Statue (of Liberty) "Tory" Rape

The Statue of Liberty was a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States to mark the centennial of the Declaration of Independence and "in recognition of the friendship established during the American Revolution." As it turns out, "We the People" weren't originally so crazy about receiving the gift because we had to raise the money privately for a foundation on which it would stand.

According to the Ellis Island-Statue of Liberty Foundation, "Joseph Pulitzer (noted for the Pulitzer Prize) opened up the editorial pages of his newspaper, "The World" to support the fund raising effort. Pulitzer used his newspaper to criticize both the rich who had failed to finance the pedestal construction and the middle class who were content to rely upon the wealthy to provide the funds. Pulitzer's campaign of harsh criticism was successful in motivating the people of America to donate."

Fast forward to noted modern historical authorities Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin discussing our Lady Liberty on his show on 1/14:

BECK: You were — you bring up France — you were telling me before we went on the air stuff I didn't know about the Statue of Liberty and the
24 windows.

PALIN: Twenty-five windows. Yes. [This number is correct, There are 25 windows in the crown which symbolize gemstones and the heaven's rays shining over the world. ]

BECK: What is this?

PALIN: Gems, representing the natural resources in our nation.

BECK: Yes, I didn't — I didn't know that.

PALIN: Well, I had my son Google for me real quick. What does everything mean? What are the symbols?

BECK: Did you think there will be a test on this?

PALIN: Yes. I thought, oh, no, he's going to do a gotcha on what do those seven points mean and that's why I google — I had Track google real quick.

(CROSSTALK)

BECK: ... seven points are just rays of light. They're not crown — it's not really a crown of seven, it's the rays of light. Did you ever see the Michaelangelo's Moses where he has horns? [Fact: The seven rays represent the seven seas and continents of the world]

PALIN: OK.

BECK: That's a misinterpretation from the Latin. It can be interpreted rays of light or horns.

PALIN: OK.

BECK: And somehow or another, they interpreted it as horns, but it's actually just the rays of light.

PALIN: Well, so full of symbolism, though. And those seven points represent our seas, our continents. Anyway, my son, I asked him very quickly, "Tell me what all this means." He says, "Quite timely, mom. I'll tell you what the Statue of Liberty means. It just got a tattoo of the Statue of Liberty on my arm." Thanks, Track, for letting me know that.

But I learned a lot about it this morning.

BECK: It's — what people don't understand about this is this almost a — this is France saying to the French, "We need to be more like America." [False: The French government was in the Third Republic by then, already having deposed emperor Napoleon III.]

PALIN: Yes.

BECK: And it's interesting now that we have so lost our way.

PALIN: Yes.

BECK: ... that we say we need to be more like Europe.

PALIN: Right.

BECK: What we ran from, we seem to have so many in our country trying to run back to.

PALIN: And you're right. Even the French recognized, too, the potential in this free country. And the French gifted this to us, this, in partnership, this international symbol of liberty and freedom — the French hoping that we wouldn't lose that and we won't evolve into something more along their lines. And yet, yes, right, look at this full circle thing.

BECK: Here we are.

Yes, here we are.

More on the Statue of Liberty's actual history here.

Palin Too Pricey for Iowa Conservatives

An effort to bring Sarah Palin to the Iowa Family Policy Center's banquet next month has left a bad taste in the mouths of many state's conservatives. The group's plan to raise a $100,000 payday to bring Palin to the state has the hair of GOP activists' necks on end at the thought of paying to land a politician's speaking appearance.

The Iowa Family Policy Center's effort would be a departure from its usual practice in the first-in-the-nation state, these Republicans believe, as White House hopefuls have traditionally paid their own way to boost their party and presidential ambitions.

I guess that's just Sarah being all mavaricky and letting the free market do it's thing.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/29/palin-speaking-fee-shocks_n_338231.html

McCain Goes Positive/Palin Gets Punk'd

There has to be some laughter left as the campaigns wind down to election day. Fortunately, and both John McCain and Sarah Palin prove to be good sports.

John McCain went all "Mavericky" on Saturday Night Live last night with the talented Tina Fey reprising her Sarah Palin impersonation. In the meantime, the real Sarah Palin was caught in a phone prank from a couple of Canadian radio personalities called Le Justiciers Masques (The Masked Avengers)who impersonated to be French President Nikolas Sarkozy and his assistant.

Spiritual Warriors Unite?

