More ethical lapses for Palin

Meet Sarah Palin, alleged would-be reformer.

When Palin needed to sell her house during her last year as Wasilla mayor, she got the city to sign off on a special zoning exception -- and did so without keeping a promise to remove a potential fire hazard.

She gladly accepted gifts from merchants: A free "awesome facial" she raved about in a thank-you note to a spa. The "absolutely gorgeous flowers" she received from a welding supply store. Even fresh salmon to take home.

She also stepped in to help friends or neighbors with City Hall dealings. She asked the City Council to add a friend to the list of speakers at a 2002 meeting -- and then the friend got up and asked them to give his radio station advertising business.

That year, records show, she tried to help a neighbor and political contributor fighting City Hall over his small lakeside development. Palin wanted the city to refund some of the man's fees, but the city attorney told the mayor she didn't have the authority.

Gifts, special privileges, favors for friends. Reformer? Not likely. Sarah Palin is sounding much more like a character in the Tom "The Hammer" DeLay, Jack Abramoff saga than an agent of change. She's not going to change anything in Washington, except for maybe her financial status and some dirty diapers.