Does Palin really have jury duty? Damned if I know. But if she’s telling the truth about jury duty, she’s also telling the truth about how long her schedule is affected by it: 30 days at minimum.

Palin claims she has jury duty.  As she wrote on her Facebook page about postponing the remainder of her Lower 48 bus tour,

The coming weeks are tight because civic duty calls (like most everyone else, even former governors get called up for jury duty) and I look forward to doing my part just like every other Alaskan.

Does she really have jury duty?  Damned if I know.  As anyone paying attention is aware, she’s been known to lie before.

But if she does….

Damn. As sick & tired as I am of Palin — as much as I have always thought it was a bad idea to ever let her anywhere near having any kind of power (or publicity, fergodssake) — I’m just as sick of how legitimate criticism of her gets drowned out by the kneejerk whines & complaints of anti-Palinites who are at times just as fact-challenged as she is.

Example: a reader called skippyflipjack commenting at Talking Points Memo:

It’s amazing that this prevaricator calls out the media for making things up.  Jury duty for most people takes a couple hours.  You go in (or call a phone number, in some states) and most of the time they say thanks, we don’t need you.  If they do need you you’re still more likely to be rejected by the attorney on one side or the other.  The idea that a jury summons will affect “the coming weeks” is sheer nonsense.  Absolute malarkey.  What a dishonest person.

Do some fact-checking first, skippyflipjack. Whatever the jury procedures might be in your state or locality, jury service in Alaska is governed by the rules set by the Alaska Court System.

And so here we have it from the Trial Jury Handbook of the Alaska Court System, available online for the convenience of anyone who chooses to find out the facts before waxing ill-informed in the nearest political blog’s comment section:

How long must I serve?

The time period during which you must be available to serve (called your “term of service”) depends on the size of the court location where you serve. During your term of service you may have to call in or report to court periodically. You may not have to call in every day, but you must call on the days you are directed to do so.

In Anchorage, where the population is large and many trials are held each day, the term of service is either 5 consecutive days or, if you are selected to serve on a jury, the length of the trial.

In other courts, your term of service is either 30 days, 90 days or 1 year depending on the population of the area. In these courts, you may have to call in several days each month, and you may be selected to serve on more than one trial. The most days you might actually have to be present in court is 30 per year. However, you must complete any trial for which you are selected to serve as a juror regardless of how long the trial lasts.

I’ve only ever served in Anchorage, so my term of service has never been for longer than five days. (I’ve never been selected to actually sit on a jury, or it would have been longer.)  Palin would be more likely to serve in Palmer — about 15 miles from her home in Wasilla — where the Alaska Court System has both Superior and District courts.

So if she’s telling the truth about having jury duty, she’s also telling the truth about about how long her schedule is affected by it: 30 days at minimum.

Here’s how it works:

1. We’re informed several weeks in advance by mail that we have jury service and when our service is scheduled.
2. During our week (in Anchorage) or longer period (elsewhere) of jury service, we must call the jury clerk’s recording every night from Sunday to Thursday to find out it we’re supposed to report. If our jury service number isn’t called, we can spend the next day going to our regular jobs or whatever. If our number is called, we have to go to the courthouse the next day and report.
3. When we go to the courthouse, we may or may not get called into a courtroom for a trial we might be on the jury for. Once in the court room, we may or may not be called to the jury box to be questioned by attorneys. We can only leave the courthouse if we are officially told to do so by the jury clerk.
4. If we are not selected for a jury, we still have to make calls for the rest of of our period of service until our service is over.

So, no, it’s not just a matter of flying in, saying your piece, and flying out again — as at least one commenter on Talking Points Memo has insisted Palin could do.  There are 30 days at least that she needs to be close enough to get to Palmer the following morning to report in person at the courthouse, whether or not her number is ever called.

But couldn’t she get out of jury duty? As Gryphen wrote yesterday at Immoral Minority,

She quit postponed the bus tour because she had JURY DUTY?

Seriously?  THAT is her excuse?

Which begs the question, does anybody really want a potential leader of this country who can’t even manage to get out of jury duty?

I have a hard time with that one, Gryphen: are you really suggesting that Palin should evade her civic duty?  As she already did, of course, by taking the oath of office as Alaska’s governor & then quitting with her job half undone — for which you have deservedly raked her over the coals.  But I’m pretty sure you’d rake her over the coals for using her influence or whatever to avoid jury service, too.

But she could have postponed her service. Here’s what the Trial Court Handbook says about that:

Can I postpone my jury service?

If jury service at the time for which you are summoned will cause hardship, you may request deferral of service to another time within the next ten months.  If you need to seek a deferral, you should do so as soon as possible.  Do not wait until the time you are to appear.  To reschedule your jury service, follow the instructions for question #12 on the Jury Questionnaire.  If you have already sent in your questionnaire, call the jury clerk as soon as possible for instructions.

Based on that, I think it’s possible the jury clerk might grant a postponement for her “family vacation” bus tour; & almost certainly for the trip (now canceled “for scheduling reasons”) with Franklin Graham to the Sudan — had she really wanted to go.  I guess she didn’t wanna.

Then there’s the question of whether it’d be a good idea to have her on a jury. Commenter bluestatedon at Talking Points Memo:

I cannot believe that any prosecuting attorney would agree to her being on a jury, seeing as how much of a circus that would create. It would be a complete distraction from the business at hand.

Agreed.  I can’t believe any attorney at all would want her on their jury, when it comes down to it: not for ideological reasons, necessarily, but just because of the distraction factor.

But if she was called for jury duty, she’s still required to to her service, or risk contempt of court and its possible consequences.

Jury duty doesn’t mean she’ll actually end up on a jury. I’ve have jury service at least 5 times in Alaska, and have never been actually seated on a jury.  (I came damn close last time, but attorneys always seem to dislike seating jurors who work in justice-related fields, like staff at the UAA Justice Center.)

It comes down to this: the Alaska Court System expects people called for duty to do their duty, no matter who they are.  The jury clerk doesn’t let someone out of it just because she’s famous, or because the jury clerk presumes to know how attorneys in a case might feel about a given potential juror.

So get a little more nuanced in your criticism, folks. Don’t just jump on the bashing bandwagon because you want to bash. There are plenty of legitimate reasons to criticize Palin and to want her far far far away from the seats of government without coming off sounding just as reality challenged as she is.

But can we at least know for sure if she has jury duty? At Talking Points Memo, several_ asks,

Have any “journalists” or bloggers bothered contacting the courts in Wasilla to ask them to confirm or deny whether she’s been called for jury duty or is everyone just taking her word for because of her solid relationship with the truth in the past? (<– sarcasm) Lists of those called for jury duty is public information isn’t it? Isn’t that how employers verify whether employees are telling the truth or just taking an unpaid vacation?

Well, first of all, there are no “courts in Wasilla.”  Alaska has no “county courts”: we have a unified court system called the Alaska Court System. The nearest courts to Palin’s Wasilla home are the Palmer District Court and Palmer Superior Court in Palmer.

Second, best I can tell, the Alaska Court System does not publish lists of people called for jury duty.  It does have a procedure for verifying a juror’s service for employers:

What if my employer wants proof of my jury service?

Ask the jury clerk for a Certificate of Jury Attendance either at the end of each day of trial or at the completion of the trial.  The certificate will indicate the dates and times you served.

But unless some investigative reporters or other can get Palin to wave her jury summons or questionnaire in front of their faces, we might never know for certain if she really has jury duty.

