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I love how the obstructionists Republicans are doing all they can to derail an investigation that was approved long BEFORE Palin was ever named VP candidate, yet these POC's are claiming this is purely political.
What a joke. Once again, the party of personal responsibility and rule of law is proving to be anything but...
AK Lawmaker on Trooper-Gate: "I Don't Think This Is Gonna End Quietly."
By Zachary Roth - September 18, 2008, 12:05PM
The no-holds-barred effort by the McCain campaign and its Alaska Republican allies to bury the Trooper-Gate investigation at all costs may be bearing fruit.
Republicans have in recent days been calling on Democratic senator Kim Elton to reconvene the bipartisan legislative council with ultimate responsibility for the probe. And yesterday Elton told the Associated Press that he may do so, allowing for a vote on whether to delay the investigation or replace Democratic senator Hollis French as its manager.
The council, which contains 10 Republicans and four Democrats, had voted unanimously in July to launch the investigation. But many observers believe that, now that the probe could play a role in the presidential race, the committee's GOP members will vote to shut it down if given a chance.
Other recent developments confirm that the GOP is pulling out all the stops.
Talis Colberg -- the Palin-appointed Attorney General who was directly involved in efforts to pressure the former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan over Trooper Mike Wooten -- said Tuesday that ten state employees would not honor subpoenas to testify in the case. Palin, of course, had originally pledged her office's full cooperation in the probe.
A group of five GOP legislators filed suit -- with the help of a right-wing Texas-based legal foundation -- to stop the investigation in its tracks.
The McCain campaign officially took charge of the effort, trotting out a hard-charging former federal prosecutor, Ed O'Callaghan, as its point-man on the issue.
And the ADN reported today that Palin's lawyer, Thomas Van Flein, is no longer being paid for by the state of Alaska, but could not say whether the McCain camp was helping to pay his bills.
But the GOP's hardball tactics could end up doing more harm than good, by adding to the suspicion that Palin has something to hide.
In an editorial published this morning, the ADN accused Palin and McCain of "trying to ignite a partisan firestorm that wipes out the Troopergate investigation until after the election."
And the liberal journalist David Corn observed last night on MSNBC: "In the last few days the Republicans are treating this like its another Watergate and they better shut it down right way."
So: Where do things go from here?
Van Flein told the ADN that he'd likely decide today whether Todd Palin, who also been subponaed but is not a state employee, will testify, which would occur at a session of the Judiciary Committee tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the band of lawmakers struggling to maintain control of the investigation -- French, Elton, and their supporters in the legislature -- certainly aren't backing down.
Despite saying he might agree to GOP calls to reconvene the legislative council, Elton sent a letter yesterday to Colberg, the Attorney General, accusing him of going back on an agreement to allow the ten state employees testify. "Bluntly, I feel like Charlie Brown after Lucy moved the football," Elton wrote to Colberg.
Sen. Bill Wielechowski, a Democrat and French ally, told TPMmuckraker: "Hollis French has no intention of buckling under," and said that the same holds true of Elton.
The operation, Wielechowski continued, is "clearly politically driven by the McCain campaign."
"I've never seen an effort like this in this state to kill something," he added. "I don't think this is gonna end quietly."
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Here's to the Army and Navy and the battles they have won; here's to America's colors, the colors that never run. May the wings of liberty never lose a feather. ....
Amazing. The Democrat running the investigation says he plans on making this an "October Surprise" and you guys are amazed that the Republicans are fighting back? Would you go in front of a judge who hated Mexicans if you were from Mexico? Sheesh!!
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“So I became a newspaperman. I hated to do it but I couldn’t find honest employment.” —Mark Twain
Amazing. The Democrat running the investigation says he plans on making this an "October Surprise" and you guys are amazed that the Republicans are fighting back? Would you go in front of a judge who hated Mexicans if you were from Mexico? Sheesh!!
That judge would be breaking his oath to not discriminate. I see where you are going with this, but it isn't a good analogy.
