# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/81 "2008-09-19T20:59:51Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > I wonder: when Palin was vetted, did McCain think Troopergate was nothing, or did they go in figuring that it was something they could stonewall to death? The second one. The republicans fanned the media storm on Palin for the first week. They desperately wanted to: a) shine the light somewhere else, while they b) assembled the team to quash any investigation in Alaska and than c) be prepared for when the media ‘discovered’ Troopergate to say "mean, nasty, sexist media! Leave her alone and stop asking questions! ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/82 "2008-09-19T21:13:02Z")
Seems like Obama could make some hay from this, by insisting that his Justice department won’t forget the meaning of the word “subpoena”. ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/83 "2008-09-19T21:29:20Z")
> [@DoctorJ](#): > > Seems like Obama could make some hay from this, by insisting that his Justice department won’t forget the meaning of the word “subpoena”. I’m really surprised that they haven’t hit them with this at all. For somebody who’s all about reform and transparency, Sarah Palin is resisting this investigation and is rumored to be using personal email to avoid putting things on the public record as governor. ---
**Author:** ![Merkwurdigliebe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Merkwurdigliebe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merkwurdigliebe)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/84 "2008-09-19T21:38:56Z")
> [@Carl\_Corey](#): > > No, she thinks that americans are that stupid. This isn’t a quote attributable to anyone, I don’t think, but the fact of the matter is that a lot more people have been wildly successful in politics by underestimating the average person’s intelligence than overestimating it. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/85 "2008-09-19T22:32:44Z")
So how does the Obama campaign bring this scumbaggery to the forefront without making Sarah the headliner again? Obama does better when the issues are the focus, not that Alaskan dirtlicker. ---
**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:** [September 19, 2008, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/86 "2008-09-19T23:19:36Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > A question is whether Branchflower has enough information to still release any kind of a report. He had been able to interview some of his witnesses before the McCain campaign took over. Dunno if any of them were important ones or not. Apparently they think they do have enough information, because [they intend to release their report by October 10th](http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jOTk11gvqDAgD0cY3i4WjI_2YOxwD939VQP00), regardless of whether her buds offer their testimony or not. Good. I hope this stunt comes back to bite her in the ass. Given that no one would testify on her behalf, all they have to go on is the testimony of the victim and his corroborating evidence, so it’s more likely she’ll be found guilty. ---
**Author:** ![Merkwurdigliebe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Merkwurdigliebe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merkwurdigliebe)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/87 "2008-09-19T23:23:10Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > Apparently they think they do have enough information, because [they intend to release their report by October 10th](http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jOTk11gvqDAgD0cY3i4WjI_2YOxwD939VQP00), regardless of whether her buds offer their testimony or not. > > Good. > > I hope this stunt comes back to bite her in the ass. Given that no one would testify on her behalf, all they have to go on is the testimony of the victim and his corroborating evidence, so it’s more likely she’ll be found guilty. They’ll call it partisan but it won’t matter. Another question mark is put up next to Sarah Palin’s name. That and the countless other reasons to be wary of her will add up. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/88 "2008-09-19T23:32:46Z")
Probably enough. Those who pay attention to these things can clearly see that the Palin Pods are struggling furiously to cover this shit up, stifle and delay. The true believers, the ones commited to seeing this as liberal media persecution won’t be swayed by any evidence, including an affidavit by God Almighty countersigned by Archangel Gabriel. ---
**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:** [September 20, 2008, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/89 "2008-09-20T00:21:12Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > So how does the Obama campaign bring this scumbaggery to the forefront without making Sarah the headliner again? Obama does better when the issues are the focus, not that Alaskan dirtlicker. It could very well be the McCain strategy to get this campaign non-issue to gain some traction and distract the Obama engine from the issues. If he gets all embroiled in ‘look at what Sarah is doing’, it takes him away from the news cycle. **Harborwolf** : the private email accounts are no rumor. Her immediate staff all have them, as well. This is on advice from the AG. Makes you wonder what they think they need to be hiding, dunnit? ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/90 "2008-09-20T00:32:57Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080918/ap\_on\_el\_pr/palin\_troopergate](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080918/ap_on_el_pr/palin_troopergate) > > \*\*Troopergate probe appears to be unraveling \*\* > Somebody woke up with a severed moose head in their bed… Khartum… Khartum… I’m not gonna race him. I’m gonna put him up for nomination. 😃 I started a [thread on this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=481485&highlight=Sarah+Palin) a week or two ago. She’ll make it all go away, and isn’t that just very sad ? Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/91 "2008-09-20T00:34:27Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > _Is this not ze troopergate, > Sarah Palin troopergate? > Ya, das ist der troopergate. > Super Duper Troopergate!_ > > To anyone who gets the reference, I’m so sorry. Ist this Palin Veep not good? Would you dump her if you could? Ja this Palin Veep is good! Vee would dump her if we could (I have an embarrassing large number of Spike CDs.) ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/92 "2008-09-20T00:39:08Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080918/ap\_on\_el\_pr/palin\_troopergate](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080918/ap_on_el_pr/palin_troopergate) > > \*\*Troopergate probe appears to be unraveling \*\* > Somebody woke up with a severed moose head in their bed… We’ve been watching the first season of _The Wire_. Little did I know it would also serve as a primer on Alaskan politics. (And I thought polar bear head. They’re not endangered you know. No Alaskan scientist thinks so - so long as you do a s/endangerd/not endangered/ on their report. ---
**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:** [September 20, 2008, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/93 "2008-09-20T02:55:19Z")
Breaking news on the local TV channel: Someone from the workman’s comp agency testified by phone that she was told by her boss that she had been advised by the Palin administration to deny Wooten’s comp claim. Wooten had already been drawing workman’s comp, but after this episode, his claim was denied. What a circus act this bitch is. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/94 "2008-09-20T02:57:54Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Ist this Palin Veep not good? > Would you dump her if you could? > Ja this Palin Veep is good! > Vee would dump her if we could > > (I have an embarrassing large number of Spike CDs.) There’s got to be a way to work in “Beetlebomb” somewhere. ---
**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:** [September 20, 2008, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/95 "2008-09-20T03:11:28Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Breaking news on the local TV channel: Someone from the workman’s comp agency testified by phone that she was told by her boss that she had been advised by the Palin administration to deny Wooten’s comp claim. Wooten had already been drawing workman’s comp, but after this episode, his claim was denied. > > What a circus act this bitch is. That’s because Todd Palin allegedly submitted a photo of Wooten riding on a snowmobile, allegedly during the time he was collecting worker’s comp. > [@](#): > > [Free Public Records Search - PubRecord.org](http://www.pubrecord.org/nationworld/312.html?task=view) > > Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin – collaborating with her husband Todd and several senior aides – conducted what amounted to a rogue investigation into suspicions that her ex-brother-in-law was faking a job-related injury as a state trooper, according to state documents, law enforcement officials and former aides to Palin. > > **The investigation was conducted using the resources of Gov. Palin’s office** and had the goal of destroying Mike Wooten’s career with the Alaska state troopers, the documents and the interviews reveal. > > . . . > > Todd Palin, who serves as an unofficial adviser to the governor and has billed the state for expenses for trips he takes on his wife’s behalf, continued collecting evidence against Wooten and lobbying for his dismissal. The governor’s husband acknowledged giving Wooten’s boss, Col. Audie Holloway, photos of Wooten driving a snowmobile while he was out of work on worker’s comp. > > . . . But noooooo, she didn’t have a vendetta againt him. Nooooooooo. This psycho bitch can’t be allowed anywhere near the White House. Fuck her sideways with a rusty chainsaw. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/96 "2008-09-20T03:39:27Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > It could very well be the McCain strategy to get this campaign non-issue to gain some traction and distract the Obama engine from the issues. I’m not at all clear why you term this a campaign non-issue. It’s very much an issue in my opinion. Not so much for what Palin may or may not have done that may or may not be legal or if legal may or may not be moral. But rather that the moment she was picked for VP, the McCain campaign rolled in and announced that the investigation was unfair, that it was purely partisan - which is completely incompatible with the facts. The people behind this are not Palin’s Alaska people (they are only getting in line); they are McCain’s campaign people. This is the way McCain wants his campaign to deal with it. This is exactly what the Bush administration has done for the last eight years: accused inquiries of being only partisan politics; denied access to the people who were witnesses or actors in the matter being inquired on; defied subpoenas. In short, they have simply refused to be accountable. It is absolutely an issue to ask if the United States wants another four years of unaccountability. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/97 "2008-09-20T04:05:07Z")
There’s yoiur problem, right there. It is true that the unimproved, outdated Constitution envisions three equal and mutually accountable branches of government. Mr Cheney astutely observed the fact of a fourth branch, the Vice-President, a fact that had eluded scholars for two centures and more! The fourth branch does not participate in the mutual accountability of the “standard” branches of Constitution 1.0, it is accountable only to the Executive. (See the Principle of the Unitary Executive for further obfuscation…) ---
