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Though many of us suffer from Palin Factor Fatigue, it is irrefutable that there is a nagging curiosity to have the question answered, ?How in the world did Sarah Palin become so popular and why do we still need to hear about her?? My book answers these questions in detail and urges us all to be vigilant. She is one of a small pool of ?rising stars in the republican party? as John McCain stated as recently as January 25, 2009 on Fox News Sunday.
As unbelievable as her meteoric rise was we cannot delude ourselves, turning our backs once again, into thinking that she and those like her are going away. This woman is joined by millions of loyalists whose perception is that she was persecuted in the media, stifled by McCain, and mocked by liberals - and now the theocratic conservatives are regrouping with a vengeance!
"Blue Oasis" began in 2005 in its Blogger format (now an archive) and became possibly the first Alaska Blog on Progressive Politics. At the 2008 Democratic National Convention, Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis was honored to represent Alaska as the state blog.
Transition--Community Blog
In September 2008, Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis moved to a Soapblox Community Blog format. Readers can become full participants by registering on the blog to comment and write "diaries." Diary titles appear on the right sidebar for folks to read and provide comments. Blog editors may choose to move some of these diaries to the front page.
While this Community was formed specifically with Alaska in mind, all "friends of Alaska" are welcome as members!
**Note about registering** Scroll down the right side until you find the link to register. Then, just follow the instructions!
**Note about comments** To comment on a story, click on the heading and then look for the "comment bar" at the bottom (it's light grey, I can't seem to change it). I believe the font color NOW permits you to see the "post comment" text.
YOUR BLOGMISTRESS
My name is Linda Kellen Biegel and I am a former 15-year Federal employee. Thirteen of those years were spent working for the US Army Corps of Engineers. I am also semi-retired from the Alaska music scene (singer, sound tech, stage manager, logistics).
When the blog was chosen to represent Alaska in the DNCC State Blogger Pool at the Denver Convention, I attended with the help of Alaska Real blogmistress, Writing Raven and my daughter Morrigan. On August 29th, one day after Barack Obama's inspiring speech at Invesco Field , my life took another turn as it did for all Alaska bloggers when Gov. Sarah Palin was chosen to be John McCain's VP running mate. Since then, I've either assisted or have been interviewed by media from the UK, Italy, Australia and Germany as well as national media outlets such as Wall Street Journal, NY Times, ABC Good Morning America's Kate Snow, National Journal, Dallas Morning News, LA Times, and NPR.
Presently, I work as a freelance writer, PR, event coordinator, community organizer, wife to computer programmer Josh and mother to 11-year-old Morrigan. Our family especially enjoys our summers in Alaska where we get to subsistence set-net fish Sockeye salmon as well as halibut fish/whalewatch in the family's homemade aluminum boat, "The Neverdone" (when it's working). We reside in Anchorage, Alaska.
Origin of "Celtic Diva"
I've used "Celtic Diva" as a screen name since the early 1990's on Web TV.
"Folks have asked about my Celtic heritage, especially in light of my name. What they don't realize is that I'm adopted. I was born Valerie Morehead of the Clan Muirhead. I was adopted at three-months-old by the Kellens. I always "knew" I was Celt even before really knew. I was drawn to all things Scottish, especially music. That's why my parents eventually told me at age 16."
"Linda is well-known in Alaska & beyond as the prominent progressive political blogger Celtic Diva of Celtic Diva?s Blue Oasis. But back in the day, the early 1990s, I knew her as Linda Kellen, a member of the local folk/rock band Sky is Blu, which amongst other things performed in at least a couple or so of the annual women?s show Celebration of Change, in which I also performed. And if you don?t already know, let me tell you: Linda is one fine damn singer."
I went on after the break-up of "Sky is Blu" to perform with various Alaska musicians and work with national folks like Bo Diddly, Coco Montoya, Debbie Davies, Taj Mahal, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Bad Company, Creedence Clearwater, Carny Wilson, etc...
USA Women's Olympic Hockey Team Star Kerry Weiland with our friend Isabella and my daughter Morrigan at St. Baldrick's Day
(Scroll down to find posts.)
(Please register to participate in diaries and comments! We'd love for you to join our Community!)
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Wait a second! Our ever vigilant, one man navy of a poster, a true lover and ardent/ever-ready supporter of Sarah and all that she holds near and dear. Hmmm. Nautical themed names... kept jabbering incoherently about a future carrier to be named after her -- hey wait! John McCain was in the Navy was he not?
5 to 3 odds our mystery poster is actually ol' John McCain himself! Caught you Jonnie, you ol' summamabitch! Always the romantic -- always staying faithful to your girl Sarah "ah... and her lovely family."
It's a star crossed tale of high power politics, true ideological love (sort of), and mutual respect (maybe)!
Urp! Okay... wait! Wait a sec! I think I just threw up a little bit in my mouth. Sorry.
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court has turned down an emergency appeal from a New Jersey man who says President-elect Barack Obama is ineligible to be president because he was a British subject at birth.
The court did not comment on its order Monday rejecting the call by Leo Donofrio of East Brunswick, N.J., to intervene in the presidential election. Donofrio says that since Obama had dual nationality at birth - his mother was American and his Kenyan father at the time was a British subject - he cannot possibly be a "natural born citizen," one of the requirements the Constitution lists for eligibility to be president.
