Open Thread – Self Portrait
Self portrait in Rachel Maddow’s monitor…
More to come!
January 2, 2025
Thursday, August 3, 2023
The Quitter Returns! -Monday, March 21, 2022
Putting the goober in gubernatorial -Friday, January 28, 2022
Self portrait in Rachel Maddow’s monitor…
More to come!
Interesting. The Anchorage Daily News is suppressing particular posts/posters in the comment sections on each of the Murkowski articles. It’s been that way for several days, so last night a bunch of us got together to test it.
Using particular Discus profiles, we each attempted to add different posts. All polite, well-considered, analytical in content — no snarkiness, nothing at all personal. Each time the posts were swallowed up by “moderator” and never posted. We tried changing words, shortening, posting in sections to see if we could figure out which words were targeted. No success. Nothing was posted.
That’s okay, they do own it. They can restrict and censor whatever they choose. It’s just odd that journalism is censoring public opinion.
For satisfaction’s sake, here’s one of the posts. You decide.
“It really bothers me that she looks angry at everyone, not just at Joe. Angry, defensive, whiny, and entitled. She’s mad because she feels let down? We all owe her something? I am particularly turned off by words coming out of her mouth and her supporters in the last few days: “led Alaska” and “governed Alaska”. Verbatim. More than once. Uh, okay.
We do have her record. If you look at nothing else, it reflects that she votes with her party. The one she’s going to caucus with when she gets back.
Some of you will feel that that suits Alaska’s needs and interests just fine. Great. Vote for her – you guys are the only ones getting what you want and you’re a very tiny group.
The rest of us feel differently, to different degrees; all of us with some sense of priorities of our own. We represent a diverse Alaska. For real, not political rhetoric. She will not please all of us. Neither will Mark Begich or Scott McAdams. Neither did Ted Stevens.
But there are particular key critical things that MOST Alaskans feel strongly about uniformly, across socioeconomic, industry, and racial backgrounds. She did not serve Alaska in those things. She served the party. Which means she served her own interests for self-preservation.
We all understand that there’s some wheelin’ and dealin’ that takes place. Quid pro quo, you gimme this one and I’ll give you that one. Negotiation and capitulation. Sacrificing this here, to get that there. We know that.
But a record that shows _everything_ along party lines means that the quid pro quo thing isn’t happening. Why? Because Stevens isn’t there?
In the end, she owes Alaska an explanation for action that she takes. She’s very light on explaining her actions. If ya vote in the Senate, it needs to be defensible. For all of them, not just Lisa. If the politician is reluctant to say, you bet there’s a reason.
Perfect example is the Department of Defense Senate vote in September, regarding “Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell”. What happened? Why? She answered some vague thing that requires a huge amount of research and digging and analyzing how what the Department of Defense is doing explains why Lisa blew it off. It was right of out of her campaign issues folder. How do I know? Because I looked.
So I did the research to figure out what the heck she was talking about. And I found out. It turns out that it wasn’t an initiative to repeal Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell.
President Obama already did by Executive Order. The vote the Senate took (that Lisa didn’t participate in), the ‘yes’ and ‘no’, was whether or not the Senate would ALLOW the repeal by presidential directive. All of them except the Republicans said, yeah, we’ll go for that. The Republicans as a unified group said absolutely not, no-way no-how are we gonna let that president do that. It wasn’t about the military, it was about the president! The Republican Party used the serious issue of the well-being of our military as a pissing contest with the president. During a time of war, no less. Lisa went along with it.
I believe that Lisa is a good person, with good intentions and a real passion for Alaska. I believe that she does know what our issues are and does care about the job she does for the state. But I also believe that she thinks she can have her cake and eat it, too. That she can play both sides and finesse/ignore her way through it. But most of us learn the hard way by 8th grade that you really can’t all the time. So you have to decide who you’re going to piss off and take a beating from. And I believe that her biggest character flaw is that she has a disconnected arrogance in the way that only privilege breeds.
This was clearly evidenced by the fact of taking 1.2 million dollars of Native Corporation PAC money. She could have graciously not accepted it, with a nod to the “100,000 shareholders and descendants they represent” and an acknowledgment of the difficult economic existence that they and so many many other Alaskans share, village and urban alike.
1.2 million spent on marketing. Glossy paper in our mailboxes. Commercials that half the state won’t even see.
The reality is that the group of Native senior leadership decision-makers that delivered that to her is no more than about 50 people. So the message that we take away is that those 50 people are that much more important to her than all the rest of us put together.
Now imagine that she had publicly refused it. Can you see the value of that as a singular example of leadership and statesmanship? Can you imagine the commendation and good press, in the state and nationally?
