The Mudflats

Now we know!  We’ve been asking ourselves since January 12, what it would take to shame the governor into actually taking some personal time and doing something to help villages in Western Alaska who are running out of food and fuel this winter.

Five full weeks after the news hit, we have an answer.  A whole lot of bad press.

The press conference given by Palin in Juneau recently spotlighted how utterly unprepared she was to answer the question “What have you done personally” to help?  Many of us have donated food, money, and personal time toward the relief effort.  Palin has used her personal time for all kinds of other things – travel to Washington D.C. to attend a swanky banquet and a dinner party at the home of a GOP fundraiser.  She’s given interviews, and started the Iron Dog snowmachine race.  But has she donated food?  Has she made a public cry for help?  Not until now.

And when she said she had “offered” to travel there, it sure didn’t sound like any plans were in the works.

The press release that came from the Governor’s office moments ago tells us a few things:

First, she won’t be traveling alone.  She’ll have none other than Franklin Graham, son of evangelical Billy Graham with her.  This does two things – it creates a great photo op, and assures some national media coverage so that it really looks like she cares.  It also spotlights her “it’s not the government’s job to help people” mantra that she’s been reciting at every opportunity to appeal to her conservative 2012 “base”.

Graham delivered the invocation at George W. Bush’s inauguration, and he’s also the same guy who said that Islam is “wicked, violent and not of the same God.” Way to shore up the base.

You may recall just the other day when she horned in on an interview between Fox’s Greta Van Susteren and Palin’s unmarried teen daughter who just had a baby.  She told us she can’t imagine what teen moms do when they have no family or money or resources, but that it sure isn’t government’s job to take care of them. *shrug*

Now, she can’t imagine what people with no food or heat in her state are doing.  So, it’s time to drag an evangelical minister along to handle things.  That “base” is getting all excited again.  I think they need a cold drink.

And the best news of all is that since she waited so long to actually do anything about this, she can now claim that this immediate and pressing problem is keeping her from traveling to the National Governor’s conference in Washington D.C. this weekend.  That means martyr points, and “concern” for her people all at the same time.

There’s that spin again.  I think I need to sit down…I’m getting dizzy.  If you want to read the press release, I suggest you too sit down, or at least make sure you’re holding the handrail.

February 19, 2009, Juneau, Alaska – Following up on several trips to Western Alaska by multi-agency state personnel, Governor Sarah Palin and Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell will travel with Franklin Graham, President and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse, to the communities of Marshall and Russian Mission on Friday. Samaritan’s Purse is a nonprofit organization that provides humanitarian aid across the world. Working with private sector and nonprofit resources, an estimated 10,000 pounds of food will be distributed to more than 200 Alaska families in need.

For several weeks the administration has been working with residents on the Lower Yukon in an attempt to identify their eligibility for various aid programs for communities and individuals. Five state departments and the governor’s rural affairs advisor, John Moller, are involved in the immediate relief effort, and are currently visiting communities across the region.

Faith-based, nonprofit groups, such as Samaritan’s Purse, have partnered with state agencies and have been instrumental in providing assistance to Western Alaska in recent weeks. The Department of Public Safety has utilized its aircraft to deliver food collected from around the state by faith-based and other nonprofit organizations. The Department of Public Safety is working with the Department of Education and Early Development personnel in implementing a plan to provide bulk foods to area residents.

Additionally, state benefit specialists from the Department of Health and Social Services visited Emmonak recently and enrolled individuals in several existing public assistance programs. The Department of Fish and Game has expanded the moose-hunting season for residents, and is also reviewing concerns with the commercial king salmon fishery that many Lower Yukon River residents depend on for a substantial portion of their income.

The governor’s trip to Western Alaska, coupled with work on the economic stimulus certification requirements and budget amendments, will prevent her from attending the National Governors Association meeting in Washington, D.C., this weekend.