Yesterday, the Anchorage Daily News Washington DC reporter posted an ADN political blog entry that brought suck-up stenography to a new height. She wrote an entry there that basically, with no attention to journalistic decorum, promoted sites that want you to donate to Sarah Palin. She observed that there are very few hours left before an important deadline approaches - July 1st. She then ran one of the Palin promotional emails in what appears to be its entirety.Its hard to tell, because I've been removed from the mailing lists of all Alaska Governor Sarah Palin-related public information output channels. I've been on all of them, but somehow, I've also subsequently been removed.
I'm on Don Young's and Lisa Murkowski's lists, even though I've written critical articles about them. I'm on Mark Begich's, even though my action helped lead to his having been removed from Blue America, an important fundraising tool.
Yesterday, I was critical of ADN writer Erika Bolstad's Palin fundraising blog entry. Twice. But it was totally impossible to blame Erika for the ADN's placement of an expanded piece based on her Monday one, above the fold on page one of Tuesday's print edition of the paper. The headline reads, "SarahPAC pushes for donations by today." (emphasis added)
I have never seen the ADN do this before today. The expanded article fails to mention a couple of important facts about the SarahPAC fundraiser:
1) It was initially a week-long fundraiser, with a goal of raising $500,000.00. At the end of the week it had raised less than 22% of the goal.
2) It appears that a substantial amount of the 22% raised was money actually raised before the onset of the fundraiser.
As PA noted on May 2nd (Saturday Alaska Progressive Blog Roundup - May 2, 2009 -- The Week the Anchorage Daily News Died Edition), "the ADN is charging their readers a lot of money for doing a lousy job."
If all this kneepad suck-up to the Palin idolatry were being done in a vacuum, it would be bad enough. But on the same morning people who bought the ADN had to decide whether or not to send Sarah money by midnight, Alaska bloggers were nailing Palin's propaganda & the Cross fantasy world, by telling the truth that is coming out of the lower Yukon.
ADN reporter Kyle Hopkins is starting to get it, but so far, he's being relegated to outer ADN blogastan. And even though reporter Sean Cockerham fully understands how incredibly truth-challenged the Palin administration is on just about everything he has to report, the editors seem to be refusing to turn him loose.
Will the ADN finally come around?
Even Andrew Halcro is so upset about how bad the Palin propaganda ministry is getting, he came out of seclusion to pen a new piece today.
Go, Andrew!
27 comments:
I watched Erika Bolstad on MSMBC this evening and it was remarkably horrible.
I couldn't believe she was so much a stepford palinsta...but there it was for everyone to see...sigh...
my guess is she is hooking for a job with Queen Palin.
Go, Phil! You keep posting one knock out post after another!
Alaskan bloggers are doing the heavy lifting on the Truth!
BTW....thanks for the link to Halcro. His post was clear and factual as usual. The LA blogger's interest in Ramras seems odd. What are her political aspirations, eh? Andrew's knowledge of the facts made her look like an uninformed dilettante. Oh wait!! That's what she is. She couldn't be anything more since she was so easily snowed by the shallowness of Palin.
Once spokespersons are "in," they are set for life. Meg will say what she has to because if she is steady and true, others will want her to be the stone faced cur of the people whom they serve.
Is Meg considering leaving to be a consultant or the mouthpiece for someone else? Is her marriage in the rocks so she wants to be with her partner or just get away? Maybe Erika is jockeying for her position at Palin's back.
I thought the C4P week-long "fundraiser" was for the Alaska Trust Fund not SarahPAC. The reason for the June 30th push for SarahPAC is to show some good numbers for July reporting. It is "critical" that SP look good compared to Romney and the rest of the GOP contenders.
anon @ 10:31 - I'll pass that on to Erika and Pat...
One would think that ADN would be reading some of the comments and see that not all of us are rabid fans nor rabid haters. In fact most of the "anti" Palin comments are from those who want her to live up to her "transparency promises" and are disgusted with her lies and her failure to take responsibility for her own actions.
ADN enables her instead of doing what reporters used to do which was investigative reporting. It seems they are leaving that up to the bloggers. I was happy to see a new article by Andrew tho! Many of us depend on you, AKM, Diva, Shannyn, and Gryphen to let us know what is happening.
Thank you so much!
thanks, Jackie.
I'm beginning to realize, watching Sean Hannity "dissect" the VF article, that at the local level, we best document the atrocities. It used to be that the media did that. They can't anymore, more from the diminution of their staffs than from choice, mostly.
The mainstream media has become a parody of what the movie "Network" complained about, more than it represents what Altman actually protested in his masterpiece.
The bottom line though, continuing to watch Hannity, is that the people need to fight to regain control of our country's future from these fatuous idiots.
Anon @10:31 ~
You are correct, the C4P begathon was to "retire the Governor's legal bills" by raising the $500,000.00 that Palin claimed was how much she owed.
The SarahPAC push is because the deadline for this reporting period was June 30th, and they need to jump those numbers up to make sure it looks like Palin is just raking in the money. Her supporters are guessing upwards of several million have been raised, with estimates (by them) of it going as high as 10 to 30 million to date.
