If Sarah Palin is being paid to "co-host" then NBC has essentially paid for an interview

Think about it:

Originally when NBC first announced that Sarah Palin was going to be on THE TODAY SHOW on Saturday it gave the impression that she would would be a guest. Then sometime on Sunday it was announced that she was "co-hosting." Palin has been reluctant to appear or be interviewed on any outlet other than FOX, which she is compensated for, so you have to wonder if she demanded compensation from NBC. NBC NEWS probably has a policy not to pay for interviews, but it is most likely completely possible for them to pay her to

"co-host," especially if Palin is member of SAG/AFTRA (which could be possible because of her position with FOX).

I have thus far been successful in not watching THE TODAY SHOW this morning but Mediaite has published a post with a video clip of Matt Lauer interviewing Palin, which of course for NBC was the purpose of her co-hosting.

So the question is, did NBC pay Palin to "co-host" THE TODAY SHOW? And if so, was this just a cleaver way to pay her for an interview? I hope Mediate, Media Matters, Howard Kurtz or anyone else with the interest and resources will further investigate.

President Obama should call Bristol Palin per her request and say. . .

Huffington Post and other media outlets are reporting that Bristol Palin feels that President Obama should call her or her mother just like he did Sandra Fluke after she was attacked by Rush Limbaugh. I agree. I have provided the following script for him:

"Hello Bristol, I wanted to call you and offer my encouragement to you. Since your mom is one of the most divisive people who has done everything in her power to divide us, your family has had to deal with some ugly things said about them, similar to the ugly things she has said about my family.

You became a target when you decided to exploit her notoriety to seek fame for than the fact that you are single mother with a jerk of baby daddy and famous mom. What has been said about you is awful. I appreciate your frustration, as you can imagine Michelle and I have had many folks, say ugly things about us, we can understand your frustration. However we understood that when we chose to be in the public eye, we were opening ourselves up to that.

Many young single mothers work hard, go to school and provide loving homes for their children without being made fun of by comedians. I should point out that these single mothers don't seek fame like you do. They don't act as spokespersons for abstinence campaigns, they don't go on Dancing With The Stars, they don't write books and they don't do reality shows. They just want to provide for their children.

I agree that we need to start treating people, especially those we don't agree with, better. You could start by telling your mom to shut up."
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

NYTimes: Bloodshed and Invective in Arizona

From The New York Times:

EDITORIAL: Bloodshed and Invective in Arizona

EDITORIAL

Bloodshed and Invective in Arizona

Published: January 9, 2011

She read the First Amendment on the House floor — including the guarantee of "the right of the people peaceably to assemble" — and then flew home to Arizona to put those words into practice. But when Gabrielle Giffords tried to meet with her constituents in a Tucson parking lot on Saturday, she came face to face with an environment wholly at odds with that constitutional ideal, and she nearly paid for it with her life.

Jared Loughner, the man accused of shooting Ms. Giffords, killing a federal judge and five other people, and wounding 13 others, appears to be mentally ill. His paranoid Internet ravings about government mind control place him well beyond usual ideological categories.

But he is very much a part of a widespread squall of fear, anger and intolerance that has produced violent threats against scores of politicians and infected the political mainstream with violent imagery. With easy and legal access to semiautomatic weapons like the one used in the parking lot, those already teetering on the edge of sanity can turn a threat into a nightmare.

Last spring, Capitol security officials said threats against members of Congress had tripled over the previous year, almost all from opponents of health care reform. An effigy of Representative Frank Kratovil Jr., a Maryland Democrat, was hung from a gallows outside his district office. Ms. Giffords's district office door was smashed after the health vote, possibly by a bullet.

It is facile and mistaken to attribute this particular madman's act directly to Republicans or Tea Party members. But it is legitimate to hold Republicans and particularly their most virulent supporters in the media responsible for the gale of anger that has produced the vast majority of these threats, setting the nation on edge. Many on the right have exploited the arguments of division, reaping political power by demonizing immigrants, or welfare recipients, or bureaucrats. They seem to have persuaded many Americans that the government is not just misguided, but the enemy of the people.

-snip-

The crime is in the cover-up Palin spokesperson claims "We never ever, ever intended it to be gun sights"

This is just amazing. In attempt to shift the spotlight from Sarah Palin in the wake of the tragic shooting that claimed the lives of six Americans and resulted in Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford being shot in the head Palin's spokesperson now claims in an interview with Tammy Bruce that "We never ever, ever intended it to be gun sights" when talking about the target list that Palin distributed along with the slogan "Don't retreat, reload."

