The New York Times is reporting that the Legislative Committee in the State of Alaska that has been charged by the Republican controlled Alaskan legislature with determining whether or not Alaska Governor Sarah Palin abused her executive power in the firing of the State’s public safety commissioner, referred to as Troopergate, has delivered its ruling. The committee has determined that Governor Sarah Palin violated the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act by firing the public safety commissioner:

A legislative committee investigating Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has found she unlawfully abused her authority in firing the state’s public safety commissioner. The investigative report concludes that a family grudge wasn’t the sole reason for firing Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan but says it likely was a contributing factor. The Republican vice presidential nominee has been accused of firing a commissioner to settle a family dispute. Palin supporters have called the investigation politically motivated. Monegan says he was dismissed as retribution for resisting pressure to fire a state trooper involved in a bitter divorce with the governor’s sister. Palin says Monegan was fired as part of a legitimate budget dispute.

This is finding is absolutely appalling! I cannot, for the life of me, understand how a person who was under investigation for unlawful acts could be elevated to the position of Vice Presidential nominee … especially in light of these findings. It remains to be seen what, if any, punishment will be handed down to Governor Palin for these unlawful acts but I’m just *aghast* that we are learning this information about her just weeks before voters will determine if she is fit to serve as Vice President of this country. I’m sure the denials will be coming fast and furious from her camp in the coming hours/days but if this doesn’t serve as a HUGE WAKE-UP call then I don’t know what else could. Is this really the kind of leadership we need in this country?

On the other hand, I would like to publicly commend Senator John McCain for showing respect to Senator Barack Obama earlier today when members of a McCain rally were heard shouting, in my opinion, racist epithets about Obama. After members of various McCain rallies this week referred to Obama as an “Arab”, a “traitor” and a “terrorist”, McCain very angrily rebutted against those hateful exclamations and begged his followers to show respect for Senator Obama:

The anger is getting raw at Republican rallies and John McCain is acting to tamp it down. McCain was booed by his own supporters Friday when, in an abrupt switch from raising questions about Barack Obama’s character, he described the Democrat as a “decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared of as president of the United States.” A sense of grievance spilling into rage has gripped some GOP events this week as McCain supporters see his presidential campaign lag against Obama. Some in the audience are making it personal, against the Democrat. Shouts of “traitor,” “terrorist,” “treason,” “liar,” and even “off with his head” have rung from the crowd at McCain and Sarah Palin rallies, and gone unchallenged by them. McCain changed his tone Friday when supporters at a town hall pressed him to be rougher on Obama. A voter said, “The people here in Minnesota want to see a real fight.” Another said Obama would lead the U.S. into socialism. Another said he did not want his unborn child raised in a country led by Obama. “If you want a fight, we will fight,” McCain said. “But we will be respectful. I admire Sen. Obama and his accomplishments.” When people booed, he cut them off. “I don’t mean that has to reduce your ferocity,” he said. “I just mean to say you have to be respectful” … On Friday, McCain rejected [the racism being espoused from a member of his Town Hall Meeting rally]. “I don’t trust Obama,” a woman said. “I have read about him. He’s an Arab.” McCain shook his head in disagreement, and said: “No, ma’am. He’s a decent, family man, a citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with (him) on fundamental issues and that’s what this campaign is all about.” He had drawn boos with his comment: “I have to tell you, he is a decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared of as president of the United States.”

I absolutely applaud and respect Senator John McCain for not allowing this kind of hateful ire to be thrown around during this campaign (at last). While I believe that, at times, his campaign stokes the fires of this hateful response from his followers, I commend him for being the bigger man and finally publicly chiding that hate-speech coming from his own followers. After the jump, watch video of McCain refuting the hateful, racist things that his campaign supporters are espousing about Barack Obama …

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Mama Lynne Spears is opening up to Newsweek magazine about the unfair treatment that her family received, and her daughter Jamie Lynn Spears in particular, after news came out that JL got pregs at 16 as opposed to the treatment that the Palin family received when news broke about Bristol Palin’s teenage pregnancy. Lynne calls foul that the Palins were “celebrated” by being forthcoming with their news (well, mebbe not totally forthcoming at the start … they were forced to admit the pregnancy after political blogs started putting the pieces of the story together) while Spears was “crucified” for her admission. Here is a portion of Mama Lynne’s interview with Newsweek magazine:

