I’ve had some busy weeks lately and haven’t been able to get out and take many pictures lately, so I decided to raid the archives. Here’s a shot of Buf the dog’s cousin from last summer. He’s about the size of a half a loaf of bread.
Don’t forget to stock up on munchies for the State of the Union tonight!
On occasion I have been known to write a letter to one of my congressional representatives. When I do, I try to make sure it’s thoughtful and makes my point. I never name call. I never insult. Most people realize that doing that just turns people off. It says “I don’t care if you listen to me, I’m just going to yell at you because I want to.” And I really do care, and I want to be heard so I do my best to make my point clearly without being insulting.
Every time I write Senator Lisa Murkowski, I get an email or a letter back from her office telling me she will “take my opinion into consideration.” Now, I know that this basically means she’s already made up her mind, and she’s not going to do what I want, but at least she takes the time to respond, and to do it politely. I feel reasonably sure that someone in her office has made a tick mark on a piece of paper and registered one opinion in my column. The senator doesn’t call me names, or act in a disrespectful way. I respect that. And when you have two people who respect each other, you end up with the aptly named condition called “mutual respect.” In a contentious world, it goes a long way.
I’ve met Lisa Murkowski in person. She’s very polite in person. I found her to be intelligent and likeable. I didn’t argue with her or call her names because I can disagree with someone without name-calling and rudeness.
Apparently Senator Murkowski saves her rudeness for her press releases, in which she has decided to jump on the Republican talking points bandwagon and refer to the Democratic Party as the “Democrat” party. Republicans know that Democrats hate it when their party is called the “Democrat Party.” They know it full well, which is why they do it. And that says a lot.
Here’s a little background.
“Democrat Party” is a political epithet used in the United States instead of the name (or more precisely, the proper noun) Democratic Party. The term has been used by some conservative commentators and some members of the Republican Party in speeches and press releases.
The word “Democrat” is not at all controversial, except when it is used as an adjective (as in “Democrat Party” or “Democrat Senator” or “Democrat idea”). In that case some Democratic Party leaders and non-partisan commentators have objected to the use as adjective. New Yorker commentator Hendrik Hertzberg wrote:
There’s no great mystery about the motives behind this deliberate misnaming. “Democrat Party” is a slur, or intended to be – a handy way to express contempt. Aesthetic judgments are subjective, of course, but “Democrat Party” is jarring verging on ugly. It fairly screams “rat.”
In 1984, when a delegate of the Republican platform committee asked unanimous consent to change a platform amendment to read the Democrat Party instead of Democratic Party, Representative Jack Kemp objected, saying that would be “an insult to our Democratic friends.” The committee dropped the proposal. In August 2008, the Republican platform committee voted down a proposal to use the phrase “Democrat Party” in the 2008 platform, deciding to use the proper “Democratic Party”. “We probably should use what the actual name is,” said Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, the panel’s chairman. “At least in writing.”
Yes, by all means… only use the intentional insult when you’re speaking, not when you’re writing it down. How kind. But even that little bit of good manners is too much to ask from Senator Murkowski. Or should I just call her Murky, or Kow, or a Rethuglican, or a Repuke, or a Repug? I mean, since we’re using epithets and slurs, and since we’re looking for “handy way(s) to express contempt.”
Maybe some day Senator Murkowski will take her etiquette tips from Wikipedia, but until she advances to that level, here’s her latest press release:
Murkowski Blasts Democrat Proposal to Raise Debt Ceiling by $1.9 Trillion
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Senate this week may vote on a Democrat proposal to raise the federal debt ceiling by $1.9 trillion. Sen. Murkowski announced today that she will oppose the measure.
“Our nation’s credit card is beyond its limit. The budget deficit for the last fiscal year reached $1.4 trillion – roughly three times the previous single year record. Now, rather than move forward with fiscally responsible policies, the Democrat leadership has chosen to bring to the floor legislation that would raise the nation’s debt ceiling by $1.9 trillion to an astonishing $14.3 trillion. This would mark the fifth increase to the debt limit in the last 18 months and the third increase in less than one year.
“The current course is clearly unsustainable. If we do not address the fiscal crisis, we will be passing on to our children a weaker country than we inherited.”
Getting past the insult to one in five of her constituents, let’s look at the message itself – fiscal conservatism. A principled position, right? Here’s something to which the Senator can speak from the heart. It’s not just some kind of partisan political posturing. She has urged this kind of fiscal restraint from the previous administration too, because it isn’t just about throwing rocks at the other side, it really is about the issue. Right?
