Breaking News: WaPo Meltdown
The Washington Post recently abandoned any appearance of balance by firing their one liberal columnist, Dan Froomkin. Then a couple of days ago, The Post's Dana Milbank, who I normally like, threw a snit on a news show because a blogger got called on in a Presidential press conference. The blogger, Nico Pitney, was the one who had put together the terrific web site following events in Iran as they unfolded -- we linked to it last week -- and he had elicited questions for the President from Iranian people. Milbank was apparently outraged because someone from the administration called the blogger the day before the news conference to tell him he would be asked a question. It was an embarrassing episode for The Post.
But that was nothing.
Today a lobbyist revealed a flyer that had been sent to him by the Washington Post. Politico has it:
This is just incredible. One of the nation's premier news sources is selling the opportunity to lobby their journalists, and apparently planned to sell access to their news sources in insider Washington as well.
Now they say they have canceled the first "salon."
The story as of ten o'clock Thursday night, from Politico, who broke the story:
But you know, lady, it's too late, the cat's out of the bag. You had the invitations, they were printed up and distributed to K Street wheeler-dealers, this isn't some crazy idea that's being batted around the conference room. This was a done deal.
Personal access to Post reporters and administration officials, $25,000 for one, and special for you my friend, $250,000 for eleven. This story is going to last a long time and go a long way. I can't think of anything in modern journalism that quite compares to this. This isn't a lazy reporter making up quotes, this is selling out the entire organization from the very top, a major American newspaper. I think this could be the end of an era.
Tomorrow's page A1 is going to be one of the most important pages The Post has ever laid out. If this story isn't there, they're toast.
[ Friday morning Update: I don't see it in the print edition this morning, but online The Post has the story HERE. They're blaming a marketing executive, Charles Pelton, even though the "salons" were going to be held at publisher Katharine Weymouth's private residence. Various people are appalled, journalists were stunned and angry, etc. ]
But that was nothing.
Today a lobbyist revealed a flyer that had been sent to him by the Washington Post. Politico has it:
"Underwriting Opportunity: An evening with the right people can alter the debate," says the one-page flier. "Underwrite and participate in this intimate and exclusive Washington Post Salon, an off-the-record dinner and discussion at the home of CEO and Publisher Katharine Weymouth. ... Bring your organization’s CEO or executive director literally to the table. Interact with key Obama administration and congressional leaders."
The flier promised the dinner would be held in an intimate setting with no unseemly conflict between participants. "Spirited? Yes. Confrontational? No," it said. "The relaxed setting in the home of Katharine Weymouth assures it. What is guaranteed is a collegial evening, with Obama administration officials, Congress members, business leaders, advocacy leaders and other select minds typically on the guest list of 20 or less."
...
The first "Salon" was to be called "Health-Care Reform: Better or Worse for Americans? The reform and funding debate." More were anticipated, and the flier described the opportunities for participants:
"Offered at $25,000 per sponsor, per Salon. Maximum of two sponsors per Salon. Underwriters' CEO or Executive Director participates in the discussion. Underwriters appreciatively acknowledged in printed invitations and at the dinner. Annual series sponsorship of 11 Salons offered at $250,000 … Hosts and Discussion Leaders ... Health-care reporting and editorial staff members of The Washington Post ... An exclusive opportunity to participate in the health-care reform debate among the select few who will actually get it done. ... A Washington Post Salon ... July 21, 2009 6:30 p.m. ..."
"Washington Post Salons are extensions of The Washington Post brand of journalistic inquiry into the issues, a unique opportunity for stakeholders to hear and be heard," the flier says. "At the core is a critical topic of our day. Dinner and a volley of ideas unfold in an evening of intelligent, news-driven and off-the-record conversation. ... By bringing together those powerful few in business and policy-making who are forwarding, legislating and reporting on the issues, Washington Post Salons give life to the debate. Be at this nexus of business and policy with your underwriting of Washington Post Salons." Washington Post cancels lobbyist event amid uproar
This is just incredible. One of the nation's premier news sources is selling the opportunity to lobby their journalists, and apparently planned to sell access to their news sources in insider Washington as well.
Now they say they have canceled the first "salon."
The story as of ten o'clock Thursday night, from Politico, who broke the story:
Washington Post publisher Katharine Weymouth said today she was canceling plans for an exclusive "salon" at her home where for as much as $250,000, the Post offered lobbyists and association executives off-the-record access to "those powerful few" — Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and even the paper’s own reporters and editors.
