Are the "damnocrats" out to get Palin? The GOP says the are.

Cool story, except for one thing: It ain't true, bubba. (The somewhat pejorative term "bubba" should not be interpreted as being directed at any particular recipient. In any case, it does not refer to the former president, Bill Clinton.)

July 2008 (Palin isn't John McCain's running mate yet. She isn't even on anyone's radar at this point.): Alaska's 14-member Republican-dominated Legislative Council opens an investigation into the governor's motivations in trying to have Trooper Michael Wooten dismissed. The decision was unanimous. For those who aren't familiar with words of more than 2 syllables, that means ever dad gum one of 'em voted to do it.

That same group voted unanimously (ever dad gum one of 'em voted to do it) to release their report amid accusations by the McCain-Palin campaign that the inquiry was a pro-Obama witch hunt designed to affect the Nov. 4 election. The GOP seems to be having a little problem getting it's talking points all in a row.

Investigator Stephen Branchflower says he doesn't understand the supposed motivations for Palin's acts. She said the family was afraid of Wooten, but having him terminated could lead to an act of retaliation. Forcing him out of his job “would not have de-escalated the situation or provided” Ms. Palin or her family with “greater security,” the report stated. And simultaneously (that means "at the same time"), Palin reduced the number of troopers assigned to her security detail. I guess she was really a-feared of him, then, eh, warn't she, bubba?

Branchflower says Palin violated the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act by applying pressure to get Trooper Wooten dismissed.

Just exactly the kind of person we want to have as president if anything happens to John McCain.

The Real Patriots

I mentioned the break-in at Palin's illegal Yahoo account on a recent TechByter Worldwide broadcast and heard from a couple of listeners who thought I was off base. I wasn't in reporting that, but I had previously introduced political comments (inappropriately) into the program, so I apologized.

An additional conversation ensued with a listener. I wrote the following today:

About 30 years ago (so you already know this is going to be a "good ol' days" story), I worked for a radio station where the program director was even further left than I was. This is, by the way, the only radio station I ever worked at where there were more liberals than conservatives on the air. The chief engineer was a super-conservative (Goldwater type) Republican. The program director claimed that the engineer was really "the most liberal guy in the place" and, talking to the engineer, I came to believe that this was the case. He preferred some methods that I didn't, but all three of us mostly wanted the same things for the country. Conservatives and liberals share a lot of values; if extremists at both ends would sit down and shut up, those of us in the middle could start talking to each other reasonably and politely again and get to work on solving the country's problems. I'd really like to see that happen because working together for common goals is the only way we'll accomplish anything.