Despite stone-walling from Sarah Palin, Alaska legislators aren’t backing down in their quest to uncover what happened in Trooper-Gate.
The bipartisan committee overseeing the investigation announced today in a press release that they’re moving up the date that they release the results of their investigation by three weeks, meaning it should come out in early October. The commitee, led by Sen. Hollis French, an Anchorage Democrat also announced that it would meet on September 12 to issue subpoenas in the case. [...]
French had initially indicated that subpoenas likely wouldn’t be necessary, since Palin had pledged her full cooperation. But earlier this week, Palin’s lawyer warned that unless the case were handed over to the state personnel board — whose three members are appointed by the governor — Palin would not be made available to testify. And according to the release: ["]This week, seven key witnesses informed Mr. Branchflower through their attorneys that they would not provide depositions. Their depositions, which had been agreed to and scheduled earlier with Mr. Branchflower, were cancelled within the last 72 hours.”
Interestingly, it was just over 72 hours ago that a team of 8 McCain campaign officials were dispatched to “conduct background checks and vetting on Governor Sarah Palin“. An amazing stroke of luck for them.
The case centers on allegations by former Alaska Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan that he was fired because of his reluctance to fire a state trooper, Jim Wooten, who was divorced from Palin’s sister and was embroiled in a family dispute with the Palins. Palin has denied her personal involvement in the effort to have Wooten fired, though emails from Palin provided Wednesday night by Monegan to the Washington Post show that in February 2007 she complained to Monegan that Wooten was still employed.
Speaking to ABC News, French accused the McCain-Palin campaign of using stall tactics to prevent him from releasing the results of the probe by October 31st — just four days before the election.
The issuance of subpoenas will need to be voted on by the full Judiciary Comittee, which is composed of 8 Republicans and 4 Democrats. In late July, the Committee voted 12-0 to hire an independent investigator to look into the affair.
It’s worth noting that the legislature doesn’t have the power to compel witnesses to be deposed by Branchflower. Rather, it can require them to testify, under oath, at public hearings.
Squashed. Gov. Palin is returning to Alaska, just as the notoriously partisan Alaska Public Safety Employees Association has opened an ethics complaint against Gov. Hockey Mom.
September 5, 2008 at 5:39 pm
That’s funny because Sen. Hollis French is the name of my giant cock, too.
September 5, 2008 at 5:43 pm
It’s sad, (as in awesome), because the GOP’s big Palin push has been largely unsuccessful due to the internets counterpunch (which is not a dump truck!), and her incapacity to answer questions without Matt Scully telling her what she thinks. If this empty pantsuit doesn’t meet the press, face the nation, or even show up on FOX-News she’ll need a one way ticket back to Moosejaw.
Experience to serve effectively as president? Palin: 42% yes, 50% no; Biden: 66% yes, 21% no • Palin: 50% favorable, 37% unfavorable • Biden: 54% favorable, 30% unfavorable
September 5, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Mr. Branchflower called, he needs an escort through the Misty Mountains.
September 5, 2008 at 7:40 pm
What kind of snotty elitist eats mooseburgers, anyway? IF you’re going to look down your nose at real American beef, then you’re just an out-of-touch snob and not fit to be vice-president.
September 5, 2008 at 8:59 pm
I saw the word “squashed” and for a second I thought it was “squalid.” Oh wait….
September 5, 2008 at 10:03 pm
Ask her no questions and she’ll tell you no lies
Well, I’m not so sure about the part after “and”.
September 6, 2008 at 2:26 am
I’ve been reading my trusty and trusted left wing blogs all night. For hours. My eyes are crossed, tearing up, and for all I know, bleeding.
I just want to kick the shit out of anyone even marginally associated with the McCain campaign. My intellectual training and (for lack of a better term) spiritual discipline remind me that the stream of falsehoods and the absence of meaningful direction coming from the Republicans–combined with the comical failure of the Bush years–should ensure an Obama/Biden victory. Simply: this is not the year 2000 during which a flush economy and peacetime complacency could allow the experiment with a toy “compassionate conservative” and “reformer-with-results” presidency.
