Biased Politico spins Gov. Palin's Bethesda speech

"Planned Parenthood doesn't empower women"
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Politico purchased a ticket to hear Sarah Palin speak at Saturday night's "Heroes Among Us" event in Bethesda, Maryland, but the biased and incompetent publication still managed to get a key fact wrong in its story. Politico reporter Jedd Rosche described the event as a "Jews for Sarah gathering" and seemed to find it significant that "she never mentioned Israel during her remarks." The event was actually a fundraiser for Heroic Media, the shabbaton sponsored by Jews for Sarah being complimentary to her appearance at the fundraiser.

Rosche was probably too fixated on portraying Gov. Palin as boastful to bother with such mundane details as who sponsored the event and what it was about. He used the word "boasts" in his headline and "boasted" in the lede to his article, referring to the governor's remark that she could have attended the White House Correspondents' Dinner Saturday evening, but she chose instead to spend her time at the pro-life event. Leave it to Palin-bashing Politico to twist Sarah Palin's statement about the importance of the cause of life just to make her appear to be prideful.

We can only hope Politico's crack reporter managed to get the quotes in these excerpts correct:

... she stumped hard against Planned Parenthood and abortion rights advocates, encouraging her listeners to continue fighting for "positive pro-life messages" in the media.

"We're not going to be absent from that arena," she said. "I think we kind of want to infiltrate it. We want to get in there and affect that change."

Palin praised Heroic Media's advertising against abortion, on billboards, online and in social media. She also presented an award to Lila Rose, the videographer and activist who did a video sting operation against Planned Parenthood and worked with James O'Keefe on his sting against ACORN.

"Planned Parenthood doesn't empower women, or offer women who find themselves in less than ideal circumstances any kind of real choice," she said. "What they offer is not real choice or female health care."

- JP

Heroic Media plans April fundraiser with Gov. Palin in DC area

"Heroes Among Us"
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According to the Heroic Media website, the faith-based organization which places television, Internet and billboard advertisements to help women facing unexpected pregnancies, will hold a fundraiser in Bethesda, Maryland April 30 with Sarah Palin as keynote speaker. The event, "Heroes Among Us," is to be held at the Marriott Bethesda, Heroic says.

Gov. Palin has previously appeared at several Heroic Media fundraisers in the Lone Star State, including venues in Houston, Austin and Dallas. The organization is headquartered in central Texas, but has held similar events in cities across the nation.

- JP

Gov. Palin slams ObamaCare, praises Perry at Dallas event

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Wednesday night at Dallas’ Majestic Theatre, Sarah Palin called on the newly elected Congress to work to repeal ObamaCare, referring to it as the "mother of all unfunded mandates":

Preaching a message of life, Palin -- the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee and a leader in the Tea Party movement -- told a crowd of about 800 people gathered at the Majestic Theatre that last week's midterm elections were a mandate on Congress to repeal a healthcare bill that she believes includes federal funding for some abortions.

"The ramifications of this bill [are] horrendous," she said during a program called "An Evening of Hope" put on by Heroic Media, a Texas-based conservative nonprofit group that promotes alternatives to abortion. "We have to fight back against this federal takeover."

Palin called Barack Obama "the most pro-abortion president to occupy the White House."

Palin praised Republican Gov. Rick Perry, who spoke briefly at the event, for fighting against federal control and for standing up as an anti-abortion governor.

"The governor is talking good stuff about this Lone Star State," she said, adding that she loves the title of Perry's book, Fed Up! Our Fight to Save America From Washington.

"Your governor has been a leader in trying to protect you ... from what is coming out of Washington, D.C.," Palin said.

[More]

After her speech, Gov. Palin joined a panel discussion that included Texas Gov. Rick Perry , Attorney General Greg Abbott, Dallas lawyer Kelly Shackelford and Dallas minister Stephen Broden. The program was moderated by WBAP-AM (820) radio personality Mark Davis. Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert introduced Sarah Palin and welcomed her to the city.

- JP

The Morning News: Sarah Palin brings political star power to Dallas

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Gov. Palin is in Big D to "Celebrate an evening of hope" tonight:

Sarah Palin, perhaps the hottest commodity in the Republican Party, returns to Dallas today as a potential political kingmaker and a strong contender for the GOP nomination for president.