The astonishing offer was detailed in a flier circulated Wednesday to a health care lobbyist, who provided it to a reporter because the lobbyist said he felt it was a conflict for the paper to charge for access to, as the flier says, its “health care reporting and editorial staff."
With the Post newsroom in an uproar after POLITICO reported the solicitation, Weymouth said in an email to the staff that "a flier went out that was prepared by the Marketing department and was never vetted by me or by the newsroom. Had it been, the flier would have been immediately killed, because it completely misrepresented what we were trying to do."
Weymouth said the paper had planned a series of dinners with participation from the newsroom "but with parameters such that we did not in any way compromise our integrity. Sponsorship of events, like advertising in the newspaper, must be at arm's length and cannot imply control over the content or access to our journalists. At this juncture, we will not be holding the planned July dinner and we will not hold salon dinners involving the newsroom."
But you know, lady, it's too late, the cat's out of the bag. You had the invitations, they were printed up and distributed to K Street wheeler-dealers, this isn't some crazy idea that's being batted around the conference room. This was a done deal.
Personal access to Post reporters and administration officials, $25,000 for one, and special for you my friend, $250,000 for eleven. This story is going to last a long time and go a long way. I can't think of anything in modern journalism that quite compares to this. This isn't a lazy reporter making up quotes, this is selling out the entire organization from the very top, a major American newspaper. I think this could be the end of an era.
Tomorrow's page A1 is going to be one of the most important pages The Post has ever laid out. If this story isn't there, they're toast.
[ Friday morning Update: I don't see it in the print edition this morning, but online The Post has the story HERE. They're blaming a marketing executive, Charles Pelton, even though the "salons" were going to be held at publisher Katharine Weymouth's private residence. Various people are appalled, journalists were stunned and angry, etc. ]
posted by JimK at 10:41 PM
34 Comments:
it's on page C1, Jim, and that seems appropriate to me
not a big story
I personally think they should have had the dinners
It used to be that forcing sex on an unconsenting adult was considered rape.
No longer.
Now, personal, deviant and x-rated sex is quickly becoming commonplace in the public square.
In just the last week, this occupant of the "public square" has been treated to images best confined to the pages of porn magazines.
Images and acts that are popping up regularly on billboards, television, the internet and pages of major publications.
Calvin Klein, in their latest breach of good taste, launched a huge billboard in SoHo showing four languid, half-dressed models engaging in group sex.
That billboard managed to be more offensive than Calvin Klein's last campaign, which featured half-clad dead bodies.
I guess porno and death sell jeans.
Go figure.
Not to be outdone, Burger King just released their new 'Super 7 Incher' ad, equating burgers with acts that are best kept private.
Absent from the ad was any hint of subtlety.
Apparently Burger King believes that appealing to your sexual appetite will titillate you into buying their burgers.
Or something.
Moving right along, this weekend San Francisco celebrated sexual 'diversity' with the 39th annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Parade & Festival.
This fun festival includes a Dyke March and the annual Castro Street Dance hosted by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.
If last year's Festival is any indicator, nudity and sex will be prominently featured.
In the public square.
Ditto New York.
Last weekend, New York played host to the Folsom-East Deviant Sex-Fest.
Again, homosexual bondage, fisting and the casual swapping of bodily fluids played out in the public square.
Lewdness laws were suspended for the duration.
These increasingly public displays of sex that many now claim as a right, portray sex as the mere indulgence of a fleeting impulse instead of an act that used to be associated with love.
Sex, which is considered private and sacred by most Americans, is now being brought down to the level of a crude bathroom joke.
And it's being done smack dab in the middle of the public square, where channel changers and radio dials are of no use.
Last week Apple decided to cash in on the sexual tsunami by supplying porn to Iphone users.
Since we are still a capitalist country (for now, at least), this is Apple's right.
Just as it is the right of consumers to choose not to download their porn.
A choice that is increasingly being denied many Americans as smut, porn and casual sex become staples of more advertising campaigns.
As more "gay pride" events take place in ever more public places.
As more and more Americans ascribe to the notion that their sexuality belongs in the public domain instead of in the bedroom.
In today's public square, it has been decided that Christians have no right to foist their beliefs on others, but no such constraints shackle the gay activists, businesses and the old media who continue to thrust their demeaning view of sex into the face of every American.
Sex sells.
