Friday, August 21, 2009

An Analysis of Palin's Writing's From Her Political Action Committee Website

I have decided to visit SarahPAC.com, Sarah Palins official political action committee. Reading the contents of the page, I found them to be interesting and thought I would share my opinions.

I would like to analyze her Latest News section first, starting with her article "Palin Announces No Second Term", which is presumable written by none other than Sarah herself.

It begins with Sarah Palin saying hello, and then giving a brief history of Alaska.
We were purchased as a territory because a member of President Abe Lincoln's cabinet, William Seward, providentially saw in this great land, vast riches, beauty, strategic placement on the globe, and opportunity. He boldly looked "North to the Future". But he endured such ridicule and mocking for his vision for Alaska, remember the adversaries scoffed, calling this "Seward's Folly". Seward withstood such disdain as he chose the uncomfortable, unconventional, but RIGHT path to secure Alaska, so Alaska could help secure the United States.
I love the use of the word "providentially". This paragraph sets us up for the next Palin statement.
We're strategic IN the world as the air crossroads OF the world, as a gatekeeper of the continent.
She has now defined Alaska as a strategic geographic location, which reminds me of Ukraine, the buffer state, in Risk. Doing a simple search on Google about the strategic importance of Alaska yielded many positive results, and I would come to the conclusion that Sarah Palin is correct; Alaska is strategic. According to the long dead General Billy Mitchell, regarded as father of the "Air Force", "whoever holds Alaska will hold the world. I think it is the most important strategic place in the world." I believe Sarah Palin may be onto something.

I decided to look into the strategic importance of Alaska, and how it relates to the "air crossroads OF the world", as well as "gatekeeper of the continent". Considering the latter, Alaska is a giant land mass consisting of a multitude of terrains that sits in the northern hemisphere bordering Canada to the east. From some parts of the west, you could actually see Russia. As for the "air crossroads", Palin is right again. Alaska sits on top the polar axis of three continents, which gives America air accessibility to those continents, and vice versa, which means Alaska can potentially play a defensive role in protecting the remaining lower 47.
Bold visionaries knew this - Alaska would be part of America's great destiny.
Apparently, Sarah Palin visited the same website I had when I Googled Alaska's strategic importance. According to that website, General Mitchell testified in front of the U.S. House of Representatives about the importance of air power in Alaska, and he held the belief that although the technology at that time made Alaska seem in significant in the global scheme of things, eventually technology would catch up to the geography of Alaska, and the vast distances would be overcame. This must be what Palin was alluding to during her interview back when she was hot on the campaign trail. For those who forgot, I will cut and paste it below (I can't get enough of this quote):
It's very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia. As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border. It is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right there, they are right next to our state.
Now that we have national security out of the way, lets see what else is in store for us as we make are way through Palin's Latest News.
Our destiny to be reached by responsibly developing our natural resources. This land, blessed with clean air, water, wildlife, minerals, AND oil and gas. It's energy! God gave us energy.
I love the above statement. Palin calls for "responsibly developing our natural resources". I assume she refers to Alaska when she says "this land", and so I assume that she means that Alaska is filled with abundant resources, such as wildlife and minerals. This is a far cry from the Palin popularized by, um, Palin, with the shrill cries of "Drill baby, drill!", and by utilizing all of Alaska's natural resources, those wolves that are hunted from helicopter must be going to some great use, like upholstering furniture, or feeding Alaska's poor.

Doing a quick Google again, I was able to find some of Alaska's resources in an article. While Palin seems to stress oil and gas with her capitalized "and", and her evocation of God and his gift of energy, the mineral resources offered by Alaska are great, including nickel, zinc, lead, gold and silver. Alaska seems like the greatest, richest place to live, but when we look at the entire statement made by Palin, we must consider the clean air and water. Mining the wilderness would sully the landscape with not only unsightly facilities, but numerous pollutants, but I forgot, Palin does not believe in global warming, and so pollution must be a liberal myth, used to scare the average Joe into submission.

