On Hardball it's Palin-bots and ex-Palin-bots on parade attempting to minimize the impact of the McGinniss book.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Clearly Shushannah Walshe is still shotgunning Palin brand Kool-aid, but Frank Bailey serves as a fairly effective counterpoint right up until Mathews hits too close to home with the Domionist talk forcing Bailey to make the attempt to change the subject.

By the way just imagine how much better Bailey's book might have been if he had not been so  worried about protecting himself from possible legal action? If that had happened it might have been Joe McGinniss commenting on HIS book instead of the other way around.

Good news! Nick Broomfield gets distributor for his documentary "Sarah Palin: You Betcha!"

Courtesy of Deadline.com:

Days before its world premiere at the 2011 Toronto Film Festival, Nick Broomfield’s hot-button expose documentary Sara Palin: You Betcha! has been acquired by Freestyle Releasing. The plan is to open in New York and Los Angeles on Sept. 30 and roll out. Broomfield raised over $30,000 on the crowd funding site Kickstarter to support the doc’s release, with private investors kicking in more money to launch the film. Cassian Elwes made the deal with Freestyle co-president Susan Jackson. The doc, directed by Broomfield and Joan Churchill, is not a fave of the Palin crowd, and the filmmakers say it lifts the veil off her image as a former hockey mom as the former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate gears for a possible presidential run in 2012.

No slam against Geoffrey, Frank, Fred, or Joe, but I really think that I am going to enjoy THIS film about Palin even more than any of the books, articles, or blogposts written about her. Possibly including my own.

It just seems like Nick has the best sense of humor about his subject, and that he approaches this bizarre individual who, let's face it, has been covered to death, in a fresh and engaging manner.

As most of you know I really try to find the humor in things whenever possible, and it looks like "Sarah Palin: You Betcha!" is going to have some laugh out loud moments, that I for one could really use at this point in our little journey.

Just in case you missed my last update on this film, here is another look at the official trailer.

(By the way I missed it earlier, but the white truck that Nick is chasing while yelling "Frank!" is Frank Bailey's truck. Nick tried to interview him several times but he always refused.)

P.S. I just want to remind you that if YOU were one of the many who contributed to Kickstart to help Nick get his film distributed, you should give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done, and take pride in the fact that Sarah Palin now hates you too! Welcome to the club!

Doonesbury on McGinniss, day two.

I continue to be interested in where this storyline is going.

It appears that Joe may have been given a peek at future strips, as he appears completely at ease with the similarities between this strip and what happened with the Bailey book.

Courtesy of Joe's blog:

Hedley is the Fox News reporter who was stalking me last summer at Lake Lucille. 

If he ever starts tweeting the juicy stuff, I’m screwed. 

Nobody will ever buy my book.But surely he couldn’t do that without an okay from his boss. 

And because his boss is my old friend Roger Ailes, that could never happen. 

Could it?

Pre-emptive damage control? Fanning the flames of controversy to drum up interest? Knowing Joe I would not be surprised if it was a little of both.

Clearly Joe is inviting people to talk about his book and the controversy surrounding the release of the Bailey manuscript.  However since he has closed the comments on his blog, he has not provided a forum for that conversation to take place.

Now I know that many of you have strong feelings about all of this drama concerning Joe and Frank's books, and I will endeavor to give you all some leeway here to discuss those feelings.  However I am going to warn you that I might reject a comment that just seems overly insulting or designed simply to turn people against each other.

(Comic courtesy of Doonesbury.com.)

Joe McGinniss and "The Rogue" get the Doonesbury treatment. Update.

I am a little intrigued with where this story line might go, in light of what happened with Joe and the authors of "Blind Allegiance." However Joe has been urging people to read Doonesbury, so he must have faith it will not show him in an unfavorable light.

By the way let me just say that I used to be a HUGE fan of Doonesbury!  And I mean HUGE!

I got hooked on them after I bought a bunch of the pocketbooks to read on the plane on my way to college. By the time the plane landed in Hawaii, I was hooked!

Hell I even named my cat "Doonesbury." And as much as I usually shun publicity it would absolutely make my decade if I showed up in one of the strips, unlikely as that may be.

