Tonight, Democratic Congressman Earl Blumenauer of Oregon joins us for a segment on Sarah Palin. He’s got a bone to pick with the National Park Services over how federal resources were used in conjunction with the fake presidential contender’s personal publicity tour /family vacation.
In a letter to National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis, Rep. Blumenauer wrote, "Many of the press accounts of stops included in this tour, which provided personal and political benefits to former Gov. Palin, suggest that National Park Service resources were made available to an extent beyond that which an average American family would receive."
Those resources include private tours and escorts. Blumenauer requested a "written explanation" on the "use of taxpayer-funded resources for publicity events," including the "One Nation" Palin bus extravaganza.
The National Park Service defended their actions, saying Palin didn’t get any special treatment. "We see celebrities on a regular basis, it’s something that we’re used to," said spokesman Jeffrey Olson. "We give them a tour but we also try to not make it a bug hoo-ha for all the other visitors. So it’s kind of standard fare if there’s a celebrity or two that show up we do a special program for them.” He pointed out, "it's not an extra cost for us," because rangers and park officials conducting these tours are already on the job.
We’ll hear from the congressman tonight at 8pm ET.