Palin Disinvited From Anti-Iran Rally
Palin On Biden: "I Think He Was First Elected When I Was Like In Second Grade"
Sparky: Pure Fakery 4 Guru:
The real problem is that no matter what they do she will always have that mean face, isn't it? I mean WTF? Aren't they as bad as Hillary as a Bondage Queen?
Sarah Palin, by the Numbers
Sarah Palin may lie, but numbers don't. Her record speaks for itself:
2007: the year in which Sarah Palin first obtained a passport (Source)
312: the number of nights during her first 19 months in office that Palin charged taxpayers a "per diem" totaling $16,951 for staying in her own home -- an allowance intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business (Source)
$500 to $1,200: the fee that Wasilla charged rape victims to pay for post-sexual assault medical exams, after the city cut funds during Palin's tenure that had previously covered the exams (Source)
$150: the cash payment offered by the Palin administration to hunters who turn in legs of freshly killed wolves gunned down from airplanes (Source)
3: the number of times during her first few weeks as mayor that Palin inquired with the Wasilla librarian about banning books (Source)
3: the number of months after the censorship discussion that Palin fired the librarian (Source)
100: the approximate number of Wasilla residents who rallied to support the librarian, prompting Palin to withdraw her termination letter (Source)
0: the number of foreign heads of state Palin has met (Source)
0: the number of commands Palin has issued as head of the Alaska National Guard (Source)
2: the number of times in Palin's ABC News interview that she said the word "nucular" (Source)
0: Wasilla's long-term debt when Palin took office in 1996 (Source)
$18.6 million: the long-term debt Palin racked up by the time she left office in 2002, amounting to about $3,000 per resident (Source)
$50,000: the amount of city funds Palin used without authorization to redecorate the Wasilla mayor's office, including adding flocked, red wallpaper that made it look "like a bordello," according to a former Wasilla City Council member (Source)
33: the percentage by which Palin increased the budget of Wasilla during her tenure, despite billing herself as a fiscal conservative and champion of smaller government (Source)
25: the percentage by which Palin raised the local sales tax in Wasilla to pay for a sports center, despite claims that she cut taxes (Source)
$27 million: the total amount of federal earmarks Palin secured for Wasilla's town of 6,700 people while she was mayor, thanks to the help of a Washington lobbyist with ties to indicted Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) and convicted felon Jack Abramoff (Source)
3: the number of times John McCain specifically criticized earmarks requested by Sarah Palin when she was mayor of Wasilla, citing them as examples of wasteful spending (Source)
$453 million: the total amount of earmarks Palin has asked U.S. taxpayers to fund for Alaska projects over the past two years, despite McCain's insistence that she hasn't sought earmarks or special-interest spending from Congress (Source)
$506.34: the amount of federal earmarks Alaska residents will receive per capita in 2008, the highest level of any state (Source)
$223 million: the earmark secured for the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" that Palin initially supported before opposing (Source)
$223 million: the amount of money designated for the "Bridge to Nowhere" that Palin ultimately used for other projects, rather than returning it to the federal government (Source)
20: the percentage of domestic energy that Palin claims Alaska produces (Source)
3.5: the actual percentage share of domestic energy Alaska produces (Source)
0: the number of people in America who know more about energy than Sarah Palin, according to John McCain (Source)
$600,000: the loss at which Palin sold the governor's jet after making a show of placing it on eBay. It was eventually sold to a Palin campaign contributor who paid $2.1 million (more than 20% less than the original $2.7 million purchase price). (Source)
1: the number of private tanning beds Palin installed in the governor's mansion after taking office (Source)
1.5: the approximate number of hours Palin spent on a refueling layover in Ireland, which the McCain campaign cited as part of her foreign policy experience (Source)
0: the actual amount of time Palin spent in Iraq during a 2007 visit to the region, despite the McCain campaign's claim she had visited the Iraq battle zone. She never made it beyond the Khabari Alawazem Crossing in Kuwait. (Source)
2006: the year in which Palin declared she favors abstinence-only education and that "the explicit sex-ed programs will not find my support" (Source)
