Thursday, June 25, 2009

Good Grief

That's all I can say.

Sarah Palin's (big) mouth (a.k.a. Meghan Stapleton) is at it again, releasing a statement today that can only be considered more stupid than her last statement - and that one was pretty dumb. I did not do a blog post here on the statement released several days ago, but several other bloggers did, for example, here, so I recommend you take a gander.

However, today's statement was so ridiculous that I cannot let it pass. I just can't. I'm helpless in the face of the sheer stupidity. (And remember - this person gets paid for saying things like this. She probably sits around and thinks and after, oh, two or three hours of thinking she comes up with something profound. Like this one.)

Several days ago this caricature appeared on the Internet.

The original source for this apparently was a blog called "Crooks and Liars." Now this looks like David Letterman to me, and the tags on the what I *think* is the original posting of the cartoon SAY "David Letterman." However, according to numerous people this is NOT David Letterman cradled tenderly in Gov. Palin's arms, but Eddie Burke, a conservative Alaska radio talk "personality."

It doesn't matter who it is supposed to be. The fact is that it's a political cartoon and it's damn funny.

(Update: I have just figured out the sequence here. The original posting was this cartoon shown above. No objections or comments came from the Palin camp at that time. Then, an Alaskan Blogger, Celtic Diva, as part of a fundraiser, created a spoof of the cartoon, in which she did used a photoshopped photo in which the face of Eddie Burke was used. The original image was David Letterman and it was a cartoon; the image that Miss Meg issued a statement regarding was the photo.)

But not to Meghan the Mouth. She posted the following statement to Sarah Palin's Facebook page:

Recently we learned of a malicious desecration of a photo of the Governor and baby Trig that has become an iconic representation of a mother's love for a special needs child.

The mere idea of someone doctoring the photo of a special needs baby is appalling. To learn that two Alaskans did it is absolutely sickening. Linda Kellen Biegel, the official Democrat Party blogger for Alaska, should be ashamed of herself and the Democratic National Committee should be ashamed for promoting this website and encouraging this atrocious behavior.

Babies and children are off limits. It is past time to restore decency in politics and real tolerance for all Americans. The Obama Administration sets the moral compass for its party. We ask that special needs children be loved, respected and accepted and that this type of degeneracy be condemned.


Now, we digress to a bit of etymology. "Desecration" comes to us from Latin, as so many of our best words do. It comes from "de," which means to do the opposite of, and "secrare," which means to make holy. (Sacred comes from this same Latin word, of course, though that word comes to English via a slightly different path.)

ONLY a religiously recognized holy image or place can be desecrated. Surely she misspoke. Surely in the heat of the moment she said "desecrate" when she really meant "change" or "photoshopped," right? But no, because Ms. Stapleton actually continues this analogy of holiness when, in the same paragraph, she uses the word "iconic." An icon is also a religious picture of a holy person.

So there we have it: an iconic representation of "mother and child" has been desecrated. Don't they burn people at the stake for that? Maybe in Alaska.

If this weren't all so sad, it would be hilarious. Obviously, having failed to keep herself in the public's eye any longer via the Willow/Bristol/David Letterman brouhaha, Sarah Palin is turning to another "offense," this one involving another child, Trig.

Oh, excuse me. The special needs child Trig. And we know that he is special needs child Trig because they tell us he is special needs child Trig three times in three paragraphs.

"The idea of someone doctoring the photo of a special needs baby is appalling." No it's not. This is a political spoof and a funny one. Trig is not in the cartoon or the photo. Trig's clothes might be, but Trig is not. Whether you are talking about the original cartoon or the subsequent photo, someone else's head is on a baby's body being held by a Sarah Palin.

But again we have the pious stand: Babies and children are off limits.

Well, they might be now, but they weren't when Sarah Palin needed to use her seventeen year old daughter to prove that she, Sarah, had to be Trig's mother, instead of, oh, releasing a birth certificate. They weren't the countless times Sarah Palin trit-trotted onto a stage in spike heels, carrying a five month old (oh, excuse me, special needs five month old) like a sack of (special needs) potatoes then passing him off like a (special needs) football.

But that, I guess, was then and this is now. And now, given the opportunity to rile the rabble with yet another imagined slur to yet another Palin child, (this one special needs - Did we mention that?) into the fray they go.

Good Grief.

39 comments:

Jen said...

That's not the picture that caused the big stir. The website that posted the "blasphemous" photo has since taken it down, but HuffPo has that picture here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/25/palin-attacks-blogger-for_n_220668.html

The face superimposed on Trig is that of a conservative radio guy in AK.