Think again.
Since taking office in 2002, Senator Murkowski has voted five times to increase the debt ceiling. She has voted for nearly $4 trillion in increases, raising the debt limit from $5.95 trillion when she first took office to $9.815 trillion in 2007.
June 11, 2002 – Murkowski Voted Yea to Increase the Debt Limit by $450 Billion, from $5.95 Trillion to $6.4 Trillion
Congress passed S. 2578 and the President signed the bill into law on June 28, 2004 (P.L. 107-19, 116 Stat. 734).
May 23, 2003 – Murkowski Voted to Increase the Debt Limit by nearly $1 Trillion, from $6.4 Trillion to $7.384 Trillion
Congress passed H.J.Res. 51, a joint resolution to raise the statutory limit, and the President signed the bill into law on May 27, 2003 (P.L. 108-24, 117 Stat, 710).
November 17, 2004 – Murkowski Voted Yea to Raise the Debt Ceiling by $800 billion, from $7.384 trillion to $8.184 trillion.
After the 2004 elections, Senator Frist introduced S. 2986. The Senate approved the increase and the bill was signed by the President.
March 16, 2006 – Murkowski Voted Yea to Increase the Debt Limit by $800 billion to $8.965 trillion.
The Senate passed H.J.Res. 47 and the President signed the bill.
September 17, 2007 – Murkowski Voted Yea to Increase the Debt Limit by $850 billion to $9.815 trillion.
H.J.Res. 43 was passed by the Senate and signed by the President.
Click for the $ figures for each piece of legislation (pages 9-14)
A twofer! Rudeness and hypocrisy in one little press release.
I know lots of Democrats who have voted for Lisa Murkowski in the past. The last time she got elected, she had pretty broad bipartisan support. Democrats considered her to be one of the more measured, moderate, centrist Republicans – kind of like Republicans used to be in the old days. My Democratic friends didn’t always agree with her, but they respected her. Not any more. But she obviously doesn’t care anyway.
>>>>>>>SSSKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!<<<<<<<<<<<<<
That’s the noise of my fingernails dragging across the ground. I’m trying to resist, and I don’t know if any of you noticed or not, but I have myself a little much needed hiatus from Sarah Palin. The Alaska Legislature is in session, and matters of tremendous urgency have been going on on a federal level, and major environmental issues are bubbling up to the surface, and frankly, I just haven’t been that into her.
Yes, I heard all about the custody thing, and the McCain thing, and the Facebook thing, and at some point it just all turned into background noise. The kind of background noise that sounds like a big cloud of Alaskan mosquitoes.
But, just as one cannot ignore a giant black cloud of Alaskan mosquitoes forever, so one cannot ignore the ex-almost-one-term-governor. She simply won’t allow it. And my fingernails are giving out. But, to ease me back into “solid food” after my Sarah-fast, is Linda Kellen Biegel. She’s here to talk about what’s going on with those infamous emails. And the email issue at this point is really much more about transparency in government, and what the rules of the road are going to be for future administrations, than it is about Palin. But the two are inextricably linked.
I like to think that if you’re going to try to find a rosy side of the Palin administration (or should we call that the Palin administr—) you can look at it like this. Have you ever had an energy audit done on your house? They’ve got this thing that you attach to an open door that helps you find leaks. It’s a big piece of plastic that fits over the doorway to the outside, and you open the door and turn on these giant sucking fans that blow from the inside to the outside. They go to work, and you can walk around and feel cold air rushing in all the places that need extra insulation or weather stripping. It’s really quite incredible. You think you’re living in a nice energy efficient box, and then the sucking starts and you can feel ice cold air streaming in through light switches, and wall outlets and around windows.
That was Sarah Palin. She was the giant sucking thing that showed us all the places we need to patch up government – all the places that need work. The idea is that we then actually FIX the holes. But that’s my perfect little world of accountability. In reality things don’t always work out like that. In reality, we say, “Wow! Come over here and feel this little stream of air coming through the edge of the window! Let’s throw a hammer through it!”
