Palin vs. PETA: The e-mails

By GottaLaff

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has posted an online game:

[It] involves pelting the (moose-hunting) Alaska governor with snowballs, urging internet users to "help make the holidays safe for animals by fighting back against notorious animal abusers."

(In the game, we should mention, Palin is bikini-clad and wearing a fur coat.)

I played it, and it's not only fun, but also a little cathartic.

PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said she received a call from someone who claimed to be from Palin's office demanding that PETA take the game off their website, Bruce Friedrich, PETA's VP of Policy and Communications recounted to Shenan. When Newkirk asked for the gentleman's name, he yelled into the phone, “Just take the game down or you’ll read my name on the lawsuit,” Friedrich said.

A couple of hours later, after PETA posted a blog item on the call, Newkirk received an email from Bill McAllister, Palin's communications director.

What followed was a series of crackling e-mails, and what crackling e-mails they are! Why, they're so pointed and snarky, they rivaled some of the exchanges we have here at TPC Comments!

From: McAllister, William D (GOV)
Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2008 11:26 AM
To: christined@peta.org
Subject: The PETA Files

Your website claims we have threatened to sue you. What do you base this on? Be specific.

Bill McAllister

Director of Communications/Press Secretary

Office of Governor Sarah Palin

From: Ingrid Newkirk [mailto:ingridn@peta.org]
Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2008 11:52 AM
To: McAllister, William D (GOV)
Subject: To answer your enquiry:
Importance: High

Dear Mr. McAllister,

We base this on a phone call. Why don’t you ask in your office and be specific as to on what grounds you can sue us? We know that we can use the game as it’s pure parody. I thought people in Alaska had a sense of humor? Ingrid Newkirk

From: McAllister, William D (GOV) [mailto:bill.mcallister@alaska.gov]
Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2008 3:54 PM
To: Ingrid Newkirk
Subject: RE: To answer your enquiry:

That’s not very specific. Who called? Name and title given? Did you even attempt to verify it was genuine? Or are facts just cumbersome?

From: Ingrid Newkirk [mailto:ingridn@peta.org]
Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2008 11:56 AM
To: McAllister, William D (GOV)
Subject: RE: To answer your enquiry:

Do they train you to be rude?

From: McAllister, William D (GOV) [mailto:bill.mcallister@alaska.gov]
Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2008 3:58 PM
To: Ingrid Newkirk
Subject: RE: To answer your enquiry:

OK, so the bottom line is, you have attitude, but no facts. Sounds about right.

From: Ingrid Newkirk [mailto:ingridn@peta.org]
Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2008 12:21 PM
To: McAllister, William D (GOV)
Subject: So, are you backing down up there?

No, YOU have attitude, and it’s a bad one, and so did your legal emissary who must have gone to the same charm school.

From: McAllister, William D (GOV) [mailto:bill.mcallister@alaska.gov]
Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2008 5:03 PM
To: Ingrid Newkirk
Subject: RE: So, are you backing down up there?

Our still unnamed legal emissary, huh? Whether or not I’m charming in your eyes, at least I’m accountable.

From: Ingrid Newkirk [mailto:ingridn@peta.org]
Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2008 1:59 PM
To: McAllister, William D (GOV)
Subject: sorry?

You will be when you die, don’t you think? Did someone put Red Bull in your water cooler? Are you now saying that no one called from your office, that’s my question, or did the person who called overplay his hand, or what, not that I really care any more?

From: McAllister, William D (GOV) [mailto:bill.mcallister@alaska.gov]
Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2008 6:09 PM
To: Ingrid Newkirk
Subject: RE: sorry?

To answer the question in your subject line, yes, you are sorry.

I wouldn’t know if the person who (allegedly) called overplayed his (a man, then? – still waiting for more details) hand. No one here knows what you’re talking about.

Oh, you used to care? Which decade was that?

So, in the end, was there any resolution? Apparently not. Friedrich said Palin's lawyers "are welcome to talk to our lawyers."

Oh, and Friedrich also added this: "Sarah Palin is a bully who never saw an animal she didn’t want to kill, so it’s not surprising that her staff would try to intimidate us anonymously and then backtrack when called out. Our game represents a fun way to focus attention on a very serious subject—cruelty to animals supported by Sarah Palin and the other targets of the game—and we have no intention of taking it down in response to these pathetic attempts at intimidation."

McAllister could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

UPDATE: McAllister, Palin's communications director, just called us to say they are not upset about the snowball game. "We take all kinds of shots all the time," he said. " We realize we're a fair target. I could care less about the game."

McAllister says he is miffed about the alleged call Newkirk received. "This allegation about a lawsuit is just too much," he said. "No one in our office knew anything about it. And PETA has refused to say who called."

Well now, that was bracing. Happy holidays.