Palin's Resignation Speech

edited for truthiness

Happy Turkey Day!

Letterman's Top 10 excuses for Sarah Palin are pretty good akshully:

Fowl on GOP's 2012 Nominee

Sarah Palin is a living mockumentary of her own darn self.

It's 10PM - Do You Know Where Your Donation Went?

Two Comments on Palin's $150,000 Clothing Allowance

heh

and

ha!

Troopergate Report Released - Palin Abused Power

Sarah Palin - You are guilty of abusing your power as Governor! What are you going to do now? Disneyland? Face a recall, as allowed by the Constitution of the state of Alaska?

Sec. 15.45.510. Grounds for recall.

The grounds for recall are (1) lack of fitness, (2) incompetence, (3) neglect of duties, or (4) corruption.

I'm thinking an ethics violation might fall under #4 but I'm not a lawyer. And I'm not going to Disneyland. I just wonder what, if anything, will result from the findings of this report. The legislature could censure the Governor but that seems unlikely (too).

The McCain-Palin campaign released a response to the report which basically says: See, we tole ya this whole thing was biased - except for the part about where she was found to have broken no laws in firing Monegan (that part was fair and balanced).

If you gots a lotsa paper (and ink), you can print out the pdf of the report or just read it at your computer, hopefully from a comfortable chair.

Troopergate Report: Does Size Matter?

Since Palin has already passed judgment on herself (she gave herself a sparkling review!) in the Troopergate scandal, I am curious as to what is contained in the official investigation's report which is described as being "263 pages long and has 800 pages or so of evidence". Alaskan state lawmakers have been reviewing the lengthy document all day and hopefully will make it public very soon. I'll be updating if/when that happens.

Everybody (in the Alaskan Independence Party) Secede Now!

What I'm Reading This Morning

On the VP debate, Politico says of Palin:

...she got out alive, though there were white-knuckle moments along the way: questions that were answered with painfully obvious talking points that betrayed scant knowledge of the issue at hand, and sometimes little relevance to the question that had been asked.

 

And of Biden:

Biden offered a fluent, self-assured performance of the sort that can not be especially hard for him after two presidential campaigns, 35 years in the Senate, countless appearances on Sunday morning programs. People impressed by references to legislation, or citations of his record in world hot spots from Bosnia to Darfur, got these in spades.

 

ABC reports that Palin's "That is not so..." quick answer was, in fact, so:

Sarah Palin got her facts wrong in Thursday's debate with Joe Biden when discussing where John McCain stands on new protections for homeowners facing foreclosures. 

The Alaska governor incorrectly made it sound like McCain supports giving bankruptcy judges the power to rewrite mortgage payment terms on first homes. 

He doesn't.

The latest on Troopergate:

Action Alert on dKos, (originating at MudFlats) regarding release of the upcoming Troopergate report and the McCain campaign's attempts to squash it.

O Thank God - Something to Laugh About

What Say You Alaskans - Recall Palin?

In browsing the Constitution of the State of Alaska (why - what do you do on weekends?), I noticed they have provisions for a recall of the governor and other elected officials:

Sec. 15.45.510. Grounds for recall.

The grounds for recall are (1) lack of fitness, (2) incompetence, (3) neglect of duties, or (4) corruption.

I'm not a resident of Alaska but if I was, surely I'd be wondering if at least #3 and #4 weren't applicable to Governor Palin.

Neglect of duties:

Gov. Sarah Palin has surrendered important gubernatorial duties to the Republican presidential campaign. McCain staff are handling public and press questions about actions she has taken as governor. The governor who said, "Hold me accountable," is hiding behind the hired guns of the McCain campaign to avoid accountability.

Corruption:

[The Troopergate] investigation isn't just examining potential abuse of power by the governor, but also others in her administration...
[...]
Palin is facing another ethics complaint, filed by a former state employee and political activist alleging her office used improper influence to award a state job.

Since Palin's husband and aides refused to comply with subpoenas issued in the Troopergate investigation (I wonder where they learned that?), will Alaskans stand by and accept this We're-above-the-law behavior or will they demand fair and equal legal treatment for all Alaskans by holding the Palin administration accountable?

Sec. 15.45.510

Gotta (Still) Love Dick Cavett

Dick Cavett's blog yesterday about Sarah Palin is an enjoyable snarky gem. My favorite bit is Cavett discussing Palin's convention speech:

Watching a woman, slight of build and full of pizazz so thoroughly bedazzle a vast audience is entertaining. Something chimed in my memory when she brought that crowd to its feet with frantic and worshipful cheering.

Ah, yes. I had seen it all before.

It was Judy Garland at The Palace.

And yet no one offered her the vice-presidency. (Fact-checker: Am I right on this?)

Can I just say again: I love that.

AP Puts Pig on Lipstick

Charles Babington analyzes the careening-out-of-control-like-a-covered-wagon-with-a-missing-wheel McCain-Palin campaign claims:

Politicians usually modify or drop claims when a string of newspaper and TV
news accounts concludes they are untrue or greatly exaggerated.

[...]

But McCain and his running mate Palin, the Alaska governor, were defiant this
week in the face of similar reports.

Read the details here.

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?