Local politicians recognize her value. In town for an event sponsored by Heroic Media, a conservative group that helps women with unexpected pregnancies, the former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee will share the stage with two Texas politicians eyeing a bigger stage.

Gov. Rick Perry , fresh from his thumping of former Houston Mayor Bill White for an unprecedented third full term as governor, will join Palin at the Majestic Theatre in the middle of his tour promoting his new book, Fed Up! Our Fight to Save America from Washington.

Also appearing with the 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate will be Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert, a potential candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2012, and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who handily won reelection Nov. 2. WBAP radio talk show host Mark Davis, who often fills in for Rush Limbaugh, will be the master of ceremonies.

- JP

Dallas Area Catholics: A good night out with Sarah Palin

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The Dallas Area Catholics blog, calling Sarah Palin "one of the most influential personalities in American politics," is urging its readers to turn out to see the governor when she visits the Metroplex in November:

Here’s the Catholic angle – Heroic Media raises money to engage in pro-life advertising, specifically targeting women who may be contemplating abortion. Billboards, magazine ads, etc. So, even if you find Sarah Palin the most dangerous woman in America, you might still want to go just to help the pro-life cause. Me, I think she’s pretty good, though she’s showed some questionable judgement at times regarding political endorsements. But, I also recognize that she is a captivating speaker and someone who holds views that align pretty well with Catholic moral doctrine, especially that regarding life issues. This isn’t my kind of gig, but I’d still consider going to see her speak and help out this pro-life media effort. Anyone that can field dress a caribou on the Alaskan tundra deserves some respect, and not the weird violence-tinged sex kitten fantasies projected on her by the left.

The full blog post is here. More event information, including links to purchase tickets and sponsorships, is here.

- JP

Gov. Palin Returns to Dallas in November

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As we reported last month, Sarah Palin will return to the Metroplex area in November to speak at a fundraiser for Heroic Media, a pro-life group which reaches out to women who face unexpected pregnancies. The event will be held at Dallas' Majestic Theater:

Heroic Media president, Brian Follett, said the organization is pleased to have Palin speak. “We are honored to have her share her personal experiences regarding the Life issue with us,” he said.

Heroic Media, a Majella Cares Outreach, is a faith-based non-profit that places television, internet and billboard advertisements to help women facing unexpected pregnancies. Their advertisements provide help line numbers that connect women with pregnancy resource centers. Since Heroic Media began operations in Austin Texas six years ago, the abortion ratio there has dropped 24 percent. The abortion ratio is the number of abortions for every 1,000 live births.

Because Heroic Media celebrates the heroism of motherhood, Executive Director Mike Murray said it was fitting to invite Palin to speak. “Sarah’s faith and commitment to protecting life at every stage is evident in her words and actions,” he said.

[...]

For sponsorship information, call 214-491-0026.

(More)

Tickets will be available online soon here. Gov Palin has teamed up with Heroic Media before, appearing before a crowd of 1,500 at an Austin event in April. She was most recently in Dallas April 30 at a fundraiser for a local pregnancy center. The governor also made a stop in Plano in December as part of her Going Rogue book tour.

Other Texas events on Sarah Palin's schedule include a Heroic Media fundraiser in Houston and an October Women of Joy conference in San Antonio. She was in Waco last Tuesday for a CareNet fundraiser which draw a crowd of 5,000 to the Baylor University campus.

- JP

Florida Times-Union: Palin wows Jacksonville crowd

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Sarah Palin returned to Jacksonville Thursday night, her first appearance in Northeast Florida since a book signing event there November 24 of last year. From the Florida Times-Union story:

Although the event was a fund-raiser for the anti-abortion nonprofit group Heroic Media, political jabs were everywhere.

For Palin, state Sen. John Thrasher, state Rep. Ronald “Doc” Renuart and Jacksonville City Council President Jack Webb, the evening was ripe for digs at numerous politicians.

Among them:

Palin called the recently passed health care legislation “a hit” on children with disabilities.

Thrasher promised to bring back controversial abortion legislation vetoed by Gov. Charlie Crist, a name that drew heated boos twice in the evening, and said voters need to hold Crist, now an independent candidate for the U.S. Senate, accountable in November.

