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| Sarah Palin Stepping Down As Alaska Gov. Running for Pres. 2012?
Posted: 7/26/2009 7:20:27 PM | Palin steps down as Alaska gov.; her plans unclear
By MATTHEW DALY (AP) – 2 hours ago
FAIRBANKS, Alaska — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has resigned from office.
She is turning over power to Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell.
In a farewell speech Sunday in Fairbanks, she warned against big government but gave few clues about her long-term political plans.
Palin was a relative political unknown a year ago when Republican presidential candidate John McCain selected her to be his running mate. The partisan election created problems for Palin when she returned to Alaska.
Her once congenial relationship with lawmakers soured, and Palin became the target of nearly 20 ethics complaints.
She cited the resulting investigation's financial toll as the main reason she was quitting 17 months before her term was complete.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin steps down Sunday giving few clues about a political future clouded by ethics probes, mounting legal bills and dwindling popularity.
A few things are known: She is scheduled to speak Aug. 8 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California, and has said she plans to write a book, campaign for political candidates from coast to coast and build a right-of-center coalition.
She also plans to continue speaking her mind on the social networking site Twitter.
Friend and foe alike have speculated that Palin may host a radio or TV show, or launch a lucrative speaking career. Her political action committee, SarahPAC, has raised more than $1 million, said Meghan Stapleton, a spokeswoman for the committee and the Palin family.
Stapleton disputed the notion that Palin is running for president or has media deals lined up.
"I cannot express enough there is no plan after July 26. There is absolutely no plan," she told The Associated Press. "The decision (to quit) was made in the vacuum of what was best for Alaska, and now I'm accepting all the options, but there is nothing planned."
Palin's surprise announcement July 3 that she was stepping down 17 months before the end of her first term pushed her favorability rating down to 40 percent, according to a Washington Post-ABC poll. Fifty-three percent of those polled gave her an unfavorable rating.
Last summer, almost six in 10 Americans viewed her favorably. The latest poll was taken from July 15-18.
Nearly 20 ethics complaints have been filed against Palin, and the outgoing governor has cited the resulting investigation's financial toll — both on her and the state — for stepping down.
Palin is handing over the governor's office to Lt. Gov Sean Parnell at the Sunday afternoon picnic in Fairbanks. Parnell, 46, of Anchorage, has promised to push many of Palin's initiatives, including controversial terms to build a natural gas pipeline.
"Sean knows he has big high heels to fill," said Mark Lewis, moderator of a farewell picnic hosted by Palin on Saturday in Anchorage, the state's largest city.
Before her farewell speech, Palin served food to residents for about 90 minutes Sunday at Pioneer Park in downtown Fairbanks, where thousands gathered on a hot day.
Among those present was Donna Michaels, 57, of Fairbanks, who wore a red T-shirt that said: "Palintologist."
The T-shirt defined a Palintologist as "someone who studies Palin and shares her conservative values, Maverick attitude and American style."
Michaels also held a poster board sign showing the front page of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner when Palin announced she would resign. Michaels altered the banner headline "Palin steps down," replacing the last word with "up."
"She's really not stepping down. She's stepping up to do something bigger and better," said Michaels, who attended the picnic with her daughter and two granddaughters, one of whom who wore Sarah Palin-style eyeglasses.
Larry Landry, 51, of Fairbanks held up a red, white and blue said that read, "Quitting: the new American value." The other side read: "Thanks for the laughs."
Landry, a registered independent, said he respected Palin when she ran for governor in 2006, but she changed during last year's presidential campaign.
"She turned into a vicious vixen," he said. "She descended into ugly, divisive politics."
Alaska's first female governor arrived at the state Capitol in December 2006 on an ethics reform platform after defeating two former governors in the primary and general elections. Her prior political experience consisted of terms as Wasilla's mayor and councilwoman and a stint as head of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.
Unknown on the national stage until Republican John McCain tapped her as his running mate, Palin infused excitement into the Republican's presidential bid. But she also became the butt of talk-show jokes and Democratic criticism, especially after the Republican Party spent $150,000 or more on a designer wardrobe for Palin.
Former state House Speaker John Harris, a Republican with sometimes chilly relations with Palin, said he thinks Palin will run for president in 2012, but said he has no inside information.