Bruce not passing up an opportunity to help Palin then responds "It's surveyor's symbols."

As I said in the title of this post, the crime is in the cover-up.

Update: Evidently Sarah thought they were in fact "Bullseyes" see this tweet



From: The Alaska Dispatch

On 3/25/10 the ladies of THE VIEW, including Elisabeth Hasselbeck put Palin on notice over her crosshairs

Said Whoopi Goldberg to Palin and other talking heads inciting violence on March 25, 2010:

"Whatever comes down from this its on your hands!" DAMN!

Is Bristol Palin making a lesbian joke by mentioning k.d. Lang & Indigo girls in Facebook reply to Margaret Cho?

Not to sure why Bristol Palin brings up k.d. lang & the Indigo Girls in her response to Margaret Cho's claim that her mom, Sarah Palin, made her appear on Dancing With the Stars, unless of course she is trying to start some crap.

Bristol writes on Facebook:

To my friend Margaret Cho, if you ever have a question, call me girlfriend. Don't ever rely on "sources" who claim to know me or my family. You will be taken every time. And we need to talk. You say you "don't agree with the family's politics at all" but I say, if you understood that commonsense conservative values supports the right of individuals like you, like all of us, to live our lives with less government interference and more independence, you would embrace us faster than KD Lang at an Indigo Girls concert.

Hmmmm. What are your thoughts?

So is Bristol Palin using Momma Grizzly's Facebook ghostwriters?

So evidently Bristol Palin is striking back at Keith Olbermann for naming her his "Worst Person in the World" earlier this week and she posted a response on her Facebook page:

Accusing me of hypocrisy is by now, an old canard. What Mr. Olbermann lacks in originality he makes up for with insincere incredulity. Mr. Olbermann fails to understand that in order to have credibility as a spokesperson, it sometimes takes a person who has made mistakes. Parents warn their children about the mistakes they made so they are not repeated. Former gang members travel to schools to educate teenagers about the risks of gang life. Recovered addicts lecture to others about the risks of alcohol and drug abuse. And yes, a teen mother talks about the benefits of preventing teen pregnancy.

Sorry, but I am not buying that Bristol is capable of composing a post with words such as "canard" or "incredulity." I will give credit, where I believe credit is due: Momma Grizzly's ghostwriters.

H/T: HuffPo

I'm not one to pass up a Palin bashing opportunity but WTF is the WaPo/ABC News doing polling re: Bristol on DWTS?

Look no further than a recent poll conducted by the Washington Post and ABC News, regarding Bristol Palin on Dancing With The Stars (DWTS), to understand what is wrong with this nation's media. The results are irrelevant. The question is why would two (once) respected media outlets even waste their time and resources on such unimportant crap.

In an article posted tonight Lisa de Moraes writes:

Fifty-four percent of Americans think Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol is one of the finalists on ABC's competition series "Dancing With the Stars" because of large-scale voting by viewers who support her mother, according to a poll conducted by The Washington Post and ABC News.

I love pop culture and I tend to enjoy any article that casts a negative light on the Palins but to conduct a poll about a failed governor/VP candidate's daughter whose lone claim to fame is that she is the most over exposed single mother in America is just ridiculous.

Antoine Dodson, political commentator on Sarah Palin

This morning Sarah Palin had the nerve to complain that President Obama didn't have any "cajones" this afternoon, hero, internet sensation and political commentator Antoine Dodson replied:



For more info on Antoine Dobson check out what VH1's Best Week Ever has to say or visit his Facebook Fanpage

Sarah Palin calls Obama "half white or half Black," wants him to "refudiate" NAACP

During a recent appearance on Sean Hannity’s show on FOX NEWS, in which she was pushing back at the NAACP’s resolution on teabagger* bigotry, Sarah Palin claimed that they didn’t care if President Obama is “half white or half Black.”

While Obama embraces his mixed parentage, he identifies himself as African American, not biracial, not “half white or half Black,” but African American. Folks who are biracial or of mixed heritage have every right to declare how they want to be identified and everyone else should respect their choice.

Make no mistake Palin meant this as a diss, a racial dog whistle, intended to defend teabaggers against charges of racism and other forms of bigotry, while at the same time reminding her like minded audience that he is not like them, he is different.

