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Friday, January 28, 2022

After Three Years, the State Requests Another Extension for the Palin Email Release

~The Alaska Department of Law hard at work on the Palin emails

Remember when our former governor was nominated to be the VP candidate? And we were all like, “What? Really? You’ve got to be kidding me!”  I know. It seems like a lifetime ago. Back then, in days of yore, people in the Lower 48 didn’t even know how to pronounce her name. “Is it Pallin?” they asked. “Who is this woman? We know nothing about her!” And so journalists started doing what journalists are paid to do. They investigated, and they asked (utilizing public records requests) to see the emails of this complete stranger in red pumps and a rhinestone flag pin who was suddenly a potential heartbeat away from running the whole show. A record of her governance was sure a good place to start in trying to figure out if this Palin person was qualified, and what sort of a Vice President, or President she would be.

Time passed. The campaign wore on. Alarm bells rang. The election came. And went. The governor returned home. Chaos ensued. The governor quit! The governor wrote a book. And she started a PAC. She went on a book tour. She got on the lecture circuit. She campaigned for other candidates in the 2010 election. She kept the nation on pins and needles about whether she’d run for president in 2010. Several books were written about her time in office. Certain authors of one of those books (——-> See sidebar) actually read tens of thousands of emails of Sarah Palin’s in less than six months doing research for the book. She went on a bus tour. She went on Fox News. She ate fried butter at the Iowa State Fair. She announced she wasn’t running.

She’s crammed a lot of livin’ into those years.

A child that was born when the records requests were submitted would have just celebrated her third birthday.

The McCain-Palin administration would have had the nuclear codes for more than three years.

That’s longer than she lasted in the governor’s mansion.

If we were getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Palin Emailology, we’d be an upperclassman and well on our way to scoring that not-so-coveted diploma. Even with summers off.

And still all the emails have not been handed over. There are ten more months of Palin emails still to be released! That’s about a third of the time she served.

Randy Ruaro, appointed by ex-half-governor Sarah Palin as her Deputy Chief of Staff says he expects that we’ll have to wait until at least February 20 to get the emails. And why is Randy Ruaro, former Deputy Chief of Staff for Palin making this announcement? Why, it’s because he also happens to be the Deputy Chief of Staff for current Governor Sean Parnell.

Ruaro told the attorney general that without an extension, responding to requests for the emails would “substantially impair” the other functions of the governor’s office, as well as the ability to properly and thoroughly review the messages.

Overlooking the fact that his predecessor “substantially impaired” the functions of the governor’s office, I guess Parnell believes they’re going to pick up the pace now. Because at the old rate of speed, we’re only two-thirds done… You do the math.

And just to put this in a little more perspective, I believe this is the fifteenth extension the state has requested. Maybe the sixteenth… It’s hard to keep track.

Back in October of 2009, two whole years ago, when Parnell had made one of the many previous requests for an extension, we couldn’t believe how long it had taken. A whole year?! Well that was two years ago, but what we said then still applies now.

The State of Alaska does not have the software to do the job.  What they do have can’t remove duplicates, can’t run word searches for “hot” terms, and can’t cluster similar emails.  This entire project is being done MANUALLY.Now, in the State’s defense, it probably didn’t think it would ever have to deal with these types of requests.  How could it possibly have foreseen the nightmare that was the Palin administration, and all the fallout that would ensue?  And to equip the Department of Law with the proper software is expensive.  And we’d all like to think that we’ve learned a few things, and won’t have to go through this again.  They think they won’t get the return on their investment, and we all hope they are right.

But , this raises the real question.  Why hasn’t this work, like much of the State’s legal work, been farmed out to a private firm that has the software, a dedicated server and contract attorneys to do the work?  This kind of work could be charged by the amount of information being processed, rather than by the hour, and would likely be far less expensive than having a team of “Bob Cratchits” with pens and ledgers and candles doing this work manually for over a year.

Make that three!

The contract attorneys would be dedicated to this one job until it was done. They would not be subjected to being pulled off the job to work on other things like state employees are. And the contract attorneys would be subject to the same confidentiality as the attorneys in the Dept of Law.  Everything is still privileged information.  According to attorneys in the know, it’s a pretty typical solution for any sort of legal issue involving huge amounts of electronic documents such as these. With better software, the work could be done relatively quickly.  21,000 emails is nothing when you have good software and experienced people, and would take days or maybe weeks to complete, but not over a year, with no end in sight.

Make that three!

So, why when the State is clearly unable to handle this type of request in a timely manner, and why when cases like this are routinely farmed out to those who can handle them quickly and are subject to confidentiality, is this being done manually by attorneys within the Alaska Department of Law?  Surely, at some time in the last three years and a month, somebody over there must have suggested this.

It’s getting to the point where, even if nothing hinky is going on, and the Sharpie markers are only redacting what they should and nothing more, the “appearance of impropriety” is winning the day. And as they say – appearance is everything.

 

Comments

comments

Comments
94 Responses to “After Three Years, the State Requests Another Extension for the Palin Email Release”
  1. sierraseven says:

    How can I post a picture here? I have a great screen capture from this website:

    http://www.wtva.com/news/local/story/Sarah-Palin-comes-to-Tupelo/mxpue5I9_0CNWVAj4cEslw.cspx

    If it’s still there, please note the weather advisory above Mrs Palin’s head – “DENSE FOG ADVISORY”.

    Ya can’t make this stuff up!

  2. sudsy says:

    I wonder if we need an entire new legal department. Just close this one down…think of the savings…and start another one. Beholden to the people of the state of Alaska not the polly ticians.

  3. Baker's Dozen says:

    Koch Brothers accidentally fund study that proves global warming:

    http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2011/1021/Koch-brothers-accidentally-fund-study-that-proves-global-warming

  4. Baker's Dozen says:

    And as for this thread, Baker’s One, my eldest, had learned to read by age 3. With Palin’s “Seuss-level” vocabulary and penchant for making up words far easier than his, I think she could have handled the emails.
    I suggest that a few smart 3-year-olds would be able to take care of this niggling little task. And they just want to be paid in cookies!

    • Gimme-a-break, Sarah says:

      I am synesthetic…. certain letters and words have always had color for me. The names of seasons and months of the year have color for me.

      I wrote a poem about it once in high school (my teacher found it odd but well rhymed…lol). But I didn’t know there was a name for it till a few years ago.

      • Baker's Dozen says:

        So what color is October? And what will November be?

        Do you see the same colors that others do?

        I think that would be sooooo cool!

        I’ve always thought in terms of color when I hear music, and music when I see interesting colors, but I don’t see them.

  5. Baker's Dozen says:

    A fascinating article about synesthesia. Don’t know what that is? I didn’t, either! Enjoy.

    http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/2011/1021/How-Mary-Blair-brought-synesthesia-to-the-big-screen

    • mike from iowa says:

      Off the record-that is fascinating all though I would disagree with colors and numbers. For the record,since this isn’t really an open thread,I won’t admit that I read and enjoyed the work. Thanks BD.

  6. Tom says:

    Where’s the rest of the cutting floor info since you brought up long waits? Was that it? Two posts?

  7. Zyxomma says:

    Still no Open Thread, so this will go here for now. Tea Party is encouraging small businesses to hire NO ONE to hurt the President:

    http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/tea-party-nation-urges-businesses-stop-hiring-order-hurt-obama

    Their attitude seems to be, “Who cares if we plunge the country further into recession? Got to get the black man out of the White House!”

    Is there no way to make voting mandatory?

    • Gimme-a-break, Sarah says:

      Should be a headline — “Tea Party Reaches New Levels of Stupidity.”

  8. LA Brian says:

    Where is Ivy (from Dresden Files) when you need her?

  9. mike from iowa says:

    Ms AKM-curiosity compels me to ask whether Senator Murkowski bothered to reply to your lovely letter of a week or so ago? Not neccessarily the proper forum,but inquiring minds really want to know.

  10. Bob Benner says:

    I thought all the emails were covered in Blind Allegiance… Wow… Live and learn… But seriously, I started reading the book The Lies of Sarah Palin for the first time about a week ago and after reading the first few chapters I came to realize what a devious little B-word that Sarah Palin really was… I had already heard all the rumors about Todd not really being their first childs Dad, but it wasn’t until I read about Sarah and her high school crush and then the chapter on how Sarah eloped because she was pregnant that I suddenly realized how true the rumors really were… Todd actually got snookered into a marriage where he was the wrong “dude” so to speak… It didn’t make that much sense to me before, although the physical comparisons were hard to dismiss, but since the hanky panky would have occurred while Sarah was single, it suddenly made perfect sense… But I haven’t heard Sarah’s shrill voice since news reports of her saying she wasn’t going to run… I think FOX finally dumped her… They were slow learners…

  11. Marilyn U says:

    Maybe they are trying to hold off until she is raptured! Watching the sky today to see if I can wave her a good-bye on her way up – no luck yet!

