’)The sudden resignation explained?
An independent investigator has found evidence that Gov. Sarah Palin may have violated ethics laws by accepting private donations to pay her legal debts.
The report obtained by The Associated Press says Palin is securing unwarranted benefits and receiving improper gifts through the Alaska Fund Trust, set up by supporters.
An investigator for the state Personnel Board says in his July 14 report that there is probable cause to believe Palin used or attempted to use her official position for personal gain because she authorized the creation of the trust as the ‘official’ legal defense fund.
Ethics laws only apply to dead salmon.
Well, she’s 15.5-for-16 so far, so there’s no reason to think this one has merit either.
Who could have predicted…?
Fits the facts and fits the particulars of her resignation presser. All that talk about her giant legal bills, y’know.
Republican Sarah “Palin is securing unwarranted benefits and receiving improper gifts” …
“Surprise, surprise, surprise!”
Republican Palin learned from the master of “securing unwarranted benefits and receiving improper gifts”: Republican John McCain, Corrupt Corporate Lobbyists Best Friend.
I want a lifetime subscription to Sarah. She embodies every form of entertainment I can think of. Tragedy, comedy, irony, fish-out-of-water, comic soliloquies, silly costumes and slapstick pratfalls.
The Three Stooges are reruns, but this is LIVE!
Now and then I sneak over to F***Repub*** and enter the search term palin, because the real thing doesn’t provide enough entertainment without the icing on top of what her fans think. They think she’s the next Reagan, which to me means corrupt, entertaining moron, but to them it means PREXY-BABY!
She can’t be stopped! We’re terrified of her! Really, they think that!
The 2012 presidential debate can’t get here soon enough. Palin/The-Not-Plumber 2012!
An independent investigator has found evidence that Gov. Sarah Palin may have violated ethics laws by accepting private donations to pay her legal debts.
Ironical. Violating ethics laws to defend her self from accusations of violating ethics laws.
Violating ethics laws to defend her self from accusations of violating ethics laws.
Did you ever reflect a mirror in another mirror? INFINITY!
I guess it’s a good thing that John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, and others don’t live in Alaska – since they all have legal defense trust funds set up for themselves.
It’s a good thing Sarah Palin doesn’t have a legislature willing to spend $65M to investigate everything she has ever done, pursue bogus charges against her, and shut down the capitol for the impeachment trial.
Repack, that isn’t that fantastic a speculation. And Clinton could have avoided all that if he had simply not lied under oath in a civil trial.
J.
Clinton could have avoided all that if he had simply not lied under oath in a civil trial.
Congress spent the money, not Bill Clinton, so as they say in investigations of who is at fault in accidents, who had the “last clear chance” to avoid the expenditure? I say it was the people who voted to spend it. What did we get for our $65M? A new bridge? A stretch of highway? A park? A hospital?
Can you think of ANY way congress could have avoided wasting that money? Maybe by voting common sense instead of politics?
Too easy.
You’re right. Politicians as corrupt as that congress can’t help themselves, they have to spend public funds to attack political enemies. And now that a bunch of those same hypocrites have been caught with somebody else’s pants down, having an affair makes people like Mark Sanford BETTER husbands, fathers and governors. That from the guy who said Clinton had to resign.
I tell ya, if I made this stuff up, you wouldn’t believe it.
“Repack Rider” obliquely refers to the MILLIONS of taxpayer dollars spent by Republicans to harass Democratic President Clinton: “a legislature willing to spend $65M to investigate everything she has ever done, pursue bogus charges against her, and shut down the capitol for the impeachment trial.”
“Jay Tea”: “And Clinton could have avoided all that if he had simply not lied under oath in a civil trial.”
Most of those scores of millions of dollars investigating Democratic President Clinton was before he’d concealed his consensual blow job from Republican-sex-inquisitors.
The intention of Republicans was to find anything to impeach or harass Democratic President Clinton, it didn’t matter how trivial.
And that doesn’t even scratch the surface of the scores of millions that were spent by right wing propagandists, right wing media-moguls, and corporatists to take down the sitting Democratic President.
In the end, the Republican’s attempted coup was over a consensual blowjob, something that was none of the amoral philandering REPUBLICAN hypocrite’s business.
It wasn’t about war crimes, nor about torture, not even about illegal surveillance, all of which were illegal acts committed under Republican President Bush.
And all of which the Republicans and the right wing not only allowed, but cheered on like savage sociopaths.
Eh, it’s probably another BS complaint cooked up by a loon.
Well, she’s 15.5-for-16 so far
Meaning that none of her unethical acts have been proven to be technical violations of existing statutes, yet.
Of course by that standard Bill Clinton did nothing wrong. Neither did Richard Nixon.
