Did Palin fire Monegan because he wouldn’t fire Wooten? I wish it were true. But it appears that the charges that she fired the guy for the thing about the other guy don’t appear to be true. The rumor was started by Andrew Halcro, a former political rival. Ever since Halcro’s blog energized Palin’s (numerous) enemies, Monegan has issued cryptic, carefully calibrated hints of pressure, without actually saying that Palin ordered him to fire Wooten. FWIW, I would have fired Monegan for not firing admitted-screwup Wooten. He tasered his kid and he gets a four-day suspension? Drunk driving? Death threats?

Reportedly Palin actually fired Monegan because he went to legislators pushing for budget increases not approved by the governor’s office. I would have fired him for that, too.

But if the Democrats want to make Mike Wooten their poster boy for fair play in government, well, that fits well with the whole Ayers/Wright/Rezko thing.

The women at work are universally gaga over Palin’s selection as veep candidate. You’d think there was a second coming or something. Honestly, their enthusiasm is based entirely on “she’s one of us”, all without knowledge of her positions on anything whatsoever, save for a few of the embarrassments left behind by the Murkowski administration.

Meanwhile, I’ve been digging a bit, and I’m pretty well settled that she’s potentially bad news for the country. Not that she has totally outlandish notions of governance or human rights, for example, but I’m beginning to get the feeling she’s is a true opportunist rather than a leader. As I have said before, as governor, she’s been OK, but as I see her getting molded into a national figure/cheerleader by the RNC machine, it’s scary. Leadership — not cheerleadership — is something this country has lacked for a long time, and we need it badly.

Also, the “Troopergate” problem has only turned up more questions of her judgment. It seems the entire family, Sarah included, had a major axe to grind with her sister’s ex. On top of the desire to make the guy pay, the whole family also sought many times to make malicious claims serious enough to where he could lose his job. Even the judge commented that it didn’t make sense.