    • Zyxomma says:

      Yes, I read that yesterday was supposed to be Rapture Day (again). Another disappointment. These a**holes are supposed to have read the Bible, no? “But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.” (I just found this credited as Mark 13:32, but I was certain it was Matthew, so I guess the Xtians are really, really confused.) “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.” (Matt. 24:36-37) They don’t even know their own holy book. Too busy poking their noses into the bodies of women, I suppose. They should try a little humility, it would do them good. Anyhow, as I read when trying to research this a bit, if you’re reading this post, you’ve been Left Behind. 😉

      • benlomond2 says:

        still….. would have been a GREAT practical joke to place clothing on sidewalks and their yards as if someone had just vanished out of them,,,,,, imagine them seeing such evidence of “The Rapture” and thinking THEY had been left behind with the us Commie Pinko Liberals !!

        • slipstream says:

          Hey! I can’t find my neighbor! Just a pile of clothes, and a very upset dog.

          • mike from iowa says:

            I suggest you lock the dog up and check its bedpan for the next couple days for signs of foul play and/or interior parasites-ie worms or flukes.Might even find e-mails in unexpected places.

        • Zyxomma says:

          This was discussed last time (was it May 21st?), and the plan was: (1) Take an outfit of old clothes (whether from the closet or the local Salvation Army/St. Vincent de Paul/Goodwill. (2) Purchase a can of dry ice. (3) Artfully arrange outfit on the sidewalk. (4) Open dry ice, and place within shirt/blouse/jacket of outfit so it appears to be a puff of Rapture smoke. (5) Either just enjoy the artwork, or videotape responses.

      • juneaudream says:

        HOTDAMN..I’m one of the lucky ones and..I’ve Been Left Behind! Ahhh..life is Good! 🙂

      • laurie says:

        I want that on a bumper sticker!

      • leenie17 says:

        Thank goodness I’ve been left behind with all the fun people! 🙂

      • Lani says:

        I tried to register with this organization, but was told they already have plenty of people. 🙂
        “If The Rapture Happened Right Now, What Would Happen To Your Pets?”
        http://www.aftertherapturepetcare.com/

        “Be a Volunteer Pet Caretaker – Just In Case!

        Here at After The Rapture Pet Care, we are setting up a network of non-believing pet lovers who are willing to register with us, just in case there really is a Rapture. “

  12. Wilma says:

    It makes sense that Alaska needs a few more years to release Palin’s emails,

    Alaska is the last frontier and their schools are just about getting to the section of the history books where they are learning about Paul Revere.

    For you folks in the lower 48, our Alaskan emails are still delivered by Pony Express.

    So please be patient with us.

    • AKPetMom says:

      Dog sled express, NOT Pony Express.

      • benlomond2 says:

        still too fast… I was thinking PlarBear Express, which shuts down in winter as the bears are out on the Artic ice for 6 month winter hieatus…

        • mike from iowa says:

          I don’t think there is much ice and drowned Polar Bears won’t make reliable public servants,unless they are in zoos and are fed the lame.the halt and politicians. Save a redwood tree for me,I may get to California someday before or after I expire.

  13. Todd says:

    I think Alaska should withhold Parnel’s paychecks until he can deliver Palin’s emails.

    I’m sure Parnell will find a way to release Palin’s emails by next
    week.

    • mike from iowa says:

      get SP2.0 a regular paper carriers bag and make him hand deliver copies of all e-mails to whoever wants a copy. He doesn’t actually sound like he is doing any government business,unless that includes obfuscation and bulltacos.

