By Elstun Lauesen

Franklin C. Spinney was a staff analyst attached to the Department of Defense’s ASD/PA&E (Tactical Air Division). In 1991 he wrote an independent position paper on why the F-22 should not have been approved for engineering and development. His objections were two-fold: first, the production of the F-22 didn’t make strategic sense and, second, the rush to get the plane into production was a mistake.

http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/docs/980326-f22.htm

Mr. Spinney worried that the strategic decisions affecting our Air Force were being dictated by the industrial-military complex, namely Lockheed Martin and their lobbyists; and he complained that the engineering was being compromised by the congressional pace of funding.

Spinney’s internal memo earned him a reprimand.

In 1998, he followed up his criticism with another letter sharply questioning the pace of engineering and design for the F-22. “The Air Force now wants to place the F-22 into production after only 4% of the testing is complete” Spinney continues, “It is important to understand that the F-22′s problems, like those of the F/A-18 E/F, were foreseeable and could have been avoided…” The analyst could barely contain his anger: “…The Air Force and Lockheed Martin now wants to increase the political lock on Congress by putting this airplane into production before 4% of its testing is completed”

The recent story (ADN:12/16/11) of the death of Capt. Jeff Haney in a fatal F-22 crash may be added to a history of crashes and malfunctions in the flawed and strategically unnecessary system. It is important to note that Spinney was not a whistle-blower; he continued to do his job as an analyst until his retirement in 2003. Spinney was a conscientious staffer for the DoD who was, regrettably for the family of Captain Haney, ignored.

Of course the “official” report could not blame the aircraft–despite the fact that the chain of events that led to the fatal crash began with malfunctioning air intakes that triggered a series of automatic shut downs. Blaming the pilot is the only recourse for the Industrial-Military Complex that President Eisenhower warned us about in his famous “Cross of Iron” speech.

The flawed F-22 and the corrupt practices that forced it into production described by Mr. Spinney deserve the attention of congress. Unfortunately, taking on the defense industry is not palatable for either Republicans or Democrats. Beholden to the irrational demands of an industry founded in the cold war, key politicians staunchly defend–even in this time of alleged deficit crisis–wasted billions on an engineering and strategic failure.

Alaska is a serfdom for the defense establishment just like Washington, California, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and other states dependent on DoD funding. At the peak of his power, Senator Stevens directed billions to the F-22 system, while his campaign received large defense contractor donations. Uncle Ted stood astride the very system that Mr. Spinney worried about, and President Eisenhower warned us about. In exchange we got an F-22 command based in Alaska. Do not expect to hear Begich, Murkowski or Young raise a single peep about this money-wasting and deadly weapons system; they are mere vassals in the serfdom of Defense.

I salute the many Air Force pilots who, like Captain Haney, were victims, not of enemy fire, but of a rotten system which crucified them on a “Cross of Iron.”

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“Only in Alaska.”

We hear that said up here in the Last Frontier all the time. In the case of the rise of Sarah Palin, the fall of Bill Allen and the larger-than-life legacy of Ted Stevens, it is literally true. It only could have happened here.

Crude Awakening explains the growing pains and tribulations of a new state coming of age in the modern era – a state of wilderness, and Sourdoughs, thousands of years of Native culture, fishermen, prospectors and pioneers, brilliant minds and brave souls writing their own Constitution. In some ways comparable to the spirit of newness, hope and optimism of Philadelphia in the 1830s, Alaska’s coming out party had a darker and more raucous side. Heralded by the discovery of North Slope crude in 1968, Alaska’s coming of age meant that almost overnight in came the Outsiders – oil mavericks, religious zealots, guys in suits, Texans, and opportunists eager to make a buck. It has not been an easy or graceful adolescence for the 49th state which just celebrated its 50th Anniversary during the brief but eventful Palin administration.

Emerging from Alaska’s new-found wealth and opportunity came a handful of players who shaped the state for good and not-so-good. With opportunity comes greed. With power comes corruption. Crude Awakening focuses on three of these history makers – former half-term governor Sarah Palin, the late Senator Ted Stevens, and unlikely political kingmaker and entrepreneur Bill Allen.

After the 2008 election Alaskans were often asked by those Outside, with more than a little derision, “How could you have elected her?” Amanda Coyne and Tony Hopfinger skillfully put into historical context the unique set of circumstances that rolled out Alaska’s political red carpet for an unknown Wasilla mayor who would change politics nationwide and put Alaska on the map in its proper place for many who thought of it only as the state in that box somewhere near Hawaii. And isn’t it dark all the time, and don’t they live in igloos? To fully understand Palin’s political career, you have to watch the prequel. Coyne and Hopfinger show us the reel. Sarah Palin’s political career was no accident and her sparkling ivory tower was built on a foundation of charred political bones with their own stories to tell.

For Alaskans, this book is sure to be a mix of comfortable known history and “hey, I never knew that” moments. For Outsiders (yes, we capitalize it), it will be a jaw-dropping, eye-popping look into a world of political intrigue that doesn’t seem possible – a small-town writ geographically large, where even the unlikeliest and shadiest of characters is one degree of separation from power-brokers and political hot-shots.

How did hard-scrabble, uneducated self-made oil services maverick Bill Allen befriend Harvard grad Senator Ted Stevens, at one time fourth in line for the presidency of the United States? And how did Stevens (whom most Outside know only as the “series of tubes guy” for his infamous description of the internet) earn the love and admiration of so many in his state? Nothing is ever black and white in the land of the midnight sun.

At times the book reads like an oil tax policy primer, oftentimes like a soap opera, and occasionally like a travel brochure. From price per barrel, and pipeline negotiations the reader suddenly pops into the seedy world of back room deals, love triangles, underage sex for drugs, nepotism, political favors, vengeance, and personalities as large as the wilderness they inhabit.

Coyne and Hopfinger explain how our nascent state got here. Where we go now is anyone’s guess. Alaska politically, geologically, and culturally is a dynamic and unpredictable work in progress. Many of the colorful characters portrayed in Crude Awakening have moved on – some dead, some in prison, some fled the state for greener and more lucrative pastures. But some of the players are still here and the characters they all played, from the broad-minded dreamers to the Corrupt Bastards, all remain (albeit with different faces and names). The tug o’ war over Alaska’s resources and how best to develop and tax them rages on. We, as a state, are ready in some ways to leave our wild youth behind, but geographic isolation, an economy which is still very much reliant on oil, and that same cast of untamable characters means that anything is possible. Alaska’s next fifty years promises a book that is just as entertaining and intriguing as Crude Awakening.