2008: the year in which Palin's 17-year-old daughter was impregnated by a self-described "f***ing redneck," who wrote on his MySpace page "I don't want kids" and "ya f*** with me I'll kick ass" (Source)
9: the number of U.S. Geological Survey studies concluding that the habitat of Alaska's polar bears is threatened by global warming, which Palin discounted as "insufficent evidence" when she sued the Bush administration to overturn its decision to list polar bears under the Endangered Species Act (Source)
5: the number of colleges Palin attended over six years before graduating in 1987 from the University of Idaho with a major in journalism (Source)
500: the number of Fortune 500 companies Sarah Palin is not qualified to run, according to McCain adviser Carly Fiorina (Source)
50: the number of days after Palin announced she "will fully cooperate" with an ethics investigation into the "Troopergate" scandal that the McCain campaign announced she was "unlikely to cooperate" because it had been "hijacked" by Obama operatives. The probe was unanimously authorized by a bipartisan panel of eight Alaska Republicans and four Democrats. (Source)
28: the number of days prior to accepting the vice presidential offer that Palin said she couldn't entertain the idea "until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day" (Source)
15: the number of minutes McCain and Palin spent together during their only meeting prior to the interview in which McCain offered her the vice presidential slot (Source)
Robert J. Elisberg: In Praise of Sarah PalinI've been wrongly under the assumption that Joe Biden would run circles around Sarah Palin in their upcoming debate. It seemed logical -- when Georgia was attacked by Russia, its president Michael Saakashvili called Biden in to help.
However, if people who know far more about Sarah Palin than I do say she is the most amazingly-qualified person in the Republican Party to be Vice President of the United States, a brilliant mind, who am I to say otherwise?
The Republicans have convinced me. If they say that Sarah Palin is that tremendous a choice on every level, then I am willing to call their bluff and raise the bar high for her. Therefore, let me say it out loud: Sarah Palin will sweep the floor with Joe Biden. She is easily the favorite in her debate. Joe Biden is the woeful underdog. The bar is so low for Joe Biden, he can't limbo under it. He doesn't stand a chance. Yes, Sarah Palin is that remarkable. That's what the Republicans tell me. And I am willing to take them at their word.
"She is strong. She is capable. She is articulate. She will not take any prisoners."
-- Governor M. Jodi Rell (R-CT)
That's an near-impossible combination to beat. But what makes it so impressive is that when the U.S. has to go to war against Russia and Iran, like Sarah Palin anticipates, not taking any prisoners will come in really handy. Now, include our current wars with Iraq and Afghanistan. If we took prisoners in all four, there wouldn't be room in any American prisons, let alone Gitmo. So, score a big one for Sarah Palin.
"(Sarah Palin is) already one of the most successful governors in America -- and the most popular. And she already has more executive experience than the entire Democratic ticket."
-- Rudy Giuliani, former mayor (R-NYC)
Most popular governor. Bam! Take that Mitt Romney. Take that Arnold Schwarzenegger, and you're the "Last Action Hero" and won Mr. Universe. And bam, she's clearly more popular than both Charlie Crist and Tim Pawlenty put together, because John McCain didn't pick them to be vice president. Take that!
And by the way, Sarah Palin has more executive experience than even John McCain! You'd think that was almost impossible. That's how great Sarah Palin is.
"She's functioned as a governor, she's the commander-in-chief of a national guard, she's a former mayor, she's the former chair of an energy commission in Alaska.
-- Tim Pawlenty, governor (R-MN)
It's like sensory overload. Talk about showing the breadth of Sarah Palin's qualities. Her legendary military tactics kept foreign enemies so terrified of attacking Alaska that she never had to use her national guard powers even once. She learned everything necessary for the energy commission in only 11 months and quit. She was so great as mayor of Wasilla that her vote total increased for her second term by an amazing 50-percent, from 616 votes to 909. And for well-over one year, she functioned as governor of a state more populous than even Fort Worth, Texas. You almost want to say, "And on the seventh day she rested."
"What she's done in Alaska is what we would hope to do in Washington."
-- Lindsay Graham, U.S. senator (R-SC)
We can only hope. While George Bush created a $482 billion deficit, Sarah Palin was able to keep her budget deficit in Wasilla down to a mere $20 million. All Washington has to do is follow her plan and cut the population of America to 5,500 people.
