Palin: I'm Not the Biggest Liar of the Year

[hazlnut]

Palin: I'm Not the Biggest Liar of the Year

There's an old story that occasionally makes the rounds in Washington. In the 1970s, a magazine (now long defunct) named New Times reported that Sen. William Scott, a Virginia Republican, had been ranked the "dumbest" senator in a survey conducted by a public interest group. Subsequently, Scott held a press conference to deny the charge -- thereby proving he was pretty darn dumb. After all, he only called more attention to the accusation.

Sarah Palin has taken a Scott-like position.

Earlier this month, PolitiFact.com, a project of the St. Petersburg Times, awarded Palin the not-so-coveted "lie of the year" award for claiming last summer that President Obama's health care reform initiative would set up "death panels" run by bureaucrats who would decide if seniors and disabled citizens "based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society' " would be "worthy of health care." PolitiFact.com explains:

On Aug. 10, PolitiFact rated Palin's statement Pants on Fire [its highest -- or lowest -- rating]. In the weeks that followed, health care policy experts on both the right and the left said the euthanasia comparisons were inaccurate. Gail Wilensky, a health adviser to President George H.W. Bush, said the charge was untrue and upsetting.

"I think it is really unfortunate that this has been raised and received so much attention because there are serious issues to debate in health care reform," she said at a forum on Sept. 3.
Responding to the initial Pants-on-Fire designation, Palin tried to have it both ways, claiming her phrase was metaphoric and accurate. In a Nov. 17 interview with National Review, she said she didn't regret the remark:

"To me, while reading that section of the bill, it became so evident that there would be a panel of bureaucrats who would decide on levels of health care, decide on those who are worthy or not worthy of receiving some government-controlled coverage," she said. "Since health care would have to be rationed if it were promised to everyone, it would therefore lead to harm for many individuals not able to receive the government care. That leads, of course, to death."

"The term I used to describe the panel making these decisions should not be taken literally," said Palin. The phrase is "a lot like when President Reagan used to refer to the Soviet Union as the 'evil empire.' He got his point across. He got people thinking and researching what he was talking about. It was quite effective. Same thing with the 'death panels.' I would characterize them like that again, in a heartbeat."

Not literal, but accurate -- as in, well, you know what I mean.

She did the same thing when the Africa story came out and her attempt to explain herself is even more convoluted and lame. This is what I don't get. Set aside what she means (her policies and views) and just listen to what she says. The woman can not think for herself. How she became Governor of Alaska says more about Alaska than her.

It's the long run-on sentences filled with one talking point after another--you peel back the layers of the Palin onion and you got nothing.

But there's more. Palin cites a letter Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf sent to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid last week, referring to the bill's call for reducing Medicare spending by 2 percent. "It is unclear," Elmendorf noted, "whether such a reduction in the growth rate could be achieved, and if so, whether it would be accomplished through greater efficiencies in the delivery of health care or would reduce access to care or diminish the quality of care."

Aha, Palin proclaims: This reduced " 'access to care' and 'diminish[ed] quality of care' - is precisely what I meant when I used that metaphor." (She's back to calling it a metaphor.)

Not really. As Greg Sargent has pointed out, Palin is changing her definitions. When she first referred to "death panels," she was portraying them as medical tribunes that would decide the fate of specific individuals. ("You're IQ is too low, so no dialysis for you!") Now, she's essentially claiming that any cost-cutting that might influence access to care constitutes establishing a "death panel." Not only is she being shifty; Palin is poisoning one policy debate that the nation needs to have about health care. Does this ardent foe of socialism really believe that the U.S. government ought to pay for any medical procedure that a Medicare recipient might want? What if a treatment costs several million dollars and at best can extend the life of a dying patient by a week? If you question such a practice, then, in Palin's book, you're for rationing and can be a charter member of a "death panel."

Honey, sweetheart, you can't play that loose with the facts and expect people to respect you. She's like a college freshman trying to bull**** her way through an essay exam. She doesn't know what she's talking about, but she figures if she just talks long enough, something will make sense. It doesn't work that way in complicated economic and public policy issues--you got to know your stuff.

She'll probably be very successful as a commentator on Fox News.

 

[apdst]

It's amazing how Libbos fear Sarah. I love it!!!

 

[Grim17]

It's amazing how Libbos fear Sarah. I love it!!!

They always attack the ones that are the biggest threat to them. Politically, it's Sarah Palin, and on the pundit side, it's Glenn Beck.

Their complete lack of civility and honesty says it all when it comes to the liberal ideology.

 

[idk]

It's amazing how Libbos fear Sarah. I love it!!!

Excellent rebuttal. It's fresh, unique and accurately addresses the topic at hand.

 

[Areopagitican]

Palin denying she is the biggest liar of the year, only confirms it?

Hazlnut, you see why that sort of view could alienate Centrists?

 

[CriticalThought]

It's amazing how Libbos fear Sarah. I love it!!!

You are so right! She is terrifying! Please oh please don't have her run for President in 2012! It would be oh so horrible!

 

[Redress]

It's amazing how Libbos fear Sarah. I love it!!!

