Troopergate: No Common Wisdom Gained from Brame Tragedy?

Putting the Palin's Troopergate "Intervention" into Perspective

Imagine that we are back in the early months of 2003.  Governor Gary Locke has gained personal knowledge of a police chief who may be a danger to his wife, possibly others. Locke brings the full power of his office to bear on having this officer removed from his position and ordered into treatment, thus averting what we know actually happened - the public slaying of Crystal Brame and subsequent public suicide of Tacoma Police Chief David Brame? 

Would we have considered Locke's actions an abuse of power?  Knowing human nature, we would have dragged our governor in front of ethics panels just as Palin's enemies in Alaska are doing to her now.  Because of our hindsight, we know that would have been a wrong thing to do, just as the investigation of Governor Sarah Palin, without consideration of the motivation for her actions, is wrong today.

When you hear people using Troopergate as a reason to attack Palin, take the time to have them remember that in the months following David Brame's psychotic slaughter or his wife we all were enraged at the code of silence that allowed Brame to continue his downward spiral without impedance.  We demanded that the code of loyalty among law enforcement officials not extend to covering for officers who were dangerous.  We told our elected officials that they should have done something.

Where are those close to the Brame tragedy in speaking out in defense of Palin?  They are us, and we are them.  We were all close to that tragedy in the way that it confronted us with the reality that our system had become so reticent and willing to sacrifice a woman's safety in the cause of department unity.

We can use the hindsight gained from that senseless failure of human intuition to see the wisdom in what Palin and her family were doing by challenging a system in Alaska that was not interested in dealing with a violent individual who was authorized to enforce the law with a badge and a gun.  She did the right thing and we must begin standing up for people who do the right thing.  If we do not, we are sending the message that courage will always be punished and more tragedies will follow.

Cross-posted at Sound Politics Public Blog.

Sarah Palin's Proud Vice Presidential Heritage

We now have a major drama unfolding around John McCain's choice for VP. A governor having only just assumed the reins of their office, only having been previously elected to smattering of lesser offices, has now been nominated for the second highest office in the nation. It is easy to forget that this has happened before.

Here is the resume of one of our former vice presidents:

- Age 23: Elected to state legislature. Served 5 years.

- Age 31: After a short break from public life, he accepts a commission posting on a presidential commission where he serves for 4 years.

- Age 35: Becomes president of his city's board of police commissioners. Serves 2 years in this position.

- Age 37: Accepts a role as assistant secretary of a federal agency. Serves only 2 years when war breaks out and he elects to serve.

- Age 40: Runs for and wins state governor's race.

- Age 42: After only 2 years serving as the governor of his state, he is chosen as his party's vice presidential nominee.

After serving for only two years as a state governor, this man was chosen by his party as its vice presidential nominee.

Only two years holding a top-level office, combined with a smattering of other short stints in lower level positions, and this man was being placed a heartbeat away from the presidency! What were our predecessors thinking?

Of course it sounds familiar, but who is this mysterious person? You're probably thinking that you shouldn't feel stupid for not knowing. After all, with such a weak resume, they could have only been a footnote to history; a bystander in the White House.

The career I outlined is that of Teddy Roosevelt.

Yes, that Teddy Roosevelt. The one who would assume the presidency after President McKinley's assassination and go on to have his face carved into a South Dakota mountainside.

Roosevelt's choice as vice president is not judge to have been smart because he was the right choice "on paper". It was the right choice because of of the strength of his character. Experience matters less than how a person will make choices and from an early age, throughout his public life, Roosevelt demonstrated in word and deed that he was a man of action who would challenge and seek to demolish the forces that threatened to weaken our nation.

It is not right to say that Sarah Palin, should we be fortunate enough to call her Vice President after the election, would achieve the same kind of historical greatness that did Roosevelt. But she has the same mettle and instinct to wade into the fray and stand up to power when power is wrong. That is the kind of strength it will take to change America and remind ourselves how great this country truly is.

Content fed from htp://unequal-time.blogspot.com. All rights reserved by Bryan S. Myrick.

GOP Makes Best Choice for VP of Past 40 Years

It will take some time to fully research her record to find potential lightning-rod issues, but at the onset it appears as though Sarah Palin is a silver bullet choice as McCain's VP. 

Her genuine working class credentials will appeal to the heartland and she's a real conservative who has actually done with Alaska what McCain wants to do for the country.

Obama's convention bump is completely pre-empted.  All of the soul-points in the Obama campaign that have been resonating with the people, but which have only been ephemeral vagaries, allusions to what will happen in the future, can now be pointed to as real actions that the McCain is taking to send a message to America that we have changed. 

(Although a slight diversion from topic, this also brings to mind the glaring error that was made almost universally about the history being made with Hillary Clinton's candidacy.  Did we all forget that Elizabeth Dole (a Republican) placed 3rd in the 2000 Iowa Straw Poll in her run for the presidency?  Talk about being dissed!  Can Hillary reinvent the wheel and get credit for that too?)

A maverick/maverick ticket is a godsend.  The choice to give the nod to a woman shows the country that the GOP is serious about issues and that the Democrats couldn't manage to take action.  After all, if you didn't have to consider a civil war breaking out in the White House, Hillary Clinton would have been the best choice to be Obama's running mate. 

How many independent female voters are going to swing to McCain/Palin?  It's hard to say, but Palin's place on the ballot has the potential to be the deciding factor in a McCain victory.  The only way for McCain's campaign to realize that potential is to work diligently and genuinely to reach out to those voters and get out the vote. 

No matter what the heartthrob factor may be with Obama, he isn't a woman.  Biden has no real appeal with working class women; he is too much of Washington insider/elite.  Palin is a working mother who has achieved great things while having five children, one of whom has Down's Syndrome.  Palin is the role model for how to do it.  Game, set, match, McCain/Palin.

As the governor of Alaska, she can speak the idea of opening ANWR in a way that no one else can.  Maybe, if the McCain camp can get that conversation moved to center-stage, the Obama campaign loses their energy advantage.  Palin's balancing of Alaska's budget and slashing of bureaucratic waste and perks poses a legitimate counterpoint to Obama's utopian promises of tax-and-spend. 

Now, America has a choice between landmark events in our cultural maturation.  Do we elect a president of African heritage who has done nothing except run for office, or do we elect a woman to be 2nd in line who has actually has defined an agenda and achieved it

Certainly, there are challenges ahead.  This is going to change the entire complexion of the election.  Obama/Biden are going to pull off the gloves as their numbers begin to slide; they may even resort to personal attacks against Palin.  Let them come.  I have faith that the American people will know how to vote when they begin to see the true character of the Democratic candidates and machine.

Absolute genius!