Homily: Palin Shennanigans (plus Tweets)

by | Dec 19, 2017 | Tweets, USA | 20 comments

I could have just made up a special Tweets section for this story, but it’s so funny I couldn’t resist writing about it. (Of course, it wasn’t very funny for those who were part of it, and I don’t want to diminish the distress I’m sure they felt.)

But the whole thing is like a story written for a tragi-comic farce based on the real life characters most of us first came across during the 2008 US election. Sarah Palin, as I’m sure everyone remembers, was the woman the Republicans thought was a suitable person to be president if John McCain won the election but didn’t make it through his term.

She was a joke in her own right. As far as intelligence goes, she was even worse than the current incumbent! She brought with her a family that wasn’t ready for the national spotlight either.

Here’s the latest story on the Palins from CNN:


It’s got everything you’d put in if you were making a story up!

The son trying to steal a truck from the father. The father pulling a gun on his son. (How else to stop him?!) The son telling his father to, “Shoot him,” several times. Dad didn’t do as he was told so the son got him in the floor and punched him in the head several times. (Of course he did! What else would you do?!) Mum phoning the police and saying the son’s having a bad reaction to medication. (Yes, that happens when you mix it with alcohol.) The son leaving his father bloodied and bruised.

The son it seems hasn’t been brought up to respect women. He has an arrest record for domestic violence.

It isn’t only the men in the family who are violent though, it’s everyone. In 2014 the police attended a drunken brawl at a family party at the Palin home. At that party it was not only the son who was a problem. Note was made of the daughter getting in a fist fight with someone else at the party too.

You remember the daughter. She was the only young girl to get pregnant outside wedlock that Republicans didn’t label a slut. Instead we were to admire her for her bravery in not having an abortion. Besides, she was going to marry the father – they got engaged soon after the announcement of mum’s candidacy despite the fact they weren’t dating at the time. He was gone as soon as the election was over of course.

I don’t actually want any family to go through stuff like this, but I do wonder what the phrase “Christian Family Values” means when stuff like this happens.

Russia Collusion?

On a separate matter, keep an eye out for news about the US Green Party in the next few days. There may be news that because Russia didn’t believe they could get Trump to win on his own, they were also supporting the Greens. The idea to split the liberal vote more in favour of the Greens in order to deprive the Democrats of votes may be something that has yet to surface. I’m probably reading too much into a comment in an interview I heard. If there’s anything in this, a proper journalist will work it out. Stay tune.

 

Political Tweets

An update on the situation in Zimbabwe.

 

A synopsis of why Trump’s announcement on Jerusalem is a bad idea.

 

Just sayin’.

 

“Democracy” proceeds in Russia.

This is from Facebook. I think as many people as possible in the US need to see it. Robert Reich’s analysis of the Trump plan is accurate. I recommend you search out his writings on it.

 

This is how the US Tax Cuts are really paying for themselves. There will be no “trickle-down” effect.

 

The tax plan explained.

 

Human Rights Tweets

What is wrong with the police in the US? I know they’re not all like this, but the fact that people like this got through the recruitment process is pretty shocking. This kind of thing ruins it for all police. And wtf is the story with $50,000 bail for a traffic violation? I feel sick now.

 

More people are realizing that the office Christmas Party isn’t an excuse for sexual abuse!

 

This is apalling! (Good) Journalists have one of the most important jobs on the planet.
(Via Ann German.)

 

Christmas Tweets

Just sayin’.
(Via Ann German, who’s been playing Marley in a production of A Christmas Carol this year.)

 

Reality …

 

A Christmas wish …

 

Trump’s Christmas Tree …

 

We’ve got some more fantastic tweets from “Amanda”‘s Advent Calendar. (Some more are below in the various animal sections too.)
(All are via Ann German.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pre-Mueller Time Tweets

Clay Bennet’s cartoons are some of the best.

 

Funny Tweets

This has been going on for about four years. It was initially a response to Australia sucking up to the US so much that Ameristralia was born, “… a nation purportedly overrun by racist dudebros and very deadly animals.” New Zanada, on the other hand, has “… a shared culture of mountain-climbing, apologising, and finishing sentences with “eh”.”
(Via Diana McPherson.)

 

History Tweets

Very interesting.

 

It looks like a cross between a mobility scooter and a golf cart.