Related posts:

1. Alaska Supreme Court to hear arguments on Troopergate investigation
2. Alaska Supreme Court won't block Troopergate investigation
3. Mea culpa: My post about Palin yesterday distorted what she said

(All dates based on when it happened per Alaska time.)

Feb 1. Sarah Palin said something stupid and/or self-aggrandizing and/or vindictive and/or flying in the face of Consensual Reality.
Feb 2. Sarah Palin said something stupid and/or self-aggrandizing and/or vindictive and/or flying in the face of Consensual Reality.
Feb 3. Sarah Palin said something stupid and/or self-aggrandizing and/or vindictive and/or flying in the face of Consensual Reality.
Feb 4. ditto
Feb 5. ditto
Feb 6. ditto
Feb 7–20. ditto
Feb 21. Frank Bailey book leaked.
Feb 22. Secret “Lou Sarah” Facebook account. More from the Bailey book leakage.
Feb 23. Bailey book leakage. “Girly men don’t ride the Irondog.”
Feb 24. Bailey book leakage. Also too, see Feb 1–20.
Feb 25. Ditto also too.
Feb 26. Ditto also too.
Feb 27. Ditto also too.  Todd Palin doesn’t win the Irondog.
Feb 28. Ditto also too.

Not that much different from any other month, really.  A tiny minority of stuff related to Sarah Palin was genuinely newsworthy (mostly information from the unethically leaked Bailey book) — but most of it wasn’t.  I hope those of you who return to writing news stories or blogging about Palin after a month’s moratorium will pay attention to the difference.  After all, most of us who don’t blog or news-write all the time about Sarah Palin are even sicker of her & her family than you are.  So please: be considerate.

See Wickersham’s Conscience for some an update of other real news about Palin from February, and Andrew Halco for some shots of Baileys.

* * *

Update: WaPo’s Dana Milbank reports on his Palin-free month:

The turning point came when I watched Fox News on Feb. 11. A banner flashed on the screen: “FOX NEWS ALERT.” Dramatic music played. Stuart Varney, in for Neil Cavuto, delivered the bulletin: “Sarah Palin has issued a tweet.”

This was news?

It was then that I realized I had nothing to worry about. Palin was not going to make real news in February, or, most likely, at any other time. At most, she was going to make noise – enough to earn that $1 million Fox pays her a year.

Exactly.

Related posts:

1. The Daily Tweets 2010-11-10: #AKSen vote count proving it’s not “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” no matter what she calls her crappy reality show.
2. Palin's Hong Kong adventure…
3. Palin adds a whole new definition of solipsism — CORRECTED

13 Jan 2011: Queensland Premier Anna Bligh addresses Queenslanders about the 2010–2011 floods.

While continuing to watch the floods in Queensland, I’ve also been paying attention to other news — floods elsewhere, but also the reaction in my own country to the mass shooting last Saturday in Tucson.  As I tweeted today, I have nothing to say about Sarah Palin’s “blood libel” speech yesterday morning except to say that it contrasted poorly with the speech made last night by President Obama in Tucson. Thank you, President Obama.

Because I am following news on the Queensland floods, I also saw other examples of leadership yesterday — especially by way of public briefings by Queensland Premier Anna Bligh and other Queensland officials to update Queenslanders on the flood situation in the vast northeastern Australian state.

Watching those briefings, I remembered the problems that hit the Lower Yukon River back a couple of years ago, before Palin had quit her job as governor of Alaska.  I know hardly anything about Anna Bligh, her political stances, her career, even what party she belongs to (but here’s what Wikipedia says about her). Little of that political crap matters at times like this.  What would it have been like for the predominately Alaska Native villagers of the Y-K Delta to have back then, the same quality of state-level leadership that Queenslanders have today?

Contrast & compare.

Here is the briefing that particularly stood out for me yesterday. The entire briefing is well worth a watch; but in particular, see beginning at about 11:47, when Anna Bligh addresses all Queenslanders affected by the floods — which is to say, all Queenslanders.

Media Conference with Premier Anna Bligh
Thursday, 13 January 2011, 9:30 AM (Alaska time: 12 Jan 2011, 2:30 PM)
Courtesy Queensland Police Service

As we weep for what we have lost, and as we grieve for family and friends, and we confront the challenge that is before us, I want us to remember who we are: We are Queenslanders. We’re the people that they breed tough north of the border. We’re the ones that they knock down and we get up again.  I said earlier this week that this weather may break our hearts — and it is doing that — but it will not break our will, and in the coming weeks and the coming months we are going to prove that beyond any doubt. Together, we can pull through this, and that’s what I’m determined to do, and with your help we can achieve it.

Today’s tweets (because this was originally a “Daily Tweets” post) —

• Still watching @QPSmedia @brisbanetimes @couriermail on Brisbane/Queensland floods & recovery, but won’t retweet extensively. Go Queensland! #
• Floods in the news: beside Queensland & other parts of Australia, there’s catastrophic flooding in Sri Lanka & Brazil. #fb #
• @kelleyeskridge I hear you! I got hacked 3-4 mos. ago. A pain. Upgraded my plan for > security & I’m very on top of backups now. Good luck! in reply to kelleyeskridge #
• Brisbane & Queensland floods photos: before and after the water rose from @couriermail. http://bit.ly/gnNAce #fb #
• I have nothing to say re: Palin’s “blood libel” speech yesterday except that it contrasts poorly w/ what Pres. Obama said last night… #fb #
• … Palin also contrasted poorly w/ leadership shown by Queensland Premier Anna Bligh during 2 briefings I saw yesterday re: QLD floods. #fb #
• Iif catastrophic floods as in Queensland had happened in Alaska when Palin was gov, all she woulda done was call in Samaritan’s Purse. #fb #
• … Just like what she actually did when Alaska Native communities on the Y-K were suffering from guess what catastrophic flooding. #fb #
• Speaking of QLD Premier Anna Bligh, live media conference happening now #qldfloods #thebigwet http://fb.me/A0MB1VHA #fb #
• @907natalie Where is all this new astrological sign info coming from that people are tweeting about today? I’m a Pisces & I’m sticking to it in reply to 907natalie #

Background note: Samaritan’s Purse

A friend asks, what’s Samaritan’s Purse?  Per Wikipedia’s article on it, it’s “a non-denominational evangelical Christian humanitarian organization that works worldwide to assist people in physical need alongside their Christian missionary work. The organization’s president is Franklin Graham, son of Christian evangelist Billy Graham.” Prominent antigay pastor Jerry Prevo of Anchorage Baptist Temple is a board member of the organization.

