Kick 'er When She's Up, Kick 'er When She's Down

When it comes to mainstream media reportage on Gov. Palin, the Don Henley classic "Dirty Laundry" could not be more apropos. The closing lyric to Don Henley's "Dirty Laundry" is,

We can do the innuendo, we can dance and sing
When it's said and done, we haven't told you a thing
We all know that crap is king, give us dirty laundry

For most of the media "crap is king," when writing stories about Gov. Palin. Editorializing in news stories is the principal reason why we refer to the "lamestream" media as such. A blatant example of this is an AFP article written by Andrew Gully, headlined "Palin accuses Obama of being in bed with big oil".

Obama and Big Oil

The headline implies that Gov. Palin is making a false accusation. Gov. Palin stated the facts on the Chris Wallace Show, and on Twitter. BP did in fact make a $77K donation to the Obama campaign, which is indeed the largest donation of the $3.5 million the company has made to federal candidates in the past 20 years.

According to Cassandra LaRussa, who wrote, "BP Enjoys Lobbying Strength, Close Ties to Lawmakers as Federal Investigation Looms," on Open Secrets, only ConocoPhilips has lobbied more extensively than BP. This connection could explain Obama's interest in Alaska's gas pipelines.

Gov. Palin correctly indicated a strong correlation between BP's lobbying and donations to candidate Obama, and his administration's slow response to the Horizon Deepwater tragedy.

Three Lies in One Paragraph

In his closing paragraphs, Gully wrote,

"Palin, who quit the Alaska governorship after serving less than half of one term, famously promoted the slogan "Drill, baby, drill!" that rallied supporters while dismissing possible environmental impact of off-shore drilling."

Lie No. 1 Figures Don't Lie, but Liars can Figure

Truth: Gov. Palin served almost two thirds of her term, not "less than half"




The "quit the governorship" meme is a typical Alinsky-esque Obama talking point. Gov. Palin served 31 months out of the four years (48-months), which is 64.58% of her term. Even if we accept the notion that Gov. Palin "quit," 64.58% is 14.58% more than half. We do not expect reporters to do differential equations, but accurate simple arithmetic is not too much to ask. The clause; therefore, about "serving less than half of one term" is pure, unadulterated baloney.

Lie No. 2 - The "Quitter" Meme

Truth: Palin Administration's Agenda was Accomplished when She Left Office

Most importantly, her administration accomplished every goal on its agenda within those 31 months. I challenge anyone to find a governor of any state in our lifetimes who accomplished what she has in 31 months.

The number, size, scale, scope, and frequency of accomplishments of the Palin-Parnell administration from 2006 through 2008 and 2009 is a record that cannot be beat.

Frivolous Ethics Complaints and FOIA Requests

Any news person who follows Gov. Palin knows or should know why she left office after 31 months: a barrage of frivolous ethics complaints and FOIA requests tied up her entire administration and ground work to a halt. Gov. Palin was personally liable for defending against these complaints and had incurred over $500K in legal bills. Had she stayed in office, bankruptcy was a distinct possibility. The state had incurred over $2 million dollars in defending against these cases, and those costs were climbing. "Clinging to power" would have been a losing proposition for Alaska, its taxpayers, Gov. Palin and her family.

Transformational Leadership and Succession Planning



Leaving office as she did was not "quitting." It was the right thing to do under the circumstances. Gov. Palin is also an astute Transformational Leader and followed a key aspect of John Kotter's 8-Step Change Model to the letter:

"Create plans to replace key leaders of change as they move on. This will help ensure that their legacy is not lost or forgotten."

Gov. Palin's successor, Gov. Parnell is ensuring that Gov. Palin's agenda continues on. While Gov. Palin is a Transformational Leader, Gov. Parnell is more Transactional. She could not have picked a more perfect successor. It was this decision, made when Gov. Palin was a candidate that led to her being able to leave office and still have her agenda continue on. It is why, we at US 4 Palin support Sean Parnell for Alaska's Governor with Eddie Burke as his Lieutenant Governor.

Moving on When the Mission is Accomplished is a Trait of Transformational Leaders

From ChangingMinds.org:

Finally, Transformational Leaders, by definition, seek to transform. When the organization does not need transforming and people are happy as they are, then such a leader will be frustrated. Like wartime leaders, however, given the right situation they come into their own and can be personally responsible for saving entire companies.

Having achieved her mission, there would have been little point to Gov. Palin staying in office any longer than she did. As she said in her own farewell address, "only dead fish go with the flow." Her departure was also well-planned, and its timing could not have been more Providential.

