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Title: Wally Hickel and Sarah Palin's Betrayal
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URL Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/geoff ... kel-and-sarah-pa_b_569419.html
Published: May 9, 2010
Author: Geoffrey Dunn
Post Date: 2010-05-09 21:17:28 by Skip Intro
Keywords: None
Views: 41459
Comments: 124
Wally Hickel and Sarah Palin's Betrayal The death of Walter J. "Wally" Hickel (1919-2010) in Anchorage this past Friday marks the end of a remarkable era, not only in Alaska, but throughout the entire United States. The two-time Governor of the Last Frontier (elected once as a Republican in the 1960s, the second time as an Independent in 1990) and former U.S. Secretary of the Interior under Richard Nixon was a larger than life figure, a legend in his own time, whose driving ambitions and relentless personal energy helped to both shape and define Alaska's 50 years of statehood. He had arrived in Anchorage in 1940 with 37 cents in his pocket, and it proved to be all the stake he would ever need. His robust spirit and seemingly boundless energy assured his success, not only in Alaska's bare-knuckle politics, but in the arenas of business and public policy as well. Born in Kansas in 1919, Hickel was raised in an era when a handshake secured a deal and a commitment still meant something. He was a casual friend of my great uncle, an Italian fish vendor from California of the same generation, and they lived their lives under a code of conduct defined by integrity and an unyielding loyalty to friends and allies. Hickel was forced out of the Nixon White House after criticizing Nixon's handling of student protests during the Vietnam War. "Regardless of how I, or any American, might feel individually, we have an obligation as leaders to communicate with our youth and listen to their ideas and problems," he wrote. He refused to compromise his personal ethics. I spent a fascinating morning with Hickel this past summer, in the office of his downtown Anchorage landmark, the Captain Cook Hotel, and he was every bit as dignified and gracious as he was when I first encountered him 35 years earlier in Anchorage, then a raw and wild oil town. As he approached his 90th birthday, his grip was still strong and his "boomer" vision of Alaska remained his passion. A former boxer, he looked like he could still go a few rounds and I wouldn't want to cross him. He may have lost some of his intellectual edge after nine decades, but his spirit remained undaunted, his eyes bright, particularly when his bride of 67 years, Ermalee, later joined us in the conversation. Hickel was still pushing his vision of an "owner state"--articulated in his book Crisis in the Commons: The Alaska Solution--and he remained upbeat about the possibilities facing Alaska. He was convinced that the "Age of the Artic" was still ahead and he still believed in "big ideas." But when I asked Hickel about then governor Sarah Palin, his disposition turned hard. Hickel had played a major role in her victory as governor in the 2006 election--his stamp of approval went a long way toward getting her elected--and he expected a place at the table with the young governor as she was set to guide Alaska into the New Millenium. In the immediate aftermath of Palin's election, however, Palin cast Hickel aside. As anyone who has ever worked with or for Sarah Palin knows full well, her capacity for deceit and betrayal knows no bounds. She stabbed Hickel in the back. As a result, Hickel viewed Palin with personal disdain, describing her "political opportunism" in the most condemnatory terms possible. He had lost all respect for her. She "used" him like she would use many other patrons as she scratched and lied her way to a strange form of national political celebrity, and Hickel was not afraid to call it like he saw it. He was not bitter--he was a much bigger man than that--but at the same time, he was not afraid to show his disgust. "I don't give a damn about her," he told me. I found his candor refreshing. Not only did he view Palin as a political parvenu, he viewed her as a puppet. "She's not her own woman," he said to me several times. He was strongly opposed to her plans for a TransCanada pipeline--he did not believe it would ever be built--and he championed instead an All Alaska gas-line project from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez. In a stinging opinion piece he wrote a year ago this week, he declared, "If I were governor, we would start building the All-Alaska gas line tomorrow. All it takes is some guts and a decision." It didn't take much to read between those lines. When I asked him for a formal, on-the-record response to Palin's stunted career as governor, he took a deep pause. "She fell in love with the national spotlight and lost her ethical compass," he said thoughtfully. "That was a sad day for Alaska and America." In the aftermath of Palin's resignation, Hickel wrote a prescient opinion piece for the Anchorage Daily News (where he was a regular contributor until just last month), in