Questioning Sarah Palin
Associated Press
Advertisement
Text size: small | medium | large
By Published by The Editorial Board
Published: September 7, 2008
The Founding Fathers saw fit to create a role for just one type of business in our republic — the press.
Those men knew the value of a free and unfettered press. They knew that a well-informed citizenry was best able to govern itself and to make the right choices.
The news media, like everything else created and operated by human beings, is far from perfect. But over the next two months, it will have the task of educating the American people about the newest face on the national political scene, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
We’ve already seen foolish and unimportant stories about Palin, such as the drunken driving charge her husband faced some two decades ago. How is that relevant? It isn’t.
Palin has gone from a small-state (in terms of population) governor to being one election away from being one heartbeat away from the presidency. The American people need to learn everything they can about Palin over the next two months.
So, let’s learn more about how she changed her mind on the so-called “Bridge to Nowhere.” What books, if any, did she want banned from the library in the city where she served as mayor? Let’s get to the bottom of the accusations that she tried to get her former brother-in-law fired from his job as a state trooper. Let’s hear about her command of the Alaska National Guard, her relationship with indicted Sen. Ted Stevens, her views on the Alaskan Independence Party, her contacts with the Russian and Canadian governments, how she really feels about federal government pork (Alaska gets a lot of it), her relationship with both big oil and her own party.
Tough questions, one and all.
But consider this: Joe Biden was elected to the U.S. Senate from Delaware in 1972. John McCain was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982 and the Senate in 1986.
Barack Obama has a thinner resume than either Biden or McCain, but he has been on the national stage for the better part of two years.
Biden, McCain and Obama are pretty well-known by most Americans. Regardless of how we feel about them, many questions have been asked and answered.
Not so with Sarah Palin.
That’s why now is the time for the news media to do its job by asking the tough questions and digging for the complete story.
Palin talked pretty tough during her electrifying speech this week at the Republican National Convention. If that’s the way she plans on conducting this campaign, surely she is tough enough to fully explain her public record to the American people.
Put another away, if Sarah Palin can’t handle so-called “mainstream media,” how can she handle Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, Vladimir Putin of Russia and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran?
Over the next two months, we need to learn a lot more about Palin. She’s no longer just a small-state governor. She could one day be our president. We have to know more about her record and her views on the issues that will affect all of us.
Page 1 of 1
Post a Comment
The commenting period has ended or commenting has been deactivated for this article.
Can't find what you're looking for? Try our quick search:
Reader Reactions
Posted by ( SouthnNeighbor ) on September 22, 2008 at 3:16 am
Would you like to read news and opinions about Palin in Alaska newspapers? Here are all the papers for which I could find links. Decide for yourself - but I’m thinkin that 80% approval rating is a thing of the past - tho I’m sure the fundamentals are still sound! ;-)
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/ (Anchorage)
http://www.alaskajournal.com/
http://www.alaskastar.com/
http://www.anchoragepress.com/
http://newsminer.com/ (Fairbanks)
http://www.juneauempire.com/
http://www.ketchikandailynews.com/
http://www.kodiakdailymirror.com/
http://www.nomenugget.net/
http://www.petroleumnews.com/
http://www.frontiersman.com/ (Wasilla)
Report Inappropriate Comment
Posted by ( quatar ) on September 08, 2008 at 10:53 am
I guess when women enter politics they are a bigger target than their male counterparts. Hillary was not my favorite but the Dems did her dirty. Obama could do no wrong and sexism was in play in the Democrat party. Hillary was teated unfairly because how do you divide votes in a state where Obama was not on the ticket? Hillary already had a big skeleton known as Bill. Everything she said was twisted by her own party members. So I guess now they are doing the same thing to Palin. So are the Demcrats really the party of the people? Or just certain ones?
Report Inappropriate Comment
Posted by ( GWHrover ) on September 07, 2008 at 6:09 pm
So start digging!
Report Inappropriate Comment
Posted by ( news_u_can_use ) on September 07, 2008 at 11:13 am
Will the media also question how Obama will have time to raise his children? The media has jumped on Governor Palin with both feet only because she has turned the tide of this election and is moving forward towards a November victory. I hope your little corner of the media world will give Governor Palin a fair shake in the weeks ahead, but I won’t hold my breathe.
