MCCAIN/PALIN GOING EASY ON CHILD MOLESTERS…. Sarah Palin’s explanations for why she fired Walt Monegan as Alaska’s public safety commissioner have evolved over time. Most of the justifications have been debunked, and some of the reasons contradict other reasons.
But as Zachary Roth explains, the latest explanation is a real doozy.
…Palin’s latest explanation for why she fired Walt Monegan is that he had gone over her head in seeking federal money for an initiative to combat sexual assault crimes, before she had approved the program.
But it now appears that the program in question is one that most elected officials would be wary of admitting they hadn’t strongly backed. According to Peggy Brown, who heads the Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, Monegan wanted to use the federal money to hire retired troopers and law enforcement officials, and assign them to investigate the most egregious cases of sexual assault — including those against children.
In other words, if Palin’s new story is true, she fired Monegan for being too aggressive in going after child molesters.
Seriously, that’s the argument. Sexual abuse is a real problem in Alaska; Palin never considered it a high priority of her administration; and Monegan was anxious to tackle the problem by taking advantage of a federal program. And Palin rewarded Monegan for his efforts by firing him. That is, as of now, the official line from Palin’s camp.
TNR’s Christopher Orr asked, “If the Obama campaign were the McCain campaign, how long do you think it would be before they cut an ad claiming that, as Alaska governor, Sarah Palin wanted to go easy on child molesters?”
One could take this even one step further, noting that McCain attacked Barack Obama for his efforts to combat sexual predators in Illinois.
I guess it’s fair to say a McCain/Palin administration wouldn’t exactly take a leadership role in taking on sexual abuse?
