Palin’s Trooper’Gate: Beating MSM distortions to the truth

By 170 Comments

**Welcome readers from Lucianne, Ace of Spades, Gateway Pundit, Protein Wisdom, The Corner, Wizbang, The Strata-Sphere, Macsmind, and Memeorandum….thanks for the link!**

View the ensuing posts, and on going story,
in the “Trooper’gate” Category archives

~~~

It’s been over 12 hours now since Alaskan Governor, Sarah Palin, has been named as GOP choice of Veep. Already, a desperate Obama camp of supporters are in search of talking points… other than the obviously poor choice of “inexperience”… or a scandal to take back what they perceive as the DNC ticket superiority.

Knowing the Palin-Monegan-Wooten investigation of abuse of power was their prime target, I’ve been spending time this AM researching the chain of events in hopes of beating the media to the political and biased distortions creating a new, and false “truth. I took into consideration that journalists… and ardent supporters like Markg8 on Curt’s thread… will be quick to post what they believe is damning evidence without reading more material on the issue.

So on that note, settle back and catch up with the reality of rural country politics. I’d like to share with you what appears to be the crux of the story, using both pro and con Palin bloggers and news media.

A timeline of events in the so-called “scandal”

4-11-05: Investigation of Mike Wooten by AST (Alaskan State Troopers) over two year allegation of misconduct involving family members commences.

5-1-05: Domestic complaint incident involving Mike and Molly [Sarah’s sister} Wooten, Sarah and Todd Palin. Transcript of Sarah Palin with troopers. Also, Trooper notes on the same interview.

SUMMARY: Molly calls Sarah (not yet Governor) in fear from husband. They leave an open phone line where both Sarah and Molly’s son hear Wooten threaten Molly and Sarah’s father (he’ll “eat an f*#king bullet). Palin doesn’t call police because she doesn’t want to hurt Wooten’s trooper career, nor make the situation worse…. Providing it didn’t get physical. Other incidents with Wooten noted.

8-18-05 Re’interview of both Sarah and Todd Palin. Trooper notes on Sarah interview. And Trooper notes on interview with Todd Palin, plus with bartender of Mug Shot Saloon.

SUMMARY: Sarah confirms an email on Aug 10th, 2005 to Col Julia Grimes, Director of AST (Alaska State Troopers) complaining of Wooten’s negative representation of the department. Wooten’s abuse of his authority and position in various instances. His racist attitudes towards native Alaskans (Todd Palin is a native Alaskan…), abuse of state resources (free gas/credit), illegal hunting activities, and Sarah’s daughter (Bristol) being a witness to Wooten’s tasering of his 11 year old stepson (verified)

SUMMARY: Todd also confirms Wooten’s disparaging remarks about Alaskan natives, his consistent abuse of authority and position, plus his hunting violations. Bartender confirms Wooten involving himself in bar fight, misusing his position as a trooper. Also bartender confirms Wooten with “girlfriend” at the bar, who was later arrested for DUI.

This is no means a complete picture of all that happened… but enough to give you a picture of an “out of control” trooper.

~~~
NOTE: Palin was not Governor of the State at this time… and this transpired BEFORE her primary campaign against GOP [see party affiliation correction at end of post, please]competitor, Andrew Halcro. Coincidently, the same man leading the pack screaming “scandal” over the “firing of Monegan”.

The investigations against Wooten started more than a year before she was elected governor, and about two months before launching her campaign”.

~~~

11-2006: Palin elected Governor of Alaska

3-1-06: Col. Julia Grimes findings on Wooten investigation results in suspension…. for only *five* days.

What we can derive from the timeline is that the investigations and complaints against Wooten as a State Trooper (not to mention with problems exhibiting a derelict father who tasers his step son, and is a physically and verbally abusive, unfaithful husband per the transcripts and testimony) had started prior to Palin’s term as Governor.

We can also determine that this is a man who most certainly does not need to be a trooper, armed with a badge and gun. And, if not in rural Alaska, Wooten is a law official who would have been run out of most departments as a seriously troubled man with violent tendencies.

Per Col. Julia Grimes in the Fairbanks Newsminer on July 28, 2008… and showing how long this “scandal” has dragged out…

The record clearly indicates a serious and concentrated pattern of unacceptable, and at times, illegal activity occurring over a lengthy period, which establishes a course of conduct totally at odds with the ethics of our profession,” Col. Julia Grimes, then head of Alaska State Troopers, wrote in March 1, 2006, letter suspending Wooten for 10 days. After the union protested it, the suspension was reduced to five days.

She warned that if he messed up again, he’d be fired.

Where’s the “abuse of power” scandal?

Now that we know who Wooten is, and the story of the Palin relationship, PLUS the documented timeline in mind, let’s look at commenter markg8’s evidence (the video below) of a local Alaskan TV station on the “scandal”, as posted johnny-on-the-spot by leftist Obama supporter, Josh Marshall’s TalkingPointsMemo.

First, the video accusation is that the Governor’s office has questionable reasons (meaning removing Wooten from the AST) for firing Public Safety Commissioner, Walt Monegan in July 2008. As we know, documented complaints from Palin about Wooten started prior to Monegan’s appointment… which Monegan may, or may not have been aware.

Yet Monegan was appointed by Palin. She is certainly within her rights to fire him. And if complaints were already lodged about Wooten to the immediate superior, Col. Julia Grimes, why did she need to pressure him to fire Wooten? Afterall, if Palin was going to “abuse” her power to get Wooten fired, why not direct that power over Grimes as the superior of the Troopers?

And if getting Wooten fired was her quest, why did she not take steps to do that in 2005 during the complaint period, instead of specifically stating under deposition she was staying silent in order not to put his job at risk? Not to mention the gap in time… why would it take her two one and a half years to fire Monegan because of Wooten?

Monegan’s “truth” problem

According to Monegan, he insists he was pressured by Todd Palin,“numerous times to talk about Wooten as well as Frank Bailey from the governor’s office and Commissioner of Administration Annete Krietzer who also pressured him to fire Wooten”.

If trooper recruitment and poor morale was one of Palin’s concern about Monegan’s performance, why would her husband Todd be doing the talking for Palin? And why would Palin send her husband… sans gubernatorial power… to convince Monegan to fire Wooten?

But the problem with Monegan’s charge is.… Todd Palin was *ordered* to talk to Monegan since Wooten was a potential threat against Alaska’s first family.

2. Todd Palin was ORDERED by the head of the Governor’s security detail, Special Agent Bob Cockrell, to discuss Trooper Wooten with Walt Monegan, as Wooten presented a credible threat to the Governor’s safety. Here’s a direct quote from Special Agent Cockrell, who is now providing security for his sixth consecutive governor:

“When made aware of the security concerns regarding a state trooper, I instructed the First Gentleman to contact the commissioner of Public Safety. It is standard protocol to ask every governor about any threats they perceive or have realized. “I will not hesitate to set the record straight in answering these false allegations by former Commissioner Monegan.” (emphasis added)

Monegan also states others “around Palin” also applied pressure… but not Palin herself.

But Monegan says pressure came from those around Palin, including former Palin chief-of-staff Mike Tibbles, Department of Administration Commissioner Annette Kreitzer, and director of boards and commissions Frank Bailey.

Tibbles, who is now the campaign manager for Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, said Friday he couldn’t comment on whether he spoke to Monegan about Wooten.

Palin spokeswoman Sharon Leighow said Bailey never had such a conversation with Monegan.

Kreitzer could not recall, Leighow said.

Problem is, Palin directed none of these people to intercede her her behalf… either personally, or professionally. In fact, until someone presented her with the phone transcript of Bailey’s call, she had no idea these events had occurred… putting her in a more embarrassing position.

Frank Bailey, the boards and commissions director, told The Associated Press he acted on his own — and not on behalf of Palin or her husband, Todd — when he called Ketchikan-based Lt. Rodney Dial, pushing for the firing of Trooper Mike Wooten.

“There was never any direction by the governor, never any direction by Todd to make the call or to make any call to DPS on this stuff,” Bailey said.

In the recorded conversation, Bailey is heard telling Dial: “Todd and Sarah are scratching their heads, why on earth hasn’t, why is this guy still representing the department? He’s a horrible recruiting tool. … You know, I mean from their perspective, everyone’s protecting him.”

Palin said she heard the conversation for the first time on Tuesday when she returned to Anchorage from state business in Fairbanks. She said it was unclear why the recorded conversation only recently surfaced.

“It’s embarrassing for me to disclose at this time a conversation has occurred, again unbeknownst to me,” she said at a hastily arranged news conference at her Anchorage office.

In another instance that questions Monegan’s honesty, he and Gov. Palin had met over two dozen times—yet he says they only met four times. Since he has only alluded to, but not directly accused Palin of, pressuring him to fire Wooten, is he suggesting Wooten was the subject of the meetings (of which there should be some sort of official records… which there are none)? Or were these meetings about his performance?

Clearly Monegan is not being truthful about the amount of times he met with Gov. Sarah Palin, when confirmed with Government office records. What can we believe about the subject of his meetings?

Monegan fired for budget, recruiting and enforcement performance

Disagreements between Monegan and Palin over a budget cut in the troopers, department morale and recruiting, and bootlegging enforcement are documented by Andrew Halcro. (As I mentioned earlier, but it bears repeating…. Halcro also happens to be the losing primary GOP[Correction: Independent] candidate in the 2006 gubernatorial candidate, and is the source of the complaints against Palin.)

The political plot thickens…

Palin, giving more specifics later in the process than she should have, confirms her reasons for firing Monegan in that position, but offering him another in the department which she felt he was better suited for.

Per Alaskan Activist” on the Alaskan Pride blog:

Palin has been under heavy criticism since firing former Department of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan. However, she also disclosed three reasons why she fired Monegan (I listened to the press conference in part on KFQD and specifically took down this information).

– He was not making headway on achieving key goals such as resolving the trooper shortfall.

– He was not making satisfactory progress on resolving alcohol issues.

– He was not a team player in regards to budget issues.

But recognizing his previous experience in dealing with alcohol issues, particularly in Bush Alaska, Governor Palin did not want to remove Monegan from the administration altogether, but to place him in charge of the Alcoholic Beverage Control board, where he could combine his rural expertise with a full-time focus on alcohol issues. Nevertheless, Monegan elected not to accept the post, and left the administration instead. Monegan continues to maintain he was pressured by Palin’s family and the administration to fire Trooper Wooten.

Alaskan Pride is no Palin fan for the Veep job, BTW. Also, there are links to “white nationalists” website links there. Frankly, just the sound of that gives me the creeps… But I figured hey… anti-Palin. Oddly enough, even he doesn’t deem Palin as corrupt, but naïve:

Sarah Palin could have saved herself a lot of grief if she had simply told us why she canned Walt Monegan last month instead of serving up some New Age Oprah-style drivel about “new energy” and “new direction”. There seems to be a disturbing aura of New Age influence within the Palin Administration.

So if Monegan and Palin disagreed on the budget, recruiting and enforcement (most over budget), and she was within her gubernatorial rights to replace him, just where does the scandal come into play?

It doesn’t… not that facts ever stop rumors or investigations in the political world. What we have here is the playing out of complaints instigated by a disgruntled loser’s political witch hunt. Fact is, if Palin wanted to do a gubernatorial power play, she could apply that to Grimes. However she had other grievances with Monegan.

Palin welcomes an investigation into the firing of Walt Monegan. Yet even that has some nepotism involved. The appointed prosecutor, Steve Branchflower, apparently has a very close relationship with Monegan.

Branchflower, who served as an Assistant District Attorney in Anchorage from 1974-1998, held numerous positions which required him to work extremely closely with the Anchorage Police Department, where Walt Monegan would become chief in 2001. He provided legal advice to APD officers, trained APD officers, and was even a co-founder of the APD’s Homicide Response Team. His wife also worked as a detective for the APD, not retiring until 2002, meaning that she worked under Walt Monegan. In short, it seems impossible to believe that Branchflower, whose entire career was wrapped up in his relationships with the APD, and his detective wife did not have at least some professional relationship with Walt Monegan, who was obviously one of the city’s top cops. Mrs. Branchflower also briefly came out of retirement to work as a cold case detective for the Alaska State Troopers.

So when you read of Palin also launching an independent investigation, you might consider having another investigator’s input is not such a bad idea in light of the personal ties between Branchflower and Monegan.

Palin replaced Monegan with Charles Kopp…who ended up resigning after two weeks under intense political scrutiny for an old (and removed from the books the previous year) sexual harassment charge. No doubt, that that will be the next attempted scandal… Either that, or it’s one jinxed position.

Now John Glass in is the Public Safety Commissioner seat…. Will the Alaskan local powers and the Obama camp make an issue of that? Only time will tell.

~~~

[Correction: Halcro was a GOP legislator in the Alaska House of Representatives. He ran against Palin on the Independent ticket. So sorry for the error… late, lots of data… zzzzz]

Vietnam era Navy wife, indy/conservative, and an official California escapee now residing as a red speck in the sea of Oregon blue.

170 Responses to “Palin’s Trooper’Gate: Beating MSM distortions to the truth”

  1. 1

    Molon Labe

    “Todd confirms disparging remarks about Alaskan natives, abuse of “badge”, and hunting violations. Bartender confirms Wooten involving himself in bar fight with under abuse of “badge”. Also all confirms Wooten with “girlfriend”, who was later arrested for DUI prior to coming to home Sarah’s sister, Molly.”

    You’re gonna get a big audience on this. How about a proofread?

    “with under abuse of badge” what’s that?
    “coming to home Sarah’s sister” huh?

  2. 2

    MataHarley

    premium_subscriber

    Molon Labe… sorry… experiencing cyber technologies, and the post is still somewhat in progress.

    However, what you are asking is not one of the tech problems (editing, however, has proven problematic…). I shall make it more clear, however the abuse of badge is a Wooten wielding his badge to bully in arenas where he should not.

    However if you read the transcript links, you’ll get a better idea of how he abused his trooper auathority, or his badge. However these transcripts are pages long. I can not go into detail on all, or there is not room for the rest. That’s why I gave you the link… to read yourself.

    Molly was identified in the second timeline item as Mike’s wife, as in “Mike and Molly Wooten”. Hopefully most can keep the memory as to who the players are… because repeating it over and over will most definitely get on my nerves…

  3. 3

    Molon Labe

    Not complaining, and appreciate the legwork. It’s just minor things:

    “with under” –> “under”
    “to home” –> “home to”

    Also, timeline should explicitly indicate what position Palin had starting from beginning. I know you say it parenthetically in the text, but keep in mind there may be clueless MSM types reading this.

  4. 4

    MataHarley

    premium_subscriber

    In 2005, Palin held no public office that I know of, Molon Labe. From 1992 to 2002, he had already served as council member and two mayoral terms in Wasilla. After that, she was a commissioner on the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation. In 2005, and prior to her election success, I know of no office or job.

  5. 5

    Herr Morgenholz

    Couple things–that Palin-Grimes email is chock full of personal phone numbers. Do you know if those numbers are now inactive? If not, probably want to scrub them, unless they’ve been out and about for a while.

    As for this “scandal”, know something about the vetting process. Republicans are far better at it. In McCain’s team, somewhere in the background, is a crusty old fart. He’s an old line high dollar lawyer, former FBI or US Attorney’s Office, who went through this thing with a lice comb. There’s nothing here, not because of what anybody else says, but because of what crusty old fart said. Believe it.

  6. 6

    Fox

    Thanks for the info. So sad that all the major news networks (except Fox) are in a feeding frenzy over the “scandal”. But, what should I expect from the purely biased media that has openly endorsed Obama?!? Their focus should be on “The First Republican Female” nominee on the ticket! Thanks again!

  7. 8

    Missy

    Congratulations on all the links Mata, lotsa of folks are reading you today. This time, I clicked in from Lucianne.com.

    Excellent work!

  8. 9

    Dianne

    Andrew Halcro is a metro-sexual with an overrated opinion of himself who inherited an avis franchise from his father. He seems to think being governor of Alaska is also his birthright. He should be investigated by the I.R.S. for tax fraud. During his run for govenor he ran name recognition and biography ads nonstop on all the radio stations tangentially mentioning his business. I would like the I.R.S. to compare the last seven years of his advertising deductions. If they can make a case, they should take it to trial. This isn’t just a sour grapes issue with him…he is a cheap, sexist/racist jerk, who thinks he’s too smart to pay taxes like the rest of us.

  9. 10

    whuptdue

    Fox, why “So sad that all the major news networks (except Fox) are in a feeding frenzy over the “scandal””?

    The more the msm continues to chase useless red herrings the less discussion of the annointed one .

  10. 11

    Curt

    administrator

    FYI folks, due to the large amount of traffic this post is getting I’ve had to turn on the cache system. Because of this the pageview hits on the top wont be going up. According to Statcounter the post has 7,783 page views so far….for those that care.

  11. 12

    tbogg

    “Problem is, Palin directed none of these people to intercede her her behalf… either personally, or professionally. In fact, until someone presented her with the phone transcript of Bailey’s call, she had no idea these events had occurred… putting her in a more embarrassing position.”

    Prove it.

  12. 13

    Marilyn R Land

    Thank you for this very indepth article. My husband & I are now very excited about voting for the McCain/Palin ticket. Before, it was only because there was no alternative. Mr. McCain made a terrific choice.

  13. Do Democrats REALLY want to place themselves in the position of defending a state trooper shown to abuse his authority and violent as well? So much for sticking up for the least among us.

    If all they are staking their “abuse of power” charge against Palin is the statements of a disgruntled former state employee than they are on thin ice.

  14. 17

    Tim in NY

    I still have to locate that verification that “Sarah’s daughter … [was] a witness to Wooten’s tasering of his 11 year old stepson (verified)”.

    I guess the New York Times needs to locate that too, going by their hit-story on Sarah Palin today:

    Monegan claimed that Mr. Todd Palin “had showed him some of the findings of a private investigator the family had hired and accused the trooper of a variety of misdeeds, including drunken driving and child abuse.”

    To take only the abuse charge, was the tasering of the step-son “verified” only by the one private investigator, as the Times would have us believe?

    And was there a private investigator at all? (Did I miss that above?)

    Could you flesh out that word “verified” for me before I start to suspect that my local paper is misleading me? (Irony alert.)

  15. 18

    MataHarley

    premium_subscriber

    Tim in NY… you don’t have to look far for the verification of the tasering of his step-son. Open the Col. Julia Grimes suspension letter link in the post. They not only know that he did, Wooten admitted it during the investigation. Can’t get much more “verified” than that.

  16. 19

    Tim in NY

    Thanks for that clarification MataHarley. You’ve provided so much good material that I am dutifully plowing through it all.

    I see that the P.I.’s name was “Leonard Hacket”.

    Did you like how the NY Times presented only Todd Palin’s accusation “of a variety of misdeeds”? The piece only goes downhill from there. Sickening tabloid!

  17. 20

    MataHarley

    premium_subscriber

    And thank *your* for also plowing thru it, Tim in NY. Frankly, my eyes are glazed over after all the sifting, sorting, searching, absorbing yesterday. So I haven’t gotten to reading the MSM’s hit jobs today. I just knew it was coming. So… being the political research junkie I am… thought I’d like to find out the truth before they started morphing it.

    Think I’d like to read about anything but this right now, but I guess I’ll have to go hunt it up.

  18. 24

    Richard Sharpe

    According to dictionary.com, it’s “gubernatorial” … plus there are numerous other grammar and spelling problems.

    However, nice work on debunking the false scandal vomit coming from the NYT and others.

  19. 25

    Ron

    Great analysis! Thanks for posting this. I found you through Ace of Spades blog.

    One slight correction: You wrote

    “11-2005: Palin elected Governor of Alaska”

    Palin was elected Governor of Alaska in 11-2006, not 11-2005. I don’t know how that affects the rest of your timeline.

    Keep up the good work!

  20. 26

    lynn

    I am a longtime Alaska conservative Republican who voted for Sarah Palin in the general election but have not counted myself as a Palin-bot. I will state candidly that Gov. Palin’s role in ‘Troopergate’ stinks. Here are a few questions that remain unanswered and I am hopeful that the Branchflower investigation will have the answers.

    I find it impossible to believe that Gov. Palin did not know that 2 dozen calls from her staff and her husband were made to DPS regarding Trooper Wooten. What about staff that viewed his personnel and workers comp files and leaked their contents in direct violation of Federal and State employment laws? This leaves the state wide open to a very profitable lawsuit by Trooper Wooten. Trooper Wooten is, clearly, not a model trooper but the charges against him were addressed through due process and the ‘case closed.’ For a governor to continue to ‘prosecute’ these charges is in violation of state personnel laws.

    Why has the Governor refused to release emails stating executive privilege even though Todd Palin was a recipient as well as staff? I could go on and on with questions raised by the dissembling of our Governor on this issue.

    She has demonized Commissioner Monegan, who has had a long and honorable career in law enforcement and is highly respected in our state. Rather than answer Andrew Halcro’s accusations directly she has attacked him personally; he’s also a well-respected businessman and legislator who has been doing the hard work reporters should be doing. I really wish Gov. Palin would just be up front and honest. The evidence points to an abuse of power. Admit to the poor judgment and move on. The cover-up is becoming worse than the offense.

    You write, “if not in rural Alaska, Wooten is a law official who would have been run out of most departments.” Can you see the uninformed arrogance of this remark? I’ll add that the only Alaskans who have filed complaints against Trooper Wooten are members of the Palin/Heath clan. Clearly, theirs is not an objective opinion.

    I do support, wholeheartedly, the McCain/Palin ticket. However, I think it is premature to dismiss these allegations as much ado about nothing.

  21. 27

    MataHarley

    premium_subscriber

    Lynn, INRE some of your comments…

    I find it impossible to believe that Gov. Palin did not know that 2 dozen calls from her staff and her husband were made to DPS regarding Trooper Wooten. What about staff that viewed his personnel and workers comp files and leaked their contents in direct violation of Federal and State employment laws? This leaves the state wide open to a very profitable lawsuit by Trooper Wooten.

    You may find it impossible to believe, however none of the staff who made the calls have said they did so at her direction. Bailey specifically stated such. Todd Palin was ordered to speak with Monegan by Special Agent Bob Cockrell. Therefore Todd Palin did not initiate conversations about Wooten… he was required to. I’m quite sure a Governor doesn’t have time to monitor everyone’s personal calls. And I’m also quite sure that many shared Palin’s opinion that Wooten was not a good Trooper, and deserved reassignment.

    As for Wooten’s personnel files…. Wooten granted legal release of access to all his employment files to ex-wife, Molly’s, attorne in May of 2008. The lawyers, Palmier~Erwin LLC issued a letter on July 17, 2008 stating that all Wooten records were obtained legally and with his consent.

    Additionally in the letter, it specifically states that the Governor’s office, nor Gov. Palin herself, had any involvement in the litigation, and that the records were obtained per Alaskan law thru the standard discovery process.

    Sorry… no scandal there either….

    She has demonized Commissioner Monegan, who has had a long and honorable career in law enforcement and is highly respected in our state. Rather than answer Andrew Halcro’s accusations directly she has attacked him personally; he’s also a well-respected businessman and legislator who has been doing the hard work reporters should be doing.

    From what I read, the respect of Halcro is a personal opinion, and not all side with you. Halcro raised allegations that Monegan was fired because of Wooten… fully two and a half years after these original complaints were lodged and in their hey day. What took Palin so long to act in July 2008 for a beef going back to May 2005? And why fire Monegan? She could have abused her power over Grimes… more appropriate.

    Monegan is the one doing the demonizing, Lynn. He was offered another position in the department. He refused. Period. He and Halcro are the ones with the vendetta.

    You write, “if not in rural Alaska, Wooten is a law official who would have been run out of most departments.” Can you see the uninformed arrogance of this remark? I’ll add that the only Alaskans who have filed complaints against Trooper Wooten are members of the Palin/Heath clan. Clearly, theirs is not an objective opinion.

    First of all, I live in a rural country political arena myself now. If a state trooper in a large metropolis is abusing his authority, there are many more troopers that would also not be pleased, and complaints are easier to file, and discipline more harsh and forthcoming. Not so easy in small town environments.

    But if there’s a small, intimate amount of troopers, such as in my area and yours, filing complaints against the guy who’s likely to be the one showing up at your door for other official business makes you think twice. Just what you need… a local cop with an attitude towards you. Small wonder most don’t filel complaints. Since it obviously takes a lot to get disciplined more than 5 days, the repercussions of that complaint could be quite unpleasant.

    If you read *anything* of the links provided in this list, you will find that the bartender of othe Mug Saloon also describes Wooten’s abuse of authority. He is not alone in the many instances, which is why Grimes suspended him to begin with.

    Between the timing, the history, the players and their history, there is just no scandal except that which can be manufactured by your imagination. None of it makes a lick of sense, save Halcro and Monegan being quite disgruntled for the losing hands they were dealt. Period

  22. 28

    Alex Bies

    The mere fact that you mention”In the recorded conversation, Bailey is heard telling Dial: “Todd and Sarah are scratching their heads, why on earth hasn’t, why is this guy still representing the department? He’s a horrible recruiting tool. … You know, I mean from their perspective, everyone’s protecting him.” Why is Todd even involved in governing dialogs. To mention Todd in this light suggests that Todd has been involved for some time in this matter. If he is supposed to be a stay at home Dad why is he pursuing business that does not pertain to him? This smells like crap, looks like crap, so it has to be crap. It sounds like a a dual governorship and Todd handles the crap she does not want to associate herself with for political reasons. This makes her look like she is ethical but is not. She was fighting for her sister because those in power before her did nothing to make her happy. She is just another Republican who sprays fragrance on her ass so her shit does not stink. Oh, and how about those nude photos? Any word if they are Sarah?

  23. 29

    Carl in Ohio

    Thanks for the write up. I’d encourage you to add one very pertinent thing to your time line. In the very first part, you should make it clear that Molly Wooten and Sarah Palin are sisters. Without that knowledge, it’s a bit hard for the uninitiated to understand the beginning.

  24. 30

    MataHarley

    premium_subscriber

    Oh yes, Lynn… you may want to re’read the Branchwater-Monegan link prior to putting all your belief in that Easter egg basket. Then again, in smaller communities, it’s hard to find a non-biased, third party investigator.

    Truly, go thru the links in the post. They are all local… ADN, Newsminers, local blogs, etc. I really went everywhere trying to find all perspectives before looking at it. There is just no logic to some firing of this guy because he didn’t fire that guy. But Monegan and Palin were most definitely in heated conflict about budget, trooper recruitment and the bootlegging enforcement. That, alone, is sufficient for her to exercise her right to replace her appointee with another.

    Alex, you make no sense with your point. First off, “I” didn’t mention that… it’s an excerpt from the linked newspaper article. That’s why those things appear in a different format.

    Secondly, I’m quite sure that as a Trooper whom the Palins’ witnessed abusing family members, Alaskan laws and his authority, would “scratch their head” wondering why he is still a Trooper in good standing. Hang, *I* don’t know what that Trooper is still a Trooper.

    You’re also uninformed as to Todd Palin. Commercial fishermen are hardly stay at home Dads.

    So I guess we figure, with your conspiracy thought patterns on nude photos, dual governorship, etal, you’re just a DNC gullible who cares nothing for piecing events together to find the truth. I do believe you’ll find yourself in good company at tboggs Firedoglake… see ya, and don’t slam the saloon door on your exit, please.

  25. 31

    John Bono

    Just for the sake of argument, let’s just say the allegations against Palin are true, that she pressured the Monegan to fire Wooten, fired Monegan when he failed to do so. So, the Dem argument is that it is wrong to fire a guy who abused his wife and stepson, drank on the job, hunted without a license, and generally abused the authority granted him by the state of Alaska? Do they really want to go there? The record, by any *objective* standard, would be that the bozo should have been fired a long time ago.

  26. 32

    MataHarley

    premium_subscriber

    All right… what have we here… spelling corrections, grammarical errors, typos… You’d all think I was submitting a white paper to Harvard! LOL

    Seriously, I appreciate all the extra help. So where were you all at 3AM this morning, eh?

    Fact it, it’s over 2200 words, link intensive, and sometimes you can’t edit it until you post it and read thru in the visual format more easily. Especially when you’re trying to flow coherently from event to event, person to person, over years.

    An upload about 1:30AM or 2AM proved to be a technical problem, and every link in the post was broken. Curt helped me hammer that out in the WordPress, but there were still things I had to add. Needless to say, by the time I had it somewhat together, it was after 3AM. And frankly grammar and spelling meant little to me by then.

    I just wanted to pass on the links, the history and let you all read for yourselves. Did I expect over 11,000 hits?? Hang no!

    So piece by piece, when I can bear to look at the post again today, I’ll try to incorporate some of your suggestions. But personally, I think you all get the drift of what the post was supposed to do, right? So give me an C or D for presentation… as long as you log off more informed. :0)

  27. 33

    lynn

    Yes, Trooper Wooten gave the press access to his employment files. However, I am referring specifically to his medical records and his workers’ comp files which Frank Bailey says he saw. Those files are kept in the Dept. of Labor separate from personnel files and are specifically protected by Federal HIPAA Law. Trooper Wooten did not grant access to anyone to see those files. Very few state employees are granted access to those medical files.

    No, the governor does not know what is said in every single phone call. However, to know that Todd Palin was so deeply involved it is impossible to believe she did not know.

    Commissioner Monegan at first and for several days after his dismissal refused to comment on the Wooten issue when it was raised by Halcro citing statute that prevented him from commenting on the trooper specifically. After getting legal advice he stated that he had been pressured by Todd Palin and the governor’s staff to address the status of Trooper Wooten. The due process on the accusations was complete and there was nothing more that could be done. He has said nothing more and nothing less than answering the questions by the press to say yes he had received calls regarding the status of Trooper Wooten. Monegan is the professional here.

    Don’t be misled. Commissioner Monegan was fired. Gov. Palin had Frank Bailey offer him a job on the Alcohol Board because she says she is not happy with his progress on bootlegging. It makes no sense. And to call it a reassignment is masterful PR…it’s analogous to offering Gov. Palin a job counting petition signatures in the Division of Elections.

    Regarding rural politics and cronyism I would be careful comparing rural Oregon to Wasilla, Alaska. Wasilla, is not Bush Alaska. It is in the most densely populated area of the state. I can see a rogue trooper cowing a few people hundreds of miles off the road system but not thousands of Alaskans over a long career. Sorry, but there has been no one else who has complained. It just doesn’t make sense. Only the Palin/Heath clan have filed complaints.

    Gov. Palin took the oath of office Dec 2006. The due process of Trooper Wooten was already complete. State personnel statute says nothing more can be done. Yet pressure was exerted by the governor’s office and family. To have pressured Col. Grimes would have been inappropriate. Commissioner Monegan was the ‘at-will’ employee accountable to the governor. She cannot go around him without risking a violation of personnel laws.

    I know from long distance this looks like nothing much. But frankly, Gov. Palin’s side of the story is very, very difficult to believe. Especially, because I heard Frank Bailiey say himself in the recorded phone call that ‘Sarah and Todd’ were very concerned about Trooper Wooten and he was calling on their behalf. The governor said he was not speaking for her yet he is still employed by the State of Alaska. Amazing.

    I appreciate your going through all this. Having an ‘outside’ opinion to make me consider what I know helps clarify the issues. I suspect that Todd Palin will end up taking the blame for all of this while the Governor continues to say she knew nothing.

    It’s a lovely day in Anchorage today and I’m going to head outdoors and enjoy it.

  28. “So give me an C or D for presentation”

    I disagree strongly. Though I might not be totally objective in this matter I think you did a masterful job with an enormous amount of complex and confusing information. Your presentation skill is validated by the number of high traffic sites which have been linking to your piece.

    Self editing can be a bitch, but that’s the nature of blogging.

    I still don’t see anything in all the claims and counterclaims that provides any direct evidence that Sarah Palin or any member of her family abused their position. Of course they had very strong opinions on what this violent cop Wooten was doing to Sarah’s sister and her family. If this was your family wouldn’t you?

    But the claims and counterclaims about improper pressure brought to bear on Monegan boil down to a she said he said. And frankly, since Monegan was fired we can bet he wants to tell his side of the story with more than a little bias.

    It’s nice to see the New York Times getting on top of the story. How long did it take them to cover the Obama Rev. Wright story? Did they ever write about the John Edward’s scandal?

    I know that the Dems are trying to create a mountain out of a mole hill and are blowing this story way out of proportion on purpose.

    So much for the new politics that Obama claimed was his standard on Thursday night.

    That didn’t last long did it?

  29. 35

    MataHarley

    premium_subscriber

    The Governor’s office did not request the medical files, Lynn. Can’t hang that on Palin. Bailey’s fate has yet to be decided, but so far Sarah-cuda has taken disciplinary measures on others.

    Many of these inquiries were completely appropriate,” Palin said. “The serial nature of the contacts understandably could be perceived as some kind of pressure presumably at my direction.”

    But it was Bailey’s conversation with a trooper that Palin said was “most disturbing” and “problematic”

    “Mr. Bailey seemed to be speaking on my behalf, but Mr. Bailey was not speaking for me,” Palin said. “His comments were unauthorized as well as just wrong.”

    Palin said no decision has been made about Bailey’s employment status.

    Palin also absolved Department of Administration Commissioner Annette Kreitzer, whom Monegan previously named as those among the administration who pressured him.

    If Bailey broke Alaskan laws by requesting or reading personal health records without authorization, then Palin may not have to do a thing. The AG wil.

    And to call it a reassignment is masterful PR…it’s analogous to offering Gov. Palin a job counting petition signatures in the Division of Elections.

    As I’ve said, he was appointed by the Governor. They can fire appointees and not offer them a replacement position as well. It may be a pay grade reduction, but it was a job. And if he did not live up to her expectations for whatever reason, she is in her full rights to do so. However there is no denying that Monegan and Palin were in a battle over budget and other issues. Even Halcro reports this. Therefore Wooten is not the long ranger reason Palin had to terminate his position.

    Regarding rural politics and cronyism I would be careful comparing rural Oregon to Wasilla, Alaska. Wasilla, is not Bush Alaska. It is in the most densely populated area of the state. I can see a rogue trooper cowing a few people hundreds of miles off the road system but not thousands of Alaskans over a long career.

    I live right outside of the county seat, which has a population of about 12,000. We have about 4-5 state troopers on duty at any given time for our entire county of 60K approx residents. Wasilla had a population of about 7000 in 2003. I would find it strange if you had many more to service the county. And I can tell you, with 4-5 troopers, getting on the bad side of one is likely to be not a great idea.

    I know you are a McCain-Palin supporter, but you’re echoing Halcro here when you say no one else has pressed charges. This seems to be important to both of you. If you read the Trooper’s notes on Todd Palin (linked above), the bartender of the Mug Saloon was also interviewed. He did not file a formal complaint, but he sure did complain about Wooten’s behavior.

    So here’s the question… if others recognize his abuse of authority, but don’t file complaints, and if the man has been proven to be physically and verbally abusive to the wife and child, and he’s made threats against the Palin family, then *just how many complaints will make you and Halcro happy*???

    Gov. Palin took the oath of office Dec 2006. The due process of Trooper Wooten was already complete. State personnel statute says nothing more can be done. Yet pressure was exerted by the governor’s office and family. To have pressured Col. Grimes would have been inappropriate. Commissioner Monegan was the ‘at-will’ employee accountable to the governor.

    I’m quite sure you meant to say “Yet pressure ALLEGEDLY was exerted by the governor’s office”, correct? Since you have no evidence that they did.

    Pressuring Col. Grimes is no less inappropriate than pressuring Commissioner Monegan.. despite his appointee status. However Col. Grimes should be more concerned with the representation of her Troopers, and if pressure was to be applied, that is the only place that is appropriate. Not as a Governor, but as a complainant.

    I know from long distance this looks like nothing much. But frankly, Gov. Palin’s side of the story is very, very difficult to believe. Especially, because I heard Frank Bailiey say himself in the recorded phone call that ‘Sarah and Todd’ were very concerned about Trooper Wooten and he was calling on their behalf.

    Well, ‘scuse me if I insert a “no sheeeeet Sherlock” here. Of course the Palin’s would be very concerned considering the man threatened the father, tasered the son (because he “asked” to be tasered…. geeez), verbally and physically abused the sister. What’s not to be concerned about?

    But for you to suggest that somehow Palin pressured Bailey into calling “on their behalf” when both he and Palin say differently is a real stretch.

    This whole thing smell of nothing but a vendetta, Lynn. The divorce was final, the complaints were two and a half years earlier. Why, when Palin knew she was on a short list for VP, would she up at this late date and fire Monegan over Wooten for stuff that had been resolved in some way years earlier?

    So far you can show me no logic for this action. On the other hand, I can see the benefits for Halcro and Monegan putting up a fuss.

  30. 36

    BarbaraS

    Mata Harley

    Congratulations for a job well done. Pay no attention to the nit-pickers or the trolls. I’ll give you an “A” on all counts. Great piece of work.

  31. 37

    WadeHM

    I am always amazed at how many people are so quick to jump to conclusions based on the word of the MSM when directed at conservatives and Republicans. These same people will bleat like sheep when conservatives go after liberals and Democrats and cry foul and unfair.

    I was going to make some comments on my site regarding this issue when I had more information. Now I don’t need to look for most of what is here. You have provided the most comprehensive account (with solid links no less) of the real story. Thanks for the hard work and hopefully soon I will get through all of this and understand it all.

  32. 38

    Yo

    Excellent job! Thank you so much for the story and I too want to tell the people that are complaining about typos or grammatical errors to give you a break for God’s sake. You put the piece together in 12 hours and it is quite amazing. BTW I’ve linked your story on other sites.

    Me thinks Lynne is actually an ardent Obama supporter portraying herself as a Republican. She is ignoring the “facts” and is doth protesting too much. The facts are the facts ma’am and if it was your family you’d have done the same thing. If it was my family, I would have been living in Julia Grimes office for two and half years demanding that that wife-beating pig be fired. He got off way too lightly and only because it was a small town and they were already woefully short of troopers.

  33. 39

    Missy

    Alex, the nude photos should be surfacing soon. When I did my google search for photo shop Gov. Palin I stumbled upon a chat room where they were discussing photo shopping the Govs photo onto some porn stars bodies. After you find these photos, my wish is that you go look at yourself in a mirror and physically get sick.

    All this while Gov. Palin’s son is defending the scum that are doing this to his mother.

    Mata, you score an A+, I’m recording it in my gradebook right now!

  34. 42

    BA Polson

    Matt,
    Thanks for the info. You did a great job. Compared to the Chicago Annenberg Challenge in which Obama worked with Ayers closely in doling out money to various educational institutions which also included big money to Accorn, and where their organization doling out the money was deemed to be a failure; this “scandle” of Palin is small town potatoes. Lets hear the left put a pretty face on that one. It’s going to break out sooner or later with Stanley Kurtz doing extensive research.
    Proud to be an American,
    We need to Stand for Freedom
    or we’ll be bent over for Socialism.

  35. 43

    SteveO

    Thank you for pulling this all together.

    Liberal or Conservative does it really matter when it comes to a wife batterer? I don’t understand how any Liberal can come to the defense of a man who hits his wife…full stop.

    Can some Liberal explain why they are defending a wife batterer?

  36. 44

    WadeHM

    SteveO,

    Plain and simple, because it has the potential to make Sarah look bad and make them look good. This justifies defending a wife beater to them. Anything to look good. Remember, this is the party that is against babies born alive during abortion attempts having the same right to life as wanted babies born alive because their parents don’t believe in abortion.

  37. 45

    MataHarley

    premium_subscriber

    Manly#41. My apologies if you feel I lifted your phrasing. First off, haven’t seen Hot Air until this afternoon, and not the Palin threads.

    But I thought it was Sarah’s high school sports nickname. Perhaps I’m mistakened.

  38. 46

    MataHarley

    premium_subscriber

    SteveO and WadeHM, be careful what tangent you take in discussions with the lesser informed.

    This scandal is about making it appear that Palin fired one man, Monegan, because he did not fire the abusive trooper/husband, Wooten.

    Most Dems would just argue it’s just like “getting Bin Laden” by going into Iraq…. that’s the way they think. Too simplistic. The fact Palin had ample reason, and legal right, to fire Monegan for reasons other than Wooten just doesn’t occur to them. Nor fit into their “ethical black eye” plans for campaign strategy.

  39. 49

    anon

    Jesus Christ, your description is still way too long. Can’t you reduce it to a grand total of 5 bullet points, or something? There is enough to read in the blogosphere as it is. Please make something very succinct, for those of us who are going to believe you already and only need or want the very essence of the thing. Was Palin right to remove Monegan, or not? If yes: Why? 3-5 bullet points, please, tops.

  40. 50

    ManlyRash

    “Manly#41. My apologies if you feel I lifted your phrasing. First off, haven’t seen Hot Air until this afternoon, and not the Palin threads. But I thought it was Sarah’s high school sports nickname. Perhaps I’m mistakened.”

    As was pointed out later, her nickname was “Sarah Barracuda.” But that’s not important, and neither is an apology.

    Run with the meme, Mata. Use it everywhere. Use it always. From this point forward, let her be known as SARAH’CUDA.

    Yours faithfully,

    ManlyRash

  41. anon: MataH was already accused of oversimplifying the conclusions in her summary so further refinement along the lines you suggest would only undermine the general thesis that there’s not much “there” there in this “scandal.”

    It’s always nice to have a solid bedrock of thorough and well organized information upon which readers can base conclusions.

  42. 52

    Darleen_Click

    I have a great bumper sticker for the desperate Dems and Obamabots attempting to smear Gov. Palin with “abuse of power” (see trackback #11)

    “America cannot afford VP Sarah Palin: she’s too hard on racist, child-abusing wifebeaters.”

    Please, Obamabots, go there. I’ll go make some popcorn.

  43. 53

    Babs

    Hi, I’m a Dem for McCain and totally disgusted with the MSM and my party at the obvious intent to smear Sarah Palin with this kind of garbage. Sarah Palin and her husband should be considered heroes by all of us. How many times do abused family members end up dead because no family member or close friend had the courage to interfere in a “private” situation? And then to try to connect this original situation to a firing more than 2 years later is obviously a stretch, even for an old Dem like me.
    I read up on all the VP maybes when the press was announcing them months ago, and the dynamic lady named Sarah was my favorite by far, but I never in a million years would have guessed that John McCain would have the savvy to pick her. I hear all these comments on TV about how Biden is going to chew her up in the VP debate, and I have to laugh because I have obviously done more research than the MSM. This is one intelligent, confident lady, and I hope the Dems continue to underestimate her until she makes them all look like the fools they are.

  44. 55

    MataHarley

    premium_subscriber

    Anon49… over 45 URL’s & bookmarks, and over 3 years of haps… man, this IS “succinct”!

    But for you? In 3-5 bullets?

    Was Palin right to remove Monegan, or not? if yes: Why?

    Can’t tell you if she was right to fire him, but I can tell you it *was her right* to fire him. And, IMHO, it’s a 99% chance that termination had nothing to do with her former brother in law.

  45. 56

    yonason

    The MSM won’t go after O’Bumbler for Auchi, Rezco, Ayers, Kahlidi, infantacide, etc., etc., etc., but they’ll turn pit-bull against Palin on the flimsiest rumor. When is America going to wise up to the fact that lying Leftist goons are running most of the MSM?

    Nice job, Mata!

    UPDATE – I just found these over at LUNDESIGNS. They speak soooo eloquently to the MSM being in the tank for O’Bumbler&Bidet
    http://lundesigns.blogspot.com/2008/07/blog-post.html
    http://lundesigns.blogspot.com/2008/07/logos-closer-to-truth.html

  46. 57

    yonason

    NOW HERE’S A STORY!!!

    “THE CANDIDATE TO NOWHERE…

    voted for the “Bridge to Nowhere”:

    …Obama and 81 other senators opposed an amendment in 2005 to strike the infamous $231 million “Bridge to Nowhere” earmark for Alaska and redirect that funding to help with rebuilding New Orleans.

    The Senate rarely backs efforts to strike another member’s pet projects.

    Translation: Obama, for all his hype about ‘hope and change’ , is actually the poster boy for ‘politics as usual.'”SanitySaiz

  47. 59

    SAZMD

    Just to add an update of sorts. Today’s Anchorage Daily News (online) reports that Monegan now says he has “two or three” emails from the Governor regarding Wooten, although he says they don’t mention Wooten by name. FYI.

  48. 60

    Ron

    Thank you MataHarley for your efforts put in to debunk “Trooper-gate.” Truly fantastic work, uncovering the Democrats chief political attack against Gov. Palin’s ascencion to the VP nomination for the GOP. Before reading it, I didn’t believe there was much “there, there” but after reading your work, to find out that this is such a non-story at all is just priceless.

    You have very diligently disproved the MSM’s talking points for the next several days all by doing a day’s worth of research. Gee, what were you thinking of? You will never write for the New York Times by putting that much effort into a story! (sarc/off)

    Surprisingly, no one has attacked you, Mata, for being a surrogate for a big oil company, a Bush crony or a reporter at Fox News. You have managed to silence the usual attacks by being thorough and on point with your investigation. Or maybe I just haven’t read enough of the comments.

    Keep up the great work. Investigative journalism suits you well.

  49. 61

    jaed

    To go a little meta, why on earth is the MSM pushing this story? It seems unlikely to me that she fired Moneghan over this matter – but suppose she did. Suppose the accusation against her is completely true. Then she tried to get a state trooper fired who had been beating her sister, tasered his stepson, and violated law and policy in other ways. This is supposed to be bad? She’s insufficiently sensitive to the needs of the Abuser-American community?

    I can see the attack ads now:

    “Sarah Palin.
    Dangerous to wife-beaters.
    Dangerous to America”.

    That’ll go over real well. (On both sides of the aisle.) It makes no sense.

  50. 62

    Jimbob

    Hey Mataharley,

    Great job! You can’t imagine how pleased I was to find your blog. Just two days ago while I was on Townhall, I learned that McCain had selected someone named Palin. I began to despair thinking he picked another white guy, then as I read further, I was elated to discover Palin was the intelligent woman governor of Alaska. But then as I read the comments posted below the article, I saw a liberal’s snear that Palin was involved in a scam revolving around a messy divorce.

    I did an internet search for “Palin divorce” and read a story that painted Palin as a revengeful person who used her office to mete out personal justice. I was so sad that what looked to be such a good move by McCain was going to be a liability in the end.

    Tonight, I did a google search on Palin and saw some returns on “Trooper gate”, so I searched those and found your blog. I fully expected it to be a scathing report ridiculing both McCain and Palin, but to my surprise it was a masterful job of investigative reporting. Wow! I can go to bed knowing that the McCain-Palin ticket is in great shape.

    Thanks again for lifting the weight of liberal lies off of me.

    (Since I spent over 10 years in China, I have a whole new appreciation for the work you did for everyone’s benefit.)

  51. 63

    drzlecuti

    Mata, I appreciate all your work. I am neither red nor blue, and am skeptical about all politicians. I do believe heartily in human nature.

    Many of your responses to “Lynn” refer to the logic of the situation, e.g., SP being on a short list for VP, it wouldn’t be logical for her to get involved with the trooper situation.

    Mata, think about human nature and all of the politicians who have done things that logic would have told them not to do. Bill Clinton and an intern? Gimme a break – what logical reason would he have to do something like that? Politicians, like the rest of us, are human, all too human.

    It seems more logical that SP would know from her not-constitutionally-elected-nor-appointed-to-state-service husband all about communications between TP and others concerning Wooten – her sister’s ex!

    “Lynn” said that Bailey could be heard in a taped phone conversation that SP and TP were concerned about the matter. In a court of law, that would likely be more probative than any subsequent protestation by Bailey that SP was out of the loop.

    I live near Chicago. Politicians use their power and authority all the time to get around he system. Maybe SP is pure as the driven Alaskan snow on this matter. Let’s see: Wooten, ex of SP’s sister. A certifable lout. Wooten disciplined, not fired. End of due process. Post-due process communications by governor’s staff regarding the matter. TP is in the communication loop. Then the guy who had hire/fire authority over Wooten is gone.

    And while this is going on, SP is obliviously looking out a window, humming, and thinking about Washington DC in the springtime.

  52. 64

    MataHarley

    premium_subscriber

    drzlecuti, the way you state some of your beliefs indicate you are powered by raw emotion on this issue. For example:

    It seems more logical that SP would know from her not-constitutionally-elected-nor-appointed-to-state-service husband all about communications between TP and others concerning Wooten – her sister’s ex!

    You obviously believe in the “dual governorship” BS stated by another commenter here. There is nothing in Palins political record that indicates she is either a ventroliquist’s dummy, or shares any of that power with her husband. And if you have proof to that effect, do provide it for all of us to see. Info, info and more info… when it comes to our leadership, we can’t have enough facts (emphasis on “facts” pls).

    Todd is a commercial fisherman… and I’ve know many commercial fishermen in my time. They have long, hard days. When would such a man have time to act as a co-governor? Or are you assuming Palin herself is neither capable, nor independent and assertive? And are assuming that because she’s a woman?

    Second INRE your comment. You again conveniently skip over reality: Todd Palin spoke with Monegan on a direct order from a special agent about a security threat. You seem to believe he was calling Monegan regularly about firing Wooten, which is even more absurd. Frankly, if anyone were to “pressure” Monegan, it would be the one with the Governorship, not the First Gentleman and commercial fisherman. He does not have the power to wield.

    So both emotionally, and reasonably, you have one illogical and unfactual perspective.

    Yes, Bailey said in a recorded phone conversation that the Palin’s were concerned about Wooten. By all accounts, Wooten is a man who abused his wife, family and his authority and position, and was still in contact with his family… perhaps still attempting power plays. Who wouldn’t be concerned?

    I have no doubt that Bailey was aware of the Palins’ personal situation. That does not mean that Palin directed him to call. And in fact, both state emphatically she had nothing to do with him calling.

