Alaska panel finds Palin abused power

[Tommycat]

She ABUSED her power. Why the hell would you want ANYBODY in office who abuses their power?

 

Haven't we learned that lesson already? Bush, Nixon.

 

Hitler?

 

EDIT:

I'm not left, I'm not right. But gosh darnit, I'm so sick of people putting their egos and self-esteem into this election. Wouldn't you rather do what's good for the people and the country, then be so self-righteous and arrogant where you HAVE to vote for your own party? Take off the gosh darn glasses and see it for what it really is.

 

Obama isn't good.

McCain isn't good.

 

Obama is HOWEVER the lesser of the evils. I don't see any change with McCain, unless you count bombing Iran, or raising your taxes as change. I don't like McCain, I hate Palin. If you want to be patriotic do me a favor. Look up the word patriotic. Do what's right for your country, not your gosh party or your gosh darn ego.

 

Godwin's law... You lose at tha intarwebz..

 

Also Clinton abused his power as governor of AK and as POTUS. Kennedy abused his power... Nixon actually pulled us out of Vietnam Johnson got us in... Research what happened to Clinton's friends...

 

Um where the heck did McCain say he would raise taxes... The only one that has made that claim was Obama.

 

In fact I believe that I am doing what is best for the country. By voting for a republican president while we have a democrat congress I ensure that the president has a congress that won't just follow along with his party line(because that worked SOOOOOO well with Bush and the Republican congress). I would prefer that we have a Republican congress and a Democrat president, as we did guring the Clinton years, but the Republicans are not likely to pick up enough seats(darn near impossible) to control congress.

 

Up until about 01 I was a registerred Democrat. I voted for Clinton in his second term. in 2k Wasn't too keen on Gore...

 

Rogue, I meant nothing illegal as to be brought up on charges. In relation it's the equivalent of speeding. Speeding is illegal, but going 10 MPH over isn't gonna get you thrown in jail. Basically it's a differ by degree kind of thing. It is also a stretch to call it abuse. Naturally the state legislators are divided along party lines. And again reading the report itself, I agree that she seemed to be pushing it more than she should have, but it also seems more geared to hit as an "October Suprise".

[Corinthian]

Han Sala, after that little rant, you say you're 'unbiased'? You keep using that word. I do not think you know what it means.

[Tommycat]

Han Sala, after that little rant, you say you're 'unbiased'? You keep using that word. I do not think you know what it means.

 

Admit it though Corinthian, McCain wasn't my first choice either. I liked Romney... I liked Huckabee... I liked Paul... McCain was kinda my fall back guy. I don't really like him so much as dislike Obama's raise taxes mentality. Well ok, not raise taxes per se... Eliminate the Bush Tax Cuts which means basically the taxes will be back to what they were...

 

Funny thing is that raising the taxes will ultimately cut jobs.. which means less revenue...

[Rogue Nine]

Rogue, I meant nothing illegal as to be brought up on charges. In relation it's the equivalent of speeding. Speeding is illegal, but going 10 MPH over isn't gonna get you thrown in jail.

Except Sarah Palin wasn't breaking the speed limit by 10 MPH, she was breaking the trust placed in her by the people as an elected officer of the government. She apparently allowed her husband, who is not part of the government, to use her facilities in order to put pressure on her subordinates to carry out a personal agenda. She used her influence as an elected official to further her own interests, when she swore to only use her powers in service of the state. This is not speeding, this is an abuse of authority.

 

Basically it's a differ by degree kind of thing. It is also a stretch to call it abuse.

The dictionary defines 'abuse' as "to use wrongly or improperly". Sarah Palin improperly used her authority as governor of Alaska to put pressure on her subordinates to do what she wanted them to do. I do not think it is a stretch to apply this term.

 

Naturally the state legislators are divided along party lines.

The panel of legislators was bipartisan in nature, but Republicans outnumbered Democrats. Their findings of abuse were unanimous.

 

And again reading the report itself, I agree that she seemed to be pushing it more than she should have, but it also seems more geared to hit as an "October Suprise".

"Pushing it more than she should have"? Do you want the next Vice President of the United States to 'push more than she should have' on matters that may have far more significance to the entire country than simply the state of Alaska? And again, this investigation was started in July, way before Palin became the VP nominee. Maybe John McCain should have done his homework. Otherwise, he wouldn't be 'surprised.'

[Corinthian]

We are talking about her firing a man she had a personal connection to who also was a complete scumbag. This is not totally unwarranted. Maybe she went a little harder than normal because she understood the facts of the case better, but from my perspective, the State Trooper got what was coming to him. It's not like we're talking about a guy with a spotless record here.

