Back From AK 2: Moosylvania is Saved

In part i, yesterday, we talked about how a place like Wyoming could have a dual, parallel and contradictory history: the reality and the myth, with most souls subscribing to the myth.

Anchorage and municipally-contained Fire Island. Fire Island (foreground) is currently abandoned, now owned by Cook Inlet Region, Inc. with a proposed  wind farm in the works via Chugash Electric. (Wikipedia)

ii. Moosylvania

True story: Once upon a time, Jay Ward — creator of Rocky and Bullwinkle — bought an island near Lake of the Woods and named it “Moosylvania.”

And they have this great PR idea. They’ll start a petition to have Moosylvania named the Fifty First State. They gather the signatures and drive to Washington D.C. to deliver it in person to then-president John F. Kennedy.

It was a great PR stunt, and everything was going swimmingly until they got to the White House. History, it seemed, had dealt a trump card. There was a long wait, and, according to some reports Ward and his partner were escorted from the White House grounds by armed guards. Unfortunately, the Cuban Missile Crisis had just begun. No way to foresee the outcome.

Timing is everything.

Fire Island gets its name from the fires from fishing camps. There was a village, according to oral tradition, but it was abandoned due to epidemic. The muddy formation at the top-left of the island is called Shelter Bay.

The old Libertarians of the Ed Clark campaign of 1980 and then the Dick Randolph gubernatorial campaign of 1984 hold a special place for Alaska in whatever passes for their hearts: the first state to elect a Libertarian state representative, Dick Randolph, in 1980. The place they went to run the ultimately losing campaign in 1984 to put Randolph in the governor’s chair. A place where “libertarianism” has often found fertile soil, except, of course, where it’s covered by glaciers and rocks and mosquitoes.

I was going to Alaska in early June.

My book was supposed to be ready by then, so I waited to see if I could get booked on the Alaska “progressive talk” radio station in Anchorage. I thought that I could hip them to some of Howie’s Standard Operating Procedures, and talk about how the exact same ballot initiative was run by the Howie Rich Gang in South Dakota and Colorado, with Colorado passing it (like they’d passed TABOR years earlier) and South Dakota slam-dunking it in the circular file. The measure went down in SDak, big time.

There is an irony there. The Ballot Initiative, Petition Measure, whatever you want to call it was first passed in South Dakota, in 1898. Wikipedia:

The modern U.S. system of initiative and referendum originated in the state of South Dakota. South Dakota adopted initiative and referendum in 1898 by a vote of 23,816 to 16,483. Oregon was the second state to adopt and did so in 1902, when the state’s legislators adopted it by an overwhelming majority. The “Oregon System”, as it was at first known, subsequently spread to many other states, and became one of the signature reforms of the Progressive Era (1890s-1920s).

And now, the same gang has returned to Alaska, where they ran the libertarian campaigns of 1980 and 1984, to Dick Randolph, who put them on the map as the first Libertarian state legislator. As head of Clean Team Alaska, “Yes on Clean Government,” he released this official statement to the press in February:

I have known and worked with Howie Rich and other Americans for Limited Government (ALG) associates for many years. They have assisted me over almost 30 years in helping individual Alaskans resist growing government.

With their help, I led several successful citizen initiatives in Alaska over the years. … I am proudly associated with ALG and Howie as well as other individuals and associations who are tirelessly working to preserve traditional American values and freedoms. I am attaching a New York Times article* that illustrates the kind of good work my friends are doing across the United States.

(No idea where it ended up, but it didn’t end up here — HW)

Well, at least they go back a ways.

Anchorage airport is pretty much like any
other. Pretty big, too.

They were going to hide in plain sight. Once the Howie Rich connection was made in Alaska, they were going to run their regular campaign: lots of media; lots of money; lots of secrecy. That was how they’d run it in 2006 and 2008. Who could doubt that they probably wouldn’t change their M.O. for 2010?

I thought that if I could help clear up some areas that people might not quite know about, it could still make for some entertaining radio. All kinds of interesting tidbits.

I looked, but  could not find an email address for the local h0st (the other shows being Thom Hartmann, Ed Schultz, and other national progressive talk shows). There was, however a “contact the show” form, complete with secret posting, so that you must leave y0ur information, but no human necessarily receives it.

And a happy “THANK YOU” splash screen.

No answer.

Then, a few days later, I posted my query. I was not tooting my horn. Heck, I even forgot to mention that I am a blogger. Nothing.

I found a Facebook page for said hostess. Sent short, polite message.

Nothing.

Lather, rinse and repeat for a couple of weeks.

