Top 7 Myths, Lies and Untruths About Sarah Palin

[heavyg]

by FOXNews.com
Friday, September 5, 2008




Doctored photo of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is one of a number of falsifications and rumors to emerge since she became Sen. John McCain's vice presidential running mate.


By Maxim Lott

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has been subjected to an intense amount of media and public scrutiny since she was named as John McCain’s vice presidential pick one week ago. Many of the attacks have come in the form of unconfirmed reports on the Internet. Among them:


1) Palin “Joined a Secessionist Political Party”


The Charge: Unsubstantiated Internet reports insisted Palin was once a member of the Alaska Independence Party, which critics call a secessionist political movement and supporters say is dedicated to seeking greater state control over federal lands across Alaska.

The Facts: Palin has been a registered Republican since 1982. There is no record of her ever being a member of the AIP, or any party but the GOP. Palin’s huband has been a member of the AIP in the past, but since 2002 has been a registered independent.

(See: Party Official Says Palin Was Not a Member http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/02/alaska-party-official-says-palin-was-not-a-member/?scp=2&sq=palin%20independence%20party&st=cse)

2) Palin Supported a “Nazi Sympathizer”

The Charge: “Palin was a supporter of Pat Buchanan, a right-winger or, as many Jews call him: a Nazi sympathizer,” Obama Florida spokesman Mark Bubriski was quoted as saying in a Miami Herald article.

The Facts: While mayor of Wasilla, Palin wore a Buchanan button during the sometimes presidential candidate’s 1999 visit. But Palin actually supported Steve Forbes in 2000, and served as a co-chair on his Alaska campaign.

In the weeks after the 1999 report of her wearing the Buchanan button, Palin said: “When presidential candidates visit our community, I am always happy to meet them. I’ll even put on their button when handed one as a polite gesture of respect. … The article may have left your readers with the perception that I am endorsing this candidate, as opposed to welcoming his visit to Wasilla.”

(See: Obama campaign advisor quote is from an e-mail sent to the Miami Herald http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2008/08/obama-camp-conn.html)

3) Palin “Wants Creationism Taught in School”

The Charge: Palin opposes the teaching of evolution, and would mandate the teaching of creationism in the state’s public schools.

The Facts: Palin said during her 2006 gubernatorial campaign that she would not push the state Board of Education to add creation-based alternatives to the state’s required curriculum, or look for creationism advocates when she appointed board members. She has kept this pledge, according to the Associated Press.

Palin has spoken in favor of classroom discussions of creationism, in some cases. “I don’t think there should be a prohibition against debate if it comes up in class. It doesn’t have to be part of the curriculum,” Palin told the Anchorage Daily News in a 2006 interview.



(See: ‘Creation science’ enters the race; Palin is only candidate to suggest it should be discussed in schools. By Tom Kizzia, Anchorage Daily News, 27 October 2006)

4) Palin “Was Nearly Recalled” While Mayor

The Charge: Palin was so controversial as mayor of Wasilla that she was almost recalled by a popular voter movement.

The Facts: The Wasilla City Council considered but never took up a recall motion after she fired a longtime police chief, who subsequently brought a lawsuit. A citizen’s group dropped their recall bid, and a judge ruled Palin had the authority to fire the chief.

(See: Foes Back Off Push to Recall Mayor http://www.adn.com/sarah-palin/story/513745.html)


5) Palin “Opposes Sex Education”


The Charge: Palin opponents say Palin supported the end of all sex education in public schools. In light of her daughter’s presumably unplanned teen pregnancy, this has been a particularly well discussed internet topic.

The Facts: “The explicit sex-ed programs will not find my support,” Palin wrote in a 2006 questionnaire distributed among gubernatorial candidates. Palin favors abstinence-based sex education programs.


(See: McCain fought money on teen pregnancy programs, By Sharon Theimer, Associated Press, Sept. 2, 2008)


6) “This Picture Proves Palin is …”

The Charge: A slew of fake, Photoshopped or misdated photographs on the internet purport to show Palin in any number of embarrassing or compromising poses. One photo claimed to show Palin standing poolside, wearing an American flag-themed bikini, toting a rifle with telescopic sight.

