Over the past 48 hours, Gov. Sarah Palin has demonstrated herself to be one of the most under qualified and downright bizarre Vice-Presidential selections of recent years. Putting aside the imbroglio about her pregnant daughter, we have more reason to be concerned about her seeming past membership in the fringe Alaska Independence Party, a party which apparently advocates that the state hold a referendum about seceding from the Union. (Neo-Confederacy, anyone?) She was apparently attracted to the party by her religious beliefs, as the AIP is an affiliate of the theocratic Constitution Party.
Other rumors have been flying around the web, including the possibility that she endorsed Pat Buchanan's far-right candidacy in 2000. (McCain's campaign denies this, and her affiliation with the AIP.) McCain seems to have chosen a first rate wingnut as his co-candidate.
Corruption seems to be an issue as well. Her apparent firing of Alaska's Public Safety Commissioner over refusing to fire her ex-brother-in-law is well documented, including via e-mails and tape recordings, but an investigation by the Washington Independent website confirms that she engaged in similar behavior during her term as mayor in Wasilla.
The bottom line: in his urgency to scoop up Hillary supporters, Sen. McCain did not bother to investigate Gov. Palin.
Showing posts with label Corruption. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Corruption. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Friday, December 21, 2007
What the Philadelphia Media Should REALLY Be Agog About
Rather than focusing so much schadenfreude on Alicia Lane, the Philadelphia press should focus their attention on where it matters, the ever-mounting scandals in city government. This post on Young Philly Politics can fill you in on all the sleazy details.
A large part of the reason that we are never able to really reform City Hall is that a large segment of the population doesn't really focus on these scandals. They just see it as part of the course of life. Our media are largely content to blandly report the story without showing any real outrage. The best they could must was support for the so-called reformer, Sam Katz, who turned out to be a little tainted himself.
I e-mailed one columnist, Jill Porter, who writes for the Daily News. I stumbled across her blast against Alicia Lane on the Philly News website, and after lamenting her gloating, suggested she direct her outrage in a more important direction. All she could say was that she had written about corruption before, and that she just writes about what people are talking about.
Write about it again, Ms. Porter. Get people talking about it.
A large part of the reason that we are never able to really reform City Hall is that a large segment of the population doesn't really focus on these scandals. They just see it as part of the course of life. Our media are largely content to blandly report the story without showing any real outrage. The best they could must was support for the so-called reformer, Sam Katz, who turned out to be a little tainted himself.
I e-mailed one columnist, Jill Porter, who writes for the Daily News. I stumbled across her blast against Alicia Lane on the Philly News website, and after lamenting her gloating, suggested she direct her outrage in a more important direction. All she could say was that she had written about corruption before, and that she just writes about what people are talking about.
Write about it again, Ms. Porter. Get people talking about it.
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