Did Gov Sarah Palin Abuse Her Office?

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic


There are nuances to this only understood by those who live here and have followed this all along. Were you aware that Monegan refused to comply with a direct order on multiple occasions?

She may have been a bit heavy handed, but to condemn everything else about her over this non-issue, is most certainly heavy handed.

As to this Wooten character; well, lets just say that in my humble opinion, he is the type of officer so often featured in posts here on ATS and leave it at that. Just the act of pinning a badge on him may have been enough to damn his superiors.

Right now it does appear she did commit one infraction. She tried to interfere with Wooten getting a Workman's Comp settlement. Hardly enough to condemn a great Governor or to even devote more than a paragraph to in the news. Wooten in many peoples opinion is the exact sort of person who should never wear a badge. If she lost her cool a bit over his treatment of her sister and their children and made an error in judgment, I can forgive that. We don't elect perfect people to office because none exist on this earth. If we throw out the occasional good, honest politician we get over small errors in judgment, there will be nobody left to serve.

My direct answer to the question posed in the title of this thread? Yes, she abused her power in one case. She should not have interfered with the Workman's Comp claim. Is that reason enough to throw her out of office? No! She did what nobody else has done here in that she finally got rid of the Good Old Boy Network including the ones in her own Party.

Should people vote for McCain because of her? If they support McCain, she should be considered a check in the positive column. If they support Obama, they have no reason to attack her other than the same old Partisan mud slinging as usual.

Will she cause me to vote for or against McCain? No. Unless I decide I'd rather he loose so she can get back to holding the oil companies at bay and keeping the bad guys out of our State Government.

Is there anything in her history that should give someone pause who supports McCain? No, she is the real deal. Perhaps even the type of person people on ATS claim they want. After all, how many running this time have a history of taking down their own Party members for corruption? I believe she is the only one.

I think I have exhausted the information I can find about this and don't expect to find any other skeletons floating around. The Workman's Comp thingy is about it. Everything else is just mud slinging.

Edited to say:
Right after posting this I found out that Wooten was seen on his snow machine running around while supposedly nursing a bad back that was the basis for the Workman's Comp claim. ...and the mud continues...

[edit on 9/18/2008 by Blaine91555]

I don't know if she abused her power or not. That's what the investigation would have been for.

I say "would have been" because it appears that everyone subpoenaed in the case has refused to appear. It seems there will be no investigation because she and her staff and her husband see themselves as above the law and not required to honor a subpoena.

This is a classic George Bush move.

I believe in innocent until proven guilty. It is my opinion that she welcomed this investigation as long as she was in the top spot in the land (as Governor) and knew that she could maneuver and manipulate the outcome of any investigation. But now that her exposure is nationwide and she doesn't have control of everyone, she had to call it off.

I can't say she's guilty, but she certainly is acting that way.

If she becomes our president, the people who voted for McCain deserve it.

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic

If she becomes our president, the people who voted for McCain deserve it.

Glad you feel that way. From what I know of her I think she would be an excellent president. She's already proven that she can take an office run by the "good old boys" and shake it up. I'm confident she could do the same in Washington. That, to me, sounds like a positive change.

Just an update. Seven of the state employees who originally challenged their subpoenas have decided to testify in the Palin investigation. Her husband, Todd, will be meeting with an independent investigator.

Seven Set to Testify in Palin Row

Politicians ordered seven state employees to testify, but they challenged the subpoenas.

Alaska Attorney General Talis Colberg said the employees had now decided to give evidence.

Todd Palin will meet with an investigator from the State Personnel Board, which is hired by the governor's office...

Palin says the legislative inquiry has become too political and she believes that only the state's personnel board should oversee the inquiry. Palin has the authority to fire the members of that board.

Source

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic


I don't think she is going to be "dumb" enough to fire the members of the board just because she doesn't like what they are doing (which is what that article intimates).

Let them do the inquiry, let people testify, let them investigate. If she did something wrong, she will suffer the consequences. If she didn't, then this was a non-issue all along.

Being Reported: Palin unlawfully abused her office.

Links to come when they are available.

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
Being Reported: Palin unlawfully abused her office.

Links to come when they are available.

ATS Thread Confirming The Investigation Results - Palin Abused Her Power

I find it very odd that Palin is totally denying the findings of this report and speaking as though it cleared her of all wrong-doing, when actually it did no such thing. Does she think we're that stupid?

It actually reminded me of some other bold-faced lies that we've been told over the past few years.

Branchflower Report

Finding Number One

For the reasons explained in section IV of this report, I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act. Alaska Statute 39.52.11(a) provides

"The legislature reaffirms that each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust."

Yet, Palin says: "I'm thankful that the report has shown that there was no illegal or unethical activity" ... "There was no abuse of authority at all in trying to get Officer Wooten fired."

In my opinion, it does not matter Palin's relationship with Trooper Wooten. He tasered a 10-year-old, his own son, which was a potentially fatal act. She had the right and the responsibility to terminate his position.

reply to post by Zezima


But that's not what she did. She did not terminate Wooten. Wooten is still a Trooper. She had her husband and her employees pressure Monegan to fire Wooten and when he refused, she fired Monegan, who is well-respected and didn't taser anyone.

[edit on 18-10-2008 by Benevolent Heretic]

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic


Ok, sorry, I had my facts wrong. I beg for mercy at your feet .