From my heart to yours, thank you.

I felt that my first post of the say should be hearty THANK YOU for all of you who donated money to my Pay Pal account yesterday.

As you know it was not my idea that Tuesday be a day to make donations to this blog, nor could I imagine ever asking.  But that does not mean it was not greatly appreciated.

Your generosity, and kind messages attached to the payments, were VERY kind, and it made me feel more than a little humble.

I would like you to know that I will not be spending the extra cash on loose women and fast cars. I will instead be spending the money on loose cars and fast women.

Obviously I am joking, mostly because my daughter can smell money for a thousand miles away and will undoubtedly come up with some emergency that can only be solved by emptying my bank account.

I know what you are thinking, "Can't you say no?'

Nope I cannot.

It turns out I love that little pain in the ass, who shoots me her mother's look when I am correcting her, and can NEVER SEEM TO GET HER DIRTY DISHES INTO THE DISHWASHER, too much to ever deny her anything.

Perhaps you would like to know that your generosity, and the money earned from Google ads, in the past have helped to:

• Purchase her a new transmission when her old one fell out of her motor-home on the way up here from Georgia.
• Purchase a ratty old couch that she could plop in the middle of my living room.
• Buy a truck for $500 that I thought would only last the summer, but which she is still driving a year later.
• Buy her a new Apple computer when her old one went belly up.
• Pay for her wisdom teeth to be pulled when she was in too much pain to even get out of bed.
• Purchase a Queen size bed because "I'm a grown woman Dad, I can't sleep in a twin bed anymore!"
• Buy her a new I-Pad for "her work."
• And pay for her gas when she was in between movie and TV gigs.

And believe me, even though I might complain all the time occasionally, I could not have thought of a better way to have spent any of that money. (Though I might have at least enjoyed SHOPPING for fast women.)

Anyhow I greatly appreciate that your generosity has allowed me to be the hero in my daughter's life when she desperately needed one. I don't think I could have managed it on just my salary.

Merry Christmas Angel!

So thank you again, and I hope I continue to provide entertainment, humor, and important factual information for many years to some.

Namaste my friends.

Gryphen's Sarah Palin checklist. A work in progress.

When Sarah Palin burst on the scene as John McCain's VP candidate and started fanning the flames of racism against Barack Obama, as well as making incredibly dangerous and fraudulent claims against our future President, I made a mental list of priorities that I wanted to help accomplish. (By the way this list evolved over time and now includes subjects that I was not even aware were coming down the pike in 2008.)

1) Stop John McCain and Sarah Palin from making it to the White House.

2) Reveal the truth behind the fantasy that Sarah Palin is a good and effective Governor.

3) Get her out of office!

4) Reveal the pathetic and controversial truth about Sarah Palin's personal mythology.

5) Provide a platform for those who know truthful stories about Palin, yet are afraid to report them to the press.

6) Direct focus on Palin, and her family's, attempts to grift money from her ignorant supporters, and report on how frivolously she spends that money.

7) Help journalists, authors, documentary makers, and anybody willing to tell the truth about Sarah Palin, make contact with sources willing to tell of their experiences with the Grizzled Mama.

8) Reveal to the widest segment of the American public possible, one of the BIGGEST, and most egregious, hoaxes ever perpetrated on them by a politician in our country's history. Babygate!

9) Draw back the cloak of secrecy that shields those that supported, and used Sarah Palin for their own nefarious reasons, to reveal them to the American public.

10) Help to make sure that another potentially dangerous politician, like Sarah Palin, George Bush, or John Edwards never gets close to the White House again. (I only include Edwards because his adultery could have made him a very easy person to blackmail into supporting policies that could have done our country great harm.)

So let's see how I've done.

1) After her defeat I received a lot of heartfelt thanks from many of the visitors here.

But in my opinion it was mostly undeserved.

I did only a small part in getting the truth out about Sarah Palin, John McCain, and the Republican party.

Others like Katie Couric, Keith Olbermann, Charlie Gibson, and even Tine Fey deserve FAR more credit than I do.  Of course ultimately the real thanks should go to Sarah Palin herself for being such an incredibly unqualified, and gaffe prone candidate.

(Half-check mark for me.)

2) I helped to found the Alaskans for Truth, and used my blog and networking, to get the truth out about Troopergate, the per-diems she paid herself to stay in her own house, the free travel vouchers she got on behalf of family members, the cronyism that riddled her administration, etc., etc., etc., to my fellow Alaskans.

