First report from Alaska back to the NY Times Tom Smith

You have to check this out. It looks like the reporters the NY Times sent up to Alaska to dig up what they could on Palin have sent back their first missive. I would say the great Klondike strike, it ain't. But, I do agree Sarah Palin's case for canonization is now in serious doubt.

Among other things you will learn:

-- Upon getting elected, Palin fires people who have held jobs for years ("professionals") and puts in people she has known for years, often going back to her high school days. Why a reform-minded politician would do this in a notoriously corrupt state is, of course, baffling.

-- Palin bears grudges and takes them personally. This is a rare fault in politicians and not to be endured. The Clintons, for example, have set a fine example in letting bygones be bygones.

-- Palin is an evangelical Christian who went so far as to inquire about taking the inoffensive book "Daddy's Roommate" out of the public library.

-- Todd Palin called somebody and let them know he and his wife were unhappy that he had hired somebody or other who had broken up with somebody or other over something. This one made a deep impression on me I will not soon forget.

-- Sarah Palin when she was mayor put pressure on the town council to fire the town attorney, whom she did not like, possibly because he was not pro-development enough. I earnestly pray this is not true.

-- Sarah Palin often uses lots of notes when she speaks, even going so far as to use tabs and different colors of notecards. This is just so unbelievably tacky and small town I am considering killing myself.

-- Not only Governor Palin but members of her staff sometimes use their personal email accounts to do public business. This charge is perhaps the most deeply shocking of all. Then, these same officials have sometimes resisted turning over their personal emails on public business to their opponents in political disputes.

All this, taken together, goes far beyond Maureen Dowd's searing revelation that Sarah Palin wears shoes that are really intended for much younger women. Now we know that far from a pit bull with lipstick, Governor Palin is a merely human politician who rewards friends, punishes enemies and plays "hardball" just like one of the guys. Who does she think she is? And, she's ambitious. She confided to a friend that she wants to be president someday. Should such a person be allowed inside the White House?

But, seriously now, if the NY Times wants to bring down their favorite hockey mom, they are going to have to do a lot better than this. Forget about sending anybody to Chicago to go through Sen. Obama's record with a similarly fine toothed comb. Or more like a manure fork. I know that's not going to happen. Politics in Alaska is a lot like everywhere else, with friends, enemies, grudges, favors made and repaid, and those who get ahead often have sharp elbows. If Palin does become VP she will need every bit of those skills she may have.

Comments

[reliapundit]

she really pisses off the gun-grabbin baby-killers.

she and mccain gotta believe that's worth the price of admission right there!

and luckily: we out number them.

and we are glad we finally have a champion.

an imperfect one, but a champ, nonetheless.

[bob]

The funny thing is, far from turning me off from Palin, every one of the NYT's so-called "revelations" makes me like her even more. She seems like the Maggie Thatcher/Golda Meir of the great north. She's a lovely person, a great mom, and a friggin' Hardass that doesn't take sh-t from embedded interests. I think that the left is massively, massively underestimating her.

[Moptop]

How about how the Obama campaign is threatening to send the IRS after her on account of her per diems? That is what we want in a president? Somebody who uses the IRS to go after his political enemies?

[Buford Gooch]

Putting Sarah Palin in front of the news media was like putting chum in front of sharks, but having it in a steel cage. The sharks can't help themselves. They will go after the chum, even though they break their own teeth off every time they try o take a bite.

[jon]

My favorite part is this:

"Since taking office in 2007, Ms. Palin has spent 312 nights at her Wasilla home, some 600 miles to the north of the governor’s mansion in Juneau, records show."

They neglect to mention that "Her Wasilla home" is 30 miles from the city of Anchorage, which is where 40% of the population of Alaska lives.

[Carol]

Me too! Everytime I read a MSM hit piece on Palin I just like her even more. And I am a registred Democrat. By the way, I live in Denver and tried to get tickets to the Palin event in Golden tomorrow. It was sold out in less than an hour. The Obama event there tomorrow is still accepting RVSPs...LOL

[Mister Snitch]

The attacks are the best PR in the world for her, really far better than anything the GOP could ever hope to buy. But let's not get complacent. All in all, I'd say we could use a bit more Obermann.

[Mustang0302]

Maureen Dowd's searing revelation that Sarah Palin wears shoes that are really intended for much younger women

Best of all...no more cankles, no more pantsuits.

MoDo weeps.

[Neil]

I would like to see how Palin's governing style compares to Obama's when he was running...oh wait, never mind.

[Junk Science Skeptic]

"The Clintons, for example, have set a fine example in letting bygones be bygones."

Just ask Vince Foster. Er, well, um, maybe not.

[Kevin]

The idea that she actually FIRES corrupt hacks and obstructionists gets me pretty fired up. That's awesome!
Lesser politicians talk a good talk and then don't do anything. Maybe she can fire that dildo at NASA who appears to spend all of his company time campaigning to get evil global warming skeptics thrown in jail.

