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Alaskan Legislator Tells Maddow: 'What Good Does It Do' to Fire a 'Dangerous' Cop?

By Jack Coleman | October 27, 2008 | 16:01

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An unintentionally hilarious assertion was made by Alaska State Senator Hollis French on Rachel Maddow's MSNBC cable show Friday night.

Maddow and French were discussing the so-called Troopergate scandal and Gov. Sarah Palin's alleged grudge in firing former Alaska public safety commissioner Walt Monegan for not reopening an investigation of a state trooper who went through a nasty divorce with Palin's sister.

Hollis, a Democrat who led the state legislature's investigation into Palin's actions in firing Monegan last July, cited "severe logical fallacies" in claims made by Palin and her husband Todd, including the Palins' request for reduced security despite their assertions that Wooten was a rogue cop.

Then came the coup de grace from French:

Stop and think about, what good does it do to fire a trooper if you really think he's dangerous?

Yes -- the man actually uttered those words ... loud enough to hear ... on national television. The mind reels when confronted with such a worldview. Could be worse, however. If French were wearing a badge, for example.

The well-intentioned Alaskan legislator elaborated on his odd, troubling assertion, asking of anyone taking such a supposedly outlandish action as terminating the employment of a "dangerous" police officer:

Do you think he's going to leave his job and suddenly be docile and happy about life because he's just been fired? It's likely to make him more dangerous.

Heaven forbid that a dangerous state trooper is ever fired. This sort of thing might convey to those employed on the public dime that they are accountable for their actions.

In fairness to French, he did suggest what he thought Palin should have done when it came to dealing with Wooten.

Why didn't the governor do something about the policy she objected to, which is the trooper disciplinary policy? Why not come to the legislature and say, hey, I've got an idea to make the state of Alaska a better place and to do trooper disciplinary procedures in a better way? Let's change the law, let's make a policy change that protects everyone.

O-kay, say that Palin or another Alaskan politician did exactly what French is suggesting. Many moons and legislative sessions later, a shiny new "trooper disciplinary procedure" is unveiled, one that leads to ... firing of dangerous state troopers. Uh, wouldn't this just make them more dangerous?

Such are the joys of watching Maddow that she provided her own gem of an assertion almost as priceless as those from French.

"You know it's funny," Maddow said. "Every time we have somebody on from Alaska, they are like the most articulate, clear thinking, clear-speaking person we've yet spoken to. It's a very impressive group up there in Alaska."

Impressive, indeed. Aside from Democratic legislators leading allegedly non-partisan investigations of political opponents.

Click here for mp3 audio.