Can I Get a Palin 1st Amendment Tweet? Joe Miller Security Detains Reporter- UPDATED

C'mon Sarah, I'm eagerly anticipating your latest tweet in which you express your outrage over Joe Miller's security detail impinging on his 1st Amendment rights.

Tony Hopfinger, editor of the online Alaska Dispatch, tells KTUU-TV that security pushed him as he tried to question Joe Miller on Sunday. He says he pushed back and that guards then detained him, accusing him of trespassing at the public event in Anchorage...

...The Anchorage Daily News reports that "Hopfinger was handcuffed by the guards and detained in a hallway at Central Middle School until Anchorage police came and told the guards to release him."

How exactly does one trespass a public event?

Here you go, Sarah. Just to refresh your memory:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Now get those thumbs workin'.

And let's hear it from the "Go back to the Constitution the way the Founders intended" Tea Party to call Miller out on this blatant disregard and hypocrisy. I'll be waiting for that as well.

UPDATE (2pm): Sam Stein gets an exclusive with Alaska Dispatch reporter, Tony Hopfinger (emphasis mine):

"Getting handcuffed by somebody you don't know at a public school, no one had said it was a private event or cast it that way, I mean intimidated, yeah [I was]. But I guess I was more pissed off. Miller, I felt, was going to answer my question on the reprimand part," said Hopfinger.

"I think, just like in other parts of the country, the media is finding itself having a hard time doing its job in this political cycle because, whenever we ask questions, there are certain candidates out there who decry 'lamestream media' or whatever. Mr. Miller has had plenty of time to answer questions. He has been given plenty of opportunities. He somehow believes he shouldn't be questioned about his background and yet he wants a job in six years, to a post where there are only 100 in the entire country, and we are not supposed to ask questions about anything of his past. There is a little bit of shoot the messenger. It is happening up here, and other parts of the country. There are certain candidates who just want to turn this around and act like it's the media causing the problem. That has always been there, that element. It is just more ramped up this political cycle."

BREAKING NEWS: Plane Down in Alaska

(Bumped)

10:38am: A plane has gone down in Alaska killing some of its nine passengers. Among the passengers on the plane are former Senator Ted Stevens and former Navy Secretary and NASA Chief Sean O'Keefe.  No word as to who specifically has been killed as bad weather has prevented rescue workers to get to the wreckage.

More details to follow.

UPDATE (2:41pm): Former Senator Ted Stevens comfirmed killed in the plane crash.

Idiot Alert

Exxon Mobil, an American company... was involved in the Exxon Valdez spill.

And as Jason Linkins notes, the untrustworthy foreign company British Petroleum was, for eighteen years, the employer of one Todd Palin.

SARAH 2012!

Sarah Palin Saturation?

Being that Sarah Palin is in the news every day, I recently began to wonder whether her white hot "star quality" would burn out relatively quickly and people would just begin to tire of her folksy, uneducated ways, especially with the news of her Discovery Channel pitch for a show featuring Alaska. Sarah Palin's Alaska. You know, the one filled with oil derricks and tarred otters, skies filled with hunter loaded airplanes shooting wolves, and a tour of her home town meth labs.

Well now it looks like there's a possibility that Sarah saturation may be taking place. The ad buyers sales conference for Discovery didn't go too well after the Palin show was promoted to prospective buyers. "No one took it seriously" and "an all time low for Discovery" are just a couple of quotes that jump out.

From a no-name half term governor of a state whose population is that of ten square blocks of Manhattan, prematurely thrust into the spotlight as a candidate to be a heartbeat away from the presidency, to 24/7 Palin with book tours that were ghostwritten for her, Tea Party Express tours in which she praises the movement but still stumps for the establishment, Fox News misinformed commentary and analysis complete with fake interviews, and now a soon to be failed Discovery Channel "reality" show, Sarah Palin is raking in the money, burning hot and burning out fast... well, at least we can hope it'll be fast.

(H/T GottaLaff)

Palin Runs In Turkey Trot, Doesn't Finish

Oh Sarah, is there nothing you won't quit?

TriCityHerald.com: ...Palin had announced on Twitter that she would be running the 5k race organized by the Benton-Franklin Chapter of the Red Cross.

