Of course, many of us are stunned that John McCain would pick a Vice Presidential nominee who would be a secessionist. Last time we saw a secessionist candidate on a national level was George Wallace. Many in America today were not even born yet. For those of you who weren't, George Wallace was the leader of the movement that vehemently opposed the Voting Rights Act, Civil Rights Act and integration. Okay, those are things that liberals care about - not necessarily universally held as great moments across the political spectrum in this country.
So what do we all have in common in arguments against secession and what do Alaskans in particular have to lose if Palin's Alaskan Independence Party were to achieve their goal of establishing the independent nation of Alaska? As it turns out, they would have a lot to lose and many sane Americans might recognize the pitfalls of a plan such as this one.
Let's just start with the reality of the numbers from an AARP article from July 27th, 2008 - this year and look at the cold hard cash that Alaskans would give up annually as an independent nation:
In 2006, per capita federal spending in Alaska was $13,805, the highest in the nation, and 71 percent above the national average of $8,058.
EACH Alaskan citizen would give up $13,805 annually were they to secede from the United States. That's a lot of money, but maybe Sarah Palin and her husband have a plan for covering that deficit? It couldn't be taxes because they are anti-tax.
Let's take a look at what kind of money were are talking about and how it is allocated:
Goldsmith said that about one third of the jobs and personal income in Alaska can be traced, directly and indirectly, to all types of federal spending. The $9.25 billion in federal spending in Alaska in 2006 consisted of more than $3 billion for defense and $6.25 billion for activities not related to defense, he said.
Here is what federal budget cuts of just $1.25 billion might do to Alaskans:
A University of Alaska Anchorage economics professor estimates that the state could be vulnerable to federal spending cuts of $450 million to $1.25 billion, which could cost the economy 7,000 to 20,000 jobs in the future.
So let's take a moment to think about what else Alaskans give up if they chose to break with the United States...
Jobs
Cash
Military
Let's just say that we Americans suddenly decided to set the Alaskan people free. What would happen to them?
Well, their newly minted nation would be billions of dollars poorer annually for starters. Each Alaskan would lose $13,805 in government services. Sure they probably think they can live without a lot of those services. Maybe they really could. They are an independent and self-sufficient lot - that we have been told repeatedly - although their cut of federal funds does undercut that claim somewhat - but let's give them the benefit of the doubt just for the sake of argument. Let's just stipulate that the people of Alaska do no need monies for any of that "socialist" type stuff like roads and bridges to nowhere.
Let's also agree that the oil and gas reserves they are sitting on could potentially cover the deficit. But this is where things get a bit tricky...
What about the military? Gotta protect those oil and gas reserves somehow and although Palin has noted that the pipelines serve as Moose Warming Stations, it is hard to believe that the Moose will also serve as adequate guardians of the massive infrastructure dedicated to Alaska's number one money maker in fossil fuel energy resources.
Alaska has a population of something over 600,000 people. Again, these are self-sufficient and tough wilderness folks, but there aren't a lot of them. They have a lot of guns and I assume ammo too, but there really are only so many fire arms that any one person can utilize at a given moment.
Now anyone who has even the slightest bit of sense would understand that in this age of waning oil reserves and energy insecurity, a place like Alaska would be as tempting to annex as Iraq was for George W. Bush. China is thirsty and getting thirstier by the day for the oozing black stuff - Russia is becoming a leader in the industry - hell even an ally like Japan could see the Independent Nation of Alaska as an entity ripe for the picking were were to allow them to secede.
Of course, if I were Alaskan or say the Governor of Alaska, I'd be more worried about Russia and China. Putin and the Maoists wouldn't be people I'd be interested in dealing with all alone - with nothing to protect me from them but a bunch of hunting rifles - but that's just me.
That's not Sarah and Todd Palin. They apparently feel that they could go it alone without the United States - without the power of our military - without billions of dollars in annual funding - without the power of the backing of one of the world's super powers. Sure they do. They eat moose meat burgers!
So why is this the End Times for McCain/Palin?
Well, here's why:
On some level there is no other story about Sarah Palin that compares to this Alaska Independence Party affiliation. Her association and support of this mission for Alaskan independence actually illustrates how little she knows about what the United States do FOR the Alaskan people and certainly reveals her utter lack of understanding of foreign policy and geo-politics. Her ignorance is beyond the pale. It is trully stunning.
How long would the "free" Nation of Alaska last without the protection and funding of the United States? Five minutes, ten, a day? I assure you that MSNBC would be running a countdown clock to track the invasion that would absolutely commence upon the United States' redeployment out of Alaska.
If I were Sarah Palin, I would be far more worried about what would happen if we left Alaska than I would be about what would happen if we left Iraq. But again, that's just me. I am not Sarah and Todd Palin. Maybe they feel that they are entirely prepared to go it alone with the Russians and the Maoists. Maybe moose hunting and perhaps even moose meat gives them special courage on this front. Or maybe they have no clue - none at all - about what the value of the backing of the United States affords them. Maybe they really don't understand what the service of and mere existence of the United States military does for them in their every day lives. Maybe they have no clue at all that if it were not for these United States, they would all have been living under Soviet and Russian rule for decades now.
So what does this say about John McCain? To put it bluntly appointing Palin makes him look like an idiot. He has selected a Vice Presidential running mate who does not appreciate the domestic value of the United States government role in her state; the US Military that has protected her way of life; or who even has the slightest clue about the potential for major upheaval in the lives of Alaskans were the the backing of the American people to protect her state's energy resources to evaporate.
In geo-political and foreign policy terms this independence thing makes Palin look like an idiot and an ignorant. It makes McCain look like a fool.
Maybe she has answers to the questions posed in this diary about what Alaskans would do without the backing of the United States and I think reporters should ask her. It would certainly be interesting to hear her answers about how she would defend Alaska without all the rest of America behind her and without our military apparatus to protect those oil fields already in full swing.
I suspect, however, that no matter what her answers to questions about the reality of independence would be, there is no way that McCain who says he is putting "Country First" would escape serious embarassment for selecting a Vice Presidential candidate who associates herself with political organizations whose mission is diametrically opposed to that stated mission.
It is the End Times for McCain/Palin.