A truthful article in MSM- breaks down Palin lies

[demokatgurrl]

So good, I hated to snip it.

Attacks, praise stretch truth at GOP convention

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=5720999

By JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press Writer Wed Sep 3, 11:48 PM ET


ST. PAUL, Minn. - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her Republican supporters held back little Wednesday as they issued dismissive attacks on Barack Obama and flattering praise on her credentials to be vice president. In some cases, the reproach and the praise stretched the truth.

Some examples:
PALIN: "I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending ... and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress 'thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge to Nowhere."

THE FACTS: As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a "bridge to nowhere."

PALIN: "There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform — not even in the state senate."

THE FACTS: Compared to McCain and his two decades in the Senate, Obama does have a more meager record. But he has worked with Republicans to pass legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles. The legislation became law last year. To demean that accomplishment would be to also demean the work of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, a respected foreign policy voice in the Senate. In Illinois, he was the leader on two big, contentious measures in Illinois: studying racial profiling by police and requiring recordings of interrogations in potential death penalty cases. He also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform legislation....

taxes. Small businesses that make more than $250,000 a year would see taxes rise...

MCCAIN: "She's the commander of the Alaska National Guard. ... She has been in charge, and she has had national security as one of her primary responsibilities," he said on ABC.

THE FACTS: While governors are in charge of their state guard units, that authority ends whenever those units are called to actual military service. When guard units are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, for example, they assume those duties under "federal status," which means they report to the Defense Department, not their governors. Alaska's national guard units have a total of about 4,200 personnel, among the smallest of state guard organizations.

FORMER ARKANSAS GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE: Palin "got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska than Joe Biden got running for president of the United States."

THE FACTS: A whopper. Palin got 616 votes in the 1996 mayor's election, and got 909 in her 1999 re-election race, for a total of 1,525. Biden dropped out of the race after the Iowa caucuses, but he still got 76,165 votes in 23 states and the District of Columbia where he was on the ballot during the 2008 presidential primaries...

___

Associated Press Writer Jim Drinkard in Washington contributed to this report.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. From the AP? Guess he won't be employed there very long...

[WinkyDink]

6. He's not going away!

James L. Kuhnhenn is a national political reporter at The Associated Press, specializing in the flow of campaign money and its use for campaign media. He moved to AP after nearly eight years with Knight-Ridder Newspapers, first as assistant news editor, than as national correspondent. Kuhnhenn also had a long career with The Kansas City Star from 1983 to 1998, culminating in assignment as Washington bureau chief. There, he was part of the reporting team that won the James K. Batten Civic Journalism award in 1996. Kuhnhenn has also received a Keystone Press Award. He majored in journalism with a minor in English at Pennsylvania State University, earning a Bachelor of Arts.

[myrna minx]

2. This is what I want to see. K&R n/t

[demokatgurrl]

3. Let's hope this stuff gets read

My favorite: she got more votes than Biden? Not only do they dismiss science, they don't give a fuck about math.

[myrna minx]

5. Heh. Once the pundits' embarrassing, rapturous afterglow dissipates, even they can't ignore these

whoppers. :hi:

[Blue_In_AK]

4. Posted before this morning, but

here's a link to a Sarah fact-check from someone in Alaska who has been following her political career for years. There's lots of good stuff here. The second entry down, chapter 25, but there's also lots of other good stuff on this blog.

http://www.progressivealaska.blogspot.com/