Screen Door Saturday, and a Double Dose of Rallies!
If you’re in Anchorage, or within driving distance, the downtown Park Strip is the place to be on Saturday! There’s something for everyone! ********************* The Governor’s Picnic! Yes, this is it. Anchorage’s “Screen Door” Celebration (as in, “Don’t let the screen door hit you on the way out!”) to bid adieu to the soon-to-be-ex governor and usher out the end of a very strange era that has been anything but beneficial to our state. It hasn’t even been one term, or even one year since her nomination as VP candidate, but we’ve packed in more than our share of nail…
Hey, Alaska! Palin Thinks You’re Stoopid!
It’s interesting to seethe spin coming from the Palin camp regarding the newly discovered illegality of Palin’s legal defense fund, The Alaska Fund Trust. Trustee Kristan Cole is spinning so hard in her panicky 3-page press release, you might as well just give her a funny hat and call her a whirling dervish. Part of the basis for the ethics complaint filed by local resident Kim Chatman, regards the provision of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act that talks about “the prohibition against a public officer accepting gifts that are intended to influence the performance of official duties.” This has ruffled the feathers…
Shoveling Through Kristan Cole’s Press Release…
Boots? Check. Shovel? Check. Aspirin? Check. Flask? Check. OK, looks like we’re ready to go on a field trip, and shovel our way through yesterday’s press release from Kristan Cole, trustee for The Alaska Fund Trust (aka Sarah Palin’s legal defense fund). Stick with me and don’t get separated, or we may never find you in there. It’s easy to get lost in the histrionics, the whining, and the unrelenting spin. Ready? First off, we learn that the conclusions reached by Mr. Daniel are “unprecedented in the history of our country.” Yes, never in 223 years and two weeks has there…
Alaska Fund Trust – Who Knew?
Well, the dust-storm kicked up yesterday by the leaking of the investigator’s findings regarding the Alaska Fund Trust is still raging. Presumably taken off-guard, the Palin administration and the Alaska Fund Trust have been scrambling. A three-page, single-spaced, 10 pt. type press release just came from Kristan Cole, the Trustee of the Alaska Fund Trust. This is serious stuff. The usual Palin melodrama is present in the first sentence of the release, citing “the unusual letter that was leaked yesterday, the contents of which are unprecedented in the history of our country.” This unusual letter is an investigator’s report regarding…
Sarah Palin is the Easter Bunny.
“A thorn in Governor Palin’s side.” That’s how the latest article in Vanity Fair describes Andree McLeod. In government ethics, you can be on one side or the other – the side of the government, or the side of the people. Governments tend to want to conceal, and the governed tend to want to find out what is being concealed. It’s human nature. Considering the apathy of most people when it comes to holding their government accountable, we should all be raising a glass to Andree McLeod. In many ways, she’s doing our job. That’s not to say that…
Alaska Fund BUST. The Governor’s (Il)Legal Defense Fund.
[Read this story at The Huffington Post and Buzz it Up!] The Alaska Fund Trust, the most hubristically-named piece of legal defense fundraising in the state of Alaska, has felt the sunshine of scrutiny, and it isn’t holding up too well. It seems as though the Associated Press got its mits on some interesting information involving an ethics complaint against the governor’s office that was dismissed as frivolous by the administration. After the investigation into the legality of the fund itself was completed, appearances seem to indicate that it was, indeed, a valid complaint that uncovered some unsavory legal fund…
I Think I Love Wayne Lawson.
This headline may come as a shock to my spouse, so let me say right off the bat, that I’ve never actually met him, nor do I know the inner workings of his heart. I don’t know his favorite food, or his secret childhood dreams. I would not even recognize him if I passed him on the street. (taking a big deep breath) I have a grammatical crush. It’s a little embarrassing really, but after you check out the following link, you may understand why. Before you click, if you are a word person, and if you have felt like…
Hey, Lady! Get a Blog, Already.
Is there such a thing as too much blog material? Back in the old days before Sarah Palin was on the national scene, I’d cruise around the internet to see what was happening, and when I was stricken with inspiration, I’d create a post. Sometimes they were long, sometimes short. Sometimes inspiration came right away, and sometimes I had to look around a while. I’d hit the Anchorage Daily News, and then maybe Daily Kos or Huffington Post, I’d look at what the other Alaskan Bloggers were doing… I’d zip down my blogroll, I’d check my email to see what…
New Ethics Complaint Filed Against Sarah Palin
Yup, it’s another one. I can hear the right wing side of the “chattering class” now. “What’s the matter with these people? She’s gone now! Haven’t they done enough damage? What more do they want? She’s stepped down from the governorship! Give it a rest!” Which leads me to respond to these accusations that perhaps it wasn’t about Sarah Palin after all. Maybe…just maybe…it was about the principle of the thing. (Holding my breath and waiting to hear a little ‘pling!’ as a lightbulb goes off over the collective heads of Palin supporters everywhere) (still waiting) Didn’t think so. Well,…
Screen Door Sunday is Coming…
This is it. The final week of the Palin administration. And while many Alaskans are still fans of the governor, gone are the days of 80% and 90% approval ratings. The gubernatorial vetting process ended up being done by the national media after she’d already been tapped as John McCain’s running mate, and the nation (as well as the state of Alaska) learned a lot. So now, this polarizing and divisive figurehead, known to us all as the soon-to-be-ex-two-thirds-of-one-term governor Sarah Palin has had enough. She’s packed her bags and is headed for greener pastures. So what’s a state to…