rssGeneral: Palin Never Ordered National Guard To Do Anything
Thursday, September 04, 2008 at 1:07 am
- 9 Comments
Remember when the McCain campaign got all bent out of shape because CNN’s big, bad Campbell Brown beat up on campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds for not being able to name a single instance in which Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin ordered the state’s National Guard to do anything — after he asserted her position as commander-in-chief of the Guard constituted foreign-policy experience?
No? Well, allow me to refresh your memory:
Funny story. It turns out there’s a very good reason Bounds couldn’t come up with an example — there isn’t one!
The Anchorage Daily News reports the commander of the Alaska National Guard sides with Brown on this one:
[T]he governor has no command authority overseas or anywhere in the United States other than Alaska, said Maj. Gen. Craig Campbell, the service commander of the Alaska National Guard.
“When members of the National Guard are federalized, they work for the president,” Campbell said Wednesday. “It’s not just overseas. They could be federalized to go to other states or they could even be federalized in the state.”
OK, but surely she must have issued some sort of directive within Alaska — a natural disaster perhaps?
No, Campbell said. The governor has granted him the authority to act on his own in most cases, including life-or-death emergencies — when a quick response is required — and minor day-to-day operations.
“Some authorities have been given to me that she has acknowledged that I can execute,” he said. “For others I have to ask her each time.”
The recent decision to deploy a C-17 cargo plane from the Alaska Air National Guard to Louisiana to assist during the Hurricane Gustav response was an occasion in which Campbell briefed the governor’s office and sought its approval, he said. Chief of Staff Mike Nizich signed off on it.
The flooding that occurred in Fairbanks in late July — for which the guard sent trucks north to provide clean drinking water — didn’t require the governor’s approval, Campbell said.
So it seems the “soul mates” on the GOP ticket have something else in common: a predisposition to cede their command authority to the military leaders on the groud. Why not just elect Gen. David Petraeus president and cut out the middleman?
9 Comments
Comment posted September 4, 2008 @ 12:28 am
Palin's not the candidate the Republicans are making her out to be.
Nevertheless, doesn't this count as a directive?
The governor has granted him the authority to act on his own in most cases, including life-or-death emergencies — when a quick response is required — and minor day-to-day operations.
Comment posted September 4, 2008 @ 7:29 am
CNN had reported that Palin had sent the Guard to do some firefighting.
Comment posted February 25, 2009 @ 12:34 pm
Too bad we didn't elect Gen. Petraeus President and cut out the middle man. He would have had my vote. Then he could send Generals Campbell and Kacus off to Iraq or Afghanistan since they need the experience. I find it really mind boggling that they command the Alaska Guard and send others off to war but they have never been in “theater.” How did they get promoted–lie, spin, and win.
Comment posted February 25, 2009 @ 12:37 pm
Obviously, they know the ropes. Yet they will retaliate if a Guardsman speaks out. They have their cronies and do some major kissing up to Sarah Palin.
Comment posted March 2, 2009 @ 8:01 am
I still can't understand how these Generals get away with what they do. I keep reading about this family trying to get justice for their son in the Alaska Guard and yet no one seems to care or is afraid. Isn't this still America? What happened to our freedom to question and investigate decisions. Instead, this General gets another star. Fair? He fits in nicely with the Palin gang.
Comment posted March 25, 2009 @ 4:26 pm
John, They are good at lies, deception, and cover up. They will compromise their integrity for power. The Alaska Guard has great men in it with exception of the General's cronies and they screw over outstanding officers because they fear they will outshine them. So, therefore, they choose losers as leaders who don't threaten their low intelligence.
Comment posted June 2, 2009 @ 1:54 pm
Our Alaska Guardsman son is yet to get justice from the Alaska Guard Generals Campbell and Kacass. As long as there is a cover up it will never happen. It's unfortunate because the military lost a great, courageous, and honorable soldier. Campbell and Kacass keep their cowardly cronies close by because they have no integrity. The Alaska Guardsmen (not the cronies) deserve better but Sarah Palin continues to ignore any pleas for an investigation. She has no honor either.
Comment posted June 5, 2009 @ 1:27 pm
Why not have an investigation of the “three stooges” in the Alaska National Guard (Palin, Campbell, and Kacass). Our son is a hero and recognized as so by the Canadian government and the Pentagon. He is retiring because he got “cheated out of a promotion” by the stooges because he had integrity. Won't anyone look into the corrupt cronyism that goes on there. I hate injustices and will continue to fight on no matter how long it takes. What a disgrace to the men of the Alaska Guard to have to be led by these cronies who have records of disgrace. However, it has been covered up.
Comment posted June 5, 2009 @ 8:27 pm
Why not have an investigation of the “three stooges” in the Alaska National Guard (Palin, Campbell, and Kacass). Our son is a hero and recognized as so by the Canadian government and the Pentagon. He is retiring because he got “cheated out of a promotion” by the stooges because he had integrity. Won't anyone look into the corrupt cronyism that goes on there. I hate injustices and will continue to fight on no matter how long it takes. What a disgrace to the men of the Alaska Guard to have to be led by these cronies who have records of disgrace. However, it has been covered up.
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
