Thread: Sarah Palin

Troopergate certainly does not paint a flattering portrait of Sarah, if the implication is true. The NY Times has unearthed some other examples, that indicate a person who likes to surround herself with cronies, and steamrolls those who stand in her way. Which makes her no different to the infamous neo-con tail of the Republican party.

"Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin is a tyrannical woman who pursues vendettas and fires people who cross her, The New York Times said....

It has also been disclosed the Congress in Alaska is looking into claims she fired a senior state employee because he refused to dismiss her brother-in-law, who had separated from her sister.

This was not an isolated case, according to the newspaper, which said Palin surrounded herself with friends who did what they were told.

It said Governor Palin hired at least five schoolmates for official positions at salaries that far exceeded their private sector wages.

One of these, a former real estate agent, was made director of the State Division of Agriculture after citing her childhood love of cows as a qualification for the job.
In another incident, one of Palin's assistants telephoned a critical blogger and told her to stop her activities. "You should be ashamed," the aide was quoted by the Times as saying.

The report also quoted a builder in the town of Wasilla, where Palin served as mayor, who said he complained to her when the city lawyer put a stop-work order on his housing project.

The mayor responded by engineering the lawyer's firing, the builder told the newspaper.

In another case, Palin fired a former high school classmate after learning he had fallen in love with another longtime friend.

The report also claimed Palin and her top aides sometimes used personal email accounts for state business in a bid to see whether this would allow them to circumvent court orders seeking public records."

Sarah 'the tyrant' Palin - US Election - smh.com.au


The case against Sarah Palin seems to come down to three credible strands :-

Her juniority and inexperience- from small town mayor to VP candidate in 3 years.
Her uncompromising evangelical faith, and the personality traits that could imply.
Cronyism, and dubious ethical (or illegal) treatment of her self proclaimed enemies.

I am wondering if in reality Palin has been done any favours by this meteoric rise. As a small state Governor with ambitions to make the leap into Federal politics, she could weather some scandals such as Troopergate over time- just like Bush and his former alcoholism and drug taking, and Kennedy and Chippaquadick. As potential VP to an octagenerian, she can receive no such latitude. Even her husband is obviously much more comfortable on a dog sled or oil rig than the Washington cocktail circuit. International high politics is a rarefied world- as a senior representative for her country, it is unlikely she will receive much respect there. Lets face it, in Diplomatic circles she is a country bumpkin.

Yet the US public is being asked to thrust Palin into a position where she might have to go head to head with a Putin, or the wiley Chinese. Deal with Chavez' outbursts- but still keep the oil flowing. And so on.

It is one helluva Big Ask.