[MagicalPat]

This is fantastic! I'm beginning to think that I don't want them to probe into Obama at all now. Let them make this as lopsided as possible... oops... too late. Seriously though, if every day is another hit piece on Palin followed by a puff piece on Obama, people will figure it out.

[je suis un pizza]

lol NY Times, they're no Fox News, that's for sure.

[redherkey]

When the mainstream media falls, they will fall hard. And unlike the fall of dot-com, telecom, sub-prime and other unsustainable bubbles, the mainstream media collapse will be a treasure to feast upon. Many will ensure their reporters, editors and publishers are rewarded for their "objectivity" with careers in food service. From the NY Times news-writing floor to sweeping the floor of the neighborhood Taco Bell.

Payback's going to be a bitch, and you can count on thousands of influential people in our shoes who will see to it that these MSM hacks experience the full consequence for their actions just as soon as this bubble collapses.

[Greg]

I'm supporting McCain because I don't want Obama's policies enacted. But your waving off the reporting on Palin's record doesn't make me confident she's as much of a reform-minded politician as the campaign is making her out to be. They would hate for people to think she's just another politician. (Hiring cronies from high school who aren't qualified isn't any better than keeping on "professionals.") I don't doubt a well-reported piece on Obama would turn up some eyebrow-raising actions, but if all we can say is "she's your average politician," that doesn't encourage me. Especially for someone as ostentatiously Christian as her.

[Jack]

I guess NY Times is shocked that they didn't find "Once Elected, Palin Hired Foes and Lashed Friends."

Morons!

[Jim Treacher]

lol NY Times, they're no Fox News, that's for sure.

You had me at "lol."

[k]

Oh for heaven's sake . . . what a bunch of noobs. (a new word from my 13 year old) Seems that they will have to dig further, like to middle earth or something. Frodo will probably laugh at them too. The whole IRS thing is downright silly. But what I would expect from sour grapes Obama.

Oh well, La dee dah, and tomorrow is another day. Still laughing all the way to the voting booth. Another woman for McCain/Palin.

[JorgXMcKie]

"(Hiring cronies from high school who aren't qualified isn't any better than keeping on "professionals.")"

Just where did these so-called 'professionals' come from? Why are they professionals? Do they have credentials and/or proof of their professionalism?

In fact, if they were like those similarly situated in other states their 'professionalism' mostly consists of rising in the ranks of the bureaucracies by kissing the right political butts at the right time.

Reform at its best consists mainly of kicking out the Old Guard and not replacing them with other members of the same bunch except that they happen to have kissed different butts for the past 20 years. You need to bring in as totally new faces as you can, and you need to bring in people you trust.

The idea that it takes some sort of divine 'professionalism' to do some of these jobs is a myth fostered by those who benefit from the myth.

Also, I'd like to see a few more 'well-reported' pieces on Obama as opposed to the "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" type we've had on him to date.

And what the hell is "ostentatious" about Palin's Christianity? A little evidence, please. I have no religion at all and I haven't seen the first hint of ostentation if her religious beliefs. (For an example, think of Bill Clinton's carrying a bible the size of a briefcase every time he was in trouble.)

[Sandra Mendoza]

The Troopergate "scandal" involves and ex-brother-in-law who threatened her family AND PATROLS HER NEIGHBORHOOD. Very scary, especially as there are allegations he's been seen drinking beer while in his patrol car (which he denies) and that he tasered an 11 year old which he admits.

A cop with a gun with as many infractions as he's had should be fired. No question.

[JEM]

I'm fantasizing about someone doing a bit of Soros-grade market manipulation on NYT stock while all these buffoons are out in Bum-Frozen Egypt, resulting in the mothership having insufficient cash to fly their little leeches home (hey, like I said, it's a fantasy.) Maybe they get eaten by some wolves that the state didn't manage to cull by air. Maybe they just down a lot of local meth and they spend the rest of their lives mumbling like Bush. Like I said, it's a fantasy.

[pauldanish]

If you're serious about reform in government, you have to be willing to make heads roll. The fact that Palin is willing to roll them means she offers, how shall we put it, ah yes, change we can believe in.

[Letalis Maximus, Esq.]

Great shot, kid. Don't get cocky.

This thing is far from over.

[BigAl]

Looks like the American left wing has found a new opposition candidate worthy of demonization. After all, after GWB is gone, they'll have no one left to blame their problems on, and SP has come to their rescue. If McCain wins, she will be the object of hatred unimaginable - wait and see.

[jt]

Now I understand why the NYT lobbied so hard to raise the minimum wage for unskilled, entry-level jobs like bagging groceries and mopping kitchen floors at McDonalds.

It's a golden parachute for their editorial staff.