The Word From Wasilla (letter from Palin critic)

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The Word From Wasilla

I found this pretty interesting... A woman who knew Sarah Palin since 1992 writes about her experience with the VP candidate...

Jr., you find some of the most interesting articles.

What this woman wrote on Sarah Palin was exactly what I found out through other sources. She is just more of the "same ol', same ol'" in a more media attractive package. A modern Republican, who claims to be fiscally conservative, and leaves their constituents even more in debt.

What's worse, is she embodies the worst of the party to a "t". Ultra social conservative, unable to work with all of her constituents, and part of a Dominionist church, an active part of the church-one who wants to bring their way of life to everyone.

I was hoping when I heard McCain had chosen Palin as his running mate that it was Michael Palin. It would've raised my respect for the man immensely.

Then I remembered Michael is British.

I loved the last line in that article. Not loved in a warm and fuzzy way; it's more that I really respect the sharp reality of it.

I think she's an interesting woman, but I do NOT want her in a postion of power.

Sounds like a female Dick Cheney, another narcissist.

Let's hope that she simply disappears into obscurity after the election. Sounds like the woman has burned so many bridges (to nowhere or elsewhere) that she has pretty much run out of elected options in AK. Maybe she can move to FLA and hang out with Anita Bryant...

From Times OnlineSeptember 1, 2008

Sarah Palin Wikipedia entry gets glowing make-over from mysterious user Young Trigg

Mike Harvey, Technology Correspondent
The Wikipedia entry for Sarah Palin was overhauled substantially for the better in the 24 hours before the surprise announcement of her selection as Republican vice-presidential nominee.

A mystery Wikipedia user — under the name Young Trigg — put in about 30 edits to the biographical article on the website.

The additions included the fact that the 44-year-old Alaskan Governor “earned the nickname ‘Sarah Barracuda’ because of her intense play” for her high school basketball team and that she and her father “would sometimes wake at 3am to hunt moose before school”.

It is possible to track the changes made by Young Trigg because Wikipedia keeps an open log of all edits to its articles.

Palin: A woman, but not a pro-woman candidate
Many details were culled from, and footnoted to, the book Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned Alaska’s Political Establishment on its Ear, by Kaylene Johnson, The New York Times reported.

Young Trigg also notes how the Governor had high approval ratings and kept her campaign pledges. A profile in the conservative Weekly Standard magazine was used as a source of details about how Mrs Palin was willing to “take on oil companies” and that she had “eye-popping integrity”.

All this took place before the Republican candidate John McCain announced Sarah Palin as his running mate in the presidential elections.

The blogosphere has been full of speculation about who Young Trigg might be — some guessing that he or she was a member of the Palin family (Mrs Palin’s baby son is called Trig) or a McCain campaign staffer.

Wikipedia has become another important internet tool in presenting politicians to voters. Few would be surprised if a campaign worker had been given the task of putting positive spin on Mrs Palin’s entry in preparation for last week's announcement. A tracking site estimated that the page was viewed more than 2 million times on Friday.

Since the announcement the Sarah Palin page has been edited many hundreds of times more and Wikipedia has now put in place a partial block so that only established editors can change the entry. Some of Young Trigg’s entries have been amended or toned down.

Young Trigg made his or her last edits hours before the announcement and the unusual activity was noted first by National Public Radio. Arguments raged among Wikipedia editors about the alleged bias of Young Trigg’s entries and whether he or she was a “sock puppet”, an alternative anonymous account name taken on by the user to deceive.

Over the weekend YoungTrigg responded to the controversy on his or her Wikipedia user page: “I edited for a couple of hours over a five-hour span while I was reading the internet. I finished reading the Palin biography that day, went to her page, and saw a lot of "cite needed" places and thought I should improve the article and created an account to do so.

“I am not Sarah Palin. I am not a member of Sarah Palin’s family, or even Michael Palin’s family," he or she wrote.

“I will acknowledge that I volunteer for the McCain campaign, one of thousands of people nationwide who are working to elect the best candidate for the job. Palin was not the nominee when I made my edits, though I am certainly excited about the selection. I don’t believe I have a conflict of interest problem.”

Young Trigg then retired from being an active user.

Oh, man, Sins, I've been following the wiki discussion on the Sarah Palin article for nearly a week. It's been closed down, partially opened back up, closed down again...

When the discussion page was open, it was nuts, with the trolls coming out in droves from under their bridges (or was it the Bridge to Nowhere?).

YoungTrig did add a lot to the article and s/he did so in the proper way, and it triggered some suspicion that someone from the Repubs had a mole. Nothing improper, but very selective. And someone who knew the ropes at Wikipedia.

The article did read like a fluff piece, and hopefully has been updated to show some of her less than stellar behavior.

But I'm enjoying the discussion pages on the Wiki-a bucket of popcorn and wifi and I'm entertained for hours!