Well, by numbers, two different panels came to two different conclusions about Sarah, so I’d say it’s a draw. On the other hand, the damning one came from the legislature, and the other comes from the AK Personnel Board, who actually works for the governor, independent counsel or not.

Even the first report was wishy-washy about the whole deal over Monegan’s termination. The report found that his refusal to fire the ex-brother-in-law was “likely a contributing factor” in Monegan’s termination in July, but it also concluded that the governor’s decision was “a proper and lawful exercise of her constitutional and statutory authority” to hire and fire department heads. Knowing how things can be misconstrued to make a point, I’ll give her a cautious pass.

However, the report by the Personnel Board only contradicts the other panel’s conclusions by saying there was no evidence to prove Sarah or any state employee had acted improperly in Monegan’s dismissal. The way it was worded seemed weak, but whatever…nothing compelling to suggest a major transgression was forthcoming.

I’m anxious to see how she recovers from her road trip with John. Back here, folks are a little more skeptical of her. The image she portrayed on the presidential campaign trail was quite different that what they voted for during the race for governor. Of course, it’s all about managing one’s public persona. If she gains enough power not to be completely subjugated to the RNC image makers, she may have a chance to be a respected force in national politics.

Well, I can see blaming Clinton — he’s the one who made changes to the Community Reinvestment Act that provided for public underwriting of sub-prime mortgages.

But Bush actually tried to prevent this mess. In 2003 he proposed a new agency to oversee Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. The New York Times reported:

The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago…. The plan is an acknowledgment by the administration that oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — which together have issued more than $1.5 trillion in outstanding debt — is broken. A report by outside investigators in July concluded that Freddie Mac manipulated its accounting to mislead investors, and critics have said Fannie Mae does not adequately hedge against rising interest rates.

Who shot this re-regulation down? Democrats. In particular the one pocketing the largest campaign contributions from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. The same article continues:

“These two entities — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — are not facing any kind of financial crisis,” said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. “The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.”

But I really like Sarah Palin – she probably doesn’t seem extraordinary to you Alaskans (even considering the much-touted 80% approval rating), but for the red states down here she does seem like a different kind of politician – a real person. So I voted for her. I understand McCain, at least for a while, was part of the deal. The hyper-irrational and weird, atavistically sexist treatment she received from the Left (”Publish Trig’s DNA test!”, “Sarah Palin is a C*nt!”) only made her more sympathetic.

BTW you never posted about her name being cleared in that Monegan firing thing. Maybe you owe it to her – or to yourself – to clarify you never believed the garbage.

During the campaign I was never able to decide if BO is just not very smart or is just really deceptive, those being the major hypotheses I see that are consistent with the evidence. The jury’s still out, I suppose, and maybe I should consider that the two hypotheses are not inconsistent with each other.

The major parties seem to believe that The business of America is business. I blame Clinton and Bush equally for the massive deregulation that led to the current economic crisis. Ross Perot is looking kind of sensible now. I never thought I’d say that.