REALLY!!! You are trying to accuse us of photoshopping a picture from YOUR EMAIL????!!!!!

by: Celtic Diva

Fri Apr 23, 2010 at 23:55:21 PM AKDT

Give me a friggin' break...you are saying that the supposed "iconic" picture that was ALL OVER GOOGLE IMAGES starting IMMEDIATELY after the Republican Convention that Dr. Chill photoshopped for Blue Oasis was stolen FROM YOUR EMAIL?

Did anyone tell you that exaggeration, creative stories and outright lying usually DOESN'T MIX WELL WITH A TRIAL?

(h/t Immoral Minority and Palingates)

Dear Readers:

I've been doing most of my posting over at Mudflats the last several weeks now that I am a contributor.  I will still be using this blog and will have something up this weekend.  I have to make some changes here, though, in order to more easily post back and forth.

Sarah/Todd emails show how Sarah threw a faithful, pro-life Conservative "under the bus"

by: Celtic Diva

Sat Feb 13, 2010 at 20:55:55 PM AKST

One of the first things that struck me when I started going through MSNBC's 3000 pages of emails from the State of Alaska is that whomever was making the decisions on what to "redact" and what to release was much more lax with these emails than with my records request.  A number of these emails were VERY embarassing for Palin in that they irrefutably back-up what former friends and ex-supporters alike have repeatedly stated--that Palin will throw the most loyal, dedicated worker under the bus. The conversation threads provide a facinating look into Palin's behavior and thought(?) process when it comes to what she demands of her supporters.

Take the case of Glen Biegel.  Glen has a long history as a Republican supporting conservative issues in Alaska. The most significant of these is his long-time participation and leadership role in Alaska Right to Life...a group that "coincidentally" was a very important constituency for Palin.  Alaska-Right-to-Life-ers were the ones manning the phones, standing on street corners waving signs, etc...They provided a good chunk of the ground forces Palin needed during her campaign for Governor.  

As mentioned on Palingates this morning, Glen became a strong member of Palin's campaign team, putting in countless hours as a speechwriter.  Glen was also involved in a number of strategy discussions and campaign decisions, including their direction on oil and gas.  Another former Palin campaign worker once stated to me that the dedication of both Glen Biegel and John Bitney made Palin's abuse of them and their fall-from-grace even more offensive.  

There are several email threads showing what happened when Glen made the mistake of a) investigating the status of a campaign promise regarding Home Schooling and b) committing the ultimate sin of saying something she perceived as disagreeing with her regarding oil taxes.

Glen talked about these emails himself when he filled-in on Dan Fagan's Show (H/T Palingates):

What both "offenses" have in common...he answered questions about them on the air, including on the radio show of her hated enemy, Dan Fagan.

Glen has been a board member of the Alaska Home Education Alliance...another very important constituency for the credibility of anyone attempting to portray themselves as a Conservative. That plus his position on the Palin campaign and as her supporter made him the obvious recipient of mail from other homeschool parents wanting to know the status of Palin's campaign promises...especially when, as the email thread demonstrates, the Palin Administration had been non-responsive since July 2007.  The first email of the thread is actually listed seperately and is the one Palingates partially posted in their article.  Three hours later, Glen sent a response:

From: Glen Biegel
To: Palin, Sarah (GOV sponsored)
Sent: Wed Sep 12 09:25:25 2007
Subject:: Fw: Letter from Governor Palin

Governor,

Here is a copy of a letter from Lynn Smith and an email from one of our parents.

Thanks

Glen

Here also is a paste from a different email about a response to Lynn Smith and a
conversation that She, Sally Javier and I had

The attached information, seen HERE, included an education questionaire Palin responded to during the campaign which made specific promises regarding homeschooling.  Palin is obviously still irritated:

From: Palin, Sarah (GOV sponsored)
To: Glen Biegel
Sent: Wednesday, September 12, 2007 1:49 PM
Subject: Re: Letter from Governor Palin

I was not provided all this infomation/communications Glen. Thanks for bringing it to my attention- but this is all the more reason a more responsible venue should have been found for you to air your grievences instead of playing into our known critic's hands. Fagan seemed to be using you, big time. All I could think of when listening to you was: "With friends like this, who needs enemies".

And it's not personally "hard on me" to go through things like that yesterday, but a conservative agenda gets squashed when those who could be working together to accomplish something are set up like you were yesterday. That was brutual Glen, and I've heard from others saying worse things than "brutal". Please don't pass these thoughts on to Fagan - he hates me and my administration enough as it is.

Yes, it's brutal to ask a politician about their timeline regarding campaign promises...especially when she is the politician being held accountable.  It's also obvious that Palin has her own obsession with Fagan.

From: Glen Biegel
To: Palin, Sarah (GOV sponsored)
Sent: Sat Sep 15 06:38:06 2007
Subject: Re: Letter from Governor Palin

Governor,

I still don't have any indication on how you want to proceed (Timeframe, next steps, meetings, etc). I am having to make guesses on what will happen in the future without any guidance, and then speak about it on the air. I will indicate on air that I did not get the information to you or to the right people and that I have every confidence that this issue will turn out, but it would be nice to have something more than your response below.

I don't want to make things worse (if they can get worse).

Thanks

Glen

Another sin...Glen very civily and subtly pointed out that Palin had neither answered the question nor provided any requested information.

So, Palin comes back at him again:

Glen- i am in Juneau. I got your message a couple of days ago, have been tasking folks to find out what I'm missing so you could receive an appropriate response with going back and forth again. Without fail, each person has reported back that they were confident they had communicated with you about our desire to help.

