Overload: Palin goes all “John Kerry” on the Bridge to Nowhere

"The Alaska governor campaigned in 2006 on a build-the-bridge platform, telling Ketchikan residents she felt their pain when politicians called them “nowhere.” They’re still feeling pain today in Ketchikan, over Palin’s subsequent decision to use the bridge funds for other projects...."

Yep, that's right... she was for the bridge and received federal funding for it. After they funds were in hand she went ahead, cancelled the bridge and used to funds elsewhere. Interestingly enough.... speaking of hurricanes.... Ted Stevens, also a proponent of the bridge refused to cancel it and give the money to Katrina relief efforts... so Palin and Stevens both received (for Alaska) federal funds intended on connecting an Island with 50 inhabitants instead of supporting Katrina's rebuilding efforts....

Oh, and she has the gall, after receiving the money, to say she's actually against the project. Isn't that like a robber robbing a kindergarten and then after being caught saying he really didn't mean it. And then being let go with no charges?

Plus she spent $25 million of that money to build a road to the Bridge to Nowhere in case the Bridge eventually gets built.

All this talk of her as being a reformer and maverick doesn't seem to hold much water outside of the few corrupt Republicans she went after. Before he became a political liability, she was very much in Ted Stevens camp, apparently:

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/08...

"More complicated history: in Palin's 2006 race for governor, after she ousted Governor and former U.S. Senator Frank Murkowski in the Republican primary, Stevens withheld his support for Palin. But Palin was locked in what looked like a tight race in the general election, and three weeks before the election, Palin welcomed a Stevens endorsement, even releasing a campaign commercial of the event, featuring Stevens offering support of Palin, with Palin smiling mightily in the background.

One other bit of telling video: in July of this year, Stevens and Palin held a joint news conference, denying that there was any political distance between them. This was at a time before the indictment, but after an FBI raid on Stevens home, and after the scope of the investigation of Stevens was clear."

So when Stevens could hand her the election, she was for him. Even once his corruption was made evident, she was still in the bag for him. Only once the indictment was handed down, and Stevens was political poison--once it was politically EXPEDIENT to do so--she became a critic of him. Color me unimpressed.

True on all counts, and thanks for the links. To repeat my thoughts from earlier:

Sgarza, as a longtime Republican and someone who'd definitely been leaning McCain's way, I initially had the same reaction as you did-- until I actually looked into Sarah Palin. What a disastrous pick! It's obvious that this was not only a panic pick, but that McCain had no idea whom he selected:

1. Palin is in no way a "reformer" or a "fresh face." She's under active investigation for ethics breaches and misuse of power, both this Troopergate scandal and the abrupt firing of several workers loosely associated with her political opponents upon assuming office-- exactly the kind of nepotistic stupidity that brought us Bush's mismanagement of Hurricane Katrina, among other things.

2. Palin seems to be generally incompetent. She was the major of a little town called Wasilla, population 5,469 in 2000, and couldn't even get that right. She raised taxes on several occasions, introducing the first sales tax and even hiking it several times (even as business taxes were reduced). This rubs my conservative side the wrong way. Plus she backed the Bridge to Nowhere until the earmarks were taken away, which also goes against every conservative fiber in my body.

She also ran Wasilla way into debt, over a million dollars with apparently continuing threats of a reduction in bond rating. There was even a coordinated effort to recall her-- in a town of far fewer than 10,000 people.

3. She lacks basic, grown-up maturity. She has a tendency to get into stupid tiffs with fellow officials and even Republicans, and act in the most puerile fashion. She got into a quarrel with one of the most respected public officials in Alaska, fellow Republican Lyda Green, chuckling in jejune fashion as some idiot radio DJ called Green a bit*h, a cancer (she's a cancer survivor) and too fat for her chair:

http://www.adn.com/opinion/comment/v-printer/st...

She just doesn't belong as a running mate.

If McCain comes to his senses, admits his error and chooses another running mate-- and many choices would do for most of us conservatives, from Ridge, Pawlenty, Dole, Huckabee, Romney, either Whitman, even Lieberman or Hutchison-- we'd be fine with that.

But no way should Palin be anywhere near such a serious job.

McCain has just managed to turn us into supporters of Bob Barr and Chuck Baldwin. In fact, based on the talk of some of my friends, into contributors to their campaigns as well.

PrairiePaul, thank you for your insights and the link. While reading the story on Palin's interview with Lester I couldn't help but think of the bad joke that McCain made about Chelsea Clinton.... McCain and Palin, a perfect match.

Yeah, good observation SBSF, such things have entered my mind as well.

One other thing I just don't get about Sarah Palin and a decent number of other pseudo-conservatives-- what exactly is this hard-on that these fools get about killing animals, even endangered ones? Palin wanted to lift the protections given for polar bears in the Arctic Circle, remove them from endangered species laws.

Meanwhile, she and many of her other fellow Republican idiots seem to get a kick out of machine-gunning polar bears and moose from the air. WTF???

It's one thing if a person hunts for food, shows respect for the animals and does it the old-fashioned way, out in the wilderness. Even then, it should be done sparingly and with respect for the wilderness and the environment, the way decent hunters do it.

But these idiot pseudo-conservatives don't even make a real effort or try to act decently, they just machine-gun endangered animals from the air-- how can this ever be defended?

Palin looks more and more corrupt by the day. If she thinks that it's OK to machine-gun innocent animals like this, just for the sport of doing it, then we need to have no mercy at tearing into Sarah Palin. Even destroying Sarah Palin, and John McCain for that matter.

They make a mockery of the entire conservative movement. We need to be working actively to help Bob Barr and Chuck Baldwin. They are the only true remaining true conservatives in this election season.