Our friend Walt Monegan gets a do over.

Courtesy of ADN: 

Gov. Bill Walker’s public safety commissioner is retiring and will be replaced by Walt Monegan, the former Anchorage police chief and public safety commissioner who was ousted in former Gov. Sarah Palin’s Troopergate scandal. 

Gary Folger, appointed commissioner in 2014 by Sean Parnell and kept on by Gov. Bill Walker, said he’s retiring at the end of May because of health problems — he has multiple myeloma. 

Monegan will be the replacement, according to Walker’s office. He’ll oversee a department with a $195 million budget and 900 employees, including the Alaska State Troopers. 

It will be Monegan’s second time as public safety commissioner, following his firing by Palin in 2008. A legislative report subsequently found that Monegan’s dismissal was partly because he wouldn’t fire a state trooper who was an enemy of Palin’s husband.

Of all of the people wronged by Sarah Palin that I have talked to over the years, and there have been many, Walt Monegan remains one of my favorites.

The guy is extremely humble and simply bursting with integrity. 

Governor Walker and Alaska are lucky to have him.

By the way for those who want to know more about Walt I sat down with him back in 2009, when he was running for Mayor of Anchorage, for a lengthy, and I hope interesting, interview which you can read here.

Now we know how Joe Miller earned Sarah Palin's endorsement. He tried to block the "Troopergate" investigation!

From the Alaska Dispatch:

Miller's jump into the Troopergate fray came on Sept. 16, 2008, when he filed suit in Fairbanks to stop an investigation already set in motion by the state's Legislative Council. Miller sued on behalf of five Alaskans from the Fairbanks and North Pole communities who wished to "secure their rights as taxpayers and citizens of the State of Alaska to be free from unauthorized, wasteful, and unlawful government spending," according to the opening sentence of Miller's complaint.

Miller argued that another government entity -- the state Personnel Board -- was the appropriate jurisdiction to pursue claims about ethics problems within the executive branch. Allowing the Legislative Council to investigate opened the process to unfair political influences, he said. With a Democratic senator leading the charge and hinting the outcome wouldn't be good for Palin, the process lacked integrity and fairness, Miller argued.

Two years later, Miller's loyalty to Palin and his emergence as a constitutional purist vying for office would be rewarded with her high-profile endorsement of his effort to dislodge Sen. Lisa Murkowski from the U.S. Senate. Miller's race reverberates with Palin's efforts nationwide to change the face of Washington, but it is also deeply personal, happening on home turf and adding the latest chapter to a public feud years in the making. Murkowski's father, former Sen. Frank Murkowski, appointed his daughter to the seat over Palin and other candidates when he vacated the position to become Alaska's governor. Palin would go on to defeat the elder Murkowski in 2006, but her near miss on the Senate appointment stuck with her enough that she wrote about the lost opportunity in her memoir, "Going Rogue."

And THAT ladies and gentlemen is how Joe Miller became Sarah Palin's "butt-boy."

And now he is trying to become her voice in Washington by winning the seat that she felt was stolen from her when Frank Murkowski appointed his daughter instead of Sarah.

In the end EVERYTHING gets boiled down to Sarah Palin's middle school mean girl attitude toward those she feels have wronged her in the past, and her desire to use her influence and power to punish them for daring to deny her what she believed was the destiny that God had laid out for her.

Pay back is a bitch, and now she is attempting to get control of Alaska once again.

Please click the link at the top to read the entire article as written by Alaska Dispatch journalist Jill Burke. And when you are finished perhaps you would like to throw a wrench in Sarah Palin's master plan by making a donation to Scott McAdams.

The trooper at the center of Sarah Palin's "Troopergate" scandal breaks his silence!

After reading passages from Palin's memoirsGoing Rogue that deal with his marriage and subsequent divorce, a "fed up" Mike Wooten, 37, who still serves as an Alaska State Trooper in Anchorage, called the book "a pack of lies."

According to Wooten, Palin and her father, Chuck Heath Sr., have "interfered with my life--and my children's lives--for at least the last five years. And it is still going on. I'm done with it."

Partially disabled from his military service, Wooten pointed out that neither Todd nor Sarah Palin, or Chuck Heath, served in the armed forces. Wooten said he was particularly "disgusted and incensed" by Palin's "insincere" dedication in Going Rogue to "our men and women in uniform."

Wooten further noted with irony that many of those who have been victimized by Palin during her political career--including former Wasilla police chief Irl Stambaugh; Monegan and himself--were all veterans. "Sarah is only about Sarah," Wooten said. "She doesn't care about the 'men and women in uniform.' It's all about advancing Sarah's career."

What have I been saying? That Palin's book is angering people so bad that they are coming out of the woodwork to call her to task. And damn this is a big one!

