Gov. Palin looking for a new applicant for AG

In an e-mail to the Fairbanks News-Miner, a spokesperson for Sarah Palin says the governor is "in the review process" to designate a new nominee for the office of Alaska attorney general.

Sharon Leighow says Gov. Palin wants to appoint someone with integrity, vast legal knowledge and experience who must be a strong advocate for Alaska.

Alaska lawmakers last week voted down Wayne Anthony Ross, the governor's previous nominee for the office, after a smear campaign against him by Palin's political enemies swayed the legislator's opinions. Just last year, the Alaska House honored Ross with a unanimous citation which described the lawyer as "a distinguished Alaskan" and "a vocal proponent of free speech." The citation also characterized Ross' career as being "dedicated to defending individual rights."

Leighow says though there has been a considerable interest in the position by applicants, the governor is working under no deadline to fill the position now that the legislative session has adjourned.

In a related story, Gov. Palin's administration has released an opinion by the state's acting attorney general stating that the governor's original appointment of Tim Grussendorf to fill the state Senate seat vacated by Kim Elton of Juneau is still a valid one because the Senate Democrats never legally rejected it.

The decision comes after Gov. Palin and the Democrats agreed to a Sunday compromise which assigned the seat to former Juneau mayor Dennis Egan.

- JP

Gov. Palin: 'Public lies were told about Mr. Ross'

From today's edition of the Juneau Empire:

Gov. Sarah Palin is blaming bloggers and lies for the defeat of her attorney general nominee, who the Alaska Legislature refused to confirm last week.

At her first news conference after the Legislature voted 35-23 to reject Wayne Anthony Ross as attorney general, Palin said the defeat was due to "deliberate misrepresentation" of Ross' statements.

"A great problem was public lies were told about Mr. Ross," she said.

Palin declined to say whose lies undermined Ross, citing the blogosphere and e-mails from members of the public.

Although the governor mentioned stories of Ross taking part in a machine gun shoot on private property as "just one example," Hollis French, who led the opposition to Ross in the State Senate, said that the alleged shooting incident "certainly never came up in floor debate."

Oh, come on, Senator. It doesn't take a mentalist to know which unfounded rumor was used to shoot down Ross' nomination. It was Leah Burton's unsubstantiated smear that WAR has said, "If a guy can’t rape his wife… who’s he gonna rape?" 

But it was repeated, and many times over. Burton's prevarication made the rounds of Palin-thrashing Alaska blogs and quickly went viral on the nutroots. E-mail rounds of faux outrage not-so-coincidentally were fired off. Although Ross emphatically denied ever saying such a reprehensible thing, that was all the tag team of French and Burton needed.

WAR's nomination had looked certain after his first day before the committee, but the damage was done. He was a dead man walking. How easily a good man's (or woman's) reputation can be destroyed by a single accusation, even if no one comes forward to say that they also heard it.

Burton's accusation is such a vile thing that I'm not surprised Gov. Palin would be loathe to repeat it. But for this Empire story to to omit it is ludicrous.

- JP

Alaska House and Senate: The legislature of 'No'

Alaska's legislators said 'no' to Gov. Sarah Palin's nominee for state Attorney General today. They voted down the appointment of Wayne Anthony Ross, 35 to 23.

The governor's office called the move "unprecedented":

"I believed I knew what Alaskans wanted when I selected an individual who is a strong backer of 2nd Amendment rights, a staunch supporter of the state Constitution and a defender of life," Governor Palin said. "Wayne Anthony Ross supports responsible, ethical development of Alaska’s rich resources. I'm surprised that legislators in this case really did not seem to represent their constituents and allowed themselves to be swayed by side issues. Mr. Ross is a fine Alaskan. He is held in high esteem by many Alaskans. I appreciate his willingness to serve the public."

This comes on the same day that one of her nominees to fill an empty seat in the state Senate, Joe Nelson, withdrew his name from consideration as a candidate.

Also today, the lawmakers rejected the governor's nominee for the Board of Fisheries, Brent Johnson, by a vote of 42 to 16.

More on the showdown between Gov. Palin and the legislature from Ron Devito here.

