Sarah Palin to Quit as Alaska's Governor

Six short months ago, I thought I'd written the last posts on the fading political career of Sarah Palin.

Well, folk flocked to plezWorld on Friday to get the skinny on the latest from Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) (more than 400 visitors dropped by on Friday). CNN and all major news outlets have been buzzing all afternoon about the latest from the Great White North: Palin has decided that she should step aside and let her lt. governor take over, so she "can effect positive change outside of government."

Palin said she was transferring authority to Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell, who will be sworn in at the Governor's Picnic on July 26, 2009.

Read Sarah Palin's official statement:

Palin Announces No Second Term
No Lame Duck Session Either

Hi Alaska, I appreciate speaking directly to you, the people I serve, as your Governor.

People who know me know that besides faith and family, nothing's more important to me than our beloved Alaska. Serving her people is the greatest honor I could imagine.

I want Alaskans to grasp what can be in store for our state. We were purchased as a territory because a member of President Abe Lincoln's cabinet, William Seward, providentially saw in this great land, vast riches, beauty, strategic placement on the globe, and opportunity. He boldly looked "North to the Future". But he endured such ridicule and mocking for his vision for Alaska, remember the adversaries scoffed, calling this "Seward's Folly". Seward withstood such disdain as he chose the uncomfortable, unconventional, but right path to secure Alaska, so Alaska could help secure the United States.

Alaska’s mission – to contribute to America. We’re strategic in the world as the air crossroads of the world, as a gatekeeper of the continent. Bold visionaries knew this - Alaska would be part of America's great destiny.

Our destiny to be reached by responsibly developing our natural resources. This land, blessed with clean air, water, wildlife, minerals, and oil and gas. It's energy! God gave us energy.

So to serve the state is a humbling responsibility, because I know in my soul that Alaska is of such import, for America’s security, in our very volatile world. And you know me by now, I promised even four years ago to show my independence… no more conventional “politics as usual”.

And we are doing well! My administration's accomplishments speak for themselves. We work tirelessly for Alaskans.

We aggressively and responsibly develop our resources because they were created to be used to better our world... to help people... and we protect the environment and Alaskans (the resource owners) foremost with our policies.

Here’s some of the things we’ve done:

We created a petroleum integrity office to oversee safe development. We held the line for Alaskans on Point Thomson – and finally for the first time in decades – they’re drilling for oil and gas.

We have AGIA, the gasline project – a massive bi-partisan victory (the vote was 58 to 1!) – also succeeding as intended - protecting Alaskans as our clean natural gas will flow to energize us, and America, through a competitive, pro-private sector project. This is the largest private sector energy project, ever. This is energy independence.

And ACES – another bipartisan effort – is working as intended and industry is publicly acknowledging its success. Our new oil and gas “clear and equitable formula” is so Alaskans will no longer be taken advantage of. ACES incentivizes new exploration and development and jobs that were previously not going to happen with a monopolized North Slope oil basin.

We cleaned up previously accepted unethical actions; we ushered in bi-partisan Ethics Reform.

We also slowed the rate of government growth, we worked with the Legislature to save billions of dollars for the future, and I made no lobbyist friends with my hundreds of millions of dollars in budget vetoes... but living beyond our means today is irresponsible for tomorrow.

We took government out of the dairy business and put it back into private-sector hands – where it should be.

We provided unprecedented support for education initiatives, and with the right leadership, finally filled long-vacant public safety positions. We built a sub-Cabinet on Climate Change and took heat from Outside special interests for our biologically-sound wildlife management for abundance.

We broke ground on the new prison.

And we made common sense conservative choices to eliminate personal luxuries like the jet, the chef, the junkets... the entourage.

And the Lt. Governor and I said "no" to our pay raises.

So much success in this first term – and with this success I am proud to take credit... for hiring the right people! Our goal was to achieve a gasline project, more fair oil and gas valuation, and ethics reform in four years. We did it in two. It’s because of the people… good public servants surrounding the Governor's office, with servants' hearts and astounding work ethic... they are Alaska's success!

We are doing well! I wish you'd hear more from the media of your state's progress and how we tackle Outside interests - daily - special interests that would stymie our state. Even those debt-ridden stimulus dollars that would force the heavy hand of federal government into our communities with an “all-knowing attitude” – I have taken the slings and arrows with that unpopular move to veto because I know being right is better than being popular. Some of those dollars would harm Alaska and harm America – I resisted those dollars because of the obscene national debt we’re forcing our children to pay, because of today’s Big Government spending; it’s immoral and doesn’t even make economic sense!

Another accomplishment – our Law Department protected states’ rights – two huge U.S. Supreme Court reversals came down against that liberal Ninth Circuit, deciding in our state’s favor over the last two weeks. We’re protectors of our Constitution – federalists protect states’ rights as mandated in 10th amendment.

But you don’t hear much of the good stuff in the press anymore, do you?

Some say things changed for me on August 29th last year – the day John McCain tapped me to be his running-mate – I say others changed.

Let me speak to that for a minute.

Political operatives descended on Alaska last August, digging for dirt. The ethics law I championed became their weapon of choice. Over the past nine months I've been accused of all sorts of frivolous ethics violations – such as holding a fish in a photograph, wearing a jacket with a logo on it, and answering reporters’ questions.

Every one – all 15 of the ethics complaints have been dismissed. We’ve won! But it hasn't been cheap - the State has wasted thousands of hours of your time and shelled out some two million of your dollars to respond to “opposition research” – that’s money not going to fund teachers or troopers – or safer roads. And this political absurdity, the “politics of personal destruction” … Todd and I are looking at more than half a million dollars in legal bills in order to set the record straight. And what about the people who offer up these silly accusations? It doesn’t cost them a dime so they’re not going to stop draining public resources – spending other peoples’ money in their game.

It’s pretty insane – my staff and I spend most of our day dealing with this instead of progressing our state now. I know I promised no more “politics as usual,” but this isn’t what anyone had in mind for Alaska.

If I have learned one thing: life is about choices!

And one chooses how to react to circumstances. You can choose to engage in things that tear down, or build up. I choose to work very hard on a path for fruitfulness and productivity. I choose not to tear down and waste precious time; but to build up this state and our country, and her industrious, generous, patriotic, free people!

Life is too short to compromise time and resources... it may be tempting and more comfortable to just keep your head down, plod along, and appease those who demand: "Sit down and shut up", but that's the worthless, easy path; that's a quitter's way out. And a problem in our country today is apathy. It would be apathetic to just hunker down and “go with the flow”.

Nah, only dead fish "go with the flow".

No. Productive, fulfilled people determine where to put their efforts, choosing to wisely utilize precious time... to build up.

And there is such a need to build up and fight for our state and our country. I choose to fight for it! And I'll work hard for others who still believe in free enterprise and smaller government; strong national security for our country and support for our troops; energy independence; and for those who will protect freedom and equality and life... I'll work for and campaign for those proud to be American, and those who are inspired by our ideals and won't deride them.

I will support others who seek to serve, in or out of office, for the right reasons, and I don't care what party they're in or no party at all. Inside Alaska – or Outside Alaska.

But I won’t do it from the Governor’s desk.

I've never believed that I, nor anyone else, needs a title to do this - to make a difference... to help people. So I choose, for my State and my family, more "freedom" to progress, all the way around... so that Alaska may progress... I will not seek re-election as Governor.

And so as I thought about this announcement that I wouldn’t run for re-election and what it means for Alaska, I thought about how much fun some governors have as lame ducks… travel around the state, to the Lower 48 (maybe), overseas on international trade – as so many politicians do. And then I thought – that’s what’s wrong – many just accept that lame duck status, hit the road, draw the paycheck, and “milk it”. I’m not putting Alaska through that – I promised efficiencies and effectiveness! That’s not how I am wired. I am not wired to operate under the same old “politics as usual.” I promised that four years ago – and I meant it.

It’s not what is best for Alaska.