There’s another thing you often hear around these parts. “You just can’t make this stuff up.” In Alaska, you don’t have to.

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To read the discussion, go to Firedoglake HERE.

Join me and author Amanda Coyne of Alaska Dispatch today at firedoglake.com for a book salon featuring the new release Crude Awakening – Money, Mavericks and Mayhem in Alaska by Coyne and co-author Tony Hopfinger. Details below. Hope to see you there!

[Cross-posted from Alaska Dispatch]

Jeanne Devon, AKA AK Muckraker, who runs the popular Alaska-based website The Mudflats, is hosting an online discussion Sunday, Nov. 13, of “Crude Awakening: Money, Mavericks and Mayhem in Alaska.” The discussion will be held at Firedoglake Book Salon. “Crude Awakening” was penned by Alaska Dispatch founders Amanda Coyne and Tony Hopfinger. Coyne will answer questions from 1-3 p.m. Alaska Time (5-7 p.m. Eastern Time, 2-4 p.m Pacific).

Here’s the book jacket description (though Devon’s description, which will appear tomorrow on Firedoglake, is better than what the authors came up with):

Crude Awakening is the rollicking story of politics in America’s last frontier and oil province—Alaska, the nation’s most wild and mysterious state, where politics and oil blurred on the day wildcatters struck it big in 1968. Living in a northern Never Land, where oil companies and the federal government kept the state living high and wild, a handful of players ran the show. Among them were the late Sen. Ted Stevens and oilman Bill Allen, the Tony Soprano of Alaska who controlled the political machine until the FBI arrived to root out corruption, only to be accused of playing as dirty as those they were investigating. These characters and events paved the way for Sarah Palin’s rise to fame and fall from glory in Alaska. Authors Amanda Coyne and Tony Hopfinger chart the epic tale of these three characters, set in a state of soaring hopes, fading dreams, drying oil fields and an uncertain future.

The authors will also be on Alaska Public Radio’s Alaska New Nightly at 6 p.m. on Monday, APRN’s talk of Alaska at 10 a.m. Tuesday, and Moore Up North on Thursday, Nov. 17 at 5:30 p.m. at the Taproot Cafe in Anchorage. The authors will be reading and signing books on Nov. 19 at 11:30 a.m. at Fireside Books in Palmer.

Reviews of the book can be found here, here and here.

Well, this is one that definitely stood out.

We’ve got two candidates – Neal Foster, and Donny Olson. They’re both from Nome, and they are both running for re-election to the state legislature – Foster in the House, and Olson in the Senate.

Now, let’s put on our reading spectacles and have a careful look.

First, let’s see who our hosts for the event were. Who were those notable members of the community, whose ideals and principles are aligned with the candidate, and who put their names out there in close affiliation as if to say, “I, (fill in your own impressive name) support this candidate, and by virtue of that fact, so should you.” Let’s have a look at the top four.

1) John Shively – Pebble Partnership

Whoa. Right off the bat, number one sponsor, name in front, loud and proud. Shively used to be Chief of Staff for Governor Bill Sheffield and got caught lying, shredding documents, and being a general ne’er do well. He decided to turn his life around by doing something equally abhorrent, taking the reins on the Pebble Mine Project which threatens to destroy a huge commercial, sport, and subsistence fishery, the way of life for Alaska Natives in the region, and jeopardize thousands of sustainable jobs – all to line the pockets of some of the wealthiest and dirtiest environmental degraders in the world, in the form of foreign mining conglomerates Anglo-American and Northern Dynasty Minerals.

2) Gail Phillips – Former Republican Speaker of the House, and current shill/flak for… you guessed it… Pebble Partnership. She’s the Chairperson for the group “Truth About Pebble.” Yes, the name is as Orwellian as it sounds. Think “Ministry of Truth”, “Patriot Act” and “Clear Skies Act.”

3) John Binkley – Fairbanks native son, and former Republican candidate for Governor of Alaska. He ran in the primary against Frank Murkowski and then long-shot Sarah Palin. She used to call him “Bink” and “Rich Man Binkley” and “the machine candidate.” She accused him of “stealing” her website, and reacted to his copycat ways with a scathing “Shhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeezzzzzz.” She worried that he was going “use his goofy grin” and the support of some of his influential “Mormon buddies” to gain support. She despised him as one of the corrupt “Good Ol’ Boys” that were the movers and shakers in the Republican Party, and as part of the problem she wanted to expunge from state politics. She shouldn’t have worried. But, Mr. Rich Man Bink landed on his feet and now works at the Alaska Cruise Association.

4) Orin Seybert – The founder of Peninsula Airways, and large political contributor to Republican candidates over the years. A quick search reveals that since 2006, he’s made 14 donations to Congressman Don Young (R), 7 to the late Sen. Ted Stevens (R), and 1 to former Gov. Frank Murkowski (R).

OK, knowing all that, are you ready for the question? This is going to sound like a total no-brainer. Ready?

What political party do both of the legislators for whom this fundraiser is being thrown belong to?

~Rep. Neal Foster and his candidate for United States Senate

If you’re still on the fence, take a look at where the fundraiser is being held – McGinley’s Pub in Anchorage. Yes, the same McGinley’s Pub of which Mayor Dan Sullivan is part owner. That little factoid totally clinches it for you, right?

Yes, they are Democrats.

(A collective WHA??? is heard over the mudflats)

You’ll notice how the flier carefully avoids that fact. They aren’t “Democrats” who’ve made a difference. They are “legislators” who’ve made a difference. What difference? Well, they’ve certainly made a difference in constituents’ ability to tell what political party they belong to, that’s for sure.

And this leads me to a question. Do we as Democrats (yes, I am still one for now) have no set of minimum basic requirements to allow our candidates to proudly put that D after their names? Should they not, in fact, draw to them people who believe as Democrats do, who want to see Democrats in office, and who support Democratic ideals?

Yes, I would argue, we should.

Perhaps there are those who would admonish a Democrat who said this with the argument, “Why are we fighting amongst ourselves? Let’s not eat our own!” But is there not some point at which we draw a line? Who is “our own?” And who is the “You” in the headline of this invitation? Inquiring minds want to know.