Stapleton said the answer will emerge in the coming weeks.
On Monday, "we'll sit down and say, 'OK, here are your options. How do you now want to effect that positive change for Alaska from outside the role as governor?'" Stapleton said. | |
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| Sarah Palin Stepping Down As Alaska Gov. Running for Pres. 2012?
Posted: 9/3/2009 7:33:38 AM |
apparently there is a tell all by her son-in-law coming out in Vanity Fair. VF doesn't give away much on their website but heres an OpEd commentary from the NY Times.
most interesting part to me (and as they say, hunting is one of the few things the kid seems to know much about) is that she knows diddly about firearms and doesn't know how to shoot a gun much less hunt.
The Revenge of Levi
By GAIL COLLINS
Published: September 2, 2009
For the first time in my life, I feel sympathy for Sarah Palin.
Levi Johnston — you will remember him from his featured role as the father of Bristol’s baby at the Republican convention — has written an article for the new issue of Vanity Fair. It’s his take on the Palin home life, which Johnston says was “much different from what many people expect of a normal family.”
Given the fact that Johnston is a 19-year-old high school dropout whose mother was arrested last year on six felony drug counts, it is conceivable that he is not the perfect arbiter of normal families. But even if he were an Eagle Scout with a scholarship to Harvard, can you imagine anything worse than discovering your daughter’s teenage ex-boyfriend has been given a national platform to discuss his impressions of her mom’s parenting skills?
It’s hard to totally resist an article that has sentences that start with: “In early August, before I went hunting and Sarah was picked, Bristol and I were at a tattoo parlor in Wasilla. ...” Or information like the fact that baby Tripp’s middle name is Easton in honor of “my favorite hockey-equipment company.”
But somehow I have a feeling that even the most ardent Palin-haters are not going to be able to work up much sympathy for Levi’s complaint that Sarah made him cut off his mullet before his appearance at the Republican convention. Or that when she moved to Juneau after being elected governor, she tried to take Bristol with her in order to break them up.
In fact, trying to separate her daughter from Johnston could be filed away in the rather slim folder titled “Sarah Palin’s Good Ideas.”
Levi’s reports on Palin’s failings as wife and mother sound exactly like what any self-absorbed teenager might say about his girlfriend’s working mom. She doesn’t cook! He and Bristol had to do everything! They had to take care of the kids and go to Taco Bell to get Sarah a Crunchwrap Supreme!
Plus, Sarah fought a lot with Bristol’s dad, Todd, and they certainly didn’t look like a happy couple to Levi. She claimed to be a hockey mom but he didn’t notice her at the rink all that often. (Why do I have the feeling that the amount of time Johnston spent keeping tabs on his teammates’ parents was not extensive?)
It’s too bad Johnston is untrustworthy about every subject not covered by Field & Stream. Otherwise, this article might be fair payback for the Levi-Bristol convention appearance. In an effort to cement her family-values cred, Palin gave every teenage girl in the country a deeply unrealistic and dangerous vision of the wonderful way a boyfriend would transform once he discovered there was a baby on the way. (In the staged world, the handsome, expectant, unmarried couple held hands while the whole auditorium applauded. In the real world, after whacking off Levi’s mullet, Sarah had to veto his plans to go partying and force him to hang around the hotel with her pregnant daughter. “It was boring,” he concluded.)
Besides selling a fantasy about how easily a semi-delinquent, unemployed father-to-be could be turned into Prince Charming, Palin also spent her campaign trying to give the impression that running for vice president and taking care of five children, the youngest a baby with special needs, was as easy as falling off a snowbank. Politicians who don’t want the federal government to address child care issues like to imagine that’s true. It absolves them from dealing with the question of who takes care of the kids when women make up almost half the work force.
So it would be helpful to know if Palin was “always in a bad mood and she was stressed out a lot,” as Johnston claims. But really, we’re going to have to wait for a more reliable witness. Maybe Piper or Willow are preparing their memoirs.
