Palin Was a Director of Embattled Sen. Stevens's 527 Group

[catgirl]

Source: Washington Post

ST. PAUL -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin began building clout in her state's political circles in part by serving as a director of an independent political organization organized by the now embattled Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens.

Palin's name is listed on 2003 incorporation papers of the "Ted Stevens Excellence in Public Service, Inc.," a 527 group that could raise unlimited funds from corporate donors. The group was designed to serve as a political boot camp for Republican women in the state. She served as one of three directors until June 2005, when her name was replaced on state filings.

Palin's relationship with Alaska's senior senator may be one of the more complicated aspects of her new position as Sen. John McCain's running mate; Stevens was indicted in July 2008 on seven counts of corruption.

Palin, an anti-corruption crusader in Alaska, had called on Stevens to be open about the issues behind the investigation. But she also held a joint news conference with him in July, before he was indicted, to make clear she had not abandoned him politically.

Read more: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/09/01/p...

---

And she claims to be anti-corruption!

[Vinca]

1. Now that is a story with legs. nt

[catgirl]

3. Yes, this is much bigger than baby-gate

this truly shows her hypocricy!

[FatDave]

19. Well, it should be.

But it won't be. Too hard for republicans to follow.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

76. At least it made it to the Washington Post!

[Rosa Luxemburg]

77. At least it made it to the Washington Post!

[ksimons]

67. Yep, hypocrisy - and it all probably happened out of here!

I hope The Colbert Report peruses these boards for interesting visuals of interest for the American people. <g>

That's a keeper fer shure

[WHAT]

56. Now we know who's "girl" she is...

just like the girls in Alabama.

[bronxiteforever]

2. Kick & R

[gordianot]

4. The gifts just keep coming.

[torbird]

16. No kidding

Palin is a mess! What DIDN'T she do??

[Number23]

64. She's like Santa, the Easter Bunny and Grandma all wrapped up in one package.

The gifts just keep coming.

The woman has been on the national scene for all of four days and this is what, scandal number 6 for her?? 7?? Between her screw-ups and McCain's houses, the number 7 has taken on a whole new meaning this election.

Palin has fried McCain's already well-scrambled campaign. Back home, she'd be what we call a HAM, or "hot @ss mess."

[gordianot]

66. I just spoke to one GOP Kool Aid drinker who says Palin scares her.

I asked how do you like Sarah Palin? Her statement "She's scary". No elaboration as she got in her car and drove away. I love it!

[BattyDem]

5. Palin: The gift that keeps on giving!

[jberryhill]

6. This is the good stuff

This is the really good stuff.

She lied about the Bridge to Nowhere already.

Holy Katherine Harris! She was named on FRIDAY, it's only MONDAY, and Palin is a freakin' smorgasbord of fun that won't quit.

[bluesmail]

7. I can't figure out their strategy. What would they get from this.

[FatDave]

20. Obama's speech knocked from the news

I wonder if it was worth it to them.

[Demeter]

37. And $7 Million Fundie Dollars

Was it really worth it? Pretty soon, not even the Fundies will vote for her. One would hope, at least.

[L. Coyote]

46. She withdraws and they SLAM the liberals for bashing her family!

That really makes sense in a Rovian way--turn politics into an emotional roller coaster instead of an intellectual exercise.

It is all about manipulating emotions for politicians without reason to back their cause.

The left needs to address her Big Oil history. I suspect the whole corruption-fighter persona is a ruse to maintain control of North America's largest construction project, the Cheney-Young-Stevens-Palin gas pipeline.

[George II]

8. Oh, this is going to be SO interesting during the next week....my prediction?

She'll withdraw from consideration before the end of the week. Maybe even before the formal nomination!

This, on the heels of the investigation of her, as well as the two family pregnancies ("hers" and her now 17-year-old unmarried daughter) are just too much for the republicans to handle.

