We don't even qualify for the corruption contest?

by: simonstl

Tue Dec 09, 2008 at 19:29:40 PM EST

Over at Talking Points Memo's corruption contest, they seem to have left New York entirely out of the running.

Is that because we deserve it - Tammany's gone quiet, as have many of its Upstate emulators - or just because we haven't held up a proper spotlight in a while?

They're discussing Illinois, Louisiana, and Alaska, with an outraged reader adding Rhode Island, which I suspect wins for the northeast. I'd add New Jersey to that mix for the northeast... and Pennsylvania's had its moments... where's New York?

So what do you think? Are we in the top ten? Twenty? Fifty?

Update: we get noticed, but I'm not sure TPM understands that "Supreme Court" means something different in New York than in many other states. Hmm...

The McCain Campaign's Analysis On Monegan Inquiry

by: robert.harding

Fri Oct 10, 2008 at 09:42:19 AM EDT

That same blogger followed up with this explanation, which should give you some idea of what this investigation has been like in the state:

I apologize for sending that flaming piece of crap without an explanation.  I forget that we have folks in our community outside of Alaska who are not necessarily familiar with all the bizarre antics of the McCain-Palin Campaign up here.

They have taken over our state government.  They filed suits against the investigator trying to stop him.  They encouraged (through our Palinbot Attorney General) 8 of the witnesses (including Todd Palin himself) to ignore subpoenas to testify.  As a result of a Superior Court and then Supreme Court ruling which upheld the validity of the Legislative Council's investigation AND their subpoena power, the criminals then "decided" to testify and Todd Palin filed a huge, long deposition.

It looks like this alleged "report" from the McCain/Palin Campaign is Todd's deposition almost verbatim.

Tomorrow is the presentation of the Monegan Report by independent investigator Stephen Branchflower.  Tomorrow, the Legislative Council will vote on whether or not to release it.  That's what we've been working on so incredibly hard, for folks to vote to release the report.  However, we're working against a slick campaign who are making some serious threats against any Republican who stands against the Governor.  They decided to get this piece of crap out first, in hopes that the pressure they've exerted on the Republican Legislators will cause them to quash it and theirs will be the only one.

What I have done is copy and pasted the entire analysis from the McCain campaign below the fold. It amounts to a few pages on paper, so it is lengthy. But it's a very interesting read nonetheless. Keep in mind that this report is straight from the McCain-Palin campaign, so it's going to be loaded with partisan rhetoric and pointing the finger at others.

I read it a few times last night and kept shaking my head throughout. It really is amazing how far the campaign has gone to defend her. My guess is that McCain was so clueless about her that the campaign had no idea she had this scandal in Alaska until after they had picked her. Now they are spending their time (and presumably campaign resources) defending her and her husband.

By the way, why does Todd Palin play such a heavy role in state politics? Imagine if Michelle Paige Paterson was doing the things he was doing. Here in New York, I think there would be an uproar. But in Alaska, it seems to be ignored and not considered a big deal.

Again, the report is below the fold. It's an interesting read if you are curious as to how the McCain campaign is trying to spin this.  

Palin' Around with Terrorists

by: Roatti

Tue Oct 07, 2008 at 10:26:41 AM EDT

It's Not The Tan, It's The Tanning Bed

by: robert.harding

Thu Sep 18, 2008 at 10:24:16 AM EDT

This is what Humiston had to say about Palin's "right to tan" (from the Buffalo News):

While some bloggers are using the news to attack the priorities of Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee, Humiston defended her right to tan.

"Kudos to Gov. Palin for standing up to members of the sun scare industry who are trying to frighten

Americans away from [ultraviolet] light," Humiston said in a statement widely reprinted on blogs and news Web sites.

I don't care if she tans. No one does. A lot of women (and even some men I know) tan. It makes them feel good. It makes them feel better during the cold winters here in Western New York where there is lots of snow but not a lot of sun.

But whether or not she tans isn't the issue here. It's the fact that she had a tanning bed installed in the governor's mansion. A tanning bed can cost $35,000 to install in a home. It has been said that Palin paid for the bed for her own money, which if she did, that's fine too. But does one really need a tanning bed in his or her home? Especially in the governor's mansion, where the people of Alaska pay the electric bill?

