Sarah Palin

Mother's Day is a wonderful celebration honoring our moms and celebrating motherhood, maternal bonds and the influence of mothers in society in general.

Here at THG, this means a little tribute to some of the celebrity moms we've come to know and love ... and also a bunch who could use some improvement.

On this 13th day of May, take a look at a 13 popular THG celeb moms (and 13 more who also have kids) in the poll below and vote for your favorite (and least favorite):

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is weighing in on the recent Secret Service scandal after it was revealed that one of the accused agents, David Chaney, was "checking her out" on assignment protecting then-VP candidate Palin in 2008.

That's just disturbing. Not as disturbing as the fact that Sarah Palin was once close enough to the presidency that she warranted Secret Service detail, but still. Bad taste.

Seriously, though. This is a real story.

David Chaney, one of the agents implicated in the Colombia prostitution fiasco, wrote on Facebook of Sarah Palin that he was "checking her out" while assigned to protect the vice presidential candidate during the 2008 campaign.

He posted a photo of Palin with him looking on from the background. Under the photo, he wrote: "I was really checking her out, if you know what i (sic) mean?"

Palin, on Fox News, shot back: "Well, check this out, buddy - you're fired!"

She added that the scandal is "a symptom of government run amok" and that she hopes Chaney is in the doghouse, getting in a dig at President Obama's dog-eating "scandal":

Sarah Palin on Secret Service Scandal

Get ready for Sarah Palin vs. Levi Johnston, Round 289!

The former V.P. candidate claims her daughter Bristol's baby daddy is straight up lying with his recent claims that the Palins actively try to keep him from his son.

This all started after Johnston got Sunny Oglesby pregnant ... and accused Sarah Palin of hatching a plan to block him from Tripp, his three-year-old child with Bristol.

Levi's implied accusation didn't sit well with Sarah.

In response to Levi's accusations about them, Sarah and Todd Palin issued a statement to TMZ (this story would be funny if it ended right there), saying:

"We have never hidden Tripp from Levi or discouraged Levi from spending time with him. Any suggestion we have is false and contrary to our core beliefs."

"The last time either of us recall a conversation with Levi was in the summer of 2010 when Levi sat down at our house with us and personally apologized about the lies he told to the media about our family. Neither of us have talked to him since."

"We're disappointed that he continues to spread falsehoods to garner media attention. We encourage Levi and all non-custodial fathers to be fully engaged and to positively, fully participate in their children's lives."

"This includes not making misstatements about his child's grandparents."

Don't bet on that. Which side are you on?

[Photos: WENN.com]

Infamous 2008 nemeses Katie Couric and Sarah Palin went head to head on the morning show circuit Tuesday, with Couric filling in on Good Morning America and Sarah guest hosting Today with Matt Lauer (after being interviewed by him one-on-one).

Bristol Palin predicted "a pretty big bump the ratings" for her mom. Was she right?

She was. Her mother's presence on yesterday's Today pushed the show's viewership up from Monday, to 5.5 million viewers, the early Nielsen stats show.

Couric, however, was hardly defeated, as GMA was up almost as much from Monday to Tuesday as Today was, inching closer to long-reigning Today even.

Basically, Palin's brief tenure as a member of the "lamestream media" was a successful one, while her least favorite interviewer performed well also.

The only true disappointment? No mention of Levi Johnston and Sunny Oglesby having a baby. Now that would've guaranteed some record ratings.

Sarah Palin appeared on Today this morning, first as a guest and then as a co-host, in what was a mostly enjoyable stint on the NBC morning show institution.

Matt Lauer did ask her some tough questions, though nothing about how Levi Johnston got Sunny Oglesby pregnant. Hey, no journalist is perfect.

The mood was jovial as Palin opened with a story about a stranger who, when she was headed to NBC's 30 Rockefeller Plaza, said she knew Palin was Tina Fey.

Lauer’s interview with Palin about the Republican presidential race - voters in Wisconsin, Maryland, and D.C. vote today - quickly turned more serious.

Sarah Palin on Today Show

Her message: “Anybody but Obama will be so much better for our country,” and the experience level of  the winner's V.P. choice doesn't matter. Why?

Because no matter who it is, the 2008 nominee opines, “they’re gonna get clobbered by the lamestream media who does not like the conservative message.”

As Lauer then pointed out, though, Sarah Palin herself was about to become a card carrying member of the lamestream media for the next hour. Ziiiiing!

As co-host, Palin talked with Tori Spelling and experts on raising teenage daughters, weighed in on Oprah's mistakes with OWN and talked about the new "EnemyGraph" Facebook app, which allows you to create a list of enemies, not friends.

Speaking of which, sort of ... please "Like" THG on Facebook!

Former political figure Sarah Palin has signed up to co-host the Today show this week for some reason, NBC reports. She will do the honors tomorrow (Tuesday).

