Just for the record......

Is the whole state of Alaska corrupt, or just Palin? She's an embarassment as a representative of the Alaskan people

I think it is truly sad to see a woman who once was for ethical governance, stood up to big oil, and who seemed to truly care about the people suddenly become so devoid of morals and ethics all because of an ambitious pursuit. What is truly sad is that should McCain/Palin lose, she will likely return to find the investigation completed (if they don't find a way around these unethical attorneys mccain has "sic"d in an attempt to prevent this investigation) and to find herself facing impeachment - having lost face and lost the respect of so many people, she will also lose her governorship as well - and for what? to pacify a sleaze like mccain and risk everything for him while he will have lost nothing.....truly sad.

As I sit here reading this blog I am very sad. Sad for this State. What a mess. All of this could have been avoided if Palin would have just told the truth. Now they sit around at night and try to figure out who to lie about next. Meg should be ashamed - if she does not know she is telling lies then she is not qualified to be in the position. The guy from NY - he sure knows alot about Alaska - yea right. I feel really bad for Monagan and you to Andrew. All you guys did was stand up for what is right and you have now become targets of a Vindictive Nasty Administration. As a Republican I just cannot vote this time in the Presidential Election. Would not Vote for Obama and Would Never Ever Vote for Palin in any capacity. Well I would Vote to Impeach her given the chance.

As a non-Alaskan just on this site to learn more about this woman I instinctively distrusted (seems to me like the love child of Bush and Cheney), I'm partly relieved to hear so many Alaskans feel the same way, but also disturbed that your voices aren't getting to the other 48 states. You're right that the middle of the country is eating it up, and a lot of California is too. Please do whatever you can to speak up so everyone else learns from your experiences with her, bc people are busy and don't check their facts and want to believe in candidates of their own party and... please speak up, especially if you are a Republican. I used to believe McCain was honest if misguided, but now, what a whore! I also talked to my uncle, who was a POW at the same time as McCain, and he doesn't trust him a bit—always voted Republican until 2004 and won't this time either.

One more chip in the moral degradation of society. This time its at the hands of a Republican leader who also is a conservative christian. Imagine that. Who would have thought it?

Monegan and Wooten - birds of a feather? http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2008/09/15/BALE12T2N3.DTL North to Alaska: It turns out that well before he was jettisoned for what he says was his refusal to fire trooper Wooten at the behest of Sarah Palin, Monegan had his own share of domestic troubles - some of them spilling all the way down to the Bay Area. In October 1994, Monegan's estranged wife, who had moved from Alaska to the Peninsula with the couple's two daughters after more than 10 years of marriage, sought a temporary restraining order against him - accusing Monegan of threatening to kill her, waving a gun at her and dislocating her shoulder, according to her declaration on file in Santa Clara County Superior Court. In an interview last week, Georgene Moldovan said Monegan had threatened several times to throw her body in an Alaska river. Monegan, 57, who has since remarried, vigorously denied Moldovan's allegations, both in court papers filed at the time and in an interview with us last week. "I'm not a door slammer - I don't punch walls," he said. Monegan admitted to dislocating Moldovan's shoulder, but said it was an accident that had happened before they were married, while they "were wrestling and tickling." Moldovan was an emergency room doctor and professor at Stanford and shuttled back and forth from Alaska to the Peninsula the last seven years of their marriage. Monegan asked her for a divorce in 1993, but snapped when he learned he might lose the couple's house, she says. One day in April 1993, she said in her court filing, "he pulled out his gun and waved it at me outside my home and yelled he would kill me if I stopped him." In the interview, Moldovan said Monegan "would show up unannounced and break into my apartment and do threatening things. I was forced to get a restraining order because I was really fearful he was going to harm me." Monegan denounced the allegations as "either half-truths or pure fabrications." He points out that Moldovan made her accusations in the midst of a bitter fight over who would get the couple's daughters. If any of the allegations had been documented, he said, he would have been fired from his Anchorage police job and never been hired by Palin as Alaska's top cop in 2006. As for whether any of his own troubles might have clouded his judgment in dealing with Palin's ex-brother-in-law amid his messy divorce, Monegan says no. "In a nutshell, I never have and I never will condone domestic violence," he said. And while Monegan hasn't spoken to his ex-wife in years, he says, he is still on very good terms with her first husband - Alaska's U.S. attorney, Nelson Cohen.

For those of us who know Talis it was a sad day indeed when he went back on his word. What most people don't know is what a thoroughly upright fellow he is, a man of his word. He will not continue on this path and will be the next major shoe to drop, tendering his resignation. In fact MSB Mayor Curt Menard, a close personal friend of Talis, was called in to have a long talk with him after he was poised to depart. Menard convinced him to stay but only after a lot of pleading, support and advice. Talis will whore himself to no one, at least not for long. You heard it here first.

I thought Van Flein indicated Talis Colberg couldn't represent the administration as he had a conflict in interest since he had also talked to Monegan. "The Department of Law had a potential conflict of interest, because Mr. Colberg, Attorney General Colberg, made contact with Mr. Monegan about Trooper Wooten," Van Flein said. "That would make him a potential witness, and thus there's a potential conflict." Aren't State employees part of the "administration"?

