Forums | MacLife

That lapel pin is precious.

THe rest is just too unbearable.

Macskeeball wrote:

http://www.stickergiant.com/cand/imgs/dickcheney.jpg

Thank you.

does that make it chelin, or painy.

It's almost as thought Gov. Palin has a problem with reading comprehension.

bratboy wrote:

Sarah Palin, full of smurf:

"Well, I’m very very pleased to be cleared of any legal wrongdoing," Palin said, "any hint of any kind of unethical activity there. Very pleased to be cleared of any of that."

Just my point. It's always teflon, no matter what.

"Smoking gun? Never heard of it."

Some great points from TIME on this subject:

But the Branchflower report still makes for good reading, if only because it convincingly answers a question nobody had even thought to ask: Is the Palin administration shockingly amateurish? Yes, it is. Disturbingly so.

The 263 pages of the report show a co-ordinated application of pressure on Monegan so transparent and ham-handed that it was almost certain to end in public embarrassment for the governor. The only surprise is that Troopergate is national news, not just a sorry piece of political gristle to be chewed on by Alaska politicos over steaks at Anchorage's Club Paris.

A harsh verdict? Consider the report's findings. Not only did people at almost every level of the Palin administration engage in repeated inappropriate contact with Walt Monegan and other high-ranking officials at the Department of Public Safety, but Monegan and his peers constantly warned these Palin disciples that the contact was inappropriate and probably unlawful. Still, the emails and calls continued — in at least one instance on recorded state trooper phone lines.

The state's head of personnel, Annette Kreitzer, called Monegan and had to be warned that personnel issues were confidential. The state's attorney general, Talis Colberg, called Monegan and had to be reminded that the call was putting both men in legal jeopardy, should Wooten decide to sue. The governor's chief of staff met with Monegan and had to be reminded by Monegan that, "This conversation is discoverable ... You don't want Wooten to own your house, do you?"

Monegan consistently emerges as the adult in these conversations, while the Palin camp displays a childish impetuousness and sense of entitlement.

In the report, the head of Gov. Palin's security detail says that Todd spent about half of his time in the governor's office — not at a desk (he didn't have one), but at a long conference table on one side of the office, with his own phone to make and receive calls. It became a shadow office, the informal Department of Getting Mike Wooten Fired.

It was at that long table that Todd Palin first scheduled a meeting with Walt Monegan, days after his wife's administration began. He showed Monegan three huge binders of evidence against Wooten, including a picture of a dead moose that had been shot illegally. After Monegan came back saying that there was no new actionable information, Todd began a very visible campaign of stewing and fuming, trying to get access to personnel files, calling up and down the Public Safety org chart.

So what does this say about the possible Vice-President of the United States? Certainly not as much as her enemies would have hoped. She was only directly involved in a small bit of the pressure campaign — a meeting or two and a couple of emails. She can thank Monegan for not having her hands dirtier; it was he who told her to keep herself at "arm's length" from any Wooten conversations.

But even though she won't likely face any legal repercussions, the amateurism and cronyism of her brief administration hardly leaves Palin sitting pretty. Troopergate's final verdict may be even more damaging than a rebuke: her administration was, at least this regard, just as self-motivated as the Washington fat cats and lobbyists she hopes to unseat.

Link.

Like an episode of Jerry Springer....

bratboy wrote:

Some great points from TIME on this subject:

But the Branchflower report still makes for good reading, if only because it convincingly answers a question nobody had even thought to ask: Is the Palin administration shockingly amateurish? Yes, it is. Disturbingly so.

The 263 pages of the report show a co-ordinated application of pressure on Monegan so transparent and ham-handed that it was almost certain to end in public embarrassment for the governor. The only surprise is that Troopergate is national news, not just a sorry piece of political gristle to be chewed on by Alaska politicos over steaks at Anchorage's Club Paris.