  14. mike from iowa says:

    For being as far from Alaska as I am,it makes perfect sense that the hirelings are less competent than the dodoes that hired them. If not,there would be mass revolting and new bodies in old places constantly. Kinda like marriage,so I have heard. Marry beneath your status. With certain politicians finding dumbed down help could be a real challenge. On the Presidential front,I pointed out to rwnj that it took six months and a couple billion dollars to rid the planet of three despicable humans,by our CIC. It was faster and cheaper to allow our military to do their jobs and not privatize the whole she-bang at an ungodly monetary cost and it would have been less efficient,as well. This also gives the nutters a third strike against Obama,since they are dieing to impeach him. His three serious misdemeanors are-according to nutters-he’s Black,he uses a teleprompter and he is successful as CIC.

  15. zyggy says:

    This email snafu makes Alaska look so backwards. =( Do you have electricity yet? Plumbing? Just kidding. Ok, it makes Parnell look like a dunderhead. Sheesh, get with the times Parnell, or are you trying to hide stuff from the public? Right now the sure is what it’s looking like.

  16. FrostyAK says:

    So, when is Mr Xtian Baily going to release ALL of the emails he has? Until that happens he has not in any way shape or form cleared his name. He is covering himself and every other corrupt creep who worked in the Exec branch of the SOA at that time. Most of them still work there and will be in charge of the redacting. Disgusting is too mild a word for ‘government’ in this state.

  17. Zyxomma says:

    OT, but the Bay Area just had a 4.0 temblor. All our SF & vicinity mudpups OK (yeah, I know, for all you Alaskans, a 4.0 is more like shivering than a real earthquake).

  18. tigerwine says:

    TROOPS IN IRAQ WILL BE HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS! WAH-HOO!
    (So off-topic, but in case you didn’t know…)

    • GoI3ig says:

      What about the 100,000 private contractors? That’s a huge money drain.

      • Zyxomma says:

        From Huffington Post: ” … The White House announced that 4,000 to 5,000 security contractors would remain in the country in various posts.”

        Now it’s time for us to start calling for all contractors to be recalled.

        • tigerwine says:

          Hmmm – I thought I heard one commentator say that they would be coming home, too, since the Iraqi gov’t wouldn’t provide them with immunity. There are a couple hundred staying with the embassy.

          ZYXmomma – agree with you – The security contractors should get their butts out, too!

        • fishingmamma says:

          Let them stay as long as they want. But let the Iraqis pick up the tab.

        • InOhio says:

          The contractors can stay, I just don’t want to pay them any more. I saw we start a ‘defund haliburten/xe’ campaign.

    • carol says:

      I just voted online line on the question “was the Iraq war worth it? listed the financial and lives cost” They didn’t have the answer I would have used – NO, HELL! NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT WORTH IT! Also saw a comment somewhere listing “osama bin laden, that yemeni-american Alquaeda guy, and ghaddafi – if Barack Obama were a republican, they’d be trying to put his likeness on Mt. Rushmore.”

    • Dia says:

      I’ll believe it when I see it.

  19. EatWildFish says:

    Wow, just like the state can’t seem to answer the citizens’ petition to protect salmon streams from the Chuitna coal mine despite statutory deadlines — that response was due in April. Still not a peep despite breaking its own state laws …..

    At the same time, the state (DNR) has found the time to give the go ahead on about 20 requests by PacRim to do more testing and exploring.

    Parnell is SP2 and still protecting the Quitter.

    • hedgewytch says:

      Parnell is not only protecting the Quitter, but he’s protecting himself as well. It was he and Todd who ran the gov when the gov was at Nordstrom’s. Even though Sarah never turned over the running of the State to SP2 during the 2010 election, she wasn’t doing the job anyway.

      If we were ever to truly get an obscured look at the emails – not gonna happen, but I can dream – it would surely show all sorts of unethical and probably illegal activities.

      So, it is in Parnell’s best interest, as well as the rest of the cronies who are still in State administrative positions, to delay and obstruct as much as possible, not only the issue of the emails, but also all these other citizen petitions, etc.

      The Corrupt Bastard’s Club is still very much alive and well in Alaska, they only just changed their operatives.

  20. hockeynana says:

    I completely agree that this whole dog and pony show is making Alaska look bad.

    What recourse do you have? Seems there should be a judge up there who would file an order for them to release those emails by a set date. The idea that those who don’t will be fined for every day over that date seems like a good start anyway. Are all the judges in Parnell/Palin’s back pocket too? Sure looks like it to the rest of the world.

