Sarah Palin's triumphant return to Twitter!

Here are some details of the upcoming book tour. I’m starting in Michigan and you’ll understand why when you read the book. Last year, I made a promise to the good people of Michigan that I would be back, and now I’m keeping that promise. (Michigan is near and dear to my family’s heart! Our eldest son, Track, lived with a great host family there during his hockey days.) (Yes but WHY did he have to leave school and stay with the host family to "play hockey"? Hmmm?)

From Michigan, the “Going Rogue” tour will cover as much of the country as possible. I’ve decided to stop in cities that are not usually included in a typical book tour. (But ARE very Republican and therefore will not chase me out of town with pitchforks and torches.) For instance, I’m looking forward to meeting our honorable men in women in uniform and their families at a Fort Bragg book signing, and to reconnecting with friends my family made last year on the campaign trail in different book signing venues.

We have a tight schedule, but I’m working with the publisher to allow possibilities of stopping at a few unannounced places, too.

I’ll Twitter information when the tour starts, so I’ll post our progress from the road. You can follow on Twitter at SarahPalinUSA. (Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! Quick somebody warm up the Shatner!)

(By the way HERE is the link to Palin's Twitter page. There are no updates yet and you are going to want to where sunglasses before opening it up. I think it blistered my corneas.)

Below are dates, times, and locations for the first part of the tour – this schedule brings us up to Thanksgiving, where I’ll get to connect with family in Washington state for the holiday. Stay tuned for our post-Thanksgiving schedule coming soon.

Please contact each venue for more information. Can’t wait to see you soon!

- Sarah Palin

(And I can't wait to call you out on your lies every step of the way. Maybe we should carpool?)

PS: Included below is a flyer for the tour. Feel free to pass it around!

November 18th

GRAND RAPIDS, MI
Barnes & Noble
3195 28th Street SE
Space B116
Grand Rapids, MI 49512
6:00 – 9:00 PM

November 19th

FORT WAYNE, IN
Meijer’s
10301 Maysville Road
Fort Wayne, IN 46835
12:00 – 3:00 PM

NOBLESVILLE, IN
Borders Books and Music
13145 Levinson Lane
Noblesville, IN 46060
6:00 – 9:00 PM

November 20th

CINCINNATI, OH
Joseph-Beth Booksellers
2692 Madison Road
Cincinnati OH 45208
12:00 – 3:00 PM

COLUMBUS, OH
Borders Books and Music
6670 Sawmill Road
Columbus, OH 43235
6:00 – 9:00 PM

November 21st

WASHINGTON, PA
Sam’s Club
80 Trinity Point Drive
Washington, PA 15301
11:00 AM – 2:00 PM

ROCHESTER, NY
Borders Books and Music
1000 Hylan Drive
Rochester, NY 14623
6:00 – 9:00 PM

November 22nd

ROANOKE, VA
Barnes & Noble
4802 Valley View Boulevard NW
Roanoke, VA 24012
11:00 AM – 2:00 PM

November 23rd

FORT BRAGG, NC
AAFES Bragg N Main Shop
Bldg 8-5050, 2nd & Butner Road
Ft. Bragg, NC 28307
11:00 AM – 2:00 PM

BIRMINGHAM, AL
Books-A-Million
757 Brookwood Village
Birmingham, AL 32509
4:30 – 7:30 PM

November 24th

JACKSONVILLE, FL AREA
Books-A-Million
Orange Park Mall
1910 Wells Road
Orange Park, FL 32073
9:00 – 11:00 AM

THE VILLAGES, FL
Barnes & Noble
1055 Old Camp Road
The Villages, FL 32162
2:30 – 5:00 PM

ORLANDO, FL
Barnes & Noble
Colonial Plaza Market Center
2418 East Colonial Drive
Orlando, FL 32803
7:30 – 10:00 PM

Levi to file for joint custody for Tripp. Update: Not accurate, see correction at bottom.

"The Insider" breaks news that Levi Johnston is going to file for joint custody of Tripp, his son with Bristol Palin.