McCain-Palin Ad Forces TRUTH to Jump Off Bridge to Nowhere

A new McCain-Palin ad reiterates the claim that Palin stopped the scandalous Bridge to Nowhere. As has been documented, over and over, that just ain't so. Today the Wall Street Journal adds their voice to the fact-checkers, stating that Palin:

...endorsed the multimillion dollar project during her gubernatorial race in
2006. And while she did take part in stopping the project after it became a
national scandal, she did not return the federal money. She just allocated it
elsewhere.

Read the full WSJ article here.

Maybe Palin should change her rhetoric about the bridge to: That Bridge to Nowhere? I told Congress, 'Yes thanks! And if it becomes politically expedient for me to reverse my position later, I'll keep all the money too!'

RIP McCain-Palin campaign TRUTH. We hardly knew ye.

Sunday Palin Reading

Jessica Reaves at the Chicago Tribune offers her thoughts on what qualifications pushed Palin over the top when it came time for McCain to choose a running mate:

Because Palin's a woman. And because Rove, currently serving as an "informal adviser" to McCain's campaign, once read a book about women that convinced him the only thing women love more than a good white sale is casting a vote for another woman. (OK, I just made that up. I have no idea whether Karl Rove has ever read a book).

Good news (?): Palin was not a book-banner when serving as an Alaskan mayor, although she did have fantasies about protesters "circling the library in protest about a book". When the local librarian was asked by Palin if she'd be willing to censor certain books, the librarian essentially replied with a Wha-choo-talkin-bout-Willis? to which Palin reacted by sending her a Donald Trump You're-fired! letter. The librarian ultimately kept her job amidst strong community support and Palin had to back down.


Five Thirty Eight has a good piece on Palin, our reaction to her, and how she's taking us off message:

Get the outrage flowing. Get the opponent not thinking about the game, get them thinking about your shenanigans. And what happens? The “victimized” team loses its composure, hitting back. The guy who hits second is always the guy who goes to the penalty box.

Watching Sarah Palin this week, and the reaction to her by both sides, and all the talk of hockey mommery, I realized that this is who she is. She skates into the corner, throws up an elbow, and the Democrats cry: “Foul!” Hey! She said Obama has never passed a major bill – this is an objective lie! Hey! She ridiculed community organizing the day after Service was the theme! Technically people should punish her by not voting for her over this infraction!

It’s whining, and whiners hit back second and go to the penalty box on top of it.

Turns Out, Palin WAS Thoroughly Vetted After All

In 2006. By the Dems. When Palin was running for Governor.

This 63 page pdf of Palin's 2006 vetting by Democrats has a table of contents on pages 2 and 3 which includes such tantalizing gems as:

The Gender Card
Cronyism
Lying
Used Public Funds for Political Gain
Can't Handle Criticism
Vindictive, Firing

God but I can't wait until the movie comes out! Here's a bit I hope makes it into the trailer:

Two weeks after becoming mayor, Palin instituted a gag order on talking to the media for the city’s top employees. Palin denied it was a gag order saying “The department heads appreciated not having to talk to the media.”

Read the entire awfulness here. Thank you Mudflats.

McCain Campaign Says Palin Not Ready

...to do press interviews. They are keeping Palin muzzled for the next two weeks while they teach her about politics and Presidential campaigns and that desert place in the Middle East she's shipping her son off to. Sooo McCain-Palin wants our vote because - if necessary - Palin is ready to lead on day one. Buuuut, as far as facing Larry King softballs, that'll take a couple of weeks.

Palin: Respect My Family's Privacy and I Won't Respect Yours

I know I'm not supposed to talk about it, because it's a "private family matter", but I'm just going to say this: Bristol Palin got to choose. Sarah Palin wants us to elect her and John McCain so they can take away every other woman's right to choose. Apparently they didn't get their own memo that pregnancy is a private family matter and has nothing to do with politics. Sarah Palin wants us to respect her family's privacy. She also wants our vote so she and McCain can show our families no respect by shoehorning their government into our own private family decisions regarding pregnancy.

Check out:

Gloria Steinem on Palin in the L.A. Times

Palin: Women's Rights and Woman Wrong

Republicans like all the attention Sarah Palin is receiving as their party's first woman on the Presidential ticket. They also seem fond of failing to mention that McCain/Palin would be a disaster for women's rights in this country. They would work to overturn Roe v. Wade and eliminate a woman's right to choose. They say they want less government - ha! - keep your government out of my reproductive organs, thank you very much.

McCain/Palin does not support equal pay for equal work for women, except as a sound bite. Hullo! It's 2008: Do you know what century you grounded your gender bias in?

McCain/Palin does not support education in schools (except abstinence) to prevent unplanned teen pregnancies. Abstinence-only "education" results in pregnant teenage girls.

The National Organization for Women stands up to the Palin hype:

What McCain does not understand is that women supported Hillary Clinton not
just because she was a woman, but because she was a champion on their
issues. They will surely not find Sarah Palin to be an advocate for
women.

Look, I don't care if Palin hunts or is a hockey Mom or if her teenage daughter is pregnant. Really I don't. I do care that she works against things I believe in and want from our government. Important things - to me as a woman, as a human, and an American voter.