Troopergate Report: Palin Acted Within Her Authority, But Also Vioated Voter’s Trust

• October 11, 2008

You’d think those two things would be mutually exclusive, but apparently they’re not. At least according to the results of a Democrat-run investigation into the “Troopergate” non-scandal:

Sarah Palin violated the trust Alaskans placed in her as their governor when she fired a state official who had refused to dismiss her ex-brother-in-law from his job as a state trooper, according a legislative report released Friday night.
The long-awaited report into a scandal that’s become known as “Troopergate” found that Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee, fired the state’s public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, partly because he refused to fire Palin’s ex-brother-in-law, Mike Wooten, who was locked in a bitter custody battle with Palin’s sister, Molly McCann.
But the report – commissioned by the Legislature and carried out by an independent investigator – also found that Palin was within her “constitutional and statutory authority” to dismiss Monegan.

So here’s a summary:
Wooten was a bad cop. Palin knew he was a bad cop from personal experience (his treatment of her sister, his threatening her father’s life, etc.). When she became Governor she decided to remove this bad cop from the taxpayer’s payroll. Walter Monegan, the Palin administration’s public safety commissioner, wouldn’t do as she asked. So she fired him, which was completely within her authority to do so.
Why trying to get a bad cop fired, and firing members of her administration who won’t go along with what she wants as Governor, constitutes a “breach” of anyone’s trust is beyond me. Except that this is an election year, and the rise of Sarah Palin has been terribly inconvenient for liberals, so this investigation needed to have a negative spin to it.
And it got it. Not because Sarah Palin did anything wrong, but because it’s politically convenient for those who ran the investigation.
By the way, this is the headline the Associated Press is putting over this story:

Palin abused power? No, she didn’t. She was, per the explicit findings of the report, within her constitutional power. If the citizens of Alaska don’t like how she used her power, they can elect someone else.
Something tells me, though, that Sarah won’t be losing any elections up there any time soon (though I do think she and her running mate may be losing one nationally shortly).

Tags: Uncategorized

http://Array mplsbob

Abused her power but within her constitutional and statutory authority? It doesn’t make sense to me. Kind of like saying the sheriff arrested his sisters’ boyfriend for beating her but he abused his power by doing it. Oh wait, he was within his authority, but it was an abuse?

Dumb story.
Hannitized

So do you admit she abused her power by allowing her husband to use the Governors office to pressure officials to fire Wooten or not?
Spartacus

Troopergate Report: Palin Acted Within Her Authority, But Also Vioated Voter’s Trust

Well, that ‘splains the 20% of Alaskans that disapprove of her!
Hannitized

What a bunch of republican fools.

You all believe it is everyone else that is kookoo, but it is you guys who are missing the point.

Palin had allowed her husband Todd Palin to use the Alaska governor’s office and its resources to pressure officials to fire her former brother-in-law,

It is an ethics violation to allow her husband to use the Governors office to pressure officials. It is also ethics violation for her to have to push fire Wooten, because he is a ex-family member and that is an abuse of power.

What is not an abuse of power is to remove Monegan from his job.

So all of you idiots focus on the wrong thing and ignore the right things.

It is what you guys do. Deny reality and spin yourselves stupid. You just don’t get it.
http://sayanythingblog.com/ likwidshoe

“For the record, no one ever said fire Wooten. Not the governor. Not Todd. Not any of the other staff,” Monegan said Friday from Portland. “What they said directly was more along the lines of ‘This isn’t a person that we would want to be representing our state troopers.’”

Wow. What a “scandal”.

*snore*
http://insanereindeer.blogspot.com/ Kenny

The ruling is that she is ethically challenged because she used to office to settle a personal vendetta.

That’s a hard call to make. It’d be naive to say she didn’t think about that. But the dude was clearly a bad cop and needed to be fired. So she definately had valid reasoning. While there is the appearance of impropriety, no one knows her motivations.
http://www.rabidamerican.net/ Rabid American

This was a non-scandal from the get-go, but the left needed something to tar-and-feather Palin with and common sense doesn’t matter

.

I agree also that this was, and is, a non-scandal.

I understand that this position is an executive appointment, hence subject to the governor’s discretion.

For a lack of any sensational negativity, this will become the screaming mantra of the media for the next weeks up to the election. The inundation with innuendo will be accelerated to an unbelievable pace.

This method of dispersing leftist propaganda for the “MSM” has been extremely effective, because so many people have such weak character.

OBVIOUS character flaws and dubious connections of Obama are overtly suppressed. These are overlooked, or rationalized, by the media.

We peer into the abyss of an Obama Presidency brought forth by the media, ignorant citizenry, and external communist influences.

Woe to America….. lest we wake up and begin to organize and take a stand for our very existence.
Hannitized

Watch Rob spin and leave out important details. Here is how Sarah abused her power.

In a long-awaited 263-page report released on Friday by Alaska’s Legislative Council, investigator Steve Branchflower said Palin was guilty of violating ethics rules for public officials.

He said Palin had allowed her husband Todd Palin to use the Alaska governor’s office and its resources to pressure officials to fire her former brother-in-law, state trooper Mike Wooten.

