Permafrost Fridays: Shaken Not Stirred
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On Permafrost Friday's we'll post blogs that will have you rushing to the freezer for a martini glass and the best Vodka in the world, distilled right here in Alaska. Drink and read responsibly. July 17, 2009: And the hits just keep right on coming to Meg Stapleton's credibility. During the great milk debate in June of 2007 over the future of the Matanuska Maid Dairy, back when Governor Palin was holding pep rallies with angry farmers instead of talking to Mat Maid's CEO to understand the financial facts of the dairy's collapse...there was a story about how Palin and her family were rudely denied a tour of the Anchorage dairy plant. On June 13, 2007 the Anchorage Daily News reported: "the company refused to let her in the dairy's Anchorage building when she showed up for a tour. They made her cool her heels in the lobby for an hour, waiting for permission from someone higher up the dairy chain, said Palin spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton. The governor eventually had to leave to attend a meeting in Soldotna. 
"It just ... I was in disbelief," Stapleton said.
The governor's office had scheduled the tour, setting it up for noon Wednesday -- her first visit there since elementary school, Stapleton said. "She just wanted to get a tour to understand it better."
When Palin arrived, she was told she couldn't enter without Mat Maid chief executive officer Joe Van Treeck, who wasn't there, Stapleton said."
According to the press account, Stapleton was upset because Palin got stood up for a scheduled tour after the CEO pulled a no show.
However Stapleton knew a tour wasn't set up and knew where the CEO was because she was with him.
Stapleton was phoning in reports from an Anchorage Downtown Hotel, where Van Treek and the Creamery Board were voting to shut down Matanuska Maid to stop the hemorrhaging of cash.
A recently discovered note from Stapleton to the Chair of the Creamery Board, on the day of the meeting, proves not only did she mislead the press about the dairy tour but even her request for the tour was made just minutes before Palin, her family and television crews showed up unscheduled at the dairy.
When the media asked about the apparent rude treatment in June of 2007, Max Carter, the board chair, refuted the allegation that Palin was stood up.
"Creamery board chairman Mac Carter, however, disputed the reason. He said the dairy didn't receive notice from Palin's office until the last minute, and said the governor was denied entry because no one schooled in appropriate security precautions was available to escort her. Visitors, for example, have to remove their shoes and wear sanitary booties and hair nets to tour the milk-processing facility, he said." adn.com 6/13/07
Below is Stapleton's note that she gave to Carter as the board was just about to go into closed executive session.
Carter went on to explain that it was all a setup to make the dairy look bad. When I received the note the media was in tow and the governor was already at Mat Maid crashing the place with full fan fair, Carter said in an email.
Now, where's the shaker?
Have a great weekend and Cheers!
Archived:
http://www.andrewhalcro.com/june_16_agia_matanuska_maid_-_the_striking_similarities_of_pandering
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