Sean Hannity Tries to Cover for Palin’s Lies About Genocide
Imagine how our friend Representative Les Gara felt when he returnd from a peaceful fishing trip to find that Sean Hannity and the Palin apologists over at Conservatives4Palin were calling him a “liar”. That in itself means nothing, of course – only that someone said something less than flattering about Sarah Palin, and knees jerked in response. Remember, these are the people that go on Wikipedia and literally attempt to change history rather than admit that Sarah Palin utters anything but the unvarnished truth. But just on principle lets set the record straight. It’ll be a nice treat for the Foxites and Palinbots to get something they don’t get on their websites – what the rest of the world calls “facts”.
In the 2008 VP debate, Sarah Palin, who had next to no foreign policy experience, tried to bolster her credentials by claiming that
“When I and others in the legislature found out we had some millions of dollars in Sudan, we called for divestment through legislation of those dollars to make sure we weren’t doing anything that would be seen as condoning the activities there in Darfur.”
–Sarah Palin, Oct. 2, 2008, VP Debate.
The Mudflats, ABC News, the Washington Post and others took note that it wasn’t really true. You can refresh your memory and follow the links HERE.
Buckle up for their new spin. We’ll start, though, with the facts.
In 2006, members of Congress wrote Governor Elect Palin and asked that she join other states in divesting state funds from those companies doing business in the Sudan, and that were aiding in financing the Sudanese military’s genocide in Darfur. No American companies were included in this list, because Congress had banned American investments in companies that were aiding in the Darfur genocide. Divesting state funds from the few foreign companies doing genocide-related business with the Sudan should have been pretty easy.
In 2007 Rep. Les Gara (D) and Rep. Bob Lynn (R) announced that they were going to file a bi-partisan bill to divest state assets from those foreign companies, and they did so in January, 2008, in a pre-filed bill before the January legislative session had even started. Meanwhile, the Alaska Chapter of the Save Darfur Coalition met with the Palin Administration to try to get them on board with divestment in December, 2007. What should have been a moral no-brainer turned out to be more difficult than anyone had anticipated. The efforts failed, as did the letter writing campaign they started that month.
Then, in early 2008 Gara spoke with a Senior Administration Official in the legislature, and asked for Palin’s support for this effort. He was told the request would be relayed to the Governor. Gara received no positive response. In fact, he received the opposite.
In February, 2008, the Palin Admiinistration sent Deputy Commissioner Brian Andrews to testify AGAINST the Gara/Lynn Bill, arguing that the administration didn’t believe in “social” investing. They took the position the state should invest in whatever companies the state pension fund, and Permanent Fund wanted. Their sole responsibility, the Deputy Commissioner testified, was to maximize their investment profits. The Permanent Fund, on which Administration members sit as Board members, also opposed the effort in committee, on the same grounds.
The Palin Administration “found out” about Alaska’s link to the Darfur Genocide in 2006, and 2007, and in early 2008. And did nothing. Actually, they did worse than nothing. They actively opposed the very thing that Sarah Palin claimed she supported later in the October Vice Presidential debate.
Gara worked hard to keep this issue alive, as did Lynn and the Save Darfur Coalition. They used the press to put pressure on Palin and the Legislature. They held a big rally on the Capitol steps in Juneau, calling for divestment. Finally, by late March, 2008, Palin said she’d support Gara and Lynn’s effort – too late for the bill to pass given that the session was over in April. So the bill, which the Administration testified against when it had a chance of passing, died. Kudos to Palin for coming around eventually… after it was too late. Shame for claiming she supported the effort to stop genocide-related investment “once she found out” about it.
So, why has this issue suddenly come up again?
Last week the Parnell Administration finally got around to releasing a bunch of e-mails from Palin’s term. Her most partisan supporters are seizing on one – a late-March, 2008, e-mail in which Palin tells another administration member she’d support the Divestment effort. Sean Hannity’s Blog and the Conservatives4Palin, claim this March, 2008, e-mail proves all the bad press she got in 2008 was untrue.
