Bloggers fight back! Ethics complaint number 11 comes from the pajama clad crowd as Celtic Diva fires a legal cannonball at the SMS GINO.

My blogger buddy Linda, Celtic Diva, has filed a potentially very damaging ethics complaint against Governor Palin. In it she makes the clear and inarguable point that Sarah Plain is using her job as a representative of Alaska, and its people, for personal gain.

This is a CLEAR violation of AS39.52.120 of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act.

Here is the argument made by Linda in her own words.

a) Governor Palin was representing the State of Alaska at the Iron Dog Race,

b) Governor Palin knew that this race would glean not only a great deal of Alaskan media attention, but national and international as well. The Palins had to be aware that Sports Illustrated was coming to Alaska to do a story on Todd, as the reporter clearly followed him across Alaska throughout the race.

c) The Palins have received a significant amount of income/financial support from Arctic Cat, Inc…enough that it is necessary to claim it on disclosure forms year after year

d) The Governor wearing the Team Arctic Cat outerwear at this event was the equivalent of a kid getting paid to walk around with a sandwich board in New York. Sports Illustrated even made a comment:
Governor Palin is there, though, in her own monogrammed Arctic Cat jacket,

e) Any boost to the fortunes of Arctic Cat, Inc. can only be fortuitous to the Palin family as benefactors of their sponsorship. This is about as clear a conflict of interest as it gets.

You can read the entire ethics complaint here:

http://divasblueoasis.com/upload/Documents/Ethics%20Complaint%20Arctic%20Cat%20(blog).doc

Why is this important?

I know that many of you were hoping for some giant scandal that would finally take the Governor down in one great fireball. But as somebody who spent many years in a boxing ring I can tell you that it is rarely the case that one punch drops your opponent. It is the numerous body blows and wearing down that eventually determines the winner.

This latest ethics complaint has the capacity to injure her reputation, and future in politics, in a very fundamental way. By illustrating that Governor Sarah is really JUST all about Governor Sarah, we help define her as somebody who does not care abut the people whose votes she hopes to attract both here in Alaska, and in the rest of the country. THAT is how we stop her from spreading her unethical selfish agenda, and keep her from injecting her poison into America as a whole.

One of my commenter's made the point that they found the post that featured Bristol's picture very unsatisfying. I would encourage you to keep paying attention, because the reverberations from that picture are still being felt and it has altered the thinking of a number of people who discounted the "babygate" theory out of hand.

I also believe the action taken by Linda today will have an effect that may not be felt immediately but that will definitely have a critical impact over time.

Remember as Alaskans we are in this for the long haul. After all, what choice do we have?