Buckle Up. The Palin Transition Begins.
7 07 2009OK folks, here we go. Rub your palms briskly on your face, and shake out your arms. The Palin transition begins…
So, last February, Sarah Palin appointed someone to be third in line for the governor’s office. That someone was Wasilla High School pal Joe Schmidt, Commissioner of the Department of Corrections. An odd choice for several reasons. But nevertheless, it’s the governor’s prerogative to choose, and he was confirmed by the legislature.
Now presumably, whomever accepts the position of #3 in line to the throne is thinking … “Wow. If anything happens, like the governor deciding to run for president or something, I’ll get to be the Lt. Governor. Pretty cool.” Or something close to that. It seems like the whole point of being asked to be #3, is the promise of perhaps getting to become #2. It’s like when someone is asked to be a child’s godparent, or a vice presidential running mate, or if you’re the runner up in a beauty pageant. The understanding is that if anything happens to the person ahead in line, you will step in. That’s the whole function of the job.
But apparently, Schmidt, now faced with actually becoming #2, has decided to decline. (counting on fingers) So that means that #1 and #3 have now both up and quit. This leaves the state in a bit of a bind. As it stands now, #2 will become #1 on July 25th, leaving no #2 or #3.
What now?
In her exit speech, Palin said Commissioner Craig Campbell of the Department of Military and Veteran’s Affairs would “assume his role as lieutenant governor.” One small problem with that. It isn’t actually his role yet. It would appear that the legislature needs to confirm the pick. And one small problem with that. The legislature is not in session.
What all this means is that there will need to be a special session of the legislature to confirm Campbell. If there’s one possible way that Palin can become even less popular with legislators than she already is, it’s by yanking them out of their hip waders, and recreational vehicles, and the gorgeous Alaskan summer sun, and hauling them back into the capitol for a bunch of meetings.
The other can of worms that this opens up for Palin is that other business can be brought to the floor….. like readdressing the stimulus dollars for weatherization for starters.
“We all voted to confirm Joe Schmidt and talked with him about filling the duties of lieutenant governor,” [Rep. Beth] Kerttula said. “As much respect as I have for Gen. Campbell, none of us have voted for him.”
[Rep. Mike] Chenault said confirmation may require a special session, if it is not Schmidt.
It is not even clear who would appoint a replacement for Parnell. Until the job becomes vacant with Parnell becoming governor, there’s no job to fill.
Parnell’s chief of staff, Jay Pullins, said they were reviewing the process with the Department of Law now.
“That’s under review, we want to make sure everything is done correctly,” he said.
Here’s the relevant statute:
Sec. 44.19.040. Appointment of successor to lieutenant governor.
After taking an initial term of office, the governor shall appoint, from among the officers who head the principal departments of the state government or otherwise, a person to succeed to the office of lieutenant governor if the office of lieutenant governor becomes vacant. The appointment is subject to confirmation by a majority of the members of the legislature meeting in joint session. The person designated and confirmed is next in line for succession to the office of lieutenant governor, subject to the pleasure of the governor. If the person designated and confirmed is removed from or vacates the appointment, the governor shall appoint a successor subject to confirmation in the same manner as the person initially appointed.
What else comes with a special session, besides cranky legislators, and extra business? A big fat price tag is what. Based on previous estimates, we could expect the costs to run well into six figures. Wasn’t one of the reasons Palin decided to drop the ball and walk off the court “pass the ball” and resign as governor because her presence was supposedly costing the state money? Just askin’.
July 7th, 2009 at 7:01 PM
I know this is the wrong thread…but wth…..did anyone find the actual spread sheet?
July 7th, 2009 at 7:07 PM
Haughty Monkey, that was a really funny blast from the way back past! Thanks for reminding me of that message from Ivey Frye? I believe it was to Sherry Whitstine to stop blogging about the sainted Sarah.
Too funny and thanks for remembering and sharing!
July 7th, 2009 at 7:22 PM
Time for Letterman….
