Palin and Bush II v. The People
While reading through some articles online, I came upon this one about the much recently discussed Troopergate situation with Governor Palin. It tells of how US Attorney Wevley Shea - who had once informally advised Palin on separate ethics legislation - wrote a courtesy letter urging her to apologize for her "overreaching or perceived overreaching" in her handling of the situation.
It goes on to describe that instead of righting the ship and stomaching whatever may have resulted, Palin hired a private attorney and her administration is stonewalling the Alaska State Legislature’s investigation into the matter. It was then when I read the following passage, and it hit me like a brick in the face.
Gov. Palin has taken the opposite tack, hiring a private attorney to advise in a matter that has become known as "Troopergate." Seven Palin administration employees have refused to meet with the independent investigator. The McCain-Palin campaign has argued that the state legislature has no right to look into the matter. Palin spokesmen say the state personnel board is the appropriate investigative body, setting up a showdown between the state’s legislative and executive branches.
(bold mine for emphasis)
They’re not even in the damn White House yet, and already they’ve got a candidate on the ticket claiming executive privilege for her staff in order to prevent them from having to appear before the legislature’s investigation. I don’t care how many ethics reform bills you’ve signed into law, how many reform initiatives you’ve supported, or how many luxury accomodations you’ve cut out of your budget - claiming immunity and executive privilege as a means to prevent cooperation with a government (and therefore taxpayer-funded, too) investigation is not the sign of a reformer. It just shows that she, like her immediate predecessors in the GOP, only fly that reform banner until it starts threatening their influence or pocketbook - and especially when it threatens both. An honest person may have some resistance to owning up to their mistakes, but they would never actively obstruct justice. By claiming that her office is too important to have to subject its members to public scrutiny, Governor Palin shows her true colors.
She, along with the rest of these Republicans parroting that they will bring about some sort of change, is not a reformer in the sense that she believes in a level and just playing field for all citizens. She is a reformer in the sense that she has a very specific framework of ideas about how a government can and cannot - and should and should not - conduct itself, and she is committed to change, but only as long as it is headed down her (and her party’s) intended path.
I can’t imagine even a staunch Republican looking at Palin’s current situation in her home state and failing to see the blatantly obvious parallels to the situation our current President has himself in. Their basic assertion, in claiming immunity by executive privilege for not only thelselves but also for their staff, is that we citizens must cede to them our collective right to have transparency in our government. They are saying that our country is in such peril, that we must occasionally give up a few of those freedoms we were founded upon over two centuries ago. In short, they are saying that since we elected them, we don’t have a right to know what they’re doing with our government and our money. To them, we are but money and votes when it comes time for an election, and a nuisance the rest.
