Palin's Disturbing Manner of Governing

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-20-2008
Palin's Disturbing Manner of Governing
1
Mon, 09-15-2008 - 10:10pm

From ABC:

""She's not telling the truth when she told ABC neither she nor her husband pressured me to fire Trooper Wooten," said Walt Monegan, the Alaskan official whose dismissal by Sarah Palin is the focus of a state investigation known as "Troopergate". "And she's not telling the truth to the media about her reasons for firing me."

In an exclusive interview with ABC News.com, former Alaska Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan said he resisted pressure by the First Couple to re-open an old case against a state trooper, who was in a hotly contested divorce and custody battle with the Governor's sister Molly.

Alaskan lawmakers are investigating whether Palin and her husband used the power of the Governor's office to conduct a personal vendetta against their former brother-in-law, whose behavior during the 2005 divorce was described by the Palin family as " threatening."

In a 20/20 interview, Palin told ABC's Charles Gibson she dismissed Monegan for poor job performance and that neither she nor her husband pressured Monegan to fire State Trooper Wooten. "We never did. I never pressured him to hire or fire anybody," Palin said.

But Monegan told ABC News.com he was summoned to a meeting with Todd Palin in December 2006, shortly after Sarah Palin became governor.

"I was called to her Anchorage formal Governor's office to talk with Todd Palin about an issue that was a private family matter," recounted Monegan. Todd became "upset," Monegan recalled, when told the allegations had already been investigated and the case would not be re-opened.

"When Sarah later called to tell me the same thing, I thought to myself, 'I may not be long for this job.'" But, Monegan said, he stood by his position. "I held the public trust. As Chief, I was responsible."

Governor Palin initially agreed to "cooperate fully" with the Alaska state legislative investigation but since being chosen as John McCain's running mate both she and her husband have refused to testify voluntarily. Friday the legislature issued a subpoena for Todd Palin.

Monegan said he tried to persuade the first couple to drop the matter. "As a cop for 35 years I'm pretty familiar with issues that come up in divorce cases," and said his argument to both Todd and Sarah was, "if this was so egregious, why didn't you bring it up sooner? Why did you wait until several years later?"

Monegan, who gave sworn testimony behind closed doors for nearly eight hours last week, said he also provided the State's investigator with copies of e-mails he received from the Governor in which she referred in disparaging terms to her former brother-in-law. . . ."

Palin says the investigation, controlled by Republicans, is somehow tainted and she won't cooperate:

"The McCain campaign said tonight that Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) “won’t speak with an investigator hired by lawmakers to look into the firing of her public safety commissioner” in the controversy known as “Troopergate.” The campaign declared the investigation to be “tainted,” despite the fact that the five-member committee is composed of three Republicans and two Democrats. Palin had previously agreed to cooperate and thus was not subpoenaed. Reporting the story tonight, Keith Olbermann said, “It is like installing a giant neon sign over her head saying, ‘I’m hiding something.’”"

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/15/mccain-campaign-says-palin-wont-talk-to-troopergate-investigator/

Why is she hiding all those emails in a manner eerily reminiscent of Bush and Rove?:

"Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her administration's use of private e-mail accounts to conduct state business is raising questions among open government advocates.

The Anchorage Daily News reported Monday that during the 2006 campaign, Palin, a former mayor and now the Republican vice presidential nominee, pledged to be open and transparent.

Critics have charged that the Palin administration's use of personal e-mail accounts is part of an effort to skirt state open records laws."

http://www.postchronicle.com/news/breakingnews/article_212172288.shtml

And what role did her husband play in being her strongman in Troopergate and other matters?

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/09/16/todd_palin/

And by the way, off-topic but relevant to Palin's image of the selfless everyperson, why does she have a $35,000 tanning bed installed in her mansion? Can you imagine the fun the Republicans would have if Obama or Biden had a $35,000 tanning bed?

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/its_sunny_all_year_round_at_th_1.php

And yes for once the NYT has a point:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/us/politics/14palin.html?_r=1&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-08-2008
Wed, 09-17-2008 - 1:37am
First "Dude" and her entourage of high school buddy cabinet members should not have surprised me, but it does. Professional ethics be damned. lol. Thanks...but, no thanks...to that governing style. lol.