Spotlight: Sarah Palin:
A special commision was put in charge of the "Abuse of Power" allegations against Sarah Palin. Now that we have the findings of a bipartisan report to pave the way on Sarah Palin's abuse of power, let's get serious.
First let's go over the charges made.
"The Palin family had a feud with Wooten prior to her becoming governor. They put together a list of 14 accusations which they took to the state police to investigate -- a list that ranged from the quite serious to the truly absurd. The state police did an investigation, decided that 5 of the charges had some merit and suspended Wooten for ten days -- a suspension later reduced to five days. The Palin's weren't satisfied but there wasn't much they could do.
When Palin became governor they went for another bite at the apple. Palin, her husband and several members of her staff began pressuring Public Safety Commissioner, Walt Monegan -- a respected former Chief of the Anchorage police department -- to can Wooten. Monegan resisted, arguing that the official process regarding Wooten was closed. And there was nothing more that could be done. In fact, during one of the conversations in which Palin's husband Todd was putting on the squeeze, Monegan told Todd Palin, "You can't head hunt like this. What you need to do is back off, because if the trooper does make a mistake, and it is a terminable offense, it can look like political interference."
Eventually, Palin got fed up and fired Monegan from his job. (Palin claims, not credibly, that she fired Monegan over general differences in law enforcement priorities.) This is an important point. Wooten never got fired. To the best of my knowledge, he's is still on the job. The central bad act was firing the state's top police official because he refused to bend to political pressure from the governor and her family to fire a public employee against whom the governor was pursuing a vendetta -- whether the vendetta was justified or not.
After Monegan made his accusations, Palin insisted there was no truth whatsoever to his claims. Nonetheless, a bipartisan committee of the state legislature approved an investigation. In response, Palin asked the Attorney General to start his own investigation which many in the state interpreted as an effort to either keep tabs on or tamper with the legislature's investigation. Again, very questionable judgment in someone who aspires to be first in line to the presidency."
Now, after all that being said, Sarah Palin had to change her story because of the Attorney General turning up evidence that Palin's initial claims were false. Apparently quite a few staff members had raised concerns over Wooten's employment by Monegan. The real kicker is that the state actually has a recording. If you don't care to read about it, click HERE to listen to the actual MP3 audio.
The bottom line on "TrooperGate" is that we expect our elected officials to not take advantage of their power as a governing official. We expect them to uphold a code of Ethics and a general Morality that the majority of people share in this great country of ours. Sarah Palin did not. The currently available evidence now suggests that she 1) tried to have an ex-relative fired from his job for personal reasons, something that was clearly inappropriate, and perhaps illegal, though possibly understandable in human terms, 2) fired a state official for not himself acting inappropriately by firing the relative, 3) lied to the public about what happened and 4) continues to lie about what happened.
Why is it that all politicians won't come clean until the evidence forces them to do so? Bill Clinton did it, Nixon did it, Reagan never had to (Iran-Contra) because Ollie North took the fall for him. Yet Sarah Palin continues to lie about her involvement? Can we ever get the truth from these people? Do we really want someone with this obvious "lie to your face" mentality to be a heartbeat away from running our federal government?
But that's not all:
Yes there is more to Sarah's abuse of her status as Governor of Alaska. The Palin's two-story, four bedroom, four bath home on Lake Lucille is worth $552,000.
"Todd Palin built the house with friends who were contractors, he said in a recent television interview."
Why is this important? It's important because at the same time Todd was building the new Palin house, just down the street the Wasilla Sports Complex was under construction.
The real question now becomes "Who were those contractors that did a favor for the Palin's by building their house? Was it done because of sports complex contracts they provided? Wayne Barnett of the Village Voice asks the question.
Wayne Barrett reports that after the $12.5 million Wasilla Sports Complex was approved, the design contract went to architect Blase Burkhart, "son of Roy Burkhart, who is described as a "mentor" of Sarah Palin and was head of the Republican Party in Wasilla." Roy Burkhart was also a Palin campaign contributor. Then Palin appointed Blase Burkhart to the builder-selection committee, which gave the construction contract to "Howdie Inc., a residential contractor owned at the time by Howard Nugent." Nugent was a Palin campaign contributor, also. Suprised? I'm not.