- JP

Ross: 'Absolutely false... I don't talk like that!'

Sean Cockerham of the Anchorage Daily News reported Thursday:

A letter surfaced Wednesday night in the state Senate Judiciary Committee, making allegations that Gov. Sarah Palin’s attorney general nominee, Wayne Anthony Ross, made offensive comments about women and domestic violence in 1991.

The letter was written by Leah Burton, Cockerham says, who also wrote an anti-Palin book TheoPalinism – The Face of Failed Extremism. The Huffington Post and many other leftist websites have reproduced the Burton letter. Some state legislators have said that they were troubled by Burton's allegations.

According to Palin spokesperson Sharon Leighow, the governor asked Ross about the charges made by Burton, and he told her that the allegations are ”absolutely false.”

Meanwhile, Ross has responded to the charges made in the Burton letter by e-mail and with a letter of his own. Here are excerpts from the full text of Ross' response:

April 10, 2009

By Email and Capitol Mailbox

Honorable Member of the Twenty-Sixth Alaska State Legislature
State Capitol
Juneau, Alaska 99801

Re: Letter Dated 7 April 2009 Purportedly From One Leah L. Burton

I am in receipt of a letter which purports to be from one Leah L. Burton. The letter is unsigned and I have been advised that it has been circulated to members of the Legislature...

Not content to discuss my record, someone has now chosen to circulate this unsigned memo which is replete with totally false statements...

I have never ever stated to anyone “If a guy can’t rape his wife… who’s he gonna rape?”

I don’t talk like that!

I don’t believe in that!

I totally abhor such a thought and I totally reject it!

Indeed, if I ever heard such a comment from anyone, that person would have faced a serious confrontation with me. Rape is a serious crime; it is not something to joke about; it is not something I joke about; and I have no sympathy with anyone who does. Indeed, as AG I intend to pursue rapists with the full power of my office and put them behind bars for as long a time as possible.

Nor have I ever stated “There wouldn’t be an issue with domestic violence if women would learn to keep their mouths shut!”

Such an allegation that I uttered those words is outrageous! Indeed, it is almost as outrageous as the words themselves!

I confess that I am a bit old fashioned when it comes to women...

The idea of “disciplining” a wife is outrageous! Wives are not children; they are partners (or at least should be). Any man who speaks to me about “disciplining his wife” deserves not to have one...

I have no patience or sympathy for any parent who fails to properly support his (or her) child...

As I said above, I am old-fashioned. I take my hat off inside if a lady is present. I try to rise as often as possible when a lady enters the room. I always try to treat women like I would like my wife to be treated. Call me a dinosaur, if you will, but that is how I was raised.

The Burton letter... crosses the line...

I am in receipt of a second memo dated 9 April 2009 referencing a lady who testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on 8 April 2009.

The lady referenced my attendance at a UAA Forum in October 2005. She alleged that she heard me “argue that DV victims are liars”...

I simply pointed out that men too could be victims of domestic violence. I also stated that on occasion people who sought domestic violence protective orders did so because they wanted to use the process “as a sword rather than as a shield”. I said that in my experience I had seen cases in which people lied to get such protective orders and that our domestic violence system was sometimes abused.

Quite obviously the lady who attended the UAA forum heard only what she wanted to hear.

My remarks that day were accurate and based on almost four decades of experience in the field. The lady’s recollection of the event, however, was not accurate.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Wayne Anthony Ross
Attorney General

cc:
Sarah Palin, Governor
Mike Nizich, Chief of Staff
Sharon Leighow, Deputy Press Secretary

My own thoughts: Make no mistake - the politics of personal destruction are alive but deadly in Alaska. Gov. Palin's political enemies will tell any lie and destroy anyone's reputation if they calculate that it will do harm to the governor. When challenged to provide hard evidence to back up their vile allegations, they are never able to produce anything of substance. These vicious cretins are more ravenous than the wolves who prey on the herd animals of the 49th state. They should be exposed for the human filth that they are.

And btw, the Huffington Post gives manure a bad name. But you probably already knew that.

- JP