Sarah Palin's Family Divorce Scandal...

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, the GOP vice presidential candidate, is under investigation in Alaska for allegedly firing her public safety commissioner. The issue is whether Palin fired public safety commissioner Walt Monegan after he refused to fire a state trooper who had divorced Palin's sister.

Supposedly Gov. Palin wanted her ex brother in law, Trooper Michael Wooten, fired and also filed numerous complaints against Mr. Wooten that were made part of the bitter divorce trial between Mr. Wooten and Gov. Palin's sister.

It is not unusual for family members to get involved during a divorce. Family and friends are known to take sides and sometimes go too far. During my own divorce, after my ex was arrested for not paying child support, my ex sister in law called my mother and screamed and cursed at her for putting her brother in jail. Obviously my mother had nothing to do with my ex's arrest and my sister in law could not accept the fact that her it was her brother's failure to pay support and breaking of the law that landed him in a jail cell.

We often talk about how people going through a divorce can lose control of their emotions and behave irrationally. The same goes for family members. They lash out, wanting to protect the person they love and can often make a difficult divorce worse.

It is best to advise family members not to get involved in your divorce. If you tell them every ugly detail, they are going to have a negative reaction. Sometimes it is best to confide in a friend instead of a family member who is known to have a short temper. Whether the allegations against Gov.Palin are true or not, it is just another example of how a nasty divorce battle not only affects the couple who is divorcing, but everyone around them.