No matter what the conclusion of the "Troopergate" investigation into Sarah Palin's abuses of power as governor of Alaska, the fact that the report will be released today marks a major victory for those Republicans and Democrats who remained committed to ethics in government.

Palin's firing of Alaska's public service commissioner -- allegedly for refusing to fire the governor's former brother-in-law as a state trooper -- has since she was selected as the Republican nominee for vice president been a primary concern of John McCain's presidential campaign and operatives within the Bush-Cheney political machine that continues to run the party.

Palin's ability to energize the Republican base and draw media attention is essential to the GOP's campaign strategy for the presidential race. If she is discredited -- for instance, if she is proven to have been not a reformer but an abusive old-school politician who used a position of power for personal aggrandizement -- a Republican campaign that is already in severe trouble will be finished.

It was for that reason that the McCain campaign and the Bush-Cheney machine -- which in recent weeks has effectively taken strategic and operational control of GOP presidential and congressional campaigning -- moved key operatives and resources into Alaska to try and shut down the "Troopergate" probe.

Faced with a serious threat, they tried to spin the fantasy that a probe authorized and paid for by Republicans who control the Alaska legislature was some kind of partisan attack organized by the Obama campaign. It was a lie, and Republican legislative leaders in Alaska -- despite intense pressure -- refused to go along with it.

When that didn't work, the McCain campaign and its allies attempted to block the investigation first by advising key players -- including the governor -- to refuse to cooperate and then by suing in court to shut down the inquiry.

On Thursday, the Alaska Supreme Court rejected the latest of these frivolous legal schemes, clearing the way for the members of the state's bipartisan Legislative Council, which ordered the investigation, to begin reviewing copies of the report prepared by veteran Anchorage prosecutor Steve Branchflower.

The 14 members of the Legislative Council, who signed confidentiality agreements when they picked up their copies of Branchflower's report, will begin meeting behind closed doors at 9 a.m. Alaska time (1 p.m. EST). After being briefed by Branchflower, the Republican and Democratic legislators are expected to vote on whether to release the 263-page report to the public.

If, as expected, the Council opts for the transparency Palin has always said she supports, the McCain campaign's month-and-half-long struggle to block revelations regarding the governor's abuses of power will have failed.

Why? Because Democrats and Republicans in Alaska did the right thing in the face of unrelenting pressure from the McCain camp and Bush-Cheney operatives who tried to roll over a small state.

Here is the story of how the McCain campaign and the Bush-Cheney team tried to undermine the probe.

Here's the story of how Alaskan Republican legislators defended the probe against the assault by GOP operatives from Washington.

Of course, this fight will not be finished with the release of the report.

If evidence of wrongdoing has been uncovered, it will need to be acted upon.

The McCain camp and the Bush-Cheney machine will gear up to block such action. The pressure on Alaskan legislators and jurists will become even more intense. But, so far, the ethical Alaskans have proven to be a good deal tougher than the unscrupulous Washingtonians.

Comments (33)

1. If Palin and others who are subpoenaed to testify refuse, then the AK state government should exercise their judicial powers and issue bench warrants. Next time she shows up to skin a moose or get a de-witching they slap the cuffs on her and cart her off to the hoosegow.

   Posted by leftofcenter at 10/10/2008 @ 10:54am

2. Let the truth out and the chips fall where they may.

   If she did nothing wrong, we will know about it soon. If she had nothing to hide, why the scrambling and refusal to abide subpoenas ? If it comes out that she was in the right, it will be a free for all on the right against the "left wing media and AK legislature".

   If it comes out she abused her authority.... landslide.

   Posted by crabwalk at 10/10/2008 @ 11:20am

3. Wait...wait....

   if the report says she abused her authority the same people that said:

   wiretaps were legal, wmd's were in Iraq, Saddam was involved in 9/11, Tillman was killed by AQ, Lynch went down in a hail of hero bullets, that we found wmd's in Iraq, that no wrong doing occurred in the Justice Dept hiring/firing, that Plame was not covert, that the interior dept was stocked with liberals, that we need less regulation on Wall Street, that 750 signing statements is not abnormal, that the Vice President is neither executive nor congressional....

   will tell us about the left wing smear attack on Sarah Palin.

