Now the Governor is a REAL Alaska Republican Politician.
22 03 2009There are certain milestones in a professional career that mark an ascension, an achievement, a distinction….they are a clear message that you have “arrived.” Depending what the career is, it might be the corner office, the primo parking spot, your name on the letterhead, or the ever-popular six weeks of vacation.
For Alaska politicians, there seems to be a new benchmark. A modern-day Republican ”keeping up with the Joneses” if you will. And Governor Sarah Palin has just “arrived.” She’s about to have her very own…..legal defense fund. Yup, move over Don Young, there’s a new girl in town, and she’s got bills up to her eyeballs. Rumors are that once you reach this level, you get a gold Rolex with “They’re picking on me!” inscribed on the back, but as of this writing that is not confirmed.
And the official story, of course, is that Sarah Palin (like other legal defense fund setter-uppers Congressman Don Young, Senator Ted Stevens and even incarcerated “corrupt bastard club” members Vic Kohring) has done absolutely nothing wrong. She is simply the victim of frivolous and completely unfounded ethics complaints. Woe is her.
Legal bills have mounted fighting complaints that she called partisan, false and frivolous, starting with “the politically motivated Troopergate probe,” Palin said in a written response to questions.
She said the legal bills all stem from her actions as governor.
“I must defend against these baseless ethics accusations out of my own pocket as the use of public monies to do so could itself violate state law,” Palin wrote.
The debt, amassed since she was catapulted into the national spotlight during the presidential race, was revealed in her annual financial disclosure filed this week with the Alaska Public Offices Commission.
“On August 29, it seems the political landscape changed in Alaska. Now, it seems in order to do this job as Governor, with the political blood sport some are playing today, only the independently wealthy or those willing to spend their income on legal fees to defend their official actions in office … can serve,” Palin said in the written response to Daily News questions.
Blood sport? It’s funny, because whenever the governor responds to things in writing, she just sounds an awful lot like…..hm…. Meg Stapleton. Funny how that is.
The debt is owed to the Alaska law firm Clapp, Peterson, Van Flein, Tiemessen & Thorsness, according to her financial disclosure.
Long time readers of The Mudflats will know that the reason that Van Flein is in bold italics is because it’s just delightfully irresistable to say it in a thick German accent, and imagine him, as the Palin’s lawyer, in a dastardly black cape and a long twirly moustache. Anyway…
So Palin has now racked up over half a million dollars in legal fees, with three ethics complaints still pending as it stands right now. There have been 10 complaints filed in her first 24 months in office….so, at that rate, (punching numbers on calculator)….if she is re-elected for a second term…..(punching)….she can expect to have over $4 million dollars in legal fees and 40 ethics complaints filed against her as a sitting governor. (whistles) That’s pretty impressive. Take THAT Don Young.
“Obviously we cannot afford to personally pay these bills — and really no future governor should feel the sense of financial vulnerability at the hands of those with a political vendetta bent on personal destruction,” Palin wrote. “Some have suggested a legal fund to pay these bills. We’ll have to pursue that.”
It’s nice of her to be thinking about future governors that might be put through this baseless persecution. It is exceedingly odd that no OTHER Alaska governor before her seems to have run into this… but in this post 8/29 Alaska, things just aren’t the same.
And she was not clear about what measures she might take to ensure that no future governor should “feel this sense of financial vulnerability”. Maybe some kind of law that keeps people from investigating the governor….. Now THAT has some possibilities. Keep your ears open.
There is no exact dollar figure given for how much the governor will have to receive in contributions to be able to pay her mounting legal bills. All that Van Flein had to say was that it was:
March 22nd, 2009 at 6:56 PM
I think I’ll make a donation to the Defend Sarah Fund: a big box of Kleenex (wonder if it’s tax deductable…)
March 22nd, 2009 at 7:03 PM
Liar, liar, pants on fire — Palin could provide heat for the whole state, her backside is so hot from her endless untruths, also.
What is so scary is that she truly believes she is always truthful and ‘transparent’ – that’s the definition of a pathologically ill liar…
Sarah Palin: Out of touch/Out for herself.
March 22nd, 2009 at 7:12 PM
What about the complaint she filed against herself?
Shouldn’t she be willing to pay to defend herself from that one? I mean. it certainly ranks up there with the frivolous ones.