I was factually slightly off in my tweet: it wasn’t directly in response to flooding that then-Gov. Palin called in Samaritan’s Purse to accompany her on a visit the Yukon River villages of Marshall and Russian Mission in February 2009, five months before she announced her resignation as governor. It was in response to Lower Yukon villages — accessible only by airplane or boat (in summer) & snowmachine (in winter), whose predominately Alaska Native residents are largely dependent on subsistence hunting & fishing — running out of fuel & food that winter.  Here’s some reading:

• 9 Feb 2009. “In rural Alaska villages, families struggle to survive” by Mallory Simon (CNN).
• 12 Feb 2009. “Sarah Palin’s Personal Efforts on Behalf of Rural Alaska” by AKMuckraker (The Mudflats).
• 19 Feb 2009. “Palin Pallin’ with Preacher” by Shannyn Moore (Just a Girl from Homer).
• 19 Feb 2009.  “Palin to Travel to Western Alaska!” by AKMuckraker (The Mudflats).
• 19 Feb 2009. “Palin to Visit the Lower Yukon With Franklin Graham to Raise Her Fundraising Profile for SarahPAC” by EdwardTeller (Firedoglake).
• 20 Feb 2009. “Palin and Graham off to Russian Mission (Updated)” by Kyke Hopkins (Anchorage Daily News—Alaska politics blog).
• 20 Feb 2009. “Palin heads to villages with Christian group: Governor, evangelist to deliver food” by Kyke Hopkins (Anchorage Daily News).
• 20 Feb 2009.  “Stampede to Western Alaska!” by AKMuckraker (The Mudflats).
• 21 Feb 2009. “Palin thinks the youth need to move out of the villages” by Writing Raven (Alaska Real) (crossposted as “The Point at Which an Alaska Native Blogger Loses It” at The Mudflats).
• 1 Mar 2009. “Alaska Newspapers’ Videos of the Graham-Palin-Parnell Yukon Trip” by Phil Munger (Progressive Alaska).

In December 2010, Palin traveled to Haiti with Franklin Graham of Samaritan’s Purse. AKMuckraker’s piece on it also talks about the 2009 visit to the Yukon:

• 10 Dec 2010. “Cookies for Cholera? Sarah Palin Travels to Haiti” by AKMuckraker (The Mudflats).

Again. Contrast & compare. I’m grateful that my friends in Brisbane & Ipswich & everyone throughout Queensland have real leadership in this time of crisis.

Related posts:

1. The Daily Tweets 2011-01-12: Brisbane floods 2
2. Palin's Hong Kong adventure…
3. Queensland floods

George Gee's latte special board for Black Friday at Side Street Espresso

George’s latte special board was drawn for yesterday (Black Friday, the traditional consumerist post-Thanksgiving shopping day), but his rendition of Frankenstein & American consumerism was so good that Deb left it up today, too. Or maybe George just didn’t have time to draw up a new one this morning.

In any case, this was my last Side Street Saturday — my main writing day — until January 15.  Since this time next week, I’ll be on my way to Australia.

Also hopefully my second-to-last day of NaNoWriMo writing: I finished the day with  4,563 words, bringing my total up to 45,666.  Only 4,334 words left to go!

• @nethenekhthon @Scallywag195 Sorry to miss you both, hope you both get all better soon. Here at Side Street w/ Rob, then DT Kaladi’s. #
• RT: @Mudflats: I read #Palin book so u don’t have to – Ch 1, Part 1 (aka 1st half of the crap sandwich) http://bit.ly/iaE7KJ #fb #
• Big thx to @Mudflats for your sacrifice. How can we help you recover from nausea & headbanging? Create a Palin Detoxification Fund? #palin in reply to Mudflats #
• Will be heading to downtown @KaladiBrothers for #NaNoWriMo write-in in about an hour. Currently at Side Street, my writing home. #fb #

Related posts:

1. The Daily Tweets 2010-11-06: A lovely NaNovember day (7.5K words)
2. Side Street Mel
3. Side Street’s George Gee

Today was the first day of counting write-in ballots in the Alaska U.S. Senate race, which is now (Scott McAdams having conceded) between incumbent Senator Lisa Murkowki, the write-in candidate, and Sarah Palin’s favorite Joe Miller.

Meantime, we’ve been hearing plenty about this Sunday’s premiere of Palin’s [un][sur]reality show “Sarah Palin’s Alaska”.  The above screenshot is from the Washington Post‘s review of “Sarah Palin’s Alaska”, which included an embedded of Alaskans’ Twitter tweets about the (un)reality show.

And there I am, and there’s the first few words of my tweet, the full test of which is included in the title of today’s post.

The day’s tweets:

• I find myself amazed that this far into the internet age, people are still emailing to my work proposing a website “link exchange.” Duh. #fb #
• Report this pedophile manual: use feedback links on bottom of product page so @amazon removes. http://amzn.to/9SKcJi Please retweet. #fb #
• RT: @harrymarkov: Pedophile Guidebook: Free Speech, Censorship, Boundaries http://t.co/LpXUwrC // My free speech: Amazon, lose the book. #fb #
• Periodically checking in on #AKsen write-in count on adn.com Alaska Politics Blog http://bit.ly/d4QnvL #fb #
• RT: @adndotcom: Democratic observer says elections officials overruling 90% of Miller write-in challenges. http://bit.ly/anks1r #
• Democratic observer: “She did an effective job” re: Murkowski’s #AKSen write-in effort. Name mostly spelled right. http://bit.ly/anks1r #fb #
• #AKSen vote count proving it’s not “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” no matter what she calls her crappy reality show. http://bit.ly/anks1r #fb #
• WaPo review of ‘Sarah Palin’s Alaska’ much better than show itself likely to be. Great laughs! Thx WaPo! http://wapo.st/95lhgv #
• New Yorker review of “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” also a good read about a sucky show. http://nyr.kr/9E5s4n #
• Anchorage downtown/midtown: if you can get to height to see, I’m told amazing fata morgana in progress across Cook Inlet toward Denali. #fb #
• Definition of fata morgana at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fata_Morgana_%28mirage%29 #
• Blog post of mine showing prior fata morgana: http://www.henkimaa.com/2010/02/04/the-daily-tweets-2010-02-04/ #
• RT: @adndotcom: First official results: 89% of 7600+ ballots counted cast perfectly for Murkowski. http://bit.ly/anks1r #
• RT: @RiseReviews: Indie presses/authors: New review site wants to review your books! Non-pro-paying markets ONLY http://bit.ly/9oMkR7 Pls RT #
• RT: @adndotcom: Fed judge with prior ‘negative opinion’ of Miller takes himself off write-in lawsuit. http://bit.ly/azuHJ3 // Judge Sedwick #
• MIller left fed magistrate job w/out adequate prior notice too. Another quitter victim, just like his pal Palin. http://bit.ly/azuHJ3 #fb #
• Per AK Dispatch, Miller camp gave up challenging “Murkowski, Lisa” when they saw printed ballots said “Miller, Joe” http://bit.ly/advxk8 #fb #

Here’s a photo (taken February 4, 2010) of the fata morgana referred to in the post linked a few tweets up:

This was taken from the taller of two Denali Towers in midtown Anchorage, showing downtown Anchorage with Mt. Foraker (left), Denali (middle), & fata morgana (right) in the background.  Fata morgana are optical illusions particularly common in polar or other cold regions: there really aren’t really any mountains north of Denali visible from Anchorage, except with fata morgana.

Related posts:

1. The Daily Tweets, 2010-02-04: Fata morgana, & new pipes
2. Questions about the Palins' tax returns
3. The Daily Tweets 2010-11-11: NaNoWriMo write-in

My overall response to this year's election. But at least I get to go to Australia. And at least I kept a sense of humo(u)r when tweeting last night, which beats getting depressed.

• Dammit, if Joe Miller wins, I’m going to Australia. This isn’t an empty threat. I really mean it. Here’s why: http://bit.ly/cSQ2Ky #
• Turning off FB, Twitter, Google Reader, Google News, NPR in favor of iPod. My challenge: no election news until midnight. Can I do it? #fb #
• Besides, we’re now in NaNovember. Gotta start writing lots tonight. #fb #

[That was at about 4:20 PM.  But I didn't shut off my email, & at about 11:20 PM, succumbed after getting an emailed news brief from the Anchorage Daily News....]

