Tuesday, September 02, 2008

The latest act of tabloid politics

The latest rap on Sarah Palin is that early in her political career, she was a member of the Alaskan Independence Party, a libertarian, state's rights organization that supports secession in order to reinstall smaller, more responsive government.

Smaller, more responsive government. It's a radical idea, I know.

Okay, it's kind of kooky (in the sense of being unrealistic), but is it in any way comparable to, say, Democratic Sen. Robert C. Byrd's past status as a recruiter for the Ku Klux Klan?

Her critics are banking on some vague psychological connection between secession and slavery or something that just doesn't apply here. This is a bunch of people fed up with the intrusion of the federal government. Imagine that.

People forget that Alaska was the 49th state to join the union and that there were plenty of people now living who were (like me) alive at the time it became a state in 1959. There are even folks who opposed statehood at the time who are still around. Palin's critics are banking on some vague psychological connection between secession and slavery or something that just doesn't apply here. This is a bunch of people fed up with the intrusion of the federal government. Imagine that.

The kind of secessionists we're talking about here have little similarity with those who advocated Southern secession and are more akin to the modern day Puerto Ricans who oppose statehood for their territory. No one considers them extremists.

It's a non-story to anyone not involved in tabloid politics

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

LOL ....

For someone so inexperienced, Palin sure has an interesting track record:

from this entry

"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."

Oh great. More of my tax dollars heading straight to the coffers of rich scofflaws. That's a fine Republican vision we're seeing here.

"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."

Another disciple of unfettered deficit spending. Republicans aren't satisfied with spending my kids' inheritance on a useless war, they now want to elect a slate that try very hard to put my grandkids' inheritances into the pockets of fat-cat scofflaws.

"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. "

Oh yeah, there's that great Republican work ethic. Palin gets a cushy handout that she did not earn, and had no business getting. That's almost as bad as McCain's advice for getting ahead - marry rich (and don't lose any sleep over the poorer folk you leave behind. No one else will.)

Yep, Martin, I'm real impressed with the company you keep.

Anonymous said...

I know that is an anonymous article, but it is well written with both positive and negative comments with enough checkable details for me to provisionally believe it.

What motto did the North have engraved on the statue of Jackson in New Orleans? "The Union Must and Shall Be Preserved"



jah

Martin Cothran said...

Art,

You're criticizing Palin on the issues? Where are your attacks on her family and children? You must not have gotten the memo from liberal blog central.

Anonymous said...

Interesting, Martin. I do believe that if Gov. Palin were elected, she would have to swear an oath to "preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the United States of America." Support for dissolving the union is a little inconsistent with that oath, don't you think?

This is far from a non-issue. Gov. Palin's close ties to a far-right anti-american separatist group (her husband was a registered member for years) is a serious cause for concern.

Anonymous said...

From where I'm sitting, all I see is a bunch of right-wingnuts (who were at one time besides themselves with thoughts of Obama the Muslim, and some of whom still call Obama a communist) whining because others are holding Palin's feet to the fire. And, most tellingly, are quite completely averse to any discussion of Palin's record. (Martin, you may count yourself among the latter group.)

Fact is, Palin is inexperienced (and, as far as can be seen, pretty uninformed - imagine thinking that Ben Franklin was a Christian. I mean, we're talking pathetically clueless here), and what record she has betrays an opportunist with little regard for the public trust. IOW, a typical third-rate politician, not unlike the crew we have in Frankfort. This is the best and brightest of the Republican Party.

Color me very unimpressed.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of substance, I was at work and missed last nite's festivities, so maybe someone here can answer the money question for this election - given all that we know now, does Palin think the Iraq was a good idea?