All of these things are happening this week, some just breaking in the past hour or so:1 -- CNN is starting to cover the Alaska Independence Party story on the Palins. Had the McCain campaign not gotten so overboard on the Ayers story, the AIP story probably would have continued to languish.
2 -- Yesterday, Democracy Now spent its main segment, with Amy Goodman interviewing Max Blumenthal about Palin's ties to fringe groups. Blumenthal, and Pacific Northwest militia expert David Neiwert, spent about two weeks based out of our house in Wasilla, interviewing a wide array of people on these subjects.
3 -- "[A] top Alaska State Trooper official who works with Wooten said Wooten has told several close associates that he will soon file a multimillion lawsuit against Palin. The official requested anonymity because Wooten, who has declined interview requests, did not clear him to speak about the plans.
"Trooper Wooten intends to sue Gov. Palin, her husband, and some people in her administration for slander defamation of character, and civil rights violations,” the official said. “His attorneys are considering filing in state and federal court."
4 -- "Walt Monegan, the public safety commissioner whom Palin fired after he refused to fire her ex-brother-in-law, a state trooper, submitted a complaint to the state personnel board on Monday seeking a hearing to “address reputational harm” caused by Palin.
"In the complaint, which appears to set the stage for a lawsuit, Monegan’s attorney Jeffrey Feldman said Palin’s “inconsistent and changing explanations” for firing Monegan – including claims that he was fired for insubordination – have damaged his reputation.
"'Mr. Monegan does not challenge the Governor’s right to discharge him as the Commissioner of the Department of Public Safety,' the complaint said. 'But the Governor is not entitled to make untrue and defamatory statements about her reasons for discharging a cabinet officer.'"
More and more, these past ten days, the narrative of Pain's shortcomings is being taken up by out-of-state media, and bloggers from Alaska and Outside, as our local media are out-manned, trying to cover too many stories in too many places (Palin on the trail, Palin investigations, the Stevens trial, the other upcoming races, and so on, to begin with).