NY Magazine Publishes Anti-Palin Hit-Piece Using No Sources and No Data

Sources? We don’t need no stinkin’ sources!

By Stacy Drake

* Follow Stacy on Twitter!

It’s safe to say that something just wasn’t right the other day when Governor Palin took to Facebook to write:

I’m sorry Fox cancelled all my scheduled interviews tonight because I sure wanted to take the opportunity on the air to highlight Senator John McCain’s positive contributions to America, to honor him, and to reflect on what a biased media unfairly put him through four years ago tonight.

Fox seemed to have worked out whatever issue they said they were having because the Governor was back on to discuss the RNC on Thursday evening. What’s curious however, is while covering the story, Gabriel Sherman of New York Magazine claims to have spoken with some Fox executives who, he claims were less than kind or honest about Governor Palin. Sherman wrote:

Last night’s kerfuffle between Sarah Palin and Fox News was a classic display of Sarah Palin being, well, Sarah Palin. But her Facebook outburst complaining about Fox canceling her appearance at the Republic National Convention reveals something deeper about Palin’s often rocky relationship with the network. Palin’s contract is up in January, and according to sources, Fox News executives are now weighing what kind of deal they would sign, if they sign one at all.

If by “Sarah Palin being, well, Sarah Palin” he means, being honest and gracious to a friend, then yes, that was Sarah Palin being Sarah Palin. He goes on:

Essentially, Palin and Fox are in the early stages of an elaborate contract negotiation. Palin earns roughly $1 million per year from Fox, making her the highest paid contributor at the network. Fox executives have been disappointed with her ratings.

Wait a minute… He states that “Fox executives have been disappointed with her ratings” but he doesn’t give any names of executives, nor does he give any data to back up the claim. This is nothing more than unsourced rubbish.

The reality is that Governor Palin is a big ratings draw. The special she did with Eric Bolling was a huge success for the Fox network, and she was recently rated #1 in Mediaite power rankings for television analysts. She also gave NBC a an enormous rating boost when she co-hosted the Today Show back in April.

Sherman then noted:

Palin has been disappointed by Fox’s decision to not give her top billing on bookings.

How does he know if she’s disappointed with anything? He didn’t interview her for the story, so what does he base this line on? Did Fox executives tell him that? He doesn’t state specifically, but next he writes (emphasis):

According to sources, the relationship at times has gotten so bad that much communication has been conducted via Palin’s husband Todd. One thing is clear: It’s risky for her to push the envelope too far. Fox has been a central pillar of Palin’s national reach since quitting the governorship, and without the network’s platform, it’s unclear how she could maintain even her current, much-diminished level of visibility.

Oh, please, Governor Palin doesn’t need Fox to maintain anything. The important work that she does in promoting reform-minded, commonsense Conservative candidates keeps her busy, and trust me, candidates want her to be visible around their campaigns.

Also, any network would love to have Governor Palin on as a guest, and certainly have her as a regular analyst. Just consider the fact that Piers Morgan was begging Governor Palin to come on his show the moment he learned Fox had cancelled her interviews:

Wednesday evening, he took to Twitter to invite Palin on his show: “If Fox don’t want you tonight @SarahPalinUSA – come on my show. Be happy to talk about @SenJohnMcCain with you,” he wrote.

Politicker asked him about his attempts to get her on the show: “I’m serious, if she’s fallen out with Fox, I’d love to get her on. It’s the one reason we haven’t had her since I’ve been on air, because of her contract with Fox,” Morgan said, referring to her ongoing exclusivity contract with Fox News.

“Clearly, if she’s had an issue with them and can now do us, I’d love to interview her.”

If Mr. Sherman did indeed talk to Fox executives for his article, it doesn’t speak well for the network. Governor Palin has been good for Fox News, increased their viewership, and added her much needed perspective to the dialog on that channel. But we don’t know if Sherman really spoke to anyone because he doesn’t give any names. He expects people to just take his word for it, in a time and age where distrust in the media is at an all time high. Regardless if he did or not, what he’s selling to his readers is just another false narrative designed to degrade and downplay Governor Palin’s influence. The facts are not on Sherman’s side no matter who is responsible for the phony reality he tries to pass off as “journalism.”

