The Mudflats

Well, it looks like the inner sanctum just got a little less populated.

There aren’t many of the old gang from Alaska left.  Politico reports this morning that Sarah Palin’s most visible henchperson Meghan Stapleton has inflated a life boat and leaped over the side of the S.S. Palin “to spend more time with her family.”

It’s here that we should invite our sad violinist to come and play some background music while we remember Meg “Stapletongue” with all the reverence and heartfelt whatever that she so richly deserves.  Get your hankies ready.

Meg Stapleton…  She came to Alaska from the east coast to seek her fortune.  A Georgetown grad who had worked in DC with the likes of famous former jew counter and dog barbequing GOP fundraiser Fred Malek, she sought her destiny in the Last Frontier.

Meg quickly became one of Alaska’s most trusted and beloved anchorwoman on the local NBC affiliate, KTUU Channel 2 News.  She did manage to literally get “run over by a reindeer” while wearing a Santa suit on live TV one year at Christmas, but other than that, her life was filled with all the good things you might expect from being a local beloved talking head in one of the country’s smallest but most interesting media markets.

And then Sarah Palin happened.  The governor actively courted the “head” and eventually won her over to the dark side, also known as the Palin administration.  In 2008, the relationship was fully consummated and “Meg Stapletongue” was born.  The shackles of “objective journalism” were cast off.  Once her boss was tapped as the VP candidate, the rules of the game changed.  In fact the rule book was tossed on the barbeque and “The Truth Squad” was unleashed on the Alaskan people.  McCain’s campaign, beginning to realize that they had nominated someone that was not only utterly unqualified, but also in the middle of a devastating political scandal at home, sent in the troops.  High powered former terrorism lawyer Ed O’Callaghan winged his way north in the night, and joined Stapleton in a series of press conferences that left Alaskans slack-jawed.  The Commissioner of Public Safety that Palin had dismissed for not firing her ex-brother in law State Trooper Mike Wooten was verbally disemboweled.  Alaska Democrats who had been the ones responsible for ushering through both gas line and oil tax legislation (AGIA and ACES) that Palin was later to wear like peacock feathers in her cap were similarly skewered.  There were charts with circles and arrows showing Alaskans exactly how these Democrats were connected to … (wait for it) …  Barack Obama.  Oh, the horror!

The team led by O’Callaghan took over the Alaska Department of Law like parasites in suits, doling out legal advice despite their lack of legal authority to practice law in the state, and provoking the ire of the state and its residents. And Stapleton was out front leading the parade, holding the Palin flag, and being the “familiar and trusted face” to convince us that the brown stuff smeared on top of the campaign cupcakes was really frosting.  Stapleton, unrelenting when confronted with her bad behavior was even caught on camera unrepentant and hostile to one of the very Democratic legislators who helped usher Palin’s programs through the legislature.

Rallies were held in which protesters held signs showing their disdain and contempt for the once-beloved talking head who had now been reduced to just the tongue part -  “Stapletongue,”  “Staplegun,” “Meg the Mouth,” and if said with enough loathing in the voice, just “Meg” was enough to raise the arm hair of Alaskans who had once respected, and even liked her. 

The largest protest was held in mid-September of 2008 when the campaign was in full swing.  “Clearly, this is an Obama rally and nothing else,” she spun like a top.  O’Callaghan and his legal goons were eventually driven out of the state, but Meg remained and Alaskans never forgot or forgave.  The next year brought a series of press releases, official statements, and emotional screeds penned in a proprietary blend of bile, venom and the blood of the innocent.  Levi Johnston honed his acting skills by lying, photoshoppers engaged in desecration of sacred icons, and any citizen who dared to file an ethics complaint against the governor was a hating hater who found themselves called out by name and condemned by the office of the governor.  The haters just seemed to keep coming out of the woodwork. and Meg was always ready with a giant can of verbal Raid.

But always, she was by the governor’s side.  She renewed old ties with Fred Malek in D.C. and got Sarah invited to the prestigious Alfalfa Club Dinner, she organized Palin’s visit to her home town of Auburn New York to lead the Seward’s Day parade, she winged her way to the undisclosed location in San Diego and hung out while ghost writer Lynn Vincent tried to take dictation for Palin’s memoir Going Rogue.  She was the proverbial sidekick, the loyal rabid lapdog, Palin’s #2. 

So disliked was she, even nationally, that she received third place in the 2008 “Muddy Awards” on this very blog, coming in a close third behind Palin herself, and First Dude Todd Palin.

But, it’s always a matter of time with Palin’s inner sanctum.  One by one, they fall by the wayside, either frozen out, ignored until they quit, thrown overboard in the night, or publicly chucked under the bus like human speed bumps.  Campaign supporters, loyal friends, her former chief of staff, her former legislative director, her trusted inner-sanctum go-to guy, commissioners of various stripes, the Democrats who helped her pass the only memorable legislation she ever had - all gone and forgotten; all relegated to the dustbin of Palin history, sucked dry, used up and traded in.

 Stapleton said she resigned to spend more time with her husband and 2-year-old daughter, Isabella.

“While it has been an honorto help Governor Palin and her family over the last few years, I am also honored to have this incredible opportunity to stay home with my precious miracle, Isabella,” Stapleton told POLITICO. “At two years old, I have missed significant moments in her life but I look forward with great happiness to celebrating milestones as well as mundane moments with her as I refocus my priorities. I also look forward to seeing my saint-of-a-husband again, too!”

Anyone who closely follows Palin will undoubtedly recognize the voice. 

Since the end of the presidential campaign, Stapleton has been one of only a handful of aides and trusted contacts maintained by Palin through her transition from governor, to national political figure, to author, to Fox News contributor and one of the unofficial leaders of the tea party movement.

 In that time, Stapleton was a key strategic adviser and the pipeline for anyone seeking Palin’s attention, including Republican officials and reporters. 

 “Meg has been deeply involved in all things Palin and instrumental in Sarah’s many successes,” Fred Malek, a prominent Republican fundraiser and Palin friend, told POLITICO. “It’s hard to replace anyone so loyal, tireless, and effective, but the Palin phenomenon will continue. Meg has surely earned the privilege to devote more time to her 2-year-old daughter, but I expect she will continue to render advice to her good friend on key issues.”

Prior to working for the former governor, Stapleton was director of scheduling and advance for Republican National Committee Co-Chair Jeanie Austin, an assistant for Malek at Thayer Capital Partners and a local television news reporter in New York, Pennsylvania and Alaska.

 Palin and her now ex-aide have been talking about her stepping down for some time and it became official on Wednesday – Stapleton’s birthday.

 Sounds like she gave herself (and us, frankly) a nice birthday present.  In a telling announcement to staff, Stapleton explained her reasoning for quitting.  If you listen very carefully you’ll be able to detect a couple pretty good parting shots at the almost-one-term-ex-governor.

“Earlier this week I handed Governor Palin my resignation, effective the end of this month. While I had hoped to work together on so many more projects, time with my precious two-year-old has been further minimized with the whirlwind commitments of all things Palin,” she told the SarahPAC staff. “I have done my best to scale back but Isabella is now resorting to hiding my BlackBerry and she shouldn’t grow up begging for a mother to start acting like a mother.”