I am determined to take the right path for Alaska even though it is unconventional and not so comfortable.

With this announcement that I am not seeking re-election… I’ve determined it’s best to transfer the authority of governor to Lieutenant Governor Parnell; and I am willing to do so, so that this administration – with its positive agenda, its accomplishments, and its successful road to an incredible future – can continue without interruption and with great administrative and legislative success.

My choice is to take a stand and effect change – not hit our heads against the wall and watch valuable state time and money, millions of your dollars, go down the drain in this new environment. Rather, we know we can effect positive change outside government at this moment in time, on another scale, and actually make a difference for our priorities – and so we will, for Alaskans and for Americans.

Let me go back to a comfortable analogy for me – sports… basketball. I use it because you’re naïve if you don’t see the national full-court press picking away right now: A good point guard drives through a full court press, protecting the ball, keeping her eye on the basket… and she knows exactly when to pass the ball so that the team can win. And I’m doing that – keeping our eye on the ball that represents sound priorities – smaller government, energy independence, national security, freedom! And I know when it’s time to pass the ball – for victory.

I have given my reasons candidly and truthfully… and my last day won’t be for another few weeks so the transition will be very smooth. In fact, we will look to swear Sean in – in Fairbanks at the conclusion of our Governor’s picnics.

I do not want to disappoint anyone with my decision; all I can ask is that you trust me with this decision – but it’s no more “politics as usual”.

Some Alaskans don’t mind wasting public dollars and state time. I do. I cannot stand here as your Governor and allow millions upon millions of our dollars go to waste just so I can hold the title of Governor. And my children won’t allow it either.

Some will question the timing. Let’s just say, this decision has been in the works for awhile…

In fact, this decision comes after much consideration, and finally polling the most important people in my life - my children (where the count was unanimous... well, in response to asking: "Want me to make a positive difference and fight for ALL our children's future from outside the Governor's office?" It was four "yes's" and one "hell yeah!" The "hell yeah" sealed it - and someday I'll talk about the details of that... I think much of it had to do with the kids seeing their baby brother Trig mocked by some pretty mean-spirited adults recently.) Um, by the way, sure wish folks could ever, ever understand that we all could learn so much from someone like Trig - I know he needs me, but I need him even more... what a child can offer to set priorities right – that time is precious... the world needs more "Trigs", not fewer.

My decision was also fortified during this most recent trip to Kosovo and Landstuhl, to visit our wounded soldiers overseas, those who sacrifice themselves in war for our freedom and security… we can ALL learn from our selfless Troops… they’re bold, they don’t give up, they take a stand and know that life is short so they choose to not waste time. They choose to be productive and to serve something greater than self... and to build up their families, their states, our country. These Troops and their important missions – those are truly the worthy causes in this world and should be the public priority with time and resources and not this local / superficial wasteful political bloodsport.

May we all learn from them!

*((Gotta put First Things First))*

First things first: as Governor, I love my job and I love Alaska. It hurts to make this choice but I am doing what’s best for Alaska. I’ve explained why… though I think of the saying on my parents’ refrigerator that says “Don’t explain: your friends don’t need it and your enemies won’t believe you anyway.”

But I have given my reasons… no more “politics as usual” and I am taking my fight for what’s right – for Alaska – in a new direction.

Now, despite this, I don’t want any Alaskan dissuaded from entering politics after seeing this real “climate change” that began in August… no, we need hardworking, average Americans fighting for what’s right! And I will support you because we need you and you can effect change, and I can too on the outside.

We need those who will respect our Constitution where government’s supposed to serve from the bottom up, not move toward this top down big government take-over… but rather, will be protectors of individual rights - who also have enough common sense to acknowledge when conditions have drastically changed and are willing to call an audible and pass the ball when it’s time so the team can win! And that is what I’m doing!

Remember Alaska… America is now, more than ever, looking North to the Future. It'll be good. So God bless you, and from me and my family - to all Alaska - you have my heart.

And we will be in the capable hands of our Lieutenant Governor, Sean Parnell. And Lieutenant General Craig Campbell will assume the role of Lieutenant Governor. And it is my promise to you that I will always be standing by, ready to assist. We have a good, positive agenda for Alaska.

In the words of General MacArthur said, “We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.”

###

~ ~ ~

Excerpts from the New York Times article follows:

Update | 7:00 p.m. Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska announced Friday that she would step down by the end of the month and not seek a second term as governor, fueling speculation that she is trying to position herself as a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012.

Her decision follows a week of extraordinarily bad publicity, from within her own state over ethics inquiries and across the national landscape as top aides on her vice-presidential campaign and supporters have been engaged in a highly public feud that has spilled out in vociferous tones online on blogs and on television. Bloggers in Alaska, critics of the governor as well as former Palin supporters, suggest also that pending releases of e-mails among the Palins were about to expose her to further questions about her finances and governance issues.

In fact, Governor Palin signaled in her nearly breathless news conference that more trouble may lie ahead, as she cited battles that could cost her millions of dollars, a pile-up adding on to her burdens.

Ms. Palin, who was Senator John McCain’s vice presidential running mate last year and solidified the support of the party’s conservative base, explained her decision at a news conference at her home in Wasilla, Alaska, accompanied by her husband, Todd, and other family members.

“We know we can effect positive change outside of government,” she said in making the announcement. Full text of the speech.

Known as Sarah Barracuda when she played basketball in high school, Ms. Palin used point guard analogy in explaining her decision, saying she knows “exactly when to pass the ball so the team can win.”

~ ~ ~

Brad Woodhouse, communications director of the Democratic National Committee, issued these remarks:

Either Sarah Palin is leaving the people of Alaska high and dry to pursue her long shot national political ambitions or she simply can’t handle the job now that her popularity has dimmed and oil revenues are down. Either way - her decision to abandon her post and the people of Alaska who elected her continues a pattern of bizarre behavior that more than anything else may explain the decision she made today.

~ ~ ~

plez sez: sorry, ya'll! but i had to breakup the MJ KING OF POP tribute to pen a response in regards to my insatiable curiosity about sarah palin.

ol' girl picked the slowest of news cycles (the beginning of a major US holiday weekend) to announce the biggest political news since last year's election!

i've read her poorly written statement (which includes reference to a refrigerator magnet in her parents' house) and i have no better idea why she would quit in the middle of her term other than there is some Outside Influence guiding this decision. after reading all the drivel she obviously wrote during one sitting, you get the idea that alaska is doing really well, everyone loves the palins... so there isn't a good reason for her to step down. she would be a lame duck because she chose to be one... or does she KNOW that she'd never win re-election next year?

why is sarah palin quitting on the people of alaska: is it because she's falling off the radar politically at home and she wants to skip out before the bottom falls out? is it to raise money for the legal fees it is taking to defend her good name against the interpolators who descended on alaska during last year's campaign? is it because she wants to devote full time to campaigning for a presidential run in 2012? she has a brood of five pickaninnies running around her house (including her grandson), is she planning to devote her time to being a full-time housewife? is there some juicy scandal about to break in the coming weeks and she wants to be gone when it drops? maybe alaska is just too small time for a big time national politician of her stature?!?

this woman has been shrouded in mystery, bafflement, confusion, yet an undeniable charisma since she was thrust into our lives during the last gasps of john mccain's failed presidential bid. never has someone generated so much heat from so little kindling... a literal flash in the pan. this announcement is little more than a blip on the political meter, since alaska is a far off land with more moose than voters. but for some strange reason this woman keeps getting attention as if she was a serious candidate for national office (are the republicans THAT desparate?) or as if she ever had anything of substance to say (her little back-and-forth with david letterman a few weeks ago proves that she doesn't).

plezWorld is putting his money on the breaking of some news in the coming weeks... probably some salacious accusations involving certain members of her family (remember her jilted teenage daughter who got knocked up just before the campaign was supposed to be married to her high school sweetheart by now?).