Lynne Spears says the public had a “totally different reaction” to the teen pregnancies of her daughter Jamie Lynn and Sarah Palin’s daughter Bristol. “It’s as if [Sarah Palin] became celebrated,” Lynne told Newsweek. “I mean, the mother, Palin, was celebrated for this. Every woman in the world has applauded her strength and her convictions and poor little old Jamie Lynn, you saw how she was crucified – everybody did, firsthand,” Lynne said. “I just feel like it’s been a very hypocritical situation.” In December, Jamie Lynn, the star of Nickelodeon’s Zoey 101 was 16 when she announced her pregnancy. She gave birth to daughter Maddie in June at the age of 17. In August, Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee, revealed that her 17-year-old daughter is expecting and engaged. “Do I promote teen sex? Of course not,” Lynne told Newsweek. “Do I promote teen pregnancy? Needless to say, of course not. But when it happens, you deal with it and you do the best you can do. Jamie Lynn has done beautifully with what she’s done,” Lynne said. “Could every other teenager do what Jamie Lynn has done?” asked Lynne. “No indeed.” Lynne also rebutted criticism that Jamie Lynn glamorized teen pregnancy. “We don’t want this said, ’cause this would be glamorizing, but I will tell you a secret: her baby does sleep all night,” Lynne explained. “What do you think about those apples? Maddie is the best baby I have ever seen,” Lynne added. “She is like a little angel. She’s so contented. She laughs and she coos and ahead of herself with her stages. But of course we can’t tell that because then we would just glamorize it more.” Lynne, the author of a tell-all memoir titled Through the Storm, told Newsweek that she “really can’t give advice” to the Palin family. “Everybody’s situation is different,” she said. “I would never tell anybody else what to do with their child. I would never attempt to make them think I knew more about their child. Even if they were to ask, I would tell them dig deep, what do you think?”

You know, I noticed this same sort of thing myself … while I don’t consider both situations absolutely identical, I can absolutely sympathize with Lynne’s contention that her family was treated more unfairly. I, personally, was very surprised at how applauded the Palin family was by their own conservative political party. It has been my estimation that social conservatives are the ones to start throwing stones first whenever a public figure suffers a very public human fault like this … and yet the Palins were celebrated for their “strength”. The Spears family, tho, were vilified and horribly criticized in comparison. I see her point and I think she has a valid one. Do y’all think that there was a disparity in fair treatment between the similar family situations? If so, is it justified?

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The New York Times is reporting that Senator John McCain will choose Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate, making her only the second woman to be nominated for Vice President of the United States of America (Democrat Walter Mondale chose Geraldine Ferraro to be his running mate back in 1984, she was the first):

Senator John McCain chose Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska as his running mate on Friday, shaking up the political world with a surprise pick at a time when his campaign has been trying to attract women, especially disaffected supporters of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. In choosing Ms. Palin — a 44-year-old conservative Christian and self-described “hockey mom” who has been governor for less than two years — the McCain campaign reached far outside the Beltway in an election where the Democratic nominee, Senator Barack Obama, is running on a platform of change. The pick, confirmed by Republicans familiar with the decision, amounted to a roll of the dice, a gamble that an infusion of new leadership — and the novelty of the Republican party’s first female candidate for vice president — would more than compensate for the risk that Ms. Palin could undercut one of the McCain campaign’s central arguments, their claim that Mr. Obama is too inexperienced to be president. But Ms. Palin ran as a change agent when she was elected as governor of Alaska in 2006, and in a move that might have appealed to Mr. McCain, she took political heat from members of her own party for turning the spotlight on the failures of Alaska Republicans, some of whom had been beset by corruption scandals. She opposes abortion rights, which could help pacify social conservatives who were wary as rumors swirled that Mr. McCain might pick a running mate who supports them. But she differs with Mr. McCain on a controversial environment issue that centers on her home state: she supports drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve. Mr. McCain’s opposition to drilling — even after he changed positions and began advocating for off-shore oil drilling — has upset many Republicans. The choice of Ms. Palin was a closely guarded secret, and she flew under the political radar for months as Mr. McCain conducted his search for a running mate. Much of the public discussion in recent days had focused on Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and Mr. McCain’s one-time rival for the Republican nomination; Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota; Tom Ridge, the former Homeland Security secretary, and Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, the Democrat-turned-independent who was Al Gore’s running mate in 2000.

I gotta say, this choice was well-played by McCain. It’s a risky move, especially considering that he and she don’t have much in common. I was sure that McCain was going to pick either the turncoat Joseph Lieberman or the extremely scary Mitt Romney. I guess McCain felt that he needed to choose a running mate with a gimmick to try and bolster support for his campaign — a Pro-Life soccer mom who supports oil drilling in Alaska (one of our nation’s most valued natural resources), who won her governorship (an office she has held for LESS than 2 years) by denouncing her fellow Republicans (who, in her defense, were corrupt), was nicknamed “Sarah Barracuda” in high school and was first runner-up in the Miss Alaska Beauty Pageant back in 1984, when Geraldine Ferraro was the Vice Presidential nominee for the Democratic Party. Yeah, good luck with that :) This race for the White House just got a wee bit more interesting.

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