Details of expenditures to make an Alaska Governor, Sarah Palin, presentable to the people of America trickle out like rain off a roof. But rain off a roof this time of year in Alaska makes for some remarkable icicles. Each drop of information layers on the last, and the label of "Governor Grifter" seems appropriate. John McCain's choice seems to have earned him at best a "Senator Sucker" nametag.
The New York Times is reporting $165,000 was paid to the stylists who traveled with the campaign and created the glamour girl few of us recognized. "Wardrobegate" initially reported $150,000 of RNC donations was spent on clothing for Sarah Palin. That figure has now been upgraded to $173,000. Stores that only exist in catalogs in Alaska had her full attention; Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Kate Spade, Brooks Brothers, Escape Skin Care & Day Spa, and now...Victoria's Secret-shhhhh, don't tell.
I've wondered about the reactions of the individual contributors to the RNC.
An ordinary citizen, concerned about gays getting married, or the right to buy cop killer bullets, sent in $100 from his minimum wage job of changing tires. "Joe the Tire Changer" bought fresh panties for the Vice-Presidential nominee? I'm sure he's comforted thinking he got that close to the pretty Palin...but his wife might not feel that way. Her panties come in the multi pack, three colors from Wal-Mart.
A part time worker, full time Red-Stater, a woman who uses L'Oreal "because she's worth it," and believes that Miss Clairol box color 519 is her God given natural hair color. She pulled $100 out of her "in case I get sick" coffee can fund and sent it to the RNC when her church secretary sent her that email about Barack Hussein Obama being a Godless Muslim. I guess she made a dent in Sarah Palin's $68,000 make-up bill, $42,615 hair-do bill, and $54,900 stylist bill. Maybe Sarah could explain to Ms. Red-Stater what a stylist is.
The Grifter List goes back a ways:
312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months in office, charging a "per diem" allowance intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business; including November 22, 2007-Thanksgiving Day. The expense report explained it as the Great Alaska Shootout. That's the annual NCAA college basketball tournament held in Anchorage. Total per diem $16,941.
The governor's daughters' and husband's travel charges: $43,490. One event in New York City, October 2007, when Bristol accompanied the governor to Newsweek's third annual Women and Leadership Conference, toured the New York Stock Exchange. Alaska paid for three nights in a $707-a-day hotel room.
Palin, before her nomination, accepted gifts valued at $25,367 from industry executives, municipalities and a cultural center whose board includes officials from some of the largest mining interests in the state. Some of the "gifts" included a $2,200 ivory puffin mask, a woven grass fan worth $300 and a $150 ivory necklace. This may explain her pro Pebble Mine stance.
Alaska Grifter Total:$85,798
VP Grifter Total:$330,000
Total Grifter Total:$415,798
Count on the Palinistas to line up and defend the grifting. The per diem abuse has been dismissed by her staff with comparisons to former Governor Frank Murkowski. That's like comparing a bad bartender to Jim Jones' Guyana Kool-Aid Stand and drinking up.
Palin Spokes-model Meg Stapleton recently responded to the New York Times inquiries with, "The decisions reflected in this disclosure are financially poor decisions made by campaign staffers hired by the campaign and not the governor...(Governor Palin) is absolutely appalled at the news and the amount of money reportedly spent on the vice-presidential campaign."
I wonder if Joe the Tire Changer and Ms. Red Stater would like their money back.
It is never Sarah Palin's bad judgment or poor decisions that get her press. It's always the fault of someone else.
And so the drips continue...and a stalactite status icicle hangs in front of Alaskans. Sarah Palin is the "gift" that keeps on taking.