September 14, 2008
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The Truth Will Out
UPDATED BELOW
You in the rest of the country are starting to catch on to what a lot of us in Alaska have known for years, but many still refuse to believe. A syndicated article from today’s New York Times, reprinted in the Anchorage Daily News, says of Sarah Palin:
Throughout her political career, she has pursued vendettas, fired
officials who crossed her and sometimes blurred the line between
government and personal grievance, according to a review of public
records and interviews with 60 Republican and Democratic legislators
and local officials.. . .Interviews show that Ms. Palin runs an administration that puts a
premium on loyalty and secrecy. The governor and her top officials
sometimes use personal e-mail accounts for state business; dozens of
e-mail messages obtained by The New York Times show that her staff
members studied whether that could allow them to circumvent subpoenas
seeking public records.Rick Steiner, a University of Alaska professor, sought the e-mail messages of state scientists who had examined the effect of global warming on polar bears. (Ms. Palin said the scientists had found no ill effects,
and she has sued the federal government to block the listing of the
bears as endangered.) An administration official told Mr. Steiner that
his request would cost $468,784 to process.When Mr. Steiner
finally obtained the e-mail messages — through a federal records
request — he discovered that state scientists had in fact agreed that
the bears were in danger, records show.“Their secrecy [not to mention dishonesty] is off the charts,” Mr. Steiner said.
The article mentions Sherry Whitstine, a Wasilla blogger who was contacted by one of Palin’s aides. “You should be ashamed!” Ivy Frye, the assistant, told her. “Stop blogging. Stop blogging right now!”
Another article in the same edition says of Palin’s husband Todd,
In voting to issue a subpoena to Todd Palin
in an investigation of the firing of the Alaska public safety
commissioner, state lawmakers on Friday signaled that Mr. Palin, the
husband of Gov. Sarah Palin, might have played a central role in one of the most contentious episodes of her governorship.and…
“My colleagues told me he was lobbying for the governor’s position on
oil taxes,” State Representative Jay Ramras, a Republican who is
chairman of the House judiciary committee, said of one instance last
year when he saw Mr. Palin outside the legislative chamber before a key
vote. “I think that when the spouse of an elected governor steps away
from safe issues that are nonpartisan in nature, that it is bad for the
legislative and executive branches, and Todd Palin would not be an
exception to that.”The article also said he is, “generally viewed as genial and reserved.” That conflicts with reports I have heard of his shouting and shoving when people in Juneau don’t give him or the governor the deference he thinks they deserve, nor does it sound like the excitable and voluble Todd Palin I have heard on the radio during Tesoro Iron Dog snowmachine races.
I, not having a TV, of course did not see SNL last night, but NPR played a clip of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler as Sarah Palin and Hilary Clinton. Greyfox couldn’t wait to call me today and tell me about it. Knowing how little attention some voters pay to serious programming, I’m glad to see entertainment media taking on the candidates. The polls I have been seeing show that McCain/Palin are slipping back, losing that bounce in popularity gained before the truth about Palin started coming out.
Ted Stevens, under federal indictment for failing to report income from “gifts” (bribes, as most of us assume, but that’s harder to prove) as required of all members of Congress, managed anyway to win the Republican primary here. I’m still bemused and distressed after learning last week that even if he is convicted, if he wins the general election he will be allowed to keep his Senate seat. Nothing in congressional rules prevents felons from “serving” in the Senate or House of Representatives. All my life I have been hearing them called crooks. Little did I know.
I’ll vote for Mark Begich for the Senate, but not with much confidence that he has a chance here against Uncle Ted. It would take a miracle for anybody but a Republican to win that race, or to carry Alaska’s presidential electoral votes, but I’m going to vote anyway, and I’m not going to waste a vote on any unelectable third-party spoiler. My mind is made up now. I’m voting for Obama/Biden.
P.S. Writing Raven has posted photos of the anti-Palin rally in Anchorage yesterday, and has a piece about Adak’s energy crisis, which I mentioned last week.
Comments (13)
And so it goes. The wheels on the bus go round and round as the machine runs over “we the people”.
I really do appreciate your references to the Alaskan view. My gut feeling is running “scared” by what the Republicans are coming up with.
Remember the Wizard of Oz and, “Pay no attention to that little man behind the curtain!”
Hope you are feeling well and that your new stove is going to work wonderfully as you need it.
Thanks again and do keep up sending news from up yonder.
I thought Palin did really poorly in her interview with Charlie Roberts… it seemed obvious to me that if she doesn’t have a script to play from, she has a hard time answering questions. That was certainly alluded to in the SNL skit. I need to find that on youtube as I only saw part of it on the news.
I think the more unscripted interviews she gives to the media, the faster that momentum will swing back toward Obama.
It is so, SO funny! http://widgets.nbc.com/o/4727a250e66f9723/48ccb0fda162eb1c/4741e3c5156499a7/da49de7a
Bloody hell, Alaska must be teeming with Republicans. Teddybear’s in a tight spot and he still gets the vote.
Will anything knock the stuffing out of him?
@Apocatastasis - Well, he’s old, and is a classic Type A personality, gets hopping mad when thwarted or dissed — maybe he’ll have a stroke or a fit of good old fashioned apoplexy.
Please promise me that Americans will figure that it’s Palin who is the empty suit…. but one who would happily engage in a war with Russia over Georgia.
Americans must know their international reputation, already on life support after almost 8 years with Bush, will flatline if they elect the McCain/Palin ticket.
Sorry. I stumbled across your site so please forgive my rant.
@lupa -
With my dialup connection, it took about 2 hours to see it all, and to keep it from timing out, I had to pause and play it in 10 second bursts, and it was worth the effort.
I guess this means that Todd Palin is not a stay at home dad? Who watches the baby then? And who doesn’t like polar bears?!
@Malleus - I wish I could make such a promise. Those of us with the intelligence to see those consequences might possibly be outnumbered by the ones who are dazzled by glitter and baffled by bullshit. Then again, we have a seriously flawed electoral system here.
Al Gore won the popular election in ’04 and you see who squats in the White House now. Jimmy Carter, who works with an international oversight group to monitor elections, says we have more irregularities and fraud in our elections than many third world countries.
“..who squats in the White House…” LOL!
The more I hear about Sarah Palin the more she reminds me of this hideous manager I used to have. They hired her to fill an empty spot, to be a hench-person. She was fairly ignorant of the job, and so she set about trying to create a little network of spies and cronies in the office, completely disregarding the seasoned employees and their advice. Everyone loved her at first, esp. the men because she was a very, um, showy, dresser, but eventually she was outed for the empty shell that she was. Needless to say, I completely despised her. After reading about Sarah Palin’s time as governor, there are so many parallels I can draw between the two.
@SuSu - Glad you enjoyed it! I’ve seen it a few times, and listened to it again when a radio morning show played it, and I’ve laughed every time!
@lupa - Doug found an easier-to-load version on youtube as soon as he got up yesterday. I heard five loud laughs out of him, and several smaller ones. I wonder if Sarah and/or Hilary would get laughs out of it.