Emperor's Rants and Observations

How Obama Got Elected

GOVERNOR SARAH PALIN DOES EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW FOR “MEDIA MALPRACTICE” DOCUMENTARY

Subtitle – “Palin and GOP attempt to re-write history”.

Sarah Palin Exclusive Interview for “Media Malpractice”Documentary

So I won’t be accused of taking Queen P out of context, you can follow along with the video above.

0.00 – 0.44 Trig rumors

Where is the family photo including Trig and Tripp?  This is a woman that never misses a photo opportunity. She drug her children all over the country parading them in front of crowds of people, and there isn’t a family photo with the two newest clan members?  I’m not one that ever bought into the story, but if you want to stop the rumours then give us a picture.  Her local newspaper would love to have that scoop.  That would settle it once and for all.

0.45 – 1.03 Anonymous Bloggers

She doesn’t provide any examples of when anonymous bloggers were used as the sole source of information for a ‘hard news’ story.  But even I know things don’t get into print or distribution without fact checking and confirmation.  She can deny anything she wants, but unless she provides evidence to the contrary those rumors are going to persist.  Just like they always have in barber shops, cafes and around the water cooler.  The Internet just allows rumors to reach out to a wider audience, it’s a nice balance to the rabid right talk radio.  I have an idea, why doesn’t Palin start her own blog?  I’ll even set it up and host it for free here at AllAlaskans.Com

1.04 – 1.40 What drives people to believe the worst.

The lack of evidence to the contrary.  No, it’s not sexist. No it’s not political.  When you try to hide, cover-up and spin your way away from the situation instead of being open, honest and forthright with information, people are going to believe the worst, particularly when the explanations simply don’t make sense, or fit the facts.  It’s doing things like saying there would be no public statement made about Palin’s grandson, and three days later there is a press release on the state website.  It’s incompetence, inconsistency, and unbelievable that allows people to think the worst.

1.41 – 2.10 Family off limits.

The day that Palin announced that her unwed teenage daughter Bristol was pregnant is when Obama came out and made it clear that he didn’t want any of his supporters to go after Palin’s children, that they were off limits.  He wasn’t talking about his family, he was making a gesture directly to the Palin family.  If Palin had not used Bristol, Levi and her other children as campaign props perhaps they wouldn’t still be in the eye of the media and those meanie anonymous bloggers.  It also has to be taken in context with her stands on contraception, sex education and ‘family values’.  If you’re going to talk the talk, then you better walk the walk.  If you’re going to use your family as campaign props then they better be prepared to be questioned as well.

2.11 – 2.20 Levi and Bristol Not Dropouts.

If your kids are not attending school, what should that be called?  Levi left for an apprentice job on the slope that he ended up quiting when it was exposed he didn’t make the minimum qualifications.  The story has changed several times about where Bristol was going to school, how or if she would graduate, or if she would just test for her GED.  Again, she shouldn’t have brought the kids into the campaign  the way she did if she didn’t want these questions.  Here was a perfect opportunity for her to set the record straight and all she does is whine about the media not correcting what she believes is a misrepresentation of the facts.

2.21 – 3.27 The Couric Interview

So she knew day one that the Couric interview went poorly, so she didn’t want to do anymore.  The ‘power brokers’ insisted so she went ahead and did them as instructed.  Now how does that jive with her statements that she said she wished she could have done more interviews to get her message across.  If she couldn’t handle the soft balls that Couric was lobing her way, she’d have no chance against tough interviewer like Brokaw or even Barbara Walters.

3.28 – 4.15 What news does she read.

She didn’t answer because “Couric isn’t the center of the universe”?  She thought the question was does she read?  Well, yeah, the way you talk, and your ignorance makes that a legitimate question.  But finally she gets around to answering the question the way she should have in the first place, that she reads the local papers and the widely distributed newspapers.  But she just can’t bring herself to admit that she simply whiffed on a softball.

4.16 – 5.04 SNL about Bristol

Yes you should be able to laugh at yourself.  While I was one that spoke out saying “Leave those kids alone”, Sarah needs to accept some of the responsibility for it because of the way she used them in her campaign.  You can’t have it both ways; Parading your kids around like show animals to further your image as a mother, then expect everyone to excuse your ‘children’.  Children that are over 18 I should point out.  Also, no word on the wedding date seems rather suspicious.  Are they cohabiting now?  You see if Sarah wasn’t so holier than thou, these wouldn’t even be questions.

5.05 – 5.49 Tina Fey and Katie Couric Exploiting Palin

What they were ‘exploiting’ was Sarah’s ignorance and the cartoon caricature that she presented every time she opened her mouth.  And she continues to do so even in this documentary.  For whatever reason, she simply refuses to take any responsibility for how she was perceived not just by those two, but the entire world.  I believe the Late Night talk show hosts were all hoping for a Palin/McCain win, it would have provided non-stop jokes for the next four years.  THAT would be job security, don’t know what they are going to do with Obama and Biden, I don’t think they’ll be nearly as funny.

