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Letters from Alaska
An Alaskan friend without an LJ of his own sent me a couple of e-mails commenting on my post on Governor Palin, which he kindly permits me to quote:
...I do not know how many Alaskan correspondents you have so I thought I would add a little local perspective if you are interested. It sounds like you are at least passing familiar with the local political scene in Alaska. While they were safely ensconced in Juneau the republican establishment up here actually had baseball caps that read "Corrupt Bastards Club" distributed and worn by members of the state legislature. Several have been indicted and more are expected US Senator Ted Stevens has been Indicted, US rep Don Young is expected to be indicted any time. In effect the state was a corrupt Petro State like Saudi Arabia, only in the US. I have worked for both VECO and on Alaska's north slope, it really was that bad. Sarah Palin is certainly ambitious, and wants to be elected, and her family is not perfect. But it must be understood that she stood up and beat a corrupt state party chair(who though issued a record fine, is still in that office) and an incumbent governor from a rich, politically connected family whose own daughter is sitting in his vacated Senate seat. Meanwhile she has stood up to Both Stevens and Young and managed to get some major movement on a natural gas pipeline deal moving, without selling the State to the oil companies. The viscous smears perpetuated by the left leaning media only undermine their credibility. Sarah Palin pushed through a $1200 energy relief package to help residents of rural Alaska through the Winter (Gas is over $10 USD a gallon in many villages and milk is even more) , She has cut the fat from State spending, is working on health care with both parties in the legislature. If the Media was really worried about corrupting corporations buying the legislature Further, on the National level she is nearly an ideal candidate, I am a married, working class Catholic, with a small son. I am tired of our ruling mediocrities( Bush, Kerry, Edwards, and Biden all come to mind) with wealthy backgrounds making life very difficult for average families. Much can be said to be wrong with the current republican philosophy, but Sarah Palin and John McCain are unusually different from their peers.
...Mrs. Palin's opponents locally are all either good old boy misogynists or Democratic Party Operatives. In regards to the way things operate up here, as I have mentioned I have been employed at a low level both on "the Slope" and with VECO corporation. It is now CH2MHILL, but it is the corporation that payed all the bribes to the legislature. A search on Bill Allen should suffice for information about them. I have worked in the engineering field for the last eight years throughout the state and both my Father and Uncle are distinguished engineers here. The plain fact is that the entire oil business establishment up here is a low and dishonest business, filled with some truly unsavory people. Governor Palin's husband is employed by these same people and her families livelihood has depended on his ability to make good wages in the oilfields. It would have entirely too easy for Sarah to agree to become the new face of the old establishment and move up the ladder more slowly, but more surely. Perhaps from her seat on the oil and gas commission, to a seat in the state senate and on the governors office from there. Todd Palin would have very likely received a wage bump like Michelle Obama did when her husband was elected to the Senate. The fact that she did none of those things speaks very well of her, and for the media to not honestly report that is at a bare minimum unprofessional, and lazy....
A final point from me: I do not think that Governor Palin is some sort of ingenue from the sticks; her career clearly shows that she is an experienced and formidable campaigner, a woman who has made politics her profession from an early age and is damned good at it. But there are two ways to practice any career or profession - the honest way, and all the others; and so far Governor Palin seems to me to have used her formidable political gifts for honest purposes (even where I disagree with them).
...I do not know how many Alaskan correspondents you have so I thought I would add a little local perspective if you are interested. It sounds like you are at least passing familiar with the local political scene in Alaska. While they were safely ensconced in Juneau the republican establishment up here actually had baseball caps that read "Corrupt Bastards Club" distributed and worn by members of the state legislature. Several have been indicted and more are expected US Senator Ted Stevens has been Indicted, US rep Don Young is expected to be indicted any time. In effect the state was a corrupt Petro State like Saudi Arabia, only in the US. I have worked for both VECO and on Alaska's north slope, it really was that bad. Sarah Palin is certainly ambitious, and wants to be elected, and her family is not perfect. But it must be understood that she stood up and beat a corrupt state party chair(who though issued a record fine, is still in that office) and an incumbent governor from a rich, politically connected family whose own daughter is sitting in his vacated Senate seat. Meanwhile she has stood up to Both Stevens and Young and managed to get some major movement on a natural gas pipeline deal moving, without selling the State to the oil companies. The viscous smears perpetuated by the left leaning media only undermine their credibility. Sarah Palin pushed through a $1200 energy relief package to help residents of rural Alaska through the Winter (Gas is over $10 USD a gallon in many villages and milk is even more) , She has cut the fat from State spending, is working on health care with both parties in the legislature. If the Media was really worried about corrupting corporations buying the legislature Further, on the National level she is nearly an ideal candidate, I am a married, working class Catholic, with a small son. I am tired of our ruling mediocrities( Bush, Kerry, Edwards, and Biden all come to mind) with wealthy backgrounds making life very difficult for average families. Much can be said to be wrong with the current republican philosophy, but Sarah Palin and John McCain are unusually different from their peers.
...Mrs. Palin's opponents locally are all either good old boy misogynists or Democratic Party Operatives. In regards to the way things operate up here, as I have mentioned I have been employed at a low level both on "the Slope" and with VECO corporation. It is now CH2MHILL, but it is the corporation that payed all the bribes to the legislature. A search on Bill Allen should suffice for information about them. I have worked in the engineering field for the last eight years throughout the state and both my Father and Uncle are distinguished engineers here. The plain fact is that the entire oil business establishment up here is a low and dishonest business, filled with some truly unsavory people. Governor Palin's husband is employed by these same people and her families livelihood has depended on his ability to make good wages in the oilfields. It would have entirely too easy for Sarah to agree to become the new face of the old establishment and move up the ladder more slowly, but more surely. Perhaps from her seat on the oil and gas commission, to a seat in the state senate and on the governors office from there. Todd Palin would have very likely received a wage bump like Michelle Obama did when her husband was elected to the Senate. The fact that she did none of those things speaks very well of her, and for the media to not honestly report that is at a bare minimum unprofessional, and lazy....
A final point from me: I do not think that Governor Palin is some sort of ingenue from the sticks; her career clearly shows that she is an experienced and formidable campaigner, a woman who has made politics her profession from an early age and is damned good at it. But there are two ways to practice any career or profession - the honest way, and all the others; and so far Governor Palin seems to me to have used her formidable political gifts for honest purposes (even where I disagree with them).
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