A Bangor-area elementary school teacher takes Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to task (letters, BDN, Oct. 4-5) and incredibly suggests the Republican nominee for VP knows less about energy than a fifth-grader.

Based on the Congressional Keystone Cops routine we’ve just seen, it looks as if Sarah Palin’s political inexperience is an asset, not a detriment. Ever notice how Congress is always the last to get the memo when something goes horribly wrong in our country? How many times have we been subjected to pretentious, theatrical congressional hearings after a catastrophe or a disaster which Congress should have seen coming, had it only been paying attention?

If these officials are so smart, why don’t they ever seem to solve big problems before they reach critical mass? I’m convinced that if our elected representatives in Washington were executives working in private industry, many would have been fired long ago.

And I’m wondering if Congress will get around to formulating a reasonable energy policy before gas goes back up to $4 a gallon. But even if it doesn’t, we do know the one thing it can do is hold more hearings and endlessly lecture, blame and investigate everyone but themselves.

It’s the tenured professional politicians, not Sarah Palin, who’ve presided over this vast sea of incompetence and ineptitude.

Virulent attacks by hyperpartisan critics can’t alter Palin’s track record of accomplishment in implementing common sense solutions at a time when many of our elected leaders seem to have stopped caring about doing their jobs well.

David D. Wilson

Levant