A new video from the Wasilla Project documents the controversial practice of charging rape victims for evidence-gathering exams under Sarah Palin's watch as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska. The video includes interviews from late September 2008 with former Alaska state representative Eric Croft, sponsor of the 2000 bill which made it illegal to charge victims for rape exams in Alaska; forensic nurse Tara Henry, who has conducted many such exams in Alaska; Wasilla city council member Dianne Woodruff (formerly a Republican but now an independent); Geran Tarr, chairperson of the Alaska Women's Lobby; and Dr. Colleen Murphy, formerly of the Alaska Violent Crimes Compensation Board. All attest to the wrongful nature of this practice, stubbornly pursued in Wasilla under Palin's watch even in the face of state legislation against it. This video follows a recent ad from Planned Parenthood hitting Palin on the practice of charging victims for rape exams.

Previous reports on Palin's rape exam controversy include a recent written report and video by CNN confirming that when Palin was mayor Wasilla did indeed cling stubbornly to the practice of charging victims for rape exams, even in the face of legislation against it sponsored by state representative Eric Croft. Croft told CNN that the only ongoing resistance he met was from Wasilla, where Palin was mayor from 1996 to 2002. "It was one of those things everyone could agree on except Wasilla...," Croft told CNN, "...We couldn't convince the chief of police to stop charging them."  While some of Palin's supporters say they believe she had no knowledge of the practice, critics call the suggestion "outrageous" and question Palin's commitment to helping women who are victims of violence. As Croft told CNN, "I find it hard to believe that for six months a small town, a police chief, would lead the fight against a statewide piece of legislation receiving unanimous support and the mayor not know about it."

Forensic nurse Tara Henry also spoke with CNN, confirming Croft's comments on Wasilla's intransigence in the matter of rape exams and telling CNN that while several local law enforcement agencies expressed difficulty paying for the exams, Wasilla was the most vocal in its opposition to paying. Charging victims for exams "retraumatizes them," according to Henry: "Asking them to pay for something law enforcement needs in order to investigate their case, it's almost like blaming them for getting sexually assaulted."

Wasilla police have claimed that their intent was not to charge rape victims for their exams, but to charge victims' insurance companies. This claim has yet to be substantiated, however, and provides no answer for what might happen in cases where the victim has no insurance. In any case, police departments have no more business charging rape victims or their insurance companies for rape exams than they have charging for any other type of criminal investigation: this is why we pay taxes.

As Dianne Woodruff notes in the Wasilla Project video, Mayor Palin redecorated her own office multiple times at public expense while Wasilla claimed that it could not afford to pay for rape exams.

With a rape rate 2.5 times the national average, as CNN observes, Alaska has the worst record of any state in rape and murder of women by men.

American women and all Americans should know about Palin's history of opposing fair treatment for rape victims.

Saturday's Washington Post reports that the John McCain campaign is preparing an aggressively negative campaign against Barack Obama in a last-ditch effort to squash the Democrat's presidential hopes as Election Day rapidly approaches. With scarcely a month to go until Nov. 4, as the Post's Michael D. Shear reports at length, Republicans "are readying a newly aggressive assault on Sen. Barack Obama's character," including any personal associations they can exploit, believing that to win on Election Day they "have to change the subject" away from the economic concerns which have boosted the Democrats in recent weeks (see also Huffington Post).

"Pit bull" Sarah Palin appears to be leading the charge in this effort. In an interview on Fox News Friday, Palin said that Obama is "reckless" and that some of what Obama has said, "in my world, disqualifies someone from consideration as the next commander in chief." Then at a fundraiser on Saturday, Palin accused Obama of "palling around with terrorists," a reference to Obama's tenuous association with '60s militant William Ayers. Obama "is someone who sees America it seems as being so imperfect, imperfect enough that he's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country...," Palin said, "...This is not a man who sees America like you and I see America." Clearly designed to paint Obama as someone who is "outside the American mainstream" (i.e., exotic, foreign, Other, and dangerous), Palin's comments were described as "unsubstantiated" and "racially tinged" by the Associated Press, who observed also that "John McCain himself may come to regret" them.

