Round 2 Of McCain Troopergate Stall: Part Karl Rove, Part Laurel & Hardy
Since Monday the McCain camp has stepped up its personal attacks against Alaskans. They've continued their D.C.-style tactics against neighbors in this small state. The game plan is to find an excuse to stop our Legislature's Troopergate investigation, and hide evidence McCain's folks really don't want to surface before November's election. It's been a little Karl Rove, and parts Laurel and Hardy. How else can you explain the following?
Friday the Attorney General's office promised state witnesses would comply with subpoenas the Legislature issued last week. Tuesday the Governor's Attorney General flip flopped, and announced that state witnesses wouldn't comply because, well, and I'm paraphrasing here - - he's changed his mind. And in what has to be an idea hatched after a 4th Martini at Chilkoot Charlies, Governor Palin's attorneys have filed a motion to dismiss the ethics claim she filed against herself two weeks ago. Yup. She really filed a complaint against herself. Tuesday she said she's discovered, after a thorough investigation of herself, that she's done nothing wrong. Does anyone know how to get a hold of Jon Stewart and Tina Fey?
It's silly season up here in the far north, but this week's moves are aimed at one thing: John McCain's effort to find cover for being disingenuous. See, before Governor Palin's nomination for the Republican VP spot, she did the honest thing. She admitted the evidence -- of roughly 20 contacts between her staff and husband with Public Safety officials, seeking the firing of Governor Palin's former brother-in-law -- might lead a reasonable person to the conclusion that the she misused her office to fire a state employee. So when Alaska's Republican-led Legislature called for an investigation, she did the honorable thing and said she and her staff would comply. She denies any wrongdoing.
Things changed on August 29 when Governor Palin was added to the McCain ticket. Since then his handlers have told her she can't testify. They don't want the evidence in this case to come out. They don't want her to testify under oath. They don't want other witnesses to testify under oath. So they have engaged in daily maneuvers to attack, as disloyal to the McCain campaign, anyone who wants the investigation to move forward. They've now attacked two well respected prosecutors, and perhaps the state's most highly regarded law enforcement official -- the Public Safety Commissioner she hired, and then fired, Walt Monegan.
Every day this week McCain operatives have sung the same tune. Today a guy with an East Coast accent, who knows nothing about Alaska, stood in front of a McCain-Palin banner to lead the attacks against people he doesn't know. At press conferences on Monday and Tuesday campaign staffer Megan Stapleton spit vitriol to repeat her argument that this investigation is really a "Democratic" attack on Governor Palin. See, that's easier than just saying their VP has reneged on her promise to testify. It's easier than just saying they don't want anyone testifying before the November election. It's easier than admitting they are stonewalling a legislative investigation. Oh -- and I know they hate partisan stuff. Yesterday 5 Republican legislators -- all allies of Governor Palin, all supporters of the McCain campaign, filed a lawsuit against the Legislature to stop the investigation.
Here are a few things MCCain's operatives failed to say. There are a few small facts that make it hard to style this as a Democratic investigation. One is that Alaska is a Republican State. We have a Republican Governor and a Legislature of 34 Republicans and 26 Democrats. This summer the Legislature's Legislative Council voted 12-0 (8 Republicans and 4 Democrats) to hire an investigator, and appointed Democratic Senator Hollis French, a well-respected former prosecutor, to find an investigator.
Governor Palin stated she and her employees would comply with the investigation. French then hired Steve Branchflower, a former DA who most recently was hired by legislative Republicans to run the state's Office of Victims rights. And on Friday the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 3-2 (2 Democrats and 1 Republican in favor); and the House Judiciary Committee issued a 7 - 0 (5 Republicans, 2 Democrats) advisory vote, to issue subpoenas to witnesses the McCain camp had previously stopped from testifying.