Brandon Bernstein, Courtney Force Win Fan Vote/Lottery for Last Spot in Traxxas Nitro Shootout

Courtney Force holds the winning lottery ball

Brandon Bernstein [Top Fuel] and Courtney Force [Funny Car] won the combined fan vote/lottery for the final starting positions in the $100,000 to win Traxxas Nitro Shootout at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals this weekend.

The Traxxas Nitro Shootout is a specialty race that will take place on Saturday and Sunday during qualifying for final eliminations on Monday.

From NHRA Communications:

Top fan-vote getters Brandon Bernstein and Courtney Force were the lucky winners in the special lottery drawings for the No. 8 positions in the Traxxas Nitro Shootouts today during a press conference held in downtown Indianapolis to preview the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Auto-Plus, the world’s most prestigious drag race.

Bernstein will face the top seed in Top Fuel, Antron Brown, in the first-round pairing of the Top Fuel Traxxas Nitro Shootout, while the 24-year-old Force will meet Funny Car top seed Ron Capps in the Traxxas Nitro Shootout for Funny Car first round.

“It’s very exciting that the fans voted as much as they did for us and that my name got called,” Bernstein said. “I was worried about Clay (Millican), so I knew it would be close, but it’s fun that we got it and I can’t wait to race!”

Brandon Bernstein interviewed after the drawing

Said Force: “I’m so excited that my Traxxas Ford Mustang is in the Shootout! I’m so thankful to the fans for voting for me. I knew it was up to chance with the lottery, so I can’t believe we actually won. It’ll be so awesome to be in my first Traxxas Nitro Shootout and I can’t wait to line up on Sunday.”

The Traxxas Nitro Shootouts will be contested during the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Auto-Plus, Aug. 29-Sept. 3, at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis.

The Traxxas Nitro Shootout for Top Fuel will be held Saturday Sept. 1, with rounds at 4 p.m., 7 p.m., and 8 p.m.

The Traxxas Nitro Shootout for Funny Car will be contested Sunday, Sept. 2, with rounds at 12:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Both Traxxas Nitro Shootouts will be showcased in ESPN2HD’s Sunday race coverage.

The two drivers selected today was the culmination of a process that started on Aug. 20. All drivers in both categories who had competed in each race this season but were not a part of the seven qualified drivers for each Traxxas Nitro Shootout were eligible for the fan vote/lottery. Fan voting took place on NHRA’s Facebook page and lasted until Aug. 28. The fan voting determined how many lottery balls would be assigned to each driver for the drawing. Force led the Funny Car voting with 63 percent, while Bernstein had the most votes in Top Fuel, with 35 percent.

In the other first round pairings in Top Fuel, Winternationals winner Spencer Massey will face Topeka winner David Grubnic, Bristol winner Tony Schumacher will meet Gainesville winner Morgan Lucas and Atlanta winner Steve Torrence will face Doug Kalitta, who was inserted into the field as the highest points earning non-winner since one spot was left open with only six different winners in the regular season.

In the three other Funny Car first round pairings, Phoenix winner Robert Hight will meet Chicago winner Jeff Arend, Topeka winner Jack Beckman will face Winternationals winner John Force and Englishtown winner Johnny Gray will race Houston winner Mike Neff. Below are the drivers who have qualified for the Traxxas Nitro Shooutouts and their first-round pairings for the lucrative bonus races which will award the winning drivers $100,000 each.

TRAXXAS NITRO SHOOTOUT (TOP FUEL)

FIRST-ROUND PAIRINGS (Sept. 1, 4 p.m.):

1. Antron Brown vs. No. 8 Brandon Bernstein

2. Spencer Massey vs. No. 7 Dave Grubnic

3. Tony Schumacher vs. No. 6 Morgan Lucas

4. Steve Torrence vs. No. 5 Doug Kalitta

SEMIFINAL PAIRINGS (7 p.m.):

Brown-Bernstein winner vs. Torrence-Kalitta winner

Massey-Grubnic winner vs. Schumacher-Lucas winner

FINAL (8 p.m.)