But your point is still valid. It's disingenuous of Palin to suggest that anyone were making any type of reference to Trig. But she accomplished false outrage of Letterman and it worked for her so she's going to milk it for all it's worth. I wonder who will "insult" Piper or Track next week?

wayofpeace said...

since SARAH does not read papers, she does know that if one chooses to be a politician, you are fair game for being lampooned by the press.

SARAH, that's what cartoonist have been doing since the birth of the nation.

here's a bloggist's zing at POLITICO:

imp:

"Sarah, your only outrage is about your children.

"Come 2012 you will be able to concentrate on them alone."

Virginia Voter said...

Sarah, ever the narcissist, can't stand that Mark Sanford is stealing her headlines, so she again, is using one of her children as a pawn in her deranged play for political power. Then to say the DNC did it is just lunacy.

She truly is sick.

midnightcajun said...

I've decided the Palinites all have a persecution complex. While I don't think they realize it, they have indeed become a cult, with Sarah and Trig obviously transposed in place of the Virgin and Christ Child. And because they see Sarah herself as a cross between Mary and Jesus, and themselves as martyrs for the cross, they love it when they can manufacture an opportunity to beat their breasts and wail about how they and their idol are being persecuted again. They get all excited and pontificate with righteous indignation and dash off to write emails to everyone and call on the President to defend their Holy Leader and her Holy Offspring (as if he doesn't have anything better to do).

Personally, I'm offended by Sarah's attempts to deify herself and her offspring. The woman is sick and belongs in an institution rather than in politics. It's about time someone at the national level said so.

And Audrey, the sequence is this: several weeks ago Crooks and Liars posted the graphic you have. No one said a thing. This week, Celtic Diva is raising $5,500 to pay under the "freedom" of information act to get emails that will show some hanky panky between the Palin admin and wingnut talk radio host Burke. Every day of the fundraising drive she's been running a different graphic. Yesterday, the graphic was of the infamous "icon" photo with Burke's head photoshopped in place of Trig. Burke is well known in Alaska for nourishing unhealthy fantasies re Sarah, hence the joke The caption on the graphic even read "Baby Burke." But the C4P nuts didn't recognize Burke (they're all from out of state), thought it was just an "ugly head" (bet Burke loved that one!)--and missed the "Baby Burke" caption, too. So they raised the firestorm about Diva making fun of the "poor special needs child." And incidentally, one can find much worse things done to the Obama children on the Internet, with the "joke" being vilely racist and directed at no one but the little girls.

Unknown said...

It's important, too, to recognize that the press release stated FIRST that there had been a "malicious desecration of a photo of the GOVERNOR."

Think about that.

A photo of a so-called public servant cannot, under any circumstances in the good ole' US of A, be "desecrated." The subtle inclusion and following link to the baby is revealing.

These people are cultish. It's pretty clear that these coded messages are meant for the Palinistas. She's on her way down now...not to worry too much. Just keep up the good work.

Anonymous said...

Iconic?

I don't remember any pictures of Mary looking at Baby Jesus with an expression that clearly said "You, child, are the ticket to securing my base."

Seriously. Look at her expression in that picture. That's not maternal. That's f-ing smug. And that part's not Photoshopped.

MrsTarquinBiscuitbarrel said...

"Babies and children are off limits"? Since when, Meg? During the '08 campaign, Barack Obama said that "families are off-limits," specifically in reference to BP. But who trotted the family out, in front of the RNC and various campaign events? It wasn't David Axelrod.

I think that the Palinbots not only are losing it, but Governor Mark's AWOL Adventure pushed GINO off the front pages. And as we all know, that simply will... not... do.

Not that she would ever follow MY advice, but if SP truly cared about TriG, we would see photos of him undergoing the intensive interventional therapy that all DS infants and children need. Even if SP herself wasn't putting TriG through his paces, if someone, anyone, were giving him the help that will ensure him a more enjoyable and functional quality of life... well, that would be commendable. And nice.

But not "iconic." Sorry, SP, you are some sort of a wife, mother, GINO, family member, but NOT a religious figure.

wayofpeace said...

you're right, MORGAN.

...

i am thinking of starting a new topic forum of images of SP handling TRIG like a sack of potatoes.

Ivyfree said...