They had "communicated with you about our desire to help."  She was still providing none of the information that was requested and was getting nastier about the fact he kept asking.

I had people spend more than a day looking for "my" letter to you that seemed to have been the catalyst for the miscommunications on the air, because we wanted all info in front of us in order to respond. That letter was nonexistent, I believe you clarified then about the letter. That was less than three days ago. We're still seeking info on this issue so there will be no more miscommunications, damaged relationships, distrust, missed opportunities to help, etc. I believe you overreacted and you left many people with the impression that their homeschool issues will be better dealt with in a different administration.

It doesn't seem wise to me for you to "make guesses" about anything, then speak about it on the air. I have not had the chance to sit down with the AG to speak about this, as your request is to speak to him, so though it's not wise, nor fair, to "make guesses" again on the air, I can not tell you what to say on air... I've already expressed the committment to help, the tasking of staff to gather more information so the board can more aggressively tackle the issues, I've insisted homeschoolers get adequate time to address the board... etc.

So, Palin feels it's "not wise, nor fair" to "make guesses" on the air.  Yet she also states that "I can not tell you what to say on the air..."

She can't tell a talk radio host what to say on the air when he is trying to help her Administration?

The last communication in this series between Palin and Biegel comes from Glen:

Subject: Re: Letter from Governor Palin

Thank you for the response. That helps me a lot.

God Bless,

Glen

There is no way to know for sure from this email if the "That helps me a lot" was meant sarcastically.

Palin then forwards the email string to Talis Colberg, her AG at the time, and adds the rest of the "inner sanctum" folks on the CC: list (the two last email addresses are Todd and Frank Bailey).  Not surprisingly, we don't get to know the content of that message:

From: Palin, Sarah (GOV sponsored)
Sent: Saturday, September 15, 2007 7:17 AM
To: Colberg; Talis J (LAW)
CC: Tibbles; Michael A (GOV); Perry; Kristina Y (GOV); Smith; Lynne M (GOV);
'fek9wnr@yahoo.com'; 'ftb907@yahoo.com'

Subject: Letter from Governor Palin

Talis

REDACTED

I don't think you'd be surprised to discover that it was around this time, Eddie Burke had started to become the Palin's bestest radio buddy!  He's not impeded by an intellect as sharp as Glen's!

Another email thread between Glen and the former Governor happened several months later, December 2007.  Again, it was the result of Glen asking for clarification regarding a tax issue, not getting it, and then doing his best to address the issue on the air.

The most interesting aspect of this exchange is when Palin does something that makes me wonder how often it's happened...she sends her response to the "inner sanctum," but seemingly forgets that Biegel is still on the "TO" line:

----- Original Message -----
From: Patin, Sarah (GOV sponsored)
To: Glen Biegel; 'fek9wnr@yahoo.com'
Cc: 'ftb907@yahoo.com'; Perry, Kristina Y (GOV) ; Anders, Bruce F (DNR) ; Galvin, Patrick S (DOR); Irwin, Tom E (DNR) ; Rutherford, Marty K (DNR) ; Tibbles, Michael A (GOV) ; Leighow, Sharon W (GOV)
Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2007 9:12 PM
Subject: Re: Questions on the interest of the Admin for a lock in of Tax rates for Gas.

Does he not understand that CP's "proposal" doesn't meet the state's "must haves"... they admit it's far outside the law (AGIA) and even CP has admitted locking up tax rates for 30 yrs (!) as Glen suggests is unacceptable to the legislature, the Alaskan public, this administration, and the Constitution. THEY don't even ask for a 30 year lock-up.

He said that "the campaign" didn't have a problem with that fiscal certainty? Huh? And that he was the gasline consultant to the campaign? Huh? Tell that to the Magnificant 7 who publicly explained the folly of Murkowski's plan, and my willingness to embrace their advice and consultation.

Surely he knows we would not divulge any AGIA info to him that we wouldn't share with the public at the appropriate time... despite the megaphone he has with his radio show and his frequent visits with Dan Fagan on
Fagan's show.

Glen responds twice to an email he wasn't supposed to see, once HERE and then, a clarification HERE.  Both times, he took the high road.  

However, there is a third branch to this thread, where we see Palin sending Glen the response she MEANT for him 19 MINUTES after sending the one she DIDN'T mean to send!

-----Original Message-----
From: Paln, Sarah (GOV sponsored)
Sent: Thu 12/13/2007 9:31 PM
1 ROSTON 01234
To: 'Glen Biegel'; 'fek9wnr@yahoo.com'
Cc: 'ftb907@yahoo.com'; Perry, Kristina Y (GOV); Anders, Bruce F (DNR); Galvin, Patrick S (DOR);
Irwin, Tom E (DNR); Rutherford, Marty K (DNR); Tibbles, Michael A (GOV); Leighow, Sharon W
(GOV)
Subject: Re: Questions on the interest of the Admin for a lock in of Tax rates for Gas.

Glen- I sent this reply with all due respect, and in confidence between you and my administrators who have been working hard on getting Alaska's gasline project up and running.

"...WITH ALL DUE RESPECT?"  Where was that "respect" 19 minutes ago when she sent the snipe-fest to the "inner sanctum?"

From now on, everytime Palin says the phrase "with all due respect," I'll wonder what Palin ACTUALLY said just minutes before.  (Joe Biden at the VP debate?)

