A Cry for Help from Rural Alaska. Is Anyone Listening? Not Palin

[katanalori]

Source: The Mudflats Alaska

Four days ago, a cry for help went out via the Bristol Bay Times. Many of us have known that residents of Alaska’s rural villages are having a hard winter. The weather has been unusually cold, and prices of heating oil and gasoline have been astronomical. Add to that a disastrous collapsing salmon fishery in Bristol Bay that left residents in that area heading in to winter with less than usual, and you have the makings for a humanitarian disaster.

So, what is the State of Alaska doing to help its citizens as they face these conditions of scarcity that are beyond what many of us can imagine? The answer is, nothing. According to Mr. Tucker the lack of heating oil and food and the resulting threat to life did not count as an emergency to the State of Alaska.


A question. Where is our Governor? What are her priorities? I have heard her concerns about anonymous bloggers, about media coverage, about the legislature, and the gas line. I have seen press releases come out saying “There you go again” to the Anchorage Daily News. I haves seen lots of time and energy focused on how Sarah Palin feels mistreated by the media. But I have not heard one, single, solitary word about Emmonak. I have seen no press releases about what my state’s government is doing to help its people in harm’s way.



Read more: http://www.themudflats.net/2009/01/14/a-cry-for-help-from-rural-alaska-is-anyone-listening/

---

This is Palin's Katrina moment, and hopefully her undoing.
Link to full story: http://www.themudflats.net/2009/01/14/a-cry-for-help-from-rural-alaska-is-anyone-listening/

[Mind_your_head]

1. Alaskans will find their governor panting at the Nieman Marcus windows,

with a dead turkey and a shotgun behind her back to boot! She's one "mixed up" 'lady', no doubt! And, as is true for most republican politicians, 'she doesn't CARE ONE BIT ABOUT "YOU!".

When will Alaskans, as well as 'others' see the light and rid themselves of these "abusive relationships" with politicians/'representatives" *cough* who DON'T "represent"!

RIGHT NOW couldn't be 'soon enough'!

Peace,
M_Y_H

[Rhiannon12866]

2. 5th rec! Off to The Greatest Page with you... :-)

For all her talk about her loyalty to the citizens of Alaska, she sure is putting them on the back burner just now, prefers the limelight in the lower 48... :grr:

Last I heard, she hadn't returned to her office in Anchorage since the campaign. I think that more than one governor in this country should be impeached by the people... x(

Aren't her 15 minutes just about over?! :shrug:

[cliffordu]

3. K&R. Sarah....

That's my girl!!!

[roguevalley]

6. she is burning bridges everywhere. there is an exodus out of the villages by

people who are ill prepared for urban life. this is an awesome catastrophe. I agree with you, cliffordu. She is sort of a gift that keeps on giving. :)

[cliffordu]

7. Like the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

Do you think she could be the Whore of Babylon??

[eilen]

10. No, she's merely 2008's Bimbo of the Year. (at least in my book)

Or maybe she's 2009's Bimbo of the Year, leaving 2008 for George Bush and Joe the Dumber, I mean Plumber.

What with all the interviews she's doing.

[Blue_In_AK]

24. It's fun to call her a bimbo and laugh,

but her policies are causing real harm to Alaskans -- and our legislature seems to lack the "testicular fortitude," as one blogger put it, to hold her feet to the fire. It's extremely frustrating to see what's going on here, to confront the legislators on it, and have them say, "Our hands are tied, we can't do anything, we don't have the votes." It's a microcosm of the last eight years in Bush world.

[Blue_In_AK]

22. Isn't it intriguing, Rogue,

that while this is going on, she's filing lawsuits to remove our little belugas from the endangered list and brokering sweetheart deals on the Healy Coal Plant? (Read Halcro for what appear to be massive conflicts of interest). I'm so done with her.

[truedelphi]

31. On the other hand, she proves that anyone can run for office in some

places in the world. It might be time for people who are angry enough to find a suitable replacement.

[Tab]

32. Bush already proved that

I know that "anyone" can grow up to be President, but certain people shouldn't be.

[alittlelark]

4. She will never attain elected office again...

Unless it is 'City Moose-catcher'

[Politicalboi]

5. But she's a "Marvrick"

Not a "Moran" This is "Hugh" I thought Miss Maverick knew how to run energy policy in the state of Alaska? If this doesn't wake them up then nothing will. She doesn't give a moose's ass about them.

[Historic NY]

8. Don't fear she is out hunting moose for the populace....

:sarcasm:

[madrchsod]

9. they must not have voted for her....

i thought hugo`s heating oil program was helping alaska. maybe they were not welcome this year

[davefromqueens]

11. She has to consult Thomas Muthee first

She probably thinks that God is punishing these people because there's a witch somewhere.