But all of that intellectual training and discipline (which is, I must immodestly say, quite considerable) does not stop me from wanting to knock both Palin and McCain down a flight of stairs. I have never thrown a punch at anyone in my entire life. But the anger this campaign manages to generate is unique.
I used to think that the sociopathy of George W. was the grossest case of inhumanity to occupy the oval office. Perlstein aside, Nixon always struck me as a nervous individual. He was driven to engage in dirty tricks, but they struck me then and strike me now as, psychologically, retributive. It was the “political art” as he had learned it–and the “other side” was always, always on the verge of doing something worse (if they could). The excessive alcohol, both at the end of his White House years and through the fragile health of his retirement, seemed to me a matter of self-medication for his guilt and shame. (George W., on the other hand, was not and is not capable of that level of guilt. He entered the White House ignorant and will exit it, more or less, as a piece of psychological driftwood. To the extent he still consumes alcohol, it is for reasons other than those of politics and/or his culpability in the tide of current events. He was a drunk before he went in; he’ll be a drunk or dry-drunk after he retires.)
Yet Palin and McCain, in the blunt, direct, fully-controvertible public lies they are telling seem to me at a place BEYOND both George W. and Nixon.
In Sarah’s case, her religious zealotry serves as a satisfactory psychoanalytic explanation for her willingness to enthusiastically read and trumpet whatever bullshit the McCain campaign put in front of her. Simply, she is an “innocent” soul acting in service of her “Christian” cause in a holy war. (Now, the psychiatric basis of her religious zealotry is another matter entirely. Vastly more information than is currently available would be needed even to begin speculating on what key psycho-social matters her pentecostalism is intended to sublimate.)
In McCain’s case, his hunger for the office of Presidency seems fully matched with his blood-spitting contempt for the savant–the Harvard Law Review Editor & University of Chicago Law Professor–whose intellect towers over him in this contest.
Had McCain not been the child of an Admiral, he most likely would have been booted from the Naval Academy. (Anybody who has known anybody who has attended the Naval Academy can attest to this; unless you are well-connected, the Academy does not put up with ANY bullshit.)
What McCain sees when he looks at Obama is a reminder of just how cushioned he had been through his academic career and through his 20s. (Let’s not forget that he was not captured as a POW until he was 31 years of aqe.)
Obama, simply, did not fuck around in school. He studied, he wrote. He read. He graduated on time. With high honors. He worked with extreme competence in community service (as a community organizer) prior to enrolling in law school. Then, in law school, in the most prestigious law school in the country, he not only MADE law review but was elected editor of the law review.
McCain, by the skin of his teeth, got through the Naval Academy and then, alas, was commissioned to an air craft carrier off the coast of Viet Nam. True, if he had not crashed his plane, he would not have been captured. But he did and he suffered as a consequence. His release from captivity enabled his emergence as a political entity. Not skill, not insight, not a developing and emergent philosophy (or spirit) of America –or even a commitment to a sense of meaning and community beyond himself. No, it was his sudden emergence as a “war hero” that enbled the opportunity of politics.
I honestly think that McCain’s willingness–if not his URGE–to lie through his teeth in front of cameras on a daily basis is in part based on his deep contempt for men like Obama. Obama took naturally to reading and learning and intellectual discipline. It was–and remains-”play” to him. Obama is undaunted by complex matters of hisory and philosophy and economics. He is fluent in so many topics because he is entirely unafraid of his own mind and its eventual limits. McCain struggled and continues to struggle on matters of intellectual discipline. It may be that, simply, he is not and never has been brainy enough. It might also be that, as a son of Naval heroes, he grew up with inhibitions and doubts. In either (or any) case, his contempt for Obama is palpable and his willingness to speak whatever excrement, whatever vomit, whatever toxin his campaign asks him to speak is in full-military-salute to that contempt.
September 6, 2008 at 8:08 am
I had republican nightmares all night. I’ve got to stop reading these confounded Weblogs all day long.
September 6, 2008 at 9:00 am
Larsmacomb–
Beautifully written and right fucking ON. Thanks.
September 6, 2008 at 10:07 am
Larsmacomb -
Great comment,and I agree with most of what you wrote. The only thing I’d argue (in the sense of “intellectual discussion”, as opposed to “I’m here for an argument”) relates to your line: “It might also be that, as a son of Naval heroes, he grew up with inhibitions and doubts.”