And with that, I give you Linda Kellen Biegel:
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Transparency in Public Records – The Legislature is Our Only Hope
The very same week we had a ruling that set back ethics 200 years coming out of the U.S. Supreme Court, the Alaska Superior Court delivered a set-back to government transparency:
“JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – An Alaska judge has sided with former Gov. Sarah Palin in a lawsuit over e-mail messages, finding that state law does not forbid the use of private e-mail accounts to conduct state business…
…The issue arose from a 2008 records request by Ms. McLeod that showed that Ms. Palin and members of her staff had been using private e-mail accounts. The traffic uncovered, though, was heavily redacted for what were deemed reasons of privacy. Ms. McLeod argued through her lawyer that use of private accounts obstructed the people’s right to inspect public records.”
(For those of you who have never seen a “redacted” public record, this is what one looks like:)
And Superior Court Judge McKay (yes, it’s the same one with 2 DUIs) was quite clear into whose lap he was dropping this:
[State Asst. Attny Gen.] Mr. Mitchell said last month that if the use of private accounts were to be banned for state business, the Legislature, not a court, should say so.
On Friday, Judge McKay agreed.“The language in our case is clear – the Legislature simply chose to give state agencies some discretion in determining which e-mails are worthy of preservation and which are not,” he wrote. A records retention plan through the state archives also makes distinctions, he noted, and classifies messages not required to be retained as “transitory” messages, meant mainly for informal communications.
This is a blow to government transparency in Alaska…a State that may be one of the most corrupt/most secretive in the U.S.
So from this, we can determine three things:
1) The judge not only allowed state employees to hide records from the public by using private accounts, he also may have expanded the definition of “non-record” emails sent on state accounts. As it stands now, the policy the State adopts regarding archived emails seems to interpret much more narrowly Alaska Statutes guidance on what are considered records. Per the State policy:
What is Non-record e-mail?
Non-record e-mail does not meet the definition of Record in AS 40.21.150(6) or AS 40.25.220(3). Non-record e-mail includes personal messages, spam, extra copies of documents distributed or received for reference, listserv or bulletin board posts, and announcements unrelated to official business, like retirement parties or holiday celebrations. Personal messages constitute non-records as they are not accounts or writings “developed or received by a public agency,” and are not “preserved for their informational value or as evidence of the organization or operation of the public agency” under AS 40.25.110
I suspect the ruling will give folks more confidence in disposing of records that they may have previously questioned.
(I also find it interesting that this clearly positive ruling towards Sarah Palin occurred days after an Alaska judge warranted a security detail because of threats stemming from the Palin v. Levi custody case. Just sayin’…)
2) The judge was clear that he believes Alaska Statutes allow State employees to police themselves, and;
3) The Judge made it clear that the Alaska Legislature is the only vehicle by which this practice can be changed permanently (Gov. Parnell has forbidden his employees from using private accounts to conduct State business…that will only last as long as he’s Governor)
In the legislature, Rep. Mike Doogan’s HB 195 addresses the issue of private v public emails directly:
* Section 1. AS 39.52 is amended by adding a new section to read:
04 Sec. 39.52.135. State electronic mail delivery systems required for official
05 action by electronic mail. (a) When taking or withholding official action, a public
06 officer may not send or cause another to send information by electronic transmission
07 within a system for electronic mail delivery unless the system is operated and
08 maintained by the state.
It is currently sitting in the State Affairs Committee.
However, there is still one more lawsuit out there…the ruling I’m breathlessly waiting for:
In essence, McLeod is arguing that if Todd Palin was copied on the state e-mails, the governor’s office can’t keep them from the public for reasons such as “executive privilege” and “deliberative process.”
Does being the husband of Gov. Sarah Palin give Todd Palin special access to internal communications off limits to the general public?
Andree McLeod, a former state worker turned activist, has gone to court arguing it does not. She is seeking an untold number of state e-mails that were copied to Todd Palin but withheld from a public records request she made in June.“This latest refusal by the governor’s office to hold back official state e-mails has left me no other choice,” McLeod said. “And this is real important: The state can’t cloak these communications in secrecy when the governor and her staff have broken the chain of custody by sharing them with a mere private citizen, who is not … a state employee. Therefore, that entitles all citizens the right to examine these documents in the light of day.”
As Attny Don Mitchell (McLeod’s attorney for the email lawsuits) reported in an article on Mudflats in November “The legislation is ongoing.”
I have a very good reason that I’m particularly interested in this second, yet-to-be-determined lawsuit. It’s one many of you will be interested in as well…the majority of the emails that “respond” to my email inquiry were redacted for “privilege.”
I admit that I expected a number of them to be redacted, but I NEVER expected this many…there are over 70!
