Hunt for Justice by Cynthia Hunt
A gun toting, tax cutting, hot hockey mom has ascended like a rocket to become the the first female Republican nominee for Vice President. The latest Gallup poll showing Senator John McCain leading Senator Barack Obama by five points means Alaska Governor Sarah Palin could become the first woman Vice President of the United States. Lesson number one—don’t underestimate Palin. After exposing corruption in her party, she beat the incumbent Republican governor in the primary and defeated a former governor in the general election to become Alaska’s first female governor. She then went on to earn the highest approval ratings (in the '90s) of any governor in America. We may be just getting to know the first woman and mother to someday lead the free world. Since this is a blog
about women who work in crime, we need to see where the Republicans’ new rock star and Democrat’s new lipstick-wearing nemesis stands. After all, Palin (pictured left with Piper, one of five children) ran for governor with public safety as one of the major cornerstones of her future administration. Let’s see if she accomplished anything in the two years since her inauguration.
about women who work in crime, we need to see where the Republicans’ new rock star and Democrat’s new lipstick-wearing nemesis stands. After all, Palin (pictured left with Piper, one of five children) ran for governor with public safety as one of the major cornerstones of her future administration. Let’s see if she accomplished anything in the two years since her inauguration. Palin Pushed for Alaskan Felons to Give Up Their DNA In office for fewer than six months, the governor worked with legislators from both parties to pass a sweeping crime bill. The new law allows police to collect DNA from adults arrested for a felony or a crime a
gainst another person. Those who are exonerated would have their DNA destroyed. The crime bill also strengthened laws dealing with violent offenders, sexual predators, and anyone who witnesses but fails to report a violent crime. (Governor pictured left giving 2008 State of the State Address before the Legislature in Juneau.)
Governor Uses Money to Get Sex Offenders’ Attention Most states have laws that require a sex offender to register his home address with the state. I did story after story detailing how sex offenders in Texas would fail to register leaving some community vulnerable if the offender strikes again. When Governor Palin saw that sex offenders often ignore registration laws, she decided to try a novel approach. After Palin confronted oil companies and required greater payment to Alaskans for their state’s natural resources, the people of Alaska now receive a dividend payment. The Governor’s crime bill bars convicted sex offenders from receiving their fund dividend if they fail to keep their information current on the state Sex Offender Registry.
Palin on Child Killers: “Hang 'em up”
When asked if she would support a death penalty in Alaska, Governor Palin said she would sign a bill that established a death penalty. In one debate before the governor’s election, she was more passionate. She said she supported capital punishment especially in cases where children are murdered. Newspapers quote Palin as saying, “My goodness, hang 'em up, yeah.” (Palin, pictured above, is a member of the NRA and a lifelong avid hunter.)
gainst another person. Those who are exonerated would have their DNA destroyed. The crime bill also strengthened laws dealing with violent offenders, sexual predators, and anyone who witnesses but fails to report a violent crime. (Governor pictured left giving 2008 State of the State Address before the Legislature in Juneau.)Governor Uses Money to Get Sex Offenders’ Attention Most states have laws that require a sex offender to register his home address with the state. I did story after story detailing how sex offenders in Texas would fail to register leaving some community vulnerable if the offender strikes again. When Governor Palin saw that sex offenders often ignore registration laws, she decided to try a novel approach. After Palin confronted oil companies and required greater payment to Alaskans for their state’s natural resources, the people of Alaska now receive a dividend payment. The Governor’s crime bill bars convicted sex offenders from receiving their fund dividend if they fail to keep their information current on the state Sex Offender Registry.
Palin on Child Killers: “Hang 'em up”
When asked if she would support a death penalty in Alaska, Governor Palin said she would sign a bill that established a death penalty. In one debate before the governor’s election, she was more passionate. She said she supported capital punishment especially in cases where children are murdered. Newspapers quote Palin as saying, “My goodness, hang 'em up, yeah.” (Palin, pictured above, is a member of the NRA and a lifelong avid hunter.) Palin Orders State Prisoners to Work and Rehab Palin doubled the number of recruits in public safety to reduce prison overcrowding. To combat the all-too-common post-release employment problem, Palin implemented a plan to require inmates who will re-enter society to work and attend rehabilitation programs instead of just sitting in prison.
Palin Pursued Republican Crooks First Before sh
e was elected governor on a clean government platform, Palin took on and defeated corruption in her own party. She resigned her state job as Chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission over the “lack of ethics” of fellow Republican members. She then filed official complaints—one against fellow board member and state Republican Party Chairman Randy Ruedrich. Palin accused him of doing party work on public time and working closely with the company he was supposed to be regulating. After he was exposed, Ruedrich resigned and paid a record $12,000 fine.
In her first month of office, Palin presented an ethics reform bill to the state legislature that forced more financial disclosure, defines conflicts of interest, bans gifts from lobbyists, and bans certain state employees from becoming lobbyist for up to a year after they leave office.
Palin Now Focus of Ethics Probe Herself Now the governor is embroiled in an ethics controversy of her own. The state’s public safety commissioner claims the governor fired him after he failed to fire her brother-in-law, a state trooper. Palin’s sister and the brother-in-law are in a nasty custody battle where the brother-in-law is accused of tasering one of the children, which he admits to, and making threats to family members, which he has denied (though he is careful to not call his accusers liars). Palin confirms her staff called the commissioner about firing the trooper but says they did it without her knowledge. (Palin below in her Alaska office where a grizzly bear pelt graces the gubernatorial sofa. We are not sure whether the feisty frontierswoman bagged the bear on a hunt or simply scared him to death when they crossed paths.)