Reaching that conclusion came easily. All they have to do is get a shovel (their writing implement of choice) and bury a lot of facts. The e-mail they cite simply confirms what was reported in 2008. But, when called on for help in 2006, 2007 and early 2008, The Palin Administration ignored the pleas to take a stand on Alaska’s investment in genocide. Her Administration then testified AGAINST the Divestment effort, saying profits were more important than victims.
As Gara said back in 2008, that “new” March, 2008, e-mail shows she came around on the issue, unfortunately with only a few weeks left in the 2008 legislative session, when it was too late to help get the bill passed.
So, when Palin claimed during the VP debate that she proudly took action “once [she] found out” about Alaska’s Darfur-related investments – the press was right then, and now, to question the veracity of that statement. It seems that despite bipartisan pleas to do the right thing, she took NO action for 2 whole years. Actually, it shows her Administration took the wrong action.
Hannity and the Palinbots twist the truth, because that’s what they do for their favorite candidate. But, they can’t change the facts.
So thanks to all those whose moral compass points north, and who were working hard to encourage the Palin administration to take a stand against genocide. And we won’t hold our collective breath for the apology that is owed Les Gara from those who find it easier to try to change history than to acknowledge their own mistakes.
So has $arah even quit her magic Bus Trip?
Will there be a Netroots nation post in the next day or so? The netroots website has no updated info regarding content. I see agendas and schedules but no press. Just wondering what was talked about and discussed.
We’re not allowed to tell you.
Yes. I’ve got one coming in a couple hours, and a couple after that. I was busier than I’ve ever been at this Netroots and didn’t get much actual blogging done while I was there. 🙁
Just for a moment, imagine SP as Pres ( ok,ok free barf bags for everyone),,,holding her first press conferenece….the camera pans over the press corp room………….. and lo and behold, theres only ONE reporter in the room..from Fox news, of course !!! Think of all the $$ that will be saved from no traffic jams due to news vehicles parking everywhere !
Do those barf bags come in XXL?
ZYX…. you’re too petite to need a XXL !! 🙂
You’d think that since she read all those news papers that covered what was going on during the legislativesession, she would have known when it first came up….
Oh.
“Never mind.”
Rosann Rosanadanna
Good point Marnie – she did say she “read all of ’em”.
Oh gosh, I really do miss Gilda.
why does Palin get away with it? well, as much as I hate to agree with Palin on anything, her assessment of the mainstream media as lame is, if anything, generous. While Americans are dying in combat, our media is fixated on twitter pictures of a Congressman’s bulging shorts. While the economy struggles to come up for air, the media trails Palin’s tour bus around New England, hoping for another goofy quote. We don’t have journalism anymore. We have entertainment corporations. Some, like Fox, have political agendas and make money by pretending they don’t. Most of the others have no agenda but pandering for viewers. So Paris Hilton, the Kardashian sisters, and Charley Sheen’s draw “serious journalists”, and Sarah Palin, with her stunning 55+% negative poll numbers and lack of even the most minimal qualifications for national office is treated like a serious candidate. Palin will go on claiming she was never for the Bridge to Nowhere, that she built a gas pipeline and that she tried to divest Alaska of stocks supporting genocidal regimes. The talking heads at the networks and the celebrity reporters at the New York Times and Washington Post will go on sagely nodding their heads and dutifully writing it down.
I think you are on the right track about all the news media – and I do not include Fox in that group. Nothing they do is really news. But for the rest of them, I think the problem isn’t so much that they cover all these gossipy stories, but that they are on the air too much. It puts them in a position of having to talk about something and so everything and everyone becomes “newsworthy”. Back in the day of better news coverage, the reporters or anchors were only on the air a couple of hours each day. That gave them time to do some research and to weed out the stories that really didn’t deserve coverage off the society page of a local newspaper. Our insatiable thirst for information is partly responsible for much of the nonsense that is put out there as news. The problem now is how to cut it all back to something that is reasonable and appropriate.
“The problem now is how to cut it all back to something that is reasonable and appropriate.” —
That, — and how to regain a sense of priority. It should be a no-brainer that the economy and three wars deserve more air time than the Kardashians.
But remember, folks, we still have some good ones left out there. Rachel, Ed, Lawrence, and now Keith is back on Current.
