Jerry, Soki and Wec out and about

My brother Jerry and sister-in-law Soki came to town recently on their way from Vermont to their home in New York City. It was a treat to see them and I finally got some decent pictures of all of us! Well, not all of us in one picture, but the next best thing.

We took a long walk from my house to Harvard Square stopping for lunch and later coffee. It started to get chilly so we had to keep up a good speed to stay warm, though we did see one of the new small cars (the name eludes me) which we stopped to inspect. Very small and very good for those Boston parking spots.
I've been walking more lately, and also riding my bike. I haven't ridden my bike in years and it's not true what they say about getting right back on like no time has passed. Time has passed, my balance isn't as good, I was afraid to turn my head and look to my side or behind me for fear as I turned my head my hands would turn and the bike would turn. I did notice, however, that the third time back on the bike was much better
then the first time.

Photos by Jerry Wechsler and Soki Kim

Breaking the silence around bullying

An important piece from the April 18, 2009 Boston Globe
by NGLTF Activist Sue Hyde

DESPONDENT over daily bullying and harassment at his middle school in Springfield, Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, a sweet-faced 11-year-old, hanged himself earlier this month. His mother, Sirdeaner L. Walker, found him hanging by an extension cord in their home.

Before this tragic moment, she had attempted to get help and support from the administrators of his school, the New Leadership Charter School, where her sixth-grader endured taunting and threats of violence, some of which included anti-gay epithets. Carl played football, soccer, and basketball. He belonged to a Boy Scout troop, was active in his church, and did not identify as gay. Another young person ended a promising life, alone and scared and crushed by his peers' degradations.

The terrible truth is that Carl was not the first child to end his life, nor the last.
Eric Mohat, 17, from Mentor, Ohio, went home from school on March 27, 2007, and shot himself in the head. According to court papers filed in a lawsuit by his parents against his school, Mohat suffered harassment and bullying that took the form of constant name-calling, teasing, and verbal intimidation as well as pushing, shoving, and hitting both in class and in hallways of the high school. His parents do not seek punitive damages; instead, they want the school district to recognize the suicide as the result of homophobia and to implement an anti-bullying program to prevent other similar tragedies.

According to the National Youth Violence Prevention Center, nearly one in three youths nationwide report either being bullied, having bullied someone, or both. For students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT), the statistics are grimmer. "Nearly 9 out of 10 LGBT youth (86.2 percent) reported being verbally harassed at school in the past year because of their sexual orientation, nearly half (44.1 percent) reported being physically harassed, and about a quarter (22.1 percent) reported being physically assaulted," according to the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network 2007 National School Climate Survey of more than 6,000 LGBT students.

The report continues, "Nearly two-thirds of LGBT students (60.8 percent) who experience harassment or assault never reported the incident to the school. . . . Of those who did report the incident, nearly a third (31.1 percent) said the school staff did nothing in response."
Nothing in response? Nothing to help young people who rise each morning not knowing if school brings another day of hell on earth or something a bit more tolerable? As parents and school leaders, we cannot tolerate this status quo.

Here in Massachusetts, legislators have filed 14 bills that address bullying in schools. As caring adults, we must work for an anti-bullying law that guarantees public school environments are free of bullying and harassment based on actual or perceived race, national origin, ethnic group, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, weight, or sex. While a listing of actual or perceived characteristics like race or sexual orientation and gender identity/expression may seem unnecessary, it is important that school personnel be attuned to the specific ways that students are targeted.

The Golden Rule hasn't created safe school environments.

My eighth-grade son reports that he often hears and challenges anti-gay slurs and name-calling on the playground, in the hallways, and on his school bus. Would that every kid could be so brave, but many children do not have the self-confidence and support to challenge anti-gay slurs slung around the schoolyard. Students, teachers, and school leaders all need to help end the scourge of bullying.

Carl would have celebrated his 12th birthday yesterday; instead, his mother was expected to "break the silence" at an event in Springfield marking the end of the national Day of Silence, a program to raise awareness about LGBT bullying and harassment at school.

Let's join Sirdeaner Walker by breaking the silence around bullying. Let's ensure that our political leaders take fast action to implement strong school safety policies that include accountability mechanisms, training for school personnel, and specific definitions of bullying behavior and its lonely targets.