Amazing. The Democrat running the investigation says he plans on making this an "October Surprise" and you guys are amazed that the Republicans are fighting back? Would you go in front of a judge who hated Mexicans if you were from Mexico? Sheesh!!
if I was Mexican and Mexican judges outnumbered that judge 10-4, yeah, I would. Spin all you want about the evil Democratic a) he's one of 4 Democrats versus 10 republicans on the panel 40 b) he was unanimously voted to head the panel, incluing 10 Republican votes and only 4 Democratic and c) he didn't say he "plans on making this an "October Surprise" he said they may have to deal with an "October Surprise". There's a difference there and you know it. Acknowledging the fact that this looks like crap for a VP candidate doesn't mean you're going to make it happen. It's pretty obvious that a) this ain't gonna be a surprise and b) it wasn't brought up just because she's running for VP because the process was started before that even happened. Again, stating the obvious ain't a crime no matter how much you want to twist it into one.
40, her own party is in power, they dominate by a 10-4 ratio on the panel, they voted unanimously to investigate her, she initially agreed to cooperate and then when her circumstances changed, even though NOTHING CHANGED IN THE PANEL, somehow now it's a democratic plot. That's weak sauce my man.
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Rubarb is what makes my feet look cheese!
if I was Mexican and Mexican judges outnumbered that judge 10-4, yeah, I would. Spin all you want about the evil Democratic a) he's one of 4 Democrats versus 10 republicans on the panel 40 b) he was unanimously voted to head the panel, incluing 10 Republican votes and only 4 Democratic and c) he didn't say he "plans on making this an "October Surprise" he said it could be an "October Surprise". There's a difference there and you know it. Acknowledging the fact that this looks like crap for a VP candidate doesn't mean you're going to make it happen.
40, her own party is in power, they dominate by a 10-4 ratio on the panel, they voted unanimously to investigate her, she initially agreed to cooperate and then when her circumstances changed, even though NOTHING CHANGED IN THE PANEL, somehow now it's a democratic plot. That's weak sauce my man.
Of course they (Republicans) did. Palin has fought the good old boy political structure and has made enemies with-in the Republican Party because she refused to buckle to their pressure. Now that they realized what they have done and high ranking party officials are all over them, they are trying to fix the situation.
I applaud her for having the guts to stand by her guns and work for the people of Alaska instead of the Republican Party. She's quite a woman.
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“So I became a newspaperman. I hated to do it but I couldn’t find honest employment.” —Mark Twain
Of course they (Republicans) did. Palin has fought the good old boy political structure and has made enemies with-in the Republican Party because she refused to buckle to their pressure. Now that they realized what they have done and high ranking party officials are all over them, they are trying to fix the situation.
I applaud her for having the guts to stand by her guns and work for the people of Alaska instead of the Republican Party. She's quite a woman.
All I get from this is that you must come to your conclusion first and work backwards to get the rational. It sounds like something one of those useless campaign advisers would say on a cable news channel.
Of course they (Republicans) did. Palin has fought the good old boy political structure and has made enemies with-in the Republican Party because she refused to buckle to their pressure. Now that they realized what they have done and high ranking party officials are all over them, they are trying to fix the situation.
Did Palin herself need those high ranking party officials to tell her what to do and now not cooperate with a panel she previously said she's cooperate with also to further help fix the situation? That sounds pretty maverick-ific to me!
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Rubarb is what makes my feet look cheese!
All I get from this is that you must come to your conclusion first and work backwards to get the rational. It sounds like something one of those useless campaign advisers would say on a cable news channel.
Well I'd try to simplify my explanation if you are having a problem understanding what I said, but I don't think that's the case. What is so hard to understand about the Republicans in Alaska being ticked off at her because she screwed up their graft and corruption? Her whole reputation is built around that fact and to ignore it because it doesn't fit your agenda is silly.
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“So I became a newspaperman. I hated to do it but I couldn’t find honest employment.” —Mark Twain
Did Palin herself need those high ranking party officials to tell her what to do and now not cooperate with a panel she previously said she's cooperate with also to further help fix the situation? That sounds pretty maverick-ific to me!
Read up on her. Read some of the things she did to clean up a very big mess. She isn't perfect, but she sure knows what direction she wants to go.
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“So I became a newspaperman. I hated to do it but I couldn’t find honest employment.” —Mark Twain
Read up on her. Read some of the things she did to clean up a very big mess. She isn't perfect, but she sure knows what direction she wants to go.
she does, because it looked like she was headed in the direction of cooperating with the panel until the "high ranking officials in the party" told her to change course. What's the point of eliminating one old-boys network if you're going to goosestep with one that's even worse?
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Rubarb is what makes my feet look cheese!
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