White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs took a swipe at Sarah Palin Tuesday, mimicking the former vice presidential candidate’s decision to use her hand as a notepad at the National Tea Party Convention last week.

Robert Gibbs is a jackass. I’m going to send him this letter.

Dear Robert Gibbs,

I’m no fan of Sarah Palin. The thought of Sarah Palin running this country is something of which nightmares are made. She’s unqualified and uninformed, just to name a few of her politically fatal flaws. That said, as our country spirals further into the economic abyss, I wonder what was going through your mind this morning.

With job losses continuing to pile up and unemployment hovering around 9.7%, I’d expect the President’s mouthpiece to be a little less flashy and a little more conciliatory. Apparently, you don’t think much of your position or how the public will digest your foolish antics so allow me to give you some insight.

You looked like a jackass today.

I’m still gainfully employed at the moment but I couldn’t help thinking about the millions who aren’t. The millions who watched you duck questions from the press and perform skits in front of the cameras. While the President made an unannounced appearance in front of the press corps he had ducked for months, clearly hoping to catch reporters off-guard, you thought it would be slick to turn the focus from ballooning deficits into some dolt who gave a silly speech in front of a tea party crowd in Tennessee. Could you possibly not realize that the general public doesn’t care about this? I’m generally a get-the-hell-out-of-my-way kind of guy but, if I am to rely on government for anything, I’d like to imagine you and your friends rolling up their sleeves and digging into the giant basin of problems that this nation is staring down with some intent on repairing the leaks. Instead you spoon-feed the public silly stunts and press room laugh fests. Thanks for that.

So my suggestion to you is this: Quit the smirking, gaming and political haymaking and just answer the damn questions. There’s no need to make the press chuckle or make light of any developing stories; just the facts sir, if you would. And remember, this isn’t about politics, it’s about appearances. Those who disagree with this administration on various fronts are of a dozen colors, shapes and backgrounds at this point and you’d be well-advised to quit the shenanigans and roll up those sleeves. This isn’t Mad TV, jackass.

Yours,
Shawn Wasson

Sarah Palin will hit the trail for McCain.

Just crossed the wires: Sarah Palin has signed on to be a contributor with the Fox News channel.

Sarah Palin appears on the Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien to read from William Shatner’s book.

The video, after the cut.

Man arrested for throwing two tomatoes at Sarah Palin during book tour appearance in Minnesota. Bad news: He missed. Really bad news: He hit a cop in the face and spent the night in jail.

Update: Here’s a photo… CREEPY.

I generally don’t buy into the ‘Sarah Palin is hot’ hype but she looks pretty good in this hat. Here’s a snapshot from a ‘Going Rogue’ event yesterday.

Sarah Palin calls the quest for Obama’s ‘real’ birth certificate ‘fair game.’ She later backed off a bit via Facebook. Still, what a silly move…

Sarah Palin to appear as ‘hero’ character in new comic book.

In the book written by Katharine DeBrecht, “Governor Sarah” (a character based on Palin) attempts to help two young boys hold onto their dream of a swing-set business which is struggling as a result of high taxes, heavy regulations and 246 czars.

“I am trying to let all Americans know that these radicals are killing the American Dream and I want to stop them from hurting people that produce products and provide jobs,” the Palin character consoles the frustrated boys after their business is destroyed by “Marxus Obunduf” who is based on President Obama.

Hell, Obama was in Spiderman… this seems a little weak in comparison.

By the way, two weeks in, she’s now sold 2 million copies of Going Rogue.

An AP source puts first week numbers of Going Rogue at 700k.

THE BIG NUMBER: 300k books sold in 24hrs.

FLIPSIDE: Gawker finds look-a-likes, angry fans and MARTHA STEWART.

The official press release is here… but you want find what you’re looking for if you read it. I couldn’t get a sense of what her goals may be from her hastily arranged press conference either. She wandered out into her backyard and delivered a short statement, taking no questions afterward, in the media blackhole that is the 4th of July weekend. Also, she leaked some information earlier in the day that suggested she wouldn’t run for reelection but not mentioning she would be stepping down in a few weeks. It’s all a bit confusing.

