People and Animals in Alaska Dislike Sarah Palin

Since we were first introduced to Sarah Palin, it was clear that she liked hunting. Although, hunting moose for chili is far different than the brutal and senseless slaughter of animals.

As early as 2007 Palin was associated with killing animals en mass as the following examples illustrate:

1.) Palin offered a bounty of $150 for each left front leg of freshly killed wolves

2) Palin promoted aerial hunting of wolves even though Alaskans voted twice to ban it

3.) Palin used $400,000 of state money to fund a propaganda campaign in support of aerial hunting

4.) Palin believes man-made global warming is a farce

5.) Palin strongly supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

6) Palin is a champion for big oil and her slogan has become “drill, baby, drill!”

7.) Palin sued the federal government to prevent listing the polar bear as an endangered species

8.) Palin sued the federal government over listing Cook Inlet beluga whale as an endangered species

The Alaska Board of Game makes most wildlife decisions in Alaska.  The board is comprised entirely of trophy hunters, and not a single wildlife biologist or scientist is a member.  Also lacking is any representation from Alaska’s wildlife viewing and tourism industry.  The most important decisions about wildlife in Alaska are decided by ignorant sport hunters with a total disregard for science.  Palin even appointed her former middle school basketball coach to the board.

And who can forget the Thanksgiving video in which Palin said that you need a little bit of levity in regards to work, as a turkey was be-headed behind her.    Once again we were confronted with the fact that Palin was “mean spirited” and seemed to lack any regard for animals.  What bothered me most was that Palin seemed proud of killing animals and lacked any regard for the native wildlife of Alaska.

The animals have no voice, but there are those of us opposed to Palin have made our voices heard.  When Palin resigned as Governor of Alaska, her approval ratings were on a steady decline.  She was elected with an 89% approval rating, and by the time she resigned as Governor, her approval rating had dropped to an all-time low of 54%. In my own experience, I have sold more copies of Rebuttal to the Rogue to bookstores in Alaska than any other state.  I seem to have more readers of this blog from Alaska, than anywhere else.  Now a new poll by Rasmusen shows that Palin’s popularity among the people who know her best has fallen again, with just 41% of the people in Alaska indicating they would vote for Palin for President.

It seems that Palin has fallen from favor with the animals and the people of Alaska.  I have a lot of respect for both the animals and the people of Alaska.

Pictures – An Evening Without Sarah Palin

A Great Evening WITHOUT Sarah Palin

The “inspiring patriot”, according to Glenn Beck, came to Austin Texas yesterday, April 29, 2010.  The reason for the appearance was to speak at an event for “Heroic Media”.  Don’t be fooled, the only thing “heroic” about this organization is its name.  Heroic Media is an anti-choice group that is known for its advertisements “intended to deceive young pregnant women”. Protesters lined the sidewalks outside the Convention Center where Palin was speaking, reminding Palin that there are parts of Texas where she is not welcome. Another type of protest was occurring simultaneously at a location near the campus of the University of Texas (you know one of those elitist organizations where people pursue an education). The Travis County Democrats organized an “Evening Without Sarah Palin” at a local restaurant as a very civilized way to demonstrate objection to Sarah Palin.  I was invited to come, to sell books, and to participate in this memorable event.  It was a blast!

Sara Hickman, an Austin resident, was there with her family.  The members of the audience were treated to a totally free performance by Sara Hickman of her music, culminating in the performance of her inspirational song, and video, “Palin’ By Comparison.” Some candidates for political office were in attendance and gave short speeches.  The finale was a surprise appearance of a Sarah Palin-look-a-like, accompanied by her five “security guards” dressed in suits and black sunglasses.

The event was amazing for several reasons.  First, there was no cover charge, so anyone could attend, and there was no financial demands made of anyone attending.  Additionally, all the people who appeared did so because they felt passionately about demonstrating their objection to Sarah Palin.  The people attending the event represented a huge cross-section of the American population, including young and old, college students and professors, mixed ethnicities, gay and straight people, some in suit and tie who had just come from work, and others in very modest grubby attire, men and women, police officers, politicians, some people with obvious physical limitations, volunteers, and people like me just trying to do what we could to make a difference.

The most amazing part of the evening for me was an interview I did with a young camera man from Fox News.  When he approached me it was obvious that he was with the media as his oversized camera was hard to miss.  When he asked for an interview, of course I was glad to do my part.  As he got ready to film, I realized there was a Fox news sticker on the camera, and I prepared myself for a rather unpleasant interview.  To my amazement he just wanted to talk, and asked me very open ended questions, and he made sure to include shots of the poster I had of Rebuttal to the Rogue. After the camera was turned off he explained that he had been to the Convention Center to cover Palin’s appearance, but they wouldn’t let him in without the purchase of a $50.00 ticket.  I was appalled!  Why wouldn’t Sarah Palin, the Fox News “analyst” ensure that her own network had access to the event?  I made a friend last night.  Never would I have expected that I would find someone working for Fox who would share my disbelief at the behavior of Sarah Palin.  I am sure when the cameraman got back to the studio, the editors of the nightly news made sure to edit out any coverage of the Evening Without Sarah Palin.  I didn’t care.  The experience gave me hope that if we persist, and make our voices heard in a peaceful non-violent way, that eventually people will come to recognize the hypocrisy of Sarah Palin.  I gave the young man a copy of Rebuttal to the Rogue as he left.  I know he left the evening with a new perspective on Sarah Palin.

