Sarah Palin is No Friend to the American Ideal

Sarah Palin is no friend to the American people, or the ideals upon which this country was founded. Being potentially only a heartbeat away from the Oval Office, I think the voters in the United States should consider, nay, shout out, the reasons she could be even more dangerous to the electorate than many people realize.

Abuse of Power

It turns out that Governor Palin sounds like a very vindictive player in the political ring, who apparently has no qualms about usin and abusing the powers given her by virtue of her elected posts.

As Governor of Alaska, Palin stands accused of using her power as the Governor of the State of Alaska in a bid to harm a citizen by use of that power. I speak of her attempted firing of a state policeman, who just happened to be her former brother-in-law. The old phrase "blood is thicker than water" surely is a truism, but Governor Palin may have taken that a bit too far in an attempt to be an avenging angel on behalf of her sister. Unfortunately, the person who blocked her attempt at the firing turned into her victim, and lost their job, instead (more on this, later).

As Mayor of Wasilla, Palin reportedly fired every department head who refused to give her a personal pledge of loyalty, including people who had once been her political allies. She also threatened to fire the city's librarian, who left the post, instead.

Silencing Voices

As Mayor and Governor, Palin has shaken things up - and silenced access to the people actually fulfilling the work of the state or city who could confirm or deny her claims, making government even less accessible to the people.

I speak of Palin's marching orders issued immediately after she has been elected, requiring all inquiries to be directed through her while she was Mayor, or her handpicked cadre of information officers while she has been Governor. This smacks of a need to hide something, at the worst, and an egomaniacal desire to micromanage every element of the government workings, at the least.

And back to that librarian - Palin felt a need to limit what was accessible at the public library in Wasilla - so much so, that she started putting pressure on the librarian to ban certain books and materials. Not limit access, not submit materials through a review and screening process, but to actively ban books which she, Palin, found personally objectionable.

Ask Yourself

Sarah Palin apparently thinks that open and transparent government (an ideal established by Thomas Jefferson) is not a virtue of our democratic society. Sarah Palin has openly made attempts at silencing voices and in an attempt at dismantling the First Amendment. What voices would Sarah Palin silence if she became President with all of the police power that comes with the office?

SOURCES:

http://www.adn.com/sarah-palin/story/515512.html

http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6593135.html

http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=8942451

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1837918,00.html