Changes

Married for 20 years, Sarah Palin's husband was a member of the United Steelworkers Union and her eldest son (of five children) is in the [[United States Army]], having served in Iraq.  In an appearance on August 30, 2008 in Washington, Pennsylvania, she was greeted by a surprisingly large crowd as she promoted the new McCain-Palin ticket.

Married for 20 years, Sarah Palin's husband was a member of the United Steelworkers Union and her eldest son (of five children) is in the [[United States Army]], having served in Iraq.  In an appearance on August 30, 2008 in Washington, Pennsylvania, she was greeted by a surprisingly large crowd as she promoted the new McCain-Palin ticket.

Her memoir ''[[Going Rogue]]'' was published in November 2009, with Palin drawing unusually large crowds to book signing occasions around the country. She comments regularly on public affairs through her Facebook page, criticizing the "death panels" of the health care reform program, and praising President Obama's pro-war speech upon receiving the Nobel Peace prize in Dec. 2009. She will appear on the [[Fox News Channel]] programming on a regular basis as part of a multi-year deal. <ref>http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/11/sarah-palin-to-contribute-to-fox-news/?scp=2&sq=Palin&st=cse</ref>

Her memoir ''[[Going Rogue]]'' was published in November 2009, with Palin drawing large crowds to book signing occasions around the country. She comments regularly on public affairs through her Facebook page, criticizing the "death panels" of the health care reform program, and praising President Obama's pro-war speech upon receiving the Nobel Peace prize in Dec. 2009. She will appear on the [[Fox News Channel]] programming on a regular basis as part of a multi-year deal. <ref>http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/11/sarah-palin-to-contribute-to-fox-news/?scp=2&sq=Palin&st=cse</ref>

==Personal Background==

==Personal Background==

In accordance with the second question the report focused on, Branchflower wrote, "I find that, although Walt Monegan's refusal to fire Trooper Michael Wooten was not the sole reason he was fired by Governor Sarah Palin, it was likely a contributing factor to his termination as Commissioner of Public Safety," Branchflower wrote. The second finding of the report reads: "In spite of that, Governor Palin's firing of Commissioner Monegan was a proper and lawful exercise of her constitutional and statutory authority to hire and fire executive branch department heads."  Branchflower also dismissed the Palins' assertions that they were afraid of Wooten because of threats they said he made. "Such claims of fear were not bona fide and were offered to provide cover for the Palins' real motivation: to get Trooper Wooten fired for personal family related reasons," he wrote. <ref>http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_10692757?source=most_viewed</ref><br /><br />A preemptive response to this report was issued by the McCain/Palin campaign on October 9th, in which the campaign's own investigation concluded that Palin "acted within her proper and lawful authority in the reassignment of Walt Monegan".<ref>http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE4998X420081011</ref>

In accordance with the second question the report focused on, Branchflower wrote, "I find that, although Walt Monegan's refusal to fire Trooper Michael Wooten was not the sole reason he was fired by Governor Sarah Palin, it was likely a contributing factor to his termination as Commissioner of Public Safety," Branchflower wrote. The second finding of the report reads: "In spite of that, Governor Palin's firing of Commissioner Monegan was a proper and lawful exercise of her constitutional and statutory authority to hire and fire executive branch department heads."  Branchflower also dismissed the Palins' assertions that they were afraid of Wooten because of threats they said he made. "Such claims of fear were not bona fide and were offered to provide cover for the Palins' real motivation: to get Trooper Wooten fired for personal family related reasons," he wrote. <ref>http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_10692757?source=most_viewed</ref><br /><br />A preemptive response to this report was issued by the McCain/Palin campaign on October 9th, in which the campaign's own investigation concluded that Palin "acted within her proper and lawful authority in the reassignment of Walt Monegan".<ref>http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE4998X420081011</ref>

In the end the "October Surprise" predicted by the head of the commission came to pass.  Although the commission was asked not to release its findings until after the election to avoid political posturing, they refused to do so.  Apart from tarring and feathering Palin, the report made no recommendations for any further inquiries or punishment, as it was understood that there was no case to do so.  No direct reports of Sarah Palin abusing her power were ever produced or asking for the official to be fired were ever produced, but that didn't stop the report from drawing its conclusions based upon conjecture without evidence.  Indeed, after the hoopla over the report subsided, the state personnel board released its finding that exonnerated her of any wrongdoing.<ref>http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081104/ap_on_el_pr/palin_troopergate</ref>

In the end the "October Surprise" predicted by the head of the commission came to pass.  Although the commission was asked not to release its findings until after the election to avoid political posturing, they refused to do so.  Apart from tarring and feathering Palin, the report made no recommendations for any further inquiries or punishment, as it was understood that there was no case to do so.  No direct reports of Sarah Palin abusing her power were ever produced or asking for the official to be fired were ever produced, but that didn't stop the report from drawing its conclusions based upon conjecture without evidence.  Indeed, after the hoopla over the report subsided, the state personnel board released its finding that exonerated her of any wrongdoing.<ref>http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081104/ap_on_el_pr/palin_troopergate</ref>

==Vice Presidential Candidate==

==Vice Presidential Candidate==

*[http://churchformen.blogspot.com/2008/09/people-around-world-are-asking-who-is.html Sarah Palin, a friend of mine]

*[http://churchformen.blogspot.com/2008/09/people-around-world-are-asking-who-is.html Sarah Palin, a friend of mine]

*[http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NDE3MmE5MDVmMGM1YjQ2NmVhMjJkN2I2ZTcxMzhlNjU=&w=MA== I Still Hate You, Sarah Palin] National Review Online

*[http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NDE3MmE5MDVmMGM1YjQ2NmVhMjJkN2I2ZTcxMzhlNjU=&w=MA== I Still Hate You, Sarah Palin] National Review Online

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