It’s not just that Sarah is a mini-series that screams– “What the hell was John McCain thinking”?–She’s a min-series with lemurs riding drunk kangaroos in red pumps in and out of stores with all her fans standing along the side of the road eating fried things on sticks, scratching themselves and crying with joy ’cause they think she has the right stuff to be POTUS.
Neither did Richard Nixon.
Clinton was acquitted. Nixon resigned when it became obvious that he was going to be convicted.
You’re right, exactly the same.
I’m sorry, but this is too complicated for me. Isn’t there a way to explain it all with basketball metaphors?
‘Repack, that isn’t that fantastic a speculation. And Clinton could have avoided all that if he had simply not lied under oath in a civil trial.’
Granted, but his resignation speech never included….oh wait….he didn’t resign when the heat was on…..I guess he never knew which way the fish were running that year.
‘She’s a min-series with lemurs riding drunk kangaroos in red pumps in and out of stores with all her fans standing along the side of the road eating fried things on sticks, scratching themselves and crying with joy ’cause they think she has the right stuff to be POTUS.’
Have you pitched this to FOX yet? It could follow ‘Who wants to marry my dead Mom?’
On a related note, I just watched about 3 minutes of Carville vs. Lyn Cheney on Larry King, which was all I could take.
Palin doesn’t realize how bad she has it when the likes of Lyn Cheney are defending her; it’s like having Charles Manson representing you at an adoption hearing.
Whoa; meant Liz Cheney btw.
Liz Cheney is a brilliant woman. She should run for some kind of office.
Gabriel McKee….I hear Napoleon Bonaparte passed on recently at the local ‘rest-home’…they need a new “Emperor of France”, and Liz would make a decent Josephine……
Okay–Manson analogy– funny, tragic and true.
Conversely– I could see Liz using Charlie as a babysitter. Let’s face it, her father is scary as hell too.
lemurs riding drunk kangaroos in red pumps
Thank you for that image.
“Liz Cheney is a brilliant woman. She should run for some kind of office.”
Another Democratic wet-dream fulfilled, if it happened.
Why is it you guys are in love with the un-electable? Please keep it up.
“Why is it you guys are in love with the un-electable?”
Unelectable AND unstable.
“This is what happens when you’re a conservative white woman ex-governor in America in 2009″
Meh.
Hmm… anyone actually read the report?
For one, on the first page, it’s marked “confidential.” Will there be an investigation into who leaked it?
Second, let’s look at what it says. On page 7:
Translation: the law is fucked. As written, any individual or group can completely fuck over any member of the executive branch of Alaska by filing bullshit ethics complaint after bullshit ethics complaint, with no fear of any kind of penalty. Meanwhile, the accused official will have to pay their own legal bills to fight these bullshit charges as long as they are in office or go bankrupt. The state will not offer them one penny in assistance, nor can they ask for help from others — they have to bear the burden entirely themselves.
Palin’s legal bills thus far for defending against these bullshit allegations have added up to 200% of her family’s annual income and 40% of their entire net worth. And then, with this latest one, she was denied even asking for people’s help in paying these bills.
And bills for what? One charge was filed by a fictional character. Another bitched that she had a corporate logo on her jacket when she attended a competition her husband was entered into. And the gist of the first one was that she didn’t keep her husband from going after the job of a rogue cop who had tasered a child, drove his cruiser drunk, and threatened to kill members of the governor’s family.
Let’s do an investigation into who filed all these bullshit complaints, shall we? As well as who leaked this confidential report?
I thought not.
J.
As written, any individual or group can completely fuck over any member of the executive branch of Alaska by filing bullshit ethics complaint after bullshit ethics complaint
You bullshit mean ethics complaints like the investigator found that:
Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act. Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) provides: The legislature reaffirms that each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust.
I find that, although Walt Monegan’s refusal to fire Trooper Michael Wooten was not the sole reason he was fired by Governor Sarah Palin, it was likely a contributing factor to his termination as Commissioner of Public Safety
The Attorney General’s office has failed to substantially comply with my August 6, 2008 written request to Governor Sarah Palin for infomration about the case in the form of emails.
And it’s also that same case that Sarah lied about, saying “I’m very, very pleased to be cleared of any legal wrongdoing – any… any hint of any kind of unethical activity there. Very pleased to be cleared of any of that.”
I agree that the ethics law, one of the accomplishments Sarah is proudest of as governor, is horribly written. A foretaste of the sort of freaky, shoot-from-the-hip, act-first-think-later governance we’d get if ever, God forbid, she makes it to Washington.
And I’m sure many of the complaints are complete bullshit, but not all. And one of the reasons she may be attracting one of them is that people realize that she is a fundamentally dishonest person.
sorry, attracting _some_ of them
Liz Cheney is a brilliant woman. She should run for some kind of office.