~ ~ Citations ~ ~

Read the Anchorage Daily News article about how even fellow Alaskans are baffled by Palin's decision to quit.

Read the New York Times article about Palin to resign as governor of Alaska.

Read the Washington Post article about the governor of Alaska plans to quit.

Read the Washington Post op-ed article about how Palin plays by a different set of rules.

Read the CNN.com article about Palin stepping down as governor of Alaska.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sarah Palin Lashes Out at Bloggers, Mainstream Media, Tina Fey and Katie Couric

Okay, it wasn't a week ago that plezWorld made a pact not to bring this woman's name up on my BLOG again, but... you'll have to take 10 minutes out of your busy schedule to check out the video below. Can you say, "one French fry short of a Happy Meal"?

Tina Fey, oops, I mean, Gov. Sarah Palin said:

“I did see that Tina Fey was named entertainer of the year and Katie Couric’s ratings have risen. I know that a lot of people are capitalizing on, oh I don’t know, perhaps some exploiting that was done via me, my family, my administration — that’s a little bit perplexing, but it also says a great deal about our society.”

Yeah, Palin is in full victimhood mode here. And I must warn you, as funny and ridiculous as this seems, this was an actual interview with the real Sarah Palin.

"Sarah the Victim" Interview

~ ~ ~

plez sez: give me a friggin' break! what this sad episode says about our society is that just over 45 percent of the electorate voted to send this woman and john mccain to washington to lead this country during our most trying period in over 50 years.

she opens up the interview blaming "anonymous bloggers" like plezWorld for spreading misinformation about her alleged son, trig (i still don't believe it was misinformation)... and then goes on a nine-plus minute victimhood rant about tina fey's portrayal of her, the mishandling of her by the mccain camp in relation to the katie couric interviews, the mainstream media's handling of her, class-envy of caroline kennedy, the respect given to BARACK OBAMA's family contrasted against the treatment of the high school dropouts hanging around her household! by now i'm sure you've heard that her future son-in-law - levi johnston - is not only a high school dropout, but he's an unemployed dropout because he had to quit his apprenticeship because... he's a high school dropout! and no, i'm not making this up.

and then after bitchin' and moanin' about how she was received by he media, palin makes it clear that we're not done with with her yet; she plans to stay in the political limelight for years to come!

at one point in the interview, she goes "mama grizzly" about the "saturday night live" skit during which fey's version of palin said, "I believe marriage is meant to be a sacred institution between two unwilling teenagers." and then in the next breath says that if she had it to do all over again, she would still go on the show! huh?!?

this anonymous blogger (AKA plezWorld) and his insignificant blog wishes hellfire and damnation on john mccain for opening pandora's box by thrusting sarah palin and the wasilla hillbillies into the public eye. will we ever be rid of them?!?

~ ~ Citations ~ ~

Read the CNN.com article about Palin lashing out.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gov. Sarah Palin is a Grandmother at 44

It took fours months to work its way out, but it was announced earlier today that Bristol Palin - 18 year old daughter of former Republican vice president nominee and governor of Alaska Sarah Palin - gave birth to a little boy. Keeping with the Palin naming convention, they named him Tripp. If you recall, his young uncle's name is Trig and he has another uncle named Track.

Back in September 2008, the blogosphere was abuzz with rumors that the governor's infant was in fact the son of her then 17 year old daughter, Bristol, but soon after the rumors surfaced, the Palin camp announced that her daughter was already 5 months pregnant!

plezWorld entered the fray spending countless hours in a cramped basement office in the middle of the night trying to ferret out the truth of the Palin pregnancies: here and here.

Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston (reportedly the baby's father) are both 18 years of age, neither has graduated from high school - Levi has dropped out of school to become an electrician and Bristol is taking GED classes for her diploma. Bristol's mother is the 44 year old governor of Alaska. Levi's mother is 42 years old and was recently arrested on felony drug charges.

~ ~ ~

plez sez: the soap opera of the wasilla hillbillies is winding to a close. i can't see how plezWorld can wring another story out of these characters... maybe it's best we just leave them in peace (if they promise to quietly live out the rest of their miserable lives in the relative obscurity of the great white north).

~ ~ Citations ~ ~

Read the Anchorage Daily News article about the addition to the Palin clan.

Read the CNN People article about the governor's grandson.

Read the New York Daily News article about the birth of the governor's grandson.

Read the Los Angeles Times article about another Palin baby.

Sarah Palin and the Wasilla Hillbillies

One day in late August, the world was shocked out of its slumber by Sen. John McCain's selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his running mate on the 2008 presidential ticket. And NOTHING on the right side of the aisle has been the same since!

Subsequent to the day of the selection, we find this woman has the thinnest of political resumes (for some a political plus, for others of the airhead variety, a liability), the intellectual capacity of a small rodent, the tenacity of a mad dog (perhaps a pitbull with lipstick), and the pedigree that panders to the lowest common denominator of American society (i.e. trailer trash). Within days of her "unveiling" in Dayton, Ohio we find that she lives in Wasilla, Alaska (widely known as the "Crystal Meth Capital" of the Pacific Northwest), she has harassed the Public Service Commissioner into quitting while trying to get her sister's ex-husband fired from his job as an Alaska state trooper, her husband is a card carrying member of the Alaskan Independence Party, she has at least four children, she is possibly the 44-year old grandmother of an infant born of dubious circumstances (read more: here and here), she has a son being quickly whisked off to combat in Iraq, and she has a daughter who had spent the previous six months hidden from the public (presumably to have the infant that Sarah is claiming as her own), and this same 17-year old daughter is currently knocked up (okay, five months pregnant) by some hockey punk from Wasilla. And how can we forget her horrendous television interviews with Charles Gibson (ABC News) and Katie Couric (NBC News); we learned that this woman knows diddly-squat about the world we live in or the state of the current political landscape.

Soon after the Republican National Convention we learn her lovely 17-year old pregnant daughter, Bristol, is betrothed to marry the dude who knocked her up, 18-year old Levi Johnston, in December. Levi sat with Bristol and the rest of the Palin family in St. Paul, Minnesota, during Gov. Palin's speech to the Republican National Convention, and he joined the family on the stage afterwards.

By the end of the campaign, it is discovered that Palin had bolstered her personal wardrobe by accepting $150,000 in clothes for herself and her family from the Republican National Party and her favorite phrase is "Barack Obama has been pallin' around with a domestic terrorist."

~ ~ ~

Barack Obama is now the President-elect, John McCain gave a magnificent concession speech while Sarah Palin seethed in the background, she wanted to speak, too! Obama went to work on building his cabinet, McCain went on the late night television circuit to salve the hurt of another lost campaign, and Palin went back to the comforts of Wasilla, ostensibly to run her iceberg of a state.

Thursday afternoon, the squad cars' blue lights were flashing. Alaska State Troopers surround the rundown hovel on the outskirts of Wasilla, Alaska. The troopers served a warrant on the homeowner at the "conclusion of an undercover narcotics investigation." Minutes later they emerge from the residence with 42-year old Sherry L. Johnston in handcuffs. Troopers charged Johnston with second-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance -- generally manufacturing or delivering drugs -- as well as fourth-degree misconduct involving controlled substances, or possession; a total of six felony counts of misconduct involving a controlled substance. The controlled substance was Oxycontin, a powerful narcotics drug - used for high levels of pain - that is only available by prescription. This was the illegal drug of choice of Rush Limbaugh.

She was arrested around noon and released on a $5,000 unsecured bond just after 2:00 p.m.

Ms. Johnston is the mother of Levi Johnston, the Wasilla 18-year-old who is engaged to the governor's pregnant teenage daughter. Ms. Johnston is scheduled to become a grandmother over the weekend, according to the governor's father, Chuck Heath.

~ ~ ~

From Wikipedia - OxyContin:

Oxycodone is a drug subject to abuse.

