Why is the Associated Press deliberately twisting Gov. Sarah Palin's words on foreign policy?
Posted by: Jeff Emanuel

Thursday, September 11, 2008 at 08:12PM
17 Comments

For a sense of how badly the Associated Press tried to twist some of Gov. Sarah Palin's (R-AK) words on foreign policy from this evening's interview with Charles Gibson, please bear with me through the following example.

The police in this country are charged with enforcing laws - if an individual, say, murders one of their fellow men, then the police are expected (required) to arrest the perpetrator for murder.

Now, let's say a policeman (let's make him a chief, just for fun) sits down for a media interview about, among several topics, police homicide policy. The reporter conducting the interview asks the chief about his department's responsibilities when it comes to arresting an individual when, in fact, they have murdered another individual.

The chief, of course, speaks a bit about the investigative and evidentiary processes, and concludes by acknowledging that a known guilty party would, in fact, be arrested for murder.

Just to see how consistent this policy is, the reporter asks the chief, "Even if the murderer were, say, the President of the United States?

"Of course!" responds the law enforcement officer. "Our responsibility is to enforce the laws of our respective jurisdictions to the best of our abilities and in accordance with our oaths, regardless of the personal identity or position of a person who commits a crime.

Now, imagine for me that the Associated Press shot this over the wires as fast as it could, with the following headline:

Police Chief leaves open option of arresting President of United States for murder
Scratching your head yet? Yep -- I was too, when I saw the equivalent of the above example come over the wires from the AP this evening. In her interview with Gibson, the story says,

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin left open the option Thursday of waging war with Russia if it were to invade neighboring Georgia and the former Soviet republic were a NATO ally. "We will not repeat a Cold War," Palin said in her first television interview since becoming Republican John McCain's vice presidential running mate two weeks ago.

Asked whether the United States would have to go to war with Russia if it invaded Georgia, and the country was part of NATO, Palin said: "Perhaps so."

"I mean, that is the agreement when you are a NATO ally, is if another country is attacked, you're going to be expected to be called upon and help," she said.
That response -- which was an absolutely correct promise that the U.S. will support its allies abroad (those few we have left, according to Obama&Co.) and not shirk its oaths and treaty obligations -- garnered the following headline from the AP:

Palin leaves open option of war with Russia
What is the AP so afraid of in Governor Sarah Palin that they see the need to resort to headlines as blatantly fake as this?

Update: Then again, I suppose Palin Accuracy is not the AP's strong suit these days anyway....http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-131473.html

http://www.redstate.com/diaries/jeff_em ... tely-twis/