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“A dream you dream alone is only a dream; a dream you dream together is reality.” — Yoko Ono
Sep
14
Surprise, Surprise: Palin Caught in Another Lie
Filed Under 2008 election, Republicans, class and economics, politics, rape and sexual assault, social conservatives, violence against women and girls | Posted by Cara |
You’ve probably read just about everywhere by now that while Sarah Palin was mayor of Wasilla, the city billed rape victims the $1200 fee for their rape kits. Of course, Palin has tried to sidestep the question and insinuate that she had nothing, nothing at all, to do with this mess. This was clearly bullshit from day one, since the mayor of such a small town (my town is tiny and still has 2,500 more people in it than Wasilla) really has no excuse for not knowing what the fuck is going on in it.
Oh, and then there’s the fact that there is now a verified paper trail showing Palin had a direct hand in the policy.
Under Sarah Palin’s administration, Wasilla cut funds that had previously paid for the medical exams and began charging victims or their health insurers the $500 to $1200 fees. Although Palin spokeswoman Maria Comella wrote USA Today earlier this week that the GOP vice presidential nominee “does not believe, nor has she ever believed, that rape victims should have to pay for an evidence-gathering test…To suggest otherwise is a deliberate misrepresentation of her commitment to supporting victims and bringing violent criminals to justice,” Palin, as mayor, fired police chief Irl Stambaugh and replaced him with Charlie Fannon, who with Palin’s knowledge, slashed the budget for the exams and began charging the city’s victims of sexual assault. The city budget documents demonstrate Palin read and signed off on the new budget. A year later, alarmed Alaska lawmakers passed legislation outlawing the practice.
News of the controversial policy has leaked slowly into the press this week as the presidential campaign has heated up and Palin’s record has been subject to increasing scrutiny. The practice of charging rape victims has called into question Palin’s stated commitment to women’s issues, her judgment as an executive and her honesty about her record.
The story of the Wasilla policy has made its way from comments on Daily Kos to the pages of USA Today. But clear evidence suggesting Palin knew Wasilla was charging the victims of sexual assault has been hard to find. Placing the city budget records, however, alongside a timetable of Palin’s firing Chief Stambaugh and hiring Chief Fannon makes it clear the policy was put in place as a direct result of Palin’s leadership.
Guess what? You sign off on a budget, Mayor, you’re responsible for knowing and defending everything that’s in it. You’re also responsible for the actions of the people you personally hire — particularly when the you fired the last guy on such fishy grounds of “not fully supporting [your] efforts to govern.” You know, the guy who like any remotely reasonable person felt that it was the government’s responsibility to pay the cost of criminal investigation, who was then replaced with the guy who felt that investigating rape and not treating victims like shit was a “burden” on taxpayers.
I guess we can just add this to the long, long list of the McCain campaign’s recent lies.
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“Men, their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less.” — Susan B. Anthony
I just keep hoping that people will listen to this and take it seriously. I just dont know if I have enough faith in the American people to care about all of these horrible policies that she is responsible for both directly and indirectly.
I seriously hope that the women defending Palin will take this seriously. Even if you agree with her anti woman pro life stance, how can you possibly support charging women for their rape kits. This is beyond anti woman this is hatred of women.
It’s an absolute implication that rape is not a matter of public concern, that investigating it shouldn’t be the police’s responsibility, and that women don’t deserve the protection of the law; there is no other way to interpret such a policy.
And damn straight it was Palin’s job to know whether this was happening under her jurisdiction (making her either complicit or grossly derelict).
I guess small-town mayors don’t have “actual responsibilities” after all.
When is Obama going to make an ad about this? There’s no shame in “going negative” if you’re actually exposing the truth (unlike McCain). McCain and Palin would be horrible leaders for women, and the public needs to know that.
I’m not surprised that Palin lied about her involvement in billing rape victims. Just like she lied about Troopergate. Just like she lied about trying to ban books from the Wasilla, Alaska library. Just like she lied about how she opposed the now-infamous “bridge to nowhere” in 2006.
That is yet another reason why John McCain and Sarah Palin must be defeated at all costs.
I read about charging rape victims over at Shakesville and I was furious. This is a slap in the face of rape victims.
And thinking about it, I’m not surprised that Palin lied about it.
But seriously, how can any woman okay something like that? Is she that out of touch that she didn’t realize how fucked up that is?
By reasoning that only sluts get raped, not decent women – and thus rape is an aspect of slutty lifestyles, and paying to investigate rape is tantamount to funding/supporting sluts. Or possibly a parallel argument about stupidity/intelligence.
So to answer your second question, yes, she is too out of touch to realise how fucked up that is.
And if anyone feels like telling me how this is an unwarranted assumption, no it’s not – it’s a warranted assumption, based on the fact that only in such twisted worldviews can policies like this be justified.
Nick, you’re right. But that’s so damn frustrating I just want to pound my head on my desk.
It’s so hard to wrap my head around the fact that people still think that way. This isn’t the Victorian Age, we’re supposed to know better. There’s another article about it over at Shakesville; it’d be funny if it weren’t so damn wrong.
Thought you’d like to see this… when you get back online. Good luck with that. buh.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jOTk11gvqDAgD0cY3i4WjI_2YOxwD937N8L80
Samhita at Feministinghas just posted about how Palin’s not the only one.
[...] #3: Yet another case of misogyny on Palin’s part (and yes, we know she’s responsible) that, of course, has intersections with classism and racism, that they’re not calling [...]
[...] Justice, Sexist, Violence Against Women, Women’s Rights — 300reasons @ 8:25 pm From The Curvature comes a great analysis of Sarah Palin’s involvement in charging rape victims in Wasilla for [...]
[...] H/t Feministe, The Curvature. [...]
[...] thrilled about it. Yes, even if it’s a mere attack ad against Sarah Palin, because the rape kit thing absolutely deserves to be attacked, as does her atrocious position on [...]
[...] the 2008 presidential race, due to the revelation that while Sarah Palin was mayor of Wasilla, rape victims were billed the $1,200 fee that should have been paid by the government. Since then, the media has substantially backed off [...]