The introduction of higher strength preparations in 1995 resulted in increasing patterns of abuse. Unlike Percocet, whose potential for abuse is somewhat limited by the presence of paracetamol (acetaminophen), OxyContin and other extended release preparations contain mainly oxycodone. Abusers crush the tablets to break the time-release coating and then ingest the resulting powder orally, intra-nasally, rectally, or by injection. Research has shown that the brains of adolescent mice, which were exposed to OxyContin, can sustain lifelong and permanent changes in their reward system. It is notable that the vast majority of OxyContin related deaths are attributed to ingesting substantial quantities of oxycodone in combination with another depressant of the central nervous system such as alcohol, barbiturates and related drugs.

Illegal distribution of OxyContin occurs through pharmacy diversion, physicians, doctor shopping, faked prescriptions, and robbery.

In the United States, Oxycodone is a schedule II controlled substance, i.e. it must be given by written prescription which cannot have refills, nor can it be called in to a pharmacy by a physician. Trafficking (dealing) is punishable at first offense by not more than 20 years imprisonment. If there's a related death or serious injury, then not less than 20 years (up to life sentence) and a fine of US$1 million if an individual or US$5 million if not an individual. On second offense the penalty is of not more than 30 years imprisonment. If there's a death or serious injury, not less than a life sentence and a fine of US$2 million if an individual or US$10 million if not an individual.

~ ~ ~

plez sez: WHEW! we really dodge a bullet - BIG TIME - on november 4th. i took some heat for vilifying sarh palin (and her ilk), but stories like these about her friends and associates continue to confirm my worst fears about that woman... she was not and more than likely, never will, be ready to lead this country. her background, her lack of curiosity, and the backwoods mentality of sarah palin simply scares me.

exchange the ozarks for the wasilla mountains, swap out moonshine stills for meth labs and oxycontin tablets, and you are looking at modern day hillbillies... in the flesh! "ellie mae, rench out the washin' in the cee-ment pond, out yonder!" *spit*

the palins glorified the independence of the alaskan spirit and the lack of a moral code - that's why their 17-year old daughter got knocked up in the spring while recovering from a serious bout of mono (if you wanna believe the palins' lies). and poor levi's momma, she was just minding her own business. if sarah hadn't run for vice president, no one would've even been snoopin' around the johnston house!

this whole sarah palin episode is better suited for "jerry springer" than "meet the press."

whatever they got going up there in alaska... i hope they keep it up there, where it belongs!

and i can assure you, the hard-on that plezWorld has had for all things palin has been satiated... i think i can say with relative certainty that i won't be visiting this subject matter any time in the near future... now i'll go up and grab a six-pack out of the fridge that sits on the front porch.

~ ~ Citations ~ ~

Read the Anchorage Daily News article about Sherry Johnston's arrest.

Read the Anchorage Daily News article about Johnston's OxyContin charges.

Read the Politico article about Sarah Palin's future in-laws's arrest.

Read the CNN.com article about Levi Johnston's mother's arrest.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Obama Resigns...

Effective Sunday, President-elect Barack Obama - the junior Senator from Illinois - will relinquish his seat. Under state law, Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich will name Obama's replacement for the remaining two years of his term. Blagojevich has said he expects to make a decision by year's end. Obama, elected in 2004, is currently the only black senator.

Potential candidates to replace Obama include Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., Rep. Jan Schakowsky, Illinois Senate President Emil Jones, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, and Tammy Duckworth, a disabled Iraq war veteran and currently the Illinois veteran affairs director.

In a statement, Obama said:

"My four-year term was one of the highest honors and privileges of my life and the people of Illinois will stay with me as I leave the Senate to begin the hard task of fulfilling the simple hopes and common dreams of all Americans as our nation's next president."

Vice President-elect Joe Biden also is expected to resign his seat representing Delaware at some point between now and the Jan. 20 inauguration. Democratic Gov. Ruth Ann Minner presumably would pick the successor. Several Democrats have said Biden's son, Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, is interested in succeeding his father in the Senate. He is on a yearlong deployment to Iraq with his National Guard unit. As a result, Democrats have discussed a plan under which an interim successor would be named and would step aside in 2010 so the younger Biden could run in a special election to fill out the term.

As a result of these resignations, the lame-duck session of Congress will meet without Obama or Biden.

~ ~ ~

In other news, despite his felony conviction for filing false U.S. Senate financial disclosure forms, Republican Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska insisted he was innocent, did not to step down, and went ahead to run for his seventh term as Senator. On election night, he was ahead. But as absentee and provisional ballots have been counted, he has fallen behind his Democratic contender, Anchorage mayor Mark Begich by close to 1,000 votes (as of November 13).

With nearly two-thirds of the absentee votes now tallied, Begich has taken the lead. An estimated 40,000 ballots have yet to be counted – a majority of them from the area of the state that includes Anchorage, according to state elections officials.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Read the AP article about Obama's resignation from the Senate.

Read the New York Times article about the Obama-less & Biden-less lame-duck Congress.

Read the articles about the Alaska Senate race here and here and here.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

plez sez: the news cycle slows to a crawl in anticipation of the OBAMA inauguration... but you gotta wonder what was going on in the minds of those alaskans who voted for a convicted felon to be their senator.

one can only thank GOD that those people's governor isn't preparing to go to washington as vice-president!

Troopergate Investigation: Palin Abused Power

Girl meets boy. Girl marries boy (by the way, this is old boy's second or third marriage). They have a kid together. Things go south and girl leaves boy. There's a divorce and a nasty custody battle over the kid. Girl sic's her big sister (who happens to be governor of the state) on boy. The governor pressures the boy's boss to fire the boy. The boy's boss refuses to cooperate. The governor fires the boy's boss... and if you're wondering, that's how they do things in Alaska!

Well, the girl in question is Molly McCann, the sister of Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska. The boy is Alaska State Trooper Mike Wooten. And the boy's boss is Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The New York Times recounts the sordid details of how the Palins (mainly at the behest of Todd Palin, the governor's husband) put extreme pressure on the public safety commissioner prior to him being fired. His successor also was harassed by the Palins before he quit the job.

Excerpts from New York Times story about Palin pressure:

ANCHORAGE — The 2007 state fair was days away when Alaska’s public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, took another call about one of his troopers, Michael Wooten. This time, the director of Gov. Sarah Palin’s Anchorage office was on the line.

As Mr. Monegan recalls it, the aide said the governor had heard that Trooper Wooten was assigned to work the kickoff to the fair in late August. If so, Mr. Monegan should do something about it, because Ms. Palin was also planning to attend and did not want him nearby.

Somewhat bewildered, Mr. Monegan soon determined that Trooper Wooten had indeed volunteered for duty at the fairgrounds — in full costume as “Safety Bear,” the troopers’ child-friendly mascot.

Two years earlier, the trooper and the governor’s sister had been embroiled in a nasty divorce and child-custody battle that had hardened the Palin family against him. To Mr. Monegan and several top aides, the state fair episode was yet another example of a fixation that the governor and her husband, Todd, had with Trooper Wooten and the most granular details of his life.

“I thought to myself, ‘Man, do they have a heavy-duty network and focus on this guy,’ ” Mr. Monegan said. “You’d call that an obsession.”

On July 11, Ms. Palin fired Mr. Monegan, setting off a politically charged scandal that has become vastly more so since Ms. Palin became the Republican vice-presidential nominee.

By now, the outlines of the matter have been widely reported. Mr. Monegan believes he was ousted because he would not bow to pressure to dismiss Trooper Wooten. The Alaska Legislature is investigating the firing and whether the governor abused the powers of her office to pursue a personal vendetta.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ms. Palin has denied that anyone told Mr. Monegan to dismiss Trooper Wooten, or that the commissioner’s ouster had anything to do with him. 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 Trooper Wooten off the force, though without directly ordering it.

In all, the commissioner and his aides were contacted about Trooper Wooten three dozen times over 19 months by the governor, her husband and seven administration officials, interviews and documents show.

“To all of us, it was a campaign to get rid of him as a trooper and, at the very least, to smear the guy and give him a desk job somewhere,” said Kim Peterson, Mr. Monegan’s special assistant, who like several other aides spoke publicly about the matter for the first time.

Ms. Peterson, a 31-year veteran of state government who retired 10 days before Mr. Monegan’s firing, said she received about a dozen calls herself. “It was very clear that someone from the governor’s office wanted him watched,” she said.

Nor did that interest end with Mr. Monegan, the examination shows. His successor, Chuck Kopp, recalled that in an exploratory phone call and then a job interview, Ms. Palin’s aides mentioned the governor’s concerns about Trooper Wooten. None of the 280 other troopers were discussed, Mr. Kopp said.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Palin family’s dispute with Trooper Wooten surfaced long before Ms. Palin became governor.

On April 11, 2005, the day Ms. Palin’s sister, Molly McCann, filed for divorce, her father, Chuck Heath, informed the state police that a domestic-violence restraining order had been served on his son-in-law. Mr. Heath later told the state police that, although Trooper Wooten had not physically harmed Ms. McCann, he had intimidated her. Ms. McCann told the authorities that Trooper Wooten said to her that he would shoot Mr. Heath if he hired her a divorce lawyer and would “take down” Ms. Palin if she got involved.

The family also reported that Trooper Wooten, who was assigned to the wildlife investigations unit, shot a cow, or female, moose without a permit, used a Taser on his 10-year-old stepson and drank a beer at a friend’s barbecue before taking a second one for the drive home in his patrol car.

In March 2006, after an internal inquiry, Trooper Wooten received a 10-day suspension, which was eventually halved. The suspension letter mentions nothing about threats. At the time, Trooper Wooten and Ms. McCann had been divorced for about two months. But their relationship remained tumultuous, primarily over child custody disputes, said Ms. McCann’s divorce lawyer, Roberta Erwin.

Ms. McCann “wanted to know what relief was available to her” without spending the money to return to court, the lawyer said, adding, “As a close family, the Palins did their best to help her by reaching out further to the trooper hierarchy, with Todd taking the lead.”

On Jan. 4, 2007, a month into the Palin administration and his tenure as public safety commissioner, Mr. Monegan went to the governor’s Anchorage office to talk with Todd Palin, who had requested the meeting. Mr. Palin was seated at a conference table with three stacks of personnel files. That, Mr. Monegan recalled, was the first time he heard the name Mike Wooten.

“He conveyed to me,” Mr. Monegan said, “that he and Sarah did not think the investigation into Wooten had been done well enough and that they were not happy with the punishment. Todd was clearly frustrated.”

Mr. Palin noted Trooper Wooten’s divorce case but dwelt on the moose kill, even showing photographs of the dead animal, Mr. Monegan recalled. The commissioner said he would have his staff evaluate the evidence.

A few days later, Mr. Monegan informed Mr. Palin that the issues raised at the meeting had been addressed in the suspension. The case was closed.

Mr. Palin sounded vexed and said repeatedly Trooper Wooten was getting away with a crime, Mr. Monegan said. “I hung up wondering how long I could keep my job if I tick off my boss’s husband.”

Several evenings later, Mr. Monegan’s cellphone rang. “Walt, it’s Sarah,” the governor said before echoing much of what her husband had said. Trooper Wooten, he recalls being told, was “not the kind of person we should want as a trooper.” He told the governor, too, that there was no new evidence to pursue.

Soon after that, Mr. Palin and several aides began pressing the public safety agency to investigate another matter: whether Trooper Wooten was fraudulently collecting workers’ compensation for a back injury he said he had suffered while helping carry a body bag.

Mr. Palin’s evidence: He told Ms. Peterson, the commissioner’s assistant, that he had seen the trooper riding a snowmobile while on medical leave and that he had photographs to prove it.

When Mr. Palin called back two weeks later, Ms. Peterson said she had met with the trooper but was not authorized to discuss the conversation because it was an official state personnel matter. The issue was eventually resolved in Trooper Wooten’s favor, after his chiropractor sent a letter saying he had approved of the trooper’s riding a snowmobile, as long as he was careful.

Mr. Palin declined to be interviewed. But in a sworn affidavit this week for the legislative investigation, he wrote that he had hundreds of communications about the trooper “with my family, with friends, with colleagues and with just about everyone I could, including government officials.” He added, “In fact, I talked about Wooten so much over the years that my wife told me to stop talking about it with her.”

As for what he had told his wife, Mr. Palin said he often raised his concerns about “the unfairness of his remaining on the state troopers when he was obviously so unfit for the job.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In July, Ms. Palin’s acting chief of staff called Mr. Monegan to another meeting in that same room in the governor’s Anchorage office. The aide, Michael A. Nizich, said the governor wanted him to head the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, part of the public safety department. Put another way, he was no longer commissioner.

Saying the firing had come “out of the blue,” Mr. Monegan asked how he had upset the governor. Ms. Palin, the aide said, wanted to take the agency in a new direction.

“Was it Wooten?” Mr. Monegan recalled asking.

“A new direction,” was the reply.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mr. Monegan’s successor, Mr. Kopp, said that when the trooper came up in his pre-employment conversations with Palin aides, “it was raised within the context of one of the things that I needed to be aware of, but there was no direction to take any job action.”
During his first week on the job, Mr. Kopp received a call from Mr. Nizich, an aide to Gov. Palin. Trooper Wooten, in uniform, had shown up at the governor’s picnic, which is open to the public. “Is there anything you can do?” Mr. Nizich asked, explaining that the Palins were concerned about his presence.

The trooper was told to leave the area.

About a week later, Mr. Kopp resigned amid [from his job].

Trooper Mike Wooten, who declined to be interviewed for this article, remains on the force as a patrol trooper.

It is reported by CNN.com that Todd Palin testified that he never pressured the public safety commissioner, the governor wanted to move the department in another direction.

What follows are excerpts of the different stories that Todd Palin told about WHY Walt Monegan was fired:

Palin's husband, Todd, said in a sworn affidavit released Wednesday night that he never pressured the state's public safety commissioner to fire Palin's former brother-in-law, a state trooper who had divorced the governor's sister.

Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan was not fired this summer because he wouldn't dismiss the trooper, Todd Palin said in his written response to questions from the state Legislature's investigation into Monegan's firing.

"My concerns ... were not why Monegan was reassigned," Palin said in the 52-page document.

Some of Todd's stories include:

• His wife - the governor - was unhappy with Monegan because of "budget issues and failure to fill trooper vacancies."
  
  
• [Walt Monegan] was offered a reassignment, and he resigned rather than accept the reassignment.
  
  
• Mike Wooten was a "rogue trooper" who had threatened the Palin family during his divorce.
  
  
• "As Monegan has stated, I never told him to fire Wooten," Palin said in his written response to questions in the state Legislature's investigation into Monegan's dismissal. "My understanding was that he was in charge of receiving any kind of complaint about a trooper. That was his job. At no time did Monegan tell me he felt 'pressure' to do anything he did not think was right."
  
  
• [Todd said that] his complaints with Monegan centered more on his wife's inability to sometimes use the Department of Public Safety's King Air Turbo Prop plane to reach far-flung constituents in the large state. "It seemed like whenever Sarah needed this plane, it was unavailable."
  
  
• He also contacted Monegan in the "summer of 2007 when a friend's husband drowned in Lake Louise and she was upset with the way the body recovery was being handled.
  
  
• Todd also claims that Trooper Wooten used a Taser stun-gun on his ten-year old stepson, had drunk beer both before and during the operation of his marked State Trooper patrol car, and had illegally shot a cow moose without a permit.

They may not have come right out and said it, but it is pretty obvious by the Palins' obsession with Mike Wooten that Monegan was punished by the governor for not firing her ex-brother-in-law.

Findings of the Legislative Council investigating the claims against Gov. Palin:

Finding Number One:
For the reasons explained below, I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act. Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) provides

"The legislature reaffirms that each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust."

