# Long letter to Alaskan blog puts Gov. Sarah Palin in better perspective **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 7, 2008, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-letter-to-alaskan-blog-puts-gov-sarah-palin-in-better-perspective/462495 "2008-09-07T16:15:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-letter-to-alaskan-blog-puts-gov-sarah-palin-in-better-perspective/462495/1 "2008-09-07T16:15:03Z")
Alaska is so small apparently everybody has the dish i[ncluding this woman.](http://mudflats.wordpress.com/) > [@](#): > > This letter has been circulating for a couple days now, and I thought I’d post it in full for those who haven’t had a chance to read it. One of the best ways to become informed about local politics is by attending city council/assembly meetings. I know this from mind-numbing, clock-staring, experience. There’s no substitute for butt-in-the-chair observation, no matter how awful it is to sit for hours on end listening to a bunch of bloviating local politicians. But it’s difficult not to show who you are. > > This letter is written by someone who knows Sarah Palin, lives in Wasilla, and has city council lurker cred. (There ought to be a badge for that.) I think that babygate is on the way out of the news cycle, and the next aspect of her life to come under scrutiny will be her tenure as mayor. This is a good place to start. And thanks to Anne Kilkenny for speaking out. Wasilla is a small town. It takes a certain amount of conviction and downright bravery to lay it all out there like this. So a hat tip and a big sweeping bow to Anne. > > I am a resident of Wasilla, Alaska. I have known Sarah since 1992. > Everyone here knows Sarah, so it is nothing special to say we are on a > first-name basis. Our children have attended the same schools. Her > father was my child’s favorite substitute teacher. I also am on a > first name basis with her parents and mother-in-law. I attended more > City Council meetings during her administration than about 99% of the > residents of the city. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-letter-to-alaskan-blog-puts-gov-sarah-palin-in-better-perspective/462495/2 "2008-09-07T17:22:08Z")
This person is genuine. There was an article in the local paper today about her. She’s a Democrat and a local resident who knows Palin pretty well. I really like her statement: “It’s not to make her look bad. It’s not to make her look good. It’s just to make her what she is,” she said. See the article [here.](http://www.adn.com/sarah-palin/story/518490.html) (free registration may be required) ---
**Author:** ![JustAnotherGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/58f4c7/32.png) [@JustAnotherGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustAnotherGeek)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-letter-to-alaskan-blog-puts-gov-sarah-palin-in-better-perspective/462495/3 "2008-09-07T18:30:41Z")
Just popping to say that [Snopes](http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/kilkenny.asp) agrees that the letter is sincere. And that, the more I learn about Palin, the less I like her. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-letter-to-alaskan-blog-puts-gov-sarah-palin-in-better-perspective/462495/4 "2008-09-07T18:39:00Z")
I wish I could share this with some coworkers who think she’s wonderful. Unfortunately, I work for the DoD, and they have very specific rules about politics in the workplace. But if a certain “friend” sends me any more of his pro-Pubbie spam, he’s getting back a link to Snopes. ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-letter-to-alaskan-blog-puts-gov-sarah-palin-in-better-perspective/462495/5 "2008-09-07T18:50:02Z")
So basically Palin is just like any other politician out there. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-letter-to-alaskan-blog-puts-gov-sarah-palin-in-better-perspective/462495/6 "2008-09-07T18:56:31Z")
> [@Amp](#): > > So basically Palin is just like any other politician out there. You mean a lying snake who puts her own interests ahead of anything else? Yeah, that’s her in a nutshell. Change, my ass. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-letter-to-alaskan-blog-puts-gov-sarah-palin-in-better-perspective/462495/7 "2008-09-07T22:21:27Z")
I have yet to hear exactly what were the books she tried to ban, but perhaps that’s because I have tried to avoid half the threads about her! Can anyone enlighten me as to which books were on her hit list? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-letter-to-alaskan-blog-puts-gov-sarah-palin-in-better-perspective/462495/8 "2008-09-07T23:14:50Z")
> [@kittenblue](#): > > I have yet to hear exactly what were the books she tried to ban, but perhaps that’s because I have tried to avoid half the threads about her! Can anyone enlighten me as to which books were on her hit list? Why would it matter? Censorship is a violation of the first amendment, regardless of the material. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-letter-to-alaskan-blog-puts-gov-sarah-palin-in-better-perspective/462495/9 "2008-09-07T23:26:17Z")
I dunno - I think it’d be interesting to know what books are so dangerous to her that she’d ban them. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-letter-to-alaskan-blog-puts-gov-sarah-palin-in-better-perspective/462495/10 "2008-09-08T00:09:45Z")
If every politician cut business taxes and then raised residents’ taxes by 38 percent, everyone in America would be broke. If every politician banned books, nobody would get a decent education. If every politician fired every single underling who disagreed with him or her, there would be only one tenable political position anywhere in the world, owned by the guy on top. Sarah Palin is definitely _not_ like every other politician out there, confirmation bias notwithstanding. If you really don’t see the difference between Sarah Palin and Barack Obama (or even Joe Biden), you’re not looking. ---
