ABC’s Jake Tapper has the scoop:

Officials of the Alaskan Independence Party say that Palin was once so independent, she was once a member of their party, which, since the 1970s, has been pushing for a legal vote for Alaskans to decide whether or not residents of the 49th state can secede from the United States.

And while McCain’s motto — as seen in a new TV ad — is “Country First,” the AIP’s motto is the exact opposite — “Alaska First — Alaska Always.”

Lynette Clark describes the AIP’s platform:

“We are a state’s rights party,” says Clark, a self-employed goldminer. The AIP has “a plank that challenges the legality of the Alaskan statehood vote as illegal and in violation of United Nations charter and international law.”

She says it’s not accurate to describe the party as secessionist — they just want a vote, she says, adding that the members of the AIP hold different opinions on what Alaska should be.

“My own separate opinion as an individual is that we should be an independent nation,” Clark says. Others in the AIP “believe that being a commonwealth would be a good avenue to follow.” Some advocate statehood — but a fuller statehood than exists now.

No response from the McCain campaign as of yet.  Does Palin support “fuller statehood” for Alaska?  Clark says:

She doesn’t know what Palin’s position was.

“It never came up in conversation,” Clark recalls. “But when she joined the party, our platform was right under her nose.”

And the exact wording of the platform?

[T]he purpose of the party is  to “seek the complete repatriation of the public lands, held by the federal government, to the state and people of Alaska in conformance with Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17, of the federal constitution … To prohibit all bureaucratic regulations and judicial rulings purporting to have the effect of law, except that which shall be approved by the elected legislature … To support the privatization of government services …” [Source]

Not that any of this really matters beyond the mere amusement attained from watching hypocrites and crooks squirm when their past opportunism is exposed.  At least Palin is consistent with her presumed support for secessionist movements in Tibet and Kosovo (in line with the Bush administration), though it’s doubtful she’s supportive of autonomy for South Ossetians, as the evil Russians are, or, for that matter, the countries her country currently occupies, Iraq and Afghanistan, who seem to have had their own sovereignty taken away.  Maybe she supports Biden’s previous plan to give the Iraqis “fuller statehood” by dividing the country into three or more regions under a weak central government?  It’s difficult to wade through the thick hypocrisy when discussing these issues.