Alaskans: Oh No You're Not Vindicated

Alaska Daily News: Sarah Palin's reaction to the Legislature's Troopergate report is an embarrassment to Alaskans and the nation.

She claims the report "vindicates" her. She said that the investigation found "no unlawful or unethical activity on my part."

Her response is either astoundingly ignorant or downright Orwellian.

Page 8, Finding Number One of the report says: "I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act."

In plain English, she did something "unlawful." She broke the state ethics law.

Perhaps Gov. Palin has been too busy to actually read the Troopergate report. Perhaps she is relying on briefings from McCain campaign spinmeisters.

That's the charitable interpretation.

Because if she had actually read it, she couldn't claim "vindication" with a straight face.

Palin asserted that the report found "there was no abuse of authority at all in trying to get Officer Wooten fired."

In fact, the report concluded that "impermissible pressure was placed on several subordinates in order to advance a personal agenda, to wit: to get Trooper Michael Wooten fired."

Palin's response is the kind of political "big lie" that George Orwell warned against. War is peace. Black is white. Up is down.

Gov. Palin and her camp trumpeted the report's second finding: that she was within her legal authority to fire Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan. But the report also said it's likely one of the reasons she fired him was his failure to get rid of her ex-brother-in-law trooper.

That's not "vindication," and surely Gov. Palin knows it.

More from the Alaskan mudflats.

Palin Says McCain Will End Abuse of Power

Think Progress notes the irony of this, a few days after a report found that she abused her power. Has that sunk in with anyone? She abused her power but yet she's laughing it off.
Here's a fun video: Palin is Cheney in a dress. For sure.

Palin is Lying About Troopergate

Photo and more at mudflats

McCain is hounding Obama over Ayers but I'm still in wonder that McCain would choose a vice presidential candidate who was in the midst of an ongoing ethics violation investigation. Isn't this sort of like Keating? McCain seems to conveniently ignore facts.

NYT: By now, the outlines of the matter have been widely reported. Mr. Monegan believes he was ousted because he would not bow to pressure to dismiss Trooper Wooten. The Alaska Legislature is investigating the firing and whether the governor abused the powers of her office to pursue a personal vendetta. Its report is due Friday.

Ms. Palin has denied that anyone told Mr. Monegan to dismiss Trooper Wooten, or that the commissioner’s ouster had anything to do with him. But an examination of the case, based on interviews with Mr. Monegan and several top aides, indicates that, to a far greater degree than was previously known, the governor, her husband and her administration pressed the commissioner and his staff to get Trooper Wooten off the force, though without directly ordering it.

In all, the commissioner and his aides were contacted about Trooper Wooten three dozen times over 19 months by the governor, her husband and seven administration officials, interviews and documents show.

“To all of us, it was a campaign to get rid of him as a trooper and, at the very least, to smear the guy and give him a desk job somewhere,” said Kim Peterson, Mr. Monegan’s special assistant, who like several other aides spoke publicly about the matter for the first time.

Ms. Peterson, a 31-year veteran of state government who retired 10 days before Mr. Monegan’s firing, said she received about a dozen calls herself. “It was very clear that someone from the governor’s office wanted him watched,” she said.

Nor did that interest end with Mr. Monegan, the examination shows. His successor, Chuck Kopp, recalled that in an exploratory phone call and then a job interview, Ms. Palin’s aides mentioned the governor’s concerns about Trooper Wooten. None of the 280 other troopers were discussed, Mr. Kopp said. read the rest.

The report is due out today. More at Alaskan mudflats.

Troopergate Results Due in Oct.

NYT: ANCHORAGE — The legislative inquiry into whether Gov. Sarah Palin or her administration abused its power in the dismissal of Alaska’s public safety commissioner will release its findings well before Election Day, despite a lack of cooperation by several witnesses, the leader of the inquiry said Friday.

State Senator Hollis French, the Democrat who is overseeing the inquiry, said the special investigator hired by the Alaska Legislature, Stephen Branchflower, had assured him he would issue a report by Oct 10.

McCain Camp: Everyone Out To Get Us

The McCain Palin ticket is working like this: Everyone including the media is out to get us. Palin isn't doing interviews because the media is out to get her.
Palin is not cooperating in her scandal investigation because they say the Obama camp has hijacked the investigation.
Had McCain vetted his partner, he might've known all these things.

CNN: Former Palin Press Secretary Meg Stapleton told reporters in Anchorage that the power probe has been "hijacked" by "Obama operatives" for the Democratic presidential nominee -- namely, Alaska state Sen. Hollis French, the Democratic lawmaker managing the investigation and an Obama supporter. French has denied working on behalf of the Obama campaign.

The Obama campaign described Stapleton's charge as "complete paranoia." It has denied sending campaign staff to Alaska to work with the legislative committee's investigation.

McCain campaign spokesman Ed O'Callaghan said, "I think it's fair to say that the governor is not going to cooperate with that investigation so long as it remained tainted and run by partisan individuals who have a predetermined conclusion," referring to a comment by French this month that the case could produce criminal charges or an "October Surprise" for the GOP ticket.

