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Sarah Palin goes full grizzly on Sen. Mark Begich

It goes without saying that you shouldn’t cross a grizzly. Sen. Mark Begich just learned that the hard way.
Former Gov. of Alaska Sarah Palin speaks during the Faith and Freedom Coalition Road to Majority 2013 conference, Saturday, June 15, 2013, in Washington. (Photo by Carolyn Kaster/AP)
Former Gov. of Alaska Sarah Palin speaks during the Faith and Freedom Coalition Road to Majority 2013 conference, Saturday, June 15, 2013, in Washington.

It goes without saying that you shouldn’t cross a grizzly. Sen. Mark Begich just learned that the hard way.

Sarah Palin—former Alaska governor, failed vice presidential candidate, and America's most famous Mama Grizzly—launched a bit of cyberwarfare against Begich, the Democratic senator from her home state, in a series of vitriolic Facebook posts on Thursday.

The first was a visual, hitting Begich for standing—both politically and physically—with fellow Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer and Harry Reid. (Palin made the point as literal as possible in posting a photo of Begich standing behind Schumer and Reid with a highlighted circle around his head—just in case you missed that Begich actually stood with the Democrats.)

The second post was signature Palin, who's earned a reputation as both a relentless critic of Washington insiders, and an everloving fangirl of Margaret Thatcher:

Really, Mark? Really?Margaret Thatcher used to say, “I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left.” So, thank you, Mark Begich, for making me and others exceptionally cheery today! Mark, after looking at your voting record I can see why you are looking for a distraction. You have voted FOR Obamacare, FOR massive tax increases, FOR carbon taxes which could cost Alaskans 21,000 jobs, AGAINST pro-life legislation, and there’s so much more. You even flip-flopped to oppose the nation’s balanced budget amendment. You agree with, and vote with, ultra-liberal Senators Chuck Schumer and Harry Reid approximately 90% of the time. Mark, you recently said, “Alaskans pick who they want based on what’s good for Alaska.” Couldn’t agree more, Mark, which is why many hope to see great changes for our great state following the upcoming 2014 election. In the meantime, we suppose we’ll see much more playing of the ol' Washington political game using those inside D.C. reporters each time you have to distract from yet another bad vote for Alaska in the U.S. Senate. It cheers us up and gives us good opportunity to remind Alaskans just how loyal to the Obama agenda you have been.- Sarah Palin

And the third post, another photo—this one of Begich shaking hands with the president—along with his voting record, a couple questions from Palin (“Good for Alaska? Really, Mark? Really?”) and the same quote from Begich referenced in Palin's earlier post:

“I think Alaskans will do what they’ve done every year in elections; they’ll pick who they want based on what’s good for Alaska.” -Mark Begich

The wrath of Palin was likely incurred Wednesday when Begich told Politico that the former governor had “quit on Alaska” when she resigned before completing her term. He also questioned whether she was still a resident of the state.

Following Palin's Facebook attacks, (in true high school fashion) Begich took to Twitter to respond:

I'd be happy to compare my record of fighting for #Alaska w/ @SarahPalinUSA, but it doesn't seem fair since she never finished the job. -MB— MarkBegich (@MarkBegich) July 11, 2013

I don’t know if Sarah Palin’s a resident. She’s been away from Alaska a lot and has probably lost touch - MB. http://t.co/GwkO0FuPgB— MarkBegich (@MarkBegich) July 11, 2013

Palin said Tuesday that she was considering a run for Senate in 2014 in an effort to unseat Begich. And if the recent war of words between the hypothetical challengers is any indication, this matchup is bound to get ugly.