A man is known, the old adage goes, by the company he keeps. And this is some sad, sad company indeed for anyone who claims to represent the party for which they are registered. And truly, if these are your friends, and those who support you financially, and those who host fundraisers for you, then for crying out loud have the decency to take of the D-sguise and proclaim that you’re one of them.

[h/t Mudflatter North of the Range]

“We don’t need no stinkin’ feds telling us what to do!”

Ah, the mantra of the 49th state. It’s true that there are many great points to support local governance. Communities themselves are often the best at determining what the needs of their residents are – especially in areas that don’t fit the “norm” of the country. In towns with no indoor plumbing, fuel at more than $10 a gallon, and communities where schools can be hundreds of miles apart, it’s understandable that Alaskans find it difficult sometimes to “go with the flow” and let those bureaucrats in DC legislate what we do on the tundra from an office in a white marble building thousands of miles away. It’s frustrating to feel misunderstood, and have to live with laws designed for someone else.

But then there are times when our “little town” called Alaska simply can’t do what needs to be done. We hate to admit it, but it’s true.  I remember the first time I saw a “Thanks FBI” bumpersticker – blue with the Big Dipper of Alaska’s state flag. What would make us frontier-minded, libertarian, get off my lawn Alaskans actually thank a federal agency?  I’ll tell you what. Our lawmakers proved that all it took was a couple thousand dollars and a few nice meals to sell us out. The self-described “Corrupt Bastards Club” was our most recent  lesson on why sometimes… (looks around to make sure nobody sees me, and whispers)… “the feds” can be good guys.

Our own internal state ethics watchdog mechanisms were no match for systemic corruption, funded by big oil. And as a result of eventual investigations by that federal agency known as the FBI, 10% of our legislature was indicted for various bribery and corruption charges. Several landed in jail. In the absence of a professional major league team, watching our elected representatives fall like bowling pins became a statewide sport. There was something about watching those  who violated the public trust, get their comeuppance that felt gratifying – hence, the bumperstickers, and the embarrassing reminder that if we actually want to get along without federal intervention, we’re going to need to carry out certain uncomfortable tasks ourselves.

We’re in another one of those situations again. This time, the three-letter federal agency that those who are corrupted by big money influence find themselves facing is the EPA.   The oil companies, and mining interests rear their heads in opposition to most things environmental. Let’s face it – it’s just plain inconvenient when you want to extract offshore with little regulation and you have to deal with annoyances like polar bears, and floating ice, and endangered whales, and having the ability to clean up and pay for your messes. It’s a pain in the neck when you want to dig up a bunch of coal, or copper and it’s located underneath a fishery. The thorn in the side of those extraction industries who fund elections and get Alaskan candidates in office, is the agency that dares to tell them they can’t do whatever they want.

So, naturally, when those who do care about the environment, and the mess that could be left behind (think Exxon Valdez and Gulf of Mexico only with lots of ice) see the David v. Goliath battles of elected leaders v. extraction, they get a little nervous. Our battle tends to work out a little different than the Biblical one. Goliath tells David that if he lets him do whatever he wants, he’ll make sure David gets re-elected and not replaced by Pete, who will do it if David doesn’t.  And then Pete v. Goliath ends up being an even worse deal for the people because Pete is an even bigger sell-out. A grim scenario.

So naturally, when an entity comes in who is actually allowed to tell Goliath what to do, our little ears perk up and our hearts are filled for a moment with a strange sensation we’re not used to feeling – hope! And that brings us to today.

Heard over the horizon are those booming footsteps you hear in cartoon fairy tales to indicate the approach of a giant. My coffee is making little spontaneous tremulous ripples. The dog awakens and turns her head to the side with ears cocked. It’s…. it’s…. the Environmental Protection Agency! And they’ve come to look at the proposed Pebble Mine project.  And this is a good thing.

The EPA said it is launching the review in response to petitions last year from several Southwest Alaska tribes, commercial fishing groups and other organizations opposed to Pebble. Those groups are worried about the potential impact of large-scale mining on Bristol Bay’s world-class salmon runs.

The EPA, however, did not give the petitioners what they had requested. The agency declined to formally consider blocking mining waste disposal in waterways downstream of the Pebble deposit. The agency said it might — or might not — consider taking that step in the future.

The EPA has the authority to do this, but generally, this happens only after the company in question files a permit. That will not happen in the case of Pebble until this year or next. And generally speaking, applying for a permit in this state means you get it. So, our little episode of happy hopefulness gets instantly tempered with cautious optimism and worry.

We wait now, for the science. There will be two kinds of science – the EPA science, and the science paid for by the Pebble Project. Any wagers how that’s going to turn out? Soon, it will be the war of scientists with one side saying it’s perfectly safe to put the largest copper and gold mine on the continent at the headwaters of the largest salmon run on the continent. They’ve got all sorts of safety mechanisms, and plans, and an earthen dam that you’ll be able to see from space to contain all the toxic byproducts of mining and keep them from affecting the delicate life cycle of the salmon and other marine creatures in the Bay that make up 60% of the nation’s seafood. What could go wrong?

And the other side, we presume, will have a different story. We just have to wait and find out what it is, and hope that it isn’t influenced by outside forces.

But, the bottom line is this – We can get no guarantee from anyone that this project will not affect salmon. Nobody can absolutely say for certain that a disaster could never happen. And that, right there, is too much risk. When the thing you risk is the most precious thing you own, you’re allowed to be cautious. So, prepare for the next year which will include opportunities to make public comment on the mine.

Meanwhile, our elected leaders find themselves continually wedged between the monied powers that can get them re-elected or have them facing a well-funded opponent, and the will of the people who actually cast the votes. They  have a variety of opinions on the subject but most are tip-toeing through the demilitarized zone, hoping for the best. They won’t have to stick their flag in the ground and take a position until later.

Oh… except for Don Young. Alaska’s lone congressman is right out there on the front lines proposing legislation that would strip the EPA of their veto power to enforce the Clean Water Act. He did this earlier in the year in response to oil drilling activities in Conoco Phillips alpine fields, but it would also keep the feds out of things like Pebble Mine as well – not to mention countless projects nationwide to which the EPA would no longer have veto authority to stop water contamination. “Enough is enough,” sayeth the Congressman for All Alaska. You may send thank you letters to his office in DC.

Steve Borell, executive director of the Alaska Miners Association, said the EPA’s decision not to invoke its veto authority at this time is “good news.”

“They haven’t shut off (Pebble), so I think the science will speak for itself,” he said.