Palin Will Not Cooperate in Troopergate

McCain picked a fine mess.

From the hometown newspaper: Palin's lawyer says Walt Monegan was fired for his "rogue" mentality. The joke is on us.

Palin's First Dude to Be Subpoenaed

Update from the hometown newspaper.

CNN: Alaska lawmakers voted Friday to subpoena Gov. Sarah Palin's husband, several aides and phone records in their investigation into Palin's firing of her public safety commissioner, setting up what one senator called a "branch-versus-branch smackdown."

Gov. Sarah Palin is fighting allegations she improperly tried to force the firing of her former brother-in-law.

Todd Palin has been a "principal critic" of his wife's ex-brother-in-law, state Trooper Mike Wooten, and had "many contacts" with Department of Public Safety officials about his status, said Steve Branchflower, the former prosecutor hired by the state Legislature to investigate the firing.

Palin is a Mother: Experience Enough

At Real Clear Politics, a political portal that leans right, columnists are out in force with weak arguments in support of Sarah Palin. This one says being a mother qualifies her for president.

Here's the larger message of the Sarah Palin story:

Life is messy. First things first: Take care of your babies. You do what you have to do, and deep down you never give up on life. You refuse to choose. The unexpected will happen, but that's OK -- you can deal with it. You are resilient, optimistic, competent and caring.

How did McCain know? A moose-hunting pioneer woman is the perfect choice to be America's first female vice president.

Is Sarah Palin up to being president of the United States? Hey, listen, anyone who can raise five children while governing Alaska successfully enough to earn over an 80 percent approval rating -- I'm just not worried about.

Gov. Sarah Palin can do whatever she has to do, and she can do whatever needs to be done.

Listen, I know motherhood is a tough job but I know plenty of mothers who don't know the names of country leaders, let alone geography and that's just for starters. Being a mother-- no matter how many kids you have-- doesn't qualify you for president. Neither does being able to shoot a moose or making mooseburgers.

If you ask me, they're doing their best to coverup for McCain's folly.

Once (if) McCain releases Palin to the media, she'll have to answer questions about creationism, abstinence-only education, earmarks, Alaska seceding from the U.S., troopergate... She may even get pop quizzes to test her knowledge (or lack of) world affairs.

But here's one thing republicans probably know: If Palin is vice president the office will be more of a public relations office. Some other old guy will do the whispering in McCain's ear.
Here's a goodie. Palin speaks about the Iraq war as God's plan. Sorry Palin. The Iraq war was George Bush's plan.

Sarah Palin Hires Attorney For Troopergate

I haven't heard one reporter take Sarah Palin to task on foreign policy, experience, troopergate, drilling in ANWR, overturning Roe V. Wade, keeping polar bears off the endangered list, her childcare arrangements.... nothing. Reporters have been talking to spokespeople. 

For some reason, she and McCain are getting a free pass. Maybe it's Gustav. The narrative that's developed is that her latest challenge, a pregnant teen daughter, is terrific.
Now breaking --Palin has hired a private attorney to defend her for allegedly abusing her power to help her sister through a custody battle. The results of which are expected right about the time of the election. This woman has so much going on. 

McCain knew all this? And he still thought she was a good pick? 

This says more about McCain than Palin. 

Okay, reporters redeemed by Campbell Brown

Palin's Troopergate Scandal

McCain Shows Judgment Lapse

Listening to McCain's Ohio event this morning, Sarah Palin was audibly nervous and spoke little of her own experience (she has little) and instead cheered for McCain and pandered to Hillary. 

The way she spoke was cheerleader-ish in content and tone (maybe it's just her high-pitched voice). As a woman, what an insult. What an insult to think that women just want a woman in high office. She has to be qualified. She has to be even more qualified, given that McCain hammered Obama on experience. The audacity. 

The choice shows McCain lacks judgment in choosing a vice president, someone to take over in case he gets sick or otherwise, who's lacking. Alaskans say: it's like one of your friends was chosen for one of the highest offices in the nation. They're shocked.

Alaska? I could run Alaska. 

She has five children, so she obviously doesn't believe in birth control. I admire her not aborting her baby with down syndrome but she's not a special case. I'd argue most women wouldn't have an abortion if they were carrying a downs syndrome baby. But even still, that does not make a vice president or a president. Abortion is not the single most important issue to this nation, contrary to what conservatives preach. 

She's also accused of using her power to benefit her sister, in the middle of a custody battle. 

She's against putting the polar bears on the endangered list. It would hurt oil business, she said. She doesn't believe the ice is melting, contrary to scientific evidence. She wants to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. I'm so sick of oil. 

Let's not forget she was Miss Alaska runner up.

She likes to hunt and fish and eat moose burgers. She was called Sarah Barracuda. Who cares. 

McCain chose Palin purely for politics. He did NOT choose someone to help him govern. This was an effort to shock, gain attention, sway a few Appalachian women voters (PUMAs). He's out of touch, no doubt.