Several talking points are already taking hold including one that suggests Sarah Palin couldn’t possibly run for a higher office than Governor when she couldn’t even complete a single term. Then again, President Obama was barely into his first term as a Senator when he decided to run for the nation’s top office. Experience questions aside, Palin’s decision to step down is probably about one of three things.

1. Presidential Aspirations

It could be plausible that Sarah Palin wants to break free from the bounds of the Governorship and any ethics issues she faces while positioning herself for a Presidential run in 2012. If this is the case, why run with the presser at such an awkward time in the news cycle? Well, Palin’s approval rating has slumped a bit since November (though it’s still among the highest for a sitting Governor) so it makes sense that she might want to get out while the gettin’s good. Palin may also feel that as a Governor she can’t criticize the President as she would like to. She could be tired of playing by a set of rules that are holding her back and maybe Sarah thinks it’s time for a media campaign to battle the myths and outright lies about her that swirl around the media landscape.

2. Money and Power

I remembered watching a close-to-tears Palin alongside Senator McCain on election night and wondering what she would do next. Palin was thrust into the spotlight in a major way and she went from obscurity to fame in record time. But when the results came in on November 4, it all came crashing down. Palin must have felt odd about the prospects of returning to small-town Alaska and resuming business as usual. It probably seemed boring to her. She now had offers coming from every direction and ambitions far beyond the Governorship. With book deals and dollar signs in her eyes it would seem a good idea to strike while the iron is still hot. She could make enough money in the next few years to cover her family comfortably for a long time. And, with a clean slate, she could focus more on her special needs child, Trig.

3. A Brewing Scandal

This is by far the sexiest possibility of the three. Rumors are swirling of impending IRS suits and ethics cases galore. Those rumors may have no basis in fact but it’s worth looking at. Could there be a shoe dropping sometime soon that would have ended Sarah Palin’s political career anyhow? I’m skeptical of this for several reasons but the most obvious of the bunch — why would she wait several weeks to resign? — seems to hold water. Palin has been dogged by ethics complaints since day one (most of them partisan in nature), why would she duck out here?

I think the real answer is somewhere between 1 and 2. Let’s call it 1.5. I’m guessing Alaska is holding Sarah Palin back politically. She wants to engage in the debate vociferously at a national level — something that would be unbecoming for someone in her current position. She’s also well aware that to have any chance in 2012 she’s got a lot to ground to make up. Palin has to rebrand herself as a competent manager intelligent enough to take on any issue head-on. She can’t do these things or raise the money needed to launch a large-scale campaign while she’s running Alaska, so she’s out.

If this is the case, I expect to see Palin hit the media circuit shortly after she officially resigns. She’ll position herself alongside popular political figures and combat the Obama administration at every angle. I don’t think (as some others are suggesting) that it’s over for Sarah Palin at this point. I do think that, if she wants to pull off the task outlined above, she has a whole lot of work to do.

The NRA is sending Sarah Palin a custom gun. Not just any gun, mind you, a custom M-4 rifle — the very type of assault weapon that many Congressional Democrats would like to pry from her (presumably) cold, dead hands. The M-4 is essentially the civilian version of the weapon troops in Afghanistan and Iraq are carrying right this very second. The only thing Palin could possibly do to anger the anti-gun crowd any more would be to take this puppy on an aerial assault hunt. Imagine that…

This guy is such an epic ‘I’m going to do what I can to make this work’ joke at this point, I almost hesitate to follow him. Then again, someone has to pay attention.

Want to buy a copy? You can purchase them here….

Sarah Palin, it turns out, remains extremely popular in the US – at least among readers of comics. A graphic biography of the Alaskan governor was released in the US yesterday and has been flying off the shelves, with its publisher already rushing back to press for a second printing.

Telling Palin’s life story – from PTA president to her surprise nomination as John McCain’s running mate, to the pair’s failed bid for the White House – the 32-page comic is an “even-handed perspective” of Palin’s accomplishments, according to its publisher Bluewater Productions.

