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How do you know that you’ve crossed that oh so delicate line from seething, frothing critic to money-grubbing abuser of all things decent?

Here’s a clue. If you get sued for using an iconic image of New York City firefighters hoisting a flag on 9/11 that does not belong to you in order to raise money for your very partisan self, you have jumped the “patriot” shark.

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If you put your logo on the bottom of the picture that did not belong to you, who claim to believe in free enterprise and private business and who have trademarked your own name out of a relentless greed, you definitely jumped the patriot shark.

So it is that Sarah Palin (that’s trademarked!) used the image of a New Jersey-based newspaper publisher (North Jersey Media Group Inc.) in order to raise money for her PAC that does nothing much but feed her lifestyle. They allege that she used the photo on SarahPAC and her Facebook Page, also known as the cave from which she issues her rhetorical bombs like her Syrian “Let Allah sort it out!” contribution to our national dialogue.

Alleging copyright infringement, the publisher sought a court order to bar Palin and her PAC from using the image.

“The Manhattan federal court lawsuit says that by using the picture “to promote Sarah Palin and to raise money for SarahPAC” the former Republican vice-presidential nominee has ‘irreparably damaged’ the newspaper company,” Newsday reported.

Certainly no reputable news company would want to be seen as affiliated with Sarah Palin or her PAC, let alone contributing to raising money for her.

This is just basic common sense and law. The image is clearly marked, “EDITORIAL USE ONLY – NO COMMERCIAL SALES”, “Photo by 2001 The Record (Bergen Co. NJ)/Getty Images”. And again for the reading impaired, “Restrictions: Contact your local office for all commercial or promotional uses. Editorial Use Only – No Commercial Sales”.

Partisan politics are even worse than general commercial sales, because Palin is implicating the newspaper as supporting her politics by using their image to raise money.

Sarah Palin claims to be for free enterprise, but then she took someone’s work and branded it with her logo for money raising purposes, as if the photo were her property and implying that the owners of the photo and or the people in it supported her cause.

I’ll bet the New York City fire department has something to say about that, especially since it was Palin who called unions “thugs” and castigated them for expecting taxpayers to fund their “unsustainable benefits packages”.

Yes, Palin benefited from her husband’s union membership, but that’s different. When a conservative does it, it’s deserved. When anyone else does it, it’s entitled laziness…

Just like all private property belongs to Sarah Palin. The world works for Sarah Palin to use for money-grubbing from her few remaining cult members, who keep on giving in spite of the evidence that Ms Palin is only using the money to fund her lifestyle.

Sarah Palin believes that New York City firefighters fought on 9/11 in order for her to raise money for herself – also known as “freedom” – in 2013. Of course they support her, after all, she’s entitled. And everyone’s work belongs to her, like the Commie Socialist she is.