Donofrio also contends that two other candidates, Republican John McCain and Socialist Workers candidate Roger Calero, also are not natural-born citizens and thus ineligible to be president.
The stay application came in the case of Donofrio v. Wells, Secretary of State of New Jersey (08A407). This marked the second time in recent weeks for the Court to turn aside such a challenge; the first came on Nov. 3, in Berg v. Obama (08A391). The Court, in neither instance, gave reasons for turning down the applications. In neither case did the Court seek a reponse, thus indicating it had little interest in either or had found them to be completely without merit.
Another case also prepared by Donofrio and based on the same argument as the New Jersey case, WROTNOWSKI v. BYSIEWICZ probably doesn't stand a prayer either and will go the way of these other two cases.
Let's be clear on the nature of this "dismissals." The Supreme Court only took these cases into conference to decide whether or not to hear them, than refused to do so. These are not actual decisions.
I've also received emails and comments regarding the origin of the challenge against John McCain's "natural born" status. The basis for the argument resides in the State Department manual--7 FAM 1116.1-4:
c. Despite widespread popular belief, U.S. military installations abroad and U.S. diplomatic or consular facilities are not part of the United States within the meaning of the 14th Amendment. A child born on the premises of such a facility is not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and does not acquire U.S. citizenship by reason of birth.
It could be stated that in some ways, Obama has a better case for the "natural born" title than John McCain. Although, denying the title to a son of a (is it 3rd or 4th?) generation military man is a foolish business.
I've been recieving a number of emails from folks (including my parents) who either question President-elect Obama's elegibility for office themselves or want to know the story and have ammunition to use against those folks who believe every email they receive.
Since I spent so much time doing research for this last email, I decided I'd post it. Enjoy!
"And recently, author Jerome Corsi, whose book attacks Obama, said in a TV interview that the birth certificate the campaign has is "fake."
We beg to differ. FactCheck.org staffers have now seen, touched, examined and photographed the original birth certificate. We conclude that it meets all of the requirements from the State Department for proving U.S. citizenship. Claims that the document lacks a raised seal or a signature are false. We have posted high-resolution photographs of the document as "supporting documents" to this article. Our conclusion: Obama was born in the U.S.A. just as he has always said.
Update, Nov. 1: The director of Hawaii's Department of Health confirmed Oct. 31 that Obama was born in Honolulu."
2) Here are some of the issues around the "natural-born citizen" question:
"...the "natural-born citizen" requirement is not so straightforward either, because the Constitution didn't define what a natural-born citizen was. (The definition of "natural-born citizen" was left up to individual states to decide until the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868, but even that amendment has been subject to further interpretation.) What qualifies a person for natural-born citizenship status under U.S. law can be quite complicated, depending on factors such as where the person was born, when he was born, where he and his parents lived, and the nationalities of his parents.
Some of these factors might seemingly come into play in the case of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. Although his mother was herself a natural-born U.S. citizen, his father was a Kenyan national, and his parents may or may not have been legally married in the eyes of the U.S. law. Moreover, his parents split up when he was but a toddler, and his mother soon afterwards married another foreign national and moved with Barack to Indonesia."
The summary of the rest of the article: for any of these things to truly be an issue, it would also require that President-elect Barack Obama be born outside the United States of America. His birth certificate has been officially recognized and he was born in Hawaii.
3) A petition (which has since been thrown out) filed by failed Obama opponent Alan Keyes includes as part of its assumption that President-elect Barack Obama was NOT born in the USA. If you also notice, this was not filed until after the election. Why? Because Presidential candidate John McCain REALLY WAS NOT BORN IN THE USA -- he was born in the Panama Canal Zone. There was a lawsuit filed in early 2008 attempting to prevent Senator John McCain from running for President claiming that he is not a "natural born citizen." The lawsuit was thrown out and a non-binding resolution was passed in Congress:
On Thursday, Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) introduced a non-binding resolution expressing that McCain qualifies as a "natural born Citizen," as specified in the Constitution and is therefore eligible for the highest office in the land. The resolution was co-sponsored by Obama and Clinton. Here's a report from ABC News's Political Punch blog.
A February NYT article raised the question as to whether McCain, who was born in 1936 on a U.S. military installation in the Panama Canal Zone, satisfied the constitutional prerequisites to become president. Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution requires a president to be a "natural born Citizen."
"There are powerful arguments that Senator McCain or anyone else in this position is constitutionally qualified, but there is certainly no precedent," Sarah H. Duggin, an associate professor of law at Catholic University who has studied the issue extensively, told the NYT. "It is not a slam-dunk situation."
Maybe not. But it appears lawmakers are doing all they can to try to put the issue to rest. "It is silly for anyone to argue that Senator McCain is not eligible to become president," said McCaskill in a written statement. "I would hope that this is something we can all agree on, for goodness sakes."
