Gee seems that Palin has fallen down on the job. Not only has she been unable to handle the press except in carefully preplanned interviews she's now even more insulated from the press, the American and Alaskan people and it seems her job. She is gritty and real isn't she?

From the Anchorage Daily News
Abdication by Palin

When did the McCain campaign take over the governor's office?

Published: September 20th, 2008 12:53 AM
Last Modified: September 20th, 2008 02:47 AM

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.
Is it too much to ask that Alaska's governor speak for herself, directly to Alaskans, about her actions as Alaska's governor?

A press conference Thursday showed how skewed Alaska's relationship with its own governor has become.

McCain-Palin campaign spokesman Ed O'Callaghan announced that Todd Palin will not comply with a subpoena to testify about his role in Troopergate, the Legislature's investigation into whether Palin abused her power in forcing out former public safety commissioner Walt Monegan.

O'Callaghan also announced that Alaska's governor is "unlikely" to cooperate with the investigation by the Alaska Legislature about questionable conduct by Alaska's chief executive.

Monday, he and campaign sidekick Meg Stapleton stood before Alaskans and defended the official personnel decision by Alaska's governor to fire Alaska's public safety commissioner. ABC News reported that Gov. Palin's official press secretary, Bill McAllister, paid by the state of Alaska, didn't even know the McCain staffers were meeting the press to defend his boss.
Is the McCain campaign telling Alaskans that Alaska's governor can't handle her own defense in front of her own Alaska constituents?

Way back when, before John McCain chose Palin as his vice presidential running mate, Palin promised to cooperate with the investigation.

Now she won't utter a peep about it to Alaskans. Nor will her husband, Todd, who definitely needs to explain his role in Troopergate.

Instead, Alaskans have to sit back and listen to John McCain's campaign operatives handling inquiries about what Alaska's governor did while governing Alaska. Residents of any state would be offended to see their governor cede such a fundamental, day-to-day governmental responsibility to a partisan politician from another state. It's especially offensive to Alaskans.

O'Callaghan said Todd Palin objects to the subpoena because the Legislature's investigation "has been subjected to complete partisanship." That's the kind of dizzying spin that Washington has perfected. It is the McCain-Palin campaign that has worked overtime to politicize the entire matter in a transparent attempt to justify the stonewalling.

Futile as the request may be, we encourage Gov. Palin to stand up to McCain's handlers and be personally accountable for her administration's response to Troopergate. She is the governor of Alaska, not John McCain or Ed O'Callaghan.

BOTTOM LINE: Official state business -- like Troopergate -- should be handled by the governor of the state, not by McCain presidential campaign operatives.

OMG...

Is Senator Obama doing his senatorial duties?

Joe Biden?

McCain?

What an outlandish thing to even worry about...

dare I say it...

If she wasn't causeing the Democrats so much trouble this would not even be an issue.

Neither Obama of Biden have anyone else in their office.

Are you that ignorant of our government...

what senator does not have an army of secretaries, press staff, email readers (and answerers) cept for appearing for votes they could actually let their staff run the country (and some of them probally do).

You really think this is different...

why, cause they are cold stopping witch hunters...

or cause you live in alaska and think your governor should be there being governor stead of stepping up to national levels?

the congress recessed for the year.

D'OH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


clueless .

I thought that she was already only handling the press in carefully preplanned interviews - with easy questions.

I've never seen so many women...so obsessed...with the beauty and intelligence of one woman...give it a rest already...talk about beating a dead horse...sheesh !!...Governor Palin is going to be the next VP...of this great country...so...get a grip !!

Sheesh. It's not about her looks.

Look what Hillary had to go through too, btw. And Obama and McCain.

Sheesh. It's not about her looks.




you are right.

it's not

I would still like to see the birth certificate for her fifth child

Why? Is the child running for office?

What possible bearing-on-reality could this have?

Are you going to vote based on mindless junk or because of concrete information?

Do you base all decisions in your life on such utter nonsense?

Words fail me....

Some posters here have backed Palin saying she does not have to answer a legislative subpoena. What the legal limits of the Alaskan legislator are would require more research than I am willing to do at the moment. So I won't debate that point.