March 22nd, 2009 at 7:12 PM
on The Immoral Minority blog:
Reviews The Star magazine interview with Levi’s sister Mercedes in which she shares dirt on Bristol and her loving parents…Sarah’s going to need more donations in her legal fund, now that she has to go after that”rag” (except much of it may be true).
AND she is asking the judge who decided against her pet road to Juneau (The Road to Nowhere) to “do-over” and reconsider…this from the Gov who said no thanks to stimulus monies (thanks Shannyn Moore)
Maybe SP really IS a Republican governor…
March 22nd, 2009 at 7:17 PM
But Scarah – Nobody *Expects* the Spanish Inquisition!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uprjmoSMJ-o&NR=1
March 22nd, 2009 at 7:19 PM
From the last post – I’ve emailed my Rep (a pretty conservative Repub) and both Senators (both Dems – one’s new this year). I love technology and how easy it is to become an involved and active participant in my government! I heart pajama wearing progressive bloggers and technology!
I am still astonished at the number of people who support GINO. I shared with my local DS community via email that SP was refusing stimulus $$ for education of kids with special needs and one snarky person emailed back that she was glad. She completely supported the GINO. I was really stunned. Still am.
March 22nd, 2009 at 7:27 PM
BIG, FAT LIE: “Now, it seems in order to do this job as Governor, with the political blood sport some are playing today, only the independently wealthy or those willing to spend their income on legal fees to defend their official actions in office … can serve,” Palin said in the written response to Daily News questions.”
BIG, FAT TRUTH: Now, it seems in order to do this job as Governor, only the honest, ethical people with true character and a humble desire to serve the people of the State of Alaska as their primary goal and, hence, find no need to defend their official actions in office…..can serve.
Hey, Sa-Rah!! No need for a “legal defense fund” when you follow the BIG, FAT TRUTH!!
March 22nd, 2009 at 7:43 PM
@ Village – don’t forget the “hungry markets.” I cringe every time.
March 22nd, 2009 at 7:45 PM
@ Village – also, too “a servant’s heart” (gag)
March 22nd, 2009 at 7:50 PM
Can somebody who knows their state government history tell us how many other Alaska governors had to shell out bucks for thier own defense in ethics complaints? I lived there for six different administrations and don’t remember any of them racking up the complaints like Sarah has done. Just askin’.
March 22nd, 2009 at 8:01 PM
Village~
You may as well add “idills” (for ideals) to the growing list of palinisms, as every time she says it, a pickle comes to mind.
March 22nd, 2009 at 8:23 PM
OK, here’s a weird thing. I’m an English Lit type, trained to analyze patterns for meaning, so sometimes I perhaps overdo it, but does it seem to anyone else that there’s a serious disconnect between acknowledged reality and projected reality? I know about spin, but it seems to me this cuts a little deeper–I mean, TP has a side table set up in GINO’s office, from which he runs the “Impeach Trooper What’sit. He makes repeated calls to GINO staffers. He reports that she’s unhappy about things. And yet her tame investigator says she “had no idea” what he was up to? And the thing with her kids–she gets on her high horse and basically demands an apology because a reporter said they were dropouts when–hello! they were not attending school for an apparently indefinite period of time. And the thing about the state not being responsible for the well-being of the villagers under conditions like those the villages have been facing–even as she says that she is along on the missionary trip “as your Governor”. I know we’ve all talked about this a lot, but it almost seems pathological–and apparently it’s contagious. I just got my very first troll (Yes! It finally happened!) over on my blog. I’d been writing about how this election–and politics in general–have shown an increased blurring of the lines separating Church and State, and that I find it a matter of concern. The troll informed me that “no one had said she shouldn’t vote for Obama because he was a Muslim,” and that I was “attacking Sarah.” Gotta admit I did a double-take on that one. It’s like a slow-motion movie, where you see the villagers waving torches, gaping mouths, slow, growly shouts as they march slowly, ever so slowly, toward the windmill. You know that somebody’s gonna get hurt, and that this is a mob, but because it’s moving so slowly it’s easy to think it doesn’t matter. It’s like a cult, in a way. That disconnect that we’ve all seen in Sarah over and over–and in her staunchest supporters–seems creepily contagious. Maybe we should set up a therapy fund, or hire guys in panel vans to roar up to the most egregious cases, whisk them away to de-programming centers, and make them sit through hours and hours of psychotherapy with guys in turtlenecks and large medallions on heavy chains until the evil chains are broken.
