Saturday Alaska Progressive Blog Roundup - February 21, 2009

Part One: Progressive Alaska started a Saturday feature last March 29th, called "Saturday Alaska Progressive Blog Roundup." So much has happened since then. Every once in a while, I've tried to bring it back, because a lot of folks appreciated the roundup. I'll give it another try.

We've grown a lot since March, 2008. There are more progressive blogs in Alaska now. During the first eight months of 2008, our collective readership was slowly growing, as Alaskans and people around the USA and the world sought information on Alaska politics.

We were enthusiastic. Along with other progressive outlets, spurred locally by the articulate and dynamic trio of talk hosts at KUDO-AM in Anchorage, local bloggers engaged heavily in the Municipal election there. Progressive Alaska bloggers covered both the Alaska GOP and Democratic Party conventions. We reported on candidate forums and debates all through the winter, spring and early summer of 2008, leading up to the August 26th statewide primaries.

On August 29th, 2008, the McCain presidential campaign announced Sarah Palin's selection as his choice for running mate. It has been a wild ride ever since.

Part Two: Rural Crisis coverage. This past week Sen. Mark Begich visited Bethel. He went with August Cisar, the regional director for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The results will come out over time, but already some relief has been announced. Shannyn Moore - back to fairly regular blogging after working as a remodeling contractor and traveling out to Unalaska -covered the trip, as did the Immoral Minority and AK Muckraker at the Mudflats. AK Muckraker writes:

Without fanfare, without a pair of evangelical celebrity preachers flanking him, Senator Mark Begich traveled to Bethel and video conferenced with several other villages, including the village of Emmonak.

Sen. Begich was out westward in mid-week. Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin left yesterday, in what has to be one of her weirdest stunts yet. Not only that, but she just may have committed a very serious blunder. Gryphen at Immoral Minority caught aspects of it:

Well according to Governor Sarah all the rural native Alaskans have to do to solve their difficulties is to leave their ancestral homes and run to the big cities just like her husband Todd, who according to Palin worked on the Slope and then "come back to the village after a, one and one, or a two and two, week schedule and still lived a subsistence lifestyle."

Now you know I just hate to disagree with the Governor but when I heard her make this statement I remembered something I had read in that future bestseller "Trailblazer: An Intimate Biography of Sarah Palin."

In chapter four page 56, of this riveting manuscript I read the following:"When they returned to Anchorage, Todd moved in immediately with the Heath sisters (This was right after their marriage on August 29th, 1989) and shared a room with Sarah. He had applied for an oil-company job on the North Slope and was waiting for an offer. In the meantime, he drove snow-removal trucks in Anchorage, usually working the red eye shift."

"Eight months separate the August 29 wedding day from Track's date of birth, April 20, 1989." (pg. 57)

"Before Track's arrival, Sarah and Todd moved back to Wasilla and bought a modest condo near the high school." (pg. 58)

""In 1989, Todd was hired by British Petroleum. which drastically changed the couples lifestyle." (pg. 58)

So let me see if I understand this correctly. Todd Palin was living a subsistence lifestyle in Wasilla? Really? Were Todd, and Sarah, and little Track subsisting on fish and berries and wild game that they hunted when Todd was not working on the North Slope?

Or does Governor Sarah believe that Todd deciding to walk into the woods and shoot a moose, or go to the Knik river and catch some fish, is a direct correlation with how the rural Alaskans in villages like Emmonak live their lives?

Writing Raven, the Tlingit activist at Alaska Real, takes a more serious tone with Palin's statements about Native culture and leadership:

Palin is calling for a change in leadership - with who? What are these leaders doing wrong? Who are they? When has she talked to them? And she gave NO solutions except to say these youth should think about leaving. So the solution is "leave the village"? She can't be a spark to "real dialogue" when she's never taken part in a dialogue! The dialogue has been going on, but Palin doesn't care to be part of it.

The article was also preemptively defensive about the race card being thrown at Palin. As if Palin needs to be a racist to make ignorant remarks about the state of rural Alaska. Personally, I believe Palin is willing to be pretty racially equal about throwing rural Alaska under the bus. For that matter, she's screwing us all equally in her painfully obvious stab for national attention. I didn't agree with the remarks about Ted Stevens at the time (don't think the guy was racist, just wrong) and it is interesting to note that the only people to bring up racism with Palin's remarks have been the people of the Alaska Dispatch.

To be very clear - Palin's remarks aren't racist. They are ignorant of the real issues, display a willingness to decide what is right having never had the dialogue, and take us back about 50 years in the struggle to maintain thriving rural and cultural communties. But in ignorance, she's being quite equal.