I will say it again, the worst thing Sarah has ever done to herself was to write this book. It will be her downfall.

To read the rest of Geoffrey Dunn's revealing post just click the title.

Sarah Palin owes hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees. I officially label today a "Palin-palooza"!

Gov. Sarah Palin owes more than a half million dollars to an Anchorage law firm that has defended her against ethics complaints, and she may create a legal fund to pay the bill, she said Friday.

Legal bills have mounted fighting complaints that she called partisan, false and frivolous, starting with "the politically motivated Troopergate probe," Palin said in a written response to questions.

She said the legal bills all stem from her actions as governor.

"I must defend against these baseless ethics accusations out of my own pocket as the use of public monies to do so could itself violate state law," Palin wrote.

The debt is owed to the Alaska law firm Clapp, Peterson, Van Flein, Tiemessen & Thorsness, according to her financial disclosure.

The disclosure said only that she owed "hundreds of thousands of dollars." On Friday in the written statement, attorney Thomas Van Flein wouldn't give a precise number but said it was "a substantial debt." Palin said she didn't have an exact figure yet but "the debt is over a half a million dollars."

Palin continues to play the victim card throughout this article. It has become her favorite fall back position whenever anybody confronts her about the things that she has caused through negligence, vengeance, or arrogance.

Here is a PDF of the Palin's financial statement. It lists donations made out to Sarah, expenses form the McCain/Palin campaign, gifts that she and her family have received, and more. All in all it makes for some very interesting reading.

And here is a PDF of the questions Lisa Demer asked the Governor, and her lawyer Tom Van Flein, about this financial disclosure. VERY interesting stuff contained in this, and Sarah's defensive posture is quite evident throughout.

Now the part that really caught my eye was a claim that Barack Obama's campaign had contacted the Trooper's Union up here about the reassignment of Walt Monegan. It is further claimed that CNN reported this. I was surprised by that allegation, because though I remember that the McCain/Palin people claimed that Obama had operatives up here but I certainly never ran into them.

As far as I am aware the campaign NEVER contacted the union. So I searched to find where CNN had reported this. The only story I located was this one. But when you read the report the only reference you find to "Obama operatives" is right here:

Former Palin Press Secretary Meg Stapleton told reporters in Anchorage that the power probe has been "hijacked" by "Obama operatives" for the Democratic presidential nominee -- namely, Alaska state Sen. Hollis French, the Democratic lawmaker managing the investigation and an Obama supporter. French has denied working on behalf of the Obama campaign.

So the "Obama operative" they identify is Hollis French, an Alaskan legislator whose job it was to determine if Sarah Palin had indeed violated the trust of the Alaskan people? And because he is a Democrat, that supported the Democratic candidate for President, somehow that makes this a political hitjob? Even though the investigation was launched BEFORE anybody knew Palin was going to be chosen for McCain's VP? Well how paranoid is that?

And look who gave CNN that information.

Meg Stapleton.

So Sarah Palin refers to a report by CNN that "proves" that the Obama campaign hijacked the "Troopergate" investigation. However the source of this "proof" is Meg Stapleton, who was working for the McCain/Palin campaign at the time. Essentially Palin uses a report based on the lies that her people told CNN as "proof" that she was politically attacked by the Obama campaign.

Does this woman take personal responsibility for anything? Never mind, I already know the answer to that.

KTUU has a poll about Troopergate!

Click the title to visit Alaska's News Source and let them know if you think the Legislature should pursue punishment for ignored Troopergate subpoenas?

So far the "yeas" are ahead! WOO HOO!

Update: Poll was shut down and removed by 9:40 p.m..

Interesting. I guess it was not going the way they intended.

I think Beth Kerttula is my new favorite Alaska legislator.

This comes from an article in the ADN about the beginning of the 2009 legislative session.

Gov. Sarah Palin begins the 2009 session of the Alaska Legislature on Tuesday faced with a potential state deficit in the billions of dollars and at least some hangover among lawmakers from the "Troopergate" investigation.

The article begins with a fluff piece about how POSITIVE Sarah Palin is about this new session even though, with oil prices plunging, this will mark the FIRST time she is working with a state budget not spilling over with oil soaked doubloons.

(It is not a secret that buzzards are circling our state budget this year, just waiting for it to take its last gasp of air and expire well before the end of the fiscal year. )

The Governor then talks about her desire to focus on getting the doomed gas pipeline project moving forward. I am hoping that somewhere on her staff she has retained the services of one Dr. Frankenstein because as far as I can tell the AGIA corpse is almost up on the slab with its toe tag dangling off the side.

But despite all of Palin's best cheerleading and efforts to change the subject it appears that old business may rear its head and bite her on her elliptical machine toned ass.

