Sarah Palin and her lies

[sweet-a-kins]

The Odd Lies Of Sarah Palin: A Round-Up

Some readers have asked me to put all the various odd lies of Sarah Palin that the Dish has compiled in one helpful place. So that's what we've done. A couple of months ago, I asked an intern to re-fact-check all of them to make sure new details hadn't emerged that might debunk some. And I also asked to get any subsequent statements by Palin that acknowledged that she had erred in any of these statements that are easily rebuttable by facts in the public record and apologized and corrected. She has not. Since this was a vast project over the last ten months, it's possible there are some nuances or errors that need fixing. Please tell us if you find one and we'll acknowledge and fix. But it has been put through the ringer a few times.

After you have read these, ask yourself: what wouldn't Sarah Palin lie about if she felt she had to?

Palin lied when she said the dismissal of her public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, had nothing to do with his refusal to fire state trooper Mike Wooten; in fact, the Branchflower Report concluded that she repeatedly abused her power when dealing with both men.

Palin lied when she repeatedly claimed to have said, "Thanks, but no thanks" to the Bridge to Nowhere; in fact, she openly campaigned for the federal project when running for governor.

Palin lied when she denied that Wasilla's police chief and librarian had been fired; in fact, both were given letters of termination the previous day.

Palin lied when she wrote in the NYT that a comprehensive review by Alaska wildlife officials showed that polar bears were not endangered; in fact, email correspondence between those scientists showed the opposite.

Palin lied when she claimed in her convention speech that an oil gas pipeline "began" under her guidance; in fact, the pipeline was years from breaking ground, if at all.

Palin lied when she told Charlie Gibson that she does not pass judgment on gay people; in fact, she opposes all rights between gay spouses and belongs to a church that promotes conversion therapy.

Palin lied when she denied having said that humans do not contribute to climate change; in fact, she had previously proclaimed that human activity was not to blame.

Palin lied when she claimed that Alaska produces 20 percent of the country's domestic energy supply; in fact, the actual figures, based on any interpretation of her words, are much, much lower.

Palin lied when she told voters she improvised her convention speech when her teleprompter stopped working properly; in fact, all reports showed that the machine had functioned perfectly and that her speech had closely followed the script.

Palin lied when she recalled asking her daughters to vote on whether she should accept the VP offer; in fact, her story contradicts details given by her husband, the McCain campaign, and even Palin herself. (She later added another version.)

 

Palin lied when she claimed to have taken a voluntary pay cut as mayor; in fact, as councilmember she had voted against a raise for the mayor, but subsequent raises had taken effect by the time she was mayor.

Palin lied when she insisted that Wooten's divorce proceedings had caused his confidential records to become public; in fact, court officials confirmed they released no such records.

Palin lied when she suggested to Katie Couric that she was involved in trade missions with Russia; in fact, she has never even met with Russian officials.

Palin lied when she told Shimon Peres that the only flag in her office was the Israeli flag; in fact, she has several flags.

Palin lied when she claimed to have tried to divest government funds from Sudan; in fact, her administration openly opposed a bill that would have done just that.

Palin lied when she repeatedly claimed that troop levels in Iraq were back to pre-surge levels; in fact, even she acknowledged her "misstatements," though she refused to retract or apologize.

Palin lied when she insisted that the Branchflower Report "showed there was no unlawful or unethical activity on my part"; in fact, that report prominently stated, "Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act."

Palin lied when she claimed to have voiced concerns over Wooten fearing he would harm her family; in fact, she actually decreased her security detail during that period.

Palin lied when asked about the $150,000 worth of clothes provided by the RNC; in fact, solid reporting contradicted several parts of her statement.

Palin lied when she suggested that she had offered the media proof of her pregnancy with Trig to "correct the record"; in fact, no reports of her medical records were ever published; and the letter from her doctor testifying to her good health only emerged hours before polling ended on election day, even though there was nothing in it that couldn't have been released two months earlier.

Palin lied when she said that "reported" allegations of her banning Harry Potter as mayor was easily refutable because it had not even been written yet; in fact, the first book in that series was published in 1998 - two years into her first term - and such rumors were never reported by the media, only circulated as emails.

Palin lied when she denied having participated in a clothes audit with campaign laywers; in fact, the Washington Times later confirmed those details.

Palin lied when asked about Couric's question regarding her reading habits; in fact, Couric's words were not, "What do you read up there in Alaska?" or anything close to condescension.

Palin lied when she mischaracterized the "$1200 check" given to Alaskans as the permanent fund dividend check; in fact, that fund had yielded $2,069 per person, and she claimed otherwise to obscure the fact that Alaskans also received a $1200 rebate check from a windfall profits tax on oil companies - a tax widely criticized by Republicans.

Palin lied when she claimed to be unaware of a turkey being slaughtered behind her during a filmed interview; in fact, the cameraman said she had picked the spot herself, while the slaughter was underway.

Palin lied when she denied having rejected federal stimulus money; in fact, she continued to accept and reject the funds several times.

Palin lied when she claimed that legislative leaders had canceled a meeting with her to hold their own press conference; in fact, they only canceled it after being told she would not participate, and the purpose of the press conference was very different from the meeting's.

