Pete Hauschka on Sarah Palin: The original email

There's an email circulating on the internet about Sarah Palin that's written by an Alaskan named Pete Hauschka.

As with many emails that are forwarded multiple times, the original document has been slightly altered from what Mr. Hauschka originally wrote.

I contacted Pete Hauschka, and he sent me the following reply:

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Hi Bob,

I did write a letter 10 days ago...pretty similar to the one you have sent back to me. It is interesting how a document can change and be edited by others as it passes.

I hope it helps make a positive difference. Here is the original version. Enjoy,

Regards, Pete

This pick floored me. Sarah Palin is nice person. I've met her. I've even talked with her for a few minutes at an Alaskan principal's conference a couple of years ago. She has lots going for her superficially. She speaks from the heart, like a sassy mother; she can even be sort of funny sometimes. She is drop dead gorgeous. She is athletic and has that radiant glow of someone who actually spends time doing things outside. Unlike many politicians, she has lived a "real life" and done things that few living and working in DC could ever do....like dipnettin' fish, shootin' stuff and eating it out on the tundra, and havin' 5 kids.

Personally, I'd never vote for her. She has an extremely simple view of the world. I don't even think she has ever been abroad. (She did go on-base to Iraq to visit our homesick AK National Guard troops which was a nice gesture, but I do not believe she has experienced another culture besides Native Alaskan cultures even as a vacationer. As governor she has repeatedly shown us that she is unable to grasp the demands of leadership. She is very prone to cronyism of the worst kind. Most important cabinet level political appointment she has made, (for example, our State commissioner of Education), she has over-ridden suggestions of our state advisory boards, and instead promoted those who had granted her direct political favors. Not that other politicians don't do this, they do, but most of them are able to balance their appointments to ensure that at least a few people with real skill and experience are running big state agencies. Some of the people she has appointed are just doofuses...even by Alaskan standards; and we have a high tolerance for doofuses here.

She also has been unable to pay attention to her Alaskan constituency. Personally, I've written several of our previous gov's hailing from both major parties and been asked to comment publicly on education policy. All the previous gov's have always acknowledged that contribution, criticism or comment; sometimes by direct reply, or at least by that of a staff member. Palin's office has been a zone of silence. Not I, nor one person I know commenting has ever gotten any sort of reply. Her claim of running an open or transparent government is totally false; the public simply has no role in her administration.

Her previous claim to fame was being mayor of Wasilla, a growing town about 40 minutes from Anchorage of about 7,500 people. Wasilla is a hellhole, even by Alaskan standards, where there are plenty of hellhole towns and villages. Wasilla is an ugly place that shows a complete absence of planning, design, or sense of public vision. Gov't agencies and services are completely overrun in this town; things are so bad that they can't even track their population, and have difficultly building schools in the right place, because building permits are not required in nearby unincorporated areas, and are lax in-town; so the only clue about where people are settling are utility receipts. Imagine trying to be an emergency responder in this kind of place: Houses don't just catch on fire in Wasilla, they burn to the ground, because by the time the fire department has figured out which road to take (no signs) or whose house it is (no directory), the place is done for. Palin was mayor this town for at least 2 terms before being elected gov. a year and a half ago.

Her moral sense is simplistic and not inclusive. She is the sort of person who is used to using their "faith" to divide and isolate minority groups of human beings instead of uniting them. To her credit as Gov. she has kept out of this arena pretty well, but when in comfortable company, she lets her true colors show.