Alaska First!

I dunno about you, but I'm really enjoying our national introduction to the yeasty pork-and-moose stew that is Alaska politics. My current favorite Palin controversy is whether or not she attended the secessionist Alaska Independence Party's 1994 convention. Alaska secessionists? Who knew! Several AIPs say Palin was a member of the organization and attended the convention, which was held in Wasilla; the McCain campaign says no. My favorite character in all this is the former AIP Secretary, Lynette Clark, a freelance gold miner who wants Alaska to become an independent nation and has this to say about the McCain campaign's damage control efforts:

"This is like a cat covering up crap in its litter box."

And while we're wallowing in the catbox, I'm slightly perplexed by the various Republican efforts to express outrage over the press and Democratic reaction to Bristol Palin's pregnancy. Maybe I'm missing something, but I haven't heard or read a single journalist--or Democrat--say that this was anything other than a private matter. In fact, Barack Obama, the son of an 18-year-old mother, was vehement and eloquent on that subject yesterday. I've got to think this is a McCain smokescreen to divert attention from the real issue here: how and why McCain selected this tyro.

It Gets Better: Turn out Palin's husband has been an Alaska secessionist.