What happened next is what gets the juices flowing. Barnett:
"A list of subcontractors on the [sports complex] job, obtained by the Voice, includes many with Palin ties. One was Spenard Builders Supply, the state's leading supplier of wood, floor, roof, and other "pre-engineered components." In addition to being a sponsor of Todd Palin's snow-machine team that has earned tens of thousands for the Palin family, Spenard hired Sarah Palin to do a statewide television commercial in 2004. When the Palins began building a new family home off Lake Lucille in 2002—at the same time that Palin was running for lieutenant governor and in her final months as mayor—Spenard supplied the materials, according to Antoine Bricks, who works in its Wasilla office. Spenard actually filed a notice "of its right to assert a lien" on the deed for the Palin property after contracting for labor and materials for the site. Spenard's name has popped up in the trial of Senator Stevens—it worked on the house that is at the center of the VECO scandal as well.
Todd Palin told Fox News that he built the two-story, 3,450-square-foot, four-bedroom, four-bath, wood house himself, with the help of contractors he described as "buddies." As mayor, Sarah Palin blocked an effort to require the filing of building permits in the wide-open city, and there is no public record of who the "buddies" were. The house was built very near the complex, on a site whose city purchase led to years of unsuccessful litigation and, now, $1.3 million in additional costs, with a law firm that's also donated to Palin collecting costly fees from the city.
Dorwin and Joanne Smith, the principals of complex subcontractor DJ Excavation & Development, have donated $7,100 to Palin and her allied candidate Charlie Fannon (Joanne is a Palin appointee on the state Board of Nursing). Sheldon Ewing, who owns another complex subcontractor, Weld Air, has donated $1,300, and PN&D, an engineering firm on the complex, has contributed $699.
Ewing was one of the few sports-complex contractors, aside from Spenard, willing to address the question of whether he worked on the house as well, but he had little to say: "I doubt that it occurred, but if it did indirectly, how would I know anyhow?" The odd timing of Palin's house construction—it was completed two months before she left City Hall and while she and Todd Palin were campaigning statewide for the first time—raises questions, especially considering its synergy with the complex."
Does any of this seem a little off to you? Large construction contracts are being handed out to campaign contributers at the same time Todd's "buddies," who just happen to be contractors, are helping Todd build the new Palin house. At the same time Sarah is making sure there will be no public record of building permits. To me, this is a very similar situation that Ted Stevens is currently in. The main difference is that Sarah, as Governor of Alaska, can hide things a bit easier.
Here is the interview with Todd Palin on Fox News (of course).
Conclusion:
To me all of this seems to point to a family with ethics issues. Do we really want someone who so easily takes handouts and abuses power as our next Vice President? I want someone with who is a positive thinker, tells the truth and speaks to me with honesty. Sarah Palin is not that person. I will leave you with 2 women from Alaska speaking about Gov. Palin.
Posts
Compliance is Not Consent
5 years ago
18 comments:
ya know at first look I can say that well, wouldn't we all give 'contracts' to the people we know over the people we don't?
Wouldn't most so-called 'joe six pack' Americans look out for their friends & give a push to get them a job?
Sure we would! That's what friends are for. And in return wouldn't they help us out? well of course they would.
If I got a buddy a job building our new EMS station, I would hope he would help me out with constructing my new deck...right? You betcha (hehe couldn't resist a palin-pun)
so what's wrong with Sarah Palin doing the same thing?
It's called conflict of interest! When you are in a position of authority and USE that authority to give and receive 'favors' its illegal, unethical and just plain morally wrong.
It creates the kind of playing field our officials are suppose to fight against not freely participate in.
Life cannot be about WHO you know. Now we all know it very much is, but in Politics its against the rules.
Sarah Palin broke those rules, and instead of coming clean she LIED and the sad part is, she continues to lie.
I agree with redwing...this is NOT someone we need or should want in a position of even more authority.
For those who still can't grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help.
