Ah… so little time left to abuse Governor Sarah Palin. After all, after she becomes “citizen” Sarah, the costs of attacks are no longer borne by the taxpayer, but by the complainant.
So, predictably, the ethics complaints have stepped up a new notch! And the latest events are proof that these complaints are *not* about driving Palin from office, but to attempt to politically destroy Palin in the elected office battlefield.
First of all… if you are not up to date on the Trials and Tribulations of Sarah, and the “Alinsky Perfected” section that is devoted to the ethics complaints only, (meaning not including personal lawsuits at the Palin family personal expense, via Alaskan taxpayer expense….), then go read. You’re not going to follow the “characters in the play” here if you don’t, and I’ve not time to re’educate you at every turn. It’s there… read. If you come in with comments unprepared, you will be nailed with your historically deficient knowledge.
Second, we do have a number count discrepancy. The Alaskan pro-Palin bloggers are noting this as the “18th complaint”. This all depends on how you look at it. Technically, there has already been 18 complaints, three of those attributed to Troopergate. So let’s assume that’s 15 complaints we know about. (thus explaining when the media says “15 complaints).
But as I pointed out in my Alinsky Perfected series, one of those 15 was by a bogus, cowardly citizen hiding behind a British soap opera character… and thrown out. So let’s assume that’s “17 complaints”. (or 14 excluding Troopergate). Another was a complaint via “the wardrobe”, that ran thru the FEC. So that’s 16 (or 13 sans Troopergate) complaints.
So adding two more Alaskan citizen complaints to the mix … we do come to 18… including Troopergate. But truth be told, the assaults have been flying so fast and furious, I wouldn’t be surprised to have had some come in under the media radar.
’nuff for the numbers discrepancy.
On the latest/greatest of these new complaints, I’m going to refer you to the local alaskan bloggers (Anchorage Activist over at AlaskaPride and Tim Lindell at Conservatives4Palin), who are on top this today, as I’ve not done my complete homework. This is late breaking news on the internet, as not even the MSM has picked up on the latest Alinsky political assault via the “system”.
One complaint is by a new entry… Ray Ward, the first hypenated American – aka an african American – who is the first Alaskan of his race to file a complaint. His beef is that Palin is being paid for radio and television interviews dating back to just after she lost her vice-presidential bid.
Any of this sound familiar? Try the Zane Henning complaint #9, found in Part II of the “Alinsky Perfected” series… where he whines about Palin doing interviews with the press from his office. Oh wait… maybe it’s closer to Celtic Blue’s snorting/whining complaint #16 about Palin wearing a jacket with an Arctic Cat logo. Hard to gauge as they both relate about abuse of office via advertising.
Evidently, Ward believes that if he describes a red apple as “burgandy” instead of “red”, he can get to a more favorable result than Zane or Celtic Blue achieved in their complaints. I’ll let the Alaskan bloggers take lead on this first before I explore deeper…. as we’re all digging into just who Ray Ward is, and what his connections are. Especially considering most of these complaints smell of incestuous political imbreeding. Ward’s base complaint, however, is old news.
And speaking of Zane Hennings… he’s not letting up either. After all, the time to beat the snot of out Palin by using the government system at the taxpayers expense (thus “Alinsky perfected) is running out with Palin’s resignation. And Zane’s already been busted out of the complaint business once already.
So a perservering Henning has filed yet another charge -post Palin resignation – that Sarah’s been pocketing per diem for her home use, and using the system for political gain.
Zane Hennings…apparently not about to let Andree McLeod to be outdone in the number of personal complaints filed without a last minute, herculean effort… may just possibly be acting as the setup man using the per diem at home issue, to segue into the fantasy FBI investigation about supposed fraudulent expenses when the Palin’s were building their Wasilla home.
In the usual six degrees of separation way, this also sorta threads back into the repetitive “TravelGate” attempts by Frank Gwartney in ethics complaint #8 in Party II.
Anyone sensing a pattern here?? Like, when the mud doesn’t stick the first time, heave another mud pie? Or perhaps, not one Palin hater has an original thought… just variations on the same thought.