Levi told "The Insider" he is now going to take legal action because he had trouble when trying to see his infant son over the weekend. "At the end of the month I'm going to file for joint custody of Tripp."

He goes on to say that he's tried the friendly way and it's "Not working. I'm done. It's going to have to go to court. They just finally pushed me over the edge."

This is WONDERFUL news. And about damn time!

Okay boys and girls this is IT now just hang on for the ride.

Update: Hold the phone guys! I just received a call from one of my sources and they say that Levi is NOT planning to file for joint custody at the end of this month! I don't know if Levi was misquoted, or if he spoke without checking with his attorney, but it is not in the works thus far.

I did hear however that if Bristol files any papers that Team Levi is ready to respond.

I apologize for getting everybody's hopes up. I was kind of excited as well.

Update2: By now many of you have seen the Insider interview with Levi and wonder if I have gone off of the deep end. I made a follow up call and this is the deal.

TeamLevi is convinced that there will be a motion for full custody filed by the Palin family. In order to let THEM know that Levi is not afraid of that, and that he is willing to go to court as well, he made that statement to the Insider. As you can see from Levi's demeanor he is serious.

The reason that Levi has been giving interviews to Vanity Fair and offering to pose for Playgirl is to make money to care for Tripp. He has been doing the best he can to demonstrate that he is a responsible parent, but the young man simply CANNOT get a regular job.

Being plucked out of the middle of his hunting trip and deposited into the middle of the McCain campaign has changed his life forever. He is unable to return to the life he lived before so, with the help of Tank Jones and Rex Butler, he is trying to make lemonade out of the pile of lemons left to him when Palin evicted him from her home.

All that Levi wants from the Palin's now is access to his boy. I don't think that anybody would believe that was too much to ask.

From what I understand Levi did NOT want to talk about Sarah's secrets. However she left him with little choice but to leverage the ONE thing that people wanted from him.

Sometimes to understand just how broken our health care system is it takes somebody willing to share their painful personal story.

Had we simply relied on the system Wesley would be in a wheelchair, a permanently disabled ward of the state. I'm not sure how that is cost effective; perhaps some of you worried about the "cost" of health reform can explain it to me.

Please take a moment to click the title and read One Token Hippie's story of her son's painful condition, the lack of compassion from the health insurance company, and the response of a dedicated doctor who takes his Hippocratic oath seriously.

In light of Sarah's recent Wisconsin speech Andrew Sullivan revisits the Trig pregnancy story.

It looks like Sullivan was just as surprised as I was that Sarah added some new contradictory detail in this most recent speech.

In this one paragraph Sullivan pinpoints just why Trig is so vitally important to Palin's conservative political clout.

In the Friday Wisconsin speech, we were reminded again of how central the Trig pregnancy remains to the Palin phenomenon. McCain, in the three minutes he spent thinking about it, saw Palin as some kind of "reformer". In fact, she was carefully marketing herself in 2008 as the uber-Christianist, and her carrying to term a Down Syndrome baby was the single most important fact about her for the base (and still is). This is what Kristol saw in her: a walking embodiment of the pro-life movement, but also usable to launch further warfare in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan or wherever the next neoconservative adventure can be found.

That is the point that people need to understand. Without Trig there is no chance that Palin would have been chosen as McCain's VP candidate. None. And don't forget she announced her pregnancy THE DAY AFTER McCain was picked as the Republican candidate.

That is key to understanding why Palin would do, what I think many of you are beginning to understand, she did.

And just a reminder to those who are CONSTANTLY demanding that I simply divulge what I know. Take a look at how CAREFULLY Sullivan constructs his post. There are fairly obvious conclusions that he simply will not expand upon because he is aware of the kind of response that would inspire.

Sullivan knows more than he has ever let on. Of that I am fairly certain. Yet he also knows better than to put everything he has discovered, or suspects, out on his blog.

Once they label you a "Trig Truther" you are easily marginalized and your evidence, no matter how explosive, can be ignored. And sadly Andrew Sullivan and I share that same unfortunate sobriquet.

(Click the title to read the rest of Andrew's excellent post.)

Update: Sullivan has more from a knowledgeable reader.