According to a message posted on the network’s official site, Palin, 48, is getting ready to “reveal a different side of her than you’ve seen before.”

What side could that be? Intelligence?

The 2008 GOP V.P. nominee and Alaska Governor will, interestingly enough, be going up against Katie Couric, who's hosting Good Morning America all week.

Katie's now-infamous CBS News interview with Sarah during the '08 campaign was widely viewed as one of the turning points for the Republican's public image.

Or another case of the "gotcha" lame-stream media doing all it can to cut her down just 'cause she's conservative, if you believe Sarah's version of events.

Anyway, we'll be watching tomorrow! You?

In HBO's new film Game Change, Sarah Palin is portrayed by Julianne Moore as unstable, unprepared and ill-informed on world affairs and basic world history.

The former GOP V.P. candidate is none too pleased about all this, even though the film is based on John Heilemann and Mark Halperin’s page-turning bestseller.

A non-fiction bestseller.

Of course, Palin will never actually see it, but dag gone it, “Hollywood lies are Hollywood lies,” she says of Game Change and its window into the 2008 election.

Palin accuses Jay Roach, the director, and his collaborator, Danny Strong, of trying “[To] drum up their money and their machine and their machine happens to be very pro-leftist, pro-Barack Obama ... there at HBO.”

The one-time Alaska Governor lambasted its “false narrative” also noted that any of the campaign staffers who contributed to revealing behind-the-scenes information for Game Change should feel “shame and… embarrassment.”

Palin’s PAC slammed the film, debuting tomorrow night, as “historical fiction.”

Former Alaska governor and 2008 Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin threw her weight behind Newt Gingrich as Republican presidential nominee Tuesday.

At the same time, she coyly left open the door for her own White House run.

The GOP firebrand said she voted for Newt in the caucus/primary in Alaska, one of 10 states to cast ballots yesterday (see THG's full Super Tuesday results).

"I will tell you who I voted for... the cheerful one, it's Newt Gingrich," Palin said, referring to the one-word description Newt gave himself in a recent date.

Sarah Palin on Voting For Newt Gingrich

"I have appreciated what he has stood for, stood boldly for," she said. "He has been the underdog in many of these primary races and these caucuses."

"I've respected what he has stood for."

She spoke as as longtime frontrunner Mitt Romney tightened his grip on the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, but failed to deliver a knockout blow.

Romney won six states, including Alaska, with a whole 33 percent of the vote, while Rick Santorum won three and Gingrich cruised in his native Georgia.

Sarah Palin earned the nickname Sarah Barracuda for her gritty play on the basketball court, not in the political arena - though the quality served her well there as well.

It's no surprise, then, that she's name-dropping popular figures of the moment to stay relevant rooting for another hard-working point guard, New York's Jeremy Lin.

On Fox Business Network yesterday, the ex-Alaska governor flashed a Lin t-shirt and raved about his performance. “All of a sudden, our team is the Knicks,” Palin said.

“Linsanity, man,” she raved. Well put.

“I mean, talk about an all-American story where sort of the underdog, you know, but works so hard, just erased all the stuff out there on the periphery in his life."

"Humble, and now look where he is.”

Look where Sarah Palin is too. Four years ago, on the cusp of being the first woman V.P. of the U.S. Now spouting vapid nonsense people have long since tuned out.

A true riches to rags story if ever there were one.

Is the fix in for Mitt Romney? Sarah Palin seems to think so, going on an epic Facebook rant against Republicans trying to smack down Newt Gingrich ... but is she even more full of it than the establishment she rails against?

It's true that Republican officials and mainstream media figures do seem to be forcing the argument that Romney is the inevitable GOP nominee, despite the widespread antipathy toward the former Massachusetts governor nationwide.

Palin's arguments may be thinner than her melting Alaskan ice caps, however, and her motives are highly questionable aside from making sure Sarah Palin remains a topic of discussion. In that respect, guess we fell for it. Sorry.

In a post this weekend, she attacks the Republican "establishment cannibals" for using "Alinsky" tactics against Newt Gingrich in the run up to the Florida primary.

It's undeniable that Newt's win in South Carolina triggered a backlash against the former House Speaker by Romney supporters bent on blunting his latest surge.

But is the motivation really Gingrich's lack of qualifications? Or simply a desire to stop any sort of uprising from those looking for an alternative to the status quo?

Palin's main objection appears to be that those who question Gingrich's ties to Ronald Reagan have done so inappropriately and are doing the work of the left.

Never mind that Gingrich has tied himself to Reagan and his accomplishments with every other breath he takes. And who is the GOP "establishment," anyway?

How do you rant against people without specifying who you are talking about? And why not just endorse Newt if you feel so strongly about it? It's all puzzling.

Palin's full Facebook post appears after the jump: