The Palins' un-American activities (Salon hit piece)

Salon ^ | 10/7/08 | David Talbot

[steve-b]

"My government is my worst enemy. I'm going to fight them with any means at hand."

This was former revolutionary terrorist Bill Ayers back in his old Weather Underground days, right? Imagine what Sarah Palin is going to do with this incendiary quote as she tears into Barack Obama this week.

Only one problem. The quote is from Joe Vogler, the raging anti-American who founded the Alaska Independence Party. Inconveniently for Palin, that's the very same secessionist party that her husband, Todd, belonged to for seven years and that she sent a shout-out to as Alaska governor earlier this year. ("Keep up the good work," Palin told AIP members. "And God bless you.")...

Vogler's greatest moment of glory was to be his 1993 appearance before the United Nations to denounce United States "tyranny" before the entire world and to demand Alaska's freedom. The Alaska secessionist had persuaded the government of Iran to sponsor his anti-American harangue.

That's right ... Iran. The Islamic dictatorship. The taker of American hostages. The rogue nation that McCain and Palin have excoriated Obama for suggesting we diplomatically engage. That Iran.

AIP leaders allege that Vogler, who was murdered that year by a fellow secessionist, was taken out by powerful forces in the U.S. before he could reach his U.N. platform. "The United States government would have been deeply embarrassed," by Vogler's U.N. speech, darkly suggests Clark. "And we can't have that, can we?"

The Republican ticket is working hard this week to make Barack Obama's tenuous connection to graying, '60s revolutionary Bill Ayers a major campaign issue. But the Palins' connection to anti-American extremism is much more central to their political biographies....

[awake-n-angry]

“The myth of Governor Palin’s membership in that party has been busted. Why even post this here?”
_____________

Gov Palin was not a member of the party, her husband was. She did produce a video while governor where she opens the party’s convetion and welcomes the delegates. other then that there is no connection to the Palin’s.

And I believe that the first dude has not been a member for a while.

[mdmathis6]

The problem is as an independent nation there would be no guarantees that Russia wouldn’t attempt to pluck Alaska back, declaring “Seward’s Folly” as an illegitimate nation. There would be no guarantees that the US would defend Alaska as an ally!

[Eagles6]

"Our goal is ultimate independence by peaceful means under a minimal government fully responsive to the people."

Wow! Sounds pretty radical to me. Probably don't even want to allow a mother the right to murder her own children!

[x]

This is as stupid as the rape kit accusation and about as false.

In 1991, Walter Hickel, who had been Governor of Alaska and Secretary of the Interior, ran for the Governorship again on the Alaskan Independence Party ticket and won.

Vogler had offered Hickel the nomination, but Hickel repudiated the independence platform and didn't share in the radical anti-government sentiments of die-hard AIP members. Some of them even wanted to impeach him.

I suppose that was about the time Todd Palin registered with the AIP. And as happens, people forget to unregister afterwards.

It's as though Lowell Weicker or Joe Lieberman chose to run on some fringe party ticket and won. You wouldn't expect voting for them to constitute an endorsement of some more extreme views in that minor party's background.

Whenever you see the AIP mentioned in reference to the 1990s without mention of Hickel's winning run for Governor, somebody is probably trying to deceive you.

[steve-b]

Followup: Secret Service Looking Into Threats to Obama at Palin Rallies

[tiki]

So did that party bomb buildings and kill people?

[ConservativeJen]

This Vogler guy wasn’t even really ‘anti-American’, just against the federal government, which is a far different thing.