Palin's full speaking contract revealed
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/05/13/art.palin.0505f.gi.jpg caption =" A judge has ordered the contents of Palin's speaking contract with a California school to be made public."](CNN) – So just what does it take to get Sarah Palin to speak at your fundraising gala?
A "deluxe" hotel suite, a first class ticket or a private jet ("Lear 60 or larger"), pre-selected audience questions, and "bendable" straws – not to mention the $75,000 in cash.
That's according to Palin's speaking contract with Cal State Stanislaus – ordered to be released by a California judge this week after the state school refused to make the document public last June.
California Attorney General Jerry Brown began an investigation in April into whether school officials were trying to avoid public disclosure laws by discarding documents. A state senator asked for the probe after he said the school refused to turn over some requested records concerning the event.
The university argued it was not compelled to release the contract because Palin was speaking at a fundraiser for the university's private, non-profit foundation.
But Stanislaus Superior Court Judge Roger Beauchesne disagreed, saying the foundation ultimately was a branch of a public entity and therefore documents relating to its business must be made public pursuant to public record laws.
"The reasonable inference from the evidence produced is that the university, in its official capacity, has 'used' the contract…in the conduct of the public's business; therefore, said contract is also a public record," Beauchesne wrote in his opinion delivered earlier this week.
Much of the contents of the contract had already been revealed: the school had previously disclosed how much it paid the former Alaska governor and portions of the contract were discovered in a dumpster by students last April.
Still, the document provides a revealing picture of the types of demands an A-list speaker can make, and serves as a reminder that no detail is too small to omit - from the lighting ("should be at a comfortable, but appropriate production level"), to the water ("unopened bottled still"), to the lectern ("no plexiglass or thin lectern please").
The June 25 speech came after months of controversy amid charges the financially-strapped school was paying too much to secure Palin.
But the Alaska governor's speech ultimately brought in record amounts of money for the foundation, and a school spokeswoman called the gala "the most successful fundraiser in the university's history."
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That anyone is paying more than 1 dollar to see her speak is mind blowing. She has nothing constructive or intelligent to say – Good lord can you imagine had she become VP? what a doofus!
For another $4,999 they could've got Bush...
Boy Sarah is a hypocrite. It's a scary thought to me that her speaking was worth soo much money and that the school received so much money because of her speaking. Frankly if enough Rich American's like her so much we could very well end up with her as President or Vice President. If this happens the middle class will disappear. If you suck up to the ones with money, you'll do okay. Otherwise, welcome to the poor house, if your lucky enough to have a house.
Palin can be bought. If she becomes the president or vice president she will be little more than a puppet for the rich and greedy
If it barks like a dog and is a female.........
It is her business if not illegal, I don’t care. Although she could be my boss, however, the question is if she is worth holding an office even in a lowest office in a smallest city. I feel sorry for those folks who are still listening to Mrs. Palin, especially those who spent their money at her speech.
How is she not an elitist? Private jets, predetermined questions, $75000.00 a speech. Doesn't sound like someone from "real America" to me. I'd call her a R-tard, but according to her that's not covered by the first amendment (unles you're Rush Limbaugh, then it's satirical) only the N-word is covered by the first admendment. And once someone has said the N-word11 times, they should not say sorry, rather, they should "reload" (whatever that means).
Why's it now supposed to be a positive attribute to come from a podunk village, and call yourself a grizzly bear?
And why are modern, educated women from big cities somehow out of fashion?
Nancy Pelosi is far less extreme and polarizing than say, Newt Gingrich, or Tom Delay. But Nancy is somehow evil?
But you take a hillbilly woman from Hicksville, Nowhere, with a minimal resume, and somehow, she's the next great white hope, for some reason...
I think some of the strategists are making a mistake, considering most of the population lives in or near big cities, where women like Pelosi are slightly better-respected than mama-grizzley-Palin-types who go huntin' & chewin' tobacco. –WTF does that even mean - mama grizzly? Whatever...
There should be no surprise here. She left office to make money. The untold truth of the far right wing media is just how much cash is in it for them. Glen, Rush, Sean and Company make tens of millions of dollars a year banging on the administration. That is what "political entrtainment" is all about. They can cry all day about how it is all for the good of the country, but it comes down to the Benjamins in their pockets.
Palin will do anything for money..... there's a name for that.
Dosent sound much different than what Obama demands
Someone referred to this windbag as an "American patriot"? She's the perfect example of what's wrong with America right now. A shift to the far right is as bad as a shift to the far left. We need moderates to run this country, not idealogues who try to push their personal agendas. If a university wants to spend money on this loon, so be it. Sounds like they made a bundle because people like to watch freak shows, so what? I have to say I question the standards of any university bringing on someone as ignorant as this; seems counter-productive to education.
Haha bendy straws.
Seriously, anyone who takes this woman seriously is just as bad as she is. I knew from day one of seeing her, without any rhetoric in the background. She's just... not a good egg, nor a smart one.
"pre-selected audience questions"
Of course, because if anyone asked her a real question she wouldn't be able to answer it.
I like bendy straws. I stipulate them in all my legal contracts. 😉
Preselected questions? Not fine when Palin does it but quite swell when Obama does, eh liberals? Can you say Hypocrisy, boys and girls?
This woman walked away from her duties in Alaska because she knew she could make bundles in other ways. Obviously, Sarah is all about money. Forget public service...it's all a gimmick!
She's a politician – she is in it for the power and the money.
pre-selected audience questions = coward
Amazing the hate this woman causes from the democraps. She must be hitting some nerves to get this reaction. I'd like to see Clinton contract but then what good for the goose is not not for the gander.
When was the last time Pres. Obama held an unscripted press conference?
I thought she was the most idiotic individual in the country, yet I was wrong. Anyone paying to see her or who thinks she's worth following is far more touched in the head.
I can't believe the university took so long to comply. It's an embarrassment so it's not surprising. The pre-screened questions, hotel, and airfare is a joke! The pay, not as much, if people want to throw away money, let them– just not at the tax-payer's expense.
As for those of you comparing her $75,000 to Clinton... she was a governor who walked away. Clinton was a governor. And then a president. Twice. Clinton, Bush, Bush... all former presidents make money afterwards. They don't get paid that much in office. But they make their purse as speakers, authors etc. I don't hold that against them– Democrat or Republican. It's their right, and they earned it. Palin, has not. And the presidents often throw their weight for fundraisers too-look at Clinton and H.W. Bush during Katrina. Look at Carter on his humanitarian missions. Do they take a large share- yes- but they also help. Same as other celebrities. So there should be offense at her paycheck, and it is unequal to Clinton OR Bush.
It is very sad that empty brains like this woman are allowed to shape public policy in the country. No wonder we are in a recession. The idea that the tan man (Boehner) who can bearly express himself is eyeing the House Speaker's seat make me sick. I do hope that sense prevails in November.
What beats me is how much hate Mama Grizzly has been able to spew. Its just sad. Did I mention that she will be spewing insults again at the mad man – Glenn Beck's rally tomorrow. It will be a spectacle of ignorance.
John McCain's legacy. This woman is a total imbecile. Ask her if she is still looking out her backdoor and seeing Russia?
Good lord! Who'd believe we're truly hurting economically when morons would pay to go hear that dingbat speak?!?!?!