Palin And “Troopergate”
Coming into the second day of the Sarah Palin mania the Democrats have shifted their talking points about McCain’s new VP. They started with “She’s too inexperienced” and then backed away from that when they realized that she, in fact, has accomplished more in her two years as Governor of Alaska than Obama has his entire political career. Now they’re on to “Troopergate,” which has Palin using her power as Governor to get an Alaska State Trooper who also just happened to be her ex-brother-in-law canned.
Wikipedia has a decent summary of the scandal:
On July 11, 2008, Palin dismissed Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan for not adequately filling state trooper vacancies, and because he “did not turn out to be a team player on budgeting issues.”[56] She instead offered him a position as executive director of the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, which he turned down.[57][58]
Her power to fire him is not in dispute, but Monegan alleged that his dismissal may have been an abuse of power tied to his reluctance to fire Palin’s former brother-in-law, Alaska State Trooper Mike Wooten, who had been involved in a divorce and child custody battle with Palin’s sister, Molly McCann.[59] Palin is currently being investigated by an independent investigator hired by the Alaska Legislature[60] to determine whether she abused her power when she fired Monegan. Palin has admitted that her staff had made at least 25 contacts with public safety officials about firing her sister’s ex-husband, including one where an employee claimed to speak for her although she has stated that he acted without her permission or knowledge.
From that Palin’s actions do appear to be pretty bad, but it’s worth noting that the Trooper in question who was fired was no victim in this matter. He is a drunk and an abusive father who was, frankly, a liability to both the state as his employer and his fellow law enforcement officers. Again, from Wikipedia:
In 2006, before Palin was governor, Wooten was suspended for ten days for threatening to kill McCann’s (and Palin’s) father, tasering his 11-year-old stepson, drinking beer in his squad car, and violating game laws. After a union protest, the suspension was reduced to five days.
Wooten deserved to be fired. Palin asked Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan to fire Wooten. Monegan refused, so Palin fired Monegan.
That’s what good executives do.
