Boots on the Ground in Fairbanks – Sarah Palin’s Quitspeech
I was very pleased to have some great “boots on the ground” in Fairbanks for Sarah Palin’s big Quitspeech at Quitfest on Quittyday. Thank you to Mudflatter Alaska Don who did a fabulous job reporting! There are also more pictures coming to entertain you later from other Mudflats “photobloggers.” Truly this was a day and a speech that will live in infamy.
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July 26th, 2009. Abdication Day.
The sun rose north by northeast of Fairbanks today at 4:30 AM, having set in the north by northwest last night shortly after 11:30 PM. It was mostly clear, with billowing dark clouds of smoke from forest fires burning a quarter-million acres 45 miles to the west. The wind could shift and bring it here. So far, so good. We spend a lot of time noticing the physical world up here. It’s often said we’re a Land of Extremes, and it’s true. Light and Dark: 22+ hours of sun at Summer Solstice; 3 hours and 42 minutes of official daylight on December 21. Hot and Cold: -60°F, sometimes for two or three weeks running; +93°F last week. The political geography tends to the extreme as well.
Today is Abdication Day and Sarah is stepping out at 3 PM this afternoon. 5000 of us will line up for the annual Governors Picnic because we are hardy individualists opposed to Socialism and Communism, like our Governor, but love free food and money. Last year Palin added an extra $1200 on top of the $1900 Permanent Fund Dividend. $3100 plus in cash, to every eligible man, woman and child. She knows us well, and is more than willing to spread it around, even when it becomes rather circular. She put out a half-billion dollar bonus incentive to build the gas line. which the largest gas field leasee, Exxon Mobil, recognized as free money and got in line to share as largess with TransCanada. We all talk a good game of capitalism around here until the free hot dogs are distributed.
Driving over to The Event I noticed a lot of traffic headed north on the Steese Highway, out of town toward the river and wilderness. Maybe locals were passing on the Transfer of Power? No such luck. Getting closer on the Peger Road approach where the park and the river meet, cars were lining the shoulders, LOTS of cars.
1:07 pm Walking under the bridge from the Riverview neighborhood, remnants of the Red Green duct-tape flotilla, held this morning, were hauling their ships ashore at a point 150 yards/meters from where they usually serve the public picnics–but not today. A harbinger?
Out near the front of Pioneer Park, a.k.a. Alaskaland, there were long lines for the free food, especially for the one where Governor Palin and Lt. Governor Parnell were all smiles, passing out hot dogs and tiny sacks of chips. Lots of tourists snapping photos.
Whoops! Suddenly the Guv left and the line shrank instantly. People in that line jumped to other, shorter ones. Bun on a plate, a cooked wiener, a bag of chips and a plastic cup for water, (but the water tanks were empty). Move on. I asked a fellow in line at Big Daddy’s Barbeque wagon for a $7 pulled pork sandwich why he wasn’t in the free hot dog queue adjacent and he said the food was better and the wait shorter. You get what you pay for.
2:20 PM Sections have filled in with Pro’s and Anti’s. Crowds are now thick in front of the prow of the Riverboat Nenana and splayed forward and to the left. At 2:30 PM Governor-in-Waiting Parnell and entourage walk a pathway sliced and guarded from disrupters to a ramp up into the decks of the riverboat. A twitter of anticipation ripples through the crowd. Behind me a woman grasps my shoulders and asks to look past. She says she used to live in Fairbanks but has moved to Palmer. “Fairbanks has too many of those, you know, who, who…” “Like those over there?”, I point to the group on the hill waving signs like, “Proud to be Palin-free” and “Sick of $arah”. “Yes”, she snaps. “You know she visited the flooded villages this spring and they LOVE her. She’s so nice.”
2:50 PM Ralph Seekins, local car dealer and Chairman of the Fairbanks Republican Club, takes close-up photos of his friends with a camera with a 14″ lens. It must pick up all the moles and warts? A former State Senator who was defeated by an ex-labor leader, he waits to leap into the throng of governor wannabees come next year, (or maybe sooner?). The Army band plays patriotic melodies from the top deck of the landlocked riverboat. Representative John Coghill, son of a former Lt. Governor and another possible candidate, walks up and back with his wife on the magic pathway, finally locating a pair of seats in the chosen ground away from unfriendly fire. Lots of tourists and out-of-towners in the crowd. An attractive woman in a stunning yellow and green silk dress rises from her seat in the roped off middle sector, walks around to visit and returns to her chair. “Another Democrat on welfare, NOT”, quips a bystander.
2:59 PM A file of principle players and honored guests emerges, striding down the ramp to the raised speakers area. The platform is flanked by banks of loudspeakers which also block the view of the recessed podium for many. North Pole Senator Gene Therriault, who lives in a safely gerrymandered election district and is NOT likely to run for governor next year, serves as emcee. The reverend Eleanor Rule (sp? they handed out programs only to the select few in the roped off seats in the sector where I stood so I don’t know how names were spelled), gave a bilingual invocation in Inupiaq (northern Eskimo) and English; it did not sound like local Athabaskan. Then Sarah came to the podium to give her valedictory. She warmed up with a remark about sunny Fairbanks and how some of the most patriotic people and some of the strongest supporters of our military live here. That sparked the crowd, ready for Pure Palin. She spoke about Denali, the mountain, and our famous cold and how it splits up the Cheechakos (newcomers) from the Sourdoughs (old timers), then launched into one of those roaring run-on sentence speeches about “merciless rivers rushing and carving and reminding us here Mother Nature wins and the rest of America sees in the Last Frontier hope and opportunity and country pride and it is our men and women in uniform securing it and we are facing tough challenges in America with some being just hellbent on tearing down our nation, perpetuating some pessimism, and suggesting American apologetics, suggesting that our best days were yesterdays, but as other people have asked, how can that pessimism be when proof of our greatness and our pride today is that we produce the great proud volunteers who sacrifice everything for country”. Applause from the crowd. Her entire speech is on YouTube HERE.
I paraphrase her continuing remarks to include references to “what you get to see everyday and North to the Future and our brave military and by God’s Grace and I promised to be fiscally restrained and hold schools accountable and elevate vo-tech training and manage our fish and wildlife and defend the Constitution and those Outside special interest groups still just don’t get it and you see I know that it is your money and you know best how to spend it.” It is difficult to comprehend how her unique combination of hot button words and phrases that blend across issues and categories make any sense but her followers believe they know what she is saying even when speaking in tongues. What she says may transcend English but no matter, they are certain they know what she means.
In the battle of signs, her supporters outnumbered her opponents. “Quit Baby Quit”, “Happy to Be Palin-Free” and “Quitter–You Betcha'” are
overshadowed by “We Love You Sarah” and “Great Job Sarah” and “Thank You Sarah”. The adulation that she seeks continues. Her supporters feel a bond and heartfelt emotion toward her. “O Beautiful for amber waves of grain” wafts over all as the new Governor-appointed and the temporary substitute Lt. Governor sign their oaths of office as the now ex-Governor disappears from view. Exit stage right.
So how many showed up? The Governor’s office claims 5000. We’ll leave it to experts in crowd estimation. It was several thousand. 50%, perhaps 70%, were supporters–not all by any means. Many were undoubtedly curiosity seekers, wondering if this was really a noteworthy moment in history. Temporary substitute Lt. Governor Campbell gave a lively but mostly forgettable speech aimed toward Governor-appointed Parnell that seemed a shot across the bow for the next governor’s race, (“I worked with your father when he was on the Anchorage Assembly”, with “little boy” seemingly implied and silent inside his remark). Parnell’s speech was bland by comparison, very sincere and predictable and basically boring. How well will they work together? Next year’s Republican primary for governor will have a cast of a dozen or more.
