Sarah Palin Dines With Donald Trump

By Gary P Jackson

Sarah Palin is having a blast pointing out the nation's history, what makes this the greatest nation on earth, while she she tours historical sites on her One Nation Tour

She's also having incredible fun tweaking the press, who weren't invited, but have decided to tag along. [and bitch the entire time]

Tuesday night found the Palin's in New York City. They plan to visit the Statue of Liberty and other sites on Wednesday. While in town, Sarah and her family had a standing invitation to visit Donald Trump, so they stopped by.

The whole crew went to a pizza parlor in Times Square.

The Washington Post had this to report: [emphasis mine]

On day three of Sarah Palin’s unconventional bus tour came the most surprising moment by far. The former Alaska governor and her daughter Piper dined tonight with media mogul Donald Trump and his wife Melania at a pizza place in Times Square. Palin met Trump at his apartment in Trump Tower, near Rockefeller Center; they rode from there in his limo to the restaurant, part of a New York City chain.

Asked on her way into the restaurant about Trump’s past political donations, Palin responded, “I think I’ll go change his mind and make sure he’s contributing to constitutional conservatives.’’

“She didn’t ask me [to run with her] but I’ll tell you, she’s a terrific woman,” Trump said as they walked in. Trump’s special counsel, Michael Cohen, told reporters that the pair had talked in the past about meeting up whenever Palin found herself in New York.

The group shared pepperoni, sausage, and meatball pizzas.

Palin is staying in Jersey City, where she arrived via bus this afternoon after a short trip to Philadelphia. Tomorrow, she is expected to take an early morning boat from there to Ellis Island, before the crowds of tourists arrive. Then she will greet the first ferry of visitors before taking her boat back and hitting the road.

From there, Palin’s plans are something of a mystery, although she is expected to head for New Hampshire. Details of her week-long tour of historic Northeast sites have remained secret at every step. Reporters have been scrambling to trail her at each stop.

[ .... ]

“Every time you go to New York, you’ve got to see Donald Trump,” Palin said on her way out. "I approve of his independence.” She did an interview inside the restaurant with television reporters. Trump refused to comment as he left, saying only that he thought Palin was “good” and that they talked about “different things.”

Two members of the U.S. Navy, Daniel Delgado and Daniel Johnston in for Fleet Week and hanging out at a friend’s bar down the street, ended up being enlisted by both parties’ bodyguards to perform impromptu crowd control as the stars walked out.

The first person who approached Palin outside the restaurant was Diane Barone, a union activist from Youngstown, Ohio in town for IUE-CWA contract negotiations. She shook Palin’s hand and would not let go, telling the former governor she disagreed with her positions on unions. Palin responded calmly that her father had been a union member and that making things better for working people “is something on which we can agree.” She said afterwards that she doubted she could change Palin’s mind, but you never know: “I thought she would ignore me and she did not, she shook my hand.”

The Miami Herald adds:

NEW YORK -- Sarah Palin and Donald Trump exchanged words of admiration Tuesday after a brief meeting at the real estate magnate's penthouse in a Manhattan skyscraper bearing his name.

Palin, the former Republican vice presidential nominee, said she and Trump shared similar ideas for improving the U.S. economy, while Trump called Palin a "terrific woman and a terrific friend" who he hoped would seek the GOP presidential nomination.

[ ... ]

"What do we have in common? Our love for this country, a desire to see our economy put back on the right track," Palin told reporters after a 15-minute meeting with Trump outside the Trump Tower, where he owns a three-floor penthouse.

"To have a balanced trade arrangement with other countries across this world so Americans can have our jobs, our industries, our manufacturing again. And exploiting responsibly our natural resources. We can do that again if we make good decisions," Palin said.

Trump demurred when asked if he would support a Palin presidential candidacy.

"She didn't ask me for that. She came up as friends," Trump said. "She's a great woman, a terrific woman and a terrific friend. I'd love her to run."

Palin added, "We both agree that competition is good and the more folks in that primary, the better."

After the meeting, Trump and his wife, Melania, rode in a stretch limousine with Palin, her parents and youngest daughter, Piper, to have dinner at a pizza restaurant in Times Square. The Palins planned to visit Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty Wednesday morning.

Interesting how two different media outlets report the same event, huh?

We'll have a lot more on the tour and the media later in the week when the dust settles. Suffice it to say, watching the media this week, and listening to their caterwauling, is entertainment better than you can buy at price.

Here are some more photos of the Trumps, The Palins and the Heaths dining:

Shushannah Walshe posted a photo on her site here.

The lamestream media waiting on the Palins to show up at Trump Tower:

BTW, if you've never watched a member of the lamestream media have a nervous breakdown in real time, I highly recommend following Shushannah Walshe on Twitter. She's a fine example of how wee-wee'd up the media is over Sarah Palin's One Nation Tour!

More to come ....

Sarah Palin: New Afghanistan Development Dangerous to NATO

From Sarah Palin:

After learning this afternoon of Afghan President Karzai’s ultimatum to NATO concerning airstrikes, we need to consider how dangerous this new development is. While it's always devastating to hear about civilians killed in the fight against the Taliban, President Karzai surely knows that no one works harder to eliminate civilian casualties than NATO. His public ultimatum issued today to allies and supposed friends is dangerous.
What President Karzai is saying is that if we don’t severely limit our air campaign he will take “unilateral action.” And he further says that if the airstrikes continue we will be seen as an “occupying” power. This is an indirect way of saying that American and NATO forces will be fair game, which is obviously an unacceptable situation that threatens our troops.

His comments reflect the reality that there is a growing divide between NATO and the Karzai government. Let us be clear: we are in Afghanistan fighting for the Afghan people and for the security of our country and our allies. If President Karzai continues with these public ultimatums, we must consider our options about the immediate future of U.S. troops in his country.

If he actually follows through on his claim that Afghan forces will take “unilateral action” against NATO forces who conduct such air raids to take out terrorists and terrorist positions, that should result in the immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan and the suspension of U.S. aid. I still firmly support our mission in Afghanistan, but we must have the support of the host government. Our troops’ mission will be compromised and their safety endangered if the Afghan government threatens us.

~ Sarah Palin

The Silent Slaughter

I've noticed that everybody that is for abortion has already been born. ~ Ronald Reagan

A thoughtful guest commentary by Madeleine McAulay:

1,300,000 innocent lives are murdered in America alone every single year, but you don’t seem to see that as breaking news. Millions of innocent lives were lost during the Holocaust, and we went to war. Over 3,000 innocent Americans lives were lost on September 11, and what did we do? We went to war. I think it is safe to say that when many lives are lost, we as Americans decide to step in and end it. We have seen this happen multiple times in our nation’s history. That seems like the humane thing to do. But why is it that when 1,300,000 babies lives are taken away no one seems to pay any attention? Is one’s life more valuable than another?

Abortion has destroyed innumerable innocent lives. When I say destroyed I mean more than just ruined. I mean mutilated, massacred, slayed, demolished, assassinated, and slaughtered. What these doctors do to these babies is disgusting. As Americans we should be outraged, but are we? No, we are not. We go on with our lives in denial, instead of owning up to the fact we allow over 3,500 babies to be slaughtered, in America, each and every day. We as Americans are supposedly the peace keepers of the world, but how can we be the peace keepers if we allow such a blood bath to go on within our own borders? We should be mortified. In America today, we care more about the trees and our animals than we do about our children, the future of our country.

As Americans, as peace keepers, we should be ashamed of ourselves. How can we commit such an evil act against such an innocent human being? People say that it is none of our business, and that if we are Pro-Life, then we should just not get an abortion. But that is the problem. We as fellow Americans need to stand together for all of the babies who have been silenced. For all of the lives that were never lived. These babies, these lives, need a voice. We need to give them a chance, a chance to live a prosperous life. Who are we to judge their purpose? God has a divine plan for each and every life and we are selfish beyond belief if we believe our breath is more precious than another. Since 1973, 50,000,000 murders have been committed. When will we as Americans do something about it?

