News Palin pick an insult to our intelligence

[Redbelly98]

I wonder if Palin's daughter will "change her mind" about getting married, after the election is over.

 

[LowlyPion]

Yes, you can stick it back in the microwave now and finish off burning your house down - bye bye negative equity

I wonder if that will start? Neighborhoods of overpriced houses in flames?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Monday afternoon, at a luncheon celebrating a redesign of "The Atlantic", conservative David Brooks called Palin "a fatal cancer to the Republican party." He went on to explain that she is an anti-intellectual, who does not just oppose liberal ideas, but ideas in general.

Heh, I hadn't heard about that one.

 

[LowlyPion]

Palin pre-empts state report, clears self in probe
By MATT APUZZO – 1 hour ago

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Trying to head off a potentially embarrassing state ethics report on GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, campaign officials released their own report Thursday that clears her of any wrongdoing.

Sen. John McCain's running mate is the subject of a legislative investigation into whether she abused her power as governor by firing her public safety commissioner. The commissioner, Walter Monegan, says he was dismissed in July for resisting pressure from Palin's husband, Todd Palin, and numerous top aides to fire state trooper Mike Wooten, Palin's former brother-in-law.

Lawmakers are expected to release their own findings Friday. Campaign officials have yet to see that report — the result of an investigation that began before she was tapped as McCain's running mate — but said the investigation has falsely portrayed a legitimate policy dispute between a governor and her commissioner as something inappropriate.

"The following document will prove Walt Monegan's dismissal was a result of his insubordination and budgetary clashes with Governor Palin and her administration," campaign officials wrote. "Trooper Wooten is a separate issue."

Monegan said Thursday that he doesn't know what to expect from the legislative panel's own report.

"I just hope that the truth is figured out," Monegan told The Associated Press on Thursday. "That the governor did want me to fire him, and I chose to not. You just can't walk up to someone and say, 'I fire you.' He didn't do anything under my watch to result in termination."

Palin's critics say that shows she used her office to settle family affairs.

...McCain spokesman Taylor Griffin, who distributed the campaign's report, said it was written by the McCain-Palin campaign staff and based on public filings and Todd Palin's affidavit.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jOTk11gvqDAgD0cY3i4WjI_2YOxwD93NEG1O1

 

[LowlyPion]

This makes three reports.

1 by the Legislature due out later today.

1 by the McCain-Palin Campaign - the one just preemptively released that just flashed onto the radar.

1 by the appointed by the Governor Personnel Board that is conducting some closed door investigation - who if they see Monegan was fired because he crossed Palin, would surely have no cause to fear for their own positions.

 

[Art]

Hard too see how Palin can claim innocence on this. By his own admission her husband told Monegan to fire Wooten because of the way he was treating the Palin family.

As he was speaking with the authority of the governer's office it is inconceivable she was unaware of this especially as in his affidavit her husband spoke of how he and his wife were best friends who spoke about everything. Monegan refused to fire Wooten and next thing he is fired.

It would be very difficult not to see a connection between the two events but even if by some leap of the imagination Monegan's sacking was purely coincidental it still leaves the fact that governer Palin and her aides abused the power of her office to pursue a personal vendetta against her ex-brother-in-law.

 

[LowlyPion]

Hard too see how Palin can claim innocence on this. By his own admission her husband told Monegan to fire Wooten because of the way he was treating the Palin family.

As he was speaking with the authority of the governer's office it is inconceivable she was unaware of this especially as in his affidavit her husband spoke of how he and his wife were best friends who spoke about everything. Monegan refused to fire Wooten and next thing he is fired.

It would be very difficult not to see a connection between the two events but even if by some leap of the imagination Monegan's sacking was purely coincidental it still leaves the fact that governer Palin and her aides abused the power of her office to pursue a personal vendetta against her ex-brother-in-law.

The claim of course is that he wasn't fired, he was offered a "new position".

Of course this doesn't wash with the 25 pages of self serving statements from Todd and the additional pages of reports from a private detective indicating the level of obsessiveness with which Wooten was investigated by the Palins. Those reports went to both Sarah Palin and Todd.