• Oops. Wasn’t able to make it all the way to midnight w/out checking election results. Better “write-in” than Miller. Still going to Oz. #fb #
• But I will comfort myself w/ NaNo writing & Battlestar Galactica soundtrack, which reminds me: we’re at least not under Cylon attack. #fb #
• Granted Koch Brothers & Tea P. candidates ~ bad as Cylons: singleminded monotheistic monocultural intolerant toaster robots from hell. #fb #
• Tonight not your night, Scott, but there will be other nights! You were the only candidate w/ class & grace in this year’s AKSEN race. #fb #
• FiveThirtyEight reports Rasmussen WAY the frak off in Hawaii Senate race: by 42 points! Way to go, Rasmussen: 538′s worst poll award! #fb #
• @redrummy The other thing comforting me tonight: a 22 oz. bottle of Midnight Sun’s “Monk’s Progress.” Those Belgian monks know how to brew. in reply to redrummy #
• Now I will return to my character Esti Gusev, contemplating stars from Biblis Tholus midway between Olympus & Pavonis montes on Mars. #fb #
• @redrummy I reckon those Belgian monks will have descendants on Mars too, to inspire my character similarly to how I am inspired tonight. in reply to redrummy #
• Shakespearian aside: Alas, poor Yorick, we now foster hope write-in voters spell’d abhorr’d Murkowski’s name right. Our gorges rise. #fb #
• Bright spot, Alaska: we may yet proudly hold our middle fingers aloft and declare: Mama Grizzly, so there! #fb #
• And now I’ll say: given gen’l unhappiness w/ both R & D, when will we wake up? this system is a SYSTEM. Which is broken. Full stop. #fb #
• No candidate, no winner, can save us. Broke & broken. The whole system need adjustment, needs fixing…. #fb #
• The new Congress will be as dysfunctional, in terms of the needs of the PEOPLE (which is not same as PARTY) as the old…. #fb #
• The U.S. — Republican, Democrat, Tea Party, what have you — is in hock to the demands of Big Business & Big Ideology… #fb #
• … we ALL shop at the company store, where supposedly competing products are all identical but for the labels. #fb #
• … but for tonight… Sarah Palin’s Alaska … is not, after all, hers. Nya nya nya. #fb #
• Happy to find Justice Dana Fabe retains seat on AK Supreme Court, despite creepy Cylon Christianist toaster robot from hell campaign. #fb #
• Judge McKay: I’m OK you’re retained despite my vote against: but take 41% against retention as a shot over the bow: DON’T DRIVE DRUNK! #fb #
• @redrummy But consider Justice Fabe: that race much closer than shoulda been: Jim Minnery & his Cylon robot toasters from hell… in reply to redrummy #
• @redrummy .. will continue to attempt to overthrow sanity in judiciary. b/c Jim Minnery & his roasty toasty closeminded robots… #
• @redrummy … are CREEPILY CLOSEMINDED. They’d eradicate you & me both, if they had their way. #
• @redrummy Besides, much as I respect AJC, they didn’t convince me on Postma. I voted to retain. Sorry Postma, back to law practice for you. #
• @907natalie @AncRider @redrummy System broken. We shd be talking w each other, not voting on stupid ideologies/ #
• RT: @redrummy: Bright spots in AK’s predictably sad election: 1) FU Joe Miller; 2) FU Jim Minnery; 3) Welcome back Justice Dana Fabe! #
• @redrummy Shakespeare again: Lady MacMamaGrizzly doth quoth: Out out bright spot! In reply, we do not quoth: but middle fingers hold aloft #
• @redrummy: Glad to hear! We aims to please! Just the latest in a series of averted apocalypsi. (AK is the most recent hellmouth.) #

Related posts:

1. An LGBT rundown of the election
2. The Daily Tweets 2010-11-11: NaNoWriMo write-in
3. Nosedive v. “hold your nose” v. Scott McAdams

Related posts:

1. The Daily Tweets, 2010-02-05: Caprica w/ sauerkraut
2. The Daily Tweets 2010-11-27: Last Side Street Saturday of 2010
3. The Daily Tweets 2010-11-06: A lovely NaNovember day (7.5K words)

Palin: Flailin' failin' and probably bailin' -- a sign from the Hold Palin Accountable Rally, 27 Sep 2008, Anchorage, AK. Prophetic, too: she bailed 10 months later.

I don’t usually read Conservatives for Palin.  For one thing, I don’t have much use for unmitigated laudatoriness toward my former governor about whom I have all manner of reasons to be unfavorably impressed — her incessant untruth-telling, her vindictiveness, her Christianist/Dominionist views, her habit of quitting jobs half-done (though to tell the truth, I’m glad she quit as governor — Sean Parnell ain’t no superhero, but he’s a vast improvement over both his last two predecessors), & her speeches full of the same old tired conservative talking points over & over & over & over [yawn] again.  Oh yes, & let us not forget her famous 2 million dollar meme, which has the distinction of having led to the most popular post on my blog to date. [Ref #1] It also has a nice pie chart that I made, which I will take the opportunity to show off now.

The 2 million dollar meme pie chart, which I created to demonstrate what it cost the Alaska Personnel Board to investigate ethics complaints against Sarah Palin. Notice how 63% of costs were from Troopergate, including the "frivolous" ethics complaint Palin made against herself. Click through on the pie chart to get to my Flickr photostream, where it can also be viewed full-size.

It was with some bemusement, then, that I learned that on Sunday one of C4P’s bloggers took it upon himself to congratulate me for being one of those “with the courage to criticise [sic] those whose lives seem committed to a downward spiral of abusive tabloideeze about all things Palin.”

Why, sir! I do believe that you’re trying to coopt me!

The blog post, “Skinny White Sunday: Alaska Palm Pilot Rocks!” by Rich Crowther [Ref #2], was a sort of Sunday wrap-up of Palin-related news, which in this case included discussion of Phil Munger’s use of the word “slut,” for which I had criticized him. [Ref #3] Interestingly, Crowther said very little about my criticism of Phil, instead choosing to highlight comments I’d made at Phil’s post about Gryphen of Immoral Minority.  Also of interest was that while Crowther made use of the term Steve Aufrecht used in his post criticizing Phil for the same thing — Blogger Tourettes [Ref #4] — Crowther not only didn’t credit him, but even linked to another C4P post (critical of Phil) instead of to Steve’s post. [Ref #5] I’m sure there are a number of C4Pers who now think Crowther is oh-so-very-clever for coining a clever phrase that in fact he just snagged uncredited from another Alaska progressive blogger.

Here’s the relevant section of Crowther’s post.  All the stuff in green is him quoting me.  Links are as they appear in the original.

Mr M has recently been struck down by a bad case of Blogger Tourettes and the issue of the week over at his blog has been “to swear or not to swear”. Is it nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of Sarah Palin’s outrageous good fortune, or to cuss with aggressive, sexually charged, misogynistic language in trying to oppose that?

They accuse C4P of meddling in Alaskan affairs, but here’s what we don’t understand, how can it be more acceptable for those Eurozone sludgers Patrick Hogwash and Regina la Cochon Rose (at Palingates) to involve themselves in matters Alaska? How can it be appropriate to link to that bilious European blog? Huh?