As a Unitarian Universalist, it is difficult to be critical of others for their beliefs as we are an inclusive religion that embraces many traditions. However, we are also a skeptical bunch. So when I heard about those who practice Spiritual Warfare, I have to admit I didn't know what to make of it, particularly as Sarah Palin belongs to an Assemblies of God church that is affiliated with these believers as some YouTube videos portrayed.

First of all, what is "Spiritual Warfare"? A NY Times article states "adherents believe that demonic forces can colonize specific geographic areas and individuals, and that “spiritual warriors” must “battle” them to assert God’s control, using prayer and evangelism." These believers are Pentecostals, but are a subset of the Apostolic movement. That is to say that not all Pentecostals are Spiritual Warriors.

The former minister in the video with Sarah Palin is seen declaring that Alaska is “one of the refuge states in the Last Days.” This from a prophecy popular in some networks that predicts people will flock to Alaska because of its open spaces and natural resources.

While I believe that people have a right to their own beliefs, it doesn't mean the rest of us can't find them hard to go along with. For me, this seems right up there with speaking in tongues, Dianetics, and other practices that seem to defy my logic anyway. However, I am somewhat comforted by this explanation offered by George Otis Jr., of the Sentinel Group which, according the the NY Times article "has helped spread the movement by producing video documentaries of spiritual warfare" who said, "we don’t respond with guns or violence. If we’ve got a problem with somebody, we’ll go pray.”

I figure if Mr. Otis and I are praying to the same God, it'll all work out. In fact, I kind of hope all religions would resort to prayer to fight their battles--it certainly would keep a lot of people from being killed.

Spooky: Palin's Constitutional Rights Attacked by Reporters?

To report the news is the job of journalism, not to be a public relations firm for any particular party or candidate--that's what bloggers are for. ABC reports that VP candidate Sarah Palin feels like her first amendment rights are being stepped on by the main stream media--really?

In a conservative radio interview that aired in Washington, D.C. Friday morning, Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin said she fears her First Amendment rights may be threatened by "attacks" from reporters who suggest she is engaging in a negative campaign against Barack Obama.

Palin [said] her criticism of Obama's associations, like those with 1960s radical Bill Ayers and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, should not be considered negative attacks. Rather, for reporters or columnists to suggest that it is going negative may constitute an attack that threatens a candidate's free speech rights under the Constitution, Palin said.

"If [the media] convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations," Palin told host Chris Plante, "then I don't know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the mainstream media."

However she feels about the way her story has been told in the press, Palin told WMAL she is not discouraged.

"It's sort of perplexing to me, because I'm a practical person and plainspoken also, but just cutting to the chase and calling things like I see them, just like most Americans. But this has not left a bitter taste in my mouth, the bitter shots taken by the mainstream media and by some of the elitism there in Washington," Palin said.

As I have said before, the First Amendment protects free speech, it doesn't mean people have to listen to it. To continually assert that a person is guilty based on the meetings they attend is silly. Would either McCain or Palin call Ronald Reagan a Communist because he had meetings with Leonid Brezhnev and Mikhail Gorbachev?

Hurry Tuesday!

Redistribution of Oil Revenues NOT Socialism?

I liked this entry from ThoughtCrimes about an assertion that Sarah Palin made on the campaign trail:

"“And Sen. Obama said that—he said that he regretted--he regretted that the Supreme Court hadn't been more radical and he described the court's refusal to take up the issues of redistribution of wealth as a tragedy and he said that he also regretted that the Supreme Court did not break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the founding fathers there in the Constitution, that's a quote.”

Aside from deliberately taking the quote out of context, the accusation fits Palin more than Obama.

As governor of Alaska Palin raised taxes on oil companies, then redistributed the oil companies profits to every single Alaskan, even though they didn't earn the money.

THAT my friends, is socialism."

It raises an excellent point that I haven't heard elsewhere.

Palin: Won't Label Herself or Those Who Bomb Abortion Clinics

In a joint interview with John McCain, Sarah Palin refused to call abortion clinic bombers "terrorists". "I don't know if you're going to use the word 'terrorist' there," she said. She also said she wouldn't label herself a "Feminist"--although she is a member of Feminists For Life of America.

Here is that portion of the interview.



Palin and McCain continue to try to make a connection between Barack Obama and the Bill Ayers of the 1960's (when Obama was an 8 year old). Is Bill Ayers more "unrepentant" than groups and individuals who target, send threats to, and at times bomb health clinics?

