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Where are Those Garbage Bags? Palin’s Wardrobe is Liberated.

garbagebag

Palin’s wardrobe malfunction.  It was all the buzz for a while.  We were told that she didn’t know about the $180,000 in clothes, didn’t ask for the clothes, didn’t want the clothes, didn’t need the clothes, was going to donate the clothes to charity, did an audit of the clothes, sent them all back in garbage bags, and on and on.  That red leather jacket may as well have been an albatross around Palin’s neck during the last weeks of the campaign.

Republican donors were furious that their donations to the RNC were used to puff and fluff the VP candidate and bankroll her high heels and designer suits.

The Federal Election Commission has dismissed a complaint over the $150,000-plus designer wardrobe the Republican Party bought to outfit vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the good-government group that filed the complaint, argued that candidates aren’t supposed to use donor money for personal expenses such as clothes. The FEC ruled Tuesday that the ban doesn’t apply to party money, however.

So they’ve said officially that when you donate to the RNC or the DNC, your hard-earned and strategically donated money can go to Palin’s red leather jacket, or John Edwards’ hair cut, or a pedicure for Newt Gingrich.  It’s just fine as long as it’s affiliated with a campaign.  Before Palin supporters go jumping up and down cheering, is this what we really want?  If I donate to the DNC, I don’t want it to pay for Michelle Obama’s dresses.  Do those furious RNC donors feel all better now because of this ruling?  I doubt it.  If anything, this ruling will make it harder for those organizations to do fundraising in the future, unless they rewrite their own rules.

Melanie Sloan, CREW’s executive director, argued that the commission’s decision opens the door for political parties to buy lavish wardrobes for candidates to use, and that contributes to the public’s cynicism about politicians.

“It’s typical of the FEC to never take on anybody for anything,” Sloan said. “It seems like the kind of thing they should have come down on, but they seem to think their hands are tied.”

The commission in March asked Congress to expand the ban on personal use of campaign funds to include party money, Sloan noted. Congress has yet to act, she said. CREW plans no further action on its commission complaint, Sloan said.

Last we heard of Palin’s shiny new duds, they were sitting around RNC headquarters in garbage bags waiting to be donated to charity.  What’s going to happen now that they’re all legal?  Will they be winging their way north?  Will Todd get those silk boxers back?  Will the red leather jacket once again make an appearance at press conferences?

Wait a minute…. Uh-oh.  When was trash day??

Comments

comments

Comments
93 Responses to “Where are Those Garbage Bags? Palin’s Wardrobe is Liberated.”
  1. okay says:

    Okay, Terpsichore, you said you were an actor under employment.

    SP can’t have any other employment, if they acknowledged that it would be another ethics charge.

    I guess you could claim being a governor is a type of acting job/show, too, and she could hire a cosmetic/clothing department on the state’s dime (and just leave the clothing behind when her term is over). Any ”consumables” would have to be taxed, of course.

    I assume she clothes herself and does her own make-up, now, so why would that change in running for V.P.? The campaign committee could just give her a list of recommended attire and make-up and she could dress accordingly. If she desires to hire out, that would be on her dime or her taxes.

    This could, also, allow her to preserve her current standard of ”reasonable” instead of inflating it to ”outrageous” if she know she’s paying for it out of pocket.

    By the way, was she charging the state per diem and collecting her usual salary while campaigning for V.P.? If so, that’s rich…I’d like to hear how miss governor 24/7 was devoting 100 percent to Alaska and to campaigning for V.P. Somebody got shortchanged. If I lived in Alaska I would have filed and ethics charge immediately.

  2. sauerkraut says:

    2 and 3 should be filed then, eh? Under election disclosure, gift and IRS laws.

  3. Terpsichore says:

    At the risk of being unpopular here, I’m going to side partially with former VP-candidate SP on the clothes/hair/make-up issues, with these personal opinions as to what seems to me reasonable in this case or cases like it.

    On the times that I have done shows where I needed to be ‘costumed’, a reputable professional company provides that costume for me. I do not pay for it, I use it on the job, and I do NOT get to take it home with me. It’s a business expense of the producing company. I have always been responsible as most actors are for my own hair and make-up, unless the make-up is so specialized that a separate make-up artist is required (which the producing company supplies) and if my hair is not quite right, I wear a wig (again, provided).

    So, in the way I see it, SP and JM (and yes, all candidates) are ‘acting’. Therefore, it is not unreasonable for them to have the appropriate hair, costumes and make-up. But I think a politician’s goal in acting is meant to convince people that they are “regular people”. If so, ya don’t need a make-up artist, or hair specialist, and you can certainly pay for your own hair cuts and make-up, as most actors have to do. As for wardrobe, I’ve spent at least $5000 over my lifetime on clothes I could not take as tax deductible under IRS laws because they were considered ‘street wear’ rather than costumes. All men’s suits and SP blouses, jackets and skirts, AND shoes, would certainly fall in that category. Do we have a precedent that a political party/campaign bought a male candidate their suits and shoes to compare to this? It may be that this is a new, precedent setting issue.