July 7th, 2009 at 7:27 PM
@140 rpahk
“special investigators” or “independent counsels”, yes… hired by the Personnel Board (an executive branch controlled venue btw, they are all appointed by governors and serve at the behest of same — only one was appointed by Palin during her short term, I believe) and paid for by the executive branch to investigate the… WAIT FOR IT… executive branch! Ta-da! Yep. That’s how much of a rubberstamping, kowtowing farce all these dismissals of possible ethics violations really are. No checks, no balances. And since when does the DEFENSE attorney rather than the so-called “independent counsel”get to be the one that says to the press that the complaints are “without merit and have therefore been dismissed”. Isn’t it a little suspicious, presumptive and premature of him to be giving press releases concerning the outcome of complaints BEFORE the actual “independent counsel” does?
I’m just sayin’… apologies for thinking out loud if I’m off topic.
-Laz
July 7th, 2009 at 7:32 PM
Letterman:
Obama waved to Palin from Russia….
Palin waved goodbye to Russia….
Puzzled FOLKS – Octo-mom?!?!?!?!
Palin called “KABOOM” Cheney for strategic maneuvering help….
Friends say Palin leaving due to attacks: Thank God I didn’t (Letterman sez)….
July 7th, 2009 at 7:35 PM
Coming up: top 10 involving SP’s answering machine….
July 7th, 2009 at 7:49 PM
Well, if I’m reading this correctly, it seems to me Sarah Palin has NO say in who becomes the Lt. Governor. That job will not be vacant until Sean Parnell is sworn in as Governor. And when that happens, it will be Governor Parnell, not ex-Governor Palin that will decide who becomes the next Lt. Governor.
July 7th, 2009 at 7:51 PM
mlaiuppa
I love it.
July 7th, 2009 at 7:53 PM
Top 10 SP answering machine messages…going to fast to get them all…
callers: GWB, McCain, Sanford, dry cleaners, sarah herself, Arnold,
1 McCain: Who’d have thought you’d retire before I do!!!!!!!!!
July 7th, 2009 at 7:54 PM
PepperzMom
I love that more! (sorry mlaiuppa)
ROFL
July 7th, 2009 at 8:09 PM
131 mmboucher Florida Says: July 7th, 2009 at 6:29 PM
Maybe Buttercup took her fishing and she fell overboard.
That’s what Letterman did w/ SP – she fell overboard into the water…
July 7th, 2009 at 8:41 PM
Well, look what I just found during some research — old articles from the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman:
Wasilla found out it has a new mayor with either little understanding or little regard for the city’s own laws.
Palin seems to have assumed her election was indeed a coronation. Welcome to Kingdom Palin, the land of no accountability.
Mayor Palin fails to have a firm grasp of something very simple: the truth . . . Wasilla residents have been subjected to attempts to unlawfully appoint council members, statements that have been shown to be patently untrue, unrepentant backpedalling, and incessant whining that her only enemies are the press and a few disgruntled supporters of former mayor John Stein.
Sounds like she did a redux of this on the state level, and then the national level. What a playbook. It’s a great strategy — say the press is your enemy, thereby discrediting them before they ever bother to actually do their job.
July 7th, 2009 at 8:47 PM
#30, July 7th, 2009 at 4:23 PM, pvazwindy Says: “”Well if Parnell runs the state like Buttercup … And didn’t he say he would continue her practices.”"”
He may be just placating her to insure she steps down. I just don’t trust that she will turn over her ‘reign’ -s … to anyone.
I would like to give him a chance.
July 7th, 2009 at 9:05 PM
#65, July 7th, 2009 at 5:10 PM, tigerwine Says: “”Big Slick has brought up a thought that I have had to try to erase from my mind. What if, declaring her state needs her, she decides to stay? Can she? Please say no!!!”"”
Yes, she could stay. C’mon, you know Sarah. She could say she is staying as Gov and that she never Quit.
She was just hoping we would beg her to stay – it was a test.
July 7th, 2009 at 9:06 PM
not that Sarah ~ Great find, do you have a link? This would be a great thing to show that this is just a strategy by Palin that she has been using for years.
July 7th, 2009 at 9:30 PM
How does Sarah get to go fishing? Shouldn’t be working with Parnell to ensure that everythings goes well when she finally leaves office?
I don’t get it.
July 7th, 2009 at 9:35 PM
#123, July 7th, 2009 at 6:08 PM, womanwithsardinecan Says: “”"Obviously the departments that handle the ethics charges paperwork are as dysfunctional as the administrative computer system.
The State of Alaska changed/switched to an archive system about June 2007, wherein everything emailed by a State of Alaska employee is retained for years and anything sent by any employee is recoverable within an hour.
Anything beyond that time frame is obfuscation.
July 7th, 2009 at 9:52 PM
Bretta Says:
July 7th, 2009 at 9:35 PM
The State of Alaska changed/switched to an archive system about June 2007, wherein everything emailed by a State of Alaska employee is retained for years and anything sent by any employee is recoverable within an hour.
Anything beyond that time frame is obfuscation.
_________
Have you seen what Linda Perez has quoted Celtic Diva for her email requests as far as time and costs?
To provide complete responses to the email portions of your request, we will need to electronically search the email accounts of the 71 current and former employees who have worked in the Governor’s Executive Offices since December 2006. For that electronic search, we will need the assistance of the State Security Office in the Department of Administration, Division of Enterprise Technology Services (ETS). ETS estimates that each email account retrieval, search, and record production will require 16 hours to complete. The ETS hourly rate is $54.84, so ETS estimates its costs per email account will be $925.44. Based on that estimate, ETS’s estimated costs for obtaining records from 71 employee email accounts total $65,706.
July 7th, 2009 at 9:54 PM
@161 Sammy
Photo op of “Sarah being Alaskan”, see also “Turkey Pardoning Incident” last Thanksgiving. Though fish slime while slimy is mostly transparent and doesn’t translate as well to TV as does the blood and guts of slaughtered, non-pardoned local organically raised (supposedly) turkeys. But you get the idea. Good press or bad press Narsarahsistic is on the job, being all maverick-y, also, too…
-Laz
July 7th, 2009 at 10:23 PM
Did anyone see Greta tonight, I got a bit sick of Micheal Jackson funeral,
after seeing it for the third time. So I flicked to Greta just in time to watch her
interview with Van Flein. He really gave it to the bloggers called you lefties.
I am from Australia, love mudflats. It made me feel a bit sick in the tummy listening to him.
Greta tried to tie it to the Democratic party.
Go to Gretawire may be it posted there.
I hope you guys can do something about these lies.
Get a lawyer to answer him.
July 7th, 2009 at 10:25 PM
@not that Sarah #157:
Yes, one of the previous editors of the Frontiersman (Paul Stewart, I believe) tried his best to debunk Sarah, and was quite outspoken about it. So he was fired for it. The next editor was fired as well, for not knuckling under to Palin’s demand to cease and desist writing editorials unfavorable to Palin & Vic Kohring. There’s a whole lot of history in those Frontiersman archives…..
July 7th, 2009 at 10:27 PM
@152 mlaiuppa — I think that what Sputtercup has in mind is to appoint a replacement #3, since Schmidt has left the building. That person would then move up to Louie when Sean assumes the throne. Then HE would appoint another #3.
But it seems pretty clear that Palin’s replacement #3 has to be confirmed by the Legislature.
July 7th, 2009 at 10:41 PM
Nothing this idiot woman does surprises me anymore. I just can’t see what her admirers find desirable in her.
July 7th, 2009 at 10:47 PM
@163 Eyeonyou — didn’t they come up with a more reasonable figure? Or was Diva’s recent fundraiser only for a subset?
In any event, the original quotation was absurd. Sixteen hours per account would imply manual review — scanning 3 emails per minute would give 2880 emails per account, which is perhaps reasonable. But, if I remember correctly, Diva’s request was primarily for emails from and to certain people, between certain dates. Pre-sorting for those characteristics by computer would take a couple of hours for ALL the accounts (the couple of hours is to write the sorting routine). So there would be a much smaller set of emails that would have to be manually reviewed.