(We took pictures of the event, including the Sarah Palin look-a-like, and I’ll be posting them later today.)

(I even got to meet ilovepoodles, a person who reads this blog regularly, and whose comments you have probably seen.  Thanks for coming!) - Malia

What’s Wrong with Sarah Palin?

A lot.  For over one year I have been researching, reading, and writing about the multitude of things that have led me to believe that Sarah Palin is unfit to serve in any capacity, at any level of government.  The list of her failings is long and impressive.  When someone asks me why I dislike Palin I have to pause and catch my breath.  It is hard to know where to begin.  Her attitude regarding homosexuality, banning books, reproductive freedom, race, equal pay for women, unethical behavior, charges to her PAC, attitudes toward people who work for her, the number of days Piper misses school, her use of Trig as a prop, the hypocrisy inherent in virtually everything she says compared to what she does, resignation from her position as Governor, personal charges for travel expenses of her children passed on to the people of Alaska, shooting animals, endangering the environment, her lack of understanding of countries around the world and basic geography, lack of education, blatant disregard for scientific evidence for evolution, lecturing at right to life rallies while hiring Lynn Vincent to be the ghost writer of her book knowing that Lynn admitted to having had an abortion, indicating that Bristol and Levi were going to marry and that would solve the problem of an unwed teenage pregnancy, mocking our President for having an understanding of the US Constitution, writing letters to herself in God’s voice  and her attitudes regarding responsibility as a mother are just a few of the many things with which I take issue.  However people might try to explain away my total lack of respect for Palin, suggesting that we simply have different world views.  People might suggest that just because I disagree with her politics, that they still don’t understand my ongoing efforts to discredit her.    On most of the issues mentioned, I recognize that there are a multitude of politicians who hold beliefs similar to Palin’s, so why would I object to Sarah Palin to the point of writing an entire book, writing daily entries on this blog, and submitting articles to Huffington Post for the entire nation to read?  Palin has done so many objectionable things over the last year-and-a-half that we tend to forget the egregious things she did before the day she was introduced at the Republican Convention.  In case anyone has forgotten, let me remind you of the two things that got me started:  the hockey center and the Road to Nowhere.

While mayor of Wasilla, Palin authorized the construction of a hockey center on property she KNEW was not owned by the town of Wasilla (Litman 23).  We might speculate about the house she was building at the same time, and whether the same contractor who was building the hockey center, and her home, might be giving her some personal reward for awarding the multi-million dollar contract on the hockey center to his company.  I don’t know why Palin wanted to build the center on that particular property owned by someone else, and I don’t care. However, it matters to me that she instituted an adverse possession lawsuit against the land owner in an attempt to take his property.  It does matter to me that she proceeded with construction of the hockey center before the city obtained title to the land.  It does matter to me that because she proceeded to initiate construction before the town had title to the land, the town incurred over $1,000,000 in unnecessary expenses (23).  It matters to me that the judge in the case found that Sarah had no right to begin construction of a building on property that she knew was not owned by the town.  Her judgment, or lack thereof, in this example demonstrates a total lack of responsibility to the people of the town, and a total disregard to the rights of the property owner.

This is not about politics.  It’s about judgment and about respecting the rights of an individual citizen.  There is surely nothing more objectionable than a politician attempting to confiscate that which you own, without any legal basis for doing so, but only because that politician wants something you have.  This is not an example of something Palin did due to ignorance or lack of education.  This was a fundamental error in judgment, or worse, an attitude that she could do whatever she wanted regardless of the rights of another person.

The second example is the Road to Nowhere.  Palin made the Bridge to Nowhere a household word as a result of her speech at the Republican Convention.  Many of us would tell you the bridge represented a waste of tax payer dollars.  There was a lot of controversy about whether Palin changed her position regarding the bridge, when it was convenient for her politically (she announced that she said “Thanks, but no thanks”, when she had originally been an advocate for the bridge, and has even been seen showing off her t-shirt supporting the bridge).  However there is no dispute that the Road to Nowhere had absolutely no purpose, other than to waste taxpayer dollars.  When Congress originally approved the funding for the construction of the bridge, there was also an allocation of $25,000,000 for the construction of the road leading from the airport to the bridge.  When Congress withdrew the funding for the bridge, the funding for the road was overlooked.  Sarah Palin indicated that “yes” she was still in favor of the construction of the road which she knew would now lead to the edge of a cliff.  According to the Alaska Transportation Priorities Project, a group promoting “sensible transportation systems in the state”, the Road to Nowhere was an “irresponsible waste”. Thus regardless of any philosophical differences you might have with a person on the right, or the left, we all agree that Palin knowingly wasted our money.  She knowingly wasted millions of dollars!  The only explanation for this waste is a “we versus them” mentality.  If the people of Alaska would benefit from the jobs created by the construction of the road, then it didn’t seem to matter to Governor Palin that the use of millions of federal tax dollars was an indisputable waste.