4) A case taking a different tack, submitted by retired NJ lawyer and blogmeister of "Natural Born Citizen" Leo Donofrio, states that because Obama held dual citizenship at birth (U.S. and Great Britain, which still had control of Kenya at the time) even though he was born on U.S. soil, that made him ineligible. Though the case was previously dismissed when brought to Justice Souter, Justice Clarence Thomas resurrected it when it was resubmitted by Donofrio. While there are those who believe Clarence Thomas had nefarious, partisan reasons for bringing the case to "conference" with his fellow Justices, there are a number of legal scholars who believe he did so to put the entire case to rest. If Thomas were to reject the case outright, Donofrio would probably have continued to take it to other Justices. Taking it to conference was a way to kill it.
The Wall Street Journal Law Blog discusses the Supreme Court conferencing on Friday. While no decision was announced, the blog mentioned in their update that "The Supreme Court did not grant certiorari in the case." This means that the lower court ruling was NOT overthrown, giving the Court the option to let stand the lower court dismissal of the case. A comment from the Court is expected some time this week.
Probably the most comprehensive opinion on this issue comes from Professor Jonathan Turley, a legal scholar:
However, on the merits, the Court is more likely to adopt the broader view of natural born citizen unless the test clearly bars such an interpretation - it does not in my view. For those of us who comment on the likely outcome of Supreme Court, the odds on this one are long and obvious. Historically and legally, this is simply unlikely.
By the way, Donofrio's petition was filed early-on, to try and stay the election, and was against both Obama AND McCain, as he believed neither met the standard of "natural-born citizen." I'm guessing that "non-partisan" attitude is why his petition was even considered.
And yes, this is wayyyyyy more research than I ever wanted to do into this issue.
That was the last update of the day and I'm guessing the numbers went down a little bit because Fairbanks and Mat Su Valley finished their counting.
Exciting news in Fairbanks...Republican Representative Mike Kelley (District 7) is only ahead of Democrat Karl Kassel by one vote! So, there will probably be at least one recount!
Remember, overseas absentee ballots can arrive up through Nov. 19th!
Per my phone calls to the Division of Elections:
Region 1: Juneau is done for the day but will be doing their final count (we hope) on Tuesday Nov. 18th.
Region 2: Mat Su Valley--DONE
Anchorage will be finishing their count on Tuesday Nov. 18th as well.
Region 3: Prince William Sound--DONE
Region 4: Aleutians, Western AK, North Slope--DONE
About 25,000 votes left to count between Anchorage and Juneau!
I need more cayenne for my nails!
************UPDATED NUMBERS*****************
BEGICH NOW AHEAD BY 1061 VOTES!!!!!
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I know there is a count going on today in Regions 1, 3 and 4. However it looks like they may be waiting to update until: folks are done with the count or all regions are in or all of us bite our fingernails AND toenails down to the quick!
Until then, here's something to keep your brain busy...and the good news is at the bottom!
Shannyn Moore did a story suggesting that there may have been some type of vote suppression occurring in this election. These were some of the responses to her article:
By: Melissa Fouse on November 6, 2008
at 2:04 pm
Shannyn - I was a poll watcher for this election, a volunteer (for the Ds) and spent 15 hours Tuesday watching for any election fraud or anomaly in House District 26 (Anchorage, west side). Turnout was low - of the 1200 registered voters in that precinct, about 550 voted. Another 66 voted questioned ballots. Every ballot was properly handled; the touch-screen machine was not even used. In the middle of the afternoon, when the results of the Presidential election were announced (I suspect, we were in a news blackout in the polling place) the trickle of voters slowed even more. Of the over 300 identified D supporters on the list I had in front of me, not even 100 voted. I know there were some 200 volunteers doing what I was doing and most likely more from the Rs.
It stinks that so few people voted, but in my small precinct, it was all on the up and up.
By: mike on November 6, 2008
at 7:02 pm
Our polling place was DEAD QUIET when we voted at 6:30 pm. There were MUCH bigger crowds in the evening for at least the last 2 elections.
I hate to say it but I think once it was clear Obama won, many Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents just didn't bother to show up. My guess is a lot of people only really cared about the Obama race, and didn't care so much about our local elections.
By: Carrie on November 6, 2008
at 11:25 pm
I did exit polls on Tuesday. There was a huge line at my precinct prior to the polls opening at 7am. After about 7:30am it was DEAD the rest of the day. This is the third presidental election I have done exit polls for, and it was very clear to me that turnout was WAY down. In fact, the officials at my site were very perplexed.
Get over your conspiracy theorys and get a life. Would someone be crying foul if the Senate and House races had gone the the other way? Doubtful. For goodness sake, even the pollsters were suprprised at the low turnout. Ask the officials who were there - the voters didn't show!!!
People called into Cary Carrigan's show this morning recounting pretty much the same experience. While it sounds like polls in Homer were busy, poll watchers, poll workers and voters in Anchorage have recounted the same story; it was busy first thing in the morning and dead the rest of the day.
This completely jives with my husband's voting experience just after 6:00 PM in Anchorage District 24 -- there were two people voting when he walked in. When he was done, it was so empty he said you could practically hear the wind whistling in the rafters.
PLEASE recount your Alaska voting experiences either here on the blog or by emailing me at celticdivaak@yahoo.com.
