The second ethics complaint in a week against Gov. Sarah Palin alleges a conflict of interest when she wore Arctic Cat logo gear during this year’s Tesoro Iron Dog snow machine race.
Arctic Cat sponsors Palin’s husband, Todd, in the world’s longest snow machine race, Big Lake to Nome to Fairbanks.
But Palin, in a statement sent out to news media this afternoon under the headline "Latest Bogus Ethics Complaint," said the criticism is unjustified.
Linda Kellen Biegel, a Democrat who blogs under the name“Celtic Diva,” said in her complaint that Palin “improperly used her position and state resources to serve her personal financial interests by being a walking billboard for Arctic Cat, a private for-profit company and family business sponsor.”
A photo on the state Web site shows Palin in a bright white, green and black Team Arctic jacket kicking off the start of this year’s Iron Dog. A photo of her in the Team Arctic jacket and matching pants accompanied an article on Todd Palin and the Iron Dog in Sports Illustrated online.
Biegel said it’s her first ethics complaint against Palin. (But not necessarily her last!)
The governor hit the roof over the latest accusation. (Oh I would have loved to have seen that !)
“Are Alaskans outraged, or at least tired of this yet — another frivolous ethics charge by a political blogger? This would be hilarious if it weren’t so expensive for the state to process these accusations and for me to defend against these bogus harassments,” Palin said in Tuesday’s written release.
Palin had no agreement with Arctic Cat to wear the gear, her spokeswoman, Sharon Leighow, said in an e-mail. Leighow said she didn’t know whether Arctic Cat donated the clothing. (She has no idea whether the Arctic Cat gear was donated or not? Can't she just ask the Governor? I would have done that very thing before talking to the press about it. Oops, maybe she did!)
All in all this was a very good day for progressive Alaska bloggers and not such a good day for the Governor. Don't you just love it when the good guys win one for a change?
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Maybe someone can start a fund to hire an Ethics Tutor for Sarah Palin? She is in an Ethics Emergency!!!
ReplyDeleteMaybe you can get "The Ethicist" nat'l columnist to come to Wasilla for some one-on-one sessions just for Sarah? Or perhaps a Ph.D. from the University of Alaska could do an Independent Studies with the Governor? That would be cheaper than all of her lawsuits, so she could save her legal defense fund....
Just a thought....
anon. above----
ReplyDeleteSeriously, that is a good idea to use someone from the University of Alaska to come to the offices of the executive branch of the State of Alaska (or maybe just to the gov's office) and give a series of workshops on ethics. I can see the handouts now--very basic and simple. One piece of information per page, with examples.
Most people assume their gov. is knowledgeable about the laws that apply to the office. SP's complete lack of knowledge, understanding and concern about state ethics laws is painfully obvious. Hence the "remedial ethics" sessions are a great idea!!!
There is another side to this. Todd is a champion racer, and Arctic Cat could have sponsored his team because he was likely to show off their product by winning the Iron Dog (again), not because he is the Governor's husband. The Palin family showing off their logo on their jackets was just gravy on top.
ReplyDeleteThe sensible thing would have been for SP to respond that Arctic Cat had sponsored Todd's team and had paid her nothing, but that she had inadvertently violated the rules by accepting jackets for herself and her children, and that she would pay the value of the jackets worn by everyone other than Todd to the Alaska Treasury.
She doesn't need ethics tutoring, she needs to listen to an advisor with a cool head and brains. Nothing new here.
Kevin, IMHO, the fact that Palin doesn't know what the right thing to do is evidence that she needs ethics tutoring. Big time.
ReplyDeleteThe governor violated an ethics law and should be held accountable accordingly.
ReplyDeleteSnowmobiling is a $27 billion economic activity for North America. Since SI and Fox were both there, such advertisement was purposeful.
Craig Ferguson, the late night comic jokes about having to watch the sexual harassment video at CBS. Kids who enroll in a nearby university have to watch a safety orientation, describing how to act and what to do when they are in the nearby big city. Neither of them- comedian or student are nearly as important as being a governor-- yet Sarah hasn't gotten the same sort of job-prep. When she looks in the mirror, she doesn't see things the way anyone else does. Her excuse is that it was cold out-- yet her head was uncovered. Doesn't she own another coat? And, hey Professor, where do we think that the garbage bag of beautiful campaign clothes are these days?
