Sarah Palin and the "Grift that stole Christmas."

Well I already shared with you Palin's attempts to trick people into buying that crappy Christmas book of hers again, but as it turns out that is only the beginning of her attempts to sell you sub-par products.

Palin is also pimping a Fox News holiday special with Todd Starnes, who is so freaked out about the imagined "War on Christmas" that he is apparently constantly stuffing his face with comfort food to calm himself down.

As you can see the program features a who's who from the "I have never heard of these people" list. And of course Sarah Palin, who is only a handful of years away from being added to that list.

But Palin is not finished yet.

Her Facebook page also features a promo for a Christmas song by the world's worst band Madison Rising, that is SO bad you will probably want to ask Santa for a new set of eardrums.

Madison Rising. This band never ceases to amaze. Heartstrings pull and gratefulness soars while listening to this vocal Christmas card they send to our United States Military. These are special musicians blessing us with the American spirit boldly coursing through their music. Thank you, Madison Rising, for using your talent to inspire and empower. Thank you, troops, for everything. 

- Sarah Palin

Yeah apparently the "American spirit boldly coursing through their music" takes the place of any talent.

Wait, you don't believe it could be that bad?

Okay you asked for it.

Sorry you doubted me now?

And the grifting has now spread to other family members as well.

Such as older brother Chuck, who is now just outright begging for money, so that he can take pretty pictures and put together some kind of book that will never sell.

Here is Wonkette's take: 

We’ve had a lot of fun over the years laughing until we puked about how former half-term governor Sarah Palin loves to fleece rubes. (You and your family should probably check Grandma’s bank statements before you send her to the home.) But did you know grifting is an art you can learn? It’s true! Just ask Palin’s brother, Chuck Heath Jr., who has a kickstarter up for the fine and noble purpose of buying Chuck Heath Jr. some new camera equipment! 

Yeah that about sums it up. 

Hey isn't Chuck's sister like rich or something? Why the fuck doesn't he just ask her to give him money to help him get started?

Never mind I already know the answer to that one. As Todd Palin's likes to say, "What's in it for us?"

I really have only one request for Santa this year, and it is not so much a gift I would like as merely a promise to guide his sleigh right over a certain house in Wasilla when his reindeer feel the need to relieve themselves.

Architect of CIA torture program claims that release of Senate report put his life in danger. Bummer.

Courtesy of TWC Central:  

The "architect" of the CIA's interrogation program, James Mitchell, accused Senate Democrats of putting his life in danger last week when they released a report detailing the program's "brutal" abuses. 

"They issue this report that essentially stirs up all the crazies and all the jihadists. So now we're getting death threats," Mitchell, a retired Air Force psychologist, said during a Monday night Fox News interview. 

"I'm angry about this. They have a foregone conclusion. They put my life in danger. They put the lives of other CIA personnel ... and our families in danger for some sort of morale high ground?" he said. "You can probably tell I'm a little agitated by this. For me, I don't want to die because the Democrats in the Senate don't have the courtesy to ask the CIA to explain what they view as abuses that occurred."

Hang on I'm going to try and gin up a little sympathy.

Nope, don't give a shit.

The Uniform Code of Justice says that military personnel have a duty to disobey unlawful orders.

As a former member of the Air Force this guy should have known that. And as a human being he should have done that.

How the deification of soldiers is hurting them in the long run.

This is an excerpt from a Boston Globe story entitled "Joining the Military doesn't make you a hero:"  
When soldiers were part of society, people recognized them as ordinary human beings. Now, with the emergence of the all-volunteer army, society has transferred the burden of war to a small, self-contained caste cut off from the American mainstream. This distance allows civilians to develop extravagant fantasies about soldiers that feed the militarist impulse. If we believe our soldiers are superheroes, it makes sense to send them to faraway battlefields to solve our perceived problems in the world. That is why, in this era of seemingly endless war, politicians, the defense industry, and even big-time sports compete with each other to promote hero-worship of soldiers and veterans. 

This serves the cynical interests of those who, for political or business reasons, want to encourage American involvement in foreign wars. Even worse, it distracts attention away from the scandalous way we treat our veterans. Cheering for them in public and saluting them in cliché-ridden speeches is a way to disguise the fact that our society callously discards many of them. Shocking rates of unemployment, mental illness, homelessness, addiction, and suicide among our veterans constitute a national disgrace. It is far easier, however, to spend a few seconds applauding a smiling soldier than to contemplate a troubled veteran left behind by an uncaring country. 

