Letter to the editor:

A campaign that has been built on hypocrisy

Tim Weaver, Las Vegas

Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2008 | 2:08 a.m.

I’d like a Republican, any Republican, to explain to me why Sarah Palin is a great pick for vice president.

The reason I hear the most is that she’s a “maverick” and against wasteful spending. It would be nice if it were true, but it’s a complete and total lie.

First of all, she actually lobbied for that bridge, although she claims she turned it down. I thought it was a sin to lie. She actually hired a lobbyist to bring her town pork. In fact, McCain himself mentioned her town while blasting earmarks. You just have to love irony.

Also, Alaska is rated No. 1 — yes, No. 1 — in the country for earmarks per capita. Again, someone please explain to me how she is a “maverick” on this issue.

What’s truly funny about this is that when Barack Obama was considering Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine as his running mate, Karl Rove mocked the choice, saying Kaine had been mayor of a small city (Richmond) and that he hadn’t been at his job long enough. Simply amazing.

Both Rove and the McCain campaign have admitted this choice isn’t about the issues. And they are whining about the Democrats’ and media’s alleged sexism? Wow. If she were a man, she never would have been considered. Period.

One more word about McCain. He constantly brags that he would follow Osama bin Laden “to the gates of hell” and that “he knows how to get him.” If that’s the case, why hasn’t he shared his secret with Bush? We have troops dying over there. Sounds to me as if he is putting his campaign before America and our soldiers’ lives. It’s disgusting.

Discussion: 30 comments so far…

By jfnance32

9/10/08 at 2:50 a.m.

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"First of all, she actually lobbied for that bridge, although she claims she turned it down. I thought it was a sin to lie"

The Dems are starting to lie about people lying.

Palin has never cliamed that she was not for the bridge at some point in time.

She is to right claimed to be stop the bridge at the end.

Even the Alaska Democratic website use to have a page that gave Palin credit for stopping the bridge. It was not praise. It was a dig for stopping the bridge.

Lol....Lying about lying....what is next.
By FlaLady

9/10/08 at 5:36 a.m.

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Tim, let's start with a few facts. Alaska is the largest state in the United States in land area at 570,380 square miles, more than twice as large as Texas, the next largest state. It also lies 500 miles north of the U.S. The cost of living is much higher than the national average. Looking at monies on a per capita basis does not provide an accurate assessment.
Also, Joe Biden is a Senator (no executive experience) from Delaware, a state with a comparable population as Alaska, but about 1/229th the land mass size at 2,490 square miles.
Now, as to Obama...talk about inexperience! And quite a few skeletons in his and Joe Biden's closets as well. But we won't elaborate as most everyone understands they are typical politicians in the true sense of the word.
Governor Palin is a smart, strong, principled woman who not only talks the talk, but like John McCain, walks the walk. We're thrilled to have her on the ticket. Now, does that help you understand our enthusiasm?
By AgMallard

9/10/08 at 5:44 a.m.

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fnance32, The state wound up with the money and she OK'd the appraoch road. So clever rhetoric makes her most current version of events true. But dude that money from you and I and every other tax payer is in Alaska. Wonder how she would look in a swim suit...Wind surfing?
By jfnance32

9/10/08 at 7:51 a.m.

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Neither Palin nor McCain are saying that states should not get Federal road money.

The bottom line is that the Alaska Democratic Party website use to have a web page that gave credit to Palin for killing the bridge to nowhere. At some point in state politics the state Democratic Party was using that fact as a club to beat up Palin.

Now, national Democrats are trying to say the opposite of what the state Democrats said.
By thebs

9/10/08 at 8:24 a.m.

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Sorry, but her "Thanks, but no thanks" line is an utter lie.

Alaska was awarded money to be spent on the bridge. She could have turned it down.

She didn't turn the money down.

Instead, she took the money and spent it elsewhere.

Did she build the Bridge to Nowhere? No. Did she say she wouldn't "stand in the way" of funding? Yes. Did she take the funding when it was offered? Yes.

"Thanks but no thanks?"

That's a whopper of a lie.
By esquared

9/10/08 at 8:46 a.m.

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jfnance32:

"Palin has never cliamed that she was not for the bridge at some point in time."

What? She specifically mentioned the 'bridge to Nowhere' as an example of her fiscal management. She claimed the decision to cancel the bridge as her own, including it in a list of her accomplishments. She looked America in the eye and claimed that this was an example of her standing up to the power and wasteful spending of Washington.

