CNN Poll of Polls - Obama Regains Momentum . . .

[Michael Tee]

. . . now a point ahead of McSame, at 46% to 45%.

McCain had some bad moments ("the economy is strong") and the lustre is starting to fade fast on Sarah Palin.  Troopergate isn't going away, the "full cooperation" she initially promised the investigation has morphed into stonewalling and an attempt to disband the investigation itself for supposed lack of jurisdiction.

To aid her efforts to foil the investigation on jurisdictional grounds, she actually filed a complaint against herself with the Ethics Commission of the state (so she could argue that THAT body had jurisdiction, and the investigation, to which she had promised "full cooperation," therefore had none.) 

If that weren't bizarre enough, today her attorneys applied to withdraw her complaint against herself on the grounds that she had investigated herself, found no grounds for complaint and therefore no longer wished to proceed investigating herself.

Then one of her staffers went public with the allegation that the investigation was a "Democratic vendetta" against the Governor.  Problem being, the State of Alaska is a Republican state, and the investigation was ordered by Republican-dominated state legislature and a Republican-dominated committee.

Palin is turning out to the the 180-pound albatross that McCain has chained around his own neck, the gift (to the Democrats) that just keeps on giving.

[BT]

Problem being, the State of Alaska is a Republican state, and the investigation was ordered by Republican-dominated state legislature and a Republican-dominated committee.

You might want to double check that factoid and amend as necessary.

[Lanya]

http://www.adn.com/opinion/story/528420.html

".....eight Republicans along with four Democrats voted to launch this independent investigation."

[BT]

Is Hollis French directing the Troopergate investigation?

Posted by Larry on September 15, 2008

As the investigation known as Troopergate gets into full swing with 13 subpoenas being issued by the Alaska State Legislature on September 12, questions are being raised as to who is actually in charge. On Friday, Alaska lawmakers held a hearing concerning the subpoenas and asked independent investigator, Steve Branchflower, why Governor Palin?s former chief of staff, Mike Tibbles was not on the list to receive a subpoena. This was in spite of the fact that Tibbles had called a meeting of Palin aides to discuss the firing of Mike Wooten, the Alaska State Trooper in question. In the ensuing conversation, Branchflower admitted it was his list but was under the control and direction of Senator Hollis French, a Democrat who has strong ties to the campaign of Barack Obama. You can click here to listen to the audio of the conversation.

Now, correct me if I am wrong, but shouldn?t the point of an independent investigation be it?s independence? If you take away the independence, you remove the investigation?s creditability and from the statements Senator Hollis French has been making, the independence has already taken flight and he has made up his mind how the investigation is going to turn out. From ABC News:

    ?It?s likely to be damaging to the Governor?s administration,? said Senator Hollis French, a Democrat, appointed the project manager for a bi-partisan State Senate Legislative Counsel Committee investigation of claims that Palin abused her office to get the Alaska public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, fired.

    ?If they had done their job they never would have picked her,? said French. ?Now they may have to deal with an October surprise,? he said, referring to the scheduled release Oct. 31 of the committee?s final report.

As Adam Brickley, over at Draft Sarah Palin puts it, this is nonsense. Adam has already detailed the conflicts of interest involved in the investigation and it?s time these were brought to the attention of the media and everyone else. It seems to be clear that Senator French is by no means non-partisan and has done his best to influence the direction Steve Branchflower is taking in the investigation. If that is the case, then they both need to step down or be removed by the Alaska State Legislature. If there must be an investigation into the firing of Walt Monegan, a man who was serving at the pleasure of the Governor of Alaska to start with, then so be it. The powers that be need to at least make sure it is a fair investigation. The way it is progressing now, it looks more like a witch hunt.

That?s my take!

Larry

http://media.townhall.com/special/JointJudiciaryCommittees.mp3

http://myviewmytake.wordpress.com/2008/09/15/892/

[Michael Tee]

Wow, talk about desperate!  Talk about grasping at straws!  Hollis French - - as the article fails to mention - - just happens to be the Chairman of the Alaska State Senate Judicial Committee.  Yes, he's a (gasp!)  Democrat, but he's a natural to head the investigation of Governor Palin.  I wonder how many of our favourite right-wing nutbars objected to Ken Starr's Republicanism who was investigating the heinous crime of President Clinton getting a BJ from a White House intern?  Yes, he does support Obama's Presidential bid (not many Democrats don't!) but to say he has "strong ties" to the campaign is ludicrous.  At least the writer was smart enough not to mention the "strong ties" and make a total ass of himself.