   I promise.

   Bill Ayers told me so.

   Posted by crabwalk at 10/10/2008 @ 11:27am

4. Now why am I not surprised Darin wants to change the subject?

   LOL

   Posted by Maskdelta at 10/10/2008 @ 11:50am

5. BTW....I'M NOBODY?

   Don't fall for it, 'kay?

   heheh

   Posted by Maskdelta at 10/10/2008 @ 11:51am

6. darin-I find it interesting that you republicans always want to marry and have sex with animals.

   Posted by i'm nobody at 10/10/2008 @ 11:52am

7. Mask-Couldn't resist the joke,but won't do anything else.

   Posted by i'm nobody at 10/10/2008 @ 11:53am

8. not that it much matters now, but...

   yay!!!

   Posted by dexter666 at 10/10/2008 @ 11:57am

9. Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 10/10/2008 @ 11:35am

   Awwww. How cute. Anyhoo, from what I've read, palin wanted her brother-in-law fired because he was beating on her sister. While I understand her wanting to get rid of him, she wasn't smart about doing it. No surprise there. She should 've handled it the old-fashioned way. Get a bunch of male cousins together to go down and whoop his ass. Easy peasy.

   Posted by k330k at 10/10/2008 @ 11:58am

10. If the investigation shows that Palin did nothing wrong then one has to wonder what kind of person would be so stupid as to try to stop an investigation that would prove them to be innocent.That would be like refusing to give the police your DNA even though doing that would prove your innocence.Who does that?

    Posted by i'm nobody at 10/10/2008 @ 11:58am

11. k33ok-The trooper dumped Palin's sister for another woman.Prior to him doing that the family liked the trooper.

    Posted by i'm nobody at 10/10/2008 @ 12:00pm

12. Posted by k330k at 10/10/2008 @ 11:58am

    Actually her brother-in-law isn't the focus...

    it's her firing of Walt Moneghan for NOT firing the b-i-law.

    BTW, Darin may get his opportunity to actually stick to the subject....Palin may be exonerated on this.

    It's not a slam-dunk case.

    Posted by Maskdelta at 10/10/2008 @ 12:07pm

13. Posted by i'm nobody at 10/10/2008 @ 12:00pm

    Really? Well there goes that rationale. Wow. So she's not very smart and unethical. You would think McCain's campaign would have vetted Palin more thoroughly than they did.

    Posted by k330k at 10/10/2008 @ 12:10pm

14. k33ok-The trooper dumped the sister and went back with his first wife.It was after that that accusations started to fly as they usually do in ugly divorces.

    Posted by i'm nobody at 10/10/2008 @ 12:13pm

15. Posted by Maskdelta at 10/10/2008 @ 12:07pm

    Well good for Darin. He needs some good political news nowadays. I do agree with I'm nobody. If she's innocent then let them probe to their heart's content. It doesn't make sense to block a probe, if you know you're gonna be found innocent anyway. Shit, she's wasting time and tax-payer's money by holding this thing up. Although, some will say that the probe is doing the same.

    Posted by k330k at 10/10/2008 @ 12:16pm

16. Even she is exonerated, it will not be unambiguous. If if it were, sensible Alskans never would have started this up in the first place. So the principle that no news is good news will take over. People will hear Palin/abuse/investigation and forget the facts. It's lose-lose for her.

    Posted by MyParadigm at 10/10/2008 @ 12:17pm

17. Posted by i'm nobody at 10/10/2008 @ 12:13pm

    Man, this election is like a soap opera. I was watching the Fox News ticker a copuple weeks back and I was amazed at all the drama. There was alot of he said/she said. No concrete facts. I felt like I was reading the spoilers from the Young and the Restless.

