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This is single sourced for now. Here's the MEMRI Blog source, which is calling out this original reporting from al-Watan.com. A source in Kabul for the Afghan secret talks between the elements in the Taliban led by Mullah Mutawakkil, the Foreign Minister of movement between the American ambassador in Kabul, Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry, which has achieved progress - without explaining further details. She suggested the United States during the talks give the power to the Taliban in the provinces of Kandahar, Helmand, Uruzgan and Kunar, and Nuristan, in exchange for not ... Full article...

A new poll shows 68 percent of Republicans in Iowa hold a favorable view of Sarah Palin. That is only two percent lower than 2008 Iowa Caucus winner Mike Huckabee. The Des Moines Register poll proves that Palin would be the decisive factor in the 2012 Caucus, if she runs.

NOVEMBER 23, 2009 She's Back A transcript of the weekend's program on FOX News Channel. Stuart Varney: This week "The Journal Editorial Report," Sarah Palin's relaunch. The former Alaska governor re-emerges on the national stage to mixed reviews. We'll have ours. And a double-dip recession? President Obama says it's a risk with rising debt. So why is there talk of another multibillion-dollar stimulus? *** Varney: Hello everyone. Welcome to "The Journal Editorial Report." I'm Stuart Varney, in this week for Paul Gigot. First up, the relaunch of Sarah Palin. The former Alaskan governor and vice presidential candidate launched a nationwide...

Most of the media hate Sarah Palin. Given the hyperfocused offensive targeted at her, the simple conclusion is that the left-wing establishment views the former Alaska governor as the greatest threat to the current Democratic monopoly on power in Washington. Certainly Mrs. Palin's book tour is generating a lot of enthusiasm across the country, with thousands of admirers flocking to each stop. The book itself, "Going Rogue," was locked in at No. 1 on best-seller lists for weeks before it was officially available for sale. Mrs. Palin's appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" attracted the largest audience the program has...

The former Alaska governor represents thwarted aspirations and brooding resentment. But she backs policies which would increase them. In the film, The American President, the president's speechwriter Lewis Rothschild (played by Michael J Fox) appeals to the commander-in-chief to take a firm, clear stand against the Right. "People want leadership, Mr President, and in the absence of genuine leadership, they'll listen to anyone who steps up to the microphone." he says. "They want leadership. They're so thirsty for it they'll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there's no water, they'll drink the sand." The president...

[snip] The Republican V.P. nom would be "gang-raped by my big black brothers" if she enters Manhattan, Bernhard said. [snip] Damon called her candidacy "a really scary thing," telling CBS News, "I think the pick was made for political purposes, but in terms of governance it's a disaster."

Saturday Night Live, the comedy show that famously mocked Sarah Palin last year (ala Tina Fey) turned the tables last night on President Obama. Focusing on U.S. relations with China, as well as the absurdity of government spending, they performed a new skit that was both timely and humorous. Humor is of course in the funny-bone of the beholder so I've included the video for you to make that decision for yourself.

More than 300 people camped overnight outside Barnes & Noble Booksellers at Valley View Mall for the chance to meet former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Today, she signed her new memoir, 'Going Rogue.'

Sarah Palin comes to Asheville NC to have Dinner with Billy Graham & Family from richard bernier on Vimeo. Sarah Palin arrives in Asheville NC to have Dinner with Billy Graham & Family. 22 Nov 2009 - On a very short notice, Space Mountain Productions was advised that Mrs.Palin would be coming to Asheville to have dinner with Billy Graham & Familly. Mrs. Palin is on her book tour & will be in Fayetteville the next day to promote her book. Mrs.Palin arrived at 3:10pm & took a few questions & meet some supporters who had time to come to...

The GOP is quickly becoming a regional party with little chance of capturing the White House is the foreseeable future. In 2008 the Republican's geriatric presidential nominee was soundly rejected by a public weary of the GOP's divisive rhetoric. There are no Young Turks with the experience, credentials, charisma and gravitas to pose a serious challenge to Obama in 2012. In desperation the minority party turns its lonely eyes to Sarah Palin, hoping and praying that celebrity and good looks will trump experience and integrity at the polls. Sarah Palin may annoy the press and and infuriate the intelligentsia, but...

