ANCHORAGE, AK - Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) today released the following statement regarding his campaign and the most recent vote tallies in Alaska:
"Given the number of ballots that remain to be counted, it is apparent the election has been decided and Mayor Begich has been elected."
The Palin Fail on abuse of power and ethics violation is a matter of record now. A non-partisan legislative council convicted her of those charges. The McCain machine response is that she wins because she does not face certain censure and impeachment due to her violations, only potential censure and impeachment. They - and most of the media - have missed the point.
The Palin administration has been convicted of rank amateurism. If this is the "executive experience" she touts, we are better off hiring an experienced executive crook like Ken Lay.
At least one person in the media didn't miss that.
[UPDATE 4] 9:28pm The report is out, and in brief it says: [sic]"She definitely did abuse power and break trust with the people, but we don't recommend a criminal investigation."
What this means is that those of her base will continue to be excited by what a Mavericky Maverick she is, and those on the fence will have yet another reason to question every word that comes out of her mouth.
She broke the public trust and abused the power of her office.
Expect the MSM to talk about this all weekend in between discussing how much the GOP has hosed the economy.
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The "Troopergate" report on Governor Palin's abuse of power is in the hands of the Legislative Council right now. They got their hands on the 200+ page report and 600+ pages of backup documentation this morning at 9am local time (1pm ET).
I am going to keep tabs on this and update this diary as events unfold.
Hat tip to Btchakir for alerting me to this great Salon piece on Sarah Palin's connections to the extreme right wing Alaska Independence Party.
The AIP have been instrumental in Palin's rise from small town mayor to the Governorship, along with a rag bag assortment of other far right wingers (including Palin's pastor who claimed that Alaska would become a refuge state during the rapture).
We became very close with a family in our village that had a child drown in a steel container of raw sewage. Let me say that again. They had a child drown in a steel container of raw sewage. Their child was simply outside playing and since there is no playground equipment for the kids to play on, they play on anything, often things too dangerous for children. In this case it was something commonly referred to as a "honey bucket." This is a steel container where house sewage is dumped since there is no indoor plumbing.
The image of Gov. Sarah Palin being promoted by the McCain campaign is of a straight-shooter who talks truth to power. The true image is of a person who lies repeatedly, even after being called out for her lies.
The Vice-Presidential debate offered more examples of her ability to lie with a straight face. All politicians obfuscate during debates and frequently misstate their opponent's position. But, not all of them make up lies as they go along. Gov. Palin did that at least twice during Thursday's debate.
One of the lies, about post-surge troop levels in Iraq, could have been caused by lack of knowledge on the part of Palin, but the other, about divestment of investments in Sudan, was a pure unadultrated prevarication.
GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is effectively turning over questions about her record as Alaska's governor to John McCain's political campaign, part of an ambitious Republican strategy to limit embarrassing disclosures and carefully shape her image for voters in the rest of the country.
This is not going over well in Alaska. I’ll use my usual caveat that there are lots of Alaskans who happily subscribe to the “Sarah right or wrong” mentality, and will continue to do so. However, the progressive take on this whole latest mess is only slightly short of taking torches and pitchforks and surrounding the Attorney General’s office, demanding an end to the stonewalling. I’ve watched Alaskan progressives that I personally know go from saying, “Wow! I can’t believe I voted for a Republican!” to, “She’s doing OK. I don’t agree with everything, but I don’t regret my vote” to being so furiously seething angry they just can’t say anything.
When asked why we were attacked on 9/11, Sarah Palin answered because the terrorists hate our freedoms. While she has been derided for her lack of foreign policy experience, she may have come up with the most innovative program yet to deter terrorists: taking those freedoms away.
Just like many Middle Eastern countries, Mayor Palin punished the women of Wasilla for reporting rape. Her administration charged them substantial fees for the rape kits used to prove the crime. After being attacked, a Wasilla woman could look forward to being billed up to $1200 in return for a grueling forensic pelvic exam.
Sarah Palin has provided the ultimate example of why a female candidate is no substitute for a candidate who cares about women. Compare Palin and Biden's records on violence against women, an issue on which both sides normally agree. The political right may not always prioritize the cause, but it does not disagree that domestic violence is destructive of families and that rape is fundamentally wrong. Yet Palin sailed right past apathy to downright punishment of women for reporting rapes.
