The Much Maligned Sarah Palin: Hype or Fact?
To be in the public eye is a double-edge sword. When an opinion is formed and shaped as fact then spread by all forms of social media like a pandemic, how can anyone shake off what's false?
In the case of Sarah Palin, there is rarely an article that paints her formidable achievements above the notorious and farcical anecdotes they’d rather publish (after all, what sells better?). How many people, let alone moms or women, can claim all of this in a mere 46 years: first female Mayor of Wasilla, first female Governor of Alaska, first female Vice Presidential candidate on the 2008 republican ballot with John McCain, acclaimed author, news commentator and documentary show host?
While these are certainly a cascade of “firsts”, what inimitable achievements has she accomplished that no other politician can claim, whether male or female? What does the public really know about her?
I recently received a viral email that is the impetus of my article. The chain mail is attributed and verified to be written by Dewie Whetsell, a colorful yet “ordinary” man who decided to voice his opinion about how misunderstood Sarah Palin is. For the past 45 years he has lived in a commercial fishing town in Alaska giving him insight into the world of Alaskan politics. He does not profess to be politically worldly. From his humble perspective, having served as a firefighter for many years, he merely blogged about several of Sarah’s achievements which ended up going viral and even made it into her book, “Going Rogue” (on page 405).
So here’s what I’d like to share with you, verified by FactCheck.org. Is this enough to open your eyes and perhaps have cause to reform an opinion that may have been shaped too quickly by only one-side of the sword? The Press does NOT always equal truth if you didn’t know that by now. These achievements show her ability to be fiscally smart, have the courage to go against big companies, and to shape the future of our environment. How many of you do that in your own home on a daily basis?
1. She fought the big Oil Companies - Sharing Oil Profits: In 2007, the Alaska Legislature adopted a Palin proposal to raise the taxes that oil companies have to pay on their profits from a base rate of 22.5 percent to 25 percent. The oil companies opposed the tax hike, but Sarah persevered. Ultimately, the revenue generated from the tax increase added significantly to the state’s surplus budge, allowing Palin’s administration to issue a one-time rebate of $1200.00 to eligible state residents in 2008. This is in addition to an annual dividend check ($2069) residents receive as part of the state’s oil wealth.
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