Great, another wingnut who’s only qualification is that their father was President. George Bush, Jr., Junior, if you will. Yeah, that’s the ticket. Isn’t it weird how Ms. Cheney is asked to comment on various issues of her father (illegal torture, covering up illegal torture, obstructing justice, and what have you) and EVERY TIME she sides with her father. What are the odds?
There wingnut love for hereditary monarchy far and away exceeds the ingrained human tendency. By a whole bunch.
Sarah Palin:
“I find the notion that I have taken any action pertaining to the legal defense trust fund misguided and factually in error. I am informed that this fund was created by experienced attorneys in DC and was modeled after other similar funds established for senators and others. The fund itself was not created by me nor is it controlled by me. Neither I nor my lawyer has received a penny from this fund, and I am informed the Trustee was withholding any action or payment pending final resolution with the Personnel Board. This is the hallmark of legal compliance and prudent conduct.
In short, I have not ‘acted’ relative to the defense fund and it is misleading to say I have. I have no doubt that the Trust will welcome guidance by the Board, as do we all, but it is my understanding that this matter was not resolved and the complainant’s violation of law has served to mislead the public and prejudice a fair review of this matter.”
————-
‘2008 Detroit Lions Democrats’ vs. Sarah Palin. 0-16.
Shorter Sarah Palin: If the glove don’t fit, you must acquit!
Let’s look at that, shall we, Wilbur? What “personal benefit” would Palin achieve if that cop was fired?
Well, she’d not have to worry about a confirmed bad cop would NOT be tasering her nephew, beating her sister, or murdering her father.
And you’re going to Andrew Sullivan for info on Palin? I won’t check the link, but I’m curious about how “Trig isn’t her son” places on that list of her “lies.”
J.
Wilbur, if you guys were 1-15, maybe your rhyme might have some semblance of possessing some teeth. As it is, with respect to these charges of ethics violations, this woman you guys call daily a corrupt, air-headed, dishonest woodtick is making a lot of you elitist libs look pretty bad.
And really, Wilbur….Andrew Sullivan?
Hey, if you wingnutz wanna keep propping up Miss Wasilla, be our guest. She’s a disaster.
Right winger “Jay Tea” on Republican Sarah Palin’s unethical firing of a law enforcement officer who refused to do Palin’s personal (and unethical) bidding: “What “personal benefit” would Palin achieve if that cop was fired?”
Mostly it was just a venomous vendetta that Republican Palin was ‘achieving’ by firing the officer who refused to carry out Republican Palin’s unethical orders.
But the larger ‘achievement’ was Republican Palin showing other government officials that they were to follow Republican Palin’s unethical orders or they too would lose their jobs.
Republican Palin showed the other government officials that she’s willing to not only authorize unethical orders, she is also willing to terminate anyone who fails to carry out her unethical orders.
That was a big part of what Republican Palin was attempting to “achieve”: Crony compliance out of fear of termination.
It was a clear abuse of her authority.
That Republican Palin would subsequently flaunt her unethical actions with an outright lie denying that she’d been publicly and formally condemned for her unethical activities was just an added bonus for the right wing.
Republican leaders and their slavish right wing followers love that kind of thuggish cronyism combined with blatant lying, it’s the kind of surrealistic hypocritical outrageousness that makes a certain type of right winger get all excited.
You can always trust “Newsy” to stick up for the best of the best — in this case a repeatedly-admitted bad cop who drove his cruiser drunk, shot game without a license, tasered a child, and threatened to kill the sitting governor’s immediate family.
Stay classy, “Newsy.” Keep piling on the bullshit — if you pile it high enough, perhaps you might keep people from seeing the truth you’re trying to obscure.
Good thing you’re used to that smell by now.
J.
Translation: the law is fucked.
It is.
What dumbass governor signed it into law?
Quaker:
The same governor who didn’t foresee just how certain scumbags would exploit that law.
The same governor who didn’t foresee not only how many scumbags there were who would exploit that law, but how many more scumbags around the nation would aid and abet said exploiting scumbags.
The same governor who, upon realizing that she couldn’t stop the scumbags, decided to quit while her legal bills only consisted of 200% of her family’s annual income and about 40% of their entire net worth.
Yes, let’s all gloat about the travails a politician whose offense here was not realizing just how scummy scumbags could be. That’s a grand victory for democracy, isn’t it?
J.
Throwing BS up against the wall and seeing what sticks. Argumentum verbosium, Jay Tea. It’s like someone came up with the term after reading News Reference here, I swear. Although I’m sure the tactic is as old as time. I just wonder if some Greek or Roman sage ever called himself something as comical or pretentious as ‘News Reference’ when they employed it.
And Clinton could have avoided all that if he had simply not lied under oath in a civil trial.
