Palin’s Promise to Alaska Falls Flat. Happy Anniversary.
It was one year ago today, when our ex-half-governor Sarah Palin stood in Fairbanks, Alaska and stepped down from the governorship. After first declaring herself a “lame duck,” and then decrying the ineffectual nature of lame ducks in general, there was simply nothing else she could do. But she did take the opportunity on that day to explain to all of us what she’d be doing with all of her newly found and self-inflicted free time.
Because let’s face it – the only time we up here in Alaska were more surprised than when she accepted the nomination for VP, was when she quit. So we were curious. And then she declared that she was going “to chart a new course to advance the state.”
What would she do, we wondered? Would she become a lobbyist for gasline issues? Would she become a spokesmodel for Princess Cruises? Would she use her celebrity to promote wild salmon or Alaska crab? Would she continue to fight for the oil tax system she put in place so the other Republicans in the legislature wouldn’t hack it off at the knees? Would she try to get us a major league sports team? Would she take on issues of poverty in rural areas? Domestic violence? Sexual assault? Teen pregnancy? Education? WHAT?
What would this “new course” be, and how would the state advance? Even if you don’t like Sarah Palin, you’ve got to admit she has influence. And if she’d decided not to waste that influence, and do something to better the state – well good for her. She wasn’t much of a governor, so Plan B might have some potential.
Granted, she hadn’t used the power of celebrity much for the benefit of others while she was governor. For instance, her titanic stature as a public figure would have easily solved many of the emergency food and fuel shortages in Western Alaska the past two winters. Imagine a public service announcement with Sarah Palin saying something like:
Hi, I’m governor Sarah Palin and I’m here with an important message for All Alaskans, and to personally ask for your help. Our Native communities in rural areas are in trouble. Imagine if, because of circumstances beyond your control like unseasonably cold weather and poor fish runs, you were forced to choose between keeping your family warm, or feeding them? What would you say to your elders and your children? How would you feel?
We can’t turn a blind eye to the suffering of our fellow Americans. We’re better than that. Alaskans have big hearts, and we know how to help each other when we get in trouble. It’s part of the Frontier spirit for communities to support each other in times of desperate need. So please, make a donation to Organization X, that is ensuring that staple foods, baby formula and basic necessities are getting to needy Alaskan families in the poorest and most remote areas of the state. In the America I know, people step up for families. I know you feel the same way. Thank you, and God bless you.
I would like to think that most people in Palin’s position of public influence seeking ways to advance the state would have tried to help. A letter like that to locals, and on a national level would have brought a flood of relief. But that winter, the real Governor Palin’s answer to the crisis was (after six weeks of doing nothing and having her apathy called out by bloggers, community leaders, Native elders, and covered in the mainstream media) to fly out on a private jet to one rural community with Rev. Franklin Graham at her side, and a plate of homemade cookies.
But the “let them eat cookies” strategy of dealing with this crisis wasn’t the only plan. There were also some food boxes that had been stuffed with little proselytizing fliers from “Samaritan’s Purse,” Graham’s evangelical relief organization.
Her conservative message was clear. People in need? Sorry, not the government’s problem. However, look and see how crises can be handled by private organizations doing God’s work.
So now that she would no longer be part of the problem government, surely she’d be part of the private solution. Right?
“Now people who know me, they know how much I love this state …
“With this decision, now I will be able to fight even harder for you, for what is right and for the truth,” Palin continued. “And I have never felt you need a title to do that.”
So what has she done in the past year – her first as a private citizen, unfettered by the burden of governing, and a title – to chart a new course for the state of Alaska?
Her celebrated oil tax reform called ACES (Alaska’s Clear and Equitable Share) that was passed with blood, sweat, tears and Democrats, is in the cross-hairs of the legislature. It was her big legacy legislation, the only good thing she ever did, and it’s in trouble with Palin nowhere to be seen.
There is no relief in sight for Western Alaska which teeters on the brink of disaster with every winter.
The last great wild salmon run on the continent in Bristol Bay is threatened by the looming specter of a huge copper and gold mine at its headwaters. The potential for environmental disaster from the Pebble Mine is epic, and would arguably affect the nation’s seafood supply more than the current Gulf tragedy.
