TrooperGate Report Released

[knightni]

I swear that everyone has me on ignore in the Filibuster...

[Balta1701]

I swear that everyone has me on ignore in the Filibuster...

I said it before you did! :-)

[Balta1701]

And the McCain camp's response...totally unexpected....

"Today's report shows that the Governor acted within her proper and lawful authority in the reassignment of Walt Monegan," said Palin spokeswoman Meg Stapelton. "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."

In other words, because it was within her power to do so, the impropriety doesn't matter at all for Mr. Cheney Mrs. Palin. So, there's nothing to see here, no penalty will be enacted, move along.

[bmags]

The people who are against her, already think that she's incompetent. How will this change their view?

 

The people who are for her, will side with her "soccer mom" family bias in this matter. How will this change their view?

 

The borderline people will look at this and see her as a politician who did a political thing that a lot of politicians do. Is there a politician out there who hasn't used their office for some personal gain?

 

i didn't see this but I disagree with this. the US Attorney firing and this are very big deals. I don't care how this pushes polls nationally, the fact that another person could be in the white house that did the following:

 

Makes everyone follow their exact ideology (loyalty tests when she first became mayor)

Fires people for personal reasons (troopergate, US Attorneys)

croneyism

 

sickens me to the core. After 8 years of this crap, of the complete politicization of departments that were. not. supposed. to. be. politicized. I can't imagine another woman getting away with this. The worst part, this s*** keeps happening, and all that happens are reports come out saying "Hey, people acted wrongly here" and NOTHING happens to them.

[knightni]

i didn't see this but I disagree with this. the US Attorney firing and this are very big deals. I don't care how this pushes polls nationally, the fact that another person could be in the white house that did the following:

 

Makes everyone follow their exact ideology (loyalty tests when she first became mayor)

Fires people for personal reasons (troopergate, US Attorneys)

croneyism

 

sickens me to the core. After 8 years of this crap, of the complete politicization of departments that were. not. supposed. to. be. politicized. I can't imagine another woman getting away with this. The worst part, this s*** keeps happening, and all that happens are reports come out saying "Hey, people acted wrongly here" and NOTHING happens to them.

 

You may disagree and be disgusted by this political malfeasance, but, it still won't change anyone's mind, come November 4th.

 

 

[StrangeSox]

You may disagree and be disgusted by this political malfeasance, but, it still won't change anyone's mind, come November 4th.

 

I don't know. Their whole campaign at this point is "Obama is scary" and "we're Mavericks!" Abusing the powers of your office isn't very Maverick-y. I think you'll see them lose a point or two from this, and with the way things currently are, it makes a McCain comeback almost impossible.

[BigSqwert]

I don't know. Their whole campaign at this point is "Obama is scary" and "we're Mavericks!" Abusing the powers of your office isn't very Maverick-y. I think you'll see them lose a point or two from this, and with the way things currently are, it makes a McCain comeback almost impossible.

Indeed. I can't imagine this being a good thing for the few independents that were supporting this ticket.

[Texsox]

As VP, we better not let her be in charge of Troopers

 

Hey! Look! She's younger than me, religious, and conservative! What the hell else do you want?

[NorthSideSox72]

You may disagree and be disgusted by this political malfeasance, but, it still won't change anyone's mind, come November 4th.

I think it will make a small difference. A few more on the fence will move to Obama, a few of those Dems who went to McCain/Palin because they were sore about Clinton not winning, and maybe a few GOP'ers who just won't who up. If this was still a tight race, I'd say it wouldn't make much difference. But since McCain is already well behind, the 1 or 2 point swing on this sort of thing could make the difference.

 

I really think a substantial portion of McCain's fall the past month has been Palin anyway, regardless of this report. The economy is the biggest reason of course, which people associate with the Republicans right now (which is both right and wrong). And McCain's campaign nastiness is a factor too. But Palin, in general, has gone from being an uplift for McCain to a weight around his neck.

 

[NorthSideSox72]

By the way, sort of an aside I noticed in the Trib article about this...

