'Going all mavericky'

Julie Drake, co-owner of Anchorage's largest independent bookstore, Title Wave, stopped to quiz her booksellers about Palin's book.

"Nobody has said a word. Not a single customer has asked about it. I don't know what that means. Maybe we're all going rogue, going all mavericky," she said. Read More

By Pat Forgey
Juneau Empire

Published: July 7th, 2009 11:24 AM
Last Modified: July 7th, 2009 01:27 PM

(3/21/09) The latest public disclosure documents show Gov. Sarah Palin owes more than a half million dollars to an Anchorage law firm that has defended her against ethics complaints. 

According to the Anchorage Daily News article written by Lisa Demer, legal bills have mounted fighting complaints that Palin has called partisan, false and frivolous, starting with "the politically motivated Troopergate probe." 

"On August 29, it seems the political landscape changed in Alaska. Now, it seems in order to do this job as Governor, with the political blood sport some are playing today, only the independently wealthy or those willing to spend their income on legal fees to defend their official actions in office ... can serve," Palin said in the written response to Daily News questions.

The governor has said she may create a legal fund to help defer the cost of these fees.

Okay, before we start passing the hat for legal bills to cover the cost of these unfair witch hunts that have been conducted against Palin, lets take a closer look at two of the complaints.

First: Troopergate.

There were two separate investigations concerning the Troopergate probe, both came to the same facts at the end of the process; Palin's husband was trading on the governor's power in her own administration to settle a personal score.

Both the Branchflower and the Petumenos reports clearly identified Todd Palin had exerted influence in trying to get his former brother in law fired.

The main difference in the reports was that Branchflower concluded the governor had the responsibility to control her husband while Petumenos concluded the governor didn't have any responsibility to control her husband because he was just an average citizen who was exercising his rights.

One of those rights apparently included the right to use his position as the governor's husband to pressure state employees to act on his behalf. As the governor's former legislative liaison said during Troopergate; when the governor's husband suggests you do something, it's not really a suggestion. 

This was a legitimate complaint and one that proved Palin either looked the other way or wasn't looking at all as her husband tried to settle a personal score using state resources.

Second: Travel expenses.

Another one of the complaints came about after it was disclosed that the governor had charged the state the cost of airfare and incidentals for her family to travel with her on state business.

The complaint was eventually settled with the governor agreeing to reimburse the state over $9,000. The governor agreed that 10 of her children's state-paid trips went beyond where the line reasonably could be drawn.

At what point in time do you decide it's okay for taxpayers to pick up the tab for two of your kids to fly to Philadelphia and stay at the Ritz Carlton Hotel for five nights?

Had the governor thought it through, she wouldn't have billed the state for trips like that. The children's travel was a clear personal benefit with no benefit to the public paying the bill.    

What's even more revealing is that early on in her term, the issue of the state not paying for her children's travel was apparently brought up by her staff but ignored by Palin.

If the governor is looking for a few reasons why she is facing legal fees; she just needs to look around her dinner table and then into the mirror.

The signs, as usual, were creative, biting, and said in no uncertain terms that this group, and many more who were there in spirit, are fed up with the political posturing of the governor, and the ease with which she winks and throws Alaska and its most vulnerable residents including special needs children, and those in Title 1 schools under the bus.

Oh no! That's Ethan Berkowitz "under the bus"!

Governor - this is what happens when your metaphor comes back to bite you.

 

 

Anchorage Speaks Out Against Palin 

Sarah is a Disgrace

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Gov. Sarah Palin's run for the White House allowed Planned Parenthood to enjoy a big run on donations.

The group says donations made in protest of Palin's lip service to life brought in more than $1 million.

An e-mail unaffiliated with Planned Parenthood went worldwide on the Web last fall that encouraged donors to send money in to stop Palin as a political candidate.

The letter stated that most people look at issues based on ideology or in many cases ignorance. Sarah Palin has made it clear she has no core ideology and she's quite ignorant on all issues.

Planned Parenthood says they are always grateful for any donations that come in, and hopes to find ways to reduce the number of abortions women receive.

What? Planned Parenthood wants to reduce abortions? Palin, who took office in December 2006, has not given any support on the issue.

