When the shit goes down (DAILY CALLER LINK):
A series of messages forwarded to The Daily Caller show a top aide to former Alaska Gov. and possible presidential candidate Sarah Palin mocking top political figures and even her boss’s own daughter, Bristol Palin.
Red State Editor-in-Chief and CNN contributor Erick Erickson is “a total douchebag,” wrote Palin speechwriter and domestic policy adviser Rebecca Mansour in a May 22, 2010, message. “Greasy dumb ass with a talent for self-promotion. He threw himself in at the Gov’s SC rally. Self-promotion.” (Erickson said South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley invited him to the rally).
Mitt Romney supporters are “wacky as hell,” Mansour wrote, but usually Romney’s presence online is just an “AstroTurf brigade.”
“Would love to tell Mitt’s lackeys to stop backstabbing my boss anonymously,” Mansour wrote.
***When author Joe McGinnis moved next door to Palin, prompting a protest by her, Mansour told her correspondent, a pro-Palin activist, “Time to find a way to go medieval on this McGinniss. Don’t be fooled by the light tone of the [Facebook] post. The BigBoss is so upset by this.”
In response to an unknown suggestion by the recipient of the messages, Mansour wrote “I was thinking more along the lines of mailing him a dead fish.”
But by far the most incendiary messages are about Palin’s daughter Bristol. Sent in the aftermath of Bristol announcing to Us Weekly she was planning to marry Levi Johnston, Mansour wrote, “I wish they were the Cleavers too. But it’s life.”
“Two words: Patti Davis. Okay three more: Ron Reagan Junior. Two more: Billy Carter. Doesn’t your family have one?” Mansour said.
“She will hold her at arm’s length. Even Thatcher was never able to disown her screw up son Mark. It’s a Mom thing,” Mansour wrote.
BOOM, I think I got one to tha chest.
I suppose it is refreshing that they are vicious to each other as they are to everyone else. BTW- do these count as Kinsely gaffes? And forget Mansour for a second, how slimy do you have to be to not only release these private messages, but shop them around for a buck? Sociopaths.
dmsilev
Who says there isn’t any common ground going across the aisle? We can all unite in disdain of Erick Erickovich.
reflectionephemeral
I don’t think the comments about Bristol are incendiary at all.
But the stuff about Erick son of Erick… that is fantastic. Cannot wait to see the rhetorical slapfight that is sure to result.
By which I mean, can’t wait to read your posts about it, because I’m not clicking over to RedState or Daily Caller.
4tehlulz
REBECCA MANSOUR x SARAH PALIN IS MY OTP
Jay in Oregon
@dmsilev:
Amen!
Brothers, sisters, come together…
beltane
Of course they’re nasty to each other, they know of no other state of being. I did have a little chuckle at hearing a Palin staffer refer to members of Team Romney as “wacky as hell”. That’s a good one.
shortstop
Ms. Mansour will shortly be leaving Palin’s employ to spend more time with her…well, with nothing. Something tells me she has nothing else that requires her time.
But Palin, unable to look six seconds down the road, will be unleashing another tell-all book by firing her, so in six months we’ll go through this all over again.
Fred
If any of this suprises anyone here in the least guess what. You are naive!
Fred
@shortstop: Which is why Twitter works so well for her. I expect a spell checked tweet from the twat any second…..which hopefully nobody posts because….who cares!
kc
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! She’s right about that. Even a blind pig, etc.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
the BigBoss? that would be the Quitter who ensured Obama’s election and is now an incoherent FoxNews commentator who, as Mansour knows better than anybody, can’t even write her own facebook whines? It is amazing how much Palin is like Bush, a complete mediocrity who inspires passionate, borderline hysterical loyalty in strange people.
@dmsilev:
Well, I guess it’s not really a lack of self-awareness, unless since Mansour is Grifterbillie’s “alter-ego”, could we call it a lack of alter-self-awareness?
lacp
So we may consider Erick Son of Erick as a full-spectrum douchebag.
Woodrowfan
Mansour is a sad, sad individual… she’s right about Erik the Redstate though..
mr. whipple
Heh.
