Open Thread – Where Was Sarah?
Residents in Juneau felt left in the lurch on the 4th of July. Where was the governor? The governor spent the Fourth of July weekend in Juneau but was only spotted briefly on the sidelines of the capital city’s parade. She had been invited to ride in a convertible, as she did last year, but never told organizers whether she would attend. Juneau parade director Jean Sztuk said officials drew up banners in case Palin showed and was willing to take part. As the last of the parade’s clowns and marching bands headed past her, Sztuk gave up on Palin….
Shannyn Moore in Palin’s Crosshairs.
[A similar piece is up on The Huffington Post. This one is just for Mudflatters] Just when you thought you’d seen the back end of him, he returns; one of our favorite characters here at the Mudflats. I refer, of course, to Sarah Palin’s personal attorney, and the man in Alaska with the most dastardly sounding bad guy name ever: Thomas Van Flein. I put his last name in bold italics to remind you to pronounce it with a dastardly accent. I still don’t actually know what he looks like, but for our purposes in the past, we have imagined…
Interesting Developments…
What a weekend. Visions of hanging out at barbecues, drinking a glass of wine, lazing in the sun…. all vanished. The second biggest bombshell in recent Alaska political history hit us on Friday afternoon. Sarah Palin resigned, and plans were cancelled, and Alaska bloggers faithfully but begrudgingly returned to their keyboards, and microphones. Alaska blogger Shannyn Moore also appeared with David Schuster on MSNBC Friday night to talk about the latest developments. That’s when the soon-to-be-ex-governor went off the rails. A press release was issues, and has gotten picked up by the national media. The strange events that follow are the…
Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski Slams Palin
It’s interesting to see the reactions coming in from Alaska’s politicos to the surprise resignation of Governor Sarah Palin yesterday. But, perhaps the most surprising of all is that of Alaska’s Senior Senator, Republican Lisa Murkowski. We expect politicians to be…well…politicians. We anticipate all kinds of pussy-footing around, saying things without really saying them, and trying to offend the least number of people while saying the bare minimum to satisfly the public that they’ve actually responded. That’s why Murkowski’s response was so refreshing, an so unexpected. She said what many Alaskans, especially those who have supported Sarah Palin, are feeling….
PALIN RESIGNS
Yes, it’s true. Governor Sarah Palin, at a hastily called press conference this morning, has announced that she will be stepping down from office on July 25, and turning the reins over to Lt. Governor Sean Parnell “for the good of Alaska.” She’s turning the state over to the guy she didn’t even trust to run things during her failed VP campaign. She chose to govern by Blackberry, while simultaneously speed reading “Politics for Dummies,” making rhetoric-filled speeches to hopped up conservatives, and being a full-time mom on the campaign trail. And still she didn’t leave the state to Sean Parnell. …
Palin is a Sitting Duck
I have to confess, I was worried there for a little while. When Rod Blagojevich hurtled on to the scene with his hair and his boundless delusional self-love, I started feeling like maybe my state wasn’t #1 anymore. And then there was Mark Sanford, who was all “holier than thou,” suddenly stealing all the headlines with his disappearing act, non-existent Appalachian Trail hike/Argentine tryst and his “rosy pink light” Harlequin Romance love letters. But today, I feel vindicated. Alaska still proudly sits in the top spot. Our governor has won the prestigious “Sitting Duck Award,” given out annually by the…
Numbers Shmumbers…
“In the past two years, the state of Alaska has spent millions of dollars processing ethics complaints, public records requests, and related lawsuits.” That was the claim coming from the office of Governor Sarah Palin, who likes to use the phrase “frivolous ethics complaints.” That was nine days ago. Today, we learn that “millions of dollars” is in fact, actually $296,000, as far as ethics complaints go. Numbers shmumbers. The complete breakdown is not yet available, but we do know this about the three spendiest ones: $187,797 stemmed from the Troopergate investigation, a good chunk of which Palin initiated herself….
Rubber-Necking the Republican Smack Down.
I am not a rubber-necker. Let me start off by saying that. When there’s a bad accident on the side of the road, and the thing holding up traffic turns out to be the fact that everyone is slowing down to stare at the wreckage…I am not one of those people. That said, there are times when it’s just unavoidable because….blam….there it is. Right in front of your car. Such is the case with the strange and captivating multi-car pile-up involving various conservative Republican factions in the past few days. My attention has been tugged, now and then, in the direction of this slow and seemingly…
The Great Band-Aid Cover-Up…
We all know someone who gets so into telling stories about themselves that they tend to adopt a facts-optional attitude about it. I mean if it’s not hurting anyone, and it makes for a good story, then what’s the problem, right? When I read the Runner’s World interview with Sarah Palin, I noticed her story about going on a run with the Secret Service during the campaign. She slipped while running, fell, and hurt her hand. Yup, I remembered that. But then there came a part about her swearing the Secret Service to silence so the story would never get…
The Fish Story Gets Fishier… (UPDATED)
For those of you keeping up with the ‘fish story’ coming out of Emmonak, check out Kyle Hopkins’ Village blog. Here is my ‘reduced’ version of how I imagine the scene in the governor’s spokeswoman’s office. But do read the whole thing HERE. Read as a monologue, with Kyle Hopkins providing the voice on the phone. ******************************************** (Sitting alone in office, the spokeswoman claps her hands together, rubbing them vigorously) The news is good! It’s so good they won’t dare report it! Haha! That CNN reporter will have egg on his face now. : ) (spins around on swiveling office…