    But I must say, for reasons many of you have mentioned, I’m not crazy about what it appears that precedent is.

    Here’s what I would honestly be OK with for political candidates’ use of their campaign funds:

    1) Expenses for hair, clothing and make-up must be reasonable (yeah, someone would have to go into lawyerese to define ‘reasonable’)
    2) Expenses would be applied only to the candidate, NOT spouse, children, parents, etc.
    3) Any clothing, other apparel, make-up, etc. kept by the candidate MUST be declared as a gift and taxes paid on the retail (paid) value of the item.

    This is a complicated issue, and I do have more thoughts, but I have to go teach now!

  4. let me see says:

    Okay, I must be daft.
    Are some ”gifts” or items treated differently than other things and dependent on who gives them? This is really baffling to me for some reason.

    If Palin, receives a russian sable from some donor and wears it for a couple months during the winter, but returns it in the spring (or whenever) does that mean she can claim it is ”non disclosable”?

    Why is so much importance put on who gave it to her?

    I’m sorry if this is so obvious to everyone else, but if you can help me get a clue, I’ll be forever informed.

    😉

  5. kiksadi50 says:

    If that is the case then why should I contribute any money of any amt. to any party, candidate or campaign. This really pisses me off & I feel anger & resentment towards all politicians. I can’t deduct my school tuition or expenses from my masters program, even though I already work in my area of study but Palin, Edwards etc can receive free designer clothing & overpriced haircuts. There is something really, really rotten about political ethics(or lack there of) that both Rep. & Dem. are gleeefully exploiting. I am not giving any $ to any party or campaigns any more. Screw them.

  6. let it run says:

    I like how Meg-a-phone slams DC or beltway insiders when she is a graduate of G-Town (I believe) and probably in all likelihood can not wait to get back to DC and out of Alaska. I still wonder who has pictures of whom with this union( Meg-Sarah). Obviously, Sarah relies on Meg but why ?? Meg’s mtoivation is easy: she gets exposure and can parlay it into a job in thw lower 48 or with the RNC, itself. Apologies for the OT post but I am wondering about their weird symbiosis.

  7. austintx says:

    wonkette clocks in on “clothes-gate”. Careful when you read the comments……..mean and funny !!
    http://wonkette.com/408649/palin-cleared-of-wrongdoing-in-expensive-clothes-scandal-that-rocked-nation

  8. EyeOnYou says:

    sauerkraut Says:
    May 20th, 2009 at 4:22 AM
    I’m missing something here.

    If Palin was given those clothes for her personal use, how can they be an “expense”? Those clothes should not only be itemized as a political payment/gift/contribution/donation on the state/federal disclosure form but also as income on her federal tax returns.

    _____________________

    What Palin & Meg are claiming is that the “expense” was an RNC campaign expense, the same as they paid out for lighting and stage props, and since Palin returned the “gifts” that she does not need to claim them on her disclosure. Basically the Palin case is that she received no benefit from these “gifts” since they were all returned.

  9. Corine56 says:

    I seem to remember that there were suitcases also purchased to haul the clothes around. If the suitcases arrived in Alaska with the clothes, and they (clothes) were returned in garbage bags, in who’s possession are the cases?

  10. greatgrammy1 says:

    This ruling is a disgrace. Even if RNC money was spent on the VP candidate, what constitutes spending on the family members and Bristol’s boyfriend? I think if many RNC donors aren’t angry, they must be stupid. I would be furious and resent my hard earned and donated money being spent this way. By the way, what about the jewelry, expensive cosmetics and hair care items? Think they were put in garbage bags with the clothes?

  11. Let me see says:

    Let me see if I understand. In one response, Palin said the clothes, et al., are ”expensed” by the RNC and therefore not gifts to be itemized to the State.

    Does this mean if she receives Arctic Cat or Sarahpac, clothing, snow machines, personal toiletries, maid service, facials, tea bags, etc, and they are ”expensed” by the company that they are not gifts to be itemized to the State?

  12. sauerkraut says:

    71 Elaine Says:
    May 19th, 2009 at 9:52 PM
    For those of you that are being snarky about the money for the NY City flyover
    ___________

    What’s snarky about it? It should never have been done. The guy at the center of it happening lost his job over the immense lack of judgment he showed at having a low-flying plane go over NYC. There were prior photo’s and a new set simply was not needed.

  13. sauerkraut says:

    “Stapleton said Palin received advice from the Alaska Department of Law that those aren’t gifts to be itemized to the state. They are campaign expenses instead, Stapleton said.”

