Sarah Palin game show: which president did she REALLY mean?

Palin recently denied to a TODAY news crew that she had issued a statement blaming her son's alleged PTSD on President Obama, a statement which was offensive to many Americans, but particularly some veterans.

Palin denies accusing Obama of causing her son's PTSD

Excerpt from an open letter from a decorated, Republican vet, Huffington Post:

Dear Mrs. Palin,

I am a former US Marine and US Navy Officer with a Combat Action Ribbon as well as service connected disabilities. I am also a Republican. I have also served with, and am friends with, dozens of combat veterans who suffer daily from various injuries and wounds to include PTSD. I recently read your comments related to PTSD in which you attempted to excuse your son’s arrest on domestic abuse charges and firearm charges by referencing his supposed PTSD. Based upon your previous comments I am not surprised that you would choose to use this very serious condition as a political football and, once again, attempt to divert blame from your own family’s abhorrent, violent behavior.
 

Track Palin arrested for domestic violence as Sarah Palin endorses Trump

In 2014 your entire family was involved in a late night ‘drunken brawl’ at a party in which Track Palin (the accused domestic abuser) was involved in a bloody fight. While you publicly stated how proud you were at your children’s violent actions, maybe this should have been a sign that Track has a problem. It is certainly curious that you did not feel the need to reference his supposed PTSD in this situation and instead stated: “…my kids’ defense of family makes my heart soar!” Maybe, instead of encouraging Track’s violence, you should have taken the opportunity to get him help. Maybe, instead of being the result of PTSD, your son was simply trying to uphold the stated Palin family values and “…make your heart soar” by abusing a woman.

Perhaps the issue is with Palin's grammar. It is entirely possible that she meant something other than the general interpretation. For example, when she said: "Everything starts at the top, and he's the president" she might have been referring to Bush, who was the president during her son's service, as she is wont to shift tenses mid-sentence, and does not obey the time/space continuum as ordinary folk. 

It would be interesting to have a sort of contest--or even a weekly game show, where bits of Palinese

were thrown up on a screen while top editors, linguists and English teachers race the clock to crack the code. 

Here is one expert's take on her first sentence, and the punctuation intended. We've left the rest untouched for you to ponder. 

"My son, like so many others, they come back  (came back) a bit different, (;)

they come back hardened, they come back wondering if there is that respect for what it is that their fellow soldiers and airmen and every other member of the military so sacrificially have given to this country. . .That comes from our own president, where they have to look at him and wonder, ‘Do you know what we go through? Do you know what we’re trying to do to secure America?. . .“Everything starts at the top and he’s the president. All you have to do is look at the Veterans Administration and look at the bad . . . care our vets get."

Check out the view from the View on this.