Monday 21 December 2009

Sarah Palin's claim to victory



This was probably covered by other bloggers, but as I have started reading "Going Rogue" a bit late (taking copious notes) because I was away in Australia when it came out, I really have to make some comment regarding this passage (page 62), which comes at the end of the section about the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989:

“ExxonMobil's litigation compounded the suffering, especially for Cordova and Valdez fishermen. Court challenges stretched on for two decades. It took twenty years for Alaska to achieve victory. As governor, I directed our attorney general to write an amicus brief in the case, and, thanks to Alaska’s able attorneys arguing in front of the highest court in the land, in 2008 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the people,” she writes in her book. “Finally, Alaskans could recover some of their losses.”

Victory??? The 33,000 fishermen had to share $383 million after attorney fees. But calculating on the gross amount, they would receive less than $11,606 each, which is less than $580 for each of the 20 years they had to wait for it. Victory indeed, and all thanks to Sarah Palin...

It surprised me that she was willing to take the credit for this "victory". Sarah Palin has a strange, selective memory, as you can see in this video.


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