Donald L. Tripp, Lambertville
In typical Republican evasion of the real issues, Sarah Palin tried to impress us with her pit bull tactics by attacking Sen. Obama and Sen. Biden with lies during her speech at last Wednesday’s convention. Here are some interesting facts that the McCain crowd is trying to conceal.
1. Gov. Palin recently said that the war in Iraq is “God’s task.” She’s even admitted she hasn’t thought about the war much. Just last year she was quoted saying, “I’ve been so focused on state government, I haven’t really focused much on the war in Iraq.”
2. Gov. Palin has actively sought the support of the fringe Alaska Independence Party. Six months ago, she told members of the group who advocate for a vote on secession from the union to “keep up the good work” and wished the party luck on what she calledts “inspiring convention.”
3. Gov. Palin wants to teach creationism in public schools. She hasn’t made clear whether she thinks evolution is a fact.
4. Gov. Palin doesn’t believe that humans contribute to global warming. Speaking about climate change, she said, “I’m not one though who would attribute it to being manmade.”
5. Gov. Palin has close ties to Big Oil. Her inauguration was even sponsored by BP.
6. Gov. Palin is extremely anti-choice. She doesn’t even support abortion in the case of rape or incest.
7. Gov. Palin opposes comprehensive sex-ed in public schools. She’s said she will only support abstinence-only approaches. This approach obviously didn’t work with her own daughter so it brings to question her leadership qualities as a parent.
8. As mayor, Gov. Palin tried to ban books from the library. She asked the library how she might go about banning books because some had inappropriate language in them, shocking the librarian, Mary Ellen Baker. According to Time, “news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire Baker for not giving ‘full support’ to the mayor.”
9. She DID support the Bridge to Nowhere (before she opposed it). Gov. Palin claimed that she said “thanks, but no thanks” to the infamous Bridge to Nowhere. But in 2006, she supported the project repeatedly, saying that Alaska should take advantage of earmarks “while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist.”
Is this someone our country wants to have standing by and next in line to take over as president? But please don’t go attacking her on the issues. The Republicans will complain that the press is not being fair and is biased.
Donald L. Tripp
Lambertville