However I will say this. Palin is an elected official and owes a duty to the people of Alaska. McCain and his staffers were not elected by the people of Alaska. Business of the state should not be conducted in Alaska by the McCain staff while she remains out of reach and quiet.

The McCain staff is addressing troopergate..she isn't.

There's more interesting information on this subject here.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-troopergate21-2008sep21,0,2158301.story

Big difference between a legislative subpeona (administrative request for information) and a Judicial subpeona (legal summons to appear).

One is the result of political manuevering. The other is issued after due process.

Can you say bill of rights.

You notice the same 'atmosphere' as I do.......

And, YES, Governor Sarah Palin WILL be the next Vice President of the USA.

All this hatred and bashing is not going to change that facT.


LINDYY

Some posters clear do not distinguish between facts regarding a candidates public record and rolling smilies.

I'd much rather make an informed decision.

lets look at what this is all about and the timeline for Monegan's dismissal and Monegan's words and the dates involved in all this brouhaha.

at the end of this article, it is clear by the dates and quotes of those involved that the present investigation is more a witch hunt and a distraction aimed at discrediting Palin than investigating wrongdoing.

Palin encouraged the investigation.


but, just for grins, here's the story.




Allegations against State Trooper Mike Wooten
On April 11, 2005, before Palin became governor, her sister Molly McCann filed for divorce against her then-husband, Alaska State Trooper Mike Wooten. The same day McCann phoned the police to complain that in February 2005 Wooten had threatened to shoot Chuck Heath (father of McCann and Sarah Palin) if he hired an attorney to help in her divorce, had threatened to "take down" Palin if she got involved, and had driven while intoxicated on several occasions.[15][16][17] McCann, Palin and Heath subsequently made several further allegations against Wooten.[15][16][18]


[edit] Contact between Palin and Wooten prior to controversy
On January 1, 2000, Sarah Palin wrote a character reference for Mike Wooten. She described him as "a fine role model for my own children," and said "I beleive [sic] the United States Air Force has been fortunate to have the services of Mike these past 10 years." The recommendation was written when Palin was Mayor of Wasilla, and the letter was on her official letterhead.[19] Molly McCann was dating Mike Wooten at the time.[20] With the aid of this character reference Wooten became an Alaska State Trooper in March 2001.[21]


[edit] Court-imposed Domestic Violence Protection Order
On April 11, 2005, the day Molly McCann filed for divorce, a judge granted a Domestic Violence Protection Order (DVPO) against Wooten. May 9 that year, a court hearing was held regarding the DVPO. At this hearing the DVPO was quashed because McCann's counsel was unable to produce any acts of physical or implied violence.[20][16] On April 11, 2005, Molly McCann told police "he [Wooten] has never physically abused her."[17] On several subsequent occasions Palin, and the McCain presidential campaign, have referred to the DVPO as evidence that Wooten had been violent towards McCann.[18][20][22][23] On February 7, 2007, Palin said the "restraining order … was lifted when [Wooten's] supervisors intervened."[5] On September 2, 2008, Palin said "the Anchorage Superior Court [had found] that [Wooten] had engaged in serious, violent misconduct," and that Wooten was guilty of "violent behavior … directed against … my sister."[23] On September 17, 2008, McCain-Palin spokesperson Meg Stapleton said Wooten "abused her [Palin's] sister."[24]


[edit] Death threat allegation
In May 2005, Palin told police investigators that she had witnessed the death threat against her father (Heath), but had not called the police immediately because she did not want to put Wooten's career in jeopardy and the situation had not yet progressed to physical violence.[15][25] On August 10, 2005, Palin sent an email to Col. Julia Grimes, chief of the Alaska state police, urging that Wooten be dismissed and giving more details about the alleged death threat.[18] The email from Palin to Grimes said that in February 2005 Wooten had threatened to shoot Heath after McCann had accused Wooten of attending an event with another woman:

“ I heard this death threat, my 16-year-old son [Track Palin] heard it, Molly heard it, as did their small children. Wooten spoke with his Trooper gun on his hip in an extremely intimidating fashion, leaving no doubt he is serious about taking someone's life who disagrees with him....Wooten's words were, "I will kill him. He'll eat a [expletive] lead bullet, I'll shoot him," if our father got the attorney to help Molly.[15][18] ”

