Calendars Show Gov. Palin's Foreign Policy Experience: About 20 Meetings for About 12 Hours

"Also, there is a six-week gap in her calendars?from mid May through the end of June 2007?due to what her office calls a "computer failure."

Maybe she was in Crawford clearing brush.

"Also, there is a six-week gap in her calendars?from mid May through the end of June 2007?due to what her office calls a "computer failure."

Maybe she was in Crawford clearing brush.

DEWEY BEACH, Delaware (CNN) -- Although Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden routinely mocks his Republican counterpart, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, for her onetime support of the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere," Biden and his running mate voted to keep the project alive twice.
Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden campaigns in Washington on Tuesday.
Both Biden and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama voted to kill a Senate amendment that would have diverted federal funding for the bridge to repair a Louisiana span badly damaged by Hurricane Katrina, Senate records show.
And both voted for the final transportation bill that included the $223 million earmark for the Alaska project.
An amendment offered by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Oklahoma, would have stripped the money appropriated to connect the Alaskan coastal city of Ketchikan to its airport on sparsely populated Gravina Island and diverted the money to Louisiana.
But Biden andObama and 80 of their colleagues rejected the measure, an amendment to a massive 2005 transportation bill that funded thousands of projects across the country. Watch how Biden has blasted Palin »
"That is probably the most disturbing element of this and the campaigning on the Bridge to Nowhere," said Bill Allison of the Sunlight Foundation, a taxpayer watchdog group. "Because, yes, they had a chance to vote specifically against the Bridge to Nowhere in Alaska to redirect the money to people, to bridges and infrastructure damaged by Hurricane Katrina going in to New Orleans, and they chose not to."
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The final version passed the Senate 93-1. Republican presidential candidate John McCain, who has made his opposition to congressional "pork-barrel" spending a cornerstone of his campaign, did not vote on either the Coburn amendment or the final bill.
Palin, whom McCain chose as his running mate in August, has regaled crowds at the Republican convention and on the campaign trail with her declaration of "Thanks, but no thanks" for the bridge. But her conversion came after she became Alaska's governor in 2006 and after the bridge became a national symbol of congressional waste.
The record shows that she supported the bridge as a gubernatorial candidate, and Democrats have seized on the flip-flop, perhaps no one with as much relish as Biden.
"I got also a bridge I got to sell you here, and guess what, it's in Alaska, and it goes nowhere," Biden mocked Palin on the campaign trail last week in Maumee, Ohio. And in Canton, Ohio, he tied it to McCain.
"If you look at it John McCain's answers for the economy, and we're in such desperate shape, is the ultimate bridge to nowhere. It's nowhere," Biden said. "It takes you nowhere."
But while the applause line appealed to the Democratic faithful, it could come back to bite the Delaware senator.
This year, Delaware has requested 116 congressional earmarks through Biden, its longtime senator, at a cost to taxpayers of $342 million. In an appearance on CNN's "American Morning" with anchor John Roberts, Biden said that he had been open about those requests and that they all can be justified.
"Everyone has seen them, and we have no Lawrence Welk Museums and have no bridges to nowhere in Delaware. It's all straight up," Biden said.
Among his requests: $1 million for renovation of an opera house in Wilmington, another million for the construction of a children's museum and thousands of dollars for a water park renovation in Lewes.
"I think opera patrons generally can afford to -- you can raise money for an opera house; you can refurbish things a lot of different ways," Allison said.
"To have federal taxpaying dollars -- which is coming from people all over the country; low-income, middle-income people, as well as the wealthy -- to go to pay for the renovation of something that is really a luxury for Wilmington ... There are far more vital projects that anyone could think of that needs money. You got health care. You got education. You got all other types of things. Instead, we are redirecting money to refurbish an opera house in Wilmington or to build a children's museum."
And Biden's request includes a bridge that even the head of the Rehoboth Beach-Dewey Beach Chamber of Commerce says is not crucial at this juncture.
The Indian River Inlet Bridge is a vital link between two popular beachfront towns: Dewey and Bethany. Without it, the estimated 30,000 summer visitors would have to travel an additional 35 minutes to get to the towns.
"We need a new bridge, and we are fortunate to be at a place where it is finally going to happen," said Carol Everhart, the chief of the Chamber of Commerce.
The existing bridge has some erosion problems, and if it ever collapsed, Everhart said, it would cause an economic disaster in the community. But it's safe for now.
"The bridge, as it is, is perfectly safe," she said.
Still, Biden asked for $13 million to help shore up the existing bridge and begin construction of a new one. And that's what troubles the Sunlight Foundation's Allison.
"This bridge is not in any danger of collapse, and essentially what Sen. Biden is doing is saying, 'My state bridge gets the priority dollar even though it is not a priority project,' " Allison said.
He said the Department of Transportation, rather than U.S. senators, should be deciding which bridges get priority funding in the country. That way, the bridges in the U.S. that need immediate repair would be first in line for the dollars needed to do the work.
As he embarked on his presidential bid in 2007, Obama said he would no longer ask for earmark projects. McCain, who has been a longtime critic of the process, does not seek any for his home state of Arizona.

