By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist
The New York Times on Sunday weighs in with a front-page piece pummeling Sarah Palin's governing style.
The headline says, "As governor and mayor, Palin hired friends and hit critics." Now that's not exactly news. What politician routinely hires critics and hits friends -- and survives?
In the article, Palin comes across as a control freak, who doesn't want the public to know through e-mail records what's going on in her administration.
Shades of Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt, who's also waging a fight over what was and wasn't public record in his e-mails.
The Times quotes a number of supporters of Palin's as well. They generally say she's a strong supporter of cutting waste and shaking up government-as-usual.
But the majority of the article quotes people who attack Palin and her husband, Todd.
Not surprisingly, Palin and her husband refused to be interviewed by The Times.
That's unfortunate. It would have been good for a person seeking the vice presidency of the United States to have explained and defended herself with the nation's leading newspaper.
But being secretive, as you might have noticed by now, is part of the Palin style.
And why not? It still seems to be working.









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CONTINUED ATTACKS ON PALIN JUST ATTRACTS MORE DEMOCRATS
The continued attacks on Gov. Palin only makes her more human and reminds us of the little person fighting the establishment.
We all root for the little guy.....and in this case it's the little gal.
One of the main things fueling this need to stand up for Palin is the media's recent display of SEXISM and BIAS during the Hillary and Obama race.
We all thought that was over with.....and then here it comes again. It's like a big glass of cold water in the face reminding us that SEXISM is alive and kicking in the good USA.
Of course let's not forget the Medias shameful crush on Obama. We are still waiting for the REAL REPORTERS to come out of hiding and do some actual investigative reporting on Obama.
So the media can keep ganging up on this woman, in the end it will only serve to get more voters on her side.
She should send every reporter and news anchor that trasher her a X-MAS card in December thanking them for the win.
Who do you think you're kidding?
You're no Democrat. You're just a Republican troll. No one's buying your nonsense, anymore than we're buying that "Bridge to Nowhere" nonsense.
She was for it before she was against it.
I'm a former Democrat (as of May 31st)
and I'm voting for McCain.
Duly noted
Your thoughtful, liberal comment will be missed.
Call (202) 456-1414
Ask for "Temporary"
You guys left out ONE thing about Sarah Palin
One that bothers me like no other thing anyone has found . . .
She wanted to help Alaska Secede!
Three months ago, she let it be KNOWN far and wide that she doesn't want to be a U.S. Citizen!
Palin tells the Alaskan Independence Party -- whose goal is a vote on seceding from the U.S -- to "keep up the good work."
According to the AIP Web site founder of the party, Joe Volger said, "I'm an Alaskan, not an American. I've got no use for America or her damned institutions."
Don't believe it? Here is her address at this Party's 2008 Convention!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh7EtOCZvjI
I'm sorry, I can not vote for someone who does not want to be an American citizen. How could McCain do this? Associate with someone that doesn't love their country? He's a veteran and a POW for crying out loud. I just can't vote for an Anti-American.
Additional info
If she really does support this group, then this may be a step worse than Bush. I can understand being proud of your state and loving the place where you live, but is it really going to make it better if you secede from the USA?
Read this, its directly from the coalition she supports:
http://www.akip.org/goals.html
The Alaskan Independence Party's goal is the vote we were entitled to in 1958, one choice from among the following four alternatives:
1) Remain a Territory.
2) Become a separate and Independent Nation.
3) Accept Commonwealth status.
4) Become a State.
The call for this vote is in furtherance of the dream of the Alaskan Independence Party's founding father, Joe Vogler, which was for Alaskans to achieve independence under a minimal government, fully responsive to the people, promoting a peaceful and lawful means of resolving differences.
Shooting the Messenger / Palin Appoints Cronies to Govt Jobs
The standard neo-conservative ploy, widely promoted back in the 90's by Newt Gingrich, is to go negative early. Shooting the messenger is MUCH easier than dealing with the real problem.