March 22nd, 2009 at 8:27 PM
Sheesh, I do go on. What I actually STARTED OUT to say is that it’s very difficult to deal with that sort of person because it’s impossible to reach a common, stable agreement on history. A conversation, a plan of action, a course of events–none of those things can really occur because the context is constantly shifting. No bedrock of agree-upon, unchanging “reality” to support a future.
Congratulations on your first troll! You have “arrived”!
Did you fling it? AKM
March 22nd, 2009 at 9:12 PM
Troopergate report: Palin abused power
–ADN headline
Honest to God, she really thinks she is Queen Sarah.
She has no concept of American Democracy. None.
She is either one of the most ignorant elected Governors ever – or the dumbest. Maybe both.
March 22nd, 2009 at 9:29 PM
@ BodieP
I do believe you have nailed GINO there Bodie ~ the thought of her someday achieving the office she obviously believes she is destined for sends shivers down my spine.
GINO does not understand the concept of “separation of church & state” or “freedom of the press”
With Bush ~ it was Orwell’s 1984
With GINO ~ the handmaidens tale
March 22nd, 2009 at 10:15 PM
@ BodieP
You can’t convince the Palin “mob” of a different reality or history. They filter out any facts or evidence that doesn’t support their illusions about SP. I really think this feature of brain function is strongly mediated at the level of the limbic system because of the associated fear, paranoia, and hate that often accompanies their rhetoric. What is left after filtering are the talking points that SP makes sure are articulated loud and clear. For example: the whole spin that her legal debts are the result of the “blood sport” to get her personally. The “mob” repeats this over and over to each other until it feels like facts. They won’t even spend 5 minutes doing a little research to see why these legal debts have actually accumulated OR acknowledge that the outcome of these legal battles has resulted in SP having to pay back monies to the State for her various violations of state laws.
The siren call of victimization by SP stirs their blood and reinforces their desire to defend an illusion.
When I read comments by Palinbots, I’m appalled by their lack of understanding about the facts of a given situation. If you try to correct their mistakes, they immediately fly off the handle and attack Obama….. Limbic system, for sure. Fight or flight…..and they’re going to fight. Forget the higher cortical functions of reasonable debate and consideration of evidence.
The people who are reachable with facts are the moderates and many independents. They haven’t joined the delusional limbic “echo chamber” of TribeSarah. Why is this important? Because Palin doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of a national office with the support of only her base.
March 22nd, 2009 at 10:20 PM
@BodieP:
Maybe Sarah is an uncovered scientologist and expects that ‘the war on psychiatry’ (link on the Dunn Huffpo story) has succeeded in abolishing (physically obliterated) all psychiatry AND that she is safe from being held accountable. Hmm…that can’t really be true because
Even Snidely Whiplash knows
That the GINO empress has on no clothes.
March 22nd, 2009 at 10:40 PM
@ BodieP
Lee323 earlier posted another explanation for this behaviour after talking w/ a social anthropologist. Lee? It made a lot of sense to me – in description only but not in true understanding of WHY – but something went thunk (or something like that) and fit into place. The best part? I don’t bother w/ them anymore, and don’t miss a minute of not caring about them since they are lost to us!
March 22nd, 2009 at 10:47 PM
Off topic, but it is 11:20 p.m. in Anchorage and Mt. Redoubt has been erupting for about 45 minutes.
March 22nd, 2009 at 10:53 PM
OT OT OT
Mt. Redoubt : (thanks deist)
http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=10051900
March 22nd, 2009 at 10:57 PM
OT OT OT
Mt. Redoubt monitoring :
http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/Redoubt.php
Done now! (except to check back several times !)
March 22nd, 2009 at 11:00 PM
Oh, I had a great idea for an auction SP could pull off to help fund her legal bill, but it’s so stupid that she’d probably try it if she heard the idea. So there. Not gonna tell. Good night from AK!
March 22nd, 2009 at 11:16 PM
@ MarthaUYS
Yep. I posted a while back about the “tribalism” effect that was being demonstrated during the fall campaign. Not sure anymore just which specific blog that it was when I posted that.
I actually heard a social anthropologist talking on some program on NPR about this phenomenon several months ago rather than talked to him myself. It went “thunk” with me as well.
To be fair, “tribalism” is not only seen in the far right-wingers but also in many groups, right or left, with a specific political agenda. Opposing viewpoints or discussions are not tolerated and are very threatening to their grasp of what they believe is the “true reality.”
