Union chief takes on a ‘Mama Grizzly’ — Sarah Palin
The head of the largest U.S. labor federation went to Alaska, “The Last Frontier,” to address local members Thursday and take on a self-proclaimed “Mama Grizzly” — Sarah Palin.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka mocked the former Alaska governor, a 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee who is seen as a conservative power broker and potential 2012 White House hopeful.
“Sometimes — about Sarah Palin — you just have to laugh. But it’s not really funny,” Trumka said.
Citing her use of the phrase “don’t retreat – reload,” Trumka said, “She’s getting close to calling for violence.”
“Some of her fans take that stuff seriously. We’ve got legislators in America who have been living with death threats” since their votes in Congress in support of President Barack Obama’s overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system, he said.
Trumka’s remarks came at a speech in Anchorage to a gathering of the state’s chapter of his 11.5-million member AFL-CIO.
The union leader ripped into Palin on a number of fronts, including her use of the term, “union thugs.”
Is Palin’s fee too steep for Iowa?
Iowa Republicans have differences over the propriety of a conservative group’s effort to raise a $100,000 fee for former Alaska governor Sarah Palin to speak at a banquet next month, according to Politico.com.
Whether Palin requested a fee (and there’s no indication that she did says Politico) or whether she should be paid may be a moot point — but, more about that later.
First — It’s not the amount of the fee that has some Iowans bothered — it’s that a fee is even being considered at all.
Iowa is sacred ground for presidential aspirants (is she or isn’t she?) and folks there tend to feel that people with presidential ambitions should be grateful for any opportunity to visit the state.
According to Politico.com, some Republicans see the Iowa Family Policy Center’s effort to cobble together the speaking fee for Palin as a striking departure from customary practice of White House hopefuls paying their own way in that state to advance political ambitions.
Other Iowa-based political advocacy groups say they would never consider paying for what many politicians see as a privilege, Politico said. “I found it really, really odd,” one influential Iowa Republican insider was quoted as saying.
hi eric h in the bunch of kids i hung with we had one guy who was the most insipid kid imaginable a total practically pathetic individual,he is a law professor teaching in a university in Australia.Before i came here i worked for a billionair who was brought up by his widowed mother on the equivalent of food stamps etc.he hardly ever attended school and had started selling secondhand furniture 25 years before,and although he had reading difficulties this guy was sharp.What i am trying to say eric is stature and leadership show up so unexpectedly,the little i have heard regarding Lincoln before he became president had not shown a tremendous amount of inspiring achievement?Living in California having employed people i have found that when you are handed a resume no not take anything for granted,in fact this practice is so fraudulent they have installed laws here stopping a former employer disclosing information regarding the person.So judge by results not by hearsay!and not sometimes worthless college diplomas.This a problem i see all the time with liberal thinkers that can not imagine people like Sarah can have efficacious qualities this why getplaning is so ineffective in his reasoning.
Palin’s financial disclosure: $1.25 mln advance for “Going Rogue”
The following is reported by Yereth Rosen in Anchorage, Alaska.
Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin got a $1.25 million advance from HarperCollins for her soon-to-be-released memoir “Going Rogue.”
Palin listed the advance, which she received while still governor, in the 2009 financial disclosure form filed Monday with the Alaska Public Offices Commission. See the form on The Anchorage Daily News Web site.
“The Governor has complied with Alaska disclosure law by her filing yesterday. Now, as a private citizen, her business dealings, including her publishing agreement, are confidential,” Palin spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton said in an email.
The report covers Palin’s last seven months as governor. She announced her resignation on July 3 and left her post on July 26. During that time, she received a state salary of $73,000 and perdiem payments of $6,370.80, according to her financial disclosure report.
Palin also reported taking out an unspecified home loan from Wells Fargo Bank to pay for “legal fees to fight false allegations while governor,” according to her handwritten explanation.