All kidding aside, one thing we learned about Sarah Palin is that she is completely incompetent. Even her staffers said she was the worst multi tasker in the world and can never do two things at once. And they were trying to put it nicely.

[NBachers]

12. Which means she can't even do one thing at once

[John Q. Citizen]

13. I hope Alaskans get help. But i hope Sarah is around to run. She's great for us Dems.

[AlbertCat]

18. I hope Alaskans get help.

Can't they use that check they get every year from the Government for just living in that god forsaken welfare state?

[mt13]

14. i love the mudflats blog...

it got me hooked during the campaign. what a fresh insight into Sarah Palin and all her nonsense. she is just ridiculous. her 15 minutes MUST be up by now, aren't they?

[ColbertWatcher]

15. Alaska's governor (and her PARTY) is too busy posing for propaganda.

I hope Alaskans remember this come election time.

[MiniMe]

16. She is busy filing a lawsuit to remove protection from the Beluga Whale

I think I read that there are only 365 left in the world, and they are only in 1 spot in the world. Ms. Palin thinks that the area has potential for oil development and wants to remove the protection.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

20. Yup...Here's a link

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=686a758b-62f6-4043-adf0-a7fd844713f9

You can find info in Canadian and Alaskan news; but the lower 48 can only learn about it via the internet and environmental groups like Center for Biological Diversity. http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/

[Blue_In_AK]

25. There are more belugas than that,

but this particular population, the Cook Inlet belugas, has declined significantly in the past few years. We used to see them all the time out there, but only rarely these days.

[happygoluckytoyou]

17. Sarah here, you can borrow my new FUR COAT the GOP bought me...NOT ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !!

[nolabear]

19. If ya got a couple bucks

send a check. The replies section of this article is inspiring, hearing people asking and answering very practical questions about how they can help. I'm sending a check (small but it might stave off starvation or hypothermia for another day for some poor kid).

This is the definition of a disaster and she's whining about bloggers? She should be air dropped into one of these villages and have to live off the charity of its citizens.

[Blue_In_AK]

21. Thank you for posting this, Katanalori,

and I'm happy to see that you're getting more hits than I did when I posted yesterday morning.

According to the local bloggers, we have raised enough money to send independent journalist Dennis Zaki out to Emmonak to do a story on this, with video, with money left over for the Tribal Council. CNN has shown some interest in the story if it's verified, so hopefully we will soon have this out to the nation at large. Sarah really needs to deal with the rural issues -- and fast -- rather than wasting all her time bitching about anonymous bloggers, who in this case have picked up the ball that she dropped and run with it.

[madrchsod]

27. here ya go...call hugo

http://www.citgo.com/CommunityInvolvement/HeatingOil.jsp

[uppityperson]

23. thank you for posting this.

[madrchsod]

26. call hugo..

he`d love to send some free oil products to sarahland.....

http://www.citgo.com/CommunityInvolvement/HeatingOil.jsp

[LaPera]

28. Government is NOT there to help people, the only reason for government is to help & aid corporations

This is republican ideology written in stone, republicans fight every single day to bring that ideology to reality!

Government is not for the workers who pay taxes but to give to the rich & the corporations, subsidies, tax breaks & loop-holes, deregulation (corporate welfare for the rich).

Everyone else stand up on your own two feet and shut the fuck up!

Republican ideology, lies, greed & hate!

Republican Sarah Palin, who is a complete liar, a greedy elitist, is the perfect example of this republican ideology & agenda.

[DCKit]

29. Sure removes any doubt that Sara Palin would have replaced Dick Cheney w/o a hiccup. n/t

[PatSeg]

30. K&R

Absolutely outrageous! Thank you for posting this.

[sohndrsmith]

33. THANK YOU for posting this here. I just read it on Huffington Post, and I hope this gets

forwarded to Olbermann and Maddow because this needs to be out there and heard/read/seen by as many people as possible.

If anyone knows their email addresses (particularly the most direct ones), please post them.

[Blue_In_AK]

34. Here's a follow-up post from Alaska Native blogger Writing Raven

http://alaskareal.blogspot.com/2009/01/another-alaskan-village-in-trouble.html

Today, I was very proud of so many Alaskans, Americans - and Alaskan bloggers. Especially those "anonymous" kind.

Pardon me for quoting a favorite show, but there was a "Native" moment in a West Wing episode I really connected with when I first heard it. The press secretary is trying to talk two "Indians in the lobby" into not going to the press right before Thanksgiving. They have been trying to have their case heard for 15 years (not exactly unheard of in Indian country.)

At the end of it all, she asks them, "How do you keep fighting these smaller injustices, when they all come from the mother of all injustices?"

The Native lawyer answers her, "What's the alternative?"

In other words, keep fighting.

I find it very easy to get discouraged with Native issues, and this is often how I feel. We fight because we must, because the only other alternative is to give up. Certainly, there are many who have.