It looks like Swine Flu has spread to just about everywhere.

I thought we could use a little humor this Monday morning.

Fox News Election Open

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SNL has Fox "not the" News down cold!

Haley Barbour damns Sarah Palin with faint praise on Meet the Press.

On MTP Republican Governor Haley Barbour is asked about the new, more conservative, direction the Republican party is headed in, and whether Sarah Palin still has a role is in the party. Barbour is happy to defend the GOP, but the Sarah Palin question has him squirming like a schoolboy in the Principal's office.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

"What role does she play in the Republican party?"

"Well she doesn't play any official role in the Republican party."

No the role she plays is the one of "spoiler". Palin does not want to join the Republican party, she wants the Republican party to join her! And if they don't she is going to continue to pull away the right wing fringe until the party collapses and she can start her OWN party.

THAT is Sarah Palin's endgame and the Republican party now knows it.

Did you see Barbour evade the two questions from Gregory about whether or not Sarah could be president? The Governor first pretended he did not hear the question, and then when it was repeated he did a verbal backflip to avoid answering it. He does not want to go on record as saying she cannot get the nomination because he knows that if he does he automatically loses the support of those in his party that adore her.

However I think that Palin is well aware that she cannot get the Republican nomination. The question that Barbour got right was that Sarah does not speak for the Republican party, she speaks for herself. And the scary thing is that there is a disaffected group of wingnuts that are listening to her. And since the election of President Obama that group is getting larger, and scarier.

That is why we saw the Republicans that we considered more reasonable, John Boehner, Don Young, Eric Cantor, and others joining Michelle Bachman for the teabagger press conference last week in Washington. They are desperately trying to keep up with their fleeing constituents. But the problem for them is they can only chase these crazy voters to the outer edges that define the Republican party. If they cannot convince them to stay within shouting distance they will be easy pickings for an even more conservative third party.

The party of Sarah Palin.

You would think that the victory of a Democrat in New York's 23rd, would have had intelligent Republicans pulling away from Bachman, Palin, and the teabagger crowd, but it has not. You now see Republicans making excuses and talking about a broken nomination process. Instead of blaming the Conservative party, and its supporters, they are providing cover for them.

They are inviting them in.

They are embracing them.

They are doomed.

Palin's Facebook response to the passing of HR 3962. (Ghostwriter now fully awake and back on the job.)

We’ve got to hold on to hope, and we’ve got to fight hard because Congressional action tonight just put America on a path toward an unrecognizable country.

If passing a bill that will help provide health insurance coverage for 96% of Americans, keeps insurance companies from rejecting you due to "pre-existing conditions" , and provides the possibility of a public option, makes America an "unrecognizable country", then I will happily walk around today discovering this "new" America.

An America that seems more concerned with the health and well being of it's citizens, an America where insurance companies are no longer protected by an anti-trust exemption, an America where the insurers are now required to spend 85% of premium revenue on members’ care. You know Sarah I can hardly WAIT to meet this "unrecognizable country".

The same government leaders that got us into the mortgage business and the car business are now getting us into the health care business.

Despite Americans’ decisive message last Tuesday that they reject the troubling path this country has been taking (Jesus, what election were YOU watching?), Speaker Pelosi has broken her own promises of transparency to ram a health “care” bill through the House of Representatives just before midnight. Why did she push the 2,000 page bill this weekend? Was she perhaps afraid to give her peers and the constituents for whom she works the chance to actually read this monstrous bill carefully, if at all? (The Republicans have been carrying this bill around for a prop while they give speeches against it for weeks now. Have they not taken the time to sit down and actually read it? Then how did they know they did not like it?)Was she concerned that Americans might really digest the details of a bill that the Wall Street Journal has called “the worst piece of post-New Deal legislation ever introduced”?

This out-of-control bureaucratic mess will be disastrous for our economy, our small businesses, and our personal liberty. It will slam businesses at a time when we are at double-digit unemployment rates – (Bush's fault.)the highest we’ve seen in a quarter of a century. (Still Bush's fault.)This massive new bureaucracy will cost us and our children money we don’t have. It will rob Americans of more of our freedom and further hamper the free market.