5.50 – 6.23 Class Bias and Kennedy

If intelligence is a class, then there is a class bias towards intelligence.  If there is an experience class, then yes there is a bias towards experience.  Kennedy has done more, seen more, been more, than Palin can ever dream of doing.  Take a look at Carolyn Kennedy’s background http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Kennedy and you will quickly surmise that simply stated, Palin is not in the same class.  As a Kennedy she has been under the microscope her entire life, she’ll fare just fine, a lot better than Palin.

6.24 – 7.41 If Palin was Obama’s choice for VP

No, it wouldn’t have been different, Palin would have still been stupid. And just for the record, Palin is NOT an energy expert, she did NOT clean up the Alaska GOP, Alaska media like most Alaskans are for responsible resource development.  Palin is criticized for failing to live up to her own standards of being open, honest and accountable.  It has nothing to do with being Democrat or Republican, Liberal or Conservative, it’s about integrity and accountability, neither of which she has one iota of.

7.42 – 8.09 Why would you ever want to go through this again – good question.

The country may be in need of reform, but Palin has failed to show that she is capable of reform at the local or state level. What makes her think she is capable of bringing reform to the national level?  She doesn’t even have an elementary grasp on how the federal government works nor where the reform needs to be made or how.

8.10 – 9.10  Look at my record.

Ok.  Palin took her small town of Wasilla as mayor and put them 20 million dollars in debt for a sports facility that was built on land the city didn’t even own, and cost them millions to acquire.  The operating budget of Alaska has grown 20% in her first two years, while she cut the capital budget that actually creates jobs.  Her proposed budget this year is based on crude oil prices that are double of what most industry experts believe the price will be.  Ethics reform?  Yeah, signed the law then promptly broke it using private email addresses for public business.  Open and transparent government?  Nope, close the book on troopergate and lets move on.  We don’t get to see what she told the personnel board investigating her abuse of office.  What about the legislative finding that she did indeed abuse her office, should that be part of her record as well?

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again.  The more she talks the more people will dislike her.  This constant whining and playing the victim is getting real old for a lot of us.  She’s an embarrassment to us all.

In the past there have been critics of Palin in regards to her being a woman, being pregnant, and giving birth to her latest child Trig.  The criticism has basically been that Palin should have been home with her children, that she should have disclosed her pregnancy earlier, that she should have resigned when Trig was born to devote herself to his special needs care.  There were also some that criticized her for risking going to Texas while in the latest stages of her pregnancy putting herself and perhaps her unborn baby at risk.

In each case I argued against those critics because I don’t believe any of that has anything to do with Palin’s – or any woman’s – ability to do their job.  I believe every woman should be able to decide for themselves what is right and appropriate for themselves and their families.  I believe in equality for women.  I believe in their right to privacy.

I defended Palin in spite of her views on such issues as abortion, birth control, and sex education in public schools.

Now that it’s public knowledge that her unwed 17 year old daughter is pregnant however, I think it’s fair to question her on her “abstinence only” education stance.  If Palin can’t make that work in her own family, then what makes her believe it will work in ANY family.

However, we have to be careful in how we broach the subject because if people begin to feel as though Palin and her family are being ‘picked on unfairly’ it will most likely result in sympathy votes for the McCain/Palin ticket.   The same thing happened in the Gubernatorial campaign when opponent Andrew Halcro routinely made Palin look like a bumbling hillbilly that had no clue about the issues affecting Alaska.  Halcro lost ground, while Palin in spite of her ignorance, gained ground.

We should all sincerely wish the very best for Bristol, Levi and their baby.  They are embarking on a rough road, but if they truly love each other and work hard at the task of being a family, they can succeed and be happy.   I’m happy for them that they have a loving family that will help and support them, not all young adults in this situation are so fortunate.  They have done nothing wrong to deserve media attention, negative or otherwise.

They do however illustrate that even in the best of families, sometimes our young people don’t always  make the choices that we wish they would.  That’s why we have to give them every tool available to keep them as safe as possible. We need to provide them as many alternatives as possible when they do make a bad choice or find themselves in a difficult situation.

Another concern is the trend for Palin to only disclose or come forward with information when absolutely forced to.  She did it with her own pregnancy.  She did it all through the “Trooper Gate” (and continues to in my opinion). It begs the question of what else is she hiding? Not only that, but now what else does McCain know that hasn’t been disclosed?

There are many questions that need to be asked and answered.  I only hope that questions will be focused on issues and positions and not personal family matters.  Let’s show a little class and decency.

*Note:  I am not now, nor have I ever been, or likely ever be connected with the Obama campaign or Democratic Party.  I’m pretty sure they are happy about that fact.

Now that McCain has selected Palin as his running mate it’s important to get out the real dope on her before she becomes one heart beat away from the Oval Office.