When two bills emerged in the Alaska Legislature this year to restrict abortion – one to require parental consent and the other to outlaw dilation-and-extraction procedures, called partial-birth abortion by opponents – Palin said she was ready to sign them into law.

But both efforts were killed by a bipartisan coalition. And when Senator Green (R), who supported the measures, pressed for a special session to deal with abortion, Palin instead chose to do a back door deal with the Democrats for their vote in another special session to secure for a natural gas pipeline project. AGIA, the 500M dollar giveaway to a foreign company TransCanada.

Palin also did not challenge an Alaska Supreme Court ruling that mandated health insurance benefits for same-sex partners. Instead she signed a nonbinding referendum that asked voters their opinion on the issue.

“She’s been careful not to squander all her political capital on social conservative issues,” said Allison Mendel, an attorney whose lawsuit led to the insurance ruling.

DENIAL: Accusations are incorrect, says public safety chief and troopers director. The new appointee by Sarah Palin says.

By SEAN COCKERHAM
scockerham@adn.com

Published: January 3rd, 2009 10:54 PM
Last Modified: January 3rd, 2009 02:46 AM

A Mat-Su drug investigator and the union representing Alaska State Troopers are alleging political meddling in the Sherry Johnston drug case, including a delay in serving the search warrant because of the November election.

Johnston is the mother of Levi Johnston, who became nationally known in September when Gov. Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd, announced their daughter, Bristol, was pregnant and he was the father. Palin was running for vice president while Sherry Johnston was under investigation.

Alaska Public Safety Commissioner Joe Masters and troopers director Col. Audie Holloway vigorously dispute that there was anything irregular in how this case was handled.

"We worked very hard to make sure we conducted it just as fairly and as normally as any other investigation," Holloway said.

That's not what Kyle Young, a troopers drug investigator who was involved in the case, wrote in an e-mail last week to all members of the Public Safety Employees Association, the union that represents troopers and other law enforcement officers around the state.

Young wrote that after it became clear who Johnston is, "this case became anything but normal."

"It was not allowed to progress in a normal fashion, the search warrant service WAS delayed because of the pending election and the Mat Su Drug Unit and the case officer were not the ones calling the shots," Young wrote.

Sherry Johnston was arrested Dec. 18 on charges of selling the prescription painkiller OxyContin, the same day the warrant was served.

Young, speaking through union officials, declined to comment for this story. But John Cyr, executive director of the union, said it's clear to him that the investigation was handled differently because of who Johnston is.

"This really does smack of political favoritism. And if that be the case, it's another example of the Palin administration's direct influence on the public safety unit," Cyr said.

Tension between the governor and the public safety employees union is not new. The union and Palin battled over the governor's July removal of Walt Monegan as public safety commissioner, and the allegations she pressured public safety officials to fire a trooper who was her ex-brother-in-law. Palin appointed Masters as the public safety commissioner in September.

Cyr said the union is confident Young's version of what happened is true. That's because the union verified it in discussions "with the entire drug unit, with all of our members," he said.

 

He said the people the union president spoke with included the case officer for the Johnston investigation, Donna Anthony. She works on the Mat-Su drug unit but is a member of the Palmer police force, which is not part of the union.

Anthony did not return a call seeking comment.

Public safety commissioner Masters said Young made assumptions in his e-mail and didn't know what was going on behind the scenes to make sure the investigation was normal. Troopers Director Holloway said the higher ups were indeed scrutinizing everything in the Johnston investigation -- but only to ensure that it was conducted just like any other similar case would be.

"We did everything we possibly could to ensure that the investigation progressed in a normal fashion as other investigations similar to this would proceed," Masters said.

The timing of the investigation was based on "when we could get Johnston to sell to us. We were entirely at her schedule," Holloway said.

Holloway and Masters denied Young's statement that troopers delayed serving the search warrant because of the Nov. 4 election. Masters said the warrant was obtained Dec. 2 and served on Dec. 18 when it became clear a final drug buy the officers hoped for was falling through.

Johnston was at her Wasilla home when it was searched, and was arrested the same day. She's out on bail and is scheduled to appear in court this week.

Palin's spokesman, Bill McAllister, said Saturday he had nothing to add to what Masters said.