"Barracuda Sarah "
Palin Pursued Republican Crooks First Before sh
e was elected governor on a clean government platform, Palin took on and defeated corruption in her own party. She resigned her state job as Chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission over the “lack of ethics” of fellow Republican members. She then filed official complaints—one against fellow board member and state Republican Party Chairman Randy Ruedrich. Palin accused him of doing party work on public time and working closely with the company he was supposed to be regulating. After he was exposed, Ruedrich resigned and paid a record $12,000 fine.In her first month of office, Palin presented an ethics reform bill to the state legislature that forced more financial disclosure, defines conflicts of interest, bans gifts from lobbyists, and bans certain state employees from becoming lobbyist for up to a year after they leave office.
Palin Now Focus of Ethics Probe Herself Now the governor is embroiled in an ethics controversy of her own. The state’s public safety commissioner claims the governor fired him after he failed to fire her brother-in-law, a state trooper. Palin’s sister and the brother-in-law are in a nasty custody battle where the brother-in-law is accused of tasering one of the children, which he admits to, and making threats to family members, which he has denied (though he is careful to not call his accusers liars). Palin confirms her staff called the commissioner about firing the trooper but says they did it without her knowledge. (Palin below in her Alaska office where a grizzly bear pelt graces the gubernatorial sofa. We are not sure whether the feisty frontierswoman bagged the bear on a hunt or simply scared him to death when they crossed paths.)
"Barracuda Sarah " When you drive in Alaska, you may see one of the many bumper stickers that proclaim: "Coldest State, Hottest Governor." After all, Palin is a beauty queen who, incidentally, put her contest cash and scholarships from local and state pageant wins to good use, paying her own way through college. When Sarah wore the Miss Wasilla crown back in high school, she carried an unusual nickname for a beauty queen. Palin was called "Sarah barracuda" for her toughness on her high school's state championship basketball team. (The jounalism major was once a news reporter and sports anchor). Alaskans resurrected Palin's barracuda image for obvious reasons. "Barracuda" by Heart was p
layed twice at the RNC, the rock song's tribal strains drumming a warning: "This ain't the end—we'll see [her] again. . . ." Republicans and Democrats beware: this beautiful barracuda bites hard. Watch out, Washington. And watch the V.P. debate within a safe distance from your TV. Many bets are on Biden getting impaled.
35 comments:
Cynthia, Palin also tried to fire the Wasilla librarian because the woman refused to agree to censorship. There are two sides to all of us. Here's Palin's other side according to a Wasilla resident. (The origin of this letter was verified by snopes.com):
ABOUT SARAH PALIN
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 Down's syndrome baby. 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 6 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.
As an oil producer, the high price of oil has created a budget surplus in Alaska. Rather than invest this surplus in technology that will make us energy independent and increase efficiency, as Governor she proposed distribution of this surplus to every individual in the state.
In this time of record state revenues and budget surpluses, she recommended that the state borrow/bond for road projects, even while she proposed distribution of surplus state revenues: spend today's surplus, borrow for needs.
She's not very tolerant of divergent opinions or open to outside ideas or compromise. As Mayor, she fought ideas that weren’t generated by her or her staff. Ideas weren't evaluated on their merits, but on the basis of who proposed them.
While Sarah was Mayor of Wasilla she tried to fire our highly respected City Librarian because the Librarian refused to consider removing from the library some books that Sarah wanted removed. City residents rallied to the defense of the City Librarian and against Palin's attempt at out-and-out censorship, so Palin backed down and withdrew her termination letter. People who fought her attempt to oust the Librarian are on her enemies list to this day.
Sarah complained about the "old boy's club" when she first ran for Mayor, so what did she bring Wasilla? A new set of "old boys". Palin fired most of the experienced staff she inherited. At the City and as Governor she hired or elevated new, inexperienced, obscure people, creating a staff totally dependent on her for their jobs and eternally grateful and fiercely loyal — loyal to the point of abusing their power to further her personal agenda, as she has acknowledged happened in the case of pressuring the State's top cop (see below).
As Mayor, Sarah fired Wasilla's Police Chief because he "intimidated" her, she told the press. As Governor, her recent firing of Alaska's top cop has the ring of familiarity about it. He served at her pleasure and she had every legal right to fire him, but it's pretty clear that an important factor in her decision to fire him was because he wouldn't fire her sister's ex-husband, a State Trooper. Under investigation for abuse of power, she has had to admit that more than 2 dozen contacts were made between her staff and family to the person that she later fired, pressuring him to fire her ex-brother-in-law. She tried to replace the man she fired with a man who she knew had been reprimanded for sexual harassment; when this caused a public furor, she withdrew her support.
She has bitten the hand of every person who extended theirs to her in help. The City Council person who personally escorted her around town introducing her to voters when she first ran for Wasilla City Council became one of her first targets when she was later elected Mayor. She abruptly fired her loyal City Administrator; even people who didn’t like the guy were stunned by this ruthlessness.
