In naming Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin his running mate, John McCain
caught both pols and pundits off guard. The Arizona senator, however, may have made his move too soon. Within 24 hours after his announcement, questions about whether she had been properly vetted reared their ugly heads. The Repubs tried to deflect them by playing the race card.
It almost worked, but not quite.
So, what should have happened before the once-upon-a-time maverick announced that she'd be his Veep is going on right now. And, like watching sausage being massed produced or K-Street lobbyist in action behind closed doors, it's not a pretty sight.
The Lipstick Pitbull, it's now being revealed, is stonewalling Troopergate, has censored books in her tiny town's library, and will not be up to the job should McCain's roll of the dice come up lucky 7s or 11s. Oh, did I mention she may have called Obama a sambo and Hillary Clinton a bitch?
Troopergate first.
Palin 'troopergate' probe out on Oct 10: Alaska govt
JUNEAU, Alaska (AFP) — An investigation into possible ethics breaches by Republican vice-presidential pick Sarah Palin will be completed by October 10, three weeks earlier than scheduled, Alaska lawmakers said.
The probe would be ready earlier than expected in order to avoid the appearance of a politically-motivated "October surprise" ahead of the November 4 election, Alaska House judiciary chairman Jay Ramras said in a statement.
The statement added that Alaska Governor Palin would not face a subpoena ordering her to report for questioning, with lawmakers expressing confidence she would co-operate with investigators.
"We agreed that an earlier completion date was achievable, and that it was fair to all sides. We are satisfied that the report can be finished by no later than October 10, 2008," Ramras said.
Palin is being investigated by Alaska's legislature over allegations arising from the sacking of the state's public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, who was fired earlier this year.
The probe was triggered after reports that Monegan was removed because he refused to fire a state trooper who was the governor's ex-brother-in-law, that the Palin family regarded as a "loose cannon."
The investigation -- dubbed "Troopergate" -- followed Monegan's dismissal in July. Palin has consistently denied that she put pressure on Monegan to fire the trooper involved, describing the allegations as "outrageous" and "false."
However it emerged on August 13 that there had been more than 20 calls, emails and other communications from Palin's office to employees at Monegan's Department of Public Safety.
To read more about Troopergate, click here.
Now, how about censorgate?
Palin asked Wasilla librarian about censoring books
WASILLA -- Back in 1996, when she first became mayor, Sarah Palin asked the city librarian if she would be all right with censoring library books should she be asked to do so.
According to news coverage at the time, the librarian said she would definitely not be all right with it. A few months later, the librarian, Mary Ellen Emmons, got a letter from Palin telling her she was going to be fired. The censorship issue was not mentioned as a reason for the firing. The letter just said the new mayor felt Emmons didn’t fully support her and had to go.
Emmons had been city librarian for seven years and was well liked. After a wave of public support for her, Palin relented and let Emmons keep her job.
It all happened 12 years ago and the controversy long ago disappeared into musty files. Until this week. Under intense national scrutiny, the issue has returned to dog her. It has been mentioned in news stories in Time Magazine and The New York Times [NYT] and is spreading like a virus through the blogosphere.
The stories are all suggestive, but facts are hard to come by. Did Palin actually ban books at the Wasilla Public Library?
In December 1996, Emmons told her hometown newspaper, the Frontiersman, that Palin three times asked her -- starting before she was sworn in -- about possibly removing objectionable books from the library if the need arose.
Emmons told the Frontiersman she flatly refused to consider any kind of censorship. Emmons, now Mary Ellen Baker, is on vacation from her current job in Fairbanks and did not return e-mail or telephone messages left for her Wednesday.
When the matter came up for the second time in October 1996, during a City Council meeting, Anne Kilkenny, a Wasilla housewife who often attends council meetings, was there.
Like many Alaskans, Kilkenny calls the governor by her first name.
"Sarah said to Mary Ellen, ’What would your response be if I asked you to remove some books from the collection?" Kilkenny said.
"I was shocked. Mary Ellen sat up straight and said something along the line of, ’The books in the Wasilla Library collection were selected on the basis of national selection criteria for libraries of this size, and I would absolutely resist all efforts to ban books.’"
To read more about Palin's effort to ban books, click here.
And now for a hint of racism and sexism:
Alaskans Speak (In A Frightened Whisper): Palin Is “Racist, Sexist, Vindictive, And Mean”
September 5, 2008
by Charley James –
“So Sambo beat the bitch!”
This is how Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin described Barack Obama’s win over Hillary Clinton to political colleagues in a restaurant a few days after Obama locked up the Democratic Party presidential nomination.
