The Missoulian: MCT apologizes for lyric about beheading Palin

"We made a mistake. Oh man, we made a mistake."
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After wrapping up its two-week run of Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Mikado" Sunday night, MCT Community Theatre MCT executive director Michael McGill Monday morning was in full damage control mode in the wake of the internet firestorm in reaction to the MCT production's call for the beheading of Sarah Palin:

What began with a single letter to the editor, published in last Friday's Missoulian, quickly erupted into a nationwide controversy after dozens of political bloggers picked up the thread and ran with it - some adding their own colorful (and inaccurate) amendments to the story.

In the face of it all, McGill had one simple message on Monday.

"In retrospect, we made a mistake," he said. "Anybody that gets singled out in such a way as that, whether it might be (President Barack) Obama or Palin or whomever, it's inappropriate. I take full responsibility for that."

At the center of the controversy was a single couplet, inserted by director Curt Olds into a song sung by the character Ko-Ko, a pacifist executioner. Listing off those people whom he intends to behead, the singer in the Missoula production noted, "That crazy Sarah Palin needs a psychoanalyst / She never would be missed, no she never would be missed."

"It's very common practice to amend those lyrics," said McGill. "It's how they were amended in this case that's an issue. There's a lot of misinformation about what happened, but I don't want to shirk our responsibility for what did happen.

"The important part to me is that the apology is clear and that the responsibility is taken by this organization."

[More]

Okay, so where exactly is the apology to Gov. Palin in all of this? Anyway, just goes to show that writing letters to the editor isn't always a waste of time.

- JP

Sarah Palin's speech raised $130,000 for Montana shelter

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Gov. Palin's appearance in Montana last month for Teen Challenge helped raise $130,000 for the shelter for young mothers, according to the Associated Press:

Palin spoke in Missoula last month, calling Teen Challenge Montana an example of God's work in action. She said the 24-bed home was "part church, part school and part hard work."

The money raised by the shelter by the governor will make a big down payment on the $450,000 Teen challenge says it needs to fix its kitchen and dining room.

- JP

Gov. Palin in Montana: 'Government is the problem'

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Here are excerpts from the Missoulian's coverage of Gov. Palin's Sunday appearance in Montana:

Praising God and America, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin brought an adoring crowd to its feet with her message of faith, family and the power of prayer during a Sunday fundraising event to support a Christ-centered Missoula women's residential center.

"God and family and country - take a stand in that order and things fall into place," Palin told a sold-out crowd of 1,600 at the Hilton Garden Inn during her 40-minute talk at the "Raise the Roof" capital campaign for Teen Challenge.

"Taking a stand for God is not always easy ... but it is always right and worthwhile," Palin said.

God and prayer help people find their true calling and innate talents, she said, and in God's "cosmic calculus" for each of us he provides the lessons we each must learn in our individual journeys.

Teen Challenge, she said, is an example of God's work in action. Each day, the national program helps alcoholics become sober, drug addicts come clean and helps scared unwed teen mothers turn that hardship into life's great blessing.

The 2008 GOPvice presidential candidate occasionally got political in her address, taking swipes at the media and the left, remarking at one point that "moles" were in the audience texting about her belief in prayer and taking it all out of context. She was sharply critical of the nation's leadership in Washington, D.C., who she said are steering the country in the wrong direction:

Finally, she criticized those in America who believe it is politically extreme to pray and believe in God.

To the roar of her appreciative crowd, Palin fired off several one-liners over the course of her talk.

"Why is it called the far right when it is just common sense?" she asked. "The government that governs least governs best."

Robust applause erupted when Palin boldly laid out her no-holds-barred opinion about the way the country is currently being governed.

"The things they are doing in Washington, D.C., are absolutely whacked," she said. "They are upside-down."

[...]

"I love my country and I love our system, but government can't fix the problems - government is the problem," she said. "Government can't dry a tear or lend a shoulder or put back together a family, or country or state."

The governor said that healing is the job of God and neighbors who help neighbors, not the government.

- JP

Missoulian Editor: Mama Grizzly Meets Griz Nation (Updated)

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Sherry Devlin, editor of the Missoulian, the daily newspaper in Missoula, Montana, promises to have good coverage of Gov. Palin's appearance Sunday afternoon to raise funds and awareness for Missoula’s Teen Challenge:

"Reporters Betsy Cohen and Keila Szpaller will share the duty with photographer Linda Thompson and videographer Matt Riley. I’ll be back at the office making sure everything gets online in real time. So watch for us starting about 2 p.m. on Twitter.com/Missoulian and on breaking news at Missoulian.com. We’ll continue providing coverage throughout the afternoon – Palin’s talk comes at a private event that runs from 3:30-5:30 p.m."

Devlin says the print edition of Monday’s Missoulian will also have full coverage: "It’ll be a keeper – for all you Grizzlies, and grizzlies."

Update: Editor Devlin's Missoulian reports that "every seat is taken" for Gov. Palin's appearance, but the newspaper seems to be more interested in the few protesters who have gathered outside the Hilton than on the sold-out crowd inside the arena to hear her speak. More than half of the words in the story are devoted to the protesters. Lamestream media, indeed.

- JP

Palin Tickets Going Fast in Montana

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NBCMontana.com's Matt Leach reports that organizers say they have sold around 1,200 tickets so far to the Teen Challenge Montana fundraiser in Missoula where Gov. Palin will speak on September 15.

Tickets for the event at the Hilton Garden Inn are priced at $100. There is an additional $5 service fee for tickets purchased online.

- JP

Sarah Palin returns to Montana

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Sarah Palin, whose Going Rogue Book Tour stopped in Billings last December, will return to Montana September 12, according to The Missoulian:

Palin has agreed to a fundraising speech for Teen Challenge at Missoula's Hilton Garden Inn. Her talk: "Take a Stand - For God, Family and Country."

Tickets are $100 each and will go on sale next week. Call 406-543-1912.

- JP