    ________________

    I’m missing something here.

    If Palin was given those clothes for her personal use, how can they be an “expense”? Those clothes should not only be itemized as a political payment/gift/contribution/donation on the state/federal disclosure form but also as income on her federal tax returns.

  14. ValleyIndependent says:

    @ UK Lady – Sorry, I couldn’t resist a snicker at the “Hogg” that took the moat-cleaning “pork.” How classic.

  15. ValleyIndependent says:

    Even later to the party – but I first heard of the goings on with your MPs on NPR some while back. I also generally have the BBC headlines scrolling by on my computer. I am guessing as you are that most of the expenses may technically have been within the rules, but are not likely to pass the smell test with the public, any more than the RNC clothes, despite FECs ruling. I imagine the average householder there identifies with moat cleaning about as well as I do with a single jacket that costs more than my yearly allowance for new clothing.

  16. austintx says:

    EyeOnYou –
    How do you return the “gift” of hair and make up expenses (since Meg/Palin both claim all the “gifts” were returned)? The issue is whether or not Palin received a benefit from the “gifts” or not, even if they were returned.
    ***********************************************
    Yup – remember how much $$$ that was ??

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/24/palins-makeup-artist-is-m_n_137513.html

  17. austintx says:

    Um-m-m…….I fully understand the concept of training flights. What happened in NYC was a bonehead move that cost the idiot who ok’d it his job.
    http://wcbstv.com/topstories/air.force.one.2.996457.html

    I fully stand and salute anyone who serves our great country.

  18. UK Lady says:

    Late to the party again.

    Something to consider from the other side of the pond. Our Parliament is in tatters. Yesterday the Speaker of the House was forced to resign, the first one in over 300 years. MP’s are stepping down in shame, others will be de-selected, others yet will be voted out at the next election.This may well come a lot sooner than the PM wants because of an absolute uproar from the country as a whole. We are all sickened by what has been going on in the last 8 years or so.

    Is it because we were tricked into an illegal war, complicit in torture?

    No, it is because a newspaper (The Daily Telegraph), published leaked documents detailing the expenses claimed by said politicians. They were for the most part probably just about within the rules although some are being looked into as criminal.

    They were so ridiculous though that taxpayers are incandescent with rage. It is one thing to have your hard earned money going towards paying for something necessary, quite another for it to go towards cleaning the moat out or thousands of pounds for four mirrors (yes that happened).

    I think my point is, the FEC may have ruled the clothes within the law, but it won’t make it any more palatable for the donors, they may well hold back in future because of this ruling. Another shot in their own foot perhaps.

  19. InJuneau says:

    I believe she will still have to claim them on her federal taxes, as I recall there was some information that she needs to claim the fair use value (or some such wording) for the fact that she derived benefit from having them to wear. So, who’s been reporting all this c**p to the IRS? Have you reminded them of this lately?

  20. EyeOnYou says:

    Terpsichore ~

    Celtic Diva has a topic dedicated to this situation with the “gifts” and how Palin can’t simply just call them campaign expenses and leave them undeclared. How do you return the “gift” of hair and make up expenses (since Meg/Palin both claim all the “gifts” were returned)? The issue is whether or not Palin received a benefit from the “gifts” or not, even if they were returned.

    Palin claims that the clothing was turned over to the RNC/McCain campaign people. They claimed that the items (clothing) would be auctioned off with proceeds to go to charity. So far that has not happened, and reports are that the clothing was last seen in large black garbage bags, but officially no one can verify that. Right now the clothes are MIA.

    Here is the link to Diva’s topic on the matter:

    http://divasblueoasis.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=596

  21. Terpsichore says:

    OK, my head is spinning …

    FEC decides (wrongly, IMO) that campaign money CAN be spent on personal items.

    BUT FEC has nothing to do with ;aws regulating disclosure of gifts to candidates/public officials.

    SO, this is only an issue if SP and/or family have KEPT any of these purchases. I don’t know what else you call something that someone gives you that you did not pay for yourself except a ‘gift’.

    Surely this is why the (apparently) usual dispersal of this stuff is a donation to charity.

    Which, as is mentioned by CREW, does not clearly appear to be the case in … this case. No clear answer about a final disposition of those clothes has been, to my knowledge.

    But, if she didn’t have ’em, wouldn’t she have just come out and said “On such-and-such date I took them to the local Salvation Army Thrift Store, oh look here’s my donation receipt”?

    Unfortunately for her, since she’s already made this OTHER public statement, if she turns around now and claims to have done so complete with receipt, I won’t believe her, ’cause I’ll think she got the idea from reading here (or having one of her people reading here.)