Appealing to base instincts, prurience and scandal will always find an audience in those that need to see ugliness in others in order to feel better about themselves.
The silver lining is, at least now we'll be able to identify those sad souls.
They're the ones wearing Calivn Klein jeans and stuffing Burger King 7-inchers into their mouths.
That's freedom!
it's on page C1, Jim, and that seems appropriate to me
Oh, I see, they put it in the Style section. That is not "appropriate" but it gives you an idea about their priorities.
Oh, and other-Anon, forcing sex on someone is rape, showing someone a picture of sex is not. I don't like these stupid ads either, but I really don't like the way you trivialize rape.
JimK
Sarah Palin announces resignation as Governor of Alaska.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/07/alaskas-sarah-palin-is-stepping-down-as-governor-this-month.html
"Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin says she won't seek reelection
Palin 'doing what's best for Alaska' in stepping down as governor
Sarah Palin picked a slow news day before a holiday to shake up the political world, saying she will step down as governor of Alaska but leaving open the question of her political future.
“We've got to put first things first. I love my job and I love Alaska. I am doing what’s best for Alaska,” Palin said at a televised news conference in her hometown of Wasilla.
Palin said she hoped people were not disappointed by the decision, which she said had been in the works for some time. She said she was taking “my fight for what’s right in a new direction.” She said she could be more effective and better serve Alaska and the country from outside the governor's office.
At a news conference before the Fourth of July weekend, Palin said she would step aside and be replaced by Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell later this month. She said the transition of power would be smooth and took no questions.
Palin, who is very popular with the GOP’s conservative base, was considered a possibility for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination. Not being governor would free her to concentrate on accumulating resources for a national race. Palin did not say that’s what she intended to do.
Palin said she was willing to transfer power so that the current Alaska administration can continue.
“My choice is to take a stand and effect change and not just hit our head against the wall,” Palin said. She was surrounded by her family and top state officials.
“Millions of dollars go down the drain in this new political environment,” she said.
“Rather, we know we can effect positive change outside government,” she continued and “actually make a difference.”
Palin criticized recent political attacks, including one from former campaign aides of Arizona Sen. John McCain, who was the top of the GOP ticket.
“You are naive if you don’t see a full-court press from the national level picking away a good point guard,” she said, referring to criticism of her campaigning style. The most recent attack was in a magazine article in Vanity Fair magazine."
"Oh, I see, they put it in the Style section. That is not "appropriate" but it gives you an idea about their priorities."
It might be that the whole thing was a bad idea but I don't think there was any sinister attempt. The same thing happens at charity dinners and balls where mover and shakers get together and discuss issues and bounce around ideas.
"Oh, and other-Anon, forcing sex on someone is rape, showing someone a picture of sex is not. I don't like these stupid ads either, but I really don't like the way you trivialize rape."
Yeah, you're probably right. That was just a plagiarized piece I put up to spur discussion. This exhibitionist impulse appears to be an element of gay culture- in America anyway.
Oh, woe is me! Alas and alack! My particular sex phobic view of the world is no longer the prevailing attitude that guides our daily interactions with each other...civilization is doomed - the end is near! Head for the hills...the dam has burst!! Tear your hair - rend your garments!
Anonymous - your views of the world and the people who inhabit it are so distorted and full of venom and vituperation and hatred. Is this what religious morality has wrought - empty shells of people who precreate but who do not enjoy the act of procreation? Your discomfort with sex and your distorted, twisted homophobia is an illness...tend to it before it is too late for you!
Andrea- not anon
Before I go to The 4th of July Parade- I want to thank Sarah Palin for making it one of the best ever. President Barack Hussein Obama and "Sarah Palin Resigns". I don't watch Fox but I bet she becomes a Fox talking mouth pretty soon.
Well if she does, she'll fit right in with the "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right"
"Is this what religious morality has wrought - empty shells of people who precreate but who do not enjoy the act of procreation?"
Actually, no. Sex, under the traditional Christian view, is a gift of God and meant to be enjoyed.
Exhibitionism and removing it from the structure of a marital relationship debases this gift.
"I want to thank Sarah Palin for making it one of the best ever."
She'll be much stronger this way. The law in Alaska allows lying Democrats to file baseless accusations of ethics violations. Almost all of these were filed after she became a national figure and almost all have been dismissed but have taken all her time and considerable money.
Now, she can freely travel and fundraise for Republican candidates.
