Supporting Gov. Palin Means Respect, Trust, Loyalty

I have seen comments from numerous supporters of Governor Palin's expressing "disappointment" for various reasons in her decision to appear on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Let's make this very simple:

• Governor Palin has 17 years of executive and political experience, going on 18.



• Governor Palin is an astute businesswoman as well as a stateswoman (to call her a "politician" to me is a gross insult). Going Rogue is her product. Governor Palin knows how and where to market her products.



• Governor Palin has a journalism degree. She was a sportscaster and was part of the media.



• Governor Palin has borne the complete brunt of a full court hostile press, and not merely survived but thrived, thanks largely to her very strong objective ego. In a perverse way, her enemies did her a huge favor, for she now has media experience that millions of dollars in consultations and simulation cannot buy. Governor Palin is more than ready for any media attack.



• As Governor, Sarah Palin hired Bill McAllister, an excellent communications director who served her well. Both Meg Stapleton and Pam Pryor handle Governor Palin's media through SarahPAC, and as delineated in an article this morning, Ms. Pryor has more than two decades of media and communications experience.



• Sometimes, a leader's decision might not appear to make sense prima facie. Governor Palin has her reasons -- reasons that we are not privy to and may never be. We are not in her inner sanctum. Part of loving and supporting her is trusting and respecting her decisions as a leader, understanding that these unknown reasons may exist.
  

What the entire foregoing list distills to is this: Governor Palin -- not any supporter of hers -- decides who she will interview with, where, how, when, why, and with what she will conduct said interview.

In this relationship, Governor Palin is the leader. We are her supporters. When we sign on to support any leader, we owe that leader our loyalty, trust and respect. The leader in turn must earn our loyalty, trust, and respect, and this is done by establishing a track record of accomplishments, simultaneously avoiding association with anything that would bring them disgrace. Governor Palin has fulfilled her end of this relationship far above and beyond.

The Limit of Respect, Trust and Loyalty

This is not to suggest that Governor Palin be deified, not held accountable for her actions, or blindly supported no matter what. Cults of personality are very dangerous and toxic. We don't want to establish one around Governor Palin and she certainly would not approve of such a thing. Even "absolute" loyalty, trust, and respect have a limit, which is, they must be earned. If a leader commits a highly unethical or criminal act, an act of grave moral turpitude, or displays egregiously bad judgment, that leader would be no longer deserving of support. My position is -- that Governor Palin never came anywhere near that limit with her decision to market her book on Oprah's show.

Why Her Appearance on Oprah is Worthy of our Support

The Oprah Winfrey show is a well-established venue for authors to market their books -- the purpose of Governor Palin's appearance there. For that reason, I find it patently absurd to question her judgment in appearing on this show; and ludicrous to disavow and deny her support on that basis.

For those of you who do not watch Oprah, because you don't like her -- If you love and support Governor Palin, on November 16, watching or DVR'ing the one episode of Oprah is the right thing to do. It is right, because we want Governor Palin and her product to succeed. You're not doing it for Oprah. You're doing it for Governor Palin. Boycotting this episode because you don't like Oprah is a self-defeating act for any person who considers themselves a supporter of Governor Palin's, in my opinion.

Yes, Oprah could be considered an enemy of Governor Palin's by virtue of her rather enthusiastic support of Obama. We also have been clamoring for Governor Palin to run for President in 2012, yes? We want her to deal with allies and enemies -- people like Ahmadinejad, Putin, the Castro Bros., Chavez, and so forth. She cannot go the rest of her life just interviewing on shows she is comfortable with. "A ship in a harbor is safe. That's not what ships are built for."

Governor Palin picked Oprah's show for what I believe are very good reasons worthy of delineation:

1. Governor Palin has her audience already on Hannity, Greta, Beck, etc. We already bought her book by pre-order! She doesn't need to go promote her book to people who already bought it. That is preaching to the choir and a complete waste of an interview.



2. Oprah's show is the venue for authors to market their books. Governor Palin is marketing a book.



3. Governor Palin will win minds and hearts on Oprah -- she will gain supporters, because she will be placing herself in a new venue, in a new market. And this is a good test market for her: center-left, feminists -- Reagan Democrats -- women -- lots of women -- for women are Oprah's main audience.



4. Governor Palin walked into Saturday Night Live (SNL) a year and three days ago with Tina Fey as an enemy and walked out with her as a friend. Even Alec Baldwin softened his heart towards her, and SNL enjoyed the best ratings they had in 30 years. This is what you call a win-win.
   

Supporting Governor Palin does not just mean posting "I love you Sarah" or something equally emotionally charged on her Facebook wall, and where ever else we might post it. Absent respect, trust, or loyalty, expressed love is nothing more than meaningless words.