Once again, Palin offered no solutions to these problems. She talks about them getting jobs, but not about training, or the availability of them. Does she think every Native youth has a father on the slope and the governor willing to write a letter of recommendation to get them that job? It's really not that easy. It also displays an incredibly poor grasp of the situation. Some of these families are paying $2,500 a month just for their oil. Getting a job on the slope doesn't fix that problem, and it will continue to be a problem.

Writing Raven goes on to chronicle a few of the important stories which pointed to a looming rural crisis in Alaska:

(Lt. Gov. Parnell) "Frankly, the first weekend that this particular regional hardship hit the web from Emmonak, both the governor and I tried to get our there and we were hampered due to weather."

I will say it again - this problem did not just spring up six weeks ago. Not only has this been generations in the making, the whole last year Native leaders, state leaders, corporations, people in the communities have been speaking out, warning about this, and even asking for help before it "hit the web." I've posted this before, but I want to reiterate how far in advance the governor had to prepare for this, and did nothing:

In May, the Bristol Bay Times reported on rural residents calling for emergency relief and to declare an energy diaster.

In early August, the Anchorage Daily News reported prominent Native leaders directly talking to Paling about these problems, and the solutions that including building infrasctructure.

In early August, even USA Today noticed the problem and reported on it, referencing data showing just how bad it could get from a study done in May.

In late August, Sen. Murkowksi held a meeting about the crisis, and urged residents to stay in their communities (report by ADN).

"I urge you not to give up your way of life, your culture and your connection to the land and move into urban areas. We will find a creative way to beat this," she told Bethel residents...

In September, Sen. Begich (then Mayor) and Anchorage School Superintendent sent a letter to Palin (from ADN) regarding the migration from villages to the city due to high energy costs. Palin refuted high energy costs had anything to do with it, later.

In October, Native leaders continued their call for an energy emergency declared at the Alaska Federation of Natives convention (reported by the ADN). Of course, Palin was busy campaigning and may not have noticed.

In November, Indian Country Today did a story highlighting the Alaska Federation of Natives resolution to the energy crisis and village migration, as well as the incredibly poor response from Palin.

In late December, Indian Country Today reported on the dismal reaction of the Palin administration energy crisis, focusing on the rural subcabinet formed.

"The Rural Subcabinet formed by Governor Sarah Palin in response to what many consider a crisis in rural Alaska has reportedly met, but specific information about their activities has been difficult to find..." "The group has no fixed meeting time and the date of their next meeting is unknown." "...As of Dec. 8, the AFN had apparently heard nothing about actions or meetings of the subcabinet..."

Of course, this is only in recent months. This stuff goes back years, as far as addressing the real problems. Not to mention the other villages that have had true emergencies, including Adak. Once again, I point to the Alaska Native Commission Report done in the 90's that point out both problem and solution. Palin should think about reading it.

Part Three: Heather Kendall-Miller. That leads me to commenting about lack of coverage by Alaska progressive blogs of an important event this past week. Athabaskan activist attorney Heather Kendall-Miller is being vetted for an important post in the Obama administration, that of Native American Affairs senior advisor. Kendall-Miller wrote a scathing review of Palin's record as governor in regard to Alaska Natives, last September. Amanda Coyne wrote a thorough profile of Kendall-Miller in 2007, which the Alaska Dispatch reprinted this week.

Part Four: The Fairclough-Hamilton Dialogue.

Perhaps partially as a result of my open letter to University of Alaska President, Mark Hamilton, University of Alaska history professor Steve Haycox, one of Alaska's best historians, wrote an op-ed for the Anchorage Daily News that has a small glitch in it. It is regarding Haycox's colleague and mine, Prof. Steve Aufrecht. Here's an extract from Haycox's op-ed:

[T]here have been questions raised recently about sanctions against respected university researchers who have produced reports critical of sacred cows. Biologist Rick Steiner criticized a Sea Grant initiative on offshore oil development; emeritus professor Steve Aufrecht is investigating the terms of the BP-ARCO charter agreement with the university.

Aufrecht, who is currently working in Thailand, wrote this morning:

I got an email today telling me about this opinion piece in the ADN by history professor Steve Haycox. He's discussing Rep. Anna Fairclough's questions to University President Mark Hamilton regarding UA student lobbying and their opposition to development in Alaska. In it he writes:

His [Hamilton's] response is most welcome, for there have been questions raised recently about sanctions against respected university researchers who have produced reports critical of sacred cows. Biologist Rick Steiner criticized a Sea Grant initiative on offshore oil development; emeritus professor Steve Aufrecht is investigating the terms of the BP-ARCO charter agreement with the university.