(Holy crap how much moose shit can she put into one Facebook post? Taking away the anti-trust exemption and adding the possibility of a public option does nothing BUT provide more freedom to the American consumers and makes the "free market" live up to it's name.)

Make no mistake: we’re on course to have government commandeer one-sixth of our economy. The people who gave us Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac now want to run our health care. Think about that.

All of us who value the sanctity of life are grateful for the success of the pro-life majority in the House this evening in its battle against federal funding of abortion in this bill, but it’s ironic because we were promised that abortion wasn’t covered in the bill to begin with. (It wasn't! But the language was not strong enough for the "life begins when a couple gets to fist base" crowd.) Our healthy distrust of these government leaders made us look deeper into the bill because unfortunately we knew better than to trust what they were saying. (Translation: "We were desperately looking for a way to kill this thing before it destroyed our party! After all that is MY job!")The victory tonight to amend the bill and eliminate that federal funding for abortion was great – because abortion is not health care. (Perfectly healthy for a woman to die due to the complications of childbirth.) Now we can only hope that Rep. Stupak’s amendment will hold in the final bill, though the Democratic leadership has already refused to promise that it won’t be scrapped later. (Good for them!)

We had been told there were no “death panels” in the bill either. But look closely at the provision mandating bureaucratic panels that will be calling the shots regarding who will receive government health care.

(NO what you were told, you simpleton, was that "death panels" was a label completely fabricated by Betsy McCaughey, and then promoted by you in an attempt to frighten the elderly. Which apparently you are still willing to do even today. Is that what your "Pie Spy, LLC" company was all about? Scaring the elderly into thinking Obama was going to pull the plug on their respirators?)

Look closely at provisions addressing illegal aliens’ health care coverage too (also). (Sorry. I jsut wanted it to sound more like Sarah actually wrote it.)

Those of us who love freedom and believe in open and transparent government can only be dismayed by midnight action on a Saturday. (Sorry. It took me a minute to respond to that last sentence. I was choking on my coffee. Did Sarah Palin just invoke the lack of an "open and transparent government" to judge Nancy Pelosi? "Mrs. Pelosi? Call for you on line one. It is a pot who wants to call you black. Should I have them call back later, when you are finished laughing?") Speaker Pelosi’s promise that Americans would have 72 hours to read the final bill before the vote was just another one of the D.C. establishment’s too-common political ploys. It’s broken promises like this that turn people off to politics and leave them disillusioned about the future of their country.

(No it is not politics like passing a health care reform bill. It is politics like having Republican House members standing outside calling for the overthrow of their own government that leaves people "disillusioned about the future of their country". As well they should be.)

But despite this late-night maneuvering, many of us were paying close attention tonight. We’ll keep paying close attention. We need to let our legislators in Washington know that they still represent us, and that the majority of Americans are not in favor of the “reform” they are pushing. (Not true.) After all, this is still a country “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” We will make our voices heard (On Facebook.). It’s on to the Senate now. Our legislators can listen now, or they can hear us in 2010. It’s their choice.

- Sarah Palin

Okay here is my message to the MSM.

Don't cover this bullshit from Palin! I have to write about it because I am an Alaskan blogger. It is kind of my job. But the REAL media does not! Just step away from the Facebook!

But if you cannot help yourselves, at least make sure to drive the point home that SHE DID NOT WRITE THIS! She is being used by people behind the scenes to garner attention for their crazy anti-American ideas. She is just a vehicle. When a truck crashes into a crowd of innocent people, you do not blame the truck! You blame the driver who steered the truck up onto the sidewalk.

Sarah Palin is the truck! If the MSM wants to really do their jobs, then find out who is doing the driving. THAT would be some journalism.

P.S. By the way I thought you might be interested to note that there are now OTHER Republicans resorting to "Sarah Palin tactics" to get people to pay attention to them. Cue the baby.



Is that not about the most pathetic thing you have ever seen? What kind of horrible human being hides behind a baby to garner sym.......oh yeah!

(H/T to commenter hahasara.)

Dennis Kucinich explains why he voted NO on HR 3962.