According to the 2005 National Clinic Violence Survey:

Almost one in five clinics throughout the country is still being targeted with the most severe forms of anti-abortion violence. Severe violence includes blockades, invasions, arsons, bombings, chemical attacks, stalking, gunfire, physical assaults, and threats of death, bomb, or arson.

A researcher at the University of Indiana in 2006 found eighty-seven percent of U.S. counties, representing more than one-third of the female population aged 15-44, have no abortion providers, and 31 percent of the nation's metropolitan areas do not have a provider.

If Palin is suggesting that domestic terrorists are "better" if they target these clinics, that would truly be elitist.

Palin the Prognosticator?

With several national polls showing Barack Obama in the lead by between 2% and 10%, this photo of Republican VP-in-waiting,Sarah Palin campaigning in Nevada seems to suggest she knows something the rest of us don't. Note her red, white, and blue scarf decorated in donkeys (hmmm, isn't that the symbol for some other party) and the words "yes" and "vote". I'm not sure this is part of her new $150,000 wardrobe (courtesy of donors to the RNC), but it makes quite the fashion statement!

Robo-VP Flip-Flopper on Robo-Calls?

Sarah Palin yesterday kind of has had it with robo-calls "If I called all the shots and if I could wave a magic wand I would be sitting at a kitchen table with more and more Americans, talking to them about our plan to get the economy back on track and winning the war, and not having to rely on the old conventional ways of campaigning that includes those robocalls, and includes spending so much money on the television ads that I think is kind of draining out there in terms of Americans' attention span." You betcha.

But, and also, it looks like VP-wanna-be S.P. was for robocalls before she was against 'em. Golly, cheese and crackers!

TPM reports

McCain, Palin Call Bank Bailout Not "Socialism"

While beating Barack Obama over the head for saying that increasing taxes for those over $250,000 to allow those earning less to get tax relief(after eight years of paying for the top %5's tax break) is akin to socialism, both John McCain and Sarah Palin refuse to concede that it is more socialistic to hand over $750 to $850 billion in taxpayer dollars to banks, automotive manufacturers, and insurance companies.

"I believe that there are those measures that had to be taken by Congress to shore up not only the housing market but the credit markets -- also to make sure that that's not frozen -- so that our small businesses have opportunities to borrow. And that was the purpose, of course, and that part of the bailout and the shoring of the banks," Palin said. So, to allow small businesses (aka Mom and Pop businesses) to borrow money, we have to make Mom and Pop pay for bailing out the banks they need to borrow money from? I don't know if that is socialism, but it sure is a bizarre form of a free market.

McCain said, "That's the reason why we have governments, to help those who need help, who can't help themselves, and in a time of crisis, to step in and do what's necessary to preserve the lives and futures of innocent people. It wasn't Main Street America that caused this; it was Washington and Wall Street." And yet, it is Main Street that is paying for Wall Street. If it walks like socialism, and talks like socialism, it must be socialism?

The fact is that McCain and Palin represent a viewpoint that says it's okay for the wealthy to get richer by taking it from the rest of us, whereas Obama and others believe its fair to ask the wealthy to pay their share. After eight years of Paul robbing Peter, isn't it time that Pete caught a break?

Deep Dark Truthful Mirror

Occasionally politicos are a bit too nearsighted for their own good.

Pot: Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee, said Obama tried to influence the negotiations [in Iraq] "in a way that would set back America's cause there, while advancing his campaign here." This is false.


Kettle: Meanwhile the investigator's "Troopergate" report states Palin's efforts to get Trooper Wooten fired broke a state ethics law that bars public officials from pursuing personal interest through official action.


"I pray to God that people have enough time to let this register with them and start again, connecting the dots, and understand the contrast between the tickets," Sarah Palin said. Amen!

Fear and Loathing in America

Americans are still questioning the character and commitment to America of Barack Obama. As reported on the BBC, one report shows, support sometimes comes from the unlikeliest of places, John McCain, for one. At the same time, in places like my home state of Ohio, there are large numbers of people who are openly afraid of what Obama as president means to them--and McCain's VP candidate Sarah Palin does nothing but throw red meat at them.

Biden's Debate Statement About Afghan "Surge" Correct

Sen. Joe Biden said last night that "our commanding general in Afghanistan said the surge principle in Iraq will not work in Afghanistan."