When one closely analyzes her departure, staying in office would have been the real "quit," as Gov. Palin would have short-circuited her own future impact and relegated herself back to obscurity.

More Impact Without a Title

In her farewell address, Gov. Palin said she could have more impact without at title than with one. A cursory review of her accomplishments 10 months on supports her statement. Using Facebook and Twitter, she shaped the political debate on key issues such as Obamacare and cap-and-tax. She authored a best-seller, which was Number 1 for six weeks, and had a major book signing tour. Gov. Palin's second book is coming out this November 23. Her endorsements carry heavy weight as evidenced by the anger of non-endorsed candidates, and their supporters. She is a consultant on Fox News, has a special series with them, and is working on a Learning Channel series about her state. Gov. Palin is electrifying crowds of thousands in venues nationwide. People routinely travel thousands of miles, spend thousands of dollars, and endure extremely long wait times just to have a few seconds bonding time with her. Most only get to see her from afar.



Gov. Palin went from nearly being driven to bankruptcy to being a millionaire in mere months. With her Reagan-esque optimism, Gov. Palin turned bitter lemons into sweet, delicious lemonade. Gov. Palin throughout her life has demonstrated an uncanny ability to turn adversity about on its head and emerge stronger than before.

Lie No. 3: "Dismissing possible Environmental Impacts

Truth: Gov. Palin is a Steward to the Environment

The third lie Gully told in that paragraph was "dismissing possible environmental impact of off-shore drilling." Gov. Palin never did such a thing. In her most recent interview with Chris Wallace as covered by both Adrienne Ross and myself, Gov. Palin explained how she took on the big oil companies such as BP. She explained how her administration went after Exxon-Mobil to hold it accountable for the Exxon Valdez oil spill, which affected her husband's fishing business. Her handling of Exxon Valdez spill, which brought tremendous strife upon the state of Alaska is very well documented in Going Rogue: An American Life.

Conclusion

We expect this kind of trash reportage from amateur hate bloggers. Professional journalists should know better. Even if they don't particularly like Gov. Palin, their job is to accurately and truthfully document her record. Purposely understating the length of her term, using loaded words to describe her departure from office, diminishing her accomplishments, and printing blatant falsehoods about her environmental stewardship is nothing less than politically motivated, sexist slinging of the bull at a wall and hoping some of it sticks.

"We all know that crap is king. Give us dirty laundry."

Sarah Palin: Big Oil: Learning from Alaska’s Experience

By Adrienne Ross - www.motivationtruth.com

Via Facebook, Governor Palin sets the record straight, puts Press Secretary Robert Gibbs in his place, and shares her expertise derived from years of energy experience.

She writes:

Many Americans want a serious discussion about what can be done to finally tackle the Gulf Coast oil spill. Unfortunately, yesterday White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs used his appearance on “Face the Nation” to deflect from the needed discussion about solutions as he suggested that I should “get slightly more informed as to what’s going on in and around oil drilling in this country.”

Mr. Gibbs’ comments were in response to something I said last weekend in an interview on “Fox News Sunday.” In the course of discussing the administration’s failure to get to grips with the oil spill, I pointed out that the media was rather silent on asking if there was a connection between the White House’s hands-off response to the spill and the undisputed fact that Barack Obama was BP’s top recipient of both PAC and individual money for the last 20 years. Please note that I never claimed there was a conspiratorial connection; rather, I was saying that it’s odd that so few in the media have asked that question. In fact, I believe Major Garrett is one of the few reporters to pursue the issue. You can be sure that if this were a Republican administration, at the very least the media would be asking that question nonstop.

As for getting “informed” about oil drilling: I’m confident that in the course of my chairmanship of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (AOGCC) and the U.S.’s Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC), and my work as governor of our nation’s huge oil producing state, I’ve learned enough to be able to say with some certainty that the White House’s response to this crisis leaves something to be desired. I also believe that the White House should spend all of its time finding solutions to the enormous oil gush problem.

The Obama administration claims that it “will not rest until we get this situation under control,” but in practice it’s evident that it must do more to stop a potential environmental disaster from happening. U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen probably summed it up best when he described the Obama Administration’s approach to this crisis as “keeping a close watch” while BP is tackling the problem – at the company’s own pace.

While the Administration watches from the sidelines, the Gulf Coast states face some potential disaster. This raises serious questions. Should it really take nine whole days before the Administration asked the Department of Defense for help in deploying equipment needed for the extreme depth spill site? Why is Governor Jindal still waiting, 35 days later, for material needed to tackle the oil spill to protect the coast’s environment and for federal approval to build offshore sand barriers to protect his state’s coast line? Is it correct that the Coast Guard was initially unwilling to burn off the oil for fear of causing air pollution (which would have been far less harmful than the current water pollution)?