Sue Hyde is a staff member of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.

paying attention to the signs of Spring

Photos and collage by Nancy Wechsler

With such a harsh winter just barely over I promised myself I would pay attention to Spring this year, how ever short that season may be in the Boston-Area. Here are some of the first signs. When I walk out my front door these are the first signs of Spring that I see, and they demand of me that I uncrinkle my face, smooth it out, and smile. If the sun is very bright I may squint my eyes, pull down my baseball cap, zip up my sweatshirt against the morning cold air and head to work. In all likelihood, given it is April, we will not have snow for many more months and that's a good thing.

Remembering the winter

Photos by Nancy Wechsler

My Daughter and a friend of hers helped me dig my car out from many inches of snow. I was so glad they were around to help. They didn't do all the walks, but what they did helped a lot.

Do you think this is a fair way to divide the land?

It's always important to get out information about what is really going on in the Middle East, information that our mainstream press try to ignore or not cover in depth. That's what makes the short video from the American Friends Service Committee about the conflict in the Middle East so helpful and enlightening. It takes about 2 minutes to watch. You won't regret it. Here is the link to the video: WATCH VIDEO

Do you think what you watched represents a fair solution for Israeli's and Palestinians? Or does it remind you of apartheid? Check out www.itISapartheid.org/getthefacts for more information.

The extended family gets together

photos and collage by Nancy Wechsler

It is Israeli Apartheid: Get the Facts

Did you know there are dozens of campaigns all over the globe working to end Israeli apartheid in the Occupied Territories? One of them is right here in the Boston-area. We have a wonderful web-site with many resources which you can use to better understand what is going on in the Middle East. You can use that knowledge to talk to others, be able to write letters to your local city, town and Congressional representatives. A fuller grasp of the issues in the Middle East can help you understand the importance of attending demonstrations or vigils and changing US policy.

ITISAPARTHEID.ORG is a grass roots effort made up of activists, students,academics, young people, older people, Jews, Christians, Muslims, Palestinians and Israelis. The purpose of itISapartheid and the itISapartheid.org web site is to use the internet and our own ingenuity to spread the word about apartheid’s existence in the Israeli Occupied Territories’. We have developed viral and practical tools to spread the word about Israeli apartheid.

Our facts are carefully researched and can be a tool for helping change how people think about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Check out our “Get the Facts” section of the web site here: http://www.itisapartheid.org/getthefacts.

What's going on in the Occupied Territories is actually worse than what went on in South Africa under Apartheid. But for now I'll be satisfied if people realize something terrible is happening in the Middle East and begin to educate themselves about Israel/Palestine.

March is International Apartheid Awareness Week

The first week in March is International Apartheid Awareness week (IAW). There are now activities in 40 cities around the world. This year IAW is happening in the wake of Israel's intensive assault on the people of Gaza. Please check out and support local Apartheid Awareness activities. Activities are listed here. In solidarity, a local Boston area group, itisapartheid.org, is making March "Blogging Month." Since the main stream media does not print what is going on in Israel and Palestine, we have to shed some light on that part of the world ourselves. What's most discouraging to me at the moment is that when we say that "it is apartheid" referring to Israel, things in Israel may well be worse than during the official Apartheid years in South Africa. Check out our “Get the Facts” section of the web site here.

Harvey Milk was not the first elected official to come out

I couldn't resist putting this in my blog. It's a good article on HRP and the election of Jerry DeGrieck and myself as the first people to Come Out while in Office, published by Queerty. I sent it around to some friends first, with this introduction:

I don’t usually send things around like this, but with the opening of the movie “Milk” and all the publicity around it, I thought I would pass along an article I just found today-- which gives the correct history of who was and was not the first openly gay/lesbian elected official in the US (and world??). Below you will find an interview with Jerry DeGrieck, with whom I spent two years on the Ann Arbor City Council. Jerry and I came out in Office, at the same time and quite publicly, making us the first elected officials to come out while in office. We were both involved with a left/progressive party and the Ann Arbor left. Nancy Wechsler