Interestingly, reader, there are now some Alaska Bloggers (eg Mel@Henkimaa) with the courage to criticise those whose lives seem committed to a downward spiral of abusive tabloideeze about all things Palin:

“[I] think that Gryphen frequently goes over the top & over the line, especially with regard to Palin. (But not only with regard to her. For example, I was pretty sickened by his post a week or so ago about Lesil McGuire & Tom Anderson’s divorce.)”

“I’m not a Trig Truther — I have better things to do with my time than to scrutinize photos of her to see how big her ‘baby bump was’…”

“I don’t care if Gryphen is more worried about this than I am; my concern is mainly where his (or anyone else’s) interest might have a negative impact on the life of innocent people. (As with the more recent ‘Track Truther’ rumor, which questions the facts of Track’s parentage — never mind the impact such reckless rumor-mongering might have on the lives of Track or the family of the supposed ‘real’ father. I think it’s Palingates where I’ve seen this stuff.)”

“I think that Doogan was wrong for outing her [Jeanne Devon]. I think the language Jeanne has used to cut him down is frequently insulting, but not as deeply so as Phil’s slut slur. I think that a lot of Alaska progressive bloggers are just participating in the general level of political incivility that is part of the general culture now.”

“I do have a problem with personal attack & demeaning insult… On that basis too I have lots of problems with Immoral Minority. I have often felt that Gryphen is so caught up in his dislike of Palin that he goes overboard in seeking out things to criticize her about, even on slow Palin news days. I often feel he goes over the top & over the line.”

“Gryphen’s blog, to my eyes, is one of the biggest offenders in the ‘gratuitous insult’ & ‘criticize for the sake of criticism’ category that the Alaska lefty blogosphere has to offer.”

The person who wrote all that is no admirer of C4P, far from it, but she is certainly the first liberal blogger in Alaska to address openly and honestly the very real problems which some of the leftist bloggers have – not least in the way in which they have been supporting those reaching beyond decency in their sometimes color-blind desperation to build a conspiracy… any conspiracy. [Ref #2]

I appreciate that Mr. Crowther was kind enough to point out that I’m “no admirer of C4P, far from it,” and also to recognize that I’m a she, not a he (since I sign a lot of posts with my nickname Mel, some people erroneously assume that I’m male).  But I also noticed that Mr. Crowther was very careful to take my comments out of their context, particularly to omit anything I said that was critical of Palin or her followers, even if it was part of the same sentence or comment that he elected to quote, or complimentary to any Alaska progressive blogger.   Since Mr. Crowther never linked to the post where my comments were made, it also made it that much more difficult for any C4P reader to check the quotes & place them in context. The result is to give a very unbalanced representation of my views — perhaps in tribute to that favorite news source of conservatives, Fox News: fairly unbalanced.

So here I am to restore the balance of what I was saying.

The most egregious example was Mr. Crowther’s first quotation of my words:

“[I] think that Gryphen frequently goes over the top & over the line, especially with regard to Palin. (But not only with regard to her. For example, I was pretty sickened by his post a week or so ago about Lesil McGuire & Tom Anderson’s divorce.)”

“I’m not a Trig Truther — I have better things to do with my time than to scrutinize photos of her to see how big her ‘baby bump was’…”

“I don’t care if Gryphen is more worried about this than I am; my concern is mainly where his (or anyone else’s) interest might have a negative impact on the life of innocent people. (As with the more recent ‘Track Truther’ rumor, which questions the facts of Track’s parentage — never mind the impact such reckless rumor-mongering might have on the lives of Track or the family of the supposed ‘real’ father. I think it’s Palingates where I’ve seen this stuff.)” [Ref #2]

Here, typos and all, i’s the portion of my comment on “PA’s Palin Poll – Another Critical View by Another Close Friend” [Ref #6](which was a crosspost of Steve Aufrecht’s post “Blogger Tourettes”) from which Mr. Crowther was selectively quoting.  (Note: all the quotes Mr. Crowther made of my words were from my comments to that same post.):

You ask,

Do you support “Gryphen” (Jesse Griffin) (http://theimmoralminority.blogspot.com/)? Have you read his stuff? What do you think? He may be hung up about Palin’s child’s birth certificate. What do you think about Palin’s kid’s birth certificate? Do you think the birth certificate is a fraud?

I answered about Immoral Minority in my comment immediately prior to your comment. Yes, I read it. Sometimes I appreciate it. Sometimes I don’t. As I said above, I think that Gryphen frequently goes over the top & over the line, especially with regard to Palin. (But not only with regard to her. For example, I was pretty sickened by his post a week or so ago about Lesil McGuire & Tom Anderson’s divorce.)

As for Palin’s kid’s birth certificate — how would I know if it’s a fraud? I’ve never seen it, nor has anyone that I know, since Palin has never released it. It would be nice if she would, because then maybe it would put to rest all the Trig Truther stuff. That she hasn’t released it might indicates that either

(1) she thinks it’s nobody’s business, even though she’s brought Trig & the manner of his birth so much into the public spotlight that she’s made it other people’s business; and/or

(2) she for some reason thinks it serves her interests to keep the Trig Truther rumors alive by not putthing a quash to them once & for all with a disclosure of the birth certificate; and/or

(3) one or more of the claims she has circulated about Trig & the circumstances of his birth is a lie.

Maybe all three. I’m not a Trig Truther — I have better things to do with my time than to scrutinize photos of her to see how big her “baby bump was” — but her tale of the long plane rides from Texas to Anchorage after her water broke certainly seems suspect. And if true, certainly demonstrates her irresponsibility.

I don’t care if Gryphen is more worried about this than I am; my concern is mainly where his (or anyone else’s) interest might have a negative impact on the life of innocent people. (As with the more recent “Track Truther” rumor, which questions the facts of Track’s parentage — never mind the impact such reckless rumormongering might have on the lives of Track or the family of the supposed “real” father. I think it’s Palingates where I’ve seen this stuff.) [Ref #6, comment at 6:24 PM]

Notice how Mr. Crowther carefully leaves out the context of my criticism of Palin’s own behavior with regard to Trig, including the famous account of the “my water broke & then I endangered the life of my child by taking a long journey from Texas so my child could be born in Alaska” airplane trips. And then even a drive from Anchorage to Wasilla.  Oh please.  Notice how he makes me seem even more critical of Gryphen than I am by omitting what I say about sometimes appreciating his blog.

From the same comment at Progressive Alaska, Mr. Crowther quotes this:

“I think that Doogan was wrong for outing her [Jeanne Devon]. I think the language Jeanne has used to cut him down is frequently insulting, but not as deeply so as Phil’s slut slur. I think that a lot of Alaska progressive bloggers are just participating in the general level of political incivility that is part of the general culture now.” [Ref #2]

The full context of that portion of the comment:

What about Devon cutting down Mike Doogan, over and over again, for identifying her?

I think that Doogan was wrong for outing her. I think the language Jeanne has used to cut him down is frequently insulting, but not as deeply so as Phil’s slut slur. I think that a lot of Alaska progressive bloggers are just participating in the general level of political incivility that is part of the general culture now. I think I’ve done so at times myself, & I’m trying to do better. But I also think the incivility & attack language is routinely far worse & more virulent on the right. I’m still appalled that Palin nominated to be attorney general someone like Wayne Anthony Ross, who has a long history of demeaning the personhood of people with whom he disagrees.