Domestic violence, sexual assault, alcohol and drug abuse, incest, and the desperate and tragic migration of Native Alaskans from village life into big cities all continue to plague our state. Our high school drop out rate is astronomical. Each of these issues and so many more could benefit from a powerful national voice speaking up for those who can’t.
Palin, instead, has used her time, her energy and her star power to – write a book about herself and tour the nation. She’s become a contributor on Fox News to repeat talking points about (irony alert) what an ineffectual leader the President has become. She has continued to chant the mantra “drill baby, drill” even as the southeast faces an environmental holocaust. She’s Facebook blasted a journalist who rented the house next door that she refused to buy.
In a painful demonstration of philosophical inconsistency, she’s endorsed candidates from former campaign supporter Fairbanks attorney Joe Miller, to exporter of American jobs Carly Fiorinna, to establishment candidate John McCain to “anti-Marxist utopia” Tea Party candidate Clint Didier. She slammed two students at their own college while raking in six figures for speaking there. She’s courted conventions of bowlers, loggers and liquor wholesalers, built a giant “fortress of solitude” next to her house, written on her hand, almost got away with another year of shirking her property taxes, spent $14,000 de-icing the wings of private jets using her PAC money, and has somehow managed to pull in an estimated $20 million by putting English-like words in random order and speaking them aloud.
She’s even demonstrated xenophobia and religious intolerance in 140 characters or less, by telling New Yorkers what should and should not be built near the World Trade Center site. Mayor Michael Bloomberg told her to mind her own business.
Speaking of her own business, that brings us back to the question – what has she done to help the state of Alaska?
Not much. It’s been a busy year.
Sarah Palin and only Sarah Palin has benefitted from her early resignation. Yes, she is a lot more stable financially…but at what price?
Wait– hasn’t Alaska benefited from her quitting, too? I was glad to see her step down. She allowed normalcy to reign. Maybe we don’t like Sean, but he is serious about his job.
Stepping down advanced Alaska’s interests far more than anything else she could have done. She did more in one day — of announcing her resignation — to advance Alaska than she did in 2 1/2 years as gov or 1 year since then.
I don’t live in AK so most of the national media coverage has focused on Sarah Palin and her attempts to advance her own agenda. If AK has benefitted from her stepping down, it has not been widely covered.
What do you mean not much?
Was there anything?
oh- other than the resigning thingy… for which I will be eternally grateful…
I am in total agreement. It was a happy day when I heard she had quit – it couldn’t come soon enough. I’m wondering why she isn’t out fishing the family plot?
I am so sorry for Alaska. You guys just got a bad deal all the way around. And, nobody knows. Here in Illinois, we are headlines all the time. I wish you guys were as well.
Amen!!
The worst governor in a long time – and yet Blago takes up all the limelight! Palin needs some of that love – let’s hope she gets it =D
Since she wasn’t actually a lame duck Gov., I wonder if this was another of those dictionary challanged moments for Sarah.
Surely she meant Lame Brained Governor. And that a Lame Brained Governor who steps aside is doing the state a favor.
It makes what she did rather a noble act. Don’t cha think?
Every moment is a dictionary challenged moment for Sarah Palin.
“to chart a new course to advance the state…”
See, the problem was, she only read her LEFT hand. On her RIGHT hand was the rest of that sentence:
“…of my bank account.”
Even at #4, I’d say you win this comment thread.
Awww, shucks!!! (blushing)
Nice!
We need a “like” button on the comment section, like we have for Facebook comments. I would like to officially “like” your comment, leenie17. :0)
“like”
Loved the comment!
Adored the comment!
Bravo! A toast to you, with my bottle of Fat Tire! *clink*
Good one, leenie! (*clinking* back at you, CO
)
I agree, a win!
that one is a goodie….like it. love it.
It truly is embarrassing as a resident of Alaska. I hope you pass a copy of this on to Huffington Post.
It’s already up on Huffie.
in iowa–property is sold for unpaid taxes. how does she get away from paying taxes
in iowa–real estate is sold for unpaid taxes. How does palin get away without paying?
“There were also some food boxes that had been stuffed with little proselytizing fliers from “Samaritan’s Purse,” Graham’s evangelical relief organization.”
