Flutterby™! : Taking Sarah to Task 2009-07-07 17:59:46.18025+02

Taking Sarah to Task

2009-07-07 17:59:46.18025+02 by ebwolf 5 comments

Sorry. Somebody's gotta do this and Flutterby happens to be the biggest soap box I can stand on:

"I want to work, right now, for people who are going to work in office or out of office for the right things. Those principles that built up America, those who are inspired by the values of America, and will not deride or apologize for the values we hold as Americans. I’m gonna work for those people.” - Sarah Palin

So, Sarah, you're saying categorically that Alaskans, the people whom you worked for and just quit, aren't "those people"?

"It's out of the box and unconventional. That's what we are as Alaskans and certainly how I am as a public servant." - Sarah Palin

Umm, Sarah? You aren't a public servant anymore. You just quit!

"People losing their jobs or their homes right now, they have it a heck of a lot tougher than I do taking political shots." - Sarah Palin

But Sarah... In the toughest economy since the depression, you just quit your job! You also just caused yourself to be evicted from the Alaska Governor's Mansion (or is that Igloo?). And you didn't just quit your job - you quit on those people losing their jobs and homes that you speak of. They elected you to lead them - and you quit on them! Sure must be nice to feel like you can quit your job when the going gets tough - especially when it's even tougher for everyone else.

"Team Sarah members anxiously await Palin's next decision on how she believes she can best serve our nation. Since the 2008 election, the continual presence of personal attacks on both Governor Palin and her family indicate that she remains a threat to the liberal feminist political establishment," the group's co-founder, Jane Abraham, said in a statement. "Despite criticism, Governor Palin's success will endure. Team Sarah's thousands of members remain as engaged as ever on TeamSarah.org. The Governor has inspired millions, and her audience of enthusiastic support will only grow in the future."

Ah... Now I understand. That's for clearing that up, Jane Abraham. This isn't about what's best for Alaska - this is about Team Sarah. And by the way, that's ex-Governor Palin to you.

I sure am glad I don't live in Alaska. I'd have a hard time not being royally pissed that this woman just up and quit in the middle of her job. A lot of faith was put in her by the Alaskan people. She was relatively inexperienced when she was elected. She made some silly decisions. But she also brought a lot of great attention to the state. But now she's just a quitter. Tricky Dick claimed "I am not a quitter." A claim that Sarah defining can't make.

Quotes borrowed from Boston.com.

Unfortunately, taking Sarah to task for her flaws and foibles is a set of easy pot-shots, and the faithful won't see it.

Which is a larger question I'm struggling with: When people have beliefs that counter reality, be they political or "alternative health", especially when there are portions of those beliefs that are probably true, and obvious flaws in portions of the counter-arguments, what's the most effective way to work towards changing them?

I read recently (can't cite, forgot where) that Sarah quit some 5 or 6 colleges before finally finishing one. If that's true, then this is not a recent tendency on her part.

I also read that legal proceedings were so expensive to defend that she quit in order to save the taxpayers that money. I also don't recall any candidate in recent history that has had their family under such scrutiny (rape jokes against her 10 year old daughter in front of a national audience? I don't recall any such jokes when Clinton or Carter were in office).

The person replacing her has similar political leanings that she does, and can probably proceed to do the job Palin set out to do without the entire nation playing backseat driver.

Honestly, I don't see how anyone could misconstrue Letterman's joke about Bristol to be about her younger daughter. When I heard the joke, I assumed he was talking about the daughter that had been knocked up as being the one he was referring to as getting knocked up. That whole cry for attention just seemed to be more of a publicity stunt from the Palins than a real issue. Although I remember jokes about Chelsea Clinton looking like the ass end of a pit bull, I don't remember Chelsea Clinton getting knocked up as a teenager and then becoming the spokestwat for abstinence. "Do what I say, not what I do" doesn't work for anyone, although I can't imagine looking toward an unwed teenager mother for advice, especially when she's being sponsored by a clothing company which produces sexy clothes for teenagers. Honestly, the whole candies sponsoring abstinence has me thrown completely. Their other spokestwat is Britney Spears, famous for being a bad mother and having a teenage sister who left her own television show (on Nickelodeon, the kid's network) for being pregnant.

Not apologizing for my apathy here, although I know this is going to sound callous... I think Alaska is probably better off without the three ring circus happening in their governor's mansion. Leaving office is quite possibly the best thing Sarah Palin has done for the state of Alaska in quite some time. If this is another step toward playing "hockey-mom for president" again though, I look forward to her opponents having a landslide victory in the next election.