    As I’ve questioned on other threads, why is EVERYTHING about her and how she handles situations so seemingly far away from what normal, rational, intelligent people would do?

  22. EyeOnYou says:

    UPDATE from ADN:

    campaign finance debate over the clothes is also happening on the state level. Anchorage activist Andree McLeod complains Palin failed to include the clothes, hair or makeup expenses on her state disclosure form. She said Palin was Alaska’s governor at the time and clearly benefited from the gifts, so she must disclose them.

    The Alaska Public Offices Commission isn’t saying she should, but testimony from McLeod has prompted APOC to send Palin a letter asking if she has any other gifts to report.

    Stapleton said Palin received advice from the Alaska Department of Law that those aren’t gifts to be itemized to the state. They are campaign expenses instead, Stapleton said.

    Palin included a note in her state financial disclosure report making a broad reference to campaign expenses that “have been reported through either the RNC or the McCain/Palin campaign as an expense and therefore are not defined as a gift.”

    http://www.adn.com/palin/story/801700.html

  23. Elaine says:

    For those of you that are being snarky about the money for the NY City flyover – – – When I was in the Army we had to fly so many training hours a month for safety reasons and flight checks where the supervisor tested our knowledge as to what was going on with the aircraft and our duties in that aircraft including training for a crash landing. If we didn’t fly those training hours we were grounded as we were deemed unsafe to be in the air. We used to do our flights and training and land somewhere to have lunch and maybe walk around the town we were in if it was near the airport where we landed and refueled. Every military pilot has to do these training missions and the flyover in NY City was training with pictures as the added duty. I have a lot of pictures of places we flew over very low with the doors open.

  24. pearl89 says:

    I’m beginning to think Palin could commit murder on whatever the main street through Anchorage is and get away with it. All those present said the sun was in their eyes even though it was the middle of January. Palin was seen handing out checks to all those who witnessed this act. But there was nothing we could do the authorities said because no one would come forward.

    This woman and the members of her cult make me sick. I don’t know how you guys in AK can live with this mess day in and day out. I just find it so depressing some days. Instead of the Barracuda she should be called the eel.

  25. EyeOnYou says:

    Did anyone happen to catch Meg Stapleton on the Eddie Burke with regards to this FEC ruling?

    She claims that all these complaints are from people who are just so upset that the Governor is even just “breathing”. She said that these are designed to not be based on any real problem with Palin’s ethics, but because the filers simply can file them and if enough are filed it will start to make people question if the Governor isn’t as ethical as everyone thinks she is. Eddie reported that a caller on the previous show was the wife of a Mr. Zane Henny(??Spelling??), called in and Eddie said she was “frantic” and stated that she might just file a complaint too, then implied that she would do so not because she has a valid complaint, but because she was just going to file simply because she could.

    Eddie says these are all orchestrated, you can tell that just by looking at the liberal blogs, and then Meg breaks in to mention that this is designed to bring down someone who is so popular across the USA, and people who do this are confusing politics with ethical behavior (figure that one out).

    Oddly enough, Eddie asked Meg to respond to an email questioning the political article that stated that Palin needed to have someone with political savvy move to Alaska and help her get her national presences settled and straightened out (paraphrasing this), and Meg replied that Palin and she laughed about this because they (the beltway insiders) kept screwing up their personal and national ambitions for her, and they don’t understand that she was trying to get away from that whole “if you want to succeed you have to be part of the insider DC/Beltway type of thing in order to be successful”, you know wanting her to come to this dinner or that fundraiser, they don’t and didn’t understand that she was focused on Alaska and they see her as the future. She is focused on getting gas to Alaska and getting the bullet line done.

    ” We’re, we meaning the the political side of her are focused on Alaska too”.

    Okay, I had to stop after that. I know that there is more to the interview, but I can’t stand any more of it right now.

    UGH! What a load of crap!

  26. austintx says:

    lynnrockets – I thought you would get a kick out of that.

  27. lynnrockets says:

    @ austintx

    Those lyrics at 63 fit perfectly.

  28. mhrt says:

    new post

  29. Kath the Scrappy from Seattle says:

    Myself, I always wondered if the Silk Boxers were intended initially for SP, instead of Todd? Safety pins to make them fit. Then later could become hand-me-downs to protect the First Dude’s family jewels. Silk makes for really warm longjohns I’ve found.

    So many of SP’s speeches, she’s up there standing on stage, prancing around in the Naughty Monkeys and tight skirts. Young, clean cut Repub males gazing upward from the first couple of rows, adoring and entranced, ever hopeful to see Victoria’s Secrets. I bet the boxers were for HER and that’s why the RNC kept claiming those clothes were a necessity! Gotta keep their young men pure, ya betcha!

  30. TX Lisa says:

    Martha Unalaska Yard Sign@59

    What rumors about the “coming out” party? Please, please tell us.

