Sarah Palin is truly remarkable!

This is my first blog, so I'm going to keep the intro short, as you haven't gotten to love me enough yet to tolerate my special form of humor. Don't worry, it'll happen. We'll just take it slow.

Anyrelevance, I'm gonna dive right in. Here are some facts taken from a flier printed by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence in 2007, well into Governor Palin's mavericky career as Executive of the Great State of Alaska. NCADV, by the way, is a government organization dedicated to sheltering and caring for women in physically abusive situations; it is non-partisan and non-political. Ok, here we go, there's some numbers, but not too much math so truck on my friends, truck on...

• One in every four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime (nationally)
• The Alaska rape rate is 2.5 times the national average
• Child sexual assault in Alaska is almost six times the national average
• Alaska has the highest per capita of men murdering women
• Almost 30% of Alaskans were not able to access victim services because there were no services available in their area
• More than 1 out of every 3 American Indian and Alaska Native women will be raped in her lifetime

Wow! That was a lot of facts. Hmmm... how can you explain this type of phenomena?

Let's investigate further, shall we?
Here are a few quotes from the same flier.

"We are operating on a minimal basis. We have the minimum number of staff to get the job done. We have very little money for program supplies, travel, training, and outreach to the villages."

"Increases wouldn't just be nice for programs, they are imperative for them to keep up with utility costs."

Well, I don't know, this seems a little biased. Maybe we can find an organization that's less partisan, as NCADV obviously printed their flier to destroy Governor Palin's chances at the White House, even if it was published in 2007...
Let's check with the FBI.

• Table 5 of the 2007 FBI report on State Crime Rates cites the rate of Forcible Rape in Alaska at 77.4 per 100,000 inhabitants. To get a sense of where this stands nationwide, Michigan, with the second highest rate reports in at 45.5. Nevada, which has its own personal sex industry, reports at 42.7. And my home state of New York, with the largest city in the country, has a rate of 15.2 forcible rapes per 100,00 residents.

• Table 4 demonstrates the fact that between 2006 and 2007, governor Palin's first and second year in office, the rate actually went up. (I know you should never end a sentence with a preposition, but how else was I supposed to say that?!)

Well, maybe Sarah Palin just didn't have the time while governor, after all, she was only elected in 2006 and it does take a couple years to really get your foot in the door. She was probably much more active against this type of problem as mayor of a small town, where its easier to deal with such a rampant issue. Come on, lets check it out!

Here is a lengthy quote from a USA today article. I know its long, but its comprehensive on the issue so read on my friends, read on:

WASILLA, Alaska — In 2000, Alaska lawmakers learned that rural police agencies had been billing rape victims or their insurance companies $500 to $1,200 for the costs of the forensic medical examinations used to gather evidence. They quickly passed a law prohibiting the practice.

According to the sponsor, Democrat Eric Croft, the law was aimed in part at Wasilla, where now-Gov. Sarah Palin was mayor. When it was signed, Wasilla's police chief expressed displeasure.

"In the past, we've charged the cost of exams to the victims' insurance company when possible," then-chief Charlie Fannon told the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman, the local newspaper. "I just don't want to see any more burden put on the taxpayer."....

It is not known how many rape victims in Wasilla were required to pay for some or all of the medical exams, but a legislative staffer who worked on the bill for Croft said it happened. "It was more than a couple of cases, and it was standard practice in Wasilla," Peggy Wilcox said, who now works for the Alaska Public Employees Association. "If you were raped in Wasilla, this was going to happen to you."

Now, I never understood why this didn't get more press. Obviously Palin denied the allegation, saying it was a decision her former police chief made of which she was neither a part nor aware. But saving taxpayer dollars... well that just doesn't sound like the worries of a police officer. Sounds more like the concerns of a Maverick!

In Palin's credit, if you cannot provide the forensic evidence needed to prove a rape has occurred, that crime cannot be prosecuted and therefore not entered into the crime stats for your state. If this was a sly way of lowering Alaska's high rate of sexual assault, well, it was pretty genius.