[Tommycat]

Rogue, lets see, the guy she wanted gone broke the law. He was a law enforcement official that broke the law. Also Palin stated that there were threats made. That could have been reason enough to pursue him as thoroughly as was done. Wooten should likely have been gone for his threats to persons. Menegan and the AST even sent a picture of Wooten as a promotional picture to the governor's office to be signed... Sounds like Monegan had it out for the governor as well. Removing him from the position was probably a good idea.

[Rogue Nine]

If it was so clear cut and right that he be fired, then why couldn't she just do it the legal way? Why did she have to abuse the authority trusted to her by the people of Alaska and use it for her personal interests?

 

I wouldn't want a leader who would go rogue just to get rid of one scumbag and in the process violate some of the very laws she swore to uphold. It seems a bit hypocritical to me.

[Corinthian]

I hardly see how she did it illegally. You're overstating the case to a ludicrous degree.

[Rogue Nine]

Sec. 39.52.110. Scope of code.

(a) The legislature reaffirms that each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any

effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust.

- Sarah Palin is a public officer, therefore she holds her office as a public trust.

- A public trust is faith placed in a public officer by the people to do her job as best as she can within the bounds of the law.

- Sarah Palin had a personal interest in the firing of Officer Wooten.

- Walt Monegan refused to fire Officer Wooten.

- Sarah Palin had a personal interest in the firing of Walt Monegan, with one of the contributing factors being his refusal to fire Officer Wooten (which she had a personal interest in).

- Sarah Palin used her official position as governor of Alaska to put pressure on her subordinates to carry out her personal interests.

- Using her office to further her personal wishes is a violation of the public trust placed in her by the people of Alaska.

 

I am merely paraphrasing the findings of the panel and how they interpreted the law laid down in the Ethics Act. Spin it however you want, but she did commit unethical acts.

[Jae Onasi]

Do you think a guy who tasers his own stepson and drives a patrol car after drinking should stay in the job and not be fired?

[Darth Kalverys]

Do you think a guy who tasers his own stepson and drives a patrol car after drinking should stay in the job and not be fired?

 

No. Jae is correct, if he did that, then he did indeed deserve to be fired. I'm still backing McCain and Palin one hundred percent. They are of my political party and their views line up with mine. (Even if they weren't Republicans, but Democrats and their political views were the same as mine, I would back them.)

[Samuel Dravis]

If you read the second finding in the report, it says

"I find that, although Walt Monegan's refusal to fire Trooper Michael Wooten was not the sole reason he was fired by Governor Sarah Palin, it was likely a contributing factor in his termination as Commissioner of Public Safety.

In spite of that, Governor Palin's firing of Commissioner Monegan was a proper and lawful exercise of her constitutional and statutory authority to hire and fire executive branch department heads.

"

 

What it sounds like to me is that Palin saw a problem - the officer was a problem, no doubt about that - but the Commissioner wasn't taking care of it to her satisfaction so she fired him. That was within her authority but it looks like a work-around of Wooten's investigation process, which I take it is not acceptable.

[El Sitherino]

Do you think a guy who tasers his own stepson and drives a patrol car after drinking should stay in the job and not be fired?

 

I talked about this briefly, I agree the guy should have been fired and don't see why it had even gotten to the point that it did with her abuse of power. The fact that it reached to long only shows that perhaps anyone involved in Alaska politics is unfit for higher service.

[Web Rider]

Do you think a guy who tasers his own stepson and drives a patrol car after drinking should stay in the job and not be fired?

 

I agree as well he deserved to be fired. But these sort of things have specific bureaus to investigating and penalizing him. It is not the Goveneor's position or job to get involved in that at all unless something the guy did involved her.

 

It's really disappointing how many cops actually get away with illegal activities. It certainly doesn't breed faith in your police force, but it's still not something that the Governor should be pressuring subordinates to deal with in her own view of the matter.

[GarfieldJL]

McCain's campaign was in bad shape anyway, it seems. This may be the final death knell...

 

Really, it is bad for anyone's campaign when your running mate commits what may be an impeachable offence, which I am sure abuse of power falls under.

 

But, the enquiry began before Palin was announced as McCain's running mate, so perhaps it is his own fault for failing to take the possible effect of this finding into consideration.

 

Uh, that panel is probably going to be in serious trouble because the person heading it up is a member of the Obama Campaign, and even it said that the family issue wasn't the only reason for his employment being terminated. That same man heading up the panel told the Obama campaign that he could, guarentee an October Surprise.

 

And why don't we look at the guy that Palin allegedly wanted fired, this guy has quite a laundry list:

 

1. Tasering his 10 year old step son with a police taser.
   
2. Driving a police squad car while in possession of an open container AND being legally intoxicated. -- He was convicted I might add.
   
