i would have liked to have seen some mention that under palin's leadership in wasilla, rape victims were billed for their rape kits.

it took the alaska legislature passing a law for that to stop.

otherwise, nice article!

I'd venture to guess that her daughter(s) may well be now or become, victims of violence, whether sexual or not. In fact, from rumors of her brother, Track's history, he may be one of the perpetrators of such violent crimes. Repression, in the name of divinity, becomes oppression. Both repression and oppression are simple, efficient means of controling others. A fundamentalis form of religion is both repressive and oppressive, and the Palin offspring are most likely the product of such a religious upbringing. I have no way of proving this assertion, but experience shows that most violent people are the product of violent and repressive environments. Sarah Palin's words and tone are clearly meant to antagonize and demean her opponents. The package of McCain/Palin is on to be wary of.

I am committed to Oneness through Justice and Transformation
peace,
st john

Here's the link to the article quoted:

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5804581&page=1

I'm tired of the conservative crap that ends up in my e-mailbox. I'm fighting back by sending well researched stuff back to the people who give me propaganda. This is one I'm forwarding.

I've been waiting for discussions about Palin to morph into talk about how little the lower 48 know about Alaska or its politics.

For instance, I love whenever McCain/Palin surrogates say she's "the most popular governor in the country." Well, I'd LOVE my governor too if I paid no income or state taxes and INSTEAD got a check for $3200 from the state/oil companies just for living there!!! It really isn't like any other state, folks, so pretending that it's just a remote, colder version of Minnesota isn't cutting it.

Violence (sexual and otherwise) against women and children in Alaska isn't the only issue where the "pro family" (mine, but not yours) Governor *says* one thing but *does* something totally opposite. Take, for example, the issue of special needs children:
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/15/palin-cut-funding-for-alaska-special-olympics/

The woman is a *perfect* running mate for McSame; totally shameless and without a shred of honour. And she reinforces the image of the "third Bush term" in that she's as ruthless as ever Cheney was (though a better hunter)

Has this woman no shame? Will anyone ever ask her that? The republican party is a disgrace to this country.

I've heard it explained elsewhere that the reason Wasilla charged victims for rape kits is that the examiner routinely offers emergency contraception to rape victims, and we can't allow that. Rapist-sperm deserve love too.

Speaking of Alaskan oil, I love how the neocons, above all, talk about how oil "corrupts" the Middle East, Nigeria, Venezuela, etc.,but...

NEVER talk about how oil corrupts Alaska.

Much of Alaska's GOP political leadership is a walking dictionary definition of oil corruption.

Joke of the day, immediately above, courtesy McAristotle:

Putting "Palin" and "logic" in the same sentence!

Or, McA, were you looking for the word "lying" in your dictionary and just not scroll far enough down?

McAristotle, the guy she fired is different from the guy she was trying to get fired. She was trying to get her brother-in-law fired, the guy in charge didn't do it, so she fired him. As one of my senators would say, "that's not change we can believe in." Heh.

What garbage she represents.

"Against stupidity, the very gods themselves must contend in vain." - Friedrich von Shille

Given that the guy who she is accused of trying to get fired tasered his stepson and is still a police officer, maybe she didn't think the police force would use the money well until she got the right team in place.

Given that no one reported that he Tasered his stepson until the divorce got nasty two years after it happened, and considering that the judge admonished the Palins in court for saying bad things about their father in front of the kids, maybe she's a petty tyrant who was pissed off that she didn't get her way and didn't care that her actions would injure her constituents.

Sarah Palin is a corrupt governor of a welfare state. She paid herself a per diem to live at home, she installed a tanning bed in the governor's mansion, she appointed unqualified school friends to fat-salaried administration jobs, she used her office to pursue personal vendettas, and she's repeatedly lied to America every single day of the campaign, starting with her very first speech at the convention.

No wonder the Republicans prefer her to that "Hello-and-welcome-to-Walmart" guy she campaigns with.

I didn't know Palin was pro-rape. This will certainly affect my vote, even though Mexico has the world's highest rate of child sexual abuse and libs love illegals. Pot calling the kettle black.

Does anyone else miss the days when this was an escape from the crazy ranting found on sites like dailykos?

Talk about downhill. How far will the Washington monthly let its name get dragged into the mud?

Sullivan is doing the same thing to The Atlantic.

Luther: 0/10 on your trolling attempt. Try harder.

Many Alaskans are using their checks from Governor Palin to buy methamphetamine. Alaska is the "tweaker" capital of the United States, according to many drug experts. Palin's son is reportedly a heavy meth user - but he has "good family values"!

Justin Rood's doing some real reporting out there. Isn't he a TPM Muckraker alum? Either way, Josh is seeding the MSM with actual reporters.

Now if only the WaPo would hire some of his alums...

Here's a slogan...The Republican Party - taking women back to the alleys....OR, how about just: The Republican Party on the BRIDGE TO the last century!!! I think Obama needs to continue hitting McCain on his lies (see Richard Cohen) and yet making the linking to the REPUBLICAN PARTY...not just Bush...we need to turn this ship around from the Captain on down!!!

