Since the Arctic Sorceress swept down from the frozen tundra the other day to celebrate Peak Wingnut with Fuckface Von Clownstick, folks have speculated that she might have been drunk. Watch the video for yourself, if you've got the stones. She doesn't seem drunk at all to me.
But she did seem coked up, or on whatever "mother's little helper" legal scrip type of pill that has the same effect. Manic, rambling, incoherent, shrill, in love with her own catchphrases and bons mots -- all the usual characteristics we've come to know and loathe about her were cranked [snorts giant rail off huge square mirror with rock band logo won at county fair] up to eleven. Even Trump looked like he couldn't wait for her to shut the fuck up already.
So it turns out that at about the time Sarah Palin flew to Iowa to dump her word-salad benediction on yet another gaggle of witless morons, her oldest child, Track, flew into a drunken rage and beat up his girlfriend, threw her phone so she couldn't call for help, and held an AR-15 rifle against his own head, threatening to kill himself. Track Palin was then remanded to custody on fourth-degree (domestic violence) assault charges, and denied bail.
As the news of her son's troubles became public, Sarah Palin knew just what to do, and acted quickly. The very next day, without hesitation, she flew to another Trump rally at Oral Roberts University (lulz) in Tulsa, and proceeded to tie her son's issues with veterans returning stateside with post-traumatic stress disorder (though she did not specifically diagnose Track with PTSD). She used that to leap into a critique of Obama's supposed inaction on mental health issues that continue to claim a shameful number of military veterans.
I had an uncle who did two tours in Vietnam with the Marine Corps. He got hit with Agent Orange, and did any number of things over there that he couldn't really talk about once he returned. He spent about a year in a VA hospital when he got back to the US, getting off heroin. His wife left him and took their three kids. His father (my grandfather) had been a roofer by trade, and so my uncle got by with odd roofing jobs and his measly military pension, dabbling in crank, booze, and women along the way. He died in 2000, a few days after his 51st birthday, when his transplanted (a year earlier) liver stopped working. He was a really good guy, who never quite got over the things he had to do to keep Vietnam French.
So as you might imagine, I take the issue of PTSD very seriously, and I take the principle of the VA stepping in to help vets with PTSD issues just as seriously. There are some important facts and questions to consider in light of Sarah Palin's vile, cynical accusations:
I don't know if you've heard, but Track Palin's mom was a governor of a state for a while, and has made millions of dollars since 2010, for doing nothing more than running her mouth and having flunkies generate content for her various (now piddling) revenue and social media streams. Again, Track has been stateside for half a decade, plenty of time for parents with money and time on their hands to get him help if he needs it.
But you know what? There's no need to engage in cheap speculation and "what if" bullshit. One question stood out in my mind when I first heard about this bogus PTSD gambit of hers:
What sort of mother, on hearing that her child was violent and suicidal, chooses to stump for Trump at Oral Roberts University, and cynically use that child's issues as campaign fodder, rather than do what a normal human being would do, and fly back home at once to be with her son?
Honestly, as galling as Trump as been throughout his sordid little vanity swing, this fucking broad has him beat every which way. Nothing comes between her and her ambitions and delusions. It's almost too easy to poke fun at her oldest two kids so far, but it's become pretty clear that this was the road that was set for them.
But she did seem coked up, or on whatever "mother's little helper" legal scrip type of pill that has the same effect. Manic, rambling, incoherent, shrill, in love with her own catchphrases and bons mots -- all the usual characteristics we've come to know and loathe about her were cranked [snorts giant rail off huge square mirror with rock band logo won at county fair] up to eleven. Even Trump looked like he couldn't wait for her to shut the fuck up already.
So it turns out that at about the time Sarah Palin flew to Iowa to dump her word-salad benediction on yet another gaggle of witless morons, her oldest child, Track, flew into a drunken rage and beat up his girlfriend, threw her phone so she couldn't call for help, and held an AR-15 rifle against his own head, threatening to kill himself. Track Palin was then remanded to custody on fourth-degree (domestic violence) assault charges, and denied bail.
As the news of her son's troubles became public, Sarah Palin knew just what to do, and acted quickly. The very next day, without hesitation, she flew to another Trump rally at Oral Roberts University (lulz) in Tulsa, and proceeded to tie her son's issues with veterans returning stateside with post-traumatic stress disorder (though she did not specifically diagnose Track with PTSD). She used that to leap into a critique of Obama's supposed inaction on mental health issues that continue to claim a shameful number of military veterans.
I had an uncle who did two tours in Vietnam with the Marine Corps. He got hit with Agent Orange, and did any number of things over there that he couldn't really talk about once he returned. He spent about a year in a VA hospital when he got back to the US, getting off heroin. His wife left him and took their three kids. His father (my grandfather) had been a roofer by trade, and so my uncle got by with odd roofing jobs and his measly military pension, dabbling in crank, booze, and women along the way. He died in 2000, a few days after his 51st birthday, when his transplanted (a year earlier) liver stopped working. He was a really good guy, who never quite got over the things he had to do to keep Vietnam French.
So as you might imagine, I take the issue of PTSD very seriously, and I take the principle of the VA stepping in to help vets with PTSD issues just as seriously. There are some important facts and questions to consider in light of Sarah Palin's vile, cynical accusations:
- It's unclear whether Track Palin ever saw any combat during his tour of Iraq.
- There is no record of Track Palin ever being diagnosed with PTSD, nor seeking help for any issues based on his military service.
- There is something of a record of Track Palin as a teenager, and while it too is unclear, since juvenile records stay sealed, it appears to be pretty bad, and hints at some issues that well precede him joining the Army.
- Should someone with this sort of "track" record (see what I did there?) be allowed to continue to own an AR-15 (and whatever else he has for a personal arsenal), or do we wait around for this volatile person to take a few bystanders down with him, and then wring our hands over what we could have done?
I don't know if you've heard, but Track Palin's mom was a governor of a state for a while, and has made millions of dollars since 2010, for doing nothing more than running her mouth and having flunkies generate content for her various (now piddling) revenue and social media streams. Again, Track has been stateside for half a decade, plenty of time for parents with money and time on their hands to get him help if he needs it.
But you know what? There's no need to engage in cheap speculation and "what if" bullshit. One question stood out in my mind when I first heard about this bogus PTSD gambit of hers:
What sort of mother, on hearing that her child was violent and suicidal, chooses to stump for Trump at Oral Roberts University, and cynically use that child's issues as campaign fodder, rather than do what a normal human being would do, and fly back home at once to be with her son?
Honestly, as galling as Trump as been throughout his sordid little vanity swing, this fucking broad has him beat every which way. Nothing comes between her and her ambitions and delusions. It's almost too easy to poke fun at her oldest two kids so far, but it's become pretty clear that this was the road that was set for them.
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