First of all take a look at her impressive resume from when she was a candidate for Governor of Alaska.*(see note)  What should come to your attention is that she has never held a real job (outside of government).  She has always been taken care of by her parents or her husband.  She did some volunteer work and was elected mayor of a second class Alaska city.  Not much more than a bedroom community of Anchorage.  Even in that little fiefdom of hers, there were grumbling about her abuse of the office and misusing public resources for her personal gain.

So why would Alaskans elect such an obviously inexperienced, uneducated and ill-prepared candidate to be Governor you ask?  It was a perfect storm of sorts that swept her into office, she didn’t even get the support of the majority of Alaskans.

In 2006 the corruption scandal was just getting public.  It seemed like everyone (particularly Republicans) were either under investigation or under suspicion.  The incumbent Governor Frank Murkowski had the lowest approval rating of any politician in the state.  It would have been a major upset if he won the Republican primary.  The ongoing battle with Exxon over the financial settlement for the devastating oil spill in 1989 along with a lack of progress of development of Alaska’s Natural Gas resources left Alaska looking for a fresh face untainted by the Oil Companies.  The previous administration had negotiated a deal with the natural gas lease holders “behind closed doors”.  A deal that many felt gave too much to the lease holders without requiring commitments from them to build the gas line.  Those suspicions were confirmed with the conviction of Murkowski Chief of Staff Jim Clark.   So Palin ran on the platform of “open and transparent” government and ethics.  Even though throughout the campaign Palin showed a total lack of understanding of the issues, the media basically gave her a free ride.  The more other candidates challenged her, the more sympathy she received from the voters.  Anyone that was against Palin was characterized as being either in the pocket of “Big Oil” or accused of being a misogynist.  Her “shucks, golly gee whiz” persona led to the highest approval rating of any Governor in the country.  Alaskans were enamored with the small town girl who made the big time.

However there are cracks in the facade Palin presented to Alaskan voters .  She is currently under investigation by the legislature for abuse of power involving the firing of her appointed Commissioner of the Department of Public Safety.   She’s backing away from her pledge of open and transparent government by saying that the public isn’t entitled to see emails concerning public business.   She’s facing an ethics complaint from a former State employee.  She has shown poor judgment by selecting a new Commissioner of the Department of Public Safety that had been reprimanded for sexual harassment in his previous position.  He was forced to resign after two weeks in the position, but received $10,000.00 in severance pay.  She is also well known for her favoritism and cronyism.  During her campaign for Governor, Palin said to Alaskans “hold me accountable“, and yet no matter what happens in her administration she is never responsible, it’s always someone or something to blame, but never her.

Let me also dispel the myth that Palin is a fiscal conservative.  Under her administration the operating budget has grown 23%.  She gained some national press by cutting capital projects that would have put Alaskans to work on much needed community improvement.  Looking at the cuts however shows she favored her home district or used the budget to punish or reward certain districts or legislators.  While she is cutting community projects, she’s giving 500 million dollars to a Canadian firm to start a gas line to Canada but with no requirement to actually build the gas line.  A gas line that will benefit and produce more jobs and industry to Canada than to Alaskans and the remainder of the US.  Then to buy off Alaskans she appropriates an additional $1200 dollars to every Alaskan man, woman and child in addition the annual Permanent Fund Dividend.

She is however, a social conservative, which is most likely why McCain chose her.  She will appeal to the radical far right Christian fundamentalists that believe the government should have the ability to coerce individuals to treat their bodies according to their closed minded dogma.

The national media should do a much better job of exposing Palin as nothing more than a small town hockey Mom that is in way over her head.  The American people should do a better job getting past the phony “golly gee” facade Palin presents.  She’s an empty vessel that will shatter when pressed for the hard answers if the media and voters do their jobs.

*Note: The Palin for Governor site that was hosted at http://www.palinforgovernor.com/ was taken down as I was writing this post.  This is typical of Palin, the Murkowski documents regarding his gas line proposal was taken down when people started comparing her AGIA with the Murkowski proposal.  This is more of what is apparently meant by her empty promise of “open and transparent” Government.
Update: Here is a 12/23/2006 archive of http://www.palinforgovernor.com/aboutSarah.html

So I’ve been posting over at the Anchorage Daily News blogs as of late. Particularly the Alaska Politics and Halcro’s Gas Line Hot Line. There are some fairly bright and articulate posters, and as always, there are some bona fide idiots as well. What I’ve found interesting is how polarized opinion is on most topics and how quickly discussion can deteriorate into name calling and personal attacks. I’m as guilty of that as anyone, I am just surprised that others are like me in that regard.

Even though I’ve enjoyed the interaction over at ADN, I’m going to spend more time posting here rather than over there. Over the next few days I’ll try to catch up with the topics that I’ve been most involved with. Hopefully others who would like to continue discussion of topics a little more in depth over a longer period of time will participate here as well.

Stay tuned.