. . and it dawns on her what she just did . . and then . . it gets . . awkward . .

Here’s what was loaded on the teleprompter: “Energy”, “Budget cuts”, “Tax” and “Lift American Spirits”.

Would you like to replay the video or share the link to it with your friends?

Quote: “This is about the people, and it’s bigger than any one king or queen of a tea party, and it’s a lot bigger than any charismatic guy with a teleprompter.”

And she got paid over $100,000 to deliver that line because the tea partiers find her ugly and boring, riiighht . . .

This woman is the joke with a never-ending punchline.

When she learned of Emanuel’s calling liberal activists ‘fucking retarded’, she saw a terrific opportunity and pounced. But when Rush Limbaugh did the exact same thing, her spokeswoman embarrassed her by saying “Gov. Palin believes crude and demeaning name-calling at the expense of others is disrespectful.”

Palin made it clear that is not what she believes:

“They are kooks, so I agree with Rush Limbaugh,” she said, when read a quote of Limbaugh calling liberal groups “retards.” “Rush Limbaugh was using satire … . I didn’t hear Rush Limbaugh calling a group of people whom he did not agree with ‘f-ing retards’…”

Limbaugh:

“Our political correct society is acting like some giant insult’s taken place by calling a bunch of people who are retards, retards. I mean these people, these liberal activists are kooks.”

Being the demagogic mother of a Down Syndrome child isn’t easy. The dance, however, can’t be too hard because it doesn’t actually get anywhere:

1.) Show outrage. Rahm Emanuel said ‘retarded’? Then you-know-who has to fire him . .

I would ask the president to show decency in this process by eliminating one member of that inner circle, Mr. Rahm Emanuel, and not allow Rahm’s continued indecent tactics to cloud efforts…

The Obama Administration’s Chief of Staff scolded participants, calling them, “F—ing retarded,” according to several participants, as reported in the Wall Street Journal.

2.) Listen to Rush Limbaugh. And wince . .

“Our political correct society is acting like some giant insult’s taken place by calling a bunch of people who are retards, retards,” Limbaugh said on the show. “I mean these people, these liberal activists are kooks.”

3.) Ignore the bloggers who wonder how long it will take before ‘mama grizzly’ mauls fat-mouthed radio guy . .

“Will Sarah Palin call on Rush Limbaugh to apologize for saying liberal activists are ‘retards’?”

4.) Forget to tell your spokeswoman to stay well clear of fat-mouth . .

“Gov. Palin believes crude and demeaning name-calling at the expense of others is disrespectful,” Stapleton said . .

5.) Watch in annoyance as blogger Greg Sargent inexplicably posts the criticism, which then races across the innernets . .

Palin Camp Rips Limbaugh, Hits His “Retard” Comment As “Crude And Demeaning”

6.) And, finally, do-see-doe your spokeswoman back out into the public square to hurl bzzzrlorhk gobbledygook . .

But Stapleton told POLITICO that the comment given to The Plum Line was not specifically aimed at Limbaugh.

“The Washington Post is trying hard to take the pressure off the White House by creating a side controversy, but it is missing the point,” Stapleton said. “As the governor has said, it doesn’t matter who says the ‘r’ word. It should no longer be part of our lexicon.”

Back to square one. Dizzying, no? Get ‘em, Greg:

“Palin’s spokesperson knew she was responding directly to what Rush said. [Greg's e-mail to Stapleton -- 'Jason Recher said . . . you'd be reaching out to me about Rush's use of the term "retarded."'] Period. [If Meg Stapleton] wants to say Palin doesn’t believe what Rush said was ‘crude and demeaning name-calling,’ I’ll be the first to print it.”

Ah, it begins again. Have a good weekend, everybody . . .

Well, now you know another thing Governor Moosemeat will grandstand over at the Tea Party Convention:

I would ask the president to show decency in this process by eliminating one member of that inner circle, Mr. Rahm Emanuel, and not allow Rahm’s continued indecent tactics to cloud efforts. Yes, Rahm is known for his caustic, crude references about those with whom he disagrees, but his recent tirade against participants in a strategy session was such a strong slap in many American faces that our president is doing himself a disservice by seeming to condone Rahm’s recent sick and offensive tactic.

The Obama Administration’s Chief of Staff scolded participants, calling them, “F—ing retarded,” according to several participants, as reported in the Wall Street Journal.

She’s not shy about brandishing her youngest, Down Syndrome afflicted child, is she?

RAHM ISSUED APOLOGY — BUT NOT TO DEMOCRATS

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel called the head of the Special Olympics last week to apologize for using the expression “fucking retarded,” Politico’s Ben Smith reports.