While that may be true, it seems more likely that it engendered a couple of things in him:
1) A feeling of entitlement, which “allowed” him to break as many rules as he could at Annapolis, and so forth
2) A resentment of his father (and maybe grandfather) which also helped contribute to finishing near the bottom of his class. {Determined NOT to be just like Dear Old Dad, etc.)
What’s interesting, and I expect I’m not the first one to realize this, is that this sounds just like the Chimperor – except that Hanoi Johnny may be more bellicose than Bush. (Of course, it seems that throughout history, soldiers that have truly experienced the horrors of war become the *least* bellicose. I suppose one might draw conclusions re: Hanoi Johnny.)
Anyway, thanks very much for putting that all together.
September 6, 2008 at 2:02 pm
[...] She’s a liar, and shitty manager (left her town millions in debt after her mayoral tenure), and is the least-qualified person ever to run for executive office. She’s a joke. [...]
September 6, 2008 at 5:19 pm
Bring the proof about Palin’s reputed racism, boys and girls: Otherwise, I think you need to cauterize the bloody holes beneath your noses.
This stuff’s almost as bad as the Republicans’ tawdry assertion that Governor Bill Clinton occasionally enlisted his Arkansas mafia to perform murder, and then ordered the victims’ corpses sealed in car-trunks.
September 6, 2008 at 6:48 pm
She is responsible for a lot of environmental damage in Alaska … allowed Chevron to triple the amount of toxic crap it dumps into the Cook Inlet for one. She OK’d this despite warnings that the Beluga population is threatened with extinction – it has dropped from 1,300 to just 350.
She supports the sick “sport” of aerial hunting. Crews of rich guys in planes chase wolf packs and other animals across the snow then when the animals are worn out, these cowards land and stage a mini-massacre at point blank range. Palin proposed a bounty last year – $150 per wolf as long as the hunter shows up with a foreleg as proof of the kill. Her move was turned down.
September 6, 2008 at 8:10 pm
This is probably why the McCain campaign won’t let her do interviews, or go off-script. She’s liable to call him Macaca.
September 6, 2008 at 10:21 pm
Teton -
It would help if your comments bore any relation to the topic.
That being said: fortunately for you, the Democrats have shown an unwillingness to play the same smear game that the Republicans are so good at playing. If Palin’s alleged slurs are not proved, it’s unlikely it will go too far.
Contrast that with the Rethugs’ (or their minions’) willingness to scream any smear-laden, disproved allegation for as long and as loud as they can. (Obama’s a Muslim! His wife hates whitey! Bill Clinton had Vince Foster killed! etc.)
Of course, it would be interesting if the Dems really did take a play from the Rethugs book, by reminding the public that Hanoi Johnny aided and abetted the NVA through his “confession”.
“When John McCain discussed his time as a POW, he claimed his captors tortured him so much that he finally issued a ‘confession’, later used by North Vietnam for propaganda. We can barely imagine the pain and humiliation that brought him to that point, especially when he says that he probably wouldn’t have issued a confession under normal circumstances. But if we assume that McCain’s story is true, then we have a question for him: Why is he NOW supporting torture of prisoners, including those against whom no crimes will ever be charged? Did he learn anything from his experience?”
See? It’s easy. Or would be, if the Democrats were as amoral and dishonest as the McCain campaign.
September 6, 2008 at 10:23 pm
Racism? What? I think you’re on the wrong article, Teton.
September 7, 2008 at 1:19 am
SFAW, you friggin’ twit: Go back and re-read the ‘LA Progressive’ piece before you presume to judge what’s ‘on-topic’ and what’s not.
Your side has made the charge that Palin’s racist; so I’m challenging you to prove your point. Your task should be relatively simple, since the charge of racism originated from a “native-American” table-waitress named “Lucille.”
(Ironic it is, the woman was pegged as “Lucille” by a down-on-his-luck Jewish businessman who lived in Alaska for two years. One can only imagine what Gerstheimer laughingly says in private about working women like Lucille. Indeed, I’m sure Lucille’s the epitome of intellect, given her lofty occupation and her supposed willingness to foment so nasty a charge without employing her real name as confirmation.)
