[Vision2020] Fw: (Fwd) Fw: A voice from Alaska

[Sue Hovey]

> I received this last night.  It does speak to her attempted banning of 
> library books, but does not mention the books in the email.

Sue Hovey


> Sent: Saturday, September 6, 2008 12:26:06 PM
> Subject: A voice from Alaska
>
>>
>> http://www.andrys.com/palin-kilkenny.html
>>
>> ( Updates on general history are below Anne Kilkenny's letter. )
>>
>> A note to all by Anne Kilkenny
>>
>> Dear friends,
>>
>> So many people have asked me about what I know about Sarah Palin in
>> the last 2 days that I decided to write something up . . .
>>
>> Basically, Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton have only 2 things in
>> common: their gender and their good looks. :)
>>
>> You have my permission to forward this to your friends/email
>> contacts with my name and email address attached, but please do not
>> post it on any websites, as there are too many kooks out there . . .
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Anne
>>
>> [ Note by webadmin: This was already posted on Washington
>> Independent comments area and was meant by the author to be read by
>> many, but readers need sourcing. The NY Times has talked with Anne
>> since. ]
>>
>> 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
>> *'Hockey mom': true for a few years
>> *'PTA mom': true years ago when her first-born was in elementary
>> school, not since *'NRA supporter': absolutely true *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 unconsitutional).
>> *pro-creationism: mixed. Supports it, BUT did nothing as Governor to
>> promote it. *'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 *'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. *political maverick: not at all *gutsy: absolutely! *open &
>> transparent: ??? Good at keeping secrets. Not good at explaining
>> actions. *has a developed philosophy of public policy: no *'a
>> Greenie': no. Turned Wasilla into a wasteland of big box stores and
>> disconnected parking lots. Is pro-drilling off-shore and in ANWR.
>> *fiscal conservative: not by my definition! *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. *pro-tax relief: Lowered taxes for
>> businesses, increased tax burden on residents *pro-small government:
>> No. Oversaw greatest expansion of city government in Wasilla's
>> history. *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
>>
>> =======
>>
>> UPDATES (relevant articles):
>> Palin's Start in Alaska: Not Politics as Usual - NY Times, 9/3/08.
>> Documents detail Palin's political life - Politico, 9/2/08. The
>> Unusual Challenges Palin Faced in Alaska - NY Times, 9/4/08
>>
>> REFERENCE:
>> On the Issues - with quotes
>> Books and videos
>>
>> ON THE LIGHTER SIDE:
>> Palin's Hometown Friends Enjoy the Show - NY Times 9/4/08 - a fun
>> read. A funny send-up of convention speeches - NY Times 9/4/08, Gail
>> Collins
>>
>>
>> To Home page
>>
>>
>>
>
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