Abuse of Power - Alaska Panel Decides!

According to the Associated Press, Republican Vice Presidential candidate, Sarah Palin has been found by an Alaskan bi-partisan Legislative Council to have unlawfully abused her power as governor. From months of investigating, they found that while she didn't break any laws per se, she did abuse her power by trying to fire her former brother-in-law as state trooper.

"Investigator Stephen Branchflower, in a report to a bipartisan panel that looked into the matter, found Palin in violation of a state ethics law that prohibits public officials from using their office for personal gain."

Public safety commissioner Walter Monegan was fired and he immediately stated that he felt he was fired because he refused to fire Trooper Wooten when he was in the middle of a bitter divorce battle with Palin's sister. Yesterday, preempting the Council's report, the McCain campaign issued a statement stating that Monegan was fired due to a budget dispute. Apparently he was insubordinate.

After the report was released this evening, Monegan said that he felt vindicated regarding his firing. Immediately, the McCain campaign tied this investigation to the Obama campaign. However the committee chairperson, Sen. Kim Elton, said that is impossible since the investigation began prior to Palin accepting her party's nomination.

The most scathing part of the investigation is the fact that her husband, Todd Palin spoke privately with Monegan in her office shortly after she became governor about Trooper Wooten. He also made several phone calls to members of the staff regarding his personal feelings about Wooten, not to mention constantly putting out information that Wooten had threatened their family. Even if this were true, he has NO position. He is not a part of Palin's administration, he is the "first dude". This means that he overstepped his boundaries and compromised his wife's job as governor.

This news has definitely given a hit to an already spiraling campaign. Now mainstream media is wondering where this is going to go. Will Monegan now sue Palin for firing him? He was a "classified" employee, and he was union, which meant he wasn't at-will, thus his firing was unusual. We don't know, but one thing for sure, the Straightalk Express has lost yet another wheel!

Randomness for 09/23/08!

I admit it, I have neglected this blog for the past couple of months, but I have been working like two hebrew slaves and a Haitian lately, so I do apologize.

Well, we are about five weeks off of voting for our next president and I am starting to get antsy. I don't understand the common sense of the American public. Yes, I know there is racism, sexism, elitism, etc. But, when Lehman brothers is about to fail, HP lets 25,000 people go and AIG has to be bailed out by the feds, then all of those isms have to go out the window. This election is about common sense. When Thomas Payne penned the papers with that title hundreds of years ago, he was in a similar conundrum, dealing with Europeans fresh off the boat who somehow wanted an "American dream in a new land," but couldn't let go of the tyranny of the monarchy.

HELLO PEOPLE! THIS IS NOT FUNNY ANYMORE...THAT SENIOR CITIZEN AND HIS PIECE OF ALASKAN EYE CANDY CLEARLY AREN'T QUALIFIED OR READY! YOU CAN'T SUCCESSFULLY RUN THE WHITE HOUSE PLAYING OFF THE SENSATIONALISM OF PLAYING ON PEOPLE'S EMOTIONS. THEY HAVEN'T TALKED ABOUT SQUAT SINCE THEY HOOKED UP AND PEOPLE HAVE THE NERVE TO ACTUALLY BELIEVE THEY SHOULD VOTE FOR THEM!!! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, OUR COUNTRY HAS SUFFERED ENOUGH, PEOPLE MADE THAT MISTAKE FOUR YEARS AGO, EIGHT YEARS AGO AND WE ARE TRULY PAYING THE PRICE!

I hated to get all font serious, but darnit I have to put my foot down and contribute to this blatant American ignorance. The world wants Obama and Biden - literally. They could take a poll of that and the numbers would be nowhere near close. That, in and of itself should be enough. I mean we actually have people shunning the hardworking Harvard Law grad over the West Point dude who graduated at the bottom. Praising the man who got into politics after going hunting with his jump-offs' family connections, while criticizing the other for being a part of effective community organizing. There is something wrong in American culture, when the answer is so clear, yet people still have to find something wrong.

Half-dead and clearly on his way to early onset Alzheimer's, McCain has support when it is quite possible if he won, he could die in the White House and his moose milf would then take his place. This Bush/Cheney puppet in a skirt with lipstick could end up being our leader - the chills won't stop running up my arm!

