Palin Repeats "Bridge To Nowhere" Falsehood Again Despite Intense Criticism

Speaking in Lebanon, Ohio today, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin repeated her frequently debunked lie on the "bridge to nowhere," which originated in her speech to the Republican National Convention last Wednesday. As the crowd cheered, Palin (falsely) recounted how she told the U.S. Congress "thanks but no thanks" for the project that has become a symbol of wasteful government spending.

Virtually every media outlet -- from the Wall Street Journal to FactCheck.org -- that has investigated the claim has found it to be a wholesale fiction. Though Palin did abandon her onetime support for the bridge after winning Alaska's governorship, she did so only after federal dollars dried up. Moreover, she kept the federal funds already given to Alaska.

Yet Palin still continues to use the line in each and every stump speech. In response, the Obama campaign is turning to humor. "On the same day that dozens of news organizations have exposed Governor Palin's phony Bridge to Nowhere claim as a 'naked lie,' she and John McCain continue to repeat the claim in their stump speeches. Maybe tomorrow she'll tell us she sold it on eBay," said Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor.

The eBay dig is a reference to another tall tale from the McCain-Palin campaign -- the idea that the governor sold a luxury jet online. Palin herself has scrupulously avoided saying outright that she sold the plane on eBay -- merely saying that she "put" it on eBay. But McCain himself strayed into the realm of untruth last week by claiming that Palin not only "sold it" through the online auction site, but also did so "at a profit." In fact, the eBay auction was a failure, and Alaska had to sell the plane offline, at a $600,000 loss.

Comments

[DR JES]

Do we need people in office who continue with their strategy even when its proven false? I don't think so!!!

[Patrioticwoman]

At least McCain has a strategy to call his own, as does Governor Palin. Obama does not have a strategy and since he started running 2 years ago, he has shifted EVERY POSITION including his love and respect for his pastor. Which begs the question - isn't it better to trust a man who is willing to change a failing strategy than to trust a man WITHOUT a strategy and one who has never made ONE EXECUTIVE DECISION. Listen up DNC, americans are hiring for an executive position, which means executive experience matters. Neither Obama nor Biden has any executive decision - this is not hope, it is madeness mixed with bush hatred mixed with hatred of country at best.

[SurferKit]

Hiring for any position requires seeing a resume. So far, Palin's hasn't even been submitted. That means she can't possibly be considered for a job she refuses to apply for.

[justbelle]

Barracuda, please! A better nickname would be flipper.

[bigdaddyvike]

idiotic she's even in the game. God this country is STUPID. WTF? the sheep truly amaze me. Really.

[hotwire]

Bahhhh! Bahhhh! Bahhhh!

[babs101]

Governor Palin doesn't speak in "tongues"
like some from her congregation, she just speaks in "lies."

[IBOAT]

That is good.-- What scares me is that it seems that if she repeats her lies over and over she actually believes them. Sounds like someone I recall. Someone who said that the Iraq war was justified because the proof was very clear. Scary.

[hotwire]

Don't tell Jerimiah Wright that, he thinks he has been telling the truth all these years.

[IBOAT]

Sarah Palin could become President, in little over ten days of knowing her there is lie after lie - and she cant seem to stop repeating the lie. We are talking about the economy of the United States. Or whats the matter, you are ok with trillions of dollars being misspent. How low are you willing to go?

[firewmn]

*
"You can put l.i.p.sti.ck on a p.i.g," he said to an outbreak of laughter, shouts and raucous applause from his audience, clearly drawing a connection to Palin's joke. "It's still a p.i.g. You can wrap an old .fish. in a piece of paper called change. It's still going to stink after eight years."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080910/ap_on_el_pr/obama_lipstick_4
*

[hotwire]

Wow, that man is too funny, he cracks me up. Ha! Ha!

[sustainable]

that was REALLY unfortunate especially in light of the lies and innuendo's about his religion.

'pigs and monkey's' - not good and "week old fish stinking" - was that a swipe at the Christian's - probably not - but its not helping!!

[GerryT]

John McCain's campaign acknowledged this weekend that Sarah Palin is unprepared to be vice president or president of the United States.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/08/AR2008090801907.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

[Daniboy]

Who has fought more corruption-Sara or Barrack? We can't count Barrack's Chicago years because there is no corruption in Chicago.