It's a win-win. Republicans raise a lot more money and Democrats get to have a Republican President in 2012 so they can go back to what they do best- whine.
Remember they have the Presidency and a 60 vote Senate.
No excuses, people.
You have to take responsibility now.
My thoughts about the anti-gay activists who obsess about Folsom and pride parades is, pretty much, you don't have to go to them if you don't want. It's like Mardi Gras, Las Vegas and other venues of heterosexual debauchery: you really just don't have to go. It's laughably misdirectional to write about Pride and the tasteless burger king ads at the same time. BTW, the BK ads were for the Singapore market, a nation famous (or infamous) for it's morality laws and unfriendliness to the lgbt equality movement, and the strength in its culture of anti-gay religious viewpoints. The BK ads, whatever you want to say about Pride parades and Folsom, are not the fault of queer people.
Where do you find this stuff? Should should attribute, or provide links.
The law in Alaska allows lying Democrats to file baseless accusations of ethics violations.
It allows lying Republicans to file them too. Maybe you forgot last year when McClatchy reported: "Palin files ethics complaint against self in 'troopergate'
Now, she can freely travel and fundraise for Republican candidates.
Maybe she will fund-raise and be involved in politics, or maybe she won't. We know how your "chain rattling" predictions have a way of being flat out wrong.
Huffington Post reports:
Speaking on MSNBC, Andrea Mitchell reported that, according to "people very close to Sarah Palin," she has "told her supporters that she is out of politics, period. She is fed up with politics. She doesn't like her life. She feels that she needs to raise her family. She's sick of the commute from Wasilla to the capital. And she really does not want to run for higher office, that this is not a case where she is stepping down in order to clear the way for a presidential run. In fact, she has told some of her biggest backers in the national Republican Party that they are free to choose other candidates for 2012, which of course opens new avenues for Mitt Romney, for Tim Pawlenty, for other potential candidates who are definitely in the running."
Anon continues It's a win-win.
Are you sure about that?
Also on MSNBC Alaskan progressive radio host, Shannyn Moore, floats "criminal investigation" as reason for Sarah Palin's resignation as Alaska Governor.
...There's a scandal rumor here that there's a criminal investigation into some activities and that's been rumored here for probably 6 weeks or 2 months, and I'm not sure if that has more to do with this [resignation press conference]. It seemed today that she was, and like I've said, I've watched her as she was campaigning, I've never seen her as nervous, as sort of like [unintelligable] into a press conference as I did today, and I think she was really doing damage control for news that's coming up later...
What news? Well according to The Daily Beast's Max Blumenthal:
...federal investigators have been seizing paperwork from SBS in recent months, searching for evidence that Palin and her husband Todd steered lucrative contracts to the well-connected company in exchange for gifts like the construction of their home on pristine Lake Lucille in 2002....
SBS has close ties to the Palins. The company has not only sponsored Todd Palin's snowmobile team, according to the Village Voice's Wayne Barrett, it hired Sarah Palin to do a statewide television commercial in 2004.
Though Todd Palin told Fox News he built his Lake Lucille home with the help of a few "buddies," according to Barrett’s report, public records revealed that SBS supplied the materials for the house. While serving as mayor of Wasilla, Sarah Palin blocked an initiative that would have required the public filing of building permits—thus momentarily preventing the revelation of such suspicious information.
Just months before Palin left city hall to campaign for governor, she awarded a contract to SBS to help build the $13 million Wasilla Sports Complex.
Time will tell if this is the win-win situation Anon and the rightwing press thinks it is.
"It's like Mardi Gras, Las Vegas and other venues of heterosexual debauchery: you really just don't have to go."
What you don't get, Robert, is that this "heterosexual debauchery" is only tolerated in Las Vegas and New Orleans.
The homosexual outlandishly lewd parades are conducted in every major American city, debasing our culture much as homosexuals have debased our health by establishing the AIDS virus in our population.
"Also on MSNBC Alaskan progressive radio host, Shannyn Moore, floats "criminal investigation" as reason for Sarah Palin's resignation as Alaska Governor."
Palin has announced that she will be leading a national effort to move us toward energy independence and strengthen our national security.
The Big O is a fabulous one-term wonder.
I wonder why you don't realize that.
btw, Palin's attorney has notified Moore that Palin will file a defamation suit if Moore continues to lie.
Palin can do that when she's no longer a public official.