Levi and Bristol split up last spring, a few months after the birth of their baby. (“It was the happiest day of my life, but it was also terrible because my family couldn’t be there,” he writes. “I didn’t think Sarah wanted my mom around all the cameras because she had been arrested for selling prescription medication a week and a half earlier.”) The Palins have accused him of trying to cash in on his relationship to the former vice presidential candidate, and we can add this to a very brief list titled “Sarah’s Accurate Depictions of the World Around Her.”
However, I was fascinated by his claim that she doesn’t know how to shoot a gun. Hunting is one of the very few matters in which Levi Johnston seems like a trustworthy source, and if he says she showed no familiarity with weapons, I want to know more. In fact, I think Palin should never be allowed to bring that moose stuff up again until she appears at a rifle range and gives us a demonstration. | |
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| Sarah Palin Stepping Down As Alaska Gov. Running for Pres. 2012?
Posted: 9/3/2009 7:51:56 AM | .
This would have been great .... too bad the cat is out...
Borat????
Many scratched their heads when it was announced Sarah Palin had been invited to speak in Honk Kong at an investment broker’s conference. Huh? As mayor, Palin left her hometown of Wasilla $20 million dollars in debt. Her mastery of finance wasn’t tested as governor; during her aborted term, the state was flush with cash.
Finally, the Business Insider explained it: “Hong Kong Broker Pulling a “Borat” on Sarah Palin”
Her invitation as keynote speaker in Hong Kong is so ridiculous that its absurdity can’t be accidental.
CLSA, the Asia-focused broker who invited Mrs. Palin as keynote speaker for an Asian investment conference, is well known for their cheeky takes on investment research.
In the past, they’ve polled Asian fortune tellers for index targets, hired anime cartoonists to draw Japanese research, and generally love to push the boundaries between entertainment and analysis. They are a real research firm, it’s just that they love to sprinkle in some hilarity every now and then as a smart marketing gimmick.
Palin probably doesn’t know what she’s in for. If you will, she’s being “Borat’ed” and doesn’t have the Asia knowledge to realize it.
Sarah Palin has a history of pulling a series of “Lucy with the football” for different organizers who have scheduled her to speak. If CLSA’s purpose in hiring her is comic relief, they may get their moneys worth…that’s if she shows up. The CLSA may want to hire William Shatner as a translator. Asian word salad, anyone?
http://shannynmoore.wordpress.com/
.Carrie Prejean and Palin..... lots of fun to watch | |
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| Sarah Palin Stepping Down As Alaska Gov. Running for Pres. 2012?
Posted: 9/3/2009 8:30:17 AM | How soon we forget all the Hoopla that surrounded Levi Johnton while he was courting a pregnant Bristol Palin. Has everyone forgotten the story behind Levi and his own family's notoriously tarnished background. Levi the young drop, who is uncompromisingly looking for his more than 15 minutes of fame on the coat tails of his baby's grandmother. Can anyone see this as anything but obvious retaliation and apparent need for personal recognizable fame and money.
It is such a shame that Levi does not realize the damage that this will ultimately cause his own biological son. I have to truly wonder if Levi has considered the consequences this might cause as his son grows older. Has Levi stopped to consider the consequences of anyone other than his own financial gain and personal fame.
GAIL COLLINS's Wednesday's (09/02/09) New York Times article portrays and illustrates another side I think many of us have apparently not looked at during Levi's ongoing revengeful blitz on his biological son's family since his breakup with Bristol.
The Revenge of LeviLevi Johnston — you will remember him from his featured role as the father of Bristol’s baby at the Republican convention — has written an article for the new issue of Vanity Fair. It’s his take on the Palin home life, which Johnston says was “much different from what many people expect of a normal family.”
Given the fact that Johnston is a 19-year-old high school dropout whose mother was arrested last year on six felony drug counts, it is conceivable that he is not the perfect arbiter of normal families. But even if he were an Eagle Scout with a scholarship to Harvard, can you imagine anything worse than discovering your daughter’s teenage ex-boyfriend has been given a national platform to discuss his impressions of her mom’s parenting skills?
It’s hard to totally resist an article that has sentences that start with: “In early August, before I went hunting and Sarah was picked, Bristol and I were at a tattoo parlor in Wasilla. ...” Or information like the fact that baby Tripp’s middle name is Easton in honor of “my favorite hockey-equipment company.”
