How Palin could have avoided all those ethics probes
How Palin could have avoided all those ethics probes
Here at Attytood I try to swim upstream as much as I can -- some stories are simply unavoidable but I also don't want to be the 1.397th blogger doing a live blog of the Michael Jackson funeral, for example. Likewise, when Sarah Palin resigns at the start of the weekend, it was pretty much impossible to say much that was original after a two-day frenzy. But nearly a week later, she remains hard to ignore.
Of the million or so blog posts launched by Palin so far, I agree with those who say that a) the bottom line is that Sarah Palin has been, is, and will be a petulant quitter anywhere she goes, and so the country is a lot better off without her in the vice presidency, backing up a man who would have been our oldest president and 2) is she capable of running for president in 2012?...You betcha. Just the undying interest in Palin in the pundosphere shows that she has the No. 1 quality that you need to run, if not win, in our new millennium -- and that is simply that America remains fascinated by her. Qualifications? We can hash that out later.
Having said it all that, it is interesting now to see the rising pro-Palin argument, that -- in full Nixonland mode -- she was unfairly hounded out of office. So states the Wall Street Journal's John Fund:
Contrary to most reports, her decision had been in the works for months, accelerating recently as it became clear that controversies and endless ethics investigations were threatening to overshadow her legislative agenda. "Attacks inside Alaska and largely invisible to the national media had paralyzed her administration," someone close to the governor told me. "She was fully aware she would be branded a 'quitter.' She did not want to disappoint her constituents, but she was no longer able to do the job she had been elected to do. Essentially, the taxpayers were paying for Sarah to go to work every day and defend herself."
Perhaps, but the bottom line is that there's only one person to blame for so many ethics investigations of Palin, quite possibly more than any governor. It's not her enemies, and it's not the media.
It's Sarah Palin.
It was Sarah Palin -- and not her enemies -- who initiated the scandal known as Troopergate by firing Alaska's public safety commissioner when he refused to fire Palin's brother-in-law enmeshed in an ugly family feud (and this scandal predated her run for vice president, back when virtually no one in the national media or politics knew or cared who Palin was.)
It was Sarah Palin -- and not her enemies -- who thought it was a good idea to bill Alaska's taxpayers for the nights that she spent at her home and for her family members to travel with her on what was supposedly state business.
It was Sarah Palin -- and not her enemies -- who also thought it was a good idea to spend $150,000 in campaign contributions on an upscale shopping spree, actions that were ruled legal by the Federal Election Commission but understandably irked GOP officials and some donors.
The list is longer, but you get the idea. Other governors don't have a laundry list of ethics probes because other governors didn't do so many of these things (and the fact that Eliot Spitzer, Blago and Mark Sanford behaved badly is irrelevant -- four wrongs don't make a right.) So if all the ethics probes are why Palin resigned, so be it. But the sole reason for all the ethics probes is....Sarah Palin.
From family squabbles to clothes and travel, there is now a well-documented pattern of conflating the personal with the governmental, of -- as another GOP governor famously said -- "crossing the line."
And there so was an easy way for Palin to avoid all those ethical probes that allegedly hounded her from office.
She could have been ethical.
bryanc, just wait until the "Employee Free Choice Act" gets passed. That could make a run for the trophy for the most ironically titled law ever passed in this country.— itwillhap
Comment removed.- "How many of these trips have a legitimate purpose???" An excellent question, bird, my guess is most had more to do with improving ones' golf game. I think the public has every right to slam away at Congress members' non-essential travel, and I'll join in as details become available regardless of the political party.— GreyHippie
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- On a lighter note. Did anyone see Michelle Obama get off the plane in Italy? Talk about an overripe banana. Now that's what I'd call the sl... flight attendent look.— junethe4th
junethe4th - but what about those arms?????— bird11
What's the media for, if not to expose frauds like Sara Palin. Of course there has to be a sex angle for the press to wake up and pay attention (that goes for the audience, as well). Ken Starr knew this, didn't he?- A Powerful Message from Stevie Wonder On Michael Jackson’s Death… ...... .. … … .. ….. . . . … . . . . . .. .. …. .. .. . .. .. ... .. ... .. ... ... .... ...... ... ... ... .... ..... .. . . . . … .. . . . .. .. . .... ... .... .... ... ..... .... .... .... .... ..... ..... .. . . .... .... .. . . .. . . . ... ...... ... ... ... .. .. ....... ... .. .... ... ... .... .... .. .. . . .... . . . . . . .. .. … .. . .... .. ... .. ....... ...... ..... Deep stuff, eh? I nearly cried when he said “. .. . . . .. .. … .. . . .... ....”— bird11
- Comrade, I don't understand your comparison of Palin and Rev. Wright...Wright was not running for public office. He also has never been accused of ethics violations of any kind. What is your point?— jreese
- Bryanc it is you---and not your enemies--that bore me with 10 to 15-year old Republican talking points over small earmarks for programs you don't bother to understand.— jreese
- I'm sorry, have any of the "ethics probes" actually resulted in a conclusion that Governor Palin acted unethically? To call her a "petulant quitter" is moronic name calling and displays shockingly little insight into the situation and politics in general. The clear reason she is not running for a second term is that she will be criss-crossing the country raising $$$ for Republican candidates, developing her own platform, and seeing if she is viable for a 2012 run for President. It's hard to do that while you are the sitting Governor of Alaska. The reason that she is resigning while still holding office is to give the Lt. Gov. 1.5 years in office so that he is the incumbent, and will win re-election. It's really not that hard to figure out, folks. The rest of the stuff is window dressing, though I do agree with her point that spending millions of dollars of taxpayer money to fight ethics probes is not why Alaskans put her in office. Beware, libs -- as a candidate, she may not appear a tough challenger, but as a FUNDRAISER, she will raise more $$$ then Barack could ever dream of. And TPS, again, the difference between libs and cons seems to be that cons actually call out their own -- Gov Sanford absolutely should resign office.— IggleFan68
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- "The reason that she is resigning while still holding office is to give the Lt. Gov. 1.5 years in office so that he is the incumbent, and will win re-election." . . . . . . So, this is just a political favor for her Lt Gov, who's already the incumbent No. 2? Come on, Iggle, you can do better than that.
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- MSL - this type of thing happens all the time. Why serve your time as a lame duck? How does Sarah benefit AT ALL from that? This totally frees her up to do whatever she may want to do -- she could not travel to the continental US except on official Alaskan business or on vacation. Obviously the interests of Alaskans are not being served if their Governor is out campaigning for other candidates, regardless of the fact that many other politicians do the same thing.— IggleFan68
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