The Facts:
Gov. Sarah Palin, who praised the "surge strategy" in Iraq, said that "the surge principles, not the exact strategy, but the surge principles that have worked in Iraq need to be implemented in Afghanistan."

Sen. Joe Biden said, "our commanding general in Afghanistan said the surge principle in Iraq will not work in Afghanistan. … He said we need more troops. We need government-building. We need to spend more money on the infrastructure in Afghanistan."

Gen. David McKiernan, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, was quoted on Oct. 2 in The Washington Post as saying that "no Iraq-style 'surge' of forces will end the conflict" in Afghanistan, even though more U.S. troops are needed to take on a growing insurgency.

"Afghanistan is not Iraq," McKiernan said in Washington on Oct. 1. He also said "the word I don't use for Afghanistan is 'surge.' " He called for a "sustained commitment" leading to a political and not just a military solution.

He said Afghanistan is a "far more complex environment than I ever found in Iraq." The newspaper paraphrased him as citing the country's "unique challenges" — "the mountainous terrain, rural population, poverty, illiteracy, 400 major tribal networks and history of civil war."

McCain-Palin's Oil Slick

According to non-partisan group FactCheck, Sarah Palin inflated the energy contribution of her state when she was interviewed by ABC.

In the exchange, the Alaska governor misstated a basic fact about her state's energy production:

Palin: Let me speak specifically about a credential that I do bring to this table, Charlie, and that's with the energy independence that I've been working on for these years as the governor of this state that produces nearly 20 percent of the U.S. domestic supply of energy, that I worked on as chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, overseeing the oil and gas development in our state to produce more for the United States.

It's simply untrue that Alaska produces anything close to 20 percent of the U.S. "energy supply," a term that is generally defined as energy consumed. That category includes power produced in the U.S. by nuclear, coal, hydroelectric dams and other means – as well as all the oil imported into the country.

Palin would have been correct to say that Alaska produces just over 14 percent of all the oil produced in the U.S., leaving out imports and leaving out other forms of power. According to the federal government's Energy Information Administration, Alaskan wells produced 263.6 million barrels of oil in 2007, or 14.3 percent of the total U.S. production of 1.8 billion barrels.

But Alaskan production accounts for only 4.8 percent of all the crude oil and petroleum products supplied to the U.S. in 2007, counting both domestic production and imports from other nations. According to EIA, the total supply was just over 5.5 billion barrels in 2007.

Furthermore, Palin said "energy," not "oil," so she was actually much further off the mark. According to EIA, Alaska actually produced 2,417.1 trillion BTUs [British Thermal Units] of energy in 2005, the last year for which full state numbers are available. That's equal to just 3.5 percent of the country's domestic energy production.

And according to EIA analyst Paul Hess, that would calculate to only "2.4 percent of the 100,368.6 trillion BTUs the U.S. consumes."

Palin didn't make clear whether she was talking about Alaska's share of all the energy produced in the U.S. or all the energy consumed here. Either way, she was wrong.

And John McCain was off the mark too.

Sen. John McCain has also has used this inflated, incorrect figure. On Sept. 3, McCain told ABC News' Gibson:

McCain: Well, I think Americans are going to be very, very, very pleased. This is a very dynamic person. [Palin's] been governor of our largest state, in charge of 20 percent of America's energy supply.

McCain repeated the false figure more recently, in a September 11 interview with Portland, Maine, news station WCSH6.

Footnote: When we asked the McCain campaign where the 20 percent figure came from, we were referred to the Web site of the Resource Development Council for Alaska, Inc, a group that says it promotes development of Alaska's natural resources. It states:

Alaska Resource Development Council: Alaska's oil and gas industry has produced more than 16 billion barrels of oil and 6 billion cubic feet of natural gas, accounting for an average of 20 percent of the entire nation's domestic production.

Rape Victims Billed for Treatment Under Palin

In a state that, according to the AP, "routinely has the nation's highest rate of sexual assault," (2.2 times higher than the national average)one city charged rape victims to cover the cost of rape kits and forensic investigations to the tune of $300 to $1200.

When Sarah Palin was mayor of Wasilla, the city billed sexual assault victims and their insurance companies for the cost of rape kits and forensic examinations.

Palin had been in office for four years when the practice of charging rape victims got the attention of state lawmakers in 2000, who passed a bill to stop the practice.

