Sarah Palin's diversity in action as governor: cronies and classmates - and definitely no blacks

Palin's culture of PLUs

It should not be a surprise that Sarah-cooda* picked friends from her Alaska youth as key advisers and high state officials.  The well-educated and richly experienced appointees which one might normally seek would have spoken in polysyllabic words and with complex thoughts that she still can't understand!  Sure, there are not many Alaskans of African descent, but the governor did not even reach out to the Alaska Native population for important hires -- and I don't mean people born and raised in Alaska but of European heritage.  

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by: greatwhitebear @ Sun Sep 14, 2008 at 15:49:36 PM CDT

in all fairness

I don't think there are an awful lot of lack people in Alaska and it's not surprising that Palin would have an administration devoid of color. This being said, even if she perceived the line of questioning about the lack of black people on her staff as some sort of demand to meet a quota, a response of "I don't have to hire any" and/or "I have no intention of hiring any" is completely out of line.  I'd love direct quotes with supporting documentation because the way this sounds is as if Palin is actually implying that she wouldn't hire a qualified black candidate at all for any reason.

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by: ol cranky @ Sun Sep 14, 2008 at 16:41:09 PM CDT

'devoid of color' would be very troubling in AK

It would be shocking if her cabinet/administration is "devoid of color" since a high 15.6% of the population there (acc. Wikipedia) is Eskimo or American Indian.

I doubt it is, but if her administration is all-white with a low representation of indigenous peoples, then it would say something very troubling, even though her husband, who is 1/4 Yupik Eskimo, is an important part of the administration.

I haven't seen much coverage of her relationship as governor with the powerful tribal bodies in the state, which control significant oil revenues, but it's one of those things reporters might get to eventually if they actually take the time to pay some attention to Alaska politics.

Maybe they'll even figure out that the "tax refund" she boasts about on the campaign trail is something that would likely have come from any administration. It's money that comes from the windfall profits from high oil prices. Alaska has, for decades, paid out money to its citizens from oil revenue. Palin just increased the payout because of the high oil prices. She's not returning tax money from the people to the people (since they don't pay much in state taxes). Instead, she's giving money collected from the oil companies to the people -- a good thing, but not exactly what most folks are probably thinking about in the Lower 48 when she talks about it.

Christian Science Monitor did do a good article on that:
http://features.csmonitor.com/...

That refund is probably also not something that Cheney and his cronies would want to see repeated in the Lower 48.  

-- Robin (seaQwa.com)

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by: robinev @ Sun Sep 14, 2008 at 17:40:36 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

a little more info from another Alaskan

From Amy Jones, Writing from Alaska

When Palin entered office she let go of numerous appointees on boards and commission, and it was felt that when replacing them, she had failed to continue a tradition of seeking minority representation, African-American and otherwise, among her appointees. I heard about this some time before she was on any list, short or long, for consideration as a vice presidential nominee. Though I found this disconcerting, after McCain's announcement choosing her as his running mate, this omission seemed considerably more significant. A recent meeting with the Rev. Alonzo B. Patterson of the Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church in Anchorage confirmed his part of the story. He stated that he  had requested a meeting between the governor and members of the African-American community as soon as she took office. According to Patterson, Governor Palin said she would 'consider' the request. But after months of waiting and several follow-up letters repeating the invitation; four from Pastor Patterson and at least one from the Rev. Dr. William Greene, an officer of the local NAACP, the community heard nothing in response.

Apparently she did consider meeting with him and then summarily dismissed the idea.

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by: ol cranky @ Sun Sep 14, 2008 at 18:54:40 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

"Peaking" in high school...

Does anyone else remember that perfect girl/boy in their high school?  You know the one...perfect hair and teeth, super popular, always dressed just right...sort of Marcia Brady without that whole retro thing.

This is the image I get of Palin in her high school years.  I mean, how many of you had a nickname (printable anyway) which followed you from high school to your forties?  

When attending high school represents your true 'glory days', I believe it tends to stunt your emotional and social growth.  Add to that NEVER LEAVING THAT SAME SMALL TOWN and you have a seriously underdeveloped individual.

