Posted on 10/09/2008 6:21:01 PM PDT by steve-b
The 2007 state fair was days away when Alaska's public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, took another call about one of his troopers, Michael Wooten. This time, the director of Gov. Sarah Palin's Anchorage office was on the line.
As Mr. Monegan recalls it, the aide said the governor had heard that Mr. Wooten was assigned to work the kickoff to the fair. If so, Mr. Monegan should do something about it, because Ms. Palin was also planning to attend and did not want the trooper nearby.
Somewhat bewildered, Mr. Monegan soon determined that Mr. Wooten had indeed volunteered for duty at the fairgrounds — in full costume as "Safety Bear," the troopers' child-friendly mascot.
Two years earlier, the trooper and the governor's sister had been embroiled in a nasty divorce and child-custody battle that had hardened the Palin family against him. To Mr. Monegan and several top aides, the state fair episode was yet another example of a fixation that the governor and her husband, Todd, had with Mr. Wooten and the most granular details of his life.
"I thought to myself, 'Man, do they have a heavy-duty network and focus on this guy,' " Mr. Monegan said. "You'd call that an obsession."
On July 11, Ms. Palin fired Mr. Monegan, setting off a politically charged scandal that has become vastly more so since Ms. Palin became the Republican vice-presidential nominee.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
At will position, serving at the convenience of the Governor. End of story.
Seems to me that threatening to kill the Governor’s sister might lead one to be leery of being anywhere near this trooper. I wonder what his supervisor would have done if the trooper had threatened to kill him? Give him a promotion?
Seeing as how Wooten threatened to kill the governor's family, I'd say this was a good move on Palin's part.
Does the Times even mention Wooten's threat, the tasering of his kid, the drinking in his car or the fact that Wooten is still a COP?!!
And the problem is?
“Safety Bear” ? huh?
The only people who will find this interesting will be rabid liberals who are looking for anything they can on Gov. Palin. Ho-hum for everyone else.
Who friggin cares. Why dont you ask Obama who the hell he hangs around with and if they heavy arm people. For Christs Sake people!!!
I’d too would be concerned about having a gun-toting loon who has threatened to kill family members being allowed into a secure zone.
It appears to me that this Monegan character was derelict in carrying out his duties. It’s not obsessive to want to live, contrary to this jerk’s weird mental pathology. Not only that the security forces are there to PROTECT, not to ignore or pooh-pooh overt threats.
Good for them.
I thought that had been proven wrong. She didn't have the authority.
So let me get this straight.
He drank in a squad car.
Abused his wife.
Threatened his father-in-law (Sarah’s dad) with his life
Tasered his 10-year-old son.
And still had his gun and his badge.
They would have been wrong not to push for his removal.
Good for them. The SOB deserved to be fired. The good old boy network was protecting him.
Isn’t this the guy that tasered a 10 year old boy?
WHO CARES!
Oops...trigger happy.
On July 11, Ms. Palin fired Mr. Monegan
I thought that had been proven wrong. She didn’t have the authority.
Scratch the above. Wrong guy.
In February, Monegan signed a public letter of support for a $3.6 million project designed to keep troubled teens off the street in Anchorage — even though the governor had vetoed the project last year and hadn't included money for it in her budget this year.
“I am stunned and amazed — do you know anything about this?” budget director Karen Rehfeld wrote to two other high-level staffers when she learned of the letter.
“Think about that: one of the governor's own cabinet members publicly contradicting her veto decision,” Stapleton said.
Monegan acknowledged he shouldn't have signed the letter, because it put the governor in the awkward position of defending her veto decision.
The trooper admitted that he tasered his ten year old step-son. He SHOULD have been fired.
Or his driving a trooper car after drinking. He got into a fight with a guy at a bar. The owner told him to knock it off. He said something like “Do you know who I am” pulling out his badge. Owner called the troopers when he left. The trooper that pulled Wooten over didn’t see the need to give him a breathalizer. He did see fit to drive him home though just because I guess...
needs a ping list....
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