VIDEOS: Rachel Maddow on Jimmy Fallon Show talks drinks, throwing tomatoes at Palin

By GottaLaff





The first clip that includes Jimmy Fallon attempting to concoct, and then serve, a sorbet-laden drink to Rachel, and is hilarious.

The second clip includes comments by Rachel regarding her refusal to read Barbie McLipSchmutz's book until the Quitter agrees to an interview on the Maddow Show.

And finally, we get a lesson from Rachel on how to throw food at celebrities... and more.

I am grinning broadly as I type this.

"Going Rouge" being "censored by proxy, by a corporation"

By GottaLaff

My pal Micheal Stinson, co-author of Going Rouge: The Sarah Palin Rogue Coloring & Activity Book has a great post over at The Mudflats. Please read the whole thing, but here's a sample:

So, here’s the skinny. We called the local chain bookstore outlet, offered to do a signing while Sarah would be “YouBetcha-ing” at another corporate chain across town. The manager, a young guy, was totally into it, said it would move a LOT of books, and be a lot of FUN. [...]

A few hours later the manager called back, feeling sheepish, and for good reason. He’d talked to the marketing geniuses and they’d emphatically refused, on the grounds that it would be “too polarizing”! [...]

[I]t’s not his fault that our book at that moment was being censored by proxy, by a corporation. A book that attained Best Seller status on both Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble in categories from Humor to Political Biographies. One that is being distributed to bookstores across the nation (and Alaska) by Baker & Taylor. [...]

One thing we we’d like people to know about our book, just to be clear – is that Sarah didn’t write this one either.

A little scary, isn’t it?

I guess selling fancy Palin mockin' directly across town from the real (well, "original"; nobody can call her "real" with a straight face) Barbie McLipSchmutz would have caused a real brouhaha and scared all the kiddies away:

If there's one thing we wouldn't want, it's a snarky, satirical book signing allowing people to recognize another side of Barbie at exactly the same time as she hawks her polarizing, ghostwritten pack of lies.

New rule: It's best to avoid controversy or dissent anywhere near the vicinity of a corporate book store chain. It might be bad for business.

Sarah Palin's dad: She left Hawaii because Asians made her uncomfortable

By GottaLaff

I guess Barbie McLipSchmutz is, as she says, "one of us", if by "us" she means "not them".

During an interview with reporters (who wrote "Sarah From Alaska"), Sam Tanenhaus (who reviewed Barbie's ghostwriter's book) noticed that Papa Palin contradicted his own Daughter the Quitter's reasons for leaving college in Hawaii.

Which means, she has now achieved merging quitting with lying in one fell swoop.

Presenting the ol' Quit/Lie Combo served up all nice and crispy with a side of Word Cole Slaw and a heaping ladleful of "brown people make me colicky":

Palin, though notoriously ill-traveled outside the United States, did journey far to the first of the four colleges she attended, in Hawaii. She and a friend who went with her lasted only one semester. "Hawaii was a little too perfect," Palin writes. "Perpetual sunshine isn't necessarily conducive to serious academics for eighteen-year-old Alaska girls." Perhaps not. But Palin's father, Chuck Heath, gave a different account to Conroy and Walshe. According to him, the presence of so many Asians and Pacific Islanders made her uncomfortable: "They were a minority type thing and it wasn't glamorous, so she came home." In any case, Palin reports that she much preferred her last stop, the University of Idaho, "because it was much like Alaska yet still 'Outside.' "

Asians and Pacific Islanders just weren't glamorous enough for her. Damn. If only they were into high heels, lipstick, and hip-waders.

And we all know how "minority type things" can make a girl feel all squirmy and outta the Hawaiian loop. Who can blame her for needing to escape from all that island clique-itude?

Heywaitjustadurnminute... Did she just reject President Obama's birthplace... again? Boy howdy, I think she did.

H/t: TexBetsy

"Rogue" CD is... abridged. Sarah the Quitter does it again!