Former Democratic Rep. Eric Croft, who sponsored that bill, said he was disappointed that simply asking the Wasilla police department to stop didn't work. Croft said he doubts she was unaware of the practice.

Lawmakers became involved in 2000 when reports began coming in that police departments were charging sexual assault victims for the kits and the forensic exams, which cost from $300 to $1,200 at the time. The kit, a package of sample containers, swabs and other medical supplies, is used to collect evidence from women after they are attacked.

Then-Gov. Tony Knowles said Thursday that Wasilla was unique in the state in charging rape victims for the cost of doing the law enforcement necessary for solving the crime.

And there's more from the Huffington Post

McCain Playing Loose With Truth

John McCain is getting himself into trouble by trying to pass a myth off as a truth where his new VP designate is concerned.

"How many saw her speech a couple of nights ago? Wasn't it fabulous?" McCain said Friday during a campaign stop in Cedarburg, Wisconsin. "You know what I enjoyed the most? She took the luxury jet that was purchased by her predecessor and sold it on eBay — and made a profit."

CNN reported on The Ticker that "it turns out the twin-engine Westwind II was a tough sell on the Web — and the state eventually pulled it offline and sold it through an ordinary brick-and-mortar brokerage, for a loss, a spokeswoman said Friday."

"Governor Palin has been correct in saying that she put the plane on eBay," McCain campaign spokeswoman Maria Comella told CNN. "They did end up selling it for $2.1 million. but not on eBay."

it was sold to Valdez, Alaska businessman (who moved there from Texas) Larry Reynolds who learned about the plane from the Republican Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives. Reynolds started up a charter business to fly up to 5 hunters between Alaska and eastern Russia for a cool $8000 a person.

The Daily Kos has more.

Palin By Comparison?

It has been about 72 hours since Sarah Palin has been the VP candidate for the McCain ticket and already there are multitudes of questions (or myths and falsehoods as Media Matters put out)about her and her loved ones:

1) Her 17 year old daughter Bristol is five months pregnant (but is planning to marry the baby's father).
2) Her husband has had a DWI (albeit in 1986 at the age of 22).
3) As mayor of Wassila, she hired the lobbying firm run by the former chief of staff of beleaguered Senator Ted Stevens and supported the "bridge to nowhere" before she was against it (get out your flip-flops people). "We need to come to the defense of Southeast Alaska when proposals are on the table like the bridge, and not allow the spinmeisters to turn this project or any other into something that's so negative," Palin said in August 2006, according to the Ketchikan Daily News. (see USA Today for more)
4) There are accusations of her firing Alaska public safety commissioner Walt Monegan. Monegan had refused to fire a state trooper who had divorced Palin's sister.
5) Someone has tinkered with her Wikipedia page to make her look "better."
6) Rumors are flying that her daughter is the real mother of Trig, their youngest child and that Sarah Palin was covering it up. The Daily Kos thinks it is much ado about nothing.

After reading Stephan Marks' "Confessions of a Political Hitman", I am severely concerned about "oppo research" that is done by all candidates and the toll it takes on the real issues that face the nation. How many of these issues really matter when deciding whether she is a deserving candidate for the office she seeks? Still, until the game changes, what is good for the gander is good for the goose.

To his credit, Barack Obama has publically stated that "our people are not involved in any way on this [rumors about Bristol Palin's pregnancy]." He added that if he discovered any involvement by a member of his campaign "they'd be fired."

According to the Swamp:

Obama used the moment to retiterate his beleif that "people's families are off-limits and children are especially off-limits."This shouldn't be part of our politics, it has no relevance to governor Palin's performance as a governor or her potential performance as a vice president," he said. "And so I would strongly urge people to back off these kinds of stories. You know my mother had me when she was 18. And how family deals with issues and teenage children that shouldn't be the topic of our politics and I hope that anybody who is supporting me understands that is off limits."

McCain Manages an Upset (But the Fallout Could Be More Upsetting)

Who knew that the stunning acceptance speech by Barack Obama at the Democratic Convention would have such a short shelf life? But when John McCain chose Alaska Governor (Governess?) Sarah Palin to be his running mate, he did just that. As I opined in December of last year, see "And Now For Something Completely Different: A Populist Progressive Republican", this is a Republican "I could support", particularly on corruption and holding Big Oil accountable.

