Gov. Palin acted ethically in firing Walt Monegan because Monegan was a threat to the citizens of Alaska. He destabilized the government with his repeated insubordination to Gov. Palin. Since his repeated insubordination made the government less efficient and sabotaged the government it was ethical for Gov. Palin to fire him in order to better serve the citizens of Alaska.
There is much evidence of Monegan's insubordination. For example:
12/9/07: Monegan holds a press conference with Hollis French to push his own budget plan.
1/29/08: Palin’s staffers have to rework their procedures to keep Monegan from bypassing normal channels for budget requests.
February 2008: Monegan publicly releases a letter he wrote to Palin supporting a project she vetoed.
June 26, 2008: Monegan bypassed the governor’s office entirely and contacted Alaska’s Congressional delegation to gain funding for a project.
http://hotair.com/archives/2008/09/16/palin-fires-back-in-troopergate-releases-memos-showing-insubordination/?print=1
Since Monegan obstructed the government by being openly hostile to the governor and causing disorder he was a danger to the people of Alaska and thus his termination was in the public's interest. Therefore, I disagree with Stephen Branchflower's belief that Gov. Palin acted unethically in firing Monegan. Branch flower alleges that Gov. Palin violated the following code:
The legislature reaffirms that each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust-Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a).
Palin did not benefit financially by firing Monegan, so Branchflower has stated that she fired Monegan for personal reasons saying that Monegan's refusal to fire Trooper Wooten "was likely a contributing factor to his termination." Yet it doesn't matter that Monegan refused to fire Wooten (who abused Palin's family) because whether he did or didn't doesn't change the fact that he is guilty of insubordination which is an ethical reason to fire him.
Branchflower is implying that because Gov. Palin might possibly have a personal reason to fire Monegan that it was unethical to fire Monegan for a legitimate reason. That's like saying because a restaurant owner might have a personal reason to remove someone from their restaurant that they don't have a legitimate reason to remove the person if that person gets in a drunken brawl and destroys the restaurant owner's property. Whether or not the restaurant owner has a personal reason to remove the drunken man, that doesn't change the fact that legally they have the right to remove anyone who is causing a disturbance by being drunk and disorderly.
Likewise, wether or not Gov. Palin had a personal reason to not want to work with Monegan does not change the fact that he was guilty of insubordination and that insubordination is a legitimate reason for Gov. Palin to fire him. That is why I disagree with Stephen Branchflower's conclusion in his Report To The Legislative Council. I trust that Gov. Palin knows which members of her cabinet are doing their job and which members are not doing their job. She reviewed Monegan's performance, concluded that he did not fulfill his duties, and relieved him of his duties. Because she is a public servant, Gov. Palin has the obligation to hire people who would benefit the public and fire people who harm the public. Monegan's disorderly behavior was a threat to the public, thus Gov. Palin benefited the public by firing him.
I wonder if Branchflower was blinded by sexism. Our society is sexist. Men have much more power than women and sexist people think that men deserve to have more power than women. Thus, people with sexist beliefs try to prevent women from exercising power in order to prevent women from achieving gender equality. Branchflower condemned Gov. Palin for allegedly misusing her power, when in fact she used her power wisely in a way that benefited the public. Although Branchflower had to admit that Gov. Palin's decision to fire Monegan was a "proper and lawful exercise of her constitutional and statutory authority to hire and fire executive branch department heads." Nevertheless, he condemned her use of power even though clearly she used that power to benefit the public which is her job duty.