These two examples highlight an attitude of Sarah Palin that is deplorable.  These do not represent a political philosophy unless it is a philosophy of, “…if it is good for me, it doesn’t matter if it is a total waste of tax payer dollars, and it doesn’t matter if it interferes with the constitutional rights of another citizen.”   We may suspect that many politicians have a similar attitude, but it is difficult to prove it.  In the case of Sarah Palin, the facts are clear.  Her attitude seems to be that she will do what is good for her, and “to hell with the rest of us”.

Evening WITHOUT Sarah Palin in Texas

Next stop for Sarah Palin is Austin, Texas.  On Thursday, April 29^th, Heroic Media, an anti-choice group, will sponsor Sarah Palin. While it is disheartening to me that she will be in my state this week, I have several reasons to celebrate:

• 1. I have been invited to attend an “Evening without Sarah Palin”, organized by the Travis County Democrats.  This gathering will be held in Austin, TX just a few miles from the site where she will speak.  Rebuttal to the Rogue will be only one of the attractions, but I expect most of the people in attendance will want a copy if they don’t already own one.  Thus we will be raising money for Planned Parenthood, and the Democrats of Austin.  I will be handing out pictures posted by Palingates of Sarah’s detractors, well as funny pictures of Tea Baggers who don’t know how to spell.
  2. Sara Hickman will perform her song live at the event.
  3. Tickets for the event sponsored by the Austin Republicans are being sold for $50.00 and $100.00, without any dinner.  I predict from reading the blog postings that they aren’t going to have a large turnout.  They have had less interest than I thought, even at the bargain price of $50.00.  I would go just to record her talk, but I would have to donate $50.00 to a cause I don’t support, and of course the speech will be repetitive of what we have heard before.  She is also coming to Dallas for a similar fundraiser, and the original information indicated that the cheapest tickets for the events would be $1000.00.  We have just learned that the price of tickets for the Dallas event has been reduced to $250.00.  I guess Sarah isn’t as popular in Texas as you might have thought.

I’ll be able to give you a full report on Friday.  In the meantime, I have submitted a post to Huffington Post, and will let you know when it’s posted.  Also, in the event you are a reader in Texas and would like to attend the Evening WITHOUT Sarah Palin, it will be taking place at Serranos Symphony Square at 6:30 on Thursday, April 29^th.

If Sarah Palin Represents “Newer Feminism”, I Want a Sex Change!

Newsmax magazine, the beacon of modern thought, and progressive intellect, in its wisdom has labeled Sarah Palin as a Leader of the “Newer Feminism”.  As a woman, a wife of 25 years and mother to three children, I never wanted a sex change operation until now.  Newsmax identified Palin as an “icon of the new feminism.” If she represents feminism, I don’t want to be associated with that group.  Obviously the Newsmax headline was not written by a woman.   This impression was confirmed upon a little investigation into the make up of the Newsmax team.  Out of 11 Newsmax editors, none are women.   The editors at Newsmax must have failed to notice that in the election of 2008, the majority of the voters for Barack Obama were women.    Eight million more women than men voted for Obama.  Just because Palin is a woman, it doesn’t necessarily follow that she was the woman’s candidate.  Maybe I don’t need a sex change operation after all.  I know Sarah wrote a letter to herself, from “Trig’s Creator”, and it clarified so much for her.  Maybe if I write a letter to Sarah from the “Creator” of women it might clarify some issues for her.  If I send a copy to Newsmax, perhaps they will understand that women have advocated for a decade that gender should not be the reason for our votes, a promotion or the amount of money paid to someone.    Sarah understands that God doesn’t make mistakes, and neither did the 35,900,000 women who voted for Barack Obama.

——

Dear Sarah:

I know you have been busy lately, so understand that I am trying to help you realize your place in the American society.  You serve a very valuable purpose, which is to remind men and women around the country of the type of woman that most women find embarrassing and humiliating.  For decades we have listened to dumb blond jokes, but these jokes are old and frankly, not very funny.  You have single-handedly created job security for Tina Fey for the foreseeable future (that means as long as we can imagine). Issues that are the most important to anyone who considers herself to be a feminist would necessarily include:

FAIR PAY - You explained in the 2008 campaign that you were opposed to women being paid the same as a man, if she was working the same job, and performing that job as well, or better, than her male counterpart (that means the male worker) as indicated by your opposition to the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.   Women have been fighting for equal treatment in the workplace for over 100 years.  When you said you were supported the Supreme Court’s decision in the Ledbetter case, where the Court found that Ms. Ledbetter was not entitled to sue her employer of over 20 years for intentionally discriminating against her, you didn’t look like a feminist, or even a person with two x chromosomes.  Your only reason for supporting disparate pay for men and women (that means women are paid less than men for the same job) was that attorneys might make money off of their representation of women who had been treated unfairly.  Frankly Sarah, this position would have been enough to end your career as a politician, but I guess you knew that when you resigned.  You were smart enough to know that your career as a politician was over.  You knew that “no” you would not seek higher office, or you would have finished out your term as Governor (Palin 381).