It was never her decision in the first place to kill this project. In fact, it could have proceeded without her authority. But more importantly, she failed to disclose that she supported in every way this bridge project. She lobbied for it, but it was Congress who exercised fiscal responsibility and killed this bridge project over Gov. Palin's objections. This is not an example of her executive skill. It is that of her failure. She spent hundreds of thousands of state funds in a concerted effort to have this bridge built and she failed. The additional highway funds granted to Alaska were a consolation prize only.

But she didn't accept the nomination by saying, "I asked for the funds for this bridge, tried my darndest to get it but Congress turned me down." She said she killed it. At West Point and the United States Naval Academy that's called quibbling and it is an honors violation treated the same as a lie. Gov. Palin is asking to be the Vice-President of the United States and we have a right to hold her to the same standard.
By jfnance32

9/10/08 at 9:11 a.m.

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The Alaskan Democratic Party use to have on their website that Palin kill the bridge to nowhere.

The Alaskan Democratics use to beat up Palin for killing the bridge project.

Now the National Democratic Party is trying to argue the opposite.
By esquared

9/10/08 at 9:18 a.m.

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Who cares how the Alaska Democratic Party characterized this event. She looked us in the eye and said one thing but her actual conduct and previous efforts were the opposite. The Alaska Democratic Party isn't running for Vice-President. The Alaska Democratic Party isn't claiming the Bridge to Nowhere as it's success story, she is. I'm glad nance is conceding that this was a lie by Governor Palin and resorting only to the mistaken observations of others.
By esquared

9/10/08 at 9:35 a.m.

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When Gov. Palin said she killed the Bridge to Nowhere, said "Thanks but no thanks," knowing all along that the real story was that she tried to have the bridge built and that Congress stood up to her and said, "Thanks for the request but what you're asking is a waste and you can't have it," what walk was she walking? Her talk was a lie. Her actions were that she sought the bridge and failed. Her walk was a stumble, and her talk was a cheap lie.

Thanks, but no thanks, Governor.

And what's worse, John McCain has her as the co-pilot of the Straight Talk Express. More like the Bus to Nowhere.
By jfnance32

9/10/08 at 10:11 a.m.

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Wow...The Alaskan Democratic Party use to have on their website that Palin kill the bridge to nowhere.

I guess you are saying that Alaskan Democrats were lying then.
By thebs

9/10/08 at 10:21 a.m.

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What happened to the money for the project, Nance?

She said no to the project, only after Congressional support for it collapsed.

But when that check came, what did she do?

She didn't send it back.

She surely didn't say "Thanks, but no thanks."

She cashed it.
By esquared

9/10/08 at 10:53 a.m.

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The Alaska Democratic Party isn't running for Vice-President claiming a record of fiscal reform, Gov. Palin is.

But clearly nance is conceding that Palin lied and is now comparing her lie to someone else's observation of her conduct.

Next!
By jfnance32

9/10/08 at 12:48 p.m.

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Again, The Alaskan Democratic Party use to have on their website that gave Palin credit for killing the bridge to nowhere.
By esquared

9/10/08 at 12:58 p.m.

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Again, no citation. Again, you fail to see the difference between a candidate wrongly claiming credit for something she did not do and a 3rd party characterizing her conduct. Again you repeat the same pointless comment, confirming, again, that you admit Palin lied about the bridge to nowhere.

Enough with your bugginess, nance.
By thebs

9/10/08 at 1:10 p.m.

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Nancebot9000 has malfunctioned.

A little reason has seeped into his cortex and he's malfunctioning.

A worldview being crushed, he doesn't know what to do.

Tell me, Nance, how can she claim she said, "Thanks but no thanks" but then kept and spent the money?

Seems like some bizarro logic to me.
By jfnance32

9/10/08 at 2:44 p.m.

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It was congress and not Palin that move the money for the bridge to the general Alaska Road fund and of course not any governor is going to return general road fund money back to the federal goverment.

This pretty weak and stupid arguments by the Dems but it is consistent with Dems track record.

Democrats have Palin on the brain.

Obama has Palin on the brain.

Does he know that he is running for president and not VP?
By thebs

9/10/08 at 2:49 p.m.

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A weak argument? Is that why you've spend all this time desperately trying to argue against it?

So in other words, when faced with the decision to take pork from the government, or not, she chose to take it and spend it?

How is that a "reformer?"