Of course she stacked the State government with high school chums.  

I'd expect nothing less.

Question:  What does an atheist do when they fall to the floor and start "speaking in tongues"?

Answer: Get a CAT scan.

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by: Snooky Ookums @ Sun Sep 14, 2008 at 16:59:32 PM CDT

Ashamed to be White

Gov. Palin and all the wing nuts that infest the Republican party are one big reason I am so ashamed to be a white woman. White period, these cretins don't speak for me. They have a hard enough time speaking for the stuck-up snobs that they align themselves with.

Typical Railroader-Tired, Broke, Hungry, Sick, and Mad

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by: labrat78 @ Sun Sep 14, 2008 at 17:30:01 PM CDT

Does Sarah Palin understand Diversity?

Great piece on Palin and Anchroage activities. I did not know that she had ignored the Juneteenth event. Below is link to another article about Sarah Palin and minorities. This is not an all inclusive piece but has information that may be helpful in understanding more about the diversity of the Anchorage population, her administration and its practices up to this point.

freerangewriting.blogspot.com

I would like to reserve ownership of the actual article in the blog, but welcome sharing of the information.

Thanks

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by: Amy Jones @ Sun Sep 14, 2008 at 17:59:28 PM CDT

Hey I must be a ship

passing in the night with one of your other commenters- thank you to Ol Cranky for also posting my blog address and sharing the info!  

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by: Amy Jones @ Sun Sep 14, 2008 at 19:17:43 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

SEE Celtic Blue BLOG reference above.

Alaska BLOG showing WOMENS RALLY IN Anchorage today AGAINST PALIN.

 and a demonstration against the EX GAY FORUM TOO. Go read..leave comments if you wish I did! 

And forwarded copies of Blogs and PHOTOS to many.

Intelligent ALASKANS hate Palin! .... 

It's the Hammer of JUSTICE,
It's the Bell of FREEDOM,
It's the Song about LOVE between,
my Brothers and my Sisters
...All over this Land.

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by: Orion45 @ Sun Sep 14, 2008 at 18:16:51 PM CDT

divasblueoasis.com/frontPage.do

HERE this is the ALASKA Blog link.

It's the Hammer of JUSTICE,
It's the Bell of FREEDOM,
It's the Song about LOVE between,
my Brothers and my Sisters
...All over this Land.

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by: Orion45 @ Sun Sep 14, 2008 at 18:17:52 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Palin is Dangerous

Her choice was not as spur-of-the-moment as widely reported and she's part of a plot to move American foreign policy even farther to the right, according to britain's The Telegraph

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new...

"Hail Mary pass?"  I'd call it a long bomb.

"In order to maintain an untenable position, you have to be actively ignorant."  The Colbert Report

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by: Lev Raphael @ Sun Sep 14, 2008 at 18:41:48 PM CDT

WORSE than we imagined

and that was G*D DAMN DEEP hole in a swamp, I never wanted to crawl any deeper into.

What have you done today, to make ya feel PROUD?


~Heather Small

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by: peteyPornpig @ Sun Sep 14, 2008 at 19:59:32 PM CDT

BRILLIANT NEW ATTACK AD AT PALIN

from Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish
Lies Damned Lies, and McCain
 http://andrewsullivan.theatlan...

Run this in every state until the election

What have you done today, to make ya feel PROUD?


~Heather Small

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by: peteyPornpig @ Mon Sep 15, 2008 at 01:20:29 AM CDT

It's worse than you think...

Read Writing Raven's Alaska Real blog as she details what Sarah has not done for (and has actually done to hurt) the Alaska Native people whose blood her children carry in their veins.

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by: CelticDiva @ Mon Sep 15, 2008 at 07:24:30 AM CDT

it's pathetic and frightening

and it's clear that in a state where there is a significant population of color (Alaska Native) that she chose to populate her administration based on her school yearbook and church roster. One can only wonder that if she became president, what her cabinet would look like.

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by: Pam Spaulding @ Mon Sep 15, 2008 at 07:50:49 AM CDT

[ Parent ]