“We have been led to believe that we must make our health care choices only within the current structure of a predatory, for-profit insurance system which makes money not providing health care. We cannot fault the insurance companies for being what they are. But we can fault legislation in which the government incentivizes the perpetuation, indeed the strengthening, of the for-profit health insurance industry, the very source of the problem. When health insurance companies deny care or raise premiums, co-pays and deductibles they are simply trying to make a profit. That is our system.

“Clearly, the insurance companies are the problem, not the solution. They are driving up the cost of health care. Because their massive bureaucracy avoids paying bills so effectively, they force hospitals and doctors to hire their own bureaucracy to fight the insurance companies to avoid getting stuck with an unfair share of the bills. The result is that since 1970, the number of physicians has increased by less than 200% while the number of administrators has increased by 3000%. It is no wonder that 31 cents of every health care dollar goes to administrative costs, not toward providing care. Even those with insurance are at risk. The single biggest cause of bankruptcies in the U.S. is health insurance policies that do not cover you when you get sick.

“But instead of working toward the elimination of for-profit insurance, H.R. 3962 would put the government in the role of accelerating the privatization of health care. In H.R. 3962, the government is requiring at least 21 million Americans to buy private health insurance from the very industry that causes costs to be so high, which will result in at least $70 billion in new annual revenue, much of which is coming from taxpayers. This inevitably will lead to even more costs, more subsidies, and higher profits for insurance companies — a bailout under a blue cross.

“By incurring only a new requirement to cover pre-existing conditions, a weakened public option, and a few other important but limited concessions, the health insurance companies are getting quite a deal. The Center for American Progress’ blog, Think Progress, states “since the President signaled that he is backing away from the public option, health insurance stocks have been on the rise.” Similarly, healthcare stocks rallied when Senator Max Baucus introduced a bill without a public option. Bloomberg reports that Curtis Lane, a prominent health industry investor, predicted a few weeks ago that “money will start flowing in again” to health insurance stocks after passage of the legislation. Investors.com last month reported that pharmacy benefit managers share prices are hitting all-time highs, with the only industry worry that the Administration would reverse its decision not to negotiate Medicare Part D drug prices, leaving in place a Bush Administration policy.

“During the debate, when the interests of insurance companies would have been effectively challenged, that challenge was turned back. The “robust public option” which would have offered a modicum of competition to a monopolistic industry was whittled down from an initial potential enrollment of 129 million Americans to 6 million. An amendment which would have protected the rights of states to pursue single-payer health care was stripped from the bill at the request of the Administration. Looking ahead, we cringe at the prospect of even greater favors for insurance companies.

“Recent rises in unemployment indicate a widening separation between the finance economy and the real economy. The finance economy considers the health of Wall Street, rising corporate profits, and banks’ hoarding of cash, much of it from taxpayers, as sign of an economic recovery. However in the real economy -- in which most Americans live -- the recession is not over. Rising unemployment, business failures, bankruptcies and foreclosures are still hammering Main Street.

“This health care bill continues the redistribution of wealth to Wall Street at the expense of America’s manufacturing and service economies which suffer from costs other countries do not have to bear, especially the cost of health care. America continues to stand out among all industrialized nations for its privatized health care system. As a result, we are less competitive in steel, automotive, aerospace and shipping while other countries subsidize their exports in these areas through socializing the cost of health care.

“Notwithstanding the fate of H.R. 3962, America will someday come to recognize the broad social and economic benefits of a not-for-profit, single-payer health care system, which is good for the American people and good for America’s businesses, with of course the notable exceptions being insurance and pharmaceuticals.”

Look I have the deepest of respect fro Congressman Kucinich. He is a man of deep principle and unequalled courage. Many times he was the lone voice voice heard in the House calling George Bush, and his crooked administration, out on their lies.

He campaigned for President when he full well that he had no real chance, in order to educate the people of this country and call out the other candidates on their bullshit.

However as bad as this bill is, and holy crap it is pretty bad, it is the first step in a process that would not even begin without first getting SOMETHING through the House. Is this bill the best we can do? God I hope not, but it may be the best we can do right now.

