Palin is a redneck

[snopes]

An Alaskan talks about Sarah

This came from a Bryn Mawr classmate via a friend.

Dear classmates -

As an Alaskan, I am writing to give all of you some information on Sarah
Palin, Senator McCain's choice for VP. As an Alaska voter, I know more
than most of you about her and, frankly, I am horrified that he picked
her.

The most accurate description of her is red neck. Her husband works in the
oil fields of Prudhoe Bay and races snow mobiles. She is a life time
member of the NRA and has worked tirelessly to allow indiscriminate
hunting of wildlife in Alaska, particularly wolves and bears. She has
spent millions of Alaska state dollars on aerial hunting of these
predators from helicopters and airplanes, dollars that should have been
spent, for example, on Alaska's failing school system.We have the lowest
rate of high school graduation in the country. Not all of you may think
aerial predator hunting is so bad, but how anyone (other than Alaska
wolf-haters, of which there are many, most without teeth), could think
this use of funds is appropriate is beyond me. If you want to know more
about the aerial hunting travesty, let me know and I will send some links
to informative web sites.

She has been a strong supporter of increased use of fossil fuels, yet the
McCain campaign has the nerve to say she has "green" policies. The only
thing green about Sarah Palin is her lack of experience. She has
consistently supported drilling in ANWR, use of coal-burning power plants
(as I write this, a new coal plant is being built in her home town of
Wasilla), strip mining, and almost anything else that will unnecessarily
exploit the diminishing resources of Alaska and destroy its environment.

Prior to her one year as governor of Alaska, she was mayor of Wasilla, a
small red neck town outside Anchorage. The average maximum education level
of parents of junior high school kids in Wasilla is 10th grade.
Unfortunately, I have to go to Wasilla every week to get groceries and
other supplies, so I have continual contact with the people who put Palin
in office in the first place. I know what I'm talking about. These people
don't have a concept of the world around them or of the serious issues
facing the US. Furthermore, they don't care. So long as they can go out
and hunt their moose every fall, kill wolves and bears and drive their
snow mobiles and ATVs through every corner of the wilderness, they're
happy. I wish I were exaggerating.

Sarah Palin is currently involved in a political corruption scandal. She
fired an individual in law enforcement here because she didn't like how he
treated one of her relatives during a divorce. The man's performance and
ability weren't considered; it was a totally personal firing and is
currently under investigation. While the issue isn't close to the scandal
of Ted Steven's corruption, it shows that Palin isn't "squeaky clean" and
causes me to think there ay be more issues that could come to light.
Clearly McCain doesn't care.

When you line Palin up with Biden, the comparison would be laughable if it
weren't so serious. Sarah Palin knows nothing of economics
(admittedly a weak area for McCain), or of international affairs, knows
nothing of national government, Social Security, unemployment, health care
systems - you name it. The idea of her meeting with heads of foreign
governments around the world truly frightens me.

In an increasingly dangerous world, with the economy in shambles in the
US, Sarah Palin is uniquely Unqualified to be vice president. John McCain
is not a young man. Should something happen to him such that the vice
president had to step in, it would destroy our country and possibly the
world to have someone as inexperienced and inappropriate as Sarah Palin.
The choice of Palin is a cheap shot by McCain to try to get Hillary
supporters to vote for him. When McCain introduced her today, Palin had
the nerve to compare herself with Hillary and Geraldine Ferraro. Sarah Pal
in, you are no Hillary Clinton.

To those of you who, like me, supported Hilary and were upset that she did
not get the nomination, please don't think that Sarah Palin is a worthy
substitute. If you supported Hillary, regardless of what you think the
media and the Democratic Party may have done to undermine her campaign,
the person to support now is Obama, not Sarah Palin. To those of you who
are independent or undecided, don't let the choice of Palin sway you in
favor of McCain. Choosing her shows how unqualified McCain is to be
president. To those of you who are conservative, I guess you have no
choice for president. But please try to see how the poor choice of Palin
tells us a great deal about McCain's judgment. While the political
posturing inherent in the choice of Palin is obvious, the more serious
issue is the fact that the VP is, literally, a heartbeat away from the
presidency. Sarah Palin is totally and unequivocally unqualified to be
vice president, let alone president.

I know this is a lengthy and emotional email, but the stakes are high. I
thought it might help for all of you, regardless of political affiliation,
to know something about Palin from someone who has to live with her
administration in Alaska on a daily basis.

Jackie S.

[Roadie]

Originally Posted by snopes

We have the lowest rate of high school graduation in the country.

Err...no.

Makes me want to spend the rest of the evening picking the rest of this apart. But I won't.

[DarkDan]

Originally Posted by Roadie

Err...no.

Makes me want to spend the rest of the evening picking the rest of this apart. But I won't.

Those numbers are pretty much meaningless anyway. NJEA prouds itself on NJ having the highest graduation rates, but it's because our standards are low. The standardized tests are so easy a 2nd grader could graduate from high school (ok, hyperbole, but you know what I mean)

[Buckle Up]

I'm sure there are some factual elements in the letter, but the writer's choice of words like "red neck town" and her insulting description of all residents of Wasilla (based on hir once-a-week grocery trip - I know what I'm talking about!), makes me heavily inclined to write off the entire treatise.

As would the introductory endorsement of "I do not know the writer, but I know the person who sent it to me." Wow! That's almost like being notarized!

[Zorro]

Originally Posted by DarkDan

Those numbers are pretty much meaningless anyway. NJEA prouds itself on NJ having the highest graduation rates, but it's because our standards are low. The standardized tests are so easy a 2nd grader could graduate from high school (ok, hyperbole, but you know what I mean)

They've been that easy for twenty years. It's pretty pathetic.

[lord_feldon]

Originally Posted by DarkDan

NJEA prouds itself on NJ having the highest graduation rates, but it's because our standards are low.

Do they do what Ohio does and rewrite the definition of "graduate" to mean something other than graduation? (Only students who make it to the end of the year and fail are taken from the 100% rate. Students who withdraw before then are assumed to have merely changed schools.)