    I know something is up and will be out soon……

  31. austintx says:

    lynnrockets – This was a smash hit…….pretty funny.

    http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/confederate-railroad/trashy-women-10586.html

  32. Cathy in Texas says:

    http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/10/opinion/10dowd.html?_r=1&ref=opinion

    Don’t know if I did this correctly (I am a novice) but my curiosity went to google Palin and Pygmalian and found this old news but interesting concept.
    Nothing we don’t aready know but just a reminder lest we forget!

  33. margaritamix says:

    I agree with Eye onYou. Karma will catch up to her and it will be a doozy. I almost prefer it that way! Besides where in the world would she wear those fancy duds in Wasilla????

  34. lynnrockets says:

    This episode lends a whole new meaning to the term “dressing trashy.”

  35. Martha Unalaska Yard Sign says:

    C’mon now, you know Sarah’s resident skeletons are jumping for joy! They never believed the garbage bag story since they knew SP was hiding the clothes in the basement (where they couldn’t get their bony hands on them for dress up). Now it’s all legal and once they get rid of the musty smell, those will be some fine threads for play time! Also, too, they may be having a “coming out” party if the rumors are true…

  36. lynnrockets says:

    Damn it all! I just got my itemized statement from the DNC. My contribution purchased the Queen’s Ipod and I just noticed that my Itunes account was billed for the songs thereon.

  37. Say NO to Palin in Politics says:

    GA Peach a/k/a Lance the Boil aka Crust Scramble Says #49: ……….

    I say, ya good on, thank you, lol.

  38. sauerkraut says:

    Cathy – some politicians never learned to dress themselves. When mom’s not around to do the dressing, what’s a Sarah Palin to do?

  39. sauerkraut says:

    Trashbags of old clothes are what Alaskans ought to hang out whenever Sarah Palin is nearby. Preferably with a yellow pull tab in honor of AKM.

  40. austintx says:

    52 lynnrockets Says:
    May 19th, 2009 at 7:36 PM
    I donated a lot of money to the DNC. I hope I didn’t pay for Obama’s new Air Force One. Wait a second, now that I think about it, I wonder if I paid for his new dog? Hmm, better request an itemization.
    ***********************************************
    No , I got my bill and I saw that you were gonna get dinged for the 300k NYC flyover by Air Force 1.

  41. Cathy in Texas says:

    To me, the biggest issue with the clothing (besides the expense), is the simple fact that the GOP had to dress her. Reminds me of “Pygmalian”…or maybe that play could be now re-named Pygpalin.
    I guess you can put the most expensive lipstick on a pig but….. it is still a pig.

  42. lynnrockets says:

    I donated a lot of money to the DNC. I hope I didn’t pay for Obama’s new Air Force One. Wait a second, now that I think about it, I wonder if I paid for his new dog? Hmm, better request an itemization.

  43. EyeOnYou says:

    austintx Says:
    May 19th, 2009 at 7:08 PM
    47 EyeOnYou – Karma and the law of averages………..add to that people who want her gone.
    _________________________

    I’ve seen it happen so often. People think that they are untouchable, so they keep on doing what they have always done. Then, one day..BAM everything changes. For me, those times were entertaining to watch, especially from the sidelines knowing that it was more than a little deserved. 👿

  44. GA Peach a/k/a Lance the Boil aka Crust Scramble says:

    Oops, I know you mudpuppies caught that ‘s’ I left out in sentence above, so I’m sure y’all filled in my blank. Thanks.

  45. GA Peach a/k/a Lance the Boil aka Crust Scramble says:

    You know, after Bush and the NSA listening to all of our conversations for buzzwords and talking it up with all those other federal initials, I’m hoping the clothes thing w/ sarah is the FBI giving the FEC a ‘gimme’, so they didn’t have to putt. Time will tell, and if time doesn’t, sarah will (or meg, or the vs/coales, or a thousand other people who know things sarah doesn’t want the rest of us to know).

    Even though that was a couple of ‘run on like sarah’ sentence, I hope they made sense. Also.

  46. austintx says:

    47 EyeOnYou – Karma and the law of averages………..add to that people who want her gone.

  47. EyeOnYou says:

    For those of you saying that Palin is Teflon, don’t believe it. Karma will catch up with her, believe it. I have seen evidence of this happen in my 40+ years of life, and while it may not happen when we would like it to, believe me it WILL happen and when it does, it will be exceptionally tough for her to deal with it, especially after having things just slide off her like sh*t off a shovel.

    People like her cannot handle life when things go wrong, and when they go wrong in a big way, they make them worse for themselves simply because they have no ability to handle the problem. Palin will continue to act in a reckless manner simply because she has been able to do so, and it will continue to cause her problems and for those around her it will just as bad, not simply due to the havoc these problems will cause but for having to deal with her and her reaction to it.