Johnston's son and the governor's daughter became parents on Dec. 27 with the birth of their son, Tripp. Levi Johnston is working as an electrical apprentice on the North Slope, according to a statement issued last week by the governor's office.

Masters said neither Palin nor anyone else in the governor's office knew of the investigation until the search warrant was served. At that point, Masters said, he called Palin chief of staff Mike Nizich and gave him a heads-up to be aware that a media frenzy was coming.

Young's e-mail last week to union members was in response to a written statement issued to news media by Masters last Monday. In the statement, Masters declared the case officer, Anthony, had filed an inaccurate affidavit as part of the charging documents.

The investigation, Masters wrote, was handled normally and that the affidavit wrongly said Johnston had been under Secret Service protection.

He was referring to a line in the affidavit saying "Sherry Johnston is no longer under the protection or surveillance of the Secret Service." Masters wrote he would notify the court about the inaccuracy.

Investigator Young said the affidavit was accurate and that "apparent political pressure" motivated Masters to contact the court and "smear" the case officer.

"It is true that Sherry was not directly under Secret Service protection, but it is true that when Levi was at the house, that he and other household members were under their protection," Young wrote in his e-mail to union members.

"Text messages from Johnston to the informant indicated that she was afraid to meet and conduct one illegal transaction, because of Secret Service presence at her home," Young wrote.

In an interview Friday, Masters said neither Levi nor Sherry Johnston were under Secret Service protection -- just the governor and her immediate family, including Bristol. A spokesman for the Secret Service said the same thing to the Daily News earlier.

Masters said the governor's office didn't ask him to send out the written statement, and he was just trying to clear up misunderstandings in the media. Troopers director Holloway said he advised Masters against issuing the statement because he didn't think it was necessary and would just make an issue out of it.

Public safety union director Cyr said there's no formal role for the union to take at this point regarding what Young wrote, other than standing behind him.

"There is no reason for the Mat Su drug unit to lie or to falsify the record in this regard. And there is reason, political reason, for the commissioner and other members of the command staff, if you will, to distort what actually happened," he said.

Palin's popularity gap could signal trouble for the party

 

 

WASHINGTON - Maybe there's just something about Sarah. Among the broad American electorate, Alaskan governor and recent Republican nominee for vice president Sarah Palin certainly seems to be damaged merchandise.

In a Nov. 7-9 Gallup Poll of 1,010 adults (margin of error +/- 3 percent), 45 percent of Americans agreed they would "personally like to see Sarah Palin be a major national political figure for many years to come" -- but 52 percent said they would not like to see that happen. In the pre-Election Day Gallup poll testing Palin, she had a 42 percent favorable rating but a 49 percent unfavorable. In the newer, post-election study, her favorable was 48 percent and unfavorable 47 percent among all Americans.

But, and there is usually a but to such things, 76 percent of Republicans would like to see her a major figure in the future, and she had a whopping 83 percent favorable among them, compared with just a 13 percent unfavorable rating. Among independent voters, Palin had a 44 percent favorable, 48 percent unfavorable rating, and among Democrats, predictably, she had just a 21 percent favorable and 75 percent unfavorable rating.

In combined Gallup surveys of 799 Republicans and GOP-leaning independents conducted between Nov. 5 and 16, 67 percent of Republicans and GOP-leaners said they would like to see Palin run in 2012, 30 percent said they would not. Palin exceeded former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (62 percent), former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (61 percent) (both contenders this year), four star Army Gen. David Petraeus (49 percent), former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (48 percent), Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (34 percent), former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (31 percent), current Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (23 percent) and South Carolina Sen. Lindsay Graham (21 percent).

Read More 

Palin In 2012: The Argument

There's a suspicion in some McCain loyalist precincts that Gov. Sarah Palin is beginning to play the Republican base against John McCain -- McCain won't let her campaign in Michigan...McCain won't let her bring up Jeremiah Wright... McCain doesn't like her terrorist pal talks....

Think ahead to 2010...2011...2012.