Fear of retribution has kept all of these people from saying anything publicly about her.
When then-Governor Murkowski was handing out political plums, Sarah got the best, Chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission: one of the few jobs not in Juneau and one of the best paid. She had no background in oil & gas issues. Within months of scoring this great job which paid $122,400/yr, she was complaining in the press about the high salary. I was told that she hated that job: the commute, the structured hours, the work. Sarah became aware that a member of this Commission (who was also the State Chair of the Republican Party) engaged in unethical behavior on the job. In a gutsy move which some undoubtedly cautioned her could be political suicide, Sarah solved all her problems in one fell swoop: got out of the job she hated and garnered gobs of media attention as the patron saint of ethics and as a gutsy fighter against the "old boys' club" when she dramatically quit, exposing this man’s ethics violations (for which he was fined).
As Mayor, she had her hand stuck out as far as anyone for pork from Senator Ted Stevens. Lately, she has castigated his pork-barrel politics and publicly humiliated him. She only opposed the "bridge to nowhere" after it became clear that it would be unwise not to.
As Governor, she gave the Legislature no direction and budget guidelines, then made a big grandstand display of line-item vetoing projects, calling them pork. Public outcry and further legislative action restored most of these projects — which had been vetoed simply because she was not aware of their importance — but with the unobservant she had gained a reputation as "anti-pork."
She is solidly Republican: no political maverick. The State party leaders hate her because she has bit them in the back and humiliated them. Other members of the party object to her self-description as a fiscal conservative.
Around Wasilla there are people who went to high school with Sarah. They call her "Sarah Barracuda" because of her unbridled ambition and predatory ruthlessness. Before she became so powerful, very ugly stories circulated around town about shenanigans she pulled to be made point guard on the high school basketball team. When Sarah's mother-in-law, a highly respected member of the community and experienced manager, ran for Mayor, Sarah refused to endorse her.
As Governor, she stepped outside of the box and put together of package of legislation known as "AGIA" that forced the oil companies to march to the beat of her drum.
Like most Alaskans, she favors drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. She has questioned if the loss of sea ice is linked to global warming. She campaigned "as a private citizen" against a state initiaitive that would have either a) protected salmon streams from pollution from mines, or b) tied up in the courts all mining in the state (depending on who you listen to). She has pushed the State’s lawsuit against the Dept. of the Interior's decision to list polar bears as threatened species.
McCain is the oldest person to ever run for President; Sarah will be a heartbeat away from being President.
There has to be literally millions of Americans who are more knowledgeable and experienced than she.
However, there's a lot of people who have underestimated her and are regretting it.
CLAIM VS FACT
o "Hockey mom": true for a few years
o "PTA mom": true years ago when her first-born was in elementary school, not since
p "NRA supporter": absolutely true
o social conservative: mixed. Opposes gay marriage, BUT vetoed a bill that would have denied benefits to employees in same-sex relationships (said she did this because it was unconstiutional).
o pro-creationism: mixed. Supports it, BUT did nothing as Governor to promote it.
o "Pro-life": mixed. Knowingly gave birth to a Down's syndrome baby BUT declined to call a special legislative session on some pro-life legislation.
o "Experienced": Some high schools have more students than Wasilla has residents. Many cities have more residents than the state of Alaska.
No legislative experience other than City Council. Little hands-on supervisory or managerial experience; needed help of a city administrator to run town of about 5,000.
o political maverick: not at all
o gutsy: absolutely!
o open & transparent: Good at keeping secrets. Not good at explaining actions.
o has a developed philosophy of public policy: no
o "a Greenie": no. Turned Wasilla into a wasteland of big box stores and disconnected parking lots. Is pro-drilling off-shore and in ANWR.
o fiscal conservative: not by my definition!
o pro-infrastructure: No. Promoted a sports complex and park in a city without a sewage treatment plant or storm drainage system. Built streets to early 20th century standards.
o pro-tax relief: Lowered taxes for businesses, increased tax burden on residents.
o pro-small government: No. Oversaw greatest expansion of city government in Wasilla’s history.
o pro-labor/pro-union. No. Just because her husband works union doesn't make her pro-labor. I have seen nothing to support any claim that she is pro-labor/pro-union.
WHY AM I WRITING THIS?
First, I have long believed in the importance of being an informed voter. I am a voter registrar. For 10 years I put on student voting programs in the schools. If you google my name (Anne Kilkenny + Alaska), you will find references to my participation in local government, education, and PTA/parent organizations.
Secondly, I've always operated in the belief that "Bad things happen when good people stay silent". Few people know as much as I do because few have gone to as many City Council meetings.
Third, I am just a housewife. I don't have a job she can bump me out of. I don't belong to any organization that she can hurt. But, I am no fool; she is immensely popular here, and it is likely that this will cost me somehow in the future: that’s life.
Fourth, she has hated me since back in 1996, when I was one of the 100 or so people who rallied to support the City Librarian against Sarah's attempt at censorship.
Fifth, I looked around and realized that everybody else was afraid to say anything because they were somehow vulnerable.
CAVEATS
I am not a statistician. I developed the numbers for the increase in spending & taxation 2 years ago (when Palin was running for Governor) from information supplied to me by the Finance Director of the City of Wasilla, and I can't recall exactly what I adjusted for: did I adjust for inflation? for population increases? Right now, it is impossible for a private person to get any info out of City Hall — they are swamped. So I can't verify my numbers.
