COTR: Sarah Palin’s oldest son, Track Palin, was arrested last Monday after punching his girlfriend. Police found that he “committed a domestic violence assault on a female, interfered with her ability to report a crime of domestic violence, and possessed a firearm while intoxicated.”
No bueno.
Palin later addressed her son’s arrest and attributed it to PTSD. Many combat veterans took issue with her remarks, and that inspired former US Marine and US Navy Officer Chris Mark to pen this open letter. MORE
Republican my ass. How do you go from being a Marine to a boat queer? I call bullshit.
Sarah Palin, just one more lying politician. Hey Sarah why don’t you tell your son to grow up and take responsibility for his actions?
Clearly you are an articulate, educated reader. To answer your question I went from being Marine Corps Scout/Sniper and Force Reconnaissance Marine (this part I intentionally left out of my open letter) to being a commissioned officer in the US Navy attending Basic Underwater SEAL Demolition Training (BUDS). I was injured and did not graduate. You can find my latest DD214 on my blog. If so interested here is an article I published in the National Review. http://www.nationalreview.com/article/396505/smearing-snipers-what-many-americans-dont-get-about-our-warrior-elite-chris-mark
Sarah Palin should never have spoken on behalf of her son, Track or his actions. Even a momma bear will discipline and admonish the actions of her cub when needed.
Palin missed the opportunity to speak against domestic abuse and her son’s actions.
Track missed his opportunity to act as a man should by taking responsibility for his actions, which further added to his humiliation and embarrassment.
What he did was out of line and wrong regardless of the reasons.
The first statement should have been owning up to his actions, followed by a sincere apology and seeking professional help.
Having mommy defend and explain his actions as a man is unfathomable.
Good letter Chris. Txn – go ice your balls.
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Pig pile on Palin? Look, did it occur to people that she isn’t her son? That a mother goes according to the information shared to her? I am not privy to the conversation in the family, but if he indicated to her that he suspects he has PTSD, she would have no reason to think otherwise.
I’ve said before – that the Palins seems to be a loving family, and if he didn’t learn this sort of thing from his family, then he is solely responsible for his horrible actions. He needs to address it, and get help. If the Dr.s say he doesn’t have PTSD, then he doesn’t. I don’t think anyone can blame a loving parent for hoping there is a REASON one of their children did a horrid thing.
I am not a Palin fan. I am not a Palin hater. I am not the Judge of the Palins or their children – several of whom are grown adults making their own decisions for their own reasons.
Does he suffer from PTSD? I don’t know. And none of you do either
Any “Republican” who quotes UberWeasel Dick Blumenthal – who lied about his service in Vietnam – registers very high on my BS Meter.
Unfortunately, a lot of moms will bend way over backwards to try to protect their sons from scrutiny, this has nothing to do with “Palin’s celebrity.”
Having said all that, if it’s proven that Track was a drunken imbecile punching his girlfriend I’d hope that she bashes him in the head with a baseball bat next time if she’s foolish enough to stay with him. He gets no sympathy from me.
And having said all THAT, I just want to add, thanks for your service , Mr. Mark, and especially for being a scout sniper. I would not want to have anything to do with any potential client who objected to that on your resume.
I to am a Marine, Navy(SeaBee’s) and in the 24 years 10 months and 14 days of service. I worked with my Marine brothers countless times,not once do I ever recall a Marine call the Seabee’s queers, or a Seabee calling a Marine a queer! You may want to resight your weapon, because you ain’t hittin’ the target.
This was his second public screw up. Its my view she did him no favors but instead used the situation to elevate an agenda without the verifiable facts to back up her postion regarding her boy
I would have given the same advice to any loving family, mother or any son in the same manner.
1. Be a man, admit your mistake, take responsibility for your actions
2. Apologize sincerely
3. Seek professional help to prevent this from happening again.
If you consider that pig piling, so be it.
Any man who strikes a woman is a pig in my book….
>>Clearly you are an articulate, educated reader.<<
Indeed !
USMC, 69-72, Sub Unit One, 1st ANGLICO, RVN. 70-72
0849 shore fire control party – forward observer for Naval Gunfire.
God Bless the Navy and those who serve her !
Was also assigned to the US Army, 199th Light Infantry Brigade, 1st Cav, 11th ACR, Australians and ARVN. Flew (passenger) with Air Force OV-10 pilots when calling in air strikes and worked with FAC.
God Bless the Army, Air Force and our Allies.
God Bless Warriors !
Semper Fi, Chris
So, I’m supposed to despise Palin and her entire family and wish for her to go away forever.
Got it, and thanks for your service Chris Mark.
My son is an active duty Marine (E5), currently deployed overseas with his MARSOC unit. He has one previous combat tour in Afghanistan under his belt and was commended (along with a Medic and his Interpreter) for actions that kept a remote fire base from being overrun in Sangin when the local ASF contingent didn’t feel like sticking around to fight, while waiting for the cavalry to arrive. He civilian contractor that he was replacing was KIA’d in that engagement. Were he in the Army his actions would have likely merited a Bronze Star with V device, however being a Marine, he instead received a nice thank you commendation suitable for framing, and he’s fine with that.
With that background, what area of current political thought does that make him an expert in?
I eagerly await your response.
I’m with you Txn4Evr. Two different times he took Sarah’s sentences and changed and twisted them to write a bullshit letter so he could get his 15 minutes of fame. Then added that her whole family is violent was way over the top. Go away now Chrissy!