ReplyDeletePS My word verification is:
gatesse, as in gates! What about the "se"?
Fantastic work Diva, AKM and Gryphen! Keep hammering away!
ReplyDeleteQUESTION: Does this Ethic Complaint open the door for other complaints, on behalf of the Arctic Cat competitors? Seems like the teams they must have sponsored had to pay a bunch more money in fees, snowmobiles, etc. just to compete. Where dud and his partner hardly had to pony up any money for their race.
So, the competition must NOT have been too happy seeing the Gov of the State providing a high powered billboard on behalf of Arctic Cat while waving the Starting Flag.
Kath the Scrappy
isn't lisa demer the same reporter that ADN had tasked with finally putting "babygate' to rest, but she received insufficient cooperation from the palins to write a piece that could truthfully kill that rumor forever -leading to that fantastic email exchange between pat dougherty and SP?
ReplyDeleteif i was lisa demer, i'd remember that i'd invested a lot of time in trying to write a story that couldn't get published because palin wouldn't cooperate with me, even when the story was in sarah's own best interests! and i'd never give palin a "pass" on any other coverage that scrutinized her after that, including progressive coverage.
the poster above wondering about arctic cat's "other team" -did they sponsor a team of riders other than todd and his partner? if so, wouldn't that be unusual?
isn't the whole issue that arctic cat gave money and/or gear to the palin's and then sarah wore that gear while acting as governor and being filmed -essentially like they'd paid her to do a commercial, a commercial she was only able to do because she was acting as governor opening the race at that time? and a commercial that could make arctic cat more money that they could then spend on sponsoring todd in the future, effectively benefitting herself with the "commercial."
am i correct in thinking that if only todd had worn the gear, and/or sarah had worn it while not officiating as a state representative then things would have been legally okay? or is it that sarah can't wear it as long as she's famous for being in government and still in government (and that if she was just famous for being the wife of last year's winner this would be a non-issue)?
Palin.
ReplyDeleteEpic.
FAIL.
@ Luna "the poster above wondering about arctic cat's "other team" -did they sponsor a team of riders other than todd and his partner? if so, wouldn't that be unusual?"
ReplyDeleteNo, I was talking about their (AC's) competitors - can't imagine Arctic Cat is the ONLY manufacturer of snowmobiles or sponsor of teams.
Kath the Scrappy
Sarah - the gift that keeps on giving, and giving, and giving...
ReplyDeleteShe sounds just like a bitchy high school girl ranting to her friends. Beyond embarrassing. She has absolutely no sense of how a professional acts, dresses, or speaks. How did she ever get elected?
ReplyDeletekath- thanks for the clarification.
ReplyDeletebut i don't see how this would relate to todd's teams competitors -anyone in a racing sport with sponsors either gets them or doesn't, be they car racers, bicycle racers, or snowmobile (dude, i'm from illinois) racers, etc.
i think that it could be argued that todd received sponsorship because he'd won in the past, the fact that his spouse is governor and decided to wear their gear in sports illustrated/AP news event coverage shots/stories is something arctic cat could claim as a happy accident (for them). unless SP can prove arctic cat formally requested she wear the duds to the dude's race, they can blame it squarely on her (as they should, she's the one who did it....)
and this appears to be the referenced sports illustrated article, man it really loves todd.
ReplyDeletehttp://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/the_bonus/03/10/palin/index.html
sport illustrated link
the sarah arctic cat reference is on the last page, "Governor Palin is there, though, in her own monogrammed Arctic Cat jacket, and when Todd's team arrives, still in sixth, she is thrilled."
In the 1600s, bulldogs were used for bullbaiting (as well as bearbaiting), a gambling sport popular in the 17th century with wagers laid in which trained bulldogs leapt at a bull lashed to a post, latched onto its snout and attempted to suffocate it.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Palin is a Taurus?
Go, Bulldogs!
Sarah, if it was so cold, why are you not wearing a hat, and only have a thin blouse partially unbuttoned underneath? This is great...who puts out an official press release with the word asinine in it?
ReplyDeleteshe's a moron and is surrounded by morons.
ReplyDeleteas a college teacher I'm not supposed to take gifts from vendors.
can't y'all up there impeach her yet? down here Blago was shown the door, seems like y'all have enough on her to kick her ass out.
what are you all waiting for?!?!?!