Oddly enough, this (the per diem issues) is a subject that Palin, herself, brought up in February of this year.
“Last fall we raised questions about longstanding practices within the Department of Administration regarding tax treatment of per diem payments,” Kreitzer wrote in an exchange of e-mails over the past few days with the Daily News.
“At the Governor’s request, we reviewed the situation to determine whether we were in full compliance with the pertinent Internal Revenue Service regulations,” Kreitzer wrote. “As a result of this review, we determined that per diem needs to be treated as income, requiring a revision of W-2 forms for any affected employees.”
Can you say too little, too late?
Meanwhile, coming soon to a blog… (like FA)… near you, the mounting offensive to paint Palin as a racist vial lawsuits. Hint… the complaint players start reappearing with the lawsuit. Give me time. This story is morphing daily, and goes back to 1990, when a pregnant Sarah, working as a waitress, supposedly – according to a “he said” type lawsuit by Gregory Charles Royal (yes, of American’s Hot Musician) – rejected him in a flirtatous encounter because she didn’t recognize he was “black”.
Here’s his picture… are you confused?
ummmm… does “willing suspension of disbelief” comt to mine? As I said, story to come…
In the meantime… good news for the Alaskans to celebrate! Instead of the costs to them for this political assault on Sarah being 1.9 mil (rounded off by Palin as $2 mil in media reports…), it turns out it’s actually $26,849 less.
Well ain’t that a relief?
Vietnam era Navy wife, indy/conservative, and an official California escapee now residing as a red speck in the sea of Oregon blue.
Quite frankly, I will support Sarah Palin for any elected office in the Nation. Any office. Period.
Mata, thanks for the work you have put into this. t’s been difficult for me to keep up since I’ve been back in town, appreciate all you’ve done.
I’ve come to the conclusion that there is an element in Alaska that is crazy or evil. What they have done and are still doing is hateful and they have allowed themselves to be so overcome with their evil emotions toward this woman. One feeds off the other and on and on they go, it’s consumed them and it’s ugly.
Then we have the media that has had a history of reporting Palin rumors and downright lies as fact, no need to check sources because it’s Palin and “just” Alaska. People that have bought into it need to realize that they are down in the mud with those crazy, evil charlatans from Alaska, all not worthy of licking Sarah Palin’s waders.
Long read, but worth the time:
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/07/08/sarah-barracuda-palin-and-the-piranhas-of-the-press/?icid=main|main|dl1|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.politicsdaily.com%2F2009%2F07%2F08%2Fsarah-barracuda-palin-and-the-piranhas-of-the-press%2F
Mata, thanks on behalf of all the readers for all the work you did in these articles. If anybody asks me to explain who Alinsky is and what his methods were, I’ll just direct them here.
Complaint filing person, Vigilance Committee. Problem solved.
3-7-77
I find the attacks on Sara and her family unbelievable. I too, like her and would vote for her. She must really scare the crap out of the liberals.
Now I see where Levi has come back for another 15 minutes of fame. What a complete loser.
I hope someone does a complete investigation in to these complaints as I feel Obama’s people are behind them in some way.
Thanks for covering this. I’ve linked back and I urge all your readers to use the SHARE button at the bottom of the post. I’ve shared this on Facebook, MySpace, Digg, REDDIT, Buzz, AND TWITTER. Do it!
Thanks.
Lisa Graas
Sarah Palin is a REAL woman and some people are afraid of her because of that. She is a smart, pretty woman who is also a Wife, a Mother, and a Woman who happens to be a Governor. Some people are afraid of a woman like that. They don’t know how to talk to a woman like, let alone take orders from her. Real men LOVE women who can take care of themselves when needed, and still like to be pampered a little too! I would trust my bank account with her any day!!
Keep in mind that billion dollar Presidential campaign that placed Obama in the Oval Office, has UNAUDITTED tens of millions sitting, somewhere, available for fueling fires that can burn political opposition considered serious.
Sarah Palin had no chance of fighting this very insidious swarm rising out of the ground. She would have been bankrupted. They will continue until some investigates. Start with auditing the campaign leftovers.
