Get yourself up to speed by reading this nifty recap from Monday’s Anchorage Daily News. Nutshell version: She fired Walt Monegan, her commissioner of Public Safety, for reasons that are unclear. Monegan claims it was because he refused to fire state trooper Mike Wooten, Palin’s former brother-in-law against whom she’s supposedly had a longstanding vendetta. What’s her problem with Wooten? Like I say, read the ADN piece, which is brimming with colorful nuance involving tasers and “f’ng lead bullets.” She insists the Monegan decision had nothing to do with family issues, but the state legislature voted this week to order a probe, which is probably enough to scare McCain away in case he was thinking of going in this direction.

Monegan’s firing, incidentally, came just three weeks ago. Exit question: Would any sane politician with a shot at the national ticket and a reputation for ethics do something so scurrilous and petty while she’s being vetted? It’d be one thing if she sank Monegan last year, when she thought no one was looking, but she did this with the eyes of conservative America upon her. The dirty version is implausible under the circumstances. I question the timing.