McCain-Palin and Troopergate: A Question of Judgment

Sarah Palin was warned to stop trying to get an Alaska State Trooper (who happened to be divorcing her sister) fired as early as 2005. The judge in the divorce proceedings stated that Palin's family's effort to get the Trooper fired "has overridden good judgment".

And she was warned as recently as this summer by an ethics advisor who recommended Palin and her husband apologize for their roles in "Troopergate". The advisor described the situation as "grave" and "told Gov. Palin that she probably couldn't legally shun a legislative investigation".

Although Palin had initially promised full cooperation from her administration during the investigation, she has since flip-flopped, hiring a private attorney (paid for by Alaskan taxpayers) and several of her aides have refused to meet with the investigator. Her attorney wants the state's Palin-appointed, 3 member personnel board to conduct the investigation, not the state legislature.

What kind of judgment does Sarah Palin exercise in official government matters? Does she make her own rules and use her political power to force others to play by those rules? Is this someone we want a 72 year old heartbeat away from running the country? Haven't we already suffered enough these 8 long years under an administration run by President La-La-La-I-Can't-Hear-You?

And what kind of judgment do we credit McCain with for choosing a running mate under investigation for abuse of power in her home state? Word is, he preferred Lieberman as a Veep but caved to political pressure to choose a woman. Will he abandon his own judgment so easily when talking to Iran or Russia? Can he not make up his own mind based on what he thinks is best for the country without considering what's best for an election? O and the woman he ended up choosing - this was the best qualified female candidate in his judgment? Seriously?