This seems to indicate that Governor Palin may have requested some earmarks. She's also been accused of being for the Bridge to Nowhere before she was against it. These are supposed to be marks against her and maybe they are, but I think there's another way to look at it.
As Governor it's her job to do what's best for her state. So if she can get somebody else to pay for projects that help the citizens of Alaska then that seems like a good thing from her perspective and that of her constituents.
If the system allows earmarks, then it's hard to fault people who try to take advantage of that. It's not necessarily good - you might prefer someone who refuses to take advantage of a loophole for any reason - but that's not to say it's bad, and certainly it's not uncommon.
I think earmarks are a problem. But we can't rely on people not to take advantage of them, we need to fix the system so that they can't happen.
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