which he expressed his criticism of Palin for being a polarizing figure along both class and racial lines during the national campaign. He urged her "to rise above the worn-out, negative tactics of presidential politics and assume the role of stateswoman." While acknowledging his initial support for Palin's nomination, he expressed his horror at the divisive nature of her political rhetoric: Palin became the spokesperson for the divisive voices in American politics. She dismissed the greatness of our immigrant heritage, indeed of today's Alaska, where in Anchorage alone nearly 100 languages are spoken in the homes of the children in our public schools. Not surprisingly, Palin did not dignify Hickel's passing with a formal acknowledgment on her Facebook page, but instead issued a shameful and shallow "reflection" on Twitter in her distinctive Palinese: Upon his passing,we honor Gov Walter Hickel's life,he made real difference in the world.Unsurpassed impacts on Alaska,the Arctic&her people[sic] That was it. Palin was well aware of Hickel's disdain, and she could not rise above her pettiness to issue the formal acknowledgment that his life and career warranted. Indeed, these two figures represent the anithesis of Arctic politics. Whereas Hickel was a man whose destiny was always greater that his own, Palin's has always been wrapped up in her own self-interest. Whereas Palin is all about style, Hickel was a man of substance. In the end, the shadow of his political legacy in the Last Frontier will forever loom long beyond that of Sarah Palin's. His was real and transcendent--while hers is small and remains nothing but a fantasy.
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Comments (1-53) not displayed.
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#54. To: lucysmom (#51)
(Edited)
Stone invited me.
He's wearing his Tea Party allegiance on his sleeve. And he knows he's safe 'cause none can follow him over there and find what skirt he's hiding behind. LOLOL
Making the world safe for United Fruit.
That's the answer to "Who invited you?", not "Why did you show up".
Get the fuck out of here. You're not welcome here.
My, my Fredo. Is this a new, scary you? It's not working if it is.
As it hasn't got an original idea in it's pointy little bureaucrat head just Bozo it.
Making the world safe for United Fruit.
After 10 years of posting I was banned from one site - FR circa 2004, no regrets. I got banned from 4um a few months ago. The jack boot apparently did it. Again, no regrets.
Again, because I was invited.
Probably I should. christine has lost her grip on that web site.
Yes do that because I'm here to stay and make mince meat out of the left wing cell that you hold near and dear. So off you ya' goofball. Anyone who takes Pitt football seriously is a tad on the 'tard side.
4um is the only site I have ever been banned from. lol I was subtly warned by two posters there that the two sacred cows are Tull and Cynicon.
Making the world safe for United Fruit.
That site is a joke. I visit it for the headlines. I like a good number of people over there, but jackboot laid down the law. LOLOL
The only sacred cows are support for an American First agenda and a rejection of the political left. You failed on both counts.
yes, I gladly booted your ass Fredo. When u took up for BS the O'PILE, that was simply too much. So, just deal with it, OK?
Huh?
Bret never booted me. christine wouldn't have booted me. But you're a jackboot. lolol It is all there to see.
Hey dim bulb. YES, I booted you. You jumped into the middle of the BS ban, which was well earned. No offense, but you really are sloooow.
And in the name of "conservatism" by urban law enforcement bureaucrats. Isn't this what Goldi practices, the banning of all other opinions in order to preserve free speech. It's just too funny.
Making the world safe for United Fruit.
Which part confuses you, Fredo? Or perhaps you simply don't agree that a forum should put forward such antiquated ideals.
Yes it is. The pig banned me. I thought it was christine's site. lolol
He thinks that about every poster here except for gump and Stone.
Not any more.
Wrong, sot. Neither Goldi or Robinson ever bothered to face those they banned as I am doing, and I must admit, y'all have reinforced my decision. Hell, I even banned Stone, but he probably just had a bad day.
Yes. I haven't been banned from there yet. christine should be ashamed of what her site has become. Hey Tull, say hi to critter, O_I, former lurker, and a few others from me.
I haven't checked to see if she has updated her mission statement by disclosing that the site is now moderated by an alleged ex NYPD LEO. I can imagine that would run off a few prospects, as we all known how close they are tied to the FBI with their incessant need to collect data.
Making the world safe for United Fruit.
That says everything about your judgment. I guess you don't know a banning is a serious thing.
I think the one person over there who was the kindest to me over the years has been Lod, he sent me a laser mouse a few years ago, I'll never forget him for that.
