Well, apparently Deceiver is run by neocon hypocrites because we’re afraid to reveal the truth about Sarah Palin’s plan to throw Eskimos onto piles of burning books, bought with the money she stole from the Bridge to Nowhere and orphanages for the disabled, with help from her inbred family and secessionist, anti-Semitic friends. I’m sure I left something out there. Since August 29 there have been so many uninformed accusations and outright lies leveled at her, I’m reluctant to believe anything else people say about her until everybody calms down. This is crying wolf to the Nth degree.
We may or may not discuss further developments in this story, and we’re under no obligation one way or the other. Unlike the Rielle Hunter story, Deceiver is hardly the only place talking about this. As I have to keep repeating, apparently, the main reason I dug into that story so hard was because I wanted to know more, but the news completely ignored it for weeks on end. Whereas with the Palin story, you can’t avoid hearing about it, and it’s been that way from the start. They are fundamentally different stories, and if you still don’t understand why I reject the comparison, I don’t know what to tell you.
How about this: In both cases I want to know the truth. With Hunter, that was tough because there was no information. With Palin, it’s tough because there’s too much disinformation.
But if you simply must discuss the latest Palin smear in the comments, adding to the search-engine numbers for things like “You-Know-Who was a community organizer,” first please go to Factcheck.org’s list of Palin rumors and misleading claims. From what little I know of Factcheck, it’s a non-partisan site that’s respected on both the left and right. Here’s their summary so far:
- Palin did not cut funding for special needs education in Alaska by 62 percent. She didn’t cut it at all. In fact, she tripled per-pupil funding over just three years.
- She did not demand that books be banned from the Wasilla library. Some of the books on a widely circulated list were not even in print at the time. The librarian has said Palin asked a “What if?” question, but the librarian continued in her job through most of Palin’s first term.
- She was never a member of the Alaskan Independence Party, a group that wants Alaskans to vote on whether they wish to secede from the United States. She’s been registered as a Republican since May 1982.
- Palin never endorsed or supported Pat Buchanan for president. She once wore a Buchanan button as a “courtesty” when he visited Wasilla, but shortly afterward she was appointed to co-chair of the campaign of Steve Forbes in the state.
- Palin has not pushed for teaching creationism in Alaska’s schools. She has said that students should be allowed to “debate both sides” of the evolution question, but she also said creationism “doesn’t have to be part of the curriculum.”
They then explain in detail how they came to these conclusions, and they’re promising to add more information as they continue to research the unprecedented explosion of rumors over the past week and a half. So I encourage you to consult Factcheck before you go around spreading this stuff. If that’s somehow an unreasonable request, I’m sure I’ll hear about it.
And if that doesn’t quench your thirst for justice, Factcheck also has a page of stuff Palin messed up during her acceptance speech. They also “fact check” something that I thought was clearly a joke by Mike Huckabee. But then, it’s not called HumorAppreciate.org.
Okay? Okay.
Update: If you need a brand name before you’ll believe it, Newsweek is republishing Factcheck’s findings.
Update 2: Snopes has a Palin page. And she’s their #1 search result, which is heartening. That means a lot of people are trying to do the fact-checking that the n-e-w-s hasn’t.