Madeleine McAulay is the co-founder of Youth For Palin. At 15 years old, her wisdom is greater than many twice her age. We're proud to be able to share her writings with our readers.

President Ronald Reagan's 1984 Memorial Day Speech

President Reagan's Remarks at Memorial Day Ceremonies Honoring an Unknown Serviceman of the Vietnam Conflict on May 28, 1984.

By Gary P Jackson

Each Memorial Day we remember those who gave their lives in order to protect all we hold so precious. Throughout the history of the United States brave men and women have fought to maintain our God given Liberty and Freedom. Far too many have died in the service to our cause, as they have not only protected our nation, but helped to free people world wide who also sought Liberty and Freedom.

I am always in awe of every man and woman who serves. In the world we live in today, it's inspiring to see these brave citizens who honor our nation with their sacrifices, so the rest of us can enjoy the life we do.

There are never enough words to express the gratitude we all owe these men and women, or the families of those who have sacrificed their lives for us all.

The above video of Ronald Reagan is particularly meaningful. He speaks about the soldiers of Vietnam, who served their nation honorably, but didn't get the appreciation they deserved when they returned home. This is, and will always be one of our nation's great injustices.

Though we can never bring those lives lost back, we can make sure we thank our members of the military at every opportunity. As a nation we are truly blessed to have such fine men and women among us.

May God bless all who serve and all who gave their last full measure of devotion.

Preview of 2012 GOP Ticket? Sarah Palin and Allen West at Rolling Thunder

By Gary P Jackson

Sarah Palin and Congressman Allen West met up on Sunday and Rolling Thunder. Sarah talks about meeting him here.  Of course, she was one of the very first to endorse the Lt Colonel for Congress.

When asked, if they had a say, many, if not most would chose Lt Colonel West to be Sarah's running mate, myself included!

Below West talks with Todd and meets Piper.

You might also enjoy: The Difference Between Sarah Palin, Allen West, and Barack Obama, in Pictures.

Sarah Palin: Of the People, By the People, For the People

From Sarah Palin:

Took an incognito tour of our beautiful national monuments tonight. We met some great everyday citizens who were also "taking it all in" in honor of the greatest nation on earth. One couple we met traveled from Michigan to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary in our nation's capital, and they expressed how thankful they were to live in this land of great opportunity.

We were also privileged tonight to get to thank a member of the greatest generation for his service in WWII. This fine patriot was surrounded by his large, extended family that had pooled together to send their patriarch from Oklahoma to DC this Memorial Day weekend to see the breathtaking WWII memorial built to honor that generation's tremendous sacrifice. Meeting him and his caring family made my heart soar with pride for the honor so many show our military vets.

Tonight, as the sun set and we gathered to read the eternal words of President Lincoln at the majestic memorial in his honor, we were shown more reasons why Americans can feel great pride in our exceptional nation. The Lincoln Memorial reminds us that ours is to be a government "of the people, by the people and for the people" and it's with gratefulness for past generations that we can commit ourselves to living out the promises and values etched on those memorial walls.

And that's what this tour is all about.

~ Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin: Roll On, Rolling Thunder!

From Sarah Palin:

There’s no better way to see D.C. than on the back of a Harley! My family may be used to snowmachines more so than motorcycles (though you couldn’t tell it with Todd driving a hog today with Piper on the back and with Bristol riding on the back of another bike). But whether you’re riding the open road or the frozen tundra, you’re celebrating a free spirit. What could be more American than that?

Today’s Rolling Thunder rally in DC is all about freedom. And it’s about duty and loyalty and service. The message heard loud and clear through the roar of tens of thousands of bike engines declared, “We will never forget our heroes left behind!” Truly, our POWs and MIAs honored today are America’s real heroes.

In addition to drawing special attention to POWs and MIAs, Rolling Thunder works to help all veterans, active duty service men and women, and military families in so many ways. Riding with these patriots today reinforced that we must do all we can to remind all Americans that we owe our freedom to our vets and to those missing and to those who made the ultimate sacrifice to make this the greatest country on earth. They deserve our debt of gratitude. It’s not the politician or the reporter who makes us free; it is the veteran.

One man who clearly understands this is Rep. Allen West, who was there today to honor our military. I really appreciated meeting him. Thank you for spending your day with the troops, Lt. Colonel West!

Meeting with Blue Star and Gold Star mothers this afternoon puts much into perspective. These beautiful families sacrifice so much for our freedom. This is what Memorial Day weekend is all about. Many of us this weekend are firing up the grill and enjoying time with our loved ones. Remember that we’re able to do that because someone else’s loved one is willing to lay it all on the line to defend our freedom. Someone is willing to re-deploy again and again far from home. Someone is willing to endure the blistering heat of Iraq’s deserts or the brutal cold of Afghanistan’s mountains. Someone is willing to put his or her own life on hold to make sure we’re safe. We never hear them complain, do we? And we never hear their families complain either. That’s what duty and service means. And Rolling Thunder’s commitment to them is what loyalty means.

I’m thankful Rolling Thunder keeps the mission of honoring our vets alive! For in doing so, they remind us what is good and free and worthy in America. So roll on, Rolling Thunder! Like Martin Luther King, Jr. said about the great struggle for civil rights, “we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream...”

Let’s roll on to honor our vets, to secure our blessings of liberty, and to fundamentally restore our proud America!

~ Sarah Palin

Video Sarah Palin's Ride To The Pentagon

By Gary P Jackson

A little raw video of Sarah Palin and her family at Rolling Thunder. Sarah arrived aboard San Diego resident Petrina Herman's bike. The bikers took very good care of Sarah and her family at the event.

Please take time to remember those who have given their last full measure of devotion in the name of Liberty and Freedom. And never forget those who were P.O.W.s our those still Missing In Action.

Video: Sarah Palin Joins Rolling Thunder

By Gary P Jackson

A bit of video from Fox News of Sarah Palin at the Rolling Thunder rally in Washington, D.C. honoring P.O.W.s and those still Missing In Action.

I still can't figure out Fox's headline. "Stolen thunder"? Really Fox? Really?

Sarah Palin was invited to ride in the event as are many high profile leaders annually.

It never ceases to amaze me how the media, when there is no controversy, will go out of their way to create one. Anyone who questions Sarah Palin's motivation to honor the military is insane. She's the mother of an Iraq war vet, as well as a former Commander-in-Chief of two military forces. She speaks at events nationwide in support of our military men and women.

Here's a photo of Sarah in the crowd:

Larry Kudlow: "I Want Sarah Palin to Teach Mitt Romney Economics"

By Gary P Jackson

A bit from Larry Kudlow's radio show. Kudlow heaps much praise on Sarah Palin, and ends his show by saying: "I Want Sarah Palin to Teach Mitt Romney Economics."

There's a lot Sarah Palin could teach Mitt Romney about economics, that's for sure, but she needs to start by teaching Romney the basic concepts of Liberty and Freedom, because Big Government liberals like Mitt haven't the slightest idea what those words mean.

As Ronald Reagan said: "If no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else?" Romney would do himself a lot of good to sit in the corner and ponder quote that for oh,  about 10-12 months.

As we've pointed out before, the man is a technocrat who believes government, not the people, is the best answer to all situations. That government control, not free markets, is the way it should be done. That's closer to Lenin, Marx and Obama than it is to Ronald Reagan, which is what Kudlow was trying to say in the first place.

Video courtesy of Barbaric Thoughts

Rolling Thunder: A Marine's Vigil

A solitary Marine holds vigil at full attention during the Rolling Thunder motorcycle rally in tribute to fallen comrades.