Sarah just isn't maternal in the least. And she isn't a particularly responsible mother either- she failed to supervise and teach her son how to behave, so he had to duck into the army to avoid arrest; her elder daughter turned into a slut- incidentally, not by MY standards, but by Sarah's- and was advertised as such around the world- see my pregnant unmarried daughter!; her third child is apparently incapable of being polite to an adult, according to Sarah, Willow might just attack David Letterman, so she clearly didn't do much of a job there; and Piper- well, Piper's still young, but she admitted struggling in second grade. Really, I wouldn't have wanted my kids to hang around with hers, should such a thing have been geographically possible; it's no wonder that the Johnstons cooled on the Levi/Bristol marriage. Would any decent family choose to ally itself with the Palins? I don't think so. And if that makes me a snob, so be it.

NakedTruth said...

"Babies and children are off limits. It is past time to restore decency in politics and real tolerance for all Americans. The Obama Administration sets the moral compass for its party. We ask that special needs children be loved, respected and accepted and that this type of degeneracy be condemned." - Meg Stapletongue


Why must they always bring our President's name into their stupid comments? What does President Obama have to do with this? Are they expecting him to condemn the cartoon?! Hell, Obama did not even come out with a statement condemning the cartoon portraying him as a Chimp nor did he condemn the GOP Rep that called First Lady Obama an Ape. So why would he want to defend a cartoon that has created faux outrage by Sarah Palin?! The lady that told millions of Americans that he was palling around with terrorist and wasn't a 'real American'.

Sarah Palin is a psycho. Our President has more important issues to deal with. Apparently, she does not.

Molly said...

I just looked at GINO's Twitter, wondering if she'd say anything about her fellow Gov from SC, when guess what? Just in case anyone might think that she doesn't really love love love Trig, she has two separate tweets to direct us to Trig (the special/sacred child). One tweet directs you to a pic of Sarah and Trig, with Sarah smiling lovingly at him, and the second directs you to the footage of her taped video of herself, Piper, and Trig that she did months ago for the Special Olympics.

Just in case anyone thinks she has forgotten about Trig. Cause she hasn't. Cause there are tweets about him today. Just in case anyone thinks that the pic she and Megleton are complaining about doesn't really show her looking at him with motherly love, rather, with some kind of "here he is, the Down's baby; oh how we love him and love showing him off to you suckers who will vote for me because you think I gave birth to him even though it was really Bristol but even if I did I risked his life but anything concerning Trig is God's will so even if I gave birth on the plane and either I bled to death or he didn't make it all the way to the next airport w/o medical intervention..God's will, God's will...suckers" look.

Just in case you were thinking GINO may have put Trig on the back burner, nosirree Bob nope, she has NOT. Not on purpose. But she will now makes amends. Tweet tweet.

Tweet.

JillyG said...

I really can not stand people who are always on the lookout for things to take offense to. I especially dislike people who use their own "special" circumstances to up the ante. Please. Nobody was making fun of Trig. Nobody in their right mind would even consider that. The fact that SP has it in HER mind, though, is disturbing. She USES her children, period. Trig is a prop whenever she needs to "bring on the good fight." He's a buzzword - "special needs" *wink*...I don't know what else to say (and I have a child with DS so this is something I think a lot about!)
OH..
and my wv? "horobli"....uh huh, I so agree...

JillyG said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
allison said...

check out this video palin posted on her twitter account. you can see the skeletal hands much better. the whole thing is just creepy.

http://bit.ly/zrRht

mel said...

Well said Molly!

Very well said indeed.

AKPetMom said...

Great comment Ivyfree!

MimiC said...

"Recently we learned of a malicious desecration of a photo of the Governor and baby Trig that has become an iconic representation of a mother's love for a special needs child."

Hmmmm, notice it doesn't say "her baby Trig." And interesting, that this is an 'iconic representation' of a mother's love, as opposed to Palin's actual love for an actual son. Religious references aside, what bizarre wording. Have we ever had a statement where anybody close to Palin called Trig her son?

tasha said...

If you have not seen the wonkette article today (about this newest faux outrage over a CARTOON), it is hilarious, especially the comments. The first paragraph of the article says the following:
"See that photoshop up there of Governor Palin with Bristol Palin’s child, Trig?"
BRISTOL Palin's child, Trig!!!! woooo hoooo!

Patrick said...

+++Breaking news:+++

"Wonkette" calls Trig "Bristol Palin's child":

http://tinyurl.com/mth7fc

And it doesn't look like a "mistake" to me.

There is something in the air... :-)

B said...

Mrs. Cookiejar (oops, lapsed into American English) said, "if SP truly cared about TriG, we would see photos of him undergoing the intensive interventional therapy that all DS infants and children need."

