Obama used his pork requests to get a job for the fence-builder for that hotel. A real Watergate-gate-gate.
Meh. This whole thing was over an irresponsible, dangerous, corrupt cop. While she may not have acted perfectly, I don't see this as a "personal interest" thing - she didn't take a bribe, or act corruptly. She sacked an abusive law enforcement officer who deserved to be dismissed.
The McCain campaign on Thursday issued its own report, written by its staff, stating that the Alaska governor was not guilty of any wrongdoing.
The McCain campaign on Thursday issued its own report, written by its staff, stating that the Alaska governor was not guilty of any wrongdoing.
I think the most truthful and accurate way of putting this all into one sentence would be to say: She did the right thing for the wrong reasons.
Now if I was an American would this sway my vote? A little. Any hope I had of her being any different than any other typical politician that I don't trust just went out the window.
No. She did the wrong thing for the wrong reasons. She abused her power to pressure a government official to fire a low level employee in order to further her personal vendetta. Whether the trooper actually deserved to be fired or not is irrelevant. Had he not personally pissed off the Palin family, his case would have been handled the same way all cases are, by his immediate superiors or by the head of his department.
The Palin's intrusion in this matter is nothing more than blatant abuse of power to carry out a petty vendetta. Yet another sign in a long list of signs that she is thoroughly unfit for office.
What was the "right thing" that she was doing? IIRC, part of the finding was that the allegations of abuse against the former brother-in-law didn't have any standing.I think the most truthful and accurate way of putting this all into one sentence would be to say: She did the right thing for the wrong reasons.
If this was 20 years in her past and she had a record of other accomplishments to off-set it, to show this was a blip on the radar, then fine. But its not. Its one of the more noteable and recent things in her short tenure to date.Now if I was an American would this sway my vote? A little. Any hope I had of her being any different than any other typical politician that I don't trust just went out the window.
She should be removed as the VP candidate. Of course, much too late to do so.
No, being a jerk isn't against the law. It's pretty much the expected verdict since the investigation began. Like I said, in Alaska, politicians prefer the honor code.
For the reasons explained in section IV of this report, I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 2952.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act. Alaska Statute 2952.110(a) provides
The legislature reaffirms that each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust.
McCain spokeswoman Meg Stapleton released this statement:
Today's report shows that the Governor acted within her proper and lawful authority in the reassignment of Walt Monegan. The report also illustrates what we've known all along: this was a partisan led inquiry run by Obama supporters and the Palins were completely justified in their concern regarding Trooper Wooten given his violent and rogue behavior. Lacking evidence to support the original Monegan allegation, the Legislative Council seriously overreached, making a tortured argument to find fault without basis in law or fact. The Governor is looking forward to cooperating with the Personnel Board and continuing her conversation with the American people regarding the important issues facing the country.
Obama used his pork requests to get a job for the fence-builder for that hotel. A real Watergate-gate-gate.
Politico reports on Gov. Sarah Palins prolific spending while governor of Alaska. She supports spending taxpayer cash on initiatives that tickle her fancy, Ken Vogel notes. During her tenures as both mayor and governor, operating budgets ballooned by 55 percent in Wasilla and 25 percent in Alaska. Some examples of Palins pet projects:
$25,000 for the Juneau Christian Center, after Palin started worshipping there.
$2 million for an academic conference meant to dispel the idea that climate change is threatening polar bears.
$630,000 for a kitchen in a hockey arena complex the self-described hockey mom built during her second term as Wasillas mayor.
At least $10,000 to help fund the snowmobile race Todd Palin has won several times.
Ultimately, Palin took Wasillas long-term debt from $1 million when she entered office to $25 million when she left. Anything she proposed is a good earmark, said Bob Weinstein, mayor of Ketchikan, Alaska.
She sacked the guy that didn't sack that cop.Meh. This whole thing was over an irresponsible, dangerous, corrupt cop.
From what I've heard, it sounds like she personally didn't do anything wrong except for not intervening to stop her husband and staff from exerting inappropriate pressure. There is no evidence she told them to do so, but it seems she knew about it and choose to ignore it.