Another Ethics Complaint Filed Against Sarah Palin. Cat Gate?
24 03 2009
Another ethics complaint has been filed against Governor Sarah Palin today. The list of Palin’s “gates” is long, but this complaint swings open a new one. Cat Gate. And this cat has teeth.
It all began when Governor Sarah Palin lowered the start flag at this year’s Iron Dog Snowmachine race. More than 30 teams race 1971 miles from Big Lake to Nome tracing the northern Iditarod route on “snowmobiles,” as those outside Alaska call them.
Last year’s champions? None other than Alaska’s “first dude” Todd Palin and his teammate Scott Davis as the famous Team #22. Everyone knows that. John McCain even talked about it on the campaign trail!
Palin’s sponsor? Arctic Cat – a brand of snowmachine and related gear. Arctic Cat really wanted to sponsor team Davis-Palin this year. For obvious reasons that go above and beyond Todd’s defending champion status, they knew that “Team Palin” was getting lots of attention from Alaskans, and the national media. All eyes would be on that bright green Arctic Cat logo. Turns out there was even a photo shoot and article in Sports Illustrated this year focusing on the “first dude.” That’s some nice exposure; exposure that was worth $5000 for Arctic Cat to get permission to “brand” Todd Palin and his team.
But, as anyone who has taken time to consider “conflict of interest” or anyone who has read the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act (like, hopefully, our governor) knows, there’s a line that can’t be crossed. If the governor’s family benefits directly from a private sponsor, (like getting a $5000 check from them) and the governor shows up to take an official role at an official event, representing all Alaskans, it’s a big fat no-no to show up plastered like a billboard with the official “gear” and giant flaming logo of the company that’s been paying you money.
It might look like…..you’re for sale. Now don’t get me wrong, as far as Alaska politicians selling themselves, $5000 isn’t a bad price. We’ve had state legislators sell themselves for far less than that. But haggling over the price aside, this is just not within the bounds of the rules of the state of Alaska. Period.
If not, I have the feeling Juneau would be hosting the Pepsi Legislative session, and we’d have the 3M Speaker of the House and the Napa Majority Leader. There would be meetings of the Kinkos Judiciary Committe, the Fedex Budget, and the Veco Senate President. (Yes, I know we’ve had one of those already.)
And imagine you owned the competing Polaris dealership. You might be tempted to think…”Hmmm. If I offered Team #22 a couple thousand dollars more than they’re getting from Arctic Cat, maybe I’ll get Sarah Palin to wear my flashy logo suit in front of the cameras next year!” You see where this is leading.
Thus, the reasoning behind the ethics complaint filed against the governor today by activist and local blogger Linda Kellen-Biegel of Celtic Diva’s Blue Oasis. This will be the 11th complaint filed against the governor during her term in office. Other complaints have been filed by Anchorage resident Frank Gwartney, Wasilla resident Zane Henning, Anchorage resident Andree McLeod, and one or more who did not go public before filing their complaints.
[So, for those of you who have been playing at home since yesterday, speculating as to the specifics on "Implosion #5" I'll finish the cliffhanger sentence.
Today Governor Sarah Palin was stunned by.....the fact that people still haven't stopped paying attention to her unethical wardrobe choices.]
March 24th, 2009 at 6:16 PM
OT
Remember AKM’s post about the Republican Lincoln Day at the party last Friday? Well, I went to an advertising seminar at the Hilton Anchorage today. I went because of “duty.” It wasn’t a complete waste of time because…. (!!)…. I remembered the “Where’s Sarah” button AKM said she taped in the women’s restroom. I felt underneath the napkin dispenser, and yup! I got it. So the day wasn’t completely lost. Things like this demonstrates our cyber pals are a real community. What a neat surprise (for me)! The highlight of my day. Someone needs to send a man into the men’s restroom to get the other button…
Too funny that AKM planted them in the Rep. party silent auction items too. I guess she needed some fun. Can you imagine how boring and sickening the party was? With Juneau and their doo-tricks, wonder what lower 48-ers think of us?
