ZIRIN: The longest year

Absolutely correct, Mr. Zirin. Yours is one of the few ed/op pieces I've seen that has quite rightly drawn the tar brush all over the map, including abroad. There are few innocents in a roomful of the guilty. I hope President-Elect Obama follows through on his promises, at least to the degree it's politically possible for him to do so -- perhaps especially in the area you highlight of ethics.

Let me see whether I understand the passage correctly: "[in] an apparent abuse of power nonetheless, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who used her office to try to get her former brother-in-law fired from the State Police, was found to have violated the State Ethics Act. Another panel subsequently cleared her of any ethics violation." So, according to a "trial layer" being cleared of any ethics violations constitutes an abuse of power? Interesting...

You should be ashamed of yourself for including that tripe about Sarah Palin in this rogue's gallery. Let's look at some facts which you obviously chose to ignore. The findings of "abuse of power" were submitted by a committee of one, a political enemy, who, in the body of his "report" exonerated her. The facts are that the state trooper shot his ten year old step son with a taser. It doesn't matter that the kid gave him permission, he was a police officer assaulting a minor. He admits this. He illegally shot a moose. He was convicted of this. He used his state cruiser for illegal purposes. He admits this. He threatened bodily harm to his ex-wife and her father. These people happened to be Sarah Palin's sister and father. That the state police retain such a person on their payroll is a disgrace, and says far more about the police union's abuse of power than is says about Palin. Actually, Palin would have been remiss in her duties if she had not pressed for the firing of such a "policeman". Unfortunately for the Governor, the aggrieved parties were members of her family. Another point overlooked in this piece of, um "journalism" is that Palin never told anybody, including the public safety director, to fire the "trooper". She did not fire the public safety director, she moved him to another equal position. He refused the transfer and left the state's employ. You should be ashamed of yourself. It's because of people like you that we are now stuck with a Chicago ward heeler as president. Study those folks if you want to understand what abuse of power is all about.