Going Rogue: An American Life (108 page)

complaint if

speak out on an issue?
I had to

wonder,
Will I be punished for

clogs, or this label on my

jeam today?

Sometimes the coinplaints were so ridiculous it’s hatd to believe we even had to litigate them. Take the complaint about my watm wincer jacket. I was accused of “abusing my power” as governor because the coat featured the gteen-and-black logo of Arctic Cat-one of the Iron Dog race sponsors and the snowma·

chine brand that Todd rode. I’d been weating the logo and team colors for years. FOX News’ Greta Van Susceren interviewed me outdoors that day at the Iron Dog race and captured video of me wearing the nororious coat.

I was hit with the complaint,

I atgued about it with my attorney, Tom Van Flein. “What the heck? Let’s JUSt plead guilty if thac’s the accusation. Of course I wore my Watm coat, on that cold day, and it happened to be the team’s colors. I wore it proudly in front of God and FOX and evetybody, so what? Let me pay the piddly ethics fine instead of this costing me thousands of dollars to fight:’

• 355 •

SARAH

PALIN

Tom would have none of that because he knew there was nothing illegal or unethical about wearing a jacket with a logo on it. Keep in mind that anyone anywhere in the world could file an Alaska ethics complaint free of charge. It cost them nothing to do it. And even though leaking was against the state ethics laws, they still leaked the complaints to draw headlines. In short, they could flood the system at will and without consequence to themselves, but we had to furmally process each and every complainrand I had to pay personally for my own defense. We never imagined our critics would be so unscrupulous as to make a mockery of a serious issue like the ethics act. My stare had been rocked by
real
ethical violarions. We had lawmakers raking bribes and going to ptison, the fotmer administration’s chief of staff pleading guilty to a felony, and oil service executives ready to go to the clink. But now partisan operatives were using the reformed ethics to level charges against me thar were as ttivial as they were absurd-charges that were eagerly reported by the press as though they were actual news.

Whar a bass-ackwards way of doing the people’s business, 4

We’ve all got megaphones, they just come in different sizes and styles. The one I was handed during the campaign gave me a platform to speak from regarding the path our nation is taking. I didn’t ask for this megaphone and, obviously, after the campaign ended, the opposition would rather I didn’t use it. But how can I be silent in the face of the serious issues facing my state and out countty? What a selfish thing it would be to just zip my lips and coast comfortably along with a nice job, a secure paycheck, and government perks, when I share the concerns of so many Americans.

• 356 •

Going Rogue

For example, I considered the Obama administration’s panicky effort to stimulate the economy by spending enormous amounts of borrowed money shortsighted and ill conceived.
It
defied the lessons of history and common sense. His nearly

trillion stimulus package was patently unfair both to future generations who will inherit our wasteful debt and to the everyday Americans who work very hard to pay the taxes that the administration seeks to spend at breakneck speed.

While I was driving through Anchorage commuter traffic one evening, a radio news update reported that the White House was considering a second stimulus plan, even though the first had not been measured for success, and deficit

unemployment rates

were going through the roo£ I turned that depressing news off.

“Brisrol, answer me this,” 1 said as we drove from her barista job at an espresso

over to her aunt Molly’s house, where my

grandson, Tripp, was waiting for his mama. Bristol woke up at 4 a.m. most mornings ro get ro work, then took college classes late in the afternoon. We got ro commute home together that day. She was working hard and, like any new mom, not getting much sleep.

“You want to buy a coffee shop someday, right?” I asked, “Say you investigate markets, scout locales, take business you

work on the side to invest in that coffee shop, and all along you know you’ll be rewarded for your hard work to meet a demand for a quality product and good service. And you know you’ll have to be brave enough to fail, right? This business would be responsibility. You can’t look to anyone to bail you out if you make poor decisions, You have to spend within your means and save for the future,”

“I know, Mom. It’s going to happen someday,” she answered.

“Lauden and I are going to do it, What should we call it?”

“Doesn’t matter. Call it Bristol’s Beans.”

SARAH

PALIN

“Sounds dumb. But what’s your point?”

“The point is, it’s a great goal for you and your cousin to own your own business-but this administration hasn’t figured out how to encourage small businesses, and that’s the backbone of the
economy.”

She lay back in the truck seat and closed het eyes. The more I heard about the new Democrat administration’s economic philosophies, the more I feared for the future of free enterprise. Now, I put a finer point on my advice to Bristol on opening a business: “In fact, don’t do this until this administration understands government’s role in private business. Or wait until they’re out of office.”

I told Bristol she had a lot to consider in creating her business plan. Can you imagine setting up a business while the Democratled Congress is dictating how you should invest your money, the color of your roof, your source of energy generation, and what kind of health insurance you must offer, and even the kind of cars you can have in your company fleet?

My point was that government should get

of private enterprise as much as possible, not take it over. My administration had done so with the dairy industry in Alaska with the result that a once limited, failing enterprise is now out from under government’s thumb.

All this went through my mind as I was driving through town with Bristol. Suddenly she opened her eyes and looked over ro teach me a lesson. “What do you mean, ‘don’t do it’? If everyone gives up their dreams to own a business just because someone in the White House is clueless about free enterprise, our country’s going to tank:’ she said. “You’re always ‘rah-rah America: so why ,