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Tag: track palin
Endorse This: Sarah Palin Further Embarrasses Herself On Caucus Day

Endorse This: Sarah Palin Further Embarrasses Herself On Caucus Day

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Sarah Palin appeared on TV this morning to promote Donald Trump, on the big day of the Iowa caucuses. But then she got asked about the most news-making quote she’s delivered while stumping for The Donald: That President Obama was to blame for her son’s arrest on domestic violence charges, because the troops get post-traumatic stress disorder after they have to “look at him and wonder” whether or not he supports them.

Palin’s answer: No, she didn’t say that at all — and shame on you for talking about it!

“You guys brought me here to talk about Iowa politics, and the caucus tonight — not to talk about my kids,” said Palin, who was actually the one that first talked about her kids while on the campaign trail. “And that was a promise. But as things go in the world of media, you guys don’t always keep your promises, evidently.”

Palin went on to say maintain that she didn’t make any such accusation against Obama, but simultaneously insisted that he doesn’t support the troops. Matt Lauer then asked her if she wanted to take back anything she said that was offensive.

“What did I say that is offensive?” she retorted. “I don’t regret any comment that I made, because I didn’t lay PTSD at the foot of the president.”

“I did say, though, and suggested very adamantly, that there is much more that our Commander-in-Chief can do to prove that he respects our troops and will let them do their job.”

As Palin went on to criticize the media for asking her about this, Lauer then had to clarify the situation against her latest accusation.

“I just want to make sure: There were no specific promises made about the content of the interview, only that this would be your first interview since you endorsed Donald Trump.”

“Well, I was told that this interview is about the caucus tonight in Iowa — and right on, who will it be to put America back on the right track and restore constitutional government that we are lacking today, and that we so need. And I said ‘right on,’ let me go talk about that, sure.”

Savannah Guthrie could only say: “And I think we talked about that quite a bit.”

Video viaToday/NBC News.

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Track Palin, Sarah’s Latest Political Opportunity

Track Palin, Sarah’s Latest Political Opportunity

By Leonard Pitts Jr., Tribune Content Agency

The police report paints a confusing and chaotic picture.

Apparently, the young man and his girlfriend got into an argument over her ex-boyfriend. At some point, things became physical. When police arrived, they say they found the young man outside his parent’s home, where he lives. He was belligerent, evasive and stank of alcohol. He had a bruised eye, which he attributed to his girlfriend throwing an elbow.

According to the police report, the girlfriend was found upstairs in the house, hiding under a bed, crying. She also had an eye injury from where she said her boyfriend had punched her with a closed fist. She also said he kicked her and threatened to kill himself with an AR-15 rifle. “Do you think I won’t do it?” he cried. The young man was arrested.

And it was all Barack Obama’s fault.

That, at least, is what 26-year-old Track Palin’s mother, Sarah, suggested to the audience at a Donald Trump rally in Tulsa last week, the day after Track, a combat veteran, was taken into custody.

“My son, like so many others, they come back a bit different. They come back hardened. They come back wondering if there is that respect for what their fellow soldiers and airmen and every other member of the military have given so sacrificially to this country, and that starts at the top.

“It is,” she continued, “a shame that our military personnel even have to question, have to wonder if they’re respected anymore. It starts from the top…comes from our own president where they have to look at him and wonder, ‘Do you know what we go through? Do you know what we’re trying to do to secure America and to secure the freedoms that have been bequeathed us?'”

Vote Trump, she said, so that, “America’s finest will have that commander in chief who will respect them and honor them.”

Someone asked on Twitter whether this meant President Obama is also responsible for daughter Bristol’s two unwed pregnancies. Probably shouldn’t give Sarah any ideas.

To be fair: The scandal over the failure of Obama’s Department of Veterans Affairs to provide timely medical care for American service personnel is a disgrace; any flak the administration takes for it is richly deserved. That said, it takes a leap worthy of Jesse Owens to suggest this is why Track Palin got arrested.

His mother’s clumsy attempt to shift blame for what he allegedly did speaks volumes about the devolution of conservatism in the last two decades. Like them or not, agree with them or don’t, conservatives used to espouse clear and consistent values, one of which was an impatience with the so-called culture of victimization. But in recent years, who has cried “victim” more than they? To hear them tell it, they are a people perennially under siege from a “War on Christmas,” a “War on Whites,” a “War on Males,” political correctness, same-sex marriage and, of course, that old standby, liberal media bias.

Now here is one of conservatism’s biggest stars claiming her son is a victim after he allegedly beat up his girlfriend in a drunken rage. What used to be a consistent principle has shrunk into the kind of situational morality conservatives once abhorred, a “say anything-ism” in which the only consistent ideal is that you never pass up any opportunity to damage the president.

Palin’s willingness to use her own son in that cause is repellent. One reads little actual concern for him — or his girlfriend — in her remarks. And that is sad. What kind of mother looks at her son’s domestic-violence arrest and thinks, political opportunity?

Track Palin is obviously a troubled young man. One hopes he gets the help he needs.

His mom could use some, too.

(Leonard Pitts is a columnist for The Miami Herald, 1 Herald Plaza, Miami, Fla., 33132. Readers may contact him via e-mail at lpitts@miamiherald.com.)