[IBOAT]

A little over ten days, seems to me a whole lot of corruption and lying on top of lying going on. But then the Repubs are good at sticking to their guns ever after they have been caught in a lie. Sarah Palin, you must make you fellow Repubs proud. Yep she will fit right in catering to the special interest as she has so well demonstrated. She definitely knows how to work them and keep the change.

[hotwire]

How can yo fight corruption in Chicago when you're involved in it?

[IBOAT]

Sarah Palin, a champion of saying no to earmarks. Oops, another lie.

[reliant1]

who worked with sen stevens (under indictment and took his earmarks and endorsed him?

who hired a lobbyist with ties to jack abramoff (the one who just went to jail)?

who is more corrupt?

who is married to a tr ai tor?

"I'm an Alaskan, not an American. I've got no use for America or her d am ned institutio­ns."
Joe Vogler

"The fires of he ll are frozen glaciers compared to my ha tred for the American government," Vogler

"And I won't be buried under their da mn flag," Vogler

tr ea son means nothing to you...

[cnobody]

i'd say the "corrupto-meter" on Palin is all over the place. it's hard to tout one's record on fighting corruption when you're involved in scandals yourself.

[Rutabaga]

She can continue to repeat this lie because the corporate media does not call her on it. To them, it's only the liberal blogosphere that considers it to be an issue.

It's obvious to me that the corporate media wants McCain to win. That way, they can keep getting their profits and their tax breaks. They have no interest in fairness or the truth. Edward R. Murrow must be spinning in his grave.

[hotwire]

I guess the only honest media out there is MSNBC huh? Yea listen to them, they'll tell you the truth. Just what is the "Corporate Media" anyway?

[Lizaveta]

Ask yourself this: If you are going to hire a person to run a business you have invested your life savings in would you rather have someone who went to 5 colleges in 6 years graduating from University of Idaho with communications degree or someone who put themselves through Harvard Law school?

[hotwire]

What's wrong with the University of Idaho? Last I heard you only needed to be a US citizen and reach the age required stated in the Constition. There is no requirement that you need to be a college graduate at all.

[mnkors]

Would you marry somebody without first asking some questions?
Would you buy a house without asking any questions?
Palin is either incapable to provide coherent answers related to the US’s present and future policies, or she is exceptionally snooty and does not care to reveal her grasp of the problems facing the nation. Pick the choice.

[Tropiholic]

she only continues to get away telling the same lie over and over because the "press" is allowing it! shame on all of you who claim to be "journalists".

[crossoverwriter]

Shame on Sarah Palin, and really the most shame on older white women who should know better than to fall for Palin's BS & lies.
As an older white woman myself, I am absolutely disgusted with these women who fawn all over Palin without even knowing how scary and ignorant and anti women's rights and untested she is.
She has much less experience than Obama who has served on both the US senate and the foreign relations committee.
For heavens sake, she didn't even know how Fanny May and Freddie Mac are funded. And she would be the fall back president?!
EEEK.
All of you women out there who should know better, study up and come to your senses!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!

[Daniboy]

I thought Palin was a governor. More Presidents have been past governors then past Senators. But maybe you are right-she's just an average mom-and these people have no right to even think about being President. Only Ivy League Grads and people groomed for the job should get it. Is Biden the change in hope and change?

[reliant1]

presidents who were not govenors:

*1. George Washington
*2. John Adams
*3. Thomas Jefferson
*4. James Madison
*6. John Quincy Adams
*7. Andrew Jackson
*12. Zachary Taylor
*13. Millard Fillmore
*14. Franklin Pierce
*15. James Buchanan
*16. Abraham Lincoln
*17. Andrew Johnson
*18. Ulysses S. Grant
*20. James Garfield
*21. Chester A. Arthur
*23. Benjamin Harrison
*27. William Howard Taft
*29. Warren Harding
*31. Herbert Hoover
*33. Harry S. Truman
*34. Dwight D. Eisenhower
*35. John F. Kennedy
*36. Lyndon B. Johnson
*37. Richard M. Nixon
*38. Gerald Ford
*41. George H. W. Bush

[reliant1]

but some of our best presidents were never govenors..­.

quality not quantity matters.

