Rural Affairs on Anyone’s Mind?
5 01 2009During this year’s AFN (Alaska Federation of Natives) convention, Sarah Palin was occupied with the business of campaigning with John McCain. So, she prepared a videotaped address for attendees.
There were many matters of urgent concern for Alaska’s Native population this year, but two of the most discussed were energy and its associated costs, and the migration of Alaska Natives from their rural homes to urban centers. At the time, I reported about the videotaped message:
There was a strained reference to Native legend, trying to tie something in to a story about the Raven. Then a folksy story about two frogs stranded in a pail of milk. One gave up and died, the other kept kicking until the milk turned in to butter and then hopped out. She learned this story from embattled Attorney General Talis Colberg, who is under pressure to resign becuase of his conduct in the Troopergate fiasco, when he told state employees they didn’t need to comply with legislative subpoenas. I’m guessing this little fable is meant to let us know that no, he will not be stepping down any time soon…he’s just gonna be kickin’ away until unethical behavior turns in to butter. As a matter of fact, Sarah told us, Talis Colberg himself will be heading up a sub-cabinet on rural affairs.
That was October 23. So, what do you suppose has happened in the past two and a half months regarding this Rural Subcabinet that’s supposed to be discussing these vital and complicated issues? Let’s review the minutes of their meetings, and their plan of action, shall we? A recent article in Indian Country Today, addresses these issues:
The Rural Subcabinet formed by Governor Sarah Palin in response to what many consider a crisis in rural Alaska has reportedly met, but specific information about their activities has been difficult to find. The subcabinet is meeting under the authority of Alaska’s Attorney General Talis Colberg. Colberg said it is “expected that there will probably be an advisory group or groups of non-cabinet members.” Colberg stated that so far the subcabinet has been in preliminary meetings to look at programs that are already in place and discussing how to gather information, what topics should be focused on, how the group will be structured and what support they could rely on. The group has no fixed meeting time and the date of their next meeting is unknown.
So, does anyone feel better? Do we believe that the Rural Subcabinet headed up by AG Talis Colberg has been working their little fingers to the bone, and puzzling out solutions to these rural crises? Will we sleep better knowing that the rigorous meeting schedule is sure to engender some well thought out plans of attack? I won’t.
AFN, Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich (newly elected to the U.S. Senate) and Anchorage’s Superintendent of Schools Carol Comeau, had all requested in September that an emergency task force be formed to take immediate measures to address the radical population shift as villagers left home communities for the cities.
By late October, the AFN and the mayor’s office had already voiced strong disappointment at the governor’s response to their concerns about the need for culturally vibrant and healthy rural communities. The mayor and AFN both felt that a subcabinet was a less than adequate response to the immediate crisis.
And one of the questions that begs an answer is, “Why did Sarah Palin choose the Attorney General, Talis Colberg to head up this Rural Subcabinet in the first place?” I have yet to hear a cogent explanation for this, and the AG himself could not give a response when asked. Inside information and/or speculation are welcome in the comments section, because frankly, I’m stymied on this one.
And although Palin made the unofficial announcement at AFN, after the frogs churning butter story, the official announcement came a full two months later, on December 22.
If thoughts become your actions, as Gandhi once said, we should all note the lack of action on the part of the Governor and her administration to date, and deduce how much these matters are in their thoughts. Not much, it appears.
January 5th, 2009 at 3:50 PM
Lance – The Palins don’t give a rat’s ass. It’s that simple.
January 5th, 2009 at 3:55 PM
Lance the Boil aka Crust ScrambleNo Gravatar (15:14:03) :
I’m sure the women in her church knit little baby hats for African babies.
As for Palin and her appointed morons, let me just say THEY STINK AT WHAT THEY DO. Or at what they don’t do, more correctly, I guess. It’s 50-60 below zero in interior Alaska? People there have had trouble getting and paying for fuel for a while now? Politicians don’t want them fleeing to the cities in droves? Well then… WHY DO THEY JUST SIT ON THEIR BUTTS AND SMALLTALK INSTEAD OF DEALING WITH THE SITUATION even if it’s to their own satisfaction rather than that of the rural people???
If a foreign country lets its people suffer like that, without even making an attempt to keep them from death and mayhem while the rulers live high on the hog and focus on furthering their own interests, we condemn them. If it happens in one state in the United States of America, the rest of the country shrugs and isn’t interested? WTF?? Hello??
January 5th, 2009 at 4:05 PM
And now it’s been announced that Venezuela may not do the free heating oil program this year: http://community.adn.com/adn/node/136269
January 5th, 2009 at 4:09 PM
@CO Almost: “Is this neglect of AK Natives/rural populations typical? IS SP continuing a long tradition of doing nothing? ”
The answer is mostly, and unfortunately Yes. There is a long tradition of neglect by the State gov. The relationship with the Federal Gov. is better, mostly because it is dictated by the US Constitution, and the power of seniority vested in Ted. The exceptions: Gov. Hammond was a rural resident, and married to an Alaska Native, and a very progressive R. Gov. Knowles, D, took his time, but finally saw the light, and dropped the States lawsuit against the Rural Subsistence priority on Fed. Lands. That was a good thing, but the State has steadfastly refused to recognize any Rural preference for hunting and fishing on State owned lands. It is a HUGE divide between the State and Natives. SP has said she will not support the priority, under the guise of “must treat everyone equally”. A BS statement that only fools the uneducated.