By GottaLaff

Abridged. Her CD is abridged, just like everything else Barbie McLipSchmutz undertakes. Or should I say, underta--

I wonder if she quit mid-sentence. Oh wait. I just made the assumption she could read. Silly moi.

Maybe her ghostreader learned basic quititude from her underling? Barbie can then point her overused finger of blame at her.

That's a wrap. I'm about done with this po--

H/t: Julie and Micheal (Symbolman) of Going Rouge fame

Former Palin aide: “You probably know things about her that she doesn’t want other people to know.”

By GottaLaff

The Mudflats has a great post by award-winning writer and filmmaker Geoffery Dunn called "More Palin Lies: The Trooper in “Troopergate” Breaks His Silence". Please go read it. Here's an excerpt:

For his part, Wooten recalls a telling conversation with an associate of Palin’s campaign team when she was running for Governor in 2006. “You could probably bring the whole campaign down,” the aide said. “You probably know things about her that she doesn’t want other people to know.”

But here is one of my favorite parts that is just so Barbie McLipSchmutz:

[T]he McCain-Palin campaign portrayed him as a “rogue” Trooper...

And they say irony is dead.

VIDEOS: Very serious readings of very droll "Going Rogue"

By GottaLaff

Gryphen over at The Immoral Minority got me hooked on these videos. They're short and they're hilarious.

Andrew Halcro supplies class where there is none, as does the musical accompaniment. Do pour yourself a glass of something bubbly, raise a pinky, and enjoy:

VIDEO- Nicolle Wallace on Palin book: "Not a single thing...is anything I ever said."

By GottaLaff



Everyone seems to be calling Barbie McLipSchmutz a liar these days:

Wallace said Palin's account is completely false.

"It's not even like it's slightly wrong. It's like I feel totally the opposite. I would never disparage the president. I adored him then and I adore him now."

Wallace seemed mystified by Palin's accounts, conceding that there were enough strategy miscalculations during the campaign that Palin "didn't have to make stuff up."

Barbie keeps proving the Theory of Devolution.

Newsweek Senior Editor: Palin's book "disturbing", "vindictive"

By GottaLaff

Image from my pal Micheal Stinson's book Going Rouge

Newsweek Senior Editor Michael Hirsh had a thing or two to say about a thing or two about Barbie McLipSchmutz's saying a thing or two about a thing or two:

"There are a couple things that were somewhat disturbing about Palin that appear in this book," Hirsh observed, "(including) this streak of vindictiveness toward her political enemies, which we see now include many in the (Arizona Senator and former GOP standard bearer John) McCain camp. [...]

"So, 'Going Rogue' is probably an appropriate title," Hirsch said. "Whether it's the kind of president America wants, assuming that Sarah Palin is gearing up for a presidential run, is another question."

On MSNBC this morning, even Barbie groupie Pat Buchanan opined that this book was well, not helpful. He agreed with his Democratic counterpart that she shouldn't have dug up the past again, and that if she were to run in 2012, it will all be used against her... again.

As usual, B-Lip displays her usual stellar judgment and political savvy by coming off as a petulant whiner whose only expertise is damaging her own image.

VIDEO Snarkage: Sarah Palin Memoir - The Marketing Strategy

By GottaLaff

The Full Ginsburg does it again:

Readers going rogue on Palin

By GottaLaff

What readers are reading is Going Rouge. It's written better, has great illustrations, artsy activities, makes a whole lot more sense, and is fun for the whole family!

Daily Finance has a great piece on the economics behind Sarah Palin's new book, Going Rogue, and suggests the publisher may not be making any money.

In fact, "the math suggests that it may be the readers who go rogue on Palin -- and on HarperCollins's plans to right the wrongs of its dismal book sales."

Maybe Team Barbie McLipSchmutz should think about lowering the price of Going Rogue... again.