But that’s just the humble opinion of a “lima bean.” [Ref #6, comment at 6:24 PM]

Alaskans might remember that during a confirmation hearing before the Alaska House Judiciary Committee, Wayne Anthony Ross compared lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual/transgender Alaskans to “lima beans,” a vegetable he “hates” but would still “represent” if he was hired to be the advocate for “United Vegetable Growers.” [Ref #7] That’s on top of other slurs he’s used, not only against LGBT Alaskans [Ref #8] but also against victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, as I detailed in a letter I wrote to members of the Alaska Legislature last April. [Ref #9] But, gotta make sure that Palin supporters don’t see any of my criticism of Palin’s disastrous & embarrassing choice of WAR — embarrassing especially because the Alaska Legislature resoundingly rejected her poor choice for attorney general [Ref #10] — not exactly a high point for Palin’s record as governor of Alaska. Better not remind Palin fans of that, or anything else I said that might remind them of embarrassing truths about Palin — which may well be one reason that Mr. Crowther didn’t link to the post where my comments were originally made.

Y’think?

Mr. Crowther also chose to ignore my later comment, in which I retracted & corrected the error I made in describing Jeanne Devon’s posts about Alaska State Representative Mike Doogan:

On the other item — Jeanne Devon of the Mudflats coming down on Doogan for removing her anonymity — I’ve got to revise my earlier answer.

Earlier I wrote that “I think that Doogan was wrong for outing her. I think the language Jeanne has used to cut him down is frequently insulting, but not as deeply so as Phil’s slut slur.” Now, having gone through her blog for stuff she’s said about Doogan, I must correct myself to say that I only once found her actually “insulting” him, but not directly. To the extent she did so, it was in reporting on the fact that Doogan was among those legislators whose name was apprearing on little flags put in dog poo in Juneau, such that he had attained the nickname “Doo Doo Doogan.” I.e., she was reporting on an insult others had dreamed up, not originating it. Mudflats is actually one of my favorite blogs to read, because Jeanne is witty & creative in her writing; & seldom if ever lowers herself to engage in ad hominem attacks.

I’ve met her only a couple of times, once at the True Diversity Dinner where she took my picture with Brian the Moose. It hasn’t appeared on her blog though. [Ref #6, comment at 11:48 PM]

Jeanne wrote me privately to thank me for making the correction, & also told me where she had in fact posted the pic of me with Brian the Moose (about halfway down: I’m the one in orange between Republican Gomorrah author Max Blumenthal and Air America’s Richard Green).  Could Mr. Crowther’s ignoring this have anything to do maybe possibly perhaps maybe have something to do with the fact that Palin fans also don’t like Jeanne, whose blog The Mudflats is one of the principal blogs that brought the attention of non-Alaskans to what a dangerously unqualified candidate Palin was for vice president?  How nice to be able to coopt the comments of a liberal blogger like me to put her down!  How inconvenient that I later corrected my incorrect remarks!  How convenient for Mr. Crowther that all he had to do to keep most C4P readers ignorant of my correction was by simply not mentioning it!

Mr. Crowther next quoted from the very first comment I made that mentioned Gryphen:

“I do have a problem with personal attack & demeaning insult… On that basis too I have lots of problems with Immoral Minority. I have often felt that Gryphen is so caught up in his dislike of Palin that he goes overboard in seeking out things to criticize her about, even on slow Palin news days. I often feel he goes over the top & over the line.” [Ref #2]

My full comment:

Anonymous @ 3:40 PM asked,

I wonder if those who are complaining about Phil’s poll also take the same critical look at blogs such as The Immoral Minority where the criticism of Palin runs along the same lines and I see plenty of expletives and worse.

I don’t have a problem with expletives exactly (the f-word for example, which I occasionally use myself); I do have a problem with personal attack & demeaning insult — which is the main basis upon which I criticized of Phil’s poll. On that basis too I have lots of problems with Immoral Minority. I have often felt that Gryphen is so caught up in his dislike of Palin that he goes overboard in seeking out things to criticize her about, even on slow Palin news days. I often feel he goes over the top & over the line.

Your other examples (Keith Olbermann, Jesse Jackson, MLK, Kennedy) all involved personal private relationships that (1) I don’t know enough about to judge & (2) had nothing to do with any of those people’s presentations in public discourse. You’re comparing apples & oranges. I do look unfavorably on people abusing their power in sexual relationships & also when they violate their agreements (such as vows of fidelity) with their partners or spouses. But it’s up to the people they have those agreements with to hold them accountable, not me — since I don’t know exactly what their agreements were; nor do I know whether or not whatever Olbermann did actually violated the consent of any of his sexual partners.

Obviously Phil has no obligation to explain anything unless he really wants to. Seems like Phil wants to. Isn’t that what he just said in crossposting this? [Ref #6, comment at 4:12 PM]

In this case, Mr. Crowther’s selective quote served to leave out my the qualification of what I was criticizing Phil for, or the fact that I don’t really give that much of a shit about expletives.  (See? I just used one.)  But this wasn’t as bad a selective quotation as some of his others.

Mr. Crowther’s final quote of my words:

“Gryphen’s blog, to my eyes, is one of the biggest offenders in the ‘gratuitous insult’ & ‘criticize for the sake of criticism’ category that the Alaska lefty blogosphere has to offer.” [Ref #2]

What I said in that comment in full, in which I was replying to an anonymous conservative commenter who took exception to me saying that despite my criticisms of Gryphen’s blog, I still liked him & read his blog:

Anon @ 10:08 AM –

“Be it known that while I think he frequently goes over the top & over the line on his blog, I still like him & I still read his blog — I just wince a lot.”

Translation for non-leftists.” This guy says stuff I would find hateful and vile on right-wing sites but because he’s one of ours I’ll go along with it.”

For the Left, convictions mean nothing and the end always justifies the means.

I guess you haven’t been reading, Anon. I’ve been calling loudly & persistently ever since Phil posted his “slut” remarks & poll for progressive bloggers to refrain from demeaning insults, & to stop excusing their use of them by the hypocritical justification that “the right does it so we can too.”

Gryphen’s blog, to my eyes, is one of the biggest offenders in the “gratuitous insult” & “criticize for the sake of criticism” category that the Alaska lefty blogosphere has to offer.

But that doesn’t, nor has it ever, meant that I have tossed him on the garbage heap. He’s like a brother whose uglier language I abhor. But however much I abhor his language, that doesn’t’ mean he ceases from being my brother. Same for Phil.

But back to the question of hypocrisy: I have said a number of times that lefties are behind hypocritical when they justify their incivility & ugly language against righties because “the right does it to us.”

Unsurprisingly, almost all of the right wing commenters who have commented on this issue on Phil’s blog over the past few days, including you, are using the same hypocritical strategy: you continually show up, usually in anonymous guise, to gripe at lefties for being uncivil & using “hateful and vile” language, while never once condemning the hateful & vile language from your own side.

So rail as much as you like, but your arguments will continue to have no merit until you stop behaving with such hypocrisy. [Ref #6, comment on February 11 at 10:37 AM]

Better not let C4P readers know that I was also criticizing rightwingers for their “hateful and vile” language — which, in fact, occurs with some frequency in comments at C4P.

