John McCain is the kind of poker player who bets big without looking at his own hole cards. Shame on him for choosing an unvetted vice presidential running mate.
Nathan Thornburgh:
What the Troopergate Report Really Says: Did Governor Sarah Palin abuse the power of her office in trying to get her former brother-in-law, State Trooper Mike Wooten, fired? Yes.
Was the refusal to fire Mike Wooten the reason Palin fired Commissioner of Public Safety Walt Monegan? Not exclusively....
[T]he Branchflower report still makes for good reading, if only because it convincingly answers a question nobody had even thought to ask: Is the Palin administration shockingly amateurish? Yes, it is. Disturbingly so. The 263 pages of the report show a co-ordinated application of pressure on Monegan so transparent and ham-handed that it was almost certain to end in public embarrassment for the governor. The only surprise is that Troopergate is national news.... Not only did people at almost every level of the Palin administration engage in repeated inappropriate contact with Walt Monegan and other high-ranking officials at the Department of Public Safety, but Monegan and his peers constantly warned these Palin disciples that the contact was inappropriate and probably unlawful. Still, the emails and calls continued — in at least one instance on recorded state trooper phone lines.
The state's head of personnel, Annette Kreitzer, called Monegan and had to be warned that personnel issues were confidential. The state's attorney general, Talis Colberg, called Monegan and had to be reminded that the call was putting both men in legal jeopardy, should Wooten decide to sue. The governor's chief of staff met with Monegan and had to be reminded by Monegan that, "This conversation is discoverable ... You don't want Wooten to own your house, do you?"
Monegan consistently emerges as the adult in these conversations, while the Palin camp displays a childish impetuousness and sense of entitlement...
Pallin is the reason McCain will lose this election. He should have known better. That he choose her anyway is a deal killer to a lot of folks who were thinking of voting for McCain. What happened to the guy we were all going to support Kerry's running mate? What happened to that guy?
Posted by: ken | October 12, 2008 at 08:37 PM
What we amateurish they call Alaskan. Remember that it's the end of the road in more ways than one, and they'll be the first to tell you that they don't give a damn how we do things down south.
Posted by: Jrossi | October 12, 2008 at 09:23 PM
can you imagine how it will be if somehow she gets to be VP, or even worse president???
Posted by: Fred | October 12, 2008 at 10:22 PM
Insurgents are often amateurish. By definition, they're not part of the governing structure and don't therefore know the ways in which the governing structure stays within the rules while getting its own way. Palin was the face of an insurgency within the Alaskan Republican party.
Jonathan Raban's piece in the LRB has a lot more on Palin's egregious behaviour as both Mayor and Governor.
Posted by: jim | October 13, 2008 at 06:13 AM
America needs another VP with "abuse of powers" issues, right?
Posted by: Neal | October 13, 2008 at 06:31 AM
"What happened to the guy we were all going to support Kerry's running mate?"
Who is this "we" of which you speak?
Posted by: Malaclypse | October 13, 2008 at 12:14 PM
I thought McCain's game was craps, not poker.
Poker takes some thought, and insight into the other players, for which McCain has neither skill nor interest.
Obama, on the other hand, does very well at poker.
Posted by: Pyre | October 14, 2008 at 01:44 AM