These questions all require answers. In the meantime, let me make a constructive suggestion to help the White House out of its current impasse. They should reach out to the best oil and gas team in the nation and tap into its expertise. I know just the team: Alaska’s Department of Natural Resources, led by Commissioner Tom Irwin. Having worked with Tom and his DNR team as Governor, I can vouch for their expertise and their integrity in dealing with Big Oil and overseeing its developments.

This team’s (and Alaska’s PSIO team’s) expertise on oil spill issues is particularly relevant. We all lived and worked through the Exxon oil spill, and we all committed to the principle that this would never happen again in Alaska’s waters, at least not on our watch. That’s why we created the Petroleum Systems Integrity Office (PSIO) when we saw proof of improper maintenance of oil infrastructure in our state. And that’s why we instituted new oversight and held BP and other oil companies financially accountable for poor maintenance practices. And that’s why we cracked down on unethical and unsound practices by oil companies and their contractors that operate in Alaska. And that’s why I filed a Friend-of-the-Court brief against Exxon’s interests for its decades-old responsibility to compensate victims adversely affected by the Exxon-Valdez oil spill. None of these actions made us popular with oil company management. (In fact, Commissioner Irwin received a message from a North Slope oil company employee that summed up their view of our efforts well: the message told him to “go to hell, but resign first.”) Our relationship with Big Oil may have been perceived as contentious because we always put the interests of Alaskans first.

The White House could do worse than emulate what Alaska did over the years. No, it doesn’t make you popular with Big Oil (my commissioners and I certainly learned that!), and you may see fewer campaign contributions flow your way – but so what? Dealing with the impacts of 35 days of uncontrolled oil flow into pristine waters is more than enough time for the White House to realize they need to tap into expertise, hold BP accountable, and not waste time politicking around such a grave situation.

Taking a tough stand to protect our environment while domestically drilling for much-needed energy sources is the only way the public can trust government and industry to safely work towards energy independence. We need to “Drill, baby, drill” responsibly, safely, and ethically. That’s the way Alaska’s DNR accomplishes its mission in America’s 49th state.

- Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin: Nikki Haley in Opposition’s Crosshairs: a Good Sign for Nikki and South Carolina!

By Adrienne Ross - www.motivationtruth.com

Governor Palin tells it like it is in her recent Facebook note. Here she discusses a blogger's assault against Nikki Haley's character, accusing her of having an affair. Governor Palin knows a thing or two about being targeted by those on the Left who fear her. She uses that experience to offer advice to Haley, conservative candidate for governor of the state of South Carolina, and she even mocks the absurdity of their rumors about her.

Governor Palin writes:

Well, whaddya know? South Carolina’s conservative candidate, Nikki Haley, recently zipped to the front of the line in her state’s race for governor; and lo and behold, now accusations of an affair surface.

Nikki categorically denies the accusation that was spewed out there by a political blogger who has the gall to throw the stone, but then quickly duck and hide and proclaim he would not comment further on the issue. Quite convenient.

When Nikki and I held her endorsement rally on the steps of the beautiful and historic South Carolina state house a few weeks ago, I warned her and her family that she would be targeted because she’s a threat to a corrupt political machine, and she would be put through some hell. That, unfortunately, is the nature of the beast in politics today – especially for conservative “underdog” candidates who surge in the polls and threaten to shake things up so government can be put back on the side of the people.

South Carolina: don’t let some blogger make any accusation against your Nikki if the guy doesn’t even have the guts or the integrity to speak further on such a significant claim. And don’t believe anything a liberal rag claims or suggests unless the reporter involved has the integrity and the facts to report to you so you can make up your own mind. For traditional media to rely on an accusation via some blog entry is almost laughable, but I know the seriousness of it because that’s exactly what my family and colleagues have had to put up with, every single day, for the past couple of years.

As I said to Nikki this morning, “Hang in there. I’ve been there. Any lies told about you will strengthen your resolve to clean up political and media corruption. You and your supporters will grow stronger through things like this.”

Reaching her from Wasilla, I then joked with Nikki that I was calling her from one of the many locations the lamestream media claims I moved to. (Let’s see, I think the last I heard I was living in the Hamptons, or was it Montana? No, supposedly L.A. is where they claim I moved when I “left Todd” in their idiotic reports.)

South Carolina friends, don’t let ‘em just make things up.

- Sarah Palin