Listen, my eternally-nasty nabob brothers of the left: You people are infamous for continually shrilling for revolution, drowning coeds in New England streams, mindlessly counting hanging-chads, digging up the dead on election-day in Chicago, murdering Nicholas II and his family, and burning the Reichstag. If you’re going to flame Palin for anything, find a charge that’s worthy of sticking, or find a real job.
BTW, SFAW: I was drafted and sent to the RVN, thanks to an “amoral, dishonest” Democrat. The shoe fits both sides.
September 7, 2008 at 3:50 pm
tHIS reminds me of:
September 7, 2008 at 4:03 pm
FrenchTit, you ridiculous shit-for-brains -
The “Lucille”/LA Progressive thread is here:
http://thepoorman.net/2008/09/06/mean-girl/
Re: the rest of your lunatic ravings:
Your side has made the charge that Palin’s racist; so I’m challenging you to prove your point. Your task should be relatively simple, since the charge of racism originated from a “native-American” table-waitress named “Lucille.”
No “side” has made any charge. It’s been reported in some minor internet commentary site. Is it true? Don’t know, hopefully someone will prove/disprove it. Will I do it? No. But if you want to send me airfare (1st Class, of course) and one month’s living expenses, plus enough funding to set up my own journalistic operation, I’ll consider it.
(Ironic it is, the woman was pegged as “Lucille” by a down-on-his-luck Jewish businessman who lived in Alaska for two years. One can only imagine what Gerstheimer laughingly says in private about working women like Lucille. Indeed, I’m sure Lucille’s the epitome of intellect, given her lofty occupation and her supposed willingness to foment so nasty a charge without employing her real name as confirmation.)
Good point, those kikes always lie. And not only do they lie, but the look down their overly-long noses at us goyim. And “Lucille”, being a mere waitress, naturally must be a dumbshit, especially since she’s made a “nasty” charge. Of course, given that it’s only those fucking “elitists” who vote for Dhimmicrats, she must be a registered Republican. Oh, wait, that’s not what you meant?
Listen, my eternally-nasty nabob brothers of the left: You people are infamous for continually shrilling for revolution, drowning coeds in New England streams, mindlessly counting hanging-chads, digging up the dead on election-day in Chicago, murdering Nicholas II and his family, and burning the Reichstag. If you’re going to flame Palin for anything, find a charge that’s worthy of sticking, or find a real job.
“Eternally-nasty”? Projecting a bit, are we?
“Shrilling for revolution”? WTF are you on about?
“Mindlessly counting hanging-chads”? Good point, it’s so much worse than voter suppression, especially when it’s only the darkies what got suppressed by yore girlfriend Kathy Harris, and her hired help.
“Drowning”,”Chicago”? yeah, yeah, we’ve heard it all before.
“Murdering Nicholas”? Given the way things turned out in Russia, I’d say they’re more like your type than any liberals I know.
“Reichstag”? Ah, yes, the old jonanism ‘Some-Nazis-were-vegetarians-so-they-must-have-been-liberals’ bullshit. You believe that, and I’ve got a bridge or two I might be able to sell to you for cheap $$$. (Unfortunately, they’re not to Nowhere.)
Got a real job, doesn’t involve journalism, but thanks for the suggestion.
Re: “sent to the RVN”: Truly, I am glad to see that you made it back, I hope uninjured.
But Vietnam was not exactly a Dems-only thing.
Now, if you want to do some more of your make-shit-up-and-donate-it-to-this-site stuff, you might REALLYREALLY want to go to the correct thread.
September 7, 2008 at 4:11 pm
Teton -
Two things I forgot to mention:
1) It’s clear that LA Progressive proprietors, since they practice miscegenation, are more prone to lying.
2)Unfortunately, this one puts the lie to everything I wrote, and validates all of your points:
Michael Moore is FAT!!!1!!
September 8, 2008 at 10:04 am
Golly … how do I troll-rate this Teton guy?
September 25, 2008 at 1:20 pm
[...] might want to be less obvious about it next time. [...]