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.
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.
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?
Sounded interesting, but the only thing I’ve found so far is a bit contradictory. From a WSJ Blog:
Todd Palin campaigned years for firing trooper
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.
No problem. It’s sometimes hard to tell the jokes from the facts sometimes, huh?
Sweet! Transparency, anyone?
Woo Hoo! Take that McShame!
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.
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.
The New York Times has a story on the case:
However, have no fear – Yahoo News reports that the matter has been resolved:
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.
These fuckers would make Squealer blush.
OMG! Officer Wootenis the cop from Heroes!
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.
Couldn’t they have gotten a restraining order or something of that nature?