But the thing that infuriates me the most are these "Dixiecrats" who claim they were Hillary supporters but now support McCain, and feel that Obama made some grave mistake not picking Hillary as his VP (newsflash, her hubby went on the View and said she didn't want to be the VP) and now Palin will make history instead of Hillary. First of all, the Clintons have disappointed me even further because instead of standing by Obama and campaigning for him, they have sat back still licking their wounds and wondering why their "----- entitlement," didn't get them the nomination. Meanwhile, Obama remains close in way too many states that he should be running away with, and he has only gotten lukewarm at best, support from the Clintons. In fact, Billy was on David Letterman with that same soreloserness and Chris Rock gave the funniest synopsis of them that I've heard.



On a lighter note, 30 Rock took Best Comedy, Best Comedic Actress (Fey), and Best Comedic Actor (Baldwin) and I couldn't be happier. I just want to say that 30 Rock is the best show on television, and considering that I practically don't watch television shows anymore (that's because there are none, it's all reality) that says a lot. But I came across the show towards the end of last season, and I love it. Intellectual, satirical comedy at it's best and the laughs keep coming. They have incredible guest stars and the cast is damn near perfect. The new season starts on Halloween, so watch it. Thursday nights on NBC, you won't regret it, and I love that Fey, who is fresh off of impersonation infamy for her dead-on portrayal of Sarah Palin on SNL showed up to the Emmy's in a sexy yet elegant gown minus her signature glasses. Congrats to her for creating, directing and writing a great show and to her and the cast on a much deserved Emmy win.

Northern Exposure!

So tonight, the nation was supposed to get to know Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska, who is the Vice Presidential candidate for the Republican ticket. We watched her come out and then go on an almost vicious tirade against Barack Obama, the Washington elite and the main stream media.

She very briefly told her story of how she was just a small town girl from Wasilla, Alaska where she eventually became the mayor before becoming the governor of Alaska. She briefly talked about her family, her husband, her kids, including her youngest who is a down syndrome baby. She went into a victim-laden tirade about how unfair the media has been against her family, and she even found enough time to criticize Barack Obama on his "inexperience". (As if Rudy Giuliani didn't do that enough).

However...

I made a list, and unfortunately, she didn't even touch one item on my list.

Here's the list...

1) The economy
2) The plan for the Iraq war
3) Housing crisis
4) Environmental issues - green economy
5) National security
6) Women's rights (after all she is a woman)

And to my shock and surprise, she didn't talk about ANY of the above! I mean, am I wrong, but isn't this a presidential election? Shouldn't we be talking about the issues? I just don't understand the Republican convention as a whole. Since day one, all we have heard from them is a litany of stories about John McCain's POW experience. All we have heard is a barrage of fear-rendering stories about 9/11, and all we have been force-fed is how dangerous the world is now. I feel like I am watching the same old crap. Let's instill fear, grab our guns, hold on to our self-righteousness and somehow trust this moose lady from northern territory. ARE THEY SERIOUS???

This is what Barack Obama was talking about. OLD POLITICS! Let's attack the opponent, let's create a dramatic story about ourselves and simply evade the real issues. This is no surprise, it is a regurgitation of OLD WASHINGTON, and aside from her being able to stand there and read a teleprompter well, I don't feel like I really got to know why she was the best candidate for vice president.

The other story...

They gleaned to Barack Obama's words to the media stating that families are off-limits. Yet, she exploited her family and showed them off tonight, almost using them as props throughout and then after her speech.

They (the right) claimed that the media was sexist and unfair to her because she is a woman. Yet, many delegates wore buttons that said: "HOTTEST VP FROM A COOL STATE!" As if that isn't sexist.

Then finally, Palin had the audacity to get up on stage and attack Barack Obama for lack of experience...ARE YOU FREGGIN KIDDING ME??? She is the poster child for inexperience and cluelessness. After all, this is the same woman who got on television, C-SPAN to be exact, and asked, "I just want someone to tell me exactly what a vice-president does?" And this was a month ago!!!

I have had enough. I don't want to hear another damn story about what happened to him over 40 years ago. I don't want to hear another story about what he voted on in the Reagan administration, which was over 25 years ago. And I certainly don't want to hear about him being a maverick, when quite honestly, John McCain hasn't done squat besides tirelessly trying to run for president over the past eight years, while his Republican colleagues have set us back.

At the end of the day, as a woman, who aspires to be a wife and a mother someday in a country where I would want my family to be safe, Sarah Palin fell unequivocally short of what I expect and need from a vice president. She tonight, came off as Dick Cheney in a skirt, and that's downright scary. But most of all, I don't feel like I got to know her at all. All I know is she can kill a moose, she's a mom, a wife and the governor of a state most Americans don't really know that much about.