I just happened to channel flip to O'Reilly's show tonight and he had two very beautiful women on, neither of whom I recognized, who said they had read through the Palin emails and found plenty of grounds with which she would have had to fire Walt Monegan.

So far the emails themselves aren't posted anywhere, but the following are being reported on the right wing blogs such as this one:

According to the papers filed by Palin's legal team, that was not the only instance of insubordination from Monegan:

   * 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.

Now, we should wait for the emails to be published somewhere to read and make up our own minds.  But it's quite possible that the evidence will create at least a reasonable doubt that he was fired for failing to fire her ex-brother-in-law.  And come October, if it looks like she is innocent of the claims, public opinion could turn in her favor if it looks like the investigation was politically motivated.  It doesn't even have to be politically motivated.  It just has to look that way.

Until we have all the facts, we ought not to push the issue too hard.  As a lawyer I can tell you that asking a question that appears strong can be disaster if you really don't know the answer.

I think we should maintain our skepticism, and focus on the points that matter.  Her ideology is radically reactionary.  She's in over her head when it comes to national and international politics.  She lies.  She hides from the press.  And McCain's choice of her was impulsive.

Other than that, ignore her.  The economy is tanking and McCain looks like a deer with headlights in his eyes.