Think Harvey Milk Was the First Openly-Gay Politician? Think Again
QUEERTY EXCLUSIVE–Everyone from the Associated Press to the San Francisco Weekly to the The Portland Mercury has called Harvey Milk "America's first openly gay politician." Not to take away from the life and legacy of the San Francisco City Supervisor, but that honor belongs to Jerry DeGrieck and Nancy Wechsler, both of whom came out while serving on the Ann Arbor, Michigan, City Council in 1973. They would be the first to come out, but the following year Minnesota State Senator Allan Spear and Massachusetts State Representative Elaine Noble would join their ranks as well as Kathy Kozachenko, who joined the Ann Arbor City Council running as an openly gay person, the first to ever win an election while out. These early politicians helped pave the way for Harvey Milk's 1977 run in San Francisco.
Now a Public Health Manager and Policy Advisor to the City of Seattle, DeGrieck sat down with us to talk about his unsung role in the history of the gay movement and talk more about how a 22-year-old University of Michigan student wound up being an unintentional pioneer for gay rights.
QUEERTY: I think the best way to start is to just ask you what happened? How did you come out?
Jerry DeGrieck: We were part of the Human Rights Party, an independent 3rd party in the state of Michigan and in Ann Arbor. Before we were called the Human Rights Party, we were called the Radical Independent Party. So, I had been involved in many different political issues in the late 60s and early 70s when I started in Ann Arbor and went to school at the University of Michigan starting in the fall of 1968. I was part of the anti-war movement and tenant's rights and various student government issues. I was on the student council and was elected Vice-President of the student body while I was there and we ran on a pretty radical slate at that time. We formed this radical third party and we ran candidates for city council against Democrats and Republicans. This was in 1972…
We fielded a slate of five candiates in the spring of 1972 and I was one of the candidates. I was not in the predominantly student ward. The second ward had traditionally been the predominant student ward, so my ward was more diverse; even though it had some students, it had a diversity of townspeople as well. We were fortunate enough that year to win two seats: Nancy Wechsler, my colleague won in the second ward and I won the first ward, so we found ourselves on the city council.
Both when I was in the University of Michigan and very involved with political issues there, I was struggling with the fact that I was gay and had never really dealt with the fact that I was gay, other than the fact that I was closeted and never had a gay experience. But I was strugglin internally with tahat as you can imagine. While I was on the city council and before that when I was running as well, we certainly supported gay and lesbian rights and we had many gay and lesbian people as part of the Human rights Party and that was part of our platform. But I had not really dealt with my own sexuality yet in terms of facing it and coming out and so I was supporting the rights of gay and lesbian people without identifying myself as one. In part because, even though I knew I was gay, I didn't know fully what that meant, in the sense that I hadn't dealt with it personally, so I couldn't come out. I was one of those people that it took until I actually had a homosexual experience that I could really truly identify myself as being gay.
While I was on the city council, I met someone who I came out with. Once I actually had a homosexual experience in a relationship, suddenly I could no longer support the rights of gay and lesbian people as if I was not part of that community. This was like in September of 1973 when I personally came out, so shortly thereafter, the next time an issue came before the city council about gay and lesbian rights, I identified myself as being gay.
Ironically, Nancy Wechsler…also dealt with her own sexuality while she was on the city council and we came out about the same time. There were many people in the Human Rights Party who were rather upset about the fact that we both came out, because they didn't want the party to be overly identified with gay and lesbian people and some people actually thought we were doing it for political reasons, because we wanted to get the gay and lesbian vote, which was really not the case, because we already really had at least the radical and left part of the gay and lesbian community in the Human Rights Party anyway.
It was a very interesting way and time to come out, because it was also the community I came out in was not necessarily the most accepting community either. This was the period of time of a very radical gay politics and you had to dress and act a certain way to be politically correct. The man who I had decided to come out with was considered to be too masculine and not enough into feminism, in terms of his looks, because he had a beard. In those days, there was some belief that you were exerting male privilege if you had a bear. I got a lot of flak from the gay community when I first came out as well, but at that point of time in my life, since I had spent many years struggling with my own sexuality, I kind of knew that once I finally did come out, someone would be telling me that I had chosen the wrong person to love– I knew that was pretty wrong, so I didn't fall into feeling bad about it or changing who I was in a relationship with because I knew that didn't make any sense.
We were quite an interesting political phenomena…suddenly I found myself out to the world, or at least to the world as far as I knew in terms of the public and the community and all my family in the Detroit area.
This might seem like an obvious question, but why did you feel the need to disclose your sexuality? There are so many politicians–you can talk about Larry Craig–who still don't feel the need to disclose their sexuality.
