Palin's Non-Scandal: The Facts The MSM Won't Reveal

By now political junkies will be aware of a so-called "scandal" involving Governor Sarah Palin which might be ingenuously called 'Troopergate'. The Dems, the Left, and the MSM - but I repeat myself! - will all snatch little pieces of this story and attempt to brand Palin as corrupt, using her gubernatorial powers to get an intrepid Alaskan Trooper fired because he divorced his wife, who happened to be Sarah Palin's sister.

They'll run with this. But they will never reveal the truth or the facts about this. Flopping Aces has done a bang-up job pulling all the pieces together, with some excellent links, to provide reality to those who are reality-challenged. By which I mean the Dems, Leftists, and MSM - but I repeat myself, again!

I strongly suggest you hit the above link and visit Flopping Aces to read the story in full. But allow me to give you a few facts. The complaint that led the Republican-controlled Legislature to start an investigation into 'Troopergate' was filed by Andrew Halcro. Who is he? Why he's the fellow who lost to Sarah Palin in the 2006 gubernatorial election, finishing a distant third with 10% of the vote. Her served as a Republican Representative in the Alaska House from 1999 - 2003, after he announced he would not run for re-election in 2002. He's the King of Sour Grapes.

The Republican-led Alaskan Legislature announced an investigation and put in charge of it a man with a long-time relationship with the supposedly aggrieved party, fired Department of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan. The investigator, Steve Branchflower, worked in numerous capacities with the Anchorage PD - where Monegan also worked - and his wife worked briefly with the Alaska State Troopers. You think he might have an axe of his own to grind in this investigation?

Governor Palin herself announced an independent investigation into the accusations of influence and corruption. She has good reason not to trust the even-handedness of the Republican Legislature's investigator or motives.

In the end I think you will wonder why the Trooper in question was not fired long before the incidents in question, why the Police Union went to the mat for him, why the Department of Public Safety Commissioner felt a 10-day suspension was adequate, why the Union demanded the suspension be reduced to five days, and why Alaska needs to spend over $100,000 on such nonsense.

What did this Trooper do? Let's start with the oddest incident, one which should have seen him fired and charged with abuse. He tasered his eleven-year-old stepson. Then he claimed it was a training exercise. This boob is a police officer?

He shot a moose - using someone else's hunting license - then claimed he didn't know that was illegal. Alaska Police officers want this jerk working with them?

He threatened the father of his wife (Palin's sister, thus her father, too) with an open phone line picking up the threat, "he’ll “eat a f*#king bullet". Does Alaska want this doofus working with a gun and a badge?

Why was Commissioner Walt Monegan fired? Well, Palin says he didn't do the job he was hired to do. She has the power to hire and fire that official. She didn't need a reason. She tried to keep him in her administration, but his feelings were hurt and he refused. And it seems he is not an honest man, anyway. His accusations are demonstrably false.

Oh, there's so much that it would take me days to write it up. But Flopping Aces has most of it, a timeline included, and links to sources and further information. Go there! It won't be long before the broadcast networks begin hinting at this 'scandal' haunting Governor Sarah Palin. They won't give you the facts, only the Democrats' talking points, to tar Palin as corrupt. Don't fall for it!

This is just the beginning. The Left will be trying anything they can to destroy Sarah Palin, and ruin John McCain's chances to win the White House. Know the truth, know the facts, and know the opposition.

Now, get to it!

Note: As a non-snarky commenter Allison has noted, the media is reporting this. Let's get it straight, shall we? They won't!

Graciousness From Ferraro & Clinton

Unlike the Obama Campaigns snarky comments on the Palin nomination (eventually Barack gave a stumbling, though gracious, congratulations), Geraldine Ferraro - Vice-presidential candidate on the Mondale ticket in 1984 - was gracious and classy. She didn't snark about Sarah Palin's Party affiliation, age, experience. What she said - as reported by Dallas Morning News - was:

The only other woman on a major-party ticket – Democrat Geraldine Ferraro, who ran with Walter Mondale in 1984 – said the nomination of Sarah Palin could make a difference in the campaign. "There are a lot of women who are disaffected by how Hillary [Rodham Clinton] was treated ..."

