Palin's Rural Adviser Quits Over Native Record

JUNEAU, Alaska — Gov. Sarah Palin's rural adviser resigned Monday amid criticism of the governor's record on hiring Alaska Natives.

Rhonda McBride, who is not an Alaska Native, made the announcement in an e-mail to several Native leaders, saying there need to be more Native voices in Palin's administration.

"I definitely think it would help to have an Alaska Native in this position," McBride told The Associated Press.

Many Alaska Natives have said they felt neglected when Palin, now the Republican vice presidential nominee, made appointments to her administration, including the rural adviser post.

State Sen. Al Kookesh, a Democrat, said Palin left the position unfilled her first year in office and ignored Native leaders' suggestions on the selection process.

"We were really disappointed when an Alaska Native wasn't appointed," said Kookesh, a Tlingit Indian who held the job in a previous administration.

Natives bristled early in Palin's administration when she named a white woman to a game board seat held by a Native for more than 25 years. An Athabascan Indian eventually was named to the post after protests.

Relations worsened after Palin didn't remove a game board chairman who once suggested that Alaska Natives missed a meeting because they were drinking beer, seen as insensitive since the Alaska Native community has high rates of alcohol abuse.

Alaska Natives make up about 20 percent of the population.

Palin's husband, Todd, is part Yup'ik Eskimo, and her 13-member cabinet includes two Alaska Natives.

"In all honesty, I have never felt authentic in my role," McBride wrote in her e-mail, a copy of which was obtained by the AP.

McBride, who covered rural issues as a reporter before becoming rural adviser last year, said she would return to journalism to help bring attention to Native issues.

She said her last day would be Oct. 23.

Comments

[LittleGirl]

Wow, she gave 10 days notice. Think about that. She wants out and she wants out now. Wonder what is going on behind the scenes here. Something sounds fishy....good luck Lady.

[Ron1951]

Congratulations to Rhonda McBride for listening to her conscience and doing what is correct. She should be appreciated, not vilified for her decision.

[Audrey704]

Where was her conscience before? Don't get me wrong I am glad she found it, however, it sounds like it is politically expedient to separate from the Palin administra­tion....AS­AP

[bagfed]

she served in the administration since Dec. 2007. Thats about 10 months total. When she began, At that time, she was perhaps the state's premiere journalist on rural state issues, and Palin was the nation's most popular governor, among both D's and R's, It was a different world then. :)

[leatherneck1971]

I love this, truly I hope McCain/McS­ame/McBush keeps this mill stone around his neck all the way up to the Nov. 4th election, she is priceless, every time she speaks, she puts her proverbial foot deep into her own mouth, and the more she denies she did anything unethical in "trooper-g­ate-scanda­l" the more it brings atttention to the republican majority lead panel which said she did violate a ethics rule, they even quoted the exact ethics rule, so the more she lies, denies the more her credibility is damaged and if her being for the bridge to no where first then being against it and still taking the federal money and dropping it into Alaska state accounts to be spent else where, or the fact she spent $3 million on the "road to now where" to the bridge to no where that was canceled is truly a example of her campaign is going no where but down the toilet!

[scottowego]

Have you seen this video???? Sarah Palin being booed at a hockey game. My jaw dropped. This ain't no town hall meeting! It reminded me of the movie "Gladiator" when the emperor is boo'd at the forum and realizes he's lost control of the citizenry. Here's the link:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/11/hockey-mom-palin-greeted_n_133911.html?page=9&show_comment_id=16730754#comment_16730754

[musicisourhigh]

Face it if it is not Palin's friends or church members hse is not too interested in hiring them. Her and McCain speak about cronyism but she has mastered cronyism. It's like Bush hiring an unqualified "Brownie".

Palin's treatment of the Native Americans has always been crappy and talked about. People just decide to ignore it.

Here is just one blog http://cherokees.wordpress.com/ that refers to it

[DrThink]

"....since Alaska Native community has high rates of alcohol abuse" ???? Your article in itself is insulting and small- minded. It shows that you, yourself are willing to repeat baseless streotypes not supported by truthful, incontrovertible expertiences within the population.

[bagfed]

Actually, alcoholism is identified as a major problem in Alaska. From a 2004 report about Alaska native elders:
"The highest alcoholism
age-specific death rate for Indian males (182.6 deaths per 100,000 population)
occurs for the 55 to 64 year old age group. This is 5.0 times the peak U.S. All Races
male rate (36.4) and 5.5 times the peak U.S. White male rate (33.1), which both
occur for the 55 to 64 age group. The rate for Indian females in this age group (86.2)
is less than half the Indian male rate, but is over 9 times the highest rate for U.S. All
Races females (9.5) and over 10 times that for White females (8.6) (both for ages 55
to 64)."
The figures speak for themselves, it is a well known fact that many Alaskan villages are 'dry' because of the negative impact alcohol has on the community. Wellness is a major issue in Alaska, not something to be written off as stereotype.

[Babzter]

Please take this in the way it's intended.
I worked for Indian Health Service. Alcoholism is a terrible problem for Native Americans, especially on the rez. One rez had a rate of 99% of the population. The Bush administration has cut the alcoholism intervention programs to the bone, so it has gotten worst since 2001.
It's a reality, not an insult. Alcoholism really is a disease.