Cspan 2 showing Sarah Palin book signing now

It’s easy to dismiss Sarah Palin. She’s back on the trail, with the tumbling hair and tumbling thoughts. The queen of the scenic strip mall known as Wasilla now reigns over thrilled subjects thronging to a politically strategic swath of American strip malls. The conservative celebrity clearly hasn’t boned up on anything, except her own endless odyssey of self-discovery. And she still has that Yoda-like syntax. “And I think more of a concern has been not within the campaign the mistakes that were made, not being able to react to the circumstances that those mistakes created in a real positive...

(To be clear, that is a relatively low bar. Republicans went into the political wilderness in a major way following Bush's re-election as he grew increasingly less popular and it became increasingly more clear that the party was either unable or unwilling to break with the chief executive in any major way. Polls suggest that the Republican brand remains badly damaged in the eyes of the American public with most people still trusting Obama far more than Republicans in Congress to solve the major issues of the day.) With 2010 right around the corner, there is significant movement in this...

"Interesting piece. First, I want to congratulate you. You’re the first liberal media member I’ve seen who has actually acknowledged that a group of Obama supporters did in fact wear t shirts calling a woman a c*nt, in public and in front of her daughter no less. Now, does the fate of the Republic hand on such issues? No. Still, it was interesting to see the media pretend it never happened, straight out of some Ministry of Truth from Oceania. Somehow, if a group of McCain supporters had worn a t shirt to an Obama event calling him a n—-r,...

NOBLESVILLE, INDIANA -- The real Americans were waiting in their Audis and Outbacks in the Hoosier rain. Already, the parking lot had been barricaded and the satellite trucks from the local television stations were in place and it still was going to be five hours before we would see the ex-mayor, ex-governor and existential hero of prairie patriots like all of us. I hauled up in my rented Nissan Versa, having driven from the Indianapolis airport in the downpour, and rolled down the window and talked to the people in the next space. --snip-- Jim and Lucy Roark said they...

Video clip of the liberal reaction to Sarah Palin becoming President of the United States in 2012. LOL.

One of the most important observations about the Going Rogue book tour is that the schedule is booked heavily in conservative, GOP-leaning states. As Chris Cillizza points out, Palin will visit 31 counties in 25 states through December 11. Of those 31 counties, only 11 were carried by the Democratic ticket of Barack Obama and Joseph Biden last November. Interestingly, Palin will not visit big liberal states like California or Massachusetts. This kind of scheduling is reminiscent of the campaign schedules of presidential candidates, when it makes no sense to travel and place ad buys in states that lean heavily...

You loved the photos, now see the movie! The fun begins at around 1:40. In Mitchell’s defense, it never quite reaches the point where security has to tackle her. Thanks for the clip to Jim Treacher, who continues to keep things in perspective.

Yes, another interview for all of us Palin junkies from a Christian perspective!

One should be given combat pay for defending Sarah Palin in Manhattan. The other evening at a lecture, a so-called distinguished author of political tomes reflected on the declining state of conservatism and cited Sarah Palin as the reincarnation of Senator Joseph McCarthy, who stirred the ire of the country by accusing a huge swath of the State Department as being card carrying communists. Hearings were held and eventually the Senator, an authentic alcoholic, was exposed as a liar and a fraud, chastised by the Senate and tossed into the rubbish bin of history where he belonged. The ugly comparison...

The conventional wisdom on Sarah Palin is that she's a divisive figure, and, from what polls tell us, that's true: according to Pollster.com's average, 38 percent of Americans hold a favorable view of her, while 49.2 percent view her unfavorably. So she's in minus territory--11.2 percent more Americans view her negatively than positively--which is bad for any politician running for office (if indeed she is). That's worse than other top-tier 2012 contenders, too, whose favorable/unfavorable splits, according to the same average, are 36.9 / 27.3 for Mitt Romney and 44.6 / 23/9 for Mike Huckabee. But among Republicans, she does...