Here is what my new legislative crush, Beth Kertulla, has to say about this 2009 session:

"Troopergate isn't going away, and it shouldn't go away," the Juneau Democrat said.

Yeah baby! Is that not the best news we have heard for a while? Yes it is!

And get this, Kerttula is not alone.

There doesn't appear to be sufficient desire in the Legislature to reprimand the governor. But there is bipartisan concern about the resistance the attorney general, Palin appointee Talis Colberg, posed to legislative subpoenas.

"One of the judiciary committees or both of the judiciary committees should maybe bring the AG in front of them and have some frank discussions about what his actions were toward the state employees, why the subpoenas weren't complied with," said Chenault, the Republican house speaker.

In other words, "Its on bitchez"!

However there is at least one lawmaker who is not interested in revisiting Troopergate.

But Anchorage Republican Rep. Bob Lynn said it's a bad idea to dredge it up.

"I think that's history. We should stop looking in the rear-view mirror," Lynn said. "I've got a news flash, the election is over."

That is right you little pissant, the election IS over, but your next run for re-election is still in the future. Good luck on that, because trust me, you are going to need all the luck you can get. And next time, don't pee on my parade.

And by the way, and keep this under your hat, I have it on good authority that the behemoth known as "Alaskans for Truth" is finally stirring from it post election hibernation, shaking out the cobwebs from its brain, and getting ready once again to wade into battle with a renewed sense of purpose and a reinvigorated membership.

On the one side we have the soldiers of truth, and light, and ethical integrity (That's us!). On the other we have Sarah Palin, and in his last term as an Alaska legislator, Bob Lynn. Let the battle commence!

Okay now if you will excuse me I have to compose a love poem to my new legislative crush.

What rhymes with "Kerttula"? Or for that matter what rhymes with "Beth"? Oh this is going to take a while.

Courtesy of the Daily Show, the Best Sarah Palin Moments.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

The Daily Show's Best Sarah Palin Moments

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

It is just too bad it was compiled before the great Thanksgiving Turkey Holocaust video.

KTUU talks to Alaskans for Truth.

The group Alaskans for Truth wants the Legislature to do something about the "troopergate" investigation that found that Gov. Sarah Palin abused her power.

The group put out a call to action to pressure the Legislature to look into censuring the governor based on the findings in the report conducted by Special Counsel Stephen Branchflower.

Alaskans for Truth also wants the Legislature look into whether contempt charges apply for the governor's husband and other state officials who did not show up to testify under subpoena.

"The call to action is simply assisting the Legislature to do what's next with regards to this Legislative Council's investigation," Camille Conte with Alaskans for Truth said.

But some lawmakers don't see it that way.

Legislative leaders say Alaskans are weary of "troopergate."

Weary? Weary?

How do we know that Alaskans are "weary" of Troopergate? I read the comments that get posted on the Anchorage Daily News site. They don't seem "weary". As a matter of fact a great number of them seemed truly pissed off that nobody is holding Palin accountable for her ethics violations.

And even if there are a large number of Alaskans who are "weary" of Troopergate, how does that factor into the Legislature doing their job?

Many Alaskans were weary of corruption in our politics. Did that keep us from convicting Tom Anderson on 7 felonies: 3 counts money laundering, 2 counts extortion, and 1 count each of bribery and conspiracy? Did that keep us from convicting Vic Kohring of 3 felony counts, bribery, conspiracy, and attempted extortion? Did it keep us from convicting Pete Kott of 3 felony counts of bribery, conspiracy, extortion, and of giving false testimony during his trial?

No it did not!

And did the "weariness" of Alaskans keep Ted Stevens from being found guilty of seven felonies? No, because our "weariness" has NOTHING to do with justice!

And if Alaskans are truly getting weary of ANYTHING it is seeing Sarah Palin giving interview after interview making all of us look like brain damaged morons.

I will tell you what I know. The day that Sarah Palin gets held accountable for her many ethical violations you will not see Alaskans wandering the streets in weariness. You will see them dancing in the streets because their long nightmare will finally be coming to an end. And they can finally look forward to a day when an intelligent, ethical person gets elected as Governor of this great state.

Mike Wooten, from the "Troopergate" scandal, is about to be reassigned for his own protection.

The state trooper behind the abuse-of-power investigations of Gov. Sarah Palin is getting a reassignment this Sunday following threatening telephone calls to his employer.

Mike Wooten has been on desk duty for his own protection in recent weeks after troopers began receiving hostile calls from Alaskans and people outside the state, according to public safety union officials.

Callers said things like "If I ever see Trooper Wooten on the road, I'm not going to let him stop me," according to union director John Cyr.

"It was clear there was a lot of feeling and misdirected feeling among the public," Cyr said Friday of the phone calls received by troopers. "The department came to us. There were worries about Mike's safety. We agreed -- and Mike agreed -- to do paperwork until after the election."