Report Inappropriate Comment
Posted by ( Sawdust ) on September 07, 2008 at 10:30 am
Actually, we don’t know all that much about Obama. Although he was editor of the Harvard Law Review and taught Constitutional law, he produced no scholarly writings. His senior thesis was “misplaced”, and the records of the Chicago Annenburg Challenge (CAC) were off-limits to prying minds for as long as possible.
The CAC, founded by terrorist William Ayers and chaired by Obama, handed out over $100,000,000 to…..? We don’t know yet. To whom did all that money go, and how did it improve the education of Southside children, if indeed it did. Why did Stanley Kurtz have such a difficult time getting access to public records held in a public library? Someone made it difficult, but who?
What, exactly, did Obama accomplish during his years as a “community organizer”, in which he takes such great pride? Is Southside Chicago a better place to live as a result of his organizing, and if so, exactly how? It’s a good place to die, that’s for sure. I read last week that murders there double the number of troops lost in Iraq. Looks like Obama needs to organize Southside a bit more before he sets out to organize the world.
Sarah Palin has undergone more media scrutiny in a week than Obama has had to endure in 2 years, at least scrutiny that counts. Palin has real accomplishments to her credit, whereas I have seen none for Obama. Scrutinize away, just make it fair.
Report Inappropriate Comment
Posted by ( Sawdust ) on September 07, 2008 at 9:41 am
Actually, we really don’t know that much about Barack Obama. He has no scholarly writings, despite being editor of the Harvard Law Review and teaching Constitutional law. Anything that might shed light on his true character is missing, for some reason or another, or, like the records of the Chicago Annenburg Challenge (CAC), closed to public scrutiny for as long as possible.
The CAC, founded by terrorist William Ayers and chaired by Obama, handed out millions of taxpayer dollars with the goal of improving education. How much was education improved, and who got all that money? Legitimate questions, no?
We know that Obama is proud of being a “community organizer”. Just exactly what did he accomplish with his organizing? Did he make the Southside a better place to live? It’s a good place to die, that’s for sure. I read last week that the murders in Southside Chicago outnumbered the troops killed in Iraq 2 to 1. It seems that he has a little improving left to do in Chicago before he sets out to save the world.
There has been less press scrutiny of Obama in 2 years than of Sarah Palin in one week. And it was like pulling teeth to get them to cover the John Edwards affair. Scrutinize away, just scrutinize both sides, please.
Report Inappropriate Comment
Posted by ( Vindicator ) on September 07, 2008 at 7:27 am
By all means, let’s learn all about her. Let’s not have a witch hunt because she is on the Republican ticket. From what I have read about her so far, she is the main reason I have decided to vote for McCain instead of a write in. If this paper really wants facts about her record, then I expect this paper to endorse her after doing your research. Show us how “Mainstream media” is impartial for a change!
Report Inappropriate Comment
Posted by ( katharinenor ) on September 07, 2008 at 4:08 am
The issue isn’t even Palin. With the number of questionable activities now attributed to Palin’s administrations of both her city of 6000(at the time she was mayor) and the State of Alaska (pop. just about half a million) the major issue now is McCain’s decision making ability. Obviously, like the general republican electorate, McCain was simply bowled over by her personality (as snarky as his, evidently). Did he knowingly choose a running mate who took over a town with 0 debt and left it 22000 in debt while redecorating the mayor’s offices numerous times, tried to fire the librarian because she would not burn books, and was finally forced to hire a city administrator to do the job she should have been doing (yes, Sarah, being mayor does require responsibility, too bad you couldn’t handle it.)? Did he knowingly choose a running mate who hired a public relations team to get earmarks from the federal government? Did he knowingly choose a running mate who backed the bridge to nowhere until it was expedient not to, but kept the money anyway? Did he knowingly choose a running mate embroiled in an investigation of abuse of power? The list goes on: John McCain has shown the worst decision making skills possible. I am flabbergasted, and scared. He absolutely cannot be president.
Report Inappropriate Comment