ALASKA

We have just returned from Alaska, where Mother Nature rules and Sarah Palin governs. I won’t bore you with the details of our exhilarating cruise – glaciers, forests, living history, native Eskimos, and non-stop eating – but I would like to pass on some interesting political opinions I picked up from the locals. They were not shy.

The recurring theme of the Alaskans to whom we spoke was that if you live in Anchorage, Fairbanks, or especially Wasilla (all northern cities), you have a pal in the governor’s office. But if you live in southeastern Alaska, well, you might as well be in Russia. (It should be noted that the towns we visited – Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan – are all in southeastern Alaska.) Gov. Palin takes good care of her own, but that only includes people fairly close to Wasilla. The CNN bio. on her (re-airing tonight) reveals a my-way-or-the-highway type legislator who fights like a pit-bull for what she believes in but is pretty much unwilling to expand her belief structure in any significant way. The best example of this is the infamous Bridge To Nowhere.

The international airport in Ketchikan, pop. 7,368, is located on the small island of Gravina, pop. 50. The only transportation to and from is the ferry. The idea for the bridge sprung from the anger of an Alaskan congressman who missed a ferry and had to wait an hour. Gov. Palin was a big backer for the $220 million, federally funded bridge when she was running for governor. Then it became a national embarrassment, and she realized the state would still have to put out several million for construction. The result was her comment at the Republican convention: “I told the Congress ‘thanks but no thanks’ on that Bridge To Nowhere.”

I did meet people who were enthusiastic supporters, who were proud that their governor was in a national race, but they were few and far between.

The other interesting moment occurred when I spotted a sign in a store window saying, “Owned by an Alaskan family.” A few quick questions revealed that most of the stores in most of the cities had been bought up by the cruise lines. Those still owned by Alaskans, and those which refused to pay kick-backs to the cruise lines, were not found on the ships “recommended shopping” list. I don’t mind Princess Cruises making a good profit for their service, but this kind of bullying behavior is greedy and cowardly, and takes the glow off an otherwise magical vacation.

The only thing I didn’t get to do in Alaska is “zip-line.” This is an activity in which you are suspended in a harness from a cable - above the trees – and roll through the forest at about 30 mph, for 700 feet at a time. Ah, well, next time.