Given the context of their adversarial relationship with the ex-brother-in-law, and their apparent interest to involve themselves in Sarah sister's divorce, I'd say there surely was pressure to interfere in the internal operation of Monegan's department to specifically penalize Wooten beyond what the department and the Police Union had already worked out with respect to his violations of conduct.

The additional demand to know the source of the car seat report sounds like the Palins completely misunderstood Monegan's intent in alerting her to the report in the first place. Taken together I think Troopergate paints a disturbing picture of pettiness and misuse of office.

 

[fourier jr]

The best story I've seen of the AIP that Palin palled around with (not that her supporters would care), including a clip of an interview with former AIP chairman Mark Chryson:

So long as Alaska remained under the boot of the federal government, said Chryson, the AIP had to stand on guard to stymie a New World Order. He invited a Salon reporter to see a few items inside his pickup truck that were intended for his personal protection. “This here is my attack dog,” he said with a chuckle, handing the reporter an exuberant 8-pound papillon from his passenger seat. “Her name is Suzy.” Then he pulled a 9-millimeter Makarov PM pistol — once the standard-issue sidearm for Soviet cops — out of his glove compartment. “I’ve got enough weaponry to raise a small army in my basement,” he said, clutching the gun in his palm. “Then again, so do most Alaskans.” But Chryson added a message of reassurance to residents of that faraway place some Alaskans call “the 48.” “We want to go our separate ways,” he said, “but we are not going to kill you.”

Though Chryson belongs to a fringe political party, one that advocates the secession of Alaska from the Union, and that organizes with other like-minded secessionist movements from Canada to the Deep South, he is not without peculiar influence in state politics, especially the rise of Sarah Palin. An obscure figure outside of Alaska, Chryson has been a political fixture in the hometown of the Republican vice-presidential nominee for over a decade. During the 1990s, when Chryson directed the AIP, he and another radical right-winger, Steve Stoll, played a quiet but pivotal role in electing Palin as mayor of Wasilla and shaping her political agenda afterward. Both Stoll and Chryson not only contributed to Palin’s campaign financially, they played major behind-the-scenes roles in the Palin camp before, during and after her victory.

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/10/10/palin_chryson/index.html

 

[fourier jr]

Sarah Palin: Newsweek criticised for unflattering cover

Andrea Tantaros, a Republican media consultant, described the picture as "mortifying."

"This cover is a clear slap in the face of Sarah Palin," she told US television. "Why? Because it's unretouched. It highlights every imperfection that every human being has. We're talking unwanted facial hair, pores, wrinkles."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/sarahpalin/3171956/Sarah-Palin-Newsweek-criticised-for-unflattering-cover.html

so much for the hottest governor from the coldest state! Why would the Republicans not want her to have "every imperfection that every human being has?"

 

[Evo]

Can this campaign get any more petty and ridiculously away from the issues?

 

[NeoDevin]

Can this campaign get any more petty and ridiculously away from the issues?

Probably, wait and see.

 

[LowlyPion]

Can this campaign get any more petty and ridiculously away from the issues?

Not as far as the lagging Republicans are concerned I expect.

The issues have coalesced against them.

 

[LowlyPion]

Troopergate findings are due today
CLOSED DOOR: Legislative Council will decide on release.

By SEAN COCKERHAM, WESLEY LOY and KYLE HOPKINS
Anchorage Daily News

Published: October 10th, 2008 02:58 AM
Last Modified: October 10th, 2008 05:03 AM

The Alaska Supreme Court has cleared for possible release to the public today the Legislature's highly anticipated investigative report on whether Gov. Sarah Palin abused her power.

The court Thursday rejected an attempt by a group of six Republican legislators to keep the report into the so-called Troopergate affair from being made public. That made way for members of the bipartisan Legislative Council, which ordered the investigation, to go ahead and pick up their copies of the report. The legislators signed confidentiality agreements promising not to show anyone, including their staff.

The Legislative Council is expected to vote sometime today whether to make the 263-page report public. The legislators will first meet behind closed doors, starting around 9 a.m. this morning, to receive a briefing from Steve Branchflower, the investigator they hired to look into the governor's dismissal of her public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, and whether she improperly pressured him to fire a state trooper divorced from her sister. The meeting of the 14-member council will be at the downtown Anchorage Legislative Information Office.

Branchflower also produced a separate volume, roughly twice as large as his report, that's expected to remain confidential because it contains exhibits with personnel information that cannot legally be released, according to legislative council staff.

http://www.adn.com/troopergate/story/551531.html

They are apparently meeting at this moment. 9:00 AM Alaska 4 hours behind Eastern, 3 Central, etc.

 

[turbo]

Just found this video regarding the town of Wasilla making rape victims pay for evidence gathering and testing while Palin was mayor. It's not pretty.

 

[LowlyPion]

Now they are claiming on Fox News that the report to be released will be fatally flawed because they failed to talk to Palin. How absurd.

First she said she would cooperate.

Then she stonewalls and tries to preempt it by effectively investigating herself ... herself, and not scheduling a report until after the election?

And now Fox says that the report is worthless because they didn't talk to her?

 

[turbo]

Now they are claiming on Fox News that the report to be released will be fatally flawed because they failed to talk to Palin. How absurd.

First she said she would cooperate.

Then she stonewalls and tries to preempt it by effectively investigating herself ... herself, and not scheduling a report until after the election?

And now Fox says that the report is worthless because they didn't talk to her?

It gets worse than that LP. Todd Palin is trying to take the blame for pressuring Monegan, as if his wife and "closest friend" had no idea what he was up to. Sarah-Land is a wonderful place, and getting curiouser and curiouser by the day.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Can this campaign get any more petty and ridiculously away from the issues?

No kidding! And it's not like we lack legitimate reasons to beat on Palin. Intelligent Republicans like David Brooks can see that this woman is an embarrasment to the party. And some women don't even bother to follow the news or the issues - they would vote for any woman. But as for the rest who still support her, one really has to wonder.

 

[LowlyPion]

No kidding! And it's not like we lack legitimate reasons to beat on Palin. Intelligent Republicans like David Brooks can see that this woman is an embarrasment to the party. And some women don't even bother to follow the news or the issues - they would vote for any woman. But as for the rest who still support her, one really has to wonder.

After reading this transcript I linked below, I have little doubt that she would not be involved in the minutia of Wooten's case, as this was even before she was Governor and she was seeking to get Wooten in as much trouble as possible over even the slightest thing she could muster.

Now don't get me wrong that I would think this Wooten likely doesn't have violent tendencies and there should be concerns about his potential for domestic violence, but it was in the middle of a divorce and that is trying times for many people. The going out of their way to ruin Wooten's life as much as possible, reveals an incredibly short sighted and mean streak. Regardless of whatever happens he will always be the father of those children, and it reveals a total insensitivity to the later developmental problems those kids will face by such attempts to isolate and destroy him.

Transcript:
http://media.adn.com/smedia/2008/07/18/13/071607-palin-monegue-080805-interview-transcript.source.prod_affiliate.7.pdf

 

[LowlyPion]

Here is a running account that is reporting restroom breaks from the meeting considering the report.

http://community.adn.com/adn/node/132527

 

[Ivan Seeking]

After reading this transcript I linked below, I have little doubt that she would not be involved in the minutia of Wooten's case, as this was even before she was Governor and she was seeking to get Wooten in as much trouble as possible over even the slightest thing she could muster.

For me, what matters most is that Palin is not qualified. In fact I noticed the other day that she still has problems forming complete sentences.

By the standards that we judge a President, the woman is an idiot. Tsu has commented a couple of times that it almost doesn't matter who wins. That Palin even has a chance of holding office is terrifying. What the hell has happened to this country? Really, after Bush, to see someone like Palin on the ticket is simply unbelievable.

