Palin Abuses Power

So I read the finding in which a legislative investigator said that Governor Palin abused her power.  Frankly, I don’t think it holds water.  In order to spare you from having to read the thing, let me summarize it. 

Basically, the deal is that Palin’s sister and brother-in-law went through a nasty divorce and custody battle.  The brother-in-law is Mike Wooten and was a State Trooper.  Palin’s father filed a complaint with the Troopers alleging that Wooten is basically a dirt bag and shouldn’t be entrusted to enforce the law.  This complaint was filed BEFORE Palin became governor. 

The complaint launched an administrative investigation of Wooten.  Before and then after Palin became the governor, she and her husband continued to call around to see how the investigation was going and express their opinion that they didn’t think that Wooten should be a Trooper.  Eventually, Wooten was disciplined, but not fired.  Some time after that, Palin fired Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan, who was ultimately responsible for Wooten’s discipline. 

The charge against Palin is that she fired Monegan in retaliation for Wooten not being fired. 

The finding says that the firing of Monegan was completely appropriate, ethical, and legal.  The finding also says that Wooten properly received his workman’s compensation benefits and complains that the Attorney General isn’t cooperating. 

The big “Palin abused her power” line comes from the first finding.  It alleges that Palin broke the ethics code because she used her position of public trust for personal benefit.  I read through all of the finding (skip to page 65 for the conclusion) and it just seems very very weak to me.  Basically, it catalogs a bunch of times when one of the Palins called or emailed people about Wooten.  The finding is that by doing so, it put undue pressure on government officials for Palin’s personal reasons.  Again, remember the firing was completely legit, so this is just about the Palins calling people to discuss Wooten’s situation.

First, the Palins obviously have a personal interest in Wooten’s case since it was Palin’s father who filed the complaint and it involved a death threat against the father.  They called before and after Palin became governor, so it’s not like they only started nagging the government officials after she became governor.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with them calling to check on the case and offer an opinion.  Particularly galling is that the finding says that Todd Palin should be forbidden from contacting government officials about Wooten.  Um, Todd is not the governor and has every right in the world to speak to his government. 

Second, the Palins obviously feel that Wooten is unfit to be a State Trooper based on their personal experience with him.  Imagine that you are the Mayor and you know that one of the police officers on the force is an unstable nut bag.  Wouldn’t you be morally obligated to do everything you legally can to get the guy off the force?  Yeah, you would.  Governor Palin thinks that Wooten is unfit.  You may disagree with her assessment, but I would argue that she’s in a better position to know Wooten than I am. 

Third, the findings show that Palin never asked or told anyone to act illegally, break procedures, or act unethically.  All Sarah and Todd Palin did was followup on Wooten’s status and voice their own opinions on the matter.  What the heck is wrong with that? 

Look, if the finding had proven that Palin fired Monegan in retaliation for his not firing Wooten, then I think that would be a legitimate abuse of power.  It would have been legal, because Monegan serves at the pleasure of the Governor, but certainly abusive.  But the finding didn’t show that.  If the finding had shown that Palin ordered someone to fire Wooten and bypass the normal process, that would have been an abuse of power.  But the finding didn’t show that either.

It shows a pattern of Sarah and Todd Palin contacting people about Wooten’s case before and after she became governor to find out what’s going on with Wooten and to voice their opinion.  Sorry, but this was neither unethical or an abuse of power. 

1. You know, I was kind of hoping you would open the discussion on this case.  I did not have time to read all of it, but the headlines really bugged me.  Thanks for the synopsis and I completely agree. 