Now of course the new legal fund dollar amount being touted is over $600,000.00 and we know that they didn't come anywhere close to that amount in the begathon, even with all the hard work these folks went to, including the head knuckledragger over there telling people to give to people who had no money if you had aleady donated your limit for the year. I will give them credit that the begathon did raise some money, but there is no way to know how much was raised due to their efforts in that matter simply because they told people that if they had previously donated to the "Defense Fund", before this begathon was started, to let them know and they would include that in the total tabulation of the amount raised.
EyeonYou,
Thanks for clearing that up. No - wait a minute...
Seriously, I brought up the begsthon because Bolstad did. I failed to raise a clear enough distinction between the begathon and the SarahPAC stuff because I'm not sure what that distinction is.
Part of this confusion might arise from the fact that nobody knows where funds donated to the legal fund go. They can go to Sarah. They can go to Todd. They can go to Levi's case. They can go to cases we don't even know about. Yet.
Phil the problem is that I don't think that people know the distinction between the two either.
SarahPAC itself has solicited funds for the "Legal Defense Fund", so it does get confusing.
The "begathon" was started to pay down the legal bills that Palin was crying about. Not to donate to SarahPAC. They started off with the Five Hundred Thousand dollar number that Palin had previously reported as the mark of where her legal bills were at, but then once the begathon was in action, we heard that the new total owed for legal bills had jumped to Six Thousand dollars. Either way, the money brought in was no where near enough to cover those bills.
Now the "begathon" is more or less over (or not being pushed as loudly), the new "begging" is for SarahPAC. June 30th is the last day to donate in this quarterly time frame before the numbers are released to the public.
The "Legal Fund" can be donated to anytime.
"Legal Fund"...Donate up to $150.00 per year per person...it has no end date. You can donate the total amount every year until the end of time or until they shut it down. There is no oversight on this, as the Federal Gov. says this is a state issue and APOC is saying that they have no intention of monitering this fund. There will be no way to determine where this money goes unless the Palin/Cole people decide to release it, which at this point in time they say they will sometime in August if I recall correctly.
"SarahPAC"...Donate as much as possible, in either lump sum or monthly reoccuring payments but they do have quarterly reports to the FEC, so all monies will have to be reported, as well as an accurate accounting of income from who and how much as well as where it is spent. As I said, this is being pushed at the moment simply to jump those numbers up for the first report of the total amount brought. If it looks like a low amount that will reflect badly on Palin's ability to fundraise for herself, although many are trying to claim that the numbers won't be too high because the PAC has not been advertising as of yet.
IonU,
more confused than ever..
The Legal Fund is for her bills in AK. Basically the wording of it says that she can use it to pay for anything that pertains to her being the Governor of Alaska.
SarahPAC is for all political trips (not having to do with State of Alaska busniess).
Two seperate collections going on. Each for different things.
SarahPAC will pay for her trips, like the one to Auburn for the parade and the autism walk. If she wants to head to someplace and campaign for someone the PAC will pay for it all. Meg Stapleton is supposedly paid by the PAC.
Legal fund will pay for Van Flien's bills for the ethic's complaints, and anything else they decide is needed with regards to Sarah being Gov., so technically everything would be covered because she is Gov 24/7. Since she has it set that all family can access this money as well, they can get some of their bills paid as well. They just need to find a way to link it to Sarah being Governor.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, she has a sweet little set up going.
State of Alaska pays for anything that involves the state, in state, out of state trips that are considered State Business, per diems etc....
SarahPAC pays for all her political desire, anything related to her politics, campaigning for herself or others etc....
Legal Fund pays for everything else.
She has her bases covered.
"relegated to outer ADN blogastan"
That sums up the problem with ADN. Boosting a funding cycle for Palin is page 1, giving a voice to Emmonak village is buried. The Palin tweet about "50% subsistence met" was FALSE, Nick Tucker merely wants the TRUTH told and can only get a squib in the rural blog.
ADN owes Alaska an apology for its blatant slanting of "news".
The odd thing is on the home page of SarahPAC site, there's this box right above the DONATE button that tells you to go support the Alaska Fund Trust.
So it's a two-fer! SarahPAC is collecting for SarahPAC and it is also advertising for the "legal defense fund."
Grifters, I tell ya, grifters! Snake oil salespeople!
ADN is just plain embarrassing for a so-called "newspaper." They may as well pack it in.
I am another one glad to see Andrew Halco back. I do wish, however, that he would read up on comma usage. His punctuation drives me a little nuts. Nitpicking? Maybe, but it distracts me from reading, because the poor punctuation reduces readability and comprehension, forcing me to reread sentences. The typos too. Come on Andrew. A little proofreading makes your great entries even better. (I get down off my soapbox now)
ADN is not a newspaper. It does not represent the citizens of Anchorage or even Alaska.
It is promoting a grifter. A person who basically expects every facet and movement of her life be paid for by the citizens of Alaska.
As long as the citizens agree with this, and will not try to stop her, and indeed even send her money, the problem will exist.