In view of their total reliance on negative campaigning, it seems clear at this point that John McCain and Sarah Palin have nothing positive to offer. 

The shameless bigot you see pictured at right is Bobby May, McCain campaign chair in Buchanan County, Virginia, as well as treasurer and former correspondence secretary of the Buchanan County Republican Party. Mr. May recently published a newspaper column containing an overtly racist attack against Barack Obama. Appearing in a local paper called The Voice, May's column contained a number of inflammatory charges against Obama, including the following on Obama's plans for America if elected:

"FREEDOM OF RELIGION: Mandatory Black Liberation Theology classes taught in all churches - raise taxes to pay for this mandate. Put Rev. Jeremiah Wright in charge...."

"DRUG CRISIS: Raise taxes to pay for free drugs for Obama’s inner-city political base...."

"2ND AMENDMENT: Under Obama will only apply to gang-bangers, illegal aliens, Islamo-Fascist terrorists, and Senator Jim Webb’s aide...."

"FOREIGN RELATIONS: Appoint Rev. Al Sharpton as Secretary of State, Jesse Jackson as UN Representative, and let Bill Clinton handle all other "foreign relations" ... As long as Hillary doesn't find out...!"

"THE WHITE HOUSE: Hire rapper Ludacris to “paint it black.” Taxes to be increased to buy enough paint for the job plus spray-paint for graffiti...."

"THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES: Raise taxes to send $845 billion, most of it to Africa so the Obama family there can skim off enough for them to free their goats and live the American Dream...."

"NATIONAL ANTHEM: Change to the "Black National Anthem" by James Weldon Johnson...."

"US CURRENCY: Update photos to reflect US diversity; include pictures of "great Americans" such as Oprah Winfrey, Ludacris, Sheila Jackson-Lee, Paris Hilton, and Louisiana Congressman William Jefferson (Obama's new Secretary of the Treasury - 50 Cent refused position after learning that he would lose his crazy check if he accepted the nomination)...."

"US FLAG: Replace 50 stars with a star and crescent logo; red stripes changed to green to represent Obama’s tree-hugging radical environmentalism and his lack of experience. Flag lapel pins, having become a substitute for “real patriotism,” will henceforth be banned...."

At the end of his column May challenged Obama to meet him on "County Talk," a Friday morning talk show on radio station WMJD 100.7 in Grundy VA. It seems Mr. May is quite the local mover and shaker in Buchanan County Republican circles: In addition to his work with The Voice and WMJD, he has also appeared in the Virginia Mountaineer with other local Republican leaders.

Complaints and expressions of disgust at Mr. May's comments can and should be directed to the following:

McCain national campaign: info@johnmccain.com

McCain Virginia campaign virginia@johnmccain.com

Republican National Committee (Mike Duncan, Chair): chairman@gop.com

Virginia Republican Party: info@rpv.org

Buchanan County Republican Party (Jerry M. Lester, Chair): bcrp@naxs.net & jelester@mtinter.net / tel. 276-935-4764 or 276-935-5483

WMJD radio: info@wmjd.org / tel. 276-935-7227 ("County Talk," Fridays 10-11 a.m. EST)

The Voice: voice@mikrotecwildblue.com / tel. 276-881-8886 

Bobby May: bobbyleemay@yahoo.com / tel. 276-566-8788

This story has already attracted the attention of the Los Angeles Times and blogs such as the Daily Kos, and with lots of further attention could become a major embarrassment to the GOP and the McCain campaign. The GOP and the McCain campaign should be pressed to acknowledge Mr. May's statements, to condemn and apologize for them, and to remove Mr. May from any official party or campaign role. 

Sarah Palin claimed during Thursday's vice presidential debate that, as governor of Alaska, she fought to protest atrocities in Sudan by dropping assets tied to the country's brutal regime from the state's $40 billion investment fund. "When I and others in the legislature found out we had some millions of dollars in Sudan," Palin said, "we called for divestment through legislation of those dollars to make sure we weren't doing anything that would be seen as condoning the activities there in Darfur." Reporting by ABC News and the Washington Post indicates otherwise.