I hope they used those flyers as TP. Or as fire starters. I would have done the first thing had I been in their shoes.
Nice smackdown AKM! With her own words you have beautifully shown how disingenuous and self serving she is. The only thing she did for Alaska was to stop being Governor. She truly could have used her “influence” to raise awareness of and bring support to so many issues, but we all know how that went. Good for you for calling her out on her own failed promise.
Why anyone could possibly think she is a leader and worthy of running for President is beyond me. The fact that she quit and didn’t follow through on any of her promises to help Alaska is reason enough to disqualify her for even running and great fodder for anyone who is running against her.
I think there was a public service announcement about teenager and driving under the influence for a while then Willow was caught partying and vandalizing then the PSAs were dissappeared. Or advanced?
Excellent post AKM!
As far as Clint Didier Tea Party Candidate, a farmer running against Sen. Patty Murray, the Seattle Times ran a scathing article on him recently. Granted, the Times is endorsing his Rep. opponent but I was surprised at the (truthful) hatchet job they did on Didier:
Clint Didier: ‘Rugged individualism’ and blunt, angry rhetoric
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012416668_didier22m.html
“Didier even talks about getting rid of the federal farm subsidies from which he and many of his neighbors have benefitted.
His farm has received nearly $273,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture since 1995, according to a database of USDA payments maintained by the Environmental Working Group.” …snipped..
“People should take care of themselves, he said, instead of relying on government handouts.
“We’ve got to get rid of this ‘protecting the weak.’ If we keep the weak alive all the time it eats up the strong, and then our economy will never come back,” he said after a tea-party forum earlier this month in Bellingham.” …snipped…
- – -
Yep, given the way $SP$ treated the hungry Rural Alaskans while being Governor – Didier sounds just like Her Kind Of Guy!
The seattletimes piece was a thing of beauty.
Yes, it truly was. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them tackle a Republican like that – ever! But I was sure glad to see it. Wondering how Sr. Citizens, Veterans (Patty Murray raised hell to keep VA medical facilities open there east of the mountains), his fellow farmers – feel about voting for him now? No matter how many signs he has out littering the countryside.
Mmmm but those cookies were oh so Gubernatorial.
The cost of that mission far exceeded the souls and stomachs they saved what with every recipient already being Christian and hooked on processed foods.
Sarah is herding non-careerist (read, unqualified) Pink Elephants to the races when (irony alert) in the face of her Gubernatorial dithering she suggested (again, without ever having met with or discussed with Tribal leaders and native groups the State of the region in the face of crippling fuel crisis) that we needed new leadership. The.audacity.
She cares not one whit for rural or Native Alaska but to hide behind her salmon slaying family business and being married to a 1/8th breed suburban transplant. But she sure used her lame duck weeks to milk the system and get her State funded press / photo-op junkets all over the State to push for a Sara Palin’s Alaska show before her last day didn’t she?
Nice to see you write so well again Jean- Have missed your voice.
Saw the interview- it had its moments- a little awkward at times, but you came off as very professional.
Glad you are back in Alaska and away from the inferno.
Nice to see you write so well again Have missed your voice.
Saw the interview- it had its moments- a little awkward at times, but you came off as very professional.
Glad you are back in Alaska and away from the inferno.
Nice to see you write so well again Have missed your voice.
Saw the interview- it had its moments- a little awkward at times, but you came off as very professional.
Glad you are back in Alaska and away from the inferno.
Mmmm but those cookies were oh so Gubernatorial.
The cost of that mission far exceeded the souls and stomachs they saved what with every recipient already being Christian and hooked on processed foods.
Sarah is herding non-careerist (read, unqualified) Pink Elephants to the races when (irony alert) in the face of her Gubernatorial dithering she suggested (again, without ever having met with or discussed with Tribal leaders and native groups the State of the region in the face of crippling fuel crisis) that we needed new leadership. The.audacity.
She cares not for rural or Native Alaska but to hide behind her salmon slaying family business and being married to a 1/8th breed suburban transplant. But she sure used her lame duck weeks to milk the system and get her State funded press / photo-op junkets all over the State to push for a Sarah Palin’s Alaska show before her last day didn’t she?
