Sarah Palin with her "friend" Becky Beach (Rebecca Smith Beach), founder of the "Puppy Jake Foundation" - Photo from Sarah Palin's facebook, published on April 28, 2014
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By Patrick
Sarah Palin knows how to blame other people for their "associations." She believes that this is fair game.
Quote from an interview of Sarah Palin with Bill O'Reilly from 2009 - watch the clip:
"I believe it's not off-base or negative campaigning to call someone
out on their associations"
For example, just several months ago, in a facebook post from March 2014, Sarah Palin accused President Obama of "palling around with a Cop-Killer Advocate":
Apart from that, Sarah Palin is also the Queen of outrage, which she proved again today in her response to PETA on facebook, in the now infamous "Doghazi" affair. Sarah Palin found it cute that Trig used their recently acquired dog "Jill Hadassah" as a "stepping stone."
Apart from that, Sarah Palin is also the Queen of outrage, which she proved again today in her response to PETA on facebook, in the now infamous "Doghazi" affair. Sarah Palin found it cute that Trig used their recently acquired dog "Jill Hadassah" as a "stepping stone."
As you will certainly all know by now, the whole affair was caused by this facebook post by Sarah Palin from January 1, 2015:
Many people criticized Sarah Palin for this terrible facebook post, including PETA President Ingrid Newkirk, who called Sarah Palin a "bizarrely callous woman", and who could disagree with this assessment.
Sarah Palin today responded on facebook with an epic word salad to the accusations, and yes, Sarah Palin is the victim, as usual, in her opinion. Oh, and President Obama would have probably eaten the dog, according to Palin. And Ellen DeGeneres is apparently just as bad as Sarah....says Sarah:
So, there the story ends. Or does it? Wait a moment. Let's take a closer look, shall we?
The puppy came from the "Puppy Jake Foundation" in Des Moines, Iowa. Sarah Palin proudly announced this on facebook herself, and called the founder of the foundation, Becky Beach, her "friend." Screenshot:
That's not even everything! Already in a post from April 28, 2014, Sarah Palin proudly posed with Becky Beach:
See also this article from the Iowa station whotv.com with more pictures of Sarah Palin together with Becky Beach. According to the article, another visitor to the "Jake Puppy Foundation" by the way was Utah Senator Mike Lee, the most famous teabagger in the US Senate, next to Ted Cruz.
(h/t drpatois)
Photo from the article:
Screenshot from the website of the "Puppy Jake Foundation":
Becky Beach is a very influential GOP-fundraiser, with deep ties to the Bush-family. The Des Moines Register mentioned her as an operative in 2012 in their list of "The Iowa Caucuses 50 Most Wanted":
(h/t HopeforAmerica)
Well, knowing that Sarah Palin is so big on the "associations" of others, we also know another thing: If there is one thing that teabaggers do not like, then it is "background checks." Usually for good reason, actually. So why not make a little background check of Becky Beach, just for fun?
Let me state clearly that all the information that follows has been obtained from public websites. I provide all the links.
The full name of Becky Beach is Rebecca Smith Beach. She was born on June 12, 1956. Her address is publicly available and has been posted multiple times on the internet, especially in connection with making PR for the Puppy Jake Foundation, which Becky Beach founded in 2013:
HERE:
HERE:
The identity and birth date of Becky Beach has also been confirmed to us through other sources.
So, what shall we do now? Well, why not take a look in the Iowa Court records?
Searching in State Court Records can always be a bit tricky, so here is how it works in this case:
1. Go to the government website "Iowa Courts."
2. Click on "Start A Case Search Here!"
3. Click on "Trial Court" - "Case Search"
4. Search for "Rebecca" (first name) "Beach" (last name), type in the captcha at the bottom of the page and click "Search"
After you have done that, you will see quite a number of entries for Becky Beach, born on June 12, 1956, full name Rebecca Smith Beach:
Well, these are certainly all just small traffic violations, right...?
Oh no, Sir, quite to the contrary.
Yes, Becky Beach received severe prison sentences, and was also a repeat offender.
And not many decades ago, but very recently.
The interesting entries here are in particular:
05771 OWOM064820 STATE VS REBECCA SMITH BEACH
Which brings you to the set of her "first offences" - here is an overview (click on "filings"):
That's already pretty serious, but there is more, because Becky Beach promptly broke the law again and violated her probation, as detailed in the following entry:
05771 OWOM066282 STATE VS REBECCA SMITH BEACH
From we can see, Becky Beach received severe prison sentences (one year as well as two years), which were mostly, but not completely suspended, and also violated her probation, with the proceedings happening in 2008 and 2009. She apparently also received treatment for "substance abuse."