Finding Number Two:
I find that, although Walt Monegan's refusal to fire Trooper Michael Wooten was not the sole reason he was fired by Governor Sarah Palin, it was likely a contributing factor to his termination as Commissioner of Public Safety. In spite of that, Governor Palin's firing of Commissionare Monegan was a proper and lawful exercise of her constitutional and statutory authority to hire and fire executive branch department heads.


Finding Number Three:
Harbor Adjustment Service of Anchorage, and its owner Ms. Murleen Wilkes, handled Trooper Michael Wooten's workers' compensation claim properly and in the normal course of business like any other claim processed by Harbor Adjustment Service and Ms. Wilkes. Further, that he received all the workers' compensation benefits to which he was entitled.


Finding Number Four:
The Attorney General's office failed to substantially comply with my August 6, 2008 written request to Governor Sarah Palin for information about hte case in the form of emails.

These findings carry no criminal actions against the governor. Although, Mr. Monegan may decide to look at some civil action to recoup the salary that he lost because of this harassment by the governor and her husband.

Read the New York Times article about how the Palin's pressured Walt Monegan here.

Read the CNN.com article and download the PDF about Todd Palin's response to the Judiciary Committee subpoena here.

Several media outlets are reporting on report from the Alaska Legislature claiming that Gov. Sarah Palin abused her powers, read them here & here & here.

Read and download the 263-page PDF of the Branchflower Report to the Legislative Council (the findings of the council concerning the Troopergate investigation).

plez sez: i delayed in posting about this story, because frankly, there were so many other juicy and salacious stories and rumors about the governor of alaska that this story got put on the back burner until it was resolved. well, now that an investigation by the Alaska Legislature has concluded that palin abused her powers in the firing of walt monegan, i feel it is time to spread the news!

this is just one more item in a long list of indescretions that should've caused john mccain to look elsewhere for his running mate. not only has the woman proven to be a drag on his campaign - remember, he was close to being tied with Obama in most polls when he picked her and now he is down by over 8 points in most national polls less than 2 months after picking her - but she was not adequately vetted, and her public misdeeds will undoubtedly play a role in mccain's defeat on election day.

we can now add "corrupt" to her long list of adjectives: uncurious, uneducated, bigoted, xenophobic, liar, charlatan, brown-noser, overly ambitious, etc.

Gov. Sarah Palin's Husband Will Not Testify

Gov. Sarah Palin's husband, Todd, refuses to comply with a subpoena issued by state lawmakers investigating her firing of Alaska's public safety commissioner. The McCain-Palin campaign is working overtime to sabotage the investigation into whether Gov. Palin pressured then Public Safety Commissioner Monegan to fire her ex-brother-in-law before firing Monegan for not following her orders. Palin has said Monegan was dismissed over budget disagreements and denies any wrongdoing.

CNN.com reports that state Senate committee is scheduled to meet Friday to take statements from the 12 people they subpoenaed last week, including Todd Palin. But McCain-Palin spokeswoman Maria Comella said Todd Palin would not face a "fair hearing" before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The campaign has stepped up its attacks on the Legislature's investigation of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan's firing in the past week, saying the governor won't cooperate with an inquiry that it says is "tainted" by partisan politics.

The governor originally pledged to cooperate with the state Legislature's investigation of her July dismissal of Monegan. Since his firing, Monegan has accused Palin of trying to pressure him into firing her former brother-in-law, a state trooper who had been involved in an acrimonious divorce from the governor's sister. Since becoming Sen. John McCain's running mate, she has argued that the investigation belongs before the state Personnel Board, whose members are appointed by the governor.

In a new twist, Comella said Alaska state law bars ethics investigations of people running for elected office. She is reported as saying, "That law was passed to insulate legislative investigations from exactly the kind of political maneuvering we are seeing in this inquiry."

Since Todd Palin is not running for elected office, I wonder how the Alaska state law allows him to ignore the subpoena? what executive privilege is he claiming?

Palin initially denied that anyone in her administration or family had pressed for action against her former brother-in-law, Mike Wooten, whom she has branded a "rogue trooper." But in August, just two weeks before her nomination, she acknowledged that members of her staff had contacted Monegan's office nearly two dozen times about the trooper and suspended one aide whose February call to a state police lieutenant on the matter was tape-recorded.

And Todd Palin was a "principal critic" of Wooten and had "many contacts" with Department of Public Safety officials about his status, Stephen Branchflower, the former prosecutor hired by the state Legislature to investigate the firing, told lawmakers last week.

The controversy has led to more scrutiny of Todd Palin's role in his wife's administration. Documents released during the Monegan inquiry suggest that the oil-rig worker and champion snowmobile racer, nicknamed the "first dude," has been copied in on e-mails on numerous issues ranging from public criticism of the governor to meetings with corporate leaders. But Palin spokeswoman Meg Stapleton said Todd Palin's role in the administration "has not been inappropriate."

Read the CNN.com article about Todd Palin's refusal to cooperate with the investigation here.

Read the CNN.com article about Sarah Palin's lawsuit to halt the investigation here.

Read the CNN.com article about Palin's staff's refusal to cooperate with the investigation here.


plez sez: i've almost grown tired of writing about this woman... but i'm still incredulous about john mccain sticking with her through this "troopergate" mess! the luster has worn off of the crown and the lipstick is fading on this pit bull... and i am convinced that we haven't seen all of the dirt on the Palin family.

there are reports that todd palin was calling monegan and putting pressure on him to fire wooten. todd is an unemployed "snowboard champion," why he was conducting the business of the state is beyond ridiculous. ms. congeniality would've probably gotten the boot from alaska voters after her first term.

i hope that john mccain loses, but if by some miracle he wins, i'd hate for his second-in-command to be this ditzy boob for the north country... mccain needs to drop palin like a bad habit!

Sarah Palin Ain't Ready for Prime Time

Over the weekend, I got sidetracked because sitemeter took a powder. Well, plezWorld is back with my sights set on that FRAUD and FAKE Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska. She's a liar. She's a charlatan. She's a separatist and a secessionist. She's left her family (young daughter, pregnant teenage daughter, and baby boy with Down syndrome who was probably birthed by her teenage daughter - check it out here, here, and here) to scratch her high aspirations itch. Don't forget about her strong arm tactics that led to the Troopergate investigation, that she no longer plans to cooperate with.

And to top it off, she wants to overturn Roe vs. Wade (the right of American women to have the choice to have an abortion to end an unwanted pregnancy). Well, I'm not the only one things ole girl is trying to "fake her way to the top."

On September 12, Bloomberg.com has an article that called Sarah Palin "clueless during her interview with ABC News's Charles Gibson, read full article here, excerpts follow:

ABC News anchor Charles Gibson got the get, the first mano- a-womano sit down with the Republican vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin.

Palin may not have blinked when John McCain asked her to be his running mate. Last night, however, found her frozen in the Klieg lights as the dogged interlocutor set his sights on his visitor.

Peering down at Palin through reading glasses set at the tip of his nose, foot circling over knee ever more impatiently, Gibson, 65, wouldn't let her coast. Yes, she had mastered the pronunciation of Georgia president Mikhail Saakashvili's name, not to mention that of Iran's Mahmud Ahmadinejad. And maybe that would have been good enough on ``Good Morning America.''

But no-one had coached her in something called the Bush Doctrine. Doctrine? What doctrine would that be, Charlie?

Palin, 44, apparently never heard of the Bush Doctrine until yesterday. She flashed a smile nearly as frozen as her running- mate's and did that tenth-grader thing of tap-dancing around the question, skittishly ad libbing her way with gibberish about Bush's ``global vision.''

Gibson was having none of it, pressing her for specifics she didn't have at her command and finally -- his glare set to iceberg blue, foot circling like a lasso -- he impatiently explained what the doctrine is, when it was introduced, and gave her another chance to answer.