    Posted by k330k at 10/10/2008 @ 12:19pm

18. k33ok-From what I understand the investigation was forced on them because there are supposed to be emails and other such evidence that shows that Palin lied about why she fired the public service commissioner.

    Posted by i'm nobody at 10/10/2008 @ 12:25pm

19. Posted by i'm nobody at 10/10/2008 @ 12:25pm

    Geez, louise. I'm trying to give her the benefit of the doubt but she makes it so hard. I figure since she "took on" her paty's establishment in her state, she'd know how to handle herself. Besides, how was the brother-in-law supposed to help take care of her sister's children with no job.

    Posted by k330k at 10/10/2008 @ 12:35pm

20. k33ok-The desire to get revenge makes one lose their senses.You see that in other nasty divorces.

    Posted by i'm nobody at 10/10/2008 @ 12:41pm

21. Posted by k330k at 10/10/2008 @ 12:16pm

    Well, obviously, if she's exonerated (unambigiously or not, MyPara)...

    the blogs will light up with conservative posts, which will then add (natch) "Why doesn't Obama let us investigate his relationship with Bill Ayers?" or "The Liberal Media will focus on a non-story about Palin, but won't cover ACORN!!!!"

    The predictability of it would rival a high tide chart!

    heheh

    Posted by Maskdelta at 10/10/2008 @ 12:59pm

22. If Palin did nothing wrong, with transparency in this inquiry it will be known. However, as it stands, since she is utilizing Bush-Cheney operatives to close/squash the probe; this in itself shows that her and her husband are guilty. You cannot "talk the talk" and not "walk the walk"........this "Troopergate" issue screams of abuse of power, and it is again disgusting to see why it is not evident and clear to all (based on the known facts thus far).

    No one should be surprised by these (republican) antics.......just simply (yet again) disgusted.

    Posted by rayven at 10/10/2008 @ 1:01pm

23. Mask-What's interesting,however,is that it's their attempts to stop the investigation that got most of the press and not the investigation itself.They brought the press coverage onto themselves by acting guilty.

    Posted by i'm nobody at 10/10/2008 @ 1:03pm

24. McCain Camp Fails to Block Troopergate... The election isn't until next month and the McCain-Agnew ticket is already marked by failure.

    Posted by nathanhale at 10/10/2008 @ 1:23pm

25. Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 10/10/2008 @ 1:01pm

    I wouldn't approve hims either.

    Posted by k330k at 10/10/2008 @ 1:27pm

26. If she had nothing to hide, why the scrambling and refusal to abide subpoenas ? Posted by crabwalk at 10/10/2008 @ 11:20am

    Methinks she doth protest too much.

    Posted by Balrog at 10/10/2008 @ 1:32pm

27. TROOPERGATE TO DUPERGATE: A NEWS AND VERSE EXTRA

    If Troopergate=influencing the firing of an Alaska State Police Officer

    Then, Bloopergate=Firing whoever allowed the Couric interviews Coopergate=Firing, from a helicopter, on a CNN correspondent Swoopergate=Firing helicopter pilot who buzzed the Russian coast (which he could see from home) Droopergate=Firing any and all pollsters Groupergate=Firing an Alaska fish warden (see also: frying an Alaska fish warden) Lubrigate=Firing anyone who stands in the way of oil drilling Hoopergate=Firing the Wasilla basketball coach Poopergate=Firing the Wasilla animal control officer Scoopergate=Firing whoever cleaned up after the firing of the animal control officer Recupergate=Firing whoever said there'd be no image problems in a VP slot Recoupergate=Firing whoever said the home-stay per diem was a God-given right Rupertgate=Firing the kid who delivers the Wall Street Journal and all those other papers Snoopergate=Firing all those people who want to see state documents Soupergate=Firing John McCain's chef (see also: cottage cheese, oatmeal) Stuporgate=Firing the state bartender Stoopergate=Firing anyone on the front porch (see also: Get off my lawn!) Supergate=Firing everyone Todd doesn't like (see also: First Dude) Yoopergate=Firing anyone left on the northern Michigan campaign staff

    And, Dupergate=Firing the advisor who first suggested the 2008 GOP VP Candidate

    www.newsandverse.com Light verse, ripped from the headlines

    Posted by newsandverse at 10/10/2008 @ 1:36pm

28. Posted by i'm nobody at 10/10/2008 @ 1:03pm

    True...it gets very suspicious when they try to block INVESTIGATIONS...if the person is innocent.

