Bill Dyer on Tasergate

He's read the report and he's Not Impressed.

At page 69 of his bloated report, investigator Steve Branchflower squarely admitted — as he had to — that there is no doubt whatsoever that Gov. Palin acted within her legal rights to reassign Walt Monegan (rather than accept which, he resigned), even if that's characterized as her having fired him...

And although I'm thinking of the term "constructive discharge", I'm in the process of deciding that doesn't qualify.

Reduced to its nub (and setting aside the overstatement of the case against Gov. Palin that's inherent in this formulation), Prof. Post — like Branchflower — is thus in the position of arguing both that (a) it was perfectly okay for Gov. Palin to actually fire Monegan, but (b) it was not okay for Gov. Palin to threaten to fire Monegan.

Prof. Post gives no explanation for why that not a contradiction. And one need not be a law professor, or a lawyer, or even the sharpest tool in the shed, to see the absence of logic in that position. But let me play devil's advocate against myself. Let's focus for a moment solely on the only "other conduct" besides the actual reassignment of Monegan in which Gov. Palin, her husband, and her aides were alleged to have been involved.

All of it was, quite literally, just talk — oral and written talk, by Gov. Palin (in person or through emails), by First Dude Todd Palin, or by Gov. Palin's staff — which Gov. Palin's opponents (including Branchflower and, now apparently, Prof. Post) contend was intended to persuade or compel Monegan into taking some action with respect to Trooper Wooten.

Mere talk cannot be a violation of the Ethics Act, because by its clear and unambiguous terms, it may only be violated by an "effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action."

Ethics provisions like these aren't intended to be legislative enactments of mind or speech control. They're intended to control the actual — or at least the threatened — use of official power. If there's no use (or even threatened use) of official power, no taking (or even threatened taking) of official action, then there can't be an abuse of power.

And there's more.