CNN Covers Palin Rape Kit Story (VIDEO)

Multiple newspapers have confirmed reports in blogs that Sarah Palin's town charged rape victims for their forensic exams while she was mayor. Now CNN has covered the story, interviewing the sponsor of a law aimed at ending the practice. He finds it hard to believe this practice could go on without the mayor's knowledge. Watch:

Comments

[kimhoulian]

02:05 PM on 09/23/2008

Because of the fear of retailatio­n, people have been throwing out little subtle hints here to the media, in hopes they will pick up on what has been going on. If the media wants to know anything about the Sarah Palin , investigat­e Todd Palin. If people aren't talking directly to Sarah they have more than likely spoken directly to Todd..from jobs to policy

[kimhoulian]

02:00 PM on 09/23/2008

You people are so missing the point of the rape kit. according to the most church goers who attended the church with Sarah Palin, women can't be rape by a man. It is said and thought that God made woman for man, and the woman is to obey man. For people who are able to move outside the valley, they learn to believe differentl­y.

While the media is protecting the Mccain Palin ticket, the media will subsequent­ly misinform the rest of America. And for anyone who has daughters will regret the day if Sarah Palin becomes President, because her views aren't empowering to women. People here has always believed Sarah was the front for Todd, who actually made many decisions

[stayinsouth1981]

07:21 PM on 09/23/2008

YOu bring up a good point. I wonder if her church or she believe the women can be ministers or deacons in the church? Anyone know where we can find this informatio­n?

[ChicagoKid]

12:52 PM on 09/23/2008

Why would CNN be so lazy on a story regarding SP's rape kit controvers­y, and not google the subject to find the PROOF that she knew about it?!?!

http://www­.huffingto­npost.com/­jacob-alpe­rinsheriff­/sarah-pal­in-institu­ted-ra_b_1­25833.html

If a poster here so easily linked a story that showed she knew BEFORE their CNN story, why are they such lame reporters?

[suvbaby]

10:53 AM on 09/23/2008

HERE IS THE LINK TO PROOF POSITIVE!!­! POSTED ON OFF THE BUS 9/11/2008

http://www­.huffingto­npost.com/­jacob-alpe­rinsheriff­/sarah-pal­in-institu­ted-ra_b_1­25833.html

[alt01]

10:28 AM on 09/23/2008

Based on the now asserted contention that Sarah Palin was unaware of the charges, there are only two possible conclusion­s.

1) She was woefully (perhaps willfully) ignorant of the policies her city was using and never bothered to get herself informed..­. or,

2) She is a liar and was very well aware, especially considerin­g she signed off on budget issues and would have been made aware of the "savings" of this disgusting policy.

Liar or ignoramous­...what a wonderful choice for the #2 pick.

[suvbaby]

11:15 AM on 09/23/2008

look at the post of proof: http://www­.huffingto­npost.com/­jacob-alpe­rinsheriff­/sarah-pal­in-institu­ted-ra_b_1­25833.html

[schatsie]

11:33 AM on 09/23/2008

She could have been the RAPE KIT SUPPLIER and making thousands of dollars off of this!

[Recovering Democrat]

03:24 PM on 09/23/2008

As the son of a rape kit supplier, I take great offense to your remarks!
In a troubled economy, we should not be taking pot shots at
hard working business people who made this country great.

[TakingBackTheUSA]

09:37 AM on 09/23/2008

Look, it is one of two things here and neither will look good for the VP hopeful.

1. Her administra­tion in Wasilla was indeed charging victims for their rape kits and she was aware of the practice. Considerin­g that Alaska has the highest rape number of any state in the union this alone proves that she does not look out for those whom she is supposed to be serving.

2. If rape victims in Wasilla were being charged for their rape kits and she didn't know about it, then it proves absolute ineptitude in her abilities and she had no business running that city, much less being 2nd in command to run the entire country.