Many people are shocked that convicted felon Ted Stevens could possibly be ahead of Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich in the fight for his US Senate seat, or that under-investigation Congressman Don Young has probably held on to his seat against Ethan Berkowitz. This seems especially dubious as polls that were correct in every other state were seemingly way off in Alaska. An article in the Anchorage Daily News titled "The Pollsters missed the mark" discusses this:
"The real question is where were the all the Democrats?" Dittman said, noting the voter turnout was supposed to be in record proportions. Instead, only an estimated 57 percent of registered voters had a say - a far drop from the 66 percent turnout in the 2004 presidential election, according to state elections division figures.
The issue of the incorrect polls has triggered some concern both here and in other parts of the country, especially on the "interwebs" where folks have raised the specter of a "rigged election." It's understandable that we're all having flashbacks to Alaska 2004, where the Division of Elections reported some precincts had over 100% turnout. (Voting "early and often" is not just a tongue-in-cheek saying in Chicago!)
However, we should all subscribe to the "Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy" mantra of "Don't Panic!" I can think of at least four reasons why:
1) Per the Division of Elections, there are three different types of ballots that still must be counted: 1/2 of the early voting ballots (9,500), the absentee ballots (48,000) and the "questioned" ballots (16,000). ("Questioned" ballots come from registered voters who go to a different precinct and are allowed to vote the Congressional and Presidential elections or un-registered voters who go to a precinct and are allowed to register and vote in the presidential election only. All of these votes are checked by hand to determine the voters status.)
That's 73,500 ballots which equal about 15% of all registered voters in the state of Alaska. That's a lot of votes yet to be counted.
2) While Ted Stevens is making the claim that absentee votes "always break conservative," we are operating in an entirely new world because of Barack Obama's campaign strategy. As the result of an Obama and Begich Campaign "Get Out the Vote" juggernaut, it's quite possible that those absentee, early voting and questioned ballots will break Progressive (I know mine is in there)...completely turning that "conventional wisdom" on its head. Also, the absentee ballots are often military-dominated, which has caused them to trend towards conservative in the past, polls and FEC records have shown this election cycle that both the oversees and US-stationed military have heavily favored the Democratic presidential candidates...specifically Barack Obama...over the McCain ticket when it comes to political donations. The "conservative assumption" no longer carries any weight.
Saturday Night, Ben Affleck did a rather scathing parody of Keith Olbermann. Parts of it were funny and Affleck overall did a good job, though for some reason he lapsed into "British actor-speak" periodically. However, the script was rather weak, portraying Olbermann as having Faux News-like characteristics.
True, observers (including Karen!) seem to agree that McCain performed well on SNL the other night, but what really tickled the McCain campaign wasn't the senator's comic stylings, but rather this devestating Keith Olbermann parody
REALLY! Of all the things that must be/should be on McCain's mind THE DAY BEFORE THE ELECTION the Campaign is focused on trashing Keith? Obviously, the lack-of-priority-setting that has plagued the McCain-Palin campaign for months is consistent...even the day before the campaign when the Obama-ites have hundreds of thousands of volunteers on the streets and on the phones focused on GETTING ACTUAL VOTES!
SNL and my Football Night In America show share adjoining studios, so upon my arrival yesterday, awaiting me was one of the cue cards from the bit, with Ben writing of the sketch: "Keith - Remember, a) I didn't write this; b) it took years of study - fondly, Ben."
As to the giddiness: Honestly, everybody deserves a laugh but if on the weekend before the presidential election they spent more than seven seconds bothering with ME, the campaign staff has even less of a clue than I thought.
At the end of his quote, Keith throws out a tantalizing piece of SNL gossip/information, especially to Alaskans who know Sarah Palin too well:
One last SNL thing: I'll be reporting the details on this tonight. ask them why Governor Palin didn't say her first line as scripted three shows ago. As they pulled back from the monitor shot of Tina doing the impression she was supposed to compliment Tina. Could've been a real rehab to her image - why'd she refuse?
McCain aide, Mark Salter, denied Keith's claim and called him an "angry man." This spurred (to the delight of the Kossacks) a rare Olbermann diary on Daily Kos:
Yeah, the sketch about my show got more air time than the sketches involving his candidate and I'm the one who's angry?
Also, Mr. Salter is lying through his teeth and I even have physical evidence of the line change, which I'll show on the program tonight.
It's nice to see him doing this, though. You want a guy to remain consistent to the very end.
SNAP!!!!!!! We'll be watching!!!!
Keith's reaction is justified. I have NO doubt that this sketch was directly related to John McCain's appearance on the show...especially the scathing quality. McCain has not kept his contempt for Olbermann quiet, espousing it on Letterman and especially (rather inappropriately) at the Alfred E. Smith dinner:
Two prominent Alaskan politicians have demanded an apology from the McCain Campaign for their libelous/slanderous smears of former Marine and long-time Alaska Public Safety leader, Walt Monegan.
Gail Phillips, Former Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives and Chancy Croft, Former President of the Alaska State Senate make a clear and respectful request to John McCain and his Campaign to undo the damage the misnamed "Truth Squad" did to Walt Monegan's reputation, his employability, and his emotional well-being as well as the well-being of his family and friends.
We are asking all of you to help in this endeavor.
Please email this to your lists and send respectful letters (Gail Phillips has given us all permission to copy any part of their letter we may wish) to the address below, asking for an apology for Walt Monegan:
Honorable Senator John McCain
John McCain 2008
P.O. Box 16118
Arlington, VA 22215
(CC is discussing this on her show "Cutting Edge" today (3:00 - 6:00 pm Alaska time) http://www.kudo.com.)