Heroic Media, a faith-based group, is dedicated to buying ad space on television, websites and billboards to encourage women not to abort their babies.

Mark Nelson, the Florida director for the group, said it is aiming to raise about $150,000 to buy ad spots over a 10-week period in Jacksonville. The group said on Thursday that it has raised about $50,000 toward that effort.

[...]

Using the recent commemoration of the 90th anniversary of women’s suffrage, Palin attacked traditional women’s organizations for supporting abortion rights.

“How about protecting our littlest sisters in the womb on equality day?” she said.

Gov. Palin will be making other appearances for Heroic Media in Houston in October and Dallas in November.

WOKV News Director Rich Jones reported:

"The biggest advance of the abortion industry in America is the passage of Obamacare," Palin said. "Elective abortions have nothing to do with health care. It's about ending lives, not saving lives."

[...]

"Unfortunately your Republican governor," Palin began before pausing. "I don't know if he wants to be one or is a Republican anymore."

After the crowd booed, she continued.

"Your governor, he decided to veto this pro-life bill," she said before drawing laughs by sarcastically pointing out that Crist still calls himself pro-life. "He forgot that when to comes protecting the sanctity of life actions speak louder than words."

Associated Press coverage of the event is here.

This is the first time we know of that Gov. Palin has publicly gone after Crist. From Aggieland, we say gig 'em, Governor!

- JP

Sarah Palin returns to Houston in October, Dallas in November (Updated)

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According to the Houston Chronicle's religion blog, Gov. Palin will be back in the Bayou City in October to deliver the keynote address at a benefit for a pregnancy crisis charity:

Houston's First Baptist Church will host the event, held by Heroic Media, an anti-abortion charity that "celebrates the heroism of motherhood."

The former governor and Republican vice-presidential candidate took a stance against abortion because of her conservative political beliefs and Christian faith.

Palin has been able to win over the support of fellow hockey mom types, who can relate to her and admire her values.

[...]

She'll address the crowd at "Heroes Among Us" in Houston on October 5 at 7 p.m. Tickets start at $50 and will be available at heroricmedia.org closer to the event.

This will be the first appearance in the Houston area for the 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate since February, when she campaigned with Gov. Rick Perry at a rally in Cypress.

Update: Ticket information for the Houston event is here.

Heroic Media also has an event planned for November 10 in Dallas with Gov. Palin as keynote speaker. The location will be announced at a later date.

- JP

KJXT: Sarah Palin Scheduled for Jacksonville event in August

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Northeast Florida television station KJXT-TV is reporting that Sarah Palin is scheduled to come to Jacksonville in late August.

Heroic Media, a faith-based non-profit group which works to reduce abortion by promoting a Culture of Life through television, billboard and internet advertising, says Gov. Palin will be the keynote speaker at "An Evening of Hope" August 26:

Heroic Media said the event is a fundraiser for pregnancy resource centers.

The event will be held at the Times-Union Performing Arts Center and will begin at 6:30 p.m.

Heroic Media said tickets should go on sale this week through Ticketmaster, with prices starting at $50.

Gov. Palin spoke at an event in Austin for the organization April 29.

- JP

Sarah Palin speaks to pro-life crowd of 1,500 in Austin

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According to The Fort Worth Star-Telegram's PoliTex blog, the turnout was "approximately 1,500 people."



Austin television station KVUE's story pegged the crowd at "about a thousand" and said Gov. Palin spoke for 40 minutes:

"It's always good to be back in Alaska's little sister state," Palin told the crowd. "You're not afraid to cling to your guns and your religion."

Governor Perry introduced Palin. The two met at a Republican Governor's Convention. Palin repaid the favor by raising many of Perry's campaign talking points. She complimented the state's budget, cited job creation and housing statistics, as well as touting states rights and the 10th Amendment.

"There are so many things to admire about your governor," Palin said.

[...]

Following the fundraiser, supporters [said] both both governors had a good message.

"I thought they were fabulous representations of how people who are pro-life really feel about this issue and think about this issue," said Patricia Fanning, a Palin supporter.

Speech excerpts from the Houston Chronicle's Texas Politics blog:

Palin and Perry both took sharp aim at the Obama administration over abortion, with Palin calling him "the most pro-abortion president to ever occupy the White House."

