If you're a Republican in Alaska, this hasn't been your week.
First, Ted Stevens got indicted. And now Republican Gov. Sarah Palin - considered a rising GOP star by the punditocracy and conservative intelligentsia - is facing an investigation amid allegations that she tried to get her sister's former husband fired from his job as a state trooper.
Although the trooper had previously been deservedly disciplined for misconduct that he committed, other charges against him had been dismissed.
If Palin is found to have abused her office, she may face impeachment.
Of course, the Free Republic brain trust opines that the probe of Sarah Palin is politically motivated by "the liberals." Keep entertaining me, Freeper folks.
(Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121746477267499109.html)
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Alaska governor faces investigation
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You're a little behind the curve here. Any investigation is only gonna make Palin look even better. I'd suggest you read this from the ANCHORAGE DAILY NEWS, which should put an END to "troopergate" ONCE AND FOR ALL!!!
ReplyDelete"Issue's not why Monegan was fired, but why trooper wasn't
ELISE PATKOTAK
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(07/29/08 23:20:50)
They called Ronald Reagan the Teflon president. I think we should start calling Sarah Palin the Teflon governor. Based on people's reaction to the recent dustup over the dismissal of Walt Monegan, I'd say the lady would pretty much have to pile up more indictments than all our current politicians combined before people would start to seriously question her.
This is going to make some people absolutely nuts. Unfortunately, for those seeking to find some dirt that will stick and bring down her still astronomically favorable ratings, this current dustup is probably not the ticket they are seeking. Firing someone who is a political appointment is done all the time. Since losing your job is a common experience for most of us, the termination of a commissioner is just not something that gets people's dander up.
Of course, the idea that no one should be fired for refusing to cave in to pressure to circumvent state personnel rules is pretty much a no brainer, assuming the allegations are true.
Except in this case, the employee being discussed is a trooper who carries a gun and the force of law based on the authority given to him by, ultimately, us. He also happens to be an employee who somehow managed to Taser his 11-year-old stepson and get away with it.
The limp explanation that he was trying to show the young man how it felt is simply stupid and an insult to any thinking, reasonable adult. Assuming we want the people we authorize to carry guns and use them in our name to be adults, he should have found a much, much better way to get this lesson across.
In fact, his actions went beyond stupid and, for many of us, straight into the realm of criminal. I've had parents on my caseload whose kids would have been permanently removed from them if we'd gone to court with that.
So this particular trooper is probably not the poster boy the anti-Palin folks might want to trot out to show her misusing her power as governor. At least, the people I've talked to all seem to shake their heads and say that yeah, if she did exert pressure, she shouldn't have. And then they look up and say, "But man, what about that trooper!" They zip right past her possible actions and land squarely on the trooper. The minute the story reaches the point where he's Tasering his stepson, people start lining up behind Palin. Because most people don't want Mike Wooten to be the trooper responding to their call for help if this is any indication of his ability to make sound or reasonable judgments. And that seems to trump any inappropriate actions on her part as the focal part of the story.
It's becoming glaringly evident that public opinion is on Palin's side insofar as they wish this man had lost his job as a trooper somewhere between taking a moose illegally, drinking in a trooper vehicle and Tasering his stepson. And they wonder why the state troopers tolerate this behavior in their ranks.
Monegan was right to not cave if the alleged pressure was there from the administration to intervene in a personnel matter that had already been resolved internally, as insulting as that minimal response seems to be. While the legal right and wrong of the matter might ultimately break toward Monegan and against Palin, it will probably only make her a more sympathetic character, as people side with the person who tried to rid the troopers of someone who seems questionable at best as trooper material.
Let's think about this. He was stopped in his vehicle after a bartender called troopers to say he thought Wooten might be driving drunk. The trooper who stopped him admitted to smelling booze on his breath but made the decision that he didn't need to take a Breathalyzer because Wooten didn't seem drunk. Raise your hand if you think that trooper would not have given you a Breathalyzer test under the same circumstances. Yep, as I suspected, not a hand in sight.
Which brings us to the point most people are at. Palin isn't their problem. A state trooper agency that thinks this man should still be wearing a badge is."
Much of that Anchorage Daily News commentary contradicts what was reported elsewhere, so I really don't know.
ReplyDeleteWhat the Anchorage Daily News article left out is that Palin tried to have the officer fired AFTER the case had already been closed.
The officer certainly appears to have been extremely unprofessional. But the state already made its decision on punishing him. The case was closed before Palin ever took office.
It is a shame the Republicans are so partisan they don't even see when someone is misusing their office.
More about the officer playing with the Taser:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.adn.com/politics/story/476430.html
The officer's role in that incident is unprofessional behavior for anyone in law enforcement, but it was really a case of the 11-yr-old goofing off and trying to show what a real big dude he was. The officer was disciplined for that as he should have been. The taser is not a toy.
But the case was closed before Palin ever became Governor.