The soldier acknowledging cheers at a ball game is a fantasy figure we can easily admire. Veterans in need are more disturbing, so we keep them invisible. If we truly considered our uniformed fighters heroic, we would show them real gratitude rather than the phony kind that gives us a shiver of momentary pride but does them little good.

This issue has been bothering me for quite some time, only  in today's world discussing it is tantamount to treason in the eyes of many.

I think we have all seen politicians giving lip service to our military men and women, and then turning a blind eye to their needs after their service is complete.

The suicide rate for veterans far exceeds the number killed in combat, and even if they do not kill themselves many others are diagnosed with PTSD and have significant trouble reentering civilian life.

By labeling them "heroes," and giving them almost mythical abilities, we forget to treat them like the fragile human beings that they are.

In the end we place them on a pedestal and then abandon them as if they were a marble monument to bravery, instead of a thinking, feeling, suffering, member of the human race.

Key and Peele explain how America decides which countries deserve military support.

Sadly this is not that much of a parody.

John Fogerty has some opinions on the Republicans claiming that his song "Fortunate Son" was inappropriate for a Veteran's Day concert.

So I am sure you all remember that Bruce Springsteen, and a number of talented musicians, played the song "Fortunate One" during the Concert of Valor at the National Mall in Washington D.C. and that Right Wing literally lost their minds over it.

So in a recent Rolling Stone interview John Fogerty, who wrote the song, was asked about that response:  

"'Fortunate Son' is a song I wrote during the Vietnam War over 45 years ago," Fogerty said in a statement. "As an American and a songwriter, I am proud that the song still has resonance. I do believe that its meaning gets misinterpreted and even usurped by various factions wishing to make their own case. What a great country we have that a song like this can be performed in a setting like Concert for Valor. 

"Years ago, an ultraconservative administration tried to paint anyone who questioned its policies as 'un-American,'" he continues. "That same administration shamefully ignored and mistreated the soldiers returning from Vietnam. As a man who was drafted and served his country during those times, I have ultimate respect for the men and women who protect us today and demand that they receive the respect that they deserve." 

What the conservative mouthpieces either failed, or refused to understand, is that the song is VERY supportive of the soldiers themselves. Who the song was criticizing were the politicians who start these wars and then send American sons (And now daughters) to die in countries that THEIR children will only ever visit in times of peace.

Both John Fogerty and Bruce Springsteen are American institutions, and I would put their patriotism up against anyone. Especially some conservative jackass sitting on his fat ass, sipping Fox newsroom coffee, and faking outrage in order to rile up the paint chip eaters.

Fogerty goes on to point out that he recently performed "Fortunate One" at "A Salute to the Troops: In Performance at the White House" just last week. A performance by the way that was broadcast on PBS.

And guess which song he played? That's right.

And the outrage from the Right Wing?

Only this.

Right Wing outrage of the day. Bruce Springsteen played an anti-war song during concert to celebrate Veteran's Day.

Courtesy of TPM:  

Pretty much everyone has had something to say about Springsteen's performance Tuesday at the "Concert for Valor," an HBO musical event for veterans held on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. 

Performing with Zac Brown and Dave Grohl, Springsteen sang "Fortunate Son," Creedence Clearwater Revival's classic Vietnam War-era anthem that examines issues of class and jingoism in America. John Fogerty, the CCR frontman, said that his own experience as a drafted serviceman served as an inspiration for the song. 

"I was the same age as the soldiers serving in Vietnam and from the same lower-middle class as them," Fogerty once said. 

But to some conservative ears, the song hit the wrong note at Tuesday's concert. 

"The song, not to put too fine a point on it, is an anti-war screed, taking shots at 'the red white and blue,'" wrote Ethan Epstein at The Weekly Standard. 

The performance was made even worse, Epstein contended, because "Fortunate Son" is "an anti-draft song, and this concert was largely organized to honor those who volunteered to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq." 

The Boss has been in the Fox News crosshairs all day, too. On Fox Business Network, Stuart Varney questioned why Springsteen, "an outspoken leftist," would play politics with the troops. 

"So much for HBO's 'Concert for Valor,'" Clayton Morris said at the outset of this morning's "Fox & Friends." 

On Fox's "Outnumbered," co-host Andrea Tantaros professed to be a fan of both Springsteen and Grohl, but wondered why they didn't just go with a different song. 

"It's amazing to me that nobody — think of all the people that are involved in a concert like this — nobody had the brains to stop and say, 'You guys might want to pick a different song,'" Tantaros said.

Gee, I really like the song.