 

Plant Tweets

The first of Amanda’s Advent Calendar tweets I’m putting elsewhere (for site management reasons I won’t bore you with).

 

Marine Tweets

I always thinks fish swarms look kinda cool. I love watching them up close – it’s amazing how they never touch each other.

 

More from the Blue Planet II team.

 

Very cool.

 

Other Animals Tweets

This polar bear must like the idea of doing it on film!

 

But the resulting cubs are adorable!

 

I’ve got a feeling the hedgehog on the right doesn’t like sharing!

 

One of the Amanda’s Advent tweets – this one had me laughing out loud!!!

 

Bird Tweets

Fabulous film here!

 

Dog Tweets

An r-rated tweet from Amanda’s Advent Calendar!

 

Cat Tweets

I’d like to try making this. Two problems:

1. No cat/s.
2. Not enough space.

 

Another Advent tweet. Watch out for the cat!

 

Now that’s a quote!
(Via Ann German.)

 

 

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20 Comments

  1. rickflick
    rickflick on 20th December 2017 at 1:14 am

    Palin was an example of the GOP’s never ending ploy of pandering to the high school drop-out crowd. Sad.
    A couple of items are repeated. This happens to me when I take a long break and come back to a task forgetting where I left off.
    Thanks for always providing something to entertain and inform.

    Reply
    • Heather Hastie
      Heather Hastie on 20th December 2017 at 5:42 am

      Have I made a mistake? Let me know so I can fix it.

      Reply
      • Mark R.
        Mark R. on 20th December 2017 at 11:59 am

        There were two of the “dragon tongue” tweets and two of the GOP Christmas party/mistletoe tweets.

        Reply
        • Heather Hastie
          Heather Hastie on 20th December 2017 at 12:38 pm

          That means the tweets that were supposed to be in the duplicates are missing and I’ve copied the wrong tweets in!

          I can’t remember what was supposed to be there now, so I’ll just have to delete the ones that are wrong.

          Reply
        • Heather Hastie
          Heather Hastie on 20th December 2017 at 12:46 pm

          Actually, I remembered what the proper tweets were, and put them. If you feel like having a look, the correct ones are there now.

          Reply
  2. Mike Brogan
    Mike Brogan on 20th December 2017 at 2:54 am

    It amazes me that people still fall for this neo-liberal bullshit about Trickle Down Economics, when the only place it trickles down to is the Cayman Islands et al. As for Palin, they should have known immediately that anyone who names their son after a running surface is not fit for any kind of Office

    Reply
    • Heather Hastie
      Heather Hastie on 20th December 2017 at 5:48 am

      I think of John McCain as someone worthy of a great deal of respect, even though I don’t always agree with him. However, choosing a running mate like Palin? It’s like he was inviting mockery. I always felt like the selection of a woman was an attempt to counter the selection of an African American. However, the fact that Palin was the best available says a lot to me about the general misogyny in the GOP.

      Reply
      • nicky
        nicky on 20th December 2017 at 7:01 am

        I always thought of it as an old goat being seduced by a ‘young thing’ (hard to call Ms Palin anything else, well, ‘young’ compared to Mr McCain). Definitely one of Mr McCain’s worst lapses of judgment, but a good decision in the sense that it helped him lose the election.

        Reply
        • Heather Hastie
          Heather Hastie on 20th December 2017 at 8:19 am

          I’m not sure any Republican could have won that election. All those years of war and people were desperate for a change. Bush himself was a fairly decent man, but a lot of those around him were dreadful people. Cheney and Rumsfeld in particular.

          Reply
  3. Jenny Haniver
    Jenny Haniver on 20th December 2017 at 6:20 am

    Holy Mackarel! That big ball o’fish is amazing. Here’s the link to a very strange and beautiful sea creature https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUHa9g20SV4, It’s called a headless chicken monster, but it’s so beautiful. I don’t recall seeing it on your site, but perhaps it slipped by me.

    And if this hasn’t made it to the Pandamoanimum (sp?) Advent Calendar, it needs to be on it — during a pre-school (better be a religious pre-school!) reenactment of the Nativity, a two year-old participant steals baby Jesus from the nativity scene, starts playing with it, and gets into a fight with another girl dressed, I guess, as one of the Magi. http://people.com/human-interest/toddler-steals-baby-jesus-obsessed/ That’s funny enough in itself, but what are the two pandas doing in the scene? Something from an apocryphal gospel perhaps.