I just want to set the record straight here. There's an implication: "questions have been raised recently about sanctions against respected university researchers." Then two university faculty are mentioned. First, as I said above, Steve Aufrecht has blogged about and raised some questions, but really has done nothing that he would claim to be 'investigating.' Second, to my knowledge, sanctions have not been discussed about him. I could be wrong on that score, but what sort of sanctions does one impose on faculty emerita? (From the University [of Alaska] Regulations 04.04.070: "the position of professor emeritus is the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a retiring faculty member. ")


So, how did Dr. Haycox come to these conclusions? My guess is that "there have been questions raised" refers to Philip Munger's post on his blog Progressive Alaska where he first discusses how Dr. Rick Steiner's signing of an open letter critical of the "North Aleutian Basin Energy-Fisheries Initiative, being implemented by the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) and Alaska Sea Grant" resulted in his Dean chastising him in a three year post-tenure review for abusing his academic freedom.


Then, Munger raises another issue of interest to the university. He writes:

2. Dr. Steve Aufrecht's Investigation into the BP-ARCO Merger Charter Agreement and the University of Alaska


University of Alaska Professor Emeritus Steve Aufrecht has been trying to determine whether or not the so-called "Merger Charter Agreement" that enabled the formation of the entity now known as Conoco-Phillips is legally enforceable, or is a mere scrap of paper. If the agreement is enforceable, it appears quite likely that Conoco-Phillips owes the University of Alaska money. A lot of money.

I had considered commenting on this post to say that 'investigation' was probably a bit strong. Two blog posts and some inquiries, the way I see things, do not an investigation make. But since the rest of the post described what little had been actually done in this 'investigation' I decided to let it pass. (As I look at it again now, I'd say that I was reasonably sure it is enforceable and what I'd been asking was who was monitoring it to be sure the conditions were met.)


But now Haycox picks up the word investigation and lumps the two profs together to suggest that both face sanctions for their activities, when really only Steiner did according to Munger.

Rep. Anna Fairclough gave a brown bag lunch talk at UAA on Thursday. I had hoped to be there and write about it, but couldn't. Steve Amundson did, though. The Alaska Dispatch has printed Amundson's essay, called Did Rep. Fairclough Lie at UAA?

image - Lower Yukon lingonberries by oysters4me

Saradise Lost - Book 2 - Chapter 30 -- Matthew Chapter 6, Verses 3 & 4

Queen Esther Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is working on some weird moves.

Along with Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, she is trying to figure out how to become the top recipient of both organizational and individual political contributions, from the huge reservoir of American fundamentalist, evangelical and charismatic Christians. It is a road Palin and Jindal are familiar with, both being products of that culture.

Late this morning, Palin stood on the tarmac at the Wasilla airport. The facility was envisioned and created during the administration of Wasilla ex-Mayor, John Stein.

Palin defeated Stein in 1996, in a campaign that featured Palin supporters claiming her as Wasilla's "First Christian Governor." It was a Gingrich high tide environment that drummed Palin's supporters with questions about Stein's heritage. Churches supporting Palin claimed Stein's name sounded "Jewish."

This morning, Palin stood on the apron outside a hanger where relief supplies had been loaded onto two airplanes owned by the son of Billy Graham, the most famous American evangelist of the 20th Century. She was standing next to Billy's son, Franklin. News people were there. They were supposed to be there. The Governor's office had sent out press releases at public expense, touting the upcoming "relief" trip.

I've already called it a fundraising trip for Palin's new political action committee, SarahPAC. We won't know until the first quarter 2009 financial report on the PAC is available, how successful the trip was for Palin. Graham's non-profit, Samaritan's Purse, claims they are distributing $65,000 worth of food packages, to be handed out to about 1,000 families.

Anchorage Daily News reporter Kyle Hopkins was there to interview Palin this morning. He asked some of the hardest questions I've seen him ask the governor. That isn't saying much. He got some interesting responses, though. Here's the most fascinating exchange:

Q: How would you respond to people who said that you should have made this trip, you know, a month ago or six weeks ago? Why wait until now?

PALIN: Well from the day that Sean Parnell and I got elected, our efforts have been to make sure that we have a revitalized economy in Alaska. And that job opportunities would be seized by all Alaskans. Especially those in rural Alaska to recognize that instead of importing our workforce as we do today, to such a large extent, we want the young people in rural Alaska to get these jobs. That has been our effort from the day we got elected.

Now, as for personally what Sean and I have done as individuals to help in rural Alaska, in faith-based communities, you know I think, well I think Matthew 6:3 says it best. It’s a scripture that says, 'let not your right hand know what your left hand is doing.' If you’re going to do a personal charitable effort ... what we do personally to support and tithe and offer assistance to some of these missions, I’m going to keep that to myself.

Hopkins didn't ask Palin about her personal donations. At that point, he hadn't asked her anything personal.

