BS: Troopergate, anyone?

Subject: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 10 Oct 08 - 08:38 PM

It seems that the investigation of Sarah Palin and the Monaghan firing isn't going to be released to the public as promised. On t'other hand, she tells us she's innocent (which is, presumably, why she's tried to hard to get the investigation shut down.) And it was initiated by a Republican state legislature, and conducted by a Republican-dominated committee.

What's wrong here?

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: Alice
Date: 10 Oct 08 - 08:39 PM

I've been following the case on some Alaska web sites.
Yes, it was Republicans in Alaska who started the investigation. They've been complaining that the McCain campaign arrived and began to interfere with it.

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: Ebbie
Date: 10 Oct 08 - 08:54 PM

There are two investigations involved. One is a bipartisan one that was begun before McCain tapped her; she was on record as saying she would cooperate fully with it. The other one is one that she is more comfortable with- they are her own people.

After MCain's anointing, she began backing and filling and started claiming that the investigation was biased and unfair and detrimental to her political hopes. Her (ha! Not our?) Attorney General let members of staff and family - seven of them - know honoring supoenas was a matter of desire. Strangely enough, they all opted not to honor them.

The investigation done by her own people has exonerated her; the bipartisan investigation has now completed its task and was planning to release its findings this month. It appears now that they may wait until after the election.

And the race goes on...

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: Alice
Date: 10 Oct 08 - 09:01 PM

Breaking News on CNN
The Legislature found that she abused her power as governor.

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: Alice
Date: 10 Oct 08 - 09:03 PM

Monegan says, "I feel vindicated."

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 10 Oct 08 - 09:03 PM

A link, a link, my Kingdom for a link!

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: Alice
Date: 10 Oct 08 - 09:04 PM

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/10/palin.investigation/index.html

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: Alice
Date: 10 Oct 08 - 09:04 PM

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/10/palin.investigation/index.html

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: Ebbie
Date: 10 Oct 08 - 09:05 PM

Thanks, Alice. I'm proud of them. Kim Elton, in particular. He's a local 'boy' and he does a good job.

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: Alice
Date: 10 Oct 08 - 09:07 PM

Abuse of power as governor may be an impeachable offense, but is not necessarily criminal. Ebbie, do you know if in Alaska, it is an impeachable offense?

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: Alice
Date: 10 Oct 08 - 09:20 PM

From Reuters:

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - An Alaska ethics inquiry found that Gov. Sarah Palin, the U.S. Republican vice presidential candidate, abused the power of her office by dismissing the state's public safety commissioner, a report released on Friday said.

The investigation centered on whether the firing of Walt Monegan, the state's public safety commissioner, was linked to Palin's personal feud with a state trooper, Michael Wooten, who was involved in a contentious divorce with the governor's sister.

The report, written by Steve Branchflower, a retired state prosecutor hired by lawmakers to conduct the inquiry, said Monegan's refusal to fire Wooten was not the sole reason he was dismissed but was likely a contributing factor.

The Alaska scandal known locally as "Troopergate" gained national attention after Palin was selected to be Sen. John McCain's running mate.

The McCain-Palin campaign has attacked the investigation as a partisan effort led by supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and said the public safety commissioner was dismissed because of poor performance.

(Reporting by Yereth Rosen; Editing by Daisuke Wakabayashi and Peter Cooney)

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: Alice
Date: 10 Oct 08 - 09:26 PM

The finding is the "impermissable pressure was placed on subordinates" advanced by the governor, Todd Palin, and governor's staff pressure was placed repeatedly on Monegan and that was the abuse of her power.

The investigation pointed out that she dismissed her security, so the basis for her idea that Wooten was a threat to her family did not make sense. If he really was a threat, then she would not have dismissed her security.

Details of the report will be interesting to see as they come out.

