Let me make this clear from the beginning: I have nothing against convicted felons, per se. Some of my favorite people are convicted felons. I can also tell you that you inevitably know many people that actually are felons but never face any charges due to some horrible law and our ludicrous (in)justice system. Glad we got that out of the way. Now, back to the story at hand…
In light of Sarah Palin’s predilection to the phrase “palling around,” I think we should focus on who she likes to pal around with. She was one of three directors of Ted Stevens Excellence in Public Service, Inc., a 527 organization that was tasked with raising unlimited corporate contributions for Mr. Stevens’ political aspirations. That’s right, that is the same Ted Stevens who was convicted on Monday of seven counts of making false statements, a felony corruption charge for violating the public trust and lying about hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts he received from the same “Big Oil” companies that Sarah Palin is so fond of claiming she stood up to in Alaska. Stevens could serve a max of five years per count, but isn’t expected to serve anywhere near that amount of time. Palin’s involvement with Stevens has been lightly reported in print and online news sources, but little has been said about it on TV news, save this:
MSNBC: Sarah Palin's myriad abuses of authority
Allow me to sum up Sarah Palin’s outside-the-beltway experience: She ran a political action group for the longest serving Republican Senator (Bingo! Ted Stevens!) and used some of the same contractors/political cronies to build her home (and the $12 million Wasilla Sports Complex) that Steven’s used in the crimes he was just convicted of committing. The only difference: the company that built her house (Spenard) also has ties to her husband Todd, the “shadow” Governor. Specifically, they sponsor his snow machine team. If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and is convicted like a duck, it is probably a duck.
Those of you that are still laboring under the delusion that Sarah Palin is somehow “outside the beltway” or even “folksy” in any way. save accent, do yourself a favor and watch that segment above with Wayne Barrett and then read his reporting in The Village Voice.