Nick Tucker, the man whose letter brought national attention to the plight of rural Alaskans, finally gets some face time with Sarah Palin.

(Photo of Nick Tucker courtesy of Dennis Zaki.)

Palin, with evangelist Franklin Graham at her side, arrived Feb. 20 with planeloads of food for rural Alaskans beset by a cold winter, sickening fuel costs, poor commercial fishing and staggering unemployment. The governor’s arrival scene was repeated later the same day in another Western Alaska village.

Palin spread a message of hope in Russian Mission and Marshall, and said often that youths should get resource-development jobs so they can earn money and return to their village part of the year.

The entourage’s short visit to each village mixed a campaign-trail energy with brief elements of a church-rally. (It is unsurprising that when confronted with a problem like this that Palin resorts to her comfort areas, campaign style interactions with large audiences and faith based solutions to the "problem".)

Palin worked the adoring crowds, squeezing cheeks, bending low to pose with elders and kids and bear-hugged strangers as if they were old friends.

“I’m so happy to be here, especially to get to meet all the kids in this village. You are beautiful kids!” she shouted, doing a sort-of gunslinger motion with her index fingers. ("Duck kids she is channeling her wolf hunting personality!")

She said the rest of Alaska and the nation care about the village. (Which is the only reason you will find her ass in such a god forsaken place.)

“As your governor, we’re here to partner with Samaritan’s Purse and other churches and other people across the nation who recognize Alaska’s uniqueness and recognize that Alaska faces some challenges right now with the high costs of food and high costs of energy,” she said. “Just know that we ask for God’s blessing over this part of Alaska also and those things the state government can do to assist, we’re here to help.” (But we are really hoping God does something because we Republicans just don't believe in spending too much time with people who cannot make large contributions to our political campaigns.)

Yoo know it still bothers me that Sarah Palin went to these two villages. And I am not the only one who is confused by the choice.

Several people in Marshall and Russian Mission said most people have enough to eat, but they said they appreciated the help.

George Owletuck, a middle-age man and former tribal law professor in Fairbanks who recently moved back to Marshall, said some elders were amused by a television news report that people were starving in the village when there’s so much fish around.

So as I said in a previous post this was nothing more then a glorified photo op which allowed Sarah Palin to appear to be doing something about the native Alaskans in crisis while avoiding the potential embarrassment of running into actual natives in crisis who are angry with her lack of response. Going to Emmonak meant interacting with people who have been suffering terribly and who are demanding that something be done to keep this same thing from happening next year.

But you know what they say, if you cannot get Mohammad to the mountain, then bring the mountain to Mohammad.

Nicholas Tucker flew to the villages to personally hand Palin the letter he’d written six weeks earlier. His plea for help described vivid stories of hunger in Emmonak, another village down the Yukon River from Russian Mission and Marshall.

Throughout the day, Tucker listened and watched Palin. Not being from Russian Mission or Marshall, it would be rude to steal their chance for attention, he said.

But in the Russian Mission gym, he jostled his way through the crowd and caught up to Palin.
During a four-minute conversation, he thanked her for coming, and asked if she could provide help to create jobs in the villages.

She bent over to speak close, and said resource development can create jobs for young people.

“So working together — you and the local communities and state government — we’re going to be able to allow these economies to be revitalized,” she said. (This is Palin talk meaning that if the damn Democrats will just let the oil companies drill in ANWR or if she can somehow get her natural gas pipeline through then the streets of Emmonak will be paved with gold. Beyond that she simply has no solutions.)

He said what the Native people really want is “to get restored back to who we are. The Native people are very strong people and this is probably the only time they … cried out for help.”

Tucker gave her his letter and asked her to read it.

She said she would.

Then she waded back into the crowd.

Look I know that I can be very cynical sometimes, and I really hope that she took that letter with her and read it on the plane on her way back to Anchorage, but I cannot help but feel that somewhere between Russian Mission and Wasilla that letter found itself deposited in a handy trash receptacle.