I posted Photos of Sarah Palin on the road in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, a video of fans sleeping over in Virginia and photos of Sarah Palin on Hannity.

Both Maureen Dowd and Frank Rich have it right. Sneer and dismiss Sarah Palin -- and/or the sentiment she taps -- at your political peril. Dowd writes that President Obama could use some of Palin's visceral appeal. Palin can be stupefyingly simplistic, but she seems dynamic. Obama is impressively complex but he seems static. She nurtures her grass roots while he neglects his. He struggles to transcend identity politics while she wallows in them. As he builds an emotional moat around himself, she exuberantly pushes whatever she has, warts and all — the good looks, the tabloid-perfect family, the Alaska...

If you're a fan of Sarah Palin, I have a distressing prediction: She isn't going to run for president in 2012. If you're not a big fan of hers, you might be cheered by that. Don't. The reason she isn't going to run for president is the process would bore her. That's the conclusion I've reached after reading her memoir, "Going Rogue." In it, she routinely describes a deeply rooted restlessness, a propelling engine that always seeks the next challenge. That means the endless slog of campaigning would grow tiresome, the fundraising would grow really tiresome and the need to...

Video by Retired Dr. Tim Bell Historical Climatologist explaining why this is such a big deal. "This isn't a smoking gun, this is a whole bunch of smoking machine guns"

The newest threat to the United States is the Oval Office’s Marxist Muslim and his shadow government/czars impregnating evil government. He is out to destroy our democracy, in that sense beheading the infidels. He has long publicly witnessed that he is Muslim, though too many have never recognized that as fact.

Sarah Palin, who will sign books Monday at Fort Bragg, plans a stopover in Montreat today to have dinner with 91-year-old Billy Graham and his son, Franklin Graham, who issued the invitation. "He just saw that she was going to be in the area and he said to come by," said Jeremy Blume, a spokesman for Franklin Graham. Former Alaska Gov. Palin, who was the Republican vice presidential nominee in 2008, will fly into Asheville this afternoon, Blume said, and then go to Billy Graham's mountaintop home in Montreat for dinner. The Charlotte-born evangelist has never met Palin, who is...

I'm sure I would like Sarah Palin if I got the chance to meet her. We share many things in common. She is still married to her first spouse, as am I. She has a Down syndrome son. I have a brother with Down syndrome. We share the same faith and we both like the outdoors. She is conservative on economic and social issues, and so am I. In her new book, Going Rogue, Palin complains about her running mate's handlers, whom she says kept her from being herself. I have similar complaints. Those handlers also kept me from interviewing...

Here is the joint press conference skit with Jintao thinks he is entitled to at least a kiss, a movie and dinner before Obama "does sex to him". This is begging for a CNN fact check. Fred Armisen's impression is not improving much but this opener is still pretty funny:

11:40 a.m.: Palin signs the books at a table near the far left corner of the store, an alcove closed off by metal detectors and security guards. Her father, Chuck Heath, seated to her left, shakes people's hands and asks their names. Palin greets each fan with a quick 'Thank you, thank you' and grasps a hand if a fan offers, her smile barely budging. She rarely glances down at the stream of open books on the table top as she scribbles her loopy "SP" on each one. Barnes & Noble security is starting to bring the standby line inside...

Sarah Palin visit: Hundreds already in line to get limited number of wristbands By Kent Faulk -- The Birmingham News November 22, 2009, 11:00AMSarah Palin brings her 'Going Rogue' book tour to Birmingham on Monday, Nov. 23, 2009. A throng has gathered on Sunday, Nov. 22, 2009 to snag a wristband for a spot in line for the signing. (Special to The Birmingham News)Hundreds of people were already in line at the Books-A-Million store at  Colonial Brookwood Village to get a wristband for former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's visit on Monday. [See the GUIDELINES set for Palin's visit] People are...

A couple of years ago I began to notice some peculiar yet familiar physical symptoms, like the smell of cigarettes making me feel more nauseated than usual. For a few weeks, I brushed these aside. Then I began to suspect something. There was no way I could buy a home pregnancy test in Alaska. I was the state governor. The supermarket cashiers would know, the people in the queue would know, and the next thing I’d see would be a headline. There were still a few things that I thought were not for public consumption, at least not at first.

