Alaska Republican AWKWARD!
Republicans have called for a “Unity Celebration” in Fairbanks on the very night after the opposition Unity Ticket launched in Anchorage. Well, that’s awkward.
Walker & Mallott: Alaska’s Unity Ticket
The mood in the Quarter Deck room at Anchorage’s Hotel Captain Cook was electric. Cameras on tripods ringed the perimeter, and the rows of green chairs reserved for reporters were full. The event was being heralded as the biggest news in Alaska politics since a former governor got the VP nod from John McCain. A large red and blue sign “Walker for Governor” with the yellow stars of the Big Dipper stood in front of a lectern. Another on the wall behind, had a smaller blue sign attached to it, also with the Big Dipper, which said “Mallott for Governor.” There was…
What Could Go Wrong? This.
There’s a game most of us play. It’s called “What Could Go Wrong?!” You know, like I’m going to hand my nine year old an automatic weapon – “What Could Go Wrong?!” Or, why not go bare-headed and drive a motorcycle really fast? “What Could Go Wrong?!” Then there is the always present, Why don’t we build a giant mine at the headwaters of the largest sockeye salmon fishing run in the entire world? “What Could Go Wrong?” Many Alaskans have asked this question over the last decade regarding the proposed Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay. When the state government…
Big Brother Feels Bad. Really.
Remember 1984? The book, not the year. You probably read it in high school. It’s a dystopian novel, published in 1949, that takes place in a world of perpetual manufactured war, state sponsored torture, omnipresent and intrusive government surveillance, and propaganda posing as news, all controlled by an elite and privileged “Inner Party” bent on squashing independent thinking and dissent in order to keep itself in power. The whole shebang is controlled by a powerful, merciless entity called “Big Brother,” who may or may not be just one person. No really, it’s just a novel. The hero of the story,…
Palin & Olbermann on the R**Skins
It’s not often these days that we at The Mudflats get to write about Sarah Palin AND our old friend Keith Olbermann in the same story. It brings us back to that odd time when Palin went from being Republican nominee for Vice President of the United States, to ‘The Quitter.’ But by some magic they’ve both been talking about the same issue – the despicable name of the Washington DC football team. I’ll give you Sarah Palin’s word-salad first and then follow up with Olbermann’s fun take on the team owner Dan Snyder. Palin, ever the martyr, makes this about “the PC police” and…
Sullivan – The Deadliest Fail, Homer Edition
It’s almost become a sport now – like shooting fish in a barrel. In the primary debates, and now as we head into the general election, there is a new kind of question being presented to Senate candidates. It falls under the genre “How Alaskan are You?” In the primary debate between Mead Treadwell (the most Alaskan), Joe Miller (the next most Alaskan) and Dan Sullivan (the DC beltway guy from Ohio for whom these questions are intended) there were questions like: Have you eaten salmon this week? Have you ever been to Koyuk? Kipnuk? Kake? Will you retire in…
Wannabe for AK Senate Shoots Stuff
A DC operative from the Cleveland metro area, whose candidacy is responsible for gazillions of dollars worth of outside negative campaign ads flooding Alaska’s airwaves, is a little miffed that his opponent’s candidacy will also result in gazilions of dollars worth of negative campaign ads flooding Alaska’s airwaves. Now that the GOP establishment Senate candidate, Dan Sullivan, has dispatched with Tea Party candidate Joe Miller, and Alaska’s milquetoast Lt. Governor Mead Treadwell in the primary, he’s decided that anyone using Outside money to talk smack about his own candidacy is unacceptable. Because he doesn’t like that, and it makes him…
Top 10 Deleted GOP Sullivan Tweets!
The internet is forever… especially when you see stuff and grab it before it’s deleted. For progressives and left-leaning voters all three GOP senate candidates were nightmares on social issues. It got down to splitting hairs about which combination of mother or baby should be allowed to die while denying a medically necessary abortion. And in a state like Alaska where a rapist is allowed to sue for custody or visitation rights of his offspring when he gets out of jail (yes this is really true), you wouldn’t think anyone would want to force women to have those babies if…
Sir Patrick vs. Palin – Ice Bucket Challenge
I’ve refrained from commenting on the “Ice Bucket Challenge” until now. But I present these two, juxtaposed for your consideration. First, Sir Patrick Stewart. And now, Sarah Palin. Hers is, seemingly, inspired by his. If the class and elegance of the first were, let’s say, replaced with yammering, ghastly acting, and Doctor Pepper. And the end part which goes horribly and hilariously wrong. You may want to turn the sound down for the last few seconds, or at least watch out of the proximity of delicate stemware.
The Silver Lining on Prop 1
Congratulations, Alaska! Thirty-one percent of registered voters decided for 100 percent of us what is “best for Alaska” in an election this week. Last week I knew we were in trouble when employees of oil companies were bussed to the early polls. Buses with gift baskets and snacks. Must be nice. The election worker balked when I asked for a Republican ballot. I smiled. I voted. Voting early on Tuesday, I drove into town and kept seeing signs made of bed sheets on the overpasses. One in particular got to me. It was the eight gold stars with “Vote Yes”…