"This will certainly affect my vote, even though Mexico has the world's highest rate of child sexual abuse and libs love illegals."

So you're saying that protecting the rights of immigrants, illegal or otherwise, is the equivalent of endorsing the sexual abuse of children ?

I kind of prefer the trolls that don't even try to put together logical sentences. At least they're entertaining. But you, Luther, are both idiotic and boring.

Sarah Palin is a corrupt governor of a welfare state.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

A true wingnut freakazoid, that sarie. Real issues of genuine concern to families get public lip service and private back-hand slaps, and all the actual work goes to enriching corporations and personal cronies.

Caribou Barbie really is the perfect repug candidate.

This may sound crazy but I don't think people in the "lower 48" realize where Alaska is located on the map. When news shows put up a map of the US Alaska and Hawaii are always floating in the Pacific to the West of California!

Seatle is 2,500 miles from Anchorage!

Palin has no idea of the struggles and problems faced by the majority of citizens in the USA let alone how the government works - she might as well be from Iceland!!!

Regarding this whole Wooten-tazered-his-stepson thing. Does everyone here know about the context for that story? The 14-year old was curious about his stepdad's tazer gun, they talked about it and what it did and the 14-year old wanted to know how it felt. Wooten admits that he showed him and that he did it and that it was a stupid thing to do. It certainly makes him a parent with extremely lousy judgement-- but it's actually not a story about violence or child abuse as the "he tazered his stepson" line implies.

I'm not defending Wooten per se, however, at this point I wouldn't trust the Palin's family version of events either. Bad divorces and custody battles can really bring out the worst in people.

The bottom line about "troopergate" isn't about Wooten at all. Palin fired her police commissioner-- something she has a history of doing-- for not bending to her will to settle a family score. Palin governs like a mobster.

I've said this before about Palin and her ilk: These people are damaged. They simply aren't wired properly. There is something fundamentally, organically wrong with them.

Sorry I didn't put the link in. Fixed. ;)

This seems to me like a very big and grotesque problem for Palin. Consider the McCain campaign's new excuse for her firing of Monegan:

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jOTk11gvqDAgD0cY3i4WjI_2YOxwD937J2L8H

So we have a clear pattern here:

1. Palin has publicly boasted that she would deny her daughters (and indeed, everyones' daughters) the right to an abortion in the case of rape or incest.

2. As Mayor of Wasila, Palin presided over a policy of charging sexual assault victims for their rape kits that was so abhorent that the state government directly intervened to stop it, and did so over the vocal protests of the police chief Palin had hired (and where was Palin while her police chief was complaining to the press about this).

3. Now she claims, per the link above, that she fired the state's top cop because he was too proactive in seeking federal funds to pursue sexual assault cases, at a time when Alaska was No. 1 in the country for incidents of rape.

4. Finally, as you note, she is at best completely ambivalent toward these efforts to create a program to address the rape problem in Alaska.

I think someone needs to ask Sarah Palin if she thinks that rape is wrong. She certainly hasn't given any indication that she does.

thank you, zoe kentucky and bill in chicago.

you saved me some typing.

i would have liked to have seen some mention that under palin's leadership in wasilla, rape victims were billed for their rape kits. it took the alaska legislature passing a law for that to stop.

One of our commenters here last week (unfortunately I can't remember who) came up with the most on-point description of that: the Wasilla rape tax.

sorry folks. but murdering the baby that is a result of rape or incest doesnt make the pain of the crime go away. it just adds to it and messes with the mother even more. she knows deep down that she just murdered a separate innocent human being. that child had nothing to do with the crime. why should the baby be made to pay for it in a horrible, painful way? So you all are not only wanting the rapist punished but the mother and the child too. is there no end to your lust for blood?

i also have another comment. just because her daughter got pregnant and her son got in trouble does not have any bearing on the family values or sarah palin. from personal experience we raised our kids to know right from wrong, drugs were bad etc. it didnt stop them at all and both daughters became pregnant out of wedlock and both got into drugs. i am so very thankful that neither daughter had an abortion as an "answer" to their stupidity. our grandchildren are the good that came from the evil. It happens in the best of families and in the worst so quit being so judgemental. especially if you havent experienced any of the pain a family goes through with all of this. it makes you sound stupid

Cheryl,

If you can manage to carry your rapist's offspring to term, that's your business and your choice, and I will fight for your right to exercise that choice. But you are cordially invited to stay the fuck out of the circumstances surrounding my rape and recovery from it, and the contents and management of my uterus. Thanks for playing.

Better trolls, please.

to lower myself to your level, do you murder small animals for the pleasure of seeing them suffer and say you have that right because you bought them? murder is wrong plain and simple and our "civilization" will continue its downward spiral until we start to respect life instead of tossing it in the garbage because we cant be bothered with it.