Apparently this is the portion that pissed off the Right Wing so much:

It ain’t me, it ain’t me 
I ain’t no Senator’s son 
It ain’t me, it ain’t me 
I ain’t no fortunate one 

The song is written about how fundamental unfair it is that politicians start wars in which their children are not forced to fight and die.

Personally I would think that it is a sentiment shared not just by veterans of Vietnam but by the soldiers of today.

This song is not anti-veteran, it's anti-war. I feel very confident in saying that the vast majority of veterans are not pro-war, and therefore embrace the sentiment.

And of course the song is also anti-warmonger.

Perhaps it is that last part which irritates the Fox News crowd so much. You know the same ones who helped spread the Bush Administration propaganda and cheered from the sidelines as we sent thousands of young soldiers to their deaths.

Just more proof that CNN is becoming Fox News lite.

Courtesy of Mediaite:  

A CNN chyron covering the turmoils of the Navy SEAL who claims to have shot Osama bin Laden accidentally made the typo we all thought was no more after the terrorist leader died.

You know I am sure that this is nothing more than an accident, and that the folks at CNN certainly did not mean to suggest that a Navy Seal had killed the President of the United States. But still....don't they have editors and proof readers?

Military recruiters to return to Anchorage schools after removal in response to sexual misconduct by National Guard.

Superintendent Ed Graff

Courtesy of Alaska Dispatch: 

Superintendent Ed Graff suspended all military recruiting indefinitely on Oct. 20, pending review of the program and discussion with recruiters on student safety, reporting protocol and other issues. Graff outlined what meetings military recruiters would have to attend and what paperwork they would have to submit before they would be permitted to return to ASD schools. 

"When students come to school each day, they deserve to be safe and treated with respect by everyone in the building, including visitors," Graff said in a statement. 

Investigative files leaked to the media describe accusations of widespread sexual misconduct among officers in the Alaska Army National Guard's Recruiting and Retention Battalion, including incidents involving Anchorage students. 

District spokeswoman Heidi Embley said Wednesday the district has received a stack of paperwork from military recruiters that includes answers to questions probing into their training and management. The guard met with Graff last week in an additional meeting to discuss their procedures, she said. 

Embley said Graff has approved the first group of military recruiters to move forward and talk with school principals. The rest should be approved by next week, she said. She would not specify which branches of the military made up the first group. 

"At this point we have no concerns, it's just having an opportunity to review the paperwork," Embley said. 

Yeah well I have concerns, and I certainly don't think that the recruiters should be returned to high school campuses so quickly, or to be honest at all. 

I have never been comfortable with the recruiters plying kids with pizza and sodas while selling them on a job that could see them fighting for their lives on foreign soil.

And even if these kids return in one piece we have now learned that looks can be deceiving as they may be saddled with emotional issues, permanent brain damage from bomb blasts that did not rend their flesh, and PTSD which could make them unemployable and possibly suicidal.

My advice to parents and their teenagers is to steer well clear of these war pimps, and my advise to the superintendent would be to rid our schools forever of even the possibility that these men may physically or sexually assault any of our kids.

What will Superintendent say the next time this happens? Sorry?

This is from a few nights ago, but Stephen Colbert's take down of Louie Gohmert is something that should not be missed.

To play video click the Gohmert

"People have said to me 'Stephen you gotta understand you don't even know your history. You're dumb, you're dense. You're a mental midget with an IQ of a butter dish whose mind is a black hole that sucks all surrounding thought into it in an infinite singularity of pure stupidity. Stephen I'm surprised you can dress yourself. I bet you have to rub peanut butter inside your lips to remember to open your mouth to breathe. I have never met, and I hope to never meet again, a man so pervasively, astoundingly, unyieldingly, ignorant.' To which I say well then you haven't met Louis Gohmert."

God that was a thing of beauty.

In wake of National Guard scandal Anchorage school district bans military recruiters indefinitely.

Courtesy of Alaska Dispatch:  

On the heels of scathing allegations of sexual and other misconduct against officers in the Alaska Army National Guard, the Anchorage School District has halted all military recruiting at its schools indefinitely, according to Heidi Embley, district spokeswoman. 

Ed Graff, district superintendent, started alerting all branches of the military Monday that they could no longer recruit on school property until they met individually with Graff to "discuss student safety and other issues," Embley said. 

Embley said Graff's action came in the wake of media reports on leaked investigative files that describe sexual misconduct in the Alaska Army National Guard, some accounts involving high school students. 

According to the files, a former student at Dimond High School in Anchorage said that an officer repeatedly asked her out on dates. The woman said that the officer told her she was pretty and that her eyes “stunned” him. When he tried to take her to his home, she jumped out of the car and used a stranger’s phone to call her father for help. 