Rogue Barbie wouldn't go on stage with GOP Senator Sununu

By GottaLaff

Forget reaching across the aisle, Wardrobe Barbie won't even reach across the stage:

Another reporter asked if he [Steve Schmidt] was happy with "the pick of Palin." He ducked the question. Schmidt was trying, not very hard, to hide his true feelings. He had been compelled to personally take over Palin's debate prep when she seemed unwilling to engage in the drudge work of learning the issues. McCain's advisers had been frustrated when Palin refused to talk to donors because she found it corrupting, and they were furious when they heard rumors that Todd Palin was calling around to Alaska bigwigs telling them to hold their powder until 2012. The day of the third debate, Palin refused to go onstage with New Hampshire GOP Sen. John Sununu and Jeb Bradley, a New Hampshire congressman running for the Senate, because they were pro-choice and because Bradley opposed drilling in Alaska. The McCain campaign ordered her onstage at the next campaign stop, but she refused to acknowledge the two Republican candidates standing behind her. McCain himself rarely spoke to Palin (perhaps once a week when they were not traveling together, estimated one adviser). Aides kept him in the dark about Palin's spending on clothes because they were sure he'd be offended. In his concession speech, McCain praised Palin, but the body language between them onstage was not particularly friendly. (Palin had asked to speak; Schmidt vetoed the request.)

I'm loving this next one:

The ad attacking Obama's former pastor was slick, with much better production values than the crude Reverend Wright videos running on the Internet. But it was too little, too late. When a NEWSWEEK reporter e-mailed a top Obama adviser for reaction, a reply came back reading simply: ZZZZZ.

Gramm-pa McCain has the worst judgment imaginable. The right candidate won.

Understatement.

UPDATE: The denials begin.

McCain senior advisor Scheunemann fired for "trashing" staff

By GottaLaff

D'oh! There go the Republicans eating their own again:

Randy Scheunemann, a senior foreign policy adviser to John McCain, was fired from the Arizona senator's campaign last week for what one aide called "trashing" the campaign staff, three senior McCain advisers tell CNN.

One of the aides tells CNN that campaign manager Rick Davis fired Scheunemann after determining that he had been in direct contact with journalists spreading "disinformation" about campaign aides, including Nicolle Wallace and other officials.

"He was positioning himself with Palin at the expense of John McCain's campaign message," said one of the aides.

Can we call him Rogue Randy now? Huh? Can we? Huh? Huh? ::jumping up and down, clapping::

Senior campaign officials blame Schuenemann specifically for stories about the way Wallace and chief campaign strategist Steve Schmidt mishandled Palin's rollout — stories that the campaign says threw them off message in the critical final weeks of the campaign.

Ohhh, so that's what threw them off. I thought it was their entire platform combined with a nasty, hateful, vicious strategy. Silly moi.

But good for them for firing Rogue Randy for pallin' around with Palin when it could have been for something trivial, like say.... lobbying for Georgia while advising their candidate. Once again, their stunning judgment is trumped only by their wisdom, fine taste, and stellar character.

Palin "Shopping Spree" Bigger Than Reported

Hahahahaha!!!! Done, history, over for this woman.

In their special election edition, Newsweek reports that Gov. Sarah Palin's "shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain's top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy."

"One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family -- clothes and accessories from top stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. According to two knowledgeable sources, a vast majority of the clothes were bought by a wealthy donor, who was shocked when he got the bill."

"Palin also used low-level staffers to buy some of the clothes on their credit cards. The McCain campaign found out last week when the aides sought reimbursement. One aide estimated that she spent 'tens of thousands' more than the reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for her husband. Some articles of clothing have apparently been lost. An angry aide ... said the truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its books."

Willard Romney: Obama is not a socialist

By GottaLaff

What a rogue!

While John McCain's campaign has tried to tie its Democratic rival to socialism, one of the Arizona Republican's top surrogates said Barack Obama is not a socialist. [...]

“You know, I don’t think Barack Obama’s a socialist..."

Of course, he went on to disagree with Obama's positions, but oops! I guess this makes him a maverick, a diva, or a whack job.

