ABC Reignites 'Troopergate': Officer Portrayed as Victim, Palin as Guilty

Publius' Forum ^ | 11/09/07 | Warner Todd Huston

[Mobile Vulgus]

ABC Still Attacking Gov. Palin

On its Blotter from Brian Ross Blog, ABC News is trying to re-ignite the "Troopergate" issue by portraying Alaska state trooper Mike Wooten as a victim of "threatening phone calls." And, in reporting this new aspect of the story, ABC waits until the last sentence of the story to mention that Governor Palin was deemed innocent of charges of ethics violations in trying to be rid of Trooper Wooten even as 90% of the story pounds home what the supposed charges against the Governor were. Further, ABC misrepresents the charges against Wooten as a simple "she said" argument by Palin and fails to mention that he was actually found guilty of many of them.

In fact, this whole report subtlety makes Governor Palin look like the bad actor in this situation and garners sympathy from the reader for Trooper Wooten. In the first paragraph, the piece talks of Palin's "harsh allegations" and states that he has been "taken off patrols recently for his own safety" because of "threatening phone calls." The report mentions that both Wooten and his union are whining that he cannot get over time pay since he's stuck on a desk job "for his own safety." Looks like ABC thinks Trooper Wooten is a victim here.

The next paragraph goes on to recount how "Palin, her husband and top aides worked to get the trooper, Mike Wooten, booted from the ranks of the Alaska State Troopers" and says that "two separate investigations" eventually became the "'Troopergate' scandal." The ABC piece then goes on to report all of the "harsh allegations" that Governor Palin charged against Trooper Wooten. But, the way these several paragraphs are presented the charges are only discussed in a "she said" style.

Of course, the ABC piece did find room to mention that Wooten denies the charges and also gives Wooten's pals room to argue for his innocence.

Wooten has denied the claims or said his actions were misrepresented. His supporters have said Wooten was unfairly targeted by Palin and her family, because of his prolonged custody battle with Palin's sister, Molly.

So, all we get is Palin's claims of his guilt, the Trooper's claims of his innocence, and a lot to discussion of how an ethics panel found Palin herself guilty of violating ethics. We also get the sob story about how Wooten has been threatened over the phone and how this has caused the police to fix him to a desk job where his union whines that he now cannot get over time pay.

Not one of the charges that the article says "she said," though, were compared to the actual findings of Wooten's guilt. The piece did not, for instance, report the fact that the Alaska State Police actually found Trooper Wooten guilty of several of the charges directed against him by the Governor. The piece leaves his actual guilt unreported...

Read the rest at Publiusforum.com...

[Mobile Vulgus]

They are STILL trying to destroy her.

[silverleaf]

PDS is replacing BDS

[ken21]

some power hates her.

i was driving in los angeles saturday and kfi’s

“news” had a hate-palin segment,

for example, she doesn’t know that africa’s a continent.

[Blogger]

Don't make me make a photoshop.

But seriously, the damage done to the journalism profession is total. They will never again have the respect of a huge number of the American population. Hope they feel good about themselves. They sold out.

[al baby]

I thought it was the sub continent

[AC-130 Gunship]

Creepy vultures.

[I see my hands]

To: John "Leave 'em Behind" McCain

She defended your loser butt.
Where are you?

The post election bipartisan gang rape of Sarah Palin wasn't going to be just a few 24 hour news cycles. A new week, a new wave.

[John W]

Oh yeah, ABC is behind this. /s

They are just the water-carriers.

[areukiddingme1]

[Free Vulcan]

Does the MSM think that this is going to resonate? They themselves have trained the People to move on and flush it down the memory hole.

Now that the election is over even the Obama people are going to be going ‘huh?’. They sure aren’t going to want the focus to be on Sarah and away from the Messiah.

[infowarrior]

I thought it was the sub continent.

It is India which is referred to, sometimes, as "the subcontinent"...

the infowarrior

[Joe 6-pack]

The same liberal left who doesn’t subscribe to pre-emption as a legitimate policy of national defense, are tripping all over themselves to eliminate Governor Palin’s political viability four years hence.

[GaryLee1990]

They are STILL trying to destroy her.

Amazing isn't it? They want to discredit her so much...that she'll never come back to the lower 48.

RightWingIt.com

[50cal Smokepole]

They must destroy her to prevent any leadership position. She scares the you-know-what out of them. Like Mark Steyn says, “She speaks the American vernacular.”

[T Lady]

That's a serious...

LOL Moment!

[XR7]

ABC News is trying to re-ignite the "Troopergate" issue...

A pre-emptive strike
They are deathly afraid she'll run for pres - and maybe win!

[DakotaRed]

They have to destroy her before 2012. They know she is the power and the energizer behind conservatives.

Our Marxist news media and Democrats are now out in the open.

[TribalPrincess2U]

It’s going to be a looooooong 4 years....nothing but Sarah this, Sarah that,
trying to destroy her before she can get any hold.

Even if they have to make something up or try and frame her.

You can bet your sweet ass, Obamao will have his army of thugs
standing by.

[al baby]

Thank you. I love to learn. I went public school

[MaxMax]

Did they mention that he tasered a 10 year old boy?
If he was Conservative they would say he used the taser for torture.

Will they be running this crap for the next four years?