Anon, in another stunning prediction of the future stated:
“The Big O is a fabulous one-term wonder.
I wonder why you don't realize that.”
Many people have realized how fabulous President Obama is.
Sara Palin is a ¾ term wonder.
I wonder why she didn’t finish out her whole term. Was Michael Jackson’s death just too much for her to handle? It’s a good thing people caught on to her inability to lead months ago.
Have a nice day,
Cynthia
Andrea- not anon
Anon- you are always wrong. How MC was going to vote out all the liberals- didn't happen. President Obama will be around for eight years. Sarah Palin will become another media whore- a lot more well paid than currently for the illiterate trash she spouts. I mean if people will pay not-Joe not- the Plumber to speak and appear- I can only imagine Sarah's groupies will do more.
Palin will file a defamation suit
That’s because Palin has trouble with being open, honest, and accountable. This CBS article about the Palin/McCain campaign emails shows her problem with honesty quite vividly:
After being asked on the campaign trail about her husband's membership in the Alaskan Independence Party, Palin wrote:
"Pls get in front of that ridiculous issue that's cropped up all day today - two reporters, a protestor's sign, and many shout-outs all claiming Todd's involvement in an anti-American political party," Palin wrote. "It's bull, and I don't want to have to keep reacting to it ... Pls have statement given on this so it's put to bed."
...Schmidt hit "reply to all" less than five minutes after Palin's e-mail was sent. "Ignore it," he wrote. "He was a member of the aip? My understanding is yes. That is part of their platform. Do not engage the protestors. If a reporter asks say it is ridiculous. Todd loves america."
This clear cut response from the campaign's top dog carried an air of finality, but it did not satisfy Palin. She responded with another e-mail, adding five more names to the "cc" box, all of whom traveled on her campaign plane. They included her senior political adviser Tucker Eskew, senior aide Jason Recher, the lone traveling aide from her Alaska office Kris Perry, press secretary Tracey Schmitt and personal assistant Bexie Nobles.
Palin's insertion of the five additional staffers in the e-mail chain was an apparent attempt to rally her own troops in the face of a decision from the commanding general with which she disagreed. Her inclusion of her personal assistant was particularly telling about her quest for affirmation and support in numbers, since the young staffer was not in a position to have any input on campaign strategy.
"That's not part of their platform and he was only a 'member' bc independent alaskans too often check that 'Alaska Independent' box on voter registrations thinking it just means non partisan," Palin wrote. "He caught his error when changing our address and checked the right box. I still want it fixed."
Palin was attempting to bend the facts ever so slightly to fit neatly into her version of events. In truth, the box that Alaskans have the option of checking when registering to vote states the full name of the party, "Alaskan Independence Party," not "Alaska Independent," which would make an error by uncommitted voters more plausible.
Clearly irritated by what he saw as Palin's attempt to mislead her own campaign and apparently determined to demonstrate that the ultimate authority rested with him, Schmidt put the matter to rest once and for all with a longer response to everyone in the e-mail chain.
(Continued CBS article)
"Secession," he wrote. "It is their entire reason for existence. A cursory examination of the website shows that the party exists for the purpose of seceding from the union. That is the stated goal on the front page of the web site. Our records indicate that todd was a member for seven years. If this is incorrect then we need to understand the discrepancy. The statement you are suggesting be released would be innaccurate. The innaccuracy would bring greater media attention to this matter and be a distraction. According to your staff there have been no media inquiries into this and you received no questions about it during your interviews. If you are asked about it you should smile and say many alaskans who love their country join the party because it speeks to a tradition of political independence. Todd loves his country
We will not put out a statement and inflame this and create a situation where john has to address this."
Schmidt's rebuttal to Palin's suggestion that reporters had asked her about the issue was particularly blunt in that it implicitly questioned her truthfulness...
Palin was silent after his second e-mail and the campaign did not issue the statement she demanded.
Let's see if Palin's "defamation suit" against the reporter becomes a reality instead of just the threat to intimidate and silence her it is now.
Well, Anon-B has really flipped off the handle here but does not address this "criminal investigation" this liberal blogger Moore talked about it.
It's a lie and again Anon-B acts as if any malarkey posted onsite by a lunatic blogger is fact.
I know it's true.
I saw it on the internet.
does not address this "criminal investigation" this liberal blogger Moore talked about it.
