# Sarah turns opaque. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 16, 2008, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856 "2008-09-16T16:46:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 22
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/421 "2008-10-07T23:51:45Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > But Wasilla isn’t the bush, it’s a suburb of Anchorage. It’s technically in the “Anchorage Metropolitan Area” but I’m guessing Wasilla looks and feels more like a small town than a suburb. It’s over 40 miles from Anchorage. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/422 "2008-10-08T00:28:21Z")
> [@cricetus](#): > > It’s technically in the “Anchorage Metropolitan Area” but I’m guessing Wasilla looks and feels more like a small town than a suburb. It’s over 40 miles from Anchorage. They did a segment from Wasilla on The Daily Show last night. It was like watching an episode of _Deadwood_. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/423 "2008-10-08T15:43:19Z")
> [@cricetus](#): > > It’s technically in the “Anchorage Metropolitan Area” but I’m guessing Wasilla looks and feels more like a small town than a suburb. It’s over 40 miles from Anchorage. That makes no sense to me. Even less sense is including Talkeetna and other towns as part of the AMA. Wasilla and all those other little towns out there are part of the Matanuska-Susitna (or Mat-Su) Borough, which is a humongous area with its own governance. While a lot of people in the Valley work in Anchorage, they don’t pay property taxes here, nor are their cars subject to the emissions testing here. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/424 "2008-10-09T01:06:07Z")
We can now add “coward” to Sarah’s fine resume. The campaign has limited any future interviews to Sean Hannity and Greta Van Sustern. Nobody else will have access. Panic is just such an ugly thing. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/425 "2008-10-09T01:22:57Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > We can now add “coward” to Sarah’s fine resume. The campaign has limited any future interviews to Sean Hannity and Greta Van Sustern. Nobody else will have access. Panic is just such an ugly thing. Do you have a link for this? ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/426 "2008-10-09T14:01:05Z")
> [@C3](#): > > Do you have a link for this? Sounded interesting, but the only thing I’ve found so far is a bit contradictory. From a [WSJ Blog](http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/10/07/palin-steps-up-tv-interviews/): > [@](#): > > **Palin Steps Up TV Interviews** > > Elizabeth Holmes reports from Jacksonville, Fla., on the presidential race. > > The McCain campaign has largely sheltered Sarah Palin from the media, but that’s changing. This week, the campaign is slowing releasing the GOP vice-presidential candidate to local media. On Monday, Palin sat down with NBC affiliate WFLA in Tampa, Fla. On Tuesday, she took questions from another local television station in Jacksonville. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/427 "2008-10-09T14:33:53Z")
[Todd Palin campaigned years for firing trooper](http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/550229.html) > [@](#): > > Todd Palin talked with over a dozen state officials, many of them repeatedly, in his crusade to get a state trooper fired whom he considered to be a bad cop, a dishonest person and a threat to the Palin family, according to his sworn statement given Wednesday to a legislative investigator. > > The 25-page statement from Gov. Sarah Palin’s husband, in response to questions submitted by the investigator, shows that Todd Palin’s efforts started before his wife became governor and accelerated during the first 19 months of her administration. > > . . . > > In his statement, Palin is unapologetic about his efforts to get Wooten fired, but he says he doesn’t think those efforts had anything to do with Monegan’s dismissal. He said his understanding is that Monegan lost his job due to a “dispute with the governor and her staff over budget issues and failure to fill trooper vacancies.” > > . . . > > He said by taking his concerns to Monegan he was following the instructions regular citizens get for complaining about troopers. > > “There is absolutely nothing improper about lodging concerns about Trooper Wooten with Monegan or his predecessor – complaints about State Troopers are supposed to go to the Commissioner,” he said. > > “I make no apologies for wanting to protect my family and wanting to publicize the injustice of a violent trooper keeping his badge and abusing the worker compensation system. The real investigation that needs to be conducted for the best interests of the public at large is the Department of Public Safety’s unwillingness to discipline its own.” These people are so arrogant, it’s stunning. And they must think the rest of us are stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/428 "2008-10-09T15:53:46Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > [Todd Palin campaigned years for firing trooper](http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/550229.html) These people are so arrogant, it’s stunning. And they must think the rest of us are stupid. I really don’t blame him for being pissed about some asshole threatening his family and being unapologetic about going after the guy. I probably would have reacted the same way. However, once his wife was elected governor, he should have STFU about it to avoid the appearance of conflict of interest and abuse of power. He’s helped place her in a very poor defensive position. **C3** : I heard it on Olbermann, which on reflection may not be the most accurate reporting. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/429 "2008-10-09T15:58:14Z")
[QUOTE=Chefguy] C3: I heard it on Olbermann, which on reflection may not be the most accurate reporting. [/QUOTE] No problem. It’s sometimes hard to tell the jokes from the facts sometimes, huh? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/430 "2008-10-09T22:00:40Z")
[Alaska Supreme Court Rejects GOP Lawsuit to Block ‘Troopergate’ Report](http://www.pubrecord.org/component/content/382.html?task=view) > [@](#): > > The Alaska Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a last ditch effort by six GOP state lawmakers to block the publication of an ethics report that will determine whether Gov. Sarah Palin abused her position of power when she fired her public safety commissioner. ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/431 "2008-10-09T22:48:25Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > [Alaska Supreme Court Rejects GOP Lawsuit to Block ‘Troopergate’ Report](http://www.pubrecord.org/component/content/382.html?task=view) Sweet! Transparency, anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/432 "2008-10-09T22:55:59Z")
Woo Hoo! Take _that_ McShame! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/433 "2008-10-09T23:21:57Z")
Let the lynchings begin… ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/434 "2008-10-10T00:16:39Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Let the lynchings begin… Do you know where and when it will be available on the web? I hope you know that it is your moral duty to post it immediately, seeing as you’re our point man in the north. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/435 "2008-10-10T01:41:18Z")
> [@askeptic](#): > > Do you know where and when it will be available on the web? I hope you know that it is your moral duty to post it immediately, seeing as you’re our point man in the north. I am about as sure as anything that these five were promised rewards by the McCain camp, probably ranging from minor cabinet postings to support for their runs at office in the future. I don’t know what else would motivate them to shit all over the constitution. The NYT had an article about Troopergate today that talked about people being called into Palin’s office in Juneau and having Todd present. That’s not new news. What IS new news is that there were stacks of personnel records in the office as well when those meetings took place. In my 40+ years in the workplace (most of it with the government), I have NEVER heard of anybody having access to personnel records but those with a need to know, and NEVER anybody outside of the government. The state will be lucky not to be sued over this. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/436 "2008-10-10T02:11:57Z")
The New York Times has a story on the case: > [@](#): > > [Palins Repeatedly Pressed Case Against Trooper](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/10/us/10trooper.html) > > …Ms. Palin has denied that anyone told Mr. Monegan to dismiss Mr. Wooten, or that the commissioner’s ouster had anything to do with the trooper. But an examination of the case, based on interviews with Mr. Monegan and several top aides, indicates that, to a far greater degree than was previously known, the governor, her husband and her administration pressed the commissioner and his staff to get Mr. Wooten off the force, though without directly ordering it. > > In all, the commissioner and his aides were contacted about Mr. Wooten three dozen times over 19 months by the governor, her husband and seven administration officials, interviews and documents show… However, have no fear – Yahoo News reports that the matter has been resolved: > [@](#): > > [Palin Pre-empts State Report, Clears Self In Probe](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081010/ap_on_el_pr/palin_troopergate;_ylt=Ag84Bn1anFJDS9QgDxGnxRKs0NUE) > > Palin, running mate to Republican presidential nominee John McCain, is the subject of two inquiries into whether she abused her power by firing her public safety commissioner. The commissioner says he was dismissed for resisting pressure to fire Palin’s former brother-in-law, a state trooper. > > Lawmakers are expected to release their findings Friday. > > The report the McCain-Palin campaign released Thursday night says the firing was based on a budget dispute. Since then, the report says, the matter has been muddled with innuendo, rumor and politics… ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/437 "2008-10-10T02:52:42Z")
