Shannyn Moore's Take on Gov. Palin's Judgement

(Sarah Palin, behind a .50 caliber machine gun, doing her Michael Dukakis impression last year.)

Shannyn Moore has written an article that seriously questions some apects of Gov. Palin's judgement. Guest post by Shannyn Moore:

Today is a historical day for Alaskans. Having been born and raised here, I can celebrate whole heartedly that an Alaskan politician has made the national stage for something other than corruption charges. Wow, the nation is stunned…you have a gun, Lady? Really? Neat! Can we vote NOW? The story of a real Alaskan woman, mother of five, uber-pro-life, a creationist, loves Jesus, hates the devil, married to a real life stud…well, you just can’t write this stuff. If John McCain had selected my favorite Alaskan Conservative, my father, instead of Governor Gump, I still wouldn’t vote for him.

When it comes to being one breath from the presidency, my nostalgia for an Alaskan being in the White House wanes fast. I want a vice president with good judgment. I don’t care what gender you are, or what color you are…I want your brain to be connected to your heart and spine. After the debacles of Frank Murkowski, I was ready to give Sarah Palin the benefit of a doubt and line up as an Alaskan First, before party. She has shown weakness on a few key issues that disappointed me in the past few months, and now are red flags with her new job offer.

Last spring there was the big announcement of Sarah Palin’s 5th pregnancy. I’m pro choice, happy she was able to make whatever choice was best for her family. With her oldest child in the military, three more at home, and one on the way she was getting quite a bit done. I would have wanted a nap and a spa, but that’s just me. In the last few weeks of her pregnancy she was flying all over the country, Washington D.C. and then to a conference of Republican Governors in Dallas. Her water broke at the conference and she decided to fly back to Alaska to have her 5th child that she knew had downs-syndrome. She passes up some of the finest children’s hospitals in Dallas, Seattle and Anchorage, to fly hours and then drive to 50 miles to her home town to have her child. I admire her ability to hold a child in during all those hours and miles above the Earth, and her staunch loyalty to Alaska to deliver her baby on Native Soil. But had I been on board one of those planes on the way to take a loved one off life support, or be at a wedding, or job interview, or any other event that we get on planes for, and had to be diverted by a woman who knowingly got on board after her water broke, I may not admire her uterine control so much. Her lack of judgment for fellow passengers seems obvious, but for someone who is so pro-life it seems reckless.

As Governor, Palin did bring back a special session to fix the previously bought tax on the oil industry. Not giving away our State’s resources doesn’t constitute standing up to Big Oil. I’m sure it feels like it with the pressure of the most powerful lobbyists in the world, but it just isn’t. It is standing UP for Big Oil to sue the federal government for listing polar bears on the endangered species list because it could affect future exploration. Alaskan towns are washing away, and our climate is changing. Permafrost is no longer “perma” in many places. The rapture is not an environmental policy.

I’m all about killing and grilling moose. So is Sarah. But to the degree she will influence elections by spending $400,000 of state money to propagandize her position to shoot wolves and bears out of planes is bizarre. You would think Alaska has a ban on the importation of Viagra for all the fervor to chase animals with airplanes.

Just days before last weeks election, her administration put up a website, had a press conference all to influence a ballot initiative. While at a press conference she was asked how she would vote on the issue and she came out against it, all be it after dis-robing herself of the “governor’s hat”. The initiative intended to beef up the environmental water standards for large scale open pit mines proposed in the Bristol Bay watershed. It is currently the home of the world’s largest wild salmon run. After the supreme court ruling in favor of Exxon over the Alaskan fishermen, paying damages for environmental damages seems like the cost of doing business rather than a deterrent. As a fellow fisher woman I was shocked by her stance, as an Alaskan I was upset at her lack of regard for the election process and her naivety to think her “personal opinion” wouldn’t alter the outcome.

John McCain came in 4th place during the Republican primary. His disregard of the US Constitution trumps his service. The National media has said Sarah and McCain are both Mavericks. A maverick in Washington wouldn’t have voted lock step with George Bush. To be a maverick republican in Alaska all you have to do is not be indicted or sitting in jail for selling your vote. For all the inexperience or judgment questions I have on Palin’s policies, she’s too good for him. You can put all the sugar on a turd pie that you want….John McCain will still be a turd pie.

The only thing more varied than Alaska’s landscape is its people. When it boils down to a flat tire when it is 20 below, you don’t ask political affiliations when you pull over to help. Sarah Palin is Alaskan, so am I. Politically we disagree on many things, but I’d help her change her tire if she needed it.