Wow! How reminiscent of Dubya. He appointed a lot of useless flunkies to high positions too! Do we have any quotes where Sarah Palin is saying something stupid, similar to "Heckuva job, Brownie"? Of course she has only been governor for a short while. There's not much to go on yet.
The difference between Dubya and Palin? Lipstick.
Breathe in.....Wheew(exhale)...Okay, lets get started!
A few points
Emails as we all know, as private as they may seem, they never will be. With bills such as the Patriot Act and the FISA bill, no one is ever protected unless they keep it in their head(in thought form). Every one out there that works for a large business know ESPECIALLY that company email is filtered through a I.T. administrator and the passed on to the receiver. Everything is scanned. If there is something objectionable(such as abuse of company policies), the person may or may not see the company take action upon them. I ask the question, what makes any government official any different? They work for their communities and for the betterment of the American people, right? Everyone has or are lived dubious lives, some people just choose to hide it. What makes Palin exempt from questionable emails being raised for the public to see. We should be able to read her emails that raise questions about her authority. If she doesn't want people to read them , use a gmail account or some other personal email place.
Children. Palin, having just birthed a beautiful baby boy, I feel that is where her four years should be focused on. Too many parents miss out on their children growing up and bonding experiences with busy work schedules. As a VP, she would be traveling the world and her White house assistants would become the child's mothers. Any baby, regardless of disability or not deserves their mothers full love and attention.
Palin trying to ban books?
Please take a look at hes articles
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1837918,00.html
http://www.librarian.net/stax/2366/sarah-palin-vp-nominee/
How about Nixon and McCaskill's emails?
The Star is so overtly biased that it's a joke. You love targeting Blunt and Palin, but how about Nixon and McCaskill???
Jay Nixon admitted to the AP that his staff deletes emails and no one seems to question him on it.
Claire McCaskill told the Star in late 2007 that she'd comply with a Sunshine Law request for emails but she's failed to respond.
It's hypocrisy at its worst -- Not just from the Democrats but from the Star.
can the NY times survive ....period
I grew up reading and revereing the Times....it was the American measuring standard of 4th estate excellence..but no longer is.
Almost from the moment that Reagan was elected they began a precipitous decline in integrity and fact based reporting. Today, they live entirely on their historical reputation.....which is declining faster than their stock price and readership.
The left, and all of the media elite continues to point to the Times as a source of unquestionable integrity ....without success.
The whole media game has changed .....and the Times has not.
Funny.
NY Times = Judith Miller. They were just as instrumental in the run up to the war as anyone. The left was just 'outraged'. Now, after this article, not so much. Funny how people change their opinions so easily.
That is all.
NY TImes, Palin
The NY Times piece on Sarah Palin is hopefully just the first in a series that exposes the shortcomings of this candidate.
Have people already forgotten that we are still suffering from the high handed behavior of Dick Cheney? Examples of Palin's history of abusing the power of elective office are abundant and need to be fully exposed.
Did you read the article?
Denise Tiller, Midwest Voices Panelist 2008
I get the New York Times delivered to my home every day because I need a real newspaper fix. I don't understand why you are criticizing the Times when you should be really upset with Sarah Palin's activities. She didn't just give a few friends government jobs, she gave them important jobs that they were not qualified for. I think the things the Times brought up are disturbing but from the tone of your blog, you don't seem to care. If you want crooked politicians, well, you get what you vote for, I guess.
Since I assume not many Star readers take the Times, here's the link.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/us/politics/14palin.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=sarah%20palin,%20giving%20friends%20jobs&st=cse&oref=slogin
Also, here's something from CNN about Palin trying hard to get her ex-brother-in-law fired:
http://m.cnn.com/cnn/ne/politics/detail/167613/full
Denise Tiller, Midwest Voices Panelist 2008
I would expect no less
from a democrat like you. The NY Times, just like the KC Star, clearly has a democractic view of the world. When looking for objective reporting, neither the Star or the Times rank in the top 100 sources.
sarah palin
A pro-life woman who birthed a special needs child rather than kill it off? A legislator who just sent her son off to the war in Iraq which I suppose qualifies her for the Michael Moore Medal of Honor? What should I be mad at her for?
