Palin Derangement Syndrome

I was poking around Facebook and noticed a note that was posted by someone. It was a note this guy’s cousin posted, and it was basically an email that is being circulated skewing the truth about Sarah Palin…surprise.

Let’s go through this garbage bit by bit to show how outrageous it really is.

It told us that she can distort the facts and deliver mean-spirited zingers with the best of them. It told us that if Rush Limbaugh or Ann Coulter ever need a stand-in, she’d be a great pick.

It told us that she can be condescending and dismissive of the real work Barack Obama did helping real people on the South Side of Chicago. It told us that she can uphold the long Republican tradition of lying about Democratic tax cuts—even though Obama’s plan would give Americans a bigger break than McCain’s.

“Mean-spirited zingers,” Ooo, kinda like the attacks Barack Obama launched on John McCain in his acceptance speech, all ten of them. Meanwhile McCain used significantly less time attacking Obama (only four “mean-spirited zingers.”)

Also, can we begin to actually listen to what Palin and Giuliani were alluding to when they mentioned Obama’s community organizing. They are attacking the notion that his work as a community organizer is somehow executive experience that qualifies him for the presidency. We also can’t discount the fact that his work as a community organizer included getting his hands dirty with ACORN a fringe group that uses federal money to illegally register voters.

But the speech—written by one of President Bush’s speechwriters—didn’t tell us the truth about Sarah Palin’s extremist positions. And the more that people know her far-right views, the less they support her. (There’s a partial list below.)

Oh man, I can’t wait to see these “extremist positions,” she must believe in killing babies that are products of failed abortions. No wait, that’s Barack Obama.

Palin’s speech and the reaction to it also made clear why McCain picked her. It wasn’t a decision about who’s most qualified to serve a heart-beat away from the presidency—it was a political decision about pleasing the far-right base of the Republican party.

Sure, McCain picked her to please the base of the party, not the far-right base. McCain isn’t a conservative and the base of the party weren’t very fond of some of his positions, so yes, it was to please the base. But had he picked Mitt Romney, no one would be making this argument.

So are you ready for these “extremist positions?” Mind you these are all sourced to ThinkProgress and MoveOn.org, two extremely liberal blogs that are far left of the mainstream.

1.

Palin recently said that the war in Iraq is “God’s task.” She’s even admitted she hasn’t thought about the war much—just last year she was quoted saying, “I’ve been so focused on state government, I haven’t really focused much on the war in Iraq.”

You mean she believes in God? What a loon! It’s not like 80% believes in God or anything, I mean jeez, how out-of-touch.

As for her being more focused on state government than the war in Iraq isn’t a bad thing. After all, she is the governor of Alaska, she really shouldn’t be focused about Iraq, she can’t do anything about it, she should be concerned about her state. She can have her personal beliefs, and in fact she does, here’s the full quote.

“I’ve been so focused on state government, 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.”

So she’s a governor that’s more focused on state government than the war in Iraq. That sounds normal to me.

2.

Palin has actively sought the support of the fringe Alaska Independence Party. Six months ago, Palin told members of the group—who advocate for a vote on secession from the union—to “keep up the good work” and “wished the party luck on what she called its ‘inspiring convention.’”

First of all, it’s been proven that Palin was not part of the Alaskan Independence Party. Furthermore, if they quote the entire opening statement you’d hear that her speech was hardly an endorsement. In fact she says that the party plays an important role in state politics because she thinks “competition is so good.” See for yourself, the video is below.

The AIP has even released a message on their site saying…

Contrary to initial reports, Vice-President candidate Governor Sarah Palin was never a member of our party. We stand corrected. We issued a press release today. It is posted here to those members of the media who did not recieve it.

They also say…

Todd Palin was registered as a member but never participated in any party activities aside from attending a convention in 1994.

Furthermore, why would Palin endorse a rival party. She ran against a nominee from the Alaskan Independence Party in 2006, her address to the party was exactly what Barack Obama loves, bipartisanship. Also, if you watch the video Palin specifically hails the AIP for upholding the constitution, which is labeled as number one in their party platform.

3.

Palin wants to teach creationism in public schools. She hasn’t made clear whether she thinks evolution is a fact.

Again, if you read the full context of the quote, you see the truth…

In an interview Thursday, Palin said she meant only to say that discussion of alternative views should be allowed to arise in Alaska classrooms:

“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.”

She added that, if elected, she would not push the state Board of Education to add such creation-based alternatives to the state’s required curriculum.

Members of the state school board, which sets minimum requirements, are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Legislature.