If you’ll recall, the Federal Election Commission refused to conduct an audit of the Obama money even when evidence indicated thousands of contributors did not exist and/or money came from off shore accounts.
The only reason provided was that there was just too much money for an audit to be practical. They claimed that such an audit would take years and cost millions.
When you have that much cash in slush funds that can be distributed around the country to fight competition, the game of politics is taken to a whole new level.
Obama and his team achieved new status on that front. This issue is now dead in the water.
Mata, thanks for trying to sort out this cast of wanna-be thespians who should be taken off to the nunnery for prompt drowning.
I see the ankle-biters are trying in the waning hours to inflict the death of a thousand flea-bites upon Palin and her family. Some political DDT is needed, like changing the ethics complaint law to force the plaintiff to reimburse the state if their accusations are found baseless.
Thank you for the article!
Alaska should sue them back for the legal fees.
So where are the countersuits? Why is our side so incompetent when it comes to filing lawsuits against our opposition?
They used to file all sorts of crap to get injuctions, impede action, and just wear us down until they got their way. And they still do it.
So why are we letting them?
I’m no lawyer and I don’t know how to do it. But we’re supposed to have some of the best and brightest on our side, too.
Sue their pants off. Challenge everything in court. Don’t just “let it happen.”
Sheesh.
Palin couldn’t fight back with legal avenues until she left office, Unsupervised… funny how that works, eh?
Democrat politicians are the snot nosed little brats no one liked. Actually no one will ever really like them so they pay for attention, using your tax dollars. The day will come when you will be happy you have no relatives who were/are democrat politicians.
This is crazy.. Levi Johnston interviews on msnbc against sarah….
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp=31887627�
>>Palin couldn’t fight back with legal avenues until she left office, Unsupervised… funny how that works, eh?>>
Why not? Do you know? I’ve been wondering about this…
As an elected official, you can’t sue those who make false claims thru the ethics oversight system, suek. They can continue to file – at the Alaskan taxpayer’s costs – regardless of whether the claims are frivolous or not. In addition, Palin has had personal lawsuits filed… including those tho filed complaints.
As a private citizen, she can counter sue for libel, harassment, or any other legal grounds to those that abuse the system. She can also cite those those who attempted to damage her reputation with the ethics complains as evidence in a personal lawsuit.
It has to do with whether an elected official has legal recourse to ethics claims or not. They do not… nor should they. However as one posted put in… “the free ride” is over.
@MataHarley
So how does it work in other States? Is Alaska particularly susceptible to such ethic claims or can any American put in ethic claims against their governor? What would you suggest would be a better system?
Every state has it’s own method of ethics oversight, Gaffa. And I’m not suggesting the ethics complaint system is a bad thing. I’ve heard some bloggers suggest that perhaps there should be a cost to filing a complaint to prevent such abuse of what is meant to be a system of oversight. Unfortunately, that means only those with expendable means have any recourse. That doesn’t work.
The story is not that the ethics complaint system is obsolete, but that those with a political agenda to destroy Palin on the national political stage are using and abusing the system – and the Alaskan taxpayer – to file frivolous harassment. Just as the American judicial system is fraught with such abuse, it’s now become a political weapon. But at least with the judicial system, there is legal recourse to recoup the costs of defense. Not so in the ethics complaint systems. That cost is absorbed by the taxpayers as the costs of running the State government.
What I would suggest is exactly what I am trying to do… expose those who are abusing the system as political hacks in order to destroy their repution and reveal their ill-intent publicly. The flack should fall on those filing the frivolous complaints, and not their target.
@MataHarley
Hmm tricky. For a start I think those particularly with ill intent would continue regardless. Secondly it might put those with genuine legit ethic complaints. Thirdly – that seems a failure of the system to cope if it has to rely on media & bloggers to do such exposes.
Gaffa, INRE your “points”
1: It’s already obvious that those with “ill intent” continue regardless. Witness the additional two complaints against Palin… at the taxpayers expense… *after* her resignation. It should *also* become obvious their intent is not to remove what they believe is a “corrupt” governor, but to destroy her on the national political stage. This is because she enjoys the same cultish power that Obama has. They are out to destroy any possible competition. THis has been an Obama tactic since his first rash of lawsuits, using the courts to remove any competitor in the primary for his first IL Senate run.
