The Real Tragedy of Sarah Palin
This piece is cross-posted at The Huffington Post – HERE. From the moment Sarah Palin’s acceptance speech electrified the Republican convention, she was seen as an unbending, hard-charging, red-meat ideologue—to which soon was added “thin-skinned” and “vindictive.” But a look at what Palin did while in office in Alaska—the only record she has—shows a very different politician: one who worked with Democrats to tame Big Oil and solve the great problem at the heart of the state’s politics. That Sarah Palin might have set the nation on a different course. What went wrong? This is the intriguing premise set forth…
Bible Purple
By John Aronno (Alaska Commons) There’s a truck that’s been driving around town. I saw it sputtering down Northern Lights Blvd last week as I gazed out the window at the Spenard Roadhouse. The four-wheeled apocalypse barker is touting the message that a massive, worldwide earthquake is going to hit us, giving way to the Rapture, and ending with the complete obliteration of the Earth one month later. Judgment day, according to this group, will happen Saturday, May 21st, reminding us of the utmost importance of gettin’ down on Friday. There’s nothing new about End Times warnings (in fact the…
Oyster Roundup – Shuck ’em!
~Thick and fast they came at last, and more, and more, and more! Grab your metaphorical cocktail sauce and belly up to the oyster bar for some tasty news nuggets from Alaska and beyond… Bigfoot Goes to Ketchikan? Stop the presses! Mysterious shaggy grey ape-like creature almost clearly spotted through foliage and almost conclusively captured on shaky video by breathless videographer! Is it or isn’t it? You can watch the video yourself and make the call. This is the first time a Bigfoot has been spotted in Ketchikan, and only the 22nd such sighting in Alaska. And frankly, I think…
New Assemblyman Trombley Guilty of Lying and Being a Whippersnapper
The thing that consoles me when I write about local issues, is that our characters here in Alaska (even though many of you are from elsewhere) are so incredibly over-the-top and ridiculous that they can be appreciated in their own right, just for the entertainment value. It’s like writing a book full of short stories about some mythical crazy dysfunctional municipal government, only it’s not mythical. Today, we’ll revisit one of the larger yet lesser characters in our serial drama, and one of Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan’s henchpeople. Remember Adam Trombley, former local basketball star and up-and-coming conservative mayoral toady?…
The New and Unimproved Debbie Ossiander Scoffs at Democratic Process
So how completely impressed are we with our new Assembly Chair Debbie Ossiander? Just as impressed as we were with her the last time she was Chair. And that would be… not at all. Her ignominious rise to the top spot hinged, apparently, on her loyalty to Mayor Dan Sullivan, and she’s been eager to prove her empty-headed devotion since her return to the throne. First on the list of things to do it seems, was to circumvent that thing we like to call “democracy.” Anchorage is in the middle of redistricting. This is as important as it gets. The…
Local Taxidermist Reports 550 Pounds of Unstable Dynamite in Old Station Wagon
~Bucolic Trapper Creek, Alaska – in the shadow of Denali Residents of Trapper Creek Alaska (pop. 513) had a bit of a scare after 50 homes in the tiny hamlet an hour north of Wasilla were evacuated last night. The evacuations resulted because of the report of 550 pounds of unstable explosives in an old abandoned station wagon sitting on the owner’s property, near a local air strip. The vehicle had been parked there since the mid 1990s. The owner and respected local taxidermist is now being called “Gator the Detonator” by residents. “He does good work,” said a former…
Wisconsin Republican Party Election Fraud Exposed: Breaking.
By Patrick DePula As if the Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice “recount” isn’t a big enough mess, It appears that the Wisconsin GOP has been engaged in widespread fraud surrounding their attempts to recall democratic senators. Inexplicably, the Republican Party of Wisconsin had relied heavily on people they hired from out of state to collect signatures against democrats, even paying to house these folks in hotel rooms. In all cases, they paid by the signature. Sounds like a recipe for disaster, right? The decision to pay out of state people when there are plenty of unemployed folks that reside in…
Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell Endangers Children’s Health for Political Posturing
Alaska is a land of extremes, both good and bad. We have the most coastline, the most islands, the best fishing, the most park land, and I can confidently say the most natural wild beauty of any state in the nation. On the flip side, we have the most earthquakes, the most infant botulism, the most alcoholism, the most mosquitoes, and the worst rate of chlamydia of any state. We’re second in the nation for gonorrhea. ~Chlamydia The state has been first or second in reported rates of chlamydia every year since 2000, state public health officials said. Alaska’s rate…
Palin Pulls a Palin… again.
~Palin in the headlights at the MSNBC after party So, who is the most influential journalist in America today? Not an easy question, perhaps. It’s one that requires some knowledge of who the journalists today are. And if you’re on camera, and a politico or media type, it might also require a little diplomatic forethought. And if you decided that you didn’t want to answer the question for fear of alienating all the journalists you don’t mention, it might require some fast-on-your-feet poise as you gracefully deflect the question with a bit of humor subtly indicating that you don’t want…