The Great Palin Debate, Fiscal Abuses, Gay Adoption & Plenty More

By Lyle Hickman

Please note: VoterWatch does not endorse the statement at the beginning of this film; this is merely being shown to showcase the footage that is at the center of the debate.

Last week, as we remembered those lost in the attacks on September 11, 2001, Republican Vice Presidential Candidate and Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin gave a speech addressing the tragedy. According to a piece by The Washington Post’s Intel Dump blog titled “Palin, Iraq and 9/11,” Palin spoke before a brigade of troops (including her son) stationed in Alaska en route to Iraq, “Palin told the troops they were going to ‘defend the innocent from the enemies who planned and carried out and rejoiced in the death of thousands of Americans’.”

This assertion aroused confusion because Abu Musab al-Zarqawi didn’t begin a branch of Al-Queda in Iraq until 2004, three years after the attacks on 9/11. “GOP’s VP nominee expresses a view now discarded by White House,” reads a blurb on the Washington Post’s homepage. This title has enraged Bill Kristol of the Weekly Standard who argues, “Palin is evidently saying that American soldiers are going to Iraq to defend innocent Iraqis from al Qaeda in Iraq, a group that is related to al Qaeda, which did plan and carry out the Sept. 11 attacks.” For many conservatives, this characterization of her statement was unacceptable.

In other news, Judicial Watch covers a horrific use of campaign monies for personal pleasures. According to the Judicial Watch blog,

“Top lawmakers in Massachusetts who were unopposed in their reelection bids spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in unused campaign donations to lease fancy cars, throw parties, buy furniture and pay for meals at upscale restaurants.”

A Corruption Chronicles blog entry titled “Illegal Immigrants Run Oregon Senator’s Business” takes a look at the hypocrisy of Oregon Senator Gordon Smith. An ordinary advocate against illegal immigration, Senator Smith, was found employing a vast number of illegal immigrants for his private business. According to Corruption Chronicles, “Oregon Senator Gordon Smith publicly chastises illegal immigrants (he proudly voted against amnesty for millions living in the U.S.) for benefiting from government services that American citizens provide, he has for decades benefited from their cheap labor.”

Smith Frozen Foods is the name of the company that employed almost 500 workers, primarily from Guatemala, Mexico, and El Salvador. “The company refuses to use a federal database to check workers’ immigration status because,” Corruption Chronicles writes, “‘it doesn’t work very well’.” According to Corruption Chronicles:

“Practically the entire town knows that the senator’s business is an illegal immigrant haven. A local attorney, who represents Smith employees in criminal cases unrelated to their work, said her clients’ immigration status is often revealed during checks when they are arrested and booked. The attorney estimates that more than 70% of the company’s workers are in the country illegally . . .”

Fortunately this was unearthed, but it sadly marks another politician, like Eliot Spitzer, utilizing the services of those who they speak against.

Moving on, a piece on the Sunlight Foundation’s blog entitled “Dept. of Interior Oil Scandal,” highlighted the Department of the Interior’s reports recently released exposing factual corruption. According to the Sunlight Foundation’s blog the reports cited:

“widespread corruption in the Mineral Management Services agency, which handles mineral extraction, leases, and royalties for the Department of the Interior. The allegations show employees receiving illegal gifts, graft, filing false statements on ethics forms, using illegal drugs, and having sex with both subordinates in the agency and with agents of oil and gas companies with business before the agency.”

An American Constitution Society for Law and Policy’s (ACS) blog entry entitled “Judge Strikes Fla. Gay Adoption Ban,” covers a recent court decision surrounding homosexual adoption. According to ACS, “A Florida judge today invalidated the state’s ban on adoption by lesbians and gay men as unconstitutional.” According to ACS blog, the “decision, which has not yet been published, will allow a foster parent in Key West to adopt a teenage boy he has been raising since 2001.”

And let’s be sure we’re all aware of the connection between our lawmakers and the troubles we’re seeing on Wall Street. The Capital Eye blog has more on this.

Lastly, as the days of the election approach, make sure you REGISTER TO VOTE!!!

by billy

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