You may have noticed that there are various numbers circulating for the population of Wasilla, ranging from my "about 5,000", up to 9,000. The day Palin’s selection was announced a city official told me that the current population is about 7,000. The official 2000 census count was 5,460. I have used about 5,000 because Palin was Mayor from 1996 to 2002, and the city was growing rapidly in the mid-90’s.
Anne Kilkenny
August 31, 2008
For the first time, McCain is in the lead and his running mate has helped him get there. Looks like the tide is turning and the Main Stream Media is pitching a fit! A picture is worth a thousand words - check out this funny cartoon!
http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/barackobama/ig/Barack-Obama-Cartoons/Leave-Obama-Alone.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-09-07-poll_N.htm
The origin of Anne Kilkenny's letter may have been verified by snopes.com but not the veracity of it's content. Whew! The extent of her rant personifies issues of the author (and co-authors???)that warrant further investigation.
Strong women of character often intimidate those consumed with fear of their own inadequacy. The frenzy to bring down Sarah Palin sadly exemplifies that sexism is the number 1 form of discrimination in America.
Thank-you Kathryn for showing the other side....I always thought this was a crime blog, not a platform for political views.
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this blog is women and crime. The post addressed both: a woman candidates position on crime. the blog cannot control comments from others who address issues not at all related to crime
You people need to learn how to read. Cynthia clearly set out her thesis in her post:
"Since this is a blog about women who work in crime, we need to see where the Republicans’ new rock star and Democrat’s new lipstick-wearing nemesis stands."
Let's stick to crime. That's what this is all about and were the real discussion should be IMHO.
Here at Women in Crime Ink, we try to keep our readers informed. Back in March, Robin Sax addressed Obama's stance on crime, as well as McCain's view on the issue. If you missed that post, please click on this link:
http://womenincrimeink.blogspot.com/2008/03/clinton-v-obama-and-mccain-too-where-do.html
Thanks for reading Women in Crime Ink!
Nonsense, Cricket. Anne Kilkenny's "rant" would be discrimination IF you, or anyone else, could disprove the accusations therein. To date, no one has. If you want to cry discrimination, back it up. Show us where none of this is true. Slinging insults about Kilkenny's "fear of her own inadequacy", without evidence to contrast her claims, is just an attempt to draw attention away from the veracity of Kilkenny's claims.
Palin threw her hat into the ring willingly. That makes her life open to scrutiny. It isn't all going to be wholesome family reading.
I am anxious to watch the VP debate. I think Biden can hold his own against the "Barracuda".
You peeps are tracking the wrong issue. Who cares what that lady says? She admits being an enemy of Palin---that Palin "hates" her. Don't hop on a runaway train to nowhere. Unless Kilkenny (sp?) has something to say about Palin and crime, save it for another blog. Geez. Does anyone know Palin's position on drug laws? I have been looking for crime stuff on her but its' hard to come by. Thanks CYnthia for writing this.
:::applause:::
thanks michelle
that rant doesnt mention the word crime one single time
but do we really care what the barracuda thinks about crime? since whens the vp have any juice with justice
More about Sarah Palin
Received this item this morning from an ole Shipmate. He and I both have served duty tours in Alaska, albeit, most of it was out in the Aleutians! However, several trips to real Alaska civilization, Anchorage, provided me with a great insight into the ruggedness and backbone of all Alaskans....they are a ruff and tuff bunch who lives life to the fullest, whether it be with double-shots of the best spirits or a stack of sourdough
pancakes!
jhw
- - - - - - - - -
From an old Air America buddy in Alaska - actually sent to someone else
but Cc'ed to me.
And from a Alaska man who is a very serious cynic about all things
political here is my take on Sarah.
I met and spoke with Sarah Palin about two years ago at our downtown Park Strip. It is a place for walking, carnivals, political outdoor things and such. She was cooking hotdogs at a fund raiser and introducing herself to the public as a Governor hopeful.
She came by and said the usual "Hi, I'm Sarah Palin and I am running for Governor"...and I expected her to keep on to the next person but she asked me who I was and what I did in Alaska and we ended up talking for 15 minutes about me, Air America (she was all agog!) and my career
in the Army and AAM. She is a pilot (Super Cub) I'm told although all she told me about that was that she loved flying.
As I watched her over the next six months as she successfully ran for Governor I was really impressed. I was impressed greatly even before
that after she resigned a good position (Alaska Gas and Oil Regulatory Commission) because a fellow Commission member (Chair of the Alaska Republican Party) misused their office and position. He was using the FAX, computers, printing room and all to promote the Republican
endeavors while in a State job. That is a huge no-no in any governmentemployment position.
She resigned and made her point and within weeks Randy Ruderich (the above bad guy) found his ass out on the street and a subsequent
investigation found him guilty and he was fined $12,000. Small change actually but a giant point was made.
Next she went after our most horrible Governor ever, Governor
Murkowski, and damned if she didn't beat him! All of us here in
Alaska , except the Democrats, are sick of our State's corruption. That fact was shouted to the heavens after she was elected with an overwhelming point spread.
After she got into office she started after corrupt legislators and with the FBI's help we've put four of them in prison, indicted six more and the "Corrupt Bastard's Club" as they arrogantly called themselves
(even had hats made with CBC on the front!) suddenly found it no fun anymore. Club membership is now in the toilet!!
