Alaska News: Palin Corruption Report Moved Up, New Polls

by: Chris Bowers

Fri Sep 05, 2008 at 13:09


The Alaska State Senate is now a center of national news:

ABC News has exclusively learned that Alaska Senator Hollis French will announce today that he is moving up the release date of his investigation into whether Gov. Sarah Palin abused her office to get the Alaska public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, fired. The results of the investigation were originally scheduled for release Oct. 31 but will now come almost three weeks earlier, according to sources.(...)

"It's likely to be damaging to the Governor's administration," said Senator Hollis French, a Democrat, appointed the project manager for a bi-partisan State Senate Legislative Counsel Committee investigation.

This is a good response to the new stall and avoid tactics of the McCain campaign. Palin had earlier refused to testify before the commission, in an obvious tactic to delay the release of the report until after Election Day. It is part and parcel with their strategy of not talking to the media, and while simultaneously attacking them at a partisan institution. Fortunately, Hollis French is not going to put up with it.

In other Alaska news, two new polls show that the state is now out of play in the presidential election because of the Palin selection. Also, Ted Stevens has received a bump according to one of the two polls, and now only trails by three. However, the House seat is still a clear Democratic pickup, as long as incumbent Republican Don Young hangs on during his primary recount.

Chris Bowers :: Alaska News: Palin Corruption Report Moved Up, New Polls

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Alaska News: Palin Corruption Report Moved Up, New Polls | 29 comments
only 267 electoral votes to go for McSame! (4.00 / 3)
I guess we finally have an example of a vp selection winning a state in a Presidential election. Too bad for McCain it's only 3 electoral votes and was a deep red state to begin with.
Sorry to be contrarian (4.00 / 1)
but Palin apparently launched an investigation into herself so as to move this up.  There's no stalling - they want any bad news out of the way before October.

Argh.  I can't find the Huffpost story now. But anyway - I would caution against reading too much into this and stay focused. If Palin hangs herself, good.  Obama camp and supporters need to stay focused on McCain and what Palin say about McCain.

QT

Visit the Obama Project


WindOnWater.net



It won't hurt her much, anyway. (0.00 / 0)
There is a sympathetic angle to the story.  Her family says, apparently that this trooper that Palin wanted fired threatened to kill her father during this domestic violence incident.  No matter what the results of the investigation, or who completes the investigation, the result will be challenged as partisan, and Palin can elaborate on the ordeal it was for her family, which can reinforce her narrative that people are judging her personal life, etc.  

[ Parent ]
It's not about the trooper (4.00 / 6)
it's about firing the guy who wouldn't fire the trooper. That's the abuse of power.
[ Parent ]
Yes, and it's also about (0.00 / 0)
how she can play it.

If the result is negative, she can spin it as an attack, and a partisan result, and then play the sympathy angle.  The emotional appeal of her story will neutralize the ethics implications.

[ Parent ]
What CAN happen (4.00 / 2)
Is not the same as what WILL happen. Yes, she can do those things. But no, they aren't necessarily going to be successful. Especially as the media continues to sour on this ticket, McCain continues to bitch about it and Palin continues to refuse media access.

Those things might not line up either, but imagining a single defeatist version of the future does not a gospel truth make.

John McCain opposes the GI Bill.

[ Parent ]
I'm not so sure (4.00 / 2)
They need to convince moderate, independent and swing voters that Palin is legit, that McCain is still a maverick and that McCain won't be Bush III.

Early polls suggest that at least on the first and third counts, these voters are skeptical, putting the burden of proof on the McCain campaign.

This story makes it impossible to do this. And the more they fight it, the worse it looks on all counts.

[ Parent ]
Get The Facts, Dude! (4.00 / 1)
It's not the Democrats in the State Senate who started this, it was the Republicans.  It has bipartisan support in the legislature, and the investigation is being headed up by a respected career prosecutor.

Also, the trooper was already disciplined.  Accusations are often over-heated in such situations, and they apparently took all that and more into account.  Sarah's family didn't want a balanced approach.  They wanted vengeance.  And when Monegan wouldn't bend (or break) the rules for them, he was fired.

Then there's the fact that firing folks who don't kiss her ring is Palin's MO from her time as mayor.

It all adds up to stinksville, at best, and impeachable abuse of power, plus possibly criminal acts in the process of the coverup, at worst.

You might be able to defend her, kanzeon, if folks around here were as ignorant as sin.  Given that were not, I'm puzzled that you try.

