The blog, thesuperficial.com, carried a collection of stills showing Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin entering the premises of the Alfalfa Club last Saturday. The pictures taken by celebrity-following niche, Splash News, accompanied an article titled:Sarah Palin Adds F-uck-Me Boots to GOP Arsenal.
Surprisingly enough, the Anchorage Daily News newsreader doesn't have a link up yet to the pictures or the superficial.com article. Maybe it is because of the "F" word, eh? After all, today's newsreader links to nine - count them - nine - articles or blog entries about Palin.
Since Alaska Senator Mark Begich held his first Alaska press conference last Saturday - an event Pat Dougherty chose to not have covered - the ADN has run a total of eight items on Gov. Palin, none on Sen. Mark Begich.
Part of the reason this strikes me a beyond just weird, is that one of the questions I posed to Sen. Begich last Friday had to do with the now-vacant seat on the United States Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard Subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. It is one of the most important congressional or senate subcommittees for Alaskans. I asked Sen. Begich whether or not it had been agreed yet that h would replace Sen. Stevens on that subcommittee. He stated that he is in discussion with Washington State U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell about that and a number of other issues of mutual importance to Alaska and Washington State, and hopes to be able to replace Sen. Stevens there.
Sen. Cantwell was chair of the subcommittee last term. The Bering Sea pirates donate freely to her, and may expect loyalty to their rapacious practices at the expense of the long-term health of Alaska's sustainable ecosystems.
Regarding an earmark Cantwell directed to a new dam project by a contributor, who was also a client of her campaign manager Ton Dotzauer's lobbying firm, Congresspedia notes:
On September 7, 2006, Cantwell spokesman Michael Meehan defended the senator’s actions, stating “She (Cantwell) believes a senator from Washington state should fight for the people and companies of the state when it comes to matters before the federal government. That's part of her job.”
One of the first things that will be coming before oceans & fisheries will be the pre-confirmation hearings for Jane Lubchenco, the NOAA chief-designate. Lubchenco is very forward thinking, just what our oceans, atmosphere and fisheries need. Cantwell's "people and companies of the state [of Washington] will probably fight Lubchenco's nomination, according to two of my fisheries sources.
Ted was loyal. Loyal enough to enrich his son, Ben. Are they going to demand loyalty from Mark in exchange for a seat on oceans & fisheries? Stay tuned.
There was a kid reporter from Channel 11 News at the Friday presser. He had one question for Sen. Begich:
"How did you and other Senators react last week to the impeachment trial of Blagojovich?"
Mark was a bit nonplussed, managing to suppress his natural instinct to go "What the Fuck?" He did chuckle a bit, saying that he didn't remember Blagojovich coming up during a very busy week.
Apparently, Channel 11 News wisely chose not to run their reporter's question.
Meanwhile, I don't think Sen. Begich is boot shopping, though.
images - spalash news and the Alaska Report (DZ)
4 comments:
Yeah really, who care's about Ma Palin's fuck-me-boots when yet another former staffer to Don Young has been indicted for accepting gifts from Team Abramoff.
anon @ #1 - As I said last week when another Young employee was indicted, I'll get back to him. I miss having the time to skewer that guy...
Regarding the ADN tally, things could get even worse for local news-- apparently Steve McDonald just lost his job at KTUU. I often disagree with KTUU but McDonald is a good person and a heck of a lot better to communicate with than Pat Dougherty-- I communicated with both of them, and I think McDonald's head is on top of his body, while Dougherty's is about half way up.
News coverage locally may become as objective as FoxNews is nationally. I'm going to stick my neck out and say I "like" Steve McDonald. I didn't always agree with him, but he was receptive, cordial, and he has ears that he uses.
Best wishes to Steve.
Best wishes to Steve - if this has happened. I remember several generous and thorough things about his reporting at both places.
He took Diane Benson seriously, in spite of Jake and Ethan marginalizing her, and much of the media in Anchorage avoiding covering some of her most important statements, like the Coconut Rd. ethics request, and her response to Conoco-Philips' Denali plan. Steve covered them.
No doubt, Paul Jenkins will still be on Channel 7's AK Week in Review, though. Maybe KAKM will replace Steve with Dan Fagan, to keep the audience fair and balanced, eh....?
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