A little reminder for those who think that Sarah Palin is fit to run the VA. This is how badly she screwed up health programs here in Alaska.

(I had almost forgotten this so thank you to all of you who reminded me.)

Right after Palin quit as Governor, a story broke over at ADN (Now removed) which revealed that she had seriously neglected a program to help elderly Alaskans so badly that it had to be taken over by the Federal Government.

Here is the post I wrote about it back in July 2009: 

State programs intended to help disabled and elderly Alaskans with daily life -- taking a bath, eating dinner, getting to the bathroom -- are so poorly managed, the state cannot assure the health and well-being of the people they are supposed to serve, a new federal review found. 

The situation is so bad the federal government has forbidden the state to sign up new people until the state makes necessary improvements. 

No other state in the nation is under such a moratorium, according to a spokeswoman for the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. 

In the meantime, frail and vulnerable Alaskans who desperately need the help are struggling. One elderly woman is stuck in a nursing home, for lack of care at home. Another woman, suffering from chronic pain and fatigue, said she's so weak, she often can't even pop dinner into the microwave. 

A particularly alarming finding concerns deaths of adults in the programs. In one 2 1/2 year stretch, 227 adults already getting services died while waiting for a nurse to reassess their needs. Another 27 died waiting for their initial assessment, to see if they qualified for help.

When the Feds took it over they managed to fix it right away, but of course not in time to save those 200+ lives.

So if Sarah Palin cannot even manage to run a small program to help the elderly in a sparsely populated state like Alaska, how could she possibly be able to run the whole VA?

(For those who are interested here is Mudflats take on that story, and Shannyn Moore talking to Keith Olbermann about it.)

While we are on the topic of veteran soldiers it should also be noted that when Palin was governor a soldier named Jeremy Morlock wrote her a letter, which she ignored completely: 

Web mail from: Mr. Jeremy Morlock 
address: 2 bn 1st inf reg bct Ft. Lewis WA 98433 
706-662-7266 

MESSAGE: Mrs. Sarah Palin rnrnSarah I wish I knew of a better way of getting in contact with you and I know your busy having a whole state to run but, I was writing because I had a question to ask. I guess I'll start off by letting you know where im at with things, being in the Army as an lower enslisted man its hard to get things done, I've been looking in to a regulation we have called a 'compassionate reassignment (AR 614-100).' It stipulates under certian circumstances a soldier can request to move duty stations to help care for family in need . I know you have known my family for some time and I think of you all as friends and you know my mother is now taking care of all the girls by herself while trying to keep a job. I'm not asking for pity for my family or myself, I'm just asking if there is anything you could do to help me with my process of getting home to Alaska to help. My direct chain of comand (team, squad leader) have been trying there best to help with out causeing! problems for them selves but, the fact is that my Unit is not really supporting me and trying to coax me to stay. I appreciate your time in reading this and any help you can offer.rnrn sincerely,rnPFC Morlock, Jeremyrn2/1 INF 5 SBCT

Later Morlock would plead guilty to killing innocent Afghan citizens for sport and posing next to their dead bodies.

They even made a documentary about it.

Could Sarah Palin have prevented this tragedy by personally responding to that letter? A letter that came to her from one of her children's friends?

We'll never know, because she did nothing.

The same nothing that she did to protect those 200+ elderly Alaskans.

And the same nothing she will do if she is appointed Secretary of the VA.