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DOLVEN: McCain has lost his integrity
By Lynn Bolinske Dolven
Rocky Mountain News
Published November 2, 2008 at 12:01 a.m.
Since the beginning of our nation, the most essential quality in a leader has been honesty. George Washington famously confessed “I cannot tell a lie.” The Ten Commandments direct us not to lie (Deuteronomy 5:20). Most importantly to me, since I was a little girl from a small town in North Dakota (pop. 12,000), my parents told me not to lie.
I had assumed that you were governed by similar principles. In addition, The Honor Concept of the United States Naval Academy, which guided you throughout your military service to our nation, required you to “tell the truth and ensure that the full truth is known. They do not lie.” No goal worth attaining is worth lying for, including winning an election for president of the United States of America.
Senator McCain, you have lost my vote because since Sept. 1, 2008, at your political convention in St. Paul, in your speeches, and in televisions advertisements, you repeatedly lied about yourself and your opponent. You have failed to abide by the Honor Concept. Your campaign is no longer the Straight Talk Express that you proudly ran in 2000 against George W. Bush.
You lied to me when you told me that Senator Obama wants to raise taxes on every American. The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center found that Obama’s tax plan would cut taxes for 81 percent of all households and 95 percent of households with kids.
Obama’s tax plan limits income tax increases to households with incomes of more than $250,000.
You lied to me when you told me that Obama voted in favor of comprehensive sex education for kindergartners during his eight-year tenure as an Illinois State Senator. As revealed in the 2004 Illinois Senate campaign, this bipartisan bill allowed for information regarding sexual predators to be provided to kindergartners -- and parents were able to opt out of the curriculum if they so chose.
You lied when you told me that Senator Obama’s health care plan would "force families into a government-run health care system where a bureaucrat would stand between you and your doctor." Senator Obama’s plan would cover all children, create a voluntary public option for uninsured adults, while others could keep their current insurance, either personally funded or employer funded, and small businesses would be exempt.
You lied to me when you told me that Obama compared Governor Palin to a pig.
Senator Obama, you, Vice President Cheney, and others have frequently used the phrase "if you put lipstick on a pig, it is still a pig." You now acknowledge that Senator Obama was referring to your recent claim to being an agent of change, not Governor Palin, but five days passed without your leadership on this point.
You lied to me when you told me that Obama was disrespectful and sexist in dismissing Governor Palin as "good looking." Obama’s running mate, Joe Biden, used that phrase in an undeniably self-deprecating manner, as one of several distinctions between himself and Governor Palin.
You lied when you told me that Alaska produces 20 percent of the energy consumed by the United States, when it produces only 3.5 percent. Texas, the home state of President Bush, produces the most total energy consumed, followed by Wyoming, the home state of Vice President Cheney. Alaska comes in at ninth.
You lied when you told me that McCain-Palin are "original mavericks" as demonstrated, in part, by Governor Palin’s "stopping the bridge to nowhere." While Governor Palin ultimately did abandon the plan to build the nearly $400 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, she made her decision after the "bridge to nowhere" had become a national embarrassment, after federal dollars were transferred to other uses in Alaska and not returned to the federal Treasury, and after she had supported the project during her campaign for governor in 2006.
You lied to me when you told me that Governor Palin had never requested earmarks for Alaska during her 20 month tenure as governor. In 2007, Governor Palin requested earmarks of $256 million, and this year, before joining the Republican ticket as a vice presidential candidate, Governor Palin requested earmarks for Alaska totaling $197 million. Moreover, as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, then-Mayor Palin received earmarks from the federal government totaling $27 million.
In 2008, I considered voting for you for president, and I’ve sadly concluded that I must say "thanks, but no thanks" to McCain-Palin. You haven’t just lost my vote, Senator McCain, you have lost my respect. Your recent and persistent lies show me that you have abandoned the Straight Talk Express and the Honor Concept.
Lynn Bolinske Dolven is a resident of Greenwood Village.
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