FactCheck: Off Base on Sex Ed
FactCheck.org
September 10, 2008
A McCain campaign ad claims Obama's "one accomplishment" was a bill to teach sex ed to kindergarten kids. Don't believe it.
Summary
A McCain-Palin campaign ad claims Obama's "one accomplishment" in the area of education was "legislation to teach 'comprehensive sex education' to kindergarteners." But the claim is simply false, and it dates back to Alan Keyes' failed race against Obama for an open Senate seat in 2004.
Obama, contrary to the ad's insinuation, does not support explicit sex education for kindergarteners. And the bill, which would have allowed only "age appropriate" material and a no-questions-asked opt-out policy for parents, was not his accomplishment to claim in any case, since he was not even a cosponsor – and the bill never left the state Senate.
In addition, the ad quotes unflattering assessments of the Illinois senator's record on education but leaves out sometimes equally harsh criticism directed at McCain in the same forums.
Read the rest of the story:
FactCheck: Off Base on Sex Ed
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
FactCheck: McCain-Palin Distorts Our Finding
McCain-Palin Distorts Our Finding
FactCheck.org
September 10, 2008
Those attacks on Palin that we debunked didn't come from Obama.
Summary
A McCain-Palin ad has FactCheck.org calling Obama's attacks on Palin "completely false" and "misleading." That's what we said, but it wasn't about Obama.
Our article criticized anonymous e-mail falsehoods and bogus claims about Palin posted around the Internet. We have no evidence that any of the claims we found to be false came from the Obama campaign.
The McCain-Palin ad also twists a quote from a Wall Street Journal columnist. He said the Obama camp had sent a team to Alaska to "dig into her record and background." The ad quotes the WSJ as saying the team was sent to "dig dirt."
Update, Sept. 10: Furthermore, the Obama campaign insists that no researchers have been sent to Alaska and that the Journal owes them a correction.
Read the rest of the story:
McCain-Palin Distorts Our Finding
FactCheck.org
September 10, 2008
Those attacks on Palin that we debunked didn't come from Obama.
Summary
A McCain-Palin ad has FactCheck.org calling Obama's attacks on Palin "completely false" and "misleading." That's what we said, but it wasn't about Obama.
Our article criticized anonymous e-mail falsehoods and bogus claims about Palin posted around the Internet. We have no evidence that any of the claims we found to be false came from the Obama campaign.
The McCain-Palin ad also twists a quote from a Wall Street Journal columnist. He said the Obama camp had sent a team to Alaska to "dig into her record and background." The ad quotes the WSJ as saying the team was sent to "dig dirt."
Update, Sept. 10: Furthermore, the Obama campaign insists that no researchers have been sent to Alaska and that the Journal owes them a correction.
Read the rest of the story:
McCain-Palin Distorts Our Finding
Palin's gas pipeline is still not done deal
Palin's gas pipeline is still not done deal
From wire reports
Sept. 10, 2008, 9:47PM
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee, has sought to burnish her executive credentials by telling how she had engineered the deal that jump-started a long-delayed gas pipeline project.
Stretching more than 1,700 miles, it would deliver natural gas from the North Slope of Alaska to the lower 48 states and be the largest private-sector infrastructure project on the continent.
Palin has asserted the pipeline will help lead America toward energy independence.
An examination of the project has found that she has overstated both the progress that has been made and the certainty of success.
The pipeline exists only on paper. The first section has yet to be laid, federal approvals are years away, and the pipeline will not be completed for at least a decade.
In fact, the pipeline might never be built.
Read the rest of the story:
Palin's gas pipeline is still not done deal
From wire reports
Sept. 10, 2008, 9:47PM
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee, has sought to burnish her executive credentials by telling how she had engineered the deal that jump-started a long-delayed gas pipeline project.
Stretching more than 1,700 miles, it would deliver natural gas from the North Slope of Alaska to the lower 48 states and be the largest private-sector infrastructure project on the continent.
Palin has asserted the pipeline will help lead America toward energy independence.
An examination of the project has found that she has overstated both the progress that has been made and the certainty of success.
The pipeline exists only on paper. The first section has yet to be laid, federal approvals are years away, and the pipeline will not be completed for at least a decade.
In fact, the pipeline might never be built.
Read the rest of the story:
Palin's gas pipeline is still not done deal
Palin's Book-banning Efforts, Redux
Palin's Book-banning Efforts, Redux
By Steve Benen CBS News Online
Sep 11, 2008
(Political Animal) PALIN'S BOOK-BANNING EFFORTS, REDUX.... Here's what we know about Sarah Palin's interest in banning books. Time reported last week that Palin asked the Wasilla librarian, Mary Ellen Baker, about the process for banning library books. Baker was reportedly "aghast" at the question. Soon after taking office, Palin, according to a New York Times report, fired Baker, and news reports from the time indicate that Palin thought Baker hadn't done enough to give her "full support" to the mayor.
