Oh, this is too fascinating not to share!

[heidi]

It seems that Sarah Palin has been a member of the Alaska Independence Party.

ETA: Ah, not actually a member of the party in terms of her voter registration, but her husband was registered as a member of that party until 2002, and she has attended their events at least once and possibly more than that; she sent a message on video to their most recent meeting. /eta

Here's what their platform includes:

* A belief that "the vote for statehood was invalid because the people were not presented with the range of options available to them" and that "the federal government has since breached the contract for statehood on numerous occasions in over a dozen serious and substantial instances."
* A belief that there should be a vote on Alaskan secession.
* Remaining "steadfastly opposed to environmental regulations and actively promotes the private ownership and widespread development of Alaskan land."
* A platform which includes:

[A]mending the Constitution of the State of Alaska so as to re-establish the rights of all Alaskan residents to entry upon all public lands within the state, and to acquire private property interest there in, under fair and reasonable conditions. Such property interest shall include surface and sub-surface patent.

[F]oster a constitutional amendment abolishing and prohibiting all property taxes.

[S]eek[ing] the complete repatriation of the public lands, held by the federal government, to the state and people of Alaska[.]

She also said the following in a 2006 questionaire of all the gubernatorial candidates:

Q: Are you offended by the phrase "Under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance? Why or why not?

PALIN: Not on your life. If it was good enough for the founding fathers, its good enough for me and I’ll fight in defense of our Pledge of Allegiance

As Daily Kos said, "when John McCain's grandfather graduated from the Naval Academy in 1906, the Pledge of Allegiance, as first written, was only fourteen years old. It would not be made the official pledge of the United States until 1942, six years after John McCain himself was born. When John McCain was born, the words "Under God" were not in the Pledge. They would not appear there until 1954, during McCain's senior year of high school."

Is John McCain a founding father now?

And let's not even get into the issue of how well abstinence-only "sex ed" worked for her daughter (who I sympathize with a thousand per cent for having to deal with this in the public eye, which she obviously never sought for herself).

So, a poll, title courtesy of Starship, of course.
[Poll #1252017]

Comments

[kerryblaze.livejournal.com]

*sigh* The Pledge of Allegiance thing is one of my biggest pet peeves!!

[misscake]

I would love her to stay on the ticket but only because it reduces the Republican chances in November. And I think they'd shoot themselves in the other foot if they dropped her. Mind you, they should have never chosen her in the first place. Talk about poor judgment!

[bekkio.livejournal.com]

Well, I picked the last option of the 2nd question, but I think you should have added another option:

"The Republicans obviously went on a crack-smoking binge to distract us after Barack's amazing speech on Thursday night"

[ginsu.livejournal.com]

Q: Are you offended by the phrase "Under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance? Why or why not?

PALIN: Not on your life. If it was good enough for the founding fathers, it's good enough for me

To be fair, she might have meant the phrase "under God," variations of which the founders did use -- "endowed by their Creator," etc.

(Even in that case, though, I doubt she knows many of them were Deists and definitely did not believe in the divinity of Christ.)

[shocolate.livejournal.com]

I know it's rude to laugh at another country's political messes - but OMG, jaw dropping fascination!!

[delawarean.livejournal.com]

I think that Palin is possibly the best thing that can happen to America right now, being a part of John McCain's ticket. It clarifies all sorts of things. Looking at all of the stupid drama in her home life (which has been so brushed over and minimalized by the Republicans). . .and all of the blatant contradictions, in her professed values and the observable outcome of those values. . .well, it clarifies all of this. It undeniably does.

All of this is profoundly important, and I say this as a person who is not partiularly liberal. (Hey, I voted for Bush-Cheney in 2000, okay? That's where I'm at -- and I still hate what has happened to my country in the last eight years, period.)

And if McCain cannot see all this, so many other thinking people certainly can. I like John McCain as a senator, but it does not speak well of him or his judgement as a potential President.

Americans, above all, are NOT stupid -- and they will remember all this nonense.

I watched Barack Obama's wonderful Labor Day speech locally in Detroit earlier today, and it was incredibly inspiring. I only wish the national audience could have seen it, for it was meaningful and worthwhile. Like a true President, he eliminated the points he needed to because of Gustav,. . . and he added the points he needed to, because America is still, nevertheless, in trouble. . .and he invited all Americans to value what truly needs to be valued right here and now.

I am just sorry that the national news did not cover the comments he made in Detroit, for they are both insightful and meaningful.

And I say this as someone who has long tended to be surprisingly conservative. But I am tired. I am tired of people who talk the talk, and NEVER walk the walk. . .while people who are courageous get shot down.

I think I am being used. And I am sick and tired of this.