In fact, Palin's administration opposed a measure to divest Alaskan holdings in Sudan-linked investments. "The [Palin] administration killed our bill," Alaska state representative Les Gara told ABC News. Gara and state representative Bob Lynn co-sponsored a bipartisan resolution (HB287) early this year to force the Alaska Permanent Fund to divest millions of dollars in holdings tied to the Sudanese government. Palin's administration openly opposed the bill, stating its opposition in a public hearing on the measure in February. Said Brian Andrews, Palin's deputy revenue commissioner, at the hearing: "The legislation is well-intended, and the desire to make a difference is noble, but mixing moral and political agendas at the expense of our citizens' financial security is not a good combination." Gara told ABC that opposition from Palin's administration was instrumental in killing the measure. "I walked out of that hearing livid," Gara recalled, noting that because of Palin's opposition to the bill, "We could not get a vote in that committee." Any expression of support from Palin for the Sudan divestment effort would come only at the end of the legislative session, after the Gara-Lynn measure's fate had been sealed.

The Alaska Permanent Fund currently holds $22 million in Sudan-linked investments, according to the non-profit Sudan Divestment Task Force. Palin's running mate, John McCain, has expressed strong support of Sudan divestment efforts, but was criticized when it was revealed in May that his wife Cindy held $2 million in investment funds owning shares of Sudan-linked companies. Mrs. McCain sold those holdings following inquiries from the news media.

They said:

If the bailout does not pass the people are going to loose the money in his bank accounts.

FALSE: THEY ARE INSURED BY THE FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation)

If the bailout does not pass is the end of the world, it’s a financial catastrophe.

FALSE: nothing like that is going to happen because this crisis is a failure of CORRUPTED financial institutions and they are small in number compare with those who are playing by the rules.

If the bailout does not pass the economy are going to sink in to a deep recession.

FALSE: This is another argument they use to hidden the real true and scare the people in “MAIN STREET”. This economy of this country is “IN CONTRACTION STATUS”, this means the power of acquired good for the people every day is less than before. This could be corrected with a good and strong policies reinforcing the INCOME of every American and reinforcing this sectors of the economy that are capable to generate more employment. A good example could be investing this 700 billion in infrastructure around the nation.

If this bailout does not pass you can not get loans to buy house, cars and you can loose your credit card.

FALSE: One of the main problems of this crisis is THE ABUSE and the BAD USE of the credit. They buy houses they couldn’t afford to pay. They buy cars they couldn’t afford to pay. They misused his / her credit card and they couldn’t afford to pay. All this happen for the ambition and mismanaged of the CEOs of this corrupted bankers or institutions.

So what kind of bailout (CORRECTION) would be this, if this money go again to the market with the same purpose as is the mantra of the government and the lawmakers who are supporting this legislation.

Moreover if you want a loan and have a good credit and you can afford and pay your debts do so, but if not, don’t do it!

If this bailout does not pass the entirely banking system are going to crash and people in Main St., are going to suffer for a lot!

FALSE: As I said before, this particular crisis can be solving by the market as is. In this country there are very serious banking institutions that are capable to absorb the failure of the others in a very intelligent manner without compromising his capital.

Bank of America, JP Morgan and other banks are a good example and they will be very happy receiving those people looking loans for homes, cars, boats and credit cards!, working people who are capable and can afford to pay on time his bills.

These bailouts has to pass, to secure more liquidity to the banking systems buying his negative assets and generate the reactivation of the economy, them people in Main St., can get more loans of any kind.

FALSE: The economy of this country is IN CONTRACTION STATUS, people can afford pay his bill because the power of the dollar is less than before. Essentially this MODEL can’t afford print more dollars with the deficit the country had. Actually the difference between this country and countries around the world less wealthy is his ability to PRINT MONEY. This NEGATIVE economic behavior is the main concern of economists around the world. I have no doubt Mr. Paulson and Mr. Bernanke know very well about it, but they prefer to buy time instead to try and get the right solution for this crisis.

If this bailout does not pass the economy could be worsened

TRUE: The economy will be worsened but not because the bailout could be pass or not. The economy is in a bad shape and the solution has to come with a structural correction of the deficit and a best economic practice with the conscientious study of the factors that are generating this contraction in the economy and come up with good, reliable and stable economic practice solutions.