This is truly facinating..."Women Respond to Palin" along with "Women Against Sarah Palin" are sponsoring this "web-a-thon" which is running from 1:00 PM to 9:00 PM EDT. It is a reading of over 200,000 letters they recieved from women all over the US negatively responding to the Palin VP candidacy.
Here is the explanation from their website:
It all started with a letter written by two women (Lyra and Quinn) that they emailed to 40 of their friends. "We are writing to you," wrote Lyra and Quinn, "because of the fury and dread we have felt since the announcement of Sarah Palin as the Vice-Presidential candidate for the Republican Party.. She does not represent us."
Within one week 100,000 women responded with their own impassioned stories and statements about why Sarah Palin should not be Vice President.
Join us on October 30th, 2008, when performers from all walks of life (unknown and celebrity) will lend their voice and human presence to the thousands of women across America who responded to Lyra and Quinn's letter across America by reading their comments LIVE.
This is **LIVE** coverage of these speakers (I love web technology) so listen to women from all over the country!
I was half asleep so I just cursed at them everytime they told me to "answer 'yes' or 'no'." You can't really blame me...they recycled the old attempt to BLAME OBAMA FOR FANNIE MAE AND FREDDIE MAC!
Overall, it's pretty exciting, since they usually save those for swing states!
A few readers have emailed about recorded calls attacking Obama's stance on the economy, which seemed not to come from the McCain campaign, and which are being received in states like Connecticut and California.
The calls come from the Americans in Contact PAC, an outfit that's building a list of conservatives and raising money to ... build its list of conservatives bigger
"We're making phone calls across the country to identify conservatives and get them engaged in the political process," a spokesman for the organization, Jason Flanary, said.
The call, which is aimed at building a list of as many as 6 million conservatives, was sent to my cellphone. It begins by asking voters who they support, then tries two negative messages on Obama: That he's taken a lot of money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and appointed Jim Johnson to run the search for his running mate; and that he wants to raise taxes. If you say that those attacks changed your mind, it asks for a contribution to help "fight Barack Obama and save our economy."
However, this story doesn't induce sleep as much as it induces insomnia.
In "The Lyin,' the Witch and the Wardrobe," we see the perfect fairy tale icon for Palin. She's obviously not the good and pretty princess she's trying to sell, but she's not quite the beautiful, terrible Maleficent because her sights are set much higher than some tiny fiefdome...she wants to be queen of the world!
Like the White Witch, rules are for everyone else...not for her. Cross her and she'll throw you under the bus or turn you to stone. (Which may not work out too well for her as neither condition is permanent.) Nothing is ever HER fault, there is always some campaign-worker/servant to blame.
Even today, she's at it again...on-fire and off-message (warning--reading this whiny gibberish is seriously painful):
A senior adviser to John McCain told CNN's Dana Bash that the comments about her wardrobe "were not the remarks we sent to her plane this morning." Palin did not discuss the wardrobe story at her rally in Kissimmee later in the day.
But in Tampa, Palin happily broached the clothing issue after being introduced by "The View" co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who accused Palin's opponents of being "fixated on her wardrobe" and "deliberately sexist."
That opened the door for Palin to weigh in on a topic that has frustrated the candidate and her advisers since the story first broke five days ago.
"This whole thing with the wardrobe, you know I have tried to just ignore it because it is so ridiculous, but I am glad now that Elisabeth brought it up, cause it gives me an opportunity without the filter of the media to get to tell you the whole clothes thing," she said.
"Those clothes, they are not my property. Just like the lighting and the staging and everything else that the RNC purchased, I'm not taking them with me. I am back to wearing my own clothes from my favorite consignment shop in Anchorage, Alaska. You'd think - not that I would even have to address the issue because, as Elisabeth is suggesting, the double standard here it's - gosh, we don't even want to waste our time."
Palin, however, forged on.
"I am glad, though, that she brought up accessories also. Let me tell you a little bit about a couple of accessories, didn't think that we would be talking about it, but my earrings - I see a Native Americans for Palin poster," she said. "These are beaded earrings from Todd's mom who is a Yupik Eskimo up in Alaska, Native American, Native Alaskan.
"And my wedding ring, it's in Todd's pocket, 'cause it hurts sometimes when I shake hands and it gets squished," she continued. "A $35 wedding ring from Hawaii that I bought myself and 'cause I always thought with my ring it's not what it's made of, it's what it represents, and 20 years later, happy to wear it. And then finally the other accessory, you bet I'm a gold - I'm a blue star mom. I'm wearing this in honor of my son who is fighting over in Iraq right now defending all of you."
This is Sarah Palin trying to avoid paying taxes on $150,000.00 worth of wardrobe. What does she care if it hurts the campaign to talk about it?
While this story is scary enough, the thing that keeps ME up at night is the fear that Alaskans will forget all of this soon after she returns home. I'm afraid that she'll find some other form of Turkish Delight to satiate her minions, mum those who fear her and cause everyone to once again ignore her critics. I count on those outside of Alaska to help remind us of the danger...it seems the year 2012 may already be in her gunsights and the hunt has already begun.
