With all the lame coverage of Sarah Palin there has been precious little on the visual front as to what Wasilla is really like. Why? The answer is buried deep inside the national psyche that would cheer someone so lame as a VP candidate in one of the toughest times in the nation's history both domestically and internationally. The town is tiny, sure, but there no aspect of the frontier Alaska she is trying to sell us. Rather it is like a lame strip mall without a town center: even more under whelming than you can believe.
The article and video are great. If you don't already read Steve's columns on LA, you should.
Into the wild of Wasilla, Alaska, where Sarah Palin once ruled
Maybe it was a sign that I wasn't welcome in Palin country and should go back home to California. But just six years after she was mayor of Wasilla, a town of fewer than 10,000 residents, Palin could become vice president of the United States. I wanted to get a better sense of her by seeing the place that launched her onto the world stage.
The scenery on the drive to Wasilla is stunning, with jagged snow-capped peaks and dense birch forests. But if you travel this way, do not make the mistake of thinking you're about to enter a quaint mountain village.
Some towns have character. Some have a sense of place.
And then there is Wasilla, which greets visitors with Wal-mart, Target, Lowe's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Carl's Jr., McDonald's and Taco Bell.
They paved paradise, and all they've got to show for it is chalupas and discount tube socks.
I thought I'd found the town center when I came upon a row of frontier-style buildings, but it was just a Knott's Berry Farm-style facade housing a Señor Taco, among other establishments. Up at the next intersection of strip malls, I found a Chimo Guns shop across from a store offering 15% off of home-schooling supplies.
Sure, every town in the United States has its big-box stores, strip malls, fast-food joints and sprawling churches. But Wasilla seems to have little else.