Since you resigned you position as Governor you have realized a windfall of $12,000,000.00.  This was my gift Sarah to you so that you would leave women alone.  Don’t let anyone say that you represent the majority of women.  It’s now time to show me that you appreciate all the money I bestowed upon you.  Don’t let anyone else say that you are a representative of feminism.

REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM –  Sarah, I know that previously you have said that you were “pro-life”.  Let me explain something to you.  Sometimes, protecting life, means allowing a woman to make the best choice for her.  You can’t always know what the circumstances might be in that woman’s life.  For example, when a woman is pregnant with twins, and one baby is determined to have abnormalities that would prevent him from living outside the womb, and that baby is preventing the healthy twin from developing normally, an abortion may be necessary to save the life of the healthy twin.  If a woman has been raped, and can’t live with the idea of carrying, giving birth and raising the child of the evil perpetrator who raped her (that means the rapist), she might consider taking her own life.  Certainly she is the only one to appreciate the importance of protecting her own life, and an abortion might save her life.  I know you are not in favor of allowing a woman to choose, even in the case of incest. However many girls who are the victims of incest are children and it would be dangerous for them to become pregnant at such a young age.  If their reproductive organs are so damaged by having a child at such a young age, they may not be able to have children later in life.  I know you have five children, but some women might want to have just one, at the right time, and victims of incest might not have that option when adults, if you prevent them from having a choice when they are children.  Thirty Seven years ago the United States Supreme Court recognized that it was a woman’s “fundamental right under the United States Constitution” to terminate or continue a pregnancy in the first trimester of a pregnancy.  The Court explained in 1973 that this decision is one that “should be made between doctor and patient, not legislated by the government.”  Roe v Wade 410 U.S. 113(1973).  This is still the law.  You are not a doctor and you are not part of the government, so it is not your “choice”.

At the time of Roe, the Court was comprised totally of men, and only two Justices dissented.  Until the decision in Roe, women who wanted an abortion had dangerous, illegal abortions or traveled to one of four states in the entire country where the procedure was legal.  Thus women who were pregnant and had money could afford to travel to have such a procedure performed, but women of limited financial means would seek dangerous procedures, performed by someone other than a medical doctor.  Many women lost their lives.  I know you now have plenty of money, but consider the woman who can’t afford groceries for herself, or her children, and may be feeling desperate.   The people you support help that woman “choose life” but they don’t help provide any financial support for that woman or child afterwards. They don’t even want to pay for health care for the child.

Ninety five percent of people in the United States have had pre-marital sex.  Given these high percentages, I am not condemning you for not abstaining before marriage, and I am not condemning Bristol for saying that abstinence is “not realistic”.  You might learn from my example, and stop condemning others.

EDUCATION – Sixty percent of all bachelor’s degrees and half of all PhD’s are earned by women (“A Woman’s Nation Changes Everything”).  In 1963 the “most generally approved role for women” was homemaking.  Over 50 years later, in 2009 half of all families in this great country, where people love their freedom, have come to rely upon the earnings of two parents (Ibid).  In 40% of families women are the primary breadwinners (Ibid).  I know you won the Miss Wasilla beauty pageant, and obviously education was not important for you.  Maybe it also was not important for Todd. However, for most women education is extremely important.  Education is the key that unlocks a life of dependence for women.  Without education a woman may become dependant upon a man or her family indefinitely, as you have seen with Bristol.  If a woman becomes dependant, she and her children may become unable to remove themselves from an abusive relationship with a husband or parents.  Even if education has not been important to you, it is to most feminists.

MOTHERING – From the moment you paraded Trig before the Republican Convention holding him as a prop; it seems that you have forgotten that I didn’t want people to focus on the fact that Trig has an extra chromosome (Palin 186). Did you think I gave Trig to you just so you could take advantage of the sympathies of other people?  You have dragged Trig to book signing events barefooted and in his pajamas, when you were warm in your coat and hat.  I heard the despair in Bristol’s voice when she called you explaining that it was bad enough that Wasilla knew of the pregnancy, but now the “whole world knows” (Palin 234).  John warned you it would be hard on your family, but you didn’t seem to care (Palin 220).  You have taken Piper out of school multiple times, even to the beach in Hawaii, when school was in session.  The worst thing was your flagrant disregard for the health and well being of Trig.  When you knew you were in labor with your fifth child, your water had broken over 12 hours before, and the flight back to Alaska would be at least 10 hours, how could you board(not a board made of wood) a plane in Texas, taking the chance that Trig would be born during the flight.  Even if the flight attendants and the people in the airport lounge didn’t know you were in labor, I knew.

