Full "Troopergate" Report Here For Download

You've read the headlines and my blog, now read the full 265-page "Troopergate" scandal report and judge Sarah Palin's actions for yourself.  

Just click here to download it:

http://media.adn.com/smedia/2008/10/10/16/Branchflowerreport.source.prod_affiliate.7.pdf

Sarah Palin Accused of Abuse of Power - Violated State Ethics Law

In her attempt to oust the Alaska State Trooper, Mike Wooten, who was her brother-in-law and accused of abusing her sister during their marriage, Alaska Governor and GOP Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin was found guilty of violating a state ethics law.  

The Alaska Legislature's investigation determined that both Palins played a large role in attempts to strong arm subordinates to have Wooten removed.  One of the key persons involved as a victim was now former public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, who explained in detail how Palin's husband Todd visited him or asked him to come to her office -- not his -- on the matter of Wooten.   


As the NY Times reports, ...

The report says she knowingly “permitted Todd Palin to use the governor’s office and the resources of the governor’s office, including access to state employees, to continue to contact subordinate state employees in an effort to find some way to get Trooper Wooten fired.”

Further, it says, she “knowingly permitted a situation to continue where impermissible pressure was placed on several subordinates in order to advance a personal agenda.”

Now that the "cats out of the bag" what does it mean for Palin?  Well, she's not going to jail, but in the court of public opinion it totally removes her tag as a "good government reformer" because of the charge of abuse of power.  Moreover, it will almost certainly spillover onto Senator John McCain and open fresh questions regarding how well the McCain staff failed to "vet" Governor Palin.  


The other question is will this news impact McCain's overall polling, which was already behind Senator Obama's after the economic disaster, which shows no sign of abating.  This certainly can't help, but just how much it hurts will not be known until Tuesday, after the public's first two working days of media coverage of the matter.


The McCain staff is already spinning this as the work of "Obama supporters" but as it's an ethics violation, those powerful words will override such fingerpointing.  It's a scarlet letter of the worst kind to have as a public official. 

Palin Friends Mark Chryson and Steve Stoll: The Secessionist And The John Birch Society Member

Salon writers Max Blumenthal and David Neiwert pen a quietly chlling article on two of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's friends Mark Chryson and Steve Stoll, the first is an Alaskan secessionist and Stoll is a John Birch Society member.  


Blumenthal and Neiwert present both as Governor Palin's mentors. As far as I'm concerned, they're scary. Chryson wants to have Alaska out of the union -- that's the United States -- as does Stoll, who did not agree to be interviewed for the article. But in establishing the Alaska Independent Party, Chryson , who was its chair, and Stoll befriended extreme white supremacist group members.


It must be asked why John McCain would select as a running mate someone with such a set of unfortunate and really anti-American relationships?

Bill Clinton And Walter Annenberg, Worked With Ayers; Are They Terrorists?

The idoicy and total rancor of the McCain - Palin campaign strategy of hate is evident in this little diddy of illogic on display, courtesy of this example sent to me by email:

I did a little research and came across some information regarding Chicago, IL current Mayor Richard M. Daley (served 1989 - Present). William Ayers worked with Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley to shape the city's school reform program, and was one of three co-authors of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge grant proposal that in 1995 won $49.2 million over five years for public school reform.   The Hon. Walter H. Annenberg, a former U.S. ambassador to Great Britain, designed the Annenberg Challenge to energize and support promising efforts at school reform across the country. President Bill Clinton announced this extraordinary half-billion-dollar gift at a White House ceremony on Dec. 17, 1993.   Never has Mayor Richard M. Daley, the Honorable Walter H. Annenberg or former President Bill Clinton's character or action for working with William Ayers was linked to William Ayers past history in the Weather Underground, nor have they been labeled a "terrorist" for working with a distinguished professor.     "My friends" there is something wrong when only Senator Barack Obama's character, action and previous affiliation with William Ayers is blown out of proportion by linking him to acts of terrorist. If not because of the color of his skin, then why? Where is the wrongful act? How is he withholding information? If that is the case, we should question everyone that has worked or supported William Ayers in his educational profession.   Please contact the media so they will start to see the 'big picture."

Bottom line: if Annenberg and Clinton worked with Ayers and have never been branded terrorists, then Senator Barack Obama's not a terrorist.  

Market Madness ; McCain / Palin Madness - The Blog Report

Gov. Palin Should Check Her Own Associations

Gov. Palin recently charged that Obama would diminish "the prestige of the United States presidency". Well, if we're going to be fair in playing the "guilt by association" game here, Gov. Palin, if elected, could very well be the first Vice President ever to face treason charges. Gov. Palin is, after all, strongly linked to the Alaskan Independence Party, which openly advocates secession and which carries the torch for its fallen founder, who was willing to shed blood to achieve that aim and who also reportedly consipred with the Iranian government to subvert U.S. interests.

The full story has some interesting and little known insights into the AIP and the extent to which Palin is associated with it.

Rob J

Open Letter to Obama Supporters

Call McCain's choices foolish if you choose to; question his judgment or decry his decisions; cite the choices he's made in comparison to other paths he could have taken, but don't call John McCain a coward, or be goaded into the sort of personal attacks you find problematic coming from the other side.