(Sarah Palin) "got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska than Joe Biden got running for president of the United States."
-- Mike Huckabee, former governor (R-AR)
While Joe Biden got 75,000 votes running for president, Sarah Palin had 1,525 in her two campaigns as mayor which shows that votes obviously count for more in Alaska because Mike Huckabee is a former minister and wouldn't lie. How remarkable does someone have to be to receive votes that count 50 times more than normal?!
"She's got foreign policy experience because you can see Russia from part of Alaska."
-- John McCain, U.S. senator (R-AZ), Republican nominee for president
Trust me, Sarah Palin's expertise is even better than this, if that's possible. Because you can see the Pacific Ocean from Alaska, she's also an expert on seals. You can see Canada from Alaska, so she's an expert on beer. You can see the moon from all of Alaska, which means she can run NASA. And she can see into the bedroom of her neighbors the Bendersons, so she's an expert on their sex life.
Sarah Palin has so much foreign policy experience from spotting Russia, that's why she never even felt a need to ever get a passport before a year ago.
"She could not be a better vice-presidential pick."
-- Marjorie Dannenfelser of the Susan B. Anthony List, that works to elect women opposing abortion rights
This is big. Even John McCain couldn't get Marjorie Dennenfelser's support, since he's only a man. Moreover, Sen. McCain also couldn't get it because he doesn't support abortion right in all cases, as does Sarah Palin, so that's doubly better.
"It is an outstanding choice."
-- Olympia Snowe, U.S. senator (R-ME)
No reason given, no reason necessary. 'Nuff said.
"She is a courageous, successful reformer, who is not afraid to take on the establishment. She has run a municipality and she has run a state."
-- Fred Thompson, former U.S.senator (R-TN)
When the police chief and head librarian of Wasilla didn't support her enough, Sarah Palin reformed the town and fired them. When the Chief of Public Safety wouldn't fire her ex-brother-in-law, Sarah Palin reformed Alaska and fired him, too. Because of past charges of sexual harassment, her own replacement resigned in two weeks, which is why we need courageous and successful reformers like Sarah Palin.
By the way, Rudy Giuliani has been mayor of a municipality, but not run a state. That's why John McCain didn't pick him. Jeb Bush has only run a state, but not been a mayor -which shows why he wasn't picked. (Also, there's all that "Bush" baggage.)
"She knows more about energy than probably anyone else in the United States of America."
-- John McCain, U.S. senator (R-AZ), Republican nominee for president
Bam! Take that T. Boone Pickens. Take that George Bush, even. Take that Dick Cheney. And Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman. And take that Gary Luqette, president of Chevron. And the presidents of every oil company. It's a perceptive eye like this, picking the top expert no one else could see, that has made John McCain his own man. With his own facts.
"She's a real person and she has handled real problems."
-- Pete Dominici, United States senator (R-NM)
With Joe Biden burdened by being a fake person, and gallivanting around to help with foreign governments, Sarah Palin has dealt with real problems, like her family, crabgrass, praying to God for an oil pipeline, and failing to sell merchandise on eBay. When she has to handle Russia or North Korea.. Or Mahmoud Ahmandinejad, the president of Iran, they won't know what hit them, because she's dealt with pot holes. Real problems.
"Obviously, she is very, very well-qualified."
-- Rose Ann Scotti, former Republican mayor of Colts Neck, NJ
Clearly, who better to know whether the former major of a hamlet has the qualifications to be President of the United States than the former mayor of another hamlet?!
"She is smart and she is a unique combination of toughness and grace."
- Linda Lingle, governor (R-Hawaii)
Think how far Mussolini could have gone if only he'd known how to use a hanky. When she made the tough decisions to fire the police chief, librarian and Chief of Public Safety, her letters of dismissal were written on fine-weave stationery.
Sarah Palin is tough enough to avoid the pressure to be interviewed by "Face the Nation," "Meet the Press, " Wall Street Journal and more, like all other candidates always, and yet gracefully return to her home in Alaska. If she can be that tough avoiding basic questions about herself, think how incredible she'll be facing down Vladimir Putin and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in wars. But with grace.
