News to watch today includes Sen. Ted Stevens being cross-examined by prosecutors. Expect more of the kind of grilling wife Catherine experienced Thursday.
Cook Inlet belugas are officially endangered.
On the humor front, David Letterman had his way with presidential candidate John McCain over his choice of Sarah Palin as a running mate. The jokes came fast and furious. For her part, Sarah heads to Saturday Night Live tomorrow night.
More on plumbing: Al the Plumber would like a few words with you. And Palin confesses to not liking the whole plumbing campaign plug.
And lastly, my colleague Mark Dent will assume this Alaska news aggregation on Monday. Thank you for reading!
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First, to the humormeisters.
Late-night comedy is second stage for presidential race. Last night, David Letterman drilled down on McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as VP candidate and her choice of words describing Barack Obama's association with Bill Ayers, reports the Baltimore Sun's TV reporter.
"If we're in a 9/11 situation, God forbid, should Sarah Palin be president?" Letterman asked with incredulity in his voice. "I mean, I ‘m sure she's a lovely woman, and, as you say, she did a great job in Alaska ... but is Sarah Palin really ready to lead in the case of a 9/11 attack?"
McCain, who had been trying to play the role of Genial John rather then Grumpy Grandpa McCain during the conversation, kept saying she was "absolutely" qualified and stressing her campaign-created persona as a "reformer." But as the questions about her qualifications kept coming, McCain started to get annoyed enough to ask at one point, "Have we pretty well exhausted this topic?"
But Letterman hadn't. He questioned McCain even more intensely on Palin's claims on the campaign trail that Obama "palled around with terrorists." When McCain pointed to the 1960s radical William Ayers, who is now a university professor, Letterman pressed him on whether the limited contact between Obama and Ayers really makes them "pals."
See the CBS clip here or read the transcript here.
Reviews of the show? Here's one, from the Washington Post:
John McCain, so pugnacious in his encounters with his Democratic rival, folded like a tent when confronted last night by late-night host David Letterman, whom McCain stood up last month.
"I screwed up," McCain said of his last-minute decision to cancel his appearance on CBS's "Late Show" last month, forcing Letterman to scramble to find a replacement guest.
We can't leave this topic without a link to Letterman's Top 10 pokes at the McCain-Palin ticket, courtesy of the Los Angeles Times. Here's No. 1.:
"You heard what happened at a rally yesterday. Sarah Palin mistook some of her supporters for hecklers. And you know, confusion happens in all walks of life. For example, a few weeks ago, John McCain mistook her for a legitimate candidate."
Before we depart comedy, the Christian Science Monitor included all the good one-liners from the New York City Al Smith dinner at which both presidential candidates took the stage and played comedian to pretty good reviews. Catch accounts at the Dallas Morning News, Boston Globe.
Only the hardest of partisans could harbor ill feelings toward either of the candidates during the event. McCain and Obama were funny. Really funny. And they even appeared to like each other.
Their best lines:
McCain: "What they don't know," McCain explained, "... is that Joe the Plumber recently signed a very lucrative contract with a wealthy couple to handle all the work on all seven of their houses."
The reference to McCain's August "housing-gaffe" drew much laughter, applause and smiles across the room, including a relaxed Barack Obama, who seemed to be genuinely enjoying McCain's self-immolation.
Obama: Barack Obama was not upstaged by the Arizona senator despite his faux displeasure at holding the event at the Waldorf-Astoria.
"I was originally told we'd be able to move this outdoors to Yankee Stadium, and can somebody tell me what happened to the Greek columns that I requested?"
Find the transcript here and video clips here.
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Sarah goes SNL. The official word is out, reports CNN and the Associated Press.
Earlier this week, Palin told reporters that she'd love to appear on the show with Fey, The Associated Press reported.
"I love her, she's a hoot and she's so talented," Palin said.
At least one media hound sees Palin's future not in politics but on cable TV. Media Web writer Jon Friedman says she's perfect for that niche. He offers his odds for placement from ESPN to 700 Club and more.
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Off to more serious turf:
Catherine Stevens as "the fall girl." Columnist Dana Milbank at the Washington Post has been sitting in on the Stevens trial. The government's cross-examination of the senator's wife, according to Milbank, painted a devastating picture of how the Stevenses used federal employees as their personal concierges.
"Did Barbara Flanders" -- one of the senator's aides -- "walk your dogs?" prosecutor Brenda Morris demanded of Catherine Stevens. "Did Barbara Flanders feed your cats? Did Barbara Flanders pay your Saks Fifth Avenue bills? Didn't staff for your husband cut your grass? Did they pay for your parking tickets? Did Barbara Flanders pay bills to Blockbuster video for overdue amounts? Did she wrap Christmas gifts for your family? Did you send notes to Barbara Flanders to tell her you needed cash? So, in essence, she was your human ATM machine?"
Mrs. Stevens ran her hands through her hair and struggled for answers ("I don't know what you're talking about") but came up mostly empty.
Here's Alaskan Cliff Groh's take on this aspect of the trial from his spot in the courtroom as recorded on his blog, Alaska Corruption:
That reference to the role of Stevens' Senate staff in paying his family's personal bills was part of a larger line of questioning about just how much federal employees managed the senator's household's finances. Morris got Stevens to admit that the senator's staff had paid some of her credit card bills (apparently including accounts at Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus) and some utility bills. That same Senate aide sometimes managed her checkbook and completed insurance renewals. Asked if the Senate staff mowed the lawn at the senator's home, Stevens said that if that occurred she was sure that the family paid for it. (An article by Martin Kady II of The Politico noted that a database showed that the Senate aide paying the bills made $126,000 in 2007.)