 

In another setback for Ms. Palin, a judge on Friday ordered the state of Alaska to preserve any government-related e-mail messages that Gov. Sarah Palin sent from private accounts.

 

The ruling, by Craig Stowers of Anchorage superior court, came as the result of a lawsuit brought by a resident, Andree McLeod, against Ms. Palin, the Republican vice-presidential nominee.

 

Ms. Palin has occasionally used private e-mail accounts to conduct state business, and her Yahoo accounts were hacked last month.

 

The judge ordered the attorney general to contact Yahoo and other private carriers to preserve any e-mail messages sent and received on those accounts. An assistant attorney general told the court that the governor was no longer using here private e-mail accounts to conduct state business.

 

So, this makes it sound like the investigation may not be over? Which seems odd, since they released their findings already. Or perhaps, this just means that, in general, they should be saved like any government email for future reference.

 

[mr_genius]

she's going to jail !!!!!1!11!!!!

[lostfan]

The two republicans on CNN say it's a nonissue because people are more worried about the economy and she broke no laws, therefore it's ok.

And they would be correct... which is why their equivalent strategy is not working and Obama is so far ahead in the polls.

[southsider2k5]

All I ask is...how is this any different or worse than anything we've heard about the Bush Administration, none of which was judged to be firing offenses for anyone.

 

Or lying under oath...

[southsider2k5]

Out of curiosity, does anyone find it unethical when Obama uses his power to try to shutdown people he disagrees with? Because this is pretty much exactly what Palin did. Is anyone wanting to investigate Barack?

[Texsox]

Or lying under oath...

Which is something we all should agree is not what we want from any elected official again. That was wrong then and would continue to be wrong in the future. But we get what we accept.

 

Out of curiosity, does anyone find it unethical when Obama uses his power to try to shutdown people he disagrees with? Because this is pretty much exactly what Palin did. Is anyone wanting to investigate Barack?

 

I want to have him investigated, and McCain. In fact, that should be the minimum we do anytime someone runs for office. I wonder however, because of his lack of managerial experiences he just hasn't had the opportunity to do something like this. So in a sense Palin, because she has the most of any of the guys, is at a disadvantage when comparing records.,

[bmags]

Which is something we all should agree is not what we want from any elected official again. That was wrong then and would continue to be wrong in the future. But we get what we accept.

 

 

 

I want to have him investigated, and McCain. In fact, that should be the minimum we do anytime someone runs for office. I wonder however, because of his lack of managerial experiences he just hasn't had the opportunity to do something like this. So in a sense Palin, because she has the most of any of the guys, is at a disadvantage when comparing records.,

 

Nobody is at greater disadvantage than senators.

[bmags]

You may disagree and be disgusted by this political malfeasance, but, it still won't change anyone's mind, come November 4th.

 

The poor part of this logic is that you think the only purpose of these findings was to sway voters minds, or sway approval ratings. Oh, people don't care so it doesn't matter if she abused her office. That's pathetic.

[knightni]

The poor part of this logic is that you think the only purpose of these findings was to sway voters minds, or sway approval ratings. Oh, people don't care so it doesn't matter if she abused her office. That's pathetic.

 

The American voting public is so polarized that, a Vice Presidential candidate getting an ex-brother-in-law fired on technicalities is hardly scandal-worthy.

 

Any boss has to show just cause for firing someone at any job.

If it involves nit-picking their work in order to fire them, then it happens.

 

What she did may have been bad, it may have been ruled to be excessive/abusive, but it is legal and it happens everywhere.

[Balta1701]

What she did may have been bad, it may have been ruled to be excessive/abusive, but it is legal and it happens everywhere.

Actually, by Alaska law, it's not actually legal whether or not it happens everywhere, if I understand things.

 

The thing that will probably make the difference though as I understand it is that the AG up there is either one of her appointees or is totally in Governor Palin's pocket and isn't going to do anything that would make her angry, like bring actual charges against her. You could say that it's legal in the "Alberto Gonzalez" sense. It's possible that someone will bring charges against her in civil court over this matter.