Photo: Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin speaks after endorsing U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for President at a rally at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa January 19, 2016. REUTERS/Mark Kauzlarich

Endorse This: Sarah Palin, Go Home (And Go Away)

Endorse This: Sarah Palin, Go Home (And Go Away)

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The gang on Morning Joe all felt very dirty this morning, as they reacted to Sarah Palin’s recent comment, where she blamed President Obama for her son’s arrest for alleged domestic violence.

Track Palin, she said, not only suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder as an Iraq War veteran — but his PTSD was really President Obama’s fault, because the troops “have to look at him and wonder” if they are respected.

Said panelist Donny Deutsch: “It’s one of the most offensive things I’ve ever heard any politician say, basically,” to claim that Track Palin allegedly punched his girlfriend because “Barack Obama is somehow connected. I mean, shame on you, Sarah Palin.”

Lead host Joe Scarborough commented: “I think actually the Trump campaign needs to send her home, and let her take care of her family problems, and not make it part of his campaign.”

“She doesn’t need to be on the campaign trail,” he added. “She needs to be back with her family, and needs to stop being a distraction to Donald Trump — and stop trying to raise money, and exploit Donald Trump for money.”

Video viaMorning Joe/MSNBC.

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Sarah Palin: My Veteran Son Has PTSD Because He’s Not Respected By Obama

Sarah Palin: My Veteran Son Has PTSD Because He’s Not Respected By Obama

At a Trump campaign rally Wednesday in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Sarah Palin spoke publicly for the first time about the news that her son Track Palin was arrested this week on domestic violence charges, saying that his struggles were a result of post-traumatic stress disorder as a military veteran — and this this was President Obama’s fault for purportedly not showing respect to the troops.

“But my son, like so many others, they come back a bit different. They come back hardened. They come back wondering if there is that respect for what it is that their fellow soldiers and airmen, and every other member of the military, so sacrificially have given to this country. And that starts from the top.

Video via NBC News.

“It’s a shame that our military personnel even have to wonder, if they have to question if they’re respected anymore. It starts from the top. The question, though, that comes from our own president — where they have to look at him and wonder: ‘Do you know what we go through? Do you know what we’re trying to do, to secure America, and to secure the freedoms that have been bequeathed us?'”

Track Palin was arrested Monday night in an alleged domestic violence incident against a woman the police refer to as his girlfriend, as reported by Gawker, on misdemeanor charges of assault, interfering with the report of a domestic violence crime, and possession of a firearm while intoxicated.

Sarah Palin apparently flew from Alaska to Iowa on the night of Monday, Jan.18, and remained in Iowa to endorse Trump at his campaign rally the next evening. She has stayed with the campaign as it took her to this stop in Oklahoma on Jan. 20.

As also reported from the police affidavit: The New York Times, on the circumstances of Track Palin’s arrest:

[Redacted] told Palin that she had called the cops even though she had not, in attempt to calm him down and to scare him away from “touching her”. Palin approached [Redacted] and struck her on the left side of her head near her eye with a closed fist. [Redacted] got on the ground in a fetal position because she didn’t know what else he would do. Palin then kicked [redacted] on the right knee. [Redacted]’s phone was sitting on the ground in front of her. Palin took her phone and threw it across the driveway. She retrieved the phone and went inside the house. Palin was already inside and holding onto a gun, yelling “do you think I’m a pussy?” and “do you think I won’t do it?” [Redacted] stated Palin “cocked the gun” and was holding the rifle out next to him with the his right hand near the trigger and his left hand near the barrel, with the barrel just away from his face pointed to the side. [Redacted] was concerned that he would shoot himself and ran outside and around the house.

In a statement to The Associated Press on Tuesday, Palin family attorney John Tiemessen asked the public to respect the family’s privacy “as Track receives the help that he and many of our returning veterans need.”

The following is a rough transcription of Palin’s remarks:

Let me get a little personal on this. I’m talking about not leaving our wounded warriors behind also. our wounded warriors who come home from the battlefield, bringing new battles with them; our wounded warriors, sometimes in body and in mind, coming back different than when they left for the war zone. I can talk personally about this — I guess it’s kind of an elephant in the room — because my own family going through what we’re going through today with my son — a combat vet, having served in the Striker Brigade, fighting for you all America in the war zone. (applause)

But my son, like so many others, they come back a bit different. They come back hardened. They come back wondering if there is that respect for what it is that their fellow soldiers and airmen, and every other member of the military, so sacrificially have given to this country. And that starts from the top — it’s a shame that our military personnel even have to wonder, if they have to question if they’re respected anymore. It starts from the top. The question, though, that comes from our own president — where they have to look at him and wonder: “Do you know what we go through? Do you know what we’re trying to do, to secure America, and to secure the freedoms that have been bequeathed us?”

So when my own son is going through what he goes through, coming back, I can certainly relate with other families who kinda feel these ramifications of some PTSD, and some of the woundedness that our soldiers do return with. And it makes me realize more than ever: It is now or never, for the sake of America’s finest, that we have that Commander-in-Chief who will respect them, and honor them! (Applause)