The marketing value of that hero’s moment, demonstrating character and selflessness, would have been a huge triumph. Something that can’t be staged by a marketing firm. She would have been embraced from one side of the state to the other. Ironically, the results to her campaign would have been worth triple that amount of money.
And that is what Jay Hammond would have done.”
Suffering from campaign fatigue? Alaska’s first Eskimo Olympic athlete supports Scott McAdams.
Please link her website and blog. She needs it.
http://www.callanx.com
http://callanx.wordpress.com/
Watching the Alaska U.S. House candidate debates on Public TV. I swear to God, all that we’d have to do to get rid of Don Young is to make every voter in this state actually sit down and watch him speak.
He is stupid beyond belief, angry, bombastic, arrogant and insulting. He’s an embarrassment to our state, and is vying for his 17th term!!
I swear, seeing Don Young speak is like watching a Saturday Night Live parody of ridiculous political candidates. Can he get any more bizarre?
Sorry for the rant….. tawny port and chocolate now at hand, and all will be well.
Don’t apologize, it was just the simple truth
He’s a snot… that’s all there is to it
Enjoy your chocolate and port
You deserve it after watching him speak
OK, now the Senatorial debates are on. Having to watch Joe Miller without the benefit of a running blog with my Mudpups is like being covered with mosquitoes and no hands to swat them. Oh, no!!!
I just realized something. I’ve had a hard time understanding what Lisa says, for a very long time. I’ve assumed all along that I just wasn’t informed enough to comprehend and that I’d have to be more current in my knowledge.
Listening to the debates in the last few days and comparing Lisa’s vernacular and expression and speaking style in a context of other speakers discussing the same things, it occurs to me that it’s not me. It’s Lisa. Or maybe a combination of how I hear things and her speaking style. Whatever.
She doesn’t articulate a point very well. She speaks well, with confidence and projection, but she cannot answer a question with a clear direct answer. Even questions that merit a short simple answer that would actually be to her advantage, she goes off in some sort of hard-to-follow spin.
I am simply disgusted that a member of the United States Congress would bring up the topic of abortion when speaking to elementary school children.
“Parents of Cincinnati elementary school students are upset over remarks made by U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt. She reportedly brought up the abortion issue in front of children as young as 6.”
She talked about how abortion involves the killing of a child before it is born…JUST the thing to discuss with first graders before sending them out to recess!
The principal sent a letter home to all the parents, explaining what had happened and warning them that their children may be asking questions. “I apologize for any confusion or fear that this may elicit on the part of your child, and for the awkward position this may put you in of introducing a difficult issue at a time that may be premature for you.”
Some of these kids were SIX-years old!!!
Sorry…I was so angry that I forgot to include the link to the story!
http://www.wlwt.com/r/25504642/detail.html
Rachel Maddow should be the queen of the world. That show was so freaking awesome.
Juneau Empire online has a pathetic story about McAdams and pathetic comments online (except one good one 🙂 )
Get on over there and help out mudpups, if you get a minute.
http://www.juneaublogger.com/updates/?p=6101
Newsweek has an article: Joe Miller’s Collapse: A Real Trend or Just Half-Baked Alaska Analysis?
http://www.newsweek.com/blogs/the-gaggle/2010/10/27/joe-miller-s-collapse-a-real-trend-or-just-half-baked-alaska-analysis.html
This article pretty much ignores McAdams and makes it seem like a Miller / Murkowski race. One comment about Miller supporters: “The people who are his hard-core supporters tune out all the bad news about him.”
That’s true that his hard-core supporters tune out the bad news about him.
That’s because it’s identity politics. He’s only a symbol standing in for them, and they see nothing to correct about their own course. Instead of electing a representative for their state, which is how most of us see it, they’re voting for themselves, at a core level that isn’t easily penetrated by reason. To admit he isn’t really trustworthy, and isn’t what he was made out to be, is subconsciously threatening. (Like some kind of complicated self-betrayal.) So they remain as stalwart as ever, to the point of feeling individually attacked by any revelation of his overall unsuitability.
Of course, some of JM’s earlier supporters are getting the message that he isn’t what they thought, and have backed away, but those are the ones who stand on their own principles and not group identity. Those folks can judge whether someone represents them or not. But if your essential base of support is identity-driven, then you don’t have to worry about losing too many people to that sort of informed judgment.
Same goes for the SP phenomenon.