White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because "every family has challenges," even as black and Latino families with similar "challenges" are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.
White privilege is when you can call yourself a "f***in' redneck," like Bristol Palin's boyfriend does, and talk ab out how if anyone messes with you, you'll "kick their f***in' ass," and talk about how you like to "shoot shit" for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug.
White privilege is when you can attend five different colleges in six years like Sarah Palin did (one of which you basically failed out of, then returned to after making up some coursework at a community college), and no one questions your intelligence or commitment to achievement, whereas a person of color who did this would be viewed as unfit for college, and probably someone who only got in in the first place because of affirmative action.
White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be presid ent, and people don't all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you're "untested."
White privilege is being able to say that you support the words "under God" in the pledge of allegiance because "if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it's good enough for me," and not be immediately disqualified from holding office--since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the "under God" part wasn't added until the 1950s--while if you're black and believe in reading accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because the Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law school, requires it), you are a dangerous and mushy liberal who isn't fit to safeguard American institutions.
White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people immediately scared of you.
White privilege is being able to have a husband who was a member of a n extremist political party that wants your state to secede from the Union, and whose motto is "Alaska first," and no one questions your patriotism o r that of your family, while if you're black and your spouse merely fails to come to a 9/11 memorial so she can be home with her kids on the first day of school, people immediately think she's being disrespectful.
White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers and the work they do--like, among other things, fight for the right of women to vote, or for civil rights, or the 8-hour workday, or an end to child labor--and people think you're being pithy and tough, but if you merely question the experience of a small town mayor and 18-month governor with no foreign policy expertise beyond a class she took in college and the fact that she lives close to Russia--you're somehow being mean, or even sexist.
White privilege is being able to convince white women who don't even agree with you on any substantive issu e to vote for you and your running mate anyway, because suddenly your presence on the ticket has inspired confidence in these same white women, and made them give your party a "second look."
White privilege is being able to fire people who didn't support your political campaigns and not be accused of abusing your power or being a typical politician who engages in favoritism, while being black and merely knowing some folks from the old-line political machines in Chicago means you must be corrupt.
White privilege is when you can take nearly twenty-four hours to get to a hospital after beginning to leak amn iotic fluid, and still be viewed as a great mom whose commitment to her children is unquestionable, and whose "next door neighbor" qualities make her ready to be VP, while if you're a black candidate for president and you let your children be interviewed for a few seconds on TV, you're irresponsibly exploiting them.
White privilege is being able to give a 36 minute speech in which you talk about lipstick and make fun of your opponent, while laying out no substantive policy positions on any issue at all, and still manage to be considered a legitimate candidate, while a black person who gives an hour speech the week before, in which he lays out specific policy proposals on several issues, is still criticized for being too vague about what he would do if elected.
White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize George W. Bush are going to hell, and that the U.S. is an explicitly Christian nation and the job of Christians is to bring Christian theological principles into government, and who bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is God's punishment on Jews for rejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you're just a good church-going Christian, but if you're black and friends with a black pastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department of Defense) that terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign policy and who talks about the history of racism and its effect on black people, you're an extremist who probably hates America.
White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when asked by a reporter, and then people get angry at the reporter for asking you such a "trick question," while being black and merely refusing to give one-word answers to the queries of Bill O'Reilly means you're dodging the question, or trying to seem overly intellectual and nuanced.
White privilege is being able to go to a prestigious prep school, then to Yale and then Harvard Business school, and yet, still be seen as just an average guy (George W. Bush) while being black, going to a prestigious prep school, then Occidental College, then Columbia, and then to Harvard Law, makes you "uppity," and a snob who probably looks down on regular folks.
White privilege is being able to graduate near the bottom of your college class (McCain), or graduate with a C average from Yale (W.) and that's OK, and you're cut out to be president, but if you're black and you graduate near the top of your class from Harvard Law, you can't be trusted to make good decisions in office.
