or received as a campaign and administration staffer. Frank, standing by his claims, cites the insider emails as evidence that back his stories.

In "Blind Allegiance," the author paints a portrait of a fame-hungry, erratic and unethical politician.

"She loves to play the victim. She cannot handle criticism." He also addresses Palin's family life and explained, "I frequently found myself in the middle of dysfunction between Todd Palin and Sarah Palin. Sarah would tell us, 'Don't trust Todd, be careful what you tell Todd... Todd talks.'

Frank sent a message to the politician at the end of his interview with "Extra": "Look at the things you've done and look in the mirror. I've taken this painful step to own what I've done and I'd hope you can do the same."

More on EXTRA

Sarah Palin - New Film to Premiere in June

From RealClearPolitics: Shortly after Republicans swept last November to a historic victory in which Sarah Palin was credited with playing a central role, the former Alaska governor pulled aside her close aide, Rebecca Mansour, to discuss a hush-hush assignment: Reach out to conservative filmmaker Stephen K. Bannon with a request.

Ask him if he would make a series of videos extolling Palin's governorship and laying to rest lingering questions about her controversial decision to resign from office with a year-and-a-half left in her first term. It was this abdication, Palin knew, that had made her damaged goods in the eyes of some Republicans who once were eager to get behind her potential 2012 presidential campaign.

The response was more positive than Palin could have hoped for. He'd make a feature-length movie, Bannon told Mansour, and he insisted upon taking complete control and financing it himself -- to the tune of $1 million.

The fruits of that initial conversation are now complete. The result is a two-hour-long, sweeping epic, a rough cut of which Bannon screened privately for Sarah and Todd Palin last Wednesday in Arizona, where Alaska's most famous couple has been rumored to have purchased a new home.

When it premieres in Iowa next month, the film is poised to serve as a galvanizing prelude to Palin's prospective presidential campaign -- an unconventional reintroduction to the nation that she and her political team have spent months eagerly anticipating, even as Beltway Republicans have largely concluded that she won't run.

Read more here.

Former Palin aide pens "tell-all"

Martin Bashir talks with Frank Bailey, author of "Blind Allegiance To Sarah Palin."

Much of the book is reportedly taken from email communications with the former-half term governor of Alaska.

Tina Fey reprises "Sarah Palin" on SNL

Oh happy day! What a great gift today!

Go Tina!

Palin calls $4 Billion in oil subsidies "drop in the bucket"

For all the budget hawks out there: the former half-term governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, says that the $4 billion dollars the US government gives oil companies every year while reporting record earnings are "a drop in the bucket" in terms of balancing the budget. To be specific, that's $4 billion A YEAR. Over the next ten years, that's at least $40 billion. And she seems to be saying since it's a "drop in the bucket" we shouldn't bother eliminating these subsidies.

Mind you this is much, much more than the $430 million in proposed cuts to PBS which actually helps inform and educate Americans young and old.

I know I'd much rather see these subsidies ended and the money used to develop new, more efficient, renewable energy than to keep pouring money into old technologies that are getting us no where. It's time to look forward, not stay stuck in the past.

I'm not sure I understand why the US government would want to balance the budget by turning Medicare - which Americans have paid into their whole lives - into a voucher system that will never cover the costs of elderly health care and cost seniors thousands, while continuing to GIVE AWAY billions to oil companies who are making more money than ever.

Poll: Majority wouldn't vote for Palin or Trump

Former half-term Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and reality TV star Donald Trump may currently be two of the best known Republican stars in America - but being a celebrity doesn't necessarily translate into concrete political support, a new poll finds.

Fifty-eight percent of registered voters surveyed by Quinnipiac University indicated they "would never vote" for Palin or Trump for president.

The independent poll sought to measure voter enthusiasm for potential GOP candidates. Former Govs. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and Mike Huckabee of Arkansas topped the poll in enthusiasm with 38 percent saying they would "consider voting" for Romney and 15 percent indicating they were enthusiastic about him while 34 percent responded they would consider voting for Huckabee and 13 percent are enthusiastic about his candidacy.

"Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee are in the best shape," Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Polling Institute said in his analysis. "Sarah Palin and Donald Trump suffer from the reality that, as our mothers told us, 'You never get a second chance to make a first impression.'"

Though 15 percent of respondents indicated they are enthusiastic about Palin, only 24 percent said they would consider voting for her.