By Gary P Jackson

I'm continually in awe of the man and women who serve in our military. The sacrifices they make so the rest of us can enjoy our Freedom and Liberty must never, ever be forgotten.

God bless them all.

Yes, America, Sarah Palin Was Invited To Rolling Thunder

By Gary P Jackson

On Friday we published an article talking about patriot riders of Rolling Thunder praising Sarah and Todd Palin's acceptance to ride in their event Sunday to raise awareness of former P.O.W.s and those still missing in action.

Rolling Thunder is a wonderful organization full of real patriots, and Sarah Palin, the mother of an Iraq War veteran, as well as a former Commander-in-Chief of two military forces supports the military, and military charities regularly.

Sadly, Rolling Thunder's "legislative director," Ted Shpak, instead of checking with others, ran to the nearest MSNBC cameras and started trash talking.

Long story short, Shpak created a real mess. Even as we reported Nancy Regg had confirmed days ago that Sarah and Todd had been invited, the damage to the organization, and Sarah Palin's reputation was being done.

Now it seems Rolling Thunder's media director, Christine Colborne, has set the record straight. Yes, Sarah and Todd were invited to ride. Ed Morrissey at Hot Air was able contact Colborne and set the record straight:

After I read this story last night, I got in contact with Christine Colborne, who handles the media for Rolling Thunder. She explained that Shpak didn’t know that Palin had been indeed invited to ride at the event. The invitation came from a retired board member, Michael DiPaolo, who had connections in Alaska and got Palin to agree to attend.

Requests for high-profile personalities to attend the event are not new. Colborne mentioned that actor Robert Patrick (Terminator 2: Judgment Day) attended at least one of the Rolling Thunder events, as have other celebrities, usually just to ride with a lower profile. Most times, though, those requests don’t even get responses, let alone acceptances. That’s a shame, because the Rolling Thunder event highlights the issues surrounding American POWs and MIAs from the Vietnam War and later conflicts, as well as providing support to their families, who really need the emotional support they get from this group of volunteer veterans.

Colborne spoke with me on the phone in the middle of an all-night car ride to Washington DC, and explained that the last-minute RSVP didn’t get communicated through the echelons of Rolling Thunder. Everyone is either in transit or already in DC, and internal communication broke down as often happens before a major event. Shpak (and Colborne) were taken by surprise by Palin’s announcement. Shpak does have the authority to speak for the organization, Colborne says, but he had no idea that Palin was invited by DiPaolo, and Shpak worried that Palin’s arrival might be a “big distraction” from the issues on which Rolling Thunder wants people to focus. Obviously, Shpak — a Vietnam veteran himself — feels passionate about defending the organization, but went on NBC with faulty information. Shpak, Colborne, and almost everyone else at Rolling Thunder are volunteers, just ordinary people doing extraordinary work, and that means they get the occasional hiccup.

Read more here.

Ed is too kind. Having worked events that need coordination, and a bit of media savvy, one thing I learned the hard way is to never go shooting one's mouth off before one has all the facts.

Now I may be wrong, maybe Shpak made a good faith effort to contact someone.... anyone .... to see if the Palin's had been invited, and got no answer, or even a faulty answer. What I don't get though is why Shpak went directly to the most far left "news" organization on the planet to spout off. What purpose did it serve? Having a high profile leader attending your event is not a "big distraction." The reason people like Sarah Palin are invited to these events is to help spotlight them. BTW, these events are open to any and all, and no invitation is needed.

Now we have an entire issue surrounding an event that is all about honoring our nation's heroes.

The members who ride with Rolling Thunder are incredible. They do great work. That's why this entire event makes me sad.

I could go on and on about speculating if Shpak has a political agenda.I could speculate why Shpak went to MSNBC, a company whose CEO is in bed with the Obama regime, and runs hit pieces on Sarah Palin daily. I could also go on and on about the amount of positive attention having a world leader like Sarah Palin in attendance brings. What I really want to know though is who does Sarah Palin need to see to get her reputation back?

Glenn Beck: Palin 2012 Just Got More Likely

By Gary P Jackson

When it comes to Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck is always interesting to listen to. He and Sarah are great friends, and according to Glenn, e-mail each other frequently. What tickles me, for all the things they share, Glenn is one of those who has always thought she wasn't running, despite all of the evidence to the contrary, which is why this is remarkable.

I know, as a long time supporter, [pre-2008] it's easy to get caught up in it all, but it's not hard for even an objective person to see that Sarah Palin has been setting herself up to be the 45th President of the United States for a couple of years now, at least.

In the past few weeks a lot things have happened. A new home in Arizona, the feature length motion picture, the bus tour, and more have all been announced, but these things didn't happen over night. Great planning went into all of this.

While Sarah was out there giving policy speeches, traveling world-wide, and holding Obama's feet to the fire, she was also putting things in place for a run. She's hired a top shelf Chief-of-Staff, a solid foreign policy adviser, as well as other key personnel. Now it can be argued with her busy schedule that Sarah needed a good Chief-of-Staff no matter what, but Wasilla hockey moms rarely hire foreign policy advisers, especially those who literally wrote the book examining how President Ronald Reagan won the Cold War.

The problem with the little elites in Washington is they are arrogant. If you aren't from the "right" side of the tracks, they look down their nose at you. They didn't care for or give Reagan much of a chance either. They have been in D.C. so long they have lost all touch with reality.

Sarah Palin, and people like her, are like a cool drink on a hot summer day. They are refreshing, and sustaining.

Here's more from Glenn's website:

Sarah Palin has been pretty quiet for the past few months, but while many suspected she was distancing herself from national politics it looks like she may have been quietly working on a potential presidential campaign. She’ll be unveiling a new documentary about her life in the weeks ahead, and she’s launching a national bus tour. Why the surprise moves? Glenn had some thoughts on radio this morning.

“The other camps are saying behind the scenes that they’re not preparing for her run. They don’t believe she’s running. I don’t know. But she’s obviously going out on a bus tour this weekend. And it seems like something a candidate would do. She’s going to make up her own mind. She’s certainly her own person. Nobody makes her do anything,” Stu said.

“(The bus tour) is going to kick off this Sunday by taking part in the Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Ride, comprised mainly of U.S. war veterans of the Vietnam War begins at the Pentagon, concludes at the Vietnam Memorial on the National Mall. Planning for the trip kicked into high gear only a short while ago when she rehired two former advance aides to President George W. Bush, Doug McMarland and Jason Rector to plan the trip and execute logistics. Details of where the 2008 vice-presidential nominee will go remain fluid and they’re only closely held within Palin’s small world of trusted advisors,” Glenn explained.

“I have to tell you, there’s no one more cryptic than Sarah Palin. She doesn’t trust anyone and for good reason, she shouldn’t trust anyone. And she controls her own destiny.”

“The question is whether or not this is still a country that can handle — you want to talk about a, quote/unquote, maverick. It is Sarah Palin. Can the country still elect or still give a lot of credibility to somebody who works alone and says I’m charting my own course. Those used to be pioneers. Those used to be people that would go out west and people would tell stories of them.”

“People are saying you know what, I don’t care what anybody else thinks. That’s when amazing things happen. When people think out of the box. That’s when somebody says, wait a minute, I think I’ve just invented something I’m going to call the light bulb. When they don’t care. Now, this society is being set up that would have shut Edison down. Edison wouldn’t have even been able to have his labs let alone actually come out with the light bulb, because there would have been too much regulations.”

“They attack Sarah Palin with such anger, it’s just — it makes me like her more, because I get defensive about her and Bachmann and others that get attacked so angrily over and over again. They must be doing something right,” Glenn said.

Video: The Obama Legacy

H/T: C.A. Bamford

Sarah Palin: Obama’s Strange Strategy: Borrow Foreign Money to Give to Foreign Countries

From Sarah Palin:

Should we be borrowing money from China to turn around and give it to the Muslim Brotherhood?

