Good Tidings & Great Pain – Ch. 5, You are Bad
It’s still Christmas. 9 Ladies Dancing Day. I still have a few days to finish blogging Sarah Palin’s book. I took a little intermission, but the 12 drummers loom, and it’s time to git ‘er done. The title of Chapter 5 is “Bad News, Good News.” The last three words are unnecessary. The chapter begins with an inspirational quote. “This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.” ~Martin Luther King, Jr. This particular quote is taken from his famous “I have a dream” speech in 1963. Because when Dr….
Mayor Sullivan’s Christmas Carol
Dan Sullivan, especially during his tenure as Mayor of Anchorage, could arguably qualify as “Dickensian.” In the past, Sullivan has funneled funds to his “friend” the “Party Planner,” made sure he got paid before he started the job, and signed a Municipal check for his family trust through a fake “insurance policy.” And that was just the first year! Scrooge would be so proud! Since then, he’s helped gut the schools by slashing the budget, lowering the tax cap and charging exorbitant fees; and caused Municipal employees to abandon city service like passengers on the Titanic, through the anti-union and…
Good Tidings & Great Pain, Top 10 Atrocities Ch. 4
Yes, I’ve seen it. I have seen Dan Savage’s review of Palin’s book. It’s been sent to me on Facebook, posted to my wall, sent to the Mudflats page, emailed to me, tweeted at me, left in comments. It’s very funny. Dan Savage got off easy. That’s all I’m saying. Spoiler Alert: His husband threw the book away before he’d even gotten to Chapter 1. He wrote a review of the introduction. I wish I had Dan Savage’s husband, but Dan Savage was the better man and got him first. And so here I sit, egg nog in hand, as…
Parnell Gets Paid Back by Appointee
Hey! Here’s a little something. It’s the fastest game of connect the dots ever! Check it out. What could it be? GOP administrative hinkiness? Ethical bankruptcy? Sean Parnell asshattery? I guess we’ll just have to connect the dots and see. 1st Dot: Governor Sean Parnell apointed Tom McGrath to be a member of the State Compensation Commission. 2nd Dot: McGrath recommended giving Sean Parnell a pay raise. 3rd Dot: McGrath is holding a fundraiser for Sean Parnell. See? There he is in the right hand column, among the other ethically challenged “hosts” like Randy Reudrich, Dan Coffey, and Chris Birch. A man is known…
Tea Party X-Mas Gifts
We’ve all got one in our family. A teabagger. Outside of the John Water’s reference that makes me giggle everytime I hear the word, we all know what that means… Arguments over Obamacare, Obamaphones, Obama birth certificates and other Obama related tragedies. Unfortunately it’s the Holidays, so you’ll need to buy this lovely human being that is somehow related to you a gift. The latest Chomsky book isn’t going to work, and neither is a t-shirt from TheMudflats.net [wink]. That’s why I’ve complied a list of some sure fire gifts for that angry at the world for making him white in…
Parnell: Progressive Activist of the Year
We’re coming to the close of 2013, and top 10 lists are coming out of our ears. Top movies, albums, people (The pope! Time’s Person of the Year!). We seem to feel compelled to wrap up our year in nice little boxes. I have my own list I’d like to trot out. Hang on just a minute. Last week the governor released state revenue projections and his budget. His projections are based on the information oil companies give the state about how much of that sweet oil they plan to send down the pipeline. The administration takes those numbers and…
Casey Reynolds – Trojan Mole
Several weeks ago, an event occurred here in Anchorage that had union-hatin’, librul-bashin’, flag-huggin’, gun-totin’, tree-choppin’ conservatives blowing their weeping noses into their hankies. Casey Reynolds had disappeared. Moved out of state. Until just weeks ago, he was bloviating every morning on right-wing talk radio in Anchorage. When he wasn’t mocking public employees and union members, he was pronouncing Delaware a stand up place to do business because of all the white people, or suggesting that raping a prostitute should be viewed as more of a “theft of services.” In an age when every Republican male seems obligated to make an offensive…
The Enemies of Mandela
You can calculate the worth of a man by the number of his enemies – Gustave Flaubert Usually I would let a couple days go by before writing something like this. But I wanted to get this on the record before Sunday when so often history is rewritten on the talk shows, and behind the pulpit. Mandela will be remembered as a hero, as one of the great leaders of any race, or from any country – and rightly so. Many people more well-informed and personally attached to this great man will write his obituaries. In this place, I want to…
Hashtag Mead Treadwell Staff Fail
It’s one of the most important and highly watched Senate races in the nation. Alaska is one of five states that went for Mitt Romney in 2012, and for which there is a Democratic Senator up for re-election next year. It’s a power seat, with the potential to tip the balance and change the country. Despite that fact, the Republicans who have lined up to take on incumbent Democrat Mark Begich seem a bit lackluster. And the one lacking the most luster seems to be the one who would be most likely to pose a real challenge to Begich in…
GOP Whines About Consequences
They pushed too far. This week the U.S. Senate changed its rules. After almost 40 years, the majority now rules. This was a change I’d hoped for. We’re told that elections have consequences, and sometimes they do, but in the Senate the need for a supermajority of 60 votes gave all power to the minority (Sen. Ted Cruz & Co.). To put this in context: In the history of the United States, 168 presidential nominations or appointments have been blocked by filibuster in the Senate. Eighty-two of them were directed at a single president. Can you guess which president that…