Cyr said Wooten's recent duties included evidence logging and filling out reports. His new role begins Sunday.

Troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters said Wooten will be reassigned from the Palmer post to the judicial services bureau in Anchorage. The new job could include overseeing prisoner transports, issuing warrants and assisting in fugitive transfers, Peters said.

I heard Jon Cyr on C.C.'s radio show going into more detail about the kinds of threats that the Office of Public Safety have been receiving.

They are coming from both inside Alaska as well as outside Alaska, and they have run the gamut from overt threat toward Mike Wooten to feelings of fear if they ever encountered Trooper Wooten.

John Cyr was quick to make the point that there has NEVER been a complaint filed against Mike Wooten that did not originate from the Palin family. If not for Sarah Palin and her tribe, Mike Wooten would just be another anonymous trooper facing danger on a daily basis to keep our state safe from the bad guys. She made him infamous, and put his life in danger.

I posted about this news story when it first broke last Saturday. It is worth noting that our local news outlets seem to have been very slow in discovering or picking up this story. The article I stumbled across came from ABC News, a news agency outside of our state.

There seems a hesitance from our own news outlets to publish articles which show Sarah Palin, or her family, in a harsh light. This is very frustrating for those of us desperately trying to learn the truth about Alaska's first family.

Considering what we have learned from the numerous interviews Palin has given to the national media, and what other reporters from outside news agencies have dug up, we have every right to be very concerned and to expect our local newspapers and television stations to start doing their damn jobs.

After all we cannot expect the bloggers to do all of the work now can we?

Update: I changed the picture, apparently the one I originally used was of an actor who just happens to look somewhat like Wooten. You ever have one of those days?

Trooper at center of "Troopergate" investigation is given desk job to protect him from Palin sympathizers.

The Alaska state trooper who was the subject of harsh allegations by Gov. Sarah Palin was taken off patrols recently for his own safety, after her comments allegedly prompted a series of threatening phone calls, KIMO-TV in Anchorage reported Friday.

In the early months of Palin's administration, Palin, her husband and top aides worked to get the trooper, Mike Wooten, booted from the ranks of the Alaska State Troopers, according to two separate investigations into what eventually erupted into the "Troopergate" scandal.

In comments to the media and documents released to the public, Palin accused Wooten, her ex-brother-in-law, of making death threats against her family, drinking on duty, tasering his 10-year-old stepson and shooting a moose out of season, among other things.

Wooten has denied the claims or said his actions were misrepresented. His supporters have said Wooten was unfairly targeted by Palin and her family, because of his prolonged custody battle with Palin's sister, Molly.

Following Palin's comments about Wooten in the national media, "people with little or no knowledge of the situation call and make complaints, make threats, talk about what a danger he is," explained John Cyr, head of the Alaska trooper's union, to KIMO. "All it takes is one person to show up and do something stupid." Sources at the Department of Public Safety confirmed Cyr's account to KIMO, an ABC affiliate.

Wooten is now working a desk job, KIMO reported. The troopers' union has expressed concern because the new position means he can no longer earn overtime pay.

Look you don't have to like this guy. In my estimation he definitely made some poor choices.

But he was NEVER a threat to the Palin family, and the evidence of that is contained in the Branchflower report which talked with Trooper Gary Wheeler who asked Governor Palin directly "whether they perceived any threats from any individual or were afraid of any individual." Wheeler said "I got a negative response … they basically said no."

So the Palins never really felt in any danger from Wooten, they just made all of that up to cover for the fact that both Sarah and Todd had used their access to try and get him fired.

And this completely falls in line with Sarah Palin's past behavior as the Mayor of Wasilla, as Governor, and as a candidate for VP. Essentially she is a bully who punishes people she perceives to be against her or her family in any way. That is why you will see her only give interviews with media outlets who she believes to be on her side. (Stay tuned for Fox's Greta Sustern's interview, that should be "revealing".)

If you watched her on the campaign trail you were undoubtedly treated to her resistance to accepting any kind of blame, her constant use of half-truths and mean spirited lies, and her total self absorption. She seemed to suffer no sense of remorse for riling up the audiences at her rallies into a racist mob ready to not only vote against Obama but to literally wish some harm to befall him. There is no reason to think that the Governor Palin in Alaska will be any different then the candidate Palin stumping for Vice President.

The sad thing is that Trooper Wooten, who was already punished for his past misdeeds, must now be punished further simply because Sarah Palin used her position to trash him and got caught doing it.

Sarah Palin has been back in Alaska for only two days and already one of our citizens is suffering a financial setback and having to worry for his safety. I wonder how many more of us will be punished by the return of our Governor?