Given that we are running massive deficits and are drowning in more than $14 trillion in debt, and despite not knowing who will rule Egypt until its election this fall, this strange strategy may be the end result given President Obama’s announcement that he is committing $2 billion to Egypt’s "new government." It’s part of a $20 billion foreign aid package laid out with the Group of 8 countries in Europe today.

Now, given that Egypt has a history of corruption when it comes to utilizing American aid, it is doubtful that the money will really help needy Egyptian people. Couple that with the fact that the Muslim Brotherhood is organized to have a real shot at taking control of Egypt’s government, and one has to ask why we would send money (that we don’t have) into unknown Egyptian hands?

Throwing borrowed money around is not sound economic policy. And throwing borrowed money around the developing world is not sound foreign policy. Foreign assistance should go to American allies that need it and appreciate it, and for humanitarian purposes when it can truly make a difference.

Considering the Obama Administration’s continued strange strategies on the economy and foreign policy has us counting down the days to the next election. November 2012 can’t come soon enough.

~ Sarah Palin

Rolling Thunder Riders Praise Sarah Palin's Participation in Rally

By Gary P Jackson

Every Memorial Day a group of riders make the trip to Washington, D.C. to honor our military heroes. Rolling Thunder is dedicated to honoring American P.O.W.s and MIAs. We must never forget.

As part of her One Nation Tour Sarah Palin and her family will be joining in. Rumor has it she and Todd are trying to rent a couple of Harley-Davidsons so they can ride with all of these fine patriots.

From ABC News:

ABC News' Sheila Marikar [@sheilaym] reports: For the riders of Rolling Thunder, the news that Sarah Palin will participate in their national rally on Sunday came as a surprise. A welcome surprise.

“I think that’s wonderful,” said Gerri Tramel, president of one of Rolling Thunder’s Tennessee chapters. “Anybody that’s involved -- Republican, Democrat, independent, whatever -- if you’re involved with our veterans, I think that’s wonderful. Not just Sarah Palin -- anyone that’s a politician.”

For more than 20 years, as many as half a million motorcycle riders from across the country have descended on Washington, D.C., during Memorial Day weekend to raise awareness about prisoners of war and those missing in action. Rolling Thunder announced Thursday that Palin accepted an invitation to participate in its May 29 rally. She’ll kick off her One Nation Tour the same day, a bus trip along the northeast coast that aims “to educate and energize Americans about our nation's founding principles.”

[ .... ]

“If she wants to support the troops, we’re all for it,” said Greg Benson, president of Rhode Island’s Rolling Thunder chapter.

“I certainly welcome any positive publicity surrounding our cause, anything to bring attention to POWs and MIAs,” said Jeffrey Stewart, who leads a Rolling Thunder chapter in New Hampshire, a state that will be crucial to Palin if she runs in 2012. “Whether it’s a celebrity or a politician-celebrity -- I’m not exactly sure what she is right now -- having Sarah Palin there means more people will be paying attention to our cause.”

Sarah Palin: One Nation

By Gary P Jackson

Follow Sarah Palin's One Nation bus tour here: www.sarahpac.com

Sarah Palin Already Proving Her Fiscal Savvy With Bus Tour

By Gary P Jackson

Just a little interesting note about Sarah Palin's One Nation Tour bus. Rather than buy or rent a bus for the tour, it seems she will be using the family truckster instead:

Check out the license plates.

Rather than use a new unit, Sarah wisely chose to inexpensively wrap the family RV with vinyl, just as they do in NASCAR and the NHRA. High impact, low dollars.

Folks, this is how Sarah Palin ran Alaska, and put billions of dollars away for a rainy day. Remember, she sold off the high dollar, and useless jet the previous governor bought, and also laid off the cook and much of the staff at the Governor's Mansion. In fact, her office spent a cool million less than either of the previous two governors, in the same time period.

This is why we need Sarah Palin sitting in the Oval Office. The woman is thrifty.

You can follow the One Nation Tour here: www.sarahpac.com

NHRA Top Fuel Driver Antron Brown Offers Kyle Busch A Challenge

By Gary P Jackson

NHRA Full Throttle Top Fuel pilot Antron Brown is giving NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Kyle Busch some jazz. As race fans know, Busch is in a bit of trouble after a sheriff's deputy clocked him going 128 mph in a 45 mph zone.

On Thursday Antron offered Kyle a challenge to actually go fast when he tweeted:

Hey @KyleBusch, how about you strap into my dragster and go twice as fast in just 660'. Ride swap at Charlotte?

Brown is talking about the annual Coca-Cola 600 this weekend at Lowes Motor Speedway in Charlotte, N.C..

While a 700hp NASCAR Sprint Cup car is capable of speeds of 200 mph, an 8,000hp Top Fuel Dragster is capable of going from 0-100 mph in less than one second. and 0-250 mph in just over 3 seconds. They are capable of going 0-330 mph in 3.80 seconds over the 1000 ft race course.

In 660 ft, an 1/8 of a mile Brown's Top Fuel car would be running around 275 mph.

This would be quite the ride for Kyle!

Antron who raced Pro Stock Motorcycles before switching to Top Fuel, racking up many wins along the way, has always been one of our favorite drivers. No one enjoys winning more!

It'll be interesting to see if Kyle Busch will take Antron up on his offer.

Sarah Palin: Restoring the Good in America!

From Sarah Palin:

Our nation is at a critical turning point. As we look to the future, we are propelled by America's past. It's imperative that we connect with our founders, our patriots, our challenges and victories to clearly see our way forward. A good way to do this is to appreciate the significance of our nation's historic sites, patriotic events and diverse cultures, which we'll do in the coming weeks on our "One Nation" tour.

We'll celebrate the good things that bring Americans together; those things that will give us the needed strength to meet the heady challenges ahead. I’ve said many times that America doesn’t need a "fundamental transformation," instead we need a restoration of all that is good and strong and free in America! So, together let’s prepare ourselves for the days ahead by reminding ourselves who we are and what Americans stand for.

We'll celebrate the meaning of our nation's blueprints, our Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, which are the threads that weave our past into the fabric necessary for the survival of American exceptionalism. Our founders declared "we were born the heirs of freedom", and despite our difficulties and disagreements, we remain one nation under God in freedom, indivisible. Through visits to historical sites and patriotic events, we'll share the importance of America's foundation.

We encourage you to support the pro-America events we'll be privileged to participate in during these coming weeks. Discover the ties that bind Americans, our history, our traditions, and the exceptional nature of our country!

Follow the One Nation tour at www.SarahPAC.com

~ Sarah Palin

Shock and Awe: Sarah Palin Announces Nationwide Bus Tour

When a true genius enters the world, you will know him by this sign. All the dunces will be in confederacy against him.[her] ~ Johnathan Swift

By Gary P Jackson

Breaking news. Sarah Palin will be embarking on a nationwide bus tour, starting in Washington D.C. as part of the Rolling Thunder memorial day event.

From Drudge:

PALIN TO HIT THE ROAD
Thur May 26 2011

Sarah Palin will hit the road this Memorial Day weekend on a tour of the Northeast -- with a stop in New Hampshire -- aboard a red, white and blue bus emblazoned with the words: "One Nation Under God, Indivisible, With Liberty & Justice For All."

Developing....

This comes as the latest Gallup polling has Sarah Palin in a statistical dead heat with Mitt Romney for the nomination.

More to come. Meanwhile:

Temple of Mutt: Looking at Sarah Palin with “New Eyes”

Here's an interesting take on Sarah Palin and the new movie The Undefeated we reported about late Tuesday. The author is a self-described "Palin Democrat" and a PUMA. [Party Unity Me Ass] PUMAs are democrats who left the party after seeing the underhanded ways the machine installed Barack Obama as the nominee. Many are passionate Palin supporters.