Done with the environment, Palin now shifts to a good pat on the back with this next statement:
So to serve the state is a humbling responsibility, because I know in my soul that Alaska is of such import, for America's security, in our very volatile world. And you know me by now, I promised even four years ago to show MY independence... no more conventional "politics as usual"
Should I even mention the infamous Gravina Island Bridge, more commonly known as the "Bridge to Nowhere", connecting Ketchikan, Alaska to Gravina Island. We all remember the corrupt Republican Senator Ted Stevens vehement support of this bridge, protesting the consideration of diverting funds from this bridge (that would be as long as the Golden Gate Bridge and taller than the Brooklyn Bridge) to disaster aid for areas affected by Hurricane Katrina. When asked if she would continue funding of the proposed bridge, Palin responded "Yes. I would like to see Alaska's infrastructure projects built sooner rather than later. The window is now – while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist." I am also reminded of her blatant cronyism, appointing high school friends to government posts, as well as her unethical pressuring of the termination of her former brother-in-law, as well as her numerous other ethical violations, like having the state pay for her to live in her own home or for the travel of her brood. I guess she did not mean that when she said she would be independent, and no more "politics as usual".

In relation to the above, skipping ahead on her website, Palin goes on to say "We cleaned up previously accepted unethical actions; we ushered in bi-partisan Ethics Reform." Really?
We also slowed the rate of government growth, we worked with the Legislature to save billions of dollars for the future, and I made no lobbyist friends with my hundreds of millions of dollars in budget vetoes... but living beyond our means today is irresponsible for tomorrow.
Let's discuss her lobbyist friends. As mayor of Wasilla, she employed a lobbyist firm, Robertson, Monagle & Eastaugh, with close ties to Representative Don Young and Senator Ted Stevens, to secure almost $27 million dollars in federal earmarks for her small town of 6,700. The account was managed by Steven W. Silver, who was a partner in the firm. Silver also listed as a client Jack Abramoff's firm, and Silver was involved in lobbying the federal government on various matters, such as 'issues relating to Indian/Native American policy,' and 'exploration for oil and gas'. Silver had also donated to both Steven's and Young's political and reelection committees. Palin had appointed Cora Crome as her fisheries-policy adviser (fishing is Alaska's largest single-industry). Crome had previously worked for United Fishermen of Alaska, an industry lobbying group. Her appointed Lieutenant Governor was a former Oil Lobbyist and legislator, and during her campaign, she had collected over $13,000 in her 2006 campaign for governor from lobbyists representing the oil industry. That does not sound like she made any lobbyist friends.

I would also like to look at the last sentence of the above paragraph, "but living beyond our means today is irresponsible for tomorrow." Not only does this sentence seem misplaced, this seems contradictory considering her statement regarding the Bridge to Nowhere, where she had wanted to continue appropriating money for a bridge that would cost nearly half a billion dollars to transport 50 people back and forth, simply because the political climate was right to get her that money... this does not seem responsible, but rather opportunistic and "politics as usual".
And we made common sense conservative choices to eliminate personal luxuries like the jet, the chef, the junkets... the entourage.

