While you read this, Alaska's First Dude, Todd Palin, is riding a snowmobile -- I'm sorry, snowmachine -- 1971 miles from Big Lake to Fairbanks. In the course of performing this awesome feat, his Arctic Cat's powerful two-stroke engine will emit the same amount of hydrocarbons as an automobile driving from Chicago to San Francisco and back 150 times.
That may upset tree huggers in the lower forty eight but to Alaskans this does not seem excessive. Time to bring in the humor.
Seems like a lot of work, just to get away from Sarah Palin.
Okay now he has my attention.
But Todd's not just doing it because he hates his home life and likes things that make loud noises and emit benzene. He does it because it's there. And for hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and gifts from corporations who do business with the Governor's office.
For riding a snowmobile.
Something you could train a bear to do.
Ouch! I think it would be fair to say that Chris Kelly is no fan of Todd and Sarah Palin, nor snowmachine racing. But besides the snark Kelly also points out something that I had never thought of before.
The total purse value of this year's Iron Dog™ is $159,050. The sponsors include the petroleum giants Tesoro and Conoco-Phillips; State Farm, Wells Fargo, Frontier Airlines, Alaska Airlines and the Alaska First National Bank.
The Iron Dog™ has fewer than 40 entrants a year, and one of them is always Todd.
Does this smell? I'm probably the wrong person to ask. I hate the cold and I think motor sports is an oxymoron. But he is Alaska's First Lady, and Tesoro is an oil company.
Let's say this was Louisiana in the '30s. If Texaco sponsored a pancake-eating contest, and Huey Long's wife kept winning it, there would have been talk.
And, to be fair, Todd doesn't always walk away from the camping trip with the hundred grand first prize. He's only won four times.
Once after Sarah was elected to the Wasilla City Council, once after she was elected mayor, the year she was appointed to the Alaska Oil and Gas Commission, and the year she was elected governor.
Well isn't that an interesting set of coincidences. You know I don't want to make too much out of this, but at the very least it does give off a faint odor. Oh and we have smelled this odor before haven't we?
To read the entire article just click the title of this post.
riddle me this, dear Gryphen, is it at all hypocritical that he and his wife behave as if his emails are sort of covered by "exective priviledge" but yet he does not fill out or submit any sort of gift and/or income delcaration form for the office to which he was not elected but claims priviledge under?
ReplyDeleteyet another stinging example of Sarah Palin's idea of an "ethical" and "transparent government".
My dog got "skunked" the other night, and this smells Just AS bad if not worse!
ReplyDeleteHope the IRS and FBI watching....
Yet, State Farm just pulled out of Florida for all home owners insurance policies. They will still cover your autos, but no homes. They haven't paid off on a home in Florida in over 3 years, but they just cancelled all their policies and pulled out. That's after the state refused to allow them to raise the rates 67% then changed it to 47% after the 67% was denied... That's after a 9% increase in 2007. Now they are sponsoring a snowmachine race...makes a lot of sense doesn't it...lol
ReplyDeletehttp://everythingoutthere.izfree.com/2009/02/a-senators-iq/
ReplyDeleteA clip from his movie.
hmmmm.....very very interesting....
ReplyDeleteI read this yesterday on HuffPo...Regina add IronDogGate to the bottomless pit of scandals.
ReplyDeleteSarah, since it is tax time, I suggest you get yourself one hell of an accountant, maybe a tax attorney too.
Maybe Todd-O is using his position as "Self-Annointed Office Assistant To the Governor" to harrass his competitors right off the trail.
ReplyDeleteSo did Todd need any help to win in those four years? Did someone get knocked off their machine? Did a sure-fire winning machine fail to start on the last day because a widget was missing? Did someone get shepherded off the track? No, wait a minute, wasn't Todd sponsored to the tune of a fantastically state-of-the-art machine?
ReplyDelete