As for the Times... scandal after scandal. A total dive into the liberal waters and a special gloved (not Michael Jackson) middle finger for their hapless shareholders. What is there to like about them?
At the end of the day, the paper was once a great one. The heirs have failed. No matter, Carlos Slim from Mexico will attend to them.
I wonder who will attend to the other failure, Yael T Abouhalkah? Also once a great reporter and spokesman for the regular citizen... no the Captain on the deck of the USS Funkhouser.
the extent of the influence of the NY Times
Like you, Yael, the best and most influential moments of the Times was about 10-20 years ago. The entire newspaper business is no longer held in the same esteem as it once was nor do they have as many people reading what they write. There are alot more things for people to focus on that are both more relevant to people's lives than the rantings of an overpaid liberal reporter and more relevant to their lives (sort of the problem you are having... trying to find topics that people want to read about).
And the Times has suffered public humiliation over the years... just like what's going on at the Star with it's bizarre Captain Smith like defense of the current Mayor.
So I think that Ms. Palin will survive this death strike. And she will be back strong as she can be. She seems to be a tough egg and the real deal (even to the extent that she out Michael Moore'd Michael Moore by sending her son off to Iraq... stuff that up your collective noses denizens of the left wing).
What she and McCain might not be able to survive is the number of people who keep stuffing money into Obama's campaign account. If these peole vote, depending on the demographic breakdown of the contributors, BO may win every State.
The nation's leading newspaper?
Don't recent polls have the New York Times and National Enquirer running No. 1 & No.2 as the nation's leading newspaper.
Such distinction. (smile)
In fact, if they had put the New York Times editorial in the National Enquirer, I would have recognized it much more quickly than I did.
caribou barbie
Laugh it up jeetzie ole boy... those stories are just the tip of the iceberg.... a pun... get it??? Try not to strain yourself.
maybe a draft could change things
After watching debates about Presidential candidates on the Sunday morning news programs today, and witnessing voter response to Presidential administration and Congressional performance since 2000, I have to conclude Tricky Dick Nixon would have a different reputation and historical tale told if he'd held office at a different time. Like now, for instance.
Watergate was comparatively small potato's, compared to contemporary shenanigan's for both office-holders and candidates for the Presidancy, and it might not occupy 48 hours of today's news cycle. Unless there was a military draft in place now, just like there was then. A draft, in perilous times, hones focus like nothing else. Public policy threats to the common good require great effort and sustained concentration to understand.
Citizens, united in large numbers against the Viet Nam war, were sufficiently outraged by the Nixon administration's abuse of office they emboldened the Congress to impeach the President. A conviction vote in the Senate was likely only avoided by Nixon's resignation and a hasty pardon granted by President Ford.
So far these days people have yet to tire of suffering less-easily recognized, yet still direct, unpleasant, and dire, consequences from Presidential and Congressional policy enactment.
Post 9-11 battle casualties, in the all-volunteer forces, are tolerated by a public that remains unmotivated as well by policies that under-fund regulatory agencies that exist to protect the public from infusions of e-coli and other toxic substances into the food supply. Or to demonstrate sufficient concern about the importation (under trade-agreement rules the public has been largely excluded from speaking about) of more food-laden toxins, and poisons carried by children's toys, in ways that might affect administration policy. Or about laws that permit usurious interest rates by lenders. And the Fannie/Freddie debacle. Health insurance company exploitive practices. And on and on ad infinitum.
Public enmity, mobilized, fueled, and sustained by a military draft during an unpopular war, succeeded in asserting accountability over a public servant and his administration, and provided an opportunity for the Republic to recognize and acknowlege wrongdoing. Today, it seems virtually anything can occur and be forgotten before the week is out. It is too bad the Nixon administration wasn't sufficiently held accountable. Perhaps that example would have served as a check on behaviors today.