I think that it is sometimes important to see past your principles in order to see the big picture. Obama got a health care reform bill through Congress! Dammit that is HUGE! Kucinich should have been part of that victory. He can bitch about the details later, but at least his vote would be on the side of PROGESS.

Look at what this bill does.

The Numbers: H.R. 3962 will cover 96% of Americans, at a 10-year cost of “under $900 billion.” It will reduce the deficit by $104 billion over the same time period, and reduce Medicare spending growth 1.3% annually by cutting $400 billion primarily from private Medicare Advantage plans. Don’t feel sorry for them, see #2.

Consumer Protections: Guaranteed coverage, limited premium variations, standard minimum benefits packages and employer/individual mandates are all still included. That last one protects people from medical bankruptcy. But best of all, insurers are now required to spend 85% of premium revenue on members’ care. Currently in private Medicare Advantage plans, it’s almost the inverse; only $0.14 of every $1.00 in premiums is spent on members’ care. The bill also closes the “donut hole” in Medicare Part D, reducing senior’s out-of-pocket prescription expenses. Prevention and wellness services will be provided in all plans at no cost.

Selective Taxation: The bill derives revenue from a 5.4% “millionaire’s tax” on individuals making over $500,000 and couples making over $1 million (0.3% of households in the US, to be exact.) It also taxes medical device makers to the tune of $20 billion.

Choice and Potential Competition: A public option will finally give consumers another choice besides private insurance or nothing. The Insurance Exchange where we can compare plans remains intact.

Insurance Anti-trust Exemption: This feature, unique to health insurance and baseball, is now history. Meaning private insurers are no longer immune to regulations concerning price-fixing, big rigging, and market allocation. The Federal Trade Commission also now has full rights to investigate the industry.

This is nothing to sneeze at. Perfect? Not even close. A victory? Yes, it is.

You know there have been numerous times when I have been very disappointed in President Obama. But recently I heard Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe say something. Something that my friend Shannyn Moore had also said a few months back to me. And here I am paraphrasing:

"Barack Obama is a chess player, in a world of checker players. Opponents see his move and think that he has lost the match. But while you are focused on that ONE move he is thinking three or four moves ahead, and ultimately the match will be his."

Kucinich is a smart man, perhaps he needs to take up chess.

Update: As for the other NO votes on this bill, I think this Washington Post comparison chart will be instructive.

THE HEALTH CARE BILL HAS PASSED!

Triumphant Democrats passed landmark health care legislation in the House late Saturday night, spurred by a summons from President Barack Obama to "answer the call of history" and expand coverage to millions who lack it.

The final vote was a narrow 220-215. Only one Republican — Rep. Joseph Cao of Louisiana — voted for the measure; 39 Democrats voted against it.

This is a great day for Americans!

The President has finally done what no one before him could accomplish!

Now let's find out who those 39 Democrats are.

Update: The Democrats who voted NO.

John Adler, Jason Altmire, Brian Baird, John Barrow, John Boccieri, Dan Boren, Rick Boucher, Allen Boyd, Bobby Bright, Ben Chandler, Travis Childers, Lincoln Davis, Artur Davis, Chet Edwards, Bart Gordon, Parker Griffith, Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, Tim Holden, Larry Kissell, Suzanne Kosmas, Frank Kratovil, Dennis Kucinich, Betsy Markey, Jim Marshall, Eric Massa, Jim Matheson, Mike McIntyre, Michael McMahon, Charles Melancon, Walt Minnick, Scott Murphy, Glenn Nye, Collin Peterson, Mike Ross, Heath Shuler, Ike Skelton, John Tanner, Gene Taylor, Harry Teague.

There they are folks. The "so-called" Democrats who place the money they receive from the health insurance companies over the needs of their constituents. I hope that they are targeted by the voters in their districts and immediately replaced with REAL Democrats.

Dammit! IS THAT Dennis Kucinich?

Sarah sends another message via Facebook. Hey kids, I think this one may actually be her!

Great event last night in Wisconsin! It was an honor to meet great Americans who are working so hard to remind us of life's sanctity and value. I commend this fine state for its efforts to make our nation a more welcoming place for all children.

