Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Finally found one report on the Alaska Republican Assembly convention in Wasilla.

Okay so as we have discussed before this last Saturday there was a convention in Wasilla that featured speakers like Rafael Cruz, Sharron Angle, and the Bundy Ranch supporter who thought protesters should hide behind their women.

As I posted later there was absolutely NO coverage from any of the local press.

Until now.

Yesterday Amanda Coyne, formerly of the Alaska Dispatch, posted this story on her blog.

Here are some of the lowlights: 

There’s going to be a time, I predict sooner rather than later, when reasonable Republicans aren’t going to be able to sit through a speech like the one given at the Alaska Republican Assembly convention in Wasilla by Assembly President Sharron Angle, the Nevada politician who ran for Senate in 2010. 

“One out of every six bundlers on the Democratic side is homosexual,” she told the 150 or so people at the Wasilla Sports Complex on Saturday. “Are you starting to see the trend? If we want to stop their agenda we have to stop their money,” she said. 

One day reasonable Republicans in the room will get up and walk out, in the same way they’d walk out if she substituted “black” or “Hispanic” for “homosexual. “

Coyne then goes on to report that there were apparently none of these "reasonable Republicans" of whom she speaks, because everybody kept their seats and clapped politely.

So who was there? Among the attendees:  

Reps. Bill Stoltze, Lynn Gattis, Shelley Hughes, Wes Keller, and Lora Reinbold. Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan worked the room. Sen. Lesil McGuire made an appearance, as did Russ Millette, the former GOP chair who just announced that he was running for governor as a Republican. Bill Walker had a booth, manned by his running mate Craig Fleener. Anand Dubey, who’s running for state House in West Anchorage, and John Cox, a candidate for the U.S. House, were there. Senate candidate Dan Sullivan also had a booth. Mead Treadwell had a presence. Joe Miller was there, getting the most shout-outs from the speakers. (Hmm, no mention of Sarah Palin? How interesting.)

Most of them sat or stood around the edges, chatting with occasional passersby, and occasionally even rolling their eyes at some of the speakers’ more fulsome pronouncements. None of them, however, left. The people in the room represented a slice of the electorate that they’re going to need in in the primary, and they can’t afford to offend them.

In other words these were the nuttiest of the wingnuts, and these politicians realized that in this state in order to win a primary, that is exactly who they needed on their side. 

Coyne goes on to report that the other speakers were just as crazed as Angle: 

You can say a lot about Sharron Angle, but at least she doesn’t yell. Two of the other keynote speakers did a lot of that. For hours. God. Guns. Socialism. Obama. 

Richard Mack, a sheriff from Arizona, yelled about how Alaska should be able to elect sheriffs. Right now!!! 

“Are you a David?” he yelled. “Do you have the courage to go against the Goliath?… Did you know that gun control is against the law?… How many God given rights are in the First Amendment?” 

“Five!” he yelled. 

Ted Cruz’s father Pastor Rafael rounded out the afternoon. Like the sheriff, the senior Cruz’s voice rose. But the sheriff’s shouts seemed aimed at hitting you, individually, in your gut. The senior Cruz’s voice was the voice of stern pastors everywhere, the one that rips right through you, through the walls, into some land beyond that only they envision. 

“Nobody is taking my gun or my bible,” he shouted. “Vote according to principle.”

"Nobody is taking my gun or my bible." Wow if that does not sum up the essence of the conservative wing of the Republican party I don't know what does.

Coyne does not report on exactly how many people showed up on Saturday, but if her tweeted photo from the convention is any indication, not very damn many.

Let me just reiterate how glad I am that I did not waste my Saturday at this gathering of mental midgets.

54 comments:

  1. Anonymous4:49 PM

    And by the way, the next time Sarah posts her crap about the VA and how it's all President Obama's fault, remind her of this:

    41 Republican Senators Voted Against a Landmark Veterans Bill in February, Today They Blame the VA

    Earlier this year, the GOP had a chance to prove that it could fund veterans' health care as eagerly as it borrowed for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Long before the current VA crisis, an event described as "a gift from God" by Dr. Ben Carson, Senate Republicans had a chance to vote on a landmark bill. Before the Senate vote, organizations devoted to the needs of veterans and their families offered widespread support to the Comprehensive Veterans Health and Benefits and Military Retirement Pay Restoration Act of 2014.

    On January 21, 2014 the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) wrote a letter to Sen. Bernie Sanders endorsing the legislation. The IAVA believed, "This legislation would accomplish many of the goals for which veterans and military service organizations have been advocating for years, including strengthening the Post-9/11 GI Bill, expanding advance appropriations for more of the VA's budget... and much more." The Veterans of Foreign Wars was just as enthusiastic in its support, and wrote a similar letter explaining how S.1982 would help veterans:

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/h-a-goodman/republicans-va-funding_b_5395698.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous7:21 PM

      I would also like to point out that without President Obama having his administration LOOK for problems with the VA none would be found and fixed.


