Beige meets Off White as Tim Pawlenty injects a little...a little...well whatever is the opposite of "excitement" into the Mitt Romney campaign.

"You're just kidding that I have to wear the magic underwear right Mitt?"

Courtesy of The New York Times:

Mr. Pawlenty, the former governor of Minnesota who ended his quest for the Republican nomination last month, chose Mr. Romney over Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, whom he was close to from their years serving on the Republican Governors Association. 

Many of Mr. Pawlenty’s contributors and supporters had been waiting for a signal from him in the escalating contest between Mr. Romney and Mr. Perry. And Mr. Pawlenty had been looking for help in retiring a campaign debt of at least $500,000. 

In a statement announcing Mr. Pawlenty as a national co-chairman of his campaign, Mr. Romney said: “Tim will be a trusted adviser as I move forward with my campaign. Tim has always been an advocate for lower taxes, reduced spending and an environment where jobs can be created. It is an honor to have him serve as co-chair to my campaign for the presidency.” 

Mr. Pawlenty, in an interview Monday morning on “Fox and Friends,” said of Mr. Romney, “I believe he’s going to be our party’s nominee.”

Oh yeah, THIS is what a campaign that has a mild mannered sofa cushion for a candidate does to reinvigorate their message.  Add the guy that restless sheep count jumping into a campaign at night to help them fall asleep.

The only way that Pawlenty could possibly make the Romney campaign more interesting is if Mitt lit him on fire and pushed him into a crowd of kerosene soaked Teabaggers. (I have to admit I would probably tune in for that.)

Of course now that Tim "Micheal Bay" Pawlenty is on board, he MIGHT be able to jazz up Romney's campaign commercials, and take them from this:

To this:

After all we know how much these advertisements helped Tim Pawlenty.

Wait that didn't come out right.

Just for laughs. The Republican candidate flow chart.

Sometimes you have to just laugh at the GOP circus as it rolls into town.

Of course later there will be those huge piles of elephant shit that somebody needs to shovel off of the streets, but for right now we can just enjoy the show.

Did you see Michele Bachmann's rebuttal of President Obama's speech? Well you are not alone.

I don't know why everyone keeps saying that she is finished as a candidate.

I mean she can still draw a crowd.

A dozen people IS considered a crowd, right?

Failed Alaska Senate candidate Joe Miller downplays FBI informant's role in campaign.

Courtesy of Alaska Dispatch  concerning the embarrassing fact that William Fulton was working for Joe Miller while simultaneously working for the FBI to gather intelligence on domestic terrorist Schaeffer Cox:

"Fulton was not 'close' to me or my campaign," Miller said via email through his spokesman Randy DeSoto, explaining that Fulton's role in the campaign was insignificant and short-lived. 

Fulton provided security for a town hall Miller held in October, brought in at the request of a campaign volunteer, according to DeSoto. The assignment went badly when Fulton detained Alaska Dispatch editor Tony Hopfinger. After the ensuing public relations mess -- which struck in the weeks leading up to the November election -- the Miller campaign decided if it needed event security again, they'd tap someone other than Fulton and his military surplus store, Drop Zone. 

Other than a few hours spent working as a security guard for an afternoon event, Fulton had nothing to do with the campaign, Miller said. 

"Fulton's actions at that town hall meeting occurred without my direction or approval … I was not even in the building when the handcuffing occurred," said Miller, adding that "Nevertheless, paid government informants should not be campaign managers or otherwise involved in political campaigns." 

"I want to make it explicitly clear that I do not believe that Bill Fulton acted with the intent to harm our campaign during the Anchorage town hall meeting this past October. In other words, I do not buy into any type of federal conspiracy against the Joe Miller for U.S. Senate Campaign," he said.

Okay a couple of things.

It is not really true that Fulton was not "close" to the Miller campaign, or that his role was "insignificant and short lived."  In fact he was likely far more involved than most people realize.

In fact Fulton was working with Joe back in 2008 when Miller and Sarah Palin tried to oust Randy Reuderich as head of the Republican Party in Alaska.

And according to my sources, though Fulton was not specifically trying to get dirt on Joe Miller while working for the FBI, he did see some things that Miller REALLY does not want to see come out in the media.

Of course if I have anything to say about it, it will DEFINITELY come out in the media.

By the way "The Vaguely Bearded One" was described to me as a paranoid schizophrenic, who constantly worried that his office was bugged or that he was being followed, so you just KNOW that right now he is losing his mind wondering how much Fulton learned during the campaign, and who he might have told.

And do you know what Joe-Joe?

You SHOULD be worried!

Rachel Maddow discusses how Republicans use a Presidential campaign, not to win the White House, but as a stepping stone to fame and fortune. Sound familiar?