Studies have shown that even though women are professionals and are as educated as our male counterparts, (meaning men in the same roles) women are more willing to “downgrade” their careers to enable them to spend more time with their kids (“A Woman’s Nation Changes Everything”).  Many women define success as living a balanced life, not necessarily making the most money (Ibid).  Sarah, honey, it would be o.k. if you didn’t want to have children, and devote yourself to making money.  It would be o.k. to be a stay at home mom and have five children, and devote yourself to the kids. It is NOT part of my plan for you to have five children, one of whom has special needs and to utterly fail to meet the needs of any of your children.

Love,

Trig’s Creator, You Heavenly Father (Palin 187)

I think I will send this letter to Newsmax by overnight delivery.  It will be cheaper and more expeditious than having a sex-change operation.

What Does Sarah Palin Have in Common with Bowling, Booze and the GOP?

Most celebrities think of themselves as having one or two charitable or political issues which they feel so passionately about that they devote most of their free time to raising money for those causes.  In the past, I thought of Sarah Palin as focusing on the GOP and abortion.  However the fundamental error of this assumption was that Palin had a political or charitable purpose that was the motivation for her appearances. Recent speeches by Palin have shown the error in my logic.

Sarah Palin recently served as the keynote speaker for the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America Las Vegas Convention. Serving as the featured speaker at an alcohol convention in Las Vegas is inconsistent with virtually every professed maxim of Sarah Palin:

Palin suggests that she is the advocate for small businesses and free enterprise, but the very existence of wholesalers in the alcohol industry represents a middle layer of profit for an industry that serves no real purpose, beyond making money for itself.  The professed philosophy of Palin regarding business would suggest that she would not be a supporter of an industry that diverts money from a small business.  In most states, the law requires that those who sell alcohol to the public must acquire that alcohol from a wholesale distributor, and not directly from the supplier.

Sarah’s own PAC suggests a philosophy that is directly contrary to the notion that wholesalers should have any role in the sale of liquor.  The SarahPAC explains that all contributions to the PAC will be devoted to recognizing “hard work, innovation and integrity by rewarding small businesses and hard working American families.”  Thus supporting a business that is the epitome of a “middle man” would seem to be contrary to everything for which Palin stands.

The convention was held in Las Vegas.

This city is best known by the slogan, What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas, and the movie by the same name.  In case that image wasn’t enough to leave a lasting impression, the recent hit movie, The Hangover , reinforced the impression that Las Vegas is the epicenter of adult overindulgence in alcohol, drugs, gambling, sex, prostitution and an overall sense of adult irresponsibility.  Even if you are not a movie buff, you probably know that Nevada is the only state in the entire country where the buying and selling of sexual services is legal.

Palin purports to be a very religious person.

However supporting any industry and/or city that promotes the consumption of alcohol, would be directly contrary to the teachings of Palin’s own church.  One evangelistic minister summarized the teachings of the church as follows: “Everyone who drinks has an alcohol problem….To put alcohol in the human brain is like putting sand in the bearings of an engine…. Imbibing any amount brings the drinker under alcohol’s power…”

This philosophy, warning against the dangers inherent in the consumption of any amount of alcohol would be consistent with Levi Johnston’s description of Todd Palin going out to the garage to drink a beer to avoid the judgmental eye of Sarah. Yet, Sarah was happy to appear as the spokesperson for an entire industry devoted to alcohol consumption.

The GOP featured Palin as the keynote speaker on April 9, 2010 at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans.  This appearance came on the heels of another speech Palin gave in Nevada.  Given her vast knowledge and experience as a bowling aficionado, Palin was identified as the perfect keynote speaker for bowlers from around the country who plan to convene in Las Vegas.  Palin will have the opportunity to strut her stuff at the International Bowling Expo, sponsored by the Bowling Proprietors’ Association (BPAA) this summer.

One might wonder what alcohol, the GOP and bowling, have in common.  Wonder no longer!  Sarah Palin is the answer.  Why would she agree to hold herself out as the representative or keynote speaker at each of these meetings, but for the thousands of dollars they might pay her?  They were each willing to pay Sarah the designated amount she charges for services rendered.  No wonder two of the three groups identified Las Vegas as the perfect place for a convention, and a keynote address by Sarah Palin.  It must have been “God’s plan” that brought Sarah Palin to Las Vegas, and to the GOP.  The appearance in Las Vegas gave Grandma Palin an opportunity to stand up for her belief that men and women should be treated as equals.  Sarah, the living example of a virtuous and moral lifestyle, recognizes and celebrates the importance of, a man or a woman, being treated equally, and allowed to make a living according to “God’s plan.”  If Sarah is rewarded financially for her efforts, that is surely confirmation of the virtue of her efforts. The fact that she has been rewarded financially for her devotion to the “plan,” must be God’s way of recognizing her commitment.  Maybe one day Sarah will write a letter in God’s voice explaining this concept to those of us who still don’t get it (Palin).

