Anchorage Daily News

PALIN EFFIGY INVESTIGATED: A Halloween display in West Hollywood, Calif., depicting Sarah Palin hanging from a noose is being investigated by the Secret Service and local authorities, reports the Los Angeles Times. Some local residents called it a hate crime, but the police department initially declared it free speech and wouldn’t order the homeowner to take it down. The article includes a video report.

Also:

Effigy of Palin hanging by noose is Halloween fun, owner says (Fox News)

Obama effigy found hanging from campus tree (Sept. 24, The Associated Press)

‘GUILTY’ ISN’T ALWAYS POLITICAL DEATH: Can U.S. senators have a political future after a conviction? The answer is yes, and Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy is the prime living example, points out the New York Times’ news blog. But indicted lawmakers usually don’t fare as well. A Times graphic details some examples from the past 30 years.

Here are some pundit reactions to the Stevens verdict from across the country:

A proud senator falls victim to his sense of entitlement: “Those who are determined to cheat the system by improperly accepting gifts and failing to report them must realize, as a spate of public corruption prosecutions has proved, that what they may justify to themselves as penny ante is in fact criminal. Mr. Stevens worked to give so much to his state, but he forgot the most important duty he owed its citizens: honest service.” – Washington Post editorial

Sic Transit Ted: Of bribes and hubris: “Senator Stevens is but the latest to have mistaken himself for one of the marble statues in the Capitol dome.” -- Wall Street Journal editorial

Republican conviction: "The party’s future may ultimately depend as much on regaining its ethical bearings as it does on retaining 41 seats in the Senate. Had Republicans urged Stevens to step aside months ago, those two goals would not be in conflict. Should Stevens’ conviction be instrumental in handing Senate Democrats a filibuster-proof majority, Republicans will have reaped what they have sown." -- National Review editorial

Don't vote for Ted Stevens or Don Young: “Ted Stevens and Don Young have been a pox on the Republican house for too long - too addicted to the pork barrel, too fast and loose with ethics. Stevens' conviction in federal court is the exclamation point on an era in Republican politics in general and Alaska politics in particular that needs to end." – Red State (right-of-center Capitol Hill blog)

Ted Stevens’ trump card: Anchorage writer Amanda Coyne wraps it up for The Guardian (U.K.) in a freelance piece: “What awaits (Stevens)? ... Maybe it's prison. Maybe it's here, back home, among the people who will always call him Uncle Ted. The people who will say: He might be a crook, but he's Alaska's crook. He's just one of us.”

Ted Stevens, convicted: “The Lion of the Senate blamed others for his woes. He blamed his wife, because she was supposed to pay the bills. He blamed Bill Allen, because he kept giving him things and building improvements to the Girdwood home. He blamed prosecutors for being unfair to him. Sen. Stevens resorted to legal hairsplitting, saying that the 'unwanted' gifts were really just loans, which, conveniently, did not have to be disclosed on his Senate forms.” – Anchorage Daily News editorial

Stevens the soothsayer: “Stevens' real crime was arrogance -- he assumed that rules made for mere mortals didn't apply to him. This is Washington: That's not an unfamiliar story.” – Eugene Robinson, Washington Post blog post

Ted Stevens, inmate senator: “Whether Stevens knew it -- or was too obtuse to get it -- the courtroom's optics worked against him. It's one thing to kick around Senate witnesses and staff. (I was a Senate staffer in the 1970s and saw Stevens snarl and go off on people with little reason.) But Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, who tried to convince a Washington jury that he didn't have to report gifts from wealthy supporters because, well, he considered them loans (even though he never returned them), got what he richly deserved.” – Dan Turner, Los Angeles Times blog post

How Stevens invited his verdict: Talking down to a federal prosecutor during his cross examination as if she were a dummy -- as Stevens reportedly did -- was virtually a gold-plated invitation for jurors to decide to put him in his place, provided the evidence also supported such a decision. – Colbert King, Washington Post blog post

The downside of the Stevens conviction: “Mark Begich would have to work his way up to influential positions Stevens once claimed on the appropriations and commerce, science and transportation committees. For Begich to carry out his very appropriate and much needed energy and climate change plans, he's going to need money, and the Treasury's not looking so fat these days. Whether Begich can match Stevens in that category, the jury's still out.” -- American Prospect

PALIN CAN SEE 2012 FROM WHEREVER SHE GOES: Washington Post political columnist Dana Milbank attended a raucous Palin rally in suburban Washington on Tuesday and saw obvious signs that the VP candidate is distancing herself from Sen. John McCain and playing to her political future.

John McCain thought he was being clever picking a fellow maverick to be his running mate. The problem with mavericks, however, is that they don't follow instructions. Pretty soon they go rogue and before you know it you've got a full-fledged diva on your hands.

The prospect of Palin’s return to the national stage in four years – should the McCain/Palin ticket lose this election -- seemed to thrill onlookers.

They turned Palin's speech to an extended call-and-response routine. When Palin praised Virginians' patriotism, they chanted "USA!" When she mentioned Joe the Plumber, they chanted "I am Joe!" When she spoke of energy policy, they chanted "Drill, baby, drill!" When she singled out a member of the audience, they chanted "Bless your heart!" When she invoked Obama, they chanted "No-bama!" and then "Use your brain! Vote McCain."

"You betcha," Palin agreed.

Milbank’s report includes a video recap of the day.

Also:

McCain loss could provide opening for Palin (Detroit Free Press)

TOP 10 PALIN EXCUSES FOR SPENDING $150,000 ON CLOTHES: courtesy of Late Show With David Letterman.

10 - Need to look good for the Russians who can see me in Alaska

9 - The old man spends more on Polident

8 - Auditioning to be Paris Hilton's BFF

7 - Wanted to impress the American voters in the evening gown competition

6 - Maverick, Joe the plumber, maverick, maverick, William Ayers, you betcha!

5 - I fell for the liberal retailers' 'gotcha sales tactics'

4 - Because the dollar is so weak, it's really like I only spent $50,000

3 - Hmm...excuses? I'll find some and I'll get right back to ya!

2 - In addition to every newspaper and magazine, I also read every catalog

1 - The difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull: lipstick, Prada shoes, a Gucci handbag, and a few $3,000 suits

FORMER FAIRBANKS MAYOR SEEKS NEW TRIAL: Another disgraced politician wants to blame his wife, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports. An attorney for Jim Hayes says the judge in his trial for theft of almost a half-million dollars from social service grants should have rescheduled the trial so his wife could testify she did most of the stealing.

FAIRBANKS CHARTER SCHOOL FACING CLOSURE: One of the school district’s three charter schools, the Effie Kokrine, may have its funding reduced for having too few students, according to the News-Miner. It specializes in Alaska Native and Alaska culture and serves kids in grades seven to 12.

Also:

Struggling Anchorage Native school hopes buses give it a lift (ADN)

Counting students a cruel test of reality (ADN)

Arts emphasized at Juneau’s sole charter school (Juneau Empire)

_______________________

HIGHLIGHTS FROM RECENT NEWSREADERS:

Palin spends $50G on remodel jobs (Boston Herald)

Tragic flaw: John McCain, man (Washington Post Writers Group)

A makeover with an ugly gloss (N.Y. Times)

Alaska on “The Electoral Map” (N.Y. Times cartoon)

Palin favors friends and donors (L.A. Times)

Palin hand seen in battle over mine in Alaska (N.Y. Times)

Palin’s path to the nomination (The New Yorker)

Find previous Newsreader columns here.

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