The Swift-Skirting of Sarah Palin

Apparently the media wants to get even for the Swift-Boaters successful torpedoing of John Kerry in 2004 because they are by the dozens every day promulgating lies about the career and life of Governor Sarah Palin. I recently posted a piece on the lies, exaggerations and misbegotten assumptions of a Baltimore Sun columnist and it got me to thinking to try and gather one thread rebutting the media's ever evolving negative memes against this strong woman. From unproven claims of infidelity, to claims she is a book banner and a negligent Mother, the media have been smearing this woman daily since she stepped out onto the national stage. One recent Politico attack on Palin was made up solely of the claim that she was once mean to someone... yes, Politico actually was trying to say that their report was serious.

In any case, I'd like to present and knock down some of the swift-skirt attacks the media is launching. So, in no particular order...

Lie- Palin Slashed spending for teen moms from $5 million dollars to $3.9 million in the Alaska state budget.

Truth- Palin actually increased by three-fold the budget for the Covenant House teen pregnancy programs. What she "cut" was the Covenant House's request for $5 million! Palin's $3.9 million was still a massive increase from the previous budget.

Lie- Palin belonged to the Alaska Independence Party, a group that wants Alaska to secede from the United States.

Truth- The Governor's political registration shows that she has been a Republican since 1982 and she has never been a member of the AIP, though he husband has in the past.

Lie- Palin wants Creationism taught in school alongside of the Theory of Evolution.

Truth- Palin has spoken in favor of open discussion in the classroom of the two competing ideas, but has never spoken for, advocated for, or tried to make a policy that would make Alaska's schools add creationism to their curriculum. Palin quote: "I don't think there should be a prohibition against debate if it comes up in class. It doesn't have to be part of the curriculum."

Lie- Palin was so mired in controversy as a mayor that she was almost recalled while mayor of Wasilla.

Truth- Only a small number of Wasilla residents supported the recall effort and the idea died stillborn.

Lie- Palin cheated on her husband with her husband’s former business partner. This man had his divorce papers sealed to hide Palin’s affair.

Truth- Turns out it is untrue and the reason the man wanted his divorce papers sealed is to prevent the media from intruding into his life and the life of his young son.

Lie- Palin faked her recent pregnancy to cover for an out-of-wedlock birth of her teenaged daughter.

Truth- Many eyewitnesses and photos easily debunk this story. And even if you didn't believe that, the fact that Palin's daughter is pregnant NOW makes it physically impossible that she could have had a baby earlier in the year.

Lie- Palin was a supporter of Pat Buchanan when he ran for president in 1999.

Truth- Palin actually supported Steve Forbes in 1999 and was the co-chair on his Alaska campaign.

Lie- Palin is hiding her real religion from the public. She claims to be "just" a Christian, but is really a Pentecostal.

Truth- Palin left the Pentecostal Church she belonged to in Alaska 6 years ago.

Lie- Palin wanted a long, long list of books to be banned in the Wassilla library.

Truth- Palin did ask the library about what the process might be to ban a book, but the long list of books being circulated to "prove" she wanted books banned is really a list of all the books that have been banned at one time or another over the last 100 years. In fact, as far as the Harry Potter Books on that list goes, some of them came out after Palin left the office of Mayor of Wasilla.

Lie- Palin is lying when she says she sold the state's jet plane on ebay.

Truth- Palin never said she sold the jet on ebay. She says she put it up to sell on ebay. And she did. But it didn't sell there. The state sold it in a private sale to Larry Reynolds.

These are just some of the lies that the media are trying to sell us to swift-skit Sarah Palin. They cannot stand to see a strong woman like Sarah that actually got to the top by her own efforts... as opposed to some female Senators who got where she is because her philandering, but powerful husband paved the way for her.

There are surely others I've missed, I know, and if you readers have some, post them and I'll add them here. (Give supporting links if you can)