It does cost something to produce FOIA info — at a minimum, the final documents have to be reviewed by hand to ensure that personally confidential information (SSN’s, phone numbers, addresses, etc) is redacted. But most of the searching of e-data can be done automatically — IF the searching agency wants to get on with it.
July 7th, 2009 at 10:55 PM
strangelet
Diva had to drastically reduce and redifine the parameters for the search in order to get it down to the five thousand mark.
July 7th, 2009 at 10:57 PM
redifine should be redefine. Typing to fast and not watching what I was doing.
July 8th, 2009 at 2:12 AM
Sarah’s Secret Diary http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/08/opinion/08dowd.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
July 8th, 2009 at 4:32 AM
A comment in the MoDo editorial today got me thinking…someone said she should spend some investigative reporting time finding out just why people love Palin (Buttercup, new nickname for me as I haven’t been as active here on the ‘flats since this past fall). If you do quick reads of comments at major news outlets and American conservative web sites, she is the great hope for deliverance out of the GOP wilderness, and she’s female, and people say she’s a ‘true conservative.’ Many others think she is called by God, as well as all of the above.
A fiscal conservative wouldn’t call people for a special session.
It’s interesting that no women have been proposed to fill some of these empty positions in the departure snafu. I nominate Shannyn Moore, who can give a press conference, for Lt. Governor, and I would AKM if I could.
Seven out of 10 Republicans would vote for her for president, according to USA Today. I have to believe she knows this, hence her quitting to run for president.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-07-07-palin-poll_N.htm
July 8th, 2009 at 6:50 AM
Bretta is right. We have NO proof that Miss Sarah will actually step down.
I won’t believe it until I see something in writing, signed and notarized.
Yesterday she was quoted as saying she ‘would help Sean and other lawmakers any way possible’ (paraphrased). Sounds like she is having second thoughts already. What part of ‘resignation’ does she not understand ?
Also, as someone pointed out, she is NOT a ‘lame duck’ governor. That would be a governor who legally could not run again due to term limits.
And what’s with the ‘governors picnics’ ? A big ‘going away in a different direction’ party (well, actually, four parties) for Miss Sarah at state expense?
July 8th, 2009 at 7:15 AM
Don’t call her crazy, or she will sue you! But truth is still a complete defense.
July 8th, 2009 at 7:40 AM
Any chance Sean will appoint SP to one of the empty positions so she can “help Sean and other lawmakers any way possible”?
Sue me, Sarah…you are a serious nutball.
July 8th, 2009 at 8:07 AM
Sarah Palin is a pathetic person. She has disgraced Alaska with her lies and behaviour. Anyone who still believes in Sarah needs a shrinks help.
July 8th, 2009 at 8:18 AM
AKraven (July 7th, 2009 at 4:27 PM)–I think she had that clock up with something along the lines of a statement about how long she had to get things done or accomplish her goals or something “profound” like that. It was just taken down; it wasn’t replaced with the photos of all the governors. Those have always been up in that hallway.
mhrt (July 7th, 2009 at 4:44 PM)–yes, that’s the one to whom she gave another star…
July 8th, 2009 at 9:18 AM
Palin thinking: I’ll give three weeks notice and in the meantime, I’ll make some serious appointments and decisions while the legislators are out of session. Everyone is out fishing so who cares? Oh, Alaska.
July 8th, 2009 at 9:19 AM
Does the AG have a place in the line of succession to Governor in Alaska?
July 8th, 2009 at 10:10 AM
Isabella–unfortunately, Dale and Thomas won’t ship popcorn to Alaska; they seem to think they can’t get it here within the 60 days it will stay fresh in the packages! However, they magically seem to be able to ship it to some of our stores here…
(Do you ship to Alaska, Hawaii or the Virgin Islands?
