Troopergate report worse than it sounds

The McCain campaign would like to dismiss the damaging report on Gov. Palin's long-running battle to get her former brother-in-law fired as exonerating her from wrong-doing.

Not so fast.

It is true that Palin had the authority to fire Commissioner of Public Safety Walt Monegan for any reason; and it is true that she stated other reasons for firing him -- some minor thing about the budget. It just happened that he had also stood up to pressure and refused to fire her former brother-in-law, Trooper Mike Wooten. Complaints against Wooten had already been investigated and appropriate action taken before Palin even became governor. She wanted to re-open the case and was determined to have him fired.

The bipartisan report, which was released with unanimous consent of the committee, is damaging for other reasons. According to Time Magazine, the report states that:

"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.

Both the Palin appointed state head of personnel and her attorney general called to pressure Monegan and had to be reminded by him that it was inappropriate to discuss personnel matters with them and that the call could put both of them in legal jeopardy if Wooten sued.

According to Time, it is this shockingly amateurish behavior and transparent ham-handedness in exerting pressure to fire a relative of the governor that is likely to end in embarrassment for her.

And Time concludes: "But even though she won't likely face any legal repercussions, the amateurism and cronyism of her brief administration hardly leaves Palin sitting pretty. Troopergate's final verdict may be even more damaging than a rebuke: her administration was, at least in this regard, just as self-motivated as the Washington fat cats and lobbyists she hopes to unseat."

I have to admit, however, that compared to the embarrassment of their current campaign antics, this now sounds like small potatos; and it will probably soon be forgotten in the tidal wave of sinking polls and outraged denunciations of their hate-mongering rallies by Republicans and by conservative pundits.

Never mind. In 25 more days, she will be back in Alaska, and we can all forget about it.

Ralph