Let the cover-up commence... Palin's vitriol on official site VANISHES!

I knew this would happen and it demands action now! I am personally calling the "new" administration with statutes in hand to ask them why they appear to have scrubbed the entire archive of press releases by ex-governor Palin from the state governor's website. Yes you read that correctly. All the tantrums, all the veiled threats, all the quotes from Nitzche threatening bloggers -- gone.

This is definitely a story I'm going to be following up on at my blog OMFGAK... I'm just throwing it out there NOW so ALL the progressive Alaskan bloggers are aware of it and can move quickly to expose this apparent cover-up in the making. I assert that as public records this action is an illegal one designed to destroy archival public information. It appears at this point that is exactly what they have done!

I'm hyperventilating... having a Maddow moment about this so somebody PLEASE "talk me down!" because this is serious shit. Try clicking on any bookmarks from her press releases. They all go to the root of the new governor's site. That's what is known as "scrubbing"... if we act quickly perhaps we can catch them in the act of this destruction through Google Cache browsing.

-Laz

Update from Facebook:

(I) heart Google! You have to do a search on Alaska.gov with "Palin press releases" to find her old threats, vitriol and vendettas against progressive Alaskan bloggers who merely were exercising THEIR rights to FREE SPEECH. So perhaps a bit of a panic-y "chicken little" moment [on my part] but it still appears that some of the ones that are libelous and/or slanderous have been scrubbed from the site. All links on the main governor's website no longer link to the previous administration and instead plop you down at the main page. This is not right. I understand S. P. v. 2.0 wanting to make a clean break and a fresh start but to "deep six" official public documents and make them harder to find reeks of a cover-up in the making...

-Laz

http://www.gov.state.ak.us/arc...

http://omfgalaska.blogspot.com/

Her last act was her best act...

Here's the most complete video I've found of Sarah Palin's last speech as governor, in Fairbanks at the Governor's Annual Picnic, moments before officially aborting at mid-term her sworn duties to the state of Alaska as governor by quitting. This was quickly followed by the swearing in ceremony of Lt. Governor Sean Parnell as new governor of the state of Alaska, which was followed by the even more procedurally odd swearing in of General Campbell to the position of "Temporary Lt. Governor":

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It's incredibly long by her standards and I do not recommend using this as a method of torture against our enemies. It would simply be too inhumane. This many crazy half-processed thoughts and the mish-mash of the usual word salad would likely choke your average healthy Clydesdale horse. Ramp up to it brave people! Take it in small doses if necessary. You've been warned.

By the way, does anyone know if Campbell has resigned his commission with both the Air Force and Alaska National Guard yet? If not, the moment he took the oath of office he was in contraversion of official federal military policy.

-Laz

This is all making my brain hurt!

(and thanks to Chris in AK for the tip on this)...

Lt. Governor Sean Parnell has now weighed in officially as the the conundrum (or "constitutional crisis") concerning the appointment of Campbell as Lt. Governor continues to spiral into even more legal complexity before Governor Palin leaves office.

This again leaves a couple of unanswered questions. First, can Parnell even legally do this since he has not yet been sworn in as the Governor especially considering that the law concerning interim appointments specifically says the "Governor" can make these appointments and says nothing about the "Lt. Governor"? I understand it is being framed as an official letter of intent, but is it yet another quasi-legal issue that cannot be sufficiently resolved until either Parnell is sworn in or the Alaskan legislature gives it's vote of approval or denial?

Second, and this is something Alaskan bloggers are already debating amongst themselves, shouldn't Campbell have to resign his active duty military commission before the appointment or at least before taking the official oath of office? What happens if he does so and the legislature decides NOT to confirm?

Yes indeed, we are "blessed to live in interesting times", just like the old Chinese proverb says...

-Laz

Max weighs in...

My favorite excerpt:

“Honestly, Sarah’s resignation was complete bullshit and I’m saying that as a Republican,” a Republican political veteran working in the legislature told me. “In all my years in politics, nobody has left Alaska in such a mess. Everyone here is just shocked.” The Republican added, “There’s no choice but to hold a special session. The conflict has to be handled in an orderly way.”

Read the entire article here.

-Laz

Drumroll please... (UPDATED)

The SarahPAC numbers have been reported to the Federal Election Commission as reported by Cillizza at the Washington Post today, pegging it at around $700,000 for the first half of 2009. Also revealed are the amounts paid to several mouthpieces and minions (wow Meg, only $4,000 a month to put up with Governor Crazypant's antics? Really?), thus providing bloggers and the MSM still more potential fodder for interesting articles unraveling the web of her spending and political practices.

Does this get reported as income for her because it seems ultimately she is the one who decides how and where it get's spent? The PAC is not registered as a 501 (c)(3) is it? Or is it a 527 group? And what the hell does this disclaimer mean on SarahPAC?

