Yahoo and AP Fact Check Palin Convention Speech |
Somebody better fact check the fact checkers |
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Editors published 9/4/2008 10:03:00 AM
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The article, Attacks, praise stretch truth at GOP convention
, by AP writer Jim Kuhnhenn, purports to be a fact check of the September 3, 2008 Palin Convention speech. But, most of it sounds like something emailed to him from the Obama campaign.
PALIN: "There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform — not even in the state senate."
THE FACTS: Compared to McCain and his two decades in the Senate [how did this get in here?], Obama does have a more meager record. But he has worked with Republicans to pass legislation [I thought we were talking about authoring legislation] that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles [so did 99 other Senators]. The legislation became law last year. To demean [demean?] that accomplishment would be to also demean the work of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, a respected foreign policy voice in the Senate. In Illinois, he was the leader on two big, contentious measures in Illinois: studying racial profiling by police and requiring recordings of interrogations in potential death penalty cases [so, two anti-police laws?]. He also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform legislation [details?].
Nothing in here about authoring legislation. Where is the Obama (Something Great) Act? I don't recall any divisive legislation where Obama took a stand.
This one is unbelievable.
MCCAIN: "She's the commander of the Alaska National Guard. ... She has been in charge, and she has had national security as one of her primary responsibilities," he said on ABC.
THE FACTS: While governors are in charge of their state guard units, that authority ends whenever those units are called to actual military service. When guard units are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, for example, they assume those duties under "federal status," which means they report to the Defense Department, not their governors. Alaska's national guard units have a total of about 4,200 personnel, among the smallest of state guard organizations.
The lead paragraph says: "Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her Republican supporters held back little Wednesday as they issued dismissive attacks on Barack Obama and flattering praise on her credentials to be vice president. In some cases, the reproach and the praise stretched the truth."
What does the above have to do with Wednesday night's speakers?
I can take a guess here that most of the National Guard is under Palin's control right now. How many National Guard troops are under the control of Obama or Biden?
And the next one is ridiculous.
MCCAIN: "She's been governor of our largest state, in charge of 20 percent of America's energy supply ... She's responsible for 20 percent of the nation's energy supply. I'm entertained by the comparison and I hope we can keep making that comparison that running a political campaign is somehow comparable to being the executive of the largest state in America," he said in an interview with ABC News' Charles Gibson.
THE FACTS: McCain's phrasing exaggerates both claims. Palin is governor of a state that ranks second nationally in crude oil production, but she's no more "responsible" for that resource than President Bush was when he was governor of Texas, another oil-producing state. In fact, her primary power is the ability to tax oil, which she did in concert with the Alaska Legislature. And where Alaska is the largest state in America, McCain could as easily have called it the 47th largest state — by population.
Again, what does this have to do with Wednesday night's speakers?
If Palin is not in charge of Alaska's oil, then who is? Is Alaska our largest state, or not?
I saved the best for last
FORMER ARKANSAS GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE: Palin "got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska than Joe Biden got running for president of the United States."
THE FACTS: A whopper. Palin got 616 votes in the 1996 mayor's election, and got 909 in her 1999 re-election race, for a total of 1,525. Biden dropped out of the race after the Iowa caucuses, but he still got 76,165 votes in 23 states and the District of Columbia where he was on the ballot during the 2008 presidential primaries.
I hope they keep bringing this up. A whopper? 76,125 votes?
The real truth is Joe Biden received 0.03% of the vote in 1984, 0.05% of the vote in 1988, and 0.22% of the vote in 2008 (81,641 votes). Dennis Kucinich, a man that announced that he believes in UFOs, received 27% more votes than Biden.
Is this AP guy a real journalist?
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