      Signed an Army Vet

      Delete
    2. Anonymous7:54 PM

      THANK you Army Vet, and thank you for your service to our country!

      Delete
  2. Anonymous4:52 PM

    More people drove through the Wasilla McDonald's that afternoon than showed up for this Festival of Crazies.

    The Republican establishment has washed its hands of Sarah Palin. Even the looney-tune wing of the teabaggers, meeting a mile from her house, wanted nothing to do with her.

    Sarah Palin is toast. Only good for clicks on some news blogs. The real tests, the coming elections, are what folks care about, and all she has to offer are her antic, rabid speeches and a few paltry $5,000 checks. The Koch brothers spend that much on fuel for one trip on their private jets. Chump change.

    It will be fascinating to see just how bizarre her behavior will become as she realizes that no one cares about her anymore, except as the punchline of a joke.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous7:22 PM

      She'll do what she is already started doing, expose her own fraud about her fake pregnancy, it would be the only way she can get anymore press.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous7:55 PM

      For WHAT? She thinks she's going to get sympathy? My GOD that family is double down crazy!

      Delete
  3. Anonymous4:56 PM

    Talk about a "capacity crowd!" Glad to see Coyne wasn't crushed to death against the stage by the eager throng of zealots!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous5:08 PM

    Alaskan Senate Underdog Hires Former Bush Aide

    Tom Intorcio has joined Alaska Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell’s Senate campaign as communications director.

    Prior to joining Treadwell’s campaign, Intorcio worked on President George W. Bush’s 2004 re-election bid as a field coordinator, as well as on House and Senate campaigns in Colorado, Idaho, Ohio and South Carolina, among others.

    Treadwell is running for the GOP nomination to take on Democratic Sen. Mark Begich. Treadwell is currently being outraised by large margins by the Republican front-runner, former Alaska Attorney General Dan Sullivan. The GOP primary in Alaska is Aug. 19.

    http://www.rollcall.com/news/alaskan_senate_underdog_hires_former_bush_aide-233130-1.html?pos=lpolmr

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous5:14 PM

    I heard that about 150 people showed up for the big event in Gravel Land. That's probably counting the ones who were manning all the booths. What a joke on these jerks - traveling all the way to Alaska for a bomb of an event - and a no show/no mention of the Half Term Half Wit. I bet that opened their eyes about how $arah is a nonentity in Alaska. Bwhahahahah

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous5:46 PM

      People have lives. Most don't stalk those they haven't met ;) and pretend to know them

      Delete
    2. Anonymous5:46 PM

      Oh I think she's BIG time toast. Not invited to the Republican Leadership Convention either as someone mentioned in a past thread. They've had her number since '08, and that was verified when she should have been keynote at the '12 RNC but told to stay away. So much for Queen Esther! The more she tries, the more pathetic she comes across.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous6:22 PM

      Hey, 5:46pm, I don't have to "stalk" the Palins I live right across the lake from them. Also too, it's been months since any of them have been seen out and about here in Wasilla. They're so afraid to show their faces they hire someone to do their grocery shopping, thats when they're not hiding out in Arizona.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous8:57 PM

      Well 5:46, I guess that goes for laPalin and her 6 years troll-stalking the President who, I believe, she also too doesn't know. Not to forget, all the loot she got to do it. Who wins the Miss Despicable title????

      Delete
    5. Anonymous9:34 PM

      5:46 YOU are the Only STALKER here every day and night. You have no life. Trolling is all that you can do, and not very well. You are an Unemployed FAILURE, living in your Parents' basement.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous5:46 PM

    copied: "Oh radar, you continue to disgust me with your prying into private matters, on anyone. Sensitive things are not for public consumption. That should be a universally held belief. Tripp is beyond lucky to be a stable, happy child with friends and loving families. People are stronger than the crass ones who read and support Radar's sick world."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous6:22 PM

      Wrong thread bozo.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous6:49 PM

      Good LORD, will you give it a rest? I'm sure they're VERY happy grifting off the stupid like you! Get back to the other thread, dumb@ss!

      Delete
    3. Anonymous9:31 PM

      'Krusty drawers' you don't have any contact with the Palins. You fantasize about being a family member. You STALK their Facebook Pages non-stop and uninvited. You are sick and in need of intervention. Here's some advice for you: FUCK OFF, TROLL!!!

      Delete
  7. Anita Winecooler5:47 PM

    I think it's like twenty people in one of those house of mirror mazes at a carnival. What really tells you it flopped miserably, was it took three days for the newspaper to put words into sentences, and when they had enough for a story, it's news!
    Amanda's selfie is kind of sad looking, lots of empty seats, but they got the right kind with the combination handle and blowout preventers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous9:47 PM

      I don't think that is a selfie, but rather one of the neon shirt wearing Treadwell supporters she mentioned!