White privilege is being able to dump your first wife after she's disfigured in a car crash so you can take up with a multi-millionaire beauty queen (who you go on to call the c-word in public) and still be thought of as a man of strong family values, while if you're black and married for nearly twenty years to the same woman, your family is viewed as un-American and your gestures of affection for each other are called "terrorist fist bumps."
White privilege is when you can develop a pain-killer addiction, having obtained your drug of choice illegally like Cindy McCain, go on to beat that addiction, and everyone praises you for being so strong, while being a black guy who smoked pot a few times in college and never became an add ict means people will wonder if perhaps you still get high, and even ask whether or not you ever sold drugs.
White privilege is being able to sing a song about bombing Iran and still be viewed as a sober and rational statesman, with the maturity to be president, while being black and suggesting that the U.S. should speak with other nations, even when we have disagreements with them, makes you20"dangerously naive and immature."
White privilege is being able to say that you hate "gooks" and "will always hate them," and yet, you aren't a racist because, ya know, you were a POW so you're entitled to your hatred, while being black and insisting that black anger about racism is understandable, given the history of your country, makes you a dangerous bigot.
White privilege is being able to claim your experience as a POW has anything at all t o do with your fitness for president, while being black and experiencing racism and an absent father is apparently among the "lesser adversities" faced by other politicians, as Sarah Palin explained in her convention speech.
And finally, white privilege is the only thing that could possibly allow someone to become president when he has voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, even as unemployment is skyrocketing, people are losing their homes, inflation is rising, and the U.S. is increasingly isolated from world opinion, just because a lot of white voters aren't sure about that whole "change" thing. Ya know, it's just too vague and ill-defined, unlike, say, four more years of the same, which is very concrete and certain.
White privilege is, in short, the problem.
Tim W., I read about 2/3 of your rant and I agree, we are not all treated equally. If you break this up into bite size pieces, it would make great grass roots campaign matterial. You make some very valid points.
I also like what Jack had to say. We should expect and demand more from our leaders. It's not easy, but we didn't hire (or elect) them for the easy job; they have to make tough decisions.
I received something very similar to what Tim wrote from a friend a few months back and I totally agree.
I would like to see Tim actually post this as a blog however..it is just too much to read here.
I read bout half and my eyes crossed ehheheeh
Since "troopergate" and "housebuilder-gate" are sooo serious, when can we expect to see a post on Obama's ties to ACORN and Ayers?
oh you won't see that anti, unless you or I do it.
This one is too long to read, it'll take me some time to point out anything fabricated.
antisocialism:
I think you missed a very vital point. 'knowing' someone and 'doing favors that break the rules' for someone you know are two different things.
Knowing Ayers didnt break any rules. I realize that you, and perhaps lots of others somehow believe that 'who' we know has some bearing on our ability to lead.
I don't believe that is true. I know lots of 'interesting' people, but I assure you I am nothing like them. I know veterans from not only Vietnam but the first Iraq war, and the things they say about this country would burn your ears, but it doesnt mean I believe what they do, yet as I am not in their shoes, have not lived the life they live I cannot tell them they are wrong either.
But again, it has NOTHING to do with me. Just because I know these men, associate with these men, it doesnt mean I hold their views.
That is something, thankfully, the majority of Americans do get!
*and for the record Obama does NOT own, control or work for ACORN.* You really should look up the FACTS prior to making silly remarks.
" Republican John McCain spoke at a pro-immigration rally co-sponsored by ACORN in 2006. Today, the group issued a news release saying, "ACORN to McCain: Have You Lost That Loving Feeling?"
For his part, Obama said today that his relationship with ACORN stemmed from more than a decade ago, when as a young lawyer he represented the group as it tried to implement the motor-voter law in Illinois that allows voter registration at driver registration agencies."
you view this article in its entirety at http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/presidentbush/2008/10/voter-fraud.html
Actually Jack, I think they missed a more vital point. The point where I've been trying to get conservative authors for this blog for months now. They won't do it, so they will just complain about what they read here.
Instead of complaining...get off your butts and be an author. I will be glad to accept either one of you or any other well written conservative who wishes to blog here.
Please cite references:
http://www.redroom.com/blog/tim-wise/this-your-nation-white-privilege-updated
What really scares me is she is Dick Cheney in a skirt, only without brains.