The Facts: The various photos are being discredited and shown to be fake on a number of websites. The original of the so-called bikini shot, probably the best-known of the pictures, was shown to have been taken of another woman, with Palin’s head Photoshopped above the body.


(See: Call to Arms, http://www.snopes.com/photos/politics/palin.asp)


7) Palin is the grandmother, and not the mother, of Trig Palin

The Charge: The most salacious rumor of all, this theory holds that Palin did not give birth to her son Trig in April, and was actually covering up for her daughter, Bristol.

The Facts: There are a number of photographs showing an apparently pregnant Sarah Palin, as well as a number of published eyewitness accounts of her pregnancy. These include First Lady Laura Bush, who says she spoke with a pregnant Palin at a governor’s conference in February. An assignment manager for KTVA news in Anchorage, Cherie Shirey, has also been quoted saying: “We worked with Governor Palin many times in 2008. Our reporters worked her on location and in the studio and I worked with her myself. She was definitely pregnant. You could see it in her belly and her face. The whole idea that Sarah Palin wasn’t pregnant with Trig is completely, absolutely absurd.”

The McCain campaign, in an apparent effort to counteract the rumors, announced last weekend that Bristol Palin is five months pregnant, which indicated she would have become pregnant before Trig was born.

[trickblue]

7) Palin is the grandmother, and not the mother, of Trig Palin

The Charge: The most salacious rumor of all, this theory holds that Palin did not give birth to her son Trig in April, and was actually covering up for her daughter, Bristol.

The Facts: There are a number of photographs showing an apparently pregnant Sarah Palin, as well as a number of published eyewitness accounts of her pregnancy. These include First Lady Laura Bush, who says she spoke with a pregnant Palin at a governor’s conference in February. An assignment manager for KTVA news in Anchorage, Cherie Shirey, has also been quoted saying: “We worked with Governor Palin many times in 2008. Our reporters worked her on location and in the studio and I worked with her myself. She was definitely pregnant. You could see it in her belly and her face. The whole idea that Sarah Palin wasn’t pregnant with Trig is completely, absolutely absurd.”

The McCain campaign, in an apparent effort to counteract the rumors, announced last weekend that Bristol Palin is five months pregnant, which indicated she would have become pregnant before Trig was born.

If this poor girl were to miscarry or lose this baby, this mess will start all over again as a cover-up...

[burmafrd]

How many of these rumors were posted here by the libs?

[WoodysGirl]

(Only because I thought this was a more expansive list)

The Sarah Palin FAQEverything you ever wanted to know about the Republican vice presidential nominee.

By Derek Thompson
Posted Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008, at 5:39 PM ET

Read our complete coverage of the GOP Convention (http://www.slate.com/id/2199163/) and Sarah Palin (http://www.slate.com/id/2199184/).


She flies while giving birth! She can field-dress a moose (http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/36009)! She said "Thanks but no thanks" to the "Bridge to Nowhere"! Or did she? As she debuts on the national stage, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has inspired a heap of questions, but she remains a mystery to both the press and the public. To help speed along the getting-to-know-you process, Slate has compiled dozens of questions—and taken our best shot at the answers—about the woman who could be our vice president. Have a Palin question that we didn't answer? Send an email to sarahpalinfaq@gmail.comwith your question in the subject line. We will update the page as new questions (or new answers) come to light.

THE CAMPAIGN

How long has Palin known John McCain?
They were first introduced in February (http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-mccainveep30-2008aug30,0,923381.story?page=1) at the National Governors Association meeting in Washington, D.C. The first time they spoke about the possibility of her becoming the GOP vice presidential nominee was Aug. 24, five days before the official announcement.

Did Palin tell the McCain campaign that her daughter Bristol was pregnant before she was picked as the vice-presidential nominee?
Many news sources have speculated that the pregnancy announcement (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/02/us/politics/02vetting.html) caught the campaign by surprise. McCain spokesman Steve Schmidt told reporters that they learned of the pregnancy during the vetting process (http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/a5j7il5a3p_m).

