In the comments to my previous blogposts here on “palingates”, many commenters wondered why the people in Alaska are so afraid to talk about “babygate” and to “spill the beans”. After all, what do they have to lose, now that Palin has gone?
It is not easy to find the right answer to this question. But it is clear to us that a number of people in Alaska know at least parts of Sarah Palin’s “secret”, including leading politicians of the Republican party in Alaska and other people in higher political circles, as I explained in my first guestpost.In addition, several people especially in Wasilla most likely know the truth or parts of it, too. From all we have heard, there is a close-knit society there in that little town. Everybody seems to know everybody. And there is certainly no shortage of rumors in Alaska concerning Trig’s parentage. For example, a reporter of the “New Yorker”, who visited Alaska in September 2008 to investigate Sarah Palin’s home state, remarked about the faked-pregnancy rumors:
"This Faulknerian story had been making the rounds in Alaska for months—I heard versions of it in Anchorage and Juneau within twenty-four hours of arriving in each city—and it derived from the peculiar circumstances surrounding Trig’s birth."
So, are people beginning to talk now?
Well, they might…but then we have people like Verne Rupright. He has been the mayor of Wasilla since November 3, 2008, having been voted into office with the impressive amount of 466 votes.
Verne Rupright seems to be very concerned about Sarah Palin and her family. How concerned, we learn through an article by the London Times Online which was published in August 2009. This article shines more light on the question as to why people in Alaska and Wasilla might be afraid to talk. The Times writes:
A friend of Bristol recalls dodging press photographers on high school graduation day. “I love Sarah and the people who know her understand why she resigned. It’s hard putting your family through that much.”
But the local people have also learnt to be wary, and the list of those who won’t talk to journalists is long. Verne Rupright, the mayor, understands this protective spirit. “This is a hard place and that makes people a bit more bound together. People like Sarah came up that way,” he says.As he points out where Mrs Palin shot her first rabbit, he notes that those who threaten her family should remember the local tendency to carry guns.
So there you have it. Her family is apparently “threatened”. By whom, with what? We don’t know. Threatened by the truth? Could be!
Oh well, and her defenders might be “carrying guns”. Enough said, right?
In many other places in the USA, such a comment by a mayor would probably cause an outrage. But in Wasilla? Very unlikely, in my opinion.
I can understand why “ordinary citizens” in Alaska are afraid to go on the record about babygate. But there are not just ordinary citizens in Alaska, but also for example people in the “upper echelons” of society who know the truth about babygate. It is understandable to a certain extent that the people in Alaska have lost interest in Sarah Palin – they are just glad that they got rid of that crazy woman.One of my contacts in Alaska recently told me that it’s unlikely that the Alaska media would be interested in babygate at this point, and added: “Honestly, since Palin's resignation, she doesn't make the news much locally anymore.”
However, in my opinion, Alaskans have a certain responsibility, if they like it or not. Sarah Palin is “their” product – and every person in Alaska who is in a position to do so should not hesitate to tell the public the truth about babygate, in order to prevent this unfit person causing further damage to the rest of the USA and possibly the world. Sarah Palin is a fraud, and she needs to be exposed as such – so that the ordinary American voter can be in no doubt that Sarah Palin is not a serious option and has no business to be in politics.
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