In a police interview discussing this event,[25] Palin explained that she and Track were not in the same location as Wooten and McCann, but were listening over the telephone. According to Track, they were listening in order to determine whether Wooten was having an extramarital affair.[20] Sarah Palin went on to say that after hearing the threat

“ I jumped in my truck to drive over to M[olly]'s house because I was sure M[ike] was gonna he was, like a ticking time bomb and I thought he was gonna blow and physically harm M[olly] or the kids or my dad. ”

After making observations through a window, Palin asked a neighbor to monitor the situation on her behalf:

“ I had to head on into C[hugiak], I had ah a meeting that I couldn't miss. I told the neighbor … "could you stand by … cause it it's looking dangerous" … after standing there watching M[ike] freaking out for however long probably, 15 minutes umm, I had to leave. I took off. ”

In her email to Grimes, Palin described Wooten as "a loose cannon" and "a ticking timebomb," and said that failing to fire Wooten "would lead a rational person to believe there is a problem inside the organization."[15][18] As a result of the email, Palin was interviewed again by state troopers on August 18, 2005. During this interview, she stated that she did not warn her father Heath of the death threat until two weeks after it was made; she explained the delay by saying that Wooten had no reason to shoot Heath.[26][16] According to Heath himself, the delay was a month: "Heath stated that his daughters didn't report the incident to him until a month later."[20]

In addition to the alleged death threat against Heath, Palin has alleged that Wooten has made other threats against the family which were witnessed by Molly McCann alone. For example, in a legal filing on September 1, 2008,[27] Palin accused Wooten of making a threat to "bring Sarah Palin down." When Palin was asked about this threat in 2005, by Sgt. Ron Wall, a police investigator, Palin explained this threat as follows:

“ … as [Molly] had explained. "I'm gonna take your sister down … I'm gonna ruin your family … I know people in all the right places, in high places. I know judges. I know attorney's. I have relationships with these guys. You guys are all going down."[28] ”

The trooper internal investigation reported that

“ Sarah Palin and Molly McCann both stated that Investigator Wooten made threats that he would "bring down" Sarah and her family. Sarah Palin had no first hand knowledge of the threats. Molly McCann stated that Investigator Wooten made this threat to her several times and that she understood him to mean that he could use his position as a trooper to make life difficult for Sarah.[16] ”

In the Memorandum of Findings,[16] there is no mention of any allegation of any threat, other than what is described above (a death threat against the father, and a threat to "make life difficult for Sarah"). In a legal filing on September 15, 2008, Palin stated she was "concerned about threats of violence directed at her father, sister and nephew by a state trooper."[29] In September 2008, Palin described Wooten as "a trooper who is making threats against the First Family."[30] On September 18 she again mentioned "his threats against the First Family."[31] Palin's recent legal filings[29][27] do not detail any threats that took place after Palin became governor, or at any time since April 11, 2005, when the divorce was filed. Palin's filing on September 1, 2008[27] said "no one in the Palin family ever filed a formal complaint," subsequent to the complaints the family made in 2005.


[edit] Divorce trial
In October 2005, the McCann-Wooten divorce went to trial. During the trial, judge John Suddock expressed puzzlement at the efforts of McCann's family to get Wooten fired, since it would harm his earning capacity and damage his ability to pay child support. Judge Suddock said "It appears for the world that Ms. McCann and her family have decided to take off for the guy's livelihood -- that the bitterness of whatever who did what to whom has overridden good judgment." A representative for the Alaska State Trooper's union testified that the union viewed the dozen complaints filed by McCann and her family against Wooten as "not job-related" and "harassment." Judge Suddock repeatedly warned McCann and her family to stop "disparaging" Wooten's reputation or risk the judge granting Wooten custody of the children.[32][15] At a court hearing in October 2005, Judge Suddock said "disparaging will not be tolerated—it is a form of child abuse … relatives cannot disparage either. If occurs [sic] the parent needs to set boundaries for their relatives."[32]