This happens often recently with Palin. She seems to infer from certain word groups, inflections, or reporter body language, that a question asked of her is far more personal than it is.

And why bring up Matthew 6:3 and 4? I love seeing her quote Verse 3. That's part of what she has been able to get away with for years. Especially with the media.

Alaska media has never been able to come close to adequately and accurately portraying how deep her religious vision actually is, because she has managed to hide it so well over the years. The media's mistake has been in believing her skill at hiding this was evidence her religious agenda is back-burner stuff. It never was and never will be.

The self-serving way Palin brought up the 4th Verse of Matthew 6, should bother genuine Christians:

She's at Wasilla Airport, near where she got her start in politics, taking off from the runway the first "non-Christian" she crushed built for her. She talks with Hopkins about her husband's strong values, derived from his Alaska Native roots. She's there with - in ascending order - Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell, whose tongue is hanging out in reverence for Queen Esther Palin; Dr. Jerry Prevo, Alaska's most prestigious homophobe; Billy Graham's anointed successor, Franklin; and God. They are on their way to respond very non-secretly to a high-profile situation, in a unique way.

Hopkins' transcription of Palin's reading of Matthew 6:3 & 4, is:

If you’re going to do a personal charitable effort ... what we do personally to support and tithe and offer assistance to some of these missions, I’m going to keep that to myself.

Looking at The Layman's Parallel Bible, she did a decent job of parsing those two verses to her best advantage, without misquoting the passage. However, each standard version of this passage actually rebukes Palin for handling this trip to the lower Yukon the way she is. If you read verses 3 and 4 together a few times, it may become as apparent to you as it did to me, that Sarah Palin missed the import of this passage. Also.

I'm not quite ready to write this episode of Saradise Lost up as a comedic parable. Tempted - yes! Prevo, Palin, Parnell and Graham may end up doing that quite well themselves......also...

Graham, Prevo, Parnell and Palin, in performing this mission so visibly, may be blaspheming Matthew 6:4.

Maybe the Heath parents should spend the weekend calling Bill McAllister, telling him that he has failed Queen Esther their daughter, and should resign. How dare he publicize the Governor's secret trip?

Meanwhile, when you look at the SarahPAC financial report for Q1 2009 (it will be out around April 22nd), check how this weekend went for her. I'll bet it brings her more than $65K. If it doesn't, it failed, because she'll need a lot of money to move to the next level Queen Esther her persona demands.

Update - Saturday 2:30 p.m: Andrew Halcro put up his long-awaited "Black Helicopter" post yesterday. I just got around to reading it. Essentially, Greta van Susteren's husband is a prominent figure in Scientology. Andrew throws out the possibility that Susteren's hubby, John Coale, may have started or help start SarahPAC.

Andrew's blog entry is certainly worth a read, but the picture of Greta's husband, leering at Palin at the Iron Dog finish, is worth the admission price all by itself...

note - I'm not a "Christian." Most likely, I'm a non-Christian Unitarian.

Palin Receives Multiple Nominations in Huffpo Political Oscars

Arianna Huffington, in a blog entry today at Huffington Post, compared real cinema Oscar winners for this year, to American politicians who did as poorly in 2008 and 2009 in similar categories, as the Oscar winners did well. Here are some of her examples:

Sex Scene:
Best: Kate Winslet and David Kross in The Reader
Worst: Eliot Spitzer and Ashley Dupré in Client #9

Rip Off:
Best: the compromising photo stolen in The Bank Job
Worst: the $50 billion Bernie Madoff stole from his hapless clients

Return on Investment:
Best: Slumdog Millionaire, which cost $15 million to make and has grossed over $130 million worldwide.
Worst: the $350 billion we gave to Wall Street banks -- with nothing to show for it.

Sequel:
Best: The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan's brooding follow up to Batman Begins
Worst: TARP II, Tim Geithner's vague follow up to Hank Paulson's Bailout Begins

Arianna then asked readers to make similar nominations. Although Huffington somehow skipped nominating Alaska Governor Sarah Palin in any category, her readers didn't. Here are some of the better nominations from the comments:

Best vision: President Obama 's vison of the future
Worst Vison: Palin vision of Russia from her house

Best Knowledge in Geography:
Best: Obama's staff, that shows foresight in world's diplomacy
Worst: Sarah Palin who didn"t even know Africa was a country.


