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The View on Palin from an Alaskan Anti-Real ID Activist and Democrat
I ran into anti-Real ID activist Bill Scannell, "the man who helped kill CAPPS II," and asked him what intelligence he can give us about Sarah Palin, governor of the state he's lived in for the past several years. Scannell is a Democrat, a long-time acquaintance of mine, and as such should be taken with a few grains of salt.
He called Palin "a poster child for the Evangelical Right," but said that "frankly most Alaskans don't even care" about that stuff, and at any rate, a McCain/Palin White House wouldn't deliver whatever it is the Religious Right wants. More excerpts from our conversation:
Q: So libertarian-minded people should be fine with that, right?
A: Let me tell you all the nice things about Sarah Palin: Sarah Palin has been a pretty freaking awesome governor. She came in saying that the entire system was corrupt, and that Republicans were evil, and she was going to just mix everything up and get us a gas pipeline and end of story. And she got to power, she was elected overwhelmingly by independents, beat Tony Knowles, who had been governor before.
The Republicans hate her. If you go and talk to the Alaska delegation here, they despise her.
Q: Really?
A: Hate her. Oh my god! This whole thing about her retarded son really being her daughter's was started by Lyda Green, who is president of the senate, a Republican. [...]
She gave a two-finger salute to Conoco Phllips and Exxon Mobile, raised their taxes on their oil, put in place a transparent way to bid for the seed money and the licenses to finally, finally, put in a natural gas pipeline in Alaska. And it was won by a Canadian company. And she went to the mat and made it happen. She has been systematically pulling the drilling licenses of Conoco Phillips and Exxon Mobile for areas that they haven't touched. I mean, they've been hoarding reserves, and she says, you know, use it or lose it, and she has been sending the attorney general time after time to revoke these things. It's absolutely fascinating.
Q: Do you have any sense, I mean, Alaska governors [are] not going deal with privacy issues to any degree at all, but...
A: Oh, she did! So, Real ID, I was involved with Senator Bill Wielechowski getting an anti-Real ID measure passed in Alaska this session, so this just happened in April. And she did not sign the bill, but she allowed it to become law. She said the only reason why she didn't sign the bill was that she thought that there were some things that may possibly be Real ID-compliant that would be just best practices, would be affected if she signed the no-money-for-Real ID. So she wanted to leave some legal room.
Basically, she kind of pussed out on the whole issue. But, she believes that Real ID is the Mark of the Beast. She has said this to someone I personally know. [...]
Q: I was just talking to someone who claimed to have knowledge of Alaska to some degree, and they say where Sarah Palin comes from it's the equivalent of Humboldt or Chico in California, like, of course, you know, she'd have a Girls Gone Wild phase, and smoking pot. Is this just wishcasting, or what can you tell us about her geographical background?
A: So the Mat-Su Valley, you know, Matanuska-Susitna Valley, otherwise known as Upper Wingnuttia, is full of right-wing libertarian militia fundamendalist Christian gun-toting, pot-growing dope-heads.
Q: Awesome.
A: Yeah. If Jerry Falwell rolled his own, you would have the Mat-Su Valley. I live in South Anchorage, and my raspberry plants, courtesy of 22 hours of daylight in the summer, grow eight and a half foot high. That's a raspberry bush. Can you imagine what a single pot plant would turn into? [...]
Q: Do you think the scandals are going to continue to unfold, or have we reached the end of it?
A: Oh yeah. I mean, my personal prediction is that I give her two weeks. McCain did zero vetting. They're now plowing through the microfiche of the Mat-Su Frontiersman, the newspaper down at the local library. The Daily News got their pee-pee slapped by Editor & Publisher for doing zero actual reporting, because everyone loves Sarah. And look -- I love her so much that I'm really looking forward to having her back in 63 days. [...]
She is what McCain would like to be: She really is a maverick. In two years she stuck it to the two largest oil corporations in the United States of America. That's pretty fucking impressive, you know, that she has antagonized her party to the point that they despise her. And her ratings are still in the 80s.
tarran|9.2.08 @ 5:49PM|#
. She has been systematically pulling the drilling licenses of Conoco Phillips and Exxon Mobile for areas that they haven't touched.
Fuck! So much for any concept of extracting a natural resource in
the optimal economic rate.