Democrats aren’t the only folks dealing with tax issues, apparently:

UNEAU, Alaska – Gov. Sarah Palin must pay back taxes on nearly $18,000 in expenses she charged the state for living in her home outside Anchorage instead of at the state capital, officials said Wednesday.

A review of state policy and Internal Revenue Service tax laws determined the per diem payments should be treated as income, Department of Administration Commissioner Annette Kreitzer said.

Sure, most of the per diem charges were for bringing her children on the road with her — but was this quote necessary? “Cvent organizers said they were surprised when the Palin children showed up uninvited” That seems a bit harsh and leads me to believe the source was no Palin fan.

According to one source, bidding for the baby photos began at $100,000. People won out in the end, but In Touch was the only other weekly to make serious bids, according to several sources involved in the process.

The price didn’t soar immediately, according to the sources, because Sarah Palin stories just didn’t sell all that well for the weeklies on newsstands.

The drug-related arrest of Johnston’s mother, however, caused the price tag for the photos to go up.

I’m liable to believe this may be an attempt to push the ‘Sarah Palin’s Daughter’s Boyfriend’s Mom Drug Bust’ story that the public has taken little interest in. It’s been ignored because, well, it’s not relevant. So there’s no evidence that these photos have been or will be sold but MSNBC just runs with the story. I’m not saying they will go unsold, I’m saying MSNBC is jumping the gun.

Bristol Palin, the daughter of former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, has given birth, FOX News confirmed.

Palin and her boyfriend Levi Johnston, both 18, are parents to a healthy 7 lb., 4 oz., baby boy in Palmer, Alaska.

“We think it’s wonderful,” Colleen Jones, the sister of Bristol’s grandmother Sally Heath, told People.com. “The baby is fine and Bristol is doing well. Everyone is excited.”

Jones told People.com that the baby’s name is Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston.

Bristol still plans to marry her boyfriend Levi in 2009. Congrats to the couple…

Gov. Palin, to some extent, pushed the party more to the right, and I think she had something of a polarizing effect when she talked about how small town values are good. Well, most of us don’t live in small towns. And I was raised in the South Bronx, and there’s nothing wrong with my value system from the South Bronx.

And when they came to Virginia and said the southern part of Virginia is good and the northern part of Virginia is bad. The only problem with that is there are more votes in the northern part of Virginia than there are in the southern part of Virginia, so that doesn’t work.

The clip above shoves the Palin rip but he also tore at Rush Limbaugh. I disagree with Powell’s overarching statement that the GOP ignores blacks, hispanics and other minority groups. Republicans have attempted to reach out to outfits like the Congressional Black Caucus and others and the reaction has historically been cold. I do think Republicans will want to refocus and push for gains among these demographics if they want to stay competitive politically, I just think Powell has a history of making more out of these divisions than is justified.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Authorities are investigating a letter containing a suspicious white powder sent to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

Similar suspicious mailings were addressed to seven other governors this week.

It wasn’t immediately clear if the letter addressed to the former Republican vice presidential candidate had a Dallas postmark, as the other letters did. A Palin spokeswoman said it was sent to her Juneau office and received Tuesday.

An FBI spokesman in Alaska says the powder is being tested.

A slew of Governors have received similar letters in the last week or so and all of them have tested negative for dangerous substances. The letter was intercepted before Palin touched it.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens has lost his bid for a seventh term. The longest-serving Republican in the history of the Senate trailed Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich by 3,724 votes after Tuesday’s count. That’s an insurmountable lead with only about 2,500 overseas ballots left to be counted.

Stevens, who turned 85 Tuesday, also revealed that he will not ask President George W. Bush to give him a pardon for his seven felony convictions.

Did you hear that? That was Sarah Palin’s political future grinding to an abrupt halt.

This makes 58 seats for the Democrats. If Al Franken and Jim Martin can pull through (Franken via recount and Martin in the run-off election) the Democrats will have a Super Majority.