March 24th, 2009 at 6:19 PM
correction on first sentence: Republican Lincoln Day Party last Friday.
March 24th, 2009 at 6:20 PM
Not really meaning to feed the trolls (they eat Sarah poo and love it, yum yum), but that old tired line about jealousy is so…high school or junior high. So far we have as GINO’s defense: she’s teflon so nothing sticks; you are fat and ugly and have no teeth; you’re jealous; you have no job; she’s not as bad as some corrupt bastards; we’re gonna sue you!
Well…that’s quite the winning lineup. Like I said, we could care less what the braindeadies say (I won’t say “think” because they don’t do that). If this is the best the idiots can dish out…lol, you go, poos!
I’m a fourth grader, way better than junior high.
We smell you Sa-a-hara, cuz you are poo!
We don’t smell anyone as much as yoooou!
When you are near us, peeeeyewwwww!
Oh Sarah we smell yoooooooou!
March 24th, 2009 at 6:22 PM
Okay, maybe I’m in third grade.
March 24th, 2009 at 6:29 PM
congrats Polly! I wondered when someone would find a button!
btw, several posters at adn STILL do not get it – why the ethics complaint is VALID because they PAID Todd sponsor dollars.
March 24th, 2009 at 6:30 PM
Polly (18:16:20) :
OT
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Good for you, Polly!
March 24th, 2009 at 6:32 PM
Do Alaskans remember this?
Mr. Palin goes back to Prudhoe
http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=6965360
March 24th, 2009 at 6:36 PM
Thank you!! It was fun! A little treasure hunt.
_________
Well, I just read this over at the ADN comments section by a reader regarding Celtic’s ethics complaint. So how do you explain it?
“Obama gets FREE tickets to see the Washington Wizards from the owner (he’s in the owner’s box)…and he wears Wizards gear to the game. Ethics problem?”
March 24th, 2009 at 6:40 PM
HaHa…ADN said:
The governor hit the roof over the latest accusation.
Go Diva, Go!!!!!!
March 24th, 2009 at 6:47 PM
PollyNo Gravatar (18:36:46) :
Thank you!! It was fun! A little treasure hunt.
_________
Well, I just read this over at the ADN comments section by a reader regarding Celtic’s ethics complaint. So how do you explain it?
“Obama gets FREE tickets to see the Washington Wizards from the owner (he’s in the owner’s box)…and he wears Wizards gear to the game. Ethics problem?”
~~~~~~~~~~~
Come on! Artic cat is a huge sponsor of the dud’s, they got $5K last year. Are you sayin’ that PO tickets and T shirt are advertising the Wizards whatever the flip that is???
Are you saying PO got money to go to the game? Well if you believe there is a problem, well you better file a complaint!
Have fun wearing your “where’s sarah” button.
March 24th, 2009 at 6:48 PM
womanwithsardinecan – you are rollin’ baby !!
March 24th, 2009 at 6:53 PM
Too bad the ADN readers haven’t actually read Diva’s complaint. But then, for those who are posting there that aren’t ‘getting it’ I suspect that reading for comprehension isn’t a strong suit for them to begin with …
March 24th, 2009 at 6:56 PM
Just a little FYI. (about C4P )
I replied to Sapwolf about his comment below….which I had posted here earlier about His comment.
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Sapwolf said…
Who’s a fool,
Education is NOT a money issue. The problem is not money. We spend all over the country a tremendous amount of money per pupil in the public and college systems.
The problem is no accountability and no choice. I get all the facts from my father who is a retired public school teacher.
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The site removed my response. it is no longer there. They don’t like differing opinions.
March 24th, 2009 at 7:03 PM
“…. And the other theory only holds if she actually WANTS to learn. She not only has no intellectual curiosity, but she is intellectually lazy…
AKM
And she seem incapable of looking two steps ahead. Some how, she’s on an endless blind manic high. Duhbya is just dumb – so dumb he doesn’t know how dumb he is, and a major league brat along with being totally amoral.