And let’s revisit her neglect of Western Alaska’s many plights with a stinging resurfacing of an ugly social pathology she conveniently addressed by firing Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan after the New Stuyahok plan – appointed a Wasilla preacher to the Statewide Suicide Prevention Commission. Nick Tucker is prominently featured in the Daily Newsreader as sharing his heartbreaking account of his 16 year old daughters suicide attempt. How’s that preachy-preventy thing going for us Sarah?
The last great wild salmon run on the continent in Bristol Bay .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCUSE ME??
Is this American “exceptionalism”?
AHEM, while a few of the following “runs” are on Vancouver Island the majority are in B.C. and the Yukon.
We have 93 managed “runs” in 142 areas in B.C. this year. You may find 2 maps at the following link, one for saltwater and another for freshwater salmon.
http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/rec/opportunities-possibilites/fresh-douce-eng.htm
The salmon in B.C. can be found inland to the Alberta border.
There are land locked sockeye and they are referred to as Kokanee, our most popular beer is named after them.
“The kokanee is found over most of the range of the sockeye salmon which extends in North America from the Klamath River in California to Point Hope, Alaska. The kokanee occurs naturally in Japan, USSR, Alaska, Yukon Territory, British Columbia, Washington, Idaho and Oregon but they are more widely found and abundant in British Columbia”
The last time I checked both B.C. and the Yukon remain “on the continent” thank you very much.:
http://www.seachoice.org/files/pdf/2010%20Pacific%20Salmon%20ratings.pdf
Sockeye salmon: Of the 29 different sockeye management units in the 2010 fishing plan, 14 are
identified as “low” or “stock of concern.” Two sockeye stocks (Sakinaw Lake and Cultus Lake)
have been officially listed as endangered by a federal scientific body, but are not given legal
protection under Canada’s Species at Risk Act (SARA). Under the federal Pacific Wild Salmon
Policy the current draft number of “conservation units” of sockeye salmon that the government
has committed to protecting is 242, which is considerably more than the 29 management units
considered in the fishing plan.
Pink salmon: Of the nine different pink management units in the 2010 fishing plan, six are
identified as “low” or “stock of concern” and three have insufficient data to assess. Pink salmon
usually live for two years and the populations that return in odd years are separated from those
that return in even years. Under the federal Pacific Wild Salmon Policy the current draft number
of “conservation units” of even-year pink salmon that the government has committed to
protecting is 13, which is higher than the nine management units considered in the fishing plan.
Chum salmon: Of the 11 different chum management units in the 2010 fishing plan six are
identified as “low” or “stock of concern.” Under the federal Pacific Wild Salmon Policy the
current draft number of “conservation units” (CUs) of chum salmon that the government has
committed to protecting is 38, which is more than the 11 management units considered in the
fishing plan. These 38 CUs include over 1200 separate chum spawning systems.
Coho salmon: Of the 19 different coho management units in the 2010 fishing plan, 11 are
identified as “low” or “stock of concern” and six have insufficient data. One coho stock (Interior
Fraser) has been officially listed as endangered by a federal scientific body, but is not given legal
protection under SARA. Under the federal Pacific Wild Salmon Policy the current draft number
of “conservation units” of coho salmon that the government has committed to protecting is 43,
which is more than the 19 management units considered in the fishing plan. These 43 CUs
include over 1400 separate coho spawning systems.
Chinook salmon: Of the 25 different chinook management units in the 2010 fishing plan 19 are
identified as “low” or “stock of concern.” One chinook stock (Okanagan) has been officially listed
as endangered by a federal scientific body, but not given legal protection under SARA. Under the
federal Pacific Wild Salmon Policy the current draft number of “conservation units” of chinook
salmon that the government has committed to protecting is 68, which is more than the 24
management units considered in the fishing plan. These 68 CUs include over 500 separate
chinook spawning systems.
http://www.cf.adfg.state.ak.us/region2/finfish/salmon/bbay/brbfor10.pdf
it’s the number of fish available to be caught in Bristol Bay…
in the millions as opposed to the hundreds or thousands in the mighty Yukon…
Here’s hoping we can rebuild all threatened or stocks of concern!
Bristol Bay salmon are not turning up this year according to our neighbour who works in the industry.
He is an engineer and manages the processing plants here in B.C.
