"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape
finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."
~ Marcus Aurelius ~
Posted on 06/25/2010 10:03:27 AM PDT by Bob J
Information in this post is gleened from two sources;
http://www.facebook.com/notes/sarah-palin/the-cost-of-legal-warfare-a-few-words-about-todays-defense-fund-agreement/401885808434
http://www.adn.com/2010/06/24/1339431/settlement-of-ethics-complaint.html
Yesterday, Sarah Palin's legal defense fund was judged to be in violation of State ethics laws. I have followed this controversy and to be fair, I found the objections to it to be a little thin, but most of us don't live in Alaska and are not famliar with the subtle tones of their ethics laws and issues.
I will say this, IMO most if not al of the problems with it could have been avoided early on but Palin in concert with her advisors made several bad decisions and missteps that brought it to this point.
1. Alaska State Ethics Laws
Much is made of the back bencher dems in Alaska who filed ethics complaint after ethics complaint which "hounded" Palin out of office. But we have to remember this severely flawed ethics law was one that was championed by Palin and which she signed into law.
Now it happens that sometimes flawed laws get passed and signed but when they are discovered it is possible to go back and fix it. From the beginning of these ethics charges right up until now I've never understood why a Republican Governor with a 2/3rds majority in the State Congress couldn't just go back and amend the law allow the State Attorney General the ability to handle and defend these issues (like most states) and also if the charges are thrown out or deemed without merit allow the politician in question to recover any legal costs incurred.
Seems reasonable to me, why was this never done, maybe never contemplated by Palin or the pubs in Alaska? Palin supporters make much hay about how the law is flawed, how it was used to harass and bankrupt her, just fix it, dammit!
2. Rejecting sound legal advice
Supporters repeat over and over how Palin was only following the advice of her attornesy, fair enough, that's what most do. But this isn't entirely true. Yes Palin accepted what ammounted to the final product of her advisors but early on it was "strongly advised" by her personal attorney to have the fund vetted by the Alaska Department of Law to make sure it was legal under Alaska ethics law.
"But Palin instead chose to follow the advice of another attorney who recommended against seeking input from the attorney general, and instead to simply contest the "inevitable" ethics complaint when it came, Petumenos wrote in his report."
Huh? Why?
3. The "Alaskan" Connection
Next, Palin asked that "we keep it Alaskan".
Now I'm not exactly sure what this means but I guess it means that it be controlled and staffed by Alaskans. It seems to me a competent chief executive would want to get the best possible people to handle affairs no matter where they come from. But this led to her team turning down an offer from a former White House Special Counsel to serve as trustee. Instead she chose a personal friend and community volunteer, Kristan Cole.
Huh? Why? The stated reason was that Cole was someone Alaskans would know, but what difference would that make? Probably 95% of donations would be coming from outside the state, it seems those donors would recognize and a former White House Councel over some soccer mom friend of Sarah's. The only reason I can think of is because it has been the case (although who knows in this one) that trustees of these kinds of fun receive a considerable salary to market, manage and disburse the fund. Maybe Palin wanted to "keep it in the family" like Hillary did when she made the famous White House Travel Office scandal comment "We have to get OUR people in these spots".
Whatever, that decision was involved in her losing this ethics complaint because Palin had appointed Cole to several volunteer boards and therefore "worked" for Palin and the relationship could engender a political payback down line.
Thin, I agree, but could have been avoided if she hadn't rejected good sound advice and offers.
4. The Name and Website.
This one I just don't understand. They decided to call this the "Alaska Fund Trust".
Huh? Why not call it the "Sarah Palin Legal Defense Fund" so no one would be confused as to it's purpose? Second, on the website created for the fund they described it as "Official". Well the word "official" has legal connotations. By slapping that lable on it they gave the impression it was sanctioned not only by the Governor but by the State of Alaska.
Just a dumb move. But that's what happens when you have your volunteer personal friends handling things and making decisions instead of experienced, competent professionals. And if it wasn't her frinds making those decisions then it means Palin was, which is even more disturbing.
Palin supporters want us to believe she is ready for the oval office. I've researched her history and find these kind of missteps and bad decisions throughout her career. In this case it wasn't five or ten years ago, these things happened in the last year or so.
If Palin can't handle and make good decisions in something as simple as a legal defense fund, how can we trust her to make the right decisions sittig in the oval office with her finger on the button?
Considering your cultish like obsession with Palin, it seems that some sort of Syndrome must be in place here. You hump Palin threads far more than anyone you accuse of being a Palin cultist.
This reminds me of the Westboro Baptists obsession with gay people. They claim to oppose them, yet, there they are every time something gay happens. It makes me wonder what is really in their closet.
On that same note, considering that every time you hump a Palin thread, you bump it to the top, it makes me wonder what is really in your closet about this.
Tell me who you support as a candidate and I’m 100% certain I and others on this site can find an instance where they exercised judgment that we may deem unacceptable.
I’ll take her legal defense fund issue over Mitt Romney’s intentional mandated healthcare law for his state any day. And while Palin is doing what she can to correct this “issue”, Romney is still out there touting how wonderful his plan is.
No thanks.
"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape
finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."
~ Marcus Aurelius ~
Get a fecking hobby or other diversion, Bob.
I’m waiting for the “Housewives of Wassilla” marathon before I decide whose side I’m on.
I agree with you. She is a great political figure, but nowhere near ready to be President of anything, except maybe the Sarah Palin Self Promotion Society.
What a foolish post...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v258/alb345/FR/brainfart1.jpg
Imagine that.
PDS Sufferer: “Sarah Palin is a corrupt, stupid moron who isn't fit for office! She's also in bed with alien invaders!”
Pro-Palin Freeper: “That's ridiculous, and your accusations are baseless!”
PDS Sufferer: “You must be another Palin worshipper!”
“All you do is post anti-Palin stuff.”
Pointing that out to Bob J will only go to prove that YOU are unreasonably enamored with Palin. You nut! /s LOLOLOLOL
B oring
O bnoxious
B @stard
J uvenile
Bob J is heading for Freeper “legendhood” as the classic anti-Palin role model.
She wouldn't have *needed* a legal defense fund in the first place if she weren't facing trumped up charges from the Dem machine.
This is just a last-ditch effort to try to smear her.
Nice try though, Willard.
Cheers!
Your PDS is making you insane, Bob.
Go infest somewhere else.
Is it healthy to be this obsessed with Governor Palin?
Yes. But that won't make any difference to many people.
This thread was posted by someone that hasn’t kept up with the facts in the case, and has no desire to be confused by them.
The only thing about the fund that was deemed wrong was the word “official” anf the investigators stated plainly that there was clearly no criminal intent found.
In other words, why is BobJ scrounging around in Palin’s toilet looking for used TP?
.
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