This is precisely the sort of behavior that Hans Herman Hoppe
described in "Democracy, The God That Failed". These oil companies
would have eventually drilled those fields. However, since she
would have been out of office, the taxes that resulted would not
have benefitted her. So, in order to maximize the benefits she gets
from her stint as governor, she forces oil companies to sacrifice
future production for present production.
And people praise her "for sticking it to the oil companies?"
SIV|9.2.08 @ 5:50PM|#
full of right-wing libertarian militia fundamendalist
Christian gun-toting, pot-growing dope-heads
Too many people think fundy always equals Falwell/Dobson/Robertson
good to see this guy knows otherwise.
My prediction is that the Alaskans won't be getting her back as
governor.If mcCain cuts her from the ticket the election is
over.
Elemenope|9.2.08 @ 5:52PM|#
Well, at least one thing has come full circle:
With Palin, the true ticket is
complete!
shrike|9.2.08 @ 6:18PM|#
I have "invested" a few sawbucks on Palin to Crater before the
election (Intrade).
It pays 9-1....
This is one sketchy bitch for sure... but I see McCain as the
"unsure" one - he wanted Joe L. all along.
Show me a sinking poll and Old Angry John will head-butt this
trollop back into the frozen tundra....
|9.2.08 @ 6:26PM|#
This is one sketchy bitch for sure
Your "Progressive Libertarian Secular Humanist" everyone!
shrike, would you ever, ever dare to call Obama a
"sketchy nigger"?
Thought not.
And people call me sexist.
|9.2.08 @ 6:35PM|#
Wow, I like Palin a lot better. But the things that make me like
her will crater her.
I have no problem with use it or lose it provisions in licenses. I
especially have no problem with enforcing the lose it provisions.
It makes it more likely that the resources will be exploited when
it makes sense rather than hording resources.
And bitch isn't equivalent to the n-word. It's equivalent to
asshole.
|9.2.08 @ 6:35PM|#
tarran,
When is eventually? If they weren't going to start drilling when
oil was at $140, when would they drill?
|9.2.08 @ 6:55PM|#
I like her; she is cuter than Dick Cheney and just as mean. It
will be awesome to have a MILF in the white house, just click on
whitehouse.com and see for yourself. I think it was a brilliant
move by McCain to bring her aboard.
I was expecting Obama to win in November but it is getting tighter
by the minute. I am ambivalent about who I want to win: on one hand
I was looking forward to the orgy of theft, corruption and
purulence that an all-Democrat goverment would surely bring. On the
other hand the apoplexy and charges of "stolen elections" if McCain
wins will also be quite entertaining.
|9.2.08 @ 6:59PM|#
I hope Palin sticks to any anti-tax pledge better than her daughter did her "true love waits" pledge...
SIV|9.2.08 @ 7:00PM|#
On the other hand the apoplexy and charges of "stolen
elections" if McCain wins will also be quite
entertaining.
That is an understatement. Maybe all those fucking commies will
actually make good on their "threat" and move away from the USA
this time.
|9.2.08 @ 7:01PM|#
To defend shrike a bit:
yeah TAO, those two words certainly have the same import as
indicators of the respective prejudices you imply.
You really are terrible with this argument by analogy business.
GG|9.2.08 @ 7:02PM|#
...is full of right-wing libertarian militia fundamendalist
Christian gun-toting, pot-growing dope-heads.
Q: Awesome.
Heh.
TNR's Alaskan insiders warn the Dems they underestimate Palin
at their peril.
Watching Palin operate over the past few years has been like witnessing a dramatic reading of All the King's Men.
[...]
What the Republicans missed about Sarah Palin then--and what the Democrats seem poised to miss now--is that she is a true political savant; a candidate with a knack for identifying the key gripes of the populace and packaging herself as the solution. That keen political nose has enabled her to routinely outperform her resume. Nearly two years into her administration, she still racks up approval ratings of 80 per cent or better.
|9.2.08 @ 7:12PM|#
yeah TAO, those two words certainly have the same import as
indicators of the respective prejudices you imply.
The same import? To whom, MNG?
To some women, one world certainly does have the same import.
To rappers, "nigga" is not offensive.
Words aren't said in a vacuum. The way shrike put it is sexist.
|9.2.08 @ 7:13PM|#
Other than being such a pro-lifer, I think she's cool as shit. She's got more balls than Obama, Biden, and Michelle put together. She could tell the whole world to fuck off and still have people eating out of her hand.
|9.2.08 @ 7:15PM|#
She's captivating.