Performance By A Female in a Lead Role:
Best: Kate Winslett, The Reader
Worst: Tie; Sarah Palin, "On The Campaign Trail", Michelle Bachman, "On The Talk Show Circuit"

Best overblown performance by a diva with a dubious sense of right and wrong: Meryl Streep in "Doubt"
Worst overblown performance by a diva with a dubious sense of right and wrong: Sarah Palin in "Doubt She Has Any Business on the Ticket"

Best Achievement in Costume Design to Jacqueline West for her work on "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Worst Achievement in Costume Design to the Republican National Committee for their work on "The Curious Candidacy of Sarah Palin"

Supporting Actress:
Best: Meryl Streep, DOUBT.
Worst: Sarah Palin, CLUELESS (the remake)

Best Documentary Feature: Trouble the Water
Worst Documentary Feature: Interview of Sarah Palin and Katie Couric
_____________________
Best costume design: The Duchess
Worst costume design: Sarah Palin's $150,000 + wardrobe

Best Portrayal of an Interviewer:
Michael Sheen as David Frost in "Frost/Nixon".
Worst Portrayal of an Interviewer:
Greta Van Sustran as herself, interviewing Sarah Palin at home for Faux News.

Best Actress: Kate Winslet in Revolutionary Road
Worst Actress: Sarah Palin at the GOP convention. Runner up Senator Craig in airport bathroom.

Kiss.
Best: Kate Winslet and David Kross in The Reader
Worst: Sarah Palin's kiss of death in The Campaign.

Best Supporting Actress: Michell Obama
Worst Supporting Actress: Sarah Palin

Best Cinematography: The photo of Obama campaigning in the rain
Worst Cinematography: Sarah Palin and the turkey execution

Feel free to add your own here at Progressive Alaska.

Rep. Anna Fairclough to Speak at UAA Today

Eagle River state legislator, Anna Fairclough, will be speaking at the University of Alaska Anchorage this afternoon. Here's a UAA press release:

Thursday, Feb. 19, 4 p.m.
Professional Services Building (PSB), Room 158


Eagle River Rep. Anna Fairclough will be the guest speaker for the Department of Journalism & Public Communications' Brown Bag Lunch speaker series on Thursday, Feb. 19.


She will speak at 4 p.m. in Room 158 of the Professional Services Building.

Rep. Fairclough chairs the House Alaska Renewable Energy Task Force, and the House Finance Subcommittees on Education and Early Development, Labor and Workforce Development, and on the University of Alaska.

Earlier in February, Rep. Fairclough was involved in an exchange in Juneau, during legislative hearings on the University of Alaska budget. Her take on how "liberal" or unbiased against "industry and development" Alaska's university system might be, is bizarre. Here's the exchange, from Pat Forgey's story in the Juneau Empire:

The University of Alaska is facing pressure from some Alaska legislators complaining about the political views of its faculty and students.

Rep. Anna Fairclough, R-Eagle River, a member of the powerful House Finance Committee, has grilled Chancellor Mark Hamilton before her committee, and questioned his university's support for the oil and mining industries.

"If I ask university staff, the people who are educating our future leaders, if they support the Chukchi Sea development, the Red Dog Mine or the Pebble Mine or any type of industry along those lines, a stereotypical response is they are in opposition," she said.

At the same time, Fairclough said, they were asking for more money for the university.

"I found it amazing there was a large disconnect in where the dollars for the state of Alaska come from on a regular basis as far as production of oil on the North Slope goes, and how it is turned into revenue for the state of Alaska and in turn is invested in the university system," she said.

Hamilton had to defend his system.

"We probably have the most conservative faculty, and the most conservative student body, you'll ever meet," Hamilton said. "Thank goodness you are not representing Berkeley."

Fairclough continued to question the university system's funding requests.

"How should I advocate more funding for an entire group that doesn't want to see development going forward," she said.

Committee Co-chair Mike Hawker, R-Anchorage, said Fairclough was not alone in the committee regarding her views.

"I can assure you that Rep. Fairclough is not the only person who has had that experience at this table," he said.

Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Fairbanks, said some of the students who visit the Capitol looking for money are openly anti-development.

"They come down here and rail against anything that brings in the very bucks that they come down here and tell us that we owe them," he said.

Hamilton urged the committee not to hold some students' views against the entire university system, and said they may well change as they age.

"You can hope, as I do, that these students will mature over time," Hamilton said.

This matter has been covered far more extensively in Anchorage-area blogs than in the Anchorage Daily News. Their print edition has totally ignored ADN-based coverage of Fairclough's stance.

Progressive Alaska brought this up last week in the context of University of Alaska President Mark Hamilton and his professional responsibilities.

Mudflats brought it up in a hilarious, yet serious essay on how weird Fairclough's views are.

To typify the University of Alaska system or UAA as "liberal" or"anti-development" begs the approach President Hamilton took to Fairclough's tack. Essentially, he was rhetorically asking, "liberal - compared to WHAT?"

I've taught at one or another of UAA's campuses since early 1995. I teach in the same building in Eagle River where Rep. Fairclough has her local legislative office. Both of my kids attended UAA for their freshman years.

