Published: September 02, 2008 07:27 pm      

The Palin card: Ace or joker?

The ado about Barrack Obama delaying the announcement of his veep running mate choice was not as much of a shock as the VP choice John McCain created. Politics, promises and parades, that’s about all we can count on anymore except when a major hurricane gets in the way. Both sides need to be commended for both their concern and political reserve during situation with Hurricane Gustav.

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Exactly who is Alaska Governor Sarah Palin — the surprise choice, political newcomer, and outsider? Will she capture some of the disenchanted Hillary Democrats?

A recent poll in the Bluefield Daily Telegraph predicts that she will. Palin cried out to the crowd, “It turns out that women in America aren’t finished yet.”

No, I certainly do not think they are.

Sarah Palin has a record of guarding ethical standards. She resigned in protest from the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission over what she called the “lack of ethics.” Alaskan Republican leaders ignored her complaints of legal violations and conflicts of interest.

Ultimately she exposed Alaska Republican Party Chairman Randy Ruedrich who also sat on the Oil & Gas Commission and was “accused of doing work for the Republican Party on public time and supplying a lobbyist with a sensitive e-mail. Palin filed formal complaints against both Ruedrich and former Alaska Attorney General Gregg Renkes, who both resigned. Ruedrich also paid a record $12,000 fine.”

So if you are thinking that this lady isn’t tough, you might want to think again.

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The Palin scenario reminds us of Harry Truman’s investigations and findings of wrongdoing before the relatively unknown Missouri senator was selected as Franklin D. Roosevelt’s VP running mate.

Truman didn’t have any international experience either, but he turned out to be one of our greatest presidents. Palin may be the most popular governor in America. Sources quote her approval rate at 90%. Palin knows what it takes to raise a family. She wasn’t born with a silver spoon and certainly never went after one. Some political observers have been supporting her as a possible VP candidate for some time.

McCain and Palin stole the show from Biden and Obama. I think we are all tired of the fat cats lining their pockets at the expense of the rest of us. Palin might offset that problem. She portrays a person that can be conservative and not be greedy, caring, and fair. She is apparently “Mrs. Ethics.”

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Those that have damaged both liberal and conservative philosophies have done so by taking ideals to extreme measures, advocating changes that endanger our basic freedoms, promising pie in the sky, or creating two separate classes, the elite and the poor.

FDR may have been viewed by some as having socialist tendencies, but Roosevelt knew his country was suffering. Americans were probably suffering more at that time than at any time in our history.

He knew that something had to be done to get the economy going. He knew he had to provide work.

We have a situation where our infrastructure is crumbling, our national debt is escalating, and our way of life is threatened. We have a massive illegal drug problem. We have a war on our hands and we have radical enemies all over the world. We have a mess of problems to solve. We need a strong leader that will address these issues with a common sense approach.

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The world has and has had some great women leaders. Angela Merkle is the present Chancellor of Germany. Golda Meir served as Prime Minister of Israel. Meir was raised in the United States and was educated in the U.S. Margaret Thatcher served as the British Prime Minister. Indira P. Gandhi was a former Prime Minister of India.

Mary Robinson was the first woman President of Ireland and Mary Patricia McAleese is the current President. Vigdís Finnbogadóttir was the President of Iceland. Incidentally a recent survey in Iceland indicated that “80 percent of girls under age eight think that only women can be the nation’s leader. Most boys of the same age think that they wouldn’t be elected if they tried.”

There are several women presently serving as heads of state throughout the world.

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There you have it, a few words on items of interest to the area.

I hope you have the bluest of skies today and please remember those that have suffered through Hurricane Gustav.

Wilson Butt, a Bluefield resident, is a retired Department of Highways official.