Palin Announces Attendance At Rolling Thunder Event; Group Says She Wasn’t Invited, “A Distraction”

Rolling Thunder’s national legislative director, Ted Shpak, had no idea Palin was attending until it was posted on her web site: “She wasn’t invited. We heard yesterday she came out with a press release she was coming to Rolling Thunder….She’s not invited to speak. We’re not endorsing her … (but) we can’t stop her from coming to ride, if she wants to ride.” Rolling Thunder is a motorcycle group that raises awareness for prisoners of war and those missing in action.

Palin’s representatives say they were invited to Rolling Thunder – by a former board member who is emceeing the event.

Mike DePaulo tells NBC News he had a standing offer for her to ride with them from the Pentagon across the bridge to D.C. – and that he got a call from what he called “the Palin campaign” on Wednesday to see if they could take him up on it. He coordinated it with a friend of his, Joe Fields, of the Alaska Veterans’ Advisory Council, who had worked with Palin when she was governor…

When asked if Palin’s bus will be participating in the event, Shpak of Rolling Thunder Inc. responded, “Absolutely not.”

Shpak says Palin’s attendance “is a big distraction” and that his “phone has been ringing off the hook” ever since she announced her intention to attend the event.

“We’re not political. This is not a political event … Maybe she’s coming because she knows we have a half a million people in town and thinking she can start her [campaign]?” stated Shpak.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.