I provided the link to Shannyn Moore's MSNBC appearance and sometimes you just have to click a link to learn more about the subject mentioned here. I also included a partial transcript of her MSNBC interview, that began ..."There's a scandal rumor here that there's a criminal investigation into some activities and that's been rumored here for probably 6 weeks or 2 months, and I'm not sure if that has more to do with this [resignation press conference]"...
Moore is reporting "a rumor" and that she's "not sure if that has more to do with this [resignation..."] at this point. As I said, Time will tell if this is the win-win situation Anon and the rightwing press thinks it is.
If you want to know about what Ms. Moore has to say about that rumor, googling her name easily takes readers right to her website http://shannynmoore.wordpress.com/
How did you like Rove's and Huckabee's comments about Palin's abrupt resignation on Fox Sunday Morning? Karl Rove, a longtime Bush counselor, said Palin has engaged in a "risky strategy."..."Well, it's a risky strategy, and nobody knows whether it's going to pay off or not," Huckabee said. "And even if she did get out, primarily because of a feeling of being chased, that's not going to stop if she continues in politics. The only way that stops is for her to completely exit the stage and the spotlight."
They don't seem as sure as you are that it's a win-win for the GOP; they think it's risky. I know that's true because I read it on the Internet after seeing the show myself this morning. And I know there's something to Moore's claims about Wasilla's new sports complex and the Palin's new home and because I read about that shady wheeling and dealing last year too.
(Continued)
Since clicking on links seems to be something Anon can't handle, here's what the Village Voice reported about the Palin's house and Wasilla's sports complex in October, 2008:
...THE $12.5 MILLION sports complex and hockey rink that is the lasting monument to Palin's two terms as Wasilla mayor is also a monument to the kind of insider politics that dismays Americans of both parties. Six months before Palin stepped down as mayor in October 2002, the city awarded nearly a half-million-dollar contract to design the biggest project in Wasilla history to Kumin Associates. Blase Burkhart was the Kumin architect on the job—the son of Roy Burkhart, who is frequently described as a "mentor" of Palin and was head of the local Republican Party (his wife, June, who also advised Palin, is the national committeewoman). Asked if the contract was a favor, Roy Burkhart, who contributed to her campaign in the same time frame that his son got the contract, said: "I really don't know." Palin then named Blase Burkhart to a seven-member builder-selection committee that picked Howdie Inc., a mostly residential contractor owned at the time by Howard Nugent. Formally awarded the contract a couple of weeks after Palin left office, Nugent has donated $4,000 to Palin campaigns. Two competitors protested the process that led to Nugent's contract. Burkhart and Nugent had done at least one project together before the complex—and have done several since.
A list of subcontractors on the job, obtained by the Voice, includes many with Palin ties. One was Spenard Builders Supply, the state's leading supplier of wood, floor, roof, and other "pre-engineered components." In addition to being a sponsor of Todd Palin's snow-machine team that has earned tens of thousands for the Palin family, Spenard hired Sarah Palin to do a statewide television commercial in 2004. When the Palins began building a new family home off Lake Lucille in 2002—at the same time that Palin was running for lieutenant governor and in her final months as mayor—Spenard supplied the materials, according to Antoine Bricks, who works in its Wasilla office. Spenard actually filed a notice "of its right to assert a lien" on the deed for the Palin property after contracting for labor and materials for the site. Spenard's name has popped up in the trial of Senator Stevens—it worked on the house that is at the center of the VECO scandal as well....
(Continued)
Todd Palin told Fox News that he built the two-story, 3,450-square-foot, four-bedroom, four-bath, wood house himself, with the help of contractors he described as "buddies." As mayor, Sarah Palin blocked an effort to require the filing of building permits in the wide-open city, and there is no public record of who the "buddies" were. The house was built very near the complex, on a site whose city purchase led to years of unsuccessful litigation and, now, $1.3 million in additional costs, with a law firm that's also donated to Palin collecting costly fees from the city.
Dorwin and Joanne Smith, the principals of complex subcontractor DJ Excavation & Development, have donated $7,100 to Palin and her allied candidate Charlie Fannon (Joanne is a Palin appointee on the state Board of Nursing). Sheldon Ewing, who owns another complex subcontractor, Weld Air, has donated $1,300, and PN&D, an engineering firm on the complex, has contributed $699.
Ewing was one of the few sports-complex contractors, aside from Spenard, willing to address the question of whether he worked on the house as well, but he had little to say: "I doubt that it occurred, but if it did indirectly, how would I know anyhow?" The odd timing of Palin's house construction—it was completed two months before she left City Hall and while she and Todd Palin were campaigning statewide for the first time—raises questions, especially considering its synergy with the complex.