    Posted by Maskdelta at 10/10/2008 @ 3:01pm

29. Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 10/10/2008 @ 11:35am

    What has this got to do with the price of shit in Cheyenne?

    Posted by skeletonman at 10/10/2008 @ 3:07pm

30. BTW, Darin may get his opportunity to actually stick to the subject....Palin may be exonerated on this.

    It's not a slam-dunk case.

    Posted by Maskdelta at 10/10/2008 @ 12:07pm

    Actually, I rather think that she's screwed herself royally by not allowing her various minions to submit to the subpoena process.

    By doing so, the committee can claim - with some degree of credibility - that they were denied vital information and testimony required to formulate a valid conclusion.

    Would have been much better to yield to the authority of the subpoena and then put on the Ronnie Ray-gun defense ("I have no recollection of the alleged incident").

    As it is, Sally P. has a cloud over her head that is never going to go away; while the wingnut contingent might give her a pass, there's no way the independents and the left will. Her hopes for national office in the future are well and truly fried.

    Posted by skeletonman at 10/10/2008 @ 3:20pm

31. "When Governor Sarah Palin spoke at an August 13th press conference in an effort to address allegations of Walt Monegan's wrongful termination and pressure by Palin, family and staff members for Monegan to fire Palin's former brother-in-law, she gave the following reason for his termination:

    "I was concerned also that we were not doing enough on continuing alcohol abuse issues that I wanted to see tackled, including the bootlegging issues out in rural Alaska."

    However, just two weeks before the second press conference, Governor Sarah Palin told reporters on July 17 that she had offered Walt Monegan the job as Director of the Alcohol Beverage Control Board, just six days AFTER firing him on July 11th.

    "I recognize that Walt's interests and strengths certainly could be put to good use as he could concentrate exclusively on a couple of issues that were his interests - that being bootlegging and alcohol problems in rural Alaska.""

    -http://tinyurl.com/4mrln4

    Huh?

    Posted by FLaim at 10/10/2008 @ 3:44pm

32. This is slightly off-subject, but anyone who hasn't read Rosanne Cash's article on The Nation home page should do so. It's downright awesome!

    I'd been thinking I might be VP material due to my visit to Canada 30 odd years ago and the fact that I can see the moon really, really well from my hilltop in West Virginia (making me an expert on space travel and therefore the star wars project). In addition, even though I didn't have a pregnant teenage daughter, I actually became pregnant myself at the age of 15 and chose, with the assistance of my parents, to have and keep my child.

    I can speak English pretty well, but I also have a deep understanding of colloquial dialects, having been raised among both the Pennsylvania Dutch and east coast Italian Americans and also having lived in rural WV for 27 years.

    I've been a programmer for the local school system for years, I'm a part-time artist, and a pretty decent poker player - making me highly eligible for the ins and outs of the stock market. I've cut firewood, butchered deer, run a tractor, and grown most of my own food while holding down a fulltime job and building my own home. You betcha I have a good idea of what you are aposta do. Dontcha know.

    But it all pales next to Ms. Cash's extensive experience, so I concede to her.

    Posted by LeeAnnG at 10/10/2008 @ 3:56pm

33. Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 10/10/2008 @ 11:35am

    Howzabout: if you vote Republican ---

    they give you a shred of the Constitution to wipe your ass with.

    you're free to live in the trailer park of your choice.

    they'll guarantee discounts on NASCAR tickets and Budweiser.

    Posted by leftofcenter at 10/10/2008 @ 4:09pm