[...]

And either way, she said, the choice is historic. "I've spent a lot of time over the last 24 years saying, 'Gosh, I wish I weren't the only one,' " Ms. Ferraro told a New York TV station.

And Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton? What did she think about McCain's choice of the Alaska Governor as his running-mate?

"We should all be proud of Governor Sarah Palin's historic nomination, and I congratulate her and Senator McCain. While their policies would take America in the wrong direction, Governor Palin will add an important new voice to the debate."

Hits the right note, I think, for a political opponent. Again, it was gracious and classy.

A reminder to you. Here's what the Obama campaign rolled out shortly after the announcement. As Elizabeth Holmes reports:

Even before John McCain and Sarah Palin took the stage to make the Republican presidential ticket official, Barack Obama's campaign slammed the choice of the young Alaska governor.

"Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency," Bill Burton, Obama campaign spokesman said in a statement that hit reporters inboxes at 11:47 a.m. EDT.

McCain Communications Director Jill Hazelbaker had the right reponse for the Obama campaign:

It is pretty audacious for the Obama campaign to say that Governor Palin is not qualified to be Vice President. She has a record of accomplishment that Senator Obama simply cannot match. Governor Palin has spent her time in office shaking up government in Alaska and actually achieving results -- whether it's taking on corruption, passing ethics reform or stopping wasteful spending and the 'bridge to nowhere.' Senator Obama has spent his time in office running for President

Elizabeth Holmes picks up the thread:

An hour and a half later [following their campaign's snarky comment], Obama and his running mate issued a statement of their own—with a much different tone. The congratulatory statement from Obama and Joe Biden said the appointment is "yet another encouraging sign that old barriers are falling in our politics. While we obviously have differences over how best to lead this country forward Governor Palin is an admirable person and will add a compelling new voice to this campaign," said the joint statement.

The only reason for that bit of backtracking, in my opinion, is the bad press it received. Yeah, Obama/Biden is change we can believe. Huh?



Note: Victoria remains excited about the Palin choice. See her latest posts, here, here, here, and here.

Oh, what the heck, just go visit her at Sundries!

Sarah Palin Is Growing My Blog!

It’s funny. I normally get around 30 to 35 visits to this little blog on a daily basis. Sometimes I know it’s some of my regular blogging friends visiting, and sometimes I get a few new visitors. But day by day it’s about the same number. 30 - 35 visits each day.

Today something very strange happened. I posted twice - and yes, that is strange, in itself - about Sarah Palin being chosen as John McCain’s Vice-presidential running-mate. Certainly I hoped to see a few more visitors stopping by to peruse my wisdom and sage words (Okay, but I do have my scribbling moments!), and I left my own comments on other blogs, too. For this conservative, it’s been a very exciting day!

A little while ago I refreshed the page and darted to the bottom to see if the 7 or 8 comments I found in my email had raised my sitemeter total much. Well, why say it when I can show you?

Here’s the table I first saw. And trust me, it was an eye-opener!

• VISITS


• Total 44,340


• Average Per Day 95


• Average Visit Length 1:14


• Last Hour 1,313


• Today 20,402


• This Week 666


• PAGE VIEWS


• Total 59,039


• Average Per Day 113


• Average Per Visit 1.2


• Last Hour 1,454


• Today 22,074


• This Week 793

Well, that didn’t seem real to me, so I went to another page, and then another. And here’s what I saw. Click to embiggen!


This one, too!



So you see? Sarah Palin has grown my blog! Cool Beans!

To top it all off, we got a huge thunderstorm here a little while ago. Lightning, Thunder! Driving rain! And the power blew out for about 15 minutes, too! I love it!

What a wonderful day.