The so-called “trolls” are good examples of this tribalism effect. They come to fight…..not to engage in thoughtful discussion of opposing views. I think they stick out like a sore thumb because of that “limbic” quality of their posts. Interestingly enough, however…..I have noticed that “trolls” actually often end up inadvertently aiding and abetting the site they are trying to disrupt because other posters jump in with all kinds of facts and arguments which can be quite compelling to a person who is not familiar with the issue at hand. (Of course, the PERSONAL jabs at a poster by “trolls” do NOT aid the discussion but end in a melee that benefits no one.)
March 22nd, 2009 at 11:54 PM
come on (21:12:45)
____________________________
As I’ve said many times, GINO will go down in history books as:
First & Worst.
First female. Worst governor.
Now back to volcano preparation!! Wish us all luck
March 23rd, 2009 at 12:00 AM
Well, GINO…here’s some more ethics violations…per palingates…
“The camera closes in on Sarah Palin speaking to young missionaries, vowing from the pulpit to do her part to implement God’s will from the governor’s office.
“What she didn’t tell worshippers gathered at the Wasilla Assembly of God church in her hometown was that her appearance that day came courtesy of Alaskan taxpayers, who picked up the $639.50 tab for her airplane tickets and per diem fees.
“An Associated Press review of the Republican vice presidential candidate’s record as mayor and governor reveals her use of elected office to promote religious causes, sometimes at taxpayer expense and in ways that blur the line between church and state.
“Since she took state office in late 2006, the governor and her family have spent more than $13,000 in taxpayer funds to attend at least 10 religious events and meetings with Christian pastors, including Franklin Graham, the son of evangelical preacher Billy Graham, records show.”
hahahahahahaha…..
March 23rd, 2009 at 12:20 AM
So, is that were Trig’s third name “Van” comes from? Van Flein?
March 23rd, 2009 at 12:25 AM
anon blogger (00:20:44) :
________________________
No, just strange coincidence. It’s from Van Halen. Oddly enough I bet that band hates the Palins.
March 23rd, 2009 at 12:33 AM
Secret Shopper–stay safe…
I know Palin said Van Halen…but she also said Bristol was named for Bristol Bay…and then said she was named for Bristol, CT.
So…I was just wondering.
March 23rd, 2009 at 12:45 AM
So she is going to ask people to pay her debt….sounds very much like that dreaded word “socialism” or even “welfare” to me.
March 23rd, 2009 at 12:45 AM
Sad news…from HuffPost
The son of the poets Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath has taken his own life, 46 years after his mother gassed herself while he slept.
Nicholas Hughes hanged himself at his home in Alaska after battling against depression for some time, his sister Frieda said yesterday.
He was 47, unmarried with no children of his own and had until recently been a professor of fisheries and ocean sciences at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
March 23rd, 2009 at 3:39 AM
Wow, half a million dollars to defend yourself against YOURSELF. She couldn’t be more tragic.
March 23rd, 2009 at 4:32 AM
“She said the legal bills all stem from her actions as governor.”…well thar ya go . stop being gov. and the bills will cease!
March 23rd, 2009 at 4:54 AM
This from a person who repeatedly told the villagers and everyone else hurting during these dire times “it’s not governments job to take care of you” now wants to set up a fund to pay her legal fees because she’s unethical. How about don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time. It must be me but I don’t think that should be allowed. I’m unemployed can I set up a fund for people to donate to me, I didn’t think so. I think we need to change some of the rules in this country for politicians. Granted big corporations give them large sums of money for their campaigns but those little dollars from us really add up as well and we don’t get half as much on our investment as we give. The time for change has come.
March 23rd, 2009 at 4:55 AM
I’ve been complaining about tribal aspects of the religious right for some time, not to mention the tribal behavior of the jingoists (many of the same people, plus the neo-cons) during the whole 9-11 to Iraq war to Patriot Act, etc. These people are so lost in their tribalism that they fail to understand that it is primitive survival behavior that we have been trying to get away from in recent human history of democratically inclined people.
March 23rd, 2009 at 5:53 AM
Off topic. Is Sarah Palin cross-eyed? I noticed this several times during the campaign but I just saw a clip of her fake-outrage regarding the President’s remark on Leno and Palins eyes are completely crossed the entire time. Just wondering.