Few Overseas Trips

My sympathy for Palin lasted only as long as it took me to remember that it was Palin who had insisted, at the top of the interview, that she's ready to lead the country on a moment's notice. Asked whether she had ever been outside the U.S. before her recent trip to the Middle East, she answered, ``Canada. Mexico.'' Asked what heads of state she had dealt with, she referenced all those trade delegations that came to Alaska looking to do some business.

When the interview turned to Iraq and Iran, Palin's innocence of diplomatic nuance, not to mention global politics, was something she couldn't dance around. We're America, she said, we don't have to put up with those uppity Eye-ranians.

Does she believe we are doing God's will in Iraq? ``I wouldn't presume to know God's will, Charlie,'' she answered gamely. Gibson was ready with a clip of her sermonizing not long ago in church and she danced around that one, too.

Gibson didn't ask the candidate if she has any clue about the principle of separation of church and state on which her beloved United States was founded. I wish he had.

On September 12, an editorial in the New York Times discussed her lack of a world view, read the full article below and below:

As we watched Sarah Palin on TV the last couple of days, we kept wondering what on earth John McCain was thinking.

If he seriously thought this first-term governor — with less than two years in office — was qualified to be president, if necessary, at such a dangerous time, it raises profound questions about his judgment. If the choice was, as we suspect, a tactical move, then it was shockingly irresponsible.

It was bad enough that Ms. Palin’s performance in the first televised interviews she has done since she joined the Republican ticket was so visibly scripted and lacking in awareness.

What made it so much worse is the strategy for which the Republicans have made Ms. Palin the frontwoman: win the White House not on ideas, but by denigrating experience, judgment and qualifications.

The idea that Americans want leaders who have none of those things — who are so blindly certain of what Ms. Palin calls “the mission” that they won’t even pause for reflection — shows a contempt for voters and raises frightening questions about how Mr. McCain and Ms. Palin plan to run this country.

One of the many bizarre moments in the questioning by ABC News’s Charles Gibson was when Ms. Palin, the governor of Alaska, excused her lack of international experience by sneering that Americans don’t want “somebody’s big fat résumé maybe that shows decades and decades in that Washington establishment where, yes, they’ve had opportunities to meet heads of state.”

We know we were all supposed to think of Joe Biden. But it sure sounded like a good description of Mr. McCain. Those decades of experience earned the Arizona senator the admiration of people in both parties. They are why he was our preferred candidate in the Republican primaries.

The interviews made clear why Americans should worry about Ms. Palin’s thin résumé and lack of experience. Consider her befuddlement when Mr. Gibson referred to President Bush’s “doctrine” and her remark about having insight into Russia because she can see it from her state.

But that is not what troubled us most about her remarks — and, remember, if they were scripted, that just means that they reflect Mr. McCain’s views all the more closely. Rather, it was the sense that thoughtfulness, knowledge and experience are handicaps for a president in a world populated by Al Qaeda terrorists, a rising China, epidemics of AIDS, poverty and fratricidal war in the developing world and deep economic distress at home.

Ms. Palin talked repeatedly about never blinking. When Mr. McCain asked her to run for vice president? “You have to be wired in a way of being so committed to the mission,” she said, that “you can’t blink.”

Fighting terrorism? “We must do whatever it takes, and we must not blink, Charlie, in making those tough decisions of where we go and even who we target.”

Her answers about why she had told her church that President Bush’s failed policy in Iraq was “God’s plan” did nothing to dispel our concerns about her confusion between faith and policy. Her claim that she was quoting a completely unrelated comment by Lincoln was absurd.

This nation has suffered through eight years of an ill-prepared and unblinkingly obstinate president. One who didn’t pause to think before he started a disastrous war of choice in Iraq. One who blithely looked the other way as the Taliban and Al Qaeda regrouped in Afghanistan. One who obstinately cut taxes and undercut all efforts at regulation, unleashing today’s profound economic crisis.

In a dangerous world, Americans need a president who knows that real strength requires serious thought and preparation.

On September 12, Bob Herbert's New York Times article simply reads "She's Not Ready," read the full article here and below:

While watching the Sarah Palin interview with Charlie Gibson Thursday night, and the coverage of the Palin phenomenon in general, I’ve gotten the scary feeling, for the first time in my life, that dimwittedness is not just on the march in the U.S., but that it might actually prevail.

How is it that this woman could have been selected to be the vice presidential candidate on a major party ticket? How is it that so much of the mainstream media has dropped all pretense of seriousness to hop aboard the bandwagon and go along for the giddy ride?

For those who haven’t noticed, we’re electing a president and vice president, not selecting a winner on “American Idol.”

Ms. Palin may be a perfectly competent and reasonably intelligent woman (however troubling her views on evolution and global warming may be), but she is not ready to be vice president.

With most candidates for high public office, the question is whether one agrees with them on the major issues of the day. With Ms. Palin, it’s not about agreeing or disagreeing. She doesn’t appear to understand some of the most important issues.

“Do you believe in the Bush doctrine?” Mr. Gibson asked during the interview. Ms. Palin looked like an unprepared student who wanted nothing so much as to escape this encounter with the school principal.

Clueless, she asked, “In what respect, Charlie?”

“Well, what do you interpret it to be?” said Mr. Gibson.

“His worldview?” asked Ms. Palin.

Later, in the spin zones of cable TV, commentators repeatedly made the point that there are probably very few voters — some specifically mentioned “hockey moms” — who could explain the Bush doctrine. But that’s exactly the reason we have such long and intense campaigns. You want to find the individuals who best understand these issues, who will address them in sophisticated and creative ways that enhance the well-being of the nation.

The Bush doctrine, which flung open the doors to the catastrophe in Iraq, was such a fundamental aspect of the administration’s foreign policy that it staggers the imagination that we could have someone no further than a whisper away from the White House who doesn’t even know what it is.

You can’t imagine that John McCain or Barack Obama or Joe Biden or Hillary Clinton or Joe Lieberman would not know what the Bush doctrine is. But Sarah Palin? Absolutely clueless.

Ms. Palin’s problem is not that she was mayor of a small town or has only been in the Alaska governor’s office a short while. Her problem (and now ours) is that she is not well versed on the critical matters confronting the country at one of the most crucial turning points in its history.

The economy is in a tailspin. The financial sector is lurching about on rubbery legs. We’re mired in self-defeating energy policies. We’re at war. And we are still vulnerable to the very real threat of international terrorism.

With all of that and more being the case, how can it be a good idea to set in motion the possibility that Americans might wake up one morning to find that Sarah Palin is president?

I feel for Ms. Palin’s son who has been shipped off to the war in Iraq. But at his deployment ceremony, which was on the same day as the Charlie Gibson interview, Sept. 11, she told the audience of soldiers that they would be fighting “the enemies who planned and carried out and rejoiced in the death of thousands of Americans.”

Was she deliberately falsifying history, or does she still not know that Iraq and Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with the Sept. 11 attacks?

To burnish the foreign policy credentials of a vice presidential candidate who never even had a passport until last year, the Republicans have been touting Alaska’s proximity to Russia. (Imagine the derisive laughter in conservative circles if the Democrats had tried such nonsense.) So Mr. Gibson asked Ms. Palin, “What insight into Russian actions, particularly in the last couple of weeks, does the proximity of the state give you?”

She said, “They’re our next-door neighbors. And you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska. From an island in Alaska.”

Mr. Gibson tried again. “But what insight does that give you,” he asked, “into what they’re doing in Georgia?”

John McCain, who is shameless about promoting himself as America’s ultimate patriot, put the best interests of the nation aside in making his incredibly reckless choice of a running mate. But there is a profound double standard in this country. The likes of John McCain and George W. Bush can do the craziest, most irresponsible things imaginable, and it only seems to help them politically.

