Sarah Palin's Tanning Bed
Posted on September 15, 2008
Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Merrill Lynch was sold to Bank of America, with the government's blessing and help. The stock market is heading south as the country's financial woes seem to be getting worse. But what's getting more coverage than these stories are the seemingly endless scandals surrounding Alaskan governor Sarah Palin. The latest? She installed a tanning bed in the governor's mansion.
This morning NarcoNews reported that that a tanning bed had been installed in the governor's official residence in 2007, sourcing a Department of Transportation employee familiar with renovations at the mansion. This evening, Politico's Ben Smith reported that Palin had paid for the tanning bed with her own money.She owns a tanning bed. She can see Russia from parts of Alaska. We've now read an in-depth profile of her hairdresser by The New York Times. Clearly, we don't need to know any more about her. It's not like she could become the leader of the free world or anything.Now, Palin's own gubernatorial spokesman Bill McCallister has confirmed to TPMmuckraker that a tanning bed had been installed in the governor's official residence in 2007, and that it wasn't paid for with state funds. "She paid for it herself," McCallister told TPMmuckraker. "It was surplus from a local athletic club."
The news of Palin's luxurious purchase -- beds can cost as much as $35,000 -- presents a sharp contrast to the blue-collar persona she projects on the campaign trail.