She didn't finish the race, opting to leave the course early to avoid more crowds at the end. About 40 minutes into the run, word started trickling out to people gathered at the finish line that she was gone...

Is There Anything Sarah Palin Won't Quit?

Just days after officially stepping down as governor of Alaska, former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is dropping out of an advertised speaking engagement in Simi Valley...

It was on Thursday that Palin’s spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton made public the news of the decision not to attend the event via Palin’s Facebook page.

Up to 900 people were expected to attend the event at $100 a ticket for members and $150 for non-members, but media had been barred from the occasion.

It's bad enough that Palin left her state in the lurch after declaring herself a lame duck and resigning, but is this what she meant when she said she was "willing to call an audible and pass the ball when it's time so the team can win"? She's running out of balls to pass after being passed over herself by Clear Channel for a possible radio show, and polls showing her Alaskan brethren aren't too happy with her point guard decisions.

Via Wonkette: "Facebook! She fucks these people over via Facebook. She’ll probably take Bristol out of her will via Twitter."

Now comes rumor of Todd and Sarah possibly divorcing. Is there anything Sarah won't quit?

UPDATE (9:10pm): Palin, or her spokesperson Meg Stapleton, has denied the divorce rumor... via Facebook!!! Maybe she should quit that.

Palin Resigning

"Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive."

Former GOP vice presidential candidate, former Ms. Wasilla Pageant winner and current (at least for now) Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has called a press conference today to announce her resignation from said office in a few weeks.

"I'm not seeking re-election," Palin told a news conference at which she said she would transfer authority to Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell.

...Palin said her decision came after much "prayer and consideration." She did not want to waste time on "political blood sport" and cited public criticism of her actions and her family since the 2008 campaign.

And she should know about political blood sport.

So here's my layman's analysis:

Sarah Palin is obviously preparing for a 2012 run at the GOP nomination. If you gave Palin the benefit of the doubt, it would make sense for her not to leave the state of Alaska in the lurch replacing a re-elected Governor with the Lieutenant Governor just a few months into her term to run for President.

But if you're a cynic, to run for a second term in a state where your approval ratings have dropped approximately 25-30 points in the last 8 months and the very possible chance that you can lose that election just before seeking the presidential nomination would be politically suicidal.

I'm guessing it's the latter. Although I don't know who gave her the advice that she would be "out of sight - out of mind" should she truly believe that criticism will escape her if she's not holding office. All she has to do is open her mouth for that to continue.

Sarah 2012? You betcha!

UPDATE (9:45pm): Freak. Show.

And the crowd of tens politely applauds while trying to decipher what the fuck she just said.

Stupid Volcano Monitoring

Someone get Bobby Jindal on the phone for a comment.

When Republican wunderkind, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal gave his party’s response to President Obama’s speech before a joint session of Congress, he decried Democrats for passing a spending bill “larded with wasteful spending,” ...including "$140 million for something called “volcano monitoring.”

...Jindal is the governer of a state dependent on tens of billions of federal dollars to predict, prepare for and recover from natural disasters, and however exotic “volcano monitoring” may sound to his fellow bayou residents, he’s in no position to criticize disaster preparedness expenditures elsewhere.

But in light of today’s eruption of Alaska’s Mt. Redoubt, I’d say another round of ridicule is called for.

...Dave Stricklan, a hydrometeorogical technician with the National Weather Service, expected very fine ash. … “The heavier stuff drops out very quickly, and then the other stuff filters out. There’s going to be a very fine amount of it that’s going to be suspended in the atmosphere for quite some time, but nothing to really affect anything such as aviation travel. The heavier stuff will filter out,” he said.
Still, Alaska Airlines on Monday canceled 19 flights in and out of the Anchorage international airport because of the ash.

Because ash intake can damage jet engines, causing planes to, you know, crash. But I guess, as long as they’re not crashing in the bayou, it’s no big problem.

Palin/Jindal 2012.

(H/T HorsesAss.Org)

Palin's Post Pardon Preposterousness

The Governor of Alaska pardoned a Thanksgiving turkey at a Wasilla turkey farm yesterday. She decided to conducted a post pardon interview just outside the farm. The thing is, she was standing in front of a slaughtering trough. It would be bad enough if she hadn't known about it, but when the cameraman asked if she was okay with the background, she reportedly replied, "No worries."