In the divorce decree that was granted on January 31, 2006,[33] Judge Suddock expressed concern about continued criticism by McCann's family towards Wooten and noted that he would pay particular attention to problems raised by a custody investigator.[32] Legal disputes between Wooten and McCann over custody, child support and visitation rights continued through 2007 and 2008.[33]


[edit] Results of internal police investigation in 2006

[edit] Death threat
On March 1, 2006, Wooten was notified of the results of an Alaska State Trooper internal investigation. The probe found that Wooten violated internal policy, but not the law, in making a death threat against Heath (the father of Sarah Palin and Molly McCann).[16] Wooten denied having made the threat, but the investigation decided that he had in fact done so.[16] The trooper investigation concluded that the death threat was not a crime because Wooten did not threaten the father directly; therefore, the investigator deemed the threat to be a violation of trooper policy rather than a violation of criminal law.[3] Although the death threat was listed as a violation of trooper policy in the Memorandum of Findings[16] issued on October 29, 2005, it was not mentioned at all in the suspension letter[34] sent to Wooten by Col. Grimes on March 1, 2006.


[edit] Moose hunt
The internal investigation found that Wooten had committed a hunting violation in shooting a moose without a permit: he had been out hunting with McCann in September 2003 and had shot the animal himself even though their permit was in McCann's name only.[16] According to subsequent news reports, McCann had obtained the permit but balked at killing the moose herself, so she handed the gun to her then-husband, who shot the animal.[35]


[edit] Taser incident
Wooten was also found to have violated department policy in using a Taser on his then 11-year old stepson in 2003; he told investigators that he did so "in a training capacity" after the child had asked to be tased in order to show his cousin, Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol, that he "wasn't a mama's boy".[36][16] In a statement to the police, the boy said "that he wanted to be tased to show that he's not a mommy's boy in front of Bristol. Following being tased he went upstairs to tell his mother that he was fine."[20] In a statement to the police, Molly McCann said "she was up stairs giving a bath to the kids … Mike was going to show Payton what it feels like and she told Mike that he better not."[20] According to Molly's account, she remained upstairs during the incident.

Although the Taser incident happened in 2003, it was not reported to police until on or after April 11, 2005, the day that Molly McCann filed for divorce. On June 6, 2005, a police investigator asked Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol why they "waited so long and brought the incident up after two years." Bristol said "because of the divorce."[20]

In a September 2008 newspaper interview, Wooten said that he "deeply regretted" the Taser incident.[37] He said that he set the Taser to "test" mode, meaning that it was on low power. Wooten added that he attached clips to the child's shirt rather than firing darts from a gun, that he turned on the power for less than one second, and that afterwards his stepson "thought it was great and wanted to do it all over again." He stated that "everyone laughed about" the incident at the time.[37] He also said that he "would like to put this behind me and get on with my life," and wished Palin and her family good luck.[37] According to a spokesman for Taser International, "if the Taser is fired for just a second, it would feel like your funny bone was hit."[36]


[edit] Alcohol-related allegations
The investigation initially cleared Wooten on all of the alcohol-related charges,[16] but Grimes overturned that result and found that Wooten did "take [an] open beer with him when he drove away in his trooper vehicle" on one occasion in the summer of 2004, violating both the law and internal trooper policy.[38] Wooten was not on duty; he was wearing "civilian attire." And he "drove approximately one mile to his residence."[20] Because Wooten "was a member of the SERT [SWAT] team … he [was allowed to] use his State vehicle for personal use."[39] The only witnesses to this event were close friends of Sarah Palin's father: "Adrian Lane was a student of Chuck Heath's in Idaho when he was a child and they have been close friends ever since."[16] This is apparently why the original Memo of Findings[16] treated this allegation as "Not Sustained."