As dangerous as he was and still is, he has limited destructive potential (he was answerable to Chaney, Rove and probably one or two others) compared to Palin who has a desperate need to be endlessly adored, is also totally amoral, and who, at the same time is rushing around like a panicked horse, crashing through fences and running blindly into thickets and ditches. She has not sense of direction, no common sense, and apparently does not have the emotional development to control herself, and is to vain to listen to more experienced politicians.
And she has at least 4 out of 5 dysfunctional children.
She is fact a total failure.
This is what the RepoTaliban want to lead this country!
BE AFRAID.
March 24th, 2009 at 7:04 PM
Sarah’s coloring book -
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_J5Ribm2Pk0w/SbojIYe4TmI/AAAAAAAAAC4/LYj1RFLydf0/s1600-h/c17306a724eee6d713da1d7589d4fbf7.jpg
March 24th, 2009 at 7:05 PM
@txindygirl
“Oh my gosh, his ears and eyes would bleed if he ever landed on Salon. I can’t tell you the grief I got for being on Huffpo. But you’ve made me curious…”
———-
Interestingly, I get grief from my hubby as well over HuffPo- while he has Faux News as his homepage and his news source of choice. ???
But his saving grace is that he thinks our GINO is an idiot also there too. I suppose he could be just “saying” that- afterall, 100% rule and all….but I’m pretty sure he’s legit! ;P
March 24th, 2009 at 7:11 PM
I filed it cuz I have these HUGE jealousy issues.
You see, I really really really wish that my husband was a big slacker who would rather spend time on his snowmachine than with me or the kids. It takes, what, 40-50 hours of training per week during the winter to be competitive in the Iron Dog? That leaves about 2 waking hours per week day to spend with the family. And 2 weeks out of 4 working on the slope. Now that is one heck of a family guy! Where can I get me one?
And I really really really wish that I could live out in Wasilla, that has always been my dream, except for that time that I actually DID live out there in jr. high and considered it the closest thing to hell. They do have a kind of nice golf course out there…
And I wish that I had 5 kids, two of whom dropped out of school, instead of the one that I have that is graduating this May with a 3.65.
And I wish that I could have 5 kids, one of them a drug addict & juvi offender, and another who was pregnant at 17.
Oh yes, and I wish that I was an ethically challenged ignoramus who came in 2nd runner up in the Miss Alaska pageant, instead of an educated elitist who could probably have come in as 6th runner up but thinks that beauty pageants are the biggest crock of whatever in the whole world.
And I really really wish that I could have one of the Arctic Cat jackets with my name embroidered on it! Then I could fit right in if I were fortunate enough to live in Wasilla. I would gladly trade in my uppity North Face down jacket for one of those! You betcha!
Okay, all kidding aside……………….
I mean what kind of delusional fool would imagine that ANY SANE WOMAN would want palin’s life?
Frankly, she’s not that attractive, and certainly is dog ugly once you take the personality into consideration. Her husband is the same. Yuk. I love kids, but I think I’ll keep mine, thank you very much. What in the world is there to admire, respect or aspire to about her life?
March 24th, 2009 at 7:13 PM
@ crystal wolf
“The governor hit the roof over the latest accusation.”
You betcha, cause this time it was an evil blue but not so anonymous blogger!
@ Marnie
No, I refuse to be afraid of SP or her minions. Monitor, yes. Block, yes. Make fun of, yes. Bite her ankles, yes. Expose her lies, yes. Show no fear and no respect, yes. Take every chink out of her as possible, yes. Make fun of her stupid plastic boots, yes. Make friends with her closet skeletons, yes. Write letters and emails about every issue I care about, yes. Write to my state and federal representatives about every issue I care about, yes. Always include a dig to SP in those emails & letters, yes. I think that about covers it?
March 24th, 2009 at 7:19 PM
Ooops “Take every chink possible out of her, yes.”
March 24th, 2009 at 7:26 PM
TO crystalwolf aka caligrl (18:47:48) :
Yes, I know what you are saying. I made a comment like yours over there at ADN. Was wondering if someone had a good way (or another way) of responding.
