Wasilla GOP Candidate Forum Madness!
I WATCHED THE MAT-SU REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE FORUM SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO Yep, I watched it all, courtesy of the video taken by the eponymously-named Republican blogger, “Politadick.” There’s no easy way to prepare you for this, so let’s just dive in. But first, a visit to the United States Flag Code: THE EMCEE: Mike Coons, recently reappointed by Gov. Dunleavy to the Alaska Commission on Aging hosted a Mat-Su candidate forum this past weekend. It took place at the Senior Center in Wasilla. Why isn’t the governor’s appointee to the Commission on Aging wearing a mask at an…
Legislators AWOL while Alaska burns
TALL TALES from… Juneau Wasilla? Eyes on the Dunleavy/Babcock administration 3 RINGS OF DYSFUNCTION Well the “special session” in Wasilla was every bit the circus you may have imagined. The gymnasium was set up like the two chambers of the legislators and everyone had a name card. Spectators sat in the bleachers, and Sen. Mia Costello and Rep. Lance Pruitt were the ringleaders. Inside, rogue legislators received adulation from supporters. Outside, we asked this guy what the flag stood for and he said it was a Belgian flag, but he brought it because it looked scary. A bunch…
Alaska Lemming Caucus Over the Edge
This has been a difficult week for many Alaskans. So much uncertainty as 10,000 pink slips go to our friends and neighbors working for the state. Fairbanks Sen. Pete Kelly argues they aren’t pink slips, because there’s an “if” in them, as in “You’re not laid off if a handful of senators get their poop together.” Of course, we know there’s no chance Pete and his collaborators will get their poop together. Instead of pink slips, people online are calling them “Pete slips.” Our current legislative crisis is the handiwork of a small cabal of senators who refuse to compromise their misguided ideology. The…
Miller Time: My Sunday With Joe
Hey Joe, where you goin’ with that gun in your hand? —Jimi Hendrix FAIRBANKS, AK — All three Republican US Senate candidates—Dan Sullivan, Joe Miller and Mead Treadwell—attended the Tea Party-ish Day of Resistance event in Wasilla last Sunday. But only one, Joe Miller, then braved the cold of the interior to attend the rally in Fairbanks. It appears Sullivan and Treadwell would like to peel off a few of the conservative and libertarian activists who are Miller’s base, as long as it doesn’t inconvenience them into having to head north. It was just as well, as candidates of tony…
Recall Effort Advances
Anchorage State House Representative Lindsey Holmes got one step closer to political oblivion yesterday. She’s the Democrat, elected to serve West Anchorage, one of the most liberal districts in the state, who got to Juneau and went “>>POOF!<< Guess what? I’m a Republican now!” Those who knocked doors, donated money, put up yard signs, and gave their vote to Ms. Holmes were (needless to say) not amused. A group of the unamused decided to do something about it, and fire the nouveau Republican from her job. And that takes a lot of work. Signature gathering of District 19 residents began…
BREAKING: Conoco Rakes in Your Money
ConocoPhillips makes a lot of money. This seems like an obvious statement, but its one that Governor Sean Parnell, and his oily ilk in the Alaska legislature are hoping you and everyone you know will forget when it comes time to vote on the repeal of SB21. So they run around with their hair on fire yelling things like “Incentivize production!” and “It’s complicated!” and tell us that if we don’t start sobbing and throwing cash at the big 3 oil producers, and if we repeal SB21, well… they’re going to leave us for someone else like Libya or North…
Exclusive Exerpt: Pilgrim’s Wilderness
Into the Wild meets Helter Skelter in this true story of a modern-day homesteading family in the deepest reaches of the Alaskan wilderness–and the chilling secrets of a maniacal, spellbinding patriarch who called himself Papa Pilgrim. Tom Kizzia was the perfect writer to tackle this fascinating, horrifying, and very human story that could have happened only in Alaska. His former work as a reporter for the Anchorage Daily News led him to travel extensively throughout Alaska, and to report on a family that would leave a lasting impression on his psyche. The result was his new book, Pilgrim’s Wilderness. Like many Alaskans, the…
“Racist Dentist” is New GOP Vice Chair
The Alaska Republican Party has been trying desperately to get its house in order while undergoing a civil war. And they’ve been doing just about as well as you might expect. The latest brilliant strategy move was voting in the man known as the “racist dentist” to hold the #2 spot in the Republican Party of Alaska. A coup of sorts took place when long time party chair Randy Ruedrich retired. The Ron Paul/Tea Party crowd overtook the convention and installed newcomer Russ Millette as Chair. The old guard panicked and rerouted the treasure chest to a Republican group in…
Senator Palin?
This message, sent to a select group of Tea Party Leadership Fund email subscribers leads off with a subject line that asks: Do the words “Senator Sarah Palin” excite you? Let’s pause for a moment, and look something up. ex·cite [ik-sahyt] verb (used with object), ex·cit·ed, ex·cit·ing. 1. to arouse or stir up the emotions or feelings of: to excite a person to anger; actions that excited his father’s wrath. 2. to arouse or stir up (emotions or feelings): to excite jealousy or hatred. 3. to cause; awaken: to excite interest or curiosity. 4. to stir to action; provoke or…
Rep. Could Cash in from Bridge
A legislative audit recently revealed that Alaskans could be on the hook for up to $1.4 billion dollars as a result of insufficient projected toll revenue from the Knik Arm Bridge (aka KABATA, aka The Bridge from Hell). Not only that, but a land ownership analysis found that at least one state Representative in Juneau could stand to cash in from road construction to the area. The family of Representative Lynn Gattis (R-Wasilla) just happens to own land adjacent to the Knik Arm Bridge approach in the Mat-Su Borough, and would see her land become much more valuable as a result of the…