Dear Readers: I have been dialoging with the SAN-DIEGO LOCAL ORDER OF BLOGGERS (SLOBs) for some time on the Presidential primary. Initially, I was the only Palin supporter (a classic “Palin Democrat“). However, as I have been sharing my positive thoughts on Sarah Palin, and the field of potential candidates has substantially changed, some of my blogging comrades have warmed to her.

[ .... ]

In light of the new move, “The Undefeated,” I am asking my friends (and all Americans, for that matter) to look at Palin with “new eyes”.

[ ... ]

Divided into three acts, the film makes the case that despite the now cliched label, Palin was indeed a maverick who confronted the powerful forces lined up against her to achieve wide-ranging success in a short period of time. The second part of the film’s message is just as clear, if more subjective: that Sarah Palin is the only conservative leader who can both build on the legacy of the Reagan Revolution and bring the ideals of the tea party movement to the Oval Office.

The initial showings will be in Iowa, South Carolina and Nevada. My Romanian gypsy fortune-telling instincts tell me that a Presidential run is in Palin’s future.

The expression "new eyes" comes from one of by favorite Yul Brynner Films: Kings of the Sun.In this film, Yul (chief of a North American Indian tribe named Black Eagle) stumbles across a new city being build by refugee Mayans. The Mayans decide the best way to open the new city is a classic, heart-ripping sacrifice of one of the locals — in this case, Black Eagle. After Black Eagle informs the Mayans he isn’t going to be slaughtered like an animal for their gods, the Mayan king decides to try things in the local fashion. At that point, Black Eagle, impressed with the potential of the new city, decides he wants to look at the city with “new eyes”.

[ .... ]

In light of the new Tea Party attitude, in which we would like to jettison the “ruling class” dictates with “country class” common sense, I would ask for everyone to enter into the primary season with an open mind and a willingness to go beyond the usual news sources for information on all the candidates. PLEASE LOOK AT SARAH PALIN WITH “NEW EYES”.

One other note, related to this: It has become known to me that Mitt Romney’s staff and Michelle Bachmann’s people are seen together often and work quite closely together. I need for all of my friends to be very cautious about Bachmann

[ .... ]

I recall that Mitt was tag-teamed out of the 2008 primary by McCain and Huckabee. I sense a deal is made between the pair in the event Palin is running.

This will not end well.

I would like the potential Bachmann-supporters out there to note a few things:

* Bachmann has not formally announced; if you give money to her PAC, please be advised it could end up in someone else’s campaign — including Romney’s. I worry that her PAC is there to take money from the Tea Party people to give to the establishment.

* She seems quite willing to massage her position on tax cuts and ear marks.

* She did NOT defend the Tea Parties after the vicious smears and “blood” libel after the Tucson shooting tragedy.

I contend that if Sarah Palin can woo the independent conservatives within the Republican party, who are uncertain of her but loathe to vote for a “RINO”, she can win the independents in the 2012 general election and go on to victory. However, I recognize that this first step is important. I think the film idea is innovative and exciting, so unlike some of my fellow SLOBs, I am now jazzed.

If she wins, great. If she loses, honorably, to another who is a straight-shooter with better plans and presence, that is OK with me. However, if the GOP elites try to manipulate the primary and game the process, then they will have to contend with a lot of really pissed-off Palin supporters. That won’t bode well for a successful general election result, as the “Palinistas” are about the most active and engaged citizen activists that I know.

Read more here.

The Best Reason NOT To Elect Mitt Romney I've Seen

Perhaps you and I have lived with this miracle too long to be properly appreciative. Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom and then lost it have never known it again.

Knowing this, it is hard to explain those who even today would question the people’s capacity for self rule. Will they answer this: If no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else?Using the temporary authority granted by the people, an increasing number lately have sought to control the means of production as if this could be done without eventually controlling those who produce. Always this is explained as necessary to the people’s welfare. But, “The deterioration of every government begins with the decay of the principle upon which it was founded.” This is true today as it was when it was written in 1748.

~ Ronald Reagan

If one was to take time to list all of the reasons not to vote for liberal Republican Mitt Romney it would be a daunting, time consuming task. One could go on for days about RomneyCare and how it's basically destroyed the state Mitt governed. Then there is the totally unprincipled Mitt Romney, a human windsock, whose positions, much like current President Barack Obama, all have expiration dates. [except for his undying love of his socialized medicine scheme]

In fact, it's in RomneyCare that we find Mitt's real problem, and why he can never be allowed in elected office. One of Romney's constant refrains, now that his socialized medicine debacle has festered into a big liability, is to blame it all on those rascally democrats. It was the democrats, you see, who messed up his magnificently magnificent creation. Only HE, Mitt Romney is capable of maintaining such a brilliant plan!



During the run up to Romney's big "health care address" and after, myself and others pointed to the fact that Mitt, rather than being a strong leader, a CEO type, who chooses the right people and lets them work, is the middle manager type that must be hands on, in every project, whether he should be or not.

Romney is a technocrat. A Big Government progressive that doesn't have the slightest concept of our Founding Principles, personal Liberty, or personal Freedom. He's the type who never saw a good idea without thinking a government program would't make it better.

Paul Rahe captures this perfectly in the first two sentences below. The rest is just expanding on the subject: [emphasis mine]

The reason why I oppose Mitt Romney is simple. He was born to destroy everything that we have accomplished since the Tea-Party Movement emerged in the Spring of 2009. Romney is the very model of a managerial progressive. He has one great virtue. He knows how to run things; he knows how to organize things. He would make a good Secretary of Commerce. He has no understanding of the principles that underpin our government. And, in fact, like most businessmen, he is a man almost devoid of political principles. Give him a problem, and he will make a highly intelligent attempt to solve it. Ask him to identify which problems should be left to ordinary people and what are the proper limits to government’s reach, and he would not understand the question. He is what you might call a social engineer; and, in his estimation, we are little more than the cogs and wheels that need to be engineered. …

Romney’s political instincts are disastrous. He will betray the friends of liberty and limited government at the first opportunity. If he is nominated, the people who joined the Tea Party and turned out in 2010 to give the Republicans an historic victory are likely to stay home. If, by some miracle, the progenitor of Romneycare actually defeats the progenitor of Obamacare, he will quickly embrace the entitlement state and present himself as the man who can make it hum, as he did in Massachusetts. He is not better than Hoover, Eisenhower, Nixon, Bush père, and Bush fils. He is cut from the same cloth, and in practice he is apt to be far, far worse. The consequence will be the death in American life or at least the decay of the impulse embodied within the Tea-Party Movement.

At the start of this I cited a timeless quote by Ronald Reagan: "If no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else?" This was part of Governor Ronald Reagan's first inaugural address in 1967, and would be part of President Ronald Reagan's first inaugural address in 1981. It's simple, yet profound. It's also a concept I highly doubt Mitt Romney understands.

Mitt Romney is the “little intellectual elite” that Ronald Reagan warned the nation about in his iconic 1964 speech, A Time For Choosing.

Reagan also reminded the nation often:

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.

Mitt Romney, and those like him, are the sort of men Ronald Reagan feared would someday come to power. The sort who, "for our own good" would take away our Freedom and Liberty, in order to "make the trains run on time"

Jon Huntsman's First (and hopefully last) Campaign Commercial

Jon Huntsman is one of the "saviors" the GOP establishment is hanging their hats on. Huntsman is the former Utah governor who quit his job to work for the Obama regime as the Ambassador to China. Evidently, when not cozying up to the Chi-coms on behalf of our Marxist president, Huntsman spent a lot of free time plotting against his boss.

Huntsman then quit THAT job, this time to run against Obama, as get this a "Republican"!