We already know (thanks to Keith Olbermann) that John McCain's record on domestic terrorists is completely inconsistent with his fake-outraged accusations against Barack Obama "palling around with terrorists."
We also know that John McCain's past voting record supports this quiet support of right-wing domestic terrorists:
So, John McCain's running mate is merely doing the dirty work of voicing an already established (hypocritical) policy when she answers (sorta) this question from Brian Williams. Per Mark Karlin's Editor's Blog at BuzzFlash:
There's no way around it.
Yes, you can parse words, but when Sarah Palin can't call anti-abortionist killers domestic terrorists, you have a vice-presidential candidate who - along with her support for the secessionist and neo-Confederate Alaskan Independence Party - is indeed a true supporter of domestic terrorism and anti-American activities.
I agree with Mark in all but one thing: this particular issue is NOT just Sarah Palin's...it's been John McCain's quiet attempt at wooing the radical right for a long time. They are just allowing her to take the hit for it.
However, the thing that strikes me the most about this clip is the little window we get on her temper...her obvious exasperation with the question. In my years working with musicians and celebrities, I've seen this before...she is acting like a diva who's been told that she must do something because it's part of the contract, but she doesn't feel she should have to and how DARE we ask her!
It allows us to see first hand that attitude of entitlement that's been clearly reflected in her actions...the State paying for her kid's travel...the wardrobe. Some people have been loathe to believe that "our Sarah" could do those things because she's been so good about hiding that part of her personality from the public. However, the rigors of the campaign, the frustration with their lack of success and the exhaustion they must all feel is causing some of the "real" personality to leak through the cracks.
I recieved a forwarded email today that Bill McAllister sent to his "special" media contacts. (Since I was told to leave the McCain-Palin Campaign office because I was an unfriendly "blogger," I already knew I wasn't "special".)
I guess Bill is a little peeved about how "Troopergate" went...and is still going under the Personnel Board:
There was much news coverage in the Troopergate matter concerning whether state employees would testify, whether subpoenas would be honored and so on. Yet, it now has been 12 days since those depositions have been disseminated by our office, and I am unaware of any news stories covering what the employees actually had to say.
For those who might not have read the depositions, below is my memo to one reporter who claimed to have read them and found nothing remarkable. It seems that only one side of the story is being told. As professionals, I'd think you'd hate to see that.
The bottom line is that months before Monegan was reassigned (a reassignment to a six-figure job, which he refused), there was plenty of internal administration discussion about his failure to support the governor on the budget and his attempted interference with union contract negotiations.
FYI.
--Bill
The memo consisted of one line:
From: McAllister, William D (GOV)
Sent: Monday, October 20, 2008 1:35 PM
In regard to the depositions, I'm surprised to hear you say there's nothing there indicating that Monegan was a management problem. You say "nothing jumped out." That's amazing. Consider the following.
He then showed a list of quotes from Talis Colberg's very slanted "depositions" taken during the "investigation before the investigation." He then showed a list of quotes from the "depositions" from the seven criminals who didn't bother to show up for their subpeonas, but submitted written answers to questions from Investigator Branchflower (in a strangly similar writing style as whomever wrote Todd Palin's "testimony"). They are clearly trying to paint a negative picture of Walt Monegan. Rather than show you the quotes, I'll just give you the links to the actual depositions. That way, you'll get to see them in context as I discuss them and you can judge for yourself if you feel they do anything other than make you respect Walt Monegan even more.
The following is my response:
Mr. McAllister:
I just read your extended "whine" to the media as well as these things you call "depositions." After reading them one more time, it's obvious that you, the Governor and the McCain-Palin Campaign are so completely out of touch with reality you don't even understand why you are LUCKY the media isn't covering this.
He included Gov. Palin in his explanation several times, and neither time was good for either Palin or McCain. (emphasis mine)
"I was also concerned at the selection of Governor Palin. She is a distinguised woman and she's to be admired. But at the same time, now that we have had a chance to watch her for some seven weeks, I don't believe she is ready to be President of the United States, which is the job of the Vice President. That raised some question in my mind as to the judgement that Senator McCain made"
Wait, did Colin Powell just make a subtle jab at Palin, who originally stated she didn't know exactly what the Vice President did? Colin Powell isn't really a "jabber" so I find that to be rather significant!
Not only does Powell discuss the differences in both candidate's approaches to issues (he calls the McCain-Palin Campaign "erratic") but he also expresses concern about the "narrowing" of the Republican Party:
"The party has moved even further to the right and Governor Palin has indicated a further right-ward shift. I would have difficulty with two more conservative appointments to the Supreme Court but that's what we'd be looking at in a McCain Administration."
He also delves heavily and specifically into the negative campaigning that McCain-Palin have been pushing and how he is "troubled" by it. And he does something I've been waiting for a prominent Republican to do:
Stressing that Obama was a lifelong Christian, Powell denounced Republican tactics that he said were insulting not only to to Obama but also to Muslims.
"The really right answer is what if he is?" Powell said, praising the contributions of millions of Muslim citizens to American society.
This is a video that should be emailed to every single undecided voter you know. Not only that, mail it to your favorite Republicans voting for McCain-Palin. I plan on it!
