Another Palin lie exposed: She DID NOT fire the chef, and, she spent most of her time out of the office

Aside from having listed a state plane on eBay, the most popular
anecdotal example of Sarah Palin’s credentials as a reformer has been
her firing the governor’s chef. This has been quickly seized on by
clueless Lower 48 Palin partisans as a colorful example of belt-
tighting via downhome folksiness: Palin didn't just kick out the
"uppity" gourmet chef, she claimed she planned on cooking herself,
with her kids chipping in to make sandwiches.

As you might expect, this turns out to be another Palin fabrication.
The 6/29/07 Anchorage Daily News article about the firing actually
reveals the shocking truth behind the deception.

First, firing the governor's chef saved no money at all, because the
chef was transferred, not fired. In the article, an e-mail from the
fired chef, Stefani Marnon, to friends and colleagues is quoted as
saying "Friday will be my last day at the house, but I will still be
employed with the state."

The chef Sarah fired in fact still prepares elitist gourmet meals in
Juneau for government employees, just not in the Governor’s Mansion.
According to an item in this ADN article from 1/20/08:

"Stefani Marnon was first reassigned as a ‘constituent relations
assistant’ in the governor's office and later to the state museum.
Earwigs report she's finally landed where they really appreciate a
good chef: the Legislative Lounge. Lawmakers were smacking their lips
in anticipation, according to Sen. Kim Elton's newsletter."

Sarah Palin, far from being a down-home fiscal hawk standing up to a
decadent government culture, first placed Marnon in a make-work job,
then placed the chef where her presence would most appeal to political
insiders, literally catering to the finicky taste buds of state
politicians.

But that’s not all. The breezy item, headlined "Chowhounds", starts
off by giving away the actual reason Marnon left the Governor’s
Mansion:

"Remember the long-time executive chef who lost her job at the Mansion
when Sarah decided to live mostly in Wasilla instead of Juneau?"

Marnon, in short, wasn’t fired to save money. She was fired because
Governor Sarah Palin – whose executive credentials, displayed over an
18-month term, far out-strip Barack Obama’s accomplishments in some
people's minds – spent most of her time as governor 567 bad-road miles
away from the capital of Alaska.

The earlier article announcing Marnon’s firing also sheds light on
Palin’s true devotion to her grueling, "ready at 3 A. M.",
Presidential-like job:

"(Palin spokeswoman Meghan) Stapleton wouldn’t say exactly where
Alaska’s first family is right now, citing security reasons. But the
Palins will travel this summer, and spend time fishing, and plan to
return to Juneau this fall."

Acting like Cheney even before her nomination as VP, Palin apparently
had plenty of time while attending to the urgent business of serving
Alaskans as their chief executive and commander in chief to see the
Alaska countryside in stealthy comfort, even finding time to perhaps
help her husband Todd set salmon traps.

Ironically, considering Palin's national base, it was conservatives in
Alaska that were really incensed at Palin’s undercover travel
itinerary.

This contemporary editorial blasts the ADN for reporting her
disappearing act "without a whimper", claiming the paper routinely
favored her over veteran politicians like Ted Stevens and Don Young.

Perhaps the paper was simply in awe of a woman able to reform Alaskan
political culture so effectively, while spending so little time on
such a daunting job.

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