So, I got to Anchorage and while there (at a conference), I listened to her afternoon show.

Uh-oh. I thought.

This person drops the names of her “famous” friends a wee tad beyond what one might call a “comfort zone.” She bills herself as “Just a Girl From Homer,” which pretty much screams its opposite notion, in general psychobabble circles, of course, but which may actually, in fact, mask a deep humility that verges on the Gandhiesque. Were I a betting man — which I am, in fact, not — I would not take the Gandhi side unless the odds were extemely generous.

I lived in Hollywood for many years, and saw the … er, weird and interesting reactions people have to a little sudden fame, as 2009 seems to have been that “It” year on her résumé.

Perhaps it was that. Or, perhaps it was garbled email. Some mysteries, Humankind were not Meant to Know.

the new Anchorage Museum, top floor

Who can say? What can one say?  Except to say only generally, as a standard sort of media business practice, that it was rude not to respond to professional communication, if only as a courtesy? No: that would seem snippy, and, all things considered, NOT making the trek via taxi to the radio station and back on Thursday and missing a big chunk of the conference, or Friday, when I got to tour the newly opened museum downtown, with some exquisite stuff….

Sydney Laurence – landscape

No: one cannot be snippy for that. A blessing, as they say, whether a mazel tov or a milagro.

So, perhaps it would be better to say, sorry that the timing what it was —  it seemed serendipitous, but was, evidently, the opposite.

Such is serendipity.

But, as with Jay Ward’s Moosylvania, my timing was odd. (I, however, managed to avoid the armed escort out.)

The view from the hotel

My first free afternoon, a Friday, my wife and I went downtown, and, in front of Nordstroms’ huge facade, I put my 75 ¢ in the box and pulled out the Anchorage Daily News. And column 1 at the top of the page said:

Above: where I bought this newspaper (below)

Zoom:

zoom zoom:

Smells like teen spirit … or sour grapes.

Yep. The corrupt system changed their “anti corruption” (AKA The Gag Law) language, so they’re pulling out of the campaign. Seriously. They claim that they can’t sue in courts because “that system is corrupt,” which is not only circular reasoning, self-congratulatory and circular reasoning, but seems rather childish and foolishly petulant.

Local kids hanging out in front of Fifth Avenue Mall (Attached to J.C. Penneys @ left)

Here’s a summary of the initiative/bill from the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center [emphasis added]:

… with a provision known as Paycheck Deception, the ["Anti-Corruption Act"] would prevent public employees from having deductions taken from their paychecks to pay for union dues. While all Alaskans currently have the freedom to choose their own paycheck deductions, only public employees, such as firefighters, police officers, and teachers, would be covered by this law. A similar initiative was on the South Dakota ballot in 2008, and was funded by a group headed by Grover Norquist. The initiative, while wrapped in the guise of government reform and transparency, would have severely restricted the ability of South Dakotans to participate in elections or lobbying their government, and was defeated 35%-65% at the ballot [box].

Additionally, the “Anti-Corruption Act” would prohibit political contributions by persons and organizations with any state-funded government contracts. It also prohibits political contributions by labor unions and their members that have collective bargaining agreements with state or local governments. This amendment is silent about corporate gifts to elected officials and would ignore most contributions by large and out-of-state corporations. However, it would prevent a person from volunteering on a campaign or donating a few dollars to a political candidate just because their mother-in-law is a government contractor or their nephew belongs to a public employee union. A similar Colorado initiative passed narrowly in 2008 but it has been legally challenged as unconstitutional.

Gee. Sounds a lot more like union busting than any “corruption” measure. And Howie and Grover Norquist were in bed on the so-called “Rainy Day” fund that started my investigation in 2006. SOP more like.

Downtown Anchorage

Dick Randolph told the Fairbanks News-Miner this, at the time:

Dick Randolph, a Fairbanks businessman and the group’s chairman, said he suspects Lt. Gov. Craig Campbell bowed to pressure from municipal leaders and worker unions opposed to the change.

“It truly begs the question — what’s the value in adopting citizen initiatives if the attorney general and lieutenant governor ignore existing laws? This blatant disregard for the public process is appalling,” Randolph said in a statement from the group.

Read more: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner – Clean Team Alaska drops campaign spending ballot measure (June 11)

Then, he told them THIS:

Dick Randolph, chairman of Clean Team Alaska, quit his post Tuesday, citing a “culture of (state) corruption” his measure sought in part to correct.

“The blatant disregard for the law by people in highly influential positions of power is appalling,” Randolph said.