And once again, we see something else that may be a pattern...finishing an email thread with a REDACTED email:

From: Anders, Bruce F (DNR)
Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2007 10:20 PM
To: Palin; Sarah (GOV sponsored); 'fek9wnr@yahoo.com'
CC: 'ftb907@yahoo.com'; Perry; Kristina Y (GOV); Galvin ; Patrick S (DOR); Irwin ; Tom E (DNR);
Rutherford; Marty K (DNR); Tibbles ; Michael A (GOV); Leighow; Sharon W (GOV)
Subject: RE: Questions on the interest of the Admin for a lock in of Tax rates for Gas.

REDACTED

The MSNBC emails are a treasure trove of information as long as someone is able to put them in context for the general public.

(**NOTE**I truly appreciate the folks who have been sending me information, links to interesting emails and questions about what they have read.  Many of you have been asking whether Glen and I are related--the answer is "yes, we are." Glen is the older brother of my husband. However, it is not pertinent to the story...it would be hard for us to be more diametrically opposed in our ideologies. Therefore, we NEVER discuss politics...ever...nor do we discuss our blog posts/radio programs. Consequently, we've never discussed any of this and I learned about the existence of these emails with the rest of the world.  

Any information in this post is already public knowledge somewhere on the Internet, over the airwaves or from other sources. The only deference I gave to Glen as a family member took the form of waiting for him to talk about this in a public forum first before I posted anything about it.  Matt Felling of KTVA already mentioned something about it on Twitter last week and Palingates posted Glen's disclosure this morning.)

Saturday Wrap-up: Emails, planting artichokes, & choking down more Palin BS

by: Celtic Diva

Sun Feb 07, 2010 at 05:16:53 AM AKST

Today I did some more reading of Todd Palin's revealed emails from MSNBC's records request. I hope to post something tomorrow regarding questions some of you have been asking.  I also want to thank all those folks who have been pointing out emails they find interesting.  I'm making notes of them and researching to see if they are significant.

It seems that everyone, right and left, are reading the emails.  However, this struck me as friggin' amazing on Twitter today.  It seems that there was one email from Sarah regarding Piper Palin that a bunch of the Teabaggers thought was "so cute."  I expected something like the hair-flattening moment at the Republican Convention so I decided to check it out.  Imagine my horror when I read this:

From: gov.sarah@yahoo.com [mailto :gov.sarah@yahoo.com]
Sent: Tuesday , January 15 , 2008 9:08 AM
To: Kelly, Russell T (GOV); Tibbles, Michael A (GOV); Frank Bailey ; Perry, Kristina Y (GOV);
Leighow, Sharon W (GOV); Leschper, Beth (GOV); Frye, Ivy J (DOA)
Cc: Balash , Joseph R (GOV); Todd ; Anders, Bruce F (DNR); Irwin , Tom E ( DNR); Rutherford, MartyK (DNR); Sally Heath ; Molly; Chuck

Subject: Lyda vs Piper

Oh no. Last night Piper overheard me griping about Lyda's action - and she said : "Can you pull her hair?"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Frye, Ivy J (DOA) [/O=SOA/OU=FIRST ADMINISTRATIVE GROUP/CN=RECIPIENTS/CN=IJFRYE]
Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2008 9:11 AM
To: External Ernailgsp
Cc: fek9wnr@yahoo.com
Subject: RE: Lyda vs Piper

Now that's the best idea I've heard yet! What a smart kid!

So we think it's funny to suggest beating up a grandma who is a cancer survivor?  We already knew Sarah's lack-of-class regarding Ms. Green.  We have it recorded when she giggled incessantly while Bob Lester called Lyda a "bitch" and a "cancer."  

Of course, the spin back then was that she was just laughing because she didn't know what else to do, yet these emails are totally backing the "Mean Girl" persona Sarah's former friends and co-workers have described.  Isn't it facinating how the "real" Sarah is leaking out all over from these private-account emails?

The scariest part is that Piper (what was she in 2008, 7 or 8 yrs old?) is being encouraged to exhibit those same personality traits by someone like Ivy Frye who is around her all of the time. ("The Babysitter")

Piper and Willow fighting while Ivy Frye looks on--at the Governor's Picnic in Anchorage, July 2009

My 12-year-old daughter has NEVER said ANYTHING like that before...and she'd be in trouble if she ever said it about anyone, even Sarah Palin.

(I hear banjos in the distance...)

So, on to more pleasant pursuits...

Planting artichokes

I planted my seeds today in the make-shift greenhouse-on-a-card-table I put together in front of a southern window.

I used a tomato seed-starter because they are for larger seeds.  While the directions for the tomatoes said to put three seeds in each, I only put one artichoke seed in, since the plants are much larger.  

I only planted 12 seeds, since I'm saving 4 of those tomato starters for leeks.  Believe it or not, leeks have a long growing season as well and I need to start them in a couple of weeks.

If you look at the picture of the table, I have a pile of seed packets and many more seed starters.  As the spring gets closer, I'll be starting more seeds for the garden.  I may have to set up another table at a different window!

sigh...back to the quitter...

Sarah Palin's Teabagger Speech

Well, she's trying to go back to those days of yesteryear--the days of the Republican Convention when she was shiny and new...where Sarah Palin could be the smiling hate-monger...the pitbull with lipstick...and have all the Republicans and even some Independents love her.  

Sarah, dear, those days are gone.  We know you now.  The only people you excited with this speech are people that are already excited by you.  As I've pointed out the last several days, those numbers are dwindling as your facade cracks and greedy, narcissistic Sarah keeps leaking through.