Being a victim of gang rape, I would have to say THANK GOD it happened in Canada. It was paid for in full even though i was not a resident. I was not asked obscene questions before someone handed me the morning-after pill. It is difficult enough going through such a horrible situation, but to think I would have to carry those rapists' baby as well? I would rather be dead.
Unfortunately, America is still a place where everyone has to tell others what to think, believe and do. Sarah Palin is a prime example of someone who does not understand the "gray area", in between the black and white, but instead chooses to think like a child and make desicions quickly and without thinking. I am almost 100% that if she was raped, she would NOT carry that child and probably have an abortion, under the table. Cheryl Bralick PLEASE DO NOT SPEAK FOR VICTIMS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT, unless it happens to you. Trust me, your opinion would change. And yes, parenting has EVERYTHING to do with how your children turn out. We are our parents, whether we like it or not. If one is raised to be aware of sexual violence and to use condoms if sexually active, then maybe your daughters would not have gotten pregnant. If you think this is a personal attack, it is, because you personally attacked every sexually assaulted victim. Go to hell.

since you seem to be speaking about what you dont know about my daughters were told about contraception etc. i even bought it for them. pregnancy happened anyway and the resulting babies are definitely a gift that we are thrilled to have. i still stand by my statement that we are not civilized people if we can without remorse or guilt just discard the innocent because we cant be bothered. the children are a gift and if someone doesnt want the child after he/she is born then there are so many that do. they should not be murdered.

Okay but what you are talking about is sex that they WANTED to have. They weren't forced into it, nobody held a gun or a knife to their head and threatened to kill them if they didn't! Please, Cheryl, really put yourself in that position, would you want to remember your child's father, everyday, as the man that raped you? And re-live those horrifying moments very single day? Yes, having a child, even when you don't plan it, can be a blessing, but not when you were forced into having sex with another person. It is like getting violated all over again, because someone else is saying, NO, you will have this baby, no matter what the circumstances of the conception were....Where are a person's rights at that point?

Cheryl,

Sarah Palin took Joe Biden's VAWA, the federal assistance to law enforcement specifically to help women in crisis, and threw it back in his face. She spit on it, and on the women of Alaska. Sarah Palin has proven she won't look out for you, your daughters, or your grandchildren if they're raped or battered by their partner. She won't bother worrying about investigating or assisting. She'll blame you for being a bad woman, for wearing that skirt, for not being submissive enough to your husband. She'll victimize you further, and call it god's will. Is that REALLY what you want for your family?

Some mother you are. Class act.

You don't speak for me. You don't speak for all rape victims. Don't you dare presume to. You're no one's mouthpiece. You're just one of those nosy, holier-than-thou, dime-a-dozen Christian concern trolls who thinks she knows what's best for everyone. Take your sick, misogynist, religious poison and choke on it.

Have a nice day with your lovely family.

once again though you are not taking into account the separate life that is growing inside the mother. that baby is a totally separate individual that has rights too. where are that baby's rights? why should anyone have the ability to snuff out that life because it is an inconvenience? i sympathize with your point of view but it doesnt lessen the fact that there is a whole other person growing and is never given a voice or a chance. again, i sympathize but it doesnt change my mind or my point of view. and if you will notice i have yet to call you a name or attack you in any way. yet in every statement you make toward me you attack me verbally or attack my character. you dont know me or anything about me other than the fact that i am totally and completely against abortion ever. we in this country have killed more babies than Hitler killed undeserving victims in his concentration camps. we have killed more babies than have been killed in war. but all you pro choice people dont care about that. you also dont care about the after effects on the women that have gone through with the abortions. they are mentally damaged-that is proven statistically. even the lady involved in roe v wade didnt go through with the abortion and has changed her stance on that whole thing too. it is an evil that is ruinous to our society as a whole.

Cheryl, please try to stay on topic the next time you troll. We were discussing Sarah Palin's failure to protect rape victims and investigate crimes, not debating the morality of abortion.

Godwin's law has been invoked. You lose.

Aside from everything, let's not forget, like Keori said, the main point. The fact is whether or not one is a victim of rape or of a stupid desicion they made to not use contraception, it still remains that someone else is forcing others to make a desicion that should only be made by that woman, herself. It doesn't matter about the circumstances of that conception, but that she has a choice as to whether she wants to continue through the stages of pregnancy or stop it.

the fact still remains that the woman is making a choice to murder a separate human being. just because the baby is in her body doesnt make it her personal property and enable her to murder the human being. that is still the point. it is not ok to murder your children after they are born nor is it ok to murder them while they are still growing inside. if you can be charged for two murders if you kill a pregnant woman it makes absolutely no sense at all that it is not considered murder if she goes to an abortuary. it is still murder. the baby is a totally separate human being and has equal rights to be protected.

i know personally of a woman who had a baby as a result of a rape. she kept the baby and her daughter was the saving grace for her sanity as a result of that horrible crime. i also listened to another lady on the radio today who was a result of an incestous rape of her mother. she was so thankful that her mother chose to carry her to term and then put her up for adoption. then to later meet her mother, find out about her history and meet her little sister she didnt know she had. abortion is not a necessary evil for anyone. there are happy endings that can come out of evil deeds.

Cheryl,

Godwin's Law. Use a Google to learn what it is. You lose. 48-hour old thread is 48 hours old. Go home.

/turns off lights, moves on, leaves Paxil and Thorazine on the table for Cheryl since she forgot to take hers.