Cruel Intentions

And I thought yesterday's column from Sam Harris really dug its claws into the reality of Sarah Palin.

From today's edition of Salon:

"'Sarah's on a mission, she's an opportunist.'"

"According to some political observers in Alaska, this pattern -- exploiting 'old-boy' mentors and then turning against them for her own advantage -- defines Sarah Palin's rise to power. Again and again, Palin has charmed powerful political patrons, and then rejected them when it suited her purposes. She has crafted a public image as a clean politics reformer, but in truth, she has only blown the whistle on political corruption when it was expedient for her to do so. Above all, Palin is a dynamo of ambition, shrewdly maneuvering her way through the notoriously compromised world of Alaska politics, making and breaking alliances along the way.

"'When Palin takes credit for knocking off the old-boy network in Alaska, it drives me crazy,' said Andrew Halcro, an Anchorage businessman and radio talk show host who ran against her in the 2006 GOP primary race for governor. 'Sarah certainly availed herself of that network whenever it was expedient.'"

"'The idea that Sarah shook up the state's old-boy network is one big fantasy, it's complete bullshit,' Halcro said. 'She got all this public acclaim for throwing people who backed her under the bus -- but she only did it after they became expendable, when she no longer needed them.'"

You know something? I'm pretty sure John McCain has a word for women like this. Damn, what is it? I think it begins with a "C."

Oh well, I'm sure it'll come to me.

(Salon: "Mean Girl" by David Talbot/9.23.08)

While we're on the subject, here are a few photos from last week's "Alaska Women Reject Palin" rally in Anchorage. It turned out to be the largest political protest the state's ever seen -- but of course most of the rest of the country saw none of it.