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

(By the way in the lead up to this segment Rachel played the confrontation between Todd Palin and the Alaskan women in Iowa that we discussed here several days ago.  You can see that here.)

Lawmakers puzzled by last minute SarahPAC donations. "Uh, thanks?" Update!

"Dear (fill in the blank), thank you for being a common sense patriot, that ignores silly distractions like logic or facts. Here's some money."

Courtesy of The Hill:

The 13 lawmakers who received campaign donations from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) have one thing in common — none of them got advance notice the checks were coming.

Palin distributed $65,000 to candidates during the first half of this year, according to a Federal Election Commission (FEC) filing this month by Sarah PAC, Palin's political action committee.

But the lawmakers who received donations said they never heard from the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee — and possible 2012 presidential candidate — or her representatives about the money.

"The check showed up; there was no discussion ahead of time," said a spokesman for the campaign of Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.), one of 11 House Republicans and two GOP senators to receive donations.
The contributions were unsolicited and unheralded, according to the lawmakers who received the donations and their campaign committees.

Palin doled out the maximum $5,000 to 13 incumbent Republicans: Sens. Bob Corker (Tenn.) and Roger Wicker (Miss.) both received donations, as did Reps. Lou Barletta (Pa.), Larry Bucshon (Ind.), Ann Marie Buerkle (N.Y.), Francisco "Quico" Canseco (Texas), Mike Coffman (Colo.), Sean Duffy (Wis.), Renee Ellmers (N.C.), Mike Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Martha Roby (Ala.), Allen West (Fla.) and Hartzler.

The contributions were all made on the penultimate day of the second quarter, June 29, with the exception of one sent to Coffman, which was a debt retirement check sent Jan. 31.

You know I hate to be negative, but it KIND of seems that the super sharp accountants running SarahPAC were completely caught off guard by the fact that it was the end of the quarter, and time to quickly dole out some money to politicians in order to continue the facade that they are a political action committee, and not just a tax free pool of readily available money that Sarah Palin can use for things like bus tours, baby nannies, road kill inspired fright wigs, and of course monetary gifts for those who troll the internet leaving nasty remarks on liberal blogs on Palin's behalf. (You don't expect Bristol, Willow, and Piper to get real jobs do you?)

And what makes me think it was last minute?

In the cases of Corker and Wicker, Palin's contributions are especially head-scratching for political observers because of the ire both members have drawn from the right. Wicker has long been known as an advocate of so-called pork projects, and conservatives bristled at Corker's work with then-Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) last year on Wall Street reform legislation. (Corker eventually bailed from talks.)

"Wicker and Corker in particular make exciting prospects for the Tea Party movement," wrote Erick Erickson, the head of the influential conservative blog RedState, the day after last fall's election.

Hmm, it sort of looks like WHOEVER made the decision as to which lawmakers were to receive this $65,000 did their research by simply visiting Redstate and reading that old article, and did not bother to find out if the individuals named were STILL embracing teabagger ideals.  Doesn't it?

Well perhaps I am being too much of a cynic (I do that sometimes), surely the people of SarahPAC would be happy to clear this up.

A spokesman for Sarah PAC did not respond to emails seeking an explanation as to the former governor's contributions.

Or then again, perhaps not. 

You know maybe if the little SarahPAC elves were to follow their Queen's example, and write on their hands that they needed to make a few political donations BEFORE the end of the quarter, they might not look like such complete amateurs.

No your eyes are not deceiving you, the moron is STILL writing notes on her hand.

After all, look how intelligent it makes her appear!

Update: Just to rub salt in this wound, I now have learned that many of the lawmakers who received donations from SarahPAC also voted to RAISE THE DEBT CEILING.


Sens. Bob Corker Tennessee and Roger Wicker of Mississippi both voted for the compromise and had already received $5,000 donations from SarahPAC this year. So did Reps. Lou Barletta of Pennsylvania, Larry Bucshon of Indiana, Francisco "Quico" Canseco of Texas, Mike Coffman of Colorado (whose check was not designated for his 2012 race, but was instead donated to help retire his 2008 debt), Sean Duffy of Wisconsin, Renee Ellmers of North Carolina, Mike Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Allen West of Florida.

If you will excuse me I think I will try to be a little helpful for a change, make a call to Sears, and put a new refrigerator on layaway for the Palins.  Somehow I think they are going to need one.

Coming soon, an update on the progress of the "babygate" book.

Sarah Palin on March 26, 2008. Eighteen days before "birth" of Trig Palin.

I currently have in my possession an e-mail from the author of the upcoming "babygate" book.