“Rahm called Tim Shriver Wednesday to apologize and the apology was accepted,” an unnamed White House official said.

Shameful.

Sarah Palin, who called for Emanuel to apologize for using the word “retarded,” was herself accused of using the word last year. Levi Johnston, the father of Bristol Palin’s daughter, told the media last fall that Palin described Trig, her son with Down Syndrome, as her “retarded baby.” Palin strongly denied ever using the expression.

As previously prattled about, common teabaggers from the Tea Party Patriots and the Tea Party Express are not all perfectly happy to be used as mammon-fodder for the likes of their college-educated GOP masterminds.

Nor are the few Tea Party Nation hoi polloi left excited about Judson Phillips’ money-grubbing device, the ‘Tea Party Convention.’

Slowly but surely, the news disseminated that the meeting was entirely a cash cow for the owner — yes, owner – of the sponsor of the event: Tea Party Nation, INC.

And, so, the event’s collapse is all but complete . .

National Tea Party Convention falls apart: Bachmann and Blackburn announce they are pulling out.

Initially, organizers of the National Tea Party Convention, set to take place in Nashville, TN next month, garnered significant press attention for featuring headliners like Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), WorldNetDaily founder Joseph Farah, and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin. However, Tea Party loyalists began to balk at the expensive price of tickets and the fact that the venture is for-profit, saying that it smelled “scammy.” Now, both Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Bachmann have decided to drop out. A statement from Bachmann’s communications director:

“Due to conflicting advice on whether Congresswoman Bachmann’s participation in the upcoming Tea Party Nation Convention would be in line with the Committee on Standards, Congresswoman Bachmann has decided not to participate in the event. There is uncertainty about how any proceeds from the event may be used, and we must err on the side of caution . . .

Or, in other words: “Procedural noberation begs twizzle of the parameters YOU’RE EMBARRASSING ME vis-a-vis latent potentials at this time.”

Which presents a monster problem for Governor Moosemeat. Two things wildly motivating for narcissists are glory and embarrassment. They’re opposite in directions, but equally off the charts in force. So, with the convention collapsing, she should have been off like a rocket by now.

Except, there’s that damn third factor: cash money. What to do? How will she manage to avoid the embarrassment of being the shiny object in a political grift while still keeping that mound of money she’s already spent?

Keep an eye out for her lawyers. I’m betting there’ll be a loophole, or an illness, or an act of god, something like that. She certainly won’t want to show up at CPAC as a side dish.

UPDATE: I got this one wrong.

PALIN: Oh, you betcha I’m going to be there. I’m going to speak there because there are people traveling from many miles away to hear what that tea party movement is all about and what that message is that should be received by our politicians in Washington. I’m honored to get to be there.

What, is it rebellious to play part in a debacle? Maybe the money’s just too damn good to pass up? She’s got me stumped. Wait — is she stoopid?

“Crafted in sterling silver, quartz crystal and semi-precious gemstones, each comes with a silver chain so it can be worn as either a pendant or a pin. Flaunt your patriotism in fashion!”

Only $89.99. This one is Mother of Pearl. Courtesy of Tea Party Emporium, a ‘Silver Sponsor‘ of Tea Party Nation and the convention Sarah Palin will speak at.

More Tea Party Emporium:

The Boston Tea Party was the spark which ignited the American Revolution. Over two hundred years later, modern day Tea Parties have become the voice of a citizenry under siege by a political system gone insane.

Tea Party Emporium spotlights a product, this finely crafted piece of jewelry, which we believe to be the single unifying symbol of this movement, a TEA BAG®. Worn not just for its beauty, this TEA BAG® identifies your support for conservative/libertarian beliefs which our country is in such dire need…

. . and . . .

Tea Party Emporium was established by jewelry industry veterans, a family who has manufactured the world’s finest gold and diamond jewelry for over one hundred years. Today, inconspicuous, as opposed to conspicuous, consumption is very much in vogue. Affluence and the attainment of wealth seem to have fallen out of favor. What has not changed is appreciation for something beautiful. In that vein, and in the light of the current climate of a government hell bent on the largest redistribution of wealth in history, we designed a small, delicate piece of jewelry which we hope will galvanize feelings felt by millions of Americans.

All of the products we offer have a commonality of spirit; America’s distaste for Washington’s ambivalence and disregard of its most basic principals, No Taxation Without Representation!

We hope you appreciate our little shop.

Though she’s getting paid $125,000, Palin won’t ‘financially be gaining’ from it.

By that logic, any money that you get and spend can’t be ‘financial gain’. You get a billion dollars and buy the New York Yankees, no gain. If you bribe a cop, but he spends the money, there’s no crime.