However, given the recent “business expenses” of the GOP, I now realize that Palin may not be the only connection between the three.  The bowling and liquor industries both chose Las Vegas as the best location for their conventions, so these conventions have provided financial support to the exploitation of women.  Even though the GOP has branched out to other states, it has still demonstrated a commitment to similar values.  Those similarities are not confined to horse bridals. Voyeur in West Hollywood, which features topless dancers wearing horse bridles and other bondage gear while mimicking sex acts.  Perhaps the connection between liquor, bowling, and the GOP are much greater than we first realized.  Sarah Palin, in her infinite wisdom, realized the importance of all three, and didn’t hesitate to take full advantage of the recognition and money that would be associated with each.  She is one smart lady.

Palin Teaches McCain that Truthfulness is Overrated.

From the moment when Sarah Palin was first introduced at the Republican Convention, we learned that truthfulness was not a virtue she considered to be important.  She had no compunction about reporting that she said “thanks but No Thanks to the Bridge to Nowhere”, even though she originally favored it.  She said that she had sold the Governor’s private plane on eBay, when in fact she had not. Later she said that she opposed earmarks, but in fact Palin had requested, and obtained, millions of dollars of federal tax dollars for Alaska while acting as the Governor.  Some might find the mating habits of crabs or the DNA of harbor seals to be less than an urgent national concern, but obviously Palin must have had a different perspective, about their importance, and/or the characterization of those dollars as “earmarks”.   While the mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist for the very purpose of obtaining earmarks for the tiny town of Wasilla, which boasts a population of less than 7000 people.  For a mere $38,000.00 Wasilla was able to hire a powerful lobbyist who obtained $27,000,000.00 for this previously unknown village in Alaska (Litman 24). Sarah told us that she was a feminist, so of course why wouldn’t we believe her?  The fact that she opposed the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, requiring fair pay for women doing the same job as a man, or that she made rape victims pay for their own rape examination kits in Wasilla, were obviously not relevant to the issue of Palin’s attitudes regarding the feminist agenda.  McCain’s own campaign manager Steve Schmidt explained that Palin wanted to lie about the fact that her husband had for 6 years been a member of the Alaskan Independence Party. Schmidt also disclosed that Palin advocated telling the American people that she had been completely exonerated by the ethics commission, when in fact the bipartisan Alaskan commission determined that Palin had abused her power and acted unethically.  Thus it is crystal clear that Palin has learned that it doesn’t seem to matter what you have done or said in the past, the important thing is what you say to people today.  Palin has learned that most people have a very poor memory.  Palin has capitalized on the failing memories of her supporters, and now she is teaching that same valuable lesson to John McCain.

In the election of 2008, the sales-pitch of John McCain, that seemed to be a part of virtually every speech and commercial, was that John was a “maverick”.  As the Republican candidate, trying to overcome the frustrations of the American people caused by George W. Bush, McCain had to distance himself from that image and comparison.  Calling himself a “maverick” was a logical and brilliant solution.  A “maverick” is a person who takes a position or independent stand from a party or group as defined by Webster’s Dictionary. In the election of 2008, McCain and Palin became known as the “mavericks”.  It wasn’t that they relied upon the media to reach that conclusion on its own, but McCain and Palin actively worked to establish themselves as the “mavericks”.  People who knew nothing about the policies for which McCain stood, knew he was a “maverick”.

It’s only been a year-and-a-half since the November election of 2008.  For the first Seventy-two years of life, McCain flaunted himself as a “maverick”.  Yet in the space of 18 short months, he has either metamorphosed into a Senator who has “consistently” sided with conservatives, or his memory has simply failed (which may be more likely given his age). Now, as of, April 3, 2010, McCain has relinquished his image as a “maverick”.   I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks!  Certainly if your teacher is a much younger, attractive, “perky”, pit bull wearing lipstick, there is no end to the things that might be accomplished.  Truthfulness seems to be unimportant to those who support Palin, and now those who support Senator McCain.

No More Re-Runs of the Bad Disney Movie Starring Palin

Within seven days of John McCain’s introduction of Sarah Palin at the Republican National Convention, Matt Damon expressed his concern that Sarah Palin was like a really “bad Disney movie”. Matt was really scared because she would have the nuclear codes. More than one year has passed since that fateful moment and we are still watching re-runs of that same bad Disney movie.  Have we forgotten all that we know about the character in that movie?  Maybe we were willing to overlook the fact that Palin has repeatedly embarrassed herself before the nation. Maybe people missed the Anderson Cooper interview of McCain’s campaign director who described Palin as deliberately trying to be untruthful. Perhaps people who like Palin don’t read, so they relate to Palin since she doesn’t either.  Maybe Palin’s stance on abortion confuses followers of Palin regarding that very issue.  Most pro-life advocates would be unwilling to identify a leader who had made hundreds of thousands of dollars off of an organization that had a charitable purpose, and they certainly would not advertise as their leader a woman who became pregnant before marriage as Lorenzo Benet reported in his book “Trailblazer”. Most right-to-life proponents would find it unacceptable that Palin considered her “choice” when pregnant with a special-needs-child as she revealed in her book “Going Rogue”.

