Sunday, October 12, 2008

Reform this!

The ‘Troopergate’ report reveals that Sarah Palin and her husband vindictively used the position and resources of the Alaska governor’s office to try to hound her ex-brother-in-law out of a job.

The job of governor is not to get your ex-brother-in-law fired. It is to serve the people of your state by suggesting legislation and formulating policy to address the larger structural issues facing the state. Palin showed that she is capable of such reform with the natural gas pipeline project.

But when it comes to issues facing an abused and scared woman in a messy divorce, Palin failed as a ‘reformist’ governor. She did not review divorce laws and propose new legislation that would better protect those in this position. She did not examine the court system and how family court judges are appointed, trained and evaluated. She did not review the public employee disciplinary system and union agreements to identify possible flaws in policies and procedures. She treated her sister’s case as an isolated one, rather than one symptomatic of larger problems within the legal and employment systems of Alaska.

It is not reform if all you do is replace someone else's judgment with your own.

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