An anti-Palin screed somehow ended up on Psychology Today's website. I know, I know, it's shocking that Psychology Today could sponsor something that is less science than it is PC, hatespeak against conservatives, what with psychology being so scientific and all -- but, there you have it. Penned by one Bella DePaulo, the piece really has little worth as a work of science and is little but a political rant filled with name calling and hate for Governor Sarah Palin and anyone that might support her. In the piece Palin is termed a "special liar" by the writer and conservatives...

I was once told that if I truly wanted to understand human nature all that was required was a careful study of one literary body of work: Shakespeare. All the major themes of human existence are represented. Love, hate, greed, charity, redemption, etc. are weaved into a brilliant tapestry of literal and allegorical devices. So comprehensive and timeless are many of the lessons of the Great Bard that his life's work is often called "The Lay Bible." But like the Good Book, many of the truisms contained within Shakespeare's work and his life continue to be overlooked or completely forgotten....

The 2008 national election clearly shows our next generation of leaders must possess something that many recent and current elected officials lack: intellectual courage. President Nixon believed all leaders, regardless of their time, needed “brains, guts and heart.” Others have defined those character traits as “the right stuff.” “Given what is likely needed to right our ship of state, I don't think that it will come as a great surprise to many that our current men and women in the military are likely going to be the ‘right’ individuals for the job when they come home,” said Lara Brown, a...

In town to give a talk on civility, I was surrounded by women who wondered what I thought of Sarah Palin's Newsweek cover. "Why aren't women coming to her defense?" they asked. "Why are the media being so rough on Sarah?" Having been enjoying a self-imposed moratorium on all things Palin, declining numerous interviews to discuss her latest self-promotional tour, I was surprised by the questions. My thoughts lately have drifted toward the sense that, though Palin is very much a celebrity, she's no longer running for public office, at least officially. Ergo, radar gets a rest. As for her...

.... Barack Obama's speaking skills are his signature talent. He's a platform performer, a speechmaker in the great tradition, a kind of teleprompter Cicero. The campaign to become President owed more to Mr. Obama's oratorical mastery than to any other element. His speech on race in America, necessitated by revelations of the ugly thoughts and sentiments of his hometown preacher, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, was the most important event of his campaign. If it had failed, his candidacy would have been doomed. Under pressure – the great test of the real speechmaker – he delivered. The other great speech of the...

MSNBC's Nora O'Donnell, reporting from a book store selling Palin's book Going Rogue, was astonished how "white" those people who were standing in line to buy the book, and how "no minorities" could be seen in the autograph line (of course, we know MSNBC cameramen are trained, maybe by Scientologists, not to video blacks mixing with whites - like at Tea Parties, especially if the black person is carrying a weapon on his person at political events). Nora, as a member in good standing of that Proud White Self Loathing Liberal Club, went on to report to Chris Matthews, "I...

Finished 'Going Rogue' last night - and had a few observations. Be interested in reading other FReepers thoughts as well. 1. Loved the book; the story of the Heath family packing up and heading to Alaska mirrors what my father did, and what I did also.2. I think she was correct in getting her side of the story on her campaign experiences - get it in print unfiltered to the public. 3. No way she endorses Simcox over McCain in Arizona, her admiration and loyalty for McCain goes to the bone. 4. She is definitely running for President.

It’s easy to dismiss Sarah Palin. She’s back on the trail, with the tumbling hair and tumbling thoughts. The queen of the scenic strip mall known as Wasilla now reigns over thrilled subjects thronging to a politically strategic swath of American strip malls. The conservative celebrity clearly hasn’t boned up on anything, except her own endless odyssey of self-discovery. And she still has that Yoda-like syntax. “And I think more of a concern has been not within the campaign the mistakes that were made, not being able to react to the circumstances that those mistakes created in a real positive...