Palin Aknowledges Ferraro & Clinton: Palin Has Class

Meanwhile the Obama campaign showed it's continuing lack of class with its comments on the choice of Sarah Palin:

"Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency. Governor Palin shares John McCain's commitment to overturning Roe v. Wade, the agenda of Big Oil and continuing George Bush's failed economic policies -- that's not the change we need, it's just more of the same."

Oh, this is just such a shot in the arm to Republicans!

McCain Chooses Palin! The Maverick Ticket!

With all the Republican available to choose as his Vice Presidential running-mate John McCain has now cemented his reputation as the 'Republican Maverick" by bypassing the same old names and faces from the Republican Party. He has chosen as his running-mate Sarah Palin, Republican Governor of Alaska, Republican Maverick.

The Republican ticket is now the "Maverick & Maverick" ticket.

Well done, Senator McCain!

Finally, something I can really get behind with enthusiasm!

More to follow! Whoo-Hoo!

My earlier posts on Sarah Palin:

"If Not Pawlenty ... Palin?"

"A Repost - Sarah Palin For VP: Maverick & Maverick?"

"Sarah Palin For VP: Maverick & Maverick?"

From around the blogosphere (Thanks, Vicks!):

"Remembering Sarah Palin"

"First Gentleman Todd Palin"

"TNR's Poll Has Her A Strong Second"

"Congratulations Gov Sarah Palin!"

You can read the official McCain Campaign announcement here.

If Not Pawlenty ... Palin?

Okay, so word is out that Tim Pawlenty is not heading for Dayton, Ohio for the McCain VP announcement. That, in itself, means nothing. There's no reason he couldn't accept McCain's nomination via a video hook-up. It would seem, though, that nearly all of McCain's Republican Primary opponents are heading into Dayton as a show of Party unity.

I hear that Sarah Palin, Republican Governor of Alaska is also there. She was not a Primary opponent. To me, this could be a good thing! I've been touting Palin as the choice McCain ought to make as his running mate since February (I reposted again in July). I think she would be a good choice for the Maverick Republican seeing as how her own reputation is as a Maverick Republican.

Victoria, at Sundries, is asking if Palin could be the McCain choice: "Is This The Face Of McCain's Running Mate?". Take a look.

The Anchoress also wonders about McCain's choice this afternoon. She asks, "Palin or Pawlenty?"

So, perhaps I'll be pleasantly surprised. For once! Just in case I am, I whipped up this strange looking banner for a McCain/Palin ticket. Just click on it to embiggen it.

Will It Be Tim Pawlenty?

Red State has a few posts to let you know a few things about the Governor of Minnesota, touted by some as the VP ick that John McCain will make.

Erick Erickson has "Get To Know Tim Pawlenty"

Ben Domenech has "10 Quick Thoughts on Tim Pawlenty as Veep Nominee"

Erick Erickson earlier posted "McCain's Vice President: Tim Pawlenty" opening with:

I'm confident enough to put this up now, but willing to be wrong.

Right now though, every sign, signal, and background chatter indicates John McCain will pick Tim Pawlenty, Minnesota's governor, as his running mate.

Just so you know the Obamamaniacs are not sitting quietly, thinking peaceful, hopechangey thoughts, Kim Priestap has noted at Wizbang, "Obama Camp Ready for Pawlenty", and says,

If tomorrow John McCain announces that Rick Pawlenty will be his vice president, the Obama camp is prepared to smear him with the Minnesota bridge collapse even though it was a design flaw that led to the disaster. That, however, won't stop the O campaign from trying:

"The Obama campaign signaled a willingness on Thursday to say that the 2007 Minneapolis bridge collapse raised management questions for Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) while also maintaining that the populist argument it is building against John McCain will continue even if the presumptive Republican nominee taps the son of a truck driver as his running mate."

Ahh, the New Politics of the Obamessiah. Hope, Change, and Unity in lying and smearing any who oppose The One.