She's as captivating as the car accident you just drove by.
She's as captivating as that sort of cute girl you see at a party
in college, the one from who you just can't look away.
She's captivating like the drag out screaming match of the young
couple in the next apartment.
She's captivating like a million ants methodically taking apart a
baby bird on the ground below it's nest.
She's as captivating as fireworks.
ktc2|9.2.08 @ 7:30PM|#
I really just don't see anything special about her. Just another
loony fundy to appease the Rs base of the loony fundies.
What it's supposed to be special cause she carries her genitalia on
the inside?
|9.2.08 @ 7:47PM|#
Man, oh, man, I love this woman.
The more I see the left crapping their collective panties, the more
I love her.
I gave McCain-Palin $500 yesterday. I'm going to circle back for
another $500 tonight.
Ciao, girls.
__________
|9.2.08 @ 7:59PM|#
A candidate who was mentored by a racist communist forced to flee the mainland, admitted doing coke, attended a racist church for 20 years and launched his political career at the home of an unrepentant terrorist who blew up buildings and killed cops, bought his home with the help of a felon wasn't forced out but Palin will be? Put down the pipe and drink some coffee.
|9.2.08 @ 8:02PM|#
I hope Palin sticks to any anti-tax pledge better than her
daughter did her "true love waits" pledge...
Teenage girls are tricky like that. Heh. The stories I could tell
you about your daughter.
|9.2.08 @ 8:13PM|#
Obama's pastor is a hate-filled nut.
Obama's wife is a hate-filled nut.
Obama's friend is a hate-filled nut.
You are judged by the company you keep. So what does that make
Obama?
Yeah, he's The One. He'll bring us together. I'm sure you're rights
(rolling eyes). This fruit loop can't even bring his pastor, his
wife, and his friend together.
TheSitRep|9.2.08 @ 8:20PM|#
Thrilla from Wasilla.
Sarah'Cuda is made of iron.
She has more balls than Obama bin Biden
|9.2.08 @ 8:30PM|#
Give her two weeks to drop out? Just because y'all don't like
her and want the corrupt-backer Ron Paul?
To those of you who are a part of this article, and are believers
of this article, I tell you to shove it up your rear end. This has
just cemented my donation to the McCain/Palin campaign. $250, and
the hope that Ron Paul gets his butt reamed for backing the corrupt
Don Young.
|9.2.08 @ 9:05PM|#
Damn, who linked here?
MENSA newsletter? That's my guess.
This is who thinks Palin was a good pick.
|9.2.08 @ 9:23PM|#
Actually he gave 63 days until she's back in Alaska (that's election day). He said 2 weeks before a big scandal comes to light. I'm surprised you can read LGF, Malkin or the Free REpublic or wherever you all were sent from.
|9.2.08 @ 9:29PM|#
I loves her. So should all of Reason. Have you seen the M4
photos? Or the many, many elk hunt pics?
Check out some of the vides from her time as governor - she's got a
great presence (media training helped). The KosKids licking their
chops at Biden beating her up in a debate are gonna be shocked.
Senators (especially Biden) bloviate and get respect for their
erudition. She's concise, quick, and knows how to look
personable.
|9.2.08 @ 9:48PM|#
I don't know, BDB, people like her well enough. Even if she is a
bit old weird.
Hey's got a point. Wasn't Palin the only Republican to take a seat
from a Democrat in 2006?
BDB|9.2.08 @ 9:49PM|#
Joe, you know how you told me you get that snake-in-the-grass
feeling from Evan Bayh?
Yeah. I think I'm getting that feeling from her. Got it from John
Edwards, too.
|9.2.08 @ 9:55PM|#
No, she didn't take a seat from a Democrat. She did beat a
Democrat who was much more prominent than she was, though, even if
it was Alaska.
An R win from behind in 2006. Even in Alaska, not too bad.