Speaking of showing up in one of the strips, check out Trudeau's evisceration of Palin in this one from Sunday.

And since I brought up the authors of Blind Allegiance, I guess I should probably report that there is still some chance that they are planning to sue McGinniss over the leaked manuscript:

One of the three co-authors of a Sarah Palin tell-all said he's weighing his options -- including whether to sue -- over the unauthorized leak of the book's manuscript. 

Ken Morris said he spent tens of thousands of dollars on attorneys to try to fight the leak -- more than he made from "Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin: A Memoir of Our Tumultuous Years." The tell-all by former Palin aide Frank Bailey was also written with blogger Jeanne Devon. The book was eventually published in May though Morris and Devon have said they struggled to find a publisher. 

Rival author Joe McGinniss was accused of helping leak the manuscript in February. McGinniss, a best-selling author, made headlines last year when he moved next door to Palin in Wasilla, Alaska, as he researched his own book, which is due out later this month. 

McGinniss' attorney Dennis Holahan has acknowledged McGinniss sent a copy to media outlets and others in Alaska but said he told them not to reproduce any of it without the authors' permission. A message left for Holahan wasn't immediately returned Friday. 

Bailey's book was published in May though Morris and Devon have said they struggled to find a publisher. Morris said in an interview that he believes tens of thousands of copies of the draft manuscript were downloaded after the leak and said the manuscript became "one of the most Googled stories" in the world. He said he hired attorneys and cease-and-desist orders went to publications and file-share sites.

I know that many of you feel very frustrated at how all of this played out, and yes there is reason to be especially pissed off at certain parties, but I would still discourage any of you from cancelling your pre-orders of "The Rogue."

Joe CAN be a curmudgeonly pain in the ass, but he is ALSO a very fine author, and his book may be perhaps the best, and most damaging, one written about the Grizzled Mama.

Update: It looks like Andrew Sullivan agrees with me about Joe's book.

But having now read Joe McGinniss's "The Rogue," I can safely say that reality is about to re-attach to her. Finally! Some actual, reported, unafraid journalism on this farce of a candidate. Pre-order it now.

Geoffrey Dunn calls Frank Bailey out over his numerous ommissions of important information in "Blind Allegiance" and the fact that his allegiance to the Palins may continue to this day.

Courtesy of the Anchorage Press:

On July 28, 2009, Lisa Demer of the Anchorage Daily News reported online that "two of former Gov. Sarah Palin's most trusted aides are resigning and won't be part of the new Parnell administration... One is the controversial Frank Bailey, Palin's director of boards and commissions and a central player in the Troopergate case." The other was Kris Perry. According to Demer, Bailey's departure date was set for August 15. Bailey says nothing about this in Blind Allegiance. Nada. 

Once again, the word on the street in Anchorage that summer was that Sean Parnell refused to take on Bailey in his new administration. Bailey was tainted goods. Nor was Bailey offered a position at SarahPAC, Palin's then-recently formed political action committee, for which Stapleton had been hired as a spokesperson. Bailey's rendition of formally breaking his bond with Palin World is either contemptibly disingenuous or tragically pathetic. Palin had tossed Bailey under the bus long before he had his leaving- Palin-World epiphany on August 27, 2009, to which he devotes an entire chapter. By then, Palin had already thrown Bailey away like yesterday's trash. 

More significantly, Bailey's continued demonization in Blind Allegiance of the likes of Mike Wooten, John Bitney and, most significantly, Andree McLeod - all of whom were victimized by the Palin machine and by Bailey himself, and all of whom have had the courage to stand up to Palin in meaningful ways, without benefit of a payday - indicates that Bailey still doesn't fully grasp the political dynamics of what Palin and her administration did to their victims and to the democratic process in Alaska. 

Bailey has the audacity to opine about Wooten that "he is not a sympathetic person, and, arguably, has no place in law enforcement." This, he writes about a guy he has never met, about whom he admits that many of the charges levied against him by the Palins were grossly exaggerated, and against whom he conducted a shameful two-year campaign to have fired. Who is Bailey kidding with such assessments? Let's not forget that Wooten served 10 years in the U.S. Air Force, participated in a trio of U.S. military operations in the Persian Gulf War - Desert Storm, Desert Shield and Restore Hope - served another three years in the Air National Guards Reserves, and - with the exception of his problems with the Palins, her family, her friends and Bailey - served without incident as a State Trooper for roughly a decade. When I interviewed other Troopers about Wooten, all of them said they'd want him at their side in the trenches. Like a lot of other "Fox News conservatives" - Todd and Sarah Palin being at the top of the list - Bailey rendered no such service. Talk about gall. 