I suspect that there are a alot of people like me: Tired of lies and cycnicism, people who see the facts for what they are, people like me who just want to move forward and value all of our fellow human beings. I am incredibly tired of people like Sarah Palin, who get away with CRAP because they are called "Republicans". Obama took the high road through all this and I know the Repuplicans would never repay the favor. Doesn't that really say it all?

Enough already! This stinks to high heaven -- and I am TIRED of this!

And I know I am not at all alone.

- -

PS -- Sorry about the rant, Heidi. But really. . .this is ridiculous.

[fishwhistle.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, having a politician who thinks the Founding Fathers wrote the Pledge of Allegiance is just normal, so I voted for number two. Preposterous, although actually not abnormal from a Canadian point of view, where practically every region talks about seceding once in a while and a party supporting Quebec separation routinely sends members to the federal parliament.

In a similar vein of preposterousness, though, one of my favorite sights was when I drove through Georgia once, and at a gas station right off the highway they were selling both U.S. flag and Confederate battle flag stickers, with a sign above them that said, "show your love for your country."

[mijan.livejournal.com]

For the poll, I think the historical ignorance and abstinence-only sex-ed are slightly more ridiculous than the secessionist leanings, if only because the last 8 years have made me wish I could secede from the US.

And... I hope she's still on the ticket come November... it would guarantee an Obama victory.

[scoreboard.livejournal.com]

Speaking as a scalawag and "a traitor to my race, class and heritage", I gotta go with the secssionist thing. After all, that didn't work out too well last time, and since then, Uncle Sam has got the hydrogen bomb, so anyone thinking secession needs what Begala would call "a check-up from the neck up."*

however, I think she's there for the duration, and for all you young'uns who read Ms. 8's LJ, go to Wikipedia and look up "Thomas Eagleton." Setting aside the matter of who the hell McCain would replace her with at this point, the harsh lesson of 1972 should be a reminder that a VP, like your first spouse, is not easily shed.

Or as Dr. Hunter S. Thompson said, "Buy the ticket, take the ride."

*Yeah, I'm pretty sure Kinky Friedman said it first.

[peacockharpy.livejournal.com]

"This was clearly a plan by the Republicans..."

Geez, if so, that completely sucks not only for Gov. Palin, but more so for her daughter, whose teen pregnancy has now become the stuff of tabloids and feverish Internet discussion.

I don't agree with all much ANY of Palin's political stances, I think she has some worrying things in her background, and I firmly believe that she's not prepared to lead (although, can I tell you how much it pisses me off to see people making cracks about lactating veeps and drawing conclusions about her capabilities? It's just milk, it doesn't require quarantine!! er, ahem). HOWEVER. If McCain, Rove, & Co. invited her into this maelstrom without telling her it was a ploy... that's just sheer cruelty. No one deserves that. And her daughter definitely doesn't deserve it.

But, sadly, I have sunk so low that I can see them doing it.

*clutches her "I deeply resent the way this administration makes me feel like a nutbar conspiracy theorist" totebag for at least a few more months*

[freckles42.livejournal.com]

Abstinence-only sex ed infuriates me to a frothing rage, so I shall abstain (HA HA, see what I did there?) from commenting on it. The founding fathers thing also threatens to send me into an apoplectic fit. Instead, I shall grab a paper bag and force steady breathing regarding the secessionist background.

What makes me angriest is that we all know that if Obama had been the one with a daughter with a teenage pregnancy, the evangelicals would have had a righteous field day with it. Instead, now, they circle the wagons and scream at anyone who approaches them.

*rubs temples*

[takemejustasiam.livejournal.com]

I'm surprised by the whole thing. It is such a disaster so far. I just don't know what McCain is thinking. At this rate if Obama isn't made president, I will think pretty poorly of our country.

[blackink.livejournal.com]

And let's not even get into the issue of how well abstinence-only "sex ed" worked for her daughter

and

This was clearly a plan by the Republicans to distract us after Barack's amazing speech on Thursday night

Wow. If Sarah Palin had had an abortion when she was seventeen, or if she had forced her daughter to get an abortion, then I could see how it'd be relevant to her politics. But you can't condone a parent for the actions of a seventeen-year-old, especially when the age of consent is sixteen in Alaska. In the end, it was the daughter who chose to have sex, and now that it's happened, she made an informed and responsible decision to keep the child (and to marry the father). Talking about a seventeen-year-old like this, especially after Obama's campaign insisted that children be left out of it, is out of line. Palin undoubtedly taught her daughters as best she could based on her belief structure. Parenting only goes so far (though it should absolutely be the parents who teach their children about sex education, whatever version they prefer, not public schools), and in the end, it's up to the kid to decide whether or not to heed their parents' advice. And in this day and age, suggesting that kids who aren't taught sex education don't understand the risks or how to use condoms is bordering on ignorant. Besides, who says that Palin's daughter didn't use a condom? Condoms break or are used incorrectly all the time, sex-ed or not.