I think part of it was my politics at the time. I really believed in honesty and being upfront. It just seemed that it would be extremely dishonest if I did not do that; if I were to talk about the rights of this community without identifying that I had become part of that community. Until that point, that wasn't really the case… Though I probably knew from the point I was extremely young that I was a homosexual, I had never, never dealt with it at all and until I dealt with it, I didn't feel the need to be publicly part of that community because I really wasn't part of that community. But once I was, it would be the height of hypocrisy for me not to identify who I was.
How did the other members of the council respond?
I honestly think some people thought we were doing it for political reasons… I think at least one or two of them were certainly less friendly with us. Even though we had opposing political views, I actually worked very hard when I was on the city council to work on many different issues because I had the belief that if I wanted people to pay attention to me when we were talking about the war in Vietnam or the great social issues of the day, I would have to take care of the potholes and the planning commission issues and so on. And so I did develop a close working relationship with several of the non Human Rights Party members on the council and I know at least one or two of them were less willing to be openly friendly with me after that point.
Did you ever have any sense at the time that you were doing something historic?
You know, probably not. I had a sense that just the fact that we were from a third party and we're so young, because I think at the time I was the youngest person ever elected– there have been many younger people since, I was the youngest person elected to the Ann Arbor City Council, so I had a sense of that. I guess I had a sense because I was gay … but I didn't really think of it in those terms. It was really a matter of who I was, so I had to be honest about who I was and really, at that point in time it was not an option to me to stay in the closet. I had dealt with it personally and I had to deal with it in an honest way. And frankly, I've never really thought of it in those terms. Then again, I also have a 27-year-old daughter who I had with a lesbian friend of mine and even though many gay and lesbian people have children now, it wasn't as common as it was 28 years ago to have kids– and I didn't think of that as historic either.
Well, it is! Were you worried at all about being in danger? Did you ever worry that in coming out you were putting yourself at risk?
I think I did have some sense of increasing my vulnerability in some way. One of the reasons why I chose not to run for reelection after two years, even though I think I had an excellent track record as a city council member and I think I may have been the only one in our party who could have won in the First Ward again– it's easy for me to say that now in retrospect… That I didn't want to have my life played out in public. As I said, we were very young, we were a third political party. We got a lot of attention, a lot of publicity and I kind of had a sense that I didn't really want to have that degree of of my life being everybody's business, so that's one of the reasons I did not run again.
What made you want to get into politics in the first place?
Probably because I grew up in a suburb of Detroit, a kind of working-class family, but in a very well-to-do suburb and I knew I was different and a homosexual from a very young age, though I didn't do anything about it or know what to do about it– I really tried to ignore it, so I think that my outlet, the way I could establish being different in a perhaps an acceptable or productive way, was politics. So, from a very early age, I became very, very involved in politics and having strong political interests. That was true of me throughout high school and when I went to school in Ann Arbor. This was during the height of the protests and student movement and anti-war movement, it was very natural for me to continue to be involved politically. But I really think that one of the things that predisposed me to being involved in the civil rights movement when I was in high school and earlier was probably because I was gay and on some level knew I was different and had no way to express that– and I chose politics to do that. Much better than other things I could have chosen like drugs or whatever. It was a very good outlet for me and a productive outlet.
Do you see any parallels to all the protests and activity that's happened after Prop. 8 passed to your own political movement? What do you think of what's happening right now?
Oh, I think it's fabulous. One of the community's I'm in now in Seattle is a group of friends who spend holidays together and we've known each other for 25-30 years. We've raised our kids together; most of them are straight. I mean, we have many gay and lesbian friends, but one of the kids in that group came out just a few years ago in San Francisco and he's very much part of that movement and to see his passion for it great. I never would have guessed that we would be so far along as we are today in terms of gay marriage. I remember working 20 years ago on domestic partnership and thought that the day of gay marriage would never come in my lifetime and now I think it's only a matter of time. So, I think it's wonderful and I think the protests about it and the work on its behalf is a great civil rights issue and I think eventually we will prevail.
If you had any advice to offer to the new generation of civil rights activists, what would it be?
I don't think I have any advice to offer. I think folks are doing a tremendous job. I guess, if there's any advice it would be something that's not uniquely coming from me by any stretch — many others are saying the same thing: build those connections, build those bridges with other communities, because what we have to do is show how our struggle is the same, even though it's different. Everybody's struggle is different and unique and there are certain things about being a sexual minority which is very different from being a racial minority, so I'm not in any way trying to equate these things, but it's also true that there are similarities and connections that need to be made. When we talk about the rights of gays and lesbians to get marries and we also talk about how 40 years or even fewer years ago in many states it was illegal for African-Americans and whites to marry. One can't help but see the similarities and outrageousness of that.