They go from emails allegedly handling a “cleavage complaint”…something that was NEVER an official complaint but just an email to Annette Kreitzer used to try and discredit Andree McLeod…there should be no privilege attached (more news on this one later):
We have emails claiming privilege when they are discussing a “web column”–basically, the media and their coverage:
And then…my favorite…ones that claim “attorney-client privilege” when they are either missing an attorney, a client or both (between Linda Perez and Cheif of Staff Mike Nizich)! Also, some have people on the CC who are neither:
The reason this ruling is so important (and I believed we’d have it by now) is Alaska Law in the area of privilege is a little bi-polar.
–Fuller v. City of Homer which states in the court decision:
We have repeatedly held that the [Alaska Public Records] act creates a presumption in favor of disclosure and that the act’s implicit legislative policy of broad public access requires courts to narrowly construe exceptions to disclosure.10
–However, Gwich’in Steering Committee v. Office of the Governor states in its ruling that the “deliberative process” in the Governor’s Office should be protected, even when the decision was already made:
The privilege may protect any governmental decisionmaking function, including the governor’s policymaking and lobbying of either state or federal government.
Generally, it is difficult for a requestor to override a presumptive privilege. [Fn. 56]
For this reason, it’s unlikely that any attorney will take another case dealing with privilege until they see the outcome of the one Don Mitchell and Andree McLeod is pursuing now. This is true even though most people can look at this partial list of redacted emails and see the farce in claiming “privilege.”
One prediction I will make: I believe the unfortunate outcome of the first ruling may be that it effects the second–that the court defers to the Alaska Legislature.
Between the latest skullduggery in the Supreme Court, and the unfortunate death of Air America, it’s going to be more important than ever for progressives to keep themselves plugged in to independent media voices, and the day to day workings of the political process.
It was a sad death, but before Air America left us it acted as a springboard for many incredibly talented and dedicated people who are now no longer affiliated with Air America, but who have gone on to launch fabulously successful careers elsewhere in radio and television.
For those of you who can’t just turn on the radio and enjoy progressive talk, here are some great links to bookmark so you have them at your fingertips. Whether you’re listening live, or listening to a podcast, these are valuable resources:
Thom Hartmann- The best of the best. If you have time to only listen to one, this is it.
Ron Reagan - (link to Ron Reagan Show Twitter for updates)
In Alaska
KUDO 1080am – Alaska’s Progressive Voice
Gavel to Gavel - Coverage of the 26th Alaska Legislature, the Administration and The Supreme Court, including live audo and video, and podcasts. And now you can follow Gavel to Gavel on Facebook!
This year’s Gavel to Gavel internet experience is enhanced with new search features, and better Mac compatibility. And as always, it will broadcat on GCI cable. Downloading files will no longer be discouraged by the assertion of copyright. Sessions can be downloaded as mp3 files or podcasts and may be posted to other websites. In the past, only links were available.
So tune in and stay connected. You will be needed.
Well, it’s hard to break the live blogging bug. Now that Shannyn is on five days a week, I won’t be hosting live blogging every day, but can’t resist doing it occasionally.
Today, Shannyn’s guest will be Dr. Gershon Cohen. For some required reading, explaining his story and how once again the corporate influence rears its ugly head in Alaska governance, click HERE.
You can live stream The Shannyn Moore show HERE, or tune in to KUDO 1080am on your Anchorage radio dial!
Call in to the show at (907) 569-1080
Also, I’m happy to announce that I’ve been invited to pop in on Shannyn in the studio on Thursdays for “Thursdays in the Mud.” (If anyone has a better name than that, let me know!)
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Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are breaking up? Wow. Who could have ever predicted that one.
Sean Parnell is SP 2.0, the new version of the same old crap. Go back and check out that link above and read the article about Dr. Gershon Cohen.
Assembly member Bill Starr is at it again. We’ll hear more about that too.
And of course, more discussion about the horrendous supreme court decision last week. Ugh. Democracy… it was nice while it lasted.
Callers are still surprised to hear Shannyn back on the air. Are you in Alaska listening locally? Tell ten friends! This is how we start getting our voice back on local radio.
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Talking now about Dr. Gershon Cohen. He’s been working on wastewater disposal issues. He is one of Alaska’s finest scientific minds, and he was offered one of 11 positions on an advisory board to make recommendations to the DEC about “mixing zones” and associated economic issues.