Chris Matthews skewering Joe Miller’s lies and the lyin’ liar who tells them. Have a feeling KO and Maddow will mentioning Miller. Maybe even ODonnel also ,too. Feet,keep dancing…
Sullivan has some good links up today, one reminds everyone to be cautious in wishing that Palin is the GOP’s nominee by revisiting the excitement dems felt at having Angle run against Reid. With her lead in the polls it is a clear cut case of “be careful what you wish for…”
Another post is a take on the strange and unearned backlash against the President:
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/10/why-american-voters-are-suing-dr-obama.html
AKM – love the self-portrait. My favorite picture (that I took) is my self-portrait – in the mirror of the truck my dad gave to me 25+ years ago. I drove it to Alaska (the truck) with my horsetrailer with my boyfriend’s motorcycle in it – my horse was already here. Thanks for the memories!
two comics of joe-the-liar:
“Joenixon”
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_TJuI1L2MFFg/TMByjgkTGuI/AAAAAAAABOw/ZfdEZK2vXTs/s1600/joenixon.jpg
“rights”:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/10/26/913935/-BreakingMiller-admits!-Records-released!-%28updated%29
sitting on plane .
will catch up with everyone after arrive in dc
Go faunskin mudpuppy ambassador for us all!
Fawnskin, have a ball!!!
Safe travel, sane hilarity & the finest of fellowship to you both. We are with ya in spirit.
Heading to NY in the morning to stay with bubbles. Saturday will be great!!! Meanwhile I am surrounded by damp laundry, a leftover thai, cos I was too busy to cook and various other emergencies just swamped me.
Boarding now!
This ad certainly applies to Joe Miller:
http://www.babelgum.com/6003213/elect-the-willfully-ignorant.html
DD
Great Pic AKM!!
Sorry I missed seeing you! Keep up the good work!
Thought I’d repost a letter to the editor here by Elstun Lausen that I really enjoyed:
“Don’t forget what Murkowski did
I call it ‘Amlisia.” It’s a condition frequently associated with the well-known ‘Millerphobia’. This affliction strikes progressives and moderates in Alaska. They can’t remember Lisa Murkowski’s obstructionism in the Senate against all things great and small proposed by our president and Congress. They forget the scandal involving proposed amendments to the Clean Air Act tied to Southern coal lobbyists and their money. Just Google “Murkowski and Her Lobbyist Allies” by Julie Eilperin.
Progressive women drawn into “identity politics” with Lisa vs. Joe have forgotten Lisa’s votes against two qualified female Supreme Court nominees in service to the virulent anti-Obama agenda of Mitch McConnell. And under the mind-clouding spell of Millerphobia, well-meaning Lisa supporters fail to realize that Lisa’s votes since 2008 are no different than Joe’s would have been.
But I have good news for you victims of Amlisia. One good dose of McAdams on Nov. 2 and this awful, self-destructive nightmare will end.”
— Elstun Lauesen
Anchorage
Plus she is currently sending out the most creepy mailers with false and misleading graphs and poll numbers. Not earning any respect with that. She’s sinking pretty low this election.
Yeah, especially with that whole “If you’re a woman, vote for me because I’m a woman too!”
It’s sad to see her trying to play the sex card, as if this race needs to be a battle of the sexes too.
*Sigh* I am SO looking forward to this election being over with, hopefully with our guy in the seat.
That vote for a woman bs isn’t going to work in CA–just ask eMeg Whitman and her wasted millions.
And certainly not in the Fiorina/Boxer race! 🙂
Breaking: Judge rules write-in lists can’t be used.
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/10/27/5360844-judge-rules-write-in-list-cannot-be-provided-in-alaska
Headline from HuffPo: Joe Miller: I Lied.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/26/joe-miller-documents-i-lied_n_774472.html
Oh and congrats to all Jeanne, Shannyn and all you mudpuppies who got to attend. My wife and I got to watch from home and it was quite the show! 🙂
Yay! Judge grants restraining order against write-in candidate lists being provided to polling locations:
http://www.ktuu.com/news/ktuu-court-grants-restraining-order-102710,0,3665622.story
Yay. You got it first, Blooper. Now everyone go to the newspapers and comment!
Vote McAdams–the best vote and the safest vote.
Hah, thanks! 🙂
Ack! Just got a robocall from . . . .Sarah! When I heard “Heelllooooooooo Pennnnnsylvaneeea, this is Sarah Palin!” come out of my answering machine it was such a shock! I’m used to being harrassed by Tom Corbett robocalls but was not expecting hers.
That singsongy voice is the worst – so condescending. And she also urged me – “vote Tuesday or even better, vote early” – uh, sorry, Sarah, but we don’t have early voting in Pennsylvania. Someone should have told you that before you recorded the call. But I am going to vote my values, as she recommended, and vote Democrat! Also, too!
Tha’s okay if she doesn’t know you don’t have early voting – she doesn’t know your candidate is really in the East Coast. I forget – Virginia? Florida? Maybe it’s a blended-state family.