"You know what they say -- those of us who fail history... doomed to repeat it in summer school." -- Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 6, Episode 3

[ Parent ]
The same republicans (0.00 / 0)
she has a reputation for fighting?  Those republicans?  Cuz this (again) works as a positive for her mavericky, reform image...

Keep in mind that we've already seen how facts aren't that important - spin and narrative are.  

QT

Visit the Obama Project


WindOnWater.net



[ Parent ]
Except That It's All Lies (4.00 / 2)
We know she can spin like a dervish.  And so can you, apparently.

You seem to effortlessly switch back and forth between arguing her line for her, and then, when caught out, retreating to saying, "well, it will be effective."

Actually, I don't think there's evidence for either.

We should, of course, be aware of the various possibilities.  But you seem to positively wallow in the worst case possibilities.

"You know what they say -- those of us who fail history... doomed to repeat it in summer school." -- Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 6, Episode 3

[ Parent ]
I honestly don't appreciate the insult (4.00 / 1)
My point is - how is this going to play in the media, and what's an effective counter.  The fact that you want to complain in post after post about the media means you know whereof I speak - and it means too that we on THIS side need to find ways of countering what the narrative will be.

And I wouldn't have thought that the bridge to nowhere narrative would get so effectively drowned out - but it has.  And - I wouldn't have thought the "Obama will raise your taxes" line would carry, but it has.  So far from wallowing - I'm facing the facts as they are, ad urging those who can listen without getting all bent out of shape, to think, seriously, about how to deal with a hostile press environment - what narrative can we in the blogosphere get out there?

But ok, Paul.  You win.  I don't need to be here.

QT  

Visit the Obama Project


WindOnWater.net



[ Parent ]
Huh? (0.00 / 0)
There's a significant gap between what you say you are doing, and how you actually express yourself, and when someone forcefully points this out to you, you take your marbles and go home?

This is not the QT I've gotten to know this summer.

I think it's very helpful to have people express different points of view, whether I agree with them or not.  I just don't think it's helpful to have folks  spreading fogs of confusion amd/or amorphous negativity--so that no constructive debate is possible--which you sometimes seem to do, as you have done here.

I would think that you've seen enough appreciation from me in the past to know that I'm not just going after you.  But this is something you seem to lapse into from time to time, which is not particularly productive, and since it seemed particularly clear-cut, this seemed like a good time to bring it up.

I would hope that you'd realize there's value from being confronted, as well as from being agreed with.  If you cannot, then perhaps you're right to leave.  However, I don't believe that you are either that close-minded or that insecure. I think you're better and stronger than that, or I wouldn't even bother responding.

For one thing, you yourself have noted several times that you do not see yourself in step with the mainstream of opinion here, and yet you've stayed and participated for some time now.  This is not the sign of a close-minded or insecure person, IMHO.  It's the sign of someone who strong enough to stand their ground, or admit when they are wrong, whichever is appropriate.  Which is part of why I thought you were capable of benefitting from being challenged.

I'm sorry if I misjudged you.  But I don't think I did.  I think you're too big a person to just walk away over this one exchange.



"You know what they say -- those of us who fail history... doomed to repeat it in summer school." -- Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 6, Episode 3

[ Parent ]
In response (0.00 / 0)
These were your words:

And so can you, apparently.

You seem to effortlessly switch back and forth between arguing her line for her, and then, when caught out, retreating to saying, "well, it will be effective."

"And so can you" referenced spinning like a dervish - obvious derision.  And then claiming I was "caught out" is impugning my intent as a deceptive one.

You say here:

There's a significant gap between what you say you are doing, and how you actually express yourself, and when someone forcefully points this out to you, you take your marbles and go home?

The answer is - it is entirely your own perception that there is ANY gap between what I said and how I said it.  If you actually believed that, and had any modicum of the respect that you purport here, you'd have asked for clarification, instead of insulting me.

I can deal with all sorts of opinions - but I don't easily brook being called a liar, no matter how cleverly worded.

QT

Visit the Obama Project


WindOnWater.net



[ Parent ]
Or (4.00 / 2)
It highlights how John McCain (remember him?) refused to go after corrupt Congressional Republicans.

John McCain opposes the GI Bill.
[ Parent ]
McCain IS a corrupt Republican Senator (0.00 / 0)
Or did I just dream about the Keating 5?

"It sounds wrong...
     ...but its right."
[ Parent ]
Donald Diamond (0.00 / 0)
Interesting read, and more current than the Keating 5 scandal.  Mr. Diamond is the current co-chair of McCain's fund-raising staff.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04...