   I don’t see anything wrong or illegal about inquiring about a case action that stemmed from an incident before the governer was in office, nor do I see error in continuing to see justice through once office was obtained.  Why is Palin any different than anyone else?  So she became governer.  Does that mean she needs to lay aside prominent legal proceedings, disciplinary actions and potentially harmful threats to her family because she is related?  I think not.  That would be like telling Laura Bush she could not follow up on a case where someone assaulted one of her children before her husband took on the presidency.  Ridiculous.  They are people with rights like anyone else.  I see no inappropriate use of “power” within the statement, either.  The media is having hay day between this garbage and the issues pertaining to the economy.  :::clicking my heels three times:::

   Posted by on October 11, 2008 at 1751 hrs




2. Thanks for the rundown on this.  I agree, there’s nothing really here that warrants this.  Not to mention, if I was in her position, and found out a trooper/officer/whoever used a taser on a 12-year-old, I would personally rip the badges off that person’s uniform.  There’s just no excuse for that.

   Posted by Coop on October 11, 2008 at 1816 hrs




3. Gosh, I really can’t spell tonight.  Governer?  Female form of governor?  Sigh.

   Posted by on October 11, 2008 at 1830 hrs




4. Once again, the Drive By Media deliberately twists and misreports the findings of the panel, which was dominated by Democrats and still found her actions legal, ethical and justifiable.

   Posted by Peter on October 11, 2008 at 1838 hrs




5. Hilarious

   Posted by on October 11, 2008 at 1842 hrs




6. "… All Sarah and Todd Palin did was followup on Wooten’s status and voice their own opinions on the matter.  What the heck is wrong with that?”

   She’s a female Republican running for Vice-President; that’s what.

   Posted by on October 11, 2008 at 2002 hrs




7. I know some here like history and such....so here goes....

   The McCain/Palin ticket is the first in American history in which both candidates were found to have violated ethics standards before a national election.

   McCain dealing with federal regulators on behalf of Charles Keating, and Palin abusing the powers of her office, as part of the “Troopergate” scandal.

   The first in history.  And the GOP likes to think they are the party of law and order,,,,,or is that odor?

   Posted by Gregory on October 11, 2008 at 2016 hrs




8. I caught an AP story on this.  I found it very funny that it made very little mention of Wooten until the end of the story.

   I hope the Obama/Biden campaign bring this up.  I’m sure they are smarter than that, but here is to hoping.  When my wife heard about the investigation she liked Palin more.

   Palin stands up to a thug for abused family members and faces the music.

   Dems and the media seem to be standing up for the thug who abused a young child.

   Right Gregory?

   As far as the Keating five I know that we don’t like using wikipedia, but here we go

   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keating_Five
   

   After a lengthy investigation, the Senate Ethics Committee determined in 1991 that Alan Cranston, Dennis DeConcini, and Donald Riegle had substantially and improperly interfered with the FHLBB in its investigation of Lincoln Savings, with Cranston receiving a formal reprimand. Senators John Glenn and John McCain were cleared of having acted improperly but were criticized for having exercised “poor judgment”.

   By the way they were all Democrats.

   Posted by on October 11, 2008 at 2204 hrs




9. The regulators then revealed that Lincoln was under criminal investigation on a variety of serious charges, at which point McCain severed all relations with Keating.[7]

   Compare that to how Senator Obama relations.  Instead of severing them he pretends they never existed in the first place.

   Posted by on October 11, 2008 at 2207 hrs




10. Let’s see - partisan Democratics release a report saying the Republican VP candidate abused her power, when in fact nothing happened.

    The only surprising thing here is that they didn’t wait until Nov 1st.

    Yawn. They spent how many months snooping around in Alaska and this was the best they could do?

    Posted by on October 11, 2008 at 2232 hrs




11. Partisan Democrats? It’s a bipartisan investigation commissioned by a Republican-dominated legislature.

    For the record, it wasn’t a matter of a couple of private citizens happening to check on a case now and again. It was a matter of the governor and her husband trying their damnedest to get someone fired, then firing the superior for failing to remove the person they wanted fired.

    Posted by on October 11, 2008 at 2241 hrs




12. Steve-O,

    Read the finding.  It’s linked right there in the post.  That’s not what the facts show.  In fact, it explicitly says that the firing was justified.