I've watched this video three times now and still haven't heard a word Sarah Palin said during the interview because 1- I originally thought it was gobbling turkeys and 2-because of what's going on in the background. (Warning: graphic images)



Follow along starting at the 1:55 mark:

"Oh! Well this was, this was neat. I was happy to get to be be invited to participate in this and, uh, you know it it- for one, you need a little bit of levity in this job, especially with so much that has gone on the last couple of months that has been so, uh, political obviously that it's nice to get out and, and do something to promote a local business and to, uh, just participate in something that isn't so, uh, heavy handed politics that, uh, invites criticism. Certainly we'll probably invite criticism for even doing this too, but at least this was fun."

Don't know how much fun it was for the turkeys.

The Final Days of John McCain

These past few days have been scary. I'm not talking about a standard, figurative scary. I'm talking about never seeing things like this in my lifetime, thinking that the sins of the past were history and how we couldn't possibly go back to those horrible places again. I'm dumbfounded by the turn of events that have taken place over the last few days and how I could have been so wrong.

I always knew that race and racism have been and still are issues in this country, but it was always lurking underneath; a not so pretty, guarded chamber of man's soul that had laid dormant for at least the last twenty or thirty years. Of course, there are code words racists use to show their colors such as "affirmative action" and "immigration reform." In my own life, being of Hispanic descent I have occasionally been the victim of some racist taunts or comments. In my lifetime, there have been hate crimes based on race, but overall it's been few and far between in comparison to the civil rights movement of the 60s. I never thought it would ever get as bad as it had been "back in the day."

But with the new hate-filled speeches of McCain and especially Palin, depicting Barack Obama as someone you should fear - a one-man terrorist cell, a Manchurian candidate, someone who "sees America as so imperfect that he pals around with terrorists" - the dormant volcano of racism in America has erupted into some very ugly scenes at the McCain/Palin rallies.

Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. McCain

In the last seven days alone, we've seen Senator Erratic trade in his Maverick's license, which had been suspended for quite some time, for a chance at the golden ring. In his performance at the final presidential debate, McCain came off even angrier than is usual cantankerous self and then joked on a revealing Letterman interview, where he caught himself in mid-lie at least three times, having to revise his answer in the same breath that he uttered the falsehood. McCain also apologized to "Joe the plumber" for drawing attention to his story and putting him in the national spotlight after mentioning him 21 times during the debate, then blamed Obama for "smearing" Joe and exposing his private life.

McCain said that he has repudiated all of the hate filled rhetoric against Obama at his rallies (another lie) - calling shouts of "terrorist," "traitor," and "kill him" fringe elements - while hiring the same company that was used against his campaign in 2000 to robocall and continue the Obama/William Ayers smear just this past week. This is the same tactic that McCain called "hate calls" when used against him eight years ago.

Guilt by association and sowing the seeds of doubt from McCain and Palin are only serving to perpetuate the fear and hate. They have nothing else to run on - they fail on the issues, they fail on their policies - so the only other alternative is character assassination. But character is not the only thing they may be inadvertently urging to assassinate. This is dangerous territory they are treading on and Georgia Rep. John Lewis got it right.

"As one who was a victim of violence and hate during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, I am deeply disturbed by the negative tone of the McCain-Palin campaign. What I am seeing today reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history. Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse.

During another period, in the not too distant past, there was a governor of the state of Alabama named George Wallace who also became a presidential candidate. George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who only desired to exercise their constitutional rights. Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed one Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama.

As public figures with the power to influence and persuade, Sen. McCain and Governor Palin are playing with fire, and if they are not careful, that fire will consume us all. They are playing a very dangerous game that disregards the value of the political process and cheapens our entire democracy. We can do better. The American people deserve better."

Of course the McCain campaign took umbrage at Lewis' statement, concentrating on the Wallace section and dismissing the very essence of Lewis' meaning. Fear breeds contempt and hatred and we've seen that in spades at the McCain/Palin rallies. They've encouraged it.They've stoked it. Will it take someone to be being beaten or killed before they understand the nature of Lewis' remarks instead of painting it as a smear, feeling "saddened" by his remarks and asking Obama to repudiate a leader of the Civil Rights Movement? Will they listen if and when someone dies in a hate crime incited by their campaign rhetoric? By their guilt by association tactic? And by then, won't it already be too late?

