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September 9, 2008

Palin's plane wreck

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Somerby demolishes the "Palin sold Alaska's plane on eBay" myth.

Palin didn’t “sell” the jet on eBay—and she didn’t make a profit. Indeed, she lost money for the state of Alaska when she tried to sell the jet on eBay—a procedure that had long been the norm when the state sold its assets.

In short, the eBay story is basically bogus, like the tale of the Bridge to Nowhere. But these stories exist for an obvious reason; they exist to define Palin as “a woman with a lot of guts”—with a ton of hockey-mom savvy. These stories are effective politics—but then too, they’re basically lies.

Somerby's catalog of the mindless repetitions of this bullshit in the press is breathtaking. (Scroll down to "Sold Through eBay.") If the Obama camp can relocate its balls, it should hit hard on a parallel narrative that's taking form as new facts emerge: Palin has a long history of wasting taxpayer money. And now she and John McCain are lying about this to win an election.

Update: In Palin's defense, she does not always waste taxpayer money. Under her leadership, Wasilla took the maverick step of charging sexual assault victims for their own rape kits. Wait... what?

Fuck, I'd (subterraneously) hit Palin on the Alaska Independence Party too. The flamboyant appeals to patriotism, paired with lies about Obama's supposed lack thereof, make this a legitimate issue. Hypothetical push-poll question for Republican voters: If Michelle Obama belonged to an avowedly anti-American organization, and Barack Obama had twice addressed that organization in his capacity as an elected official, urging it to "keep up the good work," would that make you more or less likely to vote for Obama?

So how can you not be troubled by the Palins' involvement with the Alaksa Independence Organization? Other than that they're not Muslim — as far as I know.


Posted by Daniel Radosh

Comments

But they know they've already lost fact-oriented voters. Lying can only enhance their statures with whomever it is they're courting. [it's all a matter of giving racists some excuse to tell people why they're not voting for Obama and instead going with George Bush, Supersenior, and the Alaskan Canned Ham Experience]

I don't think so. It's true that McCain made a calculated effort to shore up the GOP's right flank, and that tactic worked. He probably couldn't have won the election without doing that.

But he can still lose the election in the middle, and those voters will respond to the "maverick" pitch, unless they realize it's horseshit.

Palin's never lied about the jet. She said she listed it on eBay, which is true. McCain got it wrong, but that's no worse than Obama miscounting the 57 states.

Don't get all Clintonian on us, Ted. Making a technically accurate statement in a manner designed to mislead is what any normal person would call a lie. McCain's follow-up lie is a lie not because, like Obama, he misspoke, but because, as Somerby notes, he said explicitly what Palin wanted everyone to believe.

That's not coincidence: as Somerby demonstrates, the media hordes ALL made the same "mistake." But I'm sure you can dig up the memo from the McCain campaign asking them to correct this error...

And if you insist on standing on technicalities, well then, I never said Palin lied about the jet, so what's your beef?

In a perfect world this Bob Somerby fellow would have his own show.

I'm not talking about the base, I'm talking about that segment of the middle with neither the time nor the inclination to do even the most rudimentary fact-checking.

The founder of the Alaska Independence Party was murdered while trying to buy plastic explosives. The implication is that he was engaged in DOMESTIC TERRORISM.

The NY Times covered the story when his body was discovered. More at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Vogler
Remember, this is the Party that Todd Palin belonged to for much of the 1990s, and which Sarah Palin "blessed" with a video message earlier this year.

This is something that every one should be discussing.

Well, she did in fact sell the plane, bringing in $2.1 million for the state, saving future costs, and throwing herself onto commercial flights (I think she flies coach, too).

The accusations of lies, etc. here only go to prove an old saying:
N O__G O O D__D E E D__G O E S__U N P U N I S H E D!

poptart: the sale of the plane was fait accompli before Palin took office. By letting it sit on eBay (which to be fair was the standard method of disposing of assets, not her innovation), she lost $62,000 in fees.

It's fine that Alaska sold its jet, but it says noting at all about Palin as a reformer.

I think you're wrong about it being 'fait accompli.' From what I read, the plane was bought by the previous gov. and she had promised to sell when she ran against him in the primary. After she won, she did exactly that. I have never sold a used jet, but I've sold cars that I owned, and rarely does the transaction go without a few kinks.

No wonder politicians so rarely do the right thing. If they do, they get slimed by their enemies regardless.

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