Todd Palin's Past Political Associations A Likely Security Clearance Disqualifier
Although Sarah Palin smack talks Barack Obama for "palling around with terrorists," it turns out that the Palin family has its own history of palling around with Alaska's own unique brand of America-haters. Palin's husband Todd was once an actual member of the secessionist Alaskan Independence Party (AIP). Palin herself was not a member of AIP -- but many AIP luminaries claim her as a kindred spirit and "one of their own."
A charitable characterization of AIP might be "quirky down-home Alaska politics." However, the security processes that govern access to our defense and national security institutions might not look so kindly on Todd Palin's past political associations. Indeed, if Todd Palin were applying for a job in the US government or at a contractor that required access to sensitive classified information -- a security clearance -- he would very likely be ineligible.
What's so bad about the AIP? The party officially renounces violence and disloyalty to the United States, even though its members often do not. The AIP has long been aligned closely with paramilitary militia groups -- the kind that fear black helicopters and a United Nations takeover of the US. Indeed, under the leadership of AIP's tough-talking founder, Joe Vogler, AIP allied itself with the Islamic dictatorship in Iran in 1993 so that Vogler could appear at the United Nations to appeal for Alaska's freedom from US "tyranny." A fellow AIP member murdered Vogler before he could take the UN stage. The current AIP chairwoman, Lynnette Clark, believes that Vogler's killer was framed and all but blames the Federal government for Vogler's "execution."
Security clearances are a defining fact of life for the national security drones who quietly toil away in secret vaults and mean foreign streets to help protect America. Entry-level defense and intelligence employees often wait months -- even years -- for the results of an exhaustive background investigation and maybe even a polygraph interrogation before they are allowed to start work with a government agency or contractor. Seasoned intelligence and defense workers routinely re-submit to the security investigation process every few years, or if their work requires them to gain access to a specialized or "compartmented" program.
The criteria for security clearances have changed with the times, but some bedrock principles always apply. When I was in the Army in the '80s for example, tattoos were actually a disqualifying factor for a clearance, as was any past drug use. Fashion and social changes forced a change to those kinds of exclusions. In the early '90s, homosexuality was still a disqualifier -- but that was overturned with Clinton-era adjustments to the clearance process. The rise of computer culture has brought new concern over illegal computer activity, which has found its way into security investigations.
A charitable characterization of AIP might be "quirky down-home Alaska politics." However, the security processes that govern access to our defense and national security institutions might not look so kindly on Todd Palin's past political associations. Indeed, if Todd Palin were applying for a job in the US government or at a contractor that required access to sensitive classified information -- a security clearance -- he would very likely be ineligible.
What's so bad about the AIP? The party officially renounces violence and disloyalty to the United States, even though its members often do not. The AIP has long been aligned closely with paramilitary militia groups -- the kind that fear black helicopters and a United Nations takeover of the US. Indeed, under the leadership of AIP's tough-talking founder, Joe Vogler, AIP allied itself with the Islamic dictatorship in Iran in 1993 so that Vogler could appear at the United Nations to appeal for Alaska's freedom from US "tyranny." A fellow AIP member murdered Vogler before he could take the UN stage. The current AIP chairwoman, Lynnette Clark, believes that Vogler's killer was framed and all but blames the Federal government for Vogler's "execution."
Security clearances are a defining fact of life for the national security drones who quietly toil away in secret vaults and mean foreign streets to help protect America. Entry-level defense and intelligence employees often wait months -- even years -- for the results of an exhaustive background investigation and maybe even a polygraph interrogation before they are allowed to start work with a government agency or contractor. Seasoned intelligence and defense workers routinely re-submit to the security investigation process every few years, or if their work requires them to gain access to a specialized or "compartmented" program.
The criteria for security clearances have changed with the times, but some bedrock principles always apply. When I was in the Army in the '80s for example, tattoos were actually a disqualifying factor for a clearance, as was any past drug use. Fashion and social changes forced a change to those kinds of exclusions. In the early '90s, homosexuality was still a disqualifier -- but that was overturned with Clinton-era adjustments to the clearance process. The rise of computer culture has brought new concern over illegal computer activity, which has found its way into security investigations.
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 5:28 PM
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