Anyone here remember...

Trooper-gate? You know, where Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was accused of using her office to get her ex-brother-in-law fired from the Alaska State Troopers? And when that never happened, she had the commish of public safety cashiered? And the state's legislative ethics committee found that Sarah had violated the law, yet a hand-picked (by Sarah) state personnel board found her not guilty of any ethical or legal infractions? Well, get ready for parts II and III.

First, we have a state drug investigator and the troopers union alleging political meddling (see today's www.adn.com for details)in the belated arrest of Sherry Johnston. Sherry Johnston is the mother of Levi Johnston, who's sire to the baby of Bristol Palin, who is Sarah Palin's daughter...got that? It seems that the state's drug enforcement unit had enough on Levi's mom to arrest her for trafficking in OxyContin (Rush Limbaugh's favorite) back in October, but they were told in so many ways not to make the bust until after the November presidential election. This is according to AST Drug Investigator Kyle Young, who was involved in the case, and the Alaska Public Safety Employees Union. If allegations prove true, Governor Palin's once seraphic rep will suffer again.

Then comes this nugget from Alaska Daily News opinion writer and local right-wing radio host Dan Fagan, further accusing Sarah (or surrogates) of setting up her erstwhile son-in-law (the aforementioned Levi Johnston) with an electrician's apprenticeship up on Alaska's North Slope. On its face, it might not seem that egregious a thing, save for the fact that Levi is not qualified (no high school diploma, no GED), and he shot to the head of a 100-person waiting list, and no one, including the people who are in charge of the apprenticeship program, can explain why. As a former Illinoisan, I'm reminded of Richard K. Daley's Chicago, no?

Fagan goes on to postulate that Governor Palin's numbers have been suffering steadily since going under the bright lights of national political scrutiny, and that these revelations do not help her. Polls, Fagan says, indicated that should Sarah challenge U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski in 2010, Sarah would lose big. He even claims Sarah's chances for a 2nd term as governor are only 3 in 10.

If nothing else, all this makes for an interesting next couple of years here in the "Greatland."