And what is to become of the "Troopergate" investigation?

After months on the vice presidential campaign trial, Sarah Palin stepped back into her job as governor Friday with an Alaska controversy still unsettled: Troopergate.

But it's looking like the public may never get a clear answer about what really happened. Two highly anticipated investigations came up with dramatically different results, and lawmakers seem poised to move on.

State legislators interviewed this week say they haven't come to a consensus on what should happen next, although some said they plan to look further at side issues about personnel complaints in general, subpoenas, and the use of private e-mail accounts.

The first report, done for the Legislature by retired state prosecutor Steve Branchflower, concluded that Palin abused her power in allowing her husband and top aides to push for the firing of a state trooper who is her ex-brother-in-law. Failure to stop these activities violated the state ethics law, Branchflower said.

The second -- done for the state Personnel Board by Tim Petumenos, a prosecutor turned defense lawyer -- came to the opposite conclusion, finding that Palin didn't know what her family or staff were doing so couldn't be held responsible.

Even if she did know, he says, there's no evidence that she or anyone else violated the state Ethics Act.

I don't think it is telling tales out of school to say that for the Alaskans for Truth this issue is far from over. In our discussions we have weighed the integrity of the Petumenos report and have found it wanting. In the opinion of most the Branchflower report is the most comprehensive of the two, as Petumenos seemed to have used the hard work done by Stephen Branchflower to do much of the heavy lifting for him. Then Petumenos simply reinterpreted the findings and issued a report more favorable to the Palins. Exactly what he was hired to do.

Petumenos also allows Palin to make the ridiculous claim that she did not directly talk to Walt Monegan about Trooper Wooten which is refuted by HER OWN E-MAILS.

"This trooper is still out on the street, in fact he's been promoted," said a Feb. 7, 2007, e-mail sent from Palin's personal Yahoo account and written to give Monegan permission to speak on a violent-crime bill before the state legislature.

"It was a joke, the whole year long 'investigation' of him," the e-mail said. "This is the same trooper who's out there today telling people the new administration is going to destroy the trooper organization, and that he'd 'never work for that b****', Palin'.)"

The fact of the matter is that we have learned to our dismay that our Governor is simply not a credible source, and has lost the benefit of the doubt with many Alaskans.

So Tim Petunemos was hired to derail the Branchflower report, and essentially failed to do so. It is pretty clear that the Anchorage Daily News and other local reporters remain unconvinced (I have heard anecdotal evidence that many reporters had to suppress actual laughter as they read the Petumenos report for the first time), and Alaskans for Truth have definitely not been swayed by the findings.

Currently the state legislators have talked publicly about pursung the following:

Legislators say they intend to address some side issues raised by the dueling reports. They include:

• Subpoenas. Seven state employees didn't show up when subpoenaed by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The matter went to court, a judge ruled they were legally required to comply, but ultimately they only answered written questions late in the investigation. The Palin administration is appealing the ruling.

Legislators still want to examine whether there was an abuse of process, Chenault said. State Rep. Les Gara, D-Anchorage, wants to know if there was any witness tampering.

• Private e-mails. Petumenos raised concerns about the use of private e-mail accounts for state business. Palin and an aide, Frank Bailey, both deleted some e-mails, though there's no way to know if any were related to the investigation. They testified they were told they didn't have to keep e-mails, but that advice was wrong, Petumenos wrote.

I can guarantee that there will be pressure applied on them to favor the findings of the Branchflower report over the hack job done by Petumenos. In the Branchflower report there are numerous actionable items that we feel the legislature should address.

Personnel board report on Troopergate to be released at 3:30 today! Really? Christmas again?

Investigator Tim Petumenos just said he will release his troopergate report at 3:30 p.m. today.

He said the report would cover Gov. Sarah Palin's firing of Walt Monegan as well as a separate complaint from Anchorage activist Andree McLeod alleging alleges that state hiring practices were circumvented for a Palin supporter.

Wow! This is the report that has been put together by Tim Petumenos who was hired by the personnel board after Sarah Palin herself launched this investigation to hopefully take the wind out of the Branchflower Report.

As we all know that did not happen, and now we are about to be gifted with yet another damaging report about Sarah Palin's conduct in the firing of Walt Monegan.

I will update this post when the report is released. Stay tuned.

Update: The report has apparently cleared Palin of any wrongdoing. Here is a snippet from ADN:

The state Personnel Board-sanctioned investigation is the second into whether Palin violated state ethics law in firing her public safety commissioner, and it contradicts the earlier findings by a special counsel hired by the state Legislature.

Both investigations found that Palin was within her rights to fire Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan.

But the new report says the Legislature's investigator was wrong to conclude that Palin abused her power by allowing aides and her husband, Todd, to pressure Monegan and others to dismiss her ex-brother-in-law, Trooper Mike Wooten. Palin was accused of firing Monegan after Wooten stayed on the job.