[edit] Other charges
Wooten was cleared of numerous other allegations made by McCann and her family, including that he had taken illegal steroid and testosterone supplements, that he had physically assaulted McCann, and that he had illegally shot a wolf.[16]


[edit] Suspension of Wooten in 2006
As a result of these findings, Grimes announced on March 1, 2006 that she would suspend Wooten for ten days. In announcing the suspension, Grimes referred to the Taser, moose and beer incidents, and also to seven other negative actions in Wooten's personnel file, such as failing to use turn signals. She concluded that "[t]he record clearly indicates a serious and concentrated pattern of unacceptable and at times, illegal activity occurring over a lengthy period, which establishes a course of conduct totally at odds with the ethics of our profession".[15][36][34]

After a union protest, the suspension was reduced to five days, and Wooten was warned by Grimes that he would be fired if he committed any further misconduct.[36] Union president Rob Cox has denied that Wooten was a "rogue cop" and pointed to his service on an emergency reaction team.[36] Union executive John Cyr said that many of the negative items in Wooten's personnel file were minor,[36] and that the only complaints ever filed against him were those by Palin and her family.[35] In early September 2008, Palin said "there were a lot of concerns from not just my family, but from the public about this trooper's activities."[40] In a September 15, 2008 legal filing, Palin's lawyer wrote that "the Palin family was not the only group of people concerned about Trooper Wooten's behavior."[29]

According to the Memorandum of Findings, more than fifteen witnesses were interviewed.[16] On September 1, 2008, Governor Palin said "that the troopers' investigation into Wooten was negligently or deliberately slipshod. … many witnesses to wrongful or possibly illegal behavior by Wooten were never interviewed … investigators seemed more concerned about exonerating Wooten than protecting public safety or the Palin family."[27]

For the period prior to April 11, 2005, the date when the divorce paperwork was filed and a Domestic Violence Protective Order was issued, Grimes' letter listed three disciplinary actions against Wooten: a Warning, a Reprimand, and an Instruction, for such things as "not using turn signals."[34] On September 15, 2008, a legal filing by Palin's lawyer said that "according to the Grimes report, Trooper Wooten had been disciplined a dozen times before he was the subject of a Domestic Violence Protective Order from Molly McCann."[29]

As of September 2008, Wooten was still a state trooper.[36]


[edit] Contacts between Governor's office and Wooten's supervisors
In December 2006, Palin took office as Governor of Alaska and appointed Walter C. Monegan III to be Public Safety Commissioner, a cabinet position.[15] Monegan is a former police chief of Anchorage and son of Walter C. Monegan, Jr.[41]

In January 2007, the Governor's husband, Todd Palin, invited Monegan into the Governor's office and asked him to look into the Wooten affair. Monegan did so and told Todd Palin that there was nothing he could do as the case was closed.[15] The troopers operate under a union contract that restricts the circumstances under which a trooper can be fired.[42] Monegan told the Anchorage Daily News that Todd Palin had showed him some of the findings of a private detective the family had hired to investigate Wooten, and accused Wooten of a variety of transgressions, including drunken driving and child abuse.[43]

According to Monegan, Governor Palin raised the matter with him personally twice, in January and February[44] and then kept raising the matter indirectly through e-mails, though she did not again bring it up directly.[15] In an email sent to Monegan on February 7, 2007 about a proposed bill to require 99-year sentences for police officers found guilty of murder, Palin gave Wooten as an example of an officer who violated the public trust.[5] The email listed several examples of Wooten's misbehavior.[5] Another Palin email, dated July 17, 2007, concerned a proposed bill to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill. Palin wrote to Monegan that her first thoughts "went to my ex-brother-in-law, the trooper, who threatened to kill my dad yet was not even reprimanded by his bosses and still to this day carries a gun, of course".[5] A spokesperson for the McCain-Palin campaign says that Palin's contacts with Monegan were only made in order to alert him to potential threats to her family.[15]

Monegan also has said he got telephone calls from three Palin appointees: her then-chief of staff, Mike Tibbles; Commissioner Annette Kreitzer of the Department of Administration; and Attorney General Talis Colberg. Colberg said he called after Todd Palin asked him about "the process" for handling death threats made by state troopers against the first family; Colberg was told by Monegan that the matter had been handled, and Colberg reported back to Todd Palin that nothing more could be done.[15]

In April 2007, Todd Palin told the Anchorage Daily News that he had met once with Wooten's supervisor, Colonel Audie Holloway, to give her pictures of Wooten driving a snowmobile when he was out on a worker's compensation claim.[15] Alaska Deputy Attorney General Michael Barnhill said on August 30 that Diane Kiesel, Alaska state personnel director, also called Holloway about the snowmobile incident, because she believed the troopers should know there might be a violation of law. "People in the administration made contact with the Department of Public Safety to deal with the worker's compensation file," Barnhill said. Barnhill said the attorney general's office did not think the governor's staff should be banned from making calls about Wooten to his superiors.[15]