He had to postpone his vacation in anticipation of the Bristol Bay run (which I never knew was processed here)
Historically the Fraser river has had the largest number of salmon “on the continent”
They too are disappearing:
Between 10.6 million and 13 million sockeye were expected to return to the Fraser this summer. But the official count is now just 1.7 million, according to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
Where the nine to 11 million missing fish went remains a mystery.
In 2005 nearly nine million sockeye spawned in the Fraser system, producing a record number of smolts, which in 2007, began to migrate out of the lakes where they’d reared for two years. Biologists for the DFO were buoyed by the numbers – the Chilko and Quesnel tributaries alone produced 130 million smolts – and because the young fish were bigger than any on record.
Other big runs of salmon are expected to return this year – notably pinks where are projected to number 17 million – but it is too early to tell if the sockeye collapse will be repeated with other species.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/millions-of-missing-fish-signal-crisis-onthefraserriver/article1249976/
Have a friend in Bristol Bay who is saying they are late and few for what was forecast…
Hadn’t realized the Fraser was that big a run…
Guess I really am alaska-centric!
BB has multiple rivers which combine for that 30 million forecast…
Am so sorry to hear about sockeye collapse…
Warm water and sea lice from our lousy fish farms are the reason for this collapse.
Warm water alone has never had this affect but it exacerbates the growth and number of lice, virus and bacteria from the fish farms.
Don’t every allow your state to allow fish farms unless they are land locked.
The profits for these farms lies in the companies that own the pellets they feed them and the chemicals they use to attempt to keep them healthy.
Landlocked farms ARE affordable and sustainable, but the current farms are far away from prying eyes, almost all of them accessible only by boat.
Alexandra Morton’s website is a “how what NOT to do”.
Alexandra Morton, who several years ago correctly predicted a collapse of pink salmon runs in the Broughton Archipelago because of sea lice infestations, in March warned the same thing could happen to Fraser sockeye.
She said researchers used genetic analyses to show Fraser sockeye smolts were getting infested with sea lice in Georgia Strait.
“I looked at about 350 of this generation of Fraser sockeye when they went to sea in 2007 and they had up to 28 sea lice [each]. The sea lice were all young lice, which means they got them in the vicinity of where we were sampling, which was near the fish farms in the Discovery Islands. If they got sea lice from the farms, they were also exposed to whatever other pathogens were happening on the fish farms (viruses and bacteria), ” said Ms. Morton in an e-mail.
http://alexandramorton.typepad.com/
I’m slow sometimes, so I’d just like to make sure I got this. The DFO was forecasting 11.8 +/- 1.2 million sockeye to return to the Fraser River, and have so far only seen 1.7M?
15% of expectation? Is this kind of discrepancy the kind of thing that happens now and again (fish being fish, and not robots), or is it seriously unusual? Clearly, I know nothing about salmon, except that they taste good, but from a process-control standpoint this is the kind of data that would often be triggering flares and neon lights.
I hope our Canadian friends don’t take it personally. I suspect AKM was just getting alittle worked up. After all, the good folks over in Cordova might rightfully point out the the Copper River salmon aren’t exactly domesticated.
Hi Jean-
Am I now being filtered? I sent the same comment twice- and it was identified as spam?
What did I do now to upset the apple cart?
Good summary of an unimpressive use of star power. But, considering it was Palin, could we expect more?
What she has done that I find the most dismaying is that she has kept her name in the news when it should have become a footnote. And for some weird reason, all the news types seem to hang on her every word, even if it’s only to make fun of her. Why is she still news, when she has done nothing newsworthy? I just don’t get it. And I think our not getting it is going to come back to bite us in a way we won’t like.
Ummmm…heard of Paris Hilton?
Actually, not much of late. It almost looks like she might have got it out of her system. Of course, she’s been rich her whole life, so perhaps the novelty finally wore off.
Footnote…heh heh. Those Naughty Monkeys are like the Energizer Bunny, they keep going and going and going…
And (irony alert) remember the GOP ads attacking Obama for being a “celebrity” . . . with photos of Paris Hilton conveniently provided for comparison?
Seems to me that now SP is the “celebrity.”