But somehow I have a feeling that even the most ardent Palin-haters are not going to be able to work up much sympathy for Levi’s complaint that Sarah made him cut off his mullet before his appearance at the Republican convention. Or that when she moved to Juneau after being elected governor, she tried to take Bristol with her in order to break them up.
In fact, trying to separate her daughter from Johnston could be filed away in the rather slim folder titled “Sarah Palin’s Good Ideas.”
Levi’s reports on Palin’s failings as wife and mother sound exactly like what any self-absorbed teenager might say about his girlfriend’s working mom. She doesn’t cook! He and Bristol had to do everything! They had to take care of the kids and go to Taco Bell to get Sarah a Crunchwrap Supreme!
Plus, Sarah fought a lot with Bristol’s dad, Todd, and they certainly didn’t look like a happy couple to Levi. She claimed to be a hockey mom but he didn’t notice her at the rink all that often. (Why do I have the feeling that the amount of time Johnston spent keeping tabs on his teammates’ parents was not extensive?)
It’s too bad Johnston is untrustworthy about every subject not covered by Field & Stream. Otherwise, this article might be fair payback for the Levi-Bristol convention appearance. In an effort to cement her family-values cred, Palin gave every teenage girl in the country a deeply unrealistic and dangerous vision of the wonderful way a boyfriend would transform once he discovered there was a baby on the way. (In the staged world, the handsome, expectant, unmarried couple held hands while the whole auditorium applauded. In the real world, after whacking off Levi’s mullet, Sarah had to veto his plans to go partying and force him to hang around the hotel with her pregnant daughter. “It was boring,” he concluded.)
Besides selling a fantasy about how easily a semi-delinquent, unemployed father-to-be could be turned into Prince Charming, Palin also spent her campaign trying to give the impression that running for vice president and taking care of five children, the youngest a baby with special needs, was as easy as falling off a snowbank. Politicians who don’t want the federal government to address child care issues like to imagine that’s true. It absolves them from dealing with the question of who takes care of the kids when women make up almost half the work force.
So it would be helpful to know if Palin was “always in a bad mood and she was stressed out a lot,” as Johnston claims. But really, we’re going to have to wait for a more reliable witness. Maybe Piper or Willow are preparing their memoirs.
Levi and Bristol split up last spring, a few months after the birth of their baby. (“It was the happiest day of my life, but it was also terrible because my family couldn’t be there,” he writes. “I didn’t think Sarah wanted my mom around all the cameras because she had been arrested for selling prescription medication a week and a half earlier.”) The Palins have accused him of trying to cash in on his relationship to the former vice presidential candidate, and we can add this to a very brief list titled “Sarah’s Accurate Depictions of the World Around Her.”
However, I was fascinated by his claim that she doesn’t know how to shoot a gun. Hunting is one of the very few matters in which Levi Johnston seems like a trustworthy source, and if he says she showed no familiarity with weapons, I want to know more. In fact, I think Palin should never be allowed to bring that moose stuff up again until she appears at a rifle range and gives us a demonstration.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/03/opinion/03collins.html?em | |
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| Sarah Palin Stepping Down As Alaska Gov. Running for Pres. 2012?
Posted: 9/3/2009 8:41:38 AM |
It is such a shame that Levi does not realize the damage that this will ultimately cause his own biological son. I have to truly wonder if Levi has considered the consequences this might cause as his son grows older. Has Levi stopped to consider the consequences of anyone other than his own financial gain and personal fame.
You should ask.............
It is such a shame that (Sarah) does not realize the damage that this will ultimately cause her own biological son. I have to truly wonder if (Sarah) has considered the consequences this might cause as her son grows older. Has (Sarah) stopped to consider the consequences of anyone other than his own financial gain and personal fame.
. | |
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| Sarah Palin Stepping Down As Alaska Gov. Running for Pres. 2012?
Posted: 9/3/2009 10:22:14 AM | I will have to say that for all the controversy surrounding her Palin has done a fairly decent job.
In looking through the internet it seems that at least Palin has not resorted to slanderous and destructive characterization speeches about Levi. She has rebutted several of his comments, sometimes in a typical protective mother style. It appears that Palin has veered away from the slanderous vindictive statements Levi has resorted to obtain personal financial fame.