Bailey's self-admonitions in Blind Allegiance amount to little more than flagellatory wrist-slaps. Near the end he concedes, "We hadn't been good Christians. Far from it. We were dishonest and behaved in a vindictive and hateful manner." Yuh think? 

In respect to Wooten he writes: 

"And what, I wish to heaven I'd asked myself, was the importance to our job of governing Alaska in destroying Mike Wooten, and how was that remotely worth the hundreds and hundreds of man-hours spent trying to do so? How, for the love of God, would destroying him personally and professionally make the first family safer, as Sarah and Todd swore over and over was their main concern? 

This tale, unfortunately, includes the worst of Sarah's dysfunctional psyche and administration, including the compulsion to attack enemies, deny truth, play victim, and employ outright deception."

It also reveals the level of Bailey's sycophancy. He was riding shotgun with the Palins the entire sordid journey.On a personal level, Bailey, it would seem to me, still has some deeper penance to serve, some deeper encounter with his Christian values to explore. But that's between Bailey and his god. 

Politically, it's time for the former "Hatchet Man" to do the right thing. He knows that the Petumenos investigation was a sham - marred by misinformation, the withholding of critical documents, missing emails and testimony that doesn't fully jibe with the historical record. Never once during the course of his tenure with Palin - not a single time - did he ever register a meaningful protest against any of her actions. Not once. That's the real tragedy of Blind Allegiance. That for all his professed Christian faith and Christian values, Frank Bailey had no spine, no moral center. He was no different than the Palins.

As many of you are aware, I am friends with both Geoffrey Dunn and Joe McGinniss.

During the unfortunate incident which proceeded the publication of Blind Allegiance, Geoffrey and I e-mailed each other back and forth several times, trying to make sense of what had just happened and why.

During those e-mails, and phone calls, Geoffrey (Who had also read the manuscript), clued me in that there were some serious omissions in the manuscript and even blatant attempts by Bailey to polish up his image, and avoid potential legal trouble. He made it clear then that he was not going to let Bailey's version of events go unchallenged.

This article in the Anchorage Press which Geoffrey has written should bring you up to speed as to what he was alluding to back then.  I urge you to read all of it (Believe me there's a lot more), even though it may force you to reexamine what you think you know about Frank Bailey's character, his religious conviction, and his honesty.

As many of us have long suspected, Bailey may very well have purposefully left many damaging things about the Palins out of his book. Perhaps he did so to provide some continued protection for Todd and Sarah (As it seems clear he is not completely deprogrammed yet), but also to resurrect his damaged reputation, and to save himself from possible criminal proceedings.

Mudflats is a MUST read today. Update: Palin QUITS Iowa speech!

If you have not been there yet, I suggest that you do not delay as it has confirmation of many of the stories about the Palins that we have been hearing for a long time. (Just click here to visit.)

They do not say anything too revelatory about babygate (If Frank actually knows the truth, as has been suggested, then it appears he did not share it, or swore Jeanne and Ken to secrecy), but it does suggest what others in her inner circle thought might be the reason she was so tiny throughout her pregnancy.

The claim that Sarah was never actually pregnant with her special needs child Trig—a widely circulated rumor that became known as “Babygate”—was partially based on Sarah shocking the world by announcing her pregnancy at seven months. Prior to that, nobody had suspected a thing. The revelation was even a surprise to staff, Frank Bailey, and the media. Even State Senator (and, according to Sarah and staff an evil-doer) Lyda Greene incredulously said, “It’s wonderful. She’s very well disguised. When I was five months pregnant, there was absolutely no question that I was with child.” 

How did Sarah manage to hide that pregnancy for so long? That question seemed to defy explanation to all except a small number of personal insiders who expressed alarming speculation. During her pregnancy with Piper (and it was suggested later with Trig), Todd asked a friend whom he thought knew about such matters, “As unhealthy as her eating is, what can those diet pills do to the baby?” 

