ShadowBoxing
Avenger
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Every day, buried beneath the perfection that is President Barack Obama :heart:, the media has been running near daily stories on the further misadventures of one Sarah Palin (who?)
Anyways, I decided perhaps she hasn't quite been beaten to death enough, so here are some updates.
Palin to media: Leave my kids alone
Palin Clothes found in Trash Bags
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/23/palins-180000-campaign-cl_n_160313.html
Oh, and what we've all been waiting for.
Sarah Palin Gets a TV Show!
Anyways, I decided perhaps she hasn't quite been beaten to death enough, so here are some updates.
Palin to media: Leave my kids alone
ANCHORAGE, Alaska Alaska Gov. [COLOR=#038258! important][COLOR=#038258! important]Sarah [COLOR=#038258! important]Palin[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] is going on the offensive against news organizations and bloggers she says are perpetuating malicious gossip about her and her children. But political observers say the former Republican [COLOR=#038258! important][COLOR=#038258! important]vice [COLOR=#038258! important]presidential [/COLOR][COLOR=#038258! important]candidate[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] can't have it both ways: trotting out the children to showcase her family values, then trying to shield them from scrutiny.
Palin's criticism also raises questions about her motivations because she has said she is open to a presidential run in 2012.
"I think she's positioning herself. She's attacking the media as a way to generate support among a base she hopes will support her," said Leonard Steinhorn, a professor of communications at American University in Washington and an expert on the presidency.
Palin shied away from interviews during the campaign, although her children often accompanied her on her travels, including her oldest daughter, Bristol, who was pregnant at the time.
But in recent weeks, she has personally reached out to media outlets such as People magazine and The Associated Press to complain about information she claimed is wrong.
She slammed reports that 18-year-old Bristol Palin and the teen's fiance are high school dropouts. The governor insists the two are not dropouts because they enrolled in correspondence courses.
The couple last month had a son _ the governor's first grandchild.
The governor said she is speaking out to set the record straight, not because of any political aspirations.
"It's all about the family," she said. "I'm wired in a way that I can take the criticism. I can take the shots. But any mother would want to protect their children from lies and scandalous reporting."
In a Jan. 5 interview with conservative filmmaker John Ziegler, Palin also questioned whether Caroline Kennedy's quest for a New York Senate seat was as heavily scrutinized as her [COLOR=#038258! important][COLOR=#038258! important]vice [COLOR=#038258! important]presidential [/COLOR][COLOR=#038258! important]campaign[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR].
When her comments were reported, she chastised journalists for taking her remarks "out of context to create adversarial situations."
Steinhorn is not alone among experts who believe the first-term governor is trying to keep her name in the spotlight. A newcomer to national politics when she was nominated, Palin energized the Republican base but also attracted intense criticism that she had little substance.
Palin "does seem to have ambitions, and this is one way of staying in the public eye," said Janis Edwards, an associate professor of communication studies at the University of Alabama and an expert on women candidates. One of Edwards' classes monitored Palin's role in a project called "The Palin Watch."
Palin's grievances include what she calls "false stories" such as a talk show host's suggestion that she helped Levi Johnston get a job in Alaska's North Slope oil fields, circumventing eligibility rules since he does not have a high school diploma.
Johnston's father, an engineer for an oil-field services company, has said his position accounted for any help Levi received in getting the apprenticeship job.
Palin also lashed out at bloggers and others perpetuating Internet rumors that her 9-month-old son, Trig, is actually Bristol Palin's child from a secret previous pregnancy.
Her decision to strike back at news organizations seems to contradict the governor's earlier statements on how politicians should respond to media coverage.
Months before she was named John McCain's running mate, Palin attended a leadership forum in Los Angeles and was asked her opinion on then-Sen. Hillary Clinton's allegations that she was being unfairly treated by the media during the primaries.
Palin said Clinton did herself a disservice to even mention it. The governor said it bothered her to hear Clinton "bring that attention to herself on that level."
Palin said her opinion has not changed since the March 2008 event and insisted that defending her children is her only motivation.
"I'm not whining about the treatment of the press, but I am calling reporters on the family aspect of this," she said. "I think it's unprecedented in some respects what I have seen with my children."
It's not unprecedented. The children and spouses of high-profile politicians always draw attention.
Early in President George Bush's first term, his twin daughters, Jenna and Barbara, made headlines after an embarrassing run-in with the law for underage drinking.
So did Kitty Dukakis, the wife of former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, when she was treated for alcoholism after her husband's unsuccessful presidential campaign in 1988. She later suffered a relapse and was hospitalized after drinking rubbing alcohol.
Two weeks before President Obama's inauguration, his daughters Sasha and Malia were escorted to their new schools past a line of waiting photographers.
Palin Clothes found in Trash Bags
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/23/palins-180000-campaign-cl_n_160313.html
Oh, and what we've all been waiting for.
Sarah Palin Gets a TV Show!
A new series about the fe male mayor of a small town has jumped from the back burner to the front, thanks to Sarah Palin.
The proposed show, tentatively titled "Cadillac Ranch," comes with a big-name director attached - Adam Shankman, who choreographed and directed the movie version of "Hairspray."
Shankman is also well-known for his frequent appearances as a guest judge on "So You Think You Can Dance" on Fox.
With its quirky, small-town setting and female-politician lead character, the show's concept has recently become more timely for its resemblance to the life of Palin.
The series - just a "spec" script at the moment - is in development at Twentieth Century Fox Television, where it was first brought five months ago, according to the studio's head of development, Jennifer Nicholson Salke.
"We have been negotiating and looking at it for five months, kind of figuring out what the strategy is," Salke said.
"But it's about a female character who's a mayor in this town with the crazy family and the kids and the stay-at-home dad, and everyone couldn't help but think of Sarah Palin now that they've read it."
As a result, "we're going to be going out with it," she said.
No cast or network is lined up yet.
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