The Palin and The Probe

Originally Sarah Palin had welcomed the troopergate probe and said that she would happy cooperate with it. But once she became the GOP's VP candidate, she was not so welcoming. See how she did that? She got the probes hopes up and then totally dissed the probe, just like she dissed the poor 'ol bridge to nowhere. She sort of slammed the door in the poor confused probe's face. Said, "Thanks but no thanks, Probe." So what was the poor probe to do?  The probe did the only thing probes know how to do.

It probed anyway.

Now the probe, after completing all the probing, found that she illegally abused her power as Governor when she, the first dude, and her staffers made a total of 19 phone calls pressuring Alaska's Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan to fire their former brother-in-law. Why so many phone calls? Well, apparently the guy wouldn't take no for an answer. He kept expainin' to Palin' that, no, it's not legal to discipline a guy and then later fire him for the same reason without new evidence. But they kept askin' cuz they didn't get their way. Sound like anyone we know? Cough Bush Cough.

But aside from knowingly and willfully breaking the law (laws are so inconvenient, doncha know) there's the total debacle that followed. You see, when Palin' went to replace 'ol Walt Monegan she chose a guy named Chuck Kopp whom she knew from her campaign. Chuck was from Kenai and allegedly big into the whole sexual harrassment game. In fact, he had been reported several times. Nice vetting. Well, when the pesky mainstream media got ahold of that one, well, they were like flies on rotting moose meat. Kopp resigned 14 days later. Then, and here is the really wierd part, he gets a $10,000 severance package. Now, I don't know how it works up there in Ahhlaska, but where I'm from, you don't get severence when you quit. You get a handshake and a wave. But up there in in Oil Rich Alaska apparently your letter of resignation works like a check. Not only that, but in Chuck's case they didn't treat it as wages. It was a lump sum treated like a 1099 in exchange for agreeing not to sue the goverment. Hmmm.

Poor Monegan, by the way, didn't get a thing for his 38 years of service but a box to put his shit in. Except he did get the probe. And the probe got him a little justice - and a nice running start at the wrongful termination suit.