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March 28, 2024

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Friday, January 28, 2022

The Real Tragedy of Sarah Palin

This piece is cross-posted at The Huffington Post – HERE. From the moment Sarah Palin’s acceptance speech electrified the Republican convention, she was seen as an unbending, hard-charging, red-meat ideologue—to which soon was added “thin-skinned” and “vindictive.” But a look at what Palin did while in office in Alaska—the only record she has—shows a very different politician: one who worked with Democrats to tame Big Oil and solve the great problem at the heart of the state’s politics. That Sarah Palin might have set the nation on a different course. What went wrong? This is the intriguing premise set forth…

SP 2.0 – Captain Zero Spins Again!

The gavels were banged and lawmakers sent home. The governor, hoping no one does their homework, put out his spin. House leadership would be held back a grade if they were in school instead of Juneau. The governor? Well, he’d be expelled for disruptive behavior, bullying, not playing well with others and throwing the state championships to the opposing team. Sorry, he makes me miss Palin so bad I’m using basketball analogies! Yikes. Here’s Captain Zero’s self grading with a bit of reality: Performance Scholarships Funded The high school graduating class of 2011 is now the first eligible to earn…

Palin Pulls a Palin… again.

~Palin in the headlights at the MSNBC after party So, who is the most influential journalist in America today?  Not an easy question, perhaps. It’s one that requires some knowledge of who the journalists today are. And if you’re on camera, and a politico or media type, it might also require a little diplomatic forethought.  And if you decided that you didn’t want to answer the question for fear of alienating all the journalists you don’t mention, it might require some fast-on-your-feet poise as you gracefully deflect the question with a bit of humor subtly indicating that you don’t want…

Palin Thanks (almost) Everyone for Bin Laden’s Capture.

I listened with the rest of the nation last night as the news leaked about the death of Osama bin Laden at the hands of U.S. forces on the ground in Pakistan. And I listened to the President deliver (as usual) a thoughtful, respectful, address to the nation. And then, I wondered, what would critics of the president say? What would they say about the fact that Barack Obama as Commander-in-Chief did in two years what George W. Bush as Commander-in-Chief couldn’t do in eight? The last words in the President’s speech urged us to remember the unity we felt…

Oyster Roundup!

~Thick and fast they came at last, and more, and more and more! A Mudflatter recently asked me what an “Oyster Roundup” was, and I thought it might be time to give a refresher. In the epic poem “The Walrus and the Carpenter” from Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass, the two main characters walk along the beach and entice young naive oysters from their beds to “take a walk”. (Pay no attention to the buttered bread and pepper, oysters!) As Carroll describes the exodus of the oysters from the sea, he says “Thick and fast they came at last, and…

Aaaaaaaaaaa!

Zounds! That’s not who you think it is. The movie based on the political best-seller Game Change is coming to HBO, and actress Julianne Moore will have the .. um.. honor of playing our favorite ex-half-governor.  Yes, we only have one ex-half-governor which is why she is, by default, our favorite. The Hollywood Reporter noted that Moore has “nailed” the Palin look, complete with glasses, updo, and a patriotic flag pin. But conoisseurs of Palin accessory trivia will note that it is in actuality a blue star pin. Palin wore the pin religiously throughout the campaign, signifying that she had…

We haven’t heard much about Palin’s Wisconsin Visit — Here’s Why

In the Palinista blogosphere, there was much hullaballoo leading up to Sarah Palin’s day-after-tax-day speech at a American’s For Prosperity (Koch Brothers) rally in Madison, Wisconsin. The April 16th event was billed by her supporters as “history in the making,” “courageous,” “this will be one for the books.” One commenter talked about needing “overpowering numbers” so that “the union boys just fold their tents and go home.” Reality? Not so much… Per the non-partisan PR Watch: THE BADGERS DROWN OUT THE MAMA GRIZZLIES The wet snow and tense atmosphere did not deter thousands of people from coming to the capitol…

Where is the Knik Arm Bridge REALLY Going?

Remember the “Bridge to Nowhere?” Remember the project that was possibly the single biggest contributor to the tainting of the word “earmarks?” That famous title was actually a misnomer. It referred to two Alaska bridges, both funded through the same “earmark” at the time. The actual “Bridge to Nowhere” referred to the Gravina Island Bridge, which was a link from Ketchikan to the island that holds its airport. This was only accessible by ferry and small plane and when hundreds of thousands of visitors pour into Southeast Alaska during the summers, it becomes a problem. This was also the bridge…

Solidarity with Wisconsin: Alaska’s Capital Rallies For Working Families

“We have all been reading about Wisconsin and the other attacks against public employees throughout the country. The time is at hand to stop wringing our hands and start taking some action.” —Pete Ford, Alaska Public Employees Association (APEA-AFT) (Juneau, AK)—With almost no advance notice, a large crowd in Alaska’s Capitol converged on Dimond Courthouse Square near the State Legislature Building to stand in solidarity with embattled public employees in Wisconsin. In the middle of a sunny day in Juneau, union and non-union folks alike made their voices heard in defense of working families and basic standards of decency when…

Oyster Roundup! Fake Palin, Heckling Cheney & Dirty Valentines

Greetings from CPAC! Former Vice President Dick Cheney got a heck of a greeting at CPAC, the yearly Conservative Political Action Conference where conservatives of all stripes come together to wallow in varying degrees of narrow-mindedness, religious zeal, military might, fiscal conservatism, and social backwardness. There are usually some internal squabbles about things like LGBT rights, and how they do or don’t fit into the conservative platform. But back to Cheney’s greeting. It was spirited and passionate, but not what the former Veep expected. When Rumsfeld’s name was announced, and he took the stage to accept the conferences “Defenders of…