I watch the videos of the crowds' overt racism and it truly scares me. What does it say about Sarah Palin when she thinks she can differentiate between "pro-American" parts of the country and anti-American parts? Does she believe that anyone who doesn't support her is anti-American?

Is this what she thinks is "pro-American"?

Or this?

Or maybe this?

What does it say about Minnesota Rep. Michelle Bachmann when she suggests that Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Senator Harry Reid are anti-American because of their "liberal" views? The same liberals she rails against, by the way, are the ones who fought for her right to vote and her right to run for office!

What does it say for us as a collective people that imbeciles like Palin and Bachmann get elected into office?

Luckily, I do believe that we are in the final days of daily McCain and Palin sightings. It's just another 18 days until the election. Soon, they'll be out of sight, out of mind. McCain can go back to the Senate and become irrelevant as his maverick status no longer applies and eventually die the bitter, old bastard that he truly is. Palin can go back to Alaska and get voted out of office in her next election bid after the ugliness we've seen exposed - the Troopergate controversy alone showing her native Alaskan voters that she is no different from the people she replaced, and then have the free time to help her husband cheat on his taxes.

In eighteen days we start a new chapter in American history. In eighteen days we take our country back as citizens of the United States and finally beat down the Rovian machine that has been holding us back for far too long. In eighteen days.

Eighteen long days.

Palin's Scandal Du Jour

And the hits just keep on coming!

WASHINGTON POST:

Palin Billed State for Nights Spent at Home

ANCHORAGE, Sept. 8 -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has billed taxpayers for 312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months in office, charging a "per diem" allowance intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business.

The governor also has charged the state for travel expenses to take her children on official out-of-town missions. And her husband, Todd, has billed the state for expenses and a daily allowance for trips he makes on official business for his wife.

Just think of how many headaches the McCain campaign would have saved with a little vetting. And this is only 10 days after McCain's selection of Palin... or should I say the religious right's selection of Palin?


UPDATE (12:45pm):

TIME MAGAZINE: Sarah Palin's Alaskanomics

Although Palin praised John McCain in her acceptance speech as a man who puts the good of his country ahead of partisan politics, McCain pretty much proved the opposite with his selection of a running mate whose main asset is her ability to reignite the culture wars. So maybe Governor Palin does represent everything that is good and fine about America, as she herself maintains. But spare us, please, any talk about how she is a tough fiscal conservative.

...Of the 50 states, Alaska ranks No. 1 in taxes per resident and No. 1 in spending per resident. Its tax burden per resident is 2½ times the national average; its spending, more than double. The trick is that Alaska's government spends money on its own citizens and taxes the rest of us to pay for it.

...Alaska also ranks No. 1, year after year, in money it sucks in from Washington. In 2005 (the most recent figures), according to the Tax Foundation, Alaska ranked 18th in federal taxes paid per resident ($5,434) but first in federal spending received per resident ($13,950). Its ratio of federal spending received to federal taxes paid ranks third among the 50 states, and in the absolute amount it receives from Washington over and above the amount it sends to Washington, Alaska ranks No. 1.

...Palin bragged that she had vetoed "nearly $500 million" in state spending during her two years as governor. This amounts to less than 2% of the proposed budget.

...Although Palin's words side with McCain in the [oil windfall-profits tax] dispute, her actions side with Obama. Her major legislative accomplishment has been to revamp Alaska's windfall-profits tax in order to increase the state's take. Alaska calls it a "clear and equitable share" tax. The state assumes that extracting oil from the tundra costs about $25 per bbl. and takes as much as 75% of the difference between that and the sale price.

Why is a windfall-profits tax good for Alaska but not for the U.S.? Well, it's obvious, isn't it? People in [Sarah Palin's] Alaska are better than people in the rest of the U.S. ...

