Palin hired friends

[manufor3]

In office, Palin hired friends and hit critics
Interviews indicate a governing style that uses loyalty and secrecy

Once Elected, Palin Hired Friends and Lashed Foes
Cautious Campaigning in Shadow of Storm
Active Role for Palin’s Husband in Alaska Government
States Restore Voting Rights for Ex-Convicts, but Issue Remains Politically Sensitive
The Upshot on Palin and Her Updo
By JO BECKER, PETER S. GOODMAN AND MICHAEL POWELL
updated 6:17 p.m. CT, Sat., Sept. 13, 2008

WASILLA, Alaska - Gov. Sarah Palin lives by the maxim that all politics is local, not to mention personal.

So when there was a vacancy at the top of the State Division of Agriculture, she appointed a high school classmate, Franci Havemeister, to the $95,000-a-year directorship. A former real estate agent, Ms. Havemeister cited her childhood love of cows as one of her qualifications for running the roughly $2 million agency.

Ms. Havemeister was one of at least five schoolmates Ms. Palin hired, often at salaries far exceeding their private sector wages.

When Ms. Palin had to cut her first state budget, she avoided the legion of frustrated legislators and mayors. Instead, she huddled with her budget director and her husband, Todd, an oil field worker who is not a state employee, and vetoed millions of dollars of legislative projects.

And four months ago, a Wasilla blogger, Sherry Whitstine, who chronicles the governor’s career with an astringent eye, answered her phone to hear an assistant to the governor on the line, she said.

“You should be ashamed!” Ivy Frye, the assistant, told her. “Stop blogging. Stop blogging right now!”

Points to her management experience
Ms. Palin walks the national stage as a small-town foe of “good old boy” politics and a champion of ethics reform. The charismatic 44-year-old governor draws enthusiastic audiences and high approval ratings. And as the Republican vice-presidential nominee, she points to her management experience while deriding her Democratic rivals, Senators Barack Obama and Joseph R. Biden Jr., as speechmakers who never have run anything.

But an examination of her swift rise and record as mayor of Wasilla and then governor finds that her visceral style and penchant for attacking critics — she sometimes calls local opponents “haters” — contrasts with her carefully crafted public image.

Throughout her political career, she has pursued vendettas, fired officials who crossed her and sometimes blurred the line between government and personal grievance, according to a review of public records and interviews with 60 Republican and Democratic legislators and local officials.

[101A]

NY Times.

Thanks, we'lll take it on advisement.

[TheMadHatter]

The McCain/Palin ticket is going to be Bush 2.0

We know this.

[efrem1]

Is this a news story or an opinion piece? If Ms. Whitstine did not have a recording of those words from Ivy Frye, then she should just shut up.

"fired officials who crossed her"

What does that mean? That sounds a lot like bitter people who get shown the door. You ask people about Governors Schwarzenegger, Blagoevich, O'Malley and Deval Patrick and they will tell you the same thing.

[efrem1]

Oh and speaking of hiring friends, witness the operation of the great Chicago machine.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/08/obamas_ayers_ties_are_relevant.html

[bobbyjoe]

The McCain/Palin ticket is going to be Bush 2.0

We know this.

McCain is 5 X the man Bush was. Even if their ideologies may be similar on some key issues, McCain not being a corrupt, narrow-minded imbecile will allow him to serve this country in a far better and more effective manner than GW. Of that I'm convinced....

Palin? The Repubs need to release her to do more interviews and stop hiding her, so we can find out who she really is...

[bobbyjoe]

This article has some pretty obvious bias.

"A former real estate agent, Ms. Havemeister cited her childhood love of cows as one of her qualifications for running the roughly $2 million agency" LOL.

In small towns where most people know each other and the general demeanor of the town is more friendly than most big cities, I just don't see the big deal about hiring a "friend".

It's ridiculous articles like this IMO that undermine the fair, legit articles about Palin's past...

[TheMadHatter]

McCain WAS a Maverick, but he's long since sold his soul to win this election. Nearly everyone on his team is a corporate lobbyist.

Bush campaigned on the exact same ideals of being a reformist, but his campaign was run by corporate lobbyists. When he got into power, he was beholden to them. It will be the same way with McCain.

[efrem1]

McCain WAS a Maverick, but he's long since sold his soul to win this election. Nearly everyone on his team is a corporate lobbyist.

Bush campaigned on the exact same ideals of being a reformist, but his campaign was run by corporate lobbyists. When he got into power, he was beholden to them. It will be the same way with McCain.

MadHatter:

Look at Open Secrets.org. Your statement is one of complete bewilderment. Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Inc., JP Morgan, Chase and Lehman Brothers were top contributors to Obama's campaign. Now if you think they did not contribute to him without expecting something in return, that thinking is nothing short of ridiculous.