IWRC* Palin: Diss-Rogued, the sequel

By GottaLaff

D'oh! She's at it again! Maybe I should change her name to OM (Off Message) Palin. Rogue Without a Cause Palin? RoguesPierre Palin?

Ensuring that news of the Republican National Committee's sartorial spending spree will remain in the headlines for at least one more news cycle, Sarah Palin on Sunday sounded off on the $150,000 wardrobe that was purchased for her in September, denouncing the report as "ridiculous" and declaring emphatically: "Those clothes, they are not my property."

A senior adviser to John McCain told CNN's Dana Bash that the comments about her wardrobe "were not the remarks we sent to her plane this morning." Palin did not discuss the wardrobe story at her rally in Kissimmee later in the day.

Bush III: She doesn't learn from her mistakes, does what she wants to do despite the consequences, and is extra crispy stupid about it.

*"In What Respect, Charlie?"

The further misadventures of IWRC*: Palin Diss-Rogued

By GottaLaff

Now even the Republicans on her own team are dissing IWRC*, the Ambitious Rogue Candidate. I posted earlier about that here, but before I knew it, out came some more juicy tidbits, and it's all over the TeeVee Machine, too:

With 10 days until Election Day, long-brewing tensions between GOP vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin and key aides to Sen. John McCain have become so intense, they are spilling out in public, sources say. [...]

A second McCain source says she appears to be looking out for herself more than the McCain campaign.

"She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone," said this McCain adviser. "She does not have any relationships of trust with any of us, her family or anyone else.

"Also, she is playing for her own future and sees herself as the next leader of the party. Remember: Divas trust only unto themselves, as they see themselves as the beginning and end of all wisdom."

Stop the presses! She doesn't even trust... Piper? Or Willow? Or Bristol? Or Trig? Or Track? Or First Dude Guy TweedleTodd? A down-home family gal like her? That doesn't sound exactly Christian family valuey to me.

But back to crumbling Team Gramm-pa. They lamented a lot that they held her back, because she was unprepared and needed more time, see, because, see, "she was not ready and that the missteps could have been a lot worse. They insisted that she needed time to be briefed on national and international issues and on McCain's record."

If she was "not ready" for a few basic questions, then how can they possibly claim she's ready to lead the entire country?

Yet another senior McCain adviser lamented the public recriminations.

"This is what happens with a campaign that's behind; it brings out the worst in people, finger-pointing and scapegoating," this senior adviser said.

The worstest of the worst, by the worst, and for the worst. It can't get much worse than that.

"She's no longer playing for 2008; she's playing 2012," Democratic pollster Peter Hart said. "And the difficulty is, when she went on 'Saturday Night Live,' she became a reinforcement of her caricature. She never allowed herself to be vetted, and at the end of the day, voters turned against her both in terms of qualifications and personally."

If IWRC has provided us with that kind of track record already, then by 2012, we'll have volumes.

*"In What Respect, Charlie?"

Handle her? I hardly know her! IWRC* Palin May Cut Off Handlers

By GottaLaff

That IWRC*! She's so gosh darned mavericky that she's now ignoring her own advisors.

And-- now tell me if you've heard this old chestnut before-- Randy Scheunemann called bulls*** on this very thing just yesterday. Coincidence? I. Don't. Think. So:

Four Republicans close to Gov. Sarah Palin tell Politico she "has decided increasingly to disregard the advice of the former Bush aides tasked to handle her, creating occasionally tense situations as she travels the country with them."

Said one: "She's lost confidence in most of the people on the plane. I think she'd like to go more rogue."

"Rogue" as in countries that harbor terrorists? Why, that would mean that she's just like them!

"Anger among Republicans who see Palin as a star and as a potential future leader has boiled over because, they say, they see other senior McCain aides preparing to blame her in the event he is defeated."

Everybody now! Join me in singing The Blame Game. "Palin! Palin, Palin, Mo Malin, Banana Fanna Fo Failin'.... "

*"In What Respect, Charlie?"