[cnobody]

she has every right to try to be (vice) president. we have every right to criticize her on her record. she can handle it. after all, she criticized hillary for "whining" so she's got nothing to complain about.

[TeriLyn]

Yep, you're right. George W. Bush was a governor, and look at the fine job he's done for this country the past 8 years.

I don't want an "average mom" negotiating with leaders of other nations on behalf of my country. I want someone more intelligent than I am and more savvy than I am. I WANT someone with an Ivy League education (or equivalent) who has the mental capacity to deal with the miriad of issues facing us today. This is not the era of Abraham Lincoln, where an "average farmer" can be the leader of the USA and doesn't have to worry about global politics or the mess we're in today.

If I had to choose a "mom", I'd choose someone with credentials like Golda Meïr who, btw, started her political career as a community organizer at age 11 by providing school books for poor children. If you want to see the credentials of this great "mom", just look anywhere on the web. Sarah Palin ain't no Golda Meïr, nor ever could be.

http://www.miriamscup.com/MeirBiog.htm

[reliant1]

i saw a reporter/hostess on cnn this morning this morning giving this story a few brief moments she then ended the piece with a perky smile - noted that inconsistancies can come from both camps and we (the viewers) should probably be using a resource like fact check.

a news speaker - telling us to fact check the news for oursleves!

this is a telling insight into their mindset. simply mention an item of news - consider it covered fully - and suggest we find out if they were telling us the truth for ourselves. with a little shrug and a smile.

wtf have we come to?

even presented with a lie which has been proven and addressed elsewhere they find it only worthy of a shrug and grin and a referral elsewhere to get the real news.

the press needs to be taken care of. they no longer serve a useful purpose.

[gtalkspolitics]

lier, lier pants on fire!!!! MSM is not on target , If this HOCKEY MOM has experience to be The VP than any women in the US can be President , Sarah Palin give out ONLY One liners lets see how the marvick preforms when she is really forced to really think.

[Lu4PUMA]

You better get your facts straight. Palin is not a Senator and did not vote on the earmarks. She recognized the wastfullnes and put a stop to the project. The bridge is not there, now is it?

It is you Messiah, Obama who had a chance to vote on what to do with the money for the project after it was cancelled. He is the Senator.

Well guess what. He voted "NO" on the bill that would have sent the funds for Katrina relief. So go ask him about why he decided to leave that money to Alaska.

Lies?

[summer1040]

Come on Lu4Puma. YOu are the one that needs to get your facts straight. Palin did in fact receive the $300million AFTER realizing that congress did not vote for the bridge. She kept the money. Guess what? Now they're building a road to the same bridge! If you're gonna speak from facts, then you need to check your facts....s­top the madness.

[Tropiholic]

she was FOR it before she was against it, when it became a national joke and disgrace.

[reliant1]

YOU LIE.

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote.xpd?vote=s2005-263

Vote Number: Senate Vote #263 in 2005 [primary source]
Date: Oct 20, 2005 12:00AM
Result: Amendment Rejected
Related Amendment: S.Amdt. 2181: To ensure reconstruction of the Twin Spans Bridge. amending H.R. 3058 [109th]: Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, the Judiciary, the...

Overview
Totals Democrats Republicans Independents All Votes
Ayes: 33 (33%)
3 30 0
Nays: 61 (61%) 37 22 2
No Vote: 6 (6%) 3 3 0
Required: Simple Majority of 94 votes (=48 votes)

Illinois
Nay IL Durbin, Richard [D]
Nay IL Obama, Barack [D]

we are not stu pid. we will not let you re pubs treat like us like we're stu pid.

no more spreading li es.

[cnobody]

notice one senator from Arizona who didn't bother voting on this one...

[watchTVgetSTUPID]

Palin wanted the money for the local companies who stood to make a ton of money from it. That is why she pushed for the bridge to nowhere. The money still went there for a road to where the bridge would be. Palin's Bridge to nowhere became a road to nowhere. But for the real reason, follow the money. The money did not go to nowhere, it went to companies who now owe Palin big time. That is the kind of money that ends up supporting election campaigns.

[jtown]

This is no better than what Hillary did with snipergate, the press ripped her a new one, what the hell is wrong with these people.