"I'm so proud that she has displayed the kind of judgment and she has the experience and judgment as an executive... "
-- John McCain, U.S. senator (R-AZ), Republican nominee for president
Judgment galore. Officials of the Alaskan Independence Party are first to none in admiring that judgment, saying that Sarah Palin once attended their very own convention, which has been pushing for Alaskans to secede from the United States.
If Alaska left the union, Sarah Palin could become leader of an entire nation. Talk about qualifications. And this overlaps with John McCain's own vision. His TV ads have run the motto -- "Country First." The AIP's motto is -- "Alaska First -- Alaska Always." That's almost exactly the same. And Alaska is part of the "country"! Unless it secedes.
"Her record has been so strong for so long."
-- Grover Norquist, Republican lobbyist and former registered agent of Angola
For someone who has said he wants to get government "down to the size where we can drown it in a bathtub," this is no small praise. He doesn't endorse just anybody. Just people he believes can help drown government.
"She has a lot of substance."
-- Carly Fiorina, Republican McCain advisor and former campaign spokesperson
That's exactly what they saw in her in Wasilla, and it's why 616 citizens stood up and proudly voted for her.
"It was awesome. She just put it out there that she does have experience, and she was funny at the same time."
-- Hanna Malaihollo, 18-year-old alternate delegate (R-CA)
Sarah Palin can convince young people that she has experience simply because she says so, offsetting their natural aversion to John McCain. What can't she do?!! And she's funny. Jon Stewart is only funny. That's why he's not nominated for vice president.
"She's a partner and a soul mate. I mean, it's remarkable. It's a remarkable person."
-- John McCain, U.S. senator (R-AZ), Republican nominee for president
It's not every presidential candidate so smitten that he's willing to express his undying love in public. The only other one was Jimmy Carter, who admitted lusting in his heart. You don't see Barack Obama calling Joe Biden his soul mate.
Not to worry, Family Values folk, this is political and spiritual love. Cindy McCain has nothing to be concerned about! (Unless she gets in a disfiguring accident. Or loses her money.)
"I am prepared. I need no on-the-job training. I wasn't a mayor for a short period of time. I wasn't a governor for a short period of time."
- Sarah Palin, governor (R-AK), Republican nominee for president
Considering that most fruit flies live less than two months, Sarah Palin has the preparation to be President of the United States of 22 lifetimes.
Go America! Go Sarah Palin! Go fruit flies!
And look out, Joe Biden. You are in so much trouble. The Republican Party says so: the most qualified person in the G.O.P. is coming to get you. And her name is Sarah Palin. Game over. She's got it all. From the Republican elite to the grassroots, they know Sarah Palin, and know she's got it all. Accept your fate, Joe. She's tough, a pit bull, she's going to crush you. But the good news is, she'll do it with grace.
The cryptic Internet posse known for its attacks on Scientology may have found a new target in Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin. Several self-proclaimed members of Anonymous, a loosely organized group associated with the message board 4Chan, apparently breached the Alaska governor's personal Yahoo! account (gov.palin@yahoo.com) late Tuesday night.
The hacker posted screen shots of two e-mails, a Yahoo! inbox, a contact list and several family photos to Wikileaks.org, a site that anonymously hosts leaked government and corporate documents. Another screen shot purportedly shows a draft e-mail from Palin's account to campaign aide Ivy Frye alerting her of the breach:
This email was hacked by anonymous, but I took no part in that. I simply got the password back, and changed it so no further damage could be done. Please get in contact with Sarah Palin and inform her the new password on this account is samsonite1.
Thank you and best wishes,
the good anonymous
The screen shots quickly spread across the Web to blogs like Gawker.
The two e-mail exchanges appear to involve state politicians — Alaskan Lieut. Governor Sean Parnell and Amy McCorkell, whom Palin appointed to the Governor's Advisory Board on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse last year. Wired magazine reported that McCorkell confirmed the e-mail's authenticity, though she later refused to comment to the Associated Press.