Remember Paris well and i really liked her response to that video by the GOP.I thought it was very funny
I think… follow the money. All the MSM or LSM has to do is print the name and people will rubberneck.
Journalism’s motto is, “If it bleeds it leads,” and $he is a trainwreck.
The Zombie kind that keeps coming back.
I love the illustration, as well as the “Offendi” bottle with the story including the YouTube video. Good work.
When she did the spread for Runners World, I figured she’d not run for
political office after her term was up. However when she quit, it was even better.
Alaska is soooo much better without her inept ability to govern. We have been blessed.
GLAD you’re back…Hope you had fun in Vegas… And you’re right… The Swag-Hag has actually slide BACKWARDS in her ability to influence issues surrounding your home…. Amazing how she fell back below zero so quickly.. Must have been the instructions she took from Billy Graham’s son… No, that’s where she got her jet, hum….let’s see…humm…. I forgot already… but I’ll send another note when I remember the one thing she’s done that good for Alaska.. except leave….
How can anyone in this country believe a word out of this woman’s mouth? If you look at what she has done, nothing has been done except to benefit herself. She does not give speeches to right-to-life groups for free, or to the special needs groups at no charge, that is a privilege she reserved for the friggin’ NRA!! Unbelievable, a group that can easily afford her and does nothing to help those in need, she doesn’t charge. When it comes to special needs groups, she doesn’t mind making money from them despite having members of her own family who can benefit from these very same groups. Who can forget the oh-so-generous donation of a whopping $1000 that she gave to the Down Syndrome Foundation from SarahPAC on the very last day of the year, however, Michele Bachmann received over 3x that amount! I would have thought the DSF would be near and dear to her heart, as her son is supposed to be, but it looks like there are politicians who are far more important than a foundation that benefits her son in numerous ways. So why would anyone from Alaska expect her to do anything for the state? That’s right, she said she would help the people of Alaska when she stepped down as Governor. However, she also pledged to be their Governor for four years and she didn’t fulfill that pledge, why expect this to be any different?
She also has a new reason for giving up the office of Governor—the media was mean to her!! And yet, we are supposed to think she is a credible, potential candidate for President?! She’d spend the entire day in the Oval Office combing the internet for any negative stories about her and sending out the Czar of the Lamestream Media that she appointed to round them up and throw them in GITMO after she reopens it. I know she’ll never make it to the WH, in fact, I don’t think she could handle campaigning, but she won’t let anyone know about it now because it will reduce her earning potential to just about zero. She draws crowds in the way people rubberneck at traffic accidents.
I realize the people in Alaska don’t want to be bothered with her but the lower 48 doesn’t want her, either. Isn’t there a nice little island somewhere from which you can still see Russia that is available for her? Preferably one without cellphone or internet service, please.
Lake Lucille…
lil boat, BIG anchor has always been my thought…
All boat, no fish.
LOL
Actually, doesn’t France have this nifty tropical island off the north coast of South America?
All I can say is – you can’t dump her on the Aussies!!! Last time she visited the Southern Hemisphere, red dust covered most of Sydney from the desert from a massive dust storm! So thanks, but no thanks.
I’d happily donate to a Send Palin Away to a Remote Island Fund.
Greatly enjoyed your post, AKM.
Could it be that the vestigial “good” part of her soul had the insight to know that the best thing she could do for Alaska was to quit?
I do “try” to give people the benefit of the doubt. Sociopaths are so hard to figure out, though, hey?
Completely O/T, but,
Ramona and Beezus–the movie, was really really good!! I took my girls (6 and
and we all loved it–me probably the most. I don’t get out nearly as much as I ought……….
oops. the smile thingie was supposed to be the number eight. Apparently the number eight followed by the end paren makes a smile.
How do I grift thee, Alaska, let me count the ways … I grift thee to the height and width and depth my claws can reach, and then some, you betcha.
Actually, she hardly bothers to grift Alaska any more. She has wide unclasped the Twitter of her thoughts and now grifts nationwide. (ZZ Shakespeare)
oh, thanks, zy
you just ruined browning for me for all time
She offers nothing except hatred. I have never in my life been so motivated against one woman. There is nothing about her that I can even remotely say that I like.
ditto darlin’
Well, in the year she’s been Governot, she certainly didn’t work for Universal Health Care for AK residents…or for the rest of the nation, either, for that matter.