In fact, the post Mr. Crowther linked to when he borrowed Steve Aufrecht’s term “Blogger Tourettes” without so much as mentioning Steve was to his own February 6 post critical of Phil’s first post where he referred to Palin as a “slut.”  Comments on that post were rife with “hateful and vile” language.  And also a commenter called Kjanlady suggesting,

Kjanlady: Can we get his address and post it on the web….along with a picture of him, his house, and the car he drives? ) [Ref #5, comment 02/08/2010, 09:26:54]

Though I credit two other commenters, the first a couple of hours after the suggestion was made, the other by Rich Crowther himself the following day, for saying no to this idea –

section9: No. We don’t do that crap. Much as we’d like to, Philip Munger is a pathetic assclown who, despite his efforts to destroy Sarah Palin, is a private citizen. [Ref #5, comment 02/08/2010, 11:20:51]

Rich : I have the impression that Kjan. is probably making a sarcastic reference to the way in which Palingates published personal information about two former C4P contributors recently.

For the record, Mr Munger is a private citizen whose privacy must be respected.

My post sought to challenge his use of language as a blogger. Implicit in that is the hope that he might re-think his approach to blog posting, and be less deliberately inflammatory when he next writes critically about Governor Palin. [Ref #5, comment 02/09/2010, 01:26:31; emphasis added)

But, for the record, not before someone apparently decided to take Kjanlady up on her suggestion, as reported by Phil shortly after she made it.  (Though of course no one has actual proof that the men taking photos of Phil's house & car were C4P readers, because they skedaddled on out of there as soon as they realized Phil had seen them.)

None of this is to say that Rich Crowther or anyone else at C4P is wrong for calling upon Phil or Gryphen on anyone else to be less inflammatory when they write about Palin, or about anyone else.  But notice how seldom they call upon their own side to use less inflammatory language.  Same hypocrisy I was decrying throughout the discussion of civility.  As, for example, when I wrote last week,

It’s clear that just as much on the left as on the right, too many people are willing to excuse their “own side” for employing the same tactics that they condemn the “other side” for. [Ref #3]

Same hypocrisy I was decrying when I wrote — in that last comment Mr. Crowther selectively quoted from –

But back to the question of hypocrisy: I have said a number of times that lefties are behind hypocritical when they justify their incivility & ugly language against righties because “the right does it to us.”

Unsurprisingly, almost all of the right wing commenters who have commented on this issue on Phil’s blog over the past few days, including you, are using the same hypocritical strategy: you continually show up, usually in anonymous guise, to gripe at lefties for being uncivil & using “hateful and vile” language, while never once condemning the hateful & vile language from your own side.

So rail as much as you like, but your arguments will continue to have no merit until you stop behaving with such hypocrisy. [Ref #6, comment on February 11 at 10:37 AM]

That, in particular, is a message that Mr. Crowther’s selective quoting of my comments left out.

Now, since I don’t typically read C4P, it’s possible that I have missed such condemnation from Mr. Crowther or other conservative bloggers there of the hateful & vile language that so often comes out of the mouths or keyboards of C4P readers and other conservatives & Palin fans.  If so, please point them out to me in comments, & I will stand corrected.  I ask that you please refrain from namecalling as you do so.

Meantime, I’ve got to say that it turns out there’s a whole lot of work to restore fairness & balance to the record when C4P writes about one in laudatory terms.  I wonder if Rich Crowther will still think I have “courage” after he’s read this post.  It’s nice to be called courageous, sure, but even better is to be coopted represented honestly and in context.

References

1. 7/7/2009. “The 2 million dollar meme” by Melissa S. Green (Henkimaa).
2. 2/14/2010.  “Skinny White Sunday: Alaska Palm Pilot Rocks!” by Rich Crowther (Conservatives for Palin).
3. 2/8/2010. “Progressive bloggers on Palin: Civility versus namecalling” by Melissa S. Green (Henkimaa).
4. 2/10/2010. “Blogger Tourettes” by Steve Aufrecht (What Do I Know?); crossposted as “PA’s Palin Poll – Another Critical View by Another Close Friend” at Progressive Alaska.
5. 2/6/2010. “Foul Mouthed Alaska Democrat In New Low” by Rich Crowther (Conservatives for Palin).
6. 2/10/2010. “PA’s Palin Poll – Another Critical View by Another Close Friend” — crosspost at Progressive Alaska of Steve Aufrecht’s post “Blogger Tourettes”.
7. 4/14/2009. “Anti-WAR letter: Opposing Wayne Anthony Ross” by Melissa S. Green (Henkimaa).
8. 4/15/2009. “WAR’s antigay letter to the Alaska Bar Association, 1993″ by Melissa S. Green (Henkimaa).
9. 4/16/2009. “WAR goes down! 23 yeas, 35 nays!” by Melissa S. Green (Henkimaa).
10. 2/8/2010. “Midwinter Snow Pictures – and a Comment on C4P Meddling – Updated” by Phil Munger (Progressive Alaska).

Related posts:

1. Conservatives for Palin: A rich field of study for anyone interested in the practical application of intellectual dishonesty & logical fallacy
2. Progressive bloggers on Palin: Civility versus namecalling
3. Progressives, civility, & Palin: Anatomy of an apology

Phil Munger of Progressive Alaska apologizes to Palin: A classic example of an apology that is not an apology.

I took this screenshot just 44 seconds before Phil’s poll closed — lucky for me, because I didn’t want to directly advertise the results of a poll that I found offensive from the get-go.  Note that Phil has since changed the title of his post to simply “PA’s Apology to Sarah Palin” after a commenter pointed out that “the liquor gig isn’t until April.”

Here’s why Phil’s attempt at apology doesn’t actually do the job:

Dear Ms. Palin,

Last week, I wrote a column at my blog, then posted a poll there, both of which used the term “slut” toward you in a demeaning, offensive way.

The column headline was sexist. The poll limited options for voters to having to choose whether one thought you to be a saint or slut. I’m sure you regard yourself to be neither, so the poll was more offensive than the earlier headline had been.

So far so good.  All, in my opinion, completely accurate.  I could further add that a good many commentators on Phil’s blog & on my own, where I first criticized Phil for his poll last week, also did not find either of these forced choices to be accurate — no matter how much they dislike Palin or the views she espouses.  Not to mention that many women, myself included, find use of the word slut problematic no matter to whom it is applied, given the historical use of that word as a way to demean & control women in general.

But still, to that point the apology was doing its job.  Then it fell down:

The poll is still active.

If one has committed an offense, & is still actively committing the offense, in what sense is the apology an apology?  Answer: it isn’t one.

Rather than dilute this apology, I might expand on why I was so upset in a later letter.

No need to dilute the apology further anyway: it’s already ceased to be an apology. The poll is still active.  At the moment of this writing, one can still visit Phil’s blog & see its results.

Though it’s a good impulse to separate the “why I said it” from the apology itself.  I think a lot of us would like to know why Phil was that upset.  But apologies are best undiluted by any excuses or attempts to rationalize the wrong.

Or not.

I’m truly sorry.

Phil Munger

Funny thing is, I think that Phil truly is sorry, truly does believe he was wrong to put up the poll.  Just not sorry enough to take it down.

I thought the original title of Phil’s post – “PA’s Apology to Sarah Palin on the Eve of Her $$$100K Appearance Before the National Liquor Sellers’ Convention” — was a red flag too.  Apologies that attempt to present mitigating circumstances or rationalizations for the offense aren’t really apologies.  Save the explanations for later, after the real apology has been made.

Apologies aren’t easy.  Some people seem to believe that if they make a full & true apology for wronging someone they are strongly opposed to, that they’re somehow letting the person they’ve wronged win on every other count.  Well, no.  In November, I found myself having to apologize for misconstruing something Palin & her ghostwriter said in her book.  My apology doesn’t put her on the side of what is true and honest.  My apology is me doing my best to keep me honest.  But there’ve been plenty of times in my life when I’ve been unable to make honest apology for a long time, because sometimes it takes a long time to even admit I’ve done wrong.

