[Rhodes22-list] Political

[Chelle or Bob Ginsburg]

Hey Rhodies - consider this...from a school principal in Alaska.

> Hi Friends,
>  
> My brother sent this note regarding his impressions of Sarah Palin.  I 
> thought it was interesting coming from his inside-Alaska perspective, 
> and worth passing along.  For those who don't know my brother,  he is 
> a principal of a school up in Alaska, where he and his wife also 
> teach. They've been Alaskan transplants for about 10 years.  
>  
> *From: *Peter & Bonnie Hauschka <petnbon at hotmail.com 
> <http://us.mc1105.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=petnbon@hotmail.com>>
> *Date: *August 29, 2008 11:58:15 PM PDT
>
> Good evening, lots of friends and relatives have been asking me (as an 
> Alaskan) what I think of Sarah Palin, our Governor, and new choice for 
> McCain as a VP candidate.  
>  
> Here it goes:  
>  
> This pick floored me.  Sarah Palin is a nice person.  I've met her, 
> I've even talked to her for a few minutes at a principal's conference 
> a couple of years ago.  She has lots going for her superficially.   Sh 
> e speaks from the heart, like a spitfire mother; she can even be sort 
> of funny sometimes.  She is quite beautiful;  athletic, and has that 
> radiant glow of someone who actually spends time doing things 
> outside.  Unlike many politicians, she has lived a 'real life' and 
> done things that few living and working in DC could ever do....like 
> dipnettin' fish, shootin' stuff and eating it out on the tundra, and 
> havin' 5 kids.    
>  
> Personally, I'd never vote for her.  She has an extremely simple view 
> of the world and is harshly judgmental and intolerant of those who do 
> not follow her tight right-wing agenda.  I don't even think she has 
> ever been abroad.  As governor she has repeatedly shown us that she is 
> unable to grasp the demands of leadership.  She is very prone to 
> cronyism of the worst kind.  Every cabinet level political appointment 
> she has made she has over-ridden suggestions of our state advisory 
> boards, and instead promoted those who had granted her direct 
> political favors.  Not that other politicians don't do this, they do, 
> but most of them are able to balance their appointments to ensure that 
> at least a few people with real skill and experience are running big 
> state agencies.  
>  
> She also has been unable to pay attention to her Alaskan 
> constituency.  Personally, I've written several of our previous gov's 
> and been asked to comment publicly on education policy.  All the 
> previous gov's have always acknowledged that contribution, criticism 
> or comment; sometimes by direct reply, or at least by that of a staff 
> member.  Palin's office has been a zone of silence.  Not I, nor one 
> person I know commenting has ever gotten any sort of reply.   Her 
> claim of running an open or transparent government is totally false; 
> the public simply has no role in her administration.  
>  
> Her previous claim to fame was being mayor of Wasilla, a growing town 
> about 40 minutes from Anchorage of about 15,000 people.  Wasilla is a 
> hellhole, even by Alaskan standards, where there are plenty of 
> hellhole towns and villages.  Wasilla is an ugly place that shows a 
> complete absence of planning, design, or sense of public 
> vision.  Gov't agencies and services are completely overrun in this 
> town; things are so bad that they can't even track their population or 
> build schools in the right place, because most parts of the town don't 
> require building permits, so the only clue about where people are 
> settling are utility receipts.  Imagine trying to be an emergency 
> responder in this kind of place:  Houses don't just catch on fire in 
> Wasilla, they burn to the ground, because by the time the fire 
> department has figured out which road to take (no signs) or whose 
> house it is (no directory), the place is done for.  Palin was mayor 
> this town for at least 2 terms before being elected gov. a year and a 
> half ago.   
>  
> Her moral sense is simplistic and not inclusive, with a complete 
> absence of compassion.  She is the sort of person who is used to using 
> their 'faith' to divide and isolate minority groups of human beings 
> instead of uniting them.  To her credit as Gov. she has kept out of 
> this arena pretty well, but when in comfortable company (i.e the 
> Matanuska Valley Republican Women's Club), she lets her moral cat out 
> of the bag. 
>  
> I will do what I can to ensure her defeat and that of her running mate 
> as well.  :)  Please share this information with those who can use it 
> well. 
>  
> Cheers, Pete Hauschka