Sarah Palin is not a model Alaskan, say Wasilla indie rock native

Wasilla, Alaska, isn't exactly an indie-rock mecca, but one band of note does hail from the area -- the loud and dreamy rock combo with the odd name Portugal. the Man. Singer-guitarist John Baldwin Gourley and bassist Zachary Scott Carothers grew up and started playing music together near the isolated town and still spend considerable time there. (The band's MySpace page lists its home as "Wasilla/Willow/Portland/Seattle/World, Alaska.")

As a native, Gourley's been observing the rise of the town's former mayor, vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, with increasing consternation. This morning he decided to act on it, posting a moving argument against her candidacy on the band's blog. Gourley's words of protest led me to investigate the matter, and I discovered that some of the group's anti-Palin sentiments stem from her allegedly standing in the way of a skate park's construction in Wasilla when the band members were teens.

Gourley's blog post is mostly philosophical. Under the heading "Sarah Palin, Because We Don't Need It," he writes of the first time his father took him hunting for moose, when he was about 6. The pair quickly spotted their quarry, but his father pulled back. They didn't kill the moose "because we don't need it," he explained to his son.

" 'Because we don't need it' was something that has been taught to me every day of my life through these amazing people," Gourley writes of his parents, who were Iditarod dog-sled mushers and continue to live an Alaskan life. "And to watch Sarah Palin get so much attention based on what? Two years as governor of the state of Alaska? Or is it based on her time as the mayor of Wasilla? The town of 5,000 at the time."

Gourley goes on to list the things "we don't need" that Palin supports, he says, including aerial hunting, censorship of libraries, "family feuds interfering with duties" and opposition to gay marriage.

It's a gutsy and poetic piece of liberal thinking, and it made me curious about Gourley and his life in Wasilla. So I called him up. He chatted with me while riding toward Portland, Oregon, with his bandmates, having slept in the car after a late-night jaunt from Wasilla to Sea-Tac airport.

"It's weird," he said of the feeling back home now that Palin's in the spotlight. "Obviously things are crazy in the town of Wasilla. The response is somewhat mixed. There are a lot of people who just want to support an Alaskan. Which is frustrating, but it's how Alaska works. It's such a sheltered place, people support their own."

Gourley, 27, was a teenager when Palin became Wasilla's mayor. "I just remember everybody saying, she's hot! Nobody had anything else to say," he said. "Even as a young kid, not knowing about politics, I was confused that that was all [people said] about her."

In Palin's public image, Gourley recognizes a kind of Alaskan he doesn't much admire. "I've grown up around the upper-middle-class families that have a total lack of respect for what they grow up in," he said. "They're going out in their $400 camouflage outfits; it's frustrating to watch them go out and hunt. As soon as the wolves were opened up to be hunted [after being taken off the endagered species list], they went out and hunted them."

Palin's religious views also worry Gourley, who grew up a churchgoer but no longer attends services. He grew up with peers who attended Palin's church in Wasilla. "We have, like, three churches," he said. "It's fairly well-connected. ... I went to dinner with these people because my friends were their kids. These were the ones talking about how awful faggots are, and reading the Book of Revelation to their kids. That's what really changed my mind about religion -- parents being taught fear."

Gourley says the Alaskans with whom he identifies are more free-spirited, like his dad, who'd only shoot a moose when he needed it. "They're just themselves when it comes down to it," he said. "They're up there for the  beauty and the escape more than anything. They just want to live and be themselves."

Portugal. the Man's new album, "Censored Colors," will be released Sept. 16 on its own label, Approaching AIRballoons. The new tracks I've heard are quite enchanting. Check out more music here.

-- Ann Powers

Portugal. The Man photo by Emily Dyan Ibarra

Comments

[Anthony Velasco]

Sarah Palin is an eschatological disaster waiting to happen. All those Viagara-fueled horn dogs seduced by her decidedly non-Cheney charms will be shocked to know her honestly radical Assembly of God views on:

1) the War in Iraq ("Iraq War = God's Divine Will")
2) The Jewish return to Israel ("Fulfillment of the Book of Revelations")
3) The impending Return of Jesus Christ ("Expect His return any day... We are in 'End-Times'.)

Is this really the person we want to help decide the future direction of our troubled Nation?

Escatology: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escatology
Assembly of God: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assembly_of_god

[rob]

Interesting. I have a cousin in Alaska and my impression is that it's a laid-back place. I think Palin is an aberration, like Bush is a terrible, warped version of perfectly respectable Texas culture, and Giuliani vis a vis New York.

[Michael]

Fact: Palin is currently the subject of a bipartisan ethics investigation, aka Troopergate
Fact: Palin originally supported the "Bridge to Nowhere" then opposed it only after it became politically unpopular
Fact: Palin hired lobbyists to get earmarks and got them even though she now says she opposes them
Fact: Palin was unable to run Wasilla (pop. 5700 at the time) and needed to hire a professional administrator
Fact: Palin has zero foreign policy experience
Fact: Palin has never issued one command as commander-in-chief of the Alaska National Guard
Fact: Palin recently told CNBC that she doesn't know what the vice-president does.
Fact: It is very pathetic that anyone really believes Sarah Palin is qualified to be one heartbeat away from the presidency

[Aaron]

There's few things in life that are more ironic than someone posting a comment on a blog entry indicating their opinion that the blog entry is unimportant and nobody cares about the opinions expressed therein.

[Normz]

I am sure McCain's facts would be similarly enlightening. His protectors have done a fantastic job of keeping his skeletons in the closet. The thing that really shocks me is that about half of America seems to believe him and will vote for him. Obama is also a disappointment, for sure, but I think he has one advantage over the McCain ticket, more focus on rebuilding America and, at least somewhat less 'owned' by the special interests. Do yourself a favor. Don't listen to the media. Seek out facts on your own. Look at voting records; look at prior speeches; look at the company these two guys and their VP choices keep. Look at who supports them. Ask questions and think about what was said by Bush prior to his first term. Sound familiar? By the way, that was FIVE TRILLION DOLLARS ago with regard to the national debt. So much for the myth of big spending democrats. Obviously Republicans can spend big bucks too. And also don't ignore the fact that there are two taxes: taxes and inflation. Inflation is an insidious tax that results from failing monetary policies and that erodes wealth. Bush has generated significant inflationary pressure with his tax cutting and big borrowing policies. Lastly, do you REALLY think drilling will lower our gas prices? Remember, the oil market is international in scope and the international corporations we're allowing to drill will sell their oil at market prices to anyone who will buy. The oil companies aren't going to give us a 'special price' or do us a 'favor'. If you think that, you're really a sucker.

[Stacey Fitch]

Pastor Jeff had some good points in his comment and I admired his candor until he mentioned Al Gore inventing the internet. You have showed your true ignorance and as many people with your views are victim to the spin that you let surround you. Good luck with that.

[Rosswell]

If you actually read the blog it's very touching and smart. Basically it's saying that she's a unqualified person for this job first off and she is a horrible representation of Alaska. She has her priorities first and not whats good for the people and thats not what a Democracy is. I am opened minded on all views no matter the "party" or looks or age or whatever. People need to open their eyes on this perspective because it's one we haven't herd.

[Michael]

"Give me a break!! Who in the world cares what these guys think about Sarah Palin - what a waste of time interviewing them."

Let us, rephrase that statement posed as a question to; how it should read.

"Give me a break!! Who in the world cares about Sarah Palin" That would be far more fitting.

Has anyone told her what the Vice President does yet, by the way? I mean she did ask...

Sigh.. This country is doomed is Obama and War hawk Biden or McShame and RightWing nobody with an iq of 12 Palin.

Nader it is.