Well this is certainly disappointing. Our belief that Petumenos was going to provide an even starker version of Palin's abuse of power seems to have been misplaced.

Now the only question is what does this mean for Sarah Palin's future? And will this negate the findings of the Branchflower report? Right now I have no answers.

Update 2: Okay now I have had some time to digest this putrid serving of B.S., and I have come to the conclusion that this was nothing but a pathetic attempt to get some last minute good news out onto the airwaves before the election tomorrow.

And why did it get released at 3:30 p.m. on election eve? Because that is enough time for the news to get disseminated through the MSM but not enough time for anybody to pick the report apart and demonstrate the problems and fallacies contained within it.

So there is no time for the state legislators who supported the first report to weigh in publicly about THIS report, or for any reporters to do a truly in depth analysis of the findings.

In other words this is merely a head feint and the Palin's hope to win the election tomorrow and get out of the ring before the inevitable uppercut knocks them on their ass. Well too bad Governor, you are going to lose. And when you return you will find us more then adequately prepared to call you on this bluff and to hold you accountable for your actions.

We even formed a group to do just that. You may have heard of us, we are called the "Alaskans for Truth" and we are still committed to getting to that truth. No matter how hard you try to hide it from us.

Both Alaskan Democrats and Republicans demand an apology from the McCain/Palin campaign for vilifying Walt Monegan. God I love Alaska!

Here's a letter written earlier this week to Sen. John McCain from former Alaska House Speaker Gail Phillips, a Republican from Homer, and former Alaska Senate President Chancy Croft, a Democrat from Anchorage. Phillips e-mailed it to news media today. They ask for an apology "from your campaign to Alaskans and our former Commissioner of Public Safety, Walt Monegan."

No response from the campaign.

Here's the letter:

October 28, 2008

Honorable Senator John McCain
John McCain 2008
P.O. Box 16118
Arlington, VA 22215

Dear Senator McCain:

We are writing because we believe an apology is owed from your campaign to Alaskans and our former Commissioner of Public Safety, Walt Monegan. As former legislative leaders of both major political parties in Alaska, we haven’t always agreed upon political issues. However, we adamantly agree that Mr. Monegan, who is well respected in Alaska by people of all party affiliations, is owed an apology. The attacks against Commissioner Monegan for his role in administering a personnel issue, now known statewide as “Troopergate”, were unwarranted and wrong. Mr. Monegan is a former U.S. Marine, a front-line police officer, was Chief of Police in Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city, served as our State’s Commissioner of Public Safety and served both Republicans and Democrats with professionalism and honor.

This summer Governor Palin fired Mr. Monegan as Commissioner, which was within her purview. However, in July, the Legislature, through unanimous action by the bi-partisan Legislative Council, voted to investigate Commissioner Monegan’s termination and whether his refusal to fire Trooper Wooten played a role in his termination. The investigation had nothing to do with your campaign.

After Governor Palin was named as your running mate, your campaign stepped into the fray. In an effort to discredit and stop the bi-partisan legislative investigation into whether or not Governor Palin acted improperly in seeking the termination of her former brother-in-law, Trooper Wooten, your campaign engaged in a near-daily course of personal attacks against Mr. Monegan and members of the legislature. It’s obvious to many of us that you probably were not aware of these attacks by your campaign committee; however, since the final responsibility is yours, we feel Mr. Monegan is owed an apology from you.

In an effort to halt the bi-partisan investigation, your campaign staff tried to vilify Commissioner Monegan. Before Governor Palin was selected to your presidential ticket, she had agreed to the investigation; she publicly said it was justified and that she and her staff would cooperate with the investigation. She stated to the press that the public had a right to be concerned whether or not her administration may have placed improper pressure on the State Department of Public Safety to fire her former brother-in-law.

Following Governor Palin’s selection as your running mate, your campaign sent staff to Alaska to try to stop the investigation that Governor Palin had previously agreed to. Your campaign staff accused the legislative action as partisan in spite of the fact that the unanimous vote of the Legislative Council was bi-partisan.

Your campaign accused Mr. Monegan of being a “rogue”, of being insubordinate and other defamatory statements. To justify your involvement in this Alaskan issue and the Governor’s termination of Commissioner Monegan, your campaign continually changed the excuses for his termination. The various and changing excuses given by your campaign speaks clearly to the lack of credibility in its involvement.

Despite your campaign’s efforts to stop the investigation in court, and by public pressure, the investigation was recently completed. On October 10th the investigative report was released and the independent investigator, Steve Branchflower, concluded that the Governor had violated the State’s Executive Ethics statute by pressuring for the termination of Mr. Wooten from his position as an Alaskan State Trooper. The investigation also found that one of the probable reasons Commissioner Monegan was terminated was his refusal to fire the Governor’s former brother-in-law.