(That sounds very Sarah Palin-y to me. It might actually be her, or else her ghostwriter has now been absorbed into the Sarah Palin hive, and her consciousness is now one with Caribou Barbie. Oh the horror!)

Let me set the record straight on the media's follow-up reports of the great event: Despite what CNN reported, decisions about not allowing cameras at the event were the prerogative of the sponsors of the event, and I, of course, respected their decision.

(Okay well I still think that, at the very least, somebody is helping her with her punctuation. She is not wrong about the sponsors forbidding cameras however. My understanding is that the organizers are going to be packaging her speech and selling it on DVD in an attempt to shear the sheep that could not show up in person. This may be to help pay for Sarah's speaking fee, but I don't know that for a fact.)

I am about to set out on my book tour, where media will no doubt join us at many spots. In the meantime, I ask our friends in the media once again: please quit making things up.

- Sarah Palin

(Well hey Sarah I heard your latest version of finding out about Trig's Down Syndrome, this time an ultrasound instead of the previously mentioned Amniocentesis, so perhaps I can ask that you "quit making things up" also. How about that? Especially since I KNOW the whole damn story is made up.)

Watch the immature middle school tactics used by GOP to harrass and silence the female speakers on the House floor. A shameful performance

If I had voted for one of these assholes I would be dialing their Congressional office and demanding that they conduct themselves in a civilized manner while representing me and my district.

I hope the Republican voters are taking a good long look at the people representing them in Congress.

Update: Don't forget that Orrin Hatch already admitted the REAL reason that the Republicans are against this bill. "And if they get there, of course, you're going to have a very rough time having a two-party system in this country, because almost everybody's going to say, 'All we ever were, all we ever are, all we ever hope to be depends on the Democratic Party.' "

It has NOTHING to do with helping Americans, and EVERYTHING to do with retaining power.

Demonstrating a level of maturity well out of Sarah Palin's reach, Levi accepts Conan's apology.

"The Insider" was with Levi Johnston Thursday night as he watched "The Tonight Show" and heard host Conan O'Brien's personal apology for "misrepresenting him in any way" during a skit the night before. Read on for more...

Levi exclusively tells "The Insider": "I'm glad I gave him something to talk about on his show. Obviously it's good that I'm on there."

There now. Was that so hard?

Of course not. And now Levi has salvaged his reputation without damaging a potentially advantageous relationship with a well known talk show host. See how this is done Sarah? Perhaps YOU should take notes.

Does anybody doubt that Conan will have Levi on his show in the not too distant future? Of course he will.

Like I pointed out in my previous post, It was not the fact that O'Brien and Shatner were poking fun at Levi that was the problem, it was that it was not REALLY Levi they were quoting.

Once they found some real quotes from Levi to use in their segment, Levi laughed right along with them.



(H/T to commenter Levi's STOLEN ID.)

Today is a vital day for Health Care Reform.

President Barack Obama is traveling to Capitol Hill on Saturday to try to close the sale on his signature health care overhaul, facing a make-or-break vote in the House certain to be seen as a test of his presidency.

Obama scheduled a late-morning visit with House Democrats convening a rare Saturday session on legislation to remake the U.S. health care system, extending coverage to tens of millions now uninsured and banning insurance company practices such as denial of coverage based on pre-existing medical problems.

I was hoping to have a fairly relaxing Saturday, but now I will probably be glued to the TV watching for this vote.

My gut tells me we are very close. After the circus put on by Michelle Bachman, and many others in the GOP yesterday, you would think that the American people would be slowly backing away from supporting them. But who knows, people are just so damn uneducated these days.

And besides I think it is pretty clear that these wingnuts would still be fighting health care reform even if EVERY American wanted it. They are completely divorced from reality at this point.

I think that this cartoon pretty much sums up the Republican position.

Yes America THAT is the attitude of the people who are fighting to keep you from receiving quality health care in this country. Aren't you glad you voted Republican? And for those who stayed home on election day, don't you wish you had it to do over again?

Just keep that in mind for 2010.