    PS..Mike and juneaudream….LOL…what clever people read Mudflats!

  21. Winski says:

    Hey Mud…. what’s up with this…?? This is NOT an exercise in replacing someone’s left eye or even putting a band-aide on a scratched knee.. It seems that the people whom are tolerated or entrusted to actually DO this job are more incompetent than Palin!? Is this normal practice for your state? Is Alaska running in a contest to see which set of state employees are the dumbest – Alaska or Mississippi?

    Look at a calendar… it’s 2011 NOT 1802.. Give these clowns – by court order – a date certain and if they miss it, they go to jail! NO EXCEPTIONS and NO SHARPIES.

    Alaska looks like the land of bumbling idiots behind the wreckage Mama Monkey has left behind on her own… having the state employees make it worse, shouldn’t be acceptable.

    • Zyxomma says:

      On behalf of all the world’s monkeys (whom I have no business representing, but someone’s got to step up), I resent that Mama Monkey crack. It’s Mama Grisly, Winski, and don’t you ever forget it! After all, how would you feel if someone started calling you Winky?

  22. hedgewytch says:

    So who do we sue? The AG is in Parnell’s back pocket. Ethics committee? -schmecthus committee- they are appointed by the Gov. What about the legislature? What kind of power do they have in this situation – or are they even interested in touching the subject?

    At what point can we as the citizens of Alaska ask for outside legal assistance? Or are we pretty much helpless and screwed. We can piss, bitch and moan, but in the long run, we can’t do a darn thing about it can we?

    I can’t wait until Karma kicks back on Parnell’s butt – he’s got a lot to answer for with his coverup of Palin’s, and probably his own malfeasance.

    • Sourdough Mullet says:

      I agree Hedgewytch, funny as some of the comments are, I find NO humor in the situation; it is absolutely infuriating! I couldn’t believe the administration got away with this before, and now they’ve got the cajones to pull this B.S. yet again? Where do I sign up for the lawsuit? This “deny, delay, and obfuscate” ploy is a total slap in the face to any thinking Alaskan. Is it possible that we could ask the Feds step in to do an investigation of this scam?

    • Millie says:

      Alaskans need to pay attention for whom they vote. Get the corrupt Repubs out of office next election cycle. Sarah Palin has done absolutely nothing to enhance the view of Alaskans by folks in the lower 48…she and Captain Zero have made us look like idiots!

  23. LibertyLover says:

    People… this is Standard Operating Procedure… Delay, delay, delay until it isn’t relevant anymore and no one (supposedly – the general public) doesn’t care anymore. By delaying the inevitable, they hope to make you go away.

    Hats off to those still trying to get these emails released. It still matters.

  24. Ben in SF says:

    There are regulations against torturing 2nd graders. And darn it, they keep moving on to 3rd grade just as we get them trained!

  25. Kat says:

    Bailey needs to “go Rogue” & release his emails – damn the consequences. I’m sure he’s hiding many things he had to do for the Palin’s that wouldn’t pass the smell test. He sure didn’t report honestly about Troopergate in the book. What else is he concealing?

    All I can say about the State’s latest extension request is HORSE PUCKY! Isn’t there a time limit on the release of documentation? Does an extension have to be granted without consequences? Inquiring minds want to know.

    • nswfm says:

      I totally agree that Bailey needs to come clean. AK looks so amateur hour. Or completely crooked. I’m going with crooked. And that jerk McCain is a part of that, too.

    • Dia says:

      .
      Frank Bailey did the best he could with his limitations – it may take him another five or six years to let go of his adoration of SP – with that said, Blind Allegiance went pretty far in its last third; I suspect most reviewers and journalists did not read that far. There is plenty of detail in some of his statements that support further criminal investigation of Sarah Palin, IMHO. I was disappointed that he did not cover Dairygate issues, but that’s just me knowing there is much there that requires attention. Bottom line, anyone trying to read those emails, which are not necessarily in English, would need cases of Excedrin to do the job.

  26. Jim K says:

    You all should know that if Palin wrote those emails that it would take a lot of time, there are
    not many interpreters that know Pallineese.

    • mike from iowa says:

      I’m guessing the criteria for redacting is whether a second grader can understand what was written. That would trigger the blackout for paper,but,who decides to redact the writing on Palin’s personal palm pilot?