Palin's other Yahoo! account (gov.sarah@yahoo.com) had already been hacked, so to speak, by federal authorities who are investigating her role in the firing of Walt Monegan, Alaska's public safety commissioner. Critics charge that Palin fired Monegan for refusing to dismiss her former brother-in-law from his job as a state trooper. (The scandal has already earned a -gate suffix.) After Tuesday's hacks were made public, both private accounts were deleted — an act that could technically constitute destruction of evidence.
The Alaska governor could also face charges for conducting official state business using her personal, unarchived e-mail account (a crime); some critics accuse her of skirting freedom-of-information laws in doing so. An Alaska Republican activist is trying to force Palin to release more than 1,100 e-mails she withheld from a public-records request, the Washington Post reported last week.
Rick Davis, campaign manager for the McCain-Palin campaign, issued a statement hours after the e-mail screen shots were posted: "This is a shocking invasion of the governor's privacy and a violation of law. The matter has been turned over to the appropriate authorities, and we hope that anyone in possession of these e-mails will destroy them. We will have no further comment." The Secret Service requested copies of the leaked e-mails from the Associated Press, but the news service did not comply. CNN reported that the FBI has also launched an investigation.
This is not the first time computer habits have become an issue for the McCain-Palin team. In January, John McCain told reporters that he didn't know how to check e-mail. When asked whether he prefers a Mac or a PC, McCain replied, "Neither. I am an illiterate that has to rely on my wife for all of the assistance that I can get." He later added, "I am learning to get online myself." He might want to stay offline for the time being.
FBI on the trail of hackers after Palin's emails made public
· Photos, messages and address book made public
· Claims that candidate broke transparency rules
- The Guardian,
- Friday September 19 2008
- Article history
FBI officials and secret service investigators were trying yesterday to track down hackers who broke into an email account belonging to US vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
Information from the account, including her emails, digital photos and online address book, was posted on the internet on Tuesday, after an unidentified individual guessed the password to the Alaska governor's personal email account.
Screenshots and information were made available on the whistle-blowing website Wikileaks, which defended its decision saying the hack proved Palin was violating rules on keeping public records by sending official emails through her private Yahoo account.
"Governor Palin has come under criticism for using private email accounts to conduct government business and in the process avoid transparency laws," the website said. "The list of correspondence, together with the account name, appears to reinforce the criticism."
Although some of the emails, from an account held at gov.palin@yahoo.com, appeared to be private, other screenshots showed messages to state government aides, as well as a draft letter to California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The hack was initially attributed to an activist group known as Anonymous, a group of internet vigilantes and anarchists which has previously locked horns with scientologists and internet paedophiles. However, yesterday an individual claiming to speak for the group said that Anonymous would never break the law by hacking into somebody else's email account.
Federal investigators are examining details of the hack to determine the identities of those responsible. The Wikileaks website became unavailable soon after the incident, though it remains unclear why.
A spokesman for the Republican presidential campaign said the attack was invasive and unwarranted. "We hope that anyone in possession of the emails will destroy them," he added.
The use of non-government email services to conduct official business has been criticised in the past. Official government communications are required to be preserved under federal law. Without using official communications channels, it remains unclear whether emails from private accounts are being correctly kept.
Last year the issue came to the fore after it emerged that the Bush administration had been using private accounts to conduct White House business.
A number of senior Bush advisers, including former political strategist Karl Rove, were discovered to have been using private accounts. Documents lost as a result included email conversations about the controversial dismissal of a number of United States attorneys.
The attack on Palin's account is likely to have stemmed from recent speculation about her decision to fire the Alaska public safety commissioner in July. An independent investigation is under way to examine allegations that the governor sacked Walter Monegan because of his refusal to dismiss a state trooper, Mike Wooten - who happened to be locked in a custody battle with Palin's sister.
The trooper row is due to come to a head today when Alaskan legislators are scheduled to open a hearing. Subpoenas have been issued to 13 witnesses, including Sarah Palin's husband, Todd.
The owner of the software used by the hacker or hackers to protect their identity said that he believed it would be possible to identify the culprit. Gabriel Ramuglia told news website The Register: "Since they were dumb enough to post a full screenshot that showed most of the URL I should be able to find that in my log."
