Sarah Palin's Email Hacked

Several people have written to claim that because the hacker did not publish any business-related emails, this proves that Governor Palin did not use her Yahoo account for official government communications. Though their logic is flawed, it is entirely fair for them to ask for evidence that Palin and her administration are, in fact, guilty of the poor judgment and unprofessionalism mentioned in this video.

Ill start with a quote from Fox News - a source that is normally supportive of the McCain-Palin campaign: Palin has sometimes used private e-mail accounts to conduct state business. Previously disclosed e-mails indicate Palin embraced Yahoo accounts as an alternative to government e-mail, which could possibly be released to the public under Alaska's Open Records Act.
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/05/worker-sues-read-palin-yahoo-e-mail-a...

Some emails from the governors official account (i.e., not her Yahoo accounts) have already been released under the Open Records Act. Various news sources have pointed out that many of these emails regarding official state business were copied to Todd Palins private Yahoo account. Heres a quote from the Washington Post: Todd Palin was frequently copied on e-mails relating to Alaska State Troopers and the union representing public safety employees, according to McLeod, who received four boxes of redacted e-mails in response to her request.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/09/AR20080909030...

The Minneapolis Star reported the same thing on September 9.
http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/president/28118279.html?elr=KArk...

The Toronto Star ran a similar story:
http://www.thestar.com/News/USElection/article/499832

It is remarkable that as late as September 25, Sarah Palins lieutenant governor was quite open about the fact that her Yahoo account was the chief means of communicating with the governor while she was campaigning. Heres a quote from the Associated Press:

Even Palin's lieutenant governor, Sean Parnell, said keeping in touch has been difficult. And since hackers broke into Palin's Yahoo e-mail account last week, he said, it has dropped off entirely. Until she was hacked, we were communicating just about daily. Now I'm talking with her chief of staff, Parnell said.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h9QcAwtQU_RJO9vrZGQr7XQF0hrQD93DKI600

On September 15, The Seattle Times wrote: Palin routinely uses a private Yahoo e-mail account to conduct state business. Others in the governor's office sometimes use personal e-mail accounts, too.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008180084_palinemail15.html

CONCLUSION

There is no question that Governor Palin conducted government business on her poorly-secured Yahoo account, and to her credit, Governor Palin does not seem to be denying that she routinely used her Yahoo account for state business. Her own press secretary, Bill McAllister, said that she appropriately uses her personal Yahoo account for political activities.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008180084_palinemail15.html

The real issue for people like the Republican activist Andree McCloud, who has done much to bring this issue to light, is whether Governor Palin should be obliged to release these emails under Alaskas Open Records Act. And the issue for the rest of us, as we consider our choices in the upcoming election, is whether Governor Palin showed good sense and judgment in conducting government business through an unsecure email account housed on a server owned by Yahoo, a private corporation.

OCTOBER 10 UPDATE:

"The judge ordered the attorney general to contact Yahoo and other private carriers to preserve any e-mails sent and received on those accounts. If the e-mails were destroyed when the accounts were deactivated, he directed state officials to have the companies attempt to resurrect the e-mails. 'We shouldn't be in a position where public records have been lost because the governor didn't do what every other state employee knows to do, which is to use an official, secure state e-mail account to conduct state business,' McLeod said after the 90-minute hearing."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/10/palin-e-mails-judge-order_n_133727.html

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[rolyat136]

Cute clip

I'd bet you conduct a profitable 3-card-monte-game . . .

Now where's the "beef" - - - i.e., the government business transacted on the Yahoo account ?

[fjfjdvdv]

Please refer to the September 10 Washington Post article "Governor Is Asked to Release Emails." Here's a quote: "Todd Palin was frequently copied on e-mails relating to Alaska State Troopers and the union representing public safety employees." Todd Palin was not elected and was not on the government payroll. And this stuff was sent to a Yahoo account for which his password was his license plate. Alaskan troopers deserve better than to have their business discussed in unsecure Yahoo accounts.

[rolyat136]

WOW - I'd really like to see a copy of some of these e-mails that the WP reporters are apparently in possession of, wouldn't you?

I'll try to find the 9/10/08 WP article myself. (I wonder why you didn't include the link in your post) BTW: are copies of the e-mails available in the 9/10/08 WP article?

[fjfjdvdv]

That's kind of the point -- by using private Yahoo accounts, Governor Palin could circumvent Alaska's Open Records Act, and neither you, nor the Washington Post, nor Alaska's taxpayers have access to these materials.

[fjfjdvdv]

By the way, thank you for mentioning that I forgot the link to the article in question -- this was shoddy writing on my part, and readers shouldn't have to do the research themselves. I have now placed the link to the Washington Post story, as well as other relevant news stories, in the clip's info section (click "more info" to view).

Best regards,

fjfjdvdv

[educution]

Great little piece dude! Awesome to see someone bothering to craft in the lost arts of lampoons and limericks. Still entertaining well past its newsworthyness. Kudos.

[rhodeislandrasta]

the invade button kills me.

[FranckyB]

Cute clip, but you need to fix the sound, it is way too low.