Alaska

Revelations about Wayne Anthony Ross, Sarah Palin's choice for Alaska attorney general, have me wondering: what did she possibly see in him?

Some of the accusations leveled against Ross include: he's called homosexuals "degenerates," ridiculed an African-American student who was offended by a KKK art project, worked to undermine Native American tribal sovereignty, and defended men who rape their wives. Is there anyone he hasn't managed to affront? Oh yeah, straight white men.

The accusation that he is a defender of marital rape got his confirmation off track this week. An antidomestic-violence lobbyist sent a letter to the Alaskan legislature accusing Ross of saying in 1991: "If a guy can't rape his wife, who's he gonna rape?" Ross denied making the comments.

But women's rights groups say Ross has a habit of making antiwoman remarks. He allegedly once said: "If a woman would keep her mouth shut, there wouldn't be an issue with domestic violence."

If Sarah Palin wants to win back the women's vote for Republicans in 2012, she'd better distance herself from public figures like Ross. It looks like she might do just that — she's considering scraping his nomination before it goes to a vote.

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The chief of a Native American tribe died last year and with her an entire language. She was the last speaker of Eyak, a tribal tongue native to south central Alaska. Sound insignificant? Maybe it is, but with half of the world's 6,192 languages set to become extinct by the century's end, endangered languages are anything but scarce.

Proponents for letting dying languages go say the fewer languages the better — less confusion. But opponents maintain that language provides insight into individual cultures, and to let a language is die is to lose an entire knowledge base.

The documentary The Linguists, which PBS will air Feb. 26, follows two — surprise — linguists as they document four dying languages in Siberia, Bolivia, India, and Arizona and a movement to help indigenous groups reclaim their languages. Language revitalization has proved possible in cases where there's more than one speaker, at least a small group, and community and state support.

Good magazine interviewed the two linguists behind the documentary. To see what they had to say, read more

• Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens has officially lost his reelection bid, bringing the Democrats only two seats away from a filibuster-proof 60-seat majority. Stevens was the longest serving Republican ever to serve in the Senate, and his recent federal corruption conviction led to his fall from power. — New York Times
• China's president Hu Jinato visited Cuba yesterday bringing hope of Chinese aid to the island and closer trade ties. Hu also visited ailing former president Fidel Castro. — AFP



• In a new audio message al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri attacks Barack Obama going as far as using a racial epithet implying that Obama does the bidding of whites. The leader wants to convince Muslims and Arabs that Obama does not represent change. — AP
• Ashley Dupre, the prostitute who brought down former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has sat down with Diane Sawyer. Her interview will air on Friday's 20/20 at 10 pm EST/PST. — ABC News

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California county registrars may have stopped issuing licenses to same-sex couples, but not all Californians are ready to accept the newly approved marriage ban. The city of San Francisco filed lawsuits challenging Prop. 8's passage, and California Attorney General Jerry Brown says he will fight to defend the legality of the marriage licenses already issued to 18,000 same-sex couples.

Last night at a West Hollywood rally, 2,500 joined a protest of Prop. 8, which eventually clashed with the LAPD. Seven protesters were arrested. In San Francisco's Castro neighborhood the rainbow flag is flying at half-staff, and last night gay marriage supporters held a candle light vigil at San Francisco's City Hall. Rallies of support for gay marriage were held in other parts of the state, too.

Gay marriage bans also passed in Arizona and Florida on Tuesday, along with an Arkansas ban on adoption by anyone except a married man and woman. How long do you think the struggle for gay marriage will go on before it is completely successful? Will it ever be?

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An investigation by the Alaska Legislature, released this evening, concluded that Sarah Palin abused the powers of the office of Governor of Alaska by pressuring subordinates with the goal of getting her ex-brother-in-law State Trooper Michael Wooton fired. The 236-page report, at the center of "Troopergate," also found that she was within her powers when she dismissed the public safety commissioner, who was the boss of the ex-brother-in-law.

The report, which could now have national implications, holds that Palin violated the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act when she exerted pressure, and when she allowed her husband to do so, too. It states:

Such impermissible and repeated contacts create conflicts of interests for subordinate employees who must choose to either please a superior or run the risk of facing that superior’s displeasure and the possible consequences of that displeasure.

The legal and political implications of the report are uncertain. The Alaska legislature could censure Palin, and US voters may question the McCain campaign's characterization of Palin as a reformer.

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Sarah Palin has been painting Barack Obama as unpatriotic lately, bringing up Obama's acquaintance with William Ayers, a current college professor and former member of the Weather Underground, a radical organization that wanted to end the Vietnam War through acts of domestic terrorism when Obama was eight-years-old.

But the McCain/Palin ticket has dubious associations of its own. One example: Palin's connection to the separatist Alaskan Independence Party, founded by Joe Volgar who died buying explosives and said while alive: "The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government." Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. wrote about the apparent hypocrisy yesterday:

If McCarthy-era guilt-by-association is once again a valid political consideration, Palin, it would seem, has more to lose than Obama. Palin, it could be argued, following her own logic, thinks so little of America's perfection that she continues to "pal around" with a man —her husband, actually — who only recently terminated his seven-year membership in the Alaskan Independence Party. Putting plunder above patriotism, the members of this treasonous cabal aim to break our country into pieces and walk away with Alaska's rich federal oil fields and one-fifth of America's land base — an area three-fourths the size of the Civil War Confederacy. AIP's charter commits the party "to the ultimate independence of Alaska," from the United States which it refers to as "the colonial bureaucracy in Washington." It proclaims Alaska's 1959 induction as a state "as illegal and in violation of the United Nations charter and international law."

To find out about Palin's ties, as recent as this year, read more

• Sarah Palin: The campaign claim to nowhere? Palin ignores media outlets that have pointed out that her claim to have said "thanks but no thanks" to the Bridge to Nowhere is a lie. — Talking Points Memo
• GOP: The real dream ticket? America respects McCain, loves Palin. — Townhall
• Lieberman: Booted from the cool kids' table? Lieberman won't attend Democratic policy lunches in the Senate this month. — The Hill
• Libya: How do you treat the "mad dog" turned cuddly old Labrador? After Condi's trip to visit Gadhafi, Western leaders are wondering how to react. — newsblog
• Service: Fake responsibilities? Interview gets real with a current community organizer. — Pop + Politics