Palin reversed course on Baker's dismissal after a local outcry, and later said the discussions about banning books were "rhetorical."
Yesterday, ABC News' Brian Ross moved the ball forward a bit, with an interesting report.
Ross emphasized an angle I previously hadn't heard much about. Palin was elected mayor thanks in large part to the strong backing of her church, the Wasilla Assembly of God, which, right around the time Palin took office, "began to focus on certain books available in local stores and in the town library, including one called 'Go Ask Alice,' and another one written by a local pastor, Howard Bess, called 'Pastor, I am Gay.'"
Palin became mayor, her church was interested in censorship, and soon after, Palin asked a "rhetorical" question about how books might be excluded from the public library. When the librarian resisted, she was, at least initially, fired.
The line from the McCain campaign has been that Palin never had any interest whatsoever in banning library books. That seems increasingly difficult to believe.
Check out the video at:
Palin's Book-banning Efforts, Redux
By Steve Benen CBS News Online
Sep 11, 2008
(Political Animal) PALIN'S BOOK-BANNING EFFORTS, REDUX.... Here's what we know about Sarah Palin's interest in banning books. Time reported last week that Palin asked the Wasilla librarian, Mary Ellen Baker, about the process for banning library books. Baker was reportedly "aghast" at the question. Soon after taking office, Palin, according to a New York Times report, fired Baker, and news reports from the time indicate that Palin thought Baker hadn't done enough to give her "full support" to the mayor.
Palin reversed course on Baker's dismissal after a local outcry, and later said the discussions about banning books were "rhetorical."
Yesterday, ABC News' Brian Ross moved the ball forward a bit, with an interesting report.
Ross emphasized an angle I previously hadn't heard much about. Palin was elected mayor thanks in large part to the strong backing of her church, the Wasilla Assembly of God, which, right around the time Palin took office, "began to focus on certain books available in local stores and in the town library, including one called 'Go Ask Alice,' and another one written by a local pastor, Howard Bess, called 'Pastor, I am Gay.'"
Palin became mayor, her church was interested in censorship, and soon after, Palin asked a "rhetorical" question about how books might be excluded from the public library. When the librarian resisted, she was, at least initially, fired.
The line from the McCain campaign has been that Palin never had any interest whatsoever in banning library books. That seems increasingly difficult to believe.
Check out the video at:
Palin's Book-banning Efforts, Redux
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
The day McCain’s party blew its political advantage
The day McCain’s party blew its political advantage
By James Carville
Financial Times
September 9, 2008
As they say, Republicans were willing to put “being” above “well-being”. They would say: “[Insert name of Democrat] is inexperienced. They may give you what you want on economic or social programmes, but they are not up to the task of protecting our country.” No matter how untrue or how scurrilously achieved, their branding of Democratic candidates has worked.
Then Mr McCain picked Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. We often say September 11 2001 changed the world (and it did); we can now say August 29 2008 changed the future of the Republican party for ever. To pacify some talk radio blowhards and the pro-life crowd, the party has thrown away 60 years of successful branding. To count my reaction as stunned or flummoxed would be me just searching for an adjective. Before Mr McCain’s shockingly unimpressive selection of Ms Palin, the Republicans’ case was that, in a world with three critical wars (Iraq, Afghanistan and terrorism), Democrats are weak on defence and lack a commitment to winning – and all the other trite phrases we have been subjected to.
But in Ms Palin the Republicans have a candidate who is a heartbeat (of a 72-year-old heart) away from the presidency, who has left North America only once. Her experience includes a mixed mayoral record in Wasilla, a town with a population of 7,000, and a half-term gubernatorial record in a state with the population of Memphis. And do not forget her vast experiences with machine-guns. Although we disagree politically, she seems well intentioned and well liked in Alaska. And I am sure she is a great parent and hockey mom. But a heartbeat away from commander-in-chief of a country fighting wars on multiple fronts?
Read the rest of the story:
The day McCain’s party blew its political advantage
By James Carville
Financial Times
September 9, 2008
As they say, Republicans were willing to put “being” above “well-being”. They would say: “[Insert name of Democrat] is inexperienced. They may give you what you want on economic or social programmes, but they are not up to the task of protecting our country.” No matter how untrue or how scurrilously achieved, their branding of Democratic candidates has worked.