A harsh verdict? Consider the report's findings. Not only did people at almost every level of the Palin administration engage in repeated inappropriate contact with Walt Monegan and other high-ranking officials at the Department of Public Safety, but Monegan and his peers constantly warned these Palin disciples that the contact was inappropriate and probably unlawful. Still, the emails and calls continued — in at least one instance on recorded state trooper phone lines.

The state's head of personnel, Annette Kreitzer, called Monegan and had to be warned that personnel issues were confidential. The state's attorney general, Talis Colberg, called Monegan and had to be reminded that the call was putting both men in legal jeopardy, should Wooten decide to sue. The governor's chief of staff met with Monegan and had to be reminded by Monegan that, "This conversation is discoverable ... You don't want Wooten to own your house, do you?"

Monegan consistently emerges as the adult in these conversations, while the Palin camp displays a childish impetuousness and sense of entitlement.

In the report, the head of Gov. Palin's security detail says that Todd spent about half of his time in the governor's office — not at a desk (he didn't have one), but at a long conference table on one side of the office, with his own phone to make and receive calls. It became a shadow office, the informal Department of Getting Mike Wooten Fired.

It was at that long table that Todd Palin first scheduled a meeting with Walt Monegan, days after his wife's administration began. He showed Monegan three huge binders of evidence against Wooten, including a picture of a dead moose that had been shot illegally. After Monegan came back saying that there was no new actionable information, Todd began a very visible campaign of stewing and fuming, trying to get access to personnel files, calling up and down the Public Safety org chart.

So what does this say about the possible Vice-President of the United States? Certainly not as much as her enemies would have hoped. She was only directly involved in a small bit of the pressure campaign — a meeting or two and a couple of emails. She can thank Monegan for not having her hands dirtier; it was he who told her to keep herself at "arm's length" from any Wooten conversations.

But even though she won't likely face any legal repercussions, the amateurism and cronyism of her brief administration hardly leaves Palin sitting pretty. Troopergate's final verdict may be even more damaging than a rebuke: her administration was, at least this regard, just as self-motivated as the Washington fat cats and lobbyists she hopes to unseat.

Link.

Like an episode of Jerry Springer....

Please, it leaves  no such lasting damage. THere will be no calls for disiplinary action, the report all but says its one persons opinion that the firing of Wwoten was based on him not firing the trooper, but also on other legitimate factors and that she was entitled to fire him anyway. Add to that the political nature of the case in the first place and you get a whole lot of sound and fury signifying nothing.

everlong554 wrote:

Please, it leaves  no such lasting damage. THere will be no calls for disiplinary action, the report all but says its one persons opinion that the firing of Wwoten was based on him not firing the trooper, but also on other legitimate factors and that she was entitled to fire him anyway.

Well that was predictable--all that was needed was some other plausible reason to get rid of him.  He served at her discretion. 

The abuse of power came in the ridiculous number of attempts to get her brother-in-law fired--committed both by Palin but also her subordinates and her husband.  The whole thing is just trashy.

Here's Gary Kamiya on Palin family values.

According to the report, authored by independent investigator Stephen Branchflower, Governor Palin and Todd Palin, as well as numerous other Alaska state officials, engaged in a coordinated effort to pressure Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan to fire State Trooper Mike Wooten, who had been in an acrimonious divorce and custody battle with Palin’s sister, Molly. After Monegan refused to fire Wooten — which would have been illegal and unethical — Palin fired Monegan. Because there is a very modest paper trail that supports Palin’s contention that she fired Monegan for cause, and because the law allows the governor to fire appointed officials at will and without any reason, the report reaches the ultra-cautious conclusion that Palin’s firing of Monegan was legal and proper. Readers of the report can decide for themselves how legitimate this conclusion is. But the main fact remains: The report found that Palin abused her power by allowing her husband to illegally pressure Monegan and other officials to fire Wooten.

In other words, Monegen was fired for acting ethically.

Too bad for him (and us) that he was such a good boy scout.

WHat?! I'm shocked!