Isn't His 15 minutes Of Fame Up Yet ?

This story makes me wonder if American culture is even worth saving. It seems that Levi Johnston, the high school dropout whose only claim to fame is impregnating the wild-child daughter of Sarah Palin, has filed a letter of intent with the Alaska Public Offices Commission. Why would he do that? Because that is the first step toward running for office in Alaska.

The letter of intent allows a candidate to start collecting campaign funds. It seems that Levi is thinking of running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska. But since the mayoral election is not until 2012, his "handlers" say he might run for city council first.

Now, you may be asking yourself what qualifications does Levi have to hold public office. Absolutely none. He never graduated from high school and has not held a full-time job for more than a few weeks (which he got from a company trying to keep the Palins happy), and if you've ever heard him speak it is obvious that an original (or even logical) thought has never entered his mind.

But that doesn't bother Levi. He's not planning on running because he has some good ideas to improve the city. He's just trying to sell a TV "reality" show so he can make a living without actually having to work like a normal person, and some nut has convinced him that Americans would watch a show where he runs for Sarah Palin's old job. A company is filming a pilot right now and they are trying to shop the idea around to various channels -- none of whom has made any attempt to buy the show yet.

I hope no one buys this silly idea for a TV show. I would hate to think American culture has sunk so low that people would actually watch something as ridiculous as this. But then 18% of Americans think Obama is a muslim, so we know there are a lot of really stupid people in the United States. Maybe they are stupid enough to watch a show where this uneducated bumpkin tries to run for elected office. After all, people do slow down in large numbers to see a car wreck and this would be a colossal wreck of sorts.

The current mayor of Wasilla, Verne Rupright, seems to find the idea amusing. He said, "Since I am nearly old enough to be Levi's grandfather I think it would be wise for him to get a high school diploma and keep his clothes on. The voters like that!"

I have to agree. Johnston needs to shut his mouth, get his diploma, and get a real job and hold it for a few years. Maybe, just maybe, after he knows what it's like to have to work for a living like nearly everyone else does, he might be qualified to run for office. Until then there's absolutely no reason for anyone to vote for him since he's little more than a performing clown (and not a very good one).

Someone needs to do him a real favor and let him know that his 15 minutes of fame are up (and have been for a while now). He's now just a rather sad joke.

Palin's $1.3 Million Blunder

Right-wing Republicans would have us believe that Sarah Palin has real "executive" experience. To back this up, they point to her being the mayor of a city with 19,000 citizens and less than two years as the governor of one of our least populous states. Even if she had run both brilliantly, that doesn't seem like much "executive" experience. But her record is far from brilliant.

We already know that in her first year and a half as a governor, she has serious ethical problems with the "troopergate" scandal. Now it looks like her term as mayor wasn't much better. Her incompetent blunder as mayor cost the tiny town of Wasilla $1.3 million. That's a lot of money for a small city!

Wasilla wanted to build a new indoor hockey rink (which could also be used for basketball and would have a running track). It finally got built and is pictured above, but only after spending a lot of extra money and going through a court fight (part of which is still pending and could cost the city even more).

Mayor Palin made a verbal agreement with the Nature Conservancy to buy the land for the hockey rink at a price of $126,000. The Nature Conservancy wanted to sell the land so they could put the money into another area needing environmental protection. Then Mayor Palin let several months pass without getting the deal down on paper and signed.

Finally, the Nature Conservancy gave up on the deal and sold the land to someone else (along with a larger adjoining tract). The city got upset. They claimed they had a deal, even though nothing had been put on paper and signed.

After two court fights and $250,000 spent on lawyers and legal fees, the city finally got the land. But they had to pay the new owner $836,378 plus $336,000 in interest. The seller is not happy with the interest amount and has returned to court to have it raised. That case has not yet been decided.

So just because Mayor Palin was too incompetent to get a contract typed up and signed (after several months), the city wound up paying $1,422,378 for land they could have had for $126,000 (and may still have to pay more).

I don't think I'd be bragging about this kind of "executive" experience.