Palin is ambitious. Very ambitious. Even though she has "ABUSED POWER" and has showed herself to be terribly inept on all important issues. Sarah knows nothing about oil and gas issues or resource development for that matter. She has been caught in many lies, and she could be impeach as the governor of Alaska. There is a second investigation going on into Sarah Palin's behavior in other sectors of government, personal ethics charges are pending and she is being sued for deformation of character.
 
But, Sarah wants to be president..

A Woman on the Beast

And if she wants the job, she's easily the frontrunner to become THE voice of the angry Right in the Wilderness.  She is a favorite of talk radio and Fox News conservatives, and speaks their language as only a true member of the club can. (Her recent Limbaugh interview was full of dog whistles that any Dittohead would recognize. Including her actual use of the word ditto.)

Palin will have plenty of time to become fluent on national issues. She will easily benefit from the low expectations threshhold, and will probably even garner positive reviews from the MSM types who disparage her today. 

Palin will be judged to be "ready" in four years.  George Will and David Brooks and Peggy Noonan will all swoon over her once more. Ok, maybe not George Will.

Palin is an enormously talented politician.  When she knows what she's talking about, or even when she knows enough to fake it, she is very, very appealing, and very good at redirecting questions to whatever her message is.

Pro-Palin voices will begin to talk a great deal about how the only person to ever come close to beating Barack Obama was Hillary Clinton. Palin will seem to fit the Hillary mold for many Republican primary voters.

With Republicans completely out of power, and President Obama running what is likely to be a bigger government that spends more on social programs, Republicans are likely to run the most anti-government, anti-Washington campaign this side of Barry Goldwater.  Again, Palin is perfectly positioned for this campaign.

Republicans tend to pick the next guy in line. Strangely enough, the next guy in line is now Sarah Palin, by virtue of her being the VP nominee this year.  She will have the benefit of being both an outsider candidate and the natural heir to the nomination; indeed, the only candidate who will have experience in a general election campaign.
Her main obstacles to the nomination are Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee.

The Republicans are going to want someone willing to really go for Obama's throat, and be able to do it with a smile.  Depending on the outcome of the GOP's War of the Roses, the evangelical community might be a stronger force in 2012 than it was in 2008, at least when it comes to dominating the GOP nominating process.  They are a solid bloc of voters and footsoldiers amidst a rapidly splintering coalition.

Palin will be the most well-financed candidate aside from Mitt Romney. She will raise gobs of money from old energy interests (who will be running scared against Obama's green energy initiatives), and will in turn raise gobs of money from small donors online.

Of course, we must consider black swans and the like. We don't know what will occur during Obama's first term, and he could have either a historic high point (like Bush did with 9/11) or a historic low point (like Bush did with Katrina). Or, he could have an unremarkable first term.

We just don't know. That being said, GOP voters simply don't nominate new candidates who came from nowhere.  Therefore, no matter what events transpire, we can safely predict that the GOP will nominate someone who is already known to us today.

NYT: $150,000 Wardrobe for Palin May Alter Tailor-Made Image

Sarah Palin’s wardrobe joined the ranks of symbolic political excess on Wednesday, alongside John McCain’s multiple houses and John Edwards’s $400 haircut, as Republicans expressed fear that weeks of tailoring Ms. Palin as an average “hockey mom” would fray amid revelations that the Republican Party outfitted her with expensive clothing from high-end stores.

Cable television, talk radio and even shows like “Access Hollywood” seemed gripped with sartorial fever after campaign finance reports confirmed that the Republican National Committee spent $75,062 at Neiman Marcus and $49,425 at Saks Fifth Avenue in September for Ms. Palin and her family.

Advisers to Ms. Palin said on Wednesday that the purchases — which totaled about $150,000 and were classified as “campaign accessories” — were made on the fly after Ms. Palin, the governor of Alaska, was chosen as the Republican vice-presidential candidate on Aug. 29 and needed new clothes to match climates across the 50 states. They emphasized, too, that Ms. Palin did not spend time on the shopping, and that other people made the decision to buy such an array of clothes.

Yet Republicans expressed consternation publicly and privately that the shopping sprees on her behalf, which were first reported by Politico, would compromise Ms. Palin’s standing as Senator McCain’s chief emissary to working-class voters whose salvos at the so-called cultural elite often delight audiences at Republican rallies...