We acknowledge the authority the Governor has for terminating Commissioners; however, your campaign’s interference into this State matter and attempts to discredit Commissioner Monegan for campaign purposes is very troubling. Both the vilification of Mr. Monegan and the attempts by your campaign to stop the investigation were wrong.

We respectfully request an apology from your campaign to Mr. Monegan. He is a good man who has put his life on the line for Alaskans many times and he deserves better treatment from you and your campaign. Not only have the personal attacks from your campaign deeply affected and hurt the Monegan family, but also the people of Alaska who care and respect Mr. Monegan.

Sincerely,

Gail Phillips
Former Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives

Chancy Croft
Former President of the Alaska State Senate

Now this is more like it!

John McCain tried to bully Alaska and we handed him his ass!

And Sarah Palin allowed and encouraged it to happen, and that makes her a traitor to her state, and the people who elected her to office.

Princess Palin forgot that she works for us, and started treating our people like dirt. Well I have news for you Governor, your pink slip is in the mail!

Rachel Maddow talks about Sarah Palin's sworn testimony for "Troopergate" investigation phase two.

I love how Rachel points out that Palin's constant renaming of "Troopergate" to "Tasergate" kind of contradicts her point about why Walt Monegan was fired.

Just another reason why Alaska bloggers absolutely LOVE Rachel Maddow!

And then she interviews Alaska State Senator Hollis French, who does a great job of laying out the facts of the case and the further contradictions from Sarah Palin and her spokespeople.

He is also a big favorite of Alaskan bloggers.

This video cuts off before Rachel's comments about how intelligent and well spoken each representative from Alaska that has appeared on her show has been so far. And THIS Alaskan really appreciates that she took the air time to point that out. I truly hope that these appearances on her show and others have helped those in the lower 48 to see that Sarah Palin does not represent REAL Alaskans.

Sarah Palin to be deposed on Friday.

Gov. Sarah Palin, already found by one investigation to have abused her power, will take time from her vice presidential campaign Friday to give a deposition in a second inquiry into her firing of the state’s top public safety official. It will be the first deposition in the affair by the Republican vice presidential candidate. Palin wasn’t subpoenaed to answer questions in an investigation by the state Legislature, though her husband, Todd, gave an affidavit in that probe.

I was very excited when I first read this because I thought that Governor Sarah was deigning to return to Alaska. I naively thought, "Maybe we will get video of the deposition" or "Perhaps some local news outlets will finally get a chance to ask her some REAL questions". Since apparently Alaska counts as the REAL America.

But I should have known better.

The Palins’ attorney, Thomas Van Flein, said Tuesday that the governor and her husband will both give depositions Friday afternoon outside of Alaska, but declined to say where. She is on the campaign trail as Republican John McCain’s running mate. McCain-Palin campaign spokesman Taylor Griffin said Palin’s Friday schedule has not been released.

I should have known better. My guess is that Governor Sarah will not lower herself to return to our little back water until she has been soundly defeated and slinks back to Wasilla to lick her wounds and formulate her plans for a Presidential run in 2012.

Maybe then we will get a chance to see the fancy new duds that she has buying for herself with GOP money.

So I cannot help but wonder when this second investigation will reveal? Will we see some of that super secret information that the Branchflower report decided was too sensitive? And will this report come out before November 4th? And will we even get a chance to see it?

Stay tuned kids for the continuing saga of "Sarah Palin and her imploding political career".

Walt Monegan would like his good name back thank you very much.

Gov. Sarah Palin's former public safety commissioner says the governor smeared him and he wants a hearing to clear his name.

Walt Monegan on Monday asked the state personnel board to allow him a chance to disprove the vice presidential nominee's assertion he was a "rogue" and insubordinate commissioner. The board is investigating Palin's July dismissal of Monegan.

"Governor Palin's public statements accusing Mr. Monegan of serious misconduct were untrue and they have stigmatized his good name, severely damaged -- and continue to damage -- his reputation, and impaired his ability to pursue future professional employment in law enforcement and related fields," said the hearing request filed by Monegan's lawyer, Jeff Feldman.

Who can blame Mr. Monegan for wanting to clear his name, after it was dragged through the mud to hide the real reason that Palin fired him?

Before this incident there was probably not a more ethical public service in all of Alaska then Walt Monegan, and then this honorable man ws forced to defend himself while Governor Palin, and the John McCain campaign slandered him up one side and down the other.

The very least he deserves is to have his good name back.

