If you go to CNN, you will get nonsense of this sort.
An Alaska judge warned Gov. Sarah Palin’s family against trying to get her then-brother-in-law fired, according to court records. (from here)
Sounds like Palin’s got it out for the trooper right. Read a little farther.
Palin’s sister, Molly McCann, and Wooten were in the process of getting a divorce when the judge hearing the couple’s case said McCann’s family appeared to be putting Wooten’s job at risk at a time when he would be required to pay child support.
“It appears for the world that Ms. McCann and her family have decided to take after the guy’s livelihood, that whatever who did what to whom has overridden good judgment,” Superior Court Judge John Suddock said during an October 2005 hearing. “Aesop told us not to slay the goose that lays the golden egg. For whatever reason, people are trying to slay the goose here, and it tends to diminish his earning capacity.” (from here)
The judge noted that if Wooten lost his job he would not be able to pay child support. 
Good observation, but a warning?
If you go to the AP, you will get this.
Sarah Palin’s family was warned by a judge three years ago not to disparage her sister’s ex-husband, the Alaska state trooper at the center of an investigation into whether the governor abused her power trying to get him fired. (from here)
Read a little farther again.
A custody investigator appointed concluded that Molly McCann, Palin’s sister, had disparaged Mike Wooten in front of their children, Judge John Suddock said during an October 2005 hearing. The judge warned her and her relatives not to disparage Wooten in front of the kids.
“Disparaging is not to be tolerated — it’s a form of child abuse,” Suddock said, according to notes on the hearing included in the divorce file. (from here)
Both stories rediculously over involve Sarah Palin in the judge’s “warning”, but you have to read the stories to figure that out.
When parents feud, they have no right to force their children to take sides, and there is no evidence Sarah Palin involved the children. Wooten’s ex Molly McCann apparently did that. What Palin is accused of is trying to abuse her power to have Trooper Wooten fired. What the record shows is that she was unhappy with Wooten behavior and apparent lack of punishment. (see here)
Divorces are all too common, and divorces are commonly sad affairs. If the news media has to play this one up, they could at least get the story right. Instead, the whole thing has become another excuse for partisan sniping. Thanks to the news media and our own obsession with such rot, we discuss almost everything except what we want our leaders to do when they are elected.
Unfortunately, the press and a stupid People are not the only ones responsible for this nonsense. Our candidates also play the game. Consider this ad from McCain (see here). The ad is based on this report from the Wall Street Journal.
It’s no surprise, then, that Democrats have airdropped a mini-army of 30 lawyers, investigators and opposition researchers into Anchorage, the state capital Juneau and Mrs. Palin’s hometown of Wasilla to dig into her record and background. My sources report the first wave arrived in Anchorage less than 24 hours after John McCain selected her on August 29.
The main area of interest to the Democratic SWAT team is Mrs. Palin’s dismissal in July of her public safety commissioner. Mrs. Palin says he was fired for cause. Her critics claim he was fired because he wouldn’t bend to pressure to get rid of a state trooper, Mike Wooten, who had been involved in a bitter divorce battle with Mrs. Palin’s sister. Mr. Wooten is certainly a colorful character. He served a five-day suspension after the Palin family filed a complaint against him alleging he had threatened Mrs. Palin’s father. They also accused him of using a Taser on his 10-year-old stepson, drinking in his patrol car and illegally shooting a moose. (from here)
If Barack Obama is a new kind of politician, is it because his team does better opposition research? What other campaign has sent 30 opposition researchers all the way to Alaska to get their dirt?
Note that FactCheck.org immediately disowned McCain’s ad (see here). The organization claims to be nonpartisan. 
Could be. Possible. Might be the case. Anything can happen….. Nitpickers can be neutral nitpickers.
