Nick Jans Nails Sarah Palin

Nick Jans is one of Alaska’s better writers. His pieces in Alaska Magazine and elsewhere are always well-written, evocative of Alaska and frequently poignant. WC didn’t know he was a contributor to USA Today, but his recent piece in that newspaper is so good that WC is passing it along to WC;s long-suffering readers.

Unlike the Wasilla Princess, Nick Jans is the real thing. He’s lived in parts of Alaska that Palin has never heard of. How about this line:

Most of the [Palin's] show’s escapades bear scant resemblance to the activities of most outdoors-oriented Alaskans. In fact, about half of the Palins’ “adventures” are guided trips aimed at mass-market tourists. You won’t find many Alaskans on those theme park rides, which require no skills beyond a pulse and the ability to open your wallet.

Ooh. Burned.

Not only does Jans dissect, slice and demolish Sarah Palin’s pretensions to being a Mama Grizzly, a seasoned outdoors woman and huntress, he does so in a way that places his points in an important, larger context.

Sarah Palin’s Alaska is just back story rather than substance. But when our candidates can also produce poll-tested commercials, trot out ghost-written websites and deliver telepromptered speeches — all financed by unlimited special interest money — Americans are essentially casting votes for fictional characters. This is not an indictment of one Sarah Palin. It’s an indictment of the system.

How’s that for reality?

WC would give a lot to be able to write like that. Well done, Mr. Jans.