Sarah Palin: a re-View from Alaska

I got the following email from Robin Carton (RESIST Foundation) today. I found it interesting and informative and thought instead of forwarding it to my friends I would post it on my blog.

Robin explains:
Hi Folks-- This is a note from my friend Jill who has lived in Alaska for over 20 years. She has been a national and state park ranger and currently works in public health. She is very familiar with the town of Wasilla (official location of the start of the Iditarod) and I thought what she sent along it might be of interest to you. Please feel free to share this with others on your e-mail list, but please do not post it on other web sites. Robin [It's a little confusing, but Robin's friend, Jill, sent out an article (actually a comment) by Anne Kilkenny that she thought would be helpful. The original comment was posted as a response to an article by Laura McGann in The Washington Independent, nancy wechsler]

I have had lots of people call or email with questions about Sarah Palin. I am not an expert, and did not vote for her as governor. But of all the stuff flying around on the net now, this [post] seemed like it might be the most useful. I must claim a bias, as I obviously am a bleeding heart liberal...so I might not be seeing the more supportive opinions. I mostly worry about her absolute lack of experience. The only thing scarier to me than Bush in office again (terrifying!) would be this very inexperienced (and conservative) person acting as president.... So here it is, whether you asked for it or not! Be well, Jill

So many people have asked me about what I know about Sarah Palin in the last 2 days that I decided to write something up . .. .Basically, Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton have only 2 things in common: their gender and their good looks. :)

ABOUT SARAH PALIN, writes Anne Kilkenny: 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 heradministration than about 99% of the residents of the city. She is enormously popular; in every way she's like the most popular girl in middle school. Even men who think she is a poor choice and won't vote for her can't quit smiling when talking about her because she is a "babe". It is astonishing and almost scary how well she can keep a secret. She kept her most recent pregnancy a secret from her children and parents for seven months. She is "pro-life". She recently gave birth to a Down's syndrome baby. There is no cover-up involved, here; Trig is her baby. She is energetic and hardworking. She regularly worked out at the gym. She is savvy. She doesn't take positions; she just "puts things out there" and if they prove to be popular, then she takes credit. Her husband works a union job on the North Slope for BP and is a champion snowmobile racer. Todd Palin's kind of job is highly sought-after because of the schedule and high pay. He arranges his work schedule so he can fish for salmon in Bristol Bay for a month or so in summer, but by no stretch of the imagination is fishing their major source of income. Nor has her life-style ever been anything like that of native Alaskans. Sarah and her whole family are avid hunters. She's smart.

Her experience is as mayor of a city with a population of about 5,000 (at the time), and less than 2 years as governor of a state with about 670,000 residents. During her mayoral administration most of the actual work of running this small city was turned over to an administrator. She had been pushed to hire this administrator by party power-brokers after she had gotten herself into some trouble over precipitous firings which had given rise to a recall campaign. Sarah campaigned in Wasilla as a "fiscal conservative". During her 6 years as Mayor, she increased general government expenditures by over 33%. During those same 6 years the amount of taxes collected by the City increased by 38%. This was during a period of low inflation (1996-2002). She reduced progressive property taxes and increased a regressive sales tax which taxed even food. The tax cuts that she promoted benefitted large corporate property owners way more than they benefitted residents. The huge increases in tax revenues during her mayoral administration weren't enough to fund everything on her wish list though, borrowed money was needed, too. She inherited a city with zero debt, but left it with indebtedness of over $22 million. What did Mayor Palin encourage the voters to borrow money for? Was it the infrastructure that she said she supported? The sewage treatment plant that the city lacked? or a new library? No. $1m for a park. $15m-plus for construction of a multi-use sports complex which she rushed through to build on a piece of property that the City didn't even have clear title to, that was still in litigation 7 yrs later--to the delight of the lawyers involved! The sports complex itself is a nice addition to the community but a huge money pit, not the profit- generator she claimed it would be. She also supported bonds for $5.5m for road projects that could have been done in 5-7 yrs without any borrowing.

