If that was why Palin fired him, she would have done it much earlier. The timing fits his acts of insubordination.

the hacks in alaska want us to believe that sarah did something wrong. the review board in alaska is in truth polically motivated. all of the first 3 are in fact obama supporters.

The story does not enthrall the public because it is too intimate and too trivial. Like the Clinton escapades the general public does not want this level of activity to be a subject of national interest.

In mixed company I have seen the few times anyone brought up the subject, some lady always mentions the taser and buck stops there

It doesn’t even have a long life span as gossip

If they push against Palin too hard on this one it will cause a rebound sympathy for her. She will be “Bill Clinton’d” which is a plus

At any rate, Branchflower’s wife worked for Monegan just a few years ago and publicly praised Monegan.

Therefore, based on Branchflower’s own “reasoning,” I hereby declare that Branchflower abused his authority to satisfy his grudge against Palin for demoting his wife’s friend.

Someone get in touch with Halcro and French. The investigation will start Monday morning.

That might be true to some extent, but the original complaint was filed by Palin’s father after Wooten threatened to kill him. So the whole thing started before Palin was Governor at which time Todd Palin was not the first Dude.

Damiano on October 11, 2008 at 2:30 PM

And to finish that though…. if Gov Palin had ordered him, as a Private citizen, to shut up about it, SHE would have been violating his Civil Rights…

Damiano on October 11, 2008 at 2:30 PM

Interesting point, but just because you are the Gov’s spouse does NOT mean you give up the Constitutional Right to “Petition for Redress”…. which is EXACTLY what he was doing.

He saw somthing that he thought was wrong, and used his Freedom of Speech, to petition the proper authorites to Redress somthing he saw as wrong.

unclesmrgol on October 11, 2008 at 2:10 PM

To say that Todd Palin does not have an “official” position would require that be consistent. Contrarily, Todd has legally and ethically represented Palin on official trips, at the Gubernatorial spouses tea, in campaigns (for her and others) and countless other capacities.

Official spouses hold a complex dual role where they are required to perform traditional duties, official duties, can hold delegated authority (like anyone else) and hold a well documented, accepted and acknowledged influence on the official spouse while maintaining status as a general citizen.

Put simply, you have whatever authority your spouse say you have. Period. If anyone is going to argue technicality in this area, you then need to cite nearly every first lady in history (on a State and Federal level) for all the trips they have taken, calls they have made, speeches they have given and work they have done. Hillary Clinton should never have had a White House office or staff. Michelle Obama should not be a surrogate for her husband or even introduce him at events, much less hold a prime time speaking slot at the DNC.

Palin tried to transfer Monegan, he took that as being fired.

No wonder we have such crappy people in government, it is impossible to fire anyone.

In the private sector you can be fired for looking cross eyed at your boss, but in government…why it is almost impossible.

Terrye on October 11, 2008 at 2:11 PM

Thanks, that’s what I thought. So the term “fired” in the report isn’t accurate. And I don’t think the public will buy the government is different concept. This guy wasn’t elected, he was appointed.

And as someone said, that explains why they released it on a Friday of a long weekend. If they really thought this would fly they would’ve waited until Monday.

It’s been pointed out that the use of the word “likely” is ridiculous, to put it mildly. It implies Branchflower is a mind reader. And even he admits Plain was within her legal rights to fire Monegan.
But wasn’t Monegan offered another position which he turned down and then was let go? So is that really being fired? In any business if you’re offered another position and turn it down, it isn’t considered being fired because you had an option to keep working.

Deanna on October 11, 2008 at 1:55 PM

100% correct. Monegan is not even eligible for unemployment for 2 reasons:

He was not unemployed through no fault of his own, evidenced by:
1. He turned down suitable alternative employment that was within his ability to perform and would not have resulted in any recognized hardship
2. He was terminated for insubordination; evidence of which was thoroughly documented and acknowledged as factual by both parties (even if the particulars are disputed)

The entire issue here is very simple- Liberals think that they are entitled to jobs, regardless of how they perform in that job, their qualifications or any other consideration.

Take the same in a different context- if this was a fry cook at McDonalds who was canned because he refused to account for his against policy usage of oil and potatoes, we’d never have this conversation.

Note to liberals- do the job that you are qualified to do, are hired to, as well as you can do it and according to established policies and you will never have a problem and can go to work in a reasonably pleasant environment that is reasonably free from drama. They only workplace drama that exists… ever… is when people start thinking that they are entitled to something other than a job and a check.

Palin tried to transfer Monegan, he took that as being fired.