It's pretty clear that she didn't bring any moderates into the fold today:

Of course, one thing that Sarah Palin single-handedly managed to do with this speech was completely demolish the anti-teleprompter meme against President Obama.  If there is any doubt about that, all we have to do is see it in the words of loyal Palinistas:

@BlondeAmerican: @SarahPalinUSA is looking down at her notes a lot. No teleprompter? This is ONE area where she can actually learn from the president.
about 7 hours ago from Twitter

She also made herself a laughingstock by writing notes on her hand like a teenager...and then trying to hide it afterwards.

If you missed the speech, here are a number of links where folks live-blogged it, reviewed it and covered the "hand writing" phenomenon.

Political Carnival

Mudflats

Wonkette

Think Progress

Oliver Willis

Fox News

There was a section of the Q&A that set off alarm bells as I was busily chatting on Twitter and Political Carnival.  I didn't really catch all of it so I went looking for a recap afterwards.  Sure enough, my favorite British newspaper, The Guardian, covered it (emphasis mine):

The weirdest part of the evening came not during the speech but during the following Q&A session. Asked what she thought that a Republican-controlled congress's top three priorities should be, she answered: stop spending, energy policy and ... well, here's the whole quote, judge for yourself:

I think, kind of tougher to put our arms around, but allowing America's spirit to rise again by not being afraid to kind of go back to some of our roots as a God fearing nation where we're not afraid to say especially in times of potential trouble in the future here, where we're not afraid to say, you know, we don't have all the answers as fallible men and women so it would be wise of us to start seeking some divine intervention again in this country, so that we can be safe and secure and prosperous again. To have people involved in government who aren't afraid to go that route, not so afraid of the political correctness that you know - they have to be afraid of what the media said about them if they were to proclaim their alliance to our creator.

She was careful enough to say "God fearing" rather than "Christian"...but I'm sure the people who were supposed to get that message understood it perfectly.  This was targetted towards the Dominionists like Fred Dobson and Focus on the Family, Franklin Graham and his followers, and the hundreds of evangelicals out there who have focused all of their time and energy to turn the US into a theocracy.  

Sarah Palin used that speech and Q&A to reassure them that she was still their girl.

You KNOW President Obama laughed at THIS one!

Finally, I leave you with one hysterical skit from Saturday Night Live of "Rahm Emmanuel" asking Sarah Palin for an apology.  I just couldn't stop giggling and the shots at Palin just made me cheer! (H/T Shannyn Moore)

Summary of Sarah Palin's terrible, horrible, very bad week!

by: Celtic Diva

Sat Feb 06, 2010 at 03:05:51 AM AKST

What a difference a week makes!

While President Obama helped fuel a certain upswing in moods with his recent brilliant performances in Q&As with Congress, we've had progress on the Palin front as well:  her true ethics are now being seen publicly.

--We started to see disenchantment when many grassroots tea partiers discovered that the much-touted Tea Party Convention was actually a for-profit exercise costing each attendee about $500.00.  The true disenchantment came when it was revealed that over $300.00 of that cost was a banquet, where Ms. Palin was speaking for a $100,000 fee.  While others like Michelle Bachmann pulled out of the event (BTW...she was doing it for free) because of the unrest and even some sponsorship bailout, our Sarah stayed strong and promised to "stick with it." She also stated that she wouldn't profit from that $100,000.00 speaking fee...but was VERY short on details as to how that was going to work.  

(I hope everyone has enough popcorn and soda to watch the speech on Fox Saturday night AND the Superbowl the next day.  I plan to be Tweeting away...I'm sure many of you will be as well.  Think of the Saturday speech as a pre-game event...sort of the "sinners" before the "Saints.")

--More teabaggers and other conservatives became angry with Palin when she started backing Republicans that were viewed as "masquerading" as teabaggers but are being backed by mainstream Republicans and their money. Some of those who jumped ship this week (and suffered the typical Palinista smears) seem to be most dismayed by "outsiders" like Palin backing Rand Paul in Kentucky over the choice of true local tea partiers, Bill Johnson.  Some of these are Conservatives like Sue Jaycox at Conservative women's blog "Smart Girl Politics".  Others were die-hard Palin supporters like founder of Twitter's "Palin Twibe" Lisa Graas who felt unable to support Palin any longer after Palin's endorsement of Ron Paul's son.

An interesting development, Conservative slime bag Dan Riehl, (who started a national campaign to slander our own Gryphen in the worst way so that Dan could show his undying love for Sarah) has become increasingly cynical about the former Governor since her affiliation with the Tea Party Convention.  This week, he expressed disgust at that and her SarahPAC money donations to non-tea-party candidates like Rand.  He points out all of this as reflecting the hypocrisy of her claim that the appearance in Nashville does not benefit her directly.

-- I'm sure that everyone saw the great article our own AKM did on Mudflats and Huffington Post about the "Palin cabin" Sarah is so fond of dicussing, yet the property is assessed (and taxed) as having no cabin!  The AP took it viral and also did further research with the Mat Su Borough property assessors, only to discover that it IS the responsibility of property owners to notify the State about changes they make to their property that changes the assessment.  

Of course, die-hard Palin fan-bois and gals have the same ethical viewpoint as their fearless leader, as we see with the Freepers on Free Republic:

To: All
Lived in AK for 25 years and NEVER reported any improvemnents to my properties or purchases.

You wanna tax me Borough? Then do your job. It's not my job as a state citizen to hand you new ways to tax me and my families hard earned purchases.

13 posted on Thursday, February 04, 2010 8:17:57 PM by liberty or death

To: liberty or death
Lived in AK for 25 years and NEVER reported any improvemnents to my properties or purchases.
I have lived in the same house in Pennsylvania for as long and never once asked for a building permit for stuff I have done on my house because all they would do is up my taxes.

