I suppose the title is a bit of a pun (“pale in threat”) but the more I read about the fundamentalist puppet Palin, the more I see her as a continuance of the very worst aspects of the present administration.

Incidentally, thank you to those who wrote me personally to say you find my comments on Palin insightful. Here are some more you might find of interest.

First, The Washington Independent reports that the GOP’s top pick for VP has tried to ban books in libraries and fire anyone who disagrees with her.

…Palin acted in a way that eerily foreshadows her recent actions while governor. Early in her tenure as mayor, the city council threatened to recall her over accusations that she fired the city’s police chief, Irl Stambaugh, and the library director, Mary Ellen Emmons, without warning. She accused them in a letter saying: “I do not feel I have your full support in my efforts to govern the city of Wasilla. Therefore I intend to terminate your employment” (The Anchorage Daily News, via nexis)

Ultimately, Palin let the library director have her job back; though Stambaugh’s position was not returned. The police chief took the matter to court, where a judge sided with Palin, saying city law allows the mayor to fire the police chief without cause.

When questioned by the Anchorage Daily News at the time, Palin refused to give details on how Stambaugh had not supported her, saying only: “You know in your heart when someone is supportive of you.”

To be fair, weak executives tend to replace their staff with cronies and even strong executives favor staff that understand and follow their objectives without delay. However, Palin is no executive and her secrecy and deception do not represent an executive mindset. She has a fundamentalist mindset — when she makes a decision, if you disagree you are the enemy. She clearly does not understand the very concept of democracy and she will use whatever power given to her to make rash decisions along with a veil of secrecy to avoid dialogue until it is too late to change course. This is exactly like Cheney’s infamous secret energy policy meetings. Remember how Bush said there was no time to discuss war with Iraq, war was imminent? Palin represents more of the same shoot-first, remove foot from mouth later, miscarriage of justice.

Second, I was sent an email called “The Real Sarah Palin” by Anne Kilkenny. Here are some choice excerpts:

Sarah campaigned in Wasilla as a fiscal conservative. During her 6 years as Mayor, she increased general government expenditures by over 33%. During those same 6 years the amount of taxes collected by the City increased by 38%. This was during a period of low inflation (1996-2002). She reduced progressive property taxes and increased a regressive sales tax which taxed even food.

[…]

She inherited a city with zero debt, but left it with indebtedness of over $22 million.

What did Mayor Palin encourage the voters to borrow money for? Was it the infrastructure that she said she supported? The sewage treatment plant that the city lacked? or a new library? No. $1m for a park. $15m-plus for construction of a multi-use sports complex which she rushed through to build on a piece of property that the City didn’t even have clear title to, that was still in litigation 7 yrs later–to the delight of the lawyers involved!

Perhaps some realize that Bush did almost the exact same thing when he grabbed land for a baseball stadium in Arlington, Texas? According to the NYT he raised money from investors to pay for land he did not own or have a clear title, but claimed it a victory when he made money. Seems like fraud to me, but the Times cautions that there is a very slight difference:

The challenge is not catching criminals but injecting public scrutiny into a culture of cronyism in which executives, accountants, regulators and ”independent” board members all ooze empathy for each other.

Palin is thus not a law-breaker, but another cronyist who will bend rules to their limit to advance a minority agenda. Back to the letter…

She’s not very tolerant of divergent opinions or open to outside ideas orcompromise. As Mayor, she fought ideas that weren’t generated by her or herstaff. Ideas weren’t evaluated on their merits, but on the basis of who proposed them.

[…]

Sarah complained about the old boy’s club when she first ran for Mayor, so what did she bring Wasilla? A new set of “old boys”. Palin fired most of the experienced staff she inherited. At the City and as Governor she hired or elevated new, inexperienced, obscure people, creating a staff totally dependent on her for their jobs and eternally grateful and fiercely loyal–loyal to the point of abusing their power to further her personal agenda, as she has acknowledged happened in the case of pressuring the State’s top cop (see below).

[…]

Experienced: Some high schools have more students than Wasilla has residents. Many cities have more residents than the state of Alaska. No legislative experience other than City Council. Little hands-on supervisory or managerial experience; needed help of a city administrator to run town of about 5,000.

Political maverick: not at all

Gutsy: absolutely!

Open & transparent: ??? Good at keeping secrets. Not good at explaining actions.

Has a developed philosophy of public policy: no

A Greenie: no. Turned Wasilla into a wasteland of big box stores and disconnected parking lots.

Is pro-drilling off-shore and in ANWR.

Fiscal conservative: not by my definition!

Pro-infrastructure: No. Promoted a sports complex and park in a city without a sewage treatment plant or storm drainage system. Built streets to early 20th century standards.

Pro-tax relief: Lowered taxes for businesses, increased tax burden on residents

Pro-small government: No. Oversaw greatest expansion of city government in Wasilla’s history.

In sum, despite the suggestion from the NYT, it seems one word can be used to describe the Palin-threat:

Fraud

Palin appears by all counts to be a fraud who will hurt those who disagree with her or try to maintain a free and fair society. Her blinded fundamentalism will seriously weaken the security of this nation if elected. People wonder how they could have ever supported a hypocrite like Bush and left him in office. They will have no one to blame if they do it again. Fool me once, shame on you…

The Daily Show reveals the many faces of Palin: