Finally, A Fair & Balanced Article On Gov. Palin's Background

While its some of the finest work I've seen, this fair and detailed work is not from the MSM. It is from the blogger Baseball Crank. It really is a must read, particularly after a month of reading the Washington Post try to take down Palin for taking per diem expenses or the New York Times give the narrative of every Palin enemy they could find for their own front page story. Baseball Crank does the work an objective MSM should have done. Read it here.

(H/T Soccer Dad)

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The NYT Comes Out Flinging

Following the Washington Post's front page non-story of Gov. Sarah Palin's per diem expenses a few days ago, the NYT follows with an equal non-story of its own on Gov. Palin - this one being an all out effort to diminish her highly successful executive experience - you know, that bit on the resume missing from both sides of the Democratic ticket. It ends up being nothing more than an effort in throwing a bevy of tiny flecks of manure at the large wall of Gov. Palin's tenure in office and hoping that a piece or two might stick.
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You can find the entire article here. Lest you not get the premise, the NYT spells it out half way through the article, after fertilizing the ground with the first half of their article:

The charismatic 44-year-old governor draws enthusiastic audiences and high approval ratings. And as the Republican vice-presidential nominee, she points to her management experience while deriding her Democratic rivals, Senators Barack Obama and Joseph R. Biden Jr., as speechmakers who never have run anything.

But an examination of her swift rise and record as mayor of Wasilla and then governor finds that her visceral style and penchant for attacking critics — she sometimes calls local opponents “haters” — contrasts with her carefully crafted public image.

(Emphasis added)In other words, don't trust to this woman's highly successful track record, her reformist credentials, or her 80% approval rating after two years in office. She may have tons more executive experience than Obama and Biden combined, but it doesn't count because _________. The NYT leaves it to you to fill in the blank from the ton of material they provide. Pick your favorite.

Tom Smith's analysis of this NYT article is probably more cogent than my own. Here is how he puts it:

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?

Read the entire post. Jennifer Rubin has an equally scathing commentary on this tsunami of scatalogical minutia from the NYT:

The New York Times does the all-so predictable Sarah Palin bill of indictment for its Sunday front page. It certainly sounds compelling in the paragraph called the “nut graf”:

Throughout her political career, she has pursued vendettas, fired officials who crossed her and sometimes blurred the line between government and personal grievance, according to a review of public records and interviews with 60 Republican and Democratic legislators and local officials.

But what is so remarkable is how little there is in the page after page of minutiae thrown against the wall by the Times. And indeed there’s plenty of favorable material there. Up front we learn:

Ms. Palin has many supporters. As a two-term mayor she paved roads and built an ice rink, and as governor she has pushed through higher taxes on the oil companies that dominate one-third of the state’s economy. She stirs deep emotions. In Wasilla, many residents display unflagging affection, cheering “our Sarah” and hissing at her critics.

In just the first few paragraphs you have testimony that she was “effective and accessible.” So where are we going here? Well, despite the testimony that she was ”accessible,” others find her “secretive” and inclined to put a premium on “loyalty.” The evidence? The Governor’s office declined a request for emails that would have cost over $400,000. Proof positive. Oh, and the records sought (about Polar Bears and such) were in fact obtained.

Then there is the ” she blurs personal and public behavior” charge. The evidence? A phone call from Todd Palin to a state legislator about the latter’s chief of staff, which Palin denies was mentioned. Pretty thin gruel.

Next we have her tenure as mayor, where again all heck breaks loose because — are ya sitting down? — she brought in her own team. No! Unheard of. Jeeez. Next she’ll be firing the town museum director. Oh no– it’s true! Palin says (”Oh yeah, she says,” you can hear the Times reporters hrrumphing) she was cutting the budget.

This is pathetic, really. Is there something illegal here? Is there something nefarious? What is the point? . . .

Read the entire post. You'll find more blogs talking about this at Memorandum.

Other than those on the far left, there is nothing in this article that will resonate with the sole exception of Palin's choice to head the state's Agriculture department, and that will make one night at Comedy Central and be gone.

If this is the best the NYT can do after combing through her life with a microscope, they have problems and I am feeling a bit more confident this morning. Oh, and stay tuned, I understand the NYT, in an effort to be fair, is finally going to get around to do a similarly detailed piece on Obama. Its slated to go to the presses on or about Nov. 6.

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A Mayoral Mess - The Land Under The Wasilla Sports Complex

Two of the Democratic talking points going around conern Gov. Sarah Palin's time as Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska. The first is that she raised taxes. Not quite true. There was a referendum on whether to increase the sales tax by .5%. The people of the city raised their own taxes by approving the increase in a democratic vote. The second talking point is that Mayor Palin came into office with the city having no long term debt, she left with the city owing $20 million. That number is overly high, but regardless, what the dems in their talking points don't do is explain the cause of the debt. It has nothing to do with Mayor Palin's incompetent handling of the local budget. The people agreed to the sales tax rise in order to fund a capital improvement - a $14+ million dollar sports complex for the residents to exercise during the long, cold Alaskan winters.