"It sounds wrong...
     ...but its right."

[ Parent ]
Not To Mention Paxson Communications (4.00 / 1)
Pattern and practice, boys and girls.  Pattern and practice.

"You know what they say -- those of us who fail history... doomed to repeat it in summer school." -- Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 6, Episode 3
[ Parent ]
Her loyalty test (4.00 / 4)
As Paul alludes to, one of Palin's first acts in office was to send out letters to all the high-ranking city officials (chief of police, city librarian, etc.) asking them send her letters of resignation as a test of their loyalty.  She tried to fire the city's librarian when the librarian said that, if asked, she would refuse to censor books, accusing her of "insufficiently supporting the mayor's needs in running the city" or something to that effect.  I'm at work and the link is unfortunately blocked, but the actual quote should be in there.

Her entire career is peppered with this kind of behavior and it's important to note that Trooper Wooten (who allegedly threatened the life of Palin's father and abused her sister) is still at his job, while the man who did nothing more than refuse to fire someone on insufficient grounds lost his.  As far as I can tell, no other charges or follow-up has been filed against Wooten.  What does this say about the governor's priorities?

[ Parent ]
The spin is all typed up. (4.00 / 1)
Here:

http://media.adn.com/smedia/20...

I find her story sympathetic, even compelling (page 5-7).  She has plenty to work with.  That doesn't mean it's true.

By the way:

1.  I'm not defending her.  I have no idea what happened.  I personally would accept the conclusion of the legislature.  In your case, of course, you have no such prudence.  You know the answer before the question is asked - no need for any messy due process or investigation.

2.  My point isn't that she is innocent, but that she has material to spin in a sympathy appeal that brings in her family, once again.  This isn't like, for example, her statements about the Bridge to Nowhere, which is easily disproved and indefensible.


[ Parent ]
Your Point Is Purposely Opaque Until Forced To Clarity (0.00 / 0)
And I never claimed to "know the answer"--whatever that means, especially since what actually happened and what an investigation will say are two totally different things. (Iran/Contra anyone?)

What I do know is that Palin has already lied her ass off, and tried to stonewall the investigation, pressuring others to help her do so.  This is prima facie evidence of mens rea.

I've seen it with Nixon in Watergate, Reagan/Bush in Iran/Contra and Bush/Cheney in more different circumstances than you can throw a stick at.

If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, squawks like a duck and smells like a duck, 5 will get you 10 (maybe even 10-to-20), it's a duck.

"You know what they say -- those of us who fail history... doomed to repeat it in summer school." -- Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 6, Episode 3

[ Parent ]
Ut humiliter opinor (0.00 / 0)
"Prima facie evidence of mens rea" is a sentence that is totally opposed to the liberal notions of fairness.  Defending oneself has no relationship to one's guilt vel non.

That's that he Republicans said about the Clintons for years in response to a dozen manufactured scandals.  Because they used procedural avenues to defend themselves, they were "stonewalling."  Stonewalling became the chief evidence of guilt.  

Respectfully, vescere bracis meis.

[ Parent ]
This is an opening (4.00 / 3)
The important thing here is to find a way to open this up to make a broader point about the Bush administration and in what ways McCain/Palin would extend that. People know about the Bush administration's crazy hiring and firing practices, the partisanship and favoritism-- the trick is to get them to look at Palin's dubious firings as the same act, whether the fired guy is a scumbag or not. Palin has a history of pushing favoritism in personell decisions even where it's illegal. We don't want a President who's willing to cross this line; this means she'll do it in the white house too.
[ Parent ]
Right! It's The Whole Nixon/Bush Axis of Weasels Thing (4.00 / 1)
I agree that connecting her pattern of behavior to Bush's is an important step.  But I think it goes even further, since Bush's is simply the systematic institutionalization of what Nixon was doing from inside the White House, without a well-oiled party-wide apparatus like the Reps have since built.

"You know what they say -- those of us who fail history... doomed to repeat it in summer school." -- Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 6, Episode 3
[ Parent ]
Don't Believe The Hype! (4.00 / 2)
Her "self-investigation" is just another name for a coverup, m' dear.  From the ADN editorial I quoted below:

Palin's lawyer has asked the Legislature to drop its investigation. He had the governor file an ethics complaint against herself, in a bid to turn the entire matter over to the state Personnel Board, which would hire an independent investigator.

This is not an open and transparent attempt to establish Gov. Palin's accountability. It is an attempt to drag out the investigation until after voters decide the fate of her vice-presidential bid.

