Alaska Politics

I am watching people on TV now complain about Sarah Palin and Ted Stevens. It makes me angry and frustrated. Do both of them deserve a little bit of criticism. Yes, they do. Do they deserve the treatment they are getting? No way.

Ted Stevens was recently convicted on not telling the truth about failing to communicate in the past. His conviction may well be overturned. I think Bush will pardon him in January. He may well deserve to be voted out of office. But, he also deserves honor for all he has done for his state and country. Ted has served in the senate for 40 years, all but 10 years of Alaska's statehood. He also served one term in the House of Representatives. He has been a senator for 1/6 of our nations existence. Yes, he had some friends do pro-bono work on his home. But he spent years in the Senate working hard for Alaskans. People criticize him for getting a little too good at bringing home earmarks and funding for projects, but most of those people come from states that had most of their infrastructure built in the 1930s and 1950s. Alaska missed out on that. They still are trying to build infrastructure in Alaska. When I moved to Alaska in the 1980s, many of the main thoroughfares in Soldotna were just getting paved (Binkley Street for instance, and there is still a lot of infrastructure to be built. People should share their appreciation for a man who gave his life serving his country. The criticisms of Senators clapping for Stevens as he retired from the Senate is woefully ignorant, and nothing but vitriol of bitter partisans.

As for Palin, lets just leave the gal alone. Today, people were complaining because she gave an interview while turkeys were being slaughtered in the background. They thought that her down to earth interview was tacky and inhumane. C'mon folks. Grow up. If you want polished political stuff with staged backgrounds, do not go to Alaska. If you want someone who is polished and refined for national office, do not pick a Vice Presidential candidate from the last frontier. I was not a big fan of Palin's readiness to lead, but I continue to be irritated by the self-righteous, condescending way the media treats the poor gal. And, I think that media treatment will in the end make Palin more likeable and sypathetic to people, not less.