BDB, you get that from Palin? Huh. Heck, don't go by me.
|9.2.08 @ 10:23PM|#
I'm a HotAir/Malkin/right wing blog reader, BUT I wasn't "sent" here. Until last friday, I was contemplating the vision of me "retching and puking" in the voting booth pulling the McCain lever. But voting for the "Messiah" was never an option). I'm a mccain/PALIN believer. She has everything that (IMHO) is missing from McCain. I am now a happy man.
|9.2.08 @ 10:57PM|#
I see Cindy stopped snorting the campaign funds so John can start paying the troll army again.
|9.2.08 @ 11:05PM|#
I just don't understand how anyone who considers their self a libertarian could support a socialist like Obama. He's all about government intervention, interference, and obtrusion.
|9.2.08 @ 11:07PM|#
Telly - *newsflash*...we don't support either one of them.
Mocking McCain =/= Supporting Obama.
|9.2.08 @ 11:20PM|#
Better the candidate's wife than the candidate himself there
Jackie boy.
Are all you Libs as smart as you to invite comparisons that remind
the country how unacceptable your Messiah is?
|9.2.08 @ 11:36PM|#
Are all you Libs as smart as you to invite comparisons that
remind the country how unacceptable your Messiah is?
Can somebody parse and diagram this for me, please? I think "Poor
Jack" failed English somewhere along the line.
joez law rears its ugly but oh-so-true head.
goy|9.2.08 @ 11:38PM|#
- They're now plowing through the microfiche of the Mat-Su
Frontiersman, the newspaper down at the local library.
Huh.
Funny how "they" had absolutely no interest whatsoever in plowing
through the hundreds of files that document Obama's one failed
stint in an executive capacity (aside from "running" his
campaign, which he isn't): the Chicago Annenberg Challenge. In fact
"they" have been excoriating Stanley Kurtz for having the temerity
to do so. Something about revealing his ties to Hugo Chavez, I'm
guessing.
McCain recognizes that what's at the root of anything still 'wrong'
in the U.S.A. (and despite what you read in the paper, there ain't
nowhere near that much) has been caused by the Republicans in
Congress.
They abdicated leadership and now the children have been running
the show for two years. Good parents don't DO that.
What's happened since? The trend toward a balanced budget?
Reversed. The strong growth in the economy? Stalled. Congress'
oversight of idiotic bank lending policies? Abdicated in favor of
raking the oil companies over the coals (when was the last time
someone held THEM accountable for the four-times-as-many-billions
they rake in, relative to big oil?). The list goes on.
Palin has experience and success in dealing with entrenched
Republican dead weight. And not just the 'lighweight' dead weight,
'neither, but guys like Murkowski (SPAM King), Stevens, et
al.
Think I'll go drop another $50 in the M/P war chest...
|9.2.08 @ 11:54PM|#
The Republicans hate her. If you go and talk to the Alaska
delegation here, they despise her.
...
Hate her. Oh my god! This whole thing about her retarded son really
being her daughter's was started by Lyda Green, who is president of
the senate, a Republican. [...]
When I first saw Lyda Green's comments, motherfucking Palin, my
immediate response was, "This sounds like the squawking of somebody
whose toes have been trampled on."
spmat|9.3.08 @ 12:56AM|#
Palin has the kind of political and personal texture that Obama
is afraid to show, Biden is incompetent at controlling effectively,
and McCain is too old to use either for or against him.
She's the only thing that's made this race interesting since it
began. Obama might have, if he had a soul that wasn't bought at The
Gap.
Kevin Hayden|9.3.08 @ 4:52AM|#
The way the phrase 'maverick reformer' is tossed around always
leaves out who or what is being reformed. Other than taking on
Alaska's bread & butter - Big Oil - because it's one of only a
handful of states that has the upper hand, it seems Palin is
tackling corrupt Republicans.
And McCain, in reality, seems only to reform John McCain, from the
Keating scandal onward. I mean, what else has he reformed? Campaign
finance? The same rules he now skirts?
Now consider the practical effect of his choosing Palin. How can a
VP reform Congress? Or K Street? It;s a preposterous notion. On the
other hand, pulling her out of the Alaska statehouse lets the GOP
and Big Oil revert to its standard practices. In effect, undoing
her reforms.
The net result is a White House that reforms nothing, because Mr.
Palin's p/t work for Big Oil is exceeded by the f/t service McCain
provides them. Both can attack Congressional Dems, while
sidestepping the far greater culture of corruption of their GOP
peers. And Alaskan govt will slide back to its former ooze with
Palin safely out of the way.
Am I reading that right? Could it be that Palin was picked
precisely because it was the best way to protect the most
corrupt?