While Mayor, City Hall was extensively remodeled and her office redecorated more than once. These are small numbers, but Wasilla is a very small city. As an oil producer, the high price of oil has created a budget surplus in Alaska. Rather than invest this surplus in technology that will make us energy independent and increase efficiency, as Governor she proposed distribution of this surplus to every individual in the state. In this time of record state revenues and budget surpluses, she recommended that the state borrow/bond for road projects, even while she proposed distribution of surplus state revenues: spend today's surplus, borrow for needs. She's not very tolerant of divergent opinions or open to outside ideas or compromise. As Mayor, she fought ideas that weren't generated by her or her staff. Ideas weren't evaluated on their merits, but on the basis of who proposed them.

While Sarah was Mayor of Wasilla she tried to fire our highly respected City Librarian because the Librarian refused to consider removing from the library some books that Sarah wanted removed. City residents rallied to the defense of the City Librarian and against Palin's attempt at out-and-out censorship, so Palin backed down and withdrew her termination letter. People who fought her attempt to oust the Librarian are on her enemies list to this day. Sarah complained about the "old boy's club" when she first ran for Mayor, so what did she bring Wasilla? A new set of "old boys". Palin fired most of the experienced staff she inherited. At the City and as Governor she hired or elevated new, inexperienced, obscure people, creating a staff totally dependent on her for their jobs and eternally grateful and fiercely loyal--loyal to the point of abusing their power to further her personal agenda, as she has acknowledged happened in the case of pressuring the State's top cop (see below). As Mayor, Sarah fired Wasilla's Police Chief because he "intimidated" her, she told the press. As Governor, her recent firing of Alaska's top cop has the ring of familiarity about it. He served at her pleasure and she had every legal right to fire him, but it's pretty clear that an important factor in her decision to fire him was because he wouldn't fire her sister's ex-husband, a State Trooper. Under investigation for abuse of power, she has had to admit that more than 2 dozen contacts were made between her staff and family to the person that she later fired, pressuring him to fire her ex-brother-in- law. She tried to replace the man she fired with a man who she knew had been reprimanded for sexual harassment; when this caused a public furor, she withdrew her support.

She has bitten the hand of every person who extended theirs to her in help. The City Council person who personally escorted her around town introducing her to voters when she first ran for Wasilla City Council became one of her first targets when she was later elected Mayor. She abruptly fired her loyal City Administrator; even people who didn't like the guy were stunned by this ruthlessness. Fear of retribution has kept all of these people from saying anything publicly about her. When then-Governor Murkowski was handing out political plums, Sarah got the best, Chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission: one of the few jobs not in Juneau and one of the best paid. She had no background in oil & gas issues. Within months of scoring this great job which paid $122,400/yr, she was complaining in the press about the high salary. I was told that she hated that job: the commute, the structured hours, the work. Sarah became aware that a member of this Commission (who was also the State Chair of the Republican Party) engaged in unethical behavior on the job. In a gutsy move which some undoubtedly cautioned her could be political suicide, Sarah solved all her problems in one fell swoop: got out of the job she hated and garnered gobs of media attention as the patron saint of ethics and as a gutsy fighter againstthe "old boys' club" when she dramatically quit, exposing this man's ethics violations (for which he was fined).

As Mayor, she had her hand stuck out as far as anyone for pork from Senator Ted Stevens. Lately, she has castigated his pork-barrel politics and publicly humiliated him. She only opposed the "bridge to nowhere" after it became clear that it would be unwise not to. As Governor, she gave the Legislature no direction and budget guidelines, then made a big grandstand display of line-item vetoing projects, calling them pork. Public outcry and further legislative action restored most of these projects--which had been vetoed simply because she was not aware of their importance-- but with the unobservant she had gained a reputation as "anti-pork". She is solidly Republican: no political maverick. The State party leaders hate her because she has bit them in the back and humiliated them. Other members of the party object to her self-description as a fiscal conservative.

