The Mudflats

OK, as much as I want to just copy and paste the entire thing here, I don’t want to make the Anchorage Daily News mad at me.  They live off clicks, and I don’t so I’ll send you over there, and then you can come back here.  And while you’re over there, do leave a comment.  They’re filling up fast.

The ADN has weighed in on Mayor Dan Sullivan’s latest ethical lapse.  I refer to the fact that he accepted payment for a faux insurance policy for his father that came out of city coffers.  Despite apparent attempts to make this one fly under the radar, it didn’t.

And when the Anchorage Assembly tried to put a hold on the payment of $193,000 until we figure out if it’s even legal – oops!  Bad news.  Looks like the city cut that whopping huge check at the speed of light, and it got “disbursed” by the Trustee….aka Mayor Dan Sullivan.  Most of us have to wait six weeks for a check.  Strange.

For all the background, I refer you HERE.  And don’t forget to follow the links!

So, Anchorage is $193,000 poorer, and Mayor Dan Sullivan and unnamed parties (we were told it’s none of our business by the Mayor) are $193,000 richer.  And the “contractual obligation” the Assembly was told about doesn’t appear to exist.  Cries of “Show us the contract!” have gone unanswered.

Hmmmmm.

So here’s the “bottom line” from the ADN editorial staff:

In defending his actions, the mayor stresses his fiduciary responsibility as trustee to seek payment. What about his fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers of Anchorage? That comes first.

Mayor Sullivan didn’t seek these circumstances, but he should have been able to deal with them in a straightforward and ethical way.

After heated public reaction, the administration says it has no problem with an independent legal review. Late, but good. We’ll wait for the outcome of that review before we pass judgment on the propriety of the insurance payout.

But this much is clear now: Where there’s a conflict of interest, the mayor has to make clear that he serves the citizens of Anchorage first and foremost. In this case, he did not.

BOTTOM LINE: The mayor’s conflict of interest was clear.

(clap clap clap clap clap)  Well done, ADN.  You nailed it.

This past weekend, almost 400 Coffee Parties took place across the U.S.  Each one was different, had its own agenda, and asked its own questions.  The people who attended were those who recognize that something is wrong in this country, but they don’t think drawing a Hitler moustache on something is the way to fix it.

Awesome and engaged Mudflatter ‘Valley Independent’ was our Boots On the Ground at the Coffee Party in Wasilla, Alaska.  She tells me she’s feeling more energized about politics than she has in a long time.  Here’s her report.

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from Valley Independent

The Coffee Party is off to a good start here in Wasilla.  The attendance wasn’t huge, but pretty darn good for short notice.  Thanks to Jay for organizing it, and to AKM and Shannyn Moore for helping to get the word out.

The Metro Cafe is a warm and sunny place on Lucille Street, a very busy north-south corridor in Wasilla.  I have been wanting to visit since they opened this summer, so this was a great excuse to do just that.  Their website is here.  Carmen and her assistant were lovely, and make great coffee.

It was fun and exciting to see some familiar faces from around town, and also to have the opportunity to meet several new people, all of whom are willing to work constructively on the challenges that face us on all political levels.

Several good suggestions were brought forth – we’ll be working on those at future meetings.  Speaking of future meetings, our next meeting will be at the Metro Cafe at 10 am Saturday, March 20th. This is a non-partisan event, so anyone who wants to engage in civil discussion about the issues and be a part of finding solutions is not only welcome, but encouraged to attend.

Phil Munger has a post with pictures on his blog, Progressive Alaska, found here.  Bill Hess also stopped by and is working on something for his blog, Wasilla, Alaska by 300, which can be found here.  Thanks to both of them.

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Alan Grayson has really done it this time.  I did not think I could love him more, and I was proven wrong with this one email.  This is possibly the most hilarious anti-Palin piece I’ve ever read – and trust me, I’ve read a lot of them.  I bow to the master of the Palin takedown.

This is an actual email from Rep. Alan Grayson on Palin’s recent visit to Florida.  Don’t be drinking anything when you read it.

Subject: Palin Attacks Grayson; Grayson Applies Calamine Lotion to the Resulting Reddish Skin

On Friday night, Sarah Palin came to Orlando, and attacked Rep. Alan Grayson. This is what she said:

“I got to meet quite a few candidates who are lining up in a contested primary who want to take out Alan Grayson. And I think Alan Grayson — what can you say about Alan Grayson? Piper is with me tonight, so I won’t say anything about Alan Grayson that can’t be said around children. [Good one, Sarah!] But thank you, Florida, for allowing candidates in a contested primary to duke it out over ideas and principles and values, all with the same goal, and that is unseating those who have such a disconnect from the people of America. That’s what the goal is here in this race against Alan Grayson. Please fight hard, and do this for the rest of the country. Fight hard, and send a conservative to Washington, DC.”

Palin, the former half-term Governor, current-nothing and future-even-less, charmed the all-Republican audience with her folksy folksiness and her homespun homespunnery. Atypically, Palin was wearing clothes that she had paid for herself. At the end of the event, she shared her recipe for mooseface pie.

In response to Palin’s attack on Rep Grayson, Grayson actually complimented Palin. Grayson praised Palin for having a hand large enough to fit Grayson’s entire name on it. He thanked Palin for alleviating the growing shortage of platitudes in Central Florida.

Grayson added that Palin deserved credit for getting through the entire hour-long program without quitting. Grayson also said that Palin really had mastered Palin’s imitation of Tina Fey imitating Palin. Grayson observed that Palin is the most-intelligent leader that the Republican Party has produced since George W. Bush.

When asked to comment about what effect Palin’s criticism might have, Grayson pointed out, “As the Knave’s horse says in Alice in Wonderland, ‘dogs will believe anything.’” Earlier, as the Orlando Sentinel reported, Grayson said, “I’m sure Palin knows all about politics in Central Florida, since from her porch she can see Winter Park,” which is part of Grayson’s district.

Grayson said that the Alaskan chillbilly was welcome to return to Central Florida anytime, as long as she brings lots of money with her, and spends it. “I look forward to an honest debate with Governor Palin on the issues, in the unlikely event that she ever learns anything about them,” Grayson added, alluding to Politifact’s “liar, liar, pants on fire” evaluation of much of what Palin has said.

Scientists are studying Sarah Palin’s travel between Alaska and Florida carefully. They hope to learn more about the flight patterns of that elusive migratory species, the wild Alaskan dingbat.

“Bush’s Brain,” advisor Karl Rove had a few words of advice for the Facebook blogger/Fox commentator Sarah Palin today. If she’s getting ready to run for the White House in 2012, she better start now.

Politico did not elaborate on how exactly Rove suggested this should occur, but we can assume it means doing a lot of reading.

Acknowledging that the politics of the day will change between now and then, he still said there’s not a moment to lose.

“This is her year to get ready for the hot spotlight that will fall on her…I don’t know if she wants to, she certainly can, she did very well in the 63 days she was on the national stage,” Rove said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Really?  Was it only 63 days?  Those for whom that 63 days felt like a lifetime cannot fathom an entire four-year Palin presidency.

But will she or won’t she?  That’s the question that nobody seems to be able to answer for sure.  Keeping us guessing keeps her in the spotlight, however, and speculation alone has fueled sales of her book, anticipation of her next book, and supported six figure speaking engagements across the land – to loggers, and bowlers, and liquor wholesalers, and NASCAR fans alike.  So, even if Palin is not planning to sit in the political dunking booth to which she would be permanently confined in the run up to the 2012 election, she benefits handsomely from not telling us that.