They might discover it the next time the county does a reassessment, but in the mean time, if I spend my own money to improve my property, it's none of their damn business.

48 posted on Thursday, February 04, 2010 8:50:06 PM by Ditto

To: highlander_UW
Property tax is unconstitutional anyway. It removes the ability to own land as property. Instead you only lease it. As soon as you fail to pay taxes that land can be taken away...so when you buy you may get control over the land but only as long as you pay rent to the gov't.
Bingo. you dont own something you have to pay taxes on.

53 posted on Thursday, February 04, 2010 8:57:54 PM by ColdSteelTalon

So, according to the Freeper brain trust:

Sarah Palin = gooooooood

Paying Property Taxes = baaaaaaaad

Dishonesty = acceptable when it benefits MEEEEEEE

Breaking the Law = Patriotic

Fine, upstanding Americans these Palinistas!

--Another big problem for Sarah Palin this week:  they allowed the wackiest of whack-jobs to open the National Tea Party Convention.

For example: Tom Tancredo spent his time laughing at the literacy of Democratic voters.  As someone who gets some of the biggest affronts to the English language every day in the form of right-wing hate mail, I find it hysterical to hear a Conservative complain about literacy:

And then there is Joseph Farah, owner of Wing Nut Daily and birther who made the point that "even Jesus Christ understood the importance of a birth certificate!" Huh?

The crazy...it burns...

The good news for Sarah...Palin's speech may look brilliant in comparison.

--Finally, MSNBC came into possession of over 1,200 emails from the State of Alaska which include Todd Palin somewhere in an address line.  I've been going through these all day and there is definitely some interesting information.  These were emails from the private accounts and it's obvious the senders didn't think they'd ever go public.  There are even a couple so far where Sarah Palin shows her true colors.  Yes...I mean bitch...

However, I've barely scratched the surface.  I'll continue to go through them over the next several days and report back.

Transparency in Public Records--The AK Legislature is our only hope **UPDATE**

by: Celtic Diva

Mon Jan 25, 2010 at 05:41:17 AM AKST

The very same week we had a ruling that set back ethics 200 years coming out of the U.S. Supreme Court, the Alaska Superior Court delivered a set-back to government transparency:

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - An Alaska judge has sided with former Gov. Sarah Palin in a lawsuit over e-mail messages, finding that state law does not forbid the use of private e-mail accounts to conduct state business...

...The issue arose from a 2008 records request by Ms. McLeod that showed that Ms. Palin and members of her staff had been using private e-mail accounts. The traffic uncovered, though, was heavily redacted for what were deemed reasons of privacy. Ms. McLeod argued through her lawyer that use of private accounts obstructed the people's right to inspect public records.

(For those of you who have never seen a "redacted" public record, this is what one looks like:)

And Superior Court Judge McKay (yes, it's the same one with 2 DUIs) was quite clear into whose lap he was dropping this:

[State Asst. Attny Gen.] Mr. Mitchell said last month that if the use of private accounts were to be banned for state business, the Legislature, not a court, should say so.

On Friday, Judge McKay agreed.

"The language in our case is clear - the Legislature simply chose to give state agencies some discretion in determining which e-mails are worthy of preservation and which are not," he wrote. A records retention plan through the state archives also makes distinctions, he noted, and classifies messages not required to be retained as "transitory" messages, meant mainly for informal communications.

This is a blow to government transparency in Alaska...a State that may be one of the most corrupt/most secretive in the U.S.

So from this, we can determine three things:

1) The judge not only allowed state employees to hide records from the public by using private accounts, he also may have expanded the definition of "non-record" emails sent on state accounts.  As it stands now, the policy the State adopts regarding archived emails seems to interpret much more narrowly Alaska Statutes guidance on what are considered records.  Per the State policy:

What is Non-record e-mail?  
Non-record e-mail does not meet the definition of Record in AS 40.21.150(6) or AS 40.25.220(3).  Non-record e-mail includes personal messages, spam, extra copies of documents distributed or received for reference, listserv or bulletin board posts, and announcements unrelated to official business, like retirement parties or holiday celebrations.  Personal messages constitute non-records as they are not accounts or writings "developed or received by a public agency," and are not "preserved for their informational value or as evidence of the organization or operation of the public agency" under AS 40.25.110

I suspect the ruling will give folks more confidence in disposing of records that they may have previously questioned.  

(I also find it interesting that this clearly positive ruling towards Sarah Palin occurred days after an Alaska judge warranted a security detail because of threats stemming from the Palin v. Levi custody case.  Just sayin'...)

2)  The judge was clear that he believes Alaska Statutes allow State employees to police themselves, and;

3) The Judge made it clear that the Alaska Legislature is the only vehicle by which this practice can be changed permanently (Gov. Parnell has forbidden his employees from using private accounts to conduct State business...that will only last as long as he's Governor)

**The Legislature (I believe Rep. Mike Doogan) did submit a Bill last session regarding this topic, but I haven't heard anything about it yet this session. **

*******************************************UPDATE***************************************************

Rep. Doogan's HB 195 indeed addresses the issue of private v public emails directly:

* Section 1. AS 39.52 is amended by adding a new section to read:

04            Sec. 39.52.135. State electronic mail delivery systems required for official                              
05       action by electronic mail. (a) When taking or withholding official action, a public                            
06       officer may not send or cause another to send information by electronic transmission
07       within a system for electronic mail delivery unless the system is operated and                                    
08       maintained by the state.

It is currently sitting in the State Affairs Committee.

****************************************************************************************************

However, there is still one more lawsuit out there...the ruling I'm breathlessly waiting for:

Does being the husband of Gov. Sarah Palin give Todd Palin special access to internal communications off limits to the general public?