Sarah's email has been hacked and the contents posted on the Internet. I'm sure she "deserved it." http://gawker.com/5051193/sarah-palins-personal-emails

Andrew, Are you trying to tell us that Sarah Palin, all her staff, family and friends are all lying? About everything? everyone? Where is the smoking gun? Now you tell us that you haven't even talked to the main characters involved and you have all the answers? I have been trying real hard to do my due diligence when deciding who to vote for this fall. I have done a lot of research on both McCain and Obama seeking not just the truth, rather getting into the heads of these folks. Unfortunately, my thoughts have also been overwhelmed with all the negative reporting since Palin was announced. Thus, my research begins into Palin's history and you know what? There isn't very much there. That is a big PLUS for me. She hasn't been corrupted by the "good ol' boy's" in Washinton, D.C. and there is corruption in Washington despite our ewwwing and ahhhing over these "celebrities." I am further frustrated with the media and talking heads who were so shell-shocked by Palin's nomination and lack of "Washington experience," that they have become the baracudda's. So, what I would like to see from the media is what it is you guys are reading from? Where are you getting your information? What evidence do you have that supports your conclusions about the Palin administration? The media has locked in on the Palin story and no amount of investigating will be enough to disavow the conspiracy theorist. Most everyone I talk to is confused by the reporting, this is not what we have seen in our government. Before, yes, with Murkowski, Stevens, Young and all the federal indictments coming down. Our U.S. Congressional delegation has been an embarrassment to Alaskans for many years now and now we know why. Our state legislature also suffers from misguided arrogant political elitism that infers, "We the people..." are not smart enough to read between the lines. Instead of "gossip," which is all any of this is without the evidence - why don't you or your collegues produce a program where everything is laid out on the table for all to see. Really, we could save the State of Alaska a $100,000 and send Branchflower back to his regular job. You see if anyone had all the answers about Palin, Troopergate, Monegan there wouldn't be a story, would there? Good Day Cindy Chugiak, AK P.S. After the media's attack on Palin and her family I don't blame her or the McCain team for putting her out there for more of the same. The attack on Palin is unprecedented in the history of US presidential campaigns. Furthermore, if Senator Hollis French had kept his mouth shut, Palin might have honored her commitment to open and transparent government. Personally, I have met and interacted with Monegan while attending classes with him at UAA. I was not impressed with his opinions and attitude then and I am not impressed now. My research has revealed that Monegan's ex-wife a physican/professor alleged domestic violence of the nature alleged against Wooten. These facts alone should have disqualified Monegan from even looking at the Wooten allegations. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2008/09/15/BALE12T2N3.DTL Ok I am done now.

I wonder how many people have emailed the governor...er, excuse me - the woman claiming the title of governor and claiming she cares about all Alaskans...to tell her how disgusted and saddened they are that she's allowed the McCain campaign to hijack our state, our legislature and our courts? If this is her version of open and transparent - I'm moving to Russia! cuz...you know, I can see it from my house!

Attorney General Colberg states that the legislature's subpeonas place "our clients" in a bad position. "Our clients"????? The duty of the Attorney General is to prosecute the laws of the state and to represent the State, not individual state employees (let alone First Dudes). See AS 44.23.020. Among his explicitly described duties is one to render advice to the legislature, as well as the executive branches. Colberg cannot represent individuals against the legislature. He has very clearly stepped over the ethical line and should resign.