And Sarah? Whither Sister Sarah and why?
She shouted out to a heckler who questioned why she resigned. She said “he didn’t get it”, that not serving as a lame duck and not doing politics as usual and saving us millions of dollars and we are proud of our patriotic troops explains it. Talking in tongues again. He didn’t get it but her followers seem to or at least won’t admit to doubt. Like, do YOU get it? It must be the $11 million book offer, the TV talking heads show possibilities, the cashing in of those once valuable chips before they become worthless. Did sparing her family from the bloodsport of politics and media really have anything to do with resigning with a year and a half remaining in her term of office as Governor of the State of Alaska?
What it comes down to is in the eyes of the beholder: Either Sister Sarah the Divine is saving all by leaving it behind, or Sarah Palin is a Quitter. You Betcha’.
~~~Jason Jones of The Daily Show interviews Fairbanksan Lisa Peger, who hasn’t a clue how he is leading her on by seeming to agree.
Submitted by:
Boots-on-the-Ground-Fairbanks, Alaska Don.
26 July 2009
In the picture of SP on stage from the side, the dude in the red tie is sleeping.
Mudkitten,
“It’s like Peggy Noonan, Jack London, and William Faulkner wandered into the woods with three buttons of peyote and one typewriter, and only this speech emerged.
…. she composed a resignation speech by throwing culture war stock phrases into a hat and dumping it upside down on a copy of The Paranoid Style in American Politics.”
Beautiful! I love it!
Rubber Room Hotel, you have my respect and sympathy. It’s hard when people you know and respect have swallowed not one lie, but an alternate reality. They are ego- invested in the whole world-picture, and won’t give it up until the opinions of those around them change. Eventually, the lies will do it. I remember Nixon, how all the Republicans defended him, Watergate was a “third-rate burglary” that the liberal media had blown up into a scandal to bring him down. When the tapes showed he had been lying about the Watergate cover-up, it was over, and the Republicans abandoned him. I think people will accept graft — in effect, being stolen from — much more readily than being lied to about something important.
There are a number of lies that have been made public, but they haven’t been the big ones that slap people in the face. The big lie that’s out there waiting is that she wasn’t pregnant with Trig. I find the photographic evidence convincing beyond a reasonable doubt, her story is unbelievable. If the MSM can get over their queasiness and take it on, it will bring her down.
80 sally Says: July 27th, 2009 at 9:01 PM
Alaskans, do you feel ashamed and embarrassed for our state? I sure as heck do and I’d like to travel outside and say “I’m from Iceland in instead of Alaska.”
____________
Naaahhh…
Ya alls ought to be proud. Enough of youse stood up and got rid of the worst governor in the country. There’s plenty reason to be proud to be Alaskan. I’d shake yer hand anytime.
@mudkitten wrote
================================================
It’s like Peggy Noonan, Jack London, and William Faulkner wandered into the woods with three buttons of peyote and one typewriter, and only this speech emerged.
================================================
This is simply one of the funniest lines I’ve EVER read! Love it! LOOVVE it!
@ Rubber Room Hotel Thanks for sharing.
Yes, I am experiencing this also in my own rural Alaska community. We all got to know each other a lot better during the 2008 election and some of it was not very pretty.
“I am pretty used to not agreeing politically with my neighbors, and have had some mostly good natured grousing matches with them. Palin and frankly Obama changed all that. Some of it stopped being a friendly disagreement to down right ugly anger.”
Great “boots on the ground” coverage of the event.
She may be out of office – but she is far from being down and out (yet?) — I still worry that she can rile up the wingnut base in ways too horrible to imagine and the violence that could be the result could be dangerous in many ways — we all still need to keep an eye on her.
Any one know her new twitter account? For comedy value alone – it could be fun to read once in awhile
@Alaska Don
Thanks. I love it all–but most especially this paragraph:
“Today is Abdication Day and Sarah is stepping out at 3 PM this afternoon. 5000 of us will line up for the annual Governors Picnic because we are hardy individualists opposed to Socialism and Communism, like our Governor, but love free food and money. Last year Palin added an extra $1200 on top of the $1900 Permanent Fund Dividend. $3100 plus in cash, to every eligible man, woman and child. She knows us well, and is more than willing to spread it around, even when it becomes rather circular. She put out a half-billion dollar bonus incentive to build the gas line. which the largest gas field leasee, Exxon Mobil, recognized as free money and got in line to share as largess with TransCanada. We all talk a good game of capitalism around here until the free hot dogs are distributed.”
MeAgain (133)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/28/daily-show-bids-farewell_n_246065.html
___________________
Thank you for posting that link!
What made me lose it was the exchange with the older woman right after that 8:37 spot that ended with:
“…and when they write down her words and repeat ’em verbatim – they make her look like an idiot!”
“Right…” agrees the Palin supporter, all unaware.
Loved it.
“Yeah, Nixon actually had a functioning brain. She, otoh, has some kind of mental disorder.”
Yup!
Sorry , Know something
crystalwolf aka caligrl Says:
These are all old news red herrings to deflect from the BIG, BIG news we are about to hear. With Palin TRUTH is a lie, and her lies are Truth!
Can’t wait till the big one hits
Do you something your not sharing with us pups? Come on and fill us in pleeeese.
Yeah, Nixon actually had a functioning brain. She, otoh, has some kind of mental disorder.
I just saved the poetic text of the QuitSpeech to a Word file, and noticed it looked wrong in Arial or any simple and clear font. But discovered it reads
much better in Lucida Handwriting.
HEY HEY HEY is that Dennis Zaki at minute 8:37 calling Jon Stewarts guy a
P R I C K? LOL.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/28/daily-show-bids-farewell_n_246065.html
Palinbots like to compare Palin to Richard Nixon, but there are several inconsistencies in even comparing Palin to Richard Nixon.
Excellent Job Alaska Don!
for Austintx:
you asked if that was Bristol in the background in the photo above of the praying Palin couple. I believe that is Bristol’s cousin, I forget name. But from a blurred distance she looks a great deal like Bristol; similar hair coloring and style, wih widow’s peak, face shape similar. I think sometimes Sarah uses her to “stand-in” for Bristol, or maybe just for the folly of confusing people. (many think she may account for the few public sightings of Bristol during those mysterious months around spring ’08)
I believe it was the REAL Bristol seen holding Tripp at the first picnic in Wasilla. And she still looks great; svelte and fresh.
I don’t think the Palin parents (Sarah & T) look so ragged either, considering. Somewhere there’s a mirror that’s taking a hit for all of this, a la Dorian Gray.
#102 & #103 I lost friends and got in heated disagreements with family during this past election. I’m not sure what fanned the flames, I’ll always believe that many try to portray themselves as open minded and tolerant when it comes to race. In reality many people hold a deep seated bigotry that surfaces when it’s in their life, the thought of a man of color being in charge is not acceptable to these people & they will use a million excuses why they have such animosity towards President Obama. In their hearts they truly do think they’re better and brighter than a person of color. As far as the babygate story goes, I say leave it alone. If it’s true it will come to light, but being such a critic of the birthers, I can’t in good conscience go along with it.
The Rubber Room Hotel Says:
July 27th, 2009 at 11:15 PM
I think the MSM will keep mostly away from the babygate story. No matter what the truth is I don’t think people will want to touch it and it has to potential to backfire very badly it is like poison and they will stay away mostly and use it only to defend her.