Courage, ‘flatters. Keep up the scrutiny…thanks AKM for continuing the work that you do.
They keep saying that there is nothing in those e-mails that were released, but yet ignore the fact that T Palin had his nose in Gov business. When is the media going to ask——Who was running the show when she was Gov of Alaska?
Answer: Sarah and Todd ran the show, but Frank Bailey, Meg Stapleton, Sharon L(whatever), and the others I can’t recall right now followed the orders, did most of the work and SP took the credit. I just finished Frank Bailey’s book and recommend it strongly. Paints an ugly picture of the inner workings of the Palin pathologies.
Has anyone seen an armchair diagnosis of the Palin (both S & T) pathologies explained? I’m sure she and he must fit into some clinical psychological diagnoses. A social worker I know once said she didn’t like SP because she “wasn’t a good mother”. Examples were given and I felt, well, there might be addition information in those examples that we aren’t privy to. However, after Bailey’s book, the social worker was probably right on. It sounded like Bailey spent more time worrying about the amount of time she spent with her kids than she did.
Can we just have “no more sarah” all of the time? She doesn’t deserve the credibility people give her by paying attention to her inanity. If she is dumb enough to actually run for office again (and I expect she will) we can start talking about her. Until then, maybe we can just ignore her knowing that it will drive her crazy to be ignored. She hates being attacked, or even mentioned in a way that questions whether she is God, but she hates to be ignored even more.
John, I agree 100% when you suggest that ” we just have â��no more sarahâ�� all of the time? She doesnâ��t deserve the credibility people give her by paying attention to her inanity”. Alas, that is only a dream in this publicity-seeking day and age with it’s media that is dulling people’s minds. The fact that Palin receives such an attention shows that no lesson has been learned regarding Bush.
jeezus………I am even sick of her.
right there with you – 🙂
Couldn’t agree more Irish. I think we need an exorcist.
Jeanne, I want to make sure you are aware of ‘sarahbox.com’ as to all the emails that have been released. Works beautifully for research.
Lor’ a’mighty! That woman has a chin goiter.
This is why it’s so all-fired imperative that those who *know* the history, speak up! And speak up as our AKM does: L.O.U.D.L.Y!
With the “Grand Palin E-Mail Dump,” the media enlisted volunteers around the nation (and world) to assist their staff by going through the pages to find a ‘smoking gun’ or two. None were found – surprise, surprise! (‘Hey, Mr. Jones [AKA, unbeknownst to ‘recruiters’, a HUGE Palin-fan!] — you got a couple of hours to volunteer to help the media? Want to read through some of her emails and tell us what you find? Right, then, we so appreciate your input — you are helping us get to the bottom of this. Sincerely, media who doesn’t know you from a hole in the ground.’)
All along, the bots kept saying: “You’ll find nothing in those e-mails but a hard-working governor doing the work of the people.” Within 36-hours of the Dump, the media came out and stated: “There is nothing in those e-mails but a hard working governor doing the work of the people.”
The bots then said: “See, we told you there was nothing there,” and the media responded with: ‘You were right; there’s nothing there and this is a total non-story, We’re going to give her a (de facto) “pass” on these e-mails, and with the ‘proof’ of how hard she worked for her people, we’ll now double-down on our coverage and exposure of her every word (as we’ve always done): as informed, knowledgeable, and vitally important to our nation’s discourse.’
Ya’ know, I think $P knew how [potentially] damaging the Grand Palin E-Mail Dump could be to her. We’ve all seen how she reacts when something is about to come charging at her — she is either deathly quiet or she hyper-activities all over twitter and Fb. With the dump looming, what does she do? She goes on a hastily-arranged (and terribly poorly executed) bus ‘tour’ of “historical sites” so she can come off as an uber patriot on twitter and Fb, while her bots and flying monkeys prepare to make pre-approved statements and fend off any questions about the e-mails.