Mike Tibbles was removed from the subpoena list drawn by an investigator (Branchflower) at the suggestion of Hollis French.  To suggest that the head of an investigation takes direction from a staff investigator rather than the other way round.  The investigator's job is to gather all the facts he can, the head of the investigation figures out which ones are necessary to the investigation and which are not.  That's not interference, that's doing the job the head of the investigation was hired to do.

It was obvious that Tibbles was not necessary to the investigation's work.  First, as even the article points out, <<This was in spite of the fact that Tibbles had called a meeting of Palin aides to discuss the firing of Mike Wooten, the Alaska State Trooper in question.>>  Tibbles' involvement was ex post facto, after the firing had been accomplished.  Second, as Branchflower pointed out, the committee that was interviewing him had the power to order the subpoena then and there, yet there was no response to that challenge.  It was not taken up.

Bottom line is, the head of the investigation was doing what heads of investigations are paid to do, sort out the raw data, shape an inquiry based on reasonably relevant evidence and bring in a conclusion without unnecessary delay.

The Governor, who had promised full cooperation with the investigation, reneged on her own word, and is now raising spurious concerns about the impartiality of Hollis French, the man chosen by the Alaska State Senate, with its Republican majority, to head the probe.  Basically that he's a Democrat and wants Obama to win.  Pure and simple, she's a liar and has a lot to hide.  Hopefully the investigation will roll on and either expose her or expose her resort to lies and phony objections to stall a legitimate state Senate investigation into her own wrongdoing.  Good job people are getting to see what they're in for if they're dumb enough to elect McSame and anything then happens to him

[sirs]

Wow, talk about desperate!  ... The Governor is now raising spurious concerns about the impartiality of Hollis French, the man chosen by the Alaska State Senate, with its Republican majority, to head the probe.  Basically that he's a Democrat and wants Obama to win.  Pure and simple, she's a liar and

....and that's not true??  He's a Republican who wants McCain to win??  Talk about desperate

[BT]

Lawmaker accused of politicizing Palin probe

By MATT VOLZ, Associated Press WriterSat Sep 6, 7:31 PM ET

A Republican lawmaker wants the Democrat overseeing an investigation into Gov. Sarah Palin's dismissal of her public safety commissioner removed because he seems intent on damaging her vice presidential candidacy.

Democratic state Sen. Hollis French "appears to be steering the direction of the investigation, its conclusion and its timing in a manner that will have maximum partisan political impact on the national and state elections," state Rep. John Coghill said in a letter dated Friday.

Coghill, from North Pole, is on the Alaska Legislature's Legislative Council, the body that appointed French to oversee the investigation. The letter was sent to the council chairman, Sen. Kim Elton, D-Juneau, whom Coghill asks to convene a meeting to discuss whether French should be replaced.

Coghill said the council instructed French, an Anchorage Democrat, to keep politics out of the investigation.

"He just failed that, in my view," Coghill told The Associated Press Saturday.

Elton did not immediately return a message left at his office.

In July, the council approved $100,000 for an investigation into whether Palin abused her power by firing Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan. Monegan has said he felt pressure form Palin family and staff to dismiss a trooper, Mike Wooten, who went through a messy divorce with her sister before Palin's election as governor.

Coghill wrote in the letter that French was quoted in media reports that the results of the probe were going to be an "October surprise" that is "likely to be damaging to the administration." The comments lead Coghill to believe the investigation is lacking in fairness, neutrality and due process, he wrote.

Coghill said he was not approached by the McCain-Palin campaign to draft the letter, but that he called the campaign to "apprise" them of the letter.

"I'm on my own in this one," he said.

French said he said some things he probably shouldn't have, but noted that he is not in charge of gathering the facts and writing the report. Prosecutor Stephen Branchflower was hired to conduct the investigation and the integrity of the probe remains intact, he said.

"The reason we hired Steve Branchflower was to avoid this entire discussion. Sooner or later everybody gets accused of partisanship no matter what you're doing," French told the AP.

A recent decision to not subpoena the governor in the probe was evidence that the investigation was not politicized, French said.

On Friday, French said the Legislature will subpoena seven other witnesses and that the investigation on a fast track now that Palin is Republican John McCain's running mate.

The investigation previously was expected to end on Oct. 31, five days before the Nov. 4 election. The new target date for Branchflower to complete the report is Oct. 10.

Wooten divorced Palin's sister and served a five day suspension after the Palins filed a complaint against him for threatening Palin's father. The Palins also accused Wooten of using a Taser on his stepson, drinking in his patrol car and illegally shooting a moose.

Monegan was fired by Palin in July. She has strongly denied that Monegan's dismissal had anything to do with her former brother-in-law and has said she welcomes the investigation.

