In Dozens of Calls, Palins and Aides Pressed for Trooper’s Removal (NYTimes)

[FreeStateDemocrat]

Source: NYTimes


By SERGE F. KOVALESKI
Published: October 9, 2008
ANCHORAGE — The 2007 state fair was days away when Alaska’s public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, took another call about one of his troopers, Michael Wooten. This time, the director of Gov. Sarah Palin’s Anchorage office was on the line.
nation. Join the discussion.

As Mr. Monegan recalls it, the aide said the governor had heard that Mr. Wooten was assigned to work the kickoff to the fair. If so, Mr. Monegan should do something about it, because Ms. Palin was also planning to attend and did not want the trooper nearby.

Somewhat bewildered, Mr. Monegan soon determined that Mr. Wooten had indeed volunteered for duty at the fairgrounds — in full costume as “Safety Bear,” the troopers’ child-friendly mascot.

Two years earlier, the trooper and the governor’s sister had been embroiled in a nasty divorce and child-custody battle that had hardened the Palin family against him. To Mr. Monegan and several top aides, the state fair episode was yet another example of a fixation that the governor and her husband, Todd, had with Mr. Wooten and the most granular details of his life.

“I thought to myself, ‘Man, do they have a heavy-duty network and focus on this guy,’ ” Mr. Monegan said. “You’d call that an obsession.”
On July 11, Ms. Palin fired Mr. Monegan, setting off a politically charged scandal that has become vastly more so since Ms. Palin became the Republican vice-presidential nominee


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/10/us/10trooper.html?hp

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Arrogant and ruthless abuse of power.

[catgirl]

1. K & R

[speedoo]

2. K&R. Great stuff, the truth. nt

[VeraAgnes]

3. So, what is the consequence for Palin when found guilty?

Will it make any difference?:scared:

[serrano2008]

6. I don't know what exactly is on the line here...

Can any of you smarty pants lawyers help us out there?

I do know that this is bad bad bad publicity and since the poll numbers for McCain/Palin and her likability have gone down, anything negative will keep that momentum.

Like I said in one of the other posts, I don't think most of the Legislatures are happy with how Palin has been acting and not respecting their authority, so I get the feeling they'll really try to stick it to her.

[roguevalley]

17. Impeachment I suppose and perhaps criminal prosecution for

obstruction of justice and lying.

[cui bono]

4. k&r

[Dystopian]

5. KandR. This looks promising. eom.

peace~

[central scrutinizer]

7. IMO, the most damning paragraph is:

On Jan. 4, 2007, a month into the Palin administration and his tenure as public safety commissioner, Mr. Monegan was called to the governor’s Anchorage office to meet Todd Palin. Mr. Palin was seated at a conference table with three stacks of personnel files. That, Mr. Monegan recalled, was the first time he heard the name Mike Wooten.

end excerpt

What the fuck was Toad doing with personnel files? Nobody elected him to anything.

[peacebird]

8. GOOD CATCH! wow - maybe this is why the police union has a lawsuit against Palins administration

[mcollier]

9. Off the ticket

Here comes romney to save the day......

Hahahhaha What a joke...

[Liberalatus]

14. I have heard that as well!!!!

I was surprised no one else has heard that. Have you noticed when she speaks, she says "When she AND Todd get into office"... a LOT?

[Faygo Kid]

10. Wow. This is going to be prominent on Friday.

Highly recommended.

[nankerphelge]

11. "Safety Bear" the troopers' child friendly mascot

http://www.dps.state.ak.us/ast/safetybear.aspx

[Tallison]

13. I just posted about this below

Hilarious. :rofl:

[nankerphelge]

15. Indeed...

so good. "Look out! It's SAFETY BEAR!"

[Tallison]

12. Love the part about banishing Wooten's 'Safety Bear' gig

as retaliation. Illustrates well the intensity of Palin's obsession to settle a score. What a small, petty world she inhabits.

[Athletic Grrl]

31. What a small and petty person she is.

Not to mention a flat-out cuntwack.

I want to know what The Dude is doing with stacks of personnel files. A month into his wife's governance and he's already meddling in affairs where he has no reason to be.

[lonestarnot]

16. Fuck I hate her! and that first fuck.

[Name removed]

18. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. 
[link:www.democraticunderground.com/forums/rules.html|Click
here] to review the message board rules.

[Swamp Rat]

20. 3, 2, 1...

:hi:

[Tallison]

21. Thank GOD you're here!

I don't know that we'd know we had to do something if it weren't for you...

I'll get with the admins right away on this!

:hi:

[kanrok]

22. Hey Larry!

n/t

[nankerphelge]

23. I think we should have comfrence about it

n/t

[NBachers]

30. No - Appoint a Commission

to study every aspect of this serious issue. Then they can Issue a Report. Make sure "DemMad" is the Commissioner of the Commission. Mobilize Democratic Underground to pay attention to this exclusively until the elexion. Open up an open account at the nearest pizza joint.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n03a7cLf0M

[not fooled]

26. Why, of course...

...let the country go to hell by voting for McCrap and Failin'.
:sarcasm:


What a pointless worthless point you raise--the future of the country is at stake, moran. Chicken (you), meet Col Sanders (McCrap, unless you are extremely wealthy :eyes: ).

:crazy:

[NoFederales]

29. Were you there? Were you "hurt"; is that what this is all about? nt

NoFederales

[Tesibria]

19. WEIRD - FOX / AP (?) Says Gov Palin was "In the Dark" re: push to fire Wooten

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/09/palins-husband-pushed-trooper-fired-documents/

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin remained in the dark while her husband repeatedly asked top state officials to help get his former brother-in-law kicked off the state police force, Palin's husband and top aides said in affidavits provided to The Associated Press.

[philosophie_en_rose]

25. Sure

Just like I'm sure she'll be in the dark, when she lets her husband run the Senate or dig through national security files.

[charlie and algernon]

24. let's spread this far and wide

sure it's the NY Times, but not everyone reads it. Spread the word!

[suston96]

27. Nixon was about to be impeached for this kind of crap......he resigned instead.....nt

[Doctor_J]

28. Culture of corruption

this bitch makes Tony Soprano look like a Boy Scout.

[Norton]

32. Sssshhh....

We should leave her alone. (She's doing an excellent job for us!) I know there's a theory that if she gets dumped and McTroll takes another VP he'll look ridiculous, but that scares me. This woman is losing the election for them. We'd never get another deal like this... who else could do this much damage to the R's?

Sssshhhh!

[gateley]

33. I'm with central scrutinize on this -- in what capacity was Todd acting when

he had the meeting, complete with personnel files. Can any of you imagine bringing in your spouse/partner to your place of business and having him/her act in an obviously official capacity?