The current flap which has cost her a ten point loss of popularity
(she's still 82%!) was over firing a popular Commissioner of Public Safety who is responsible for our Alaska State Troopers. She fired him for no STATED reason which was her prerogative as the Gov. He served entirely at her option. She and her whole family had a bad, bad experience with a rogue Trooper who was married to Sarah's sister. His
name is Trooper Wooten. This dimwit Trooper had threatened Sarah's father (death threat!), threatened Sarah ("I'll get you too"), tasered his 12 year old stepson, drove drunk in his AST cruiser, got a pass by a fellow Trooper who stopped him for erratic driving a second time
while in civvies and just a host of other things not yet released to the public. He got away with it and got another pass by the
Commissioner's appointed AST Trooper Internal Affairs investigator with a tiny slap on the wrist. Five days off without pay to be exact!!
This maverick Trooper is still on the payroll but only just. The Union intervening saved his malcontent ass. He'll yet get his I'm sure. Incredible heat is being heaped on the Troopers. Public heat, not the Governors office.
The Democrats had the audacity to appoint a obviously biased
investigator, Rep. "Gunny" French (so called because he lied about
being in the USMC while running for the Legislature) is a staunch
liberal and under the orders of Senate President Lyda Green who hates Sara. She hates Sarah because after being elected Governor Sarah told the whole Legislature in one of her first meetings with them that,
quote; "All of you here need some Adult Supervision!!!". Sarah was
seriously pissed and not afraid of anyone there.That played wonderfully well with Alaskans after all of our corruption and after all of her successful battles against a seriously entrenched corrupt government
here in Alaska . It pissed off the whole Legislature though! They have stayed pissed but also afraid of her because of her popularity.
She reminds me personally of our Alaska wolverine which will fight
anything in its path if it see's fit to do so. No respect at all for size or position. Wife Cindy is in this category too. Unfortunately.
In closing I must tell you that she is the best, most moral and most focused leader I've seen since President Reagan. I feel, really strongly, that like Alaska the rest of our country will love her within a few weeks. Put simply, she represents middle America like NO leader
we've ever had. I think McCain made a totally brilliant move in
choosing her. She's a maverick who is probably tougher and more focused than McCain himself....and she won't be a total "Yes Man" or more
appropriately, woman. McCain will love her.
In 2012 she will be President.
My best to all of you in the hurricane belt. I hope you are all OK. We just had another mini Air America reunion here in beautiful Soldotna ,
Alaska along the Kenai river. We'll be doing this every year now I guess. Like our Flying Tiger pal's before us there are not that many Air America guys left. I'm 71 myself this September 16. Where the hell
did the years go so fast?
My best to you old buddy
Semper Fi,
George W. Murray
Well, since she's going to be a heartbeat away from the presidency (with an old president who has had cancer), shouldn't we look at the total person? And, actually, the firings Kilkenny writes about are crime related, they're of cops.
Palin not only fired Alaska's top cop, as mayor, she fired Wasilla's police chief. She is, of course, being investigated on the former firing. (This is the first time I can remember when a candidate for VP or pres is under investigation when named to a ticket. That usually happens later. LOL)
I don't consider asking these questions sexism. Actually, it would be sexism if we didn't ask the same questions of a woman we would of a man. Certainly, we have the right/obligation to evaluate Palin as we would any other candidate.
Did ya'll see this Maureen Dowd column? Can you imagine anything more intense than this? Hillary's no hockey mom, but she's still a pit bull with lipstick. What a missed opportunity
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/opinion/07dowd.html?em
KATHERINE WROTE:
Cynthia, Palin also tried to fire the Wasilla librarian because the woman refused to agree to censorship. There are two sides to all of us. Here's Palin's other side according to a Wasilla resident. (The origin of this letter was verified by snopes.com):
KATHERINE - BETCHA THERE'S ANOTHER SIDE TO THAT "CENSORSHIP" STORY TOO. WHAT'S PALIN'S SIDE OF THAT STORY? CAN YOU SHARE THAT WITH US? (FYI - I WOULDN'T RELY ON "SNOPES" OR THE ONE-SIDED STORY OF SOMEONE WHO ADMITS TO BEING PALIN'S ENEMY.)
=================================="Well, since she's going to be a heartbeat away from the presidency (with an old president who has had cancer), shouldn't we look at the total person?"
==================================
yes anon we should look at the total person but not on a crime blog. there are a ton of poliblogs out there - keep crime here and the other issues there
Kathryn: What was it Palin tried to censor? A particular book?
Maybe it was something like this story involving Cynthia Hunt:
http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=03/12/19/0441087
Would you support censoring that type of material, Kathryn?
I would like to hear from both of you women in crime ink! (it'll be a crime for you to stay silent!)
a.l.a. said...
KATHERINE - BETCHA THERE'S ANOTHER SIDE TO THAT "CENSORSHIP" STORY TOO. WHAT'S PALIN'S SIDE OF THAT STORY? CAN YOU SHARE THAT WITH US? (FYI - I WOULDN'T RELY ON "SNOPES" OR THE ONE-SIDED STORY OF SOMEONE WHO ADMITS TO BEING PALIN'S ENEMY.)