People must remember this on November 4 and remove this politician with the "POWER OF THE VOTE"

Percy H Florez

If this bailout does not pass the economy could be worsened

TRUE: The economy will be worsened but not because the bailout could be pass or not. The economy is in a bad shape and the solution has to come with a structural correction of the deficit and a best economic practice with the conscientious study of the factors that are generating this contraction in the economy and come up with good, reliable and stable economic practice solutions.

People must remember this on November 4 and remove this politician with the "POWER OF THE VOTE" Percy H Florez

These bailouts has to pass, to secure more liquidity to the banking systems buying his negative assets and generate the reactivation of the economy, them people in Main St., can get more loans of any kind.

FALSE: The economy of this country is IN CONTRACTION STATUS, people can afford pay his bill because the power of the dollar is less than before. Essentially this MODEL can’t afford print more dollars with the deficit the country had. Actually the difference between this country and countries around the world less wealthy is his ability to PRINT MONEY. This NEGATIVE economic behavior is the main concern of economists around the world. I have no doubt Mr. Paulson and Mr. Bernanke know very well about it, but they prefer to buy time instead to try and get the right solution for this crisis.

People must remember this on November 4 and remove this politician with the "POWER OF THE VOTE" Percy H Florez

If this bailout does not pass the entirely banking system are going to crash and people in Main St., are going to suffer for a lot!

FALSE: As I said before, this particular crisis can be solving by the market as is. In this country there are very serous banking institutions that are capable to absorb the failure of the others in a very intelligent manner without compromising his capital. Bank of America, JP Morgan, and other banks who are trembled with this financial crisis, they would be very happy good people come to his office requesting loans for homes, cars, boat and credit cards!, the only concern is that they want people who are capable and can afford to pay his loans.

People must remember this on November 4 and remove this politician with the "POWER OF THE VOTE" Percy H Florez

If the bailout does not pass the economy are going to sink in to a deep recession.

FALSE: This is another argument they use to hidden the real true and scare the people in “MAIN STREET”. This economy of this country is “IN CONTRACTION STATUS”, this means the power of acquired good for the people every day is less than before. This could be corrected with a good and strong policies reinforcing the INCOME of every American and reinforcing this sectors of the economy that are capable to generate more employment. A good example could be investing this 700 billion in infrastructure around the nation.

People must remember this on November 4 and remove this politician with the "POWER OF THE VOTE" Percy H Florez

FALSE: nothing like that is going to happen because this crisis is a failure of CORRUPTED financial institutions and they are small in number compare with those who are playing by the rules.

They said:
If the bailout does not pass the people are going to loose the money in his bank accounts.

FALSE: THEY ARE INSURED BY THE FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation)

People must remember this on November 4 and remove this politicians with the "POWER OF THE VOTE"

Percy H Florez

Planned Parenthood will begin running a new ad on Thursday hitting Sarah Palin on the fact that, as mayor of Wasilla AK, she charged rape victims for emergency-room rape exam kits.

The ad is slated to run in the St. Louis MO, Madison WI, and DC/Northern Virginia markets. The ad begins with a testimonial from Gretchen, a rape victim. "I just didn’t think it would happen to me," the young woman says. "I was drugged and raped." Then an announcer states: "Under Mayor Sarah Palin, women like Gretchen were forced to pay up to $1,200 for the emergency exams used to prosecute their attackers." Tying Palin's policy to those of her presidential running-mate, the announcer then ads: "In the Senate, John McCain voted against legislation to protect women from these same heartless policies." Finally, Gretchen returns: "That is something to me that’s unthinkable. It scares me to death" (see Huffington Post, MSNBC).

Wasilla police have claimed that their intent was not to charge rape victims for their exams, but to charge victims' insurance companies. This claim has yet to be substantiated, however, and provides no answer for what might happen in cases where the victim has no insurance. In any case, police departments have no more business charging rape victims or their insurance companies for rape exams than they have charging for any other type of criminal investigation: this is why we pay taxes.  

With a rape rate 2.5 times the national average, Alaska has the worst record of any state in rape and murder of women by men.

American women and all Americans should know about Palin's history of opposing fair treatment for rape victims.