    In that sense, Bailey did what I would do for one I considered a friend… I’d call and see if I could be of help on their behalf. Perhaps Bailey and Monegan had a better relationship where he felt he could be more effective in pointing out the absurdity of keeping a man who threatened the First Family on active duty as a State Trooper. For heavens sake, look at the department! State troopers are generally the Gov’s police force for their security. Anything make sense here?

    It’s also absurd to think that if Palin couldn’t/wouldn’t pressure Grimes because it wouldn’t look appropriate, it’s unlikely she’d authorize an appointee to interfere in Grimes’ department. If the Public Safety Commissioner fired Wooten himself – a mere Trooper in one of the sundry departments he oversees – it would still be a big stink since everyone would tie it to Palin anyway.

    The bottom line of this is, Palin did nothing wrong.

    1: She appointed the guy. She can fire the guy.

    2: It’s documented that prior to his dismissal, they disagreed over budget, recruitment and enforcement issues. That is reason to fire him.

    3: Considering it was three years after the domestic complains and the heat of the battle, the likelihood of his termination has nothing to do with Wooten, and everything to do with their recent documented disagreements over performance.

    4: Furthermore, if she had *no* reason to terminate him, she still had the right to fire him. Period.

    This is as absurd as the DNC making hay over the much overdue firing of US attorneys that served at the will of the POTUS.

    And your final sentence.?.. “And while this is going on, SP is obliviously looking out a window, humming, and thinking about Washington DC in the springtime” indicates you’ve already formed your opinion of Sarah Palin. Not on the facts, but on your unreasoned emotion. You are likely not a supporter of McCain. Then again, your other choice is the quintessential Chicago politician, which you also say you distrust.

    You, or anyone else, who seeks to link the termination of an appointed official two and a half years after “post due process” was completed, is just desperately grabbing at straws for reasons to diss Palin. Your reasons for doing so, while insisting you are a skeptic… with all due respect… make *me* skeptical.

  53. 65

    MataHarley

    premium_subscriber

    To Jimbob and all with your kind words and kudos. I thank you all for your encouragement and thanks…. and my thanks also for absorbing a long post, complete with grammar/spelling and other errors in all.

    I most especially love those of you that are pouring thru all the links yourselves… for that was my purpose. To give you enough data to read thru and form your own opinions.

    All I can say is, spread the word in your own circles. Because I, for one, am tired of “the truth” being defined by the inept journalists who research nothing before driving public opinion.

  54. 66

    drzlecuti

    Hi Mata,

    OK, you’ve got your own lenses for viewing the world, as do I. But I had to laugh a bit when you ascribed my thoughts to “raw emotion.” Not really. Far from it, in fact. The psychologists refer to this situation as “projection,” I think.

    My stand: I don’t know whether SP is guilty of anything or not–which is kind of vague, reflecting my feeling, which is that I don’t really care. Your stand: Palin did nothing wrong–which is kind of emphatic, reflecting a fair assumption that you do really care. Which of us has more emotion invested in this topic?

    Off to the beach–have a good one…let’s just agree that you like SP, and that I don’t like many politicians (other than a few I know personally).

  55. 67

    Curt

    administrator

    Wow….now that was some response to a comment loaded with fact drzlecuti. Instead of responding to the facts Mata laid out in her response to you, you resort to “well you believe what you want and so will I.”

    Brilliant!

    let’s just agree that you like SP, and that I don’t like many politicians

    Your basing your belief that something is amiss with the firing because you don’t like politicians?

    Nope, no raw emotions there.

  56. 68

    MataHarley

    premium_subscriber

    … But I had to laugh a bit when you ascribed my thoughts to “raw emotion.” Not really. Far from it, in fact. The psychologists refer to this situation as “projection,” I think.

    My stand: I don’t know whether SP is guilty of anything or not–which is kind of vague, reflecting my feeling, which is that I don’t really care. Your stand: Palin did nothing wrong–which is kind of emphatic, reflecting a fair assumption that you do really care. Which of us has more emotion invested in this topic?

    drzlecuti, I form my opinions only after reading and researching. Note I waited over 24 hours to make any comment on Palin. I just plain didn’t know enough about her, save the few rumor rumblings, and the instant Obama supporter responses of inexperience and scandal. Her record of battling her own GOP and the oil industry were easy to find. Her support of the victims in the SCOTUS case against Exxon were also easy to find.

    Since all that was positive, I went to investigate the negative, to find if there was truth to the rumors.

    I personally don’t care what you believe about Sarah Palin. If you don’t like her, your opinion and you’re right to have it. To suggest you don’t care, however, isn’t believable. Why would you pre-damn someone if you “don’t care”? I will not, however, allow you to suggest my opinion is based on emotion.

    I will go to the mat with enthusiasm to defend the truth against known lies, manufactured scandals spread by a research deficient media, and psychological games in elections… no matter which side it is. In short, what I care about if facts… not the game.

    With the with documentation available from a variety of credible sources, she did nothing wrong morally, or legally. And that’s the bottom line. I made my case with facts. You made yours with subtle statements, laced with notions that Palin is guilty, and shares her governing power with her husband. You provide no facts, but then suggest I am “projecting”?

    Nice try… ain’t gonna fly. I’ll put my data up against your pre-judgemental statements, sans evidence, any day.

  57. 69

    pattyjames

    what do you suppose was included in the “first gentleman’s bio” on the official alaska governor’s website that, after first disabling the link, they have now scrubbed the link?

  58. 70

    MataHarley

    premium_subscriber

    Well gee, Patty James… considering the First Gentleman’s bio info in incorporated into Sarah Palin’s bio page on the official Gov’s site, why don’t you show us where that “disabled link” is showing up? No “disabled links” are on that page.

    And why don’t you speculate what may have been there? Do ya think it said he was a co-Governor? I’m sure we’ll all consider your theories “news”.

  59. 71

    Missy

    I wonder if Biden’s wife’s bio is included on his Senate site. Never thought to look, she’s never tweaked my curiosity, don’t even know her name.

    Maybe pattyjames thinks Gov. Palin’s hubby is a hottie, fess up.

    Besides, whatever was on that scrubbed page is probably still on ‘ahem’ Wiki.

  60. 72

    Seeker-O-truth

    I would like to join in on the kudos to MattaHarley for creating this fact rich post. I feel that the references to typos are a little out of place, but what has worked for me is to compose a post on MSWord, proofread, then copy into the forum if the post is to be more than a couple of sentences long. That also leaves a hard drive copy for you to refer to in case of cyberfailures/tampering.

    Anyone who can’t mentally replace “the” with “them” when appropriate probably wouldn’t be able to follow the logic of the simplest of arguments anyway.

    Thanks all for a good read!

  61. 73

    phan

    The situation with Wooten-Monegan would be a non-issue if ALL of law enforcement would have the immediate instinct and simple decency to extract scum from their ranks. People that threaten to “kill” and harm others are terrorists.

    Maybe the portion of psychological testing prior to be hired by a law enforcement agency needs to be switched to an outside party. There are far too many instances where we find out that someone wearing a badge tested negatively on the lie detector and psychological profile section of the hiring process…but a law enforcement agency hired them anyway…regardless of the prior warning…..THIS ONE.. is mentally and emotionally deficient.

    As citizens, we are promised that only the best candidates are selected to “protect and serve” in law enforcement. Further, there is an additional promise that only the best get to stay employed and serve. The writer, elHombre is right on with the point that Wooten should be fired – “In any other state or department he would have been fired and probably prosecuted.” However, this is not a problem exclusive to Alaska. So the question is – What is wrong with law enforcement? Get a spine for gosh sake! Palin, her sister, the father, their collective children and families…nor any other US citizen should ever have to encounter scum like Wooten.

  62. 74

    mikemaher19

    GOOD job MATTAHARLEY, I would grade your effort an A+. I’ve been following the buzz about SARAHCUDA for about 3 or 4 months now (long enough to know that ” SARAHCUDA”, has been used in ALASKA for a few months now, at least , on FAIRBANKS DAILY NEWSMINER blogs, and ANCORAGE DAILY NEWS blogs) I think WALT MONEGAN’s story changed AFTER the Newsminer story on the ARRIVAL in town of the OBAMA TEAM. After reading about some of the shennanigans that the OBAMA members/followers have been up to in the lower 48, having to do with Democratic caucus fraud and intimidation of HILLARY supporters outside of polling places ( and MY GOD the sheer extent of it ), even the financial donations to OBAMA superdelegates (FOR CRYING OUT LOUD ), that the DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION was stolen FROM HILLARY. “WE WILL NOT BE SILENCED”, has some of the information on that, but I suspect that there is MUCH MORE that OBAMA’s members/followers have been up to . I CAN’T WAIT TIL THE MOVIE COMES OUT!!! There’s a movie? Yes! Coming to a theatre near you!! Well actually you can buy it online . I don’t personally think that HILLARY is what this fine country needs, but, I find OBAMA repugnant! McCAIN/PALIN 08 ,THE DOUBLE MAVERICK TICKET. SARAH….SARAH….SARAH….SARAH….SARAH….SARAH.