Comrade Javamanphil
Suddenly, I see where Bobo is coming from with his Eton-inbreeding political class program (but it’s fine for it just to be a GOP thing, m’kay?)
Silver Owl
LOL! The Erikson observation is by far my favorite.
cleek
and here i thought ambitious politicos and their attendant sycophants were supposed to be humble, charitable and soft-spoken!
it’s nice to get a peek behind the facade, however.
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
OK, now that was beautiful. Who now can say that all the poetry has been drained from the English language, and that PR flacks have no soul?
eemom
hey Cole, why no thread about Bibi’s speech? Doesn’t you wuv me anymore? :(
joeyess
Even a blinking digital clock is right twice a day.
MattF
Makes you wonder if someone in the Palin camp is pressing the self-destruct button. I.e., since it’s all going to blow up any day anyhow, may as well get your penny now.
Chris
@shortstop:
This just proves that all her aides hated her, which means they were secretly planted there by the Republican RINO elite secretly working with the liberals to stab her in the back and ensure Obammunist totalitarianism. Yadda rabble whatnot.
I wonder how long her base will keep eating that crap up before they finally spit her out as “not a real conservative” and find themselves a new golden calf.
Steve
Honestly, I don’t see how the stuff about Bristol is all that incendiary, more like, “Yeah, it’s all kind of embarrassing, what can you do.”
I agree with John that the person who leaked this stuff is pretty awful. But Mansour seems like a piece of work in her own right. She was so ridiculously devoted to Palin from day one that they gave her a formal role with the campaign, even though the fact she would send these messages to an “online-only contact” demonstrates that she has really horrible judgment.
I’m sure every candidate has wide-eyed devotees who are like “Oh Mitt, you’re simply the Mittiest!” But I think most political campaigns are organized enough not to give some deranged groupie the keys to the entire operation. Palin, on the other hand…
cleek
“Greasy dumb ass with a talent for self-promotion”
i like that.
it’s odd to think about Erickson’s tactile manifestation, however. i’d always thought of him as an evil, free-floating, full-torso, vaporous apparition. it’s interesting to learn that he’s more of an evil ectoplasmic slimer.
Jim C.
Couldn’t happen to a more deserving bunch of people.
It’s things like this that make me think that maybe the Hindus are onto something with the whole karma thing.
Jewish Steel
One of these days Fred! is going to discover the bold tags. Then! things! will! get! shouty!
Violet
Have you not been paying attention? This is how the Palins act.
RE: Sarah’s treatment of Bristol post-engagement to Levi:
Sarah went for the grifter in Bristol and told here there would be plenty of cash if she’d just dump that loser. And she was right. Dancing with the Stars, a new reality show, a new face. $$$$
Steve
@reflectionephemeral: Tragically, Erickson chose to take the high road in response.
shortstop
I actually don’t think Mansour was ever a true believer. I read some profile of her somewhere recently that led me to believe she was an able self-promoter (that comment about Erickson is damned true but also a bit of projection) who saw the main chance with Palin and grabbed it.
Hmmmm. It occurred to me that the message seller was a plant. If so, hats off to him or her for faking it successfully for so long without vomiting all over the keyboard.
shortstop
@Jewish Steel: You never fail to crack me up.
joeyess
@cleek:
Ha ha…. Nice Akroyd reference. Who ya gonna call?!?
Moonbatman
Did Mansour Photoshop someone having sex with a inanimate object like this wingnut?
Peace Out. The Power is Yours. Free Crystal Mangum.
piratedan
well I still find it ironic, that someone who preaches abstinence and “just say no” then finds it necessary to pimp out her daughter, who couldn’t abide by her own household rules, out in public. I know life happens and kids don’t always make what parents would consider to be the appropriate choices but goddamn, the sanctimoniousness of that crowd just reeks of hypocrisy. Maybe there is something to be said for wearing your shame as a badge of honor in a twisted metaphor kinda way, but I just don’t get it. It’s a farking shame that the 27% didn’t get raptured elsewhere, at least they wouldn’t be here continually making life more difficult for the 73% of us.
Paul in KY
@Violet: Mama knows her kids!
