Are GOP VP Candidate and Husband Both Governor of Alaska?
With Pinocchio Palin as the the nominal governor and Todd Palin as the first dude, Alaskans seen to be getting two governors for the price of one.
It's and interesting situation.
I've written previously about the question of who is the actual governor and who would be the real GOP VP in a McSame-Palindrone regime, for example, here.
Now the LATimes sheds more light on the subject.
"The 'first gentleman' also read official correspondence and went to closed Cabinet meetings, records and an investigation indicate.
"Barely two weeks after Sarah Palin had been sworn in as Alaska's governor, in December 2006, then-Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan's executive secretary got a confusing phone call from Palin's office: The first gentleman would like to schedule a meeting with her boss.
"I was not familiar with the term 'first gentleman,' or didn't hear her correctly, so I kept asking her, 'Who?' " the secretary, Cassandra Byrne, testified recently. "And she eventually said, 'Todd Palin.' "
"I was not familiar with the term 'first gentleman,' or didn't hear her correctly, so I kept asking her, 'Who?' " the secretary, Cassandra Byrne, testified recently. "And she eventually said, 'Todd Palin.' "
"he appointment was fixed, and Monegan arrived in the governor's office to find himself alone with the brawny, popular fisherman and snowmobile champion, who was sitting at a 12-foot-long conference table, surrounded by stacks of documents. One of the documents had the logo and letterhead of Monegan's own Department of Public Safety.
"he subject, it turned out, was Alaska State Trooper Mike Wooten, who had been involved in a messy divorce with the governor's sister. The Palins, Todd made clear, wanted Wooten fired for a long record of behavior they saw as inappropriate for a police officer.
" He kept using the term 'we.' 'We went to go talk to, we, we.' And so I assumed it was he and Sarah, of course," Monegan testified.
"he subject, it turned out, was Alaska State Trooper Mike Wooten, who had been involved in a messy divorce with the governor's sister. The Palins, Todd made clear, wanted Wooten fired for a long record of behavior they saw as inappropriate for a police officer.
" He kept using the term 'we.' 'We went to go talk to, we, we.' And so I assumed it was he and Sarah, of course," Monegan testified.
"The meeting "made me a little uncomfortable," he said. "We're having it in the governor's office, and he's not the governor. I think he was trying to use state trappings to handle a personal issue."
"Testimony compiled as part of the inquiry, and The Times' own review of e-mail logs from the administration, show that Todd Palin was a fixture in the governor's office, spending about half of his time there. He attended Cabinet meetings that are supposed to be closed to the public, and was copied on a wide variety of high-level government correspondence on issues such as contract negotiations with the police officers union, Alaska Native issues and the privatization of a dairy near the Palins' hometown of Wasilla.
"A variety of top-level administration officials told Branchflower that Palin was a frequent presence in the governor's office, but many have said he was often there to help baby-sit the couple's youngest child.
Did he have to babysit Trig in the governor's office? Why not elsewhere in the building? Does babysitting require that Todd Palin be present at Cabinet? This is not their first child but their fifth. They are hardly novice paranets. Haven't they heard of a breast pump? This is a pretty lame excuse.
"The article continues: "But Atty. Gen. Talis J. Colberg, during his interview with Branchflower, was unable to explain the presence of the governor's husband at Cabinet meetings.
"If someone said that they have seen him at more than one or two Cabinet meetings, would that give you pause?" Branchflower asked.
"That would give me pause, but it's possible," Colberg responded.
"If someone said that they have seen him at more than one or two Cabinet meetings, would that give you pause?" Branchflower asked.
"That would give me pause, but it's possible," Colberg responded.
"Are Cabinet meetings open to the public?"
"Not to my knowledge."
"Is Todd Palin a state employee, to your knowledge?"
"No."
"Do you know why he was allowed to remain there?"
"No."
"Not to my knowledge."
"Is Todd Palin a state employee, to your knowledge?"
"No."
"Do you know why he was allowed to remain there?"
"No."
Do the husbands of Kathleen Sibelius, governor of Kansas and Jennifer Granhom, governor of Michigan sit in on Cabinet meetings? No.
Sounds as if Palindrone needs a babysitter and puppet master, too.
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