Which science remains to be seen.

So, yes. It’s good that the EPA will be studying this project. But, keep in mind that when the FBI came in and nabbed a bunch of legislators in the Corrupt Bastards Club, they got little fish like Vic Kohring, Bev Masek, and Pete Kott… They did not get Frank Murkowski, Don Young, Ted Stevens or his son Ben Stevens. It may still happen, but the mysterious nets of the federal government seem to catch the little fish while letting the big ones swim through.

So, will the EPA let the biggest fish of them all swim through the net? Will Pebble Mine and its trillion dollars worth of mineral wealth somehow escape our grasp and endanger Bristol Bay, and therefore a good portion of the nation’s seafood supply? Stay tuned and stay informed no matter where you are, because this issue affects people far beyond the borders of Alaska.

~Thick and fast they came at last, and more, and more, and more!

Neighbors and Cupcakes and Bears – Oh, my!

For the faint of heart, and the thin of stomach lining, the ADN’s Julia O’Malley got a peek at the first episode of Sarah Palin’s Alaska, and she watched it so you don’t have to. Between carrying on about the neighbor, and trying to shoo boys out of Willow’s room, you can get all the details about what it takes to go fishing in “bear country.”  Just to clarify what you may already be thinking – yes, all of Alaska is bear country.

They Love Him, They Love Him Not, They Love Him…

It would appear after vascillating back and forth, the National Republican Senatorial Committee has finally landed in Miller’s corner. They win either way, but a letter has gone out from John Cornyn of Texas who chairs the NRSC saying, “Both sides are beginning to lawyer up and prepare for any possible legal fights. Joe needs your help to make sure he has enough money to make it a fair contest.

Both sides have created legal defense funds.  Murkowski’s is the Palin-esque sounding “Alaska Voter Protection Fund.”  Apparently she thinks that the people to put money in the fund aren’t actually Alaskans, so she’s winging her way back to D.C. for a fundraiser.

Nothing changes

Lisa Murkowski wrote a nice letter today.  Seems she doesn’t take too kindly to the Environmental Protection Agency trying to protect the environment.  “If the president wants to start with the work the Energy Committee has already done, I would be happy to work with him. But I also believe we must first preempt the EPA from meddling in the work of Congress when it comes to setting climate policies,” sayeth the one who tells us she’ll now be free to be a moderate.  She won’t forget that Democrats put her in her seat again….. right? Riiiiight.

A Slip of the Finger…

Nineteen Alaskans were just charged in a drug trafficking bust in which money was laundered in Las Vegas. And I’m guessing that 18 of them are not real happy with the other one, who appears to be Ted Stevens’ nephew. Small state.

Within hours of hearing that MSNBC had indefinitely suspended Keith Olbermann without pay after it was discovered that he had made donations to political candidates in violation of company policy, more than 200,000 people signed a petition asking MSNBC to put him back on the air. There are a variety of ways to pass the message along. 

If you’re on Facebook, click here to share an UPDATED message.

If you’re on Twitter, click to auto-Tweet: 200,000 of us tell @MSNBC: Put Keith Olbermann back on the air. Help us reach 250,000?

Or just pass along this email to others — asking them to sign the petition here.

This morning the long list of Resolutions were considered by the delegates and the Chairman of the AFN Resolutions Committee, Trefon Angasan asked if there were other matters to be brought before the body. A young man from Ft. Yukon, Edward Alexander, who looks to be in his mid-20s, took to the microphone on the floor and made a motion to suspend the rules. Immediately another delegate seconded it. Mr. Alexander announced that he wished to introduce a resolution asking for certain changes to the status of ANCSA Corporations (See Day 2 Diary). The Resolutions Committee Chairman, ruled him out of order. Mr. Alexander protested the ruling and the Chairman deferred to the Parliamentarian, who ruled the motion out of order. Applause and hooting told the young upstart whose side the audience was on. He could pocket his radical notions for another day.

After the vote I talked to Edward. He told me that he had distributed copies of the resolution as directed yesterday. Today, however, he was informed that there was a ‘special chair rule’. When Edward asked what that ruling was, he thought that the official was referring to a ruling by the Chair. Oh, no, he was informed. The ‘special chair rule’ requires that the resolutions have to be on the delegate chairs 24 hours before discussion. Get it? Special ‘chair’ rule. Edward smiled at the irony: “This is a meeting about Village Survival and this is a Resolution that deals with it and they only care about winning.”  This young leader—you know, the kind that the AFN leadership always talks about wanting to foster—was pushed aside with a mere swipe of the parliamentary pinkie.

The well-oiled machine strikes again.

Phil Kugzruk, is an Alaska Native supporter of Joe Miller. Mr. Kugzruk views AFN as a collection of special interests whose goal is to preserve corporate federal contracts and regional non-profit grants. Originally from Teller and now living in Fairbanks, Mr. Kugzruk is an articulate man who ably defends his support of Joe Miller. “Joe Miller is against governmental interference with Tribal affairs.  Aren’t we supposed to be about ‘Self-Determination’?” he asks. Without missing a beat, he closes his argument. “How can we be ‘self-determined’ when our profession requires funding based on the ‘dependency’ of people?” I noticed a lot of agreement with Phil’s comment among the small crowd standing in the back of the Carlson Center.

The speakers, ironically enough, were talking about strategies for preserving federal program funding. It is not surprising that Mr. Kugsruk was part of the Tribal group that included several McAdams supporters. He pronounced himself in solidarity with a delegate supporting McAdams, Mike Williams, Chief of Akiak, when Mike expressed his feeling that the convention was being ‘railroaded’. Mr. Kugzruk asked me to quote him: “AFN is run like a Soviet politburo where control and preservation of power is the only goal.”

As I mentioned yesterday, an ad hoc group of Tribal leaders that organized around the principal of reforming the Alaska Native Claims Act met with Larry Echohawk, Undersecretary for Indian Affairs.

Their message must have been disorienting for the Undersecretary: AFN does not speak for the Tribes; AFN speaks for the corporations. It has become a matter of political dogma to speak admiringly the successes of ANCSA. And there is no question that by one set of measures ANCSA has been successful. Billions of dollars in revenues and assets have created a massive Alaska Native lever for capital formation in Alaska.  Byron Mallot, former President of AFN and currently Senior Policy Fellow at the First Alaskans Institute, boasted about this in his introduction to Lisa Murkowski (Mr. Mallott, billed as “Special Speaker”, was originally scheduled to come after the Murkowski “Report” to the convention, but apparently needing a dose of rhetorical juice, Mallott replaced State Representative Reggie Joule in the final order of speakers).