And she reported that she has set up a marketing business, called Pie Spy LLC, with headquarters at the office of her Anchorage attorney.
Palin proving she’s as status quo as every other politician in this country, sell out on her people in order to make a few extra bucks.
What does Palin no show at “Values Voter” summit say about her 2012 intentions?
Why is former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin passing on the summit of self-styled conservative Christian “Values Voters” this weekend?
It’s a question worth asking because the annual meeting of “Religious Right” activists has become a “must attend” on the political calendar of any Republican who is serious about running for the party’s presidential nomination in the next election cycle.
Former governors Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney – frequently mentioned as 2012 heavyweight Republican contenders — will be there. So will Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who many pundits see as another possible candidate for a White House run in 2012.
But the moose-hunting hockey mom who makes liberals see red remains the favorite with this crowd. A recent Bliss Institute and Public Religion Research survey found she was ranked highest among conservative leaders by conservative Christian activists with 86 percent viewing her in a favorable light.
Does her no-show suggest something about her political intentions or lack of them for 2012?
((PHOTO: Sarah Palin delivers her final address as Alaska governor in Fairbanks, Alaska, July 26, 2009. REUTERS/Nathaniel Wilder))
getplaning cannot please every one ,but several interviewed also said she was brilliant! apparently they were european, and said she made a great impression ,with a “wonderful speech”,well down Sarah.
Dinner with Sarah Palin? It’ll cost you
Ever wanted to ask Sarah Palin over dinner what she really thinks? Now’s your chance. But it’s going to cost you — more than $25,000.
Dinner for five with the former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential candidate is up for grabs on ebay. The last bid was more than $38,000 (yes that’s three zeroes) for a dinner whose value is being promoted as “priceless.”
It looks like this time ebay may work for her (remember the campaign trail stories of her unsuccessful effort to sell the Alaska governor’s plane on ebay).
Palin is donating her presence for a charity auction with all proceeds to benefit Ride 2 Recovery, which supports cycling programs for injured veterans.
But the winner will have to agree to some restrictions for the experience of breaking bread with Palin.
A background check is mandatory, respect for Palin and her guests “is expected at all times,” and dinner won’t be more than four hours but she can cut it short.
Palin also has the right to refuse dinner with the winner if the bidder is considered unsuitable “based on her subjective standards of suitability, professionalism, background and other factors.”
Biden on Palin: respect her decision
Vice President Joe Biden says he won’t second guess the decision by his former political rival Sarah Palin to resign as Alaska governor, because in politics sometimes it is just about the personal.
Palin, who famously greeted Biden with “Nice to meet you. Can I call you Joe?” at last year’s vice presidential showdown debate, has seen her political fortunes rollercoaster after John McCain plucked her from relative obscurity to be his Republican running mate.
She once again surprised everyone on Friday at a news conference in her hometown of Wasilla, Alaska, by announcing she would resign this month. The unexpected move raised speculation that perhaps she has her eye on running for higher office.
Biden said he took her decision at face-value, saying in an interview with ABC’s “This Week” that people deeply involved in politics “know at the end of the day it is really and truly a personal deal.”
“So I’m not going to second guess her,” he added.
But when it came to Palin casting herself as a victim of ”political blood sport,” Biden disagreed.
“I don’t know what prompted her decision … And I take her at her word that had a personal ingredient in it. And you have to respect that,” he said.
Brian. I have done that, but it is never posted for all to read. And that is the rule, not the exception.
Trumka, as the head of the UMW called on workers to “kick the sh*t” out of anyone who crossed picket lines; was in charge through several riots, and the shooting death of a “scab”.
But now speech that might possibly lead to violence is bad? hwne he was calling for the beating and death of those who opposed him as head of the UMW I don’t get the feeling he opposed this sort of thing.
Get back to me when dozens are beaten or killed due to Palin’s speeches and then Trumka might in a position to talk.
Right now, he’s been a much worse problem calling for violence than Palin is ever likely to be.