Tourism has recently been up a little in Juneau, Alaska. More folks than ever have been interested in taking bus tours through Alaska's capital city with a major attraction being the Alaska State House where Governor Sarah Palin goes about her daily work. In fact, the tours have been gaining in popularity since before John McCain asked the governor along for his run for the White House -- Palin being a draw the whole time. The bus tours are so popular that adorable little Piper has even set up a lemonade stand to sell tourists a glass of lemony goodness to quench their thirst for something wet as well as something cute.
And Palin haters in Alaska are livid. They want the bus tours stopped and little Piper's stand razed to the ground. Palin Derangement Syndrome (PDS) strikes again. It's an ugly, ugly thing, this PDS and one man in particular is leading the charge but curiously enough his long past of agitation and his criminal record don't quite seem to be making any of the stories in the Old Media.
The Juneau Empire has a story of the venom filled Theodore "Chip" Thoma that has cavorted about the city erecting crude, hand-made signs shouting that the bus tours should be stopped. He is a vocal opponent of Governor Palin, naturally, and runs a "group" that he has decided to label Responsible Cruising in Alaska.
Thoma apparently calls himself a "political gadfly" as well as claiming to be an "environmental activist." He also has a record of filing nuisance ethics complaints against government officials a fact that stories are not relaying to the reading public. Thoma has a few criminal convictions for drunken driving -- at least four during the 1990s in Alaska, and two others in Oregon -- as well as one for possession of cocaine. (See Thoma v. Hickel (8/15/97), 947 P 2d 816)
Now apparently the unsavory Thoma isn't just mad at the bus tours that he claims will "ruin the neighborhood." As Joseph Russo has discovered, Thoma is also targeting the inoffensive little Piper.
It seems that Governor Palin is so popular with tourists that thousands of people are walking from the docks to the governor's mansion in an attempt to catch a glimpse of the first family. Mr. Thoma feels that this -- along with Piper Palin's lemonade stand, trampoline and buoy swing -- is "bringing down the neighborhood." It seems that Mr. Thoma doesn't enjoy the Palin children very much.
What sort of a sick man would attack a little girl's lemonade stand?
Of course Thoma tired to tell the Anchorage Daily News that this whole anti-bus tour thing “has nothing to do” with the governor and her cute-as-a-button daughter at all. Dutifully, the ADN obliged his claims.
On the other hand, in that same article, Thoma pinpoints every problem he has with the tours to Palin. Oh, and he’s sure she’s out to get him… just like all those other government officials he’s filed nuisance lawsuits against were.
Methinks Mr. Thoma would be better to spend his money on therapy instead of poster paints and sticks.
This story is yet more proof of the hate and underhandedness of the American left. They know they can’t beat their opponents politically, so they harass, accuse, attack and use the media as a lapdog to do so in order to drive opponents from politics. Instead of relying on truth and the strength of their arguments, the left resorts to thug tactics.
In the end, all I can really say is: well, Mr. Thoma, I know who isn't going to get a loving spit-comb!
**UPDATE
Since there was some question by certain types of people if Piper ever had a lemonade stand, here is Piper's Lemonade stand story from the Junea Empire with photo.