I can't think of another state university system in the United States that is less liberal than the University of Alaska. To get more conservative, one would have to attend a private university or religious college.

Apathetic - yes. Liberal - no.

I'm looking forward to meeting Rep. Fairclough this afternoon.

Update - 4:00 p.m: I had to drive back out to Wasilla after teaching my morning class at UAA. Not enough time to get all the way back to the main campus and then out to ERCC for my evening class. Hopefully, another Alaska blogger will be at Rep. Fairclough's talk.

When Press Releases Become Garbled in the eMail

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's press people were kept busy today, answering questions about reports she will have to pay taxes on the meals and services she received in her Wasilla home as Governor, but paid for by you and me, the taxpayers of Alaska. Even though she now has to pay taxes on money given her by you and me, her office is unwilling to let us know the details of how she spent our money:

"The amount of taxes owed is a private matter," Sharon Leighow, Palin's spokeswoman, said in an e-mail.

But, Sharon, shouldn't we want to know about how responsibly our money is being spent by Governor Palin, like she wants to know if our money is being responsibly spent by President Obama?

Meanwhile, Governor Palin's spite specialist, Meg Stapletongue, responded today to emerging details in the "unauthorized" book about the Governor, written by Lorenzo Benet. Stapletongue is taking issue with the book's description of a purported February, 2008 meeting between Sen. John McCain and Gov. Palin. Disputing such a meeting ever occurred, Mad Meg wrote:

"Getting such an important fact wrong, casts doubts on whatever else might be in the book. And, attributing his conjecture to the Governor is bad journalism. The Governor did not authorize this book and is not responsible for whatever fantasies the author might conjure up."

Imagine if the emails involving the taxes, the book, her daughter Bristol's interview and the President's jobs legislation had somehow gotten garbled in the Toobz:

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin responded today to baseless allegations that she owes the US Government back taxes for meals, lattes, clothes, automobile use, travel (for her or her family) or anything else except her published gubernatorial salary, since she took office in late 2006.

Speaking for Gov. Palin, her personal spokesperson, Meg Stapleton has stated, "Attributing taxes on these alleged expenditures is simply bad accounting. If this is evidence of how President Obama intends to use American taxpayers' money to create new jobs, we've ALL got a lot to hide. The Governor did not authorize this tax audit, and is not responsible for whatever tax fantasies the IRS seems to want to cook up.

"The Governor wants you to know that this case casts doubts on the ability of the IRS to do anyone's taxes, and suggests you withhold yours until she receives a full written apology, with penalties and interest."

The Governor stresses that her taxes are a personal matter, not the business of the IRS, and that further inquiries about them should be directed to her tax attorney, Wayne Anthony Ross, or to the officers of the Alaska Independence Party.

[The governor refused to take questions from the press, and left the room to sign an executive order making her gubernatorial salary "confidential." Also.]

Who Do You Trust to Speak Honestly on the Job Stimulus Package - Don, Lisa, Sarah or Mark?

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin claims one of the chief reasons for the Washington DC trip that included her SarahPAC kickoff with Nixon fixer and perennial beltway insider, Fred Malek and annual Alfalfa Club Dinner attendance, was "to personally express her concerns with the stimulus package with business, economic and political leaders. "

The governor's February 3rd press release went on: "The trip was not an effort to endorse or lobby for the current stimulus package now before Congress." On the 2nd, Palin, and Alaska legislative leaders, House Speaker Mike Chennault and Senate President Gary Stevens, had sent a letter detailing suggestions on funding allocations for Alaska.

Palin was all over the place on dealing with the jobs and infrastructure package from the last week in January through passage late last week. She even tried to get in touch with the president somehow, urging him to veto the bill. Weird, huh....?

During conferences leading up to the final passage of the bill in congress, both Representative Don Young and Senator Lisa Murkowski made sure, behind the scenes, that items were added to the stimulus package in their interest. Publicly, though, they both said the exact opposite.

Back in September, 2008, when the TARP legislation came before congress, Rep. Young voted against the bill, and explained why on the campaign stump. Sen. Murkowski voted for the TARP funds. At the time, she issued a press release, explaining her vote. In part, it stated:

In general, I do not believe taxpayers should be called upon to rescue financial institutions that made risky business decisions that resulted in financial loss. The financial crisis that we face today, however, is unprecedented and has profound implications for the broader economy.

Congress recognizes the substantial need to instill confidence in the market place and to do so quickly. But quick action cannot preclude thoughtful legislative consideration. Congress has a fiduciary responsibility to the American taxpayer – we must rebuild the credibility of our financial institutions through strong oversight and accountability.

Murkowski, along with the majority of both houses of Congress, acted with unprecedented speed, lack of curiosity, and - in most cases, including that of Sen. Murkowski - little further public scrutiny of TARP.

