The Wrath Of Sarah, Tuesday Tidbits

Bob Herbert
Dana Milbank
James Boyle

And Now, For Something Completely Different, Business Report From:
Bianca Jagger

"The employment situation in the United States is much worse than even the dismal numbers from last week’s jobless report would indicate. The nation is facing a full-blown employment crisis and policy makers are not responding with anything like the sense of urgency that is needed." - Bob Herbert

"You know those controversial TSA full-body scanners? Well, they're coming to airports here in New York next month. Great. Normally I take a Xanax before I fly, now I have to take a Viagra." – Jimmy Fallon

My first reaction when I saw the headline that Alaska's ex-Senator Ted Stevens died in a plane crash, was, good lord, don't ever piss off the Palins... Of course, neither Sarah or Todd had anything to do with Mr Steven's death as far as I could  tell, and the other passengers survived, but that doesn't negate the possibility of a Moosehead Mafia that eventually takes care of its own... since I am exhibiting bad taste, let me tell one of my favorite jokes - "You know, when I die I want to go nice and peaceful, in my sleep like my grandfather did. Not kicking and screaming like his passengers..."


And Sarah Palin more and more resembles a White Trash Presidency as time goes on. At least the Levi - Bristol marriage is off again, until the next visitation cycle rolls around. Levi offered to tell all about his own scandal, as well as dishing more dirt on Sara and Todd, for a mere $20,000. One blog writer asked who's children is more likely to graduate from college - Bristol and Levi's son Tripp, or the future children of Chelsea Clinton and her newly wedded husband Mark?

I'm not sure what to make that Sarah is using Facebook as a political tool, I barely know how to use it myself. Over the weekend, there was a filmed confrontation between Sarah and an alaskan schoolteacher, Kathleen Gustafson. Sarah was being filmed for a documentary or scripted mockumentary, and they were filming her in Alaska. They came across a woman holding up one end of a banner that read "Worst Governor Ever." Sarah tried to diplomatically dodge around the issue by saying: "... that her new position allows her to “elect candidates who understand the Constitution [and will] protect our military interests” on the national level.


But it wasn’t the interaction that caught many bloggers' and reporters' attention. Rather, it was Palin’s reaction when Gustafson told the former governor she was a teacher. Palin appeared to roll her eyes at the news, but in a post on Facebook, Palin contended that no such eye roll occurred.

"The [lamestream media] has now decided to use this brief encounter for another one of their spin operations,” she wrote. “They claim I — wait for it — 'appear to roll my eyes' when the lady tells me she’s a teacher. Yes, it’s come to this: The media is now trying to turn my eyebrow movements into story lines. If they had checked their facts first, they would have known that I come from a family of teachers; my grandparents were teachers, my father was a teacher, my brother is a teacher, my sister works in special needs classrooms, my aunt is a school nurse, my mom worked as a school secretary for much of her professional life, we all volunteer in classrooms, etc., etc., etc,” the former governor continued.


“Given that family history, how likely is it that I would ‘roll my eyes’ at someone telling me that they, too, work in that honorable profession? Stay classy, LSM.”

Well, you would roll your eyes because you are a dummie who automatically thinks that teachers are radical liberal unionists who are out to destroy the fabric of our nation, and that is why none of your children are going on to college. I saw the video, and while I din't notice any eye roll, there was a pregnant pause after Ms Gustafson said she was a teacher, as if Sarah didn't know how to respond to it, as if she realized that she couldn't bullshit her like some other, more uneducated woman. A condescending "oh" was muttered, and Bristol said something unintelligible, then Sarah tried to find some commonality when Ms Gustafson told her that her husband was a commercial fisherman. Suddenly, all was right with Sarah's world, they were on more equal footing, and she could blithely move on... Stay classy, Mama Grizzly...

• I'm sure that you'll be glad to know that Arby's and Wendy's have joined together, contracted to open 110 new fast food restaurants in Russia, with the first one to open in 2011. I hadn't realized that those wild-fires were merely getting the citizens of Moscow ready for the miracle of char-broiled hamburgers...

• Iran has been experiencing a "brain drain." Over 200,000 professionals have migrated out of the country in the past few years, and the number of college students studying in the US is five times higher than 2001. Los Angeles has the largest ex-pat community outside of Iran, and is often nicknamed "Little Tehran..."

• China is experiencing one of its own aphorisms, that fabled curse of "may you live in interesting times." Not only are they having a rash of weird violent crimes, but there is a plague of floods, mudslides, and mine disasters. Like all governments nowadays, the Chinese seem ill prepared for these. To make matters worse, their little brother in North Korea is going nuts and acting crazy. They had confiscated a South Korean fishing boat, saying that it has strayed into their waters, and now the North has fired a large battery of artillery from their warships, aimed at nothing. They were firing in anger over recent naval maneuvers that South Korea were doing, practicing what to do if torpedos are fired at an innocent boat you are on... Anyway, little brother is ignoring all entreaties by the celestials to kick it and chill a bit... Yes, I think some ruler needs his medical marijuana...