    Reply
  4. Lee Knuth
    Lee Knuth on 20th December 2017 at 6:32 am

    Robert Reich has nailed the tax scam. I always look for his tweets. Amanda’s Advent Calendar is hilarious, Thanks for making me aware of it.

    Reply
  5. nicky
    nicky on 20th December 2017 at 7:06 am

    I find most of these replying to @pandamoanimum somehow unnerving. But then I guess that is the intention.

    Reply
    • nicky
      nicky on 20th December 2017 at 5:15 pm

      That standing penguin on the right is a kind of puppet or robot, it seems.
      That police tweet, if the police want to keep some kind of credibility, those 2 officers should be fired and charged with assauļt.

      Reply
      • Heather Hastie
        Heather Hastie on 21st December 2017 at 3:46 am

        I hope they are too. No matter the situation, excessive force is being used. One cop holding the suspect down while the other lays into him with a weapon is never acceptable.

        Reply
        • nicky
          nicky on 21st December 2017 at 4:54 am

          What I completely fail to understand is why the victim was not just given 2 tickets, one for missing front numberplate, and one for tinted windows. Why arrest the man?
          On the other hand, with the reputation of the US police, I guess we may be thankful he wasn’t shot dead. I guess those body cameras the Pasadena policemen were wearing may have saved his life.
          Note, contrary to popular belief, coloured ‘suspects’ are not proportionally more often killed by police than white ones in the US, at least it is not firmly established (according to a comprehensive study by a coulored professor I can’t find right now, maybe later, there are studies with different results too), but are much more likely to be harassed and shoved & punched around.

          Reply
          • Heather Hastie
            Heather Hastie on 21st December 2017 at 7:03 am

            I remember the study. I also remember I had a couple of questions about how it was done. I’m not questioning it. It’s just that I think the quality of the police is very variable across the country because standards vary so much in different jurisdictions. (We have one for the whole country. ) Some are good and some are terrible, and the bad ones didn’t get sufficient focus because the results were averaged out.

  6. nicky
    nicky on 21st December 2017 at 4:26 am

    What is going on in Zim? What is going on in South Africa! at the ANC conference at Nasrec, Cyril Ramaphosa was elected the new president of the ANC (and hence the likely new president of South Africa in 18 months), great, he’s economically educated, and a shrewd operator.
    However, by discarding 68 legitimate votes, the new new Secretary General will be Ace Maghashule, the deeply corrupted man from Free State, a Zuma-man accused of intimidation and running the Free state health care services down, instead of Senzo Mchunu, a man untainted. The difference was only 24 votes (out of more than 4000), and the 68 are thought to be mainly Mchunu supporters. We’ll know by 18.00 hours local time wether the case goes to court.

    Reply
    • Heather Hastie
      Heather Hastie on 21st December 2017 at 6:51 am

      I need to look into the SA situation more. I knew about the new head of the party because it’s on the news here, but not the other situation. It sounds like it’s a situation that needs to go to court, so I hope it does.

      I’ve been looking out for a short video that describes what’s happening in SA so I can tweet it and post it here. There are a couple of other situations where I’d like to do the same, like the new government in Austria and the coalition with a far-right party, the increasing number of far-right politicians in the European parliament, what’s going on with Brexit, an update on the Rohingya, Russia/Syria etc. If I had the skills and equipment, I’d make the effort to do the research and make the videos myself and stick them on YouTube.

      Reply
      • nicky
        nicky on 24th December 2017 at 7:03 am

        Apparently the ANC top has decided to leave the fate of the 68 votes to next year. However, they did do a recount of the other votes + fifteen (it is not clear whether these fifteen are part of the 68 or not, but I think so) and the difference between Mr Maghashule and Mr Mchunu stands at only 9 votes now. We didn’t have to wait until 18 hours, but we do have to wait until the year 18.

        Reply
        • Heather Hastie
          Heather Hastie on 24th December 2017 at 1:23 pm

          It all sounds a bit like the Virginia situation where the Republicans suddenly found another vote so the vote is tied between the Dem and Rep, so not a coin toss decides the seat. Slightly better than what’s happening over there, but not much.

          I guess at least there’s still time to work on people’s consciences before next year. And to bribe them too of course.

          Reply

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