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I could not beleive ole Pat buchanan trottin’ out the babygate story as one of the lies…! Its is probably the only “Lie” that hasn’t been proven against her!!! I saw on one of the tabs a story that she quit b/c of the Brad hansen story. LOL! These are all old news red herrings to deflect from the BIG, BIG news we are about to hear. With Palin TRUTH is a lie, and her lies are Truth!
Can’t wait till the big one hits 🙂
Alaska Don….GREAT JOB!
I have sometimes wondered what it would take to be able to be a guest contributor at the Mudflats….and now I know.
I would have to learn to write! And write well! Very impressive, Don….
I still think that something forced Palin to make this choice..at this moment.
I don’t know what it is, but something made her quit on short notice.
Has anyone seen Bristol (standing) lately? She wasn’t by her mother’s side during the quitting speech and hasn’t been on-stage since. Is she hiding another surprise?
Maybe she is pregnant again and Palin thought she should get out of office before the firestorm hit. ie: Before Bristol started showing.
Just a thought. I’m still searching for a good reason for that last minute quitting speech before the holiday weekend.
the Shatner video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCdqRbWYWbU
Lilybart –
Hell yeah Levi knows something juicy. He is holding some seriously good cards in this little game. He is good hands with Rex and Tank. Go Team Levi !!
REL: babygate and Levi. Why does Levi travel with a bodyguard and sometimes two?
Why is Rex Butler footing the bill for Levi’s travel and bodyguard? Levi is a celeb but he is not THAT cute and might get a TV reality show, but why would his book be of interest to anyone unless HE KNOWS SOMETHING JUICY THAT IS WORTH MILLIONS.
Sameold, I understand the traps in the babygate story, but I have been on it for months and here are the two pieces that just don’t add up and have no easy explanation (and the photo evidence is enough for me, but this is fishy):
1) ADN tried to do a story to put the rumors to rest for good. They WANTED to help her make this go away. They couldn’t do the story in the end because Palin would not cooperate. Friendly reporter, friendly paper trying to end the rumors, and they refused to participate. The reporter could have been shown the hospital bracelets, photos, birth cert in private, and then testified they were real and that would have been enough.
2) All photos and videos from the legislative session of Jan -April 2008 are gone from the ADN and the Governors website. WHY? She lives for photo-ops. This is the time when all the work of the legislature happens and yet the photos are gone, excpet a few that were saved by bloggers.
Those two oddities don’t prove anything, but what other explanation is there?
120 tigerwine Says:
July 28th, 2009 at 3:51 AM
RE: The photo link caligrl put up:
http://www.daylife.com/photo/0gyg8cMgOf6v1.
Man, Todd looks worn out here, doesn’t he?
**************************************************************
Is that Bristol in the background ?!?!? If so , she looks FRIED !! Aged 10 yrs.
RE: The photo link caligrl put up:
http://www.daylife.com/photo/0gyg8cMgOf6v1.
Man, Todd looks worn out here, doesn’t he?
The state legislature really blew it when they did not impeach Palin for her abuse of power over troopergate.
If that does not warrant impeachment in Alaska, what does?
What does a governor have to do? Murder a baby at high noon in front of the state capitol buildings?
Not even a single sanction.
The legislature gave her the green light to carry on and did she EVER!
In my humble opinion, Alaskans should hold this legislature responsible for all Palin’s actions after The Branchflower report.
What a waste of time and money for nothing but, MORE abuse of power.
They say that there was “no political will”.
All that means is that, not a single legislator, had the intestinal fortitude to protect the people of Alaska from a governor who THEY found to have extensively abused the power of her office.
By doing nothing, the legislature made itself irrelevant to the people of Alaska.
I know just how difficult it is to keep up with governor grifter.
But the responsibility and blame sits directly at the feet of the legislature who knew better, and whose JOB it is to protect the people of Alaska.
In fact the legislature should have been the first people to look at the legality of the Alaska Fund Trust and SarahPac.
If the legislature did it’s JOB there would be no need for citizens to file so many ethics complaints.
I think it is the untold story, as everyone focuses on what scam Palin will come up with next.
No matter what Palins deceit is I feel that babtgate it is still a taboo subject and even if the truth does come to out as being other than what Palin says it is I don’t really think it will hurt her. They will spin it in a see she is so great raising this special needs child as hers, or it will be spun as attacking the child and not Sarah. Even people who would be appalled normally will find ways to defend her.
The information about the special needs baby and the long labor flight has been out there for a long time now and people are leaving it alone mostly.
I will say that if Palin runs for president then opposition from her own party might use it effectively, but no MSN will go with it right now I think.
Lani, I loved it with the bongos and the cadence. Maybe sarah can pick up some clues there!
@SameOld: You hit the nail on the proverbial head. I’m out!
@RubberRoomHotel: I totally agree concerning babygate. It’s a very touchie subject and no one wants to end up up with egg on his/her face on National TV. On the other hand, if they had substantial and supportive evidence that SP lied about giving birth, then that would be huge breaking news. Touche’. Anyway have a fruitful conversation. I am out!!
The baby scandal is in the same category as birthers. Other than some pictures of questionable value there is no proof. There is plenty of credible evidence of how bad Sarah’s character and behavior are without dragging her children into it.
She is just daring you to try. Don’t.
Rubber Room Hotel, I respectfully disagree. I feel it is important to bring light to Sarah’s deep dark secret because it displays the incredibly bad judgment she used to conceal the embarrassment she felt because her 16 yr old got pregnant. I also feel Bristol was abused terribly by the fact that she had to remain in hiding during the later stage of her pregnancy with Trig and still have to maintain this lie for her mother’s political career. If Sarah was so easily influenced by an idea from Desperate Housewives, what would she do to cover up any perceived embarrassment in a national government position? It tells a great deal about her character, or lack thereof.
OMG on Connan tonight he has William Shatner doing the Palin speech with bongos as poetry (the part about Alaska and Denali) Oh man that was great.
I think the MSM will keep mostly away from the babygate story. No matter what the truth is I don’t think people will want to touch it and it has to potential to backfire very badly it is like poison and they will stay away mostly and use it only to defend her.
PtoChoiceGrandma: Yeppers! I think that that is a door that Keith, Rachel, Shannyn etc. can plow right on through. Uh hum!!
TheRubberRoom: Those people already harbor those deep set feelings. They just cannot wait for someone like Palin (of like mind) to come along and stoke them to get the hate fires going.
ProChoiceGrandma: I saw ” Hardball ” and that is what Buchanan is feeling for Palin X’s two. He threw out the Babygate theory because he felt it was the lesser of all the lies that Palin has told. He has the hots for Palin while he keeps his hand on the Bible. The hypocrit!
RE: the Hardball video I posted above, I hope the MSM will use this prime opportunity to discuss babygate now since, as they say in court proceedings, Pat Buchanan “opened the door”. Keith? Rachel? Shannyn? Anybody??? Go for it!!
93 Mac Says:
July 27th, 2009 at 9:54 PM
Thanks for the report Don – well done!
Saw the Daily Show and the Colbert Report tonight and the were fantastic! If you missed them, do yourself a favor and watch the repeat or look it up on line. Well worth your time. Bill Kristol was on the Daily Show and Jon Stewart skewered him nicely! What a twit he is! But even he won’t vote for her if she runs in 2012…
———–
I know, wasn’t it great! Stewart has a way…a very intelligent way! Love the palin photo with ‘quitter’ as Twitter logo under her pic…also too.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/#32177164
Did anyone watch Hardball 7/27/09? Start watching the above video at about 5:30. Chris Matthews asks Pat Buchanan what has been said by the media that is not true about Sarah Palin.