Trump received a 9 percent enthusiasm rating and a 26 percent rating on whether individuals would vote for him.
(from the AP)

"We don’t trot this stuff out as trophies"

The White House has announced that it will not release the death photos of Osama Bin Laden.

While right-wing news outlets have clamored for the photos to be published, as evidence of Bin Laden's actual death and for their potential use to intimidate other terrorists, others have argued that the photos could inflame anti-American sentiment and endanger U.S. soldiers and civilians living abroad.

In a quote to the press, Obama reportedly made the statement "we don’t trot this stuff out as trophies — that’s not who we are.”

From the AP: "There's no doubt we killed Osama bin Laden," the president said in an interview with CBS News. Obama said there was no need to release the photographs or gloat. "There's no need to spike the football," he said.

The president said that for anyone who doesn't believe bin Laden is dead, "we don't think that a photograph in and of itself is going to make any difference."

"There are going to be some folks who deny it. The fact of the matter is you won't see bin Laden walking on this earth again," said Obama.

Sarah Palin, the former half-term governor of Alaska, recently tweeted her support to release the photos. Thus, the difference between class and crass.

Palin makes fun of Katie Couric

At least one person appears to be having a big old laugh over Katie Couric's long-anticipated announcement that she will leave the "CBS Evening News" come June. That would be former half-term governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, who during her failed 2008 vice presidential candidacy famously fumbled an interview with the anchor.

Couric recently spoke of her future career plans: "I am looking at a format that will allow me to engage in more multi-dimensional storytelling," referring to the syndicated daytime show she plans on launching in 2012.

To which Palin snarled on Fox News Wednesday: "Yeah, and I hear that she wants to now engage in more 'multi-dimensional story telling' versus I guess just the 'straight on, read into the, that teleprompter screen story telling. More power to her. I wish her well in her 'multi-dimensional story telling.' "

In case you missed Couric's cringe-inducing, one-on-one chat with Palin the first time around, you can watch it above.

By the way, just released is a photo of Oscar nominee Julianne Moore as the half-term governor for her upcoming role in the HBO film about the 2008 campaign.

And the polls numbers keep dropping for Palin

Former half-term governor Sarah Palin's approval numbers continue on a sharp downward spiral as a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey shows 53 percent of all Americans say they hold a "negative" or "very negative" view of the reality TV performer, while only 25 percent give Palin high marks.

A year ago in the same poll, her negative numbers stood at 45%, while this past December it had climbed to 50% before reaching the current high of 53%.

Among independents, only 2 in 10 have a favorable impression of Ms. Palin.

In a recent Gallup poll, only 12% of likely Republican primary voters showed support for her - a downward trend from an earlier 16%.

These numbers are similar to a recent CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll which showed her support among likely Republican primary voters has slipped from 19 to 12%.

Although she is getting rich based on her "weeks long" national run for VP, it doesn't look good for her Presidential aspirations.

Sarah Palin: the gift that keeps giving...

In recent interviews, Sarah Palin said:

"NPR, National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, all those kind of frivolous things that government shouldn't be in the business of funding with tax dollars -- those should all be on the chopping block as we talk about the $14-trillion debt that we're going to hand to our kids and our grandkids."

Mind you, debt reduction would scarcely be affected by defunding the federal arts agency, which currently operates on a $161-million annual budget. That $161 million is a very small drop in the bucket in terms of reducing the multi-trillion dollar deficit.  Also, the arts and humanities programs are those that teach our children to think "out of the box," to think creatively and to learn to find new ways of connecting ideas to come up with new solutions in life.  What frivolity!

One thing she didn't mention about her home state of Alaska - which she is constantly proud of declaring runs a state surplus - Alaska gets $1.84 for every $1 it sends to Washington D.C. in tax revenue. In other words, Alaska is a welfare state running on the subsidy of the federal government. This is in addition to the fact that Alaska has a special fund that rewards it's citizens annually based on oil profits the state makes. Wow - and they STILL need federal dollars. BUT, they run a surplus. Amazing, isn't it?

Sarah Palin also, while in India, participated in a Q and A session with India Today Editor-in-Chief and Session Chairman Aroon Puriein which she declared she and John McCain didn't win in 2008 because - and I quote - “I wasn’t the top of the ticket!"

Well, finally. She finally said what we've all known she's been thinking. She finally threw John McCain under that 2008 Republican bus. I'm guessing she figured she was so far away in India, that no one would know she said it.

Ah, Sarah. The gift that truly keeps giving.