Governors Who Live In Glass Houses

Here are some facts and affiliations about the Alaska Independence Party that indicate that, although they claim to uphold the US Constitution, it is merely trickery and obfuscation. Listen carefully to the first speaker, Dexter Clark, as he says that the governor they endorsed (in '06), Sarah Palin, got elected. And then watch him say that several organizations, including Christian Exodus and the Free State movement (not sure if he means "project" or not) are in favor of infiltrating government office by slapping on a Republican label, presumably for the purposes of achieving secession. Bear in mind this video was recorded in November of 2007. For this year's conference, Governor Sarah Palin recorded a welcome video in which she urged the AIP to "keep up the good work."



Christian Exodus, in case you're wondering, is a fundamentalist right-wing Christian organization that proposes congregating their people in one places and making a stand against the "financially and morally bankrupt American empire." (Well, they've got us there, I guess.)

But back to the AIP:

Their platform begins with the following:

1. To effect full compliance with the constitutions of the United States of America and the State of Alaska.
2. To support and defend States' Rights, Individual Rights, Property Rights, and the Equal Footing Doctrine as guaranteed by the constitutions of the United States of America and the state of Alaska.

So, if we are to believe these words then how do we reconcile them with those of Dexter Clark, who counsels the "infiltration" of high government office by candidates labeled as Republicans. Why would you need to "infiltrate" a government to which you belonged and believed in? And, if what Dexter Clark says is true, and bearing in mind that Sarah Palin is registered under the Republican banner, and bearing in mind that Todd Palin was registered with AIP until 2002, when he changed is registration to "undeclared," then how can we possibly trust that Palin isn't a part of Dexter Clark's dastardly plot to ascend secessionist sympathizers into high national office in order to secure Alaska's freedom from the tyranny of the United States of America.

Finally, a little bit about Joe Vogler, the founder of the Alaska Independence Party. Two quotes to ruminate over from the video:

"The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government. And I won’t be buried under their damn flag. I’ll be buried in Dawson. And when Alaska is an independent nation they can bring my bones home.”

And,

“I’m an Alaskan, not an American. I’ve got no use for America or her damned institutions."

And I'm almost sure he wasn't wearing a flag lapel pin when he was saying them.

Did Sarah Palin "pal around" with Joe Vogler? Probably not. See, Joe Vogler was killed in 1993, murdered during an attempt to illegally purchase plastic explosives. But by the time Todd Palin joined the party barely two years later, the whole story of Joe Vogler and his intentions for the AIP were widely publicized. Volger is still lionized by the party, and the memorial written to him 13 years ago still appears on their website (without the telling quotes and the circumstances of his death, of course).

And yet this very year, Sarah Palin encouraged the AIP, a party dedicated to "infiltrating" high office under the Republican banner, consorting with borderline fringe groups like the Christian Exodus, and founded by a man who, by his own admission, hated America with all his heart, to "keep up the good work."

That's a big, shiny glass house.

~C~