TRAXXAS NITRO SHOOTOUT (FUNNY CAR)

FIRST-ROUND PAIRINGS (Sept. 2, 12:30 p.m.):

1. Ron Capps vs. No. 8 Courtney Force

2. Robert Hight vs. No. 7 Jeff Arend

3. Jack Beckman vs. No. 6 John Force

4. Johnny Gray vs. No. 5 Mike Neff

SEMIFINAL PAIRINGS (3:30 p.m.):

Capps-C.Force winner vs. Gray-Neff winner

Hight-Arend winner vs. Beckman- J.Force winner

FINAL (4:30 p.m.)

Sarah Palin: Support Mia Love’s “Love Bomb”

By Gary P Jackson

A few minutes ago Sarah Palin tweeted this to her supporters:

You can support @MiaBLove’s “love bomb” at http://t.co/jdJDapHG.

— Sarah Palin (@SarahPalinUSA) August 31, 2012

Mia Love was a huge hit at the RNC convention. If you missed her speech:

Mia Love is the Mayor of Saratoga Springs, Utah check out her website, and follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

Ted Cruz: Sarah Palin’s Endorsement was the Game Changer

By Gary P Jackson

As a Texan I can tell you, what Ted Cruz says is true. He was well known by Tea Party members, but still faced an almost impossible hill to climb against a well known, well financed David Dewhurst. It was Sarah Palin’s endorsement before the primary that jump-started his campaign. After she endorsed him people nationwide heard his name, and even more importantly, much needed money came flowing in.

Sarah’s help enabled Cruz to force a run-off. A run-off Cruz would win in a landslide.

From the Houston Chronicle:

Sarah Palin might have been sitting out this year’s Republican National Convention, but that does not mean that she has been forgotten by the party faithful in Tampa.

Especially not by Ted Cruz, who credits her endorsement with helping him beat Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in the race for the Texas GOP Senate nomination.

While speaking with POLITICO’s Mike Allen this morning, the Texas Republican Senate nominee called Palin’s endorsement “game-changing.”

“If you look at the senate races across the country this cycle and last cycle, Governor Palin has had a game changing impact one after the other,” explained Cruz.

Palin endorsed Cruz, a Tea Party favorite who shares her philosophy of liberty and limited government, just days before a wide-open May 29 primary, helping to propel Cruz into a strong second place showing. The Cruz surge provided momentum for his runoff battle with Dewhurst.

“Fighters like Ted Cruz can lead the charge for us,” former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin said in July when she came to Texas to campaign with Cruz, calling him a “a proven, common-sense constitutional conservative.”

The Tea Party favorite admitted that many have referred to his victory as “improbable.” He told Allen that the reason why Palin’s endorsement has had such an enormous impact is because voters consider her a true barometer of conservatism.

“In a Republican primary, everyone claims to be conservative and voters are pretty cynical. They are tired of these candidates that sounds great on the stump. They say they are going to cut spending, they get into the office and they become spineless jellyfish,” Cruz said. “I think conservatives trust Sarah Palin that if she says this guy is a conservative, that he is a real deal.”

If you missed Ted’s powerful convention speech, and interview with Greta afterward, click here.

Sarah Palin: Proud and Pleased with Paul Ryan’s Speech

By Gary P Jackson

Sarah Palin talks to Sean Hannity about Paul Ryan as well as the 2008 race. Goes into what Romney and Ryan can expect from the corrupt, Obamacentrict media.