“[ANCSA] was a bargain [between the Native People and congress] that these corporations will become engines to help grow the state and they have. Our corporations bring hundreds of millions into the state…[But,]there are two sides to every bargain. We as Native people wanted to be respected and understood and yes, held up and our children would be proud of who they were.” He framed his speech as a rebuttal to some unidentified detractors of the ANCSA Corporation. Joe Miller? Claire McCaskill? Tribal Critics? Perhaps all three. Whoever it was had apparently questioned the large office complexes in Anchorage owned by ANCSA Corporations and the persistent poverty of the shareholders of those corporations. Mallott would have none of it.

I will tell you what those buildings are: they are expressions of pride in Alaska. (applause)

I reported yesterday on the meeting between Tribes and Undersecretary Echohawk miles away from the AFN convention at a traditional meeting hall named after revered Athabascan Chief David Salmon who was a Gwich’in Elder and Episcopalian priest. Inside that beautifully constructed log building, about 40 Tribal leaders and observers told their stories of fear for the future.

“Our culture is tied to our land…” one emotional speaker told Echohawk. “ANCSA put our land into corporations. No corporation has ever outlasted a Tribe. Someday the shares of those corporations will be bought or traded or inherited until we do not know the ownership of the corporation. What about our land then? What about our future generations? What about our culture?”

Earlier at AFN, Bill Martin, Tlingit leader who is focused on the issue of epidemic suicide in the Villages, wondered aloud as to how many more of our young people have to die before we figure this out? Mr. Martin movingly discussed his own thoughts of suicide and described the hopelessness and isolation that one can feel in the Village when there are no resources or no one to talk to.

I think about all these things and one word comes to mind: “bully”.

There are all kinds of bullies in the world. There are playground bullies and workplace bullies and even family bullies. But all of these bullies have one trait in common: power. They are either bigger or there are more of them or they are richer or they have authority.

I think of the Tribal leaders who have legitimate concerns but had to leave a conference on Village Survival to have a discussion on the subject with someone who would listen to them.  Oh, I’m sure Al Kookesh, Byron Mallott, or Julie Kitka, fine people all, would be shocked at the notion that they are bullies. But they are.

Witness the young man from Ft. Yukon who tried to get the collective voices of dozens of Tribal leader heard in the form of a Resolution at the convention. He was met with the special “Chair” rule. Witness the arrogance of the corporations “Standing Together” for Lisa Murkowski and the steamrolling of the Murkowski endorsement. Witness the outrageous manipulation of congress by the late Senator Stevens to grant the Corporations “Tribal status” in an earmark.

There has been lots of talk about ‘reforming’ AFN going around for years. In 2009, a resolution supporting AFN reform was passed. Pardon me if I’m underwhelmed. I think committees and paper yields dead trees and fat consultants (I am intimately familiar with the latter). What is really needed is quite simple.

Go to where the rivers meet. Pray for good weather and good will. Build a fire—a big one. Butcher a moose and eat together. Talk together. Become family again. Then let’s figure out how the Villages will survive!

qaĝaasakung, quyana, igamsiqanaghhalek, quyanaq, quyanaa, ‘awa’ahdah, tsin’aen dogedinh, mahsi’baasee’, maasee’, chin’an, tsin’ęę, thank you.

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Photo gallery of Day 3 of the Alaska Federation of Natives convention in Fairbanks, from Ronn Murray.  Quyana to Elstun and Ronn for your excellent work, and for helping to bring the convention to the wider world.

 

 

 

By Elstun Lauesen

The most interesting meeting on Day 2 of the AFN Conference was on Village Survival! It wasn’t held at AFN. It wasn’t on the official AFN agenda. It was held miles away from the Carlson Center.

It was a government-to-government consultation held with Alaska Tribal Leaders well away from the AFN venue. Mike Williams, Chief of Akiak Yupiit, sobriety advocate and mental health counselor organized the meeting while the Undersecretary for Indian Affairs, Larry Echohawk was in town for AFN. But the nature of the meeting, electric with a sense of urgency, required that the Tribal representatives be free to speak from their hearts, at length, to the single most important bureaucrat in the Obama Administration. It was obvious to me, after 5 minutes in the room with these passionate, eloquent and angry Tribal members, that this is the kind of meeting AFN SHOULD be hosting instead of the perfunctory, head-and-shoulders reporting of bureaucrats that drives large numbers of delegates into retreat to the snack bar, exhibit space or outside on a beautiful day.

The meeting at David Salmon Hall next to the Tanana Chiefs Conference Office building was nothing like the AFN meeting I came from. In this meeting the audience did the talking and the folks on the podium listened. When I walked in, Harold Napoleon was walking through a list of deficiencies inherent in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA). The date of December 18, 1971 is the demarcation between those who are vested in their corporations and those who are not, creating, in essence a ‘de facto’ termination date for Alaska Natives. He recalled that the prime motive at the beginning of the settlement movement was preserving traditional land use and hunting and fishing rights. Instead, ANCSA became a vehicle for separating Alaska Natives from their lands and imposing new rules and new classes of users on the hunting and fishing. The corporations created under ANCSA were supposed to complement the Tribes and help develop jobs and the economy of the Villages. Instead what has happened, according to Mr. Napoleon, is that the federal government now deals directly with the Corporations, by-passing the Tribes.

Napoleon mentioned, as did several others after him, that a recent ‘government-to-government consultation’ involved ANCSA Corporations, non-profits and excluded the Tribes. When Mike Williams and others tried to attend the consultation, they were ‘kicked out’. This really made my ears perk up.

It turns out that the late Senator Ted Stevens put language in an earmark in the FY 2005 budget that quietly changes the nature of the Cook Inlet Regional Corporation, Arctic Slope regional Corporation and other ANCSA Corporations from being merely corporations to being “Tribes”. Stevens, who was no friend of Tribes in Alaska, nevertheless succeeded in turning ANCSA Corporations into Tribes. That’s right, folks. That oil field executive with the southern accent who runs an ANCSA subsidiary and lunches at the Petroleum Club and donates to Joe Miller works for an Indian Tribe! Ya-Ta-Hey.

Evelyn Thomas, the Chief of Crooked Creek: “We do not have a problem with profit-making corporations, but no where in the rest of the U.S. does a profit-making corporation have government-to-government relationship with the federal government!”