The Official Sarah Palin PAC

Paid for by SarahPAC Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee www.SarahPAC.com

Contributions to Sarah PAC are not deductible as charitable contributions for Federal income tax purposes.

Umm, huh? Their offical FAQ is, as could be expected, extremely light on details but heavy on the rah-rah sis-boom-bah cheer leading of her muddled political agenda. Is it at 501(c)(3) or a 527? Or does it exist as yet another thing that Sarah has done (or helped to be done in her name) that is somehow outside the bounds of normality and existing law? One thing for certain is that it appears to NOT be a non-profit entity because you cannot write it off on your taxes. Aren't normal political contributions tax deductible? (answering my own question, nope and nope again) As is the case with many activities by S.P., it only prompts more questions than it reveals any real answers. Stay tuned for more on this as it unfolds...

*** Update ***

Here's a link to the actual FEC filing.

*** Update 2 ***

An anonymous tipster caused me to want to dig deeper, because you know it just didn't seem fair Meg Stapleton was being paid "starvation wages" (roughly around twice what I make at my day job) to run the Governor Crazypants Dog and Pony media show, so I offer an excerpt and link to this from McClatchy:

"Stapleton herself was paid $12,000 by SarahPAC and another $32,450 through IzzyLene, a consulting firm registered in her name in Alaska."

Whew! I'd hate to think the poor girl was having to decide between the Shrimp or Beef flavored TopRamen every night. You know -- like me.

Also from the AP comes this link and additional info:

"Stapleton received a monthly salary of $8,000 through her Anchorage-based public relations business, IzzyLene Consulting.

Also listed was a $4,683 payment to Stapleton's husband, Eric Steenburgh. Stapleton said she had borrowed his credit card for travel expenses for her and Palin when the governor traveled to Washington, D.C., for a high-profile political dinner at the elite Alfalfa Club."

It is interesting that it says "for her AND Palin". What? Sarah, alleged to be a known coffee grifter (another story where Palin couldn't pay for her own coffee one time on the campaign trail because she said she never carries money or credit cards -- again, what?) couldn't afford her own plane ticket and expenses? WTF? (emphasis my own)

It is entirely possible that the differing amounts shown from both sources are getting confused with monies IzzyLean Consulting eventually paid out to GOTV as listed here. Also it must be pointed out as is obvious from the above link that this is NOT money from SarahPac but rather money paid directly from the McCain campaign as listed.

For the sake of metaphor allow me to compare the quest to dig up public documents on Palin, her paid operatives and her political activities using search engines on the internet in two ways: "wheels within wheels within wheels" which is the longhand way of using the term "Ouroboros" -- the snake that eats it's own tail (with posthumous thanks to Robert Anton Wilson for introducing me to those phrases). No matter where online information is stored, the "snake" that is the internet will always be able to find, gobble it up and digest itself incessantly occasionally pooping out a fresh stinky nugget for those of us willing to sift through the detritus to discover it.

Hey! There you go, Uncle Ted! Snakes are tube-like, so NOW I understand your past confusion, sir.

-Laz

You CAN'T make this shit up...

Many Alaskans seem to be unaware that our soon to be ex-Governor appointed three new judges this week. Judges she picked from a list submitted by the Alaska Judicial Council. Judges in her words from her own twitter account who will be "interpretting (sic) law, not making law".

So far so good. Typical and relatively scandal free. Now let the S.P. gaffe machine crank up to full speed before I reveal some things discovered digging through documents... one judge (from Palmer and I'm sure he's a perfectly nice man even though I don't know him personally) piqued my curiosity in particular because of his name -- Gregory L. Heath.

I know! Instantly I thought "is he related to her somehow?" and started spanking Google like a atubborn two-bit mule. And you will not believe what I found. OMFG! Now turn to page 8... I'll wait for you. Question 16. Read it slowly. Now go read this page. A brief quote from that article:

"In the resurfaced footage from the May 2005 blessing or "anointing" of Sarah Palin, at the Wasilla Assembly of God, three pastors surround Sarah Palin and bless her with the laying-on of hands. One of the pastors was Thomas Muthee. Another was Phil Markwardt of the Wasilla area Crossroads Community Church. The third was Wasilla Assembly of God head pastor Ed Kalnins. Kalnins and Markwardt traveled with Muthee, in 2005, to Africa to visit Muthee's Kenya-based. Kalnins has stated he has made two other trips to Africa, presumably to Muthee's church. Kalnins' and Markwardt's churches are among a Wasilla area church consortium helping to finance Muthee's Kenyan church expansion program." (emphasis added)

Now I'm NOT implying anything nefarious here but do you think it is totally out of the realm of possibilities that the judge is not somehow within her circle of friends and familiar with the Rev. Muthee? He states in his application (page 8 question 16, again) they have been a host family for an exchange student from Kenya. He was probably at the 2005 anointing of S.P., even.