**Author:** ![KarmaComa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e36b37/32.png) [@KarmaComa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarmaComa)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-letter-to-alaskan-blog-puts-gov-sarah-palin-in-better-perspective/462495/11 "2008-09-08T00:52:22Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Why would it matter? Censorship is a violation of the first amendment, regardless of the material. That’s a pretty obtuse interpretation, isn’t it? How do you equate the censorship of a public library’s collection and the abridgement of freedom of speech? Surely you don’t think that _any_ restriction on a collection is a constitutional violation. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-letter-to-alaskan-blog-puts-gov-sarah-palin-in-better-perspective/462495/12 "2008-09-08T02:20:37Z")
> [@kittenblue](#): > > I have yet to hear exactly what were the books she tried to ban, but perhaps that’s because I have tried to avoid half the threads about her! Can anyone enlighten me as to which books were on her hit list? She didn’t actually try to ban any specific books. Apparently the floated the idea of banning books to the head of the library, asking her how she would respond to a request to ban books – several times. This was alleged to have been a test of her loyalty, and when Governor Palin didn’t get the response she’d hoped for, she sent a letter of termination to the library lady (too lazy to look up her exact title). The town went on a mass protest, and Palin rescinded the termination, without further pursuing her “rhetorical” (her word) book banning agenda. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-letter-to-alaskan-blog-puts-gov-sarah-palin-in-better-perspective/462495/13 "2008-09-08T02:56:08Z")
> [@Amp](#): > > So basically Palin is just like any other politician out there. Increased the size of government. Went from a surplus to a deficit. Cut taxes on businesses. Had an enemies list. She is certainly a good match as a Republican candidate for president - kind of the best of Nixon and Shrub. Thanks for posting the whole thing, **astro**. I had been too lazy to look it up. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-letter-to-alaskan-blog-puts-gov-sarah-palin-in-better-perspective/462495/14 "2008-09-08T03:33:25Z")
Please don’t flame me for this, but remember this is one person’s opinion. Truthly, I had never heard new potential VP’s name a week or so ago. I don’t have an opinion on her positive or negative. What hits home for me is my “small town” politics scene. We have a Mayor here who is very popular with most of the people living here. But there is a very vocal minority, and even in surrounding communities, maybe even statewide who think he is the devil’s own spawn. These people write opinion pieces that sound much like this all the time, and the facts can be spun in many directions. We are a very well to do community, and our debt has increased to fund parks and other amenities that some think are wasteful, but if you look at the debt to earning ratios we look very good. I’ve personally lived here for 13 years and am very happy with the direction we are going. I just can’t base my decision on someone who attends a lot of city councel meetings. The vocal minority locally do so as well. I’m not saying I support her… I’m not saying I hate her. I’m just saying that I’m not convinced that this is the source we should take as the gospel truth without any further information about the author. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-letter-to-alaskan-blog-puts-gov-sarah-palin-in-better-perspective/462495/15 "2008-09-08T03:50:10Z")
Why would you be flamed? It’s a reasonable and appropriate stance to take. I wish more would do so. Good on you. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-letter-to-alaskan-blog-puts-gov-sarah-palin-in-better-perspective/462495/16 "2008-09-08T03:59:44Z")
It may have been a precognition of my use of the word “truthly.” ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-letter-to-alaskan-blog-puts-gov-sarah-palin-in-better-perspective/462495/17 "2008-09-08T04:43:01Z")
I personally don’t care for Sarah Palin at all but this Anne Kilkenney character has diarrhea of the mouth (errr, uh, fingertips.) I can’t believe I wasted my time reading that. She didn’t say one thing that hasn’t already been said and she was rambling. What an attention hog. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-letter-to-alaskan-blog-puts-gov-sarah-palin-in-better-perspective/462495/18 "2008-09-08T04:55:18Z")
and it also makes me question if Anne wanted to be point guard in High School. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-letter-to-alaskan-blog-puts-gov-sarah-palin-in-better-perspective/462495/19 "2008-09-08T13:02:31Z")
If this letter is public I don’t know if reposting it violates any copyright law, but the quote in the OP was extremely long. Since a link has been provided, I’ve reduced the quote to a few paragraphs. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-letter-to-alaskan-blog-puts-gov-sarah-palin-in-better-perspective/462495/20 "2008-09-08T16:32:43Z")
The link in the OP seems to have moved along, so to save time and trouble, [link](http://www.snopes.com/politics/info/kilkenny.asp) to the complete text through Snopes. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-letter-to-alaskan-blog-puts-gov-sarah-palin-in-better-perspective/462495.md?page=2)