Sarah Palin: Pattern of Abusing Power

According to a female resident of Wasilla, Alaska, and others, it appears that McCain's vice presidential running mate has displayed a pattern of abusing power and surrounding herself with loyalists. The Wasilla resident writes:

During her mayoral administration most of the actual work of running this small city was turned over to an administrator. She had been pushed to hire this administrator by party power-brokers after she had gotten herself into some trouble over precipitous firings which had given rise to a recall campaign.

That's the first I've heard of a recall campaign against Palin as Mayor of Wassila. One of the precipitous firings was the attempted firing of the town librarian, Ms. Mary Ellen Emmons (now Baker) who refused to consider removing books from the library at the request of Palin.

The pattern of firings was displayed by Palin's in both roles as Mayor and Governor. According to the same Wassila resident:

Sarah complained about the 'old boy's club' when she first ran for Mayor, so what did she bring Wasilla? A new set of 'old boys'. Palin fired most of the experienced staff she inherited. At the City and as Governor she hired or elevated new, inexperienced, obscure people, creating a staff totally dependent on her for their jobs and eternally grateful and fiercely loyal--loyal to the point of abusing their power to further her personal agenda, as she has acknowledged happened in the case of pressuring the State's top cop.

As Mayor, Sarah fired Wasilla's Police Chief because he 'intimidated' her, she told the press. As Governor, her recent firing of Alaska's top cop has the ring of familiarity about it. He served at her pleasure and she had every legal right to fire him, but it's pretty clear that an important factor in her decision to fire him was because he wouldn't fire her sister's ex-husband, a State Trooper. Under investigation for abuse of power, she has had to admit that more than 2 dozen contacts were made between her staff and family to the person that she later fired, pressuring him to fire her ex-brother-in-law. She tried to replace the man she fired with a man who she knew had been reprimanded for sexual harassment; when this caused a public furor, she withdrew her support.

Remember when Hurricane Katrina hit and George Bush said, "You're doing a heck of a job Brownie"? Bush was referring to one of many loyalists that he had installed. "Brownie" is the nickname Bush gave to Michael Brown, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Prior to that role, Brownie had no experience in emergency management. Brown was the Judges and Stewards Commissioner for the International Arabian Horse Association, (IAHA), from 1989-2001. Clearly his primary credentials to head FEMA were "loyalty."

Based on Palin's record, if she becomes US president, we can expect loyalty and adherence to Christian fundamentalism to be the primary basis for her appointments to sensitive federal positions. So, when critics of McCain say he represents "Four more years of Bush," it is more than a catchy slogan.

The Wasilla resident continues:

She has bitten the hand of every person who extended theirs to her in help. The City Council person who personally escorted her around town introducing her to voters when she first ran for Wasilla City Council became one of her first targets when she was later elected Mayor. She abruptly fired her loyal City Administrator; even people who didn't like the guy were stunned by this ruthlessness.

Fear of retribution has kept all of these people from saying anything publicly about her.

We've all heard about "Hothead McCain's" bad temper and famous (1) physical outbursts (2). His uncontrolled temper is the subject of a recent mainstream news article (3). It appears that Palin also has a vicious streak and lacks proper temperament:

Around Wasilla there are people who went to high school with Sarah. They call her 'Sarah Barracuda' because of her unbridled ambition and predatory ruthlessness. Before she became so powerful, very ugly stories circulated around town about shenanigans she pulled to be made point guard on the high school basketball team. When Sarah's mother-in-law, a highly respected member of the community and experienced manager, ran for Mayor, Sarah refused to endorse her.

Sources:

Personal e-mail from Wassila resident.

Item (3) above, McClatchy News Service, McCain's history of hot temper raises concerns, September 7, 2008.