“Governor Palin knowingly permitted a situation to continue where impermissible pressure was placed on several subordinates in order to advance a personal agenda, to wit: to get Trooper Michael Wooten fired,” the report said.

“She had the authority and power to require Mr Palin to cease contacting subordinates, but she failed to act,” the report added.

So it wasn’t the firing of Monegan that is the issue. But the attempts to fire Wooten, which was an abuse of power.

Spin away boys….you’ve got yourself a mess.
JFH

“She had the authority and power to require Mr Palin to cease contacting subordinates, but she failed to act,”

UMMMM, just read that statement again and see if you can figure out how stupid that statement is
Eagle Eye

Let’s see, the trooper threatened her fathers life. Sound’s like He’s lucky to not have a bullet in his head if he was on their property.
KEB

I just got finish scanning the report. It is an obvious hachet job. First, she did not fire him, she reassigned him. Second, she reassigned him, due to his failure to do his job. Third, she violated ethics rules, by not stopping her family and friends, who called to complain about this disgrace of a law enforcement officer. Yes, I;m a retired LEO and I would have fired both!
2Hotel9

BBC did it, too.

Also of note is the time of the release. Late on a Friday. Things are usually released in this slot so that they sink. Had this report been damning, it would have been held for further study, and bits would have been leaked.
Hannitized

Wooten was a bad cop. Palin knew he was a bad cop from personal experience (his treatment of her sister, his threatening her father’s life, etc.).

And???

– also found that Palin was within her “constitutional and statutory authority” to dismiss Monegan.

Proof provides the perfect example of partisan stupidity, while thinking he made an argument. Hysterical!

Again, Palin was within her right to remove Monegan, but was abusing her power to pressure to fire Wooten.

It doesn’t matter if she thinks he was a bad cop or not, it is an abuse of power to allow her husband to use the Governors office to pressure officials!!!
Seth Williams

Rob, KEB’s right, I think. My understanding is that she DID NOT fire Monegan, but reassigned him (also totally within her power as de guv). He didn’t like it and resigned.

Also, Monegan himself had apparently already stated that at no time did Palin ever actually tell him to fire the trooper. He just felt “presured to do so”…not sure quite how that works.

OT: that’s a nice pic of you and yer lady.
http://sayanythingblog.com/ likwidshoe

This is a non-scandal trumped up by the same people who ignore Barack Obama’s many indiscretions.

This country is a mess.
2Hotel9

Actually it predates the lawyer drop, though they were pouring gasoline on the fire at every opportunity. And it still didn’t burn.
http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/ proof_positive

Wooten was a bad cop. Palin knew he was a bad cop from personal experience (his treatment of her sister, his threatening her father’s life, etc.). When she became Governor she decided to remove this bad cop from the taxpayer’s payroll.

So all of you idiots focus on the wrong thing and ignore the right things.

It is what you guys do. Deny reality and spin yourselves stupid. You just don’t get it.
2Hotel9

NYT headline “Alaska Inquiry Concludes Palin Abused Powers”, then when you actually read the article its a bit different from the headline. Why is that?
http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/ proof_positive

Proof provides the perfect example of partisan stupidity, while thinking he made an argument. Hysterical!

No. I made an example of expecting that your stupidity wasn’t terminal and that you could accomodate more than one thought at a time in your tiny head. My bad!
http://www.rabidamerican.net/ Rabid American

2Hotel9,

It’s amazing how this happens,isn’t it?

It’s the “Magical-Media-Machine“…… put something in and it comes out as something completely different.

Fallacy becomes real, innuendo becomes fact, facts disappear.

The “Magical-Media-Machine” creates the environment where Obama becomes President….
dannyboy

Had she abused her power as Governor Wooten would have found his ass unemployed and in the street.

Obviously, that’s not the case. She WANTED his ass in the street, but found that she couldn’t pull all of the strings.

Honestly, compared to the royal fuck-up that has been the McCain campaign and the Republican rule of the last 8 years, this little scandal is nothing more than a footnote.
2Hotel9

No, she didn’t abuse her power. Had she abused her power as Governor Wooten would have found his ass unemployed and in the street. As it is, neither of those things happened.

I notice the complete silence regarding Palin and Big Awl. Why is that?
Lestat

Oh yeah, add to the fact the investigation was sped up by the Obama supporting Dems on the council. This was a non-issue made to be an issue by all those lawyers that swooped down on Alaska at the behest of Obama and co.

That is just not true. It was mainly Republicans who ran the investigation. The biggest Palin supporter on the board said that the investigation had to go forward because the rule of law couldn’t be secondary to politics.
di butler

Oh yeah, add to the fact the investigation was sped up by the Obama supporting Dems on the council. This was a non-issue made to be an issue by all those lawyers that swooped down on Alaska at the behest of Obama and co.
Lestat

The ruling is that she is ethically challenged because she used to office to settle a personal vendetta.

However she did not break the law because she has the authority to fire for any reason.
atease

Rob, is this like voting for it before voting against it..? Just curious.

atease
http://sayanythingblog.com robport

This was a non-scandal from the get-go, but the left needed something to tar-and-feather Palin with and common sense doesn’t matter.

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Troopergate Report: Palin Acted Within Her Authority, But Also Vioated Voter’s Trust

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