New GOP House Majority Tries to Redefine "Rape" and "Incest"
Well, that didn’t take long. The new House GOP majority has stepped out with a bold new plan for the American people, specifically women. The limits on federal funding for abortion except for the cases of rape and incest, are now under assault by definition. For years, federal laws restricting the use of government funds to pay for abortions have included exemptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest. (Another exemption covers pregnancies that could endanger the life of the woman.) But the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act,” a bill with 173 mostly Republican co-sponsors that House Speaker John Boehner…
Sarah Palin's "WTF Moment."
I’ve been regularly blogging about Sarah Palin since before she got the VP nod. And it takes a lot for me to be flabbergasted by anything she says. At this point, I kind of feel like I’ve pretty much seen it all. I have a big callous on my brain where all the Palin information is stored. But once again, I’m proven wrong in my assumption that she’s bottomed out; that she has become more of a caricature of herself than Tina Fey could ever be; that whatever tentative grip with reality and mental stability that she may have one…
Congressman Dennis Kucinich Sues Over Olive Pit.
If there’s one thing we appreciate here at Mudflats Central, it’s a good olive. Whether it’s in a martini, or a bowl, in a spread, or a garnish, the olive (in our opinion) has the culinary ability to heal many sorrows. But, that being said, like all good things… when they go bad, they go very bad. The humble olive is now at the center of a lawsuit in the halls of our nation’s Capitol… well, in the cafeteria, anyway. Our beloved olive has now been dubbed “dangerous” by none other than Congressman Dennis Kucinich. Kucinich, who is doomed to…
Commissioners to APOC Staff: Try Again.
Some of you have been following the saga here on Mudflats about my APOC complaint against Alaska House District 5 Representative William Thomas, Jr. (R-Haines) and his re-election campaign. The complaint (plus amendment) deals with 17 ads placed and designed by campaign Deputy Treasurer James Studley and charged to various Haines businesses. My complaint asserts that they should be considered illegal campaign ads in total, either illegal in-kind contributions because some of them were paid for by corporations, or illegal independent expenditures because they were coordinated with Studley as well as others campaign staff. We left the story at the…
Thanksgiving Flashback: Witnessing The Turkey Pardoning Debacle of 2008
by Linda Kellen Biegel So my rolls are rising on the stove, almost ready to pop in the oven. The apple-cranberry pies (think Dutch Apple with cranberries thrown in) are cooled and waiting to be packed up and the homemade cranberry sauce is chilling in the fridge. We’re going to Josh’s brother’s house for Thanksgiving and Josh’s parents made the trecherous drive in the rain and ice from the Kenai Peninsula. Thanksgiving dinner for 22–that’s small for a Biegel meal! When I saw an ad for the Triple-D Farm and Hatchery in Wasilla the other day, I had two thoughts:…
Lisa Murkowski: She’s changed, we haven’t.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) released their latest commercial for the benefit of Scott McAdams, describing Lisa Murkowski’s mischaracterization of her political stances: The video is great and the message is spot-on. This gives me the opportunity to talk about a piece of Senator Frank Murkowski’s history where we can see Lisa following in her dad’s footsteps. During the Rachel Maddow Show’s visit to Alaska, Lisa Murkowski discussed the time (back in the 80’s) that the Moral Majority took over the Republican Party (5:20 on the video): What she does NOT discuss is how her father, then Senator Frank…
APOC Complaint Against Rep. Bill Thomas Campaign (R-Haines)–The response(s).
Back on October 13th, I posted about the APOC Complaint I had filed against the re-election campaign of Representative Bill Thomas, Jr. (above, on the left, with Sen. Al Kookesh, who appears in several of the ads.) The complaint is in response to a newspaper advertising campaign consisting of 12 ads which ran in the Chilkat Valley News during the weeks leading up to the primary election: …Upon further research, it was impossible to determine exactly what category of legal contributions these ads were attempting to fit, if any: James Studley was the one who coordinated the entire ad buy….
More Early Voting Hanky-Panky. Poll Observers needed! (UPDATED w/ link)
You may remember this story from AKM on Tuesday: In Homer, apparently, reports were received that each booth had a written list of the write-in candidates posted. This is electioneering, and absolutely illegal. If you see anything irregular when you are early voting, please take a picture of it. The above picture is courtesy of KTVA’s Matt Felling from a message he put out on Twitter. The Alaska Democratic Party was sent this picture by an early voter in Homer who saw the list when he walked into the booth. Sure enough, the list was in all of the booths. …
Election 2010: There’s Only One Road to Transparency in Alaska…
In June of 2009 I embarked on an idealistic journey. Thanks to many Alaskans and folks across the country, I was able to raise enough money so that the State of Alaska would release the Records Request they had been sitting on for months. When the emails arrived and the only “good stuff” was redacted or witheld due to bogus-sounding claims of “privilege,” I was not worried. I was sure that as soon as the email lawsuits brought by Andree McLeod and Don Mitchell against Palin were resolved (in McLeod/Mitchell’s favor…no one thought otherwise), I would then be able…
Help us, Rachel-Wan-Maddow, Scott McAdams Is Our Only Hope!
This election cycle, Alaskans have found it particularly difficult to breathe due to the lack of available air. The reason: it’s being sucked directly out of the atmosphere by the family feud between want-to-be-Senator-again Lisa Murkowski and professional grifter/East German Cold War admirer, Joe Miller. Of course, the person having the most difficult time finding air is Democratic Primary winner, Sitka Mayor Scott McAdams. It’s not for lack of good campaigning…he’s doing everything right. I even attended one of the Townhall Meetings he scheduled and was blown out of the water by his responses to every question asked of him….