As Jed's video shows, earlier this year, Sarah Palin spoke at the convention of the Alaskan Independence Party, offering them cheery words and ad expressing her admiration and cheery words including: "Keep up the good work," she told them. "And God bless you." Her husband Todd was a member of the party for seven years. Sarah Palin addressed AIP conventions repeatedly during her time as mayor of Wasilla.
Now David Talbot has a piece in Salon about Joe Vogler, the "raging anti-American" who founded the Alaska Independence Party -- the party that Todd Palin belonged to for seven years, and that Palin chose to address just a few months ago. The party that still considers Sarah Palin one of their own.
Talbot reveals that Vogler, in 1993, arranged with Iran to provide him with a global pulpit to spew his hatred of the United States:
"My government is my worst enemy. I'm going to fight them with any means at hand."
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 next time some news outlet or pundit devotes a second of coverage to the Ayers nontroversy, ask them why Sarah Palin has not once been asked about her very recent, very extensive ties to a genuinely anti-American group. Heck, seems like something even John McCain should have to address.
Digg
UPDATE: I presume that Vogler's treasonous activities, including the Iran/US speech deal, were notorious and well known to politically active Alaskans. Todd Palin became and remained an AIP member for years, and Sarah Palin strongly and repeatedly supported the party through speeches. But a good starter question for the media for the Palins would be:
1. Did you know about Vogler's hatred of the US?
2. Did you know he obtained Iran's support to allow him to use the United Nations as a platform to lambast the US and call for Alaskan independence?
3. If you knew, why did you continue to support the AIP?
4. If you say you didn't know, why are you lying?
UPDATE II: See also Trifecta's earlier diary.
UPDATE III: Much thanks to commenter texvol, for pointing to this April 2008 interview with the AIP Chairman Lynette Clark in the Russian newspaper Pravda. Clark describes AIP's position on what should happen with Alaska as follows:
AIP would expect, and United Nation rules mandate, the U.S. Government to facilitate the vote as:
- Remain a Territory.
- Become a separate and Independent Nation.
- Accept Commonwealth status.
- Become a State
The U.S. Government did not act in good faith and thus steered the whole process in one direction only – to retain Alaska as a part of the Union.