Pat Buchanan said the allegation was floating all over the place reported by the media that Bristol’s child, or rather the child she was born with down syndrome was actually Bristol Palin’s.
This is the very FIRST time I have heard anyone mention the “allegation” on television, and bless his little black conservative heart, it came from Pat Buchanan!! Sort of like a Grandpa Heath moment with the water breaking! ROFLMAO!
Not saying in anyway that it was Obama’s fault it is the down right predigest behavior that made it get so bad and that Palin just seems be able to feed there appetites for reasons to hate.
It is like all these people who sat on there hands during the Bush years but now want to protest Obama and the Feds with this Tea party nonsense.
Great report, Alaska Don! I’m especially impressed by your amazing paraphrasing of the Quitter’s final run-on rant. Hope it didn’t scramble your neurons completely.
Also, thanks to Rubber Room Hotel’s added commentary. Very interesting, RRH.
I have worked as an election official in my small community for many years.
I always get kind of sick when counting up the votes at the end of an election day. This year we had 39 votes for McCain, 9 for Obama, It was 32 for Stevens and 9 for Begich and you had a good bunch that would have rather voted for anybody than a democrat. Several people voted absentee though I can be pretty sure what way they voted.
I am pretty used to not agreeing politically with my neighbors, and have had some mostly good natured grousing matches with them. Palin and frankly Obama changed all that. Some of it stopped being a friendly disagreement to down right ugly anger.
@RubberRoom: I feel you completely. I have family members who I love dearly whose minds are completely closed to anything negative about Palin. “Everybody is just jealous because she is so beautiful.”, ” Everybody is jealous because she is such a strong women willing to stand up against the status quo”. Everybody is afraid of a woman President because she is more qualified than most men”. On and on and on. We have ended up in screaming matches and I decided that I had the power to walk away from their shallowness and blindness. So, I did. We rarely speak and sometimes I feel as if I have lost something major, but I know that staying away is the best.
To those who braved the alternate reality that was yesterday in Fairbanks…good on you! You are far better than I. I would have been screaming and coming totally unglued. RRH: I love the little old lady in the lobby of your ex-hotel. Don’t blame you for leaving. There are quite a few places in Fairbanks that allow dogs. I’m sure that you found another one.
There are 2 beautiful write ups over at ozmud.wordpres.com. Sorry, I still don’t know how to get a link here.
Just a snippet:
“Sarah Palin’s nastiness is surpassed only by her overly-elevated sense of importance. I’m happy she’s no longer in office. I hope the good people of Alaska, especially the ones who have suffered hunger, sickness and great personal loss at her neglect in rallying to provide for them during times of crisis can one day forgive her incredibly uncaring decisions to refuse federal aid.
And most importantly, I hope people all across the country will one day soon figure out that government, in a democracy, is made up of ordinary citizens. It’s made up of ‘us’. Some of us are assholes, sure, but most are not. This constant Republican Party battlecry which infers the federal government is a separate, foreign entity that needs to be stopped in it’s tracks – is worse than ignorance personified. It’s Madison Avenue hype deliberately injected into politics so you’ll buy their brand. It’s just wrong.
The federal gvernment is not your enemy. If you don’t like the way it’s being run – vote to change who’s running it. But for God’s sake, stop letting people like Sarah Palin point a gun at Washington, screaming shoot!”
I have to feed my dogs and check out Letterman. Be back later.
@RubberRoom– I was dating a man starting last March, we had been friends/acquaintances for many years, but after Palin was the VP pick, I found out he was Republican – LOL. I had to be so diplomatic every time anything came up about her! Anyway, we broke up a week before President Obama’s Inauguration Speech. Wanted to make you smile. – Sorry about the hotel owner and your long time relationship/friendship.
The whole thing is funny …l
http://gawker.com/5324026/sarah-palins-gradual-descent-into-incoherency?skyline=true&s=x
OT- Shannyn did a great job by adding “McCain/Palin” into one of her replies on Countdown. It helped bring light back on to the irresponsibility of the Republican party.
@Rubber Room- Yes, it is undoubtedly painful for people like Andree M. and Lyda Green to have to speak against her, who at one time worked with her and had good relationships. There is a lot that Alaskans don’t agree on, but we always got along. It’s part of the reason we like living here – being “free” to be individual. Palin’s advisors may have had sympathy for her, but enabled her. Someone needed to be firm. Remember Monegan actually tried to help her, and she fired him. I hope she disappears from the limelight, it will be better for her family, Alaska and the country. But, there are still many issues to settle – like AFT.
mudkitten
It’s like Peggy Noonan, Jack London, and William Faulkner wandered into the woods with three buttons of peyote and one typewriter, and only this speech emerged.
Ha Ha Very Funny
Karen Marie, Thanks for that link to gawker. It was a hoot. This was my favorite bit, when he gets to the quitting speech:
[i]”In the winter time it’s the frozen road that is competing with the view of ice fogged frigid beauty, the cold though, doesn’t it split the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs?”
It’s like Peggy Noonan, Jack London, and William Faulkner wandered into the woods with three buttons of peyote and one typewriter, and only this speech emerged.
And she wrote this speech! In advance, on paper! What does any of it mean? It is amazing. Twenty years ago she could competently descibe a dog race, three years ago she could articulate a position on the abortion issue, and this weekend she composed a resignation speech by throwing culture war stock phrases into a hat and dumping it upside down on a copy of The Paranoid Style in American Politics.[/i]
What the heck did happen to her brain cells? She can’t talk and make sense anymore. And presumably at one time she could take instruction at least in a limited way, but she clearly can’t do that now. Listening to that clip of her sports reporting makes me realize it’s the first time I’ve ever heard her when she wasn’t spinning something or getting a dig in at an imaginary opponent.
Polly I feel kind of uncomfortable with what happened yesterday at the hotel (btw the owner is a woman who runs the hotel with her 2 sons). I have always had a great deal of respect for her and they have treated me well over many years. (though they have made plenty of money off me)
The thing that got most was before I left the lobby she started talking about some tea bag party in Sept. in Washington DC and how she was sure Palin would be there representing Alaskans. I felt at that point that I had to escape and went back to my room, got my dogs and left I got about a block away and just went AHHHRRGGGGHHHHHH.
Though I was proud of my restraint, something I am not known for.
Thanks for the report Don – well done!
Saw the Daily Show and the Colbert Report tonight and the were fantastic! If you missed them, do yourself a favor and watch the repeat or look it up on line. Well worth your time. Bill Kristol was on the Daily Show and Jon Stewart skewered him nicely! What a twit he is! But even he won’t vote for her if she runs in 2012…
OMG, she resigned in front of The Cake at Alaskaland? hahaha!
Oh gosh, now I laughed so hard I cried a bit.
I need a drink.
Polly, agreed and I still think there is more to come that we have not heard about or we don’t have all the facts to. It was all to rushed the I quit conference and then the 3 week Iquitatour.
I also agree that she must be under a great deal of stress. And her supports really are not helping her at all. They just don’t seem to discourage her, they just placate her. And her advisers if any have just been so wrong. I also really don’t think she was prepared for Alaskans to truly hate her. I mean most of us are beyond disagreeing with her and just being unhappy with her politics. She has shamed us.
