Do Alaskans Like Fish More than Pot?
Me: Hey, Alaska! Alaska: WHAT? We’re busy fishing. Me: Just a couple quick questions… you can keep your line in the water. Alaska: Make it fast, the silvers are running. I don’t want to get distracted. Me: Would you rather have more money in the coffers of the state, or make sure you always have fish? Alaska: Fish. Me: Would you rather have people earning more money and boosting the economy, or make sure people can earn a living fishing. Alaska: Fishing. Me: Would you rather smoke pot, or salmon? Alaska: I can’t do both? Me: No. Alaska: OK, salmon….
Palin: In or Out, or In… Or Out. Maybe.
In the never ending edge-of-your-seat boredom that is Sarah Palin’s future “political career,” we’ve got some hot breaking news! Remember how she wasn’t considering a senate run in Alaska? Then, she was… unless someone other than Joe Miller and Mead Treadwell stepped up to run. Nobody has. Still just them. Yet now she says she currently has no plans to run. Someone else can do it. But she’s also not ruling anything out. She’s not closing the door. Back in the day, an open door was God’s message to “plow through.” Now, it’s merely an option. It’s just there, open,…
Parnell & Crew “Summit” Mt. Hypocrisy
Two weeks ago I wrote about the upcoming, state-sponsored “Federal Overreach Summit.” Well, Alaska, they dug to the bottom of the barrel and managed to make a meeting of it — trotting out all the usual tea party nonsense about how tapping Alaska resources without having to answer to the feds on environmental issues is the embodiment of democracy. But this summit wasn’t just a pathway to pillaging resources. It was a dog-whistle concert for every wing nut they could get in the door. The governor’s policy director, Randy Ruaro, said there had been a funding request for “proactive science.”…
Walker/Wielechowski – Right for Alaska
We like Sen. Hollis French, and respect him. He’s been an outstanding legislator. We think he’d make a good governor, and have donated to and voted for him in the past. Our issue with the senator’s contemplation of another gubernatorial run is not the candidate, but the fact that the candidate cannot and will not be elected governor. The problem is math. Sen. French retained his own state senate seat in his newly drawn district by the skin of his teeth. The statewide political terrain is far less friendly to him than West Anchorage. The far right made French the…
Walker & Wielechowski – Alaska First
It’s summer. I don’t watch TV in the summer. I fish. So I first heard about the Domino’s ad, “powered by pizza,” with its slam on halibut, by reading the Mudflats blog. Yes, I know, Domino’s “thought halibut was a funny word.” The ad shows a lonely man in a dark room spitting halibut into a pie plate as the announcer says, “No one ever had a world-changing idea over halibut. NO way…” Having just returned from my hometown, the “Halibut Capital of the World,” Homer, Alaska, I had almost 20 pounds of fresh halibut fillets on ice. (Thanks, Pop!)…
Sarah v. Hillary & 4 Other Reasons to Love Alaska
I admit, as much as I love Alaska, there have been times I’ve wanted to grab it by the panhandle and shake the stuffing out of it. Today is not one of those days. Here are 5 reasons to fall in love with the Great Land all over again… *swoon* 1) Hillary Clinton could win Imagine if you will, Hillary Clinton running for President in 2016. This is reasonably likely to happen, yes? So, what would Alaska do? Is there some scenario you can think of where Hillary Clinton might take Alaska in a Presidential election? Mind you, this is a…
What are Republicans Doing to Themselves?!
The Republican Party, after crushing defeats in the last two Presidential elections, and seeing newly elected members of Congress display racial intolerance, homophobia, and misogyny the likes of which have not been seen in recent history, has had to really sit down and do some soul searching. To their credit, Republican voters seem to have given some real thought to the condition of the not-so-Grand Old Party, and how it might be changed as they move forward to remain relevant, and serve the will of the majority in an evolving America. src=”http://ap.lijit.com///www/delivery/fpi.js#?z=186829&u=themudflats&width=300&height=250″> In that spirit, they’ve decided that Republicans simply…
Sarah Palin Top Choice for Senate?!
Stay calm. Just sit for a minute. If you’re an Alaskan, do not start loading up the motorhome for your political asylum road trip to Canada. If you are from the Lower 48, do not stop reading here and put a big red Sharpied ‘X’ over Alaska on your desktop globe. Let me explain. A few weeks ago, the ex-half-governor unhinged her maw, and some words fell out. Seemingly, she is considering a run for the U.S. Senate against incumbent Democrat Mark Begich. Pollsters tilted their heads to the side like a dog who hears a whistle. Then they got…
WE DID IT, ALASKA! Oil Giveaway on the Ballot.
Moments ago, the Alaska Division of Elections announced that they had received enough valid voter signatures to put the question of repealing SB21, the massive giveaway of state money to oil companies, on the primary ballot in August of 2014. After achieving his stated goal of a Republican majority in the State House and Senate (albeit using redistricting lines later found to be unconstitutional), Governor Sean Parnell got the vote he wanted in the 2013 legislative session. The vote in the Senate was made possible by two legislators who are literally employed by ConocoPhillips. Last month, Parnell signed into…
“Second Battle for Statehood” A Mudflats Video Report
Senator Bill Wielechowski called the effort to repeal Gov. Sean Parnell’s massive giveaway to oil companies “the second battle for statehood.” Alaska navigated its first battle over fish, and now must again rise to assert primacy over the rights to its resources. This time, it’s Alaska’s oil and gas wealth at stake. The Mudflats was there on the historic day that more than 50,000 signatures were submitted to put the repeal on the ballot. Here’s our report.