How is that a "maverick?"

That's politics as usual. You're right, "not any governor," especially not Palin, who has a storied history lobbying for pork, pork and more pork for her consitutents.

A $200 million pork request, just this year.

$26.9 million in pork for a town of 7000?

Hell no she's not gonna return it... it was obviously burning a hole in her pocket.

You are 100%, this was a regular old politician throwing her ethics out the window for some cash from Uncle Sam.

And you support her? LOL!
By jfnance32

9/10/08 at 3 p.m.

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Yes it is a reformer to stop work on a bridge that goes no where.

She has stood up to powerful members of her own party.

Has Obama done anything that took risk as a reformer?

He had for years the biggest crook as his core fundraiser.

He has done very little work as reformer. He played an excellent game in South Chicago politics.
By thebs

9/10/08 at 3:04 p.m.

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Oh, it's a "reformer" to stop a project that never began? AFTER congress decided it wouldn't finish funding it?

Wow, how BRAVE!

LOL!

Why did she spend the money? Why didn't she send it back if she's so ethical and against pork barrel spending?

Why? Because Uncle Sam wrote her a check... that's all it took to torpedo her ethics.

You think that's a "risk?"

How utterly clueless.
By jfnance32

9/10/08 at 3:10 p.m.

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She still could have used the general road money that came from the Federal goverment for the bridge to no where project.

When Congress moved the bridge money from the a specific earmark to the general road fund then it left the choice to Palin whether to use the money for the bridge that went no where or to use it on other legit road projects.

She decided to shut down the bridge to nowhere project.
By jfnance32

9/10/08 at 3:11 p.m.

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That decision made members of her own party very mad.

Something that Obama has very little experience in.
By thebs

9/10/08 at 3:22 p.m.

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No, you have no understanding of how this situation worked.

During her campaign for Governor, she was very much in favor of the project, speaking approvingly of the funding and the Alaskan congressional delegation's ability to earmark the money.

Then, when the press caught wind of it and began ridiculing it, MEMBERS OF CONGRESS decided they weren't going to finish funding the project.

The project was dead.

Unfortunately, they had already cut Alaska a check for some of the funding for the project.

So Palin took the cash, then declared a severely underfunded project "dead" and kept the funding to spend on other pet projects.

Yup, that's plenty brave. That's one CRAZY maverick you've got there! Way to beat the system, sister! She sure stuck it to the man!

Geez, Republicans can be so gullible sometimes.
By aarondj

9/10/08 at 5:11 p.m.

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Let's ask ourselves one major question (and there's many to be asked), if Sarah Palin's so ready to lead, why is she so guarded by McCain's campaign staff?

Since the GOP Convention the basic script is all anyone has heard from her publicly, and her only interaction with the media was a brief conversation with a small group of reporters on her plane Monday — off the record at her handlers' insistence.

Her public remarks essentially have been excerpts of her convention speech, delivered while introducing McCain at rallies. By comparison, her Democratic counterpart, Joe Biden, has been campaigning on his own for weeks, at times taking questions from audiences. He was interviewed on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday. -Associated Press

SOME FACTS:

DRILLING: "Offshore, a jackup rig will take 2-3 years and a semi 3-4 years. Seeing that we just lost several shipyards along the Gulf Coast, well, the MODU's might have to be made elsewhere, meaning more time - and lots more money." THE OIL DRUM

PORK BARREL SPENDING:

"I told the Congress 'thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge to Nowhere," she said in her convention speech last week.

That's not what she told Alaskans when she announced a year ago that she was ordering state transportation officials to ditch the project. Her explanation then was that it would be fruitless to try to persuade Congress to come up with the money.

THE FACTS: Palin did abandon plans to build the nearly $400 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport. But she made her decision after the project had become an embarrassment to the state, after federal dollars for the project were pulled back and diverted to other uses in Alaska, and after she had appeared to support the bridge during her campaign for governor.

Under her administration, Alaska is still and by far the largest per-capita consumer of federal pet-project spending.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS AND FOREIGN POLICY:
TRUTH:

Governors are commanders of their state National Guard units, but their roles are restricted to deployments of soldiers and airmen within their states, said Randy Noller, a spokesman for the National Guard Bureau, the federal defense agency that oversees the Army and Air National Guards. But that hasn’t stopped the McCain campaign from claiming Palin’s role with the state Guard, and her visit to Alaska Guard members in Kuwait last year, as foreign policy experience.