I live in Florida, and I got a robocall this evening with you-know-who screeching “Hellooo, Indiana, this is Sarah Palin!” What the frell? Can’t even get the state right? Sheesh. Sorry, but I can’t bring myself to listen to any of these calls, they’re so awful. I just hung up. Hubby and I are starting to feel besieged by all the calls – Huckabee, Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney, on and on … I only had one call for one of our Democratic candidates, and it was actually a live person! THAT was a good call!
Good luck to Scott McAdams and to all y’all in Alaska. We’ve got our own fight down here, TCW has been saying what needs to be said about that. Actually, the governor’s race, as well as the senate race, plus my own district’s house race …
Judge blocks Alaska elections office from providing list of write-in candidates
http://www.adn.com/2010/10/27/1521249/judge-blocks-alaska-elections.html#ixzz13a32o9WT
never mind the link – the headline is all that is there currently
Lovely portrait, AKM. You and Spouse looked right at home in the Taproot. See you Saturday!
AKM – did you get a chance to talk directly to Rachel while she was there? Maybe get another photo of her w/ Brian?
Yep!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aubretia/5116905318/
You were fabulous! Saw you and your DH and a few other folks we recognized! Wished we were there.
BTW, we both decided Joke didn’t really say anything; glad we weren’t the only ones who thought so.
If only Rachel Maddow could stick around and broadcast the Sarah-Burke-Miller rally tomorrow!
You’re beautiful 🙂
Inside AND out!
Palin to rally for Miller this Thursday…
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1010/44217.html
Birds of a feather….
From the Politico article: “Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe and prominent local conservative radio hosts are scheduled to join the rally via a video feed.”
As Keith put it (I’m paraphrasing), they’re not the right wing, they’re a few feathers on the very tip of the right wing!
Yeah, someone on Immoral Minority called this group of freaks the “Insane Clown Posse.” That’s the name of a band, but here that name REALLY FITS!
If she actually shows up! She has been stiffing candidates she promised to appear for all over the country,, when she hasn’t actually left them in debt for her HUGELY expensive travel!!!
Enjoyed watching the whole thing! Just gotta ask, what’s up with Joe Miller’s steepled finger thing while he was walking and talking? Does he really believe that that looks natural? I don’t care how many posts you read on the internet about how to look smart with body language, if what you are saying is ignorant gibberish, you STILL look and sound like an idiot.
I’m catching the highlights here and will look for it on the interwebz this afternoon. Love the portrait, AKM. 🙂
I’m with you, merrycricket. There is nothing Natural about Joke Miller!
(any sign of the wayward flamingos? DH Happy has the post office checking from this end, but no word yet. sigh. If they don’t make it there by Thanksgiving, I’ll send another pair, OK?) {{{{{merrycricket}}}}}
Overnighted in Lake City, taking advantage of the wi-fi, then on the road again shortly for Orlando.
See you later, sweet potaters.
thatcrowwoman
Hey,TCW, I thought of you the other night when I ran across a PBS show on crows and their amazing intelligence. I’m sure, if you didn’t catch it on broadcast, you could find it online.
Thems is rilly smart critters!!!
No sign of the pink ambassadors of giggles yet. I have the front of the house painted (just today) in anticipation of their arrival. The front door is red as can be! We had a bit of an incident here yesterday with the busy body across the street. Bit of a long story tho. The woman has some issues, that’s for sure.
I noticed that hand thing too and it made me giggle. The reason that caught my eye is because, in American Sign Language, that is a variation on the sign for……wellllll……let’s just say (in order to get through the filters) that it’s a part of a woman’s anatomy that, with his passel of kids, Miller is quite familiar with. How ironic that he should be inadvertently signing that while talking about gay rights (or lack thereof) to Rachel Maddow!
His body language aside, there is just no hiding his snarky, condescending tone of voice. Here he is, being interviewed by one of the most respected journalists in the business (who’s forgotten more about politics and government than he’ll ever know) and he’s speaking to her like she’s a child who is having trouble understanding him. Of course, it MIGHT help if he actually said something that made sense!
That man is an idiot!!! (h/t to KO)
New-low-Joe’s charade of imperial importance, coupled with the ignorant outrage of his supporters, sez it all.
Nice portrait,AKM.
Wow…even crazy Paladino isn’t into Palin:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/26/carl-paladino-doubles-dow_n_774122.html
That was great! I ended up watching Rachel (and saw you in the crowd) instead of Dancing. I know, I know – that shouldn’t be a hard choice. But I normally don’t make an exception for one of the few shows I actually watch besides some PBS favorites.