Rachel Maddow - Sarah Palin Troopergate Update (Part 6)

In his statement to the legislative inquiry (which was supposed to remain confidential but promptly released to the press by the McCain campaign) Todd Palin admits that he'd been trying to get his trooper brother-in-law fired for years. But he insists, improbably, that that didn't have anything to do with the subsequent dismissal of the guy he and Gov. Palin were pressuring to fire him. That, and he too says, Walt Monegan, the Commissioner of Public Safety at the center of the story, was not fired but rather resigned.

In one of the odder parts of the deposition, he seems to have implied that two reasons Monegan was actually fired were for emailing the governor reports that she'd driven with her newborn son without a car seat and that he didn't have a state plane available enough for her trips.

For those of you keeping score, the Palins' purported rationales for firing Monegan are tellingly similar to those originally put forward for firing those US Attorneys -- vague and barely consequential complaints that no one ever seems to have mentioned before the press started asking questions, peppered with occasional defenses of the reasons for the firing which they claim aren't even the real reasons.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/223056.php
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Hollis French deserves criticism for his clumsy response once Troopergate went national: He should have never used the word "impeachment" in any context. But the bulk of this responsibility for the ugly mess falls on Palin herself, who can't separate her personal life from her professional life, Attorney General Talis Colberg, who can't figure out if he works for the people of Alaska or the Palin family, and the hammerheads sent up here by John McCain to run the local McCain-Palin campaign. Like their masters, these guys will tell any old tale about Hollis French, the Democrats and the media as long as it advances their cause. Remember Rudy Guiliani and Karl Rove touting Palin's military experience as commander of the national guard? And her foreign policy experience because Alaska is near Russia? Pants-on-fire lies, but hey, who needs facts when you have talking points provided by headquarters in Washington.

Investigator Steve Branchflower be warned. If you issue a report on Troopergate before the election in any fashion critical of Gov. Palin, you can expect to be made to look like a war criminal. Or worse.

Thanks to Troopergate, the relationship Palin established with Democrats during two legislative sessions -- the trust and accommodation she needed to pass her gas-line and oil-tax legislation -- no longer exists.

Throughout her political career, Palin has benefited from establishing and exploiting contrast favorable to her. The contrast between Palin the woman-of-integrity and dishonest Republican bosses. The contrast between the fresh new Palin and ham-handed incumbent fossil Gov. Frank Murkowski. The contrast between woman-of-the-people Palin and the public-be-damned oil companies. Even the contrast between young, vital Palin and aging, stiff John McCain -- which perversely enough has helped John McCain in the polls.
http://www.adn.com/opinion/sarah-palin/story/541124.html
They've now made an emergency appeal to the state Supreme Court to prevent the issuance of a report on the abuse of power by Sarah Palin in trying to get her ex brother-in-law fired from being a state trooper. The resistance to transparency is coming from an out-of-state entity:

Texas-based Liberty Legal Institute and Anchorage attorney Kevin Clarkson, representing the group of anti-investigation legislators, filed the emergency appeal.

"The plaintiffs and Alaskans will suffer irreparable harm if the investigation at issue continues and if the resulting investigative report issues as planned on Oct. 10, 2008," they wrote in their appeal.

I see no reason why candidates for the highest offices in the country should shut down legitimate legislative investigations into their alleged abuse of power, started long before they were such candidates. In fact, I see very good reason for American voters to know what the Alaska legislature made of Palin's ethics before they get to vote in November. But as we know, John McCain believes in minimal transparency and maximal secrecy. At least he has since Sarah Palin was pickd for his veep.
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/10/mccain-palins-d....

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Rachel
• Maddow
• Sarah
• Todd
• Palin
• Alaska
• State
• trooper
• gate
• Walt
• Monegan
• Wooten
• firing
• john
• Mccain
• Barack
• Obama
• Joe
• Biden

[franki252]

LMAO- now what Palin-Puppet? What a frigging loser. More of the same........big old yawn.

OBAMA, BIDEN 08 (for change we CAN BELIEVE in)

[theliberalparis]

ONLY ONE THING SMART ASS, I'm not a liberal, that's the problem with right wing idiots like you, you never think, you let others think for you and you repeat words like "communist" or "socialist" like pathetic donkeys.

[ch1aka2]

Karma will be a bitch for Palin.

[B4TheStorm556]

Who can argue with such a well formed opinion?

In one run on sentance, you single handedly proved that I'm not only an idiot, but that Liberals are truly the more intelligent, caring and tolerant persuasion. In addition to that, I'm now convinced of... erm... whatever it was you're trying to prove.

Theliberalparis, you are a shining example of liberalism. Cheers!

[theliberalparis]

any body that's not a retarded racist republican is stupid, yea you're right, you're one pathetic moron, but than again you're a republican, so I guess it's not your fault, go watch "false news" or the Fascist Obnoxious Xenophobic network that you love dummy.

[PALLADINARC]

Palin: Inuit word for moron

[Chirox82]

(Continued)

A healthy cynicism is imperative for any journalist or commentator, and she is not unduly so.

And to clarify, I do not support ANY police brutality or any illegal acts by the police. I was saying that I do not unduly criticize the police in general because I understand the psychology behind their actions. And of course, there are always the power-hungry few who are attracted to the position.

[Chirox82]

Presenting news in a biased context? Have you seen the clips of her bashing Obama and Hillary Clinton? She does not only go after republicans, and the only reason that they come up more often as being criticized is that they as a whole, the Republican party has been crime-ridden and hypocritical. Again, the Democratic party is not exempt from this.

Hate filled? She gets pissed off a bigots and hypocrites, justifiably. Faux intellectualism? She has degrees and several years of experience.

[B4TheStorm556]

As a person who's worked in law enforcement, your actions should be above reproach. In a civil society, the law restricts it's enforcers as well as it's subjects. I'm sure you know this.

Rachel is defliling journalistic integrity by servicing a political ideal, and presenting news in a biased context.

She's hate-filled, cynical and uses her faux intellectualism to degrade others.

Not the kind of person who should be speaking out on others' conduct, if someone were to ask me.

[Chirox82]

I am not one of the people who bitches about police brutality. I grew up in a home with a police officer for a father, and thus have a great deal of respect for the Police and just how difficult their job can be.

A huge number of people disagree with you that Rachel Maddow is "socially retarded", including her wife. She is quite clearly capable of reason, and has a doctorate in political science. Just because someone disagrees with you doesn't make them a fool.

[Chirox82]

Driving drunk - He drove for about a mile with an open container of alcohol in 2004. He was dismissed in 2008. Yeah.

Tasering a child - the 11 year old nephew asked to be tased, it was on the lowest setting. You're framing this as if he goes out to schools and tasers kids at random. It occurred in 2003, and was reported to police in 2005, the year of his divorce.

Beats on his family - No evidence was ever found that he abused his family, and he was cleared of all charges.