ABSTINENCE as a form of birthday control- most research shows that it doesn't work....well, it works if teens live by the 'rules' of no sex. but that rarely happens.

THE HYPOCRISY religious groups are showing in the support of a teen having sex out of wedlock is astonishing. You can't preach it one way, and accept it when it's convenient to you. THIS is a national issue, not just one related to Sarah Palin. So the McCain campaign cannot call it foul play if this is brought up in any debate.
By jfnance32

9/10/08 at 5:32 p.m.

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The Alaskan State Democratic Party on its website before it became a national issue was trying to use the club of the bridge to beat up Palin.

Now they are trying to turn their attack on its head and say that she did not kill the bridge.

I guess those Alaskan Democrats are big dummies.

It said:

"Gov. Palin recently cancelled the Gravina Island Bridge near Ketchikan that would have connected the Alaska mainland with Gravina Island (population: 50)."

-- Alaska Democratic Party
By thebs

9/10/08 at 6:56 p.m.

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That was before she started going around boasting as if she solely killing the project, Nance. Sort of a Buckaroo Barbie, if you will.

The project was dead, she didn't seal the coffin, she stabbed the corpse.

But you have no understanding of how this situation worked.

During her campaign for Governor, she was very much in favor of the project, speaking approvingly of the funding and the Alaskan congressional delegation's ability to earmark the money.

Then, when the press caught wind of it and began ridiculing it, MEMBERS OF CONGRESS decided they weren't going to finish funding the project.

The project was dead. It was a corpse. The feds pulled the purse strings closed and told Alaska to have a nice day.

Unfortunately, they had already cut Alaska a check for some of the funding for the project.

So Palin took the cash, then declared a severely underfunded project "dead" and kept the funding to spend on other pet projects.

Yup, that's plenty brave. That's one CRAZY maverick you've got there! Way to beat the system, sister! She sure stuck it to the man!

Geez, Republicans can be so gullible sometimes.
By jfnance32

9/10/08 at 7 p.m.

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I guess you have a beef with the Alaska Democratic Party. Until her selection, they were beating Palin up and saying that she KILLED the bridge project.

I guess you are saying that those Alaskan state Democrats are dummies.
By thebs

9/10/08 at 7:08 p.m.

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As always, you guess wrong.

It must be Wednesday.
By jfnance32

9/10/08 at 8:47 p.m.

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Then you agree with the Alaska Democratic Party who was very mad with Palin for her killing the bridge to no where.
By thebs

9/10/08 at 9:10 p.m.

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When did I say that?

Stop putting words into my mouth.

Unlike some around here, my comments are very clear, specific, and, well, honest.

Unlike some who just today denied they said Obama was ONLY taking donations from small donors... even though it was easily seen a half-page above!

LOL, clueless.

In case you forget, I'm a native Nevadan, and not a member of the Alaska Democratic Party. I have no need, or desire, to defend them. If you've got a problem with them, take it up with them, not me.

The facts stand, Nance.

The project was dead, she didn't seal the coffin, she stabbed the corpse.

But you have no understanding of how this situation worked.

During her campaign for Governor, she was very much in favor of the project, speaking approvingly of the funding and the Alaskan congressional delegation's ability to earmark the money.

Then, when the press caught wind of it and began ridiculing it, MEMBERS OF CONGRESS decided they weren't going to finish funding the project.

The project was dead. It was a corpse. The feds pulled the purse strings closed and told Alaska to have a nice day.

Unfortunately, they had already cut Alaska a check for some of the funding for the project.

So Palin took the cash, then declared a severely underfunded project "dead" and kept the funding to spend on other pet projects.

Yup, that's plenty brave. That's one CRAZY maverick you've got there! Way to beat the system, sister! She sure stuck it to the man!

Geez, Republicans can be so gullible sometimes.
By cmon

9/10/08 at 9:45 p.m.

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Once again, Nance, I CHALLENGE YOU to answer 2 simple questions. I know you are afraid of me and cannot find the guts to answer them. Still to prove to the world what a clueless coward you are:

1. Do you support the idea that Alaska should secede from the United States, YES OR NO?

2. Do you support a member of a church that advocates the idea that Armageddon is approaching, and that it would be a good thing to unleash our "New-Clear" arsenal upon our enemies, in order to bring this about, YES OR NO?

I know you are afraid to answer, so why not copy and paste your B.S. Alaska Democrat blather.

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