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November 17, 2024

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No Time for Tuckerman -

Thursday, August 3, 2023

The Quitter Returns! -

Monday, March 21, 2022

Putting the goober in gubernatorial -

Friday, January 28, 2022

Missiles Good. Energy Efficiency Bad.

Budget cuts.  That’s where the rubber meets the road for fiscal conservatives.  Sarah Palin’s been talking a big game about fiscal conservatism.  Alaskans adored Ted Stevens and Don Young  and re-elected them for term after term after term (etc.) because they could bring home the pork, baby.  Don Young’s well-attended annual fundraiser is actually a pig roast.  On purpose.  And Alaskan pork isn’t all horrible and unfair.  We have challenges in transportation, scattered rural populations, and building infrastructure that other states cannot even fathom.  And we give a lot back to the nation in terms of mineral resources, awesome fish, and a…

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A Party’s a Party, No Matter How Small.

Oh, don’t we love the drive by cleverness of flyinureye?   I always do a little happy dance when my inbox has a special treat from the Mudflats Graphics Department. Apparently the only one who thinks Palin and her magic branding iron can turn this shrinking elephant into something other than….a shrinking elephant, is Rush Limbaugh. Discussing the Republican listening tour conducted by Former Governors Jeb Bush (FL) and Mitt Romney (MA), and House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh said yesterday that they are “embarrassed” by Sarah Palin. Alaskan progressives, perhaps, have never actually identified with Jeb…

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Palin’s Approval Rating Crashes. When Does the Burning Start?

After the last six weeks of watching the Palin train cars derail one by one, in what can only be described as agonizing political slow motion, we’ve been waiting with curiosity to see what would happen when the latest Hays Research poll came out.  The last poll numbers we had showed Palin’s approval rating at 59.8% (sum of very favorable and favorable ratings) and her approval index (very favorable minus very unfavorable) at +14. Bear in mind that at one point, before people started paying attention, her approval rating hovered a hair under 80% and her approval index was an…

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Palin Helps to Rebrand the GOP!

Get ready folks.  A bunch of conservative presidential wannabees is coming to a town near you for a warm fuzzy “listening tour.”  I can see them all now, with their elbows on the table, and their little chins cupped in their hands, heads tilted to the side and gazing into the eyes of whatever few Republicans are left in the rapidly shrinking party.  Watching the death throes of the party has been morbidly fascinating.  I guess they figured out that after 8 years of doing whatever they wanted, and the subsequent careening down the slippery slope of wingnuttery, most people weren’t…

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Ethics Complaints Against Sarah Palin – A Drama in an Undisclosed Number of Acts.

Well ethics complaints seem to be the theme of the day.  In an article on Politico, the number of ethics complaints against the Palin administration (12 or 13 that we know of) was described as “unusual”.  I don’t think many would dispute that. This means one of two things. 1)  The number of ethics complaints is a function of a whole lot of politically motivated people who have decided to create a string of bogus ethics complaints for the sole reason of taking down the governor because they hate her and they’re just bad bad people. 2)  The number of ethics…

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Ethics Complaints and the Power of Precognition

The Daily News in an op-ed piece yesterday said something interesting. Alaska citizens have a right to file ethics complaints against their elected representatives. State law guarantees it. But when Alaskans use the ethics law to score political points, they abuse that right — and may put it at risk. Score political points?  Abuse their rights as citizens?  Wow.  That’s a fairly strong accusation.  And it makes the assumption, of course, that the complaints are frivolous, and without merit.  It sounds like something we ought to know.  But how do we determine if the complaints are indeed frivolous?  Well, we could…

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Black Hat, Mint Julep, Piles of Cash and Karmic Imbalance… Alaska Meets Kentucky.

Well, don’t that beat all.  In another stunning display of “you can’t make this stuff up,” yesterday’s Kentucky Derby winner, a 50:1 longshot named Mine That Bird belongs in part to Mark Allen, son of former CEO of Veco Corp. Bill Allen. Yes, THAT Bill Allen.  The Bill Allen that copped a plea deal with the feds to turn over the likes of Vic Kohring, Pete Kott, and Ted Stevens.  That last one didn’t work out too well, but nevertheless he tried. And it doesn’t stop there.  Part of Bill Allen’s plea deal with the feds was that Mark would receive…

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Bedtime in Alaska – Odds & Ends

Don Young Twitterjacked! Oh, the Twitter fun just never ends.  Not only is the good governor tweeting up a storm on her brand new Twitter account, but so is Don Young…..or so we thought.  Turns out that according to Young’s office an imposter has been tweeting weird stuff using the name and image of Don Young, and Palin was briefly taken in and followed the scoundrel on her own Twitter account!  Now that the jig is up, he’s been un-followed.  And on an amusing note, Mudflats, too, was briefly on the governor’s “follow” list and then removed.  Interesting… The Dirty Truth About…

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Ex-ConvicTed Stevens on the Dismissal of His Case.

I thank you very much for letting me join you. I just want to make one comment. When the judge dismissed the case against me, and he said in nearly 25 years on the bench he had never seen anything approaching the mishandling and misconduct it had seen in my case. Judge Sullivan appointed a special prosecutor from outside the government to investigate the original prosecutors. The Department of Justice is appointing its own investigation of the original prosecutors. Because of those investigations of the original prosecutors that is still ongoing, I have taken the decision that I will not…

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Stevens Endorsement – Kiss of Death?

Wow.  I didn’t expect this one. ANCHORAGE, Alaska — In a poll conducted by Channel 2 News, Thursday, April 23, 2009, respondents were asked if they were more or less likely to vote for Dan Sullivan with Ted Stevens’ endorsement of Sullivan. Here is the official question and results: Are you more or less likely to vote for Dan Sullivan with Ted Stevens’ endorsement of Sullivan? More likely                   13% Less likely                  70% No change                   17% All polls conducted by Channel 2 News and KTUU.com are unscientific. I know, I know.  These kind of polls mean nothing.  I get it.  But it was…

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