All the charges seem to based in driving repeatedly under the influence of "substances", although it is not clear to me what exactly these substances were. Maybe people with more experience in reading these judicial filings can comment on this.
ADDED: Here are the Penalty Guidelines for OWI's in Iowa.
That's why you should choose your friends wisely, Sarah.
Especially if you are so keen on other people's "associations."
You know, maybe there will be more to find, if one looks more closely into "Puppy Jake Foundation"...?
But for today, this should suffice.
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UPDATE:
Due to our great readers, we discovered that the friendship between Sarah Palin and Becky Beach goes back a long way!
(h/t Veneficia & NJfan)
Sarah Palin and Becky Beach were already on close terms in June 2011 - the local news reported back then:
URBANDALE, Iowa —Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said she's still thinking about whether to run for president, and she dismissed comments from her daughter that she'd already made up her mind.
Palin arrived Tuesday afternoon in downtown Pella to attend the first public screening of "The Undefeated," a film about her rise in politics. A throng of supporters chanted her name and urged her to run for president outside the Pella Opera House, where roughly 350 people packed the theater.
Palin told reporters that a remark Tuesday morning in a television interview by her daughter, Bristol, that she'd made up her mind was inaccurate. She said deciding to run for president is a "tough decision" and she's not ready to announce her intentions.
The opera house's interim director, Beth Hill, said the event is the most logistically complicated the theater has ever hosted. She found out last week that the filmmakers had chosen the venue for the film's debut out of 100 other spots, and she's been working nonstop getting ready.
The Palins are expected to attend a barbecue with about 1,000 residents in a courtyard outside the opera house afterward.
Palin Lunch At Panera
Some lunch-goers got a surprise when they turned around in line and saw Palin in a Panera in Urbandale on Tuesday.
Todd and Sarah Palin are in Iowa for the premiere of a documentary on Palin to first be shown in Pella Tuesday night. The couple stopped at the Panera Bread store on 86th Street in Urbandale and were swarmed by lunch patrons, reported TheIowaRepublican.com.
Todd and Sarah Palin had lunch with longtime Iowa fundraiser Becky Beach and her dog Jake. Also joining the Palins was Moe Sinclair, who owns the Panera stores in Iowa and other surrounding states, reported TheIowaRepublican.com.
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UPDATE 2:
(h/t tina11111)
The Iowa website "Random Lengths News" explained in October 2014 in detail the fact that Becky Beach has been a Republican political operative for decades, and that she worked with ShePAC, the brainchild of SarahPAC treasurer Tim Crawford and that she has "very close ties" to Sarah Palin and SarahPAC:
Becky Beach Pals Around in Conservative Circles
Rebecca “Becky” Beach, the Pacific Battleship Center’s Board Secretary, is a fundraiser, event planner and consultant, but her political connections run deep and more extensive than Lamberti’s though she has never had public office.
Beach served as a personal assistant to former First Lady Barbara Bush since George H.W. Bush began running for the 1980 presidency of the United States. Though Bush didn’t win that election, Beach went on to become the Ronald Reagan administration’s liaison to the U.S. Department of Energy.
After working in the Reagan and Bush administrations, Becky returned to her home state in 1993 and worked in the Iowa Senate from 1995-2007. In 1997 she became administrative assistant to the president of the Iowa Senate – first for Sen. Mary Kramer and then for Sen. Jeff Lamberti.
During this same time, Beach worked on George W. Bush’s 2000 campaign for president, handling scheduling and event planning.
After 11 years in the Iowa Senate, Beach formed her own company, RSB Associates. The company continues to do political work and has added non-profit clients and issue advocacy groups.
Beach is a national advisor with ShePac and has very close ties to former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her political action committee, called SarahPac. ShePac was set up to help Republican women get elected to office, as well as, shore up Republican Party’s image to women.
SarahPac aims to elect candidates that subscribe to Palin’s brand of conservatism, which promotes a hawkish foreign policy grounded in “American Exceptionalism.”
Beach’s current projects include the Puppy Jake Foundation, Terrace Hill Restoration project, On with Life capital campaign, the arena Iowa Barnstormers (arena football team), the Pacific Battleship Center, and Paws and Effect foundation.
She is currently on the Finance Committee for the George W. Bush Library Center in Dallas.
Beach’s resume is extensive, but it should be understood that she comes from a political family.
