WHAT A FISHERMAN SAID ABOUT SARAH PALIN
By Dewie Whetsell, Alaskan Fisherman
As posted in comments on Greta’s article referencing the MOVEON ad about Sarah Palin
The last 45 of my 66 years I’ve spent in a commercial fishing town in Alaska. I understand Alaska politics but never understood national politics well until this last year. Here’s the breaking point: Neither side of the Palin controversy gets it…It’s not about persona, style, rhetoric, it’s about doing things. Even Palin supporters never mention the things that I’m about to mention here.
1- Democrats forget when Palin was the Darling of the Democrats, because as soon as Palin took the Governor’s office away from a fellow Republican and tough SOB, Frank Murkowski, she tore into the Republican’s «Corrupt Bastards Club» (CBC) and sent them packing. Many of them are now residing in State housing and wearing orange jump suits. The Democrats reacted by skipping around the yard, thro wing confetti and singing «la la la la» (well, you know how they are). Name another governor in this country that has ever done anything similar. But while you’re thinking, I’ll continue.
2- Now with the CBC gone, there were fewer Alaskan politicians to protect the huge, giant oil companies here. So, she constructed and enacted a new system of splitting the oil profits called «ACES». Exxon (the biggest corporation in the world) protested and Sarah told them «don’t let the door hit you in the stern on your way out.» They stayed, and Alaska residents went from being merely wealthy to being filthy rich. Of course the other huge international oil companies meekly fell in line. Again, give me the name of any other governor in the country that has done anything similar.
3- The other thing she did when she walked into the governor’s office is she got the list of State requests for federal funding for projects, known as «pork . She went through the list, took 85% of them and placed them in the «when-hell-freezes-over» stack. She let locals know that if we need something built, we’ll pay for it ourselves. Maybe she figured she could use the money she got from selling the previous governor’s jet because it was extravagant. Maybe she could use the money she saved by dismissing the governor’s cook (remarking that she could cook for her own family), giving back the State vehicle issued to her, maintaining that she already had a car, and dismissing her State provided security force (never mentioning—I imagine—that she’s packing heat herself). I’m still waiting to hear the names of those other governors.
4- Now, even with her much-ridiculed «gosh and golly» mannerism, she also managed to put together a totally new approach to getting a natural gas pipeline built which will be the biggest private construction project in the history of North America. No one else could do it although they tried. If that doesn’t impress you, then you’re trying too hard to be unimpressed while watching her do things like this while baking up a batch of brownies with her other hand.
5- For 30 years, Exxon held a lease to do exploratory drilling at a place called Point Thompson. They made excuses the entire time why they couldn’t start drilling. In truth they were holding it like an investment. No governor for 30 years could make them get started . This summer, she told them she was revoking their lease and kicking them out. They protested and threatened court action. She shrugged and reminded them that she knew the way to the court house. Alaska won again.
6- President Obama wants the nation to be on 25% renewable resources for electricity by 2025. Sarah went to the legislature and submitted her plan for Alaska to be at 50% renewables by 2025. We are already at 25%. I can give you more specifics about things done, as opposed to style and persona . Everybody wants to be cool, sound cool, look cool. But that’s just a cover-up. I’m still waiting to hear from liberals the names of other governors who can match what mine has done in two and a half years. I won’t be holding my breath.
By the way, she was content to to return to AK after the national election and go to work, but the haters wouldn’t let her. Now these adolescent screechers are obviously not scuba divers. And no one ever told them what happens when you continually jab and pester a barracuda. Without warning, it will spin around and tear your face off. Shoulda known better
Snakebit is the word of the week from my dock. I was out for two hours today in the back bay flounder fishing and I did not catch a keeper or a through back flounder. I fished an area that I have caught limits of flounder in the past at this time of the year. The water temperature was 79.1 degrees visibility was poor about 5 ft.. Dr. Gary and Ed T. are making me look bad as they continue to catch keeper flounder in the back bay. They had five keepers today to 22″. Jon returned to his dock with a cooler full of trigger fish yesterday he claims they are a good eating fish. I heard that a few yellow fin where caught just short of the Baltimore. They were in the 40 pound range. I also know of a red fish being caught in the back bay a few days back. Every year a couple are caught around the inlets of Cape May co.. Last year my Uncle was surf fishing in late August and hook a very big red fish at Stone Harbor point. A crowd gathered as he fought the fish, he managed to get the red fish into a gully but was not able to beach him. My uncle tried to wrestle the red fish on to the beach drawling laughter from the crowd that had grown to about fifty. In the end the red fish got away. Wayne travels in from Kentucky to fish and hit the beach every summer. 