NEW YORK The Denver Post, which had backed George W. Bush in 2004 and is owned by Republican-leaning William Dean Singleton, this evening endorsed Barack Obama for president. So did the Chicago Sun-Times, Kansas City Star. Southwest News-Herald (Ill.) and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. And to top it off: two more Bush backers in 2004, The Salt Lake Tribune and Las Cruces (N.M) Sun-News.
This followed this afternoon's surprises: the Chicago Tribune, which has never in 150 years endorsed a Democrat, backed Obama, as did its fellow Tribune paper, the Los Angeles -- which had endorsed no one in more than 30 years. It seems like a dam broke yesterday with the unexpectedly early choice of Obama by The Washington Post.
In E&P's exclusive count, Obama now leads 62-18 in editorial endorsements. New additions for him include the Miami Herald, the Philadelphia Inquirer and The Oregonian of Portland. Check out our running list, updated Saturday here.
Oh, and let's not forget the borderline-endorsement a (not so prominent at the time) Republican gave to Obama over the summer:
The Alaska Democratic Party needs volunteers to be Pollwatchers. The role of the Pollwatcher is to observe at the polling sites and to report and document any irregularities or suspicious activities.
No experience is necessary. We can use you for one hour or as many hours as you can spare. The Alaska Democratic Party will provide training. CRITICAL TIMES opening (6:45am - 8:00am) and closing (7:30pm - 8:30pm) If your schedule allows it please sign up for these periods.
Only one Pollwatcher at a time may observe in a polling location, so we have to schedule accordingly.
If you are interested, go to the website and there is an online form to fill out. They'll call you with information on training, scheduling, etc...
We have all experienced the unbelievable and unprecedented interference that the Republican Presidential Campaign has already had within the Alaska State Government. As Alaskans, we know more than anyone else in the country what lengths the McCain-Palin people will go in order to influence the vote...they are even stooping as low as distributing bulk numbers of free McCain-Palin t-shirts out in the villages! This is not to influence the presidential race so much as it is to give a "push" to the Republican Congressional and state legislative races.
We have to protect the integrity of our election!
Rachel Maddow covered what's happening in other states very thoroughly on Friday's show.
Last night's debate touched on an issue that hadn't been addressed other than in false smears by Sarah Palin--abortion. While I posted the YouTube comparison of the candidates last night, it bears repeating:
This past summer, I posted that the changes on the Democratic Party Platform were an important step, in the words of Progressive Evangelical Leader Jim Wallis: "...in affirming those whose moral convictions lead them to make a different decision than abortion."
The Platform states:
"The Democratic Party also strongly supports a woman's decision to have a child by ensuring access to and availability of programs for pre- and post-natal health care, parenting skills, income support, and caring adoption programs."
I believed from early in his campaign that Barack Obama was a candidate who would try to bridge the gap between Pro-Life and Pro-Choice. Both sides working together is the only way he can acheive his anti-poverty, pro-family agenda. It also means that the Democratic Party must do a better job of embracing pro-life Democratic Candidates, something that Obama has said he will do. Many Democrats, especially Democratic women, are still wary.
I sense that wariness during discussions about "party inclusiveness" for pro-lifers...specifically talking about reaching out to pro-life folks who want to work together towards a goal of fewer abortions. Many in the "Culture of Life" movement have come to the realization that this can only occur through good economic and social policy verses the use of laws. No study has ever shown ANY correlation between the establishment of a more restrictive "abortion law" and a decrease the number of abortions. However, many studies have shown that abortions decline, sometimes steeply, while in a time of overall economic prosperity.
One stumbling block: "working together" requires both sides to set the larger-than-life shadow of "Roe v. Wade" on the shelf with the understanding that is one issue on which we will never agree. There are some on both sides who are unable to do that and therefore will find it impossible to work as a team.
However, tonight I get to focus on the positive.
Yesterday, RCM (Radical Catholic Mom, from the blog of the same name) made a staggering announcement: she and her husband had received their new voter ID cards in the mail with a check in the "Democratic Party" box.
When I first started this blog, I was a card carrying Republican who voted the traditional pro-life vote, but my discontent was there. My work in ESL, my marriage to a Mexican, translating for disabled families, getting stopped for an "id check" in LA, my work within the immigrant community, my frustration with deep dichotomies within the pro-life community, and my knowledge of Catholic Social Teaching all combined to bring me to where I am today.
And she doesn't pull any punches on what she believes the attitude towards abortion is in the Democratic Party:
KANSAS CITY - A Kansas City lawyer and supporter of Barack Obama for president has filed suit in federal court, alleging that the Republican ticket has incited violence against the Democratic nominee.
In her lawsuit against Sen. John McCain, Gov. Sarah Palin and campaign manager Rick Davis, Mary Kay Green said she has been injured by their campaign tactics and suffers "terror of the heart, anxiety and grave fear" for Obama's life.
Green said the GOP campaign has used hate speech to work its supporters into a frenzy, leading to death threats against Obama.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, has been assigned to a federal court mediation program for resolution.
Many of the comments are calling it a "frivolous lawsuit." I think it's rather a clever tool to not only highlight how dangerous this "hate speech" is towards Obama but to make it stop.
I was at an undisclosed location this morning sending some video footage to ABC News (that sounded kinda cool, didn't it?) when the guy behind the counter looked at the DVD and started the conversation.