By the way, Rubber Room Hotel- I commend your eloquent responses to the owner of the FBKs hotel. You did a great job, trying to educate him without losing your cool. I can see why you checked out the next day, it would have been horrible for your psyche. — It’s that “divide” or Alaska PTSD that Shannyn spoke of that Palin has done to Alaskans.
OMG! Did you guys see the video of Ann Coulter and David Frum?
If you didn’t, you have to watch it. Ann Coulter is as insane as Palin, and Frum makes an excellent point — her divisiveness within the GOP alone means Palin is going nowhere.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/25/david-frum-and-ann-coulte_n_244893.html
Alaska Don, excellent post!
I made a Wordle of the abdication speech:
http://www.wordle.net/gallery/wrdl/1018568/Palin%27s_Abdication_Speech
I stated that, “This could actually serve as a text for nearly any speech that she has ever given.” Using that as a kind of stream of consciousness generator for trite sayings, you could aimlessly spew out word salad fairly effectively. I did a few of these and the words “Alaska” and “promise” were among the most prominent in the speech. I’ll bet you Alaskans don’t feel that she kept her promise to y’all.
Presbyterian Gal, take it from this Presbyterian, Palin has about as much chance getting elected as Alan Keyes. Actually less, because while Keyes is a raving loon, he is not a willfully ignorant simpleton. The quitting routine cements Palin’s reputation as being a reckless incompetent who is incapable of completing anything complex. If she can’t handle the job as Gov. in Alaska, how the hell is she going to convince a nation that she can handle the presidency? That, and no way that she could survive debating any of her likely rivals within the party. They will tear her to pieces.
Very funny, Gasman. 🙂
80 The Rubber Room Hotel Says: Polly I agree with you.
When Palin was passing out food she seemed pretty happy.
—-
I think Palin has had to really conjure up that happy go lucky persona. All the pressures from what she is going through is taking up energy, whether she is at fault or not (we know she brought in on herself). I was thinking about those who are close to her. They can’t all be dumb. She may be having a mental breakdown (nervous breakdown), so they continue to be as protective as they can. Her world right now is falling down around her and unraveling. It will be interesting to see what her next step is.
Quit Happened.
7-26-09
Yes Sally you are so right. But I have to say the Sarah is not the only one who has made me feel this way. There were many in this state that were quite willing to vote a convicted felon back into office. People convinced themselves that it was an outside court and really did not matter. But yes I believe that Palin takes the cake, but more scary and shameful are the people who continue to make excuses and defend her with vigor.
When standing near the people with anti Palin signs yesterday there were a few people who came up to protest the sign holders. Some of them really got my ire up.
Dear Alaska Don —
Thank you!
I’ve read all the comments — you people rock!
I’m glad that there were enough “quit baby quit” signs that Palin could see them, and boos that she could hear them, but at the same time there weren’t so many that it’s being remarked on. I think the people who were there that could have carried a sign but didn’t, as it were, showed immense restraint.
There is a hilarious piece over at Gawker that you all will probably enjoy. A video greatest hits as only Gawker can do.
http://gawker.com/5324026/sarah-palins-gradual-descent-into-incoherency?skyline=true&s=x
Re my saying “beyond the pale,” it looks as if I spoke too soon. So in the interest of accuracy:
http://www.adn.com/photos/story/877571.html?/1521/gallery/877572-a877579-t3.html
Nan
All of Palin’s infamous press releases have “vanished” from the AK web site:
http://omfgalaska.blogspot.com/
Hmmmmm…….
Polly I agree with you.
When Palin was passing out food she seemed pretty happy.
But when she got up on stage I think she had a pretty good view of the signs that were not Pro Her. Also there were some hecklers there and she heard them. I also heard several Boo’s.
Alaskans, do you feel ashamed and embarrassed for our state? I sure as heck do and I’d like to travel outside and say “I’m from Iceland in instead of Alaska.” I would claim another continent to avoid questions about the queen bee. It is so shameful and actually her 1/2 term hurt this state and my soul more than you can possibly imagine… She’s definitely the devil in disguise.
To sort of defend SP and wearing jeans. She was serving hot dogs at the picnic with jeans and casual top, and then had to give her speech directly afterwards. It was a convenient quick change. A better decision may have been to wear a dress suit the entire time- or the pants of a pantsuit set (instead of jeans).
I think she left quickly because she was having an emotional meltdown.
she left Todd behind? OMG, that is priceless! So self-absorbed, she forgot to see if Todd was in the car? Almost as bad as not even noticing what Bristol was wearing (and what she looked like ) in that 2007 Christmas card photo (ahem, just sayin’). I fear she will go shopping someday and leave poor Trig on a pile of fur coats at the second-hand store.
If anyone gets a chance to watch _The Colbert Report_ tonight, he shows the world *how* SP ‘writes’ her speeches – yup, it’s just as AKM has been saying all along. Classic. [Possibly we can get a link to that segment of his show when it’s uploaded to the interwebs…] beth.
Her supporters are delusional zealots being robbed blindly. I’m sure she will end up disappointing some of them in the end too. What’s that saying? “You can fool some of the people all of the time, all of the people some of the time but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.”
It was news to me that she left right after her own speech, not even staying for the swearing in of Sean Parnell. That’s – that’s just beyond the pale. It even trumps the blue jeans she wore.
I have no problem with Trig and not wearing shoes. He’s still a babe in arms, and likely takes ’em off himself. I know mine did, I could never keep those little feet shod. It’s not like it was -20 degrees outside, and besides, he wasn’t the one giving the speech. It just seems to me that Trig and shoes are a minor thing, all things considered.
Nan
wondering where her own shoes are…
So is Kris Perry still going to work for the state? Or is she going to continue being the “right hand man” for $arah?
Great report Alaska Don…thank you!
TODD GETS LEFT BEHIND
Posted: Monday, July 27, 2009 5:08 PM
From NBC’s Norah O’Donnell
Sarah Palin not only left her perch in the governor’s office; she also left behind her husband Todd after yesterday’s ceremony in Fairbanks.
After swearing in the new governor, Palin made a quick exit with daughter Piper and son Trigg in tow. She jumped in a Chevy Silverado twin cab driven by her security detail.
Todd Palin followed just seconds behind, and was left struggling to avoid a phalanx of cameras. The problem: His family had already left.
After reviewing our camera tape, you can hear someone ask, “No car for Todd?” Then Todd, the former First Dude, laughs and says, “They left me.”
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/07/27/2011525.aspx
Thank you, Alaska Don and the Rubber Room Hotel (and others) for the on-the-ground reporting. Sorry about the hotel, Rubber Room- but you were right to change places.
Just watched KO (guest host) and Rachel Maddow’s segment on The Birthers…both shows skewered the Republican fruits and nuts- heh heh.
I just don’t know what I will do without Sarah for entertainment. She has been better than any soap opera could be…you just can’t make this stuff up.
what a send off for Parnell, now he’s a lame duck. guess that means she doesn’t think to much of Parnell. Shame on you Missy Quittybutt.
No idea if Parnell will be a half decent governor, but at least he knows how to behave in public. And that in itself, I’m sure, will be a relief.
Crystalwolf @48
LOL! You are wonderful! Tell us how you really feel!
Thank you Alaska Don!
I walked around a great deal and took pictures from several angles. I would say for sure there was over 5000 people though many did not gather around to hear the speech.
I just love her “I am not gonna be a Lame Duck I am better than that”
“here Sean You do it”
If I was Sean Parnell I would tell her to F*#% Off!