Of course, she could have turned down the six-figure fee, and then she really wouldn’t ‘financially be gaining’. It’s Palin logic. Like ‘winners always quit.’

Grassroots activists or sheep to the slaughter? No one seems to know for sure, and only a few more seem to care.

So thoroughly cowed by corporate interests are right-wingers that they might just think it’s a good thing, volunteering their time and giving their hard-earned pay and pensions to greedy people so that they can buy houses and cars with it. America!

I posted earlier on the ‘Tea Party Express’: a group who collected over a million dollars worth of teabaggers’ money only to hand two-thirds of it to the Republican consulting firm — Russo, Marsh and Associates — that created it.

That created howls of protest from the ‘Tea Party Patriots’. But, earlier, the TPPs were wrenched by their own factious squabbling after criticism over their fiscal goings-on.

“Why are the financial records not public knowledge?” [Merits] asked. “Show me the money!”

Eventually a Tea Party Patriots loyalist couldn’t take it anymore. “Why are you intentionally trying to destroy this movement??” he demanded.

And so it continues. Conservative blogger Melissa Clouthier has an expose on the ‘hot’ tea party organization, ‘Tea Party Nation’. They’re the ones who scored Sarah Palin giving the keynote address at their February 4-6 convention.

She blew off the larger, far more prestigious Conservative Political Action Committee meeting in favor of the ‘Tea Party Nation’ convention, giving the movement some cache. All it cost TPN were Palin’s fee and expenses, around $125,000. Apparently, the venerated CPAC doesn’t operate by paying its speakers six-figure sums.

But the coup did excite the TPN people. Their scheduled venue, the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, was too small for a Palin sighting. We should move it, right?

Well, these decisions come down to only person. Because it turns out the ‘Tea Party Nation’ is Tea Party Nation, INC., a company with a single owner. And Judson Phillips wasn’t having any of that ‘move it’ talk, he had bigger plans.

Excited organizers found out October 22 that Sarah Palin had chosen to speak to the party. During the meeting, local activists urged Phillips to change the venue so more people could attend as the space was so limited at Opryland. At that point in November, he had 60 days to change the venue but was afraid if he changed it, Palin wouldn’t come speak to the gathering, says one person familiar with the meeting.

When Judson Phillips suggested the $550 convention fee, some members were so aghast they got up and left the meeting.

At one point, fisticuffs nearly broke out, emotions ran so high. Those who had been in the bottom-up organization felt betrayed because the event excluded so many average people and many of the volunteers themselves couldn’t even afford to attend. Philips and his few supporters saw an opportunity to make money.

This meeting prompted many long-time Tea Party members to quit…

The decision was made to keep the conference, small, expensive and exclusive.

Phillips’ intentions were abundantly clear to the people familiar with TPN:

Tami Killmarx said that she heard Phillips say more than once, “I want to make a million from this movement.”

Killmarx wasn’t the only volunteer who suspected Phillips intentions were to gain personally. Jerry Williams who ran security for the Tea Party Nation gatherings from the groups inception until August when he resigned, and was slated to handle security at the February 2010 convention, said, “We have a situation that’s like a natural disaster. [Likening the American political climate to a disaster.] You’ve always got people out there who want to make a buck on it. This is the same thing. There’s people out there who want to jump on this Tea Party thing for their own interests. They’re not really worried about the country or the people.”

Phillips fired Killmarx. And some others. Virtually anybody who questions Phillips and his motives gets the axe. One firing:

Due to the events of last Saturday and your indiscretion in relation to the National Tea Party Convention, it is apparent that your loyalties and interests are not compatible with those of Tea Party Nation. It is for this reason I am requesting your resignation from the TPN Advisory Board. I will give you 24 hours to remove yourself from the group before I remove it myself.

Continue Reading »

Palin derided by top McCain aide, book
By Eric Zimmermann – 01/10/10 07:00 PM ET

…Most troubling to the campaign, Schmidt said, was Palin’s horrendous performance during prep sessions for her debate with then-Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.).

Schmidt recounts receiving a frantic phone call from an aide who was trying to prepare the Alaska governor.

“He told us that the debate was going to be a debacle of historic and epic proportions. He told us she was not focused. She was not engaged. She was really not participating in the prep,” says Schmidt.

The campaign flew her out to McCain’s Arizona ranch and simplified the debate prep sessions. Things seemed to better, except for one problem: Palin couldn’t say Joe Biden’s name.

Palin repeatedly referred to Biden as “O’Biden,” Schmidt says, leading to fears that she would mangle his name throughout the debate and create a PR disaster for the campaign.

Holy crap, it’s true:

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