The talking points are bull - as to be expected really, given the Palin Derangement Syndrome (PDS) going around the left like it was the 1918 Spanish Flu. That said, the left is missing the one real issue in all this that has some bearing on Mayor Palin's fitness. It appears that Mayor Palin gave the go ahead to break ground on the sports complex before the City had clear title to the land on which it was to be built. I've been waiting to hear the whole story - whether she ignored the advice of her city attorney or whether the city attorney screwed this one. The WSJ weighs in with more information today.
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This from the WSJ:

The biggest project that Sarah Palin undertook as mayor of this small town was an indoor sports complex, where locals played hockey, soccer, and basketball, especially during the long, dark Alaskan winters.

The only catch was that the city began building roads and installing utilities for the project before it had unchallenged title to the land. The misstep led to years of litigation and at least $1.3 million in extra costs for a small municipality with a small budget. What was to be Ms. Palin's legacy has turned into a financial mess that continues to plague Wasilla.

. . . Litigation resulting from the dispute over Ms. Palin's sports-complex project is still in the courts, with the land's former owner seeking hundreds of thousands of additional dollars from the city.

Hockey is much loved in Wasilla, and Ms. Palin, whose son was a star player, wanted to build an indoor rink, with a track, basketball courts and soccer field. In the late 1990s, the city sought a 145-acre parcel owned by the Nature Conservancy, which wanted to sell the land to buy more environmentally sensitive property elsewhere. City officials negotiated a price of $126,000. Months passed without the city's securing a signed purchase agreement, according to the city's attorney, Tom Klinkner of Birch, Horton, Bittner & Cherot.

At the same time, Gary Lundgren, a Fairbanks real-estate investor, was in talks with the Nature Conservancy to buy a larger adjacent property. As discussions between the environmental group and the city dragged on, Mr. Lundgren said, he purchased the entire site for about $1 million.

The city sued Mr. Lundgren and the Nature Conservancy, arguing that Wasilla had had a deal. In 2001, a federal district court judge ruled in Wasilla's favor. Mr. Lundgren appealed, but the city believed it would prevail, according to Mr. Klinkner.

Ms. Palin marched ahead, making the public case for a sales-tax increase and $14.7 million bond issue to pay for the sports center, which was to feature a running track, basketball courts and a hockey rink. At the time, the city's annual budget was about $20 million. In a March 2002 referendum, residents approved the mayor's plan by a 20-vote margin, 306 to 286. The city cleared roads, installed utilities and made preparations to build.

Later that year, Ms. Palin's final one as mayor, the federal judge reversed his own decision and ruled that the property rightfully belonged to Mr. Lundgren. Wasilla had never signed the proper papers, the court ruled.

Mr. Lundgren said he had offered to give smaller parcels to the city free of charge, but the city held out for a larger tract. The former chief of the city finance department, Ted Leonard, says he doesn't recall such an offer.

After Ms. Palin left office, the city decided to take 80 acres of Mr. Lundgren's property through eminent domain. An Alaska court confirmed the city's right to do so and ordered that an arbitrator determine the appropriate price.

Last year, the arbitrator ordered the city to pay $836,378 for the 80-acre parcel, far more than the $126,000 Wasilla originally thought it would pay for a piece of land 65 acres larger. The arbitrator also determined that the city owed Mr. Lundgren $336,000 in interest. Wasilla's legal bill since the eminent domain action has come to roughly $250,000 so far, according to Mr. Klinkner, the city attorney.

Mr. Lundgren has appealed the decision, arguing that the arbitrator should have awarded him more interest. "It has been 10 years; it's just insane," said Mr. Lundgren, who now lives in Panama. "All [Ms. Palin] had to do was close the transaction."

The McCain-Palin campaign referred questions about the sports complex to Mr. Leonard, the former city finance chief. He blamed the Nature Conservancy for dealing with two different potential buyers at one time. "That's what caused the confusion," he said.

"At the time, with the information she had, [Ms. Palin] made the right decision," Mr. Leonard said. "But you know what? Litigation happens."

The sports facility is finished, set against forest and mountain ranges. Inside, locals kick soccer balls and skate laps on the rink. Last year, it hosted a statewide wrestling tournament.

"All I can say about the sports complex is that it was done on time and under budget," said Donald Moore, a Palin ally who managed the construction. "It was done legally, and for someone else to say it could have been done differently in a better way, that's strictly their opinion."

Ms. Palin cited her mayoral duties as partial evidence of her executive experience. Dianne Woodruff, a Wasilla city councilwoman and critic of Ms. Palin's performance, agreed.

"If people are going to be voting on her based on her experience as Wasilla's mayor, then they should know how she did in the job," Ms. Woodruff said, "the good, the bad and the ugly."