[Mnemanth]

While it's an unfortunate fact, a fact it remains. No one is being belittled here, and it's an issue that generates a great deal of debate as well as community action. There are a great number of people, I'm sure, who, to remain politially correct, want to immediately get all hot about suggesting there's a problem. Those same people simply refuse to acknowledge or discuss the impact that we- yes, predominately white people- have had on these native people. The differences between us- cultural, physiological, fiscal- all conspire against native peoples, and it's easier for the people with the means to do something about it to just ignore it. People like Palin, and her cronies.
Do your own homework before lashing out.

[fleaba]

I would be interested to know what the alcoholism rate for whites in Alaska is. Aboiut half the people I know from my time there have had major alcoholism issues and they are all white.

[Whinger]

These boots are made for walkin', and that's just what they'll do,

One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you!

According to the prophet Lee Hazlewood.

[Cliffman]

This confirms what I have suspected all along. Palin has no idea what the word inclusion means. Her repeated use of the terms "hockey mom" and "Joe Six Pack" conjure up images of whites only.
I know Alaska has a small minority population and she is merely a product of her environment; but, doesn't this suggest what a Palin administration (God forbid) would look like? This woman would set the country back 50 years. Scary to say the least.

[fleaba]

The Joe six pack image is an affront to any family that has had to endure the ravages of alcoholism. She obviously does not have a clue about it or thinks it's only a native problem. Believe me, the alcoholism rate for whites in Alaska is phenominally high. It is also so common in the lower 48 that everyone knows someone who has a problem with the disease. She sounds like just one more idiot who thinks that you're only an alcoholic if you drink the hard stuff.

[WeMustChange]

It is my goal to get in touch with someone from the Obama campaign and share with them my desire to be a part of his inauguration by reciting a poem I wrote called “We Must Change,” and I kindly ask for your help in doing so.
Go to youtube and do a search for "thinkverybig" and watch all of those videos. The one called "We Must Change" would be fitting to recite at Obama's Inauguration
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EM58nqX1ehE

Here are the words! http://www.thinkverybig.com/We%20Must%20Change.htm

1.

[BannedFromCommenting]

You know you are getting really annoying posting on every blog completely OFF subject, so we can all see you read some freakin poem.. you been doing it for months now.. Get over yourself and move on to something different... you know Obama's mantra "CHANGE" right???

[Babzter]

Sorry, the poem really isn't good enough to recite. Go read Maya Angelou's Clinton Inauguration poem for an appropriate example.

[renoir]

On a kinder note, perhaps you can find a local venue in which to present your poetry... perhaps a local Obama HQ gathering or event would welcome your creativity. Keep writing! Keep the faith!

[Querent]

I don't know why you think that is poetry. It isn't. Learn to do drafts, maybe your writing will get better.

[DieHardObamaSupporter]

I applaud her for her integrity. She is a rare breed in the world of politics. As the saying goes, you must stand for something or you will fall for anything. Props to you McBride.

[TrooAmerican]

Wow! That McBride is a good woman. it takes some guts to quit a government position like that for the sole purpose of a moral cause.

A lot of the people Palin hired to run the government are friends and past associates of hers.

[DeniseD]

Maybe she just can't take the cr*p anymore. If I was part of that dysfunctional administration, I would resign too.

[Rog49Thomas]

But didn't Rhonda once see a Native Alaskan and wouldn't that count just the same?

Or does it only work with countries?

[bagfed]

Rhonda reported on native issues for years at KTUU News, the state's strongest tv news organization, and was informed by years of living in a village on the Kuskokwim River.

[OTTAWA man]

EVERYONE!! GO OUT AND VOTE EARLY IF YOU CAN...

VOTE EARLY! VOTE NOW IF YOU CAN! THE EARLIER THE BETTER! ... JUST TRY AND IMAGINE THE LINE UPS ON NOV 4TH...DO IT NOW.

[ebanks84]

AND USE PAPER BALLOTS, PLEASE!

DO NOT TRUST THE "RIGGED" VOTING MACHINES THAT WERE USED IN BOTH BUSH ELECTIONS TO MAKE HIM PRESIDENT.

[desertbloom]

Palin touts her husband's native bloodline, holds her Down Syndrome son aloft, and embraces her pregnant teenage daughter. It's all for show. Sarah Palin is the center of her own universe.

She and McCain both have carefully crafted images that have absolutely no correlation with reality.

Read "Make Believe McCain" in the current issue of Rolling Stone. The real McCain is, literally, a piece of work.

[edwarvir]

John Mccain should have vetted Sarah, and he
would have known she is not qualified to be the VPOTUS
Not vetting her calls his judgement into question.. She
has to be fair to everybody, whether she likes it or not.
Sarah has TOO MUCH JUNK IN HER TRUNK.

[ebanks84]

He didn't vet sarah because he wanted to make a "splash" entrance with her to downplay the democratic convention. Palin was his "power" play and it worked at that time. Now it's backfiring on him as it should.

[psipolitics]

Wait a minute, Todd is part Native Alaskan and it seems he was running the state or at least co-running the state for the last two years. That should count for something.

If she gets in a VP, I wonder if Todd will be able to get a security clearance. He was a card carrying member of an anti-American organization, the AIP. Maybe he won't be sitting in Cheney's office after all.

[Idnor]

Todd is what, one-sixteenth? And reportedly not that interested in Native Alaskan lore. Sometimes the blood connections run very thin, except for bragging purposes.

[DeniseD]

I think he is 1/8. He certainly doesn't look it. If what you say is true about Todd not being interested in Native culture, that is truly sad. I am very interested in my Italian roots, but that could be because I am 1/2.

[rmreddicks]

Hell, half the white people in this country claim they're one-sixteenth Native American. Oddly, you almost never see them claiming that they're any part African. Or Asian.