March 24th, 2009 at 7:30 PM
No offense meant for those who live out in Wasilla — I have relatives & many adored friends who live there. Personally, I could not live in an area with so many Palin supporters, it would do my head in… And the zoning (or lack thereof) just drives me insane. That zoning thing is the bane of Alaska, well, apart from our gov and certain other politicians…
March 24th, 2009 at 7:32 PM
Yes, I wore Arctic Cat snow gear at an outdoor event, because it was cold outside, and by the way, today, I am wearing clothes bearing the names of Alaska artists, and a Glennallen Panthers basketball hoodie. I am a walking billboard for the team’s fundraiser! Should I expect to see an ethics charge for wearing these, or the Carhartts I wear to many public events? How much will this blogger’s asinine political grandstanding cost all of us in time and money?”
What will it cost us? Maybe it will cost us your job, Governor.
BTW… Wasn’t Sarah at work in the Governor’s office today? You know, where she would have written her own press release? If so, then why the hell wasn’t she wearing a suit? Why is the Governor of Alaska working in her office in a Glennallen Panther’s basketball hoodie and sweatpants with the name of an Alaskan artist?
Her unprofessionalism knows no bounds.
Her press release was idiotic. She should be hospitalized.
March 24th, 2009 at 7:37 PM
My word AKM-!
I can’t get caught up here!
You just keep popping posts out faster than I can stagger through the staggering number of comments!
We’ve gone from poo- piles to faux-poo, uh, faux-pas with the ghastly gov just faster than … uh, poo, here.
I think this complaint against the gov has merit on a number of levels.
The spin meisters for the S Machine will certainly try to trivialize the complaint… We’d best be paying attention as this plays out…
( And AKM , could I talk you into eating a heavy meal and hanging out as a couch spud digesting it long enough for me to sorta, maybe, hopefully, perhaps, even catch my breath and up with the crowd here!? Holy moley. )
March 24th, 2009 at 7:37 PM
Read your post am amazed that SP continues to either ignore the law or is in complete LA LA land and cannot handle the burdens of office.
She did hire a deputy assistant when she was mayor of Wasilla to handle the day to day needs of the town. That and the fact that she went to 5 different colleges to get a degree should speak to ability to DO things she needs to do.
Anyway, I have come up with a new slogan for this saga
TROUBLE IN SARADICE. Ice as in a cold day in hell wen SP is elected to the Presidency!
March 24th, 2009 at 8:03 PM
PollyNo Gravatar (19:26:41) :
TO crystalwolf aka caligrl (18:47:48) :
Yes, I know what you are saying. I made a comment like yours over there at ADN. Was wondering if someone had a good way (or another way) of responding.
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Sorry Polly… Team poo is going to say anything they want at ADN, they have taken over there! They complain Kim Elton got per diems (and he’s a “obama operative”…dontcha know!) they say all kinds of stuff to validate GINO! Really though if you think PO has violated any law you should write to them at whitehouse.gov, but in reality there is no way to compare PO going to a…is it a basket ball game, to what GINO has done. Please go to Diva’s site and read the PDF and decide for yourself. And remember this is complaint #11! And when she was mayor, and caught using $50K illegally she declared “I’m the mayor and I can do what I want until the courts tell me not to”! And she has continued that train of thought to this day!
March 24th, 2009 at 8:34 PM
Arctic Cat pay’s more than $5,000. They give Team 22 DEEP Discounts. What is the value of the Discounts.
What else is FREE/Discounted? Spare parts? Transportation? Delivery? Maintenance? Shop time? Technicians? Off season services (trade show travel, lodging, entertainment, etc, etc, etc? Custom painting/logos? Custom clothing? Advertisements? I have a feeling if everything was line itemed it would be well over $30k.
Let’s see what Arctic Cat files as deductions on their tax forms as the expense of the Team 22 sponsorship. That would be the real value of the benefit Palin receives.
The SI arcticle says some people pay $30,000 but the Team 22 pays almost nothing. How much is almost nothing?
Team 22 also does vendor shows for Arctic Cat.
So we’re talking about almost $30,000 maybe even a whole lot more, not $5,000.
