Here are some snippets from an ADN editorial:
An investigator made short work last week of two ethics complaints against Gov. Sarah Palin. His conclusions made sense, given how the cases were framed.
But investigator Michael Geraghty and one of the complainants, Anthony Martin, never addressed one question about the governor's November trip to Georgia to campaign for Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss.
Why did the state of Alaska pay per diem expenses to Kris Perry, director of the governor's Anchorage office, for her time in Georgia?
Spokeswoman Sharon Leighow said the state paid per diem to Perry in Georgia because the trip qualified as state business.
The administration argues that Chambliss was a vote for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and his opponent wasn't.
The Georgia trip was partisan politics. None of that should happen on the state dime, including Perry's per diem.
It seems ADN have changed their tune a little bit. Their comments section appears to have improved as well. ADN may have escaped the grip of the Sarah Palin fan site. Hurrah! But they still do very little investigative stuff and are not very cutting edge in their reporting...
The definition of state business as given by Sarah Palin's office is the usual vague, clutching at straws drivel: Sarah Palin's children are state officials and the governor is entitled to claim travel expenses for them, if anybody mentions ANWR while the governor and her staff are away from Alaska on partisan business, it automatically qualifies as state business, and so on and so forth.
The amount of Kris Perry's per diems is not very high, only $105. But the simple fact that it was claimed as state business at all proves that the system is open to abuse. The explanations given by Sarah Palin's office are creative at best. In my opinion, they are pathetic.
There's a major scandal involving politicians' expenses going on in the UK at the moment. Sarah Palin comes across as a rank amateur compared to them. The amounts are not that important, the real problem is accountability. When politicians and their staff are seen as dishonest, with their large or small snouts in the trough, it erodes their credibility.
The electorate deserves better, anywhere in the world.
ADN editorial
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Regina,
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely correct. It isn't the amount, it's the principal. Unfortunately, accountability in anything anymore appears to be too much trouble or too distracting. Campaign expenditures, use of government position, and it's not just Sarah Palin, but everywhere. Even Obama is a disappointment in some of these areas, preferring to look forward, not back.
How on earth can we force accountability on such as Palin if we let Bush/Cheney get away with all they did, and etc., etc.?
Agreed Kyra: There is no accountability in government these days. Alaska is no different than any state with a GINO who is running rampant and bleeding the state dry.
ReplyDeleteThe concept that "her" children are "state officials" is no more crazy than she is ... point taken?
RE: the ADN
It's a rag - it's subject to manipulation by the Bots so therefore is totally non-credible and their editorials, thoughts and stories must be suspect. It's their own fault, they've given up and given in. They'll go the way of all slanted, biased and crap newsrags out there.
The average person IS very much aware that SP and her flying monkeys are nuts. I believe many people don't know what to do at this point.
She even has her own little "Katrina" going on - and is just ignoring her citizens.
But when things like this do occur, the fact that the citizens of Alaska don't hold her f*ck me monkey shoes to the fire is their own fault.
I'm sure she's sitting around watching the voters drown. It's not like she even cares. They are probably Dems anyway and the fewer of them there are, the better her chances.
Regina: I was going to ask you how you got the picture of SP and her BOTS for the blog? Great photo op!
ReplyDeletePerry's per diem is more than $105.
ReplyDeleteThe "$105" amount comes from her earnings. She is salaried at $105,000.00 per year.
Palin is not just a "rank amateur" compared to the UK politicians' scandals, she's a rank amateur in everything she does. The irony is that she's clueless about it even though nearly everyone else caught on pretty quickly last fall. Denial and blaming go a long way in protecting herself from the truth.
ReplyDeleteWhile it is true that denial and blame do go a long way in protecting herself from the truth - it certainly does NOT help her drowning constituents.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read ADN, I am amazed at the amount of crime that is reported (and I live in AZ!!!). I am amazed that she allows people to drown and lose everything and then says "we don't want help, they don't want our help".
I am waiting for the day when her spaceship comes back to pick her up and return her to that dream planet she beamed down from.
She's a raving lunatic and dangerous to living things. If she's not shooting animals from helicopters, she is allowing her citizens to DROWN.
What ARE the requirements for a 72 hour commitment for observation in Alaska?
basheert said...
ReplyDeleteRegina: I was going to ask you how you got the picture of SP and her BOTS for the blog? Great photo op!
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too funny, too true :)