CNN asked Biden's campaign whether it could ask the senator about his earmark requests and his votes on the Bridge to Nowhere.
In response, a staffer e-mailed, "You've interviewed Gov. Palin re: her completely made up position on the Bridge to Nowhere right?"

Man, now I really want to know what happened in those missing six weeks. Was she training in the tundra with Alaskan separatist militants? Laying in supplies for the rapture? On a safari to Africa to bag some human prey? On an erotic getaway with her half-man, half-moose lover? Manufacturing evidence to conclusively prove Hillary murdered Vince Foster?

When will her campaign release the "missing" documents? Inquiring minds want to know!

dkmnow:
MoJo is required to post certain rules of use in order to protect itself from 3rd party liability. These rules are seldom enforced. Firstly its a lot of work. But also, I suspect that they do not want to create a "police state" environment. Some hateful words are deleted. Some profane words are never deleted. Some articles do not even require an email address to post and therefore they (MoJo) can not possibly follow their routine of warning then banning.
I also suggest that I speak for certain others when I say, please, we do not want or need you to be our police.
Thank you.

"His unwillingness to acknowledge the obvious success of the troop surge and related measures, for instance, is troubling"

Um, not only is this off-topic, but the surge, in fact, has not been "obviously successful," by its own metrics for success. This is silly.

Back on topic, the thing that has puzzled me about Palin is why they are playing these silly games pretending that she has experience she clearly does not. They're pretty much just waving that red flag in front of the bull, daring people to point out the stupidity of their claims. Had they been open and honest from the very beginning, the stories would have been over in a week instead of dragging on and on, culminating in the utter humiliation of the Couric interview.

McCain would have taken a hit for picking a clearly unqualified candidate but he (and she) wouldn't have taken the hit of being a liar, and a stupid one at that (at least, not on this issue). So why did they do it?

Is it wrong of me to find it disturbing that Palin has only been to four countries. One was a fuel stop and the other is possibly a lie.

I'm 33 years old. I just recently finished serving in the Army. The Army only showed me to new countries, Iraq and Kuwait. Before the military I traveled to 32 different countries and 48 States for no other reason to see my own country and to see and meet people from other countries.

I have had more foreign policy experience sitting around a bar in Istanbul than she has had her entire life.

In her first interview after John McCain picked her to be the GOP s vice presidential nominee, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin claimed that her foreign policy credentials were enhanced because you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska. She also pointed out that she had experience dealing with trade delegations. Later, asked by CBS News Katie Couric if she had ever participated in negotiations with Russia, Palin said, We have trade missions back and forth. We†we do†it s very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia .

But the calendars tracking Palin s official meetings during her tenure as governor contain not one listing indicating she ever met with a Russian official. In fact, the 562 pages of her daily schedules†obtained by Mother Jones under Alaska s Open Records Act†indicate that Palin had few meetings at all with any foreign representatives and rarely dealt with any topic related to foreign policy. The schedules include about 20 meetings, events, or phone calls in which Palin interacted with foreign officials. And in many instances, these interactions were cursory or ceremonial and did not involve policy details. According to the schedules released, Palin spent roughly 12 hours over the course of 19 months on these meetings. (This doesn t count what happened during a four-day trip she took to Kuwait to visit members of the Alaska National Guard. The schedules for those days do not detail whom she met.) The calendars show no meetings between her and a trade delegation from any nation.

I've been watching politics for almost 20 years. I have an understanding for Sen. Mccain's choice for VP. But he forgot to pick a woman with extensive experience. I was in the military, and i have more foreign policy experience, and a broader world view, he could've asked me, or Kay bailey-Hutchins, or Kathleen Sebelius, or even hillary clinton, but he clearly went for style, and not substance. We are not supposed to judge a book by it's cover, but you can clearly tell a person by the ay they conduct themselves.

Interesting story. Always good to see detailed investigative journalism.

Wexler, I will second your f-bomb. What else could it mean?
Thanks Keith for a first hand perspective on Iraq and the surge. Most Americans sit in front of their televisions and have no clue to what Iraq is really like first-hand (myself included).
Back to the main topic, as a woman, I am disgusted that anyone would assume that just because Palin is female that women should/would rally behind her. PU-LEASE! Give women a little more credit - we have brains too and can see that Palin is the worst person to represent the women's movement.

I agree with you, Palin would be the equivalent of voting for George W. Bush in a dress/drag. Nothing personal against Palin , but the thought of her as a world leader is frightening.

If Palin had her way, Alaska would BE a foreign country. Her husband, Todd, has been a member of the Alaska Independence Party for 7 years, until very recently. Gov. Palin gave three speeches there, including one this year. The AIP supports seccession from the United States. It's founder said "I'm an Alaskan, not an American." Anyone who advocates seperation of a state that constitutes 1/5 of the territory of the United States (of which, presumably, she would become President), is unpatriotic, dangerous, and potentially treasonous. BTW, the punishment for treason, in the U.S. Constitution, is death. But then, I suppose Ms. Palin either never read the constitution or doesn't think she has to abide by it. Hmmm, who does that sound like? Don't laugh; there are thousands of member of AIP, and after all, the southern confederates met and planned before ultimately seceding too. And let's not forget, the rest of the United States shares no border with our largest, and as Palin put, our only *arctic* state.

Also off topic and also stupid. I am always amazed at the blind repetition of the mantra "the surge has worked, the surge has worked". true, there has been a great reduction in violence in some areas.
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samuelcaleb

FSBO

Maybe we should ask the average Iraqi citizen on the street if the "Surge" is working. That is..........right after you ask them if they have electricity, running water, a working toilet, or a JOB!

As for the "Alaskan Souffle". She was obviously a "circus stunt" dreamed-up by McLiar's political operatives.

You know...........the SAME political operatives that smeared McCain in the 2000 campaign while working for Bush.

How's that working-out for you "My Friends"?

BE A SUCKER FOR THE RICH........VOTE REPUBLICAN!

The very first poster tells us this "(of Obama) his inexperience has tripped him up."

Errr - is that why he's AHEAD in the polls?

"BE A DOLT WITH YOUR HAND OUT...VOTE DEMOCRAT!"

PUH-leeze . . As if the long string of massive Corporate Welfare "hand-out's" of the Bush Admin. as well as the Bush#2 "McCain't" plans of giving several Billions (that's with a "B") in MORE tax breaks to Big Oil when they didn't even ASK for it isn't the EPITOME of "hand-out's!!!"

Hand-out's are hand-out's, and just because you hand it out to those who already have more money than God doesn't therefore make it not a hand-out! Besides the fact that you're handing out OUR money, because the rich don't pay any taxes lately. But I guess double-talk and rhetoric are all you guys have left at this point though, so it's understandable. Despicable, but understandable.

You call yourself "Conservative" yet take a huge surplus of Billions - that was obtained under DEMOCRATIC presidency, btw - then turn it into record deficit in the TRILLIONS. What in the h#ll is "conservative" about that?

You call yourself "Christian?" When Jesus said "Love thy neighbor as thyself," I'm pretty sure he didn't mean KILL THEM ALL.

You rob us poor to give to the rich, and the only "trickle-down" that "we the people" get is their pi$$ing on our heads and laughing all the way to the bank. Yet, you want more of the same, AND, you want US to bail your greedy rich friends out when they royally screw up? And what planet did you say you are from?

SO glad people are FINALLY waking up to smell the corruption, and are starting to look Beyond The Bull.

"Dolt:
A mental retard who is clueless not only about current events, but also has the IQ level of a rock."

So clearly your statement should read, "Be a dolt . . vote Republican!" seeing how Bush and Palin OWN that term.

Hey, I can see the moon from my house . . I must be qualified to be an astronaut! Where do I sign up?
Bush can't even pronounce the word "drought" for Christ's sake and repeatedly confused the word FECES with fetus at an abortion rally in FL, for starters. How about, "Glorify IGNORANCE . . vote republican!"

I thought Democrats were "elitist" according to you guys . . make up your frickin' mind! Oh yeah that's right, you can't . . which is why you're sucking wind in the polls. You bounce around on what you stand for in ways that would put a Super Ball to shame, and make leaps to smear you opponent that would make Spider Man jealous.

I would say talking to a republican these days is like talking to a brick wall . . but then I wouldn't want to insult the brick walls of the world.

teh truth, you may want to take that up with Barack Obama, who has been saying lately that the troop surge "succeeded beyond our wildest dreams", in reducing the level of violence in Iraq.

But he still opposes it.

On the other hand, he wants to send thousands of more troops into Afghanistan to quell the rising level of violence there. So it looks like "American Empire" is going to continue no matter which RepubliCrat we elect.

LULZ.

"Also, there is a six-week gap in her calendars—from mid May through the end of June 2007—due to what her office calls a "computer failure."

Maybe she was in Crawford clearing brush.

Whenever I see a post like this
I wonder if this person ever ask
themself. Just what in the hell are we doing in IRAQ. And
why did 4184 our troops die for. And why did tens of thousands of IRAQI have to die. Was it because we had people in this administration who all have a mental problem.