Palin is a very vocal political female with views that do directly counter the current administration.
Hey many other elected family politicians vocal points might not mesh with everyone else's.
Yet it is not for us to say that any politician's political agenda and voice is detrimental to their family.
To say that Palin's strong Political voice is harming her family would be like saying that as a family man Obama should step down because of the harm his strong political voice and current growing opposition might do to his daughters.
Thus we come to the statement in Msg 186 turn around of statement in Msg 185
"It is such a shame that (Sarah) does not realize the damage that this will ultimately cause her own biological son. I have to truly wonder if (Sarah) has considered the consequences this might cause as her son grows older. Has (Sarah) stopped to consider the consequences of anyone other than his own financial gain and personal fame."
Which if turned around again could read
It is such a shame that (vocal political person with a family) does not realize the damage that this will ultimately cause her own biological son. I have to truly wonder if (vocal political person with a family ) has considered the consequences this might cause as her son grows older. Has (vocal political person with a family) stopped to consider the consequences of anyone other than his own financial gain and personal fame.
There is a big difference between making slanderous statement about someone personally and expressing you political view.
To malign and intentionally slander your very young child's family for personal fame, financial gain and vengeance can be very harmful to a child's well-being. . This is what Levi is doing to his own biological child.
Strangely I feel that if the tables were turned and Levi was one of Obama's daughter's ex boyfriends many would be whistling a different tune. | |
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| Sarah Palin Stepping Down As Alaska Gov. Running for Pres. 2012?
Posted: 9/3/2009 10:42:56 AM | This is just reality TV masquerading as politics.
I mean, lets face it, Palin found herself way out of her depth once she was on the national stage. She had been well known in evangelical right wing circles, but that fawning attention left her completely unprepared for any scrutiny whatsoever. If "What do you read?" is a gotcha question, then you're just not prepared.
She was picked because she's pretty. Same reason people get picked for reality TV shows. So she's treated like Paris Hilton or any other pretty girl/woman who becomes famous for unexplained reasons. She's a gossip tabloid subject, because she's not exactly going to be subscribing to Foreign Affairs, much less writing articles for it. | |
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| Sarah Palin Stepping Down As Alaska Gov. Running for Pres. 2012?
Posted: 9/3/2009 11:17:08 AM |
Has everyone forgotten the story behind Levi and his own family's notoriously tarnished background. Levi the young drop, who is uncompromisingly looking for his more than 15 minutes of fame on the coat tails of his baby's grandmother.
I have to wonder why a woman as bright as Palin flew around the nation campaigning with Levi when Levi is so evil and tarnished. She and the republican party paid to have that lowlife flown around the country with her, and she said she was proud that her daughter and Levi were going to get married.
How could woman as intelligent as Sarah Palin hook her wagon up to such a demon when his tarnished background should have been warning enough? | |
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| Sarah Palin Stepping Down As Alaska Gov. Running for Pres. 2012?
Posted: 9/3/2009 12:53:32 PM |
How could woman as intelligent as Sarah Palin hook her wagon up to such a demon
Just maybe Palin was trying to be as supportive of her child's decision as bad as it was. This is usually not much different than what most good mother's try to do in similar siturations.
If I remember correctly December 18, 2008 was long after the election and less than two weeks prior to Palin's daughter giving birth.
Maybe no one knew or knew for sure about the activities of Levi's mother.
Just maybe some were trying not to judge Levi based upon his mother's misdeeds, especially since there was a baby involved.
Hey I guess we can all mistakes.
At least it looks like Palin and her daughter realized that there was a problem.
It seems that Palin and her daughter realized it fairly soon after the baby's birth, especially in comparison to President Obama who took 20 years to realize he was listening to a very controversial speaker whom he even called his good friend and mentor.
Guess some could take the statement in msg 189 and Ask "How could a man as intelligent as Barack Hussein Obama hook his wagon up to such a demon for twenty years.
JMHO
On December 18, 2008 Johnston's mother was arrested on six felony drug charges;[6] [7] she allegedly sold OxyContin in October and November, 2008.[8] She originally pleaded not guilty,[7] but her lawyer later announced an agreement under which she would plead guilty to one count of possession with intent to deliver and the state would dismiss the five other charges.[9]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levi_Johnston
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| Sarah Palin Stepping Down As Alaska Gov. Running for Pres. 2012?
