Alaska witch hunt ties to embarrass Palin

The illegal super-panel of the Alaska legislature that released its 263-page report today on Gov. Sarah Palin's firing of the state police commissioner, was a political document, designed solely to embarrass her. There was no good reason for the so-called nonpartisan panel not to postpone its deliberations until after the election, to end all possible appearances of partisan taint and seeking politcal advantage. There is no way, in four brief hours, the panel could possibly have read and digested the entire 263 pages.

You must remember that the panel was evenly balanced between Democrats and Republicans, with the chairman of the panel a very partisan Democrat. You must also remember that Palin was elected Governor in the first place by beating not one, but two, establishment pols in the GOP primary and then beat a prominent former Democratic Governor, Tony Knowles, in the general election. The State Senate majority leader and the majority of Republicans on the super-panel were not Palin Republicans to begin with.

A big part of her own party, and certainly the Democrats, were never Palin fans in the first place, and relished the chance to derail her vice presidential ambitions. That's why the panel barged ahead before the election, to extract its maximum pound of flesh. All Palin has ever had were the people of Alaska, who gave her an astonishing 80% approval rating in the polls.

The Alaska state government has a permanent body in place to handle such investigations, the State Personnel Board. For this partisan creation of the legislature to handle it instead, is highly irregular. Two Alaska courts, with judges appointed by Palin's predecessor, the disgraced Frank Murkowski, merely declined to intervene. They never ruled on the legality of the legislative panel.

The liberal media, who have disdained Palin all along, will have a field day with this report, without putting it in proper context. Read and hear the ensuing Palin lynch mob in the mass media with a big grain of salt.

But once again, Democrats have overplayed their hand. Just like the nationally-televised, highly partisan "funeral" for Minnesota Sen. Paul Wellstone, which resulted in St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman defeating former vice president Walter Mondale for Wellstone's Senate seat, this partisan hatchet job on Palin is likely to ignite a huge backlash of sympathy and understanding, in light of the eager piling-on.