In mid-August 2008, the Alaska Attorney General's inquiry reported that Palin's staff had made about two dozen contacts with public safety officials about Wooten, with more than half initiated by her then-chief of staff, Mike Tibbles.[3]

One of the identified contacts was on February 29, 2008, when Frank Bailey, the governor's director of boards and commissions, made a phone call to trooper Lt. Rodney Dial, the state troopers' liaison to the Legislature. The Public Safety Department recorded the call, as it does routinely, and the Palin administration released an audiotape of it on August 13.[3][45] In it, Bailey made several accusations against Wooten, including that he lied on his application to become a trooper. He was recorded saying "Todd and Sarah are scratching their heads, 'why on earth hasn't, why is this guy still representing the department?' "[3] and "I'm telling you honestly, you know, she really likes Walt [Monegan] a lot, but on this issue, she feels like it's, she doesn't know why there is absolutely no action for a year on this issue. It's very, very troubling to her and the family. I could definitely relay that."[3] Bailey said in an interview on August 13 that that no one had asked him to make the call and he didn't know why he indicated in the call that he was speaking on behalf of the Palins.[3] A transcript of the call is available.[46]


[edit] Dismissal of Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan
On July 11, 2008, Palin's acting chief of staff Mike Nizich dismissed Monegan, offering him a position as executive director of the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, which he turned down.[47]

In a letter to DPS employees announcing his termination, Monegan wrote that he was an at-will employee and knew his dismissal was "a possibility ever present," and that he had been advised that the governor wanted to take DPS in a "different direction."[48] In an interview the next day Monegan said that the dismissal had come "out of the blue" and that "f the governor was upset with me for one thing or another, it had never been communicated to me."[47]

On July 17, Palin said publicly that "We have [to] start recruiting. We have to start doing more than just talking about it. And taking action also." Monegan responded on July 18 that the two most recent trooper graduating classes had the most recruits in years.[49] On July 18, Monegan suggested that his dismissal might have been related to his reluctance to fire Wooten. He said phone calls and questions from the Palin administration and the governor's husband, Todd Palin, about Wooten started shortly after Monegan was hired and continued until May or June 2008.[50] Monegan said that Palin's acting chief of staff, Mike Nizich, told him on July 11 that he was being removed from his position because Palin wanted to take the Department of Public Safety in a different direction.[51]

On July 18, in response to Monegan's comments, Palin released a statement:

“ I do not interfere with the day-to-day operations of any department. Former Commissioner Monegan was not released due to any actions or inaction related to personnel issues in his department. We had hoped the former commissioner would have stayed in state service to help fight alcohol-related crime. We offered him the position of executive director of the Alcoholic Beverage Control board and, unfortunately, he turned it down.[52][49] ”

The statement also denied that the governor had improperly accessed Wooten's employment records, saying that "[t]o allege that I, or any member of my family, requested, received or released confidential personnel information on an Alaska State Trooper, or directed disciplinary action be taken against any employee of the Department of Public Safety, is, quite simply, outrageous. Any information regarding personnel records came from the trooper himself."[52] She also praised Monegan's replacement, saying "Commissioner Kopp shares my vision for filling vacant positions and reducing crime across the state."[52] Palin said " … absolutely no pressure [was] ever put on Commissioner Monegan to hire or fire anybody, at any time … no pressure was ever put on anybody to fire anybody."[49] On July 18, Palin said "we would never prohibit, or be less than enthusiastic about any kind of investigation."[53]

In late July, former U.S. Attorney Wevley Shea, who had acted previously as an informal advisor to Palin, wrote her an unsolicited letter in which he urged her to apologize for "overreaching or preceived overreaching" to get Wooten fired, and warned that the matter could snowball into a bigger scandal. The letter said that she should fire any aides who had raised concerns with Monegan.[54][55]