      Delete
  8. Anonymous6:13 PM

    Should I know what a bundler is?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous7:57 PM

      Yeah, what's a bundler?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous9:48 PM

      Explainer: What Is a Bundler?
      www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14434721

      At the presidential level a bundler is a wanabee ambassador!
      www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/02/10/this-very-telling-map-shows-which-u-s-ambassadors-were-campaign-bundlers/

      Delete
  9. Anonymous6:19 PM

    Sounds like half the attendees were the speakers themselves, based on that 150 head count. Wow, I'm a little proud to be an Alaskan today...I thought that we had lots more crazies than that!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous7:56 PM

      Me too! What a relief!

      Delete
  10. Anonymous6:23 PM

    Russ Millette running for governor as a Republican? What the fuck for? Who has that much money to throw down the drain? Where did that money come from? Even for the Far-Right crazies Millette as governor is a fantasy- and that's saying something.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous6:24 PM

    150 people showed up including the speakers and sponsors and a booth cost $500

    ReplyDelete
  12. yukonark6:25 PM

    I misread "Bundy Ranch supporter" and thought it said something about the Brady Bunch. My version seems a lot more fun.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Balzafiar6:31 PM

    “One out of every six bundlers on the Democratic side is homosexual,” ...

    Wow, I had absolutely no idea. It's amazing what new things one can learn if one will just take the time to stop and listen to crazy people rant.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous7:56 PM

      And who knows how many of the hundreds of thousands people who've sent small amounts to Democratic candidates are gay! Stop the world, I want to get off !!!

      Delete
  14. Looks like the bunch gathered in SP's kitchen, AKA sports complex "donations" site.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Randall6:44 PM

    "Nobody is going to take my gun or my Bible!"

    Nobody wants to take your stupid Bible, dipshit, just stop waving it in my face.

    And nobody's going to come and take your gun away either
    - as long as you keep it at home.
    You go carrying it around in public, though...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous8:05 PM

      In my family we use bibles for target practice.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous7:20 PM

    O/T....Unfreakinbelievable. I'm shaking my head in disgust:

    Samuel Wurzelbacher, better known as Joe the Plumber, insisted the deaths of innocent people "don't trump" his constitutional rights in an open letter to the families of victims in Friday's shooting rampage near the University of California, Santa Barbara.

    Wurzelbacher's letter was published on Barbwire Monday, days after one shooting victim's father blamed "craven, irresponsible politicians" and the National Rifle Association for his son's death.

    Wurzelbacher said the words of Richard Martinez, whose son Christopher Martinez was a victim in Friday's incident, "will be exploited by gun-grab extremists as are all tragedies involving gun violence and the mentally ill by the anti-Second Amendment Left." The former Congressional candidate told Martinez to "back off."

    Wurzelbacher said his letter is directed "only to the families of the gunshot victims in Santa Barbara" and not to the families of three who were stabbed ahead of the shooting spree.

    "I am sorry you lost your child. I myself have a son and daughter and the one thing I never want to go through, is what you are going through now. But: As harsh as this sounds -- your dead kids don’t trump my Constitutional rights," Wurzelbacher wrote.

    Wurzelbacher acknowledged his comments are "harsh" but claimed pro-gun control activists "don't care about your family or your dead children at all."

    "They sound like they do, whereas I sound uncaring and like I say, harsh," Wurzelbacher wrote. "Don’t be fooled – I care about your family and mine. The future of our very liberty lies in the balance of this fight."

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/27/joe-the-plumber-guns_n_5397981.html

    Sheesh

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous7:30 PM

    Has anyone ever noticed that instead of confront their own failures, weaknesses and faults, liberals magnetize trivial things about their opponent? Or just bullshit a little. Also, democrats have no capability of retracting something they know was a lie. ahem, Gryphen

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous7:54 PM

      F.O. troll.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous8:01 PM

      What's the lie, troll? Quit your passive aggressive shit and prove it.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous8:05 PM

      Ramble on crazy person.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous9:04 PM

      You mean 'magnify', Trig.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous9:23 PM

      Why are you here, Troll, have your Dildo batteries gone dead? You are an uninformed crazy Palin Stalker. Now you are trying to intimidate Gryphen, but he is laughing at your ignorance and stupidity. You have been banned from other blogs, so you should cherish the fact that Gryphen ALLOWS you to visit now and then for comedic postings.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous9:52 PM

      Freedom of Speech does not mean Freedom to lie there 730pm. Another confused bag.......you people must get a grip. Still twisting truth are you?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous6:01 AM

      I wish I could magnetize trivial things! I'd love if my car keys would just STICK to my metal-clad front door, it'd help me stop misplacing them.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous7:39 PM

    Sarah's just too busy setting up a new PAC so she can buy a basketball team.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:33 PM

      The Clippers? With her daughters thrown in for good measure?

