Palin’s eBay luxury jet insinuation half-truth

We all heard the Palin’s attempt to beef up her “executive experience” credentials the other night when she said “That luxury jet was over the top, I put it on eBay.”  Well it turns out that wasn’t a total lie, but it does show the lengths the Republican Party will go to deceive and manipulate facts to make Palin sound like she is more important than she really is.  It is true the plane was put on eBay, but it didn’t sell, so it was sold at an ordinary brick-and-mortar brokerage.  So I guess my question is, why insinuate you sold it on eBay?  So you listed something on eBay, good for you, so what.  Exactly how does that make you qualified to be Vice President?  News flash…it doesn’t.  If you’re going to take the time to tell a national audience you’re using eBay, at least give them the full story and stop trying to deceive the American people.

John McCain on the other hand, chose to go above and beyond deception, and instead just outright lie.  Here’s what Senator McCain said: “You know what I enjoyed the most?  She took the luxury jet that was purchased by her predecessor and sold it on eBay — and made a profit.”  Does the Republican party really believe they can continue to deceive and lie and get elected?  Apparently so and it’s simply shameful

Here’s the full article as reported on CNN.com.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (CNN) — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin bolstered her fiscal-conservative credentials early in her term by putting her predecessor’s state jet up for auction online.

“That luxury jet was over the top,” she told Republican National Convention delegates when she accepted the party’s vice presidential nomination Wednesday night. “I put it on eBay.”

Since Palin was chosen as Arizona Sen. John McCain’s running mate last week, the story has become a cornerstone of the Republican effort to paint Palin as a reformer who took on her own party establishment.

“How many saw her speech a couple of nights ago? Wasn’t it fabulous?” McCain said Friday during a campaign stop in Cedarburg, Wisconsin. “You know what I enjoyed the most? She took the luxury jet that was purchased by her predecessor and sold it on eBay — and made a profit.”

But it turns out the twin-engine Westwind II was a tough sell on the Web — and the state eventually pulled it offline and sold it through an ordinary brick-and-mortar brokerage, for a loss, a spokeswoman said Friday.

“Governor Palin has been correct in saying that she put the plane on eBay,” McCain campaign spokeswoman Maria Comella told CNN. “They did end up selling it for $2.1 million. but not on eBay.”

Palin’s predecessor, Frank Murkowski, bought the jet for $2.7 million in 2005. The following year, Palin unseated Murkowski in the state’s Republican primary and became governor: Upon taking office, she wanted to unload what former aide Meg Stapleton called “a symbol of corruption.”

Stapleton told CNN that Murkowski paid too much for the jet, and that it was costing taxpayers money just sitting in the hangar.

“Eventually you had to concede and say, ‘How often are we going to pay these bills and waste more state dollars?’ ” she said.

When putting it on eBay failed, aircraft broker Rob Heckmann was called in to sell the jet. Businessman Larry Reynolds bought the five-passenger jet for sold for $2.1 million. And Reynolds is now seeking another $50,000 from the state for unexpected maintenance issues with the aircraft.

– CNN’s Sara Lane contributed to this report