Anonymous claims it wasn't them. Apparently B-chan got access to Governor Palin's emails. We've heard she was a racist, got to wonder if this is real or fake:
But we know the below was fake:Sarah Palin Bikini Photos Are Fake
By Samantha Chang
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has kicked up a media firestorm since John McCain announced she would be his vice presidential running mate.
In the two weeks since the announcement, Palin, 44, has been attacked for being a bad mom, an inexperienced bimbo and a vapid ex-beauty contestant.
Many people have also been frantically searching the Internet for sexy photos of Sarah Palin, and apparently hit pay dirt when saucy photos of Palin toting a rifle wearing a star-spangled bikini were uncovered. However, those photos--like the rumors that Palin's son Trig is actually her grandson--are fake. 
Whether you agree with Palin's politics or not (personally, I don't), attacking her teenage daughter and mothering skills and manufacturing sexist images in order to undermine her credibility is a transparent attack on her gender. Sadly, we as a country just can't move past our prejudices. On the other hand, is this any worse than the New Yorker magazine cover which featured Barack Obama and his wife Michelle as gun-toting Muslim terrorists? Here's a novel idea: Let's just stick to the issues.
Before making up your mind, consider these Palin Gems:
1. Palin doesn’t believe global warming has been proven.
2. Palin wants to teach creationism alongside evolution in public schools.
3. Palin believes abortion should be illegal, even in cases of rape and incest, except in limited cases in which it might be necessary to save the life of the mother.
4. Despite saying she has many gay friends, Palin is against gay marriage.
More evidence of a slide, cited by Newsweek:
Over the course of a single weekend, Palin went from being the most popular White House hopeful to the least.
Since Sept. 13, Palin’s unfavorables have climbed from 30 percent to 36 percent. Meanwhile, her favorables have slipped from 52 percent to 48 percent. That’s a three-day net swing of -10 points, and it leaves her in the Sept. 15 Diageo/Hotline tracking poll tied for the smallest favorability split (+12) of any of the Final Four. Over the course of a single weekend, in other words, Palin went from being the most popular White House hopeful to the least.
What happened? I’d argue that Palin’s considerable novelty is starting to wear off. In part it’s the result of a steady stream of unhelpful stories: her unfamiliarity with the Bush Doctrine during last Thursday’s interview with Charles Gibson … her refusal to cooperate with the Troopergate investigation; her repeated stretching of the truth on everything from earmarks to the Bridge to Nowhere to the amount of energy her state produces. That stuff has a way of inspiring disapproval and eroding one’s support. (Interestingly, Palin’s preparedness numbers–about 50 percent yes, 45 percent no–haven’t budged.)
Caveats apply, of course. This is one data set, not yet a trend, but it could be a glimpse into future direction, especially if McCain and Palin continue to shred the credibility of their ticket by persistently lying about themselves, each other and their opponents.
There is a precedent for a precipitous slide, however. In 1984, the only other time a woman was named to a major party ticket, Democrats Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro received a nine-point bounce after their convention, but Ronald Reagan, the incumbent, went on to win in a 49-state landslide, receiving 58.8 percent to Mondale-Ferraro’s 40.6 percent in the national popular vote.
Admittedly, any comparison between Republicans McCain-Palin and Democrats Mondale-Ferraro is superficial and, yes, sexist, especially because it is unclear, particularly from this poll, what role, if any, gender may be playing in Palin’s nosedive.
In 1984, Ferraro was undermined by questions about her husband’s business dealings, and her ticket’s opponent, Reagan, was still popular, in part because the economy had weathered the recession in 1982, and his administration’s illegal deals with terrorists in the Iran-Contra affair did not occur until the following year, and weren’t revealed until 1986.
The problems facing McCain and Palin today are primarily of their own making. Both have been caught lying on issues big and small. And there are serious questions even from conservatives about the readiness of Palin — the short-term governor of Alaska, the 47th largest state; a former beauty pageant Miss Congeniality winner; and sportscaster — to become president, if McCain, who is 72 years old, were unable to fulfill his term.
