Posted by The Mudflats on May 11, 2009 · 46 Comments
So, here’s the scenario: Sarah Palin praises the Obama administration. Yes, this has actually happened. Palin did it once before, when she praised Obama’s energy plan. But that was before her nomination as the Republican Vice Presidential candidate, after which she did a turnabout quicker than you can say “Drill, Baby Drill!” But now it has happened again. And it means that either Sarah Palin has suddenly been struck on the head by a blunt object, rendering her capable of siding with someone who is not only on the other side, but also a “fed”, or it means that the Obama administration…
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Category Alaska, Barack Obama, Environment, Sarah Palin, Skulduggery, Strategery · Tags arctic ice, climate change, Department of the Interior, endangered species act, global warming, Ken Salazar, Obama polar bears, Palin polar bears, polar bears, Sarah Palin
Posted by The Mudflats on May 11, 2009 · 112 Comments
Here’s an interesting little story. There is cleavage in the story, but the point of the story isn’t really about cleavage. I figured I’d just get that out of the way right off the bat and come back to it later to illustrate a point. The players in this little story are Mike Nizich, Governor Palin’s Chief of Staff; Annette Kreitzer, Commissioner of the Department of Administration, and citizen watchdog Andree MacLeod. Andree McLeod has filed several ethics complaints against the Governor in the past few months. She’s also filed a public records request that asks the state to turn over a…
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Posted by The Mudflats on May 9, 2009 · 66 Comments
The First Dude’s East Coast Tour continues. Tonight, he was the guest of Fox News at the White House Correspondents Dinner. Wanda Sykes was the roaster du soir. The cameras missed the money shot. Todd Palin was nowhere to be seen when this little zinger came: Governor Palin…she’s not here tonight. She pulled out at the last minute. You know, somebody should tell her that’s not really how you practice abstinence. (audience laughs, gasps and says ooooooo) Oh, shut up. Come on, you’re going to be telling that one tomorrow. (laughter) [Open Thread is still active for off-topic posts]
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Category Barack Obama, Humor, Sarah Palin, Todd Palin, Uncategorized · Tags Barack Obama, Sarah Palin, Todd Palin, Todd Palin whitehouse dinner, Wanda Sykes, Whitehouse correspondents dinner, Whitehouse dinner
Posted by The Mudflats on May 9, 2009 · 77 Comments
When I heard that Sarah Palin was going to be at an Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute event in New York City, I wished very loudly that there would be a Mudflatter present at the event who could serve as a roving reporter/Mudspy. I’ll have to remember to wish like that more often because I received an email from just such a person – a NY Mudpuppy who was willing to write up an account of the event! Much to my dismay, the governor cancelled her appearance. I’m starting to think if the governor was a racehorse, and her appearance at an event…
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Posted by The Mudflats on May 8, 2009 · 127 Comments
(Imagine a hilariously funny graphic that sadly doesn’t exist, of Snidely Whiplash doing a happy dance here) This just in…. Ethics complaint #12 (that we know of) against Sarah Palin which alleged that SarahPAC, the governor’s political action committee was itself a violation of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act was dismissed today. The .pdf of the Personnel Board’s decision, via Independent Counsel Tom Daniel is HERE ethicscomplaintdismissal The board stated that there was no basis to conclude that the Governor used her office to create the PAC. So, this ethics complaint that was filed on April 22 has been…
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Posted by The Mudflats on May 8, 2009 · 80 Comments
You know….sometimes when I type headlines, I really really wish they weren’t true. I cannot emphasize enough how much that is the case in this instance. No matter how much I bang my head on the desk, this guy just won’t go away. First let me start with a disclaimer. Perhaps I should have said “former dog barbecueing jew counter” because those things happened a long time ago. So, you know… if you’re inclined, you can just move beyond that fact and let bygones be bygones. Hey, we all did crazy stuff in our youth. I’m sure there are many former dog…
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Category Baffle it, Election 2012, Republicans, Rural Issues, Sarah Palin, Whackjobbery · Tags Palin Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, Palin Cancels trip, Palin Malek, Palin Republican Governors Association, Palin Whitehouse Correspondents Dinner, Sarah Palin Fred Malek
Posted by The Mudflats on May 8, 2009 · 59 Comments
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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Category Alaska, Alaska Legislature, Barack Obama, Don Young, Election 2012, Environment, John McCain, Lisa Murkowski, Mark Begich, Republicans, Rural Issues, Sarah Palin, Strategery, Ted Stevens, Uncategorized · Tags Alaska budget cuts, Denali Commission, Don Young, Federal budget Alaska, Lisa Murkowski, Mark Begich, Palin energy, Palin stimulus, Sarah Palin
Posted by The Mudflats on May 7, 2009 · 141 Comments
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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Posted by The Mudflats on May 6, 2009 · 212 Comments
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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Posted by The Mudflats on May 5, 2009 · 112 Comments
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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