Other speakers from Unalakleet, Pt. Hope, Barrow, Bristol Bay told the same story to an attentive Undersecretary.

One speaker, whose name I didn’t catch, pointed out that his Tribe quit approaching their regional corporation for support like matching funds for grants because they always got the same story: the corporation has a fiduciary responsibility to the shareholders and can’t donate money to tribes; if they do it for one, they will have to do it for all.

Now, it seems, that the corporations are really governments.

When I arrived at the David Salmon Hall, I was handed a resolution headed “Alaska Tribal Leaders Summit, Resolution #2. The resolution reads, in part:

“Whereas PL 108-199 SEC 161 and PL 108-447 SEC 518 were enacted by circumventing the normal legislative process in violation to the spirit and intent of Executive Order 13175 which requires the Executive Office of the president and all federal agencies to consult with us before any action is taken which affects our status as Indian Tribes, and;

Whereas, PL 108-99 SEC 161 and PL 108-447 SEC 518 were passed by “earmark” without the benefit of hearings and without the knowledge and consent of the federally recognized Indian Tribes, and

Whereas, Alaska Native corporations are state chartered profit corporations created by federal mandate by the Tribes of Alaska in 1972 pursuant to PL 92-203, and;

Whereas these corporations are not Tribes,  and will never be Tribes, and;

Whereas PL 108-99 SEC 161 and PL 108-447 SEC 518 encroach upon, devalue, and are an assault on our status as federally recognized Tribes and sovereign Indian Nations;

Now therefore be it resolved by the federally recognized tribes of Alaska represented at the 2010 Alaska Federation of Natives convention to denounce the process used to enact these earmarks, their intent, and the affect they have on the status of Alaska’s Tribes, and;

Be it further resolved by the federally recognized Tribes of Alaska to petition the president of the United States to halt implementation of PL 108-99 SEC 161 and PL 108-447 SEC 518 until they have been reviewed for constitutionality as to process, intent and effect.

Reading this Resolution brought two things to mind: (1) No wonder Blackwater and other large contractors embraced the ANCSA Corporations as Prime Contractors. As ‘Tribal governments” they can by-pass the various FAR—federal contracting regulations-requirements that limit access to large federal contracts; (2) No wonder Clair McCaskill (D-Mo) who has been demonized by the corporate-run AFN, wants to investigate the abuse of the 8(a) program by ANCSA Corporations, exactly as this Resolution calls for.

I believe this Resolution will be introduced tomorrow. I will watch the debate. And I will look very closely at the faces of the most notable personalities at AFN to see if there is any sign of shame or embarrassment as they face the Tribal delegates.

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Thanks again to Ronn Murray for his excellent photographs of the events at AFN.  Here is his photo album from Day 2!

I will begin with the end of the suspense. Rumors had been hanging like streamers from the Carlson Center in Fairbanks, making the day enticing to the drama-addicted media from the far reaches of Boston and New York. The closeness of the U. S. Senate race has made Alaska interesting again. Would Joe Miller dare to show up at the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention being hosted by his hometown Convention and Visitor’s Bureau? Would the rumored dissidents from the Tribal rebel resistance blow the Federation Mothership sky high? Would the delegates (many informally expressing anger at the Board of AFN for endorsing Lisa Murkowski without prior consultation and in contradiction of stated policy) object to a resolution of endorsement?

Well, on this the first day of the AFN 2010 convention, the answers are – No, no, no. And, in the end, it doesn’t really matter. This will require a bit of explanation.

The reputation of AFN as a well-oiled machine was reinforced as the moment of Lisa’s coronation approached. Was the outcome ever in doubt? One McAdams supporter stood by a bank of water coolers supplied by Alaskans Standing Together, sipping water from a cup that had “Lisa Murkowski” written on it, and had to clear a space on the table covered with “Lisa Murkowski” swag, including bracelets, fans, buttons and stickers, to put the cup down. The poor fellow was trying to find a sign of this rumored anger and dissidence. But all he could see was the scene that makes AFN one of the greatest events on earth: happy people glad to see old friends, brought together in a celebration of community, life and love.

If this fellow—or the media folks who journeyed here from elsewhere—understood the deeper purposes of AFN, they would not be so obsessed with ratification or endorsements. In 2008, the clear embrace of the corporate presence at AFN was for “Uncle” Ted Stevens; but on Election Day, the villages delivered a sea of blue for Mark Begich. In 2006 Diane Benson stood and delivered a challenge to entrenched corporate favorite, incumbent congressman Don Young. Benson did this, by the way, when other perceived ‘stronger’ Democratic candidates ran for cover and refused to challenge Young. Benson was excluded from the podium despite the fact that Young, a member of the congressional delegation, was allowed to campaign wearing the thin disguise of ‘reporting’ to the convention. The excuse at the time from President Julie Kitka and her convention manager, Mike Irwin, was that AFN did not endorse, or do ‘politics’. A challenge was elicited from the floor and a group of Benson supporters won her 5 minutes in front of the convention to say her piece. And, in one of the most brilliant and audacious maneuvers I have ever witnessed in Alaska politics, Benson was ushered to the stage surrounded by a squad of Native Alaskan veterans. In traditional Tlingit fashion, Benson delivered a story that lasted far longer than five minutes, as the veterans kept a jittery Mike Irwin at bay. At the end, she received a standing ovation and on Election Day, she carried a large portion of Village Alaska.

So the point here is that it is hard to say what, exactly, Lisa Murkowski gained today. I say this in part because the sheer inevitability of it diminishes its impact.

I mean, every Alaska Native Claims Act Regional Corporation announced 10 days before a convention of an organization largely funded by those same corporations, that they were putting close to a million dollars into the Lisa Murkowski write-in effort. This is the aforementioned SuperPAC “Alaskans Standing Together” that produced all the swag and goodies that littered the Carlson Center. Every aging rock star from the History of ANCSA who had been blessed by the Godfather Ted Stevens had already lined up behind Lisa Murkowski to support her dubious write-in campaign.

Originally, the plan was to hold a candidate forum among the three candidates on Frida, and then on Saturday the resolution of support for an endorsement would be held. I know that within the Scott McAdams camp, there was excitement over the prospect of being able to face off with Lisa Murkowski in front of rural delegates. Scott’s strong support of Tribes, his bona fides among rural school boards, and his own embrace of Southeast Native culture. as well as his wife and children’s tribal membership gave him an excellent entre to challenge Lisa Murkowski and her sketchy record as a member of the obstructionist, anti-Obama Republican leadership.

