rssTroopergate 2 Heats Up
Friday, October 17, 2008 at 10:10 am
- 8 Comments
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A legislative body voted unanimously Thursday to release confidential Troopergate documents to the state’s personnel board, which has kicked off its own inquiry into the matter.
The decision is most likely a blow to Gov. Sarah Palin.
She had pushed for a personnel board investigation rather than the now-completed probe conducted by the independent investigator Steve Branchflower and overseen by a council of 14 state lawmakers, 10 Republicans and four Democrats.
In September the McCain campaign argued that the personnel board, whose members were appointed by Palin, was better equipped to handle such an inquiry.
So far, it looks like the stall tactic has actually backfired for Palin. Not only was the first Troopergate investigation completed on schedule, before the November election, and resulting in a finding that Palin broke a state ethics law, now it looks like the political personnel board is actually taking the matter seriously.
Best case scenario: Palin doesn’t end up with a second finding against her.
8 Comments
Comment posted October 17, 2008 @ 7:52 am
I love how this site seems to hone in on this topic without EVER going into what this guy did. How much symapthy would any of you have to a police officer who tasered his kid and threatened his wife with physical abuse?
I would say being canned should have only been the beginning. Don't give me any of that politically correct crap (Oh – why didn't she just go to the courts?!) This kind of decissive action is EXACTLY what our goverment needs to purge these vulgers and parasites hiding in the cracks. Regarless if they are family or not.
Comment posted October 17, 2008 @ 8:11 am
I noticed you have some strong critics of the overall vision of this site. I just wanted to let you know you don't have to read your news here if you don't agree with the authors' viewpoints. Maybe this site would be more to your liking:
Comment posted October 17, 2008 @ 9:18 am
First of all, it was not in the Governor's power to remove individual troopers, which is why she didn't do that. Second of all, the guy was already punished (to whatever extent the State troopers deemed appropriate) at the time of his transgressions. So for his superiors to later fire him for something they had already punished him for would have been illegal, regardless of who was calling for his firing. Which is why they didn't do that.
The issue isn't over Trooper Wooten and his actions. No one is defending this guy and no one cares about this guy. The issue is over Todd Palin using the office of the Governor to pressure people to fire him, essentially asking them to break the law.
Governor Pailn could have fired safety Commissioner after Safety Commissioner, but (hopefully) none of them would have overstepped their bounds and fired the Trooper against the law. AS it is, they've already given him plenty of ammo for a civil suit, which he is apparently pursuing.
So Palin abused her power, didn't even succeed in her quest, destroyed an innocent man's career (Monegan), and opened herself up to governmental censure and civil litigation. That's the kind of “decisive action” this country has been living with for the past 8 years, and can certainly live without in the future.
Comment posted October 17, 2008 @ 9:31 am
Independent Mind,
Have you read all the files available at the ADN website, including the police reports made against Wooten? There is a wealth of original information available there. I have read all of them and it is clear that an orchestrated effort was made by the Palin family and some of their friends to paint Wooten as a monster. Most of those claims were made months to years after the alleged incidents supposedly took place, and only after Molly's marriage was breaking up. This is why it is so important to get all the information, as only listening to claims by one side can skew public opinion. For example, did you know that the child custody judge told Palin that her obsessive negative involvement in the case was actually “child abuse” , as she exposed the childern knowlingly to it. and ordered her to cease and desist?
Put yourself in Wooten's shoes. What if you were the focus of this kind of vengence by someone in a powerful position? It's a nightmare, and it's exactly the reason that those with all the machinery of government at their fingertips have to keep their personal affairs seperate from public office.
Comment posted October 17, 2008 @ 12:14 pm
ABUSE OF POWER IS THE ISSUE and that is what this is ALL about! Palin has been found guilty of this charge by the legislative body and those are the facts!!! She can't go around bullying people for her personal gain and to FIRE someone that had nothing to do with her family was unlawful! She deserves everything that comes back to her on this issue….hopefully McCain/Palin will lose this election and then when she crawls back to Alaska they will impeach her on these charges.
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