Jeez Louise. Why am I not surprised that GOP VP nominee Sarah Palin won’t cooperate in the investigation she abused her office’s authority in the Troopergate scandal?
From the story: Former Palin Press Secretary Meg Stapleton told reporters in Anchorage that the power probe has been “hijacked” by “Obama operatives” for the Democratic presidential nominee — namely, Alaska state Sen. Hollis French, the Democratic lawmaker managing the investigation and an Obama supporter. French has denied working on behalf of the Obama campaign.
On Sunday, the New York Times did a marvelous piece on Palin’s management style as mayor and as governor. Lo and behold, they suggest that Palin’s Wasilla High Yearbook could double as the Alaska state government directory as she appointed cronies to key positions despite qualifications. The story also suggests that anyone who disagreed with her was branded “a hater” and was either fired or ostracized.
Want a preview of how she ran things in Alaska? Read below excertps from the NY Times article:
When Ms. Palin had to cut her first state budget, she avoided the legion of frustrated legislators and mayors. Instead, she huddled with her budget director and her husband, Todd, an oil field worker who is not a state employee, and vetoed millions of dollars of legislative projects.
Interviews show that Ms. Palin runs an administration that puts a premium on loyalty and secrecy. The governor and her top officials sometimes use personal e-mail accounts for state business; dozens of e-mail messages obtained by The New York Times show that her staff members studied whether that could allow them to circumvent subpoenas seeking public records.
State legislators are investigating accusations that Ms. Palin and her husband pressured officials to fire a state trooper who had gone through a messy divorce with her sister, charges that she denies. But interviews make clear that the Palins draw few distinctions between the personal and the political.
Last summer State Representative John Harris, the Republican speaker of the House, picked up his phone and heard Mr. Palin’s voice. The governor’s husband sounded edgy. He said he was unhappy that Mr. Harris had hired John Bitney as his chief of staff, the speaker recalled. Mr. Bitney was a high school classmate of the Palins and had worked for Ms. Palin. But she fired Mr. Bitney after learning that he had fallen in love with another longtime friend.
Not deeply versed in policy, Ms. Palin skipped some candidate forums; at others, she flipped through hand-written, color-coded index cards strategically placed behind her nameplate. (wonder what does does up against Biden?)
While Ms. Palin took office promising a more open government, her administration has battled to keep information secret. Her inner circle discussed the benefit of using private e-mail addresses. An assistant told her it appeared that such e-mail messages sent to a private address on a “personal device†like a BlackBerry “would be confidential and not subject to subpoena.â€
The administration’s e-mail correspondence reveals a siege-like atmosphere. Top aides keep score, demean enemies and gloat over successes. Even some who helped engineer her rise have felt her wrath.
Dan Fagan, a prominent conservative radio host and longtime friend of Ms. Palin, urged his listeners to vote for her in 2006. But when he took her to task for raising taxes on oil companies, he said, he found himself branded a “hater.â€
After reading the NY Times piece, I have to retract my comment that Palin is Dan Quayle in a Dress. She’s George W. Bush in a dress. I have to wonde, if she won’t participate in the investigation of TrooperGate, what is she hiding? And why does it seem she needs her unelected husband along to make major decisions affecting residents of Alaska? Hillary sure didn’t need Bill’s help in making decisions as a US Senator.
These points simply reinforce the poor judgement exercised by John McCain.
Hate to burst your bubble, but MSNBC has a more definitive story on this. Palin released a bunch of emails that showed Monegan to be insubordnate, and that that was the reason he was fired.
That’s not what the story says. It claims “budget disagreements” which falls under the way Palin gets rid of those who won’t do her bidding vis-a-visa the NY Times article; but the MSNBC article does say this….
“In July, the four Democrats and eight Republicans on Alaska’s Legislative Council voted unanimously to investigate the circumstances of Monegan’s dismissal. Although Monegan was an at-will employee who could be fired for almost any reason, lawmakers wanted to see whether Palin tried to use her office to settle a personal score with Wooten.
The state Senate Judiciary Committee voted Friday to issue subpoenas to 13 people, including Palin’s husband, to compel cooperation with the investigation. The campaign said it didn’t know if Todd Palin planned to challenge his subpoena.
The governor has not been subpoenaed, but the investigator hired by the legislature, Steve Branchflower, said Friday he is interested in speaking with her. Campaign spokesman Ed O’Callaghan said that was unlikely as long as the investigation “remains tainted.” “
Let’s see.
The public safety commissioner is at-will, and Governor Palin had every right to fire him.
Trooper Wooten, about whom you, the troopers union and the rest of the Leftosphere are so concerned, is a disgrace to policing who ought to be out of law enforcement. But since he was once married to Palin’s sister, then he is off limits.
Palin has made a lot of political enemies in Alaska, and now they have a tool with which to muddy her.
Funny how Democrats were outraged at this sort of thing when directed at the Clintons in the 1990s — so much so that they supported getting rid of the Independent Counsel statute they had championed when Republicans were in the White House. You guys cheered every instance of the Clintons’ non-cooperation with investigators.
“Trooper Wooten, about whom you, the troopers union and the rest of the Leftosphere are so concerned”
We’re not concerned about him at all. We are concerned when an elected official seeks to punish someone due to a personal grudge which appears to be the case her and based on the well-documented track record Palin established as Mayor in Wasilla. He most certainly is not off limits.
Ken Starr totally abused his role as an indepedent counsel and went well beyond what he was supposed to be investigating to investigate whatever he could to bring the Clinton’s down. There was a time when sitting presidents would not face civil litiigation. Palin is not VP.
So when do you think she’ll actually sit down for another interview with a credible journalist?
It’s clear as a bell to me, as when I heard Nixon taped all his phone calls…get the contents of the 1100 emails she won’t release and her “career” is over. The titles of those emails say it all.
I never thought Americans could be this brain dead to fall for this kind of crap, and I was completely wrong.
I also lost any lingering respect I may have had for McCain, which came mostly for falling for the previous “maverick” BS without examining his actual voting record. He has turned into a total lying SOS every time he hits a podium or talkshow!! The MSM has also turned into total wusses….Only Keith and Rachel on MSNBC are asking the right questions.
Ohhh…but that’s right, they are “elitists” because they THINK.
Digusted in NH….Rich
Jubal, the whole prosecution of Clinton by Kenneth Starr was nothing more than an attempt to 1) Galvanize the Republican hypocritical right-wing; 2) Tarnish the reputation of an effective and popular president.
The reason we cheered Clinton the obstructionist was that, thanks to the Republican Party, Americans were unwillingly exposed to months and months of tawdry details pertaining to a marital indiscretion that 1) Most of us felt was none of our business; and which 2) Wasted millions of taxpayer dollars and amounted to nothing.
I guess you have forgotten why the Republicans subsequently lost seats in the 1998 mid-term elections.
It would be nice if you all would change the record. The man hasn\’t been in the chair for eight years; and his mistakes were child’s play compared to the many Nixonian misdeeds of this administration.
Oh Look Matt, Now she’s suing to stop the probe claiming its political (when two Dems and five Reeps called for he investigation…sure its political).http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/16/palin.trooper.probe/index.html?iref=mpstoryview What is Sarah Palin trying to hide?
If she didn’t do anything wrong, what’s she so afraid of?
It’s Cheney-style governance all over again.
From America’s Biggest Dick to America’s Biggest Pussy.