While watching the vice presidential debates on Thursday night, I was pleased that Darfur became a topic. Joe Biden had been there and has been a long time advocate for stopping the genocide in Darfur. He has been outspoken about establishing a no-fly zone over Darfur and for supplying the UN-AU mission with much needed helicopters for delivering supplies and providing protection.
Sarah Palin even expressed her support for Darfur, announcing that her state had taken a lead in divesting from companies that do business in Sudan. "When I and others in the legislature found out we had some millions of dollars in Sudan," she stated, "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."
That was great, I thought. And then I discovered the truth:
Sarah Palin was lying.
Alaska had not divested from Sudan. In fact, legislators in the Alaskan House of Representatives had tried to pass a bill for divestment but it was killed by Palin's administration. Likewise, a similar bill in the Senate also failed to get out of committee.
So, the fact is, the fund that Governor Palin discussed at the debate does invest in companies that do business with Sudan.
It was a gross lie. A gross lie, indeed.
Shame on you, Governor Palin. Shame, shame, shame.