Last night I did a post about a story that appeared in the Bristol Bay Times - another Alaska village in trouble. Yet the news wasn't even that the village was in trouble, as many, many villages are. It was the humanity lent to the letter of a resident, the personal stories. In an emergency, in an honest to goodness, having to choose between heat and food situation, a man reached out to Alaskans and asked for help for his people.

The response to the man's letter was beautiful. In just a few short days, bloggers have posted like crazy, asking for help. Celtic Diva made sure I knew about some of the "behind the scenes" work the bloggers were up to, including Progressive Alaska, The Immoral Minority, and Isiik's Thoughts are posting. Mudflats got on the front page of the Huffington Post with her excellent commentary. Alaska Report will be heading out to Emmonak, and other villages, to try and get more coverage for the situation. Donations have begun to trickle (and I hope, soon, flood) in. It is not a government bailout, it is not a permanent fix, it is not The Answer to all that ails - but it is the beginning of something good.

Mudflats related what the man who wrote the letter, Nick Tucker, said on KUDO:


“Thank you. I am choking, and tears are coming out of my eyes. You are giving us hope.”


Oh, and you can donate on the post from last night.

I am both more fortunate, and less fortunate, than these villagers. Living in the "big city" of Anchorage now, I cannot connect with my heritage as well, I missed much of what would be commonplace by living here, not where I was born. Yet the biggest trouble this week has been the failure of my car against the cold. It will be an inconvenience, but I ate good today, I am sleeping warm, and I will go to my job tomorrow - because I have one. The same cannot be said of the people in Emmonak, and of many places around the state. Many times, the fight just seems to be about what you are willing to give up.

But today, I got a big shot of hope. I - and I suspect many Native people - can get pretty discouraged in The Fight. You can believe you are only fighting so you know you aren't giving up - not with a real belief that change will come. The news of the dying villages got some news coverage this year, but it made one of the people I was with at the Alaska Federation of Natives convention in October comment, "Man - we've been talking about that for decades!" It is easy to think your voice is never heard.

This week, one Native man raised his voice. The Bristol Bay Times reported, ADN made a mention. Then the bloggers got ahold of it, and wow, watch it go! His voice has been carried around the world, and right before my eyes, I'm watching a very wonderful thing. They are listening, and they are responding with action. With money, comments, passing the word - the proverbial ball is rolling.

No, I'm not getting ahead of myself. No, its not all okay now. No, there is no solution. Yes, there's about fifty billion other problems. Yes, the work ahead is exhausting to think of. The village, and many others, still have little heat, and little food - and no money.

But today a Native man raised up his voice, and was heard.

Today was a good day.

[farmboxer]

35. Palin does not care

she is a fake hero to be worshiped by he right wing idiots. Correction, Palin does care about herself!

[midnight]

36. If I understand this correctly, these distressful circumstances

are occurring right now-under Gov. Palin's watch? If this is the case, then she has done to Alaska, what Bush did to Texas, and the Whole U.S.-depress it. The only good thing about this revelation, is that we all can be grateful that another small minded thinker was not elected, and that Obama was. Now those who have solutions for these people of America living in dire straights please start!

[katanalori]

37. THANK YOU TO ALL

I have replied to posts, but this is my first time posting a story....and 65 recs sent it to GREATEST THREADS.
On behalf of the Natives in rural Alaska, please click link to entire story and donate if you can.
The Governor of Alaska does not seem to give a damn. The bloggers she whines about CARE and have raised over $3000 so far. A reporter from the lower 48 is on the way to do a news story and to help with food and fuel. YES WE CAN.

[Ken Burch]

38. Sarah's entire agenda is about forcing everyone in the state to either move to GREATER WASILLA

(I.E., the Railbelt)or, basically, starve to death.

She's never liked Southeast Alaska because it has too many greenies and too many people who know how to fight her kind.
She's never liked Rural Alaska because she sees Native cultures(reminder to "Outside" DUers, in Alaska the term Native is a political umbrella grouping used by those once known as "Indians", those once known as "Eskimos" and Aleuts to create a common front on political and economic issues)as the sort of pagan superstitions HER Jesus came to earth to wipe out. Plus, she probably still thinks Manifest Destiny was "mavericky".

She, like most of her party, want all those not in the petroleum, mining or timber industries to move to Anchorage(the population center of Greater Wasilla) and open trinket shops. They'd like to see all the villages go extinct, all Native tradition to go extinct, and the whole state to become a combination "Christian" theme park/strip mall and resource extraction extravaganza.

Sarah most likely sees the fuel crisis as a golden opportunity to impose her "out of the box" vision for the state's future.

When the revolutionary socialist leader of Venezuela care more about the survival of Rural Alaska than Alaska's own governor does, this tells you a lot.

[LynneSin]

39. Oh come on where are Alaskan's priorities? Tina Fey and Katie Couric have been mean to Sarah

:eyes: