Continuing confusion on Palin, and the need to manufacture lies
Ed Brayton, normally quite accurate in his reporting, titles a post of his, Another Palin Lie. Ed states,
And Stephen Foley, at The Independent, has an article titled, Sale of Alaska’s state jet on eBay revealed as a lie. From Foley’s article,
What she didn’t say was that the aircraft had failed to sell over the internet and was eventually sold off at a loss
….
…Inquiries by the journalists and Democratic party operatives who have descended on Alaska have turned up quite different facts: namely, that the jet was hauled off eBay after failing to attract decent bids.
Yet, here are the lines from Sarah Palin’s speech, at the RNC, in which she references said plane:
That’s it. No other references to the sale of the jet was made in her speech. Astute observers will note that she does not state that the plane was sold on eBay, nor does she state that it was sold for a profit.
It ain’t there, fellas.
Do you think, just a thought here, that her intentions (at that point in the speech) were to emphasize her attitude towards wasteful spending, and not to give a detailed accounting report of how Alaska unloaded it’s luxury jet?
Did she imply, in her RNC speech, that she had actually sold the plane on eBay? Could be. Yet, did any intrepid journalists or Democratic party operatives, armed with the not-so-secret data of the plane’s actual sale, trap Palin by asking her for specific data on how the plane was sold? Are you kidding? That would mean actually trying to get to the truth of the matter.
Truth be told, we must rewrite Foley’s paragraph, from above, as follows:
Sarah Palin bolstered her reputation as a reformer – and got one of her biggest cheers in her Republican convention speech last week – when she said she had sold put the governor’s official jet on eBay as her first act on taking office in Alaska.
Words… just words.
Note: However, John McCain’s statement, referenced above, seems to be a different matter entirely. Maybe he should just let Sarah speak for herself.
Tagged with: barracuda • mccain palin • palin • palin power • sarah barracuda • sarah palin • vice president
Filed under: Culture • Democrats • Liberal • Media • Politics • Rusty
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This is what is called “conversational implicature.”
Clearly telling everyone at the convention (in the context of getting rid of an extravagance) that she “put it on eBay” IMPLIED that she sold it on eBay. She knew she didn’t sell it, but she also knew the audience and the world at large WOULD think she did.
If I said that not all my kids were home, when none were there you would think that at least one or two of them were there. Have I lied? No, but this is far too Clintonian for my tastes, and not worthy of my own party.
As far as I am concerned this is a classic example of using the context of a statement to drive an inference by the listeners. If my kid did it, I would call it a lie.
Still, I don’t think it’s a great lie. The main point: “I sold the plane (at a reduced price) and got rid of that luxury” – is true. And I can appreciate that, speaking at least for myself.
In this case, I’d agree that perhaps more is being made than should have been.
The problem is, McCain chose a virtual unknown with very little record with 10 weeks to go before the election. The US voters – and the media by extension – have a very limited time to research this candidate and know exactly what she stands for, what her strengths and weaknesses are, what her ideology is.
And so, yes, there probably ARE some false rumors that will get floated and there may be some points like this that are overly analyzed, but that is what happens when you select an unknown with a very limited time table to uncover her story. Most of what I’ve read in the legitimate media has been fairly solid.
She apparently DID try to remove some books from the library.
Her husband WAS a member until recently of a secessionist group.
She DID take part in some of the AIP’s activities and she did say that the AIP had a vital role to play in Alaska.
She HAS taken part in seeking and getting ear-marked moneys from the federal gov’t, contrary to what she suggested in her speech (THAT might be a more appropriate example of conversational implicature, if not an outright misstatement).
etc, etc. Yes, the internets are full of rumors, but most of what makes it to the mainstream media has a grounding in fact. And that is a good thing.
Monk,
Certainly, saying “put it on eBay” implies that it was sold on eBay. But the point of the statement was that the extravagance was sold, not that eBay handled the transaction. What all the detractors KNOW is that she got a bigger reaction by stating “I put it on eBay” than if she would have stated “I sold it”. Humor, utilized to accentuate the point that she saw no need for a luxury jet and got rid of it.
The pickers of nits are missing the point (which is not surprising, given how much effort they’re expending, digging and scratching for ANYTHING to accuse Palin over).
I’ve got kids as well, and they learn the fine art of implicature early on. My tact, when faced with the use of implicature, is to do exactly what I chastised the intrepid journalists and Democratic party operatives for not doing – I phrase a question to them so as to leave no question as to the specific data desired. In so doing, their response reveals whether or not a lie is present.
Dan,
I don’t know if more time would have helped the media research Palin and her qualifications… they’ve had a year with Obama and have pretty much given him a pass.
;^)
Not to mention that the NY Times and the Washington Post went with the story about Palin “cutting” spending for a program for teen mothers, when she increased it 3 times (not 4 times, which was requested and what liberals call a “cut”).
And the book banning? The LA Times reported it, but had to backtrack when it came out that it was a single, non-specific, hypothetical question. (The article quotes Palin as calling it “rhetorical”. I think she meant “hypothetical”. Either way, she didn’t try to ban books.)
The NY Times said Palin herself was a member of the AIP. this link is to the story that notes it had to be corrected at the bottom.
The mainstream media has been very quick to take some of its cues from the left-wing blogs and jump on unsubstantiated sources. I don’t see that as McCain’s or Palin’s fault. Getting the fact right is the media’s job, not the job of right-wing bloggers (ironically, whom the MSM criticize for the lack of editorial oversight).
The best thing about Palin is that she is clearly driving leftists like this Monk-in-Training and Dan Trabue character nuts! They’re spinning their wheels over this and that while McCain-Palin are going up in the polls.
Gotta love it!
Driving me nuts?
I’m just striving for understanding. Is that humorous to you? Why would that be?
However, I’m not being driven nuts by her, nor by those who’d support her. Obama has led in polls for over six months. I’m not especially worried about one week’s poll results.
Seeking understanding in our fellow citizens seems a reasonable thing to me. Glad I can help bring a little light to your day. Sounds like you may need it.
lol ‘LEFTIST’?
I am 51 years old, and have been a Registered Republican all my adult life. I have marched in anti abortion protests, worked in many political campaigns, and before he became a moral joke an avid Limbaugh listener. I hardly think I am a leftist!
I happen to think one of the core teachings of the Gospel is to look at ourselves and see our own mistakes, and see how we can improve. This is one way I think we as believers can actually be “Christian” in how we act out our politics. My father taught me that the honorable thing to do, was to seek to excel, and be honest about my faults. That is the only way to fix them.
Want to know why I am concerned? How did I find out about Obama? Last year from a young, white Southern Baptist pastor. He is voting for him this year. My shock was total, and I started looking at younger people and noticed how few we are retaining. Then I started wondering why. Today I heard another young minister that I know say that he turned off Gov. Palin’s speech after a half hour because she made him think of all those “hard-headed, arrogant individuals” he had argued with all his life growing up. These are ministers of conservative Christian Churches! I think we may be loosing a generation.