Andree McLeod, a former state worker turned activist, has gone to court arguing it does not. She is seeking an untold number of state e-mails that were copied to Todd Palin but withheld from a public records request she made in June.

"This latest refusal by the governor's office to hold back official state e-mails has left me no other choice," McLeod said. "And this is real important: The state can't cloak these communications in secrecy when the governor and her staff have broken the chain of custody by sharing them with a mere private citizen, who is not ... a state employee. Therefore, that entitles all citizens the right to examine these documents in the light of day."

In essence, McLeod is arguing that if Todd Palin was copied on the state e-mails, the governor's office can't keep them from the public for reasons such as "executive privilege" and "deliberative process."

As Attny Don Mitchell (McLeod's attorney for the email lawsuits) reported in an article on Mudflats in November "The legislation is ongoing."

I have a very good reason that I'm particularly interested in this second, yet-to-be-determined lawsuit.  It's one many of you will be interested in as well...the majority of the emails that "respond" to my email inquiry were redacted for "privilege."  

I admit that I expected a number of them to be redacted, but I NEVER expected this many...there are over 70!

They go from emails allegedly handling a "cleavage complaint"...something that was NEVER an official complaint but just an email to Annette Kreitzer used to try and discredit Andree McLeod...there should be no privilege attached (more news on this one later):

(click on the images to enlarge)

We have emails claiming privilege when they are discussing a "web column"--basically, the media and their coverage:

And then...my favorite...ones that claim "attorney-client privilege" when they are either missing an attorney, a client or both (between Linda Perez and Cheif of Staff Mike Nizich)!  Also, some have people on the CC who are neither:

The reason this ruling is so important (and I believed we'd have it by now) is Alaska Law in the area of privilege is a little bi-polar.  

--Fuller v. City of Homer which states in the court decision:  

We have repeatedly held that the [Alaska Public Records] act creates a presumption in favor of disclosure and that the act's implicit legislative policy of broad public access requires courts to narrowly construe exceptions to disclosure.10

--However, Gwich'in Steering Committee v. Office of the Governor states in its ruling that the "deliberative process" in the Governor's Office should be protected, even when the decision was already made:

The privilege may protect any governmental decisionmaking function, including the governor's policymaking and lobbying of either state or federal government.

Generally, it is difficult for a requestor to override a presumptive privilege. [Fn. 56]

For this reason, it's unlikely that any attorney will take another case dealing with privilege until they see the outcome of the one Don Mitchell and Andree McLeod is pursuing now.  This is true even though most people can look at this partial list of redacted emails and see the farce in claiming "privilege."

One prediction I will make:  I believe the unfortunate outcome of the first ruling may be that it effects the second--that the court defers to the Alaska Legislature.




(PS:  To all of you who have been asking--I appreciate your patience regarding my posting on the records request.  With everything going on, this post took me a long time (weeks) to write.  

There will be more to come.)

 

Palin & emails, Arctic Cat, gifts, AK Fund Trust...how many "dropping shoes" does one person need?

by: Celtic Diva

Wed Aug 05, 2009 at 12:27:00 PM AKDT

In a piece by Justin Miller in "The Atlantic" yesterday titled "The Shoe that didn't Drop," Miller claims that there is no "scandal" that has influenced Palin to leave office:

The closest Palin is being examined is by an ethics investigator in Alaska who said it is probable she improperly used her position as a public official to collect donations for a private legal defense fund. However, the investigator suggests Palin simply not take money from the fund, and instead appeal to the state to handle these legal matters.

First off, Shannyn Moore and everyone else who talked about possible attention from the Feds NEVER SAID THE WORD FBI...they said F-E-D-E-R-A-L.  So, when the FBI did it's Van Flein-influenced-denial of any investigation into Palin, that was a clever political ADD distraction.  It worked, enhancing my theory that most journalists have ADD.

Last I checked, the IRS is a federal agency and I can attest to the number of emails I have received from folks telling me they reported the Palins to the IRS.  Having been a Fed for 15 years, I can PROMISE you that those emails will NOT be ignored...mainly because it's no skin off their nose to check into the allegations.

Secondly, the bit about the "closest" Palin has been examined is by the ethics investigator who found that "it is probable she improperly used her position as a public official"...as if it's no big deal.

Huh?  Misusing your position as a public official for financial gain is no big deal?  Where does this guy come from?

As a little explanation to Mr. Miller, and an update to everyone else, allow me to point out some information from the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act (EBEA) I pointed out last week.

1)  The portion that Mr. Miller summarizes from Tom Daniel's report, that "Palin simply not take money from the fund, and instead appeal to the state to handle these legal matters", was the remedy offered to Palin by Investigator Daniel.  As we knew when this report became public, Palin and Van Flein had ignored the report for a week.  Since the AK Fund Trust website is still up and accepting donations, we can safely assume that they have yet to accept that remedy.  Since that remedy was offered on July 14th and today is August 5th, I would think the time for acceptance has passed, so:

2)  Because, per the EBEA, "the subject of a complaint failed to comply with a recommendation for corrective or preventive action," Investigator Daniel SHOULD have sent/be sending a formal copy of the accusations to the Palins, which lays out the specific violation.  We should know as soon as this happens because EVERYTHING FROM THAT POINT FORWARD BECOMES PUBLIC INFORMATION.  

3) There are three possible replies to the formal accusation letter that Palin can make:

- Denial of the violation:  This then results in a hearing which involves a hearing officer (judge) and a formal procedure.  The only way for Palin to be able to claim "no wrongdoing" is if the issue is completely dismissed after this process.  Because she ignored the remedy, that isn't very likely.