The term "special interest" is nothing but a buzzword that candidates fob off to people who fall for the 30-second soundbite. Every candidate is beholden to "special interest." The question is which interest.

[TheMadHatter]

Am I the one saying Obama is going to be some super Maverick reformer? Fuck no, I know that in that regard he isn't going to cut spending all that much. In my case it's the lesser of two evils.

Obama will stop the war, invest in science and technology, and not mix church into government. I agree with him way more than McSame on the issues.

[efrem1]

Am I the one saying Obama is going to be some super Maverick reformer? Fuck no, I know that in that regard he isn't going to cut spending all that much. In my case it's the lesser of two evils.

Obama will stop the war, invest in science and technology, and not mix church into government. I agree with him way more than McSame on the issues.

I cannot agree with a man that will expand government to titanic levels. He promises everything under the sun and yet, how will we pay for it? The government has become our master and will give us everything and take from us our freedom.

I am not hip to McCain on Campaign finance (interesting that the liberal Eugene McCarthy's campaign in 1968 was financed by large donations by millionaires) nor his uncertain stand on Iraq, but Obama is not the answer. We have too many law and regulations on the books and we can't take anymore. Here is an illustration from James L. Buckley:

"Even through the New Deal days, Congress would usually meet for no more than seven or eight months a year, and it had the leisure to concentrate full attention on the half dozen questions at hand. Those were the days when the Senate could be compared to a club because its members had the time to
get to know one another on an intimate basis and to carry out important business in a civil and unhurried way. Even in these far more complex times, if
Congress were to limit itself to just those concerns that cannot be handled effectively at the state or local level, you could close down three quarters of
the United States Government, beginning with the Departments of Human Resources and Education.

Keep in mind that in 1946, at the close of World War II, the United States Code consisted of just three volumes, exclusive of index and tables, and that includes all the New Deal legislation. Today there are 25 volumes
of federal laws that are implemented by over 150 volumes of fine print regulatory marching orders. They affect just about every individual and every
activity in the country. As a consequence, everyone with a problem brings it to his representatives in Washington, further crowding out time for serious
legislative work. I think I told you about the New York City Bar Association Study that concluded that the workload of the average congressional office had doubled every five years beginning in 1935."

[T Park]

Am I the one saying Obama is going to be some super Maverick reformer? Fuck no, I know that in that regard he isn't going to cut spending all that much. In my case it's the lesser of two evils.

Obama will stop the war, invest in science and technology, and not mix church into government. I agree with him way more than McSame on the issues.


When did it become the government's job to invest in science and technology?

[TheMadHatter]

I'd rather invest trillions of dollars into scientific research and energy independence than the Iraq War.

That alone will makes McCain a candidate I could never support. He's too trigger happy, this nation doesn't need more wars. It's likely he'll start shit with Iran if he gets elected, I'm not at all OK with that and neither are most Americans.

[boutons_]

The hard evidence, from many sources and more to come, that the pitbull bitch is one nasty, fascist, power-abusing, vindictive, punitive, anti-woman, corrupt, bizarre "religionist", anti-environment, pro-oil, ignorant, secretive, lying con-jobbing c*nt far outweighs the evidence for ... WMD.

[IceColdBrewski]

:sleep

[mogrovejo]

I'd rather invest trillions of dollars into scientific research and energy independence than the Iraq War.

That alone will makes McCain a candidate I could never support. He's too trigger happy, this nation doesn't need more wars. It's likely he'll start shit with Iran if he gets elected, I'm not at all OK with that and neither are most Americans.

Yeah, let's elect the peace candidate who wants to invade Pakistan!

McCain was opposed to and was sceptical about lots of wars and military interventions: Lebannon, Somalia, Haiti, even the Balkans. There are some wars who one has to fought, others that one must not. This is a sane principle, I think.

Don't be revisionist and simplistic. The world is not like Obama's speeches make it sound.

[efrem1]

The hard evidence, from many sources and more to come, that the pitbull bitch is one nasty, fascist, power-abusing, vindictive, punitive, anti-woman, corrupt, bizarre "religionist", anti-environment, pro-oil, ignorant, secretive, lying con-jobbing c*nt far outweighs the evidence for ... WMD.

I think I will not repsond to any more of your posts. Unlike Mad Hatter, you cannot conduct a constuctive dialog with any purpose other than slamming people with foul names. :nope

[Crookshanks]

I think I will not repsond to any more of your posts. Unlike Mad Hatter, you cannot conduct a constuctive dialog with any purpose other than slamming people with foul names. :nope

ding, ding, ding - we have a winner! You just summed up boutons in one sentence. He has to be one of the most angry, mean, hateful, and obnoxious posters in this forum. I found it's best just to ignore his posts, otherwise you get too upset.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

In other news....