Before you cry foul, back it up. If you think the letter only presents one side of the story, you're right. Kathryn pointed that out pretty clearly, I thought. It's simply one point of view about Palin, but that doesn't make it less true. If you have evidence that any of it isn't true, then where is it?
(And Snopes doesn't verify the authenticity of Kilkenny's claims - only the authenticity of the authorship. In other words, they verified isn't a 'hoax' email. That's all. Barbara Mikkelson at Snopes doesn't venture a guess, in either direction, about the truth of the statements. Before discrediting what Snopes says, you might try actually reading what they say.)
Sorry, I've been working all day. Busy, busy. I found Kilkenny's letter interesting and thought y'all would as well.
My purpose was to include the other side of the debate and open up discussion. No, as far as I know, Kilkenny's letter hasn't been vetted for accuracy, but I haven't read anywhere that the facts are being disputed. If they are, you'd do us all a favor by posting the details along with links to credible sources.
Anyway, I assume we all believe in the importance of debating the issues. And I agree with the anon above who thinks it's reverse discrimination not to look as carefully at Palin as we would any other candidate.
Back to work. I'm on deadline....
Thanks to you all for the spirited comments. Thanks Michelle for recognizing that yes, I tried to write about crime related issues because we are a crime blog.
JHW..thanks to you and George Murray for his personal experience with Palin and for the input on the investigation into Palin and the trooper. Semper Fi—my dad Is a Marine too!
I appreciate all of this input into my blog on Palin’s crime stance.
Kathryn you are right… we need to know as much about Palin as possible from credible sources.
Wic Fan...the story you mention involved a link on the TEEN page of the Houston Public Library site. It linked kids to a site that contained XXX material..how to's on beastiality, oral sex, etc. That's why Houston's Democrat mayor at the time had the link removed.
I love that so many of us are so passionate about the election and the candidates this year.
I bet you one thing. That VP debate is going to rock the house with ratings.
whew I'm worn out from just reading these post! I'll tell you what I like about Pallin. She's inspirational and I could sure use some of that. She's what I call a real good woman ... alot like a bunch of other women I know called womenincrimeink. I think women in general need some good role models. Now I've got all of you and Sarah Pallin. Thing are looking up!
My blog was about Palin and crime stances that I could verify. But since my respected, author colleague Kathryn Casey published an Alaska woman's letter on the blog...a letter that criticized Palin on everything from A to Z...I would like to offer the following research from the Annenberg Political Fact Check the University of Pennsylvania.
http://www.factcheck.org/
The Annenberg Political Fact Check defines itself as a nonpartisan, nonprofit, "consumer advocate" for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. We monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews, and news releases. Our goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding.
Fact Check's director Brooks Jackson is a veteran journalist of 34 years who worked for The Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal and CNN.
The Annenberg Center has reported the following in a Fact Check released yesterday about Governor Sarah Palin and about Anne Kilkenny's claims. The following are direct excerpts.
We’ve been flooded for the past few days with queries about dubious Internet postings and mass e-mail messages making claims about McCain’s running mate, Gov. Palin. We find that many are completely false, or misleading.
She did not demand that books be banned from the Wasilla library. Some of the books on a widely circulated list were not even in print at the time. The librarian has said Palin asked a "What if?" question, but the librarian continued in her job through most of Palin's first term.
Not a Book Burner
One false rumor accuses then-Mayor Palin of threatening to fire Wasilla’s librarian for refusing to ban books from the town library. Some versions of the rumor come complete with a list of the books that Palin allegedly attempted to ban. The story is false on several fronts: Palin never asked that books be banned; the librarian continued to serve in that position; no books were actually banned; and many of the books on the list that Palin supposedly wanted to censor weren't even in print at the time, proving that the list is a fabrication.
It’s true that Palin did raise the issue with Mary Ellen Emmons, Wasilla’s librarian, on at least two occasions. Emmons flatly stated her opposition both times. But, as the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman (Wasilla’s local paper) reported at the time, Palin asked general questions about what Emmons would say if Palin requested that a book be banned. According to Emmons, Palin "was asking me how I would deal with her saying a book can't be in the library." Emmons reported that Palin pressed the issue, asking whether Emmons' position would change if residents were picketing the library. Wasilla resident Anne Kilkenny, who was at the meeting, corroborates Emmons' story, telling the Chicago Tribune that "Sarah said to Mary Ellen, 'What would your response be if I asked you to remove some books from the collection?' "
Palin characterized the exchange differently, initially volunteering the episode as an example of discussions with city employees about following her administration's agenda. Palin described her questions to Emmons as “rhetorical,” noting that her questions "were asked in the context of professionalism regarding the library policy that is in place in our city." Actually, true rhetorical questions have implied answers (e.g., “Who do you think you are?”), so Palin probably meant to describe her questions as hypothetical or theoretical. We can't read minds, so it is impossible for us to know whether or not Palin may actually have wanted to ban books from the library or whether she simply wanted to know how her new employees would respond to an instruction from their boss. It is worth noting that, in an update, the Frontiersman points out that no book was ever banned from the library’s shelves.