Yeah, it is all so confusing.

Huntsman, a young Mitt Romney clone, thinks health care is a "right" [as do all good commies] wants "universal health care," and recently said he believes in the global warming hoax because "90% of 'scientists' do."

Oh my.

Enjoy it while you can, because despite what our "betters" in the Republican elite would like for you to think, Huntsman is the biggest non-starter to ever consider at run at the GOP nod!

Not endorsed by or affiliated with Jon Huntsman or anyone from his campaign. Produced by www.verumserum.com. Music by Diego Massanti, Argentina - Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.

Poll Insider: Palin 48.5%, Obama 48% in Ohio (Palin 51-49% W/ Assumptions)

The Poll Insider does some of the best in-depth analysis of polling and polling methods we've ever seen. Most politically savvy observers realize that polling now-a-days is often used to create a narrative, rather than take a snapshot of current feelings.

Polsters create questions to achieve the desired outcome and weight polls in manner to do the same. Many times they over sample democrats and democrat leaning independents to make the Republican in the contest look uncompetitive. Do it enough and perception can become reality if this nonsense isn't pointed out.

Oh, and don't get me started on the whole "adults vs "registered voters" vs "likely voters" game.

We've seen a lot of polling lately that shows Sarah Palin and Mitt Romney are in a tie for first place if the GOP primaries were held today. And, as has been the case since day one, Sarah Palin has the highest approval rating among Republicans and Republican leaning Independents.

The latest poll to get the "Insider" treatment is one from the Daily Kos' official polster, Public Policy Polling [PPP] taken in the battleground state of Ohio: [some emphasis mine]

Public Policy Polling’s magic is back to work again. A new Ohio poll, featuring an important swing state that Obama narrowly won in 2008, is up this week. Like most other PPP polls, Democrats are the overwhelming respondents in this poll. How bad? Lets take a look: The PPP poll had a respondent makeup of 45% Democrat, 35% Republican, 20 Independent, giving the Democrats a +10 Net Advantage over Republicans. In 2010, the Ohio turnout was 36% Republican, 36% Democrat, 28% Independent. So, no difference. The 45% Democrat sample even overdoes Democrat heavy 2008 by 6 points, where still only 39% of the Ohio electorate were Democrats. Its a near impossibility that 45% of the 2010 voting electorate will be Democrats in Ohio if it wasn’t even that close in 2009, as this poll shows.

What does PPP President Dean Debnam say about these results? "These Ohio numbers epitomize Barack Obama’s status right now- he’s not terribly popular but the Republican field is even more unpopular and because of that he’d be in a solid shape for reelection if we had to vote today. If a GOP candidate really captures the attention of the voters Obama will be in trouble but that is far from inevitable." Ok, sure, if 45% of the electorate is Democrats….

PPP Reports a 10 Point Victory for Obama against Palin if the election were held today. Gosh, I wonder if a 10 point victory has anything to do with a 10 point artificial inflation of Democrats? Doing the work no media analysts will do, we re-run the numbers here and let you decide what is most accurate.

PPP Data: Obama 50%, Palin 40% (Unweighted poll, uses Dem sample 10 point higher than 2010 total and 6 points higher than 2008 total.)

Poll Insider Base Analysis: Obama 46%, Palin 43.5% – Here we see a statistical dead heat. We rework the the PPP numbers showing the makeup of the 2010 electorate of 36% Democrats, 36% Republicans, and 28% Independents. It is safe to assume that the 2012 electorate will be much closer to the 2010 one than to the 2008 one now that Obama has a (fairly unpopular) record in the state. Sarah Palin actually tops Obama slightly in Independents by 1% and even gets 1% more Democrats than Obama gets Republicans.

Poll Insider Analysis Level 2: Palin 48.5%, Obama 48% – This level I consider the best indicator on a statistical level as it includes all GOP and Dems and leaves out undecided Independents. Still a close race, but now Palin moves ahead. The reason Palin still trails in the first poll is that 14% of Republicans are undecided compared to just 5% of Democrats, these are allotted in similar fashion as the rest of the voting bases for each candidate. Challnger party high undecided rate is very common when testing an incumbent vs. a multitude of potential challengers, and the challengers usually trail in the undecided column. Why? In this case Republican voters often have a candidate in their minds to go up against the incumbent. Oftentimes they answer undecided when their candidate is not the one mentioned because at the time they don’t want to imagine that person as the candidate, even though they are likely to vote for them should they become the nominee. The incumbent’s party usually has low undecideds as they know who the candidate will be and there is no other horse in the race.

Poll Insider Analysis Level 3: Palin 51%, Obama 49%. Of the remaining 15% Undecided Independents, we allotted 9% to Palin and 6% to Obama, giving the break 3-2 to the challenger. We arrive at this rate knowing that Undecided Independents usually vote for the incumbents by similar (or greater) margins; Ohio Independents favored Republican Senate candidate Portman by almost 40% points over his Democrat challenger and favored now Governor Kasich by 16% over the Democrat incumbent.

4 scenarios, 3 of which show a reasonably close race, the other is PPP. I analyze, you decide. This is a good sign for Palin as she will have a much better opportunity to change minds in her favor than Obama will. If Palin’s numbers are this strong with the media coverage she has gotten, Ohio might not even be a toss-up a year from now.

Other tidbits from the poll:

Favorability among Conservatives: Palin Favorables among the "very Conservative" is at a solid 76% for a +62% favorable measure. She is +18% among "somewhat conservative" voters and falls off considerably from there with more liberal voters, not surprisingly. Gingrich meanwhile is at a softer (but surprisingly high) +32% among very conservative voters but at -9% among somewhat conservative voters. Romney knocks in +27% in the very important and active "very conservative group" which is 60% lower than Palin’s support. But he rebounds with somewhat conservative voters at +31% and does best in favorables among liberal voters.

Favorability among Republicans: Hey, remember all those media stories about how Palin is falling from GOP stardom? Well, turns out she remain the top Republican of the 3 main challengers. While Gingrich has a pitiful +9 standing among Republicans and Romney is at a pretty decent +30, Palin leads the pack among the Republican field at +36% favorability.

The Insider also reports that, to absolutely no one's surprise, Sarah Palin wins Texas handily, even with Huckabee still included in the poll. Speaking from personal experience Texas is Palin Country.

Tee Insider is a great website for folks who want to really understand polling beyond the headlines.

SarahPac Facebook 3 Million Money Bomb

On Facebook Sarah Palin is just a few thousand away from a huge milestone, 3 million suporters. As a way to mark the occassion, supporters are planning a big money bomb to SarahPAC. This will help Sarah continue to support strong Conservative candidates and further advance the cause of Liberty and Freedom.

Just click on the image to donate on SarahPAC's secure website.

Powerful Video: Israel's Critical Security Needs for a Viable Peace

　

http://www.jcpa.org - Israel, in any future agreement with the Palestinians, has a critical need for defensible borders. This video outlines the threats to Israel from terrorist rockets, ballistic missiles, and conventional ground and air threats from the east.

See more - http://www.defensibleborders.org/security

The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs has released this short, powerful video that explains why Obama's insane insistence that Israel return to it's pre-1967 borders is a death sentence for the nation and her people.

Even as our president turns his back on our friends and coddles our enemies, the American people have, and always will stand firm with Israel.

I saw a comment today, talking about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that truly expresses the Israeli and American spirit. That love of Freedom and Liberty all men have in their very soul, and what they will do obtain it, and keep it. It bears repeating:

A country has a gun to its head, missiles pointed at her children, and its back to the sea while being surrounded by enemies for decades, yet manages to produce men of such courage and character as this. There is something to be said of hardship. For hardship breeds hard men of character. Ease breeds men who lack courage and conviction to stand for anything. If there is any good that will come out of these Obama-years, it will be a winnowing of the talentless and useless individuals of low morals that merely occupy space.