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: Alice
Date: 10 Oct 08 - 09:29 PM

Walt Monegan will be interviewed live on Rachel Madow show now.
Link to video clips:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: Alice
Date: 10 Oct 08 - 09:42 PM

Link to the report:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/10/troopergate-report-full-t_n_133806.html



From Bloomberg
Violation of the ethics act could result in sanctions, such as a fine, by a state ethics board, lawmakers said.

Members of the Legislative Council voted 12-0 to release the report even though there wasn't agreement on the findings, lawmakers said.

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 10 Oct 08 - 11:20 PM

Interesting, innit, how ever since Nixon the GOP has been trying to claim that the Executive Branch can do no wrong? And that the Republican-dominated state legislature is somehow in cahoots with Obama to persecute poor Sarah?

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 10 Oct 08 - 11:39 PM

This turn of events should give John McCain a new insight into the US economy, seeing as how both it and his campaign are now equally in the toilet.

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: katlaughing
Date: 11 Oct 08 - 12:25 AM

It's so stupid of them to cry foul when it was a bipartisan committee who found she abused her powers. One of the things they cited was her letting Todd use her office, telephone, and contacts to harass other workers about the BIL they were trying to get fired.

Isn't there a law about running for office if you're a slimeball who has abused your powers, etc.? If there isn't, there oughta be, esp. if oyu all incite hate speech! Maybe Hugh Hefner would like her to replace his last bunny.

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: Deckman
Date: 11 Oct 08 - 02:55 AM

Early on I predicted that "troopergate" would rise up and bite her in the ass! OUCH!

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 11 Oct 08 - 09:11 AM

The idiot/moron had every reason to be fired, and if your relation's child was sprayed with mace, by a stupid, drunken cop, and he was a subordinate, you'd do the same thing!!...fire his sorry ass..and right now!!!
Much ado about absolutely nothing!!!..Being whipped up, because of sorry politics....Jeeez, get over it.
But, I guess, one thing......she is more interesting, and seems to garner more attention, than McCain, or Obama-yo-mama,..the two criminals running for president!!

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: Riginslinger
Date: 11 Oct 08 - 09:17 AM

GfS - Yeah, you're probably right about that, but there's a right and a wrong way to do it. Sarah Palin tried to take short cuts, probably with good reasons, but she shouldn't have done that as governor.

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 11 Oct 08 - 09:28 AM

Yeah Rig, you might be right...she should have had HIM arrested and thrown in the can, for assault on a minor, and HIS abuse of power under color of authority!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: Riginslinger
Date: 11 Oct 08 - 09:31 AM

Yeah, but now that she's learned that lesson, she'll go on to make a great Vice President.

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 11 Oct 08 - 09:33 AM

Is Rezco blowing the whistle on Oblabbo??

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: CamiSu
Date: 11 Oct 08 - 09:38 AM

If that were happening to a child there would be charges being filed. Firing his superior is certainly the wrong way to go about it, and puts some doubt into the whole mess. Seems more like solving the problem the way she wanted to because she could do. Abuse of power and then dissembling about it.

And if she is more interesting, it must be in the way badly behaving celebrities are interesting, and I don't find such people terribly interesting.

CamiSu

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 11 Oct 08 - 09:44 AM

From: CamiSu
Date: 11 Oct 08 - 09:38 AM

"....it must be in the way badly behaving celebrities are interesting, and I don't find such people terribly interesting."

CamiSu

I find the candidates pretty f*****g boring, myself. They are bullshit artists, and the public is their canvas.....but you love it that way!

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: Charley Noble
Date: 11 Oct 08 - 09:58 AM

The headlines all read "ABUSE OF HER POWERS AS GOVERNOR" but the McCain Campaign finds solace (if that's the appropriate word) in the bipartisan committee's other finding that as Governor she could fire her public safety commissioner at will, no particular reason being required.

So I would conclude the findings are embarrassing but not impeachable. However, the findings also undercut Palin's "moral authority" to criticize Obama. Tough titty!

