On a previous post, I had a reader named Franco leave a comment for me regarding an article on the blog "The Progressive Curmudgeon." One of the articles accuses Sarah Palin of saying some very serious racial epithets. (I'm not going to cut-and-paste anything from the article or link to it because of the accusations it makes, you guys can find it and read it yourself.) Franco asked me what I thought about it.
My first response to Franco in the comments:
If you are talking about the "racist epithets" article, I don't know. I've never heard anyone make that claim and I've lived here 25 years and have lots of Valley friends. Also, her husband is part Yupik...enough to be a member of the Native Corporation. That's no proof, of course, as people can justify anything in their heads. However, it would make the use of those epithets rather ironic.
I'm seriously considering asking my brother-in-law. He's one of the leaders of Alaska Right-to-Life, was an ardent worker on her campaign, writing on some of her speeches and dragged all of his kids out to carry signs for her during the election. I would hope he wouldn't want to so strongly support someone who is racist.
So I went to the "Curmudgeon" and read everything. I even posted. The results ended up in the second comment:
Franco:
I wrote a comment on that article. I said that I was a Dem and if I could prove something like that was true, I'd post it in a heartbeat. However, in the 25 years I've lived in Alaska, of all the folks I know in Wasilla and the rest of the Valley who know Sarah Palin and including my bro-in-law, leader in Alaska Right-to-Life and worker on her campaign, I've NEVER heard ANYTHING about Sarah expressing racism in any form.
I also mentioned that his article was quite misleading regarding Alaska politics. I told him that many of the old guard, hard-core Republicans hate her. Some because she exposed Randy Ruedrich's inappropriate use of State resources (which she should have) but also many die-hard Conservatives because she's not a real conservative. She espouses conservative stances on social issues, yet while in either office never did anything to further them. She espouses conservative fiscal values but has run up the debt and increased spending both times in office. So his insinuation that she is "in" with the Repugs is wrong, which makes his article somewhat suspect to me.
Interestingly enough, he didn't print it. I did not write the comment anonymously unlike the others who criticized him so anyone reading it would be able to find their way to me and my blog. Also, all other disparaging comments printed (other than being anonymous) were also written by McCain/Palin lovers. I guess he knew their questions would be viewed as less-credible.
Additionally, he seems to have taken a lot of what he's saying straight from Anne Kilkenny's wonderful email-turned-call-to-action which has gone viral all over the internet. Anyone can use that sucker and sound like they know what they are talking about for awhile...until they try ad-libbing.
Do I understand anonymous sources? Obviously...all folks have to do is read the blog the last week and a half to know that. Is there a Lucille? Maybe...although I've NEVER heard anyone use the term "Aboriginal" up here to describe someone of Alaska Native descent. Even if there is a "Lucille," we don't know for sure that she is telling the truth.
Other things I find suspect:
In the 25 years I've lived in Alaska, I've worked in Prudhoe Bay, have spent time in Fairbanks, Kodiak, Juneau, Barrow and all over the Kenai Peninsula. I've worked in Construction for most of my career which is the reason for my...errrr...salty language. I have never heard the terms: "Aboriginal" (I explained that before), "Arctic Arab" or "Sambo" in reference to Alaska Natives or black folks. As I've heard a number of epithets in my time, especially those directed towards me since my daughter is black, I'd probably have heard that one before.
(Regarding "Sambo"--that's wayyyyy out of Sarah's and my generation -we're roughly the same age.)
Now, here's a disclaimer: his articles could all be true. His anonymous source could be real. His information could be attained from people who know what they are talking about.
However...while I went forward with the comment from McHugh Pierre about the McCain people coming to Alaska without naming my extremely-credible-source, that was with information that was not-at-all damaging to anyone on a personal level. (It annoyed McHugh, but who didn't enjoy that?) This information is not something I would ever take public without verification...it is very personally damaging to Governor Palin and I'd better be ready to back it up.
So, like I said, this could all be true and maybe someone will come forward who has experience with other examples of this behavior. However, for many of the reasons I previously stated I wouldn't be surprised if we never hear a peep.
Since I wrote this comment I've made contact with some other Valley friends. Realize, some of these folks have had close connections to either Sarah or her kids for many years. (Yes, he got that part right, they are scared...I wrote about that HERE and for Firedoglake.) The information I get from them is that NO ONE has EVER heard Sarah use racial epithets or anything like that. As much as they might like to see Sarah lose her VP nomination, they (like me) won't support lies which tarnish the whole Progressive movement.
I also have another reason for writing this: I refuse to have my credibility damaged by someone making claims that may be geared solely to "grab the limelight." Yes, Alaska is hot right now and it's amazing how many new blogs have sprung up both within and outside of Alaska. Suddenly, all kinds of folks are "Alaska experts" or "have a good friend with information." I welcome them...whatever it takes to get more folks in the blogosphere, I'm all for it.
However, I won't tolerate folks who don't know what they are talking about smearing the rest of us with bad journalism...and bad journalism can happen from folks who once had good reputations. I would rather waste valuable writing time posting this on the blog to distance myself from the "Curmudgeon" than be thrown into the same category next time I post legitimate information on all-things-Palin from a credible anonymous source.