Exactly. Everytime she speaks about her special needs grandchild, and at every pro-life rubber chicken dinner, why won't she do a truly good deed and talk about parenting a DS baby? What therapy is TriG now getting? What types of agencies can help a parent locate the services needed? How often should the baby see a doctor? What are critical ages and milestones to watch for?

Not every DS baby is born to a family with sufficient healthcare and resources and caregivers, much less two official mothers. (Aside: I just envisioned a children's book, "Trig Has Two Mommies," which Sarah's base will hate even more than they dislike "Heather Has Two Mommies.")

Sarah could share what she has learned from TriG's life rather than merely pandering to her base about his birth. But that assumes TriG is receiving the help he needs. Perhaps I have given her too much credit.

Anonymous said...

Damn, chillens! The sprightly exchange this morning is spot on. You're all brilliant! Funny funny stuff--

(OT but did anyone notice that Mark Sanford conducted his HankyPanky in Argentina on Father's Day Weekend? He has four sons! What the hell is it with these Right Wing Christians and their children?)

Anonymous said...

I dunno, Alex. I just don't understand the conservatives' Family Values. Maybe I'm just not Christian enough or something.

Maybe instead of Grand Old Party they should change G.O.P. to stand for Gonads on Parade.

Anonymous said...

I zipped right over to Wonkette to read their post. (There are times I just love those smarty-pants young hip liberal cynics!)

I found another blasphemous desecration in one of the comments there. A photo of McCain Eating a Trig Sandwich.

Thank you, Universe, for showing me this morning (with humor) that the world is onto Sarah Palin. I get so discouraged.

Anonymous said...

Morgan,

No wonder Jesus said, "Suffer the little children to come unto me."

He knew what blasphemous parents could get up to.

Punkinbugg said...

Wait... Didn't the Palins photoshop a picture of TriG to create THIS announcement?

Hypocrites.

eat whine rally said...

The original photo is on TruthSeeker222's photostream:

http://tinyurl.com/kmkb6n

He looks like he is stressed,the way he is arching his back and his expression. This child was constantly held face out for photo ops. He needed to be held closely, shielded from the bright lights and loud noises. Look at the photo stream for many other examples SP and her family members held him face out. No where do you see a protective and loving mother!
It shows how out of touch she and Meg are, to remind the world of the type of mother she really is.

Quiet1 said...

Am I so old I'm the only one who finds the "s" word offensive?

We've all stated how ignorant and uneducated we believe the Palin's are, but we've reduced ourselves to using despicable, four-letter, one-syllable words to describe their actions?

No matter what she's done, the fact of the matter is, Bristol Palin was, and still IS, a teenager. Practice some random acts of kindness, people.

KaJo said...

You all might get a laugh out of this:

Senator John Kerry, who's been through the political wars (swiftboating, anybody?) and emerged with his political life intact, takes a shot at Sarah Palin. Bullseye!

NakedTruth said...

Quiet1,

No, you are not so old. I think most people find the 's' word offensive. But it's really hard to defend a young woman (yea, Bristol is 18.5 years old and the mother of 1 more likely 2) whom opened herself up to this type scrutiny by identifying herself as a 's' word in her myspace comments.

Why would she call herself this awful degrading word if she didn't want anyone else to call her that? Just saying.... But you are correct, two wrongs don't make a right.

Dan Saperstein said...

Two points:

1. The first person to exploit a special needs child was SP herself, for claiming Bristol's baby is hers and using him for political gain.

2. Using language like "desecration" in response to political cartoons is frighteningly reminiscent of the outrage over the Danish "M*hammed" cartoons. Only that outrage at least had a semblance of religious justification, albeit extremist. The Palin camp's description of Sarah and Trig as iconic and sacred is both idolatrous and narcissistic to the extreme. That's the real sacrilege.

midnightcajun said...

You nailed it, Morgan; that look on her face is pure Sarah Smugness. Mother love--or even a grandmother's love--has nothing to do with it. You can just see her little pea brain turning, thinking, "Yes! I managed to come out of this potential disaster smelling like a rose, didn't I? Come on, Trig; earn yer keep by gettin' me some more votes. These idiots not only think you're mine, they think I knew you were going to be 'special' and didn't abort you. Well, what they don't know won't hurt them or me!"

Poor little Trig just looks scared. "Mama! Why do you keep letting this mean lady hold me up in front of all these screaming people?"

onething said...

"I just envisioned a children's book, "Trig Has Two Mommies,"

Now that, along with "Immaculate Deception" are the two funniest things I've seen in a while.

wayofpeace said...

