New questions and inconstancies about Sarah Palin's background arise daily, almost hourly. To help keep track, I'm compiling "a cheat sheet" that is almost certainly incomplete and will be updated as needed.
This cheat sheet is divided into 4 parts.
Part I. Background
Part II. 1996 - 2004: Mayor of Wasilla and Chairperson, Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission
Part III. 2006 - Present: Governor of Alaska
Part IV: Palin's Positions on the Issues
The following is Part I and a partial Part II.
PART I. BACKGROUND
A. Education: Still unclear. Per ABC, "Palin switched colleges at least six times in six years, including two stints at the University of Idaho before graduating from there in 1987" with a degree in Journalism.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=5728215 B. Spouse: Husband Todd Palin was a member of Alaskan Independence Party. Per ABC: "Gov. Palin was not a member of this third-party ("Alaska First -- Alaska Always") that wants Alaskans to get a vote on whether or not the state can secede from the U.S. But her husband was a long-time member, and at least two AIP officials recall her attending the 1994 convention, though she says she did not attend."
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/09/the-alaska-divi.html Sarah Palin did address the Alaskan Independence Party Statewide Convention in March 2008. Her address can be viewed on Youtube: v
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4iCDBIAde8 C. Children: In two speeches on August 29th & 30th, Sarah Palin divulged that her oldest son, 18 year old Track Palin, will be deployed to Iraq on September 11, 2008. The US Army guide for military families on "operational security and keeping the military safe" states this is the kind of information that should never be disclosed, specifically, "any information on troop movements – this includes any movement while they are deployed and in transit to/from theater (including R&R). Do not ever give dates or times."
http://www.army.com/articles/item/3305There has been "clarification", including a Sept 2 article at
http://www.adn.com/palinfamily/story/220853.htmlBut the question remains, why would Governor Palin say such a thing in the first place?
The unsubstantiated rumors regarding Track Palin's high school years should not be repeated unless there is proof. What is factual is that Track Palin attended high school in Michigan for much of his 2006 - 2007 senior year and first joined the army Sept 11, 2007.
http://www.adn.com/sarah-palin/story/220853.html. It appears that Track Palin returned to Wasilla in March, 2007 to graduate with his class.
The whole world already knows the story about 17 year old Bristol Palin which is likely to be tabloid fodder for a while. It does not need to be repeated.
Willow, 14, and Piper 7.
The story of 4 month old Trig Palin's birth was reported by both KTUU Alaska and the Anchorage Daily News. In summary, Governor Palin, 44 years old and eight months pregnant with a Down's Syndrome child, was attending a Governor's conference in Texas on April 17th. That morning, around 4:00 am Texas time (1:00 am Alaska Time), she began to leak amniotic fluid and have minor contractions. She gave the keynote luncheon address then flew from Texas to Alaska, with a stop in Seattle. She arrived in Anchorage at 10:30 pm Alaska time, then drove to the Mat-Su Regional Medical Center in Wasilla. Trig Palin was born at 6:30 am, April 18th, 2008. Governor Palin consulted with her physician, Cathy Baldwin-Johnson, several times during the trip. However, the story was controversial in Alaska when first reported because of perceived risks the Governor took delivering her fifth child.
http://www.ktuu.com/global/story.asp?s=8194634 and
http://www.adn.com/front/story/382864.html D. Religion: As a teenager, Governor Palin was baptized as a member of the Pentecostal Assembly of God, which Palin attended until she was 38 years old. She left in 2002 for conservative evangelical Wasilla Bible Church. A "spokeswoman for the McCain-Palin campaign has said that Palin attends many churches and does not consider herself to be Pentecostal"
http://www.newsweek.com/id/156679/page/2New York Times reports that "one of the musical directors at the church, Adele Morgan, who has known Ms. Palin since the third grade, said the Palins moved to the nondenominational Wasilla Bible Church in 2002, in part because its ministry is less 'extreme' than Pentecostal churches like the Assemblies of God, which practice speaking in tongues and miraculous healings. "
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/06/us/politics/06church.html?_r=2&oref=sloginNewsweek quotes Assembly of God's Senior Pastor, Ed Kalnins, as saying that "about half of the people in his church have the gift of tongues. He has it himself, he says, though he rarely demonstrates it".
http://www.newsweek.com/id/156679. PART II. 1996 - 2004: Mayor of Wasilla and Chairperson, Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission
Section A. Mayor of Wasilla 1996 - 2002.
FactCheck.Org (citing Wasilla city records as their source) writes that Sarah Palin "garnered 651 votes in 1996 and 909 votes in 1999 in her two races for mayor of Wasilla."
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/gop_convention_spin_part_ii.html In 1997 Wasilla was "a town of about 4,600"
http://www.adn.com/sarah-palin/story/510219.htmlShe "quickly hired a deputy administrator, reworking the city budget to find money for the $50,000-a-year position, which had been empty for several years. Critics said it showed she wasn't up to the job, but Palin defended it as necessary for the fast-growing city."
http://dwb.adn.com/news/politics/story/8334949p-8231037c.htmlShe also fired several people. Two of the most controversial were in January, 2007. Alaska Daily News writes about Wasilla librarian Mary Ellen Emmons, who "was asked to resign - about possibly removing objectionable books from the library if the need arose. Emmons told the Frontiersman she flatly refused to consider any kind of censorship."
http://www.adn.com/sarah-palin/story/515512.htmlThe second controversial firing was Police Chief Earl Irl Stambaugh whom Palin claims did not support her efforts as Mayor. Palin "refused to give details about how Stambaugh has not supported her, saying only that 'You know in your heart when someone is supportive of you.'"
http://www.adn.com/sarah-palin/story/510219.htmlThe firing prompted some citizens to discuss a recall.
http://www.adn.com/sarah-palin/story/513745.htmlStambaugh subsequently sued the city for wrongful termination, in part based on gender discrimination. The Wasilla local paper Frontiersman wrote in 2/26/97 that "The gender discrimination issues stem from statements Palin allegedly made to others that she was intimidated by Stambaugh's size. He stands over 6-feet tall and weighs more than 200 pounds, which, the lawsuit said, is attributed to his gender."
Stambaugh also claims that "he was fired because he stepped on the toes of Palin's campaign contributors, including bar owners and the National Rifle Association."
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5713866Early 2000, a federal judge ruled that Palin was "within her rights to give the police chief the boot ... The police chief serves at the discretion of the mayor, and can be terminated for nearly any reason, even a political one, U.S. District Court Judge James K. Singleton ruled in dismissing most of Stambaugh's claims."
There are several questions about her tenure. Perhaps the most significant is an expensive sports complex project.
The Wall Street Journal reports: "The biggest project that Sarah Palin undertook as mayor of this small town was an indoor sports complex, where locals played hockey, soccer, and basketball, especially during the long, dark Alaskan winters.
The only catch was that the city began building roads and installing utilities for the project before it had unchallenged title to the land. The misstep led to years of litigation and at least $1.3 million in extra costs for a small municipality with a small budget. What was to be Ms. Palin's legacy has turned into a financial mess that continues to plague Wasilla." http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122065537792905483.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
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Any corrections, comments are welcome.
Continuing to work on Part II.
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