governmentality

Where's Palin? Republican-Tea Party Relations

Earlier today I asked on Twitter: by the way, does anybody know who told sarah palin to stay home? #CPAC.

There's been plenty of assertions in the blogosphere that her not showing up at CPAC means it's a guarantee that she won't run for president in 2012. I would have to agree with that assessment.

Dave Weigel of the Washington Independent has an article today (At CPAC, Tea Party Movement Re-Enters Conservative Fold") that could explain Palin's absence.

Mitt Romney may not have truly embraced the Tea Party, but Weigel points out how he sure did sound like it yesterday while addressing CPAC:

“God bless every American who said ‘No!’” said Romney. “It is right and praiseworthy to say no to bad things. It is right to say no to cap-and-trade, no to card check, no to government health care, and no to higher taxes.”

The audience at this annual conference — one where he has regularly won the presidential straw poll, but one where he’d never been quite adopted as a true son of the movement — roared with approval. Romney had been introduced by Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.), who never mentioned his party affiliation during his insurgent special election bid, but used it twice before the CPAC crowd. Romney, said Brown, was one of the “leading lights” of the GOP.

If Weigel is right that the Tea Party movement gets folded back into the GOP--or at least a significant portion of it--this might explain why Palin is a no-show at CPAC. After all, she's not really all that welcome in the mainstream Republican party any longer. And if the Tea Party gets absorbed by the Republicans again, then she'll be out of luck there, too.

Of course, it's not really about politics these days anyway, right? CPAC must not have been willing to pay $100,000 for a handful of notes.

Fahgettaboudit: Palin's Palm

We all had our fun with Sarah Palin putting her notes on her hand for the already-canned questions for the keynote address Saturday at the Teabagger weekend romp. And it was, indeed, fun!

But how many days do we need to carry this on when a number of serious issues aren't getting their proper coverage? There's still health care. And GITMO. And...well, any number of issues to care about.

But if you want to continue to take Palin on--and by all means, please do--how about this under-reported story about her property tax evasion?

Search Me: It Had to be Palin

Sometimes I'm amazed at the ways people find this blog. In some cases, it's a matter of a friend's recommendation, or somebody shared a post on StumbleUpon, or a reader Tweets one of my posts.

And then there are times I can see what terms somebody searched on a search engine that landed them on one of my posts. I'm going to start sharing some of the more ridiculous searches. I'll mask them a little bit so you don't know which search engine and, when it makes sense, I'll jumble up the terms so as to not promote the usage of certain terms.

Ok, on to it...

The combination of words:

sarah palin up skirt shot dirty whore

all led to this post.

I have no idea who searched for this, but I sure wish I did.

On another note about readers and Sarah Palin, check out what one of Andrew Sullivan's readers had to say about Sarah-Levi relations. Interesting stuff indeed.

Sarah Palin in the Swimsuit Portion of the Competition

Definitely listed to the MC's description as Sarah prances down the catwalk.

Question of the Day (9/29/09): Sarah Palin's Book

Today: Sarah Palin's Book

You've probably all heard by now that Sarah Palin's book, Going Rogue: An American Life, is going to be released early and in an increased volume.

I wrote about this earlier this morning and admitted that I'll probably read the thing.

A reader wrote in and had this to say:

Good luck with that, Allen. I bet she hasn't even read it.

So the Question of the Day is this: Will you read Sarah Palin's Going Rogue: An American Life? What would it take?

Sarah Palin & Her Book--Going Rogue: An American Life

Ok--you all heard the news. Sarah Palin's book publication date has been moved up to November 17. Harper has also increased the printing number of Going Rogue: An American Life.

PRE-ORDER BELOW.

Harper, the publisher of the book, is highly enthusiastic of Going Rogue:

"Governor Palin has been unbelievably conscientious and hands-on at every stage, investing herself deeply and passionately in this project," said Jonathan Burnham, publisher of Harper. "It's her words, her life, and it's all there in full and fascinating detail."

Palin's book, her first, will be 400 pages, said Burnham, who called the fall "the best possible time for a major book of this kind."

I'm going to see if how soon I can get my hands on a copy. I know some of you will say: What?!?! Allen, stay away and don't give that woman your money!

Ok, there's plenty of absurdity here but I have to say, I'm fascinated and curious. I can't wait to see her explanation for things--how she spins the Couric interview; how she rebuts Levi Johnston's article; etc.

More importantly, consider reading it strategic knowledge. Don't forget the inexplicable mass support Sarah Palin has. Who knows what this woman is capable of?

Anyway, I'll keep you posted on the book.

In the meantime, you can pre-order Going Rogue at Amazon:

Washington's Not Happy About Palin's China Speech

Sarah Palin largely kept a low profile on her trip to Hong Kong. You can catch a little video of Palin's departure.

But, you may recall, the reason she went to China in the first place was to give a speech for a group of Hong Kong businessmen.

Yesterday, Josh Rogin at FP's The Cable blogged about House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard L. Berman's (D-CA) response to Palin's speech. 

Not flattering stuff, for sure.

If you want to see what Sarah had to say for yourself, check out her remarks on Facebook.

Sarah Palin's Hong Kong Departure

What did she say?

Dinner with Palin on eBay for $25,000, Rove Auction Too

Sarah Palin Wanted to Adopt Her Daughter's Baby? Cover Up

Levi Johnston, in his forthcoming Vanity Fair article, said Sarah Palin wanted to cover up (her daughter) Bristol Palin's pregnancy last year. The couple eventually had Tripp, but:

"Sarah told me she had a great idea: we would keep it a secret—nobody would know that Bristol was pregnant," Johnston wrote. 

Wow--that is a great idea. Maybe she's done it before.

Anyway...

Johnston wrote that Palin wanted to dupe the public into believing that her and Todd had adopted the child to cool the heat stemming from the pregnancy of her unmarried 17-year-old daughter.

"She told me that once Bristol had the baby she and Todd would adopt him," he said. "That way, she said, Bristol and I didn’t have to worry about anything. Sarah kept mentioning this plan. She was nagging—she wouldn’t give up. She would say, 'So, are you gonna let me adopt him?'"

Wow, we get two Sarah Palin stories in one day!

Get the preview at Vanity Fair.