(Check mark!)

3) I don't actually know how much I helped to accomplish this, but she's out! (Check mark!)

4) I don't believe there are too many people who are now unaware that the idyllic life that the Palins paint for themselves is pure mooseshit. Check mark!

5) I helped Mercede start her blog, wrote posts containing information from anonymous sources about the Palins that they could not get published in other places, helped Shailey get her story out in the National Enquirer, on this blog, and later on her own blog, tried to help Levi get his book written two years ago when it would have made a huge impact, and have maintained a blogroll linking to blogs ("Sarah Palin's Least Favorite Blogs") that have done some truly ground breaking work on getting the truth out about Klondike Kardashian. (Check mark!)

6) From SarahPAC, to "Sarah Palin's Alaska", to Dancing with the Stars, and even to Palin's 2012 Political Prick Tease, I have tried to rake away the Palin bullshit to lay bare what is REALLY taking place as often as possible.

(Half check mark. I could have done better.)

7) I have provided support to Geoffrey Dunn, Nick Broomfield, Joe McGinniss,  as well as others, and I have helped them as much as I could to make contact with people living in Wasilla, and around Alaska, that have stories to tell about the REAL Sarah Palin. I have certainly not provided ALL of their sources, and in fact all of them have made very impressive contacts of their own, but I did what I could. Some truths remain unrevealed.

(Half check mark.)


8) Most of this work has taken place right here on this blog, or on one of the blogs in the IM blogroll, but with Joe's book we are finally seeing the bizarre story reaching a much larger audience, and hopefully with the release of Fred's book , a much larger audience still.

(Pending check mark I hope to give myself soon.)

9) The Koch brothers, Fox News, the Dominionists, and the Republican party have all had their hands up the back of Sarah Palins blouse working her like a ventriloquist dummy voicing on their behalf crazy inflammatory things like "death panels," or "palling around with terrorists.'" Or ginning up racial hatred toward Barack Obama or the Muslim community.  This is clearly a work in progress, but I believe that we have made some significant connections between Palin and her puppeteers that have caused them some serious blowback and have forced them to abandon her in order to move on to less controversial marionettes.  However now that we know how they operate we can remain vigilant and help to identify the NEXT empty vessel that they fill up with their rhetorical poison.

Looking at you Rick Perry!

(Half check mark.)

10) This has ALWAYS been my ultimate goal, even while I am recognizing the possible futility of ever making it a reality.

Sarah Palin was chosen to be McCain's VP for the most superficial reasons imaginable.  She was attractive, she had faked having a Down Syndrome child to cement her pro-life position, she had hacked various polls to make herself seem popular in Alaska, and she was considered a Christian.

And that my friends was the whole package.

The fact that this occurred should have sent an electric shock of realization to the American population that candidates for the most important political positions in our country were being selected by shadowy figures who have determined that we are so simple minded that we could be seduced by a horribly unqualified pretty face, trained to read talking points off of cue cards.

If this had worked, and it came much closer to working than I think most of us want to admit, it would have furthered a continuing change in the political realities of our country that could have proved devastating.

This change has been orchestrated by the Republican party and started with Ronald Reagan, an actor who played the President, to George W. Bush, a simpleton who played a cowboy playing a President, to a Sarah Palin, a telegenic spokes model who played a Governor, who could have been groomed to play the President, once John McCain kicked the bucket served out his term and she ran in 2012. (Insert scream of horror here.)

Ultimately THIS is what the American voting population needs to be educated about, and Sarah Palin is the perfect example to illustrate that lesson. After reading what Frank Bailey, Geoffrey Dunn, and Joe McGinniss have written, it is clear that the information is now available for any of those who want to really understand how completely broken the political system is in this country.

Now all we have to do is help to encourage people to read the information that is now available, and the information that is still coming, about Sarah Palin, and then use that to vet the shiny new politicians that are just over the next horizon.

That sounds simple, right?  Yeah right.

Well I am not giving up.  After coming this far, there is NO WAY I am just walking away now.

Are you with me?

If you are then I perhaps someday this item will have a check mark as well. But not yet.

Now we're talking! First review from a "boots on the ground" Immoral Minority reader directly from TIFF.