Two other former Dimond High students said the same officer invited them to parties where there would be alcohol. They were underage. A sergeant said the officer bragged about having sex with several people, including a high school student, according to the files prepared between 2010 and 2014.

The Alaska National Guard expressed disappointment in the school district and claims to have replaced all the bad apples, but it is really hard to blame the school district for demonstrating caution.

Besides I actually think that it would be a great thing is recruiters were simply kept out of high school from now on. It was one of the worst features of the No Child Left Behind Act and I think it is time for it to come to an end.

Alaska National Guard scandal breaks nationally. About damn time!

Image courtesy of the Anchorage Press

So late yesterday I started to receive links from all of you to stories about the AK National Guard scandals.

I have no idea if this is the result of my request for all of you to spread it far and wide or not, and it really doesn't matter. All that matters is that now it is starting to get coverage in news outlets NOT centered inside of Alaska. And that is very good news indeed.

First there is one of my favorite news outlets Raw Story:  

A top commander for the Alaska National Guard was recommended for “other than honorable” discharge earlier this year following an investigation that found he allowed recruiters to sexually assault and harass women. 

Lt. Col. Joseph Lawendowski failed to act on multiple complaints of serious misconduct, including rape, against four noncommissioned officers under his command, according to an Army investigation.

The article links directly to the Anchorage Press, who I absolutely believe should be getting the lion's share of the credit for their incredible coverage of this scandal.

Next up there is RT.com:

 Several leaked documents show that the Alaska National Guard's leadership supported a culture of sexual assault, theft and smuggling. The released reports coincide with the state's contentious gubernatorial election. 

The May 3 Army Regulation 15-6 (AR) report obtained by The Anchorage Press alleges that Lt. Col. Joseph Lawendowski, who joined the Alaska National Guard (ANG) in 2003, promoted steroid use by recruiters, used government vehicles for strip club outings, and possibly used government-issued credit cards for improper purchases when he led the command from 2008-2009. He also created a workplace environment where three male officers – Jarret Carson, John Nieves and Shannon Tallent – repeatedly violated regulations by having consensual sex with women while working.

Once again, as you can see, the Anchorage Press is credited with much of the reporting.

And finally we have Wonkette:  

Wonkette would like to give a hearty welcome to Lt. Col. Joseph R. Lawendowski, our daily (hourly?) “He seems nice” contestant. 

Lt. Col. Lawendowski is a rough tough military man and the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Training of the Alaska National Guard. Please note the use of present tense there, which is rather surprising, given that military investigators submitted a confidential report (an “AR 15-6” in military terms, not to be mistaken for the similarly named semiautomatic rifle) back in March and leaked to the Anchorage Press. 

The Press says Lawendowski was found “directly responsible for empowering Alaska guard recruiters to sexually assault and harass female soldiers, recruits and civilians.” The report recommended that he be given an “other than honorable” discharge for his role in allowing some seriously bizarre misbehavior by recruiters when he served as commander of the Alaska Army National Guard Recruiting and Retention Battalion (RRB) from November 2007 to May 2012. Also, too, the growing scandal could very well spill over into the 2014 Alaska governor’s race, since there are questions about Gov. Sean Parnell’s knowledge of the mess — the usual what did he know and when did he know it stuff. 

Gotta love Wonkette!

You probably could not help but notice that, while also giving credit to the Anchorage Press, Wonkette drew a line right back to Governor Parnell as well.

The other articles made that connection too, as of course they all should.

I actually watched quite a bit of cable news yesterday hoping this would get some coverage but so far I have not seen any.

We NEED to help make this a story that simply cannot be ignored.

I think once they get their hands on it, the national media will have a hard time letting it go.

And that is not only good for Alaskans, but that is good for everybody.

Politics in Iraq Casts Doubt on a U.S. Presence

This article was reported by Steven Lee Myers, Thom Shanker and Jack Healy and written by Mr. Myers.

U.S. Presence After 2011

BAGHDAD — The protracted political turmoil that saw the resurgence of a fiercely anti-American political bloc here is casting new doubt on establishing any enduring American military role in Iraq after the last of nearly 50,000 troops are scheduled to withdraw in the next 12 months, military and administration officials say. 

Given Iraq’s military shortcomings, especially in air power, intelligence coordination and logistics, American and Iraqi officials had long expected that some American military presence, even if only in an advisory role, would continue beyond 2011. That is the deadline for a troop withdrawal negotiated under President George W. Bush more than three years ago and adhered to, so far, by President Obama.