Posted: 9/3/2009 6:46:58 PM |
its pretty funny to see republicans and conservatives (have to say it both ways these days)
get so upset with this kid. hey, he's making money. isn't that what its all about? (not to mention hes a member of your party) he's just "expressing views counter to the current administration". whats wrong with that?
my bet is we'll hear more from the lad. he seems to have quite cleverly seeded the cloud. the next go round should make some real dough.
capitalism is hell when its coming at you. | |
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| Sarah Palin Stepping Down As Alaska Gov. Running for Pres. 2012?
Posted: 9/3/2009 8:37:03 PM | What I find interesting is some people's perception of hands off kids.
Levi is not only blasting Sarah but the whole family with only Bristol, Sarah and Todd being over 18.
Strange how some cries go out for the Obama girls over a simple comment on a poster that is not even their image. It was not even a slanderous comment.
Yet when its Palin an ex candidate for VP many seem to almost be cheering on the wolf.
To me the real victim in this whole mess is not Sarah, or Bristol.
The victime is Bristol and Levi's child.
This child is going to grow up and see how his own father felt it necessary to gain his five minutes of fame and fortune while trashing his mother and mother's family.
Like I said earlier and will repeat...I just can't help thinking that if this was one of the Obama's ex boyfriends or school mates doing this everyone would be outraged.
Remember the girls could end up dating while their father is still in the WH. | |
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| Sarah Palin Stepping Down As Alaska Gov. Running for Pres. 2012?
Posted: 9/3/2009 8:48:02 PM |
What I find interesting is some people's perception of hands off kids.
Levi is not only blasting Sarah but the whole family with only Bristol, Sarah and Todd being over 18.
Um....where is he doing this?
It's just gossip rag stuff. But nobody is really interested in the Palin kids. Sarah and Todd, sure. Bristol, just cause it's so damn funny she's now a spokesmodel for abstinence, has also joined the "New Osbournes." But that's all this is - The Osbournes for political junkies. What outrageous thing will they do next?? Tune in next week. | |
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| Sarah Palin Stepping Down As Alaska Gov. Running for Pres. 2012?
Posted: 9/3/2009 10:15:35 PM |
What I find interesting is some people's...
...inability to quit trying to drag Obama into the conversation when he's not the topic at hand.
Yet when its Palin an ex candidate for VP many seem to almost be cheering on the wolf.
It doesn't matter what Palin is "ex-candidate" of. She may well be defacto Republican fundraiser-in-chief right now, particularly on social policy and "family values" charade. You can't have it both ways. She found out the hard way she couldn't either.
What's this about "the wolf"??? | |
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| Sarah Palin Stepping Down As Alaska Gov. Running for Pres. 2012?
Posted: 9/4/2009 4:05:18 AM | "Like I said earlier and will repeat...I just can't help thinking that if this was one of the Obama's ex boyfriends or school mates doing this everyone would be outraged. "
we heard it the first time. did you notice that its NOT about obama's ex boyfriends? | |
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| Sarah Palin Stepping Down As Alaska Gov. Running for Pres. 2012?
Posted: 9/4/2009 7:13:58 AM |
In looking through the internet it seems that at least Palin has not resorted to slanderous and destructive characterization speeches about Levi.
Only cuz she's too busy concentrating all her evil powers on making up bullsh**... err... uhm... I mean... moosesh** about healthcare reform, Obama and Democrats in general.  | |
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| Sarah Palin Stepping Down As Alaska Gov. Running for Pres. 2012?
Posted: 9/4/2009 7:38:05 AM |
Really she is making up stuff? Like what?
Death panels.
What's interesting to me is that her kids are only hands off when people point out the negative, but she has NO problem whatsoever using her "baby with Down Syndrome" to push her assertion that Obama is into eugenics and forced euthanasia.
Around here, we call that being a fuggin' hypocrite. In Alaska, that would be "scoodly-doodly hypocrite *WINK*". | |
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Couldn't have said it better myself. Thank you!