According to Lucille, the waitress serving her table at the time and who asked that her last name not be used, Gov. Palin was eating lunch with five or six people when the subject of the Democrat’s primary battle came up. The governor, seemingly not caring that people at nearby tables would likely hear her, uttered the slur and then laughed loudly as her meal mates joined in appreciatively.
“It was kind of disgusting,” Lucille, who is part Aboriginal, said in a phone interview after admitting that she is frightened of being discovered telling folks in the “lower 48” about life near the North Pole.
Then, almost with a sigh, she added, “But that’s just Alaska.”
Racial and ethnic slurs may be “just Alaska” and, clearly, they are common, everyday chatter for Palin.
Besides insulting Obama with a Step-N’-Fetch-It, “darkie musical” swipe, people who know her say she refers regularly to Alaska’s Aboriginal people as “Arctic Arabs” – how efficient, lumping two apparently undesirable groups into one ugly description – as well as the more colourful “mukluks” along with the totally unimaginative “f**king Eskimo’s,” according to a number of Alaskans and Wasillians interviewed for this article.
But being openly racist is only the tip of the Palin iceberg. According to Alaskans interviewed for this article, she is also vindictive and mean. We’re talking Rove mean and Nixon vindictive.
And now more from Kilkenny, who explains why Palin is ailin when it comes to being a heartbeat away from the president of these United States.
By Anne Kilkenny –
I am a resident of Wasilla, Alaska. I have known Sarah since 1992. Everyone here knows Sarah, so it is nothing special to say we are on a first-name basis. Our children have attended the same schools. Her father was my child’s favorite substitute teacher. I also am on a first name basis with her parents and mother-in-law. I attended more City Council meetings during her administration than about 99% of the residents of the city.
She is enormously popular; in every way she’s like the most popular girl in middle school. Even men who think she is a poor choice and won’t vote for her can’t quit smiling when talking about her because she is a “babe.”
It is astonishing and almost scary how well she can keep a secret. She kept her most recent pregnancy a secret from her children and parents for seven months.
She is “pro-life”. She recently gave birth to a baby with Down syndrome . There is no cover-up involved, here; Trig is her baby.
She is energetic and hardworking. She regularly worked out at the gym.
She is savvy. She doesn’t take positions; she just “puts things out there” and if they prove to be popular, then she takes credit.
Her husband works a union job on the North Slope for BP and is a champion snowmobile racer. Todd Palin’s kind of job is highly sought-after because of the schedule and high pay. He arranges his work schedule so he can fish for salmon in Bristol Bay for a month or so in summer, but by no stretch of the imagination is fishing their major source of income. Nor has her life-style ever been anything like that of native Alaskans.
Sarah and her whole family are avid hunters.
She’s smart.
Her experience is as mayor of a city with a population of about 5,000 (at the time), and less than 2 years as governor of a state with about 670,000 residents.
During her mayoral administration most of the actual work of running this small city was turned over to an administrator. She had been pushed to hire this administrator by party power-brokers after she had gotten herself into some trouble over precipitous firings which had given rise to a recall campaign.
Sarah campaigned in Wasilla as a “fiscal conservative”. During her six years as Mayor, she increased general government expenditures by over 33%. During those same 6 years the amount of taxes collected by the City increased by 38%. This was during a period of low inflation (1996-2002). She reduced progressive property taxes and increased a regressive sales tax which taxed even food. The tax cuts that she promoted benefited large corporate property owners way more than they benefited residents.
The huge increases in tax revenues during her mayoral administration weren’t enough to fund everything on her wish list though, borrowed money was needed, too. She inherited a city with zero debt, but left it with indebtedness of over $22 million. What did Mayor Palin encourage the voters to borrow money for? Was it the infrastructure that she said she supported? The sewage treatment plant that the city lacked? or a new library? No. $1m for a park. $15m-plus for construction of a multi-use sports complex which she rushed through to build on a piece of property that the City didn’t even have clear title to, that was still in litigation 7 yrs later–to the delight of the lawyers involved! The sports complex itself is a nice addition to the community but a huge money pit, not the profit-generator she claimed it would be. She also supported bonds for $5.5m for road projects that could have been done in 5-7 yrs without any borrowing.
While Mayor, City Hall was extensively remodeled and her office redecorated more than once.
These are small numbers, but Wasilla is a very small city.
To read the rest of her explanation, click here.
That's all the Palin vetting for now. I'm sure there's much more to come about change we can trust.
Stumble It!