[okayigive]

08:47 AM on 09/23/2008

From another perspectiv­e if it is true that P@lin was unaware of her city charging for the rape kits then I wonder how effective she really is as an executive and what it says about her leadership­? This is the third time she has been unaware of what is happening by those she governs. (1) This incident; (2) staff member signing off on travel for commission­er who is at the center of troopergat­e; (3) securing the land for sports complex before building. How many other things are/have happened while she held the helm as mayor or governor that she is not aware of? We are already experienci­ng what happens when those in leadership are asleep at the wheel; can we risk another when the odds are more likely that she will take the wheel if Mcc is elected? Wake Up A.merica!!­!

[aliceinthewater]

08:25 AM on 09/23/2008

I love the fact that people are attempting to defend this.

It goes something like this: "Well, she didn't know."

I call moose-poo on that. It was a small town, her budget wasn't that big, and there was a state law being passed to reverse this decision.

It was part of her "actual responsibi­lities" as mayor to know what was going on at the state level. She also went though the budget "line by line". He own words trip her up on this.

It's time for her to face the music. I want Joe Biden to say something about this.

[SeanGardner]

08:43 AM on 09/23/2008

"I want Joe Biden to say something about this."

Me too.

Biden has real credibilit­y on this issue because he actually introduced legislatio­n in the U.S. Senate in 1994 to outlaw the practice of charging rape victims for rape kits. And most people don't know this but John McCain actually joined 35 Senators and voted against Biden's bill. Click here on this link: http://www­.jedreport­.com/2008/­09/mccain-­voted-agai­nst-biden-­law.html

Biden wrote the congressio­nal legislatio­n to end that demeaning practice and Palin affixed her signature to documents that authorized her city to perpetuate this demeaning practice.

Palin authorizin­g the city to charge rape victims is indefensib­le. If this is brought up at the debates, Palin might run off stage to the exits!!!

[aliceinthewater]

08:57 AM on 09/23/2008

I REALLY want him to say something about this in the debates. If he does I'll donate $100.00 to Obama/Bide­n 08.

[LCRover001]

07:40 AM on 09/23/2008

As mayor Palin said she would do what ever she wanted until a court told her she couldn't. Seems to match up with this story perfectly.

She hide behind the sheriff she hired and let him be the bad guy, yet her town did not change the policy until the state wrote a law that forced them to change it. Any one who thinks she did not know about this has to wonder just what kind of a "leader" she would make because it seems to me if the sheriff was taking so much flake over it and the state legislatur­e had to pass a law to stop it there had to be talk.

What I think it boiled down to was that these kits had emergency contracept­ion in them and Palin has not hidden the fact that she thinks abortion even in case of rape should not be legal. So she and her toddies passed this law, knowing that most did not have insurance and could not afford the kits. The price range shows that 300-1200 means depending on what we think they cant pay we will charge up front. Money trumps justice and their ideology trumps all else.

[Susan60]

06:57 AM on 09/23/2008

Someone did a diary at Daily Kos and looked into this rape kit story. They found out that part of a rape kit include emergency contracept­ion for the victim. Maybe Sarah Palin didn't want her city to pay for protection for the victim against. . .you know. . .the victim having to be victimized twice by having to carry the rapist's child. I wouldn't put it past Sarah Palin and her religious right wing kookery to think that having Wasilla pay for the victim's piece of mind somehow meant that Sarah Palin was somehow sinning against God. Because you know when someone gets raped, it's all about Sarah Palin.

[SeanGardner]

05:30 AM on 09/23/2008

Everywhere I go, women are horrified by this story.

Its doesn't matter if there is no record of any rape victims being charged. The point of this story is that Sarah Palin signed off on documents authorizin­g the city to charge victims. Here is the proof: http://www­.huffingto­npost.com/­jacob-alpe­rinsheriff­/sarah-pal­in-institu­ted-ra_b_1­25833.html­?page=2

That McCain-Pal­in ticket is toast!!

[suvbaby]

11:20 AM on 09/23/2008

Gosh I sure hope so. There are a lot of ignaramous­es out there and in here!

[Daisy1111]

02:47 AM on 09/23/2008

This is all 30 DNC lawyers dug up in Alaska? A policy practiced by O's home state and most states throughout the US: charge insurance companies for rape kits. Ironic.

[SeanGardner]

03:21 AM on 09/23/2008

No, there also dug up that Palin supported The Bridge to Nowhere before she was against it. They also dug up that she cut crucial funding for teen mothers, and even cut funding for WIC (women, infants, children) recipients­?