So, like I was just following links from links this evening, and came across one I found most interesting…
It’s an interview from 17 April, in Hamilton, Ontario– the day of her speech at the “Charity Of Hope Fundraiser”. It’s on YouTube and begs the questions:
1) Has it been *confirmed* that “Have you seen Todd” and her children *DO* have state-managed health care through Todd’s AK Native bloodline? OR, is it a rumor that they’re covered by AKs [I don't know what the program's name is] …a rumor that’s completely ‘logical’ on the face of it, that’s totally believeable, and so it’s passed on as factual?
The reason I ask, is: starting at minute 3:03 of the linked YouTube video, she’s talking about how she and Todd have “been without health care”, “have had to purchase healthcare, um, out of our own pocket”, and, she says, “we’ve also been blessed with some jobs, some union jobs, and a government job that provided us health care coverage.”
So, to my way of thinking, *IF* they are covered by AKs [whatever the name of the program is] her statements to the interviewer are stunning in how misleading they are; she’s making it sound as if it’s *only* because of the ‘jobs’ [union and gov't] that they have had health care coverage. Are Todd and the kids covered through the AK program? {If they aren’t covered through AKs program, then that’s probably a myth about them that needs to be cut from the dialogue about the rill $P.} Does any one know for *sure* if they are or if they aren’t covered? With proof of them being covered if they are, or, if not covered, the reason(s) why they aren’t?
2) Also too, at minute 3:50, she says: “Thankfully, even in America, those who cannot afford health care, in emergency situations, they, they will be taken care of, they’re not turned away, so that, that’s the comfort, …” Does she honestly believe that “they will be taken care of” means the patient(s) will *not* have to PAY FOR (*full* bore!) the health care they’ve been given in those “emergency situations”? Is she truly *that* ignorant about our broken health care system?
[YouTube video of "Always Good News welcomes Sarah Palin!": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ6EByJUx48&feature=player_embedded#! ]
And since I seem to be in a question-asking mood tonight, did the Governot *really* open the speech that night with the quintessentially Palinspeak first lines: “I don’t know if I should Buenos Aires or Bonjour, or… this is such a melting pot. This is so beautiful. I love this diversity. Yeah”? I mean, WTF; “Buenos Aires” — that’s a greeting comparable to Bonjour? Or is Bonjour now a major city in some furrin’ country comparable to Buenos Aires? WTF?
[here: http://sarahpalininformation.wordpress.com/2010/04/17/sarah-palin-speaks-at-charity-of-hope-fundraiser-in-hamilton-ontario/ ]. }
Oh, so much Governot stirring up so much chit; so many questions about $P, the most questionable and obnoxiously ever-present Governot! beth.
re1-
I have no idea if they have sought care with Alaska Native Health .
It does get said a fair amount and you are right that it should get dropped in the conversation by and large.
The only things which can be said are that Todd and the kids would be eligible though she would not be eligible to use most services without payment of costs (at sliding scale) as a non-native, excepting pregnancy and a few other things.
Of mention- whether they do or not:
Alaska Native Health is NOT state run or managed nor is it insurance as sometimes gets said.
After the 1975 Indian Self Determination Act tribes could contract with the fed to provide their own healthcare – which Alaska Natives have done.
Whatzername has never, to my knowledge, acknowledged that this rather incredible group of healthcare consortiums , managed by their users ,has provided care in far flung areas of the state but has also reduced the need of the state to even deal with the issue…
But then her primary response to Native issues has been “get a job after you eat these cookies I made you “…
You may get emergency treatment but are than sent home to die.I have heard to many stories about emergency rooms that send people home becuse of a lack of insurance and [people do die.People are given just the basics and told to go to their own doctor and that may not be an option for them
Are you Alaskan?
Do you know about the health consortiums? Especially
http://www.anthc.org/ ?
The clinics in the bush do an extraordinary job for what they have to deal with…
Brilliant posting once again akmuckraker… keep up the great work
Was back at the scene of the Fbks Quitta-palooza Resigna-festivities yesterday, where current governor was hosting the annual governor’s picnic. No chaos, no media, no satellite trucks, no military band, no maelstrom of demagoguery hovering over friends, neighbors, and mudpups in the crowd. Just a regular summer day in Fbks.