Momentum Shift Complete -- McCain Not Leading In Any Daily Tracking Poll
Mark Nickolas is the Managing Editor of Political Base, and this story was from his original post, "Momentum Shift Complete -- McCain Not Leading In Any Daily Tracking Poll"
Troopergate probe appears to be unraveling
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The abuse-of-power investigation of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was unraveling Wednesday, with most key witnesses refusing to testify, new legal maneuvering and heightened Republican pressure to delay the probe until after Election Day.
Palin initially welcomed the investigation, saying "hold me accountable," but she has increasingly opposed it since Republican presidential candidate John McCain tapped her as his vice presidential running mate.
In a reversal of position, a key Democratic lawmaker said Wednesday he may convene the committee that is conducting the investigation into whether Palin dismissed her public safety commissioner when he would not fire a state trooper involved in a bitter divorce with her sister.
Some Republican members of the committee have asked for such a meeting, to consider delaying the probe or replacing Democratic state Sen. Hollis French as its manager. The investigation's conclusions are supposed to be released by Oct. 10. The Legislative Council, made up of 10 Republicans and four Democrats, had unanimously approved launching the probe.
A lawyer for five Alaska Republican legislators suing for a delay of the investigation known as Troopergate said he will wait _ but not too long _ to see what the Legislative Council, a joint bipartisan oversight panel, does before asking a judge for an injunction.
The chairman of the council, Democratic state Sen. Kim Elton, said he would poll other council members on whether to meet.
Elton had previously refused to call such a meeting before panel investigator Steven Branchflower issued his report. In a letter Wednesday to House Speaker John Harris, Elton said circumstances had changed.
He said the situation had become so politicized it was difficult to imagine it could get any worse. Elton said he used to fear that any debate without a report would be "run through the prism of presidential politics and focus on motives." But now, he added, the debate is "taking place through press conferences and lawsuits."
Elton also sent a letter to Attorney General Talis Colberg, a Republican appointed by Palin, who on Tuesday said he would refuse to allow 10 subpoenaed state employees to testify, despite assurances from Colberg's staff last week that they would testify if certain interpretations of state law were agreed upon.
Contending the deal had been broken, Elton said, "Bluntly, I feel like Charlie Brown after Lucie moved the football."
The McCain campaign said on Monday that Palin, who was not subpoenaed, was unlikely to cooperate.
One of the witnesses summoned last week, former Palin legislative director John Bitney, said he testified Tuesday, but wouldn't say what he revealed. He said he spoke only of his seven-month tenure with the Palin administration that ended in July 2007.
"I spoke on what happened during the time I was employed there, and I told the truth," said Bitney.
Bitney said he felt he didn't have a choice. "If I had a publicly funded attorney telling me I didn't have to honor the subpoena, it might have been different."
The two remaining witnesses subpoenaed are Todd Palin, the governor's husband, who was traveling with his wife in Ohio and Michigan, and Murlene Wilkes, a state contractor.
Ignoring a legislative subpoena is punishable by a fine up to $500 and up to six months in jail, according to Alaska state statutes.
Harris, who two months ago supported the investigation, also now questions its impartiality and raised the possibility of delaying the findings, which would obviously be limited if virtually none of the key witnesses testified.
While appearing to waver, Elton also said delaying the report until after the election would "inflame debate about whether the council was taking a political position."
Kevin Clarkson, lawyer for the Republican lawmakers, said Wednesday that he would wait to see whether the council meets before seeking an injunction to force the issue. "But we're not going to wait too long," he said.
Meanwhile, Alaska Senate President Lyda Green, a Republican, said she does not believe the investigation will collapse or be delayed by "outside interlopers" trying to protect Palin.
"I see no reason why we need to have infighting over a previously authorized investigation that still has its original purpose," said Green, a Palin critic.
She said the attempt to block the investigation will lead to closer scrutiny of how Palin and her administration's stories have changed.
"Go back and compare all the statements of everybody in charge: 'We'll be happy to testify, we don't need any subpoenas, we don't have anything to hide.' Now the implication is, 'We have something to hide,'" Green said.
___ Associated Press Writer Steve Quinn contributed to this report.
heh ...
posted by ZenPupDog @ 9:02 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home