"Wasilla is a hellhole..."
Alice Hauschka is a teacher - and a Montlake Elem parent. Her brother is a school principal in Alaska; he shares his concerns re: Gov. Palin....
Hi Friends,
My brother sent this note regarding his impressions about Sarah Palin (McCain's baffling VP choice). I thought it was interesting coming from his inside-Alaska perspective, and worth passing along. For those who don't know my brother, he is a principal of a school up in Alaska, where he and his wife also teach. They've been Alaskan transplants for about 10 years.
Alice
------------
Good evening, lots of friends and relatives have been asking me (as an Alaskan) what I think of Sarah Palin, our Governor, and new choice for McCain as a VP candidate.
Here it
goes:
This pick floored me. Sarah Palin is a nice person. I've met her,
I've even talked to her for a few minutes at a principal's conference a
couple of years ago. She has lots going for her
superficially. She speaks from the heart, like a spitfire mother;
she can even be sort of funny sometimes. She is quite beautiful;
athletic, and has that radiant glow of someone who actually spends time doing
things outside. Unlike many politicians, she has lived a "real
life" and done things that few living and working in DC could ever
do....like dipnettin' fish, shootin' stuff and eating it out on the tundra,
and havin' 5 kids.
Personally, I'd never vote for her. She has an extremely simple view of
the world. I don't even think she has ever been abroad. As
governor she has repeatedly shown us that she is unable to grasp the demands
of leadership. She is very prone to cronyism of the worst kind.
Every cabinet level political appointment she has made she has over-ridden
suggestions of our state advisory boards, and instead promoted those who had
granted her direct political favors. Not that other politicians don't
do this, they do, but most of them are able to balance their appointments to
ensure that at least a few people with real skill and experience are running
big state agencies.
She also has been unable to pay attention to her Alaskan constituency.
Personally, I've written several of our previous gov's and been asked to
comment publicly on education policy. All the previous gov's have
always acknowledged that contribution, criticism or comment; sometimes by
direct reply, or at least by that of a staff member. Palin's office has
been a zone of silence. Not I, nor one person I know commenting has
ever gotten any sort of reply. Her claim of running an open or
transparent government is totally false; the public simply has no role in her
administration.
Her previous claim to fame was being mayor of Wasilla, a growing town about
40 minutes from Anchorage
of about 15,000 people. Wasilla is a hellhole, even by Alaskan
standards, where there are plenty of hellhole towns and villages.
Wasilla is an ugly place that shows a complete absence of planning, design,
or sense of public vision. Gov't agencies and services are completely
overrun in this town; things are so bad that they can't even track their population
or build schools in the right place, because most parts of the town don't
require building permits, so the only clue about where people are settling
are utility receipts. Imagine trying to be an emergency responder in
this kind of place: Houses don't just catch on fire in Wasilla, they
burn to the ground, because by the time the fire department has figured out
which road to take (no signs) or whose house it is (no directory), the place
is done for. Palin was mayor this town for at least 2 terms before
being elected gov. a year and a half ago.
Her moral sense is simplistic and not inclusive. She is the sort of
person who is used to using their "faith" to divide and isolate
minority groups of human beings instead of uniting them. To her credit
as Gov. she has kept out of this arena pretty well, but when in comfortable
company (i.e the Matanuska Valley Republican Women's Club), she lets her
moral cat out of the bag.
I will do what I can to ensure her defeat and that of her running mate as
well. :) Please share this information with those who can use it
well.
Cheers, Pete Hauschka
