Let's be accurate, this is REALLY about a woman (and family) scorned!

Photo courtesy of KTUU Channel 2

Per the Law Encyclopedia: Motive--An idea, belief, or emotion that impels a person to act in accordance with that state of mind.

Here is a comment (and my response) that I received in regards to Chuck Kopp's firing:

Polarbear said...:

In the Palin family, as for many of us, children come first. I think the Palin family felt, with some justification, that the children were in danger. The Commissioner was caught up in representing the trooper and the labor contract rather than the public. The issue is about who speaks for and protects the children. When the State Troopers did not rise to that task, the Palins formed rank around the children, wholly predictable given their family values. It was at that point when Commissioner Monegan should have had a tool to bring in an external investigator, but he did not have that tool. The problem ought to be de-politicized a bit, and approached with a little more understanding. The causes of this problem can be fixed, so that it does not happen again. I recommend dropping the perception of political advantage on this problem. I am hoping that 'Progressive' means fixing problems, and not falling into the same old pattern of partisan politics accompanied by polarization.

7/26/2008 10:24 AM

CelticDiva said...

Polar:

I know all about "trancending partisan politics" as during this entire issue, folks who generally hate me on the ADN site were actually giving me compliments in their comments.

I felt the need to take a shower.

While I believe that maybe the Palins have talked themselves into thinking this was about the children, Sarah's email to former Col. Julia Grimes betrays otherwise.

NONE OF THIS STARTED...MIKE WOOTEN WASN'T DEEMED "DANGEROUS" BY THE PALIN FAMILY...UNTIL MIKE WOOTEN WAS SEEN IN PUBLIC WITH HIS "MISTRESS."

Sarah is reacting as the sister of a "woman scorned" and while I agree that cheating parents do not provide the best role models, cheating in and of itself does not necessarily put the child in "danger."

The "righteous" Palins were perfectly OK with Wooten shooting a moose on his wife's tag...up to that point. Nothing was said about any tasering issue...up to that point. The more-than-36 charges didn't start flying...until that point.

What's more accurate here (and every piece of newly-discovered behavior is backing this up) is that the Heath/Palins act like the traditional Norwegian or Celtic clans of old--if you insult any member of the "clan" you will "suffer" until the last member's dying breath.

7/26/2008 11:43 AM

I later corrected "Norwegian" to "Norse"--Viking.

Today's Anchorage Daily News confirms the timeline:

The troopers' investigation into Wooten began after Chuck Heath -- Wooten's father-in-law and Palin and McCann's dad -- alerted troopers about a domestic violence protective order McCann had obtained against Wooten on April 11, 2005. McCann filed for divorce the same day, according to the court docket.

The trooper had not physically assaulted his wife but intimidated her and threatened to shoot him, Heath told troopers, according to a memo about the complaint.

And we know when and why that alleged threat, argument and ensuing accusations occurred thanks to Sarah Palin's email to Col. Julia Grimes...right after his affair was discovered:

"When confronted with this affair that others in the community were talking about, Wooten threatened to kill his wife's father, Chuck Heath, if Mr. Heath followed through with his offer to help Molly get an attorney to help her if they were to divorce."

Notice that I highlighted the text "When confronted with this affair that others in the community were talking about." I did so because that phrase shows great insight into what was REALLY bothering the Heath/Palins. Not only did he cheat on his wife, he flaunted it and shamed the entire "clan."

The Daily News article today shows the timeline of every charge that was found to be "sustained." That timeline provides the evidence that the safety of the children was NOT the primary motive behind all of this. Everything started right after the discovery of his affair, LONG AFTER THESE INCIDENTS OCCURRED! (other than the "threat")

Why this is significant is that it helps to explain both the known and "alleged" behaviors of Governor Palin and "the First Dude" in this matter. They do not reflect a family filled with concern but they smack of a family ("clan") obsessed with revenge. Walt Monegan, who is learned in the subtleties of human behavior, must have identified this.

Regarding Wooten: Yes, it looks to me like Mike Wooten is a real bastard. However, having known a number of police officers, his story is not that unusual when it comes to the ability of officers to have interpersonal relationships and a decent family life. Officers are well-documented has having a high divorce rate.

As far as the other issues go, the investigation is over and he's already served his punishment. I think the "one more incident and you'll be fired" understanding is enough of a Sword of Damocles hanging over his head.

***UPDATE***

Lisa Demer is normally an excellent reporter for the ADN. However, I'm not so sure about today's story on Wooten. Several commenters on this story have questioned Lisa Demer's motives for writing it.