Moreover, although Palin fired Emmons as part of a "loyalty" purge, she rehired Emmons the next day, and Emmons remained at her job for two-and-a-half more years. Actually, Palin initially requested Emmons’ resignation in October 1996, four days before the public discussion of censorship. That was at the same time she requested that all four of Wasilla’s department heads resign. Palin described the requests as a loyalty test and allowed all four department heads to retain their positions. But on Jan. 30, 1997, three months after the censorship discussion, Palin informed Emmons and Wasilla’s police chief, Irv Stambaugh, that they would be fired. According to the Chicago Tribune, Palin did not list censorship as a reason for Emmons’ firing. Palin rehired Emmons the following day. Emmons continued to serve as librarian until August 1999, when the Chicago Tribune reports that she resigned.
So what about that list of books targeted for banning, which according to one widely e-mailed version was taken “from the official minutes of the Wasilla Library Board”? If it was, the library board should take up fortune telling. The list includes the first four Harry Potter books, none of which had been published at the time of the Palin-Emmons conversations. The first wasn't published until 1998. In fact, the list is a simple cut-and-paste job, snatched (complete with typos and the occasional incorrect title) from the Florida Institute of Technology library Web page, which presents the list as “Books banned at one time or another in the United States.”
That E-mail Author
Switching gears: Almost 100 readers have written to ask us if the many claims made about Palin in an e-mail written by someone named Anne Kilkenny are true. We can tell you that Kilkenny is a real person. (She was quoted by the Chicago Tribune, as we said above.) According to the New York Times, she’s a Democrat. According to Kilkenny herself, Palin “has hated me since back in 1996, when I was one of the 100 or so people who rallied to support the City Librarian against Sarah’s attempt at censorship."
We’re still analyzing Kilkenny’s claims, and we will be posting something on this soon.
Gloria Steinem, SPECIAL TO LOS ANGELES TIMES
Monday, September 08, 2008
Here's the good news: Women have become so politically powerful that even the anti-feminist right wing — the folks with a headlock on the Republican Party — are trying to appease the gender gap with a first-ever female vice presidential candidate. We owe this to women — and to many men, too — who have picketed, gone on hunger strikes or confronted violence at the polls so women can vote. We owe it to Shirley Chisholm, who first took the "white-male-only" sign off the White House, and to Hillary Clinton, who hung in there through ridicule and misogyny to win 18 million votes.
But here is even better news: It won't work. This isn't the first time a boss has picked an unqualified woman just because she agrees with him and opposes everything most other women want and need. Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It's about making life more fair for women everywhere.
Selecting Sarah Palin, who was touted all summer by Rush Limbaugh, is no way to attract most women, including die-hard Clinton supporters. Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Clinton. Her divisive and deceptive speech did nothing to cosmeticize a GOP convention that has more than twice as many male delegates as female, a presidential candidate who is owned and operated by the right wing and a platform that opposes pretty much everything Clinton's candidacy stood for — and that Barack Obama's still does. To vote in protest for McCain/Palin would be like saying, "Somebody stole my shoes, so I'll amputate my legs."
This is not to beat up on Palin. I defend her right to be wrong, even on issues that matter most to me. I regret that people say she can't do the job because she has children in need of care, especially if they wouldn't say the same about a father. I get no pleasure from imagining her in the spotlight on national and foreign-policy issues about which she has zero background, with one month to learn to compete with Sen. Joe Biden's 37 years' experience.
Palin has been honest about what she doesn't know. When asked last month about the vice presidency, she said, "I still can't answer that question until someone answers for me: What is it exactly that the VP does every day?" When asked about Iraq, she said, "I haven't really focused much on the war in Iraq."
She was elected governor largely because the incumbent was unpopular, and she's won over Alaskans mostly by using unprecedented oil wealth to give a $1,200 rebate to every resident. Now she is being praised by McCain's campaign as a tax cutter, despite the fact that Alaska has no state income tax or sales tax.
Perhaps McCain has opposed affirmative action for so long that he doesn't know it's about inviting more people to meet standards, not lowering them. Or perhaps McCain is following the Bush administration habit, as in the Justice Department, of putting a job candidate's views on "God, guns and gays" ahead of competence.
The difference is that McCain is filling a job one 72-year-old heartbeat away from the presidency.
So let's be clear: The culprit is John McCain. He may have chosen Palin out of change-envy, or a belief that women can't tell the difference between form and content, but the main motive was to please right-wing ideologues; the same ones who nixed anyone who is now or ever has been a supporter of reproductive freedom. If that were not the case, McCain could have chosen a woman who knows what a vice president does and who has thought about Iraq, someone like Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas or Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine. McCain could have taken a baby step away from right-wing patriarchs who determine his actions, right down to opposing the Violence Against Women Act.
Palin's value to those patriarchs is clear: She opposes just about every issue that women support by a majority or plurality. She believes creationism should be taught in public schools but disbelieves global warming; she opposes gun control but supports government control of women's wombs; she opposes stem cell research but approves "abstinence-only" programs, which increase unwanted births, sexually transmitted diseases and abortions; she tried to use taxpayers' millions for a state program to shoot wolves from the air but didn't spend enough money to fix a state school system with the nation's lowest high-school graduation rate; she runs with a candidate who opposes the Fair Pay Act but supports $500 million in subsidies for a natural gas pipeline across Alaska; she supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, although even McCain has opted for the lesser evil of offshore drilling.
