The L.A. Times reports that Sarah Palin’s “One Nation” tour has gotten under the skin of more than just junior high school history teachers. An Oregon Democrat is crying foul at the way the National Park Service appears to be bending over backward to provide special treatment for Palin and her family as they tour historic landmarks and visit state parks. He wants an investigation.
“I opened my paper this morning to hear about cutbacks in state parks around this country,” Rep. Earl Blumenauer told ABC News. “We have a serious backlog of maintenance in the National Park Service. And it looks like Sarah Palin’s little political cavalcade gets this amazing VIP treatment — I’m scratching my head.
“If it’s a private family vacation, what in the world are we doing getting people in with preferential early admission and having an entourage of public employees? It looks like a political stunt, and Palin Inc. ought to pay for it.”
A Park Service spokesman responded that it recognizes that Palin is neither an elected official nor a candidate.
Here’s the kicker: He said they opened up the park early for her family and provided special tours just as they would “for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.”
Imagine that. First we had Brangelina. Now it’s SarTodd. Toddah? Just doesn’t seem to have the same ring to it.
*****
It should also be noted that Michele Bachmann’s camp is portraying Palin as nothing more than a celebrity, not a serious student of public policy.
Top Bachmann adviser Ed Rollins had this to say in an interview the other day: “Sarah has not been serious over the last couple of years. She got the vice presidential thing handed to her, she didn’t go to work in the sense of trying to gain more substance; she gave up her governorship.”