    She will fall and when she does, it will be hard.

  48. marcus2 says:

    The main thing about the clothes is that Sarah Palin promoted herself as a down-home hockey-mom/pitbull with lipstick and then paraded around in $150,000 worth of Neiman-Marcus clothes. Nothing down-home about that and people know it.

  49. austintx says:

    42 the problem child Says:
    May 19th, 2009 at 6:05 PM
    austintx Says:
    May 19th, 2009 at 12:30 PM
    I would not read anything into the Huffpo’s choice of gimmicky graphics. If someone got close enough to take a picture of the bags, why not open them up to verify their contents?
    ****************************************
    Understood. I just recalled a story on Huffpo that had the picture and fished it up and posted it.Could be anything.

  50. curiouser says:

    I am really confused and don’t understand the current fuss. Back when the excessive cost for clothing was disclosed, I recall a media discussion that FEC rules would permit the RNC to pay for personal items while forbidding the use of campaign funds for the same .

    The outrage was not that it was illegal but, rather, that the amount was excessive and that it was out of character with Palin’s Wallmart mom image. Then there was the matter of Palin needing to pay taxes on the clothes if she kept them. The promise to donate the clothes to charity was to avoid both the image problem and taxes (and the outrage over the extravagance)….they were borrowed clothes/campaign props.

    It seems like the complaint was testing the FEC rule but tossing out the complaint doesn’t change anything.

  51. 264 Crayons says:

    Palin is like freaking teflon..

    Nuthing ever will stick to her.

    ++++++++++++++++++

    I had a boss like that once – his name was Teflon Bob:) He was actually a GOOD guy though.

  52. DonnaInMichigan says:

    Palin is like freaking teflon..

    Nuthing ever will stick to her.

  53. EyeOnYou says:

    ADN is reporting that this is Megamouths statement :

    “We are pleased to learn that all the purchases and decisions made by senior campaign staffers, and paid for by the RNC and returned to the RNC, were all done according to the law. The clothes in this campaign were treated just like the many stages upon which the Governor stood and the hundreds of lights used to illuminate them; all were used during the campaign and returned upon its conclusion. It is difficult to reconcile the obsessive reference to clothing on the campaign trail with any legitimate political issue and that leaves the unsettling conclusion that Governor Palin is the single national political figure who is critiqued on policy, family and clothing. When people start asking details about the personal effects of other candidates, then maybe the double standard will be eliminated.”

    http://community.adn.com/adn/node/141227

    CREW’s response?

    “In effect, the FEC is claiming its hands were tied and it could not penalize the RNC or Governor Palin.

    This means that the FEC will allow political parties to buy candidates whatever they want at whatever cost, and that the candidates and their families may keep these purchases. Despite the fact that Governor Palin and the RNC claimed the clothing would be donated to charity, it is not clear this ever happened, and in any event, according to the FEC, the law does not require it. Notably, this past March the FEC asked Congress to enact legislation to extend the personal use prohibition to all political committees, including party committees and leadership PACs. Unsurprisingly, Congress has yet to act.”

    RNC is refusing to respond! Let’s hope that their donors share their feelings with having their hard earned money plastered all over the Palin family’s behind. 🙂

  54. Karin in CT says:

    @ 34 not that sarah

    To this day, I play the Sarkozy sound clip and read the transcript at the same time for a very hearty laugh! Who can forget that gem?

  55. Karin in CT says:

    My guess is that the clothes have been over at Chuckster Heath’s house all along. Just you watch, she’s going to be sporting some of those threads ASAP.

    I can’t wait to read her official SoA nanananaboobooo press release over the clothes. We all know they are an EXTREMELY IMPORTANT issue to Alaskans.

  56. Lee323 says:

    AKM…..”Do those furious RNC donors feel all better now because of this ruling? I doubt it. If anything, this ruling will make it harder for those organizations to do fundraising in the future, unless they rewrite their own rules.”
    —————————————–
    Excellent point.

    Nothing like misusing campaign donations to make people (even) more cynical and wary about donating their hard-earned bucks.

    The Mudflats always has a salient point around which humor and wit dance lively…..Keep up the great work!

  57. Lainey says:

    I suspect those gargage bags are filled with crumbled up newspapers…the REAL clothes are hanging in her closet. They went from the belly of the plane to huggable hangers she made us buy her from HSN. Her lying about EVERYTHING is outrageous and so typically her! I don’t believe a word she says!

  58. GA Peach a/k/a Lance the Boil aka Crust Scramble says:

    It’s always so nice to read this blog and know that integrity still exists and serves to shine a light on the unethical, deceitful, self-serving greed of some of our “public servants”. And it’s not just your opinion because you are so careful to link to the sources. Thank you, AKM, for progressing this progressive, also, too, you betcha (wink).

