“Saracuda” Palin has been under attack from the left as soon as she stepped out on to the stage with John McCain.
To quote one of my other articles…
The left has screamed about how she wants to overturn Roe v Wade and teach creationism in schools but these attacks have not worked, so they continue to scream about these things and have moved on to several other attacks in tandum.
They have slanderously lied about her cutting funding for everything from special needs kids to pregnant teenage moms, both of which hit Sarah suspiciously close to home because she has a pregnant teenage daughter and a son with Downs syndrome. These accusations turned out to be not only untrue, but it turns out that she increased funding to these programs by as much as 300%.
Then came the horrendous personal attacks which devolved into everything from calling her white trash pornstar look-a-like, to articles talking about masturbatory fantasy involving a Palin, a threesome and the Constitution. One journalist even sunk so low as to as the question about whether Palin played the “retard card.”
And none of it has worked. Actually, the attacks have seemed to backfire.
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Sarah Palin is a social and fiscal conservative with a real record of success and reform…
She scared the bejesus out of the left.
So, like the accusations now coming out of the Troopergate scenario that try to paint her as being against an anti-sexual violence program we get the newest attack that is attempting to drive a wedge between Palin and the women’s demographic.
The newest attack swirling around the internet is that Sarah Palin MADE rape victims pay for their Rape Kits while she was mayor of Wasilla.
This is not true. No such order ever came out of Palin’s office as mayor.
In addition, the VICTIMS were not charged for the kits.
Here is the truth.
First, the order to charge for the kits came out of the Police Chief’s office, not the Office of the Mayor.
Second, the practice was generally followed for several years before Palin became mayor.
The City of Wasilla and the Police Department “charged the cost of exams to victim’s insurance companies when possible” and deferred the costs of the rape kits – So, the VICTIMS were not charged. Only, WHEN POSSIBLE, were INSURANCE COMPANIES charged.
If the city were to cover all of the costs, another $15,000 annually out of the police department’s budget… and in a city of only 10,000 or so, that is a heck of a lot of money, something that the POLICE CHIEF wished to avoid.
The ONLY objection to a bill making it mandatory that the city, county or state pay for any and all forensic investigations, including “rape kits,” from ANY office in Wasilla came out of the Police Chief’s office.
According to USA Today,
Rape victims in several areas of Alaska, including the Matanuska-Susitna Valley where Wasilla is, complained about being charged for the tests…. Nationally, victims’ advocates have for years reported scattered instances of rape victims being required to pay for their forensic tests, says Ilse Knecht of the National Center for Victims of Crime in Washington.
So this was not something that was unique to Wasilla. It’s not like this was some sort of diabolical plan cooked up by the evil Princess Palin.
In addition, the Palin camp has released the following statement,
the governor “does not believe, nor has she ever believed, that rape victims should have to pay for an evidence-gathering test.”
“Gov. Palin’s position could not be more clear,” she said. “To suggest otherwise is a deliberate misrepresentation of her commitment to supporting victims and bringing violent criminals to justice.”
….The campaign cited the governor’s record on domestic violence, including increasing funding for shelters.
And they are right to cite her record, which has been quite good on assistance to women and has been greatly distorted by the media (here, here, and here).
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So… here’s the summary:
Did it happen? Yes. But INSURANCE companies were charged, not VICTIMS.
Was Wasilla the only town that did this? No, it was common in AK and happened all over the country.
Was it Palin’s idea? No, it was not. It was common practice before she assumed office.
Did Palin ever argue for the practice? No. Not one peep.
How is her record on other women’s issues? Pretty good. She increased funding for a variety of programs that assisted women by up to 300%.
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Now that you know the truth, the rest is for you to decide.
Filed under: Sarah Palin Tagged: | Alaska, palin, Rape Kit, Wasilla
Sorry, TH, but they’re wearing me down.
Good on you for keeping this up but, my goodness, does the crap never stop from these people? I guess that’s the idea. Just keep flinging it out there until we get tired of wiping it off.
Maybe tomorrow I’ll feel like jumping back into this fray but it would sure help if you had a byline at the NYTimes (hah, what’s the chance of that, might as well call it the Obama campaign’s official daily newsletter).
Keep up the great work.
One of the ladies in my vet group says she was charged for her rape kit in another state. Apparently at one time this was standard practice.
Great piece as always. The facts speak much louder than the media rhetoric. Unfortunately I expect this issue to become more prevalent the closer we get to the election. Thanks to you and your fine investigative reporting we have a great rebuttal.
Yes, Renaissancelady48… apparently at one time this was common practice. Unfortunate, but definitely not some dastardly deed developed by devious by the devil palin… and that’s a lot of D’s.
And Pagan… thank you so much. It was great seeing you in Denver by the way!!!
The practice of charging for rape kits in Wasilla occurred on Palin’s watch as mayor. She signed off on the budget (perhaps she did so without reading it). And finally, the Alaska Legislature passed a law in May 2000 to prevent towns like Wasilla from charging victims for rape kits. In fact, Wasilla’s actions were set as examples of why the Alaska law needed to be passed. It is difficult to believe that Palin didn’t know about it when her town was one of the subjects of discussion in those legislative debates. And if she didn’t know about it, what kind of a mayor did she make? Not a very good one. So either she thought it was okay to charge crime victims for police evidence gathering or she was grossly incompetent. Take your pick. Read a year 2000 article on this issue here: http://www.frontiersman.com/articles/2000/05/23/news.txt and then go from there.
Wilda,
sorry to tell you, but nearly everything you just said was not true.
it did happen while she was there, but it was a practice that was in place long before she got there.
wasilla was never used as an example by the state legislature. that is a lie that has been floated by the media.
they never charged VICTIMS, but insurance companies WHEN POSSIBLE.
It was not an occurance that was limited to Wasilla. This same thing happened all over the country.
it is also a town of 7-8 thousand people… wanna venture to guess how many times this issue came up in Wasilla? Prolly not too often, so might limit the amount of times Palin had heard about it.
And please, if you are gonna come on here, please do not recite barely true and sometimes patently false talking points of Kos and Olbmerman… it’s weak.