Beach is the granddaughter of Mary Louis Smith, one of Iowa’s most famous figures — the first woman ever to lead the national Republican establishment. In 1971, Vice President Gerald Ford appointed her to chair the Republican National Committee. During that time as chairwoman, she helped revive an organization that “had been smashed earlier that year with (Richard) Nixon’s resignation in the Watergate scandal,” as the New York Times Magazine would observe after Smith’s death in 1997.
Smith worked hard to make the GOP more inclusive as it moved to the right by supporting affirmative action and the Equal Rights Amendment. After naming her vice chair of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission in 1982, Reagan didn’t reappoint her.
"ShePAC" was in fact nothing more than a Sarah Palin fanclub:
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UPDATE 3:
Becky Beach's grandmother was a hugely prominent Republican and former chairwoman of the RNC, interestingly a social liberal, also active in Planned Parenthood - from Wikipedia (h/t HopeforAmerica):
Mary Louise Smith (October 6, 1914–August 22, 1997), a U.S. political organizer and women's rights activist, was the second woman to become chairwoman of a major political party in the United States.+++
Born Mary Louise Epperson in Eddyville, Iowa, she married medical student Elmer M. Smith while both were studying at the University of Iowa. She graduated in 1935 with a degree in social work administration and worked for the Iowa Employment Relief Administration in Iowa City.
After moving to Eagle Grove she became active in civic life and Republican Party politics. She became membership chair of the Iowa Council of Republican Women in 1961 and was elected vice-chairwoman of the Wright County Republican Central Committee the following year. She was elected national committeewoman for Iowa in 1964, a post she held for the next twenty years.
In 1974, during the wake of the Watergate scandal, President Gerald Ford named her the first, and as of 2011 the only, female chairwoman of the Republican National Committee. She held that post until 1977, and in that role became the first woman of her party, and second woman of a major party, to organize a presidential nominating convention, the 1976 Republican National Convention in Kansas City. In 1977, she was inducted in the Iowa Women's Hall of Fame. In 1978, she served as Co-Manager of the Committee for Governor Ray in the successful fourth re-election campaign of Iowa Governor Robert D. Ray.
She campaigned for George H. W. Bush in the 1980 primaries, but supported Ronald Reagan both in the 1980 and 1984 general elections. Reagan appointed her vice-chairwoman of the United States Commission on Civil Rights in 1981, but declined to re-appoint her in 1984. Smith was a social liberal, while the party and the electorate was shifting to the right.
Smith was active in such organizations as the Republican Mainstream Committee, Iowa Women's Political Caucus, U.S. Peace Institute, and Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa. She was a staunch advocate of the Equal Rights Amendment. In 1995, Iowa State University established the Mary Louise Smith Chair in Women and Politics in her honor, and numerous other awards and recognitions are named for her throughout the state.
Smith died of lung cancer in Des Moines at the age of 82. A widow, she was survived by three children.
UPDATE 4:
I would like to make a further update, because it has been suggested in the comments that convictions due to DUI (called OWI in Iowa) are very common, that "a lot of people" get them. While we all agreed in the comments that a DUI conviction is not a "minor" offence, I still felt compelled to follow up on the statistics, because I was interested myself to see how common these convictions actually are. The results are pretty revealing.
I looked at the statistics for Iowa as the state in question here. All the information is available online. The state of Iowa has a website with the statistics for the most important crimes for the year 2009 HERE.
Examples (using the exact terminology provided by the Iowa state government website):
Motor Vehicle Theft: 3986 offenses
Fraud: 5320 incidents
Intimidation: 4976 victims
Weapon Law Violations: 971 incidents
Drug/Narcotic violations: 10453 offenses
Robbery: 1191 offenses
Domestic Violence: 6341 incidents
Let us now take a look in comparison to the number of OWI offenses in Iowa.
The Iowa Department for Human Rights published the statistics for OWI offenses.
For 2009, the statistics are as follows (click to enlarge):
Becky Beach was convicted in 2009 after violating her probation for the following offense, as a second offender, according to the Iowa state records:
Therefore we can see from that statistics that Becky Beach was one of 3154 people sentenced in Iowa for this crime in 2009.
Apart from that, only 830 people committed a more serious form of OWI in Iowa in 2009.
In comparison to the other crime statistics mentioned above, it is obvious in my view that no real difference to the number other committed crimes is visible. Also for this reason, I personally do not see why a DUI/OWI conviction should be regarded differently from other offenses. In addition, it is a very dangerous crime, as other innocent people could get easily get injured or even killed.
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FOLLOW-UP POST:
Sarah Palin's friends, prominent Republican operatives Becky Beach and Jeff Lamberti from Iowa under fire for financially exploiting "USS Iowa" non-profit group
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