Friday, September 12, 2008

The GOP Women

In part two of Gov. Sarah Palin's interview with ABC news, special attention was paid to the now controversial close to $200 million in federal earmarks she backed this year as Governor of Alaska. Palin's current stump speech is peppered with the fact that pet projects are a waste, and John McCain who is an avid opponent of them, will put a stop to the needless spending. This was not the only GOP "half truth," exposed and reported on by the MSM this week. The New Yorker's Ariel Levy has an article titled "The Lonesome Trail," in the September 15th issue just released to news-stands. The article is an expansive and well reported piece covering Republican Presidential Nominee Sen. John McCain's second wife, Cindy McCain, her life and interests, and her touted claim that the McCain family is "traditional.". Both these pieces of journalism do the job of bringing the truth to light, but will voters take notice? Will it make a difference in the November election?

"It has always been an embarrassment that abuse of [the] earmark process has been accepted in Congress. And that's what John McCain has fought. And that's what I joined him in fighting," she [Palin] said. This is a quote from Charles Gibson's last interview with Palin on Friday. Concerning the millions in requested earmarks- even as Palin defended them, McCain told a television audience that she had never requested them. What will come of this contradiction? Has the media completed it's job, and now its up to the citizenry to do what they may with the info?

Levy writes about Cindy McCain and the adoption of her now 16 year-old daughter. A story that Mrs. McCain frequently mentions on the campaign trail is how she brought the little girl home from a Bangladesh orphanage and the first time her husband knew about it, the new mother and baby were on American soil. The story from Cindy McCain's view is told to show the "open-heartiness," and compassion of her husband. But not everyone sees it that way. There are some discrepancies in this tale that Levy exposes- Mother Teresa supposedly talked with and convinced Cindy to adopt the child. The only problem is that Mother Teresa wasn't there at the same time McCain was in Bangladesh- Also, Cindy McCain has said many times that their family is "traditional," just like any hardworking American family. But as Levy writes, it's kind of strange that the adoption of a baby-one in which Sen. McCain would be the father of for life- wasn't discussed. This shows a living of two separate lives. This supposed "traditional" family is anything but traditional. For example, a Politico article on Sept. 12th reports the couple file taxed separately. Now these discrepancies are not the end of the world by any means, but thanks to the solid reporting, we as voters can decide if these "half truths" might snowball into larger ones.

These are examples of the MSM doing a good job of mining the truth, and serving it to the public. In my opinion, the people should consider carefully these contradictions coming from the Republicans. But then again, they're just politicians.

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