Palin’s Ethics to Nowhere

I’ll have a longer piece soon about the Branchflower report .  Released yesterday evening, the “Troopergate” investigation concluded with the widely-expected judgment that while Gov. Sarah Palin did not violate any law in dismissing Commissioner Walt Monegan three months ago, she abused her executive power by pressuring — and allowing her husband and various staffers to exert pressure against — numerous public officials (including Monegan) to take further punitive action against State Trooper Mike Wooten.  Palin’s defense so far has been to focus narrowly on the act of firing Monegan, which she correctly argues is permitted under the state’s constitution. She’s argued as well that the state’s Executive Ethics Act — which the report concludes she violated — only covers actions that are intended to bring financial gain. Ergo, from her vantage point, there’s no foul. Her defense is predictable bu...