The real truth about Gov. Palin

I’m writing (once again) in response to a recent editorial by Andrew Adams that focused on praising Sarah Palin for her “strong stance against ear-mark spending” and her sweeping ethical reforms, which appear poised to transform American politics the way they have the jaw-dropping Alaskan landscape (which was once littered with unsightly wolves).

First, let’s cut through Palin’s blatant fabrications, which Adams seems to have taken as gospel without a single search of his Google:

1) Sarah Palin did not say “thanks, but no thanks” to the Bridge to Nowhere proposal. As reported in USA Today (“Palin backed ‘bridge to nowhere’ in 2006″), the LA Times, New York Times, Washington Post, and pretty much every other major news outlet in America, Palin backed the proposal until it became unpopular, then abandoned it, but kept the money – all $223 million – that had been federally ear-marked for the project, spending the loot on a myriad of other things (like a $26 million road that was supposed to lead to the bridge. Whoops). The beautiful irony is that in 2006, while Palin was running for governor and backing funding for the bridge, John McCain himself was ripping it as a symbol of pork barrel excess (USA Today).

So much for her heroic stance against ear-marks.

2) Sarah Palin did not sell the governor’s personal jet on eBay, nor did she fire the governor’s personal chef. As initially reported in the Anchorage Daily News and recently reported everywhere else, Palin tried to sell the jet on eBay, but failed repeatedly. Eventually, the jet was sold to a Valdez businessman for a net loss of $600,000 (FactCheck.org: Did Sarah Palin sell the Alaska governor’s jet on eBay?).

As for the chef, she wasn’t fired, merely reassigned, which saved the state a whopping $45,000 – less than 1% of the amount Palin lost on the jet sale, and a statistically insignificant 0.173% of the amount she wasted on the road to nowhere (Anchorage Daily News: “To slim down budget, Palin dumps chef”).

Of course, the chef’s reassignment had less to do with saving money and more to do with Sarah Palin spending 312 days at her home in Wasilla – 600 miles away from the governor’s mansion in Juneau – over the course of her first 19 months in office. (That’s over half the time.) Thankfully, these nights only cost tax-payers about $17,000 in “per diem” travel expenses (Washington Post: “Palin Billed State for Nights Spent at Home”).

Yes, even as governor, Palin couldn’t stay away from her hometown where her “hands-on” approach as mayor had led to the firing of a librarian over books Palin found “socially or morally objectionable” (the librarian was later reinstated after community support); along with the expulsions of the police chief, public works director, city planner, museum director, and others; as well as a strict policy forbidding all her employees from speaking to the media under any circumstance (New York Times: “Palin’s Start in Alaska – Not Politics as Usual”).

Even Andrew Adams has to admit – it’s difficult to toss people out or throttle them without using one’s hands.

The truth is, the more mainstream Americans learn about Sarah Palin – be it her dishonesty, her stubborn, vindictive governing style or her shockingly outdated views on global warming (it’s not real!), creationism (it should be taught in schools!), and homosexuality (pray it away!) – the less they like her.

John McCain’s convention bump has already eroded, leaving Barack Obama with the same slim lead he had one month ago. Palin, although she energized the Republican base for a moment, may hurt McCain’s chances in the long run. More than six in ten Americans say they would be concerned if McCain could not finish his term and Palin had to take over (New York Times: “McCain Seen as Less Likely to Bring Change, Poll Finds”).
Considering how frequently she has lied to the American people during her very brief time in the spotlight, it’s hard to blame them.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 26 2008. Filed under Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry