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PoliGAF 2nd Pres. Debate 2008 Thread (DOW dropping, Biden is off to Home Depot)

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kkaabboomm said:
front page CNN: "Panel: Palin abused power, violated no laws
Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin abused her power as Alaska's governor in the firing of her former public safety commissioner, but violated no laws, a report for the state Legislature concluded today.

report itself, page 8:
"For the reasons explained in secion IV of this report, I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute..."

did cnn even look at what it actually said?

edit: frontpage MSNBC: "A legislative committee investigating GOP VP nominee Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin finds she unlawfully abused her authority in firing public safety commissioner"
so we know MSNBC read the report...

2w5r534.jpg
 

Haunted

Member
Jonm1010 said:
All true but i think the video clearly shows, at least in that moment, McCain was truly put off and nervous at how violent their anger sounds. You reap what you sow and all that but in a rare moment, i'm gonna defend McCain here and say he really does appear to have done something "Mavericky" and stood up for something that is gonna cost him votes and backlash from the talk radio and racist base.
I agree. A rare bit of the old McCain shining through? Or his campaign recognising that their attacks were shit and are backfiring on them?

He does sound genuine to me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ExoaSCCcHw

But in any case, it's too little, too late.
 
Jason's Ultimatum said:
1. to use wrongly or improperly; misuse: to abuse one's authority.
2. to treat in a harmful, injurious, or offensive way: to abuse a horse; to abuse one's eyesight.
3. to speak insultingly, harshly, and unjustly to or about; revile; malign.
4. to commit sexual assault upon.
5. Obsolete. to deceive or mislead.
–noun 6. wrong or improper use; misuse: the abuse of privileges.
7. harshly or coarsely insulting language: The officer heaped abuse on his men.
8. bad or improper treatment; maltreatment: The child was subjected to cruel abuse.
9. a corrupt or improper practice or custom: the abuses of a totalitarian regime.
10. rape or sexual assault.
11. Obsolete. deception.
—Idiom12. abuse oneself, to masturbate.

There's your answer.
i dont get it, why quote dictionary.com definition of abuse? i was saying that the report very explicitly says she violated a law, and the CNN summary says no law was violated. i know which law it was (the ethics laws), but it seems odd that the report says she violated a law, and cnn says no law violated. those two things seem at fundamental odds with each other
 
kkaabboomm said:
i dont get it, why quote dictionary.com definition of abuse? i was saying that the report very explicitly says she violated a law, and the CNN summary says no law was violated. i know which law it was (the ethics laws), but it seems odd that the report says she violated a law, and cnn says no law violated. those two things seem at fundamental odds with each other

Sorry. I meant to quote Amir0x. :lol
 

Blackhead

Redarse
TDG said:
I agree, but I was really only arguing that over the course the course of the war, the soldiers were arguably in a worse situation than most slaves. Of course the soldiers who didn't die in the war had far better lives than most slaves did.

However, calling a military draft slavery is pretty fair, and it doesn't mean that the draft = every form of slavery ever. Young men were unwillingly sent into the war, and many died for a cause they didn't believe in. Many were killed, and many were disfigured for life. They came home scarred for life by what they had seen, and WWI directly led to the disillusionment of the Lost Generation. All for something that they were forced to do. That's still not worse than American slavery, but it's pretty awful, and it could certainly be categorized as slavery.

So to sum up, I agree with you, but I think that in the short-term, they're comparable.
WTF?! Where did this stuff crop up from (and how did I miss it)? Who really thinks American Slavery and the American Draft were somehow equivalent?

Are you forgetting Conscientious Objector status? Or that if you didn't want to be drafted, all you faced was a jail term?

No slaves' lives were far worse than soldiers' lives. Let's not even go there.

Edit: ahh JayDubya started this. It figures.
 

X26

Banned
Obeying the law is simply the bare minimum, you can make a lot of unethical decisions within the confines of law
 

Cloudy

Banned
Jonm1010 said:
All true but i think the video clearly shows, at least in that moment, McCain was truly put off and nervous at how violent their anger sounds. You reap what you sow and all that but in a rare moment, i'm gonna defend McCain here and say he really does appear to have done something "Mavericky" and stood up for something that is gonna cost him votes and backlash from the talk radio and racist base.

Again, he would have been destroyed by the media if he didn't do it. They know every event is being scrutinized now. It's just another self-serving gesture. You can't start the fire then take credit for trying to put it out!

Look at the statement they put out earlier today attacking Obama for saying they are stoking anger :lol
 

LCfiner

Member
perryfarrell said:
Abusing power =/= breaking laws

Edit: in response to your post two posts above this one, the rapport doesn't say she broke a law



ding ding ding.

anyone who "serves at the pleasure of the governor" such as the safety commissioner, can be let go for any reason (or no reason) whatsoever. There really wasn't a chance of Palin coming out of this scenario as a lawbreaker.

edit: for firing the commissioner. Violating the ethics statute is another matter.
 
XxenobladerxX said:
How the fuck is abusing power not breaking a law? Some one educate me here.

"breaking the law" isn't neccessarily doing something wrong or immoral. otherwise bush and cheney'd be serving 25 to life right now.
 
perryfarrell said:
Abusing power =/= breaking laws

Edit: in response to your post two posts above this one, the rapport doesn't say she broke a law


for clarity. page 8 of the report:

Finding One:
For the reasons explained in section IV of this report, I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act. Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) provides

"The legislature reaffirms that each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust."


----
now, i dont know/dont think there are crim penalties or even civil action available, but it is very clear the report says quite clearly she violated the law.

and then cnn says that the report doesn't say she violated the law. cnn is 100% wrong, as the report quite clearly says, she abused her power by violating this specific law.

understand why im confused cnn is running with this framing?


edit: this is 100% completely separate from Finding Two, which says she DIDNT VIOLATE THE LAW when she fired the guy. two separate issues. one is violating the law for abuse of power, two is not violating the law for firing the guy, because the gov can fire people for whatever reason (see: bush/DOJ investigation/USAtty's firing stuff)
 

Haunted

Member
Abuse of power is definitely grounds for at least an investigation whether a formal impeachment should be brought forward or not.

I think.


Death_Born said:
This always cracks me up. What was that translator thinking?
 

reilo

learning some important life lessons from magical Negroes
Tyrone Slothrop said:
"breaking the law" isn't neccessarily doing something wrong or immoral. otherwise bush and cheney'd be serving 25 to life right now.
What a terrible example to use.
 
Yeah, it's the "well it's my RIGHT" situation. You have the right to eject someone from your property whenever you want, but you can still be a huge asshole by doing it.
 

JCreasy

Member
kkaabboomm said:
for clarity. page 8 of the report:

Finding One:
For the reasons explained in section IV of this report, I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act. Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) provides

"The legislature reaffirms that each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust."


----
now, i dont know/dont think there are crim penalties or even civil action available, but it is very clear the report says quite clearly she violated the law.

and then cnn says that the report doesn't say she violated the law. cnn is 100% wrong, as the report quite clearly says, she abused her power by violating this specific law.

understand why im confused cnn is running with this framing?


edit: this is 100% completely separate from Finding Two, which says she DIDNT VIOLATE THE LAW when she fired the guy. two separate issues. one is violating the law for abuse of power, two is not violating the law for firing the guy, because the gov can fire people for whatever reason (see: bush/DOJ investigation/USAtty's firing stuff)

I guess a statute isn't the same as a law . . .
 
JCreasy said:
I guess a statute isn't the same as a law . . .
as a law student, i can 100% inform you that you are 100% incorrect. a statute is a law, thats, like, what laws are.

http://www.google.com/search?q=defi...s=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a


# Written law, as laid down by the legislature; (Common law) Legislated rule of society which has the force of law
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/statute

# A codified law. (NOTE: "Codify" means "to arrange laws systematically." A codified law is one that has been incorporated into that section of the ORS that it amends, modifies, or accompanies.)
www.leg.state.or.us/glossary.html


# A formal written enactment of a legislative body, whether federal, state, city or county. An act of the legislature declaring, commanding, or prohibiting something.
www.goldberg-law.com/legal-vocabulary/



etc/etc/etc. statutes are laws.
 

Nameless

Member
Ahhh sweet music to my ears. I could care less of the legal implications of her actions; as long as she is perceived by voters as someone who shouldn't be operating the executive branch of government, I'm happy!
 

Tamanon

Banned
I dunno, the stuff that even FOX is reading on the air about this finding is damning. Basically that she lied about Wooten being a threat and tasering a child, and allowing Todd Palin access to every tool she had as Governor to pursue a vendetta. It's dirty as fuck.
 

maynerd

Banned
Statute

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
stat·ute /ˈstætʃut, -ʊt/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[stach-oot, -oot] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun 1. Law. a. an enactment made by a legislature and expressed in a formal document.
b. the document in which such an enactment is expressed.

2. International Law. an instrument annexed or subsidiary to an international agreement, as a treaty.
3. a permanent rule established by an organization, corporation, etc., to govern its internal affairs.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Origin: 1250–1300; ME statut < OF estatut < LL stat&#363;tum, n. use of neut. of L stat&#363;tus (ptp. of statuere to make stand, set up, deriv. of status status), equiv. to stat&#363;-, verb. s. + -tus ptp. suffix]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
 

JCreasy

Member
kkaabboomm said:
as a law student, i can 100% inform you that you are 100% incorrect. a statute is a law, thats, like, what laws are.

dayum

well then i guess they did get it wrong.

i think what's confusing is the report says it was a "lawful" exercise. that's what's weird

it's a contradiction.
 

eclipze

Member
JCreasy said:
I guess a statute isn't the same as a law . . .

Well that means i'm not going to pay that fine for the Wisconsin Statute that i broke going over the speed limit last week. :lol :lol
 

JCreasy

Member
Tamanon said:
I dunno, the stuff that even FOX is reading on the air about this finding is damning. Basically that she lied about Wooten being a threat and tasering a child, and allowing Todd Palin access to every tool she had as Governor to pursue a vendetta. It's dirty as fuck.

WWHHHATT!?

She lied about the taser!?

That's HUGE!!
 
hokahey said:
How is St. Charles county north?
I...am an idiot.

hokahey said:
I've been volunteering when i can, but I have a wife and two kids and ZERO free time except when I'm at work ironically enough, like right now.

I've donated money and have my yard sign and bumper stickers. :D

I also spend a lot of time talking to people on line and off presenting Obama's positions.
Fuck yeah dude, keep it up!
 

Nameless

Member
MSNBC said:
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A legislative committee investigating Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has found she unlawfully abused her authority in firing the state's public safety commissioner.


MSNBC has it right
 

reilo

learning some important life lessons from magical Negroes
typhonsentra said:
Holy shit, did Jonah Goldberg on King just imply she could be impeached for this!??!?
Ugh, yeah. That's been the implication the entire time if she was found guilty.
 
JCreasy said:
dayum

well then i guess they did get it wrong.

i think what's confusing is the report says it was a "lawful" exercise. that's what's weird

it's a contradiction.

not a contradiction at all. as my edit said, they are two separate findings.

finding two says it was a lawful exercise for her to fire him. thats the gov's prerogative. just like bush can fire US atty's. so that is finding two.

finding ONE is the abuse of power by violating the ethics law.


they are two completely different things. one was an abuse of power in violation of the law. the other was a lawful exercise of firing the guy.


edit:
Death_Born said:
:lol :lol :lol

34qlbep.jpg


They still aren't admitting she broke a law.

hey, look, cnn reads GAF and my posts! they arent saying she didnt break the law anymore

edit:
besada said:
It's weird, but this is my take after reading most of the report and the relevant part of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act:

She broke the law, but not in firing Monegan. Since she has the right to fire Monegan, and other issues were involved, firing him did not break the law. Trying to influence the various people she tried to influence was, on the other hand, a violation of Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a), which says -

"The legislature reaffirms that every public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust."

As she obviously attempted to use her office to benefit herself personally in the removal of Trooper Wooter, she's violated the law.

So, to recap: Attempting to get Wooter fired - illegal, firing Monegan - not illegal.

bingo. two separate findings. there are 2 other findings as well, but the main 2 are points one and two. page 8 of the report shows this huge distinction that you are pointing out.
 

besada

Banned
It's weird, but this is my take after reading most of the report and the relevant part of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act:

She broke the law, but not in firing Monegan. Since she has the right to fire Monegan, and other issues were involved, firing him did not break the law. Trying to influence the various people she tried to influence was, on the other hand, a violation of Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a), which says -

"The legislature reaffirms that every public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust."

As she obviously attempted to use her office to benefit herself personally in the removal of Trooper Wooter, she's violated the law.

So, to recap: Attempting to get Wooter fired - illegal, firing Monegan - not illegal.
 
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