2: It will not put off those with genuine ethic complaints if we expose those filing frivolous complaints. But they will rethink the validity, as they should. If you need an example of those, go back and read the Alinsky Perfected series.
3: The failure of the system is due to humans and subversive misdeeds and agenda. As long as humans inhabit the planet, this is a risk… just as laws do not stop criminals from committing crimes. Media and new age communicies (i.e. blogs, Twitter, FB) are perfect tools to turn the Alinsky tactics back onto those who abuse systems and incur costs to the rest of the citizens. The “4th estate” is meant for exactly that purpose. Problem is, the traditional media is bound by favors and lack of ethics… and because of their own political beliefs, which diminish their ethics, do not do the job tasked to their profession.
Therefore, not tricky, nor unusual at all.
@MataHarley
All I am saying – it would better if the system was capable of weeding out such frivolous complaints itself at an earlier stage so as to avoid racking up costly bills. As an example – in the UK (and no doubt US) there is a welfare system. Now if someone claimed Incapacity Benefit then I wouldn’t want the ONLY way for those who cheat the system to be caught out by those around them. Also they should require to have a doctor check their current medical health. So on the case of frivolous claims – it would be good if a judge could throw out any frivolous claims early on.
So Gaffa, how does anyone “throw” out a complaint prior to “racking up costly bills” without investigating… thus “racking up costly bills”?
@MataHarley
For instance – one of the frivilous complaints I believe was about Palin having some sponsorship logo appearing on a jacket she wore at some event. Now a judge COULD order an investigation to see whether Palin had done a thing – but ideally the judge should shortcut this process thinking even if Palin did such a thing there is no law or break of ethics here – so no case to answer and therefore no investigation needed. Judges have to use a degree of common sense and interpretation of laws as laws or ethic codes cannot conceivably cover any minute possibility. Judges have to use their wisdom to spot such cases which are plainly ridiculous and cull them.
INRE Celtic Diva’s complaint (such a laugh, that name is….) on the logo, there was never any question she had “done” that, Gaffa. It was only on Alaska wide TV as she was the official starter of the race.
They would not know if there was financial repercussions that were in violation of that law… ala did Sarah get paid to wear the jacket of her husband’s snomobile sponsor… until they investigate.
But let’s say she did… How high is that on the criminal and ethics scale? Will the state mandated fine even pay for the investigative costs???
However, she didn’t, and there was no nefarious back money deals for the state to recoup costs with fee, fines or penalties.
Now one idiotic complaint was real cheap… the one with the coward who wouldn’t use their real name and used the British episodic, Emmerdale, character as the complainant. That was thrown out rapidly with minimal cost. Not because of the particular charge “appearing” frivolous. They can’t do that (nor should they prejudtge). But it was canned because there was no one named Edna Birch in Alaska, and the complaint filers wouldn’t step up to the plate. Otherwise they would have embarked on where ever that path lead them.
As I said… how do you avoid wasting money for investigations without wasting money to investigate?
@MataHarley
Well I would like to know how such a bill was racked up in the first place over a dozen or so complaints. No doubt with lawyers etc. Imagine if there was a mass co-ordinated attack on Palin with hundreds or thousands of stupid complaints. I’m sure Alaska would then think twice about stream-lining such ethic complaints then – not just for her but those who become Governor in the future. I’m not a lawyer but with a criminal cases not all complaints all get to final stage where it is tried in court.
E.g the UK The police aren’t obliged to fully investigate every complaint they receive. They will filter it. Those they investigate may get passed to the CPS – Crown Prosecution Service – who will decide whether it is worth prosecting and so forth.
Whilst the media and bloggers etc have an important part to play – all I’m saying is that we can’t rely just on them to be the filter. For example – there already was a big mangifying glass on Palin and even with her fans and detractors – those complaints managed to rack up $2 million+. So patently it’s not working – more needs to be donet to stop such cases getting to such a stage.