Taking advantage of another's misfortune and acting like it's all one big excuse for the GOP to take away some of Obama's thunder from a speech of all things is awful. I respect you as a person and your political views, Heidi, but this is just completely out of line, no matter what political affiliation you happen to have. Maybe I'm reading and interpreting your tone and the other comments wrong, or maybe you really did mean it that way, but either way, I think it's incredibly disrespectful toward the Palin family.

And no, if Obama's daughter were going through the same thing, the Republicans would recognize it as the sensitive situation it'd be, and they would handle it similar to how Obama's campaign is handling this, which I completely respect. This isn't a campaign issue - it's the life of a seventeen-year-old girl who made a poor decision and who has the maturity to take responsibility for it. But how her daughter's decision affects her ability to be the VP, I can't fathom.

[selinakyle47.livejournal.com]

Palin is the conservative, evangelical base gimme so I am fairly certain she'll be on the ticket come November. As much as McCain would like to peel away moderates, he still needs to make sure the base comes out.

[chinawolf.livejournal.com]

Actually, I'd not thought of the last option yet, but you're correct. I learned in negotiation theory yesterday that one of the things you need to get what you want for sure is to move the point of view of the opponent. Palin is how bad it could be. Probably anyone else will be at least more acceptable than her, to Republicans and Undecideds both.

[fangirljen.livejournal.com]

Hey now! I wouldn't want to see Petrelli as McCain's running mate, despite how he seems to have more leanings toward being a Republican. Considering Obama seems to be musing Nathan quite a bit, we don't need him running against Nathan. :) And if Biden wasn't a running mate, Nathan would be perfect for Veep.

[ashavah]

Because Alaska would totally be able to support itself successfully as an independent nation. /sarcasm

*boggles*

[nicocoer.livejournal.com]

. . . The more days I know this woman exists, the more her stupidity appears to grow exponentially. Actually, since the level of stupid/hypocrisy has jumped in the past 5 hours, I'm getting twitchy about the "days" bit.

1) Re: teenaged daughter. I CANNOT BELIEVE that this woman can stand up there and be all extreme Pro-life, Anti-education, "pro-family" and have this happen while attempting to be a real politician. Yes, yes, It's her daughter's choice to have sex and she has to face the consequences and find joy in it if she can (heck, my 17-year-old sister is having a baby in a month, and we are all awaiting Ambellina's birth) But Gov Palin is not running for Gov this time. If she's unable to maintain a healthy and safe home, how is she going to be able to maintain a healthy and safe country?

Also, If you are out there as a hard-nosed anti-education person and want people to take you seriously? YOU MAKE SURE THIS STUFF DOESN'T HAPPEN. Because this (and I do feel bad for Bristol and hope that her marriage doesn't end up a demonstration of statistics the way that her pregnancy is demonstrating this point)purely demonstrates what's wrong with abstinence only Education. And I don't mean it just as not having all the info available- I personally learned it via the internet- but that it reinforces stigma when people think about using contraceptives.

2) Re: Founding Fathers and the PoA: My mind seriously shut down for 5 minutes when I heard this. It was written more than 100 years after the founding- none of the founders were even ALIVE when it was written. We were around 20 years from our bicentennial when "Under G-d" was added- ditto about founders being dead. They cover this stuff in your basic high school US history now (not that anyone remembers it), and even if they didn't EVEN WIKIPEDIA HAS IT. It's unfathomable to me that there's a state with a Governor this uneducated about our history, let alone a VP candidate. Just. NO.

3) Re: secessionist tendencies: OH. MY. G-D. D-did they even do a basic background check on this woman before they picked her? Because um. How much fail is demonstrated here? TOO MUCH. I swear, this woman not only gives conservatives a bad worse name, she will make the internet explode with righteous indignation if we learn any more about her.

Guess who's taking advantage of her British Blood-ties if this woman gets into office?

[rookie131.livejournal.com]

I also love that she didn't know what the VP's job would be. Oh, and how about no passport? There is no way they seriously think this woman could possibly run our country.

Did you see Carville's piece on Larry King? He nailed it. Even had a picture of her office when she was mayor of a town of a whopping 5000 people.

Here's my only gripe about the whole daughter-being-pregnant scandal. If it was reversed and Biden's daughter was pregnant, it would be all "Damn liberals have no family values." But, somehow, because it is a Republican, it is okay because the girl is going to get married. Even though she would be thousands of miles away from her future husband when she is living in DC.