    • 24owls says:

      You know … whomever is reading the complete email then determining what to black out would have to be sworn to silence over what they have read. Kind of makes it interesting as to who that person is doesn’t it.

    • silverball says:

      omg…lol….i think you are exactly correct….will take a lot of time to decipher and figure out the “meanings”….LOL…..

  27. 24owls says:

    My thought is that Captain Zero has something to hide or it would show that as palin was sitting at her house eating tacos he was doing … what? At a bar eating peanuts and throwing the shells on the floor? Being second in command in her administration, what will the emails indicate if she was wasting the tax payers money and he was doing what? Better yet – it is well documented that Toad was second in command so again what was he doing? When is his term up? Is he delaying all his so he can limp his way to the end of the term – or at least be in office longer than the half term nit wit?

  28. Dagian says:

    Is there only ONE person in the whole department to handle this request?

    Bwahahaha. I know that’s not the answer. I know it involves the imported Sharpies and the scores of lemmings to redact their content that Wake Up America refers to, above.

  29. Diane says:

    Just in case she does decide her ‘peeps’ need her and run as an independent?

    It’s very troubling that this woman who Might have become her VP, has so much to hide.

    Didn’t she run on transparency and openness in government?
    What a liar.

    • GypsyGirl says:

      Her to “run as an Independent”??? I don’t think the “Independent Party” wants her.
      I’ve yet to hear anyone within the Independent Party claim her as one of their own, nor have I heard from any of them having pledged either support for her or endorsed her either.

      Seriously, who in their right sane mind would want Quitty Pants as their president of this Nation?
      Not me for one!

    • slipstream says:

      Yep, Palin ran on transparency and openness in government.

      “I’ve said all along, hold me accountable,” Palin told reporters in Juneau. “And I’m telling the truth when I say that there was never pressure put on Commissioner Monegan.”

      http://www.adn.com/2008/07/22/471366/legislature-may-appoint-investigator.html#ixzz1bRiGWG7A
      ____________

      I guess “hold me accountable” means “give the attorneys three years to black out the emails.”

      • mike from iowa says:

        Oh Slip.you are soooooooo cynical.

      • Eykis says:

        Slipstream,

        The term “redacted” is what the fancypants lawyers call “black out the emails” – it is a silly term and guess what – IT CAN BE DONE VERY SIMPLY USING Microsoft Word – and of course, Adobe does this as do other software programs.

        • leenie17 says:

          I bet they’ve graduated from Sharpies to sitting at a table with scissors and cutting out the middle of each email, leaving only the thinnest frame of paper around the edges.

          See, here’s your email! Nothing here to see, folks, just move along!

  30. mike from iowa says:

    My guess would be comparing apples to oranges-If former Potus Bill Clinton had to take time from his unimportant duties as PRESIDENT OF THE FREE WORLD(basically slapping Newt Gingrich around like a really ugly stepchild), to give testimony in nuisance lawsuits, then I blush to guess that the rilly important job governing Alaska could be bothered to fulfill legitimate requests for overdue answers posthaste. Unless of course Parnell plans an invasion of Russia. If the Quitter Quack can see Russia from her place,Russia can obviously spy on Quitty while she mows in her shorts,or where ever else she mows.

  31. WakeUpAmerica says:

    Come on now! Be fair! They have a lot to hide, and it takes time. Also, they are probably going through boxes of Sharpies, so waiting for China to deliver them delays the process as well. If you were all rill Amuricans, you would understand these problems!

  32. benlomond2 says:

    At what point in time are these emails NOTsubject to being censored ? Even DOD de-classifies documents for FOIA…. Watergate certainly comes to mind in all of this. Inquiring minds want to know………..