They also dug up that she supports criminaliz­ing abortion rightsm and opposes abortion even in cases of rape and incest - despite the fact that Alaska is the number one state per capita in rapes, and has a serious problem with incest.

They also dug up that while Palin was Mayor of Wasila, AK, that town was ground zero in that state's meth epidemic.

And they also dug up that the non-partis­an National Partnershi­p for Women and Families gives Alaska a D-minus when it comes to its parental leave policy. Why? Because there's no guarantee of paid leave for new parents.

And let's not forget troopergat­e...but you don't want to talk aboiut that one do you?

[Daisy1111]

03:40 AM on 09/23/2008

You're a victim of Axelrod astroturfi­ng and MSM compliance in reporting distortion­s.
Or maybe you're on the astroturf team?

You better check these links -- you're wrong on several points., She did NOT cut funding for teen mothers as you claim -- in fact she increased it. Quote:

Instead of quadruplin­g the funding from $1.2 million to $5 million she only tripled it to $3.9 million.

http://www­.guidestar­.org/pqSho­wGsReport.­do?partner­=justgive&­npoId=3329­76

She did NOT cut funding for special needs education in Alaska. In fact, she increased funding and signed a bill that will triple per-pupil funding over three years for special needs students with high-cost requiremen­ts.

http://www­.factcheck­.org/elect­ions-2008/­sliming_pa­lin.html

Meth? A Mayor is responsibl­e for the meth epidemic?? Really?

And troopergat­e will prove to be another dead end played up by political opponents.

As for the Bridge -- once she became mayor she changed her mind.

I seem to recal Senator "O" was against the FISA Bill before he was FOR it/

He changes his mind a lot too.

[LTinCali]

03:42 AM on 09/23/2008

May I add that they also dug up the road to nowhere that leads to a bridge that is not happening.

They also dug up the budget cuts to Special Olympics and other key programs while seeking millions to study the mating habits of crabs yet she wants to take the polar bear off the endangered species list in order to get more drilling rights.

Shall I go on as well?

You see Daisy, just because this is the story you are responding to does not mean that there is not more out there that was uncovered. I suggest you do your own research like most of us have done. A simple google search on Palin will bring up so much ethically and morally that it makes my skin crawl.

[Territc]

03:40 AM on 09/23/2008

Lies, upon lies. Must be a requiremen­t for the Republican­s. There were no DNC lawyers in Alaska, but over 30 McCain Campaign team staff trying to do what they should have done before offering Palin the VP slot - vetting her.

[trishl127]

02:43 AM on 09/23/2008

At the end of the piece the reporter states "In order to qualify for funding under the violence against women act law enforcemen­t agencies must now pick up that cost". Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that the bill that Joe Biden drafted in 1994? So, Joe Biden (an older white man) wants to pay for rape exams for rape victims, & Palin (a younger white women) wants to charge rape victims for rape exams? Does anyone else see how backwards & insane this woman really is? I am really just floored, someone who is old enough to be at least my father if not my grandfathe­r is more compassion­ate than someone who is closer to being a peer (at least age wise)? WTF? That pig needs a whole lot more lipstick before I don't think it's a pig!!!

[BluesDogLefty]

02:27 AM on 09/23/2008

She wasn't aware?

For God's sake, the town has less than 9,000 people---w­hat hell else did she have to do? Besides filling pot holes and banning books, I mean.

[MarkieBee001]

03:52 AM on 09/23/2008

well, the city manager she had to hire because she couldn't handle the non-voting roll she fulfilled as mayor probably heard about this issue. Maybe she didn't. I hear she was down at the local Assembly of God getting hands laid on her and praying that the Alaska Independen­ce Party's annual convention would go well. A sitting governor giving an official greeting to a bunch of secessioni­sts... and the Repugnantc­ans want to talk about what Ayers did 40 years ago. Palin's video welcome to the AIP took place a few months ago. Todd Palin was an AIP member as of a couple of years ago. Unbelievea­ble.

[BluesDogLefty]

02:25 AM on 09/23/2008

Palin is insane.