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: CarolC
Date: 11 Oct 08 - 10:07 AM

She committed abuses of power, not because she fired Monegan. Not even because of the way she fired Monegan. She had every right to do that, and the report says so unequivocally. She abused the public trust, and committed abuses of power because she used her official capacity as governor to apply pressure to state employees for personal gain, in particular, in allowing her husband to use her office and state resources in order to apply pressure to state employees for personal gain, which is against Alaska law (the personal gain being revenge in a family dispute).

They are saying that had she really been concerned about her safety and the safety of her family, she wouldn't have discontinued her personal security detail.

This debunks many of the claims being made by the Palins and being repeated by people like one of the posters in this thread...

http://www.andrewhalcro.com/comment/reply/1028

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: CarolC
Date: 11 Oct 08 - 10:15 AM

...and it's probably not an impeachable offense, but it does make it impossible for Palin to position herself as an ethical and honest politician, a "new" politician, while making accusations about Obama's trustworthiness.

It is also possible that there can be some consequences for her officially as governor, and it could effect her ability to get elected for another term as governor, should she not become vice president.

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: Ebbie
Date: 11 Oct 08 - 10:30 AM

Just for the record: It was not mace the trooper shot his stepson with, GtS. Let's keep it factual.

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: Alice
Date: 11 Oct 08 - 11:05 AM

To set the record straight:

See and hear Trooper Wooten's interview on CNN

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXj_xxRr50E

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 11 Oct 08 - 11:12 AM

ohhhhh SO SORRY....HE TASERED HIM!!! He was being thoughtful by not using mace??...so he used a taser???????????????????????????...on a ten year old child??????????!!!!!!!! He should be in jail!...and the huge crime of talking about a family involved matter with your husband????? String her up and crucify her!! This is absolutely MORONIC!!!!!!!!!! ...and so is anyone making such a big f*****g issue of it!!!
!

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: Alice
Date: 11 Oct 08 - 11:13 AM

Wooten's dad addresses what happened to his son in Alaska.
The moose hunt? Sarah's sister Molly had the moose tag, her husband at the time, Wooten, shot the moose, took it to Sarah Palin's father, who cut it up and gave shares of the moose to the family (including Sarah and Todd). Wooten says he did not know it was illegal to shoot the moose for Molly.

You tube interview of trooper Wooten's father:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voN0R8zuVeU

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: Alice
Date: 11 Oct 08 - 11:15 AM

Watch the videos.

When you were a kid did you ever put a flashlight battery to your tongue? That's what Wooten's son wanted to experience and did. Was it dumb, yes. Was it really being 'tasered'? NO.

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 11 Oct 08 - 11:15 AM

"Wooten says he did not know it was illegal to shoot the moose for Molly."

Or, that it was wrong, stupid, or illegal to taser a child....

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: CarolC
Date: 11 Oct 08 - 11:20 AM

If Wooten should have been in jail, there are legal ways of accomplishing that. Breaking the law and abusing the public trust wasn't the right way for Palin to deal with that issue. But what it shows us is that Palin is not the kind of politician she wants us to believe she is.

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 11 Oct 08 - 11:20 AM

Was it legal or illegal to shoot the moose???...was not knowing(which is bullshit} excuse for breaking the law??....that a cop really DID know about??? Come on??????????? Betcha' dollars for doughnuts he's arrested poachers for the same thing! This is politically spun nonsense!

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: CarolC
Date: 11 Oct 08 - 11:22 AM

We have courts for dealing with people who break the law. It's not the governor's job to dispense justice. That's what the courts are for.

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: Alice
Date: 11 Oct 08 - 11:24 AM

Wooten's behavior was dealt with through the proper channels and he is remorseful. The case was closed but the Palin's wanted to get their personal grudge involved in politics. Guest, you're barking up the wrong tree. Wooten paid the price for what he did. Now Palin needs to take responsibility for what she did wrong, too.

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 11 Oct 08 - 11:50 AM

Politicians in power tend to be arrogant. That's a fact. NOT an excuse.
If a governor (or vice-president or president) can't be bothered with obeying the laws--and this includes ignoring subpoenas and using the power of the office the browbeat others for personal or political reasons--he/she should be impeached.