      Delete
  19. Anonymous7:45 PM

    You tellin' me the wannabe leader of the Republican/ Tea baggers... Sarah Palin was a no show at the convention in Wasilla? That can't be. Wasilla means so much to Sarah, I'm sure she would have been present to represent the city of Wasilla and the state of Alaska.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous8:10 PM

    I love this phrase! Thank you 7:30 pm! "liberals magnetize trivial things" I am going to get right to work trying to magnetize something, I don't know how trivial, it will be, but I'll give it my best. Then I will work on my "own failures, weaknesses and faults."

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous8:37 PM

    And yet kid's lives destroyed and all for the love of guns.

    3-year-old Arizona boy shoots 18-month-old sibling in the head

    In Payson, Arizona, a town just two hours northeast of Phoenix, a toddler accidentally shot his younger sibling in the head at a residence. According to the Payson Police Department, a 3-year-old boy found a gun in a home he was visiting with his family, then shot his 18-month-old sibling in the head.

    http://freakoutnation.com/2014/05/27/3-year-old-arizona-boy-shoots-18-month-old-sibling-in-the-head/

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous8:48 PM

    What a slap in your face, Sarah!

    This is YOUR party darnitalltoheckandback.

    They came to your back-flippin'-yard and threw a party and did not invite you?!?!?! Their Queen? Their ESTHER?!?!

    Are you gonna take this sitting down?

    Or will you sic your flying monkeys on them?

    What's that you say? The monkeys went to the party and no longer support you?

    But, but, Ben Gauzy!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous9:18 PM

      Yeah, Esther, you were ALL for that "elite" GOP crowd in '08 until they realized what Pandora's box they opened by choosing you and sent you packing. Now they're ALL evil because "you" were rejected. No one puts BABY in a corner, right?

      To quote the Beatles:
      "Cry baby Cry
      Make your mother sigh
      You're old enough to know better
      So cry baby cry."

      Every last thing you whine about is exactly what YOU do. Projectionist. Liar. Fraud. Narcissist. Ignorant. LOSER.

      Delete
  23. Best comment on HuffPo re: Joe-the-plumber gun rights vs a child's right to live ( not to be confused with Pro-Lifers)

    Baxter VI (Baxter_Porter_VI)
    935 :)0

    Super User
    ·
    568 Fans
    ·
    Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime.
    So let me see if I'm interpreting this correctly:

    In America, on American soil, innocent people, living their day to day lives, should just be expected to "deal with" the fact that at any given moment, someone may open fire around them, or in a place where their loved ones are in a domestic terror attack. Nothing should be done. No one should be held accountable. Peoples right to owns guns trumps the lives of innocent children.

    Meanwhile, in the country of Libya, in the city of Benghazi, Christopher Stevens, Sean Smith, Tyrone S. Woods and Glen Doherty, all of whom understood the risks of their jobs and the Embassy they were stationed at, were killed in an overseas terrorist attack, and the American people have been forced to pay millions for 13 public hearings that haven't turned up anything new in 11 months.

    And then we have people like Hawkeye2010 who have the shear audacity to mention people using tragedies as political movements being "sick and twisted" is not just being willfully ignorant, but evil.

    So, to review: Republicans care more about "finding justice" for four Americans who were killed overseas, who had full knowledge that they had dangerous jobs, than they do about "finding justice" for the thousands of American families who lose their lives, or the lives of loved ones, to a person who was able to get his/her hands on a gun far too easily.

    Remember this when going into the booths this November.
    27 May 11:48 AM

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:39 PM

      Absolutely on point and well stated. Thanks for sharing the comment from Huffpost.

      Delete
  24. Anonymous10:50 PM

    Loser Sharron Angle gives an "e.g." to a Facebook posting I just saw:

    Think about just how much of a deranged mental condition is indicated, by a person who gives more than a quick shrug over two other people, who they don't even know, being in love--whether they are of the same sex, or not.

    To work up a big froth of hatred over it, to take to the streets with misspelled signs, to make up ridiculous falsehoods to spout off in public, takes it into the realm of full psychosis.

    Sounds about right, as a description of Angle.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous4:17 AM


    Daddy Cruz visits Alaska........call the CDC........stop the contagion........

    ReplyDelete
  26. physicsmom8:53 PM

    I doubt very much that any of these loonies would had left if Angle had said "black or Latino" instead of homosexual. All of those "others" are unacceptable to the Tea Party crowd.

    ReplyDelete

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