Then There’s Troopergate

Palin's handling of Troopergate smacks of the kind of issue that has been examined thus far: her influence, underwritten on an ultra conservative bias that has made its way into the Governor’s office and by extension would find its way into the Vice Presidency. Trooper Wooten is a former brother-in-law of Palin’s who she wanted fired from the force by the Commissioner of Public Safety, Walt Monegan. Wooten indeed had a temper like a fire cracker and was accused of harassing, stalking and intimidating Palin’s sister and family during a despicably ugly divorce and child custody battle. Monegan refused to fire Wooten and was then himself fired and replaced by Chuck Kopp.

Kenai City Police Chief Chuck Kopp was an up-and-comer in Alaska's Christian conservative movement. He spoke often at local religious and similar patriotic-based gatherings. His history includes a missionary father who founded the Cook Inlet Academy, a fundamentalist Christian high school in Soldotna. Chuck Kopp became president of the Academy and serves on the board Port Alsworth's Tanailan Bible Camp, also founded by his father. The Tanalian camp is very closely tied with Franklin Graham who with his famous father established Samaritan’s Place. The evangelical leader of the Anchorage Baptist temple, Rev. Jerry Provo happens to sit on Samaritan Purse’s Board of Directors. In firing Monegan and hiring Kopp, Palin would have gained a considerable element of revenge in a Family dispute and established her standing as a Christian conservative politician. It is evident that the fundamentalist movement is wrought with ‘incestuous’ relationships all working towards the same goal: ultimately bringing the citizens of the world together under ‘one umbrella’, an expression Palin is fond of, to prepare for the glory of God in the second coming of Christ.

Palin missed her mark on Kopp, however, because of Kopp's record of sexual harassment while he was police Chief of Kenai. That she would consider Kopp at all speaks volumes of her own aspirations to be a leader in the neo-conservative political movement. Kopp’s religious devotions fit snugly into Palin’s ideology. Sure enough after only two weeks on the job, Kopp quit saying that the sexual harassment complaints had created an atmosphere that was counterproductive to the job – and by extension to Palin’s plans.

But that has not put an end to the scandal: first, Alaska’s attorney general has launched an investigation into the entire matter. By way of a volley, a group of Republican Alaska lawmakers, with the support of a Texas-based conservative legal group (LLI), has filed suit to stop the Alaska Legislature's "Troopergate" probe and Gov. Sarah Palin’s involvement. LLI describes themselves on their website as "…an organization that was founded in 1997 to protect religious freedoms and First Amendment rights for individuals, groups and churches." It is not difficult to deduce that the driving force behind the rigorous defense of Palin’s actions is the ultra conservative right.