And I am not a fan of Ms Palin.
Wouldn’t even try to response for Mr. Mark.
However, I find your son an honorable, sharp, squared away, gung-ho, highly trained, effective warrior Marine and his opinion on any political thought (or any other subject matter) would be worthy of strong consideration born of training, sacrifice, knowledge and experience.
Undoubtedly you are a very proud father and rightly so.
I’m proud of your son too. I’m proud of all America’s sons who serve their nation.
Semper Fi
Track has made a couple of mistakes and Bristol can’t keep her britches up. The devil is trying to destroy Todd and Sarah Palin through their children. I don’t blame the parents, but if she keeps defending them no matter what they do, then it’s on Sarah. My dad always said if we kids got in jail, we’d stay there… he would not bail us out. We never did. Those kids are responsible for their behavior.
I was somewhat okay with the “flavor” of the article until Blumenthal was quoted. Credibility of the message deteriorated greatly after that.
Hey Cato, I am not defending her, or his actions. I am saying that WE don’t know, and so anything WE say about HER is pig piling. Say whatever you want about her son, but she wasn’t there when he lost it, and she said he indicated to her he has PTSD.
I don’t know if he does, and you don’t know if he doesn’t. He did a horrible thing, and needs to get right. Period. She didn’t seem to be excusing his actions.
My mother had PTSD. She couldn’t stand to be around men wearing business suits – her second husband beat her frequently, and he wore business suits for work. Later in life, whenever she got around men in business suits she would get really whacky. So, I do have a bit of first hand experience in matters like this, and I am not excusing the young man. I do understand a parent hoping to make sense of why her kid would do something really awful.
Yes Blumenthal is a shitwealel with that having been said, the statistics on suicide of veterans and active military are quite real and disturbing regardless of WHO stated them.
It all reads like a drunken argument that got physical, to me. I don’t understand why every kerfluffle that occurs in some celebrity’s family has to take on some sort of cosmic significance.
The “boy” is 26, well past his momma having to defend his actions, and well past the time he should be drinking to excess.
Palin was foisted on the Republican Party by the neo-cons, led by that twit from Fox News, William Kristol. We have had to watch her decline from the smart, savvy Alaskan Governor and candidate for Vice President on the RINO ticket to the Mouth of the Frozen North and Governor Drop Out. Then we got to watch her screech and spout on Fox News for a few more years. For the last several years we have been following her lead role in the continuing saga of the Klassiest Dysfunctional Family In Alaska. She is a real piece of work, and her claim that her drunken, girlfriend-punching, suicide-pretending son is a victim of PTSD because his time in Iraq caused “woundedness” is ridiculous. If driving officers around in a mostly peaceful Iraq caused this poor weakling to get drunk on several public occasions and make a wretched spectacle of himself, then there are a lot of alcoholics with a new excuse. By the way, Track’s enlistment followed several years of misbehavior and youthful vandalism, and was a way of getting him out of the way. He was never in combat, and punching girls won’t get you any sympathy, even in Wasilla.
This is not the first time Palin has suggested Track has PTSD. Occasionally it fits the narrative. I’m not too sure about all of you, however I can say with 100 percent certainty, I would have been on the first flight home. Perhaps the fact she did not Is a powerful indicator.
Could not agree more.
Your son’s honorable service should be commended. As any warrior knows it is not about awards it is about the man or woman next to you. He sounds like a fine young man. With regard to your question, I cannot speak to that point as I do not know more about your son other than what you posted. As American’s we have a 1st Amendment right to speak on any issue for which we have passion. Being an ‘expert’ is not necessary to state a position or argue a point. This is the beauty of our great nation. I can say that my own background includes a BA in Political Science, and MBA and current work on a Doctorate. Am I an ‘expert’? No. Do I consider myself “well read” in politics? yes. My point on Mrs. Palin’s comments were simply to identify what has already been said. She (not her son..btw) was blaming his actions on PTSD. This does a disservice to those men (possibly your Son) who may return from combat suffering from PTSD at some level.
The Blumenthal quote was intentional. I do not agree with his politics, at all. This letter was not political it was intended to be commentary on Palin’s actions not political leanings.
You can read my DD214 and all of my commentary on my blog and other publications. While ‘quoting’ Blumenthal, I have been interviewed on NewsMax (super conservative) and written for the National Review. Again, quoting someone is not the same as agreeing with their politics.
Exactly, I felt they were more poignant if I posted from a Democrat. it is too easy for the ‘other side’ to say that the stats are skewed or biased. By quoting Blumenthal, it gives credibility to the statistics.
Whether he does or doesn’t suffer from PTSD is not relevant to my post. His mother intimated (stated?) that he beat a women because he had PTSD. Look. I grew up in a home with serious domestic violence. I notice not one of the Palin clan has stated they are concerned with the woman he beat. It is all “Track is getting help”. PTSD is not an excuse for being an abusive a##hole.
I used to love Sarah; now, not so much. Her 15 minutes are up. Chris Mark’s last paragraph says it all. Sarah, please just fade away and try to hold on to what dignity you have left.
First, thank you Chris Mark, for your service!
2nd, am less enamored with Sarah Palin as of recent. I sense a FOS factor, but may be wrong on that.
I too, had a Jerry Springer household in my family (not the one I was raised in), so know what serious drama looks like.