She praised Texas and its record, saying it has "so many prolife pro-family legislators" and touting "my friend Rick Perry."

"You're not afraid to cling to your guns and your religion," she told the crowd.

More from the Chron blog here.

Update: Austin's KTBC (Fox 7) aired this video package:



We will update with more reports as they come in...

- JP

Sarah Palin speaks for life in Austin this evening

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Sarah Palin speaks tonight at 6:30 p.m. at the Austin Convention Center. Ticket sales ended at noon today. The fundraiser is sponsored by a nonprofit pro-life group, Austin-based Heroic Media, formerly known as the Majella Society. The organization places TV, Web billboard ads targeted to women with unplanned pregnancies, hoping to connect them with pregnancy resource centers in an "heroic" effort to save the lives of their unborn children:

In a posting Monday on its Facebook page, Heroic Media said: “The numbers keep growing tremendously for the Sarah Palin event this Thursday! Thanks Austin for such a great response!!”

Because Heroic Media celebrates the heroism of motherhood, the group’s president, Brian Follett, said it was fitting to invite Palin to speak. “Sarah’s faith and commitment to protecting life at every stage is evident in her words and actions,” he said, according to KLBJ-AM.

Palin, the 2008 Republican nominee for vice president, fervently opposes abortion. According to The Huffington Post, she once wrote in an election questionnaire: “I believe that no matter what mistakes we make as a society, we cannot condone ending an innocent’s life.”

In a 2009 speech to a pro-life crowd, Palin said that “for a fleeting moment,” she considered having an abortion after discovering that son Trig would be born with Down syndrome, according to the Washington Post. But, she said, “I had just enough faith to know that my trying to change the circumstances wasn’t any answer.”

Travis County Democrats are attempting to use the governor’s Austin appearance to raise money for its candidates and causes.

In an ironic message to Democrats, Sarah Weddington -- the Austin attorney who argued the landmark Roe v. Wade case before the U.S. Supreme Court -- accused Gov. Palin of spreading “a message of political pandering and fear mongering”:

“It is of vital importance that we never return to the days pre-Roe v. Wade when women often ended up doing self-abortions or having illegal, back-alley abortions.”

Self-abortions? Illegal? Back alleys? Who is really fear-mongering here? We believe it's clear to all who value human life that the culture of death is no match for the light of life. Good will ultimately triumph over the forces of evil, and their is no more effective spokesperson for the forces of light and life than Sarah Palin.

- JP

Now it's Central Texas' turn

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Last week Sarah Palin made appearances in both East and West Texas, one in Beaumont and two in Midland. Early in February she headlined two more East Texas events, one in downtown Houston and another in the Bayou City suburb of Cypress. The former Alaska governor hasn't been seen publicly in Central Texas since early December, when the Going Rogue book tour brought her to Fort Hood (She was also in North Texas the same day at a Plano book signing).

It's Central Texas' turn again. As we noted last month, the first woman to be the GOP's candidate for vice president will be in Texas' capitol city April 29 to deliver a speech for Heroic Media. That organization, according to the Austin American-Statesman's Jason Embry:

"...places Internet, television and billboard advertisements to reach out to women with unplanned pregnancies and connect them with pregnancy resource centers (with hopes that they will not seek abortions)."

The event will be held at the Austin Convention Center, and General Admission tickets start at $50, while seats in the Reserved Section are priced at $100 each. You can purchase tickets online here.

- JP

Pro-life group says Gov. Palin to speak in Austin April 29

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Rocky Hernandez of Heroic Media e-mailed us to announce that Sarah Palin will speak on behalf the life-affirming organization April 29 at the Austin Convention Center.

Heroic Media is an outreach of Majella Cares, an Austin-based non-profit that places television, internet and billboard advertisements to help women and babies in crisis pregnancies. Their advertisements provide help line numbers that connect women with pregnancy resource centers. Since Heroic Media entered the Austin market, it claims that the abortion ratio (number of abortions for every 1,000 live births) there has dropped 24 percent.

Heroic Media President Brian Follett said the organization is pleased to have Palin speak:

"We are honored to have her share her experiences and convictions regarding this issue with us. Sarah’s faith and commitment to protecting life at every stage is evident in her words and actions."

For more information go here.

- JP