"So, are you Anti-Palin?"
I hesitated. I'm not afraid of potentially disagreeing with someone behind a counter. However, I don't characterize myself as "anti-Palin" as much as say I'm "terrified of Palin being in the same building with "the red phone."
He misunderstood my pause and reassured me, "Don't worry, I am too!"
We started to chat a bit while packaging up the DVD (it had a big sticker of "Alaskans for Truth" on the front--frsbdg did a great job!) and he explained that he had been pro-Palin up until she started to "embarass the hell out of Alaska." He was especially angry at her denial of the findings in the Troopergate Report. His voice was full of disdain when he asked, "What report did SHE read?"
Our conversation was interrupted when a woman came in and started using the copier. I was happy just to finish up and leave, but our friend behind the counter (obviously not understanding the law of averages) tried his luck one more time. He told the lady, "We're talking about Sarah Palin."
She said brightly, "Oh, so you're going to the rally at The Peanut Farm tonight?"
That right there identified her as a clueless McCain/Palin flunkie. Let's break here and talk about the word "rally." When there is a debate going on and it is going to be watched at a bar, that is not a "rally." That is a "party." It proves to me once again that the McCain-Palin campaign simply stole from what AK Women Reject Palin and Alaskan's for Truth had done so successfully, without understanding the ideas of "grass roots organizing" at all. They don't even use the words properly!!!!
Returning to the narrative...
My friend behind the counter said "No, we don't like her."
She said, "Oh, I guess you won't be there."
I braced myself and didn't have long to wait. It's amazing how the talking points all go the same way.
First comes the "establishment of authority."
"Now, I study everything so I know a lot about politics." (A Fox News officianado...check...) "Do you know about the stuff going on in Chicago?"
I responded, "Well, I know quite a bit about Chicago. I used to live there and my family still does."
Blink, blink...(she takes a second to recover) "So you know about "ACORN" and that they are restarting the Black Panthers, right?"
It was too early...I hadn't had coffee...I didn't have my debating hat on...I started laughing. "Gee, my Republican parents who've lived in Chicago for over 30 years forgot to mention that to me!"
She became angry, "Go ahead, chuckle now. We're damned if we do damned if we don't. Just wait 'til the violence starts. If we don't elect Obama, 'the blacks' are going to claim it's the fault of the white man and then you'll see."
I could have predicted it. I said, "Yup, that's all I needed to hear from you."
She was angrier, "Don't you say that to me..." (Wait for it...here it comes...) "...I've lived many places and I have all kinds of friends who..."
I had to interrupt, they are so predictable. "I know, I know...you have LOTS of black friends."
It was time to get out of there before I blew. You can't have a discussion with anyone spouting that crap. She was just one more racist-who-doesn't-know-she's-a-racist "woman for Sarah" who's grateful to have a good reason not to vote for "that black man."
The guy behind the counter had long since declared a verbal retreat, saying he didn't know who he was going to vote for. However, I was pretty sure the "reverse Bradley effect" was working here. After listening to that woman, I'll bet he can't wait to get in a voting booth and vote for Obama.
Anyway, I've heard more than I want to hear about ACORN today and like she always does, Rachel laid the whole thing to rest...
...with Keith Olbermann, who has another good explanation for this non-story:
Well, I'm very very pleased to be cleared of any legal wrongdoing ... any hint of any kind of unethical activity there. Very pleased to be cleared of any of that.
Huh?
As amazing as that response may be, the question I found most interesting was one asked by KTUU:
KTUU-Channel 2: Governor, so good to hear from you. Do you approve of the way that your campaign has handled themselves here in Alaska? We've had a lot of people voice concerns about what they call attacks of good people in our state while you are away.
Palin: Well I haven't heard of any attacks on good people in Alaska from our campaign. If you have specifics there, maybe I could answer specifically. But no, in John McCain's mission here, in taking the high road, as you're going to see too with a lot of unfair shots he has taken in this campaign with some of his opponents' supporters, McCain and I taking the high road, being positive. I wouldn't support nor would I condone taking shots at any good Alaskans.
KTUU-Channel 2: Let me answer your question since you asked for specifics.
Palin: Sure.
KTUU-Channel 2: Walt Monegan was called "rogue." How do you feel about that?
Palin: Rogue isn't a negative term when you consider that in a cabinet you need a team effort going forward with a governor's agenda. And our agenda has been to find efficiencies in every department and make sure that we are serving the people of Alaska to the best of our ability given the resources that we have. And remember I fought very hard to increase funding for state troopers so that we could fill positions there and goals not being met that included not being able to recruit and retain all the state troopers that I wanted to best serve Alaska. That could be characterized I think as a cabinet member who - it's not a negative term I think -- being rogue in terms of not meeting those goals.
The governor's lawyer has accused the troopers of turning a blind eye to an alleged rogue officer, Mike Wooten, who also is the governor's ex-brother-in-law.
Amazingly, while I've been sitting here writing this article, (9:30 AM, 10/13/08) Meghan Stapleton just called Mike Wooten a "rogue trooper" again in her interview with Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC.
***UPDATED***Video of Meg Stapleton trying to take on Andrea Mitchell (she can't)
Are we expected to believe there's some kind of "positive" aspect to this word?