January 5th, 2009 at 4:14 PM
This just in from an Alaskan coastal village where I spent the holidays with my family:
Milk = $9.00/gal
10 pound bag of rice = $19.75
7 bananas= $7.00
Gas for truck, outboard motor, chainsaw = $5.56/gal
Fuel oil = $5.87/gal prepaid or credit card only
It was cold. It was snowy. The wood had to be thawed and dried before it would give off any heat when it was burned. My family was not buying much fruit or vegetables because of the cost. I shopped the local general store for Christmas dinner. They had a turkey already as a gift from an employer and planned only on a very basic meal and dessert. There were 8 of us. It cost $120 to shop for that meal and a few extras like laundry detergent and paper towel.
Though I lived there from 1978 to 2006, I was shocked. The downturn was palpable economically and psychologically.
January 5th, 2009 at 4:32 PM
Fair to say, this state has real issues that need attention and needs to come up with real answers, and fast. We have the money, all that is needed is the WILL TO DO SOME THING ABOUT IT NOW. Our Ship of State has lost it’s rudder in a choppy sea. The skipper is drunk on fame, and the crew (legislature) is, well, incompetent. Hope we can ride this one out before too many run off in the life boats.
January 5th, 2009 at 6:18 PM
AustintxNo Gravatar (15:50:14) :
Lance – The Palins don’t give a rat’s ass. It’s that simple.
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Damn, that’s sad. I know it’s true, but my brain freezes when I realize, once again, how shallow and self-serving many of our ‘representatives’ have become. And then I mentally kick myself in the ass for staying silent for so long.
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ira2No Gravatar (15:55:54) :
If a foreign country lets its people suffer like that, without even making an attempt to keep them from death and mayhem while the rulers live high on the hog and focus on furthering their own interests, we condemn them. If it happens in one state in the United States of America, the rest of the country shrugs and isn’t interested? WTF?? Hello??
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Yeah, and the Appalachians are another poverty/meth hotspot. Where’s Bono when we need him? (Yeah, that was snarky, sorry.) I think Bono does great things, along with Oprah, and the Brangelinas (Brad seems to be doing good with his Katrina shelters), I’m sure there are countless others, but when did we stop taking care of our own?
My sweet Momma volunteers with a mission outreach in my hometown (in S. Ga) and she sees homeless people who have made the conscious decision to move to S. Ga because they know they can survive the winter temps in spite of having no place to live.
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Mother Who ThinksNo Gravatar (16:14:34) :
Those prices boggle my mind.
January 5th, 2009 at 7:52 PM
CRFlats (12:25:21) :
(from http://ykalaska.wordpress.com/2007/10/25/rhonda-mcbride-appointed-rural-advisor-to-gov-palin/)
Palin promised a rural sub-cabinet in her first state of the state, Jan 2007.
Rhonda McBride was appointed as rural advisor instead in 25 October 2007
Rhonda McBride quit as rural advisor, 14 October 2008
Palin promises a rural sub-cabinet at AFN, 27 October 2008
The rural advisor, like so many other state offices, did NOT have a toll-free number to call. It costs 5 (five) times more to call Anchorage or Juneau from rural Alaska than it does to call Washington, DC. (as measured by calling card minutes)
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Dollars to donuts, maybe the AG was appointed because as everyone in Anchorage knows, illegal activity is “THE” problem with rural Alaska??
alcohol, drugs
domestic violence
sexual abuse
All we really need is more law officers and more alcohol control (on the secular side) to solve everything.
^–^
January 5th, 2009 at 9:17 PM
The reaction of this administration is just an extension of the last. Knowles was a little better. At least, I think, he cared he just didn’t know what to do and was unwilling to use the political muscle to get it done. The villages have been going downhill for 30 years, that I know personally. But up until the last few years they were able to keep their pride, but today that is starting to go. The part that urban Alaska doesn’t understand is that the villages are the basis of the urban economy. Anchorage is a service center and without the rural areas there is nobody to service. We’ll all be reduced to selling stuff to each other and that won’t support an economy. The oil and gas industry and the mining, timber and fishing industries offer some support, but they can easily bypass the local suppliers and buy directly. It is also would makes us culturally strong. Without the Alaska Native culture, we wouldn’t have much culture. It is the only thing that gives texture to the smooth fabric of Alaska. SP represents one of the other major cultural legs in Alaska, and we see how well that works.
January 6th, 2009 at 2:17 PM
Just in. A photoshop expert has an opinion
http://palinpics4truth.t35.com/
Oh happy day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!