You bloggers are amazing and doing a fantastic job. You are, however, swimming upstream against these Hillbilly people living in the Governor's office. The fact that this fund gives $$ to the FAMILY of the Governor as long as they say it's because she is Governor, is appalling.
Again, we cannot fix this. We can sympathize and it really is not funny.
You have a newspaper in the bag, you have a Personnel Board who doesn't do their jobs. She appoints her high school clique into State jobs.
And the people who are fighting this are just the bloggers?
Great job Phil - you're rattling some cages....hope it does some good.
I'm glad to see Halcro back and he can do what he likes with the commas. I appreciate Phillip's highly professional style, but not all bloggers have it, and that's okay.
i sort of wish halcro would just lose his office seeking aspirations and redouble his efforts on blogging. he has a lot of cred with people on the fence, who would never listen to philip, mudflats, shannyn, linda, et al. the sort of socially liberal/fiscally conservative moderates out there who are republicans but offended by religious nutcases and neocons. that aspect isn't front and center in halcro's commentary but it is part of the overall calculus just the same.
we need voices from all parts of the spectrum.
http://washingtontimes.com/weblogs/potus-notes/2009/jul/01/palins-demons/
Senior McCain campaign official corroborates Vanity Fair article, saying:
"You’d think that at some point, even Palin’s formidable armor of self-deception would so loudly clang against reality that she’d be forced to change. I doubt that though. Introspection doesn’t seem to be her strong-suit. [...] she has these demons that she can't shake and I think its' unfortunate she has this ability to disconnect herself from reality when things go wrong and she has this total lack of introspection."
With the ADN on the SP Bandwagon and the FOMS pushing Talis Colberg...what's a true progressive to do in Alaska?
Why isn't C.R.E.W looking into all these funds, benefiting Palin? Also,OT I wonder who the insurance carrier is, who handled the claims for Trig.
Why don't Alaskans contact C.R.E.W.? Why don't Alaskans send complaints to the IRS?
What about SP's house? Who paid for it?
Graft?
How did she get gazillions in investments?
Why is First Dud involved in State Business? Why can her PAC's give money to her family with no accounting?
This is a problem for Alaska. We kept her up there and out of the Lower 48. Now it's up to you.
Find a true good decent candidate and we'll help you, we'll send $$$ your way.
Support Shannyn, Gryphen, Palingates, PA, Mudflats because they are the only ones standing up and fighting for the truth.
We can help financially but Alaska must lead the way.
Dump the Dummy - money talks. We in the Lower 48 have some to send your way.
Thank heaven's for the bloggers - they keep us up to date.
As for the ADN, cancel any and all print subscriptions - and send a letter to the editors and tell them why.
We have a RAG here in AZ.....we may look online once in awhile, but we will NOT financially support their lying claptrap.
Baby steps, but they all add up.
Good luck up there.
Anon @ July 1, 2009 4:10 AM: "That sums up the problem with ADN. Boosting a funding cycle for Palin is page 1, giving a voice to Emmonak village is buried. The Palin tweet about "50% subsistence met" was FALSE, Nick Tucker merely wants the TRUTH told and can only get a squib in the rural blog."
I just lurked over at C4P for the first time in a week, and found their version of the "50%" story buried under rehashes of the Vanity Fair article several times over, plus the Runner's World pix, plus their view on Kristol vs. Schmidt vs. Scheunemann infighting.
They reported the Sarah Palin/John Moller without any updates -- and hard to believe, only ONE comment.
Obviously they don't care about the situation with the fishing season for the Western Alaska/Yukon River folks.
Not near as much about their Beloved Icon's reputation.
Phil,
Alaska fund trust, is basically GINO's little private ATM/Slush fund.
SarahPac is reg. by FEC.
She does not have to report, where, what, who funds go to for her grifter ATM account.
Anon@12:47Pm,
We don't know that CREW isn't looking into the slush fund...now do we? I've sent them info as have others. I believe they are working behind the scenes on many fronts. They also work with IRS.
Check out Alaska Report.
:D
It is very possible that the IRS, CREW are already doing due diligence in the background. It won't be publicized until something legal happens.
RE: the FEC - they are doing NOTHING. They have NO members and fathead McInsane has placed holds on Obama's 2 nominees to hold up the process. A useless organization at this time.
Saradise Found - Chapter 12 - Only Three Hours Left to the Anchorage Daily News Palin Fundraiser
___________________
Julie
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So typical of the left wing nuts out there. I knew what you turds were going to do to Palin the moment Mccain the RINO named her his running mate. You commenced to trash her, and her family. A pity the scumbag liberal democratic operatives who were up in Alaska trying to dig up dirt on Palin (Which really did not exist) were not abducted by Lumberjacks and sent to a remote area of Alaska to fend for themselves. You so called Americans make me sick! You should go to Mexico with the illegal aliens. To paraphrase Mark Levin, who wrote an excellent book (Liberty and Tyranny) that is above your ability to comprehend: GET OUT OF HERE YOU IDIOTS! Mark my words, you leftwing morons are going to lose! And if you don't like what I wrote, may I suggest you cry on the shoulder of your girlfriend or boyfriend.
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