March 24th, 2009 at 8:59 PM
Welcome to the newbies (sorry I’ve lost track of all the names).
Laurie, sorry you had to endure disparagment from Faux News. Living in Detroit, we are good friends with our neighbors to the south and have great respect for them.
WRT this “gate,” I want to side with Lee and womanwithsardinecans and MarthaUYS; I truly wish I could be that optimistic. My fears are great that even with the preponderance of ethics violations, GINO will not be taken down. I don’t think “housegate” will ever amount to anything due to lack of records/evidence and “religiongate” is too esoteric (or I don’t understand it, which is also possible). I applaud our host AKM for his/her tireless energy in shining the light on all malfeasances large and small. Maybe tomorrow I’ll be in a better mood and things will look more promising. I’m bummed out now because the TV pundits were saying tonight that Obama’s honeymoon is over (after 64 days). How soon do people really expect him to turn around a mess like this, especially facing opposition and obstruction at every turn? Are they crazy? Time for me to step away from the electronics for the day and read a good book. Night all.
March 24th, 2009 at 9:10 PM
ATF (19:32:25) :
BTW… Wasn’t Sarah at work in the Governor’s office today?
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In Carhartts and a hoodie? Nope!
March 25th, 2009 at 10:44 AM
Am I losing my mind…or did I also read on the Sports illustrated story, that the front of Toad’s machine…it said something like (Husband of Sarah the Gov)
I am sure that is what I read, but maybe my mind is blurred from all the C4P crap I have looked at.
OT…here in Canada the “original” term is snowmobile…but we sledders call them sleds.
March 25th, 2009 at 11:00 AM
@Kate in Canada…your research is correct. It is also a fact that Canadians and Dutch soldiers are in the most dangerous areas of the country right now, as well.
I just cannot wrap my head around how some Americans dont even know we have a presence there. To have no respect for the mothers, fathers, children and siblings who have lost loved ones is horrifying.
They were also questioning why we werent in Iraq. Its simple…its an illegal unsanctioned war…and most Americans feel this way too.
It will take me a long time to get over this feeling. I come from a military family. My brother…my father…and my sister in law, who in fact is currently in country.
Its high time some Americans took a little history lesson somewhere…learned something about Canada..her people…her military. Find out why we are respected the world over. Its not a fluke…there are reasons.
Canadians by nature are very different from americans in terms of how we show our patriotism. We are quiet…sort of sedate….but thats just it. Its the quiet ones you need to pay attention to.
Thank you Kate…nan…SMR and any others who responded to me. It meant a great deal.
March 25th, 2009 at 1:57 PM
See article on Todd in Sports Illustrated:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/the_bonus/03/10/palin/1.html
Some Iron Doggers have spent upwards of $30,000 to finance a once-in-a-lifetime run into the wild heart of Alaska. Tapping their credit cards, they’ve shelled out $10,000 each for a 2009 snow machine, $10,000 more for an identical training sled, $2,500 for the race entry fee and a few thousand more for trailing airplane support. Palin and Davis, in contrast, have spent almost nothing. They are prodigiously sponsored, with their names monogrammed in script on their matching Arctic Cat jackets. (Palin even has the names of his five kids and his wife, SARAH, THE GOV, appliqu?d on his snow machine hood.) They give inspirational speeches at trade shows. They are both adored and reviled. They are the New York Yankees of snow machining
March 25th, 2009 at 2:06 PM
This is the part that I think Celtic Diva picked up on;
They are prodigiously sponsored, with their names monogrammed in script on their matching Arctic Cat jackets. (Palin even has the names of his five kids and his wife, SARAH, THE GOV, appliqued on his snow machine hood.)
SARAH, THE GOV, appliqued on his snow machine hood, is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay worse than her wearing a jacket!
Wow, talk about “nailin’ Palin”!
March 25th, 2009 at 4:41 PM
Here are some comments from Huffpo:
research: She looks a lot like Peggy Bundy from Married with Children.
Joeblue: I wish she’d take up escorting.