Salon's David Talbot recently visited the complex, which, he said, resembled "a huge airplane hangar" so far away from the city's center that kids can't bike or walk there. It's adorned by a plaque commemorating Palin. Even as a governor, she is still such a champion of the complex—which loses money every year—that she just steered state funding for a new kitchen to it.
btw, Palin's attorney has notified Moore that Palin will file a defamation suit if Moore continues to lie.
Palin's attorney's "four-page statement seeking to quash rumors that the Alaska governor's decision to resign was motivated by ethics problems" was published by Chris Cillizza at The Fix.
Here's Shannyn Moore's reply:
On the Fourth of July, when Americans everywhere were celebrating our most sacred national holiday with parades and barbeques, Governor Sarah Palin was busy having me, Shannyn Moore, declared an Enemy of the State.
In a rambling quasi-legal letter, the most powerful person in this state accused me of defaming her for pointing out the fact that there have been rumors, -rumors- of corruption, rumors that have been around for years.
When Sarah Palin gave her three-weeks notice to the people of Alaska, aborting her term as Governor, a lot of people wondered why she quit. Mid-level managers turn-in their notice, not elected public officials. It didn’t make sense. It still doesn’t. People have been trying to guess why she really quit, and everyone in Alaska has been playing the guessing game. They’re rumors. There are a lot of rumors. And with all the corruption we’ve had here in Alaska, of course we wonder what’s really behind her resignation.
Governors don’t just quit. But Governor Palin did.
The governor’s massive overreaction -on the Fourth of July no less- should make any reasonable person wonder what’s wrong with her. The Lady protests way too much. Eventually we’ll all find out why she really walked off the job.
Sarah Palin is a coward and a bully. What kind of politician attacks an ordinary American on the Fourth of July for speaking her mind? What’s wrong with her? The First Amendment was designed to protect people like me from the likes of people like her. Our American Revolution got rid of kings. And queens, too. Am I jacked-up? You betcha.
Sarah Palin, if you have a problem with me, then sue me. Shannyn Moore will not be muzzled!
seems like Anon-B is really worked up about the Palin situation
I can't imagine how postal she'll go when Palin becomes the first woman President
Keep hoping Anon, but remember, hope is not a method.
There were interesting facts about Palin popping up all over the blogosphere yesterday that I reported here. If you don't want to read them, don't.
IMHO, Palin's attorney should mind his words. He said:
To the extent several websites, most notably liberal Alaska blogger Shannyn Moore, are now claiming as "fact" that Governor Palin resigned because she is "under federal investigation" for embezzlement or other criminal wrongdoing, we will be exploring legal options this week to address such defamation.
In fact, Ms. Moore said there are rumors to that effect and it appears to me Mr. Van Flein's false statement above defames Ms. Moore.
Van Flein continued:
This is to provide notice to Ms. Moore, and those who re-publish the defamation, such as Huffington Post, MSNBC, the New York Times and The Washington Post, that the Palins will not allow them to propagate defamatory material without answering to this in a court of law.
This statement reminds me of John Garza's letter to Kay Romero, wherein he threatened Ms. Romero on Michelle Turner's behalf:
...have your attorney contact me upon receipt of this letter. If I do not hear from you within 14 days of the date of this letter, we will take such other action deemed necessary.
It turned out there was no further action taken. The lawyer's letter was just a lot of bluster and hot air trying to muzzle and intimidate the opposition, just like Palin's attorney is trying to do now.
I agree with Ms. Moore that Palin is a coward and a bully. Palin can dish out the heat, but she can't take it.
And now the whole world knows Sarah Palin is a quitter. Not exactly Presidential material IMHO.
Back to the WaPo Meltdown...
Chaos Theory - A Reporter Walks Into A Bar...
"There were interesting facts about Palin popping up all over the blogosphere yesterday that I reported here. If you don't want to read them, don't."
Thanks, Anon-B. I hope no one else feels obligated to read them.
I did and don't see any "interesting facts".
Just to make it clear, you were trying to report facts not rumors, right?
"Palin can dish out the heat, but she can't take it."
Actually, I don't recall Palin making crude jokes about anyone else's young daughter or photoshopping anyone elses special needs child for the purposes of ridicule or failing frivolous and baseless ethics charges about anyone or posting "rumors" about anyone else online.
