Talking point: When discussing Sarah Palin's husband, do not say he works for BP.

[Skinner]

Instead, say he works for "a foreign oil company."

[Minimus]

1. Yes!

[JuniperLea]

2. Perfect!

:thumbsup:

[pnwmom]

3. Great point! Thanks. n/t

[TwilightZone]

4. *snort*

Very nice.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

5. Geez Skinner... what part of "commercial fisherman" don't you understand?

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

(Laughing at the "fisherman" spin, not at Skinner)

[greguganus]

15. lol you beat me to the "fish story". n/t

[polmaven]

55. Oh, my..The Fish Story!

:rofl:

[ecstatic]

36. wow! So that was just a smoke screen

I really hope the MSM does their research.

[Uncle Joe]

6. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Skinner.:thumbsup:

[annabanana]

7. How can they get us "off" foreign oil?. . . . . very good. . . n/t

[sabra]

8. and that there was a conflict of interest because Gov. Palin was working with this company

[AlCzervik]

9. yes indeed.

[Ichingcarpenter]

10. An international corporate foreign oil company

Yours works too.. but great point.

[AllieB]

11. I hope the PR department at the DNC is smart enough to get out this talking point.

It's perfect. :-)

[TexasObserver]

12. because BP buys a lot of advertising!!

BP is about making money, and they have a long and sordid political history.

[1Hippiechick]

52. BP doesn't advertise itself anymore as British Pretroleum - BP = Better Products? Forgot.

[drm604]

56. "Beyond Petroleum"

Believe it or not.

[yourguide]

13. She is literally in bed with big oil...

literally.

:rofl:

[baldguy]

37. How many kids do they have?

I've heard of getting screwed by the oil companies, but this is ridiculous.

[yourguide]

40. bwahahahahahaha...

5

[ecstatic]

38. LOL! nt

[robertpaulsen]

14. Yes. And quote Upton Sinclair.

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it."

[Cha]

42. That quote works for the CorporateMediaWhore$,

too..thank you, Robert~

[defendandprotect]

59. "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon . . .

his not understanding it."

Thanks robertpaulsen . . . haven't read near enough of Upton Sinclair and hadn't

come upon that quote before!

[derby378]

16. Cool!

Good idea, Skinner. Thanks! :hi:

[blondeatlast]

17. ZING! nt

[backscatter712]

18. Todd Palin's pretty special alright...

Daily Kos: Todd Palin, Shadow Governor of Alaska (Updated)

This is gonna blow up in McCain's face - get your popcorn ready!

[AuntPatsy]

19. I will skinner and thank you

[Breeze54]

20. But Mrs. Palin said he's a fisherman in Alaska, in her speech today.

Sounds to me like she's just another RW liar!

[merh]

22. He took leave from BP when his wife took office

and he fishes

See this article http://dwb.adn.com/news/politics/story/8924080p-8824177c.html

[Kajsa]

21. Good point, Skinner.

The quote I posted was from Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund.

http://www.defendersactionfund.org/

[sunnystarr]

23. I read he quit in January to spend more time with his family.

Can that be checked out?

[social_science]

62. He still works for BP.

From yesterday's NYT:

"Mr. Palin, in addition to being a champion snowmobile racer, is an oil production operator on the North Slope, working for BP, a company that has had to make major repairs since a spill on the slope temporarily shut down production there in 2006.

In addition to Ms. Palin’s $125,000 state salary, Mr. Palin earned $93,000 last year running his own commercial fishing business and working part-time at BP’s oil production facility, according to her public financial disclosure reports.

Although Ms. Palin once said that her husband would quit his job at BP if she were elected governor, she later backed away from that. He took a leave from the company after she won, but went back to work there last year, saying his family needed the money. And the governor now says that because Mr. Palin is not in management, it poses no conflict with her own dealings with the petroleum industry, a major force in Alaska’s politics and economy."

William Yardley, "Palin, an Outsider Who Charms," New York Times, August 30, 2008.

What an obnoxiously unscrutinizing title by the way! Count on the NYT to hide important details deep in the article and offer a sterile, uncritical headline.

[Coexist]

24. ok.

[New Dawn]

25. British Petroleum? The same BRITISH that we fought TWO WARS against!

[elehhhhna]

35. del

[LooseWilly]

39. Don't forget about their role in shaping the situation in Iran...

It was BP, after all, that ran British oil interests in Iran, and was then ejected in the 50s when Iran nationalized their oil.
It was BP who, along with the British government, pressured Truman into NOT doing business with Iran (who wanted a deal similar to the one we had/have with the Saudis). It was BP who pressured the Eisenhower administration to use the CIA to engineer a coup, get rid of the meddling nationalist government in Iran, and install the Shah.
The installation of the Shah's government and the suppression of the nationalist sentiment set the stage for the upsurge of influence and power of the Islamic fundamentalists/extremists.

The current tensions between Iran and the US are directly traceable to BP. Putting a BP lobbyist/employee into the inner circle of the Presidency at this particular time is a little spooky to consider.

Then again, BP sells their gas cheaper here in California than, say, Chevron.