- Acceptance of the violation:  Palin's case would then automatically be sent to the Personnel Board for the penalty phase.

- Palin "does not respond in a timely manner" (or ignores the charges):  "The allegations are considered admitted."  This means they automatically go to the Personnel Board for the penalty phase.  I find this scenario to be the most likely because in my experience with the Palins, they have a difficult time with deadlines.

Unless the unlikely occurs and the violation is dismissed after a full, public hearing, Palin has lost her "meme" that "she has not been found to have committed any wrongdoing."  Somehow, I don't find any of this to be a "minor" issue.

It's also not the only thing nipping at Palin's heels:

Arctic Cat

I spoke last week with Holly Hill, Executive Director of the Alaska Public Offices Commission.  I was double checking that she had received all of the documents I had sent the week before.  I asked if the response to Van Flein would soon be forthcoming regarding their claim that their benefits from Arctic Cat qualify as a "trade secret."  I mentioned how concerned I was about how this might effect attempts at income secrecy from other public officials.  Ms. Hill assured me that there were very many officials who had expressed concern about this upcoming decision as well.  She also stated that it probably wouldn't be out until the next meeting.

Interestingly enough, it came out early and a big "thank you" to Sean Cockerham and Lisa Demer for covering it:

In one lingering issue, the Alaska Public Offices Commission has refused Palin's request to keep secret the discounts that come from her husband's Arctic Cat sponsorship.

and...

APOC is giving Palin until Aug. 17 to make public "information related to the dollar amount of the discounts from Arctic Cat," as well as any gifts received in 2008 that she has not reported, said Holly Hill, the agency's director. Hill found that the state law Palin cited in arguing for an exemption from the Arctic Cat disclosure "only protects information submitted under the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act, and does not apply in this matter."

Personnel Board:  I turned comments into the Personnel Board refuting the Arctic Cat dismissal and have been watching and waiting for their next meeting.  That's most likely when they will have a "hearing" on them.

Emails:

First, to start out with the "most asked" issue...I have heard nothing more from Linda Perez on the emails.  My target date to start bugging them about it is August 24th although they have until September (the deadline).  I am very, very eager to see what I'll get and I'll pursue this until the bitter end.

Next, Sean and Lisa covered Andree McLeod's email cases very well:

A judge on Tuesday heard arguments in a lawsuit by Anchorage activist Andree McLeod, who is seeking to ban the practice and is arguing it could hide information the public has a fundamental right to see.

and (emphasis mine)...

"This is not something between Andree McLeod and former Gov. Palin. This is a very serious public policy issue," McLeod's lawyer, Don Mitchell, told the judge Tuesday.

The heart of the case is whether private e-mails obstruct the public's right to public information, Mitchell said.

Mike Mitchell, arguing for the state, said many e-mails aren't public records anyway because they are too trivial. McLeod is trying to expand the definition of a public record, and not just for the governor's office, he said.

What do you mean "too trivial?"  Who makes the decision on what's trivial and what isn't?  Emails about emails could be considered "trivial" except, in this case, they are not.  According to every Federal Law I understand, all information produced in government service is fair game.

Gifts

I have believed all along that these will be the bane of her existence.  

APOC also said Palin needs to disclose all the gifts she received last year, rejecting her interpretation that she doesn't need to until after she gets around to actually opening the gifts.

Palin has told APOC "there are boxes of unopened mail at this point, even mail that was delivered in 2008."

Andree has an excellent pending ethics complaint regarding the gifts and I believe Palin will encounter significant trouble with APOC regarding them as well.  I have a much more thorough post started on the gifts issue that I'll put out this week.

As you can see, it's a veritable rainstorm of shoes in the Palin camp these days.  It would be foolish to dismiss them offhand just because they are not federal indictments.  As we've seen in Alaska, federal indictments aren't always very successful.

For the Palin Administration "transparent government" has become an oxymoron.

by: Celtic Diva

Fri Feb 06, 2009 at 13:07:07 PM AKST

A few weeks ago, I submitted a couple of records requests to the Governor's Office.  They sent back letter responses to both at the very same time.

On the first one (regarding the "racist emails"...turns out that less than a handful of employees forwarded them on), the letter stated that the Office of the Governor had "no records that are responsive to your request."  However, they forwarded it to the Department of Administration who did.  I received a timely phone response from Kevin Brooks, then a written one with the information I requested.

The second letter was a different story.  It stated that because there was:

"no record responsive to your request we must deny your request under 2 AAC 96.335.(a) (2) Denial of request:

(a) A request for a public record that complies with this chapter may be denied only if

       (2) the record is not in the public agency's possession, and after a diligent search the public agency does not know where the record is to be found;

The records I was requesting in the second letter?

I request the Office of the Governor to duplicate and provide me with a copy of every contract and/or agreement the State of Alaska or any entity or agency of the State of Alaska awarded to Meghan Stapleton and family members and/or any company related to Meghan Stapleton and family.  

If there are public records that are described in this public records request that the Office of the Governor does not maintain, please let me know the name of the public agency that maintains those records and the name and address of each State of Alaska employee who is a custodian of the records.

My understanding from other former State employees is that the department containing that information is the exact same department they happily forwarded the first letter to...The Department of Administration.  For whatever reason, they are forcing me to do an appeal rather than forward my request to that department of their own volition.

Hmmmmmm...