Unfortunately, as a potential VP, I couldn't support her for a number of other HUGE reasons: her anti-choice stance on women's reproductive rights (membership in something called "Feminists for Life"), her wanting to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration despite the environmental disaster it would create, her demand to take polar bears off the endangered species list despite the fact that the Arctic ice shelf is melting and thus their numbers are dwindling rapidly, her NRA support (particularly around assault weapons), her lack of a cohesive plan for health care coverage for all Americans, and her lack of any foreign policy experience (particularly important in light of the fact that she would replace McCain, if he should die in office).

The good news for John McCain is that his choice will keep the light on his campaign as the press seeks to "get to know" his telegenic choice for VP. Savvy move in the short run, but will it pay off in November? The Obama/Biden team will be working overtime against that happening.

And Now For Something Completely Different: A Populist Progressive Republican

This is a Republican that I could support. From the AP via the Press-Citizen.

In her first year as governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin has plunged ahead with the fearlessness of a polar explorer.

The populist Republican has raised taxes on the powerful oil industry. She has pushed through ethics legislation amid a burgeoning corruption investigation of Alaska lawmakers. She has bucked her party's old guard. And she has ordered her administration to seek fewer congressional earmarks after Alaska's "Bridge to Nowhere" became a national symbol of piggish pork-barrel spending.

The 43-year-old governor has also emerged as a national figure and a media darling, posing recently for Vogue magazine.

Alaska's first female governor, a former Miss Wasilla with swept-up light-brown hair, says it is her responsibility to be available even to fashion magazines if it can help change the state's reputation for graft and gluttony at the public trough.

"We've got to make sure the rest of the United States doesn't believe the only thing going on in Alaska is FBI probes and corruption trials," Palin said.

Palin has dismissed speculation she might leave Juneau for higher office before her term expires in 2010, saying, "My role as governor is where I can be most helpful right now unless something drastic happens, and I don't anticipate that right now."

Nevertheless, John J. Pitney Jr., a political scientist with Claremont McKenna College in California and former analyst for congressional Republicans, said Palin could be an ideal presidential running mate next year.

"What separates her from others is that at a time when Republicans have suffered from the taint of corruption, she represents clean politics," Pitney said.

"The public stereotype of Republican is a wrinkled old guy taking cash under the table," he said. "One way for Republicans to break the stereotype is with a female reformer."

Party labels seem to mean very little to Palin. Her revenue commissioner is a Democrat. Her husband, Todd, a blue-collar worker on Alaska's oil-rich North Slope, is an independent.

The mother of four is often seen bounding down the Capitol stairwell, holding a pink backpack and rushing to get her 6-year-old daughter, Piper, off to school on time - something that Pitney said could make Palin more appealing to a national audience.

The former mayor of the Anchorage suburb of Wasilla ran on ethics reform in trouncing Gov. Frank Murkowski in the GOP primary. In the general election, she handily beat Democratic former Gov. Tony Knowles.

She immediately took on the state's most lucrative industry, questioning whether Alaska - which gets about 85 percent of its revenue from big oil - is getting its fair share of the oil companies' billions of dollars in quarterly profits.

She got what she wanted from the GOP-controlled Legislature. Relying heavily on Democratic votes, she won approval last month to boost taxes on oil company profits from 22.5 percent to 25 percent. That could bring in an additional $1.6 billion annually for the state, depending on oil prices.

The state has also accepted bids for the right to build a multibillion-dollar pipeline to deliver Alaska's natural gas to the rest of the nation.

On the same day a former Alaska lawmaker was convicted on federal bribery charges, Palin signed an ethics reform bill into law.

Since then, two more former lawmakers have been found guilty of bribery related to VECO Corp., an oil field contractor. Another former lawmaker awaits trial, and Sen. Ted Stevens and Rep. Don Young, both Republicans, are under investigation.

Palin's climb is being done without the backing of the state Republican Party, led by Randy Ruedrich. In 2004, as chairwoman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, Palin exposed Ruedrich for ethics violations when he was a fellow commissioner.

She has also made trouble for the party's establishment by calling on Stevens to give the public an explanation of why the feds have raided Stevens' Alaska home in the investigation of his ties to VECO's founder.

"I don't sweat it at all that the partisanship isn't playing a big part of my agenda," Palin said. "What that tells me is this: that I'm on the right track, and that it hasn't stopped us."