Thank heaven.
Excellent rant, Jeanne! I heartily agree. She has flagrantly sabotaged AK at every turn and opportunity. I still ponder at the why. The only answer that makes any sense is more money. This person is a Darwinian embarrassment or mistake.
Something about this site that makes me so jealous…wish we had a similiar one in Colorado. There is a feeling of warmth and caring about each other. We have the mountains and the cold weather but we don’t have the community. Now to thank the site for the great article and insite. Have been waiting for Sarah’s reply to the upcoming wedding but I guess she didn’t get any mag to pay her for her rant. On the anniv. of getting her out of gov. congratulations, whatever it took to scare her out was worth it. Hope her neighbor is well and that the city is protecting his back. Cheers and happy celebrations upcoming for your state.
“…but we don’t have the community”
Alaska is a very small town.
I just read your post on Huffpo and have linked it here so that everyone can click and make sure it gets the attention it deserves:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/akmuckraker/palins-promise-to-alaska_b_660101.html
Thanks! Forgot about that.
Good heavens! I will repeat a familiar mantra, you can’t make this stuff up!
“So what has she done in the past year â�� her first as a private citizen, unfettered by the burden of governing, and a title â�� to chart a new course for the state of Alaska?”
Actually, the first thing she has done and continues to do is to wear the “Title” of Governor like a crown. Seems that to be taken seriously, she does need a title. Too bad she doesn’t have the actual job to go with the title.
Best thing that ever happened to AK, is “lame duck quitter” quit and concentrates on making money off the backs of right-wing nuts in lower 48. She has proven her focus on anything, turns that thing into failure.
But look how much she has done as an advocate for special needs children–oh, wait. Sorry. I guess not.
Can someone explain why people can’t tell the difference between someone who *talks*about doing good things and does nothing, and someone like Oprah Winfrey (just an example) who has actually spent money on foundations, schools, scholarships, etc, I don’t want a debate about Winfrey’s schools, I just can’t figure out why we don’t evaluate people based on their actions. “By their deeds you shall know them;” isn’t that in the bible somewhere?
Bartlett’s Quotations are not helping me today.
But I found this:
He did not say, “By their deeds you shall know them,” but, “By their fruits you shall know them” (Matthew 7:16).
Because people are too busy seeing themselves being reflected in Sarah Palin. Who cares about other people when one is so fabulous?
Best thing Palin ever did was to deceptively market herself as “just like you and me!” – all her followers are too busy looking in the mirror to notice she’s stealing their integrity.
Palin’s followers have no integrity to steal. neither do they have the sense God gave a cockroach. IMHO.8)
They just don’t see that she is perpetuating a fraud on them,can’t see the forest for the trees kind of thing
And don’t want to see. Too busy thinking that any idiot can be President and why should anyone WANT to be prepared for a job they already think they deserve? Why should anyone WANT to be qualified and WANT to work hard with Palin’s example?
Seriously deluded. And – a disgrace to the God they claim to worship. They don’t – they only worship themselves.
The Twit labeled herself right on target with the Lame Duck Gov. Lame – no one has her beat on that one! Duck – she ducks all responsibility and the truth 24×7. Gov – well, she got that 1/2 right which is way better than her average!
She loves those one syllable words since they are the only ones her lame brain can spit out without screwing it up. Boy, get into those two syllable words and above and all lame he11 breaks loose.
Quack, quack Sarah – you are the lamest duck of all, and laughable beyond belief!
She even gets the 1 syllable words wrong sometimes…..
She has been very busy this year. Promoting NRA, her friend McCain, bowling, alcohol, Arizonia’s new law, People magazine, US Weekly and herself, herself, herself and oh, yeah, herself!
It’s so touching watching her work for the disabled, Alaskans in need, the fishing industry, the tourism industry, and all for free! Kind of like a dead fish she’s going with the flow (of money.)
In gradeschool music class in Iowa in the fifties we used to sing “Chopsticks” and put both index fingers in the air.
I am so glad the Republican party ( And FOX news- no difference) can’t fine ANY OTHER female in the entire USA to be their spokesperson.
Thank you very much.