[QUOTE=Chefguy] The NYT had an article about Troopergate today that talked about people being called into Palin’s office in Juneau and having Todd present. That’s not new news. What IS new news is that there were stacks of personnel records in the office as well when those meetings took place. In my 40+ years in the workplace (most of it with the government), I have NEVER heard of anybody having access to personnel records but those with a need to know, and NEVER anybody outside of the government. The state will be lucky not to be sued over this. [/QUOTE] Know what’s really sickening? It sounds like the former BIL really was a nasty piece of work, someone of very dubious temperment and judgment for a cop. I don’t blame the Palins for wanting to remove as much threat as possible from their family. But I sure as hell _do_ blame them for abusing elected office to do it. Firing a bad cop can be a long, complicated process, at least if Alaska resembles other states, what with strong police unions, outside reviews, etc. So what? Go through the damned process already. Anything but a clean dismissal is an open invitation for all kinds of blown-back shit. The “First Dude” sitting in on _personnel issues_?! Beyond stupid. Why didn’t the arrogant idiots just hang a “SUE US” sign on the door. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/438 "2008-10-10T03:59:01Z")
> [@](#): > > Palin Pre-empts State Report, Clears Self In Probe These fuckers would make Squealer blush. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/439 "2008-10-10T04:20:26Z")
OMG! [Officer Wooten](http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/10/09/us/09trooper-600.jpg)is the cop from [Heroes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Greg_Grunberg_at_Comic-con_2008.jpg)! On less serious matters, I’m inclined to disagree with you **TVeblen**. It sounds to me like the Palin family, in, among other things a custody battle, and being a close-knit group, is leveling a series of charges against Wooten that are being reported as fact. Wooten’s been even been cleared of some of them (e.g., snowmobiling while on disability), though the initial charges are still being claimed as true. I have absolutely nothing other than a general presumption of innocence/benefit of the doubt, of course, so I cannot and should not assert that Wooten is Mr. Innocent in all of this. However, given an apparent pattern of viciousness on Palin’s part, the smear-mongering of the campaign in general and especially in the campaign’s “report”, and familiarity (though fortunately never personal) with the hyperbole that surrounds many divorce cases, I’m not inclined to give credence to the allegations nor consider Wooten a nasty piece of work. Furthermore (and perhaps most telling), it sounds to me like Palin et al are throwing as much filth as possible on Wooten at this time in order to justify/ obfuscate their actions. That is, there are a lot of people out there that agree with them that Wooten shouldn’t be a cop, so are inclined to exonerate without considering the abuse of power. However, if they had independent corroboration (which they may but I’m not aware of), such as other citizen’s complaints, other independent witness testimony against his policing, pre-divorce personnel write-ups, etc., they’d be trumpeting it as loudly as possible. The cacophonous silence is very telling — especially as they are not hesitant to smear him with their own, personally witnessed allegations. So, I don’t know if they’re lying or not this time. Maybe Wooten is a horror show. But right now I have to admit to a modicum of sympathy for him; he’s being dragged through mud on a national level to serve Palin’s political ends — if his character isn’t justification for official pressure to have him fired, then it is **not** germane to the hearings. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/440 "2008-10-10T04:26:58Z")
> [@TVeblen](#): > > Know what’s really sickening? It sounds like the former BIL really was a nasty piece of work, someone of very dubious temperment and judgment for a cop. I don’t blame the Palins for wanting to remove as much threat as possible from their family. But I sure as hell _do_ blame them for abusing elected office to do it. > > Firing a bad cop can be a long, complicated process, at least if Alaska resembles other states, what with strong police unions, outside reviews, etc. So what? Go through the damned process already. Anything but a clean dismissal is an open invitation for all kinds of blown-back shit. The “First Dude” sitting in on _personnel issues_?! Beyond stupid. Why didn’t the arrogant idiots just hang a “SUE US” sign on the door. Couldn’t they have gotten a restraining order or something of that nature? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856.md?page=21) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856.md?page=23)