Read more: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - Alaska regulators were about to require more disclosure from Clean Team Alaska (June 16)

Rebels without a cause, but WITH a mall hangout

And now they say THIS:

Alaska regulators were about to require more disclosure from Clean Team Alaska
by Christopher Eshleman

FAIRBANKS – State regulators were poised to require greater financial disclosure from supporters of a campaign-focused ballot measure when the measure’s chief support group pulled up stakes last week, lead sponsors said Tuesday.

The group, Clean Team Alaska, has received the bulk of its money from the Anchorage-based Alaskans for Open Government.

That group received its support from the Washington, D.C.-based Americans for Limited Government, said Ken Jacobus, an Anchorage attorney and deputy treasurer for Alaskans for Open Government.

Jacobus said the Alaska Public Offices Commission told him last month it planned to extend tougher reporting requirements to his group. He said that move would have required Americans for Limited Government to identify its major contributors in disclosure reports to the state, something he said the East Coast group was unwilling to do. [more]

So. Howie has vacated Alaska. Again. Just the timing. I didn’t get to talk to Alaska about Moosylvania, because Moosylvania done just blowed up.

(Unless it’s a Karl Rovian reverse-backflip stealth tactic.)

New landscaping at the new museum

But now the mystery deepens. I thought it was just supposed to be Howie Rich, Rich Howard Rich, Rich Howie Richie Rich’s money. What could be so dangerous about where they’re getting the money that they’d rather dump several thousand … several tens of thousands, maybe over a hundred thousand dollars, rather than reveal their backers?

And, when you think about it, isn’t this the future?

view from Museum to Nordstrom’s and the Mall
the Mexican Consulate is the building at left

Any Corporation (now that they can contribute as much as they want) would probably rather funnel their cash through money anonymizers like “Americans for Limited Government” and have the effect, without any of the business negatives of antagonizing possible customers.

If this were drug money, we would have agents tracking the money, watching bank accounts for any large, “suspicious” movements of cash. But, in politics, this shell game of anonymous out-of-state money, controlled through an opaque intermediary, “Americans for Limited Government” and used to specifically change state laws, well, that’s just the “right to privacy.”

It might be fairly called a form of political money laundering, to launch the cause from an invisible hand, or, in this case, wallet.

But what could be so dangerous about knowing who the contributors are  to a “Clean Government” campaign? What could be so damning that they’d junk a petition drive (by a paid out-of-state petition gathering company), polling, setting up two front organizations — with the Orwellian monikers  Clean Team Alaska and Alaskans for Open Government — setting up the website, commissioning commercials (which are probably now made, and bills due and payable) media buys in all major markets, and now getting back their cash, minus cancellation fees,  a couple years’ planning — at least since 2008 when they suddenly withdrew it the first time — etc. etc.?

The Anchorage mall, like any other mall, anywhere else

As Howie allegedly said of this same proposition in 2008, according to the Anchorage Daily News:

When asked about Rich’s role in the Alaska initiative, Kohlhaas said: “I can tell you he sent me an e-mail telling me not to ‘eff’ this up.”

What hand pays for laws in a land it doesn’t even live in?

Whose?

Whose piggy banks?

So, it’s just as well that I never talked on Alaskan radio.

The mythic libertarian Moosylvanian Utopia had exploded on the front page of the Anchorage Daily News. Public employee unions would NOT be systematically expunged from the political process. My work in Moosylvania was well and truly done, without having had to do a thing. (But … The fat lady hath not yet sung, whisper the augurs, sagely.)

Moosylvania was saved for the moment.

It’s the timing.

Walkway from Penneys to Parking Garage – Not a moose or bear in sight

But here’s the website for the book (still under construction, please note).  Coming real soon to a [insert noun for mode of distribution here] near you!

Courage.

Tomorrow(ish): The Great and Epic Quest for the Wasilla Souvenir Cap and Sarah Palin’s House … did we find it?

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NOTE: This is part II of a series of VIII.

The other installments are:

• I. North to Alaska, or, Back From AK, 17 JUNE 2010
• II. Back From AK 2: Moosylvania is Saved, 19 JUNE 2010
• III. North to Alaska: Into the Belly of the Moose, 24 JUNE 2010
• IV. North to Alaska: Moose of Darkness 26 JUNE 2010
• V. Moosterious Interlude, or, Strangers In The Right, 29 JUNE 2010
• VI. North to Alaska, 2010- A Moose Odyssey 2 July 2010
• VII. North to Alaska: How Moose Was My Valley 4 July 2010
• VIII. North to Alaska: The Moosterious Stranger 7 July 2010
• (appendix) Mudflats Flaps Back? Tries To Declare Moosetrial 10 July 2010