Frankensteinbeck (The ex-Uloborus)
@reflectionephemeral:
I don’t think they’re incendiary, but Palin is the ruling queen of the Land of Butthurt, so even those words could catch fire.
Omnes Omnibus
@Moonbatman: How do you know it is a photoshop?
Benjamin Cisco
Someone ought to help her out with that beam.
Mike in NC
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I know plenty of people like that, and always suspected if one of them showed you their birth certificate, it would read “Republican”.
opie jeanne
@ThatLeftTurnInABQ: Ron Reagan jr? Is he listed because of his political leanings?
Omnes Omnibus
@opie jeanne: And ballet.
cleek
@opie jeanne:
and he’s an atheist, and a former ballet dancer! how un-Reaganly!
Benjamin Cisco
@opie jeanne: Would Foghorn Leghorn make a really bad book narrator?
shortstop
Definitely the ballet.
Tsulagi
Damn, don’t know about the greasy part, but other than that she nailed the fucker.
Ann B. Nonymous
How quickly will Deacon Erickson comment on Mansour’s DETROIT ARAB background? Will he use bad language again? Will he douche afterwards? Or would that be too much like a MUSLIM ablution?
Oh my Lord I have just devoted several seconds of thought to what Erickson’s scrotum must smell like. Where is Church Lady with “her” special “tea” when you really need “her”?
opie jeanne
@Omnes Omnibus: Yeah, I remember the ballet thing. They were sooo relieved when he got his girlfriend pregnant because it proved he wasn’t Gay!
Half of the male professional dancers are not gay, not that there’s anything wrong with that. .
geg6
Meh on the Bristol comments. Really, what is there to say about Bristol that she hasn’t lived down to? The apple doesn’t fall far and all…
But I am prepared to forgive Mansour a lot, should others differ from that opinion, just for the happy the Erick Son of Erick remarks. Fucking hilarious. And true!
Oh, and I thought only Dems had circular firing squads. Apparently not.
hilts
This has been a nice couple of days for Sarah Palin:
1) Her former aide Frank Bailey releases tell-all book “Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin: A Memoir of Our Tumultuous Years”
2) Roger Ailes is cited in a magazine article admitting that she’s a dummy
3) Rebecca Mansour’s tweets are made public
Palin must be fuming over all these developments.
@Jim, Foolish Literalist
Palin is infinitely dumber than George W. Bush.
sublime33
What ever happened to that engagement between Erik Erickson and Monica Goodling? That was over two years ago and Google has no updated information on this. Did they marry? Is it an engagement for appearances only? Enquiring minds want to know.
azlib
It is truly remarkable what some people will say on Twitter. My general rule is do not put anything in writing on the Internet if you do not want it coming back at you in the future.
reflectionephemeral
@Steve:
I… that… Wow. That is confounding. And I should say, it speaks well for him.
@Frankensteinbeck (The ex-Uloborus):
That’s an eloquent sobriquet. And a good point. It could be read as a “family’s family” thing, but it could also be read as “Bristol’s a fuckup,” thereby incurring the wrath of Mama Grizzly.
Steve
@sublime33: You are misremembering. Monica Goodling got married to a different guy from RedState.
JPL
I thought the state of Alaska was going to release the ex-governor’s emails. When is that suppose to happen?
Special One
Big Boss? I thought that was Roman Abramovich! Anyways …
Shut up Big Boss!
Nickws
@Moonbatman:
Hey, this thread is dedicated to the healthy contempt of a snowbilly lackey, not whatever it is you’re ungrammatically trying to reference.
(And what’s the deal with your link to the butthurt Rightwing vanity blogger? I didn’t come to BJ to be the first human on earth to read some crybaby’s rant against those terrible deviant Sadly Naughts.)
hilts
Palin Bachmann 2012
The Rapture Lovers’ Dream Ticket
opie jeanne
@Benjamin Cisco: Ha! I say, I say, boy, pay attention when Ah’m talkin’.
sublime33
“You are misremembering. Monica Goodling got married to a different guy from RedState.”