All I'm saying is that this isn't about the fact she tans. A lot of people tan. It's nothing earth-shattering. But when you decide that you need a tanning bed in your home and that home just happens to be the governor's mansion, it's going to be scrutinized.  

The Palin Pick: Her Female Idols In Politics And Why She Was Chosen

by: robert.harding

Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 13:47:28 PM EDT

If you're a Republican woman, who is your idol in politics?

Apparently for Republican vice presidential pick Sarah Palin, she has two: Geraldine Ferraro, who was a 1984 vice presidential candidate, and Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Both, of course, are Democrats. Palin is a Republican.

There was mild applause when Palin mentioned Ferraro and reluctant applause for Clinton. John McCain gave a smirk at the mention of Hillary and gave a brief clap for the mention.

I also noticed while McCain was introducing Palin that there was a woman over McCain's left shoulder on television who was like a little girl at Christmas when it was said that the vice presidential pick was a woman. She was practically in shock and if you watch video of that moment again (at this time, nothing is available) you will see what I'm talking about.

In reviewing the women in Congress, I counted 67 women who are Democrats serving in either house of Congress (56 in the House, 11 in the Senate). Republicans only have 26 women in either house, with 21 of those serving in the House and five in the Senate. So this isn't like the Republicans are the best at getting women into higher office.

(NOTE: Included in that count is Stephanie Tubbs-Jones, who passed away recently. She was still included on the list, so I counted her among the Democratic women in Congress.)

(It is also worth noting that from my home state of New York, there are eight women in Congress - seven in the House and one in the Senate.)

Sarah Palin is an interesting choice as I discussed on my blog, The Albany Project, today. She has very little experience. Two years as governor of Alaska and serving from 1992 to 1996 as a city councilmember for Wasilla, Alaska. She became mayor of Wasilla in 1996.

Wasilla is a small town in Alaska. As of 2000, there were 5,470 people. A 2005 estimate suggests that the population has grown to 8,471. It's not a very big place, but Palin was in charge of it at one time. In fact, that is where most of her political experience is derived.

The reason I bring this up is that I believe this pick does a disservice to women and the cause to get more women into politics. In talking with women here in New York where getting more women elected to state government is an ongoing fight, they want to see the most progressive and most qualified women elected to office. The McCain pick of Palin doesn't give Republican women the most qualified woman (I think Carly Fiorina would have made a better VP choice for McCain, given his weakness on economic issues) on the Republican side nor does it give women in general something to be proud of. She's very inexperienced and unqualified for this post.

Palin invoking Hillary and Ferraro today was an indirect shot at the GOP and herself. The Republicans are not a very diverse group. If you want a Republican, just go around and ask any white male what their party affiliation is. This might explain the reaction of that woman I described above standing behind McCain and expressing shock that McCain had picked a woman. The 26 women on the Republican side also show this lack of diversity when their counterparts on the Democratic side have two-and-a-half times as many women in Congress than they do.

So why is Palin mentioning Hillary and Ferraro a shot at herself? The same women who supported Hillary and Ferraro would never dream of supporting a McCain-Palin ticket. Palin is a pro-lifer, pro-gun, a believer in Creationism and is against gay marriage. She also is in favor of the death penalty. In other words, Palin appeals to that same conservative Republican base that sums up the Republican base best: White males. She is not going to have any sort of appeal to women on the Democratic side of the aisle or give McCain a chance at stealing Hillary supporters away from Barack Obama. At least, not with those five issues in mind.

I believe Palin's pick was for two reasons:

(1) Age. Today McCain turns 72. What better way to distract the media from your 72nd birthday than by picking your vice president who just happens to be 28 years younger than you are. In thinking about this, I can't think of any other reason why they would pick this day - the slowest news day of the week, a Friday - to announce McCain's VP pick. Palin has probably been in the cards for at least a week or so and I also would think Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty was as well. McCain needed someone younger. He got that with the 44 year old Palin.

(2) Conservative bona fides. Everyone knows McCain has a problem with social conservatives. Picking Palin gives him someone who is the model social conservative. Anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage, as well as pro-death penalty, pro gun and a supporter of Creationism.

In any event, the vice presidential debate between our man Joe Biden and Palin will be a fun one to watch. A guy with experience and foreign policy knowledge in his back pocket against a woman who has ran Alaska for two years and prior to that ran a small village, both as mayor and as a city councilmember.

As the saying goes, the Republicans are bringing a knife to a gunfight.