Don’t you worry crystalwolf, her days of fame are numbered. The intellectual faction of the party turned on her awhile back. I felt like you when I read that comment, sort of like “how could someone think that a box of rocks could be elected to the highest position in our great country?” We did learn from the bush debacle, so just ignore the fearmongering, haven’t we all had enough of that?
#32 honestyinGov Says:
July 27th, 2009 at 6:30 PM
The rude and totally classless way SP acted is obvious. The Alaska Standard posted a story about a very classy lady who has seen every AK Governor in History sworn and was there in Fairbanks to witness this one as well. Hear her opinions.
http://www.thealaskastandard.com/
– – – –
Thanks Honesty! That was well worth reading! I had wondered if the fact it was a “picnic” meant that Alaskans took it for a more casual event, like with $P’s blue jeans.
But, this blog article gives a better perspective. Even the “group of military wives, all of whom had photographs of their overseas servicemen with Palin,, hoping for an autograph.” didn’t even warrant a second glance from the rude ex-GINO.
Lori in Los Angeles Says:
July 27th, 2009 at 7:30 PM
crystalwolf – I think you are right. A FOX poll (FOX!) had only 6% responding that SHE should be President. The highest % (34%) said she should be a homemaker. To see that on a FOX poll was a joy. I would just love to see an indictment, I admit it. Being led off in handcuffs (ala Blago) would be so deserved. Let her be the ultimate victim and martyr to those in the sea of pee.
People opine that this would be so terrible for her young children, but I do not agree – plenty of relatives and big sisters to care for them – and how much attention does she give them anyway? It is all about HER, and the poor little ones do not need the pain of a narcissistic mom.
~~~~~~~~
Yes matching bracelets 🙂
She has aunts and Willow and Bristol have been mothering for years. Did you see Trig with NO Shoes on??? Please.
No she needs jail, I have my own theory why Mr. Hair did not want to quit his corrections job….
Maybe wants to make sure someone gets the Paris hilton treatment while in Jail?
We all know How gruesome and ugly and filthy Alaskan Jails are. Wouldn’t want someone in a nasty ass cell full of MRSA. And that nice shiny Prison being built outside of ‘silla? They build stuff real fast now a days and especially in ‘silla where there are no building permits, doncha know.
I’d laugh if it was 2000 people–the Nanooks (hockey team) get more gathered in one spot when its 40 below than old SP can gather on a sunny day in Fairbanks. I think the Carlson Center max is 4500–did it seem like that many people?
Oh and Fox News was at the University all day today sitting at the pullout on the West Ridge. They told me they were doing a recap of the events of yesterday to make sure everyone would see it. I joked with them that we thought they thought Mt. Palin was erupting (as a 60,000 acre fire burned giant plumes in the air behind them).
I was there, but it didn’t feel like 5000 people to me. It seemed like 2000 but who knows. Granted I only came for the speech part and not for the free food part.
I was standing by the quit baby quit signs and the funny thing was there was a whole group of people around us not clapping. It warmed my heart even if that mean sourdough did come up and use vulgar language to my daughter afterward. It blows my mind that she simultaneously praised free speech, then claimed heckling (more like criticism) was why she was getting out. Her voice got that Sarah-typical high victim lilt to it at that time.
I liked the “Flaking Out is a Sarah-nominal experience” sign. I thought also there seemed to be as many if not more anti-signs as some of the proPalin signs were brought in clearly in response to the anti-signs.
Hit send too soon – and it was just the absolute rudeness to leave before Parnell’s swearing in.
crystalwolf – I think you are right. A FOX poll (FOX!) had only 6% responding that SHE should be President. The highest % (34%) said she should be a homemaker. To see that on a FOX poll was a joy. I would just love to see an indictment, I admit it. Being led off in handcuffs (ala Blago) would be so deserved. Let her be the ultimate victim and martyr to those in the sea of pee.
People opine that this would be so terrible for her young children, but I do not agree – plenty of relatives and big sisters to care for them – and how much attention does she give them anyway? It is all about HER, and the poor little ones do not need the pain of a narcissistic mom.
Thanks AK Don for the great write up.
RRH – You did good!!
Mudflatter Alaska Don, thank you for sharing your great narrative of The Event. Applause…….
#49 Rubber Room Hotel:
What a story, and I am glad you changed hotels. I would have changed too.
When they get religion they just won’t listen to reason. Sarah has a lot of followers that hope for a better life through her, but they will be the ones to suffer most. It is very sad to see.
Lainey Says:
July 27th, 2009 at 7:22 PM
@crystalwolf aka caligrl
snap…you tell ‘em girl! You know I agree with all those facts!
~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks Lainey 8)
It seems to me if you are going to disgrace yourself and disgrace the state of Alaska by quitting the Governorship that you should also forgo the title. How about Sarah Palin ex mayor of Wasilla? Wouldn’t it be interesting to know all of the things she pulled while she reigned supreme over the tiny hamlet of Wasilla? She by no means deserves to be called ex-governor of Alaska. She should not be forded that respect and her name should be expunged from the record….
@crystalwolf aka caligrl
snap…you tell ’em girl! You know I agree with all those facts!
And yes the classless pig was wearing JEANS! Trig was BAREFOOT!
http://www.daylife.com/photo/0gyg8cMgOf6v1.
Alaska Do , Great job. wish I had known another mudflatter was there.
I really have to say that listening to Palin made me physically ill.
Right before I left to head out to the QuitPic I had a chat with the owner of the hotel I had been staying at all week. I have been staying there for many years 1) because it is cheep 2) because it is a family business. I asked her a few questions about Pioneer Park and if I could take my two wind up dogs with me. (toy poodle and shizu)
I was a little worried about them with the crowds (turns out they fared better than me). I ended up hearing how is was so sad that Sarah had been hounded out of office by the horrible opposition research, and all those horrible bloggers.
I have been staying at this hotel for about 20 years so I really did not respond to much until she said it was so wrong for people to pick on her children. At that point my ears started ringing and I knew that I was gonna blow if I did not leave soon. But it continued, I asked if she stood up for Amy Carter when she was maligned by people or Chelsea Clinton when she was picked on? Even Patty davis took some pretty hard hits.Oh I never heard that happen. I asked when Hillary Clinton was running for president did you think it was alright for people to state that Hillary was pimping out Chelsea? Again she says that never happened. The whole time the owner was sitting on the couch in the Lobby next to a very sweet looking little old lady. This little old lady pats the owners hand and says yes dear those things did happen. Then the old lady askes me what do you think about this Obama birth certificate thing? The hotel owner pipes up well I don’t think it is real I saw it on a web site. I stood there for a minute and thought about how I would reply. I said well first Obama has had a passport for many years he got it when he was a little boy I am guessing to get an American passport he would need a valid birth certificate. Then I said that I have a lot of faith in out Secret Service and that I am sure they did plenty of vetting of Obama. Then I said that I thought that the whole thing was some of the GOP trying to distract from the fact that there party is falling apart at the seams and that they have no true ideas. At that the little old lady looked at me and winked, I said well I have to go.
I went over to Pioneer Park watched the spectacle came back to my room and attempted to send some stuff to AKM, the internet kept going on and off and then stayed off.
This morning I got up and changed hotels.
Thanks Alaska Don for your Boots on the ground report 😀
Presbyterian Gal Says:
July 27th, 2009 at 5:46 PM
I hate to tell ya. She’s going to run in 2012 and may actually win. She’s got a lot of money behind her and whole lot of powerful rich right wing loonie toons. Plus enough media to keep her on air.