Saturday, Sen. Murkowski, in her new, more visible opposition leadership role, was given the responsibility of delivering the GOP response to passage of the Recovery and Reinvestment Act. She was far more critical of this plan than she had been of TARP. Here is part of what she had to say:

"Will this plan work? In this regard, the President's own top economist, Larry Summers, has said that in order for a stimulus plan to work, it must be timely, targeted, and temporary. And, in many ways, the plan that Democrats in Congress approved this week is none of the above.

"It's not timely because less than half the discretionary spending in this bill will reach its intended target within the next two years.

"It's not targeted because much of the money isn't even directed where it's needed most. Much of the spending is wasteful, including hundreds of millions for new government cars and golf carts. And some of it places new burdens on already-strapped local and state governments. One Alaska school superintendent said that the increased funding means new services in his district, but that once the stimulus funding runs out he won't be able to pay for them. And canceling some of these programs once they've been created, he said, would expose his district to lawsuits.

"Finally, the bill isn't temporary because it calls for a permanent expansion of government that could add hundreds of billions of dollars to the federal budget every year."

If every American had $50 for every time the GOP US Senators and Congressmen failed to judge George W. Bush with similar scrutiny over the past eight years, there would be no financial crisis. Sen. Murkowski was in Washington DC for six of Bush's eight years, and you won't find any similar criticism of his actions over those six years as already seen from her about President Obama in five weeks.

Thee are any number of articles coming out nationally and regionally, about GOP DC hypocrites who quietly had items added to the jobs package, and then publicly, indignantly even, voted against it. Now they've gone back to their home states. The press is full of BS CYA statements by these people. In essence, they are positioning themselves through hyperbolic phrases and detail, to blame Obama if the economy is slow in its recovery, and to take credit themselves if it recovers more quickly, and for the local projects coming to their states or districts.

AK Muckraker at the Mudflats transcribed Sen. Mark Begich's remarks in Anchorage Monday, about the process of preparing and voting for the Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act:

There’s two bills here. One in the finance committee and in the appropriations committee. Everybody makes it sound like no Republicans participated. False.

As a matter of fact, $110 billion of this was by two amendments by Republicans who then voted against the bill. Here’s what goes on back there. They get in the committee and they make so many of your amendments, (to the crowd) and your amendments, “I like your amendment,” ”I like your amendment.” Republicans AND Democrats - they get it in the bill, and then when it gets to the floor, which is really what you watch, and what the news watches, then you hear these guys spout off, “That’s the most expensive bill I’ve ever seen! It’s outrageous!”

Well, they put amendments in! It’s the most amazing thing to me. And that’s what goes on. There’s three segments to the bill. I looked at it, I read it. It’s not complicated. You know, some of those guys back there, they get on the floor and they say, “I wasn’t included in the meetings!” It’s not hard to find the meetings. You just show up. I did. I’m a freshman; I found the meetings. I went in there, and I participated in a group that whacked $130 billion out of that bill - as a freshman.

Sen. Begich is catching on. Fast.

Some of what Sen. Murkowski has to say is quite valid. The bigger the bill, the more waste there will be. George W. Bush certainly proved that. Time. After. Time. After. Time...

Meanwhile, I'm hearing from Juneau sources - some different, some the same as the Colberg deal info last week - that there's one thing you can get both Democratic Party and Republican Party legislators to agree upon right now: Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is not only out of her depth to an unprecedented degree, she is showing increasing signs of unstable conduct, almost on a daily basis.

Two Rivers - The Kenai and the Yukon

Alaska's Kenai River is 82 miles long. The river's volume output averages about 6,000 cubic feet per second. The combination of location, salmon abundance and natural beauty combine to make the Kenai River Alaska's most popular sports fishing destination.

The river is so important that the salmon fisheries of both lower Cook Inlet, of which the Kenai is a part, and upper Cook Inlet, are managed primarily in relation to how Kenai River sustainability and use can best be accommodated.

This Kenai River-centric fishery management history is one of the main reasons the salmon fisheries of upper Cook Inlet have slowly withered over the past generation or so. Kenai and Soldotna-based politicians and businesses have benefitted from the Kenai River-centric fish management and business paradigm.

Alaska's national congressional delegation, and such past governors as Tony Knowles, Bill Sheffield and Frank Murkowski have all supported this model, at the expense of the upper Cook Inlet's salmon stock sustainability.

The Kenai River's two Sockeye salmon runs are well-known, as are the river's Rainbow trout and Coho salmon runs. But the Kenai River Kings are one of Alaska's most famous fish. Only a few streams in Alaska boast larger average return weights than the Kenai. Those streams are quite small, though. About 65,000 King Salmon return to the Kenai River each year, making the return there the third largest among Alaska rivers.