Over the last two days McCain's outside operatives have vilified former prosecutor Hollis French -- as an Obama supporter who must have called this investigation to hurt the McCain ticket. But French was appointed to oversee the investigation by a 12 - 0 Legislative Council vote, and is probably the state's most respected legislator -- by Republicans and Democrats alike. He's so popular the Republican Party couldn't find anyone to run against him this year. They've called former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan -- a Native Alaskan who has served Republican and Democratic Administrations with honor, and put his life on the line in uniform- - "insubordinate." Odd, given that when Governor Palin fired him she offered him a different job. I guess being "insubordinate" was a job requirement for the new position. And they've challenged the independence of an investigator and former DA, who has no animus anyone can find.
Those Swift boat ads taught the McCain folks that if you say something untrue enough times, it can stick. My favorite moment of the week came when Governor Palin's attorneys filed a motion to dismiss Palin's ethics complaint against herself. Stay with me. Her attorneys have been buying the peyote, not me. See, on August 29 they needed to find a way to stop the Legislature's investigation. They tried asking the Republican leaders to call it off, and take one for the team. But the Senate President and others honorably said no. So they came up with an argument that the State Personnel Board -- 3 people appointed by Governor Palin and her Republican predecessor Frank Murkowski - had "exclusive jurisdiction" to investigate wrongdoing by the Governor.
The Legislature wasn't amused. So Governor Palin then filed a complaint against herself. That, they said, put "jurisdiction" in the hands of their friends at the Personnel Board. They argued that since the Personnel Board was now proceeding with an "investigation," the Legislature couldn't. To put icing on the cake, on Monday the Governor's attorneys moved to dismiss the Governor's case against herself. They said, and I loosely paraphrase again -- that they tried really hard and just couldn't find any evidence that the Governor did anything wrong. OK. I can't believe I just wrote that. And I wish it weren't true.
These are the things you have to do when your presidential candidate doesn't want his VP to honor a promise, and doesn't want evidence to come out before an election. These are the things you have to do if your folks aren't going to comply with a subpoena. That's because without spin the headline might read: "McCain Interferes With Investigation Palin Agreed To." How easy it is to re-write a headline. They learned that during the Swift boat campaign too.
All we can hope for is that members of the press will abide by what's taught in journalism school. Not to repeat the spin of political operatives without reporting the truth. Not to write "he said she said" stories, and pretend the truth is somewhere in the middle. But to report the facts. No matter how you spin it, Governor Palin promised to comply with this Legislative Investigation. McCain's folks got her to change her position. And the Legislature that voted for the investigation did so on a bi-partisan basis. End of story. End of headline.
Over the next few days McCain's folks will try to get local legislators to step in line, out of party loyalty, and reverse their vote to investigate Troopergate. But many local Republicans, like Senate President Lyda Green, have so far refused to play those politics. Stay for more from McCain's Campaign for "Change." They've tried to change the truth. They've succeeded at changing Governor Palin's promise to comply with this investigation. Let's see what they'll change next.
Rep. Les Gara, Anchorage, Alaska
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Travel gate...Tro
eggggselen
I see this on 60 minutes.
An awesome, but somewhat somber piece.
Write ON!
Palin: "I was for the investigation before i was against it"
Ah, the eternal dilemma of the battle of the sexes (both): the inability to resist that dangerous high maintenance choice.
Battle of the sexes? No.
Neocon economic and power elitists vs. We The People.
Read this:
winkster:
' Look up Fascism on Wikipedia - Under Definition, Roger Griffin is quoted about the core elements of Fascism. I noticed he wrote an article called "The palingenetic core of generic fascist ideology", so I wikied and wikied until I stumbled upon: Palingenetic Ultranationalism.
"Palingenetic Ultranationalism is a theory concerning generic fascism formulated by professor Roger Griffin. The key elements are that fascism can be defined by its core myth, namely that of national rebirth, or palingenes
(Thread continues. . .)
JoDeeVa:
' Some would, indeed, call this "a funny, ooky similarity
Palingenesis has different meanings in context to its application. In science/ biology, it is the inherited genetic codes carried through generation
http://www
Governor Palin's Reading List/ Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
September 15, 2008
Well, a bit of truth in Freud and Jung, still informing the debate. My inept construct is influenced by the Shiva archetype, viewed firsthand and second, for 60 years now. The "debate" is eloquently explored in "The Century of the Self". An election year must see if you love politics or modern history.