Around Wasilla there are people who went to high school with Sarah. They call her "Sarah Barracuda" because of her unbridled ambition and predatory ruthlessness. Before she became so powerful, very ugly stories circulated around town about shenanigans she pulled to be made point guard on the high school basketball team. When Sarah's mother-in-law, a highly respected member of the community and experienced manager, ran for Mayor, Sarah refused to endorse her. As Governor, she stepped outside of the box and put together of package of legislation known as "AGIA" that forced the oil companies to march to the beat of her drum. Like most Alaskans, she favors drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. She has questioned if the loss of sea ice is linked to global warming. She campaigned "as a private citizen" against a state initiative that would have either a) protected salmon streams from pollution from mines, or b) tied up in the courts all mining in the state (depending on who you listen to). She has pushed the State's lawsuit against the Dept. of the Interior's decision to list polar bears as threatened species. McCain is the oldest person to ever run for President; Sarah will be a heartbeat away from being President.

There has to be literally millions of Americans who are more knowledgeable and experienced than she. However, there's a lot of people who have underestimated her and are regretting it. CLAIM VS FACT*"Hockey mom": true for a few years *"PTA mom": true years ago when her first-born was in elementary school, not since *"NRA supporter": absolutely true *social conservative: mixed. Opposes gay marriage, BUT vetoed a bill that would have denied benefits to employees in same-sex relationships (said she did this because it was unconstitutional) .*pro-creationism: mixed. Supports it, BUT did nothing as Governor to promote it.*"Pro-life": mixed. Knowingly gave birth to a Down's syndrome baby BUT declined to call a special legislative session on some pro-life legislation *"Experienced": Some high schools have more students than Wasilla has residents. Many cities have more residents than the state of Alaska. No legislative experience other than City Council. Little hands-on supervisory or managerial experience; needed help of a city administrator to run town of about 5,000. *political maverick: not at all *gutsy: absolutely! *open & transparent: ??? Good at keeping secrets. Not good at explaining actions. *has a developed philosophy of public policy: no *"a Greenie": no. Turned Wasilla into a wasteland of big box stores and disconnected parking lots. Is pro-drilling off-shore and in ANWR. *fiscal conservative: not by my definition! *pro-infrastructure: No. Promoted a sports complex and park in a city without a sewage treatment plant or storm drainage system. Built streets to early 20th century standards.*pro-tax relief: Lowered taxes for businesses, increased tax burden on residents *pro-small government: No. Oversaw greatest expansion of city government in Wasilla's history. *pro-labor/pro- union. No. Just because her husband works union doesn't make her pro-labor. I have seen nothing to support any claim that she is pro-labor/pro-union.

WHY AM I WRITING THIS? First, I have long believed in the importance of being an informed voter. I am a voter registrar. For 10 years I put on student voting programs in the schools. If you google my name (Anne Kilkenny + Alaska), you will find references to my participation in local government, education, and PTA/parent organizations. Secondly, I've always operated in the belief that "Bad things happen when good people stay silent". Few people know as much as I do because few have gone to as many City Council meetings. Third, I am just a housewife. I don't have a job she can bump me out of. I don't belong to any organization that she can hurt. But, I am no fool; she is immensely popular here, and it is likely that this will cost me somehow in the future: that's life. Fourth, she has hated me since back in 1996, when I was one of the 100 or so people who rallied to support the City Librarian against Sarah's attempt at censorship. Fifth, I looked around and realized that everybody else was afraid to say anything because they were somehow vulnerable. CAVEATS I am not a statistician. I developed the numbers for the increase in spending & taxation 2 years ago (when Palin was running for Governor) from information supplied to me by the Finance Director of the City of Wasilla, and I can't recall exactly what I adjusted for: did I adjust for inflation? for population increases? Right now, it is impossible for a private person to get any info out of City Hall--they are swamped. So I can't verify my numbers. You may have noticed that there are various numbers circulating for the population of Wasilla, ranging from my "about 5,000", up to 9,000. The day Palin's selection was announced a city official told me that the current population is about 7,000. The official 2000 census count was 5,460. I have used about 5,000 because Palin was Mayor from 1996 to 2002, and the city was growing rapidly in the mid-90's. Anne Kilkenny comments on the Washington Idependent blog in response to an article by Laura McGann in the Washington Indepentdent. annekilkenny@hotmail.com August 31, 2008 by Anne Kilkenny http://www.washingtonindependent.com/3671/the-reform-candidate