I will post it fairly early tomorrow morning because, and some of you may not be aware of this, IM receives more visitors on the weekdays than on the weekends.  In order for the most people to have the opportunity to read what Fred has written I decided it would be best to post it on a day that saw more traffic so that I would not have people asking me over and over again about an update.

I think that most of you will be very pleased with the information, though for some of the more impatient ones it might be a little frustrating.

Just like with Joe and Geoffrey's books, there are ALWAYS new revelations which threaten to change the tenor of the book or delay its release.  I learned long ago that patience is my best friend.

Speaking of patience, I should also let you know that there are many MORE revelations coming out about the Grizzled Mama, and her "Alaska mafia." Including one that I heard just the other day that I am hoping like crazy I can manage to prove, because even among the most jaded Palin watchers this one will be huge.

One thing I can share is that some, who are claiming to be in the know, are convinced that Palin actually WILL announce her candidacy during her speech in Iowa on September 3rd.

I remain somewhat skeptical, but as I have said before I would not put ANYTHING past this lunatic.

I know a couple of authors who would be thrilled if Palin DID launch a short lived, ultimately doomed campaign in early September.  And I do have to admit that it would certainly bring more players into the "Sources for Gryphen" family.

I guess that would not be all bad now would it?

Update: I was just now watching Meet the Press, and sitting there with my plate of eggs watching David Gregory ask David Plouffe just WHICH bills the government will pay for certain if the debt ceiling does NOT get raised by Tuesday suddenly just pissed me the hell off!

So I would like to vent a little.

When the Tea Party was in its infancy and nobody was paying it much attention, the Koch brothers arranged for Sarah Palin to make appearances on their behalf and essentially, along with the spastic Glenn Beck, become the face of the Teabaggers. Because of her unrivaled name recognition she brought tons of undeserved attention to what was clearly a very unsophisticated astro-turf group of angry racists, who, over time, were polished with corporate money enough so that they were able to choose and back candidates who are currently holding our country hostage.

While that was taking place there were those who were working overtime to convince me to drop the babygate story because it was never going to "make any difference."

"Just focus on the wild ride story, Gryph.  That will be enough to stop her if enough people hear about it.  The babygate story just makes you, and ALL of us, seem like crazy conspiracy theorists."

Of course I refused, and as my reward I found myself isolated.  I learned over time that journalists were steered away from me, for fear I would bring up"that crazy conspiracy story."

At one point I was so close I could taste it, to REALLY blowing this whole thing up. But I was sabotaged by those I considered my friends. In my personal opinion if I had received more support, and if others had worked side by side with me, Sarah Palin would NEVER have been able to provide the spark that the Koch brothers used to start the Teabagger bonfire.

So I would just like to take a moment to say FUCK YOU!

Fuck you for playing it safe.  Fuck you for worrying about appearances more than truth.  And fuck you for being a coward.

And while I am on this rant I would also like to say fuck you to those who wanted the babygate story all for themselves.  Fuck you for driving people off of the net who were selflessly working to bring this story to the American people.  Fuck you for chasing away sources who were timidly coming forward, until they realized that people might soon learn their true identities. And fuck you for damaging the reputation of good people because YOUR ego demanded that you get credit for EVERYTHING.

Okay I am done now.  Sorry if some of you found that offensive or a little out of character, but damn I have been holding that inside for years.

The babygate story is NOT just about a mother protecting her daughter, or her family.  It is MUCH deeper and uglier than that. And once it is really out there in the public consciousness, it should serve as the stepping stone to revealing all kinds of political manipulations and Faustian deals that might finally awaken a slumbering populace and get them to focus on taking back their country from the corporations and political fat cats who have held the reins of power for much, much too long.

And with that Gryphen steps off of his soapbox.  Thank you for listening.

Do you remember all of that talk about Obama's "lost base" of support? Yeah, not so much.

"86 million? Now THAT is a pretty fucking big deal Mr. President!"

Courtesy of the First Read:

In a conference call with reporters this morning, the Obama re-election campaign used its fundraising numbers to signal that its base of supporters is engaged and energized for 2012.

Campaign Manager Jim Messina fired off the numbers: 552,000 individual donors, 260,000 new donors who didn't contribute in 2008, and average contribution of $69 per donor, 98% of total contributions coming from donations of $250 or less.

"This should end any chatter about our grassroots base," he said on the call.

Every time the media decides that Obama is losing something, he always proves them wrong. Isn't that right Bin Laden?

By the way I proud to report that I am one of these 552,000 individual donors. How about you?

Rachel Maddow has waaay too much fun with the launch of Jon Huntsman's Presidential campaign yesterday.

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

I have heard a number of times that THIS is the guy that the Obama administration worries about the most.

Personally I don't think they have much to worry about.