End In Itself

It is sad that, just as there has been no accountability for the criminals in the Bush Administration for the past eight years, it appears there will be no accountability for Sarah Palin and her abuse of power in the Troopergate case, at least for the moment. The Attorney General who could prosecute her is a loyalist, the State Personnel Board which could impose fines or recommend impeachment is made up of Palin appointees, and the Republican legislature isn't interested in a food fight either.

Before the report was released, the idea had been floated that the legislature could institute impeachment proceedings. But since Friday night, that possibility appears to have receded. According to a TPM source who attended Friday's session of the legislative council, State Senate President Lyda Green, an outspoken Palin critic, replied with a flat 'no' when asked, after the report's release, whether impeachment was being considered.

And Green told the Christian Science Monitor over the weekend that even a censure motion is unlikely, since the legislature is not currently in session.

The chattering class saw fit to ignore the incident like good little lemmings on the Sunday shows. But I do think that being found guilty of abuse of power will have an impact in the Presidential race, regardless of how the McCain tries to spin it and lie about it. At the root, Palin was building a brand as a reformer, and this undercuts the image, which has already been badly bruised. The game in Alaska may be rigged, but the public is smart enough to figure this one out if they find out about it. I think there will be efforts made to alert them from Democratic sources.