Media All Over The Map On 'Bridge To Nowhere' Story

UPDATE: A round of thanks is due Homer, Alaska's Charlie Stock, who notes that the original image I provided totally Swift-Boated the wrong bridge! I regret the error. A correct map has replaced the erroneous one.

As all politics are local, it makes sense that the most plainspoken account of VP nominee Sarah Palin's involvement in the famous "bridge to nowhere" fiasco is found in the Anchorage Daily News:

"I told Congress, thanks but no thanks on that bridge to nowhere," Palin told the cheering McCain crowd, referring to Ketchikan's Gravina Island bridge.

But Palin was for the Bridge to Nowhere before she was against it.

The Alaska governor campaigned in 2006 on a build-the-bridge platform, telling Ketchikan residents she felt their pain when politicians called them "nowhere." They're still feeling pain today in Ketchikan, over Palin's subsequent decision to use the bridge funds for other projects -- and over the timing of her announcement, which they say came in a pre-dawn press release that seemed aimed at national news deadlines.

This morning's Washington Post actually takes the story a step further, with this statement, attributed to Palin:

While campaigning in Ketchikan in September 2006, Palin indicated support for the bridge project, assuming there was no better alternative. "This link is a commitment to help Ketchikan expand its access, to help this community prosper," she told the local chamber of commerce, according to an account in the Ketchikan Daily News.

Again, that's Palin, supporting the bridge. Yet somehow, Post editors gave this piece the headline, "Democrats Say Palin Initially Backed Bridge," and began the story by reporting, "Democrats accused Gov. Sarah Palin (R) on Sunday of misrepresenting her role in scuttling a controversial bridge project to a remote island in southeast Alaska." But what "Democrats say" is entirely irrelevant when you have what Palin said staring you straight in the face.

The New York Times went even farther in obscuring the story, which has Dan Kennedy wondering:

So why does the New York Times today weigh in with a weak story, headlined "Account of a Bridge's Death Slightly Exaggerated," that leaves you thinking that maybe she did, maybe she didn't?

Comments

[redding888]

Secessionist Sarah

Some reporters are working Governor Palin's links to Alaska Indepence Party, which favors secession from the US. I just watched her gushing speech to AIP's convention.

AIP is a little off, to say the least-- their founder said he didn't want to be buried under the American Flag. How unpatriotic is that?

[SunshineDaydream]

this patriotic?

http://thebruceblog.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/palinqueen.jpg

[drzoon]

that is the wildest picture of a VP candidate that i have ever seen!

in a Bikini?

i just sent this out on the biggest Email blast i have ever used.

WHAT IS THIS COUNTRY COMING TOO???

[kellygrrrl]

whoa

[midwesthousewife]

That is the NRA's wet dream.

[wolflover]

And the Republicans whined about Senator Obama not wearing a flag pin.

[shaitan]

I would like to see the detailed medical records of this V.P. nominee--voters are entitled to this information--and also the log of her activities as a Governor. There are many questions and suspicions about her peculiar behavior while in labor in the period just prior to the birth of the youngest child. There are many questions regarding her executive decisions. Its time there was a push to have some deep investigative journalism--not just rumors--on this person.

[Totto]

She put the passengers on Alaska airlines at risk by flying while in the first stages of delivering a child.

[drzoon]

yup

[zak007]

I have a question:

how do we do this? How do we get the MSM to ask and report about all of the huge questions we have and how utterly disastrous it would be should McCain and Palin get elected?

We need to demand that the MSM investigate and report on what they find. How do we get to the MSM?

[PioneerKing]

JASON:

Why are you surprised that McCain's buddies in the main stream media are distorting the truth.
The main stream media have distorted the truth about McCain's voting record - throughout McCain's 26 year career he has voted 97% of the time with the republicans and 95% of the time he was on the same page as Bush/Cheney. Yet, if you listen to the main stream media they do nothig but feed into the lie of McCain being a maverick fighting against his party.
Now McCain's buddies in the main stream media are distorting the truth and spinning the republican party's talking points by trying to present Palin as a maverick and reformer which is far from reality.
Sarah Palin is a political opportunist just as John McCain is filled with political avarice and the greed of personal ambition.

[RatgurlSD]

Funny you should mention that...

Palin 1 month prior to her last “birth of child”

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/345168.html

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/v-gallery/story/345168.html?/news/alaska/v-enlarge/story/345168-a345519-t3.html

[dagnome27]

sure doesn't LOOK very pregnant

[friscosf]

McCain / Palin IS the BRIDGE TO NOWHERE !

John McCain made a reckless, irresponsible choice in his running mate
Like the choice to attack Iraq without justification

John McCain shows poor judgment in his VP selection
Like his judgment to support torture and the Bush tax cuts

McCain / Palin, the Bridge to NOWHERE !!

[DMHendrix]

Another prime example of why the mainstream media SUCKS!

[Durkin]

My sentiments exactly. "Democrats say..." is a lot more partisan than "Palin said..." Actually, now that I've written "partisan," it shows up more than that. It's deceptive and unworthy of all journalistic standards I'm aware of.
I'm relying on campaign ads to let the people know the score, but it would be a breath of fresh air to see journalists do their jobs.

[GordonBombay]

It would have been a more simple and catchy title if it were simply "Palin Bridge Flip-Flop". Print the story, use quotes, report the news. It doesn't seem like it would be that difficult.

[RatgurlSD]

Yeah. You think there's a political agenda behind most of the media and the stories they print?

[RobChattaTN]

If it were a DEMOCRAT doing this 'flip flop,' you can be sure that the "liberal media" would be screaming "FLIP FLOP" in the headlines, to say nothing of what FAUx "news" would do/does....

[JadedAggie]

The media is being very tepid with the reports of her lying because they are afraid of being attack for being sexist again.

[poropo]

this just look better and better everyday for dem.

[Sloane7]

Because they are all afraid of stating the obvious, that she lied, because they don't want to be seen as picking on a girl. I'm a girl. I can say. She lied.

[RatgurlSD]

I'm a girl, too. I say she's an opportunist, and a naive one at that!

[SherryIndianapolis]

Me too, ladies

[DaOne]

Where did the funds eventually get spent?

[Muzikal203]

THIS is why you should VET your VP. . .

[progressivelady]

He said he did Vet her!

[SunshineDaydream]

did they explain the difference between vetting and petting?