Obama's done the same thing. So, liberal argument that it's okay for Obama, but bad for Palin #281,201 coming soon...

[manufor3]

lets not forget, obama was getting slammed when he was in the race against hillary, but now everyone's upset about palin?

[Anti.Hero]

4 mo years 4 mo years 4 mo years

:lmao

[TheMadHatter]

Great so this confirms Palin would be Bush 2.0 if she got elected. Hiring cronies and friends to positions they aren't qualified for......now this never caused any problems right. Oh wait......who was the guy Brown in charge of FEMA??

"Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job!"

:lmao :lmao :lmao

[PEP]

ding, ding, ding - we have a winner! You just summed up boutons in one sentence. He has to be one of the most angry, mean, hateful, and obnoxious posters in this forum. I found it's best just to ignore his posts, otherwise you get too upset.

Aww come on, I like reading buffoons and badmintons posts, I just picture them as these bitter angry geeks sitting all day locked up in their rooms afraid of any type of human contact. It probably drives their parents crazy that they havent left the house yet.

[boutons_]

"peace candidate who wants to invade Pakistan!"

... dubya has adopted HUSSEIN's timetable for Iraq pullout, and now he has adopted HUSSEIN's aggressiveness vs Pakistan FATAs.

Of course, dubya's first invasion and bombing of Pakistan in the final weeks of his term, after 6 years of not doing nothing in Pakistan, is not for American NatSec, but a blatant ploy to get OBL with a drone bomb, to give Palin a better shot at the Presidency, aka:

All Repugs, All The Time (America, GFY).

[jochhejaam]

Interviews indicate a governing style that uses loyalty
I've always hated the loyalty thing. Loyalty sucks!




Ms. Havemeister was one of at least five schoolmates Ms. Palin hired, often <sometimes not> at salaries far exceeding their private sector wages.
Conversely, "...at least five of schoolmates Ms. Palin hired, some at salaries lower than their private sector wages".




And four months ago, a Wasilla blogger, Sherry Whitstine, who chronicles the governor’s career with an astringent eye, answered her phone to hear an assistant to the governor on the line, she said.

“You should be ashamed!” Ivy Frye, the assistant, told her. “Stop blogging. Stop blogging right now!”
OMGosh!! Someone took exception to what someone else said in a blog!!
Thankfully, that crap doesn't go on here!




her swift rise and record as mayor of Wasilla and then governor...
...and then Vice President.




Nice article, thanks for posting.

[boutons_]

When Palin was mayor, Wasilla billed rape victims for examination kit

When Gov. Sarah Palin was mayor of her hometown of Wasilla, the town forced sexual assault victims to foot the bill for their own rape kits, the Anchorage Daily News reported. (http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/523708.html)

Palin was in office for four year of the practice until it drew the ire of state lawmakers, who passed a bill to end it in 2000.

http://rawstory.com/news/2008When_Palin_was_mayor_Wasilla_billed_0912.html

[101A]

When Palin was mayor, Wasilla billed rape victims for examination kit

When Gov. Sarah Palin was mayor of her hometown of Wasilla, the town forced sexual assault victims to foot the bill for their own rape kits, the Anchorage Daily News reported. (http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/523708.html)

Palin was in office for four year of the practice until it drew the ire of state lawmakers, who passed a bill to end it in 2000.

http://rawstory.com/news/2008When_Palin_was_mayor_Wasilla_billed_0912.html





And there were a bunch of murders in Chicago while Obama lived there!!!

[boutons_]

Did the murder victim's families get billed for the murder investigations?

bitch, meet slap.

[ploto]

Palin ran her city and her state like women run the PTA at a school. Seriously. Those are the most vindictive, back-stabbing bitches you could ever meet, and she acts just like them all. After all, isn't that where she got her start in politics.

[PixelPusher]

And there were a bunch of murders in Chicago while Obama lived there!!!

Did Obama bill the corpses for their body bags?

[manufor3]

Palin ran her city and her state like women run the PTA at a school. Seriously. Those are the most vindictive, back-stabbing bitches you could ever meet, and she acts just like them all. After all, isn't that where she got her start in politics.

:toast

[LakeShow]

I remember the media did a story on Palin's circle of friends. When asked who would they vote for, only one of the 5 said they would vote for Palin/McCain. The 4 others said that they had not made up their minds or they prefer to keep it private. :wow I found that strange. If it were one of my good friends, I would not hesitate to say that I would be voting for he/she.