Phil, maybe now’s not the time.  Having read comments on your blog, seems that some of your defenders don’t think you should even apologize at all.  I obvi0usly disagree, but in the end I guess it’s a matter between you & your own conscience.

The conversation since Phil first used the word slut to describe Palin, & since he put up his poll, has now appeared on at least four blogs & lots of comments to those blogs.  For anyone who wants to play catch up, here they are:

• 2/6/2010. “Saradise Lost – Book 4 – Chapter 43 – What a SLUT! – Updated” by Phil Munger  (Progressive Alaska).
• 2/8/2010. “Saradise Lost and Found – Chapter 12 – Saint or Slut? – A New PA Poll” by Phil Munger (Progressive Alaska).
• 2/8/2010. “Progressive bloggers on Palin: Civility versus namecalling” by Melissa S. Green (Henkimaa).
• 2/9/2010. “PA’s Palin Poll – A Critical View by a Close Friend” — crosspost at Progressive Alaska of my post above , but with its own set of comments.
• 2/10/2010. “Blogger Tourettes” by Steve Aufrecht (What Do I Know?)
• 2/10/2010. “PA’s Palin Poll – Another Critical View by Another Close Friend” — crosspost at Progressive Alaska of Steve’s post above , but with its own set of comments.
• 2/11/2010. “Is it possible to reason with Palin’s “Rebiblicans”? by Linda Kellen Biegel (Celtic Diva’s Blue Oasis).
• 2/12/2010. “PA’s Palin Poll – A Thoughtful View by Another Friend” — crosspost at Progressive Alaska of Linda’s post above , but with its own set of comments.
• 2/15/2010. “PA’s Apology to Sarah Palin” by Phil Munger (Progressive Alaska).  Originally titled “PA’s Apology to Sarah Palin on the Eve of Her $$$100K Appearance Before the National Liquor Sellers’ Convention.”
• 2/15/2010. “PA’s Apology to Readers Who Were Offended by PA’s Use of a Controversial Term for the Crazy Woman” by Phil Munger (Progressive Alaska).

Update 5:00 PM

Phil has now taken down the offensive poll (because “it was over”), & has written a second apology post, this time apologizing for those of his readers including me who found his use of the term “slut” offensive.  I’ve added the post to the list above.

I’m not overly fond of his other term for Palin, which he uses in the title of this post — “PA’s Apology to Readers Who Were Offended by PA’s Use of a Controversial Term for the Crazy Woman” — but I can live with his use of it.  I appreciated his post: he’s clearly been reconsidering things in light of criticism — not only from me & Steve, but also other’s of his readers.  He ended the post,

Anyway, for the time being, I’m going to try to clean up my language at PA. I think that both Steve and Mel are right in sensing that use of overly derisive terms puts some off who would otherwise appreciate what I write here.

Thanks to everyone who commented either pro or con on how I termed Palin, and on the poll.

And to those who were offended, I really am sorry.

Thanks, Phil. As one of those offended, I accept your apology.  I also really appreciate the respect & consideration with which you’ve treated my criticisms over the past week.

Meantime, I have been privately informed about a post at the Conservatives for Palin (C4P) site which has taken it upon itself to congratulate me for being one of those “with the courage to criticise those whose lives seem committed to a downward spiral of abusive tabloideeze about all things Palin.” And then demonstrating my “courage” by selectively quoting from a number of my comments over at Phil’s blog, being very careful to exclude any of the numerous things I said in those comments that were in any way critical of Palin or her followers.   I’ll be writing a post later to correct the imbalance.  (At least they had the courtesy to recognize that I’m not a C4P fan, & also to notice that I’m a she not a he — since I sign my comments Mel, I’m sometimes mistakenly assumed to be male.)

I’ve also taken a bit of criticism for being “holier than thou,” “sanctimonious,” & “self-righteous,” & for some other stuff too complex to go into right now for how I’ve conducted myself during the course of these discussions.  I’ve appreciated Phil’s self-examination in his second apology post today; I feel it’s only fair to do my own.  So I’ll be writing one of those later too, in the next couple of days.  Thanks.

Related posts:

1. Conservatives for Palin: A rich field of study for anyone interested in the practical application of intellectual dishonesty & logical fallacy
2. Progressive bloggers on Palin: Civility versus namecalling
3. Conservatives for Palin & civility: Fairly unbalanced

• RT @JanFlora49: So now we can put corporations in prison and execute them? Good idea. But let’s kick them off welfare first. #
• RT: @BJMuntain: RT @bookoven “average number of words consumed each day by a US adult during leisure time: 105,000.” // <burp> I’m full now. #
• RT: @jamielang: studio news: ready to paint the white room; ready to paint main studio! grand opening 1 month. mark your calendars 3/20 6pm. #
• RT: @Metafrantic: Have a favorite @crossedgenres story to nominate? Noms open for 2010 WSFA Small Press Award: http://tinyurl.com/yl6b4rj #
• RT: @redrummy: Truth > Fiction RT @DiscoverMag How did 1940s army drs check soldiers gayness? Checked their gag reflex http://bit.ly/aBartK #
• 2 great items on Palin from Andrew Halcro in today’s Permafrost Friday re: Tea Party & Mat Maid. http://bit.ly/9ic9T9 #
• RT: @adndotcom: Joshua Wade expected to change murder plea & be sentenced next week. http://bit.ly/bb0Btc // Looks like he’s copping a plea in reply to adndotcom #
• RT: @SistersTalk: Reserve Officers Association changes position on gays in the military – http://bit.ly/bIYhsy #
• ADN: Parnell proposes hiring 15 more VPSOs. http://bit.ly/cp0dXt VPSOs were cut drastically under Gov. Murkowski, Palin did nothing to fix. #
• Extensive NYT article on how Christianists are attempting to rewrite U.S. history through TX school board. http://nyti.ms/dnmgR1 #
• RT: @jamielang: Am I wrong or is Christmas music good all year long? http://flic.kr/p/7Cy2dt // I like the pic, but – you’re wrong! #
• RT: @Metafrantic: Awesome article about “Post a Story For Haiti” in the Examiner! http://tinyurl.com/yax2gee // @crossedgenres rocks. #haiti #
• ADN’s Kyle Hopkins on law enforcement in Selawik (rural NW Alaska). http://bit.ly/d8lF9s. I was in Selawik in ~2002 . Worse probs now. #
• My birthday’s this month, already having my annual birthday present: the sky still with daylight when I get off work. #fb #
• @jamielang: You can pretend you’re in Australia or NZ. Christmas is _always_ in the summertime down there. #
• @BJMuntain Whereas cats feel the need to walk across your chest b/c to them it’s a road & then try to make you feel guilty for disagreeing.. in reply to BJMuntain #
• @BJMuntain … by pushing ‘em off your chest b/c their weight on your nipples really _hurts_!!! in reply to BJMuntain #
• RT: @adndotcom: The final list of candidates for the Anchorage Assembly and School Board is out. http://bit.ly/9vUHz4 #
• Heading over to the Bear Tooth for a meal, & thence to @kaladibrothers to write. #

Related posts:

1. The Daily Tweets, 2010-01-15: Haiti relief efforts
2. The Daily Tweets, 2010-02-15: One of my favorite books!
3. The Daily Tweets, 2010-02-18: Senatorial soul-searching