  59. not that sarah says:

    Let’s not forget that if Sarah had been ready to campaign as VP (aka, GOD), she would have already had the correct clothing…from actually attending events where those kinds of clothes were required (and met a foreign leader). She also might have too been progressed out of the country, also, again. As it was, she had never left her kitchen window (keepin’ her eye on Putin, bless her heart), let alone Alaska. So, too, she also was not ready to be VP (GOD), let alone governor.

    Trash bags, indeed. What a metaphor for her political ideology. Also, too. Sarkozy, out.

  60. Canadian Neighbour says:

    Seeing all the suitcases that came off the plane, don’t be surprises if the closes are at her house.

    Which leads me to an idea — She should sign up for the Miss Toddler/kid show Pageant that airs on TLC. Some of the kids might be more articulate than her!!

    Let me rephrase that last sentence:
    Some of the kids ARE more articulate than her!!

  61. WakeUpAmerica says:

    I thought so. I just wanted to be fair, even if Sarah and her henchpeople aren’t.

  62. austintx says:

    28 InJuneau Says:
    May 19th, 2009 at 3:26 PM
    WakeUpAmerica–you’re right, that red leather one (or at least one of them) is actually hers. She’s been wearing that for years. I think it was her favorite campaign jacket in 2006…
    **********************************************
    There is a reason sarah wears red.
    http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081028074323.htm

  63. mlaiuppa says:

    Yeah. I read that today. And I expect Palin will be pulling those duds out of the closet and wearing them on her booktour/campaign. After all, if they were bought for campaigning, she can wear them as long as she’s campaigning…..right? And not have to pay the taxes either…..right?

    I can just picture the squirrels in her head running on their little wheels.

  64. Peggy Pierce says:

    This makes me sick. And to everyone who says SP is delusional … well, I think I might be the delusional one. I seriously thought that there had been some ethical violation here, too, also. Gotta go, some chilled chardonnay is calling me.

  65. InJuneau says:

    WakeUpAmerica–you’re right, that red leather one (or at least one of them) is actually hers. She’s been wearing that for years. I think it was her favorite campaign jacket in 2006…

  66. ericmiami says:

    Wait a minute. Is Meg Stapleton saying that the money I didn’t spend on heat for my house and food for my chirruns and oxycontin for my favorite talk show host paid for her Naughty Monkey pumps? Say it ain’t so, Sarah?

  67. Lee323 says:

    Regardless of who or what entity paid for the clothes…

    Regardless of the FEC’s ruling…

    Regardless of whether Palin views the ruling as a personal vindication…

    The key mistake made by the McCain campaign was to trot out their “Joe-Six-Pack-real-American-just like you-hockey mom” in designer duds from an extremely lavish “make-over” spending spree with donors’ money. (Not to mention the tens of thousands of dollars in make-up artist and hair stylist fees which could not even be recouped or recycled.)

    The clothing debacle became a symbolic moment in the campaign…..cementing the impression in peoples’ minds that the GOP ticket was superficial, manipulative, and inordinately based on image rather than substance.

    No ruling or disposition of the clothing will remove that impression or its consequences to the McCain ticket.

  68. WakeUpAmerica says:

    Much as I don’t want too, I have to admit that I have seen a picture of her in that jacket (or one just like it) that was taken before she was asked to be VP. I think that one is actually hers.

  69. zyggy says:

    I never had a problem with Palin getting all those clothes, and I think it’s a trivial issue for the RNC to even bring up a complaint. She obviously needed the clothes and she did look sharp in them. She couldn’t campaign in her clothes, I guess she could have, but she wouldn’t have looked as professional or as dapper.

    This is a none issue for me, let her have all the clothes, she is quite needy, you know, also too.

  70. Aussie Blue Sky says:

    All those designer clothes are going to look every bit as awful as her own clothes, anyway. Dirty hair will do that to an outfit every time ….

    So – all Sarah Palin needs to do now is form her own party if she wants money? No more of this PAC nonsense, no ‘trust’ difficulties?

    If the FEC can rule that Todd Palin’s silk underpants are a necessity for the Republican Party’s campaign, then there is nothing that isn’t a justifiable campaign expense. Grifter heaven. Run, Sarah, run!

  71. Forty Watt says:

    @ lilybart

    If she spins it as a personal win she is delusional.
    _________________________________________________

    Yep. She’s delusional.

  72. lilybart says:

    This complaint wasn’t about her though, remember that. THis was about the McCain campaign spending their money against the rules.

    If she spins it as a personal win she is delusional.

    This was about FEC rules, not about whether she was Right to even have the clothes, just about who paid.