A magazine in Tokyo is reporting that President Obama's summit with Japanese Prime Minister Hatoyama was a frosty disaster, precipitated by incompetence on both sides and an entirely avoidable diplomatic slight to the Japanese side by Obama. The visit was abruptly re-scheduled, seriously inconveniencing the Emperor of Japan, as well as the Prime Minister, whose intricate schedules require meticulous planning and coordination. Japanese weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun cites an unnamed insider at the Foreign Ministry, who delivers a devastating account of not merely a failure to agree, but figurative slaps in the face of the rude president, delivered in retaliation....

Yesterday they underlined this message by pointing to reports showing that Mr Obama had failed to convene a single policy meeting of the Senate European subcommittee, of which he is chairman. There was also strikingly robust criticism from an independent Washington think-tank about a “disconcerting void” over transatlantic relations in Mr Obama’s foreign policy, as well as from a former British Minister for Europe. Mr Obama’s advisers say that he has an “intuitive grasp” of world affairs because he spent part of his childhood abroad. “The benefit of my life of having both lived overseas and travelled overseas is, I...

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — When tickets to see Sarah Palin in Michigan ran out, people drove to her appearance here, three hours away. Thousands had lined up overnight, starting nearly 24 hours before she was to begin signing books, camping out in 39-degree weather for a moment with the woman many see as the great conservative hope, a role model, “one of us.” They brought their sleeping bags, their children, homemade chocolate Cheerios bars, and balloons to twist into animal shapes and hats for the crowd. And they brought their anger — about bailouts, jobs and health care. If Sarah...

My friends, I ran into Sarah Palin a week or so ago. Well, not the Sarah Palin — and not comedian Tina Fey, either. Temporarily away from my mission work and visiting old friends at an Irish parish, I was enjoying the (rare) sunshine after Mass, greeting parishioners as they left church, when I noticed a young mother pushing her daughter in a baby carriage. Her child — like all children — was radiant to me, with a shock of orange hair and a smile of beautiful wonderment at just about everything. Her head rolled back and forth as if...

Sarah Palin is back, using her book, Going Rogue, as a prop. From all indications she ain't going away -- which may be why passions, pro and con, are so intense about her. There seems no middle ground when it comes to Palin -- some of it understandable, most of it puzzling. If she's a ditz, an airhead as some insist, someone without the depth or substance to be president, why worry about her? The electorate will catch on. So why do Democrats slag her at every opportunity? If she's a genuine threat to be a contender for power on...

Most of the media hate Sarah Palin. Given the hyperfocused offensive targeted at her, the simple conclusion is that the left-wing establishment views the former Alaska governor as the greatest threat to the current Democratic monopoly on power in Washington. Certainly Mrs. Palin's book tour is generating a lot of enthusiasm across the country, with thousands of admirers flocking to each stop. The book itself, "Going Rogue," was locked in at No. 1 on best-seller lists for weeks before it was officially available for sale. Mrs. Palin's appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" attracted the largest audience the program has...

HUGE CROWD LINES UP TO SEE SARAH PALIN, GET BOOKS SIGNED AT Least Six States Represented in the Crowd --And one hockey mom. Sarah Palin Going Rogue book tour Washington PA, November 21, 2009 DBKP Pictures from the tour stop Sarah Palin's "Going Rogue" book tour came to Washington, PA and folks from at least six states were there to greet her. DBKP was there too and got some pictures--five pages of them, to be exact. Just from our own observations, it seemed like slightly more women were present than men, which would seem to contradict those who say that...

Gov. Sarah Palin talks with a woman who's looks resemble that of Gov. Sarah Palin at Borders bookstore during the third "Going Rogue" book signing event Thursday, November 19, 2009, in Noblesville, IN. This is not a photo shop job. This is pulled straight from Palin's Facebook page.

With the possible exceptions of Richard Nixon and George W. Bush, no modern era politician has been more derided by the media than Sarah Palin. And the attacks do not stop with her. They include nasty rumors about her family and even the mocking of her children. Palin has responded to some of the vitriol in her new book, "Going Rogue," hoping to give readers her side on controversies like the expensive clothes, the interview gaffes and Alaska's "Troopergate" case. How have the media received the former Alaska governor's side of the story? Not well. She is being called a...

Martha Stewart: "She's so confused. Anyone in like that in government is a real problem."