Did she recite her speech at the Republican National Convention from memory after the teleprompter broke?
Despite Internet rumors that Palin delivered much of her speech in front of a faulty teleprompter (http://www.redstate.com/diaries/redstate/2008/sep/04/breaking-sarah-palin-winged-her-speech-bec/), GOP officials have confirmed that the teleprompter worked flawlessly (http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0908/The_teleprompter_did_not_break.html) throughout Palin's address.

ALASKA

Did she oppose the so-called "Bridge to Nowhere"?
When she was running for governor in 2006, Palin said she supported a $223 million federal earmark for the Gravina Island Bridge (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravina_Island_Bridge). Congress eventually killed the earmark after it became a symbol of pork-barrel spending, but Alaska was given the same amount of money (http://www.reuters.com/article/vcCandidateFeed7/idUSN3125537020080901?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=10112) to spend on other projects. Last year, Palin put a halt to state support of the project (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080831/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_bridge_to_nowhere), saying, "We will continue to look for options for Ketchikan to allow better access to the island." The reversal was hailed by budget hawks, but it irked local politicians like Ketchikan Mayor Bob Weinstein, who said, "[S]he pandered to us by saying, 'I'm for this.' "

What is her relationship with indicted Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens?
They've worked together since at least 2003, when Palin was a director on Stevens' independent fundraising group (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/09/01/palin_was_a_director_of_embatt.html), Ted Stevens Excellence in Public Service Inc. In her unsuccessful campaign for lieutenant governor in 2002, she received about $4,500 in campaign donations from an oil firm involved in the Stevens scandal. Palin also filmed a commercial with Stevens (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwcbBbVNIsI) in 2006 to demonstrate the senator's support of her gubernatorial campaign. New York Times op-ed columnist David Brooks wrote that Palin has since made "mortal enemies (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/02/opinion/02brooks.html?ex=1378094400&en=3632242ea07565f8&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink)" of Alaska's senators, and Palin has kept her distance from Stevens since his indictment on felony charges of accepting illegal payments from an oil company.

What command experience does Palin have as head of the Alaska National Guard?
The Alaska governor has no command role (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080831/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_palin_grasping_at_straws) with National Guard troops engaged in combat operations or with the 49th Missile Defense Battalion, which is stationed in Alaska. She does command the National Guard when it comes to natural disasters and homeland security. These issues are handled by a member of her cabinet, Maj. Gen. Craig, the adjutant general for Alaska, who also handles veterans' affairs. Palin has called up the guard only once, in 2007, to fight wildfires. They were on standby for a 2007 whaling conference during which they expected protesters but were never summoned.

Cindy McCain and others have asserted that Alaska's proximity to Russia (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zP8uFPWxaA) has contributed to Palin's foreign-policy knowledge. What dealings has she had with Russia?
The campaign has not come up with any. Palin has never been to Russia (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/04/politics/animal/main4414663.shtml).

Did Palin fire a public official because he wouldn't fire her brother-in-law?
Sarah Palin fired former Alaska Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan, who said the governor pressured him (http://www.adn.com/monegan/story/478090.html) to fire an Alaska state trooper who happened to be getting divorced from Palin's sister. Palin has denied these allegations. Alaska's state legislature voted in July to get an independent investigator to look into the firing.

Was she ever a member of the Alaskan Independence Party?
Officials from the AIP, the state's third-largest political party, have claimed that Sarah Palin attended the 1994 party convention (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/02/politics/animal/main4409075.shtml) with her husband. Public records indicate, however, that Palin has been a lifelong Republican since she first registered to vote in Alaska. Her husband Todd Palin did register as a member of the AIP—which supports holding a vote on Alaskan secession from the United States—in 1995 before reregistering as "undeclared" in 2002. According to the New York Times, Gov. Palin recorded a video segment (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/us/politics/04party.html?ref=politics)for the party's convention this year, wishing the AIP "good luck on a successful and inspiring convention."