 

[Evo]

For me, what matters most is that Palin is not qualified. In fact I noticed the other day that she still has problems forming complete sentences.

By the standards that we judge a President, the woman is an idiot. Tsu has commented a couple of times that it almost doesn't matter who wins. That Palin even has a chance of holding office is terrifying. What the hell has happened to this country? Really, after Bush, to see someone like Palin on the ticket is simply unbelievable.

This is what kills me, that people aren't terrified that someone so incompetant could be a heartbeat away from being President.

 

[LowlyPion]

This is what kills me, that people aren't terrified that someone so incompetant could be a heartbeat away from being President.

I think that scares a lot of people.

 

[turbo]

David Brooks is at least trying to sound like a responsible adult these days.

This year could have changed things. The G.O.P. had three urbane presidential candidates. But the class-warfare clichés took control. Rudy Giuliani disdained cosmopolitans at the Republican convention. Mitt Romney gave a speech attacking “eastern elites.” (Mitt Romney!) John McCain picked Sarah Palin.

Palin is smart, politically skilled, courageous and likable. Her convention and debate performances were impressive. But no American politician plays the class-warfare card as constantly as Palin. Nobody so relentlessly divides the world between the “normal Joe Sixpack American” and the coastal elite.

She is another step in the Republican change of personality. Once conservatives admired Churchill and Lincoln above all — men from wildly different backgrounds who prepared for leadership through constant reading, historical understanding and sophisticated thinking. Now those attributes bow down before the common touch.

And so, politically, the G.O.P. is squeezed at both ends. The party is losing the working class by sins of omission — because it has not developed policies to address economic anxiety. It has lost the educated class by sins of commission — by telling members of that class to go away.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/10/opinion/10brooks.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

 

[Andre]

Whilst not challenging the prospect of SP being at the highest office, assumingly lacking the usual skills expected from presidents, what difference would it make?

Who was the last president, ignoring the suggestions of an army of advisors, saying: no, thanks, guys, but we are going to solve this completely differently this time.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Re Turbo: By "smart", either he means smartly dressed, or he means evasive, deceptive, and shallow. I would like to see anyone defend the notion that she's smart.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Whilst not challenging the prospect of SP being at the highest office, assumingly lacking the usual skills expected from presidents, what difference would it make?

Who was the last president, ignoring the suggestions of an army of advisors, saying: no, thanks, guys, but we are going to solve this completely differently this time.

It is always a goal to not elect an idiot. We did that eight years ago and it will take decades to recover.

 

[Evo]

It is always a goal to not elect an idiot.

And not elect someone that might think that they are placed here to be part of the Biblically prophesized end of the world.

 

[Integral]

For me, what matters most is that Palin is not qualified. In fact I noticed the other day that she still has problems forming complete sentences.

By the standards that we judge a President, the woman is an idiot. Tsu has commented a couple of times that it almost doesn't matter who wins. That Palin even has a chance of holding office is terrifying. What the hell has happened to this country? Really, after Bush, to see someone like Palin on the ticket is simply unbelievable.

But then what have our ever so qualified men gotten us? I have been talking of a presidential lottery for a long time. It seems like Palin is just the sort of candidate that I WANT in office. One that is not already corrupted by the current political system. A system which has produced nothing but incompetence since at least Nixon or Ike.

I think it is past time for a real shake up of our political system I am sick and tired of the lack of real choice in candidates, they are all the same. All saying what they believe people what to hear in order to garner a few votes. Then doing what they want when they get in office.

EoR

 

[Integral]

It is always a goal to not elect an idiot. We did that eight years ago and it will take decades to recover.

I refuse to judge anyone's intelligence based on 30 sec sound bites and TV presence. I will bet that if you got to know her, she is not a complete idiot.

Of I must say that her religion bothers me, I would need proof that she is capable of acting in the best interest of the COUNTRY over her personal beliefs before I could throw a vote her way.

 

[turbo]

Of I must say that her religion bothers me, I would need proof that she is capable of acting in the best interest of the COUNTRY over her personal beliefs before I could throw a vote her way.