Don't get me wrong; I see plenty of Dems with hands dirtied by
corporate influence, but less blatantly, they tiptoe within the
framework of legality. And the more I consider what the practical
effects are of McCain's choice, it sure seems like more reform will
continue - at least in Alaska - if McCain loses the election.
After all, DC will never face real reform without complete public
financing of campaigns.
Scomber|9.3.08 @ 8:05AM|#
Hmm, Kevin, you seem to be making a good point; The Vice Presidency is a high prestige, extremely low power position. Cheney only has as much power as he does because bush considers him an adviser, which is not the historical norm. This could be an attempt to capitalize on Palin's charisma while, at the same time, putting her on ice for four years. I honestly hope, for Alaska's sake, that they lose the election. Unfortunately, I doubt Palin even considered this because, to be offered the Veep spot so early in one's career is "an offer you can't refuse".
Telly|9.3.08 @ 9:56AM|#
Bullshit, Angry Optimist, there is quite often a whole lot of Obama support going on around here.
Shakes The Clown|9.3.08 @ 10:36AM|#
I think she sounds like the best thing to hit the political
scene in awhile. I was wondering if I was going to vote for Barr or
against Obama (picking McCain). Now that she is on the ticket I am
going with McCain.
She isn't as libertarian as I first thought but in practical
reality nobody ever is. If libertarians can accuse Milton Friedman
of selling out than I guess everyone is expected to be a sell out
in some way.
I still like her better than McCain, Obama or Biden. I think she
has good instincts. I wish she was at the top of the ticket and I
am excited about what she can bring to Washington.
I know I am setting myself up to be let down.
guy in the back row|9.3.08 @ 10:55AM|#
This could be an attempt to capitalize on Palin's charisma
while, at the same time, putting her on ice for four
years.
I seem to remember from high school history a similar plan for
Teddy R. in the McKinley administration. How'd that work out for
the Republicans?
That said, all this talk about McCain's age makes it seem like he's
in a nursing home already. I thought 70 was the new 50?
IMO, Gov. Palin's lifestyle (hunting, snow mobile racing) is more
likely to end in a fatality.
I'm still voting for Barr, though.
|9.3.08 @ 11:09AM|#
So Kevin, you're saying that McCain's status as a maverick is nothing more than a MYTH?!?
|9.3.08 @ 12:42PM|#
Palin might look back in 64 days and figure she would better
have stayed as Gov., been re-elected, then beat whomever is going
to kill
Sen. Stevens re-election bid. Twelve years from now, she would be
57 with eight years as governor and six as senator and possibly in
line to run for President. But then who could turn down a slim
chance now that she wins and McCain drops dead or chooses not to
run in four years?
LarryA|9.3.08 @ 2:12PM|#
IMO, Gov. Palin's lifestyle (hunting, snow mobile racing) is
more likely to end in a fatality.
It's her husband who races snowmobiles. Hunting is one of the
safest sports you can participate in.
|9.3.08 @ 6:28PM|#
They're now plowing through the microfiche of the Mat-Su
Frontiersman, the newspaper down at the local library.
Doubtful, considering that the Frontiersman has online archives on
Palin that go back to at least Nov.
13, 1997. Considering that it took me about sixty seconds to
verify this fact, I think it's pretty likely McCain's vetters in
the comfort of campaign headquarters did too.
BeatTheChip.org|9.4.08 @ 9:34PM|#
If we can just get Sarah to make Real ID part of the national debate... or any civil liberties matters that need a back bone - I think it would give many the hope that Obama only talks about.
|9.8.08 @ 2:28AM|#
Sarah is a fine lady.Would be a good president. It's John Mc
Cain I have a problem with. He left his first wife that worried
about him and took care of their children. He left her because she
was in a car wreck and her looks had changed due to injury!! Cindy
must have cared for money more than getting to know her siblings.
Is this the people we want in the white house!! These two like
dumping people. Don't think Mc Cain want dump the middle class!! 4
more years we will all lose our homes and cars to the medical bill
collectors. Why has the media been so quite on this subject? John
Mc Cain sure had plenty to say about Bill.
What he did was worst. Carle
|9.16.08 @ 12:30PM|#
I like Sarah Palin.
Because of her I am no longer rooting for Obama to win.
I still won't vote for McCain because he might not die, and has no
respect for the first A.
So, still voting for Barr, but now slightly hoping McCain wins.
(And that Bar has a high percentage)
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