Between now and ‘12, if you don’t want her in the game, energy has to switch from keeping her in front of people, even if it’s negative, and finding an alternative to tout….really loudly. Either Obama or somebody. Anybody but Ms. 2-1/2 years.
New Zealand is looking more attractive every day.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NO!
She will be takin’ down soon. She has too many skeletons in her closet and to much sh!t she’s up to her tattoo’d eyebrows in it.
And there is a waiting indictment. I’ve heard mention of it and and truly believe it to be imminent. How can you try to freak us out with this talk? She didn’t get elected in Nov. and she isn’t even going to make it to the primaries.
She’s a greedy grifting liar, and she’s “stepped” on too many toes.
I refuse to listen to fearmongering BS about her even being anything but a joke! I don’t know what channel you watch but the channel I watched they could barely contain their laughter and scorn for her and Her speech/reasons for QUITTING.
She really doesn’t have all that much money behind her and what she does will vanish when She goes *Boom* (iceberg)
We/Alaskans need to bring her debacles to light. Shannyn did a good job tonight by mentioning the “Daniels report” Everybody will be googling it and learn about the Slush fund which Shannyn also mentioned, the lies by Kristin Cole that Buttercup didn’t know ( thank you notes sent out) yes Shannyn got out alot. And that has to continue. She is nothing now. Not a big bad gov. She is nobody. A Quitter. A Bitter Quitter!!!! A Liar. I hope the special session Impeaches her or censures her for dereliction of duty. All she has done is Photo op and acted unethically.
Wonderful article Alaska Don. Good job and thank you.
Palin supporters like to compare her to Reagan when in fact she is more like Nixon. Nixon was a mean, vindictive man who sought to bring his enemies
to their knees. Palin, like Nixon, is not above lying for personal benefit nor willing to accept any personal responsibility for wrong doing.
As much as we laugh and scoff at Palin, remember that 6 years after Nixon lost his bid to become governor of CA, and most had politically written him off; Nixon was sworn in as the 37th President of the United States. Palin like Nixon knows how to use and does not hesitate to use the “mobilization of resentments” to get her base riled up.
We should take the time to celebrate, but we must continue to report on Palin’s lies. We must also follow our leaders better and use the power of the internet to inform others of the good work they are doing to unite not divide the country.
So, yes, I for one am afraid of SP becoming President. She has a fanatical
base that believes she can soar… down the highways of Alaska right into the
Oval Office. We must remain vigilant or one day we well may be watching the
swearing in of Sarah Palin as President. I find that thought repugnant and will do all I can to prevent that from happening.
We must watch Palin without bestowing too much power upon her. I don’t advocate that we blindly endorse everything Obama does, but we must make
sure his message of a united country stays in the forefront.
You did good Alaska Don…Also so many thanks to all the Alaska bloggers that exposed her (sp) for wht she really is..She’s fair game now soooo we’ll see how this all plays out…
Laughed til I cried, if you missed the Daily Show, I’m sure Gryphen will have a link up tomorrow. Jason Jones antics at the Fairbanks picnic were hysterical.
Alaska Don – Thank you so much for the first hand report! Wow – small world! You walked from the neighborhood I grew up in! Thank you for also including the Alaskaland reference. I worked (and played) there many years ago when it was still called Alaskaland – haven’t gotten use to the new name.
You mean you didn’t want to see the big wild good soaring teeming wildlife there on the edge of the highway? I hear they’re rushing and carving and soaring under the great north star! 😉 AKM
———————————————————–
Yes, the 7-hour drive to Fairbanks IS breathtaking, after 6 1/2 hours of answering “Are we there yet?” from my kids takes my breath away!
Wildlife? Are you referring to the bear in my backyard or the moose cow and calf in my front yard?
It’s freaky when you write Palinesque. 😉
Jon Stewart is a must see tonight. Destroying her!
@ #26 Lori: “Who is the guy in the 6th photo who looks like he has nodded off? Joe Schmidt?”
That’s Senator Gene Therriault (R. North Pole), who was the emcee. He’s one of the four or five state senators who won’t play nice with the rest of the senate and join the bipartisian coalition. I don’t like his politics at all, but the guy carries himself with dignity, he’s soft-spoken, he’s smart & he’s a hell of a snappy dresser. He used to be the President of the Senate.
Thank you, Alaska Don, for the report. I was going to drive up, but decided that 24 hours driving plus Palin in person, all in three days, was more than I could handle.
Carl Bernstein nails the Failed One:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/27/carl-bernstein-on-sarah-p_n_245854.html
Journalist Carl Bernstein joined the “Morning Joe” panel to discuss Sarah Palin formally relinquishing the governorship of Alaska yesterday.
And he did not mince words regarding her fitness for national office, calling Palin “ignorant” and a “demagogue.”
Anyone here ever heard of Wordle? http://www.wordle.net
Anyways it’s a program that generates word pictures based on the frequency of words within the text you provide it.
I tried it with Palin’s word salad from yesterday…take a look for fun:
This first one takes all of the common words out:
http://www.wordle.net/gallery/wrdl/1018458/Palin%27s_Quitstock_speech_text_07-26-09
The second one does not:
http://www.wordle.net/gallery/wrdl/1018464/Palin%27s_quitstock_speech_07-26-09
Funfacts:
14 sentences started with ‘And’
6% of her speech was the word ‘and’ or ‘And’
Jason
My goodness, I forgot to thank you, Alaska Don for the most EXCELLENT coverage and write-up. I nominate you for the (hopefully) annual “Boots on The Ground” awards 2009. Great job! In the name of our soldiers, thank you!
Un-frickin’ believable the way $P and Todd dressed for this. A suit jacket and jeans? A fleece vest and jeans? Are you kidding me? Do they think that a corsage as big as her head and a boutineer make up for their poor taste? How completely disrespectful to the Parnells. I feel rather sorry for Gov. Parnell and his wife. $P just treated them like the poor relations. Well, what can you expect from a hillbilly from Waaah See Ya!
She’s a hick. Doesn’t know she should have shown respect for the new gov.
Her MO:
FU AK, it’s all about me.
Miss Congeniality
And the dopes fall for it. And rich old GOP dopes think she’s gonna run away with them, but she’s just gonna pick their pockets and clean out there bank accounts.
Definitely blue jeans, Nan. Not to defend her or anything, but I’ve sometimes worn jeans with a navy blue sport coat as my “formal” attire, including to my own brother’s funeral. Living out in the weeds, we do have a different sense of style than in the capitols of commerce and government… 😉
I just went to double check the 6th picture (someone wondered who the nodder-off might be), and realized something. It really does look like $P *was* wearing blue jeans under that spiffy black jacket!
I have to admit, I thought it was a black pantsuit, but in that picture, don’t those “slacks” look blue-ish? Like dark blue blue jeans?
Yes, I’d heard it was blue jeans, but I just didn’t see it (small tv here, not HD, either), and didn’t put a lot of stock in it (blue jeans). I hereby apologize to all that I doubted
My gawd, can’t you just see her at a State dinner? omg.
Thanks to all of you who described, and recorded for posterity, the events of the last few days. It taught me a lot about Alaska I didn’t know before, esp. that there are people like you who really do love this country, its Constitution, and laws, and what we stand for, as well as AK itself, a truly beautiful state. I hope you can always maintain its beauty and “call of the wild.”
Believe me, down here in NC, except for a few nutbags, we’re already beginning to say, Sarah who?
While waiting in line at the bank today, I was watching CNN on the bank’s TV…when the palin segment started, me and the guy in front of me looked at each other, paused, then started to laugh out loud…..see? what does that tell ya’, palin? you’re a joke! …always have been. It was a classic moment with a stranger.