Hmmmmm... I wonder if this might open the door for tons of ethics complaints against politicians, wearing logos or fav sports teams who may have donated to their campaigns.
ReplyDeleteSome investigating is in order
Linda-Sama, impeachment is done by the state legislature; if the citizens of the state have to do it -- which this may come to -- it would be by recall.
ReplyDeleteAnd from what I remember of impeachment (of Clinton; Blagojevich), it doesn't remove the official from office. The legislature must separately decide if that's what they want to do, and in Clinton's case, they didn't.
Maybe I'm wrong about the Alaska state legislators; they just might be getting enough fed up with Palin to impeach her.
-----------------
Wouldn't it be the "nail" in this coffin if Arctic Cat DOES have an advertisement with Gov. Palin featured, even if it's a second's glimpse? Wow.
Luna-In response to your question above...Diva used BM own description that GINO is on duty 24/7 so her being there wearing that jacket and they sponsored dud is a clear violation. Now she specified that Piper wearing the coat was not, but GINO wearing it was, no matter what capacity she was there! Like someone else said she could of apologized, said she would pay for the coat, but she didn't, she again acted unprofessionally by calling Diva "asinine"! WTF is wrong with this woman? Someone on one of the palinbot blogs wrote that her speech last week at the Lincoln dinner was schizophrenic! Course he caught all kind of grief for that but, could she be off her meds? She also looks to be dieting a lot, or what. Adderal? Either way the crazy train is going off the tracks!
ReplyDeleteOh and picked this tidbit off HuffPO, a commenter said:
MelRoy
You may not know about this, but one of the hundred or so complaints Palin made about Mike Wooten is that he showed up at a public event (as a private citizen, of course), wearing an Arctic Cat jacket.
The complaint was along the lines of, "Those jackets are really expensive, and as a state employee, he was showing off".
I'll see if I can find a link.
Now how does she know how much those jackets cost? Heh!
I live in constant hope that Alaskans will finally get enough of GINO and kick her out of office - Blago/Chicago style. She is to Alaska what Bush was to America, an embarrassment.
ReplyDeletecrystalwolf, the reference to the jacket I found doesn't specify a brand. http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/10/report_firing_wooten_wouldnt_h.php
ReplyDeleteIt's in a comment by a Mariana Mensoh
"Mike Wooten purchased a nice jacket which he wore to a public outing which the Palins also (separately) attended. Sarah Palin remarked to Col. Julia Grimes of the Troopers that it was "bad form" for Wooten to buy himself any new clothes when his wife was only awarded 50% of his assets. In other words, she wanted Wooten not only to lose his livelihood but to dress in sack cloth (and, no doubt, tar and feathers)."
Lynne (3:28 am)--naw, she's an Aquarius.
ReplyDeleteGryphen,
ReplyDeleteDid you see the press release? Wondering if it was cut and pasted with words from magazines, like we did in junior high.
Wouldn't surprise me. GINO hasn't gotten beyond junior high IMO. Emotionally developmentally-delayed. And she's in charge of our livelihoods. Truly frightening...
Did anyone ever uncover what the first ethics complaint of the week was, and why GINO has not commented on that one?
ReplyDeleteAnd is GINO talking like Meg Staplegun, or is Meg talking like GINO? Or is it like the chicken and the egg thing? I totally agree that GINO is acting as though her emotional and intellectual development got completely stalled at about sixth grade level, and with that, I apologize to sixth graders nation-wide. I just remember sixth grade being about the age for major clich-iness and snark, and I can imagine if GINO was the head of the clich, and the master of snark, that she would have no reason to grow beyond that, since it has served her so well.
Gino also complained that the jacket worn by Wooten "may" have been bought with a state issued "Cabelas" card.When questioned,she admitted she did not know,she just speculated.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.atvscene.com/fyi08/arcticcat_1029.html
ReplyDelete(arctic cat press release about fabulous media attention)
http://www.atvriders.com/atvnews/arcticcat2008-todd-sarah-palin-snowmobile-skit.html
(a picture of sarah and todd in a ad for arctic cat)
http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews/articleid/2595286
(Todd signs autographs for Arctic Cat just days after Palin is chosen VP pick, the game begins!)
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/10/now-a-word-from-todds-sponsor/