Of course, this is not a surprise.  Considering the ridiculous six-month runaround the Alaska Democratic Party has experienced in their attempts to obtain retrieved emails from Governor Palin's government account AND the fact the Administration is asking for two more months, I should count myself lucky.  I find this especially suspicious in that I'm rather close to an individual who pulls emails from government servers as part of his/her job.  He/she couldn't imagine it taking longer than two weeks, especially since there are contractors out there who specialize in such things.

Then, of course, there's the unfolding court case from Andree McLeod, attempting to make sure that emails sent to one non-state employee (Todd Palin) cannot be kept off the public record from the rest of us and declared "confidential."

Between that and the ridiculous amount of money the Administration has attempted to charge individuals and agencies for those records, it's a frustrating experience trying to get the Administration to comply with that "transparency" we've all heard so much about.

I'll keep you all updated as to the status of my appeal.

State employees passing around racist anti-Obama emails--the things you miss when ice fishing

by: Celtic Diva

Thu Dec 18, 2008 at 18:50:57 PM AKST

I was a chaparone today...the last day of school before Winter Break. So I missed it when one of my favorite reporters, Rachel D'Oro of AP Alaska, broke this story:

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Alaska officials are investigating racist jokes about President-elect Barack Obama that have been circulating on state government e-mail accounts.

One of the five e-mails obtained by The Associated Press asks what was the outcome of the Democrat's victory after all the time and money spent, and concludes: "Another black family living in government housing!"

Lovely.  I worked for the Feds for 15 years and I can promise you, I NEVER saw anything like this forwarded from another federal employee.  Even if someone agreed with this trash, they knew they'd be in HUGE trouble if someone turned them in.

Further on in the story:

Kreitzer said she alerted the office of Gov. Sarah Palin - the failed Republican vice presidential candidate - about the e-mails.

Bill McAllister, Palin's spokesman, said in an e-mail that the matter concerned individual actions taken by a handful of state employees among thousands.

"My understanding is that the Department of Administration is following up on this with the individuals who took action to forward the offensive e-mails," he said. "This is, of course, a confidential personnel and disciplinary matter that has nothing to do with the governor's office."

1)  When I worked for the Army and some controversial incident like this was made public...especially if it hit the media...it was a no-brainer that we would receive a condemnation FROM A COLONEL OR GENERAL (depending whether it was local or national) THAT VERY DAY.

2)  Governor Palin was in hot water over her silent response to the racism of her supporters on the VP Campaign trail in September.  At the same time, African American leaders in Alaska stated that the Palin Administration had no relationship with the African American community.  Bill McAllister jumped in and stated:

"I'm African-American and I am a big rebuttal to those charges," said Bill McAllister, Gov. Palin's press secretary and former broadcast journalist.

"She is not averse to hiring African-Americans," said McAllister, who joined Palin's staff two months ago. McAllister said Palin's office "never" compiled statistics on minorities in her administration.

This was the first most people knew that Bill McAllister had any African American heritage.  If you actually have to tell people that you are black (and only choose to do so as a political tool to bail-out your boss) I'm NOT sure that really counts as proving that the Governor is "sensitive" to racial issues.  What is even more infuriating is that McAllister's statement doesn't condemn the emails nor does he carry any message doing so from the Governor.

Once again, we don't see much "racial sensitivity" from the Governor.

3)  This lack of accountability for the folks sending those emails is just a symptom of a systemic cancer within the Alaska State Government.  Sarah Palin has her own email issues, secrets she refuses to reveal.  SHE DOESN'T DARE try to hold these people accountable for their emails because it only points to her own attempts at hiding emailed information.

4)  I spent the morning with a 5th grade class ice fishing on Jewel Lake.  The faces of my daughter and her schoolmates reflect the future majority in Alaska...and that future is brown.  There is no place for a Governor who cannot condemn racism because she doesn't wish to offend her base supporters or because she is shackled by her own web of secrecy and lies.
 

Alaskans who are "Holding our Leaders Accountable" (with audio)

by: Celtic Diva

Fri Dec 12, 2008 at 01:19:45 AM AKST

Today was the much-anticipated speech of Walt Monegan's at the Democratic Bartlett Club Luncheon, which happens once a week on Thursdays at the Denny's on Debarr.  I have never seen the room as packed to the rafters as it was this week.  (I was surprised not to see media but I did get his speech plus the question/answer session afterwards on a .wav file.)

I attended Walt's speech at UAA last week and this one carried some of the same themes, especially that of the responsibility of leaders earning the public's trust. However, the phrase he seemed to drum home a bit harder was that of the public's responsibility to "hold our leaders accountable."  As a Deputy Treasurer with Alaskan's for Truth, you can imagine that had my attention and I wonder if Mr. Monegan is directing his speech in the public forum partially to our Legislature.  I didn't get a chance to ask him that but I truly hope so.

Walt didn't make any announcements but it sounded like we might hear something after the holidays.  I PRAY he won't be running for Anchorage Mayor...don't get me wrong, he'd make a great one but there are already 3 non-Conservative candidates going for the job:

Eric Croft (listening hear as Walt Monegan was speaking,

Recently retired Anchorage Police Lietenant Paul Honeman (in the black shirt),

and Sheila Seilkregg, seen here at her fundraiser last week talking to my daughter.

I encourage Walt to think more "state-wide"...like possibly in 2010?

Another Alaskan encouraging us all to hold our leaders accountable, and being specific about it when it comes to our Legislators and the Branchflower Report, is our own CC from KUDO.  She spoke at the Bartlett luncheon last weeks and got rave reviews on her talk about "Alaskans for Truth."

Of course sometimes opportunity is thrust upon us and that was certainly the case with Syrin the first week of December.

(more below the fold)