A Meat Beetle: “Alaska Legislators Taking Stimulus Money In Blow To Palin”
Nice to see Palin on the receiving end of a BLOW. Nice JOB, legislators.
Puller58: The woman is simply too stupid to understand what she’s doing.
LaPeche: How could we ever listen to anyone who wears that much blush?
March 25th, 2009 at 7:03 PM
About the windows and railings- I pulled pictures of the railings, printed them at the same scale and they don’t measure out the same, nor ar the framing the same material. Ditto the windows. It is not surprising to seen materials imported by the same supplier at the same time look similar.
What does seem extremely similar is the architectural design.
Brad DeLong, at U of C Economics Department wrote this blog item last October that sums it up very well.
http://delong.typepad.com/egregious_moderation/2008/10/wayne-barrett-s.html
THE $12.5 MILLION sports complex and hockey rink that is the lasting monument to Palin’s two terms as Wasilla mayor is also a monument to the kind of insider politics that dismays Americans of both parties. Six months before Palin stepped down as mayor in October 2002, the city awarded nearly a half-million-dollar contract to design the biggest project in Wasilla history to Kumin Associates. Blase Burkhart was the Kumin architect on the job—the son of Roy Burkhart, who is frequently described as a “mentor” of Palin and was head of the local Republican Party (his wife, June, who also advised Palin, is the national committeewoman). Asked if the contract was a favor, Roy Burkhart, who contributed to her campaign in the same time frame that his son got the contract, said: “I really don’t know.” Palin then named Blase Burkhart to a seven-member builder-selection committee that picked Howdie Inc., a mostly residential contractor owned at the time by Howard Nugent. Formally awarded the contract a couple of weeks after Palin left office, Nugent has donated $4,000 to Palin campaigns. Two competitors protested the process that led to Nugent’s contract. Burkhart and Nugent had done at least one project together before the complex—and have done several since.
A list of subcontractors on the job, obtained by the Voice, includes many with Palin ties. One was Spenard Builders Supply, the state’s leading supplier of wood, floor, roof, and other “pre-engineered components.” In addition to being a sponsor of Todd Palin’s snow-machine team that has earned tens of thousands for the Palin family, Spenard hired Sarah Palin to do a statewide television commercial in 2004. When the Palins began building a new family home off Lake Lucille in 2002—at the same time that Palin was running for lieutenant governor and in her final months as mayor—Spenard supplied the materials, according to Antoine Bricks, who works in its Wasilla office. Spenard actually filed a notice “of its right to assert a lien” on the deed for the Palin property after contracting for labor and materials for the site. Spenard’s name has popped up in the trial of Senator Stevens—it worked on the house that is at the center of the VECO scandal as well.
Todd Palin told Fox News that he built the two-story, 3,450-square-foot, four-bedroom, four-bath, wood house himself, with the help of contractors he described as “buddies.” As mayor, Sarah Palin blocked an effort to require the filing of building permits in the wide-open city, and there is no public record of who the “buddies” were. The house was built very near the complex, on a site whose city purchase led to years of unsuccessful litigation and, now, $1.3 million in additional costs, with a law firm that’s also donated to Palin collecting costly fees from the city.
March 26th, 2009 at 5:16 PM
Coincidence???
When Palin appeared on Saturday Night Live last year, she appeared in a segment of its Weekend Update. During that segment a cast member pretended to be Palin’s husband. He was wearing a complete “Team Artic” outfit!
I wonder of the Palins also got paid for arranging that product placement?????
Here is the link to that Saturday Night Live segment:
http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/update-palin-rap/773781/
According to Arctic Cat’s web page:
During its highest rated episode in 14 years, Saturday Night Live featured Team Arctic Racewear on a widely praised “Weekend Update” segment. If you didn’t get a chance to see SNL, be sure to check out the great National coverage we received [at the above link]. You’ll find this clip alone has been seen by more than 2.3 million people! We hope that you share in our excitement over the publicity we’ve received in the last week.
Here is that web page:
http://www.atvscene.com/fyi08/arcticcat_1029.html