So what is my point? Well only that there are a lots of coincidences surrounding this judicial appointment and that it is an example of exactly how, long after S.P. is just a memory, she will continue to have influence over Alaskan's lives. Just like her political mentor G. W. Bush, I have an idea she's going to spend a lot of time "embedding" like-minded individuals in positions of power within Alaska before she sashays off into the sunset. So be afraid Alaska. Be very afraid.

From the article:

"The Bible says that since the days of John The Baptist the Kingdom suffers violence. The violent take it by force. People that have spiritual backbone are the ones that will move forward. I thank God for what I see happening in this place. I thank God for the vision, the passion that I can see here.

And my word is this: The more violent you become, the more committed you become, the quicker you will see things happen in this region."

Muthee's rhetoric has, if anything, grown more extreme since that 2004 sermon, as attested to in a recent post from journalist Max Blumenthal who traveled to Alaska to attend Bishop Thomas Muthee's September 20-21 appearance at the Wasilla Assembly of God. As Blumenthal describes:

On the first night of services, Muthee implored his audience to wage "spiritual warfare" against "the enemy." As I filmed, a nervous church staffer approached from behind and told me to put my camera away. I acceded to his demand, but as Muthee urged the church to crush "the python spirit" of the unbeliever enemies by stomping on their necks, I pulled out a smaller camera and filmed from a more discreet position. Now, church members were in deep prayer, speaking in tongues and raising their hands. Muthee exclaimed, "We come against the spirit of witchcraft! We come against the python spirits!" Then, a local pastor took the mic from Muthee and added, "We stomp on the heads of the enemy!""

-Laz

The ACTING AG speaks up...

That's right, the acting Attorney General is expressing his opinion over the constitutionality of S.P.'s Lt. Governor appointment and slaps a big rubber stamp on it. Have I pointed out the Daniel Sullivan is STILL THE ACTING AG?

Acting. As in "has not been confirmed by the legislature yet, either" acting Attorney General. His opinion, until officially confirmed by the legislature frankly should carry about as much legal weight as yours and mine and in my opinion, by weighing in on this before he has been confirmed he has committed a gross error in judgment. The phrase "quasi-legal opinion without the benefit of a constitutionally mandated legislative confirmation hearing" comes immediately to mind.

Until he's officially confirmed, he doesn't and shouldn't have a horse in this race. Or have we forgotten so soon how Wayne Anthony Ross was recently shown the door? Remember how S.P. was already calling W.A.R. the Attorney General and how he actually had began to use official AG stationary BEFORE he was confirmed? S.P. is the queen of "cart before horse" behavior.

My red flags have gone up on this one and her appointment of Campbell to Lt. Governor. Schmidt refusing to serve is also fishy. Methinks something smells rotten in the state of Alaska! Methinks it smells of months old neocon fish wrapped in a week old neotheocon newspaper.

I'm posting this again because I don't think people of Alaska have awakened to the political ramifications of this succession problem... I hear people (on Shannyn and Method's radio shows today) poo-pooing and soft-pedaling this as something that doesn't rise to the level of a constitutional crisis, but if this isn't one I don't know what hell is. Meaning of course, it IS.

-Laz

Ruh Roh!

Yeah. Maverick-y. In the same way a sock puppet is maverick-y.

Is there absolutely NOTHING that S.P. says that is grounded in truth?

-Laz

A lie a day...

because you don't want to keep the media at bay, do you, S.P.?

Everyday someplace new to repeat the lies. She seems to have finally learned the Bush doctrine about preemptive strikes, only she's using it to carpet bomb the media with lies.

-Laz

Here there be icebergs, yaaaaarrrgh!

I admit it. I wanted to spew out all sorts of crap about my feelings "as an Alaskan" about S.P. and her quitting... some grandiose and overblown opus of a blog rant so as to fully end any desire to even feel the need to have that essentially self-serving discussion with myself (and a few readers) on a public blog.

Now I don't have to thanks to Donald Craig Mitchell.

Though I must say, it is long. Folks with short attention spans will be challenged to read every word of it. Yet it is also a compelling and worthwhile read, serving as rebuttal to an entire, albeit brief era under the sway of the large personality that IS S.P.

And one final note to Mr. Mitchell: It is not acceptable for you to refer to her child as "damaged Baby" Trig. You will undoubtedly be taking some verbal shots from your peers and the blogosphere at large for that comment because it isn't nor has it ever been about her kids. It's about HER manifest shortcomings. In my opinion you owe her, him and everyone an apology for crossing the boundary of decorum and good taste with those two tiny words.

Oh and the iceberg part? It doesn't happen until the last page and starts with the words:

"In other words, either Walt Monegan, Alaska's former chief law enforcement officer, committed perjury. Or Sarah Palin, the Governor of Alaska, committed perjury."

Yaaarrrrgh!

-Laz