March 23rd, 2009 at 7:13 AM
Good comments here, this is interesting. I always wondered about the “tribal” element (first time I heard it here), and how it affects people. Am wondering about the Gino’s trolls. It is a scary thing to see how minds can be almost hypnotized by a leader, in that, the follower loses all common sense. It’s like in the old days when they called for a King, a King at any cost.
Here though, with the Gino trolls; possibly their maturity levels have stopped at the junior high level, they are aspiring beauty queens, they have been prepped by parents to attend baby pageants, and by their comments, beauty is constantly the main focus when they refer to Sarah, they practically drool over her beauty. They assume physical beauty is more than skin deep and goes all the way to the heart. They place so much trust and allegiance to this one person that backing out would be too painful, as they invested so much, it would be too embarassing to back out. (even when the leader’s integrity and ethical standards start to unravel).
It is a socio-psychological event and interesting how and why people don’t ask questions, but blindly follow without thinking. We always wonder how in heaven’s name did the Nazis come to power, how could such a mass population let it get so out of hand. It’s good to try to understand ourselves, as not to let it ever happen again.
March 23rd, 2009 at 7:36 AM
@AKM
Did you fling it? AKM
Congratulations on your first troll! You have “arrived”!
—-
Well, not precisely–I just posted a quick little note congratulating it on somehow managing to avoid one of our nation’s less-seemly political hours, and remarked that following blog links would provide an overview of the controversy, if they cared to know about it. Snide, I know, but hey, at this point I welcome even trolls!
March 23rd, 2009 at 7:40 AM
Just who is Palin getting all her “advice” from?
Palin Pallin’ Around with Scientologists: Todd & Sarah & John & Greta
Excerpt and link as follows;
There is something absolutely bizarre and troubling going on in the political netherworld of Sarah and Todd Palin, Greta Van Susteren and her wannabe-queen-maker hubby, John Coale.
At best, it’s a clear case of journalistic conflict-of-interest on behalf of Van Susteren; at worst, it’s a sleazy, national power play by a couple of practitioners of Scientology–the controversial cult that Time magazine described as “a hugely profitable global racket that survives by intimidating members and critics in a Mafia-like manner.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/geoffrey-dunn/palin-pallin-around-with_b_177709.html
March 23rd, 2009 at 7:53 AM
four million dollars….the Clinton Legal bills after the White House.
If Sarah really wants to run for Pres, she should start saving now. She thinks $500,000 is a lot just wait. Mitt Romney has $400 million in the bank and won’t hold back!
March 23rd, 2009 at 8:44 AM
[...] Palin’s legal debts pile up (ADN via The Mudflats) [...]
March 23rd, 2009 at 10:43 AM
Just now on MSMBC -the protest from Anchorage, they were taking about the signs. Way to go-made the national news!!! Will probably be on KO tonight.
March 23rd, 2009 at 12:57 PM
Don’t pro-Palinites still claim that she’s the most popular Gov. in the U.S.? I wonder how many – if ANY – other Govs have so many ethics complaints against him/her, in such a short period of time?
March 23rd, 2009 at 1:09 PM
Oh, I’m sure none, but she doesn’t see this as a problem, because you know, the:
Legal bills have mounted fighting complaints that she called partisan, false and frivolous, starting with “the politically motivated Troopergate probe,” Palin said in a written response to questions.
She said the legal bills all stem from her actions as governor.
“I must defend against these baseless ethics accusations out of my own pocket as the use of public monies to do so could itself violate state law,” Palin wrote.
March 23rd, 2009 at 1:59 PM
This line has me dying from laughter:
Question: How does she intend to pay it (the debt)?
Tom Van Flein: She intends to pay it with money.
March 23rd, 2009 at 2:15 PM
@Flanders (13:59:22) :
ACK! I hadn’t read that document yet!! ROTFLMAO!! There were some other good ones in there too, like the response about the glasses!
March 23rd, 2009 at 2:47 PM
Doesn’t GINO know that pit-bull fighting is a “blood sport”? Oh, so it’s ok for her to engage, but when she has to pay for her problems when she plays, it’s unfair!!! (feet stomping tantrum).
I hope her supporters waste all of their cash on her legal fees so that when she’s looking for campaign contributions, the well will be dry
March 23rd, 2009 at 3:27 PM
New post(s), BTW, in case anyone’s feeling lonely here…
March 23rd, 2009 at 6:58 PM
I’m confused- so people would donate money to help her pay for her legal bills? Why would anyone do that?