I’m sorry, what was that about Reformer Palin? The same one who is doing her damnedest to put the kibbosh on a bipartisan ethics investigation that she had agreed to fully cooperate with–until her veep pick? Thanks to Team McRove, those pursuing the inquiry in Alaska have been variously bullied, threatened, ignored, and smeared. Good times. Can’t wait for the change McCain-Palin would bring to Washington.
So what’s the latest in Rovian machinations over yon Great White North? Yesterday AK Muckraker posted the latest from the Anchorage Daily News (ADN):
An Anchorage judge today refused to halt the Legislature’s investigation of Gov. Sarah Palin and denied the state attorney general’s attempt to throw out legislative subpoenas.
. . . Thomas Van Flein, the Anchorage attorney representing both Todd and Sarah Palin, watched the court hearing today. He said in an interview afterward that, if the judge refused to throw out the subpoenas, he would expect Todd Palin to testify after all.
“Short of appeal to the Alaska Supreme Court, which no one has talked about, I don’t see why we wouldn’t just have Todd testify,” he said.
So it looked like the report would be released as scheduled on Friday, October 10th after all. Right? Well, not so fast. Clearly someone started talking about that appeal in a hurry. Today an emergency motion was indeed filed with the Supreme Court on behalf of several Republican state legislators to stop the Troopergate investigation (they were for it before they were against it). As reported today in the ADN, the following reasons were given during said motion:
“The plaintiffs and Alaskans will suffer irreparable harm if the investigation at issue continues and if the resulting investigative report issues as planned on Oct. 10, 2008,” the lawyers for the anti-investigation state legislators said in their emergency appeal.
The lawyers argued that allowing the investigation to proceed would threaten the right under the Alaska Constitution to a “fair and just” investigation by the Legislature. They also argued the Legislative Council overstepped its authority in investigating.
Uh… seems like the one who’s worried about suffering irreparable harm is Sarah Palin. Remember when this seemed like an insignificant investigation (from the lower 48, anyway) with a convoluted storyline that would never gain enough traction to become an issue during the campaign? Well, now that the McCain heavyweights have thrown so much at derailing the investigation, it sure looks like Palin must have done something very wrong, and left an evidence trail to boot. The original issue may not have gained national attention, but the frenetic coverup certainly has. But wait. It gets better. Lead on, AKM:
And who are these lawyers warning us of the “irreparable harm” that the state of Alaska will suffer?
Liberty Legal Institute is a far right-wing legal firm based in Texas.
The institute has taken on a variety of cases in defense of conservative Christian positions. Anchorage attorney Kevin G. Clarkson said he and the Texas group were donating their work on the suit. “We just want to take the politics out of it and bring fairness back into it.”
Clarkson said he and Liberty Legal Institute were donating their work on the suit. “There is no nonpartisan reason to complete this investigation until after the election,” he said. “We just want to take the politics out of it and bring fairness back into it.”
Oh yeah. The TEXANS are concerned about IRREPARABLE HARM to Alaska if Alaskans carry out their own investigation. That is SO sweet. To think they have come all this way to help “take politics out of it.” Because you Alaskans know it really takes a Texan to bring fairness back into play. Just ask Dubya! (He too has a fondness for certain Supreme Court decisions.)
You know what makes this even funnier (when you’re not gnashing your teeth)? That Sarah Palin hopped on a plane in Texas at the onset of labour, of a high-risk pregnancy, no less, so that her son could be born in Alaska. Why? Because, as First Dude Todd said, “You can’t have a fish-picker from Texas.”
Where will this heartwarming tale of Texas-Alaskan nonpolitical fairness take us next? Stay tuned, folks: the Alaska Supreme Court has agreed to hear the emergency appeal at 3pm next Wednesday. Will fairness prevail so that the American people won’t know till after the election whether the Republican vice presidential candidate has been found guilty of committing abuse of power during her time in office? Ladies and gentlemen, place your bets.