Well, AFN leadership includes some of the smartest political players in Alaska. They had good reason to fear a McAdams-Murkowski debate. Note that in the world of AFN, Joe Miller is not even a factor other than as a convenient object of fear that helps to obscure the dismal performance of their choice, Lisa Murkowski. It is clear to all that the real battle November 2nd is between Scott McAdams and Lisa Murkowski. Joe Miller (according to current polling data) is dropping like a rock.

Magically, the ‘well-oiled’ machine announced the elimination of the U.S. Senate candidate forum that was supposed to occur on Friday. This was announced before the opening ceremonies of the convention. Why? Joe Miller would not commit (is that a surprise?) and Lisa would not be ‘available’ due to a scheduling conflict. As the Church Lady on SNL would say: “Isn’t THAT con-ven-ient?” This generated predictable grumbling amongst a few delegates, but (the well-oiled machine correctly predicted) no action. Then this morning, the agenda noted one other change. Right after Lisa’s “report” (a la Don Young, 2006) to the delegates, the resolution considering the endorsement of Lisa Murkowski would be taken up. And was there any doubt of the outcome when, just before the “Report” by Lisa, Byron Mallot (co-chair of Murkowski’s campaign) who is a Fellow with the First Alaska Institute run by Janie Leask (Lisa Supporter) delivered a commentary to the convention? The commentary was a stem-winding exegesis that framed the introduction of the object of all this orchestration by the AFN Board and Staff.

The convention that could not find room in its schedule for a forum was treated to an hour of Lisa Murkowski’s rebuttal to the McAdams’ campaign challenges of her record on rural Alaska, her apologia for failures and her sycophantic identification with humbleness and struggle – this child of a banker.
And in the end, it all came off as expected. None of the fireworks or challenges were launched against this first exercise of control by the corporate agents of AFN; Lisa was affirmed without objection.
So what does this all mean?

I draw your attention to the back of the convention center. About 20 minutes into Lisa’s oration, the audience (save the True Believers) began to drift away from their seats to go forage for a snack or a soda. Many of those began to congregate around a large man wearing a Southeast Alaska Clan shirt decorated with buttons and a Killer Whale decoration. He moved slowly and confidently through the crowd. Couples asked to have their picture taken with him. He moved from one group to the next. While Lisa wound her way through a somewhat tortured speech—at one point losing her way in the text to spontaneous applause from the accommodating audience—Scott McAdams, whose Tribal name means “Boat-Sized Killer Whale” seems comfortable with everything that his staff seemed a bit uncomfortable with. He trolled the crowed gathering good wishes like his namesake might gather krill. After the passage of the endorsement, I went over to McAdams and asked him what he thought about the endorsement, which I called a ‘coronation’. He smiled an said (I paraphrase) “…coronations are conferred; votes are earned. I’m not going anywhere”. At which point he turned to the friendly crowd waiting to meet him.

Tomorrow: VILLAGE SURVIVAL!

Elstun Lauesen is a lifelong Alaskan who has worked for 30 years as a rural develpment specialist, including in Western Alaska.  He will be reporting for The Mudflats from the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention in Fairbanks.

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Photographs by Ronn Murray of Ronn Murray Photography in Fairbanks.

By Linda Kellen Biegel

Sarah Palin’s accusations regarding the “Liberal, Lamestream Media” being “out to get her” are no secret, especially after publication of her first work of fiction, “Going Rogue.” However, there is a less-published (by credible sources) accusation that goes like this: There is a so-called “Alaska Mafia” of Democrats who take orders directly from their leader in DC, President Barack Obama. They joined forces with various high-ranking Alaska Democratic politicians to drive her out of the Governor’s office. Even now they are (allegedly) still after her, plotting and scheming.

Sounds insane, right? People have sent us emails here at Mudflats when the craziness has cropped up across the web. We’ve looked…we’ve laughed…we’ve even published one of the videos on our respective blogs.

However, as ex-Alaskan Pete Rouse assumes the job of White House Chief of Staff, it seems that Palin’s Alaska wackiness has been elevated to the level of a White House press briefing:

The Anchorage Daily News Politics Blog answered the voter registration question already. It’s this part that gets me:

TAPPER: OK. And Governor Palin, former Governor Palin has insinuated that Rouse — she suspected Rouse was part of a plot against her. She wrote about this in her book. She’s tweeted about it — tweeted suggestions about this recently. I was just wondering if you guys have any comment on that.

GIBBS: No. I mean, you know, it — it’s a fairly silly accusation that is baseless.

TAPPER: So he has — he had nothing to do with any of the attacks against…

GIBBS: No.

TAPPER: OK. Thank you.

So, Palin’s pack-of-lies from that pile-of-parrot-droppings called “her book” were being treated as credible by at least one reporter? Once again, reality loses out to Palin spin because we luuuuuve a good conspiracy theory!

“Reality” is represented by the photo above of the “Impeach Palin” signs found all over downtown in 2009. I was amazed the first time I saw one, knowing how frightened many people were (and still are) to cross the Palins. I researched into it and discovered that these signs weren’t part of any Democratic conspiracy…no “Alaska Mafia” provided funds. These signs were bought and paid for by a hardcore conservative Obama-disliking Republican who realized that Palin was NOT out for the good of Alaska but for the good of her own fame and fortune. When I spoke to him over a year ago, he informed me that his like-minded friends and former Palin supporters had been dropping like flies from her “fan club” after seeing the way she had been ignoring her duties and treating her state. That was when Palin was spending a great amount of time out of state at self-aggrandizing events. That was the time the Legislature rejected a key Palin appointment, when it was clear she had lost the majority of the Legislature, key Republicans who were former supporters as well as Democrats. (Who later overrode her veto of the stimulus money.) That was also when Palin’s numbers in the Hays poll went from a whopping 80+% favorable in 2008 to a 53% in May 2009 and bottoming out at 46.8% favorable and 47% unfavorable in July 2009 – right about “quitting time.”

Our sign-buyer couldn’t take it anymore and spent his hard-earned money to make a point.

Here’s the reaction on July 23rd, after she announced she was quitting:

No “Alaska Mafia” did that to Sarah Palin, she did it to herself.