~ Amen.

Sarah Palin "The Undefeated" Coming To The Big Screen Near You

By Gary P Jackson

Well, this should end any speculation about a 2012 run. One of the big efforts that has been going for the past couple of years is to combat the corrupt media and the lies they love to tell about Sarah Palin, her family, and anyone connected to her. Independent sites have done a good job, and the newly re-vamped SarahPAC website has an entire "setting the record straight" section.

Sarah's two best selling books, Going Rogue and America By Heart were heavy in both policy statements as well as record setting, as was Stephen Mansfield's The Faith and Values of Sarah Palin. Conservatives bought these books in record numbers, and millions learned about the real Sarah Palin. The one supporters have known for years.

Now we have breaking news that a major effort to re-introduce Sarah Palin to the nation, and the world will be hitting Iowa, South Carolina, and then theators nationwide starting in June.

Scott Conroy of Real Clear Politics has written a lengthy report on the project, how it came to be, and what it's all about. This combined with Sarah Palin's ability to connect one on one with the American people, as she has been doing since 2008, should have the GOP establishment hacks and Team Obama losing a lot of sleep between now and November 2012.

Palin's Secret Weapon: New Film to Premiere in June

Shortly after Republicans swept last November to a historic victory in which Sarah Palin was credited with playing a central role, the former Alaska governor pulled aside her close aide, Rebecca Mansour, to discuss a hush-hush assignment: Reach out to conservative filmmaker Stephen K. Bannon with a request. Ask him if he would make a series of videos extolling Palin's governorship and laying to rest lingering questions about her controversial decision to resign from office with a year-and-a-half left in her first term. It was this abdication, Palin knew, that had made her damaged goods in the eyes of some Republicans who once were eager to get behind her potential 2012 presidential campaign.

The response was more positive than Palin could have hoped for. He'd make a feature-length movie, Bannon told Mansour, and he insisted upon taking complete control and financing it himself -- to the tune of $1 million

The fruits of that initial conversation are now complete. The result is a two-hour-long, sweeping epic, a rough cut of which Bannon screened privately for Sarah and Todd Palin last Wednesday in Arizona, where Alaska's most famous couple has been rumored to have purchased a new home. When it premieres in Iowa next month, the film is poised to serve as a galvanizing prelude to Palin's prospective presidential campaign -- an unconventional reintroduction to the nation that she and her political team have spent months eagerly anticipating, even as Beltway Republicans have largely concluded that she won't run.

Bannon, a former naval officer and ex-Goldman Sachs banker, sees his documentary as the first step in Palin's effort to rebuild her image in the eyes of voters who may have soured on her, yet might reconsider if old caricatures begin to fade. The film will also appeal to staunch Palin supporters who have long celebrated her biting rhetoric and conservative populism yet know little about her record in Alaska and have perhaps written her off as presidential material.

"This film is a call to action for a campaign like 1976: Reagan vs. the establishment," Bannon told RealClearPolitics. "Let's have a good old-fashioned brouhaha."

RealClearPolitics was recently given an exclusive screening of a rough cut of the now finished film, which Bannon designed, in part, to help catapult Palin from the presidential afterthought she has become in the eyes of many pundits directly to the front lines of the 2012 GOP conversation.

Palin initially learned about Bannon's work after she saw one of his previous films about the origins of the tea party movement, "Generation Zero," which premiered last year in Nashville and was later aired in prime time on the Fox News Channel. Impressed, Palin promoted "Generation Zero" via Twitter before later reaching out to Bannon about creating something to highlight her record in Alaska, where her performance in office was overshadowed by her resignation eight months after the 2008 presidential election.

Though she did not have any editorial role in the project, Palin facilitated access for Bannon and his film crew to key Alaskan defenders who were involved with the major achievements of her administration, and the filmmaker spent several weeks in the 49th state gathering archival film and conducting research and interviews for the project. He and his team took extraordinary measures to keep their endeavor secret.

When they requested from Alaska's TV news stations footage that was shot during Palin's political rise, they asked for additional tapes containing subject matters that were irrelevant to their project, in order not to raise suspicions. And rather than staying at the well-appointed Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage, they instead took up temporary residence in low-key motels.

"We shot on the weekends, and we shot in locations that weren't being used during those weekends," Bannon said. "I did it with a handpicked crew of people I know and trust, and we were able to stay under the radar. The planning for the secrecy of this took many, many weeks."

Bannon originally titled his film "Take a Stand," which was the campaign slogan for Palin's 2006 gubernatorial run when she defeated incumbent Republican Frank Murkowski in the primary before cruising in the general election to become Alaska's youngest -- and first female -- chief executive. But in order to give it a more triumphant punch, the filmmaker changed the title to "The Undefeated."

Bannon acquired the audio rights to Palin's 2009 bestseller, "Going Rogue," and the former vice-presidential nominee's voice guides the film through the various stages of her career in Alaska.

Although Palin is not interviewed directly, the film features on-camera interviews and commentaries from 10 Alaskans who played different roles in her political rise, as well as six Lower 48 denizens who defend her in more visceral terms, including prominent conservative firebrands Mark Levin, Andrew Breitbart and Tammy Bruce.

Divided into three acts, the film makes the case that despite the now cliched label, Palin was indeed a maverick who confronted the powerful forces lined up against her to achieve wide-ranging success in a short period of time. The second part of the film's message is just as clear, if more subjective: that Sarah Palin is the only conservative leader who can both build on the legacy of the Reagan Revolution and bring the ideals of the tea party movement to the Oval Office.

Rife with religious metaphor and unmistakable allusions to Palin as a Joan of Arc-like figure, "The Undefeated" echoes Palin's "Going Rogue" in its tidy division of the world between the heroes who are on her side and the villains who seek to thwart her at every turn.

To convey Bannon's view of the pathology behind Palin-hatred, the film begins with a fast-paced sequence of clips showing some of the prominent celebrities who have used sexist, derogatory and generally vicious language to describe her.

Rosie O'Donnell, Matt Damon, Bill Maher, David Letterman, and Howard Stern all have brief cameos before comedian Louis C.K. goes off on a particularly ugly anti-Palin riff.

"I hate her more than anybody," C.K. says at the end of his tirade, the rest of which is unfit to print here.

Bannon intends to release two versions of the film. An unrated edition will contain some obscene anti-Palin language and imagery, while the other is targeted to a general audience and will seek a PG-13 rating from the Motion Picture Association of America.

The Making of a Politician

After a brief interlude featuring some old Palin family home video footage, Act 1 begins with Sarah as narrator, recalling the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989, when she was a young pregnant wife married to a blue-collar husband working on the North Slope.

"I hadn't yet envisioned running for elected office," Palin says in the audio taken from "Going Rogue," as images of the environmental disaster unfold on the screen. "But looking back, I could see that tragedy planted a seed in me. If I ever had a chance to serve my fellow citizens, I would do so."

Over the next hour, the crux of the narrative is taken over by Palin's Alaska backers, with former spokesperson Meg Stapleton and attorney Tom Van Flein leading the charge. Other more unfamiliar faces who uphold Palin's Alaska legacy include former Wasilla Deputy Mayor Judy Patrick, former gas pipeline adviser Marty Rutherford, longtime confidantes Kristan Cole and Judy Patrick, and former state Sen. Gene Therriault -- one of the few Alaska legislators who has remained vocal and consistent in his praise of Palin.

The recounting of Palin's earliest years in public office relies on a treasure trove of rare and never-before-seen video obtained by Bannon, including shots of Palin breaking ground on a construction project with her fellow Wasilla City Councilors, waving signs for her mayoral reelection campaign, and reacting acidly to a comment made by John Stein -- her predecessor in the mayor's office and one of the film's villains, who compared her to a "Spice Girl."