I'm kind of wondering the same thing.

If it's for the sensational value, I can understand that. This story is at 130 comments and climbing.

However, it does make Trooper Michael Wooten the target of even more speculation, possibly seriously compromising his on-the-job effectiveness and his credibility. Couldn't that hurt him in a custody case? Also, it takes the focus off of the real story, whether or not Sarah and Todd are abusing power and giving illegal access.

Isn't that what the Heath/Palins want?

I wonder how hard it is to remain neutral after covering a story like THIS?

The Press Conference and the huge stack-o-papers

*******UPDATE******

Thank God, KTVA did the scanning for us!

- Memorandum of Findings
- Memo of Complaint
- Transcription of Mike Wooten Interview
- Transcription of Sarah Palin Interview (1)
- Transcription of Sarah Palin Interview (2) 8/18/2005
- Memo Re: Suspension
- Sarah Palin email to Col. Julia Grimes

Photo: PSEA Executive Director John Cyr

"My purpose here is not to substantiate who did what or what happened. Officer Wooten has asked that we release the records around that investigation so that the press can take an open and honest look at what happened and you may draw your own conclusions."--John Cyr

The conference started out with an abundance of information...they gave us a huge stack-o-papers (about two inches) of all the complaints and investigations having to do with Mike Wooten...released by request of Mike Wooten. I've been reading them in parking lots, parked in the street, all over.

John Cyr also made it clear that this was about Mike Wooten. He was not going to discuss anything to do with Walt Monegan.

I'm not going to delve into all of the mostly "unfounded" (investigated and found to be not true) or "not substantiated" (investigated and can't be proven) charges. The best summary I can give is of the ones that were substantiated. However, a personal note: 1) the Heath Clan has a lot of involvement in this when (in my opinion) they have no business being there. 2) Mike Wooten is not perfect and in some instances is not the sharpest crayon in the box. He also has bad taste in mistresses (yes, there was infidelity involved...surprise! Can't have a woman/family scorned without infidelity!) 3) It seems that the family members may be using that lack-of-sharpness against him.

The charges that were substantiated:

- Molly Heath McCann's son from her previous marriage, Payton, was the "witness" who accused his step-father of drinking while driving. (The other "witnesses" were long time friends of the Heaths, Adrian and Marilyn Lane. Their testimony was rejected by the investigator because of that conflict of interest, but his decision was overthrown by retired Colonel Julia Grimes, who found them credible. It's good to note that Grimes was also the recipient of the email from Palin which had a "between-us-girls-I'm-gonna-make-your-life-difficult" feel.)

Amazingly, no one said anything at the time and this all came up when there was a custody fight.

- Payton was also the 10-year-old boy "dry tasered" by Wooten. To be clear, Wooten was an idiot to do this no matter what. However, his version of the event is that 10-year-old Payton wanted him to do it because he wanted to see what it was like...and that, as someone who trains people in the use of tasers, Wooten knew what he was doing. (He also should have known better.) The boy denied asking him to do it and Molly's version of events is worthy of a movie on the Lifetime Network.

- Sarah Palin's email stated that in Sept. 2003 Wooten illegally shot a cow moose. Wooten admits it and his story was that Molly begged him to come with her so they could "shut her father up" who wouldn't stop giving her a hard time because she hadn't used her tag. When they went out, the only hunting gun they had was his and when he asked her to shoot it, she didn't want to and wanted him to do it. He did, he brought it back where he and Chuck Heath (father-in-law) butchered it. Wooten took it to get it processed and the meat was shared with the Heath family. Two years later, they suddenly remembered it was illegal.

Again, it was stupid...very, very stupid. However, in his defense, many Alaskan married couples who do any kind of fishing or hunting have broken the law. We have because my arthritis makes it impossible to haul in a halibut by myself and my husband helps me...OK, a lot. I know it doesn't make ANY of it right and he has to maintain a higher standard because of his position...but COME ON!

The packet contains 270 pages of documents involved in this investigation. John Cyr explained that it was only partial...he showed us that he couldn't give the whole file to us as he held up two huge white binders. I'm going to try and scan some of it tomorrow...especially the email from pre-Governor Sarah Palin in 2005 to retired Colonel Julia Grimes.

(Note: In all of the craziness today, I never did thank the lovely Myster from "Own the Sidwalk" for alerting me to the post on Andrew Halcro's blog. I never would have made it to the press conference in time if she hadn't. Thank you, oh brilliant and fashionable one!)