One more time on federal energy funds -- by Sarah Palin

By Gov. Sarah Palin
Spectrum
Published in the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman on Saturday, June 27, 2009 10:12 PM AKDT


It is important for Alaskans to know that while state legislators resolved to accept all federal stimulus funds, I vetoed $28.6 million for state energy programs because it came with conditions. Many have looked at this money and did not see any strings. I can assure you, if we accept these funds there is great potential for Alaska to find itself on the hook (Palin, 2009, ¶1).

Let me set the record straight: Alaska has made significant investments to reduce energy costs. In fiscal years 2009 and 2010, we committed more than $600 million for renewable energy, weatherization, home energy rebates, power cost equalization and heating assistance (Palin, 2009, ¶2).

In addition, Alaska will receive $18.5 million for weatherization and $9.6 million for energy efficiency from the federal stimulus package. But the other $28.6 million comes with strings attached (Palin, 2009, ¶3).

Statements made by Congress and the U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE) on conditions for receiving the stimulus funds are available in statutory language and guidance. These statements highlight that: (Palin, 2009, ¶4)

1. Before the stimulus bill passed, it was clear Congress intended to tie the funds to adoption of new energy building codes (Palin, 2009, ¶5).



2. When Congress passed the bill, section 410’s language was clear: governors had to certify in writing that their state or all local jurisdictions with authority to adopt building codes would “implement” the new energy building codes or their equivalent (Palin, 2009, ¶6).



3. After the stimulus passed, the USDOE confirmed in their March 12 and April 24 guidance manuals that funding was only available if governors would confirm in writing that the state or all local jurisdictions with authority to adopt building codes “will implement” the target codes or their equivalents (Palin, 2009, ¶7).



4. After Alaska pointed out that its requirements were unreasonable, USDOE admitted the requirements were “not appropriate” for every state and offered to accept instead, a promise by the governor to promote the target codes on Alaska communities (Palin, 2009, ¶8).



5. On June 6, 2009, USDOE’s contractor developing measurement and reporting requirements related to energy building codes repeated in writing the position that all local communities without the target codes or an equivalent had to adopt the target codes (Palin, 2009, ¶9).

The bottom lines are: (Palin, 2009, ¶10)

• My administration was well-justified in its interpretations of what section 410 and USDOE statements were requiring as conditions to qualify for the funds. In some cases, the conditions were greater in scope than what the Legislature found (Palin, 2009, ¶11).
  
  
• While USDOE admitted that their requirements were not appropriate for every state, the department was still requiring the governor to push the target codes on Alaska communities (Palin, 2009, ¶11).
  
  
• In the June 6, 2009, draft compliance document, USDOE again put a position in writing that codes must be adopted. USDOE appears to be giving inconsistent verbal statements on its position. The fact that USDOE cannot settle on a position is cause for concern particularly regarding what USDOE will ultimately require from states who accept the funds (Palin, 2009, ¶12).
  
  
• Section 410 requires adoption of the 2009 International Energy Code for residential buildings and the Standard 90.1-2007 for commercial buildings or their equivalents. So, it is a single standard for energy savings that must be met by all communities. In that sense it is a one-size-fits-all type requirement. Communities may have some leeway to shape their specific codes, but they still have to adopt a code that does not drop below the federally mandated “floor” for energy savings (Palin, 2009, ¶13).

It is unclear what changes could be made and still reach the minimum savings level set by the feds. This intrudes on the authority of local governments (Palin, 2009, ¶14).

While the draft guidelines are voluntary for now, Alaskans should not be complacent. These guidelines could very well become mandatory over the next few years and be used by the USDOE to conclude that a particular state is not in compliance (Palin, 2009, ¶15).

Alaska is already a leader among states in pursuing conservation, weatherization, and renewable energy. We’ve done so largely with state funds and without infringing on the local authority of Alaska communities (Palin, 2009, ¶16).

Sarah Palin is governor of Alaska.

Commentary

It's too bad, Sarah Palin is not President of the United States, though in many respects she is doing his job for him and doing it very well, as we have seen with her overseas trip.

Governor Palin built a strong, cogent case as why she vetoed this poisoned money -- it comes complete with breaches of the Tenth Amendment. Local Alaskan communities manage their energy matters just fine without federal interference and its concomitant costs.

References

Palin, S.L.H. (2009, June 27). "One more time on federal energy funds." Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman. Retrieved June 28, 2009 from: http://www.frontiersman.com/articles/2009/06/28/opinion/columnists/doc4a4707cbc96ed839059305.txt

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