Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati

Photo courtesy of here.

According to articles in today’s Daily Oklahoman and Washington Post, when she was mayor of Wasilla AK, Sarah Palin “spearheaded” efforts to establish the town as as “a community of character” via the International Association of Character Cities (IACC). What these stories don’t mention is that the Oklahoma City-based IACC is a secular front for Chicago millionaire evangelist Bill Gothard.

The Gothard "Character City" connections have been widely reported, such this “In These Times” cover story, "The Cult of Character." The Beacon’s been on the “character” story for years because their local office, established in 2000 by former councilman Phil Heimlich and local businessman Mike Daly, is apparently their biggest success, having provided "character training" seminars for local cops and firemen. (According to former city councilman Todd Portune, when Heimlich submitted the "Character Cities" proclamation to council, he didn’t say anything about the Gothard connection.)

When Mike Huckabee was running in the Republican Presidential primary, he was hooked into a network of Gothardites and other religious kooks who believe that Cabbage Patch Dolls are evil and that "the rock beat" is a tool of Satan, both Gothard favorites. Those Christian soldiers constitutes a significant base of grassroots political activists. Needless to say, that had everything to do with McCain’s choice of Palin as his runnin’ pardner. (Speaking of Huck, earlier this year we broke stories about Mike Huckabee’s ties to Gothard and the dubious "character development" programs Huck pushed through Arkansas state prisons.)

In the interests of learning more about the woman Sen. McCain called his "soul mate," we’re sending the following questions to Governor Palin’s campaign. We’ll let you know what happens:

1) When she introduced the "Character Cities" program in Wasilla, did then-Mayor Palin inform other council members that it was a front for Bill Gothard?

In 2006, Arizona State Treasurer David Petersen was forced to resign after getting busted for accepting commissions for implementing Gothard’s Character Training programs in the Grand Canyon state.

2) Has Sarah Palin received any income from the IACC or other organizations affiliated with Bill Gothard? Are she and "First Dude" Todd Palin going to release their tax returns as Joe and Jill Biden have done?

As The Beacon and others seek answers to these and other questions, we respectfully urge Governor Palin, good Christian that she is, to seek guidance from the Character Council of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky’s "Character Quality of the Month" for September 2008: TRUTHFULNESS.

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