Just like all liberals, you can try to downplay the ACORN and Ayers connections. With the help of the media, I'm sure it will successfully be downplayed. What if McCain had a meeting at Timothy McVeigh's home? How would that sit with you guys? McVeigh and Ayers are/were both proponents of bombing stuff. Regardless, of whether or not they were best pals, the fact that Obama viewed him as important enough to involve him in his political career should bring his character into question. As for the ties to ACORN, I did not say he worked for them, but when you funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars to an organization that promotes/pushes bad business practices you have to wonder if he is fit to lead a country. Finally, no one is voting for Bush this year. Don't let your hatred for G.W. Bush blind you to the fact that Obama's choices in his extremely short political career, have already had a seriously negative impact on this country and it's economy. Imagine what those choices will do to this country if he has the power of the Presidency.
well antisocilism that there is the difference between you and me.
I would not consider John McCain a 'bomber' as you put it, if he did in fact sit down with Tim McVeigh! I think that John McCain's character as an American speaks for itself and I wouldn't allow the media, a one-minded person like yourself, or anything else to decide for me who JohnMcCain is, just as I will not allow anything but Obama himself to tell me WHO he is!
I am one of those people that don't play on rumors, urban legends, scare tactics and filth to find out about anyone or anything, I tend to go to the SOURCE.(and yes I have met Senator Obama in case ur wondering)
As for ACORN had you actually visited the source I sited you would have seen that Obama in fact did NOT filter any money to them! Just because someone he gave money to, happened to then give money to ACORN does NOT mean that Obama made the donation! That's like saying that when I pay my doctors bill and then my doctor performs an abortion I somehow paid for it!!
You don't have to like Obama...but spreading lies and filth is something that should be BENEATH all Americans
Jack I never said that knowing McVeigh would make him a "bomber".----- Answer me this, of all of the prominent people to choose from in Chicago, why Ayers? What's so special about him? Either they were pals (which Obama claims was not the case) or he had something to offer Obama. But what could he offer Obama? Was it a recipe to make C4? Maybe it was just his recipe for "special" brownies? I don't know, but I think someone needs to tell us. You can call me one-sided all you want, but you should really think about that before casting your vote next month. No need to go read something or listen to CNN's explanation. Just use your God given mind and think about it. I will discuss ACORN in another comment.
Obama never told us he didn't molest children either...maybe he should? Why hasn't he told us he doesn't molest children?
Maybe John McCain should tell us he doesn't have a fetish for young boys? Maybe he should tell us? Why hasn't he told us he doesn't have a fetish for young boys?
You're reaching AS... recipe for C4? Come on...that's laughable.
Ok, not talking about molesters and pedophiles, talking about Obama's connection with someone who in an interview, published on 9/11/01, stated that he did not regret bombing government buildings and wished he had done more. Your beloved Hillary even made references to this interview.------On to ACORN....voter fraud aside, one of ACORNs early objectives was to ease welfare restrictions to the point of breaking the system. They wanted the economy damaged to the point that capitalism would be replaced with socialism. All they managed to do was promote dependency. Dependency on the govt (typical socialist agenda). Now there objectives have moved on to things like "affordable housing for everyone". While that sounds great it basically says that everyone has a right to own a home, regardless of income and credit history. Well, there is no such right. It's nothing more than bad business. Obama's connections with people who would like nothing more than to financially and socially ruin our country are starting to add up. Has to make you wonder about his plan for "change" is really about.
And by the way, he didn't get the recipe for C4 from Ayers. He learned how to make it while attending that Islamic school. Just Kidding everyone! I totally made that up.
Antisocialism you sound like another whack job like Anonymous. Do you really read what you say and hear it? It sounds ridiculous!Where do some of you get your info from? I read about Obama and McCain all the time and I actually take the time to sort out what is hype and what is real. Do you?
Palin is a sorry excuse for a person period. There are too many things wrong with this woman to mention. She is a typical repub, what can you do for me or what can I get others to do for me without getting caught.
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