  63. 78

    yonason

    PALIN IS AS GREAT A MATCH FOR McCAIN AS SHE IS A COUNTERWEIGHT

    AND THEIR AGENDA IS THE KIND OF “CHANGE” MOST AMERICANS ALREADY “BELIEVE IN”

    The way the Leftist media beat her up for imagined problems it is obvious they are NOT neutral, and they ARE desperate.

    I’m really excited about the possiblilties, including (but not limited to) the defeat of the double-noughts, O’Bumbler and O’Biden.

  64. 79

    yonason

    Matta says…

    “Doug, do you have a point here?”

    No, he doesn’t, except ….

    “In which case, what is it?”

    ….to distract.

    I’ve been ignoring him (as well as his waste-of-time links), and will continue to. He deserves less, but since I can’t do less, that will have to suffice.

  65. 80

    doug

    My point is trooper-gate is now not some 30 second local news spot, it’s now national news, news with a whiskey chaser, with national brand researchers digging for answers: The media flame under this story is growing, getting hot.

    And here’s why that’s important.

    Me, personally, I’m quite convinced Palin was not vetting with enough time and/or poorly vetted. Theocons pushed Palin on McCain; she was a blown french kiss to them. The theocons were going to light up the phone banks and run ground work tactics around the clock if they didn’t get their/a fundamentalist on board.

    Was Todd Palin’s DUI record vetted, Palin’s 17 year-old daughter, her mayoral town’s paper (the national press got the archives– McCain’s vetters never did), any of her beliefs: that the Founding Fathers wrote the Pledge of Allegiance?

    If she was throughly vetted– which I doubt, then I can only say the theocon pressure for McCain to chose her was intense. She was forced on him.

    Either she is ‘heavily experienced,’ as Cindy McCain said, or she’s not. And she isn’t, let’s be honest. Therefore, she was she chosen for points, on a gamble, for the conservative evangelicals.

    If this is the case, that she was not deeply vetted, owing to pressure from the theocons, who knows what dark secrets we are going to turn up, how trooper-gate ends, how many VIP people Sarah will not be familiar with in a public forum, and what other kimchi will be undug.

    “Only time will tell.”

  66. 81

    Missy

    Keep digging doug, I’m sure you will find something that you think will take her down. In the mean time, she draws a sharp contrast to someone that’s been in the Senate for toooooo long, is a plagerist, and is well known as the guy that wanted to take a pizza cutter to Iraq, he also denies that the surge worked. This is the guy that is supposed to bolster the Obama foreign policy creds. What a joke.

    She has a record, she wasn’t in the position to vote present, she was and is responsible for her decisions as governor.

  67. 82

    SAZMD

    Here’s a better link about the hiring of a private attorney.

    I’m relieved she has “lawyered up.” This limits the ability of Palin’s foes in the legislature to go on a witch hunt. Her lawyer has requested documents and statements from Branchflower, and already, the Alaska Democrat in charge of the investigator has denied the request. Having an attorney present during the deposition will also prevent Branchflower from trying go on a fishing expedition.

    Time will tell indeed.

  68. 83

    Aye Chihuahua

    Palin jay-walked once too and caused a 38 car pileup.

    In addition she had her picture taken nekkid on the beach.

    It’s gotta be true I read it right here on AlGore’s InnerTube.

  69. 84

    yonason

    “It’s gotta be true I read it right here on AlGore’s InnerTube” — Aye Chihuahua

    Wow. I knowed he done inbented the InnerNet, but I dinnit knowed bout no InnerTube. I wonder how we gots along wiffouten it fer so long!

  70. 85

    mikemaher19

    I started to do another post, but it got up to about 1200 words or so,and its only about half done so i put it aside , the title would be”the palin effect”,I’ve never written more then 400 words on anything in my life. That surprised me! I suspect that the BRANCHFLOWER investigation will end quite soon. When the old boys network start to realize that investigating SARAH with revenge in mind by them,might burn them,they’ll put it to bed. Nothing will have to come from WASHINGTON, Alaskan Natives will clean their own LEGISLATURE if they figure HALCRO and the corrupt and the LOONS are gonna do something to Sarah. May I send you a copy of”THE PALIN EFFECT”, when it’s done?

  71. 86

    Gypsy Man

    This ethics investigation is total garbage. It’s led by a partisan democrat lawyer, and Palin did nothing wrong in dumping an ineffectual police commissioner.

    Not WRIGHT for America (www.notwrightforamerica.com) also has a good post that covers what a load of BS this whole ethics investigation is.

  72. 87

    Volker

    There is a lot more to the Trooper Gate !
    Palin even sent emails… and guess what… they have been found now…. wait for the next days… !

    “Often something what’s glossy outside and seems to be Gold – ist plain simple DIRT inside”!

  73. 89

    Scott Malensek

    Every news report about Palin is 1 less news report about Obama/Biden. If the Palin report is good, it’s good. If it’s bad, it makes the left look scared, sexist, and desperate. The more she dominates the news cycle, the better.

  74. 90

    yonason

    “Often something what’s glossy outside and seems to be Gold – ist plain simple DIRT inside”!

    That ist ein perfect description of Count Barack Hussein Von Bumbler. (Not to mention all the other Democrat skanks on the Left) — [UPDATE: Oh, yeah, and crooks. Don’t forget the crooks. The PUMA’s know the score.]

    As to Palin, American gold is still American gold, despite the “best” efforts of howling MSM feces-flinging monkeys, and skin-head trolls.

  75. 91

    Pheisty

    GREAT work!! I’m impressed.

    Just a few things, from the perspective of a Human Resource professional…

    It is obvious to me, after reading the documentation of his suspension, that Wooten should have been discharged for his actions. The fact that he wasn’t discharged and that he was/is a member of a union shows that unions have no place in the profession of law enforcement, due to the inherent power that comes with this job. Had Wooten not been the member of a union, he most certainly would have been discharged.

    I don’t think that any reasonable person would conclude–after examining all the evidence provided–that Wooten should have continued his job as a State Trooper. Rather than jumping on the Palins for attempting to protect their sister and the rest of the Wasilla population from this monster, they should be jumping on the union for standing up for him, and for creating an obvious fear in the powers-that-be to do the job they were hired to do: To protect the people of Alaska from derelict officers, and to ensure that officers are performing their jobs appropriately. Everyone knows how difficult it is to terminate a union member, regardless of whether or not there is sufficient proof to do so.

    Unions–as everyone knows–are the largest contributors to the Democrat Party. So where’s the outrage against the union for facilitating the continued employment of a power-tripping monster? I don’t think I need to answer that question for you.

    Had Wooten been discharged after the department had more-than-sufficent evidence to prove that his appalling behavior was a threat to the people of Alaska, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. I don’t think anyone would argue that Wooten should still be a State Trooper.

    Rather than attacking Governor Palin for the termination of a man she had every right to terminate FOR ANY REASON AT ALL, the conversation we should be having is whether or not unions have a place in the law enforcement profession if they facilitate the continued employment of dangerous individuals who are paid by the taxpayers to ‘serve and protect’.

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

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  38.  Right Wing Nation » Deadliest Catch
  39.  Palin: Bad Mother, Bad Woman | The Anchoress
  40.  Tweezle.Net » Blog Archive » Inexperienced?
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  42.  Deadliest Catch « Blogs for McCain
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  45.  Sarah Palin poses 'Troopergate' risk to John McCain's US election bid - Page 7 - ThePhins.com
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  51.  Myths and mayhem; Keeping the internet honest over Governor Sarah Palin « Northern Thoughts And Reflections
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  54.  McCain picks Sarah Palin - Page 26 - US Message Board
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  60.  Patterico’s Pontifications » The New Name for “Troopergate”: “Tasergate”
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  72.  PheistyBlog » Blog Archive » Troopergate: Unions and Executive Power
  73.    GOOD FOR HER! Sarah Palin won’t meet with Witch-Hunting Democrats over “Troopergate” by Macsmind - Official Blog of the MacRanger Radio Show on Blog Talk Radio
  74.  sonicfrog.net » MSM Embarrasment - The Story The Press Isn’t Talking About
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