# 24
Kath the Scrappy from Seattle Says:
July 27th, 2009 at 6:00 PM
Outstanding job Alaska Don, excellent writeup w/pics! Thank YOU, felt almost like I was there.
How rude that $P just hauled a$$, leaving Parnell to talk to a smaller audience. He respectfully sat in the suit & tie (in the heat) for HER word salad, which must have felt like pure torture. But, then again, nobody ever claimed $P had any “fetching up” as my Mom used to say.
—————————————
The rude and totally classless way SP acted is obvious. The Alaska Standard posted a story about a very classy lady who has seen every AK Governor in History sworn and was there in Fairbanks to witness this one as well. Hear her opinions.
http://www.thealaskastandard.com/
Buttercup may run in 2012, but she would be broken before the primaries were over. The criticism and merciless lying and deceptive ads( that would show her caught up in lies and fabrications) that would be put out by her opponents about Buttercup would send her whining, crying and imploding. Not to mention, having to debate with anyone of intelligence. Nope, running would put far too much light on her and she is a shroud of secrets and wants to stay that way. Now what she will do is to keep hope alive for the cpeers and pretend she is going to run to keep the funds flowing in. JMO!!
My apologies Alaska Don, I was so enamored with Jason Jones that I forgot to properly thank you for your write-up. We toyed with the idea of attending but the 7-hour drive didn’t appeal to us. Been there, done that, didn’t want to do it again. Many thanks Don!
You mean you didn’t want to see the big wild good soaring teeming wildlife there on the edge of the highway? I hear they’re rushing and carving and soaring under the great north star! 😉 AKM
alaska don..excellent reporting. i could almost smell the hotdogs. thanks for all you had to endure and the great pics.
I’ve got Palin burnout but, then again, I seem to tune in to any chatter about her. Which is why the MSM keeps putting her on the front page. It’s time for a moratorium, or a boycott of all things Palin. If we don’t tune in for the latest Palin news then the MSM won’t bother with her. I’m not suggesting we stop blogging because we need to stay current and correct the record where needed (plus we must also monitor what she’s up to because she is a sneaky little thing). But if stories about her no longer sell, then the media will be done with her. She lives for media attention, so in effect it would be like taking away her food supply …and if we deny her the nourishment that keeps her in our faces then she might finally be relegated to yesterday’s news and go the way of Ross Perot and John Anderson to name just a couple.
Thanks for the write up. I could only stand the Anchorage crowd for about 15 minutes. I appreciate others with stronger stomachs.
Her highness leaving as soon as Parnell started to speak reminds me of those parents who attend a music recital or school performance and leave half way through because their child has finished. They care only about themselves. Buttercup is like that too. Also.
Who is the guy in the 6th photo who looks like he has nodded off? Joe Schmidt?
MSNBC used their figures of 5000 in attendence; however, yesterday, CNN guy there said around 2,000. Likely more than that, but don’t forget it is annual event—and free food.
Outstanding job Alaska Don, excellent writeup w/pics! Thank YOU, felt almost like I was there.
How rude that $P just hauled a$$, leaving Parnell to talk to a smaller audience. He respectfully sat in the suit & tie (in the heat) for HER word salad, which must have felt like pure torture. But, then again, nobody ever claimed $P had any “fetching up” as my Mom used to say.
Great job, Alaska Don! I especially enjoyed your summaries of the word salad.
She’s may be planning to run in 2012, but I do not see how she even makes it through the primaries. I don’t see how she has the stamina for that (it would be too much like work). And there will be knives out for her in the GOP as well.
Thank you, Alaska Don for the moment by moment. You have given us a real sense of what it must have been like to be there in the crowd.
How unspeakably rude she was to walk off like that, but, as we have learned, typical. It IS, after all, all about Sarah. Quitter.
I couldn’t agree more with what Ennealogic said. (I couldn’t have said it better either). Citizen reporters and bloggers are what will ultimately keep our media and our politicians in check.
Alaska Don, thank you so much for the effort to put this live story together for us!
I have been totally enamored of the Internet since the WWW was just an infant and there was a book you could buy that listed the URLs of the ~100 known Web sites at the time. As technology advanced over the last 15 years, I’ve become increasingly excited about our ability to learn what was really happening in the world, as long as someone there had a computer and a connection and could share that information with us. People like Don and so many others serve as our eyes where we would otherwise be blind.
Citizen reporters are now invaluable and greatly appreciated. You betcha.
Re: trotting of the stage before Parnell spoke – just too rude for words.
According to the talking heads today she is practically in the white house because people adore her. I want to vomit.
Don’t be jones’ing Lisa, Jason. Amazing how the palinistas cannot think when the word salad isn’t keeping their semi-minds occupied.
Great narrative Alaska Don! It must have been torture to sit through that so thanks for doing it and sharing it with all of us! Your dry sense of humor resonates well with me. LOL! Your comments on her speech are spot on. Thanks for the great pics and for sharing!
another great write up, thank you Don, hope your ears didn’t bleed to much, at least we had the tv to buffer our ears, but you had to take it straight on.
It is mind-boggling that the AK residents, for the most part, worship and adore her. They hear the buzz words, like”our soldiers,” “patriotism,” and “freedom,” and cheer her – thinking she is making sense. THANK YOU AKM and the mudflatters for being there – though out-numbered, you were heard loud and clear. I hope this is not too OT, but it explains Palin and how/why those sheep in the audience react to her (from the wonderful REAL JOURNALIST Carl Bernstein):
“Journalist Carl Bernstein joined the ‘Morning Joe’ panel to discuss Sarah Palin formally relinquishing the governorship of Alaska yesterday.
And he did not mince words regarding her fitness for national office, calling Palin “ignorant” and a “demagogue.”
Demagogy (also demagoguery) (Ancient Greek δημαγωγία, from δῆμος dēmos “people” and ἄγειν agein “to lead”) is a strategy for gaining political power by appealing to the prejudices, emotions, fears and expectations of the public — typically via impassioned rhetoric and propaganda, and often using nationalist, populist or religious themes. The term was used for the first time by Aristophanes in his satire against the demagogue Cleon.
Thanks Alaska Don.
Many thanks, Alaska Don.
FYI:
I had posted this on the Open thread about a half hour ago.
On CNN AC 360—–Topic -Sarah Palin
Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin gave her final speech as Alaska’s governor Sunday before stepping down from her post, telling a Fairbanks crowd that she is resigning “to chart a new course to advance the state.”
Tune in tonight, Monday, July 27 at 10 p.m.
Oooh, the Daily Show is going to be FUN!
wonderful reporting as usual
great pictures
Thank you all for giving us the true story. Just reading up on this is exhausting!
did Jason have yellow boots on?
Thanks for the walking-with-you words describing Sarah Palin’s abdication ceremony. I wonder how Gov. Sean Parnell will handle the rest of Ms. Palin’s quitcher-term?
Please, AKM (and other AK Bloggers), keep us ‘flatters up to date. We do appreciate y’all’s ‘boots on the ground’ teaching and learning monologues AND the wonderful participation of the mighty men and women who comment and inform. Thanks again!
Thanks. Nice to get a feel for what it was like to be there. Interesting that Sarah left as soon as her moment in the spotlight was over.
She did that in Anchorage too. Parnell took the mic and she just marched off the stage and took half the crowd with her to the hamburger line. AKM
The daily shows will be good.. glad to Jason there..
Love Jason Jones.
Would have been worth the air fare just to chat with him.
🙁