[catgirl]

11. YouTube videos of Stevens endors. and the pulled ad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwcbBbVNIsI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1yUereM0QU

[George II]

13. Good catch...one line reminds me of old-time Chicago voting.

"think of this, when you go to vote, don't go to vote alone"!

Chicago: "vote early, vote often"

PS - where did he get that god-awful vest????

[progressivebydesign]

26. Dear God.. is Stevens wearing a vest made out of an animal???

Looks like seal fur! Gross!

I hope that you have saved these videos somehwere safe, cuz you know that their going to get pulled from Youtube soon. they're scrubbing her past as fast as they can.

[L. Coyote]

48. Did the WA Post story get scubbed?

http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/davidpostman/2007...

Palin: "attitude toward Alaska bridges is based on inaccurate portrayals of the projects"

From a story at WA Post that is no longer available???? How soft was that opposition?

It was more like, "Aww foooey, we need to abandon this pork barrel because it won't happen anyway now." Or, in Palin's words:

"Much of the public's attitude toward Alaska bridges is based on inaccurate portrayals of the projects here. But we need to focus on what we can do, rather than fight over what has happened," she said.

==============
That's from:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...

We are unable to locate the page you requested.
The page may have moved or may no longer be available

[catgirl]

63. The link in the OP is still working, you're link isn't

Her old Wiki page was scrubbed though.

[L. Coyote]

75. My link is to a WA Post article that is apparently scrubbed.

[EC]

9. She was only anti-corruption to remove the Republicans in her

way to power...she probably even sabotaged some of them..

[Cerridwen]

25. Thank you. I thought I was the only one who noticed this.

Apparently she's left quite a trail of "bodies" in her wake.

[EC]

34. I know inter office Sabatage when I see it

having been on the tail end of it myself (actually thinking office management positions weren't worth fighting dirty over)

[Cerridwen]

35. Yep, me, too. I have a bad habit of preferring to do my job rather

than waste time with office politics. Not wise, but I sleep nights.

[catgirl]

44. Yup. She's had firing scandals before Troopergate (link here)

She fired two employees while she was Mayor and almost got recalled.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

Also dismissed the board of directors of a state run dairy farm that resulted in a disaster. Here's an exerpt from her pre-scrubbed
Wiki page:

When on June 6, 2007, the Alaska Creamery Board recommended closing Matanuska Maid Dairy, an unprofitable state-owned business, Palin objected, citing concern for the impact on dairy farmers and the fact that the dairy had just received $600,000 in state money. When Palin found out that the Board of Agriculture and Conservation appoints Creamery Board members, she replaced the entire membership of the Board of Agriculture and Conservation.<27><56> The new board reversed the decision to close the dairy, but later in 2007, with Palin's support, the unprofitable business was put up for sale. There were no offers in December 2007, when the minimum bid was set at $3.35 million,<57><58> and the dairy was closed that month. In August 2008, the Anchorage plant was purchased for $1.5 million, the new minimum bid; the purchaser plans to convert it into heated storage units.<59>

Pre-scrubbed Wiki page link:

http://209.85.215.104/search?sourceid=navclient-menuext...

[L. Coyote]

50. Pipeline contract competitors! Husband's company won, I believe.

Try to figure out the competition for the GIANT project, and which oil companies won and lost.

What Palin, a Big Oil politico, did was prevent the Dems from taking over control of this process (defeating Murkowski)!

[L. Coyote]

61. To save the Republicans in powerr! She won the primary from the R loser.

Palin took the primary and saved the final election from certain defeat to Republicans!

[Solly Mack]

10. lolololol

this just gets better and better

[mrJJ]

12. ROFLMAO

McCains soulmate.... gimme a break. Has it been a week yet?

[AzDar]

14. KKKick for RepulikKKAN KKKorruption.....

[klyon]

15. Yeah, she is a real maverick..........NOT

oil and gas all the way
George must be so proud, he probably can't wait to see that ass in person too

[POAS]

17. How does one square these two ideas

"an independent political organization"

and

"organized by the now embattled Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens."?