Palin has said that it would be unthinkable to charge a crime victim for the evidence-collection and testing for the cost of the kit and the tests. Yet, during her tenure as mayor of Wasilla, this is exactly what happened to rape victims. Why? Could it be that the emergency treatment of rape victims routinely involves offering the victim an emergency contraceptive that prevents the implantation of any egg fertilized in the rape?

If you can come up with any alternative, I'd love to hear it. Palin's insistence that abortion is disallowed even the case of rape or incest appears to have crossed into public policy in Wasilla. I don't want that woman anywhere near the reproductive rights of my nieces.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I refuse to judge anyone's intelligence based on 30 sec sound bites and TV presence. I will bet that if you got to know her, she is not a complete idiot.

Who says that is the basis for my opinion? You are the one who doesn't follow politics.

 

[Evo]

Bad, baaad, joke, but it made me snort.

Q: White robes?
A: Get Pale-In

 

[WheelsRCool]

Palin has said that it would be unthinkable to charge a crime victim for the evidence-collection and testing for the cost of the kit and the tests. Yet, during her tenure as mayor of Wasilla, this is exactly what happened to rape victims. Why? Could it be that the emergency treatment of rape victims routinely involves offering the victim an emergency contraceptive that prevents the implantation of any egg fertilized in the rape?

This is pure nonsense, and has been addressed multiple times.

If you can come up with any alternative, I'd love to hear it. Palin's insistence that abortion is disallowed even the case of rape or incest appears to have crossed into public policy in Wasilla. I don't want that woman anywhere near the reproductive rights of my nieces.

Again, pure nonsense. Stop drinking the Kool-Aid. But you will vote for a man who essentially supports the murder of infants? Because that is technically what he voted for.

 

[LowlyPion]

This is pure nonsense, and has been addressed multiple times.

You got that part right. Mean Sarah was totally disingenuous in her denials that she would insult the victim.

But the bottom line is that she was responsible. And she would duck responsibility. She sounds little more than a dangerous mean hypocrite. Decrying out of one side of her mouth what she authorizes out the other.

 

[Evo]

Again, pure nonsense. Stop drinking the Kool-Aid. But you will vote for a man who essentially supports the murder of infants? Because that is technically what he voted for.

No, technically, it's not.

 

[WheelsRCool]

No, technically, it's not.

He voted to support live-birth abortions and then defended the reason for this on video, saying it was to protect the woman's right to choose.

 

[Evo]

He voted to support live-birth abortions and then defended the reason for this on video, saying it was to protect the woman's right to choose.

You do know that there is no such thing as a "live birth abortion", right?

 

[WheelsRCool]

You do know that there is no such thing as a "live birth abortion", right?

Maybe I am not up on the proper terminology; what I know is that Senator Obama opposed Illinois legislation in 2001, 2002 and 2003 that would have defined any aborted fetus that showed signs of life as a "born alive infant" entitled to legal protection.

Senator Obama opposed these as saying it infringes on a woman's right to choose, but that he would have supported a similar bill signed by President Bush in 2002 that included protections for Rove v. Wade. However, Senator Obama voted against a 2003 state bill that was nearly identical to the federal bill he said he'd have supported.

http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/obama_and_infanticide.html

I also know he has voted against banning partial-birth abortions (although he did say the state can restrict late-term partial-birth abortions as of 2008): http://www.ontheissues.org/Barack_Obama.htm

 

[Evo]

And I am in complete agreement with Obama that partial birth abortions should be allowed. These are usually in cases where the life of the mother is in danger. I am pro-choice and the fact that Obama is pro-choice is one of the main reasons I am voting for him. As a matter of fact, it is so important to me that I will not vote for someone that is not pro-choice, no matter what else they are proposing. This is one right that is so important to me that it supercedes all other issues

Only fools would try to convince themselves that making abortions illegal would stop abortions. Making abortions illegal would mean that the rich could still get safe medical abortions and the poor would have to resort to "coat hanger" abortions, endangering the life and well being of the mother. Please explain to me how that is preferable to a safe medical abortion in the hands of a doctor.

