Alaska Blogs are dispelling the Sarah Palin "myths" running rampant across the MSM and the blogosphere

I've seen an amazing amount of misinformation making it's way across both the MSM and the blogosphere since Friday's announcement of the Palin pick for McCain's VP running mate. Luckily, Alaska blogs are on the case.

1) When I heard Rachel Maddow, after an excellent analysis of the VP pick, display some confusion on the facts regarding the Mike Wooten issue I posted an open letter in an attempt at providing clarity.

2) There have been conflicting "rumors" of Sarah's "gay-friendliness" all over the web. Bent Alaska is on the case:

The national LGBT media recognizes her opposition to equality and civil rights - except the Log Cabin Republicans (gay republicans, believe it or not) who think she is a wonderful choice.

And the fringe elements are joining the fray.

In these reports, I found only two LGBT Alaskans quoted (both in the same article by Gay City News):

Some press reports following the McCain campaign announcement have repeated the right-wing rhetorical flourish that has Palin declaring that she has gay friends. That softer image is not what some Alaskans saw.

"That's just completely wrong," said Allison E. Mendel, the attorney who brought the 1999 [partner benefits] case. "She spoke on radio programs all throughout the campaign saying, 'I want a constitutional amendment, I think these things are only for a man and a woman.' ... I don't think she's ever said a friendly word about gay people, that they ought to have health benefits like other people do or anything along those lines."

On AIDS issues, Palin simply has no record at all.

"There is not a lot to speak of for AIDS policy because she hasn't done much," said Trevor Storrs, executive director of the Alaskan AIDS Assistance Association. "She's never been given the opportunity to address our situation here because it has never been put before her."

"She has done very little to address the major epidemics," he said.

I want to add that one of the issues folks point to as her "gay-friendly" stance was her decision to veto the bill which would have blocked gays from recieving equal health benefits from several agencies. However, the explanation doesn't match up,per the ADN in 2006:

In the first veto of an administration that isn't yet a month old, Palin said she rejected the bill despite her disagreement with a state Supreme Court order earlier this month that directed the state to offer benefits to same-sex partners of state employees.

Advice from her new attorney general said the bill passed by the Legislature was unconstitutional, she said.

"Signing this bill would be in direct violation of my oath of office," Palin said in a prepared statement released by her administration Thursday night.

That doesn't sound "gay friendly" to me.

3) Much is being made of Todd Palin's "Eskimo-ness" and it has actually been stated outright that his percentage of Inupiat blood makes the Palin family "Alaska Native" friendly. Per Alaska Real's Writing Raven:

But this is the kind of stuff that concerns me about the Todd Palin mentions (from the Baltimore Chronicle):

Married to a native Eskimo, and with four mixed-race children, she can expect to appeal to many non-white American voters, on whose support the Obama campaign is counting.

I cannot stress enough - Sarah Palin has done nothing for the Alaska Native community - a community that includes her own children.

Any venture into the Alaska Native community has been superficial at best. I can't even take issue with her Alaska Native policies, because she has NOTHING of substance. She has ignored Alaska Native people from before she took office as governor - an act all the more harmful because it is her own children's heritage she is not acknowledging.

The only thing I know she's "done" for Alaska Native people - fire them. Or not hire them in the first place. The more recent one is Walt Monegan. I absolutely don't believe she fired him because he was Native - I believe she fired him because he wouldn't fire her ex-brother in law- despite the investigation that had already been done on him, with findings and reprimand.

So far, from the phone calls and hits on my blog, it seems that media across the country are at least curious enough to research some of these facts. I only hope that these and other "myths" can be nipped in the bud before the McCain Campaign can imprint them as "fact" on an Alaska-ignorant public.