She is implying that white folks can’t be racist against some one who is “half white,” while at the same time reminding folks he is “half Black.” Let’s not forget that Palin’s buddy, radio host and pill popping bigot Rush Limbaugh refers to Obama as a “Halfrican American.” These references have a purpose and its not a celebration of Obama’s diverse background.

In the same interview Palin called on Obama to “refudiate,” (yeah the crazy lady made up the word “refudiate”) the NAACP for its resolution condemning the teabagger movement for the bigotry that is directed at Obama as well as others.

Think about that now, Palin wants Obama to “refudiate” (I guess that means repudiate) folks who are speaking out against the bigotry directed at him. Seriously?

Whenever the teabaggers get together the bigoted signs and rhetoric are not far behind. Lets not forget the time they called Congressman John Lewis, a civil rights hero, the “n-word,” spit on Congressman Emanuel Clever and called Congressman Barney Frank the “f-word,” all in one day.

The racially charged atmosphere that surrounds the teabaggers’ protest is just sickening. Whether its the picture of Obama dressed up like a witch doctor, Tea Party leader Dale Robertson carrying a sign with the “n-word” on it or the kid carrying a sign that says “Obamanomics: Monkey See/Monkey Spend,” its not surprising that many African Americans, including yours truly, as well as decent people of all backgrounds are alarmed by the overt racism on display at these events.

Rather than Palin pandering to her fellow teabaggers she needs to call them out, “refudiate” their bigotry, accept the NAACP’s resolution and challenge her friends to be above the bigotry that has defined their movement. Anything short of that is unacceptable, but sadly expected.
*I refuse to defame a special moment in American history but comparing this ignorant band of blithering idiots to the true patriots who took part in the Boston Tea Party.

Elisabeth Hasselbeck has more courage than John McCain and calls out Sarah Palin

Giving credit where it is due, Elisabeth Hasselbeck strongly condemns hateful rhetoric calls out Sarah Palin for her incendiary rhetoric in response to the health care vote. Also, Whoopi Goldberg draws a line in the sand and tells talking heads they will be held responsible for violence.

Earlier in the day John McCain REFUSED to condemn Palin on THE TODAY SHOW.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Todd Palin encourages himself to "get the hell" out of America

We are not sure who Todd Palin is trying to send a message to with this t-shirt, but it is very likely that he may be talking to himself. Let's not forget it was Todd who belongs (or belonged) to the anti-American Alaska Independence Party that wants Alaska to secede from the United States of America. What a hypocritical loser this guy is.

From TMZ:



Todd Palin Goes Rogue with Message Tee

Oops they did it again. . .rightwing POUTRAGE crowd fails . . .again, this time with laughable “Fire Dave” protest

If the lunatic fringe of the right wing continues its random POUTRAGE protests (such as Tea Bagging) they need to get together, hire effective organizers, get their facts straight and work on messaging. They out did themselves when they staged a protest, with more media in attendance than protesters, outside of "Late Night with David Letterman" in response to his joke about Sarah Palin's daughter.

A quick analysis of the above video produced by the New York Magazine finds the following:

00:20--Crazy Lady #1 (CL1) complains about Letterman making joke about a 14 year old at an
"American basketball game." Note to CL1, it was a baseball game.

00:40--CL1 calls Jay Leno a class act, while we like Jay and think he has class we find it odd that CL1 is not POUTRAGED about the numerous jokes that he has made about Bristol Palin (HuffPo: "Leno Told Similar Joke About Palin's Daughter")

00:45--Crazy Lady #2 (CL2) calls Letterman a "schmuck" then asks "do you know what schmuck means in Jewish?" Well, we do know what "schmuck" means in Yiddish but we would like her to enlighten us about what it means in Jewish.

00:56--Crazy Man #1 (CM1) egged on by a raging CL2 throws out wing nut buzzwords "communist," fascist"

1:17--CL1 returns to let us know Letterman had a "daughter" out of wedlock, without realizing it was a son.

1:21--CL2 gets the gender of Letterman's child correct and out does the comedian when she says that he as "a bastard son and a slut for a wife." Woah NellY!

1:25--CM2, who is white, admonishing an African American woman and tells her "wake up socialism is evil." When she tries to respond he waves his finger at her, works his neck (we guess that how he was told that was how Black folk communicate) and screams "you think you are soooo smart, you think you know soooo much" and to reinforce he can keep it real with Black folk he snaps his finger.

1:38--CL2 evidently realizing that undocumented workers were responsible for Letterman's joke says "close the borders."

1:45 Crazy Lady 3 (Cl3) really brings the crazy screaming "Keep children safe from David Letterman's mouth! He will rape them with his mouth." As she does this Richard and Sal from the "Howard Stern Show" (we are big fans) stage a mock make out session with one another right behind her.

One can only imagine her reaction if she turned around to see that.

Other coverage of the "Fire David Letterman" protests:

HuffPo: "Fire David Letterman" Protest Becomes Hatefest, Draws More Media Than Protesters"

Gawker/Defamer: "David Letterman's Job is Probably Safe"

Letterman crossed the line but Sarah and Todd Palin are the ones guilty of victimizing their daughter

Alaska’s first family is pulling the classic “flop” move, unfortunately they are exploiting their 14-year old daughter and its beyond sick

When David Letterman told his joke about Sarah Palin’s daughter this week it crossed the line in that the children, even adult children, of politicians are supposed to be off limits.

While many of us assume that Letterman’s joke was about Palin’s 18-year old daughter, who is an unwed mother and has made herself a public figure by becoming a spokeswoman for an abstinence campaign, the Palin’s quickly claimed that Letterman was going after their 14-year old daughter.

"Laughter incited by sexually perverted comments made by a 62-year-old male celebrity aimed at a 14-year-old girl is ... disgusting,” said Governor Palin.

Todd Palin added, "any 'jokes' about raping my 14-year-old are despicable."

Hold up! Hold the F’ up! Letterman never said such a thing. He never mentioned a name, he never mentioned an age, he never mentioned anything about rape . . . THE PALIN’S DID!

I am watching commentators taking Palin’s side in this and as I have said Letterman deserves to be criticized, but he does not deserve the accusation of making jokes about raping the Palin’s 14-year old daughter.

Shame on the media for playing into Palin’s sick and calculating hands by allowing her and Todd to get away with accusing Letterman of something he did not do. Give them a forum to voice their displeasure but don't let them get away misrepresenting what was said.

If the Palin’s truly were outraged and concerned about their children they would have put a call into Letterman’s bosses at CBS demanded an apology and moved on. But instead they embellished an already off color joke to make it worse and in effort to leverage it for political gain.

This is a lot like a “flop” move made in basketball or soccer when a player dramatically flops when they make contact with an opposing player in an effort to look like they have been hurt in hopes that the player will get slapped with a penalty.

The tragedy is if the Palin’s didn’t draw attention to this joke by issuing statements, talking to Sean Hannity about it, talking THE TODAY SHOW about it, etc. this joke would have died at the water cooler the next day. While their 14-year old, or for that matter 18-year old daughter, would have heard about it they would not have had to witness a discussion of their sexuality or their rape dominating the news cycles. That good be good for the self esteem for either one of them, but evidently it is excellent for their parents.

Tell me who is the sick one in this is. The comedian who told an off color, tasteless joke or the mother and father who saw it as moment to exploit it, their daughter and the unwanted attention for political gain? Letterman told an off color joke. Todd and Sarah are the ones who twisted that joke into it being about a 14-year old being raped.

It is hard for Sarah Palin to claim her family off limits when they put themselves in play. . .

We believe that the children, even adult children, of politicians are off limits because they did not sign up to be in the spotlight. However when the children decide to seek out the spotlight the rules change and they open themselves up for scrutiny. Ronald Reagan's children, one even posed for Playboy, and John F. Kennedy's have put themselves in the spotlight and gave up their privacy.

Once Governor Sarah Palin was introduced to America we were told by her and others that her family was off limits, including her daughter Bristol who was pregnant by her boyfriend Levi Johnston. Up until February 16 we agreed with those who said she was off limits, but after she agreed to be interviewed by Greta Van Susteren on FOX NEWS and saying she wants to be an advocate against teen pregnancy we feel that Bristol has declared herself a public figure.

We don't feel she should be scrutinized for the sake of scrutiny, but the claim she is "off-limits" no longer applies.

By the way what we found it interesting that this wasn't a situation where Governor Palin was being interviewed and Bristol happened to be available, but an interview scheduled with Bristol that the Governor did not find out about until the day before. If Bristol Palin is booking her own interviews she is definitely not "off-limits."

From ABC NEWS:
-snip- But this was not the only surprise Bristol Palin said she had for her mother, Alaska's youngest governor. She told Van Susteren she had only told her mother she was doing this national television interview - in which Van Susteren and crew flew to Alaska - one day prior to the taping. -snip-