Then Mr McCain picked Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. We often say September 11 2001 changed the world (and it did); we can now say August 29 2008 changed the future of the Republican party for ever. To pacify some talk radio blowhards and the pro-life crowd, the party has thrown away 60 years of successful branding. To count my reaction as stunned or flummoxed would be me just searching for an adjective. Before Mr McCain’s shockingly unimpressive selection of Ms Palin, the Republicans’ case was that, in a world with three critical wars (Iraq, Afghanistan and terrorism), Democrats are weak on defence and lack a commitment to winning – and all the other trite phrases we have been subjected to.
But in Ms Palin the Republicans have a candidate who is a heartbeat (of a 72-year-old heart) away from the presidency, who has left North America only once. Her experience includes a mixed mayoral record in Wasilla, a town with a population of 7,000, and a half-term gubernatorial record in a state with the population of Memphis. And do not forget her vast experiences with machine-guns. Although we disagree politically, she seems well intentioned and well liked in Alaska. And I am sure she is a great parent and hockey mom. But a heartbeat away from commander-in-chief of a country fighting wars on multiple fronts?
Read the rest of the story:
The day McCain’s party blew its political advantage
Palin's Book-banning Efforts
Palin's Book-banning Efforts
By Steve Benen CBS News
Sep 9, 2008
PALIN'S BOOK-BANNING EFFORTS.... There's been a list making the rounds lately, showing books that Sarah Palin allegedly tried to ban from Wasilla's public library during her mayoral tenure. The list isn't true, and in some instances, doesn't even make sense (some the books hadn't even been published in 1996, when the incident is alleged to have occurred).
The McCain campaign is apparently aware of the rumor, and is pushing back.
The McCain-Palin team is continuing its pushback campaign against stories about VP nominee Sarah Palin that have taken on a life of their own on the Internet.On Monday, they sent reporters a memo in response to reports that the Wasilla, Alaska resident had tried to ban a lengthy list of books when she was mayor of that town.
"This is categorically false. The fact is that as Mayor, Palin never asked anyone to ban a book and not one book was ever banned, period," McCain campaign spokesman Brian Rogers said, directing reporters to campaign research "debunking this smear."
While the purported list is bogus, we do know that something happened with regards to Palin and at least a question about book banning.
Time reported last week, for example, that Palin asked the Wasilla librarian, Mary Ellen Baker, about the process for banning books. Baker was reportedly "aghast" at the question. Soon after taking office, Palin, according to a New York Times report, fired Baker, and news reports from the time indicate that Palin thought Baker hadn't done enough to give her "full support" to the mayor.
Palin reversed course on Baker's dismissal after a local outcry, and later said the discussions about banning books were "rhetorical."
I can understand why the McCain campaign is pushing back against a bogus list that's making the rounds. Deceptive claims are deceptive claims, no matter who the target is. But as long as McCain aides are talking about this issue, maybe they can answer a couple of additional questions, such as, "Why did Palin try to fire the librarian in the first place?" Or how about, "Why did Palin broach the subject of book-banning if she had no intention of trying to ban books?"
Read the story at:
Palin's Book-banning Efforts
By Steve Benen CBS News
Sep 9, 2008
PALIN'S BOOK-BANNING EFFORTS.... There's been a list making the rounds lately, showing books that Sarah Palin allegedly tried to ban from Wasilla's public library during her mayoral tenure. The list isn't true, and in some instances, doesn't even make sense (some the books hadn't even been published in 1996, when the incident is alleged to have occurred).
The McCain campaign is apparently aware of the rumor, and is pushing back.
The McCain-Palin team is continuing its pushback campaign against stories about VP nominee Sarah Palin that have taken on a life of their own on the Internet.On Monday, they sent reporters a memo in response to reports that the Wasilla, Alaska resident had tried to ban a lengthy list of books when she was mayor of that town.
"This is categorically false. The fact is that as Mayor, Palin never asked anyone to ban a book and not one book was ever banned, period," McCain campaign spokesman Brian Rogers said, directing reporters to campaign research "debunking this smear."
While the purported list is bogus, we do know that something happened with regards to Palin and at least a question about book banning.
Time reported last week, for example, that Palin asked the Wasilla librarian, Mary Ellen Baker, about the process for banning books. Baker was reportedly "aghast" at the question. Soon after taking office, Palin, according to a New York Times report, fired Baker, and news reports from the time indicate that Palin thought Baker hadn't done enough to give her "full support" to the mayor.
Palin reversed course on Baker's dismissal after a local outcry, and later said the discussions about banning books were "rhetorical."
I can understand why the McCain campaign is pushing back against a bogus list that's making the rounds. Deceptive claims are deceptive claims, no matter who the target is. But as long as McCain aides are talking about this issue, maybe they can answer a couple of additional questions, such as, "Why did Palin try to fire the librarian in the first place?" Or how about, "Why did Palin broach the subject of book-banning if she had no intention of trying to ban books?"
Read the story at:
Palin's Book-banning Efforts
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