    Posted by Owen on October 11, 2008 at 2243 hrs




13. For the record, i skimmed the whole thing.

    I think it smells like high school student body and i wish more of my vice president.

    spice

    Posted by jim spice on October 11, 2008 at 2330 hrs




14. I have to disagree. Sarah Palin, as Governor, tried to get her ex-brother in law fired as a state trooper. He might have been a scumbag (in which case I am sympathetic, in that I can see she was “human") but this is precisely what our democracy prohibits. Since the Magna Carta, and then later enshrined in our constitution, is the clear principle that justice will be impartial and independent of the executive. Did Sarah not have confidence in our legal system? Does she not respect it?

    Alaska is not Saudi Arabia where princes can act outside the law and use their powers to settle family feuds. Once we let the political class get away with this, whether they are Republican, Democrat, or Alaskan Independence Party then we may as well let the tailbunnies take over Afghanistan and America.

    Posted by on October 12, 2008 at 0422 hrs




15. Actually, John, Palin’s FATHER tried to get the scumbag fired as a state trooper.  Palin was simply following up on the process, and justifiably so.

    Using the words “confidence” and the “legal system” in the same sentence is a bit contradictory (for lack of a better word before my 6 a.m. coffee).  There are scumbags throughout the legal system as well.  Perhaps there was a little foul play going on in this case?  Maybe someone was trying to smooth things over?  Or possibly this guy had “friends” in the system?  ANYTHING is possible.  Never ASSUME, John.

    Posted by on October 12, 2008 at 0646 hrs




16. Owen, the report found that Monegan’s firing was “justified” because under Alaskan law, the governor can fire appointees without cause. At the same time, the report found that Palin and her husband improperly tried to intervene in a case for personal reasons, a violation of ethics. This is over an extended period of time, mind you, long after the Palins had been warned that the trooper had been disciplined and unless anything new came up, further pursuit of the matter would be improper.

    There’s some hilarious nuggets in there, like Todd Palin asking Monegan to arrest Wooten for the illegal “taking of a moose”, and Monegan explaining that under the circumstances in which the moose was “taken”, Monegan would have to go after Wooten’s wife (she allowed Wooten to use her permit) and the governor’s father (who prepared the moose after the kill.) But Palin wanted Wooten to be singled out!

    Posted by on October 12, 2008 at 0659 hrs




17. Wooten = Good

    Palin = Bad

    Right?

    Posted by on October 12, 2008 at 0856 hrs




18. Who said Wooten is good?

    Posted by on October 12, 2008 at 0939 hrs




19. Owen, the report draws a distinction between what’s legal and what’s ethical.  It paints a clear picture of a sloppy Palin administration, an administration in which Palin and her surrogates kept calling not simply to check on the status of a disciplinary investigation but to complain about the results when it was completed--by which time she was not a private citizen but governor.  (These are calls that Palin repeatedly denied having been made.)

    And once the disciplinary process against Wooten was complete, Palin and her surrogates were warned repeatedly that not only were the continued contacts ethically suspect, they were “discoverable"--i.e., Palin was opening up taxpayers to significant liability if Wooten ever decided to turn around and sue the state and the governor’s office for harassment or wrongful termination or something else.

    Look, Wooten may be the biggest dick in Alaska, I’ll grant you that.  But this isn’t about him.  It’s about Palin’s honesty and judgment, both of which seem to be lacking.

    Posted by folkbum on October 12, 2008 at 1132 hrs




20. Is it just me, or are the same people who are ripping Gov Palin the same crowd who defended a certain former President’s perjury as no big deal?

    Posted by on October 12, 2008 at 1226 hrs




21. It’s just you, Tom.

    Posted by on October 12, 2008 at 1258 hrs




22. move along folks.....nothing to see here!!!

    lets go look who obama had lunch with on his 10th birthday....

    that’s real stuff!!

    palin,abuse...nope move along quickly...please!

