As an Alaskan resident, my personal policy regarding former Governor Palin has been to ignore her in hopes that she will fade away. After hearing part of her speech at the Tea Party Convention, and subsequent interview on Fox, I find myself needing to break that policy. What prompted this breach? Primarily it was the inflammatory statement she made that President Obama could gain reelection by waging war with Iran. This statement reinforced the uneasy feeling I have had all along regarding former Governor Palin that she may be dangerously ignorant and narrow-minded regarding world affairs.
I can't imagine (I could be wrong here) that there are many Americans who would favor the United States involvement in yet another war. It is common knowledge (or so I thought) that our military is already over extended in the fronts that we are already fighting in. Iran does have problems with its leaders, and its people are currently in an ever escalating process of rising up against them. I give them my full support to them for doing so, and I have great honor and respect for their courage. Current history could have taught former Governor Palin that American involvement in such situations is likely to cause the terrorist population to rise dramatically once Americans become involved. I wonder, has she seen recent news reports revealing the exponential spread of Al Qaeda terrorist camps and attacks following the ever increasing presence of American troops in the Middle East? Not to mention the increase of "home-grown" terrorists here in the United States that is growing just as rapidly. Maybe I'm missing some information here, but I can't see how Governor Palin can connect waging war with Iran to increased home security.
On to the Fox interview.....
It struck me as odd that an individual asked to identify her top priorities has to refer to "hand-written notes" to identify just what those priorities are. We've seen quite a few media polls recently asking average Americans what their top priorities are, and I doubt that many had to refer to hand-written notes before answering that job losses and housing foreclosures are at the tops of their list.
As an Alaskan resident, I was surprised to hear that energy was one of her top concerns. Palin's successor here has decided to pursue going forward with Palin's plans to offer tax cuts to the oil companies in Alaska. (Despite the fact that they continue to make healthy profits and aren't really in need of the extra income.) This hasn't really done a thing to help me lessen my own dependence on oil, or decrease my energy costs. Gasoline prices are currently $3.27 per gallon, with fuel oil to heat our home running close behind at right around $3.00 per gallon. It could be worse. Our village populations pay around $9.00 per gallon. My electric company continues to raise its rates because of its dependence on oil and I now pay around $300.00 a month to them during the long, dark, cold of winter. We live in a small cabin and watch television in the dark to offset the energy costs of running a small greenhouse to grow our own food.
Alaska has plenty of natural resources to wean ourselves and our state budget off of its oil dependence. There are plenty of private individuals who are leading the way in geo-thermal and wind technology. We really have no need to continue our oil dependence. The greatest thing that the State of Alaska could do to help the "average joe" here would be to invest heavily in alternative energies now. How about rewarding the oil companies for investing in new energy solutions instead of paying them for business as usual? As for national security, we all know that our reliance on oil only confines our foreign policies, thus increasing our risks. It appears, at least from the point of view of an "average joe" in the state of Alaska, that Palin's top energy priority is maintaining our enslavement to the big business of oil.
I guess what I'd really like to accomplish here is to urge some of those infatuated with Palin's public persona to compare her public soundbites to her actual policies and then decide for themselves, "
Is she really out to help the average Joe?" Finally, speaking of those soundbites, has anybody heard her offer credible solutions to the tough problems that America is facing? I admit that I haven't heard every speech she's ever made or even read her book, but what I do see of her in the media is a whole lot of the same old finger-pointing across the aisle that I've grown so weary of and I can't recall a single credible solution she has offered to make things better for all of us.
As always, I'd love to hear what you think. Would waging war with Iran really cause you to reelect President Obama?
