The Dish

In the quite riveting comments section on the best review of Going Rogue on the web, the following reader presents some basic conclusions about the ethics history of Palin. It's worth remembering since in the blizzard of charge and counter-charge, we can forget what we actually already know:

All of the following can be found and verified simply by googling: 1) Ms. Palin was found to have misused state funds for family travel expenses and was required to pay back $6,800 to the state. (Not addressed but probably more troubling ethically is the fact that Ms. Palin went back and amended travel expense reports to appear in compliance.)

2) Ms. Palin was found to have misused per diems on the amount of $17,000 and was required to pay back taxes of an unspecified amount including fines.

3) Ms. Palin’s Alaska Fund Trust was found to NOT be in compliance with the law. It was recommended that she dissolve the trust to stay in compliance (Or quit so that she could retain the money for herself?).

4) Ms. Palin was found guilty of abuse of power and ethics charges by the Branchflower investigation, a bipartisan (10 Republicans/4 Democrats) Senate investigation. Later, nine of her minions, including her husband, were cited for Contempt for failing to respond to the Senate investigation’s subpoena. Her attorney general, Talis Colberg, who gave her minions the advice that it was optional to obey the subpoena resigned in disgrace.

5) The most expensive ethics charge against Ms. Palin she filed on herself, the Personnel Board investigation of Troopergate which supposedly “exonerated” Ms. Palin.

In contrast to the Senate investigation, the Personnel Board consists of three people who are appointed by the governor (she appointed one herself) and can be removed by the governor. This report was also seriously flawed in many aspects, the most important was that a question of perjury (either by the governor or Mr. Moneghan) was never pursued.

6) A case which is currently ongoing involves Ms. Palin’s failure to recognize the Juneteenth celebration. Last August, a charge of state bribery against Palin was added to that case. I don’t know the status of the case but here is a link from last August:

7) There may be other ethics charges still pending but they may never come to the public’s awareness because the Personnel Board doesn’t have to make them public. In fact, the information on the AFT was leaked to the public who may have never known otherwise that her trust was illegal according to state law.

“Settling” and “dismissing” an ethics charge mean two different things ethically…..a difference that Ms. Palin and her fans apparently have trouble discriminating. BTW….Ms. Palin herself was responsible for putting in place these ethics laws and told Alaskans to “hold her accountable.” Why did she feel victimized when they took her at her word? Very troubling.

Another glimpse from Iowa:

Stan Millage of Sioux City began waiting in line at 4:30 a.m. to get his book signed. "She's a down to earth person who will fight against the government," Millage said. "I can see her out there fishing with the guys. Plus, she's hot."

Hyderabad, India, 4.20 pm

Greenwald fumes:

[T]he claim that government officials enjoy a virtually impenetrable shield of immunity even in the commission of war crimes "has emerged as a sort of ignoble mantra for the Justice Department, uniting both the Bush and Obama administrations."   Indeed, that is the common strain of virtually every act undertaken by the Obama DOJ with regard to our government's war crimes and other felonies, from torture to renditions to illegal eavesdropping.

Marc Santora reports on the latest aftermath of the collapse of the Iraqi election compromise:

After it collapsed, political leaders fell back to familiar and disturbing sectarian camps. Not only did the fighting threaten to complicate the American withdrawal, but it also recalled the bitter divisions that fueled a cycle of violence that led the country to the edge of anarchy.

It is in that context that one can understand the frenzied, almost panicked, negotiations that took place over the weekend to work out a compromise that would get the elections back on track. At one point on Sunday, Iraqi lawmakers argued over how long a day was — with some saying that it ended at the close of business and others contending that it ended at midnight. (Midnight won.)

A deal was reached just minutes before midnight, but not before the political impasse had grown so deep that President Barack Obama and Vice President Joseph R. Biden had to make personal interventions to keep negotiations on track.

In the end, there are still parties not satisfied with their share, but it seems like the election will take place. When it does, the ethnic and sectarian divisions that delayed the passage of an election law could seem irrelevant. But only time will tell.

A glimpse from Iowa:

“She tells you what she believes,” Anderson said. “You don’t have to guess. It’s better to listen to her than the media.” Alice Revell, from rock-ribbed Sioux County to the north of here, sported a pin that read: “I Don’t Want To Have To Say Happy Holidays.”

“Her values are my values,” said Revell. “She’s pro-life. She doesn’t just talk the talk, she walks the walk. She’s a hunter, my husband is an avid hunter.” A pair of women from Omaha wearing shirts that identified them with the “Minuteman Patriots” said Palin represented what they called real American women. “Not the elitists you see on television,” explained Pat Carro. Asked who she had in mind, Carro cited “the ones you see on “The View.’ ” Another Omahan, Ray Hansen, braved the afternoon cold to pose for a picture in front of Palin’s book-tour bus, festooned with her image and an Alaska backdrop, after having his book signed.

“She’s a real American, that’s why,” Hansen said, when asked why he liked Palin.

There are two guests on the Joy Behar show today on CNN/HLN. They are Levi Johnston and yours truly.

Here's the PDF link to the 58-page Seton Hall University study into the three mysterious deaths at Gitmp three years ago and the even more mysterious military investigation into them. And here's Scott Horton's Q and A with its main author. Greenwald tackles the question here.

Mackey:

My colleague Nazil Fathi points to photographs of clashes between protesters and the security forces published by Iran’s official news agency IRNA, which look like they might have been shot in the same location as the video in our previous update. Images of stone-throwing protesters may help the authorities to tarnish the image of the demonstrators.

Indeed, Reuters reports that IRNA’s report on the clashes between the security forces and demonstrators called the protesters “rioters.” Reuters also noted that Mowjcamp, an opposition Web site, reported that “security forces shot into the air to disperse demonstrators in the Enqelab square.”

The Lede's Robert Mackey passes along this footage and notes:

According to the clip’s title, the video shows a member of the paramilitary Basij force filming students at a demonstration on Monday. In an effort to avoid identification by the authorities, many of the demonstrators in the video and photographs we have seen on the Web today were wearing masks or scarves.