SP Ignores Mosquitoes at her Peril - The Mudflats

[Blue_In_AK]

The AKMuckracker isn't letting up. :)


http://mudflats.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/palin-ignores-mosquitoes-at-her-peril/

Turns out there was just too much in that little 9 1/2 minute interview to cover in one day. This is installment #4 in picking apart Sarah Palin’s interview by the Daily News and KTUU in her Wasilla home on Sunday.

I found this particular question to be quite fascinating…probably because I was involved personally in the incidents discussed. I covered extensively the protest rallies in Anchorage that occured while Palin was on the campaign trail. There were three of them. I’ll recap, just to clarify:

1) Alaska Women Reject Palin - This rally happened at the Loussac Library and had about 1500 attendees, mostly women. Nobody had ever seen anything like this. Anchorage rallies usually manage to round up a couple dozen people…if they’re lucky. This was epic. There was a sea of homemade signs slamming her positions on reproductive rights, aerial wolf hunting, troopergate, global warming and croneyism. Anyone at that rally knew that something had awakened in the Alaskan people, that had resulted in something unexpected - an engaged citizenry.

2) Alaskans for Truth Rally - This rally happened at the Park Strip in downtown Anchorage, and had approximately 1800 attendees. The focus of this rally was to hold our Governor accountable for her actions, and to demand the immediate resignation of Alaska State Attorney General, Talis Colberg. Colberg advised state employees that they could disregard legislative subpoenas, and they did. Sarah Palin had promised to cooperate with the Legislative investigation, and she didn’t. The organizers were wondering if that first rally was an anomaly. They wondered if they could pull off a repeat. They did, and more. Speakers included local activists, progressive media, Republicans, representatives of the Native community and the Alaska State Troopers, and even Walt Monegan’s mom. The other purpose of this rally was to show support for former Commissioner of Public Safety Walt Monegan, independent investigator Stephen Branchflower, and State Senator Hollis French, all of whom had been mercilessly and unfairly slandered in the media by Palin and her mouthpiece, Meg Stapleton.
<My owns photos of this event are here http://www.northernvisions.smugmug.com/gallery/6083679_8Emun#382203710_7RivZ - BIA>

This rally got much more media coverage than the first one, and resulted in Mudflats having its busiest day ever, with more than 1/3 of a million hits in 24 hours. It was covered by the Anchorage Daily News, CBS, national blogs, local blogs and all local TV stations. The national coverage was not massive, but it was significant, and it’s doubtful that this went unnoticed by Palin, and it certainly didn’t go unnoticed by her staff still in Alaska.

So, yes….I was curious to see how Palin would answer this question.

Q. Governor, were you aware that during the campaign there were some large protests in Anchorage against your candidacy, as well as your handling of the Walt Monegan issue? What do you think about that and what can you do to bring those people back?

Palin: To bring those people back in terms of…..and I wasn’t aware of the protests ’til like after they happened. I’d hear about it. A friend emailed me or somethin’ sayin’ there were placards out there saying whatever they’d say. (waves hand dismissively) I think that’s the nature of a a national level campaign also some you know they evidence of that the opposition to our ticket on the national level that that’s going to be expressed here on the local level too.

The thing that really got me was the hand wave. She brushed us away like a mosquito. An annoyance. Not worthy of even breaking out the flyswatter. I hope this will be Palin’s big mistake. She underestimates those who have defected. Her approval ratings went from over 90% when she was first elected, to about 60% now. When one third of your supporters turn, it can make life difficult, especially when that 30% is angry, riled up, and out to change things.

An interesting thing has happened during this election, especially for progressives. All of a sudden, we feel like we’ve made a difference. We feel like we’ve taken our country back from the brink of something that no longer looked like the America we learned about in grade school. We have ushered in to office, the first African American president, who is a northerner, an educated, literate man with progressive ideals, and we’ve done it $5 or $25, or $100 at a time. We’ve seen a grassroots movement that actually shaped not only the future of our nation, but the future of the world. It feels pretty good.

My hunch is that this feeling is not going to help the likes of Sarah Palin. Why? Because people feel empowered to make change. I don’t know if Alaskans will sit idly by while our Governor charges the state per diem to sleep in her house, or charges the state for her children’s one way tickets and fancy hotel rooms, or while political appointments are based on religious idealogy and/or presence in the Wasilla High School year book. I don’t know if we’ll be willing to swallow an administration that fires people and sullies their reputations because of a personal vendetta. I don’t know if Alaskans will forget the “other” Sarah Palin who incited cries of “Kill him!” when she said that our President Elect was “palling around with terrorists.” I don’t know that Alaskans were able to deposit their permanent fund checks, and their energy rebate checks this year, and square that with watching our Governor sling accusations of “socialism” like it was a four letter word, and “spreading the wealth” like it was a moral crime.

Who knows. Maybe I’m wrong. Alaskans have surprised me before….like when they voted en masse for a convicted felon.

But anyone who lives here, does not underestimate the power of a mosquito. There’s a joke that the mosquito is the Alaska State Bird. And when you get a whole lot of them agitated and looking for blood, you can definitely affect some kind of change in behavior. I’ve seen a giant bull moose standing in water up to its nostrils just to get relief from big black clouds of those pesky little creatures. So why not a state government?

[NV Whino]

1. Good one, Blue

Thanks for posting.

[Blue_In_AK]

2. One good thing that came from SP's candidacy

was the national recognition of The Mudflats, one of the best blogs out there, in my opinion.

[lunatica]

3. Ok, what the hell does she say here....

"Palin: To bring those people back in terms of…..and I wasn’t aware of the protests ’til like after they happened. I’d hear about it. A friend emailed me or somethin’ sayin’ there were placards out there saying whatever they’d say. (waves hand dismissively) I think that’s the nature of a a national level campaign also some you know they evidence of that the opposition to our ticket on the national level that that’s going to be expressed here on the local level too."

It's bad enough when listening to her but whenever I see what she says in writing I just get lost.

[Blue_In_AK]

4. I think you actually have to watch her

(as painful as that is) to make any sense at all of what she's saying. Her communication skills have definitely devolved since August 29. She never used to sound this bad.

[rvablue]

6. Blue in AK....curious if you caught the Greta Van Sustren

interview and what you made of it.

I thought Greta has become one of Palin's biggest cheerleaders during the campaign.

But in the second part of the interview in Palin's kitchen I though Greta really kind of grilled her, asked her follow-ups, to the point where it looked like Palin was getting visibly angry and unnerved.

Of course, there is a part two tonight, where Greta goes snow-machining with Todd and other ridiculousness, but it was the particular part of the interview in the kitchen that struck me.

If you didn't catch it, I hope somehow you can see it and weigh in. As hard as it is to continue to watch Palin, I think we all need to keep tabs on what she is saying and doing.

[Blue_In_AK]

9. I've just seen bits and pieces,

but I know she does tend to get flustered when people dare to quiz her. I'm sure I can the whole thing somewhere to watch, but I'm trying to avoid it if I can. :)

[dixiegrrrrl]

10. Here's a mental image..

What if Greta and Geraldo had ...spawn?

Sorry to do that to you guys....brain erase pills coming irght up.

[Chulanowa]

7. Republicans want their women to sound like dumb strippers

Sarah Palin's only selling points to her "base" are her breasts. I have lost count of how many Publicans have said they voted for her 'cause she was "hot"

[Suich]

5. I've tried to diagram some of her sentences...

like I used to do in the 4th or 5th grade...noun, verb, etc., and have found it impossible!

:rofl:

[Lugnut]

8. Oy.

I was going to try to translate but it's useless.

[BrklynLiberal]

11. K&R for reference