He also deserves an apology. He deserves an apology form Sarah Palin for lying about why she fired him. He deserves an apology from Palin mouthpiece Meg Stapleton for calling him a "rogue", with all that definition implies. And he deserves an apology from any Alaskans who failed to stand up to the lies that spilled forth from Sarah Palin and her minions about him.

We knew better, and yet many of us accepted the lies as truth simply because they came from our once popular Governor. All who fell for that load of garbage about such a decent man should be ashamed of themselves!

Palin's pet ethics investigation has gone "ROGUE"!

The state Personnel Board investigation of Gov. Sarah Palin's firing of Walt Monegan has broadened to include other ethics complaints against the governor and examination of actions by other state employees, according to the independent counsel handling the case.

The investigator, Tim Petumenos, did not say who else is under scrutiny. But in two recent letters describing his inquiry, he cited the consolidation of complaints and the involvement of other officials as a reason for not going along with Palin's request to make the examination of her activities more public.

Two other ethics complaints involving Palin are known. One, by activist Andree McLeod, alleges that state hiring practices were circumvented for a Palin supporter. The case is not related to Monegan's firing. The other, by the Public Safety Employees Association, alleges that trooper Mike Wooten's personnel file was illegally breached by state officials.
John Cyr, the PSEA executive director, said Monday the union plans to amend its complaint to be sure the board investigates "harassment" of Wooten as well.

Petumenos has not spoken to the press, in keeping with the secrecy of the state process. But he gave a rough description of the investigation's course in two letters to an Anchorage attorney threatening a lawsuit over Palin's effort to waive confidentiality.

Holy "shot herself in the foot" Batman! It looks like Sarah has opened up a whole new can of worms in her reckless attempt to debunk the Branchflower Report.

I believe it is time for the evil laugh. "Bwua Ha Ha Ha"!

Wow I have never seen a political candidate explode in slow motion before. I find it very entertaining.

Let's see what Jon Stewart has to say about the Branchflower Report. I bet its funny.

Yeah where is Palin always going in such a hurry?

I think she has to return to a secret room where they keep trying to teach her to say only smart things. And they are very, very frustrated.

Everybody always wants to send their best and the brightest to Washington, but we sent our worst and dimmest.

Keith talks about Troopergate's ethical findings and to the Village Voice's Wayne Barrett, about that great house Todd built all by his lonesome.

Another day, another Palin scandal. I swear if this keeps up I may have to quit my day job!

I must give a hat tip to my friend AK Muckraker who covered this story two days ago. Muckraker did such a great job of pointing out the inconsistencies with the First Dude's version of this story that I felt that I could not add anything to the story at the time.

But by God I can certainly add a clip from Countdown and allow Keith Olbermann and the reporter who broke the story to provide further illumination now can't I?

Is it possible there may be another, even heavier shoe about to drop in the Sarah Palin Troopergate affair?

As we all know the Branchflower report just came out saying that even though the firing of Walt Monegan in and of itself was not an illegal act, that Palin DID abuse her powers by allowing a personal vendetta against Trooper Wooten to be conducted using state resources and access by herself and Todd Palin.

Surprisingly Palin, and her toady little spokesperson Meg Stapleton, have decided that that the report clears them of any criminality or ethics violation. Because in the fantasy world that envelopes the McCain/Palin campaign, up is down, and black is clearly white.

However there is still another pending investigation that, believe it or not, Sarah Palin launched against herself.

Here is what Newsweek magazine says about that:

McCain campaign spokeswoman Meg Stapleton dismissed the report as the product of "a partisan-led inquiry run by Obama supporters." But there could be more land mines ahead. Some weeks ago, the McCain team devised a plan to have Palin file an ethics complaint against herself with the State Personnel Board, arguing that it alone was capable of conducting a fair, nonpartisan inquiry into whether she fired Monegan because he refused to fire Wooten, who had been involved in a messy custody battle with her sister. Some Democrats ridiculed the move, noting that the personnel board answered to Palin. But the board ended up hiring an aggressive Anchorage trial lawyer, Timothy Petumenos, as an independent counsel. McCain aides were chagrined to discover that Petumenos was a Democrat who had contributed to Palin's 2006 opponent for governor, Tony Knowles. Palin is now scheduled to be questioned next week, and the counsel's report could be released soon after. "We took a gamble when we went to the personnel board," said a McCain aide who asked not to be identified discussing strategy. While the McCain camp still insists Palin "has nothing to hide," it acknowledges a critical finding by Petumenos would be even harder to dismiss.

I actually had to step away from my keyboard until my I got my giggles under control. Because this report may prove to be one of the most laugh out loud funny chapters in this political farce.

That the investigation Sarah Palin launched to minimize the impact of the real investigation might end up harming her reputation and credibility even more then the Branchflower Report, would be what we usually refer to as Karma. And sometimes my friends, Karma is a bitch.