**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:** [September 20, 2008, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/98 "2008-09-20T14:26:24Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > I’m not at all clear why you term this a campaign non-issue. It’s very much an issue in my opinion. > > Not so much for what Palin may or may not have done that may or may not be legal or if legal may or may not be moral. But rather that the moment she was picked for VP, the McCain campaign rolled in and announced that the investigation was unfair, that it was purely partisan - which is completely incompatible with the facts. > > The people behind this are not Palin’s Alaska people (they are only getting in line); they are McCain’s campaign people. This is the way McCain wants his campaign to deal with it. > > This is exactly what the Bush administration has done for the last eight years: accused inquiries of being only partisan politics; denied access to the people who were witnesses or actors in the matter being inquired on; defied subpoenas. In short, they have simply refused to be accountable. > > It is absolutely an issue to ask if the United States wants another four years of unaccountability. True enough. What I meant was that it was a local issue being handled locally, and if McCainCo hadn’t decided to put it on the national stage, it might have just been a footnote to the election and not gained the traction it now has. Now they’ve pissed off a bunch of people who are going to bulldog this thing to resolution and air all the dirt before the election. I’m not complaining, mind you. ---
**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:** [September 20, 2008, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/99 "2008-09-20T14:49:18Z")
What hasn’t yet been reported to any extent was what happened in the aftermath of the Monegan dismissal. Mooselini appointed Chuck Kopp, former police chief of Kenai, AK as his replacement. With her usual keen eye for personnel and her thorough vetting process, she managed to miss the fact that Kopp had been disciplined for sexual harassment in his old job (or she didn’t care). After going through all of the gyrations of denial when this came to light (when the victim went public with it), she had to [dismiss the jerk](http://alaskapride.blogspot.com/2008/07/assailed-by-mounting-criticism-on-all.html), who walked away with a [$10,000 severance](http://media.adn.com/smedia/2008/08/13/16/Document.source.prod_affiliate.7.pdf)when he signed a document agreeing he wouldn’t sue the state. You have to ask the obvious question: Why would an “at-will” state government be worried about a lawsuit? The answer, of course, is that they would not be worried in the least. So why the payoff? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856/100 "2008-09-20T15:28:12Z")
And this just in… > **[Exclusive: New Doubts Over Palin's Troopergate Claims](https://abcnews.com/Blotter/story?id=5844710&page=1)** > > Document contradicts Sarah Palin, campaign. **Internal Government Document Contradicts Sarah Palin, Campaign** > [@](#): > > An internal government document obtained by ABC News appears to contradict Sarah Palin’s most recent explanation for why she fired her public safety chief, the move which prompted the now-contested state probe into “Troopergate.” > > An internal government document obtained by ABC News appears to contradict Sarah Palin’s most recent explanation for why she fired her public safety chief Walt Monegan, the move which prompted the now-contested state probe into “Troopergate.” > > Fighting back against allegations she may have fired her then-Public Safety Commissioner, Walt Monegan, for refusing to go along with a personal vendetta, Palin on Monday argued in a legal filing that she fired Monegan because he had a “rogue mentality” and was bucking her administration’s directives. > > “The last straw,” her lawyer argued, came when he planned a trip to Washington, D.C., to seek federal funds for an aggressive anti-sexual-violence program. The project, expected to cost from $10 million to $20 million a year for five years, would have been the first of its kind in Alaska, which leads the nation in reported forcible rape. > > The McCain-Palin campaign echoed the charge in a press release it distributed Monday, concurrent with Palin’s legal filing. “Mr. Monegan persisted in planning to make the unauthorized lobbying trip to D.C.,” the release stated. > > But the governor’s staff authorized the trip, according to an internal travel document from the Department of Public Safety, released Friday in response to an open records request Ooops. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-turns-opaque/463856.md?page=6)