On August 13, Palin said specifically that her action was unrelated to Wooten. She said that Monegan was dismissed for not adequately filling state trooper vacancies and fighting alcohol abuse problems, and because he "did not turn out to be a team player on budgeting issues."[3] Palin acknowledged that "pressure could have been perceived to exist, although I have only now become aware of it."[5] She suspended Frank Bailey, and apologized to Alaskans:

“ Mr. Bailey was aware of my family’s personal concerns about Trooper Wooten. It appears that he, though, tried to apply some pressure on my behalf and this was without ever discussing it with me and I apologize to Alaskans for this distraction.[56][57] ”

On August 28, in an interview with Anchorage Daily News, Monegan said, "For the record, no one ever said fire Wooten. Not the governor. Not Todd. Not any of the other staff. What they said directly was more along the lines of 'This isn't a person that we would want to be representing our state troopers.' "[58] He later added that he had resisted pressure from the Governor and her husband to re-open the case against Wooten.[59]

In an August interview with The New Yorker, Palin blamed Monegan for failing to address alcohol abuse in rural Alaska. According to the New Yorker article, Palin stated that she didn't fire Monegan, but rather "asked him to drop everything else and single-mindedly take on the state’s drinking problem, as the director of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board". Palin characterized the job offered to Monegan as "commensurate in salary pretty much—ten thousand dollars less", but said that Monegan didn't want it, so he quit.[42]

In September, in a televised interview with Charles Gibson of ABC News, Palin reiterated her position that she had dismissed Monegan because of his job performance and that neither she nor her husband pressured him to fire Wooten. Palin said "I never pressured him to hire or fire anybody."[40] In response, Monegan said: "She's not telling the truth when she told ABC neither she nor her husband pressured me to fire Trooper Wooten. And she's not telling the truth to the media about her reasons for firing me."[59]

Monegan has made a number of other statements alleging that he had been pressured to fire Wooten. "There was pressure for that, yes."[60] "There were numerous contacts by the governor, her husband, by her staff that basically said that Trooper Wooten was not an acceptable example of an Alaska state trooper."[61] "The fact that they tried for better than a year while I was there is kind of indicative that somebody was trying to pressure something."[50]

On September 2, 2008, "a senior strategist in the McCain campaign" said "the man who was fired has said on the record that he was never pressured by the governor or the governor’s husband on the issue of firing Trooper Wooten."[62]

On September 15, 2008, McCain/Palin campaign spokeswoman Meg Stapleton held a news conference at which she accused Monegan of "egregious insubordination," "obstructionist conduct" and a "brazen refusal" to follow proper channels for requesting money. Asked why someone with a history of insubordination would be offered the leadership of the Alaska Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, Stapleton said that without having to deal with a budget, Monegan would be able to focus on alcohol abuse issues. She added that Palin "respects the fact that [Monegan] was respected in the community."[63]







this one is interesting.......


In December 2006, Palin took office as Governor of Alaska and appointed Walter C. Monegan III to be Public Safety Commissioner, a cabinet position.[15] Monegan is a former police chief of Anchorage and son of Walter C. Monegan, Jr.[41]

True...

Facts... when checked by the vast majority of americans...

Will lift McCain to the presidency.

If, of course, americans DO actually check the facts stead of just voting based on barking, biting and bashing, Misleading half quotes(lies), delibrate spin (lies), and other such nonsense.

First off, I would say that Palin is Governor, so the buck is supposed to stop at her desk, but she's handing off her duties to unelected people who aren't even from her state, even worse if McCains campaign people are handling it, that would mean there is a solid chance Alaska is being run currently by lobbyists.

The senate/congress doesn't have that problem, Obama doesn't show up to do his job, the Senate doesn't skip a beat and all that does is make him look derelict in his duties. Same applies with McCain and Biden.

I would be concerned about that, but I'd be more concerned with the fact that her and now her husband are pulling some Cheney-esque behaviors not cooperating with their own states investigation.

My tounge was in my cheek sorry you missed it. I should have put a laughing icon in there somewere. I would think though to shut up the critics and speculation it would be a simple matter to make that birth certificate public. Regardless if it is or isnt, this is telling of her personality.

actually, it is telling of yours.

aren't birth certificates a matter of public record?

go look for yourself.