I don't doubt her sincerity. As a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association, she doesn't just support killing animals from helicopters, she does it herself. She doesn't just talk about increasing the use of fossil fuels but puts a coal-burning power plant in her own small town. She doesn't just echo McCain's pledge to criminalize abortion by overturning Roe v. Wade, she says that if one of her daughters were impregnated by rape or incest, she should bear the child. She not only opposes reproductive freedom as a human right but implies that it dictates abortion, without saying that it also protects the right to have a child.
A major new supporter that Palin has attracted is James Dobson of Focus on the Family. Of course, for Dobson, "women are merely waiting for their husbands to assume leadership," so he may be voting for Palin's husband.
Being a hope-a-holic, however, I can see two long-term bipartisan gains from this contest.
Republicans may learn they can't appeal to right-wing patriarchs and most women at the same time. A loss in November could cause the centrist majority of Republicans to take back their party, which was the first to support the Equal Rights Amendment and should be the last to want to invite government into the wombs of women.
And American women, who suffer more because of having two full-time jobs than from any other single injustice, finally have support on a national stage from male leaders who know that women can't be equal outside the home until men are equal in it. Obama and Biden are campaigning on their belief that men should be, can be and want to be at home for their children.
This could be huge.
Steinem is an author, feminist organizer and co-founder of the Women's Media Center.
I'm not going to buy the story of a coward who refuses to use her last name.
Sarah Palin, John McCain and all the white republicans that support their party's ticket are racists? Wow!! Now that is pretty over the top. The mere fact that a black man is the Democratic party's nomination and that overall the entire country is split ~50-50 clearly demonstrates that racism as we once knew it is dead in America. Why is it that if over 92% of black Americans support Obama that's not racism but that the ~50% of white Americans that support McCain are all racists? Why is is it that allegations of racial slurs made by Palin are ordained to be true while the closest of Obama's confidants, including his wife, Michelle, and his pastor, Mr. Wright, have made documented audio/video and written racial slurs that are deemed "taken out of context" and therefore not true? Hypocrisy has no limits in the media and as such has reduced these social parasites to irrelevance.
Women in Crime blog? If Palin is elected, it will be a crime. We don't need another fundamentalist in the White House.
Many thanks to Kathryn Casey, for her brilliant and thought provoking satirical post… In truly witty fashion, Casey points out the dangerous trend of online rumor-mongering and disinformation.
Had Casey’s comments not been posted a respected author and journalistic professional, they may have been mistaken as the ignorant ramblings of a bitter and intellectually dishonest elitist.
Since it is widely known that the Anne Kilkenny article has been debunked as an unfounded attack by a political rival of Sarah Palin, Casey clearly wishes to impress on us the importance of critically considering such propaganda.
It is unfortunate that so many Americans accept unsubstantiated accusations, with no attempt to investigate or confirm. Perhaps more upsetting is the reality that the manipulation of an unquestioning and unsuspecting public has become central to political strategy.
Al Bundy,
Exactly on point. Rae needs to check her gerbils.....I think they fell off their little exercise wheels.
This is what Palin thinks of crime victims.... She wanted rape victims to pay for their own rape kits!
"So Sambo beat the bitch!"
Oh, I am so calling BS on this one. It's one thing to supportive of your candidate and have strong opinions. It's another to just make up whatever you want, throw it on the wall and see if it sticks. This article's writer smacks of the Arianna Huffington blog muck. His sources consist of a woman who's been popping up a lot--Anne Kilkenny, who obviously has an ax to grind as she's been sourced in plenty of negative articles on Palin. Hope she enjoys her 15 minutes, because her claims, such as the one regarding firing the librarian, are falling apart.
Another is the so-called, "Lucille" a waitress and maid to Charley James's friend. She's the one who claimed to have overheard the racist comment, but is too afraid to speak except anonymously. Well, that might be because she's heard of the term "slander." Yet a third was never named.
Said one of few sources who gives his name (but doesn't live there anymore) said, "Juneau is a small town; everybody knows everyone else," he adds. "These stories about what she calls blacks and Eskimos, well, anyone not white and good looking actually, were around long before she became a glint in John McCain's rheumy eyes. Why do I know they're true? Because everyone who isn't aboriginal or Indian in Alaska talks that way."
So he isn't a witness, but he just "knows" it's this way.
Hmmmm...did someone forget that Palin's HUSBAND, the "First Dude" is at least 1/4 Eskimo?
I don't think I'm the only voter out there that is SICK of, when a reporter/commentator can't find any REAL dirt, they make some up either in part or whole cloth. How many articles are we seeing that say something like, "Was ___ a child molester in a past life?" The story ends up never really PROVING it's claim, but it's enough to start tongues wagging because most never get around to reading more than the first couple of paragraphs and the newspapers know this.
What really disturbs me is something like this is being posted by a published author who, presumably, is familiar with research.
CB
You are right. I did not do my research. I am so caught up in finishing a manuscript that I posted that piece on impulse out of a combination of anger and fear.
Because of this I just tried to remove the post but couldn't seem to do it. I will try again.
I totally respect you for that. Both sides and their surrogates have slung mud. We must look at all claims with a jaded eye, whether claims about Obama's religion or Palin's baby. Especially, when the jabs get personal rather than just arguing policy differences or don't follow accusations with solid facts. Don't let the politicos tear us apart. We were so united 7 years ago.
Good luck with your book.
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