No wonder we have such crappy people in government, it is impossible to fire anyone.

In the private sector you can be fired for looking cross eyed at your boss, but in government…why it is almost impossible.

I think you can safely forgo the complex reports and ethics wrangling for one simple concept. Todd Palin tried to get rid of a dangerous slimeball any way he could. To which, I say, awesome.

That’s going to resonate better than vague rumblings on “abuse of power.”

TheUnrepentantGeek on October 11, 2008 at 1:19 PM

Not any way he could. Wooten is still alive, even after Todd Palin encountered him on a snowmobile 100 miles out in the wilderness. Todd shot Wooten’s picture, not Wooten. Branchflower’s allegations of malfeasance (no court of law on this one, which the lefties conveniently ignore) doesn’t go that far.

Romeo13 makes a point with which I disagree:

Its all about TODD Palin, not the Govenor, and in one place says she is at fault because she did not use HER power to stop Todd.

Uh, Todd is a private citizen. He is not in Office. How is SHE held accountable for HIS actions…

Or, should Hillary be disbard for Bill’s lieing under oath?

If Todd Palin used state resources to press his case, and those state resources were provided by Sarah Palin to Todd for that use, abuse occurred by Sarah Palin. One would have expected something in the Branchflower report detailing such an improper use of state resources, but none was provided (at least in the parts of the Branchflower report we are permitted to examine). We don’t have the crusade occurring using Sarah Palin’s official e-mail account or her official phone, Todd Palin is rebuffed time and again by the officials involved — they understand his non-official citizen status, and remind him of it over and over.

Sarah’s concern seems to be not having Wooten be in her proximity — a valid concern. Monegan (the center of the controversy, since he was fired) does two things so “in your face” that they make me wonder whether he had his head screwed on right — he sends to the Governor a large photo of Trooper Wooten with a request that it be autographed by her, and then allows Trooper Wooten to disguise himself in a full body bear costume (”Safety Bear”) for the opening ceremonies of the Alaska State Fair, which Palin was to attend.

While door number one is spooky enough, I would say that door number two was so scary as to almost mandate firing, without even mentioning all the other doors which led Branchflower’s report to conclude that no laws were broken, even while making the contrasting finding that Palin violated ethics laws.

1. Most states, including Alaska, are “at-will” employment states. The meaning is simple- a person can quit for any reason or no reason at all and an employer can fire someone for any reason or no reason at all. Worst case scenario is a situation were someone is fired in violation of the Civil Rights Act, ADA or similar law or if (because it’s a government job) they were terminated under Whistleblower protections. Even then, the person is usually still fired but may be entitled to compensation via a civil lawsuit. None of these things applies to in this case.

2. Cabinet members serve at the discretion of the Governor. Palin is not required by any stretch of the imagination to give any reason for terminating a Cabinet member. The fact that she did give several valid reasons that had nothing to do with the trooper and were verified by the terminated idiot on several occasions (including TV interviews)and that she offered him a alternative position (which he declined) demonstrates that Palin was more than fair and went above and beyond any statutory or implied responsibility. She could have canned him because it was Tuesday and she woke up on the wrong side of the bed and he’d have absolutely no cause for any legitimate complaint.
3. Every citizen has the right (and arguably the duty)to complain about a corrupt public servant. See the Constitution and countless other laws for clarification on Free Speech and the role of citizens and government. That is what Todd did. Period. At best, you could argue that to avoid the ethical allegations (for which no evidence has yet been presented)he should have simply called from a cell phone or similar personally registered and paid for device. So, at best, Todd Palin should pay for any telephone charges related to his calls… UNLESS you allow that the role of “First Dude” carries an official or implied role within the state government. For example- Todd was expected, albeit unofficially, to host tea for the former gubernatorial spouses at the Governor’s Mansion. While this is not a official role, it is an established traditional one that has been accepted as a responsibility for a spouse, so it establishes that he has semi-official duties. He can also be assigned, like anyone else, to official duties at the discretion of the Governor and “deputized”, so-to-speak, with official authority as a representative of the Governor. For example- say Todd was delegated to call on behalf of the Governors office to pursue an official complain against an officer that had nothing to do with his family but was the same situation with an unaffiliated 3rd party. There would never have been an issue, since it is no more than a citizen complaint that was mandated for follow up by the Governor through her official representative. Official spouses represent their elected spouse at all levels of government to everything from civic function to international deals (see any First Lady in history). There is nothing remotely wrong with this. Had this been a 3rd party, Todd and Sarah would likely be commended by all involved for taking an official interest in and pursuing a citizen complaint against a trooper.