From the desk of Rep. Les Gara, Anchorage, Alaska... Since Monday the McCain camp has stepped up its personal attacks against Alaskans. They've continued their D.C.-style tactics against neighbors in this small state. The game plan is to find an excuse to stop our Legislature's Troopergate investigation, and hide evidence McCain's folks really don't want to surface before November's election. It's been a little Karl Rove, and parts Laurel and Hardy. How else can you explain the following? Friday the Attorney General's office promised state witnesses would comply with subpoenas the Legislature issued last week. Tuesday the Governor's Attorney General flip flopped, and announced that state witnesses wouldn't comply because, well, and I'm paraphrasing here - - he's changed his mind. And in what has to be an idea hatched after a 4th Martini at Chilkoot Charlies, Governor Palin's attorneys have filed a motion to dismiss the ethics claim she filed against herself two weeks ago. Yup. She really filed a complaint against herself. Tuesday she said she's discovered, after a thorough investigation of herself, that she's done nothing wrong. Does anyone know how to get a hold of Jon Stewart and Tina Fey? It's silly season up here in the far north, but this week's moves are aimed at one thing: John McCain's effort to find cover for being disingenuous. See, before Governor Palin's nomination for the Republican VP spot, she did the honest thing. She admitted the evidence -- of roughly 20 contacts between her staff and husband with Public Safety officials, seeking the firing of Governor Palin's former brother-in-law -- might lead a reasonable person to the conclusion that the she misused her office to fire a state employee. So when Alaska's Republican-led Legislature called for an investigation, she did the honorable thing and said she and her staff would comply. She denies any wrongdoing. Things changed on August 29 when Governor Palin was added to the McCain ticket. Since then his handlers have told her she can't testify. They don't want the evidence in this case to come out. They don't want her to testify under oath. They don't want other witnesses to testify under oath. So they have engaged in daily maneuvers to attack, as disloyal to the McCain campaign, anyone who wants the investigation to move forward. They've now attacked two well respected prosecutors, and perhaps the state's most highly regarded law enforcement official -- the Public Safety Commissioner she hired, and then fired, Walt Monegan. Every day this week McCain operatives have sung the same tune. Today a guy with an East Coast accent, who knows nothing about Alaska, stood in front of a McCain-Palin banner to lead the attacks against people he doesn't know. At press conferences on Monday and Tuesday campaign staffer Megan Stapleton spit vitriol to repeat her argument that this investigation is really a "Democratic" attack on Governor Palin. See, that's easier than just saying their VP has reneged on her promise to testify. It's easier than just saying they don't want anyone testifying before the November election. It's easier than admitting they are stonewalling a legislative investigation. Oh -- and I know they hate partisan stuff. Yesterday 5 Republican legislators -- all allies of Governor Palin, all supporters of the McCain campaign, filed a lawsuit against the Legislature to stop the investigation. Here are a few things MCCain's operatives failed to say. There are a few small facts that make it hard to style this as a Democratic investigation. One is that Alaska is a Republican State. We have a Republican Governor and a Legislature of 34 Republicans and 26 Democrats. This summer the Legislature's Legislative Council voted 12-0 (8 Republicans and 4 Democrats) to hire an investigator, and appointed Democratic Senator Hollis French, a well-respected former prosecutor, to find an investigator. Governor Palin stated she and her employees would comply with the investigation. French then hired Steve Branchflower, a former DA who most recently was hired by legislative Republicans to run the state's Office of Victims rights. And on Friday the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 3-2 (2 Democrats and 1 Republican in favor); and the House Judiciary Committee issued a 7 - 0 (5 Republicans, 2 Democrats) advisory vote, to issue subpoenas to witnesses the McCain camp had previously stopped from testifying. Over the last two days McCain's outside operatives have vilified former prosecutor Hollis French -- as an Obama supporter who must have called this investigation to hurt the McCain ticket. But French was appointed to oversee the investigation by a 12 - 0 Legislative Council vote, and is probably the state's most respected legislator -- by Republicans and Democrats alike. He's so popular the Republican Party couldn't find anyone to run against him this year. They've called former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan -- a Native Alaskan who has served Republican and Democratic Administrations with honor, and put his life on the line in uniform- - "insubordinate." Odd, given that when Governor Palin fired him she offered him a different job. I guess being "insubordinate" was a job requirement for the new position. And they've challenged the independence of an investigator and former DA, who has no animus anyone can find. Those Swift boat ads taught the McCain folks that if you say something untrue enough times, it can stick. My favorite moment of the week came when Governor Palin's attorneys filed a motion to dismiss Palin's ethics complaint against herself. Stay with me. Her attorneys have been buying the peyote, not me. See, on August 29 they needed to find a way to stop the Legislature's investigation. They tried asking the Republican leaders to call it off, and take one for the team. But the Senate President and others honorably said no. So they came up with an argument that the State Personnel Board -- 3 people appointed by Governor Palin and her Republican predecessor Frank Murkowski - had "exclusive jurisdiction" to investigate wrongdoing by the Governor. The Legislature wasn't amused. So Governor Palin then filed a complaint against herself. That, they said, put "jurisdiction" in the hands of their friends at the Personnel Board. They argued that since the Personnel Board was now proceeding with an "investigation," the Legislature couldn't. To put icing on the cake, on Monday the Governor's attorneys moved to dismiss the Governor's case against herself. They said, and I loosely paraphrase again -- that they tried really hard and just couldn't find any evidence that the Governor did anything wrong. OK. I can't believe I just wrote that. And I wish it weren't true. These are the things you have to do when your presidential candidate doesn't want his VP to honor a promise, and doesn't want evidence to come out before an election. These are the things you have to do if your folks aren't going to comply with a subpoena. That's because without spin the headline might read: "McCain Interferes With Investigation Palin Agreed To." How easy it is to re-write a headline. They learned that during the Swift boat campaign too. All we can hope for is that members of the press will abide by what's taught in journalism school. Not to repeat the spin of political operatives without reporting the truth. Not to write "he said she said" stories, and pretend the truth is somewhere in the middle. But to report the facts. No matter how you spin it, Governor Palin promised to comply with this Legislative Investigation. McCain's folks got her to change her position. And the Legislature that voted for the investigation did so on a bi-partisan basis. End of story. End of headline. Over the next few days McCain's folks will try to get local legislators to step in line, out of party loyalty, and reverse their vote to investigate Troopergate. But many local Republicans, like Senate President Lyda Green, have so far refused to play those politics. Stay for more from McCain's Campaign for "Change." They've tried to change the truth. They've succeeded at changing Governor Palin's promise to comply with this investigation. Let's see what they'll change next. Rep. Les Gara, Anchorage, Alaska