    Posted by on October 12, 2008 at 1359 hrs




23. This report is one guy’s opinion.  The guy is an investigator hired by a legislator who is a supporter of Barrack Obama, and had earlier promised to release it on October 31st for maximum political effect.  The fact that he is releasing it now instead tells you how much affect they think it has ... none.  This report has been adopted by no legistative body.  It is a flimsy attempt at a political hatchet job. 

    http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/blog/g/134db782-50f0- 42e5-8171-791804d9fbc1

    The Branchflower Report is a series of guesses and insupportable conclusions drawn by exactly one guy, and it hasn’t been approved or adopted or endorsed by so much as a single sub-committee of the Alaska Legislature, much less any kind of commission, court, jury, or other proper adjudicatory body

    Posted by on October 12, 2008 at 1403 hrs




24. Ya gotta wonder what the obamanoids would be saying if Gov Palin had not done anything regarding the nasty trooper.  Certainly the band of merry feminists that are criss crossing the country now in support of his messiahness would be saying that Palin does not care about women who are victims of domestic violence and would be more than happy to say “lookie here, her own sister was a victim and she wouldnt do anything to help her-her own sister!
    Wisconsin Dems better be sure to check their bracelets...WWJDD---what would Jim Doyle do?

    Posted by on October 12, 2008 at 1408 hrs




25. Wow, I hope Hugh Hewitt has a good tailor to fix the hole in his pants after he pulled that whopper out of ... well ...

    Here’s some facts:
    Branchflower was appointed by a legislative committee (Republicans control the Alaksa statehouse) on August 1, before Palin had been named McCain’s running mate.

    Branchflower was tasked with completing his investigation in “a few months.” I don’t know when the original October 31 deadline was imposed, but apparently Branchflower was hired under a three-month contract--and the end of October was the end of three months, not something timed “for maximum political effect.” After all, Palin was not the running mate when Branchflower was hired.

    The report was released Friday under the unanimous consent “a bipartisan panel of state legislators”--eight Republicans and four Democrats.

    Posted by folkbum on October 12, 2008 at 1453 hrs




26. Certainly the band of merry feminists that are criss crossing the country now in support of his messiahness

    Come again? I thought all the feminists were bitter about Hillary and weren’t about to criss-cross the country for Obama, but were going to cross over and vote for McCain instead. Y’all get your stories staright.

    Posted by on October 12, 2008 at 1924 hrs




27. Palin was opening up taxpayers to significant liability if Wooten ever decided to turn around and sue the state and the governor’s office for harassment or wrongful termination or something else.

    And you don’t think there would have been the same liability placed on Alaska taxpayers if Wooten would have beaten on someone other than his wife, given his past disciplinary record?
    -Which does include drinking in a squad car, which I am pretty sure is illegal anywhere-

    Any Defense lawyer worth the money is going to ask, given his history why was he not fired? And then they are going to go up the ladder, (which includes Lieutenants Sergents, Captains, Chiefs and finally the Public Safety Commissioner until they reach the Governor. (Because after all the State troopers and any troopers command staff are technically under her authority)

    So by Palin attempting to get the PSC head fired as well as Wooten, by my math thats at LEAST 6 lawsuits that she pre-empted.

    See unlike teachers their are some jobs in the real world where people are in fact held accountable.

    Posted by on October 12, 2008 at 1950 hrs




28. Owen,

    Do me a favor and rewrite this post assuming Ms. Palin had a “D” after her name and was the Democratic nominee for VP.

    Thanks.

    Posted by on October 13, 2008 at 0637 hrs




29. Does evereyone forget nothing happened to Monegan during the inquiries into why Wooten was still on the force after multiple instances (tazer, drinking on the job, illegal moose shooting, etc.).

    He was let go after trying to end-around the governor for funding. The fact that he also didn’t fire Wooten earlier was just icing on the termination cake at that point.

    Being a former supervisor/dept head, knowing when you can’t fire someone for blatant stupidity, you just wait for them to dig a bigger hole that you can bury them in.

    Posted by on October 13, 2008 at 1242 hrs