a lawful an unlawful abuse of power

not great news for alaska governor sarah palin:

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - For the reasons explained in section IV of this report, I find that governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska stature 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act.

but the report also finds that her firing of the state public safety commissioner was a lawful exercise of her authority.

i wonder if she'll still be making that snl appearance?

UPDATE 8:17 pm – from what i can surmise, the act of firing public safety commissioner walt monegan was lawful. but according to the report, it was just a part of the abuse of power, which was unlawful. cnn is continually reporting that the investigation concludes "no laws were broken," which in fact is not the case. according to the report:

"Compliance with the code of ethics is not optional. It is an individual responsibility imposed by law, and any effort to benefit a personal interest through official action is a violation of that trust. ... The term ‘benefit' is very broadly defined, and includes anything that is to the person's advantage or personal self-interest."

palin has responded to the report through the mccain campaign and her attorney thomas van flein. van flein accuses the independent investigator steve branchflower and democratic senator hollis french, who oversaw the investigation, of using the report in an attempt to "smear the governor by innuendo."

smeared by innuendo. oh sarah. how does it feel?