I guess you don't know a banning is a serious thing. You need to just Bozo it, it's no longer your friend.
Making the world safe for United Fruit.
Yes, Lod is another one I got along with. I hate to use the past tense but I was banned by a cop from Jerkwater, PA.
Nothing is too good for Ds & socialists.
Were you banned from there also?
Reinstate yourself and say hello when u want.
You won't last here beyond this weekend. I guarantee it.
Shall we bet?
Lets just say after fu, I wasn't welcome...no big deal!
Let me know if you want to meet up at Churchill Downs in a few weeks. You know why.
Sorry to hear you were banned from 4UM Fredo, miss seeing your ugly horse stink of a carcass.
I know you missed me. Please, control yourself; no swooning.
Opps, forgot about the pie. There, much better.
Get the fuck out of here. You're not welcome here. Fred Mertz posted on 2010-05-10 22:14:08 ET Reply Trace Private Reply Piss off Jerx......want to make the rules get that stallions last foot out of your exhaust pipe and set up your own site......bwwwaaaahhhhhaaaaaa!!!! Just imagine the sludge that'll line your membership huh??? Welcome Tull....anyone opposite the lockstepping floorlicking neanderthal brownshirt obamatards that stink up AKA's site (thinking they make the entry rules) has GOT to be welcome here.
Death to everybody who does not get outta my way. And the latest Eisteinian revelation from LF's resident Barack poodleboy...AKA Admiral Dwarf who has "shot at living things"...."Yeah, and Oswald was a right winger, too. He was... war posted on 2010-03-22 20:12:36
I know.
I can see NOVEMBER from my House....
Comments (95 - 124) not displayed.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/LatestWhat's up with banning posters on one site and then going to another site to engage the posters you've banned? Doesn't make sense to me.
#55. To: lucysmom (#51)
(Edited)
What's up with banning posters on one site and then going to another site to engage the posters you've banned? Doesn't make sense to me.
#56. To: Tull (#54)
Stone invited me.
#57. To: Tull (#54)
#58. To: Fred Mertz (#57)
#59. To: Fred Mertz (#57)
Get the fuck out of here. You're not welcome here.
#60. To: Badeye (#52)
#61. To: lucysmom (#56)
"Why did you show up".
#62. To: mininggold (#59)
#63. To: Fred Mertz (#62)
(Edited)
#64. To: Fred Mertz (#62)
Probably I should. christine has lost her grip on that web site.
#65. To: mininggold (#64)
#66. To: mininggold (#64)
#67. To: Fred Mertz (#65)
#68. To: Tull (#66)
The only sacred cows are support for an American First agenda and a rejection of the political left.
#69. To: Tull (#67)
#70. To: Fred Mertz (#69)
#71. To: Fred Mertz (#65)
I like a good number of people over there, but jackboot laid down the law.
#72. To: Fred Mertz (#68)
The only sacred cows are support for an American First agenda and a rejection of the political left.
#73. To: mininggold (#71)
#74. To: mininggold (#11)
He must be on a vigil from God to get the one or two posters he considers Obama supporters banned from here.
#75. To: Fred Mertz (#73)
I thought it was christine's site. lolol
#76. To: mininggold (#71)
Isn't this what Goldi practices,
#77. To: mininggold (#71)
Isn't this what Goldi practices, the banning of all other opinions in order to preserve free speech.
#78. To: Fred Mertz (#73)
Yes it is. The pig banned me. I thought it was christine's site. lolol
#79. To: Tull (#76)
Hell, I even banned Stone, but he probably just had a bad day.
#80. To: Fred Mertz (#77)
#81. To: Fred Mertz (#79)
That says everything about your judgment.
#82. To: Murron (#80)
#83. To: Fred Mertz (#79)
I guess you don't know a banning is a serious thing.
#84. To: Murron (#80)
#85. To: Fred Mertz (#77)
Hey Tull, say hi to critter, O_I, former lurker, and a few others from me.
#86. To: Tull (#85)
#87. To: Fred Mertz (#86)
#88. To: Fred Mertz (#84)
#89. To: Murron (#88)
#90. To: Fred Mertz (#89)
#91. To: Murron (#88)
#92. To: Fred Mertz (#89)
#93. To: FredJerx, Tull (#57)
#57. To: Tull (#54)
#94. To: Fred Mertz (#60)
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