Here is the full review from long time IM reader Stepahnie:

Hey! 

I just got home from the movie and wrote this up for you. 

The movie was really well put together with some people I haven't seen interviewed before.The best part was the question and answer. It's amazing to see people in Toronto know how dangerous Sarah would be in the White House. 

Nick was very fair and at the end he said he was glad to be done with Sarah Palin. He said it was tiring! 

I hope you enjoy my thoughts! 

I headed down to the AMC theatre where Sarah Palin You Betcha! was premiering. About a hour before it was about to start I lined up and there were already people waiting. There were two different movies lining up but the majority of the people were there for the Sarah Palin movie. They started letting us in and the theatre was full. A staff member from the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) always introduces the movie. He introduced Nick, Joan and the rest of the film crew, and stated there would be a question and answer after the film. The TIFF staffer then said, I’m the token American on staff and my personal opinion is Sarah Palin’s a crackpot, enjoy the film. 

As someone who reads the blogs, and for a Canadian probably knows way too much about Sarah Palin, I wasn’t sure if there was going to be any new information in the film, but Nick Broomfield’s approach to the film was very refreshing. Mixed in between the interviews would be commercials such as the bumpit, and evangelical Jesus will return to the earth clips. The humour kept the movie light. 

The movie followed Sarah’s political career from mayor, to governor to vice president candidate. Mixed in between were interviews from those that know her best. 

Nick had interviewed Chuck and Sally, the best part, in my opinion from that interview was that Chuck trained his dog to fetch antlers. There was also a clip of Nick talking to Chuck on the phone where he had decided this was a “hit piece” and that they scan and review opportunities for Sarah and if it’s a hit piece they don’t run these opportunities by her. 

Nick hit on some of the big scandals, her need for an enemy, her religion, affairs, love children, and of course troopergate. A big theme of the movie was her evangelical religion and the impact of that. Nick wasn’t able to interview any of Sarah’s classmates, so they went to Egypt to interview the only one willing to speak. I forget the lady’s name but she said regardless of your view of Sarah, the fact that most of her classmates were members of the Assembly of God, speaking out against Sarah is like speaking out against their religion and that’s just not done. 

She spoke of how she had never heard about hell until Sarah and her classmates told her she was going to hell, and how if you weren’t part of the Assembly of God you weren’t included in events, or “in the loop.” 

Another telling interview was with the former head of police John Ward, who said “your boss shouldn’t lie to you or the people she represents that’s what disappoints me the most.” 

The crowd was shocked with Lyda Green’s interview where she was disgusted with the interview Sarah did on the Bob and Mark show. Lyda said, “Sarah knew I had cancer, she sent me flowers, Bob and Mark may not of known, but Sarah did.” This actually made the audience gasp. 

Mercede Johnston talked about how when there was no need for her family anymore the pain that Sarah and Bristol caused. She said Levi’s comment about going on the national stage with the Palin’s was that he had to shave, and was told to smile, wave and say nothing. 

Mike Wooten talked about how when Todd was on the slope the children were farmed out to other people’s houses. He also said the Chuck didn’t like being around little kids, and would yell at them and tell them to play outside, then he used the same words to describe Sarah being home alone with the children. He said Chuck called all their mutual friends and threatened them to stay friends with the Heaths/Palins and not with him. He spoke very passionately and it was great to hear him speak so openly. 

Of course Gryphen was interviewed, I quite liked when he went through his Sarah Palin pictures showing how he picks what picture to use with a blog post. Nick asked his opinion on “the flying monkies” aka the palin-bots, and used Jesse’s story of what happens when you “cross” Sarah Palin. 

I saw the movie with my sister who doesn’t know anything about Sarah Palin and was most shocked at her need for an enemy, her lack of knowledge and how her religion drives her. 

The best part about seeing the movie at TIFF was question and answer afterwards. Nick and Joan were about to answer questions for about fifteen minutes. 

Someone asked how he was able to get people in Wasilla to speak to him. Nick stated that the people of Wasilla were extremely friendly, and invited them over to dinner before even interviewing them and that he got to know them. 

Another person asked what is the difference between Sarah and other politicians? Nick said that Sarah represents a change in American politics and how a majority of her base is poor and uneducated, and how that lack of understanding is how they can vote against their interests. 

He said Sarah uses an emotional message, which is not rational. 