Even though I have watched this movie repeatedly, I have never seen the end.  The movie is too scary. I always turn it off as soon as the secret service agent carrying the red phone hands it to President Palin as she asks for the deployment of “nucular” weapons. When I wake up in a cold sweat at night I remember what happened in the past, and wonder why Palin didn’t know or can’t remember:

1. Palin works hard to compare herself to Ronald Reagan.  However even Reagan said, “Our dream is to see the day when nuclear weapons will be banished from the face of the Earth”.  Reagan is not alive today to give us his view of the signing of the arms-reduction treaty signed by President Obama, but George Shultz, Reagan’s former Secretary of State is alive, and he explains that “Reagan would approve”.

2.   Maybe Palin was too young to pay attention to what Ronald Reagan actually said, but surely she remembers the 2008 campaign with John McCain. Palin owes her fame and fortune to John McCain, and has touted him as a war hero, suggesting that McCain was in the best position to ensure the safety of our country.   Yet even during the campaign of 2008, John McCain clearly expressed his plan for nuclear reduction:

“To be an effective leader in the 21^st century, however, it is not enough to be strong.  We must be a model for others.  That means not only pursuing our own interests but recognizing that we share interests with peoples cross our planet.  There is such a thing as good international citizenship, and America must be a good citizen of the world…Today we also need to apply our spirit of optimism …to a crisis that has been building for decades but is now coming to a head:  the global spread of nuclear weapons….We do, quite literally, possess the means to destroy all of mankind.  We must seek to do all we can to ensure that nuclear weapons will never again be used. …I would ask the Joint Chiefs of Staff to engage in a comprehensive review of all aspects of our nuclear strategy and policy…But I will seek to reduce the size of our nuclear arsenal to the lowest number possible consistent with our security requirements and global commitments…If I am President I will seize that opportunity to strengthen and enhance all aspects of the non-proliferation treaty.

Even if Palin was too busy during the campaign to pay attention to a minor detail like nuclear weapons, did she miss McCain’s comments in 2009?  McCain agreed with President Obama on the need to eliminate nuclear weapons.

“…This is a distant and difficult goal…and we must proceed toward it prudently and pragmatically, and with a focused concern for our security and the security allies who depend on us.  But the Cold War ended almost twenty years ago, and the time has come to take further measures to reduce dramatically the number of nuclear weapons in the world’s arsenals.  In so doing, the United State can—and indeed, must – show the kind of leadership the world expects from us, in the tradition of American presidents who worked to reduced the nuclear threat to mankind”.

Maybe Palin didn’t hear McCain say this because it was said on the Senate floor and of course Palin was either working on “Going Rogue” or working on an exit strategy from the Governorship of Alaska.

I am tired of the re-runs.  I wish for a new Disney movie called “Sleeping Beauty-Part II” staring Sarah Palin.  The plot is that Sarah Palin can’t wake up or talk because she is asleep.  In the end we find that she was injured in a tragic hunting accident and rendered permanently speechless.

Career Counseling for Sarah Palin in 2013

Sarah Palin will be looking for another job by January of 2013.  Normally I would expect that she has already made enough money to provide for herself for an entire lifetime.  However since Sarah may be responsible for the lifetime support of Trig, Bristol and Bristol’s child, money could get tight, especially given Palin’s legal troubles.  With attorney fees being what they are, Palin may need to get another job.  Sarah may have incurred the additional expense for lawyers, covering things from ethics violations, criminal charges filed against family members, property line disputes, zoning ordinance violations, and wrongful discharge claims filed by Alaska employees like Walt Monegan. Travel expenses have also been extremely burdensome, as private planes that were not sold on eBay can really add to expenses. At least Palin will not have to worry about the expense of a college education for anyone since that doesn’t seem to be a priority for the Palin family

By 2013, either Barack Obama will have been re-elected and begun his second term in office, or a Republican will be taking office, but it won’t be Sarah Palin.  The American people are too offended by Sarah Palin and her lack of competency as a world leader to ever allow her to be seriously considered for the Presidency.  Poor Sarah will have to find another job.  Her celebrity status will have faded.  People are already paying less to hear her speak.  In Tulsa, Oklahoma for example, she appeared with Glenn Beck, and two different country and western bands. Tickets were priced as low as $150.00. If this trend continues she will have to pay people to listen to her speak.  Moreover, if she has not managed her money well in the next two years or perhaps she had to spend so much money on childcare that she might need to supplement her income.

Let’s see if we can help Sarah figure out what to do next.  Anchorage has at least eight different career counseling offices to assist Sarah.  The names and phone numbers will be too lengthy for one hand, so Sarah would be well advised to use both hands and feet to record the names and numbers.  Let’s consider the things Sarah has done, and what options might be available to her:

• Politician - No, definitely don’t stay in this field.  The demands for a politician are too strenuous, there isn’t enough money to be made in politics to support the lavish life-style to which you have become accustomed, and people have started to demand the truth from their elected officials, and that has not been characteristic of your political past.  Before you resigned your position as Governor, your approval ratings in Alaska had dropped to an all time low. Also your record as an elected politician was unimpressive, as you and George Bush seem to have been responsible for McCain’s loss in 2008.  You also resigned from the office of Governor.   Even if you are able to fool people into voting for you once, they generally won’t vote for you again if you quit the job they elected you to perform.    Politicians usually have to articulate some type of policies, and “common sense conservatism” is a motto and not a policy.
• News analyst – No, that won’t work as you advertised Fox News as standing for “fair and balanced” reporting, but people from Fox News have repeatedly proved that they do not stand for “fair and balanced” reporting.

