Charlie Gibson Misquotes Palin on Prayer and the War
[this is an excerpt from Idaho Values Alliance newsletter - 15 Sep 2008]
Although this will not come as a surprise to citizens who have a working familiarity with the leftwing bias of Old Media, ABC’s Charlie Gibson completely misrepresented Gov. Sarah Palin’s remarks about prayer and the war effort in his much publicized interview with her, then tried to use his misquote against her.
Here’s the transcript:
Gibson: You said recently, in your old church, “Our national leaders are sending U.S. soldiers on a task that is from God.” Are we fighting a holy war?
Palin: You know, I don’t know if that was my exact quote.
Gibson: Exact words.
Palin: But the reference there is a repeat of Abraham Lincoln’s words when he said–first, he suggested never presume to know what God’s will is, and I would never presume to know God’s will or to speak God’s words.
But what Abraham Lincoln had said, and that’s a repeat in my comments, was let us not pray that God is on our side in a war or any other time, but let us pray that we are on God’s side.”
In other words, Gibson accuses her of asserting that the Iraq war plan is God’s plan.
But here’s what Gov. Palin actually said in speaking to her former home church:
“Pray for our military. He’s [Palin's son Track] going to be deployed in September to Iraq.
Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do also what is right for this country–that our leaders, our national leaders are sending them out on a task that is from God. That’s what we have to make sure we are praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God’s plan.”
As the Wall Street Journal’s James Taranto says, “He took the words out of context to make a prayer that the ‘task is from God’ appear to be an assertion that it is.
Even the L.A. Times hammered Gibson for his journalistic transgression, saying he had taken “her comments out of context,” and that Gibson had “dropped her reference to praying - and instead quoted Palin as saying the war was God’s plan.”
ABC evidently recognized Gibson’ gaffe and edited out his “Exact words” comments on the version of the interview posted online.
After CNN’s Anderson Cooper engaged in the same distortion, an observer said, “I find it hard to believe that Anderson Cooper does not understand the difference between praying for something you hope is true and stating that it is true.”
Taranto observes that the Old Media has come so unhinged that they have ended up disparaging Gov. Palin for praying and for having a baby. In other words, he says, they “loathe Sarah Palin precisely because she is normal.”
October 24th, 2008 at 8:21 pm
Charlie Gibson, Katie Couric, Keith Oberman, Rachael Maddow, and the list goes on and on of all the godless lefties that are trying to destroy Sarah Palin.
She is a pillar of strenth to continue forward with such an enormous number of attacks on her. Her strong faith is pulling her through.
I detest these scum bags that crap on someones door step, then they scream that you are stinking up the neighborhood!!!