Frivolous eithics complaint FAIL

If there's any doubt out there that the coordinated and politically-motivated campaign to swamp Gov. Sarah Palin with phony "ethics" complaints in an attempt to drive down her favorable opinion poll numbers is backfiring, here's a couple of items of evidence for you to consider:

Exhibit A: Michael van der Galien is a blogger who has been sharply critical of Gov. Palin. He does not believe that she was ready for the spotlight last year, and he wonders whether she will be ready in 2012. Though he concedes that she is talented, he's not convinced that she can win a nationwide election. Despite all that, van der Galien blogged today:

"...the attacks on Palin - all the litigation, attempts to destroy her and her family by the drive-by media, etc. - convince me that liberal activists, journalists and politicians fear her tremendously. They would not go after her - even obsess over her - if they thought she was a wacko who could never win elections for president."

"No, the attacks imply that they believe that the governor can make a major comeback four or even eight years from now."

"That should encourage Palin and her most passionate supporters."

Exhibit B: The Anchorage Daily News, a McClatchy newspaper which has been consistently harsh on Gov. Palin, published an editorial on the subject of the bogus complaints today. Here are some excerpts:

"Alaska citizens have a right to file ethics complaints against their elected representatives. State law guarantees it. But when Alaskans use the ethics law to score political points, they abuse that right -- and may put it at risk."

-snip-

"But she's within her rights to create a fund to cover her legal expenses -- and complaints like Chapman's only win sympathy for the governor and run up the legal bills."

-snip-

"State ethics law is not a megaphone for crying foul every time the governor or any other elected official does something someone doesn't like. "

-snip-

"When Alaskans make the ethics law a vehicle for gadfly politics, they weaken even valid ethics complaints in the public eye -- cynics dismiss every complaint as political. And they strengthen the hand of those lawmakers who want to weaken Alaskans' ability to hold elected officials accountable."

And so we have two opinions, each one independent of the other, from sources not overly friendly toward Gov Palin, which say that these frivolous ethics complaints are having a boomerang effect. Instead of having the desired result, they are generating sympathy for the governor even among those who have been been her longtime critics.

If the despicable Alinsky tactics are having this effect on those opposed to Gov. Palin, one can only imagine how much sympathy it is generating for her among those who have been undecided. And, as van der Galien pointed out, it only strengthend the resolve of Palin supporters.

Bottom line: The Palin-haters have failed again. They are so obsessed with taking her down that it probably never occurred to them that, like the latest gadget from the Acme catalog in the hands of Wyle E. Coyote, it would blow up in their faces.

- JP