What the Troopergate Report Really Says

[DogPoundPup]

Source: Time

Friday's report from special investigator Stephen Branchflower to Alaska's Legislative Council answered some basic questions about the political and personal bog known as Troopergate.

Did Governor Sarah Palin abuse the power of her office in trying to get her former brother-in-law, State Trooper Mike Wooten, fired? Yes. Was the refusal to fire Mike Wooten the reason Palin fired Commissioner of Public Safety Walt Monegan? Not exclusively, and it was within her rights as the states' chief executive to fire him for just about any reason, even without cause.

Those answers were expected, given that most of the best pieces of evidence have been part of the public record for months. The result is not a mortal wound to Palin, nor does it put her at much risk of being forced to leave the ticket her presence succeeded in energizing.

But the Branchflower report still makes for good reading, if only because it convincingly answers a question nobody had even thought to ask: Is the Palin administration shockingly amateurish? Yes, it is. Disturbingly so.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1849399,00.html?xid=rss-topstories

[WCGreen]

1. Un fit to lead....

That's what it tells me.

Amateurish? No, dangerously self-important. A willingness to use her power in any way she deems fit. Someone who isn't mature enough to handel any executive decision based job.

[fascisthunter]

2. It Says, Palin is a Petty Power Hungry Religious Extremist Nut

[AndyA]

3. This is proof that Palin has no qualms about using her position to accomplish

personal goals. Goals that are NOT in the best interests of the people she is supposed to be serving.

We've had 8 years of this with the Bush Administration, and we can all now very painfully see what those 8 years have brought us.

Palin is too risky to be one 72 year old heartbeat away from the Presidency. She is unfit to be president, and the decision to have her as his VP candidate is proof that John McCain lacks the judgement necessary to be president.

Both McCain and Palin are UNFIT TO LEAD.

[bertman]

23. Applause for AndyA. You nailed it.

[qanda]

4. Good article, but it needs to be edited

There are some really stupid errors throughout the article.

[stoge18]

8. Yes, errors and big words.

Words with more than one or two syllables are beyond comprehension for the people who need to read this article. Take, for instance, the cretan who at a McSame rally called Barrack an Arab terrorist. She can't possible make sense of this article in its current configuration.

All joking aside, it's encouraging that Time is addressing the seriousness of the findings. I wonder if Sunday morning TV (Face the Nation, etc.) will follow suit.

[Bluenorthwest]

5. What it says

is that she began abusing her power and breaking the law the moment she got into office. No time wasted befor the crony games kicked in. First order of business: break the law.

[seleff]

6. Would get my wife fired using her office

As I thought about Todd Palin using the Governor's office as he has, I thought about what would happen if I used my wife's office (Executive) to conduct her or my business, even if it was to benefit her work. It's crazy. I believe that Hillary's actions in the Whitehouse were as official duties of her position or as an appointee to specific tasks by Bill. Do all Government executive positions grant allowances for specific functions and duties to spouses?

[Doodler71]

7. Amateurish, unfit, willing to abuse position of leadership

will not serve in the best interest of the people but only serve herself.

It screams "NARCISSIST"

[SpiralHawk]

9. America does not need another republicon amatuer

fail freak

[Kali]

10. and obsessed with the ex-BIL!

both she and her husband seem mentally unstable. Incapable of getting over HER SISTER's divorce. wierd family.

[AlbertCat]

11. Let's see...

....she obviously used her office unethically to settle a personal vendetta....but she filled out all the paperwork correctly while doing so. Y'betcha!
Sarah, you may fly with the small chummy hunt club that is Alaska, but on the world stage you are no more ready for prime time than you were playing that flute in that beauty pageant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0OZ9W2K_z0&feature=email

[Warren Stupidity]

12. The report concludes that the action was a violation of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act.

She broke the law.

[54anickel]

13. Paints a freaking scary image, an amateurish Cheney just a heartbeat away....n/t

[psychmommy]

14. i think this is being played down.

that her husband did a concerted campaign to get the bil upon her being in office-in his own office in the state building sounds like abuse of power to me. we always knew she could fire monegan because he was a political appointee-but did she abuse her power, yes. that she allowed her husband and subordinates to harass the state troopers/ law & safety dept. abuse of her power. this stuff matters. this is ridiculous that this is sliding through the cracks. i should have known.

[pdefalla]

15. She violated the PUBLIC TRUST

This is the most important lesson we can learn from this report. How in the hell can anyone consider electing someone who has just been shown to have VIOLATED THE PUBLIC TRUST?

[pdefalla]

16. She violated the PUBLIC TRUST

This is the most important lesson we can learn from this report. How in the hell can anyone consider electing someone who has just been shown to have VIOLATED THE PUBLIC TRUST?

[gtar100]

21. How? By confusing ideology for truth.

Be it religion or politics, the insanity of the current theological wing of of what's remaining of the republican party will blind them to anything that does not fit their fish-eye lens view of the world.

It's good that many people are coming out of their trance, but it's not easy and hopefully it's in time.

[Baby Snooks]

17. Amateurish or Dangerous?

Her actions are not the actions of an amateur but the actions of someone who knew what she could and could not get away with legally. Ethics? That word was dropped from the Republican vocabulary a long time ago.

Doesn't matter if something is unethical. All that matters is whether it's legal.

[A Simple Game]

25. Your post is incomplete. I will be happy to finish it for you.

Doesn't matter if something is unethical. All that matters is whether it's legal.
And if it is illegal, it only matters if you get caught!

[WheelWalker]

26. Objectively, everything matters.

[alfredo]

18. I hope she isn't dropped from the ticket. McCain might screw up and

ask someone competent to run as a replacement. Of course a competent person wouldn't board a sinking ship.

[4lbs]

19. It also states that the reasons Palin gave for trying to have Wooten fired don't really jive...

with what she did.

She said Wooten posed a danger to her family and herself.

If so, the report asks, why did she DECREASE her security detail? If Wooten was such a danger, as Palin claimed, why didn't Governor Palin keep or increase the size of the detail?

[magellan]

20. Just a violation of the podunk AK Ethics Act

There are bigger laws to break once she gets to DC.

[truthisfreedom]

22. The informal Department of Getting Mike Wooten Fired. Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!

What an amateur.

[kath]

24. Well, looking at someone's worker's comp. file without authorization is a crime and is serious

enough that a state worker caught doing it is supposed to lose his/her job.
This was on a thread here last night.

[Ian David]

27. A caller to Thom Hartman made an excellent point.

If we outlaw politicians abusing their power to exact petty revenge against their enemies, then people will have no reason to run for public office.