Saturday 13 March 2010

Sarah Palin's generosity

Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, Brad Bitt and Angelina Jolie donated $1,000,000 each in aid of the victims of the Haiti earthquake. Madonna gave $250,000, Giselle Bündchen gave $1,500,000 and many other celebrities made their time and talent available in the Hope for Haiti telethon.

President Obama donated the whole of his $1,400,000 Nobel Prize money to ten different charities.

According to SarahPac's report, Sarah Palin made donations of $1,000 to Heart Reach Pregnancy Center and to the National Association for Down Syndrome at the last possible moment, on the day they closed the books for the year. Almost an afterthought...

sarahpac charity

Sarah may have texted $10 to the Red Cross just as she invited her Facebook fans to do, we don't know, let's say that she did.

Sarah Palin also made a public donation of $1,700 to the Red Cross when she and her entourage descended on a Silver Spoon event and helped themselves to various luxurious gifts.

$3,710 in total given to charity. Very good. But then we have to consider that $2,000 of this total came not from her deep pockets, but from SarahPac donors.

These were public donations. I can't state for a fact that Sarah Palin is not hugely generous in a very private way. Celebrities publicize their charity donations to promote a cause and encourage others to follow their example. Why wouldn't Sarah do the same?

When we look at Sarah Palin's public persona and general attitude, it doesn't seem very likely that she would be a secret humanitarian, performing her good deeds unnoticed. She's not a low profile type of person.

Haitians are not American enough, perhaps? As for people with Down Syndrome, Sarah Palin seems to believe they need to be protected, not capable of thinking for themselves or of leading independent lives.

From Going Rogue, in the voice of God:

"And Trig will be the cuddly, innocent, mischievous, dependent little brother that his siblings have been waiting for... in fact Trig will - in some diagnostic ways - always be a mischievous, dependent little brother, because I created him a bit different than a lot of babies born into this world today."

Not much faith there. It looks like Sarah Palin made a token donation to a cause she doesn't believe in.

I started this post with a list of people who looked at fellow human beings in dire circumstances and who, out of solidarity, decided that they should offer some help.

We have friends here at Palingates who have volunteered to work in Haiti. I believe they are moved by solidarity and respect for their fellow human beings when they contibute their time and skills.

Sarah Palin cannot be generous because she doesn't appear to have a generous spirit.

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