Now that is an oxymoron!

[trthnd4jstc]

18. I feel that we have helped filter a lot of criticisms of Gov. Palin.

With the arguments that we have been making with one another at DU, I believe that our Democratic Party has a sufficient amount to criticize Gov. Palin, without insulting the Independent voters.

Gov. Palin:

Abuse of power with Trooper-gate
Worked for Ted Stevens 527 Group
Lacks real experience
Choice as VP seriously questions McSames judgement
Is a Far-Right Idealogue
Is Hypocritical about fighting Governmental corruption
Was for the bridge to no-where before she was against it

[catgirl]

29. Good summery

I bet there's a lot more coming!

[L. Coyote]

51. Great tip of the iceberg in a snow storm, errr, snow job.

[L. Coyote]

62. It’s The Corruption, Stupid, Abramoff, McCain, Palin = a good description of the iceberg.

It’s The Corruption, Stupid = Abramoff, McCain, Palin & the GOP... (update)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

This is important. In September 2006 it became clear that the November Election would turn on the issue of corruption. All signs point to the same thing happening this year.

I’ll try and put this in the simple language of politics:

It’s The Corruption, Stupid

That is what we need to understand if we wish to elect Barack Obama and defeat John McCain. It is what we need to understand if we wish to increase our margins in the House, Senate and State Capitals across our Nation or to have any hope for progressive legislation in 2009.

Corruption is the tipping point!

It helps undecided voters decide who to vote for.

[bobd0]

21. This just keeps getting better and better

McCain couldn't have made a worse choice if he asked the Democratic Party to choose his running mate for him.

McCain is an absolute fool -- and there is no fool like an old fool.

[hay rick]

22. She was for corruption before she was against it n/t

[progressivebydesign]

23. " Excellence in Public Service," does anyone else see the irony in that?

"excellence" is hardly the word I'd use for any of those corrupt repukes in Alaska. Boggles the mind that McCranky would choose her without vetting her properly. I think he interviewed her in February, and the vetting stopped at that point because McCain was like... "okay, I made the Christian right happy by interviewing this person they want, but NO FUCKING WAY is she going on the ticket!" He wanted one of his friends... but when they saw the DNC convention Rove realized they had to do a Hail Mary, and at the urging of Bill Kristol (McCranky's PNAC Pal), and the Southern Baptist Convention, Caribou Barbie the VP was born.

Oh. .and I've seen stealth posters here making noises about how much money McCranky raised the day she was announced -- DUH, the christian right's political minions sent out fundraising letters because McCranky chose a "believer"

[Demeter]

38. Caribou Barbie!

Priceless!

[fishwax]

24. for someone with such limited experience, she sure has rolled up her share of scandals

[progressivebydesign]

27. Oh.. I K&R'd this one! Belongs front and center on DU! n/t

[Tutonic]

28. Come on folks! That proves that she is a maverick, independent

thinker! Bwwwaaah!

[brooklynite]

30. The Stevens issue is something that really needs to get played up...

She was willing to take his earmarks until it became politically unpalatable...

She was willing to work for his re-election, even though he supposedly represents the "bad" Republicans she's against...

She was happy to accept his endorsement, and used him in a campaign commerical (which has now mysteriously disappeared from herwebsite...

[yorgatron]

31. Palin;the gift that keeps on giving!

was she a member of the Corrupt Bastards Club too?

[L. Coyote]

52. Now that Stevens has implicated Cheney, maybe she's changed her mind??

Did Sen. Ted Stevens rat out Dick Cheney? Oooophs!

Aug-25-08 - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

This is hilarious, from a former federal corruption prosecutor,

"prosecutors may not have had evidence that Stevens was behind Cheney's letter, before Stevens confirmed it to Newsweek."

[Judi Lynn]

71. Thanks for the link for those of us who missed it originally. Stupendous info. n/t

[Frank Booth]

32. The more we learn about her, the more it becomes obvious that she's unqualified.

Of course, the MSM will just ignore this.

