Sarah Palin Mythology Debunked

With George Bush soon leaving office, what will Bush bashers do with themselves? If Sarah Palin is elected vice president, it appears they will target her.

Already, with the help of the media, they have managed to obfuscate the record of John McCain’s vice presidential nominee and create a string of myths about her. To set the record straight, here are the chief myths, along with the facts.

Myth: As governor of Alaska, Palin put the governor’s plane up for sale on eBay but did not really sell it.

Fact: After she did not find a buyer on eBay, she sold the plane eight months later through a broker for $2.2 million.

Myth: Palin did not really stop the “Bridge to Nowhere.”

Fact: During her gubernatorial race in 2006, she endorsed the bridge but as governor rejected it, allocating the federal earmark money elsewhere. Meanwhile, in 2005, Barack Obama voted against a Senate amendment to stop funding for the project.

Myth: As mayor of Wasilla, Palin banned nearly 100 books, including “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,” “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” and “Death of a Salesman.”

Fact: Palin never banned any books. An emailed list of books she supposedly banned included Harry Potter books that had not yet been published when she was in office.

Myth: Palin fired her public safety commissioner because he would not terminate a trooper who was her former brother-in-law after he had been suspended for five days for misconduct.

Fact: Palin did want Walt Monegan to fire her former brother-in-law. But extensive emails from Palin and her aides show she was upset with him because he repeatedly defied her instructions on a string of budget requests. He was offered another job but declined to take it.

Myth: Palin cut funding for special needs education by 62 percent.

Fact: Funding for the program in question was actually tripled thanks to legislation signed by Palin.

Myth: Palin wanted Alaska to secede from the U.S.

Fact: A member of the Alaskan Independence Party incorrectly told the New York Times that Palin at one time had been a member. She later recanted this claim and issued a public apology to the governor.

Myth: Palin left Wasilla residents disenchanted with her.

Fact: In subsequent elections, Wasilla residents voted for Palin by 70 percent or more.

Myth: Palin has no experience.

Fact: As noted in the Newsmax article, “McCain Shows He Is the Genuine Article,” Palin has a string of accomplishments to show for her herself. As mayor, she cut property taxes by 75 percent and reduced her own salary by 10 percent. After joining the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission in 2003, she led an ethics probe of the commission's chairman, Randy Ruedrich, who also was the state GOP chairman. Facing conflict-of-interest-allegations, Ruedrich admitted ethics violations and resigned.

Besides opposing the $400 million “Bridge to Nowhere,” Palin as governor used her veto power to cut nearly $2 billion from the state budget. She was successful in enacting ethics reform legislation. While pushing to develop more energy resources, she reformed the system for paying Alaskans royalties from oil production. That will enable her to deliver a rebate of $1,200 — in addition to $2,069 in dividends — to each resident of the state.

Ronald Kessler is chief Washington correspondent of Newsmax.com. 

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