Sarah Palin: Not so special

(Hold the phone on the outrage, Keith. Updates below)

Turns out Mrs. Downs Syndrome Mommy allegedly cut funding for the Alaska Special Olympics. IN HALF.



Well, maybe. FactCheck.org doesn't have anything on this one way or another. My guess: yes, there was a gubernatorial veto on the funding. The REAL context is, where else could she have affected that funding?

But then I realize, this is the same chick who lied about the teleprompter. If you lie when you have nothing to gain and a lot to lose, you are a pathological liar.
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Update: Bloomberg confirms Palin cut the S.O. budget.
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Update #2: ThinkProgress.org shows Palin did, indeed, cut $275,000 out of the budget, but only proposed slashing their budget in half. Careful, Keith, you're treading on thin O'Reilly ice, here.
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Update #3: Looks like, according to KTUU.com, Palin did, indeed increase the S.O's budget by $25,000. However, that amount was only half of what the S.O. sought from Alaska. And a (hard to believe) Democrat has some pretty fair-minded words about Palin's record on this issue:

"I don't think there are many people in the Alaska disability community that would say she's been a champion for them," said Sen. Bill Wielechowski, an Anchorage Democrat. "And maybe she's changing her position on that, and I think that's a good thing....It's been a mixed bag....There are certainly funds provided for some things for Special Olympics and there were other things that were cut."

So, the bottom line is that Palin:

1. Increased the budget by $25,000.
2. Increased it by only half as much as the Special Olympics wanted.
3. Did so after cutting an additional $275,000 and talked about chopping the operational budget in half.

Still looks like anything but a tireless crusader to the cause (and I'd be willing to bet a lot of this happened before Trig was born. How much work did Michael J. Fox do for ALS before his own diagnosis?)

I think it looks like Palin could have been more generous than she was. I mean, it's not like the people of Alaska aren't rolling in $1,200 checks, now, are they?

And Olbermann has pledged to donate $100 bucks for every lie Palin tells between now and the election to the Special Olympics. Maybe they'll end up with all that money after all...