    • Alaska Pi says:

      At this time, we have no schedule for release of policy papers for gone-govs which is a major hole in the law. While the State Supreme Court’s opinion that shielding the deliberation process has value in that those involved may feel free to debate widely and openly to arrive at policy without fear of backlash of various sorts AT THE TIME, the acceptance or rather non-testing of this opinion AFTER a gov is gone is problematic.
      It’s going to take some legal tests to sort out how long and what level of policy making and all kinds of other goodies is/are covered under this notion of protection of the deliberative process.
      No one has pushed this here much at all.
      I think we would have a chance to get em all unredacted if we could show that the presumption of deliberative process fails in the face of whatzername’s profound inability to deliberate 🙂

      Of course, no real thing explains why the Parnell administration can’t seem to get this less-than-a-year ‘s worth of emails sorted, redacted, and delivered to parties requesting what they can request of them…

      • Alaska Pi says:

        This shielding the deliberative process dealie is not an Alaskan phenom. It’s well established across America and is at bottom of a lot of arguments which crop up between the public’s right to know and govt’s ability to operate . Those federal timelines for Info being released are a response trying to balance both- we’re not there yet. How about your state?

        • benlomond2 says:

          even with all the legal challege stuff, the CSU contracts were released within in 6 0r so weeks…while this is not the volume that the Palin emails are; once the legal foolishness was finished off, the documents were produced pretty darn quicklt. Local Rec Board was requested by a “concerned” citizen locally, to produce all their $ records for the previous 8 years.. they were made available in less than 3 months. AND they were done by hand by the rec manager durng her “spare” time….

        • benlomond2 says:

          http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/Request_response_times_by_state
          California has a time limit of 10 days to respond ..also cost is limited to actual cost of running a photocopy..staff time is NOT added to the cost..

  33. sharon says:

    maybe someone should check to see how many other email accounts the current governor uses.

  34. GoI3ig says:

    They will probably be so heavily redacted, that they would be as boring as the last batch. Hopefully, she’ll fade away now.

    • Eykis says:

      As someone who has worked for over 30 years as a paralegal, I personally have done a lot of work in document examination. We are given copies of thousands and thousands of pages of paper, letters, emails, notes, scraps, and must handle each one separately, and enter the data – lawyers do this ALL THE TIME when litigation contains thousands of pages…..it does not take six months for 3 people, much less 3 years to do this type of work. It could easily be farmed out to ANY major defense firm for processing. These firms in turn hire “contractors” for set hourly pay, give them the number of hours expected to complete and the WORK IS DONE in a TIMELY MANNER because the Court system DOES NOT ALLOW continuous weak cries of “need more time” or “it is hard” or “requires software, bodies, whatever”.

      Sounds like Parnell’s office KNOWS there is incriminating evidence and they are dragging this out for as long as they can.

      Meanwhile, a kid in Tennessee was LIED ABOUT by Snowbilly Grifter and Bristle and was sentenced to hard time for hacking into the Snowbilly’s ILLEGAL USE of her email account for State business.

      VERY, VERY SUSPICIOUS for withholding this information.

      • leenie17 says:

        The difference is that the people you’re talking about are processing the documents according to established legal guidelines, which can be done by any number of professionals and in a timely way.

        They, on the other hand, have to depend on only the tiny handful of people they can trust who will remove anything that hints at wrongdoing by SP1 or SP2. And that’s a LOT of evidence to remove!

        They’re no doubt also hoping that, by delaying long enough, people will lose interest, memories will fade and the spotlight will be on someone or something else. And maybe, just maybe, they can slow it down long enough that SP2 will be out of office and not have to face the embarrassment (or legal ramifications) of having his dirty skivvies hung out in public while still in the Governor’s mansion.

        • Zyxomma says:

          In addition to all of the above, I think there’s a remnant of an old guard in Alaska; one with the belief (once true) that their state’s geographical isolation removes Alaskans from the kind of scrutiny more common Outside. I think that, additionally, there’s a tendency among the members of the old guard to believe Alaskans are dependent upon each other to a greater degree than is required where the climate is more temperate and the human population denser. After all, it’s not as common elsewhere in our country for a car accident or hiking mistake to put life so seriously at risk. It’s natural in a sense that (some) Alaskans feel the need to protect one another; however, it’s no excuse for corruption. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.

    • mike from iowa says:

      And,also,too,still yet-Alaska’s judiciary system,from the feds down don’t seem particularly inclined to punish gov’t evildoers to the extent necessary for an average Joe to consider justice has been done to a proper turn. After watching pols get barely slapped on the wrist-esp the CBC gents,it makes me wonder whether rw officials have redefined justice and are keeping the new definition secret. Of course I am not a native Alaskan and I don’t play one on teevee.

    • Irishgirl says:

      Parnell stinks to high heaven in all of this.