The investigation risks casting a shadow on Palin's reputation, central to her appeal in the campaign, that she is a clean-government advocate who takes on entrenched interests — not a governor who tried to use her authority behind the scenes to settle a personal score. Palin has defended her behavior and said she welcomed the investigation. "Hold me accountable," she said. . . . . Alaska's investigation into whether Gov. Sarah Palin abused her power, a potentially damaging distraction for John McCain's presidential campaign, ran into intensified resistance Tuesday when the attorney general said state employees would refuse to honor subpoenas in the case. AG Colberg, who was appointed by Palin, said the employees are caught between their respect for the Legislature and their loyalty to the governor, who initially agreed to cooperate with the inquiry but has increasingly opposed it since McCain chose her as his running mate. "This is an untenable position for our clients because the governor has so strongly stated that the subpoenas issued by your committee are of questionable validity," Colberg wrote http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/palin_troopergate It will be hard to hold Palin accountable if she is instructing the AG she appointed to tell state employees to ignore subpoenas. And who can blame the AG for following marching oreders, he doesn't want to get fired.
She is losing her luster fast. Although history shows that the VP is just not a factor when it comes to voting for a president. I was wondering if Palin was going to buck that trend . . . I don't think so. 20 years from now, Palin is going to be the answer on a trivial pursuit card. . . I'm sorry Xericx brings it out of me.
???? Well, the thing is, there's not enough time to cover this story so its not an appropriate red herring. Have you seen the guy that got fired? dude looks like a total herb.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=herb Insult synonomous with loser but can have multiple negative connotations. Pronounced "HURB" with no silent 'h.'The term was popularized in upstate New York and spread from there. The word herb has nothing to do with marijuana. Guy 1: Yo, I saw Melvin in the bathroom crying because he got a 93 on the math test! Guy 2: Word? That kid is a total HERB!
I really have no problem with people being fired and don't really believe you need a reason. I couldn't care less that this guy lost his job. I'm no Palin supporter, but she has every right to fire whomever she pleases.
Question is. Was it appropriate for her to do these firings? Or was it retribution for being on the wrong side of a family squabble? http://news.yahoo.com/story//ap/palin_troopergate Sounds more like a pissing match amongst family and abuse of power rather than someone merely exercising the heavy hand of executive power.
To me, the reasons don't matter. If I'm going to be an effective Chief Executive, I need to have the latitude to hire and fire as I see fit.
Interesting parallel, and a story I had forgotten. As I recall, the firing of the travel office was more to give Hillary something to do than Bill trying to fill it up with cronies. After all, he had to keep her far from the Oval if he was to conduct his bidness (if you know what I'm saying). I really do believe that line of "serving at the pleasure of..." marks the beginning and end of the story for Gov. Palin.
I was thinking that too - that it would end up being nothing, or a very mild rebuke for "the appearance of impropriety". But their decision to try to fight the investigation instead of letting it proceed gives the impression that maybe there is something more to it. It doesn't strike me as a smart political move. barfo
It seemed to be that her initial strategy was to open the kimono, so to speak. However, the McCain campaign holds a different view. Their horizon is seven weeks, not two years. My guess is their view is that this story needs to be squelched rather than be ridden out.
It doesn't seem like a lawsuit will squelch it. Seems like it will keep it in the news right up to election day. But maybe that's a bad assumption on my part. Maybe they actually think the judge will agree with them tomorrow and that will be the end of it. barfo
Palin trying to squash the investigation is contrary to the image she is trying to sell (going into congress and cleaning it all up.) Also, there is this issue with tax returns which she won't release. She was getting a stipend (or something like that) to work out of her house, about 12K. One wonders if she declared that money on her tax returns. If you are going to talk the talk about cleaning up congress, then walk the walk and allow the investigation to continue and disclose your tax returns as the other canidates have.
I have a problem with instructing state employees not to cooperate with the investigation and to ignore the sub poenas. We'll see what happens when the state employees are threatened with incarceration.
If that's stated rationale, then clearly not. That violates the EDA. However, it's awfully easy to fire someone for almost any other reason. In fact, I don't even think a reason is required.
My only point is reasons matter. Especially being a top government emloyee. If poeple didn't pay attention to the reasons a governor fires someone, well that could easily lead to someone abusing their power. You know, it's like questioning why the mods decided to move threads . . . you should be allowed to question why and not just accept it and say the reasons they do it doesn't matter.