The questions about whether Catherine Stevens used a Senate staff member as "a human ATM machine" who sent cash home with the senator in his briefcase is not directly relevant to the charges of concealment of gifts and loans at issue in the case but fit into a broader theme likely to be advanced by the prosecution. That theme is that both Sen. Stevens and his wife lived in such rarefied air that they would come to expect people to give them things for free.
Sen. Stevens will undergo questioning from the government this afternoon. KTUU interviewed an unaffiliated defense attorney on what Ted Stevens can expect:
Though he is known at times to be impatient, feisty and forceful, Stevens will need to keep his cool in what could be one of his most important performances of his life, said James Flood, a defense attorney outside the trial.
"I think that he understands the gravity of the situation," Flood said. "He has very good lawyers, and I do believe that he will be properly prepared and know exactly the confines of the proper demeanor of his behavior on the witness stand to make the best possible impression on the jury."
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Cook Inlet beluga whales declared endangered. The Associated Press reports this morning that the marine mammals need protection because their numbers have diminished dramatically.
The federal government has declared that the beluga whale in Alaska's Cook Inlet is endangered and will require additional protection to survive.
The findings by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration conflict with claims by Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who has questioned scientific evidence that the beluga whale population in the waters near Anchorage is still declining, despite a decade-long recovery effort.
But NOAA, in putting the whale under the protection of the federal Endangered Species Act, said Friday the whale population declined by 50 percent between 1994 and 1998 and "is still not recovering."
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So how much do plumbers make, anyway? Joe the Plumber's emergence on the campaign trail brought reaction from fellow plumbers, including Al the Plumber who'd like to say a few words. About Obama. Here are the links.
> Palin begs: "don't make me say Joe the Plumber...." (ABC News)
The Alaska governor said the election in 18 days "is the choice between a candidate who will raise your taxes and that threatens our future and a leader who's going to Washington to work for Joe the Plumber, as you heard a lot about last night. And I, I begged our speech writers, 'Don't make me say Joe the Plumber, please, in any speeches.'
"And I was asked, 'Just one time, just at this fundraiser.'"
> New York plumber is no average Joe (The New York Times)
Of course, it's possible that today's Joe the Plumber will end up like yesterday's Wal-Mart dad or the day before that's soccer mom -- a symbol that seemed prescient at the moment it was coined but grew to tire over time. In fact, the real Joe the Plumber, Samuel J. Wurzelbacher of Ohio, has already had his taxes and apparent lack of a license examined by the news media -- the other side of fame.
> Plumbers make on average $43,000 (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
> Have a word with Al the Plumber (Crooksandliars.com)
> News account of Al's rise to attention (TMJ4)
> Focus on Joe is a stumble (Bloomberg News)
Wurzelbacher hasn't paid the taxes he already owes, according to the state of Ohio, which placed a tax lien against him for $1,182.98 on Jan. 26, 2007, that is still active. A second judgment against him was filed in March 2007 by St. Charles Mercy Hospital for $1,261, records show.
The company McCain said the plumber wants to buy has annual sales of $510,000, according to an analysis by Dun & Bradstreet. That makes it unlikely that Wurzelbacher's purchase would give him a taxable income of more than $200,000, leaving him unaffected by Obama's proposal to roll back tax breaks for those earning more than $250,000, said Steven Bankler, a certified public accountant in San Antonio, who counts plumbers and other trade professionals as his clients.
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Other headlines of interest to Alaskans:
> Jim Hightower of Texas questions Palin's populism (Capital Times)
Hightower, who is a regular at our annual Fighting Bob Fests, added that he doesn't see Palin supporting any of the causes that are aimed at bringing up the people that populism has always stood for.
"She embraces none of these causes, instead supporting the rich and powerful whom grass-roots folks are having to battle," he said. "She's a plutocrat, not a populist. Big difference."
> Richard Fineberg on Palin's administration (Alaska Dispatch)
Based on the documented analysis I posted on my website Sept. 27, I feel compelled to oppose Gov. Palin's candidacy for national office. For case studies that call into question Gov. Palin's management of major oil and gas issues, please check out the facts and documents I have assembled and posted. My analysis identifies and documents:
• fundamental flaws and inconsistencies in the design of Gov. Palin's major oil and gas policy proposals;
• disappointing implementation failures;
• a strangely reclusive management style; and
• potential staff and consultant conflicts of interest within her administrative team that sully her image as a reformer.
> Alaska beer scores big in competition (Juneau Empire)
More than 2,900 beers from 472 breweries across the country competed this year in more than 75 categories. Festival organizers claim the three-day event was the "largest collection of U.S. beers ever assembled."
The brewery won a gold medal in the "aged" beer category for the 2006 Smoked Porter, a silver in the "smoke-flavor" beer category for the 2007 Smoked Porter, a silver in the "golden or blonde" style ale category for the Alaskan Summer Ale and a silver in the "fruit or vegetable" category for the Alaskan Raspberry Wheat. "Golden or blonde" style ale category for the Alaskan Summer Ale and a silver in the "fruit or vegetable" category for the Alaskan Raspberry Wheat.
> Homer's city budget screams "uncle." (Homer News)
"I am sorry to have to bring you this news," said Wrede in the report. "I know this will be very unpopular with the public. However, it is hard to hold costs down when your fuel bill alone went up by 68 percent."
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