[New Dawn]

41. Excellent point.

[Pacifist Patriot]

51. Doesn't hurt to Google British Petroleum and Russia either.

[shaniqua6392]

26. Is the corporate media ever going to let the "foreign oil company" story out?

All I have heard about her hubby is that he is a "blue collar" commercial fisherman. How silly of me. Her hubby is the Gorton Fisherman and she birthed five children. One child has Downs Syndrome. One child enlisted in the military and is immediately being shipped off to fight in George's War. I only heard one fun fact that interested me about her today. That is the fact that she opposed abortion even in cases of rape and incest. Sorry for the rant. I think I have made a big mistake by watching way too much television on my day off!! LOL! I am going to shut it off and go for a long walk.

[demobabe]

27. Great point...

You just think "BP" and forget that it's "British Petroleum"

[djp2]

63. Isn't BP the "CLEAN" petroleum company?

That's what all their ads say, the "renewable energy" company!!! That bright flowery symbol and all, I mean REALLY!!

[stillcool]

28. I don't get this family dynamic..

Todd works for BP for 18 years..takes a leave of absence for 7 months prior to the election. Now he's a commercial fisherman, maybe still works for BP, takes care of 5 kids, and he helps out in the Governor's office?

Governor's husband goes back to BP job on the North Slope
http://www.alaska.com/adn/front/story/9245100p-9159409c.html
SLOPE WORKER: One critic calls timing bad as oil tax debate nears.
By STEFAN MILKOWSKI
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
(Published: August 23rd, 2007)
Alaska's first gentleman has returned to work for BP on the North Slope.

Todd Palin took a leave of absence from the company in January and went back to work late last month, according to Sharon Leighow, a spokeswoman for Gov. Sarah Palin, Todd's wife.

Todd Palin took the leave to deal with a hectic schedule and help take care of the family's four children, Leighow said, and not because of any conflict of interest.

Todd Palin's role
Posted by Alaska_Politics
http://community.adn.com/node/127769
Posted: July 25, 2008 - 8:06 pm

From Sean Cockerham in Anchorage --

It's not uncommon for Gov. Sarah Palin's husband, Todd, to be included on governor's office e-mails, a fact raising questions about how much influence the "First Dude" has in state government.

MONEGAN SPEAKS: Names Todd Palin & others
http://www.andrewhalcro.com/monegan_speaks_says_todd_palin_pressured_him_to_fire_wooten
Tonight on KTUU Channel 2 News, former Commissioner of Public Safety Walt Monegan broke his silence and admitted that he was pressured on numerous occasions by Todd Palin to fire State Trooper Mike Wooten.

Monegan said he met with Palin numerous times to talk about Wooten as well as Frank Bailey from the governor's office and Commissioner of Administration Annete Krietzer who also pressured him to fire Wooten.

http://www.andrewhalcro.com/monegan_speaks_says_todd_palin_pressured_him_to_fire_wooten

[grantcart]

29. should be your own thread

[stillcool]

34. there's umpteen threads going...

already. I'm going to wait for more info to percolate.

[depakid]

30. Foreign oil company that has repeatedly manipulated the West Coast petroleum markets

and been convicted and fined for it.

[myrna minx]

31. Very good point. n/t

[spanone]

32. yes, thanks skinner

[CitizenPatriot]

33. and some people say he's a "lobbyist"

for that foreign oil company-- which makes sense, I mean, he worked for them and he has her ear...of course they would throw him some rewards for furthering their agenda.

these are insider talks, so no link. just some people say.

[me b zola]

43. K&R

:kick:

[Hutzpa]

44. Duly noted

:evilgrin:

[mitchum]

45. And that's why you're the boss...that's really good!

[mzmolly]

46. Will do.

;)

[Frank Booth]

47. Bwahahaha!!

That's great.

[suffragette]

48. Some very interesting energy linkage going on here with Palin

I was looking up more info on the energy conference Palin attended in Texas in April and noticed some things.
One is that it was a closed door small energy conference attended by nine Republican governors.
Another is that someone named Lonnie "Bo" Pilgrim was able to address this closed meeting.


http://cbs11tv.com/politics/perry.waiver.airfare.2.772356.html
The newspaper reported Perry met with Pilgrim in March and six days later donated $100,000 to the Republican Governors Association, a group chaired by Perry. The donation, given March 31, also helped pave the way for Pilgrim to address nine Republican governors during a closed-door energy conference in Grapevine to explain his belief that ethanol production is increasing feed costs for poultry and livestock producers.

wiki on Pilgrim:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonnie_%22Bo%22_Pilgrim

I think some digging here might be in order.

[Norrin Radd]

49. Sharp.

[mwooldri]

50. Is saying he works for a British Petroleum company too specific? nt

[H2O Man]

53. Beauty.

Perfect.

Nominated.

[Fluffdaddy]

54. Good point Skinner. I may make a donation to DU again

[SalmonChantedEvening]

57. Oh how deceptively truthful!!

Damn you Sir!!

K&R ;)

[zeemike]

58. A great idea...thanks Skinner K&R n/t

[AtomicKitten]

60. Exotic perhaps?

:rofl:

[whatchamacallit]

61. Clever

:thumbsup:

[eleny]

64. Thanks!