Date: Monday, October 6, 2008, 11:31 PM
Founder Of Group Palin Courted Professed "Hatred For The American Government";
Cursed "Damn Flag"
By Greg Sargent - September 2, 2008, 6:10PM
The founder of the Alaska Independence Party -- a group that has been courted
over the years by Sarah Palin, and one her husband was a member of for roughly
seven years -- once professed his "hatred for the American government" and
cursed the American flag as a "damn flag."
The AIP founder, Joe Vogler, made the comments in 1991, in an interview that's
now housed at the Oral History Program in the Rasmuson Library at the
University of Alaska, Fairbanks.
"The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American
government," Vogler said in the interview, in which he talked extensively about
his desire for Alaskan secession, the key goal of the AIP.
"And I won't be buried under their damn flag," Vogler continued in the
interview, which also touched on his disappointment with the American judicial
system. "I'll be buried in Dawson. And when Alaska is an independent nation
they can bring my bones home."
At another point, Volger advocated renouncing allegiance to the United States.
In the course of denouncing Federal regulation over land, he said:
"And then you get mad. And you say, the hell with them. And you renounce
allegiance, and you pledge your efforts, your effects, your honor, your life to
Alaska."
You can listen to audio of the relevant section of the Volger interview here.
Bill Schneider, curator of oral history at the library, verified the
authenticity of the interview and the quote to me a few moments ago.
Palin has courted the group over the years.
Three years after the controversial interview, in 1994, Palin attended the
group's annual convention, according to witnesses who spoke to ABC News' Jake
Tapper. The McCain campaign is disputing her presence there, but Tapper found
two people to attest to it.
The McCain campaign today produced Palin's voting registration records, and
said they proved she was never a member of the party.
But she has repeatedly reached out to the group. The McCain campaign has
confirmed she visited the group's 2000 convention, and she addressed its
convention this year, as an incumbent governor whose oath of office includes
upholding the Constitution of the United States.
Palin's husband, Todd Palin, was a member of the party from 1995-2002 with a
brief exception in 2000.
It's worth noting that Vogler isn't just some figure from ancient history. He
is still being hailed on AIP's site this year, the same year Palin addressed
the group's convention.
It's worth pondering how big a deal it would be if Obama had ever courted the
support of a group whose head had said this kind of thing about America and her
flag. Oh, wait...