  73. InJuneau says:

    And honestly, I wish she (and all sorts of other people) would just stop yammering on about the cost of the Os’ clothes, because…IT DOESN’T MATTER–THEY WEREN’T GETTING THEM BOUGHT BY THE DNC! Yeah, that’s right, they bought their own clothes, so who the heck cares how much they spend on them; it’s THEIR money!

  74. Bea says:

    You know, I think GINO is just stupid and greedy enough to ask for the clothes to be ‘returned’ to her AND wear them, also too.

  75. Bystander says:

    LILA, I’m going to go way out on a limb and guess she was hopin’ everyone would forget about the clothes and she could keep ’em tax free also, too.

  76. Lori in Los Angeles says:

    I have always wondered – if the clothes were “borrowed,’ and belonged to the RNC (GINO’s words) – WHY did she haul them back to Wasilla only to have to bag them up and ship them back to the lower 48? Why did she just not leave them there?

  77. JP says:

    Did she return them because they were illegal?

    I thought it was just because everyone, even Palin, recognised what a political liability they had become.

  78. bubbles says:

    oh my darlings. i simply cannot be caught in THOSE clothes. they are so last week. also.too. everyone has already seen me in THOSE ghastly rags. no. not another word my dears. sarah needs duds. and what sarah wants, sarah gets cause the Lord don’t want sarah wearing no rags.

  79. justafarmer says:

    “trash day”…snicker 🙂

  80. sjk from the belly of the plane says:

    Keep the clothes and pay the taxes on the gifts…easy right? Not for the Plainin’s! (sic)

  81. crystalwolf aka caligrl says:

    Say NO to Palin in Politics Says:
    May 19th, 2009 at 1:01 PM

    Well, I totally agree with AKM, this type of things leaves all sorts of room for abuses. It’s like the professional fundraisers for charities, 25% goes to the actual charity and 75% goes to the fundraiser overhead.

    Bad call FEC. And it isn’t very fiscal either, lol.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Who runs the FEC anyway? John Coale???

  82. Say NO to Palin in Politics says:

    Well, I totally agree with AKM, this type of things leaves all sorts of room for abuses. It’s like the professional fundraisers for charities, 25% goes to the actual charity and 75% goes to the fundraiser overhead.

    Bad call FEC. And it isn’t very fiscal either, lol.

  83. DrChill says:

    Dodged another frivolous ethics complaint.
    Its so obviously frivolous.
    Everybody knows that spending party money on clothes is okay, and campaign money not. Why do they call it a party anyway?
    Wait or was it the other way around? Yeah the ethics of this is so clear whatever way it is, and the complainer-haters are so frivolous in their hateful complaining…

  84. crystalwolf aka caligrl says:

    austintx Says:
    May 19th, 2009 at 12:42 PM

    Oh – it better be a nuclear iceberg !!
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    nuk-u-lar !!!! Yeah BIG!!!!

  85. CRFlats says:

    Again dismissed via a “loophole”. Those loopholes she keeps stepping through are getting smaller and smaller.

  86. Go See Alice / Copper Lipstick Palin says:

    WHY did you have to leave us with an image of Newt getting a pedicure? EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.
    Making me think ” this little piggy” ( attached to a great big pig)

  87. Go See Alice / Copper Lipstick Palin says:

    WHY did you have to leave us with an image of Newt getting a pedicure? EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.
    Making me think ” this little piggy” ( attached to a great big pig)

  88. Physicsmom says:

    My first thought when I read this was “she’ll get the clothes back now.” Wait and see. This is not a good thing for either party, so Congress needs to activate that legislation limiting personal expenses paid by the mothership.

  89. austintx says:

    Oh – it better be a nuclear iceberg !!

  90. Blue Idaho says:

    If she was smart she would get them back and auction them off for the flood victims but we all know she not big on the good P.R. thing.

  91. austintx says:

    2 crystalwolf aka caligrl Says:
    May 19th, 2009 at 12:32 PM
    I’m getting so sick of her being about to step in a pile of stinky poo and come out smelling like roses…

    When is she going to hit that iceberg???? I’m tired of waiting
    **********************************************
    Dagnabbit !! Me too.also.

  92. crystalwolf aka caligrl says:

    I’m getting so sick of her being about to step in a pile of stinky poo and come out smelling like roses… 🙁
    You know there will be a press release today and the SOA page, “I’ve been vindicated about the clothes…blah,blah,blah”
    And then quicker than you can say “You betcha” the red leather will make a appearance…oh gee, that ONE didn’t make it back on the plane, then the black suit that she wore to the VP debate…and on and on.
    When is she going to hit that iceberg???? I’m tired of waiting 🙁

  93. austintx says:

    There is a picture of one of the trash bags in this Huffpo article.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/23/palins-180000-campaign-cl_n_160313.html