“I won’t have religion as a litmus test, or anybody’s personal opinion on evolution or creationism,” Palin said.

So she believes creationism should be taught alongside evolution, but isn’t going to force it upon schools. Sounds mainstream and fair to me.

4.

Palin doesn’t believe that humans contribute to global warming. Speaking about climate change, she said, “I’m not one though who would attribute it to being manmade.”

This one really isn’t fringe, in fact over 30,000 scientists have signed a petition saying they don’t believe in man made global warming. Also a TIME poll found that only 31% of Americans think humans are the cause of global warming, 49% think both nature and mankind are to blame.

5.

Palin has close ties to Big Oil. Her inauguration was even sponsored by BP.

Actually Palin increased taxes on oil companies.

Over the opposition of oil companies, Republican Gov. Sarah Palin and Alaska’s Legislature last year approved a major increase in taxes on the oil industry — a step that has generated stunning new wealth for the state as oil prices soared.

There is a difference between Palin’s tax and the one democrats support. Palin’s tax encourages production by increasing the tax as prices go up, and decreasing as prices go down. Alaska can do this because they have allowed oil companies to drill anywhere the state can legally open up. Meaning the companies have an incentive to create more fuel; their taxes will go down.

Her inauguration was sponsored by a whole slew of companies, including the Alaska Spine Institute. So can we assume that Palin was sympathetic to chiropractors as well? Here’s the full list of companies that sponsored the event, and I’m sure we can assume she was sympathetic to all of them.

6.

Palin is extremely anti-choice. She doesn’t even support abortion in the case of rape or incest.

I don’t really think you can be “extremely” pro-life. You’re either pro-life or you’re not. But, by the same token, we can call Obama extremely “pro-choice” considering he was the only senator in the Illinois state senate to oppose legislation that would ban the murder of babies that were a product of failed abortions. Palin does support abortion in one instance, “I am pro-life. With the exception of a doctor’s determination that the mother’s life would end if the pregnancy continued. I believe that no matter what mistakes we make as a society, we cannot condone ending an innocent’s life,” Palin said [LINK]

Also, I don’t think pro-life is a fringe view as this post makes it out to be. The issue is basically split among Americans.

7.

Palin opposes comprehensive sex-ed in public schools. She’s said she will only support abstinence-only approaches

This one is actually correct (it’s a surprise I know). Again, it’s a conservative viewpoint and one that isn’t fringe. A Zogby poll shows…

Some 47 percent of parents want teens to be taught that “young people should not engage in sexual activity until they are married.” Another 32 percent of parents want teens to be taught that “young people should not engage in sexual intercourse until they have, at least, finished high school and are in a relationship with someone they feel they would like to marry.”

When these two categories are combined, we see that 79 percent of parents want young people taught that sex should be reserved for marriage or for an adult relationship leading to marriage.

Clearly the belief that abstinence only education isn’t extreme, and is probably shared by the majority of independents (the people Palin needs to convince that she’s right for the job).

8.

As mayor, Palin tried to ban books from the library. Palin asked the library how she might go about banning books because some had inappropriate language in them—shocking the librarian, Mary Ellen Baker. According to Time, “news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire Baker for not giving “full support” to the mayor.”

This one’s great. It comes from a TIME magazine article, and the information is from…wait for it…wait for it. The incumbent who Palin defeated in the election for mayor of Wasilla. I’m sure that’s a reliable source. Not to mention the information is second hand, it’s hearsay. If you know anything about law you’d know that hearsay isn’t admissible in court. So we’ve got a guy who was defeated by Palin for mayor and his evidence is hearsay. Doesn’t sound reliable to me.

9.

She DID support the Bridge to Nowhere (before she opposed it). Palin claimed that she said “thanks, but no thanks” to the infamous Bridge to Nowhere. But in 2006, Palin supported the project repeatedly, saying that Alaska should take advantage of earmarks “while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist.”

This was is correct as well, but the fact is she ended up against it. She admitted that she was wrong, according to Palin spokesperson, “She changed her mind, [her spokesman] said, when “she saw that Alaska was being perceived as taking from the country and not giving, and that impression bothered her and she wants to change it. … I think that Sarah Palin is someone who has the courage to reevaluate situations as they developed.” [LINK]

Here’s the thing about flip-flopping. If you end up on the correct side of an issue, admit that you were wrong, and tell the public why you were wrong; it’s okay. Most politicians don’t do that, Palin did.

There you have it, liberal spin set straight. I hope next time someone decides to post smears about Sarah Palin that at least link to sites more credible than MoveOn.org and ThinkProgress.

–jb

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