The friend explained to him, “I’m not sure, but I’d be concerned about having a failure-to-thrive child.” (Failure to thrive is where there is a significant interruption in the expected growth rate during early childhood and can result from malnutrition). Was Sarah so vain as to try and hide her pregnancy and prolong her petite, almost perfect figure through drastic means? It’s a proposition that shocked everyone, including, reportedly, her husband.

This might have been something that was discussed by people with no understanding of pregnancy but as many of you can probably already surmise for yourselves, the diet pills might help to keep most of a soon-to-be-mother's body slim, the baby is still growing inside of her, and it would in fact look even MORE pronounced against an emaciated frame.

And as you can see from these two pictures taken on March 26, 2008, Palin did NOT appear nearly as skinny as we see her today, nor does she appear pregnant. She might have been taking diet pills at this time, but it in NO WAY explains the oddness of the square pillow in her belly.

Nor does it explain how she ballooned up to to her April 13 size in just a few weeks.

However we were to desperately cling to that explanation instead of admitting the truth that should be obvious to everybody who saw her then you would have expected  Trig to have been equally as emaciated when he emerged from his starvation period in the womb, and as you can see by pictures of the child presented as Trig by the Heaths on the day of his "birth" such was not the case.

Like I said, binging and purging, and pounding down diet pills does not adequately explain this bizarre "pregnancy."

I don't know why this is still being trotted out as a possible excuse by people who I am relatively certain do not buy into it, but I think most people, who are NOT trying to protect Palin's birth mythology, are well aware of what the overwhelming evidence demonstrates.

Having said that I still suggest that you head on over to the Mudflats and read the article as it is chock full of information about Todd and Sarah's battles, Sarah's lack of parenting skills, and her crazy mood swings.

Update: Okay I have no reason to think this is related to the Mudflats post, but Palin just quit her September 3, Iowa speech. Courtesy of Politico:

Sarah Palin canceled her Saturday appearance at a tea party rally in Indianola, Iowa, a person close the former Alaska governor told The Wall Street Journal. 

The person cited “continual lying” from event organizers at Tea Party of America, including a recent mixup over whether former U.S. Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell of Delaware would also speak. 

Okay Sarah Palin quit because of "lying?" Ouch! The irony makes my head hurt!

Please, we all know she quit because the organizers had the audacity to schedule Christine O'Donnell on the same day. Palin lives by the law of the Highlander, "There can be only one!"

Of course on the plus side, there is DEFINITELY an opening for Christine O'Donnell to give a speech, and this time she does no have to worry about being tripped by that nasty old bitch as she walks off stage.

Update 2: Apparently the Teabaggers themselves have NOT been informed that her highness may not be coming. My somewhat educated guess is that SHE does not want to go, but that her "people" are flipping out that she might cancel yet again.

I am interested in how this all plays out, because it sounds to me like Palin might be having one of her manic episodes.

What do you think?  Will she show up, or not?

What is it about the water in Wasilla?

Courtesy of ADN:

Wasilla City Councilman Steve Menard has repaid the city the $350 it paid to the Westmark Sitka hotel for repairs to a room after a three-night stay by Menard, reports the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman. The council is planning a closed session Monday to discuss Menard's behavior. 

Menard was one of several city council members and staff attending the summer Alaska Municipal League meetings in Sitka last week. ... According to a bill sent to the city from the Westmark, damage to Menard's room included two mattresses and a chair urinated on, vomit on the carpet, removal of a screen from a window, a burned mattress, all bedding was ruined and there had been smoking in the room, which was prohibited. The room was out of service for three days while staff cleaned and made repairs. 

Menard, 41, whose late father was a Mat-Su Borough mayor and mother is an Alaska state senator, has been convicted at least twice in recent years for misdemeanor offenses involving drunkenness. 

Yeah I know what you are thinking, aren't there rumors that Track is the offspring of Steve Menard's brother, Curtis Menard?

Yes there are.  In fact most of the bloggers and authors who write about Palin have decided that the rumor is most likely not a rumor at all, but rather a cold hard fact.

