8/30/2008

Could McCain be heading for a Ray Lewis moment ?

John McCain's attempt to sidestep Barack Obama and steal the headlines by choosing Sarah Palin as his Vice-President might be bold and audacious, but it could explode badly in his face if allegations about Mrs Palin are found to be true.

As the BBC reports

"Mrs Palin's electoral chances may be harmed by the fact that she was placed under investigation in Alaska by state lawmakers at the end of July.
She sacked a public safety commissioner and the allegation is that she removed him because he had not fired a state trooper who is Mrs Palin's former brother-in-law, and who is in a custody battle with her sister. "


These are very serious allegations and go to the core of why people distrust politicians and undermines the strength of democratic institutions.

Like Boris Johnson choosing Ray Lewis for a senior role in London, this clever bit of PR by McCain may well make him look like a fool in the coming months.

8 comments:

Tony said...

Is this really the best the neo-statists can come up with? How does this compare with the Jeremiah Wright comments or Obama's direct associations with men who felt they did not go far enough when setting off bombs and murdering police officers?

Naturally Justin Webb and Matt Frei prefer to focus on the 'opposition' - namely the Republicans. Maybe one day they will focus on what Obama means by change? At the moment the only change on offer is Obama's stated position on various issues.

Tony said...

Some more on the story Nich, taken from HotAir...

Supposedly Palin fired the commissioner of public safety because he wouldn’t fire her brother-in-law, a state trooper who had becomed estranged from Palin’s sister. Mike Wooten only got a suspension, and last month, she allegedly dismissed Walt Monegan over his handling of the case. Palin says that wasn’t the reason, the legislature noted that Monegan’s was a political appointment and he served at the pleasure of the governor, and they have also stated on the record that Palin has been so cooperative that they will not need to issue subpoenas — which hardly sounds like a cover-up.

So what did Wooten do, anyway?

Troopers eventually investigated 13 issues and found four in which Wooten violated policy or broke the law or both:

• Wooten used a Taser on his stepson.
• He illegally shot a moose.
• He drank beer in his patrol car on one occasion.
• He told others his father-in-law would “eat a f’ing lead bullet” if he helped his daughter get an attorney for the divorce.

So I am sure you will agree this is not as simple as your posting suggests.

Nich Starling said...

I have no idea what a neo statist is. If it is the opposite of being a neo con, those who start wars, those who ensure that the companies they are directors of (Halliburton) get oil contracts in countries they invade, then I am happy to be one.

I merely reported that her appointment could be a rsik.

Remember, Tories were lining up to defend Ray Lewis and were saying there was nothing in the allegation. Indeed, Borat did a press conference saying much the same.

Tony said...

A neo statist is what I call someone who presses for ever more and ever larger government. It was not directed at you Nich, but those whose story you referred to. I thought we had friendly relations.

Re: Ray Lewis. That is because some people still believe in trust and took the man at his word. It is not as if people with evidence were falling over themselves to present it when he was first appointed.

It is sad the man lied because it detracted from the good things he had done which earned him his call up. But it was right that he could not continue to serve given the allegations against him that brought his character and honesty into question.

Just wondering... your attacks on John McCain seem very personal and do not appear to focus on policy. What is it about McCain you do not like? Why do you feel Obama is something special? Are you not concerned about his policy void and lack of experience?

I have nothing personal against Obama. I just do not think from what I have seen he is the best man for the job. If he wins and turns out to be a good President then great. But there is nothing to suggest he will be.

Malcolm Redfellow said...

Tony Sharp is right at least in his signing-off comment:

I am sure you will agree this is not as simple as your posting suggests.

The same is undoubtedly true about his very partial version.

Wherever Sharp sourced his account, the original dates from well before the current spate of interest, the Anchorage Daily News of 27th July. That link is still on-line.

Today’s issue of that paper has a piece by the local journalist, Tom Kizza, directed at the claims that Palin is a tough-minded budget-cutter. Kizza implies that, too, is somewhat loose with the the actualité.