Joan piped in that we need to remember almost fifty percent of Americans are irrational. 

Nick said Sarah uses the message of the “American Dream” and how you don’t need to rely on government. 

Nick was asked about Sarah and what he learned. He said Sarah’s religion and upbringing in Wasilla has shaped who she has become. He talked about how the first seven years shape who a person becomes and Sarah has this very strong good vs evil viewpoint. He spoke about how Sarah couldn’t just fire someone; she would make sure they would never work again. 

Someone asked if Nick or Joan had seen the Undefeated. They both shook their heads and asked if anyone in the audience had, no one raised their hand. 

Nick ended the question and answer with the fact Sarah was the biggest spending mayor in Wasilla’s history. How she raised oil taxes which many Republicans had opposed and she used democrats to pass the legalisation. 

He talked about how she didn’t really have a clear side on issues and jumped around the map, and how scary that would be for someone in the White House. 

The TIFF staffer ended the question and answer with a reminder that this movie would be coming out and to tweet, blog, and tell your friends because this message needs to get out. 

The movie is a great way to get a lot of the issues we talk about out to the general public. Nick uses humour, interviews and clips to bring a well balanced and fair look at Sarah Palin. 

I’d say it’s a must see, and hope it will get the message out to the “lame stream media.” 

Thanks,Stephanie

Now THAT is a review! Thank you very much Stephanie, I and the many readers of The Immoral Minority are very grateful that you were able to watch this premiere on our behalf and for the VERY impressive review that you have provided for our enjoyment.

Let's get a few things straight about my dedication to Babygate.

You know the internet is a big place, and there is no way I could possibly know what is happening on every corner of it.  In fact I often don't even know what is happening on the blogs in my very own blogrolls.

I just don't have the time to read all of the posts, and I especially don't have the time to read the comments. (Hell folks sometimes I only have time to skim the comments on my own blog.)

However occasionally I receive an e-mail, or a comment on IM, asking the most bizarre questions imaginable. And I have to wonder if it is a serious question, and that they are really that ignorant, or whether or not somebody is just fucking with me.

Usually it turns out that it was the result of a conversation that was started, or even an apparently definitive statement that was made, on another blog.

So let me address a few that have cropped up recently. (And no folks this will NOT become a regular feature.)

1) Have I stopped working on Babygate?

Seriously?  Somebody actually suggested that, and people BELIEVED them?

Why in the hell would I have put so much time and effort, and suffered such attacks on my character, if I was not determined to stick it out until the end?  Does THAT even sound like me?

You know that same meme has come up before.

It was being bandied about right before my "Tale of Two Babies" post, it was being talked about right before I introduced all of you to Fred, I remember hearing about it right around the time I posted the new pictures of Levi, and I even heard about it right before I wrote the "No Longer a Conspiracy Theory" LESS THAN ONE MONTH AGO.

Now ask yourself, do I REALLY seem like somebody who is no longer working on Babygate?

And then ask yourself this, "What would be the motivation of somebody making such a claim?"

2) Has Gryphen been paid off/threatened/convinced by Sarah/Mercede/Levi to NOT reveal things he knows about Babygate?

Number one I CANNOT be paid off. Period.

And nobody has ever even tried that approach with me, because I am pretty sure that even somebody as arrogant and ignorant as Sarah Palin herself realizes that I would be writing the next day's post in my head the entire time they were providing me with the material.

As for threats, well you know what they did, and you know how I responded. Does anybody really think my defiant attitude has changed in these last few years?

Did Mercede convince me not to tell some terrible secret about her family?

Well that would be the most reasonable of the unreasonable assumptions, because I would do just about anything for Sherry and Sadie. But NO that is not accurate either.

It IS true that there are things I know concerning what is going on with the Johnstons that I am not talking about, but it is not babygate related, nor is it a "terrible secret." And besides much of it will be revealed in the coming months, just like Sadie's Playboy shoot which I kept silent about until the news broke elsewhere.

3) Is Gryphen the mysterious "Anonymous" commenter from the "Nick Broomfield" post?

Wrong again. And I am a little unclear as to what my motivation would be for posting comments anonymously.

For the record I have NEVER posted anonymously on my blog, or any other blog.

I really only know of one blogger who did that regularly, or used a variety of screen names to hide their identity, but he was never a truly legitimate blogger, only a parasite. (I am sure that most of you will have little difficulty unraveling this particular mystery,)

4) Is Gryphen "Fred?"