3. Hunting moose out of season.
   
4. Physically abusing his wife, whom is Sarah Palin's sister I might add.
   
5. He issued death threats towards Governor Palin's dad.
   

 

And she allegedly fired the man whom was in charge of hiring and firing State Police because he wasn't investigating this trooper at all or firing the man? Excuse me, can ANY of you that have siblings honestly tell me you wouldn't have taken action. Heck, even if one of the people involved wasn't my sibling and I had a Public Safety Officer refusing to do anything, I'd fire the guy too for not doing his job.

 

If she only fired him over a budgetary disagreement fine, if she fired him over this incident, I really don't see what the abuse of power was. He was letting an extremely unstable individual remain in a position of power, as a state trooper whom is supposed to protect law-abiding citizens, not someone that law-abiding citizens need protection from.

 

In short there is an equal possibility, that this could backfire on the Obama campaign once the truth of the issue comes out, as a lot of women come to her support.

[Rogue Nine]

Uh, that panel is probably going to be in serious trouble because the person heading it up is a member of the Obama Campaign, and even it said that the family issue wasn't the only reason for his employment being terminated. That same man heading up the panel told the Obama campaign that he could, guarentee an October Surprise.

See, this would hold more weight if the investigation wasn't started in July, way before Palin became the VP nominee. To accuse Obama's campaign of starting this is erroneous.

 

And why don't we look at the guy that Palin allegedly wanted fired, this guy has quite a laundry list:

 

1. Tasering his 10 year old step son with a police taser.
   
2. Driving a police squad car while in possession of an open container AND being legally intoxicated. -- He was convicted I might add.
   
3. Hunting moose out of season.
   
4. Physically abusing his wife, whom is Sarah Palin's sister I might add.
   
5. He issued death threats towards Governor Palin's dad.
   

So the fact that he's a dirtbag allows Governor Palin to violate the Ethics Act in order to fire him?

 

And she allegedly fired the man whom was in charge of hiring and firing State Police because he wasn't investigating this trooper at all or firing the man? Excuse me, can ANY of you that have siblings honestly tell me you wouldn't have taken action.

I would not have taken action that would have violated the Ethics Act.

 

Heck, even if one of the people involved wasn't my sibling and I had a Public Safety Officer refusing to do anything, I'd fire the guy too for not doing his job.

Then it would be fine. But the fact that it did involve a sibling of Sarah Palin gives her a personal interest in the matter, which is a clear violation of the Ethics Act.

 

If she only fired him over a budgetary disagreement fine, if she fired him over this incident, I really don't see what the abuse of power was.

She violated the Ethics Act. Please read up, I have described how she did it.

 

In short there is an equal possibility, that this could backfire on the Obama campaign once the truth of the issue comes out, as a lot of women come to her support.

It could only backfire on the Obama campaign if they were the ones that started the investigation. They did not, a bipartisan panel (a predominantly Republican one at that) did, back in July.

 

Please stop trying to blame Obama for everything. It's getting a little old.

[GarfieldJL]

See, this would hold more weight if the investigation wasn't started in July, way before Palin became the VP nominee. To accuse Obama's campaign of starting this is erroneous.

 

It isn't erroneous at all because the investigator said it publically and was recorded, in theory the entire report could be thrown out.

 

So the fact that he's a dirtbag allows Governor Palin to violate the Ethics Act in order to fire him?

Uh, the fact he wasn't doing his job gives her the right to fire him, he wasn't even investigating the matter. Again though the report states that it was only a contributing factor why he was fired, not the main reason.

 

I would not have taken action that would have violated the Ethics Act.

 

Uh she didn't fire the trooper, she fired the man that was supposed to look in on stuff like this, for not doing his job and at the very least conduct an investigation.

 

Then it would be fine. But the fact that it did involve a sibling of Sarah Palin gives her a personal interest in the matter, which is a clear violation of the Ethics Act.

 

Again though, he was refusing to investigate the matter, which was his job just because it happened to be Governor Palin's sister that the trooper was abusing, doesn't mean that trooper gets immunity for his actions.

 

She violated the Ethics Act. Please read up, I have described how she did it.

 

Did she though, the one heading the investigation had a political reason to try to come up with something that made her look bad.

 

It could only backfire on the Obama campaign if they were the ones that started the investigation. They did not, a bipartisan panel (a predominantly Republican one at that) did, back in July.

The head is a Democrat, and quite a few of the Republicans in question hate her for cutting off their oil kickbacks. (a lot of politicians in Alaska were corrupt and they hate her for calling them on it)

 

Please stop trying to blame Obama for everything. It's getting a little old.

 

I'm not blaming Obama personally on this one, I'm blaming the member of his campaign that headed up this investigation that should have recused himself due to conflicts of interest.