Read the entire article. Palin may well have to explain this one in more depth. It is not clear why the city did not resort to eminent domain in the first instance. That was a mistake compounded by the decision to break ground before title was quieted. Perhaps she can justify her decisions. Or perhaps she just owns the screw-ups and leaves it for us to decide their importance. It seems worthy of note, but hardly an indicator of unfitness.

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Palin In Comparison

This is Sarah Palin


. . . America’s hottest governor and the Republican nominee for Vice President.


She is the governor of Alaska


. . . the northernmost of our fifty some odd states.


She has an approval rating over 80%. That is . . .


. . . almost better than God's.

She likes fishing . . .


. . . for salmon


She likes hunting . . .


. . . for moose.


And Mooseburgers . . .


. . . are whats for dinner at the Alaska Governor's mansion.


What she doesn't eat . . .


. . . makes for comfortable office decor.


She started out her adult life as a working woman, a hockey mom, . . .


. . . and a runner up for Miss Alaska.


Obama started out as . . .


. . . a follower of the Marxist organizer Saul Alinsky.


Palin won her first election for executive office to become . . .


. . . the Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska in 1996.


She did so by beating a three term incumbent . . .


. . . in a hotly contested election.


Obama won his first election to the Illinois State Senate . . .


. . . by having his competition, Alice Palmer, a civil rights icon, decertified from the ballot by his attorneys. Likewise, none of his subsequent elections to office were models of democracy.


Palin is famous for blowing the whistle on massive corruption


. . . at the very top of Alaska's Republican Party.


Obama is famous for meeting corrupt people . . .


. . . befriending them and doing business deals.


Palin has a twenty year old son . . .


. . . in the U.S. Army Infantry, a job that requires he put his life on the line in order to serve our country.


Obama attended Trinity United Church for 20 years . . .


. . . exposing his children to the deeply racist, seperatist and anti-American Black Liberation Theology and a preacher who damns America.


Palin has run businesses, including. . . .


. . . a commercial fishing business with her husband


That gives her more business experience than . . .


. . . these two combined.


Palin has been a mayor and is now a governor. That gives her more executive experience than . . .



. . . these two combined.


Palin went to Germany. She gave no speeches while there, but . . .


. . . she did visit wounded soldiers in Landstuhl


Obama went to Germany. He gave a speech to Germans . . .


. . . then exercised near Landstuhl


Palin has fought against . . .


. . . tax increases and earmarks


Obama has . . .


. . . sought millions in earmarks for special interests.


Obama voted against a bill that would have killed the funding for the most infamous pork project of the last decade, the $200+ million earmark for the Bridge to Nowhere . . .




When she became Governor of Alaska . . .


. . . Palin killed the Bridge to Nowhere project.


Palin is a huge proponent of . . .



. . . drilling in ANWR and off the coast to bring down gas prices.


Obama is a huge proponent of


. . . inflating your tires.


And Obama is fine with . . .


. . . $4 a gallon for gas


Palin is a lifetime member . . .



. . . of the NRA


Obama voted . . .


. . . against a bill to allow people threatened with domestic violence to carry a firearm for self protection and against a bill to protect a man from prosecution who had used a hand gun unlawful in Chicago to defend his family inside his own home.


The McCains adopted . . .


. . . an infant with heart ailments from an orphanage in Bangladesh and raised her to health and as one of their own children.


Obama adopted . . .


. . . the symbols of the presidency.


Palin is a working mom with five children . . .




Her fifth child was born four months ago. His name is Trig and they knew five months before he was born that he had Down's Syndrome . . .


They chose not to abort the child because she is pro-life.


That puts her at odds with Obama . . .


. . . who voted against an Illinois bill designed to stop infanticide of children born alive from botched abortions.


The Left says that Gov. Palin . . .


. . . is inexperienced and not ready to be one heartbeat away from the Presidency.


Who would have guessed . . .


. . . that lack of experience is now a disqualifier - for the position Vice President.

Indeed, putting aside foreign policy, Gov. Palin has more and varied experience than


. . . these two combined


Some on the left are questioning her intelligence and trying to label her the second coming of . . .

. . . Mr. "potato-e," former Vice President Dan Quayle.


The MSM of the day magnified Qualye's gaffes, while it seems that the MSM of today is ignoring . . .



. . . the serial gaffes of at least one of the candidates who makes Dan Quayle seem erudite by comparison.


McCain wants the Left and the MSM to speak up about this stuff so that he and . . .


. . . his new BFF's can hear also.

Of one thing there is no question. Of all the four candidates for President and Vice President from the two parties . . .


. . . Gov. Palin is the only one I would want to see both in the White House and on the cover of Vogue showing a bit of cleavage.
(Update 2: I included the above photo in the belief that it was the actual cover of the edition of Vogue for which Gov. Palin posed in February, 2008. Yes, she posed for Vogue, no, the above is not one of the photos. It is a photoshop. I thank one of the commentors, Mare, for pointing this out.)

(Update: Jim at Bright & Early has an additional comparison worth a view)

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