John Andrews says I'm falling for liberal propaganda when I quote Alaska talk radio host Dan Fagan's searing critique [1] of Sarah Palin's actions in the "Troopergate" matter.
I'm sure that will be a surprise to Alaskans, for whom Fagan is a kind of local Rush Limbaugh.
Fagan's a winger, John, and he - like George F. Will [2] and David Brooks [3] and other conservatives - has found something not to like about the notion of Palin as vice president.
Now, you can throw links at me from conservative web sites, John, which are there for just this kind of politically self-reinforcing function. And I can toss links back at you, from Talking Points Memo [4] and similar neighborhoods on the left. And neither, we probably can agree, will get us much more than the party line.
What struck me about Fagan's column is that he is an Alaskan Limbaugh going after his own party's golden gal, because he believes she is abusing her power as governor.

Unlike Rush, Fagan doesn't swoon over Palin (whom the real Rush likes to leeringly refer to as "a babe"). However, in earlier columns, Fagan has been quite critical [5] of her former brother-in-law, the state trooper. In fact, Fagan sides with Palin in the original dispute.
It is Palin's abuse of her power as an elected official that alarms Fagan. She used the influence of her office and back door channels to continue to persecute the guy after the disciplinary system had done its job, and then dismissed a veteran Alaska public safety official (and ex-Marine) who wouldn't bend to her pressure.
Now, Alaska is a small state, population-wise, and its political community is relatively tiny. Palin may have cut in front of Fagan at the supermarket, or riled him some other way.
I've never met the guy. Maybe he's just in it for ratings. But to me, he's making sense.
Sum total, at the end of the day: Palin's human, impulsive, and a bit vindictive. We all can probably live with that. It's the oldest political trick - reward your friends and punish your enemies.
But as anyone who has been there knows, it's the cover-up that kills you in the end, not the original sin. And the governor who called for the investigation herself, is now frantically stonewalling.