Posted: 09/04/08 12:15
by Dave Mindeman
Sorry to continue on Sarah Palin, but she is the topic of the moment. Again, she gave a very good speech and, as I said in the last post...game on.
However, as I listened to her speech last night, I kept muttering to myself... "but that's not true". And this morning, the Fact Checkers indeed were on the ball.
Here is one report, from the Associated Press, you need to check out:
Attacks, Praise Stretch Truth at GOP Convention
Some of the highlights:
PALIN: "I told the Congress 'thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge to Nowhere."
FACT CHECK: 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."
FACT CHECK: "...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.
Personally, I also found it a little disturbing that she demeaned community organizing as if it was a joke. Without community organizers, the poor and disadvantaged would have no voice at all.
The article also discusses some of the claims made by other speeches. The Fact Checkers are going to be very busy.....