Was there a recall attempt against Palin when she was mayor of Wasilla?
No. The city council considered it (http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1837918,00.html?imw=Y) after she fired longtime police chief Irl Stambaugh, who brought a lawsuit alleging that Palin fired him because campaign contributors and the NRA were angered by his opposition to a concealed-gun law. A federal judge ruled that city law (http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5713866) permitted the mayor to the fire Stambaugh for any reason.

Did she want to ban books from the public library as mayor of Wasilla?
Yes, at least according to John Stein, the town's former mayor. Stein says Palin asked the Wasilla library (http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1837918,00.html) "how she could go about banning books" with offensive language. It's not clear whether any book was ever banned.

POLITICAL RECORD

What was her position on the surge?
Somewhere between McCain's and Obama's (http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/08/palin-on-iraq.html): She conditioned her support on an exit strategy. In her words: "I haven't really focused much on the war in Iraq. I heard on the news about the new deployments, and while I support our president, Condoleezza Rice and the administration, I want to know that we have an exit plan in place; I want assurances that we are doing all we can to keep our troops safe."

What's Palin's record on environmental issues?
The environmental Web site Grist.org has reported that she objected to listing polar bears or beluga whales as endangered in Alaska, fearing it might affect Alaskan drilling projects (http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/8/30/20129/1935). She also voted against a proposition to limit mining where runoff would threaten salmon populations. She is outspoken about opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other offshore locations for oil drilling. The Sierra Club has condemned her advocacy for wolf hunting and her eagerness to drill throughout the state.

Does she oppose federal earmarks?
Alaska has long been the recipient of astounding amounts of federal funding. While Palin slashed pork requests in half during her tenure, the state still requested $550 million in Palin's first year in office. This year she has requested about $198 million (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080903/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_palin_earmarks)—$295 per person—which is still the highest amount per-capita in the country, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense. And when she was the mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired an Anchorage-based firm to secure $27 million (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/01/AR2008090103148.html?hpid=topnews) in federal earmarks for the town.

Did she really stand up to big oil?
Palin's strategy in Alaska has been to expand oil production and to use the royalties to pay dividends for the state's citizens. Palin, whose husband worked for BP (http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2008/09/200893225527640103.html), endorsed Barack Obama's call for a windfall tax for oil companies (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008103325_alaskatax07.html). (John McCain says he opposes such a measure (http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/06/17/mccain-slams-obama-for-proposing-windfall-tax-on-oil-industry/).) Her relationship with American oil firms like Exxon is less than cuddly, however. After a long negotiation process in 2006, she brokered a deal to build a pipeline between Alaska and the lower 48 with TransCanada, a Canadian company.

What is her record on ethics reform?
As governor, Palin signed ethics legislation (http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1837523_1837531_1837509,00.html) limiting lobbyists' access to government officials and calling for more transparency in their dealings with Alaskan pols. As ethics commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, she accused a fellow Republican of illegally taking money from energy firms. (He later paid a large fine for his transgressions.) She has also reduced the perks of positions she's held personally: She put the governor's private jet up for sale on eBay and laid off her personal chef. As mayor of Wasilla, she cut her own salary.

BELIEFS AND VALUES

Does she believe in evolution?
Palin said in a 2006 debate that she supports teaching creationism (http://dwb.adn.com/news/politics/elections/story/8347904p-8243554c.html) alongside evolution in public schools on the grounds that "healthy debate is so important." She did not insist that creationism become a part of the curriculum. In the same debate, she said she believed in a creator and avoided an up-or-down stance on evolution.

What are Palin's views on abortion?
Palin has said she is "as pro-life as any candidate can be (http://dwb.adn.com/news/politics/elections/governor06/story/8049298p-7942233c.html)" and called abortion "an atrocity." She has supported mandatory parental consent, and while she is pro-contraception, has also indicated her preference for abstinence education (http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/01/palin-backed-abstinence-education/?eref=ib_politicalticker) over "explicit sex-ed programs." She would permit abortion in cases where the mother's life was endangered, but not in the case of rape or incest.

Does she believe in climate change?
Yes, but in an interview with Newsmax.com (http://www.newsmax.com/headlines/sarah_palin_vp/2008/08/29/126139.html), she expressed doubts that human activity is to blame.