As the documentary transitions to Palin's ascent to statewide office, it dramatizes the culture of corruption that permeated Alaska, with images of fat men smoking cigars in dark rooms and the infamous Suite 604 at the Baranof Hotel in Juneau, where the FBI secretly videotaped executives of the oil services company VECO in a corruption scandal that would shake the foundations of Alaska government just as Palin was making a name for herself as an ethics crusader.

"The Undefeated" conveys the dramatic extent to which Palin's world has changed in just a few years, as it shows her announcing her gubernatorial campaign not at a massive rally but at a sparsely attended press conference in her kitchen. Those unfamiliar with Palin's political background will be surprised to learn that the woman who has become one of the nation's most boisterous press critics was once such a media darling that two of the Alaska TV news correspondents whose highly favorable reports are shown in the film ended up leaving their jobs to join the Palin administration.

Palin's charisma has in recent years often been overshadowed by the more unforgiving side of her personality, but one scene from the film illustrates how she has long used her personal charm to disarm and discombobulate her competitors.

"Oh, this will be fun," Palin says to her soon-to-be vanquished Democratic gubernatorial opponent, Tony Knowles, during a brief encounter in Anchorage on primary night in 2006. Knowles remains speechless, while Palin smiles and adds an "Oh, golly" for good measure.

Mining the ‘Maverick' Label

Palin's stint as a hard-charging reformer in Juneau won her approval ratings that consistently topped 80 percent and made her the most popular governor in America, catching the eye of the McCain campaign. It was the "maverick" label that piqued McCain's interest in 2008 -- far more than Palin's supposed purity on social issues -- just as it does the filmmaker's.

The movie focuses on Palin's triumphs on fiscal and energy matters, while ignoring hot-button topics like abortion. Indeed, although she was always identified as a staunch social conservative, Palin often worked more closely with Democrats than Republicans in Juneau and largely avoided ideological fights during her first two years in office.

Yet Palin the Fighter is an ever-present theme in the documentary; one of its most memorable moments occurs when Meg Stapleton recalls an encounter at the Fairbanks airport when Palin literally stared down an oil executive who told her, "You don't know who you're messing with."

There a lot more to the story, read it here.

President Palin's Western White House?

By now many folk have read the stories speculating Sarah and Todd Palin have bought a new home in Scottsdale, Arizona. This of course, is seen as yet another sign that Sarah Palin is close to announcing her White House bid.

Now we have a photo of what appears to be Todd and Sarah at the home.



What we know for sure is a company know as Safari Investments LLC closed on the home on May 13. Safari Investments is a Delaware limited liability firm formed May 12, the day before the deal closed. Delaware does not require the name of individuals connected to limited liability companies to be disclosed, and LLCs [limited liability corporations] are often used as a tool for high-profile people to purchase homes under the radar.

The nearly 8,000-square-foot dark-brown stucco home is secluded with a guard gate for privacy. It’s got six bedrooms, seven bathrooms and a six-car garage. There's also a swimming pool, spa, and a basement with a home theater, billiards room and wine cellar.

From ABC15 News:

"It's the best place you could buy a second home in the entire United States," said realtor Jeff Sibbach, who sells high end homes for John Hall & Associates.

Sibbach, who has worked with several celebrity clients said it's normal for high profile people to use an LLC.

He said this property, which has views of Pinnacle Peak, would be ideal for Palin. He also noticed there's a new jungle gym set up in the back.

"It's definitely a low key area, but a little bit of a compound," he said. "You got four and half acres, you got almost 8,000 square feet. A place to move around and be private."

[ ....]

The head of Arizona's Republican Party. Tom Morrissey and his wife Kris said they have open arms for the Palins.

"Her daughter lives here, she was John McCain's running mate," said Kris Morrissey. "I think it's going to stimulate the economy, she offers job opportunities to people."

The Morrisseys said the Valley is exactly the place where Palin, who's nicknamed "Mama Grizzly" should launch her 2012 bid for presidency.

"I think it would be great for the state, great for the party and ultimately great for our country," Morrissey said.

Real Estalker points out that the Palins own lake cottages near Safari Lake in Petersville, Alaska. Hmmm.

Obviously Scottsdale would make a great place to base a presidential campaign out of. Phoenix is close by, and the airport has direct flights to Alaska and every major American city. And let's face it, Alaska is just too far from the lower 48 to base a presidential campaign out of there.

This is a nice home, and has some land with it, which will make it more private and easy to secure, thus making it an ideal Western White House for President Palin and her family.

Here are some photos of the home:

The real estate site Trulia has a lot more photos here.

Sarah Palin: Barack Obama’s Disregard for Ally’s Security Begs Clarity

From Sarah Palin:

As I noted on Judge Jeanine Pirro’s show this weekend, I reject President Obama’s idea that Israel must cede back its territories to the 1967 line. Will we now be in the habit of telling our allies what their borders should be? Should Prime Minister Netanyahu suggest we return to our 1845 borders before the annexation of the southwest of the United States during the Mexican-American War? Should we give back parts of Texas, New Mexico, and California?

But the problem is even deeper. In both his State Department speech and his speech yesterday at AIPAC, President Obama made some seemingly specific comments about the Palestinian state that he wants to see created. He either misspoke or he has even more dangerous plans for our friends in Israel than he is publicly admitting.

In the State Department speech, President Obama said that he wants the borders of Palestine and Israel to “be based on the 1967 lines” (in other words, with both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as part of the new Palestinian state) and that he wants a Palestine that is a “sovereign and contiguous state” (emphasis added). The Merriam–Webster dictionary defines “contiguous” as “being in actual contact: touching along a boundary or at a point; of angles, adjacent; next or near in time or sequence; touching or connected throughout in an unbroken sequence,” like the “contiguous United States” which obviously excludes Alaska and Hawaii.

But the 1967 lines do not include a “contiguous” Palestine. (See the map here.) So what does he mean? The President proposes “mutually agreed [land] swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states.” Is linking Gaza and the West Bank with a road the “secured border” he has in mind? Or is he suggesting something more? Is it not possible he’s suggesting that the only way you can create a “contiguous” Palestinian state with “secured” borders is by carving Israel in half? Clarification on this point is of paramount importance, Mr. President.

In fact, that leads me to another even bigger geographic problem with the President’s remarks. As the British newspaper The Independent points out, there is further confusion because President Obama said, “The United States believes that negotiations should result in two states, with permanent Palestinian borders with Israel, Jordan, and Egypt, and permanent Israeli borders with Palestine.” As The Independent asks: “How does that square with the pre-1967 borders? Was the President implying that the new improved Israel will border neither Jordan nor Egypt, as it does now? Would Palestine’s contiguous territory come at the expense of Israel’s? Would Israel get the Gaza Strip and the Mediterranean and Palestine get the Negev and a Red Sea port?”

Is that what you have in mind, Mr. President? Do you not want an Israeli border with Egypt? You need to clarify what you mean. Diplomacy requires precision and you are causing enormous anxiety for some and making commitments to others that you might not be able to keep.

It has long been the dream of radicals like Noam Chomsky to create a “contiguous Palestine.” True, President George W. Bush spoke ambiguously of a “contiguous” Palestinian state, but he never defined it geographically with borders the way President Obama has, and he had the security of our ally Israel in mind more than our current President. President Obama has in essence boxed Israel in without regard for the facts on the ground and without appreciating the fact that Israel looks across the negotiating table and sees the terrorist organization Hamas in alliance with Fatah. Israel has demonstrated in the past that it is willing to negotiate fairly with a genuine partner in peace. Just look at the treaty it maintains to this day with Egypt. All of this should have been considered and the President’s words should have been carefully measured so as to help and not hinder the peace process. Unfortunately, his words have caused confusion and distressed our ally.

~ Sarah Palin