The clincher for me was reading that Palin had threatened to drop out of the Governor's race due to allegations that Track was not Todd's child.

From: SarahTo: Scott Heyworth 
Cc: Todd Palin 
Sent: Friday, January 06, 2006 10:19 AM 

Subject: Todd's son 

Scott:Todd just told me you had spoken with him awhile back and reported that some law enforcement friends of yours claimed some dumbass lie about Track not being Todd's son? This really, really disgusts me and ticks me off. 

I want to know right now who said it, who would ever lie about such a thing... this is the type of bullshit lie about family that WILL keep me from running for Governor. I hate this kind of crap. I thought it was bad enough that my kids have been lied about recently regarding illegal activities that they had NO part in whatsoever. But a stupid claim like one of our kids isn't fathered by Todd?

I want to know NOW what this latest b.s. is all about because I want to get to the bottom of this garbage rumor mill. People who lie like this may know me well enough to KNOW THAT I WILL ALWAYS PUT FAMILY FIRST, AND IF UGLY LIES LIKE THIS ARE BELIEVED BY ANYONE AND ADVERSELY AFFECT MY HUSBAND AND KIDS... I WILL PULL OUT OF THE RACE BECAUSE IT'S NOT WORTH IT - AT ALL - TO LET MY FAMILY BE VICTIMS OF DARK, UGLY POLITICS LIKE THIS. 

 Sarah 
 (You can find the above on pages 41-42 of Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin.)

I learned long ago that the more aggressively Palin denies a rumor, the more likely it is that the rumor is in fact true. (Just think back to how many times she brings up the "rumor" that Trig is not her son as an example.)

So I think the take away from this is that some of the more egregious behaviors attributed to Track might NOT have been the result of poor parenting on the Palin's part, but instead due to simple biology.  So we might have to give a pass to Sarah for that.

I'm just saying.

However the other kids difficulties?  Totally the Grizzled mama's fault!

Another very positive review of Geoffrey Dunn's book "The Lies of Sarah Palin."

Courtesy of The Agony Column:

Dunn's book is pretty simply constructed. We get the life of Sarah Palin, as told by those who know and knew her, in roughly chronological order. It stands in pretty stark contrast to the official version, however, and here's where Dunn shows his ability to write more than news. While carefully documenting everything he writes about Palin, he also manages to give readers a story, to put things in context. Through fine prose, a remarkable job of excavating witnesses and friends from across the years, and the ability to craft character from fact, Dunn tells us the story of Sarah Palin.

This story is not without controversy, and what Dunn presents contradicts much of the publicity associated with Sarah Palin's carefully constructed image. In a sense, this is also a book about the state of news coverage in American media, where competence and coherence compete for our attention with sheer chutzpah, while we select facts to bolster our own opinions from a buffet of boutique made-for-me outlets. Dunn's story is powerful and convincing, no matter what your political inclinations may be. Of course, you'd have to read it, and by virtue of the title alone, many will understandably be disinclined to do so. They'll certainly miss a compelling story of American politics.

Now that the hubbub over Frank Bailey's book has died down, people are really starting to take a much longer, and more significant look at Geoffrey's book.

I know that people have been comparing the two books, and proclaiming which one they like the best, but in my opinion BOTH books have something important to offer. 

In Bailey's book you get the behind the scenes 411 on what was happening in real time during Palin's campaign, her scandalous behavior while she was Governor, and her frame of mind after she returned from the McCain/Palin campaign trail.

In Dunn's book you get just about everything else.

Of course there is STILL much left untold, which leaves plenty of interesting details, and scandalous facts,  for Joe McGinniss to reveal in his book.

The important thing to note as you read these three books is that they ALL describe Sarah Palin as the duplicitous, manipulative, and deeply troubled woman we all know her to be.

Which of course is in stark contrast to the person described in "Going Rogue",  the propaganda laden "The Undefeated," and even Palin's stupid reality show.

By the way, speaking of the REAL Sarah Palin, you would be well served to take a moment and read what Andrew Halcro had to say about Snowdrift Snooki in his Anchorage Press article entitled "We Can't Make These Things Up." He is ALSO describing a woman, very similar to the one in Baily and Dunn's books.