A Vice Presidental candidate thread.

Well--it is unsafe always to assume what you wish to assume. You could end up not knowing what a buttered bun is.

spendius, I'm not assuming anything. I think it's great that the state legislature in Alasks ended the practice of making rape victims in Wasilla pay for forensic tests. I'm not surprised at all about Palin's failure to rein in the crystal meth trade in Wasilla. It seems to have greatly increased while she's been in office.

You have assumed that you can differentiate between rape victims and alleged rape victims.

spendius, haha. Bad touches.

Oh I don't know. I've known a lot of policemen.

I bet you have.

You prove the point bf. Ladies can just say something and --hey presto- it is evidence.

What did you mean?

spendius, at least be hasppy that the sate legislature set the record straight on forensic testing of rape and alleged rape victims. Somebody up there had to govern the the governor.

Look kid-- bringing in the use of forensic testing is totally dependent on economic prosperity ( being able to afford it), and not on any moral principles. It creates jobs. Righteousness is a luxury economic prosperity brings in free countries. Palaces in dictatorships.

Mr Bush might be trying to achieve more for the sisterhood than was ever dreamt of in Wasilla.

One has to hope that the sisterhood isn't restricted to just those who provide drum banging opportunities for the vocal.

The use of forensic testing has been shifted in Wasilla by the state legislature.

What do you mean by "shifted" bf?

Shifted from victims paying to the police paying. For such a little town there seems to be a lot of rapes in Wasilla. Theres lots of crystal meth too and that greatly increased under Mayor and Governor Palin. I suspect we'll be hearing more about drugs and Palin's failures in leadership in the coming days. Meanwhile her positions on rape, sex ed, birth control and women's right to choose are going to catch up with McCain before all is said and done.

Sarah Palin Knew About Rape Kit Billing Policy
by DemocraticLuntz
Fri Sep 12, 2008 at 09:35:24 AM PDT
Cross-Posted from Huffington Post's Off the Bus

The story of the Wasilla policy has made its way from my comments on Daily Kos to the pages of The USA Today. But clear evidence suggesting Palin knew Wasilla was charging the victims of sexual assault has been hard to find. Placing the city budget records, however, alongside a timetable of Palin's firing Chief Stambaugh and hiring Chief Fannon makes it clear the policy was put in place as a direct result of Palin's leadership.

(I'd thought I was done with this story once the USA Today found it, but then former police Chief Stambaugh got back to me).

DemocraticLuntz's diary :: ::
The mayor of Wasilla before Sarah Palin, John C. Stein, was also a Republican, though the office was and continues to be non-partisan. Mayor Stein was defeated by Sarah Palin in a campaign that brought in the NRA, Republican partisans, and a whisper campaign that Mayor Stein was Jewish (he is a Christian, but is "proud of such a reputation"). He now runs the Sitka Sound Science Center, a marine research facility in Sitka, Alaska.

Mayor Stein told me that he didn't "think victims were billed while [he] was mayor," but that he wasn't certain. He did mention that "Wasilla participated in establishing a Sexual Assault Response Team to set-up a one-stop forensic exam room for victims," evidence of a pro-victim police department. In order to confirm his assertion about the billing policy, he recommended I contact current police chief Angella Long for confirmation. She did not return my request for comment.

However, I was able to eventually track down Irl Stambaugh, police chief of Wasilla from the founding of the department until Sarah Palin fired him for "not fully supporting her efforts to govern." Stambaugh sued for breach of contract, but lost when a federal judge ruled that "police chiefs serve at the behest of the mayor unless otherwise specified." He later served as the executive director of the Alaska Police Standards Council.

It turns out that Wasilla did not bill sexual assault victims for the cost of rape exams while Irl Stambaugh was chief of police. As chief, he had included a line item in the budget to pay for the cost of such exams. He had only just heard about the Mayor Palin/Chief Fannon policy today, and was just as shocked to hear about it as I was.

Checking the budget confirmed former Chief Stambaugh's claim. He had included a contingency of $15,000 in his budget for the department's 1st year of existence (1993-1994), $5,000 for 1994-1995 and 1995-1996, and $13,000 for his final year as police chief in 1996-1997, spending $11,625.

Duwayne Charles Fannon, his replacement, halved the budget request in 1997-1998, with a request of $7,298, spending $3,454. However, it seems he began the "victim pays" policy in the 1998-1999 fiscal year. That year, he requested $3,000 but spent only $205. This data can be found in the Document Central section of Wasilla's website.

The Document for the 1998-1999 fiscal year begins with a message "To the Citizens of the City of Wasilla:"

The comprehensive annual financial report of the City of Wasilla for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1999, is hereby submitted. The City's Finance Department prepared the report. Responsibility for both the accuracy of the data, and the completeness and fairness of the presentation, including all disclosures, rests with the City. To the best of our knowledge and belief, the enclosed data is accurate in all material respects and is reported in a manner designed to fairly present the financial position and results of operations of the various funds and account groups of the City. All disclosures necessary to enable the reader to gain an understanding of the City's financial activities have been included. ...
(Palin's signature)
At the end of the letter, under the words "Respectfully submitted," is the signature of Sarah Palin. Unless she made a false claim about the data being accurate to the best of her knowledge, she was aware of the change in billing policy orchestrated by Police Chief Fannon. The McCain/Palin campaign did not respond to requests for comment.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/12/122359/661/796/596201

That is fascinating bf rather than just very interesting.

Yes it is. She acted so tough and dictatorial as Mayor firing people right and left if they didn't cooperate with total loyalty. But now she pretends otherwise. She started the victims pay for their own forensic tests program but pretends she didn't. We have proof that she's lying. Should be interesting if she ever gets to choose Supreme court justices.

Certainly. She could be in for 11 years and 363 days if the excitement of the inauguration proves too much for our hero.

If Putin wants to show off his pectorals and be seen shooting tigers it is as well to let him know what he is up against.

Like it was Putin that was showing off anything. Georgis bombed and attacked sleeping S. Osettians. Palin and Biden also are setting the tables for more unnecessary conflict.

It pays to growl early. Mrs Palin mentioned blinking in an interview I saw.

I can't get very excited about the issue of having victims pay for their own rape kit. I think it is wrong, since it is forensic evidence that the state might use in a prosecution, and the state should rightly foot the bill. But I just can't get worked up about it as a major drawback concerning Palin.

On the other hand, the fact that, if she had her way, she would deny the rape victim the right to choose an abortion, if the rape resulted in pregnancy, I see as a very big deal.

If Palin does not understand that this is essentially a civil liberties issue, and that she has no right to use her personal religious views to curtail the civil liberties of another woman, on such a highly personal matter, I have severe misgivings about her ethical ability to govern the United States as VP or president. I want to hear her say that she will uphold and respect Roe vs Wade as part of the law of our land--without any hesitation about it.