It's amazing how you keep repeating this like repetition will somehow make it true. It's amazing how every claim you make about "libbos" turns out to be wrong, and yet you continue to make them.

 

[Morality Games]

It's amazing how Libbos fear Sarah. I love it!!!

Disdain is as likely as a motivation. Or boredom. Sport, etc.

 

[The silenced majority]

Fair use violation.

All I want for Christmas is for the useless mods to do their jobs...

On to the newest Mediamatters post for me!

 

[apdst]

Excellent rebuttal. It's fresh, unique and accurately addresses the topic at hand.

Just giving the OP the attention it deserves. And, unlike yourself, I did it without flaming anyone.

 

[Redress]

Disdain is as likely as a motivation. Or boredom. Sport, etc.

Easy targets are handy, and Palin is about the easiest. She hands liberals ammunition to use almost every time she opens her mouth. Why not use it? She is alot like Michelle Bachman, but on a bigger stage.

 

[tumbleweed]

Congrats to Palin for adding yet another foot-in-mouth remark to her resume, as well as the coveted Liar Of The Year honor. :screwy

 

[hazlnut]

Easy targets are handy, and Palin is about the easiest. She hands liberals ammunition to use almost every time she opens her mouth. Why not use it? She is alot like Michelle Bachman, but on a bigger stage.

What cracks me up is how little Tina Fey has to change Palin's real answers to make them funny in the SNL sketches.

 

[randel]

They always attack the ones that are the biggest threat to them. Politically, it's Sarah Palin, and on the pundit side, it's Glenn Beck.

Their complete lack of civility and honesty says it all when it comes to the liberal ideology.

palin the biggest threat to dems??? you have got to be kidding

 

[hazlnut]

Palin denying she is the biggest liar of the year, only confirms it?

Methinks the lady doth protest too much.

It's not just that she attempted to deny it, it's what she said, her words, her desperately trying to explain her way out of it. We know what she meant. She knows what she meant. No amount of hillbilly, good ol' gal, soccer mom bull**** is going to save her.

 

[Grim17]

Methinks the lady doth protest too much.

It's not just that she attempted to deny it, it's what she said, her words, her desperately trying to explain her way out of it. We know what she meant. She knows what she meant. No amount of hillbilly, good ol' gal, soccer mom bull**** is going to save her.

Me thinks you are a liberal fool, who doesn't have the honesty and integrity to do the right thing...

http://www.debatepolitics.com/bias-...-shows-us-being-liberal-journalist-all-2.html

 

[Crosscheck]

It's amazing how Libbos fear Sarah. I love it!!!

Palin is like the Figure 8 Car Race. People don't come to watch the near misses. They come to watch the car crashes.
This is why she attracts so much attention and like every Figure 8 Car Race at the county racetrack there is going to be one hell of a smash up.

She never disappoints the viewers.

She should just paint a number on her back and go on the race circuit this summer.

 

[Whip Comes Down]

Sarah Palin needs to focus her attention on the FEMA Death Camps and Death Panels she's setting up. We're going to need those up and running if we're going to start bringing down the cost of health care.

 

[Dirty Harry]

They always attack the ones that are the biggest threat to them. Politically, it's Sarah Palin, and on the pundit side, it's Glenn Beck.

Their complete lack of civility and honesty says it all when it comes to the liberal ideology.

Yeah you're right. They always do attack the biggest threats. Sarah Palin and Ronald Mcdonald.

 

[Grim17]

Palin is like the Figure 8 Car Race. People don't come to watch the near misses. They come to watch the car crashes.
This is why she attracts so much attention and like every Figure 8 Car Race at the county racetrack there is going to be one hell of a smash up.

She never disappoints the viewers.

She should just paint a number on her back and go on the race circuit this summer.

Sure... that's it...

That explains the 700,000 books she sold in the first week. People just wanted to read about the "crash".

The elitism and condescension of you libs, never fails to disappoint.

 

[Dirty Harry]

Sure... that's it...

That explains the 700,000 books she sold in the first week. People just wanted to read about the "crash".

The elitism and condescension of you libs, never fails to disappoint.

So what does selling 700,000 copies mean anyway?
"The Happy Hooker" sold 20 milion copies.

 

[hazlnut]

So what does selling 700,000 copies mean anyway?
"The Happy Hooker" sold 20 milion copies.

I've see her booked marked down to $4.95.

I guess now they can't give it away.

I've heard bookstore clerks are moving it to the fiction section. (actually, I did that):mrgreen::lol:

 

[apdst]

I've see her booked marked down to $4.95.

I guess now they can't give it away.

Where have you seen it marked down to $4.95?

I've heard bookstore clerks are moving it to the fiction section. (actually, I did that):mrgreen::lol:

Just goes to show how chicken**** Libbos can really be. Is is fear, or Libbos just idiotic like that?

 

[Dirty Harry]

I picked up my copy for $8.50

 

[Zinc Route]

**** Any stated inaccuracies by Sarah Palin will be exposed & magnified (for laughs in some cases) long before Barry of Oahu is called on anything or asked a Really Hard question by any MSM Whore.:usflag2: