Sarah Palin on Facebook: nonsense about health care, economy

Posting on Facebook today, Sarah Palin managed to make three misleading statements in two paragraphs.   The first two points represent familiar Fox News/GOP spin.  But the third falsehood appears to be a Sarah Palin original.   It's that ludicrous. 

Branchflower Report

Branchflower's report to the Alaska State Legislative Council concerning VP candidate Sarah Palin and "Troopergate" has now been released. More here.

Sarah Palin: Troopergate report

Update: It's 21:00 in New York.

ABC News reports:

Sarah Palin abused her power when she fired her Public Safety Commissioner this July, a state investigation has concluded.

The investigator, Stephen Branchflower, found that Monegan's refusal to fire Wooten "was not the sole reason" but was "likely a contributing factor" to his firing.

Branchflower also said Palin's attorney general failed to provide him with emails of Palin's that he had requested as part of the probe.

Palin violated the state Ethics Act, Branchflower found.

The report is here.

Updated: Friday at 14:00 Alaska time, 18:00 New York time. AFP [Reuters] reports: "Members of Alaska's Legislative Council [seven Republicans and four Democrats] began a closed-doors meeting in Anchorage shortly after 9:00 am local time (1700 GMT) where they were to be briefed by the inquiry's lead investigator, Steve Branchflower.The 14 council members will then vote on whether to publish the lengthy report online, possibly later Friday, officials told AFP."

The report is 1000 pages long. To get an idea of what the report is likely to contain, check out my Troopergate Timeline (I have posted it below).

* * * *

Thursday, an Alaska high court ruled against the McCain campaign's effort to block the Alaska State Legislature's investigation into the firing of Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan by Gov. Sarah Palin.

It is alleged that Gov. Palin had pressured Monegan to fire a state trooper named Mike Wooten. Mike Wooten had been married to Palin's sister, Molly. The divorce had been messy. . .

My Troopergate Timeline follows. For the complete Sarah Palin timeline -- which covers other major Palin scandals -- see this post.

Troopergate Timeline

2001
2001 - marriage between Palin's sister Molly and trooper Wooten (photo, right)

2005

2005 - Apr 11 Palin's younger sister (wife of Wooten) filed for divorce
2005 - Apr 11 Palin's father, Chuck Heath, filed police complaint about Wooten. He handed the phone to his daughter Molly, who told state police that her husband had threatened her father's life.

2005 - Apr 11 - On the phone with her sister Molly, Sarah Palin overheard Mike Wooten make death threat against her father. When interviewed by Police about the incident Palin said that overhearing the threat, she drove up to their house, watched Mike yelling at Molly through a window a neighbor, and then asked the neighbor to continue watching on her behalf, explaining "I had ah a meeting I couldn't miss." Palin does not call the police

2005 - Apr - investigation of Sarah Palin's brother-in-law Mike Wooten by Alaskan State Troopers begins: allegation of misconduct involving family members over two year period.
2005 - May - domestic complaint incident involving Mike Wooten and Sarah's sister Molly Wooten, Sarah and Todd Palin.

2005 - Aug 10 - sent an angry, three-page e-mail to Col. Julia Grimes, head of the state police, complaining about lack of action taken against Wooten, describing death threat she witnessed Wooden make against her father.
2005 - Aug - Sarah and Todd Palin interviewed again by investigators.
2005 - Oct - Palin's sister's divorce trial to end marriage to Wooten.
2005- Oct 27 - Anchorage Superior Court Judge John Suddock reviewed the complaints filed by Palin and her family. The judge "expressed puzzlement about why the family was trying to get Wooten fired, since depriving the trooper of a job would harm his ability to pay family support to Palin's sister." Judge Suddock warned Palin and her faimly that "disparaging" of relatives "would not be tolerated," calling it "a form of child abuse."

2006

2006 - Mar 1 -Grimes suspends trooper Mike Wooten for 3 days
2006 - Dec - appointed Walter Monegan Public Safety Commissioner, a cabinet position (photo below).

2007

2007 - Jan - Palin's husband Todd invites Monegan to Governor's office and asks him to look into the Wooten matter. "Monegan did and later told Todd there was nothing he could do because the matter was closed." (WaPo)
2007 - Jan "called Monegan a few days later on his cellphone, and that he told her the same thing." (WaPo)
2007 - Feb brings Wooten matter up again with Monegan "in the state capitol building and Monegan warned her to stay at arm's length. Palin backs off, but indirectly mentions matter in some emails. (WaPo)
2007 - Apr - husband Todd (next photo) calls Wooten's boss, Col. Audie Holloway, to give her pictures of Wooten driving a snowmobile when he was out on a worker's compensation claim (WaPo) How did Todd know about the compensation claim?.
2007 - fall - Monegan said Palin indirectly mentioned Wooten to him again (WaPo). Monegan said he also got telephone calls from three Palin appointees

2008 - FEB

2008 - Feb - tape recording made that showed Frank Bailey, the state’s director of boards and commissions, called Lt. Rodney Dial at the State Troopers about Wooten. (Listen to call here)
2008 - Jul 11 - Palin fires Public Safety Commissioner and former police chief Walter Monegan, hires Charles M. Kopp
2008 - Jul 19 - "Monegan went public, alleging that his firing was connected to his failure to remove Wooten."
2008 - Jul (3rd week) - Andrew Halco's blog highlights longstanding dispute between Palin family and Wooten.
2008 - Jul 25 - resignation of Charles M. Kopp (hired to replace chief Monegan) on sexual misconduct charges. He was given a $10,000 severance payment paid by the Gov.'s office.
2008 - Jul 29 - "The state legislature launches investigation, legislators agree to spend up to 100,000 to investigate Gov. Sarah Palin's firing of Public Safety Commissioner Monegan. The governor asked the attorney general's office to conduct an internal investigation. " WaPo and TPM

2008 - AUG

2008 - Aug 13 - initial investigation found “14 members of her administration made more than 20 calls to Monegan and other public safety officials regarding Mike Wooten since she became governor in 2006.” WaPo notes "only one call was determined to be improper, a tape-recorded conversation between Palin's chief of boards and commissions, Frank Bailey, to a police lieutenant."
2008 - Aug 13 - "Palin suspended Bailey with pay, saying she knew nothing about the call" and that he had acted alone (WaPo). That call had, in fact, been taped (Listen here)
2008 - Aug (mid) - governor's office released the audiotape of Bailey: "Such evidence points to a violation of Wooten's privacy" according to State Sen. Hollis French (WaPo)

2008 - SEP
2008 - Sep (early) - efforts by McCain campaign to derail Alaska State investigation into Palin firing of Monegan.

2008 - OCT

2008 - Oct 10 - new deadline set by investigation supervisor Hollis French for completion of Alaska State investigation into possible misconduct by Palin in firing of Monegan.


UPDATE: the McCain Campaign has conducted it's own investigation of Troopergate. You can read about that here. Or go straight to the Jotman's complete Timeline of Palin Scandals (here).

Palin's Achilles' heel

The Palin-Biden debate is over.

After live-blogging the debate, I cut-and-pasted together the following summary showing some highlights of the debate. (To view the long version, see here).

- Most interesting quotes (bold)
- My comments (red)

P: Can I call you Joe? Thank you, thank you.
P: Want to focus on . . .. Goto a kids soccer game on a Saturday and I betcha ya're gonna feel some fear. Fear about... Fear ...
P: Darn right was the predator lenders. Was de-ception there. Let's commit ourselves, Joe sixpack, hockeymoms, Never again will we be exploited again! We need to demand strict oversight. Let's not get ourselves in debt. She sounds like a she's addressing her fellow high school students. Are Americans this immature?
B: I don't know where to start. We don't call not giving Exxon 4 billion class war, we call it fareness. You know how McCain pays for health care: taxes as income the health care benefit. Goes straight to insurance company. .... I call that the ultimate bridge to nowhere.
Good line.
P: Doesn't tell one thing to one group, another to another. I took on oil companies. I undid what Obama did by voting for an energy bill. In my own area of expertise, that's energy.
B: McCain won't support a windfall profits tax like you did in Alaska. I hope the Gov will support for the country what she gave to Alaska.
P: We need to be appreciative of McCain's call to reform those who were starting to rear that head of abuse. Now we have to ....
P: Chant is drill baby drill and that's what we hear all across this country. Pipeline... O and B say no to everything. You even call drilling offshore "raping" the outer continental shelf. Strange comment.
P: Your plan is a white flag of surrender in Iraq. That's not what our troops need to see. You'll know when can govern themselves..... Iraqi commanders on the ground can tell us when that is. Says: I respect your decision Biden. Obama? Anyone who can cut off funding for the troops, that's another story. Looks really disgusted. (Palin's expression was one of extreme contempt for Obama, as if she considered Obama to be filthy or disgusting).
B: McCain has been dead wrong.
B: Focus on Pakistan. Has nukes. Iran not close to having nuke able to be deployed.
P: Both dangerous. Central war on terror is Iraq according to 2 leaders: Petreus and leader of Al Quaeda. Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad not one we can allow to acquire nuclear energy or nuclear weapons. But there is an agreement that Iran can acquire peaceful nuclear energy. Palin is even in disagreement with the Bush administration policy on this point.
P: Our tolerance. Can't sit down on presidential level as Obama would. Diplomacy is....
B: This is not true about Obama. He didn't say that about A. A doesn't control security apparatus. 5 sec of state said we should sit down. McCain won't sit down with Spain, a NATO ally. Incredible.
P: Israel peace seeking nation. Track record of peace with Jordan and Egypt.
B: None a better friend of Israel than me. Biden misspoke saying Hamas won election in West Bank (not Gaza).
P: Enough of the blame game. Have been huge blunders in the administration. Too much finger pointing backwards. We'll learn from past mistakes of this administration.
Q: Nuclear weapons.
P: Nuclear weaponry of course the be all and end all of all the regimes on our planet. Ours is for deterrence. That's a safe stable way to use nuclear weaponry. Can we talk about Afghan? Surge principles that worked in Iraq need to be implemented in Afghan also. We're fighting terrorists, building schools there, we will win there too.
B: Afghan, facts matter. Our comanding general there says surge principle used in Iraq will not work in Afghan. We spent more money in 3 weeks in Iraq than in 7 years in Afghan. No. 2. With regards to arms control, requires control. McCain opposed nuke test-ban treaty. Obama's 1st thing: Obama Lugar bill on nuke proliferation.
P: McCain knows what evil is. Know how to implement the strategies.
B: Just go into Home Depot and ask if a single major initiative McCain differs from Pres on? People in my neighborhood get it. Walk with me in my neighborhood. These people know corporate America done very well.
P: There you go again Joe, you preferenced whole comment with the Bush admin. Schoolteacher, blah blah. Got to increase the standards, NCLB not doing enough. Got to ramp it up and put more attention into that arena.
P: I would lead with energy independence in America, and with children with special needs.
Q: What is your achilles heel?
P: I have been the governor of a huge energy producing state. Not answering the question. Of course!!! Palin doesn't know what the phrase "Achilles heel" means. The question asked Palin to point to some of her weaknesses. Palin does not command the vocabulary necessary to answer the question!
B: You're very kind suggesting my only Achilles heel is a lack of discipline. Lists achievements.
P: John McCain has been the consummate maverick. (me too)
B: McCain is not a maverick on the things that matter to peoples lives. Not a maverick on education. Not a maverick on the war. On the things that people talk about, not a maverick.

Why did Palin not answer the Achilles heel question? I strongly suspect that the vocabulary used by the moderator was simply too challenging for Palin. An alternative explanation? Perhaps Palin was just unwilling to exhibit any humility. Palin may not have answered the question, but the nature of Palin's Achilles' heel should now be obvious to everyone.

What a lame debate.

Palin debate game

Palin Bingo
First, print off cards for you and your friends. Then watch the debate. Whenever Palin says a word on the card, check it off. If you are the first to check off five boxes in a row, you win the game.

Download a set of cards here. (They also have a blank template available).

Palin drinking game
Apparently there are several versions, but this one is "guaranteed to require that you take a cab home." (See Alaskan Abroad for the full list).

Take a drink every time Palin:

• winks or gives a thumbs up to the audience.
• says a world leader's name, two drinks if it's pronounced correctly.
• says any of these words/phrases: Alaska, Bridge to Nowhere, job creation, Washington elite/establishment, media elite, corporate greed, pitbull, lipstick, maverick.
• leaves off a trailing "g" - takin', leavin', changin', etc.
• Any time Palin answers a question, and someone at your table blurts out "WTF is she talking about?"
• When Palin claims that Washington's problems can be solved by small-town know how and common sense: Drink a Labatt Blue as you read up on how to become a Canadian citizen.
• When Palin claims she said "Thanks but no thanks" to the Bridge to Nowhere: Demand a new drink from your hosts, say "thanks but no thanks," and then when no one's looking, take it anyway, then claim you never wanted it.

In search of Sarah Palin's leadership qualities

The American blogosphere is buzzing about the horror that is Sarah Palin as revealed in the Couric interview. James Fallows presents one of the best analysis I have read of that dismal performance. And Fallows is frank and sweeping about what he thinks it tells us about the candidate. In his long career as a journalist, he claims to have met only three other politicians so empty-headed. Fallows highlights a passage that is scary partly because it echoes other spooky things she has said:

COURIC: If this [Wall Street bailout plan] doesn't pass, do you think there's a risk of another Great Depression?

PALIN: Unfortunately, that is the road that America may find itself on. Not necessarily this as it's been proposed has to pass or we're going to find ourselves in another Great Depression.

James Fallows blogs:

There is no sign, listening to Palin, that she has any idea of what another world depression might mean, how loaded a term "another Great Depression" is, how this relates to what John McCain or her Republican party is saying and doing, or anything else involving public finance.

I submit: no one could have read a novel (Grapes of Wrath), seen a movie (Cinderella Man, to choose an easy one; or Annie, or Of Mice and Men or Bonnie and Clyde or All the Kings Men or They Shoot Horses Don't They), or read any history book about the Great Depression and have said these things. Implication: Sarah Palin has never seen or read, or never absorbed, any such material.

Fallows goes on to note that Palin is most certainly not the intellectual equal of President Bush. "George W. Bush is in a completely different and superior league to what we've seen from Palin."

Fallows' comments reminded me of what had struck me most about Palin's response to the "Great Depression" question. That is, I was shocked by how similar in expression her answer was to a question asked of her by Charlie Gibson of ABC:

GIBSON: And under the NATO treaty, wouldn't we then have to go to war if Russia went into Georgia?

PALIN: Perhaps so. I mean, that is the agreement when you are a NATO ally, is if another country is attacked, you're going to be expected to be called upon and help.

It is almost as if Sarah Palin might have no more knowledge of the era known as the "Cold War" -- during which time Russia acquired its nuclear arsenal -- than she evidently has about the complexities of the "Great Depression" period. From what we have seen, it is fair to say that Sarah Palin most likely lacks the ability to put major contemporary world historical events into any kind of larger context -- except perhaps, a pseudo-Biblical one.

Needless to say, such a person lacks a leadership quality indispensable to any American vice-president.

Sarah Palin: an email from Siberia

. . . remember, Alaska is the closest part of our continent to Russia. It’s not as if she doesn’t understand what’s at stake here.
- Cindy McCain

They’re our next door neighbors. And you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska.
- Sarah Palin

Alaska is right next to Russia, she understands that. (Obama) has no experience on these issues.
- John McCain

I know Russia is right next to Russia as well. I saw it on a map.
- Barack Obama

Cindy McCain, John McCain, Palin herself, and other Republicans have suggested the proximity of Alaska to Russia boosts Palin's foreign policy credentials.

The real question ought to be: Did the Alaska governor make the effort to pay a courtesy call to neighboring Russia? And why not?

A Siberian Jotman reader writes:

There is a rather regular air transport between Anchorage and Magadan. There are also occasional small aircraft charters shuttling between Nome and Anadyr (in Chukotka) and (rarely) between Nome and some mine towns in Chukotka and Magadan Oblast. In any case, border control requirements dictate obligatory stops in Anadyr or Magadan. These charter flights are typically arranged for the mining companies operating in the area (e.g. Highland Gold, Kinross Gold etc.), but am sure if the Governor of Alaska had a desire to visit her Russian colleague and play soccer (or hockey) with the Chelsea FC owner, she would most definitely get a seat.

Alaska borders Canada. Did Palin pay a visit to the leaders of nearby Canadian provinces? On Palin's one and only visit to Canada -- in June 2007 -- she visited Whitehorse (population 22,000), which is the capital of the Yukon territory. Sarah Palin did not visit British Columbia -- the relatively populous province which also borders Alaska.
__
Map shows Russian Far East.

Tracking Palin's scandals

Today I noticed that MSNBC was highlighting the fact that as mayor, it was Sarah Palin's policy to charge rape victims for rape tests. That's not exactly news.

What I find interesting is that these "breaking news stories" often turn out to be points about Sarah Palin that I had referenced long ago on the timeline. Check out the timeline, not only is it up to date, it is quite simply the world's most comprehensive timeline of scandals involving the VP challenger.

Will Americans believe anything that scares them?

Not much is said about this. But if the US electorate proves it can be manipulated -- even after eight years of Bush -- into buying more of the same, then the American system will appear even more broken to onlookers than it did in 2004. A McCain-Palin victory would likely have negative repercussions for those fighting for democracy in countries around the world.

Because people seeking democracy abroad have long sought to emulate the US, and if the former exemplar proves itself to be easily manipulated by special interests, then the opponents of democracy will point to this as evidence that democracy is a poor system of government. As I write this I am not just thinking about Beijing and Moscow. I'm thinking about Southeast Asia: the undemocratic exemplar that is Singapore, the mobs on the streets of Bangkok, and long suffering supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi -- both inside Burma and in exile. Moreover, tactics proven effective in this US election will likely be exported abroad, corrupting democratic systems elsewhere. Particularly vulnerable in this respect will be Australia, Canada, and the UK.

Of course, many people will argue this has already happened, and so not much is likely to change. But this time we are witness to an actual campaign that is openly corrosive of democratic values.

Essentially, the campaign of John McCain has degenerated into an effort to use lies, distortions and innuendo to paint his adversary in the worst colors. One recent ad tries to make Obama look like a pervert; another claims Obama called Palin a pig; others contain bold lies such as the fact Palin did not say "thanks, but no thanks" but had strongly supported Alaska's "bridge to nowhere," and that she opposes "earmarks" -- whereas she is most accomplished at getting them. The McCain campaign counts on the media to repeat its campaign propaganda without challenging it. In the end, the smears stick.

I suppose what remains of actual journalists within the ranks of the US news media might decide to rebel and do their jobs. But more and more of US television news is not populated by reporters, but models or professional actors. Many of this relatively new breed don't know what real journalism is. Few seem to care.

This video illustrates the unbelievable depravity of the McCain campaign, and highlights the efforts of a few real journalists to hold McCain accountable to the facts:

She's nuts

Daily News reports on Palin's interview with ABC:

Palin's comments went further than GOP presidential nominee John McCain on the war option if Georgia or Ukraine is invaded by Russia, a nuclear power.

Here are her exact words:

GIBSON: Would you favor putting Georgia and Ukraine in NATO?

PALIN: Ukraine, definitely, yes. Yes, and Georgia.

GIBSON: Because Putin has said he would not tolerate NATO incursion into the Caucasus.

PALIN: Well, you know, the Rose Revolution, the Orange Revolution, those actions have showed us that those democratic nations, I believe, deserve to be in NATO.

Putin thinks otherwise. Obviously, he thinks otherwise, but...

GIBSON: And under the NATO treaty, wouldn't we then have to go to war if Russia went into Georgia?

PALIN: Perhaps so. I mean, that is the agreement when you are a NATO ally, is if another country is attacked, you're going to be expected to be called upon and help.

Here's the video.

Governor Sarah Palin and the Juneau power crisis

A Jotman exclusive

Sarah Palin asked the question in July: What is the role of the vice-president? The Constitution makes it clear that first and foremost, the job of VP is to serve as a stand-by president. It is a job that entails waiting and requires preparation.

If a vice-president is called upon to assume the office of president, it is in response to an emergency. A vice-president will be called upon to lead only in the event of a national crisis; a situation that will include -- but might not be limited to -- the incapacitation or death of the president. Thereafter, the new president will inevitably be called upon to skillfully navigate a series of national -- and especially international -- crisis situations.

Therefore, a question American voters need to ask themselves is: How competently is Sarah Palin likely to respond in the event of a crisis?

Fortunately, we do not need to guess. From April to May of 2008, the capital of Alaska faced a disaster. The disaster happened to coincide with a personal emergency in the life of the governor -- the birth of Trig at week 36 of her pregnancy.

Responding to my Palin timeline, a Jotman reader observed:

During the time period that you have -- when she is in Texas -- the capital - Juneau - was going through something of a crisis because an avalanche had cut power to the city. The city was running off of expensive diesel generators. The city waited and waited for intervention or comment from the governor and none came.

The Juneau power disaster is a case study in crisis management. A timeline of this crisis show us how Sarah Palin coped when faced with a "double crisis": a disaster in her own state coupled with a personal emergency. The situation confronting Juneau residents in April of 2008 provides a window on the priorities, executive skills, and decision making capabilities of Alaskan governor Sarah Palin.

Here is an excerpt from my timeline. It lists events concerning the duo emergencies that confronted Sarah Palin from March to May of 2008:

Key:
Pink - pregnancy related event
Black - other events, power crisis
Ice Blue - temperature in Juneau, Alaska
Red - far right-wing or Christianist politics

2008 - MAR

2008 - Mar 5 - staff and Alaska press, and family, told Palin 7 months pregnant (NY Times story).

2008 - APR
2008 - Apr 16 - 04:00 - Avalanches took out five transmission towers at the Snettisham hydroelectric power plant near Juneau that provides the primary source of electric power to the citizens of Juneau. Estimates indicated the hydroelectric power will not be restored for approximately three months.
2008 - Apr 17 - Thu - 05:00 - National Weather Service in Juneau issued a Heavy Snow Warning for Juneau. "Heavy snow could pose a threat to life and property" it advised
2008 - Apr 17 - Thu - Day's low temperature for Juneau was 21 F (-6C); record snowfall for Southeast Alaska for April 17.
2008 - Apr 17 - Thu - 04:00 - told family physician Cathy Baldwin-Johnson: passing water, contractions. (two risk factors: premature at week 36 week, has Downs Syndrome)
2008 - Apr 17 - Thu - ??:00 - keynote speech at energy conference in Dallas
2008 - Apr 17 - Thu - ??:00 - plane departs Dallas
2008 - Apr 17 - Thu - ??:00 - plane stops in Seattle
2008 - Apr 17 - Thu - 17:00 - Juneau city government declared the loss of its hydroelectricity a "disaster," then asked the state for aid. (Passes Resolution 2440: a Resolution Ratifying the City Manager’s Declaration of Emergency). The Resolution requested "that the Governor of Alaska seek appropriate Federal assistance to help the City and Borough recover from this event". Further it asks "that the Governor of Alaska declare a Disaster Emergency to exist as provided in AS 26.23.140, to provide such State assistance as may be available, and to request additional assistance from Federal agencies where State capability is not adequate."
2008 - Apr 17 - Thu - 18:00 -- Juneau's legislative delegation sent a letter to Gov. Palin supporting a state disaster declaration and asked her office to hire an expert to assist with Juneau's response."The one in five area households that heat solely with electricity face a terrible burden.
2008 - Apr 17 - Thu - ??:00 - plane lands in Anchorage.
2008 - Apr 17 - Thu - ??:00 - one hour drive to Wasilla, driving past NICU hospitals.
2008 - Apr 18 - Fri - day's low temperature in Juneau Alaska is 17F (-8C); Record low temperatures for Southeast Alaska for April 18.
2008 - Apr 18 - Fri - Trig born.
2008 - Apr 18 - Fri - 18:00 - Alaskan comments: "It boggles my mind how quiet the Governor's office has been. I think this is all part of a plan by her office and some legislators to move the capital."
2008 - Apr 18 - Fri - 23:00 - Alaskan comments: "Since the governor just gave birth, I guess I should excuse the silence from the mansion. Congratulations Sarah!"
2008 - Apr 19 - Sat - day's low temperature in Juneau Alaska is 19F (-7C)
2008 - Apr 19 - Sat - 01:00 - Alaskan comments: "Regarding the Governor, I can understand her being indisposed, new baby and all, but where's her spokesperson?"
2008 - Apr 19 - Sat - hospital.
2008 - Apr 20 - Sun - day's low temperature in Juneau Alaska is 24F (-4C)
2008 - Apr 20 - Sun - hospital?
2008 - Apr 21 - Mon - day's low temperature in Juneau Alaska is 27F (-3C)
2008 - Apr 21 - Mon - attended pipeline meeting.

2008- Apr 21 - Mon - conservation groups called upon the Bush administration to stop delays in listing the Cook Inlet Beluga whale under the federal Endangered Species Act. Time reports that Palin "opposes strengthening protections for beluga whales in Alaska's Cook Inlet, where oil and gas development has been proposed."
2008 - Apr 22 - Tue - day's low temperature in Juneau Alaska is 29F (-2C)
2008 - Apr 22 - Tue - Palin announced that multiple state agencies were working with the power company to asssess the damage and develop a plan to recover power to Juneau.
2008 - Apr 23 - Wed - day's low temperature in Juneau Alaska is 32F (0C)
2008 - Apr 23 - Wed - governor's disaster policy cabinet met to discuss Juneau disaster and discuss declaring a state disaster.
2008 - April 30 - Wed - governor's disaster policy cabinet met for a second time in Anchorage to consider the city's request and recommended to Palin that she not approve the declaration.

2008 - April (late) - small businesses uncertain how to cope with five-fold increase in electricity bill. Many poor and senior residents struggling even before the disaster.

2008 - MAY
2008 - May 1 - US Sen. Stevens spokesman Aaron Saunders said that a disaster declaration could make it possible for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Small Business Administration to provide help in Juneau. "The state's disaster declaration is critical," said Kevin Simpson, legislative assistant to U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska.
2008 - May 2 - announcement that Gov. Sarah Palin has rejected a request from the city of Juneau to issue a "disaster" declaration in response to the city's power crisis.
2008 - May - Palin objected to the federal government listing polar bears as an endangered species
2008 - May 27 - United Way of Southeast Alaska announced Thursday an increase in the eligibility pool for those impacted by Juneau disaster. It will include all those most at risk. They expect nearly 50 percent of the city to apply.

The timeline shows that 1) heavy snow knocked out a substantial section of the primary power line to Juneau on 16 April; 2) record snowfalls buried Juneau on the morning of 17 April; and 3) the record cold temperatures of 18 April would have prompted Juneau residents to jack up their thermostats. This combination of factors presented a significant and unusual threat to the citizens of Juneau and surrounding areas - particularly for those who depend on electric power for heating. You would think that anyone knowledgeable about northern weather would immediately recognize the seriousness of this situation and the need for government to act quickly.

Because that is not what happened, the Juneau crisis of May 2008 raises some serious questions about Sarah Palin that need to be addressed:

• Palin would likely have been made aware of the situation in Juneau before she gave her presentation at the energy conference in Texas. When faced with both a personal and a state emergency, why did Palin prioritize the energy conference? Did Sarah Palin exercise good judgment when she chose to attend the energy meeting?
• Given that Palin had plenty of forewarning that she would probably be incapacitated for a few days while she gave birth to Trig, why did Governor Palin not appoint someone to serve as "acting governor" for the duration of her forthcoming period of incapacitation? Under Article 3, Section 7 of the Alaska Constitution, "The lieutenant governor . . . shall perform such duties as prescribed by law and as may be delegated to him by the governor." With a serious crisis afflicting Juneau at the time of the governor's imminent incapacitation, surely the governor ought to have delegated her responsibilities to the lieutenant governor.
  
• Why was more not done to provide reassurance to the people of Juneau during the power crisis? Handling emergency contingencies -- providing reassurances to people in distress -- is surely the first job responsibility of the governor of any US state.
  

Inaction on part of the governor concerning these points makes the Juneau crisis eerily reminiscent of the inadequate response of the Bush Administration to the needs of New Orleans residents in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
____
These factors were brought to my attention by Jotman reader Anapolis during the development of Jotman's Sarah Palin timeline. The timeline concerns major events concerning all the known controversies of Palin's entire political career.

Back when Palin was Stalin

An account of Palin's early experiences as mayor of Wasilla published in today's Boston Globe makes for a chilling read. Here is an excerpt:

The day Palin took office, she told Stambaugh [the police chief] she wanted him to stay on provided he would support her as mayor, his notes say. He agreed. She also asked him to drop the issue of bar hours. He agreed to that, too. On this day, Palin fired the city’s museum director, one of the department heads. 

Ten days later, Palin wrote to all the department heads, including Stambaugh, asking for letters of resignation. She said she would then decide which to accept. When Stambaugh declined to provide one — pointing to his contract — Palin replied in a letter: "I will expect your loyalty."

The article continues:

For Palin, the firing of Stambaugh was only part of the drama that unfolded in her first months as mayor. The Frontiersman and Anchorage Daily News wrote one story after another about the turmoil. 

After notifying the librarian that she was fired, Palin backtracked and decided to keep her on. Palin had twice asked this librarian what she thought about banning books, to which the librarian responded it was a lousy idea, one she wouldn’t go along with. Later, Palin told the local paper that any questions she’d raised about censorship were only "rhetorical." 

Palin put in place what the local paper called a gag order, prohibiting top city employees from talking to reporters unless she cleared it first. 

After Stambaugh and the museum director were fired, two of the four remaining department heads quit. One, the public-works director, accused Palin of undermining him by meeting secretly with contractors and employees. 

When three women who worked at the city’s museum were asked to decide among themselves which one should be let go, all three quit. 

Palin tried to fill two vacancies on the City Council herself, even though an ordinance said that wasn’t her prerogative. It was the council’s. After the city attorney stopped Palin, the mayor said she’d merely engaged in a ploy. "It was brilliant maneuvering I had to do to deal with the impasse," she told the Frontiersman. 

The Frontiersman ran blistering editorials, condemning Palin’s philosophy "that either we are with her or against her." The newspaper accused Palin of mistaking the 616 votes she received as a "coronation." 

"Wasilla residents have been subjected to attempts to unlawfully appoint council members, statements that have been shown to be patently untrue, unrepentant backpedaling, and incessant whining that her only enemies are the press and a few disgruntled supporters of Mayor Stein. ... Palin promised to change the status quo, but at every turn we find hints of cronyism and political maneuvering. We see a woman who has long since surrendered her ideals to a political machine."

The police chief she fired, Stambaugh, comes across in the article like a great guy. Before being fired, he had argued before the town council that bars ought to close before 5:30am -- a measure that seemed likely to reduce traffic fatalities (Palin had opposed this idea). The article notes that after Palin fired him, "Stambaugh spent a year in Bosnia, training police officers under the auspices of the United Nations." So Alaska's loss was Bosnia's gain.

Palin claims to have changed a lot since her early days as mayor of Wasilla. She said: "I grew tremendously in my early months as mayor, managing the fastest-growing city in the state, and I turned my critics around."

Has she changed? Decide for yourself. The I have updated the timeline.

Sarah Palin has a beluga whale problem

It's not just polar bears. It seems Sarah Palin also has a problem with beluga whales.

Defenders reported in April:

"The experts agree – the science to list the Cook Inlet Beluga is clear,” said Bob Shavelson of Cook Inletkeeper. “But the oil industry and their friends in the Bush & Palin Administrations prefer to blur the science to meet their political needs. The system of checks and balances is badly broken.”

Palin has made oil projects her priority and worked to delayed the listing of beluga whales as an endangered species. But environmental groups have fought back, filing a lawsuit against the Bush Administration.

Photo: shows an enthusiastic new Alaskan volunteer for the Obama campaign

Wasilla mayor turn Alaska governor Sarah Palin

Jotman's Palin Timeline has been updated and color-coded to include all known questionable activities and possible cover-ups. Only documented events are included on the timeline.

The fact I have named and color-coded a particular controversy does not imply that I think the scandal is true (or untrue); it simply means that an attempt has been made to assemble the potentially relevant facts about it chronologically.

Click here to view the updated timeline.

Key to reading the timeline

life-transition/family/career (BLACK)
federal earmarks, Sen. Stevens-related, etc. (GREEN)
bridge to nowhere (BLUE)
babygate (PINK)
authoritarian leadership style (PURPLE)
Chrisitianist or right-wing extremist ideology (RED)
sale of jet (BLUE)
troopergate (BROWN)
exaggeration of foreign policy credentials (GREY)
Alaska Independence Party activities (YELLOW)

Palin more popular than Obama, McCain

Rasmussen Reports reports:

. . . following a Vice Presidential acceptance speech viewed live by more than 40 million people, Palin is viewed favorably by 58% of American voters. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 37% hold an unfavorable view of the self-described hockey mom. The figures include 40% with a Very Favorable opinion of Palin and 18% with a Very Unfavorable view . . .

The new data also shows significant increases in the number who say McCain made the right choice and the number who say Palin is ready to be President.

Perhaps most stunning is the fact that Palin’s favorable ratings are now a point higher than either man at the top of the Presidential tickets this year. As of Friday morning, Obama and McCain are each viewed favorably by 57% of voters. Biden is viewed favorably by 48%.

There is a strong partisan gap when it comes to perceptions of Palin. Eighty-nine percent (89%) of Republicans give her favorable reviews along with 33% of Democrats and 59% of voters not affiliated with either major party. . .

She earns positive reviews from 65% of men and 52% of women. . . .

The Palin pick has also improved perceptions of John McCain. A week ago, just before he introduced his running mate, just 42% of Republicans had a Very Favorable opinion of their party’s nominee. That figure jumped to 54% by this Friday morning. . . .

Eighty-one percent (81%) of Republicans say that McCain made the right choice while just 69% of Democrats said the same about Obama. . . .

Forty percent (40%) now say that Palin is ready to be President, if necessary. That’s up from 29% last week. Forty-nine percent (49%) say the same about Biden. . . .

However, following the Wednesday night speech, voters are fairly evenly divided as to whether Palin or Obama has the better experience to be President. Forty-four percent (44%) of voters say Palin has the better experience while 48% say Obama has the edge. Among unaffiliated voters, 45% say Obama has better experience while 42% say Palin.

The poll results reflect the trend in comments at Jotman. There is a lot of support for Palin out there. But all is not lost -- yet -- as the report on the polls reminds us:

While Palin’s numbers are stunning today, it remains to be seen how the Alaska Governor’s numbers will hold up through the next two months.

The Democrats have been nearly silent all week. It could be argued that Palin -- a candidate with no national political experience -- now has nowhere to go in the polls but down.

Palin foreign policy experience timeline

This is a timeline of Palin's foreign policy experiences. It is an extrapolation of events from the timeline of Palin's career and life experiences posted here.

Palin Foreign Policy Experience Timeline

2006 - Elected Governor of Alaska, a state which borders Canada and is near Russia.
2007 - July - Palin applies for US passoport
2007 - August - Palin visits Kuwait and Germany where she meets with wounded members of Alaska's National Guard. Palin visits Dublin airport (plane refueling).

Timeline will be updated if more information becomes available. In the meantime, read previous post. Photo shows Air Force One landing in India.

UPDATE: see "an email from a Siberian"

Foreign policy achievements: Palin Vs Obama

Updated
One week before McCain selected Palin to be his VP, I did some research on Sarah Palin. I blogged:

I don't think this is going to fly . . . The problem, of course, is that Palin appears to have had no foreign policy experience whatsoever. "Makes her no less qualified than George W.," supporters might retort. Which is to say she is hardly a credible candidate for your standby-president in the world of 2008.

No new information about Palin has come to light that has caused me to change my own initial assessment of the candidate.

Nevertheless, I may have missed something. Therefore, I have invited anyone to submit to Jotman any foreign policy accomplishments of Palin for inclusion in my Palin timeline. As I blogged here, I will be open minded about it: "Even a vacation in Mexico, or, say, a French language course -- I will be sure to add the event to the timeline."

One thoughtful Jotman reader responded: "Maybe you could outline Obama foreign policy achievements as well. We could make good comparsion between the two of them."

I did make an effort to look into Senator Obama's foreign policy experience earlier in the year. I noted that he had been a member of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the US Senate. On the streets of Jakarta, I made a firsthand inquiry into Obama's early life experiences in Indonesia -- a time of life that would have helped to shape his world view.

One episode sticks out in my mind concerning Obama's foray into US foreign policy. In February 2008 I blogged: "Obama's most important legislative achievement concerns the issue that prompted my first jot at Jotman." In his short time as a senator, Obama had the good sense to promote one the most important pieces of foreign policy legislation signed into law during the Bush administration. I am referring to the Lugar-Obama bill, otherwise known as "The Nuclear Non-proliferation and Conventional Weapons Threat Reduction Act." I noted at the time: "Lugar-Obama was partly about keeping shoulder-fire missile launchers out of terrorists' hands -- the fear being that someone will try to take out an airliner."

McCain may not survive even one month should he be elected to office; it is appropriate for us all to inquire whether Palin has any foreign policy experience. The last time Americans elected such a president, he started a war without taking into consideration any of the obvious risks.

UPDATE
The Zoo reports that of the 570 bills Senator Obama introduced into the United States Senate, 10 addressed Foreign Policy:

• Iraq war de-escalation (313)
• US policy for Iraq (433),
• Divestiture from Iran (1430)
• Sudan divestment authorization (831)
• Millennium Development Goals (2433)
• Multilateral debt relief (1320)
• Development bank reform (1129)
• Nuclear nonproliferation (3131,977,2224).

Palin timeline

Is Sarah Palin ready to lead the world? I have sketched a timeline incorporating various scandals and family and career milestones that could -- in any conceivable way -- concern the fitness of the vice-presidential candidate for a) the Republican ticket or b) in the event of the death or incapacitation of a "President McCain" -- to successfully execute the office of President of the United States.

Only documented events are included on the timeline.

Color-coded Timeline of major events concerning McCain VP pick Sarah Palin

Notes: My timeline draws only on incidents documented by newspapers, state records, or other documents. For example, whereas I consulted Wikipedia, I went back to check out the citations. The fact I have named and color-coded a particular controversy does not imply that I think the scandal is true (or untrue); it simply means that an attempt has been made to assemble the potentially relevant facts about it chronologically.

Tip: try reading the timeline one color at a time.

LEGEND

life-transition/family/career/other (BLACK)

• federal earmarks, Sen. Stevens-related, etc. (MONEY GREEN)
• bridge to nowhere (WATER BLUE)
• authoritarian leadership style (ROYAL PURPLE)
• Chrisitianist or far right-wing agenda (BLOOD RED)
• sale of jet (SKY BLUE)
• troopergate (BROWN)
• baby questions (PINK)
• Junea storm and power crisis (POWDER SNOW BLUE)
  
• exaggeration of foreign policy credentials (GREY)
• Alaska Independence Party activities (YELLOW)
• Socialism (COMMIE RED)
  

1964-1990
1964 - born
1964 - parents, Mr. and Mrs. Heath, move to Alaska from Idaho
1976 - baptized in Litter Beaver Lake, Alaska
1982 - her high school basketball team wins state championship
1982 - attended Hawaii Pacific University in Honolulu
1983 - attended North Idaho College (a two year school), general studies major
1984 - wins "Miss Wasilla" pageant along with the title of "Miss Congeniality"
1984 - second-place finish in Miss Alaska beauty contest
1984-5 - attended U of Idaho
1985 - attended Matanuska-Susitna College in Palmer, Alaska
1986 - attended Idaho
1986- Todd Palin arrested for drunk driving
1987 - attended U of Idahograduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Idaho
1988 - worked as a sports reporter
1988 - August 29 eloped with Todd Palin
1989 - Track born
1990 - Bristol born

1991-1995

1992-6 - "Wasilla had received few if any earmarks before Palin became mayor. " (LAT)

1992 - Oct - elected to 3-year term on Wasilla town council
1994 - Palin and husband allegedly attend Alaska Independence Party (AKIP) conference
1994 - Wasilla police chief Stambaugh nominated by Wasilla to be Alaska’s Municipal Employee of the Year.
1995 - Willow born
1995 - Oct - re-election for second 3-year term on Wasilla town council (Sarah Palin only completed one-year of this term before she was elected Mayor)

1996-1999

1996-2000 - Wasilla benefited from $26.9 million in Federal earmarks.
1996 - sum - In the interest of preventing highway fatalities, the Wasilla council debated whether to mandate an earlier closing times for the bars.The police chief was among those calling for closing the taverns earlier. "Because bars in Anchorage closed earlier, some people drove to Wasilla to keep drinking, endangering themselves and others, Stambaugh argued." Palin sided with the bar owners.
1996 - Sep - ran for mayor of Wasilla, pop. 6,000
1996 - Sep - campaign for mayor of her small town endorsed by the NRA, while the state Republican party ran advertisements on her behalf. Palin campaigned on a pro-life, religion, conservative-values platform.
1996 - Sep - Palin campaign ad for mayor of Wasilla included photo of Palin with the owners of the Mug Shot Saloon and the Wasilla Bar, two taverns that stayed open until 5:30 a.m.
1996 - Oct - elected mayor of Wasilla
1996 - Oct - brought in an outside attorney, with city funds, to advise on the transition.
1996 - Oct - sends letter requesting town librarian, police chief Stambaugh, public works director Jack felton, and finance director Duane Dvorak submit letter of resignation. "She said she would then decide which to accept." Palin tells newspaper that the resignations were requested to test their loyalty.
1996 - Oct - imposed gag order, prohibiting city personnel from talking to the press.
1996 - Dec - the chief librarian for Wasilla tells a newspaper that Palin asked her 3 times -- starting before she was sworn in -- about possibly removing objectionable books from the library if the need arose.
1997 - Jan - terminates job of the head of city museum, John Cooper, who then resigns

1997 - Jan 30 - notified the police chief and the town librarian that they were being fired.
1997 - spring - public works director and another director quits.
1997 - Oct - raises issue of banning some library books at a Wasilla council meeting.
1999 - Sep -campaign for re-election as mayor of Wisilla.
1999 - Oct - overwhelmingly re-elected as mayor.
1999 - although she had campaigned to cut her own salary and once elected she cut her salary by 6%, unexpectedly she "hired a city administrator, John Cramer, adding a salary to the payroll."

2000
2000-2003 - Wasilla receives 11.9 million in federal earmarks (20 times per-capita average in other states)

2000 - Jan - writes glowing letter of reference for Wooten to become a state trooper. Palin called him "a fine role model."
2000 - hired a Washington lobbyist to secure federal earmarks for her community (Robertson, Monagle & Eastaugh, an Anchorage-based law firm with close ties to Rep. Don Young and Sen. Ted Stevens)
2000 - May - new state law passed that would force Wasilla to pay cost of medical examinations for rape victims. Under Palin, Wasilla expected victims to pay for these tests, and the Wasilla Police Chief Fannon vehimently objected to the new legislation

2001
2001 - marriage between Palin's sister Molly and trooper Wooten.
2001 - McCain list of spending "that had been approved without the normal budget scrutiny included a $500,000 earmark for a public transportation project in Wasilla."
2001 - fee paid by Wasilla to Mr. Silver pf the lobby firm raised from $24,000 to $36,000.
2001 - piper born

2002
2002 - leaves Assemblies of God church, an Evangelical church which she had attended since the age of four.
2002 - McCain objects to $1 million for Wasillla "in a 2002 spending bill for an emergency communications center in town -- one that local law enforcement has said is redundant and creates confusion."
2002 - "As Palin campaigned unsuccessfully in 2002 to become lieutenant governor, she received contributions from executives at VECO Corp., a powerful Alaska oil field services company.(IHT)"
2002 - unsuccessful in her campaign for lieutenant governor.
2002 - Oct - Palin's second term as mayor of Wasilla ends.

2003
2003 - McCain criticized $450,000 for an "agricultural processing facility in Wasilla that was requested during Palin's tenure as mayor."

2003 - Feb - Palin, although she did not have an oil and gas background, was named chairwoman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission "with the $125,000-a-year seat designated for a "public" member."

2003-4 - Chairwoman, AOGCC
2003 - Nov - Ruedrich resigned from the AOGCC. "Palin, acting as chairwoman and ethics supervisor, passed complaints up the ladder to the attorney general and the governor's office." Press accounts make Palin the hero.

2004

2004 - Jan - Palin resigns AOGCC in protest "over what she called the 'lack of ethics' of fellow Republican members."

2004 - Mar 16 - a study by the Energy Information Agency "found that the oil in Alaska Natural Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) would only cut cost of gasoline by 3.5 cents by 2027." Palin strongly supports drilling in the ANWR. According to Time, "Even if the drilling were flawless, exploration would destroy much of what makes ANWR special. As Peter Matthiessen wrote of the reserve, it is 'one of the last places on earth when a human being can kneel down and drink from a wild stream without being measurably more poisoned or polluted than before.'"
2004 - Mar 17 - founding of a mysterious 527political organization named "Ted Stevens Excellence in Public Service Inc." Palin one of the three founding directors of "Ted Stevens Excellence in Public Service, Inc."This "527 group that could raise unlimited funds from corporate donors" is described as a "boot camp for Republican women" in Alaska.WaPo reports "The Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call reported that several experts called the group an example of the fine legal line between a legal effort to conduct political activity and then-new prohibitions against raising unlimited soft-money." (WaPo article incorrectly states group was founded in 2003. Proof 03-17-2004 is actual founding date here and here).
2004 - Jun - Republican Ruedrich, who Palin had helped get fired, admits to breaking ethics laws, fined. Palin is vindicated in the media.

2005

2005 - Apr 11 Palin's younger sister (wife of Wooten) filed for divorce
2005 - Apr 11 Palin's father, Chuck Heath, filed police complaint about Wooten. He handed the phone to his daughter Molly, who told state police that her husband had threatened her father's life.

2005 - Apr 11 - On the phone with her sister Molly, Sarah Palin overheard Mike Wooten make death threat against her father. When interviewed by Police about the incident Palin said that overhearing the threat, she drove up to their house, watched Mike yelling at Molly through a window a neighbor, and then asked the neighbor to continue watching on her behalf, explaining "I had ah a meeting I couldn't miss." Palin does not call the police

2005 - Apr - investigation of Sarah Palin's brother-in-law Mike Wooten by Alaskan State Troopers begins: allegation of misconduct involving family members over two year period.
2005 - May - domestic complaint incident involving Mike Wooten and Sarah's sister Molly Wooten, Sarah and Todd Palin.
2005 - Jun - resigns from Ted Stevens Excellence in Public Service Inc.

2005 - Aug 10 - sent an angry, three-page e-mail to Col. Julia Grimes, head of the state police, complaining about lack of action taken against Wooten, describing death threat she witnessed Wooden make against her father.
2005 - Aug - Sarah and Todd Palin interviewed again by investigators.
2005 - Oct - Palin's sister's divorce trial to end marriage to Wooten.
2005- Oct 27 - Anchorage Superior Court Judge John Suddock reviewed the complaints filed by Palin and her family. The judge "expressed puzzlement about why the family was trying to get Wooten fired, since depriving the trooper of a job would harm his ability to pay family support to Palin's sister." Judge Suddock warned Palin and her faimly that "disparaging" of relatives "would not be tolerated," calling it "a form of child abuse."
2005 - Nov 16 - Republicans in US Congress stipulate that $442 million does not have to be spent on Alaska's maligned "bridge to nowhere." However, Alaska would now get to keep the money "with no strings attached."