Lucky, lucky, lucky $arah! Because the media no longer throughly investigates information that’s been handed to them on a silver platter, she, once again, walks off smelling like a rose. Had the media not been so hasty in ‘clearing’ her, had they investigated –or waited for– the *history* of her actions and non-actions, she’d right-soon be holed up in one of her homes with her tail between her legs. As it is, though…
Media asked for no ‘back story’, asked for no Yahoo e-mails, asked for no ‘insider’ help, asked for no corroboration from *other* parties/sources, asked for no…
In the meanwhile, our own dear AKM is slogging through the moosecr@p –still!– to put $P and her divisive, deflective, demented self in context…both historical and actual. Our own dear AKM does this –for us all!– because she *knows* how incredibly important the TRUTH is. And the media (and by default, citizens) just go merrily on their way without a clue in the world as to how viscious, soul-ugly, and not-worthy-of-squat!, let alone anyone’s time and energy, is $P. [/rant] beth.
PLEASE be ready to spread this info because when she goes to Darfur with Grifter’s Purse, she WILL repeat this lie. Count on it.
Good point.
It is possible she didn’t find out about it until March of 08….because no one told her because Todd and Ivy were the Governor and she was busy making anonymous blog posts to clean up her image.
Oh, more of those pesky ‘facts.’ Palin is far too busy with her grand schemes to be bothered by facts. I think at this point she gets away with it because there is such a pile of lies it’s hard to, in fact, find anything she says that is rooted in fact. Plus, of course, she’s just a ‘concerned private citizen and can’t figure out why the media is so durn fascinated with my flippin’ tirades.’ Yeah, Sarah, I wonder that too. Maybe it has to do with the fact that you plan to run for Preisdent, and we really don’t want a pathological liar with a following of slobbering idiots running this country into the ground.
Exactly. I’d like never to hear any more news about her, but as long as she’s still a prominent political force, those telling the truth about her record need to stay vigilant and keep getting the message out.
to quote stephen colbert….”facts have a liberal bias”…..
$arah Palin – working her Triple D’s again
(and no, that isn’t her cup size)
Deny – nope, didn’t say that – nope, didn’t happen that way
Deflect – ohhh look over there
Destroy – the person who was on the other side
I hope this writing gets picked up by Huffington Post,
Loved ‘Mike from Iowa”s reference to Palin’s ‘heart of a lyin’! Clever!
Thanks for the reminder AKM. Lest we forget.
Nice picture of Palin-the mama grizzly with the heart of a lyin’.
Well, of course she was lying. Her lips were moving, after all.
If she ever really decides to run for President, I look forward to the day when she does have to face the rest of the media and not get the velvet glove treatment from Faux News. Maybe she can give it a run at talking with Charlie Gibson again. In any event, she won’t be able to avoid the rest of the media forever.
And THAT is why she can never really run for President.
She’ll string her ‘bots along as long as she possibly can, maybe even declare her candidacy (‘presidential candidate’ likely WOULD bring in more in speaking fees), and then quit as soon as she can for some vague and confusing reason that will make her fans swoon with admiration.
I’m convinced she will not be running. Did you all notice that all the weekend talking heads completely ignored her and her name did not even show up in that New Orleans shindig the Republican Leaders had this weekend? I don’t think she even had one vote in their straw poll. She has been silent on Twitter (not sure about FB, as I don’t do it).
What must her bots be thinking? Ms. Palin has been very quiet but her PAC is still begging for money. Hmmmmmmm……..
Will there ever come a day when someone can ask Palin about things such as this face to face in front of a camera?
Probably not…Fox News will not ask her anything tough and the other news outlets are “lame” so she’ll never have to be held accountable. And every time the media tried to find out anything about her, or her positions and record they are obviously unfairly attacking her. She has too many defenders who will lie to protect her that it is frightening.
Not if she can help it. That’s her game and she’s sticking to it. Frustrating and scary at the same time.
Seriously how deluded can people get? At some point, in the middle of attempting to fiddle with Wikipedia so that it matches some nonsense Palin has spewed – do they NOT realise, hey, this is INSANE! Why am I going all these lengths for her?! If I have to go around changing public records to suit what SHE says…..maybe she’s not telling the truth?!?
Good grief.
Read Frank Bailey’s book. He talks about some of the things they did (writing their own praising letters to the editor, villifying anyone who disagreed with the princess, etc.) and how he questioned it at the time, but went along with it because he believed in her “mission”. It’s like a cult and these people need to be deprogrammed.