• Sportscaster – No, that won’t work as you didn’t work as a sportscaster for long, and when you did it appeared you were reading from a teleprompter, and of course you don’t do that now. You did look cross-eyed when you were not wearing your glasses.  You also appeared a little glassy-eyed when you worked as a sportscaster.  Now that we know about the “other Sarah” from “Game Change”, who has a “glazed over look”, viewers might wonder which Sarah they are watching.

• Basketball Coach – No, that won’t work as even though most people think you led your team to a state championship, as Lorenzo Benet revealed in “Trailblazer” we know you only scored a total of 6 points in the last three games. Besides you probably wouldn’t like the job anyway because they don’t allow Diet D.P. on the court and we know you don’t drink water as was stated in “Game Change”.

• Speaker at Right-to-Life Rallies – No, that won’t work as you admitted in your book you considered your “choice” when pregnant with Trig, so the fact that you considered options available to you, discredits you.  Also the fact that you hired Lynn Vincent to ghost write your book, and she admits to having had an abortion, would tend to make people question your sincerity.

• Rape Crisis Center Counselor. No, that would definitely be the wrong choice for you.  Your suggestion that rape victims should be prohibited from seeking an abortion might suggest that you were being insensitive, and judgmental of people who had experienced horrors that you had never had to face.  The fact that as Mayor of Wasilla you would require rape victims to pay for their rape exam kits might suggest to some that you were part of the problem.  Rape victims might prefer violence toward you rather than being willing to confide in you.

• Model - No, that won’t work because by the time the election of 2012 is over you will be 48 years old and people are starting to notice that your looks are not what they were when you competed in the Miss Wasilla pageant. One positive consideration might be that because you are now a Grandma, you might find a market for Grandma Gear.

• Hunter – No, that won’t work because there are a finite number of animals in Alaska, and you will probably have killed all of them by 2012.  A witch hunter might be in your future as you have already established a relationship with one of the premier witch hunters in America.   The problem for you may be that Preacher Muthee, the evangelical whose ministry was founded on a witch hunt in Kenya, may not feel he needs any help, so he may not be willing to train you in the art of flushing out witches. Maybe the Monty Python crew would be willing to give you a few pointers.

• Author -  Even though “Going Rogue” was a National Best Seller, people seemed to buy the book not for the purpose of reading it, but to get your autograph.  Now that they have it, it’s unlikely that those same people will buy another book.  Consider the fact that if you don’t read, they may not either.

• Wild Life Advocate for Discovery Channel - No by 2012 the Discovery Channel will likely be out of business as you will have chased away all viewers and sponsors.  Your comment in “Going Rogue”, where you mention the room for Alaska’s wildlife, right next to the mashed potatoes, was not consistent with the image the Discovery Channel purports to promote.

• Chef – No, moose burgers are not a popular item outside of Alaska, and moose will likely be on the endangered list by 2013.  Taco Bell might be interested in hiring you to advertise their Crunch Wraps, since you seem to be intimately familiar with them.

• Small Arms Dealer – No, we know you have sold yourself in the past as a lover of guns, but Levi mentioned that you don’t even know how to shoot the guns you love so much, so you might present a risk to your fans.

Help with Your Resume – It is customary to take a resume with you when you go to an interview.  However in your case, I would say that you “forgot to bring it”.  While we realize that is an untruthful assertion, truth has not been a guiding tool for you in the past, so no need to be sanctimonious now.  If questioned about your resume after telling the interviewer that you simply forgot it, just wink. Normally employers are looking for characteristics in interviewees such as intelligence, consistency, educational accomplishment, and reliability.  I am afraid you fall way below the norm in each of these categories.  You took 5 years to obtain a 4 year degree, and didn’t distinguish yourself in the area of academics in high school or college.    Interviews you did with Katie Couric indicated a lack of intelligence, so I would focus on a job where the skills required do not require thinking, but focus on repetitive task such as an assembly line worker. You have also demonstrated that you are not reliable or accountable as you resigned your positions as the Governor of Alaska, on the City Council of Wasilla, and on the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.

Recommendations – Given the limitations above, consider re-locating to a place where people don’t know you as well as they know you in Alaska.  Another consideration might be to return to school.  It seems the perception of you is that you never had the benefit of an education.  While I know you received a college education, most people find this hard to believe.

Possible Career Alternatives – Consider two different paths for your career. 1.  Impersonator.  Tina Fey has become a very successful comedian, appearing in a hit movie with Steve Carrell, and you look and talk just like her.  Another option to consider might be babysitter.  You have had a lot of children, and you seem to be successful at convincing people that you love kids, so this may be your best option.

Good Luck Sarah!