And the Lt. Governor and I said "no" to our pay raises.
Apparently, a pay raise would have been bad, but wastefully spending money is good. Palin had used a government "per diem" allowance to charge the state for residing in her own home for more than 300 nights. She had also spent another $43,490 on travel for her family. I guess these are not "personal luxuries", but business as usual for Palin.
We are doing well! I wish you'd hear MORE from the media of your state's progress and how we tackle Outside interests - daily - SPECIAL interests that would stymie our state. Even those debt-ridden stimulus dollars that would force the heavy hand of federal government into our communities with an "all-knowing attitude" - I have taken the slings and arrows with that unpopular move to veto because I know being right is better than being popular. Some of those dollars would harm Alaska and harm America - I resisted those dollars because of the obscene national debt we're forcing our children to pay, because of today's Big Government spending; it's immoral and doesn't even make economic sense!
Apparently the elected officials of Alaska thought otherwise, and had decided to accept all those "debt-ridden stimulus dollars" that Palin believed would allow "Outside" interest to take control of the state... does she mean the Federal Government? She praises herself for looking out in the best interest of the people of Alaska, but she refuses money that is just sitting out there. The stimulus package was already passed. They don't put that money back in a vault... they give it to someone else, and if Palin is too stupid to realize that, and trying to play politics at the expense of her constituents, then that is her prerogative, as wrong as it may be. I also find it arrogant that she takes the stance that she is "right" and would rather be "right" than "popular". As an elected official of a Republic, you represent the citizens that put you in office, so to believe that you are "right" implies that everyone else is "wrong".
Another accomplishment - our Law Department protected states' rights - TWO huge U.S. Supreme Court reversals came down against that liberal Ninth Circuit, deciding in OUR state's favor over the last two weeks. We're protectors of our Constitution - federalists protect states' rights as mandated in 10th amendment.
Reviewing U.S. Supreme Court cases, I had found two reversals made. In June decision, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling, throwing out a tax imposed by an Alaskan city on oil-carrying cargo ships using its port, deciding it was unconstitutional. In another case, the court reversed the decision in the case in which a convicted rapist was denied the right to test the DNA from crime samples against his own, and at his own expense. The first ruling hardly looks like a decision in "favor" of Alaska's state's rights, and the second relates only to Alaska because the supposed rapist is from Alaska. Should I quote the 10th amendment for Palin? According to wikipedia.com, the 10th amendment "restates the Constitution's principle of federalism by providing that powers not granted to the national government nor prohibited to the states are reserved to the states or the people." Considering her affirmation of the amendment by citing two judicial victories, it would appear that the first case involved the state overstepping its boundaries by imposing a tax, which the U.S. Supreme court deemed unconstitutional, and the second seems to overturn a traditionally conservative viewpoint, which denied a person DNA testing, who was found guilty by a jury of their own peers. The only decision I found that would be consistent with Sarah Palin's beliefs is the Supreme Court ruling that a mining company can dump slurry, a mixture of wateral and solid materials, into a lake, which will effectively kill all marine life, and this matter dealt with permitting and jurisdiction issues (between the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers), not state's rights.
Political operatives descended on Alaska last August, digging for dirt. The ethics law I championed became their weapon of choice. Over the past nine months I've been accused of all sorts of frivolous ethics violations - such as holding a fish in a photograph, wearing a jacket with a logo on it, and answering reporters' questions.
She was found to have violated state ethics laws last year in the "troopergate" scandal, and considering the most recent ethics complaints, although some may be baseless, Sarah Palin was forced to pay back taxes on her "per diem" income in one case and to reimburse the state for charging up her children's travel expenses in another case. She aso effectively attacks the public by calling people who have investigated her has "political operatives". Palin has a journalism degree, and she should realize that "digging for dirt" as she so puts it is also known as investigative journalism. What ever happened to the Republican mantra, used when defending the Patriot Act, that if you have nothing to hide, then you have nothing to fear. Palin played her political cards poorly, filing a costly ethics complaint against herself, and since the hand did not play out in her favor, she has decided to rewrite history, making herself the victim in a series of wrongful accusations regarding her performance as governor. Apparently these complaints have yielded some results, or Palin would not have paid her taxes and reimbursed the state.
And so as I thought about this announcement that I wouldn't run for re-election and what it means for Alaska, I thought about how much fun some governors have as lame ducks... travel around the state, to the Lower 48 (maybe), overseas on international trade - as so many politicians do. And then I thought - that's what's wrong - many just accept that lame duck status, hit the road, draw the paycheck, and "milk it". I'm not putting Alaska through that - I promised efficiencies and effectiveness! ? That's not how I am wired. I am not wired to operate under the same old "politics as usual." I promised that four years ago - and I meant it.
I assume Palin has had her fill of traveling "around the state", and to the "Lower 48", or overseas, especially during her time as a vice presidential candidate... Does she not realize the costs associated with her resignation, calling special sessions of the legislature?
Some Alaskans don't mind wasting public dollars and state time. I do. I cannot stand here as your Governor and allow millions upon millions of our dollars go to waste just so I can hold the title of Governor. And my children won't allow it either. ? Some will question the timing. ? Let's just say, this decision has been in the works for awhile...
I think Palin has this statement backwards. She and her children had wasted so much public dollars.
My decision was also fortified during this most recent trip to Kosovo and Landstuhl, to visit our wounded soldiers overseas, those who sacrifice themselves in war for OUR freedom and security... we can ALL learn from our selfless Troops... they're bold, they don't give up, they take a stand and know that LIFE is short so they choose to NOT waste time. They choose to be productive and to serve something greater than SELF... and to build up their families, their states, our country. These Troops and their important missions - those are truly the worthy causes in this world and should be the public priority with time and resources and NOT this local / superficial wasteful political bloodsport.
It wouldn't be a political message if there was no mention of the troops... and there is some of that "overseas" travel she mentioned, unless she means Kosovo and Landstuhl, Alaska!

This was an interesting exercise. My final conclusion from reading through Sarah Palin's Latest News is that she has no capability of establishing relevant relationships between world events and her life. If fact does not conform to her ideas, she is willing to force it to fit, without consideration for those whom her decisions may affect.

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