Video courtesy SarahNet

Sarah Palin Talks to Megyn Kelly About Romney/Ryan Must Expect Next

By Gary P Jackson

Sarah Palin talks to Megyn Kelly:

Video courtsey SarahNet

17 Million Less Viewers Watch Ryan in 2012 than Palin in 2008; Updated, Update II: WaPo and CBS Chime In

By Stacy Drake

*Follow Stacy on Twitter

I think this verifies with some pretty substantial numbers that there just isn’t the same excitement for Paul Ryan, as there was in 2008 for Governor Palin. Via Mediabistro (emphasis):

On night two of the Republican National Convention, Fox News Channel was once again the network more people went to to get their political fix. That said, every network was down substantially from the same night in 2008, when Sarah Palin made her RNC debut…

Every other network was down. Every network was also down from 2008, with FNC down 1.5 viewers, NBC down 3.5 million viewers, CNN down nearly five million viewers, ABC down three million viewers, CBS down two million viewers and MSNBC down about two million viewers. It is worth noting that night two of the RNC in 2008 saw a speech delivered by Palin, who at the time was still a relative unknown.

All told, just over 20 million people were watching last night on the Nielsen-rated networks, compared to 37 million for night two of the RNC in 2008. Night one of the 2012 RNC was roughly on par with night one of the 2008 RNC ratings-wise, making the gap all the more dramatic.

This is just speculation on my part, but maybe it wouldn’t have been as bad for Fox had they not benched Governor Palin for their night two coverage. Just sayin.

You can read all the numbers here.

Update by Doug: Minus Palin, Convention’s TV Ratings Plunge

Updated by Steve:

The Washington Post reports the difference: Without Sarah Palin. a ratings dive

CBS also reports: Paul Ryan Not Nearly the TV Draw Sarah Palin Was

It should be noted that Governor Palin’s 2008 speech was the most watched vice presidential acceptance speech in history.

~ Gary

Dan Bongino: Principles Matter

by Whitney Pitcher

On Thursday, Governor Palin encouraged supporters to donate to Maryland Senatorial candidate Dan Bongino, noting that he could be the Senate candidate to help put Republicans over the top in the Senate. Bongino has the support of Governor Palin and Senator DeMint, the two leaders who are putting forth the strongest effort to ensure that Republicans regain a majority in the Senate. Following that tweet from Governor Palin, Bongino tweeted a thank you:

@sarahpalinusa thank you & Senator DeMint for your continued support. #Realchange is coming in 2012. Principles matter.

— Dan Bongino (@dbongino) August 30, 2012

Principles matter.

This is something that Bongino understands very well. When Governor Palin endorsed Bongino, she noted, “Dan is not a politician, but he’s spent his career protecting them”. Bongino was a Secret Service agent serving under three presidents, while his opponent has been in political office since before Bongino was born. He touts his lack of political experience as a “badge of honor” and is glad he hasn’t “made  any deals” like a politician. He got into the race in 2011 with the backing of businessman and 2010 Maryland  gubernatorial candidate, Brian Murphy (whom Governor Palin endorsed in the 2010 primary).

Bongino puts principles over party, and notes, “I’m a conservative first, and a Republican as a method to get on a ballot”. He understands that crony capitalism is a major issue through all aspects of our government. When the Supreme Court upheld Obamacare, Bognino released a statement noting not only the massive bureaucracy in Obamacare, but also its crony capitalism. This is something he also notes in  his stance on other key issues–such as energy policy and tax reform. He does not support energy subsidies, and he is in favor of simplifying the tax code because it’s “been riddled with ‘crony capitalist’ deductions for favored industries” and supports removing loopholes.

Principles matter, and Bongino realizes that. He won the GOP primary because of those principles, not because he kowtowed to the Republican establishment. One conservative Maryland blogger called Bongino a “defibrillator for a party in cardiac arrest”:

It wasn’t too long ago that Delegate Pat McDonough–who was also running for the Senate nomination,then wasn’t running, then was running again, then wasn’t running again but was still handing out campaign literature saying he was–accused Bongino’s campaign of being a “novelty act.”

