Gov. Sarah Palin to resign her office July 26 by Andrew Hinkelman and Lori Tipton Friday, July 3, 2009
WASILLA, Alaska -- In a stunning announcement, Gov. Sarah Palin said Friday morning she will resign her office in a few weeks. --KTUU
Lots of speculation out there that she is ramping up to run for president in 2012.
Myself, I think that dirt is going to emerge.
Her political career is riddled with corruption, craziness, and christianism. She is not being treated kindly in the traditional media these days and recent revelations indicate the McCain staff had their hands full dealing with her (as we suspected at the time). Dave Neiwert has made it clear that her relationship with extremists was not casual.
Governor Palin shot off a joke line yesterday that revealed her dangerous ignorance of and disdain for science (you know, that irritating reality stuff).
In order to fund programs for special needs children she proposes slashing earmarks for, well, in her words:
Sometimes these dollars they go to projects having little or nothing to do with the public good. Things like fruit fly research in Paris, France. I kid you not!
jforman has a post that demolishes this attitude since fruit flies (and other critters) are extremely relevant for the basic research that affects human health and many other things - including genetic diseases that have a lot to do with why some people have special needs.
Click on the link. You can learn a lot from jforman's article; I did.
Of course, I enjoy learning about the world I live in. I suspect the Governor of Alaska does not.
Ignorance and lack of intellectual curiosity combined with power makes for a very dangerous combination (cf. George Walker Bush). --the BB
Boris and Vlad, not to be confused with Saints Boris and Gleb, have made a little video as a special tribute to the Governor of Alaska. Ah, young love: it is so heartbreaking.
Speaking of Russian chaps, I have been practicing my little bit of Russian on the guys who work at the hotel next to the office since I see them every morning and evening going to and from work. I rehearsed over and over the phrases for "Tell me, please. Do you know where there is an Orthodox Church?" A Ukrainian woman I work with wondered. So, I manage to utter this in understandable Russian and the young man looks up and says, in English, "I'm Muslim."
But a helpful Muslim chap for certain. He pulls out a map and suggests St Louis Cathedral ("no, that's Catholic," I mutter) or this other church where he places an X. "I think it's Jewish," he adds.
We non-Muslims are clearly all alike to him and I was quite amused by the whole thing. The next night he is with another of his countrymen and I ask if HE knows. The first guy says, "He's Muslim too." To reinforce my scant Russian I say, rhetorically, Тоже? (Also?) We are all amused.
Last night there were three of them at the curb (they are bellmen) and I was hoping, victim of assumptions and stereotypes that I am, that the tall blond one might be Orthodox. He did not know where an Orthodox Church in New Orleans might be but he said he could call friends and find out. More joking ensued.
They are really nice guys and it's fun to see if I can express myself understandably. It is also a challenge to understand them since they do not speak in the beginning-Russian sentences we use in class. They also speak faster than Doctor Stukova.
Of course I could have googled the information but I keep forgetting when I get home. Now that I have shared this story, you know what I will do as soon as I publish this post.
Everybody tries to put the most favorable framing on experience but saying or implying you did stuff you didn't is frowned upon.
Governor Palin has been touting the Russian experience - trade negotiations and all that - to indicate her foreign policy chops.
The Associated Press, not known for fact checking or serious investigative reporting for some time now, surprises us when they do it. Martha Mendoza at AP has this to say:
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who touts her state's proximity to Russia as part of her foreign policy experience, has not met with Russian leaders or delegations, negotiated any Russian issues or visited the country, according to an Associated Press review of records from the governor's office.
Do you recall my "interview over" post where Scary Sarah was asked for specific skills and failed to name any?
Asked for "specific skills" she could cite to rebut critics who question her grasp of international affairs, she replied, "I am prepared."
Well, to switch analogies, if that was strike one this might be strike two:
COURIC: You've said, quote, "John McCain will reform the way Wall Street does business." Other than supporting stricter regulations of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac two years ago, can you give us any more example of his leading the charge for more oversight?
PALIN: I think that the example that you just cited, with his warnings two years ago about Fannie and Freddie--that, that's paramount. That's more than a heck of a lot of other senators and representatives did for us.
COURIC: But he's been in Congress for 26 years. He's been chairman of the powerful Commerce Committee. And he has almost always sided with less regulation, not more.
PALIN: He's also known as the maverick though. Taking shots from his own party, and certainly taking shots from the other party. Trying to get people to understand what he's been talking about--the need to reform government.
COURIC: I'm just going to ask you one more time, not to belabor the point. Specific examples in his 26 years of pushing for more regulation?
PALIN: I'll try to find you some and I'll bring them to you.
CNN reports on Governor Palin's first town hall meeting:
Asked for "specific skills" she could cite to rebut critics who question her grasp of international affairs, she replied, "I am prepared."
"I have that confidence. I have that readiness," Palin said. "And if you want specifics with specific policies or countries, you can go ahead and ask me. You can play 'stump the candidate' if you want to. But we are ready to serve."
As job interviews go, I'd say this one ended right there. One must be prepared to name specifics. All she did was dodge the question.
"Executive abilities? She doesn't have any," said former Wasilla City Council member Nick Carney, who selected and groomed Palin for her first political race in 1992 and served with her after her election to the City Council.
Four years later, the ambitious Palin won the Wasilla mayor's office -- after scorching the "tax and spend mentality" of her incumbent opponent. But Carney, Palin's estranged former mentor, and others in city hall were astounded when they found out about a lavish expenditure of Palin's own after her 1996 election. According to Carney, the newly elected mayor spent more than $50,000 in city funds to redecorate her office, without the council's authorization.
...
Carney confronted Mayor Palin at a City Council hearing, and was shocked by her response.
"I braced her about it," he said. "I told her it was against the law to make such a large expenditure without the council taking a vote. She said, 'I'm the mayor, I can do whatever I want until the courts tell me I can't.'"
"I'll never forget it -- it's one of the few times in my life I've been speechless," Carney added. "It would have been easier for her to finesse it. She had the votes on the council by then, she controlled it. But she just pushed forward. That's Sarah. She just has no respect for rules and regulations."
From David Talbot at Salon (h/t to Kagro X at Daily Kos) --the BB
While Governor Palin was being welcomed home to Alaska an even larger rally - I see claims that it is the largest political rally Alaska has ever had - formed elsewhere in Anchorage with something like 1400 people carrying home-made signs. Here are two of my favorites:
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