But facts are so limiting and they often are too boring to make good stories.  So, in comes the Palin spin, which actually found an audience beyond her devotees during her book tour. That evil “Lamestream Media” in the form of a Time Magazine Cover Story about her quitting and then again in their blog Swampland back in July of 2009, repeated Palin’s accusations from the book. They even got a response from Press Secretary Gibbs:

Palin and her Alaska circle find evidence for their suspicions about the White House in the person of Pete Rouse, who lived in Juneau for a time before he became chief of staff to a young U.S. Senator named Barack Obama. Rouse, they note, is a friend of former Alaska state senator Kim Elton, who pushed the first ethics investigation of Palin, examining her controversial firing of the state’s public-safety commissioner. Both Rouse and Elton have joined the Obama Administration. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs scoffed at the theory. “The charge is ridiculous,” he said. “Obviously there is no effort … From my vantage point, a lot of the criticism she is getting from others seems to be generated from self-inflicted wounds.

However, the blog went beyond that by printing an interview with then-spokesperson Meg Stapleton:

Meg went a step further at one point telling me, “I just hope to God Rahm Emanuel isn’t using taxpayer money to come after Alaska.” That’s the way they think about it: that these Alaskans filing ethics complaints have been hoodwinked by Obama operatives into wasting the Alaskan government’s time and resources.

Are you kidding me?

This whole thing is so simple to research it’s ridiculous. I find it amazing how Time Magazine, that pillar of journalistic ethics, didn’t actually talk to someone about such a serious accusation as using federal money to “come after Alaska.” They also didn’t deem it important enough to contact one of the people being smeared by these lies like, say, someone who actually filed a complaint!

Palin and her blogger minions keep repeating these fantasies to the press. They have even helped to expand on these falsehoods through unintentionally amusing videos. Of that alleged “Alaska Mafia,” it seems that Jeanne Devon, Shannyn Moore and…well…yours truly are three of their favorite targets. (Ohmygosh…there’s three of us…and we’re women…that must mean…):

MACBETH!

This video is more humorous than anything but highlights some of the recurring lies – not only do they claim we were “organized” by the Obama Camp but that we were also paid.

Oh, if that were only true…I’ve never received a dime from any famous billionaires, Alaska politicians…public figures of any kind. However, I am perfectly willing to negotiate!

Of course, it seems that many of the now-Palin blogs, shall we say, “came to being” at the same time McCain supporters were providing the means. It’s an effective Rovian technique to accuse the other guy of doing something that you’ve already done.

The latest video isn’t humorous, so it’s only irritating. It makes tons of inaccurate assumptions and inferences based on how many of us know each other and IT USES MY PHOTOS!

This video was made for and by folks who know nothing about Alaska.

1) Probably the biggest lie perpetrated by these people is the one about Senator Kim Elton. According to the Palinista lore, he started “Troopergate” at the behest of the Obama Camp, and organized all of us against Palin. For that, he was supposedly given a spot in the Obama Administration.

There are several pretty large roadblocks to that EVER being true:

– The Calendar: The Alaska Legislative Council decided to investigate the Monegan firing on July 28, 2008, a full month before anyone had any inkling of a possible McCain tap – a month before Sarah Palin’s VP candidacy is revealed.

– AK Legislative Rules: Senator Kim Elton did not launch nor lead the “Troopergate” investigation. It was launched by the entire Legislative Council, which is bipartisan and, at the time, was made up of a majority of Republicans. It was led by a hired out-of-state special investigator, attorney Stephen Branchflower. The closest Senator to the investigation was Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Hollis French.

2) Alaska has a grand total of about 600,000 people. Anchorage itself has about 300,000 folks and is the primary hub for many things, including air travel. I’ve always joked that if you want to meet Alaskan celebrities and politicians, just hang out at the Safeway/Carrs grocery store at Minnesota Drive. It’s the closest one to the airport and the closest one to the old-monied neighborhood of Turnagain (Hickel mansion, Sheffield mansion, etc…) I met the late musher and Alaskan hero Norman Vaughan there and have seen numerous politicians.

It’s just a fact…Alaskans tend to personally know their politicians. If they don’t, it’s not due to a lack of opportunity.

3) If you are a politically active Democrat in Anchorage, you have regular opportunities to meet ALL of your statewide politicians because this is also the fundraising hub for everyone, Democrat or Republican. Most of the pictures used in this video were from the Annual Statewide Dinner and fundraiser for the Democratic Party. Another series of photos was from a fundraiser for one of the 2009 Anchorage mayoral candidates held at Senator Begich’s house. Many of the Anchorage Democratic politicians have fundraisers for others in their homes…especially for the folks out in Rural Alaska.

Ooooh…how conspiratorial…

4) Regarding the “ethics complaints,” I am also the only Alaska blogger (that I know of) who filed an ethic’s complaint (Arctic Cat). Only two other registered Democrats (that I know of) filed ethics complaints – one each. The rest were all filed by Independents and Republicans. The Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act, one of the most poorly written documents on the planet, is pretty vague in the “how to” department when it comes to writing a complaint. Therefore, the only way to really figure it out is contact someone who has previously filed one. I contacted Andree McLeod (Republican) when I decided I wanted to file a complaint to see if she had some sort of template I could use. Several other folks contacted me for the same reason. While there is some level of comradarie through our shared experience (think of circling the wagons), none of the filers I know are in the same social circles…especially during election season! (Remember, most filers were Republicans and unaffiliated.)

The most intriguing part about all of this Palin-Rouse paranoia is that those of us fully acquainted with Sarah Palin’s antics know that she doesn’t go seriously on the attack about something unless there is potential damage to her brand…and for Sarah, “on the attack” means incoherent ramblings on Twitter!

Alaska’s Pete Rouse (@ least he claims to be “Alaska”)finally comes out of the shadows; Obama looks to appt him COS;strange doings in the WH
11:44 AM Sep 22nd via Twitter for BlackBerry®

(Rahm’s the smart one…bailing before Nov) Now, check out possible COS Pete Rouse. His background, voter reg in AK,etc. It’s a small world
11:47 AM Sep 22nd via Twitter for BlackBerry®

Alaska media slept on the job for how many years re: Obama senior advisor Pete Rouse’s claim to be AK resident and “local” voter? For shame.
1,285,653,886,000.00 via Twitter for BlackBerry®

Wow! Three whole tweets on the subject – this is serious! I wonder what Pete Rouse has (or what she thinks he has) on her?

Hmmmmm…