Now, I don't know who McCain is choosing, though I was hoping for Sarah Palin. But I did have some time this afternoon to waste, so I Paint Shop Pro-ed this weird banner, just in case! Click for an embiggened image.



Hey! Don't blame me! I'm still sick! Nyeaaah!

'Sides, I still kinda like it. Heheheee!

What Barack Obama Wants Silenced

From the American Issues Project come this:

American Issues Project Launches Ad

Thursday, 21 August 2008

The American Issues Project today announced the debut of a new television advertising campaign examining the relationship between Sen. Barack Obama and unrepentant 1960's domestic terrorist, William Ayers. The ad -- entitled "Know Enough?" -- begins with a simple, yet pointed question: "Beyond the speeches, how much do you really know about Barack Obama?"

Supported by over one hundred pages of back-up documentation and historical accounts, the American Issues Project is using this ad to shed light on Obama's friendship with Ayers, the former leader of an American terrorist group known as Weather Underground.

If it disappears from YouTube view the ad here. Michelle Malkin gives more on the ad

Just in case you've forgotten the real tenor of Leftist Political action in America, here's how the American Left responds to an opponent who has the audacity to be in the same neighborhood at the same time. Michelle Malkin assaulted by Leftist Animals:


If you think the Left in America is somehow equivalent to the Right, this should be the nail in that philosophical Coffin. Add this to the campaign signs ripped from people's lawns, cars vandalized for displaying Republican bumper-stickers, conservative speakers shouted down in public places or intimidated by Leftist thugs, the constant attempts to equate conservative Americans with Nazis, Racists, and haters of Freedom. The danger of Liberty's death comes not from the conservatives in America but from the so-called Liberals. Pay attention, Folks. This is the future under the Democratic Party.

The Plagiarizing Pair

And so in the 232nd year of the Republic, 143 years after the end of the Republic's Civil War, the Democratic Party's presumed standard bearer for the Presidential election chooses a Senator from the state of Delaware to be his running-mate. The political Party which chose Secession from the Union as its course in 1860, the Party which instituted the Ku Klux Klan to intimidate blacks, now has as it's Vice Presidential candidate - Senator Joe Biden - a man who had this to say, in 2006, while speaking in South Carolina as he tested the waters for a 2008 Presidential bid:

[...]
The senator then pounced on a member's announcement that the club would hold its annual Christmas party at the state Department of Archives and History where members could view the original copy of the state's [South Carolina] Articles of Secession.

Biden asked, "Where else could I go to a Rotary Club where (for a) Christmas party the highlight is looking at the Articles?"

Biden was on a roll.

Delaware, he noted, was a "slave state that fought beside the North. That's only because we couldn't figure out how to get to the South. There were a couple of states in the way."

Certainly Biden was joking. His statement was in the same vein as those of Trent Lott who lauded Strom Thurmond at his 100th Birthday celebration. Lott, though, was handed his head for his ‘racism’, forced to relinquish his Republican leadership post in the US Senate. Why the different standards? Well, because Joseph Biden is a Democrat; Trent Lott is a Republican.
One has to wonder if the Obama camp even looked at the statements of Joe Biden. How will this play out with the Democrats' most loyal constituency - black Americans? A Democrat from what was once a slave State, in this day, should have no worries that his home state's history will be a problem. After all, dJimmuh Carter hailed from the Deep South, the slave State of Georgia, and won the Presidency in 1976. 143 years is too long to be dwelling on the bygone past. And yet ...

Appearing on "Fox News Sunday" in August [2006], Biden made the case for his candidacy in the South, according to an AP account at the time, saying, "'You don't know my state. … My state was a slave state. My state is a border state. My state has the eighth-largest black population in the country. My state is anything from a Northeast liberal state.'"

Yes, indeed, Biden does have his problems with his mouth. Or his brain. He's a glib speaker, far better on his feet than the "Umm King", Barack Obama, and no slouch at Foreign Affairs (Biden voted for the Iraq War/ against the Surge). But he was nailed to the wall in his 1987 Presidential bid for his use of a speech originally uttered by a British politician (Neal Kinnock - Labor). It was not his first instance of plagiarism, and that speech, with its resulting uproar (inspired by his Democrat rivals), would finally force him out of the race.

