Saturday, September 6, 2008

The Need for Answers

All the fuss over Sarah Palin to me is mystifying. During her speech she was engaging, witty, funny, but 100% substance free. It looks like the McCain camp is trying to keep it that way. No interviews with serious journalists (if there are any since Russ died), speeches geared towards highlighting her personality rather than substance, and stiff arming journalists who do try to get answers are all characteristics that helped Bush get elected.

I don't want a President I can have a beer with, I'll have the beer, he or she has better things to do. I don't care if my President has an engaging friendly personality. Neither does Vladamir Putin.

Sarah Palin is going to be a 72 year old with a bad medical history heartbeat away from being President. Have we seen anything remotely close that shows she has a grasp on the issues.

We've been told she is a reformer and has demonstrated time and again that she is against pork barrel spending. She opposed the bridge to nowhere.

We have since learned she was for the bridge to nowhere before there was a national outcry, then she publically opposed it, but didn't return the money. She hired lobbysists (assoicated with Jack Abramoff) to lobby for money to Alaska. She left Wasilla with $22 mil of debt because she mis managed the acquistion of the sports complex land.

They've told us she is for cutting taxes, but residents in Wasilla complain that she has raised them.

They told us she sold the Governor's jet on Ebay for a profit. It neither sold on Ebay nor made a profit.

We've also learned a few other tidbits along the way.

She was almost recalled as the Mayor of Wasilla for firing the Police Chief and head of the Public libarary for opposing her. She tried to fire the head of the public library for not following her wishes to ban books from the library.

We have also learned more about an ongoing investigation on her firing the head of Police for Alaska for not firing her brother in law. This looks like an issue that has the potential to be embarassing for her but will mysteriously disappear once the high priced Washington attorneys get involved.

There are many more things that are simmering below the surface that are far more damaging but until we know more it isn't worth speculating, what we do know is scary enough. So other than her engaging personality, everything else we know about her is iffy (family values both positive and negative aside). Lot's of questions need to be asked and answered and it would be foolish to be so swept up in Sarahmania that she isn't pushed hard for answers.

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