Troopergate: Small Woman, Small Beer

Yes, there are three and a half weeks to go until Election Day, but the news that Sarah Palin violated ethics laws and abused her power as Alaska governor has the air of a coda. It is not merely further confirmation that John McCain's running mate is a venal incompetent and pathological liar, but that her time on the national stage should be fittingly short.

As political scandals go, Troopergate is small beer. And just another instance of Palin, with a big assist from the thuggish First Dude, punishing someone who pissed her off, in this case a family vendetta that involved a former brother in law who had the misfortune to be a state trooper while she was in a position to hurt him.

That Palin had said she would cooperate with the investigation, then refused when fate intervened in the form of an impulsive phone call from McCain, that Troopergate became a high-stakes political showdown with a small army of McCain advisers parachuting into Anchorage in what essentially was a takeover of the governor's office, that the issue went all the way to the Alaska Supreme Court, spoke loudly to how unfit the Barracuda from Wasilla is to be a heartbeat away from the presidency.

If there is anything refreshing about this sordid affair it is that the 12 sitting members of Alaska's Legislative Council voted unanimously to release the 263-page investigative report, and eight of the members are Republicans.

Palin's unlikely star turn was a golden opportunity for these legislators and Alaskans in general to strut their state's stuff as a vast and wild place of incredible beauty and rugged individualism. Instead, Palin has become a deep embarrassment to them.