As Famous Plagiarists puts it:

Biden initially denied any wrongdoing, claiming that this was just an inadvertent lack of acknowledgement. Yet there were other instances of rhetorical borrowing from speeches made by Robert F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey. And the fact that Biden had given other speeches using the Kinnock passages without acknowledgment suggested that the lifting was more than just an inadvertent oversight.

Well, perhaps that makes him a perfect match for Barack Obama. After all, Obama regularly plagiarizes the speeches and words of others. Unlike Biden, Obama was immediately exonerated of any offense by those he plagiarized. Times have changed, eh, Joe?

So the team is set for the Democrats as they stumble into the Convention in Denver. Two plagiarizers - stealing the words of others more quotable than themselves - will be the standard-bearers. The head of the ticket one who has little experience in the real world of the nation he expects to lead, the other one still celebrating his home state's slave history.

So here's the new bumpersticker for all the proud Lefties to cherish. It ain't perfect, I'm afraid, but then neither is that ticket! Hah!



Yeesh!

And back to bed this coughing blogger goes. TTFN!

Thing 1 & Thing 2

This could just be hype - and what in the Obama campaign hasn't been? - but right now the word is that Joe Biden (Serial Plagiarizer - Del.) is the VP choice of Barack Obama (His Oneness - Ill.). The original graphic comes from Musing Minds, and I saw it first at Sundries! I just played with it a little.

If you remember your "Cat In The Hat" readings from your childhood, you will understand the headline. The things were masters of mayhem. All I did was politicize the idea. Need I say more?

If Obama chooses someone other than Biden then perhaps I'll play with a bumper sticker for them, too!

I'm home from work today. I caught something. I don't think it's the flu, since I haven't had that lovely nausea that seems to accompany flu. But I do have the now-and-then dizziness, stuffed sinuses, hacking, gooey cough that comes with mean colds. Little sleep last night. I hate feeling like this. I've had it since Tuesday. Made for two wonderful days off. Yeesh!

So, Nyquil in hand, or clutched to my wheezing chest, I'm going to go lay down. The winds from Fay are still blowing. Just sayin'. *grin*

I Just Don't Know ...

I’ve been following Women’s Gymnastics since Cathy Rigby at the 1968 Mexico Olympics. Despite her high scores, it was obvious that the performances she gave were ahead of their time and made the judges uncomfortable. Rather than reward her for athleticism (she did get America’s highest scores), the judges rewarded the matronly, staid standbys of traditional Women’s gymnastics. Rigby was the best there and won nothing. Gotta love judged competitions, right?

Times change and the sport did, too. By the ‘72 Olympics the rest of the gymnastics world had joined Rigby in performing athletic routines rather than the previously winning turn, wave hands, tip over styles that had been the norm. But the judges still were questionable. This was Olga Korbut’s Olympics, anyway. Rigby was fighting injuries, too. She still managed an American best 10th place finish. Her time, though, as well as her chances, had passed. But Cathy Rigby had made Women’s gymnastics popular in the US. Job well done!

With the USA boycotting the Moscow Olympics (1980), athletes who had set their sights on 1980 were disappointed, but some then set their sights on the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. A new face became the star of US women’s gymnastics. This time, not a pixie but a cute spark-plug by the name of Mary Lou Retton.

By now athleticism was way to perform, and Retton made the most of her own, winning the All-Around title over Romanian Ecaterina Szabó, who led after the first two events. Retton became America’s Sweetheart, wound up on the Wheaties box, and inspired a generation of American girls to take up gymnastics (Their shrieks from the audience being one of the tell-tale signs that they’re there.) and become the ‘next Mary Lou Retton’.



