She’s “innocent”… or is she?

I figure it’s pretty important to know as much as possible about Gov. Sarah Palin — her character, her judgment, her political beliefs, how she makes decisions, how she responds to crises, etc.  After all, she just might become President of the United States some day. 

I’m waiting for today’s report on what’s euphamistically called “Troopergate.” Now, unless you’ve been reading the Anchorage Daily News or following the progressive Alaskan blogs like Mudflats, or, perhaps watching Keith Olbermann or Rachel Maddow, you might not be fully informed on Troopergate since the major networks down here in the lower 48 haven’t given it much play.  But it’s been an interesting and sobering adventure.  Without getting into all the gory details, it seems to center around a claim that Palin injected a family feud into the career path of Walt Monegan, the Chief of Public Safety. Firing a well-respected pubic servant, especially if personal disputes were at the core,  raised a few hackles up in freedom-loving Alaska. 

A bi-partisan committee (10 Rep. 4 Dem.) of the Alaksa state legislature unanimously initiated an investigation and tapped Steven Branchflower to head it. Palin initially welcomed the investigation, promising her full cooperation and that of her staff. But once tapped as McCain’s VP selection, she decided she much preferred a self-appointed administrative commission investigate instead. 

Enter John McCain.  Now Sarah Palin was no longer just a governor who’d been in office less than two years.  She was the GOP nominee for Vice President.  Having one’s running mate under investigation for abuse of power wouldn’t look good.  So, the campaign sent what they called a Truth Squad to Anchorage to get to the bottom of all this.  Unfortunately, their methods smacked more of cover up than truth. 

A blizzard of name-calling, attempts to smear the people involved, and multiple new reasons as to why Walt Monegan was fired followed.  As information seeped out, the whole thing started to get really ugly.  People were even urged to ignore supoenas.  However, after a series of lawsuits aimed at delaying if not completely derailing the independent investigation, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that Branchflower should continue his work and release his report on October 10 as originally determined.  Whew!

Not surprisingly, the administrative commission reported late yesterday that she is entirely innocent.  Excuse me if I’m skeptical.  Should anyone have expected otherwise?  Thanks, but I’m reserving final judgement until I read Branchflower’s report.  And I am hoping that those charged with deciding whether to make it public take their duty seriously , not just to Alaksa but to the entire country.

I can’t help but wonder why the campaign didn’t just let the investigation proceed–especially, if Palin was as innocent as she initially maintained.  Transparency and a favorable report well in advance of the election would be a plus. But what if the facts would prove unfavorable to the Governor’s image as a maverick and a reformer? Then all the obfuscating and stone-walling would make perfect sense.  Favorable or not, we deserve to know the truth.

An article in the UK’s Guardian chronicles a lot of what we already know about Palin’s story and her meteoric rise to national prominence. But seeing it altogether in one place can provide a more complete view than when scattered about over the weeks since she exploded onto the national scene.  Then there’s a curious story of how a brand new governor used a PR firm to help her craft and polish her image.   Why would she want to do that, unless perhaps, she aspired to higher office still–like, say, President?  And isn’t it curious that the PR firm was contracted by the Department of Natural Resources?  And that Big Oil has been eager to lock up leases in ANWR?  And that there are still thousands of acres of already leased lands that aren’t being exploited?  And that perhaps having even more unexploited leases provides Big Oil a further means of controlling supply, and thus prices?  And that one of her early contacts with Washington was a phone call from none other than Dick Cheney–about energy?  And that her own VP campaign is being run largely by Bush/Cheney people rather than by McCain people?  And perhaps even why “Drill, baby, drill!” had become the mantra of her campaign?

But in recent weeks, John McCain’s poll numbers have paralleled the decline in the stock market.  The tone of his campaign has grown increasingly desparate.  There is unmistakeable evidence that mob mentality is beginning to take over.  And the more frightened people become with the state of the economy, the more easily their fears can be turned to violence against who they see as the enemy.  Germany of the interwar years of 1918 through the mid 1930s comes to mind.  David Gergen last night spoke of an incendiary tone.  There’s only a small step between that and incitement.  Unfortunately, neither McCain nor Palin seem to have any desire to rein in the rising level of hatred.

 

It doesn’t surprise me that an increasingly desperate campaign would turn to increasingly negative charges. And it doesn’t surprise me that race is an increasing part of those charges. Unfortunately, it doesn’t even surprise me that candidates who claim to be Christians would rely on bigotry and hatred to try to stir up their base. However, should the mob mentality take over, and violence result, I truly fear the consequences.  I can only hope that the Secret Service is taking the potential seriously.