UPDATE (3:50pm):


For my friend, Mr. The Elvis Dingeldein, who commented the following...:

Okay, it's now officially time to have Joe Biden fitted with a Matrixesque data port in his skull into which a giant upload spike might be shoved, so that he can quite simply beat the living shit out of Marty Moose with this stuff. Jack in, Biden. Jack the fuck in.

... and inspired me to quickly do this:






It's no driftglass, but he's a fucking artist.

The Moral High Ground and Family Values

Washington Post - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican vice-presidential nominee who revealed Monday that her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant, earlier this year used her line-item veto to slash funding for a state program benefiting teen mothers in need of a place to live.

Still not an issue?

(H/T Bob Cesca)

McCain's VP Choice: Complete Pander

In a feeble attempt to lure disgruntled Hillary female supporters, the mythical PUMAs, conservatives and the NRA crowd in one fell swoop, the Maverick has decided that the person best suited to be his running mate on the Republican ticket is Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. I'll give you a minute to pick your jaw up off the floor... [instrumental of "Girl from Ipanema"]

McCain made this choice after a constant barrage of criticism regarding Barack Obama's "inexperience." What, you might ask, qualifies Palin to be the second in line to the Presidency should something befall Senator McCain (like his face falling off from the melanoma) if he ascended to the Oval Office? Well let's take a look at her resumé.

1984 - Miss Wasilla
1984 - Miss Alaska pageant runner up (disqualified for wearing a two piece bathing suit)
Bachelor's Degree in Journalism from University of Idaho
1992 through 1996 - City Council, Wasilla, Alaska
2002 - Mayor, Wasilla, Alaska (Population 5,470)
2002 - Unsucessful bid for Lieutenant Governor of Alaska
2006 to present - Governor of Alaska
She loves moose stew and mooseburgers.

...Okay. Great choice, McCain.

She's Pro-Life, opposes same-sex marriage, is in favor of drilling in ANWR, has a 100% approval rating from the NRA... What am I missing?

Do they think that Biden will go easy on her during their debate?

Here's the McCain campaign's official statement.

U.S. Senator John McCain today announced that he has selected Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate and to serve as his vice president.

Governor Palin is a tough executive who has demonstrated during her time in office that she is ready to be president. She has brought Republicans and Democrats together within her Administration and has a record of delivering on the change and reform that we need in Washington.

Governor Palin has challenged the influence of the big oil companies while fighting for the development of new energy resources. She leads a state that matters to every one of us -- Alaska has significant energy resources and she has been a leader in the fight to make America energy independent.

In Alaska, Governor Palin challenged a corrupt system and passed a landmark ethics reform bill. She has actually used her veto and cut budgetary spending. She put a stop to the "bridge to nowhere" that would have cost taxpayers $400 million dollars.

As the head of Alaska's National Guard and as the mother of a soldier herself, Governor Palin understands what it takes to lead our nation and she understands the importance of supporting our troops.

Governor Palin has the record of reform and bipartisanship that others can only speak of. Her experience in shaking up the status quo is exactly what is needed in Washington today.

As for the Democratic reaction, this one's my favorite so far:

Chuck Schumer: "After the great success of the Democratic convention, the choice of Sarah Palin is surely a Hail Mary pass... Certainly the choice of Palin puts to rest any argument about inexperience on the Democratic team and while Palin is a fine person, her lack of experience makes the thought of her assuming the presidency troubling. I particularly look forward to the Biden-Palin debate in Missouri."

Although I'll never forgive Schumer for the Mukasey fuck up, it's still a good quote. You gotta scratch your head and wonder what (or if) the McCain campaign is thinking.

More on Palin here and here.

Also read Dingeldein and Cesca.

Sen. Ted Stevens Takes Bridge To Nowhere...

...as the longest serving Republican Senator is indicted on seven criminal charges "of falsely reporting hundreds of thousands of dollars in services he received from a company that helped renovate his home."

Prosecutors said Stevens "took multiple steps to continue" receiving things from oil services company VECO Corp., and its founder, Bill Allen. At the time, the indictment says, Allen and other VECO employees were soliciting Stevens for "multiple official actions .... knowing that Stevens could and did use his official position and his office on behalf of VECO during that same time period."

The wheels are coming off.


UPDATE (9:52pm): It seems the good Senator was not charged with bribery because the statute of limitations had expired.