The image of Gov. Sarah Palin being promoted by the McCain campaign is of a straight-shooter who talks truth to power. The true image is of a person who lies repeatedly, even after being called out for her lies.
The Vice-Presidential debate offered more examples of her ability to lie with a straight face. All politicians obfuscate during debates and frequently misstate their opponent’s position. But, not all of them make up lies as they go along. Gov. Palin did that at least twice during Thursday’s debate.
One of the lies, about post-surge troop levels in Iraq, could have been caused by lack of knowledge on the part of Palin, but the other, about divestment of investments in Sudan, was a pure unadultrated prevarication.
Palin made the claim during the debate that troop levels in Iraq are now at pre-surge levels. This is demonstratively false. According to Pentagon figures. Iraq troop levels before the surge were at 133,500. Today, they are around 155,000. Sorry, Govenor, you fail once again to tell the truth.
The other obvious lie she told during the debate resembles her lies about the Bridge to Nowhere. The truth appears to be the exact opposite of her claims. It has been well-documented that she supported the Bridge to Nowhere and, after it was canceled by Congress, spent the money on other projects in Alaska. She continues to tell this lie in her stump speeches to partisan crowds. They love it.
Thursday’s lie is as easy to refute as the Bridge to Nowhere lie, but I’ll bet it too finds its way into her stump speech.
When talking about Sudan during the foreign policy portion of the debate Palin said, “When I and others in the legislature found out that we had some millions of dollars [of Permanent Fund investments] in Sudan, we called for divestment through legislation of those dollars.”
An investigation by ABC News found this claim to be false. Not only did Palin not call for divestment, her administration played a major role in stopping a legislative effort for divestment.
“The legislation is well-intended, and the desire to make a difference is noble, but mixing moral and political agendas at the expense of our citizens’ financial security is not a good combination,” testified Brian Andrews, Palin’s deputy revenue commissioner, before a hearing on the Gara-Lynn Sudan divestment bill in February. Minutes from the meeting are posted online by the legislature.
Gara says the lack of support from Palin’s administration helped kill the measure.
“I walked out of that hearing livid,” Gara recalled of the February meeting. Because of the Palin administration’s opposition to the bill, “We could not get a vote in that committee,” he explained. At no point did Palin come out in support of the effort, Gara said.
We’ve all come to expect that politicians will lie when they think it is advantageous. However, this politician seems to lie for the sake of lying. Do we really want her a heartbeat away from the Presidency of the United States?
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