Unfortunately, we currently are unable to ship to Alaska, Hawaii or the Virgin Islands. We want your popcorn to arrive crunchy and delicious, and we cannot guarantee that it will live up to our highest quality standards if it is shipped these distances. If you live in Alaska, Hawaii or the Virgin Islands we recommend you visit friends or relatives in the contiguous 48 states and have them order some popcorn for you for delivery during your trip!)
July 8th, 2009 at 10:18 AM
Moose Pucky–the State Constitution or Alaska Statutes (not sure which) allow the Gov. to indicate the #3 in line of succession, his/her choice; the person just has to be a Cabinet Level appointee already and then be confirmed as #3 by the Legislature. That’s why there’s an issue now, because Buttercup chose Schmidt as her #3, the Leg. confirmed him in April, and now he says he doesn’t want to move up when she leaves. SO, she’s trying to change the #3 person to Campbell, but he can’t actually BE (real) Lt. Gov. upon her departure unless the Leg. has confirmed him. I guess he could be the acting Lt. Gov., but I’m not sure (and then wouldn’t it suck if he quit his DMVA Commissioner job to be the acting Lt. Gov. and then didn’t get confirmed as Lt. Gov.?)
July 8th, 2009 at 10:20 AM
Moose Pucky–you’re prob. thinking the AG has a place because Buttercup’s previous #3 was Colburg, until he quit; then she had to find a new one. Under Murky it was actually the Comm. of Revenue. I think under Knowles it was the AG, but that’s just because that’s who each gov. wanted…
July 8th, 2009 at 11:50 AM
For a laugh, check out Rachel Maddow’s commentary on Palin, (linked on Immoral Minority) while Rachel is wearing chest waders in studio.
The Palin BS is so deep up there, that chest waders don’t help one bit!
July 8th, 2009 at 12:00 PM
166 Sammy Says: July 7th, 2009 at 9:30 PM
How does Sarah get to go fishing? Shouldn’t be working with Parnell to ensure that everythings goes well when she finally leaves office?
I don’t get it.
_________
She doesn’t either.
Which is why she is about to be out. She wanted the attention and adulation but was afraid to get her elbows dirty.
July 8th, 2009 at 12:57 PM
strangelet Says:
July 7th, 2009 at 10:27 PM
“@152 mlaiuppa — I think that what Sputtercup has in mind is to appoint a replacement #3, since Schmidt has left the building. That person would then move up to Louie when Sean assumes the throne. Then HE would appoint another #3.
But it seems pretty clear that Palin’s replacement #3 has to be confirmed by the Legislature.”
***********
Schmidt isn’t resigning. He’s staying in his job. He’s just saying he doesn’t want to move to Lt. Gov. I still say that this issue is for newly appointed Gov. Parnell, not ex-governor Palin. The only way she can control this issue is to get Schmidt to resign and then appoint someone else to his position, that person then becoming the default Lt. Gov. when she officially resigns and Parnell is Gov.
She isn’t going to (legally) resolve this before she leaves. And if she calls the legislature back to vote on anything, she is shooting those feet she has placed securely in her mouth.
It’s over. If Palin thought she was a lame duck before, she ain’t seen nuttin’ yet.
July 8th, 2009 at 1:56 PM
Sarah Palin is such a fiscal conservative that she used state resources to write a press release about how sad she is that troops from OTHER STATES died in Afghanistan. And then she twittered about it.
http://www.gov.state.ak.us/news.php?id=1951
July 8th, 2009 at 4:19 PM
Too funny AKM.
Sarah Palin the clown that keeps us laughing.
It probably already up to there is an article on HuffPo that points out that all those legal fees the state is spending or her defense are just the salaries of the state’s lawyers, who would get paid regardless.
July 8th, 2009 at 6:59 PM
What do you want to bet she finds some sort of fight with the legislature (or something) before she goes. She needs something to keep her face in the news. This round won’t last long. Enough of the truth is getting through. How many times will the media sit there smiling, eating up the lies only to see how stupid they looked later (well Fox allways) by not questioning anything.