Holy crap! She actually showed up! Updated.

Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin told about 5,000 supporters in Wisconsin to continue to press lawmakers on abortion issues.

Wisconsin Right to Life officials say Palin's low-profile stop in the Milwaukee suburb of West Allis on Friday night was more than a year in the making.

A year in the making? You mean she started to plan this back in November of 2008? Before or after she lost the election?

Palin told the crowd they "went rogue" -- a reference to her upcoming memoirs -- with their support of the cause.

What is with her and the word "rogue"? Does she not remember why it was first used by her attack lizard, Meg Stapleton? And does she still not know what it means?

1.a dishonest, knavish person; scoundrel. (Sounds good.)
2.a playfully mischievous person; scamp: The youngest boys are little rogues. (NOT descriptive of Palin!)
3.a tramp or vagabond. (Oooh now THAT fits!)
4.a rogue elephant or other animal of similar disposition. (Yep, that works too.)
5.Biology. a usually inferior organism, esp. a plant, varying markedly from the normal. (By far my favorite!)

She didn't mention President Barack Obama by name in her 25-minute speech, but briefly touched on health care reform legislation and pressed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to make sure all voices were heard on the issue.

Does she mean the same voices calling for an overthrow of the government and making up lies about the health care bill? Does she mean those voices?

Organizers said media wouldn't be allowed to cover the event. General admission tickets were $30.

Let's see, 5000 people, at $30 a head, equals a cool $150,000.

Subtract Palin's asking price for giving a speech of $100,000, and that leaves around $50,000, minus expenses, to use to in the battle to take away a woman's right to control her reproductive system.

Gee I hope it was worth it to the Wisconsin Right to Life people. Just doesn't seem terribly cost effective to me.

Hey maybe she decided to skip the speaker's fee and do it out of the goodness of her heart?

Ha, ha, ha, ha, "goodness of her heart", I crack myself up sometimes!

Update: Here is an article about the event from the Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel.

Palin uses tired old line:

"We were told to sit down and shut up," Palin said. "Wisconsin, you went rogue."

She adds some new detail to her Trig birth story. (Liars always make alterations to their stories. That is why they usually get caught.)

Palin spoke movingly of her youngest son, Trig, who has Down syndrome. She recalled that when she was pregnant, she underwent an ultrasound and the technician told her, "I see boy parts." (That's new.)

Later, the technician told her that the baby's neck "is a little bit thicker," an indication that there might be an extra chromosome. A few days later, Down syndrome was confirmed. (Also new.)

"I was scared," Palin said, adding that she asked her husband, Todd, "Why us?" He responded, "Why not?" (That was also said in the book "Trailblazer" on page 182. Not new.)

Palin learned her lesson about security from her China visit.

Security was tight at the Wisconsin Exposition Center. Spectators were told beforehand that prohibited items included cell phones, recording devices, video and still cameras, as well as strollers and car seats. A line stretched across the length of the facility and out to a parking lot as spectators waited patiently to pass through security.

She then demonstrated her creepy fixation on President Obama by stealing from his speeches.

She used President Barack Obama's mantra of change to make her political points.

"Let's talk about change we can believe in," Palin said. "Friends, a majority of Americans identify as pro life, and thank God for that."

Then she got all "teabaggy".

She called health care reform a "government takeover" and called on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to at least allow a congressional vote to prohibit federally sponsored health insurance plans to pay for abortions. (Which is not in the bill.)

"I feel real change is just up ahead," she said. "Wisconsin, we need to ramp it up."

She brought the crowd to its feet with a simple closing line: "Don't let anyone ever tell you to sit down and shut up."

Kind of ironic statement about standing up for your rights coming from a woman who refused to allow cell phones, cameras, or recording devices at her speech. I am just saying.

You can get much more over at Mudflats. They had "boots on the ground" in the Exposition Center.

BTW it look like Sarah made a big deal about giving the group a check for $1,000. (It was one of those GIANT checks, which no bank would accept for deposit.) Does that mean she did NOT get a speaking fee? Because, for Sarah, that would be highly unusual.

Hmm now I am intrigued.