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Another Reason Why I’m Not Impressed With Sarah Palin.

There is a write-up of a review of Sarah Palin’s book at Volokh, and Ilya Somin expreses why he is not a fan of Mrs. Palin. I am of the same opinion, and here is a different problem I have with Palin.

One of the reasons she left office before her first term had expired was that she and her family were losing money having to defend against the various frivolous lawsuits, almost all of which were dismissed. The Palins, according to Sarah, were being bled dry because the laws in Alaska prevent an elected public official from collecting a defense fund for such cases, thus they had to use their own funds to fight some of the suits. OK. I would have rather seen her continue to fight and stay in office, but that is not the issue. What bothers me tremendously is that since leaving office, she has done nothing to change either the campaign finance laws or the laws which govern when and how a sitting official in Alaskan government can be sued, to correct this apparent oversight and make it easier for her successors if they find themselves in a similar situation. You would think that, given her bulldog personality and personal experiences with this matter, she would be a very vocal and visible proponent dedicated to change the system. What it looks like to me is that, now that she doesn’t have to deal with it anymore, now that she has her couple of millions from the book bonus, well, it just doesn’t matter any more. Out of sight, out of mind.

Climategate Update

Climate scientist Rodger Peilke Sr. has been interviewed by both Pajamas Media and Andrew Revkin at the New York Times. Both are conscientious and well thought out question and answer sessions on the Climategate affair and it’s grand meaning in the field of Climate science so far. My thinking on the subject is along the same lines, though I do question whether this brou-ha-ha has revealed a fatal flaw in the concept of peer reviewed scientific literature, where a select few can have the ability to screen out papers and ideas they don’t like or approve of. I’ll maybe write more on that in the next few days. Anyway, here are the two Pielke interviews:

Pajama’s Media interview.

New York Times interview.