2006
2006 - Feb - private meeting with McCain in a National Governors Association meeting

2006 - Palin and husband allegedly attend Alaska Independence Party(AKIP) conference
2006 - joins Feminists for Life
2006 - Sen. Stevens films campaign commercial with Palin. It is "a last moment endorsement."
2006 - supports abstinence-only education in Alaskan schools
2006 - Mar 1 -Grimes suspends trooper Mike Wooten for 3 days.
2006 - Sep - Gubernatorial election. "Palin campaigned on a build-the-bridge platform, telling Ketchikan residents she felt their pain when politicians called them 'nowhere.' . . . said the bridge was essential for the town’s prosperity."
2006 - Oct 2 - interview with the KDN "There needs to be a link between Ketchikan and its future and its future opportunities and progress, opening up land in this area," she said. ("Critics of the bridge projects pointed out that members of the Murkowski family own land on Gravina Island and business associates of Stevens and Young, as well as a member of Young's family, own land that would be accessed by the Knik Arm Bridge" TW (and this TPM post).
2006 - Fall - wins Republican primary, defeating Gov. Frank Murkowski
2006 - Fall - during debate, Palin declared her opposition to stem cell research
2006 - Nov 3 - reported in ADN that Palin said that even if her daughter were raped, "I would choose life." Palin said that she would support abortion only if the mother's life were in danger.
2006 - Dec - assumed office of Governor of Alaska, pop. 600,000
2006 - Dec - appointed Monegan Public Safety Commissioner, a cabinet position
2006 - Dec - jobs go "to friends and appointed lobbyists to oversee industries they used to represent (Newsweek).
2006 - Dec - now governing a state with 2 international borders: Canada and Russia

2007

2007 - Jan - Palin's husband Todd invites Monegan to Governor's office and asks him to look into the Wooten matter. "Monegan did and later told Todd there was nothing he could do because the matter was closed." (WaPo)
2007 - Jan "called Monegan a few days later on his cellphone, and that he told her the same thing." (WaPo)
2007 - Feb brings Wooten matter up again with Monegan "in the state capitol building and Monegan warned her to stay at arm's length. Palin backs off, but indirectly mentions matter in some emails. (WaPo)
2007 - March 1 - "I've been so focused on state government, I haven't really focused much on the war in Iraq." (quoted in Alaska Business Monthly)
2007 - Apr - husband Todd calls Wooten's boss, Col. Audie Holloway, to give her pictures of Wooten driving a snowmobile when he was out on a worker's compensation claim (WaPo) How did Todd know about the compensation claim?.
2007 - May - named her own physician Cathy Baldwin-Johnson to the Alaska Health Care Strategies Planning Council.
2007 - Jun - signed into law a $6.6 billion operating budget—the largest in Alaska's history
2007 - Jul 4 - new board of Alaska State Creamery -- appointed by Palin after she fired the old board because it had wanted to close Matanusaka Maid dairy against her wishes -- voted to over turn decision to close the dairy. (Eventually the dairy would have to be closed anyway and no bidder would be found to buy it).
2007 - Jul - applied for a US passport
2007 - Jul - visited Kuwait and Germany where she meets with wounded members of Alaska's National Guard. Palin visits Dublin airport (plane refueling).
2007 - Aug - sold government jet to Larry Reynolds of Valdez who paid $2.1 million for the jet ($2.7 million had been the purchase price). (Plane had not been sold on Ebay as McCain would later claim)
2007 - Aug - I-35W bridge in Minnesote collapses, killing 13 people
2007 - Aug - McCain talked about I-35W and slammed the Ketchikan "bridge to nowhere"
2007 - Sep - Track enlisted in the U.S. Army
2007 - Sep 24 - canceled "Bridge to Nowhere" because of cost overruns (WaPo) and its "national notoriety. Canceling work on the bridge will free up about $36 million in federal funds that may be used on other Alaska transportation projects, the governor said" TW . A three-mile road on sparsely populated Gravina Island built with $25 million of the original bridge money -- integral to the original plan -- because otherwise "money would have had to be returned to the federal government."
2007 - fall - Monegan said Palin indirectly mentioned Wooten to him again (WaPo). Monegan said he also got telephone calls from three Palin appointees
2007 - Oct - tax increase plan on oil companies operating in Alaska -- including a windfall profits tax -- called the "Alaska's Clear and Equitable Share" (ACES) plan. This money handed over to taxpayers. Oil and gas exploration is reported to have subsequently declined.
2007 - Oct - took Bristol to NYC, state paid for their 3 nights in a $707/night hotel room
2007 - Oct 31 - Wal-Mart opens in Wasilla as state's largest store. (Wasilla resident Anne Kilkenny holds Palin responsible for having turned Wasilla into "a wasteland of big box stores.")
2007 - Sept 11 - opposes Lieberman's bill to prevent arctic refuge drilling. (Letter to Sen. Akaka 11/9/07)
2007 Nov 22 (Thanksgiving Day) - charged the state a per diem for working. The reason given, according to the expense report, was the Great Alaska Shootout,l NCAA college basketball tournament held in Anchorage
2007 - Dec - daughter Bristol transferred from school in Wasilla to West Anchorage. Bristol away from school for 5 months
2007 - Dec - posed for Vogue Magazine.

2008 - JAN

2008 - FEB

2008 - Feb 5 - does not endorse any candidate at Alaska Caucus, but dismissive of McCain's opposition to drilling in ANWR.
2008 - Feb - office sent Sen. Stevens outline for "$200 million worth of new funding requests for Alaska."
2008 - Feb - tape recording made that showed Frank Bailey, the state’s director of boards and commissions, called Lt. Rodney Dial at the State Troopers about Wooten. (Listen to call here)

2008 - MAR
2008 - Mar 5 - staff and Alaska press, and family, told Palin 7 months pregnant (NY Times story).

2008 - Mar 31 - established "a $150 bounty to the state sanctioned airborne wolf hunters as an added incentive to increase their kills," soon overturned by the Alaska State Court.

2008 - APR

2008 - Apr 16 - 04:00 - Avalanches took out five transmission towers at the Snettisham hydroelectric power plant near Juneau that provides the primary source of electric power to the citizens of Juneau. Estimates indicated the hydroelectric power will not be restored for approximately three months.
2008 - Apr 17 - Thu - 05:00 - National Weather Service in Juneau issued a Heavy Snow Warning for Juneau. "Heavy snow could pose a threat to life and property" it advised
2008 - Apr 17 - Thu - Day's low temperature for Juneau was 21 F (-6C); record snowfall for Southeast Alaska for April 17.
2008 - Apr 17 - Thu - 04:00 - told family physician Cathy Baldwin-Johnson: passing water, contractions. (two risk factors: premature at week 36 week, has Downs Syndrome)
2008 - Apr 17 - Thu - ??:00 - keynote speech at energy conference in Dallas
2008 - Apr 17 - Thu - ??:00 - plane departs Dallas
2008 - Apr 17 - Thu - ??:00 - plane stops in Seattle
2008 - Apr 17 - Thu - 17:00 - Juneau city government declared the loss of its hydroelectricity a "disaster," then asked the state for aid. (Passes Resolution 2440: a Resolution Ratifying the City Manager’s Declaration of Emergency). The Resolution requested "that the Governor of Alaska seek appropriate Federal assistance to help the City and Borough recover from this event". Further it asks "that the Governor of Alaska declare a Disaster Emergency to exist as provided in AS 26.23.140, to provide such State assistance as may be available, and to request additional assistance from Federal agencies where State capability is not adequate."
2008 - Apr 17 - Thu - 18:00 -- Juneau's legislative delegation sent a letter to Gov. Palin supporting a state disaster declaration and asked her office to hire an expert to assist with Juneau's response."The one in five area households that heat solely with electricity face a terrible burden.
2008 - Apr 17 - Thu - ??:00 - plane lands in Anchorage.
2008 - Apr 17 - Thu - ??:00 - one hour drive to Wasilla, driving past NICU hospitals.
2008 - Apr 18 - Fri - day's low temperature in Juneau Alaska is 17F (-8C); Record low temperatures for Southeast Alaska for April 18.
2008 - Apr 18 - Fri - Trig born.
2008 - Apr 18 - Fri - 18:00 - Alaskan comments: "It boggles my mind how quiet the Governor's office has been. I think this is all part of a plan by her office and some legislators to move the capital."
2008 - Apr 18 - Fri - 23:00 - Alaskan comments: "Since the governor just gave birth, I guess I should excuse the silence from the mansion. Congratulations Sarah!"
2008 - Apr 19 - Sat - day's low temperature in Juneau Alaska is 19F (-7C)
2008 - Apr 19 - Sat - 01:00 - Alaskan comments: "Regarding the Governor, I can understand her being indisposed, new baby and all, but where's her spokesperson?"
2008 - Apr 19 - Sat - hospital.
2008 - Apr 20 - Sun - day's low temperature in Juneau Alaska is 24F (-4C)
2008 - Apr 20 - Sun - hospital?
2008 - Apr 21 - Mon - day's low temperature in Juneau Alaska is 27F (-3C)
2008 - Apr 21 - Mon - attended pipeline meeting.

2008- Apr 21 - Mon - conservation groups called upon the Bush administration to stop delays in listing the Cook Inlet Beluga whale under the federal Endangered Species Act. Time reports that Palin "opposes strengthening protections for beluga whales in Alaska's Cook Inlet, where oil and gas development has been proposed."
2008 - Apr 22 - Tue - day's low temperature in Juneau Alaska is 29F (-2C)
2008 - Apr 22 - Tue - Palin announced that multiple state agencies were working with the power company to asssess the damage and develop a plan to recover power to Juneau.
2008 - Apr 23 - Wed - day's low temperature in Juneau Alaska is 32F (0C)
2008 - Apr 23 - Wed - governor's disaster policy cabinet met to discuss Juneau disaster and discuss declaring a state disaster.
2008 - April 30 - Wed - governor's disaster policy cabinet met for a second time in Anchorage to consider the city's request and recommended to Palin that she not approve the declaration.

2008 - April (late) - small businesses uncertain how to cope with five-fold increase in electricity bill. Many poor and senior residents struggling even before the disaster.

2008 - MAY
2008 - May 1 - US Sen. Stevens spokesman Aaron Saunders said that a disaster declaration could make it possible for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Small Business Administration to provide help in Juneau. "The state's disaster declaration is critical," said Kevin Simpson, legislative assistant to U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska.
2008 - May 2 - announcement that Gov. Sarah Palin has rejected a request from the city of Juneau to issue a "disaster" declaration in response to the city's power crisis.

2008 - May - Palin objected to the federal government listing polar bears as an endangered species
2008 - May 27 - United Way of Southeast Alaska announced Thursday an increase in the eligibility pool for those impacted by Juneau disaster. It will include all those most at risk. They expect nearly 50 percent of the city to apply.

2008 - JUN
2008 - June 7 - Palin flies to Juneau to Wasilla. The return trip plane ticket costs $519.50. It will be billed to the state.
2008 - Jun 8 - Palin spoke at her former church. Regarding Iraq war she said: "there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan." Regarding a pipeline she said: "I think God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built.
2008 - June 9 - Palin flies from Wasilla to Juneau. ADN reports "State records show that Palin submitted a travel authorization for a quick round-trip visit to attend the June 8 graduation of the Master's Commission program at the Wasilla Assembly." In addition to the plane ticket, she billed the state for expenses of $120.00
2008 - Jun 30 conservation groups file a lawsuit "against the Bush administration over what they claim is an illegal delay in listing the Cook Inlet beluga whale under the federal Endangered Species Act." Gov. Palin had requested the delay. (Lawsuit Pdf)

2008 - JUL

2008 - Jul 11 - relations between Palin and her mentor former Alaska Gov. Wally Hickel sour. Hickel insists on an “all-Alaska” pipeline (says "stand up to Canada!"), while Palin is pushing for a state license for TransCanada Corp.
2008 - Jul 11 - Palin fires Public Safety Commissioner and former police chief Walter Monegan, hires Charles M. Kopp
2008 - Jul 14 - "disappointed lawmakers let a bill die requiring girls under 17 to get parental consent for an abortion." (ADN)
2008 - Jul 19 - "Monegan went public, alleging that his firing was connected to his failure to remove Wooten."
2008 - Jul (3rd week) - Andrew Halco's blog highlights longstanding dispute between Palin family and Wooten.
2008 - Jul 25 - resignation of Charles M. Kopp (hired to replace chief Monegan) on sexual misconduct charges. He was given a $10,000 severance payment paid by the Gov.'s office.
2008 - Jul 29 - "The state legislature launches investigation, legislators agree to spend up to 100,000 to investigate Gov. Sarah Palin's firing of Public Safety Commissioner Monegan. The governor asked the attorney general's office to conduct an internal investigation. " WaPo and TPM
2008 - Jul (late) - prior to Stevens indictment, Palin holds joint news conference with Stevens to make clear she had not abandoned him politically.
2008 - Jul 31 - Alaska Sen. Stevens indicted on seven counts of corruption (accepting illegal gifts). "A federal grand jury accused Stevens of concealing on financial disclosure statements lucrative gifts from the now-defunct oil company Veco and its top executives." The Wasilla account had been handled by the former chief of staff to Stevens, Steven W. Silver., -- a partner in Robertson, Monagle & Eastaugh, the firm Palin had hired (WaPo)

2008 - AUG

2008 - Aug - bill into law award TransCanada Pipelines $500 million license to operatae $26-billion pipeline
2008 - Aug - polls give Palin approval rating at 84 percent
2008 - Aug 13 - initial investigation found “14 members of her administration made more than 20 calls to Monegan and other public safety officials regarding Mike Wooten since she became governor in 2006.” WaPo notes "only one call was determined to be improper, a tape-recorded conversation between Palin's chief of boards and commissions, Frank Bailey, to a police lieutenant."
2008 - Aug 13 - "Palin suspended Bailey with pay, saying she knew nothing about the call" and that he had acted alone (WaPo). That call had, in fact, been taped (Listen here)
2008 - Aug (mid) - governor's office released the audiotape of Bailey: "Such evidence points to a violation of Wooten's privacy" according to State Sen. Hollis French (WaPo)
2008 - Aug 17 - Palin attended Jews for Jesus.
2008 - Aug 24 - McCain called Palin to discuss the VP.
2008 - Aug 27 - Palin visited McCain's vacation home near Sedona, Arizona, where she was offered VP. (no face-to-face discussion about it beforehand).
2008 - Aug 29 - Fri - ad showing Sen. Stevens endorsing Palin in 2006 removed from Gov's website (view ad).
2008 - Aug 29 - Fri - McCain introduces Palin as running-mate to crowd. "McCain emphasized Palin's role as commander in chief of the Alaska National Guard."
2008 - Aug 29 - Fri - Palin told a cheering McCain crowd: "I've championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. In fact, I told Congress thanks, but no thanks, on that bridge to nowhere. If our state wanted a bridge, I said, we'd build it ourselves."
2008 - Aug 29 - Fri - tells interviewer she doubts global warming is man-made

2008 - SEP
2008 - Sep 1 - Palin announced to country that her unmarried daughter Bristol is five months pregnant. Said Bristol intended to keep the baby and marry the father.
2008 - Sep 3 - Palin speech at RNC.
2008 - Sep 3 - McCain repeats "contention that Governor Palin rejected the controversial Bridge to Nowhere" in an interview with ABC News.
2008 - Sep 3 - The only occasions in which Palin retains "command authority over the 4,200-member Alaska National Guard are whenever the guard responds to in-state natural disasters and civic emergencies" (ADN)
2008 - Sep 5 - "She took the luxury jet that was acquired by her predecessor and sold it on eBay -- and made a profit!" McCain declared in Wisconsin. Although Palin had “put the plane on Ebay” it was not sold through Ebay but in the traditional way of working trough a broker. It was sold at a net loss -- for less than the purchase price.
2008 - Sep (early) - efforts by McCain campaign to derail Alaska State investigation into Palin firing of Monegan.
2008 - Sep 8 - WaPo reveals that "Palin billed taxpayers for 312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months in office, charging a "per diem" allowance intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business."
2008 - Sep - Palin to be kept away from press as part of a three-week "presidential training" period.

2008 - OCT

2008 - Oct 10 - new deadline set by investigation supervisor Hollis French for completion of Alaska State investigation into possible misconduct by Palin in firing of Monegan.
2008 - Oct -Target chain store will open in Wasilla, a town "filling with big box stores." Wasilla resident Anne Kilkenny holds Palin responsible for having turned Wasilla into "a wasteland of big box stores."
2008 - Oct - Alaska legislative report on Palin firing of Monegan is due.


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Notes: Helpful in my research was Wikipedia Palin politics; for troopergate Flopping Aces Washington Post and Talking Points Memo; articles in the NY Times and Boston.com conerning Palin's lack of foreign policy experience, and some articles about the pregnancy -- referenced by Jnail and Zimbo. Education history from CNN's Politicalticker. On the sale of jet, WaPo. This Frank Rich column was also helpful in the early stages. Concerning Palin's time as mayor, the Ann Kilkenny email provides context. Blogger Andrew Sullivan should be commended for his efforts to get the facts. Note that as my timeline has grown, I have increasingly elected to reference or link the original sources -- often Alaskan newspapers -- from within the timeline.

It is my intention to update this page as more information becomes available.