Palin lied when she announced on the news that she never holds closed-door meetings; in fact, she had just attended a closed-door meeting with the legislature earlier that day.

Palin lied when she said that former aide John Bitney's "amicable" departure was for "personal" reasons; in fact, Bitney said he was fired because of his relationship with the wife of Palin's friend, plus a Palin spokesperson later claimed "poor job performance" for his firing - without elaborating.

Palin lied when she said she kept her running injury a secret on the campaign trail; in fact, her bandaged hand was clearly visible in photographs and the story was widely talked about.

Palin lied when she claimed that Alaska has spent "millions of dollars" on litigation related to her ethics complaints; in fact, that figure is much, much lower, and she had initiated the most expensive inquiry.

Palin lied when she denied that the Alaska Independence Party supports secession and denied that her husband had been a member; in fact, even the McCain campaign noted that the party's very existence is based on secession and that Todd was a member for seven years.

Tags: sarah palin, politics, republicans, lies

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[360]

Jul. 8, 2009 at 9:17 AM

Based on these "facts" it appears that Palin would make the perfect president.

Shall we start to list ALL of the previous President's lies including the most revered Barak Hussein Obama in his only 120 days?

Oh, let's start for fun:

"I never had sex with that woman, Miss Lewinsky" 

"This will be a government of transparency"

"No new taxes"

Yep, she'd make the perfect president.

[poli_sci_mom]

Jul. 8, 2009 at 9:36 AM

Pointing out Sarah Palin's lies is all fine and dandy, but to be fair, why not dig up all of Obama and Biden's lies?

I can think of a few off the top of my head, like, the economy will get better, jobs will be made and restored, the stimulus bills will trickle down, his stimulus bill will prevent the unemployment rate from reaching what it did yesterday, wars will be ceased, his birth certificate is valid, he has no ties to churches who bash white people, to groups that have bombed federal buildings or attempted to, his dismissal of all things Muslim and then going and quoting the Koran in Middle Eastern countries with ease. And before anyone jumps on me for reference to Islam, let me make clear that the religion is not the problem, far from it, but the lies Obama gives surrounding it. It seems that the Obama admin is full of "miss-statements" and bull, Biden being one of the biggest "miss speakers" of the admin to which Obama has himself alluded to. Not to mention his relationship with ACORN and what ACORN did or didnt do illegally to get him elected. Where are the apologies and acknowledgements for these lies and misstatements?

Let us not forget that Palin had more experience in politics and running cities and states than Obama, who was only experienced in city level politics before his being elected to the Senate, which he was often absent and to busy running his Presidential Campaign. And she was only going to be VP. McCain was the best candidate for the job, and yet he was not elected. People went for novelty instead of experience, and the repercussion from that are now being felt.

As far as Tom Palin being apart of a party that wants the succession of Alaska from the Union, ok, so what? Alaska was leased to the US by Russia. That lease is running out very soon. We do not really "own" Alaska. So, who cares if a few people want it to succeed from the Union. There are many people in Texas who want to Succeed, but we didnt talk about it when Bush was President. Why, because it does not really matter! They will not succeed, and if they do, so what? Those two states do not have the resources, nor the money, to form their own sovereign units. They both, whether they want to admit it or not, need to be apart the Union to stay afloat. So, if they want to succeed, let them. They wont last long, especially without the means to adequately arm themselves against enemies.

And then we get on banning Harry Potter books. Again, so what? I like them and my daughter likes them. But, that does not mean that everyone must. Obsenity is based on how the public in a community feels about something, whether it be art or literature. The book may or may not have been banned from the local library due to the peagan overtones in the books. Magic is something that many christians frown on, and the books could have been banned for that reason. Palin may have just been doing what her constitutants wished for. But, again, so what. Does it effect anything? No, not really.

The money spent by the RNC on her wardrobe for the election train came from the RNC, not Palin, not Alaska, and certainty not from tax revenue. It was from donations from republicans to the party, or to the campaign. Women's clothes cost more than men's close. Dont believe me, go to the mall and see what you can get for $100 bucks for a man and a woman. It is disproportionate. She may have dismissed the bill for those clothes because she did not know what the bill came too. More than likely, her clothes were bought for her as she would not have had time to go to the local mall and do her own shopping. She was in the middle of running for VP and was a bit occupied by that.

I would be glad to go through each of these presented lies and do my best to defend if one so wishes, but I am inclined to leave it at what I have said. If trouble should be caused by this, I will gladly respond to each and every lie, with citation.

However, the election is over. Obama has won, either legitimately, or not, but it is nonetheless over.

[moomers]

Jul. 8, 2009 at 9:42 AM

Who cares anymore LOL Lets start making lists of every politician that may have lied during their campaigns.Oh Lets not!!! I'm not impressed or will put my faith an any politician during these economical hardships we are all facing.

My efforts will remain to fight for my community instead of worrying about an X-Alaskan Govenor.

[Tristana]

Jul. 22, 2009 at 7:56 PM

POLI SCI MOM

Your statement about Alaska was leased to U.S & the lease is going to run out soon............. Is one of the most idiotic, uneducated statements I ever seen about Alaska.

I live in Alaska .