Do you?
But when you talk about people who can dish it out but not take it, well, at least Moore takes the cake:
"What kind of politician attacks an ordinary American on the Fourth of July for speaking her mind?"
Oh, dear. An innocent citizen posts rumors about a politician on the internet and the politician disagrees- on Independence Day, no less.
Taking the cake but not the heat.
Not a bad strategy.
"it appears to me Mr. Van Flein's false statement above defames Ms. Moore"
Doesn't Ms Moore know whether that is true and you not?
You can say whatever you want about Sara Palin, all this story proves is that women aren't strong enough to take the heat of politics. Ooh, those boys called me names! I'm going to take my toys and go home.
Oh, dear. An innocent citizen posts rumors about a politician on the internet and the politician disagrees- on Independence Day, no less.
Palin didn't just "disagree." She had her lawyer threaten legal action against an Alaskan radio host/blogger, and other media outlets for carrying her piece, which stated the "fact" that there were rumors running around in Alaska, where Palin's popularity numbers have plummeted by double digits since last fall.
Her overreaction to this Alaskan blogger/radio host's rumor report makes her look like she's got something to hide to a lot of folks. Even the architect who flattened the house of GOP rule admits her resignation is "risky."
What is she so afraid of that she is trying to threaten Ms. Moore into silence?
What kind of presidential candidate does not support the First Amendment and freedom of speech and freedom of the press?
Bring her on in 2012!
good thing Margaret Thatcher's not around to challenge to a cage fight
"Palin didn't just "disagree." She had her lawyer threaten legal action against an Alaskan radio host/blogger,"
Anon-B, you know as well as everyone else does that public officials can't win defamation suits against journalists.
Palin's lawyer just emphasized the nature of reporting unsubstantiated rumors.
Once Palin steps down, however, she'll be able to use the courts to protect her children.
The attack on her children has been unprecedented in American politics.
We should have some laws protecting the children of politicians from the press since the press now has lost all sense of civility.
It would be an exception to free speech just like child pornography laws.
Palin's lawyer just emphasized the nature of reporting unsubstantiated rumors.
Once Palin steps down, however, she'll be able to use the courts to protect her children.
The attack on her children has been unprecedented in American politics.
Having a Vice Presidential candidate with an unwed pregnant teenage daughter is unprecedented too. Parading that pregnant daughter and her boyfriend on stage at the candidate's political party's national nominating convention is also unprecedented.
Palin's lawyer's statement had nothing to do with her kids or anyone else's.
The terms
child
children
offspring
juvenile
kids
Track
Bristol
Willow
Piper
Trig
do not appear in the lawyer's four page statement. However, there are links to several Alaskan state government documents and news articles supposedly proving that the rumors about any hankypanky between the building of the Wasilla sports complex and the Palin's residence are false.
"Having a Vice Presidential candidate with an unwed pregnant teenage daughter is unprecedented too. Parading that pregnant daughter and her boyfriend on stage at the candidate's political party's national nominating convention is also unprecedented."
When was the last time a Prez or VP candidate didn't have their children and their spouses or fiances appear on the stage with them at the end of the convention?
Doesn't make them fair game for sniping from crazy old bats.
"rumors about any hankypanky between the building of the Wasilla sports complex and the Palin's residence"
Rumors is right.
When was the last time a Prez or VP candidate didn't have their children and their spouses or fiances appear on the stage with them at the end of the convention?
How should I know? Go ask an political historian or look it up yourself. All I know is we've never had any White House candidate parade their unwed pregnant teenage daughter and her boyfriend at a nominating convention before because we've never had a candidate for a White House office with a daughter in that condition before.
"rumors about any hankypanky between the building of the Wasilla sports complex and the Palin's residence"
Rumors is right.
"Rumors" is precisely what I reported that Shannyn Moore said when I first posted anything about Ms. Moore in my comment posted July 04, 2009 12:50 PM:
I wrote (emphasis added for those who have difficulty reading):
Alaskan progressive radio host, Shannyn Moore, floats "criminal investigation" as reason for Sarah Palin's resignation as Alaska Governor.
"...There's a scandal rumor here that there's a criminal investigation into some activities and that's been rumored here for probably 6 weeks or 2 months, and I'm not sure if that has more to do with this [resignation press conference]."
WTG Anon, it only took you two days to figure that out.
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