29 December 2006

Giving credit where it's due

A little while ago I wrote this:

If it's really true that the King Air can land on some runways that the jet cannot, I'm really looking forward to seeing Governor Palin visit the remote, subsistence villages that are equally a part of the state but are so frequently overlooked by road-system politicians. That would be the only saving grace of this impending sale.
So let me congratulate Governor Palin for this bit of news:
Gov. Sarah Palin on Saturday will visit New Stuyahok, in part to find out why the Yup'ik village of 450 residents has experienced at least five alcohol-related deaths this year.
As long as this isn't some stunt, I'm genuinely impressed that she's going to be in a remote village in the first month of her term in office.

Now if only she'd visit a village in our listening area and let me come along on the trip...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I’m impressed with Sarah doing this, period. A village visit, never mind that this village voted 143 for Knowles, 14 for Palin. After 5 alcohol related deaths, she came to see what the SOA could do to help. Not to cast aspersions, but I don’t think we could have gotten this kind of attention had it been another Governor.
The commitment to inclusiveness has been rewarding. Like most folks in Rural Alaska who depend on subsistence activities I applaud the Governor. This is a substantial step in showing the rest of rural residents who have been for lack of word, used. In doing this, the campaign rhetoric that the opposing side presented, that we vote out of fear, had hurt most rural communities as they began honestly believing this. Never mind their “leaders” are safely tucked away in Fairbanks or Anchorage. This shows, beyond a doubt, that Governor Palin means what she said in that we rural folks, whether Native or not, will be heard when it comes to issues impacting rural Alaska. It makes this Native proud to have played a minor role in campaigning for her.