If you heard someone hollering about 1:00 this afternoon it was me. I reached into a bushel to pick up a blue claw crab with tongs,some how the blue claw caught me by the finger with his claw and crunched it until it bleed. The bite has been located at the inshore ocean structure. Trigger fish, flounder and seabass. The weather has been excellent for ocean fishing the last few days. Jon L. was at the Cape May reef he limited out on flounder and was looking forward to eating trigger fish tonight. Just outside of the inlet the water visibility was excellent about 18ft.. The water temperature at my dock is 81 degrees.
Ed caught one keeper today behind Stone Harbor George had two keepers not bad fishing for August in the back Bay. The bugs are at an all time high if you go fishing or whatever outside do not forget the spray. Water Temperature was 69 degrees.
Tim this is a very tough time of the season to catch keeper flounder in the back bay after about July 15 in our area the bite slows. The only area that has produced keeper flounder in the last couple of days is in and around Hereferds and Townsends Inlet. I would try fishing between Wildwood Blv. bridge and the toll bridge on nummy island or between the Yacht club and the toll bridge over Townsends inlet. The number one thing to have aboard is patients this time of the year. The rig I would use is a 1oz bucktail white with a trail hook st back about 18″. I would use white Gulp swimming minnow on both the bucktail and the trail hook.Check out the picture. As for crabbing invest in a commercial crab pot. Set the commercial pot before you start crabbing with the traps or hand lines. I would pick a spot off of what is called the foot ball field away from the main channel and current. Near the top of the tide move back to the stakes off the foot ball field. The football field is the stretch of channel markers that border the Great sound. I was out yesterday and caught and released one keeper flounder. The water temperature was 66.6 degrees. The water visibility was 6ft. the water had a green tint apposed to the blue tint that has been present all season. Dr. Gary and ED fished yesterday in the back bay and caugnht 5 keeper flounder to 22″. This is an excellent catch for back bay flounder fishing in August.
I have been called over the top, crazy, and more by many people that do not share the passion for salt water fishing that I possess for it and other activates in life. Here are a few examples: I was called crazy last December for taking my skiff for a 5 mile ride at 2:00 am in a 30 kt. NW wind,10 degree wind chill and no compass. Crazy was replaced with wow when I returned to my dock with a cooler full of speckled trout. I was called nuts for talking a friend into flying me to Florida in his jet for fresh ballyhoo hours before the mid Atlantic. When Governor Florio tried to dismantle the fish and game council I use the same over the top, crazy whatever attitude to start a grass roots letter writing campaign that started in Cape May County and spread through the State of New Jersey all the way to High point in Sussex County, NJ. The thousands of individually written letters helped I am sure to change the Governors mind. I used the same crazy. Nuts, attitude to personally call over a thousand people to urge them to attend the federal fish and wildlife meeting in Cape May county co… So many of our people showed they over flowed into the parking lot. The meeting went our way to say the lest. I also started a grass roots letter writing campaign to keep the land open to hunting and salt water fishing. When the manager made the decision to keep the land open to hunting he reported that 98% of the letters he received were in favor of keeping the land open to hunting, this was reported in the Atlantic City press. When the Cape May county park purchased hundreds of acres of traditional hunting land and decided to post no trespassing signs on the land. I used the same attitude to start up the grass roots machine to urge all cape may co. hunters to attend the Cape May co. Freeholders meeting. When Ruth fisher took the podium she asked if there was a sale on flannel shirts! The meeting turned out a record crowd that I think still stands today. The freeholders reopened the traditional land to hunting.
Ken's Dock 