Is Palin's church anti-Semitic?
Palin belongs to the Wasilla Bible Church, a conservative evangelical congregation. Politico's Ben Smith recently uncovered a guest sermon (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13098.html) from a Jews for representative who said attacks against Israel are proof that God judges those who deny as their savior. Smith also reported that Palin is friends with an Alaska rabbi who considers her "a friend of the Jews."

PERSONAL LIFE

Did Palin ask her daughter Bristol to get married before news broke that she was pregnant?
The National Enquirer seems to think so (http://www.nationalenquirer.com/sarah_palin_at_war_with_her_daughter_over_pregnanc y_wedding/celebrity/65370), but no other news organization has verified the claim. The McCain campaign has flatly denied (http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/09/03/politics/fromtheroad/entry4413030.shtml) the reports, and McCain spokesman Steve Schmidt has threatened legal action against the magazine.

Did Palin elope with her husband while pregnant with her first child?
It's possible, but we don't know for certain. Fox News' Alan Colmes reported that (http://www.alan.com/2008/08/29/conservative-family-values/) Palin's first-born son, Track, was born on April 20, 1989, almost eight months to the day after she eloped and married her husband, Todd, on August 29, 1988.

Did she fly all the way from Texas to Alaska this April after her water broke?
A Wall Street Journal profile (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122002615833483595.html?mod=googlenews_wsj) reports that she first felt contractions before speaking at an energy summit in Dallas. Her doctor in Alaska told her to rest, but Palin carried on with the speech, rushed to the airport, got on a jet to Alaska, landed in Anchorage, then gave birth after driving 45 miles to a hospital in Palmer, Alaska.

Palin competed in beauty pageants (http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/thebigblog/archives/147784.asp?source=mypi) in the early 1980s. What was her talent?
She played the flute (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080829.wrepublicanpalin30/BNStory/International).

What's her workout secret?
Running. Palin claims she likes to jog between seven and 10 miles every day (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122002155637283431.html?mod=blog); since giving birth to her fifth child in April, she's already worked her way up to three-mile runs. Her diet is "heavy in wild Alaskan seafood, moose, caribou and fresh fruit."

http://www.slate.com/id/2199362?y=1

[burmafrd]

Danny White, one of our own here, said that he saw the teleprompter having problems. So much for the "flawlessly" part. So much for the total accuracy of that piece.

[heavyg]

Danny White, one of our own here, said that he saw the teleprompter having problems. So much for the "flawlessly" part. So much for the total accuracy of that piece.

It was also on Fox News. And they had people from the convention say they had replaced a teleprompter that had gone completely out and the new one was acting up. As well as the person running the prompter not doing so very well.

[Cajuncowboy]

Is Palin's church anti-Semitic?
Palin belongs to the Wasilla Bible Church, a conservative evangelical congregation. Politico's Ben Smith recently uncovered a guest sermon (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13098.html) from a Jews for representative who said attacks against Israel are proof that God judges those who deny as their savior. Smith also reported that Palin is friends with an Alaska rabbi who considers her "a friend of the Jews."

IF this is against forum rules then so be it. But since it was in a post that one of our mods made, I would think I have a clear opportunity to refute this.

It makes me cringe when people write this junk and have no clue in the world what they are talking about. (Not you WG, the reporter).

The Jews for are not anti Semitic. They are Jews themselves and love their homeland.
What they are talking about is a biblical reference to the Jews calling judgment down on themselves.

Mat 27:25 Says: Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.

This was a curse the Jews called down on themselves for selecting Barabbas to be released to them over when Pilate asked whom they wanted because it was during a feast and it was a tradition to release a prisoner.

The point is that the judgments he is talking about is from THAT and not from them rejecting Christianity. Further, when they said " And on our children", they also cursed their future generations.

So before anyone gets the idea that this guy is going off on his own tangent or that it is some made up thing, then they better do a bit more research on what they are actually talking about.

So if that gets me some demerits or points or whatever, so be it, but I'm not gonna stand by and watch something that is totally false about God's people be allowed to stand uncorrected.