American women were now no longer also-rans in world gymnastics, but respected competitors. But anyone who watches the competitions on the world stage knows full well that the judging remains iffy. Some would say ‘political’, and I think that’s likely. The USA remains a bogeyman to much of the world, and taking the envy and ugly hatred out on girls and young ladies is all too easy. A tenth of a point here, a tenth of a point there, and you can put the Americans in their place.



As I said at the start, I’ve been watching gymnastics for a long time. I have a good idea what to look for and where the gymnast has erred. That said, the viewer has no idea what the performer is supposed to do once they begin their event. The judges know. And they know what’s been missed, and what’s been eliminated by the performer. But when you watch the constant balance checks of a little Chinese girl, and her performance is only slightly marred with deductions, then watch an American perform with fewer bobbles but more deductions given, you have to wonder what the judges are watching. Or what political manual they’re reading.

The American women shot themselves in the foot in Beijing. Falling off the apparatus is a huge deduction, and is unthinkable in a big competition. The Olympics are the biggest competition in the world. The American women fell off in event after event. “What the hell are they doing?” That’s what I asked myself.

That they were beaten by China is no surprise. The Chinese had fewer major errors. The Chinese performed beautifully and fully deserved the gold. The American team did not deserve to win the Team Gold in Beijing. A silver was good enough. But I know I saw some very questionable judging, some curious scores, and cannot help but wonder if some sort of fix was in.

Shawn Johnson kept getting deductions. Despite performances that were usually excellent - not perfect - she was handed deductions that did not jibe with what I was watching. I saw a balance beam performance that bordered on genius. No, it was not perfect. But her score was low, and I could not believe it. And this occurred time after time.



Shawn Johnson kept on smiling, showing a maturity far beyond her 16 (a real 16, by the way, not a Chinese government 16) years, and a grasp of dealing with disappointment that more mature adults often lack. Asked about the silver medal at a big news conference, Johnson said, with that trademark smile, “I honestly think our team did great today. We are proud of each other no matter what we do. We are like a family. We respect China. We will wear our silver medals proudly.”

Shawn Johnson deserved better scores, and she may win an individual medal or two in the individual competitions, but she showed far more Olympic Spirit than the judges. She’s a champion in all but name, at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.



Notes: When will someone tell Jim Lampley that this is a sports competition, not a funeral? And get him out of that ridiculous suit, for crying out loud!

Tim Daggett: Try to tell us what’s going on. Tell us why the score is so low, rather than how many points the rest need to make it up. Or just shut up, please? Oh, and Elfi Schlegel ... please get to the point. Oy!

Michael Phelps is now the greatest Gold Medal Olympian in history. And he’s not through yet. He’s won five gold medals in this Olympics, with four more chances ahead. With 11 gold medals over two Olympics, he stands alone. Wow!

Hey! NBC! Enough with Beach Volleyball! Enough! Good lord! And when the Track and Field competitions begin, will you show us more discus, shot-put, and javelin, please? Or will we be punished with every heat of every distance in the running events? There’s more to Track and Field than the runners, you know.

Yeah, the opening ceremonies were impressive. Shows what you can do in a Military dictatorship, huh? What they had to do with sports, nobody knows.

"Home" Redux

As I said in my post, "Home", I liked the music but thought I could make a better video to go along with it. And so I set out today to do just that. The results aren't exactly what I hoped for, but they're close. One of the images I grabbed never appeared on the program I use to make these - Photo Story 3 for Windows. Turns out it downloaded without a specific file type. Thus it was invisible to Photo Story 3.

Oh, well.

It took a long time to get those images - so many out there, and not nearly enough time to look at them all - and then import them to the program, arrange them in the right order, watch a preview, go back and add more images, reaarange the order, watch the preview again. And again. I must admit I got teary watching the bloody thing. Every time! But teary in a manly way, mind you.

But I finally got the video finished. Gary Puckett & the Union Gap performing "Home" accompanied by a slideshow of images. I hope it pleases you, makes you think.

Thanks, again, Gary Puckett!


Home