Nope.  In fact I have never even met Fred.

However hopefully very soon all of you will have a much better idea of who Fred is, as well as his progress on the babygate book. There is even talk about a website, and I will gladly post the link when everything is up and running.

I am sure there are other questions and imaginative suppositions out there, but hopefully this will keep the conspiracy theories down to a low roar for at least a couple of weeks.

Let me add a few more bits of information.

It may not seem like it, but I actually DO have a real job.  In fact I am never NOT on the job.

Therefore I am not always able to sit down and write a long post, such as this one, and may only have time to post a link and jot down a few thoughts, before being called away to do what I am actually paid to do.

Writing about babygate requires new information, time to research that information, and time to write out the post that best utilizes the new data.  And often while that is going on there are other important stories that I feel should be addressed, so it may take me awhile to get a babygate post ready for your consumption. (I actually have just such a post on the back burner right now.)

And another thing, this blog is not JUST about Sarah Palin and babygate. In fact when I started the blog in November of 2004, I did not even know Sarah Palin existed. So even though the work to reveal her lies and obfuscations have often dominated my posts, I fully intend to continue on well after Sarah Palin is nothing more than a $100 question on Jeopardy.

Anyhow I hope that answers some of your questions, and puts some minds at ease.

As always thank you for visiting my humble Alaskan blog, but do yourself a favor once in a while and step away from your computer and enjoy the last of this great summer.  It will be winter soon enough and I don't want any of you blaming me for keeping you inside while the sun was waiting for you to come out and play.

Namaste my friends.

Hey, Rick Perry made it onto the cover of MAD magazine! Or did he?

Nah, it's not real. But it IS real good!

And let me extend a warm thank you to Mark, for using his bout of insomnia to create this wonderful graphic for the folks here at IM.

More about Nick Broomfield's documentary "Sarah Palin-You Betcha!" Including when it will be shown at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Courtesy of tiff.net:

Sarah Palin is a galvanizing political force in America’s deepening cultural rift. While her missteps are lambasted by critics and satirists, her base of support only grows. After her defeat as a Vice Presidential candidate and her resignation as Alaska’s governor, she retains a red-hot following stoked by her bestselling book Going Rogue: An American Life and the TV series Sarah Palin’s Alaska . She assiduously avoids tak­ing questions from reporters, preferring to communicate with her fans via Facebook and Twitter. Filmmaker Nick Broomfield has never been fazed by uncooperative subjects, con­ducting his pursuits like a vigilante armed with a boom pole, frequently backed by his collaborator Joan Churchill behind the cam­era. His past documentary targets include Margaret Thatcher, Courtney Love and Heidi Fleiss. When headline makers block his access, he brings them down to a human scale by exploring their milieu. 

For Sarah Palin – You Betcha!, that means travelling to Alaska. Broomfield makes several trips to interview Palin’s parents, neighbours and former colleagues. They trace her values to her upbringing in the Pentecostal faith. One memorable archival clip shows a church ceremony in which she is being exorcised of witches. An Alaskan pastor characterizes her faith as “apoca­lyptic Christian” and elaborates, “She has no hesitancy to use violence against evil...Until you understand that, I don’t think you understand Sarah Palin.” Can she rise to a higher office? Several former allies describe Palin throwing them “under the bus” when they got in the way of her ambition. John McCain’s senior strategist tells Broomfield that she’s “deeply dishonest,” describing her aspiration to be President as “spine-chilling.” 

Broomfield brings a wry humour to his quest, but also draws out the serious impli­cations of Palin’s political future. Is this worthy of your concern? You betcha.

Showtimes are listed as:

Sunday September 11AMC 77:00pm 
Monday September 12AMC 62:30pm 
Sunday September 18AMC 610:45am

I am still looking forward to any reviews that might be provided by any of you IM visitors who might be in the area during these showtimes in September.

I will gladly give you a byline, or respect your anonymity if that is what you prefer.

According to Nick I should have a DVD of the film arriving sometime in the near future, and I will likely provide my own review as well. However will not be able to gauge audience reaction by watching a DVD at home.

P.S. Remember Nick is still asking for donations to Kickstarter to help distribute the film, and it looks like he is almost halfway there with only 11 more days to go.