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: Ebbie
Date: 11 Oct 08 - 12:00 PM

"ohhhhh SO SORRY....HE TASERED HIM!!! He was being thoughtful by not using mace??...so he used a taser???????????????????????????...on a ten year old child??????????!!!!!!!! He should be in jail!...and the huge crime of talking about a family involved matter with your husband????? String her up and crucify her!! This is absolutely MORONIC!!!!!!!!!! ...and so is anyone making such a big f*****g issue of it!!!" Guest

lol This reminds me mightily of when my brother in law railed at his wife about the dangerous stupidity of something she had done. "You could have been killed! We wouldn't have known where to look for you! What would you think if one of our kids did that!" On and on

"If I did that, you'd never hear let me hear the last of it!" he said.

She said, Well, what about you? Are you going to let me hear the last of it?

He said, primly, Didn't say a word.

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: CarolC
Date: 11 Oct 08 - 12:22 PM

I have to say, Wooten definitely comes across as the more sympathetic character in all of this.

The Palins and their surrogates are making it look like Wooten tasered his stepson in anger, rather than what happened, which is that the kid kept pestering Wooten to let him find out what it felt like, and Wooten only using a training taser when he obliged. It was a pretty stupid thing to do, but it's incredibly dishonest and a character assassination to make it look like it was done in an abusive manner.

And the moose thing, also. Wooten's wife at the time (Sarah Palin's sister) had the license to take a moose. A moose was taken, but it was Wooten who fired the shot. That may not be legal, but it's hardly the same thing as poaching, and I can imagine that even a trooper might not know the legality in such a circumstance. And if Palin really thought that Wooten should be punished for doing that, she wouldn't have helped him eat the moose, and then wait three years to seek justice.

It looks to me like Sarah and Tod Palin thought that Sarah's getting elected governor meant that they could behave like little emperors, and everyone had to bow down to them and submit to whatever they wanted. That's definitely not someone I want serving as vice president or president of this country. We've had too many of those already.

The more I learn about both Sarah and Todd Palin, the more slimy they appear.

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: Alice
Date: 11 Oct 08 - 03:37 PM

Can you imagine Todd First Dude Palin working behind the scenes of Vice President Palin (or, horrors, President Palin) like he has done in the Alaska governor's office? yikes

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: Riginslinger
Date: 11 Oct 08 - 03:58 PM

Hoefully, she'll get elected so we can find out. It certainly beats having a White House being run by Tony Rezko from prison.

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 11 Oct 08 - 04:08 PM

Rig-
Do you really want to find out? I think we've had enough of unlawful, arrogant Veeps over the past eight years. Or did you like Cheyney?

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: Alice
Date: 11 Oct 08 - 05:19 PM

"run by Tony Rezko" - Rig, do you have your tinfoil hat on? Maybe you need to make it a double layer of tinfoil.

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: Riginslinger
Date: 11 Oct 08 - 09:25 PM

They're able to get heroine and crank into prison; they ought to be able to get instructions out.

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: Ebbie
Date: 12 Oct 08 - 01:02 AM

"heroine? heroine? My, my, times have changed. Purdy soon everybody will be trying to get in.

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: Riginslinger
Date: 12 Oct 08 - 01:03 AM

Whoops!

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: CarolC
Date: 12 Oct 08 - 02:33 AM

Sometimes I get the impression that somebody around here is practicing to be a cartoon.

Subject: RE: BS: Troopergate, anyone?
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 12 Oct 08 - 02:36 AM

Look, I'm not a supporter of McCain/Palin...but the trooper gate nonsense never can of will rise to Rezko, Raines, Howard, Johnson Obama, Barney Frank, and Dodd,Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, Acorn and all the crap that goes with it...if you're going to ride a high horse, ride it all the way. By the way, there is also McCain/Keating thing that got swept under the rug, as well.
Don't you ju8st love these guys???