 

[WheelsRCool]

And I am in complete agreement with Obama that partial birth abortions should be allowed. These are usually in cases where the life of the mother is in danger. I am pro-choice and the fact that Obama is pro-choice is one of the main reasons I am voting for him. As a matter of fact, it is so important to me that I will not vote for someone that is not pro-choice, no matter what else they are proposing. This is one right that is so important to me that it supercedes all other issues

I can understand that; sort of like all the pro-lifers who will not vote for someone if they are pro-choice, not matter what. Abortion is a make-or-break issue for many.

So is the Second Amendment and a candidate's views on it.

HOWEVER, one major misconception many seem to have is that pro-life people who are against partial birth abortion are against it even in the case of the mother's life being in danger. Most pro-life people I know are not at all against it if the mother's life is endangered. Governor Palin also accepts abortion if the mother's life is in danger: http://www.ontheissues.org/2008/Sarah_Palin_Abortion.htm (last quote).

Only fools would try to convince themselves that making abortions illegal would stop abortions.

Yes; that's how Republicans are with gun control to; you make guns illegal or try to enact gun-control, and a black market forms, and only the criminals get guns, along with those who are rich and/or have political connections.

Same thing with abortions.

Making abortions illegal would mean that the rich could still get abortions and the poor would have to resort to "coat hanger" abortions, endagering the life and well being of the mother. Please explain to me how that is preferable to a safe medical abortion in the hands of a doctor.

As I've said before, although I do not like abortion, I believe in the woman's right to choose for the first trimester (which is when most abortions take place). And I support abortions for any trimester if the woman's life is in danger.

I am against ordinary abortions after the first trimester when the baby becomes a fetus.

 

[Evo]

As I stated above, a woman needs to be assured of a safe medical abortion for ANY reason.

Explain to me how pushing women into dangerous abortions or suicide is a good thing.

Legal abortions only allow a woman a choice, it's not forcing anything on anyone.

 

[WheelsRCool]

I did explain (I don't believe in pushing women into dangerous abortions or suicide).

 

[Evo]

I did explain (I don't believe in pushing women into dangerous abortions or suicide).

Ooops, sorry! I am a bad person, I was typing and not reading.

 

[LowlyPion]

Legislative Council live audio

http://www.ktoo.org/gavel/audio.cfm

Edit: Feed just went dead.

Oh well.

Edit II:

Troopergate hearing (Updated: 12-0 vote to release the report)
Posted by Alaska_Politics
Posted: October 10, 2008 - 9:15 am

4:11 p.m.The Legislative Council just voted 12-0 to release the report, except for certain parts they consider confidential.

The reporters were to be available immediately, but no one seems to know where to get them here at the Legislative offices.

 

[LowlyPion]

Palin Abused Power as Governor says report.

Just reported by MSNBC.

... unlawfully abused her authority ...

Link to the Branchflower Report:
http://media.adn.com/smedia/2008/10/10/16/Branchflowerreport.source.prod_affiliate.7.pdf

 

[Evo]

Palin Abused Power as Governor says report.

Just reported by MSNBC.

Wow, that's pretty bad.

 

[Redbelly98]

Awesome! Uh, I mean that's terrible!

 

[LowlyPion]

At the bottom of Page 67:

For all the above reasons, I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power as Governor in that her conduct violated AS 39.52.110(a) of the Ethics Act.

The conclusions begin on Page 65 for those interested.

 

[lisab]

She'd be a perfect replacement for the bozos we have in office now! She meets all the criteria - she's not too bright, not curious, a fundamentalist, an abuser of power...

 

[Evo]

She'd be a perfect replacement for the bozos we have in office now! She meets all the criteria - she's not too bright, not curious, a fundamentalist, an abuser of power...

Yeah, but you're not supposed to be so dumb that you actually get nailed for it.

I'm sure McCain is having one of those head slapping moments. That's what you get when you allow the minister of a mega church in Florida to suggest your running mate.