McCain's top economic advisor, Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of HP is quoted as saying that Sarah Palin is not ready to run a corporation. The CNN.com article reads "Palin not ready to run a corporation," read the full article here and excerpts below:

Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO turned top John McCain aide, said she doesn't think Sarah Palin is qualified to run a major corporation. For that matter, Fiorina said, McCain, Obama and Biden aren't capable of that kind of job either.

The Republican presidential candidate has been trying to portray himself as someone who can fix the country's economic woes. But that is a far different task than running a Fortune 500 corporation, Fiorina told MSNBC Tuesday.

Democratic candidate Barack Obama's camp immediately circulated copies of her words -- which didn't exactly paint their candidate in a soft light, either.

"Well, I don't think John McCain could run a major corporation, I don't think Barack Obama could run a major corporation, I don't think Joe Biden could run a major corporation," Fiorina said.

"It is a fallacy to suggest that the country is like a company. So, of course, to run a business, you have to have a lifetime of experience in business, but that's not what Sarah Palin, John McCain, Joe Biden or Barack Obama are doing."

Fiorina was president of Hewlett-Packard until her high-profile ousting in 2006 after the company's unfavorable performance.

"If John McCain's top economic adviser doesn't think he can run a corporation, how on Earth can he run the largest economy in the world in the midst of a financial crisis?" said Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor. "Apparently, even the people who run his campaign agree that the economy is an issue John McCain doesn't understand as well as he should."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In a related story, the Palin camp has gone paranoid on the Alaska Legislative investigation as to whether her administration put undue pressure to have a state trooper fired... the state trooper who is the ex-husband of one of her sisters; they were enbroiled in an ugly divorce.

CNN.com reports that Palin allies are now suing the two Democrats on the five person commission (the other three are Republicans), calling the probe a "McCarthyistic" inquisition. Read the entire article below:

Allies of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin asked a judge Tuesday to halt the state Legislature's investigation into the firing of her public service commissioner, calling the probe a "McCarthyistic" inquisition.

The five Republican state lawmakers who filed suit said the two Democrats and the former Anchorage prosecutor leading the probe "are unable to hold the balance between vindicating their own political interests and the interests of those who are being investigated."

Palin, the Republican nominee for vice president, is battling allegations that she and her advisers pressured then-Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan to fire a state trooper going through a bitter custody dispute with Palin's sister -- and that Monegan was terminated when he refused. Palin says she fired Monegan over budget issues, and denies any wrongdoing.

One of those named in the lawsuit, Sen. Kim Elton, declined comment Tuesday.

Elton, the Democratic chairman of the bipartisan Legislative Council that commissioned the probe, and state Sen. Hollis French -- another Democrat and the lawmaker overseeing the investigation -- were named as defendants. So was Stephen Branchflower, the former Anchorage prosecutor hired to investigate Monegan's firing.

The lawsuit alleges that Elton, French and Branchflower "are conducting a McCarthyistic investigation in an unlawful, biased, partial and partisan political manner in order to impact the upcoming Alaska general and national presidential elections."

Palin originally pledged to cooperate with the investigation that the Alaska Legislative Council commissioned in July. But since becoming Sen. John McCain's running mate, campaign spokesmen have lashed out at the probe as "tainted" and "partisan," and fought to get the state Personnel Board to launch its own probe.

"I think it's fair to say that the governor is not going to cooperate with that investigation so long as it remained tainted and run by partisan individuals who have a predetermined conclusion," McCain-Palin campaign spokesman Ed O'Callaghan said Monday.

In particular, campaign officials singled out comments French made to ABC News that they said suggested the investigation could yield criminal charges or an "October Surprise" for the GOP ticket. And they accuse the probe of being "hijacked" by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's campaign -- a charge the Obama campaign dismissed as "complete paranoia."

Monegan said he was repeatedly pressured to take action against State Trooper Mike Wooten, Palin's ex-brother-in-law, before his July dismissal.

Monday, the McCain-Palin campaign released documents it said bolster its argument that Monegan was fired over budget disputes and "egregious insubordination."

Read the CNN.com article about how Palin refuses to cooperate with the "Troopergate" investigation in Alaska that she vowed to support before she became John McCain's running mate here and here and here.


plez sez: ok, i admit it... i stole a line from "Dreamgirls" in my opening. but tina fey (one of the "not ready for prime time" players on SNL) is more credible as sarah palin than sarah palin as herself!

Saturday Night Live on September 13, 2008

this woman is bad for america on so many levels. and the decision making process that dredged her up from the dregs of alaskan politics to aspire to the second highest office in the land makes plezWorld wonder about the grasp that mccain and his handlers have on reality.

and is plezWorld the only one who sees something Bush-like in palin's behavior around this whole troopergate investigation? suing the commission members. refusing to cooperate with the commission. attempting to halt the investigation at all costs. hasn't EVERYTHING that has come out of the Bush white house been clouded with secrecy and the taint of executive privilege to hide misdeeds.

and what is up with her creepy husband shadowing her at all of the campaign stops?!?

Palin Still Links Iraq to 9/11

The Washington Post reports that Gov. Sarah Palin linked the war in Iraq with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, telling an Iraq-bound brigade of soldiers that included her son that they would "defend the innocent from the enemies who planned and carried out and rejoiced in the death of thousands of Americans."

"America can never go back to that false sense of security that came before September 11, 2001," she said at the deployment ceremony, which drew hundreds of military families who walked from their homes on the sprawling post to the airstrip where the service was held.

The idea that Iraq shared responsibility with al-Qaeda for the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, once promoted by Bush administration officials, has since been rejected even by the president himself.

McCain aides were adamant that the ceremony had not been coordinated with the campaign, and officers at the installation said the Alaska governor had agreed to attend months before she was chosen for the GOP ticket. Palin's son Track, 19, will deploy to Iraq with his unit later this month. McCain's son Jimmy is with his Marine unit in Iraq, but the senator from Arizona has taken pains to keep him out of the campaign spotlight.

Read the Washington Post article about Palin's 9/11 comments here.

Read the CNN.com article about Palin's ABC interview here.

Read the ABC News.com article about Palin's interview here.

plez sez: okay, ya'll... this ain't even funny! i know that the candidates took a day off from haranguing each other's campaign for 9/11, but something has to be said about Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) and what she portends for this country!

she's only been out of the country once in her life (she didn't get a passport until August of last year so she could visit the Alaska National Guard in Kuwait). it took a few years, but even GEORGE W. BUSH now acknowledges that iraq had NOTHING to do with 9/11! NOTHING! NADA! ZILCH! but there she is, broad as day, proclaiming that her son is going to protect us from those evil terrorists in iraq!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Palin also appeared in an interview with ABC's Charles Gibson. her lack of foreign affairs knowledge showed like a slip under a cheap skirt.

i only caught a snippet or two of her interview with charles gibson, but it is quite evident that this woman is out of her league.

• she claims that was unprovoked in their attack on georgia. when georgia had been tossing a few shells into south ossetia, before the russians RETALIATED by firing shells and running tanks into georgia. their response may've been a bit over the top, but they were provoked!
  
  
• she had no idea what charles gibson was talking about when he asked her about the "bush doctrine." and then when he told her what it was, she still was clueless... talking about imminent threats to the united states! iraq was NEVER an imminent threat to the united states!
  
  
• she took a hardline on possibly getting into a war with russia, if georgia was a part of NATO! hmmmmm... WHO are we gonna fight russia with?!? with combat brigades stretched to the max in iraq and afghanistan, we want no parts of russian tanks rumbling over the bering strait into alaska!
  
  
• she has never met a foreign leader. her retort was that "if you look at history, there are a lot of vice presidents who haven't met foreign leaders." upon further inspection, over the past 30 years, there are NO vice presidents who have never met a foreign leader! this woman makes george w. bush seem like a rhodes scholar the way she revelled in her ignorance.

palin's grasp of foreign relations and her lack of the seriousness of the role of vice president make me wonder again... what the HECK was john mccain thinking when he picked this woman?!?

experience comes with time, but with good judgement, you either got it or you don't!