Unlike Sharp, I assume that readers are capable of finding their way to the material; and judging for themselves. My guess is they will feel Nich’s view stands up to scrutiny, perhaps better than Sharp’s.

Nich Starling said...

Tony, forgive my strong tone, of course we have good relations.

I dislike the Republicans so much because they care little for real demcoracy.

When Bush "won" Florida, the republicans were still getting votes from service personal days after the polls closed, they excluded tens of thousands from electoral roles in Florida because they "shared" names with known felons, the use voting systems in keyu states that are known to favour Replublicans over Democrats (Democrats are statistically more likely to make an error using voting machines or punched cards), speaking of which, they move Democrat names on voting papers so they are on folds and creases.

But worse than all that, people like me saw the US as the good guys. I am not inherently anti American and neither are lots of people I know who like me now, sww the US not as a power for good in the world. I know the US were not really a power for good, but they had this perception. The American brand has been so tarnished by a Republican president (and it is worth pointing out as Obama did that McCain has voted to support Bish in 90% of votes), that it needs a new broom.

So that is why I think a young man, a new sort of US leader is needed and why I think Obama is the man to do it. McCain is the past. I seem to recall Tories saying Ming Campbell was too old, but strangely they don't think this of McCain.

Hypocrisy ?

Tony said...

FWIW I had no issue with Ming Campbell's age. I just thought he was uninspiring and away from foreign affairs he appeared uncertain.

I think older people are stupidly written off when it is they who have the most experience of life and events.

I do not have a political allegiance to the Republicans or the Democrats - after all I am not American. I do not like George Bush either. But I think McCain's approach is ideally suited to the times we are in and I think Obama is vacuous. Age does not come into it.

Moving along, I am not sure why Malcolm Redfellow has chosen to get personal with me, but I am impressed by his ability to construct a strawman consisting of things I have not said or referred to.

Clearly the idea that Tom Kizza might not support Palin politically has not entered his head. But Palin has resisted huge spending commitments that are unfunded, which is sensible. What I like about her is that she comes across as a reformer.

Of course, unlike Obama, Palin has actually run something so she has experience of leadership. That too is a plus as far as I am concerned.

Malcolm Redfellow said...

"Palin has run something so she has experience of leadership".

Uh-huh?

How does that stack up against a seasoned legislator, with a fine record seeing through details of laws on ethics, on police questioning and confession evidence, on universal healthcare provision, on creating a state income-tax credit system? A community organiser in South Chicago (not a cushy number)? A dynamic vote-registration organiser?

And Obama, unlike most, called it right on Iraq.

Anyway, how does one prepare for the job with the 3 a.m. calls? Did six years at two-hours-a-day, while signing a record number of execution warrants (152: at least one every tenth day, putting Texas third only to China and Saudi Arabia for judicial killings), and bravely declaring 10th June to be "Jesus Christ Day", make the part-time Governor of Texas one of the truly great Presidents?

In passing, I would sincerely hope that no journalist would write from a servile posture of prostrate adoration. Kizza is merely asking the questions, and getting answers. They just don't happen to be the answers the Republican National Committee script. Palin is under investigation for abusing her powers: that is fact. Palin has broken election promises, most notably over the Bridge to Nowhere; while the link road to that now-imaginary bridge is still being built, on her OK: fact.

And has anyone else picked up the oh-so-scandalous rumour of Sarah Palin, grand-mother? Curiously the photographs of seven-months pregnant but remarkably slimline Palin has now been scrubbed from the official Alaska website. That's leaving aside the claim that her waters broke in Texas, she made a speech, she flew home, and the baby was born in Alaska. Or the coincidental seven-months absence from school of daughter, Bristol. No, it can't be true, because Obama is a Muslim.

One good thing about Palin: she pushed through a windfall tax on oil profits. Bet that doesn't get widely lauded by the right-wing apologists.

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