Palin: "I said thanks, but no thanks, to those subpoenas from the state legislature. If we want to indict anyone on abuse of power charges, we'll do it ourselves!"
ROFL. This is t-shirt material.
I also have to say, re-reading your article, that to any outsider, the McCain legal people have made Palin look guilty as hell, whether she is or isn't! Perhaps this was no big deal. But the fact that they have made it into such a big deal is what is very frightening. It makes one think they were hiding this. I really hope your legislature , the ones that all voted in favor of and funded this investigation do not just let this go. I hope there is another step they can take. I can't stand this kind of bullying and truthfully I think the Obama campaign should get involved now. There has to be something illegal about what they have done. Either way, they make Palin look like trash and they also move the campaign to some low level that it shouldn't be at. McCain is a total traitor to his country for choosing Palin.
I agree. I don't like Palin but on in the case of Troopergate I was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. Now I really believe she must be guilty or hiding something.
Gee, you think. Where there is smoke most likely there is fire. Whats that old line? "Me thinks she protests too much!"
You are so right. They took trooper gate and are drawing it out. It is getting more attention that it would if it was allowed to proceed. Got to love the stalling tactics - it just stinks of guilt.
Mr. Gara, I just read a post of yours on the ADN newspaper and then here is your article here. I was going to look you up and thank you for writing about this. What else can those of you in Alaska do to make sure that this investigation happens? This is so wrong. I don't know the laws, nor do I pretend to, but it seems to me like obviously Sarah Palin is hiding things. If they just ignore requests to be investigated, well.. what can you do next up in Alaska? Is anyone else taking legal steps to make sure a truly fair investigation happens before our November election? I don't see how the McCain campaign can get away with this and why they think Americans are so stupid as to not care......
If a regular person involved in a legal investigation defied a subpoena wouldn't a warrant be issued for their arrest? Does the legislature have the ability to compel testimony with arrest warrants or are the courts the only ones with that option (bench warrant)?
J
Very informative, more so than msm
Find the most comprehensive information on Sarah Palin at:
www.dailys
In-depth research, audio clips, videos, excerpts, and links to hundreds of articles, including many from newspapers and TV stations in Alaska. It has rare footage, including her telling the ‘08 convention of the Alaska Independence Party, whose aim is to give Alaska a vote on seceding from the U.S., to “keep up the good work.” The level of research is unparalled.
I think it is good that the press is investigating Palen. No one knows anything about her and the press is in a feeding frenzy. But, while they are in a frenzy they might want to check on Obama and REV Wright and Obama and Lenord Ayers. Firing a state trooper for personel reasons is well, bad, but the associations with these men if it is true are traitorous.
Hey, in case you weren't paying attention, THE PRESS DID CHECK INTO THE REVEREND WRIGHT AND AYERS, look back about 6 months ago. If you want to talk traitorous, uh-hem, last I checked a group of people wanting a state to secede from the United States was considered somewhat traitorous. (look into Palin and her husbands involvement with the controversial group) If you insist on airing dirty laundry, check in Cindy McCain's millions of dollars of profit from the involvement of the Lincoln S&L scandal and bailout by the American taxpayer. Senator McCain was one of the Keating 5 who were censored for their involvement. Before you to bring up old associations, check your own dude's dirty laundry.
While they are investigating, how about the "greed and corruption" McCain is blaming for the
current meltdown, and how it relates to KeatingV.
score1, Where have you been? All that stuff came out a LONG time ago, was chewed to death, and, in the end, no story...an
But Abuse of Power and Obstruction of Justice ARE!!!!
Obama has been on the campaign trail for over 18 months. These stories have been investigated and covered in the media.
This is not about Obama it is about Palin.
Alaskans unite! There is strength in numbers! Vote Obama then impeach Palin!
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Now that her chickens are coming home to roost, maybe we can continue vetting her husband too, a proud member of the AIP until 2002. "Alaska first, Alaska always." kinda guy, who wanted alaska to secede from the Union. If Obama's wife was in a radical black group, we'd never hear the end of it. But Todd Palin just seems to smile alot and get away with it.
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