What this editorial doesn't say (they can't say everything) is that the state Personnel Board is entirely appointed by Palin.  This makes it, in effect, a self-investigation.  I.E., a coverup, as well as a delay.

Being a contrarian is fine.  Being under-informed, not so much.

"You know what they say -- those of us who fail history... doomed to repeat it in summer school." -- Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 6, Episode 3

[ Parent ]
Palin's Achilles Heel (4.00 / 2)
The Anchorage Daily News has a stern, if not quite scathing editorial, "Palin's stall: Governor is stonewalling the Troopergate investigation":

Gov. Sarah Palin is taking the wrong approach to Troopergate. She should be practicing the open and transparent, ethical and accountable government she promised when running for governor and boasts about now that she's on the national stage.

Instead, Gov. Palin has begun stonewalling the Legislature's attempt to get the bottom of allegations that she, her family or staff violated ethical or state personnel rules.

As a result, the Troopergate allegations hang over Palin's future and cloud her candidacy for vice president....

In July, when legislators started talking about conducting an investigation, Palin denied any wrongdoing and said she welcomed an investigation.

"Hold me accountable," she said.

The Legislature took her up on that offer. But this week, she basically told the Legislature, "Never mind."

Palin's lawyer has asked the Legislature to drop its investigation. He had the governor file an ethics complaint against herself, in a bid to turn the entire matter over to the state Personnel Board, which would hire an independent investigator.

This is not an open and transparent attempt to establish Gov. Palin's accountability. It is an attempt to drag out the investigation until after voters decide the fate of her vice-presidential bid....

The Legislature hasn't given its investigator the power to subpoena, or compel, testimony of witnesses. Subpoenas appeared unnecessary, since it appeared the governor and administration would be cooperating.

That's over. It's time for the subpoenas....

When this investigation into Troopergate started, Gov. Palin's response was refreshingly open. Since she became the Republican candidate for vice president, her approach has changed for the worse. America deserves the same openness and ethics from vice-presidential candidate Palin that she promised to Alaska voters in 2006.

BOTTOM LINE: Gov. Palin is stonewalling on Troopergate; the Legislature should issue subpoenas.

The only reason she could possibly be digging in like this is because she knows how damaging the truth is.  This is her Achilles heel, IMHO.  And the more Nixonian she acts, the more obvious it becomes.

Once that report comes out--if not before--Alaska could be back in play again.

"You know what they say -- those of us who fail history... doomed to repeat it in summer school." -- Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 6, Episode 3

nannies (0.00 / 0)
I don't imagine Palin takes care of her children now that she is Gov.

Maria Theresa of Austria had 16 children and was able to preside over the Austrian Hungarian Empire, so the thing can be done.

it may be that the downs syndrome baby will do better under a reality based nanny rather than her unfortunate mother.

on the other hand, I don't think the US would do very well under a McCain Palin administration. Just saying.

october 31 would have been a better (0.00 / 0)
date to release a report that could do significant damage to her favorables.

3 extra weeks gives them plenty of time to spin the damage away.  a coupla days would have been much harder to negate.

I feel like the McCain camp did thoroughly vet her, and decided to go with her anyway.  Then, knowing that she was a ticking timebomb otherwise, decided to just go nuclear with her record over Labor Day Weekend.

You know, when people aren't paying attention.  By Tuesday, everybody thought that McCain had picked some moron, but didn't know quite why she was a moron.  

Expectations lowered, give her a decent speech, and let her deliver it with some style.  

You get to complain that the big bad librul media and democrats are unfairly attacking her (no one knows why, they just know the media says that she's bad), plus her all those nasty stories disappear after the convention (or so they hope...).

Plus, she comes off as better than advertised.  

They knew what they had, that she was covered with the stench of scandal.  So they threw it all out there at once, knowing it would disappear after her speech.

This corruption report could have worked as a nice little October Surprise if it were released on 10/31.  But 3 weeks early?  It'll just spin away...

Don't forget, Monegan's replacement... (4.00 / 2)
...as Public Safety Commissioner had to be let go after a few days because of previous conviction for sexual harassment.  

He got a $10K golden handshake.

Monegan, whose offense was not breaking the rules for Palin, got nothing.

Golden Handshake Or Hush-Money??? (0.00 / 0)
If Palin were a Dem, I think that $10K payment alone would be touted as grounds for impeachment.

"You know what they say -- those of us who fail history... doomed to repeat it in summer school." -- Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 6, Episode 3
[ Parent ]
Alaska News: Palin Corruption Report Moved Up, New Polls | 29 comments
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