The Copper River, with its annual commercial catch of around 40,000 Kings, and total return of around 70,000 or more, is the second biggest river in Alaska for Kings.

By far, the river with the largest return population of salmon has historically been the 2,300 mile-long Yukon River. But that has changed dramatically over the past decade or so. A river that recently saw returning King salmon populations in the hundreds of thousands, will most likely be closed this year.

Sadly, it has been reported, that already in 2009, by-catch of Yukon River-bound Chinook (King) salmon in the Bering Sea already (in February!) has surpassed what will be the allowable catch of the entire Yukon River subsistence and commercial fisheries:

Already in 2009, bycatch numbers are climbing, according to reports from crew members out West, for salmon and halibut.

Imagine how Alaskans would react if, year after year, a Seattle-based, partially foreign-owned fleet came into the bottom of Cook Inlet, and dragged up over 75% of the salmon coming into Cook Inlet. Imagine if this fleet wasn't even there to fish salmon. Imagine if the crewmen either brought these Anchor, Kasilof, Kenai, Susitna and Deshka River-bound King salmon back to Seattle to go to the Salvation Army, or - if they needed all the space in the hold left, for more Pollock - threw the valuable Kings overboard while the observers aboard their ships were kept out of sight.

That is what has been happening in the Bering Sea for decades. It has gotten to the point that the Seattle-based trawlers are taking so much of the Yukon, Kuskokwim and other river-bound salmon in their by-catch, that there might well not even be a Yukon River season in 2009. Or 2010. Or - ever again.

Could this happen to the Kenai River? Not likely. If the salmon runs on the Kenai will die, it will be from other kinds of greed and hyper-development. We've seen how much resistance some user groups of the river and property along the river have taken to sound policies and initiatives designed to improve salmon habitat.

Why, then, are rivers closer to the Bering Sea being allowed to wither away, allowing communities that have survived, even thrived there for twice or three times as long as there has been an English language, to die? Or to be relocated to Palinesque strategic hamlets, to be called "Cluster Villages," where kids would be trained to perform for tourists.

No doubt, one of the song-and-dance routines would be about the salmon that used to come up the river. You can go watch Native American songs and dances like that already, down on the Klamath, Columbia, Snake and Fraser Rivers.

I'm not sure whether the Yukon and Kuskokwim cultures are being allowed to die almost as fast as Gaza more because they are non-White, or because they are out-of-sight, out-of-mind.

images:

Upper Kenai River
Sen. Lisa Murkowski with trophy King
Abandoned gillnetter near Nunam Iqua
riverside housing development near Kenai

For Elizabeth Peratrovich

George Holly, honoring Elizabeth Peratrovich yesterday in Juneau:


thanks to Writing Raven for the tips!

Alaska Sen. Mark Begich Defends the Job Stimulus Bill

video by Dennis Zaki.

I wanted to make it into Anchorage to hear Sen. Begich, but didn't.

Saradise Lost - Book 2 - Chapter 29 -- "Bristol Can Be Used" Comes to Pass

It turns out that the focus of FOX News gossip maven Greta van Susteren's trip to Fairbanks and Wasilla this weekend will be her exclusive interview with Bristol Palin. Van Susteren, at her blog, promises several good looks at young Tripp:

ON THE RECORD at 10pm, 18 year old Bristol Palin with her son Tripp. This is her first interview (and yes, Governor Palin surprised us and joined us for a few minutes so you will hear her talk about her daughter and grandson. We had not expected the Governor to be there so we were delighted to talk to her.) You might be surprised by what Bristol has to say…

Greta was perturbed at some of the comments at her blog, and updated her blog post with:

….update: I have read some of the comments and see that some are nasty. I think the people who want to be nasty should “hold their fire” until they hear from Bristol and hear what she has to say, how she is handling the new addition to the family and what she plans to do. The people firing off the nasty comments are simply showing their hand…and tipping us off to how they approach life and problems themselves. Some people face problems head on and meet the challenge. Others fire off nasty comments. In this interview Bristol is in particular speaking to young women and I think young women would enjoy hearing her message (that’s a tease!)

Greta van Susteren is enabling Bristol's mom bring her mid-November statement to CNN's Larry King about her plans for her eldest daughter to fruition:

Bristol can be used as an example of Larry taking less than ideal circumstances and still making the best of these circumstances and that is who she is. She is strong, she is kindhearted, she is going to be just fine.

I wrote about how cynical I regarded Palin's comment to King to be, at the time.

Van Susteren's ongoing fascination with the Palins is FOX at its best, eh? It begins showing in Alaska around 6:00p.m.

We don't get FOX, so I think I'll go check out "Religulous" from Blockbuster instead.