He was one of the people involved in writing the cruise ship ballot initiative a few years ago. Alaskans statewide voted in 2006 for cruise ship to meet all the regulations about pollution of water that everyone else does. They were previously allowed all kinds of exemptions that the towns in the area were not. The industry was violating all kinds of things relating to water quality, so we instituted a $50 per head tax to help deal with a lot of the issues caused by cruise ships. They were also required to pay income tax. This industry was making a fortune, and registering in foreign ports to avoid taxes.
Also, the cruise ships would give passengers lists of their “favorite” places to shop. It cost a lot of money to be on the list, and local retailers were shut out.
Gershon Cohen is on.
He’s been relieved of his duties on the board. Not sure who was responsible for his removal but it’s clear that the cruise industry weighed in and pressured to have him removed.
This is really chilling – that the cruise ship industry can dictate that someone so incredibly qualified and endorsed by the state and the DEC be ousted. The DEC commissioner who caved to this pressure is about to become the third in line for the governorship. AND he also holds the power over the permitting process for The Pebble Mine, the most dangerous and contentious mining issue in the state that will end up endangering Bristol Bay fisheries.
Corporations have veto power over our society. Dr. Gershon is citing Citizens United v. FEC. He said he’s seen things like this over and over, but this situation is one of the most brazen he’s seen in more than 20 years.
All his committee would have done is make recommendations, but yet the industry is alarmed just by his presence? They just have a knee-jerk reaction and don’t want him involved. So, they can throw their weight around and remove him… just because. The only other reason to get him off the committee is because they know there are plans in the works to change the makeup of the committee.
So here’s the sequence: Thrilled to have him on the committee >>> cruise ship industry puts pressure >>>> You can’t be on the committee because you’re an “advocate.”
ANYbody from an NGO is going to be an advocate. Fisheries people advocate for fisheries. Cruise ship people advocate for the industry. So, what is the deal with the heavy handed response?
What about Pebble Mine? There has always been a strong push from industry for weak wastewater regulations. Under Murkowski there was pressure to allow mixing zones in fish bearing waters which has always been illegal.
Last year DEC took over permitting of discharge permits. Until then it was run by the EPA in Seattle out of a regional office. After a number of years of requesting, the DEC took over from the feds. There’s a lot of skepticism that they can even handle or understand this. There could really be a problem, because consultants who will apply to write these permits are affiliated with industry. There is a lot of overlap there that does not protect the public interest.
If DEC is now writing these permits, they need to be hearing from all sides.
Right wingers are blaming the $50 a head cruise ship tax for the downturn in the cruise industry. Umm… have they noticed the economy lately? Studies and surveys show that this tax has not hurt the industry at all. When it was first implemented, everything went up, then the economy tanked.
Go to movetoamend.org and sign the petition for a constitutional amendment separating corporations and state!
Are you ready for your daily dose of Vitamin Democracy? It’s what you can actually DO to make a difference.
DEC Commissioner Larry Hartig is going up for confirmation to become the third in line to the governorship. Do you trust his judgment? 907-465-4648 will tell you who your legislators are. Let them know what you think.
State Senator Bill Wielechowski is on the air! He is also concerned because corporations now have unlimited financing power thanks to the supreme court. And now we have corporations exercising their muscle to come in and dictate to an administration that they want someone off a commission or off a board because they’ve spoken out for clean water. The position of the DEC Commissioner is very important and makes huge decisions about water and air quality in our state. Pebble Mine is a good example. If you have a commissioner who is bending to lobbyists and special interests its really concerning.
He talked to Larry Hartig on Friday. Hartig said he didn’t boot him off because he was not qualified. He’s probably the most qualified person in the world. So that raises red flags.
He booted him off because he was an “advocate.” Makes no sense because he’s the one that put him on the board three weeks before!
Hartig admitted that he had gotten phone calls from the cruise ship industry complaining about his appointment. Wow.
Senator Wielechowski said that phone calls and contacts are hugely important. Unless you hear from constituents, they assume everyone’s happy with the way the situation is going.
Industry will want Ralph Samuels (R) in office. Why would this administration be doing favors for the cruise ship industry? Hmm. Might it have something to do with the fact that now the cruise ship industry can spend whatever it wants in political advertising?
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Corporations are buying science. Sad but true.
Cruise ship industry is buying the DEC (Gershon Cohen) and the oil industry is buying the University (Dr. Rick Steiner).
Dr. Cohen is back stating that Dale Robertson who started the Tea Party organizer is appalled by the supreme court ruling. Nice!
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