Threatened by Palin, a Blogger Speaks Out. Shannyn Moore, Meet the Press.
On the last bright sunny day of a holiday weekend that was jam-packed with unexpected politican maneuvering, blogger Shannyn Moore had the last word. She stood in front of Governor Sarah Palin’s Anchorage office, before reporters and television cameras, and read a prepared statement. On the Fourth of July, when Americans everywhere were celebrating our most sacred national holiday with parades and barbeques, Governor Sarah Palin was busy having me, Shannyn Moore, declared an Enemy of the State. In a rambling quasi-legal letter, the most powerful person in this state accused me of defaming her for pointing out the fact…
Shannyn Moore in Palin’s Crosshairs.
[A similar piece is up on The Huffington Post. This one is just for Mudflatters] Just when you thought you’d seen the back end of him, he returns; one of our favorite characters here at the Mudflats. I refer, of course, to Sarah Palin’s personal attorney, and the man in Alaska with the most dastardly sounding bad guy name ever: Thomas Van Flein. I put his last name in bold italics to remind you to pronounce it with a dastardly accent. I still don’t actually know what he looks like, but for our purposes in the past, we have imagined…
Interesting Developments…
What a weekend. Visions of hanging out at barbecues, drinking a glass of wine, lazing in the sun…. all vanished. The second biggest bombshell in recent Alaska political history hit us on Friday afternoon. Sarah Palin resigned, and plans were cancelled, and Alaska bloggers faithfully but begrudgingly returned to their keyboards, and microphones. Alaska blogger Shannyn Moore also appeared with David Schuster on MSNBC Friday night to talk about the latest developments. That’s when the soon-to-be-ex-governor went off the rails. A press release was issues, and has gotten picked up by the national media. The strange events that follow are the…
Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski Slams Palin
It’s interesting to see the reactions coming in from Alaska’s politicos to the surprise resignation of Governor Sarah Palin yesterday. But, perhaps the most surprising of all is that of Alaska’s Senior Senator, Republican Lisa Murkowski. We expect politicians to be…well…politicians. We anticipate all kinds of pussy-footing around, saying things without really saying them, and trying to offend the least number of people while saying the bare minimum to satisfly the public that they’ve actually responded. That’s why Murkowski’s response was so refreshing, an so unexpected. She said what many Alaskans, especially those who have supported Sarah Palin, are feeling….
PALIN RESIGNS
Yes, it’s true. Governor Sarah Palin, at a hastily called press conference this morning, has announced that she will be stepping down from office on July 25, and turning the reins over to Lt. Governor Sean Parnell “for the good of Alaska.” She’s turning the state over to the guy she didn’t even trust to run things during her failed VP campaign. She chose to govern by Blackberry, while simultaneously speed reading “Politics for Dummies,” making rhetoric-filled speeches to hopped up conservatives, and being a full-time mom on the campaign trail. And still she didn’t leave the state to Sean Parnell. …
Hmmmmm……
Governor Palin to Make Announcement July 3, 2009, Anchorage, Alaska – Governor Sarah Palin will make an announcement at her Wasilla home this morning. Who: Governor Sarah Palin What: Announcement When: July 3, 2009, 11:00 a.m. Where: Governor Palin’s home Wasilla
Palin is a Sitting Duck
I have to confess, I was worried there for a little while. When Rod Blagojevich hurtled on to the scene with his hair and his boundless delusional self-love, I started feeling like maybe my state wasn’t #1 anymore. And then there was Mark Sanford, who was all “holier than thou,” suddenly stealing all the headlines with his disappearing act, non-existent Appalachian Trail hike/Argentine tryst and his “rosy pink light” Harlequin Romance love letters. But today, I feel vindicated. Alaska still proudly sits in the top spot. Our governor has won the prestigious “Sitting Duck Award,” given out annually by the…
Numbers Shmumbers…
“In the past two years, the state of Alaska has spent millions of dollars processing ethics complaints, public records requests, and related lawsuits.” That was the claim coming from the office of Governor Sarah Palin, who likes to use the phrase “frivolous ethics complaints.” That was nine days ago. Today, we learn that “millions of dollars” is in fact, actually $296,000, as far as ethics complaints go. Numbers shmumbers. The complete breakdown is not yet available, but we do know this about the three spendiest ones: $187,797 stemmed from the Troopergate investigation, a good chunk of which Palin initiated herself….
The Poe-Mobile Hits the Road
I had an opportunity a few days ago to stop in at an event at the residence of Bob and Terzah Poe. Bob Poe is the only Democrat so far to officially throw his hat in the ring to run for governor in 2010. After having an “If not me, who? If not now, when?” moment, he decided to declare his candidacy. At the time, the Daily News column The Ear, said that it probably wasn’t a good idea to run for governor if the first question people asked was, “Who’s Bob Poe?” He took the point, and has spent…