Coghill's efforts were initially reported by Newsweek.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080906/ap_on_el_pr/palin_troopergate&printer=1;_ylt=Avj1S39sr0hHvDYWeSD_MJth24cA

[Michael Tee]

Coghill may not have acted on the Palin campaign's instructions (or may have, nobody will ever know for sure except the people involved and none of them are talking) but in any event what he's doing is exactly what they want him to do, as any high school student could figure out.

Again the baseless charges - - Hollis French is a DEMOCRAT, therefore unable to conduct an impartial investigation.  Bullshit.  There has not been a single concrete ACT of bias committed as yet by Hollis French.  These lying bastards (the Palin campaign and their "acting alone" supporters) are fabricating allegations of bias out of whole cloth.  Not a single act of bias has emerged as yet.  The probe into Palin's wrongdoing is being blatantly stalled by Palin after she promised full cooperation.  Hopefully, this fact will become plain to the voters, as will the transparently phony "bias" allegations, unsupported by a shred of fact, that Palin and friends are now weeping and gnashing their teeth about.

[BT]

Did you listen to the sworn testimony on the mp3 link?

If you didn't you might want to now, to save further embarrassment for yourself.

[sirs]

Wow, talk about desperate!  ... The Governor is now raising spurious concerns about the impartiality of Hollis French, the man chosen by the Alaska State Senate, with its Republican majority, to head the probe.  Basically that he's a Democrat and wants Obama to win.  Pure and simple, she's a liar and

....and that's not true??  He's a Republican who wants McCain to win??  Talk about desperate

"Yes, he's a (gasp!)  Democrat, ....  Yes, he does support Obama's Presidential bid."  

So, where's the lie again?

[Michael Tee]

<<Did you listen to the sworn testimony on the mp3 link?

<<If you didn't you might want to now, to save further embarrassment for yourself.>>

I listened to it, but I wonder if you did.  The investigator was asked why Trebill was not subpoenad.  He said he had put Trebill's name on the subpoena list but that Hollis French had removed it, for reasons best known to Hollis French.

Not on the link was some important background information:  Hollis French, the Chairman of the Alaska state Senate Judiciary Committee, was asked by the Alaska legislature to head up the special investigation.  That means it it HIS decision whom to subpoena from the list of potential witnesses compiled by the investigator, Branchflower.  There is nothing complicated about this.  It's not rocket science.  The head of the investigation is French, NOT Branchflower.  The head of the investigation does not seek the approval of the investigator or necessarily share his strategy with him, so it's perfectly logical that Branchflower wouldn't know why French declined to subpoena Trebill.  MY own guess is that Trebill's involvement was ex post facto only, therefore would be a useless witness on the issue of gubernatorial misconduct occurring before the actual firing.  There could well be other reasons - - perhaps facts that Trebill might be able to attest to could be proven by other witnesses and perhaps Trebill would be a troublesome and disruptive witness with an agenda of his own.  Regardless of the actual reasons, there are many possible reasons not to subpoena this man, and a failure to do so is hardly an indication of bias, otherwise every head of every investigation would have to subpoena every single potential witness that his or her investigators dig up.

[BT]

The senate Judiciary Committee was charged with appointing the Independent Special Investigator. They were also charged with keeping the investigation apolotical.

The Independent Investigator can not be independent if French is manipulating him. Which is what the audio revealed. And the Chair of Alaskans for Obama (French) can hardly be keeping the investigation apolitical if he is gleefully looking forward to an October Surprise.

It would not be surprising to see French charged with obstruction of justice just as Clinton was warned by Byrd that he was treading dangerously close to jury tampering with his late night lobbying calls to Senators during his hearings.

[sirs]

The senate Judiciary Committee was charged with appointing the Independent Special Investigator. They were also charged with keeping the investigation apolotical.

The Independent Investigator can not be independent if French is manipulating him. Which is what the audio revealed. And the Chair of Alaskans for Obama (French) can hardly be keeping the investigation apolitical if he is gleefully looking forward to an October Surprise.

BINGO

[Xavier_Onassis]

Palin promised to cooperate.

She is not cooperating.

That is the bottom line.

If she is innocent, the hearings will bring this out.

If she likes to brealk promises, why the Hell would anyone vote for her sorry ass?

[Michael Tee]

<<Palin promised to cooperate.

<<She is not cooperating.

<<That is the bottom line.

<<If she is innocent, the hearings will bring this out.>>

I think most of the American people will get it.  And see through the phony bullshit excuses.  Now the Republicans are seizing on the word "tainted"  - - as in "Tainted probe nearing collapse," and all its many variants.  As long as the Democrats are unrelenting in their message that the investigator was chosen by the Republican-dominated Alaska Senate Judiciary Committee, I think they'll be able to see through the bullshit.