[Demeter]

39. Oh, I Don't Know. She Seems OVERqualified for a Republican!

[Curtland1015]

33. This is what you get for picking a running mate you've only met twice

...and who you didn't even vet.

This woman was a very dangerous choice for McCain and it's going to blow up right in his face.

[L. Coyote]

53. They met once, and talked on the phone once, not?

Let's ask McCain and he can have his staff figure it out

[Alexander]

36. K&R. How many scandals are there in Palin's closet?

[WHAT]

58. Why does McCain have so many houses...

he needs the closet space.

I bet Colbert will really do this subject justice...

[JawJaw]

78. What's In Her Closet?

..Where do you start looking?

[livetohike]

40. This just gets better and better

I was away from DU for two days and come back to see "scandal central". I think we should take bets on when Palin will withdraw from the nomination. Or maybe at the RNC convention there will be "Nays" in response to her nomination.

[snappyturtle]

41. Hello! Calling KO! This is just wonderful....wow! K&R n/t

[HEyHEY]

42. The more I think about this, the less I think it's a big deal

It basically says two politicians in the same party and from the same state suported each other - BIG FUCKING SHOCK.

527 isn't illegal, scummy, but not illegal.

Palin isn't link to Stevens in a way that shows she received illegal money or denied being in this group.

All this does is open a semantics debate.

But, it's a start, if the Post keeps digging this could have much more to it.

[Zambero]

43. The Bridge to Somewhere

Palin was in Uncle Ted's hip pocket as recently as three years ago. So much for being a "reformer".

[NewJeffCT]

45. But, how can this be? McCain said she was a maverick?

and he's a POW, so therefore must be taken at his word... after all, he spent 5 years in a Vietnamese jail.

[HEyHEY]

47. Maybe he meant the criminal kind of maverick not the inspirational kind

[catgirl]

54. The back-stabbing kind too!

I rub your back, you rub mine, or I screw up your life.

[roody]

49. And she's a puppy killer too.

Wolf puppies.

[kmac3]

55. K & R Too, too good to be true . . . .

I agree...the gift that keeps on giving for


Unbelievable . . . how many problems already and it hasn't been a week yet!

[minnesota_liberal]

57. It just keeps getting better and better!

I could hardly write any goofier scenarios.

[scarface2004]

59. like mkane said..he had been watching her for a long time!

this sleaze was just what he wanted to see!

[L. Coyote]

60. Sarah Palin says she was a homemaker in 2004

Using donor lookup at opensecrets:
http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.php?name=palin...

PALIN, SARAH WASILLA,AK 99654 NA/HOUSEWIFE 6/8/04 $328 Republican Party of Alaska (R)
PALIN, SARAH WASILLA,AK 99654 HOMEMAKER 7/22/04 $300 Miller, Mike (R)

[catgirl]

65. Oh my! (nt)

[renate]

73. this makes no sense--why would she say that?

Wasn't she mayor of Wasilla in 2004? I can understand being proud of being a homemaker and listing that as a profession (maybe it really was a bigger deal to run a family of four kids than to run a tiny little town like that), but was there a reason to conceal her paying profession? Can't a mayor (or anyone in politics) donate to candidates or to the Republican Party?

Extremely nice catch, BTW!

[Indydem]

74. She was a homemaker in 2004.

She served on the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission until 2004, resigned to run for lietenant governor, and then lost that. So unless "Defeated Political Candidate" can be listed on contribution papers she was a homemaker.

Timeline from Wikipedia:
1992-1996 City Council
1996-2002 Mayor
2003-2004 Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission
2006- Present - Governor

[orleans]

68. k&r n/t

[liberal N proud]

69. This woman has all the political baggage they GOP wished Hillary had

Yet they fall in love with her.

[Buttercup McToots]

70. More More

I want more dirt!...
She freakin` scares the hell outta me...
I want her to go away...

[redqueen]

72. She'll claim to be whatever will get her another crony-backed promotion.