I find it interesting to note that Obama and his supporters have said that it is his judgement that matters more than his experience, yet they claim that Palin is not qualified to be Vice President because she does not have the experience. I think that this shows more of Obama’s poor judgement. Obama also said that he would listen to the American people, yet he did not listen to the 18 million Hillary voters, but John McCain had the good jdugement to listen.

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WAS PALIN, KARL ROVE’S IDEA? LOL

Govenor of Alaska??? LOL Most Americans probably don’t realize Alaska is even part of the United States. So, why would Mccain, WHO IS 72, chose such an inexperienced woman? Mccain met this lady ONCE and he is pandering to Hillary Clinton supporters in an effort to win. That is the reason she was chosen and it’s obvious when she keeps pandering to Hillary Clinton supporters. But yesterday, Palin was BOOED at a rally when she spoke and pandered to the Clinton supporters. BOOED!!! Right-wingers do not like Hillary Clinton and do not believe they need her supporters.

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The PSEA is carrying advocacy too far here. The documents are all over the internet. (Try: http://www.ktva.com/ci_10195264?source=most_viewed)

Wooten had a history of disciplinary action against him. Two eyewitnesses reported the drinking. The allegation of using a taser on a child was sustained. He was found to have violated the law by shooting a moose without a permit and he threatened to put a bullet in his father-in-law. I spent 30 years in law enforcement. In any other state or department he would have been fired and probably prosecuted.

Anyone who argues that shooting your child with a taser is not a criminal offense, regardless of the circumstances, is a moron.

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http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/072808/sta_310532640.shtml

Monday, July 28, 2008

Story last updated at 7/28/2008 – 9:15 am
Agency leader changed ruling in trooper case
Union head says Wooten probe was the first in which findings were revised by a top official

By Alan Suderman | JUNEAU EMPIRE

A former top official of the Alaska State Troopers reversed a finding in a 2005 investigation of the conduct of trooper Mike Wooten, the former brother-in-law of Gov. Sarah Palin, a step that’s unprecedented, according to the head of the trooper’s union.

John Cyr, executive director of the Public Safety Employees Association, said former Alaska State Trooper Col. Julia Grimes punished Wooten, who has a rocky relationship with the Palin family, for drinking beer before and while operating a marked patrol car even though there was no “just cause” to do so.

An earlier internal investigation done in 2005 by Sgt. Ronald Wall, who is now a lieutenant, found that those claims were unsubstantiated.

Cyr said it was the first and only time he’d seen the findings of an internal investigation in a trooper’s conduct revised by a top agency official.

“It’s totally outside the expected norm,” Cyr said.

Cyr said when he asked Grimes why she had reversed the agency’s own findings, she said: “Are you going to call Sarah Palin a liar?”

Wooten has become a key figure in a political imbroglio for Palin that began when she fired former Department of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan on July 11.

Monegan said he was pressured by members of Palin’s family and administration to fire Wooten after Palin took office.

Palin has denied those claims and said Monegan’s dismissal was the result of her seeking a new direction for the department.

Palin was not governor when Wooten was investigated and suspended, but was known statewide for her ethical stances.

Palin was questioned twice by Wall regarding Wooten. She also wrote a letter to Grimes accusing Wooten of a multitude of sins, including driving a patrol car with a beer in his hand.

In her letter, Palin said Adrian and Marilyn Lane, who are friends of Palin’s family and who lived in the same subdivision as Wooten, had seen him drink a beer at their house and then drive off in a patrol car “waving with beer in hand.”

In their interview with the investigator, Wall, the Lanes said they had seen Wooten come by their house and drink a beer before driving his patrol car during the summer of 2004.

Marilyn Lane said she had seen Wooten drive off in his patrol car with another beer in hand.

Wooten denied the Lanes’ allegations, and Wall’s investigation ruled that the claims made by the Lanes were unsubstantiated.

In an internal memo, Grimes wrote she “could not reconcile why the statements of the Lanes were not found to be credible” to Wall. She re-interviewed the Lanes and found “their recollection to be completely truthful and credible” and their friendship with Palin’s family did not have “any influence” on their statements.

Alaska State Troopers spokeswoman Elizabeth Ipsen said she could not comment on the Wooten matter directly. But she added that top agency officials typically do not alter findings of internal investigations into trooper conduct.

“They just use the information,” Ipsen said.

Grimes has retired from the Alaska State Troopers and moved out of state, according to staff at the Department of Public Safety. She could not be reached for comment.

Grimes suspended Wooten for 10 days. He also was punished for illegally shooting a moose and using a Taser on his 10-year-old stepson. The trooper admitted to using the Taser on his stepson in a “training capacity” and said he shot a moose on his wife’s tag, but didn’t think the act was illegal.

Cyr said the Public Safety Employees Association filed a grievance regarding the 10-day suspension and the punishment was later reduced to five days.

Several other allegations were made by Palin and her family but were denied by Wooten and found to be unsubstantiated, including that Wooten has used illegal steroids, driven drunk on a number of occasions and tried to bully his way out of paying a $5 fee at the local dump.

Wall’s investigation did find that Wooten threatened Palin’s sister, Molly McCann, with shooting her father if he hired a lawyer to represent her. Wooten denied making the statement, but Palin, McCann and Palin’s son all confirmed that he did.

Wall said the act wasn’t a crime because Palin’s father was not present when Wooten made the statement.

Reached by phone last week, Adrian Lane said he had no comment about whether he saw Wooten drive a patrol car after drinking a beer. He added that it was easy to find something unsubstantiated if one wanted to.

“It depends on which side of the fence you’re standing on,” Lane said.

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[...] new, and false “truth.” I took into consideration that journalists… and ardent supporters like Markg8 on Curt’s thread… will be quick to post what they believe is damning evidence without reading more material on the [...]

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[...] a new, and false “truth. I took into consideration that journalists… and ardent supporters like Markg8 on Curt’s thread… will be quick to post what they believe is damning evidence without reading more material on the [...]

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[...] a new, and false “truth. I took into consideration that journalists… and ardent supporters like Markg8 on Curt’s thread… will be quick to post what they believe is damning evidence without reading more material on the [...]

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The investigation won’t be over until the end of October, in the meantime the investigator established a hot line and is asking for tips. Doesn’t appear that they have the goods and the Governor doesn’t seem to be too worried.

I personally think Wooten should have been fired for allowing a precocious boy to con him into misusing his taser and it’s also ok with me that the supervisor is no longer a supervisor. He did not fire him.

So, markg8, while you are waiting for the investigation to wind down, here are some Governor Palin facts that you can digest until then:

http://www.palinfacts.com/

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Local Alaskan tv report nails Palin lying about firing scandal. What was McCain thinking?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UojMnCgqVA

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My son-in-law is a deputy sheriff that drives his squad car home. He has to unload his weapons from his vehicle every night and put them into a locked closet that they had reinforced and had special locks put on it when they built their home. There would be no way that my grandson would be able to talk him into allowing him to touch anything, even the taser, the kids aren’t even allowed to go into the room with the closet. If he did anything like this trooper did, I would want him gone from the home and fired from the force.

It is the responsibility of these officers to make sure their weapons are secure at all times. This particular trooper not only exhibited poor judgement by the way he caved to the wishes of an 11 year old child in front of another child no less, but, by not securing his weapon he has shown that he can’t be trusted to follow through with explicit regulations that these officers are supposed to adhere to. Fire him.

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