“He’s done absolutely nothing for the Republican Party or for his community,” McDonough said. “You have these unknown people who come out of the woodwork who want to run for high office. It’s like joining the Catholic religion and wanting to be pope.”

This sort of petty narcissism seems endemic to the Republican Party nationally but seems particularly virulent in Maryland. Given that the so called “Free State” is being run over rough-shod by a Democrat Party monopoly, I’m not sure what these party insiders claim to have done for the party themselves. Dan Bongino has made it exciting to be a Republican in the state of Maryland, which is far more than some of his detractors have done. Dan is like a defibrillator for a state party in cardiac arrest.

He aims to win this Senate seat in deep blue Maryland because principles matters. Please take check out his latest web ad below, and visit his website here.

Sarah Palin’s Sweet and Classy Birthday Wish for John McCain

By Gary P Jackson

A few minutes ago Sarah Palin tweeted that Fox News had cancelled her appearances tonight.

I’m sorry Fox cancelled all my scheduled interviews tonight because I sure wanted to take the opportunity on the... http://t.co/CuRzG0o5

— Sarah Palin (@SarahPalinUSA) August 29, 2012

The tweet takes us to a really sweet and classy birthday wish for John McCain:

I’m sorry Fox cancelled all my scheduled interviews tonight because I sure wanted to take the opportunity on the air to highlight Senator John McCain’s positive contributions to America, to honor him, and to reflect on what a biased media unfairly put him through four years ago tonight.

Granted, our honored and esteemed war hero has gone through much more than the liberal media can ever do to him in their efforts to harm this patriot.

I look forward to hearing his words to his fellow Americans tonight more than any of the other convention speeches. God bless John McCain. Thank you for everything. And happy birthday, my friend.

~ Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin is a class act.

While we don’t always agree with Senator McCain, he served his nation well, is a true hero, and recognized the greatness of Governor Palin. For this we will be eternally grateful.

Happy Birthday Senator McCain!

Why is ANYONE Shocked Racist MSNBC Edited Out All Coverage of Minorities at RNC Convention?

By Gary P Jackson

If you were on Twitter last night, you followed the blow-by-blow as each and every minority speaker came on stage. The buzz was, MSNBC managed to cut to a commercial, or go to the studio, when a minority speaker came up. And there was a whole lot of them last night.

From Francesca Chambers:

MSNBC wants you to think the Republican Party hates minorities. So much so that the liberal news network cut minority speeches from it’s convention coverage.

When popular Tea Party candidate Ted Cruz, the GOP nominee for Senate, took the stage, MSNBC cut away from the Republican National Convention and the Hispanic Republican from Texas’ speech.

MSNBC stayed on commercial through former Democratic Rep. Artur Davis’ speech, as well. Davis, who recently became a Republican, is black.

Then, when Puerto Rican Governor Luis Fortuno’s wife Luce’ Vela Fortuño took the stage minutes later, MSNBC hosts Rachel Maddow and Chris Matthews opted to talk over the First Lady’s speech.

And Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval? Noticeably missing from MSNBC, too.

Mia Love, a black candidate for Congress in Utah, was also ignored by MSNBC.

My only shock here is why everyone is surprised! This ain’t MSNBC’s first racist rodeo!

Remember a few year back, when the ObamaCare battle was in full swing? Before this evil piece of legislation became law, there were some seriously heated town hall meetings across the country.

At one meeting in Arizona, a black man named Chris showed up with a rifle. Legal in his state. Probably not the smartest thing to do, but legal. The man was there protesting ObamaCare.

As Greg Guttfeld pointed out at the time, the racists over at MSNBC went out of their way to edit their coverage to make sure their views never, ever, found out the fellow was indeed, a black man. The MSNBC anchorette even goes so far as saying the man was white! An absolute lie.

Of course, MSNBC isn’t the only lying, worthless media outlet out there. John Nolte over at Andrew Breitbart’s Big Journalism was on Twitter and kept a running tab of all of the shenanigans going on with the media outlets and how they covered the media. The bad and the good. [mostly bad] Check it out here.