[Samuel Dravis]

Uh, that panel is probably going to be in serious trouble because the person heading it up is a member of the Obama Campaign, and even it said that the family issue wasn't the only reason for his employment being terminated. That same man heading up the panel told the Obama campaign that he could, guarantee an October Surprise.

I don't know if he said it or not, but if he said he could guarantee an October surprise doesn't mean that he has to engineer the surprise.

[jonathan7]

Garfield, I'm British and neutral on this, and quite frankly got bored of this along time ago - neither McCain nor Obama would be people I'd pick to be president - but quite frankly you do seem to be very biased against Obama all through your posts, you may wish to consider this... or not. My 2 cents...

[GarfieldJL]

I don't know if he said it or not, but if he said he could guarantee an October surprise doesn't mean that he has to engineer the surprise.

 

He still should have recused himself because he was working to try to get Senator Obama elected to be President.

 

Garfield, I'm British and neutral on this, and quite frankly got bored of this along time ago - neither McCain nor Obama would be people I'd pick to be president - but quite frankly you do seem to be very biased against Obama all through your posts, you may wish to consider this... or not. My 2 cents...

 

jonathan7, originally I was just going for anybody be President other than Hillary Clinton, then I found out about Obama's associations and the man has the gall to lie about them and now if this were the General Election and Hillary were on the ballot I'd vote for her over Obama.

 

If in the UK you had a man trying to be PM via his party and this man had a pastor for twenty years whom in a sermon said, "G D England!" or "G D Queen Elizabeth!" wouldn't you be a little concerned?

[Rogue Nine]

It isn't erroneous at all because the investigator said it publically and was recorded, in theory the entire report could be thrown out.

Is Senator French part of the Obama campaign? I wasn't aware he was. And why was the investigation started in July, before Palin was even the nominee? Please answer these questions.

 

Uh, the fact he wasn't doing his job gives her the right to fire him, he wasn't even investigating the matter. Again though the report states that it was only a contributing factor why he was fired, not the main reason.

Contributing factor, meaning it was her personal interest to get him fired, which under the law, is unethical and a violation of trust.

 

Again though, he was refusing to investigate the matter, which was his job just because it happened to be Governor Palin's sister that the trooper was abusing, doesn't mean that trooper gets immunity for his actions.

No, certainly not immunity. But that doesn't give Palin the right to use her authority as governor to place pressure on her subordinates to get him fired.

 

Did she though, the one heading the investigation had a political reason to try to come up with something that made her look bad.

What reason? You have not proved Sen. French is part of the Obama campaign. And again, the investigation was started long before Palin became McCain's running mate. Please explain your statement in this context.

 

The head is a Democrat, and quite a few of the Republicans in question hate her for cutting off their oil kickbacks. (a lot of politicians in Alaska were corrupt and they hate her for calling them on it)

Source?

 

I'm not blaming Obama personally on this one, I'm blaming the member of his campaign that headed up this investigation that should have recused himself due to conflicts of interest.

Again, please show me where you see that Sen. French is part of the Obama campaign.

[jonathan7]

jonathan7, originally I was just going for anybody be President other than Hillary Clinton, then I found out about Obama's associations and the man has the gall to lie about them and now if this were the General Election and Hillary were on the ballot I'd vote for her over Obama.

 

If in the UK you had a man trying to be PM via his party and this man had a pastor for twenty years whom in a sermon said, "G D England!" or "G D Queen Elizabeth!" wouldn't you be a little concerned?

 

Not really - Britain hasn't had a good PM for the past 30-40 years - fears that a President or a PM could destroy a nation are greatly over stated as their powers is nowhere near as a great as many people believe. Though I generally think that these days those that want to be Presidents or PM should automatically not ever be allowed near the job.

[GarfieldJL]

http://www.healthcarebs.com/2008/09/09/troopergate-meet-the-investigators/

 

Picture is from an Obama Campaign Headquarters.

[Rogue Nine]

Thanks for the link.

 

Please answer the rest of my points, though. In particular the one about the investigation starting before Palin was even the VP nominee.

[GarfieldJL]

Thanks for the link.

 

Please answer the rest of my points, though. In particular the one about the investigation starting before Palin was even the VP nominee.

 

That is irrelevant, fact is he was a member of the Obama Campaign and a strong supporter of Senator Obama, because Governor Palin was now the VP nominee for John McCain, he had been given an incentive to try to come up with something embarassing regardless of whether or not it was true.

 

Because he had a vested interest, he and 2 other members of the investigation (whom are also in the Obama Campaign) should have recused themselves.

 

He wasn't just investigating he was also a member of the jury, it would be like having someone that hates your guts or stands to gain from you being convicted being on a jury in which you're being tried for a crime. It doesn't matter when in the case he suddenly stands to gain from a conviction, it just matters that it is before and during the case.