In an interview with the Juneau Empire, Governor Sarah Palin blamed the lies of the blogosphere and e-mails from members of the public (also known as constituent voices) for the defeat of Wayne Anthony Ross for Attorney General.
The vote was the first in state history to defeat an AG appointee and went down 35-23 last Thursday. Not only was Ross the first AG to not be confirmed, according to Legislative Research Services, it was the first time in state history a head of a state agency has failed to be confirmed by the Legislature. At the time of the vote, Palin was pandering, attending an anti-choice fundraiser in Indiana.
"A great problem was public lies were told about Mr. Ross," Palin told the Juneau Empire.
The one example she cited was "he being engaged in a machine gun shoot on somebody's property down in Seward, and there were witnesses to such a thing, and he'd never been there," she said. "That's just one example."
It is true the Alaska blogosphere was rabid about the nomination of Wayne Anthony Ross. The example she cited DOES NOT EXIST.
Palin was referring to a fundraiser held by Congressman Don Young last August in Seward, Alaska. It was the second such fundraiser that included machine guns, targets, dry bombs, turkey, potato salad and s'mores. A Seward resident mentioned the swans in the swamp not being quite the same. Wayne Anthony Ross's name was not mentioned. This allegation was never brought up during the judiciary process.
Feeling like an endangered species, Alaska progressives are tight. The Alaska Bloggers are tighter. Right after the nomination of Sarah Palin for VP, Wasilla blogger, musician, professor, and all around renaissance man, Phil Munger, threw a party at his home-the first of many. Secrecies were sworn; we were not alone in front of our computers-we had each other; Mudflats, Immoral Minority, Writing Raven, Celtic Diva, Progressive Alaska, Alaska Report, What Do I Know, and myself, Just a Girl From Homer. Documentary crews interviewed us and protected anonymous identities at the time.
What we were going up against was so much bigger than any one of us. We'd email or call each other daily. We'd comment on each other's blogs. We shared a community and a desire to make Alaska better. We told each other when we were wrong.
As a group, we're like herding cats. But Sarah Palin is right; we made a difference. As proud as I am of my fellow Alaskan activists, we didn't defeat her attorney general nomination. She did. Sarah Palin chose an unqualified candidate and then left him to sink his own ship.
The collective effort to defeat W.A.R. was fierce.
The Leah Burton letter went viral. Her testimony of Ross's statement "If you can't rape your wife, who are you gonna rape?" stood firm. It went into the record and she held up under cross examination by the legislators.
The Alaska Federation of Natives has considered Ross an enemy for decades. He had no defense.
His vile phobic reaction to the rights of gay and lesbian Alaskans, likening them to lima beans, demonstrated he was clearly not qualified for the job. When given the opportunity to repudiate unambiguous bigoted anti-gay statements, Ross refused.
Wayne Anthony Ross lied to the legislature in the last hours before his nomination and got caught. Sean Cockerham, reporter for the Anchorage Daily News, posted the tape of Ross which contradicted his written denial; we bloggers reported it, hardly making it our fault.
I was waiting to hear who would be faulted for the largest political defeat in Alaska history, short of an election. Who would Sarah blame? Mudflats, Diva and I speculated last Thursday at a "victory dinner." We knew it wouldn't be W.A.R. or herself.
When it comes to taking responsibility for her failures, Sarah Palin is George W. Bush with lipstick; nothing is ever her fault.
Troopergate was her brother-in-law's fault. Walt Monegan was a rogue commissioner. Her pro-Pebble Mine stance during a contentious election was the fault of a "Governor's hat" wardrobe malfunction. Her criticisms when her witch hunting, governor-anointing pastor, Pastor Muthee, was exposed, were the fault of people who hate Jesus. Her failed interviews were Katie Couric's and Charlie Gibson's fault. Her exorbitant wardrobe was the RNC's fault. Her charging the state per diem to sleep in her own bed and flying her family around the country at state expense weren't her fault. Her daughter's problems are Levi's fault. Her VP political loss was John McCain's fault. Her image problems are Tina Fey's fault. Turkeygate was the cameraman's fault. Her policy on aerial wolf hunting was Ashley Judd's and Outsiders' fault. The empty Juneau Senate seat wasn't on her, it was the Senate Democrats' fault.
Whose fault was it that W.A.R. was rejected?
Whose fault was it that your bills failed in Juneau?
Whose fault was it that you didn't sign SB89 supporting WWII troops?
Whose fault was it rural Alaska was damn near starving this winter?
The Alaska bloggers?
No, Governor Palin, your losses are your fault.
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