Last time, I swear to God. Not a trial. A deposition.
And I defy you to tell me you wouldn’t lie about your infidelity to try and protect your wife and family.
Actually, the only thing Sullivan says about Trig on that page is the following:
Palin lied when she suggested that she had offered the media proof of her pregnancy with Trig to “correct the record”; in fact, no reports of her medical records were ever published; and the letter from her doctor testifying to her good health only emerged hours before polling ended on election day, even though there was nothing in it that couldn’t have been released two months earlier.
[side-note: kinda ironic when Sarah's supporters are howling about Obama not releasing (more of) his birth records, innit?]
Sullivan was an ass about the Trig thing, and he knows it. Now I know you wingnuts think that when someone says one wrong thing you can discount everything else that person ever says, but I’d be interested to see just how many of the thirty-two lies Sullivan documents you can debunk.
But just that one lie I talked about earlier is big enough. Think about it. The investigator’s report said:
Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act…
And Sarah’s response to that is:
“I’m very, very pleased to be cleared of …any… any hint of any kind of unethical activity there”
Any hint of any kind of unethical activity??
That tells you all you need to know about the good governor. She’s the sort of person we all have seen numerous times in our lives: one who is so full of herself that she simply can’t believe anything bad about herself. Anything that comes out of her mouth is the truth simply because she said it.
In other words, as I said, a fundamentally dishonest person.
And Jay, as to your points about Officer Wooten.
-Wooten tased his stepson, at low power, and at his stepson’s own request, so that he could see what it was like and prove to onlookers that he was not a momma’s boy.
-Wooten was cleared of allegations that he beat his wife (which is therefore, by your standards, a ‘bullshit charge’)
-Wooten’s alleged threat against Palin’s dad was so scary to Palin and her sister that they didn’t tell dad about it until a month after the threat was allegedly made (by dad’s own admission).
Now I’m perfectly willing to believe that Officer Wooten is an idiot and an asshole (you’d sort of have to be to marry into that family to begin with), but as numerous investigators on the case pointed out, if he was dangerously unhinged, the Palins’ effort to get him fired was hardly likely to make him less unhinged. It was also hardly likely to increase his ability to keep up with child support payments. The Palins’ actions were nothing but grudge wanking and you know it.
And in any case, I don’t want my elected officials (or even worse, my elected official’s spouses) abusing their official powers for their own advantage in any private dispute. You apparently want them to have that option. That’s about all I need to know about the difference between you and me, Jay.
Absolutely right, Wilbur. In fact, our elected officials should have FEWER rights than ordinary citizens. That she had a legal obligation from keeping her husband from going after a bad cop who was endangering their family.
Of course, that whole matter is settled, and now we’re talking about the other 15 or so bullshit charges, and how these assholes were using Alaska’s ethics laws to bankrupt her and her family.
And just when did Sullivan stop demanding Palin’s obstetric records, anyway?
J.
Have you pitched this to FOX yet? It could follow ‘Who wants to marry my dead Mom?’
Or Family guy. Just as coherent.
Liz Cheney is a brilliant woman. She should run for some kind of office.
You are not convincing me that you are not a parody troll with shit like that.
George Bush, Jr., Junior, if you will.
More like Barbara Bush, Jr.
‘2008 Detroit Lions Democrats’ vs. Sarah Palin. 0-16.
Because she says so, it must be true?
Whatever, Dennis.
The same governor who didn’t foresee just how certain scumbags would exploit that law.
The same governor who didn’t foresee not only how many scumbags there were who would exploit that law, but how many more scumbags around the nation would aid and abet said exploiting scumbags.
The same governor who, upon realizing that she couldn’t stop the scumbags, decided to quit while her legal bills only consisted of 200% of her family’s annual income and about 40% of their entire net worth.
Soooo, a quitter with no foresight? Just what we need in Washington.
a politician whose offense here was not realizing just how scummy scumbags could be.
What is that saying about not watching sausage being made?
Jay: Of course, that whole matter is settled.
Wilbur: You mean it’s settled that the Butterfield report concluded that Gov. Palin violated the law and abused her official power.
Jay: Absolutely right, Wilbur.
Wilbur: And that Sarah lied about it when she said the report completely cleared her of any hint on any wrongdoing or unethical behavior.
Jay: Absolutely right, Wilbur.
Wilbur: And I’m still waiting, Jay, to see if you can debunk any of the thirty-two Palin lies that Sullivan has collected.
Jay: [crickets...crickets....] Sullivan is a NASTY MAN!
Wilbur: Jay, defending Palin is sort of turning you into a caricature of yourself, wouldn’t you say?
Jay: Absolutely right, Wilbur, but LOOK OVER THERE! STARBURSTS!!