With over 150,000 jobs lost last month and the stock market in a veritable free-fall it’s no surprise that the economy is seen by many voters as a priority for our next president. It doesn’t take advisors for McCain to know that’s undermining his chances. His campaign is struggling to find any other topic that will eat into the time that electronic and print media devote to the economy. They’re “looking forward to turning the page on the financial crisis.” McCain's mistake is in heeding the wrong advice during the campaign, as he evidently did on deregulation in previous years.

"I'm not trying to excuse such behaviors, particularly since he asserted early on that he'd avoid them. The choice was his. Spinning the record of one's opponent was to be expected - this is politics, and a lot is at stake. My point is: the attacks, be they Palin's words, electronic ads, or the phrases and style in the debate are evidence that McCain has picked the wrong team. His campaign advisors have put him farther behind in the polls than he ever imagined he'd be - and don't forget, any savvy GOP insider knew the odds were bleak following the Bush administration even before the economy belly flopped."

The campaign reflects either the wishes of its leader or his inability to get his orders carried out - and in either case the trend is increasingly to go negative, to attack another Senator, to practice the divisive politics of smear mongering and character assassination. But both Biden and Obama have counseled against descending into adopting those tactics, and they're right.

"You may not like what John McCain stands for. You may deplore the strategies and tactics that are being employed with his approval (explicitly or tacitly.) You may question the motivation and/or goals of McCain and his advisors. You may not trust him based on something you've read, or overheard, or because you think his choice of a running mate is evidence of poor judgment. You may think his voting record is disastrous, or that he's simply too closely aligned with an administration you feel hasn't served the country well. But if you don't approve of the various and sundry attacks aimed at Senator Barack Obama for political reasons you should not - must not - be goaded into adopting them yourself."

Frankly, I find the use of Rovian tactics - the same tactics that caused him to defer to George Bush in 2000 - disappointing, and I hope McCain uses the debate on October 15th to reset the rhetoric rather than let his last campaign taint his legacy. He can take back control, or he can let the advisors exert their poisonous influence in a campaign that's no longer reflective of the integrity and honor we once associated with John McCain.

read more | digg story

Brigitte Bardot: Gov. Sarah Palin Is "A Disgrace For Women"

French movie star bombshell Brigette Bardot lowered the PR boom on Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.  The screen legend said that Palin..

 was a disgrace to women.

"I hope you lose these elections because that would be a victory for the world," Bardot wrote in an open letter to Republican John McCain's running mate in the November vote.

"By denying the responsibility of man in global warming, by advocating gun rights and making statements that are disconcertingly stupid, you are a disgrace to women and you alone represent a terrible threat, a true environmental catastrophe," wrote Bardot.

The Mentally-Ill McCain / Palin Mob In Action - See This

If you want to see how sick Americans can be, watch this video -- or maybe you should not. These are ralliers at a McCain / Palin event in Strongsville, Ohio.  


It's no wonder that the state of Ohio was branded racist during the Democratic Primary. Moreover, Governor Sarah Palin has single-handedly spread an idea of Barack Obama as a terrorist and the people in this video spit-up her hateful chants without an ounce of critical thinking.

THE GREAT SCHLEP - GO TO FLORIDA AND GET YOUR GRANDPARENTS TO VOTE OBAMA

Sarah Silverman is the spokesperson behind a great program called "The Great Schlep", a cool idea that asks you and me to go to Florida and get your grandparents to vote for Barack Obama.  Here's Sarah talking about The Great Schlep:


The Great Schlep from The Great Schlep on Vimeo.


For more information, check out the website The Great Schlep !

Does PG&E Want To Screw San Francisco? Opposes Clean Energy

Does PG&E wanto to screw San Francisco? If you consider that the utility doesn't back using clean energy sources and has not met State of California guidelines for renewable energy, it sure seems so. You can change that with the passage of Proposition H - "Yes on H." It's the first initiative of its kind; tell your friends around America about it and have them call friends in San Francisco and tell them to vote "Yes On H".

Palin Displaying Racism and Disrespect For Senator Obama

Governor Palin needs to really examine her heart these days leading to the election -- if she can find it.  This is what she said today according to Politico:

“Barack Obama hasn’t told the American people the total truth about that, about his association with Ayers,” Palin said on conservative radio host Laura Ingraham’s show. “Doggonit, he fails to tell the American people with candor and with truthfulness what his associations are and we have to know.”

Palin blamed the media for not providing what she characterized as the same level of scrutiny to Obama that it has applied to her and running mate John McCain.

“I don't see the other ticket being asked to be truthful and give details,” Palin said.

“Some in the mainstream media are saying that, well, we’re taking the gloves off unfairly. No. You know there are only, what, 26 days to go. We gotta start getting answers to these questions that are paramount here so that voters have a choice in front of them that is based on truthfulness and candor. They deserve it.”

The Alaska governor told Ingraham’s listeners that if those questions were being answered, voters would find Obama “out of the mainstream,” adding that the Illinois senator would diminish “the prestige of the United States presidency.”