Comments on: Palin on Rape Exams: Not the Taxpayers’ Problem

By: DingoDave

DingoDave — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 04:07:15 +0000

Sarah Palin WAS aware of this policy. In fact she even signed off on it in her local government budget.

"Palin, as mayor, fired police chief Irl Stambaugh and replaced him with Charlie Fannon, who with Palin's knowledge, slashed the budget for the exams and began charging the city's victims of sexual assault. The city budget documents demonstrate Palin read and signed off on the new budget. A year later, alarmed Alaska lawmakers passed legislation outlawing the practice...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."

You can read the full article here.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jacob-alperinsheriff/sarah-palin-instituted-ra_b_125833.html

By: L M Cote

L M Cote — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 15:20:56 +0000

Most here are missing the point. A rape kit is to collect forensic evidence - just like searching for fingerprints - to determine if a crime has been committed and gather evidence to prove it. Police do not charge for taking fingerprints in your house where you have reported a robbery. So why should rape evidence-gathering be any different?

By: marlene

marlene — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 04:23:35 +0000

Sarah Palin was the Mayor, the Buck stop with her. She is an bloodthirsty animal killer. She hates women, and think they should suffer because Eve in Genesis disobeyed God.
She fires whoever she wanted including the Librarian for not banning books. She has some form of self-hate. Obama sponsor legislation so that no rape victim is charged in Illonios and he extended times for Victim rights to claim further rape expenses like psychological counseling.
OBAMA AND BIDEN. IT IS TIME FOR ALL RIGHT WING FREAKS TO BE EXPOSED AND FIRED, TO NEVER HOLD OFFICE AGAIN1

By: al gonzales

al gonzales — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 02:52:36 +0000

Rachel is just a tool of the right-wing nut jobs. Obama was not governor of Illinois, & did not change existing policy to make rape victims pay for rape kits. Palin was mayor of that little town, & changed the policy.
Completely different, unless you're Joseph Gobbels & work for John McCain.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 01:09:45 +0000

Obama's and John Edwards' States Make Rape Victims Pay for Exams
http://www.jessicaswell.com/mt/archives/2008/09/obamas-and-john-edwards-s.php

By: Rachel

Rachel — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 01:08:30 +0000

But the law was a state law, wasn't it? That's why the Gov. changed it. Or was it just that one town? North Carolina just changed their state law. And as for someone not coming forward--well, how about her lawyer?

By: Mike Riggs

Mike Riggs — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 22:09:51 +0000

LC: Maybe there's more to this story, just as there was with Obama's (he felt the law was poorly written and possibly unconstitutional), or maybe it's as plain as it looks: Wasilla officials didn't feel rape kits should be publicly funded.

By: AlieninthisSociety

AlieninthisSociety — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 22:03:23 +0000

In response to -Mike Riggs Says:
September 9th, 2008 at 3:22 pm

Great points you made there. Some I didn't consider.

On Alaska NPR, it's documented that the majority of rapes are committed against the native women and children by outsiders. And the natives live in villages where there is no police protection at all. But this would not be the case in Wassilla.

However, some commenters on Alaska local news sites claim that native women are often drunk in town -- making them easy targets.

This makes me wonder if the victims' ethnicity is framing Fannon's attitude, and Palin's by proxy since she's championed him.

By: LC

LC — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 21:18:02 +0000

Wow, you guys are REALLY wigging out! Let's await more info before you crucify her. Were you anywhere near this incensed upon hearing that Obama was the only senator not to support a bill "to report suspected child abuse while protecting the identity of the facility or person providing the information?" By the way, that bill passed the Illinois Senate, 54-0, with Obama voting, uh, "present".

By: Mike Riggs

Mike Riggs — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 19:45:20 +0000

SLB: I saw some links to conservative blogs earlier, but I'm having trouble finding them now (a Google search for "rape" and "palin" returns many, many, many posts berating Palin, and none defending her.) My guess is that the post I saw earlier, and the posts that will likely trickle out in the future, are from nutty small-time rightwingers who believe that the Frontiersman isn't a even real paper.

By: SLB

SLB — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 19:39:56 +0000

Rathbone says: Daily Kos needs to find one woman who paid out of pocket for own kit. Why has she not come forward?

Duh, maybe because she doesn't want to be exposed as a rape victim to the entire country??

How can anyone argue that this is part of a smear campaign? The article came from May 2000 -- way before anyone was trying to "smear" poor little whiny victim-of-sexism Palin.

Good thing she has big strong Johnny McCain to defend her honor!

By: Mike Riggs

Mike Riggs — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 19:24:39 +0000

I Dig Riggs: Glad to finally hear a good word from a City Desk reader.

By: Mike Riggs

Mike Riggs — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 19:22:45 +0000

I think the bigger issue is the policy itself, especially when compared to government handouts for a hockey rink. The annual savings of $14,000 aren't enough to justify the consequences of the policy--which is the impression that police aren't interested in doing everything they can to solve rape cases. And as to the stats--if women didn't have access to rape kits, and if the Wasilla police wasn't willing to coordinate their efforts with whatever state victim's fund currently exists, then there may be a number of cases that went unreported, especially among uninsured women.

By: I digs Riggs

I digs Riggs — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 19:19:50 +0000

i'm liking this riggs.
you scared me with the olberman blog, but i'm liking this.

By: Rathbone

Rathbone — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 19:06:08 +0000

It's a suburb of Anchorage. It's not quite Mayberry. Plenty of other states do the same thing--charge the victim's insurance, and if she can't pay, take it out of the state's victim's funds. Daily Kos needs to find one woman who paid out of pocket for own kit. Why has she not come forward?