My mistake. That guy went to great lengths to scrub his name off the web as he isn’t even in Wikipedia. But TPM mentions their name just this month as she is quietly working under her new married name.
muddy
I went to grade school with a Becky Mansour. I wonder if it is her? This girl (we were probably 10-11) was known for “beating people up”. As is usual in grade school there was likely more terrorizing and ostracizing than actual beating, but still kids were scared of her.
Anyway, one day she announced to me that we were going to have a fight and I said Not, since it was pointless. She didn’t see how it could be pointless, she’d kick my ass. I said, But fighting doesn’t prove who is right and who is wrong, it only proves who is the better fighter. I said that since she was always doing it and I never did that she would no doubt kick my ass, but I’d still be right, so it was pointless.
I was able to make my escape when she was left gape mouthed thinking this one over. Sounds like the same girl. It was a beautiful memory for me, I can still see that flabbergasted face, with nothing left to add but, Yeah I would *too* kick your ass!
Um yeah, I just said that, glad we can agree on something.
Snarla
Until today I assumed Rebecca Mansour was an adult. My bad. But is it ethical for Sarah Palin to employ an 11-year-old?
Ruckus
@Snarla:
When you are a child, running a kids lemonade stand, yes.
Shoemaker-Levy 9
All this Palin gossip stuff that comes out is the fucking same. She’s self-absorbed, spiteful, lazy, and her family is an embarrassment. Stop the presses. I really wish our intrepid politico-gossip press, aided by former associates and insiders, would stop telling me the same thing over and over again.
Politico-gossip press, don’t bother me again until you’ve got something good. Group sex. Glossolalia. Glossolalia during group sex. Glossolalia during group sex with animals.
Han's Solo
I actually think Mansour is correct about Romney’s astroturf brigade.
Back in 2007, when I had a stronger stomach, I used to comment on Politico regularly. There was a guy who went by Ryan T (or something along those lines) that was clearly a paid hack pretending (poorly) to be an ordinary poster. I had a great time mocking him, and Romney.
kc
I hope I’m not a sociopath for laughing my ass off at them.
The Other Chuck
I think we found Eric’s new chyron for his CNN appearances.
Bordo
I don’t take much away from the Mansour tweets. I imagine pretty much everyone in politics says stuff like that about the opposition. What’s funny –in a pathetic way, of course– is the fan girl obsession at the base of these tweets. Mansour comes off as smitten with Moosilla as a tweener girl is of Justin Bieber. It’s actually kind of creepy. And when you see how homely and chunky Mansour is on her Facebook page –she has more chins than a Chinese phonebook– you can kind of see how this sad creature became entranced with the far prettier Oracle of Wasilla.
LT
What do you mean “shop them around”? It looks like she made these remarks to someone, a “Palin activist,” and that “activist” sent them to the Daily Caller. Did I miss something?
LT
@reflectionephemeral: “I… that… Wow. That is confounding. And I should say, it speaks well for him.’
Oh fuck off with that shit. Erickson has been on the phone for who knows how many hours straight with his personal handler from CNN who’s been trying to talk him down from his case of vodka coolers. No event, once inspected, could ever truly speak well about Erick “I was once schoolyard bully – and I miss it” Erickson.
Spaghetti Lee
Erickson has been on the phone for who knows how many hours straight with his personal handler from CNN who’s been trying to talk him down from his case of vodka coolers.
That sounds more like a Brietbart thing, except no one is ever able to talk him down.
Moonbatman
@Omnes Omnibus:
I took original picture. Don’t you remember posing for it?
Peace Out. The Power is Yours. Free Crystal Mangum.
Ija
@Bordo:
Oh come on! Is this really necessary? I’m sure we can find a lot of bad things to say about her without resorting to fat-shaming. Her conduct was unprofessional and I wouldn’t blame Palin for firing her. Let’s lay off the chunky and homely stuff. How is that relevant?
Paul in KY
@muddy: Did she look like the Penguin’s kid sister?
muddy
@Paul in KY:
No, she was taller than everyone else by about 6″, not sure if she was just tall or had been held back. Normal girth, with that being normal in the old days and not normal now where most of the kids are large.
I should look her up online and see if it’s her (it was an unusual locale). If is is her, I can tell lots of other stories about what a bully she was.