WONKETTE strikes again:

The Virgin Palin, Our Lady of Eternal Anger, gave birth to the New Jesus at some point last year — or not, who knows, and now Andrew Sullivan just cares about Iran (which is a good thing!) so we’ll never find out the truth — and ever since it has been both a Cardinal/Venal Sin and Sharia Law that no mortal shall “desecrate” an image of the Sacred One … no one but Sarah Palin herself, because Allah both allows and encourages the use of the Holy Infant as a cheap political prop as long as such cruel hackery is performed by the Virgin Palin herself.

Palin’s fury was such, when she found out some blog “on the Internet” had combined a picture of her cradling one of her Magic Babies together with a picture of her Jedi Master, some dingbat old radio talk-show clown in Alaska, that she did verily send her dumbest disciple, “Brother Meg,” to start a Jihad against the Entire Internet.

But we know what happens when a fear-and-anger crazed Snow Witch starts a vain war she can never hope to win: The Internet Strikes Back.

Which is to say, Palin basically poked a stick in the world’s largest beehive....

http://wonkette.com/409505/sarah-palin-will-soon-condemn-bomb-entire-internet#more-409505

Truthseeker2 said...

Well, Sarah/Meg’s response is only clothed as righteous indignation. I think there are a few things at work with SP. First, she’s a narcissist who lives in a world where she is the center of the universe, and there are enough sycophants groveling around her to reinforce that self-image. Second, she is a pit bull at heart, who simply thrives on being nasty and vindictive; it’s who she is. Third, she craves publicity and controversy – even faux controversy – to get her name in the news. Fourth, she thinks the best defense is a good offense, and there is some truth to it – after all, who would dare speak out about the inconsistencies in her story when she goes ballistic over trivial things? (How come the MSM didn't investigate the inconsistencies in her story, like they did to Mark Sanford?) She’s betting that Dave Letterman will think twice before he makes Bristol and her the butt of his jokes again, and she’s probably right.

But what goes around will come around. Enough people now know the truth about Trig that it is only a matter of time before it reaches a tipping point with the MSM. I personally will be sure to tune in to Dave’s show (and Celtic Diva's blog) once that happens – that will be worth watching!

kaykay said...

So....

If someone were heretofore trying to give Sarah the benefit of the doubt and refrain from accusing her of using her children as SYMBOLS, this latest response should erase all doubts; Palin sees her children not only as symbols, but ICONS.

Anonymous said...

Another nail in the coffin.

And self-inflicted, as usual.

Sarah Palin doth protest too much.

Time and time again Palin quickly reacts to perceived threats to her children, even when there is really no threat at all. We now have two recent events:

1)Attack Letterman for joking about an unnamed sexually active Palin daughter – Palin spins it to something else: raping Willow.

2)Attack an Alaska blogger for displaying a photo-illustration of the Eddie Burke/Palin e-mail case – Palin spins it to something else: desecration(!) of a staged campaign photo of Palin, Trig and DS “motherly love.”

Yet she has done nothing definitive to counter a real threat: the Trig Palin birth story. Nothing. It is inconceivable that someone who has a now proven track record of hair-trigger defensive attacks would not do everything possible to defend her birthing of Trig Palin if she were the real birth mother. After all, it is extremely easy to produce irrefutable evidence that such an event occurred. In fact, it is the law in every state to have such records. Those records are used to prove the very facts of birth and parentage - tools to protect the family. Yet she continues to stonewall, delay and generally not produce any documentation and factual medical evidence to counter the very easily countered threat. None. Why?

Obviously, because she cannot prove something that never happened.

This is not really a story about Trig or any other child, it is about Sarah Palin's honesty and character.

Only cowards fear the truth.

Unknown said...

A few days I coined a new phrase for the Republican Party, and their pious yet totally phony family values:

"DO AS I SAY -- NOT AS I SCREW"

I might even trademark it and make some bumperstickers! :)

PS - Did you hear that Trig is a special needs baby?

Nana said...

peninparadise said
This child was constantly held face out for photo ops.He needed to be held closely, shielded from the bright lights and loud noises. Look at the photo stream for many other examples SP and her family members held him face out. No where do you see a protective and loving mother!

Bristol always held Trig like a loving mother.

Windy City Woman said...

Did others see the news article which talked about research showing that women, more often than men, would look away from a "defective" (their word) baby? Maybe Sarah can't handle a baby with special needs, which is why she holds Trig unlike a loving parent.