A 6-Pack of Reasons Amy Demboski Should Never Hold Office
Shockingly there are still Anchorage residents who are answering “undecided” when asked who they will vote for on May 5th in the mayoral election. Maybe their brains are stricken with spring fever, or cabin fever, or a controlled substance of some kind (#YesOn2). We’re about to make it easier for you to decide, and the decision has little to do with policy and everything to do with integrity, honesty, and ethics. We’d like to believe that those things, when utterly lacking in a candidate of any political persuasion, render that candidate unsuitable to hold office in the eyes of the…
Coffey Tape Reveals Illegal Donations (AUDIO)
The following is a press release from Michigan public radio reporter, and former Anchorage radio personality Aaron Selbig. The audio tape is the subject of this week’s Alaska Dispatch News, and Mudflats column by Shannyn Moore. Her commentary can be found HERE. *** The audiotape of former Anchorage Assembly members Dan Coffey and Bill Starr discussing illegal campaign contributions first aired February 26, 2008 on the Aaron Selbig Show on KUDO 1080AM. It was later replayed by KUDO hosts Camille Conte and Shannyn Moore. The tape came to Selbig after it was recorded on the home answering machine of former…
You Want the Palin Brawl? Here it is.
I’ve been asked countless times over the last couple days to weigh in on the Palin’s drunken rumpus that has now dominated the national news cycle. I’ve been begged. BEGGED. “You of all people!” “I’ve been waiting!” “Don’t let us down!” Honestly, I would rather be rolled in French fry grease, sprinkled with sea salt and fed to the ravens. It may be the same reason I disdain tabloids, and rubbernecking accidents. But because I love you I will weigh in, in whatever manner there is left to weigh in on the Hindenburg that is the Palin family. I knew as…
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 Great GOP Cannibal War of 2013: News from the Front
I return to you breathless, stumbling into camp, clutching a piece of paper. Think of me as your scout, bringing the latest dispatch from the front. I report to you from the Great Cannibal War of 2013-2014, which some of you may know as the Alaska GOP Senate race. General Joe Miller’s’ forces are all in line. They’re hanging around, polishing their buttons, steam ironing their Snake Flags, and running a lint roller over their three-cornered hats. But the other side, the “moderate” side is in disarray. What could have been an easy primary battle, has turned into what the…
Mike Dunleavy… AK Poseur?!
As I was swooping around the Twitterverse the other day, I happened to notice something… Something thad made me go, “Hmm.” It was a tweet from Senator Mike Dunleavy (R-The Valley). Mr. Dunleavy SAYS he’s a long-time Alaskan. (See Exhibit A) He SAYS he’s an outdoorsman. (Also See Exhibit A) The Alaska Dispatch even says he’s been here since 1983. (See Exhibit B) I pace across the floor, hands behind my back and brow furrowed. I give Mr. Dunleavy a Clint Eastwood squint. You SAY you are a long-time Alaskan outdoorsman. You SAY you live in the Valley… Then how,…
Track Palin to Divorce
Huh. That was quick. And apparently it is news. So sayeth the Washington Post. After 23-year old Track Palin and his wife Britta, 22, watched a 48-minute movie on the impact of divorce on children, …they filed jointly for divorce. This means they’ve agreed to a settlement, including property, finances, and child support. The couple, who had been dating since high school, married in April of last year. The wedding of the jean-clad couple, at Hatcher Pass, Alaska, was reported after the fact in a gushy People Magazine article by Lorenzo Benet. Benet authored the equally gushy Sarah Palin biography Trailblazer,…
Pozonsky-gate. The Plot Thickens.
But wait, there’s more! Not only did the hiring scandal of former Pennsylvania Judge Paul Pozonsky into the Parnell administration touch strange corners of Alaska politics, it seems that the Judge’s checkered history in Pennsylvania is not just limited to destruction of evidence in 17 drug cases, but it now appears he’s been doing some inappropriate favors for frackers in the name of keeping information from the press and the public by inappropriately sealing records. Are we shocked? No, we are not. Alaska politics are such that it takes a lot to consider something scandalous, let alone a soap opera….
GOP Lineup Goes Byzantine
The shakeup in the Alaska GOP continues. Our three party system (Dems, Republicans, and Tea Partiers) is going “byzantine,” according to the Alaska Ear. Yes, it’s inside baseball, but that’s really the only baseball that counts. The powerful finance committee is where bills go to live or die, and it seems like a couple of entrenched GOPpers find themselves on the outside looking in – or potentially so. Bill Thomas (R) who was assumed to be a fixture in said committee, finds himself suddenly in a race for relevancy with the awesome, out-of-nowhere Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tompkins. Their race, as you…
Oh, How the Mighty Have Fallen
By now, we’re into the seventh layer of complexity in the real-life spy thriller “Homeland meets The West Wing meets Melrose Place” – otherwise known as the Petraeus sex scandal. For those of you who haven’t tuned into the news recently, here’s a recap of what we know so far that led to Petraeus’ resignation as Director of the CIA. Republican ideologue working at the FBI sends Jill Kelley, a military Party Planner (not kidding) with whom he has an unknown relationship, shirtless pictures of himself. Later, said Party Planner gets harassing anonymous emails of the “I saw what you…